Two posts in two days!? Can you believe it?!
Itinerary for our South East Asia trip is a little loose right now... And, surprisingly, I'm okay with that. I have our first week planned and beyond that, I'm at the whims of the Gods!
Currently, as I am typing this, I have 1 day left of school. 1 day until my life will be crammed into a 35 Liter Backpack and I will find new places to sweat from.
On FEBRUARY 14th, 2014 (Valentines Day) we will be leaving Korea at 10:35am and landing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ( <--- I HATE spelling that country, took me like four tries! ) around 4pm. We are then off the plane and on to a quick tour of KL, we are staying at the Reggae Mansion Hostel, including rooftop bar! It is supposed to rain, but that just makes decision making that much easier. We won't spent the 30usd to go up in the Petronas Twin Towers, because it is going to be cloudy, a 'drive by' will be fine. Our hostel is located near China Town and Little India, so I'm excited to do some looking around (avoid shopping!) and eat some Indian food.... My new found love!!
Then, on Saturday (FEBRUARY 15th) it is back on the plane to head to Chiang Mai, Thailand for 5 days!! I am so excited for Chiang Mai!! We have no set dates but we are doing the Tiger Kingdom (playing with ALL of the size tigers... mother!) and we are also doing the Patera Elephant Experience (where you literally have one day with your own elephant and you learn to approach, speak, feed, bathe, ride, swim, eat.... All with your elephant. No, we do NOT clean up the poo, but to quote the website, "we can if we want."). Those are our two planned days, another day, we might do the Golden Triangle tour where Laos, Thailand and Myanmar meet. It used to be all opium fields, but now is a tourist trap with an opium museum, that I want to see....of course.
The it is on to Phuket via plane again... Flying in SE Asia is super cheap! From Chiang Mai to Phuket, 30USD, cheaper and faster than the train!
FEBRUARY 20th - PHUKET -
Heard it is a stop over, even Rihanna didn't give it a real enthusiastic review... And I'm sure she was staying at a balling hotel. But when in Phuket.....
Patong Beach
Pingpong shows - Bangla Road
Ladyboy/ Caberet shows - Bangla Road
Phang Nga Bay tour - aka - James Bond Island day tour with kayaking and exploration of sea caves
Muay Thai fights
So, with all that in mind, I'm sure we will be busy.
FEBRUARY 23 - Ko Phi Phi
If you have ever watched the weird Leo D. Movie about 'The Beach' and wondered where 'the beach' was filmed ... Ko phi phi is your answer. It is blogged and written about as one of the most beautiful beaches - however, since the movie, tourist have moved in by the thousands! However, we plan to join the to get this once in a lifetime experience. We plan on being beach bums and maybe taking a day tour of the actual 'beach', some monkey harassment and snorkeling.
FEBRUARY 26th - Ao Nang/Railey Beach/Krabi
Again, no plans. But we are probably going to make a stop over in this area.
Then it is on to the other side ....
FEBRUARY 28th - Koh Phangan - Koh Sumi - Koh Tao
Koh Phangan is where they hold the crazy full moon parties, however, we won't be making it during the right time. Mainly heading to Koh Phangan first because it is between Koh Sumi and Koh Tao... Haven't decided just yet which island we want to visit in our time... So I am leaving it up to the locals. If they say Kho Tao is best... We'll grab the ferry and vice versa.
Depending on our dates and if we get side tracked somewhere, we will be flying out of Thailand on...
MARCH 5/6/7 - Siem Reap, CAMBODIA.
Only thing we really have planned here is to visit Angkor Wat. If you don't know, it is where Tomb Raider was filmed.
Then, a six hour bus ride to....
MARCH 10th - Phnom Phen
P.P.wasn't super important on my list, until I started researching and hearing of friends travels to the Killing Fields. This is a site to remember the almost 2 million people who were killed in roughly four years. If you don't know anything about it, much like me a few months ago, take a quick Google search. It's a sad history that I knew nothing of, but that is what is amazing about history - is that I learn something new about our past almost every day!!
Another important thing about P.P. is that we need to get our visa for the 6 hour bus ride to.....
MARCH 13th - Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM
ANd this is where Ken takes over for his part of the planning so everything is up to him!
What I know we will see is:
Cu Chi Tunnels -HCMC
Firing off big guns in HCMC
Getting tailored suits and clothes on the cheap!
MARCH 18th - HANOI
Hopefully in Hanoi we will get to meet up with one of our friends from Korea who moved to Hong Kong and have a weekend of Korean mischief. We also want to do a Halong Bay boat tour... Probably just have time for 3 days 2 nights.
From Hanoi, Vietnam we will fly on...
MARCH 25th - Beijing, CHINA
Here we are more scheduled, because we have to be. As a US citizen, to get a visa for China is about 200USD... And that is outrageous! However, you can be flying from one country to another and have a 'Layover 72 Hour No-Visa' stay. In those three days we will be:
Touring the Great Wall of China - 1 day
Forbidden City - 1 day
SHOPPING - as much as I can fit in the time frame and.... In my bag!!
MARCH 28th - Seoul, SOUTH KOREA
We have allotted a one day buffer so that we can grab our luggage, close out our bank accounts with any remaining money (wishful thinking!) and have our butts back to the airport to get our plane our of South Korea on....
MARCH 29th - USA!!
I can't wait to be home, but this is def, a once in a lifetime trip - too much of the world to see to go back to where I've been.
Friday, February 14, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
The Last Six Months
I am well aware, that making one general blog post about SIX months is suuuuppppeeeer lame, but I think once you take a read you will see we have been a little busy over here. : P
PHILIPPINES - August 2013
After a year in Korea, we FINALLY had a vacation. And I'm talking legitimate timed vacation, not just a long weekend... I'm talking TEN days!! We decided to hit the white sand beach of Boracay, Philippines with 4 other teachers from the island.
I had never done a "spring break" style vacation, mainly because I could never afford it... But at 24, both Scott and I could afford it and deserved it!
We all booked a great hotel called, Nigi Nigi Nu Noos in station one. We each had our own private bungalows, with working AC, and right on the beach!! The hotel had a great restaurant and we were served one meal complimentary. First night I tried the burger... It came out still mooing, sent it back but it was too late! The following 9 days were spent trying to make up for that decision. Note to anyone traveling, avoid beef!!
ACTIVITIES
First day in, we arrived at 6am, and our friends had already chatted up the locals to find out that a big cockfight was to be happening. I am not into cruelty of animals, but I do believe that when you are in another country it just sets you even more apart if you look down at everything they do. Cockfights are just, what they do and I wanted to witness it. It was very educating. People will throw out their bets (verbally) based on past experience or size or what ever other superstitions and people will raise their hands and say, "yes, I'm in at this price....etc...". So, before the fight it is rather loud and then there is this lull that happens when the chickens are dropped into the rink.... Then at once, things go wild again. People are cheering and calling out and when there is finally a winner, the money for the bets are wadded up and thrown across the stadium to the winner. It really surprised me how honest everyone was. If you caught someone else's winning, you handed it right over. With our minds culturally blown, we made our way, via tuk tuk, back to our hotel to sleep off the rough airport layover of 6 hours.... On the beautiful white sand beach!
The next day, Monday, we actually booked a boat tour which included: helmet diving, snorkeling and beach hopping. Helmet dive turned out to be a bust for me, asthma + 15kg cement helmet on your head + limited oxygen being fed in = never happening!! Snorkeling was, so-so it was too deep too see anything... But boat cruising along the island and being able to see Puka Shell Beach was pretty amazing!!
The other days we just lounged on our chairs and drank buckets on the beach. Best decision was
buying floating for $5 a pop and just floating out on the ocean for an entire day!
At night we found ourselves gravitating toward the party scene down near station one. Two of the nights we did a Boracay Pub Crawl... And boy could some stories be told!! Memories were made on those nights! The party scene in Boracay is riddled with drunken backpackers, random Europeans on holiday, packs of Asians (scattered through out... Because their tour package finishes at 6pm almost every night so SOME... Very few, wander outside their hotels to take a look.) Fellow Korean teachers and then..... LadyBoys! Yep, LADYBOYS!!
Another day, Scott and I ventured out of the stations by renting a truck and heading to this zoo we had found online. I'm so glad we did this because our driver took us to this look out point along the way and we were able to see all of the island, as well as seeing a little zoo. When we arrived at the actual zoo, we were more than surprised. It was little and their exhibits weren't the best, but our tour guide knew all the animals and was very familiar with each animals personality. He gave us a personal tour, he let us hold the snake and the birds.... And A BABY CROC!! He actually let us
into the cage with a 16 foot salt water croc so we could take some up close pictures. To die!! That would NEVER happen in America!! Swam with sharks and hung out with salt water crocs.... Not a bad year!!
