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:

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

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. 

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!?

I DID IT!!! On our way back down. Yes, I am wearing a cat shirt....

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. 

Next, we decided just to drive up the mountain toward this observatory that we could see. Our driver, Cory,  took us up this narrow windy road  - where if anyone was coming down the mountain as we were going up, we would have been goners! We got as far as the car could literally go (incline wise) and we did not make it anywhere near the observatory. I'm guessing there was another way, but we weren't meant to find it. So another let down, but we had the opportunity to stop along the way and get pictures with 'pretties' randomly placed along these mountain roads. We snapped a few 'view' pictures, hopped in with some religious statue placed along the mountain side road, I played "Where's Carrie" amidst the local colored flowers and when we were finished we headed back down the mountain.


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:

For 2 weeks in the year, the tides between Jindo Island and another small island 'part' for maybe an hour. Thus, you can walk from one island to the next. -- "Parting of the Sea" Festival. I had thought that all of a sudden the sea would just break open and make this path, neaahhaaaa. The tide slowly pulled back until we could walk. A little anticlimactic for me. But we had our boots all hiked up and we made our way out to 'sea'.

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

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!

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

Tokyo Drift... ERS.

It has been too long since I have posted and I even left a teaser on the last post about Tokyo.

Well..... 2 months later and here it is!

TOKYO DRIFTERS - 2/9-2/11/2013

We decided that our Lunar New Year vacation was too long (1 day off and then a weekend) to just stay in Korea. Scott and I latched on to our friend Cory and Jen's plans to head to Tokyo for the weekend.

Because of the way the flights worked out, we couldn't leave until Saturday. So we left Busan at 11am and landed in Tokyo around 1pm. Upon arriving, we went through immigration and we were asked, "where will you be staying." This seemed a little odd because we hadn't made any reservations. (In Korea, you can just stroll up to a hotel or hostel and get a room for 8 for the night for about 10USD/person, so we thought Japan would be similar.) When we answered, "We don't have a place yet." THE IMMIGRATION MAN LAUGHED AT US! --This should have been a HUGE tip off! But... On we went to the Skyliner into the city, happy as clams, no need for reservations! 

Our first day, SATURDAY, was a DREAM! 

After we figured out that the cheapest way to get around would be to buy a 2 day subway pass for 50USD and our navigation guru, Jen got us headed toward the right place we were off.

Sensoji Temple

Our first stop was the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. The streets leading up to the temple were packed with people. And the vendors were selling every touristy trap attraction that you could think of.... INCLUDING... my waving cat -- the number one must get on the trip. Tourist shock when I saw the price of my needed waving cats... 4.50yen PER CAT!! ~ 45,000 Won ~ 40USD!!! Just for a stupid waving cat!?!?! I thought I could find them cheaper some places else and walked away.... (I was wrong... I made a mad dash back on Sunday night to get these stupid waving cats that I just HAD to have.)

After that shock, we continued on to the temple and it was beautiful.... as most temples are (I am now quite templed out). What I found odd was at the start of the temple, you would go over to a large (what looked like a well) and smell the smoke coming from it. Then you would proceed to temple and throw your yens in for luck or as you are praying and then go down to the "water fountain" take a sip, clean your mouth, clean your hands... Pretty much use it like a public tap. (This was beyond weird for me because we were at this beautiful, religious site and people were hacking up lougies and spitting all over the place... Asia can be a disgusting place at times!)

 Shibuya Crossing (One of favorite spots!)

After the temple, we headed to Shibuya Crossing (for everyone who doesn't know... This included me, until going to Japan) is that large crossing that they show in a lot of movies/photos of just mass amounts of people flooding the street to cross (as the light changes). PERFECT PLACE TO JUST BE A GOOF. 

We took so many pictures of us just goofing around, doing Gangnam Style in the middle of 400+ people, playing "where's the foreigner?" (our take of Where's Waldo), Scott headed out into the middle with our friend Jen on his shoulders!!! We spend a good hour+ just taking pictures and having a blast!! 

