Last Night @ U2

Sept 23rd- As promised we headed out Saturday night to our famous U2 bar to watch the band and have our last party night in Korea. We definatly went out with a bang, the tequilla shots were flowing, Jager came out the play, there was some shoe throwing, bailing on the dance floor as well as the stairs on the way home, even the markers came out!! Good Times!

Our Boss' Son's 1st Bday

Sept 21st- Happy 1st Birthday! Rachel (our boss) invited us to her son's first birthday party. We met them at a Chinese restaurant where they had a private room. The whole family was looking good, all dressed in hanbok's (the traditional korean clothing). The food just kept on coming, 8 courses. We even tried shark fin and drank award winning Chinese beer at a lazy suzan style table. We played with the kids and watched as they attempted to figure out what their son is going to be when he grows up. On the table they had a golf ball, a microphone, a pencil, a computer mouse and various other objects representative of professions and which ever one the baby picked first is what he will be. First pick was a microphone, so looks like he is going to be an entertainer!!!

Full to the brim we headed town for a stroll near Haeundae beach when we ran into Jimmy ( The owner of U2 bar - a bar we used to frequent). He was upset that we hadn't been there in ages and urged us to go in for a drink. We caught up with Angela (his wife) and June ( the dj). It was a nice little trip down memory lane. We saw our "Canadian Girls Drinking Team" signatures on the wall, our "We Love U2" Canadian Flag and also found tons of pictures of us all over the walls of the bar. So many great memories! We also promised to return saturday night to watch the band and have one last party night at our old watering hole!

Korean Baseball Game

Sept 10 - It was a perfect Sunday for a baseball game. Steph, Erik and Kel headed out to the stadium to catch the Lotte Giants ( the Busan team) game. They sucked pretty bad but it was a fun afternoon.

Oryukdo Islets

Sept 2: Another hot day in Busan, Erik & Stef hopped on the Busan Maritime Boat Tour boat bound for Oryukdo Islets. There were tons of drunk Koreans aboard - mind you it was 4 in the afternoon - but it made for a really interesting ride. The seas were rough, but we made it after 30 min to the islets.

Oryukdo Island is attached to the southern part of Busan, and depending on the day and the tide, may appear to be five islands or six islands, hence the name. Designated a Monument of Busan, Oryukdo Island is a rock island that can be said to be made purely of stones. Of all the five islands branching out from the mainland, all of them, except the one with the lighthouse, are uninhabited. It is composed of Usakdo Island, Surido Island, Gonggotdo Island, Guldo Island and Deungdaedo (Lighthouse) Island, but because the lower part of Usakdo are divided into two segments that appear as two islands, sometimes Usakdo Island is known as Bangpaedo Island and Sol Island as well, depending on the level of the water. The name of the Usakdo Island comes from this phenomenon as well. Because many ships that come to Busan pass by Oryukdo Island, it is a symbol of Busan as well.

We had many Koreans attempt ot speak to us and Erik even made a couple new girlfriends! A sunburn and a bit of sea-sickness later we landed on shore safe and sound :)

Starface

Sept 2nd- It was Saturday night, some people from Jinju were in Busan and so we decided to head out for a night on the town. We got dressed up and headed to Starface. 15$ all-you-can drink made for one hilarious night... And like all good nights in Korea we ended up singing all night at nori-bong! Good Times!

GUAM is DONE!

Hi Everyone!
The long awaited, long anticipated Guam blog is finally posted, so scroll down and check it out! Also stay tuned for Jeju Island..coming really soon! Love Kel and Steph xoxo

Mark's Last Night!

Aug 31: Mark finished his contract at the end of the month so we celebrated by enjoying delicious Korean cuisine and downing some Bamboo soju and pub eats! We are sad to see him go but wish him luck in Toronto!

Otis in Korea

August 25th - There was some talk of Otis coming to Korea to teach a few months back, then to our surprise one day he sent an e-mail saying he would arrive friday night, much sooner than he had expected. Anyways his apartment wouldnt be ready until monday so he was going to crash here. Steph was in Jinju for the weekend so I felt it was my duty to give Otis a traditional firt night in Korea which obviously involves getting a little loopy on Korea's finest alcohol..good old soju! Everyone that comes to teach to Korea has a great story about their first night adventures with the traditional alcohol.

