Blogs from Namyangju, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, Asia

Hey, Well if you're reading our entries in some sort of order I should probably clear things up. It's now only 9 days until 2011 and a lot has changed since out last entry a good 2 years ago. Both me and emma are now graduated from university, we are now married too and if you can tell from the location tracker we upped sticks (even if they were very shabby sticks) and decided to take it easy in the land of the 25 hour working day, South Korea. We never moved here in all honesty with any intention of staying here for more than 1 or 2 years, we have itchy feet. Indeed you might say the traveller inside us has got a bad case of athletes foot. Both of us are so curious to ... read more

Hello! Just wanted to share some photos from weekends/holidays in May. We had the 5th off from school as it was Children's Day & that gave us the opportunity to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in Seoul with friends. The weekend of the 15th was the Lotus Lantern Festival which begins the celebrations for Buddha's birthday & Jess attended some of those events. This past weekend we were fortunate to have 3 days off thanks to Buddha & we tried to use them wisely! Friday we went biking along the Han. Saturday, due to the rain we stayed indoors & used some gift certificates given to us by a student's grateful family (for his ability to suddenly communicate in English) to purchase some reading material. Fran is currently digging into The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn & cursing ... read more

Fran and Jess took a long walk around Hopyeong (our town) Saturday. Jess started shooting some photos of the area now that its spring & we thought we'd share them with you. For a long time here (pretty much all 10 months) we have both admired and wondered at the juxtaposition between the old, rundown & ramshackle buildings / homes stood next to the new, sparkling highrise towerblocks. Enjoy! xFran & Jess... read more

Hello and Happy Holidays to you all! This blog marks our 6 month anniversary in South Korea. It has been an eventful and enlightening six months full of surprises, trials and new experiences. We also find ourselves at the halfway point of our teaching contracts. One more thing to celebrate this holiday season. And we will be celebrating! For Jess, it will be her first dose of winter sun & tropical weather. Fran tells her it is an experience not to be missed. We are headed to beautiful Boracay Island in the Philippines for two weeks of relaxation and exploration over Christmas and the New Year. We find ourselves in the time of the year when most people get together with their loved ones. Being where we are it is impossible to physically be with many ... read more

Last Saturday we were blessed to have a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with our friends (aka our Korean family) in the area. We didn't have to travel too far, just a taxi ride to the top of a hill in Pyeongnae where we just happened to arrive with a bunch of others waeguk-ins (foreigners). There were enormous amounts of food! The appetizers table was practically overflowing as were the tables for the main course / countertops / stove. Punch and toasts were made, the rest of the people arrived and we set to work eating. Following the dinner we took part in an age old tradition of going around the room, (introducing ourselves & saying which country we were from) and telling what we were thankful for. We were all especially thankful for our friend Dan. (Long ... read more