Tokyo Tower

Okay, so in order to save money, we decided NOT to do Tokyo Tower and opted to go to another building where we could see Tokyo's Nightline AND get a picture of Tokyo Tower!! On our way to the Mori Building in Roppongi Hills (which we were told had a great FREE observatory deck), we got a little turned around BUT luckily, we met this nice KOREAN woman, on the street, who walked us all the way to the Mori Building!! We got there and it was like 20USD for a third floor view, so we opted out of that and decided to maybe spend our money another way. If I went back, I would REALLY go see the nightline of Tokyo, even if it meant spending 20USD or 50USD at Tokyo Tower. Just to actually get a "feel" for the fact that we were in the BIGGEST CITY IN THE WORLD! Because Jen had mastered the subways, getting around was a breeze and it never really felt any different than Seoul or Busan. 

Kabukicho District  

Jen, had made plans to meet up with some Japan foreigners who were going to show us the town.... And they did! I had my first taste of sake at an all you can drink for 90 minutes Happy Hour. When ever we go with this group of friends, we always have TOO much fun on the first night!! After that 90 minutes of sake and eating we went with the group to another foreigners hang out. Downfall, we had ALL our stuff on our backs! So we were in good enough shape and we all decided to go look for a hotel to drop our stuff off so we could have an epic night.... 

CWR coozie came with me all the way to Korea, it then HAD to make an appearance in Japan! 

Representing A-town all around the world! Well traveled coozie ;)

Here is where we find our mistake -- In Japan, hotels/hostels will NOT rent to foreigners or people who cannot speak Japaneses. We left the Izakya at 10pm, started looking for a hotel at probably 11pm and didn't find a place to say until almost 1am! We had walked from hotel to hotel - hostel to hostel - asking all to rent a room to us and none would! 
Finally, we found a couple that showed us to this 24 hour internet cafe that would rent CUBICALS by hour/night!! So we found our "place of rest" and needless to say, none of us wanted to head out to party after that. 

SUNDAY

Started off rough for us, even though we didn't go out and party too hard, the 90 minutes of straight sake, Rum, Long Islands - all you can drink kicked us in the butt. THEN...... We found out, our Guru Jen, had lost her wallet (well forgotten it in the restroom of the internet cafe and the manager turned it over to the police). We did a tour of the 3 surrounding police "stations" .... aka.. holes in the walls of different buildings, NOT the big stations we are used to, and finally found it -- THANK GOD! Jen has the best Karma in the world!!

We then headed off to....

Yoyogi Park - Meiji Shrine

The fresh air is exactly what this group needed to shake us of our previous night. Yoyogi Park was absolutely beautiful and SO LARGE. Before becoming a park, it was the Olympic Village for the 1964 Olympics held in Tokyo.

Also, inside Yoyogi Park is the Meiji Shrine. Another beautiful shrine, however, this time it was not the bright colored shrine that we had seen before. This was built as a dedication to the Emperor Meiji (the Emperor known for modernizing Japan). The first site was destroyed during WWII and was rebuilt. 
We paid an enterance fee and entered into the Inner Garden where we were able to see a coy pond made for the Emperess and became instant BIRD PEOPLE! Haha. At this site, people would just sit with peanuts of sunflower seas and feed the birds. We were all so enthralled with the fact that the birds would land on our hands and take the peanut so we then began doing it too! I found out, birds of Japan do not particularly like Gold Fish Crackers... : (

Then we happened upon this well that everyone was waiting in line for. We had NO idea what this whole thing was about, but there was a guard posted there so it seemed like a pretty big deal. (Come to find out, it was a well visited by the Emperor and Empress and is said to hold spiritual power. Either way, we saw it, it was a well...

Our next stop was planned to be the Emperial Gardens - What I was really looking forward to. 

