Hiking is THE hobby of South Korea, you can hike anywhere because Korea is 70% mountains. This week I did two different hikes. On Tuesday my visiting teachers came down from Daegu to visit me. We drove right up to the temple and then we hiked the 20 minute stairs to reach the Buddha.
Pictures of the decorated Temple. The Buddha pictures are here, from a previous hike.
Saturday Nick and I climbed Hawangsan Mountain. This hike has been on our To-Do list for a while. We were happy to hear other foreigners in Changnyeong that wanted to do it as well, so we set a date. The hike usually takes 3 hours but it took us a little longer because a family from our church came and they had a small child. She made it up the mountain no problem, but getting down was a different story.
Lots of beautiful flowers on the way!
Our first glimpse of the view, little did we know that we were only a little over halfway up.
The Top!!
The Rock at the top! We climbed Hawangsan Mountain!!
The friends we climbed with.
I swore we took more pictures at the top but when we reached the bottom they had disappeared. Which means we will have to climb again.
This weekend we went to Namji for a beautiful canola flower festival. Namji is only ten minutes away from where we live, so we had to go! We had such a great time with Nick and Amanda!
Oh sorry in advance for the picture over load....
I love color accent on cameras.
Delicious Ice Cream! I have been looking for it for over a year now. Last I had it was during Christmas vacation 2012. I was pretending it was a saxophone.
Bibimbap, sorry we didn't take a picture of Nick's $30 plate of crap. (Pork but crappy pork)
If we would have found this thing two years ago we would probably own one. It's an electric scooter thing :)
The flowers go on forever it seems....
Silly picture with Nick A and Nick B
Silly Amanda, she thinks she can fly
I'm trying to swim, guess I'm silly too...
Nick fell....
I laughed and this was my consequence.....
When we finished walking around all of the flowers we walked by the festival tents. We found a game we had never played at a festival before so out of curiosity we had to try it. You took a water-bug or small eel out of a bowl and into a funnel, whatever bin it swam to you got the prize that was labeled.
We had such a great Easter Weekend. Hope you did too..
Nick and I just had a fantastic weekend! We were invited over to our Korean branch building, which we are zoned for, for a barbeque. We were told it was from 2-4 so we ate a small early breakfast before we left. The bus to Miryang is about a 1 hour ride. When you arrive the church is right next to the bus terminal. We were early, but it was fun to talk with all the missionaries who were also there for the activity. We soon found out that the food wasn't until after the activity :( We were starving!
When the it finally started we were separated into three teams. We played rock, paper, scissors with our feet.
I was chosen to represent our team in the booty bump war, with the other women from the two other teams. One was a child... Before we started I apologized to both of them because there isn't a tiny Korean booty out there that could take on my booty..... everybody laughed as I shot my opponents across the room.
Guess you can say I kicked butt at this game and earned my team some points!!
After the indoor activities we moved outside for an obstacle course. Each team had five couples and each couple had to go through the whole course. Did I mention it was raining?? First you had to get into potato sacks and jump to the next station while holding hands with your partner. Once you made it to the bobbing for apple station, you had to bob for an apple then break it in half using your hands, then eat it before moving on to the next obstacle. Nick was awesome and quickly sank his teeth into the apple and came out soaking wet. He also broke the apple in half using his hands (I was really impressed). The next obstacle was for one of us to carry the other to the limbo rope. Nick bent down for me to jump on his back, when I was on he couldn't get up... he says his feet were slipping in the mud.. the audience is laughing as I hit him and have him jump on my back. I ran for the limbo rope, we held hands and went under. Next finding a piece of candy buried in a pan of flour. I let Nick take this one and I wasn't disappointed. After he got the candy super quick we ran for the balloons. I blew one up and we ran back to the beginning where we had to pop it by hugging back to back. Once that was done we tagged the next couple, and this video happen.
Of course our team came in first place!!! We had so much fun cheering each other on, okay maybe it was just me yelling at them to move faster... Not sure... I'm not competitive at all.
We moved the activity back inside and had an amazing barbeque. There were POTS full of marinated bulgogi, and yummy boar's meat. We ate till we couldn't put another bite into our mouths, even though we wanted too, it was that good! They even gave us some meat for the road.
We left Miryang on the train going to Busan. We checked into our love motel and went shopping.
