TravelStream™ news feed for member heatherann on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/heatherann en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:15:42 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherann/1/1258861511/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherann/1/1258861511/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherann/1/1258861511/tpod.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:15:42 -0500 Korea and beyond,yes, South Korea

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Beijing, China

As predicted, the last few weeks did pass in chronological order and it is finally time for me to head home.  I will soon post an entry from about my going away party and the amazing people that I left behind in Hanam-si.  Right now I'm just sitting in the airport in Beijing looking out at the smog filled city thinking I'll have to make another trip out here and spend some time in China.  This morning was absolutely crazy.  I set my alarm for 4:20am and woke up just fine.  I turned on the TV to keep me awake and it turns out that porn is what is on at 4am in Korea.  So, I got up, ate some breakfast because I can't start my day without it, and got my stuff together.  I don't know how the time passed, but all of a sudden it was 5am and I had to catch the 5:10 bus.  I threw on my coat, may have lost one of my gloves, and pushed my 2 suitcases, duffel bag, and rolling laptop case out the door.  I pushed it all down the street (where the sidewalk was missing and it was really hard) and ended up walking in the taxi lane so I wouldn't miss the bus if it drove by.  I was just about to the stop when the bus pulled up, the man helped me with my bags, and I collapsed into a seat.  Great start!  Once I got to the airport I had to wait for the counter to open at 7am.  One of my suitcases was 4kg overweight, which would have been $50, so the lady had me pull a few things out to put into my carry on.  Once we got my suitcases settled, I went to go through security.  There they weighed my carry on and told me it was too heavy.  I had to go back to the ticket counter where they said my bags were gone, but I could just pay for my overweight carry on...$195!!!  WHAT?  Ok, so its really early in the morning, I'm a little stressed about leaving my friends and getting all of my stuff home...so my threshold for that kind of thing was short.  They got a kinda mean supervisor over there to talk to me and he didn't understand.  They were finally going to call my luggage back so I could stuff it full and just pay the $50 fee until I realized there was a post office there so I could just send some stuff through post (and not get it for 2 months).  Then they told me I also had to cut down to only one carry on, which was a whole new problem.  I asked if I could just pay $50 to carry on the overweight bag, instead of all the insanity we were planning up, and they got a real supervisor to talk to me.  She saved the day by putting a stamp on my boarding pass saying that I could take through whatever I wanted and the problem was solved!  Later the same supervisor came and told me she was worried I'd have a problem in my connection in China with the bigger bag, so we moved things around and ended up checking my other bag for free. Moral of the story is...1)They're getting way tighter on weight limits, so be careful in packing and 2) making a scene and begging will still get you free things :-)Anyway, I'm now chatting with Justin while waiting to leave China and make the long flight over some ocean to New York.  What a trip!
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Hanam-si, Gyeonggi, Korea Rep.

