Change in Seasons. Change for Reasons.

'Korea changes you'. I can't tell you how many times I've heard that sentence. I always reply with a simple, 'yeah'. Recently I've been thinking a lot about how much it does change you. We don't always see change in ourselves so easily, but we can see it if we take some time for reflection.

I am braver. I take more chances. I am more positive. I stop and look. Strange or uncomfortable situations don't phase me. I love myself and my life.

Taking that daunting plane ride here alone didn't seem like that big of a deal to me until it actually happened and then I was in another country with way too much luggage and being sniffed by a dog. I was alone. I didn't have anyone to turn to for reassurance or to make decisions for me. I was in charge of everything. Was it overwhelming? YOU BETCH'YA. But it was also exhilarating. I come from a really good family who always supports me and really awesome friends who still love me even though I've abandoned them. Coming to Korea was a decision I made for me and only me. I wasn't trying to make anyone else happy at the cost of my own happiness. I did this for me. Lord knows I needed it. I was 25 years-old and felt like I was in a rut. Twenty-five. So young, so many possibilities. I had just finished my degree and was working at a comfortable job in a grocery store. You know, one of those jobs where you don't have to use your brain. I can tell now that my inner self was screaming until her throat was raw for me to do something.

Living in Korea isn't rainbows and butterflies. I am an alien. I am so different from everyone else. I have curves and a little extra weight. I don't wear high heels everywhere I go (actually I almost never wear them). I don't care if my skin or hair or clothes are perfect. I get stared at constantly. I've learned to semi-ignore it but it happens. You can't communicate with the general public because of the language barrier. But, I've gotten good at charades! People do things differently here and it seems so foreign to me, but I am so foreign to them. With everything though, I love this country and its people.

It has been through the staring and the whispering that I have learned to love myself. At first I got sucked into being so focused on my weight and how I look. To the point where I wasn't consuming enough calories to give me enough energy for the day. This didn't last long before I snapped myself out of it. "What is wrong with you Emma?" I vowed to try and only think positively about myself. I am a beautiful woman. I take care of my body. Do I eat too many sweets? Probably. But there's no point in getting angry at myself for it. Just try to eat less sweets. My room actually only has one little mirror so that I can style my hair. I am less focused on making sure my clothes are perfect or that my tummy isn't bulging out. My students call me fat. Less often now, but some of them still do. I just agree with them and move on. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions. What I am trying to say here is that I learned to love myself and not hate my body or things that I do or don't do. I owe that to my experience here over the last year.

I get put in awkward situations and don't lose it. The first time I was in a public shower with other women I was a little weirded out because I didn't experience that back home. Then, one of the Korean women I was with and had just met, started washing my back. I had no idea what was going on, but I went with it. I returned the favour and washed her back. It really secured my bond with her and I am always excited when I get to see her now. I can also comfortably take my clothes off and walk into a public shower like I do it every day. I guess this gave me confidence in my own skin which helps with my positive body image.

I've tried all kinds of foods that I never dreamed I'd be eating back home. The fact that I choose to go to a seafood restaurant over another place is astounding if you know me. I ate live and moving octopus this year. Old Emma would never have tried it or thought about it. I did hesitate for a moment, but then I dug in. I also ate squid gut soup. I am not sure if I would have done it had I know before hand though. We all have our limits I guess.

Teaching in Korea has it's ups and downs. Day to day I love it. I have never once counted down the hours until home time or complained about going into work. Most of my students are really wonderful and make my day, everyday. I work for really great people who really care about me. I also work with some cool people as well. My director trusts me enough to form my own lessons without books, so I have a lot of freedom in my teaching. On the flip side, English instruction in Korea is flawed. Student's will know English grammar like the back of their hand by the time they finish middle school, but probably can't keep up with a conversation or formulate their own sentences well. So much of it is focused on straight translation, and that doesn't always work. We have to change our way of thinking to be successful in another language. I also have a hard time with being strict enough. I often get told to be stricter with my students. I have gotten better over the last year, but I just can't do it. I feel bad for them. Students here are worked so hard. I think about my childhood and growing up in Canada. We were so free. We could become our own person and explore new things and people. Here they are so focused on education and scoring well that it takes over their lives and many students are very unhappy. I often find myself thinking about my students' lives and I enjoy when I hear them laugh because they can have fun even when their life is so stressful. I try to make my classes fun for them and active so that they can learn and have fun at the same time. I haven't gotten fired yet, so I must be doing okay.

Overall I feel like I have grown up since I've been here. I appreciate life a little more. I appreciate my parents for all they've taught me and loved me for who I am. I love my friends for trying so hard to keep me in their lives. Its amazing how you see who really cares enough when you move away. Some relationships have changed for the worse, but the one's who have changed for the better make you appreciate that person even more. I have learned to accept myself for who I am. Flaws and all. That's the most important thing for me. If I gain nothing else other than that, it's all good.

Korea, I love you and I thank you. You are a home to me. No matter what happens in the future, I will have this experience and no one can take that away from me.

Daegu!

Back in November, I headed to the city of Daegu with a couple friends. I hadn't been there before, but it really is a nice city. Its slogan is 'Colorful Daegu'. Not sure if it's any more colourful than the other cities, but it was still nice.

We started off the journey at the well-known temple 'Donghwasa' and it was really nice. There was a museum inside that was really cool along with giant Buddha and pagoda statues. It was truly the perfect day with clear blue skies and wonderful fall colours all around us.

After exploring the temple, we headed downtown to grab some lunch. We ended up at this cool place that had a really urban feel. We had some delicious eats and got to look at some nice Korean eye candy. I swear the restaurant only hires attractive Korean men.

After dinner we wandered the streets and of course did some shopping.

It was a fun outing, and I really enjoyed Daegu. We took the KTX there and it was only 20 minutes! On the way back we took the slow train and that was about 2.5 hours. Both were quite enjoyable.

The One Year Mark & Some Awesome News

My one year mark has come and gone by now, but it was pretty exciting. My director and I had a meeting to discuss my contract and its renewal. Everything is basically the same. I asked for a raise though and got it. And she also informed me that she was going to let me GO HOME FOR A VISIT!!! I was so surprised. I wasn't expecting to be able to go back until the end of 2014. I was really happy though. It almost brought me to tears. She explained that I would be docked pay for the days outside of the scheduled holiday I would be away. Clearly I don't have a problem with that. This was actually back in September and it took a long time for me to find out when exactly I was going to be in Canada. At first she had given me 8 days. In truth I was disappointed because that just isn't enough time. In the end it worked out that I could have 16 days with my family and friends. Naturally I am so thrilled and happy to be given this chance to go.

My trip home is now less than two weeks away and I've finished an online course that I have been taking since September so I am free to get everything sorted before I head out. I am excited to do some time travelling. My flight leaves Korea at 1:15pm and lands in Detroit at 12:00 noon on the same day. Whoaaaa! haha Too bad it won't feel like no time has passed. Unfortunately when I return to Korea my travel time takes a day longer. All in all I am really looking forward to seeing all my family and friends.

