On Sunday, I was heading to church and met Abby a few stops away. She had been staying with a friend, so I called her when the subway was pulling into her station, and she hopped on. It worked out great! We rode the subway to church together. It was nice to have some company. :)
We met Reuel and Michelle at Dos Tacos for lunch. One of my friends, Elaine, who I met on the island a few weeks ago, was on her way to church. She told me she hadn't been able to find a church, so I was excited to invite her to New Harvest. She was originally going to meet us for lunch, but was running late. She ended up just meeting us inside before the service started.
Elaine LOVED the church service, so I was really excited! I'm really happy to be a part of the New Harvest community, and I was pretty confident she would like it. However, in the back of my mind, I was saying an extra prayer that she would find community there. She did! She enjoyed the music, loved the pastor's way of speaking, and said the people were so nice. I felt relieved, and very proud that New Harvest made such a great impression on her! She said she'll definitely be coming back next week!
After church, my small group got together and prayed in the lobby before the final service. We prayed for the worship team, the pastor, and the congregation. (This was something our group decided to do together as a service to the church. However, all of us enjoyed it so much that we want to make it a weekly thing!)
After that, I headed to Dongtan to visit Johnny. We grabbed some chicken at a local restaurant and just hung out and talked. I had left a few things at his place when I moved, so I wanted to get those from him. But it was a great excuse to visit him! :) We had a great visit, as usual. Around 5pm, I headed back home. I had a long bus ride, and was going in and out of sleep, so that was rough...but I finally made it back! When I got home, I wasn't feeling well, so I just relaxed and talked to people online for a bit before calling it a night.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
My First Korean Wedding.
On Saturday, I met Lisa at the subway at 7am!! We were dressed in our new dresses, all ready to experience our first Korean wedding! However, we had to attend a seminar for school first. Lame, I know. The seminar was from 9am-1pm, and the wedding began at 3:30pm. We had no time to go home between the seminar and the wedding, so we had to wake up early and get all dolled up! What's even worse is the seminar was very informal attire, so we were prepared to stick out like sore thumbs.
We rode the subway to Bangbae Station. It was only 8am, so we had plenty of time to stop in a bakery and get coffee and breakfast! Ian, our coworker, was supposed to meet us at the subway, but he slept through his alarm or something, so he was running behind. We decided to wait for him in the bakery. We relaxed and enjoyed ourselves, until Ian got there. When he arrived, he grabbed some coffee and we headed to the Seoul Training Center for the seminar. (Lisa was smart and brought her heels in a bag, but I was wearing my wedges...I didn't appreciate the hills we had to take to get to the building...)
When we arrived, it was just as we expected. Everyone was wearing jeans and hoodies, and we were wearing fancy dresses and heels. GREAT! We collected our books and paperwork they gave us and hung out in the lobby. Eventually, we all filed in and found our seats. The seminar was SUCH A JOKE!! We learned about REALLY important things, like the Visa process (Hello! We already made it into the country! I'm pretty sure we know how all this works...), Korean culture (I'm going on my 15th month in Korea, so I'm quite certain I've got a good grasp on the culture...), how to teach English in a foreign country (really??), you know. Really important things like that! Basically, we were miserable. But it was a required seminar set up by the government, so attendance was mandatory.
We FINALLY got out of the seminar at 12:50pm, and decided to find food somewhere. Lisa spotted a Subway (what?!), so we had subs for lunch. Delicious. We walked around the area for a bit, and then decided to head to where the wedding hall was. It was only a few subway stops away, which was convenient. When we got there, Lisa and I went into the bathroom at the subway station and got ready: re-applied make-up, fixed our hair, and Lisa swapped her shoes out, while Ian waited outside. :)
We met Angie, another coworker, at the subway station, and the four of us walked to the wedding hall. When we got inside, we were instructed to go up to the third floor. When we got inside, we went into a side room and took a picture with the bride! EEEEE!! The bride is the Director of my school. Her name is Cindy, and she's just wonderful. :) The four of us took a picture with Cindy, and then we waited for the wedding to start. Lisa and I were bursting at the seams when Cindy gave us invitations because we LOVE weddings, but we were warned by pretty much everyone that Korean weddings are much different than Western weddings. Whatever. We were still pumped. When the wedding was about to start, we realized that there were no more seats left! About half of the guests didn't have a place to sit, so they just stood around in the lobby and talked and played on their phones, while kids were running around screaming. The person leading the ceremony had a microphone, so his voice projected into the lobby, but everyone was just talking and chatting amongst themselves, not really paying attention at all to the ceremony. I was shocked. This is what people had been telling me would happen, but I couldn't BELIEVE it!
The ceremony was really quick, only about 30 minutes. After that, it was picture time. They called up family first, and then called up friends. Cindy had asked me if I would catch her bouquet, and I eagerly agreed! However, I had been given no instructions on what I was supposed to do or when this would occur. When the friends were called up to take pictures, I was told to stand next to Cindy. Everyone was speaking to me in Korean, so Cindy was whispering to me what to do. Then, it was time to catch the bouquet. I was moved off to the side, and Cindy counted and threw the bouquet behind her, while the photographer snapped a bunch of pictures. Thankfully, I caught it! Whew! Then, everyone filed out to the next room for food. I was asked to stay and take pictures with the bride and groom, so that was pretty cool! Lisa was nice enough to wait for me while I did this. When the pictures were finished, Lisa and I went out into the lobby to look for everyone. No one was there.
