Korea played Uruguay on Saturday night and lost 2:1. Despite the sad ending Jordan and I had a great time enjoying the game. We headed downtown Seoul to the river and watched the game with thousands of other cheering fans. It rained hard for the first half and finally stopped during the second half. Despite the rain it was a beautiful night and we got our fill of soccer and Korean pop singers. :) Sunday, June 27, 2010
and Korea's out......
Korea played Uruguay on Saturday night and lost 2:1. Despite the sad ending Jordan and I had a great time enjoying the game. We headed downtown Seoul to the river and watched the game with thousands of other cheering fans. It rained hard for the first half and finally stopped during the second half. Despite the rain it was a beautiful night and we got our fill of soccer and Korean pop singers. :) 
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Until Next Season.....
The hockey season has finished. It's been a good few months but it's nice to have our Sundays free again! :) There were some crazy times/games but all in all Jordan finished with 10 points this season...whoot whoot! Here are some pictures for your enjoyment..... :)
Monday, June 21, 2010
My Favorite Subway Ride
One of our favorite things about Korea is how curious the small children are about foreigners. They are fascinated by how different we look and it shows in their facial expressions. :)
The other day I was on the subway minding my own business and reading my book. Suddenly a small high-pitched voice said "hello." I turned to look and saw it was a little pint-sized boy of about 8 years old. "Hi" I said. "How are you?" He replied "fine thanks and you?" "I'm fine, you speak English well. Did you learn at school?" "yes" he says. "What's your name?"....this went on for a minute or two until he ran out of questions. Then he just turned his head away and stared at the other passengers. I began to realize that this little boy was all alone. I asked him where he was going and he said "Ansan" which is a stop about 30minutes from where we were. He was on his way to an after school academy. I couldn't believe he was all alone. Seoul, generally is a very safe city but sending an 8 yr old on a subway trip 30 minutes away when it's already dark out, seemed slightly worrisome. The little boy didn't seem to mind though.
Periodically, he would think of a new question to ask me in English and he'd turn back to me and pipe up saying things like "How old are you?" "Where do you live?" "Do you like books? I really like books." He was the cutest kid ever and not afraid to use his English skills. Many children are too afraid to talk to the strange foreigners. :) When we got closer to my stop I reached into my bag and pulled out a new pencil I had just bought. I gave it to him and said "Here, this is a present for you." "Oh thank you!" he said. "This is a very nice 'sharp' (mechanical pencil)." Then he reached his hand into his bag and pulled out some 'duk' (Duk is a traditional Korean food that is basically white rice mashed up and formed into a tube shape). I pried it off his sticky fingers and said "thank you!" with far more excitement than I felt. Then I promptly took a bite, sadly thinking that I had no mints with me to wash away the flavor. :) I said my goodbye and walked over to the door preparing to exit the train. The train decided to take it's sweet time in stopping and opening the doors....so I sat there slowly nibbling on my duk. Finally, the doors opened and I stepped out. I turned as the train was leaving just in time to see the little boy waving.
I think this experience has just risen to the top of my favorite subway rides. :)
The other day I was on the subway minding my own business and reading my book. Suddenly a small high-pitched voice said "hello." I turned to look and saw it was a little pint-sized boy of about 8 years old. "Hi" I said. "How are you?" He replied "fine thanks and you?" "I'm fine, you speak English well. Did you learn at school?" "yes" he says. "What's your name?"....this went on for a minute or two until he ran out of questions. Then he just turned his head away and stared at the other passengers. I began to realize that this little boy was all alone. I asked him where he was going and he said "Ansan" which is a stop about 30minutes from where we were. He was on his way to an after school academy. I couldn't believe he was all alone. Seoul, generally is a very safe city but sending an 8 yr old on a subway trip 30 minutes away when it's already dark out, seemed slightly worrisome. The little boy didn't seem to mind though.
Periodically, he would think of a new question to ask me in English and he'd turn back to me and pipe up saying things like "How old are you?" "Where do you live?" "Do you like books? I really like books." He was the cutest kid ever and not afraid to use his English skills. Many children are too afraid to talk to the strange foreigners. :) When we got closer to my stop I reached into my bag and pulled out a new pencil I had just bought. I gave it to him and said "Here, this is a present for you." "Oh thank you!" he said. "This is a very nice 'sharp' (mechanical pencil)." Then he reached his hand into his bag and pulled out some 'duk' (Duk is a traditional Korean food that is basically white rice mashed up and formed into a tube shape). I pried it off his sticky fingers and said "thank you!" with far more excitement than I felt. Then I promptly took a bite, sadly thinking that I had no mints with me to wash away the flavor. :) I said my goodbye and walked over to the door preparing to exit the train. The train decided to take it's sweet time in stopping and opening the doors....so I sat there slowly nibbling on my duk. Finally, the doors opened and I stepped out. I turned as the train was leaving just in time to see the little boy waving.
