Red Mud Healing

This week is finals week here in most schools in Korea. Late, isn't it? Actually the last day of school isn't until July 21st (!!!) so we actually have two more weeks after this of COMPLETE FLUFF. Seriously, teachers break out the movies and it is just hot, sweaty, monsoony mayhem.

Because midterm and final exams only take place in the mornings, it provides a great opportunity for school teachers to do something together as a type of bonding in the afternoons. As I have mentioned many times, it's all about community and family in this country. Whenever there is an opportunity to strengthen relationships, these peeps will do it.

This time around we went to a recreational forest outside of Daejeon that is famous for its red mud path. You take off your shoes and delight in walking in squishy clay that is supposedly beneficial for your health.

view from the path

can you spot the snowy crane in the rice fields?

two of my English co-teachers enjoying the clay

it's definitely not mud, but clay

three of my English co-teachers and one Korean teacher

What made today interesting was that Matt's school ended up going on a field trip to the SAME place! This never happens, since there are so many mountains surrounding the city. My teachers and I sat on that platform pictured above and he just came strolling up the path with his teachers, too funny! He sat and chatted with my teachers for a while, since they all know him. They had just gotten their wedding invitations from me a few hours earlier, so they were so excited and happy to be talking to us about the big day.

After our nice walk we went to a local restaurant for some du-bu (tofu in English) that had been soaked in soy sauce, duck and pork, and simple side dishes. Can I just say that I love duck?

It makes me a little sad to know that I only have two more testing periods left before my time here at Mannyeon Middle School is done.

It makes me HAPPY though, to know that I have less than 4 weeks left until MAINE! ^___^

Wall Full of Memories

Since we had to drop by Costco to pick up prints for the reception tables, I thought, why not print out a "few" more pictures? What was supposed to be a few turned into over 100 shots of ours lives over the past 3 years.Thank goodness photo printing is really cheap here! Last night we made this sweet photo wall in our living room to add some color:

On this photo wall are pictures from a ton of places:

In Korea: Daejeon, Seoul, Seoraksan, Sokcho, Gyeongju, Hongdo, Buyeo, Damyang, Namhae, Tongyeong, Jeju Island, Anmyeondo, Jirisan, Maisan and probably more I am forgetting.

Other countries: Mongolia, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia

USA: Maine, on the Appalachian Trail (Virginia/West Virginia/Maryland/Pennsylvania), Outer Banks (North Carolina) etc.

When you put it all on one wall, it seems overwhelming. We have been so blessed in so many ways!


We have a ton of leftover ones, plus a bunch of vertical pictures. Maybe tonight I will make another collage in our bedroom, since our Korean flag has decided to fall off the wall in there.

Why haven't we done this before? It looks awesome and makes the room so much more cheerful!

Where the Hell is Matt?

Matt (not to be confused with my fiance!) is this dude from Seattle, Washington who likes to dance. If you've never heard of him, then I strongly suggest youtubing "Where the Hell is Matt?" and watching all of his original videos.

Matt travels around the world and dances. I have been showing his videos to my students for the past 2.5 years when we do our "travel the world" unit, and they love it. I am THRILLED that he just came out with the 2012 edition!

Not going to lie, I get teary when I watch any of his videos, and this one even more so. How can you not be so utterly happy when watching a little bit of humanity all interconnected? It's truly beautiful. And since I have had a "connection" with this guy from showing his videos all of the time, the last scene with his family dancing had me practically crying, so friggin cute.

If you have a few minutes, sit back and enjoy this great example of humans at their best:

Searching for S(e)o(u)lice

Today on a whim Matt and I took the slow train to Seoul. We had a few things in mind, mainly eating at our favorite breakfast place (one of the only true American breakfast places in Korea), and shopping for bridesmaids gifts. We ended up:

1. Going to Gangnam for Buttermilk pancakes, veggie omelets and free re-fills of actual brewed black coffee! Anyone living in Korea knows that this is huge.

it's almost impossible to find this anywhere in Korea

2. Taking the subway to Sam Sung station and wandering around COEX mall, one of the largest and nicest in Korea. I absolutely LOVE the Totoro store there, it's so fun! ^^

3. Stopping off at Myeongdong for some clothes shopping. We didn't end up getting a lot, since we'll be home so soon, but I did score a freshly squeezed lemonade in a bag

4. After a bit of clothes shopping we headed to Insadong, a great place to buy traditional Korean gifts. My mom and aunt Katie have been there and we've been numerous times for Christmas gifts etc. We accomplished a lot, and to finish off our amazing food day, enjoyed a subway sandwich for late lunch/early dinner.

Exhausted from our 5:00AM wake-up, we slumped into our seats on the train and enjoyed a nice 2 hour nap on the way back to Daejeon, arriving home at 8:30PM. Off to bed to gear up for another week of school and city-wide debate competitions! 7 More weeks until Maine ^^

Destress: Camping for the long weekend

While we were planning to pack in a lot of hiking and sightseeing into this 3 day weekend, Matt and I instead found ourselves hanging around our absolutely beautiful campsite and doing nothing but relaxing, swimming and meditating. It a few words: it was just what we needed.