We had an extra two days on the island after everyone left that we filled with white sand beach exploring! We walked down to station one to see the famous Willy's Rock, which was beautiful and we could climb up and jump off and swim under in the caves. Then we kept traveling along, not even sure what station we were on at that point to find the Spider House and their famous mango smoothies - delicious, but it was not easy to find, via the beach.
The last day was ruined by a typhoon coming in, which foiled our plans of jumping off Ariel's Point, but we found other things to occupy our time...... And by that I mean shopping at D'Mall, of course!
And that is a quick over-view of our 'big trip' to the Philippines!
Next comes....
TAIWAN - September 2013
Taiwan was really an after thought. We hadn't given much thought about anything after our big trip, but soon realized our time was precious and holidays were going to be the only way we could escape Korea and hit the other countries. Chuseok came next and we had four days - where to go?! We have friends who just had moved from Korea to Taiwan to teach and we thought what better place to go than somewhere with a built in tour guide?! Our flights were a little "last minute", but we ended
up snagging 2 first class tickets to Taipei for cheaper than economy - um.... Didn't have to think twice, BOOKED! However it was a 'red eye'... Our first night we just got to a hotel near the high speed rail that we would grab in the morning. We woke up and braced ourselves to do what, we were sure was going to be a multilingual mess of us trying to get a ticket, but it was a BREEZE. At that
point I realized that I was going to really like Taiwan!!
We got to our arranged hotel and met up with our friends - cracked a few Kirins, made up our own drinking game and wandered around the area. It was amazing! Taipei had just everything; the glitz of the neon signs, street shopping, Subway (restaurant), mart drinking and STINKY TOFU. I fell in love almost right away!! We ventures to the famous Shilin night market - where we witness some crazy
street food, a skewer of grilled chicken hearts, to name one. I was deterred from shopping because our next stop was an all you can drink night club... For ~10 or 15 usd!!
We woke up the next morning to the vague memory of tequila shots and X-Rated/7's and a very real pounding headache, only cured by some smiley face hashbrowns for breakfast!
That day was a weather bummer, started out nice - then it began to downpour.... A typhoon had followed us to Taiwan too!! Didn't stop our day at the Taipei Zoo and touring around the city seeing all the sights it has to offer. I think a must see is the National Chiang-Kai Shek Memorial Hall. It's just absolutely huge!
Last on our agenda for Taipei was to visit 'Snake Alley' - where you go to enjoy yourself some snakey stew or BBQ snake.... Oh, don't forget your snake blood and venom shot!! The snake was... Dry and the blood/venom shot was... Wet. Definitely a must if you are in Taiwan, when else and where else are you going to be offered a snake blood and venom shot?!
After our big day we headed back to see our friends new digs and their new town. Their apartment was nice and it was only about 30 minutes via high speed rail to get to Taipei. It made me really think if we made the right decision staying in Korea, I loved Taiwan THAT MUCH! I can't really explain the 'feeling' of being "at home" somewhere, where everything is just so different, but I really had it in Tiwan! I wish we would have had more time - but maybe that would have ruined it for me. But either way, Taiwan was an amazing time and I'm so glad we did it!
Moving on to.....
HIROSHIMA, JAPAN - Novemeber 2013
Remembering that we had already done a speedy 3 day tour of the largest city in the world, Tokyo, and didn't really have the most fond memories, i.e. sleeping in a Karoke Room... We really didn't WANT to go back to Japan, but if I didn't see Hiroshima or Nagasaki - I would have been real bummed out.
We had a busy couple of months after Taiwan - Scott played in two league footballs, which took up almost every weekend. But I was determined to get to H or N, even if that meant going alone. I had also been watching tickets, flying into Hiroshima was a hassle and expensive. HOWEVER, if we booked 3 months in advance with AirBusan, we could fly into Fukuoka for right at 200USD for us BOTH! Booked the tickets! Hell, high water or football games be damned, we were getting there.
So we left Busan at 10am on Saturday (after just barely making our flight...what did I tell you about hell or high water?) arrived in Fukuoka at 10:40am, hopped on th metro to the main station and caught the high speed rail to Hiroshima (~80USD round trip) and arrived by 1pm!
First stop was Miyajima Island right off the coast of Hiroshima. This island is known as 'The Island of Gods' and has many shrines and temples to visit... All at an added price! With our schedule, and the season, we didn't get there at high tide - when it is the most beautiful because the water comes in and everything looks as if it were floating. But, it was still a sight! Another thing to mention is the deer! On this island the deer are OVER populated and they roam free and have become almost like the island pets. The deer will eat papers, your clothes and pretty much anything they can sink their teeth into! They also have a problem with the males, they have to keep their antlers cut down because so many of them fight all the time and I think a bloody injured deer might throw off the vibe 'The Island of the Gods ' has going.
After we had had our fill of the island - maybe walked around for a couple of hours, we headed back on the ferry to the mainland. The neat thing about Hiroshima is that their public transit is cable cars! It was a flat fee, no matter how far you were going so it actually added up quickly if you were using it a lot, so we decided to walk most of the time.
We had learned from our Tokyo lesson and booked a room ahead of time! Our hotel was nice, it was a little bit far from the Peace Park and happenings area... More than my stomach would have liked at that time of the day, but the hotel was super nice and gave us an English map of restaurants around the city. We tried about 3 restaurants, all closed for various reasons until happening upon a nice little Japanese-Mex restaurant with a cold COORS light and BLUE MOON and we were sold!
The next morning (Sunday) we woke up, checked out (the hotel was nice enough to hold our bags for us) and got to the Memorial Peace Park at 10am. It was kind of a grey overcast day, bit chilly because fall had set in, but I can't even describe how somber this place was. No one was running or yelling, cars even seems to be silent around the area, the only sound you could hear was the memory bell being rung. It really set the tone of remembrance, respect and peace.
We continued to walk around the park, looking at everything. The memorial bell, the monument to Koreans who had also died in the explosion, the 'tomb' of unknown bodies, the eternal flame, the bridge that was to be the target for the bomb (which it had missed) - and the bridge actually absorbed some of the blast and distributed the blast so they were able to rebuild and reuse the bridge until the 1980's!! And the most moving, for me, was the last standing structure after the bomb hit. It was literally just a shell of a building, but it had such an impact.
We timed the Peace Park Museum all wrong - thinking noon, everyone would be eating so we could take our time... Good thought, but then it began to rain so everyone came inside. So, we shuffled from exhibit to exhibit. I really wanted to read everything and take it all in, Scott was less interested, but the Japanese people were even less interested?! They just wanted to push they way in, look at the pictures and leave? The exhibits were amazing, they did a great job at putting together the different "parts" to make a timeline that was easy to follow. They also had amazing artifacts left over that were beyond moving! Dolls that had survived, but were blood stained - never to find its owner. A shoe was the only thing a mother was able to identify in her daughter's school. Fine China that someone once thought of as their most prized possession was found melted together under the rubble of their home. All of these 'things' told a different story of each persons experience.
To be completely honest, I did feel a little defensive, being American and all. The museum did an amazing job at pulling at heart strings and kept calling for peace and acting as if it was completely out of the blue, non-provoked. Like as if America was playing a dangerous game of pin the abomb on the countries. I feel ashamed by the fact that the atomic bomb was our answer and I saw the devastation that was created and can never imagine the life of hardships that they had to endure... For generations to come. It was the most moving place I have ever been in my life and I'm proud, as an American to have had the humility to understand both sides of a very devastating part of our history.
After about a 3 hour stroll through the museum, time really got away from me in there. We headed back to the high speed rail. We decided to spend the night at this business hotel in Fukuoka because we had to fly out the next morning, Monday, at 10am... To get home for work at 3pm! Our hotel we stayed at was really cool. We got in and we were greeted by a game of 'putt putt for prizes' - I won a... Bottle of water, and Scott won a beer. I was going to buy a beer as well, can't let him drink alone and they said it was fine, they would bring us up two beers and some snacks! But the party didn't end there, we got to the hotel a little late, but one of the draws to the hotel was free bike rental!! Fun! ..... These bikes had the TINIEST wheels I have seen in my life! It took all I could to get those little guys a turning, but we did and we rode to the river side and around the rail station - just making the best of our weekend that was coming to an end.