We slept in the next morning which was kinda nice. We took our time packing back up and getting ready for a Korean wedding. We felt so blessed to be able to attend a Korean wedding. It was really awesome.
With luck we found the right hotel along with the correct floor, and room, and I mean it took a little luck. Our Korean is nonexistent. After standing around awkwardly being the only foreigners in the room we were spotted by the groom who saved us from our awkward insecurity and took us to see the bride. So they have a little separate room where the bride sits and all the guests, as they arrive, come and get their picture taken with her. Here's me with the bride's sister, they both are so beautiful.
The bride, Ga-hee, she is the sister of our friend and co-worker Sohee.
Sorry this picture is fuzzy, I think it is a picture of the picture that was taken professionally.
After picture we met the parents of the bride and gave our gift of money at the money table. They have white envelopes that you put your money into and then record how much you gave and your name. We also received tickets for the buffet lunch after the wedding.
The Mothers of the bride and groom walked first and lit the candles then sat down. They were dressed in beautiful hanboks. Then the groom walked and got in place. The bride was walked down the aisle by her father and given to the groom after he bowed and shook the father's hand. Even though we didn't understand the words it was still emotional and beautiful to watch. After they were married they turned and bowed to each other, then, bowed to each set of parents. During this bow to the parents, the groom did a very respectful bow with his hands knees on the ground and his forehead on his hands. I imagine that a more traditional ceremony would have had the bride also bow this deeply but in a wedding dress it's difficult to do anything but sit and stand. After the ceremony the couple stayed standing in the front while people performed various talents for them and us. They had a violinist, two teenage girls (who appeared to be related to the grom somehow) who danced, and then a bunch of young men (we think friends of the groom) got up and did an amazing dance/taekwondo performance. The groom joined in and it was hilarious and awesome. After, they cut the cake with a short sword.
When it was all over they walked back down the aisle as streamer cannons were shot off towards them. They came back in for pictures, then we went for food!
I tried everything that I possibly could. We had a great time discovering what things were. When we finished our second, maybe even thirds, we left for the bus station. We saw this outside. Wow they know how to decorate the get-away car!
We are so grateful for the opportunity to attend the wedding and to meet Sohee's family, it made our weekend entertaining and enlightening.
I accidently hit the publish button, but Nick thought it was hilarious and made me wait a whole day to post the update... so now without further ado...
We bought the wall hangings in China. The meaning behind each one is the reason we bought them and why they are in a certain order hanging! From left to right you have Cherry blossom tree, Yin and Yang fish, and Bamboo. The cherry blossom represent feminine beauty and sexuality and holds the idea of feminine dominance. The Koi fish represent the balance of masculinity and femininity and have the characteristics of good fortune, success, prosperity, and longevity.
Bamboo represent man, it is strong, upright, and dependable. He may bend with the wind, the storm and the rain, but he never breaks. He is a true gentleman of courage and endurance. When we were told the meanings it sounded just like our relationship so we had to have them.
Taekwondo is going great. We should get our red belts next week. We have been very busy practicing and preparing for our Black Belts. Yes in the picture I'm holding an apple, don't ask.
Just to point out two things, first McDonald's delivers here in Korea, second this scooter is using the sidewalks to get around.
Not to long ago we sang Karaoke in our bosses upstairs room where usually no one is allowed. It was fun!
We had students come from a different town. They did a one day tour of our school and it gave us an excuse to have some fun!
We went to Seoul this past weekend and on our trip back home we shared a quart of 3 different flavors of Baskin' Robins Ice Cream. They wrapped it up in a bag along with piece of dry ice to keep it frozen. When we finished the ice cream we had some fun with the dry ice.
Sunday on our way home from church we opened the package we got from my mother and brother. So excited to have my favorite hairspray again!! Thanks for all of the fun stuff. I loved my shirt and I wore the box on my head to be funny. It was a great ride home, many confused looks and awkward smiles. Maybe I had to much sugar?
We are really excited that spring is coming. Hope you guys are too.
Tuesday, January 7th Today we woke up late (around 9:30) and ate some breakfast. When we finished packing. We checked out and hit the road. We went straight to the train station to pick up our tickets and then to the zoo. We saw pandas, polar bears, monkeys, Tapirs and much more. One of the monkeys tried to attack me... NOT just once but twice, it was super crazy.
