My 2 Week Vacation to Ohio

This post was also written during my trip back to Korea.  Unfortunately I didn't get to take too many pictures of my awesome trip home, but my friends and family took a few, so I"ll share those :)

My trip started quite interestingly when I was informed that my flight itinerary had changed.  I checked my email and learned that my flight departing from Busan was no longer at 7:20 A.M., but at 11:05 A.M.  Well that's good, but then I noticed that my flight time and layovers no longer totaled a lapsed time of 24 hours, but 32 hours, 17 minutes.. woah!  Not only does this inconvenience me (with 3 five hour layovers), but it inconvenienced my parents, since they were the ones picking me up from Cleveland Hopkins Airport.  Instead of arriving at 6:24 P.M. on Saturday August 25th, I arrived at 6:22 A.M. on Sunday morning.  Bummer.

So the flight situation was a 'little' annoying, but I made do and arrived in Cleveland airport right on time Sunday morning.  My flights had been smooth and relatively uneventful (a very good thing when it comes to flying).  I actually met a really cool Mexican guy that sat next to me on my flight from Incheon (Seoul) to San Francisco.  He was traveling for the company that he works for.  His job has something to do with programming the big cranes that lift the big shipping containers that you see on ships and trains.  It was really interesting talking with him about his 1 week experience in Korea, and about my 1 year experience there.  He said that the quality of work and overall work ethic that he witnessed was absolutely amazing in Korea. On the other hand China (which I'm currently flying to for a brief layover) he said was lacking in both of those qualities.  That was very interesting to me since China is where we see so many things "made in."  I can't jump to conclusions just based on one man's experience there, but it sure makes me think.  Maybe they (as a nation) are focusing too much on quantity, and not enough on quality.  That is a significant factor for Americans, and for the world in general as we push further into the 21st century.

(photo from internet)

So I arrived, and as many predicted, my mom had herself a good cry.  It was really a nice moment.  Not just to see how much she actually missed me, but also the amazingness of getting to see her and my dad (the photographer) after a year overseas.

"I love you too, Mom."

After we retrieved my checked suitcase we went to Bob Evans, and there was lots to talk about.  The interesting things from that meal were talking to the waitress (reverse culture shock!), eating an American breakfast (sausage biscuits and gravy), and the older woman 1 table over.  Apparently she was enjoying our conversation quite a bit!  I didn't notice until we got up to go and my mom said "bye, have a nice day."  I was like "...did you know her?"  Mom told me that she had been smiling and nodding to her since shoe couldn't help over hear my stories of travel throughout the meal.  I thought that was so cool, and I soon found out that EVERYONE is interested as soon as they hear me say "yeah, I lived in Korea for a year."  I got to talk about my travels quite a bit on this trip (which I was happy to do).

Here is a great picture of my Mom, Dad and I in our backyard.

When I first got home I remembered all of the little (and big) things that I had left behind in my old bedroom. I guess I was expecting to come back to an empty room for some reason, but there were all kinds of memories coming back to me when I walked in.  

The first few days were really nice because I spent them (almost exclusively) with my parents and other family members.  We had some real quality time talking, joking, and just having fun around each other.  I was able to see both my grandma Jean Manary and grandma Lois Ehrman that first Sunday back, and a few more times each after that.  Monday my Grama Manary and my Uncle Brian treated me out to lunch.  Apparently 3-4 places in Painesville are closed for lunch on Mondays, so we finally found one open; a great place called Silvestro's.  We had a very nice meal (I believe I had a monster sized burger and ate every last bit).  THEN grama told me that she wants to come visit me in Korea!  It isn't all set and planned yet, but it looks like she will probably come for a visit in the Spring time :D

This is a picture of my Dad and Grama Manary.  It is actually of our Labor Day party a week later.

Here is Uncle Bryan (from the next week as well).  I showed some of these pictures to my students when I got back, and they all LOVED this one, haha

That evening I went out with my dad and his friends.  That usually consists of going to a sports bar to eat wings and talk sports or politics, so that was nice.  I definitely was still in an adjusting phase though, on how Americans discuss sports and politics.. slightly more direct than in Korea.

