A Run-In with the Korean Police!

You may be thinking, "Katy, what have you done?" Well let me tell you a VERY interesting story. Last Thursday I was walking out of my school getting ready to ride my bike home from school as usual and suddenly I saw that my bike was no longer there! I came to find that it wasn't some elaborate prank by Danny, but indeed my bike had been stolen. : ( I was extremely bummed and really didn't know what to do since I had never had anything stolen from me before. Danny and I decided that we would have to buy a new bike since I couldn't really walk to school the rest of the year, so I was even more bummed that I would have to waste that money.

I started praying for a miracle. I prayed that somehow I would get my bike back or find it somehow but I knew that I would probably have to eventually buy a new bike. The rest of the week I looked around Andong at all the bikes people were riding in an effort to find my bike but it wasn't successful. I resolved to the fact that my awesome purple and black cruiser was gone when Danny and I were walking home from downtown the next Tuesday and Danny stopped all of a sudden. He had seen something very interesting: a boy sitting on MY BIKE! Danny went up to the boy and started asking where he got that bike. The boy couldn't really speak English but after some broken conversation he said that it was his and he was okay with us calling the police to figure it all out. We were prepared that the bike issue might be difficult to figure out if this boy had in fact bought the bike from somebody without knowing it was stolen but that would have been another problem all together. Then all of a sudden the boy made an excuse that he had to drop off a sweater at home and said he would be back in 3 minutes. He left the bike with Danny and I and walked away so we began to wait and see if he would ever come back.

My Coteacher came to our aid and called the police so we could make sure that everything would work out and needless to say, the boy never came back. The police concluded that the boy probably did steal it and made an easy getaway so as not to get in trouble but the final conclusion was... I GOT MY BIKE BACK! I know it was definitely an answer to prayer and I along with my friends and my school still can't believe it! What a funny turn of events. Just another day in Andong!

The police officers were so kind to pose for a picture with me... JUSTICE IS MINE!!!! (Wow his vest is shiny! ; )

Camping in Korea! Island hopping Korean Style

Danny and I decided to try another new experience in Korea... camping! We had a 3 day weekend so after buying 2 sleeping bags and a tiny tent on Gmarket, we headed south with our friends Andrew and Helen. We had to head through Daegu by bus, so of course we had to start our adventure with a delicious meal at the illusive Holy Grill. The Holy Grill is a restaurant that is rumored to be owned by a Canadian in Daegu that has all the western food you can ever imagine! We gorged ourselves on nachos, cajun chicken sandwiches, and the most amazing chocolate brownie I have had in Asia. I haven't felt that full in a while, and because that is the closest western restaurant to Andong, we will definitely go back.

After a fantastic meal, we took another bus down to Tongyeong, which a port city from where we would start to island hop. From Tongyeong, you can go to over 100 little islands, so we took a boat to our first stop... Yeonhwado.

Since we have been to some of the Carribean islands, we sort of expected Korean islands to have a similar feel...WRONG. The islands we saw didn't really have beaches surrounding them, but the stuck out of the water with rocky cliffs on most sides. It was actually very beautiful and it made me feel like I wasn't even in Korea anymore. The funniest thing we noticed when we compared Carribean islands and Korean islands was definitely their use of land. On a Carribean island, they would use the "beach front property" for the tourist shops and restaurants, but not Korea. They don't hide anything tourists might see as unpleasant, but instead they flaunt it!

We discovered that the "beach front property" was taken up by large blocks of ice and row after row of freezers. But wait! If you look a little closer, you will see that they aren't blocks of ice, but instead they are blocks of frozen fish...YUM!

Why would they move the blocks of fish farther away from the water so they could make room for more pleasant sites and smells when they need to grind up the fish right by the boats?! Such a silly question. This is a perfect example of Danny and my slogan for Korea: A great idea, just poorly executed. Letting tourists tour islands in Korea by boat was a great idea, but what would be the point of having shops or restaurants on the islands once they get there? Haha, we are constantly seeing our slogan come true all around us, and even if you think it probably ruins the country, in instead gives it a goofy kind of charm.

After we passed the fish cube alley, we continued to wander around the island and found a beautiful hike. We walked straight up for about a kilometer and got some great views of the island and the islands around us.
Danny and I do love that you can take a 3-4 our bus ride and get just about anywhere you want to go, and the scenery is so different all around Korea. Who knew that Korea had so many islands!
After spending the afternoon on Yeonhwado Island, we decided to "hop" to another island which was about a 20 minute ferry. We headed to Yokjido Island, which was where we decided we were going to camp for the night. Right away we decided that it was time for some fresh sushi (or sashimi) so we chose one of the seafood stands along the water. We chose a few fish from a bucket and proceeded to watch the lovely woman below cut the fish apart. I watched the fish continue to flop around even as she skinned it, and I have to be honest, it was a bit unsettling. With that said, I still enjoyed the freshest raw fish I had ever had and had a good time even though the chopping and smacking of fish was the soundtrack for our meal! ; ) Side note: Apparently many women prefer the style of a towel clipped on their head over a hat, and I must say that I am thinking about gettin' me one of those to wear when I get back to the states. That's Korean fashion for you!