About two weeks ago I decided to run a half marathon in Seoul on November15th.  My last day in Korea is November 22nd, so I've got a built incountdown that's going to keep me busy and I think be incrediblyrewarding in the process.  I've almost done one before, but things always came up and I didn't make it my priority.  This time will be different.    I've already started my training and last Saturday Iran my first "long run".  It was only 6 miles, but that's about equal to the longest run I've done.  I've worked out my schedule for training and I'mgetting really excited for it. This week I ran 4 miles, 6 miles again, and the 4 miles five minutes faster than the first one.  Today I ran my first 8 mile run.  Every time I run I feel a new kind of accomplishment.  Its like every run I can give myself a goal that will top the one before and its only up to me  to accomplish  it.  Today was rough, it was really windy and I was stuck doing a path that wasn't long enough so I had to do it almost 3 times, which wore on me.  Its really hard psychologically to get through the first few miles, knowing there's that much more to be done.  At the end of the run I wasn't physically exhausted, well I was, but not to the point that I couldn't have gone on.  I think that's the most important part of the training.  I can feel my body getting stronger and each time I do a distance it is easier than the time before, but its the mental training that's really important.  So this week I'll be running 6 miles, 8 miles, 6 miles and then 9 miles on Saturday.  It really is an amazing feeling, knowing that I can do what I am setting out to do and I can't wait to cross that finish line!  I only wish Justin could be here to see me do it, but I'll make sure to take lots of pictures for proof!November 31:  Instead of making a new entry, I decided to add to this one.  Its 2 weeks until the race and I'm doing well!  Today I finished off a 30 mile week by running 12 miles and last week I ran 25!  My body is worn out, but the good news is that now I get to taper down until the race.  Next week will only be 22 miles and the week after I'll be running 8 miles during the week before Sunday's 13.1!  Today's run was the least fun of all the long runs so far.  It was a full 12 miles, and its pouring rain, so I had to do it in the gym.  I listened to my IPod, but tried to watch the TV too.  Of course, here's my own personal hell...the only channel worth watching (all others were Korean programs) was the sports channel.  Korea recently had their baseball championships (GO PHILLIES! btw) and have been playing and replaying the highlights from the championship series over and over...so for the first hour or so I re-watched the highlights from games that I watched when they were played live...Never thought I'd say this, but thank goodness soccer came on next! (not that I don't like soccer either, its just not usually the most exciting to watch)  I like pacing myself to a good soccer match though..I'll run until the next goal is scored, usually gets me through at least 8 miles.  But, I made it through!!!!  My favorite part was somewhere between mile 8 and mile 11 because I kinda lost track of things and just realized that I was almost finished.  The mental preparation is by far the bigger challenge.  My feet are holding up pretty well, even though my second toe on my left side is about to fall off and the other side is a little yellow too.  I even took pictures to post! 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherann/1/1254655550/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherann/1/1254655550/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherann/1/1254655550/tpod.html Sat, 17 Oct 2009 08:17:31 -0400 Korea and beyond,yes, South Korea

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Seoul, Korea Rep.

Time just flew by over the past 10 days.  I can't believe it was time for Justin go home.  His flight left early on Monday, so we stayed in Seoul Sunday night.  After a relaxing morning in Hanam, we got his things together and took the bus and then the subway and then a cab (ok, I thought I knew where I was going) to our hotel.  It was located in the Myeongdong/Dongdaemun area, near Seoul Tower.  The hotel was really nice and had the first soft bed I've slept on in a long time.  Once we were in and settled, we took a cab to Namsan Tower, or Seoul tower.  Now this thing has a bit of an inferiority complex and likes to try to compare itself to famous towers from all over the world.  It is the "tallest tower in Asia" but of course that measurement starts at the base of the mountain that the tower is a part of.  I guess maybe they ran metal deep into the earth to secure it so that might be how they count all that extra height..??  Regardless, its only a few stories from the base of the tower to the top, and for anyone who's thinking of going, unless you're bent on going to the top, you'll get better pictures and nearly the same view from the ground outside.  I'd tell you the story of trying to order pumpkin lattes, but it made me frustrated enough at the time.  I felt so bad because Justin said "pumpkin lattes, just like at Starbucks", which really wasn't the case.  Basically, after making the wrong order a couple of times we got pumpkin lattes, complete with real pumpkin inside.  Ah, they were ok, but definitely not what we expected.  We got some pictures, enjoyed the view, and then went to wait for a taxi to come up that we could snag back down.  We decided to go back to Itaewon for dinner and had a mediocre meal at a Chinese/Thai restaurant.  In the evening Justin worked on some of his postcards home I tried not to think about him leaving the next day.  We probably should have thought about it a little, it turns out, because we hadn't checked the bus times and missed one airport bus by just a little bit so we had to wait and got Justin to the airport only a little over an hour before his flight.  It made the fairwell a little easier because we had no choice but to make it quick.  Then Justin went through the security doors and I had to turn around and get back to Hanam to work. I had an absolutely amazing time showing Korea to Justin.  I've kept forgetting that he's gone and keep being disapointed when I remember.  But like I said, it was great to show him all the things I've done and the people I live and work with.  Hopefully we'll be on the next adventure together!
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Hanam-si, Gyeonggi, Korea Rep.

