I need not explain too much here, but we visited a place called EVERLAND here in Korea and, well, it was pretty much a REAL Christmas Miracle. Watch the videos.. I'm sure you will agree... :D
(I had to divide this thing into 3 parts.. it was just too full of Christmas spirit for blogger.com to handle. ha.)
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Cookies anyone?
Alright.
Today I decided to go shopping for cookie ingredients. I found most of the ingredients, but a fellow teacher was looking for vanilla extract and so we got the lady at the counter to help us find the rest of our ingredients. We managed to explain to her with VERY few Korean words and mostly hand motions that we were making cookies. Thanking her for her help, we make our way to the register to buy our goodies.
The lady, can't remember her name, grabs the bag of sugar, STUNNED, and starts laughing as she tries to get the other ladies attention. They both start laughing and after a while, me and Lynds begin to feel a bit uncomfortable and wonder what exactly we grabbed off the shelf. Our lady tries to explain to us what it was we found, but unfortunately can't find the English word in her phone. We grab another bag of sugar but first make sure it IS sugar, which it was, before she rings it up.
We were about to leave the store, when our lady, determined to tell us what we ALMOST bought was, pointed to her computer screen and we read those dreaded words...
"monosodium glutamate."
HAHAHA... We both starting laughing and all four of us could now join together in the laughter of what COULD have happened to my cookies.
Can you imagine, "Would you like an MSG cookie? Fresh out of the oven!"
Haha... Oh man. Who puts a giant bag of powdered MSG next to the sugar.. I mean, not EVERYONE speaks Korean here! haha.. Good times.
Today I decided to go shopping for cookie ingredients. I found most of the ingredients, but a fellow teacher was looking for vanilla extract and so we got the lady at the counter to help us find the rest of our ingredients. We managed to explain to her with VERY few Korean words and mostly hand motions that we were making cookies. Thanking her for her help, we make our way to the register to buy our goodies.
The lady, can't remember her name, grabs the bag of sugar, STUNNED, and starts laughing as she tries to get the other ladies attention. They both start laughing and after a while, me and Lynds begin to feel a bit uncomfortable and wonder what exactly we grabbed off the shelf. Our lady tries to explain to us what it was we found, but unfortunately can't find the English word in her phone. We grab another bag of sugar but first make sure it IS sugar, which it was, before she rings it up.
We were about to leave the store, when our lady, determined to tell us what we ALMOST bought was, pointed to her computer screen and we read those dreaded words...
"monosodium glutamate."
HAHAHA... We both starting laughing and all four of us could now join together in the laughter of what COULD have happened to my cookies.
Can you imagine, "Would you like an MSG cookie? Fresh out of the oven!"
Haha... Oh man. Who puts a giant bag of powdered MSG next to the sugar.. I mean, not EVERYONE speaks Korean here! haha.. Good times.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thanksgiving Feast...
Ah, Thanksgiving Day at last
When we mere mortals break our fast
And all of us, both great and least
Sit down before a bountiful feast
We lift our prayers to God on high
Then stuff ourselves with pumpkin pie
Cranberry sauce and candied yams
Homemade rolls and turkey gams
Taters smashed with driblet gravy
Beans of green, and string, and navy!
Turkey breast and cornbread dressing
All get munched…after the blessing
Till it comes out of our ears, our eyes, our pores, even our tears!
We eat a lot, and then some more
While keeping one foot on the floor
We eat until we’re all done in
And then sit down and start again!
Thanksgiving Day, ah, what a treat
To eat and eat and eat…and EAT!
Haha.. this poem is amazing. And if any of you listen to or still listen to Adventures in Odyssey, you know EXACTLY what I mean.
Anyways, if you were wondering, my sickness has no begun to leave my body. I'm not exactly sure what I had, but I'm thinking it might have been some form of laryngitis or bronchitis. Nevertheless, it's going away.
ANYWAYS, it's definitely that time of year for hats and mittens and THANKSGIVING FEASTS! As much as I wanted to be back with my family for Thanksgiving, this feast will certainly be one to remember. My ACTUAL Thanksgiving feast involved... drumroll please... MEATLOAF.
No joke. On Thanksgiving night, we had food in the cafeteria and it was meatloaf. Haha.. I totally felt like the kid, Randy, from A Christmas Story who sang "Meatloaf, beetloaf, I hate meatloaf." But ALAS, there was a ray of shining light off in the distance because lo and behold we had our Thanksgiving feast that very next day and what a feast it was! The table went from one end of the gym to the other and it was filled with yummy goodness. There was even a Korean addition of Kimchi on the table. (Haha.. it's just not a meal in Korea without Kimchi.)
Anyways, here's some pictures of our Thanksgiving Night!
The last one is of the RA's and Brent, our fearless Resident Staff Leader! :D
This was truly a Thanksgiving to remember...
Hugs, blessings, and Thanksgiving kimchi!
When we mere mortals break our fast
And all of us, both great and least
Sit down before a bountiful feast
We lift our prayers to God on high
Then stuff ourselves with pumpkin pie
Cranberry sauce and candied yams
Homemade rolls and turkey gams
Taters smashed with driblet gravy
Beans of green, and string, and navy!
Turkey breast and cornbread dressing
All get munched…after the blessing
Till it comes out of our ears, our eyes, our pores, even our tears!
We eat a lot, and then some more
While keeping one foot on the floor
We eat until we’re all done in
And then sit down and start again!
Thanksgiving Day, ah, what a treat
To eat and eat and eat…and EAT!
Haha.. this poem is amazing. And if any of you listen to or still listen to Adventures in Odyssey, you know EXACTLY what I mean.
Anyways, if you were wondering, my sickness has no begun to leave my body. I'm not exactly sure what I had, but I'm thinking it might have been some form of laryngitis or bronchitis. Nevertheless, it's going away.
ANYWAYS, it's definitely that time of year for hats and mittens and THANKSGIVING FEASTS! As much as I wanted to be back with my family for Thanksgiving, this feast will certainly be one to remember. My ACTUAL Thanksgiving feast involved... drumroll please... MEATLOAF.
No joke. On Thanksgiving night, we had food in the cafeteria and it was meatloaf. Haha.. I totally felt like the kid, Randy, from A Christmas Story who sang "Meatloaf, beetloaf, I hate meatloaf." But ALAS, there was a ray of shining light off in the distance because lo and behold we had our Thanksgiving feast that very next day and what a feast it was! The table went from one end of the gym to the other and it was filled with yummy goodness. There was even a Korean addition of Kimchi on the table. (Haha.. it's just not a meal in Korea without Kimchi.)
Anyways, here's some pictures of our Thanksgiving Night!
The last one is of the RA's and Brent, our fearless Resident Staff Leader! :D
This was truly a Thanksgiving to remember...
Hugs, blessings, and Thanksgiving kimchi!
Monday, November 24, 2008
DE-militarized... I think not.