After getting mixed up in the subway and a hike to where the grounds were, we found out that the Gardens were..... CLOSED! : ( Big disappointment for me, I was looking forward to seeing the gardens, even if it was February and things would all be dead. We all began to get pretty draggy, crabby and hungry!

We made our way back to the area that we needed to be to, to catch our skyliner for the plane in the morning and found a Italian place to eat at. Then began the search of the hotel.... AGAIN. 

This time, we were desperate. We would take any hotel/hostel/karaoke room/dvd room that we could get. And again, another 2 hours were spent trying to find a place. We tried the seediest hotels that would only rent rooms by the hour (and had the FREE available option to rent different dress up costumes!!) ... BUT not to foreigners! So we decided maybe we would just pull an all night rager - Where should we start? How about a themed restaurant/bar! BEST IDEA OF THE NIGHT!!

The theme of the restaurant was: "Scary Asylum." First, the hostess cuffed us and escorted us to this TINY box of a room with bars over the doors. We were then served our drinks -- which were themed like medicine or spooky lab tests type drinks. So much fun we had ordering different drinks. Then our hostess moved our party of 6 to a larger room and we got our food. After enjoying about 2 rounds of drinks and a lot of delicious fries and appitizers, a loud siren went off... along with the lights. 

*NOTICE* I do not do well with scary things. Movies- NOPE. Haunted houses- NOPE. Scary noises - NOPE. 

So, from that notice, I was not having any of those scary servers popping in and out in their scary costumes, getting all up in my business, touching me.... NOPE.  I threw Denise in front of me (blocking those creepers) and that was that. However, it was such a fun time and I had so much fun!! USA is REALLY missing the market on these themed restaurants!! 

After dining and drinking - we all decided there was no way we were pulling an all nighter and again, begun our search for a place to stay. This time, we focused our search on 24 hour DVD rooms and karaoke rooms. After searching for, yet another hour, we happened on a karaoke room that would allow foreigners. All six of us crammed into this room - paid 30USD/person and got some shut eye.

SUNDAY

I woke up for my maybe 3 hours of sleep (our flight was at 8am... thus we need to check in at 6am), enjoyed a McDonalds (yes!) hashbrown and headed to our Skyliner to the airport. 

We got back to the Busan airport around 10am and caught the bus back, right there from the airport!



It was a CRAZY trip. We crammed the largest city in the world into 2 days and I do believe we had a great time doing it. I wouldn't say it was the Meiji Shrine or the sake that made our trip, rather the friends we were with and the ability to just be able to roll with punches that Tokyo through at us. We had our ups-and-downs and our crabby moments but I got a taste of "backpacking" and I can't wait for our next adventure!! Scott and I are looking into the Philippines for our summer vacation at the end of July - 7 days in the sun, on a beach, in the jungle -- Sounds a little better than the concrete jungle of Tokyo....in February!!

Hope everyone is doing well at home and enjoying all that SNOW you just got! Here in Geoje, it is 16C on Friday night and am looking forward to eating...... DOG tomorrow with a big group of friends, then cheering on our foreign team playing American football!  Hey, before you judge me for eating dog, ask yourself.... "When in Korea....?" 

Love ALWAYS!!!

-C

2013 Starts Off with a BaNg!!! - Shark Diving

I had to create a new blog so that I could add more pictures, I will only post a few this time so that I don't use up all my room! haha. But, the new blog is really easy, http://landlockedgirlonanisland2.blogspot -- Same as last time just with a 2 added at the end, easy enough, eh?

2013:

My 2013 could not have started any better!! The 'actual' NYE night wasn't spent out drinking or with friends, Scott and I came home from work and jammied up and were in bed when the clock struck midnight. Maybe it is just the fact that I am now 24 years old, but I found this to be one of my best NYE's yet!

The next couple of weekends were filled with celebrating. First, our friend's from Australia, Sally and Shaun moved into their new Korean home. We spent an amazing Saturday night cheers'ing them...  and a wicked Sunday morning cursing their wine!
*Special shout out to Sally and Shaun, they actually were just married last weekend on a beach in Aussie!*

And then the next weekend we celebrated Scott turning a quarter century with.....