After we got home from Jeju and I worked a really long Monday, I decided to show Justin the sport of screen golfing.  Justin hadn't really known what to think all those times that I told him I was playing screen golf.  For those of you that haven't had the pleasure, its way more than a computer simulated game.  Its about the closest you can get to real golfing without going to the golf course.  There is a large screen in the front of the room with the "golf course" projected onto it.  You have a tee and clubs and have to adjust for wind and ball placement.  In soem rooms they even change the platform you stand on to change your angle if your ball is lying down in a bunker or in the rough.  Now I've played a few times since I've been here, so I felt pretty good going in, but Justin proved to be far superior and he actually taught me a lot.  I was so proud when, on the last hole, I finally got on the green in few enough shots to be allowed to putt and put the ball in the hole.  The next day Justin went into Seoul to see a palace and that evening we went to the gym and then went to Lenny's flat to play some wii bowling.  We had to get ready for the real thing, which we did the next day!  Wednesday morning we went into Seoul to the Olympic park from the 1988 Summer Olypics held in Seoul.  The park was a blast from the past with all of the best technology from the late 80s.  Justin took me to Starbucks, which I haven't been to in months.  It was like a little trip home to be there with him and even though I know it sounds silly, it was great.   That afternoon, Justin did several of his TEFL units while I worked, and then met up with me and some friends outside of my school when we got off.  We went to a local bowling alley and ended up having to take over 4 lanes for the 20 or so foreigners that showed up for what I had advertised as the 1st Annual Justin Knoff Hanam-si Bowling Tourney.  I guess we'll have to come back next year for the second one...maybe I shouldn't have specified Hanam-si in the title...hmmm...I had some great games and in the 4th game of the night I thought I may have finally beaten Justin!!  He needed a miracle in his 10th frame to get me, but in my experience with him, he's pretty good at getting those miracles.  So with his first ball he knocked down all 10 pins, but I was still ahead of him.   That is until the second ball he knocked down 10 more.  I think he'd passed me at that point, but just to show off, he went ahead and bowled one more strike with his last ball.  So I will have to be satisfied with beating everyone else we bowled with, and keep training for the day that I will beat Justin again!!Thursday morning we got up way too early to go into Seoul to Insadong, which is a traditional shopping market.  We wanted to make it there while it was open and didn't know how things were going to be over the weekend because Saturday was Cheusok, which is like Korean Thanksgiving.  So we got to Insadong at 9am when the shops are supposed to open, but only a few had their doors up, so we walked around for a while and looked in a few shops.  After a while one of the teahouses opened up, so we went in for traditional Korean tea.  I loved the shop and the bathroom even more.  Its good that Justin didn't have to go, because his 6'4" frame couldn't have made it.  I had to duck to get through the door and the ceiling wasn't far above my head.  The floor was covered with rocks and I was wearing the slippers provided because we had to take our shoes off at the door.  Its just one of those things that makes Korea charming.  After tea we walked around and got some things my  mom wanted and some gifts for Justin's friends and family too.  We got stamps made too, hand carved with our names in Korean.  The stamps are made of stone and they use a red clay as ink.  In Korea I can actually use mine to sign things, like when I'm at the bank, but it will always be a great reminder of Korea for me.  That night two of my co-workers, Peter and Jasmine (plus Jasmine's friend, who might be a boyfriend, but maybe not...) went to dinner at a traditional place in Hanam.  The food was great and we had a really fun time.  Justin and Peter bonded, maybe a little too well, and I think if he ever leaves me it might be for Peter.  Its probably the Australian accent that did it.  Anyway,  Thursday was my last day of work, because we had Friday off for Cheusok!  On Friday we went to COEX mall and watched a movie.  Most of the big movies come in English with Korean subtitles, so we were able to enjoy it.  We got some coffee and then went home to drink the wine I had brought home from Australia and paint.  I've done a lot of painting here, it helps me pass the time and makes a cheap decor for my appartment too.  I loved painting with Justin, but unfortunately, we both got a little drunk, so more of my paint ended up on the table than on my paper.  We both pained scenes from Halla-san.  I love Justin's because he put me in it, so I have it up by my mirror to see every day.  Saturday morning we played some basketball on the courts near my house and went for a run.  Its been amazing having Justin here to run with.  I forgot how great it is to have someone to run with!!  I loved it because I thought he was trying to push me, so I'd speed up, but it was really pushing him, so we made pretty good time!  Saturday we also went to Itaewon, the place for foreigners in Seoul.  Justin took me for Thai, my first Thai food, and I loved it.  I also loved listening to him order in Thai.  The ladies at the restaurant loved him for speaking their language and it was a great meal.  We walked around a while and talked to some other foreigners, but then it started to rain, so we headed home for Justin's last night in Hanam-si.
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Seogwipo, Jeju Island, Korea Rep.

