It's SNOWING!!!!!

This weekend after our work Christmas Party, held in Daejeon, Iksan got its first REAL snowfall of the year. Now, in Canada I believe this type of snow would be called 'packing' snow, also known for its strength in making great snowmen and snowballs. Also known for its ability to 'actually stick' to the ground and itself. I guess with Korea not really used to the 'snow conditions' that this type of snow brings to the roads and highways, we passed quite a few skids, spins, slides and even fender benders on the way home. Which is never nice to see. I thought it was an interesting contrast to how this snow would have been greeted, and dealt with, in Canada. However, one must keep in mind that I don't think many Korean cars have snow tires, nor are they used to big snowfalls or snowy roads, so its easy to understand the reactions that come to a snowfall like this. As we all know, even with snow tires in Canada, skids, slides and fender benders are still possible.

In the morning the streets of Iksan looked like this (below). It started snowing again this morning however the roads were mostly slush by the afternoon. Overall I would say there was probably an accumulation of around 10-15 cm of snow on the ground.

Last I heard there currently wasn't snow everywhere back home, only a few places, so I thought I might try to share some with all of you that don't yet have the lovely, white, fluffy, wet, cold, snow yourselves... Just in case you forgot what it looks like ;)

In other news, Trevor and I go for our next belt test in Taekwondo, this Thursday December 21st, so which us luck!!! We'll keep you posted on the results. Also, on the 23rd, which is less then a week, Trevor and I will be off to Cambodia and Vietnam!!! I am sooo excited!!! But before we go I wanted to wish everyone a 'Very Merry Christmas' and a 'Happy New Year' now, in case I don't get a chance to update my blog again until after the holidays.

So take care and I hope Everyone has a great Christmas and a Safe and Happy New Year!!!

Taekwondo Update

As many of you may or may not know, Trevor and I are taking taekwondo while we are here in Korea. Our hope is to get our Black belts before returning to Canada, and just this past Monday, we got ourselves one step closer because we got our Yellow Belts!!!!!! Its only the second level, but I was so excited when we passed haha!!!

The test was pretty cool too. We had to break wooden boards by punching them, and then by kicking them. I was able to break the boards right away with my kick, in fact the board broke into three pieces... the middle piece flew up and hit the ceiling!!! It was cool!!! I had to punch two boards and on my first punch, the second board broke, but the first one didn't. I got to try again through and I did it!!! Trevor says I just need to follow through with my punches more. Plus we all know how strong my upper body is.. hahah (Sari, I'm working on it!!!)

Trevor had to punch three boards, and he was able to do it on the first try. His kick was good too, and he broke the boards right in half!!

Overall the test was fun. The best part was when our instructor gave us our new belts though!!!
I'll keep you posted for our next test and maybe even try to get some pictures, Taekwondo style....

The DMZ

This past weekend, with some friends, we took a tour to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). It was a really great experience because it really opened my eyes to what Korea has gone through in the past. Not knowing much about Korean history, this tour was very informative and really made me see a lot of the hardtimes that this country has gone through in the past. Some of the monuments we saw and the stories we heard, really made me realize how prominent the division has been, and still is, between North and South Korea, both physically and emotionally.

We met our tour guide in Seoul and we took a bus to Panmunjeom. We first went to a place that not only had historical monuments, but also a small amusement park, so of course we went on a ride before we left. Anywho... here we saw the Peace bell. This bell is 2.23m in diameter, 3.8m high, weighs 21 tons and is made of bronze and tin. The Peace bell was created as a way of marking the reunification of the Korean Penisula. It rings on the hour each day and marks the division of North and South Korea. It was created in hopes that it would bring Peace and, perhaps one day, bring together the North and South.
For 10,000Won you could ring the Peace bell on the hour...So... we did!! You can't really see everyone in this picture but we were a group of 7 people, so together we all rang the bell three times. Trying for peace is hard work...
Below is the very end of the Freedom Bridge, which was officially opened on February 16, 1952. During the Korean War, this bridge was a major focal point of attention all around the world, as it became a major link between the truce site of Panmunjom and Seoul. The Freedom Bridge is not publisized very much, but it was used for United Nations Command soldiers who returned home to South Korea after being held captive in North Korea--Hense the name 'Freedom Bridge'.

