The Korean Chronicle of Kip and Tara

Back to Reality

2010-05-27T08:32:00.000-07:00

Hello again!
So we have finished our Korean adventure and are now back in Buffalo getting ready to begin the next chapter. We decided not to write too much about our second year in Korea because it was not a great experience. We did meet some amazing people who we will not forget (Bill, Kim, Julie, Ann, and Beth), but we were pretty miserable outside of that. Our apartment was in the middle of the mountains and it was a good one to two hour bus ride just to have dinner with our friends or go see a movie. The school was poorly run by dishonest owners. And our privacy was severely compromised. However, we are now home and doing very well. We both just started work with People Inc. which we are enjoying very much. We are also planning a wedding in August which we are incredibly excited about.
http://www.mywedding.com/taraandkip

Life back in the states feels surreal at times. We still go eat at Korean restaurants just to hear the familiar language and feel like we are back in the crazy country which we called home. Hopefully someday we will be able to go back and visit some of the amazing people we have been fortunate enough to call family the past two years. For now though, we are content to soak up our family & friend time and to find a little normalcy again. So thus ends our crazy adventure. Thank you all for coming along for the ride and supporting us along the way.
Much love, Tara and Kip

The "Family" Dinners

2009-06-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone out there in "I like to read about what Tara and Kip are doing now" land!

Welcome to the end...

the end of the first year that is!

But, before we go we felt it a grave injustice if we didn't mention our "family" dinners. Almost every Sunday a group of teachers and HHI ship-yard supervisors get together for dinner.

As you might of guessed they have become our far away from home family. Have no fear mom's and dad's, you haven't been replaced. The dinners take place at our friend (dad) Scott's house.

(can you guess which is Scott)

This is all so because he has the nicest house any foreigner here has ever seen. Anyways, we spend the night cooking any talking and having a grand old time. This is a great to let off some steam that may have built up over the past week in preparation for the week to come. The night usually ends with the watching of "Cheech and Chong: Up in smoke"

So... the time has come. The end of our year is here, only to begin a new adventure. Yes, you've guessed it, one more year! If you read the last blog you know there were two jobs open to us. Never to make things easy for ourselves chose the third option. A different school offered us a position and we took it. We are still in Ulsan but this time were are in a different spot. Want to know more... you'll just have to tune in next time. Same bat time same bat channel!

Round one is almost over!

2009-06-14T07:15:00.000-07:00

Hello all!
So our first year is almost over. In a few weeks we will be on a plane headed for Europe. The new teachers will be teaching our munchkins; and almost everything we own will be in suitcases or boxes where it will remain for the next few months. Life is exciting and terrifying at the same time right now. Goodbyes will be extremely hard, but the excitement of seeing our families soon will hopefully minimize the tears a bit.. And yes, I have already begun to shed them. I said goodbye to a wonderful friend today and bawled like a baby. Those of you who know me know I am a weenie when it comes to goodbyes!
Anyhow, we have two jobs on the horizon that we need to choose between. One is a bit less exciting, less equipped, and less work. The other is at an amazing school, has an amazing apartment, and has an amazingly large workload attached to it (with no more pay). (and a potentially bitchy boss- which is fun for no one involved!) So needless to say, we are leaning towards the first one!
Either way, the job seems to be one less thing hanging over our heads; now we should be able to come home focused solely on soaking up as much of our loved ones as possible! The closer it gets to coming home the more I miss everyone. It is like this year we knew we couldn't come home so we tried to push it to the back of our minds. But now that it gets closer, I get more and more excited everyday. The urge to see everyone gets more and more overwhelming. I guess the point of this blog is to tell you all how happy we are that we can see you soon and that we miss and love you all tons!!!!!!!!!

The visit from the fam

2009-05-21T05:30:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Well as you can guess from the header we had a visit from the family. My mom and brother made the long journey to see us!
They were stayed with us for a week and a half. We had a whole lot of fun while they were here.
The first Friday night We took them for seafood and Galbi/Somgyupsal. Then we had some bumper car action.

The first Saturday was spent walking around Pine forest and King's Island. Now we've (Tara and I) been to Pine Forest and King's Island a couple of times by now, but with Mom and Owen it was like the first time all over.

On Sunday Mrs. An took us to the Bamboo Forest and three amazing temples.

At the Tongdosa Temple we even were able to eat some monk food. It was really good too!

During the week Tara and I had to work but we did have Tuesday off. I took them to see Munsu Stadium where the 2002 World Cup semi-finals were held.
(yes this is a recycled image)
After seeing the stadium Owen received a strange call on my phone from the Korean CDC asking him if he felt fine...... Remember this is during the height of the Swine Flu epidemic.

Over the week they stopped by the school to see us in action. The last weekend we took them to Busan to see JUMP. Unfortunately the show had moved to Seoul; so that plan was out the window. Instead we took them to see a different kind of show. There was a traditional Korean wedding show that was open to the public. Prior to the show they asked us to pose on the set for pictures.

(hahaha no we didn't get married)
After that we headed to the fabled Jagalchi fish market.

The next day we had some delicious Mexican food at FN Tacos and headed to the beach.

Their flight was Tuesday morning so I took them to the airport to say goodbye.

It was great to see them!!

(Over the trip Owen took over 2 gigs of pictures and movies)

April Update

2009-04-06T07:06:00.000-07:00

Hello all! So since we have been slacking on the blog lately I thought it was about time for a quick update. Spring is finally here and the sunshine is a welcome change! The days are brighter, the flowers are springing up, and Ulsan is filled with blossoming cherry trees. We now only have three months left and we have narrowed down our choices as to what we will do next year. We miss our families terribly but are thinking that one more year here would be the wisest decision financially. So, when we finish here we will spend two weeks in Europe, head home for a few months, and then turn back around to find another job here. We find comfort in the fact that we know our way around, we know some great people here, and we know a little of the language. This is not set in stone but it is a decision that we become more comfortable with every day. (Aside from missing you all- that we will never be okay with!!!)

Our time this spring has been well spent and busy! We are trying to fit in as much as we can before our time here is up. This weekend we went to a nearby town called Gyeongju where the cherry blossoms are amazing. We went on Friday night and they have rows upon rows of trees around a lake with the blossoms all lit up. It was right out of a fairy tale!

