Page 3 of joncasssouthkorea Travel Blog Posts


Asia » South Korea » Gyeonggi-do August 6th 2009

Over the last 10 months I’ve come to realize that being an adventurous person in this part of the world is a relative term. A huge step that both Cass and I have taken is becoming a bit more adventurous with what we eat. The majority of the time, we have no choice in the matter, i.e., teacher dinners or basically any time Jon G. is with us, but we’ve emerged on the other side with some giggles, wrinkled eyebrows, murdered taste buds, and a newfound respect for what people have on their plate in this part of the world. From Bundeggi (silkworms), to fish head soup, pork ankle meat, those dried fish spine chip things, to some kind of antennaed mollusk creature (of course, all are eaten “for your health” or as we already know ... read more
Cass' gameface
Jon G. documenting everything
My new buddy

Asia » South Korea » Gyeonggi-do July 30th 2009

Recently, we're just putting in our time are our required 'summer camps.' I have lucked out and only recieved a sentence of 8 days of camp, while Cass is being locked up for three weeks. For whatever reason, her school counted our days off a bit different than my school- but, as it is with the majority of things in Korea, everything is circumstantial and we just do what we're told. Regardless, all of us weigookins, are either gearing up for, or already on our epic summer vacations. We have officially ironed out plans to spend a week in Hanoi, Vietnam with a couple day side trip sailing through the World Heritage Site nearby called Ha Long Bay. On our way home, we'll have 3 days kicking around Hong Kong, and seeing what one of the ... read more
This sign works on so many levels
It's not camping... but close enough
... for your health

Asia » South Korea » Chungcheongnam-do » Boryeong July 14th 2009

Months ago, things started popping up on facebook like, “Korean Mudfestival 1 friend is a fan.” More recently I’ve had conversations like, “Do you know mud festival? Very famous in Korea.” Even more importantly, sandwiched between Turkey’s Camel Wrestling Festival and the UK’s Cheese Rolling Festival, the Boryeong Mud Festival ranks 3rd on a London newspaper’s list of the url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/festivalsandevents/5188191/The-worlds-weirdest-festivals.html?image=2 ‘World’s Weirdest Festivals.’ I’m also proud to mention that the Testy Fest in Montana made the same list at number fourteen; I know the ridiculousness of that place too well, so we can only imagine what kind of sillyness Korean has in store for their version of the world’s weirdest! The Boryeong Mud Festival is an annual bash that takes place every summer fo... read more
The center flags
Kiddy slide
Yeah... get in there

Asia » South Korea » Gyeonggi-do July 5th 2009

The closest thing to yesterday’s celebration of the 4th of July was the summer after I graduated high school. I was working at a summer camp in Connecticut. I went into Hartford to watch the firework show with two Australians, an Irishman, and an Englishman. Yesterday, similar to that, we celebrated the 4th as a crew of English teachers from around the globe on the beach of the Han River in Yeoju. Americans, English, Canadians, South Africans, even some Koreans came down to take part in the American summer tradition, a 4th of July barbeque. I was still wiped from an impromptu teacher’s dinner on Thursday night, full of grilled duck, soju, beer, and billiards, which lasted well into the wee hours of the night, so I took a nap Saturday afternoon while Cass met up ... read more
Korean Cheez... American style!
4th of July BBQ
Paraglider

Asia » South Korea » Gyeonggi-do June 22nd 2009

Mission: Where is Fun? We had a day to explore, and accomplishing our goal of the whole weekend on Saturday left us in search a destination. Gangneung, pronounced Kong-noon-g (sort of), wasn’t our destination, but it was a larger city on the east coast that was bound to offer something we’ve never done. Walking out of the bus terminal, we wandered the streets for five minutes in one direction, and armed with a tourist map, our friend, Jon G., said, ‘Maybe we should just ask someone, where is fun?’ That search led us to the back of a taxi. We pointed to a harbor on the map and started heading that way. Then, we noticed a sign saying it was over 20 kilometers away. Since we didn’t want to blow our entire last paycheck on ... read more
BS Tour... yeah, we know
beach
Silkworms... yummy

