tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1022181651725971572024-02-06T22:24:11.464-08:00here and there...a way for friends and family to stay updated on my life while I "work" overseas in Korea..
"You will step on the soil of many countries" ~ a fortune cookie from June 2010 in good ol' Cbuscoreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-72765890480238889312012-12-09T04:50:00.001-08:002012-12-09T04:50:10.077-08:00Angkor WatHere's some pictures of a few of the many amazing temples, some almost one thousand years old, in Siem Reap. Angkor wat is the one we saw at sunrise. Pretty amazing!<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivdiIal12RobVMhj7OPb3WM3WQjZQsig1r0yhFLRkRjTwgPcQPQj8QPmm2eMw90sOmiZ1ul_zH8P4SvP2dHeokWp0EAfm-HzZfTxVqbe8UEPH8dr8nnAmzkhnU31nj0QpqnC7ikFciivc/s640/blogger-image-686748671.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivdiIal12RobVMhj7OPb3WM3WQjZQsig1r0yhFLRkRjTwgPcQPQj8QPmm2eMw90sOmiZ1ul_zH8P4SvP2dHeokWp0EAfm-HzZfTxVqbe8UEPH8dr8nnAmzkhnU31nj0QpqnC7ikFciivc/s640/blogger-image-686748671.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLN8PtfwatlyoJtX2vBa3xZvMwvrfwUM2Dq0AzeFiotq8kjURRAynBIFeSQoCpqTQ_xLZJO0kgoKFKBCpHtx-LbZ8YKYNj322lzQ0fb0GVyTS3JJe9piRrGXPANNgKUP9hZmaKlpSxasA/s640/blogger-image-1699667645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLN8PtfwatlyoJtX2vBa3xZvMwvrfwUM2Dq0AzeFiotq8kjURRAynBIFeSQoCpqTQ_xLZJO0kgoKFKBCpHtx-LbZ8YKYNj322lzQ0fb0GVyTS3JJe9piRrGXPANNgKUP9hZmaKlpSxasA/s640/blogger-image-1699667645.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGrySVpGWfzXN4PG55psxx9KU3CqTo6qdsZmq5ZqFHadgDcH-amec9eyPO9Ugpg7wWbIdej9WAOCpbihP1bFWT-FXpPxoW-uj0N15PI7PCZxOTKWEEeRG5wRxLuBgvGX_rTXYSYF_gk30/s640/blogger-image-1808449241.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGrySVpGWfzXN4PG55psxx9KU3CqTo6qdsZmq5ZqFHadgDcH-amec9eyPO9Ugpg7wWbIdej9WAOCpbihP1bFWT-FXpPxoW-uj0N15PI7PCZxOTKWEEeRG5wRxLuBgvGX_rTXYSYF_gk30/s640/blogger-image-1808449241.jpg" /></a></div>coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-29933452188722120942012-12-02T21:54:00.001-08:002012-12-02T21:54:13.614-08:00Chang Mai and Bangkok, ThailandSo I spend my last week in Thailand in the cities of Chang Mai and Bangkok.<br />
<br />
Bangkok was actually a very fun city, and it was cleaner and less crazy than every movie would make you believe. I spent a lot of time on Khal San Road, which is the backpackers heart of Bangkok, maybe even of all of Southeast Asia. So of course crazy drinking was pursued. We also went to Jatajak Market which is a massive market with anything you could ever possibly want to buy for sale. <br />
<br />
Chang Mai, in northern Thailand, was by far my favorite city in Thailand. It's a very relaxed place in a country that already seems to be in a constant "chill" mode. There we did a lot of cool stuff. <br />
<br />
The first night we went to a Muai Thai fight, which is the Thai style of kick boxing.<br />
<br />
The following day we did a tour that included bamboo rafts down the river, Ziplining on over 20 runs through the rain forest, rode elephants through the jungle and down a river, watched a very cute yet still sad elephant show, and had a nice buffet lunch. A full day of touring, it was great!<br />
<br />
On my last day in Chang Mai we went to a Thai cooking class. The instructors were a lot of fun. We started by touring a local market for the ingredients. Then we went to kitchens on the farm, and made Tom Yam Gung, Pad Thai Gao, Thai Green Curry, and fresh spring rolls. It was a lot of fun learning and then cooking all the dishes. Obviously the best part was eating our food at the end!<br />
<br />
On our last night in Bangkok, a weeklong Buddhist festival was underway. On the river a beautiful bridge was lot up with spotlights and hundreds of lanterns were constantly floating up into the sky. People were also putting floating lanterns in the river and big parade float like boats were lit up on the river.<br />
<br />
Pics: old temples, cooking class, me eating pad Thai on Khal San, Long Live the King!, and the bridge with all the lanterns<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4UNrhZZGqoeeDDlu9TxtXcB1kfV4V_j1Nouq0bc0ggSg-ffwGWN2ZP_jFUhjghEWO2O1NIybTKUXyoKroGpwCI9nb13yPPwRdMbS9D_BSz0JBFIlVnTlMIfRG1MI2p_AmynE4DAwh5pQ/s640/blogger-image-674786386.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4UNrhZZGqoeeDDlu9TxtXcB1kfV4V_j1Nouq0bc0ggSg-ffwGWN2ZP_jFUhjghEWO2O1NIybTKUXyoKroGpwCI9nb13yPPwRdMbS9D_BSz0JBFIlVnTlMIfRG1MI2p_AmynE4DAwh5pQ/s640/blogger-image-674786386.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyOAM8t5LFgau2htp_QFD-cw211GSze8dK7pVzQA4hj5qVCthKRbmtVbfKQngV8B_CkSU6MwXloo7J6Pw4FnHIlnSIs1leLq_CE52GkdAWiwt0dwDZq9ZttFYvBWiqSBUitNNZYZ_twLQ/s640/blogger-image--613442934.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyOAM8t5LFgau2htp_QFD-cw211GSze8dK7pVzQA4hj5qVCthKRbmtVbfKQngV8B_CkSU6MwXloo7J6Pw4FnHIlnSIs1leLq_CE52GkdAWiwt0dwDZq9ZttFYvBWiqSBUitNNZYZ_twLQ/s640/blogger-image--613442934.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzH0RCyPMEUj2ku9CEXCWL0vGtV76sgq7AetgOofCGyMq43aOOc12L5UW1VTD8wI1GvuR_z1azA-8GvjQO58sTWmxUQy-7KwEPp430UsMoDog2A5b5ECvFW62CWq0qN_FsVxGjsCRjYE/s640/blogger-image--144809022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzH0RCyPMEUj2ku9CEXCWL0vGtV76sgq7AetgOofCGyMq43aOOc12L5UW1VTD8wI1GvuR_z1azA-8GvjQO58sTWmxUQy-7KwEPp430UsMoDog2A5b5ECvFW62CWq0qN_FsVxGjsCRjYE/s640/blogger-image--144809022.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9vHHOP-Cw9_SSQCg4AuLruxKkdpTvW4pGYBS5D0uK3zYw0jtVLXjxJWeQlZdq21blcobqwOCqKZhXEvf_C4YrSmmgohYng24p9tT6511FI3p0iutwb8XZtIHHNLHuyp4KzjRgtGy_Vs/s640/blogger-image-1143448277.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9vHHOP-Cw9_SSQCg4AuLruxKkdpTvW4pGYBS5D0uK3zYw0jtVLXjxJWeQlZdq21blcobqwOCqKZhXEvf_C4YrSmmgohYng24p9tT6511FI3p0iutwb8XZtIHHNLHuyp4KzjRgtGy_Vs/s640/blogger-image-1143448277.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC9xnrLjfLUax48GpgkJhpVnA2QaSJG-vhOQOwfmj3PdujsFv1lA4ivtnlD0FB5rd01R_KNNjhFQsTeBFlyDhZ_XlCyCf_o96xSXPjT3o0mVBtMncu8D02LGtQ3sxnjpB1unRHyEoRE-o/s640/blogger-image--464280282.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC9xnrLjfLUax48GpgkJhpVnA2QaSJG-vhOQOwfmj3PdujsFv1lA4ivtnlD0FB5rd01R_KNNjhFQsTeBFlyDhZ_XlCyCf_o96xSXPjT3o0mVBtMncu8D02LGtQ3sxnjpB1unRHyEoRE-o/s640/blogger-image--464280282.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcr2ACSMD8FeQiCu2rTEW4bADUd2aJQ1MVvAlLgeA4xlK3vsBLkHXVmU0SDwiu2rKp7qL5zjTunzYn7n1udNrXX5xRI1IaR9mzSigCuyviyDSv1pYGG-Zqtqi35c5VncNQKpOKHrOp8bE/s640/blogger-image--1856848343.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcr2ACSMD8FeQiCu2rTEW4bADUd2aJQ1MVvAlLgeA4xlK3vsBLkHXVmU0SDwiu2rKp7qL5zjTunzYn7n1udNrXX5xRI1IaR9mzSigCuyviyDSv1pYGG-Zqtqi35c5VncNQKpOKHrOp8bE/s640/blogger-image--1856848343.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizTdG9ZCtniCa0JHjpZmKYpfXCyaAFbrZLvl_lFqJUWTqE5iYygprtQjilRV8qTHxY0W6zpRuTfTX_hP8D30gdQj8XnUluJtrXSGimCViXe7BveKNW0COqwmOtRFpma8B6cwHfqud110/s640/blogger-image--1322531400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizTdG9ZCtniCa0JHjpZmKYpfXCyaAFbrZLvl_lFqJUWTqE5iYygprtQjilRV8qTHxY0W6zpRuTfTX_hP8D30gdQj8XnUluJtrXSGimCViXe7BveKNW0COqwmOtRFpma8B6cwHfqud110/s640/blogger-image--1322531400.jpg" /></a></div>coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-12002696112846439462012-11-22T08:57:00.001-08:002012-11-22T08:57:30.404-08:00Kanchanaburi, ThailandTwo hours east of Bangkok is Kanchanaburi. There's now four if us traveling the red if the way together, so we've been enjoying the city and mainly relaxing. I even did my first oil body massage, which felt pretty good...but did leave me a little bit.... exposed? We also are staying at Sugar Cane guesthouse, right on the river, our rooms actually float on large pontoons, and for 5 bucks a night it's a bargain!<br />
<br />
Here in Kanchanaburi runs the River Kwai, so went to the museum and the actual Bridge over the River Kwai. I never saw the movie but learned enough to know it was built under force the Japanese by Allied POWs in WWII. The Japanese even forced the prisoners onto the bridge whenever the Allies tried bombing it, and thousands and thousands of the prisoners died there. So it was an interesting and sad history lesson.<br />
<br />
Another day we went to Erawan Falls, also known as the Seven Layer waterfalls. The water is a beautiful aqua color, and there's seven tiers of waterfalls that runs for about 2km. We want swimming in them, climbed them, and slid down rock slides. So many waterfalls and so fun. Being Thailand, hiking around the falls was ridiculously hot, so jumping an swimming was refreshing.<br />
<br />
Less than one month until I'm back in the USA!<br />
<br />
pics: Bridge over the River Kwai and a little of Erawan Falls<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYe60YR3-nmeu7YPjUnIHxPaxMr6BOrjnCAhEg4iDqBYpF9UD42kiq4BLyl90yB0wUdMy2j6C3PihpT5dZG09tkVtgQMtOQ7UD5podxTT9JPxerP8GoKVkq_FDqYBrRwtCIWB_esf3LrU/s640/blogger-image--1498160226.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYe60YR3-nmeu7YPjUnIHxPaxMr6BOrjnCAhEg4iDqBYpF9UD42kiq4BLyl90yB0wUdMy2j6C3PihpT5dZG09tkVtgQMtOQ7UD5podxTT9JPxerP8GoKVkq_FDqYBrRwtCIWB_esf3LrU/s640/blogger-image--1498160226.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6nDdc22WY8xkWRLeNqXBw8fMsdYE7NfmQCf_X5xsuGsDRNqL0n5tpWuoqAMRnAPjwSF22VJ0QzSkjaksdUB5GmP2SGZUzk3pNoy23zLCj9U4KpuceIEragEJw7A2iekmCvl-b-jRNNw/s640/blogger-image-1060154797.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6nDdc22WY8xkWRLeNqXBw8fMsdYE7NfmQCf_X5xsuGsDRNqL0n5tpWuoqAMRnAPjwSF22VJ0QzSkjaksdUB5GmP2SGZUzk3pNoy23zLCj9U4KpuceIEragEJw7A2iekmCvl-b-jRNNw/s640/blogger-image-1060154797.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8UbA0xDh8pvNBPAmJaz1HfN204o4A5OpE6ZYMwfVT8yxxakvWswOB8hbFlmp7iOmV-MfsOHZYVKH_Z9gMzqBYoKX0oju9vitouw58kE_Jpg7lyBxRM4l0rBNHZcPuZNSbcFRgQ_zQTNU/s640/blogger-image--1103002971.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8UbA0xDh8pvNBPAmJaz1HfN204o4A5OpE6ZYMwfVT8yxxakvWswOB8hbFlmp7iOmV-MfsOHZYVKH_Z9gMzqBYoKX0oju9vitouw58kE_Jpg7lyBxRM4l0rBNHZcPuZNSbcFRgQ_zQTNU/s640/blogger-image--1103002971.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbO3K5dOTe9vGfzbhPNb8U82qMGRHhtzdl85NPUMw2PHJhR71F3iN48_gQGY3bknl6aSH1azXmp1R9v1-94JxzFvmK1NdGzbXG-p2atE6zIwFGFMA3d5VISGWxYLXXRM1-MGOWxsPUvI/s640/blogger-image-1059731620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbO3K5dOTe9vGfzbhPNb8U82qMGRHhtzdl85NPUMw2PHJhR71F3iN48_gQGY3bknl6aSH1azXmp1R9v1-94JxzFvmK1NdGzbXG-p2atE6zIwFGFMA3d5VISGWxYLXXRM1-MGOWxsPUvI/s640/blogger-image-1059731620.jpg" /></a></div>coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-18062490977814750382012-11-16T04:12:00.001-08:002012-11-16T04:12:45.658-08:00Ko Samui and Ko Phangan, ThailandAfter an overnight bus/ferry ride, we made it to Ko Samui and went to Lamai Beach. It was a quiet beach but had a cheap room and good sun. Unfortunately, I mistakenly passed out in the sun after getting little sleep on journey over. But it took me six weeks tiger my first sunburn, so I think I've done great so far. One night we were eating and drinking with some new friends and the place we were at had a fire show on the beach, one guy swinging ropes around that were soaked in kerosene, pretty cool!<br />
<br />
We also did a half day trip by boat that took us to Ko Taen. We snorkelin and saw tons of fish, at one pointed I was surrounded by hundreds of beautifully striped fish. Later, we were eating lunch and our guide said "come look at this iguana." Thinking its a tiny little thing the size of my hand, we get up and go look. Holy crap!!! This think was easily over five feet long head to tail. It was fat too! It's tongue must of stuck out another foot as it sniffed the air. It was so cool to see that thing slowly make its way up the hill.<br />
<br />
Ko Phangan was easily my favorite of what I saw. This is where the famous full moon parties happen, but we spent one night on the other side of the island at Coral Bay Bungalows. Our bungalow was right on the water over a rocky shore. Around a toy peninsula was a beach with maybe 10 people at a time, tops. The snorkeling here was great. The next day, we hiked through the jungle to Bottle Beach. Never has a swim felt more satisfying then after sweating on that 2 hr hike from every single pore on my body. Nevertheless, the views there were amazing. <br />
<br />
Oh and I need not mention it, but the Thai food this far has been nothing short of amazing!<br />
<br />
Pics:Lamai Beach, sunsets in Thailand, crazy man swinging fire ropes, our bungalow, Bottle Beach and Coral By<br />
<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcz5i1DDdEmvllMSAQYUiNh0P2rmkXlNYAdoXLJk7k53zBP9MZU1XkpGPrKBx2GBWSRxS-PVs7jac5CYrJ2RvtsdSpifW2mJLdNzBqGbXPAl18VC7MKEIDGCQWE7zOrfNbMpGmZW0t8bQ/s640/blogger-image-1681547728.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcz5i1DDdEmvllMSAQYUiNh0P2rmkXlNYAdoXLJk7k53zBP9MZU1XkpGPrKBx2GBWSRxS-PVs7jac5CYrJ2RvtsdSpifW2mJLdNzBqGbXPAl18VC7MKEIDGCQWE7zOrfNbMpGmZW0t8bQ/s640/blogger-image-1681547728.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTPLDBu1iFCxI1NnagRrXTkv_bCVzDqwBqWhu0wDhX6UhutlN9KoP9OdO1kK7KtHz7Ro4TNUPB6AKzOOurQNDJnlgqYAdsxenHoMhW0xlF6XQ4mban2Y5kdcqFnlWkEtllmHFk0cgzDxU/s640/blogger-image-1459220472.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTPLDBu1iFCxI1NnagRrXTkv_bCVzDqwBqWhu0wDhX6UhutlN9KoP9OdO1kK7KtHz7Ro4TNUPB6AKzOOurQNDJnlgqYAdsxenHoMhW0xlF6XQ4mban2Y5kdcqFnlWkEtllmHFk0cgzDxU/s640/blogger-image-1459220472.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIafB4Jai2qhG_DyETu0bzCh4U73896PpBauTt3TO_9bsWPL3yt5VJ_rdW5DMQcMRujqpATOuqByOeWGBd-xPvoeQeVLYKW9ZqhTqGWmsGsG5QqI8saJe2wHeyLb5r1cYY1X97eUehAUc/s640/blogger-image-1450645824.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIafB4Jai2qhG_DyETu0bzCh4U73896PpBauTt3TO_9bsWPL3yt5VJ_rdW5DMQcMRujqpATOuqByOeWGBd-xPvoeQeVLYKW9ZqhTqGWmsGsG5QqI8saJe2wHeyLb5r1cYY1X97eUehAUc/s640/blogger-image-1450645824.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCCgSIE5_dQ0lvKZFcaXpvBDYb7MGin-AfQnsy1rikS8slcIQiXTLk11HJVJTRupzwGQK6LuBqK32vJkvdN9yM_TvfBNlRNFKHvajZqeVc1z2Bee-pPnBVkarmXM-x3hmFM9WuZzNEl8c/s640/blogger-image-1246488172.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCCgSIE5_dQ0lvKZFcaXpvBDYb7MGin-AfQnsy1rikS8slcIQiXTLk11HJVJTRupzwGQK6LuBqK32vJkvdN9yM_TvfBNlRNFKHvajZqeVc1z2Bee-pPnBVkarmXM-x3hmFM9WuZzNEl8c/s640/blogger-image-1246488172.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigiMWVWMI43EafbR_tRIZqGgZhVeIy_45kChm_p3urzqOVi4RdHy1Qf_s31j1X6Xv2QJreSrhr3L9Pu2RaNu1yVsQvU0wGIl3N_znJqPwCKUYMlh3LDTtDuXAb_Fp0kl1z0zyetAb3vtQ/s640/blogger-image-1117636928.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigiMWVWMI43EafbR_tRIZqGgZhVeIy_45kChm_p3urzqOVi4RdHy1Qf_s31j1X6Xv2QJreSrhr3L9Pu2RaNu1yVsQvU0wGIl3N_znJqPwCKUYMlh3LDTtDuXAb_Fp0kl1z0zyetAb3vtQ/s640/blogger-image-1117636928.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN1MA1zm_SRmqs_9xYoOJVIA7jQR4CDGRbet36BsIoBZJq602udC-FuyWwf7pVNu70q8sLWwHaOXtG-lRZ6z3hfDw1XHuTKlgZy8-CLmvVPDGMSkjTXFZb0cavvQDoa9hzQG_-fOII4dY/s640/blogger-image--1868411734.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN1MA1zm_SRmqs_9xYoOJVIA7jQR4CDGRbet36BsIoBZJq602udC-FuyWwf7pVNu70q8sLWwHaOXtG-lRZ6z3hfDw1XHuTKlgZy8-CLmvVPDGMSkjTXFZb0cavvQDoa9hzQG_-fOII4dY/s640/blogger-image--1868411734.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr6-U8gecgn_UyyAMHu4b2jJr20b5Vco-mSApEdJcSg5CHBHSh20pXliDTbf25bVQkfK-be_azQTn_H8R9y0cunbkuFB2NzohKDykuSwu0jJW45UyOLsU3auxKCrTwnPMS6SOr-fXTVko/s640/blogger-image--1644000410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr6-U8gecgn_UyyAMHu4b2jJr20b5Vco-mSApEdJcSg5CHBHSh20pXliDTbf25bVQkfK-be_azQTn_H8R9y0cunbkuFB2NzohKDykuSwu0jJW45UyOLsU3auxKCrTwnPMS6SOr-fXTVko/s640/blogger-image--1644000410.jpg" /></a></div>coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-79092384271797497062012-11-15T01:26:00.001-08:002012-11-15T01:26:40.736-08:00PenangWe left from Kuala Lumpur and headed up to Penang, an island and we stayed in the old historic city of Georgetown. Lots of colonial architecture here, and of course, Malay food. My favorite by far is Kuoy Cheow Teow (sp?). It has big flat noodles, chicken, veggies, and lots o spices. Mmm mmm mmm. <br />
<br />
The highlight for me on Penang was going to the National Park. We just did a short hike along the ocean and a little in the jungle around it. On one beach, we hear a loud roar and look up to see a black fighter jet flying extremely low just out over the water a little. Even did a little flip of the wings as it went by the bay we were walking along. Also, we saw lizards a little under three feet long, and damn fast! It was freaky to see one run at the water, at first it looked like it was walking on the water but then it showed it could swim as well.<br />
<br />
<br />
Pics: some buildings in Georgetown (if you haven't guessed yet, I didn't find Penang that happening)<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOk9BzGDkP7J5Wc92xy-tZNZJvh_kuGBByfjN7XVnotbi5GPmEC2bvoKDdxDL-LpuWiggMEF1zU9XPlo1cneQUxWtRfjAUgv1e8VRSVIo3nNAo1u-l5j6ojKXDyPU5TqbQsz1hEPTc-jI/s640/blogger-image-1357362545.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOk9BzGDkP7J5Wc92xy-tZNZJvh_kuGBByfjN7XVnotbi5GPmEC2bvoKDdxDL-LpuWiggMEF1zU9XPlo1cneQUxWtRfjAUgv1e8VRSVIo3nNAo1u-l5j6ojKXDyPU5TqbQsz1hEPTc-jI/s640/blogger-image-1357362545.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Oa-5i1CwhV0b6rKQLPyBRhaP1QlY3mCoY2qT7esW_pX-7l-EM5U62FEuwiaKeWkR1e_X6kre9Hi52D8P4oXLczRHnunXQcG4O8EiZ40mCZdRx5-wV0xe_f2679A-ZHk0A9FrVPAjj4w/s640/blogger-image--870063581.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Oa-5i1CwhV0b6rKQLPyBRhaP1QlY3mCoY2qT7esW_pX-7l-EM5U62FEuwiaKeWkR1e_X6kre9Hi52D8P4oXLczRHnunXQcG4O8EiZ40mCZdRx5-wV0xe_f2679A-ZHk0A9FrVPAjj4w/s640/blogger-image--870063581.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg88eRmieWSPpXaXTd7JoGGNI8FLL0X79AtJBt7WFY7K269-E7XxnOXzbT-7xy4lpSfk36i98Cf18TEC0tYrmYNuU2s948kBPDqFxKSzK15LUnNl8iXRbtz9uevquwlTH8Q5HHt4_EczqM/s640/blogger-image--57697935.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg88eRmieWSPpXaXTd7JoGGNI8FLL0X79AtJBt7WFY7K269-E7XxnOXzbT-7xy4lpSfk36i98Cf18TEC0tYrmYNuU2s948kBPDqFxKSzK15LUnNl8iXRbtz9uevquwlTH8Q5HHt4_EczqM/s640/blogger-image--57697935.jpg" /></a></div>coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-46914605812823427802012-11-08T05:32:00.001-08:002012-11-08T05:42:55.782-08:00Kuala Lumpur.... I love this city!!I'll quickly add that we stayed at Six Degrees Hostel in Jakarta, a fantastic place. However, Jakarta was nothing special in itself... sad to leave Indonesia since the best part (Jogja) was at the end!<br />
<br />
However, I'm sitting at Reggae Mansion Hostel now, waiting for my train to Butterworth to go to Penang, Malaysia. The hostel I beyond nice, but Kuala Lumpur just may be my new favorite city. It's modern, but not too modern, it's preserved many of its older colonial style buildings, and ha gorgeous skyscrapers popping up as well. The mass transit is easy and convenient to use. The city is clean, but no to a ridiculous level like Singapore...it has a great sense of charm and character to it. Oh, and it's full of Malaysian food, which is damn good stuff!<br />
<br />
We've did a tour of the city today and met some great people on it, and had a lot if fun checking out lots of the city. The Chinatown and Little India of KL are bustling places with a lot of charm and displays of their respective cultures abundant everywhere. <br />
<br />
I hadn't realized it before coming here but 60% of Malays are Muslim..so we checked out the National Mosque today as well, which was pretty. The highlight was talkin to a very friendly guide at the mosque who invited me to his mosque for a personal tour! Sadly I has no time to make it happen.<br />
<br />
We made it to the National War Monument and also the 5 year old National Palace, home of the King of Malaysia. There's actually 9 kings, and they rotate who is king. The king serves for 5 years, so only a lucky few get to be king twice in there lives. <br />
<br />
We went to Batu Cave as well. After going past a giant golden statue of some Hindu god, you go up many steps into a giant cavern in the mountain. Inside is new Hindu temples, so while the cavern is really developed it was still really cool and over run with monkeys!<br />
<br />
At the end of the day we also went up to the top of the Petronas Towers for some incredible views and to walk across the sky bridge.<br />
<br />
After feeling a little tired if the traveling just before leaving Indonesia, KL and Malaysia have definitely rejuvenated me. I guess I cannot pinpoint what it is, but I just really love Kuala Lumpur. I also forgot to mention how diverse it is! I'd highly recommend it as a destination for anyone, it's extremely tourist friendly.<br />
<br />