Then Saturday we went to our friend Aie's birthday party where we met up with many of our Korean friends and had some delicious Thai food. Later that night we took a train to Busan and headed to a bar with a live band where we danced like morons for hours. Sunday was spent lounging on Hyundai beach enjoying the sun.

It was a wonderful weekend and a welcome change from the many lazy gray weekends that preceded it.

So the sun is out, decisions have been made, and we will get to see you all soon. Things are looking up for this crazy couple!!! God we miss you!!

Making my year

2009-03-05T07:16:00.000-08:00

So I just had to comment on how amazing my birthday was, and to say THANK YOU to everyone who helped make it so! So I was really dreading this year, being the big 3 0, and also being the first away from my friends and fam back home, but I just have to say that somehow you all managed to help make this birthday an unforgettable one. Today I am happy to be 30, and I am starting off my third decade feeling incredibly loved and blessed. First my birthday began with Aie sneaking presents into my purse when I wasn't looking, and then Kip singing Happy Birthday at the top of his lungs at the crack of midnight. I then got to open Kip's presents which were adorable and very thoughtful. I then shared some wonderful conversations with my sister, my dad, and my mother (whose awesome presents I opened earlier int the week). I was presented with two dozen beautiful roses at school from Dad and Steph. Nina sent me a handmade present which actually made me cry a little. My boss brought in a fantastic cake to work; and when I got home from work I had a gagillion kind birthday wishes on the computer from all of you amazing people! To top it off I got to talk to my grandparents and open their presents on Skype. Then Kip made me a delicious salmon. Oh, and some of the cutest students ever brought me goodies such as a necklace, some star candies, and some electric blue nail-poish-ooh yeah! I know this may seem like I am bragging in some way, but I promise I am not! I just want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for making my YEAR!! I love you all sooo very much!!xxoos!!

Decisions..decisions....

2009-02-25T06:39:00.001-08:00

Hello all.. I am writing today because I am realizing that it is about time we decide what to do next. We have four months left here in Korea, and while that may seem like plenty of time to make a decision about next year, the months are flying by much faster than we anticipated. The economy of the US is pretty scary at the moment so finding a job at home would probably be quite tricky. We are tossing around the idea of taking on another teaching assignment. On one hand we just want to come home to our friends and family and feel grounded again. On the other hand there is a piece of us that knows that one more year abroad could be the smart thing to do financially. It is a tough decision that needs to be made fairly soon. Either that or our friends and fam back home can start buying us lottery tix so we can strike it rich, come home to grab you all, and then go on a fun little trip. :-) Any volunteers?

A blooming Artist...

2009-02-17T06:04:00.000-08:00

I just had to share one student's amusing depiction of us.
I found this on the back of his speech paper- mind you his speech was about wanting to be a doctor when he grows up- completely unrelated!!

Aren't we beautiful? How about those lips!!

The rest of the Thailand trip.

2009-02-17T04:23:00.000-08:00

Yes yes I know it has been a long time since we've updated the blog or even finished our last trip entries.

Our flight to Koh Chang was pretty uneventful. We were served food and then we landed. At the airport we jumped in one of the airport vans that would take us to our hotel. On the way to the hotel we had to take a ferry to the island. It had been a long time since I'd been on a ferry. Just about as I had remembered it but the view was amazing and more than made up for the seating. After getting on the island the road that the airport van took was crazy! One of the most twisty roads I've been on.

It was finally our turn to be dropped off at our hotel. Our anticipation was mounting and oh boy did it deliver. The Chai Chet hotel was beautiful! Everything we were looking for. After all of our traveling we just wanted to sit by the pool and relax.

That afternoon we decided to explore a little bit and headed out. We found this little place down the road that had amazing pad thai. The owner was a very nice englishman. At this meal we decided to plan what we were going to do the rest of our time here.

We only had three days to spend in paradise... The first day we spent the day around the pool, exploring the local beach and relaxing.

The second day was new years eve. In the morning we went snorkeling on a different island. We met a nice couple on the boat there that was living London but was from Milwaukee. So we decided to go together. Snorkeling was fun but the waves were too big and water kept getting in our tube. After we were done we had lunch at the local shop.

(Lunch of Champions)
After the snorkeling we went back to the hotel to get ready for the new years eve gala the hotel was putting on. The night was an amazing experience with dancing, great food, interesting entertainment, fire dancers and fireworks. Here are some pictures from the night:

Here are some ladyboys serenading us.

The fire dancers were really cool

The fire works show was the best I've ever seen. All along the beach the different hotels were having their own firework shows so it was a fireworks bonanza! We also won a strange jade fish that we unfortunately would not be able to fit in our bags. We left it on a table down the beach.

In the morning on the third day we decided to do the tree top adventure. This is where you climb up ladders, along high beams, across tight ropes, and down zip lines.

this is us all strapped in.
Here is Tara and I up in the trees!

In the afternoon on the third day we rode elephants. When I say we rode an elephant I really mean I sat in a seat on its' back and Tara rode on its' neck.

That night we got inked! Wefigured that since we were in Thailand we'd get real Thai tattoos.

Tara got the Thai word for love on the back of her neck.

I got the ouroboros on my right wrist.

The next day was a bit hectic. We had to get to the 10:00 am ferry to get on a bus that would take us to Bangkok. What we didn't know is that not all taxis would take you there; so needless to say, we missed the ferry. We finally found a taxi that would take us after two hours of trying and made the next ferry. We were lucky and the next ferry left about 30 min after the one we needed to be on. The bus hadn't left yet. While waiting for the bus to leave we met a couple from Netherlands. They were really cool and we hope to keep in touch with them. The bus dropped us off near Kao San Rd where we enjoyed ourselves much more than we had the first night in Bangkok. If you've seen the movie "The Beach" you will know it. We stopped in a bar to have a few drinks with the Netherlanders and exchanged e-mails. We walked around, shopped, and explored for a couple of hours till we had to go to the airport. Our flight was at 2:00 am so by that time we were a wee bit tired.

Well that's it. Probably the best vacation of both our lives.

One Night in Bangkok...

2009-01-11T03:50:00.000-08:00

We ran for our lives from the Thai mob. OK so this is a slight exaggeration; but there still was an altercation involving $10 beers, some aggressive Thai prostitutes and some very irate Thai's that made us want to vacate that bar quite quickly.

In the time we had before we were to meet Simon, we head to the street markets. Cramped sidewalks with people walking way too close. So far we don't like Bangkok.

