P.S. I'm in Korea

Blog Glitch

2009-08-20T17:36:00.001-07:00

Vacation is over.

School is back in session and we are now on the 2 week countdown for our plane ride home! I

have been on summer vacation since the last week in July and its been awesome.

N8 and I didn't do much, we just laid low and saved some money by living it up in our town by the beach. I have never seen so many bikinis in Gangneung. People flocked from all over to come to GyongPo Beach and just sit under umbrellas and wade in the water. The beach culture here is very different from what we are used to back home. The beach was packed at all times, it was interesting.

We also did a small hike in Seoraksan mountain with our friend Paula which was a nice day trip.

It has been very low key lately and we've been enjoying every minute of it.

Throughout our vacation we also had some summer camps to attend to but those

are fun to do and I got paid for mine which was an extra bonus!

We are also dog sitting for our friend, Josh, and I've tried to upload a video of the doggies but it hasn't been working but I figure it out soon.

Having the end coming up so soon is causing some mixed feelings. I'm feeling relaxed because work isn't too hard now but I'm getting stressed about finding another job, readjusting, saying good bye and all of that good stuff.

Just gotta breathe and take it easy. see you all very soon!

N8's Bday

2009-07-29T00:36:00.000-07:00

So I've been waiting for N8 to write about his birthday adventure so that he could choose what to say and what to omit....especially considering the photos that we have....
In celebration of his birthday, N8 decided to grow out his beard and shape it like the characters from the movie Gone With the Wind in order to be referred to as "Colonel Wildcat." If anyone slipped up and called him anything but Colonel Wildcat that person was obligated to have one shot of Soju. (yuck!)

N8's face went from a full beard to colonel then to just a mustache and MAN DOES HE LOOK LIKE HIS DAD!

We rented two vans and took people 2 hours north to Inje to play paintball and go white water rafting. It rained all day, but surprisingly it actually made the whole experience that much better! Paintballing int he rain made it very intense and difficult and everyone seemed to have a good time. Afterwards we were taken down to the river to raft down the quick waters and it was still raining. We all thought we'd freeze to death, but the rain was quite warm and it was a beautiful feeling to be on the river in the rain surrounded by lush mountains. The best part of rafting was that we were coaxed out of the raft and swam in the river and it carried us down stream for a while where we met people who were jumping off of the rocks into the river. We didn't get a lot of photo opportunities because of the rain.

When all of the events for the day were finished we got back into the van and headed back home to Gangneung. Some of us went to an all you can eat meat buffet. We ate, we drank, and we were merry! Once our bellies were full we proceeded to go out to a Korean club, which isn't my favorite thing...but its fun since we are the only ones who really dance on the dance floor.
This particular club usually has performances. That night they had a few singers and the D.J. also made a very public appearance by stripping all of the way down to his birthday suit...happy birthday N8! It was bazaar and we left...

The rest of the night was a bunch fun and a total success! N8 is now 24, his favorite number. <3

Murung Valley

2009-07-28T23:51:00.000-07:00

Now that the weather is nice, we've been taking advantage of some of the natural beauty around us. On an impromptu Saturday morning, we decided to round up some friends to go for a hike. We got together at the bus station and took a 1 hour bus ride to Donghae (south of us). Our good friend, Graeme, taught in this area before and he is familiar with the city. We ended up going to Murung Valley, a popular hiking spot for Koreans because the hiking path follows a river that cuts through the mountain. Graeme took us off of the path to hike along the big rocks, we passed some Koreans that were having a quaint picnic by the river and they proceeded to tell us that we shouldn't go any further because there weren't any people up ahead...but that's exactly what we wanted!

We set up camp by a small swimming hole and enjoyed the sunshine. Later we were met up by some more friends who heard about our outing and once it got dark we built a fire and cooked up some soup and hotdogs. We suspect that some rangers found us but it was too dark to do anything about it. We camped out and stayed until the next day and ate our leftover hotdogs for breakfast, the rangers came back once we were all packed up and brushing our teeth. Two or three rangers came by to stare but because they don't speak English nothing was done about our mischievous behavior.

Its really wonderful to have such beautiful surroundings nearby.

I once was blind...

2009-07-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

and now its still a little blurry- as expected~!!

This past weekend I went to Seoul, to a recommended lasek clinic, to have my eyes corrected. The staff was really wonderful, most of them spoke English and they were very sweet. The doctor warned me of the pain and recovery time but also of the safety of the procedure. My eyes were in pretty bad shape, so the effects of the surgery were expected to be a little more painful. N8 called off of work to come with me and be my seeing eye dog for the weekend. He was a wonderful support and really patient with the whole process. I had the surgery on Friday, I was super nervous and anxious, but the women prepping me were so kind that they helped me calm down. One of the ladies actually held my hand through the whole operation! Nate was able to see me in the operating room through a glass wall, he was also able to see the surgery on a monitor that they had displayed. The whole thing was utterly painless, just a little awkward and uncomfortable at times. The doctor talked me through each step which helped pass the time. The weirdest part, though, was that at the end of the operation the doctor told me he was finished and as he walked out the door, a song boomed out of the speakers singing: "CONGRATULATIONS! AND SALUTATIONS! ...." it was so bizzar.

I was amazed that I was able to see everything so clearly just minutes after the surgery! My eyes were a little tired and sore for the rest of the day but my vision was crystal clear. The following two days, however, were another story. My eyes were in so much pain, it was hard to open them. It was no fun but I was warned, so I wasn't worried. I went back to the doctor for a follow-up and he said that most patients regrow20-30% their epithelial layer by the next day, but my eyes had recovered by 50%. I tried to keep myself entertained by watching tv shows on the computer throughout the weekend, but the glare was too bright. But watching the screen was too bright if it was in the dark, so there I was, in my room with all of the lights on, the computer on a low light setting, watchign Dexter with my sunglasses on. classy.

By Monday, I was able to wake up without any pain but my vision is still a bit blurry. Today I will go to another doctor in my city so that they can remove the protective lens from my eyes. They say that my sight should steady out within a week or two, and that my eyes will not be fully healed for about 3 months. I'm very happy with my decision and the results!

Brain Matter

2009-06-24T22:09:00.000-07:00

I have officially set the date! I am now registered to take the GRE in January of 2010. It was an intense feeling to make it so final, my heart was pounding as I was clicking "I accept" buttons and retyping my email address over and over again.

N8 convinced me to take the GRE kaplan prep course so that I can really "nail the test"! I'm hoping to lean on him a bit with some help because lord knows I don't know basic math.

"Now, if Julie has 3 apples and she eats on apple..." aaaaah! it just makes my head spin!

Its very intimidating to be in love with someone as smart as this fella...I've come a long way where I can now actually ask for help without bursting into tears of jealousy and embarrassment.

I hope to start the prep course in October and I'm really looking forward to being back in a classroom setting where I'm the student. This is just a small step towards finding out what I want to really focus on in the future. I have looked into Psych Grad programs in different Universities, but I'm also interested in an IPSL graduate degree (international partnership of service learning and leadership). Either way, the first step is getting GRE score under my belt.

In other news, N8's birthday proved to be an utter success this year! Most of our friends came out to join us for some outdoor activities even though it was raining-it actually was quite nice! but I'll leave those stories and pictures up to the birthday boy to post.

This weekend we are planning a hiking trip with some close friends to Meurang (?) Valley. I heard its an interesting hike, especially if you go off the trail and go along the river. We just need to spend some quality time outside and get out of the smokey bars! It should be good clean fun...but who's bringing the soju?

City of Champions

2009-06-14T23:26:00.000-07:00

It has come to our attention that the city of Pittsburgh thrives without Nathan and I in its presence. We are sad that we missed so many great things this year (also including Emily's graduation *congrats!!*)
Either way, it was so nice to be a rep of Pittsburgh here in Korea and we were able to watch the game from a live feed online. What a world we live in!! It was a great game and it surely left a great big goofy smile on N8s face. He then proceeded to sing out lyrics to the song "Here we go, Steelers" but for the Pittsburgh Penguins-it was all quite catchy and it ran together well.
in other news, I have officially set a date for my lasek operation. The people in Seoul are very nice and the price is unbeatable! There is one price for the whole surgery, which is about half of what the surgery would cost back home. I was referred to this lasek center by a very happy customer, also a foreign teacher. Not only is the surgical procedure half the price from back home-but all consultations before and after the procedure are free, i get a year's worth of free eye drops, and since I'm coming from across the country they are setting me and N8 up for free at a hotel near the center!
I'm very happy with the Dream Eye Center and the doctor was very nice. The only thing that kind of freaked me out was that he explained how there are two types of surgery. And my eye condition requires an EK surgery. He said "IK surgery is quick and painless. EK surgery .... well is very good and extremely precise and better in the long run. But it hurts. A lot. Do you understand? Many many pains."
ah .... so I'm not looking forward to the pain, but its only a 10 min surgery!
I can't wait to see you all with my new eyes!!

*note to my dad-please don't think about this too much. it'll gross you out. I was thinking about posting a video of EK surgeries but I decided against it. JUST FOR YOU.