Tuesday my parents both took off work so that we could spend the day together.  I made some bomblets (bomb-omelets) for my dad and I, and got to be a little bit lazy.  Then we went to the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, which was just amazing.  I have been meaning to go for about a decade, and since I waited until now to go made it all the better (because I have more of an appreciation for music now than ever before).  It was really just so cool.  We spent a lot of time on the first floor checking out the history of Blues, Rock 'N Roll, etc.  Also on this floor (the biggest floor because the building is in the shape of a pyramid) were countless rock 'artifacts,' from Jimi Hendrex's clothing and guitars, to Elvis Presley's old car.  It was amazing, and I could spend days in there reading about each item they have.

We went through the upper floors a bit quicker because the museum was going to close at 6, and we wanted to make it to the top (featured) exhibit for the Grateful Dead.  The Dead exhibit was definitely cool, but it was a bit smaller than I expected.  Either way  I learned a ton, and had a great time.  We actually spent a good amount of time in the gift shop before we left (it was open until 7), and that was just as cool as the museum!  I did get a few small things as souvenirs, some guitar pics, an awesome t-shirt and a great book called: "Guitar, the Celebration of Pure Mojo," by David Schiller.  I'm reading it on my journey back to S.K., and it talks all about the history of guitar, different kinds of guitars, and a few other interesting topics (haven't gotten that far yet).

Coventry.  (Photo from internet.)

After that we went to a street called Coventry.  Coventry is a really cool place to be, because they have all kinds of restaurants and shops and whatnot.  There are a lot of Asian cuisine restaurants there (Japanese, Thai, Mongolian to name a few), but I wanted American food, haha.  So we went to a kind of sports bar and grille that was there called Panini's.  That was great, but we skipped the stores and headed back to Painesville.  We had to stop by our house, pick up my grama Ehrman, then head straight out to Hooley House where I used to go for open mic last summer.  I got there and saw so many old friends and had a great time.  My mom actually took a video of a song I did that I will share.  I started with an original song that I wrote called "Da Riva," and people seemed to like that (you can hear my mom referring to it at the beginning of the video.  The 2nd song was the one in the video, and it was an original written by Tom from the band.  I actually posted the band version a while back, and this is my tribute version since Tom has left Korea and is heading to Spain.

The third song I did was a cover of Dan Gable's "Anna Is A Stool Pigeon" using a harmonica.  I learned this for 'Stache Potatoes, but I had never sang it before.  Because of that I pretty much expected to forget the words, and I did, haha.  Only the 2nd verse, but the rest of it went well.  It was a great time, and then I got to watch my friends play.  My parents and grama left after I performed, but I hung around and caught a ride home with my buddy Nick Zuber (who hosts open mic, and is a bit of a local celebrity) because he lives right around the corner from my parents in Paineville.  Nick is a great musician, and just one of the nicest guys I know.

The next day, Wednesday, I went to Cedar Point with my brother and some friends.  That was so cool because Cedar Point, if you don't know (http://www.cedarpoint.com/) is one of the top amusement parks in the world.  It was so much fun, and it worked out because I got a ride out to my college town of Toledo from there.  A good buddy of mine Nick Streeter came out with his friend Ryan, and I went back to Toledo with them around 8-9 O' clock.  We went out for a little bit, then a friend of Nick's offered us a place to stay which was perfect (Nick lives in Michigan, and his friend lives on UT's campus).  Trips like this are really more affordable/doable if you can "couch surf," as opposed to getting a hotel every night.  

The next day Nick did me another great favor by taking me about 30 minutes down I-75 to Bowling Green. He dropped me off at my good friend Ashley Gore's house (Ashley # 2), who lives down there with her boyfriend.  She was my neighbor in college, and we became really great friends.  One of the things we always did was get a $5.00 Hot and Ready pizza from Little Cesars, accompanied of course by ranch and Frank's Red Hot sauce.  I actually introduced her to Frank's, so it has become tradition.  We enjoyed that, hung out catching up, and I played her boyfriend's guitar a bit.  Then my other really good Ashley friend (Ashley Mielcarek/Ashley # 3) came over and hung out with us as well.  Ashley # 3 was also one of my better friends from college; actually such good friends that we call each other "bestie," yes still to this day.

So we all hung out and caught up, then we went to Ashley #3's friend Tabitha's house for a bit.  Her and her boyfriend were really cool to talk to, and then we went to the main event.  This club called the "Clazel" hosts a Dubstep/Drum & Bass event called Konkrete Jungle, and this was its 2 year anniversary.  It was pretty awesome, and we danced a ton.  By 1 PM (relatively early for this event) I was really exhausted , so Ashley # 3 took me to Ashley # 2's house (she'd left around 12 PM) where I showered up and had a spare bed to sleep in.  So far so good!