I've been in Korea for 13 months now and I can't believe it! Time is going by so quickly. I am still really liking it and am happy to be here. I feel like come November I will be ready to go back home though.

Here's to another great 11 months in Korea! <3

October Festivals

Okay, I know it is now December, but I've had a busy few months. October in Korea should just be called 'Festober'. There are literally a dozen festivals in October alone and it was so difficult to decide which ones to go to this year. I went to three this year. I already have marked down some other ones I want to catch in 2014.

Andong Mask Festival & Hahoe Village:
October gave us two mid-week holidays this year and I took advantage of one of them by heading to the city of Andong, which is a couple hours away by bus. Upon arriving at the bus terminal, we headed to the Hahoe Village first. This is a traditional village with straw huts and beautiful scenery. There was also a really interesting museum that explained the history behind masks and what different kinds represent. They also had displays of different mask dances from around the world. I found the Indonesian masks to be most interesting and appealing. After doing some exploring and watching a bit of a mask dance, we decided to head to the official festival grounds. The festival was packed with people and different tents where there were food vendors and people selling different kinds of merchandise. We wanted to see one of the dances but our timing was really bad that day and all the tickets were sold out when we went. I think I would like to return next year and check out some of the performances.






Ulsan World Music Festival:
The following weekend, Ulsan was holding a World Music Festival. It was nice to have a festival that we didn't have to travel to. There were a variety of performers from all over the world. My favourite was a group called Tahuna Breaks from New Zealand. They have a really funky sound. There was also this really cool DJ from Spain (I think). It was a really good time. It was nice to hear some live music.

Jinju Lantern Festival:

Another festival we went to was in Jinju. This one took about 3 hours to get to by bus. When we arrived it had just gotten dark, which is a perfect time to view some lanterns. The festival had so many lanterns that were really beautiful. They were displayed along a river and we ended up walking along the whole river checking out the lanterns and street vendors along the way. It was pretty much impossible to get a place to stay for the night, so we ended up taking the late night bus to Busan. We stayed in a cozy love motel and then spent Sunday in Busan for the last day of BIFF (Busan International Film Festival). We didn't catch a movie but wandered around and did some shopping. It was very enjoyable.

I had planned to go to the Busan Fireworks Festival as well, but I ended up getting sick and wasn't able to go. I heard it was amazing though and will definitely be checking it out next year.

Approaching my One-Year Mark Stirs Up Some Thoughts

'When you live abroad, you realize that, no matter where you are, you will always be an ex-pat. There will always be a part of you that is far away from its home and is lying dormant until it can breathe and live in full color back in the country where it belongs. To live in a new place is a beautiful, thrilling thing, and it can show you that you can be whoever you want — on your own terms. It can give you the gift of freedom, of new beginnings, of curiosity and excitement. But to start over, to get on that plane, doesn’t come without a price. You cannot be in two places at once, and from now on, you will always lay awake on certain nights and think of all the things you’re missing out on back home'.

I took this from an article I found on Thought Catalogue. It really hit close to home. I'm almost at the one year mark!

You can see the full article here.

Andong Mask Festival

This Wednesday we were blessed with another mid-week "red day". It was National Foundation Day. The day is to celebrate the creation of the Gojoseon Dynasty. For me, this meant an extra day to explore this country. October is unofficially known as Festival Month in Korea. There are festivals going on year-round, but in October there is a whole bunch of them. It's really hard to decide what to see and do, luckily for me I can put some of them off until next October. This year I headed to the Andong Mask Festival.

Getting to Andong took about 3 hours by bus from Ulsan, and costs around $15 each way. We started our day at the Hahoe Village site. They have a Mask Museum there and it was probably one of the most interesting museums I have seen so far. They had masks from all over the world and there was even a display from Canada! I was really interested in the masks from Indonesia. There were many kinds of masks and all had a different purpose. There were some that were specifically for woman and represented fertility and family. Others were used to protect against bad spirits. After seeing the museum, we headed to the actual village. It was really nice and beautiful. There was a mask performance going on, but we couldn't see much because there were so many people there.

After seeing the village, we headed to the main festival site. It was full of food vendors and souvenirs. There were also a number of stages where performances were being held. We had a Turkish kebab, lemonade that was just lemon juice and cider and hella delicious. We also ate a Korean sweet bread stick called Curros (I think). We perused the stalls and I ended up buying some earrings and a hat. We wanted to see a performance, but found out that the tickets were sold out and the next show was after our bus would be leaving to go back to Ulsan. It was really too bad we couldn't see any performances, but I think I would like to return next year and plan out the performances I want to see.

Overall it was a fun day, but a little tiring with all the travelling.

Worth a Watch

I stumbled upon this view today and thought I was worthy of sharing on my little blog here.

It really spoke to me.

What if Money Were No Object?

Chuseok 2013: Busan, Ulleungdo, & Dokdo

Chuseok is Korea's Thanksgiving.
Many Koreans go an spend time with their families during this time. Most foreigners see it as an extra vacation to go on an adventure. This year was a lucky year and the holiday lasted for 5 days due to the lunar schedule and the weekend. It can be as short as 3 days and as long as 5. Kelly decided she wasn't going to be heading to Seoul but wanted to travel this year. After much discussing an deciding, we finally chose to visit the mysterious island of Ulleungdo and try to see Dokdo while we were there. Unfortunately we waited too long to book our trip and at first we thought we were not going to be able to go. Luckily through connections of my director, we were able to book a 3 day guided tour for the last three days of the holiday. With our two extra days in the beginning, we decided that on wednesday we would visit Busan and test out one of their city tours. Thursday was our "date" day and we went out for a steak dinner and to a movie. We saw separate movies, however so it really wasn't like a date.

Busan City Tour:
I visited Haeundae and Busan quite a bit when my parents were here, but with any city in Korea it seems, there is always more to see. We chose the more coastal bus tour and luckily it was an area I had not yet seen, but had wanted to. Our first bus was a double decker (they all are) but this one had an open top! It was a beautiful sunny day so it was quite a treat. The bus for the day only costs about $10 and is a hop-on-hop-off tour. We started with 75 Square. It is a coastal course that has a stunning view and a nice trail for walking. The highlight of the day was seeing Taejongdae. When we hopped off the bus we were immediately greeted by a man in a van to take us to the dock for the tourist boat. It was a little random to me as a foreigner, but Kelly didn't seemed phased so we went for it. It was rather inexpensive. Just $10 for about a 40-minute boat ride. The views from the boat were really exceptional and I was able to get some really nice photos. After our bus tour had finished we did some exploring on foot. Our last stop was to BIFF Square. BIFF stands for Busan International Film Festival. It is quite popular and runs every October. There are a ton of movies playing from all over the world. The square is basically a marketplace of food and vendors selling various things such as imitation brand name handbags, watches, socks, and your traditional Korean souvenirs. A lot of the theatres that play movies for BIFF are along the square as well. At first we treated ourselves to some Turkish ice-cream. It was pretty good. Kelly really wanted a fake Chanel wallet and we found one for a pretty good deal. She kept asking me why I didn't want to buy one, and I had to explain how things like that have no appeal to me. I think she was confused. It's just not the Korean way! We also stumbled upon a watch stand that had a ton of different kinds all for $10. We couldn't refuse. In the end Kelly and I bought the same watch and it's our joke that we have "couple" watches now. If you weren't aware, Korea has this huge fascination with couples having and wearing similar items. Usually its the same shirt, or hat, or shoes, or watches, or all of the above at one time. When I first got here I thought it was really quite cute, but now I think it's ridiculous haha. Our last stop was at a sock stand and I bought some to send home because they have some really interesting and hilarious pairs.










