Woah! Three months have passed without one post from me.
죄송합니다 (Joesonghapnida) - I'm sorry! Life has been busy (as usual, haha). There's so much to say. So much to tell. Where to begin?
1) International Cultural Exchange Association (ICEA)
So I joined a group in February that consists of Korean University students and Foreign students, teachers, etc meeting together to do activities and learn about each other's culture. The group is based in the city of Busan - Korea's second largest city - so about twice a month I hop on a bus and take a 40 minute trip to Busan to engage in the fun activities. The group pairs each Korean student up with a foreign buddy, and then each buddy pair is placed into a small group that does the activities together. My buddy is a student named Seungwoo. He actually attends Changwon University so we are in the same city during the week and both have to take the trip out to Busan on the weekend. Recently I've been meeting up with him and his girlfriend (Garam) during the week to have coffee and practice English. They're a lot of fun to hang out with. ^^
2) Cherry Blossoms
The beginning of Spring was marked with a gorgeous display of blooming Cherry Blossom Trees. The cities of Changwon and Jinhae planted these beautiful trees all over their cities in order to increase the beauty of their city. Jinhae even has a fun Cherry Blossom Festival that is sponsored by the Korean Navy Base located in that city. I went to the Jinhae Gunhangje (Naval Port) Cherry Blossom Festival with some friends from my Bible Study and had a great time exploring the various beautiful areas of the city including the Korean Navy Base and Naval Academy (which are only open to the public during the 10 days of the festival), the Traditional Market area, the Yeojwacheon Stream Walk, the Lookout Tower, and the Mountain Drive. I also, explored the blossoms around Changwon on Easter Sunday and was blown away by the beauty of God's creation. If trees can be this beautiful on earth I can't wait to see what Heaven looks like!
3) Sports
I'm not really into sports, but I love going to games with my friends. Why? Because I love the atmosphere of sporting events. People cheering. Eating Stadium food. Half-time shows and contests. It's great! When I learned that Korean fans tend to be super energetic during sporting events I decided I really had to experience this for myself. Thus I found myself at both an LG Sakers Basketball game and a Changwon Dinos Baseball game. The crowd did not disappoint! The Stadium gave attenders signs to wave as they cheered. There were theme songs and dances for the teams that many fans in the stands did with reckless abandon. There was a 'hype' man who used used giant signs and a bullhorn to lead the fans in cheering. Both the Basketball team AND the Baseball team had cheerleaders. What?! Haha! Needless to say, I had FUN!! Oh yeah, and one other awesome thing: You can bring in your own food, drinks, cooking devices, etc. I witnessed families carrying in big boxes of pizza and fried chicken. At the Baseball stadium people even brought in portable grills to do a little Korean barbecuing. Nice! Why have a tailgate party outside the stadium when you could do it inside instead. Haha!
4) Seoul
I went to visit South Korea's largest city, twice. It is said that a quarter of the population of South Korea live in Seoul. Wow! It is located near the northern part of South Korea, not THAT far from the DMZ aka North Korea. I live near the bottom of South Korea about 40 minutes away from Korea's second largest city - Busan. Despite the distance, the trip from Changwon to Seoul only took 4 hours and 10 minutes by bus. Nice! I decided it was time to visit this city where so many Koreans and Foreigners want to live. Also, my friend Mary lives in Seoul and it was high time for a visit! Seoul is a great city with lot's to do. There are a ton of people but oddly it didn't feel as crowded as New York City feels to me. Maybe because the city is so spread out. Taking the subway from one side of the city to the other can take over 40 minutes. Yeesh! I went to Seoul twice because the city is just too big to see in one weekend trip. Even after going for a second time for an extended weekend I still feel like there's A LOT I haven't seen. Though Seoul is a pretty cool city I was still very happy to return to my 'small' (1 million population) city of Changwon. Haha! ^^
죄송합니다 (Joesonghapnida) - I'm sorry! Life has been busy (as usual, haha). There's so much to say. So much to tell. Where to begin?
1) International Cultural Exchange Association (ICEA)
So I joined a group in February that consists of Korean University students and Foreign students, teachers, etc meeting together to do activities and learn about each other's culture. The group is based in the city of Busan - Korea's second largest city - so about twice a month I hop on a bus and take a 40 minute trip to Busan to engage in the fun activities. The group pairs each Korean student up with a foreign buddy, and then each buddy pair is placed into a small group that does the activities together. My buddy is a student named Seungwoo. He actually attends Changwon University so we are in the same city during the week and both have to take the trip out to Busan on the weekend. Recently I've been meeting up with him and his girlfriend (Garam) during the week to have coffee and practice English. They're a lot of fun to hang out with. ^^
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| ICEA - Playing a unique 'Korean' beach game |
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| Cooking Korean barbecue together. |
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| Some of the members of my group in ICEA |
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| Trip to the Busan Aquarium |
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| Playing Pool, a popular Korean pastime |
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| Me and my Buddy Seungwoo |
2) Cherry Blossoms
The beginning of Spring was marked with a gorgeous display of blooming Cherry Blossom Trees. The cities of Changwon and Jinhae planted these beautiful trees all over their cities in order to increase the beauty of their city. Jinhae even has a fun Cherry Blossom Festival that is sponsored by the Korean Navy Base located in that city. I went to the Jinhae Gunhangje (Naval Port) Cherry Blossom Festival with some friends from my Bible Study and had a great time exploring the various beautiful areas of the city including the Korean Navy Base and Naval Academy (which are only open to the public during the 10 days of the festival), the Traditional Market area, the Yeojwacheon Stream Walk, the Lookout Tower, and the Mountain Drive. I also, explored the blossoms around Changwon on Easter Sunday and was blown away by the beauty of God's creation. If trees can be this beautiful on earth I can't wait to see what Heaven looks like!
