We're in Korea. It's awesome :).

Needless to say it's time for an update on this thing. For awhile we were thinking of just giving up on the blog since it had been so long but, after a few people asked for an update, we gave in!

It's been seven months since we last wrote so we'll just give you some highlights from each month to keep it easy!

MARCH

March was when we moved apartments and schools. We got very lucky with our schools and couldn't be happier with our choice to move. We moved from Haeundae, which is a very popular spot in Busan, to Saha. Saha is on the opposite side of Busan, so it's given us a chance to explore parts of the city that we haven't seen before.

APRIL

April was a big month for us. We were both able to take two weeks off of school and come home! My friend Chelsea was getting married and she had asked me to be her Maid of Honor, so thank goodness I was able to get time off!! Over the two weeks, I tried to spend as much time with my family and friends as I could. The two weeks went by way too fast and before I knew it, I was back in Korea. Adam's school couldn't let him leave the same time as me, but his vacation overlapped mine so we were able to see each other at Chelsea's wedding.

MAY

Korea as a whole loves baseball! Busan's team is the Lotte Giants and going to the games is always a good time! The crowd is always dancing, singing and chanting while making bag hats and newspaper pom poms. One huge difference between baseball in Korea and in America is that instead of being quiet when the home team is up to bat, each player has a specific chant that the crowd screams when they are up, making as much noise as possible. I have a feeling that being quiet results in a better play, but also less fun for the crowd :P. Baseball season seems to last forever! We actually went to our first game in April and playoffs are just coming to end in October!  

 At the end of May was Buddah's birthday. We got a few days off of school so we headed up to the Yeosu expo, with our friends Stella and Chris. I think we all are still a bit confused on what exactly the expo was about, but it was a pretty big deal and we had a blast! After spending a couple of days in Yeosu we headed to Beosong where they have huge green tea fields. It was a wonderful weekend. I'm going to be sad when we move back and Buddah's birthday isn't a national holiday!

 

June

June is my favorite month for an obvious reason...my birthday!! Not only was June filled with anticipation for my birthday, but it was also filled with a lot of time with friends. Once Adam and I got back from our mini-vacay in the states, we got together with our friends Jill and Aaron for a photo shoot. Jill and Aaron have been in Korea for 3 1/2 years and are starting a photography business when they move back to the states, in March. To prepare for their business, they started doing photo shoots every weekend to build their portfolio. We had so much fun and got gorgeous pictures as well! Check out their photography blog here: http://aaronnicholasphoto.blogspot.kr/ . For my birthday we had everyone over for a little potluck. Our apartment is pretty small, but we still managed to fit 15 friends in (somewhat) comfortably!

 

**These are the photos taken by Aaron and Jill.**

JULY

July was an exciting month! Last year a few friends of ours went to the Jisan Rock Festival up near Seoul and, after hearing how much fun they had, we knew we had to go this year! Our friends Chris, Stella, Grace and Blake also went and we all shared a pension not too far from the festival. The headliner Friday night was Radiohead!! It was really cool to see them play in Korea and something that I can brag about to my friends back home :P.

AUGUST

In August, Adam and I had our summer vacation! We got two weeks off, so we headed to the Philippines. The past two vacations we tried to see two countries in two weeks (so many two's!) and as great as that was we feel like we missed out on a lot. So this time around we decided to stay in one country and go to two different cities. We spent the first part of our trip in El Nido and the second part in Boracay. I think this vacation deserves a blog of it's own, so for now here are some pictures! 

SEPTEMBER

September started off with Adam's birthday!!! The big 24! To celebrate we had our friends come over to enjoy a fiesta (as best as we could) at our place. Carleigh and Meshell had sent some fiesta party favors along with my birthday gift, so I knew right away what the theme for Adam's party would be! We cooked tacos, drank tequila and just had the best time with all our friends. The next week Adam and I went and saw a Maroon 5 concert! I was stoked when I found out they would be playing in Busan and bought tickets as soon as they went on sale. Adam isn't a huge fan but I think he still had a lot of fun... I know I did!! The end of September was Chuseok (or "Korean Thanksgiving" - still trying to figure that one out haha! ) We had Monday-Wednesday off of school, so Saturday morning we headed up to Seoul with our friends Jenna and Jay. We spent the day shopping and headed to the casino at night. Sunday morning we met up with Chris and Stella who had been up in Seoul already visiting Stella's family and celebrating Chuseok. We all headed to Seoraksan where we stayed for the rest of our vacation! Seoraksan is about 2 hours away from Seoul and has beautiful hiking trails.