Ulleungdo & Dokdo:

Our trip to Ulleungdo was not a short one. We first had to head to Ulsan University area which was where the bus was going to pick us up to go to Pohang. Pohang is where the ferry port is. Our ferry ride was going to be about 3-4 hours. We made sure to get some anti-sea sickness medicine because all the blogs I had read mentioned getting sea sick. We arrived in Ulleungdo just after lunch time. The first view of the island is beautiful. It is quite small but most of it hasn't been developed and is really natural. Our tour package included our lodgings, basic food with options to upgrade for an additional fee, and bus tours each day. I was the only foreigner in our tour. It was really insane when we arrived and I think that on average, there are most likely more tourists than locals on the island constantly. Our bus tour took us to a waterfall and a beautiful observatory. Both were not easy to get to and required quite a bit of hiking. Once we returned to Dodong City, we were given free time to wander. There was a really nice walking trail along the edge of the island. During our walk, we came across some foreigners who were jumping off one of the bridges into the water below. Koreans believe the swimming season ends in August no matter how warm it is in September. You could tell they were thinking "crazy foreigners" as they were talking by haha. They were quite friendly and we exchanged pleasantries. We ended up going to bed rather early the first night.
Our second day started early. We were going to be able to head to Dokdo! Most days you can't head there due to visibilty and water conditions. The ferry ride was about 2 hours one way. I really liked the ferry ride there because our tour all sat together and everyone was sharing whatever food they had haha it was quite comical how much food I was being given. Once the boat gets to Dokdo, we only have 20 minutes on the actual island to take our photos and then we have to leave immediately. There is also only a limited area civilians are allowed to walk on. The island itself is guarded by a number of soldiers and some of them are quite serious and others are quite friendly. All of them gladly take photos for you.  If you don't know the history of Doko, I highly recommend reading up on it. It is quite interesting. Those 20 minutes flew by and after taking many photos, we were headed back for Ulleungdo again. The soldiers waved us farewell and I couldn't help but think how lonely they must be to stay there constantly.
After Dokdo, we had some lunch and then got ready for another bus tour. This was a long tour and the majority of it was spent on the bus. We stopped at places for short spurts of touring time and to take photos. All the places we went were really stunning and beautiful. Ulleungdo is known for their dried squid and pumpkin products. I am not a huge fan of dried squid but I did try some and it definitely was the freshest of dried squid I have tasted.  We bought some to bring back as gifts. Our last stop on the tour was to the pumpkin bread store so I purchased some pumpkin bread and pumpkin taffy for my students. When we got back on the bus the driver surprised me by buying me a bag of pumpkin jelly (similar to jujubes). I think he felt bad for me because the whole tour is in Korean haha. For dinner we headed to a beef shop and the food and service were less than desirable, but I got complimented by the group sitting next to us for my ability to eat Korean food. I think they were referring to my style. I guess they expect foreigners to fumble with their chopsticks and have a look of uncertainty. Luckily I have observed Kelly well and love all Korean food. It felt nice to get a compliment like that.
Our last day was a free day where we got to choose from a selection of things. Kelly and I chose a boat tour and riding a cable car. Early in the morning we were told that the boat tour was cancelled due to the weather, but we were still able to ride in the cable car and saw beautiful views. Lunchtime was when tragedy struck. Kelly received a call from our tour coordinator that the ferry back to Pohang had been cancelled. It was due to the weather and the water conditions. We were stuck, no other way off the island. Normally this wouldn't have been a big deal, however the next possible ferry was not until 3:30 the next day (if it was safe enough) and we start work at 1:30...That means that our academy would have only one teacher all day long to teach all the classes...We knew this wasn't going to go over well but there literally was nothing we could have done. Our director reacted pretty badly and stopped contact with us all together. This had us panicking and worried about our fate at work when we did return. It turned out that we were able to leave the next day and as much as we were eager to get home, we were also reluctant to face our director. It ended up that she didn't say anything to me and pretended like it never happened. I guess my job is safe! Haha
Overall I loved this vacation and am really happy I had the chance to see both Ulleung and Dokdo Island!

I love Jeju!

Kelly and I have been talking about Jeju pretty much since I got here, and we contemplated going for our winter break at the beginning of the year. We chose to put it off until this summer and I am really glad we did. As much as it would be nice to see Jeju as a winter wonderland, the summer paradise version was wonderful. It was really difficult to decide what we wanted to see because there is so much so we decided that we would make our way around the island one day at a time. We decided on our first day in Jeju City and the northern part of the island. Then we would move to the western side, followed by the southern area of Seogwipo, then the eastern side, and finally our last day would be reserved for our daunting hike of Mount Hallasan. As much as Jeju looks like a small island on the map, it takes a while to see it and transportation there isn't the greatest. We opted to rent a taxi for three of our five days and it was really convenient. The cost was 100,000 won per day which is just under $100 per day. Yes, it is a little pricey, but well worth it. The taxi driver was really great and almost became our tour guide. We got to ask him if some places were worth seeing and having his opinion really helped us make the best of our trip. We saw A LOT and I will attempt to convey the beautiful sights and my thoughts on everything.

My first challenge was packing, since I hate it to begin with, but since we were going to be travelling around so much and staying at guesthouses/hostels, I would need to fit everything into my backpack. I made it happen though. The flight was a breeze. Considering the last flight I took was coming to Korea, this 40-minute ride seemed like seconds. It took us longer to get to the actual airport in Busan than to fly to Jeju. Once we landed it was about 6pm and we headed to our first guesthouse called You&I. This place was really cozy and nice. It is pretty much right downtown Jeju City and the owner speaks some English along with Japanese and Korean. The room we stayed in was dormitory style with bunk beds and it was nice. There was even free wifi. What I really love about guesthouses is that they provide breakfast. This one offered us eggs and toast, along with various spreads for toast. Our first night we went out and had Black Skinned Pork. It's famous in Jeju and it looks like regular pork when you eat it but the taste is much more appetizing than your run of the mill pork. It's a little on the expensive side, but really worth it. We also both didn't feel like we were in Jeju when we were downtown. We felt like we could have been in Ulsan downtown. This mentality changed the next day.