People come and put up Korean flags, symbols, and other postings, and often write messages as well.

In Korea, on Chusok, Koreans visit their relatives that have past away, by going to their grave sites and pay their respects by offering rice and fruits. Long ago, during the Korean war, when Koreans were forced to choose to live either in North or South Korea, many North Koreans, living in South Korea, would come here to pay respect to their dead relatives on Chusok or other holidays, because they were not able to actually go to the gravesites. This was their one place where they could go to pay their respects, it is called Memorial Alter.

Our next stop was Gyeongui Railway Transit Office. The big plan is to eventually have a railway train that will go all the way to Europe from Korea. However, in order for that to happen, they need to go through a part of North Korea... which is why this railway has nt yet been built. Regardless, this train station still had the maps all planned out. Big plans, but they are kind of at a stand still right now. Outside in front of the railway station was a Korean guard, who let you take his picture. It was kind of akward because he didn't speak or really move. We weren't really sure how to act in the picture, hense the stuffness and akwardness in the picture below. But apparently everyone does this so it's nothing new to the guard.

After the train station, we went to the Odusam Unification Observatory(below). Here we were able to look into North Korea through pay telescopes. From where we were, we could look across the Demilitarized Zone, and see the actual border between North and South Korea. You were only allowed to take pictures from a certain point. I attempted it, but you couldn't really see anything. What we could see through the pay telescopes, basically looked like any other city, except in the mountains you could see a big statue of Kim Il Sung, the former ruler of North Korea and the father of Kim Jong Il, the current ruler. Our final stop on this tour was The third Tunnel. In 1974 South Korea found the first tunnel that North Korea had dug to try to sneak in to South Korea to either send in spies, troops, weapons, etc. The second tunnel was found in 1975, and the thrid tunnel, the one that we saw, was found in 1978. This third tunnel was the biggest and the closest to Seoul itself. It could be used to send approximately 30,000 troops in an hour. The picture below is a sideview picture of the tunnel. I think the legth of the tunnel was about 10km or so... but it felt a lot longer when we had to walk all the way back up!!

It was really interesting to see and learn about all these attempts that North Korea took to try to get into South Korea. This tunnel had dynamite holes and was quite extensive. The fact that we were able to walk through was, although very tiring, very exciting.

The entire experience was a good eye opener as to what Korea has gone through. There is so much extensive history to this country and its past, and being able to see all of this and experience it in person, was definately an experience worth remembering.

A night in Jeonju...

This weekend we went Jeonju with some friends. We took an intercity bus and headed out around 5:30pm on Saturday. We had tickets to see a theatre play called 'Jump'. It was a comedy martial arts show, very entertaining!!! But sorry no cameras were allowed inside so I don't have any pictures. The whole show was really good!!! It was similar to an interpretive dance play, where the actors act out the play through dance, except this was more like interpretive martial arts... These people were amazing!!!

After the play we all headed over to T.G.I.Fridays for some real Western style food. We all wanted hamburgers, but oddly enough the restaurant only had two left!! So two people got hamburgers and the rest of us had to change our orders... Kinda sucked because I was really wanting that hamburger!!!! Regardless, we all needed a big meal in our stomachs because we had a big night ahead of us!!!

From T.G.I.Fridays we went to a Soju tent. And yes, it's exactly how it sounds... Similar to a beer tent, but they also served Soju (similar to Japanese Sakki). We started out with a group of about 6-10, but shortly we grew to about 4-5 tables full of people. We ordered the beer and Soju by the pitcher, and soon started a giant game of FlipCup (about 11 people on each side)!! Our team won 4-1... We did have two Brock people on our team so I guess we had a small advantage ;) The soju we had was yogurt flavour, sounds gross, but it was really good!!!