We had NO idea where to go! We called our friends, but they didn't answer their phones. This was a massive wedding hall, so tons of weddings were taking place at one time. We could only recognize a few people from the wedding we attended, so Lisa and I were lost for a good ten minutes. Finally we made our way to the basement, where we saw the big room of people. This was where the food was. We gave our meal tickets to the lady and went inside. There were hundreds of people inside, sitting at different tables eating. All the wedding guests were mixed together and sitting among one another. We eventually figured out that we were supposed to put our stuff down to reserve a table, and then get in the buffet line. The buffet was a pretty incredible spread! They had Western food, Korean food, Japanese food, Chinese food...so much food! They had lobster and other seafood, steaks, soups, salads, pasta, pastries, so many different choices! It was great! The foreign teachers all sat together, so that was good. We chatted for a bit, and then headed out.
Ian, Lisa, Angie, and I all went into Gangnam for food and drinks. We were all dressed up, so we wanted to make the most of it! Angie eventually left, and my friend, Abby, joined us. We went restaurant/bar hopping. I had my pack of cards with me, so we played card games and just chatted. It was a really fun evening. :) Eventually, we all parted ways, and went home. I've now experienced my first Korean wedding. I'm glad I went (and was honored to catch the bouquet!), but I don't feel like I need to go to another one while I'm here... :)
We rode the subway to Bangbae Station. It was only 8am, so we had plenty of time to stop in a bakery and get coffee and breakfast! Ian, our coworker, was supposed to meet us at the subway, but he slept through his alarm or something, so he was running behind. We decided to wait for him in the bakery. We relaxed and enjoyed ourselves, until Ian got there. When he arrived, he grabbed some coffee and we headed to the Seoul Training Center for the seminar. (Lisa was smart and brought her heels in a bag, but I was wearing my wedges...I didn't appreciate the hills we had to take to get to the building...)
When we arrived, it was just as we expected. Everyone was wearing jeans and hoodies, and we were wearing fancy dresses and heels. GREAT! We collected our books and paperwork they gave us and hung out in the lobby. Eventually, we all filed in and found our seats. The seminar was SUCH A JOKE!! We learned about REALLY important things, like the Visa process (Hello! We already made it into the country! I'm pretty sure we know how all this works...), Korean culture (I'm going on my 15th month in Korea, so I'm quite certain I've got a good grasp on the culture...), how to teach English in a foreign country (really??), you know. Really important things like that! Basically, we were miserable. But it was a required seminar set up by the government, so attendance was mandatory.
We FINALLY got out of the seminar at 12:50pm, and decided to find food somewhere. Lisa spotted a Subway (what?!), so we had subs for lunch. Delicious. We walked around the area for a bit, and then decided to head to where the wedding hall was. It was only a few subway stops away, which was convenient. When we got there, Lisa and I went into the bathroom at the subway station and got ready: re-applied make-up, fixed our hair, and Lisa swapped her shoes out, while Ian waited outside. :)
We met Angie, another coworker, at the subway station, and the four of us walked to the wedding hall. When we got inside, we were instructed to go up to the third floor. When we got inside, we went into a side room and took a picture with the bride! EEEEE!! The bride is the Director of my school. Her name is Cindy, and she's just wonderful. :) The four of us took a picture with Cindy, and then we waited for the wedding to start. Lisa and I were bursting at the seams when Cindy gave us invitations because we LOVE weddings, but we were warned by pretty much everyone that Korean weddings are much different than Western weddings. Whatever. We were still pumped. When the wedding was about to start, we realized that there were no more seats left! About half of the guests didn't have a place to sit, so they just stood around in the lobby and talked and played on their phones, while kids were running around screaming. The person leading the ceremony had a microphone, so his voice projected into the lobby, but everyone was just talking and chatting amongst themselves, not really paying attention at all to the ceremony. I was shocked. This is what people had been telling me would happen, but I couldn't BELIEVE it!
The ceremony was really quick, only about 30 minutes. After that, it was picture time. They called up family first, and then called up friends. Cindy had asked me if I would catch her bouquet, and I eagerly agreed! However, I had been given no instructions on what I was supposed to do or when this would occur. When the friends were called up to take pictures, I was told to stand next to Cindy. Everyone was speaking to me in Korean, so Cindy was whispering to me what to do. Then, it was time to catch the bouquet. I was moved off to the side, and Cindy counted and threw the bouquet behind her, while the photographer snapped a bunch of pictures. Thankfully, I caught it! Whew! Then, everyone filed out to the next room for food. I was asked to stay and take pictures with the bride and groom, so that was pretty cool! Lisa was nice enough to wait for me while I did this. When the pictures were finished, Lisa and I went out into the lobby to look for everyone. No one was there.
