Spring Break 2010: Busan, Burger King, and 뜽

Buddha’s Birthday is also a national holiday in Korea, so we got a 3 day weekend! For our 3 day weekend we did what every other foreigner in Korea apparently decided to do too, take the bullet train south to Busan, the coastal port city in the southeast corner of the country.

We left Thursday night after work and took the bullet train down in time to go out on Thursday night. The 4 of us girls had a really random night out. The next morning we met up with some of our other friends for a day on the beach. I have literally never seen anything like it since I’ve been in Korea. The beach was PACKED with expats. Literally, it looked like Miami or something. Koreans gathered on the edge of the beach and just stared in amazement. We took over. We spent the day frolicking in the ocean, enjoying some beers, and loving the warm weather. We checked into our amazing hotel that we shoved 5 people into, which was so worth it. We went out to the “hottest nightclub in Busan” that night which happened to be in the basement of our hotel. Awesome commute.On Saturday it decided it was going to be a shit day and rain. Luckily for us we had shelled out the cash to stay in the nicest hotel on the beach so it was a funny/relaxing day just lounging in the hotel room with good friends. That night we hit up a local bar which was packed full of expats. I felt like I was in America.We headed back to Seoul the next morning on the KTX after a nice long weekend vacation.

The Dorsey's Do Korea.

The day after I got back from Jeju, my parents and my brother came to Korea! It was awesome to be able to show them my life and what I’ve been up to for the past 9 months. It’s almost impossible to relay and explain what its like here over skype/phone. I’m so thankful my family got to get such a glimpse into my life.

The first night they got here it was pretty late, but my Dad was hungry so we went across the street to a little Korean restuaunt and got some bi bim bap (rice and veggies with hot sauce). There were some drunk businessmen out for a late night drunk fest that made us try some of their chewy slimy river eel and their makgoli (rice wine). It was a pretty good intro for my dad to see how friendly Koreans can be, since sometimes in Seoul, just like in NYC, people can be pushy and rude.

The next morning we set out on our first day in Korea. First we went downtown to the City Hall and Gwanghamun Plaza. We took a nice walk to Dongdaemun shopping area and then had lunch at my favorite chain Korean restaurant. I introduced them to ddokbokki, pork cutlet, kim bap, and some other Korean diner food. After lunch we went to Yeoido Island to ride bikes along the Han River. It’s a nice way to see a good part of Seoul. After bike riding we went to Myeong-dong (a neighborhood) and saw the famous show “Nanta!” which is a silent show about cooking and dancing. It was really cool.

The next day I had to go to work so my family went hiking to the north of Seoul on a hike I had done in September. That night I came back into Seoul for dinner. Thursday I also had to work so I sent them to the Korean War Museum. After school on Thursday they took the subway and bus out to my apartment to stay the night. We went out to the bar and to the noraebang (singing room) with all of my local Gwangju friends, which was fun. We all 4 slept in my tiny apartment which was an experience. The next day they all came to work with me. The kids went absolutely NUTS over Andrew, and they still talk about him to me sometimes. “Oh so handsome!”, “So tall!”, or my favorite “fabulous DNA!”. They got to eat lunch at my school and then watch me teach one class. The students in that class were super excited that they were the chosen ones to get them to sit in on class.After school we had a little happy hour on the roof of my apartment building and then headed into Seoul for the weekend. Friday night I decided I needed to show my college aged brother the awesome nightlife Seoul has to offer, plus the drinking age here is 19 so he was legal! Let’s just say he had a little too much soju and something may have happened at 4AM with a bowl of kimchi…

The next morning we went up in Seoul Tower for a 360 view of Seoul and then went to a Korean baseball game! Seoul LG Twins were playing the Busan Giants and Korean baseball games are unlike American ones for sure. Imagine European soccer, American baseball, plus all things Asia (bright lights, flashy outfits, loud kpop music, etc.) LG got killed so that wasn’t cool but it was fun. We went to my favorite night stopping grounds called Hongdae, which was cool to show to my parents.