So the night really started when we met Simon at our hotel. We got a call from the lobby, but it didn't sound like our British friend. It turned out that Brent and Aie (our friends from Ulsan) had run into Simon on his way to meet us. We met them in the lobby and we were off. First thing we needed was food. Brent and Aie had just eaten so they headed off to a bar where we would meet up with them later. After filling Simon in on the goings on at our school we headed to the bar aptly named "The Pickled Liver" to meet back up with Brent and Aie.

A discussion started between Simon and Brent on where Simon should take us. You see we wanted to see the seedy underbelly of Bangkok (now a major tourist attraction). We decided to take Simon's lead and followed him to a place that was unlike anything we've known. We went to the shows.

You can find almost anything to watch or do in this section of Bangkok. We were being pummeled from every angle with offers for shows with animals to shows with women picking up things with their nether regions, all from skeezy men and sometimes women too. What we were looking for were the lady-boy (or drag) shows. We have heard from Simon and Brent that some of the most beautiful "girls" in Bangkok... are if fact boys. Bangkok is the sex change capital of the world. They were right. We saw some of the other shows as the night progressed all of which seemed a bit lacking in the enthusiasm of the performers. We decided to stop with the shows and just hit some bars. Simon knew a place that had some good live music and cheap beer. Trying to find it was another matter; and once we did it had closed down. It was then that the night took a rather unexpected turn.

We headed to the second level bars (totally forgetting the warning to stay away from them) and found a bar that said that they had cheap beers and a show. After making our way past some rather tough looking guys we sit down. The first round comes and we toast. Right after we take the first swig, the owner's wife comes over demanding money for the "free" show. Simon argues for a bit (in Thai) and gets them to drop the fee. We'd almost been had. Then the bill comes for the the beers, $10.00 each. The bar is owned by the Thai mob, and we were cearly being hustled. Simon told us to just go with it and not argue. After seeing the big seedy guys we past on the way in get up and glare at us, I was inclined to agree. When we finished our beers I commented on Simon's watch saying that I would need to find one soon to cover up the wrist tattoo (that I would be getting) for job interviews and work. He felt so bad at putting us in the position we were in that he gave me his watch. After that we left the bar, said our farewells and headed back to our hotel. Simon hailed a cab and told the driver where to take us.

Unbeknownst to us, our cabby was a moron. Our hotel was on road (Soi) 15. He was heading to road 65 by the time we caught on. So we told him to turn around and head to 15. That's when he past 15 and was on his way to where-ever! We told him to stop, and begrudgingly payed him the crap fare. On the way out of the cab I yelled some choice words that would of made my mother blush. We make it back to the hotel realizing that we still don't really like Bangkok.

The next day we head to the airport to catch our plane to Koh Chang. (that blog to come soon)

Falling for Cambodia

2009-01-11T02:21:00.000-08:00

AAHHH, Cambodia! We miss it already! Our trip to Cambodia was a bit of an exhausted blur until we got to Siam Reap. When we exited the Siam Reap Airport, we were bombarded with about fifty taxi and tuk-tuk drivers. (Tuk-Tuks are little open carriages hooked onto a motor scooter- quite a fun way to ride!)We were exhausted and annoyed and ready to scream until we actually got into a tuk-tuk and began heading to our hotel. We immediately relaxed. The night air was warm and calming and the entire way was lit by the strings of white lights adorning massive old hotels. It was romantic and exhilarating, and exactly what we needed after 13 hours of traveling! When we got to the hotel we made plans to meet our tuk-tuk driver again the next morning and headed inside. The hotel itself was old and in need of some attention, but it was cozy enough for our needs. We dropped off our bags and headed out to explore. Most places were closed; because by now it was almost midnight. But, we were lucky enough to find a divey Indian restaurant with tasty cheap food and ate like champs for about nine bucks before heading back to our hotel to crash.
The next morning we headed out to see Anchor Wat and the surrounding temples. We were immediately rendered speechless by the massive size and astounding beauty of Anchor Wat. Pictures truly do not do the temple justice, as everywhere you look there is yet another breathtakingly beautiful photograph-worthy sight.

Kip took over 400 pictures alone that day. We also spent a lot of time chasing around the monks and trying to sneakily get them in our photos. They were adorned in these amazing orange robes that looked phenomenal against the deteriorating stone backdrop of the temple.

Next we headed to a few other temples only to end up at Ta Prohm. We fell instantly in love with the mix of massive trees, roots, moss and old-stone architecture.

Trees and moss grew over every corner of the dilapidated temple, making it look incredibly mystical. It felt like we were in the center of an old fairy-tale and a unicorn or fairy could pop out at any moment.

We spent hours getting lost in the magical maze of Ta Prohm. Needless to say, even after 600 or so pictures, we were still hesitant to leave. But as it began getting dark we reluctantly had to make our way back into town.

On the way home we witnessed an amazing sunset, making the day feel almost perfect. We finished off our evening with a tasty Cambodian dinner, a few drinks at a tiki-bar at the night market and a foot "massage" by little "Dr.fish" that are supposed to rid your feet of any dead skin cells.
It was quite a day.
The following day we headed out early to see a floating village about a half hour away. The village is made up of Cambodians, Vietnamese, and Muslims who live and fish on Tonlesap Lake. Once we got to the river we hopped into an old rickety boat with an overly chatty Cambodian guide and headed out towards the lake. The "river" we went out on was actually a road during dry season and only had about 2 meters of water at that time. On the banks along the river were rundown homes and huts on stilts that were moved by truck when the seasons (and water height) changed. The floating village itself was also quite a sight.
The homes were in awful shape and were far to small for the large families that inhabited them. In addition to houses, the village had a floating gym, a floating school, floating markets, and even floating pig, duck and alligator farms. The people were completely oblivious as we stared and snapped photographs of them piled into their run-down hut-boats.

It was incredibly sad and beautiful at the same time. We stopped at the school where the chidren were incredibly poor and could not afford basic school supplies. Kip and I pitched in and bought them some stacks of notebooks and pencils which they were quite happy about. They rewarded us with big smiles and some adorable poses for our pictures. It was the highlight of the day.

After our river adventure we headed back into town for a mouthwatering lunch, a stroll through the old-market area, and a $6.00 massage. Tired and hungry, we found a great little restaurant called the Funky Monkey with a very friendly English owner and top-shelf drinks for only $3.00. We were in heaven. The next morning we tearfully hopped into a tuk-tuk and bid farewell to our beautiful and quaint Siam Reap only to hop to the bustling craziness that is Bangkok.