I'm going to begin this blog by saying how incredibly lucky you are to be READING this instead of hearing it from me in person, because as of right now, I have absolutely no voice, whatsoever. Last Thursday I contracted some sort of illness (most likely a cold... with a bit of laryngitis, possibly?), had a fever one night, and for the past 5 days I haven't been able to talk much, let alone belt out some great Christmas tunes. (I've been put into the Christmas mood early this year due to our downstairs lobby being decorated already, which then, spurred me on to also set up and decorate my own tree in my apartment. And yes, I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but still...)
So over the past few days I think I've accumulated a MASSIVE pile of tissues, almost using up an entire box, I drank almost all of my instant Lipton soup mixes, and have guzzled down a strange concoction of Dayquil, Nyquil, Halls Vitamin C's, and "Riiiiiii-collll-aaaaaaaaa's!" :D I'm hoping to feel better soon.. we shall see.
Anyways, I've been meaning to update you on my recent travels to the DMZ, De-militarized zone between North and South Korea. A few weeks ago, a bunch of us traveled to the north to see what exactly the border looked like, and to my surprise, there really IS a concrete border between the Koreas. No joke. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
We arrive early in the morning at the USO building, and then head off for our bus trip north to the border. On the way, our tour guide gives us some interesting facts and because of the static microphone and her accent, from what I gathered, I'm still very confused as to why it's called DE-militarized. The strip of land, about 2.5 miles wide and about 150 miles long, is THE most heavily armored border in the WORLD. Soo... yeah... De-militarized? Boggles my mind too.
Anyways, we arrive and are taken to the US base where we sat in a room and watched a presentation done by a US soldier about the history of North and South Korea and the infamous DMZ. It was also then that we signed a paper that stated "The visit to the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom will entail entry into a hostile area and possibility of injury or death as a direct result of enemy action."
...yeah.
NEVERTHELESS, we all signed our lives away and walked onto the bus that would take us to Panmunjeom. On the ride there, we weren't allowed to take pictures but definitely passed signs that read "This is a mine area" and it was then that I realized how much I was leaving my life in the hands of our bus driver. Every uphill twist and turn I felt a bit squeamish thinking what would happen if our bus accidentally drove off into the mine-filled brush. Oh, and we also got badges so that the North Koreans would be able to identify each of us and not just pick us off.. I was very thankful.
As we got off the bus, we were again reminded "Do not point at, gesture, or talk to the North Koreans." The atmosphere of this whole tour was very exhausting. I think the majority of the time, I tried to remind myself not to make any sudden moves, like grabbing my zoom lens out of my pocket and switching it out. (I wanted to take NO chances..ha.)
We made two lines and since ours was the first, we were also first to go inside the MAC Conference room. (Or otherwise called "T2" that stands for temporary 2... funny how places keep temporary buildings FOREVER and yet still call them temporary- like portables in high school.. hmm...)
This is the building that lays right smack dab on the Military Demarcation Line (yes, there's actually a concrete line marked out in case anyone were to just start walking the direction of North Korea and be confused at all.) I crossed over that very line into North Korea that day!
and is also where North and South Korea hold meetings. (Convenient how they don't even have to cross borders in order to hold meetings, right?) So we make it inside and here's our US soldier tour guide, Harvey, explaining just where exactly we are.
[movie clip: sorry, I'll upload it later, when I get better internet]
Anyways, we decided to take some pictures with the Korean soldiers standing watch by the door and just as I'm about to walk up to him, another man decides to take a picture with the dude and totally puts his arm around him. HAHAHAH.. I think my face was like "Oh man.. we are going to witness a SMACKDOWN." It would have been only a mere mistake had we NOT been JUST informed to not touch the soldiers and if we did, they had full permission to do whatever they wanted to us. (And I dunno about you, but when you see a man in uniform standing in a taekwondo stance.. umm.. well, you don't mess with him.) Well, the poor man soon realized he got himself into a pickle when the soldier totally shoved him to the side full force. (It was quite exciting to watch.) But then it was almost my turn to take a picture next to him.. haha.. so this was my face.
So I still got one next to him, but DEFINITELY kept my distance.
But it was really crazy to be so close to North Korea. Like I said before, you feel like so many eyes are on you the ENTIRE time, it's a bit exhausting, but definitely a crazy memory, indeed. Here's a picture of how close everything is. There's a soldier on the other side who had binoculars and was just scoping us out, which was a bit unnerving because just as I switched out my zoom lens, I looked up and he's staring right back at me. EEK.. I think I might have jumped a little. ha.
Also, if you look closely at the Korean soldiers glasses, they're definitely wearing Ray Ban aviators. (Supposedly they're very intimidating...totally makes me think Top Gun though..) Also, the soldiers were ball bearings in the bottoms of their pants so that when they march it sounds like more people.. interesting, right? I was really confused at first and wondered what exactly it was making that noise, but definitely didn't want to touch them to find out..ha.
And here's a picture of our group minus Mike in front of North Korea and the DMZ...
Well, moving right along, we leave that area and head out to a lookout place and check out a NK village called Kijŏng-dong, or otherwise known as the Propaganda Village. Supposedly some people think that there's really nothing there at all but soldiers patrolling because the lights in the village will turn on and off at EXACTLY the same times every day. The name also was given because they would blast information to the South Koreans with giant speakers about their country and leaders, etc. Oh, and their flagpole..haha.. I guess there's a war of who's flagpole is the tallest because at one point, North Korea had a really tall flagpole and then South Korea added theirs right next to it, which was taller. So what happened next? The North Koreans add their 525 foot flagpole with a 300 lb. flag flying on top of it. We were lucky to see it flying because, I guess, when it's raining, the flag is so weighted down that it doesn't fly.
A sweet picture of both North and South Korea all in one picture.. clever, right? ha..
Next, we make our way to the DMZ museum, which, I might add, told us a VERY idealistic view of the whole situation. I dunno what everyone else saw, but I definitely didn't see butterflies and flowers abounding with life everywhere you turned. No... only soldiers, barbed wire, and signs explaining there are live mines in the area. BUT, after our EXTREMELY fast tour of the museum, (seriously, they give you no time in these places, I think we spent a total of 10 minutes in that place.. no joke. Which also reminds me of our trip to the gift shop. I think our tour had roughly 80 people and when you cram that many people into a small little gift shop and expect EVERYONE to buy their souvenirs in less than 10 minutes.. I mean.. ridiculous, right? I barely had time to make my way through the crowded mess. The thought had occurred to me to jump up onto a table and crowd surf my way to the cash register, but I didn't want to make a scene. ;D
this is me in front of the museum with a statue of a soldier..haha..