Pics:steps up to Batu cave, looking out of Batu cave, the Petronas Towers, Sultan's building off of Merdaka Square, slice of the city skyline, in Little India, and looking up and out of Batu cave<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWuZpYMwK1LK7Abqm9PWRh7BNtozFOOhKQmpv4jHd1CwYn9V7MJQ-k_PNJQzOEGqOOmZLYYcwmrDKPVyijEP9Ghri36LDX35wjSFFBUnh0wLFv4XYgMtbToCmKyobLcQ8BufuJt-CGU8I/s640/blogger-image-642481426.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWuZpYMwK1LK7Abqm9PWRh7BNtozFOOhKQmpv4jHd1CwYn9V7MJQ-k_PNJQzOEGqOOmZLYYcwmrDKPVyijEP9Ghri36LDX35wjSFFBUnh0wLFv4XYgMtbToCmKyobLcQ8BufuJt-CGU8I/s640/blogger-image-642481426.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQXdHvUU2oLj3q3CnXtPEl7zFc-BzmHcdcR5LKa2jRNGLyg2_FZhCjyOcYzGXZwsk5ZUYlaL10lJVlJKf-HRDD3ScPdTDRh9RuF7DV9LPCMx6Y_DBA09OuzAK3KTH8gUSrxZdwYTIRmFQ/s640/blogger-image--240127740.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQXdHvUU2oLj3q3CnXtPEl7zFc-BzmHcdcR5LKa2jRNGLyg2_FZhCjyOcYzGXZwsk5ZUYlaL10lJVlJKf-HRDD3ScPdTDRh9RuF7DV9LPCMx6Y_DBA09OuzAK3KTH8gUSrxZdwYTIRmFQ/s640/blogger-image--240127740.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkRrO4NS8mjRrZNnY1yT1qfOQCYXaN0aAyc-_Tg_nDvfYAmzYtlrGGHZsLaktrpn3jh06MCxxKmBulQYlFT4BTQTixVrahEAD-x0uRhKiinRDNYbZw1PX21Hq2IOMLBfauc4DNW9nga0w/s640/blogger-image-942274823.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkRrO4NS8mjRrZNnY1yT1qfOQCYXaN0aAyc-_Tg_nDvfYAmzYtlrGGHZsLaktrpn3jh06MCxxKmBulQYlFT4BTQTixVrahEAD-x0uRhKiinRDNYbZw1PX21Hq2IOMLBfauc4DNW9nga0w/s640/blogger-image-942274823.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG2hD3LF0CES2II_twCM5NqOdXg1rJnIxDUvBqvwZjhBXd1rs5T28CZ7exUWqtDiQT4xGwatkyLhPIpK0EJ3fLy7lIaT_h6Fgdxt3A1x0wxdRM6R_Ci0F12ajm9KL1xnwgEgtwfROBQyk/s640/blogger-image-1654446023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG2hD3LF0CES2II_twCM5NqOdXg1rJnIxDUvBqvwZjhBXd1rs5T28CZ7exUWqtDiQT4xGwatkyLhPIpK0EJ3fLy7lIaT_h6Fgdxt3A1x0wxdRM6R_Ci0F12ajm9KL1xnwgEgtwfROBQyk/s640/blogger-image-1654446023.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrUG6UysR3gKGODMzUFmH4nAfDWI5ghV9iqm1ksaKx80wNoCoIJG83JAQoAqZqDjCRj6CShO3O4fGJwGhyarCwGCCWf4qpWajhQfwMEMwbURXLFvl-TQJ3zApS1y3_Li0JLbUg_-q5AT4/s640/blogger-image--1179534800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrUG6UysR3gKGODMzUFmH4nAfDWI5ghV9iqm1ksaKx80wNoCoIJG83JAQoAqZqDjCRj6CShO3O4fGJwGhyarCwGCCWf4qpWajhQfwMEMwbURXLFvl-TQJ3zApS1y3_Li0JLbUg_-q5AT4/s640/blogger-image--1179534800.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKv_VDhcOjXnWaHpsQe6P2xW36nMN3dbSka2Ln9PuqDNUmBw8yf12InuPS0LONPJaj1YxZYxqqrOIB6llN3ZtadNI28lmkivE8tmqrPwLyiLSudu6kSzA-DB_NT7PEEpjcg5uBisrbfo/s640/blogger-image-1699002298.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKv_VDhcOjXnWaHpsQe6P2xW36nMN3dbSka2Ln9PuqDNUmBw8yf12InuPS0LONPJaj1YxZYxqqrOIB6llN3ZtadNI28lmkivE8tmqrPwLyiLSudu6kSzA-DB_NT7PEEpjcg5uBisrbfo/s640/blogger-image-1699002298.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLiMXfQM07mhykbcb0EFajQXmDMKtI1xlc_bzcQdtkek8xEbIIdh_LQCqcR4HCqL-J85GDuws61cluSWJobBcvG2N5jlVNed9ohMaNyY8L9Jentc1h5CPM92a3hyphenhyphenuYRx6GxBOEMSt2IBU/s640/blogger-image-1553867717.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLiMXfQM07mhykbcb0EFajQXmDMKtI1xlc_bzcQdtkek8xEbIIdh_LQCqcR4HCqL-J85GDuws61cluSWJobBcvG2N5jlVNed9ohMaNyY8L9Jentc1h5CPM92a3hyphenhyphenuYRx6GxBOEMSt2IBU/s640/blogger-image-1553867717.jpg" /></a></div>coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-27706403018751347112012-11-04T03:12:00.001-08:002012-11-04T03:13:09.398-08:00Jogja (Yogyakarta)I'm currently sitting on the rooftop porch of our humble little home stay in Yogyakarta, the Lotus Losmen. The entire city is alive with the evening calls to prayer coming from the many, many mosques all over the city. As the call fades from the one closest to me, I can hear the many other voices singing in mismatched harmony, some close and some far away. It's beautiful... One of my favorite things about finding mark in an Islamic country. Think Sunday morning church bells, but much more regularly and with some sort of deeper meaning to them.<br />
<br />
Anyways, Yogyakarta (or Jogja) is by far my favorite part of Indonesia so far. The city is full of students, and the backpacker alley is just off of the main road. After a difficult journey here, I've found everyone in this city to be overwhelmingly helpful and friendly. Many times today students have come up to us to practice there English and to "interview" us. I'm hoping I have many email pen pals to look forward to now. Other people have gone out of their way to tell us about random places to visit or to just make us aware of areas to avoid tourist scams... Though admittedly, the one scam we walked into was still the nicest scam I've been a part of!<br />
<br />
The highlight of Jogja was by far the massive ruins of the temples Borobudur and Prambanan. Both were built in the 8th century. With Borobudur being a Buddhist temple and Prambanan being a Hindu temple, they represent a rare instance in humanity when two different religions peacefully coexisted right next to each other. And did I mention how massive they are? Both were covered with reliefs. <br />
<br />
Borobudur by far was the most impressive, with ten levels, each covered level with reliefs, and showin the life of Buddha and his path to enlightenment. The top is covered with many stuppas. The restoration has left it in pretty good shape, though many of the Buddha statues are headless or missing entirely. Sadly, I took few photos in my iPod to share it...google the name and you will see how cool it is.<br />
<br />
Prambanan had hundreds of Hindu temples arranged around about 8 massive I temples dedicated to the main gods of Hinduism, like Shiva and Krishna. It was impressive how large these were. Equally impressive is that these temples were "discovered" as complete ruins and painstakingly reconstructed over many years. Many of the smaller surrounding temples have been left as ruins. I'm now beyond pumped up for seeing Angkor Wat in Cambodia...<br />
<br />
Today we checked out the Sultan's palace here in Yogyakarta. Every other province in Indonesia has a democratically elected governor. Yogyakarta has a Sultan, and the family has rule since the mid 18th century. Since its a democracy now, Indonesia's central government pressed to change this, but the people of Yogyakarta overwhelmingly voted to keep the Sultan in power, the family is hugely popular. So many of the people here told us about the Sultan's palace and how we should go. Guess what? Wasn't anything special. We deified y should hired a guide, that would of helped. We did get to hear a galvinese orchestra and watch a traditional Javinese dance. Both go slowww. My guess is its so damn hot here no one ever thought of doing anything too fast.<br />
<br />
<br />
Pics: Prabanan, students playing drums on the main steet, the stuppas on top of Borobudur, and the worlds cutest kindie class stretching in front of Mendut temple <div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ0xGPFQuvMnZPi-OJdP5PpIBLDbPO9RD-cANj5VOivivh8B0dTZHG-T2j80C8uFmWLeF93S8Kj5SmU-324TVRqzcY_puzlTW_UhLYSagcpicQCLJF6sUmp4TNtbQVw0TT8iw55M8V41k/s640/blogger-image-1967452323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ0xGPFQuvMnZPi-OJdP5PpIBLDbPO9RD-cANj5VOivivh8B0dTZHG-T2j80C8uFmWLeF93S8Kj5SmU-324TVRqzcY_puzlTW_UhLYSagcpicQCLJF6sUmp4TNtbQVw0TT8iw55M8V41k/s640/blogger-image-1967452323.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYuDfoMDYUNsQHg89nJa9170U06mYIbkDSjWu4F62XG0jJc9tgFG3yQx2Yo1NYuZmGbzijIeBMLiee8ssUh-4BvOMcvA1TjovlSqtfOwnD8_CD4u70Z6iexPyUN5AjUpFlReud0B0cwxA/s640/blogger-image-2141011730.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYuDfoMDYUNsQHg89nJa9170U06mYIbkDSjWu4F62XG0jJc9tgFG3yQx2Yo1NYuZmGbzijIeBMLiee8ssUh-4BvOMcvA1TjovlSqtfOwnD8_CD4u70Z6iexPyUN5AjUpFlReud0B0cwxA/s640/blogger-image-2141011730.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKf0TVzOzO0dbUWktkyjXrV5CnFufFo7TIXblU0jCeAEC9Zs2OdHtAMyiBd4yh88ak17rb85mqTNoWPDKgw91UwIQ2b7mfyGmqeRMZNoARigXsyvLSlf6_1mVIXvaACX9W0FitEBLD0U/s640/blogger-image--409188496.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKf0TVzOzO0dbUWktkyjXrV5CnFufFo7TIXblU0jCeAEC9Zs2OdHtAMyiBd4yh88ak17rb85mqTNoWPDKgw91UwIQ2b7mfyGmqeRMZNoARigXsyvLSlf6_1mVIXvaACX9W0FitEBLD0U/s640/blogger-image--409188496.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisA4ik4L54Ndg8_jJZLYt4mU4JtsiGL6Z7s5qE-k4c1610Z9NtvGC6SseuH9IulmoleIrvH3UGDUsb-uvjqIojVf6ln2ySsF5T_etqxYvfJ4UY_nGwAkkzO1Kc2doag8PjUWhayQCGe_g/s640/blogger-image--262066026.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisA4ik4L54Ndg8_jJZLYt4mU4JtsiGL6Z7s5qE-k4c1610Z9NtvGC6SseuH9IulmoleIrvH3UGDUsb-uvjqIojVf6ln2ySsF5T_etqxYvfJ4UY_nGwAkkzO1Kc2doag8PjUWhayQCGe_g/s640/blogger-image--262066026.jpg" /></a></div>coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-65875967288507541182012-11-03T03:15:00.001-07:002012-11-03T03:15:19.081-07:00Mount BromoWe made it onto Java after a long bus ride to Surabaya. From there we journey to Cemoro Lawanga... A tiny town on the edge of a huge volcanic crater. We arrived on Halloween night, and I walked to the edge of the crater. The fog covered the bottom with a couple of mountains towering out of the fog in dramatic fashion. With a full moon it gave everything a very eerie and lunar like landscape. <br />
<br />
We woke up the next day at 330am to catch a Jeep we hired to take us and watch sunrise over the crater. A friend we made said it best, the scene wasn't necessarily beautiful but it was definitely a unique and almost out of this world view! <br />
<br />
From the sunrise peak we went into the crater. Inside the crater is the active Mount Bromo volcano, which is considered sacred by many Indonesians (not for religious reasons). It just spews out sulphur right now, but we could still walk right to the edge and look down! Unfortunately, this day the wind was blowing the dust and ash everywhere. It was hard to see and we got covered with dust. A few times the dust settled down and the sulphur cleared enough to see the huge hole that is the volcano. Once we got back to our home stay we were covered in dirt. Three days later I'm still finding dust on me..<br />
<br />
We came up past sunrise to Cemoro Lewanga, but came down in the daylight. The valley we went through was amazing. Huge mountains on each side that were still perfectly groomed into farms by the locals. Some of these fields had to be over 45 degrees steep! I'm afraid pictures will never do that drive justice. <br />
<br />
We're in Yogyakarta now, an amazing city with lots of history. Getting here was the worse part if the trip so far, we made the mistake of getting private transport from Mount Bromo and were this lied to and extorted multiple times. Lesson learned. <br />
<br />
pics: Lisa and I, also the smoking Mount Bromo within the crater, and a pic of the drive back from Cemoro Lawanga<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRl5VuuYLLzrprxmSH6BjsveclU0A_Bq7HQ7knb6QGmzz6dZW7OaTU2zFti7jrYj4ZH1e1bhvPC7hWK8Egm9M_NLQDbZrSsxUKJd6bcgQFyyDmwrZ-c-VHnTx_1YbjSVFRJPx6_V0AWWU/s640/blogger-image--1610852846.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRl5VuuYLLzrprxmSH6BjsveclU0A_Bq7HQ7knb6QGmzz6dZW7OaTU2zFti7jrYj4ZH1e1bhvPC7hWK8Egm9M_NLQDbZrSsxUKJd6bcgQFyyDmwrZ-c-VHnTx_1YbjSVFRJPx6_V0AWWU/s640/blogger-image--1610852846.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAJEQ2Fd-riJ2S5SFMI9czWpFfvhsFg2H6jepkGRGFOmuDMzubsti-GMdW2hEKBFueWo4OIPgtF8y3Lc2U0Ax6R7Rl9ZCkRUpJNGyMElRNtHrsPWZyipYag0sEMBFouMOKYIYlbdoKJg/s640/blogger-image--992843376.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAJEQ2Fd-riJ2S5SFMI9czWpFfvhsFg2H6jepkGRGFOmuDMzubsti-GMdW2hEKBFueWo4OIPgtF8y3Lc2U0Ax6R7Rl9ZCkRUpJNGyMElRNtHrsPWZyipYag0sEMBFouMOKYIYlbdoKJg/s640/blogger-image--992843376.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJlY1eUg2f0-T10mUBP7xqSWpt1vjSfI6clcLTk_0coSmxf6xckDbu1qnnwoFjoTHl0kSZphn3pCwWBpLYt1zWcEZG-9y_cKXVGCX3mN-304gX-K3PhuGjdh9vaNYu1ovTyS9QW9D_an0/s640/blogger-image--1734815931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJlY1eUg2f0-T10mUBP7xqSWpt1vjSfI6clcLTk_0coSmxf6xckDbu1qnnwoFjoTHl0kSZphn3pCwWBpLYt1zWcEZG-9y_cKXVGCX3mN-304gX-K3PhuGjdh9vaNYu1ovTyS9QW9D_an0/s640/blogger-image--1734815931.jpg" /></a></div>coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-17623951064022643242012-10-29T06:26:00.001-07:002012-10-29T06:26:54.218-07:00Lombak and Gili IslandsRight now Lisa and I are back at the hotel we started at in Bali 11 day ago :/. But hey, HBO is a powerful draw...<br />
<br />
Haha but really, the place (Ari Putri) is cheap and nice (ignoring of course the cockroach we found the last time in our room here). So we are here to recharge and get ready to tackle the monstrous island of Java... Home to the Indonesia's biggest cities, volcanoes, and amazing temples and maybe even an ancient Hindu city in ruins. <br />
<br />
The last five days we were on the largest of the three tiny Gili Islands, Gili Trawangra (sp?). We were told this would be less touristy and a little more quiet... With some partying as well. <br />
<br />
So we took the slow boat and got hassled nonstop about our decision to not spend 40 extra bucks on the fast boat to Lombak. All in all, it was about 4 hours total of driving, and another 7 hours total on boats, one boat being infested with cockroaches and other interesting critters. If only I had a picture of Lisa's foot with her cockroach friend resting so lovingly on her. But I was glad we stuck to it and got to Lombak the local way, and not some speedy cruise boat.<br />
<br />
Once we landed on Lombak, we drove to another port to take a very tiny and rocky boat to the Gili islands, which are very small. There's no motorized traffic, only horse drawn carriages and bicycles. We could walk around the whole island in two hours. The ocean is full of coral around these, which made for some excellent snorkeling. It was still very touristy but cheaper and in the end, much more relaxing than Bali. Oh and it was hot. So damn hot. And I've got my fill of Bob Marley for the next couple of months.<br />
<br />
But ya, Gili Islands. Good cheap fun. The locals are cool there, too. One night your getting served by a cool guy, the next day day your back at the same restaurant and he's telling you how much of a different person you are after drinking, and thank god for for the kindness of the locals, cuz without them, nobody here is remembering the night before! <br />
<br />
<br />
pics: Sunset on Gili T. and the beach in the day<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5w0X7z3u0jqTGfX5id-GznbPGE6G87APOOT7zgT25UAADDxt6xZLLhyfI_Xtmm9ELNQL-NPfVHY7oY1EQad_pohN35zN1ZgGG0r4rqoUnuN9zADywusvTPDjEijN_dNUqW-cdaj6kQOQ/s640/blogger-image-1079290874.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5w0X7z3u0jqTGfX5id-GznbPGE6G87APOOT7zgT25UAADDxt6xZLLhyfI_Xtmm9ELNQL-NPfVHY7oY1EQad_pohN35zN1ZgGG0r4rqoUnuN9zADywusvTPDjEijN_dNUqW-cdaj6kQOQ/s640/blogger-image-1079290874.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIc-YLaN-58zZ1goa1baBICKLJczn7rkq_x5G3MDuZ4V8vSG2QUizO-CvNwwgbghTtgLqvtq_Y7EKC-LUv8HQoByUCurZ4ydDcWW_cWSZpNliLPl6HGbw1mNcpkRGzvPnBvC4n4DEfrLo/s640/blogger-image--1641543306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIc-YLaN-58zZ1goa1baBICKLJczn7rkq_x5G3MDuZ4V8vSG2QUizO-CvNwwgbghTtgLqvtq_Y7EKC-LUv8HQoByUCurZ4ydDcWW_cWSZpNliLPl6HGbw1mNcpkRGzvPnBvC4n4DEfrLo/s640/blogger-image--1641543306.jpg" /></a></div>coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-19431828618295627392012-10-28T05:20:00.001-07:002012-10-28T05:20:47.311-07:00BaliGot to our hotel in Bali last Thursday, the 18th. It was nice to have a full bathroom with hot water, HBO, and a pool with a swim up bar... good life! We bounced around to different hotels as we saw fit. The first two hotels were in a an area full of old people in vacation. Not quite what I've been looking for.<br />
<br />
We hired a driver for a day and were able to tour around the island, seeing Mount Bromo, some Balinese temples, and Ubud and the monkey forest.<br />
<br />
We moved over to Kuta Beach which was beautiful. However, I have found Bali overall to be way too touristy. You get hassled all the time to by things, constantly saying no thanks on the beach. And there is tourists everywhere.. But, the weather is sunny, food and beer is still cheap, so I can't complain too much!<br />
<br />
Pics: a monkey cracking a coconut and sunset on Kuta Beach<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMu2-O3a5Nd2GsystF5a4vH9o_d-Mfbo2Tc28BWupsBPAE9vaHOtumS4F75mU8ONKInffziNckK5ce7rD2EXS1k_1YM2ai5liz3x4zMj7pMe1V7bqrt7MIZGnvoyh8ZVeklC5xS3NDfvw/s640/blogger-image--559506360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMu2-O3a5Nd2GsystF5a4vH9o_d-Mfbo2Tc28BWupsBPAE9vaHOtumS4F75mU8ONKInffziNckK5ce7rD2EXS1k_1YM2ai5liz3x4zMj7pMe1V7bqrt7MIZGnvoyh8ZVeklC5xS3NDfvw/s640/blogger-image--559506360.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMvVpsmNgDLbZNSuYun_nXMcWnJ_FNhkS3QSxp9-kyTjvF6d8xwIoE10DVSNgYxXKauIB5ww-15QKO932Uhiro004R8vBZdM3DqNx5giiItu6UTauoeuhEvJMqujQWYlgYxci6Rhy8Ao0/s640/blogger-image-1883209427.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMvVpsmNgDLbZNSuYun_nXMcWnJ_FNhkS3QSxp9-kyTjvF6d8xwIoE10DVSNgYxXKauIB5ww-15QKO932Uhiro004R8vBZdM3DqNx5giiItu6UTauoeuhEvJMqujQWYlgYxci6Rhy8Ao0/s640/blogger-image-1883209427.jpg" /></a></div>coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-76883440629294312072012-10-24T16:09:00.001-07:002012-10-24T16:09:15.331-07:00SingaporeLast week I spent two nights in Singapore. Lisa and I met up with a couple from Thailand who we know from mutual friends in Korea. It was fun being in Singapore again, I have so many memories from Semester at Sea there. It's also a clean and beautiful urban oasis with great planning, public transport, and architecture everywhere.<br />
<br />
I stayed at A Beary Good Hostel, which was in the middle of Chinatown.We also did a good job I sampling the local foods, like fried carrot cake (nothing like the desert), laksa, and Indian food in Little India. There were amazing bars and clubs everywhere...but not for our budget! Lisa and I have in and a pitcher with just over two pints worth of beer cost us about $25. Hot damn! <br />
<br />
<br />
Currently I'm in Bali, Indonesia, which I'll post about soon ..<br />
<br />
<br />
Pics: some cool buildings, Clark's Quay entertainment dist., and an awesome open air public bathroom.<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYBXeqoj4tLZvzdPVILuhFEscIPY7py8U0T3t-Az02dek4P1UgL8fUR51iTEOFTdGupG6yCZGs20SfMgbE1d5foe44ItxwnQ4fMRQb9zQ6AuzXLcyFmGe7Axg7tSAvsyzGQ0Pl9U9c66g/s640/blogger-image--835264756.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYBXeqoj4tLZvzdPVILuhFEscIPY7py8U0T3t-Az02dek4P1UgL8fUR51iTEOFTdGupG6yCZGs20SfMgbE1d5foe44ItxwnQ4fMRQb9zQ6AuzXLcyFmGe7Axg7tSAvsyzGQ0Pl9U9c66g/s640/blogger-image--835264756.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fRII3kGyefcDxJVV06aAaFN_zsUZDXg22T3rWoKjJsvYPZN7o87gZUnliA9FzQDAoUZayIzQnlEzN6H6VvqqsxPUDW4QkvvSOR-TEcsb4myvmoBFw_WA0GZoyCL5W5S-e89bIM_oTy8/s640/blogger-image--1993144739.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fRII3kGyefcDxJVV06aAaFN_zsUZDXg22T3rWoKjJsvYPZN7o87gZUnliA9FzQDAoUZayIzQnlEzN6H6VvqqsxPUDW4QkvvSOR-TEcsb4myvmoBFw_WA0GZoyCL5W5S-e89bIM_oTy8/s640/blogger-image--1993144739.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieG3mRymbVAK-EXbZcME_BYPbeJEBkwqdEUcGYgmETJBR29vuq4AK_sACe1jXfWNmdF6LArIlOQECqoBjhD1ZgThpoc-S2vqohC06hxcxuD6EpwjqOZfXpZOeGaVSEkcjv5M3jBDpY7to/s640/blogger-image--1300082840.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieG3mRymbVAK-EXbZcME_BYPbeJEBkwqdEUcGYgmETJBR29vuq4AK_sACe1jXfWNmdF6LArIlOQECqoBjhD1ZgThpoc-S2vqohC06hxcxuD6EpwjqOZfXpZOeGaVSEkcjv5M3jBDpY7to/s640/blogger-image--1300082840.jpg" /></a></div>coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-66522978340159020102012-10-15T16:20:00.001-07:002012-10-15T16:20:37.298-07:00Banaue and Batad's rice terracesOn Friday night we left Palawan and headed back to Manila. From Manila we took a 14 hour overnight bus to the small town of Banaue. We could already see the rice terraces that made this area of the Philippines famous. <br />
<br />
We immediately grabbed lunch, put away our big bags in lockers, and started the two hour hike to the tiny village of Batad. We stayed the night here at the Batad Pension (highly recommend it). The rooms were spartan but had a homey feel. Anyways, Saturday was very foggy and hard to see the terraces. Luckily on Sunday we the sky was clear and we had magnificent views of the terraces. Pictures will never do the sight justice, but hiking through them and then going on to see Tiappa Falls was incredible. It was also fun to see the small villages lifestyle. The farmers grow just enough rice to feed their families here, but undoubtedly tourism now helps the city a lot. <br />
