Busan Trip

I had an awesome time in Busan and on our mountain hike in Gumi. On the bus ride I jotted down these thoughts,

Riding in a bus from Incheon to Busan I am filled with sudden overwhelming awe... I am in Korea! I am a traveler in a distant land and I have so much I've yet to discover and experience. Yet here I am, at the foothills of my trek. I am alive and I am in love with the beauty of life. The beauty of the moment; however bittersweet and fleeting, it fills my very being and I feel more beautiful, alive, and richer just being in this moment.

Here are a few picures of what I saw and did:

my bus ride window view as I traveled ...

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

Here's Brittany and I the night before the hike:

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

We met up with some of her friends in Busan and saw some live music:

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

Then early in the am (7ish) we woke up got breakfast and met with the crew for hiking:

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

Here are the hike photos:

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

the paved portion of the hike:

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

Beautiful...

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

worst picture of me ever but proof I made it to the top:

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

Done hiking and eating before my long car ride:

From 2009-10-26 BusanTrip

Vlog from the top of the mountain!

Brittany co-hosts this Vlog ontop of a 976 m high mountain near Busan somewhere in Gumi, South Korea. A blog with pictures and more descriptions of the hike and Busan trip is soon to come.

Insadong and More

Whitney came to visit me in Incheon for the night and we met up with friends for the night. She took pictures and posted them on Facebook. The next day Whitney, Jennifer (one of my co-workers), and I went to Insadong. They're apparently known for their fine antiques. Wikipedia says,


"During the Japanese occupation, the wealthy Korean residents were forced to move and sell their belongings, at which point the site became an area of trading in antiques. After the end of the Korean war, the area became a focus of South Korea's artistic and cafe life. It was a popular destination among foreign visitors to South Korea during the 1960s, who called the area "Mary's Alley". It gained in popularity with international tourists during the 1988 Seoul Olympics. In 2000 the area was renovated,and, after protest, the rapid modernization of the area was halted for two years beginning that year"

After getting in late the night before Whitney had to call it quits early so my pictures only have Jen in them. Without further ado here are pictures from our outing in Insadong.

The marketplace was a-buzzin with activity, art, and antiques. We found the local tourist stop and got subway maps as well as maps of the city. This map was posted outside the building.
Some of the stuff you could find laying along the sidewalk can be seen below.
There was a robot so I encouraged Jen to do the robot with me.

Apartment Tour

Sorry the sound is bad on this one but I'll write more and upload pictures later tonight. Now, for your viewing pleasure, my apartment.

Oh, Korea

For Kathleen's birthday we bought pie from the "Paris, Baguette" I told the Korean woman that it was Kat's birthday and I thought she gave me candles. Upon arriving home, I realized she gaves us straws. Oh, Korea.






Kat and I went hiking on our mountain after all, and then she had to leave me for her crazy adventure. I had my first couple of days at my school. I'm making lots of new friends and the students seem pretty nice. I don't know if I can compare them to American students though. It's just different, but not better or worse. Very few can pronounce my name correctly so I get a lot of "Teacher Callalon" and "Teacher Candy" I'm glad I'm not a Beth though because an old teacher named Beth was referred to as "Bathroom Teacher." My student explained that "Beth plus r-o-o-m is bethroom ... she bethroom teacher"

Last but not least, here are some more of the pictures of the area Yeonsu. Yeonsu is the neighborhood I live in and Incheon is the city.

Kathleen the Disco Lady Visits

Do you like Disco Heat dancing? Well, in this video I get a special visit from one of my best friends Kathleen. We dance and then have real talk about future plans, earthquakes, and asia. Hope you enjoy and I'll write more later.

Vlogging

So this would be my first video account of my time in Korea, or my first vlog. I might sound a little congested because I'm having some allergies and nothing is open here to pick up allergy medicine. (It's like the Korean Thanksgiving today) In this video I tell you about how being pale is now cool and show a little of my apartment.

Week One: Quarantined!

Well I've arrived in Incheon and I'm safe, happy, and excited. Unfortunately, I've been quarantined for the first week. The thought process of the parents is "All Americans have swine flu." I saw several surgical masks at the airport and I was told that some people even wear sneeze guard helmets. I find this all quite hilarious and I'm taking the time to explore the city. On Sunday, I'm going to visit Kat and Alicia in Seoul. I'm sure there will be all kinds of fun pictures then.

Today I'm just going to post pictures of my apartment but I'll add pictures of the city soon. My camera wont load the pictures I took of the city so I'll have to figure that out later, but for now I can show you the ones I took with my webcam.





Oh and I found out that in order to mail things to me you have to send it to the school. The school's address is:

ASTA LCI Academy
Yeonsu Jeil Shopping Center
6th Floor Dongchoon 2-Dong
Yeonsu-Gu, Incheon, South Korea
406132