We were then taken on a tour of the underground tunnels, or incursion tunnels, that NK had been making into SK. As of now, there are four tunnels that have been discovered the first found in 1974 and the latest in 1990. These run about 3,000 feet past the Demarcation line and when they were found, the North Koreans had explained that they were simply mining coal, but the SK's soon found out that was false due to the coal they had so strategically PAINTED onto the walls. Nice. Anyways, it was a LONG trek down and even LONGER way back up, but it was fun. You definitely feel GIANT inside of these tunnels, because as I am about average size 5'4" there were many times where I'd hit my head/helmet against the rock face shooting down from above us. Now that I think about it, it was this very thing that I was laughing about during the tour down underground. About every minute or so you could hear the clanging of heads hitting rock..haha.. quite entertaining actually. Oh, and on the way back up, we were met by about 500 elementary kids who noticed we were a large group of Americans and so they kept yelling out "HELLO! HOW ARE YOU? WHERE ARE YOU FROM?" haha.. So for HONESTLY 10 minutes, I kept saying "Hello... hello... hello... hello... hello.. hello.. Michigan.. hello.. hello... hello... hello..." and so on..
FINALLY, they take us to a lookout to view North Korea one last time. The only thing they told us was that we could only take pictures behind the yellow line. Simple enough. Well.. here's our view behind the yellow line...
Haha.. so it was definitely a task actually getting a picture of North Korea. We all stood right on the line and reached as high as we possibly could to get some shots.
But I managed to use my zoom lens and a few good shots, so there you have it.. a view of North Korea BEHIND the yellow line. :D
Wow. again, I have seriously made this thing MUCH too long. It was a crazy day, but definitely a fun memory! Thanks for reading and until next time...
Hugs, blessings, and yellow lines
So over the past few days I think I've accumulated a MASSIVE pile of tissues, almost using up an entire box, I drank almost all of my instant Lipton soup mixes, and have guzzled down a strange concoction of Dayquil, Nyquil, Halls Vitamin C's, and "Riiiiiii-collll-aaaaaaaaa's!" :D I'm hoping to feel better soon.. we shall see.
Anyways, I've been meaning to update you on my recent travels to the DMZ, De-militarized zone between North and South Korea. A few weeks ago, a bunch of us traveled to the north to see what exactly the border looked like, and to my surprise, there really IS a concrete border between the Koreas. No joke. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
We arrive early in the morning at the USO building, and then head off for our bus trip north to the border. On the way, our tour guide gives us some interesting facts and because of the static microphone and her accent, from what I gathered, I'm still very confused as to why it's called DE-militarized. The strip of land, about 2.5 miles wide and about 150 miles long, is THE most heavily armored border in the WORLD. Soo... yeah... De-militarized? Boggles my mind too.
Anyways, we arrive and are taken to the US base where we sat in a room and watched a presentation done by a US soldier about the history of North and South Korea and the infamous DMZ. It was also then that we signed a paper that stated "The visit to the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom will entail entry into a hostile area and possibility of injury or death as a direct result of enemy action."
...yeah.
NEVERTHELESS, we all signed our lives away and walked onto the bus that would take us to Panmunjeom. On the ride there, we weren't allowed to take pictures but definitely passed signs that read "This is a mine area" and it was then that I realized how much I was leaving my life in the hands of our bus driver. Every uphill twist and turn I felt a bit squeamish thinking what would happen if our bus accidentally drove off into the mine-filled brush. Oh, and we also got badges so that the North Koreans would be able to identify each of us and not just pick us off.. I was very thankful.
As we got off the bus, we were again reminded "Do not point at, gesture, or talk to the North Koreans." The atmosphere of this whole tour was very exhausting. I think the majority of the time, I tried to remind myself not to make any sudden moves, like grabbing my zoom lens out of my pocket and switching it out. (I wanted to take NO chances..ha.)
We made two lines and since ours was the first, we were also first to go inside the MAC Conference room. (Or otherwise called "T2" that stands for temporary 2... funny how places keep temporary buildings FOREVER and yet still call them temporary- like portables in high school.. hmm...)
This is the building that lays right smack dab on the Military Demarcation Line (yes, there's actually a concrete line marked out in case anyone were to just start walking the direction of North Korea and be confused at all.) I crossed over that very line into North Korea that day!
and is also where North and South Korea hold meetings. (Convenient how they don't even have to cross borders in order to hold meetings, right?) So we make it inside and here's our US soldier tour guide, Harvey, explaining just where exactly we are.
[movie clip: sorry, I'll upload it later, when I get better internet]
Anyways, we decided to take some pictures with the Korean soldiers standing watch by the door and just as I'm about to walk up to him, another man decides to take a picture with the dude and totally puts his arm around him. HAHAHAH.. I think my face was like "Oh man.. we are going to witness a SMACKDOWN." It would have been only a mere mistake had we NOT been JUST informed to not touch the soldiers and if we did, they had full permission to do whatever they wanted to us. (And I dunno about you, but when you see a man in uniform standing in a taekwondo stance.. umm.. well, you don't mess with him.) Well, the poor man soon realized he got himself into a pickle when the soldier totally shoved him to the side full force. (It was quite exciting to watch.) But then it was almost my turn to take a picture next to him.. haha.. so this was my face.
So I still got one next to him, but DEFINITELY kept my distance.
But it was really crazy to be so close to North Korea. Like I said before, you feel like so many eyes are on you the ENTIRE time, it's a bit exhausting, but definitely a crazy memory, indeed. Here's a picture of how close everything is. There's a soldier on the other side who had binoculars and was just scoping us out, which was a bit unnerving because just as I switched out my zoom lens, I looked up and he's staring right back at me. EEK.. I think I might have jumped a little. ha.
Also, if you look closely at the Korean soldiers glasses, they're definitely wearing Ray Ban aviators. (Supposedly they're very intimidating...totally makes me think Top Gun though..) Also, the soldiers were ball bearings in the bottoms of their pants so that when they march it sounds like more people.. interesting, right? I was really confused at first and wondered what exactly it was making that noise, but definitely didn't want to touch them to find out..ha.
And here's a picture of our group minus Mike in front of North Korea and the DMZ...
Well, moving right along, we leave that area and head out to a lookout place and check out a NK village called Kijŏng-dong, or otherwise known as the Propaganda Village. Supposedly some people think that there's really nothing there at all but soldiers patrolling because the lights in the village will turn on and off at EXACTLY the same times every day. The name also was given because they would blast information to the South Koreans with giant speakers about their country and leaders, etc. Oh, and their flagpole..haha.. I guess there's a war of who's flagpole is the tallest because at one point, North Korea had a really tall flagpole and then South Korea added theirs right next to it, which was taller. So what happened next? The North Koreans add their 525 foot flagpole with a 300 lb. flag flying on top of it. We were lucky to see it flying because, I guess, when it's raining, the flag is so weighted down that it doesn't fly.
A sweet picture of both North and South Korea all in one picture.. clever, right? ha..
Next, we make our way to the DMZ museum, which, I might add, told us a VERY idealistic view of the whole situation. I dunno what everyone else saw, but I definitely didn't see butterflies and flowers abounding with life everywhere you turned. No... only soldiers, barbed wire, and signs explaining there are live mines in the area. BUT, after our EXTREMELY fast tour of the museum, (seriously, they give you no time in these places, I think we spent a total of 10 minutes in that place.. no joke. Which also reminds me of our trip to the gift shop. I think our tour had roughly 80 people and when you cram that many people into a small little gift shop and expect EVERYONE to buy their souvenirs in less than 10 minutes.. I mean.. ridiculous, right? I barely had time to make my way through the crowded mess. The thought had occurred to me to jump up onto a table and crowd surf my way to the cash register, but I didn't want to make a scene. ;D
this is me in front of the museum with a statue of a soldier..haha..