The next day we walked (or ran) her dog while having a bike ride.  Then she gave me a ride back up to Toledo to my good friend Kate Rajski's house.  (I did actually have guy friends in college, but it seems they all moved away!  haha)  So Kate and I walked around my Alma Mater, the University of Toledo's campus.  That was very nostalgic, even though I graduated a mere 16 months ago.  Then we went and got some great ice cream at a local mom and pop ice cream stand in the suburb of Slyvania.  After that we went to her and her boyfriend's friend's house and hung out a bit.  One of the guys I met there was really interesting because he had traveled all over the place with the army.  We traded our stories, and I think it was very interesting for both of us.  After that we went to a local bar for an event that I had coordinated on Facebook, and had a great time catching up with some really good old friends (and  a couple new ones).   

Here is our group (minus the photographer Dave) at a local pub called Jo-Jo's.  We didn't have a very late night, but definitely had fun catching up with these old (and new) friends!  Ashley # 3 is on the left (short hair) and Kate is furthest to the right.

This time I was able to crash on Kate's couch, and then got a ride to the downtown Greyhound bus terminal at 7:30 AM.  

A BIG thanks again to Kate, Nick, Nick's friend, and both of the Ashley's for all of the help and hospitality!!  I hope that these are the kinds of friends I am making in Korea, so that I can do this kind of traveling in the future, but all over the world!  Also a lot of my friends know they always are welcome on my couch.

At this point I was able to get a bus back to Cleveland which took about 2 hours.  My brother made it out to pick me up which was great, then we went to Coventry for lunch.  We actually went to one of my favorite restaurants: Mongolian BBQ.  It's such a cool place, and it's actually where I learned to use chopsticks back in 12th grade!  You pick out your meats, vegis and a sauce (you can make your own), and they cook it on a big round grille using sword like utensils.  Normally it is quite the show with flipping and tossing things, but we were the only ones getting food prepared at this time, so we chatted with our cook, and he was a real cool guy.  He (like almost everyone I talked to in the States) could not get enough of my stories about Korea.  (I was happy to tell my stories to everyone during this trip, but I'll admit I was wondering if people would be sick of hearing them by the end!)  So we had our food, and then we checked out some of the shops out on Coventry.

We walked into one "head" shop, but didn't spend too much time in there.  Next we went to a store called Big Fun, and it was the coolest old toy store I've ever seen!  I'd heard of it before, but I'd never gone inside, and it was sweet.  I got some great souveneirs and these awesome shades. (think 'Stache Potatoes ;)

Here is me posing with my first guitar, rocking the new shades from Big Fun.

This is Big Fun.  Definitely a contender for coolest store, ever.  (Photo from internet.)

We hit another cool store with lots of imported things (many from Indonesia), then we left.  We thought about going to the Science museum/center, or catching the air show in downtown Cleveland, but we decided to just head back towards home, and hit the beach.  We played some catch with an AMERICAN football, and relaxed a bit.  Next we went to his girlfriend's house where he does his crazy P90X workouts.  We did one of those (actually one from "Insane Asylum"), which was tough, but good.

That was all, so he took me home, and had successfully completed my little backpacking trip for Ohio.  Next I was ready for a week in my hometown.  The short and sweet version (too late, right?) is I saw a lot of great people from my past, and had a great time.  I visited my old co-workers at the City of Painesville Water Distribution Department (hi Sue!), and I got to catch up with them.  We also had a great family and friends of the family party on Labor Day.  The night before that my friend Mason and his parents had a little get together for me and all of our old friends that would hang there.  I did open mic again on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I had little jam sessions with one of my best friends since 7th grade, Justin Yeats.  I actually showed him the ropes on guitar a couple years ago, and he has really gotten up to speed, which is awesome.  We actually wrote a cool little song together called "Good Mood," which is floating around on my YouTube channel if anyone wants to give it a look/listen.

There were many other little things that happened, definitely too many to mention.  Another cool thing is my neighbor Shannon (hey Shannon!) keeps in touch with me via email and the blog, and he lent me his grandfather's acoustic guitar to play while I was home.  That was really great, so thanks again Shannon!

All in all I had a great trip, and it was really interesting seeing my adventure as it is from a different perspective.  It's too bad that I got re-acclimated with American culture... just in time to go back to Korea, hah.

