I forgot how cool kites are.

HongBupsa Temple hosted another amazing cultural event last weekend for all the WehGuks (foreigners). They taught Amy how to make lanterns, both of us how to prepare Kimchi, and now.....Kite Making!

About a hundred people spread out in the main room of the temple. Kite making sets were set out everywhere, which included: a large piece of thin white paper, thin sticks, string, paste, and crayons.

We were instructed to either draw our dreams and wishes on the kite in order to fly them higher and higher, OR, to draw bad things on the kite, which we let the wind take away.

I went with the former and drew all the types of food and food preparations I want for my life...I'm not much of a visual art guy.

Amy wrote out her dreams and positive ideas with some awesome designs.

The directions for building the kites were less than simple and there's no way I could tell you how.

But, we managed to finish and get outside into the remarkably punctual windy day. The kites didn't soar, but I got mine 10-20 meters up for about 20 seconds...and then into a tree. I then had to climb that tree to retrieve my masterpiece. After another two minutes, she was back into sky....and then right back into the tree. I couldn't reach it this second time. Bye Bye Kite.

Meanwhile, Amy was flying her dreams high in the sky, away from the trees.

That's me in the tree...

As we walked back to the temple to leave, a woman came up to me and asked in broken English if my kite was stuck in the tree. Apparently, a monk who had taken an interest in my trapped kite, was able to get it out of the tree with a 15 ft. pole. I thanked him profusely in Korean, but he seemed much more interested in getting another trapped kite from a different tree.

Thank you very much Sir!

Korean Orphanage

The other weekend I had a special opportunity to go volunteer at an orphanage in Busan. Although I have done a lot of volunteer work throughout my life, this was my first time at an orphanage. To be honest, I was a little nervous going into it because I did not know what to expect. I am also a highly emotional person (tears spring out of my eyes wayyy too easily), so I was afraid that my emotions would get the best of me in an environment like this.

Luckily, I was wrong- and I had absolutely nothing to be worried about. From the moment I walked in the door, until the moment I left, there was a huge smile was on my face and I was consumed by the happy spirits of these adorable children.

Our group of about 7 volunteers focused our time in an area that had 3 rooms, each containing about 10 children under the age of 5. I spent most of the time in the 'girl' room and had at least 3 precious little kids attached to my hip (arms and legs..) for a 2 hours straight. The rooms did not have any toys in them, so it was literally just us (about 1-4 volunteers at a time) and them enjoying each other's company. These little kids really thrived off of our attention, and were constantly wanting to be held, rocked, or swung around in our arms.

With the exception of 1 girl that was maybe the oldest of the group, these children knew zero English...and unfortunately, I still know about zero Korean. So, it was a very interesting experience interacting with them with basically zero language exchange. Of course when playing with little children, the manner and tone in which you talk to them can communicate the same message without having to know the translation of the words. It was tough a few times when I would find a tiny kid in my lap saying something over and over again to me in a "whiney/I need/want something" tone...and I just couldn't help. They were quick to adjust though and often would just take my hand, and my place in on their ponytails, signifying to me that they just wanted someone to do their hair :)

In talking with some of the other volunteers that day, I learned a lot more about orphanages and the concept of adoption within the Korean culture. I was surprised and saddened to hear that there is adoption within Korean families is extremely rare. Family lineage is such a huge part of the culture here, that it is rare to 'take in' someone to the family that does not share the same blood line. (I have also heard that is an explanation to the low rates of homelessness in the country- families will always take in someone within their family, regardless of the situation).

With that being said, there is a stigma around orphans here that 'there is something wrong with them' since there families would not keep them. This, clearly, is not the case, and in many cases the orphans are in there in the first place because they had to be removed an abusive household when they were just days old.

I was also angered and sad to hear that many orphans are treated differently at schools by their Korean teachers and (in following their role model's example) by the students as well. Many of the orphans view the orphanage as their safe place and the children and

staff there as their family.

The volunteer I was talking with told me that they had recently changed the maximum age of children staying there from 8 to 12 because the children were having such a hard time after leaving the orphanage. At their time of release, the kids then go on to other orphanages geared toward older ages. The most heartbreaking thing she told me was that there are severely high cases of depression and suicide of Korean orphans after the age of 18. They become overwhelmed with the feeling of being an 'outcast' and are in a culture that does not accept them. I find this devastating and hope that over time that stigma vanishes and the Korean culture welcomes these children with open arms.

