JEFF! THE COINS POWERS ARE STILL WORKING!

I lead a 5.12b! That's all I'm going to say for now...but I give the coin FULL credit. Thanks for the magic powers Jeff. Auh, narcissist. Lots of love from, the shorter one...

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.