Seoul Mates

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Seoul Searchin'

So the weather has gone from nice to hotter than hell in this last month, but we have decided to finally venture out and see what Seoul has to offer. It's a good thing we got out while we could, because monsoon season has just hit. Rain is in the forecast for the next 10 days (and maybe longer but I can only see as far as 10 days)!

We have hit all the main tourist spots in preparation for my parents' visit in July. Seoul is not a real "touristy" city, so we really had to search to find some things worth seeing. Here's what we found:

Nami Island
We went to Nami Island with our coworks one Saturday afternoon. It's located just outside of Seoul, and it's an island on a river. Nobody lives on the island, it is mostly a tourist spot. We spent the day lounging around on the grass, while the boys played football and soccer.

A group of Koreans approached us and wanted us to join in on some of their games. The girls played tug-of-war (we lost) and Jeff participated in a Foreigner vs. Korean relay. Foreigners won!

They brought us beer for participating. And of course, we had a to take a friendly soju shot as well.

Koreans and foreigners

Nasty ostriches on the island. They used to let the ostriches roam the island, but they recently had to keep them in a fenced in area because they were violent...duh!

The entrance to the island.

Delicious chicken babreque! Best I've had!

Gyeongbuk Palace

We arrived just in time for changing of the guards.

Entrance to the palace.

Like his glued on facial hair!

Yeouido Park

We went to park and had a picnic to enjoy the weather before it got too hot, and rainy.

Seodaemun Prison

This prison is where the Japanese tortured and executed Korean followers of the Independence Movement. It was some of the worst torture in world history. The prison was open and occupied until 1987.

Watchtower

Records of the prisoners

Torture room-they would use those wooden sticks and stick them under the prisoners fingernails to get them to spill the beans! Ouch!

Torture box...They would put you in it then shake the box.

This box came in different sizes according to your height. You couldn't comfortably stand up or sit down. Talk about a leg workout!

Looks just like in the movies.

I thought about leaving him here for the night.

Tunnel used to secretly remove the dead bodies. It was discovered in the 90's.

Independence Park

Seoul Tower

We had to make the trip up to Seoul Tower to see what it was all about. You can see a 360 degree view of the entire city.

I can't figure out how to rotate this...

That's all for now. We are getting excited because my parents will be arriving in 17 short days! We will get to show them around the city and then we are off to BALI!!! Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July! Miss you!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Kiddos!

So we are now two months into the new school year and we have been busy having lots of fun with our kids! My class started in March as 4 year olds who didn't speak ANY English. Now, they can go all day long without speaking ANY Korean. Its pretty amazing to see how quickly they learn.

My class is great! I got lucky and got a really good class this year! And, I guess, they are pretty darn cute too! Jeff is really liking his class and is having a hard time keeping them quiet!

Now that graduation and performance are over, we have had lots of time to have some fun with our classes. We have had a chance to go on a few field trips and hold monthly cooking classes.

We took a trip to the fire station. We thought it would be like going to a fire station back home, climbing on the trucks and watching the firemen use the fire extinguisher. This was not the case! It was actually really fun and interactive. The kids got to shoot fire extinguishers at a virtual fire and try to put it out. They also were able to climb through a small obstacle course that was supposed to be like going through a house filled with smoke. Then, they got to experience an earthquake. They all had a lot of fun, and we did too!

Clara's cute bunny ears!

Getting ready to put out a fire! Notice the photographer in the left corner. There are two of them that go EVERYWHERE with us and they take all the fun out of all activities. The kids got them good with the fire extinguishers, though!

Experiencing the earthquake. It was really hard to keep your balance during this, and the kids had to complete several tasks during the quake.

We took another field trip to a park called the Dream Forest, which was hardly a forest at all. The kids got to look at some Venetian glass, play on a playground and feed some deer.

Trying to be polite and listen to this lady talk about glass. (Yawn)

Nemo class!

Elmo class!

Joe and Kevin (Elmo)

Jenny (who recently changed her name to Ariel) Nemo class

Clara (Nemo)

Frank teacher had some fun too!

Sally (Elmo)

Eva (Nemo)

Lunch! No PB&J sandwiches here! Kimbap and fruit for lunch.

They were exhausted! Cutest thing EVER!

We also took a field trip to a farm to plant lettuce. It was really like they took us to a dump, and the kids got to pose pretending to plant lettuce so the photographers could take pictures of them. It was not a good field trip!