We hope everyone has been enjoying the sunshine when you can find it! ;) We have had some nice days here in Korea and now it's starting to warm up even more! Yesterday it was even hot enough to wear a skirt to school (a big jump from when we were wearing long underwear, heavy coats, and thick socks to school everyday). However, today reminds me of Oregon as it's been very rainy and cloudy. But that's ok, the sun will return later in the week! :)
This past weekend was beautiful here! On Friday we were able to meet up with our friends Natasha and Nick, who live on the southern coast of Korea. Our story of how we became friends is very interesting. Last year we both were following the blog of another English teacher, Lily, who lives in Korea. Reading other peoples blogs helps future English teachers get the feel for Korea and learn more about daily life. Sometimes both Natasha and I would comment on Lily's blog and mention things about our future plans. It turns out both of us were planning on applying to the same program in Korea and Lily brought us together by letting us know that! From there we started emailing back and forth, comparing application experiences and such. Both her and her husband and Tyler and I were all set on coming to Korea in August until there was a surplus of new teachers and some teachers needed to be pushed back to the November intake. Somehow Tyler and I were able to keep our August departure, but Natasha and Nick had to wait until November to come to Korea. We continued to talk through social media and after all those months of talking and communicating we were able to meet up in Gwangju this weekend!
It was really great to finally meet them in person and we had a great time eating delicious food at our favorite Western Restaurant!
On Saturday we knew it was going to be extra nice outside so we wanted to go explore more of Mt. Mudueng, the mountain we hiked on earlier this fall. Now, we say mountain, but in comparison to mountains in Oregon, this is just a tall hill. ;) We figured out how to take the bus to the base of the hiking area and it was really easy (and fairly quick too!). So off we went on a mini adventure! The mountain is very beautiful and definitely not a walk in the park to hike , but it was fun! We randomly chose a direction that we were pretty sure we hadn't climbed the last time and started off!
The base of the hiking trails with TONS of hiking stores.
Little bird!
Off we go!
I know we've definitely talked about this before, but hiking culture in Korea differs slightly from America. All hikers are fully dressed in colorful hiking cloths. Most have a hiking pole or 2 and generally all hikers have a small hiking backpack stuffed with many hiking supplies, which commonly includes alcohol of some sort. Korean's cover their entire bodies with cloths, shielding it from the sun. Their nice hiking cloths are probably breathable, allowing them to wear them in the hot sun. But it's definitely different seeing the face masks and bandana wrapped around their heads with a giant hat or visor to complete the look. Needless to say, we look extremely different than the norm.
Beautiful red flowers!
It also isn't uncommon for people to sit anywhere and enjoy some coffee, alcohol, and snacks along the way. ;)
Napping anywhere is permitted and normal as well.
The hike up was pretty vertical, but thankfully not too long. It was beautiful walking next to a stream and seeing lots of little chipmunks! Once we made it to the top (of where we wanted to go) we walked through this paved area and got many views of the city. It was very nice! We even got to fill up our water bottles with fresh and cold mountain water!
So pretty!
Rolling hills!
Gwangju! That round roof building is the World Cup Stadium, near our church!
Because we hiked later in the day the trails weren't as busy and as we came down the mountain we didn't see anyone until the end!
Pretty little bridge.
At the end of our trail we came upon a small traditional temple! It was very pretty!
On our way home we were trying to decide what to eat for dinner. Thankfully the "Chicken Man," as we call him, was right outside our apartment complex. He sells roasted chicken on the street for only 6,000 won (~$6). So we bought a pre-cooked roasted chicken for dinner and thoroughly enjoyed not having to cook that night! ;)
Great deal for a small cooked chicken for 2!
So we had a nice weekend outside! Next week is our mini vacation to the coastal city of Busan! :)
Wow, so much to write about! Lot’s has happened as we have
begun school, had a 5 day holiday, and continue to settle into our lives here
in Korea.
It’s now been 1 month since we began this adventure! A
month ago we had no idea of the kind people we would meet, challenges we would
go through, craziness we would endure, or joy that Korea would bring us. It's
only been a month, homesickness has definitely set in at times and we are not
quite "settled" into our new environment yet , but we really are
enjoying our married life in our new home! We truly appreciate the prayers as
we continue this adventure here!
We’ve taken many photos, experienced lots of new things, and
even met new people! Here are some highlights!