This trip was amazing. I realized that planning things can been advantageous, but so can just winging it! I realized that this was Scott and my's first trip/vacation alone and we didn't kill each other, we actually had one of the best times. I realized for the first time that I am a traveler! I make things happen, even when the odds seemed against me, meaning weekends full of football!!
I leave you now with hopes of posting our "big trip" itinerary. I have learned, being a traveller doesn't mean spending money, it means making adventures.... And our next adventure is going to be a big one!!
Always,
-C
PHILIPPINES - August 2013
After a year in Korea, we FINALLY had a vacation. And I'm talking legitimate timed vacation, not just a long weekend... I'm talking TEN days!! We decided to hit the white sand beach of Boracay, Philippines with 4 other teachers from the island.
I had never done a "spring break" style vacation, mainly because I could never afford it... But at 24, both Scott and I could afford it and deserved it!
We all booked a great hotel called, Nigi Nigi Nu Noos in station one. We each had our own private bungalows, with working AC, and right on the beach!! The hotel had a great restaurant and we were served one meal complimentary. First night I tried the burger... It came out still mooing, sent it back but it was too late! The following 9 days were spent trying to make up for that decision. Note to anyone traveling, avoid beef!!
ACTIVITIES
First day in, we arrived at 6am, and our friends had already chatted up the locals to find out that a big cockfight was to be happening. I am not into cruelty of animals, but I do believe that when you are in another country it just sets you even more apart if you look down at everything they do. Cockfights are just, what they do and I wanted to witness it. It was very educating. People will throw out their bets (verbally) based on past experience or size or what ever other superstitions and people will raise their hands and say, "yes, I'm in at this price....etc...". So, before the fight it is rather loud and then there is this lull that happens when the chickens are dropped into the rink.... Then at once, things go wild again. People are cheering and calling out and when there is finally a winner, the money for the bets are wadded up and thrown across the stadium to the winner. It really surprised me how honest everyone was. If you caught someone else's winning, you handed it right over. With our minds culturally blown, we made our way, via tuk tuk, back to our hotel to sleep off the rough airport layover of 6 hours.... On the beautiful white sand beach!
The next day, Monday, we actually booked a boat tour which included: helmet diving, snorkeling and beach hopping. Helmet dive turned out to be a bust for me, asthma + 15kg cement helmet on your head + limited oxygen being fed in = never happening!! Snorkeling was, so-so it was too deep too see anything... But boat cruising along the island and being able to see Puka Shell Beach was pretty amazing!!
The other days we just lounged on our chairs and drank buckets on the beach. Best decision was
buying floating for $5 a pop and just floating out on the ocean for an entire day!
At night we found ourselves gravitating toward the party scene down near station one. Two of the nights we did a Boracay Pub Crawl... And boy could some stories be told!! Memories were made on those nights! The party scene in Boracay is riddled with drunken backpackers, random Europeans on holiday, packs of Asians (scattered through out... Because their tour package finishes at 6pm almost every night so SOME... Very few, wander outside their hotels to take a look.) Fellow Korean teachers and then..... LadyBoys! Yep, LADYBOYS!!
Another day, Scott and I ventured out of the stations by renting a truck and heading to this zoo we had found online. I'm so glad we did this because our driver took us to this look out point along the way and we were able to see all of the island, as well as seeing a little zoo. When we arrived at the actual zoo, we were more than surprised. It was little and their exhibits weren't the best, but our tour guide knew all the animals and was very familiar with each animals personality. He gave us a personal tour, he let us hold the snake and the birds.... And A BABY CROC!! He actually let us
into the cage with a 16 foot salt water croc so we could take some up close pictures. To die!! That would NEVER happen in America!! Swam with sharks and hung out with salt water crocs.... Not a bad year!!
We had an extra two days on the island after everyone left that we filled with white sand beach exploring! We walked down to station one to see the famous Willy's Rock, which was beautiful and we could climb up and jump off and swim under in the caves. Then we kept traveling along, not even sure what station we were on at that point to find the Spider House and their famous mango smoothies - delicious, but it was not easy to find, via the beach.
The last day was ruined by a typhoon coming in, which foiled our plans of jumping off Ariel's Point, but we found other things to occupy our time...... And by that I mean shopping at D'Mall, of course!
And that is a quick over-view of our 'big trip' to the Philippines!
Next comes....
TAIWAN - September 2013
Taiwan was really an after thought. We hadn't given much thought about anything after our big trip, but soon realized our time was precious and holidays were going to be the only way we could escape Korea and hit the other countries. Chuseok came next and we had four days - where to go?! We have friends who just had moved from Korea to Taiwan to teach and we thought what better place to go than somewhere with a built in tour guide?! Our flights were a little "last minute", but we ended
up snagging 2 first class tickets to Taipei for cheaper than economy - um.... Didn't have to think twice, BOOKED! However it was a 'red eye'... Our first night we just got to a hotel near the high speed rail that we would grab in the morning. We woke up and braced ourselves to do what, we were sure was going to be a multilingual mess of us trying to get a ticket, but it was a BREEZE. At that
point I realized that I was going to really like Taiwan!!
We got to our arranged hotel and met up with our friends - cracked a few Kirins, made up our own drinking game and wandered around the area. It was amazing! Taipei had just everything; the glitz of the neon signs, street shopping, Subway (restaurant), mart drinking and STINKY TOFU. I fell in love almost right away!! We ventures to the famous Shilin night market - where we witness some crazy
street food, a skewer of grilled chicken hearts, to name one. I was deterred from shopping because our next stop was an all you can drink night club... For ~10 or 15 usd!!
We woke up the next morning to the vague memory of tequila shots and X-Rated/7's and a very real pounding headache, only cured by some smiley face hashbrowns for breakfast!
That day was a weather bummer, started out nice - then it began to downpour.... A typhoon had followed us to Taiwan too!! Didn't stop our day at the Taipei Zoo and touring around the city seeing all the sights it has to offer. I think a must see is the National Chiang-Kai Shek Memorial Hall. It's just absolutely huge!
Last on our agenda for Taipei was to visit 'Snake Alley' - where you go to enjoy yourself some snakey stew or BBQ snake.... Oh, don't forget your snake blood and venom shot!! The snake was... Dry and the blood/venom shot was... Wet. Definitely a must if you are in Taiwan, when else and where else are you going to be offered a snake blood and venom shot?!
After our big day we headed back to see our friends new digs and their new town. Their apartment was nice and it was only about 30 minutes via high speed rail to get to Taipei. It made me really think if we made the right decision staying in Korea, I loved Taiwan THAT MUCH! I can't really explain the 'feeling' of being "at home" somewhere, where everything is just so different, but I really had it in Tiwan! I wish we would have had more time - but maybe that would have ruined it for me. But either way, Taiwan was an amazing time and I'm so glad we did it!
Moving on to.....
HIROSHIMA, JAPAN - Novemeber 2013
Remembering that we had already done a speedy 3 day tour of the largest city in the world, Tokyo, and didn't really have the most fond memories, i.e. sleeping in a Karoke Room... We really didn't WANT to go back to Japan, but if I didn't see Hiroshima or Nagasaki - I would have been real bummed out.
We had a busy couple of months after Taiwan - Scott played in two league footballs, which took up almost every weekend. But I was determined to get to H or N, even if that meant going alone. I had also been watching tickets, flying into Hiroshima was a hassle and expensive. HOWEVER, if we booked 3 months in advance with AirBusan, we could fly into Fukuoka for right at 200USD for us BOTH! Booked the tickets! Hell, high water or football games be damned, we were getting there.
So we left Busan at 10am on Saturday (after just barely making our flight...what did I tell you about hell or high water?) arrived in Fukuoka at 10:40am, hopped on th metro to the main station and caught the high speed rail to Hiroshima (~80USD round trip) and arrived by 1pm!
First stop was Miyajima Island right off the coast of Hiroshima. This island is known as 'The Island of Gods' and has many shrines and temples to visit... All at an added price! With our schedule, and the season, we didn't get there at high tide - when it is the most beautiful because the water comes in and everything looks as if it were floating. But, it was still a sight! Another thing to mention is the deer! On this island the deer are OVER populated and they roam free and have become almost like the island pets. The deer will eat papers, your clothes and pretty much anything they can sink their teeth into! They also have a problem with the males, they have to keep their antlers cut down because so many of them fight all the time and I think a bloody injured deer might throw off the vibe 'The Island of the Gods ' has going.
