HELP US DECIDE TO STAY OR GO!

PLEASE READ THE BLOG AND THEN CAST YOUR VOTE ON THE POLL TO THE RIGHT!

It seems like everyday Jake and I are pondering the future because it is so undecided. It is exciting to have many options, but overwhelming. We could use some valuable input from those we love. The details are long so feel free to scan or just cast your vote if you don't care about the specifics.

STAY AT OUR CURRENT JOB
Due to limited vacation, this would probably involve us only returning to the US for about a week in the beginning of June and would not allow us to relax and see everyone. Jake would likely just go to Portland while I went to Illinois. That is the major negative.

On the upside, we are both feeling comfortable in our job now. We pay loans, live well, have great hours (3-9) and friendly coworkers/boss. We have decent apartments and have acquired many goods to ease our day to day living like a couch. It would be a pain to relocate because start-up usually costs about a $1,000. Daejeon itself is not an overly thrilling place to live, but our lifestyle is positive. We have lazy mornings everyday to read, exercise, and relax; something we can never get from an 8-5 job. We hang out with colleagues a lot and we are close to a university area with entertainment. On weekends, we are able to escape to nearby cities or travel when we have longer breaks. However, while Jake and I are content in Korea, we do feel like we have seen enough to move on for the right opportunity.

MOVE TO A JOB IN SEOUL
This option would allow a solid month in the states for all the weddings, hooplah, and visits to both PDX and Chicago. While detrimental to savings, this is definitely a draw as we miss our friends and family dearly. We could really use a visit, especially if we are returning for a year. Seoul would also give us more access to the expat community of Korea and events on a daily basis. But, we risk the chance of disliking our job, coworkers, etc... We also lose all of our acquired goods and would need to re-buy many things.

CHANGE COUNTRIES
Japan is another alluring country. The initial salary is higher, but the cost of living is expensive. There are less perks as you pay for part of your apartment and airfare though. We figure that it may be harder to save as much, but we could budget and experience a new culture/city/scene. This would help make another year eventful and memorable.

RETURN HOME
Being able to see friends and family regularly is undoubtedly appealing. It seems hard that you lose touch with people you care about, miss babies growing up, life events, etc. The unstable job market is worrisome though. I'm sure I could manage to find a teaching job, but it may take time and be extra frustrating. Jake doesn't have a job at the ballroom as they are fully staffed so he would be starting from scratch too. I'm sure we would make it, but it may be a financial struggle for a bit and we would likely blow any savings we have. Namely because our combined loans are $1000 a month anyways. Eventually, we will have to face these odds regardless. We do need to have jobs with retirement funds and think about the long term as well. Not to mention, a home, puppy, and family are desirable down the road. This leaves home attractive, but daunting.

OKAY, THAT IS MOST OF THE DIRT. CAST YOUR VOTE AND HELP US SEE YOUR VIEWPOINT!

Korea Plays: WHEEL OF FORTUNE!

Alas, the loved American game show - WHEEL OF FORTUNE - has found its rightful place as a cell phone drinking game in Korea! I suppose it is no surprise to hear that the tech savvy Koreans have invented yet another cell phone application that woos and wows, but this hand-phone fun was a night to remember.

On Tuesday, the big bosses came to town to hold a conference in our large computer lab. As a gesture of gratitude, our regional boss hosted us to dinner after work. Of course, we had to travel away from our neighborhood to ensure that no parents would see us act "unprofessional." Not to worry, a quick car ride later and the shenanigans began.

Dinner was the traditional, galbi sal, or rib barbecue. It is cooked at the table with endless bancheon (side dishes) to mix. The cooked meat can be dunked in various sauces, scooped with garlic and green onions, or wrapped in a crisp piece of lettuce. The meat can be fatty, but tastes delicious when combined with the right bancheon. The lucrative amount of vegetables leads to a well balanced meal.

The other course of Korean dinner is soju. Soju sips, soju one shots (throw it back), or somaek (a soju shot dropped in beer much like a Jagger bomb). I was feeling a bit off from recent food born illnesses and got to enjoy this course sober. Sometimes it is enlightening to see the other side.

The troops seemed especially rowdy after a long week of work prepping for our winter intensive courses. The Korean teachers also had lots of training and were definitely getting their R and R. The most entertaining part of Korean culture is that even the bosses get drunk with no qualms. The ones who don't care to drink regularly, still have to take the shots out of respect. It is a rough life for newbies and non-drinkers, but we Americans have learned many fascinating community drinking games this way. And so again we return to ...WHEEL OF FORTUNE.