New English Teacher
Dinner: We were invited last Thursday to go to Korean BBQ with all the new
and current teachers in Hwasun. Besides meeting Brad and Maranda, who live a
few floors up from us, we had not met any other foreigners. Brad, Maranda, and
I have been communicating through email for a few months as I was taking over
Brad’s job and they were giving us great information before we got here. We all
met and walked to the restaurant. It was in the basement of a building (we
would have never found this place alone!) and again, was a traditional sit on
the floor place. It was cool because the grill was in the middle of each of the
table and a vent hung down over it. The food was great and it was really nice
getting to talk to the other teachers! Some teacher have been here for 4 years,
others are brand new! We had a lot of fun and are glad to know there are lots
of others to relate with!
iHerb: Tyler and
I were referred to this awesome website called iHerb as we were in need of some
western groceries that we just couldn’t find here! This website is amazing! It
is based out of California and ships 15lbs of groceries to Korea for only $4 in
shipping! So that’s been fun! The other day our 1st box came filled
with lots of goodies! Annies snack mix, real spaghetti sauce, salsa, and
Tyler’s favorite cinnamon pita chips! This was an exciting day! We are still
waiting on box #2 as it has my Bob’s red mill oatmeal, our garlic powder, and
some strawberry jam!
Our fun food items!
New glasses!:
Walking home the other day I noticed a new glasses store opened up and had huge
sale signs and balloons everywhere. I’ve heard you can get prescription glasses
here for pretty cheap and I wanted a new pair so Tyler and I decided to explore
that on a Friday evening (after pizza dinner of course!). We were there just to
look but we ended up both getting an quick eye exam to see what our
prescriptions would be. We also both ended up finding pairs that worked (and
happened to match each others, of course!) so we went for it! Along with our
two pairs of glasses (for a total of $40!) they gave us 3 boxes of tissue, 30
eggs, and 1 antibacterial serving tray. Random right? In Korea, it is common to
give out gifts during big sales, opening of new stores, or just as promotions.
Though they are random gifts, they are all well used in our home!
All of our gifts! And the glasses container... :)
Tyler’s haircut!:
You can see our video of the experience of getting Tyler’s haircut in Korea
here!
Bus Rides: We’ve said before the bus rides are a little rough here. In the mornings (and sometimes evenings) they are very crowded, but that’s just part of it. It’s bumpy with lots of turns, and you go really fast. Tyler travels 45 minutes to his schools and I travel anywhere from 25-45 to certain schools as well. Put all that together and it’s a great mixture for motion sickness. This frequently happens to both of us. We haven’t figured out how to stop it yet and it’s not terrible (there have been no embarrassing situations!) but that’s definitely something different about living here!
E-mart and Shinsegae:
On Saturday night we went to Gwangju for another fun trip to E-mart! This time,
we decided to explore the U-Square and Shinsegae area first. U-Square is the
giant bus terminal in Gwangju. It’s a great landmark because everyone knows
where it is and it has a lot in it! Lot’s of shops, restaurants, and even a
movie theater. It’s also conveniently
located next to E-mart, another great landmark! The Shinsegae shopping area is
like a big mall with many floors of shopping. In the basement we found a food
court with many different cuisines. On the other floors were name brand and non
name brand cloths and what not. We explored a bit and then went down to E-mart.
We ended up eating at the Popeyes in the E-mart food court. We are in somewhat
of a “comparing and contrasting” stage in Korea. Which means we basically have
to buy or try every type of food that is in the US and compare it to the Korean
version. It also means we have to buy every type of Korean food just to try it
out! It’s a mix of being adventurous and sticking with what we know. ;) After
dinner we did our shopping and went to U Square (the bus station with lots of
shops inside) and ended up eating Baskin Robins (see what I mean?). Our ice
cream was good, but we were not very adventurous (Tyler had mint chocolate chip
and I had cotton candy because sadly, there is no pink bubblegum here).We then found the giant cinema that is
on the top floor! It is really big and looks really nice! They periodically
play English movies there (with Korean subtitles), so when Maze Runner comes
out soon we will definitely post about that! J
Beautiful sunset!
We had to try it!
Interesting flavors....Veggie Fruit Sherbert and Apple mint.
What is popping shower?
Sunday in Gwangju!:
On Sunday, our new friends Brad and Maranda invited us to attend their church
in Gwangju. We took a bus and a taxi to get there. The church is located near
the World Cup Stadium in Gwangju. It is called Wolgwang English Ministry. They
use a Korean Christian church building and the English service is held on the 4th
floor in a nice multipurpose room. The pastor is cool because he is a Korean,
but he was born in Germany, so his main language is German, Korean and English.
When he speaks English, he speaks with a German accent! It’s great! The people were
very nice and welcoming! It was a mixture of foreigners and English speaking
Koreans. The service and worship was all in English and the songs were very
familiar (Hillsong United, Matt Redman…) . It was great to meet some other
English teachers as well! The church was so kind, and gave us hand towels as
welcome gifts! Those towels will be put to very good use! J We will be attending
again this week!