After we had had our fill of the island - maybe walked around for a couple of hours, we headed back on the ferry to the mainland. The neat thing about Hiroshima is that their public transit is cable cars! It was a flat fee, no matter how far you were going so it actually added up quickly if you were using it a lot, so we decided to walk most of the time.
We had learned from our Tokyo lesson and booked a room ahead of time! Our hotel was nice, it was a little bit far from the Peace Park and happenings area... More than my stomach would have liked at that time of the day, but the hotel was super nice and gave us an English map of restaurants around the city. We tried about 3 restaurants, all closed for various reasons until happening upon a nice little Japanese-Mex restaurant with a cold COORS light and BLUE MOON and we were sold!
The next morning (Sunday) we woke up, checked out (the hotel was nice enough to hold our bags for us) and got to the Memorial Peace Park at 10am. It was kind of a grey overcast day, bit chilly because fall had set in, but I can't even describe how somber this place was. No one was running or yelling, cars even seems to be silent around the area, the only sound you could hear was the memory bell being rung. It really set the tone of remembrance, respect and peace.
We continued to walk around the park, looking at everything. The memorial bell, the monument to Koreans who had also died in the explosion, the 'tomb' of unknown bodies, the eternal flame, the bridge that was to be the target for the bomb (which it had missed) - and the bridge actually absorbed some of the blast and distributed the blast so they were able to rebuild and reuse the bridge until the 1980's!! And the most moving, for me, was the last standing structure after the bomb hit. It was literally just a shell of a building, but it had such an impact.
We timed the Peace Park Museum all wrong - thinking noon, everyone would be eating so we could take our time... Good thought, but then it began to rain so everyone came inside. So, we shuffled from exhibit to exhibit. I really wanted to read everything and take it all in, Scott was less interested, but the Japanese people were even less interested?! They just wanted to push they way in, look at the pictures and leave? The exhibits were amazing, they did a great job at putting together the different "parts" to make a timeline that was easy to follow. They also had amazing artifacts left over that were beyond moving! Dolls that had survived, but were blood stained - never to find its owner. A shoe was the only thing a mother was able to identify in her daughter's school. Fine China that someone once thought of as their most prized possession was found melted together under the rubble of their home. All of these 'things' told a different story of each persons experience.
To be completely honest, I did feel a little defensive, being American and all. The museum did an amazing job at pulling at heart strings and kept calling for peace and acting as if it was completely out of the blue, non-provoked. Like as if America was playing a dangerous game of pin the abomb on the countries. I feel ashamed by the fact that the atomic bomb was our answer and I saw the devastation that was created and can never imagine the life of hardships that they had to endure... For generations to come. It was the most moving place I have ever been in my life and I'm proud, as an American to have had the humility to understand both sides of a very devastating part of our history.
After about a 3 hour stroll through the museum, time really got away from me in there. We headed back to the high speed rail. We decided to spend the night at this business hotel in Fukuoka because we had to fly out the next morning, Monday, at 10am... To get home for work at 3pm! Our hotel we stayed at was really cool. We got in and we were greeted by a game of 'putt putt for prizes' - I won a... Bottle of water, and Scott won a beer. I was going to buy a beer as well, can't let him drink alone and they said it was fine, they would bring us up two beers and some snacks! But the party didn't end there, we got to the hotel a little late, but one of the draws to the hotel was free bike rental!! Fun! ..... These bikes had the TINIEST wheels I have seen in my life! It took all I could to get those little guys a turning, but we did and we rode to the river side and around the rail station - just making the best of our weekend that was coming to an end.
This trip was amazing. I realized that planning things can been advantageous, but so can just winging it! I realized that this was Scott and my's first trip/vacation alone and we didn't kill each other, we actually had one of the best times. I realized for the first time that I am a traveler! I make things happen, even when the odds seemed against me, meaning weekends full of football!!
I leave you now with hopes of posting our "big trip" itinerary. I have learned, being a traveller doesn't mean spending money, it means making adventures.... And our next adventure is going to be a big one!!
Always,
-C
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
ONE YEAR..... (one week).... MARK!!!
I couldn't believe it, the other day Scott turned to me and said, "happy one year!" And I, of course, like a girl went to our relationship and said, "(ha) Honey you are off a few there!" And he said, "No idiot!! (not really, but it was implied in the tone) Happy one year in KOREA!!" I had known that it was coming up and that it would be right after our vacation, but I hadn't really thought about it. For one year of our lives we have lived in a foreign country!! And we're still here!!
I remember starting this blog with some hesitation... "Will people even read it!? Or will it just be me and my mom reading this?" "Am I going to be any good at this 'blogging' thing?" "Will people even want to read my stupid blog?" "Will I have anything significant to even really say - that is worthy enough of going out there on the worldwide web?" -- Such a self-debate over a stupid blog...
...And then I did it! Which, I'm really glad for! I know at some points I sounded so excited with my life and the littlest things were so amazing me - And then there were times that I was frustrated, had it up to my ears with Korea and about to tell this experience to 'shove it up its nose!' - But I have it all documented. My feelings, my experiences, my highs - my lows... everything (nearly at least.... these blogs can be a lot of work sometimes!)
Reading back on my posts, I was so worried about 'boring' my audience that I didn't even think about how this would be for ME to look back on in 1 year - 5 years - 10 years (or however long "Blogger" will allow me to keep this thread) and be able to live through myself as a 23/24 year old who took that leap and landed on her feet in a foreign land... Well it might have been a tuck and roll stumble to my feet, but FEET none-the-less!!
In the beginning of this blog, I had told myself that it would, hopefully, in some way, help someone along the their own journey. But I really think that it helped me just as much to be able to get my feeling out - share my experience - live in the excitement that was/is my life here so that I could always have this as a sort of 'diary of my days in Korea'.
So, that is my synopsis of my blog thus far. It is not award worthy, nor is it going to be something that everyone NEEDS to keep 'checking back on' as to not miss something. But I do hope that people can see the growth that happens in one year. And if you are making this dive into a new world, that you find comfort in the idea that we all have those moments. And those moments ALWAYS get out weighed by the moments that you will always remember as defining the person that you are inevitably going to become while living here.
Thank you to EVERYONE that has been there to support me in the past year!! I never knew just how many people I had in my corner until this all -- and for that, I count my blessing - each and every one of you!! In those moments, I had a great support team and you all, also, made me recognize what great experiences I was having, even at those little expenses of frustration and bout of homesickness. I could have never done it without you all and ... of course, Scott. ***That man deserves a metal for staying with me - he has definitely seen me at my worst - but I think we have had a lot of best together over here too!***
Now for my list:
NUMBER 1: Owned an illegal pink, flowery scooter with which I have joined a gang of other pink scooters to wreak havoc on this island together.
NUMBER 2: Visited 3 new countries in a matter of one year.
NUMBER 3: Made so many new and amazing friends from all over the world - while finding out how great my true friends are back home!
NUMBER 4: Eaten live octopus, caterpillar larva, squid, seaweed (in any form, including: crunchy bits and soup), pork tenderloins...DOG!
NUMBER 5: Visited the largest city in the world -- TOKYO
NUMBER 6: Spent 9 glorious days laying on the white sand beach of Boracay - labeled top ten beaches IN THE WORLD by CNN!!!
NUMBER 7: Gone to SO MANY festivals..... ever in my life will I go to SO MANY festivals, as I have in this past year and the upcoming 6 months.
NUMBER 8: Been able to only work >30 hours a week .... TEACHING!! Where I am not expected to d any outside work for.... but I do *some habits die hard*
NUMBER 9: Seen a cockfight with my own two eyes.
NUMBER 10: Become such a cheerleader for America. Going abroad and representing my country (who most people have their own .... very VOCAL.... opinion on) has made me such an American. I'm proud of the many good things that we have accomplished and I am the first to admit that America isn't perfect, but it's my home and I will always be proud of the red, white and blue! .... And of course the black and gold!!! GO HAWKS!!
Love always,
C
I remember starting this blog with some hesitation... "Will people even read it!? Or will it just be me and my mom reading this?" "Am I going to be any good at this 'blogging' thing?" "Will people even want to read my stupid blog?" "Will I have anything significant to even really say - that is worthy enough of going out there on the worldwide web?" -- Such a self-debate over a stupid blog...
...And then I did it! Which, I'm really glad for! I know at some points I sounded so excited with my life and the littlest things were so amazing me - And then there were times that I was frustrated, had it up to my ears with Korea and about to tell this experience to 'shove it up its nose!' - But I have it all documented. My feelings, my experiences, my highs - my lows... everything (nearly at least.... these blogs can be a lot of work sometimes!)
