Lotte World

    
     Today, Sean and I went to Lotte World.  We had no problems getting to the amusement park; however, we could not find a way to get to Pizza Hut.  Pizza Hut is below the amusement park, we could see it, we just couldn't get to it.  I think that I was leading us around in circles.  After about half an hour, we found it  and were very happy!

     After lunch, we headed into the amusement park.  Once we found a locker (about another 1/2 hour and a couple of circles around the park), we headed to the first ride.  Although the wait was about one to two hours, it was worth it.  We had a blast.  We rode Pharaoh's Fury, Jungle Adventure, Desperados, and my favorite, Aeronauts Balloon Ride.  I hadn't been on this before and I will admit was a little bit scary.  You ride in the basket of a hot air balloon.  The ride is on a track that is placed in the ceiling.  You were able to see everything. 

   
     While we were waiting in line for the Jungle Adventure, a mother urged her son to say, "hello" to us.  We exchanged a few words in English.  Next thing we knew, we were posing for a picture with them.  I felt like a celebrity!  We were able to see a stage show, while enjoying ice cream.  We had a great spot, until the crowd came.  Later in the evening, we saw an electric light parade.

Light Parade

Potato Chips on a Stick!

 
     As were were leaving, we noticed that the outside of the park was open.  It was very cold outside, but we decided to take a look.  It was beautiful.  The park and castle was lit up.  There were even people waiting in long lines for the rides!  We had another great day.

Magic Island

    

Seoul Tower

   
     Sean and I set out for another adventure today.  First, we stopped at Sean's new favorite restaurant, Kim Bap Nara, and ordered spicy pork (his favorite Korean dish).  Next, we hopped on the bus, transferred to a taxi, and ended at our destination: Seoul Tower.

     Built in 1969, Seoul Tower is a communication and observation tower located on Mt. Namsan.  Seoul Tower or Namsan Tower has been a symbol of Seoul and measures 236.7 m (777 ft) in height (from the base) and tops out at 479.7 m (1,574 ft) above sea level.  The tower offers great panaramic view of Seoul, so why not visit this great landmark?
     Well, word of caution:  If you are afraid of heights do not visit this landmark.  Also, make sure you choose a nice sunny, clear day.
     There are two ways to get to Seoul Tower.  One option, is a short hike from the base of the mountain to the tower.  The other, is a cable car.  Of course, we chose the cable car for only $6.30 round trip.  The ride was quite nerve wrecking, but smooth and memorable.  You can expierence it below.

     Once you arrive, you will need to climb a few stairs to reach the tower.  It is worth it.  We were both very excited to find a place to "lock in our love."  Along the ground terrace attached to the tower, hundreds of locks are hanging, showing off the eternal love of their owners.  The locks hanging on the fences with the keys thrown away are meant to ensure sweethearts’ vows to never separate are kept.  There were hundreds of locks everywhere you looked.  They even made wire trees to increase space to hang locks.  After a brief look, Sean and I found our spot to hang our red, heart-shaped lock.  We closed and locked it together, sealing in our love.

If you look hard, you will see our red, heart shaped lock

     The ride to the top of the tour involves a smooth, short elevator ride.  The observation deck is beautiful and modern.  It would be the perfect place to see all of Seoul, or so I hear.  The day ended up being foggy and cloudy, so we could't see very far.  However, we did enjoy locating the various cities around the world.  We waited until sunset (the time when the view is breath-taking) and watched the rays fade away over the city.

     After the viewing, we went to the lower level and purchased a tile.  We each wrote a part of the message and began looking for a place to put the tile.  This was no easy task.  The tile was too big and wouldn't fit in any open spaces.  After a few times around, we were about to give up and put it on the ceiling, when we finally found a place.  The tile will be there for one year. 

Writing our message on our tile

Sean next to our tile

     The rest of the evening involved a trip to Insa-dong.  This is a great place for traditional Korean souvenirs.  After a little bargening and going back and forth between stores (to compare prices), I made my purchases:  two Korean masks (one for each of my brothers) and the wooden Korean wedding ducks for my mother. 

Trees of Locks

Gyeongbokgung Palace

    
     Today, Sean and I woke up to a surprise.  We did not have any running water!  After many phone calls, it was determined that the pipes were frozen or that a pipe may have broken.  Supposedly, I was the only apartment that did not have water.  Also, because it was a Sunday, the water company was not available until Monday!  Well, we weren't going to let it stop our fun, so we bundled up and headed out (unbathed of course).
     We arrived at Gyeongbokgung Palace, purchased our tickets, and took a few candid photos.  Although the sky was clear and the sun shining, it was only about 15 F.  Not the most ideal temperature to be outside, looking at palaces.  The cold was bone chilling, so we went into the National Folk Museum and ordered a Korean style lunch.