I think this experience has just risen to the top of my favorite subway rides. :)
Sunday, June 20, 2010
World Cup Fever
Korea (like many other countries) is very passionate about their sports teams competing with other countries. As a result when South Korea competes on an international level people come out of their houses to watch the games together on jerry-rigged TV screens in the neighborhood plaza.
Our area has many "courtyards" where kids can run around and play while their parents eat at a friend chicken restaurant or Korean BBQ restaurant. When big games are on these restaurants set up extra plastic tables and chairs so that there is a sprawling mass of tables into the courtyard.
When these tables are full there are many many heads craning their necks to get a view of the 32-inch TV screen strung up on the side of a wall or propped up on cardboard boxes. During the game this past Thursday night (S. Korea vs. Argentina) we had just gotten off work and decided to try and find a table at a local Korean BBQ restaurant. We just grabbed the last open table and settled in to enjoy the game surrounded by World Cup fever and delicious Korean BBQ.
At one point I was walking back to our apartment to grab our camera and just as I was walking away Korea scored their first and only goal. Suddenly behind me a hundred people erupted in cheers!
I looked across the street to the other courtyard and it too was erupting in cheers. The apartment buildings and small businesses around me were also cheering. It seemed the everyone in Korea was screaming their excitement. It's true that I didn't witness the goal but I got a totally unique experience being able to see multiple groups of people all united in one exciting moment. Even though Korea lost (and we were secretly rooting for Argentina in our hearts) we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was an experience like none other.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Ko-Pi
While living in another country we had no intention of depriving ourselves of coffee. After being here a year we have discovered the best places to get our caffeine fix. There are indeed Starbucks Coffee shops here but alas....there are none close to where we live. This has forced us to try other local coffee shops and we have been pleasantly surprised....so much so, that I actually think I prefer a local shop to Starbucks....gasp! :) Currently, this is our favorite local coffee shop! -->
It has recently beat out our other favorite coffee shop, which is this one.
We enjoy going there for an afternoon coffee or sometimes going there in the morning to enjoy our coffee and do some reading/writing. We are lucky to have good coffee so close and have really enjoyed trying out different coffee places, as coffee is becoming more and more popular in Korea.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
What an unfortunate name for a cell phone.....
Imagine the surprise and laughter as we were sitting in the theater waiting for our movie to start and this commercial popped up on the screen. Oh Korea, you never cease to make us smile. :)
Saturday, June 12, 2010
A School Trip to Ka'Pyong
This Saturday I went on a day-trip with the other teachers from school. Jordan was supposed to go but he had hockey games scheduled for the afternoon. Unfortunately they were rained out and he missed out on the action. I however had a good time, even though it dumped on us all day. We had a Korean style barbecue and enjoyed hanging out and laughing together. Some of the men caught fish and we fried them whole and ate them! The men went fishing in the rain and one of our bosses even went swimming....it was FREEZING out...surprisingly. It was quite the experience. :)
Here our some pictures from our little adventure! We just bought a new camera this week, so it was fun to experiment with some pictures!
Here our some pictures from our little adventure! We just bought a new camera this week, so it was fun to experiment with some pictures!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
North vs. South
As many of you know tensions have been high between North and South Korea. There have been days when it seemed we were close to war or at least severe attacks on both sides. South Korea is very angry about the sinking of their naval ship.
Needless to say South Korea is crying for justice in this situation. In recent days the tensions seems to have been slightly lessened. In talking to Koreans themselves and reading some Korean newspapers the sense that we get is that war is possible but not likely. Inevitably, if Korea went to war the North would lose and in the end South Korea would inherit millions of people who have suffered poverty and deprivation for over 50 years. The end result of a second Korean war would prove incredibly costly to the South, and although they want justice, there is some debate as to how far they are willing to take the issue.