<br />
As Sunday came to a close we boarded the overnight bus again and today arrived back in Manila. Tomorrow morning I'll say goodbye to the Philippines and hello to Singapore! <div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYu0nbX4QK44eEcCOhDYu_JUj_cNkjGmgdt-OXSA5mEUqLGShA1czum5INvo1ktVQIlnuQUIPUxM4Px-oS8M4WKCjMuxygwVTfsAUCHiMYwHCmVLgvNjtAodPn6K2Ba5IiCvsj6Fdq-5k/s640/blogger-image-745894709.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYu0nbX4QK44eEcCOhDYu_JUj_cNkjGmgdt-OXSA5mEUqLGShA1czum5INvo1ktVQIlnuQUIPUxM4Px-oS8M4WKCjMuxygwVTfsAUCHiMYwHCmVLgvNjtAodPn6K2Ba5IiCvsj6Fdq-5k/s640/blogger-image-745894709.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLZbiIo_taEAXDY9tQ9URhY1sZX9SuLSh4Z6fuuDcyQCQ2a9QDAO7OOjGMbda6MbWIi0zusKROnPhdZ6iYI7jCl-hTv5q0sg1dPOLKQES40U2jvtZ3H9FwfoE1d_vPc6kuvSrDdaNyJOU/s640/blogger-image-525749850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLZbiIo_taEAXDY9tQ9URhY1sZX9SuLSh4Z6fuuDcyQCQ2a9QDAO7OOjGMbda6MbWIi0zusKROnPhdZ6iYI7jCl-hTv5q0sg1dPOLKQES40U2jvtZ3H9FwfoE1d_vPc6kuvSrDdaNyJOU/s640/blogger-image-525749850.jpg" /></a></div>coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-68642328827950536202012-10-11T08:21:00.001-07:002012-10-11T08:32:20.198-07:00El Nido bayThe weather this week finally became sunny for our last few days in El Nido. Island hopping and kayaking around the bay while lounging on random beaches all over has left me feeling more relaxed than I may have ever felt. Had a much better chance here to meet more locals who definitely live up to the island lifestyle vibe. One guy took us out on his work's boat, and I finally went snorkeling for the first time in a beautiful lagoon surrounded by cliff faces. Completely unreal.... We changed lodging to Rico's Cottages, and I was able to capture a beautiful sunset last night from our balcony. Friday will be another transit day, and on Saturday morning I'll wake up in Banaue. <div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiODXCD0vp0IEo2kuiivJiBLv_o1sANOJRDx-pEySxUhkTk_upib1JuykmTQzMjhDa0omAscgO8YP2_4CprFsRC3gIaJdjzeawpV0QaJwxw8LRAXO0urMAhA-j3Nw9ctdvSUd1-z_rIZ4/s640/blogger-image--1923383028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiODXCD0vp0IEo2kuiivJiBLv_o1sANOJRDx-pEySxUhkTk_upib1JuykmTQzMjhDa0omAscgO8YP2_4CprFsRC3gIaJdjzeawpV0QaJwxw8LRAXO0urMAhA-j3Nw9ctdvSUd1-z_rIZ4/s640/blogger-image--1923383028.jpg" /></a></div>coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-30487351593082957752012-10-07T00:52:00.001-07:002012-10-07T00:52:25.428-07:00El NidoWell there's no pretending now. We are definitely in the Philippines at wet season. It's still gorgeous, but definitely getting a little cabin fever here. <br />
<br />
Boracay's rain stopped just long enough on Friday to let me enjoy cliff diving off of Ariel's Point. Took a booze cruise out to the bungalow area with the cliffs. By far the coolest set up I had ever seen. Multiple layers with sun chairs and gorgeous palm tree covered cliffs. Got to jump off a 15 meter cliff, which still has me bruised up today. So worth it though.<br />
<br />
Saturday was a day we spent in transit from Boracay. Two flights, and the bumpiest, most painful 7 hour bus ride of my life from Puerto Princessa to El Nido on Palawan Island. We got in at 1am and finally today are set up and we are staying at the Alternative. The door to our room is about 5 feet from where the water touches our hotel (bungalow?). BEAUTIFUL! Much less touristy here and it's gonna be so chill the next few days. Hopefully the rain clears but regardless, we are going to do some island hopping these next few days. <br />
<br />
Oh and what do you do on a beautiful island like Boracay when it rains all day? You drink. Cheap, wonderful beer all day long. I'll be doing a little detoxing here in El Nido haha.<br />
<br />
Life is good people!<br />
<br />
Picture: The Alternative's bar/ restaurant, just above our room.<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVioygJXHmcJ-XBBA7HI6_y6CGJ3T4cPNccr31xB6a_c34tBIgtqQE0hzdtZ_jWdOdVVWs-P78ph8zY00nnj1EMRRozrBNOc6M4LjstIKYf4zF7sNr3NAZ4j-c_XNU7zgbEUYv2teIH9I/s640/blogger-image--67848339.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVioygJXHmcJ-XBBA7HI6_y6CGJ3T4cPNccr31xB6a_c34tBIgtqQE0hzdtZ_jWdOdVVWs-P78ph8zY00nnj1EMRRozrBNOc6M4LjstIKYf4zF7sNr3NAZ4j-c_XNU7zgbEUYv2teIH9I/s640/blogger-image--67848339.jpg" /></a></div>coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-53528556453615663042012-10-02T22:55:00.001-07:002012-10-07T00:38:02.335-07:00Boracay!So made it through Manila, which I had low expectations of, so there wasn't any kind of disappoint on my part. We checked into our hostel and just walked for most of the afternoon. Manila definitely is the poorest place I've been since India. Being in Korea I forgot about being hassled from people. The kids asking for change is always heart breaking, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it was in India. <br />
<br />
We got into Boracay yesterday, which is beautiful. Unfortunately, it started raining about an hour after we got here and hasn't stopped yet. The food I've had is basic yet good. Mainly beef marinated with soy and fried veggies and fried rice. Delicious! <br />
<br />
We've met up with our friend Kieran, who brings that special Irish charm to everything. So despite the rain we are just relaxing and enjoying the fact that we are all jobless wanderers! <br />
<br />
<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGiGu3G5Kh7oS2HE10D6-V4uZ1Hafp8fNt76H7EfpKj3HchPojD-KPEDN8FFffjQkrMgoLHjY6_SpOToj71yJmIoqZC1-ARcKHoUXhX3ltvnmojXMpP_AdI_RJn39Xugy8YjpGAe9I1A0/s640/blogger-image-839842264.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGiGu3G5Kh7oS2HE10D6-V4uZ1Hafp8fNt76H7EfpKj3HchPojD-KPEDN8FFffjQkrMgoLHjY6_SpOToj71yJmIoqZC1-ARcKHoUXhX3ltvnmojXMpP_AdI_RJn39Xugy8YjpGAe9I1A0/s640/blogger-image-839842264.jpg" /></a></div>coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-47930760033625280822012-09-30T08:56:00.001-07:002012-09-30T08:56:43.856-07:00farewell Korea!My last day in Korea has come and gone, and I'm ready to begin this journey. Hoping to be in a taxi by 430am, and six hours later my friend and I should be landing in Manila. Soon enough we shall be on the beaches of Boracay soaking up the sun and meeting up with other friends....I can't believe it's actually here, and I'm enjoying the fact that I still have no idea what exactly I will be doing for most of this trip! Hopefully my next post will be soon as promised :)coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-8918061869979984952012-09-23T04:24:00.001-07:002012-09-23T04:24:30.718-07:00Backpacking southeast AsiaYa I know, I really never did a good job updating this blog. My bad, but anywho, my time in Korea is rapidly drawing to a close. My last day teaching is this Friday, the 28th, and I fly out of Korea on October 1st. I am truly amazed at the experience I have had here, and Korea will always be a very special place for me, along with all the people I have met. While I'm saddened to say goodbye to my friends and the children I teach, I'm excited for the next step. I'm going to be backpacking through Southeast Asia, and this time I'm really really really going to try to update on this blog as often as I possibly can! No more long, lengthy posts, just quick hellos and a quick recap of whatever I'm up to at the moment I'm blogging.<br />
<br />
I'll be with friends during the whole trip, so I'll be safe and sound always (Uncle Rich, I'm not dating any of them, and I'm not bringing any of them back home!). At the end of the trip, I will finally be back in the USA, where I cannot wait to see all of you! <br />
<br />
Here's a breakdown of my itinerary, which isn't necessarily set in stone.<br />
<br />
October 1-16: Philippines, including Boracay, Palawan Island, and the rice terraces of Banaue and Batad<br />
<br />
Oct. 16-18: Singapore<br />
<br />
Oct. 18- November 6: Indonesia, including Bali area and Java<br />
<br />
Nov. 6-12: Malaysia<br />
<br />
Nov. 12-26: Thailand<br />
<br />
Nov. 26- December 1: Laos<br />
<br />
Dec. 1-5: Cambodia<br />
<br />
Dec 6-18: Viet Nam<br />
<br />
Finally, on December 19th at 630am, I will be picked up by my parents at the Detroit Airport!!! (I'm assuming this, I'm sure they've considered leaving me and continuing to enjoy there currently peaceful home) :)<br />
<br />
<br />
Here's a few quick picture to leave you with, some of the cooler stuff I've been able to see/do this summer.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF-tY0fgZw3PN_rYkQH5l5r21Hb0nPaDtXII0_zqW3-WUaZwJ7j4V9Xbgo-sdBhOQHIOEizqUtlwG60bhyEd3oWKhpTKAXt21fEBGqPUu8xSnV-EphjxGINeQTx12RsdPuLhWTtfXgnY8/s1600/DSC05237.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF-tY0fgZw3PN_rYkQH5l5r21Hb0nPaDtXII0_zqW3-WUaZwJ7j4V9Xbgo-sdBhOQHIOEizqUtlwG60bhyEd3oWKhpTKAXt21fEBGqPUu8xSnV-EphjxGINeQTx12RsdPuLhWTtfXgnY8/s640/DSC05237.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jeju Do's sunrise peak</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg1GRsNiG6yweb4HUym-J-1aHwgbRKZUgM37sp9Gieb3nHihg8-gOkb9Qn4qkdeu9Jc6ihxU6KwZ-JSdT-HPasocbfdK9ZuG0QlXEdBKgGpiCFXIqOy6Zt3Uu_8mSybiX4Ye3B95sGcmk/s1600/DSC05231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg1GRsNiG6yweb4HUym-J-1aHwgbRKZUgM37sp9Gieb3nHihg8-gOkb9Qn4qkdeu9Jc6ihxU6KwZ-JSdT-HPasocbfdK9ZuG0QlXEdBKgGpiCFXIqOy6Zt3Uu_8mSybiX4Ye3B95sGcmk/s640/DSC05231.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jeju is a large island off Korea's southern coast. The water was beautiful..</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5jSBLR9GJ2h-NyrOBWs8pxKAWmAFkGoGEFhXwk5YwPI6YANubtQaMqZjRL0KTtHowToIqm8v9etUVGTRfm0ePj1jBXoSO-E9VNEBIkyhIVinZVrBb3JQquy6q6vUo-1GLUkblIVfhpRw/s1600/aug12korea+013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5jSBLR9GJ2h-NyrOBWs8pxKAWmAFkGoGEFhXwk5YwPI6YANubtQaMqZjRL0KTtHowToIqm8v9etUVGTRfm0ePj1jBXoSO-E9VNEBIkyhIVinZVrBb3JQquy6q6vUo-1GLUkblIVfhpRw/s640/aug12korea+013.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bucheon (my city) has an International Film Festival in July, and this musical bike/car/something was out promoting a movie. Sounded really cool</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji-4-o9MUJPE4LfqpRCzuV3o0lsJSLU06aTpBcY1FvJ4zUQQG3YVksweAEsbGtGh-KSzHmqt7TOMwQwDv3myqO7Om7vw2eSCDYOjXBJTvz5wLK_tfKYlU4QAQU75mFJjMWU0gfLbFuRb0/s1600/DSC05339.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji-4-o9MUJPE4LfqpRCzuV3o0lsJSLU06aTpBcY1FvJ4zUQQG3YVksweAEsbGtGh-KSzHmqt7TOMwQwDv3myqO7Om7vw2eSCDYOjXBJTvz5wLK_tfKYlU4QAQU75mFJjMWU0gfLbFuRb0/s640/DSC05339.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">at the War Memorial in Korea, this memorial (Brothers in Arms or something I think is the name) pictured is dedicated to the hopes of reunification between North and South Korea one day. The one solider is intentionally shorter, and is of course the North Korean soldier. Due to food shortages and malnutrition, the North Korean people are drastically shorter than their South Korean counterparts.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnFgSPiUVHODpIg2p6OUNF18rejDtDr1OAvHjlA_UuDIs3d_I_z59s7qzyc174GMxlKUvU10kIuqMRw9e1_Ajz3nw-xYhNAPzls13I8u4OHa-pkUdHuMKha4k57tL8PU_ADyBjQIYe-lU/s1600/DSC05389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnFgSPiUVHODpIg2p6OUNF18rejDtDr1OAvHjlA_UuDIs3d_I_z59s7qzyc174GMxlKUvU10kIuqMRw9e1_Ajz3nw-xYhNAPzls13I8u4OHa-pkUdHuMKha4k57tL8PU_ADyBjQIYe-lU/s640/DSC05389.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dorasan Station, the last Station in South Korea before North Korea. No trains use it today, obviously</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZfLU1qUIruHVhczk4L_BlT49RIOU49hn4gDYw741vBei7_8mg6rXxFAF407W39N4_9mSxi8p_QLcANnhNBF0T59Eb7V0OYAoWEARNv23gpX2ENJEcftz7qbYavT1-9d82ra1FL54hxVk/s1600/DSC05361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZfLU1qUIruHVhczk4L_BlT49RIOU49hn4gDYw741vBei7_8mg6rXxFAF407W39N4_9mSxi8p_QLcANnhNBF0T59Eb7V0OYAoWEARNv23gpX2ENJEcftz7qbYavT1-9d82ra1FL54hxVk/s640/DSC05361.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bridge to the DMZ and North Korea....has a couple of roadblocks here and there....</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJFrWCMZVsaoXphYTXWyx63PvfxGTr7utJuQnKsKB_G0cZu437dBatPc4GUeVWKc842iPbJWtHDrL7jGHsXlwan3UXSY8kjqWJ_WjVTpeTrqEKzRJh1UgcBc-Xd2bYNgdnW5EkG2riWo/s1600/DSC05406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJFrWCMZVsaoXphYTXWyx63PvfxGTr7utJuQnKsKB_G0cZu437dBatPc4GUeVWKc842iPbJWtHDrL7jGHsXlwan3UXSY8kjqWJ_WjVTpeTrqEKzRJh1UgcBc-Xd2bYNgdnW5EkG2riWo/s1600/DSC05406.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By far the coolest this I have done in Korea was to take a tour of this area, the JSA (Joint Security Area). This is as close as you can get to North Korea,. The North Korean guards weren't out that day, but the South Koren guards were there for our protection. Awesome. The blue buildings you see are United Nations buildings, the others you can see in this picture are all North Korea. This is where North Korea and South Korea hold negotiations and speak with each other on a variety of topics. The area is suppose to be a truce, but nonetheless, kidnappings and murders have happened here over the years. The big building in the back is North Korea's peace pavilion, and to my back is South Korea peace pavilion as well. (South Korea's looks cooler, no worries). We weren't allowed to take pictures of the south Korean building, though. You can see the line in between the two buildings, that is the line that seperates North and South Korea.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW8MqzF_n93KofGAy6UmgqHAcRuQ3QSG_JBSkZvLFGBPVizPN1W6YXPYXvpmbKzDIeRi-42fIXZB7ohDI7YGIJrwK3tIve39J08ejx-Jv3N3kmNKiPMovos2nlwl2E0yQToZEJCZ96194/s1600/DSC05412.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW8MqzF_n93KofGAy6UmgqHAcRuQ3QSG_JBSkZvLFGBPVizPN1W6YXPYXvpmbKzDIeRi-42fIXZB7ohDI7YGIJrwK3tIve39J08ejx-Jv3N3kmNKiPMovos2nlwl2E0yQToZEJCZ96194/s640/DSC05412.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you look closely you'll see the Korean guard looking at us in the doorway through his binoculars. The window to the left of him has a camera that takes all of our pictures..SMILE! One girl smartly asked our Marine guide what happens if she tried to go cross the line. He politely explained that while they would attempt to stop her, South Korea is a free country, and she can do as she chooses. He couldn't vouch for her safety in North Korea, but told her to enjoy her 2 bowls of rice a month, and oh yea, you'll be officially an enemy of the United States of America.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOthnKFVGF6OxWyBsQqSa0lotw5uJtM0plthblXd5yKpNzUHHmzQ5HmQbMnvvP3SZbvLZ6R0SWnj5U2o5caZYwNI4gymIX3C6BdZjSppkK3oTt5eCAiYmlEwracLdPhJBPUxkuv1CbwVY/s1600/DSC05416.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOthnKFVGF6OxWyBsQqSa0lotw5uJtM0plthblXd5yKpNzUHHmzQ5HmQbMnvvP3SZbvLZ6R0SWnj5U2o5caZYwNI4gymIX3C6BdZjSppkK3oTt5eCAiYmlEwracLdPhJBPUxkuv1CbwVY/s640/DSC05416.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the blue building where all negotiating happens between North and South Korea. The Americam Marine was our tour guide, the South Korean marine was our protection. The South Korean soldiers are purposely and strictly selected for being assigned at the JSA. The are masters in at least two martial arts, must be a certain height, and must have a certain look to them. South Korea only wants the North to see beautiful people ha. He's standing in the ROK ready pose, so he can swiftly move into combat at a moments notice. He has no guns, as the North and South agreed to have no guns in this area years ago. South Korea still abides to this agreement, North Korea blatantly does not.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU8ACDRsrGuWvLeLZRtvjYte7EtY6s4AQnCUr8j4ranJCnYkjVBkgyoc3vl3yi2c5oRNQb90IlSEVrZv0AXYAOF29455BbYVifIslYR_JoYxkxkFaIU_6fPd0JgNyhx8FgF0-JaUG2rgo/s1600/DSC05418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU8ACDRsrGuWvLeLZRtvjYte7EtY6s4AQnCUr8j4ranJCnYkjVBkgyoc3vl3yi2c5oRNQb90IlSEVrZv0AXYAOF29455BbYVifIslYR_JoYxkxkFaIU_6fPd0JgNyhx8FgF0-JaUG2rgo/s640/DSC05418.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So if you go to the far end of the building, guess what? ...... HI MOM!!!! I'M IN NORTH KOREA!!!!!!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
So yes, I will blog my travels much more regularly. And this time, I will not break this promise. Cannot wait to see all of you in the future....!<br />
<br />
corey1gallagher@gmail.com<br />
<br />coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-22080042966833261512012-05-21T20:30:00.001-07:002012-05-21T20:30:29.575-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I'm backkkkkkkk. Long time, no update. Almost 6 months! Korea has become a home away from home. Lately, with the return of warm weather, I've had the pleasure that comes from random sights and smells that take me back to my first few months here in Korea, when everything was new and exotic. I want to say I haven't done much at all since December, but I'd obviously be lying! Time continues to fly here, and I finally have an official last day of work. September 28th, 2012, will be my final day at school here in Korea. Following that will be a few months of travel (more on that later) and I will arrive back in the USA some time just before the holiday season! Of course, I'm excited to see everyone, I constantly think about home and all the things happening and the people that I miss dearly. So what have I been up to over the past 6 months? Here's some pictures and videos to give you an idea of it all!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b>SPORTS</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
In April and May, the weather has started getting much nicer in Korea. Bucheon is sandwiched between Seoul and Incheon, which is a former suburb of Seoul and now a major city in it's own right, as it will be host of the 2014 Asian Games. So being only a few blocks from the Incheon city border, I can say I'm a proud Incheon sports fan. Baseball, I'm all about the SK Wyverans. They are in Korea's Major League, SK is the team sponsor (a mobile phone company) and Wyverans is some sort of mythical creature from Korean folklore. The stadiums are evenly split between home and away (small country, easy to travel for away fans I suppose?). The pictures are from a game where the away side did not show up so much, but the video is form opening day, and the house was packed. My friend Kieran and I ended up sitting in an aisle basically for that game, standing room only. The great part of these games is how much effort the crowd puts into cheering! The entire time your team is up to bat, the crowd is doing various cheers, think European soccer matches! </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOnGhp0Tns5YsIeMm8GSkkeYMASCJMga13IfReqVJhBF5HM03K0orxiVFeys-4rx5pEA9oZmpvASvMbt6RDKlvcIgJQk7OpTgPCVYYbqxpUBmhCyNtgMiSHAADrjukdJJ8wbXUCFBpPqo/s1600/DSC05195.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOnGhp0Tns5YsIeMm8GSkkeYMASCJMga13IfReqVJhBF5HM03K0orxiVFeys-4rx5pEA9oZmpvASvMbt6RDKlvcIgJQk7OpTgPCVYYbqxpUBmhCyNtgMiSHAADrjukdJJ8wbXUCFBpPqo/s640/DSC05195.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDAFMf5e71bTMXgKOOszszTLZsGF-7jJtiwC-8_Kif7ZfUQFgRvq2Ng5hh9rIfEHO59p6oVSbAjs3jkJKSSoSPw5HDljNtNr4AbSkAd_Fp3mfgARF9ytongr9jkTFYqPGyOGJg3aoLckY/s1600/DSC05192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDAFMf5e71bTMXgKOOszszTLZsGF-7jJtiwC-8_Kif7ZfUQFgRvq2Ng5hh9rIfEHO59p6oVSbAjs3jkJKSSoSPw5HDljNtNr4AbSkAd_Fp3mfgARF9ytongr9jkTFYqPGyOGJg3aoLckY/s640/DSC05192.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXGVKaabJPutKe6vwyCAFroqcGVqyn9ZyWxT1XSG3u39WaU4yu1eboSRxABRn3L7L_oseOsPXUeYhbzZHN5g5w8OCEnKJqeiVZW1MBF8liUQnOvmSGiEVvYa_Eb19FyXfDn6UdoES-sIg/s1600/DSC05180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXGVKaabJPutKe6vwyCAFroqcGVqyn9ZyWxT1XSG3u39WaU4yu1eboSRxABRn3L7L_oseOsPXUeYhbzZHN5g5w8OCEnKJqeiVZW1MBF8liUQnOvmSGiEVvYa_Eb19FyXfDn6UdoES-sIg/s640/DSC05180.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCbmmX1kUKtW9OZfKmejX4akexd3AkTnWDib6pAJrzRyHxZV2UuyM8obIIxu87zoVpR2XG6iZXVkzo4ChssEJh6nr3x0czvlD21Nl9SXoJwf3Q_WVW02tQfoVVgwNRS3oxOVxbB9iEFxA/s1600/DSC05204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCbmmX1kUKtW9OZfKmejX4akexd3AkTnWDib6pAJrzRyHxZV2UuyM8obIIxu87zoVpR2XG6iZXVkzo4ChssEJh6nr3x0czvlD21Nl9SXoJwf3Q_WVW02tQfoVVgwNRS3oxOVxbB9iEFxA/s640/DSC05204.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">click on the pictures to see bigger images!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyTSnUHFcZpa3MIhQ5bHLK879d1F0U3RpNgvlgkffMhG33fehag4ttCWz_Owg0-3crWiOaX15wBOg2EYVVDbA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Earlier in the year, I made my way to an Incheon United game. Here is a video below of a little of the action from that game. The team doesn't have quite a following, and I think only a few of the big teams in Korea have strong attendance at the games. Apparently when rival teams show up, the stadium can get pretty full. Not as fun as the baseball games, put fun to be close to the pitch.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwDp-XuUTtmNTOOShGz7lmZbC261dUI5a5FqW11A1lvGWyHkoU8CTlKNpN7hs3M4igiBY6acRZWKGNiAwzCKg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Best part of the sports thus far in Korea? </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Major League soccer - about 12 bucks. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Major League Baseball - 9 bucks</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