Whoa Doggie!!!!

2008-11-23T06:30:00.000-08:00

Okay so for those of you that don't know, The Korean Won is heading straight down the pooper right now.. We are freaking out a bit, and are unsure of what to do about it. When we began here, one American dollar was equal to about 1,000 won (and that is what we budgeted for). Now, however, the won has dropped drastically in value and one American dollar is worth about 1,500 won. This means that when we transfer money home to pay bills we lose about thirty percent. It is also supposed to keep rising for the next year. ;-(
So we figure we have a few options:
1-We hightail it out of here before we go broke,
2- We ride it out and hope it goes back down,
or 3- We start selling ourselves on the corner to make up the difference...
Any other suggestions are very welcome!

Pepero Day!

2008-11-11T03:32:00.000-08:00

Okay so in Korea, there is this ridiculous holiday called "Pepero Day." Like Valentines day, it is a contrived holiday created by a huge corporation. Peperos are those little sticks that are cracker inside, and chocolate outside. Some people dip them in their coffee in America.... You know the ones. Anyhow, Lotte Mart created this holiday in the hopes of selling more candy. It started in a middle school in Busan where girls would give these candies to each-other. They were supposed to bring good luck to the receiver; so that she would grow up to be stick thin like the candies! Well the holiday grew, and now everyone gives each other these peperos on November eleventh. Needless to say, I came home today with a shopping bag full. I think I am good on peperos until I am about seventy three.. (give or take a few years) :-)

Nothing like a little Probing on Halloween

2008-10-31T03:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween all! So as you can probably tell from the title, my Halloween was a bit strange.. I have had the cold from hell for a few weeks now, and last night I had a fever that freaked Kip out so bad that he wanted to ship me to the hospital. My solution was to pop some tylenol and wait till this morning when could drag my ass there myself. It took me three tries to find the right building. Once I got there I got shuffled from clerk to clerk trying to find someone that could speak English. Finally I got a nice guy that was able to decipher my problem and send me off to the right department. I waited for about two hours in the waiting room before I finally heard the nurse call "Mrs.Tara?" The doctor was nice enough; but he insisted that my problem was simply allergies. I tried to explain that raging fevers and green snot is not "allergies," but he was very confused. His solution was to shove a foot-long skinny metal probe up my nose. I started screaming like a baby (so loud the nurse came running!) Apparently their solution is to shove a metal probe up your nose which deposits gauze way the hell up there. The gauze is supposed to help the nose stop running. Geez- why didn't I think of that?? Anyhow, after all is said and done he writes me a prescription for SUDAPHED!! I could have walked my ass to the pharmacy and just gotten my own sudaphed! Needless to say I will not be visiting the hospitals here anytime soon. On a lighter note we had a really fun week at school up until yesterday. We had "Halloween week" this week. Monday and Tuesday we decorated the rooms with decorations that the kids made. Wednesday we carved pumpkins, and yesterday we played Halloween bingo which the kids loved. So although today wasn't so hot, Halloween wasn't so bad this year all in all :-)

The first (and maybe the last) English Camp

2008-10-27T08:11:00.000-07:00

Ok folks... yes, I know it's been awhile since our last post. This burning missive that follows is a tad bit late- but here goes.

We have had our first English Camp experience. This "happening"... um.. happened a couple of weeks ago. As some of you have already heard, it didn't go so well. Not bad mind you, but not the time of our lives either. The trip started on a Saturday. We headed to the bus stop to meet the Korean teachers and the ten children. That's right- we took a bus there. You might think this is nice, but no, this is a mass transit kind of transport. We were told that the trip would take about an hour... yeah, by car! The trip consisted of two buses and a transfer. The transfer happened in the cold and dark of somewhere. Then the other bus dropped us off a bit of a walk down a dark road to get to the "camp," otherwise known as an apartment! Here is the view of the beach from the apartment oh I mean the camp...

I know some of you might not know it, but it can be hazardous to your health if you drink the Korean water straight from the tap (they don't even do it themselves.) So we were amazed to find out that there was no water in jugs like we were told. When we called our boss she said to just boil the water... (and put it where to cool?) Plus the door to the boys bedroom was locked so we couldn't get in. They had to sleep in the living room next to our room (which we had to share with the Korean teachers.) This was not planned as they were going to stay in the living room. I was starting to get sick and Tara was already a bit sick to begin with. With this in mind I bet you can picture the look on our face when we saw the dirty apartment. Mold was growing in the freezer and in the tea pot (the same tea pot where we were to boil the water).

We played some games with kids then "sent" them to bed. The boys kept us up all night... The hard hard hard bed didn't help much, but the super dense pillow was worse.

The next morning we got the kids "up" or rather the kids were still up. After breakfast we headed for the beach for a scavenger hunt... which ended up being "sit on the beach and try to wake up" for the boys.

The girls were a little more in to the hunt... until they saw the water.

Next we headed up the mountain for some more activities. Here is a view from the top:

Now a group photo:
The Boys

The Girls

All in all I guess it wasn't a horrible trip. Minus the trip there, the no water thing, the state of the apartment, the no sleep for a whole weekend, the super unrealistically cramped time table, oh and the not really having a full day off for two weeks... it wasn't all that bad. Oh I forgot to say that we didn't get paid what we thought we would. Let's see if we do this again.

Ben and Reggie

2008-09-28T05:13:00.000-07:00

So we have two new roommates as of today- Benjamin (My Guy) and Reginald (Kip's guy).

We saw bunnies at the grocery store for a mere 15 thousand won (abt. fifteen bucks), and we couldn't help ourselves.. Mind you, I have no idea what we will do with them when we leave here; but for now we are pretty in love with the little buggers. Benjamin is the tan one and he is a big fan of licking anything in sight. Reginald on the other hand is a little biter. He nips everything, especially elbows, so you have to keep keep an eye on him or you will get a nice little surprise nip when you least expect it! On a side note, we have to pass by the Hyundai Billding to get to the market where we got our little guys.

I figured that deserved a mention in the blog :-) We also threw in two goofy pics from our hike to Kings Island last week, good times.

Yes, they bounce here too!