Also noteworthy: not only is my Father coming to visit (in less than 2 weeks now) and my Grama in the spring, but  my good friend Justin might also come next year, my brother wants to come out next summer, and my other friend Julian has shown interest in a visit as well!  I think that is so cool that people are willing enough to make that kind of a trip, and I hope they can for the experience.

Finally, on my trip I realized how many people back home are actually tuning into my blog!  Thanks to anyone keeping up with this, and I hope you can keep enjoying it!  Much love :)

Family photo right before I left.  I have the red eyes going, but still a nice picture :)

Reverse Culture Shock

I had been meaning to update this blog the whole time I was back home visiting (which was amazing), but I was just too busy.  I wrote two posts on the way back to Korea, the first being about reverse culture shock:

I am writing this post while 'in transit,' heading back to South Korea.  I have just concluded an amazing, at times crazy, and above all eye opening visit home.  I want to (and will) discuss lots of stuff from my 2 week vacation in Ohio (never thought I'd say that), but first I have to describe what experiencing reverse culture shock is like!

To start, I could understand people.  Living in a foreign country for a year does a couple things to ya (in a short-term kind of way).  First you get used to tuning people out.  It wasn't until recently that I have reached the level of Korean language skills that I can actually understand some of what people are talking about around me, but I really have to make the effort to listen.  When I came back to the States I was often feeling either nosy or annoyed by being able to understand other people's conversations.

I may have given this look to a few people when I first started adjusting..

Another thing you start to do is generally pick up some cultural things, such as bowing and using both hands to give and receive items.  It was funny because I visited my mother's work place one day, and one of her co-workers noticed that I bowed to them.  I didn't even realize that I had done that until she mentioned it to me later on.

Another small, yet significant one, is that in the Korean language a very common word is "neh."  It has several applications and meanings, but it basically means "yes" or "yeah, yeah, I understand."  Well that goes a long way in a foreign country, so naturally my two most commonly used words have got to be neh and "ani-yo" (no).  Because of that I was walking around for a few days saying "neh" to people.  Followed by the realization: oh yeah, that's a fancy old way to say "no"... oops.

I'm pretty sure this look from my Aunt Colleen is just due to a weird timing of the photo, but I know I drew some looks like this saying things like neh (when I clearly meant 'yeah')

There are other subtle things like how people talk, or actually being able to have a conversation with a store clerk (more than a few basic phrases that is), but there was one more big one that stood out to me.  The general American attitude that has roots from the economic system of capitalism: strive for perfection, and try to be the best.  Depending on where you're at and who you talk to (socially), it varies, but it is definitely there.  From the competitive edge of trying to get the last word in, to reminding your buddy that you beat him in a sports bet.  Americans are competitive, and like to boast about their success.  Of course that is generalizing, and all Americans don't try to come off as arrogant, but I sensed it in the cultural attitude.  It is just ingrained in the way we interact.

In Korea, and I think in the other Eastern Asian countries, that is really toned down.  There is competitiveness in a sports and between children, but not with most adults (on the surface anyways).  There may be competitiveness (maybe why Korea has the #1 school system in the world), but in a much more 'read between the lines' kind of way.  It is a respectful, and seemingly passive culture, where you bow to show humility, and you downplay your own talents to remain modest.  

I could never really see exactly why many people around the world have accused Americans of being arrogant and/or rude (though I had some guesses) until I returned to America, and witnessed the culture through the eyes of a foreigner.  With that being said, I don't think Americans are arrogant.  I think that is how we come off to foreigners because of subconscious things we do that are simply cultural norms.  Some people in America are arrogant, and many are not.  Some people in Korea (and probably every other nation) are arrogant, and many are not.  The people that generalize and say that all Americans think that they're the best have not taken the time to understand the culture.  Now WITH THAT BEING SAID, I believe it is important to have the same open mindedness when first experiencing another culture, because people are just people, and the culture around them helps determine the 'rules' the play by, or the norms that they follow.  I've always tried to have this open mentality to others, but experiencing it in reverse is especially attention grabbing!

The best part about being back in the States (in regards to culture/culture shock/reverse culture shock) is that as soon as I finally felt comfortable and at home.. I left.  Now that is a little annoying, but it just reminds me that I'm on this adventure, and that I need to keep expecting these kinds of experiences.  

Last Day of My First Contract.