Booked

2009-06-11T19:20:00.000-07:00

We have officially booked our flights to go back home!
(loud applause and roaring crowd)

Yes thank you, thank you! We are so pleased to have a set date on the horizon. We will be flying out of the Incheon airport at 11:30am on September 3rd to Tokyo, Japan. After a 4 hour layover we will depart to Chicago and then after a 5 hour layover we will arrive in Pittsburgh at 10:30pm on September 3rd!
20-some days of actually teaching classes are left in the semester and I have to admit I'm starting to slack. We are slowly falling into lessons that consist of bingo, PowerPoint games, and watching videos. During the summer break I will be teaching a 5 day course for Korean English teachers. I have to prepare at least 50 pages of lesson material and teach 4 hours per day. Its not hard work and its extra money so I'm excited to have this gig.
Nathan will probably be teaching a summer camp at his school which will probably last for a week or so. We are allotted a 2 week vacation and I think that we're just going to lay low, save some money and maybe travel to a Korean island-which sounds better than it really is... believe me.
Classes will start back up at the end of August so N8 and I may be dragged back into the classroom, and I know it will be an emotional roller coaster for the both of us. No matter how much of a terror these kids are, we love them!
Our contract ends on August 31st and then we have one last day in our great apartment and then head off to Seoul for the 2nd and stay the night in a hotel until we head out on the 3rd. We don't have much time for decompression so that will just have to happen during summer vacation and after our last day at school we will rush out of here...

soon to come-what we will miss/NOT miss

Summer in Gangneung...

2009-06-08T04:36:00.000-07:00

is much better than winter. Because there aren't many great indoor activities, winter was long and boring in our hometown. It was cold, rainy, and it only snowed once!

On the other hand, our proximity to the beach and mountains simultaneously seems like it will serve us well in the summer. Here is a list of why summer in Gangneung rocks:

1. cheap road bikes (mine only cost me about $130). roads are wide and traffic respects cyclists
2. un-crowded beaches
3. high temperatures (70 and it's not even technically summer yet)
4. many mountains in a hundred mile radius
5. cheap transportation to get to the many mountains (For $6 you can get to three of Korea's most popular peaks)
6. the ocean has big waves! surfing is possible...
7. there is a flat, coastal road that runs right along for the beach for miles
8. marathons and half-marathons are ridiculously cheap, and you get good freebies and runner bags (only about $12 for the most expensive one!)
9. you are allowed to drink alcohol on the beach, or anywhere for that matter
10. grills are cheap, making BBQs very easy
11. fireworks are cheap and legal
12. schools make every excuse to have days off from school
13. water sports are popular and accessible. the best kayaking and whitewater rafting in korea is only a few hours away
14. paintball
15. futsol fields abound. beautiful, new sport turf (the kind with the fake rubber dirt crap) and lights stay on until 11:30

We have been taking advantage of Gangneung's features. For example, this weekend we went to Sokcho, a city about one hour north. We attended a beach party where there was BBQ, music, badminton, ocean, and lots of booze. We were there late in the night. The whole adventure only cost us about $20. And we went home the next day to enjoy Sunday at home.

Danoje

2009-06-01T18:48:00.000-07:00

We're sorry for being so M.I.A. lately, its just been too nice to stay inside by the computer!
This past week was a very exciting time for our city, Gangneung. Each year, Gangneung hosts the Dano Festival which is a ritualistic event for the crop season. Traditionally, female shaman perform songs, chants, dances and exorcisms to cleanse the people and the earth.
The best part is that EPIK provided an all inclusive 2 day festival experience for EPIK teachers. I was allowed to leave early on Tuesday to meet up with other teachers downtown to see the tents, performances and parade. There were teachers from all over the place to come and see the festivities, which gave me a great feeling for this city that we live in.
We were allowed to take part in the parade which went through the streets of downtown. Each person in the parade had a colorful robe and held a lantern with a wish that you wrote out by hand and connected to the lantern. The parade ended by the river, where we sat our lanterns into the water and had our wishes carried off by the current. It was quite a sight!

Early the next day we went for a hike up a mountain that overlooked Gangnueng. We were able to see the whole city and the coast. On the mountain, there were a few shrines dedicated to the god figures in the stories related to Dano and also the mountain god. Many women were there as shaman to light candles and do ritualistic chanting in the mountains.
I was really happy to miss school, even though I love my kids, but sometimes its nice to get out and be outside on a beautiful day and see what your city has to offer. I think I also set a good example for the students on how you should take personal time/breaks for good mental health, right? haha!

Now the next thing in our horizon is Nathan's birthday party (paintball, white water rafting and homemade piñatas) and I'm considering getting Lasik surgery done next month. *Ee!*

Video News Project

2009-05-05T22:30:00.000-07:00

A project that my students just finished was a Video News Project. The task was to create a short, informational video in English (e.g. news, how-to, commercial, etc.). This video is worth 20% of their English grade, and the top three videos will win their creators a pizza party.

I have posted the #1 video below. You'll notice some interesting things in the video, which are very reflective of Korean culture and their English woes:

1. You can hear the students shuffling around in their house slippers. Nobody wears shoes inside, not even at school.
2. There is almost a total lack of article use (i.e. a/an/the). Articles don't exist in the Korean language.
3. The students' inflection when speaking in English is totally off. They accent the wrong parts of words constantly. Inflection in languages around the world is very different. Korean, however, is not a tonal language like Chinese, they simply uses rises in different parts of words and sentences than in English.
4. The girls frame their faces by cutting their hair straight across the bangs and tapered inward from the temples to their chin. This gives the appearance of a tapered jawline, a characteristic of foreigners that the Koreans envy.

Aren't the kids great!??

Get It Right Korea!

2009-04-19T19:06:00.000-07:00

slam time:

I'm loving my time here with my love, new friends, new environment, food and people. My time here has been spent well and I can't believe time has flown by so quickly. One year sounded so long, but its hard to believe we only have 4 more months left!

On the other hand, we are very excited to get home. We will finally be able to communicate with people around us. We won't feel as invisible and/or at the same time feel like we're being gawked at. When I ask for something, I'll know I'm getting what I asked for, oh yeah... and people will have washed their hands regularly throughout the day.

For example: My co teacher complained about how sick she was feeling. She had a fever the night before, a terrible cough and was losing her voice. She looked pretty bad, so she had decided to leave school early to take a rest. As she was describing her symptoms and coughing in her hand, she proceeded to stick her hands in my trail mix bag and dig around for ALL OF MY BANANA CHIPS.

First of all, the banana chips are the best part. Secondly, I have never seen her wash her hands. Ever. So needless to say, I threw away my bag of trail mix and went on my day very hungry.

Miscommunication is very common here in Korea. People tend to freak out if you try to speak English to them. Granted, I know that many people here do not speak English, which is fine! But if they would just get over the initial shock of not understanding and just look at me we could work things out. Body language and konglish (the mix of Korean and English) can go so far!

For example : I went to go get my hair permed. I know I know. I couldn't help but hear my mother's voice saying: "Stephanie, you should really appreciate your natural hair. A lot of people pay good money for your curls!"

Well I had to perm my hair so it could grow out normally, and I showed the hair dresser what I wanted my hair to look like. 4 hours later, I came out looking like a hybrid between a cracked out poodle and a back-up dancer for a Madonna video. Needless to say I cried on my way home and just pinned it back .

Please don't get me wrong, this trip has been great! It has helped me grow as an individual and also with my relationship with N8, but I cannot wait to get back to Pittsburgh!

The Hills Are Alive

2009-04-13T05:18:00.000-07:00

As the sun comes out, so do the people....

This weekend was a beautiful one! On Saturday I decided to ride over to the stadium with a few friends to see a Gangwon-do (provincial) soccer game. There was a good crowd in the stadium all chanting encouraging things to our team. The Gangwon-do soccer team color is bright orange which was quite a sight at the stadium.

Afterwards I had to literally kick start the motorbike (which we have to do everytime, because we're that classy) to go meet Nate at the beach because he had gone for a long run as to prepare for a half marathon that he is running in the end of April. We were planning on staying at the beach for a while to read but it became very chilly so we headed home.

On Sunday we had our first Gangneung Sports Day! Quite a few people came out to Kwon Dong University to play kickball, Frisbee, catch and just to lounge around in the grass under the warm sky. It was a nice change of pace! Later we all moved to the beach for a warm coffee.

Later that night we met up with some Korean friends and had a delicious oyster dinner.

First we ate some potato pancake with green onions, shrimp and fried oysters then shared some oyster dishes with rice and kimchi. It was all so good.

Spring has Sprung!

2009-04-05T21:34:00.000-07:00

April has proven to be a good start on good weather and good moods!

April Fools Day was a bust: I had planned to wake up late at night and paint N8's nails fire engine red and then sneak off to school early and take the nail polish remover with me...but my alarm clock failed me and it was a big flop. But I like pranks, so I just might keep my nail polish handy.

We celebrated Hai's birthday this weekend in Seoul. We went out for a performance called Nanta. It is a non verbal, musical performance. It is very similar to STOMP and it is a family friendly show. We enjoyed ourselves much more than we thought we would. Afterwards we went out to a Vietnamese restaurant, then to an underground Hukkha bar, then sang our little hearts out at noribong, AND THEN to an after hours night club. Most of our group, by this point, had disintegrated and we were left with 5 people in the group. We entered the club around 3AM. I have never been in a place so crowded in my life. People were shoulder to

shoulder and jam packed near the DJ. The funny thing about Korea is that people here love pop music, but no one ever dances. Everyone

was just bobbing up and down to the music and pushing their way through to go to the bathroom or to the bar. Our little group managed to shove our way to the upstairs where we'd hope there was more room, but we found ourselves stuck in the midst of a sea of people. I broke out into hysterical dance movements a

s to scare off people around me and make some room... surprisingly it worked! I kept flailing my arms and legs around to make sure people wouldn't want to get near me and we ended up with enough space to actually do some dancing. N8 and I had to finally call a quits around 5AM and headed back to our hostel. We were very happy to have all day sunday to relax and recharge for Monday's classes.

As for Mondays...The cherry blossoms

are finally blooming and the city is looking very nice! N8 and I had a scheduled date after school to ride down to the lake, which is right next to the ocean, to take a stroll and check out the cherry blossoms. I can't help but think of my Dad and how much he likes to see these flowers.

