Buddha, Busan and Biking

Kaley’s adventures the end of May and beginning of June!

Lantern festival – May 16^th, the Sunday before Buddha’s Birthday weekend. We discovered that even though the celebration of this “enlightened one’s” birth wasn’t for another week, KoreaKorea because everywhere I looked was foreigners. I hadn't seen this many in one place since I left America. It was bizarre! was going to kick the celebration off early and have a lantern festival! There were all types of lanterns but all had a lotus flower on it somewhere. After getting off the subway, we were pulled into a stand where we could make our own lotus shaped lanterns. The Korean man who “convinced” us to make one was very enthusiastic. He practically pulled the camera off my neck to take pictures (pretty good ones actually) for me. We then walked down the closed off street and observed hundreds of other foreigners participate in the many booths that lined it. It was hard to tell that we were even in Korea because everywhere I looked was foreigners. I hadn't seen this many in one place since I left America. It was bizarre!

Busan - Happy Birthday Buddha! Though over half of the religious population of South Korea are now Christians, Buddha’s Birthday is still very important, and therefore a National holiday. In the past couple years the Korean government has cancelled some National holidays such as Parent’s Day and Teacher’s Day, so days off of work are few and far between. This holiday was the first three day weekend we were going to have in over two months…so Holly and I decided to do something special…Busan and your beach, here we come!

Now, normal people take the 5 hour train to Busan…but Holly and I somehow (don’t ask me how) found flight tickets there for virtually the same price. Amazing! So…Saturday morning found us boarding a plane for a 45 min. ride to Gimhae airport near Busan. It’s like flying from Kansas City to Garden City, as a reference for those living in Kansas. We then found our way (only getting lost a few times…really…just a few) to our hotel, and headed to the beach! Yayyyy the beach!!! Busan’s most popular beach is called Haeundae, a movie was even made about it recently, but we decided to visit a closer/smaller/hopefully less crowded one called Gwangalli. When we arrived, we found a spot in the sand, spread our towels out and relaxed. It was fantastic. Holly took some amazing pictures of nearby children who were playing with seaweed (yeah, that’s what I said). This one of the boy is my favorite. So stinkin cute.

We decided not to swim because as stated in previous posts, the weather had been unusually cool this year. Lying in the sun was perfect, but swimming would have been quite cold, though we did wade in the water, until we saw how dirty it was that is…

After awhile, we had to move because the nearby buildings shadows were encroaching on our original spot. As we stood up Holly said, “uh, Kaley, correct me if I’m wrong but…is that Laura?” “What?! Haha! Yeah! It is!!” We had inadvertently stumbled upon some church friends who chose a spot about 100 feet from ours. A very bizarre occurrence that would prove to become uncannily more common then one would think with our amazing South African friends.

We spent the evening with our friends and then decided to meet the next day at the fish market whenever we got up and around. Note that no particular time was decided on… The next morning, we woke up to a cloudy, rainy looking sky and a quote from Pooh the Bear is quite fitting in this situation: “Oh bother.” So much for our sunny, beach filled weekend! We’ll just have to find something else to do!!

Holly and I made our way to Jagalchi fish market to check it out while we waited to hear from John, Laura, and Ian. Watching our step as we walked through the rain/fish/trash covered ground, we looked up to the sight of our three friends walking around the corner. Wow…again, not planned. We’re getting good at this!

We ventured to the indoor part of the market and decided to pool our money for some sushi, barbequed fish, and lobster…and this is where it gets interesting:

Laura found a man who spoke some English and told us that we could buy a fish and lobster from him for cheap. Was this price too good to be true? Read on to find out…but for those of you impatient ones about to fall off your seats, I’ll just say that yes, it was. When the man had successfully selected our lobster, beheaded, skinned, and sashimi-ed half our fish (quite entertaining let me tell you) and sent the rest upstairs to be cooked, he grabbed the calculator and typed in what we owed. I’ll pay you cash money if you can guess how much the total was…but as you are probably making a guess in your head, and won’t actually be able to inform me, since I’m 6,000 miles away, and the fact that you’re probably making your guess in American dollars… I’ll hastily say “nope, that’s wrong” and tell you that it was 180,000won. That’s about $150.00. Ouch. We only had 148,000won between all of us, not planning on spending such a hefty amount of money for ONE MEAL. We tried to convey to the man our dilemma, with John and Ian actually showing him their completely empty wallets. We asked if we could get a smaller lobster to maybe bring down the cost, but after some deliberation, the man decided to just take what we had and sent us upstairs. With a sneaking suspicion that we’d been had, we sat down and ate some tasty sashimi. Then our fish was brought to us, as well as our surprisingly difficult to eat lobster. Ian actually bent a chopstick trying to break it’s “really strong elbow!” As the picture shows below:

After finishing, we decided to head back outside to look around the area some more. We put our shoes on, grabbed our umbrellas, and started to walk away when John spotted another foreigner that we had spent some time with the night before. Not knowing we had lost a comrade on the way out, he was inadvertently left behind when the “fish guts” hit the fan. The “fish guts” being that a woman grabbed Holly as we walked away because apparently, if you thought that the fee for cooking the fish was included in the humongous sum you paid for the fish, you’d be wrong. Holly’s great intuition told her that we were about to be swindled again, and she told us to “Go! Go! Go!” We then left at high speeds, trying to get away because we were very literally, all out of money. When we got outside, we turned around to discover that John was missing, and feared for his life/wallet. Will they make him stay to wash thousands of tiny side dishes for the rest of his life?! Will he have to empty and recycle bottles and bottles of Soju?! Will he, oh there he is, let’s go! We then relocated to a less conspicuous spot, particularly one that didn’t smell like fish, and John told us that the lady was trying to charge him another 80,000won! Ridiculous! He somehow got away by gesturing that he was going to find us…and that, my dear friends, is how I dined and dashed for the first, and hopefully the last, time.

The rest of the day we walked around Busan’s China town…but it should have been called Russia town, because everything was Russian. Then we hung out and talked in a coffee shop for several hours, hoping the rain would stop, but it was stubborn and didn’t. So we parted ways and headed back to our respective hotels. Holly and I relaxed until our flight the next day and returned to reality. It was an interesting and good weekend.

Gwangalli Bridge at night.



Lantern's for Buddha's Birthday

Seonyudo Island biking!Look how excited we are!!

This adventure took place on the last weekend of May and the weather was perfect! All we needed to do was jump the transportation hurdle for the promise of a relaxing weekend. So, we rode a 2 hour subway, 3 hour bus, and 1 hour ferry to our destination. The ferry was the only mode of transportation to this island, therefore there wasn’t much traffic. I saw a few trucks but mostly people rode around in golf carts, or rode their bikes. The island actually consisted of three different islands connected by bridges, so a bike was really the only way to do it anyway. When we arrived, we took our bags to the hotel, and hopped on our bikes for some relaxing pedaling.

The whole group totaled about 80 foreigners so we broke into smaller groups to explore the island. Our group was quite small, unintentionally replicating the fantastic four and contained:

Kelly from Connecticut, Chris from London, Kaley from Kansas and Holly from Minnesota. Poor Chris stuck with all those girls, what’s a nice guy with an accent to do!? Well…at one point, he joined forces with Kaley to eliminate Holly with a fishing rope. Fist pound. Haha!

We like being silly sometimes. Anyway, as I said before, the island only had three bridges, so we were bound to meet the other groups of foreigners. We spent some time with Jackie’s group and then split off again, but later learned that Jackie had had an accident involving a pot hole, some pedestrians, a hill, one of those golf carts, and some high speed. It ended with her catching the last ferry to the mainland to get some stitches on her chin, but boy was she a trooper!

Later that evening I was able to spend some time with a lively, funny and very friendly group of South Africans, thanks to my rock climbing buddy Naomi. The next day we went hiking and explored the phenomenon called “The Moses Miracle” that the island is known for. During a specific time of year, the tide goes out far enough that a pathway is uncovered to a smaller island in the middle of the bay. When normally you would have to swim to get to it, at this time, you can just walk there. It’s pretty awesome and Holly, Kelly and I experienced it together!