SHARK DIVING - 2/26/2013

This was an absolute amazing... and a semi-embarrassing experience for the "non Asian shaped" blonde in the room... aka ME!

Getting to the aquarium was a thrill all of its own! We had set our alarm or 6am.... Or so we thought. We woke up at 7:05am (we had to meet all of our group by 7:30am and be on a bus by 8am to be to the aquarium on time). Luckily we had packed the night before but we had to quickly throw on clothes, brush our teeth and make ourselves "Korean presentable" before we could leave the house. We left the house and made it to the bus terminal right at 7:30am (when we told everyone to meet us) AND WE WERE THE ONLY ONES THERE!! Haha, the rest of our group, who had woken up on time, were LATE!

*Short story long, as my grandma Gen would have said, we made it to the bus on time!*

We made it to the aquarium with more than enough time and met our instructor, Mike. He was kind of a grumpy man at first and I thought the day was going to be a drag. We all got seated for our "song and dance" about not touching the sharks and not waving your fingers around like tasty treats and then to the good stuff.....

SHARK TEETH POLICY: "You are allowed to take home as many shark teeth as you can pull out of your wet suit." 

And let me just state, again, it was early and I had a very rushed morning, so I wasn't thinking clearly and I raised my had and asked Mike if the shark teeth would like get stuck in our wet suits or be attracted to them for some reason.... much like a magnet *** And that was how I embarrassed myself for the FIRST time that morning. However, I did get the instructor to lighten up and actually turn out to be a really fun guy!

***disclaimer: it was early, cut me some slack!

Then Mike divided us into groups and I was stuck with the ALL boys/"amateur hour group" (aka: group 2). So we waited around and we got to see group 1 do their things with the sharks.... first.... = ( But then it was our turn!!!

We got into the back area of the aquarium and he handed out our wetsuits, Mike looks at me and says, "Well you're not Korean sized" and I said, "Most definitely, am not!" So he gives me this bright blue (woman's) sausage tube and I take myself and my dignity into the dressing room. Of course, I had an audience of about 5 Korean, "Korean sized" aquarium workers there to watch and my two friends: Katie and Jennifer to help. Wet suits are a bizzo to put on anyway, but when you give me 3 sizes too small, Jennifer and I really had to use that 9.81 m/s gravity business to finally get me into that wet suit! (burns and blisters to prove a job well done in the end).

So, I strut my finely packed body out into the aquarium area where I see our someone doing push-ups and "amping" himself up for this big dive and at that moment, I didn't feel like the biggest joke in the room. 

Mike takes us over to the water where we will be practicing our different skills, little did he tell us that we would have to climb over a slippery, small tank of snapping sea turtles (the actual man eaters!) to get into the skill area. Skill, after skill, it was finally time to dive on down.

Scott was the first to go down in the tank, I followed. Now let me tell you, in my head, I looked like a cat burglar  stealthy climbing down that glass wall into the aquarium - In reality - I had the grace of a walrus and just slide on down (this "glass" I am talking about is the glass tunnel of the aquarium, so people were right under me watching me slide on down. Embarrassing moment, #2? I think now).

So I am down in the aquarium waiting for the rest of the group to come down, just me, Scott and Cory (our other friend) down there in the freezing water. And I began to get the shivers, REALLY bad! The water was really cold! But as we were waiting, not only did I then get Cory and Scott to start shivering, but a big grouper kept coming up to us - only a foot or two away and then would open his mouth!! Mike had warned us that the groupers were actually the ones to be afraid of because they like to nibble on loose things like fingers... or arms not in the safe zone. One of his stories involved an aquarium, shoulder deep in a grouper and inverted teeth. I think I was more scared of the grouper than anything!! Those things are ballsy!