OCTOBER

Last weekend I went to Everland with my co-teachers. Everland is an amusement park near Seoul. It was a very long day, but I had so much fun hanging out with my co-teachers outside of work. My school also had it's Sports Day last week. I love Sport's Day. All the families come out and participate in ridiculous competitions (like relays) and they really get into it, especially the parents!

The end of the year.

Last month we celebrated our one year of being in Korea! I honestly cannot believe how fast this year has gone. We had such an amazing experience that we decided to let the good times roll and resign for another year. We just started at our new schools and moved to a new area on the other side of Busan. We are so excited for the change of scenery and so far we feel great about our new staff and students. I am staying at the elementary level but Adam has moved on to a middle school.

So let's catch everyone up :).



In November Adam and I purchased a juicer. We had watched a few food documentaries and one in particular sparked our interest in the juicing frenzy. The documentary was called "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" and we went out and bought a juicer almost immediately after watching it.  The movie is about a man's journey on a 60 day juice diet and all the benefits that come along with juicing. We ended up doing a 2 week juice diet and although it was difficult we made it through and felt great! We finished the juice diet just in time for our 1st annual SK Thanksgiving Potluck Extravaganza.

Our friend Megan, also known as Chicago Meagan, has a friends Thanksgiving every year and she made sure to bring the traidition to Busan. Everyone had to bring a dish and those who cooked a dish were entered in a contest. The 1st and 2nd place winners were awarded with a gift and even a certificate! Adam and I signed up to bring mashed potatoes, gravy, glazed carrots and cinnamon sugar almonds. We were nervous about there being enough food so we mashed over 50 potatoes, glazed 12 big carrots and made one pitcher of mushroom gravy. Let's just say we had a lot left over. It was an amazing night filled with a lot of love and fabulous friends.

In December we babysat our friend Mallory's cat, Franz Boas, Franz for short :). It was so nice to have a cat to come home to and play with. I think that is something Adam and I both miss. Christmas time in Korea is not as festive as back home but there was a lot more decorations hung up than I was expecting. There is even a street full of shops that had fake snow falling from the rooftops at night.

On Christmas we met with a group of our friends for lunch at a buffet and then just relaxed at home. We were lucky enough to have our families send packages so we had gifts to open and a lot of treats! It was hard being away from everyone we love back home but skype makes everything a lot easier. The day after Christmas we started winter camp which meant half days... more time to spend with Franz. Over summer break our half days were always filled with activities. We went to the beach, went out for lunch, went on long walks... anything. We wanted to make the most of those days. This was not the case for winter. Winter is actually winter in Korea. A total shock to the system of two Calfornians who normally dress almost the same for winter as they do summer... it was cold. We went into hybernation. We woke up for work and food and that's about it! Thank goodness we were able to travel during this vacation too or we might have froze to death ;).

When winter camp ended, Adam and I were off to Singapore and Malaysia! We took the overnight train into Seoul and had a 6 hour flight Saturday morning to Singapore with one layover in Malaysia. Many familar faces were on the flight with us heading to warmer weather and clearer skies, I think everyone was excited to get a break from big coats, beanies and gloves. Singapore was a beautiful city. Everyone talks about how clean it is and how the food is delicious and we definitely agree. It felt as though we were going, going, going in Singapore. We were able to fit in everything we wanted to do while visiting. We went to China town, the botanical gardens, the bird park, Sentosa island, a few more hot spots and of course we did some shopping. It seemed like everywhere we went there was a new mall and by the end we just couldn't resist! Some of our favorite foods were the chili crab, the fried rice and pratas from the Indian/muslim restaurants!!