Kimchi

     After lunch, we watched the changing of the guard ceremony and waited for our free English speaking tour.  The tour was great!  Sean and I were the only two and we were led by young Korean students.  They spoke English very well and provided interesting information about the palace.  The palace was built during the Chosun Dynasty by King Taejo in 1395, the fourth year of his reign.  The kingdom used technology and spiritual belief to sustain the kingdom.  For instance, the palace was heated by steam pipes that ran underneath the floor, to all of the buildings.  The palace was also built based on the ying yang theory and can be seen at the base of many of the supporting pillars.  The court yard stones are very uneven.  This was done intentionally in front of the throne hall for two reasons.  One, for drainage, so that puddles would not collect.  Second, it forced people to walk cautiosly and slow in the presence of king. 

      Located at the corner of the Keunjeong-jeon, the royal throne hall is a large vat.  The vat was filled with water and placed at the corner to protect the building against fire.  According to belief, the fire god would pass the vat while entering the royal throne hall.  The god would see his reflection, become frightened and run away. 

     It was so cold, that after a while we couldn't focus on anything.  We left right after the tour, because of the bitter cold.  Later, we went to my co-workers Christmas party.  Well, it wasn't much of a party, but the food was delicious.  We had turkey, mashed potatoes, carrots, stuffing.  We ate and watched Frosty the Snowman and It's a Wonderful Life. 


Freezing Cold!

                                                              Changing of the Guard

Merry Christmas

     Merry Christmas!  Although I am thousands of miles from home, it did not matter, because Sean was here to spend it with me.  We woke up and opened our gifts that were under our miniture Christmas tree and in our stockings.  Sean without knowing, had brought his own wrapped gifts with him.  My mother had purchased them for me in the states, because I could not find any clothes bigger than a large here. 
     Later in the evening, we took the subway and went shopping.  I finally purchased my convection toaster oven!  I finally have an oven!

Christmas Eve

     Christmas Eve was a great celebration at Poly. The students met the teachers and staff at a beautiful concert hall. The room was fully decorated with Christmas trees, snowman, and balloons. The students were dressed in their Christmas costumes and were seated in the front rows. Parents, Grandparents, and siblings attended to watch the Poly Jolly Christmas show. The MC's spoke in both English and in Korean.
My students performed Jingle Bell Rock. We had practiced for a month with my choreography. It was very difficult to create dance moves for five year olds, but I thought that they did great!

     After the Christmas show, I went to a lunch buffet provided by work. The restaurant was very nice and the food was delicious. They even had a chocolate fountain with fresh fruit for dipping. The afternoon classes celebrated with christmas songs and candy canes as a gift from me. I was shocked that some of my students had never seen or eaten a candy cane. They really enjoyed this treat!
     Christmas Eve dinner was an interesting event. My fellow co-worker suggested a great restaraunt for steaks. I had asked if we needed reservations, but he stated that we would be fine without. Well, after walking 10 minutes in the cold (5 F), we arrived.  The restaraunt was spectacular! It had a great Christmas Eve dinner menu outside and was fully decorated in Christmas decorations. We were so excited, we walked in and were told that we needed reservations.  I couldn't believe it! The place was nearly empty. So after we got no where, we decided to leave. We saw my co-worker on the search to find a restaurant and he stated that his girlfriend called and was told the same thing.
     After walking past multiple restaurants that were fully booked, we came to Stone Wall. There was only one seat available on the patio. This sounds nice, unless you were there. The patio is enclosed with thick plastic and had an awning as the roof. There was a three inch gap were the plastic and awning did not meet. There was space heaters, but it did not help. Needless to say, we enjoyed our steak dinner; in our hat, gloves, scarf, coat, and blanket. We will always remember this dinner.

     Due to the cold, we decided to stop at a bar half-way home to warm up. We went to Tommy 59. The bartenders did multiple tricks with the bottles of liquer (even used fire). We got free oranges and Sean played darts with his new Korean friend (he didn't understand a word he said).

     Across the bar was a blues club with live music. We went in and could not believe how nice it was! The owner came up and escorted us to the V.I.P. area. Next, a gentleman who spoke English came up to us and was excited that foreigners had come to this establishment. Sean decided to order a drink, the waiter asked if he wanted to by the bottle of Jack or just a glass. After seeing that the bottle was $110, Sean decided to get a glass. Next, we asked for a menu. The waiter said that he did not have anything that would be in our price range. So, I felt that we had to get something. The menu was in Korean, so he translated. We heard, "nachos, like from Mexico." We ordered and thought for $40 there is probably steak as the meat on the nachos....Well, the nachos came and that was it. A plate of nacho chips, for $40! At least, people kept sending over birthday cake from their various parties. We did have fun. They took a polaroid picture of us and sang live music in both Korean and English.