Justin got to Korea on Thursday night and on Saturday morning we caught an flight to the "Hawaii of Korea", Jeju Island.  When we got in we caught a bus to Sunrise Peak, which is on the east side of the island.  Actually, we caught several buses.  We had to catch one from the airport to the bus station and from there a bus to the peak.  Jeju-do is a great place to go to get away because its not as busy or industrialized as the rest of Korea.  Everything feels more traditional and you see people walking with thier bags full of live fish to cook for dinner or still wearing traditional clothing.  Not that you don't see that in the rest of Korea, its just less prevalent.  The drawback to this is that the bus systems are not super easy to understand and sometimes it takes 30 minutes for a bus to come.  So maybe we were lucky at the airport to only wait about 10 minutes for our bus to the bus terminal and then only about 5 minutes there until our bus left.  While we were driving we were able to look out and enjoy the scenery.  Korea, and especially Jeju, is a very green place.  The winters are cold, but the summers bring a lot of rain and with the exception of the big cities where everything is concrete, there are beautiful green landscapes.  It started raining about 20 minute into our ride so we were a little worried for our planned walk up the mountain, but luckily the rain stopped after about 10 minutes and when we finally arrived at our stop the sun was out.  We stopped for lunch and changed into shorts and t-shirts before we set out to climb the 'peak'.  Sunrise peak is a beautiful crater on the edge of the coast.  Apparently when the sun rises it comes up directly behind it so on a clear day you get an amazing sunrise.  Of course we were there long after the sun was up, but the view of the small town at the base and the island and sea are beautiful as well.  The walk up is supposed to take "about an hour" according to all of the tourist materials.  I don't know if that means for the elderly or women wearing heals, but we saw both of those groups make it up pretty quickly too.  It takes about 20  minutes to climb up the continuous staircase that goes up to the top.  From there we were able to look out and get a pretty great view.  I think Justin brought the warm weather with him because we'd been in a cold stretch until a few days before, so the sun felt amazing.  We stayed at the top for about 5 minutes taking pictures and then climbed back down.  After we saw everything we wanted we caught the same bus we had come on and continued on the road that basically goes around the outside of the island.  It took about 25 minutes for the bus to come, but it was worth it because the fare was only about 2,000won/person ($1.75) for another 30 minute ride.  We got in to Seogwipo, our destintion for the night and found our hotel.  I'd stayed at the hotel next to it when I came with my mom and had decided to try this one with Justin. It was great!  The people that ran it were so nice and they were really excited because their daughter, who is a lawyer in Michigan, was coming home to visit.  The man said he hadn't seen her in about 3 years, so they were definitely excited.  Our room was so nice and we had a view of the harbour from our window.  In the evening we asked them for a recomendation for dinner and the man took us to a restaurant that served a set menu that included tastes of about 20 different items.  Some of them were good, some we couldn't even touch, like the crab that was "cooked" in the acid of the sauce it had been fermenting in for however long that process takes.  Justin did find that he liked the korean pancakes as long as they aren't seafood.  I agree, why did I come to a country that lives off of seafood again?  Anyway, we had a nice night and hit the hay early because we had a big day ahead of us.  In the morning we headed to Halla-san, a volcanic peak at the center of the island.  Its a beast, about 6 miles up and then you have to climb the same 6back down.  The weather was ok at the bottom, but it was horrible atthe top.  After we passed the Unesco station which is about 2.3 miles from the top, the real climbing began, and so did the weather.  It was very misty and windy, enough to push me around a bit. The last 1/4 mile is all steps made of railroad ties and we couldn'tsee anything but wet mist blowing by.  I was wearing shorts and had ona plastic poncho that was whipping my legs.  At the top we couldn'teven see the crater.  We stopped for just a few minutes, took pictures, sat in the lee of the only shelter built at the summit for a short break from the wind.  Justin was desperate for some hot chocolate, and even offered to trade me for a cup, but nobody took him up on it.   So, we were happy to be onthe way down, but after we took a quick break for some ramen and kimbop at the Unesco station again,it started to rain and the torrents just got worse and worse evertime Jsaid they couldn't.  It might have been God laughing at us, I'm notsure.  But it was a lot of fun anyway.  The rain took our minds off of the torture of climbing down a volcanic rock mountain.  We finally made it to the bottom and caught a bus to Jeju city where we stayed for the night.  The Mr. Pizza we had for dinner was the best I might have ever had.  Early in the morning we had to get back to the airport to fly back to Seoul and then the subway back to Hanam-si, where I had to promply turn around and go to work while I'm pretty sure Justin took a nap.
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Hanam-si, Gyeonggi, Korea Rep.

