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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]]>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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