Today is the last day of my first 1 year contract.. ever!  I am pleased to say that I am enjoying it thoroughly, as it is the last day of summer English class for the majority of students (there were only 6 in the after school group that finished on Wednesday).  We are having an 'easy' day to say the least, with our open market, teachers' market, a snack party, and the movie The Incredibles.  The other Fridays of camp were similar, except they started with a review and a test.  Today we decided to give that a miss in exchange for a snack party, which I think is well deserved for the students who have been coming to study English during their summer vacation.

The open market and teachers' market was really fun as always.  A cool thing my co-teacher Eunji and I did last winter camp was give out laminated monopoly money instead of candy for participating in class or for winning games.  Since we can sell candy at $5 and/or $2, it is a very wise move for us teachers, and letting the students handle the fake money is very valuable, so we decided to do it again for this camp.  Not only is it really fun and exciting for them, but it also teaches them to protect and manage money.  There were a few cases of students losing their money, and as much as I would have liked to just give them more, they needed to learn not to leave it lying around, so a little tough love was necessary there.  It makes for a great market activity at the end of each week as well.  We allow the students to bring in toys and snacks to sell to each other, and then we open the teachers' market where they can buy toys, school supplies, candies, stickers, and even lunch with the teachers!  Today we are ordering fried chicken (I guess we aren't exactly being nutritionists.. but it's a treat :) for two of our brightest students (who also earned enough for lunch during the first week too).

Making monopoly money!

This is actually a picture from last winter's teachers' market.  (having some technology issues right now)

Different things for sale at the market.

I'm also very excited because I am packed and ready for my visit back to the States, however I am experiencing a bit of frustration thanks to the airlines (big surprise there).  My itinerary from Busan to Cleveland was to take 24 hours, leaving at 7:20 am Saturday morning, and arriving in Cleveland at 6:20 pm the same day (Ohio is 13 hours behind Korea).  Now my flights have been rearranged so that I will leave at 11:05 am on Saturday, and arrive in Cleveland at 6:22 am on Sunday morning!  Not only is that pretty disappointing news for my parents who are picking me up from the airport (later than anticipated, and really early in the morning), but I will have a layover in Seoul for about 5 hours, in San Francisco for about 5 hours, and in LA for about 5 hours AND that is a cool 32 hours of travel time.  I also had my sleep pattern all worked out to minimize jet lag, and now I don't think I can do much about it.  The one good thing to come from this is that I don't have to spend the night in Busan tonight, which will save me a little money.  Nonetheless, I am very excited to be home seeing my family and friends :)

You've Got a Friend In Me!

I didn't have time to post this video at the end of last semester, and had completely forgotten about it.  My 3rd graders had their You've Got a Friend In Me competition, and it went really well.  I'm actually showing my summer camp students "Toy Story" right now, which is what made me think of it!  Today is the last day for the after lunch group (Friday is the last day for the other groups) for summer camp, so we are having a pizza/snack party and watching a movie.  There are some wonderful little extras about being a teacher, and those include pizza parties and cartoons!  (another is getting paid to play games everyday :)

The 4th graders didn't get around to this song, and probably won't get do it (it's a pretty tough one).  I get to see the 3rd graders twice a week, but only once a week for the 4th graders.  Because of that they just finished The Lion Sleeps Tonight at the same time the 3rd graders finished this song.  

Speaking of which, here is the 4th grade version of The Lion Sleeps Tonight video:

I have plenty of good songs for the older students coming up, but I do need suggestions for the little ones.  If anyone has any suggestions/requests please comment or email me!  (I'm just trying to avoid the Eensy Weensy Spider, lol)

Today Marks One Year Here!

Today is August 17th, which marks 1 year since I have arrived here in South Korea!  It has been an amazing year, and as much as I would like to say it doesn't seem like it has been a whole year, it does.  And for me that is perfect.  It hasn't gone too fast, and it has dragged on.  I am always feeling busy, but still always find time to experience new things, and also time to relax.  I am excited to visit home a week from tomorrow, but I am also glad that I have another year here, because I'm just not ready to be done with Korea yet.  There are several more Seoul trips in my future, hopefully another Jeju trip, and a whole lot more Korean BBQ.

My friends Kendra, Julia and I enjoying a 10K run out in the countryside a month or so ago.