Our vivacious coworker, Elin, busted out her phone with a giggle and announced that it was Wheel of Fortune time. Slightly confused, all heads at the table of 25 zoned into the phone in question. Vicky, a boisterous soju pushing teacher, eagerly volunteered to be the first contestant. She rose the phone in the air like a ritual offering to the gods and fervently shook the sleek black object. The wheel spun rapidly as the flashes of color ticked across the screen....yellow, orange, pink, blue, purple...gradually it began to slow and we all leaned in with curiousity. Moments later Vicky blurted with excitement, "Won jeong nim...ship mahn won!" I.E. "Boss, give me $100!"

We were shocked. Were we truly playing Wheel of Fortune for our bosses money??? Is he really going to give her $100. Vicky proudly brought the cell phone to the boss with ease so he could see the winnings with his own eyes. But as she leaned forward with glee he wacked the phone with his free hand and the wheel rippled into a second spin. Vicky gasped, but then with a lighthearted chuckle the boss handed over the loot. It was amazing.

As the game ensued we found out the tables were turned in our favor. There were definitely more "win money from the boss" spaces then there were "punishment drinking" spaces. Some teachers landed on, "make your neighbors team drink" or "do a one shot." Still the "punishment drinking" led to such entertainment as Elin shoving chopsticks in her shirt and giving shoulder pads a whole new name. Not to mention ridiculous dancing antics from all parties. In the end, Vicky had accumulated 150,000 won from all of the teachers winnings. This is probably equivalent to $125 or so and was dedicated to the after party. Noraebang (singing room)...here we come!

Korean Cartoons...I found on a foreigner's blog!

The Korean language seems especially difficult to the untrained ear. This can be overwhelming when beginning a new class where kids names are distinguished by one swift vowel sound. Here is one comic to illustrate the frustration of beginning teachers. Just attempt to say the names 10x fast. And don't forget that they are normally written in Hangul!



Another fabulous Korean trend is fondly nicknamed, "THE COUPLE SET!" Young lovers frolic about town in the most ridiculous matching hoopla that you can imagine. However, it is great for entertainment purposes. Picture plush pink hoodies with snugly bears kissing or animation socks with a girl and a boy joining hands from left foot to right. Now you have just begun to understand ^^

Gobble Gobble!

From Collages

Turkey day was an unbelievable success. I feel pretty guilty about how little work I did on the actual day. But, all the ladies kept on getting kicked out of the kitchen - so couch potatoe winos it was.

Michael, Jesse, and Jake headed over to our boss Kris' house around 10:30 a.m. Jake had the 16 pound turkey strapped in his backpack and tons of other dishes in a large red tote. It was quite the ordeal. They really worked magic in the kitchen and deserve tons of credit along with Kris and her husband Sang Hun who would not even let us touch a dish.

Kim and I arrived around 12:30 with the other Korean teachers. Carrie, Claire, Elin and her husband all joined us for fun. I made a tasty cheese platter with fruits and the Korean's brought loads of appetizers as well. We enjoyed crab crepes, tuna rolls, tofu balls, and squid pajeon with plenty of wine naturally. The fusion and sharing added to the enjoyment.

We kept things nontraditional by playing a seasoon of Friends on the bigscreen tv instead of the usual football. But, the laughs were nonstop as always. Elin brought some homemade bokbunja, raspberry wine, that she declared improved men's stamina and brought many babies to her husband's family. This was followed by Jake spitting his out and Elin coaxing her husband by shouting in a high pitch, "Drink more honey!"

Next, we semi-watched the Juno movie which shocked the Koreans in many ways. To be an unmarried pregnant mother is very shameful and not widely accepted here. Abortions are secretive or women often go into hiding. My friend told me that adoption is also extremely hush-hush and a couple will actually move for a year or two so that they can say they had the baby without faking a pregnancy. Yup, things are different. It led to some interesting discussions nevertheless. Although, my favorite was when Juno was dancing with the husband who was soon to adopt her baby. Carrie nonchalantly replies, "Oh, inappropriate relationship. They should get an apartment." Really? Would that 16 year old to 40 year old creepster relationship actually be appropriate in an apartment? Pretty sure she was joking, but it was incredulous stuff.

