If you can’t see the video, click here to view online.

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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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.

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!

How To Make One Yourself

To make your our video similar to this one, go to pummelvision.com as you may have guessed from the video.  There you can pull pictures from Flickr, Facebook, Dropbox and a few others.  You’l have to authorize pummelvision to allow access to the account you choose and then also let it know if you want to publish to Vimeo or YouTube, so you can instantly link it to anyone on Twitter, Facebook, etc. After that, put in your email address and wait a few hours to a couple days and pummelvision will email you when your video is ready.

Bonus Video!

Griffin has been taking pictures every couple of days and posting them to his Facebook account.  Here is a video of all of them.  These are taken and edited on an iPhone.  Enjoy!

The trouble started in Atlanta. After checking our two bags each and getting our tickets when we noticed that the tickets we had booked together and requested, even having chosen our seats, had now changed entirely for Valerie.

THE FLIGHT WE BOOKED AND GRIFFIN’S TICKET

Atlanta, Georgia –> Seattle, Washington –> Narita, Japan –> Busan, South Korea

(These were the cheapest tickets we could find if you could’t tell;-)

Valerie’s flight on the other hand had been totally changed and she was booked as follows(commentary by Griffin’s thoughts)

VALERIE’S SURPRISE ITINERARY DELTA MADE UP FOR HER

Atlanta, Georgia (So far so good.  At least they got the departure city correct)

Detroit, Michigan (What?!  Who wants to go to Detroit in the first place and secondly, why has my wife been re-booked without our knowledge or consent on an entirely different flight?)(No offense if you are from Detroit;-))

Narita, Japan (Back on track now, but on a different flight here as well)

Busan, South Korea (Again, I guess we should give Delta credit for getting the destination city correct as well.  Two out of four is probably better than normal for them)

We went to the desk to see what happened and they had no idea.  The lady that helped at the desk was apologetic and confused herself as to why this would happen.  When she asked the mysterious person on the phone who was re-booking our flight for us she said that is may have happened due to a schedule change.  So if there is a schedule change in your flight they may book you and your traveling partner/wife on an entirely different itinerary.  That makes no sense still.  Long story short, we were able to get back on our original itinerary, but without exit row seating, and sitting nowhere near each other despite asking to be placed together.  We were also informed that Valerie’s bags were on their way to the fair city of Detroit and would meet us at our final destination in Busan, South Korea.  We now had to run for the gate because of all the time taken to rebook Valerie’s flight.  When we arrived at the gate we asked again and two people had not shown up, so they moved us to be next to each other.  We gate checked Valerie’s Guitar and got on the plane just in time for departure.

When we arrived in Seattle we waited at the gate for Valerie’s guitar which did not show up.  After about 10 minutes of waiting someone was sent to check on it and we were told to go to our next flight because the gate was about to close.  We rushed over to the connecting flight and requested to be next to each other as we had booked and they basically told us we were on our own and to check with another passenger.  This was really frustrating as they were not taking any ownership for the problem they had caused and could obviously care less about the trouble we had been through. As we approached the plane door, a breathless man came to show us Valerie’s Guitar had been found and to tell us it would be on this flight.  We were relieved to know it had not been lost so soon which was more than could be said about the rest of our luggage, as we found out later. We asked a man sitting alone in a two seat section and he was kind enough to move for us, so we sat together, but again not in exit row and Griffin’s legs became sore and uncomfortable about 3 hours into the 8 hour flight.

Upon arriving in Narita, Japan we were once again a little worried to find that Valerie’s Guitar had not made it to meet us at the gate.  We waited around for about 20 minutes  and asked some people about it, but no body had any idea, so we headed to our next flight which was scheduled to leave in about 20 minutes.  After going through a security check and arriving at the gate and strangely seeing no other passengers waiting, we asked the attendant about our flight and she said it had been postponed until the following morning due to bad weather in Nagoya, Japan and our plane being grounded there.  We then went back through security, filled out customs and embarkation cards and then went to baggage claim to find it empty as well.  We went to the help desk to ask about our luggage and were relieved to see Valerie’s Guitar sitting there in unclaimed luggage.  The attendant was very helpful and friendly and told us that our luggage would be checked through to Busan and we could claim it there upon arrival.  We re-booked our seats to be next to each other and were able to get exit row as well.  The baggage attendant also let us know that there was someone waiting at the exit to show us to our hotel.