We had NO idea where to go! We called our friends, but they didn't answer their phones. This was a massive wedding hall, so tons of weddings were taking place at one time. We could only recognize a few people from the wedding we attended, so Lisa and I were lost for a good ten minutes. Finally we made our way to the basement, where we saw the big room of people. This was where the food was. We gave our meal tickets to the lady and went inside. There were hundreds of people inside, sitting at different tables eating. All the wedding guests were mixed together and sitting among one another. We eventually figured out that we were supposed to put our stuff down to reserve a table, and then get in the buffet line. The buffet was a pretty incredible spread! They had Western food, Korean food, Japanese food, Chinese food...so much food! They had lobster and other seafood, steaks, soups, salads, pasta, pastries, so many different choices! It was great! The foreign teachers all sat together, so that was good. We chatted for a bit, and then headed out.
Ian, Lisa, Angie, and I all went into Gangnam for food and drinks. We were all dressed up, so we wanted to make the most of it! Angie eventually left, and my friend, Abby, joined us. We went restaurant/bar hopping. I had my pack of cards with me, so we played card games and just chatted. It was a really fun evening. :) Eventually, we all parted ways, and went home. I've now experienced my first Korean wedding. I'm glad I went (and was honored to catch the bouquet!), but I don't feel like I need to go to another one while I'm here... :)
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Crazy Love Small Group.
I've recently joined a small group at my church. It is a co-ed group, with a mix of foreigners and Koreans. Over the next three months, we will be reading the book, Crazy Love, by Francis Chan. Some of my friends have read it in the past and had only good things to say about it, so I'm really excited to start diving in! The leader of my small group is Peter, and he's awesome! He works as a translator, and he speaks English, Spanish, and Korean fluently. Pretty impressive, huh? From day one, I could tell that our small group was filled with really awesome people. We have teachers, computer geeks, programmers, traders, and buiness people. The jobs are all over the map, we all have different backgrounds, but we're all in this group for the same purpose: to learn about and experience first-hand the enormous amount of love God has for us!
My small group meets every Tuesday night at 7:00pm in Gangnam. It's really convenient for me to get there by subway, and I only have to transfer one time. Exciting! Last week, I was given another class at school, which forced me to stay at work until 6:00pm. That gives me JUST enough time to get to small group on time! I told Peter that I might be late every week because of this extra class, and he said it was fine. It's just my own personality that's frustrated by this. I HATE being late places, so I knew that every Tuesday night I would be running to small group. And when I say running, I mean it. I bolted out the door when my class finished and headed for the subway. Along the way, I ate a protein bar and a banana, since I didn't have time to stop for dinner. (I'll definitely have to figure out something else for next week, because that's not gonna be substantial enough for dinner.)
The subway takes 42 minutes, and then it's about a 10-minute walk from the subway station to the building where my group is meeting. I hopped off the subway in Gangnam and ran to small group! Fortunately, I strolled in the door five minutes before 7:00pm, and only Peter and one other guy were there. GREAT!! I didn't mind that everyone else was running behind. I was just thrilled that I was on time.
Small group discussion was great, and I'm really looking forward to more deeper discussions in the future. I think they will be good. A lot of people were really willing to share, and I heard a lot of unique perspectives, so that was interesting. Our small group time focuses a lot on prayer, which I really appreciate. I find that in my daily life, I leave little time for just sitting in silence and listening for God. My quiet times are all about praying for specific people and needs, and rarely do I stop after I pray to listen for God. So, I really appreciate the time we're devoting to praying for one another and just listening. It's really refreshing, actually.
After small group, two girls, Amanda and Kayla, invited me to go with them to McDonald's to get McFlurries. Obviously I wasn't gonna turn THAT down!! I had never had a McFlurry in Korea, and it was quite good! They didn't have the M&M one, which I always get, but it forced me to try to Oreo ones. What a tough life. :) It was great to hang out with Amanda and Kayla and get to know them better outside of small group. Hopefully we'll hang out a lot more!!
My small group meets every Tuesday night at 7:00pm in Gangnam. It's really convenient for me to get there by subway, and I only have to transfer one time. Exciting! Last week, I was given another class at school, which forced me to stay at work until 6:00pm. That gives me JUST enough time to get to small group on time! I told Peter that I might be late every week because of this extra class, and he said it was fine. It's just my own personality that's frustrated by this. I HATE being late places, so I knew that every Tuesday night I would be running to small group. And when I say running, I mean it. I bolted out the door when my class finished and headed for the subway. Along the way, I ate a protein bar and a banana, since I didn't have time to stop for dinner. (I'll definitely have to figure out something else for next week, because that's not gonna be substantial enough for dinner.)
The subway takes 42 minutes, and then it's about a 10-minute walk from the subway station to the building where my group is meeting. I hopped off the subway in Gangnam and ran to small group! Fortunately, I strolled in the door five minutes before 7:00pm, and only Peter and one other guy were there. GREAT!! I didn't mind that everyone else was running behind. I was just thrilled that I was on time.
Small group discussion was great, and I'm really looking forward to more deeper discussions in the future. I think they will be good. A lot of people were really willing to share, and I heard a lot of unique perspectives, so that was interesting. Our small group time focuses a lot on prayer, which I really appreciate. I find that in my daily life, I leave little time for just sitting in silence and listening for God. My quiet times are all about praying for specific people and needs, and rarely do I stop after I pray to listen for God. So, I really appreciate the time we're devoting to praying for one another and just listening. It's really refreshing, actually.
