Weekend Jaunts

So we haven't written in a while so I thought I would give an update on things. Our job is going well, we are finally settling into teaching and getting the hang of things pretty well. We just had Thanksgiving this past Friday. We had a potluck at the local foreigner bar. Since there are no turkeys to be found in Korea unless you want to pay about 50,000 won and also no ovens, we signed up to bring duck. The duck turned out to be pretty tasty, it tasted a lot like bacon. The turn out was really great, there was a lot of delicious food and good company! However, I missed my family back home! I am interested to see what Christmas has in store here in Yeosu. We also woke up this morning at 2:00 am to watch the buckeyes beat Michigan! We were so happy we were able to stream the game! We are hoping to be able to stream basketball games as well!

View from Odongdo Island of the city of Yeosu

Another view of Yeosu from Odongdo Island

The past two weekends we have done some more exploring of Yeosu. Last weekend we took a historical tour of the city. It was really interesting to see all of the historical sights. We saw some of the expo grounds. They are in the middle of deconstructing everything so there is really nothing to see there anymore except the aquarium. We did not go to the aquarium, however, I would like to one day. We also went to Odongdo Island. This Island is very famous in Yeosu. There is a special flower that grows there in the spring and summer and it is supposed to be a very beautiful sight. It is also a good place to see the sunrise.

There was a lighthouse on the Island that we went up in and got these pictures. It was a very beautiful view from the top. I think Odongdo would be better to visit in the spring or summer. It was a little chilly and there were no flowers in bloom. We are glad we were able to visit though it is something we have been wanting to see. The next thing we did on the tour was see Jinnamgwan Hall. It was used as the navel base of the Jeolla-do Province during the Jeseon Dynasty.

Yeosu was the famous city where Admiral Yi-Sun Shin defeated the Japaneses with his turtle ships! Below are some pictures:

Admiral Yi-Sun Shin

Jinnamgwan Hall

Very Big! It was once used as a school house. 

A dragon at Jinnamgwan Hall

Next we went to Heungguksa Temple, it is a Buddhist temple built in 1195! It was amazing to see all of the architecture and history here.

Guards, found in all Buddhist Temples 

Overall the tour was very interesting and we are very glad we were able to go on it. We are now looking forward to exploring other cities in Korea! 

This weekend we went on another hike in our city. It is very fun to just walk out your door and be able to hike a mountain! We hiked Mt. Mangmasan. We were surprised because we did not think this mountain was very high, but it was deceiving it just kept going and going and going! We hiked for about 3 hours but could have went much further, but it was getting dark and cold! 

Wes at the bottom of the mountain with some rocks 

Mr. monkey guy and Mt. Mangmasan

There were a lot of steep hills 

This pictures does not do it justice but there were a lot of these big hills to climb! 

Lots of beautiful views! 

There were also a lot of cemeteries like this on the side of the mountain. 

We would like to hike this mountain again and make it to that small building up there!! 

Wes was enjoying taking pictures that day so there are way too many pictures to add on the blog so if you would like to see them all go to my facebook and check them out there! =] Again we are enjoying hiking the mountains in Yeosu and can't wait to visit other cities and hike their mountains. We are thinking we are going to go to Gwangju next to hike Mt. Mudeungsan. 

I hope everyone is enjoying the blog!

Until next time! xoxo

Oh yeah, GO BUCKS!! 12-0 =] 

PS Shout out to Kristen Jensen =]  We saw that Michigan hat you wore to the Shoe....not cool 

Discovering the Neighborhood

This past week has been great and I think we finally feel settled. Some of the things that we have done besides working include going to the foreigner bar, Lost Sheppard Girl or LSG as the locals call it. The local foreigners are inviting and very nice. We have also explored the area of Yeosu that we live in. We went to a pizza place on the beach and did some light hiking at some foot hills. Molly and I are excited to go hiking and island hopping in the coming weeks, but for now we feel well oriented and know our way around! Here are some pictures from one of our short hikes yesterday...

Also, we have CNN International and we have followed the coverage of the destruction of hurricane Sandy. We are thinking about everyone back in the states that has been affected by Sandy. It is interesting to think that mega storms seem to be occurring with more regularity. We plan to visit what is left from the 2012 Expo here in Yeosu and I think that environmental awareness is a growing topic nationally, and especially here in Asia. People in South Korea seem to live more simply and moderately and it hasn't been hard to adjust to. It is actually refreshing as a westerner to experience the 'less is more' mentality. I thought by traveling to South Korea a month before the U.S. presidential election that we would avoid the barrage of political garjon, but Koreans constantly ask us questions about the electoral college, the parties, etc. There is no escaping the political game! It has been interesting watching CNN International though as much of the coverage has been anchored out of various Ohio cities.

The last thing I want to update the blog with is a video of a hike. It will put the pictures from above into motion:

Cheers!

Our lovely korean apartment

So Wes and I have been pretty busy lately getting settled into our apartment we moved in last Saturday and at first the place was a little messy so we had to do a lot of cleaning. Here are a few pictures of our apartment after we cleaned the place up.

 

We have 2 floors and upstairs and a basement. It's not super small but it also isn't super big but we have found that nothing in Korea is super big....everything is very small right down to their cups of water...very small. We also just got our internet set up yesterday we were very happy about that because living without it was a big pain. You don't realize how much you need something like the internet until you don't have it!

