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Dae-Wang Am

King Munmu, the 30th King of the Shilla Dynasty, achieved the unification of the countries of the Korean peninsula in AD 688. The King used to express his desire to become a dragon after his death to protect his kingdom from enemies. When the king died he was buried under a great rock in the East Sea in accordance with his will and transformed into the guardian dragon of the kingdom. People, therefore, call the rock ‘Dae-Wang Am’ meaning ‘The Rock of the Great King’.  It is located in Gyongju, South Korea. Meanwhile, the spirit of the Queen also became a guardian dragon of the kingdom after she died since she could not forget her husband’s noble will. Later the dragon flew to Ulsan and submerged herself under this rock to protect the East Sea. People also began to call this rock ‘Dae-Wang Am’ and it is said that seaweed does not grow around this rock because of the dragon.

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Photo taken using Tamron SP AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical [IF]

For our last week in Korea, we were excited to have some family and a friend come visit as we took a final tour of Korea with them.  We visited the markets of Busan, the historical temples and palaces of Gyongju, Our home and schools in Ulsan and did some sightseeing in Seoul before heading out.  In Busan we stayed in a hotel right next to Nampo Dong Market and the Jalgashi Fish Market.  One of the Ajjumas (middle aged woman) in Jalgachi was kind enough to pose for me as I snapped a picture of her fish.

We are already missing many things about Korea.  First and foremost we miss the friends we left behind there.  Some other, much less meaningful things we miss are fast internet, and reliable power/infrastructure which we have found to be lacking in Nepal and India in many cities so far.

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For us, leaving our home in Atlanta, meant leaving behind NorthPoint Church as well. Griffin worked on the IT staff at the church and Valerie had attended NorthPoint or one of its satellite campuses for many years.

We were extremely happy to find Jeonha Church, which happened to be about a 5 minute walk from our apartment. No, it’s nothing like NorthPoint, but we have really grown to love the huge church with a tiny English worship service inside.

On Sundays we begin our service at 2pm, since that’s when our worship area becomes available. We sing the same songs we have encountered at churches back home and have the same general program. But, as you look around the room, you will notice one important thing: diversity.

On any given Sunday at Jeonha Church, you’re likely to encounter five or six different nationalities represented. We regularly meet people from The Philipines, Brazil, South Africa, New Zealand, England and, of course, the U.S. and Canada. Not to mention, our Burmese pastor, who speaks 4 languages fluently.

We have been privileged to meet so many great friends through our church here, knowing that these are friends we will keep in touch with long after we all leave Korea. We are especially close to our wonderful pastor, Azel, with whom we also made the year long journey to becoming Taekwondo blackbelts.

We feel extremely fortunate and blessed to have gotten to attend church here for the last two years, and we hope to visit again in the future.

If there is one thing an expat can appreciate, it’s returning “home” for a visit.

However, after being away for more than a year in one of the world’s healthiest countries, we were more than a little shocked at the sites we saw when were stateside for three weeks in September 2010 last year.

Don’t get me wrong, Griffin and I appreciate good food, and both acknowledge that we have some pounds we’d like to drop, but it’s so disheartening to see the health of America declining so rapidly.

In Korea, on the other hand, you’ll be hard pressed to find an obese person anywhere.  As the origin of the world’s leading martial art, Tae Kwon Do, along with all the beautiful and well used-hiking trails, exercise is made a priority here.

So is healthy food.  Vegetables, fresh and ripe, garner every table at every meal.  We were surprised and happy to learn that a Korean national food, Kimchi, is listed in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) top five healthiest foods.

Kimchi, that spicy, fermented, national treasure, is eaten three times a day by most Koreans.  According to the WHO, this vegetable and red pepper paste based food is high in fiber, but low in calories, and makes up for 80% of your daily need of Vitamin C and Carotene.  It’s also rich in vitamin A, thiamine (B₁), riboflavin (B₂), calcium, and iron, and contains a number of healthy bacteria.  In addition, it’s extremely good for your immune system and has been proven to fight off viruses and infections.

We’ve often wondered about the process of making Kimchi, and after more than a year, we finally got to experience it first hand.

Thanks to the Ulsan Metropolitan Office of Education, we were sent to a one day “Kimchi School” at the Onggi Festival in Ulsan.

