Blogs from Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea, Asia - page 5

It's been an interesting few days. Brooke, I hope you'll accept Facebook status updates/pictures in place of blogging daily. lol Today, I had lunch with the nutrition teacher (she teaches students how to cook nutritious meals... why did I never have this class? lol). It happened like most of my going-out-to-eat-with-a-Korean-person experiences. She asked me if I wanted to have lunch, I said yes, and then we got in her car and she just started driving, with no mention of where we were going, what we were eating, or how far away this place was. lol I don't bother asking anymore. If I ask what we're eating, I rarely understand the translation. If I ask where we're going, I rarely understand the explanation. So, we just get in the car and drive. It's kind of nice ... read more

More fun in Yeongcheon today. There were no classes, since the children were taking exams until noon, and then leaving school early. At noon, I ate lunch with the middle school grade three teachers. We had fried mandoo (fried dumplings with pork and veggies inside - delicious) and seafood in spicy sauce. I picked out all the shrimp and left the tentacles for the other teachers :D Around 2 pm, they told me I could go home. I did a little happy dance! I needed to do some stuff at the bank and post ofice before they closed, anyway. I got my bank stuff done, then did some shopping. I found these hilarious stationery sets and decided to get them. They have the cutest pictures with poorly written English sentences all over them. I'm not trying ... read more

On payday weekend we decided to leave Daegu and take a trip to nearby Gyeongju. It’s renowned as a beautiful place and an example of a traditional Korean city it is steeped in history as it used to be the capital of the Silla Dynasty of Kings. So on that very rainy Friday evening Ash and I met are buddies Nat and Drew (two Nat’s so I am Natalie in Korea as she got there first!) and went to get the bus to start our adventure. It could all have gone pear shaped though. When we’d bought our tickets and were waiting for the bus to arrive for some reason I had another look at the destination sign and thought out loud ‘Oh that’s weird that they also spell Gyeongju as Cheongju' We all looked ... read more

Saturday night, I went to a concert that affected me a lot. 김범수 (Kim Bum Soo) was AMAZING.... He's been on this reality TV show in Korea called "I Am a Singer" for about 5 months and he just finished his time on the show so now he's on tour all over the country. Here's a sample of what he can do: http://tvpot.daum.net/best/TvZone.do?type=mbcsinger#clipid=32569543 The show's concept is simple. Take 7 singers and give them weekly challenges. Audience members vote to keep their favorites. The rules have changed slightly since the show started, but that's the gist. 김범수 won a few times and his singing has really improved. I watched some really old clips of him from the early 2000s and it's very different. I mostly admire him because he's such a good singer: supported, controlled vocals, ... read more

More photos...we had a couple snow days and that resulted in classes being made up on a Saturday..not the best schedule but we dealt with it. *on soapbox* Seriously, global climate change is a problem!!! It is NOT supposed to snow that much here...that's one of the reasons I liked it here, because it wasn't like Minnesota...grrr. *end rant* Had a week break for Lunar New Year and spent it with the girls in Taiwan eating. My partner in crime, Cindy, left Korea in March, but Spring brought more visitors in the form of Jessica's sister, Tiffany, and Caren's cousin, Mike, and his best bud, Doe. Closing with my 29th birthday extravaganza in Chuncheon and a shot of the kids at the end of Spring term. ... read more