I just had to throw in this picture of "the only way to travel". Koreans don't only NOT have the seatbelt law or the helmet law, but they aren't afraid to take their small children out for a hazardous ride as well! (See mom, no one else wears a helmet!)

Our goal on the island was to get to a beach where we were going to camp that night. So like a true group of foreigners, we started walking toward the direction of a beach but really had no idea where we were going. After walking for about an hour, and with no beach in site, we decided that it was time to turn around. Now it's time for a little confession: I (Katy) have become an expert hitch hiker since we moved to Korea! There, I said it! My hitch hiking career started after I got tired of walking an hour and ten minutes to go home after school and so far it has been an interesting experience. I have met many different people, and even though many of you may be worried about my well being now, hitch hiking in Korea is actually safe and I have only been picked up by completely nice and completely normal people! Anyways, what that has to do with our island experience is this: after walking a long time to nowhere we decided that it was time to try hitch hiking back to the main town.

After waving to many passing cars, a really nice family finally stopped to pick all FOUR of us up and take us back to town. The good Samaritan, Mr. Kim, had to basically repack his car so all of us could fit in his van, but he made it work. He was celebrating his anniversary with his wife, and decided to take pity on us so after that Danny, Helen, and Andrew all got to become Korean hitch hikers as well!

We never did find a sandy beach, but after resting in the main town again, we decided to set up camp at a stone beach on a grassy area right next to the water. It was really beautiful and what could be better than waking up to the sound of the ocean? Our tiny 3 tent camp wasn't much, but it worked and I'm sure shocked a few Koreans on the island being that we weren't sure if we were in a "approved" camping area.

The night in our tents was filled with rain, lots of drunk Koreans walking by, little sleep, and anthropods (which were centipede type bugs that decided to crawl all over Andrews tent...haha... he had anthropods and Danny and I had cute lady bugs!) Even after all that, we survived our camping excursion, and we are hoping to go camping in the next couple weekends.

On our way home, we decided fill our belly's after an exciting and tiring weekend with one of the most excellent Korean meals I have had so far. We ate a seafood stew that was out of control... it had crab, shrimp, clams, mussels, fish, and who knows what else and it was awesome. This wonderful lady working at the restaurant took it upon herself to help us with cracking all the shells and getting the good meat out, and she even helped me eat some of it as well!

You would think that all of that was enough right? But no! The finale of a great weekend involved our friend Andrew, a water bottle, and NO bathroom. You can probably imagine what a 3 hour bus ride will do to a guy when he needed to pee after 15 minutes... let's just say drastic measures were taken.
Danny and I are both looking forward to more camping adventures in the future, our only hope is that we somehow find a nice sandy spot next time! The Korean word of the day: tentuh (that is how Koreans pronounce tent!)

Korea in Your Kitchen!

Here's a fun kimchi video for you all to enjoy!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Korea in Your Kitchen
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

What should I pack? The best suggestions I can give to all those deciding what to bring to Korea!

So this blog is for all of you who want to know what to bring to Korea. Maybe you are thinking about moving to Korea, or maybe you just bought your tickets and are in the process of packing, or maybe you are my mom and are just loyal enough to read this blog even though you'll never live here. Anyways, for those of you who just don't care, then watch the video at the bottom and move on, I won't be offended : ) . (The video can't be missed so don't forget) I'm just writing this because I wish someone would have given me a list of things to bring when Danny and I were packing, and also it's because I'm avoiding doing work. (whoops!)Anyways, here are some warnings before I go on: this list is only from my own experience so some of you will be in cities and say, "Why did I bring all this junk?" and blame me for your over packing, but that can't be helped. Also, Danny and I came from the US where we could bring 4, 50 lb. bags with us, plus carry-ons so for those of you (if any) who might read this from another country, sorry about your packing weight restrictions!

OK! On to the list of things to bring to Korea:

Toiletries~

-Year supply of deoderant (you can find it, it is just really expensive and they have few brands)

-Shampoo (if you like a specific brand, otherwise don't waste the weight and just buy it here)

-Travel face wipes (for the flight over and traveling, such an easy way to make you feel clean)

-Razor or electric razor - if you have a brand you really like, just bring enough blades for a year

-Girls only: the Diva Cup - look it up online but it is an amazing and eco friendly way to bring only one thing with you to help you with that time of the month.