Reading back on my posts, I was so worried about 'boring' my audience that I didn't even think about how this would be for ME to look back on in 1 year - 5 years - 10 years (or however long "Blogger" will allow me to keep this thread) and be able to live through myself as a 23/24 year old who took that leap and landed on her feet in a foreign land... Well it might have been a tuck and roll stumble to my feet, but FEET none-the-less!!
In the beginning of this blog, I had told myself that it would, hopefully, in some way, help someone along the their own journey. But I really think that it helped me just as much to be able to get my feeling out - share my experience - live in the excitement that was/is my life here so that I could always have this as a sort of 'diary of my days in Korea'.
So, that is my synopsis of my blog thus far. It is not award worthy, nor is it going to be something that everyone NEEDS to keep 'checking back on' as to not miss something. But I do hope that people can see the growth that happens in one year. And if you are making this dive into a new world, that you find comfort in the idea that we all have those moments. And those moments ALWAYS get out weighed by the moments that you will always remember as defining the person that you are inevitably going to become while living here.
Thank you to EVERYONE that has been there to support me in the past year!! I never knew just how many people I had in my corner until this all -- and for that, I count my blessing - each and every one of you!! In those moments, I had a great support team and you all, also, made me recognize what great experiences I was having, even at those little expenses of frustration and bout of homesickness. I could have never done it without you all and ... of course, Scott. ***That man deserves a metal for staying with me - he has definitely seen me at my worst - but I think we have had a lot of best together over here too!***
Now for my list:
TOP TEN THINGS I NEVER WOULD HAVE DONE IF I WASN'T LIVING IN KOREA ~
NUMBER 1: Owned an illegal pink, flowery scooter with which I have joined a gang of other pink scooters to wreak havoc on this island together.
NUMBER 2: Visited 3 new countries in a matter of one year.
NUMBER 3: Made so many new and amazing friends from all over the world - while finding out how great my true friends are back home!
NUMBER 4: Eaten live octopus, caterpillar larva, squid, seaweed (in any form, including: crunchy bits and soup), pork tenderloins...DOG!
NUMBER 5: Visited the largest city in the world -- TOKYO
NUMBER 6: Spent 9 glorious days laying on the white sand beach of Boracay - labeled top ten beaches IN THE WORLD by CNN!!!
NUMBER 7: Gone to SO MANY festivals..... ever in my life will I go to SO MANY festivals, as I have in this past year and the upcoming 6 months.
NUMBER 8: Been able to only work >30 hours a week .... TEACHING!! Where I am not expected to d any outside work for.... but I do *some habits die hard*
NUMBER 9: Seen a cockfight with my own two eyes.
NUMBER 10: Become such a cheerleader for America. Going abroad and representing my country (who most people have their own .... very VOCAL.... opinion on) has made me such an American. I'm proud of the many good things that we have accomplished and I am the first to admit that America isn't perfect, but it's my home and I will always be proud of the red, white and blue! .... And of course the black and gold!!! GO HAWKS!!
Love always,
C
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Should we Stay or Should we Go Now?
Scott and I have made the decision to resign our contract for another 6 months. This would be putting the end of our contract for February 2014.
(Whoops - I had started writing this in May.... found it in my drafts. So.... Enjoy!)The Major Factors:
1. Coming home in August would be a HORRIBLE time for me, as a teacher, to get a full-time teaching job. Also, we have to really think about where we see ourselves when that happens.... Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado.... Who knows? But we just weren't ready to make THAT big decision yet.
2. We came at the WORST time to Korea. We arrive in August, the week after all the long summer vacation... Thus, our long summer vacation would be at the END of our contract. So in reality, we would go on vacation (which we have booked for the PHILIPPINES - BORACAY!!) and then leave Korea. So it really wouldn't be a 'vacation' it would just be leaving early. Does that sound like fun to anyone? It really didn't to us! Even though we are thinking about traveling for a couple of months afterward, I didn't want to spend our LONG AWAITED summer vacation worrying about moving! Another note with this is, we have worked ALL year, with little to no vacation time to travel. Our whole point of coming over here was to travel and the furthest we could get was Japan (2 hour flight away).
3. We just aren't ready to stop traveling and seeing. A lot of our friends are moving on to different countries to teach, it is SO SAD to see them go, but we now have a network of friends that wouldn't bat at eye at taking us in for a week and showing us their new place. That is the most AMAZING feeling in the world! :)
4. Savings! I'm not going to lie, coming here I thought I would be saving so much money BUT in reality to go traveling (even around Korea like we are) costs money and we didn't come here to sit in our apartment and be miserable while an entirely different culture was going on outside. And I hope that no one coming to Korea has that in mind. Splurge a little! This was the FIRST time that Scott and I had a job that we now CAN splurge and I don't feel bad about it. However, with that being said, our big weekender trips are over, we got a raise and we now have to start thinking about saving up for our traveling and our future back home... And in Korea, that is a possibility. No rent, no car payment.... We just have to pay ONE cellphone bill (YES, we were sharing a cell phone for the first 11 months, now I have a CHEAP (Korean) pay-as-you-go phone) and fill up our scooters every so often for the bank breaking cost of 7,000W (7USD)!
The benefits:
1. RAISE. We got a pay raise of 10% (which is REALLY good for most contracts) -- that is an extra 200,000W (200USD)/month!
2. We negotiated a 5 day vacation over Christmas. It is only a week, BUT after working for an entire year with NO vacation in the middle, those 5 days will be heaven! Remember how I was talking about friend all over ;) ;)
Those are the two that we got from our negotiations. Our director was an absolute 'sweetie', he made us make our decision to stay over the weekend and then he told us he maybe didn't want us and then jerked us around for a little while longer after we gave him our negotiations. All-in-all, he forced us to make a rather large decision in 3 days, yet he took 3 weeks to get back to us about our negotiations. We gave up a lot to stay where we are and to stay another 6 months. Most of the time they want to extend a year, so he really kind of held a lot of the cards at this point. So were were willing to give up some of our 'wants' just to stay where we love.... most days.
Two lessons that I learned through our whole 'negotiation' segment in Korea has been this:
1. Figure out what you have your heart set on (ours was the raise, vacation and to be able to stay in Geoje) - Now think about what you are willing to give up for those (we gave up an 'extra' or 'resigning bonus' that some people get and our one bedroom studio apartment moving issue). Like I said, our boss was really using the power of time and working us into a corner (threatening to make us both leave) in order for us to give up that bonus and.... it worked because we wanted to stay in our Hagwon.
2. You are NOT irreplaceable, Beyonce. You may think you hold the power because he would have to hire a recruiter, fill out a ton of paperwork, interview new teachers, wait for that teacher's paperwork to come through, pay money to get that teacher over to Korea (airfare), and then give you your leaving bonus, airfare... whatever else. Yes, it seems like a hassle and a large expense.... but if you are being a diva and demanding - they don't want you that way. I have seen first hand a teacher leave a school 2 months into her contract and the school had her replaced (with a foreign teacher from England - airfare expense AND a visa run to Japan expense) in..... less than a week. That really showed me that we can be replaced, rather easily and, if need be, at any cost.
Scott and I really struggled with this aspect because so many of our friends had already resigned and had gotten what they wanted and gone about it in a demanding way, but that isn't our style. So yes, we may have cost ourselves a 'bonus' but we may have also saved ourselves from being fired and not asked back for those 6 months.
Okay, enough on that subject! We ARE so happy to be here. Yes, we gave up some to stay but.... we are staying! Summer is right around the corner and the beach is a 20 minute scooter ride (through the mountains) away and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else! I think in the end, everyone got what they really wanted and we all had to give on both ends.
I hope this helps any who is thinking about negotiation. It is tough, but you can do it! :)
-C
51 Things to do on Geoje Island
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY AMERICA!!!
I have decorated my room in red, white and blue, stars and strips and patriotic quotes for this week - I also made a powerpoint of how USA celebrates our "Independence Day" for the students to see and compare to their August 15 "freedom day". So I may be 20 hours away, but I remember where I come from! But on that note, I am 20 hours away, in a 'new' country', only a month away from our 1 year anniversary and I thought I could make a list of 'Things to do..."This is a list that I have put together to help new comers or visitors of Geoje island to know what to do. I am sure I have missed some things and most are in no particular order, I'm sure I will continue to add as we keep going along, but I want people to know that Geoje isn't just "country" compared to Busan or Seoul. Living on this island has given me so much more awareness of Korea's beauty and really their 'traditional' culture.