There, we were assigned a helper, and given all the ingredients and tools we needed.  We were surprised that it is such a hands-on process.

After mixing some oil, ground red pepper and garlic together with some chopped onions and radish, we painstakingly smoothed the mixture between each leaf of a special cabbage plant.  Our helper then rolled and wrapped our edible artwork into a picture perfect breeding ground for the helpful bacteria that will ferment the dish and give it the tangy flavor it needs, along with the added nutritional factors Kimchi is known for.  The plants were carefully set into our handy clay pot, and we were told to set them outside for about three days to let them age a little before bringing them in to refrigerate.

We each made three Kimchi cabbages.  (One of which was donated to a local nursing home by each participant.)  This took us about an hour once we got underway.  However, we’ve been told that Korean women make Kimchi only once per year.  I have no idea how long that would take, but I know Americans should give it a try!

Thanks, Korea, for making the world a healthier place, one spicy cabbage leaf at a time.

What is Animoto?

Animoto allows you to create stunning movies from your pictures and text. We tried it out for this movie as well as some we made for our moms on Mother’s Day and we really liked it.
Just upload your pictures, select some music, put in some text and it takes care of the rest. It really couldn’t be any easier. You have to pay to make a video longer than 30 seconds,to download the video and/or for higher quality video. But, if you just want to share a 30 second clip online it is free and their prices are reasonable if you want more options. We just paid for a month and then cancelled instead of having a yearly membership. We may do the same thing in a couple more months once we have some more ideas and pictures to share. Check it out here and let us know what you think.

1. Researching

One of the things we have been doing a lot of is researching. Since we are planning to travel to a lot of countries and plane tickets will be our second biggest expense (Lodging is first), we want to make sure we don’t miss out on any of the sights or experiences in the countries we are visiting. We have found it most helpful to research two ways:

A. PASSIVE RESEARCH

We have set up a Google document and have subscribed to other travel blogs. Anytime we see a helpful article about travel, packing, saving, making money on the road, etc., we paste the link into our document with a small description.

B. ACTIVE RESEARCH

About once every two weeks, we sit down and spend some time organizing the information from those links into a more legible travel plan. We have main headings for each country we would like to visit, subheadings for each of the cities we’re interested in, and bullet points for each event, sight or unique experience we would like to check out there.

This has enabled us to gather and make use of a lot of travel information somewhat quickly and easily. We have been doing this for six months now and have a pretty exhaustive list.

START RESEARCHING YOUR PASSION TODAY

Traveling is one of the things Valerie and I are both passionate about. We enjoy meeting new people, experiencing new cultures and sharing hope and joy with those we meet. Trying to figure out what countries we want to visit, and what to do while in those countries, has been a huge task, but by researching and collecting information on a daily basis, we have been able to do it rather easily.

What can you start doing today to move toward your passions and dreams?

Is there a website you can subscribe to that will help you learn more about your passion? Is there a related book you can read? Is there a way to practice and get better at what you may already be doing? Start doing one thing everyday to work toward your passion or goal. Once you start the momentum, you may be surprised at how quickly you will be able to accomplish more than you ever thought possible.

We hope this list has helped encourage and motivate you to move with purpose toward your future and make deliberate steps today in order to help your dreams become realities.

1. Dedication Has Its Rewards

This one is pretty self explanatory, but the thing to keep in mind when something gets difficult or tiresome, is that in the end, the reward will usually be worth the fight.

Taekwondo Master Yun, Azel, Valerie and Griffin

2. Sometimes the Rewards are Not What You Expect

When we first started training in Taekwondo, we thought the reward at the end would be that we could say we were black belts and that we would know how to defend ourselves better. In the end, both of those things are true, but we have found that the more rewarding part of the journey is the friendships we have built with the people we attended class with, and our instructor.

We have learned so much about each other and there are things that can be learned through struggling together towards a common goal, that cannot be easily learned in other circumstances. We will always have a special place in our heart for our Taekwondo instructor and the friends who have taken this journey with us. Those are our biggest rewards.

3. Learning is 90% Mental and 10% Physical

Our bodies are capable of doing amazing things, but many times, the reason we rarely reach those levels is because we allow our minds to tell our bodies we can’t do it. Whether it is going a whole class without a rest, doing those last few push ups, or practicing that kick one more time even though your hips feel like they are about to fall out of socket, the attitude to keep going is important. One of the things Taekwondo has reiterated is that success is an attitude, thought process and work ethic more than anything else.