Taebaek Mountain

2009-03-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

The weather is finally giving some hope of warmer and brighter days. Recently, the skies have been grey and wet for a few weeks now. I appreciate the rain for how it helps keep the yellow dust out of the air. Yellow dust comes in from China and moves down thru Korea and Japan. But because Korea has so many mountains it doesn't hit our neighborhood too badly. But I personally blame the yellow dust for my constant sore throat.

Here is a pictures I found off of the Internet from 2006 depicting the yellow dust problem.

This past weekend, I decided to go for a hike with 9 of my friends up Taebaek Mountain.It was a two hour drive away, and once we arrived we decided to get lunch. We didn't start the climb

until about 1:00 pm. The way up was pretty difficult, slick and steep. I didn't realize how much snow there would be and my running shoes quickly became blocks of ice, snow and water. It took us about 2 hours to get to the top, and there is a temple at the top.

We were all very happy to have made it and breathe the clean air!

We decided to walk from one peak to the next which took about another hour or so. This trail had even more snow, slush and mud than the one before and my feet were starting to get very cold. We found a tree that is hallowed out, somehow, and still alive but you can fit an entire person inside!

It was pretty cool. Once we reached the second peak most of us were just hungry for some food and excited to head back down. We ate a little and enjoyed the scenery and time to rest. The mountains in Korea are definitely beautiful and vast.

The way down was tricky because of the snow and ice and there were many falls. Luckily some areas had rope where you could hold on and just slide down the mountain-side.

We were all very happy to have made it down in one piece and we all just wanted a hot shower to thaw our feet.

Bad Bloggers

2009-03-24T06:40:00.000-07:00

Since N8 and I have started back at work, we have fallen back into a semi-boring routine. Since we are in front of the computer all day at work, we usually try to stay away from the computer at home to give our eyes a rest. The problem with the school computers, though, is that they have some blocked sites and our blogging site is one of those sites...so that is why we have been slacking.

One interesting thing that has happened here is that N8 hurt his foot. He was running on a treadmill when he felt a pain on the bottom of his foot. We weren't sure what caused the pain, and the Korean doctors didn't give much insight. But he adapted well by creating his signature limp/run/shuffle around the house that left me howling every time!

So, sceptical N8 decided to turn to eastern medicine for help. This was his first experience with acupuncture, which is mainly paid by our medical insurance and very cheap otherwise. Many Korean people highly suggest acupuncture for a variety of illnesses and pain. N8 was not too happy with his experience. They start by asking for a pain point and then place needles in different areas on the body (just a few) and then put burning herbs that are placed in a bullet sized capsule on his foot.

N8 only went a few times and then gave his foot a few days of rest from being poked and prodded and he surprisingly got much better! His foot is good as new, but he is still keeping a close eye on it while he works out regularly.

P.S. I put this photo representing N8 because I didn't want to gross out my dad with real pictures of acupuncture. You're welcome Lar.

Motoh-BaiKeh

2009-02-27T00:32:00.000-08:00

Today has been a lovely day! First off, our schools have allowed us to stay home on both Thursday AND Friday so we've been getting a chance to catch up on some sleep and also to run some errands. We were paid today, and N8 informed me that we are getting an extra 100,000 won per paycheck because of general inflation, its not much but its nice to have the extra little boost.

We start school again on Monday and I have yet to know what classes I'll be teaching. At first I would get angry because everything is so last minute here, I thought that they were just shoving my needs to one side and getting back to me at the last second. But I have realized that Koreans do this all of the time! We have 5 new English teachers at my school, and they too have NO IDEA what in tarnations is going on. I feel for them, but I'm not as shocked anymore by the last minute decisions and changes that are made. I guess I will just have to figure things out on Monday at school.

Anyways, the big news for today is that we bought another motorbike! We have been tip-toeing over the idea for a few months now, and we decided its the best thing for us now that it will be getting warmer and we might as well get it asap so that we can get the most use out of it for our money's worth. We paid 500,000 Korean Won which equals out to about $300 >which is a STEAL!! (thanks to the exchange rate) We also got a free break lock, a bike cover, and a nice new sturdy helmet for N8, since I already have one. Although I think we are feeling a little like over protective parents with this bike, because we are going to buy a second lock and all, we hope that nothing terrible happens to our new baby.

Back to the Basics

2009-02-22T18:41:00.000-08:00

The vacation time is now coming to a close. Sister time was incredible and much needed. We did a lot of fun things together, and I showed S the Korean ropes around our town.

N8 and I are now getting back into the groove of school, he has been on a strict schedule of going into to work from 8:30-4:30 M-F to sit at his office and make lesson plans. I, on the other hand, have been giving a lot of days off, mainly to be with my sister and just to have me be at home because there is nothing for me to do at work. I love my school.

We start teaching again in March. I am more excited for this semester because it is now the beginning of a new school year. So the students will be more organized, a little more attentive and excited about classes. We will be leaving in September, our contract is up August 31st, which means we will be leaving our kids in the middle of the school year.

Now that we are officially at the half-way mark, I'm starting to feel sad about all of things we are going to miss here, the food, friends, students, teachers, environment, beach, mountains...the list goes on. No matter how much we complain about Korea being so different and crazy at times, I think we really do like it here, and we appreciate how it has changed us. But most of all, I'm going to miss my company with N8. Having to separate at the airport to leave with our designated family members will be hard to endure. We are at a stage in our life where we ping-pong back and forth from Independence to dependence at the drop of a hat.

But I will tell you this, I am so grateful that we have such a loving and supportive network of family and friends that will always be there for us when we need some help.

Southeast Asia

2009-02-11T05:55:00.000-08:00

I couldn't possibly describe our 3-week PAID vacation through Thailand and Cambodia. But here's a run-down of our itinerary so that you can better follow the pictures and videos that you'll find below:

1. Flight to Taipei, 4-hour layover
2. Flight to Bangkok, sleep overnight in the airport
3. Early morning flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia
4. 3 nights in Siem Reap (activities: Temples of Angkor, floating village)
5. Flight to Bangkok, spend the day in Bangkok
6. Sleeper train to Chiang-mai (northern Thailand)
7. 4 nights with our friend Mae in her mansion (activities: tons of stuff)
8. Sleeper train to Bangkok, spend the day in Bangkok
9. Sleeper train to Surathani (southern Thailand)
10. 3-hour bus to Krabi (beach town) (activities: rented a motor bike and visited surrounding beaches and hiked a mountain); spent the night
11. Woke up at 6:30am to watch Superbowl XLIII
12. Had to leave from the guest house with 4 minutes left in the game to take a 2-hour boat trip to the island of Koh Pi Pi
13. Checked the internet: Steelers win!
14. 3 nights in Koh Pi Pi (activities: beaches, partying, and snorkeling)
15. 2-hour boat ride back to Krabi, spend the night
16. early morning 5-hour bus ride back to Surathani
17. 10-hour bus ride back to Bangkok (still no sleep)
18. Sleep in Bangkok airport (hardly any sleep)
19. Flight to Taipei, 5-hour layover
20. Flight to Seoul

Overall, Steph and I saved a lot of money traveling the way we did. We met a lot of amazing people. If you're willing to utilize budget accommodations and small, sometimes uncomfortable transportation, traveling isn't cheap and exciting. We were able to see much more of the countryside, and we had plenty of time to cope with our thoughts as well as simply observe. It was an amazing trip.

CLICK ON ANY PICTURE IN THE SLIDE SHOW TO SEE A LARGE VERSION!!!!

Cambodia Pictures

Cambodia Videos

Thailand Pictures

Thailand Videos

Terrible Towel Photos

Tune In

2009-02-11T05:09:00.000-08:00

N8 will be updating the blog asap about our vacation with photos!

S is here (in Gangneung, Korea) so please see our sister site for day to day updates:

pleasantly-furious.blogspot.com

Some R&R

2009-02-03T22:26:00.000-08:00

Geeze Louise its been a long time since we've posted! Our 3 week vacation is coming to an end and we are enjoying every last minute. N8 and I have our first EVER 3 week PAID vacation; so we hit it up Cambodia, Northern Thailand and also the south beaches of Thailand.
We saw some of the temples at Angkor Wat which were an amazing sight. We stayed there for 4 days and then headed to Chiangmai. We stayed with my friend, May, which saved us a lot of money because she also drove us around everywhere. We were there for about a week and now we are in Koh Pi Pi which is an island off of the south coast of Thailand. We are happy to finally have some sun on our skin, we are eating so well, and we are averaging 2 massages per week! What a life!
Throughout our trip we have been flashing the terrible towel everywhere in support of Pittsburgh's run to the Superbowl. We woke up at 6am in Krabi (south thailand) to watch the game and we were so happy to be a part of Superbowl history!
Once we get back we will post our pictures of our trip--
You'd think that the fun and games are over...but we're only half way there. N8 and I arrive in Seoul on Saturday the 7th and we will stay overnight in the city to await S's arrival on Sunday the 8th! We are excited to discover Korea all over again with some sister time. <3

Happy Be-Lated New YEAR!

2009-01-19T02:23:00.000-08:00

Since N8 and I have finished our semester, we have been busy with winter camps, catching up on sleep and also on laziness.

Our New Year's celebration was definitely fun. We had a small get together at a friend's house and then all headed over to the Warehouse bar in our city, within minutes of the new year! We toasted and danced all night in hopes to stay up as long as possible in order to catch the sunrise. The Korean people usually bring in the new year on the beach to see the sunrise despite the frigged temperatures. We stayed out at the bar until about 4am and then headed home to refuel. We ate french toast and waited until it was late enough to head out to the beach.

There was a big stage with dancing and singer performances and also 2 or 3 big bonfire pits for people to warm up next to.

It was so cold out that day that N8 and I only made it to about 7:30 when the sunrise colors were coming up. It was beautiful to see the new year's morning light on the sea!