Scott and I have done MOST of what is on this list (which is in this fine purple color) - a few we missed the season or because of our work we weren't able to attend but we have been told about it's awesomeness. So all of it has been tested and approved (colored green for we need to still GO)!!
51 RAD THINGS TO DO ON GEOJE ISLAND:
1. Join the Geoje Teacher Group (GTG) and Flea Market on Facebook. - Ask questions, find out events and get some second hand stuff from people leaving!2. BUY A SCOOTER!! - Best decision we have made since coming to Korea.
3. Eat at a Korean BBQ.
4. Become a regular at Mr. Park's 'Bar'/Storage container
5. Oedo Island Botanical Gardens (blog post about this on my FIRST blog page)
6. BEACH TIME!! Our favorite is Gujora Beach, also popular is Wayeon Beach (little more crowded).
7. Hike one of, or all of, ~15 mountains surrounding the island.
8. Visit the Goeje P.O.W. Camp - get a feel of the history of the place.
9. Windy Hill
10. Hakdong Pebble Beach
11. Visit Okpo (large foreigner population)
12. Take a stroll down the Gohyeon Open Fish Market.... Smells are part of the experience!
13. Actually get out of the city areas and see rural Geoje/Korea. You will appreciate life a little more.
14. Go to Busan via the 'under the 'underwater highway' - second deepest immersed tunnel in the world.
15. Pearl Museum - Tongyeong (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2008/04/144_8052.html)
16. Bamboo Forest
17. Mundong Falls - BEAUTIFUL during the fall with all the colors!
18. Azaleas on Mt. Daegeumsan (I have heard it is most beautiful during the spring when the azaleas are in bloom)
19. Attend one, or all, of the flower festivals -- Geoje Flower Festival (fall) and Cosmo Flower Festival (summer).
20. Cruise the coast of Geoje - find a new beach you like or find your next camping spot! PICNIC!!
21. Okpo Party Night.
22. Volunteer - there are a couple orphanages on the island and some rural schools that are always looking for English volunteers.
23. FOREIGN FOOD!! Okpo has Korea-Mex and a few Indian restaurants and Gohyeon has a great Indian food place called 'Delhi' - YUM!!
24. Join in on a Pub Quiz which are hosted by the foreign teachers at the German Bar in Gohyeon.
25. Rescue an animal****
26. Filipino Bars - if you aren't into 'THAT' -- I just strike up a conversation with the girls and have found out some really interesting/messed up thing about how these girls wind up working in Korea.
27. Eat oven chicken... Even better when they put cheese on top!!
28. MART DRINK!! Totally legal in Korea to just have a beer in public, thus drinking outside of a mart is a cheap, fun, easy way to get to know people!
29. Get involved in the foreigner community - it is really nice to have people who speak English in your corner who have maybe been in your shoes and has great advice.
30. Visit one, or all, of the smaller islands off Geoje via ferry.
31. Eat the street food outside of the bars - try bundegi
32. Have a Korean friend - they are also VERY helpful to have and all around can change your perception of 'Korean' people.
33. Collect shells/leaves/rocks/jewelry... ANYTHING to remember places by. -- I collect shells from our beaches (because they have been my favorite part, thus far.)
34. Tour Samsung or Daewoo -- you might have to 'sneak' in - BUT well worth it to see what has really made Geoje.
35. Sports are offered all around the island - baseball, football, soccer, dance, hot yoga, golf (expensive) try something out if that is what suits you.
36. Banana boat/ Fly Fishing raft rides at Gujora Beach
37. Eat the 'delicious' fresh sea food that is rather popular and well known of Geoje. I sampled the FRESH live, cut in front of your face, octopus.
38. Take the cable car up the mountain in Tongyeong.
39. Learn Korean at Mom & Pop's in Okpo for free. - The times conflict with our work schedule :(
40. CAMP! - Geoje has a recreational forest that you can rent huts or you can bring your own tent and camp where ever (it is a big thing to camp on the beaches here).
41. Nolaebang -- Korean karaoke rooms -- Koreans LOVE to get their sing on.
42. Jimjilbang -- Korean public bath houses
43. Learn your place in the culture of Geoje/Korea. Respect their culture, but also don't turn your back on your own culture/views.
44. Leave the island - you will begin to go crazy in Geoje - after you have done all this, of course - so don't feel bad for leaving and seeing Korea. That's what you are here for, DO IT!
45. Put on your rain boots and play in the rain during monsoon season!! (I'm literally listening to the rain beat down on my hagwon's roof, right now... and I want to be playing in it!)
46. Have a (some) crazy 7am all night drinking binder(s) with your friends or some random Korean friend(s) that you made that night. The bars don't have closing time so do it AT LEAST once!
47. Get lost.
48. Eat at Korean style BBQ ribs at Michael Jackson's in Gohyeon - they give you a white glove and a clear plastic glove to eat the ribs with.
49. Celebrate a Korean holiday (Chuseok) with a Korean family.
50. Go to a Busan Lotte Giants Baseball game! Korean's love their baseball!
51. Do WHAT ever YOU need to DO to FALL in LOVE with GEOJE!!
*****When you rescue a pet be sure to use your common sense. Korea is FULL of homeless animals, you CAN'T save them all, all the time. Important details to think about: Is it healthy? Does it have a 'family'? Are you uprooting this animal and it will go into distress when you move it? Is it old enough to be away from it's mother? Do YOU or someone you know have a lasting home for this pet? <-- The last is the best advice, Scott and I really wanted to adopted a cat and we have found MANY - rescued one solo baby kitten (no mother) and placed it in a permanent home and then we just bought cat food to give to our other kittens (with a mom) that we found because we are not staying and that cat/animal would not have a lifelong home with us in Korea.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Festivals... Festivals... and MORE Festivals!
KOREA IN THE SPRING~
Our spring was jam packed full of festivals. Korea is the land of festivals and we had many to pick from -- somehow we limited it down to five. Maehwa Apricot Blossom Festival, Holi Festival, (I already wrote about) Cherry Blossom Festival, Cheongdo Bullfighting Festival (persimmon wine tasting and strawberry picking) and the Jindo Miracle Sea Parting Festival. You may be thinking, "Oh, that doesn't seem like that many..." But it was in a span of six weeks.We actually became kind of pros by the end because we had learned along the way from each one. Starting with:
1. Using public transit to get to these festival is a nightmare! Most festivals are rather set back from the main town/city and getting from the terminal to the festival can be a hassle all of its own! (Example will be given for the Maehwa Festival)
2. Consider the weather and if it is going to be worth your time/money/effort. (Example - Cherry Blossom Festival)
3. Look for affordable tour groups around the area. It's nice to have someone else do the planning every once in a while. (Example - Cheongdo Bullfighting Festival)
4. RENT A CAR IF POSSIBLE!! We got really lucky to have someone with an international drivers license and renting a car was a breeze. (Example - Parting of the Sea Festival)
Our first festival was....
Maehwa Apricot Blossom Festival - March 23rd, 2013
The group of friends that we had traveled to Tokyo with from Geoje became kind of our festival travel buddies. Jen, was the festival guru, she knew where she was going, how to get there and what to do. Right Oh!
Because we all work such weird hours, leaving on Friday really isn't a possibility.. So Saturday morning, bright and early we all set out to the Gohyeon Bus terminal and headed to Tongyeong (only a 30 minute bus ride north from us). From there, we caught another bus (after a 2 hour wait) to Gwangyang the "main" city of the festival. The bus ride was almost 6 hours from Tongyeong to Gwangyang so our butts were ready to get off that bus! From Gwangyang, we had been told that there would be a shuttle bus taking us to Maehwa/the festival. However, I think we arrived at the wrong terminal, but no worries, we found other foreigners who were from the area and they were going as well so we tagged along. The next bus we got on battled with traffic the entire way to the festival so what should have taken a max of 10 minutes took almost 45 minutes to an hour and we had actually jumped ship and decided to walk.
Walking to the festival was also rather confusing. We thought we were at the 'festival' because it was a large parking lot with a lot of the normal festivities - food, horrible singing, dancing, games, nic-naks.... But there were NO 'blossoms' to be seen.... We then found a festival map and it showed that we were on the way edge of the festival. It wasn't too far of a walk and it was pretty because we came across more and more apricot blossoms so our exciting was beginning to mount... (which everyone needed after all those bus rides). *** Note: I think we might have kicked ourselves by "jumping ship" more to come on that later***
The festival was beautiful, the apricot blossoms were in bloom and there was a 'hiking path' that we were able to go up and see more and more. We got some awesome pictures and had a great time just taking in all the experiences from our 'first' festival. But... then it started to get a little dark out and with that, it began to get a bit more chilly. So we mosied on back down and went to find our bus...