When we finished with the zoo we ate some yummy peppered beef, fried rice and chow mein for dinner. We drank a delicious drink you can only find in Beijing (at least that was what we were told) It tasted like fizzy tang!
We made our way back toward the train station where we walked around for a little while before we officially went in. We got there two hours early so we sat around for a little while before we headed to our gate. When we got there we were surprised that they had already started loading.We found our car and bunk numbers. We are staying with a mother her daughter,and a random chinese man.
We got settled in for the night, ate our birthday cake flavored oreos and drank some weird milk. The nice Chinese man taught us what we needed to know and then we passed out.
Wednesday, January 8th Nick and I both slept okay.. I was very restricted because I was wearing all of my layers of clothes. We arrived to Xian a few minutes early, when we stopped we headed straight to McDonalds for breakfast. We ate and stayed there for an hour or so and watched the buses come and go. We looked at our directions to figure out which bus we needed to take. When we finished we walked down and jumped on what we THOUGHT was the right bus, however a few stops down Nick and I looked at each other with concerned looks. Concern # 1) There weren't any foreigners on our bus. Concern #2) No one could tell us if we were going to the Terracotta warrior museum.Concern # 3) It just flat out looked like we were going the wrong way.
We were both extremely frustrated because no one could speak English so we jumped off the bus ran across the street and then grabbed another bus back to the train station to start over. When we jumped on the bus we discovered that they did not have change for our money and so we dug through pockets and we were still short.We ended up just putting in what we had and jumped off the bus. We walked around the train station looking for different buses. We found a large parking lot and started wondering around. We saw some nice coach buses and as we got closer the side of them read from train stations to Terracotta warrior museum. Before jumping on I tried to ask how much it was. They wouldn't answer and kept pushing me on which made me extremely nervous. I got upset and blocked the door to the bus until they told me. Finally we jumped on and rode it all the way to the museum. The whole way the bus made frequent stops trying to convince people to jump on. At some point the people who were standing were told to crouch down, when we went through a random check point it made since why. They probably cannot have people standing on the bus. When we Finally arrived to the Warrior museum we had a while to walk to get our tickets then to actually get in to the museum itself. The whole walk we were dodging people and nicely turning them down.
The Warriors were extremely cool. It was worth the trouble trying to get there. Some history about the warriors, they were discovered by some local farmers who were digging a well. When they found some pottery, they notified someone important and they found the warriors. The government took over and they are still uncovering many of the artifacts today. They are filled with warriors, their weapons, horses, carriages, and armor. All made out of clay (Except for the weapons) and some were destroyed because of thieves and fires. It was really hard for me to believe all this stuff was buried because of some important person wanted it to be so when he died (that's what they believe) I think the king made these clay warriors to make people believe he had a large army when infact he didn't.
When we finished we ate at a Dico (Chinese fast food restaurant chain) it was pretty tasty!! As we walked out I bought these adorable handmade items from a very old Chinese lady. They are super cute! As we tried to barter with her a crowd gathered around. Finally we caved, but it was a fantastic find.
We easily jumped on the bus and went back to the stations. We had time to spare so we went shopping and found a Haagan Dazs Ice cream restaurant where we had a giant chocolate ball with ice cream on the inside. They poured hot chocolate syrup on top of the ball and caused it to melt so you could see the ice cream on the inside. It was so delicious. We had to ask for more vanilla ice cream to balance out the chocolatey goodness.
It was such a tasty dessert, dare I say one of the best I have every had at a restaurant! When we finished we went back to the train station boarded our train, Beijing bound.
Thursday, January 9th We arrived safely and dieing to take showers and change clothes (we had been wearing the same clothes for 3 days) but we still had to wait till we landed in Seoul late Thursday night.
We did some last minute shopping, saw Chairman Mao's dead frozen body, and then we stopped to eat our last Chinese meal, a must have. Beijing Duck!
It tasted pretty good but at this point Nick was running a fever and not feeling well at all. He managed to eat something and then we headed back to our Hostel to pick up our bags and warm up.
We made it to Seoul safely and showered and passed out.
Our Trip to China was definitely interesting to say the least. It is very eye opening to see the differences between all of the Asian countries. China was our least favorite, however we are glad we had the opportunity to visit.