After small group, two girls, Amanda and Kayla, invited me to go with them to McDonald's to get McFlurries. Obviously I wasn't gonna turn THAT down!! I had never had a McFlurry in Korea, and it was quite good! They didn't have the M&M one, which I always get, but it forced me to try to Oreo ones. What a tough life. :) It was great to hang out with Amanda and Kayla and get to know them better outside of small group. Hopefully we'll hang out a lot more!!
Monday, October 8, 2012
Wedding Preparations...
The director of my school, Cindy, is getting married this Saturday, and she invited all the teachers to her wedding!! I'm so pumped because I LOVE weddings!! Plus, it gives me an excuse to go shopping...for a new dress! I'm especially excited because Cindy asked me earlier last week if I would catch her bouquet for her. AHHHH!! It's a bit different from back home. In Korea, the bride pre-selects someone to catch her bouquet. They take photos together, and the bride specifically throws it to the person. According to Korean culture, after catching a bouquet, you must get married in the next three years....Welp! I'm not worried about that. I'm not Korean. I'm just SUPER excited that I get the honor of catching her bouquet!
On Sunday, I met Abby, Reuel, and Mi-yeon at Dos Tacos for lunch before church. We went to church and had a great service, and worship was especially good! The sermon was about intentionally seeking after God in everything you do. I always feel like God is speaking directly to me through Pastor Doug. It was a really good sermon. I definitely needed to hear those words.
After church I met up with Lisa so we could go SHOPPING!! We both needed to buy dresses to wear to Cindy's wedding. There were so many restrictions, so it seemed like it would be a rather daunting task. We couldn't wear white, because that's the color of the bride's dress. We couldn't wear black, because that's the color you wear to a funeral. We couldn't wear red, because it's bad luck in Korea. We couldn't wear a short dress, it had to be longer, around the knee, because we're in Korea. It's Fall, so we had to choose a color that would go well with Fall. Sigh...sometimes it's so tough being a girl. :)
Lisa and I were prepared to go shopping all day since we didn't know how successful we would be looking in Korean shops. However, we both found dresses in the first store!! We went to the dressing room together to give each other feedback and see what we liked. After trying on our first options, Lisa asked, "Did we just find our dresses for the wedding?" Jackpot! Well, once we bought dresses, we had to find everything else that would match. Shoes, a bag, jewelry...Fortunately, both of us already had shoes that matched our dresses. Lisa needed to look for jewelry to match her dress, and I needed a black clutch to match my dress. We ducked in and out of a few stores, and finally had everything we needed. After that, we were just looking around stores for fun. Since it's nice Fall weather now, it's a bit cooler. I bought a few sweaters, and Lisa picked up a few things, too. Overall, it was quite a successful shopping trip.
We stopped at The Frypan for dinner, a fried chicken and chips chain in Korea. Lisa had never been there, and it's one of my favorites. :) After dinner, we weren't ready to go home yet. We decided to get coffee, and I suggested we go to a local board game cafe that I've been to with other friends. We went there, ordered, and then headed downstairs to choose a board game. We decided on Monopoly. I was particularly excited because I've never actually played the real version of Monopoly, only Monopoly Jr. So, I didn't know how to play the game with mortgages, big money, and trading properties. And it quickly became even MORE fun because it was the Korean version of Monopoly. All the cards were written out in Korean, the game spaces like "Boardwalk" were now "Gangnam and Suwon," common places in Korea. Luckily, I can read Korean, so we were able to maneuver our way around the board. Lisa had played before, so she was able to decipher what the cards were saying based on the amount of money and the pictures. We fumbled our way through the game, with tons of laughs. It was pretty great for my first time playing real Monopoly! Lisa ended up winning...but I didn't mind! We were at the cafe playing for 3 hours!! We played until I went bankrupt. :)
Sunday was quite long and exhausting, but it was productive, too! We caught the subway home, and prepared for another week of teaching. I'm REALLY looking forward to next weekend when the wedding rolls around. It's going to be quite the experience! :)
On Sunday, I met Abby, Reuel, and Mi-yeon at Dos Tacos for lunch before church. We went to church and had a great service, and worship was especially good! The sermon was about intentionally seeking after God in everything you do. I always feel like God is speaking directly to me through Pastor Doug. It was a really good sermon. I definitely needed to hear those words.
After church I met up with Lisa so we could go SHOPPING!! We both needed to buy dresses to wear to Cindy's wedding. There were so many restrictions, so it seemed like it would be a rather daunting task. We couldn't wear white, because that's the color of the bride's dress. We couldn't wear black, because that's the color you wear to a funeral. We couldn't wear red, because it's bad luck in Korea. We couldn't wear a short dress, it had to be longer, around the knee, because we're in Korea. It's Fall, so we had to choose a color that would go well with Fall. Sigh...sometimes it's so tough being a girl. :)
Lisa and I were prepared to go shopping all day since we didn't know how successful we would be looking in Korean shops. However, we both found dresses in the first store!! We went to the dressing room together to give each other feedback and see what we liked. After trying on our first options, Lisa asked, "Did we just find our dresses for the wedding?" Jackpot! Well, once we bought dresses, we had to find everything else that would match. Shoes, a bag, jewelry...Fortunately, both of us already had shoes that matched our dresses. Lisa needed to look for jewelry to match her dress, and I needed a black clutch to match my dress. We ducked in and out of a few stores, and finally had everything we needed. After that, we were just looking around stores for fun. Since it's nice Fall weather now, it's a bit cooler. I bought a few sweaters, and Lisa picked up a few things, too. Overall, it was quite a successful shopping trip.