First Week and First impressions

So we have been in South Korea for a week now and it feels like decades! When we first arrived we rode on a bus for 4 hours to the city of Gwangju. Our boss from our school met us at the bus stop, we had our first Korean meal and went to a hotel to stay the night the following day our boss picked us up and we went and met up with 2 other Americans that used to work for our boss. They were really nice and told us a lot about the job. It was also good seeing other Americans! It is so strange everyone is Asian! haha i mean everywhere! I guess I really don't think of it a lot in America but it also seems like you see such a diverse crowd in America not so much here! haha The second night we also stayed in a hotel in Gwangju the next morning (Monday) we went to one of the branches of You and I in Gwangju to have an "orientation" at the orientation we were told that we may have to teach that day. I was really nervous because we had no idea even how to teach. The owner of the school went over all the material very quickly. After the orientation our boss said that one of the teachers at the school in Yeosu is not coming in today but he would teach so we could watch him and kind of see what we need to do! We were relieved by that because we were really confused how to teach the material. That night our boss told us the rest of the week we would stay in one of his friends "vacation homes" I guess they are called "pensions". The first night there was no bed so we had to sleep Asian style on the floor!!! It was a little strange but the floors are heated so it was really warm but not comfortable at all. The rest of the week we had an actual bed so that was good. Here are some pictures of the pension.....

we got to watch the debates!

sorry this is sideways but this is the bathroom!

these are the views!

We were suffering with no Internet in this beautiful place, and we were kind of stuck there because there was really nothing around and on the 3rd night our tv stopped working. We loving referred to it as jail in paradise!

Tuesday through Friday Wes and I had to teach on our own. It was very interesting to say the least! It was really difficult at first because there is certain material you have to teach the kids and it gets really repetitive and somewhat boring. It is also very confusing at first but we finally got the hang of things. The kids are very sweet but they are a little crazy too! They have a lot of energy! Just like American kids!  I thought they might be a little different from American kids but nope they are pretty much the same!  They are really cute though. Most of them can speak very good English so it isn't really hard to communicate with them. We did not have our adult teaching job last week but that starts this week and I am kind of nervous about it. They are employee's from LG who are all engineers so that makes me a little nervous. Wes said he thinks he is going to enjoy teaching adults more than the kids.

All in all our first week was pretty good.

 

So I thought I would write some first impressions about Korea.....

1. There seems to be no rules on the road. Everyone runs red lights and speeds.

2. They eat rice for every meal, breakfast lunch and dinner.

3.Everyone drinks instant coffee, and at gas stations and stores they sell cold coffee in little to go cups it is actually quite convenient and tasty.

4. Rest stops are VERY popular and big! They are like shopping malls!

5. They eat potato and sweet potato pizza I have never heard of this before but it is really good!

We thought of more but can't think of anymore at the moment!

 

Well that's all for now!

=]

It's official, we leave on Friday!

So the past couple of weeks have been very busy. First Wes and I made a trip to Chicago to visit the Korean Consulate. That was easier than I thought it would be! We walked in handed them our paperwork, passports, money and return envelope and they sent us on our way! We received our passports with our visa's the following Friday! Also this past Friday was my last day of work. It was very bittersweet. I am definitely going to miss everyone very much! I loved everyone I worked with and I especially loved all of my kiddies! Shout out to Redeemer Childcare center you guys are great!!! =]

me with my visa!

 

 Wes and I in Chicago

So ever since we got our passports back we have been patiently waiting to find out when we will be leaving. Well the time has finally arrived!!! I woke up this morning to an e-mail with our itinerary! We leave from Cincinnati on Friday at 10:04 AM, we fly to Chicago and have an 1hr 45min layover, and from there we head to Seoul! Here is the real treat, when we land in Seoul (and by this point we will have been flying for a total of 16 hours) we have to take a 6 hour bus ride to Yeosu. I think I will be a little delirious by that point so hopefully it will not seem as bad as it actually is!!!
So now my job is to pack up a years worth of...everything into 3 suitcases, this should be an interesting task.

I have never blogged before so this should be interesting.....

So I wanted to start a blog of our adventures in South Korea!!! Wes and I just accepted a position in Yeosu, South Korea on Wednesday. For anyone interested this is where we will be living for the next year!

Here is a link on some information about the city as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeosu

As you can see it is a city on the coast which I am very excited about! This means mild winters! This also means no snow!! I am also extremely excited about that!

Anyways Wes and I are teaching elementary and middle school aged children at a private school (private schools are called hagwans) named You and I English Institute. We will also be teaching adults in the mornings 4 days a week! We are unsure, at this point, of our exact date we will be leaving but we are thinking it will be the 2nd or 3rd week of October.

Tomorrow we will be sending all of our documents to our school in South Korea. After that we will need to make a trip to chicago to visit the Korean consulate. Here we will have an interview to make sure we are not drug addicts and our intentions are good in regards to teaching in Korea! We will also receive our work visas here.

Well for now this is pretty much all of the information I have. I hope I am able to update often since Korea is 13 hours ahead of Ohio, and this may be the primary source of keeping in touch with friends and family.
Well thats all for now.
xoxo
Molly