After we had our fill of Soju we headed over to a bar called JukeBox. Similar to any dancebar at home, except at certain points in the night, they would have designated break times. The D.J spoke in Korean so I don't know what he said but everyone seemed to know when it was time to rest and stop dancing, and then when to get back up and dance again. It made sense I guess, it was pretty hot on the dance floor, so the break was nice.

Unlike many other bars in Iksan, this bar closed at 3am, so at that point we all headed over to a NoriBang (pronounced Nory-bong). A noribang is like a Kareoke bar but instead of having just one big room where everyone hangs out, you get your own room, a music room. You and your friends pay for a room with a big screen and a kareoke machine and you just choose your songs while you're in there, and sing away. There are couches and tables in the room so its pretty nice. I still havent sang at a music room yet... I'm working on it!!

Once we had our fill of singing, we decided to head home. By this time it was about 5am Sunday morning, and we were a little tired so we just grabbed a cab home. Overall, it was a super super fun night!!! Nothing like a night out that includes flip cup, let alone a night that inlcudes amazing martial arts, soju, beer, singing, AND flipcup... (Oh how i miss those Brock nights of flip cup tournaments)

I have a few more pictures from this night but I can't put them up for some reason.... I'll work on it and get them up soon hopefully.

Happy Pepero Day!!

So, in North America we celebrate November 11th as Remembrance Day, where we honor and remember all those brave people who fought to protect out country. Many people lost their lives so that we could have a better tomorrow.

In Korea, Novemeber 11th is Pepero Day!!!
As explained in Wikipedia:
Pepero Day is a unofficial holiday in South Korea similar to Valentine's Day or Sweetest Day. It is named after the Korean snack Pepero and held on November 11, since the date "11/11" resemble four sticks of Pepero. The holiday is observed mostly by young people and couples, who exchange Pepero sticks, other candies, and romantic gifts.
According to the story, Pepero Day was started in 1994 by students at a girls' middle school in Busan, where they exchanged Pepero sticks as gifts to wish one another to grow "as tall and slender as a Pepero" (Pepero means "thin like a stick"). However, it is more likely it was initiated by Lotte, the company which produces Pepero.

I thought this was a really weird contrast to N.A's Novemeber 11th. I also thought this was a good example that shows how much the world is becoming influenced by big corporations. We celebrate many holidays, all of which are slowly becoming more and more about gaining tangible goods and less about the meaning behind the holiday. Now, it has even gotten as far as having holidays that are actually named after the product itself.

(November 11th was never remembrance day for Korea, so its not as if they have gotten rid of remembrance day, Pepero day just happen to fall on the same day as N.A's rememberance day. Korea has their own day of remembrance. I was just using the Pepero holiday as an example of how much societies all over the world have become influenced by 'products' and corporations)

Our dinner of Live Prawn!!!

While in Anmyedo, as I mentioned in my last post, we had live prawn for dinner... as you can see Trevor really enjoyed it... Me, not so much.

" We're suppose to eat that?"

"Yummmm"

Pictures from Anmyendo... as promised

As promised, here are some pics from out weekend in Anmyendo...

On the island across from the Temple

Temple

Mini beer can we had at lunch (I just thought it was cute)

Looking at the temple from across the water (the tide was out)

Starfish along the beach

More to come soon!!!!

Anmyendo bike trip

A few weekends ago we went to Anmyendo for a biking trip with people from work. Anmyendo is famous for its many Pine trees. These pine trees are only really seen in Anmyendo and are a bit different than the Pine trees at home. These ones are much much taller and the needles are only at the top. Just imagine a christmas tree with a really really really long trunk.

We arrived in Anmyendo around 11 or 12. We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and were off to bike. We drove over to a parking lot that was right next to a beach. Anmyendo actually means 'Flower', and the lot that we were parking in was where they hold their flower festival each year. So once we were all ready, (this took awhile b/c none of us had gone bike riding in a long time) we headed towards the beach. I thought there would be a pathway along the beach that we would ride along, but no, we rode ON the beach. It was a bit hard at first but I got the hang of it. I'm not sure of the beach name but it was on The Yellow Sea. It was really fun, but hard work. Along the way we saw some mangled up jelly fish and also got a really close look at some starfish that were along the beach.