I'm finishing the 2nd week of my 3 week summer camp today, so in a week I will have a 2 week bonus vacation for resigning my contract.  I am using that to go back home to visit friends and family, and then I'm coming back to start the fall semester.  I am having a bit of a reflection over the past year this week, and I feel like I have accomplished a lot, while enjoying my job and my social life.  I have gone on 3 great vacations (Seoul/Jeju, Thailand, and the Jeolla Province trip), and almost had a 4th to Japan had I not missed my ferry.  I bought 2 guitars and joined a band (maybe my favorite thing right now?).  I've made lots of friends from all over the world, some that I will keep in touch with for a long time I think.  I've just completed and received the certificate for an online TEFL course that will help out my resume.  I've lost a phone, a wallet, ruined a laptop (water damage) and have recently broke my phone breakdancing (good thing for insurance, and not caring too much about material things).  I've successfully kept up with this blog which will be an amazing way to look back on this experience years down the road!

Here is my TEFL certificate (that will give me a nice monthly raise this next year :)

Before I decided to move here, I had planned on traveling during my summers off from teaching in the States, but I had never pictured myself actually living abroad.  Coming here was one of the best decisions I've ever made, because it has opened up a world of opportunities to me, literally!  During my next year here I plan on visiting Vietnam (December), Japan, and maybe Jeju again.  After that I will probably be looking at Taiwan for 1 year, and mayyyybe China for a year after that.  It's hard to commit past that right now (and I know my parents don't quite want to hear this), but I feel like going to South America (Ecuador, Chile and/or Argentina) for a year or two would complete my journey.  If I do all of that, I will be ready to start my teaching career in America as I approach the end of my 20's.  After that I can still take my summers to see Europe and hopefully some parts of Africa.  My mind constantly changes on what my future will hold, but the fact that I can change my mind, and that I can go just about anywhere and find work, is the most liberating feeling I could have!  So on I go, and life is good :)

Oh yeah, I also gotta hit Australia for some SCUBA diving before I leave Asia too :)

Black Belt Achieved!

I took and passed my black belt test on June 30th!!  I didn't know that I had passed until a couple weeks later, but I have waited to do this post until I received my belt and certificate which finally happened this past Wednesday (8/8).  I am so happy to have accomplished this, and am planning (and already training for) a second black belt (ee don, or 이단).  There was a time where I almost called it quits because I was so busy, but it was very worth sticking with it :)

Here is the arena that the test was held at.

Here is the inside!  This actually made me miss wrestling a lot, as it has a similar setup to the big tournaments I have competed in in the past.

I have 2 videos of my black belt test (thanks to Norah)!  I took my test with 2 other Taekwondo students, a boy and a girl who are most likely in high school.  The first video is of us reciting the 'sun so' in Korean, followed by the basic action, poomse 8, then poomse 6 (which was random), and finally the kicking test.  I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to break bricks or boards, but it was still amazing.  

I'm obviously on the right, and it was tough because I was soo tired.  I went to watch my friends take their black belt test there that morning at 10 am.  Went back to practice at my Taekwondo center for an hour, then went right back to the arena.  I thought I was up at 2 pm, and I sat ready to go until almost 5 pm before I went!  Also I wasn't allowed to warm up just before I went, so I was literally falling asleep as I was called out onto the mat.  I really thought I was going to make a mistake!  The only part I didn't do well was the 'sun so,' which was reciting a couple sentences in Korean, so they understood why I didn't do so awesome on that.  Also a funny, and relevant, little tid-bit to add on is at 1:24 on this video you can hear a little Korean boy yell out "Oh!  Waygooken!," which means foreigner, lol.  After that we got suited up for the sparring portion!

Here is the sparring portion, which lasted only 30 seconds.  It was quite intense, and the high schooler I was facing was pretty tough!  I had bruises on my forearms from blocking his kicks, but I feel that if they were keeping score I would have taken him ;)

Here is me trading in my red belt for my black belt!

Master Lee and I; holding my certificate.

Master Lee, Keenan and I.

Here is my framed certificate!  I also have an ID card that certifies me as a black belt for LIFE :]

Here is my black belt!  In Korean it says 무 롱태권도 (Mulryong Taekwondo) on the left, and 라이언 (ra-ee-eun, or Ryan) 존 (John) 매너리 (Manary) on the right.  How cool is that!?

So it was an amazing experience, and I will be leaving Korea with the best souvenir one can get here.  I am also excited to compete in some sparring competitions this fall (reserved for black belts only), and next summer I could be competing for my 2nd black belt.  FIGHTING!!

