A Bittersweet Goodbye!!!

I feel like the last couple of blogs have been a little long, SO I am going to do a really sort post today in honor of our good friends, Jacky and Winston... or Wacky and WiWi as Danny likes to call them. This post in honor of them because this past Saturday, they got on a plane to move back to South Africa PERMANENTLY! Danny and I are really sad, but we are excited because at least now we have a reason to go visit South Africa. Here are some of my favorite memories with our good friends...

You think I was taking the picture from above, but I GOTCHA!!! Just a little illusion...

And some other good memories...

Danny being a weirdo in what was supposed to be a nice picture for Jacky's birthday...

These guys were my favorite animals to see in the park zoo that we went to for Jacky's birthday...

The wonderful Hippie fowl: I especially like the answers given for "habitat" and "characteristics"...

And lastly, WiWi being so loving to his wife by giving her a beautiful fake rose on her birthday...

We are very thankful to have made such great friends here in Andong and I'm excited for when our paths will cross again. We'll miss you Wacky and WiWi!! Have fun in South Africa, take care of baby Danny and save us a Gatsby!

Beaches at Busan!

So much has happened lately that I'm a little behind in posting what we've been doing. Two weekends ago, Danny and I and some friends went down to the famous beach city in Korea, Busan (pronounced Boosahn). I was so excited to be able to see the ocean and spend the day in the warm sun. The weather in Andong has been a little chilly and gloomy in the month of April, so it was great to have such a warm day. Danny and I took a late bus on Friday night and got into Busan around 11 pm. It was late so we tried to find a hotel as quickly as possible and ended up with quite a story that I'll get into later. (It will take some time to explain the motel we ended up with)

We went to the Busan Aquarium with some friends, which ended up being pretty cool. They had a ton of sharks and different animals to look at and we heard that you can swim in the tank with the sharks for about 50,000 won (or about $50) so I think that we are going to try and live dangerously and do that sometime : ) (Dad I know you would appreciate that)

Danny and Paul and Andrew of course spent a good amount of time that day goofing off and paying each other money to do ridiculous things, so it's always a fun time with the boys. I have to admit, even though the beach was great, my favorite time was going to TGI Fridays to get the most delicious hamburger, fries, and even a margharita! I know that it sounds crazy, but having the chance to eat "western food" has a highlight anytime we go to a big city to visit. TGI Fridays is about the same and you definitely see more westerners there then other restaurants. I guess people vacationing also need a break from kimchi and boiled octopus.

The whole area of Haeundae Beach was really beautiful and we will definitely go back very soon!

Now onto the motel that we ended up getting for the night. So innocently we thought that as we were trying to find a place to stay in Busan, the best thing would be to ask a local. So we found the nicest looking lady who worked at a convenience store and asked her if she could help us. She ended up calling her "friend" who owned a (and I quote) "nice, clean, and cheap motel". It cost 20,000 won a night (which is about $20 so that should have tipped us off). Let's just say that we found cigarette burns on the sheets, the bathroom had a old scrubbing towel in it for new tenants, and the owner of the motel so kindly brought up two refilled water bottles for us to enjoy (probably one's that he had just finished using). It was no 5 star place, needless to say. It was an experience, but hopefully we won't have to do it again! Korea definitely keeps us on our toes.