4. The More Challenging Something is, the More Rewarding the Outcome

No one feels a lot of reward from completing an easy task or quitting when something gets difficult. As humans, we seek challenging things out as we intuitively know that accomplishing those things holds the greatest reward. In a society that seems to value mediocrity, people who stand out need to push beyond the norm and accomplish that which is not easily aquired.

5. Good Traits Require no Common Language to See and Appreciate

Our Taekwondo instructor does not speak English and we do not speak Korean, but over the last 12 months of training, we have come to realize more and more that common language is not a necessity for sharing kindness, respect, understanding and friendship. Paulo Coelho so beautifully captures this idea in his book, The Alchemist, in which he talks about the universal language. This is not some mystical new age thing, but rather a realization of the fact that we are all humans made by the same Creator and He has put in us the ability to see, understand and relate to the humanness of those around us. If people show genuine happiness, kindness, thoughtfulness and friendship, no language is needed to recognize, appreciate and reciprocate those traits.
On the other hand, bad traits share the same ability. If you are lazy, mean, rude, impatient or otherwise not enjoyable to be around, that too can be easily seen by people of other languages, cultures and beliefs. We should all strive to show the love that is in us to others and be ready to explain where it comes from if asked.

Here is a video of our test so you can see what it was like. Big thanks to our good friends Trinh and Eugene for coming over on a Saturday and filming it for us.

BONUS: Accountability Is Key

Paragliding was so much fun and we were glad to share the experience with our friends Helmut and Celina.  We hope you can get an idea of what it is like and enjoy it along with us in the video.

Thank you to Oh Su Hyun for helping us be able to do this!

Upon meeting up with the Lee family, our hosts for the day, we were driven into the main gate of HHI, a place usually off limits for visitors. We were clued into the enormity of the place when Mr. Lee had to grab a map of the factory that listed several tour routes. He needed to be sure he wouldn’t lead us into a restricted area. We were also assured that photography of any kind is not permitted.

We actually went on two tour routes, so we were able to see almost everything available. We started by taking a left just past the main gate, which led us past several docked shipped that are in various stages of the building process. Each of the ships we passed by were representing different countries. We saw ships that are destined for Greece, Japan, China, France, Italy, The Philippines, and the United States, among others. At the time we visited, there were around 25 ships docked there.

As we continued on, we were diverted briefly from our route as we had to detour around a duel-controlled 600ton ground transporter toting a heavy load of metal that will eventually compile the interior of one of the ships being constructed. We were amazed at the size of the transporter, but were awed by the site of the huge 1260ton orange construction crane. The cranes are actually so large, that they can only be moved via factory wide rail system. We were stopped by the crane movement both going and coming back from the left side of the factory. HHI employs several such cranes, that can actually be viewed from the street, even above the large privacy wall that surrounds the entire ship yard.

As we wound around the factory, we noticed that even though it was Sunday, many workers were still present. Mr. Lee told us that the workers we saw were only a fraction of those employed by HHI. A total of around 45,000 people, including around 1,500 foreigners, report to work each day inside the huge shipyard. As a result, only certain people are allowed to drive their cars inside. This explained the thousands of scooters that pour from the gates every evening as the work-day comes to a close.

To accommodate the thousands of workers who would rather not leave the area for lunch, approximately 65 restaurants also reside in the yard. Once a year during a national holiday, about 40,000 chickens are used to prepare a special meal.

Coming around the back of the factory and traveling toward the right side, we passed by some ships that had been hoisted up on cranes for repairs. There are 10 such dry docks used for these purposes. We were permitted to get out of the car to get a better look at one of the docked ships, which I believe is not usually allowed. This particular ship is called the Prince Rupert, which will eventually make its way back to Hong Kong. The site of the huge propeller made Griffin wish he had been able to bring his camera. This particular prop measured about 20-25 feet and had been buffed to a high brass shine. Peering over the structure caused Mr. Lee’s young daughter and her friend to exclaim that they were too afraid to look down any longer.

We got back in the car and were lead by the engine room, where, again, we were allowed to get out and go into the shop where the engines are being constructed. The engine in plain view in front of us was easily 3 times the size of our apartment. Another, mostly covered, was even larger. Hyundai boasts the title of the first company in the world to reach the milestone of having produced 100 Million BHP (Brake Horse Power or Horsepower) in their engines over the past 40 years.