We stopped riding when we got to a Hotel called, Ocean Palace and had some lunch. There was also an outdoor spa but we decided to save that for the next day.

After lunch we rode our bikes over to a Tea House called the Herb House.

We were all pretty hot by then so we had some cold tea, Hibiscus and Peppermint. I had Hibiscus and Trevor had Peppermint. Both were good!!! The tea house itself was like a little store inside that sold candles and, of course, tea.
Outside there were swings and nice gardens.

After, our tea we headed back to the car, packed up our bikes and headed over to the big Prawn Festval.

That night was the beginning of this big prawn festival (a prawn is like a giant shrimp... if you didnt know) for dinner. There were tons of restaurants, food stands, and performances going on all over the place. At first we walked around and saw everything, ate some roasted chesnuts and some pumpkin taffy-like treat. But dinner was the big event. We went to this restaurant along the beach that cooked the prawn right in front of you... Literally!!!

They bring a bowl full of these things... all still jumping around... Then, once the pot is hot they dump them in. Some of them attempt to escape (who can blame them?) but are always caught and thrown in the pot with the rest of them. Of course, I was sitting right next to the pot and they came pretty close to touching me. Once they get them all in, we have to sit there listening to them squeel and squirm until they are fully cooked!!! Needless to say, I felt a little bad... I couldn't imagine watching a cow or a chicken die right in front of me and then cooking it up right there to eat it!!!

After that they brought over more sea creatures, some that I didnt even know you could eat!! Things like Conch's, oysters, clams, muscles... I dont know what else... I attmpted to eat some... but I just couldn't. After a few chews of a squishy substance that had a bit of crunch in the middle... my stomach turned a little. Later we started finding little sand crabs inside the muscles... then I felt worse because I thought I may have ate one. So needless to say, I didnt eat very much that night... Just couldn't handle it. I dont mind seafod but I don't think I want to watch it die before hand... I prefer mine cooked before it comes to my table.

The next day we headed out for some hiking. We first stopped at a buddhist temple, which was very interesting. There were all these statues lined up out front which represent good spirits that are suppose to protect the temple. The tide was out that day so we were able to walk across this bridge to an island. It was really cool because we could see all of these sand crawler type bugs moving around on, what would have been, the bottom of the ocean. Noramally that would really bother me, but it was really neat to see.

Later that day we did some more hiking and ended our day at the outdoor spa.

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I am going to try to post more in a separate post. For some reason the pictures do not want to cooperate. I have LOTS of pictures to post... so hopefully it will start to work soon.

Out and About in Iksan...

Iksan itself is actually quite an interesting city. There is an outdoor market, which is a great place for fruits and vegetables, as well as a University and University area full of bars/restaurants and shops, many Korean BBQ restaurants, bars, parks, a buddist headquarters, and Iksan itself is on the main train line that goes all over South Korea






Just a few blocks away from our apartments is a LotteMart (similar to a Wal-mart, but bigger). We can get everything from groceries to clothing to appliances to musical instruments.

When we go out for meals, we try to go to different restaurants and bars each time. We have noticed that restaurants often advertise what types of meat they serve using happy animal faces on their windows. The best ones are the ones that have cows or pigs in a smiling thumbs-up position, as if to say “I’m delicious!” We found one restaurant with an angry looking chicken, which, to me, seems a bit more fitting. (I do have a picture of this but for some reason Blogger won't me put it on here.. I'll keep trying though)

Something that seems to be very popular in Iksan is pet shops. It seems as though there are always pet shops around, no matter where we go in Iksan. I’m definitely not complaining because I love to stop and look at all of the puppies. There is a pet store just 2 or 3 buildings over from our school that we pass everyday, and everyday we stop to take a look at the small puppies in the windows. The most surprising thing about these puppies is that sometimes they change colour. We walked by one day to see the little fluffy white dog to be all shaven except for its tail and ears. Its tail and ears had been dyed yellow and orange (i have a picture of this, but once again, technical difficulties). And this wasn’t the first time we saw this!! A few days earlier we saw a white dog with pink wings on its back.