We stopped at The Frypan for dinner, a fried chicken and chips chain in Korea. Lisa had never been there, and it's one of my favorites. :) After dinner, we weren't ready to go home yet. We decided to get coffee, and I suggested we go to a local board game cafe that I've been to with other friends. We went there, ordered, and then headed downstairs to choose a board game. We decided on Monopoly. I was particularly excited because I've never actually played the real version of Monopoly, only Monopoly Jr. So, I didn't know how to play the game with mortgages, big money, and trading properties. And it quickly became even MORE fun because it was the Korean version of Monopoly. All the cards were written out in Korean, the game spaces like "Boardwalk" were now "Gangnam and Suwon," common places in Korea. Luckily, I can read Korean, so we were able to maneuver our way around the board. Lisa had played before, so she was able to decipher what the cards were saying based on the amount of money and the pictures. We fumbled our way through the game, with tons of laughs. It was pretty great for my first time playing real Monopoly! Lisa ended up winning...but I didn't mind! We were at the cafe playing for 3 hours!! We played until I went bankrupt. :)
Sunday was quite long and exhausting, but it was productive, too! We caught the subway home, and prepared for another week of teaching. I'm REALLY looking forward to next weekend when the wedding rolls around. It's going to be quite the experience! :)
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Ulleungdo Island: Day Four.
We woke up and packed our bags for departure. We grabbed some breakfast at the hotel restaurant downstairs and piled our bags on top of one another in the hotel lobby. There was an option to go see a waterfall on the island, but Elaine and I didn't want to go. We stayed behind while Lisa and Kelsey caught the bus for the waterfall excursion.
Elaine and I decided to go find some coffee at the ONLY coffee shop on the island. We waited in a really long line to get our coffee, but it was worth it! There are some things in life, like coffee, that I take for granted every day. When you go three days without coffee, you realize how spoiled you are. :) We decided to take our coffee to-go and wander around down by the harbor. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, so we wanted to be out in it as much as possible. We wandered around the harbor, watching the old men selling fish. This was the first time Elaine and I had been able to hangout alone, so it was cool to chat with her and get to know her a little bit more.
After a little bit of conversation, she told me that she's been searching for a church ever since she's been here. I was eager to invite her to New Harvest! New Harvest has been really good for my life, so I'm so excited when I have the opportunity to invite other people to join our community! We walked and talked for over an hour and got to know each other. We wandered back up to the hotel and got in line for our ferry tickets home. When Kelsey and Lisa got back, we got our ferry tickets. We wanted to sit together on our way back.
A little later, we put all of our stuff in the back of the truck, and went towards the harbor to find some lunch. Lunch was on our own, and we didn't have many options. Lisa and I settled for some ramen from the convenience store. We had to eat super fast, so that was kind of a pain, but we managed to finish in time. We met the truck down by the harbor, got our bags, and made our way to the ferry. When we got inside, we realized that our tickets weren't actually together...The girls were all togethe in the last row of a section, and I was the first seat in the next section...GREAT! It didn't matter. I spent most of the time standing next to them and hanging out with people at the back of the ferry by the Dunkin' Donuts. Yep. There was indeed a Dunkin' Donuts. Woot! I didn't get anything, since my stomach didn't feel very good, but it's still pretty awesome that they had one, right?!
When we got back to Mukho Harbor, we booked it for the buses. The buses were waiting for us, which was nice, so we were able to get right on. Since my seat was near the front of the ferry near the door, I came out way before Lisa. I grabbed us seats near the front of the bus and waited for her to leave the ferry. On our way home, we watched 300, a movie that I hadn't seen before. Surprisingly, it was decent. I thought I'd hate it since those aren't really my kind of movies. We stopped at a rest stop to stretch our legs, get snacks, and use the bathroom. We got back on the bus, and Max put in another movie, which I didn't care to watch...Gulliver's Travels. Lame. I slept through most of that movie. We stopped one more time before we FINALLY made it back to Express Bus Terminal. We said goodbye to our new friends, and headed for the subway to go home.
Lisa and I hadn't eaten a proper dinner yet, so we were both pretty hungry. At this point, it was already pretty late, and most restaurants were already closed. We decided to grab some noodles and kimbap for dinner at a 24-hour restaurant near my place. It was really tasty after eating rice and soup all weekend. We finished our dinner and headed home. What a successful weekend! I had a great time meeting new friends, enjoying beautiful weather on the island, and relaxing away from the busyness of Seoul! :)
Elaine and I decided to go find some coffee at the ONLY coffee shop on the island. We waited in a really long line to get our coffee, but it was worth it! There are some things in life, like coffee, that I take for granted every day. When you go three days without coffee, you realize how spoiled you are. :) We decided to take our coffee to-go and wander around down by the harbor. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, so we wanted to be out in it as much as possible. We wandered around the harbor, watching the old men selling fish. This was the first time Elaine and I had been able to hangout alone, so it was cool to chat with her and get to know her a little bit more.