Day One - Jeju City:
We started early, with our taxi driver picking us up at 9:00. The night before we chose places we wanted to see and we were determined we would see all of them. We started our journey at Youngduam Rock. It is along the coast and is said to look like a dragon. One of my favourite things about Jeju was that it is covered in black lava rock that is really quite beautiful. The contrast of the deep blue water made it really wonderful to see. I will post a link to my photos to have a look, because there are just so many it would be impossible to incorporate them here. After seeing the dragon rock, we headed to some traditional police offices at the advisement of our taxi driver, and they were really interesting to see. We got to see where the officers lived and spent their days. There were also places where punishment of ht criminals occurred. Kelly and I had some fun here pretending I was a criminal. After exploring here, we headed to two museums. The first was a natural museum that covered the land mass and history of the volcanic eruption, along with the various wildlife that is found on the island. The national museum of Jeju was quite interesting with many different kinds of artifacts. We headed to a traditional market after seeing the museums and I bought a handkerchief to keep the sun off my neck and keep cool. We also bought some of Jeju's famous oranges that were fantastic. We also got some dragon fruit and chocolate to being home to our co-workers and friends. Our next stop was Ecoland and this place was really cool. The park is surrounded by a train that has a hop-on hop-off system and you can explore the various areas. It was really beautiful and GREEN. We don't see too much green on the mainland so it was nice to have a change in Jeju. Our day ended at San-gum-buri Crater. This was probably my favourite place I saw in Jeju. It was so amazingly stunning. The crater was filled with beautiful greenery and since we went later in the day, the skyline was absolutely stunning. We ended our day by heading to our next guesthouse that was aptly named "The Guesthouse". We would stay there for two nights and it was a really nice place.

Day Two: Eastern Jeju
We started our day by having breakfast at the guesthouse and they even had Greek yogurt! It was delicious. This is where we met another foreigner, Allison, who was travelling alone. Coincidentally she is also living in Ulsan and we travelled with her for a couple days. We started off at Hallim Park. This was a nature park that housed all kinds of wildlife and plants. I saw cacti for the first time! It was really tropical there. We also got to tour through some caves. We then stopped at one of Jeju's famous beaches, Hyeopjae, but we were on a mission to see places so we didn't stay long. It was really nice though and clear. We ended up driving along the coast for a while and the sights were really beautiful. For lunch we had a seafood soup and the seafood was still moving when the big pot was placed in front of us. It was intimidating to try it, but it was really quite delicious. After lunch we took a ride on a yellow submarine! i had my doubts with it but the trip was really cool and we got to see lots of sea life. We then ventured to Mount San-bang-san, which is a mountain that we climbed and reached a temple that was really quite beautiful. We finished our day by going to a couple theme parks. The first being Mini Land and the second the Glass Castle where everything was made of glass.

Day Three: Seogwipo
We started by heading to Hallasan National Park and partially hiked one of the trails, but we didn't want to go too far since Kelly and I were going to do the big hike on our last day. We then moved onto the Alive Museum, which is a trick art museum. This place was a lot of fun and we got some interesting photos. We would see three separate waterfalls this day. The first one was called Cheongyeon and it was really quite beautiful, the second was Cheonjiyeon and it was smaller, but was also really nice. The last one was my personal favorite and falls into the ocean. We saw this one later in the day and soaked our feet in the water. We also saw beautiful coastline sights. At the end of this day we had to made a long taxi ride to our last guesthouse  that was on the north-eastern tip. This guesthouse wasn't as nice as the last two, but we got our own room so that was a bonus. After having dinner at a local restaurant, we settled in for the night.

Day Four: Udo Island
We chose to have a more laid back day and ventured out to Udo Island which is a small island about 15 minutes away from Jeju. On the map it looks like a sprawled our cow. This island was really cute and green. We hiked a little and spent a good portion of the day on the beach. This is where I would like to comment on swimwear in Korea. Back home I am usually the most conservatively dressed person at the beach in my one-piece bathing suit. Here, I am the most scantily clad person in a swim dress! Most koreans go swimming in full on clothes that can be full arm and leg length. I can count on two hands how many bare male chests I saw that day. It is strange to me, but they are really conscious of their skin not having contact with the sun. We enjoyed the beach and some delicious food, and a couple boat rides. The first one was a lot of fun with hilarious drivers (even in Korean). They took us out onto the water and into some caves. Our second boat ride was on the beach on a very skinny inflatable boat called a "banana" boat. This one we held on for dear life as we were pulled by a jet ski. I ate a lot of saltwater on that ride haha. At the end of the day, we enjoyed some peanut ice cream. Udo is famous for their peanuts. When we got back onto Jeju, we headed to the big crater. It was quite the hike to the top but again, it did not disappoint. It had a stunning view. We packed it in early because tomorrow was our Hallasan day and we knew we would need all the energy we could get.

Day Five: Hallasan
This day was one of the most intense of my life. We started our day at about 6am. After having some breakfast, our guesthouse driver took us to the base of the trail and we spent some time stretching. I knew this was going to be a long hike, but I underestimated how difficult it would be. The terrain was quite rocky and very steep. I had to stop a few times and give myself little pep talks, but I made it to the top. Unfortunately, it was so overcast and we were in the clouds, so we couldn't see anything, but just knowing we made it to the top was very rewarding! It took about 4 hours to get to the top. 1,950m high. By the time we made it to the bottom, I was very thankful and worried for my legs. They were already very sore. I was concerned I wouldn't be able to walk the next day. It turned out I was fine, but I was achy for a few days, that's for sure. We headed to bed almost immediately after arriving back to the guesthouse. This would conclude our Jeju trip and it was sure an amazing one.

I am really thankful to my roommate Kelly for being my travel buddy. She is really good at getting me interested in places and planning. I know I wouldn't have seen everything I did without her. Overall, this was a trip of a lifetime and I am so glad I went. I think all foreigners who are living here for a short or long time should check it out! There is so much to see and do, you could go sight seeing for months!

You can check out some photos here: https://plus.google.com/photos/108080094162280120728/albums/5911927807806593297

Let's go for a drink...

It's a Monday night and my roommate asks me if I want to go for a drink. I am not doing anything too critical so I agree. This resulted in quite the night with hitting a number of places and consuming quite a bit of beer and soju. I still haven't wrapped my head around the fact that "let's go for a drink" actually means, let's drink lots! hahaha

It was an interesting evening, and we started by going with a friend of Kelly's to Jinha. The first place we went to we had some raw fish. Nothing wrong with that, I've had raw fish before, but this time it was a little different. The fish were still MOVING! This I had not experienced before and it took a few moments of me watching the food in front of me move before I built up the courage to eat some of it. Among the fish there was some long tentacle octopus, and penis fish. Penis fish are actually called urechis unicinctus, and it is a species of marine spoon worm. I was really hesitant but I tried it all and it wasn't all that bad. Maybe a little chewy. In Korea you never have a dry glass, so the alcohol kept on flowing without really realizing it.