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| Cherry Blossom Trees line the streets in Jinhae |
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| Me and some of the ladies from my Bible Study. |
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| A life size replica of an ancient Korean war ship located on the Naval Base. Visitors were able to go inside it. |
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| I really wanted to take a picture with a sailor so I convinced this friendly guy to pose with me. |
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| Yeojwacheon Stream |
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| Changwon's Cherry Blossoms |
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| Blossoms by Yongi Lake in Changwon |
3) Sports
I'm not really into sports, but I love going to games with my friends. Why? Because I love the atmosphere of sporting events. People cheering. Eating Stadium food. Half-time shows and contests. It's great! When I learned that Korean fans tend to be super energetic during sporting events I decided I really had to experience this for myself. Thus I found myself at both an LG Sakers Basketball game and a Changwon Dinos Baseball game. The crowd did not disappoint! The Stadium gave attenders signs to wave as they cheered. There were theme songs and dances for the teams that many fans in the stands did with reckless abandon. There was a 'hype' man who used used giant signs and a bullhorn to lead the fans in cheering. Both the Basketball team AND the Baseball team had cheerleaders. What?! Haha! Needless to say, I had FUN!! Oh yeah, and one other awesome thing: You can bring in your own food, drinks, cooking devices, etc. I witnessed families carrying in big boxes of pizza and fried chicken. At the Baseball stadium people even brought in portable grills to do a little Korean barbecuing. Nice! Why have a tailgate party outside the stadium when you could do it inside instead. Haha!
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| LG Sakers - the guys in red. Yes! There are foreigners on the team. How did you know? ^^ |
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| Couple seats...um...yeah... |
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| The Saker Mascot and a Banana guy giving away free bananas to the crowd. |
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| Cheerleaders |
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| This guy proposed to his girlfriend in the middle of the game. Thankfully she said 'Yes!' Haha! |
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| NC Dinos game. The Dinos are a brand new team. Changwon citizens are super excited to have their own baseball team! |
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| The people in red were all cheering for the opposing team. Haha! They had quite a crowd! |
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| Fried Chicken is a popular food item to eat at baseball games. |
4) Seoul
I went to visit South Korea's largest city, twice. It is said that a quarter of the population of South Korea live in Seoul. Wow! It is located near the northern part of South Korea, not THAT far from the DMZ aka North Korea. I live near the bottom of South Korea about 40 minutes away from Korea's second largest city - Busan. Despite the distance, the trip from Changwon to Seoul only took 4 hours and 10 minutes by bus. Nice! I decided it was time to visit this city where so many Koreans and Foreigners want to live. Also, my friend Mary lives in Seoul and it was high time for a visit! Seoul is a great city with lot's to do. There are a ton of people but oddly it didn't feel as crowded as New York City feels to me. Maybe because the city is so spread out. Taking the subway from one side of the city to the other can take over 40 minutes. Yeesh! I went to Seoul twice because the city is just too big to see in one weekend trip. Even after going for a second time for an extended weekend I still feel like there's A LOT I haven't seen. Though Seoul is a pretty cool city I was still very happy to return to my 'small' (1 million population) city of Changwon. Haha! ^^
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| My new favorite drink shop, Mango Six |
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| I went to see the musical Grease. they had an all Korean cast. |
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| A fancy Seoul Subway Station |
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| Traditional entertainment in the Subway |
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| One of the many cool statues all around Seoul |
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| The Seoul City Center |
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| I was able to get a NZ/Australian meat pie in the foreigner area of Seoul - Itaewon |
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| A huge indoor mall - Times Square |
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| Samcheongdong shopping area. |
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| Gyeongbuk Palace (In downtown Seoul) |
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| Inside Gyeongbuk Palace |
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| Inside Gyeongbuk Palace |
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| The Changing of the Guards at Deoksugung Palace |
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| Inside Deoksugung Palace |
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| Inside Deoksugung Palace with Mary and her friend. |
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| Even from inside Deoksugung Palace there was a constant reminder that we were still in the city. |
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| Locks of Love at Namsan (Seoul) Tower. Couples would put these locks here as a sign of their everlasting love. |
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| A view of Seoul at night from Namsan Tower |
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| Myeong dong - a popular shopping district |
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| The Cheonggyecheon River. It goes right through the heart of the Seoul City Center. |
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