Video from Taebaeksen

Gah! It was bloody cold!

Climbing Taebaeksen

We tried to get to the top, but it was just way too cold. We also need to invest in some ice cleats, cuz it was dangerously slippery.

"Take me Home Country Loads"

Hmmm This has been slightly confusing as we are posting pictures on Face book and emailing pictures as well, so if you see the same thing over and over then just enjoy them again. Its been super busy these past few weeks and I've lost track of everything that we've done. It's all become a blur. I guess maybe a good place to start would be talking about our new city and home. We are very happy to be in Taebaek city. It is a smaller city, but really you can get everything you need here. Except for cheese, but i don't think i can get that anywhere. Oh wait, I found a place I can buy cheese sticks. yum! We also finally found a place that sells real coffee. Most people here drink instant, super sweet coffee flavoured drink. It tastes OK, much like a cappuccino, but I must admit I am a fan of black coffee. It was heaven when I drank that first cup. There are lots of things that look familiar, like chips and pizza, but in actuality they are not at all familiar. Mmmmm, shrimp pizza with vegetables I have never seen before in my life. There's a lot to get used to here, and a lot to let go of. If you go to a different country expecting it to be the same then you are sorely deluded, and you will probably be very depressed. The biggest thing I'm having trouble with is the food, but that's just because I don't know what the food is and if it has meat in it or not. I'm starting to really enjoy Kim-bap. Yesterday I learned how to ask for it with no ham. F.Y.I ham is not considered meat... i don't quite get it. Of course there are tons of hilarious things. Yesterday Rob and I went shopping. In one of the dressing rooms, there's a poster with an image of a Korean man and woman in country garb on a horse, written underneath it "Take me home country loads". Then at the ATM there is the message "Thank you for bang king". And don't forget the Crunky chocolate bars!

Our apartment is about a ten minute walk from downtown, so that makes life a lot easier. I really enjoy the traditional market and shopping downtown. I hope to avoid the E-Mateu (or E-mart) as much as possible. It is much like a walmart, in that it sells everything for really really cheap, and also like walmart it puts the smaller shops out of business. We also have a grocery store right behind our apartment. I am absolutely falling in love with the character of the place. Although we try new things everyday, we have found little places that we keep going back to. We have found places with atmospheres that suit us, like the little coffee shop, or the little orange restaurant across from Hwanji pond. All in all life is starting to become comfortable. The only real stress left in my life is the actual teaching part, but i am told that it will become easier as time passes.

some videos to tide you over til a real post :)

enjoy!

samcheok beach

a short trip to Donghae to get our official cards telling everyone we're aliens. stopped by the beach. quite beautiful, to say the very least.

This is the Beginning...

Flying over British Columbia

Rob and his flowers, and the giant TV in our hotel.

YUM! Kim-chi!
So here I am in South Korea. Sitting in a lovely hotel with a fabulous veiw of my new home, Taebaek. After the last week of orientation and being driven around like cattle, relaxing in a hotel is a nice way to spend the weekend. We have wandered around Taebaek a little bit, taking in the sights and trying to figure out what everything is. I think Rob and I have learned some compassion for people in a foreign land. Talking louder does not facilitate comprehension... keep that in mind when talking to someone who doesn't speak your language. Charades usually works, and it makes people laugh... :)

Taebaek is a small city, by Korean standards, with a population of 55,000 people. It is nestled in a valley within the Taebaeksen (Taebaek Mountains). The name of the province translates as ‘huge and stunning.’No argument here. There is a nice little pond here called Hwangji Pond. It is the source of the Nakdong River, which is 428km long and 5,000 tons of water flows out daily.

In other news, we have seen our new apartment, which is just beautiful and larger than what we expected. It has three bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen. The other day two teachers from my school took us shopping for accessories to put in our apartment. I'm talking everything from furniture, to curtains, to kitchen appliances... They wanted to buy us a lot, but we tried to turn down many of their offers. I guess this is the governments' initiative to spend money on foreign teachers, to entice them into staying for longer than a year. Really, they are treating us very well, taking us to dinner and making sure we are happy.
We are very fortunate that our experience thus far has been so positive.

Tomorrow I go to my new school, to meet all the staff and students, and on Tuesday I start teaching. Rob is lucky in that he doesn't have to teach for another week yet. He gets a whole week to prepare... I'm jealous.

Just a few pictures to get this blog started

This is the view from the "resortel" that we stayed in for five days during the orientation. Below are some pictures of our hike in Soraksen Park. Unfortunately we didn't take a digital picture of the giant Buddha statue, but hopefully you'll enjoy these just as much.