Surprisingly enough, there is also a cat, at the same pet store, that reminds me of one of our old cats named ‘Fluffy’, who ironically had to get frequent haircuts, which made her not-so-fluffy. This cat here was shaven, with a similar haircut to Fluffy’s, and left with just fluffy boots, tail fluff, and head fluff. (See Pam, everyone shaves their cats... but this one had no holes in it)

Bugs?? Why not?

When in Rome.... or should I say, When in Korea, do as the Koreans do...

Even after saying I would NEVER eat a bug... I DID IT!!! Well... Trevor squeezed the juice out of it first, and then I ate it... But the important part is I ate it!! And it wasn't even that bad!! The bugs we ate were actually boiled larva... apparently a lot of Korean children really enjoy them.

AND to add to this, we even ate cow intestines!!! When we first ordered them, we didn't actually know what we had ordered. When it came to the table, as we watched it cook, we took guesses as to what it could be.. My guess was cow intestines. We later found out that I was right... and strangly enough, I was ok with it. Funny part is that just this past weekend, we ended up at a different restaurant, in a DIFFERENT town and accidentally ended up having them again!!!! They just seem to be everywhere... hahaha

Just this past Friday, Trevor and I went to the usual bar, Red Rock where the other foreigners go. Later in the night we were invited to another bar called Montana's. This bar was more like a smaller, crazier version of Bucks, but with more strobe lights. The bar was really fun, but we slowly learned that Koreans dance a bit differently than Canadians. Originally, I had left Red Rock with 4 other girls, and Trevor and some other guys were going to meet us afterwards. So us girls were dancing and soon a group of Korean guys started circling us... Literally!!! They joined hands and danced around us!! They slowly began to push in on our circle so we quickly broke their circle up. Oddly enough, this wasn't even the craziest part of the night. At one point in the night, Trevor and I were dancing, and another guy came up and joined us! Basically, to draw a picture for you-->[TrevorMeKorean Guy]. This was a little different for us but we just laughed... The funniest part was when this guy took a sip of Trevor's beer!!!! It's rare to see a guy share his beer with another guy.... let alone with a guy he doesn't know!!! Regardlessl... it was a really fun night!!!

I must be Canadian eh?

Although I am trying to learn how to speak Korean while here, I think I am learning more about speaking ‘Canadian’. Being Canadian I am used to hearing about all of the stereotypes about ‘speaking Canadian’ however, I never really believed all of them until now. After someone pointed out how often I use the word ‘eh’ at the end of my sentences, I have begun to notice it myself… and I can’t stop it!! I don’t even realize that I am saying it half the time. I am even learning that Canadians do actually have words that some people have never heard of. The other two teachers at our school are from America and neither one of them had ever heard the words ‘toque’ or ‘chesterfield’. So I guess my Canadian Pop Culture prof was right…hmmm…

Japan Visa Run

Our visa run to Japan was a success!! We took one wrong train on the way there, but were able to correct our mistake and still got there on time. We had to take two trains from Iksan to Busan and then catch the Ferry from Busan over to Fukuoka, Japan.

We spent the night in Busan, where we looked around a small tourist area that was right by the train station. My camera battery died so I don't have a lot of Japan pictures... (Trevor has most of them on his blog.)

We only had one night so we didn’t get to see very much, however we still managed to get to a bar where Trevor and the other teacher that was with us, Catharine, did some Karaoke. I wasn’t quite brave enough to do it myself, just then.