When writing this blog, I decided to do a little further research online to expand my information sources. I came across a few interesting articles and websites, so if you are interesting in reading further about this- please click the links below.

An article about the raising concern of international adoption

A website geared towards bringing positive changes to adoption in Korean culture

One of the girls I went to volunteer with is trying to arrange a monthly visit to this Orphanage, so I am really hoping to go back a few more times while I am over here. It was a truly wonderful experience, and I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to go.

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend! It is a rainy Sunday here so I plan to be lazy and read the afternoon away :)!

Love yall and miss yall!

Amy

PS:

Visiting this orphanage made my admiration for my dear friend Jenny grow even more. Jenny is currently living in Cape Town, South Africa working at two different orphanages. One is somewhat of a 'half-way house' for girls between their rough life on the streets, and placement into schools and houses within the community. The other is more of a permanent placement for girls. Jenny is so brave to be taking on such a challenging task, and I am in awe of her daily strength through even the most turbulent situations. Love you Jenny!

I highly recommend following her South Africa blog: http://jennyinafrica.blogspot.com/

The Busan Blizzard

We've seen a lot about the "snowpocalypses" on the news in US cities like NY, Chicago, and even Austin...but guess what- we had ourselves a lil blizzard of our own!

When we woke up early Monday (Valentine's Day) morning, there was already a few inches of snow on our balcony- and the snow didn't stop ALL DAY!

We went to Reading Town, but luckily (after much deliberation) Mr. Moon decided to cancel the classes. The roads were really messy that day, so it was a much safer decision to cancel the classes. Plus- we got the afternoon/night off! Woo-hoo!

The next day brought a lot of sun and temps in the 40s/50s, so sadly, the snow quickly went away. But before it was all gone, Bryan and I had some fun with it and

made a few Busan SnowMen.

Fun Fact: Koreans make their snowmen with 2 balls of snow instead of 3.

Now, bring on the Spring Weather already!!

Love,

Amy

Noraebang, a dream come true...

Before arriving in Korea, one of the things I kept hearing about was the Karaoke phenomenon that is widespread in Asia. In Japan it is called Karaoke, but in Korea they call it "Noraebong", which literally translates into "song room".

This concept fascinated me. You mean to tell me that there is a culture where it is a popular pastime to go to a private room and sing your favorite songs with your friends? AND these rooms have costume boxes?? AND you can bring your own food and drinks with you into the room??? Sign . Me . Up.

So, being the list maker that I am, Noraebong quickly made it to the top of my "Korea Checklist". It was a proud moment the other weekend when I was finally able to cross that baby off.

Valentine's Day weekend was also the weekend of two of our good friends, Stephanie and Katelyn's birthdays. A group of us girls had a "pink and red" themed slumber party at Stephanie's place. After the multiple cakes and Birthday cheers, we all made our way to the local Noraebang.

The group we were with was about half Korean and half foreigners. I didn't realize until that night how seriously Koreans take their "noraebang-ing". First of all, all of the songs sang/performed are scored at the end. I have learned since being here how competitive the Korean culture is and singing with your friends in no exception.

The costume box in the room was full of: hats, wigs, fake muscles, and yes..fake boobs.

Also, all the songs we (the foreigners) chose were fun songs from our past, including Spice Girls, TLC, Ricky Martin, etc. The Koreans we were with chose mostly current songs including some seriously slow love ballads. After watching them though, I realized how helpful it must be for them to practice their English. Songs are a great way to learn a language, especially if the words are being posted right in front of you!

(Even though its hard to tell from the pictures because of my camera flash-

the whole room was dark with fun lazer lights and disco ball lights)

The fact that there were only 2 microphones did not stop my friends and I from doing some pretty big group numbers :) We tried to do some spontaneous dance choreography...but, really it just turned into a screaming and laughing rendition of "Turn Around... Every Now and Then I Fall Apart!"

I was able to take a few videos of the night. One of us being silly, and a (much more serious) Korean performance :)

All in all, I am hooked. I want to make sure I go to many more Noraebongs over the next few months, and hopefully be able to drag Bryan to one too!