We drove down early Saturday morning to Jirisan National Park, the largest and oldest park in Korea. While it boasts of having 12 campgrounds, we chose a small, walk-in campground in hopes of having some peace and quiet. We knew we didn't want a car camping experience with hundreds if not thousands of Koreans!

What we arrived at was a small sliver of paradise: a 20-tent campground located across a small suspension bridge on the other side of a river littered with human sized boulders. The facilities were great, the campground was crowded, but not disgustingly so, and the sites even had platforms!

We nestled into a corner sight against the forest with the bubbling river below.

our set-up

When we weren't listening to music, meditating on the rocks, swimming in the frigid water or napping, we were off exploring Daewonsa Temple, a temple in the mountains of the park a mile or so up a long and twisted road. It was Buddha's Birthday after all, and we wanted to pay our respects and pay for a lantern and a prayer:

our lantern: for a happy marriage and world peace :)

praying

us at the national treasure pagoda

Sunday night we took a drive around the countryside on the outskirts of the park:

rural Korea

rice paddies

With stress-free minds we returned back to work today, ready to take on the world! :)

Camping Adventures

Our goal last week was to work on the invitations every night so that we could reward ourselves by going camping on the weekend. While we didn't finish all 100 invites, 85 are DONE and are awaiting envelopes. We're pretty proud! Tonight (Monday) we will hopefully finish the invites, print the remaining addresses and then assemble them into a box to be shipped stateside!!

Saturday night we "stealth" camped right next to a beach in the northwest on an island called Anmyeondo. By stealth camp, we mean that camping wasn't permitted, but we did it anyways, and no one bothered us!

After a long walk on the beach we enjoyed a beer while watching the amazing neon blue phosphorescence in the waves. It was pretty surreal. After a while Matt wanted to try talking some pictures of it, opening his shutter for about 75 seconds to capture the light in pitch darkness. The pictures came out great, but they turned out even better once I decided to try something with the flashlight mode on my itouch:

Matt heart Dani

August 18 2012

awww (matt made this one)

How cool are these pictures?! We didn't think they would come out, but it was so much fun! You can also see the blue phosphorescence in the background. It's amazing how great these pics turned out considering it was PITCH BLACK!

Back to wedding planning tonight after a relaxing, wonderful weekend away with my birthday boy and soon to be husband :D

Paradise in Namhae

All to often I forget that gorgeous landscapes, warmhearted country folk and peace and quiet are not a far drive away from where we live in Daejeon. This weekend I was reminded of the quaintness that is the Korean countryside. Not only were we in a rural setting, we were on an island covered in mountains, lush greenery and mind-boggingly beautiful coastline.

Here are some pictures of our weekend trip away in Namhae:

kayaking out of Dumo Village

breakfast spot on a small island overlooking Namhae 

taking a break in a small cove

camping on Sangju Beach

admiring the coastline views on an afternoon drive

lush forest at the base of Geum Mountain

Flights = Booked!

Big news! Our first major purchase (and arguably the most important one) has been made! We are officially showing up to our own wedding: the tickets are booked.

If you've been following my blog you would remember how upsetting the entire flight search was getting to me. While we did not score unbelievable flights, we did manage to find ones $400 cheaper (total) than the original flights that have been showing up for weeks.

The downside?

They are round-trip into Manchester, New Hampshire, which is around a 2 hour drive from home. So they're definitely not as convenient as Portland Jetport that's a mere 20 minutes from my parent's house.

Along with the distance, the timing isn't perfect either. We get in really late at night (12:30AM) and our flight back to Korea departs at 5:20AM. Both are extremely annoying since the airport is so far away.

Regardless, they were cheaper, and the actual itinerary times are much shorter than what we're used to. The total time to Manchester is only 20 hrs, and the flight back to Korea is 23 hrs. Might sound like a lot, but usually we deal with 27+. We were lucky in that we don't have any long (more than 3 hour) layovers, which is nice.

and BONUS! The big flights to and from Korea are with Asiana Airlines, a Korean airline that is a little fancier than what we're used to. We're excited to see how it is.

We're both estatic that the flights have been booked, primarily because it was both making us a little nuts. We were constantly checking for lower fares only to find that prices were consistently rising. Everyone back home has been talking about the gas prices and summer increases, so we figured we couldn't wait much longer than now.

Even if a cheaper flight appears, we won't know about it because we are DONE searching, and can put that at peace.

WE'RE GOING HOME IN 5 MONTHS!!!

Vacation Snapshots: Cambodia

We said goodbye to Mom after 2 weeks and Matt and I continued on to Cambodia to experience 3 days exploring the temple complexes of Angkor Wat.

Vacation Snapshots: Thailand

After Vietnam, Mom and I met up with Matt and enjoyed 4 blissful days on the gorgeous Phi Phi Islands in Southern Thailand.

paradise

view from our bungalow

mom and me with a longtail boat

mom and the longtails

on our way to snorkel

the three of us on our last morning on the islands

Vacation Snap Shots: Vietnam

Here are a few key shots from my jaunt in Vietnam.