cost of food n booze at the games? No worries here, you can bring in anything you'd like. I recommend buying pizza and 2 liter jugs of beer at your local carry out just outside the stadium. Gotta love that policy..</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b>Seoraksan National Park</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;">Located on the east side of the country, on the shores of the East Sea (NOT Sea of Japan!!!), is the city of Sokcho and Seoraksan National Park, home to beautiful mountain ranges only a few miles inland from the shore. I spent a weekend here at the beginning of May with friends and hiked up to Ulsanbawi rock, one of the more famous peaks in the mountain. It was not easy! Incredibly steep stairs and several areas that if you chose to act like an idiot at, you would be dead pretty quickly. Anyways, enjoy these pictures!</span>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoP4br0sgcVRp1jW1vxwigFMQnsNubcPhhxpwNCE3xxoALopK4NRxxyXmPDuNleYaV16yD7HdCu3Sh-p36zO1uSe_FYMact33D-wdqPimL3Gdb4xMdeF0V8Q8R6liobjfs2ekR6RlUF50/s1600/DSC05062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoP4br0sgcVRp1jW1vxwigFMQnsNubcPhhxpwNCE3xxoALopK4NRxxyXmPDuNleYaV16yD7HdCu3Sh-p36zO1uSe_FYMact33D-wdqPimL3Gdb4xMdeF0V8Q8R6liobjfs2ekR6RlUF50/s640/DSC05062.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sokcho Beach</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNzhG8zVRoAVMqbSteKBSEe6YRFhK6RxoNbYWH_BHoeRPFFtyE0HX-k2n2enkIyWR7dBinim08P7cdFKNA0xDo9POFhz9dntwcxcJprPrTJYX-qHFDGT6kdKowDCXT-vPW097oIaVRNH0/s1600/DSC05068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNzhG8zVRoAVMqbSteKBSEe6YRFhK6RxoNbYWH_BHoeRPFFtyE0HX-k2n2enkIyWR7dBinim08P7cdFKNA0xDo9POFhz9dntwcxcJprPrTJYX-qHFDGT6kdKowDCXT-vPW097oIaVRNH0/s640/DSC05068.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cool Sunset</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM6tA-mGkW_MCdzCPuBtXjd4FWlPeseZrxBwNVnmVfW4VoqVFE_iT-t-jdggsdKIr3pEqEdvaDynwQvGlJvJOVmtmqN3d6JHDyC8rpfKrL-wYyhr5TJ-zhSLm9mm3YwPE7xVCVJA0sYQ0/s1600/DSC05087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM6tA-mGkW_MCdzCPuBtXjd4FWlPeseZrxBwNVnmVfW4VoqVFE_iT-t-jdggsdKIr3pEqEdvaDynwQvGlJvJOVmtmqN3d6JHDyC8rpfKrL-wYyhr5TJ-zhSLm9mm3YwPE7xVCVJA0sYQ0/s640/DSC05087.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ulsanbawi rock inside Seoraksan National Park</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheLXZt3J1R4c76WgC6aYGhqYXs9iygj7_GRS2fl9QCZw7oVjaiWBkMeeoOKZcATPnWazCAXclyqHMg9CzFIq0nFe4cWhsAO_8_DdyJZ6Q7TFNMKYfJddE9RQhwYiRy2inlw9s-1P0u-Qo/s1600/DSC05078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheLXZt3J1R4c76WgC6aYGhqYXs9iygj7_GRS2fl9QCZw7oVjaiWBkMeeoOKZcATPnWazCAXclyqHMg9CzFIq0nFe4cWhsAO_8_DdyJZ6Q7TFNMKYfJddE9RQhwYiRy2inlw9s-1P0u-Qo/s640/DSC05078.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQqZXowjAOTG264AsmvlJ4pPDbmQ1IX7ZxYy5Mc4p9lxrKvDG6cHsRmBngQo9qmyVJRHhqfMvQxufVJLLCxFalKYkZhZJluSkDZe2dWkzZ73n3r6yfEiMgmDWtzj0ZTDB8rPmHi7oz3Bk/s1600/DSC05090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQqZXowjAOTG264AsmvlJ4pPDbmQ1IX7ZxYy5Mc4p9lxrKvDG6cHsRmBngQo9qmyVJRHhqfMvQxufVJLLCxFalKYkZhZJluSkDZe2dWkzZ73n3r6yfEiMgmDWtzj0ZTDB8rPmHi7oz3Bk/s640/DSC05090.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">they were raising money for temple renovation, 10 bucks for a message on a tile for the roof</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikhcTg2xJVWkfGVM2CWUr9vZcZLOKFoZ81NK2PqbaacW3zOzvxRF-rMlGgABWm3NkqCc4lUt6c67STcwDlOPlSHPPpQKMQ-0_DGmW5gTddF49qq8-54HASAPW0__gyMm_qYE_3Ublievs/s1600/DSC05100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikhcTg2xJVWkfGVM2CWUr9vZcZLOKFoZ81NK2PqbaacW3zOzvxRF-rMlGgABWm3NkqCc4lUt6c67STcwDlOPlSHPPpQKMQ-0_DGmW5gTddF49qq8-54HASAPW0__gyMm_qYE_3Ublievs/s640/DSC05100.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">myself in front of the temple area. Side note, I now have prescription sunglasses, so no more double glasses usage!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSXRD-ZXqqxqd9hQB9KDeyLc2zjNxHxmW6NqTPDuNeeS2EhnAquTLCrJK9CmQ8fydA77Z58HAdG-c-Pj2jr-qGWn8Scci4bHN9_jEe0pKsTHAc9l9JnSwZCi0zh5xLZ43E7OTwgTmIBbg/s1600/DSC05096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSXRD-ZXqqxqd9hQB9KDeyLc2zjNxHxmW6NqTPDuNeeS2EhnAquTLCrJK9CmQ8fydA77Z58HAdG-c-Pj2jr-qGWn8Scci4bHN9_jEe0pKsTHAc9l9JnSwZCi0zh5xLZ43E7OTwgTmIBbg/s640/DSC05096.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A better view of the mountainous valley the temple is located in</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinCsGqWfPV0yXSSF5Xts1XoNjNLqQYX67rL0y-WXd3L3ffNgRgfQl2iH5fKiCvHgUlcMnSHyfDs3x0G3fgGMbV5TYQ3p8dMYKwg0Yg7lCxYb9Vh4rh8SpOWMxV3tj9Khg1x9DFcaUEEJM/s1600/DSC05086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinCsGqWfPV0yXSSF5Xts1XoNjNLqQYX67rL0y-WXd3L3ffNgRgfQl2iH5fKiCvHgUlcMnSHyfDs3x0G3fgGMbV5TYQ3p8dMYKwg0Yg7lCxYb9Vh4rh8SpOWMxV3tj9Khg1x9DFcaUEEJM/s640/DSC05086.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">giant Buddha statue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRV5F80BczkJD-Ghv26TfkiA9R2g_KUAe2HAkw55OrDy0nZpJ01YfDOrSMMukfai-AY1DKXNie98rb0MvnTE0gUSMDO5dFpPQ4MY4zmPfCeY3_9DaXAGpvnJ_stjYkzsCpTpaudbTziuc/s1600/DSC05118.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRV5F80BczkJD-Ghv26TfkiA9R2g_KUAe2HAkw55OrDy0nZpJ01YfDOrSMMukfai-AY1DKXNie98rb0MvnTE0gUSMDO5dFpPQ4MY4zmPfCeY3_9DaXAGpvnJ_stjYkzsCpTpaudbTziuc/s640/DSC05118.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">about halfway up the hiking trail is a temple located in the rocks. This cliff wall next to it was covered with Buddhist sayings, which being so old are written in Chinese (Korea's hangul writing was invented only about 600 years ago(i think)))</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx6SXXB_GrSk1xFJw-Y407f20ICvoysHZ2lADPSatG8yTDHp-KhmiXaPIrLuKMzk8ZRetzVp-wBywZPgYazjnLrdHvgOQSoOYGSmzhUp08WX4IW98VMgOKHMAyzrgYDL4JwM_FUq2SLio/s1600/DSC05129.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx6SXXB_GrSk1xFJw-Y407f20ICvoysHZ2lADPSatG8yTDHp-KhmiXaPIrLuKMzk8ZRetzVp-wBywZPgYazjnLrdHvgOQSoOYGSmzhUp08WX4IW98VMgOKHMAyzrgYDL4JwM_FUq2SLio/s640/DSC05129.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">amazing views!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtsM8433XrKJXHV_dKP2ZEiDNJrFl0q0cdN3GalJt3gU-h4VWWfKvJRnuY39qrPTrBdRink4fMIaWx_o-F2fQkGj7jC9iJq6lri6FJxkzpebUEDJnxGqo8_CakX4oOxz4xFxLWZxqfydA/s1600/DSC05146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtsM8433XrKJXHV_dKP2ZEiDNJrFl0q0cdN3GalJt3gU-h4VWWfKvJRnuY39qrPTrBdRink4fMIaWx_o-F2fQkGj7jC9iJq6lri6FJxkzpebUEDJnxGqo8_CakX4oOxz4xFxLWZxqfydA/s640/DSC05146.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a daring couple...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs72U5IUeU7_pLZdmt7pFC5ctY6lpSHM9zVXxGL5Ah92dOhJbXOU9rKDKmasz8yVsu53tNVOAncmrs-kHb1RlCuNHxyNneuLfk80t7hHzw8XKynIoPF14P51UCoo0TQD6cHPgVUDe27wA/s1600/DSC05144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs72U5IUeU7_pLZdmt7pFC5ctY6lpSHM9zVXxGL5Ah92dOhJbXOU9rKDKmasz8yVsu53tNVOAncmrs-kHb1RlCuNHxyNneuLfk80t7hHzw8XKynIoPF14P51UCoo0TQD6cHPgVUDe27wA/s640/DSC05144.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the rock covered peaks!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRY-129P2os36_jbJNHr9oVjQvbWGfekvhZxVrLIQihF24ar2f_teSffLdmd5BaBRjk9KafJOklWOB0n0NVJLXtV4ER0bMDNaD2AnYiHaxWRTx1n3FKCGUCr4MhixR4XxzW81hO4a7RNM/s1600/DSC05155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRY-129P2os36_jbJNHr9oVjQvbWGfekvhZxVrLIQihF24ar2f_teSffLdmd5BaBRjk9KafJOklWOB0n0NVJLXtV4ER0bMDNaD2AnYiHaxWRTx1n3FKCGUCr4MhixR4XxzW81hO4a7RNM/s640/DSC05155.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGQJZzpXyNDWHamfEbsI0GTtz813hEmLggQFph_SBVIxVyTjSj-Cf_zk83pgKnA-Nmiqug9vJ7wnQ_eETx61kWpgmaQZFX84wG0Sd1qH2d2DD0jIacjz5UDKrb28BbduZyRq0zgqwtBek/s1600/DSC05163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGQJZzpXyNDWHamfEbsI0GTtz813hEmLggQFph_SBVIxVyTjSj-Cf_zk83pgKnA-Nmiqug9vJ7wnQ_eETx61kWpgmaQZFX84wG0Sd1qH2d2DD0jIacjz5UDKrb28BbduZyRq0zgqwtBek/s640/DSC05163.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzeVN3tvh_Gkoo5u9jHZIxu3jRRG7oEfVRSE0x9wTTU8-JkcYCVgyqpeuDWPEMIDevzHrEOPDGPlMqNgo_PVK8yz4pUVDCuuyZRTSUIzqwnACAZL0s9kURl0IkaeJTrXr_7S7vBpaV3yo/s1600/DSC05166.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzeVN3tvh_Gkoo5u9jHZIxu3jRRG7oEfVRSE0x9wTTU8-JkcYCVgyqpeuDWPEMIDevzHrEOPDGPlMqNgo_PVK8yz4pUVDCuuyZRTSUIzqwnACAZL0s9kURl0IkaeJTrXr_7S7vBpaV3yo/s640/DSC05166.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
There were many trails here, we only did one. I may try and make it back during the fall just before my departure from Korea in order to see the colors of the foliage take over the mountain sides..</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b>Templestay</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Back in March I had the unique opportunity of staying in Geumsansa Temple in the central area of Korea. It's the head of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. My thoughts? Don't do a temple stay for the food! It was a great experience. We spent most of the day Saturday there and stayed the night, leaving early Sunday afternoon. Things I did:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
-We got to ring the bell! You know the giant bells you see at old temples in Asia? Yep, got a chance to ring it. Kind of thought these were never rung, but it's the call to prayer always. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ApIIhGmrDukxmn6bzBlbR_gdhCNSodNr8UOXImQs-7Q_veX4Eg_2Iuq6s9dbVz2P_O-BR4NDzR6mJLZSb88cfXy_8EDoWbTZPJ_eYpWoTz2uT0ATnZjTgn6UjRZjVwk1DhzIMJUaMOE/s1600/ring+the+bell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ApIIhGmrDukxmn6bzBlbR_gdhCNSodNr8UOXImQs-7Q_veX4Eg_2Iuq6s9dbVz2P_O-BR4NDzR6mJLZSb88cfXy_8EDoWbTZPJ_eYpWoTz2uT0ATnZjTgn6UjRZjVwk1DhzIMJUaMOE/s640/ring+the+bell.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b>-</b>We made Lotus Flower Lanterns. We used these lanterns on our night prayer walk through the temple grounds. The lotus flower grows out of the mud, so you can see how they work nicely from a religious viewpoint.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8PSWIRH7wXC-1TqcbjsPrEBzM0Lo6ieZFOhMZ1xfg0XdfJwFx4Clu0gJLQ86FwVKKgtLCMHNTfnxXlaebofOItxQK1_OsD9DYJveLULLYwp7ukUHkp1h5SaFIDVNb7sQ1wMkjhI6KJ64/s1600/DSC04985.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8PSWIRH7wXC-1TqcbjsPrEBzM0Lo6ieZFOhMZ1xfg0XdfJwFx4Clu0gJLQ86FwVKKgtLCMHNTfnxXlaebofOItxQK1_OsD9DYJveLULLYwp7ukUHkp1h5SaFIDVNb7sQ1wMkjhI6KJ64/s640/DSC04985.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi0PjXeKIzHmclU0_SYXv7AC6T4gYLwcmqsNSGCMq9X6r7utfjcg4LayeXRYSZLxyaiWNZSwKk187A-jzrxlVfaNSgvEM6_lzJraFjV6m5Int3O_dU4A7ooJ09_2t29wqN6PkgzG4rawY/s1600/DSC04989.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi0PjXeKIzHmclU0_SYXv7AC6T4gYLwcmqsNSGCMq9X6r7utfjcg4LayeXRYSZLxyaiWNZSwKk187A-jzrxlVfaNSgvEM6_lzJraFjV6m5Int3O_dU4A7ooJ09_2t29wqN6PkgzG4rawY/s640/DSC04989.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAn3-IrIwKilAYkM95I4Fp8UEWzswzGrltY6MrUZNsbazubcT53dos_6I3qrLNPwdoDTwVWa9Yx6-cvSToLLc5JquN7JAp2UKUY_nKeTIYFN5tXKT8WI55PfNCyZkuOqT2BokOYFjORz8/s1600/DSC04991.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAn3-IrIwKilAYkM95I4Fp8UEWzswzGrltY6MrUZNsbazubcT53dos_6I3qrLNPwdoDTwVWa9Yx6-cvSToLLc5JquN7JAp2UKUY_nKeTIYFN5tXKT8WI55PfNCyZkuOqT2BokOYFjORz8/s640/DSC04991.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Here's some more photos of the temple...</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcL-jmEyWMDwQpQPvu6yp0o-IwIIGKvjlRNY9DuGGENmkAssi_LO_DNi4o31l66NBw84P2KHasH0pvoskg2ocvAW84BNFgUXufgCbiE47v2pMaVjrWypAZp8_OSlTW9OAS57UUhCaLAQo/s1600/DSC04911.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcL-jmEyWMDwQpQPvu6yp0o-IwIIGKvjlRNY9DuGGENmkAssi_LO_DNi4o31l66NBw84P2KHasH0pvoskg2ocvAW84BNFgUXufgCbiE47v2pMaVjrWypAZp8_OSlTW9OAS57UUhCaLAQo/s640/DSC04911.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the main temple with a three story high Buddha statue. This is where I did 108 bows, one for each bead that I placed on my prayer bracelet. It was intense, and got pretty damn cold..</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQifi6bzLtfYMr6F4HMDvMh8Y6ggaWAeyP81P74uQHg09r8xRPR9MfxBPQFeZMfhRpI1SxmO9-odbxI_rFrbTLicJq9Gl_GWkhV-ZuYYIsy_XJ9sLySY6wPzcL_me6WWn1FWwL7HFzdUQ/s1600/DSC04924.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQifi6bzLtfYMr6F4HMDvMh8Y6ggaWAeyP81P74uQHg09r8xRPR9MfxBPQFeZMfhRpI1SxmO9-odbxI_rFrbTLicJq9Gl_GWkhV-ZuYYIsy_XJ9sLySY6wPzcL_me6WWn1FWwL7HFzdUQ/s640/DSC04924.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI817V1K-oguwyK4t-GFycrrNo6zINeSc5tuYa6t5UP84t64N0mHu92BzLjvbCkNe-U6e5Ibr_G72uRgPC_iUF-TyfztmRbbKZU3CT93KR_yLSf6SZ130zd9M55K-JBe2mq683wEfusMw/s1600/DSC04926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI817V1K-oguwyK4t-GFycrrNo6zINeSc5tuYa6t5UP84t64N0mHu92BzLjvbCkNe-U6e5Ibr_G72uRgPC_iUF-TyfztmRbbKZU3CT93KR_yLSf6SZ130zd9M55K-JBe2mq683wEfusMw/s640/DSC04926.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBgDVM49L1cKGOFhDxaq_dZ76CCsoBCWgXBKX0txtRgQApRyDlhR5DG0bRhgIQqWcXmF0ImPoa42xfXVyIFzoRvBdtwmqBZ1fCyHzO37zKibkH2UW7zw2h_1ny9heEy9Z4ub-yBd7xuNY/s1600/DSC04942.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBgDVM49L1cKGOFhDxaq_dZ76CCsoBCWgXBKX0txtRgQApRyDlhR5DG0bRhgIQqWcXmF0ImPoa42xfXVyIFzoRvBdtwmqBZ1fCyHzO37zKibkH2UW7zw2h_1ny9heEy9Z4ub-yBd7xuNY/s640/DSC04942.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFCWlwIPUKR2aTyF0zgt8_og57voN3UoFrwwXK274FAl3tLSnbK7-ET5FN6NFZoSJx4yR5saAEeS4PXhYDHTf1HqBd74o7gITjDs5h-aXxaagUCfElHmWXpSGqwOZrUmW7kCuHBQ3dU_Q/s1600/DSC05013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFCWlwIPUKR2aTyF0zgt8_og57voN3UoFrwwXK274FAl3tLSnbK7-ET5FN6NFZoSJx4yR5saAEeS4PXhYDHTf1HqBd74o7gITjDs5h-aXxaagUCfElHmWXpSGqwOZrUmW7kCuHBQ3dU_Q/s640/DSC05013.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the temple hall at 4am!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Our monastic meal was on Sunday morning at 530am. You can see below how there are four bowls: one for dish water, one for rice, one for soup, and one for sides (radish/kimchi stuff). You MUST eat all the food, no wasting food!!!!!! To top it off, cleaning the bowls involved swishing water around each bowl, scrubbing them each with a radish. Then, you must drink the water and eat the radish...yucky. Oh well, it was an experience!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZsvlSCWfZDt1yHUpLysdVx4TwHy5agjZ6gvTBMw7k6SpKnq91xCCKF2ueR6MWS02nTzcuCvAUONfB9GxBbAoAu8PCiiAaIOoTHu8I9tklbHWSGiDWehoWJDAZP-PNz24DhYUcadgFT5I/s1600/DSC05026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZsvlSCWfZDt1yHUpLysdVx4TwHy5agjZ6gvTBMw7k6SpKnq91xCCKF2ueR6MWS02nTzcuCvAUONfB9GxBbAoAu8PCiiAaIOoTHu8I9tklbHWSGiDWehoWJDAZP-PNz24DhYUcadgFT5I/s640/DSC05026.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj41JD0Akc90w0mGGq8UaQc-YAVoPd9ZpEpOfAQRn4chHrSxhnvKlCU8gND1IqN1zSEd2YehPuJTsKZb6ZttjJlm6d0P3u2LSzA3YXgum90FYvyhoOND6KDGENUP4UuxIU02l1tmx35IS4/s1600/DSC05027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj41JD0Akc90w0mGGq8UaQc-YAVoPd9ZpEpOfAQRn4chHrSxhnvKlCU8gND1IqN1zSEd2YehPuJTsKZb6ZttjJlm6d0P3u2LSzA3YXgum90FYvyhoOND6KDGENUP4UuxIU02l1tmx35IS4/s640/DSC05027.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpVXL8pkR9JlGRYYnV1uynTboNPtAE9dubGSKV5ECXYqysfnzZcy6KsN76CBLss8qm6ndNzja1QDR3veogypmcqgaeZRSemFLwd2Rar6mXFZYMo2bhIPr2w2LLCq9riuUDJq-bPkCJksE/s1600/DSC05034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpVXL8pkR9JlGRYYnV1uynTboNPtAE9dubGSKV5ECXYqysfnzZcy6KsN76CBLss8qm6ndNzja1QDR3veogypmcqgaeZRSemFLwd2Rar6mXFZYMo2bhIPr2w2LLCq9riuUDJq-bPkCJksE/s640/DSC05034.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span id="goog_1058991045"></span><span id="goog_1058991046"></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b>Randoms.....</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Here are some random photos and things I have done!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br />Here is a video of a wedding I went to. Unfortunately my camera died right after this. This is when the moms of the bride and groom light the candles. Just to give you an idea. Weddings aren't taken as seriously as we take the ceremonies in the West. While the wedding looks really nice (and is), but this hall is one of several on the top floor of a department store. Every ceremony is the same, and you can see these two girls in the video kind of leading the crowd in applause and such. Really cookie cutter like. No party afterwards, just a really good buffet right after. Best part? During the ceremony, the best man gives a challenge to the bridge and groom. His challenge to the groom? To give a piggy back ride to the brides mother, running up and down this runway you can see, and then shouted "tonight I'm making babies!". I was pretty surprised, but this is normal tradition!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-picasa-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8RwkQs8Lbhxt5R9Jh8WTQ04b_AfGYEHZmdOEI5rdwA5qG8dCXBKpVMyOGt8nvM6akdLY51lnYgHrh3nyaERfBBITm12mTT0_-_uOn4JKzQmhPrTIv6l36fwj5HYW39YjxSSRoeuTvbc/s1600/kiddds+015.MOV" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fv24.nonxt1.googlevideo.com%2Fvideoplayback%3Fid%3D6d23b3f0003265ef%26itag%3D18%26source%3Dpicasa%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1337635135%26sparams%3Did%2Citag%2Csource%2Cip%2Cipbits%2Cexpire%26signature%3D364FADA94F75414A78B73A108E2D5D1AD072C186.8179DAD37C9DD5E6D98E07C4566FB09F51DAAD15%26key%3Dlh1" />
<param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" />