Our next stop was Mr. Lee’s office, where we saw a map of HHI and his daughter was able to see where her dad works for the first time. (This was the only place we were allowed to take photos.)

Next door, we were able to get a glimpse of the giant propellers in production. Several propellers were stationed around the warehouse, some rough cuts, others in the process of being machined, etc. We were not allowed into the building because of the safety codes, but were able to see in through the doorway. Adjacent to us on the outside wall, were signs stating the safety requirements: Wear a hardhat, safety glasses, ear plugs, coveralls, safety shoes, and gloves. I believe that pretty well covers all basics.

Finally we headed out of the main gate. As we turned back toward Mr. Lee’s home, we drove past the multiple miles-long factory wall with a new sense of wonder about the place behind it, fascinated by the logistics of it all. Even without photos, I know this tour was something we will never forget.

See HHI and Hyundai Car Factory on a map here.

Live in or Visiting Ulsan?  Want to go on a Tour Yourself?

The best way we know of for most people to go on a tour is to go on the Ulsan City Tour.  Currently they offer tours Tuesday through Sunday around Ulsan.  If you want to see the Car Factory you can go on the tour on Wednesday or Friday and the Ship yard is on the Friday tour as well.  For updated information, etc. check out the Ulsan City Tour website.

We have been puzzled by many things in Korea, but none has confused us so much as the Summer Camp preparations.

A long while before things got started, we noticed that many of our married/coupled friends had been sent to separate camps.  This seemed a bit odd and we asked my co-teacher about it.  She said that she had heard from the Office of Education that all known couples were intentionally split so the students would be more of a focus for teachers.  (This is a bit crazy to us since we are in the classrooms for 12 hours per day, excluding meals.)  Since I had not yet changed my last name, they didn’t realize we were married, so we were placed at the same camp.  This was very frustrating to our friends and it’s completely against our culture.  As foreigners, we know that we need to adapt to the Korean ways of life and we accept that.  However, we felt like this was completely against our ways of life and it’s not good for couples to be separated for this long, especially newly weds, as most couples here are.   Everyone raised a bit of a fuss about that and most couples were able to switch to the same camps.

After that, we had to jump through some Korean hoops.

We first were asked to attend a mandatory 5 hour prep meeting 2 months before the camp began.  We were surprised, first by the amount of time they asked for, and then by the fact that the entire meeting was in Korean.  All the foreign teachers left the meeting with about the same amount of information about camp that we came with.

We were given some books and told that we needed to prepare several lesson plans and e-mail them to our assigned Korean co-teacher by the following week.  We’re use to writing lesson plans, so it was no problem.  We were each also given a work book that corresponded to our “Conversation” book and told that we could use those worksheets with our lessons.  That sounded pretty sweet.  Until about a week later.  I turned my lesson plans in 2 days in advance, but received a strange reply.  My co-teacher needed the “worksheet file.”  I wrote back, confused, and said that I didn’t have a file for the worksheets, but since we had the same books, maybe she could just use her own book.  She replied that this wouldn’t work and she needed a file.  I replied that I didn’t have a file because the worksheet didn’t have a CD, and perhaps she could just xerox any worksheets she needed from her own book.  After many back-and-forths about this, she replied that she would expect the file by the following day (Saturday).  I assured her that she would not receive it.  Finally, after speaking to a couple other teachers, all foreign teachers were notified that we were expected to retype all of the worksheets from the pages we needed from the workbooks.  (About 20 pages… many with large corresponding pictures that can’t be typed.)  This was in mind to avoid violating copyright laws that would have been broken by xeroxing the worksheets.  Memo to the Office of Education:  Retyping someone else’s worksheets is still a copyright violation.

After many ups and downs about this from all the foreign teachers, most teachers found a way around it.  I ended up photographing my worksheets and was assured they would be printed for the camp.  Upon reaching camp, I found that my worksheets had not been printed, so they were promptly xeroxed by my co-teacher.  Hmmm.