There is no doubt that North Korea is a particularly nasty neighbor to have, but in the end North Korea is still the brethren of the South. There seems to be a contradictory attitude in the hearts of the South Korean people in that they view the North as their brothers, but also as their enemies. They are outraged at North Korea and yet they are indifferent. They say they are 'worried' about war and yet they seem never to think or talk about it. One can only imagine that after living in this situation for so long with a divided country, it's easy for the people to brush off the constant threats from North Korea. There seems to only be cause for worry if something actually happens, if an action is actually taken, like the Cheonan sinking. So far however, it appears that diplomacy is working in this situation as well.
Some of our students are convinced that if North Korea attacks again, it will be on June 25th since this is the date of the first attack of the first Korean War. Only time will tell but we think based on what we've heard so far, that attacks are not likely, much less war.
Needless to say South Korea is crying for justice in this situation. In recent days the tensions seems to have been slightly lessened. In talking to Koreans themselves and reading some Korean newspapers the sense that we get is that war is possible but not likely. Inevitably, if Korea went to war the North would lose and in the end South Korea would inherit millions of people who have suffered poverty and deprivation for over 50 years. The end result of a second Korean war would prove incredibly costly to the South, and although they want justice, there is some debate as to how far they are willing to take the issue.
There is no doubt that North Korea is a particularly nasty neighbor to have, but in the end North Korea is still the brethren of the South. There seems to be a contradictory attitude in the hearts of the South Korean people in that they view the North as their brothers, but also as their enemies. They are outraged at North Korea and yet they are indifferent. They say they are 'worried' about war and yet they seem never to think or talk about it. One can only imagine that after living in this situation for so long with a divided country, it's easy for the people to brush off the constant threats from North Korea. There seems to only be cause for worry if something actually happens, if an action is actually taken, like the Cheonan sinking. So far however, it appears that diplomacy is working in this situation as well.
Some of our students are convinced that if North Korea attacks again, it will be on June 25th since this is the date of the first attack of the first Korean War. Only time will tell but we think based on what we've heard so far, that attacks are not likely, much less war.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Everland
We had a great weekend spending time with friends and going to an amusement park. On Saturday we got up early and took two different buses to get out of the city to an amusement park called Everland. It's kind of like a Korean-ized Disneyland. We spent all day there and boy was it HOT! We went on a ride called the T-express which is the steepest wooden roller coaster in the world. Since it was so hot, we also indulged ourselves by going on a lazy river ride and a flume ride. One of the best rides however was a haunted mansion ride. 
On this ride you get in a "car" which takes you through the mansion and then you shoot laser guns at the "ghosts". At the end they give you a score to show you how successful you were with the laser gun. :) We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves going on rides and seeing the roses they had in a giant rose garden. On Sunday Jordan won both of his ball hockey games and then we went over to our friends' house for some delicious fajitas and games. Summer is definitely here and we are already trying to stay cool in the 87F heat. :)
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Typical :)
Recently Jordan and I decided that we wanted to take a short trip to Beijing. Being that we are so close to China, we figured we might as well take advantage of it and pop over for a long weekend. We've been pricing tickets and realized that with all the steps required to go there (including going down to the Chinese embassy to get a visa) we decided it might just be easiest to book through a travel agent.
Jordan had heard of a good English-speaking travel agency through his ball hockey team and we decided to give them a try. He looked up their contact information online and tried to give them a call. When the phone was picked up all he heard was this girl talking in Korean....he tried to communicate who he was and what he wanted but to no avail. She kept speaking in Korean. He finally told the girl that he must have the wrong number and hung up.
We then went about getting ready for school. About five minutes later our phone rang. Jordan picked up and it was a girl speaking in English. She said, "hi, did you just try to call me?" and Jordan explained that he was trying to call the travel agency. She then said "oh yes, this is the travel agency. sorry I couldn't answer the phone properly because I was brushing my teeth."
ah....that makes so much sense :)
Jordan had heard of a good English-speaking travel agency through his ball hockey team and we decided to give them a try. He looked up their contact information online and tried to give them a call. When the phone was picked up all he heard was this girl talking in Korean....he tried to communicate who he was and what he wanted but to no avail. She kept speaking in Korean. He finally told the girl that he must have the wrong number and hung up.
We then went about getting ready for school. About five minutes later our phone rang. Jordan picked up and it was a girl speaking in English. She said, "hi, did you just try to call me?" and Jordan explained that he was trying to call the travel agency. She then said "oh yes, this is the travel agency. sorry I couldn't answer the phone properly because I was brushing my teeth."
ah....that makes so much sense :)
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