Sunday was their last day in Korea and happened to be one of the biggest festivals of the year in Seoul. It was Buddha’s Birthday and there was a festival called “Lotus Lantern Festival” happening. We got to make our own paper lanterns and eat bugs. We also went to the temple, which was decked out in colorful lanterns and decorations for the holiday. As soon as it got dark there was also a parade that went down the busiest streets in Seoul. Thousands of people and monks carrying lit up lanterns walked by along with lit up lantern floats. It was a really cool sight.My parents left the next morning for China and my brother headed home. I’m so thankful that they got to come and experience something that has changed my life and will influence me forever. Being here has definitely changed my life and I’m glad they will sort of understand where I’m coming from now. It was a good break up in the year since I hadn’t seen them for 9 months. At this point I only have 2 left, so that’s nothing!

Jeju Island

So I haven’t blogged in FOREVER… but I have nothing to do at work this week so I thought I’d try and catch up.

The first week in May I had 3 days off, meaning I had a 5 day weekend. Me and my friend Amy decided to jet down to Jeju island for a little vacation. Jeju island is known as the “Hawaii of Korea” and is a popular honeymoon destination for Koreans, Japanese, and Chinese.

We flew down from Gimpo Airport in Seoul on Tuesday night and headed to our classy 5 dollar a night motel called “Jeju Hiking Inn”. The next morning we explored the island and went to some cool waterfalls. The best waterfall was Jeongbang, which is the only waterfall in Asia that falls directly into the sea. We tried the delicacies as well, Jeju is famous for oranges. So we tried orange chocolate, orange rice wine, and lots of other orange things. That night was cinco de mayo so we had a little happy hour with some Coronas up on the roof of our hostel overlooking the bay.

That night we decided to check out the really ritzy resorts on Jeju. We headed to the Lotte Hotel, which looks like a castle. We ate dinner at one of the really nice restaurants there. I got salmon, something I never get here, and it was amazing! After dinner we went to the hotel casino. Casinos in Korea are a weird phenomenon. Korean nationals are not allowed into them because gambling is illegal. But hotels like to rake in money from foreign tourists (especially the Japanese), so they have casinos that are only for people with foreign passports. We literally had to show proof that we weren’t Korean to get in, not what age we were.The next morning we took a long scenic bus ride to the east side of the island. First we went into a huge Lava tube cave. Jeju is volcanic just like Hawaii so there are lots of caves and lava features. The cave was really cool. After the cave we went to Seongsan, which means Sunrise Mountain. It isn’t actually a mountain, but a crater made by an old volcano. We climbed to the top of it and there was an awesome view of the town below. We explored the area for a while, including the black sand beaches, and then we headed back to our area. We went to the world cup stadium where they had some lanterns set up for Buddha’s Birthday.The weather had been kinda blah in Jeju up until Friday. On Friday it was supposed to be nice so we went to the beach! It was so nice and so sunny and I got REALLY sunburnt. The beach itself was beautiful and after a long day of hanging out there we went to the Shilla hotel for some beer on the porch.The next day we had plans to climb the tallest mountain in Korea, Hallasan, but those plans didn’t sound as appealing as the beach/pool. So we scratched them and headed to The Shilla Hotel. The Shilla is probably the nicest hotel on Jeju. The pool is offlimits to nonguests, but since we’re foreigners noone questioned us. We hung out by the amazing pool all day and pretended that we were rich guests staying at the Shilla. It was a good day.The next morning we headed back to Seoul on the 1 hour flight. Jeju was a nice vacation from Seoul and did actually remind me of Hawaii a little bit. It’s probably not as exciting to us, however, because it’s only an hour away from Seoul instead of a long journey. Anways it was a good vacation!

hangman

This literally just happened, it was just too hilarious to not tell you guys about.