Now we are preparing for our departure for our OFFICIAL vacation time! Tomorrow we will be heading out to Thailand, we will arrive in the Bangkok airport by 2am and then hang around for the first flight out to Cambodia and stick around Ankor Wat for a few days. Then we plan to go back to Bangkok, head up to Chiang Mai and then hit the southern island for the remainder of the time.

When we get back to Korea we will hang out in Seoul for the day and wait for S's flight to come in and show her around!!! sooo exciting!

We might be M.I.A for a bit but we will try to email as often as possible to keep in touch.

oh by the way... PITTSBURGH IS GOIN TO THE SUPERBOWL!! we will be searching for a good sports bar in Thailand to see the game! We'll be waving our terrible towel all over south east asia.

A Skype-y Christmas

2008-12-28T00:21:00.000-08:00

So the year is coming to a close...just like it does every year. These past 4 months have been pretty rough not being around our loved ones, especially during the holidays, but I must say that this Christmas was definitely something special.
N8 and I are very lucky to have made such good friends here in Gangneung, we had a huge Christmas eve dinner with friends who all brought something fun and hot to eat! One friend was even able to manage a turkey from a friend who is working for the US government. hooray! We stuffed our faces (I had 3 plates of food) and played dirty Santa and taboo. The next morning N8 and were so happy to sleep in and wake up to a tree full of presents underneath, thanks to the Riley family and my wonderful sisters jb and S! I got some great pj pants, socks, books, and cookie/brownie mix! N8 recieved a hat, gloves, and a scarf which were exactly what he needed. We both got some great books to keep us company too. So we were able to open our presents with my family over skype and wish each other a Merry Christmas.
Then we celebrated Christmas on the slopes of Korea with some friends that were first-timers. We rented our snowboarding equipment for under 30 dollars and lift tickets are also around 30 dollars! Its so much cheaper to snowboard here, which is great for us! We made sure to make it back to Gangneung for another Christmas dinner with the same crew from the Christmas eve dinner. It was another night of more food, fun and friends! N8 was finally able to talk to his family when we got back and the whole even came to a really wonderful close. Thanks to all for making us feel so loved during this holiday season!

Oh by the way! we also had a huge snow fall a few days before Christmas which really made it feel like home! The students had off from school but all the teachers were called in to help shovel! :)

Mix it up!

2008-12-21T06:41:00.000-08:00

Hey all! we had a pretty nice weekend with friends. Its definitely the holiday season, so there are lots of parties going on. N8 and I went to Sokcho to celebrate a friend's birthday and also to have a gift exchange for Christmas. We also went through the fish market again to eat some more of that wonderful stuffed squid.

After the fish market, we took a 3 hour bus to Chuncheon for a goodbye party. The city of Chuncheon definitely brought the Christmas spirit into our hearts because it was the first time we've seen snow since we've been here. The next morning N8 and I woke up and were able to warm up with some Starbucks coffee (weehoo!), I was so happy because everyone here drinks instant 'coffee'. It doesnt taste like coffee at all. We also filled up on some dunkin donuts and headed to Emart, the big grocery store and found some mozzarela cheese which made us very happy! We took anoter 3 hour bus back to Gangneung and found that our city has also been touched by snow! Its exciting because now it feels like winter and like Christmas time.

When we got back to our city, I went out to get my hair cut. I'm not totally crazy about it, it feels alittle too flat and it kind of looks like a wig, but i'm happy to have a change. I now look more asian! My kids are going to go crazy tomorrow at school when they see me!

work, work and more work

2008-12-18T01:05:00.000-08:00

Today was a great day because we just received ANOTHER care-package from the Riley family! Here goes a big fat shout out to YOU for sending us so many goodies. THANK YOU!
N8 and I were so impressed with the homemade story book with the pictures of the family! You really made us feel loved during this holiday season!
I may be getting the best care-package of all soon because a little birdy told me that S. is coming to visit for my birthday...that would be the ultimate birthday present.
Right now the school semester is coming to a close and the students are all pretty much burnt out from their final exams and they could care less about English right now. My classes are pretty relaxed now because its the end of the year and there is no more material to be taught so I just show a Simpson's episode or sing songs with them.
N8 and I both have to complete winter camps sometime during the break. It usually consists of one week (15-20 hours) for 20 students and also another week for teachers that want to learn English. As of right now, i only get Christmas day off, and then start my student winter camp on Jan 26 and finish on Jan 2nd. I will be doing Christmas carols with my students with another native speaker teacher, Jason, who also works at my school. Then I have to do a teacher workshop, also 20 hours, but in 3 days! It'll be a lot of work but I'm always happy to have eager students.
Right now we are relaxing and preparing for our winter camps, and also looking forward to all of the Christmas parties and New Year parties that are happening in korea with all of the foreigners.

Busy Saturday

2008-12-07T05:20:00.000-08:00

We had a busy Saturday...

1. Ice-skating with friends
2. Traditional Korean dance performance featuring one of my students. Awesome. We went with our Korean teacher, Daram.
3. Dinner with friends. We ate a dish called 샤바샤바 (shyaba shyaba). It consists of very thinly sliced beef which you dip into an extremely hot red, vegetable soup. The soup is so hot that the meat cooks within a minute. You then take it out and dip it into a firey mixture of wasabe and soy sauce. You eat the vegetables in the soup with your beef. After the beef is gone, you add noodles, egg, and some spices to the broth and you have the 2nd course. Finally, you finish off the remaining broth (there's a lot of broth) with fried rice. It was FAAANTASTIC. Muffy, myself, and our friend Eric shocked our Korean friends by cleaning off any scraps of food remaining on the table.
4. Bowling with some other friends. I beat Steph both times, muahahha. However, she had me weeping in the first game until about the 8th frame...I was shaking in my boots. She did make two strikes look like child's play, way to go honey!
5. We capped the night off with some pool and beer at our favorite dive bar, The Warehouse. You can count on seeing the same 30 people at this bar on any given night. They play western music and serve cheap beer. It's not swanky, but it always provides some good laughs and a nice way to end a long day of activities.

Below you'll find some pictures and videos from our Saturday:

Muffy is the ice goddess.

N8 and Muffy

Eric pulling a bunch of little girls that were drawn to our handsome western jaws.

Unlike with Eric, the little girls could handle my bitchingly fast skating technique, and they wiped out on the corner. I crushed one, and now she's crippled.

Muffy with our Korean teacher Daram! Daram is awesome.

Muffy bowling another strike

If you look closely, you'll notice my name on the little whiteboard. I'm paired up with Syren, who is a badass on the pool table. (I was lucky to have her as a partner)

Muffy realized that the movements required to skate backwards are uncanny in their similarity to my mother's dance moves.

Eric Richter is clincally insane. That's why we like him. When people see us, they think "Wow, those two people are really great for taking that young man to the ice rink for his big day out!"

Winter Festival

2008-12-02T07:21:00.000-08:00

Hey gang,

I just got the video from my school of our recent performance at the Winter Festival. This is a huge deal. In fact, past festivals have even been broadcasted on television (cable television)! Muffy and I, along with two of our friends that are also English teachers in Gangneung, danced and sang to a mix of songs by various artists:

Bon Jovi - Livin on a Prayer (N8)
Village People - YMCA (Kasia)
Bob Marley - One Love (Marta)
Michael Jackson - Wanna Be Startin Somethin (Muffy)
Wondergirls - Nobody (everybody)

The last sogn, Nobody, is a song by the Korean pop group the Wondergirls. It's almost entirely in Korean except for parts of the refrain. the Wondergirls are the Korean equivalent of the Spice Girls, so the room went nuts.

A little over a month ago, Muffy and I helped Kasia and Marta with a similar performance for their school. So...I bugged them into returning the favor at my school.

Anyways...here's a video of the whole performance! Enjoy.

By the way, if you click on the little button at the bottom of the video window to make it full screen it will be much better.

Media from N8

2008-11-28T09:01:00.000-08:00

Korean Kavity

2008-11-17T06:25:00.001-08:00

My life is over. My wonderful clean streak of never having a cavity has come to a crash...I now have two. I went to the dentist today after school because I thought I had only one cavity, but no..I have two. So I had one filled today and the other will have to wait until tomorrow. The good thing is that my filling only cost about $5 dollars for each tooth. nice huh?

I honestly think I got the cavities because of the diet, there is a lot of vinegar and acid and the meals here. Plus I brush my teeth during school hours too. Just call me Gummy McGee.

Pishyy...no, F-F-Fish..Pishyyyyyy

2008-11-15T05:22:00.000-08:00

Hey all! We have been having some technical difficulties at home recently so its been hard keeping up with the blog. My laptop finally sang its swan song and its been hard to keep in touch with family and friends, and N8's laptop cannot connect to the internet at home. As you can assume our life has been 'same-same-but-different." Two weekends ago N8 and I went up to Sokcho (1hour North) to visit our friends Dana and Deanna along with other friends from other parts to climb Mt. Seoraksan. We were planning a 6-8 hour hike for Saturday but the weekend weather report did not look promising. Thankfully everyone was able to come in on Friday and we all met up in a local downtown bar which we totally took over...10 forgeiners in the bar drinking and singing whatever English songs were on...it was quite a scene. It was nice to catch up with our friends over the evening. We all checked into a cheap love motel near the bus station and woke up the next day to a rain storm, so we had to cancel our hiking trip. We ended up taking the morning easy by visiting a new cafe in town that serves GREAT coffee (which is hard to come by) AND waffles!

It was just what we needed. It took about 2 hours to get everything and eat calmly together, it was lovely. Later we took a walk through town to the beach, which was beautiful. There was a small island off of the cost that looked so screne against the grey sky. On our way to the beach there were two girls that absolutely loved us, and followed us all the way to the beach. They were intrigued by our English and our goofy faces. We taught them the words for clam, sand and ocean. They were too cute for words and N8 was just having a blast with them. oh yeah, and they insisted on keeping those little rubber caps, that you turn inside out so that they pop up, stuck on their faces. weirdos.