2008-09-07T07:41:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. This past weekend we went to Ulsan Grand Park again. After a bit of a misunderstanding on the meeting place, we met up with a group of friends to rent bikes. Riding around the park was a great time. The plan was to check out the butterfly place and head to the petting zoo. Well the butterflies needed a ticket and probably not worth it. The petting zoo disappeared to some unknown forgotten place. On the ride an accident happened...

So here's how it played out: Tara and I were riding and talking. We look forward just in time to see a gaggle of youngsters running across the path. The largest of them make it across only to leave the littlest of the group trailing behind. Of course he clears Tara's bike only to run smack dab into the front wheel of my bike as I swerve trying to miss the little nugget. As I fell off the bike in the hopes that I wouldn't hurt him too bad. I see his head bounce off the tire and then the ground. Now you might ask how did you deal with running over a little kids head. This would of been a whole lot easier if the kids parents spoke english. After apologizing in every way I can think of I head off.

On a side note we all felt much relief in the knowledge that it was against the rules to hit a business man about the body and run off with his briefcase... or to run with scissors for that matter.

The last thing we stop at before heading to drop the bikes off is an incredible monument. The detail on the bronze figures is amazing.

After everything was said and done we stopped for some rockin Indian food!

Much much more to come.

The Other Side of the Story

2008-09-03T09:12:00.000-07:00

Hello again.
So since most of our other blogs are fairly cheerful, I don't feel too guilty admitting to the blue days that inevitably come with being separated from those you love for an extended period of time. The homesickness is kicking in and we are missing our families and friends quite a bit. And I would be lying if I said I didn't tear up whenever I think of my amazing pup back home. Don't get me wrong, I still feel like we are meant to be here. All in all I am happy here; but lately I have been getting blue moments at night. Living here can be very difficult at times. Mind you, we are living in a culture where old ladies have no qualms about elbowing you in the supermarkets or glaring at you on the bus. People gawk everywhere you go, and in all honesty, we are little more than a commodity here. We are a white face that makes money for the school. That being said, we are also making good money ourselves, and we are very fortunate to have our job. However, the glaring differences between here and home can wear on you quite a bit. It is exhausting feeling like you are on display at all times. I often feel like a mannequin in a department store window. Simply walking down the street you hear "hello, hello, hello" "nice to meet you" from half the people you see, and you get glares from the rest. So just a five minute trip to the store is an emotional roller coaster, from pleased amusement, to annoyance, to frustration. There are many wonderful aspects to living in Ulsan, but this week I just needed to vent about the crap that comes with them. So thanks for listening to my mini-rant. More happy stuff to follow. :-)

Finally in Japan!

2008-08-18T08:22:00.000-07:00

Aah Japan!!!!! First of all, our hotel was a thousand times better than the craphole we stayed in in Busan- so we thanked our lucky stars immediately for that! The wonderful Ana Hakata even had a bidet!! Man, my tush has never been so clean! We also had courtesy pajamas left for us every night- and while they were hideously ugly, we just had to wear them ('cuz its not every day you get fresh clean pjs laid on your bed for you!)
So after we freshened up that first night we headed out to discover this insanely beautiful mall called "Canal City." It had everything you could imagine: from canals, to restaurants, to reflexology, to a bagpipe player/juggler. That became our haven as we found some reason to go there just about every night. One of the first things we noticed about Japan is how much freer we felt compared to Korea. No one gave you dirty looks for no reason, signs were also in English; and everything was very easy to navigate. We walked the city the second day and traveled through the many amazing temples. We had no problems finding everything and were able to relax and take in the beautiful sights. The third day we spent traveling to and from Yamagawa which is a city of beautiful canals and Castle ruins. We took a boat-ride through the city on one of the boats propelled by a man with a pole. He was a trip and the canals were so amazing that we were both speechless for most of the ride.

We also had our first experience with a hot spring- which we found by accident when we were trying to find a restaurant. Unfortunately Yamagawa had NOOO restaurants that we could find, so we had to head back to Fukuoka hungry and cranky. The good news is that Fukuoka has amazing food. Over the course of our trip, we ate at everything from little divey places to fancy upscale places, and everywhere we ate the food was phenomenal! (Especially the last night when we ate at a sushi pace that had sushi on a conveyor belt and you just grabbed what you wanted as it came by your table)

That last night I also decided that it was high time I chopped the mane that I have had for the past ten years. So I went to a guy that spoke almost no English, told him to chop it, and he went all Edward Scissor-Hands on me. It was quite a sight! :-) Luckily it turned out well, and I no longer have to take two hour showers! Oh I almost forgot about the Llama!! The last day we rented bikes and rode around this amazing park with a zoo and a seaside view and it was beautiful! What was not so beautiful was getting spit on by a pissed off llama! Yessiree- I stuck my tongue out at him, so he spit on me! Right in my face, much to the amusement of just about everyone around! So, aside from stinking like dirty llama, we had a really wonderful time. The food, the scenery, and the memories all made it a trip we will never forget!

Japan!!!

2008-08-18T07:40:00.000-07:00

So... Well we haven't yet done a blog about Japan yet. I know I know you've been waiting with abated breath.

The trip starts with a bus ride... well it ends with a bus ride as well for that matter. Tara and I have live in Ulsan (as you know.) We have to catch a bus to Busan which is about 45 min away. Not a bad ride aside from the 30 min bus ride to the bus terminal in New Downtown Ulsan. We rather enjoy the ride down there. The countryside is very beautiful! We reach the Busan bus terminal which is also the subway station. After navigating the ticket system with the help of a kind older man we are on our way to the International Ferry Terminal. Once we get there we find the terminal and then a hotel. You see we decided to spend the night in Busan. Our ferry is at nine the next morning. Even though we asked the travel agent for the later ferry (but you know these crazy Koreans.) The hotel we find is really close to the ferry so we think we're in luck. WRONG! Even though we loved the shower (water pressure... finally) the beds were almost rock hard and the pillows the same. We take our losses and head out to explore Busan. Trying to find a restaurant has never been more fun than when your hungry, tired, lost, and you don't speak the language. Yeah at this point... all we can think is "Busan sucks." After our adventure and interesting dinner, we head down to the "waterfront." We grabbed a beer and were "forced" to get the "official Korean style beer." (Which included a ten dollar plate of processed cheese that we did not order.) We were just to tired to argue with the guy so we took it. Heading back to the hotel room we settle on watching a random English movie and try to fall asleep on our nice hard bed. This is how we felt:

The next day, however, we were tired but very excited! I mean it's not everyday that you get to go to Japan!!! The ferry was really cool. It was a "hydrofoil" which means that it rides on top of the water- it is much more smooth and cuts the riding time in half. The trip went by extremely fast. (Plus everything goes by quicker when you're passed out.) Over all the trip was about three hours.
We finally get to JAPAN!!!!
(more to follow)

It's soccer time... or is it futbol...

