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Blogs from Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea, Asia
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September 28th 2012
28th Sept: Made it to Yangjae station in plenty of time. Traffic going to Seoul was fine. Stopped off for a Maccy Ds. On the bus by 11 and ready to go, however some people were stuck in traffic, so we sat on the bus and waited for them for 45 minutes. Personally I would of just left them. Once they arrived we started our journey south. The traffic was horrific, as expected at Chuseok as the whole country travels to their home towns or villages. Leaving Seoul there was a sea of red lights on the motorway as far as the eye could see. 29th Sept: The traffic seemed to ease up once we had left Seoul and then Gyeonggi province, and we started to move at a better pace. The bus was no longer ... read more
September 23rd 2012
Mine was a childhood fill of fun, flight, and dream. So you can imagine my joy last Saturday afternoon when I encountered a family playing with nothing more than a few sticks and having the time of their lives. I stumbled upon the family at TaejosanParkin Cheonan Si. It took me back to my own childhood, and held such a place in my heart I felt compelled to write about it. Cheonan Si is about 80kms out of Seoul. The Park itself is located at Mt Taejosan and is a popular place for families and lovers – young and old - to visit. You can take in the sculptues, sit down and watch the world go by, or stroll to your heart's content. This particular afternoon – after staring at a slightly bizarre, but brilliant set ... read more
Orientating myself to a whole new world.
Published: January 11th 2013Asia » South Korea » Chungcheongnam-do » Daejeon
August 28th 2012
Anneyung haseyo!! So the first week of my new life in Korea was spent in the KT Human Resource Centre in the city of Daejeon. EPIK organises a week long orientation for new in-coming teachers, to introduce us to life in Korea as well as work on teaching ideas. About 300 of us, from all walks of life, descended upon Daejeon, bound for cities and provinces all over Korea. It was a very strange and intense week. We were woken up at half 7 every morning with the exact same intercom announcement: "Good morning EPIK teachers, this is the announcment from the head office, breakfast will be served..." (More annoying for the fact that we had our alarms set for 8am, no need people!!) We also had a nighttime anouncement telling us to be back in ... read more
July 14th 2012
Ah mudfest! It's that time of year, when foreigners in Korea get drunk and make a spectacle of themselves. Proving all the Korean misconsceptions about us lovely weigookin to actually be true. 14th Jul: Up early. Managed to pack. Walked down to get a taxi. Got drenched on the way. Stopped at Dunkin' Donuts, had a hot bagel, nom nom, and a coffee. Got overcharged for the coffee. Dried off. Got a taxi to Suwon. Met up with people. Onto the bus. Drove for an hour, felt sleepy. Arrived at the rest stop. There for ages, about an hour. Some of our group decided to buy masks. Very funny. Hubba Hubba! stood around in the blazing heat smokin. Nowhere to buy alcohol much to everyone's dismay. Apparantly they don't serve alcohol at rest stops, because if ... read more
June 26th 2012
I wrote a blog about my "Korean mother" Maria, more commonly known as my co-teacher at my school. Do enjoy and to my REAL mom, don't be jealous. I love you the most ;) http://hannah.matadoru.com/2012/06/26/maria/... read more
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June 20th 2012
My time in South Korea is almost to an end and I've just been informed where my new beginning will be :) http://hannah.matadoru.com/2012/06/20/the-rain-in-spain/... read more
idling on Sapsido - a proper clambake
Published: June 17th 2012Asia » South Korea » Chungcheongnam-do » Daejeon Beach
June 17th 2012
Sunday 17 June - I had decided that a visit to the island of Sapsido was recommended, mostly because it was covered in detail in the Lonely Planet (yes I could strike out where no man has gone before but there are risks.... had had enough adventure the previous day). First of all however I had to change my accommodation. As it was Sunday and the pressure is only really on Friday and Saturday accommodation I walked over to the Motel Coconuts which was advertising WiFi. My purpose was to ascertain the price before I wheeled my bag over. When she told me 50,000 I began to walk away, only to get my stuff and check in properly. However this must have been taken as the old market -- walk away price negotiation thing, and she ... read more
bogged in Buyeo, Daecheon Beach - the Vegas of Korea
Published: June 17th 2012Asia » South Korea » Chungcheongnam-do » Daejeon
June 16th 2012
Just as well I did not have Internet yesterday 16 June at the Motel If - otherwise I would have wasted my time having a grizzle when I was really tired after a very bad day of travel . However today 17 June, now at the Motel Coconuts a mere 10 minute walk from the aforementioned, I do have WiFi and am in a much better mood -- possibly helped by a few glasses of the rather nice Spanish red I bought in Seoul, but also a damned nice grilled shellfish dinner (more on that later of course). 16 June - well why did I have such a bad travel day yesterday? Well how does 3 1/2 fruitless hours sitting around the bus terminal waiting for a bus that despite schedule never seemed to arrive (twice)?? ... read more
Buyeo and more Baekje kingdom treasures
Published: June 15th 2012Asia » South Korea » Chungcheongnam-do » Buyeo
June 15th 2012
It was a late night last night, not really as a result of the raw chestnut/rice wine last night at Nomasaru, more the blogging update! (What I do for you people - or myself). Anyway got myself together and left the motel at about 11:30 AM and got myself a taxi rather than walk across the bridge to the bus terminal. As the buses were more or less every 30 minutes to Buyeo did not even check the times but headed for the local outlet in the terminal of Paris Baguette, an upmarket bakery, which also was at my local Metro station in Seoul at Anguk, but I did not actually try. (Unbelievably there was no 7- 11 type convenience store anywhere near my motel in Gongju - outrage, normally they are about every 200 m, ... read more
going round and round in Gongju
Published: June 14th 2012Asia » South Korea » Chungcheongnam-do » Gongju
June 14th 2012
off the bus from Cheosan at the terminal on the other side of the river at about 6:45 PM on 13th. Decided that as all the action that I wanted to see in terms of sites was on the other side that I would walk across the bridge and find a motel there. Which I did with the usual big TV screen and home computer. Once settled in went out to look for dinner and things were not that promising further down. So decided to try one of the Lonely Planet recommendations, Nomasaru which was fairly close anyway. Shuddered at the prospect of my knees and sitting semi-folded on the floor (the joints don't like it any more). Anyway the food was unbelievably fab as you can see from the mixed flower bimibab! And the rustic ... read more