Love you and miss you!

xoxo,

Amy

World, meet Lily.

Lily is my new best friend here in South Korea.

You see, we hang out on Tuesday nights and do things best friends do...

color...sing songs...sip juice.

Her mom tells me that she is 6 years old, but, I will let you be the judge of that.

Tonight I happened to bring my FlipCam along to our hang-out-session, and Little Lily (the diva that she is) loved this. Here are a few snippets of our quality time together:

"Hi Lily!"

"HeadShouldersKneesAndToes(KneesAndToes)"

"Big E. Small E."

Please don't judge me if I accidently bring her home with me in my suitcase.

Love,

Amy

Half Way Point

Well folks, we have made it over the hump. Today marks our 6 month anniversary here in Busan which is the half way point of our year long experience in the wonderful world of South Korea. Can you believe its already been 6 months?? Yep, neither can I!

LAX airport, August 13th, 2010

It seems like just yesterday that I was sitting on a 12 hour plane ride on my way to all-things-unknown. Speaking for myself, I was prrettty terrified. Excited, of course, but equally anxious/scared of what lay ahead. I was leaving everything I knew and loved behind me for the next year of my life. I had never been away from anything/anyone that long, and the idea was as invigorating as it was scary. I did not know what to expect. I did not know the language, at all. I did not (really) know how to teach. I did not know anybody in the country (expect Bryan). I did not know...well...mostly everything.

But as most of you know from keeping up with this blog- we dove right in head first and the rest has been an excellent ride. We have had tons of 'ups' from the excitement of this new lifestyle and all the fun experiences we have enjoyed along the way. And of course, some 'downs' that consist of homesickness and frustrations that were expected, and come along with living in a foreign land.

I decided to do some reflection and makes some lists (Im a big list maker) of how I feel at this point. I know my feelings and thoughts are different from when we first arrived here, and they will probably change again over the course of the next six months. So, as of today, here is what I absolutely love about living in Korea, and what I am missing from back home.

Things I love:

• meeting and making new friends from all over the world
• the funny things my students say daily (most recently telling me that they think Americans are so tall because of how much CocaCola they drink)
• being in constant awe from people watching
• our balcony: the quiet view of the mountains, the ocean, and the city
• the beach (patiently awaiting the spring and summer so I can enjoy it more)
• mountains (being able to go on new hikes all the time)
• subways (they are insanely clean, easy, and cheap here)
• KTX (the heavenly highspeed train that I want to transport me everywhere)
• not having to drive/ worry about driving if Ive had a few drinks
• Korean food: BBQ, shabushabu, kimbop, pajeon...and yes, kimchi is starting to grow on me
• how cheap everything is
• traveling (to new cities in Korea, and planning trips to new countries at the end of the summer)
• feeling part of a global community

Things I miss:

• My family, big time.
• Friends from home...each and every one of you
• Mexican food (including Margs, queso, legit guac, salsa other than Pace Picante)
• Live music......concerts/festivals/dancing
• People being able to understand what Im saying/ being able to understand people
• Whole Foods and all things Green and Hippie (turns out Koreans are not the Bohemian type..who knew)
• Lunch restaurants (sandwiches, salads...ie THUNDERCLOUD and LEAF)
• good beer
• PUBLIC TRASHCANS
• swimming/diving into a pool/lake (most specifically, Barton Springs)
• Greek food (if you can find me some hummus or garbanzo beans in this city I will be yours forever)
• Driving my car...and singing loudly with the windows down
• a good shower

I want to read this at the end of our year here and see what I feel the same about, and what has changed. But, for now, this is how I feel. Thanks for all of your support and love during this whole experience! We have so much to look forward to here during the next 6 months and I can't wait to share it all with yall!

Love yall!

xo

Amy

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sending you our LOVE from South Korea!!

xo,

Amy and Bryan

Neon and High-Kicks

On Wednesday, we hopped the KTX, Korea's high-speed train, at 9am bound for Seoul. With speeds topping 300kmph, it only takes two and a half hours to go from Korea's southeastern most point to the northwest. Fun Fact: you can fit 7 South Koreas in Texas.

The KTX dropped us off in the middle of the bustling megacity of Seoul. We caught the subway for just a couple stops to the Itaewon district.