We were sent to a nice hotel and provided with a free Chinese dinner, which we thought was a little strange since we were in Japan, but it was good. We had been awake for 48 hours at this point, so we gladly ate and went to bed.

We woke up at 4AM the next day due to jet lag and then got on the 5:30AM bus for our flight a little while later.  We were the first people at the airport along with the other passengers and the quick breakfast we had hoped to grab had to be postponed due to no stores being open yet.  At the gate they told us there would be breakfast on board and, forgetting what breakfast was in Asia, we were excitedly looking foreword to delicious eggs and toast and maybe even some bacon, or, worst case some cereal or yogurt.  We were glad to receive a $100 voucher for our delay along with the rest of the customers on that flight.  We carried Valerie’s Guitar onto the plane this time to avoid further confusion and loss and prepared for breakfast which we were starving for.  A little while after takeoff breakfast came and we were more than a little disappointed to see that it consisted of sea weed, fish eggs, rice and some fish;-(  Normally we would have just waited but we were starving and ate as much as we could of this meal we would normally eat as a lunch or dinner.

We arrived in Busan, South Korea 3 days after departing from Atlanta tired and in good humor from all the mishap as the only other option would be to have an emotional breakdown and start crying like a couple of babies.  We got through immigration and security without any issues and arrived to gather our luggage and head home.  We waited until everyone else had claimed their luggage and left and then went to over to the desk to ask about our three missing bags (one did arrive with us).  They told us that Valerie’s bags had been delayed in Detroit and would arrive that night and my other bag was, for some strange reason, still in Seattle, but should arrive at the same time and they would bring them to our house.

Immediately upon arriving in Ulsan, we moved apartments as we had planned earlier.  We had not planned for the flight delay so we started the move at 1pm instead of 10am and finished moving everything over around 3pm.  We then worked the rest of the day to try and get things organized and settled and then went to bed at 11 and were promptly woken up at midnight to meet the guy with our luggage.  We were also informed that they had only found Valerie’s two suitcases, and mine was still missing, so we now had two out of three out of four bags.  It was nice to have them delivered instead of having to lug them from the airport upon arrival, but it was a little nerve-racking not knowing where they were or if we would see them again in the mean time.

The following day – five days after departing Atlanta, we received a call that our last piece of luggage had been found and would arrive around 6PM that night(Monday).  We received the last of our luggage and five days after beginning our journey were finally all back in one place along with our possessions.  It was quite a trip.

UPDATE:  We sent this post to Delta before posting and they were kind enough to award us 7,500 bonus miles for our experience and trouble.  Thanks Delta;-)

NOTE:  As terrible as this trip was, we are still so thankful to be fortunate enough to even go on a trip like this and see the places God has blessed us to see.  We just wish the that customer service was more of a priority than an afterthought in the airline industry.  We did notice on this round trip flight that most of the older, mad-at-the-world flight attendants we can normally count on Delta to employ were missing and were pleasantly surprised to find older and younger helpful and cheerful flight attendants in their places.  One even made a joke about how they were out of paid lunches on our flight from Seattle to Atlanta, but she was sure she could find something for Delta to charge us for if we wished;-)

FUN Extra Reading Real-Time Extra Reading via Twitter: http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23deltasucks

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.

Travel Plans

• Days 1-3 – Explore and take in the beautiful landscapes of Guilin, China
  

  Guilin’s famous mountains along the Li river

• Days 4-5 – Quick visit to Xi’an to see the Terracotta Army

Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an China

• Days 6-8 – Spend the Rest of our time in Beijing seeing:
  • The Forbidden City
  • Great Wall
  • Tiananmen Square

The Great Wall Of China

Here is a map of our journey. Enjoy!