Next, we feasted on a very successful potluck of foods. Everyone made something from their families Thanksgiving. Jesse made mounds of mashed potatoes and the yams. The yams were especially exciting because he mistakenly bought the bright purple sweet potatoes. Now, that adds color to the plate. Michael made his mom's signature broccoli salad along with a lavish mac and cheese. Jake worked hard at homemade chesnut, apple stuffing and I opened cans for green bean casserole. Sorry mom, but I really like it. Kris made some chinese cabbage salad and other sides that added to the delight.

After dining on the floor Korean style, we decided to play an awesome 2 hour card game called head to toe. It is way to complex to explain, but it involved lots of teams, bickering, and table talk - priceless.

We stayed until after 10 p.m. without even realizing where the day went. It was a blast and we were grateful to share the goodtimes. Jake kept saying, "he was sooooo happy." And that made me even more happy ; )

Kim's Birthday Weekend

Kim's Birthday weekend in Seoul was quite the debacle. It started early as Jake and I sprinted up 15 flights of subway stairs to the KTX speed train station just minutes before our train departed. After pushing our way past reams of travelers we spotted the rest of the crew on the tracks. Phew, sometimes trying to save a few by taking the subway instead of a taxi just isn't worth it.

Aboard the train, Jesse started the day lavishly with champagne. We popped the bottle and played some rummy which granted us plenty of stares from the other patrons. It was 11:00 am - give us a break. In just under an hour, we arrived in Seoul.

The first stop was Itaewon. We dined at the Ecume wine bar for lunch. Jake was in a state of bliss as he savored a rare, blue cheese steak. Generally, steak doesn't come with a temperature request here and is served well-done if served at all. Kim was less lucky in her meal selection and ended up with an anchovie laden bowl of olives that was deemed pasta. Then, things got worse when she put her long-sleeve white shirt in a pool of red wine that the chef slash sommelier left as a parting gift on the table. That coupled with a few dropped olives on the chest resulted in some raucous laughing. Hey, when stuff goes wrong you might as well stay up beat.

The day continued with a stop at Bill and Robyn's luxury apartment. They are friends of Kim and Jesse from back home, but Bill works for an automotive company and is hooked up. The surprises continued with a delectable, chocolate birthday cake and more champagne.

An hour or so later, we made our way to the Samseong area to catch what was supposed to be the highlight of the day - the Hedwig Musical. While the show was visually enticing, the entire script was one man singing his story. Lack of acting and visuals left us perplexed in a sea of Korean. Good thing there was lots of rock music and spastic melt downs on the stage to wake us from our champagne induced naps. Maybe the theatre should wait until it's in English - ha, ha.

After catching back up with Jake, the only wise one who refused to spend 60,000 won on a musical, we headed to Apgujeong. This is a posh dining area full of trendy shops. We went to a aesthetically impressive Thai-Italian restaurant called, "Zen Living Space." Naturally, we had a humongous corner with three plush red couches the size of beds arranged around a large wooden family style table. Bamboo screens kept us hidden from the other restauranters. I think this may have been intentional ; ). Jake and I were winding down on our budget, but shared some tom yum soup, pad see yu, and sangria. It was lovely.

Of course, the night would not have been complete without more drinks and fun so the shenanigans continued to the Wa Bar which boasts an island of beers in a built in bar which we moseyed up to. After a few drinks, people parted ways. Jake and Michael were too sleepy to continue. Reluctant to end the Seoul journey early, I met up with Sabrina and a bunch of her friends. We tried our feet at salsa and then headed to a funk dance club until way too late. All in all, a good trip.

The "REAL" Halloween Party

Unfortunately, Jake's sickness required a change in location for the planned festivities. Luckily, Michael was willing to get his room trashed for a good cause. We decorated with the minimal supplies we could find in Korea. Trust me, this is several days and numerous stores later...so don't knock it. Kim's tissue ghost streamers really took the room to the next level though. Saddly, only about half of the Korean's wore a costume and the others disappointed us. We meant to paint their faces, but got distracted by games and fun.

Jake and I had created a silly scavenger hunt earlier in the week. We invented corny riddles that hinted at locations around our apartment complex to find clues from the roof to an old, smelly mattress in a stairwell. Then, we hid small treasures with the clues and had the Koreans divide into two teams for the battle. It ended up being hysterical. Watching them frantically run up and down stairwells searching for more riddles. One involved Trick-or-Treating at Kim and Jesse's where they got to sample their first jello shots. The downer came when they had to venture to the park in the rain. Carrie jumped up to reach the clue and slipped down the slide into rain, sand, and mud. Note to Erin: You are taller than most Korean women.

