Yang-Yan: Seaside city at its finest

It's Sunday night here in Seoul, and the Won family and I returned from a weekend excursion to Yang-Yan, a north-east coastal town about four hours outside of Seoul. While there, some pretty AWEsome and unique experiences were had.

Yang-Yan is surrounded by the BEAUTIFUL mountains of Korea, and before settling to our final destination, we took the opportunity to travel up one and experience it first hand. Unfortunately, the name of this particular mountain is escaping my memory, but all I can say is it was absolutely breathtaking. I have found that the mountains of Korea are in a league of their own. They inspire in me a sense of child-like wonder. Oftentimes shrouded in a thick fog, they are mysterious, alluding, and utterly majestic. I must say that being atop these great landmarks has been a true highlight of my time in Korea thus far, and has been very calming to my spirit.

This particular mountain offered a cable-car ride up to its summit, which we excitedly took, enjoying the spectacular view. When at the top, we were able to literally climb where we pleased, and the view was both exhilarating and terrifying! I would be literally steps away from an abyss that seemed never-ending. The air on the mountains is so fresh and rejuvenating, especially after being in a city of ten million, that I was sad as we made our ascent down via cable car. We next were able to visit a Buddhist temple, similar to others I have seen but also very calming and reflective.

We move on from the mountains into Yang-Yan, the site of the Won family's condo. The condo (more like a hotel) is very VERY beautiful and looks out on the ocean. (The East Sea- otherwise referred to as the Japan sea, but Koreans are very adamant that it should be East Sea.)

Dinner. We drive into the town a ways and come to a small, unassuming restaurant with big, clear holding tanks outside its front. This is a sea village, thus, seafood rules. What am I kind of afraid of? Sea food. What are we having? King crab.

When it was served, I was seriously afraid. I was given the crab's actual legs and other joints to scrape the meat out and eat. Very very scary for me, as I have never had crab and never envisioned myself having it. Actually, while very much out of my comfort zone, the meat itself tasted much less "fishy" than I anticipated and was pretty tasty. Once the crabs were devoured, we were served rice with some sort of crab meat served....Get this- inside the crab's head! I wish I had a picture!

Also this weekend, I was able to meet Ji Young's older brother, back for a weekend break from the military. In Korea, all males are required to serve in the military for two years, usually during their college years. It was really great to meet him, and I am only sorry I will not be able to see him again.

Ahhh, back to the daily grind that is Monday.

(Prayer tile we made at the Buddhist temple in Yang-Yan)

신발 샀습니다!!!!

Today I made my first cool Korean purchase. Super stoked! Yay!

Wow, I really REALLY love Seoul!

Out and About

My time thus far at Ji Young's has been full of motion and energy! We are at the house pretty much only to sleep, between school, work, and night fun! Monday we met up with Amy, Ben, and Andrew, kids from Cotter, at a green-tea restaurant for....tea! Really fun! Then yesterday, Ji Young and I went on a massive walk along the

Han River, a huge river that literally divides Seoul in half. Ji Young's house is really near by, so we had a lot of fun just walking and seeing the beautiful skyline. Tonight we were able to meet Eun Chun and Kate, a friend from Cotter who is in Korea for about ten days. Really fun! I was late coming off of work (as always.... I am always there until at LEAST seven-thirty) and were REALLY late in meeting Kate and Eun Chun because we took a bus. For dinner we had two soups: One really spicy and one not spicy (Or so we thought.... Kate seemed to think otherwise! She is really sensitive to spicy foods.....) with chicken and vegetables and noodles. SOOO good! And, the best part of all was we went for COLD STONE! I walk by a Cold stone every day in Kang-Nam and every day it tempts me more and more! SOOO good! However, portions are definitely smaller in Korea.

Anyway, to sum up the last few days, FUN!

Also, work is really good, too. The work itself is pretty boring, but Tae and Kee Hoon, the other TAs I work with, are really really nice. Also I'm getting to be kind of friends with some of the high school SAT kids, too. One kid had even heard of Cotter because of how many Koreans go to school there! Small world!

Haha! Ji Young evil-eyeing the camera at Coldstone! Yay, Kate!!! So happy you are here!!!

New Places, New Faces

Day 1 at the Won household and all is well! Ji Young lives in a really tall (21 floors!) apartment complex in Mok-dong, the same part of Seoul I work in, a HUGE plus! Also, her house is right on the subway line that I take everyday to get to Kang-nam (school), so this makes traveling really simple. Her home is very spacious and has many rooms. Chincha yepau (very beautiful)! Mr. and Mrs. Won (hereby known as Adoshi and Ajuma respectively, polite terms of address) are very kind. I don't think either speak very much English, so it will be a great opportunity for me to improve my Korean!