View China Trip Summer 2010 in a larger map

Travel Tip

We have been using Tripit.com for all of our travel recently and really love it.  If you have not checked the site out we highly recommend it.  You can forward any emails you get from your airline, hotel, hostel, tour company etc. and the site will put it all together into a very nice itinerary with all the information you may need “on the go.”  There is also an iPhone app that can sync the information for later use without internet, which we use constantly on our travels.

Travel Hacking Strategy

Our trip is a multi-destination, open jaw trip as we are flying into one destination – Guilin, staying a couple days, flying out to another destination – Xi’an and then taking our last flight from Beijing instead of Xi’an – (that’s the open jaw part.)  We will be taking an overnight train from Xi’an to Beijing.  We are doing this for a couple reasons.  The first one is to experience train travel in China.  Another reason is it saves a little on airfare and is better for the environment, which is a win-win for us.  The last reason is to confuse the airline and make the trip as complicated to book as possible.  OK, that’s not really a reason, but it felt like that’s what happened.

For many airlines this is not a problem and a common practice.  You can usually save lots of money or hassle or both by using open jaw tickets when:

• You are planning to go overland for a portion of your jouney
• It is more convenient and/or cheaper to leave from a different airport/location/state/country than the one you flew into
• You have plenty of time and don’t mind taking buses/trains to save money between destinations
• You don’t have plenty of time, but you can take overnight transport from one destination to another to save a little money on lodging/airfaire and experience a different form of travel
• You can find cheaper flights with budget airlines in between two places you want to visit and it beats the cost of booking the whole trip with one carrier.
  • This is especially useful in countries with cheap budget airlines like Easy Jet and Ryan Air in Europe, or  Air Asia and Tiger Airways in Asia.  Booking connecting flights around the continent for about $100-$200 per connection will usually be much cheaper than booking a multi-destination trip with a major carrier.

If you want to learn more about travel hacking and even get a guaranteed free domestic flight in the States, check out this great resource by someone who will have traveled to every country in the world by 2013!

Frequent Flyer Master is a full e-book, a 20-minute audio, and a 4-page Priceline specific guide on the art of hacking airline miles. Click for a full description.

The Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ, is roughly 155 miles long and 2.5 miles wide.  On the North side is the DPRK or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.  This country is known to the Western world as “North Korea.”  To the South lies the Republic of Korea, or “South Korea,” our current home.

The North side of the DMZ boasts roughly 1,000,000 soldiers, while South Korea keeps it lite at around 500,000.  All are armed and ready to face off  if one country attempts in any way to cross the boarder.  According to a 1954 treaty, if North Korea ever attempts to invade its southern counterpart, the United States is automatically at war, having vowed to protect South Korea.

Meanwhile, the DMZ itself, since it is rarely crossed by either side, has become a natural wildlife preserve, despite the still-active landmines.

Down the middle of the DMZ is the DML, or Demarkation Line.  This is the actual boarder between the two countries.  In the center of the DML, sits the Joint Security Area, a building in which both Koreas may enter for peace talks.  It is the only area where you may technically cross the line into North Korea, as the building sits on top of the line.

While on our tour we were able to view the DMZ and, from a safe distance, the DML.  We have not yet had the opportunity to visit the Joint Security Area, but hope to do so soon.

One of the most fascinating points on our itinerary was a visit to what is known as the 3rd Tunnel.  After the Korean War had settled into a cease fire, the North Koreans began digging tunnels into South Korea’s capital city.  Only 4 of an estimated 20 of these tunnels have been found.  The 3rd tunnel, which is wide enough to allow 300,000 soldiers (with artillery) into Seoul within one hour, was discovered when a North Korean slave and tunnel digger escaped into South Korea and told military officials from the ROK about his work.  When asked why they were building tunnels into South Korea, the North Korean leaders claimed it was to dig for coal.  As this is not geologically possible, the South Koreans asked for proof.  Retreating soldiers painted black “coal” dust onto the walls as they exited.  This is still visible in the tunnel.  When South Korea proposed to the North that coal mining was not possible in the tunnel, the North then claimed that the South had built the tunnel to invade the North.  However, dynamite drilling sloping toward to South suggests this is also a lie.  When the 3rd Tunnel became a tourist attraction and South Korea began to benefit from from it financially, North Korea became angered and basically said, “Hey, it’s not fair!  We built that tunnel and you are making money off of it!”