We stayed at the IS@K (I-Stay-Korea) Guesthouse a 5-10 minute walk from the subway in Itaewon. Amy and I had a private room, as well as Steve. I would recommend anyone to stay at this hostel if you travel to Seoul. It's on hostels.com. It is brand new and very clean. The host, Duk-ho is extremely nice and helpful. Everyone was friendly and lacked any hint of creepy.

If you get a private room, I will warn you that I could touch both walls at the same time.

After a stroll around the neighborhood, we found a great lunch place called Between. Their sandwiches (which are few and far 'between' in Korea) hit the spot and we were ready for some touristin'!

Duk-ho recommended that we go to a Korean folk festival at a park in the center of the city. The subway took us right their in fifteen minutes.

**When in Seoul, USE THE SUBWAY. It is cheap and extremely easy to find your way around in. Taxis are nice if you know exactly where you are going, but the subway is a sure-fire way to not get lost.

The New Years Folk Festival was in a park adjacent to Namsan park. There were quite a few different types of traditional Korean games and activities put out for anyone to use.

One game involves four sticks that each have a rounded and a flat side, like a cricket bat. You bundle up the sticks and throw them on a mat. Depending on what sides are up and down dictates how many points you score, which you then move on a board.

Another game involves throwing arrows in a tall cylinder. A large crowd surrounded a stage area where a Korean host brought competitors from the crowd to compete for prizes.

There were some live painted historical representations of traditional Koreans. I was impressed with their ability to remain still and remain calm for thousands of annoying picture takers. Small children and old men played with Korean topsnslicks....they use a stick with a rope to spin a top on the ground. After it is spinning, they wiped the top to keep it spinning. There were also these metal hoops that people pushed with a metal pole, which reminded me of America in the 1910s for some reason.

Before we left, each of us made a wish for the New Year and tied it to the wish tree.

Next we went to Insadong, a shopping/touristy district. There were countless numbers of venders selling every kind of souvenir imaginable. If you want a souvenir, any souvenir, go to Insadong. Near the end of the street, Amy spotted this photo-booth shop that she just had to go to...with me. It's a booth where you get costumes and take a bunch of pictures against a green screen and can then edit the pictures. It turned out to be much more fun than anticipated. ;)

At the end of the strip at Insadong, there was an art gallery that had a showing of testimonials from North Korean prisoner camp escapees. I've heard of Americans that were caught in North Korea. Usually, Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter goes over to save them from 7 years 'hard labor.' Calling it hard labor is more than a travesty. These people live in worse conditions than animals and are murdered like the Jews in the Holocaust. It is impossible to imagine the horror that occurs a hundred miles north while I look at photos and debate what to eat for dinner.

Wednesday night, we met up with our friend Maddie from Texas, her fiance Matt, his friend Ben, and their other friend Amy. We called her Amy2. They took us to a delicious Thai restaurant in Itaewon. It was so great to finally get to visit with Maddie and meet her new man! I got a great first impression of Matt and hope nothing but the best for those two! Matt and Ben are some of the amazing service men stationed here in Korea who are the reason this country is great and fruitful. They fly helicopters! Seriously. What a gnarly job!

We headed for some hookah in the basement of BrickX afterward. Don't let the name fool you. They had good beers and tasty hookah. Our good buddy Brett, also from Texas, met us their for a great lil reunion of Longhorns.

The evening slipped into late-night as we made our final stop for some much needed groovin' at The Loft.

LEG-KICKS LEG-KICKS HIGHER HIGHER LEG-KICKS!!!

The warm up....

TOUCHDOWN!!

New Years Day, we grabbed DunkinDonuts for breakfast, which you can do on almost any corner in Seoul. It's crazy. There are more in Seoul than America.

We then went to Gyungbokgung Palace for more New Years celebrations. It was originally built in the 1300s. It is the birthplace of written Korean. The palace also turns out to be a popular place to spend New Years.

We arrived just in time for the ceremonial changing of the guards....Killer boots man!

Amy and I had the pleasure of experiencing the palace a month ago, but we made sure that Steve got the digital audio tour. It has a GPS chip in it that activates certain audio files based on your position inside the palace. Thank you technology!