- Make up: only if you like specific brands, otherwise they have a ton here. Don't believe all the packing lists that say they don't really sell make up, it's a lie...there are 4 or 5 "Bath and Body Works" type stores or make up stores in our town and it's considered a "small town".

(Don't worry about bringing contact solution, toothpaste, tooth brushes, contacts, body wash, floss, or nail polish because they have it all here)

For Cooking (I love to cook so this might be a more extensive list then you want)~

-Spices: don't waste the weight on salt and pepper (they have it here) but bring things like seasoned salt (Tony's Creole, Lawry's), TACO SEASONING (A must if you like mexican. I would suggest going to Costco to get a jumbo size to last a year) Garlic Salt, Oregono, Basil, Thyme, Onion Powder, Sage, Cilantro, Bay Leaves, Nutmeg, or anything else you use a lot. (I also had my mom send me a packet of seeds to grow my own herbs in the summer if that is up your alley, I would really suggest bringing it, especially basil and cilantro because they don't really have that here)

-Vanilla extract or the real stuff

-Corn bread mix or corn meal if you can't do without corncakes and gravy like Danny and I ; )

-Chocolate Chips~ quoting my ingenious aunt, use chocolate chips as "packing peanuts" and even if it melts, what's better then something covered in melted chocolate? : )

-Any snack food that makes you feel like home ~ for us it was trail mix that lasted us about 3 weeks to ease us into Korean food...other suggestions are Pop Tarts, Oreos, REAL Cheetos, nuts, gum or mints, etc.

-Instant gravy packets~ they don't have breakfast sausage here if you like country gravy

- Coffee: if you like good ground coffee, you aren't going to find it hear so bring some or have someone send you it.

Household Items~

- Towels: if you really want big, soft towels, I would suggest bringing your own.

- Sheets: bring a queen set of sheets if you are willing to tuck stuff in if you end up with a full or twin sized bed. (We brought full sheets because everyone told us that is the biggest bed here and they were wrong... we ended up with a queen size bed. ; )

- Down comforter: this is not a necessity, but everyone comments on how cozy our bed is because we brought our own comforter and duvet cover and they shrink down to nothing if you have a vacuum packing bag.

- Thin cutting boards: get those flexible cutting boards that are the thickness of a piece of paper, they work great and are useful for a lot of things.

- A couple good knives

- Pillows: only if you can't live without yours...

Clothes~

- A really (and I mean REALLY) warm jacket for the cold winters

- Bras: girls if you are not a 32b you might have some trouble here finding your size

- Good walking shoes

- Long underwear

- Gloves

- Hat (it's not always cold, but when it is cold, it is COLD! And clothes are expensive in Korea.)

Misc. Stuff that I suggest~

- Pictures of home and your friends and family so you can decorate your apartment with friendly faces.

- A few gifts from your home state... to bring to people when you visit their home.

- A few favorite movies but don' t bring too many because other people have a lot and they all have told me they regret bringing so many.

- A few books if you like to read.

Above is a list of things that you may or may not need/ and if you really try hard or get a Costco membership in Korea, you can find other western foods and conveniences, but it depends on how prepared you want to be when you get here. (I wanted to be REALLY prepared so some (Danny:) might say I over packed) Thankfully, there is always the ability to send stuff by mail, so give your family a list of things you miss and perhaps you'll get a care package in the mail sometime!

Now, here is a list of things that you DON'T need to bring, in fact you might even get some stuff cheaper here. I somehow had it in my mind that I was moving to Antarctica or something so I packed the world.

Things you don't need to worry about bringing:

- Extra contacts or glasses: it is insanely cheap to get your eyes checked here so don't bring a huge stock of contacts

- School supplies: don't waste room on bringing things for your class or school if you are coming to become a teacher

- Straightener or hair dryer: they have them here and the different voltage can be a problem for US hair stuff if you aren't careful.

I know there is a lot of other stuff that I would suggest or not suggest, but just think about all the things you think you REALLY need, and then leave behind all the rest. There is something very freeing about living on so little so why don't you try it for a year.

Also, last thing...There is a beautiful website called G Market that was a live saver for Danny and I when we were setting up our apartment, so if you really need some things, I would suggest going on G Market and looking up stuff that you might need. Danny and I bought a rug, couch, lamps, coffee table, storage boxes, a fan, mirrors, a french press, and a lot more on G Market and all of that was around $300 for all of it! Make sure and be careful when you order on G Market because you have to make sure you are ordering the right product since all of it is in Korean, it can get a little difficult. Just match up the letters and you'll be fine!