After Singapore we were ready for some beaches! Our next stop was Penang, Malaysia and we decided it would be nice to take a train. For some reason we didn't look at how long the train would take until after we had already bought the tickets and to our surprise the trip was going to take 14 hours!!! So we spent the whole day in a old train with only noodles and some cookies for lunch and dinner. By the time we arrived in Penang we were ready to just get to the hotel and eat! Penang is a small island connected to the mainland by the longest bridge in all of Asia! We were able to rent a scooter and go exploring on our own. We still think this is the best way to see a new area! We were able to go all around the island and stop wherever we felt we should. Penang had a lot of little shops at night on the main road but we found that the souviniers are similar to the ones we saw in Thailand and Bali. I think that once you've seen one souvenir stand, you've seen them all! It took us some shopping around but we did find a few unique things to bring home. Our favorite part of Penang was Monkey Beach. We went to the National Park and went on an hour hike before finding this beach. It was the best beach in Penang and there were even wild monkeys just hanging out. We stayed for a few hours and took a boat back with a few other foreigners. We made another trip to Monkey Beach later in the week but skipped the hike and just took a boat! After Penang we headed for Langkawi. Langkawi was more of an isolated island then Penang and had more of the island feel to it as well. We stayed at a hotel called The Box Chalet. There were only six rooms and it was ran by a family who lived right next door. The husband was a cook at a restaurant down the street and he would cook breakfast every morning and his wife was very nice and even drove us down to the beach to find a good place to rent a scooter. We layed on the beach every day and found the most amazing mexican food we've tasted in the past year! The week was very relaxing and exactly what we wanted. We did not want to leave, we loved it there! Our final desitination was Kulala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. By this time in our trip we were not in the mood for the hustle and bustle of a city and a little too exhausted to try and explore the city. We did manage to make it to the Batu Caves and take a tour of the bat cave. In the cave are many Hindu Shrines and temples. We were visiting only a week before a big festival they celebrate at the cave, the festival of Thaipusam. This is an eight hour pilgrimage where men pierce their skin with large metal hooks to which they attach ropes and pull heavy decorated carts on wheels. Too bad we weren't there to see this but we did see a lot of devotees at the temples with shaved heads and beautiful gowns. At the batu caves we also took a Dark Cave tour. In the cave were many animals and insects such as bats and centipedes, that you can't find anywhere else. The cave was about 400 million years old and for the most part, untouched. It was a really intersting tour and we were both very happy we did it. After the caves we headed to the Petronas twin towers, the tallest buildings in the world from 1998-2004. There was a mall connected to the towers so we looked around and got dinner. After dinner we headed over to the towers to go up to the skybridge and see the view but, unfortunately, they closed five minutes before we got there and were closed the next day as well. This was our final night in Malaysia and instead of going out with a bang we went out with a massage.


Since we've been back we finished up the last school year and now are in our third week at our new schools. Korea's school year is from March-February. Although classes pretty much end in December before winter break. February was full of random lessons and cancelled classes and quite honestly wasted time. Talking to Korean teachers they also feel like February is a waste but it doesn't look like the schedule will be changing any time soon. At the end of the month we had to say goodbye to half the people in our group of friends. We tried to make sure to get dinner at least once during the week and go out on the weekends which made for a busy month. It was a sad night when we had to say goodbyes but I know we will stay in touch! We are so excited for this next year in Korea and all the other places we decide to travel.

Vacation and back to school update

It’s been so long since the last update and I thought I would be better about updating… OOPS!!

 So the last update ended right before our vacation so let me catch everyone up!

We arrived in Phuket, Thailand around 1am after two short flights and a layover in China. Not wanting to search for a reasonable price for a taxi we decided to just go with someone in the airport. Probably not the best price but it was convenient. The way people drive in Thailand can make you a little car sick or just nervous for your life. If there are laws for the road I don’t think anyone follows them. The cab ride was about an hour with a solid 15 minutes in Patong, trying to find our hotel. Of course the person working the front desk was not answering the phone and this cab driver had no idea where to go, even stopping to run in places to ask other people if they knew. Finally we found it!! We got settled and went straight to sleep so we could wake up early to explore. 