Our second stop was a beach front patio and the sound of the waves was very comforting. And it was very cool. Kelly and I were dreaming of living on the beach because of how hot our apartment is without A/C. Our brand of beer changed to Cafri, and I must say I wasn't a huge fan of it. By this time we had had quite a bit to drink and Kelly's friend had driven so I assumed they were calling a taxi, but I was wrong! They have a service here you can call to get a driver dropped off to take your car to where you need it to stay for the night. It was brilliant! It's like a taxi service and car transportation all in one shot! We ended up going to a Karaoke room and another bar at home in Namchang, where I thoroughly embarrassed myself with my awful singing voice.

We finally made our way home at about 3am. This was a little much for me on a weekday, even if I don't start work until 1:30 pm. I will have to remember to keep a little bit of my drink left in my glass so I am not given a full one when I am finished. Eventually I'll get it right. It was a fun evening, but maybe not so fun morning haha.

Unfortunately I was too stunned to take a picture or video of the moving fish, but perhaps I will go again and remember next time!

        Here is Kelly and I having some fun.

It's All About the Mamas and the Papas

Recently I was lucky enough to be blessed with a visit from my parents. It is quite the trek over here so I was really grateful they were able to make the journey abroad.

After counting the days until their arrival, they finally made it and it went by like a flash. It was hard to believe.

It all Started in Seoul. It took me a while to locate our hotel, but once I did my parents came running in after me to greet me with hugs and kisses. It was after midnight but we were all pretty hungry so we found a "street restaurant" and had some delicious food. My mom was enjoying the beer and soju and the culture of it all. Dad was too. We had quite a lie in the following day and then started our Seoul experience for the next 4 days. I love Seoul and being there in the spring/summer as opposed to the winter was a nice contrast. We saw some things that I went to in January, and also places I haven't seen before. It was a nice trip.

After Seoul, we made it back to Ulsan, where my parents headed to their pension in Jinha, about a ten minute drive from where I live, and I headed home. Unfortunately the pension was a bust so we had to arrange for other accommodations and my parents decided to stay in Haeundae, Busan for their week here. It's only a 40 minute train ride away so it was really convenient. The week was very busy with them coming to my school for a couple days, and they headed to Gyeongju for a day trip. Gyeongju is a beautiful city and has a lot of historical landmarks and roots in Buddhism. I also went there in the winter time. The students loved having them visit and partake in their classes. Some even tell me that they have to come at least one more time while I am still here (hint hint).

For their last weekend, we headed to Busan and stayed right next to Busan Station. It was a great location and fairly easy to get everywhere. I hadn't explored Busan at this point yet, so it was as new for me as it was for them. My favourite place was the Younggungsa Water Temple which is right along the water and is absolutely beautiful. Busan is nice because it is similar to Seoul but not as crowded or busy. There is really so much to see in this country, that there is no way to see it all.

After all was said and done and their stay went by like a memory, I was so happy they made it over and were able to see where I live and work and who I spend my time with. I think it will give them a little more peace of mind until I make my way home. As much as I loved having them come, it was really hard to say good-bye again, knowing it will be quite some time until I see them again. I am one lucky girl!

I have posted photos on Facebook, and for my non-facebook friends, you can check them out here, although they aren't organized in any fashion, so my apologies.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/108080094162280120728/albums/5897172030059692497

Onggi Featival 2013

This weekend is a big one in Korea. May 5th is Children's Day and in Korea it is a big deal. On Friday the students had a sports day at public school and then at our academy we had a games day and took students to the trampoline place or to sing karaoke or playing other games at the school. It was a fun day. The festivities run through the whole weekend and every where in town is filled with parents taking their kids out for the day.

This weekend was also Ulsan's very own Onggi Festival. Onggi is traditional Korean earthenware (pottery) that was originally used for serving and eating meals and is now used to store things such as Kimchi or soybean paste. It was a quick bus ride away and it was really beautiful. There were very many different kinds of Onggi and some were painted. The festival was huge with two museums to explore, tons of activities for kids, and even a singing competition. It was quite exciting.

After visiting the festival, my roommate and I went downtown to see the movie Iron Man 3 which was very good. It's interesting going to the movies because I often find myself reacting a few seconds either before or after the Korean audience because of the subtitles. After the movie we went out for dinner and had spaghetti and pizza. We also did a little shopping too :)

Celebrating My Birthday in Korea

This past week I celebrated my 26th birthday. I was a little weary about it since, well, I am on my own over here in this beautiful but strange country. I might have been dreading it a little bit too. However, my work family managed to make it super special for me.

I want to also include that many of my loved ones back in Canada were also wonderful with sending me some gifts or cards, and I got a lot of attention over Facebook that made me truly feel loved.

My day started with a wonderful smell coming from the kitchen. Kelly's gift to me was making me a birthday lunch. She knows how much I love Korean food and I swear she made/bought a little bit of everything! There was so much food. But that wasn't so bad considering we were able to get three days worth of meals out of it. In Korea on your birthday you make sure to eat "birthday soup" also known as seaweed soup. They eat that soup because traditionally people give seaweed to a new mom because it is really good for the body and helps repair after child birth. From that people started eating seaweed soup on their birthdays.

After we were stuffed from lunch and about ready for a nap, it was time for work! My students were very cute and a lot of them made sure to wish me a happy birthday and a few even made me a card or gave me a little gift! The director's daughter gave me a gift of things she picked out in Seoul. The gift included a new headband, bracelet, pin, and I love Korea earrings! She was so proud of it too. I taught her class that day and she made sure to show all her classmates what she had given me.

After work Jenny and Crow took us all out for dinner to celebrate. We went to the local raw fish shop where we had... Surprise surprise raw fish! I also had some steamed octopus and it was quite good. Six months ago I wouldn't have even entertained the idea of trying octopus let alone enjoying it. The meal was great and they even got me a cake! It was really good and was made from sweet potato I was told.

After the day was over I was quite pleased with my birthday and will remember it for quite some time.

Class Trip Three

This month I went on yet another class field trip and this time we did something new. We still had lunch at the local Lotteria. Afterwards, we headed to Ulsan Grand Park for the afternoon. I hadn't been there yet so I was pretty excited to check it out. It worked out that it was a beautiful day and possibly the warmest of the year.

The park has North, East, South, and West gates and is quite huge. We ended up going to three different playgrounds. The kids had a great time. One of the play areas had the longest slide I've ever seen. Our last stop before heading back home was to see the "pong pong" park. It is basically a park where the kids can jump on a soft "hill" and slide down it too. They had a really good time. Again, being the worst tourist ever, I didn't have my camera on me and therefore no pictures were taken. I am working on getting better at that!

We ended the day by getting some well deserved ice cream. I feel like these field trips help me get closer to the students and am really valuing the time spent with them.