<embed width="320" height="266" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fv24.nonxt1.googlevideo.com%2Fvideoplayback%3Fid%3D6d23b3f0003265ef%26itag%3D18%26source%3Dpicasa%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1337635135%26sparams%3Did%2Citag%2Csource%2Cip%2Cipbits%2Cexpire%26signature%3D364FADA94F75414A78B73A108E2D5D1AD072C186.8179DAD37C9DD5E6D98E07C4566FB09F51DAAD15%26key%3Dlh1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCFez5xxYNX9BVG3ye0l8WUPjnwxvM6V57afkLYRrIbMi60w-Kaw4V3UKACastETlXWz6TxVqUW4KMuKo-H9iWkLG0rHFtpPbkuG2WPue-DFEwELxvIypxuou3LOKGsKR8pI8mK5r5ke0/s1600/kiddds+013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCFez5xxYNX9BVG3ye0l8WUPjnwxvM6V57afkLYRrIbMi60w-Kaw4V3UKACastETlXWz6TxVqUW4KMuKo-H9iWkLG0rHFtpPbkuG2WPue-DFEwELxvIypxuou3LOKGsKR8pI8mK5r5ke0/s640/kiddds+013.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some electric car presenting a bride and groom to the lobby area. It made a tiny lap then was parked again. Interesting right?? This bride and groom wore tradition Korean clothing. By the way, most Koreans I gathered don't necessarily enjoy going to weddings, most want to get in and out. There are kids constantly chatting and running around at the ceremony, and general conversation can be heard in the crowd.... </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6DutMrv1R_YAji7q6QeWHEYUMHIeep4lsI0NtbSnMIW3GxtwnqyI8i4yOZa4xlneymBWrHlB-GcwhtDcSPWqYCNx8nWuWsAOc5WuEbrsKdANbdek9EH-n560781y45WwalLYNBziBv5E/s1600/kiddds+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6DutMrv1R_YAji7q6QeWHEYUMHIeep4lsI0NtbSnMIW3GxtwnqyI8i4yOZa4xlneymBWrHlB-GcwhtDcSPWqYCNx8nWuWsAOc5WuEbrsKdANbdek9EH-n560781y45WwalLYNBziBv5E/s640/kiddds+014.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grace, the bride, with some of the girls. The bride sits in this room on a throne like chair, receiving guest before the wedding?? She seemed thrilledddddddd to do it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Cool buildings in Gangnum, a kinda rich area of Seoul. Finally cool to see some interesting architecture here!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ6VAlmEGj1b1fFMdyMefhrDQMJvq1VR3YEwKkZFbUUpdtL26eXLPFhCvzh9qztgsUK7kM_J52pRejmIXNQYZHDqXuJIaG3ArsflYoaNjxHVAbL09eRaN_mCqrN95mGR5deEnQdcgi_tI/s1600/kkoreaaa+029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ6VAlmEGj1b1fFMdyMefhrDQMJvq1VR3YEwKkZFbUUpdtL26eXLPFhCvzh9qztgsUK7kM_J52pRejmIXNQYZHDqXuJIaG3ArsflYoaNjxHVAbL09eRaN_mCqrN95mGR5deEnQdcgi_tI/s640/kkoreaaa+029.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVhXbz_85IZz0-f2r-qJxtoaHX4j1FvaUZrxIeSsCF-EwvfxrrYipH_Hkt4IR2l2O-Gz2DexIa0EWSESOkokVWUOvT0AxzdG0pl4sk0nZCfIpOVFdRyIojV1xLSci5jr7_SwN_dfLFAUM/s1600/kkoreaaa+030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVhXbz_85IZz0-f2r-qJxtoaHX4j1FvaUZrxIeSsCF-EwvfxrrYipH_Hkt4IR2l2O-Gz2DexIa0EWSESOkokVWUOvT0AxzdG0pl4sk0nZCfIpOVFdRyIojV1xLSci5jr7_SwN_dfLFAUM/s640/kkoreaaa+030.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifuKuS9S4PqdnF7yg1iMbiOxMZrnvNcpxeH3TFuW70AopRE_Mtr3X6lHdipw0qSdPKGhhurxw_qfL58-QMLNlOyQuQl6eAneGg0PhWftj3MPHBN-o1w86eiWaRb5JofGyR1X8i4qFmx28/s1600/kkoreaaa+032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifuKuS9S4PqdnF7yg1iMbiOxMZrnvNcpxeH3TFuW70AopRE_Mtr3X6lHdipw0qSdPKGhhurxw_qfL58-QMLNlOyQuQl6eAneGg0PhWftj3MPHBN-o1w86eiWaRb5JofGyR1X8i4qFmx28/s640/kkoreaaa+032.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_NtFDClbDqUkPOrGHTKTXTGJrMDL_Svoh_ipdQP-U-0Ft04A7d1hmMoKkA675QXf0etMDpfTk_Dgs7iR7dde5YzdQXygj_zl3_vhDw6cbCzmu62dRJhOlPnaz8bq9QzdOrVzMPcsZ6oI/s1600/kkoreaaa+037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_NtFDClbDqUkPOrGHTKTXTGJrMDL_Svoh_ipdQP-U-0Ft04A7d1hmMoKkA675QXf0etMDpfTk_Dgs7iR7dde5YzdQXygj_zl3_vhDw6cbCzmu62dRJhOlPnaz8bq9QzdOrVzMPcsZ6oI/s640/kkoreaaa+037.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Seoul tower. Beautiful views of Seoul!</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdjYoliW9Pn9DRzT9ph7NOHnCGMEj19SfdFj3cwbtzff0ntzLa9WQjlkLjFBFWvtPrAp6RwA_phT45Ne_p_8QBcp2M_L3qDIvYc4rgsfk33t2voDgGJKhpXy42XvFTeSBWYSUI6-wWF_k/s1600/kkoreaaa+046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdjYoliW9Pn9DRzT9ph7NOHnCGMEj19SfdFj3cwbtzff0ntzLa9WQjlkLjFBFWvtPrAp6RwA_phT45Ne_p_8QBcp2M_L3qDIvYc4rgsfk33t2voDgGJKhpXy42XvFTeSBWYSUI6-wWF_k/s640/kkoreaaa+046.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxmrZKURFsFsFI_th75nBmCWxR23uNNt4F5dEIyNCVV8srzUQLhSvvZWN0gLDcgMk0W7V-RVCJnMP3svqtiUcJ2IJdgnMHVXDqXPgAl8DLGFp8a0tkpBkwCmwjeqxuAvCY2Sjl_iYigZs/s1600/kkoreaaa+048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxmrZKURFsFsFI_th75nBmCWxR23uNNt4F5dEIyNCVV8srzUQLhSvvZWN0gLDcgMk0W7V-RVCJnMP3svqtiUcJ2IJdgnMHVXDqXPgAl8DLGFp8a0tkpBkwCmwjeqxuAvCY2Sjl_iYigZs/s640/kkoreaaa+048.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQo6EOfypu2j0SAyW3sb29275IXFBIOgPXc6aWwccgya_Kj4Y00MauDaj9cbMIgagaUs2EyOUP3UlIaNAxo6slAjFCD6DwLwxJq8iu4te0s2H0jmAmuRzDg4bMBgkWNWVWsqKKk5migE/s1600/kkoreaaa+052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQo6EOfypu2j0SAyW3sb29275IXFBIOgPXc6aWwccgya_Kj4Y00MauDaj9cbMIgagaUs2EyOUP3UlIaNAxo6slAjFCD6DwLwxJq8iu4te0s2H0jmAmuRzDg4bMBgkWNWVWsqKKk5migE/s640/kkoreaaa+052.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lockets for lovers locked to the fences around Seoul tower.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNQ-2c8E9Vg6zrmmwlB0dava-o33oXZlYRp9PAwZQbbSujFZuFl6HoDtFImf5YWXSPtpSPO4FfNjSyS7rPqZF0DNsWZWzxxrPOBhLe3aQfBqkBECED8LVQvCcSRSL8Ya_lRpU3l9OGZYM/s1600/kkoreaaa+057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNQ-2c8E9Vg6zrmmwlB0dava-o33oXZlYRp9PAwZQbbSujFZuFl6HoDtFImf5YWXSPtpSPO4FfNjSyS7rPqZF0DNsWZWzxxrPOBhLe3aQfBqkBECED8LVQvCcSRSL8Ya_lRpU3l9OGZYM/s640/kkoreaaa+057.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Earth Hour at a big subway station, we noticed all these dominoes set up, to be released at the hour.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I sent birthday cards to my mom made by my students in a kindergarten class. These kids are about 6 years old, and come for all English kindergarten! Awesome! Here are the kids making the cards!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwaEAAYzWcArQcogdq6csgBBJSXv0s73M3rQjXLZan7Y1VPOD2AcwrJPRauQc6lht8rVQjHS1cHYjNxafT4FA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Miss you all!! Going to Jeju Island this weekend, the "Hawaii" of Korea. It's also a 4 day weekend, thanks to Buddha's birthday. So I will have some incredible pictures, and I will try posting about my adventures more often!</div>
<br />coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-23282268752584672011-12-25T19:47:00.000-08:002011-12-25T19:47:26.794-08:00a Christmas Eve balloon launch...So Christmas Eve I awoke at 7am, and was up in Itaewon by 9am to board a bus head off to the DMZ, which is as close as civilians can go towards North Korea. I went with some friends who told of this opportunity with North Korea Peace Organization, a non-political, non-religious organization that launches balloons with socks into N Korea every month. While the organization is young, Mr. Lee, a North Korea defector, has been launching balloons into N Korea every month for the last 5 years, since was able to escape N Korea, at great risk to himself (he carried poison with him in case he was caught by N Korea or China). Anyways, we went to launch socks into N Korea, as we could seen about 100 socks on each balloon, and N Koreans can use these socks on their black market to buy up to 1 months worth of food for a family. Also, Mr. Lee told us about how many people are missing toes, feet, and legs due to frost bite from a lack of socks in the winter. Even the well kept military has people missing socks. Instead of messages of propaganda, the organization just had a simple message, that said we the world community has not forgotten about North Koreans, and that the world loves them. Live long until unification (with the South). The wanted a simple message because the organization would like to one day be allowed to directly hand out food in North Korea, and sending over any kind of anti-N Korea leaflets would immediately make it impossible for them to ever reach this goal.<br />
<br />
Although it was freezing, we were able to launch 4 balloons. There was a lot of media there, and the organization was excited to be getting the message out. AP, Reuters, and press from 6 other countries were there. I was just really happy to be doing something very unique yet very helpful during Christmas time. While it wasn't too dangerous, we did have to do it behind a hill from the DMZ line, as N Korea has publicly said they will fire artillery onto anyone they see launching balloons.. but anyways, here's a video! Mind you, I'm freezing cold and tired, so keep in mind with my comments...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxNVQhmdsqz41PcpcfzqcBbQxl0AOEY-itKxN0MLgHWbKt7bp6KKz3oNnnBJ9ENlOody7-kWsB7u_SO8jZd-g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I'll add more photos later, but I have to get to work. Enjoy the video, and Merry Christmas to all!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Please check out the website <a href="http://www.northkoreapeace.org/" target="_blank">www.northkoreapeace.org</a> to donate and see pictures, also Like them on Facebook!</div>coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-41826645945575503502011-12-18T00:11:00.000-08:002011-12-18T00:11:24.783-08:00Christmas in KoreaMerry Christmas...almost! I cannot believe it's already Christmas time, but sure enough it is here. The Christmas atmosphere is definitely felt here in Korea, though Christians are the minority for sure. Nonetheless, the departments stores and all the coffee shops and everywhere else practically enjoys dressing up for the season, and there's a lot of Christmas music being played everywhere. Koreans celebrate Christmas as almost a Valentines like day, I've heard everyone goes out on dates / wants to have a date for Christmas. They exchange gifts, too, and there's even Santa's in the mall....but no beard and very skinny! Anyways, I'm very excited to have a 5 day weekend, As this will be the first time off I've had since September! I'm going to check out some temples here in Seoul and keep it low key, but I'm ready for the time to relax. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf3Ts-ZBsrrXHt7_XRARdhNUYaW7c30h6hoI8RS4ClOVSXPcmi-pJALdBNAY8OMRmHVz4raU2bN4falxoF8wtGvDOvt2yAh2DzqHQIX2jlq6VMwEOstL2O84eHf5ZBez9Ce85nvW_H3Ig/s1600/kor+021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf3Ts-ZBsrrXHt7_XRARdhNUYaW7c30h6hoI8RS4ClOVSXPcmi-pJALdBNAY8OMRmHVz4raU2bN4falxoF8wtGvDOvt2yAh2DzqHQIX2jlq6VMwEOstL2O84eHf5ZBez9Ce85nvW_H3Ig/s320/kor+021.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My apartment bldg's Christmas tree!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
A couple of weeks ago I went to Saodaemun Prison Museum. It was built by the Japanese when they first colonized Korea, and was used all the way until 1987. The prisoners were those who protested against Japan and after WWII, those who protested the military dictatorships.. It was really interesting, and had a good amount of information in English as well. The Japanese killed and tortured many Koreans there, and you saw the building/ room where the hanged people...very creepy. It reminded me a lot of going through the Holocaust Museum in DC...pretty depressing stuff. By far the weirdest part of it was in the basement where prisoners were tortured. Pretty graphic, they even had a display that took a 3-d picture of your head, and then placed it on the a body that was then shown on a large TV..first you were protesting, then arrested, then put into your jail cell, then it showed you getting tortured in various ways! We were all a little taken aback, and agreed that something like that would never be put into a Museum back home!<br />
<br />
A few weeks before that I checked out a random temple in the northern part of Seoul. The name has escaped me since, but it was a newer temple up in the hills. and had some beautiful scenery for still being in the middle of the city. Here's some pictures!<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSpj4Eill80IVtQtjkIyaiDAXlMnCZymPaazADnI9nqtALEfVClUS4wwQvsGJ6yaklSNXFZaASVPv2-lpzhlDs7-QbE-SKoIoHDeER8A4K7XBd6rXTBFjDTHBSbN7I-6N-m_aCDunjqd4/s1600/DSC04775.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSpj4Eill80IVtQtjkIyaiDAXlMnCZymPaazADnI9nqtALEfVClUS4wwQvsGJ6yaklSNXFZaASVPv2-lpzhlDs7-QbE-SKoIoHDeER8A4K7XBd6rXTBFjDTHBSbN7I-6N-m_aCDunjqd4/s640/DSC04775.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRSPBUM_Napgjdx-cgmTU5U5c3BR75ecLfg95Cv9ZWFaJpUEMSVQf5vYVgHTQpjruFWMpEwnBFwnqDSBKTdi-0tFtsu6rz3pk3RTDXUYrcoXufUSaOddnX4RcNb8PatBAcHGqzebZuYdY/s1600/DSC04779.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRSPBUM_Napgjdx-cgmTU5U5c3BR75ecLfg95Cv9ZWFaJpUEMSVQf5vYVgHTQpjruFWMpEwnBFwnqDSBKTdi-0tFtsu6rz3pk3RTDXUYrcoXufUSaOddnX4RcNb8PatBAcHGqzebZuYdY/s640/DSC04779.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjckTv9eJV_f_afALfuU3Cz8RFne2m-R24w9jMPJlPiNxFC8eOIbagHWoPsoTQMNr28D5H_CjRy7rYbuP52JHENUTAiBxqZrePeySLqhO4KmcDhaDAuKHZh5Wo8Eljwl-ZVypZROv4OEPk/s1600/DSC04781.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjckTv9eJV_f_afALfuU3Cz8RFne2m-R24w9jMPJlPiNxFC8eOIbagHWoPsoTQMNr28D5H_CjRy7rYbuP52JHENUTAiBxqZrePeySLqhO4KmcDhaDAuKHZh5Wo8Eljwl-ZVypZROv4OEPk/s640/DSC04781.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Jz3Luzmz5qT0wy0LYIjv402xdDyuAubecWKRsrwuJt5ioYktRS5w6XG8B3iV6BbUTSlZkW1lcx_eg4TtvPeBjX763SbGPCnCAiAxy_uVU8JIBbRNF_YbZy1SQzgdxXqYTsSWEXwFOA4/s1600/DSC04782.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Jz3Luzmz5qT0wy0LYIjv402xdDyuAubecWKRsrwuJt5ioYktRS5w6XG8B3iV6BbUTSlZkW1lcx_eg4TtvPeBjX763SbGPCnCAiAxy_uVU8JIBbRNF_YbZy1SQzgdxXqYTsSWEXwFOA4/s640/DSC04782.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv3IsGrSYAke7Q21h0gnYyLUvrPYB4ufMcAYrGF3ZRze9FUgDMD9wS-aNNriCwxC3R4yTaDvOAus-xkgw0iNO-bGiztxrHQT_tcGfvAmHyTgkjZFeRI5iEu88rlC3O4rZew2DACg0nlZ0/s1600/DSC04786.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv3IsGrSYAke7Q21h0gnYyLUvrPYB4ufMcAYrGF3ZRze9FUgDMD9wS-aNNriCwxC3R4yTaDvOAus-xkgw0iNO-bGiztxrHQT_tcGfvAmHyTgkjZFeRI5iEu88rlC3O4rZew2DACg0nlZ0/s640/DSC04786.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju0Xpj4VuoU_TlbQ77mrSvd_fCJY2IGNxVO79kdyoxVMvId3DjGCgRlMgFNAWrhPiNfNGRYKPMp7eyUWGGP7DWtj8SscqzZ5MBdjvM823Y2LrwBdTZiGBVpRvt9IVUSEn3_Unw5H6ho9s/s1600/DSC04788.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju0Xpj4VuoU_TlbQ77mrSvd_fCJY2IGNxVO79kdyoxVMvId3DjGCgRlMgFNAWrhPiNfNGRYKPMp7eyUWGGP7DWtj8SscqzZ5MBdjvM823Y2LrwBdTZiGBVpRvt9IVUSEn3_Unw5H6ho9s/s640/DSC04788.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf2S9oe5RnEbua8HvDal-ELo3VJrDcxu7JId_NR27iWmf54anfT4oT6QCnqpskTQhJdrXtGzkJ6C0h6p0bZUP-mchfw9o2gRcIYASA9EkesxZnd89H07JZCBjHk2R1NsdgsZfh-Vuu-YQ/s1600/DSC04795.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf2S9oe5RnEbua8HvDal-ELo3VJrDcxu7JId_NR27iWmf54anfT4oT6QCnqpskTQhJdrXtGzkJ6C0h6p0bZUP-mchfw9o2gRcIYASA9EkesxZnd89H07JZCBjHk2R1NsdgsZfh-Vuu-YQ/s640/DSC04795.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV4uQKFZoIZM9-v6C5es3i-UWePkoVPi3SE7ApB_Znn7OJT7eD9bdIQwhzmFmDjN9Z3to3bLVfZswy9zkucBGx8UFpO5xA0VCOElTuIbleEk-5-6MaLQnHz2rfsqMyEdeTZ2JLSX4-kUg/s1600/DSC04797.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV4uQKFZoIZM9-v6C5es3i-UWePkoVPi3SE7ApB_Znn7OJT7eD9bdIQwhzmFmDjN9Z3to3bLVfZswy9zkucBGx8UFpO5xA0VCOElTuIbleEk-5-6MaLQnHz2rfsqMyEdeTZ2JLSX4-kUg/s640/DSC04797.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT3xnHyX5FYRHzwHJlD62CVrMGYREyNRFEpMW3yoPPTGFx_xyQAx4db3Sce7AfBtZLbtEcp3ziXiPZWc-Ev-iw4ZG2xb4Dw0FbjHyDaT9VwpjKs5OFzn6Elj8VJ6xRb8LG1AoPJfkptKg/s1600/DSC04800.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT3xnHyX5FYRHzwHJlD62CVrMGYREyNRFEpMW3yoPPTGFx_xyQAx4db3Sce7AfBtZLbtEcp3ziXiPZWc-Ev-iw4ZG2xb4Dw0FbjHyDaT9VwpjKs5OFzn6Elj8VJ6xRb8LG1AoPJfkptKg/s640/DSC04800.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikBu7Ek9sO2iek42JiPhd9-JRPmof8Uko44Ngbn1JmwgCBVBvcQFqyORgUoBdOqwlPhP4jxr-nbLd4g_I1DPYuGeslOydwzHA76lKrooJInl1fTao-fatoxGSKJah-uwGgG9WCs01ujXA/s1600/DSC04801.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikBu7Ek9sO2iek42JiPhd9-JRPmof8Uko44Ngbn1JmwgCBVBvcQFqyORgUoBdOqwlPhP4jxr-nbLd4g_I1DPYuGeslOydwzHA76lKrooJInl1fTao-fatoxGSKJah-uwGgG9WCs01ujXA/s640/DSC04801.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhothWszvng5dBwWTQcOI1b5xOl01spyZs9MyQXmRiMdJagyGKUYlMkW9HCawp6hmcmV4ly_7VBKpWxJRjnHUjZx1gfms1PE6dYT6t43y013LaZO7M4ujwm0wYTyN4iQL0eRMBkEeoNNt8/s1600/DSC04802.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhothWszvng5dBwWTQcOI1b5xOl01spyZs9MyQXmRiMdJagyGKUYlMkW9HCawp6hmcmV4ly_7VBKpWxJRjnHUjZx1gfms1PE6dYT6t43y013LaZO7M4ujwm0wYTyN4iQL0eRMBkEeoNNt8/s640/DSC04802.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A few weeks previously I had also gone out to Insadong, which is a big shopping area and kind of a touristy area for the tourists looking for souvenirs. I liked the area because finally, there was some decent architecture! This is something that is definitely lacking in Korea, but there are more and more buildings going up with a modern look to them.. here's some pictures of Insadong...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcu-NsxWsuAxp0Pdf56iXnH4EalFqkae8HlWfrh9JdgdovDEWgbyK1LkAcUjzTmZLIAQMT2eaVXP5rP9jb7dUelJt0slVon4sX-al50ugsDsihFOwAqZX4DjZHGHoaVEdfMsAZEoz0AAg/s1600/kor+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcu-NsxWsuAxp0Pdf56iXnH4EalFqkae8HlWfrh9JdgdovDEWgbyK1LkAcUjzTmZLIAQMT2eaVXP5rP9jb7dUelJt0slVon4sX-al50ugsDsihFOwAqZX4DjZHGHoaVEdfMsAZEoz0AAg/s640/kor+005.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi54c1oN6chAAOC6C5oVbw96aYdrv0iPMqHl1oSh4N6QzZRB-OhP0vFPVByDbGVyzVkFTyPoflg2rrAwFIppR5Ub0ooITHNlIfLuYRiAXsOnC08GLbf8Njt5t59IH8zcTIneuVnECxX7kE/s1600/kor+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi54c1oN6chAAOC6C5oVbw96aYdrv0iPMqHl1oSh4N6QzZRB-OhP0vFPVByDbGVyzVkFTyPoflg2rrAwFIppR5Ub0ooITHNlIfLuYRiAXsOnC08GLbf8Njt5t59IH8zcTIneuVnECxX7kE/s640/kor+006.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6oBHTSCKfGZOlp6sxg5-9L3Gac3cuc4jxWhOml6E4xRbMLZHyRDG_CzqTod8UTcF08WkQh1-GnuC2vccbHJqyNvTTrHfrer-Wa5Tqt_xCMXN61_cf_QYT8bj8sXEs-vVhzUVDa6R42Jg/s1600/kor+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6oBHTSCKfGZOlp6sxg5-9L3Gac3cuc4jxWhOml6E4xRbMLZHyRDG_CzqTod8UTcF08WkQh1-GnuC2vccbHJqyNvTTrHfrer-Wa5Tqt_xCMXN61_cf_QYT8bj8sXEs-vVhzUVDa6R42Jg/s640/kor+007.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi4_mdSamJhTpb7IKN9-qWn2IKfsF9KGFZS9AJWnnRV3URKBEaPB5c6uoOGgYnTu_hC2jGsmI35v6mNYl42PBy8yC1ZAhfta6LvvuafIDzZBC-INFD0IvzX6s2QwYJQIlnE8scDIcVUwc/s1600/kor+008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi4_mdSamJhTpb7IKN9-qWn2IKfsF9KGFZS9AJWnnRV3URKBEaPB5c6uoOGgYnTu_hC2jGsmI35v6mNYl42PBy8yC1ZAhfta6LvvuafIDzZBC-INFD0IvzX6s2QwYJQIlnE8scDIcVUwc/s640/kor+008.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8fYzSXGcyhRMy_6k9va2hkSbDY48xQ3tZJj2fSb2k5aVOHhp9OcfunOJ426pEwvacQgF0PxducUkX7_eC8wKLAVuFk03D3E7ZDozyi0LgEBgIU6OqqCYnjFuK60s6jn5hAwVWyuT-E7g/s1600/kor+009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8fYzSXGcyhRMy_6k9va2hkSbDY48xQ3tZJj2fSb2k5aVOHhp9OcfunOJ426pEwvacQgF0PxducUkX7_eC8wKLAVuFk03D3E7ZDozyi0LgEBgIU6OqqCYnjFuK60s6jn5hAwVWyuT-E7g/s640/kor+009.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeN8lZrilbAKzl4nDd0lEl58CRw1tdjbsRJwMo4ZRJ5qg-mkVX6NmzN4RPvXeTBs-rKu1Zx5h2luwuIUveJ_vEtuzBiujYbyfNK6CMwETNQ05_O4j7VaaMzyydaOShw7HpMby_FJmn8m8/s1600/kor+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeN8lZrilbAKzl4nDd0lEl58CRw1tdjbsRJwMo4ZRJ5qg-mkVX6NmzN4RPvXeTBs-rKu1Zx5h2luwuIUveJ_vEtuzBiujYbyfNK6CMwETNQ05_O4j7VaaMzyydaOShw7HpMby_FJmn8m8/s640/kor+011.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here's my street when the leaves were nice colors a couple months back....</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgtGqV9P_wuntCcSXaQQ51bwh4sr5QAk6iJmJy5iUcIcjMUforcImHJyaGQ-yC_nVdf5hyphenhyphenV9rU-peiyF8s6AJ7y9ZAl04IWrsoopamXNTkpkYZVJcnJXE92_Slfsa6fDWeuyjMDLdxooc/s1600/kor+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgtGqV9P_wuntCcSXaQQ51bwh4sr5QAk6iJmJy5iUcIcjMUforcImHJyaGQ-yC_nVdf5hyphenhyphenV9rU-peiyF8s6AJ7y9ZAl04IWrsoopamXNTkpkYZVJcnJXE92_Slfsa6fDWeuyjMDLdxooc/s640/kor+003.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I thought this was pretty funny of myself....the girl copied a friends summary (or the friend copied hers), either way, I crossed out my Great comment and I wrote Do Not Copy, which you can see she then scribbled off and I Don't not copy. I'm guessing she didn't quite understand or appreciate the humor in my response to her comment...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyqatahHL2itsrYjsGu2c_qo3Z96rPi5srPncAaombXIeghku9gLUKxedRbF0ATmoehLlP7a3NGaJjQglUfOkcXALlCXdOC2h4LmZ9hpFI8WUBVvwfph1xx685IyjMZJJFDblrXdgazk8/s1600/kor+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyqatahHL2itsrYjsGu2c_qo3Z96rPi5srPncAaombXIeghku9gLUKxedRbF0ATmoehLlP7a3NGaJjQglUfOkcXALlCXdOC2h4LmZ9hpFI8WUBVvwfph1xx685IyjMZJJFDblrXdgazk8/s640/kor+004.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> So based off of the Thai food alone that I've been having at this restaurant in Itaewon, I can seriously see myself teaching in Thailand sometime after I'm done here in Korea...the food is just that damn good. Here's a pic of one of my recent dishes....<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju_8owcAh4vfNntVPuCYThBxJZAHTcknTDQ7EK7vd8amo6Jy1XXgIJhZUri-qu8zS1mbdBDbmW8t90p1c0W-2MwIqHyGM0mu3u1iFGOucBYCCdGu2tPy9NvIi0YX5xMbUcD64woeklWXo/s1600/kor+013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju_8owcAh4vfNntVPuCYThBxJZAHTcknTDQ7EK7vd8amo6Jy1XXgIJhZUri-qu8zS1mbdBDbmW8t90p1c0W-2MwIqHyGM0mu3u1iFGOucBYCCdGu2tPy9NvIi0YX5xMbUcD64woeklWXo/s640/kor+013.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<br />