We were then taken on a tour of the underground tunnels, or incursion tunnels, that NK had been making into SK. As of now, there are four tunnels that have been discovered the first found in 1974 and the latest in 1990. These run about 3,000 feet past the Demarcation line and when they were found, the North Koreans had explained that they were simply mining coal, but the SK's soon found out that was false due to the coal they had so strategically PAINTED onto the walls. Nice. Anyways, it was a LONG trek down and even LONGER way back up, but it was fun. You definitely feel GIANT inside of these tunnels, because as I am about average size 5'4" there were many times where I'd hit my head/helmet against the rock face shooting down from above us. Now that I think about it, it was this very thing that I was laughing about during the tour down underground. About every minute or so you could hear the clanging of heads hitting rock..haha.. quite entertaining actually. Oh, and on the way back up, we were met by about 500 elementary kids who noticed we were a large group of Americans and so they kept yelling out "HELLO! HOW ARE YOU? WHERE ARE YOU FROM?" haha.. So for HONESTLY 10 minutes, I kept saying "Hello... hello... hello... hello... hello.. hello.. Michigan.. hello.. hello... hello... hello..." and so on..
FINALLY, they take us to a lookout to view North Korea one last time. The only thing they told us was that we could only take pictures behind the yellow line. Simple enough. Well.. here's our view behind the yellow line...
Haha.. so it was definitely a task actually getting a picture of North Korea. We all stood right on the line and reached as high as we possibly could to get some shots.
But I managed to use my zoom lens and a few good shots, so there you have it.. a view of North Korea BEHIND the yellow line. :D
Wow. again, I have seriously made this thing MUCH too long. It was a crazy day, but definitely a fun memory! Thanks for reading and until next time...
Hugs, blessings, and yellow lines
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
HAPPY PEPERO DAY!
Now..you're probably wondering what in the world is a pepero? It's an interesting little Korean cookie snack. A pepero is a small, thin cookie stick dipped or filled with chocolate and November 11 is claimed as Pepero Day.
I did some research and found out that Pepero Day is sort of like a Korean version of Sweetest or Valentines Day. Pretty much every store today has GIANT teddy bears outside their store and tons and tons of candy, mostly these strange little peperos. You buy the pepero, maybe one box, 2 boxes, OR a GIANT gift box the size of my body filled with stuffed animals and way too many peperos to eat yourself, and hand them out to people you care about. So I'm thinking to myself, who came up with this idea to celebrate chocolate covered cookie sticks? I can only imagine the owner of Lotte (manufacturer of "pepero") talking to his team of marketing people, and so this is how I believe it went down"
"It's November and our numbers are WAY down with these here pepero sticks. Anyone have any ideas to boost sales?"
"Hmm.. We could package them differently? Add new flavors? Make a new exciting cartoon advertisement?"
"Nah.. we've tried all of that and it just doesn't seem to be working."
"Oh, I know! We'll make the month of November, 'Pepero Month'!"
"A month is too long. How about just one day."
"Ok, make it November 11, the date is all number ones (11/11), so it looks like PEPERO!"
"Eureka!! November 11 is now "Pepero Day!" You're a genius, Stan! ...You're name is Stan, right?"
Yep. That's how I believe it all came about, but feel free to disagree. Sort of a funny thing to be celebrating, but seriously, GENIUS marketing move for Lotte. Someone's making millions from that decision.
So from me, and every other Korean, to you, I wish you all a very Happy Pepero Day!
Hugs, blessings, and plethoras of pepero!
Sarah
I did some research and found out that Pepero Day is sort of like a Korean version of Sweetest or Valentines Day. Pretty much every store today has GIANT teddy bears outside their store and tons and tons of candy, mostly these strange little peperos. You buy the pepero, maybe one box, 2 boxes, OR a GIANT gift box the size of my body filled with stuffed animals and way too many peperos to eat yourself, and hand them out to people you care about. So I'm thinking to myself, who came up with this idea to celebrate chocolate covered cookie sticks? I can only imagine the owner of Lotte (manufacturer of "pepero") talking to his team of marketing people, and so this is how I believe it went down"
"It's November and our numbers are WAY down with these here pepero sticks. Anyone have any ideas to boost sales?"
"Hmm.. We could package them differently? Add new flavors? Make a new exciting cartoon advertisement?"
"Nah.. we've tried all of that and it just doesn't seem to be working."
"Oh, I know! We'll make the month of November, 'Pepero Month'!"
"A month is too long. How about just one day."
"Ok, make it November 11, the date is all number ones (11/11), so it looks like PEPERO!"
"Eureka!! November 11 is now "Pepero Day!" You're a genius, Stan! ...You're name is Stan, right?"
Yep. That's how I believe it all came about, but feel free to disagree. Sort of a funny thing to be celebrating, but seriously, GENIUS marketing move for Lotte. Someone's making millions from that decision.
So from me, and every other Korean, to you, I wish you all a very Happy Pepero Day!
Hugs, blessings, and plethoras of pepero!
Sarah
Thursday, October 30, 2008
There's a first time for.. EVERYTHING!
"We're the first to talk on Mars. Hey Julie, I'm the First to walk backwards on Mars. First to blow a kiss on Mars. Hey, you're the first to blush on mars."
"How'd you like to be the first guy to die on Mars."
"Well, sorry, Mr. First to Show Inappropriate anger on Mars."
I couldn't help but start this blog entry off with a quote from "Rocketman," an amazing film, if I do say so myself. But sometimes, even I feel like saying things like this here in Korea. For example, I'm the first Erdmann to click their heels while walking down the street in Daejon, Korea. Or, I'm the first person from Michigan to start a collection of pictures taken with Koreans wearing Detroit Tigers hats.
(haha.. it's true.) Now, granted I could count my ENTIRE time here as a "first", and so I'll just share a few with you today.
Anyways, I'm sitting here in my apartment, holding my arm, because I just received a flu shot the other day from the school, and it's getting sore. So then that made me think back to the beginning of the year when we had to get physicals for the school and had to... GIVE BLOOD.. dun dun DUN. yeah, it may come to a surprise to some, but Sarah Erdmann has never given blood out of her arm.. only finger pricks. Haha.. I sound like such a little kid. ANYWAYS, soo.. yeah.. it was interesting. (No, I didn't cry.) But, well, having someone take a needle, stab your arm, watch as your blood leaves your body NEVER to return, and then, on top of that, hear the nurse tell you something in Korean is probably not the most comforting thing to happen all at once. I just looked at her with a "thanks for that, I don't understand a word you just said" smile and walked out. First time giving blood EVER happened to be in Korea. Haha.. I laugh about it now.