During our walk we got a chance to stroll through the Sokcho fish market. We took a seat on the side of the outdoor market where people were cooking up some crazy looking foods. We had over-the-fire clams and stuffed squid. The clams tasted like it was meant for a kind and the squid was tastier than I couldhave ever imagined!

The squid was stuffed with rice, ground meat, and breadcrumbs, it was first roasted over the fire, deep fried, and then sliced into rings for easier consumption.

I couldn't help but think about the people we have taken to Mexico and walked through the market and how stunned they were with all of the sights and smells. Since I was used to that environment I always found that to be very funny and entertaining, but walking through the fish market was a whole new experience for me. There was fish on either side of the walkway and people coming from every direction.

Watever was everywhere, my pants were soaked, same with my shoes, and the fish were swimming everywhere. While I was being pushed and shoved I couldn't help but stand still and watch a woman prepare fresh fish for a buyer. It was the most intense thing I have ever witnessed. The little korean woman slapped a flailing fish down in front of her and took a huge knife and slammed it down on its head, not all the way through mind you..it took a few times. This is only a glimpse of what I witnessed, it was like a massacre of the sea! It was goofy to see a squid or fish escape here and there, but i was rooting for them..no matter how delicious they are. It has been a while since I have experienced such culture shock, thankfully I was able to get over it quickly, but I had to take a step back and breathe through the shock. Although the fish market was different, I still love fish. Later that night we had plans to have a big fish dinner, korean style, which is fresh sashimi (raw fish) eaten right off of the fish. The meat is white and so soft, its like butter melting in your mouth. I was very excited for this dinner but it all came to a crash when the woman brought out the VERY FRESH fish to our table with the fish still gasping for his breath, his tale flapping and his gills still opening and closing. It was pretty traumatic, yet the freshest fish I've ever had...imagine that.

Thriller Night

2008-11-02T16:52:00.000-08:00

Halloween came and went but it definitely made for a wonderful weekend. On Friday, during school, I felt like I was a kid again in class just waiting for the bell to ring. I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible to start the weekend. N8 and I had made plans to host a pre-going out Halloween party at our apartment. We spent the entire night before preparing decorations for the house. N8 bought black and orange paper and we cut out pumpkins, cats, witches, and bats (FREEHAND) and taped them up all over our apartment. After school on Friday, i ran over to DC Mart, where we usually make our cheap purchases of random stuff and I got a bucket for bobbing-for-apples, make-up essentials and snacks. I got home around 5:30 and started cleaning and moving furniture around to give optimal space for drinking games and mingling. Some of our closer friends starting coming in around 7pm but the fun really started around 9. We had about 20 people packed into our little apartment and had lots of fun seeing people's creative costumes. My good friend Erin and her boyfriend were very korean...Erin tied string across arms and hung fabric that looked like dried squid (which is what you see everywhere here!) and Mike, her boyfriend, had a piece of cloth with cut-outs of dried peppers all down his shirt (just like the picture i have on a previous blog. After a long night at the bar, we had about 8 people sleep at our house and people woke up to a pretty rough morning. After we got back on our feet we met up with some friends at a coffee shop by the beach and sipped on some tea, then we just lied on the chilly beach for a while until hunger took over. We decided to go out for Kamjatong, which is a spicy potato soup with pig spine, because it is known to be a hangover cure! and its delicious!!

After nursing our hangovers with soup we ended up going to Dr. Fish. It is a little cafe downtown that has a medium-sized tub of water with fish in it. First you must wash your feet, order something from the cafe, and place your feet into the water with the flesh eating fish. They attack your feet, eating all of the dead skin off of your feet, but it is absolute tickle torture! You do get used to it after a little while but it is the weirdest feeling at first. It was quite a funny site: 8 Americans crowded around this tub full of fish laughing our faces off!

Afterwards we had our friends come back to our apartment where we pigged out on pizza and snacks and just talked and had a relaxed evening. Some people slept at our that night and everyone left on Sunday morning and N8 and I were left to finish cleaning up and then we went to have lunch with one of his Korean co-workers, Mr. Lee. The Lee family was so nice and welcoming and made a killer lunch with mushroom soup, meat, salad, and fruit. Mr. Lee's son is only 9 years old and has perfect English and attends a Chinese elementary school. After lunch, Mr. Lee wanted to take us up to Odesan mountain to see the autumn scenery, after the hour car ride we got to the top and Mr. Lee realized he had forgotten his wallet, so we got right back into the car and rode another hour back home.

It was such a wonderful weekend full of fun, friends and food! I can only hope I have more weekends like that in the future.

Randomness...

2008-10-28T21:00:00.001-07:00

Our friend had a birthday dinner with pumpkin duck! it was so delicious...but i kind of tasted like ham..either way, it was the best ham-tasting-duck baked in a pumpkin i've ever had!!

N8 was the only blond on the subway!

Hey all! Sorr for being so lazy about the blog...but we finally have something to talk about.

We have had our ups and downs this weekend. First off we have some bad news, after coming home from school on friday afternoon N8 and I realized that our motorbike was gone! A few days before we realized that the door to the battery box on the motorbike was tampered with which was a clear sign that someone was trying to hotwire it. So with the help of a young high school student, we called the police and made a report. We are both really bummed about our loss, but its not the end of the world. I dont think that it will be returned because its probably already been sold to someone else. oh well...it was fun while it lasted.

Even though that was a major downer for our Friday night, we were busy getting ready to go out to Seoul on Saturday for our friend's birthday party. A bus to Seoul only takes 3 hours from Gangneung and we arrived at our hostel at 6pm. We brought our friend Marta a small cake and sang happy birthday and started getting ready for the evening. We went out to Itewon, which is the forgeiner hotspot because it has lots of shopping, a forgein food market, and forgein food restaurants. We ended up going to a Thai restaurant which was amazing! It took me back to my time spent in Chaingmai, and it reminded me how easy it was to gain 20 lbs in 4 months. Delicious! Afterwards we walked over to a hukabar called Bricx and it was pretty nice. The small dance floor was totally dark with little streams of green and red lights that would put small dots on everyone in the room. We met up with quite of few people there and we also had some korean friends with us, which made things seem more normal. We had more cake and drank, danced and smoked huka. Afterwards we walked over to a 'noribong' which is a karaoke room. Yes, just ONE room where you go with your friends and sing to one another. Everyone was pretty drunk at this point so we were singing some MJ, Abba, Madonna, and such. We were kicked out after an hour, because thats all we paid for, and we ended up in another bar called Bungalow and created the best dance party ever. Most of us just ended up on the smal sand dancefloor and started movin' and groovin' and had the whole place dancing in like 30 mins! it was very fun.

The next day we were dying for some hangover food and landed this AWESOME burger place. This was the first time in a long time that we have been able to have a big hunk of juicy meat on our plates! The burgers were 100% australian beef, which smelled amazing, and they had all different kinds of burgers. I've been dying for cheese lately so I ordered the Cheesy Cheese Burger, our friend Brett ordered the Ambulance ( Hashbrown, burger, bacon and a sunny side up egg) and Nathan got the Islander that came with a thick slice of pineapple. We also splurged on some chilli cheese fries.. I WAS IN HEAVEN!

You know you eat too much when it hurts to breathe..and believe I was in pain, there was no more room for my lungs to expand. The meal was pretty amazing and much needed. We walked around Itewon looking at shops and small vendor stands and finally made our way to the forgein market and What The Book. The forgein market is comparable to the mexican markets in Pittsburgh, where it's a small store with maybe 3 or 4 isles of random food and treats. I got a small glass bottle of maple syrup for a friend, because she has been wanting pancakes so badly, and it cost $9! For ourselves, we bought some cilantro and 4lbs of cheese! I've been so happy with the cheese lately. We made some quesadillas with flour tortillas that someone gave me and i've been making cheese sandwiches and everything. Next we'll have to make some cheesey spaghetti. I also made a killer veggi soup with a hot pepper and dumplings. It had the perfect punch to it!

So now we are back to the grind and enjoying working at school. Now we have Halloween to look forward to because we are hosting a pregame- halloween party. FUN!

Travels and Tidbits

2008-10-12T20:09:00.000-07:00

I have become more and more homesick. I'd like nothing more than to be close to my family right now. N8 and I both have strong family ties and its hard to be away for so long, even though its only one year. Thank goodness we have each other! I hope you all know that we miss you and we think about you everyday.

I think about my family even more whenever we go on little outings or traveling adventures, because I wish you all could experience this with me. Two weekends ago N8, Jose and I went to Gyeongju, which is supposed to be a very historically rich city. We arrived on Friday and searched around for a cheap motel. We were only allowed two people per room, but since all white people look the same, we were able to sneak N8 up afterwards and all sleep in the same room for only $25 (all together). We walked around the city area for a while and saw that there were small hills everywhere. Some small and some larger grassy mounds of earth which we found out are burial sights were scattered all throughout the city and the city parks. It was a chilly night on Friday but everyone seemed to be out enjoying the evening, children where screaming and playing and flying kites, couples were out holding hands and old people were drooling on the benches...it was a lovely evening. We walked through a park when it got darker and we were able to take a cool snapshot of N8 at the top of the grassy mound with the moon in between his arms.

Later on in the night we were told to visit a place where they have rebuilt temples that surround a small pond. The lights from the temple are reflected in the water and make for a very romantic evening, even though there were tons of people there. Koreans seem to love their tourist attractions. They all gather round with there very large and expensive cameras to all of the tourist sites located on the map. The next day we ended up going to Bolsaka temple, which was also rebuilt and restored and again there were many many people there. I, personally, like to travel with more seclusion but it seems as though we can't get off the tourist path. The temple was not that exciting or impressive especially since it isnt authentic. We ended up taking a nice hike up a mountain and reached the top. My fellow friends really enjoyed the challenge of the hike and were proud of the completion of it, I truly enjoyed the scenery from above. The mountains surrounded us with a thick mist covering them which made your eyes sleepy. There was a stillness on the top of the mountain that was calming and relaxing. many people do these kinds of hikes and bring a small picnic, but were too eager and forgot to bring food so we had to rush back down in order to find something to eat because we were starving!