And finally here are some pictures of my new kids in my M21 class. I had them in teams coming up with questions to ask the other team about the book we were reading in class. All you have to say is boys vs girls and everyone instantly does what you ask them to do. Quite the competitors....<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh3bdazJklPGu3gU_N5oxWSQ5be-Kh_cCYmmOKau1A63WEcKOX1AGCfTocaT_DhzpS9W7fcJjHZ_oYpT8KZHW6bmX1o9vm6vp7I-T2RXCB3HfTf5CuJ1uNN9st0vXHSTUI5heiPCcn3wA/s1600/kor+018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh3bdazJklPGu3gU_N5oxWSQ5be-Kh_cCYmmOKau1A63WEcKOX1AGCfTocaT_DhzpS9W7fcJjHZ_oYpT8KZHW6bmX1o9vm6vp7I-T2RXCB3HfTf5CuJ1uNN9st0vXHSTUI5heiPCcn3wA/s640/kor+018.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvaPfx1p9VXBxyiw3MqZ-uOSx-VSzpppTmExGBvWZG9CM395vHOLXPXcidoQbe9c7cTjVBAdwr781ravA9c7BPbQivDwPY6ksa1jM-ggD-gTAkVpAhiSSIVI5bwPMQ2rto01nh3HW2cBc/s1600/kor+020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvaPfx1p9VXBxyiw3MqZ-uOSx-VSzpppTmExGBvWZG9CM395vHOLXPXcidoQbe9c7cTjVBAdwr781ravA9c7BPbQivDwPY6ksa1jM-ggD-gTAkVpAhiSSIVI5bwPMQ2rto01nh3HW2cBc/s640/kor+020.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chris is the boy in green, he honestly is an old man trapped in the body of a kid. He's so funny.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>I started teaching kindergarten classes (just a science class 3 days a week) this semester as well, so I'll have to get you some pictures of those kids, cuz they are cute and it is pretty fun to teach them. They're at the age where they love there teachers, unlike the kids in my school, who would never say "teacher, I love you!" haha. But anyways hope everyone at home has a wonderful Christmas time! I miss all of you!coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-17353014134066461452011-10-30T10:23:00.000-07:002011-10-30T10:23:53.449-07:00Put your hands up!Well it's official, I'm a terrible blogger. Two months is no excuse since I have been up to some pretty fun things lately. Can't say I'm getting any better at exploring Seoul, unless I accidentally run into something....such as this cool building and nearby temple like structure nearby that I bumped into earlier this Sunday afternoon.....<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI-55FAdjHXItvVobI8XJd-Ithc5sHMAtv0UTCBjlAt1g8eylhHuTJda9dfUyvlTi5t85pKeOz8J0pAc0LitV3dt23lSgnjMrtlqRiD-pPYAm0dei2cPRPx23xGilXPsWgiedRo1DjjNg/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI-55FAdjHXItvVobI8XJd-Ithc5sHMAtv0UTCBjlAt1g8eylhHuTJda9dfUyvlTi5t85pKeOz8J0pAc0LitV3dt23lSgnjMrtlqRiD-pPYAm0dei2cPRPx23xGilXPsWgiedRo1DjjNg/s320/014.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2q8Vs7LLrJ3QCJPK3oNUZSl9JBkuPBVOvP7GFqhfRuArpNFgeFHoAxzs5Sxexa_fo-Tv8cBB4ZojtFr-CWRCXT-uq7FcshEPqPlmpeK2LGsk_LRzdHzxRr01IhwvRqN__pswbdQPHM4s/s1600/016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2q8Vs7LLrJ3QCJPK3oNUZSl9JBkuPBVOvP7GFqhfRuArpNFgeFHoAxzs5Sxexa_fo-Tv8cBB4ZojtFr-CWRCXT-uq7FcshEPqPlmpeK2LGsk_LRzdHzxRr01IhwvRqN__pswbdQPHM4s/s320/016.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Anyways things have been going pretty well here. I had a great birthday two weekends ago, and continue to enjoy my experiences here on the other side. This weekend I went on a party cruise off the coast of Incheon with about 900 other foreigners all dressed up for Halloween, it was a lot of fun! I enjoyed being a secret service agent and being able to act like I was an agent all day.....<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaXLDd3w01hB8s-xn5xrGGAyIq4VRtC-jSDOakQ7AKjdykNPcWL8p0awWjRCQ14qBXufTR3T4gGE96PXfGC8faS3JPPAPBLxMt8A3-b16XGzMAMKtEjx3aBKeva3BKsgWMUd1zAWZ2LVk/s1600/agent+man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaXLDd3w01hB8s-xn5xrGGAyIq4VRtC-jSDOakQ7AKjdykNPcWL8p0awWjRCQ14qBXufTR3T4gGE96PXfGC8faS3JPPAPBLxMt8A3-b16XGzMAMKtEjx3aBKeva3BKsgWMUd1zAWZ2LVk/s320/agent+man.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me with peeps Michelle, Becky, and Lisa</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTcebr1cWqDuPdP2LfpnZqnUko6_A6bdrQgTslVXVmkDA7Fd6nvVufSEy2mshkWTZCI3OUrmQfQ4pqPKrBEE1FzRok1WUZ61lgL9SJQ1La9PPjx-Vga_0MD4x4JgHN4dDzM66KzWK_8C8/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTcebr1cWqDuPdP2LfpnZqnUko6_A6bdrQgTslVXVmkDA7Fd6nvVufSEy2mshkWTZCI3OUrmQfQ4pqPKrBEE1FzRok1WUZ61lgL9SJQ1La9PPjx-Vga_0MD4x4JgHN4dDzM66KzWK_8C8/s400/011.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Party Boat!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Halloween isn't really celebrated here, they do know of it though. So everyone enjoyed laughing at all of us on the subway ride to the ferry. It was especially fun when the giant mob of dressed up foreigners was waiting for one car ferry to unload so ours could pull up. We treated every car going by like they were celebrities, it was funny! But anywho, we do celebrate it at the the hogwons, so on Thursday and Friday I got a break from teaching and just played games with my classes and the school was a little dressed up for the day:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguBUmw2ltTb965BePv4BkMA8Fse7jlMX0jO-9df4-r54E_u-LX_bYtVq9AWJQwn5-gNquT2PCIOOqBR8DJiZ6y54oQUpZ4WMFH6k9CmQ0nae-MB6_LtjIZp2e_V4TbVdh56Ypci007bek/s1600/008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguBUmw2ltTb965BePv4BkMA8Fse7jlMX0jO-9df4-r54E_u-LX_bYtVq9AWJQwn5-gNquT2PCIOOqBR8DJiZ6y54oQUpZ4WMFH6k9CmQ0nae-MB6_LtjIZp2e_V4TbVdh56Ypci007bek/s320/008.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZvbgtQEM2kKNw84KZ8PKT28TCJWKaiXhFNb5sANkpDmEEdWBb16_FbsGzVIXub7IzkaqGBmi6eV-VUvAq-9-Gvn8x-nSL_fOxUPiH9EHuI6CgACVgVGCpiNVDOyGdtM_I_w06Fw_t58/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZvbgtQEM2kKNw84KZ8PKT28TCJWKaiXhFNb5sANkpDmEEdWBb16_FbsGzVIXub7IzkaqGBmi6eV-VUvAq-9-Gvn8x-nSL_fOxUPiH9EHuI6CgACVgVGCpiNVDOyGdtM_I_w06Fw_t58/s320/007.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<br />
So in the past few months I've been doing some travelling, but since mid September it's died down. In August I went to the city of Busan for a beach/party weekend. Took the KTX, Korea's high speed train to make it to Busan in only 2 hours. Small country, eh? (Canadian friend's are rubbing off on me...) Anyways I think of it kind of as Korea's Miami, lots of beautiful beaches. I went with a big group of people, and we spent the time on the beaches and the nearby bars. Sunday night of this 3 day weekend was on the beach the ENTIRE night, which was a great idea at the time, but by 6pm on Monday I could barely keep my eyes open and was really regretting getting a late train back to Seoul. That day I did make it to a temple right on the coast, which was very cool to see. But here are some pictures form Busan!:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYlS2TlCMMQlE3pvgfnGYnogfRIv5lJRCjAwuKBzDGlNXZTfWEJPqnbSxeWZpqyG8ILocCMfjAAbmiPQe-ZyR9vIqMgfNX8Yof_2cBxe8SAUPOPIx_06XqwK0We8egjCrhc2ZwZODUsgs/s1600/DSC04606.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYlS2TlCMMQlE3pvgfnGYnogfRIv5lJRCjAwuKBzDGlNXZTfWEJPqnbSxeWZpqyG8ILocCMfjAAbmiPQe-ZyR9vIqMgfNX8Yof_2cBxe8SAUPOPIx_06XqwK0We8egjCrhc2ZwZODUsgs/s400/DSC04606.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Statues on the walk up to the temple..<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAj-d3ldaY8bMdAwyzYNqunVupCrG1hyphenhyphen-8-9pF-PDoJTzPZEMBAO6LyT6hhs0CLumG_tICsICJtKBYaGzR_cb_23tFNTVavzUlh8toyDU0BgMmg-DYttW3OMvPCALLcOapCWL1CPAuC-o/s1600/DSC04612.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAj-d3ldaY8bMdAwyzYNqunVupCrG1hyphenhyphen-8-9pF-PDoJTzPZEMBAO6LyT6hhs0CLumG_tICsICJtKBYaGzR_cb_23tFNTVavzUlh8toyDU0BgMmg-DYttW3OMvPCALLcOapCWL1CPAuC-o/s400/DSC04612.JPG" width="223" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDmqTZ6MOSO1qGjL-lfkcDME-yDOkvokyPXvD6Ayls-_-8Soh6LukHLmA3pehQCcsZM4DRRrPUX6bc1yVb6xn8hGvnrP4jw7YdG2JHaSbfw6XPy7gJsX_C_qFkN4kQIy-j0v6J5u-tXlw/s1600/DSC04625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDmqTZ6MOSO1qGjL-lfkcDME-yDOkvokyPXvD6Ayls-_-8Soh6LukHLmA3pehQCcsZM4DRRrPUX6bc1yVb6xn8hGvnrP4jw7YdG2JHaSbfw6XPy7gJsX_C_qFkN4kQIy-j0v6J5u-tXlw/s400/DSC04625.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A neat looking dragon statue</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUHspyeG6JKQyT88D3LRbmcg1GtTzRmWBQ8vVrPsPECfDKt-IO6-4fKMtwKUNeWALALqdHjNfbX3bRDP9fm7fA8ddooZKL1djkThjiJvrC_vNTe_QGr2ZU4bIDUIpbKB__AaQx2gC3MU/s1600/DSC04617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUHspyeG6JKQyT88D3LRbmcg1GtTzRmWBQ8vVrPsPECfDKt-IO6-4fKMtwKUNeWALALqdHjNfbX3bRDP9fm7fA8ddooZKL1djkThjiJvrC_vNTe_QGr2ZU4bIDUIpbKB__AaQx2gC3MU/s400/DSC04617.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The temple complex</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLJ7BsJOKHH_o6eoG2ghE9rPL_8_ddw6K5lyP4ygCmkos50VEiw2W6t7_4O-EhWJwjAxGGY1h3y4B1U3EP9i0U1cYW9EIMDFn48GoEzIX6nYSxylAWZnFTq1b3V-vLA2Mq7G5ezuaNg_8/s1600/DSC04619.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLJ7BsJOKHH_o6eoG2ghE9rPL_8_ddw6K5lyP4ygCmkos50VEiw2W6t7_4O-EhWJwjAxGGY1h3y4B1U3EP9i0U1cYW9EIMDFn48GoEzIX6nYSxylAWZnFTq1b3V-vLA2Mq7G5ezuaNg_8/s320/DSC04619.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB1gExm_FUphUwowQdCQW5A4MuZz-8d6Hk14e7LXZXWqdyIteTlsThqq-XX7dAGGSllhWbW1I07uSyKntRQtPni9RyHKNH9ScPdVkJGxBRmtPFjXW-_iuJVeiWt5xff3Ju2_CapOsepN0/s1600/DSC04623.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB1gExm_FUphUwowQdCQW5A4MuZz-8d6Hk14e7LXZXWqdyIteTlsThqq-XX7dAGGSllhWbW1I07uSyKntRQtPni9RyHKNH9ScPdVkJGxBRmtPFjXW-_iuJVeiWt5xff3Ju2_CapOsepN0/s320/DSC04623.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBok9fn4k2EKN0cTiDaABipvPKbJLDIp_dcoxbk5TTrf9k6CDThorhKIA8t8ePEX1y7GQR0rSV2o6a8mkwRYdTl75t5SU-7VPv42tby2YMu6zCbfaDAeNlcbBFIe0T5WZEWp4Ij_ezhZU/s1600/DSC04636.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBok9fn4k2EKN0cTiDaABipvPKbJLDIp_dcoxbk5TTrf9k6CDThorhKIA8t8ePEX1y7GQR0rSV2o6a8mkwRYdTl75t5SU-7VPv42tby2YMu6zCbfaDAeNlcbBFIe0T5WZEWp4Ij_ezhZU/s400/DSC04636.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVPfFxy-v5_9ykDK6b-Mp6XptOo1LdlU2CFsfy5oeKxRorWNKQow1C0ohKShdpu6Ek-q0-pruBe98-w8xOErZ3bPpkkgDsJ8DpFD4mH5Pa6gO1eWc5LzFJrDEitJnQ1AmBCu9NkHMvTAY/s1600/DSC04643.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVPfFxy-v5_9ykDK6b-Mp6XptOo1LdlU2CFsfy5oeKxRorWNKQow1C0ohKShdpu6Ek-q0-pruBe98-w8xOErZ3bPpkkgDsJ8DpFD4mH5Pa6gO1eWc5LzFJrDEitJnQ1AmBCu9NkHMvTAY/s400/DSC04643.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Haeundae Beach! the famous beach of Busan</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiLy7WMq2q48rbL-b9kyzwY0_HMX7C6Bt4GarehlCRCdrGl-tANuVGelCtKg-JHg9xFrFM7hmpAMs_rjVer_YUkCg7_rXgdcoATK-H0L_1NGIuGjEewlEGr2oZwBD5ovuFQHw7VddBG3Q/s1600/DSC04657.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiLy7WMq2q48rbL-b9kyzwY0_HMX7C6Bt4GarehlCRCdrGl-tANuVGelCtKg-JHg9xFrFM7hmpAMs_rjVer_YUkCg7_rXgdcoATK-H0L_1NGIuGjEewlEGr2oZwBD5ovuFQHw7VddBG3Q/s400/DSC04657.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gwangalli Beach...this is the beach with a bridge as the background, that is what I have at the very top of this blog..</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRa5el0pCsNUlmIt-P1XB8HHVIkozhniR4SFzTSpJOn08jIezFgCpc2gScszh1sBDnFBgSHhlI3C8K0MMUIHDFTW8Ain53hSJghCypeZmUQbqIIJJCGDGHuvnFz-uDq0pvJ7BJQM2Sq2U/s1600/DSC04642.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRa5el0pCsNUlmIt-P1XB8HHVIkozhniR4SFzTSpJOn08jIezFgCpc2gScszh1sBDnFBgSHhlI3C8K0MMUIHDFTW8Ain53hSJghCypeZmUQbqIIJJCGDGHuvnFz-uDq0pvJ7BJQM2Sq2U/s640/DSC04642.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Haeundae</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgd5Js657RU3zWlTBc2bu_AO_HavSVO8Pw3ODz3RuQvuEZWailg8XkecyC2n5V67oHxOrGj8dEaeoUBrVeJaJU-XYSZHkRfbw9vLlFWxDweOpI2L9Iqp6-6EN5DHAoZEPq2E5xJ6QyqQ0/s1600/DSC04639.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgd5Js657RU3zWlTBc2bu_AO_HavSVO8Pw3ODz3RuQvuEZWailg8XkecyC2n5V67oHxOrGj8dEaeoUBrVeJaJU-XYSZHkRfbw9vLlFWxDweOpI2L9Iqp6-6EN5DHAoZEPq2E5xJ6QyqQ0/s640/DSC04639.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">more Haeundae</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlyKGNh_HUWRtnJpy4B0JOWb1CIAOu3FnHSplkcJF5Y1oA26jbx1zgnNtD9k3_9ogcPI1Hmdo5_lg8jPARgnhg9cum28AcXWrSyCx1f5iQZJgrAJHui0wFIRdii6TJ0DLZn8rN5JxjBd0/s1600/DSC04658.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlyKGNh_HUWRtnJpy4B0JOWb1CIAOu3FnHSplkcJF5Y1oA26jbx1zgnNtD9k3_9ogcPI1Hmdo5_lg8jPARgnhg9cum28AcXWrSyCx1f5iQZJgrAJHui0wFIRdii6TJ0DLZn8rN5JxjBd0/s400/DSC04658.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gwangalli again...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB9lVMewp5WrW713tn19gyL3B6TZ2jRzlnzaTrqt8BKAn1T5rJTYzygdDbJfywwzbwtlR7oVrHK0beroxl7n9yaqORsIoEU5s42apHr55FhsbnwXtTnbktvUimMTNjdJJKUmPORwyA2xU/s1600/DSC04659.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB9lVMewp5WrW713tn19gyL3B6TZ2jRzlnzaTrqt8BKAn1T5rJTYzygdDbJfywwzbwtlR7oVrHK0beroxl7n9yaqORsIoEU5s42apHr55FhsbnwXtTnbktvUimMTNjdJJKUmPORwyA2xU/s400/DSC04659.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A fun and exciting city, great night life, like all of Korea!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
In September I spent my Chuseok holiday (comparable to America's Thanksgiving) with a couple of friends and many other tourist on a trip with Adventure Korea to Ulleung-do. It's a smaller volcanic island in the East Sea (NOT the Sea of Japan, Korean's don't take to that name very well...) It took about 3 hours by ferry to get to the island, and it was quite beautiful. The weather unfortunately didn't cooperate, as it was mostly raining and overcast. But I still got a chance to hike to the 1,000 meter high summit of the island's highest peak, and enjoyed the rock formations throughout the trip. We were there for three days and two nights, stayed in a pension. We accidentally turned the heat on in our room while turning on the air conditioning. Heating Korea is done by pumping hot water through pipes located under the floor, and in pensions you sleep on mats on the floor (as most Koreans do at home). IT IS AMAZING to lay down on a heated wood floor for a nap, and to have the aircon on cooling you down at the same time. A great nap that day indeed. We took a bus tour to all sides of the island, and had a fun tour guide. His English was rusty but he definitely gets an A+ for effort. Ulleung-do is very close to Dokdo island, a pretty big territory dispute between Korea and Japan. It's basically a large rock, and it's currently in Korea's possession. I'm sure its argued for the fishing rights around it. One Korean family does live on the island, tax free of course. I didn't make it to Dokdo, and since the ferry ride to it made everyone throw up that went, I'm glad I did not. Ulleung-do was beautiful enough. Enough of my rambling, here the pictures!:<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qRKAr4BWoAFrYD3nemfVpiSFUv7hwpaCs-wNou5OHo-fqNoOnGXDky09WPbFYr2fdpynJtTSjKcMMsaRK8bt-PNi2eK3MVHzmK1bXE6NnqDKd8ZzODaphxXK26pXZ0QWdHoaSq9nweU/s1600/DSC04671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qRKAr4BWoAFrYD3nemfVpiSFUv7hwpaCs-wNou5OHo-fqNoOnGXDky09WPbFYr2fdpynJtTSjKcMMsaRK8bt-PNi2eK3MVHzmK1bXE6NnqDKd8ZzODaphxXK26pXZ0QWdHoaSq9nweU/s400/DSC04671.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The harbor the ferry brings you to...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-6tyeHT9wERHq0zRImZlQ2H7NSOAe_AmoLynqxo-3t4cvKvAnNIT1zFGlvtwPYzIYlnKfgUQhWhlLgFcJZYSNzorRzvlyqFI0vevKZVDIUzZ1qDIe7Z8hYtJBwRNVfngqAZL_Z4QhXvY/s1600/DSC04675.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-6tyeHT9wERHq0zRImZlQ2H7NSOAe_AmoLynqxo-3t4cvKvAnNIT1zFGlvtwPYzIYlnKfgUQhWhlLgFcJZYSNzorRzvlyqFI0vevKZVDIUzZ1qDIe7Z8hYtJBwRNVfngqAZL_Z4QhXvY/s400/DSC04675.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This trail is carved into the rock along the ocean, great views and cool rocks. There's a bridge we jumped off and into the water, the water's temperature was perfect!! No pictures of me jumping though :(<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfn9hroO2kU08DzyQGYhLin37683dPt5DGoRfRgZo-yX2KhahyphenhyphenCn5MOpLxnyBfjaSFUSzxOxEScoEDGcdaFmn8r0ndz1cdP-I7pzg88tT4jFFtZxa21PR4o3TNGT1VWtRMIyQLqBZMnHI/s1600/DSC04676.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfn9hroO2kU08DzyQGYhLin37683dPt5DGoRfRgZo-yX2KhahyphenhyphenCn5MOpLxnyBfjaSFUSzxOxEScoEDGcdaFmn8r0ndz1cdP-I7pzg88tT4jFFtZxa21PR4o3TNGT1VWtRMIyQLqBZMnHI/s400/DSC04676.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ot3ZK_l3dqc5adXPzoNTUuLOWi6Tw0GRHtfUMe3xla4PRY8nWmafP33rRBK0CoNIYM4AMRygEJvGBIzbfpNf9lPd855Hv3RHfl3Zh1XJ0MSNkrV8A8PhTpQ6wEadCeiKVliENQQPbJU/s1600/DSC04679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ot3ZK_l3dqc5adXPzoNTUuLOWi6Tw0GRHtfUMe3xla4PRY8nWmafP33rRBK0CoNIYM4AMRygEJvGBIzbfpNf9lPd855Hv3RHfl3Zh1XJ0MSNkrV8A8PhTpQ6wEadCeiKVliENQQPbJU/s400/DSC04679.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrWYj9zH6HMYl66o27W4_DTPjTcqtJYkAL0EwpSTyFbzLMgePgq4IfxVBunrEvA97UKNRjbe_MXP_Veiqz-RreLGF90N-Ri7XvOSQ_pJcXaiLq0gkuNA5DDVZt9JSMFuOz2hTbAgLbrLY/s1600/DSC04684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrWYj9zH6HMYl66o27W4_DTPjTcqtJYkAL0EwpSTyFbzLMgePgq4IfxVBunrEvA97UKNRjbe_MXP_Veiqz-RreLGF90N-Ri7XvOSQ_pJcXaiLq0gkuNA5DDVZt9JSMFuOz2hTbAgLbrLY/s640/DSC04684.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6DAlRqMCThTOAz4T1wicrbULrO9yhzPlv6al0tA4CWjTWsI5WclkTES7Ca0jA-QIFUZzeHRGZ1NOG48MrDuWDL21UfADJLnrMf4vbgN05V3KgHKq6hN5JUYOavzlVSGmV-qpiyqIaWbs/s1600/DSC04687.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6DAlRqMCThTOAz4T1wicrbULrO9yhzPlv6al0tA4CWjTWsI5WclkTES7Ca0jA-QIFUZzeHRGZ1NOG48MrDuWDL21UfADJLnrMf4vbgN05V3KgHKq6hN5JUYOavzlVSGmV-qpiyqIaWbs/s400/DSC04687.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinC5DBgzid-RhCE4z4-5f0H5qaDhGq03jCGlJET1KldS8MeOJvPwUhoa__CPf755Jf3AoqNlGTUHVQZwGflXHMDaffPc95IJI-WwFDDfbc3aQga63YMvW3f0z-J1_YwZlMgvCTSRfqA-E/s1600/DSC04694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinC5DBgzid-RhCE4z4-5f0H5qaDhGq03jCGlJET1KldS8MeOJvPwUhoa__CPf755Jf3AoqNlGTUHVQZwGflXHMDaffPc95IJI-WwFDDfbc3aQga63YMvW3f0z-J1_YwZlMgvCTSRfqA-E/s640/DSC04694.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtGS6_gq3D9wKTMYHDN1XIBTwfaVewmlNYuApx2DGy91VtVyhBdW1TN0-7q6Hl7i12syJmGsaPJWoCMVQDR-SUkkJkbpO4KArs6CD-Ejx2APnzOS2kyUygbhILzEaAIeZiTJv_3eefdVQ/s1600/DSC04697.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtGS6_gq3D9wKTMYHDN1XIBTwfaVewmlNYuApx2DGy91VtVyhBdW1TN0-7q6Hl7i12syJmGsaPJWoCMVQDR-SUkkJkbpO4KArs6CD-Ejx2APnzOS2kyUygbhILzEaAIeZiTJv_3eefdVQ/s640/DSC04697.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXisyfDvNJbsk9MVKYXGbigiAqanOGxiF6MLsSRtjkUIrFpkRDAmSPBHsPFqo0N6MbutGmPngyn1u8JpqfYDsSB-yIpLnAbIbNtjRMKnGMqTBDy-DBnMyfhMoI6IHSDoqbTWoDcH9I_0k/s1600/DSC04698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXisyfDvNJbsk9MVKYXGbigiAqanOGxiF6MLsSRtjkUIrFpkRDAmSPBHsPFqo0N6MbutGmPngyn1u8JpqfYDsSB-yIpLnAbIbNtjRMKnGMqTBDy-DBnMyfhMoI6IHSDoqbTWoDcH9I_0k/s640/DSC04698.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSJEpcWDtLmt44jMTw7m1GUrt_OLBQSyH5KAJ4_QdatEMAEYFV2a-LcOFFdhNSker_aop7aFDuMCn6T8mDsO1I9x6p06qr1446OQqod0k_3LYgVm6qL2oZ2ibjTPHMYwHor5vEqt4XUyo/s1600/DSC04700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSJEpcWDtLmt44jMTw7m1GUrt_OLBQSyH5KAJ4_QdatEMAEYFV2a-LcOFFdhNSker_aop7aFDuMCn6T8mDsO1I9x6p06qr1446OQqod0k_3LYgVm6qL2oZ2ibjTPHMYwHor5vEqt4XUyo/s640/DSC04700.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVLL68h1eGOSafWX_bQoK1mtMHEYufOTYTSmtS7o1MIphRkP7ePFfVdHkCGdkvC8XZ91jenO2v_aKC6Nc7JHPKK7pB__MM0O6pw967QBuJ6iPV-vowQ1ejyXi7QGN5u9-Ptv1Cxza-IMo/s1600/DSC04702.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVLL68h1eGOSafWX_bQoK1mtMHEYufOTYTSmtS7o1MIphRkP7ePFfVdHkCGdkvC8XZ91jenO2v_aKC6Nc7JHPKK7pB__MM0O6pw967QBuJ6iPV-vowQ1ejyXi7QGN5u9-Ptv1Cxza-IMo/s640/DSC04702.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB4RFVZcS2O705Fr_pJ0QyE4PpscBKk1RytQUa_ASpBVBga4JAwax5bokY5mYe0y1Jp-oBJxtbXImgpvgZ8YLeymuY40G0AQBNtt2bGgvfqiXMGcd6-Ws9t_erdhYd1kWefNHioWVfa2g/s1600/DSC04711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB4RFVZcS2O705Fr_pJ0QyE4PpscBKk1RytQUa_ASpBVBga4JAwax5bokY5mYe0y1Jp-oBJxtbXImgpvgZ8YLeymuY40G0AQBNtt2bGgvfqiXMGcd6-Ws9t_erdhYd1kWefNHioWVfa2g/s640/DSC04711.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik9ZLpKzs1nMwOxAtwK64aZdcHtvexaImBkyZSXv_N-KF3gAZOS6JZwzHXvCuMhgKEa4JtBolq1uySlmIProFWm35AU6-PmhyphenhyphenCpG59A7zZfrrVfJED1SXN0jQmK00NcfZcKLLmrnaZi_M/s1600/DSC04712.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik9ZLpKzs1nMwOxAtwK64aZdcHtvexaImBkyZSXv_N-KF3gAZOS6JZwzHXvCuMhgKEa4JtBolq1uySlmIProFWm35AU6-PmhyphenhyphenCpG59A7zZfrrVfJED1SXN0jQmK00NcfZcKLLmrnaZi_M/s640/DSC04712.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXsa-d8lS-Pph-OTNB20v3xO2sYezC4LXRofh-WOk0vPvUelbhgL1fmbTrIGlsn28iMOWxk0ReYEbMyrqQcv5MKyZ-9l0zo7kmvIaX0T_30oOM8tZ3lnPcgDxJJW6_FBx3ZvRAIkwWmuI/s1600/DSC04725.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXsa-d8lS-Pph-OTNB20v3xO2sYezC4LXRofh-WOk0vPvUelbhgL1fmbTrIGlsn28iMOWxk0ReYEbMyrqQcv5MKyZ-9l0zo7kmvIaX0T_30oOM8tZ3lnPcgDxJJW6_FBx3ZvRAIkwWmuI/s640/DSC04725.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Korean home from the late 1800s</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH8ZF-kHX7EMWNTzRAQXXwyXdB29rVSQLQdmAhHGXK-YKRq0FMqceyrEJOGGd4uhTWWgfOM2rvLCfrIbPtoKOvfpaoz-78Lm0Sexj6Es7-_JfLARZgBO2An1NmikM7RxHdty95em7ciiM/s1600/DSC04728.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH8ZF-kHX7EMWNTzRAQXXwyXdB29rVSQLQdmAhHGXK-YKRq0FMqceyrEJOGGd4uhTWWgfOM2rvLCfrIbPtoKOvfpaoz-78Lm0Sexj6Es7-_JfLARZgBO2An1NmikM7RxHdty95em7ciiM/s640/DSC04728.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">just a cool waterway along a sidewalk that ducks under a bridge here for a moment...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0OgrgfqrH_v9g7drpBZk6epPCimufhTPQ4_YyJ_HOoWinvgHjeWNiU0Bqdpo3WDCNbnzjrOywcdWn0msrn0Duu2Mi8D8a-57TAp4bUPy9vObIG4YmUg97jV1iiKJm2ROd-bBv6Yv1YE/s1600/DSC04731.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0OgrgfqrH_v9g7drpBZk6epPCimufhTPQ4_YyJ_HOoWinvgHjeWNiU0Bqdpo3WDCNbnzjrOywcdWn0msrn0Duu2Mi8D8a-57TAp4bUPy9vObIG4YmUg97jV1iiKJm2ROd-bBv6Yv1YE/s640/DSC04731.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The beginning of our hike up Seonginbong Peak...down below is the main city Dodong, where the ferry port is and our pension...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVjxxQm9SkkHxAaD0BvChEvaMIGD2gIvMUx1Jk5fq6OG85kDluPkmxOl2A0mrCuuDI0rjukiRwV3q2zjvv7CexcM9XPtXVBtCVWgC7V4SCUiFHdpOuhm-LH428koSf3Ju8irAEwv9CHpc/s1600/DSC04733.