2008-07-30T07:21:00.000-07:00

Hello again from Korea. For all our stateside readers, it's called soccer. But for all our international readers it's called futbol. This past saturday Tara and myself went to see a match with our co-worker Simon and our new friend Byoung Chul. Ulsan Hyundai was playing Fulham FC. The plan was to meet them outside the ticket window at six. When six came and went there we were still on the KMTS. Being still pretty new to the KMTS (Korean Mass Transit System) otherwise known as the bus, we didn't leave early enough. Got a little nervous when we saw the stadium... then we turned away from it. I forgot that the bus had to make a loop before getting to the drop off point.

So now we're at the stadium. I must add that this stadium is the stadium that was used in the 2002 World Cup Semi Finals. So needless to say I'm pretty stoked. After meeting Simon and Byoung Chul head to buy some Hite. At this point we can see the field right in front of us. I have Byoung Chul ask one of the guards if we could go down closer to the field so Simon can take a picture of me and the field. When we're down doing that the guards say that we can sit in the section right behind the goal (we paid for the cheap seats and got the expensive ones instead) so we head there. I brought my camera and took some pictures.

The final score of the game was Fulham FC 2 Ulsan Hyundai 1. Both teams played quite well but Fulham deserved the win.

The Next Emily Dickensons

2008-07-14T06:43:00.000-07:00

So I asked some of my adorable students today to write a story.
I am trying to get them to write in the correct tense and to write complete sentences.

The gist of the assignment is that they pick a character and they each write what the character did on a given day of the week. One girl was assigned Monday, one Tuesday, etc.. I had the first class write a story with me as the main character, and the second class had Kip as the character. What they came up with was so good I just had to post it!
The following is the first story:
Monday:
Tara ate pizza, hamburger, and a lot of meat. She gained a lot of weight which made her very angry! She was so angry she saw Para (another student) and hit her. Para called the policeman so Tara was angry again.
Tuesday:
On Tuesday Tara buy apples.She make apple Pie. It was delicious.
Wednesday:
On Wednesday Tara bought expensive computer. Buy the way, Tara broke her expensive computer. So Tara was shocked!
Thursday:
On Thursday Tara met many friends in Korea. Tara and her friends drink beer. They sing and dance. And they went to the beach. They ate a shark.They slept on the beach. This made policeman angry. So Tara hit the policeman. She went to jail.

I couldn't make this stuff up!!!!

Kip's story:
On Monday Kip went to the Gyong Gue and ate Ice cream and Snack. He was mad so he slept at a hotel.
On Tuesday he went to the swimming pool. He met his girlfriend. They ate pizza. He is very happy.
On Wednesday Kip went to the bar. He drank Liquor. Then he gets fired. He despairs.
On Thursday Kip went to Ulsan Stadium. He ate ice cream and candy. He took bicycle and skate. He was so very happy.
On Friday Kip went to the internet cafe. He play computer game and then he finished. He meet his friends. They drink Soju. They get drunk. Then he eat spaghetti. He gives his money to the clerk. Then he goes to the park. He plays game and exercise.

My kids rock!!
And on the "park" note- here are some pics of the park in front of the Hyundai Department store. It is really beautiful:

Here is one of the Football game we went to on Saturday which was played in the stadium that held the 2002 World Cup. It was pretty amazing:

And lastly- We had dinner at a "Western" restaurant which only serves fried chicken and pickles. Yessiree- Koreans serve pickles with anything they consider American- even pizza! Well this place had some pretty fantastic decor, an example of which is below :-)

I know you are all probably dying for one of these sexy men in your living room, so I will see what I can do! ;-)

Australian Beef

2008-07-11T22:17:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we decided to buy a mattress pad to help with the hard bed. You see our backs were not liking the "sleeping on a board" mattress. After explaining to our co-workers what we wanted they told us to check out a department store called Lotte (like the drink but with an o not an a.) This turned out to be an exciting trip, our first bus ride. The bus ride there was really cool; seeing new parts of Ulsan is always great. The bus dropped us off in front of the Lotte store. After walking around the eight floor building for a while we found the bedding section. The ladies were quite nice about the fact that we couldn't understand them and they us. We finally found a lady who was standing across the way that could make out what we were trying to get. Unfortunately the pad she had was the cheapest there... a mere $180 US. We told her that we would have to think about it and made our way out. Next to the Lotte store there is an Outback Steak House and a Bennigans Restaurant. Perfect, I know right? ... Wrong. At Outback we missed the lunch special and the smallest steak was $30 (mind you this steak would cost $10 stateside.) So we went to Bennigans where their cheapest lunch special was $25 US. So needless to say that was a bit much for us at the moment. While wandering on that side of the street we find a bedding and curtain store. Guess what... Oh yeah we get a giant mattress pad for$18. So we're walking around with that as well as the groceries we bought at Lotte. So that was our Lotte Dept. store story and we're sticking to it.

Now for the fun part of the trip:

After our trip to Lotte we were quite hungry. Not wanting to pay up the nose for food, but wanting a little something from home, we track down a McDonalds. Now all our American readers and most of our international readers can attest to the fact that McDonalds is an American company right? I do not eat fast food very often. When I do, I try not to eat McDonalds. So I find very humorous the fact that I have to come to South Korea to get a good hamburger from McDonalds...? Must be the Australian beef they use! As my kids say "Oh no crazy cow!!!"

The bus trip home was a trip in and of itself. Now the bus is packed with people and we have the gigantic foam bed pad. Yeah, not as much fun as you might imagine! After many stares and being pushed towards the back of the bus, a nice young lady offered the space in front of her feet for the pad. Finally some kindness on the bus. Once she had gotten off we finally had a seat. The rest of the ride home was pleasant and beautiful.

More from the front as it happens... because we both know how much you want to read more.

On a side note, we had some spicy food last night at "Red Station" otherwise known as Bulldogs. Who knew you were suppose to eat chicken wings with gloves?