We ended up leaving that evening on the bus back to Gangneung. It was a short trip that wasn't too eventful or spectacular but it was nice to get out of our city and see something different.

Korean Kulture

2008-09-28T21:18:00.000-07:00

Lately N8 and I have been thinking that we have great luck, but in reality this place is really just great! The people here are so friendly and kind and are always willing to give you a smile or even a leg-up when needed. The other day N8 and I went to Emart (Walmart/Target-esque) to buy some essentials for our apartment. We were carrying a heavy bag of groceries, a full length mirror and a boxed clothes hamper and we piled it nicely on N8's bicycle. Then on our way back to the apartment, we passed the outdoor market and had to pick up some fresh vegetables and fruits for the kitchen. After buying a few bags of goods we realized that we couldn't do without some things from a smaller/cheaper store called DCmart so I waited outside while it started to drizzle while N8 ran in to pick up a few items (a small garbage can, a nightstand and two lamps). By this point I am trying to think of how we can figure ourselves out to carry all of this stuff home because it started to rain. When N8 came out with his arms full, a man who works inside instructed us to put all of our stuff, including N8's bike, into his van. I think they were already headed out to make a delivery, and they took us all the way home and even helped us unload the van and brought the stuff to our door! We gave him a banana and an apple to thank him for his kindness! We were so happy to be living in a town where people really care and actually make the effort to be neighborly.

My school also has nice surprises every once in a while. From now and then all of the teachers in the school get fruit or pastries from one teacher. I asked my co-teacher why a teacher would bring in fruit for everyone, and she told me it was because this specific teacher had just bought herself a new car over the weekend. I guess its a gesture of sharing the wealth. I asked her on what other occasions someone would do this and she said, "anytime! if you get a new car, a new dress..anything!" So in lieu of our new bike, I guess I should start baking. oh yeah, and all of the teachers brush their teeth everday after lunch, so fresh and so clean CLEAN!

Check out my hog.

2008-09-27T00:41:00.000-07:00

Muffy and I bought some new toys in Korea this weekend...

Muffy lost her iPOD on the bus ride from Seoul to Yang Yang during orientation, and she has been waiting anxiously to get a paycheck in order to buy another one. We shopped around last night, and we decided on the iRiver. Apple isn't very big here, but LG and Samsung are huge because they're both Korean companies.

It only cost her about $100! It holds 4GB of music, video, pictures, or documents, so she's very happy.

And....we bought a motor bike!

It only costs $3.70 to fill the gas tank, and we were spending $3 for every cab ride, so this will save us more money. The bike cost $645, and it came with two new helmets!

Hold your breath mom...

For Sandra...

2008-09-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

There have been some complaints from a very kind, beautiful, beloved, and PUSHY person that has adoringly been checking our blog rather often. The nature of these complaints regards the lack of pictures of Muffy.

Here's to you...

Muffy fixing her hair

Muffy watching TV

Muffy examining a fine selection of fruits
Muffy running in place

Whew! What a workout

Muffy stretching
Muffy reading

Muffy on the can

Muffy in the shower

Updates from N8

2008-09-24T21:40:00.000-07:00

Despite remembering to send him a gift, I forgot to call my Dad on his birthday. Korea has consumed me to the point where I forget abotu the important little things in life. I'm really sorry Dad.

As riveting as Korea might be, I have been distracted for the past four weeks by the looming pressure of my MCAT scores. Just last night...I finally could take a deep breath.

The scores came in a day late, but last night, at 11pm Korea time, my scores were finally available! I got a 34M. The M stands for an extremely low writing score. The score is very low because (and I knew suspected this during the exam) because I forgot to save what I had written for one of the two essays. From what I understand though, the writing score isn't all that important to schools. They will get to judge my writing from the personal statement that I send in with my application anyways.

Although I was hoping for a higher score (my highest practice test was a 37), a 34 seems sufficiently high in order for me be competitive at just about any school. I have already decided on the schools to which I will apply (column on the right is the avg. MCAT score of accepted students)

Harvard 35.9
Yale 34.0
Stanford 35.0
UCLA 33.7
Baylor 34.7
Pittsburgh 34.2
Chicago 34.7
Jefferson 31.2
Temple 30.6

Anyways, that will be my next adventure. Now that I have gotten this out of the way, I am free to enjoy Korea until the spring, when I have to begin applying to the schools above. If I hadn't achieved a good score, I would have had to request my parents to send me the "hell box" that I prepared for them before leaving to Korea. The hell box is basically full of 30 lbs. of MCAT study materials, and it will no longer be necessary.

Here's a picture of me smiling:

And here's a picture of my desk at work:

Few pictures

2008-09-22T23:41:00.000-07:00

Hey folks

I have been receiving some picture requests, so here you go. We forget to bring our camera everywhere, but we have been meaning to take more.

You can drink beer on the beach in Korea. We drink a lot of beer on the beach in Korea.
We found this guy passed out drunk on the sidewalk.
So I spooned him...
"I've been working out..."
One guy, one cone. That's some delicious pre-packaged ice cream.

On the Edge of Our Seats

2008-09-22T05:09:00.000-07:00

Right now, N8 and I are anxiously awaiting his MCAT scores. He has been checking almost everyday for the results of his test scores, today is supposed to be the day, but so far no dice. And the worst part is that we cannot access his scores from our school computers. So please send all of your love and best wishes because poor N8 doesn't have any finger nails left.
We had a pretty nice weekend of meeting people and some exposure to the bar scene. There are two main Expat bars: Bumpin' and The Warehouse. Bumpin' is a very small bar that is quite cute and good for the first drink of the night. The bartender, Eric, is just darling. The Warehouse is where people usually end up for the rest of the night. It has more of night-out feel because of the lighting and music. There is a decent sized bar and tables around the wall and a free pool table and foosball! On Friday I went out with my friend, Erin, and the ethics teacher from her school: who is "not ethical past 5pm." We had a really nice girl's night out but it was weird to see how low key the city was on a Friday night. The streets were practically empty and the night was pretty quiet. The next day N8 and I checked out the outdoor market which was full of stuff but not as impressive as the markets in Mexico. We were able to buy some fruits and vegetables for very cheap! We had plans to go to the beach but it started to rain so we just headed home mid-day and took a nap and watched a movie on the computer. Then we received a call from a friend saying she was going to be in town and wanted to stay with us, so our nice night in turned into a night out at the Warehouse.

There were many more people there on Saturday night and it was much more fun. We were able to exchange names and numbers with many people, networking is fun! Sunday was a lazy day, but N8 and I got our workout out of the way and then finally headed down to the beach and met up with some people we had met the night before.

We were then invited to go out for a pasta dinner at a local restaurant that has a menu in ENGLISH! It hit the spot, finally something other than rice!
Monday has come and gone and now the week is rolling on its way. I really like working as a teacher, even though its exhausting. The girls at my school are so nice and very friendly, but my conversation class is a blow-off class for them. As N8 described before, the kids have at least 10 hours of school, and my class does not receive a grade and they don't have homework, so they can either be really cooperative or very disruptive because they are restless. Sometimes teaching English is like pulling teeth because the students don't want to make the effort to speak or respond to any English...it can get very frustrating at times. The nice thing about the school is that they have a very balanced lunch for the teachers and students. There is always kimchi, of course, vegetables, meat, soup and sometimes a piece of fruit. After everyone eats, there is a long line to dispose of whatever is left over and everyone stacks their plates in a bin and then each person takes a small tin cup for a drink of water and then takes a napkin to wipe their face.
Although my job has its high and low points, I am very grateful to have this opportunity and I am very excited to see what else there is in store for me. Tomorrow is a long day, 8-4..but the good thing is that my school is a 5 min walk away!

Happy Chusok

2008-09-17T16:51:00.000-07:00

I'm not too excited to be back at work, but its always hard to get back to the grind after a 4day holiday weekend. The holiday of Chusok is celebrated all throughout South Korea as a harvest festival, it is similar to our Thanksgiving. For the weekened we needed some time to catch up on some sleep and meet up with some friends. My friend Dana, who I met during orientation in Seoul, invited our little group of friends to stay at her apartment in Geojin which is near Sokcho. We stayed there Saturday and Sunday night. There were about 10 of there at once and we went around the little town and hung out at the beach in the evening. The cool thing about Korea is that you can drink opening on the beach, but the not-so-cool thing about Korea is that there is barbed wire all along the beaches which is kind of scary. I think the government is trying to get them all taken down because they were used as a way to keep North Korea out.

While we were there we went up to the DMZ, the Korean Demilitarized Zone, where we were able to see the mountains and ocean of North Korea. On the way up to the site, we passed many army men and also North Korea's immigration, note: we did not go through immigration we just passed by the immigration office. It was quite beautiful. We also went to a small memorial museum that showed a video of the war.

In the evening we went out to eat. The dish we ordered was a huge spicey soup with veggies and pork spine. It is all placed in a pot in front of you and it is simmered at your table. This is my favorite dish I have had so far, too bad I dont know how to say it in Korean. The meat was so tender it was falling off of the bone and the soup was so wonderfully spicey. When you finish and you think you cannot eat any more, they remove the pot left with broth and and mix in some rice and make a very stinky rice dish that tastes divine!