In the morning we caught the Ferry over to Fukuoka, Japan and headed straight to the Korean embassy. After which we were able to explore the city. We first went to Canal City, which is a GIGANTIC mall, did a bit of shopping and then left to see some more of Fukuoka. Our Hotel was in a downtown area so we were close to a lot of ‘Soap Girl’ shops. For dinner we ate at a Yatai, which is like a street vendor that you can sit at, and had some Ramen, a REALLY good noodle dish. While we were eating, a Japanese man approached Trevor and I and asked if he could take our picture, of course we said yes!!! And took a picture of him as well. Trevor even got his picture taken with him. (www.travelintrev.blogspot.com)

At nighttime, Trevor and I went out exploring some of the smaller side streets. We found mostly restaurants and bars but also a few arcade places. These arcades were about 4 stories tall, each floor having different types of games on it. There were entire floors dedicated to claw games (the ones where you control the giant claw to try to pick up a prize). Trevor got pretty good at it and won a big Snoopy for me… awww.

It was a Tuesday night, so the streets got pretty quite around 10-11 o’clock, so there wasn’t too much excitement going on. We did not get to experience too much Japanese culture because we only really had the one night to explore.

The next day we picked up our visa’s and after a little bit more shopping, we headed back to the Ferry, and headed home.

Work and Iksan...

Teaching has been pretty hectic. I attempted to make a posting on the Friday night, but after a week of teaching children how to speak English, had left me with little ability to do so myself… which is why this has taken me so long.

Everyone at work is really nice and we are all trying to figure out how and what exactly, to teach. I have 7 different classes that I teach. All of the classes are broken into levels, level 1 being the lowest, then level 2, level 3, and so forth. The younger kids definitely offer some challenges, as they can be extremely hyper and get very excited about games. I think it will just take same time to get used to each other. Thankfully, I have no horror stories from my first week of work. Trevor on the other hand, may have a bit more to say about his first week.

For the most part South Korea has been pretty fun. Our meals are often similar to a guessing game, since neither Trevor nor I have quite mastered how to speak or read Korean yet. When ordering food at restaurants we usually just pick a few items and hope for the best. We can usually recognize some dishes, but have also had a few instances of unknown foods, all of which had been a great part of the experience!!

Contrary to my other postings, we have been experiencing other things than just Korean food. On Friday night, we took part in poker night with some of the other foreigners (Yes, even I played!! Trevor taught me how to play during the week so I wouldn’t have to just sit there and watch). For my first time playing, I think I did pretty well; I even won a few hands (although I didn’t know it most of the time… haha).

Just this weekend all of the teachers went to Jeonju to see Hanook Village. It is a small village of little shops and historical monuments. We went to one shop where we were able to learn how to make some traditional Korean paper artwork called Hanji Konge. The man who was teaching us is currently a student trying to make it as an artist. He taught us about Korean art and told us about his own artwork. He gave us his email so that we can possibly go to some of his at exhibits.
While in Junju we had an amazing lunch!! We had about 4 main dishes, some of which were octopus stew (yes, even I ate the octopus!!) and bulgogi (which is meat and vegetables… a little spicy!!), and maybe 10 side dishes(kimchi, seaweed, mushrooms, other vegetables, etc). The entire table was covered with food!! We barely had enough room for our drinks.

Overall... so far so good!! (I will post some pictures soon, for some reason I was unable to do it when i posted this.)

Feeling Like Celebrities...

Whenever we go out around town, children always point and look at us like we are celebrities. Someone will see us and then pull on the sleeve of their parent or friend to say “look look…” We just smile and wave. Sometimes the younger kids like to come right up and say ‘Hi’ so we always wave and say ‘Hi’ back. It’s actually quite flattering. One day, while shopping for groceries, a man approached us just to ask where we were from… and just said ‘Thank you’ and walked away. I think he and his friend were trying to guess, and needed us to settle the argument.

A little taste of Korea... and Japan here we come!!

Hi!!!

Sorry for the lack of posts... Things has been crazy busy and we still don't have our own internet at home. More stories and pics will be up really soon!!!

On Friday, we went out to a bar where other foreigners hang out and we were able to meet lots of new people!! They go there every friday, and I think once a month they have a quiz night (which is what we got to take part in). Mostly though, everyone just hangs out, drinks, plays darts, talks.. you know, typical bar stuff. There were a lot of other Canadians, which was cool. We also found out that they organize things like poker nights, soccer games, ball hockey, etc... so lots of stuff to keep busy with!!! All in all, it was great to meet all of these new people!!