I don't think I was completely coherent at the time, seeing that I was in such a fog of not knowing exactly where I was or what time it was due to jet lag. We were fed in and out of rooms with more testing. I felt like I had to keep saying to myself, "Fear nothing, expect anything." We all got chest x-rays done, as well as being measured by the "fatness measuring" machine. (Seriously, that's what it was called.) Oh, and you couldn't forget the contraption that measured your height. You stand there and just as I'm about to say, "Uhh... what am I supposed to---" BAM! I'm smacked on the top of the head by a lever that comes down and bounces off your head to get your height. ha. But yeah.. crazy day, which brings me to the most recent "first" experience.
It all started Wednesday morning, October 29, at 7AM. I woke the kiddos up and took them to breakfast. No big deal. I'm walking back to my apartment and contemplating whether or not I should shower and get on with the day, OR jump back into bed for the next hour or so. (Let's just say, you all know me so, this wasn't a tough question.) I was sleeping VERY soundly and then around 9:28AM... "BOOOOOOM!" I'm rudely awoken by the room shaking and I'm laying there on the couch trying to make sense of what exactly was going on. I jumped up and out of bed and it had stopped. I looked outside. No smoke. Nothing. No sirens. "Earthquake?" yep. Later that day I found out that there was indeed an earthquake in Korea, probably around a 3.4 on the official earthquake scale, and I live to see another day. However, that definitely was one of those Twilight zone moments.
Speaking of Twilight zone, that reminds me of a CRAZY thing that happened just a few weeks ago. A few of us were at the mall downtown and as we were walking outside, we walked up to the taxi line and just as I was about to grab the handle to the taxi door, I noticed someone sitting inside. So we went to the next taxi. However, as we reached the door again, we noticed someone sitting in the back of that taxi as well. I'm thinking to myself, "Why are they just parked here? Their availability light is still on!" So we then look up and all say in unison, "Woah."
If anyone has seen the movie "The Happening" you might understand how I felt at this moment. (If you haven't seen it, you're not missing much.) Anyways, in the movie, just before people start killing themselves, they freeze there for a minute or so, not moving a muscle. Well, this day in Korea, we looked out onto the busy street and cars were parked up and down the street, people were standing on the side of the road and it was... SILENT! It was incredible! (but eerie at the same time.)
We remembered that we had been warned about this so we wouldn't freak, which is probably what I would have done, had I not known. I guess every month from 2:00-2:20, they stop EVERYTHING for a drill. It's like a giant fire drill for the entire country, you know, in case there was an attack of some sort. Needless to say, it was interesting.
Also, this past month I went to the Passion conference in Seoul. It was amazing. It was actually David Crowder's first time ever in Korea, so that was fun to experience. But even more so, it was incredible to worship with thousands of Koreans, in both English AND Korean, during that weekend. These Asians really know how to worship! And there's something awesome about going to a completely foreign country and still coming together as a Body to worship our Savior.
(pictured, David Crowder, and then Choua and I outside the Olympic Stadium in Seoul.)
Finally, this is my first time ever being an RA. I was on a leadership staff in college, but never an RA, an RA for High Schoolers. It's strange because sometimes I feel like their mom and then there are times where I just feel like the older sister because I'm really only a few years older than some of them. But I'm loving every minute of it!
I'm going to go off on a tangent because recently I had a conversation with Laura, the dorm mom, about our dorm and the kids and how each kid is so different and sometimes it's difficult to feel like you're on the same page with each of them. Each of these kids comes from such different backgrounds, but the majority of them come from very privileged non christian homes. Their parents are doctors, professors, scientists, and famous opera singers. They sell Jets and are owners of giant companies, like Bennigans. (Yes, it's still thriving here in Korea, even though I think most of them shut down in the States.) You name it, probably one of these kids' parents does it. So this automatically puts my role as their RA and spiritual leader in a difficult place. They have been given everything they need in their life, so there's no need for a Savior or Heavenly Father. So my heart hurts for these kids. But now, just imagine what some of them will do someday. They've all had some sort of international experience and have been pushed to be the best in education that they can possibly be. These kids are the cream of the crop and just think what amazing things they could accomplish for Christ, if they'd let Him into their lives. Just some things I've been thinking about lately.
I still need to update you on my crazy time visiting the DMZ. (De-militarized zone between North and South Korea) I even stepped inside North Korea! Interesting, right?
Well, stay tuned for more updates.. as in.. a couple days from now. Ha..
Hugs, blessings, and Korean Tigers Fans!
Sarah
"How'd you like to be the first guy to die on Mars."
"Well, sorry, Mr. First to Show Inappropriate anger on Mars."
I couldn't help but start this blog entry off with a quote from "Rocketman," an amazing film, if I do say so myself. But sometimes, even I feel like saying things like this here in Korea. For example, I'm the first Erdmann to click their heels while walking down the street in Daejon, Korea. Or, I'm the first person from Michigan to start a collection of pictures taken with Koreans wearing Detroit Tigers hats.
(haha.. it's true.) Now, granted I could count my ENTIRE time here as a "first", and so I'll just share a few with you today.
Anyways, I'm sitting here in my apartment, holding my arm, because I just received a flu shot the other day from the school, and it's getting sore. So then that made me think back to the beginning of the year when we had to get physicals for the school and had to... GIVE BLOOD.. dun dun DUN. yeah, it may come to a surprise to some, but Sarah Erdmann has never given blood out of her arm.. only finger pricks. Haha.. I sound like such a little kid. ANYWAYS, soo.. yeah.. it was interesting. (No, I didn't cry.) But, well, having someone take a needle, stab your arm, watch as your blood leaves your body NEVER to return, and then, on top of that, hear the nurse tell you something in Korean is probably not the most comforting thing to happen all at once. I just looked at her with a "thanks for that, I don't understand a word you just said" smile and walked out. First time giving blood EVER happened to be in Korea. Haha.. I laugh about it now.
I don't think I was completely coherent at the time, seeing that I was in such a fog of not knowing exactly where I was or what time it was due to jet lag. We were fed in and out of rooms with more testing. I felt like I had to keep saying to myself, "Fear nothing, expect anything." We all got chest x-rays done, as well as being measured by the "fatness measuring" machine. (Seriously, that's what it was called.) Oh, and you couldn't forget the contraption that measured your height. You stand there and just as I'm about to say, "Uhh... what am I supposed to---" BAM! I'm smacked on the top of the head by a lever that comes down and bounces off your head to get your height. ha. But yeah.. crazy day, which brings me to the most recent "first" experience.
It all started Wednesday morning, October 29, at 7AM. I woke the kiddos up and took them to breakfast. No big deal. I'm walking back to my apartment and contemplating whether or not I should shower and get on with the day, OR jump back into bed for the next hour or so. (Let's just say, you all know me so, this wasn't a tough question.) I was sleeping VERY soundly and then around 9:28AM... "BOOOOOOM!" I'm rudely awoken by the room shaking and I'm laying there on the couch trying to make sense of what exactly was going on. I jumped up and out of bed and it had stopped. I looked outside. No smoke. Nothing. No sirens. "Earthquake?" yep. Later that day I found out that there was indeed an earthquake in Korea, probably around a 3.4 on the official earthquake scale, and I live to see another day. However, that definitely was one of those Twilight zone moments.