The other hit of the evening was SwAMp PuNCh. I concocted a mixture of rum, cider, lemonade, limeade, melon sherbert, and plastic fingers. It turned out a mucus green, but tasted delish. I lured many to the dark side with the tastiness. I originally bought a pretty punch bowl for the mixture, but shattered it after an incident that involved opening the ice bag with a butcher knife over the sink. No more details necessary. Ha, ha.

Well, we hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween. Jake is still not feeling too great and was sad to miss all the excitement. I'm sure it would have been 100x better with him aboard.

GnB HaLLOwEeN!

The hagwon was transformed into a frightening haunted school in one short evening. I was shocked by the amount of decorations and random, recycled junk that the school had accrued for the Halloween festivities. We decorated after work on Thursday till nearly midnight. The pictures don't do the rooms justice; they were way spookier in the dark with strobe lights, black lights, and eerie music. All in all it was a blast.

MOUNT DOOM

I started off all gung-ho about our fall trip to Mount Woraksan. A few kilometers in, my spirits changed. The leaves were incredibly vibrant and the views were striking, but the hike was pure death. If you think you are in good shape, I challenge you to MOUNT DOOM. Even the seasoned Koreans said it was difficult. We are talking pulling your weight up vertical rocks using metal poles and maneuvering down ropes courses. It was sort of like being on one of those rehab challenge shows where your mental abilities are tested by strenuous, never ending tasks in the woods. You know, when you are screaming, "I can't do it anymore!" And the leader is yelling, "You woosey, is that all you got? Push." Anyways, you get the picture. We should have turned around after the first peak, but our need to conquer urged us to push forward. This energy was dampened when we were climbing down boulders at dusk. Woopsies. Good thing we didn't see any Goral (devilish mountain goats).

After collapsing onto pavement, we pulled ourselves together and hobbled to a restaurant for dong dong ju (fermented rice liquor-tastes like boozy bananas). I'm not so much a fan, but the men love it. Once we had enough eumph to push forward we tried to navigate to a bus stop. Needless to say, we were now on the other side of the mountain, after dark, in a podunk village. We debated about sneaking on to an Avalon English tour bus that we spotted parked outside a restaurant, but opted for questioning the convenience store staff. The man directed us to the super market for bus times, which was no where in sight down the blackened road. Eventually, we glimpsed the neon super market sign and met a new friend who informed us that the buses were finished. After 5 minutes of staring at a handmade time schedule we requestioned him on our destination. Alas, we located a bus leaving in 10 minutes. However, it happened to be on the other end of town. We bolted across a river and followed a windy road and magically found a bus. I really don't know how it worked out.

Once in Suanbo, we checked into a cheap motel and went on a mission for food. We demolished some bulgogi and veggies and we easily became light headed from a drop of alcohol. After, we decided to meander around the town. Michael heard music emanating from a building next to a mart we were stationed at. So, he lead the way in and we entered into what I can hypothesize is the Lion's club of Korea. Everyone was over 60, drunk, dancing, and singing karoakee. We were instantly pulled onto the dance floor and began grooving. Jake was dancing on the stage with old ladies, Michael held it down on the dance floor and old men were showing me their mountain moves. I realized the oogling and escaped to the restroom. When I returned, Jake basically blurted, "Let's get out of here!" and ran to the door. I followed promptly in confusion just to find out some creepster man grabbed his junk! Ah ha ha....oh, korea.

At the final bar, Jake ordered some strange plate of food just prior to falling asleep in the booth from pure exhaustion. I tried to feed him what looked like fiery spaghetti noodles but he karate chopped the fork across the room and it landed on the speakers. At this point, we decided it was time for bed. Thank you Mount Doom. All 11 km of you.

Aliens, Universe, Robots ... All on a Day's Walk

These photos may strike you as outlandish for a normal Saturday stroll, but that is why Korea can be so revitalizing. You never know what to expect or when you may find the most peculiar forms of entertainment.

Our coworker Jesse had a brilliant idea to invite each of the Korean staff to take us to their favorite restaurant on Saturdays. That way, we could sample some new flavors and mingle more. Carri brought us to a famous dubu (tofu) restaurant where we had an array of spicy tofu, kalguksu (handmade noodles), and mandu (dumplings). It was delicious and ridiculously inexpensive.

