Busan and the beach!

Yesterday and today we went to Busan. Yesterday we went to a different part of Busan and today we went to the beaches because it was sunny! But everyone here uses umbrellas in the sun because pale skin is more beautiful than tan skin! I like this culture :) The beaches were beautiful and are packed when it gets hotter outside. We have walked SO much these past few days that we are all exhausted tonight!

Tomorrow we are going in to Busan (about 20 min drive/ 1-1.5 hour subway) with the church to buy our books for our English classes! After we get back to Yangsan the four of us are going to Seoul for the weekend to visit our friend Jangmi (she goes to NNU). The guys leave for Taiwan for the summer on Tuesday so until then we will tour and shop in Seoul! Ill post pictures and everything when I get back! :)

Tonight we went to the Yangsan tower, much like the space needle. It was free to go to the viewing deck so we went up there and took pictures of the city at dusk. Very huge city and very pretty at night!

Homestay life

Today was our first full day at our homestay! Korean homes are small apartments that all look the same. Ours is a 3 bedroom with an open area including a kitchen and a family room. So they are pretty small. Krista and my room ended up being the master bedroom that has a bathroom in it. They offered and we didn't know so we accepted this room. Out host father works for the government 5ish hours away so he is not here during the week. Out host mother barely speaks any English so it has been a challenge! The bathroom attached to our room is quite interesting- there is no shower but a drain in the floor and a shower head/hose attached to the sink faucet. The shower head mounts on the wall and there is no shower curtain or anything. Water goes everywhere in the small bathroom, kinda odd to me!

Anyway, today we had plans to meet Josh and Justin at 1:30 at the subway a few blocks away and go to Busan! But at about 11am we got a bunch of phone calls (our family had already left for school or work) so we finally answered and it was a man saying, in broken English, that he would be at our house at noon. Krista tried to tell him that our family was gone but he hung up! So we went on with our morning. At noon our doorbell rang and rang but we didn't answer it because we didn't know who it was! The phone also started ringing non stop. After about 10 minutes we heard the code to our door being punched in and the door opened. I was in our room still doing my makeup and hair. It was a man from the church coming to take us to lunch! I had not gotten dressed yet! But we told him we would be ready in 2 minutes. So we ended up at the church without makeup on or our hair done! Oh well. I'm learning all about language barriers.

Krista and I just got done talking to our host brother before we go to bed. He is 15 in Korean age (everyone turns a year older on Jan 1st of their birth year here) and he wants to come to America to NNU or Nampa Christian High School and grow up to be a diplomat! He is pretty cute, with pretty good English! His name is David and my host sisters name is Hannah and she is 16 in Korean age. They are a very hardworking and smart family! What a fun experience living with them!!

Korean church and another meal

Today we attended San Yang Church, where we will start teaching in 2 weeks and it was quite the experience. This church is considered small in Yansang, there are several thousand members! The city of Yansang is considered small too at 300,000 people!

One of the pastors came and picked us up from our hotel and took us to the church where, before service, everyone gets lunch. This lunch was a traditional Korean meal including white rice and eel soup! I didn't like the eel soup but I tried it!

Next we went up for coffee in the pastors office and sat there for a few minutes, which made us late for the noon service-we were confused why we waited so long to go to service! The whole service itself was incredible, the sanctuary was huge! And we sat in the back with a pastor named Chang. (She will be helping us through the entire summer) She also translated as much of the service as possible which her broken English. After the service we went to a gathering room with tables and sat from about 2-4pm. We could have gone to the youth service at 3 but since we could not understand anything we decided to stay and sit. At 4 Chang came back and got us and took us to another service. At this service another pastor spoke and then the 4 of us were introduced, we all just stood up there and smiled because we didn't understand a single thing!

After this service a family from Josh's class wanted to take us out to dinner. Earlier, Chang had asked us what we wanted to eat and I said chicken! But instead Chang, the 4 of us and the family went out for octopus! ugh. Just what I needed in my stomach after the eel soup earlier. After I choked down one bite to not be rude I stuck with rice and veggies and Korean pizza!

After dinner Chang, Krista and I went to the family that we will be staying with. It is a VERY small apartment and Krista and I will be sharing the master bedroom. I am not that excited because only the dad speaks english and he does not live there during the week, only on weekends. And our room is really small! Even for just 2 of us :( Wishing we could stay at the hotel longer! I guess there are some bright sides to staying in the same home as Krista- we will keep eachother company when we can't communicate with the family.

Korean Culture

So yesterday (Friday) we were at the church where we will be teaching helping with international recruiting for NNU. We met the pastor and others in the church that will help Krista and I throughout the summer. However, they informed us that they were not expecting us for about two more weeks (one of the challenges with communicating with different cultures). So, for this first week they are paying for us to stay in the hotel and then next week they will have a small apartment ready at the church for us to live in. After the two weeks we will move in with our host families. I was hoping to move in with our families sooner than that because I am ready to get better settled. Krista and I were hoping to have some of our English teaching materials so that we could prepare a little bit but we are learning that that is not how Korean culture works. :) On the bright side we get 2 weeks to tour Yangsan, Busan or go back to Seoul for a day!!