I've had simple countdown in the top corner of the whiteboard in my classroom that started 45 days ago.  Today I finally erased one single line, the letter one, that remained.  Its a Thursday, so I have to work until 8:40pm, but I need to be at the airport as close to 10:30pm as I can.  Unfortunately, even if all logistics work perfectly, from the bus schedule to traffic, it takes about 2 hours to get there.  So, all day I went back and forth between planning my route,  watching the flight records for flights going from America through Tokyo to Seoul, and trying to teach my students at least some English.  At 8:00 my wonderful co-worker Jennifer called a taxi company and asked for a cab to be downstairs to take me to the Cheonho subway station.  The cab would be there at 8:35.  So, for the first time since coming to Korea, I purposely let my kids go 5 minutes early, ran downstairs and caught my cab.  The driver seemed really confused for someone who was supposed to have explicit directions on where to take me, so I had to call Jennifer and let her talk to the driver.  He got me there in under 15 minutes and I made the mad dash through the hallways to the train, which was just arriving as I got there, so I hopped aboard and began my long wait.  On the subway I had to go all the way to Gimpo Airport, then catch a connection to Seoul Incheon International.  I had no idea the two of them were as far apart as they are.  Incheon is on an island and the train that goes there is a commuter with limited stops.  I made it through the slightly over an hour journey on the regular subway line, ran for the AREX commuter train, and sat down.  At this point, I was one big jumble of nerves, so excited, but so nervous.  I had 30 minutes still, so at least that was working out.  Then..the train sat there.  After 5 minutes that felt like an hour, it finally set off.  I had read that it was a 28 minute ride, but 10 minutes in I was only at the first stop and realized this was going to take forever.  I had to put on my music and pace myself by the songs I was listening to.  Its just as well that I wasn't driving because I never would have been able to stay under the speedlimit (not that anyone does in Korea).  Finally, I got the phone call I'd been waiting for.  He was there!  About 15 minutes later we pulled into the airport station and I got off.  I ran for the exit and attempted to find my way to the terminal.  I don't know how we did it, but we managed to end up on opposite sides of the street.  Finally, we decided to look outiside and there, walking across the street with his big backpacking pack and beautiful smile, was my Justin, come halfway across the world to see me!  I can't even say how excited I was when I saw him.  I just ran to him and finally got to be held.  For just a moment, nothing else mattered.  The time I've spent here, the frustration, joys and pains I've been through, was all gone.  Then we realized that it was nearly midnight and if we didn't catch the next bus, we might be stranded at the airport for the night.  Luckily our reunion was only about 20 feet from the bus we needed and it was there waiting, so we hopped on, told the driver our stop, and spent the next 90 minutes just being together.  Once we got home, poor Justin was exhausted but starving, so I took him to a neighborhood restaurant and we had some noodles and glutenous rice with some red sauce on it.  It was ok, and probably a fitting first meal for J in Korea, not great, but not too bad, which is probably how he'd describe the food in Korea overall.  Ah, but nonetheless we got to sit down and eat at my neighborhood restaurant in Hanam-si Korea after 10 months apart. 
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Hanam-si, Gyeonggi, Korea Rep.