Ode to the Hiney

2008-07-10T19:59:00.000-07:00

So we are starting to settle into a semi-normal routine. Some days the kids are fantastic, and other days... let's just say we are glad we bought the gallon bottle of Tylenol! Everyone at work is extremely kind and helpful which we are very thankful for. We have FINALLY unpacked our suitcases; so we are no longer hunting all over the floor for the day's outfits :-) We have even done some laundry! However, the laundry system here leaves a little to be desired. It is really muggy so the towels get that musty smell pretty quickly, and it does not seem to come completely out in our old washing machine. To top it off, they don't have dryers here so we hang everything on the balcony. This saves on gas, but it does not save very much on our sensitive hineys... Just imagine drying yourself with a hunk of cardboard and you will have a pretty good picture of what hanging towels does to them! :-)
On the upside, we are planning our first trip abroad since one of our two yearly vacations is coming up soon. We are thinking of either Japan or Hong Kong depending on finances. We are also thinking of joining a gym and getting into better shape. An additional benefit to joining a gym is that they have showers with water pressure!!! I might be able to wash my hair in under two hours! :-) (For those of you who don't know- the water pressure is about equivalent to a drip.)
We are, however, starting to love the food- which largely makes up for our hatred of our shower and laundry systems. The Korean barbecue is phenomenal!! And we are getting more adventurous with side dishes, which we have found to be an excellent decision since many of them are absolutely delicious! Cooking at home has become a fun adventure for me as well. I have found cooking here to be very therapeutic as it reminds me of home and relaxes me after a long day. Korea has some fantastic brands of mushrooms and veggies that I have been incorporating into everything from omelets,to stirfrys, to soups, to pastas. Needless to say, Kip likes my newfound "therapy" too (and he did make some kick ass Salmon of his own last night!) Anyhow, that it the latest and greatest- more to come soon! xxxooo's!

Speech Contest

2008-07-05T04:58:00.001-07:00

So our first day of meeting the kids we were asked to guest Judge a Speech contest where many of the kids gave speeches and sang songs in their best English. We Judged them on pronunciation, memorization, and overall performance.

One of the highlights was a group of kids that sang the Beatles "Octopus's Garden" complete with hand gestures. It was was the epitome of adorable! The second best highlight was when one of the younger boys got so nervous during his speech that he proceeded to grab himself right on stage (for a good five minutes!) Unfortunately the poor boy will probably never live it down, but for the rest of us it caused quite a few giggles! Below are Simon (our Coworker), Myself, and Jake as we judged the little buggers. :-)

How to Pee

2008-07-05T04:55:00.000-07:00

Just a side-note:
These are the directions found outside the boys bathroom at the fanciest department store in Ulsan :-)

First Couple days

2008-07-02T06:06:00.000-07:00

So here we are, two days into teaching. "How is it going" you might ask. Well... even if you didn't ask I'm going to tell you. It's still a bit hectic. We have to learn our student's names. This might not seem like a large task but I remind you that they are translating their language into English letters; then we have to pronounce them correctly. So in the end it's harder than you might think. Plus we have to figure out where the last teachers left off and how much the students know. So to say the least, which I have, teaching has been hectic. This is not to say that we are not having the time of our lives. It just means that as with anything cool, great and exciting... anything good takes work. We now look forward to more days of work and play.

Day of Wandering

2008-06-30T00:53:00.000-07:00

So Sunday we decided it was about time we venture out on our own; which turned out to be the best idea we have had yet! We got a hand-drawn map from Colleen and Jake (complete with upside down pine trees) and ventured out to see more of Ulsan than just our block. The entire day was amazing. It was lightly sprinkling when we left which made for some greyness in our pictures, but other then that it was a fantastic adventure. We found Ilsan Beach which was completely deserted (thanks to the rain) and it made for a very peaceful and meditative walk. I found handfuls of beautiful seaglass (in all shades of blues and greens) which I am hoping to make something fun out of. :-) We then headed down the beach to a set of stairs that would make Rocky think twice, but we decided to brave it. Thank God we did, because we discovered the most beautiful park I have ever seen in my life. It all overlooked the ocean and had astoundingly beautiful greenery. We then proceeded to the top of the park where there were little food huts with all sorts of crazy snacks (including live sea cucumbers and some things that looked remarkably like swimming male genitalia...) We decided on something that looked like french fries but actually was some sort of tasty root fried up. Then we proceeded to King's island which is a rock formation made up of bright orange rocks and winding staircases. It felt like something out of a movie.

After that we headed back into town to see the Wal-Bong Buddhist temple which was built in 704 A.D. It was incredibly beautiful with ornate paintings, hidden stairways and mini temples in the woods.

It astounds me that something so beautiful is right down the road from our house. It was an overwhelming day because we took in so much of Ulsan's beauty at once. It was refreshing to get out of our dingy city neighborhood and see some of the wonders around us. I would describe everything in more detail, but we have to head off now to guest-judge a speech contest at the school. So bye for now, and thank you all for reading!

Pics

2008-06-29T02:22:00.001-07:00

So I posted some new pics of the sights on my facebook account- haven't gotten them up on the blog yet. If you want to check them out in the meantime check out my facebook! Luv you all!

Settling in

2008-06-28T08:23:00.000-07:00

So we have finally begun to settle in and feel like this place could be our home for the next year. The past two days have been hectic, with VERY little sleep and quite a lot of running around. Jake and Colleen have been fantastic, trying to show us as much as possible in two days. Friday involved errands and a long nap followed by a Golbi dinner and cocktails at a fantastic bar that had a stash of old records like none I have ever seen. They had everything from Michael Jackson to the Beatles, to No Doubt. We met a few of our coworkers (who were adorable,) and got a taste of what it is like to party Korean style- and boy do they have energy! Another fun aspect of the night was that our boss, Mrs.An, was told by our coworker Simon that eating cheese while drinking is one way to help hangovers. So, she showed up at the bar with a package of cheese slices for us all, which we found very sweet and amusing. (Thus the picture)

Today we woke early and hit up the grocery store so we could make an American style breakfast. It was interesting trying to decipher what the products were when everything was labeled with Korean characters. Luckily we didn't end up with anything too crazy. We finished off the evening with a cozy and delicious dinner at Mrs.An's house. Everything she cooked was phenomenal and it was encouraging to feel like part of a pseudo-family. Little things like group dinners will help on the days that we are really feeling homesick. Tomorrow we are planning a walk to the beach and to the market which we are really looking forward to. Right now I am running to put out the toast I just set on fire in the toaster oven... Yes, even making toast is challenging when you cannot read the dials. So for now that is my big goal- to learn how to make toast.. Wish me luck!