I was playing hangman with my last class and a boy came up to the board... he wrote 3 blanks, and almost immediately all the kids were screaming "S" "S" S"! The first letter was S. So of course next comes "X"!! leaving...

S _ X

at this point everyone is dying laughing including me, and my face turns BRIGHT red. so then all the kids start laughing at me and my red face. awesome.

the kid finished and the word is SIX. obviously. smartass. all in a day for middle school teacher i guess.

enjoy some pics of cherry blossoms

Camping.

Spring has finally arrived in Korea, after one of the longest winters ever, or so i'm told. The first weekend it was around 60 we decided to take advantage so we packed up our stuff and headed 3 hours south to Songnisan National Park. We got there and had a nice meal of bi bim bap, pajeon, and rice wine (makgoli) and then found our campsite. Rebecca and I had bought a tent at the market the night before and it turned out to be a good purchase. After we set up our tents we headed to the Buddhist temple in the park. There was a huge buddha, which was really impressive, plus some of the oldest buildings in Korea. We walked around, took a buncha

pictures, and hung out by the river.

After the temple the women (Rebecca and I) headed back to camp to make guacamole while the boys went to town to buy beer. That's how it's supposed to work right? After we ate our snack of amazingness, we turned to our task of building a fire. It took all of us a really long time to get a fire started, but after lots of effort involving fanning it with a frying pan we got it going. We stayed up telling ghost stories and drinking around the campfire. Now let's just say that it wasn't the best night's sleep I've ever gotten. The water we had with us was frozen when we woke up so I'm guessing it was around 35 degrees that night. We were all freezing. But we survived. That Sunday morning was Easter so we set up our easter egg dying kit, hard boiled some eggs on the fire, and dyed away. We cooked brunch and then packed up and headed to Seoul. It felt really good to get out of the city for the weekend, plus I love camping. Hopefully there will be many more camping trips this summer.

pen pal letters

This week in class I am having my kids write letters to American students that I am "actually going to send to America". The letters have obviously been hilarious so I though I'd share my favorite ones...

To: Friend

Hello! My name is Dong Ju-Shin

What is your name?

I am 15 years old and I live in Gwangju, South Korea.

In Korea, it's spring here.

How's the weather in America? and where do you live?

You! Girl? or Boy?

I am a boy.

And I love to eat the brain of monkey and bear's bile.

Taste it ~ it's very good for body.

Do you know "Rain" who is a famous singer in the world.

He is my father

And my mother is lady gaga.

I'm mixed person. HaHaHa.

And my grandfather is 200 years old. He is the oldest man in the world. But he is very healthy, yesterday he got the baby.

My hobby is playing outside with my friends.

How about you?

It's time to say "Bye~Bye~Bye"

I hope to you send a letter to me.

ps. Would you like to go to Africa with me?

here are some other notable quotes:

"Korea's president in Lee Myeong Bak. I don't like him. He looks like a mouse."

"kimchi is very famous korean food. I don't like it but it is sold to Japan."

"Dok Island is Korean's. But Japanese people calling Dok Island is Japan's. You should know the Dok Island is our land."

"I know lady gaga... she is very nice!"

"My nickname is Goddess because I have many secret."

"I want to be a fly." (he meant pilot)

"I have not girlfriend. maybe you are girl become my girlfriend please"

"I learn English, because my message know every world people."

"my hometown is another world"

"my favorite food is fork"

"my favorite dream is get tall"

"I smart, elite."

"I am 14 yewsold"

"fuck japan"

"you may think our people only study and sleep less"

"girls and women aren't quiet and feminine, we are brave, powerful more than boys!"

"i'm 185cm and 46kg. I'm not finish diet... let's diet together."

"i respect Newton"

"i look like is puppy"

"P.S. If you are a solider, I'm sorry to hear that."

"He is my friend. He looks like panda. He got the polio in 1999 when he 3 years old but he is healthy now. bye~"

"I don't know who you are so I love you"

ahhh Korean children... love em