NO BUS...... there was a line of people that had done similar to us and had just banked on a bus to bring us back to the city, nope. The bus company had actually screwed up and didn't schedule as many return buses as they had going buses. Thus, a line of 200 people waited for buses that seemed weren't going to come. After an hour wait, a man came around with tickets and was going to sell us a bus ticket back but we had to wait another 2 hours for the bus. By now, it was dark and it was cold. Those 2 hours were going to be miserable. So Jen and another foreigner decided to go ask the police if there were any other options - they were then taken to the director of the festival (who spoke great English). He offered his personal car AND the car of another worker to take us back to the bus terminal in Gwangyang!! I'm sure my mother is face to palm right now thinking, "you got in the car with strangers in a strange land!?" and Yes, mom, I did.... And it worked out. I think the biggest thing I have learned coming to Korea is that things have a way of turning out. If we would have had to wait those 2 hours, so be it. But we got these rides and we were back in Gwangyang in less than an hour.
From the Gwangyang bus terminal we then took a bus to Yeosan -- An island to the west of Geoje that is the home to a hermitage called Hyangiram Hermitage. By this time it was late, so we spent the night in a 7dollar/night hostel and were up and out the door for the hermitage by 10am. Getting to the hermitage also meant taking another bus, this time a city bus. The wait for the bus was about an hour, by 11am we were on the bus.
***MOTION SICKNESS ALERT!!!*** If you are traveling in Korea, whether by bus, taxi, motorbike, ferry-- bring motion sickness meds... I have NEVER had motion sickness until coming to Korea and transportation makes me hate my life.
We then took the windy bus ride to the hermitage (about an hour long ride). When we got there, I was completely sick to my stomach. I was going to lose my cookies. And then, the hermitage has 290 stairs to climb to get to the top. Woof. So up we went. After the first 100 stairs (battling asthma, motion sickness and all around out-of-shape-ness) it started to level off and I was able to enjoy the hermitage. It was absolutely breath taking. One the way up, they began using the mountain structure to create the paths. So at one point we are walking under a fallen rock and then the path took us through a 'gorge' and then along the way the steps are carved just out of the mountain. One of the best places that I have seen in Korea. I'm really happy that I fought through all the above mentioned and did it. It was the prefect time of year to go, the leaves were just beginning to fully bloom, the flowers were in bloom, the weather was warm and just the perfect atmosphere. I am so glad that Jen and Cory found this hermitage and that I didn't let any of the obstacles stop me. It was top 5 moments for me in Korea.
Then back on the puke bus to reroute our steps and head home. Yeosan - Geoje ~ 6 hours on the bus with some heavy Sunday traffic.
Steps leading up to the Hermitage.
Using the natural structure to build the hiking path.
Ain't he cute!?
Holi Color Festival - March 31st, 2013
(Already wrote a post about this festival)
Cherry Blossom Festival - April 7th, 2013
When I had mentioned the Cherry Blossom Festival earlier, it was a side-bar to gauging the weather and if it is worth the trip. What had happened with this festival was:
1. Jen and Erin (from our group) had gone the weekend before because they heard that the following weekend (when we had all planned to go) was going to storm. We would have gone along with that, however, I was hosting Easter dinner at our place that night. Which meant, my OCD - aahhhmmmm.... That I get from my mother - kicked in HIGH gear and I was too involved in making sure Easter was perfect for everyone to even allow the foreshadowed rain to ruin my Easter.
2. I had been WAITING for this festival, since we really came to Korea. Cherry Blossoms are what Asia is known for and I wanted to be submerged in it!! Also, the winter was awful... Think constant dead dry winter -- NO SNOW..... It is horribly ugly and depressing. And I had put all my spring hopes into this festival.
3. The weather. Finally it came to the weekend we had planned on going, Easter was done I could relax... I was going to see my CHERRY BLOSSOMS... And it stormed, hard, Friday and Saturday.
So, we woke up Sunday morning. I was kind of in a gloom because I wasn't going to see my blossoms and Scott and I had so many back-and-fourths about, "Shall we go...?" "Will it be worth it?" "Will there be any blossoms left....?" Finally, Scott pulled the trigger and we headed for the bus station.
Luckily, Jinhae is only an hourish bus ride for us, we got the 2pm bus (which of course was an hour wait from us) and we were on our way. Also, we met up with another group from Geoje that was also going and it was nice because we were able to hanging out with some new faces for our second festival experience.
Arrived at Jinhae, and much like our first festival, the whole thing was spread out. We had to walk to the grounds from the bus and when we arrived it was the typical "food, horrible singing, dancing, games, nic-naks...." But NO cherry blossoms and nothing of what I had seen from looking up this festival! Finally, we found a map and we found out that the "Cherry Blossom Bridge" is another 5-10 blocks away from the main festival grounds. So we headed towards my dream cherry blossoms. When we get there - our guesses were true - most of the blossoms had been blown off the trees from the storm. : ( Heart breaking moment.
So, I could have pouted and been disappointed, but I was with a great group of friends. So what did we do? We grabbed a couple of beers, convinced the man operating the pirate ship ride to give us a ride (with said beers) and we had about 20 minutes of giggling/drinking/and pirate ship riding.
What I am getting at, is... I had built this festival up in my mind to be the epitome of my Korean experience. And looking back, the blossoms weren't even a major factor in my Korean experience. What was, and remains to be the epitome of my Korean experience, is the company I keep and the fun we are willing to have when life throws us some kimchi (worse than lemons.. Lemons I can make: lemonade, Lemon Drops, Run Strip and Go Naked's ..... Kimchi is kimchi. I can't make anything better from that!) What I am also getting at, is that if you are going to a festival... be aware of the weather and how that may influence your time at that festival.
This was about the best picture that I could get.
Usually, the blooms are bright and full and after the storm the blooms were anything but bright and full.
Cheongdo Bullfighting Festival - April 20th, 2013
Our third festival was the Cheongdo Bullfighting Festival. This was the festival that we had signed up through a tour group. Over-all, a pretty good experience. Some people love tour groups because they don't have to plan or worry and some people hate it because some are unorganized and you don't have any freedom to do any additional things on "your list".... I am in the middle.
To catch the tour bus, we first had to get a bus to Busan. So again, we were up bright and early - caught the 7am bus - Busan by 8am - subway ride to the rendevous point by10am(?). This trip it was: Scott, me and Erin. Another Geoje'er and her Korean boyfriend had also signed up for the trip - so again, some old faces but some new - and that was the fun part of the trip.
Our first stop on the tour was the persimmon wine tunnel. BARF. Persimmon wine tastes like apple cider vinegar. Not appetizing. I think I have summed that stop up.
Second stop: Some "farmers market" -- nope it was an inside shopping area with cowhide vests and dried fruit for sale... but NOT a "farmers market" by my standard. Could have done without that stop.
Lunch: Madness. There was about 5 buses - 30 people/bus and only ~15 people manning the grills/food. They offered samgasal and hotdogs. Should have just made it simple and done hotdogs. We wasted a lot of time for lunch.
FINALLY our fourth stop was the Bullfighting Festival in Cheongdo. This is one of the only times that the Korean government allows the Korean people to gamble. *Gambling is completely legal for non-Korean residents. Scott and I could go to Busan or Seoul or any of the other casinos and gamble no problem. Koreans go and they get taken to jail* So...You can just about imagine how the Korean -men- were at this arena. Even I put up some cash on a bull - 10,000W. I then lost 10,000W. But it was awesome to see a bull fight! (meaning two bulls 'fighting' - Not the Spain type bullfighting)
As I had been leading up to, on the tour, we had spent a lot of time doing the other things that we had very limited time at the 'actual event' - We were only there long enough to see about 3 fights. So I would have foregone many of the things leading up to the event to stay longer and see more bullfights. (I got rather into it... but loosing one manwon (10,000) was enough for me!)
Last stop was strawberry picking. We were allowed into the green houses, given a container and told to go wild. Our task: Eat. Fill. And that we did!! I think for every one strawberry that went into my container, two went into my mouth - I thought that was a good ratio! The strawberries we picked were the best strawberries I have ever eaten. I don't know if it was because I had picked them or the fact that they were right-off-the-vine fresh, but YUM! I filled my container and my belly full of these strawberries!!
