Hak Dam Am

Hak Dam Am was a major highlight for Matt and I! The battery on the computer is going, so you'll have to wait for the stories about these pictures. Keep posted!

Buangsei Bawi (Owl Rock)

The black roofed, short building is one of the many restaurants along the highway. They serve many soups, barbecues, and lots of rice ('bop', in Korean).

The picture below is our friends sweet ride. These are my favorite vehicles in Korea: It's a Kia 'Bongo'... interestingly, the Korean word for farts is 'Bongu'... I learned that from one of my 6 year old students who called me 'Bongu teacher' for a while. We are on to bigger and better nicknames now though. Anyway, we ride in this cool flatbed regularly, most of the gear goes in the back... pure style.

The man climbing in green pants is Mr. Jong, the strongest climber at the gym, and one of the funniest guys... his official drink is 'Soju', the vodka type drink they have here. We will probably have many pictures of him in these posts, he's fun to watch, on and off the rock. He enjoys getting bombed on Soju, laughing lots and alwayas making a joke, and then sending 5.13's...for this he reminds us of our dear friend Nevin. Nevin, he's no replacement...but we think that your Dad may have been in Korea about 35 years ago.


I've described Owl Rock in an earlier post below, so check it out. It was a beautiful place. It was a fair drive from Ulsan, but a breathtaking one. We climbed some 5.10's and 5.11's. The routes were really long in the middle of the rock, roughly 30m (100 feet or so).





Holly is posing with Mr. Hong, our great friend who has really helped us out here in the city, he is probably the strongest, healthiest guy around. He started climbing 10 months ago, but his mad yoga and Taekwondo skills have prepared him well for climbing.... soooo strong! He is also a wealth of knowledge for Korean medicine. We'd be in rough shape now if it weren't for him!





Mr. Jong is in the yellow jacket here. They guys are having a break from our trip back to the city. Most people resume this squatting position while resting in Korea. It is very common to see all sorts of people (young and old alike) stopped, and squatting on the sidewalk...just taking a break!

Gyongju city: Buddhist Temple and Go Karts

So a few weekends ago we went, with our other coworkers, to Gyongju, an ancient city near ours. In old times the Korean peninsula was divided into 3 provinces, and the capital city of one of the provinces was Gyongju. So it is very very old. We visited one of the main Buddhist temples that has been restored (and is still in use to this day). It is over a millenium in age, so its pretty cool, its definately the oldest place I've been, architechturally speaking.

Following the visit, we went down the road and stopped for a rousing ride at 'Kart Valley'...a local Go Karting track. I'm not sure what to say, it definately marred my first peaceful Buddhist experience... but who am I kidding, they're go karts, it was awesome.

Chongdo Bull's Head

I don't think there is much to say about Chongdo, the place is ridiculous (in a good way of course). I have never seen anything like it in my life. I hope we go back sometime.

Notably, the day we went here, the Chinese Yellow dust was in full effect, so it looks quite foggy, but really its dust from the Chinese desert, and industry....ahhh industrialization. I felt like I smoked a pack of Du Mauriers that day, check out the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Dust

Here are some more photos that we have taken throughout March and April. I've included pictures from work, home, climbing, and out and about in the city.

An Overdue Update

Well, we have fallen behind on our updates so I will summarrize our last few weeks quickly. Firstly we are at the end of our second month of teaching, things are going well, and the kids are still totally entertaining! The kids have done everything from sticking pencils in every possible facial opening, to drawing dragons, magicians, dragons, more dragons and Hello Kitty. They've also given us a lot of food, roughly 2 lbs. of dry itchy ban (ramien) and some chips usually, sometimes a drink or chocolate bar. My showcase student, the one who flipped his desk in the middle of class to use it as shelter from machine gun fire, has thrown a video out the 3rd storey window to the parking lot, demonstrated his taekwondo skills, and pushed all the desks in the classroom in front of the door before I could get into the class. Its so funny I can't punish him, except for the video thing, I got a little angry.

So we have a sweet, two wheeled stallion now. We found a 12 speed vagabond-esque bike amongst the recycling in the foyer, which had suffered irreparable damages (a flat tire). It is a sleek addition to our apartment, as the name on the bike suggests (it's called a "fashion bike"... so cool).

We have been climbing a bit, usually on Sundays we go with the climbing club to different spots each week. I am pretty excited about the last place we visited, it was called Owl Rock... Holly liked it due to the name, naturally. The rock was this tall, steep face, that seemed even more massive because it stands alone on the edge of the highway to the Pyochyong temple (spelling?). The drive to the area was stunning, except for the village at the base of the dam that we passed... recipe for disaster... but what do know! It was a little ridiculous, we drove right up to the face, not having to walk at all, and a big restaurant about 50 feet away pumped out cheezy 80's love tunes, providing entertainment for our ears all day long. I was in Heaven, Holly was in Hell... The climbs were so cool, I can't wait to go back! Hopefully we can figure out how to add pictures soon. So after climbing we always go out for dinner as a group. Its so enjoyable, these people hardly speak a word of English, but they are so much fun and enjoyable. Its funny how that works.

We have a birthday party here at work today. It's quite different here from what I reember of Kindergarten (mind you that could be because my birthday was in July...). Once a month the children who have birthdays in the month are honoured with cakes, pizzas, chips, cookies, fried chicken (a Korean favorite) more cake, and pop. There are no less than 100 different combinations of children photographed with the birday boys/girls, and then every student gives the birthday boys/girls a gift. So the kids go home with bags full of gifts, its nuts... but it does make them feel pretty good to have a big party in their name!

So anyway that's all I've got, so I'll run. A few notable points: Jeff I noticed that we are done in the playoff race, I'm sorry, I know you'll be in the dumps for a few days... and Dad, we're super excited for your retirement, I know you're in the zone now, its too bad we can't be there but I'll be thinking of your big day. What else... Jon and John, I haven't talked to you guys in a while but I know you're doing well, I have connections that inform me. Oh, and Spooner, Key Lake won't be the same after you arrive... take it easy on them. Other than that I'm out. Take it easy everyone. We'll be in touch soon! Lots of love.