The next crazy thing came about while we were on vacation in China.  Griffin received an e-mail and immediately started to laugh.  He told me I had to read it because it was unbelievable.  The Office of Education had decided that the students needed to spend as much time as possible with the foreign teachers, so we were being required to bunk with the students in their dorm rooms.  We decided that this needed no reply from us.  We knew that the other foreign teachers would not allow this to proceed.  As we suspected, within the next 24 hours, both of our inboxes were flooded with replies to this requirement.  Some gave reasons why this would not work, others simply stated that it was uncomfortable.  Everyone flat out refused to do it.  This requirement was rescinded with a couple of days.

We’ve often wondered why the Office of Education doesn’t have at least one foreign teacher they contact when they are thinking of sending out e-mails/requirements like those above.  It seems they could save a lot of time and energy if someone told them it would never fly.

Once camp got started, everything sailed pretty smoothly.  We love camps because the class sizes are around 16 students… down from our normal 36 students per class.  With this number of students, it’s easier to teach, play and get to know the students over the course of the 3 week intensive camp.

The college campus where we stayed is new and really beautiful.  We enjoyed getting to benefit from the electronics placed in the classrooms that made life easier and more complicated at the same time.  The university that hosted us is home to students studying Science and Technology and the campus has only been around for about 3 years.  Unfortunately, it is in the middle of nowhere, literally surrounded by rice fields.  It was kind of nice to get away.

We enjoyed our students and found that teaching elementary students is much easier than middle schoolers.  My camp students operate on much higher level of English than my regular middle school kids.

We were pretty surprised at the amount of information these kids are forced to take in in such a short amount of time.  Each class studied several lessons per day on each of the the topics of  vocabulary, conversation, listening and grammar.  During only a 3 week period, the students learned an average of 500 vocabulary words!  I won’t ask if they still remember!

We enjoy camp, but could do without the pre-camp “festivities.”

When it was determined that the Cheonan was sunk by a North Korean torpedo, many of our students and co-teachers became anxious.  Just this week, our students participated in a “war drill” to practice what they would do if the North attacked.  Most people believe that war will not happen for a variety of reasons.  First, the South will never attack the North for fear of economic repercussions.  Not to mention the fact that South Korea wants nothing but peace and for the countries to come to an understanding.  Many believe that the North would not attack because they know that allied forces would immediately come to the aid of the South.  However, knowing what we know about North Korean thought patterns, “all out war” could be a real possibility.

The people of North Korea have no grasp of reality due to the limited access to world news and technology.  Their government tells them, and they believe, that they are the happiest and best people in the world and that outside of their country, people are barely surviving.  We’ve heard countless testimonies of North Korea defectees that escape to the South and realize that the South Korean economy is booming (as compared to their own) and the people are happy and thriving.  They’ve always been told that South Koreans are starving and dig through trash to find food.  Of course, none of this is true, but how would North Korean’s know this? They are not allowed to access the internet expect through a dozen or so pre-aprroved sites.

It’s not all gloomy, though.  We’ve found some very comical aspects of living this close to the most reclusive nation in the world.

For starters, we find it hilarious that South Korea frequently sends “propaganda” across the boarder via flyer-filled balloons.  This propaganda includes photos of South Koreans eating a lot of food and drinking alcohol and generally just being happy.  They also send messages telling anyone who finds them that the North Korean government is lying and South Korea is a great place to live.  They also blast similar messages from loud speakers stationed at the DMZ.  (Just this week North Korea threatened to blow up the loud speakers if they weren’t turned off.)

Although American journalists are not usually allowed into the DPRK (North Korea) as Laura Ling and Euna Lee found out, British journalists and other nationalities are occasionally granted access.  The staged theatrics that are set up for such entrances cannot be understated.  It’s laughable that they put on these productions and expect the world to believe them.  For example, they tell one journalist that they are completely self sufficient and do not need any outside help.   Unfortunately for them, a U.N. provided tractor drives by at this exact time as one of the interviewees races to cover the U.N. seal that is branded on its side.  In another instance the journalist is invited into a Korean home for a celebration.  She is told that the man of the house is celebrating his 60th birthday and retirement.  Forgetting his script, the man actually tells her that he is 59 years old, works at the factory every day and usually has noodles for lunch.

We can’t get enough of the stories we have heard and find them really interesting.  If you do as well, check out some of the videos we’ve found below(click the picture to be taken to the page).

Great video on what life is like inside the terribly sheltered and naive country of North Korea. Very sad treatment of their people.