The next day we walked around and looked at all the shops on the street. We caught on quick not to be to impulsive with our shopping since almost all the stores had the same thing for different prices or a softer/weaker salesmen. We also learned that just by saying no thank you or walking out of the store will help you get the price you want ;) haha! After looking in a few stores we ate breakfast and headed straight for the beach. The water in Thailand is perfect. Warm water, nice size waves and clear to the bottom. As soon as we got in the water we knew it was going to be an amazing week. What made our trip perfect was renting a scooter. We were able to travel all around Phuket and see things that I know wouldn’t have been possible without it. We stopped at every beach on the west coast, found beautiful restaurants, ate some pretty amazing street food, got really cheap Thai massages and of course saw amazing sights! Let’s go back to the massages though. A thai massage cost around 10 dollars so we had to take advantage. By the end of the week Adam had gotten 9 or 10 massages and I had 8 plus a manicure and pedicure that also only cost 10 dollars. The thai massage takes a lot out of you. They stand on you, stretch you, twist you, they even crack areas of your body I never knew were possible to crack! Because it’s a lot on your body we spread them out and got some oil massages, fish foot baths and aloe treatments in between. This was definitely our kind of vacation! Thailand has such a calm atmosphere...at least during the day! Everyone we met was so kind and willing to help us with directions. I'm glad we choose to spend the whole time in Phuket. It was such a relaxing week and the perfect way to unwind from our jobs ;). 

We got very lucky with the weather while in Thailand. There were scattered storms but they always happened while we were inside or as soon as we got back to the hotel with the exception of one! The day we left it was pouring down rain, so much that our flight was delayed a little.

After leaving Thailand, Indonesia had a lot to live up to! We arrived in Bali around 8ish and headed straight to our hotel in Kuta. Driving up to the hotel we were very happy. The pictures on the website did not do it justice. The lobby was outside next to a pool with a swim up bar. There was also a nice dinning area outside with a restaurant open 24 hours. When we got settled in the hotel room we noticed there was no remote. I called down to tell them that the remote was missing but I guess only the deluxe rooms came with remotes. This was not okay so we upgraded to a deluxe room for 20 dollars. The difference between these rooms was huge, it was not just a remote that was missing from our first room. The deluxe rooms had recently been renovated and were a lot nicer. The beach was a close walk from the hotel with many shops and restaurants along the way. Kuta is a big foreigner spot, mostly Australians and surfers. The waves in Bali were bigger than any I have ever seen. Swimming was kind of out of the question unless you are willing to fight the current, which we did and got a small beating! We were able to rent a scooter in Bali which again made the trip that much more exciting. Our favorite spot we found was Uluwatu. A temple we stumbled across on was most definitely an exciting part of the trip. Pura Uluwatu is a temple that has roaming monkeys who are very cute but not so nice. The monkeys are good at stealing items that aren't secure to your body so we made sure to hide our cameras, sunglasses, and my purse. After a little hike, I had made a wrong step which resulted in the strap of my flip flop breaking. Dragging my shoe made me a little uncomfortable around the monkeys, I knew they were eyeing it! One monkey in particular had more than his eye on my shoe and with one little charge I was crying in a corner while the monkey had my shoe in his mouth. After calming down I yelled to Adam to take pictures! The shoe got tossed around and eaten up and I was barefoot until leaving the temple. As we were walking to our scooter I found one  flip flop. Right size, right foot... perfect! Probably another victim of the monkeys. Close to the temple was an amazing surf spot all built on a cliff. We found a nice restaurant here with a perfect view of the sunset. 

  We both feel so incredibly lucky to have traveled to two amazing countries. 

It has already been two months since our vacation. Second semester is going by a lot faster than the first semester. There hasn't been any changes at work other than getting more comfortable. The students have opened up more and we have gotten the hang of lesson planning and teaching. 

September, Adam turned 23!! We celebrated by going white river rafting and ATV riding before we left on vacation. It was a package deal that didn't turn out to be exactly how it was advertised but we still had a great day! The second weekend of September was the Korean holiday, Chuseok. Unfortunately, we had little time to plan a trip so we just spent the weekend relaxing and babysitting the kitten! Our friend Meagan, who had watched the cat while we were away, had gone to Japan for the holiday so we took the cat with hopes we could find him a home. We were successful, and the cat now has a family!