After a little bit of conversation, she told me that she's been searching for a church ever since she's been here. I was eager to invite her to New Harvest! New Harvest has been really good for my life, so I'm so excited when I have the opportunity to invite other people to join our community! We walked and talked for over an hour and got to know each other. We wandered back up to the hotel and got in line for our ferry tickets home. When Kelsey and Lisa got back, we got our ferry tickets. We wanted to sit together on our way back.
A little later, we put all of our stuff in the back of the truck, and went towards the harbor to find some lunch. Lunch was on our own, and we didn't have many options. Lisa and I settled for some ramen from the convenience store. We had to eat super fast, so that was kind of a pain, but we managed to finish in time. We met the truck down by the harbor, got our bags, and made our way to the ferry. When we got inside, we realized that our tickets weren't actually together...The girls were all togethe in the last row of a section, and I was the first seat in the next section...GREAT! It didn't matter. I spent most of the time standing next to them and hanging out with people at the back of the ferry by the Dunkin' Donuts. Yep. There was indeed a Dunkin' Donuts. Woot! I didn't get anything, since my stomach didn't feel very good, but it's still pretty awesome that they had one, right?!
When we got back to Mukho Harbor, we booked it for the buses. The buses were waiting for us, which was nice, so we were able to get right on. Since my seat was near the front of the ferry near the door, I came out way before Lisa. I grabbed us seats near the front of the bus and waited for her to leave the ferry. On our way home, we watched 300, a movie that I hadn't seen before. Surprisingly, it was decent. I thought I'd hate it since those aren't really my kind of movies. We stopped at a rest stop to stretch our legs, get snacks, and use the bathroom. We got back on the bus, and Max put in another movie, which I didn't care to watch...Gulliver's Travels. Lame. I slept through most of that movie. We stopped one more time before we FINALLY made it back to Express Bus Terminal. We said goodbye to our new friends, and headed for the subway to go home.
Lisa and I hadn't eaten a proper dinner yet, so we were both pretty hungry. At this point, it was already pretty late, and most restaurants were already closed. We decided to grab some noodles and kimbap for dinner at a 24-hour restaurant near my place. It was really tasty after eating rice and soup all weekend. We finished our dinner and headed home. What a successful weekend! I had a great time meeting new friends, enjoying beautiful weather on the island, and relaxing away from the busyness of Seoul! :)
Ulleungdo Island: Day Three.
We woke up early, around 7am, to eat breakfast. We were taking a bus tour of the island right after breakfast, so went ahead and packed our bags before grabbing food. The breakfast was in the hotel restaurant, so when we finished, we just hung out there and talked for awhile. Finally, it was time to go!! We asked Max which bus he would be the tour guide on, and we jumped on his bus. He's just awesome, and makes everything 10 times more fun! We toured around the island, stopping at various places along the way. We would get out and snap a few pictures, and then jump back on the bus. We saw some great places on the island that would've been impossible to see on our own, so that was really cool! There were four buses total, and the mountain roads became quite scary at times...but we all survived and had a great time!
The final destination of our bus tour was the top of the crater on the island. We arrived there just in time to have some lunch at the ONLY restaurant there...a bibimbap place. (Bibimbap is a traditional Korean food with rice and vegetables mixed together. It's delicious AND healthy!!) We ate lunch together and met new people in our group, so that was good. After that, we wandered around outside, took more pictures, and prepared to go on our next adventure. Half the group was going to hike back down the mountain that we drove up (No thanks!!), and the other half of the group was going to Dokdo Island. It went to Dokdo. There's a back-story with this island. Korea and Japan are fighting over ownership of this island. They've been fighting over it for years, and no one officially owns it. If you ask a Korean, they'll argue to the death that it's Korea's island. I'm sure the Japanese would react the same way...Anyway, it's a big deal and a very controversial issue, so I'm really lucky that I had the opportunity to go see the island for myself.
I know I may be playing favorites here since I've been a part of the Korean culture for over a year now, but there are pretty clear facts that make it seem like Dokdo should belong to Korea:
-Currently, there are about 50 people living on the island. All 50 people are Korean.
-There is a small group of Police officers who patrol the island and the harbor. All the Police are Korean.
-On previous maps of Japan and Korea, Dokdo Island never showed up on Japan's maps until recently, whereas, it has always shown up on Korea's map.
Given the facts, I'd say the argument is clear. But what do I know?! :)
Anyway, we took the 3-HOUR LONG FERRY RIDE out to the island. The ferry was quite small, so a lot of people were getting seasick. I would like to consider myself to have a pretty strong stomach, but I was NOT appreciating the high waves and the jolting of the boat back and forth. Disaster. By the time were got off the ferry, we were exhausted and not feeling that great. We were on the island for only about 30 minutes, which was disappointing. We weren't able to go see anything on the island because no one had permission from the people living there. We could only stand at the harbor and take photos. Our group had a poster with us that read, "Dokdo is Korea's Island." This sign was passed around among both foreigners and Koreans who all wanted to take a picture with it. After pictures were finished, we loaded back onto the ferry and took the 3-hour journey back to the mainland. Over half the people in the boat were sick, as in SEASICK. There were people lying on the floor and in the aisles, pretty much anywhere they could find space. It seemed like ages before we finally made it back.