CNN Video about North Korea's scandalous soccer team and an article about borrowing Chinese fans for a cheering section.

One practice we’ve been really curious about is that of Acupuncture.  Nearly every Korean we know has tried acupuncture at some point in their life, but many were afraid that foreigners would not like it, so we were cautioned about trying it.  However, when the opportunity arose for us to give it a try during our church’s annual health screening day, we were ready to see what it’s all about.  Being that the health screenings were free, made it even better.  (Although, unlike these kinds of treatments in America, going to an oriental medicine clinic in Korea will cost you about $8.)

The doctor asked both of us what pain we were currently experiencing, and let’s just say that Taekwondo class left us with no shortage of answers.  Griffin explained to the doctor that he may have a pulled  muscle in his leg and I have a couple of sore knees.  Griffin braved the needle first (of that I am really glad!).  Since Griffin had explained to the doctor that his pain was in his left leg, we were a little surprised that he inserted a needle into his right foot.  The doctor assured us that he knew what he was dong.    I was a little startled when the doctor began really twisting the needle into Griffin’s foot.  When it was pretty deep, I had to ask if it hurt, but Griffin said he couldn’t even feel it, which made me feel a lot better.  Another needle was soon placed in his other foot and he was asked to be still for about 20 minutes.

Next was my turn.  Again, to my surprise, my knee pain was treated with needles inserted into my upper left arm and my left hand.  I didn’t feel the arm needles at all, but the one he put into my left pinky finger did smart a little.

There are many theories about how acupuncture works, but  one of the most commonly held beliefs is that of “Gate Control”The “Gate Control” theory of pain management asserts that a stimulus, such as acupuncture, closes certain nerve gates by strategically overloading them with impulses and thus reducing pain signal transmission. which states that the needle can basically inhibit a pain stimulus and block the pain pathway of the spinal cord.

Although many people think that acupuncture is just a placebo, I have to say that I was a believer before I ever tried it.  My grandmother, who suffered from terrible arthritis, could not make a fist before she tried acupuncture.  Several sessions later, she said her hands hadn’t felt that good in years.  Her doctor explained to her that if she had begun acupuncture treatments when the arthritis first began, it would never have gotten that bad.

As for me and Griffin, we have mixed reviews.  My knee pain is all but totally gone, but that could be due to a night off from Taekwondo and the ice I applied to it for several hours.  Griffin says his muscle pain is mostly unchanged.  But, could we benefit from a few more treatments?  We’re definitely considering it.

If something is bothering you, we highly recommend trying something new for a change.  You just might be surprised at what oriental healing arts can do for you.

Here is a quick video with some pictures from our experience.  Hope you enjoy!

And here is our video in case you missed it

The Consolation Prizes

When it comes to consolation prizes, 10 Magazine did not disappoint.  They sent us home happy with a package including:

• ₩50,000 gift card to On The Border
• ₩20,000 gift card to Caffe Bene
• 2 Tickets to Miso: A Traditional Korean Musical worth ₩40,000 each

We went to On The Border that night and enjoyed some good Mexican food.  It was not quite as good as our favorite Mexican restaurant, but free Mexican food in Korea is always a welcome treat and we even had enough left over for lunch the next day.

After On The Border we headed over to catch the 8PM showing of Miso.  We had no idea what to expect, but were excited about the fun date night at no cost to us!  We were quickly blown away by the professionalism and beauty or this amazing performance.  The lighting was fantastic and the live music and coloful costumes all combined to leave us memorized for most of the show.  All we could do was sit there and enjoy the beauty as the plot unfolded before our eyes.  We were also glad that it was more of an instrumental musical than a vocal one and because of this the story relied more on acting and scene changes than speaking which we would have not understood.  This was a huge plus and the reason we would not hesitate to recomend the show to anyone who is looking for a great date night idea in Seoul.

During one of the performances, Valerie was picked out of the audience and brought up on stage to perform a balancing act with the cast.  She did an excellent job and even outperformed the Korean college student they had brought up to compete with her;-)   When the show finished there was a short time to meet and take pictures with the cast, but by the time we got our camera, the time had ended.  We think this may have been due to the world cup game being on, but are not sure if more time is normally allotted or not, so if you go, make sure to rush for the pictures afterward.

Valerie getting ready to balance the spinning wheel on stage at the performance of Miso.