On Monday we leave for Japan to do our Visa run. We will take the train to Busan and then take the Fairy over to Fukuoka, Japan. When we come back we should have internet and phone shortly afterwards... which means lots of stories and pictures for the blog!!! Japan should be fun. We have an entire evening and then the next afternoon to explore, and knowing me, get lost, I can't wait!!

So far, We are beginning to try more and more Korean food each day... super tasty!! Last night everyone at work was taken out for dinner. We went to this 'Korean BBQ' place.. really good!! Everyone sits (on the floor) around the table where there is a big burner in the middle of the table. They bring out the meat (we had pork) and you get to cook it yourselves. The table is covered with side dishes like kimchi (lots of different kinds), rice, garlic, spicy sauces, lettuce, etc. The main way to eat it (but not the only way) is to cut the meat up into bite size pieces, when cooking it, and then wrap it inside a piece of lettuce, either by itself or with some other types of side dishes. You don't have to eat it this way, you can eat it on its own which is also good!!

Trevor and I tried to go out to the same type of restaurant a few days before, but we had a little bit of difficulty ordering!! hahah...

Nonetheless, the food is still really good!! SO far, my favourite is Kimbap (very similar to sushi)!! Oh and by the way, there IS chocolate milk here!!! (phew!!) We also found out that Welches not only makes grape soda, but also Strawberry soda!!!!! So I've got my drinks covered!!

Well, enough about food!! I have some really good pics, which I promise will be up shortly, with stories that are not about food!!

In the meantime, I'll be in Japan if anyone needs me!!!

We made it to South Korea!!

Well, after an hour delay, approx. 14 hours on the plane, plus a 4 hour car ride, we made it to Iksan!!!

The plane ride was ok, except I did not sleep at all!!! Trevor was able to sleep pretty much any time we weren't being served food, but I stayed awake almost the entire time. The plane landed in Incheon, which is just outside of Seoul. We managed to get through the airport and met up with our ride.

The ride to Iksan took about 4 hours, and for two of those hours we listened to Anne Murray, some good old Canadian music!! ;) We made one pit stop after two hours of driving at a really big food court type of building. It was full of people and really busy. I decided I should go to the bathroom before we started driving again, so we found one at the back of the building. Not really thinking about it, I walked into a stall only to find what looked like a urinal placed on the floor where the toilet should be!!! I managed to figure it out but it was not the best bathroom experience. The rest of the way to Iksan, I was hoping that not all Korean bathrooms were like that. Lucky for me they are not. My apartment has a western style toilet (phewww)!! I did find out later that there were regualr toilets there, I just didnt look for them long enough. I forgot to take a picture, but if I see another one, I will get a pic and put it up!!

Our apartments are great!!!! Fully furnished, right down to the cutlery!!! Really good size and lots of windows and light!!! We even have air conditioning!!! The weather here is soooo hot so the a.c is super nice!! (Mom even you would be using the a.c here)

We are being shown around town by one of the other teachers in our building, which is really great!! Not being able to read or speak Korean just yet, it is nice to be with someone who knows where they are going. Trevor and I ventured out on our own once, but didnt get too far.

The city is pretty busy with mostly Korean stores, restaurants, and shops. However we have found the Pizza Hut!!! We have also come across a Dunkin Donuts, Baskin Robbins, and even some Italian restaurants!! There is even a 'Wal-mart' type store that has almost everything!!
We also saw the school we will be working at, and it looks soo nice!!!

I will hopefully put some pics up for my next entry. Right now we are at an internet cafe, so I dont have any pics with me.

So far, Iksan seems pretty nice. It will take some getting use to, but should make for some interesting stories!!!

Hello!!!

Welcome to my blog!!!!

This is my first post.... The next one will be posted from South Korea, where I will be teaching english for a year.

I hope everyone enjoys my stories and pictures!!!