Speaking of Twilight zone, that reminds me of a CRAZY thing that happened just a few weeks ago. A few of us were at the mall downtown and as we were walking outside, we walked up to the taxi line and just as I was about to grab the handle to the taxi door, I noticed someone sitting inside. So we went to the next taxi. However, as we reached the door again, we noticed someone sitting in the back of that taxi as well. I'm thinking to myself, "Why are they just parked here? Their availability light is still on!" So we then look up and all say in unison, "Woah."
If anyone has seen the movie "The Happening" you might understand how I felt at this moment. (If you haven't seen it, you're not missing much.) Anyways, in the movie, just before people start killing themselves, they freeze there for a minute or so, not moving a muscle. Well, this day in Korea, we looked out onto the busy street and cars were parked up and down the street, people were standing on the side of the road and it was... SILENT! It was incredible! (but eerie at the same time.)
We remembered that we had been warned about this so we wouldn't freak, which is probably what I would have done, had I not known. I guess every month from 2:00-2:20, they stop EVERYTHING for a drill. It's like a giant fire drill for the entire country, you know, in case there was an attack of some sort. Needless to say, it was interesting.
Also, this past month I went to the Passion conference in Seoul. It was amazing. It was actually David Crowder's first time ever in Korea, so that was fun to experience. But even more so, it was incredible to worship with thousands of Koreans, in both English AND Korean, during that weekend. These Asians really know how to worship! And there's something awesome about going to a completely foreign country and still coming together as a Body to worship our Savior.
(pictured, David Crowder, and then Choua and I outside the Olympic Stadium in Seoul.)
Finally, this is my first time ever being an RA. I was on a leadership staff in college, but never an RA, an RA for High Schoolers. It's strange because sometimes I feel like their mom and then there are times where I just feel like the older sister because I'm really only a few years older than some of them. But I'm loving every minute of it!
I'm going to go off on a tangent because recently I had a conversation with Laura, the dorm mom, about our dorm and the kids and how each kid is so different and sometimes it's difficult to feel like you're on the same page with each of them. Each of these kids comes from such different backgrounds, but the majority of them come from very privileged non christian homes. Their parents are doctors, professors, scientists, and famous opera singers. They sell Jets and are owners of giant companies, like Bennigans. (Yes, it's still thriving here in Korea, even though I think most of them shut down in the States.) You name it, probably one of these kids' parents does it. So this automatically puts my role as their RA and spiritual leader in a difficult place. They have been given everything they need in their life, so there's no need for a Savior or Heavenly Father. So my heart hurts for these kids. But now, just imagine what some of them will do someday. They've all had some sort of international experience and have been pushed to be the best in education that they can possibly be. These kids are the cream of the crop and just think what amazing things they could accomplish for Christ, if they'd let Him into their lives. Just some things I've been thinking about lately.
I still need to update you on my crazy time visiting the DMZ. (De-militarized zone between North and South Korea) I even stepped inside North Korea! Interesting, right?
Well, stay tuned for more updates.. as in.. a couple days from now. Ha..
Hugs, blessings, and Korean Tigers Fans!
Sarah
Friday, October 3, 2008
Just call me Mav...
So I've been appointed a new nickname, given by my fellow RA, Scottie. From now on, I will be known as "Maverick" here in Korea. (Stop laughing..ha.)
I updated not too long ago, but if I don't write another one, I'll get WAY behind. (So much has happened.. I'm constantly on the move here..) So a couple weeks ago we had a Rugby Tournament. It was so much fun! However, waking up at 6AM on a Saturday morning doesn't usually start a good morning, but after a long bus ride to Seoul and getting warmed up, we blew those rugby-goers out of the water. (And when I say blew them out of the water.. I exaggerate.. a little.) We actually didn't do too horribly, considering most of our team was new to the game about a month ago. But I guess it's a pretty big tournament in Seoul because some teams flew in from China! (crazy, right?)
At first, we were shaking in our boots because after arriving to the grounds, we began to notice how amateur our team was. haha.. Some of the teams had legit team outfits, numbers AND last names on the back to make it even worse! Our team, well, was given used TCIS dragons tennis t shirts (oversized, I might add). But regardless, it was an amazing experience! There were different divisions (all girls, all guys, mixed, and youth teams) and so in our division (mixed) we got 5th out of 8 teams! AWESOME! we won 3 games, tied 1, and lost 1. (The team we lost to were BEASTS! no joke.)
What's rugby without an injury, right? ha.. Yeah, so it's touch rugby, but I definitely got tackled to the ground.. landing on my head and then scraping up my back pretty bad. No concussion though, so I felt ok after sitting down for a while.
THEN.. we had SEW here at TCIS. I actually got to design the t shirts for this, which was quite exciting! (However, the guy who printed the t shirts put the logo on sideways..guh.. oh well.) So THIS is how they were supposed to look:
Oh well.. they looked cool regardless. But we had an amazing SEW. They flew in a speaker, Tim Milburn, and a band, Station 2, from the States and we got to hang out with them for a couple weeks! It was a blast and always a nice thing to meet fellow Americans here in Korea! :) It's sort of ridiculous, but I actually knew who the lead singer of Station 2 was! Crazy story, but he had come to Woodside Bible (when it was still called Troy Baptist) when he was in a previous band, Thirsty 4 more. I felt somewhat like a groupie when I explained that I had his music on my itunes and could finish lines from songs when he started singing them. haha.. ehhh... oh well.
some girls from my dorm hanging out during the SEW games (Soojin, Angela, and Esther)
me and Jennifer at the Station 2 concert!
Station 2 at the outdoor concert near LaVita, a coffee shop right outside the school grounds
FINALLY, fast forward to this past weekend where a few of us traveled to the southeast of Korea to the Jinju Lantern Festival! They celebrate this every year in memory of probably the worst period of Japanese invasion here in Korea. Supposedly, in October of 1952, General Kim Si-Min led his troops of a mere 4,000 and killed close to 20,000 Japanese. So this celebration is definitely one of Korean national pride. Soldiers would float lanterns down the Namgang river to let family and fellow troops know of their safety inside the castle. Cool, huh? Well, these were not just ordinary paper lanterns.. they were HUGE.. and there were so many of them! It was awesome.
(this one even breathed fire!)
Also, to our surprise, we got to experience a real Korean bullfight! No matadors, just bulls fighting each other! We got there and pretty much just walked in. Did we have to buy tickets? WHO KNOWS!? So we sat down and enjoyed the fight along with every other senior citizen in the Jinju area.. haha. (Seriously, I think we brought down the average age by 40 years!) It was crazy though..