Upon exiting the theater, we heard some chearing coming from down to the street and decided to walk over and investigate.  It turned out to be thousands of fans watching and cheering for the Korean Red Devils to beat Greece in the world cup.  The city had set up huge TVs in the square in front of City Hall for the event and the atmosphere was electrifying!  We joined in the fun for a while and then headed out a little early to beat the crowds.  This was definitely the most fun day we have had in Seoul and just want to again thank our family and friends and 10 Magazine for providing us with the opportunity.

More Information About Miso

For those interested, here are some pictures and more information about Miso.

A Poster with some of the cast we saw.

A Picture from their website of one of the drum scenes that was very enjoyable.

Another picture from their website. This one of a knife and sword dancing scene that was very fun to watch.

You can check out a plot summary from their website and more here.

NOTE: 10 Magazine, On The Border and Miso logo’s are all copyright their original owners and their depiction on this on this site in no way infers ownership to me.  All pictures of Miso provided by the Miso website.  No photography is allowed while viewing the production of Miso(I secretly took the one of Valerie with my iPhone before being caught, so maybe not as secretly as I had hopped;-)

First, a quick lesson on how Koreans describe food.  If the food is good, Koreans will say it tastes good.  Makes sense.  However, they have no phrase to say that food is not good.  Instead, as a way to avoid insulting the cook, Koreans will state that the food “has no taste.”  On a lighter note, one of Griffin’s co-teachers taught him the phrase, “Marchy chig ami da.”  Which means, “this food is to die for.”  It usually cracks up whoever he says this to.  (Last night our Taekwondo instructor nearly choked to death on his food when Griffin said this to him.  He could not stop laughing.)

First, and foremost, Korean food is sometimes very spicy.  On one occasion, in particular, I tried a saucy pulled pork dish that was really delicious.  I really enjoyed the sweet, yet, hot taste.  However, I eventually had to abandon the effort as my eyes started to water and my nose started to run.  I have not been able to bring myself to try it again.

Griffin had a similar experience with a dish called Heong-Uh (홍어).  It’s a fermented fish with a recipe described to us like this: First, you catch the fish and skin it.  Then you place it outside to dry for about a week.  Then you put it in water to rehydrate.  Then cut into pieces and serve.  Notice I did not mention any cooking involved.  So, basically, you are eating raw, rotten fish.  Most Koreans we have surveyed about Heong-Uh report that they enjoy it… but only if they have had a lot of alcohol.  As for us, the smell alone is enough to remind us not to try again.

We’ve also sampled plenty of other Korean cuisine that we would highly recommend.  Galbi, a sweet marinated beef dish; Bulgogi, which is  a beef dish that comes in a variety of seasonings; Sam gip Sar, which is a barbecued pork dish that you cook yourself and dress into lettuce wraps; and Sashimi, raw fish, are some of our favorites.

Check out our photos for a good look at some of the Korean foods we have enjoyed as well as shots of our school lunches.

Upon entering the city, we were at a loss of words for how to describe the scenery.  As our bus winded through the streets toward the festival, we could look nowhere but outside, waiting to go explore this magical time and space.

Once off the bus, we located a crowd gathered in the middle of the main rotary and caught a fun Taekwondo exhibition of black belted children.  We were really envious!

Afterward, we met up with some other friends and headed up a nearby lookout mountain to check the view from the top.  The lookout was incredible and a site we will never forget.  We journeyed back down and spent some time just walking around the area to check out the other scenery.  For that day, Jinhae was host to many food vendors and souvenir stands, along with thousands of people who came to visit.

After a fun day with friends and having spent time praising God for His beautiful creation, we boarded the bus home.

We visited several other nearby cities and took in the Cherry Blossom sites in our own city as well, and we find that we always enjoy our experiences the most when we are able to experience it all with people we care about.

If you ever get the chance to visit Korea in the Spring, make sure to check out the Cherry Blossom Festival in Jinhae.

Here is a quick video with some of our experiences in Jinhae.  Enjoy!!

Last night we had a board breaking test for our upcoming Pink(not so excited about the color) belt test.  It was so much fun and invigorating.  We all passed and had a fun time doing it.  We even got to watch our Taekwondo master break 8 boards at one time, which was amazing!

