Well, we've been dating for two years now, and it seems like its only been a week, yet it also seems like we've always been together... While we're talking about time, I've been gone from the US for about a year now. Time just truly flies...

Mallipo (Ma-Lee-poe) Beach

It had been raining non-stop around here but by last weekend, we decided to go out anyway. We had a three-day weekend, so we went to this beach in this little town on the west coast. It was really nice because once we arrived, the rain stopped, and we enjoyed some time on the beach. It drizzled a little and we went in and got some dinner, when we came out, it had stopped. The sun had already set, and Korean people gathered on what was left of the beach (the tide had come in) to shoot off fire crackers sold in the convenient shops. It was so fun! Oh yeah, I was looking at this star fish when a man, who was walking by, just picked it up and threw it like a frisbee onto the rocks. I was so surprised I was shocked! I think he thought I would laugh, and when he realized I wasn't going to, he just kept on walking. So thoughtless. I went and found it and it's edges were a little bent. I put it back in the ocean... The next day we killed time while it was raining in a little arcade. My peace loving boyfriend played mortal combat type testosterone games, while I played Tetris (and got the 11th highest score!) It was really funny to me to watch him play these violent fighting games, it just doesn't compute with everything I know about him! We had a great time in the little town, and returned to bustle of Seoul for an underwhelming evening and arrived home the next day.

Yong Mune Mountain

I went hiking with my co-workers a couple of weekends ago. It ended up just being me and five Korean women. I don't think I've ever laughed so much while my body was in so much pain! The whole thing started off an a hilarious note because we were deciding what time to leave. Jinhee suggested we leave at 6:00 am, to which I exclaimed, "Six AM! Are you crazy! You've been working every day for the last two weeks! This is your first Saturday off, and you want to leave at six AM!" [final exams had just finished] To which everyone was just falling over laughing! We left at 8am. The trail was unbelievably beautiful, and I had several funny encounters with other Korean hikers, as it appeared I was the only foreigner on the mountain that day. Know one knew, but we unfortunately picked the very hard trail. Part-way up I was remembering explaining the nuance between "hiking" and "climbing the mountain" to my adult students. I explained that "hiking" was the term native speakers use. However, on this hike, I started to think, "maybe Korean people really do "climb a mountain!" when they go out!" The trail was so hard, there were ropes secured along it in places to pull yourself up! (And we did this for three hours up and two hours down!) My friends explained that none of them had climbed a trail that was this hard before! They just didn't realize this trail was the hard trail! I knew I was going to be sore, so I went to the bathhouse the next day!
From top to bottom:
My lovely boss, Lee Jong Suk (JJ), taking a breather.
Fantastic sites from a ridge trail we hiked/climbed.
My co-workers after climbing the rocks using a rope!
My friend Pok Jin Hee (Jinhee), who never ceases to amaze me with her serenity.
And rock sculptures built by hikers as part of a prayer/offering custom. The tradition comes from the idea that the rocks have spirit, as does everything.

Some shots from Yeoju

The first photo shows the burial mound of King Sejong. It is a peaceful park, and Koreans highly rever this king. He is credited with the invention of the Korean writing system, and he is known for being a very compassionate king. I saw these women using the umbrellas to block out the sun. Koreans use umbrellas in sun, snow and rain!

Some shots from Seoul

photo's, photo's and more photo's!

This is my friend Heather. (The women in the background sat down to take a rest after climbing up the long, steep hill.) Heather and I met in Egypt, and both ended up teaching in Korea. She went back to the US but the weekend before she left, she stayed with me. We went to Seoul and couldn't find the proper bus to take us to the site we wanted to go to.



So we walked around this neighborhood, nestled up against a mountain.



I've learned a few things while traveling. One is that everwhere I've been children play in the streets and have a lot more freedome to run around than in the US (for better or worse...) And the other is that badminton is very popular in Asia. Who knew?



Unfortunately we also saw this...sigh.



View of a Seoul neighborhood.



After walking back down the hill, we saw this. It especially struck me as funny because the couch is an old victorian looking thing with gold trim! Time and time again, Korean culture appears to be much more about utility than asthetic!




Well, we never found the bus station, but we did see these fantastic fish posters in the window of a restaurant, so it was all worth it!