When we came home on Monday we had a 2 days to relax, do some shopping and finally cook in our own home. We also had our first Korean language class on Tuesday, which didn't give much help but I think I'm going to have to crack out the language cd mom and dad gave me. We didn't start work until Wednesday so it was a nice long weekend with a short week to follow. TGIF

Mini Tour

2008-09-15T05:13:00.000-07:00

Home Sweet Home

2008-09-12T01:59:00.000-07:00

Hey all!
Today is a wonderful day. The financial office of our schools sat down and signed a contract with the owner of our apartment allowing us to live here with privacy. After the signing of the contract I was able to take a much needed nap! Today was physical fitness day at Kyong Po all girl's Middle School. The girls did gym activities all day outside...with no classes! I was able to sit back and get some more ideas about games and such that I can play in class. Then we were allowed to leave by 2pm to sign the contract at my apartment. I was told that the furniture from the other girl's apartment so we can finally have kitchen ware to cook with! Recently we have been living off of yogurt and cereal as to save money. Once N8 came home around 5pm we wanted to double check about the move-in....his co-teacher informed him that they would not be moving the stuff until next week. But as he was having this phone conversation, there was a knock at the door with a line of strapping korean men who brought in EVERYTHING from this girl's apartment. We have an extra bed, for whoever wants to come and visit WINK WINK, an extra refrigerator, washing mashing, television, couch, clothes rack, we now have dishes, pots, pans, so pretty much her entire apartment was shoved into ours. Once we get everything situated we will take a video of our apartment now that it is nice and cozy!

The Little Engine That Could

2008-09-10T18:56:00.000-07:00

Today is Thursday and the weekend couldn't come any sooner. Although I am really enjoying myself with my new surroundings and my teaching job, for some reason N8 and I have been really tired lately. I think it is due to all of the adjusting we've been doing. We are finally getting used to our neighborhood, and we are getting around better, our mental maps don't always agree but we go on little walking adventures now and then. We do a lot of shopping because that feels familiar and we also still need a butt-load of things for the apartment. We have yet to get pots and pans, plate/bowls/silverware, and food. N8's school is finishing up a contract with a prior English teacher and all of her household stuff will be moved into our apartment, hopefully by tomorrow. We still don't have a detailed list of things that will be given to us, so we are trying to hold off from buying more things for our place since we just might get it for FREE! Since we cannot cook in our apartment, we are FORCED to go out to eat every night. It is pretty delicious, for the most part, and if you know your way around then you can find very cheap meals. Since N8 and I have been wandering around we have made some mistakes on food choices, like the time we wanted to order "something small" to split, it ended up costing us $14 for a 5 skewer plate of ketchup covered seafood. not nice.
Picture Left: A carpet of hot red peppers laid out to dry in the sun, you can find these all over the sidewalks every day.
Picture Middle: Our dinner of Korean BBQ that we LOVE. The restaurant owner loves us too.
Picture Right: Nathan at a child's computer game set outside on the sidewalk.

While we are on the topic of bad food, Here is a little story about seafood :

The other day N8 and I realized that our sink has the wrong size pipe under our sink, it fell out completely from the bottom of the sink and from the wall. So we walked around the building until we found a middle aged woman and an older woman, we'll call her Edna, to show our pipe to and gestured that we needed help. They went upstairs and Edna brought down the manager's phone number. We gave our deepest thank-yous and tried to explain that we were going to a public phone to call. She insisted on speaking Korean to us for about 5 or 7 mins, almost yelling so we just walked away to call my co-teacher to have her call the manager's number. When we walked back to our apartment, the manager was there to look at our bathroom, he ended up taping the pipe back to the sink and told us he'd be back on Monday with a new part. A few minutes later, Edna strolled into our unlocked apartment and started talking....again. As she spoke she walked around our apartment opening up our refrigerator, our cabinets, looked in our bathroom and all of our rooms...and so on. She kept talking/yelling/ranting/ slapping my arm and we just stood there smiling after many attempts to explain that we don't speak Korean. Thankfully it only lasted 10 or so minutes. Come Sunday morning, the next day, N8 and I wake up to someone knocking feverishly on our door and relentless door-bell pushing. Finally N8 opens the door and Edna is standing there with a black plastic bag and shoves it in his face. She tried to come in but N8 blocked her and shut the door after many thanks. Later, when we finally woke up we took a look into the black bag. There was a rather large container of homemade kimchi, which smelled like a rotting foot, and a bag of 4 or 5 whole-raw fish, with the head, scales and all. We had to get rid of it, and our apartment still smells like it! We had one more encounter with Edna when the cable guy came around, the door was open and she walked in with her two grandchildren and did the same scanning routine. Now every time we hear the pitter-patter of little sandals we rush around turning off the lights and muting the TV and hide in hopes that Edna will pass like bad gas.

I hope you liked our story. We are planning on going out of town up north to visit a friend from orientation so we will be Edna FREE this weekend, so cheers to that!

Finally, Nathan posted something

2008-09-09T06:14:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody!

Sorry for not posting for a while. Stephanie and I have both had legitimate excuses though:

1) Stephanie's shins were critically bruised after an encounter with a group of vagrant Korean children, so she...couldn't post. And there was something wrong with the scripts on her computer.

2) I was dumb enough to allow the tech guy at my school to connect my laptop to my school's wireless network. I should have anticipated contracting every virus/spyware/adware from the computers of my tech-UNsavvy teacher colleagues. Sure enough, my computer became so infected after two days that my computer has been virtually crippled. The computer at my desk at the school is also way too slow and incapable of doing anything.

Long story short, I have been mostly without a computer since I have been here, and that has been wonderful. It's kind of like being in Malawi, actually. We have begun to start using the internet again now that we had internet installed in our apartment.

I want to post two things. First of all, we have finally begun teaching at our schools. I have co-ed classes, and my day looks a little something like this:

a. Wake up at 7:15
b. Ride bike to work to start at 8:15
c. Sit around at my desk and prepare for my lessons. I teach 4, 5, or 6- 45min. classes per day.
d. I eat lunch at 12. It usually consists of kimchi (pickled, spicy, fermented cabbage), some unrecognizable fish dish, and an extremely salty soup. There are usually two other options, and they vary from a meat to seaweed.
e. Leave at 5. (Except on Mondays: I teach the English teachers' conversation class from 4:30 until 6)

My classes are all about equal. There are usually a few kids that are exceptionally attentive and studious. Then are those that are pretty freakin rude (probably like me when I was in 7th or 8th grade). I find ways to get their attention besides just yelling all the time. For example, today I pegged a kid in the head with chalk. And I found a big pair of thongs and pinched another kid's neck. Nothing too serious, but it at least keeps them on their toes. They don't what I'm gonna do next! What a wacky teacher guy!

They're also tickled by my age and by the pictures I have shown them of Pittsburgh. Don't ever take our city for granted people, the pictures of New York didn't inspire any oohs or aahs. But Pittsburgh - day or night - blew the kids away.

I have designed my class so that the kids will play games every day in my class. I have every class of 8th graders and 2 classes of 7th graders at some point during the week. I only see each student once per week. so, they can look forward to games in my class.

A few reasons that I decided to use only games. First, the kids have to take a gigantic exam at the end of 8th grade in order to enter high school. They study all-day everyday for this exam throughout this current semester, so they don't really care about conversing in English since they be tested on it. It might as well a class that they can look forward to instead of treating it as a blowoff class. Second, 80% of my kids go to "academy" after school. This is another 5 hours of prive school to hone their academics. The kids are thus in school from 9am until 10pm everyday + Saturday! Sometimes also includes Sunday. The kids seem like drones that are just moving through the motions of the school day.

More to come later...in the meantime, check out this cool video!

Technical Errors

2008-09-09T05:08:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody...
I just wanted to let you know that we have been trying to keep up with our blog BUT for some reason my computer at work wouldnt let me post my blogs. ok so here we goooooo! more pictures and maybe a video here and there.

Same ol' Same ol'

2008-09-04T16:47:00.000-07:00

My co-teacher, Mrs Khang, is officially the BEST! She swayed the landlord of my apartment, a fellow teacher, to let both N8 and I to stay together in the big apartment! PROBLEM SOLVED! Just yesterday N8 and I went to go apply for our Alien Registration Card and also we opened a bank account...which means we will be getting dolla dolla bills baby! My first day of classes will be on Monday and I am pretty nervous but very excited. So far all of the kids here will stop and stare with their mouths hanging open screaming.. BEAUTIFUL! BEAUTIFUL! I guess we need to work on some vocabulary.
It is customary here for the teachers to take out the new teacher out for dinner and drinks. They are all about eating here! But they have a drink called So-Ju and it tastes like watered down vodka. Nathan came home the other night at 8pm from a night out with his male co-teachers and he was pretty crunked...that stuff will get ya!
Hopefully N8 and I will be able to get the internet in our place very soooon...so i can load up some photos.

Musical Chairs

2008-09-02T23:54:00.000-07:00

N8 and I looked at an apartment yesterday which was entirely too small. A full size bed would barely fit in the bedroom, whatever. So we have tried to figure out many plans but it seems as though more and more problems are arising. Now my landlord wants me out of the apartment all together, maybe by this weekend. I think that there is a lack of communication right now, but we are trying to deal with this as calmly as possible. Although the space is a bit of a problem we may just settle with the small apartment, it may be our only option. We have been pretty busy today...updates coming soon.