In between recruiting sessions yesterday we went to a market in downtown Yangsan and walked around. We went in some shoe stores and I was tempted to buy some!! We also went to a restaurant the had swings for chairs at the tables! We had a dessert called Pop Bing Su. It was ice shavings, with milk, ice cream on top and then you could choose your toppings. Justin got fresh sliced watermelon. Josh, Krista, Hyesu and Jae got a variety of fruit and I got coffee! Mine was coffee and corn flake toppings. It was served in a glass bowl like cereal and it was VERY good! I like trying some of these different Korean treats!

Today all of the NNU representatives left so now it is just Josh, Justin, Krista and me. Though Josh and Justin leave for Taiwan on June 1st. So Krista and I are not completely on our own yet. It was raining today but we walked a couple miles to the EMart (WalMart equivalent). By the time we got back to the hotel we were drenched! At 6pm the secretary, and her daughter, from the church came and got us and took us to dinner. She took us out to McDonalds! Nice that it was a bit more familiar; the culture shock of the completely different food is becoming a bit more overwhelming! Neither the secretary, nor her daughter, could speak very much English. So Krista and I had quite the time understanding them. But through body language and a lot of pointing we had quite an enjoyable dinner! It is amazing how we are able to find a commonality even when we can barely share a single phrase. I really enjoyed this experience! I am sure there will be many more of these to come!

Being a blonde in Korea

I forgot to add this but when we landed in Seoul and I was exchanging currency my picture got taken 3 times! But I wasn't looking! Then today on the subway a man across from me tried to be sneaky and take my picture on his phone. We all saw him though! haha I get looked at everywhere I go! It is a weird feeling though. Can't wait to not stick out like a sore thumb anymore :)

First day in Korea!

We are just wrapping up our first day in Korea, quite the experience! We have seriously been on a bus, taxi, plane or subway over half of the last 3 days! We are in Yangsan at a hotel tonight.

Today we went in to Seoul to to have lunch with a man that Justin knew. He took Josh, Justin, Krista and me out to a traditional Korean meal. We sat on the floor at small tables and everything. The appetizers included a pumpkin soup and a kimchi soup along with raw salmon and shrimp. We were then served vegetable noodles. The main course was a bowl of rice with sides including oysters, baby octopus, seaweed, spinach, more kimchi and pork. We also had a soup with tofu, spices and clams. And the dessert was a cinnamon spice tea and oranges. I tried nearly everything that was served except the clams and shrimp! The baby octopus was really spicy! The raw salmon I had to literally choke down because our hosts were watching me. I learned how to use chopsticks for the first time today so our hosts were always watching me and chuckling at my efforts. It was an interesting experience and all of our legs were dying by the end of the meal at that mini table!

Because of this long traditional meal we missed our bullet train (2 hours) to Yangsan at 1pm. So we had to wait and catch a bus at 4 that took 5 hours+. We finally got to Yangsan and then had to take an 1hr and a half subway ride followed by a taxi to our hotel. But when we got to the stop at the subway we couldn't afford two taxis and a random man offered us a ride. So 3 went in a taxi and Josh, Hyesu and I rode with the man Hyesu was talking with.

Tomorrow we meet the pastor of the church that we will be teaching at! I am ready to get going with teaching and stop traveling everyday/all day!

Taiwan layover

We made it Taiwan! We left San Fran at 1 am on Tuesday and arrived in Taipei at 5am Wednesday morning. There is about a 16 hour time difference. And it was like a 12ish hour flight.

Since I flew United to San Fran and then EVA Air to Korea my bags had to be transferred so that I would not have to leave security in San Fran. I was a little nervous that this would not happen. When we landed in Taipei there was a EVA Air employee with a sign with my name on it and I could not understand the problem but he needed my baggage tickets. He copied the numbers on to his hand and then left. I never knew what that was about. Then, as we were walking by baggage claim in Taipei (we had a 12 hour layover) there was one bag still on the bag carousel from our flight and it ended up being one of my bags. The handle had broken and the airport baggage tag had fallen off! Luckily we walked by and saw it or my bag would have been lost forever with no airline tag id! I am still crossing my fingers that both of my bags will be in Seoul when we land there tonight!

Today, we left the Taipei airport and decided to see the city. But since we landed at 5am not much was open yet! It was 77 degrees when we landed at 5am with a high percentage of humidity! We found a Starbucks for me and then a small restaurant/cafe to get some breakfast. At 11am we walked to Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world, and walked around in it.

It has been an eventful, exhausting and fun day, we are back at the airport at our gate and the ticketing agent looked up my bags and said they made it on board, I hope she is right! I am ready to get to Seoul Korea and sleep in a bed, not an airplane!

First Delay

I just got to the Eugene airport. I was supposed to fly to San Francisco at 6:02pm but I just got to my gate and I am delayed for an hour+. I just heard them say because of weather in San Fran. So, when I make it to San Fran I am meeting up with my friends Krista, Josh and Justin and we have a layover until 1am. Then we fly to Taiwan where we have like a 12 hour layover and finally to Seoul, South Korea!

So the plan for this trip as of right now is the four of us are staying in Seoul for a week or so before heading to the town Krista and I will be teaching in. Josh and Justin will be with us there until June 1st then they go back to Taiwan for the rest of the summer. I have no expectations for this summer because I am pretty unsure of all that is going to happen, but I am excited for the adventure!