     It was a night that will never be forgotten.

Sean's Observation

     Today, Sean came into Poly to observe my students and me.  I was very excited.  I did not know how my students would react to Sean.  He is very tall and has a beard, two things that Korean men do not have.  So, I was very surprised when the students would not stop asking him questions and took a liking to him immedietly.  He was a great help.  After administering the spelling test (of course Sean participated), we made Christmas Cards.  This seems like an easy task, but with pre-kinders, cutting and pasting can be difficult.  It was nice to have an extra set of hands.
     Sean was surprised to see how fast the classes go (40 minutes) and how well the students read and speak English.  I was fortunate that he was able to visit and expeirence part of my job. 
     Sean also expierenced two Korean meals.  The first, was lunch at Kim bop Nara.  He ordered spicy pork (juk dop bop), fried dumpling (kun mandu), and kimchi.  Dinner was the traditional Korean barbeque.  We had pork, soup, rice, egg soup, and kimchi.  

Seans Arrival

     I woke up today at quarter to five, to prepare for Seans arrival.  I went to the 24 hour coffee shop, Tom 'n Toms to wait for his bus.  The wait was long and I was very anxious.  I wasn't sure if he had caught the right bus or when it was to arrive.  There was a Canadian chap that was visiting his girlfriend and had a bad bout f jet lag.  We chatted a while, passing the time.  Although he was friendly, he did not ease my nerves.  He advised me that his girlfriend and him had taken the wrong bus from the airport.  I had no way to contact Sean, so I just sat and waited. 
      Finally, he arrived.  We jumped in a taxi, dropped off his items, gave a quick tour of the apartment (it was very quick, due to the size), showed him how to work the water and heat, and then we walked to Butter Fingers (a breakfast restaurant). 
     After we ate, I had to leave to go to work.  Sean surprised me later, by finding Poly's building and meeting me when I got out of work!  He said that it was hard to find, because there are a lot of buildings that look like towers.  He went into a few and asked for directions.  I could not believe that he found it!
      For dinner, we went to my favorite Tai food restaurant: Sala Tai. 

Pepero Day

     Americans might have some odd holidays, but this tops them all.  Pepero Day, November 11.  It is on this day you that you give your friends or loved ones Pepero.  It is a sign of friendship.  Pepero is a bread stick covered in chocolate.  You celebrate this on 11/11 because it looks like to Pepero sticks.  I have enough Pepero and chocolate to survive on for a month.  I was showered with it from all of my students. 

     Here is the history (if your interested):  The Lotte Confectionary Company introduced Pepero to Korea back in the 1980s. Many people believe that the company invented this day to increase their sales. If the Lotte Company did do this then it was a huge success. It sells almost two-thirds of it’s yearly total of these snacks in the two months before November 11^th (Source: Lina Yoon Wall Street Journal 2006). The Lotte Company refutes this claim because they say they only started marketing these snacks in the year 2000 after marketing personnel started to notice a yearly jump in sales around the 11^th. Koo Ja-ryung, the branding manager of Pepero said "Actually, we didn't start Pepero day. Some middle school girls in Busan gave Peperos to their friends on November 11th, saying 'Be tall and thin' like the number 1, in 1994. (Kim Moon-sun Cauon, 2004).

 

Gosu Cave



November 14, 2010

     I have never been caving before, but after visiting Gosu Cave, I have found a new passion: caving.  My companion along this trip, Stephanie, is a co-worker from another Poly campus.  We had met in training and share similar interests in traveling.  We had about 2.5 hours to catch up on the bus ride, while on our way to our first destination: Chungju Dam. 

     Upon arrival, we had a quick look around and boarded our next mode of transportation... a ferry.  I know that this may sound boring, but this is Korea!  The ferry had a dance club in it.  There was a disco ball, lasor lights, and korean dancing.  After a few laughs, we headed to the top of the ferry boat.  We found a great spot and took in the beautiful scenery.   The lake was lined with hills covered in bare trees that were in a national park.  Before we knew it, I was offered warm chicken and a Cass (Korean beer) from a group of korean men.  Next, Stephanie started to speak Korean and the next thing we knew, we were part of a korean picnic!  The food was great and the company was entertaining (the only communication was through broken English, but we managed).  This really passed the time and after 1.5 hours, we arrived at Gosu Cave. 