Asia » South Korea » Seoul June 2nd 2009

2008 Gold medal in the Beijing Olympics… 2nd place in the 2009 World Baseball Championships. OK, so the Koreans can play, and enthusiasms is high for the sport of baseball in one of the most prideful places known to man, but our preconceived notions of ‘what a day at the park’ truly is, were flipped upside-down on Saturday, as soon as we emerged from the subway outside Olympic Park Stadium to see the Twins play the Tigers. Yes, the Twins were playing the Tigers, but this wasn’t a matchup of AL Central (quasi) powers in the Motor City or the Twinkie Dome. This was a standing room only extravaganza that only Korea could put together. Oh, and apparently there was a baseball game too! Before we left, we were warned that it would be a ... read more
Lance and I pregame
Field
On deck

Asia » South Korea » Gyeonggi-do May 27th 2009

Before leaving on this adventure, the largest problems Cassie and I had were tying up all the loose ends of our lives that would allow us to take advantage of this opportunity. The house, Denali, finances, and seeing everyone before we left were all necessary and/or important to us. Recently, the obligatory question arises in almost all of our conversations is that of our plans for next year. We will be returning home, Korea was never more than a one year commitment in our eyes. It was never difficult to miss home despite all of the wonderful things we are doing and experiencing while being abroad. The typical dream list people assemble often contains things like, ‘live abroad,’ or ‘travel the world,’ ‘see the wonders of the world,’ or ‘become a published writer.’ These, in one ... read more
Wired Korea
Great wall of Yeoju... really
Cass' teachers hiking the great wall of yeoju

Asia » China » Beijing » Olympic Park May 5th 2009

Our final day in Beijing and Cass suggested we rent some bikes from the hostel to cover some ground and see as much of the city as we can. My first thoughts were of images of honking speed demons and the previous day’s traffic encounter on the way to the Great Wall. “No thanks, I rather enjoy being alive…” but the more I thought about it, it was a brilliant idea. The early morning sunshine cast long shadows on the locals navigating rusty, dirty bikes along the grey brick streets of the hutong. The ‘prrings’ of bike bells in the distance was too much, I could handle this scene. Cass was game right from the get go, after I came to terms with the realistic possibility of becoming a hood ornament, I was pretty psyched about ... read more
Caution, car roof explosions
We're in a Beijing biker gang
Cool market street

Asia » China » The Great Wall May 3rd 2009

Spoiler alert! Our China trip is now over, and we’re back- swine flu free and clear- to the grind of Korea. OK- undue the spoiler alert! I thought I’d wait a bit between entries so not to blog-overload everyone with our experiences in Beijing. Both Cass and I were looking forward to this day of our trip as soon as we made our reservations. Through our hostel tour company (that’s basically how trip arrangements are done here) we signed up to hike 10 km. of the Great Wall of China. The designated ‘Wonder of the World’ did not let us down. We met the small bus already loaded at 6:45 in the morning and settled in for the three hour bus ride to a more remote section of wall- we learned our lessons about the crowds ... read more
"you take if you want... save energy"
Great Wall
Taking a rest

Asia » China » Beijing » Forbidden City May 2nd 2009

We’ve been looking for a little break from the routine and frustrations of teaching in Korea for some time, especially when once we had this little trip planned about three months ago. We have a four day weekend, courtesy of Buddha’s birthday and Children’s day, so we thought we’d take advantage of it… that we did. As soon as we touched down, and passed the pig flu infrared heat sensors in the Beijing airport, we hit the ground running. Our airport pickup arrived almost on time and before we knew it, we got to practice our awful attempts at ‘Nihao’ and ‘Shey-Shey’s’ (hello and thank you) with the nice man, Dominic. We then took a turn down one of the smallest, cutest little alleys that you can imagine and pulled up to our hostel. It is ... read more
Overlooking the Forbidden City
Imperial Garden
Imperial Garden foliage




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