Our group watching/having fun, waiting for the sunset.

A bamboo bo staff fight also took place during this trip…I shall include the video below. I won’t make any excuses about why I lost *ahem* putrid, vile, substance landing on my FACE!... I’ll just admit my defeat to one Holly Vail Bonnema. Touché my friend. Touché.

To finish the weekend off, on our way home from Seonyudo on the Subway, as we stood waiting for the train to make a complete stop so we could board it, who did we see? You got it, Ian and Laura. Hey guys...this is getting weird...but I kind of like it. :)


Enjoy this post! More to come soon! Love you guys.

A plethora of random thoughts. Beware!

This blog contains some things I’ve learned, experienced, and seen here in Korea. It isn’t one about recent trips that I’ve taken, that one is still expounding in my brain. (I don’t even know if I used that in its correct form. Nicole?) Anyway, it will be here soon!

Musical road – On our way to Costco awhile back, our driver, Jenny, said “listen!” to Holly and I. Not knowing what to “listen” for, we sat and confusedly looked at each other. Suddenly, we realized, the road was singing. Well…not singing, but playing a song. The grooves in the road were strategically placed to play Twinkle Twinkle Little star, I think, I actually don’t remember the song, I just remember that it was cool. I recall hearing about something like this in the States, but never experienced it. I wonder how long it took to make!!?

Toy guns - On my walk home one Saturday, I had my headphones in, listening to a newly downloaded (awesome, of course) CD. I heard some commotion, took my earphone out, and spotted several elementary aged Korean boys playing at the park. I hardly ever see this…because they are almost always in school, but it happened to be a Saturday that they actually had a break, and there they were, playing, with toy guns nonetheless. Toy guns aren’t a big deal here like they are in America. I’ve seen them brought to school, and even tucked away in pockets in church. So, I watched in amazement as these 15 or so boys, immensely enjoyed laying waste to each other with imaginary bullets. It was pretty fun to watch, their death scenes were quite impressive. It made me want to whip out my pistol and ninja roll into the fray…but then I remembered I didn’t have a pistol, and I would probably hurt myself in the ninja roll attempt. So I went on my way, chuckling at their childhood antics, and remembering my own.

Yellow dust – I may have already briefly touched on this topic in other blogs, but will explain it in more detail so that you may understand what it is. Yellow dust is quite a problem in Korea. Mostly during the springtime but I’m finding that it has lingered into the summer as well. What is yellow dust? Well, it’s a very fine dust that blows over from the deserts in Mongolia and China. The reason it’s so worrisome is because as it comes from the desert, it travels over the industrial belt in China, therefore picking up some fun toxins on the way. Yellow dust is the main reason for the masks, and umbrellas…if you don’t have one when it’s raining, “your hair will fall out” because the rain has yellow dust in it. The weekly forecast may consist of: rainy, sunny, partly cloudy, and a yellow dust storm or two. One day this Spring, I was actually reminded of a “pre-tornado” sky back home, because it was completely yellow. The next day, all the cars had a layer of dust on them. I didn’t really notice the dust before, but now I can tell when it’s in the air…because it has the faint smell of moldy/old cardboard boxes. That’s the only way I know how to describe it. Lol.

Traffic signals – they aren’t followed here. People run red lights like CRAZY! When asked how people can run them without getting into trouble with the Police, they just say that the traffic cameras take your picture and a ticket is sent to you, but that doesn’t seem to faze these drivers. Plus, there are hardly any police officers here anyway. I have never seen a police officer pull anyone over, and the few I see are always just driving around with their lights always on, but no one ever gets out of the way for them. It’s preposterous! We do however have a power hungry traffic cop that works at the apartment complex near Holly’s. He likes to stand outside his little house and blow his whistle to tell cars where to go. The thing is, he’s not even standing at the intersection, there are only two ways to turn when the cars DO get to the intersection, and there are so few cars that even the IDEA of a traffic cop just seems pointless. Unless, of course, the real reason is to wake up everyone in the surrounding area with his whistle, because then, the idea makes perfect sense! *eye roll*