Walking around the park, I noted how beautiful it is and how much there really is to see at the park. That weekend was the tulip festival so we were able to see the beautiful flowers. You can also rent bikes and take a ride around the park.

Next time I hope to do something new again and I promise to have pictures as well!

Best Class Trip - Part Deux

Today was the second installment of the "Best Class" Contest. This month we based our criteria on their daily spelling/meaning test scores. The class chosen was our top elementary school class. I am quite fond of this class so I was thrilled we were going to be spending a day together.

This time it was just me and the kids, no Korean teacher to assist. I was a little nervous but all was fine. We started by meeting at the school and walking to the bus stop together. Unfortunately some of the students were late so we had to wait 25 minutes for the bus and the students who were on time were not impressed. We eventually made it to Seongnam-dong and started by having lunch. Again we went the Lotteria and I was impressed at how inexpensive it was. For thirteen hamburger sets, it was a mere $45. You would never see that back home. After lunch, the students were given some money to spend downtown and so we did some shopping. Today is my director's birthday and her son is in this class so I helped him buy a gift for his momma. It was really cute. He got her some jewelry.

After shopping, they really wanted to go on this ride called "Nori Zone". I wasn't sure what it was but once we got there and had a look I knew I was NOT going on it hahaha. It was really scary! I found a mediocre video of one on Youtube: Nori Zone  It seems a lot scarier in person. I opted to go on a 4D ride that was also quite scary. It was a 4 person ride in a "Car" and you basically are driving around on the most terrifying car ride of your life, where if it were real life you would have been dead twenty times over. I was amazed at how real it actually felt. We also played some air hockey, which seems to be a favorite with the students.

After this we did some additional shopping and stopped for smoothies. I treated the kids to the smoothies and it was really nice how appreciative they were. By the time we got home I was ready for a nap haha but the students went on to a trampoline place in town.

Overall it was a great day :)

Best Class Field Trip!

For the New Year, we decided to make things a little interesting at our school and incorporate a "Best Class" contest among the classes to get the students motivated to do their homework and prepare for their spelling tests. For the month of January, we based our criteria on homework completion. The class that won is one of our more advanced classes at the elementary level. The way it works is that once the best class has been selected, the class is informed and they choose what they want to do and then I take them out for the day as a gift from the director.

For this particular class, they chose to go to Lotteria, which is similar to McDonalds, but a little better in my opinion. We had lunch and then headed for downtown on the bus. Once downtown, we spent a good chunk of time in an arcade and played some games. All the kids wanted to play air hockey against me so I spent a great deal of time playing that haha. After the arcade, we hit up a couple stationary stores. The students we given a 3,000 won spending limit (around $3), so they took their time deciding on what they wanted. One of the students bought me a notebook and pen! It  was very sweet of him, and feels like a parting gift now, as he is no longer a student at our school. Overall the students had a really great time and so did I. The day is also set up so that the students try to use as much of their english skills as they can. I would conclude that is was a success!

We have already chosen our "Best Class" for February and will head downtown again for a new class in a couple weeks. I am really looking for ward to it!

Valentine's Day in Korea

This past Thursday was Valentine's Day. Korean's celebrate love day a little differently from back home. First of all, it isn't thrown in your face everywhere you go. I like that. Being single on Valentine's day back home feels worse than it does here. Stores do bring in some extra chocolate, so I bought some Hershey's Kisses to give to my students. I also bought some chocolate for my co-workers, and the director's children.

Valentine's day in Korea is a day for the women to give chocolates to the men in their life. It was a little strange that my male co-worker was actually expecting chocolate from me and asked me, "Where's my chocolate Emma?" I mean I did have some for him but I kind of wanted to tell him to "Slow your roll!" I doubt he would understand that idiom though. On March 15th, Korea has White day where the men then treat the women in their lives. It seems a little heterosexist to me, but Korean's don't exactly acknowledge that not everyone is heterosexual.

Most of my kids were very thankful to get chocolate from me and others begged for more. Later on in the day my students were really quite hyper and had a hard time focusing, so we played some games.

Many of my students brought me chocolate as well and by the end of the day I felt like I had eaten my body weight in chocolate.

Gyeongju & Cheongdo

Last weekend was the Lunar New Years, so we had an extra day off. Kelly and I had planned to visit Seoul again, but then changed our plans and went on a "girl's weekend" with three of her friends to Gyeongju and Cheongdo.

We left quite early on Saturday morning to try and miss traffic. We first went to Gyeongju, which was the ancient capital of the Silla Kingdom. The resort we were staying at the first night was beautiful. It was surrounded by a beautiful lake and the actual resort had an indoor and outdoor heated pool and hot tub. When we arrived we first went out for breakfast and then went to a couple historical sites. The first one was Bulguksa Temple where we walked through a beautiful path and saw traditional buildings and statues. The second was Seokguram Grotto where there is a beautiful and very large statue of Buddha. That statue is actually known as one of the most outstanding masterpieces in the history of the world's religious art. They actually built a shelter around the statue to preserve it. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any pictures of it, but it was pretty breathtaking. Some of the other notable sights at Seokguram Grotto is the three storied stone pagoda, and the guardians that surround the large statue of Buddha. After seeing the sights and having some lunch, we headed back to the resort to test out the swimming pools and hot tubs. We spent a good amount of time there and it felt really nice. What was shocking to me was that after swimming/bathing everyone heads into the showers where there is absolutely no privacy. I basically had to strip down right then and there and wait for the watching eyes. It was completely awkward for the first few minutes, but then it was fine. As I was showering, one of Kelly's friends was in the shower next to me and all of a sudden starts cleaning my back. This took me by surprise but was actually kind of nice. I returned the favor as well. This was a completely new and semi-terrifying experience. I think it brought us all together though haha. Afterwards we made some dinner and went to bed early.

The next day we were off to Cheongdo! We started by visiting one of the girl's mom and had rice dumpling soup which is traditional at new years. I also met her nephew who has taught himself English and we had a conversation. His mom wanted us to become pen pals but he was a 16-year-old boy, so I can't say I blame him for declining. After that visit, we went to a Korean comedy show. I was a little weary about this and if I would understand any of it, but it was hilarious! It's amazing how much I can interpret from actions and people's intonation. Kelly's friends actually commented on how my understanding level is high. That was a nice thing to hear. After the show, we met all the actors and got pictures taken with them. They were all very nice and even said "Emma!" instead of "Cheese!" when we took the picture. It made me feel special.

Next, we moved on to the Cheongdo Wine Tunnel. This was really neat. The wine is made from Persimmons, wich is "Gam" in Korean, so it is quite sweet. The tunnel itself used to be a tunnel for a train, so it is really interesting inside. They have decorated the dark tunnel with beautiful lights and various displays about the wine and how it's made. Before leaving, there were some street vendors outside and we got some "Odeng". Odeng is a "fishcake" on a stick in this very hot, yet delicious broth. I don't think I am selling it very well, but it is delicious and great on a cold day. After our visit to the wine tunnel, it was starting to get dark and we headed to Provence. Provence was probably my favorite part of the trip. It is this little village that is completely lit up with lights. I will add a picture at the end for you to see. It is known as a proposal spot and the theme of the place is definitely love. We had some fun taking funny pictures and then went to a western restaurant because the girls really wanted some steak. The Koreans LOVE steak. It makes me laugh a bit because I am not big on it, so seeing them get so excited is enlightening. After this, we headed to our motel and had some beer and soju and snacks.