After lunch, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and explore around the Dunsan neighborhood. We had no plan, yet we stumbled upon many wonders.

The art museum was hosting an incredible universe exhibition with numerous interactive pieces including green screens, constellation simulators, and mission impossible laser shows. We couldn't get enough.

Next, we traversed to the nearby arboretum. The wild flowers were stunning, but the real eye-catcher was the displays of miniture animal scenes made from acorns and other various shells. The orchestra set is bound to make you laugh aloud.

When we thought the day was over, we heard bumping music across the way. To our surprise, the Daejeon Space Festival was in full effect in the Expo Park grounds. We called Michael to meet us asap. The concert featured b-boys, Kpop dancers, and masked mimes. The follow up act was perhaps the winner though...The Robot Road Show! A stage of 10 robotic dogs (wearing accessories and fashion clothes of course) danced it out to choreographed Kpop routines. Then, traditional robots popped up and performed "the robot." There was even a human-like robot as the announcer.

On the other side of the Space Festival we spotted a gigantic blow up tent with a banner reading, "TOUCH THE SPACE." Immediately, our sarcasm kicked in as Michael began shouting, "I need to touch THE space." I chimed, "I must touch THE space." And Jake rallied, "We will touch THE space." After a ten minute line, we entered a wonderland of gyro rides, tramplines with bungee cords, and space walking simulators. To our dismay, a staff member approached us and declared, "Sorry, kids only." Pretty sure Jake cried.

All in all, it was a rather interesting Saturday.

Gapsa Web Album

About an hour from our apartment is Gyeryong National Park. Last Saturday, we ventured to Gapsa for a short hike. The bus ride wound through spooling curves for an endless hour, leaving both Jake and I feeling queasy. That was impressive considering neither of us have generally been prone to motion sickness. Despite the nauseating ride, the day was incredible. The sun was beaming through the mountains and bouncing off of the golden rice paddies in seamless rays. The farmers were busy harvesting their crops under the powder blue skies. I was shocked at the pics our tainted kodak managed to capture. Have a look....

GAPSA Side of Gyeryong National Park

Taipei Typhoon Weekend

Old Jeju Pics from the Disposable - so 1990's

EMBARRASSING STORY MOMENT: This is one of the humorous tales Jake's parents told me (prior to marriage and a few wine glasses in). It began like so....

Are you sure you want to marry him??? When he was 8, he begged to go to camp just like his big sister Johanna. So, we sent him packing with a disposable camera and underwear. When he returned, Jake raved about all of the awesome photos he took. We anxiously asked, "Well, where is your camera?" Jake innocently replied, "Uh, you said it was disposable so I threw it in the big garbage can, duh!"

Ha, ha, ha, the jokes on him!

The Breakfast for Dinner Party

Michael Teacher threw a Breakfast for Dinner Party after work this Friday. A handful of the Korean teachers joined us. It was low key, but entertaining nevertheless.

After a tasty meal, the games began. An interesting Korean drinking game is translated as "The Good Sense Game". Everyone starts in squating positions on the floor. You count the number of people in the room (Friday = 12). Then, the goal is to pop up and say the next consecutive number without being last. The real kicker is that if you shout a number simultaneously with another player, you have to take a shot. When two people fumble, everyone heckles and chants, "love shot, love shot, love shot or one shot, one shot, one shot." Now the two losers have to wrap their beverage hand around the other player's neck and hug while gulping down their shot along with their dignity...ha, ha, ha. The hilarious part is, we only made it to 12 once or twice. A good strategy is to not even move until 9 or so. Then you just laugh at everyone else.

Another comedic moment came when we were all just chatting. Kim jokingly blurted, "You Suck!" to the Korean teacher Joy. Joy promptly retorted, "Ha, ha...YU Suk...that's my father's name." Classic.

The true highlight of the night came much later when Jesse had disappeared for a while. The rest of us were still casually talking when we heard a breathless plea coming through the window, "I fell, I'm okay, I fell." We all stormed towards the window to find Jesse sprawled on the cement pavement holding his ankle with a suction cup towel rack in hand. What's going on??? Cue Jesse, "I was there (pointing to the building wall which he attempted to scale), and now I'm here (gesturing towards his humble abode on the sidewalk), with a such and such (nodding towards the flimsy suction cup towel rack)." Apparently, he had always talked smack about reaching the ledge above our building entry way and hollaring in the second floor apartment. Too bad our building is slick marble. P.S. Jesse, that towel rack probably can't withstand the weight of a towel, much less a human. But you just entered into the Korea's Most Memorable Moments Hall of Fame for awesomeness.