The bee story – Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I have a break between my kids’ classes and my adult classes. During this time, I prepare, but if I already have everything ready, I usually watch something online, or type this blog…if I’m motivated. ;) One day, as I was sitting at my computer, I heard the dreaded noise of a bug caught in a room. You know the noise, the one where they can’t figure out where to go so they just smack aimlessly into things. This particular bug sounded quite large, so I looked around to check the category in which I would be dealing with. Ah, a bee…wonderful. That’s when Mr. Kim spotted the little (well…big actually) bugger, and proceeded to run out of the room. Haha! He said that it was called a horse bee, or something, because they were so big. I was standing in the doorway, watching it fly around when Mr. Kim told me to come out and shut the door because “they can kill you!” Uh…ok. Then he said, “I don’t know what to do.” And I said, “Give me your tennis racquet; I can kill it in one shot.” But he vetoed that idea right away, probably because it would be hard to find a sub for me on such short notice. Ha! What did he decide? To get the bug spray, stand in the doorway, and fill the room with poison until the bee finally died. It worked, but guess whose stuff is right inside the door? You got it, mine. I had enough sense to close my computer when I realized what he was going to do but the top cover, my books, desk, and everything else had a nice layer of bee killer on it. Sick.

The idea of memory- My students are unable to comprehend the concept. Don’t get me wrong, they definitely know how to PLAY it…because all I had to say was “memory” and they were setting up the pieces practically before I had them out of the rubber band, but the idea is just…lost. They like to have things organized, so when two pieces are matched together, all I have to do is wait, before…yep, there goes Sally, moving two other side pieces in to fill those new empty positions. Guys…you’re supposed to REMEMBER where the match is!! Not move them around!! I should just rename the game to “you’ll always have to guess where the match is if you keep doing that.” ß that’s a silly name, Kaley. When the pieces dwindle to about 6-10…they like to just mix them all together and re-lay them back out. I’ve stopped trying to prevent them from doing this. I guess they just really don’t want each other to win for that extra sticker prize. Oh what they’ll do for a sticker!

At the gym – We’ve found a new machine that we like! It’s a hiking machine, and it’s pretty great. The hiking machines have their own little room so there is hardly anyone back there when we arrive. One day, we noticed that the cleaning woman was wiping the machines down. Holly and I were walking/running/hiking on our machines when suddenly a shininess on Holly’s machine caught my eye. I looked down at her feet and saw that the machine was wet, I then down at mine and saw that the woman WAS CLEANING MY MACHING while I was still on it! Oh snap!!

Calendar – I have a calendar that I X the day off when it’s over. Last month I had to put two X’s on one day. I’ve decided, if two days have to share on a calendar, then that month has too many days. Moral of the story, May seemed super long.

Animals – I miss them. When I see a dog, I just want to stop and pet it. There were some puppies on the Island we went to on our bike tour (which I will write about in my next blog, promise). They were quite dirty puppies, I must admit, but every time I passed them, I just had to give them some lovin! Sometimes we walk by pet stores, and I have to stop myself from watching the dogs and cats for too long. Can’t wait to go home and see my two dogs and many, many cats. B.J. named the new litter of kittens with all Z names. I was super impressed. He’s learned to carry on the tradition of unusual names for our animals. Way to go kid.

Spelling – is slightly irrelevant here. Whenever a student pronounces a word that I don’t quite understand, I ask them to spell it for me, which is a mistake because, they most likely can’t. Words that are translated from Korean writing to English, are spelled different every time I see them. For example, they have a food here called Kimbap, but it’s pronounced Gimbap, and sometimes spelled that way. This is also common with town names. Their 3^rd biggest town is Busan, but they say Pusan. When I first arrived in Korea, I was trying to find flights to an Island called Jeju, but it kept coming up as Cheju on the internet. WHICH IS IT?! Haha. Needless to say, I can now understand why some words are hard to say for them. The letter Z isn’t even used in their language, so the word Zoo…is unbelievably hard and sounds like joo. I commend those that stick with learning the English language. It would be a very daunting task for sure.

Fin! Korea trips blog coming soon! Love you guys!