     Gosu Cave is a limestone cave, 1,300 meters deep, situated in Danyang-gun.  The name Gosu comes from the fact that in the past, the area was filled with thickets of tall grass.  Rough stone instruments were excavated at the cave entrance, which revealed that this area was home to the prehistoric human beings.
     Inside Gosu Cave, the temperature remains around 15℃ throughout the year.  There are reportedly about 25 different kinds of animal life inhabiting within the cave. Some of the rocks resemble animals or human figures, such as Lion Rock, Octopus Rock, Eagle Rock, and even the Virgin Mary Rock. About 120 various shapes of stalactites and stalagmites found in the cave.

The walk through the cave is exciting.  You climb up and down rusty, old staircases and have to watch your step on the slippery rocks.  The cave was beautiful!  Everywhere you turned, there was something new to see, from pools of water to huge stalagmites.  It was sight worth seeing.

    

Dodamsanbong Peak      Dodamsanbong Peak consists of three rocks that create a large S figure as it stands tall in the middle of Namhangang River. This is the only place in the world where you can see the three longest rocks protrude in the middle of a river.  The following legend still lives through this day; among the three rocks, the big rock is called Nampyeonbong, Janggunbong the rock on the right side is called Cheobong (or Adeulbong), and the rock on the left is called Cheopbong (or Ddalbong). According to the legend there lived a couple who loved each other, but had no child.  They found a mistress because they wanted to have a baby, but once she had the baby, she began to mistreat and taunt the wife. The heavens saw them, and turned all of them into stones. The way the rocks stand next to one another is very interesting.  

     I viewed the rock formation from atop a hill.  It was a short climb to a small pavilion called lhoyangjeong. It was built to comfort the locals who lost their homes due to the flooding caused by Chungju Dam.  The pavilion is a nice place to sit and take in the scenery.  It is also a great place to prepare yourself for the next part of the tour.

     There is a narrow path, through the woods that opens up to a stone bridge.  The bridge is made of natural rock and over the years, formed into an arch.  The climb up to the top of the bridge is nerve-wrenching.  There are no rails or steps.  The bridge towers high over water and is narrow-only wide enough for one person to walk across in the middle.   I was so nervous, that I took a quick picture and hiked down, very cautiously.

Dr. Fish

     When your feet are dry, rough, and in need of some repair, you go to Dr. Fish!  It is similar to a pedicure, except your feet are not serviced by people.  Instead, they are taken care of by fish!  The establishment I went to, along with two of my co-workers was very high end.  It was an upscale coffee shop!  You have to order your drinks first (I got a beer) and then wait for the "fish" to open up.  One of the perks is that you get free bread with your drink order.  There was all sorts of rolls and various breads.  Note of caution, if you go, be sure to finish all of your bread.  If you leave bread on your plate, you receive a fine.  So, eat up!
     There are two kinds of fish that you can choose from.  The Garra rufa fish are little and do not have teeth.  They are born in the Middle East and are reported to release enzymes to help your skin regenerate faster.  The cleaning is not as effective as the chin chin.  They are larger and have small teeth.  We opted for the garra rufa, but there were only a few in the tank.  We decided to go for the chin chin and take our chances with the teeth. 

     The area was very clean, including the tanks of fish.  You are required to wash your feet prior to placing them in the tank.  My friend Julie was the first to go.  I was very nervous and reluctant to put my feet in the tank.  Everytime I did, the fish would swarm towards them.  I guess I had a lot of dead skin cells on my feet (gross).  After a while, I got over my fear and put my feet in.  Check out the expeirence in the video below!! 

     Overall, it isn't that bad, once you tell yourself that you are not going to get hurt.  It is a natural reaction to remove your feet from water when something is nibbling at them.  It is very hard to keep them in the water and not very relaxing.  After you are done, you rinse your feet, sanitize, and put lotion on them.  Yes, they actually felt great (although it could have been the lotion).  I recommend this to anyone.    

The Heulimgol valley

    
     On Novemer 7, 2010, I woke up had a quick breakfast (toast and peanut butter) and headed out for Heulimgol Valley.  The Heulimgol Valley has been closed to the public due to damages caused by severe flooding.  For more than 20 years it has had the chance to rejuvenate itself, and is now well preserved.  The Jujeonggol Valley, which is known as the area where the old yeopjeon coins were made during the Joseon Dynasty. 
     Even though I had a great soak in the hot tubs the night before, I was exhausted and was looking forward to a leisurely hike.  It was everything I expected.  The trees had brilliant colors of red and gold.  The trail had mulitple bridges that criss crossed the river, and the trail was very easy. 
     Along the trail I saw the a great little temple and three gold statues.  What I was really looking forward to was Yongso waterfall.  The tour guides really talked it up.  I thought, what a great way to end this hike... a beautiful waterfall. 

     Well, it was supposed to be bigger.
     After the hike, we had a delicous lunch.  It was korean style and in a great little restaurant in town.  After lunch, we took the chartered bus back and watched a movie.  It was a great way to spend a weekend.