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVjxxQm9SkkHxAaD0BvChEvaMIGD2gIvMUx1Jk5fq6OG85kDluPkmxOl2A0mrCuuDI0rjukiRwV3q2zjvv7CexcM9XPtXVBtCVWgC7V4SCUiFHdpOuhm-LH428koSf3Ju8irAEwv9CHpc/s640/DSC04733.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Please do not be fooled by this photo, this makes the hike look easy. Most of it was intense climbing, especially the beginning part that seriously must have risen up at a 45 degree angle...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjhcyJt67TlYo5KSUot0VNOhfE6eeBDxXSX9b9gbe1lpQP8LIdAZg65UcKVvU2Recsemia1Ip3JY9ojzkfD5DzWIvRJQDARlZkRjAkoxZNY_AZXohHPfRThQfJ_jNyMDFICPgrOoxp2qc/s1600/DSC04735.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjhcyJt67TlYo5KSUot0VNOhfE6eeBDxXSX9b9gbe1lpQP8LIdAZg65UcKVvU2Recsemia1Ip3JY9ojzkfD5DzWIvRJQDARlZkRjAkoxZNY_AZXohHPfRThQfJ_jNyMDFICPgrOoxp2qc/s640/DSC04735.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbgdSonF3_z91H5WNZPjdq-a_Xg4tDxT195hBo4v7zOFyr9Jdkdq_7jGPNKi22SF3-MDdsHlmUgOZ7tWeBKWu1pax9tB6PmKwOBNatq5b4YySnN3dm7d2qL93eqKrE2ywDnJWFOGdIKYk/s1600/DSC04737.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbgdSonF3_z91H5WNZPjdq-a_Xg4tDxT195hBo4v7zOFyr9Jdkdq_7jGPNKi22SF3-MDdsHlmUgOZ7tWeBKWu1pax9tB6PmKwOBNatq5b4YySnN3dm7d2qL93eqKrE2ywDnJWFOGdIKYk/s640/DSC04737.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">decent view from a little gazebo</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgzBBkZyYJNQGP-S56GSdeIa-pTGguyn6Q3D4pzXdxeNHzgyaOf1gNx6iY6yQ8hKwOGsHJjChj82X1x3s8ieZQ2e5VW6j2arG4FMI1KkBO9oAQwODCBPIE_nTwsYmITXjsIbrZh9aevmI/s1600/DSC04738.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgzBBkZyYJNQGP-S56GSdeIa-pTGguyn6Q3D4pzXdxeNHzgyaOf1gNx6iY6yQ8hKwOGsHJjChj82X1x3s8ieZQ2e5VW6j2arG4FMI1KkBO9oAQwODCBPIE_nTwsYmITXjsIbrZh9aevmI/s640/DSC04738.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The top! Looking down into the crater left by the volcano...the ocean is in the background..</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0GgbG47Ltuq94rC0FtAMFQbQF3lPs0f-2zEOvzl9YpMu1Mz6u3tc51gJ9qkjD0XNCKFL_4QvWP3jDGkRiRa8VOdj5-INglyFGphQsa71d4PUMxkJq2Yqo4n3Bl3qIJzPlhY2o8VWNPeQ/s1600/DSC04739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0GgbG47Ltuq94rC0FtAMFQbQF3lPs0f-2zEOvzl9YpMu1Mz6u3tc51gJ9qkjD0XNCKFL_4QvWP3jDGkRiRa8VOdj5-INglyFGphQsa71d4PUMxkJq2Yqo4n3Bl3qIJzPlhY2o8VWNPeQ/s640/DSC04739.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRpwW8d230Kxnm4Z8I22AFF_METTuDMxWF7czLKfI0pfwwF92QIvIuKgJ0Bb46eomhypEgiWu-QEFoN8GPK6XW1gCzpKxc0c-XBoRkvg-ciGRFovOyroZwMbR2abCsJd3PZi2XBwLnM58/s1600/DSC04740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRpwW8d230Kxnm4Z8I22AFF_METTuDMxWF7czLKfI0pfwwF92QIvIuKgJ0Bb46eomhypEgiWu-QEFoN8GPK6XW1gCzpKxc0c-XBoRkvg-ciGRFovOyroZwMbR2abCsJd3PZi2XBwLnM58/s640/DSC04740.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking the other way, you can see the other side of the island.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgVLeyCiMm6cde6PpETJDZrPCq-pKcyD9lXfOL0cDZMNnZn-khQsMrZefCp1pMSeOmbRcPS2pdzjVH_7C6BzhYnZ5xAJCF0fxaJfdu-HuwzMXPZaVdvE73Sof2cK-RXRDUhmFwvBDh1DU/s1600/DSC04743.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgVLeyCiMm6cde6PpETJDZrPCq-pKcyD9lXfOL0cDZMNnZn-khQsMrZefCp1pMSeOmbRcPS2pdzjVH_7C6BzhYnZ5xAJCF0fxaJfdu-HuwzMXPZaVdvE73Sof2cK-RXRDUhmFwvBDh1DU/s640/DSC04743.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifcKPJ0Lnx_0bsYQW9tAAYpm_t8sXZLA3vGe0sKYB0LWOpvZVNY5sYrA4hUqcf_H7BwCfl_mo8xBcuj38aCTjuVn-6fELeoxDJcVlE6XGyj7u7XDoNq9l4Iy3tBTmQHK9dxaSgBqKlMN4/s1600/DSC04746.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifcKPJ0Lnx_0bsYQW9tAAYpm_t8sXZLA3vGe0sKYB0LWOpvZVNY5sYrA4hUqcf_H7BwCfl_mo8xBcuj38aCTjuVn-6fELeoxDJcVlE6XGyj7u7XDoNq9l4Iy3tBTmQHK9dxaSgBqKlMN4/s640/DSC04746.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMLzpHdFYV2wECUO4OCPmZhkfzieGUf26xiUoeKRhV4nIddhyphenhyphen6aP_15s-DIKGY5EWdnyKGlVO23ehfRNxJj847gbWggN5M4dpqK9mL6UVPN6EtE2DlpW9ZL0S-5DsAKtNgl4H_h98081I/s1600/DSC04750.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMLzpHdFYV2wECUO4OCPmZhkfzieGUf26xiUoeKRhV4nIddhyphenhyphen6aP_15s-DIKGY5EWdnyKGlVO23ehfRNxJj847gbWggN5M4dpqK9mL6UVPN6EtE2DlpW9ZL0S-5DsAKtNgl4H_h98081I/s640/DSC04750.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAnpzGCtAq2fwEvryCqUn9g1TQbAmm6SakjuSKVSBQeH3vejZr57mXLwyGHnlMMA3-pPTniZ0K5QKKulWKFWsJyFbCH5pwpoucJe_j7VX_n7ISiP03yO760dkvPlSxUspAgb-iW_3bPgU/s1600/DSC04753.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAnpzGCtAq2fwEvryCqUn9g1TQbAmm6SakjuSKVSBQeH3vejZr57mXLwyGHnlMMA3-pPTniZ0K5QKKulWKFWsJyFbCH5pwpoucJe_j7VX_n7ISiP03yO760dkvPlSxUspAgb-iW_3bPgU/s1600/DSC04753.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJxbeWMBBONHTDtKQQjDG6mgxdADuk8PbU5Iv3-kQ2XRf_7DAtUwEWJ1bYzpEkC_4fEVgM-wLxZgu3TwFHIdqFDrChk-3vtwP-Np5lgx2UQjR-n9Ugqs8Cs_3CihyphenhyphenXQhHFkSCPB83VV00/s1600/DSC04756.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJxbeWMBBONHTDtKQQjDG6mgxdADuk8PbU5Iv3-kQ2XRf_7DAtUwEWJ1bYzpEkC_4fEVgM-wLxZgu3TwFHIdqFDrChk-3vtwP-Np5lgx2UQjR-n9Ugqs8Cs_3CihyphenhyphenXQhHFkSCPB83VV00/s640/DSC04756.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dongdo by night, it took us awhile to get back down the mountain!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhgSQ_SlKzKoKFTKEK-BbxVIfSZw4v8QAsbUZNd-_BThzivM9njIdyDQLswjyXbXA4XB8IxlcyyCiOAqrsaqduvf5G5Ho7Pscmmq9crg8Fzs88SgpKOy_uB9lJh_KleuAxvTwXWyVLnSs/s1600/DSC04765.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhgSQ_SlKzKoKFTKEK-BbxVIfSZw4v8QAsbUZNd-_BThzivM9njIdyDQLswjyXbXA4XB8IxlcyyCiOAqrsaqduvf5G5Ho7Pscmmq9crg8Fzs88SgpKOy_uB9lJh_KleuAxvTwXWyVLnSs/s640/DSC04765.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI24eu_szWNFHgjl6pfLs-aR3XcgIwUkrLavftHilbQ1UH1yRpJveK2grQ9l9oJlj-pDoGKHFCkjFA__zAMl-LK_U9KUl9BvGBedT6GHay4Ig_-hlz4XOUToHXmHV4GQS682kgJwVwCH8/s1600/DSC04767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI24eu_szWNFHgjl6pfLs-aR3XcgIwUkrLavftHilbQ1UH1yRpJveK2grQ9l9oJlj-pDoGKHFCkjFA__zAMl-LK_U9KUl9BvGBedT6GHay4Ig_-hlz4XOUToHXmHV4GQS682kgJwVwCH8/s640/DSC04767.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The port town of Dongdo on Ulleung-do</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYui1X_H4fNGwVY3el2z4CdM6En3zEmYKTnDSWl2E2AXmv8eNxuhElhbufrqCAAc3f2UZ7CHKPKaQv89xw8u4ohPaH5JoK0-TqZK_DhUMD8ifmEqY5BVAPMDRMJna_sKOGVEuKzRRsIBc/s1600/DSC04770.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYui1X_H4fNGwVY3el2z4CdM6En3zEmYKTnDSWl2E2AXmv8eNxuhElhbufrqCAAc3f2UZ7CHKPKaQv89xw8u4ohPaH5JoK0-TqZK_DhUMD8ifmEqY5BVAPMDRMJna_sKOGVEuKzRRsIBc/s640/DSC04770.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the island's well known for it fresh, dried squid...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc22RVKgLrXAYvaRS9I8ffZ5L4yAeuocYkSD_WviRc-S8MKacJZJsSBBWnHH8SlPNIkmXPP5_oE_eHaKGQwyFJRiKo8jAIgpZxjUidHaLQUzVQWv5-7Q25byR9uNq7XgPZhL7s8geJ134/s1600/DSC04772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc22RVKgLrXAYvaRS9I8ffZ5L4yAeuocYkSD_WviRc-S8MKacJZJsSBBWnHH8SlPNIkmXPP5_oE_eHaKGQwyFJRiKo8jAIgpZxjUidHaLQUzVQWv5-7Q25byR9uNq7XgPZhL7s8geJ134/s640/DSC04772.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and yes, it tastes delicious! like beef jerkey with a distinct fishy flavor to it...<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<br />
Teaching's becoming more and more of a drag, but that was kind of expected. After November we start a new semester again and hopefully fresh classes will rejuvinate me, and hopefully my kids won't be as problematic as most of them seem to be this currect semester. The later half of this month I have open houses in 5 different classes, where I teach my lesson with the students AND there parents in the room, so they can observe. Problem is, this is anything but a normal lesson, and I will spend the first half of this month stressed out and prepping my kids for this one lesson, in the hopes of making it "perfect" so the parents continue to send there kids to the our hogwon. Hopefully the parents of the girl who has not talked to a teacher in her year and a half at the school upstairs will realize how pointless her being there is and save some of their money! <br />
<br />
So Korea continues on. I love hearing from everyone back home, so please feel free to email me, I miss you all! I cannot believe its been 5 months now that I've been here, the time flies by so quickly. I'm hoping winter time doesn't get too cold for me, so far the fall has been mostly beautiful and the weather is staying in the upper 40s/50s even through the night, so not too cold here yet. I'm hoping to do a temple stay sometime in the next few months, but I'm also hoping to update this blog more frequently. Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween! and enjoy this 8 year old girl's take on the movie Shrek....:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqKiQavrpkdBKMWOqqZpXYKALK2EzueauKocKb9zwyHqAHeEQ0boM5irVJtKSZxnSuDuVVq54fEOKCF3PhQcgxMqOwwvYRjcq6nohkO7Rgh8TmuR3TymOHNneuzGtqYYSUkgzF-wqJGE0/s1600/020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqKiQavrpkdBKMWOqqZpXYKALK2EzueauKocKb9zwyHqAHeEQ0boM5irVJtKSZxnSuDuVVq54fEOKCF3PhQcgxMqOwwvYRjcq6nohkO7Rgh8TmuR3TymOHNneuzGtqYYSUkgzF-wqJGE0/s640/020.JPG" width="480" /></a>coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-24748634683631631682011-08-28T01:35:00.000-07:002011-08-28T01:35:50.440-07:00Bungee Jump<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I went bungee jumping about a week ago..it was great! The initial jump off of the bridge was a little terrifying, but after that everything just went to pure adrenaline, I highly recommend everyone to try it..I though having my ankles all wrapped up would be painful when the cord pulls on you but I didn't notice it all, during or after the jump. I made some interesting noises as well....</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz9nAbmm9Bve6HlvbzWUiOZb-NYmQJwnF-98vB33fc_F_vqSfKlfzgIzSHcwKecqG1h5NliaQU4c36DsK5eyw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
We also went on a pretty tame white water rafting trip before hand. About 20 or 30 seconds of rapids every ten or 15 minutes so nothing too thrilling. The scenery was amazing in the valley though. A lot of high rocks faces on either side of the river, with a good amount of waterfalls going over them into the river and with tons of trees on tops. At one point there was 2 or 3 water falls on each side of the river as we went down this one stretch, all we needed was the music and I would of assumed we were heading int o Jurassic Park!..<br />
<br />
We started a new semester in September, and I'm quickly arriving at my 3 month mark. Time is flying by, it's really unbelievable. I'll get all new classes (or just almost all new) so I'll be learning a bunch of new names and have to reaffirm myself to a new group of students that you cannot BS with Corey Teacher! I'll post about my trip to Busan sometime later!coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-11750377694147174192011-08-22T08:37:00.000-07:002011-08-22T08:37:59.791-07:00Taebaek / Busan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Almost a month since I've written on this, but a lots been happening. I'm having a blast here in Korea now, seeing some great places and meeting some great people as well. Teaching is going well. I still make mistakes here and there, but I'll just chalk that up to the loose style of training I received. (45 minutes of observing a class the first day was it!) But the kids are pretty cool. Today I mentioned to most of my classes that we will be ending the semester next week and they'd most likely be getting new teachers. I was pleasantly surprised when most of (repeat MOST) of my students all booed my departure! So as long as the kiddos are liking me I'm happy with the job I'm doing. Oh and that they learn some English from me as well, of course...</div><br />
So I went to Taebaek Mountain for a two day trip on my summer vacation at the end of July. In the future for a long vacation like that I hope to do something much more adventurous, like leaving the country for somewhere. I've heard Taiwan is amazing so I can put that on the to do list next to the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Hong Kong, etc etc. <br />
<br />
But Taebaek was still a lot of fun, I went with a foreign travel group called Adventure Korea. It's about 3 hours east of Seoul, not too far from Pyeongchang, where the 2018 Winter Olympics will be here in Korea. It's a ski area, but we went to a cave that's the highest cave elevation wise in Korea. I found the cave to be different whereas back home, everything in the cave would dedicated to preserving the cave. Here, there was a steel walkway through the entire cave that you walked on, and many rooms had pools dug in with water fountains and colored lights giving little water shows all the time. <br />
<br />
Later that night we went to a "Cool Cinema Festival". It had been raining all day and threatening to rain again so there was not many people there for what was set up to be a huge production. Maybe 600 hundred people there?? Anyways we had no idea but before the movie played was the opening ceremony with about 2 hours of different kpop bands playing. Kpop is Korean pop music, and it kind of dominates Southeast Asia and especially Korea. Girl and boy bands. Let's just say the first 20 minutes was hilarious, the next hour and half of it was a little too much. My kids all love this stuff, and I think Koreans of all ages will listen to it..I think at least. The names of these bands were like siSTARS and Dalmation Doggy Dog....I'm not making that up...<br />
<br />
warning: turn your volume way down before playing this...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxP5MVaVVRRurx9QWvzkcXbBgh_Vjc4ZPLO9ll7o2yY0oD5AV7Kyqrs19X4JHm942AcXUuBeoSbKdNcLjR_xg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So that made for an adventurous night. After all that was a movie (Source Code). The stage was set up at the bottom of a bunch of ski runs, during the winter its a big ski resort area. Here's some pics of the whole night.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYOCYb5jAQqoxXV1WuFmN5Bu3P_ycFc6YHdzsvMlC-j3nCnvBzbaHuQO5dYICbqZ7-PCquTca9N42HGaxS1xIJPSKY2KEVNTwiMQrkHWngX5e9DgEfaEui4LswVxrvWPlggvRSDKoMBS0/s1600/DSC04539.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYOCYb5jAQqoxXV1WuFmN5Bu3P_ycFc6YHdzsvMlC-j3nCnvBzbaHuQO5dYICbqZ7-PCquTca9N42HGaxS1xIJPSKY2KEVNTwiMQrkHWngX5e9DgEfaEui4LswVxrvWPlggvRSDKoMBS0/s320/DSC04539.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidbPjJObkQJMw9j0tN0AnM3ih1rJuxh3VC_IeoX9tQkVc-ddluzyBbx46xRefJLj8CF_-4KarcY8BEgHGCWikQWhxg3aQ7g1h7rAmX-mYmsqTggvexxpO_P92ce6S2g17ZUBbvENowRr8/s1600/DSC04527.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidbPjJObkQJMw9j0tN0AnM3ih1rJuxh3VC_IeoX9tQkVc-ddluzyBbx46xRefJLj8CF_-4KarcY8BEgHGCWikQWhxg3aQ7g1h7rAmX-mYmsqTggvexxpO_P92ce6S2g17ZUBbvENowRr8/s320/DSC04527.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9Z7xWKR8wSR5lnhjngAZr71XBSlr4uIg2r2qu-Qg2Dno6k6zCxRqnVqfWhwCaKtVNu6HfOEs86PUHNygHFCnWX0NAHdjQeNI0uskWc88aCsgiG9VbulM5Nxb0bWDWnOtLXkKWogZjFo/s1600/DSC04528.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9Z7xWKR8wSR5lnhjngAZr71XBSlr4uIg2r2qu-Qg2Dno6k6zCxRqnVqfWhwCaKtVNu6HfOEs86PUHNygHFCnWX0NAHdjQeNI0uskWc88aCsgiG9VbulM5Nxb0bWDWnOtLXkKWogZjFo/s320/DSC04528.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our hotel on top of the ski slopes through the heavy fog.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK2X5zWfhONuZEvipDgIWu-3iK_hX6xtv6sJRfNcnPo5lb7xhfZtKmSlUpGhfPDjCOTZJiuU3VSt4ghMVT4PV4v551cVVXt5MrGkuoJ1wABqfdvSTrQNW4_Wkc5Q9JXQGxB91SeDDupas/s1600/DSC04504.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK2X5zWfhONuZEvipDgIWu-3iK_hX6xtv6sJRfNcnPo5lb7xhfZtKmSlUpGhfPDjCOTZJiuU3VSt4ghMVT4PV4v551cVVXt5MrGkuoJ1wABqfdvSTrQNW4_Wkc5Q9JXQGxB91SeDDupas/s320/DSC04504.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sistars hahaha....lots of lip synching</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBB_Z_hWGa3xdM8S0-GuFIt7hn17ZJHjkhWOf9C6hNKDb9TQUQQqkTtrih0bLjEu_GBElfuaVeigR1YoAXDUojIafQhRM_LopiKLMN3i-kn-PmMjXVxhc2zYkts-iJDLhYpKstLijxvf0/s1600/DSC04493.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBB_Z_hWGa3xdM8S0-GuFIt7hn17ZJHjkhWOf9C6hNKDb9TQUQQqkTtrih0bLjEu_GBElfuaVeigR1YoAXDUojIafQhRM_LopiKLMN3i-kn-PmMjXVxhc2zYkts-iJDLhYpKstLijxvf0/s320/DSC04493.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXJYGHSJxRrMcd1hViOmuwXGuGYPBw4svmpz8Uux4FYYUybG1JlTv9OLMggmKS_d2VXEVdgrVrEv53Mb4TlISgaNKPEXZLC96AlPP-aQGx7qMZUluXytTXcfrlsMC7-P4uA8v9-OuWX4s/s1600/DSC04516.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXJYGHSJxRrMcd1hViOmuwXGuGYPBw4svmpz8Uux4FYYUybG1JlTv9OLMggmKS_d2VXEVdgrVrEv53Mb4TlISgaNKPEXZLC96AlPP-aQGx7qMZUluXytTXcfrlsMC7-P4uA8v9-OuWX4s/s320/DSC04516.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">they love kpop!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhketLCDWLhfw5OPw1Mpagae73SZVXw1a4UKahN1iPsw9zNhMjVEnXW8Bk8KVxbuF3xrQApSa-bVresLc-2OG62tGqCsdPutqoXP3jUKa57thNp_3t9rmXd7hAw8_DEgC_QiphGVJ5Zxww/s1600/DSC04530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhketLCDWLhfw5OPw1Mpagae73SZVXw1a4UKahN1iPsw9zNhMjVEnXW8Bk8KVxbuF3xrQApSa-bVresLc-2OG62tGqCsdPutqoXP3jUKa57thNp_3t9rmXd7hAw8_DEgC_QiphGVJ5Zxww/s320/DSC04530.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The next day was a bright and early wake up to hike Taebaek Mountain, about a 3 hour hike up and down. The views were promised to be incredible...but guess what?? There was fog everywhere, and it rolled in just as we got to the top!!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDt7DdwaHudbMwZwp-Hkff9y_ctEkdM9BrEWIf0vJCSEZyqQ2dpnj7lAPqQNrCe2QMRWOJPhhBqg1o8lzfRqGSze-qjwLT7KBukupoeQhziiw5JImyZJrO5XMjqSa3KlU1rYITx37gl8/s1600/DSC04554.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDt7DdwaHudbMwZwp-Hkff9y_ctEkdM9BrEWIf0vJCSEZyqQ2dpnj7lAPqQNrCe2QMRWOJPhhBqg1o8lzfRqGSze-qjwLT7KBukupoeQhziiw5JImyZJrO5XMjqSa3KlU1rYITx37gl8/s320/DSC04554.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Luckily the fog broke a little at times...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy3enA7h30ImwKrFHjLdIvlgQl5DkV8iK05FQ1ZvJRnNC3kOkRtMkaG-EevIxKi7iD7M_-XpGX-AomZZV7roLPDUGeT7gkBdGpsNYj74S4l9CdFKqZ0sDpFBFNwvbQoHCfe0BusmC2_fw/s1600/DSC04573.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy3enA7h30ImwKrFHjLdIvlgQl5DkV8iK05FQ1ZvJRnNC3kOkRtMkaG-EevIxKi7iD7M_-XpGX-AomZZV7roLPDUGeT7gkBdGpsNYj74S4l9CdFKqZ0sDpFBFNwvbQoHCfe0BusmC2_fw/s640/DSC04573.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRTBZutGhzU-q3HdcmuDAJAO9aTtoUBiZIkE60SphxNCBJ9D_BQd4AnVj_vMWJl8_isiAB4-w6U56x0VXMKQkikHFp_dpMbYXZayd9ZrneZDJlBkvgGgot6qaUH5dNmSu_OLgZuaPhMs8/s1600/DSC04577.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRTBZutGhzU-q3HdcmuDAJAO9aTtoUBiZIkE60SphxNCBJ9D_BQd4AnVj_vMWJl8_isiAB4-w6U56x0VXMKQkikHFp_dpMbYXZayd9ZrneZDJlBkvgGgot6qaUH5dNmSu_OLgZuaPhMs8/s640/DSC04577.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKDuZeXkmq3HfGkmN4u7tM2u9EGn-uSIQZYiGk9ymLw0GkSID7cD8Z35L09WDvAXO3ArRt1ic1hacvlqmKrprB0gWBz7dqNqQm5GJxeHRJEoubmEaaOR2-ViSUqlojz6POdlyyS7Yg8Bs/s1600/DSC04565.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKDuZeXkmq3HfGkmN4u7tM2u9EGn-uSIQZYiGk9ymLw0GkSID7cD8Z35L09WDvAXO3ArRt1ic1hacvlqmKrprB0gWBz7dqNqQm5GJxeHRJEoubmEaaOR2-ViSUqlojz6POdlyyS7Yg8Bs/s320/DSC04565.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In front one of the Cheonje-dan that's on the top of some of the peaks. There altars for offering to heaven, and there were a number of Koreans saying prayers here.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD7uARtseliBKvGxJLyqHC_YT2Z8aOuIx6XU8Jk5_7x440_Gne28koZvAzt_qboow9Q6KRqsHBEMTJygiVrc4ICOtKopm2XVhAeh2EDY4VxelotKU6QcyDQaEr5hKKpOqV05yKhD0_K3o/s1600/DSC04551.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD7uARtseliBKvGxJLyqHC_YT2Z8aOuIx6XU8Jk5_7x440_Gne28koZvAzt_qboow9Q6KRqsHBEMTJygiVrc4ICOtKopm2XVhAeh2EDY4VxelotKU6QcyDQaEr5hKKpOqV05yKhD0_K3o/s640/DSC04551.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMsEl1MCSV1j-1kf70APy76DlI2O81_3XNOwR4ljj-0YpC7AvuV97K-PXIoCRx-NYiQh2f0tEbkp-kBTYBJNtzFyykF_kM44JdGrbaojvkDIJ9QQX-W1noDhCNI_Iz-CGUfnrdT-2W-go/s1600/DSC04583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMsEl1MCSV1j-1kf70APy76DlI2O81_3XNOwR4ljj-0YpC7AvuV97K-PXIoCRx-NYiQh2f0tEbkp-kBTYBJNtzFyykF_kM44JdGrbaojvkDIJ9QQX-W1noDhCNI_Iz-CGUfnrdT-2W-go/s320/DSC04583.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYS6AeIYtfWv2fjSmBthc8Oxm7rYFPWT5CYO_Eiv6jxGe5fiWlBxqiwycxCqPH3VIMD68eVk14D9UvAhbHPp-NQRndTD2sHAhPuRuCtWS_xQ3NyU8a8CtBWeCLBmSjdy2_Ci8MorPELE/s1600/DSC04589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYS6AeIYtfWv2fjSmBthc8Oxm7rYFPWT5CYO_Eiv6jxGe5fiWlBxqiwycxCqPH3VIMD68eVk14D9UvAhbHPp-NQRndTD2sHAhPuRuCtWS_xQ3NyU8a8CtBWeCLBmSjdy2_Ci8MorPELE/s320/DSC04589.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We found this really cool temple area tucked into the moutain side. Unfortunately none of these photos do justice just to how cool this area was. It was being remodeled, but there was a service going on in kind of make shift temple nearby, so hearing the service while peaking around was really cool.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwKGPPYTXXD62I8Z2T8j-BlRWp0SE4f1jUIFsTGuY1Gim5fICeXwoCDBcCsBX4-iK6Z0LLbjPezle0AuQBnR7aePkO4J1Ts5k-QYdffjsYlxXd3q9-6Q83lysLyX4uypdeddCDxN0ENm8/s1600/DSC04592.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwKGPPYTXXD62I8Z2T8j-BlRWp0SE4f1jUIFsTGuY1Gim5fICeXwoCDBcCsBX4-iK6Z0LLbjPezle0AuQBnR7aePkO4J1Ts5k-QYdffjsYlxXd3q9-6Q83lysLyX4uypdeddCDxN0ENm8/s640/DSC04592.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3vWKNOtnip32UbNsVxmAAge07jBe1NErWg4C81adtxynz4t0wMBzjGcyHamyNC8lK46nDll9kR3Gz03K3st29CI6BvFdO-o0qTswqFcH-rfln8pOm8YOEYpILGwxWh8w9R0SCwWhHdSw/s1600/DSC04593.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3vWKNOtnip32UbNsVxmAAge07jBe1NErWg4C81adtxynz4t0wMBzjGcyHamyNC8lK46nDll9kR3Gz03K3st29CI6BvFdO-o0qTswqFcH-rfln8pOm8YOEYpILGwxWh8w9R0SCwWhHdSw/s640/DSC04593.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">But yea so the trip was fun and cool. A great way to get out of the city and have some fresh air and nature around me again. I went up to a nearby mall and department store called New Core, which gives a great view of my neighborhood...here's a panoramic view of my little slice of Bucheon, Korea:</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3sjC80hGgyae3wF2yIBs0vt0obf9x9DNLGnvPWVSFS_-f9pEv_5RJN5XAZDGAnh-SMlxWW2NwqoVrTw0m3U43W0b-qZBfPCEyeVaCjXF73BWsFu_8sOYA5JrdBdVxHm7b9ypoU9yH3g/s1600/DSC04600.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3sjC80hGgyae3wF2yIBs0vt0obf9x9DNLGnvPWVSFS_-f9pEv_5RJN5XAZDGAnh-SMlxWW2NwqoVrTw0m3U43W0b-qZBfPCEyeVaCjXF73BWsFu_8sOYA5JrdBdVxHm7b9ypoU9yH3g/s1600/DSC04600.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"> My School ^ ^U-Plex Mall and Hyundai Department Store ^YMCA ^My home<br />