Going inside the tunnel was spooky.  Seeing the “coal” marking and dynamite holes really makes the scene of these invasions come alive.

We really enjoyed this tour and hope to be able to go to the DML soon.  Since North Korea recently began allowing Americans to visit with tour groups, we may check into that as well.  (Just don’t tell our mothers!)

Here is a video I put together of the first trip we took.  This is part 1 of 2 and in this video we make a traditional Korean Mask and visit a traditional Korean Paper Factory.  Enjoy!

For pictures from the trip, please check out our Flickr set here.

View Ulsan, South Korea in a larger map

On September 10th, we woke up early to head to the jungle for some elephant riding.  The weather was perfect and we could not have asked for better temperatures.  We were picked up at our hotel and took a quick trip around the island to pick up some other trekkers.  When we arrived, we walked down a trail to the river where we were able to watch the elephants bathe and play in the water.  We were then invited to sit atop the large animals while they playfully splashed water on us.  Valerie was allowed to ride one of elephants back up the trail so we could get started with the ride!

When we arrived back at the hut, we were greeted with fresh pineapple and bottles of water.  We were then ready to board a two-seater basket balanced on the back of our elephant.  About 6 elephants caravanned through a well-known jungle trail carrying a dozen excited island guests, ourselves included.  We rode as the elephants each went up and down steep hills and waded across small rivers.  The gentle elephants were also kind enough to stop and pose for photographs.   After the 1 and 1/2 hour ride, we arrived safely back at the hut where we were given bananas to feed the elephants, a reward for their hospitality to us.  We, ourselves, were given fresh coconuts, cut open at the top and served with a straw.  Though they were a bit too bitter for our liking, they were very tropical looking.  =)

All in all this was a highlight of our trip and certainly an unforgettable experience for both of us. Check out the video and photos below to see more.

For our honeymoon we went on a three week trip to Thailand and Cambodia before heading to South Korea to start our new jobs as teachers. One of our favorite memories was swimming with and riding these gentle giants through the beautiful jungles of the tropical island of Koh Chang. Enjoy!

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Some of our favorite pictures are below.  To see all the pictures from this trip and others, check out our Flickr page here.  Enjoy.

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My brother-in-law, Daniel, put this video together for our wedding. It is about how we met, our first date, first kiss and the proposal. We showed this at the beginning of our wedding so all our guests could get to know a little more about us and our history together.  We are loving married life and are looking foreword to many more adventures together for the rest of our lives!!  Hope you enjoy!

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Random Fact: We found out through the website that aquarium is owned by an Australian company which we thought was interesting.

We went on a glass bottom boat ride, fed some fish and watched two divers feed the sharks.  It was a very fun experience and if you get the chance to visit, we highly recommend checking it out.  Some of our favorite pictures are below.  To see all the pictures from this trip and others, check out our Flickr page here.  Enjoy.

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An-yang-ha-se-yo!

Here we are in our 3rd month of marriage and our 2nd month here in Ulsan, South Korea.  We decided we were having too much time to relax, so we quickly added a ton of new things to our daily agenda.  Aside from our usual lesson planning and teaching, we’ve recently begun two new challenging activities:  Korean language classes and the art of Taekwondo.

We have a wonderful language tutor, Ms. Lee, who is the Korean teacher at my school.  She graciously offered to teach us for free in exchange for conversing with me sometimes during the day.  Ms. Lee is a self-taught English speaker who is only now able to use her skills to speak to foreigners!  She is very humble about her abilities, but she speaks excellent English!  We are slowly learning our Korean letters and syllables, but find that it is a challenge to find time to study.  We meet with Ms. Lee 3 times each week and use flash cards to study outside of our language class.

After Korean lessons, we head home to grab a quick dinner, a must if we are going to avoid food for the hour preceding our Taekwondo class, as Master Young suggests.  Our class currently consists of 4 small children, all black belts, ourselves, and two other foreigners.  Our pastor, Azel, serves as our translator during class.  Azel is Burmese, studied in the Philippines, is married to a Korean and also serves as the pastor for the English service at our church.  He is hilarious and says he often confuses his languages.  Another friend from church, Allie, also studies Taekwondo with us.  At this point in our class, we are still conditioning our bodies.  This consists of several exercises and stretching sequences that leave us hurting the following morning.  We are also learning some easy punching and kicking techniques and love it when Master Young, who speaks very little English, says “Ah… Good.”