October started off with Cheryl and Alex visiting! Adam and I went up to Seoul to meet them early Saturday morning. We spent the three day weekend exploring Seoul and catching up. We took them to Gyeongbukgung, The N tower, a few traditional Korean restuarants and we visited the Japanese prison for Koreans during their occupation. After a wonderful weekend in Seoul we were happy to bring them down to Busan! We took them to our favorite Korean BBQ resturant, Haedongyongsura temple, Geumjeong fortress, and while we were at work they were able to do their own exploring! It was hard to say goodbye for a second time but we are so grateful that they made the long journey! The next week started all events for the Busan International Film Festival, or BIFF! This festival is a well known for film makers all around the world with more than 350 films from 70 countries shown!  We were able to see a Japanese film, Star Watching Dog, and an French animation film, A Monster in Paris, both in an outdoor theatre that was built specifically for this years festival. After BIFF started the annual Firework Festival. In the past the festival has only been three days but this year it was nine. The first weekend we watched a firework contest between Japan, China, Poland and the U.S. Each country had a 15 minute show and each one was spectacular! On the final day there was an hour and a half firework show! It started raining but the show wasn't cancelled. It was also Halloween weekend and the night we dressed up but we didn't bring an umbrella. We couldn't miss the show so we stood out in the pouring rain, costume and all and watched the best firework show we've ever seen. October was a busy month to say the least and we are starting off November taking it easy. 

We are still having the time of our lives and enjoying every minute of living in Korea! We miss you and love you all!!

                                                                     THAILAND

                     

                                                                         BALI

FIREWORK FESTIVAL...watch until the end!! 

July and August update!!

An update...FINALLY!! It's been awhile since our last post and a lot has happened! We hit our 6 month mark this week. I know we say this every update but time sure is flying by! 

I celebrated my birthday at the end of June. Being away from home for a birthday is hard but celebrating it in Korea made it so special. Keeping the tradition alive, I celebrated for three days! Lot's of food, presents, packages from home, and our first Korean baseball game.  Koreans sure do love their baseball!! Busan's baseball team is the Lotte Giants and Adam got us tickets in the "Danger Zone". This meant we were as close to the field as you can get along the first base line. It also meant we had to sign a paper waiving liabilities for any foul balls to the head... EXCITING!! We only had one close call which lead to a hole in my poncho. Instead of feasting on hotdogs, their food of choice is chicken! Delicious chicken I might add. Despite the rain, the stadium was packed with enthusiastic Koreans and a cheer/dance team pumping up the crowd in between innings. Along with the baseball game, Adam also got me a happy tree that we named... Happy. The tree is growing so much everyday. 

July was the last month of the semester and as the teachers were finishing up their work we were preparing lessons for Summer Camp. Summer break is 6 weeks long and we have to hold an English camp for 3 of those weeks. The weekend before the last week of school, we went to the 14th annual Boryeong Mud Festival. This festival started as an event to spread word about the cosmetic benefits of this mud and has now turned into one of Korea's biggest festivals. The main idea was to get as muddy as possible. They had a mud prison, mud obstacle courses, mud sinks with paintbrushes, wrestling ring and then the ocean a few feet away to wash off and start all over again :). The night ended with a lovely firework show. This was a perfect way to celebrate the end the semester. 

We are now finishing up our last week before our vacation. I had 3 weeks straight of camp and then this week I'm just sitting around and reading to any students who want to listen :). Adam had a week of camp, one week of sitting around, and then two more weeks of summer camp. We leave Friday for Phuket, Thailand and then to Bali, Indonesia. We have been planning this trip for so long, it's hard to believe it's already here!

Adam and I started walking at night which has allowed us to explore more of the area we live in. Something I love about Busan are the streams in the middle of the city. There are tracks along the stream with exercise equipment every mile or so. It is so peaceful that you forget you are living in a big city. Last week we were on our walk when we heard a loud crying from a bush. We searched and searched and finally we saw a black kitten but couldn't get to her because the bushes were too thick. She looked so scared that we couldn't leave her. An hour and a half and plenty of bug bites later we managed to rescue the kitty. We brought her home, washed her, fed her (tuna...not a good idea), and built her own little room in hopes that we could find someone to take her. After a few days and real kitten food she got very comfortable with us. She looks a lot healthier from when we first found her and definitely more playful. She is the most loving kitten and loves to snuggle and rub her face against ours. It is nice to have that love from an animal since we miss our pets back home. Unfortunately we are not able to keep her because of our situation so we are in the middle of trying to find her a good and loving home.

Now it's off to Thailand!! We will update the blog early september and we will try to write more these next 6 months ;).  We love you all and miss you terribly.