Busan, beach and birthday!

It was a FANTASTIC weekend here in Korea! It really feels like the middle of the summer with the weather consistently being above 26 for the past week. We headed off to Busan to enjoy the nice weather. We got a hotel by the Haeundae beach. Well, it was really a love motel which we desperately need to make a movie out of. Here in Korea, love motels are frowned upon because they're associated with cheating spouses and secrecy. For foreigners though, they're a dream! For $50 we got a room right by the beach with a huge flat screen tv, computer, as many dvds as we wanted and a complimentary bag with toothbrushes, razors, hair accessories and every other toiletry you would need overnight.

This was one of those rare occasions where there were SO many restaurants we just didn't know what to eat! We went to T.G.I Fridays which was great and definitely a change. It even overlooked the ocean. We also tried this amazing place called where you can make your own ice cream.

We hung out at the beach and at times, we forgot we were in Korea....looking at the green-blue water and mountains in the distance, we felt like we were in some tropical area! Afterward, we went to an area called Nampodong where we shopped, had some great sandwiches and then headed back to the bus terminal. It was a great birthday weekend!

The only negative thing we experienced was the crazy taxi drivers. Being in fear for our lives is nothing new to us when sitting in the backseat of a taxi cab. This was a whole different level though. Our taxi driver actually skidded to a stop making the tires squeal and then had to pump the break to move it again. He weaved in and out of a two-lane highway going more than 120km/hr when the speed limit was 80.

Other than that though, it was a perfect weekend!! Will post some pictures soon!

Positive Polly Posting!

It has recently come to our attention that there has been some negative nelly's posting on this blog! Sometimes Korea has the tendency to bring out a little negativity in us, but we are extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to come here! We really wouldn't take back this experience for anything. Living in another country so different from home and having the chance to visit countries we might otherwise never see (not to mention free living expenses!) are amazing!

Yesterday we went to a soccer game and met a few people (one of whom was from Canada). Both of them thought Korea was amazing and the Canadian thought Korea was even better than being home!

I had my students do a writing activity for Mother's Day today and was really impressed by how they took out a marker, used it and immediately put it back in the proper place. This is something we don't often see back at home. Usually by the end of some art activity at home, the markers are all over the table.

Children's Day!

Wednesday is one of the many national holidays in Korea. Unfortunately, a national holiday doesn't necessarily mean you get the day off. Buddha's birthday at the end of the month happens to fall on a weekend so we don't get the day off. If a national holiday falls on the weekend, Koreans don't give you the following workday off. Anyway, Wednesday is "Children's Day" which means there is no school. None of our students are really celebrating, just "relaxing." After work, we did go to E-mart and see a bunch of kids holding toys so maybe their parents were allowing them to pick out a present.

We will be going to see the Pohang Steelers (soccer team) and enjoying the nice weather. Today got up to 28 degrees and felt like summer! It was absolutely magnificent!!

We are mentally keeping a list of the things we are most excited to come home to...obviously family and friends top the list and food comes in at second, but there are a few other things that we will add to over the next 7.5 weeks.
- clothes dryers: We cannot WAIT to dry our clothes in a machine!! Not only does the laundry take 3x as long but our clothes never smell nice...not sure if it's the apartment, but because they take so long to dry, they get a really bad mildew smell. It's really gross. Our apartment is always cold even in this nice weather!! Also, towels and clothes are never soft. The thought of drying bedding and putting the hot, soft sheets onto the bed and lying down makes me miss home so much!
-ovens: It has been 10 months since we've cooked anything in the oven. We miss the smell of cookies baking in the oven, roasted asparagus, lasagna, and basically anything else that can be cooked in an oven. Having a toaster will also be a plus!
-friendliness: strangers who smile at you on the street, people holding a door open for you, waiting until you get off the elevator before getting on, pleases, thank-yous, etc
-NOT being stared at 24/7 like you are a freak of nature and random children NOT yelling "HELLO!" and then laughing and running away