The church building!
After church Maranda and Brad took us downtown to eat lunch
at their favorite restaurant. It’s a western restaurant that has as authentic
western food as you can prolly get in Korea. It was great! We all had breakfast
sandwiches (with real cheese!) and enjoyed lunch together! After, they showed
us some little fun stores around the area and showed us how the busses run
around the area. We are so hapy we found such kind, generous, and Christian
friends to connect with here in Gwangju!
Downtown Gwangju!
Our new friends, Brad and Maranda!
Tyler and I explored a little more of downtown before
flagging down a taxi. We were off to the Gwangju National Museum. Here is a
video of our visit!
Cooking: One
night some friends posted a recipe to make homemade flour tortillas. We haven’t
found tortillas here yet, but we had meat and taco seasoning so we thought we
could give that a try! They were super simple to make, only 4 ingredients, and
they tasted pretty good! It was nice to have our traditional “taco night”
again! Other meals we have made include chicken nuggets and rice, spicy noodle
and pork soup, mandu (pot stickers), macaroni and cheese and hotdogs, and spaghetti!
We have also made French toast and pancakes too (thank gosh they have decent
syrup here!). We are still learning what and how to cook in our tiny kitchen
that doesn’t have an oven, but so far we’re doing pretty good!
Success!
Val's favorite!
Cooking in a tiny kitchen requires chairs to be used as counter space. :)
Chuseok: Chuseok (Chew-Sock) is a three-day holiday similar to American Thanksgiving and Memorial Day all at
once. During the holiday family members travel to be together. It is customary
to go to the grandparents’ home, but it isn’t always the case. While together,
families play games, make food together, and most importantly eat lots of food
together! Rice cakes are a popular sweet to make and eat during this time.
Several days leading up to Chuseok my school had rice cake available in the
teacher’s office. There are different kinds, but the one I tried has red beans
on the bottom and peas in the middle. It was very nice that they shared some
with me, but it didn’t have much flavor and made me very thirsty. The other
important part of the holiday is visiting ancestors’ graves to pay respect. On
the second evening of Chuseok Val and I were enjoying birthday cake with our
upstairs neighbors Brad and Miranda. While hanging out the city of Hwasun put
on a firework show. We walked outside, but by the time they were in view the
show was just ending.
We saw the very end of the show!
Hiking Mudeungsan
Mountain: On the final day of the holiday break Val and I went hiking!
After riding the bus to Gwangju and taking a taxi to the start of the trail, we
were ready to go. Hiking is very popular in Korea and one very unique part of
hiking in Korea is that everyone dresses in special hiking clothes. Whether
going out for a walk or a several mile hike, people wear their special hiking
clothes, hiking boots, and their nice daypacks with hiking poles. The clothes
are very bright and colorful, and here we are with our shorts and t-shirts…like
we didn’t stick out enough. The hike was pretty much all up hill on the way to
our destination. We stopped by a small temple with colorful statues. The hiking
paths are well maintained and sometimes had woven carpet laid out. However most
of it was uphill climbing up rocks or man made rock stairs. Along the way we
had lunch. Val and I sat on a bench, but many Koreans sit on a big communal
platform. Many people were interested in us and watched us eat during lunch.
This wasn’t to be rude, they were just curious. The hike was definitely a good
leg workout! Once we finally arrived, we had a beautiful view of the
surrounding mountains and the city of Gwangju in the distance. At the top, some
friendly people took our photo! We also were asked to be in a photo with some
other people! After we finished our hike we went to the shoe cleaning
station…that’s right, they have a shoe cleaning station! There is a small pool
of water and scrub brushes available for public use to clean off our boots. It
was the first time I came back from a hike with cleaner boots than I started
with. While at the cleaning station we met a nice man who is called the “tiger
of the mountain.” They call him the tiger of the mountain because he goes
hiking on Mudeungsan Mountain every day. He spoke pretty good English and told
us how he likes the Portland Trail Blazers. After hiking we walked through the
shopping area, which is 90% hiking stores with every piece of hiking gear you
would ever need. We found the coolest little coffee shop that had some great
looking (and tasting) desserts! The weather was perfect for our day outside and
we can’t wait to go back and explore different trails!
Sweet honey bread! Very delicious!
This week begins another full week of school as we continue
to adjust to our schedules and classes. Prayers for patience, an open heart and
mind, and energy would be greatly appreciated! Remember, you can subscribe to
our youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC761Iu8_L_oIhYKYQy_8Ptw!
More videos to come