The Saturday after our trip down south, we took a rafting trip that ended with a bungee jump!  The trip to meet up with the tour group was hilarious.  We were supposed to meet at Honguk University, since I didn't want to choose Express Bus Terminal (see my earlier complaints about that place).  Unfortunately, Kate and I both got it in our heads that we were supposed to go to Konkuk University.  Getting a little bit of a late start, we decided to catch a cab to Konkuk.  When we got there, it was just before 7am, our meeting time.  We realized quickly, when nobody else was there, we were at the wrong place.  Since we didn't even have the phone number for the tour, I ran off to a PC bong to look them up.  They told us if we could get to the bus terminal in 30 minutes they'd wait for us there.   I jumped up in my excitement, ran down the stairs, found that the only way out was through the elevator at the 4th floor, ran back up, took the elevator down, and got mom, Connie, and Kate into a cab.  The taxi driver drove around Express Bus Terminal a few times until I told him to just let us out (in such kind words I swear).  We had 2 minutes to get to the meeting point, and didn't even know how to get to the subway.  We went through the underground shopping area and came out of exit 8. (now apparently there's a huge difference between the Subway exit 8 for the subway and the Subway exit 8 for the shopping center, even though the name's the exact same)  I was on the phone with the tour guide trying to find him as he's telling me to look for busses (at the bus terminal?).  Finally I asked if their busses had stars on them and he said, "Of course".  Thus, we found our busses!  I made a mad dash across traffic (and wasn't almost killed).  We were the last 4 passengers and mom and Connie had to get on one bus and Kate and I took the other.  We had a great rafting trip, got to splash in the water and had a relaxing time.  Kate and I were the 2nd and 3rd in line for bungee jumping!  It was amazing!  I wasn't that nervous, and just took the leap, but in the first 1/2 second of my fall, the though that went through my head was something like "oh shit".  But with just a little gasping scream, I made it to the bottom, up, down, up and down again and finally hung upside down spinning in circles while the man with the boat rowed out to get me.  It was incredible!  After my turn I got to watch Kate jump and it was pretty cool.  I have the video of my jump, but I still wish I could have seen it in person.  We returned to Seoul and Hanam that evening and had a relaxing night.  The next morning, Connie caught a flight home and mom and I shopped in Insadong.  We had a great day together and it was a nice way to end her trip.  The next morning, I put mom on the bus to the airport on my way to work. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherann/1/1248777784/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherann/1/1248777784/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherann/1/1248777784/tpod.html Sat, 10 Oct 2009 12:36:10 -0400 Korea and beyond,yes, South Korea

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Seogwipo, Jeju Island, Korea Rep.

We flew into Jeju-si on Wed. evening and caught a bus to the other side of the island to the city of Seogwipo.  When we got off the bus I took us in the wrong direction, so we had a nice evening walk on the way to our hostel.  When we got there, they had messed up on the rooms, so there was only one room for mom and Connie.  The owner took us over to a nearby hotel, Hotel Napoli, where we got to sleep on the floor.  The yeo's (floor pads) were much softer than the beds in the rooms, so I slept great!!  In the morning we went for a run and got some cereal from the convenience store for breakfast.  We took a bus to the far east side of the mountain and hiked Sunrise Peak.  It was a short, about 30 minute, hike but the view was beautiful from the top.  After we finished, we walked down the black sand beach and layed out for a while, insistant that we were going to get our chance at tanning.  We had a galbi dinner (barbque) and went to bed early.  In the morning Kate and I hiked Halla-san, a volcanic crater in the center of the island.  Its 9.6 km to the top.  Wow, what a hike, but it was worth it when we saw the beautiful view from the top!  Mom and Connie went to a traditional folk village while we were hiking.  That night called for some pizza as a reward for a 12 mile round trip hike!  We saw the famous waterfalls the next day and then flew back to Seoul after a great vacation in Jeju!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherann/1/1248604966/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherann/1/1248604966/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/heatherann/1/1248604966/tpod.html Sat, 10 Oct 2009 12:13:52 -0400 Korea and beyond,yes, South Korea

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Busan, Korea Rep.