Amazing Backpacking Trip in Korea!

So my vacation was a success!  Not only did it start off with a couple of lazy days off followed by the Ilsan Beach Festival, but it included an amazing backpacking trip right here in Korea (and I have TONS of pictures and videos that can't be left out).  A lot of people in my shoes have both the opportunity and the desire to travel all over (especially in South East Asia), and it seems that many ignore what Korea has to offer.  I have now had 3 vacations (in 1 year!) and 2 of them were right here in Korea.  Of course Thailand was amazing, but the likelihood of traveling SE Asia at a later date is much higher than traveling in Korea later on in life.  The first vacation included Seoul and Jeju which was amazing, but this trip was truly unique, and had it's fair share of surprises, characters and amazingness!  

We (Alex, Karl and Becky) started off taking the KTX (speed train) to a city called Dajeon where Karl has a friend who had agreed to show us around.  When we arrived there we hit an amazing sub sandwich joint that we'd heard great things about called Lion Sub.  Eating that is what made me realize how much I actually miss a good sandwich from Subway or the like.  Anywho, so far so good.  

I also have to point out that we had a basic outline of what our trip would look like, but we were admittedly "winging it."  After having an early dinner at Lion Sub we met up with Karl's friend Nick who helped us find a good motel in a wise location.  After hanging out at the motel for a while (which was actually really nice) we hit a couple different establishments before going on to the grand finale, the LIVE octopus restaurant.  And here is the footage:

I know my mom is pretty jealous that she missed out on this opportunity, so I will try to prepare this dish when I visit home :P

Here's a cool picture of Alex the next day on our way to the KTX station.  In the background were the first of our very interesting characters.  The old Korean men were gambling on the sidewalk there, but were slamming their game pieces and money down quite enthusiastically.  They also kept sending the.. interestingly dressed woman there back to the store to get them ice cream.  They sent her back 2 different times before we left the scene, who knows how long that went on for, haha.

The next portion of the trip was the only REAL planned or reserved part of the trip, which was a temple stay at a Buddhist temple down in the South West part of Korea.  It was near a city called Haenam, which is considered the "End of Korea."  The temple stay cost us each 50,000 won, which included accommodation and meals for 24 hours, and was an amazing and unique cultural experience!  Mr. Park helped us find and book this temple stay which was great since many others were booked up (it is peak traveling season in Korea right now), and because he helped us find one with an English translator.  We actually thought we had misjudged the arrival time (thinking a 12 pm train from Dajeon was plenty of time to get there by 5 pm).  What we didn't realize is that our train to the end of the line (Mokpo) was an HOUR bus ride from Haenam, which was another HOUR bus ride from the temple.  We got really lucky with the first bus departure time, and took some great advise from a nice Korean man on the train to take a taxi from Haenam to the temple.  Somehow we pulled it off and arrived at the temple at 4:55!  

This is the mountain ridge that the temple sat on.  Picture taken from the taxi.

We did a number of interesting things during the temple stay, most significantly (and in short) they were:

• Wearing the Buddhist clothing 
• Sitting and walking meditation
• Ate the monks' vegetarian meals (which were actually really good.. just coulda used a little chicken ;)
• Rang a huge bell (if I get the video from Becky of US doing it I'll add it)
• Had a tea ceremony with a monk and other guests
• Slept on the floor in a communal room (I slept.. so-so)
• Woke up at 5 am to chant and meditate
• Did communal work with the monks and other guests (basically just sweeping up around the different building at the temple site)
• And finally during our free time we hiked/climbed to the top of an amazing mountain ridge (again, need pictures from Becky still!)

Here is a brief video of a monk ringing the bell, the temple, the mountains behind it and of my friends.  Right after this we all got to ring the bell one time each.  The reverb from the bell so sounded so cool in person, I don't think this video does it any kind of justice.

Becky and Karl standing near the entrance to the temple.  Us guys' sleeping quarters was on the ground floor, through that door on the right.  One of the characters I had mentioned before was actually one of the monks.  When we all sat in for meditation, none of us were sitting in a perfect full lotus position that you'd imagine when you think of a yoga expert.  For some reason though one of the monks had a huge problem with the way that Karl was sitting, even though we were all sitting cross-legged/'Indian' style.  I was busy counting my breaths for the meditation, but I guess this monk just wouldn't let it go, until finally our interpreter monk (who directed us the whole time) came over and told him it was fine (a couple of times).  Karl just kept looking at us, looking at his own legs, and looking at the monk, thinking "we're all doing the same thing!"  Oh well, nothing came of it, just a character that we won't soon forget.

