Back Home at Last

Just wanted to drop a line to let everyone know I am now all moved into my new apartment in Chicago! I am very busy with the moving, unpacking and looking for a new job. So if anyone hears about a job opening in Chicago, let me know! I am really happy to be back here. I will post more soon.

Injuries and Knights in Shining Armor

So as most of you know, I am a tad clumsy. On Friday night I was at a local foreigner bar called MJ. It has a metal spiral staircase up from the main indoor bar up to the rooftop bar. I was coming down from the roof and there was a spill on the stairs. I didn't notice, but managed to hit it dead on, my foot slipped and I ended up falling the last few stairs. I landed solidly on top of my foot, bending it back the wrong way. There is a diagram to the left to help you understand my sad times. I pulled or bruised my Extensor Digitorum Brevis Muscle. Or as I call it, the muscle that runs from my little toe, across the top of my foot to right under that little knob of bone on the outside of my ankle. To the right is what my foot looked like after the swelling had gone down. Check out the technicolor bruising!
Now this may sound like a sad, woe is me kind of story, but that is not the case. Right as I fell, two of my friends nearby came right over to check on me. They had barely gotten two sentences out when Norbert came rushing in, pushed them out of the way, picked me up like a baby and carried me over to the sofa. He was so good, taking care of me. And this was not the first time he had come to my rescue that night, but definitely the most dramatic. Earlier he had improved my bad mood by taking me to see Star Trek to cheer me up. Then when we had first arrived at the bar, a friend spilled beer all over my backpack which had my e-book and digital camera inside. Norbert went and got plastic bags and wrapped up my electronics to make sure they wouldn't get damaged. So basically he was my knight in shining armor for the night. And since then he has been so sweet and concerned, trying to make sure I am alright, getting things for me, carrying things for me, etc.
Normally, I am not the kind of girl who wants to be taken care of. I always want to show that I can do everything myself and I don't need anyone to take care of me, especially a guy. But having him come to my rescue when I really did need someone was one of the most reassuring things that has ever happened to me. It is really nice to have someone who takes care of you not because they think you need it but because they want to. I guess this story just demonstrates one of the many reasons it will be very hard to leave him behind here. I know people say it a lot, but if we can't give each other what we need, I really hope that he will find a way to be truly happy. Because in the time we have had together he has made me truly happy.