Then the bus took us back to Busan - back on the subway - back on the return bus to Geoje and home! Over-all, it was an okay experience with the tour group. They were willing to offer 'more' to see of the area than JUST the bullfight (which is what we would have done and gone home if we hadn't done the tour). The cost was well worth it ~40,000 (40USD) and we were able to sit back and relax and not have to find our own transportation and finding the festivals and so on.... **You also have to be very careful in picking a tour group in Korea. We have heard a lot of nightmare stories of tour groups who collect the money and when the time comes for the tour-- there is no bus! Be cautious*
Jindo Miracle Sea Festival April 27th, 2013
Back to the original group (plus some new comers) that had gone on the 6 hour transit bus ride to Maehwa Apricot Festival - We decided that for the Miracle Sea Festival (located about an hour past Gwangang) we were going to rent a car. We all decided that 7 hours in a bus was too much. Luckily, two of the people had been smart enough to get an international drivers license (they are both Canadian, it is much easier for them to do this than it is for us in the US, and to be honest we hadn't even thought about doing this in the rush of getting here) **If you are reading this and are new or just coming to Korea - look into getting your international drivers license, you won't regret it!** So, we had two drivers license and we needed two cars - perfect. I was, of course, stuck with the boys (Cory and Scott) and Jen, Danielle and Kevin rode in the other car.We were able to get the car Friday night and then leave straight away Saturday morning. Scott and I had made a mad dash to HomePlus Friday after work to pick up some car snackies, in prep for what we thought was a 6 hour drive. The drive to Jindo only took us, in the car, about 4 hours. Not even enough time to crack into the snackies!!
Once we arrived in Jindo, we found the festival grounds. We were still, REALLY, early (~11am) the festival didn't start rolling until after noon. But we took a little tour around before the rush of the crowd. And, most importantly, we bought our waders ~10,000w! :) **You'll understand why in a minute.**
After we got that important task out of the way and with much time to spare, we explored the island of Jindo. Let me tell you, there isn't much going on, but the fact that we HAD A CAR and were able to do what we want and go where we want, this boring island wasn't stopping us! We had snatched some maps at the festival and I had seen some landmarks that might look interesting so we headed in that direction.
We never found said landmarks, but we came across an "Exhibition for Jindo Dogs" -- the Jindo dogs are big in Korea (I had been calling them Jinju dogs my whole life, but I guess they are actually Jindo dogs... Named after the area of Korea where they came from). We drove up and it was no "exhibition" it was more like a ragged puppy mill. Very sad way to start off our trip, so we b-lined it out of there!
Cheers to this mountain statue with some kind of red nasty alcohol that is famous in Jindo.
We met up with the other group when we got back to the festival. We all sat around and had some drinks, Kevin and I did a quick interview for the local news... We were claiming to be government officials from Canada sent here to 'figure all this out' and to 'get one of these for Canada.' -- Poor news lady had no clue what we were talking about. Then it was time to make our way out. I tried for the first time - Beondegi (Korean steamed silkworm). I wanted to barf! O wait.... I pretty much did! Thank you soju for the courage that I had been trying to gather to try them, but that will be enough for me... for life.
Yummy!!
What the Miracle Sea Festival is:
Walking out, it was very rocky and there were many people!! But as we kept going, less and less people were around and we were able to enjoy it. When reading about this festival, I read that it is 'good luck' to find a starfish... So I was on a mission! I was asking old ladies (who were not interested in this 'festival' at all, more exciting about being able to find their supper more easily than normal), kids and my eyes were peeled. Then I saw this flash of orange and I ran and grabbed for it -- A STARFISH!! Mission complete! (oh yeah, Scott found one too, BUT we were the only ones in the group to find them!)
By that time, the water was getting really cold and was starting to come 'back in' so we headed up to land. Met up with everyone in Mokpo and enjoyed a night on the town -- in a different town! Next morning, we woke up and drove back to Geoje.
By far, this festival was one of my favorites. It was a lot of fun and a different 'festival' than just flower blossoms! Taking the car, really made a difference! We were able to explore a new part of Korea and have the freedom to come and go as we pleased. We were also able to check out the city of Mokpo and the other car got to see the Green Tea Hills so getting a car might sound stupid or expensive, but in reality all of those public transits add up and if we would have had a car full, it would have been more economical. But honestly can't put a price on the freedom that that car gave us and how it really made our trip.
And that is the end of our festival filled Korean spring!! We were busy little foreigners and yes, everything didn't always go according to plan, but that was half the fun. If everything went smoothly, I wouldn't have any stories to tell you or advice to share!
I'm really sorry for the LONG gap between posts, as you can see we got rather busy after Tokyo. A more recent update will come including: resigning our contract - summer holiday - scooters - 'good-byes' - and whatever else comes to mind at the time.
Love always,
-C
Friday, April 12, 2013
Holi Festival
Holi Festival - Haeundae Beach, Busan 3/31/13
It was actually pretty funny the way our entire group that we were traveling to the festival with, started the morning. When all of us woke up, (early because we had to catch the bus to Busan) everyone in our group had thought about flaking on the festival. We had been to the Maehwa Apricot Festival the weekend before, which was like 12 hours round trip on buses and we had all just been worn out. We all said that if just one person would have flaked, we all would have flaked on the festival. And looking back, we are so glad none of us did! It was once of the best days I have had in Korea!!!
What a "Holi Festival" is:
An Indian festival where you release colored powder into the air (on each other) to get rid of bad spirits. You wear light colored clothes and paint each other up and just have a fun time. That is it.
When we got to the festival (early because we had taken an early bus and had to catch and hour subway to the beach), it was cold and we weren't feeling the loud Indian music. As we were registering, the Indian man who was giving us our "beanies" made Scott take a big swig of soju and told us that beer and soju would be provided later, but getting a head start wasn't a bad idea! ... He wasn't kidding!
Soon the beach filled up with the most foreigners I have ever seen in one place! More people from the island came and then the festival began. They gave each of us ONE packet of colored powder.... When it began, it lasted MAYBE 4 minutes. People were all over the place painting each other, dusting people, drinking, dancing.
Our white shirts soon turned a tie-dyed mess of just random people throwing dust on us. The day turned out to be this perfect sunny day and, again, we were all so glad that we didn't flake on this festival. We spent 4 hours of just drinking - painting -pyramid making - messy couple of hours but such a great time was had. I think it was the first time that ALL of the different groups in Geoje, our little island, just came out and had a great time and just didn't give two shits of anything but having a good time.
Moral of this Holi Festival blog post.... GO! Don't flake out!
Love always,
-C
It was actually pretty funny the way our entire group that we were traveling to the festival with, started the morning. When all of us woke up, (early because we had to catch the bus to Busan) everyone in our group had thought about flaking on the festival. We had been to the Maehwa Apricot Festival the weekend before, which was like 12 hours round trip on buses and we had all just been worn out. We all said that if just one person would have flaked, we all would have flaked on the festival. And looking back, we are so glad none of us did! It was once of the best days I have had in Korea!!!
What a "Holi Festival" is:
An Indian festival where you release colored powder into the air (on each other) to get rid of bad spirits. You wear light colored clothes and paint each other up and just have a fun time. That is it.
When we got to the festival (early because we had taken an early bus and had to catch and hour subway to the beach), it was cold and we weren't feeling the loud Indian music. As we were registering, the Indian man who was giving us our "beanies" made Scott take a big swig of soju and told us that beer and soju would be provided later, but getting a head start wasn't a bad idea! ... He wasn't kidding!
Start of the Festival.... Nice white shirts guys!
Soon the beach filled up with the most foreigners I have ever seen in one place! More people from the island came and then the festival began. They gave each of us ONE packet of colored powder.... When it began, it lasted MAYBE 4 minutes. People were all over the place painting each other, dusting people, drinking, dancing.
Our white shirts soon turned a tie-dyed mess of just random people throwing dust on us. The day turned out to be this perfect sunny day and, again, we were all so glad that we didn't flake on this festival. We spent 4 hours of just drinking - painting -pyramid making - messy couple of hours but such a great time was had. I think it was the first time that ALL of the different groups in Geoje, our little island, just came out and had a great time and just didn't give two shits of anything but having a good time.
Jen and me in the mosh pit of colored dust.
Doesn't it look like a fabulous way to spend Easter!?
Moral of this Holi Festival blog post.... GO! Don't flake out!
Love always,
-C
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