Merry Christmas!

Well, it's already 1 a.m. our time, so it's December 26th. We just want to wish all of you guys the safest, happiest Christmas possible. We're going to (and by going to I mean "already are") miss the celebrations and the family and the food and the fun, at least as we usually know them.

On the positive side, with Christmas Day came the first heavy snow of the year. It's been snowing for a good part of the day, to the point where the ground is covered and the Koreans are driving worse than normal.

So, we've spent our time watching Christmas movies. Since we have gotten home from our Christmas dinner (Italian food), we've curled up and watched The Santa Clause, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the original) and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. It's been good. Unusual, but good.


Spending the day as best we can.

Merry Christmas,

Dave and Jess

Our next trip

Tomorrow we will move upon the 38th parallel, a line which cuts through the middle of the Korean peninsula. Here, after two hours of travel, we will find the DMZ. Also known as the Demilitarized Zone, the DMZ separates the Northern Democratic People's Republic of Korea from the Republic of Korea in the south. Further inside the DMZ lies the Military Demarcation Line, the exact borders on the day of a ceasefire between two nations in 1953.

Fifty-seven years later, with the Koreas still technically at war, we will travel to see the tightest border known to man. While there will be no such venture towards the MDL, I hope our trip takes us even mildly inside the DMZ. And we will be equipped with cameras, both video and stillframe.

Because we wouldn't be good journalists, or tourists, without.

~Dave

The soft streets of Buldang-dong

Half of a mile from our apartment, and four stories up, resides a row of classrooms inhabited by rows of desks, a whiteboard and a PC.

Sometimes, there are the eager sounds of Korean students wanting to learn. But mostly, it's just the sound of Korean students eager to whine.

Either way, existence in Buldang-dong, a neighborhood in Cheonan, South Korea is a peaceful one.  As evident here...

The road to Cheonan

It was a day that had come as fast as any that came before it. Before you knew it we were in Korea. And even quicker we were past our week of training and in a taxi van that traversed the miles of highway that would take us to our mainstay in Korea.

That was Cheonan, and this is the trip. It goes along highways, in between the cracks of mountains and through urban and rural areas alike. In some places they change by the block.

The beginning shows the sprawl of the Seoul metropolis. Following that is an unpredictable mixture of highrises and farms. And always on the outskirts lie green, rolling hills, one of the last things I expected to see when coming to Korea.

Yet, the perfect backdrop.

The Caribou, Subway exploration

On a rainy Saturday, we decided to make a daytrip up to Seoul. Jess had heard about Caribou Coffees somewhere in the booming metropolis, and wanted to see if the legends were true. Likewise, I had heard about Subways (sandwiches, not public transportation) somewhere in Korea. Upon googling, I found there were 42. So it seemed all too fitting that we set up a day in the theme of visiting our last two jobs.

And the search was on...

For Starters...

We were in mood for chicken and beer, you know, something simple. But, we live in Korea, so like usual, we ended up with a little more than we could chew, or not chew, for that matter. Before our entree of fried chicken, our waiter was gracious enough to help curb our hunger by serving complimentary finger food. A nice gesture on his part, but little did he know, we are American and do not take kindly to slimey, half-alive sea creatures. I knew I would not like the "tasty treat," but when in Rome....

This is a video of me trying to suck a snail out of its salty and foul-smelling shell. I hope you enjoy this more than I did.

-Jess

9/11: Hiking

On Saturday September 11, we took our first venture into real (rural) South Korea. Not that Cheonan feels fake, it’s just a lot like America.

Matthew

Anyway, our friend Matthew was kind enough to let us tag along on a hiking trip he took to Byeonsanbando National Park. The park is on the Southwestern coast of Korea, so a three-hour trip for us. It is highlighted by the great Saemangeum seawall, the world’s largest seawall. 

Our goal was to hike a 19-km trail that ran from  the visitor center (and beginning of the seawall) to the next biggest coastal city of Gyeokpo. I think we exceeded that when we got lost. We left Cheonan at 5:30 a.m., nearly five hours earlier than either of us had woken up since settling into our new home.

We meant to be in our destination city of Buan at 11:00.  After two separate bus rides, we managed to do that. It had rained the whole way down, so all we could do was hope that it might stop to give us a good day of hiking. In Buan, we met up with some other hikers from Matthew’s travel group. There were seven of us. We hopped in a couple of taxis and made for the start of our trail.

Our hike had three parts:

First came the scenic route. We walked upon the shores of Yellow sea (inside the sea wall) for the first hour or more.

After leaving the beach, we began to hike the hills that ran along the coast. This was probably the most interesting part. At first glance, we saw that the fence we were walking next to was made of barbed-wire. Clearly this path had not originally been for hiking. Higher up in the hills, we found many semi-camouflaged cement posts, which we could only assume were meant for men to shoot from. And we saw them every hundred feet. 

We also saw a Tiger army outpost on another beach later on. Just to the right of the picture were soldiers manning what looked like a .50 caliber gun. 

The last part was the longest, as we got lost in the midst. With the rain returning, and remaining relentless, we decided not to hike the next hill. The red clay had turned slippery, and the trail would get steep. So we took the civilized trail, the roadway. Little did we know, the signs we had been following the entire time would cease when we left the hills. Enter rural South Korea.

People Pictures 1.0

Funny pictures

I guess it is more sensical than our American signs, one person isn't men.

And me without my galoshes

August and July, the height of monsoon season. The rains come quick and often. And they last for a good while. For the record, this one probably lasted somewhere closer to 10 hours than two.

I thought the blue hue added a little flavor.

Our good timing

So when we went out to eat with a couple of other teachers the other night, our co-worker Oscar told us a ridiculous story. He had just finished the three-month hiatus you get for re-upping after your first contract.

So one year and three months ago, he flew into South Korea to begin his time with Chungdamn. But he happened to be entering the country at the height of Swine flu.

He said that he and the other ten Americans who flew over at the time were thrown into a van, and taken to some undisclosed location. They were all quarantined for over a week. Apparently, it wasn't as bad as it sounded, but it's crazy nonetheless.

So good timing on our part, huh?

No SARS? Good to go.

After the first day of training,

We went to a Hospital to get medical tests done.

Here's the hospital.

Chooooooo!

Yep, that's right. The best player on the Cleveland Indians is from where else but South Korea. My boy Shin-soo. I saw this sign kind of out in the boonies when I went to go buy my guitar in a place called Suwon.

Apartment Tour Pt. 2

And here is the rest of our humble abode. Enjoy.

Apartment Tour Pt. 1

So here is the first part of the video tour for our cozy little apartment in Cheonan. Emphasis on cozy.

PS: I spelled apartment wrong.

Pictures from Seoul

Yes, McDonald's delivers

Seefood

One awesomely muraled wall in the Subway station