The place is massive. Amy and I didn't go to half of it the first time. We headed around the back to a little pond that was frozen over where parents pulled children on little sleds on the ice. We figured we should give it a try.

Before we left, we stumbled upon a massive drum circle. Historical re-enactors played Korean instruments. The drummers all had ribbons tied to their hats that they twirled in unison to the beat. I don't know how they didn't fall over from dizziness. The beats and dancing was cool, but the high-pitched off-beat horn this dude was playing drove us off after a couple minutes.

As dusk approached, we trekked over to Meyung Dong, a popular neon-covered shopping district that houses the likes of H&M and Forever21...a must see for any trip with Amy. Steve and I grabbed some brews while Amy hit the dressing rooms.

Thursday night, we dressed to impress and hopped over to HongDae, one of the hot spots for movin' your feet. I'm not sure how, but we stumbled upon one of the best Korean BBQ I've had. The pork was smothered in this hearty sauce/marinade which really set it above the rest.

Three full stomachs later, we met Amy2 and her friend Nicole at HoBar XII. HoBar is a chain of bars in HongDae that serve wicked cheap drinks...$2 tequila shots?!? There are literally 20 different HoBars in HongDae. Some of them are located next to, or on top of, each other.

From HoBar, we went to a wonderland of bass at Cocoon, a multilevel club. Speakers line the walls and neon lights litter the floor and everywhere. One thing I love about Koreans is that when they start dancing, they don't stop. Everyone in that place was treating the floor like it might melt their shoes....

All this bustlin' called for some much needed relaxation time on Friday afternoon. Duk-ho recommended a famous spa, or JimJi-Bang, called Dragon Hill. I'm not sure if Steve was exactly ready for the experience, but he was a trooper for the most part.

Korean Spas are amazing. However, the concepts and notions regarding nakedness are much different in America than they are in Korea.

JimJi-Bangs have two main parts: coed and gender specific.

The coed areas have dozens of different saunas, cold rooms, drinks/food places, message rooms/chairs and much more..

The gender specific areas revolve around a locker room with hundreds of showers, mirrors, and hot tubs. Its about as naked as naked can get in there. For anyone who has been on sports team and experienced locker rooms before, this is no biggie. The most unsettling aspect is definitely that there are children, very curious children who have not yet learned that it isn't polite to stare.

After this much needed R&R, we caught a taxi for Seoul Tower in Namsan park. When we arrived there was a line wrapping around the street to get into the building for the gondola ride. It looked like a solid 3 hour wait, and then sun was already going down, so we took a walk and went back to our hostel.

Before dinner, we sat down to a delightful appetizer prepared by Duk-ho and his mother. They prepared homemade kimchi, potato noodles, Duk-Gu, and Man-Du.

The food was amazing, but unfortunately, we already had plans for dinner. Thanks again Duk-Ho for the wonderful start to our night.

A fellow traveller from our hostel, Jackie from Australia, joined us for dinner at Santorini. Brett met us there for some gyros and tzitziki.

From there, we hopped on the subway or another night in HongDae. Round 1 was at HoBar III where some $2 tequila called. Brett's friends, Alfonso and Emily, came out and we headed for Round 2 at was a small basement club across from Cocoon. Their DJ took the mood up a couple notches to constant-dancing. Round 3 was at the S Club, where we got down n dirty ghetto. One of the only Hip Hop clubs I've been to, it was a blast. Round 4 was at another Ho bar....#4?

I think we did a pretty great job of maxing out our time in Seoul.

After lunch the next morning, we caught a 2pm train back for one more night in Busan before Steve's Asian departure.

We took Steve to another great traditional Korean restaurant of Shabu Shabu. It's a lot like the BBQ setup, but there is a massive bowl of broth and veggies in the center of the table over a fire. You are served a plate of thin-sliced beef that you cook in the boiling broth and eat with sauces or mushrooms. At the end of the meal, one of the women made us fried rice with the remaining flavor from the bowl. It's pretty spicy, but a must have if you find yourself in Korea.

The next stop was Seomyeon for some darts and beer. After that we made our way for some dancing in Kyungsung where I even did a little more djing that night.

Amy threw 3 bulls-eyes in a row.....I've never seen it.

I couldn't have imagined a better week for Steve to visit. Thanks again for coming to share this experience with us buddy!!