The Journey pt. 2

2008-06-27T18:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, so for those of you that have read pt.1 and are eagerly awaiting pt.2... this one's for you!

Where was I... ah yes...

"Long but not bad"

We landed in Chicago at around 7:45. Because of the time difference we have already lost an hour... slowly going back into the future (come on everyone say it with me dum dum dum.) The hour layover in Chicago was pleasant enough. Nothing too exciting happens when you're dead tired on your feet and you've just lost an hour. Unless your William Shatner that is... or Chuck Norris.

(Yes another fast forward to the flight)

Once again we take our seats on the plane. This time next to an older lady going to Fresno (forgive my spelling if it's wrong... I'm only an english teacher.) Tara and I talk to her for a bit then settle back and await take off. The in-flight movie is Horton Hears a Who. Of course it doesn't start till the last part of the flight and we miss the ending sound due to the captain welcoming us to San Francisco! One thing that surprised us was that we weren't served food on the four and a half hour flight. All they gave us was a small bag of tiny pretzels. What ever happened to the peanuts??

With little sleep and no real food in our stomachs, we head out into the terminal of San Francisco. Our layover here is about three hours. We have enough time to walk up and down the terminal deciding what we should eat to appease the grumbling of our midsections. We decide on a pannini sandwich and settle in to eat. While this is going on I'm valiantly trying to pay my student loan. Which would have been easier if I had remembered where I had put the routing and account numbers (later I found them right next to me in my camera bag.)

"Sardines"

With the three hours flying by, we made our way to the United Air section. After being pushed aside on the escalator by a rude Korean person of course. "What have we gotten ourselves into" was, I'm sure, the thought racing through both our minds.

We start to board the plane. In our heads were thoughts of the cushy seats that everyone kept telling us came with international flights. The pictures in out heads matched what we saw... and then we passed through first class. Ok, you might think ha ha, but then we saw the next section. Business class rocks just shy of first class. Too bad we didn't book either of those sections. As we pass into the economy section the tired crest-fallen look must have told stories to the other passengers. After we put our carry-ons in the bins overhead, we cram ourselves into our seats. With our knees spread apart like a birthing mother we await take-off. Next to us is sitting a gentleman who has been stationed in Korea at the U.S. Air Force base outside of Seoul. Interesting enough, he was a bit on the "don't leave your kids alone around him" kind of guy.

So, as I said before, there wasn't a whole lot of room. After take-off the person ahead of me decided to put his seat back. This puts the back of his head right under my nose (this is a slight exaggeration but pretty close.) The look on my face was enough to make the guy across the isle laugh. I felt bad for the guy behind me but that didn't stop me from putting my seat back as well.

Throughout that flight the movies in the head rest would play a cycle and then turn off for about an hour then start up again. This was bit annoying but I guess not all that bad. Between short naps and the food, the only real exciting thing that happened was when we hit some turbulence and the plane jumped for a split second. Other than that it was a long cramped boring trip.

"Sleepy Time"

Once we landed in Seoul we had a revelation. This is going to be hard but worthwhile. Getting from the Incheon Airport to the Gimpo Airport proved to be an adventure in itself. Yes, I will say it... we got taken! A cabby charged us $90 US for the 30 min trip. At the Gimpo Airport a wee bit of confusion had us a bit worried. Korean Air couldn't find our reservations. After getting three different employees to help we finally discovered that through a mistake our names were miss spelled. With that settled we went about calling Mrs. An. (this folks is where I make a big blunder through no fault of my own) In order to make the call we needed change. We found an ATM and I proceed to take out 50,000 won ($50 dollars.) Little did I know the ATM is counting in 10,000 so in fact I took out 500,000 won ($500 dollars, roughly.) We find this out later and I chalk it up to the sleep depravation. So we make the call and I speak to Mrs. An for the first time.

"The Meet"

So now we're waiting for the plane down to Ulsan. I suggested to Tara that we stay up for the flight so we could sleep later. This seems like a good idea when we board the plane. An hour later we wake up having just landed in Ulsan! We march down the gang plank and get our bags. This is when we finally meet the famed Mrs. An, Colleen, and Jake.

So to end this 26 hour trip is a great feeling. Ending one adventure with the start of possibly the greatest adventure of our lives is really exciting! We love our apartment and look forward to meeting the students monday. So from this weary traveler to all our faithful stalkers and family out there good afternoon or good night!

More to follow as you surly well know.

The Journey pt. 1

2008-06-27T00:07:00.000-07:00

So here we are, in Korea...

This all started a long time ago... last tuesday. Tara and I laid down for what would be our last night in good old Buffalo. At 4am after getting only three hours of restless sleep we were off to the airport. The trip proceeded as follows "Not bad," "Long but not bad," "Sardines," "Sleepy Time," and finally "The Meet."

"Not Bad"

After getting to the airport at around 4:30, we had to stand in line for the check-in counter for United Air. Not a long wait mind you, but when you've had about six hours of sleep in the past two days, it seems like an eternity. Finally, we reach the counter (and as predicted Tara had to pay the big bucks extra for her 9,000lb luggage.) Mine just cleared the cut-off weight. That being taken care of, we say our last goodbye to Cain (Tara's father gave us a ride to the terminal) and were off to stand in yet another line. This time it was for the oh so famous security check point. The guard that was checking passports and tickets was nice enough to talk to us while we waited to move forward. This made the wait more bearable.

(Fast forward to the flight)

We take our seats on the plane for a quick departure. You see we just caught the plane due to the security line wait. The flight went by pretty quickly with nothing really noteworthy happening. So as the title of this leg of the trip "Not Bad" is an apt one.

Welcome!

2008-06-23T21:06:00.000-07:00

Hello, and Welcome to our Blog! We are sitting here the night before we leave, looking at our empty apartment and getting scared, sentimental, and excited all at the same time. In less than thirty hours we will be on a plane heading to South Korea to begin (hopefully) the adventure of a lifetime! So we decided we should go ahead and get our blog up and running so that we can bring you all with us on our journey :-) We hope to be diligent in posting both stories and pictures; so bear with us as we figure this whole blog thing out. We love you all and thank you for joining us on our journey!