Here's a video of us at the bullfight. There were brief moments of excitement, like when one bull TOTALLY tackled the other, but unfortunately I didn't capture that on film. I did however get this little snippet.. Oh, and at the end we're all making "oh gross" noises because these bulls had seriously been going on for so long but didn't give up, so they were OBVIOUSLY getting tired and showing it by hanging their giant tongues out of their mouths. ha.. awesome.
But that concludes everything going on right now. Thanks for your prayers from before, but as far as my animation classes go, I'm actually taking another break until after Christmas. (It's a long story, but pretty much they signed me up for the wrong class and the class I wanted to be in was already filled up... sooo.. I decided to wait until the winter term to start up again.) It's a bummer, but I feel good about this decision and I know this will give me more time to spend with the girls on my hall and just "be" here. (Maybe this will even be a good time to work on my illustrated book that my sister and I have yet to write! :) God has already answered so many prayers since I've arrived and I'm so thankful! Thank you for keeping in touch and I pray God blesses each of you today!
Hugs, blessings, and upside down t-shirt logos!
Maverick
I updated not too long ago, but if I don't write another one, I'll get WAY behind. (So much has happened.. I'm constantly on the move here..) So a couple weeks ago we had a Rugby Tournament. It was so much fun! However, waking up at 6AM on a Saturday morning doesn't usually start a good morning, but after a long bus ride to Seoul and getting warmed up, we blew those rugby-goers out of the water. (And when I say blew them out of the water.. I exaggerate.. a little.) We actually didn't do too horribly, considering most of our team was new to the game about a month ago. But I guess it's a pretty big tournament in Seoul because some teams flew in from China! (crazy, right?)
At first, we were shaking in our boots because after arriving to the grounds, we began to notice how amateur our team was. haha.. Some of the teams had legit team outfits, numbers AND last names on the back to make it even worse! Our team, well, was given used TCIS dragons tennis t shirts (oversized, I might add). But regardless, it was an amazing experience! There were different divisions (all girls, all guys, mixed, and youth teams) and so in our division (mixed) we got 5th out of 8 teams! AWESOME! we won 3 games, tied 1, and lost 1. (The team we lost to were BEASTS! no joke.)
What's rugby without an injury, right? ha.. Yeah, so it's touch rugby, but I definitely got tackled to the ground.. landing on my head and then scraping up my back pretty bad. No concussion though, so I felt ok after sitting down for a while.
THEN.. we had SEW here at TCIS. I actually got to design the t shirts for this, which was quite exciting! (However, the guy who printed the t shirts put the logo on sideways..guh.. oh well.) So THIS is how they were supposed to look:
Oh well.. they looked cool regardless. But we had an amazing SEW. They flew in a speaker, Tim Milburn, and a band, Station 2, from the States and we got to hang out with them for a couple weeks! It was a blast and always a nice thing to meet fellow Americans here in Korea! :) It's sort of ridiculous, but I actually knew who the lead singer of Station 2 was! Crazy story, but he had come to Woodside Bible (when it was still called Troy Baptist) when he was in a previous band, Thirsty 4 more. I felt somewhat like a groupie when I explained that I had his music on my itunes and could finish lines from songs when he started singing them. haha.. ehhh... oh well.
some girls from my dorm hanging out during the SEW games (Soojin, Angela, and Esther)
me and Jennifer at the Station 2 concert!
Station 2 at the outdoor concert near LaVita, a coffee shop right outside the school grounds
FINALLY, fast forward to this past weekend where a few of us traveled to the southeast of Korea to the Jinju Lantern Festival! They celebrate this every year in memory of probably the worst period of Japanese invasion here in Korea. Supposedly, in October of 1952, General Kim Si-Min led his troops of a mere 4,000 and killed close to 20,000 Japanese. So this celebration is definitely one of Korean national pride. Soldiers would float lanterns down the Namgang river to let family and fellow troops know of their safety inside the castle. Cool, huh? Well, these were not just ordinary paper lanterns.. they were HUGE.. and there were so many of them! It was awesome.
(this one even breathed fire!)
Also, to our surprise, we got to experience a real Korean bullfight! No matadors, just bulls fighting each other! We got there and pretty much just walked in. Did we have to buy tickets? WHO KNOWS!? So we sat down and enjoyed the fight along with every other senior citizen in the Jinju area.. haha. (Seriously, I think we brought down the average age by 40 years!) It was crazy though..
Here's a video of us at the bullfight. There were brief moments of excitement, like when one bull TOTALLY tackled the other, but unfortunately I didn't capture that on film. I did however get this little snippet.. Oh, and at the end we're all making "oh gross" noises because these bulls had seriously been going on for so long but didn't give up, so they were OBVIOUSLY getting tired and showing it by hanging their giant tongues out of their mouths. ha.. awesome.
But that concludes everything going on right now. Thanks for your prayers from before, but as far as my animation classes go, I'm actually taking another break until after Christmas. (It's a long story, but pretty much they signed me up for the wrong class and the class I wanted to be in was already filled up... sooo.. I decided to wait until the winter term to start up again.) It's a bummer, but I feel good about this decision and I know this will give me more time to spend with the girls on my hall and just "be" here. (Maybe this will even be a good time to work on my illustrated book that my sister and I have yet to write! :) God has already answered so many prayers since I've arrived and I'm so thankful! Thank you for keeping in touch and I pray God blesses each of you today!
Hugs, blessings, and upside down t-shirt logos!
Maverick
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sooo... where's the trashcan?
That phrase could quite possibly be the theme of our trip over Chusok because I think Korea is in a shortage of garbage cans. I probably held onto some garbage for a couple hours in hopes of finding where to put my trash. Unfortunately, I think some people gave up hopes earlier than we did, because every once in a while you'd come across a pile of garbage DEFINITELY not in the right place. ANYWAYS, Chusok is a Korean family holiday where everyone gathers at the eldest family members house to partake in food, spend time together, and remember their ancestors. (It's probably like a Korean version of Thanksgiving) However, since all of my family is millions of miles away, a group of us decided to become our own family and head south to Busan for the weekend.
Getting tickets was quite the ordeal. Chusok is probably the busiest Korean holiday, so if you don't get your tickets early.. well, you don't get tickets. Fortunately for us, we DID get tickets, however; they were standing room. Haha.. So a couple hours on the KTX (fastest train in Korea), "playing" euchre ( I say "play" lightly because most of the way there we were arguing on the rules.. Canadian vs. American..hmmm..), and sharing in the NARROWEST hallway ever with the food cart lady, we arrived in Busan!
We almost made a horrible mistake of jumping into a taxi to find our hotel, only to soon realize that our hotel was RIGHT across the street from the train station. Haha.. I can only imagine the face of the taxi driver as we ask him to take us to our hotel.. the hotel that's 5 feet away. Nevertheless, we find our hotel and get checked in and decide to go find the BEACH! Now, I was expecting it to be EXTREMELY busy because it was Chusok, but in fact, the beaches were COMPLETELY bare! (I guess I heard you don't really want to be at the beach in the summer because literally, you can't even see the beach due to the masses of umbrellas lining the shore. No joke.. I've seen pictures.) But no one was around! It was awesome!