Monday morning, we got up a little later and started our journey home. We stopped at Unmunsa Temple, which is a college for female monks, or nuns. The temple was beautiful. There is a 500 year old weeping pine tree there that is quite extraordinary. After our visit there, we headed back home and I have to say I was quite spent by the time I got home. I took an extra long nap and it was glorious!

Gyeongju Resort - Outdoor pool at night

Provence - Beautiful Light Display

Cheongdo Wine Tunnel

Umunsa Temple

Umunsa Temple - Weeping Pine Tree

Going to the Gym in Korea

My roommate, Kelly, and I have started going to the gym in the morning before work. We walk to the local community centre that is about twenty minutes away. Going to the gym in Korea is really quite similar to back home, but with a few differences.

The overall experience is the same, and many of the machines are the same. The gym we go to is rather small so there aren't that many machines. However, there usually are not too many people at the gym so it's not so bad. Some machines that I haven't seen back home are the vibration machines. There are two kinds. The first is one where you stand n a platform and two pedals underneath your feet move up and down and your whole body shakes to the vibration. I was skeptical of this machine at first, but now I love it and use it at the end of my workout. The other kind of vibration machine is the one with the belt that vibrates. You have probably heard of or seen these before, maybe a couple decades ago. This I was also skeptical about but it is really good if your muscles are sore. It feels like a really good, intense massage. They also have leg massagers there to use. They feel nice on the feet, but I am a little too ticklish for them and I start to giggle.

What I love the most about the gym is probably the people. Because it is a community centre, there are many older ladies and a few men who like to frequent the gym almost every day. The first few times I went to the gym, you could have sworn I was the first foreigner they had ever seen. It was awkward to feel eyes on me constantly especially while trying to work out. Now it is a little different and you kind of feel like a family a little bit. The ladies and I say hello and bow to one another when we see each other and sometimes they invite me to their coffee breaks. Yes, there are coffee breaks at the gym haha. They are also very encouraging to me and motion that I look slimmer.

There are still the people that are jacked and make you feel inferior, but that will always be there. Also, I tested out the cross trainer (elliptical) one day and I think I am too tall for it because it felt odd using it, like I couldn't stand straight on it. I avoid that machine now.

Kelly is a really good person to go to the gym with because she gets my but out of bed in the morning to go and helps me with my form. She is more focused on how much she weighs though, and I just want to feel good.

Jinha Beach and Ganjeolgot

This past weekend I was lucky enough to venture out and see our local beach and main sight seeing spot.

Sunday we headed over to Jinha Beach first which is only a 15 minute bus ride away. I don't know if I can call it a bus ride though. It is more of a roller coaster ride. We thought we were going to have to wait for the bus so we got coffee before heading to the stop. We were lucky that we did not have to wait, but this ride was intense. It was like we were playing a game to see who could protect their coffee from spilling the longest. We were sitting at the back of the bus and were sliding everywhere. It was quite comical actually. Needless to say, bus rides in Korea are a little different than in Canada. On our ride home, our bus driver was actually passing cars!

Jinha beach is pretty nice. It's a sandy beach and has a little island that you can swim to. It felt odd being on the beach at the end of January and not being surrounded by snow or ice. It was pretty mild on Sunday too so that helped. It looks like it would be a popular spot in the summer.

After we had walked along the beach for a while, we decided to head to Ganjeolgot, which only one stop on the bus away. It felt like we were further away than we actually were. Again we were along the water, so we got to see more of the ocean, and a few lighthouses. There is also a giant post box and various statues. They also have this place called the Drama House where they used to put on plays but it has been turned into a restaurant now. The building is quite beautiful though. There are also very many food vendors at Ganjeolgot and we indulged in some delicious snacks.

It was an enjoyable outing!

You can see pictures here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/108080094162280120728/albums/5835466218878009793

I do not have much to report, as things have been pretty quiet since my trip to Seoul.

Last week I had my medical exam and it was odd but good at the same time. My director said "Wow!" when they recorded my height at 174.8 centimeters. Its as if seeing the number makes me appear taller. Also, my eyesight my be getting worse, but I should get an eye exam soon to be sure. Everything is normal and I passed so that is good! Tomorrow the director is taking me to the immigration office so we can apply for my Alien Registration Card (ARC).

I made the decision to get a straight perm, or what they call "magic straight" to make my life a little easier. I was skeptical about it but my roommate persuaded me that it would be good. It was an interesting process and took over two hours. I agreed to let her give me my bangs back but then she also thinned it out which was nice. My hair really is straight and all I have to do is blow-dry and go, so that is a definite bonus.

Kelly and I also joined the gym at the local community centre. Its only about $25 per month and takes about 20 minutes to walk there. There are other gyms closer (one on our street!), but they cost about twice as much. This gym has everything we would need so it works well. We have been getting up before work and going. Its tough to wake up early but once we're out there we're glad we went. I am glad we did this together as Kelly is really good at motivating me to get up and go with her. My muscles are a little angry with me right now but they'll get over it soon (I hope!).

Other than that things have been pretty quiet. For the month of January, we finish earlier so that has been really nice. It is helping me keep a normal sleeping schedule. It was getting a little out of control for a while.

I am starting to get quite homesick, more now than at the holidays which I think is strange. It's weird though, I have thoughts of certain places and then imagine the floor plan and things that happened there and how I wish I could go there again. maybe this is normal, but it feels strange.

My family sent me a small care package with a family calendar in it and some more Canada souvenirs. The kids love anything with Canada written on it. They also really like my calendar, they are fascinated to see the people in my life and think everyone is handsome or beautiful or cute. I decided to post the calendar in my classroom rather than take it home so they can look at it whenever they want. It is also nice to have a piece of my family with me in the class.

Well, I hope next time I have something more exciting for you to read. Sending everyone some love from Korea!

Winter Vacation: Seoul

After our NYE and lack of sleep, Kelly and I took the express bus to Seoul that takes about 4.5 hours. We both slept the whole way and before we knew it we had arrived.