Just follow those arrows up to the first building and you'll be able to tell. A little park is in the foreground, just more of something other than concrete to walk through on my way over to anything by New Core. </td></tr>
</tbody></table> Alrighty well these take way too long to write, but soon I'll tell about Busan and show some pictures, and put my video up of me bungee jumping and some of the things I saw that day while white water rafting. Hope all is well back home, miss you all!coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-82254084112694916712011-07-24T08:14:00.000-07:002011-07-24T08:14:33.519-07:00MUD FESTThings are really starting to come together for me here in Bucheon. I'm enjoying myself and meeting more and more people each week. Definitely comfortable in my surroundings now. The job is pretty easy now that I've been in it for almost two months, which means one thing of course: time to start traveling! Let's start with a mud festival, what else?...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOm6uqvARwqcx8dcirdABCzWDZPfZQ4dW0GLAwsJ7miBPko8zFV5n7fWigjkjY_5ausHKBuBvzEa47T2dK-2bK8VmWPAhN0BqQxX3RJSp4uxu4QAkWJNoOOM1V7R7JKvS-MPkMAEuWwS0/s1600/281320_1801643935074_1659090021_1543619_3624643_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOm6uqvARwqcx8dcirdABCzWDZPfZQ4dW0GLAwsJ7miBPko8zFV5n7fWigjkjY_5ausHKBuBvzEa47T2dK-2bK8VmWPAhN0BqQxX3RJSp4uxu4QAkWJNoOOM1V7R7JKvS-MPkMAEuWwS0/s400/281320_1801643935074_1659090021_1543619_3624643_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We look deceivingly clean here, but since we're in the "prison" we're constantly being splashed with buckets of mud from behind. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> About a week ago, the continuous rain of the monsoon season finally ceased, and luckily, it stopped in the middle of the day on Saturday while I was in Boryeong. It's about a 2 hour drive south of Seoul, and for nine days in the summer it's home to largest mud festival in the world. I went on a trip organized by Rhythm and Booze, the local expat bar that's about a block from where I live. We had a full busload of people, so about 40, including several teachers from my school and lots of other foreigners that lived around Bucheon. We left Friday night at 11pm (have to wait until all of us get out of work) and we got into Boryeong at about 2am. The hotel was called Drama hotel and was right on the beach. The name could of predicted some of the events that would later unfold that night, mainly one person in the room who had too much soju (a Korean liquor, think vodka without as much of a bite to it) and decided the floor of the hotel was a good place to get sick. But aside from that, it was a fun weekend. We went to the rooftop of the hotel when we got there on Friday night, and had a Korean BBQ with plenty of drinks to go around. Korean BBQ is basically fat pieces of pork that are grilled on top of a charcoal grill. You take the piece of meat after it's cooked, dip into some hot sauces, then throw it, rice and maybe some kimchi (korean dish, kinda like cabbage) and roll it up inside some lettuce. It's pretty damn tasty! Of course hell would break lose at each table as eventually the grease would catch on fire, creating an inferno that occasionally would catch the wooden picnic tables on fire as well. But anyways, we all survived. At around 5am we figured we might as well stay up and watch the sun rise, only to realize at 6am that it was still really overcast, and that the sun was out already and it was just another dreary, sky full of clouds kind of day. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO58t4W4gF6X_Ft8CJYyCFyEIQ_OFAppC8ZYFBLdthgAEmDsDyWfz4gajRAp43lirK73-ITx1u3eYvBlY9WdsuhFC67ACeD3__B0NHM8ehehycQy3_wli1JhYymBRAeegJ8_PIjyo7Ryc/s1600/268135_1801645495113_1659090021_1543624_4219287_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO58t4W4gF6X_Ft8CJYyCFyEIQ_OFAppC8ZYFBLdthgAEmDsDyWfz4gajRAp43lirK73-ITx1u3eYvBlY9WdsuhFC67ACeD3__B0NHM8ehehycQy3_wli1JhYymBRAeegJ8_PIjyo7Ryc/s400/268135_1801645495113_1659090021_1543624_4219287_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Improvised dance party on the beach to wash off the mud.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2G25UZjclsMOJnxo4yUwFk3Am2YUyvOWzOS7q5NUQ4yrWGhIEhOtBxdE9Lv1ed3DyOu8JdwwXgdpQLEqdP_c-KXT79k4GI2lRbVh0-jyEszeFuOzT6ymeILxN5kd83jeUoXyKsy3nfo/s1600/283165_1801642255032_1659090021_1543613_3648823_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2G25UZjclsMOJnxo4yUwFk3Am2YUyvOWzOS7q5NUQ4yrWGhIEhOtBxdE9Lv1ed3DyOu8JdwwXgdpQLEqdP_c-KXT79k4GI2lRbVh0-jyEszeFuOzT6ymeILxN5kd83jeUoXyKsy3nfo/s400/283165_1801642255032_1659090021_1543613_3648823_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Korean kids getting their mud on at the stations. And yes, it did come out of all my clothes luckily.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifL0NgMtvo3TjnhHknyM3QCgRmrsAhmYRMuXiaxoEcsNMOroknVB4CGnsUopJrVhhb71lFeNEuHIsJse7V1i_RNpnK1wgucqprS9u6Dr3UW2eIvlB9mTDB4UHHRMbm0k6IWqByvlzl_p0/s1600/281291_1801642415036_1659090021_1543614_5112448_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifL0NgMtvo3TjnhHknyM3QCgRmrsAhmYRMuXiaxoEcsNMOroknVB4CGnsUopJrVhhb71lFeNEuHIsJse7V1i_RNpnK1wgucqprS9u6Dr3UW2eIvlB9mTDB4UHHRMbm0k6IWqByvlzl_p0/s400/281291_1801642415036_1659090021_1543614_5112448_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The next day we headed down to the main part of the festival, which had stations where you'd begin to cover yourself in the mud. From there you'd go into the main part that had a lot of inflatable rides that become 10x more fun once the ride and yourself is covered in mud. The had mud pits with everyone wrestling and such, and pools to clean off in or just make a mess. In the pool we caught the attention of many by racing from one side to another (it was maybe 2 and half or 3 feet deep). Unfortunately for all the photographers who decided to get a picture of us running towards the end, we all we diving for the edge of the pool areas to win the race, and ended up covering several nice looking cameras with water. Stupid foreigners! ha. The whole festival started in the 90's to promote the mud that's found by the coast of Boryeong, and used for its natural benefits in a bunch of different cosmetics. Anyways, they have a few stages with bands playing, and a beautiful beach right which the festival is set up along. The rain stopped mid Saturday afternoon, which allowed us to be able to watch the fireworks for the opening weekend on the beach, and sit and drink on the beach all evening. I have to say it's pretty funny but I've definitely seen more sunrises in Korea than sun sets. Monday to Friday I'm at the school teaching during sunset, and when the bars never close and the nightlife is never ends hear, I constantly find myself getting back to my apartment at 6 or 7am after a night out...and I really have no complaints about it!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_jnTSPy01CHTogYw5JQ15pKDcgSv8zyzU8fupxf2tJYNaJcvtkTTE3xaXFPbHeK2gPhRH1Ah0J3MmCryi3y5B6A1pHrKUbfbfyY2Shbat5lKdcRjmP-CM2zmOSLjGJ5iEpR-EiTKVWoY/s1600/267478_1801642615041_1659090021_1543615_756629_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_jnTSPy01CHTogYw5JQ15pKDcgSv8zyzU8fupxf2tJYNaJcvtkTTE3xaXFPbHeK2gPhRH1Ah0J3MmCryi3y5B6A1pHrKUbfbfyY2Shbat5lKdcRjmP-CM2zmOSLjGJ5iEpR-EiTKVWoY/s400/267478_1801642615041_1659090021_1543615_756629_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the group in front of one of the many inflatables.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhndT5eoIPuGZMbhpG0wPgeKI8CLDgN7yT201oo0VYJZONS5rEPQ6DB3z7nWP2HJYwPMlRzWsec5PxGa3fbPC0DrYDnR8gjMXUPAr1xeJfJEimVGm0jE-yRlP9hTmsdC8rcSNg8k6aBFK4/s1600/281921_1801645335109_1659090021_1543623_3446644_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhndT5eoIPuGZMbhpG0wPgeKI8CLDgN7yT201oo0VYJZONS5rEPQ6DB3z7nWP2HJYwPMlRzWsec5PxGa3fbPC0DrYDnR8gjMXUPAr1xeJfJEimVGm0jE-yRlP9hTmsdC8rcSNg8k6aBFK4/s400/281921_1801645335109_1659090021_1543623_3446644_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A little different but just like the parks in the city, Koreans will bring tents and set them up for the day right on the beach..</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
It was so good to get out of the city and get in the ocean there. The water felt great once you dived in, and the fresh sea breeze was refreshing all weekend. Now that I got out I want to keep exploring Korea, the drive back on Sunday showed me how beautiful the country side is. This weekend is my summer vacation (yep, I have Friday July 29th off until Tuesday August 2nd, some summer break!). On Saturday and Sunday I'm heading to Gangwon-Do and the Taebaek mountain area with a tour company that takes foreigners (mainly English teachers) on trips around Korea. The other days I might find some touristy things to do and continue to explore Seoul. Hoping to have a lot of fun, meet a lot of people, and to share the experience with all of you. Here's a picture of Taebaek mountain area that I found online:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLV3DBa-vzbNiM0Sf8ki3ByowRbngeSvixKVDegzwWh1MhKist6i2LG4tJKO16S2ijk3MEdoOnEluQEzmNbKc6hnUo1tmi6Mh6mHlxdL5zWCl2OR54gXNM4B6pD52xQhUDAsWpNCeaDys/s1600/Mount-Sorak-704165.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLV3DBa-vzbNiM0Sf8ki3ByowRbngeSvixKVDegzwWh1MhKist6i2LG4tJKO16S2ijk3MEdoOnEluQEzmNbKc6hnUo1tmi6Mh6mHlxdL5zWCl2OR54gXNM4B6pD52xQhUDAsWpNCeaDys/s400/Mount-Sorak-704165.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very excited for this indeed!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102218165172597157.post-87931317355659858442011-07-03T03:03:00.000-07:002011-07-03T03:03:55.986-07:00Reading Town Honor's Ville (my school's name)Sorry about taking so long to post, I'm going to try and do a better job of it! I wanted to tell you about my school and teaching now that I'm a month into it. I'm an English teacher a hogwon, which is a private academy that teaches English courses to students, with the intention of making them fluent readers and speakers of the language. I teach students that are about 8-13 years old. Most of them start at the regular Reading Town which is on the floor above my school. The teacher 4-8 year olds. After my school, they go to the floor below us, called Avalon Glide, where the continue to study the language, and start studying science and math in English as well. It's a huge industry in South Korea, proven in that South Korea is one of the largest investors in private education. The kids at my school with take 2 or 3 classes in the afternoon or evening. A class period lasts 45 minutes with a 5 minutes break. This is in addition to the regular schools they go to earlier in the day. We have 5 native teachers (including me) and right now 5 korean teachers, but I know they are looking for 2 more korean teachers!<br />
<br />
There's three type of classes I teach. Book reading, comprehension, and speech/essay: <br />
<br />
1) Book reading is where we take a month in class to read book. I assign reading, we discuss it, and they also have workbooks to go through. It's a lot of repetition to make sure EVERY student has a strong grasp of the book, its vocabulary, what it means, etc. We meet 3 times a week, and one of those days we go to Learning Gate (the library). Here, they each pick 2 smaller books to read on their own and write a "Mini-Book Report". I then pick a big book to read, and they have to read then write a "Big Book Report" on the book that I grade, and they also have an online test they do at home on the big book. Every week we go to the library and get new books and such. Most of my classes are book reading classes.<br />
<br />
2)Comprehension is for some of the older students, and its just what it sounds like. They read articles in a book, and then we talk about what it means and such. Each unit has an articles and a workbook area associated with it, we do one unit a class and after 6 classes, we take a test on the previous units.<br />
<br />
3) Essay/Speech is where the students practice their writing skills, correctly building complete sentences and such. There's an emphasis on the kids reading out loud and writing their own essays and giving presentations. A lot of the instruction is on useful expressions and such to make a continuously flowing and long responses.<br />
<br />
So those are my classes! I have about 32 lessons a week right now, and I see the same students MWF and different students TR. Here's some pictures of my school of one of my classes!<br />
<br />
I get to school at 1pm, and my first class of the day starts at 3:40. These are the youngest kids I teach, and luckily I only have 5. It's also one of my favorite classes, but I'll admit, they behave much better than some of the other young classes the other teachers have (lucky me!).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_7Xr4UVXnVQMEDpBiI_xA8sWZZUcG4YviDjz1cuOtHh055P8S1YDGrhrRZMLIuUHavdOtiCKogkej-N92djWV28P-FGjNn7BcPF605zKDaqOHZqImaC9LThrYrpAHIJgu2ioO8QNcals/s1600/080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_7Xr4UVXnVQMEDpBiI_xA8sWZZUcG4YviDjz1cuOtHh055P8S1YDGrhrRZMLIuUHavdOtiCKogkej-N92djWV28P-FGjNn7BcPF605zKDaqOHZqImaC9LThrYrpAHIJgu2ioO8QNcals/s320/080.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The lone boy in the class Hayden didn't want his picture taken. He's always hyper and having fun, but he crosses the line too much, so I have to yell at him. This was right after he got yelled at, so he was sulking in the corner. Irechez is on the left, she's really smart but new to the program, but she is getting confident and always has the right answer for me! Jamie is in the back, she likes to answer questions or explain things by getting up and demonstrating, which hopefully will gradually turn into her using English to answer questions! Kayla is second from the left, and is quite smart too but like to take control of the class sometimes. Cindy is on the right, and if Hayden isn't being the class clown, she is. Let's just say she doesn't like rules, and I'm guessing learning English isn't her favorite past time!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2fYazbpjHAg68p5IPAbvOsgSoK-hqTZ_QUnV_Z5SqpCMavu5AixlRxrucUzkfF9J_Cd-24bPtwI6ZcGL2cuA0wJcMYqz-SI7dbq79VFOr3QmQZtaGFM_zFAe0fb2nGubsGP4u4TKDD_g/s1600/081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2fYazbpjHAg68p5IPAbvOsgSoK-hqTZ_QUnV_Z5SqpCMavu5AixlRxrucUzkfF9J_Cd-24bPtwI6ZcGL2cuA0wJcMYqz-SI7dbq79VFOr3QmQZtaGFM_zFAe0fb2nGubsGP4u4TKDD_g/s320/081.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is the face Irechez always makes when I ask who wants to read first?! The young ones love reading, and the always want to be the one to start first haha.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I took this video of them reading...it was the day after they took a test on their previous book, and they knew I was making them read this book just because we had nothing to do, since the their semester was finishing that day too. So needless to say, they weren't very cooperative!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzL39tv7nz45MoiVSfbtK6mFOnuMCQR3QmESZV_bd-NtZe0R5y8ELezWPa4eMHTCu46aHObtRuR8OYLMwmqHA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLgHkFlITbtEKfWHBIRUxgCU__RxD2MqH9UKzAW0HxFt3DSO3vE3HYV-TJXWHUqqebz3f_Tp5y7Y4I5ia3CwZVxIfeN2OVc7dh9cOaxZnJYg9vdhxQRI1Cy8O9WNNXxISNDtEOaaOISWQ/s1600/090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLgHkFlITbtEKfWHBIRUxgCU__RxD2MqH9UKzAW0HxFt3DSO3vE3HYV-TJXWHUqqebz3f_Tp5y7Y4I5ia3CwZVxIfeN2OVc7dh9cOaxZnJYg9vdhxQRI1Cy8O9WNNXxISNDtEOaaOISWQ/s320/090.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So here's my school! This is the entrance area where the front desk is.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3OQaCbxiN2EUfP34BAr4LRUL9VR0uQT_SiuEn7wCxHbIt4D8pZBI7mT00-IO_cQ2znmzJ8T5iEKrLIlWNHi9_SlUlXZqe9wITv2PAVyL4WBTnjiYX31cYQM9dHaIADktwv9Rc5czhTeo/s1600/084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3OQaCbxiN2EUfP34BAr4LRUL9VR0uQT_SiuEn7wCxHbIt4D8pZBI7mT00-IO_cQ2znmzJ8T5iEKrLIlWNHi9_SlUlXZqe9wITv2PAVyL4WBTnjiYX31cYQM9dHaIADktwv9Rc5czhTeo/s320/084.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Here's a classroom and the hallways through the area. We have about 12 or 15 classrooms? One of the is a lot larger, and wired for presentations and movies and such.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGwkZqjFAww4XJKLerYM5HT_vevR0dnpVBrbjIYmCdYHOXnvWwpU4dECzmIIU6Mdvgy0NR0gSS_CC5X7vUBHxXOnxI4jh48q9-dEs1dMVkiCzeGGwVhBwY02iFO_iQ3FxsnFwwYzzp_Bk/s1600/086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGwkZqjFAww4XJKLerYM5HT_vevR0dnpVBrbjIYmCdYHOXnvWwpU4dECzmIIU6Mdvgy0NR0gSS_CC5X7vUBHxXOnxI4jh48q9-dEs1dMVkiCzeGGwVhBwY02iFO_iQ3FxsnFwwYzzp_Bk/s320/086.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Fsgh4rPp4Rj2ziSI99anXIegUUqhyphenhyphenEPzlEwstd0SDYZJohg7JuNmn_aoPK6ZRM5fJRqYk2InEmfXI4D00TqfvQTjjKZT3R6JsEuipdAOcCPDwoZczzXOWjucAAQ6cEVq3z-FfjSM9hI/s1600/088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Fsgh4rPp4Rj2ziSI99anXIegUUqhyphenhyphenEPzlEwstd0SDYZJohg7JuNmn_aoPK6ZRM5fJRqYk2InEmfXI4D00TqfvQTjjKZT3R6JsEuipdAOcCPDwoZczzXOWjucAAQ6cEVq3z-FfjSM9hI/s320/088.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here's the faculty work area. All of our desk areas are on each wall, and the middle table will have food for us on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays, since none of us have a break during dinner time to go out a buy something on the street.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJs_ZcSlLKSvIev8fPelugzJpTqWVxSHHfHxLiX239liV0GkIAdY-XKA0b0X-K6qFBNXDh39phvLmMFXzV6n6hCCfXIsvKe2FWf50wmYnJs6Pg6al6nXDGdHHSSrjrpaxeGFlcOp55yEI/s1600/082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJs_ZcSlLKSvIev8fPelugzJpTqWVxSHHfHxLiX239liV0GkIAdY-XKA0b0X-K6qFBNXDh39phvLmMFXzV6n6hCCfXIsvKe2FWf50wmYnJs6Pg6al6nXDGdHHSSrjrpaxeGFlcOp55yEI/s320/082.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And here is my desk area!:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4fPWaNeA0fTTW1dAxOEf7Hs-Ew2SmmMPZYrC2UYPa0Ml6CU9DRQ_x-ma0m5dMabJlkyyENWcqXMQnbmPtC5OgHYtJcCzcoT9sqvTEoakwZ5B2T3wimRw7zg8yd2FITCSdihreFUVxxEE/s1600/083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4fPWaNeA0fTTW1dAxOEf7Hs-Ew2SmmMPZYrC2UYPa0Ml6CU9DRQ_x-ma0m5dMabJlkyyENWcqXMQnbmPtC5OgHYtJcCzcoT9sqvTEoakwZ5B2T3wimRw7zg8yd2FITCSdihreFUVxxEE/s320/083.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Nothing spectacular, but its works well!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I hope every has a great weekend and I'll post sooner than I did this time. I have some fun things coming up that I will definitely share on this blog. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>coreyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09217792084713678334noreply@blogger.com