Once everyone was down in the tank, he had us turn around and face the porpoise in the tank behind us! It was the cutest thing ever!! (And that's a pretty big deal, because I HATE dolphins. They are like the rats of the sea) But this thing would come right up to the glass and nuzzle it and was just an absolute flirt!

Then we started making our way around the aquarium. It was super exciting to see all the sand tiger sharks up close, but they were SNEAKY!! I honestly never "really" knew where they were because they would glide directly over our heads. I finally starting noticing it because my bangs (which would float up) kept getting "touched"..... by the sharks belly! If any of you know me, Shark Week is pretty much the highlight of my year.... every year, and this year, I missed it because I was coming to Korea RIGHT before. But this was by far 60 zillion times better. Not only was my hair tickling the belly of a shark but I was able to REALLY see them and understand them. Shark Week makes them out to be this prehistoric killer (not just of men, actually "we" are usually an accidental meal for them), but they are absolutely beautiful underwater. They glided through the water with such ease, it was their domain and I was just a guest. It was an awesome feeling. For 100USD, I would tell ANYONE to go (but don't do it in a cage, cages are for pussies!)

Continuing on, Mike kept leading us around (we were walking around the aquarium) and it got to the point where I didn't pay to walk around, I wanted to just stand and let the fish come to me (most likely the grouper, that thing was a stalker!)!! But finally, he told us to start looking for teeth and showed us one and told us to look. I got so excited because I saw this BIG tooth in the sand so I dropped down,  picked it up and strutted (for the second time today) over to Mike to give him my tooth. At first, he wouldn't take it and put it in his little pill bottle case. So I kept urging him (in under water language) to "take it, take it! Like look at this killer tooth! Why aren't you putting it in the bottle!?!"
FINALLY, he put my tooth in the bottle and I thought, my work was done in that department.
**Embarrassing moment #3 came when I got out and realized my "killer tooth" was just a shell.....**

I don't know if it was because of all of our excitement or I am just a heavy breather but our Oxygen tank lasted all of us about 45 minutes underwater. So we made our way back up to the surface. I belly slide up the glass this time and out over the snappin' sea turtles and into a warm shower to get that sausage suit off! 
Then came the torment that will be remembered as embarrassing moment #4, when all of the boys found out that my "killer tooth" was nothing but a shell! Thank goodness Mike got a bunch and so did other people so I was able to swipe some from everyone! Mom, Dad, Kory - Expect a shark tooth necklace for Christmas this year! ;)

It was a memory of a life time, that is for sure, only made better by the fact that we were with a group of great friends and also made a few more on the trip! I have so much more appreciation for sharks that can't be taught or seen through Discovery. I also feel very proud because I was able to conquer my panic of "scuba breathing" with my asthma.

The celebrating didn't end with shark diving, we then took the party to Sharky's Bar and Grill in Busan (fitting, eh?) and met up with even more of our friends. (In the rush of the morning, Scott and I didn't eat breakfast and we spent a total of almost 6 hours at the shark dive, so I was about ready to eat Birthday Boy's arm off! Thank God for the delicious CHEESE BURGER I ate there!) In total I think 19 or 20 people showed up in Busan to celebrate Scott's birthday! I am very thankful to have been placed on a "small" island like Geoje because our group really tries very hard to always do things for one another and this was just another illustration of that! We have met a lot of great friends that I really hope to stay close with! 

PICTURE TIME!!

Groupers: Mike told us that these things really love fingers - thus my hands are in the locked position for optimal keepage of fingers mode! 

 

<  <  <   Us attempting to get shark teeth. Unaware of the shark, directly, above us. 


All of those thin, pointy looking things... Those are the teeth. That blob in the middle of it (not the coins) but the large thing is my "killer tooth". >  >  >  >  >  >  

I hope everyone has had a great start to their 2013 and are making the most of every moment!! Having a good cheese burger just reminded me of how much I MISS Midwest food!!

Love always,

-C