The next day was low key until we decided to venture to Gungdong, the college drag near our house. Of course, we stumbled onto a Korean battle of the bands event on the newly revamped Rodeo Drive. The first hip hop band got low to, "I want a jail girl, uh, uh, uh." At least we think that is what they said. We had a debate about possibilities and ended because that seemed the most humourous.

Next, Michael got sassy when he predicted the following boy band of four was surely going to belt out Boyz to Men. And they did. Their follow up song was a slightly altered version of R Kelly's, "I Believe I can Fly, I Believe I can touch A sky." Note "a" sky instead of "the sky." Oh, it is just the little things that keep us entertained. For example, the slightly crazy old man in front of us who kept raising his hand relentlessly to go on the stage. He finally won a Miney Mouse doll for all his hard work. He walked proudly away with his doll and bag of kimchi.

Then, there was the 12 year old girl who got to hug an attractive band member in mysterious aviator shades. She screamed bloody murder as she half embrassed him before fleeing the stage in embarassed bliss. Comedy. All night long comedy.

Signing off.

Good Evening From Seoul

This weekend Jake and I splurged for a trip to Seoul. We left around 3 p.m. on Saturday for the bustling city. The day went smooth with some tasty meditteranean food, shoe shopping in the foreigner "big feet" district, and a cruise along the Han River.

The boat cruise left from Yeouido park. This is a pleasant, sprawling park along the river front of the small island in the city. Unfortunately, there was a bit of construction from revamping the park walks. Yet another accent of Korea that will be beautiful in 3 years. Jake and I find ourselves saying that more often than not.

The boat cruise was hard to capture on our jankity digital camera. All the night settings led to blurring and the speed setting was pitch black. Nevertheless, we hope you enjoy the few panaramas we managed to capture at dusk.

In the evening, we met up with one of our friends from Portland and grabbed some drinks at local bars in Itaewon. We hit up an Irish pub (to feel like home), The Bungalow (for sand and hammock swings), and Brickx (for an underground Masquerade ball). The evening was exciting, but we called it quits around 1 a.m. in preparation for our early departure to Everland Sunday.

Everland is Korea's Disneyland, but in my opinion, it was a different caliber all together...and I mean a lower caliber. We started off the morning cranky from lack of sleep and caffeine and then kept running into predicaments. We ignorantly waited at the wrong bus for at least 45 minutes just to find out that the correct vestibule was in the center of the 10 lanes. Then, we bitterly relocated to the middle for 20 minutes to get scowled at by a bus driver frantically gesturing a u-turn. Oh yes, we were then again at the wrong middle bus stop. Question: How many bus stops can be located outside of one subway exit? Why are no route maps posted to indicate direction? And why is there zero English in such an English focused country...ahhhhhhhhh?

Merely minutes before we almost decided to head back home, we landed on the right bus and took a deep breath. Despite some nasty lunch and the first ride, that I nearly died on, the rest of the park cheered us up. It was cheesily decorated for Halloween and park goers proudly sported different variety of animal ears about the park. All the grown men wore black kitty ears and ladies rocked everything from bats to giraffes. Why do so many people where the animal ears you ask? Well why do so many people need to buy Mikey Mouse gloves? Jake and I decided the accessible price point of Korea encourages customers to go all out. Don't worry, Jake bought a bat cape for Halloween with a full on face mask and I got some adorable panda slippers...great success!

The most eventful part of the day was the T-Express, a roller coaster with the steepest incline in the world at a 77 degree angle. Jake literally was freaking out on the way up and his legs were still shaking at the end. We are complete opposites with roller coaster fears...I get nervous only when it goes upside down and Jake believes wooden coasters are death omens. Oh buddy! What a weekend.

Miss you all.

Slideshow of Beth & Brendan's Visit

The BP'S do Korea

Yes, oh yes! Palmer and Purkapile trekked to our little peninsula in Asia for a summer retreat. The week zoomed by and I can hardly believe it is over. What fun it was to have some familiar faces to share good times with!

It would be a bit tedious to recount the weeks mischief in detail. Plus, I am positive that even this blurb will be utter nonsense to any people who were not actually involved...but here are some highlights just for kicks.