I hope that was too much to handle. Now you can enjoy a halarious video of Danny singing at our first No Rae Bong experience... R Kelly... awesome.

This Spring is for you, Leaf!

I am so excited that spring is finally here! The trees were looking pretty barren when we first got here in Korea, so now that things are turning green and we got to experience the Korean cherry blossom trees, I understand why spring is everyone's favorite. This spring has to be dedicated to the underdog that no one thought would make it through... the leaf. On the picture above you can see buds growing on the tree, but there is STILL a leaf hanging in there! After all the snow and rain and wind, the leaf is still there holding on for dear life. Maybe he made a bet with his buddies to see who could stay on the tree the longest, and this leaf is going to win, baby! So this spring is for you, leaf, the one nobody expected to make it all the way. Way to go!

Before...

After...

Now I know why everyone calls Korea such a beautiful country...more reason to come visit, right? (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)

Heart (or should I say Intestines) and Seoul

You may already be a little worried about this post because of the title of it, but fear not, it's not that gross... or most of it isn't gross. Danny and I went and spent the weekend in Seoul last weekend, and honestly I could probably go back to that city 10 more times to see it all (and eat more food)! It's huge! So we got to Seoul Friday night and started the trip out right... by eating some delicious food. We went to Din Tai Fung, which is actually Chinese, but oh my oh my was it good. We met up with our friend JP who is so awesome to show us around Seoul a little bit and so we went to the busiest shopping area where I made my momma proud and found the only H&M in Korea. The next day I broke down and bought a few things, but let's just say it is good that store is a 3 hour bus ride away!

Now on to the gross part! So Saturday was great filled with a traditional Korean village, more shopping, etc. but as we were walking through Namdaemun Market, we decided to eat some street food for lunch. Most of it was excellent like duckalbee (which is rice cake in a bright red sauce, croquettes (but that isn't the Korean name, I just can't remember it) filled with stir fry pork and vegetables, and hoto ( pronounced "hohtoe" which is the most amazing fried dough thing that looks like a pupusa but is filled with cinnamon and sugar). Then JP brings out the plate of craziness! On the plate we had liver (yuck), pig's lung (eww), and pig intestines stuffed with glass noodles which where soaking in pig's blood(what?!). WOW. Now honestly, I tried them all an they weren't that bad, but often when it comes to some Korean food, it's not that bad, but it's not GOOD either. So why waste the time when I could be eating delicious hoto till I puke?

Now, no more gross stuff... on to the rest of our time in Seoul. So in Namdaemun Market you can find probably anything you could ever imagine from matching guy/girl underwear to a ridiculous amount of shoes. We even saw groups of older women all over the place rummaging through a pile of clothes on the ground as a man was yelling something like "EVERYTHING MUST GO!" or something like that in Korean. Seoul is the place where I have litterally never seen that many people. You feel like nothing because there are thousands of people walking around you at all times!

Caption: "I must have this pink striped sweater!" "Get out of my way, I see khakis that may or may not fit me!" "Maybe I will just stick some of this stuff in my purse and no one will know... haha!"

In the evening we went to the Seoul Tower, which is an awesome place to see. It has an amazing view and apparently it is the place to take a date...rrrRRaarRRR. The highlight, as Danny said, though was being able to pee at a urinal with the best view in the world.

We also saw a sign on the window that told us how far away we were from Denver! 9,927 km or 6,168 miles away from family, friends, Chipotle, Five Guys Burgers, and so much more! Oh how we miss it!

When we got down from the tower, we walked through the crazy shopping area again to get to our bus, and you would litterally be pushing into the backs of people because the streets were so crowded. That didn't stop me from purchasing the tallest swirl cone I had ever seen though. If only more icecream was served to be the height of your face! (I think I must be hungry because most of this blog is about food ; )

The trip concluded with the best experience ever!!!!!! This is where your eyes tear up when you think of the joy that Danny and I went through when we ate supper at a MEXICAN restaurant called Dos Tacos. It was fresh and delicious and all of us on the trip, even the Scottish, gorged themselves on mexican food. We had 2 burritos, 2 orders of chips and salsa, 2 margaritas, 1 quesadilla, and 1 taco and I could have done more. There was avacadoes and sour cream and limes and I'm pretty sure that God created that restaurant just for me!

I wanted to lick the plate but I didn't know how that would go down, so I refrained. Oh Dos Tacos, how I love thee!

We ended up walking out of that place with a proper "food baby" and I wouldn't have had it any other way.
Our trip to Seoul was a sucess and we hope that some of you will come visit us so we can have more excuses to go up there! Today's Korean word for the day: Mashisoyo! (delicious)

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.