After some cathching up and a few duty free beverages, we headed to the upside-down tea pot place for some traditional Korean rice wine (Mackaley). There we met a really funny Korean guy and I made Otis try some bugs (a popular side dish in Korea). EWWWWW....

We walked along Haeundae beach on our way to our next stop, which was to the site of our first nights debauchary "Minami" a Japanese Pub. We had some great bamboo soju (tastes like apple juice) and a little sushi. Things got messy I ended up leaving the pub with some red rubber boots, then we headed down to the beach to the beer tents. We did "love shots" (cross your arms and chug your drink) with a big group of Koreans and partyed with night away Korean style. I even did a few jigs in my new rubber boots! Good times!

August 26th - After some pancakes, we (Kel & Otis) headed to nampo-dong for a little shopping and to give Otis more of a taste of Korea. We had sushi for lunch and eventually headed back home to make some plans for round 2.
We decided to meet the girls and their boss in Gwangali at nori bong. We walked the beach on the way and admired the Gwangali bridge all lit up. At the noribong (Kareoke), the soju was flowing and the singing got wild. We danced on the tables, sang our brains out and at around 4am Ash, Gill, Otis and I decided to shut er' down with some pizza. Another great night in our wonderful city!

August 27th - We decided a movie day was definatly well needed after the gong show of a weekend. So we relaxed, had some Korean food and discussed Otis' upcoming adventures in Korea. A great first weekend..Welcome to Korea Otis!!!

Visit with Mr.Khang

August 26: An early morning call from Erik's adult student left us (Erik & Stef) traveling to Jirisan Mountain to see the mountain itself and all its nearby sights. Mr. Khang and his son picked us up and we drove out to the beautiful countryside.

Upon entering Jirisan, we stopped at a historical site called the Institute of Nam Myung Studies. It was here that he established a peculiar doctrine (moral purifty) and Eui (right conduct). He was claimed as the Great Master by contemporary scholars. He contributed to fomenting the Sil-hak (Practical Sciences) in the late Chosun era. He is remembered as the most successful educator who has given birth to a large number of outstanding scholars and politicians in Korean history.

Our next stop was an ever-exciting water museum that Mr. Khang really wanted to show us - so how could we deny him?! We pushed a bunch of buttons and saw the force of water flowing through the mountain and then left (quickly). We then headed up to Daewonsa and Naewonsa temples.

Daewon Temple is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Korea. Legend says it built by Adohwasang; a monk who lived during the Silla Dynasty. This grand and splendid sight is distinctive because of two Buddha statues. One statue is expressing the candor in the precints of the temple and the other expresses the anxiety of parent in the gate of the temple. Daewon Temple is the temple in Chenbong Mountain.

We stopped for some Korean lunch at Mr. Khang's favorite restaurant and enjoyed tons of Korean specialities as well as some expensive Soju! It was flour soju and in Korean tradition if you buy it, you drink it! Mr. Khang wasn't drinking because he was driving and his son was too young to drink so that left Erik and I to polish off this bottle. Needless to say, I was feeling it but tried my best to keep it PG!

We tried to walk it off at Naewon-sa. This temple is well-known as a temple for Buddhist nuns. Burnt down during the Korean War, it was reconstructed in 1958 by the monk Suok. The valley leading to the temple is deep and beautiful, with a cool stream flowing through it. This is a female only temple with a gorgeous backdrop of mountains!

After the two temples we headed up the mountain by car as far as we could get. We passed Mr. Khang's grandmother's house and a little apple farm. On the way back down Mr. Khang stopped and bought us some fresh apples which were apple-licious! We then stopped in at his brother and sister-in-laws house, which was situated in the valley. We had some grapes and juice before heading out back to Jinju. As we were exiting the mountain area Mr. Khang stopped to buy us some Persimmon. This is a fruit whose color ranges from light yellow to dark red and is rich in glucose and protein for both medicinal and chemical needs. I tried one...and it wasn't too bad....basically tasted like a really sweet apricot. We headed back and were so appreciative of all his kindness!