By the time we got back to the mainland, it was really dark outside. The buses were waiting for us, but Max suggested that we all rest for about 30 minutes before getting back on the bus. Everyone just wanted to feel solid ground under their feet, so no one objected to Max's suggestion. Once everyone felt better, we got on the buses and went back to the hotel. It took about 30 minutes, and by that time, we were super hungry and tired. We just wanted to get food and settle our stomachs.
Dinner was on our own, so we decided to grab food at the pizza place next door to the hotel. Lisa and I had been eating rice and soup for almost every meal since we don't eat seafood. Both of us were ready to have something substantial and normal for dinner. We sat inside and ordered a pizza, and then headed back up to the hotel room. Elaine and Kelsey went back up to the rooftop to party with some people. Lisa and I couldn't bring ourselves to do anything, so we chatted until about midnight in the hotel, and then called it a night. Old ladies. :)
To be continued...
The final destination of our bus tour was the top of the crater on the island. We arrived there just in time to have some lunch at the ONLY restaurant there...a bibimbap place. (Bibimbap is a traditional Korean food with rice and vegetables mixed together. It's delicious AND healthy!!) We ate lunch together and met new people in our group, so that was good. After that, we wandered around outside, took more pictures, and prepared to go on our next adventure. Half the group was going to hike back down the mountain that we drove up (No thanks!!), and the other half of the group was going to Dokdo Island. It went to Dokdo. There's a back-story with this island. Korea and Japan are fighting over ownership of this island. They've been fighting over it for years, and no one officially owns it. If you ask a Korean, they'll argue to the death that it's Korea's island. I'm sure the Japanese would react the same way...Anyway, it's a big deal and a very controversial issue, so I'm really lucky that I had the opportunity to go see the island for myself.
I know I may be playing favorites here since I've been a part of the Korean culture for over a year now, but there are pretty clear facts that make it seem like Dokdo should belong to Korea:
-Currently, there are about 50 people living on the island. All 50 people are Korean.
-There is a small group of Police officers who patrol the island and the harbor. All the Police are Korean.
-On previous maps of Japan and Korea, Dokdo Island never showed up on Japan's maps until recently, whereas, it has always shown up on Korea's map.
Given the facts, I'd say the argument is clear. But what do I know?! :)
Anyway, we took the 3-HOUR LONG FERRY RIDE out to the island. The ferry was quite small, so a lot of people were getting seasick. I would like to consider myself to have a pretty strong stomach, but I was NOT appreciating the high waves and the jolting of the boat back and forth. Disaster. By the time were got off the ferry, we were exhausted and not feeling that great. We were on the island for only about 30 minutes, which was disappointing. We weren't able to go see anything on the island because no one had permission from the people living there. We could only stand at the harbor and take photos. Our group had a poster with us that read, "Dokdo is Korea's Island." This sign was passed around among both foreigners and Koreans who all wanted to take a picture with it. After pictures were finished, we loaded back onto the ferry and took the 3-hour journey back to the mainland. Over half the people in the boat were sick, as in SEASICK. There were people lying on the floor and in the aisles, pretty much anywhere they could find space. It seemed like ages before we finally made it back.
By the time we got back to the mainland, it was really dark outside. The buses were waiting for us, but Max suggested that we all rest for about 30 minutes before getting back on the bus. Everyone just wanted to feel solid ground under their feet, so no one objected to Max's suggestion. Once everyone felt better, we got on the buses and went back to the hotel. It took about 30 minutes, and by that time, we were super hungry and tired. We just wanted to get food and settle our stomachs.
Dinner was on our own, so we decided to grab food at the pizza place next door to the hotel. Lisa and I had been eating rice and soup for almost every meal since we don't eat seafood. Both of us were ready to have something substantial and normal for dinner. We sat inside and ordered a pizza, and then headed back up to the hotel room. Elaine and Kelsey went back up to the rooftop to party with some people. Lisa and I couldn't bring ourselves to do anything, so we chatted until about midnight in the hotel, and then called it a night. Old ladies. :)
To be continued...
Ulleungdo Island: Day Two.
Fortunately, the bus was pretty quiet, so we were able to
get a little bit of sleep. I can pretty much sleep anywhere, so I was lucky,
but it was a restless sleep for most, I think! We arrived at the beach around
4am, and the two buses just parked. We slept on the bus for another 2 hours
until the leader, Max, woke everyone up and told us to get off the bus and
watch the sunrise. We all grabbed our cameras and made our way out to the beach
to get some pictures. It was FREEZING!! We all had on pants and light jackets,
but we didn’t anticipate the chilly morning breeze coming off the ocean. Brrrr!
Lisa and I took some great photos of the sun coming up, so
that was beautiful! We made our way back to the bus, grabbed some money, and
ran into a store nearby to get some coffee. Just what I needed! We got back on
the bus and drove about 30 minutes towards the harbor. We stopped in a small
town and grabbed some breakfast. We had about 30 minutes to eat, so we just sat
outside on benches and ate our food. We hopped back on the bus, and went on our
way. Next stop…Mukho Harbor!!
When we arrived at the Harbor, we grabbed our bags, got off
the bus, and were each handed a ferry ticket. We had to fill out our names,
phone numbers, and passport numbers. In no time, we boarded the ferry, and we
were on our way to Ulleungdo Island!! The ferry would take us 3 hours, so we
pretty much passed out right away! I slept for most of the ferry ride, so that
was nice.
