Hwaseong Fortress

For all you McMinnville people, pick up a copy of Wednesday's (July 21st) Southern Standard. Charlie Johnson did a piece on my experiences in Korea on the frontpage of the "Lifestyle" section!

A couple weeks ago, Daniel and I had the chance to visit the Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon. What I was expecting was a small fort, but no...this thing is HUGE! We walked for about two miles and only covered about half of it. We also had the chance to do a little archery practice, which was fun although, I don't think I need to pick up archery as a hobby. Daniel however, hit the target most of the time. A very fun...but HOT day! I included a little background info. about the fort from UNESCO below:

"When the Choson emperor Chongjo moved his father's tomb to Suwon at the end of the 18th century, he surrounded it with strong defensive works, laid out according to the precepts of an influential military architect of the period, who brought together the latest developments in the field from both East and West. The massive walls, extending for nearly 6 km, still survive; they are pierced by four gates and equipped with bastions, artillery towers and other features."

4th of July FUN!

This year's 4th of July was AWESOME! It is the second one I've spent out of the country, the first being in Costa Rica, and it was by far the coolest. Kim, a fellow teacher from Florida, organized an intense weekend full of surprises.

It started Saturday night with baseball in the park. The rain and the hoard of soccer players playing a game around us only added to the fun! Next, on Sunday we all joined back together (about 30 people) for the "Dongtan Amazing Race." Kim came up with a list of 90 scavenger hunt items and the team who did/found the most won. I only have pics of Daniel's Team so far, but as you can see two of the items were to take a group picture with a random soccer team and have a Korean perform a magic trick for you. The winning team (which was neither Daniel nor I) was slapped in the face with an octopus, scoring themselves 1,000 points and the title. After a potluck, we got together for firework and more "Olympics Games" in the park. One of the best 4th of July's so far...

Seoul City Bus Tour

This weekend we got the chance to take the Seoul Bus Tour. For only 10,000 won (roughly $10) the bus toured us around to some of the most famous, ancient, incredible sights in the city. Here are some highlights from the trip!

Above: These women were incredible! They played the drums (along with various other instruments) while bending backwards, jumping, yelling, etc....AWESOME traditional performance at the Seoul Folk Village!

Changdeok Palace. Originally constructed in 1405 during the Joseon Dynasty.

Traditional kimchi pots and cooking hut.

Changing of the guards at Deoksugung Palace.

Guards at Deoksugung Palace which was built in the 1500s.

Busan and the beach!

Our three day trip to Busan (over Budda's birthday weekend) was plagued by continuous rain, but through it all...was a great trip! We took the KTX ("bullet") train for the 2 1/2 hour journey south on Friday morning. We arrived to sunshine and heat so decided to get in some beach time. After locating our tiny hotel, which had an even tinier sign in English, we hit the beach for our first (and unknowingly last) beach day. Gwangalli Beach was beautiful though the water wasn't the cleanest. We stayed on shore and played Frisbee mostly. For dinner was got to join up with some friends we've met who live in Seoul, Lexi and Iassac. That night there were fireworks on the beach :)

The rain started (and never stopped) on Saturday. We went to the Busan Aquarium, along with about a million other Korean kids and parents. For dinner we headed to the Jalgachi Fish Market, one of the biggest in Asia! It was AWESOME! We picked a live fish, they chopped its head off in front of us, and we went upstairs to the restaurant while they cooked it. YUMMY!!!

Sunday was mainly shopping and going to see "Robin Hood." Barely made in back in time for class on Monday morning. Wonderful trip to the beach, regardless of the rain...

The DMZ

This past weekend was BUSY! The weekend kicked off with a little birthday celebration for Daniel. The big 28! He got a new skateboard... i guess boys will be boys! Bright and early Saturday morning we woke up and headed to Seoul to meet up with the Adventure Korea group. From there we traveled about 2 1/2 hours to the 2nd Infiltration Tunnel of the DMZ, which is northeast of Seoul. We toured the tunnel, Communist Labor Party Building, bombed train station, and a few other small things.

The 2nd Tunnel was made by the North Koreans to invade South Korea, but was discoved on March 19th, 1975. The tunnel is 3.5 km long and is 50-160 meters below the ground. It can accommodate up to thirty thousand people and is large enough for tanks to pass through.

That night, AK held a bonfire in front of our hotel and we roasted marshmallows. Marshmallows are hard to come by here...so little treats like that make me miss home a bit :) On Sunday, we toured the White Horse Battle Field and then did a rice planting event. Later we had free time to explore the Odaemi Village area on double seater bikes, a small town of rice planters. It was a very fun trip overall, although I did get a killer sunburn that I'm just now starting to lose. This weekend we're headed to the beach at Busan!

Central Park

When we're not traveling around Korea, we usually spend our time in "Central Park." The park is only 2 short blocks from our house and it is amazing! There are three separate water displays, one of which does a show to music everyday (like at the Opryland Hotel). There are endless things to do in the park...badminton, tennis, volleyball, and basketball courts, soccer field, track, 2 skating rinks...just about anything you can thing of! It's GREAT!

The stream which runs the entire length of Central Park. Kids love to play in it in their undies ha!
One of the 3 water displays. A view of Dongtan apartments in the back.

One of the beautiful pagodas....

Golfing 9 holes....

This is a video Daniel made of us during the lesson. Marilyn is in front and me in back. The little guy kept running around correcting us the whole time! It was supposed to be serious, but I was laughing the whole time :) They told us to make good, "water noises" and the adjumma was so mean looking! The main points were to pick things up with your right hand, always hold your sleeves back from the table, and above all...smile and look calm!