Visiting Maggie in Tongyeong

Over the weekend, Norbert and I went to visit Maggie in Tongyeong. Tongyeong is a small oceanside town west of Busan down in the south. It was a long bus ride, which means Norbert complained a lot. He really is too big to fit on the buses comfortably for long.
It was really fantastic to see Maggie and she is a very good tour guide. First she took us to see the old turtle boat down in the harbor.
They call them turtle boats cause they have an armored top just like a turtle. Admiral Yi used them to repel the Japanese invasion in the late 16th century.
The downtown was decorated already for Buddha's birthday and some kids were playing on a fountain covered in the lotus lanterns. They were so cute and yelled out "Hi!" as we passed.
Tongyeong is in a much smaller valley than here at home in Cheonju. So they had a cable car going up to the top of the highest mountain around the town. It was a really cool trip and so much easier than climbing the mountain.
We made some new friends in the cable car. These ladies were so friendly and had a little English so we go to know them a bit. The one on the left gave up and went back down while we were climbing the last leg of the peak.
It was worth the cable car ride and the little hike at the end to see the view from the top of the mountain. It was amazing and gorgeous and beautiful. (Yes those are three words that mean the same thing.)
Check out the view for yourself. You can see the harbor and the mountains and the boats. And only a little bit of haze.
Since it was spring, there were many flowers in full bloom growing at the top of the mountain. I had to get some pictures of them. I love spring!
Maggie got caught up in the lovely spring day as well and started posing for me, her very own little photo shoot. This shot was my favorite! She has the expression of Betty Page or one of the other pin up girls from back then.
After that we started to hike down the other side of the mountain. This was more off the beaten path and much quieter. We encountered two different temples on our way down the mountain. The first was very small, just a few buildings around a courtyard, but it was beautiful and isolated and peaceful.
There was a little bench area in one corner of the terraced yard. From there you had an excellent view of the valley. We rested there and it was so nice, Maggie took some pictures of us. This one disturbed Norbert from his nap on my lap.
And this one is in front of the massive tree that had to be hundreds of years old, maybe thousands. I love trees like that. Sorry to overload on the couple pictures, but they were both so cute and I am really gonna miss him when I go so bear with me.
Speaking of my baby, I love this picture cause Norbert is 6'3" and is usually much too big for just about everything here in Korea. This is the first thing that he is dwarfed by here. Yay!
This was at the second, bigger temple that we ran into coming down the mountain. It seemed very old but well kept up. I love all the little hidden temples and shrines in the mountains. Since we were down south, there were palm trees mixed in with the normal conifers and deciduous trees. Palm trees in Korea, who would have thought?
As Maggie and I were enjoying the peaceful serenity of the Buddhist temple, Norbert got into a fight with the painting on the door. Yes, sometimes he argues with inanimate objects, but so do I so it works out well. Careful though, the door has a sword....
This is the front of the temple with the big doors and sign with the name which I can't read. But since it is a really old temple, it is Chinese characters to represent Korean words, so all the Korean classes in the world would not have helped. So there is me in front of the temple, posing as I do.
And yes, I was climbing a mountain in a skirt! I guess the Korean girls have rubbed off on me. But I still refuse to climb in high heels.
That night we went back to Maggie's (really nice and bright) apartment and hung out. The next day we were taking the boat tour out around the islands. There is a Maritime National Park there, so it is gorgeous and a half. This little girl didn't really like the boat ride I don't think.
It was an absolutely beautiful day. We had sun but not too much heat, clear enough to see far from the boat. It was just a great day, you can see the island behind the flag here. Norbert took this picture, thanks!
I always forget how cold it is on the water. So after a while, Maggie and I retreated back into the cabin, though we were a bit windblown. Norbert had fun taking pictures of us.
We ended up pretty far out to sea, but you could always spot the fishing boats because they were constantly surrounded by circling sea gulls. Lazy birds, can't catch their own fish!
There were many Koreans out fishing on the islands and the rocks. They must be really serious about it cause I still can't figure out how some of them got up on the rocks they were fishing off of. It was fun to spot them and wave though.
After a while of touring the islands, we stopped at one of the big ones to look at the shrine dedicated to Admiral Yi. He and his men had used it as their base of operations during their fight against the Japanese. (Koreans love anything that involves fighting the Japanese, even more if they beat them. Think how the Irish feel about the British.) This was his archery range.The soldiers would shoot across the water and hit the targets on the far side. Most beautiful archery range I have ever seen, puts camp to shame for sure.
In a lot of ways, traditional Korean architecture looks very uniform. And it is, but the differences are all in the little details which is the really cool thing about it. Look at the roof tiles from the shrine, can you see the turtle boats?
After the boat tour, we decided to get some grub before heading home to Cheongju. After 3 different restaurants refused to serve us because we were foreigners, we finally found a good barbecue place. Someone should explain that foreigners eat and drink a lot, it would be in their best business interests to serve us. But I digress, that is why I like my town more, no weygook prejudice. Our lunch/dinner was very good and a bit different from what we normally get in Cheonju, check out the quail eggs, peapods, and massive prawns.
Norbert and I were so amused by the big claws still attached to the prawns that I made him play with his food so I could take a picture.
All in all, a fantastic weekend. Thanks Maggie for putting us up and being our tour guide. I am really glad I got to go see the southern tip of Korea, I feel I have traveled pretty well now. I only wish I had the time and money to see Jeju...Well maybe one day.
Tongyeong was beautiful and I was so happy to see Maggie, but it was strange as well. I have always received stares from the Koreans here in Cheongju, there just aren't that many of us. It never bothered me. The people in my neighborhood are really used to us because there are quite a few. But in Tongyeong, it is such a small town. They only have 12 foreigners in the whole place. The stares were increased ten-fold, to the point where they were hard to ignore. As I mentioned before, 3 different restaurants refused to serve us because we were foreigners, and when we got off the tour boat, there was this crowd of people we had to walk through. They got really excited and started yelling and cheering at us and trying to touch us as we passed. It was like the creepiest red carpet ever. It was certainly an interesting experience. It taught me how lucky I was to be in a college town where we foreigners are very much accepted. It could have been a much harder year. On the other hand, perhaps I would have learned Korean more if I had been in a place without so many foreigners. Very interesting weekend....