When we got to Ulleungdo Island, we got off the ferry and
walked up the street to a truck. The island was BEAUTIFUL!! The air was filled
with the sound of people, motorbikes, the smell of fish (not so pleasant to my
nose…), and there was a nice cool breeze coming off the ocean. I was so excited
to FINALLY be at the island!! We threw our bags in the back of the truck and
walked about 8 minutes up a big hill to our hotel. We sat on the steps for a while,
waiting for Max to sort out the keys to our rooms. There were 128 people total
on our trip, so it took some time. We were told to divide ourselves into groups
of 4 or 5. There were two girls sitting in front of Lisa and me on the steps,
so we asked if they wanted to room together. They agreed, and we became fast
friends! We grabbed our key and went to our room. We introduced ourselves and
started talking right away. The girls are Kelsey and Elaine. They both work
together, and have only been in Korea for a few months. The four of us bonded
pretty quickly, and stuck together for the rest of the trip. Randomly rooming
with people can be pretty risky, but Lisa and I were lucky…these girls were
great!!
Our hotel room was a decent size (for Korea), and we were
all pretty pleased. We had a full bathroom, with a bathtub?! (Also a big deal
for Korea.) There were four sleeping mats and four pillows, so we would be
sleeping Korean-style for this trip…Woot! We made ourselves comfortable, washed
our faces after the long trip, and headed downstairs to get lunch.
The hotel was connected to a small Korean restaurant.
Adventure Korea had pre-paid for some of our meals, so that was nice. We went
in the restaurant and helped ourselves to the buffet. There was rice (of
course!), kimchi (of course!), noodles, fish, and soup. I don’t eat fish, so I
helped myself to rice and soup. We sat down at a table and talked with our new
friends. After lunch, we had some break time before hiking.
We all met on the front steps of the hotel at 3:30pm. We
were going to hike to a lighthouse and go bridge jumping…SO FUN!! The hike was
much longer than we anticipated, so we definitely got a workout! It was a
beautiful hike, and the weather was perfect! Fall weather in Korea is my
favorite. We hiked for an hour or so, and finally made our way to a lighthouse
at the top of the mountain. It was a very modern-looking lighthouse, with a
house attached where people lived. (It made sense after that long hike…can’t
imagine hiking THAT every day to work!!) Our group took a photo at the top of
the lighthouse, and then just enjoyed the beautiful view. On our way back down
the mountain, we stopped at a bridge, and had the option to jump off if we
wanted!
I held the cameras and took photos and videos of Lisa,
Kelsey, and Elaine. Max was in the water the whole time with a camera attached
to his helmet. He was recording people jumping in. It was really fun to watch
everyone jumping off the bridge! I got some great shots, and didn’t have to
endure the FREEZING water! Win-win!
Lisa and I walked back to the hotel after she finished
jumping a few times to change clothes for our next adventure…riding a cable car
to the top of the mountain! We met again on the front steps and walked FOREVER
to get to the cable car. We toured a museum all about Dok-do Island, the
controversial island that Korea and Japan are fighting over for ownership…They
handed us our ferry tickets, and we got into the cable car. They piled so many
of us into the cable car that it was nearly impossible to take any photos or
see out…bummer.
After dinner, Lisa, Elaine, Kelsey, and I went to the local market and bought drinks and snacks. We headed up to the rooftop of the hotel to relax and enjoy ourselves. We had a great time, but we were completely exhausted from the day. Not many people from our group were up there, so it was nice and quiet. We stayed up on the roof looking at the stars and enjoying the peace and quiet. Such a nice change from Seoul!! At around 11pm, we all decided to call it a night.
To be continued...
Monday, October 1, 2012
Ulleungdo Island: Day One.
On Friday, I prepared and packed my bag for a 4-day trip to
Ulleungdo Island!! I have Friday-Wednesday off from work for Chuseok, the
Korean Thanksgiving, so I took full advantage of that! I wanted to get away
from the busyness of Seoul and relax and celebrate my 24th birthday!!
I made a very specific packing list, and managed to fit
everything into a book bag. Pretty impressive, huh?! At 1pm, I met up with
Lisa. We both wanted to see a movie before our trip, so we took the subway to
the closest CGV (movie theater) to check out what movies were playing. We
arrived just before 2pm, just in time to buy tickets for “Taken 2.” We bought
our popcorn and drinks and headed into the theater. This was Lisa’s first
Korean movie experience, so we were both excited!!
After the movie, we took the subway home and finished up our
last-minute packing. I showered and double-checked my packing list before
leaving my apartment. I met Lisa at 7:45pm. We grabbed dinner at Misoya, a
Japanese restaurant near us, and then headed to the subway station. We were
meeting up at 10:30pm to catch the bus. (This was our first trip with Adventure
Korea, a travel company for foreigners in Korea. They were extremely organized
from the beginning, so it made this trip hassle-free for us!) We met the rest
of the group in front of the subway station, and introduced ourselves to some
people. Lisa and I were excited about meeting new people, hopefully ones who
lived in Seoul like us!
We boarded the bus at 11:30pm and went on our way. We would
be driving through the night, so we were ready to sleep!
To be continued...
To be continued...
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