Day One:
We stepped off the bus and went into a Dunkin' Donuts to wake up and have a coffee. Afterwards, we went to a Jimjibang, which is the Korean version of a spa, or a bath house. I was really nervous about this as it is open and there are male and female baths, but you are naked with a bunch of strangers. My thoughts were that I already get stared at constantly when I have my clothes on, I can't imagine when I don't have any clothes on at all. We ended up not being able to go as there was nowhere for us to put our backpacks. I can't say I wasn't relieved, but I think I will have to eventually try a jimjibang out. In hindsight it would probably have been better to go to one in Seoul rather than in Ulsan where I could run into a student and well that would be horrifying. We went back to the bus terminal and stored our backpacks in a locker because they were really quite heavy.
We started our trip by going to Insadong and took the subway to get there. Seoul's subway system reminded me a lot of the Tube in London, England. It was pretty easy to navigate around the city. In Insadong there is a huge foreigner market and many of the vendors speak some English. One of the food vendors actually yelled across the street "Hello Lady!" It made me laugh and think of Andre the Giant in The Princess Bride. There were many beautiful items for sale at various stores and I think I will have to return to get items to take home with me. I ended up buying some postcards that I can send out. For dinner we went to a dumpling place and they had very good dumplings and very many varieties.
After seeing Insadong, we moved on to Cheonggyecheon Stream and walked along it while taking photos. It was really beautiful with snow on the ground. After seeing the course of the stream, we found our way to Gwanghwamun Square. At this point it had started to really snow and Kelly and I were enjoying it at it doesn't often snow in Ulsan. At the square there were two statues of important people in Korea's history. The first statue was of Admiral Yi Sun-shin who protected Korea during the Japanese invasion. The second was of King Sejong who created Hangeul (Korean letter system). Afterwards we went to the National Museum of Contemporary History. Here, there was more information on the two statues and I had the chance to write my name and Canada in Hangeul to be posted in the museum. I also got to write one for myself, but I made a mistake and spelled Canata haha. At least the one for the museum was done correctly. After this we decided to head to Kelly's parents place where we would be staying.
Kelly's father is a short man and is very kind. He would try to talk to me in Korean when Kelly wasn't in the room but I couldn't understand and felt really bad. The first night was a quick introduction and then we set up our sleeping area. Their apartment is really quite small and about half the size of ours in Ulsan. They don't sleep on beds but on the floor. Kelly was worried this would be an inconvenience for me but it actually wasn't too bad. Also they do not have the luxury of as much hot water as they want like we do or a proper shower but instead have a bucket of hot water and a hose for cold water which we mixed and then used a basin to wash up and "shower". It was different but worked. We were so tired that it didn't really phase us. We slept for about 12 hours that night.

Day Two:
The second day started with a home-cooked meal being ready for us and Kelly's mom being home. Her mom works at a temple in Seoul and often stays there and has her own living quarters at the temple. Her mom is an excellent cook and even has a second bunker fridge devoted to kimchi and side dishes. After eating and getting ready we were out the door again to see some more sights. We started at Gwangbokgung Palace. We did a guided tour which was great because you got to learn about the history of each building. It was extremely cold that day but the palace was beautiful and extremely big. After our tour finished we went into the National Folk Museum that is on the grounds to warm up. This  museum was quite interesting. After we had finished there we went on to the National Museum of Korea which is HUGE. We spent over four hours there and only saw half of it. It was really interesting to see the tools they used in the past and how everything developed. There was also a large section on Buddhism in Korea that was very intriguing. We went home a little earlier that day because Kelly's mom had made one of her favorite dishes and she really wanted it haha. After seeing 3 museums in 24 hours we decided that we were done on the museum front. There are a few others there that I would like to see eventually but at another time.

Day Three:
We went to Lotte World on the third day. This was quite fun and is Korea's version of Disney Land, but I found it quite similar to Canada's Wonderland too. It is mainly for kids, but we still had a good time and the outside attractions were really neat. We went on a couple rides and watched the parade they had, along with some of the entertainment shows. After we had finished at Lotte World, we met up with a friend that I grew up with who is now living in Seoul. We went to a foreigner bar called Traveller's and I had a really good burger. It was really great seeing him and catching up. Seeing him made me miss home a little more though. His friend Juno came along too and he is Korean but speaks excellent English. After dinner we played a game of foosball that turned out to be more fun than I expected.

Day Four:
Kelly and I had decided to to a city bus tour this day where you can get off and hop on at various sites. Her father woke us up quite early with breakfast (rice soup). Kelly's parents were very accommodating and kind, which I was very grateful for. The city tour is a good way to get to many places in one day. Our first stop was Namdaemun Market that was HUGE. I thought the Namchang Market was big, but this market took over eight streets and had all kinds of shopping from souvenirs, to clothing, to shoes, to food. After touring around there for a while, we hopped on the bus and stopped at Itaewon. This was more shopping and we found an English book store that had a huge selection and I ended up getting a Korean-English dictionary and a travel book on Bali, where I intend to visit after my contract finishes. One thing I noticed about the shopping in Korea is how the sales people follow you throughout the store. It drives me a little crazy, but it's how they are here. Also, they assume because I am a foreigner that I have lots of money so they try to get me to buy everything. And people on the street begging for money approach me first.
Next stop was Myeongdong which was also another shopping district and we had lunch there. We had something called Shabu Shabu that was a broth with various vegetables and thinly sliced beef. First you eat the beef and veggies and dip it in various sauces you are given and then you add noodles that are similar to udon, but not quite and make a soup out of the remaining broth and veggies. My friend we met the day before recommended it and I have to say I am glad we tried it out.
Our next stop was Namsangol Hanok Village. This was a traditional village that was really great to see and tour around. Here we were able to spot the Namsan Tower as well. They had an area of ice sculptures that were really cool and well done. We decided to end our evening with a trip up to the Namsan Tower and although the climb was a bit challenging, we made it and the view was spectacular. Once we got inside the tower we were waiting for the sun to set and walked around seeing the different shops and exhibitions they had. We got a little silly and started taking photos wearing masks and with stuffed animals.
Once night fell and we saw the view and took our pictures, we went home to have dinner with her father. We ordered Chinese. Chinese is a little different here than is it back home. We had soup with noodles and seafood and then sweet and sour pork. Food places here almost always deliver, including McDonalds. You also get your food in actual glass bowls and they come and pick them up later.

Day Five:
We were originally going to spend six days in Seoul but decided later that we would need a day for rest with all of the walking and sightseeing we had been doing. On our last day we went to the Buddhist temple Kelly's mom works at because they were having a special celebration. The temple is huge and absolutely stunning. We went to the top floor where we bowed and paid our respects. The on a lower floor was where they had the celebration. I couldn't understand what was being said but it was really neat to watch and be a part of. Many people were quite shocked by my presence as it is not a typical foreigner hang out. Many of the older ladies smiled and we bowed to one another. One actually dragged me into the procession which was both scary and good at the same time. After the celebration we were given a meal of bibimbap and after visiting with Kelly's mom for a short while, we were heading home.

Overall it was a great trip to Seoul and I was able to get some good pictures. My pictures are up on facebook, and for those who are not connected via facebook, you can view them here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/108080094162280120728/albums/5830227822086723361?authkey=CLeEh8at2PnlqQE

I did take a couple videos but they don't seem to want to load so I will figure it out and add them shortly.