DMZ

This past weekend we went to the DMZ, or the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. It is approximately at the 38th parallel and runs east to west for 250km and is 4 km wide. It is heavily dotted with landmines inside the DMZ so there was barbed wire everywhere around where we were. They try to be discreet about the fact that this is still a heavily militarized area as they are trying to use it as a tourist attraction now. But if you had a sharp eye, you could see the military personnel watching you from every angle.
Below you can see the Freedom Bridge. This bridge connects North and South Korea over the DMZ, it was used for prisoner exchange after the truce.
Now you can walk a little ways along the bridge but it ends abruptly at a wall in front of a chain link fence that has soldiers on the other side. Freedom indeed....
There are many wishes for reunification, on that wall and on the nearby chain link fence. There were ribbons posted that they will keep until unification happens.
A few of them were in English, a lot of those were very sad, people with family still over there or who came from North Korea and feel they cannot go home. We added our own ribbons to the fence.
It may be a little hard to read in the picture, but mine says "May one day all people will cease in war and Korea will be together again. I wish all the families peace in their hearts and solace in their sadness. My thoughts and prayers are with you all." It was really quite sad there.
We saw a movie at the theatre near the third tunnel. The movie was kind of strange. It looked like MTV made it, lots of cut shots and loud music. It was bordering on propaganda about how they will be together again and it is just a matter of time and isn't the DMZ pretty with all the animals. It seemed a little out of touch especially after reading the newspapers talking about North Korea launching a missile. But I digress...
While we were hanging out near the third tunnel we started talking to some of the Korean military guys who were stationed there. Their job was to give VIP tours of the DMZ. They go the cushy job because they both had lived in the US for a while and had flawless English. This is why they want to learn English I guess, helps on any job.
All male Korean citizens are required to be in the military for at least 2 years starting between the ages of 18 and 22. One of the guys actually had to leave mid-degree at a US college to come do his service.
The third tunnel that I mentioned, I don't have any pictures of (not permitted). But it was one of four tunnels that have been found that the North Koreans have dug trying to invade the South. The last one was in the 1990s. The North denies this of course, though everyone knows it is true. The third one is the one you can go down into because it is the biggest. It is a very steep climb back up. We were so tired by the time we finished. I guess it was our work out for the day.
Then we headed over to the lookout point where you can look over into Kaesong City, North Korea. It was a gorgeous, clear day so we could see quite well. They are very strict about it though. You could only take pictures from behind the photo line.
That says Photo Line in Korean. That makes it pretty hard to get a good shot of North Korea cause of the angles, etc. But because of our good weather and my phenomenal Panasonic Lumix 10x optical zoom point and shoot I got some decent photos.
You can see Kaesong city and the fields that were burning off last years deitrius. You can look through the binoculars for obec (50 cents). You may be looking at a communist country but you are obviously still in a capitalist one.
Next we moved on to the train station, everywhere it said "Not the last station in South Korea, but the first station into North Korea"
Great sentiment except at the moment the North Koreans are not allowing the train to come into North Korea. They did for a bit, there are South Koreans employed at the factories in Kaesong City, but everything is shut down for now.
This soldier is actually a UN soldier. You can tell by his hat and the white rope. He was much less relaxed than the guys we met before.
But we did make him crack a smile before we left so mission accomplished!
I made our tour guide take a picture with us. We went with Adventure Korea and this is the third trip where he has been my guide and I didn't have any pictures of him. He said it is because he is "not a picture guy". But he agreed to be in this one.
Left to right: me, Park Seokjin, Kayla and Meg.
All in all, it was an interesting trip. We didn't get to go to Panmujeon (the only village within the DMZ), I think it is because of the escalated tensions at the moment. That is the only thing I wish I could have seen. I am really glad I got to go, it was a last minute thing cause Meg's friend had to delay her trip and they had an extra slot. So thanks Linda!

Fun with Friends

One of the great things about Cheongju is the thriving foreigner community. I have made some fabulous friends here who I will definitely miss. So this is a fairly random collection of get-togethers we have had recently. First we have pictures from Frances' going away dongdongju night.From left to right it is me, Rosario and Willow. Not quite sure why Rosario looks so evil in this picture, but what can you do?
We have gone to this place so many times, I think we are putting their kids through college.
From left to right: Sueji, Rosario, Liz and Mike. You can see Kayla's body in the back but I chopped off her head, sorry hun!
Next we have photos from Maggie's visit to Cheongju. We miss her so much now that she is gone. We ate at a random little galbi place, it was delicious.
From left to right: Maggie, Willow and me. We always get along so well.
It was a crazy night, and it was like a Tuesday or something I think. This was the night we drank the place out of beer. That is quite and accomplishment in Korea.
Sean and Rosario hamming it up after a few drinks! And they weren't the only ones.
James and I had to take the cute pictures too. Definitely served to remind me how much I miss hanging with Maggie.
Speaking of people leaving, next up are the pictures from Mark's going away night. The normal staff party grew to include some other friends as well.
From left to right: Mr. Ahn, Mark, Matteo and Bryce. I don't think Bryce realized he was having his picture taken. It is always interesting when we have the bi-cultural outings.
Lina and Alice doing the traditional peace sign pose. All Koreans do this in pictures. My kids tell me it is cause the celebrities do it.
And then we have Hoang and Joanne. Hoang left about two weeks after this. So many goodbyes. That is the hard thing about the overseas working.
After the staff to-do we headed out to the Road King to finish out the evening.
I thought this was a pretty cute picture of Mark and I.
So the night before Valentine's Day. We were a bit bored so James, Hoang and I went on a picture taking adventure around town at night. Interesting trying to get good pictures in that low of lighting.
This is my emo picture, very dark and contemplative. Yes it was staged. Has to be cause they had to hold that pose for like a minute to get enough light for the picture. Hoang decided to climb the tree.
I thought it was a nifty angle, taken from below and all. James was sitting for a minute for no particular reason and I took this picture of him.
If he ever puts out an emo, punk or hip-hop album, this would be a great cover. I am totally willing to let him use it, for a fee of course... The churches are usually lit up with some major neon, especially the crosses, looks really cool in the long exposure.
So we had a random great time running around taking pictures at night. This is more or less what we do for fun. That and a lot of movies, video games, and general hanging out. Not so different from back home really.