Here is a picture carrying our 'old school' brooms from the shed to the main temple court yard.

We actually decided to leave a little early before lunch, because Alex was hardly eating since he didn't really like the food, and we all wanted some meat.  The SW part of Korea (Jeolla province) is known for their food by the way, so we had extra incentive to go.  The monks and staff at the temple were very nice about it and even provided us with a free shuttle van back to the city of Haenam where we tracked down this delicious Korean BBQ restaurant!

Korean BBQ is.. arguably my favorite thing about Korea.  What makes Jeolla province so famous for it is they charge the same (or less, in this case the same) price, but provide close to 20 side dishes (instead of 3-10).  It was so good.  At this point we had to say bye to Alex because he had to work on Thursday.  He caught a bus back to our city, and we went onward.

Next we went looking for things to do at a PC bang, and ended up discovering a Dinosaur museum!  Who doesn't love one of those?  I guess they discovered around 500 dinosaur footprints there in Haenam only 20 years ago!  I have too many photos to show much from the actual museum, but here are some funny ones that we took out side of the museum.  (Which, by the way, we didn't spend much time doing, it felt like we were in an oven in the mid 90s and high humidity!)

Here is me 'picking up' a little dino.

"Look out Becky!!!"  

By this point our 'winging it' strategy was working better than ever.  We had found some cool things, and managed to hit just about everything we had wanted to hit.  This is the point though, when we started running into towns with nothing to do, and the traveling/heat was starting to get everyone a little edgy.  Not bad at all, but Becky for example is a little tired of Korean food, and she had been a trooper the whole trip.  We went to a town called Suncheon (supposed to have an amazing sunset and gulf), and on the way told Becky she could pick the place to eat, and all she wanted was a hamburger.  No such thing in the town of Suncheon.  Also we missed the sunset, didn't see the coast, and figured our luck had finally run out.  This is where we ran into another interesting set of characters though!  As soon as we got off the bus and crossed the street we were greeted by some Korean high school boys who were eager to get our opinion on which of 2 of them was more handsome.  I always love how competitive the Korean culture can be, and we made one of their nights by unanimously picking the non-pumpkin haired boy, heh heh.  I did get a really nice picture of the sky on the way there though, and the next day we went on to the very well known International Expo in Yeosu.

Picture from the bus.

The Expo was pretty cool and cheap (only 10,000 won for foreigners; was originally 100,000 at the beginning of the summer), but there were way too many people there.  The best thing I had heard about the expo was the laser show at night, but we had no accommodations prepared, so we decided we shouldn't stay too late.  There were expositions set up from 40 different countries, and we checked out about 10 of them which were really cool.  We went to go check out an aquarium that was there, but the wait was 4 hours long : /  Since we weren't really planning on going, and it is generally a weekend long trip, we weren't too disappointed, but it could have worked out a little better. 

Becky and Karl in front of the big 'O' where the laser show takes place.

Inside the Indian Exposition. 

Here is a quick video from the Argentinian Expo which was really cool.  They also had food but we didn't get any here.

We did stop for a snack at the Italian Expo, which was simply a restaurant.  I enjoyed a delicious espresso and some gelato ice cream :)

At this point it was Thursday evening, and we were starting to run out of clever ideas.  We weighed our options and decided to take a bus to Busan (about 2 hours from where we were, and about 1 hour away from our starting point of Ulsan).  Unfortunately we had to take a much later bus to the wrong side of town, but we made it work.  We arrived at 1:30 am and took a taxi to Hyundai Beach.  When we got there we realized (I remembered) that there had been a week long festival going on there, and the streets were filled!  Due to this (and the sleep we all caught on the bus) we decided to pull an "all-nighter" and catch the first train to Ulsan in the morning.  That's what we did, and it was a great time.  We made it back to Ulsan quite early and went our separate ways.  The best part was that we had the whole weekend to recuperate before returning to school on Monday.  A good vacation indeed :D

A nice shot of Hyundai Beach and the Busan skyline that night.

Here is a rough outline of our trip.  Some cities are spelled different due to different interpretations of the alphabet translation, but you get the picture :)