So we chilled, swam a bit and then found a place to eat.
THEN... we found the best things ever! SWEET bumper cars in the middle of nowhere! You put in 500 won and they go for a couple minutes and play SWEET music! It was pretty much amazing.. not only because it was incredibly random, but when we all got on them, tons of little asian kids joined in the fun. :) Probably one of the best memories of the trip!
Saturday we woke up early to get to the fish market. (I wanted to get there when they were first getting the fish in for the day.. at 4AM.. but no one else wanted to get up that early.. so we went at 8AM) The crazy bustling shopkeepers, jumping splashing fish (yeah.. some of them jumped out of their glass tanks..so you had to keep an eye out), and INTENSE fishy smells.. it was incredible.
I found a booth completely filled with fresh shrimp! :) mmmm....
After the fish market, we did some site seeing and saw a temple, lighthouse, and a pebble beach! It was a good thing we took this trolley ride, otherwise I think I might have keeled over. Just at the lighthouse alone, we counted over 400 steps JUST walking back up from the rocks at the bottom of the lighthouse.
Later that day we traveled to the Busan aquarium, which was so much fun! (I don't know what it is about aquariums, I mean, they're all the same, but for some reason, it just never gets old! :) The one thing that was extremely cool about this aquarium was they had a HUGE shark tank! They even offer shark dives inside the tank, and a few of us girls were prepared to take the plunge, but unfortunately/fortunately (ha) they weren't doing dives because of Chusok. (So maybe next time?)
haha.. the last picture makes me laugh.. resembles a rock with a face. But in the seal tank, one guy was swimming swimming swimming and then all of a sudden he crashed and dove down and ran right into the window with his eyes closed and everything. his nose was all pressed up against the window and I wish I would have gotten that shot..hahaha.. I laughed so hard. But then he settled backwards into this position, so at least I got him right after the fact.
haha.. this one kills me too.. We found this shirt in a store.. Detroit.. BEANS??!
It was a great time to relax and see a whole new part of Korea. In fact, during Chusok, I actually traveled to the most southern part of Korea (Busan) to Seoul, the most Northern part. ( Of SOUTH korea..) ALL IN ONE WEEKEND! It seems like alot of traveling, but when you stop and think how big South Korea really is.. I guess it's not TOO impressive, because Korea is about the size of Indiana. But this Chusok was definitely filled with tons of memories and I'm so glad I could have spent it with some amazing friends I've made here!
Well, I'm starting up my animation classes this week and so if you've read this and think about me in the next month or so, could you please keep me in your prayers just with adjusting to taking classes as well as ministering to these kids. We had our dorm staff retreat this past weekend, so it was really great to hear from a couple dorm parents from Africa about their personal experiences and be encouraged in our ministries. It's so easy to just turn what we do here into a job, but I'm praying that I don't lose focus of why I'm here. This is a job, but it's so much more a ministry. Thank you for your prayers.
Hugs, blessings, and garbage can shortages
Sarah
Getting tickets was quite the ordeal. Chusok is probably the busiest Korean holiday, so if you don't get your tickets early.. well, you don't get tickets. Fortunately for us, we DID get tickets, however; they were standing room. Haha.. So a couple hours on the KTX (fastest train in Korea), "playing" euchre ( I say "play" lightly because most of the way there we were arguing on the rules.. Canadian vs. American..hmmm..), and sharing in the NARROWEST hallway ever with the food cart lady, we arrived in Busan!
We almost made a horrible mistake of jumping into a taxi to find our hotel, only to soon realize that our hotel was RIGHT across the street from the train station. Haha.. I can only imagine the face of the taxi driver as we ask him to take us to our hotel.. the hotel that's 5 feet away. Nevertheless, we find our hotel and get checked in and decide to go find the BEACH! Now, I was expecting it to be EXTREMELY busy because it was Chusok, but in fact, the beaches were COMPLETELY bare! (I guess I heard you don't really want to be at the beach in the summer because literally, you can't even see the beach due to the masses of umbrellas lining the shore. No joke.. I've seen pictures.) But no one was around! It was awesome!
So we chilled, swam a bit and then found a place to eat.
THEN... we found the best things ever! SWEET bumper cars in the middle of nowhere! You put in 500 won and they go for a couple minutes and play SWEET music! It was pretty much amazing.. not only because it was incredibly random, but when we all got on them, tons of little asian kids joined in the fun. :) Probably one of the best memories of the trip!
Saturday we woke up early to get to the fish market. (I wanted to get there when they were first getting the fish in for the day.. at 4AM.. but no one else wanted to get up that early.. so we went at 8AM) The crazy bustling shopkeepers, jumping splashing fish (yeah.. some of them jumped out of their glass tanks..so you had to keep an eye out), and INTENSE fishy smells.. it was incredible.
I found a booth completely filled with fresh shrimp! :) mmmm....
After the fish market, we did some site seeing and saw a temple, lighthouse, and a pebble beach! It was a good thing we took this trolley ride, otherwise I think I might have keeled over. Just at the lighthouse alone, we counted over 400 steps JUST walking back up from the rocks at the bottom of the lighthouse.
Later that day we traveled to the Busan aquarium, which was so much fun! (I don't know what it is about aquariums, I mean, they're all the same, but for some reason, it just never gets old! :) The one thing that was extremely cool about this aquarium was they had a HUGE shark tank! They even offer shark dives inside the tank, and a few of us girls were prepared to take the plunge, but unfortunately/fortunately (ha) they weren't doing dives because of Chusok. (So maybe next time?)
haha.. the last picture makes me laugh.. resembles a rock with a face. But in the seal tank, one guy was swimming swimming swimming and then all of a sudden he crashed and dove down and ran right into the window with his eyes closed and everything. his nose was all pressed up against the window and I wish I would have gotten that shot..hahaha.. I laughed so hard. But then he settled backwards into this position, so at least I got him right after the fact.
haha.. this one kills me too.. We found this shirt in a store.. Detroit.. BEANS??!
It was a great time to relax and see a whole new part of Korea. In fact, during Chusok, I actually traveled to the most southern part of Korea (Busan) to Seoul, the most Northern part. ( Of SOUTH korea..) ALL IN ONE WEEKEND! It seems like alot of traveling, but when you stop and think how big South Korea really is.. I guess it's not TOO impressive, because Korea is about the size of Indiana. But this Chusok was definitely filled with tons of memories and I'm so glad I could have spent it with some amazing friends I've made here!
Well, I'm starting up my animation classes this week and so if you've read this and think about me in the next month or so, could you please keep me in your prayers just with adjusting to taking classes as well as ministering to these kids. We had our dorm staff retreat this past weekend, so it was really great to hear from a couple dorm parents from Africa about their personal experiences and be encouraged in our ministries. It's so easy to just turn what we do here into a job, but I'm praying that I don't lose focus of why I'm here. This is a job, but it's so much more a ministry. Thank you for your prayers.
Hugs, blessings, and garbage can shortages
Sarah
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