-Singing our hearts out at the ludicrous ALIEN themed norae bang (Karaoke room). We stayed in our "pod" for hours endlessly entertained by the ultimate renditions of "Gangsters Paradise" and "Chop Suey." Be very jealous or glad you were not there to pop your ear drums.

-Seeing a freak-sized fish flea from his capturers at the fish market and flop free (for the moment) on the tile floor below.

-Watching a brigade of people storm the street in a mass exodus from the seats of our restaurant. Were they running from a tidal wave?Is it a bomb? Is it a fight? Is it a wild animal on the streets? No, but it was a massive gas fire blazing up a building. Insane!

-Playing the street crane games for at least an hour just to acquire broken, pleather, oversized watches for Beth and Jake. Despite my initial rage in frivolously wasting won, the crew managed to scoop up loads of goods. Jake's famous words of the night were, "I feel like a whole new man." He also inquired as to why I got him a wedding ring instead of a life-affirming watch. If I only knew. Classy times!

-Hysterically laughing at Jake trying to make Korean's of all ages dance at the beach "rap concert." Looks like it's just you tonight champ.

- Breaking the rules and storming into the sea around 3 am just to get the coast guard lights beamed on us full blast -- Whoopsies! (Way to go Bethy for starting the movement).


Thanks for the laughs and fun, friends! More pictures to come.

dAjEOn CiTiZEns

Nothing implies settling into a town like adopting their local sports team and rooting for them like you've religiously watched them your entire life. So, have no fear, the true dAjEOn CiTiZEn fans are here. You will notice from the photo that my male counterparts have taken on this crazed role with conviction. Of course, when the team loses, consistently I might add, Jake is convinced that he would in fact make a better denfense player than the fools on the field. Oh, all on a lazy Sunday ; )

Hi - Touch Gongju!

"Hi-Touch Gongju!" is one of the many classic English city slogans of Korea. We found this one to be particularly entertaining and we still aren't quite sure what they were aiming for...Experience Gongju? High-Five Gongu? Hello, Touch all Monuments in Gongju? It's officially a mystery.

Now, Gongju is not alone in the English slogan tourism. In fact, all cities seem to have a catch phrase that is vibrantly advertised across bridges, on monuments, or in some cases - on flying bikes in the sky. This particularly wondrous slogan actually resides a mere block from our Galaxy Apartment. The hot-spring/bike friendly neighborhood of Yuseong features a 10 foot wide bicycle, complete with spinning wheels and a geared-up cyclist, tooting, "Yuseong, Very Good!" Our city at large, Daejeon, boasts "Let's Go Together!" with cute anime characters sporting space suits. Who can resist the appeal? It is almost as alluring as all of the cartoon characters dressed as food items plastered on restaurants. Yes, I will eat you dancing kimbap roll flashing me the thumbs-up sign. Good times.

That was a bit of a side-track from today's actual adventures. We ventured out early on a day trip to Gongju, about 30 minutes from our casa. According to the Lonely Planet, "Gongju became the second capital of the Baekje kingdom in AD 475 when the first capital near Seoul was captured." We were tempted to the city by the rolling hillside portraits of the Gongsanseong fortress. Our pictures did a decent job capturing the scenic beauty as well. However, they don't quite capture me nearly sliding down a ledge in my slick wooden flip flops or Jake going ape shit when the gnats attacked in the inner woodlands. And those were pretty much the highlights of the trip ; ). Later, we swung by the tombs of King Muryeong and rented utourista video tour guides --gotta love Korean technology.

P.S. Don't forget to check out the monsterous spider photos and the minbak that Da' Bears stay at in Korea.

Happy Weekend!

Tales of a Couch

IT'S OFFICIAL...WE ARE 3 MONTHS IN!

One thing you recognize quickly while living in a foreign country is the things you took for granted at home. For example, potable tap water, burrito stands on every corner, garbage cans in the street, and most importantly -- your couch.

Now, in all actuality, the majority of Korean homes probably have couches these days. However, working with a budget, we started with the bare minimum in our apartment which = pillows and a table (see above). A little while later we upgraded to a larger yo mat. But, this week, we broke barriers and got a couch thanks to a belated bday gift of money from mom. A Korean teacher helped us order it online and it was delivered/assembled for free. It was no Ikea 5-hour picture assembly project. Whoo - whoo!

So you spoiled folks in the homeland should give your couch a little extra appreciation today. After all, it could just be a pillow ; )