We met up with Kate in Busan.  She'd only been in Korea for a little over a month when we had this first vacation, so she spent it with us.  We couldn't leave Korea because ChungDahm, my school, was afraid that we might catch Swine Flu if we left the country.  Huge bummer too, I wanted to spend that vacation on Thailand. :-(  Once we got to Busan we checked in at our hostel, Zen Backpackers.  It was a great place, near downtown and not too far from the main beaches and the fishmarkets.  For dinner we went down to the fishmarket and went to a buffet.  It was some of teh best food we'd had in a long time.  We got a little lost in the markets on the way, and had to be snuck through the back entrance where they clean and organize the fish.  At the restaurant I got way too excited about the bidet and while leaning in to get a better look pushed one of the buttons and it sprayed right on my chest!  Ewww....The next day we got up early for a tour of a budist temple and then it was off to the beach!  The temple was beautiful and the view of the ocean was amazing.  After the temple Kate and I headed to the beach while mom and Connie went shopping.  We really wanted to tan, and it was just a  little overcast.  We decided after a lot of thought to rent a blanket, split the cost, and lay on that to tan.  It was 5,000won.  They took us down and put our mat under an umbrella.  The umbrellas were lined up in a very orderly way, as the beach often has over a million people.  When we tried to move the blanket back a row and out of the shade of the umbrella they men came running over  to us and started making a huge fuss.  They told us we couldn't tan in that section.  We had specifically said blanket but no umbrella, so didn't know why they were so confused.  We asked where we could tan and they said there was no place.  No tanning.  Huh?  Well, after a futile five more minutes of trying to understand, we got our 5,000won back and just laid directly on the sand.  About 3 minutes later, it started to rain.  Basically, the beach was a total failure.  That night we met up with mom and Connie at the hostel and went to the newest Harry Potter movie at a theater nearby.  Most of the big name movies are played in English with Korean subtitles, so we were able to watch it without problems.  In the evening I got up at about 2am to be able to listen to Justin pitch.  I'm so proud of my technological knowledge!  I had to use a proxy server in order to listen to the game because the broadcast was from a team that didn't allow listeners outside of the US.  It was a great game though, and definitely worth the effort!The next morning we bid adeu to Busan and caught a flight to Jeju island.  It was raining pretty hard when we got to the airport and as we went through the gate there was a bus waiting for us.  We thought it must be a bit of a drive to the plane, but once on the bus it was only a 10 second ride as it flipped a U-turn and parked with the door on the other side so we could get on the plane without having to get rained on.  Amazing! 
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Daejeon, Korea Rep.

We got to Daejeon this morning in time to find our way to our hotel and back to the bus station for lunch.  I convinced mom and Connie that Beebimbap (rice with vegetables, an egg, and chili paste) would be great!  I love it, mom ate it, and Connie got one bite down!  Well, Korean food isn't the best Asian food out there.  We wanted to wait to eat until we were back at the bus terminal, so we hopped on the bus for what should have been a 30 minute ride.  After about 30 minutes, we were seeing things that we hadn't seen before, but ah, whatever, its a new city right?  Then the bus driver stopped and told us we must get off.  Apparently we went the wrong direction and got to the end of the line.  I'll tell you, its not the last time that's happened to me, and they'll kick you off in the middle of nowhere.  This time we were in a construction lot near what looked like a river or pond or something with water...definitely at the edge of the city.  The bus proceeded to park while another one, identical to it, pulled up for us to get back on.  So of course now we had to pay again and got the tour back in the other direction.  After we found our way to the bus terminal and got our lunch, we took a bus to Geumsan, which is famous for its ginseng market.  It took a little walking around there too, but we found the market and got some great ginseng products.  I've got to make a return trip even, to get some more of the bars that we got which I can't find anywhere else.  We didn't get any of these candies that they called "caramels" but were just a very chewy ginseng flavored candy.  We looked everywhere for the rest of the trip and haven't seen them since.  After exploring the ginseng market, we took a bus back to Daejeon for the night.  We had an uneventful morning and sat in the hotel coffee shop drinking entirely too expensive coffee to relax before catching the train down to Busan.  In Busan our hostel host asked why we would have gone to Daejeon, and in hindsight I agree, it wasn't really a huge tourist spot, but the hotel was nice and the ginseng was great!
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