Anyong..YES ANYONG

2008-09-01T21:40:00.000-07:00

I am officially in business! I know that my last Blog entry was for my second day of orientation, but a lot has happened and they have kept me busy busy busy! In my ten day orientation, my day usually consisted of an 8am breakfast and lectures starting by 9am. Two lectures would last until lunch time where we would all file out like sheep and eat at the university cafeteria. If we ate fast enough we would have enough time to venture out to Emart to buy some essentials or even take a nap in our dorms. Afterwards we would sit through two more lectures, but in between the two our group leaders would give us a healthy snack consisting of fruits and veggies. We would finish our lectures around 5:30 and then again march out to eat dinner at the same cafeteria. Although I was growing weary of the food, it was free...so i stuffed my face. After dinner they would fill our evenings with offensive movies, one of which was called 200lb beauty (it was a constant fat joke), or class meetings which were helpful because it was a free-for-all Q&A. All of our obligated sessions were done by 7:30 and we would usually close by to a local bar and just chat or stay in because we were still tired and jet lagged. For the first two days I would be bobbing my head by 2 or 3pm. A couple days after that I would need to be in bed by 7 or 8. After that I tended just to be tired all day but able to stay awake.
On Friday the 29th we had a closing ceremony. Earlier that morning we had to load up the buses with all of our luggage and once we stepped out of the closing ceremony we moo-ed our way onto the buses and headed 4 hours east towards Yang Yang, where N8's orientation was being held. We finally got to see each other which was wonderful but then had to go in separate cars with our co-teachers from our assigned school. N8 is working in a co-ed middle school and I will be in an all girls middle school. I will also be required to teach English to the teachers, and once a week i will be teaching elementary school. So far I have been introduced to the teachers and MY VERY OWN DESK. There is another native English speaker-teacher here and his name is Jason. He is married to a Korean woman and he is very nice. I have sat in on some of his classes and also the Korean English teachers' classes. I have been coming up with some really great ideas for my class. I have also been told that I will have my VERY OWN CLASSROOM. This is not common in most schools because the children usually stay in their homeroom and the teachers move from classroom to classroom. This way I will be able to put up my own posters and keep it organized the way I WANT. I start next week!
If you read N8's blog, he mentioned our apartment situation. Even though its kind of a pain in the butt, I'm still so glad we are able to live together. I think that our co-teachers like us very much and are trying to uphold their side of the deal.
The first weekend that we arrived we went to the beach, where N8 and I couldn't really find anything to eat. But the funniest thing was that a lot of people were at the beach, but everyone stayed fully clothed even in the water! good thing I didn't just arrive in my swim suit. Yesterday was the first day of school for the students, and its been raining ever since! I checked the weather and it should be clearing up by tomorrow. I will post more pictures once we get internet in our new apartment.

Moving...again

2008-08-31T23:39:00.000-07:00

Ok. It's official. Muffy and I have been and will continue to live together here in Korea. HOWEVER! The owner of our apartment building is apparently easily swayed by his other residents, and the fact that Muffy and I aren't married has resulted in his request that we NOT live together.

The fact that we have to move is a shame. The apartment that we have now has three bedrooms, a full kitchen and a substantial living area. In addition, it has a porch with a drying rack and washing machine for our clothes. We were given a pseudo-leather couch, bed, mattress, bedsheets, microwave, stove/oven, fridge, armoir, and flat-screen tv. Now that we are moving, it's unclear as to whether or not all of this swag will be included in our new place. The worst part of it all is that we are still living out of our suitcases.

The BEST part about this trip is the free time. For the first time in my life, I am only responsible for paying attention to Muffy. It's a great day.

I just bought a bike. The bike + cable lock + helmet costed only about $150. Muffy is going to buy a motorized scooter. We'll be able to use it to travel everywhere together at a low price. A used scooter will run us $400, not too shabby. And the tiny engine will require very little gas, a pricey commodity here (over $5 per gallon).

The biggest limitation for us here is the food at this point. We went to the beach the other day (a half hour walk), and I figured we would find SOMETHING familiar. But every single restaurant seemed to focus solely on raw fish. And this isn't sushi-grade goodness. It's stinky and eaten in every variety possible. Granted, we haven't yet tried it, so I can't say that it's awful, but it's just not what I was expecting. We have mostly been eating groceries and occasionally eating out, but that will change soon since we just found this amazing barbeque place. You get a buttload of food for about $15 total, including 2 liters of beer (I haven't found a GREAT beer yet though).

Pictures coming soon. I have internet access at my desk at the school, which is where I'll be writing from until (and if) we get wireless internet in our new apartment.

Day 2 Orientation

2008-08-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

I feel that time has moved so slowly since I have arrived. Today was a day full of organized lectures and meals. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all provided for in the cafeterias at the university. Every morning we have kimchi with rice and other sides like veggies and spicy paste. The fun thing about breakfast is that we are also given chop-stick silverware. I have met some of the perfect people for me here. My roommate's name is Erin, she is also here with her boyfriend Mike and they are the loveliest couple. They are also going to be located in the province of Gangwon-do, as N8 and I will be. Another friend I have made is Jose, and he is a Puerto-Rican Rascal who makes me smile!
We had 4 lecutures today and we were pretty beat after them. Even though the talks were informational and helpful we were all itching to get out because the Gangwon-do people had interviews at the end of the day to be given more specific placement. I had mentioned in my interview how the most important aspect of my placement is to be with N8.

Geographically I would prefer to be in a city setting and possibly closer to the beach. I asked to be considered to be placed in a city called Gangneung, which is the second largest city in the province of Gangwon-do, and it is also right in the middle of the beach and mountains...best of both worlds right?! My interviewer told me that N8 will be arriving on monday and will be attending a week-long orientation. Also that we could possibly be placed in this city that I wanted because there is middle school that is looking for a couple to teach at the school and they also have a couple's apartment already set up, which is ideal!! We won't find out for sure until thursday but I have high hopes, as mom says i am "sending it out into the universe." It seems as though my close friends have also gotten their first choice of placement which is really exciting.

I have attached some more pictures to give you a sense of the campus we walk about and also of the currency. The smallest bill they have is a 10,000 won which is the same as $10. I thought i'd also put up some defacing of school property IN KOREAN!

Seoul Train

2008-08-21T21:56:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! The has eagle landed. So far I feel great, the flights all the way to south korea were quite nice. I think I did a good job mentally preparing myself, and the 12 hour flight to Seoul was very empty so i had a whole row to myself! I also had very good luck in the airports, thanks to mom's popularity as a Pittsburgh flight attendant, none of my bags were charged. And when i got to San Fransisco I was told I had to check my one carryon and was told it would be $115, but the man who took my bag for me told me it he would comp it. So all in all i saved about $275.
When the plane finally landed around 6:30 pm, I was more inclined to see who may be joining me in my program and there were about 20 of us in the airport. Everyone is very nice and it ran quite smoothly. When we finished getting all of our luggage we got on a bus provided by the program for about an hour and we came to KU, a university here and then we were given a shirt to wear for our first day of orientation. We have been paired up in dorms which are pretty nice. My roommate is very nice and we get along quite well. She is here with her boyfriend too which makes me miss nathan even more, but I am excited for him to get here, even though he won't be a part of orientation. After getting settled in, we finally got to sleep around midnight and had to wake up around 8 am for breakfast and the first day of orientation. There are about 400 people here from all of the world for the program's orientation. The people I have met have all been nice and of all ages. I think I imagined people in their 20s to be the main age group, but there are people here mommy's age and older! I think its a great experience for anyone of any age. During these 10 days of prep we will be having lectures on teaching english and Korean culture. The only disappointing thing is that it has been raining all day but its still pretty nice. I haven't gotten the chance to take any pictures yet but I will be posting some soon. I am surprised at how comfortable I am, I don't think that the shock of separation has set in yet, but I am quite content. Right now I am feeling a little bit sore from the plane and a little sleeply, mainly from the rain. I am happy that the jet lag hasn't had a huge hold on me>I owe it to the good timing of the flight. I miss everyone so much already but I will keep you posted!

Nathan's Farewell message

2008-08-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

Hooray! Somebody checked the blog!

Muffy and I are naturally hilarious individuals. It all started in the womb, when Muffy mistook her umbilical cord for a hat. Wrapping the cord around her head like a mongkon, Muffy cut off blood flow through the cord, allowing the concentration of metabolic wastes to rise dramatically in her little fetal blood stream. This would have killed a normal human being, but this tiny Mexican tot is a fighter. Later research showed that a certain byproduct of fetal aerobic respiration produced only by Mexican fetuses - imjustkeedosterone - positvely impacts the temporal lobe of the brain when present at critical concentrations. Research has also found direct correlations between the development of the temporal lobe and the exceptionality of an individual's sense of humor. Muffy's cat-like curiosity was thus the direct stimulus for her development of a much-desired laughable nature.

The same thing happened to me.

For this reason, you should check the blog often because Muffy and I are going to try very hard to keep you entertained from Korea, which is 6789 miles away (10926 km if you live in a silly part of the world).

See you in a year! (or less if you REALLY love us)

Yinz from da Burgh?

2008-08-16T22:07:00.000-07:00

This is my farewell to my lovely city that holds so many of my closest friends and family. Even though it is only a year, right now it seems like it will be for a life time. Emailing everyone in my email list will be hard to do since Nathan and I will be working as English teachers for the year, so this blog is to help me keep in touch with my family and friends and who ever else wants to lurk. I am leaving on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 for Korea and will be attending a 10-day orientation. N8 will finally be taking his MCAT test on August 22>>wish him luck!<<"GOOOOD LUUUUUCKKK!" and he will arriving to Korea on August 25th. So far we don't know much about where we will be or what we will be doing exactly.. but that's all part of the fun. We are hoping we will be able to live together, but we might end up in different apartments or even separate cities. Either way it will be an amazing experience that we can still share together. I personally think its better to be a few hours apart than a whole world away. We will keep you all posted with the latest stories and pictures that N8 and I will be documenting. I hope you enjoy the entries to come and also hope you share some comments and remember to email once in a while with tidbits from home.
Goodbye Steelers, Penguins, Iron City Beer, Chocolate Celebrations, Sister Chats, UUGh Nanana, Weekends of Shame and all of you Yinzers out there. See you in 365 (+) days!