Saying goodbye today to Omma, Hanna, and Adoshi (Yim) was very hard, harder than I thought it would be! The good thing is that I know I will see them again before I go. It's off to new adventures now....

Ji Young celebrated her birthday this summer in the States, and some of us decided to hold a surprise party for her. Ji Won, Hyun Gi, myself, and Ji Young's friend, Hee Ra, surprised her with a cake and gifts. Later, everyone but Ji Won went out to dinner. Mok dong is a really fun place!

Now I'm just settling in. I really need to study. Motivation is lacking. What would Senora say....?

Estoy triste....

I'm a little sad. Tonight is my last night in the Yim house, and I've really had an amazing time! Their family has literally adopted me as one of their own (Omma frequently refers to me as her third daughter) and has been so kind to me I have no idea how I can ever thank them! However, the good news is I can still see them, and now I get to have an entirely new (and I'm sure equally amazing) experience with Ji Young. I'm a lucky girl!

Other good news: Ji Won's boot is finally off! Yay! We also did some really cool things today.

First, we visited Adoshi's brother who gave a demonstration for us of a product he sells. Basically, we all sat down in chairs that had volts of electricity running through them, thereby running through us. It was really weird- I could feel it flowing through my fingers/arms, legs, and sinuses! Supposedly it helps to rid your body of toxins and increases blood flow. Afterwards we all felt a little dizzy and tired, but that's a normal side effect. Apparently the electricity creates a lot of movement inside your body, so it's kind of like your body is exercising on the inside! We also visited Adoshi's brother's wife at her boutique. Very kind!

We made another stop at a historical Korean exhibit, this time a traditional Korean village. This was really cool because it showed not only the temples and traditional architecture, but also was able to show how everyday commoners lived. It was really large with a wide spectrum of buildings to see. Really cool! We also saw a REAL traditonal Korean wedding. It was crowded, so the picture isn't great, but it was really fascinating!

I had completely forgotten this, but Senora reminded me that today is the first day of summer! Yay, summer!

TGIF

For real, I am SOO glad it's Friday! I have been so tired this week, just with the added stress of commuting and starting a new job... Long days but fun days! One sad thing, this is my last weekend at Ji Won's house before I move to Ji Young's on Sunday. I am happy that I will be A LOT closer to my work (10 minute bus ride versus 2 hour commute!), but I'm really going to miss Ji Won's family. They have been so kind to me and I honestly feel like one of their own!

On a happier note, Ji Won FINALLY gets her boot off tomorrow! Yay! And, my friend Kate is coming next week and staying with Eun Chun. It will be fun (yet weird! Another Cotter kid in Seoul! haha!) to see her and I think I will be spending some time at Eun Chun's house in the weeks to come. We shall see!!

Okay. Bed pretty soon here for me. Hanna, Ji Won, and I each started jobs this week, and we are all exhausted. However, tonight Ji Won shocked us all by going to bed at NINE-THIRTY! Mom, I thought that might make you feel a little better about your early bedtime!

Blue Man!

So, we just got back from the Blue Man Group concert and it was absolutely AMAZING! It was pretty much a sweet rock concert with ridiculously amazing percussion features and three blue men walking around playing "mallets" on pipes and being absolutely amazing! Also, at the very end one of the Blue Men came really near the place Ji Won, Hyun Gi, Ji Young, and I were sitting, only one row and about five seats away from me, when he brought a SUPER famous Korean singer to the stage. It was SO cool! I had absolutely no idea who this guy was, but he was really REALLY famous and was sitting right by me!!!

Work is going well. I am now going to and from by myself, which is fun but it's a two hour commute from Mok Dong (work) to Ya Tap (live), so I'm glad I'm only doing it for this week. (I go to Ji Young's house Sunday...) Work is crazy because I never feel like I know what's exactly going on, like I don't have the system quite figured out yet, but it's okay! The great thing is for about two hours I get to see Ji Young, and there are two guys my age I work with in the afternoon who are really nice. It's just nice to meet new people my own age..

My Korean hagwan is going okay. Last week I was kind of discouraged with it, thinking it was too hard (it's all in Korean!! No English!). However, things are looking up and I am really beginning to understand what's going on. Hopefully my verbal skills will keep up!

Further disaster news from the Yim household... Last night, Omma had to call Hanna (Ji Won's sister) to pick her up from badminton because of a calf injury. Today she went to the doctor and something is really messed up with the ligament and she can't move her calf. It is wrapped in a full non-removable cast and she must use crutches. Like mother, like daughter...! I feel really bad for her, though... Poor Omma!

Finally. Weather update:

As of yesterday, June 17, the rainy season in Korea is on! Woo-hoo one month of rain!