We return home at about 10:00pm and basically fall into bed, exhausted.  We are trying our best to make sure we get enough sleep to start it all over again the following day.  In Korea, we are told that with some discipline we may be able to earn black belts in about 18 months.  Of course, Ms. Lee says I will be reading books in Korean in no time.  I’m not sure about either of these statements, but it is really fun to try.

Until next time, An-yang-higa-say-yo!

Griffin and Valerie

Griffin and Valerie in front of the South Korea Flag in our Taekwondo Gym.

Griffin and Valerie with our Taekwondo instructor - Master Young. We love having class with Master Young. He is so kind and picks us up at our house and takes us all the way to and from the gym for class, which is about 5 miles away. He does all this and does not charge any extra.

Alexis, Azel, Valerie & Griffin. In just a matter of months we will all be lethal black belts.

Alexis, Griffin and Valerie with the small korean black belts that could at any moment turn on us and kill us with just their pinky finger!

Valerie and Griffin with our very sweet and awesome Korean teacher Ms. Lee. She taught herself English by studying and reading books and we are the first native speakers she has talked to. Her English is excellent and she is a great teacher!

Photo of Taekwondo instructor by Flickr user Diego Jose

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An-yang-ha-se-yo!

It has been about three years since Griffin was last able to walk to work and/or use public transportation instead of having to have a car and he has missed it greatly.  Griffin really enjoys walking to work in the morning.  It gives him time to think, pray, relax, reflect and plan.  His school is about a twenty minute walk from our house and we are able to get anywhere we need to in the entire city by walking, taking the $0.75 bus, or a combination or the two which we love.

Valerie’s morning commute is a little different.  Since my school is a little too far away to walk, I take the bus the 4 or 5 stops to my school.  I find it hilarious every morning that the bus drivers are all intent on dislocating my arms and legs with their stop-on-a-dime and then peel-out driving techniques.  I equate the ride with the same leg maneuvers I would use to water ski.  I also ride the bus with about 20 of my students, who each wave feverishly and say “Hello” when they see me enter.  All city buses stop at my school, so it’s nice to be able to jump on the first bus that pulls up.  The total ride time is about 8 minutes.

Valerie and Griffin put together a quick video of our walk/rides to work so that you can see some of the sights and experiences that apart of our daily lives.  Hope you Enjoy!

Valerie’s Morning Commute from Valerie & Griffin Stewart on Vimeo.

A short video of Valerie’s walk and bus ride to work in Ulsan, South Korea. Actual travel time is about 10 minutes.

Griffin’s Walk to School from Valerie & Griffin Stewart on Vimeo.

A short video of how I get to work everyday. Actual travel time is about 20 minutes. I really enjoy walking to work everyday as it gives me time to relax, think , pray and prepare for my day.

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An-yang-ha-se-yo!

As we have begun to adjust to life in Korea, we thought it would be fun to tell you a little more about the customs and culture here in our new home. Check back often as we will update periodically with the interesting finds we make here.

Today, we wanted to tell you about Korean food.  If you’ve never been to a Korean restaurant, you’re missing out!

First, you should know about the three staples of a Korean diet: Kimchi, Rice, and Soup.  All three of these items are eaten for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.  Kimchi is… and acquired taste.  =)  There are many different types of Kimchi, but mostly it consists of either cubed radish or cabbage leaves, smothered in a distinctive, spicy red paste.  Seriouly… three meals a day.

As you probably know, Koreans, like in a lot of Asian countries, still use chopsticks.  In the words of Jerry Seinfeild, “They’ve seen the fork.  They know about the fork.”  However, these are not the chopsticks you might see at P.F. Changs.  These chopsticks are metal and flat and very difficult to grasp.  (I used to think I was pretty good with chopsticks until I came here.)  So, eating is always a fun endeavor.