Geek Info: I brought along my Canon 7D to take some video at 60 Frames Per Second, which is twice the normal speed of film(30FPS) I then used a program to slow it back down to 30FPS which creates the slow motion effect you can see bellow, and then put it all together in iMovie.  Enjoy!

To see our Taekwondo Master break 8 boards at once, check it out on our facebook page here.

If you want to see our Taekwondo class in “Fast Motion”(Time Lapse) check it out here.

The secret is we go to class four to five nights a week.  This is normal in Korea and we actually get a lower grade on attendance if we miss only two classes in a month and a half.  In The States people usually attend class two or three nights a week max.  This is one of the reasons for the time discrepancy.  We have been taking lessons for about 6 months now and are five belts into our ten belt training, so we are half way there.  Due to vacations and not coming five nights a week every week, we are guessing it will take us about a year and a half to achieve a black belt.  Valerie and I are both so excited about this future achievement and mostly about being able to accomplish it together in the country where the sport originated!  Thanks so much for following along on our journey as we work towards this goal together.

The other night I decided it would be fun to do a time lapse recording of our one hour class to share with all of you.  Our typical class look like this:

5 mins– Jump rope
10 mins– Stretching, push-ups and sit-ups
10 mins– Form practice (repetitive stances, punching, kicking, blocking)
10 mins– Kicking/Punching paddle
20 mins– Poomsae practice (Specific moves in order. So far we know three forms and are learning the fourth.)
5 mins– Cool down stretching

Enjoy the video!

This save us a lot of time and also some money due to the fact that we do not have to spend $2.00 or more on buses everyday.  It costs us about $8 a week for gas and that includes going to get groceries and weekend rides to the beach or though the mountains.  If we had to do it again we would probably spring for the 100-125cc scooter as we are unable to make long road trips on our bike.  For 50cc scooters in Korea no insurance and no tags are required, so that’s why we chose that option.

We took a video to share our new, much faster, commute and it was shot at the peak of the Cherry blossom season, so the streets are lined with beautiful trees in full bloom.  Enjoy!

We are now blue belts!!  This is the fifth level belt and means we only have another five to go to get a black belt!

You can check back every couple months to see our status update via the image bellow

Belt colors vary from gym to gym, and in our case these last few levels are increasingly difficult to attain.  Each level consists of mastering new kicks, punches and blocks, as well as a new “Poomsae,” which is a choreographed routine employing all the learned movements.  Since each level has it’s own poomsae, we are required to present each poomsae during the time of the belt test.  The more we learn, the more difficult it can be to remember each level’s specific poomsae.

Our instructor continues to impress us.  He is an excellent teacher and we are really enjoying our time with him.  We hope to progress rapidly through the levels and reach Black Belt sometime in the Fall.

We Are Famous!

Recently, our photos were placed on a large banner outside out gym to advertise our “Foreigner Class.”  It’s already getting a good response and our class size has grown from 4 to 8.

Here is how the banner making process went:

Monday: We mention to our instructor that we like the new banner outside (which is in all Korean) and that next time he makes a banner, if he would like, we can help him with some wording to advertise the foreigner class option.

Tuesday: When we walk into class our instructor asks us to stand in front of the wall so he can take a picture.  We think this is maybe for himself or his family or something so we are glad to oblige.  As an afterthought we ask what the pictures will be for and he tells us he will use them for a new banner!  As you will see in the picture, we were not at all ready for pictures much less pictures to go on a giant banner, but oh well.
Our instructor asks us to think of a good phrase to to put on the sign to encourage other foreigners to join.

Wednesday: Valerie and I had a last minute date night and went for dinner and a movie instead of Taekwondo.  We plan to recommend the phrase “Foreigner friendly classes available.” to our instructor the next day.

Thursday: We go to Taekwondo and mention our recommended phrase, but are not asked to write it down or anything.  We assume all is well.

Friday: The new banner is revealed!  We feel a a little responsible for the bad English on the banner, but of course we tell our instructor it is great.  The English on the banner reads as follows:

Foreigner Recruitment – (so far so good)

From foreigner practice timely evening 8:30 minute – (OK.  it gets the point gets across)

In order for “before the what to become the stately child, it will teach.” – (?)

Here’s the picture!

Our Taekwondo Gym with the banner proudly displayed;-)

Photo of Taekwondo instructor by Flickr user Diego Jose