Along with the three constants you will find at any Korean table, you will also see several side dishes.  These can be anything from extremely small, garlic roasted tiny fish (complete with head and eyes), to bean sprouts in spicy sauce.   There is usually some sort of meat, though we may not recognize it because of the shape or the spicy sauce.  You  may also notice that a lot of things here can be described as spicy.   We have yet to taste dog, but plan to try it pretty soon.

Griffin and I have decided that it would be a good idea to try at least one new Korean dish each week.  My co-teacher has said he is  happy to make recommendations.

Now that you have eaten your spicy meal it’s time to discard your leftovers.  That’s right, if you didn’t eat it just go ahead and put it in your soup.  That’s what everyone does here for easy discard.

You may have noticed that I did not mention drinks.  Here in Korea, it is customary to wait until you finish your meal before you have a drink.  In our schools, the water coolers are actually outside the cafeteria and you pick up a cup on your way out.  This is difficult for me given the spicy foods.  The cups are always tiny and we have wondered how Koreans don’t become dehydrated during the day.

After your meal, don’t forget your toothbrush.  We quickly noticed that most of the students and staff members keep a toothbrush and toothpaste at school and quickly dash off to the restroom to brush their teeth after lunch.  In an effort to fit in, we went right out and bought spare toothbrushes and toothpastes to keep at our respective schools!

At home we keep our food pretty Western.  We do purchase some Korean food and definitely try new recipes, however you will find hotdogs and sandwich dressings in our apartment on any given day.  Unfortunately, the Korean version of saurkraut is… Kimchi!  We won’t be putting that on our hotdogs!

Check back soon for more updates about our assimilation into Korean cultures.

Valerie and Griffin

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A lot of people have asked us about what our house is like, so we put together this video to show you our two bedroom apartment. There is a 3:30 version and a 2 min version with the same tour, just one is sped up.  Hope you Enjoy the tour!

Valerie and Griffin

Tour of Our House in Ulsan, South Korea from Valerie & Griffin Stewart on Vimeo.

The grand tour of our nice, new apartment in South Korea.

Griffin’s Favorite Feature: The Cool Door Lock

Valerie’s Favorite Feature: SVU on the TV every Tuesday at 9PM

Quick Tour of Our House in Ulsan, South Korea from Valerie & Griffin Stewart on Vimeo.

Same content as longer version, just sped up. Hope you can read fast!;-)

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An-yang-ha-se-yo! (Hello!)

We arrived safely in South Korea on September 18th (still the 17th in the U.S.). We were immediately taken to meet the teachers at Hyundai Chungun Middle School where I will be teaching for the next 12 months. We had a meeting with the principal which consisted of everyone speaking in Korean for about 5 minutes, then asking us a question in English, then continuing to talk about us in Korean. From there, we were taken to a hotel since our apartment was not yet ready. We were able to meet with the teachers we are replacing, which was very helpful. Jason and Kristen are from Oregon and had been the first native English speakers in their respective schools since several years ago, so they had already pioneered everything for us and were a great help. Griffin teaches at Hyundai Middle school, which is about a 15 minute walk from my school.
You will notice a familiar name associated with both schools, Hyundai. Hyundai’s main headquarters is right here in Ulsan. With the ship-building company, as well as offshore engineering and Hyundai Motor Company, roughly 30,000 employees pour into the city for work each day. This company truly stretches for miles and you can easily see its influence here. Most people realize that without the company, Ulsan’s economy would be drastically different.
We were finally able to move into our apartment on Wednesday, the 23rd, and we have slowly been settling in, trying to find a space for everything. We feel blessed that our apartment is much bigger than Kristen and Jason’s, however, it is still very small. As our very first home together, though, we are so excited! We have both begun teaching and are very happy with our students. The students here go to school from 8:30am until 4:30pm and then go to a private school, or Hagwan, from 5:00pm until about 10:00pm. They also go to school on Saturdays, although we are excused from teaching on the weekends.
We haven’t had a real opportunity to do much exploring, but hope to change that soon. We will definitely keep you updated!
Until then, An-yang-hik-ye-se-yo… (I think that’s it!)

Valerie and Griffin

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