Tet (lunar new year) lights in Ho Chi Minh City

Mom and daughter

On the Mekong Delta

Enjoying some coconut juice on the Mekong Delta

Ho Chi Minh City at sunset

Leaving on a Jetplane

So tomorrow I am off for 3.5 weeks to Southeast Asia! While I am trying to be excited about it, I am mostly anxious. For one, I have left my packing until the last minute, which I prefer. But it's different this time because Matt isn't coming with me this time. I am heading off to Incheon Airport tomorrow without him. While I am extremely psyched to see my mom in 2 days, I am not looking forward to traveling by myself. I didn't think I was going to be as sad to leave Matt behind for a week, but I am. Guess that means we're meant to be together, hehe.

Anyways, I plan on updating this blog with travel write-ups and pictures throughout the trip. We will have some sort of internet access at every hotel/hostel we're staying at, and for the first two weeks we'll have my mom's small net book. After after that I will use my i-touch and any available desktop to update.

Sorry for my lack of posts in the past few weeks. I have been busy getting things organized for this trip and for my winter camp at school that just recently finished. In all honesty I haven't had the time to think about the wedding at all! Amazing, I know. But anyone who is in the same boat as me or who has been here knows that it's sometimes healthy to step away for a while from the planning. Matt and I are both looking forward to getting back into the planning in February when we return to Korea.

So, here is a quick itinerary of the trip. Check back often to get recaps!

January 11-18th: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam/ Mekong Delta Tour/Wedding dress!
January 18th: Matt meets us in Bangkok
January 18th-23rd: Bangkok, Thailand/Phi Phi Islands...rest and relaxation!
January 24th: Mom leaves :(
January 25th-30th: Siem Reap, Cambodia (Angkor Wat temples)/ My 26th birthday!
January 31-February 3: Chiang Mai, Thailand (northern)
February 4th: depart for Korea

Wish me (and my mother who is also traveling solo for 25 hours!) good luck and safe travels!

One a Week Wednesdays: Country # 3

View Lithuania in a larger map

So this post is almost a week late, but here it is! Lithuania

After exploring Riga and Daugavpils in Latvia, Matt and I will take a night train to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Lithuania, along with the other two Baltic states (Latvia and Estonia), is not well known, but that's the beauty of it. We won't be spending a lot of time here either, but are excited to explore Vilnius for a few days in transit to Western Europe.

As I might have mentioned before, we are taking this route through Latvia and Lithuania to avoid the visa process of going through Belarus. We couldn't be happier about the situation. Andy, a guy we met while exploring the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, actually gave us some inspiration to visit the Baltic States. Here is a guy who is around 40 years old and has been to more than 100 countries. Of course when you aren't married and don't have any children this wild dream is possible! We were so intrigued and inspired by Andy, and while he has explored so many off the beaten path locals, he mentioned his next trip would be to the Baltic States. At home on his coffee table he had the Lonely Planet book waiting to be explored. That is how he travels: goes to the local bookstore, buys one or two Lonely Planet books on whatever location looks interesting, and places them on the coffee table to remind him of his next adventure. Hasn't failed him yet!

While we haven't researched Lithuania a lot, here are some pictures:

hopefully we can check out a castle!

Semester # 4

So today was the first day of the second semester. Because Korea schools start each year on March 1^st, around September 1^st summer vacation ends and it’s back to the workbooks full swing. Fortunately I didn’t have any classes today because students were leveled into new English classes according to how they scored on their first semester final exams.

Semester 4 is of special importance to Matt and me because it marks the halfway point of our time in Korea. We have been in Korea for 18 months and have 18 months to go. The number 18 holds so much significance for us. We were engaged on January 18^th, we will be married next August 18^th, and now the real countdown has begun: 18 months to go.

Although it’s a time to celebrate, being halfway through our 3 year contracts is bittersweet. On one hand, I can’t believe we have been living in a foreign country for 18 months, sometimes it doesn’t seem possible. On the other hand, I cringe when I think about how long that time has been, and how I still have another half of it to go. Matt felt these same feelings while hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2009. I was with him when he stepped over the ½ marker on the 2100 mile trail that snakes from Georgia to Maine. I was jumping up and down, hugging and congratulating him for such an accomplishment. He wasn’t all that thrilled. For him, the previous half of his hike was amazing, but incredibly long and arduous. He had already seen so much in the 3 months he had been on the trail. He had already hiked through several states, and sighed when he realized how much further he really had to go.

So here I am, finding myself stuck in the future, stuck in wedding planning and daydreaming of when we get to go home. There. I said it. I want to go home. It’s not like I didn’t want to go home before, I always knew we would find ourselves back in Maine. But recently, in the past few months, our discussions have been less travel-the-world centered and more buy-a-house-raise-a-family centered. I don’t know if my internal, subconscious clock is ticking or what, but both of us are thrilled to go home and try our luck at settling down.

I know that this small bout of homesickness will pass, and that when fall is well under way here I will be excited to see what it has to offer. Last fall in Korea was my favorite season. The weather is just perfect; the leaves don’t change until November leaving us two glorious months of dry, sunny days. We explored a lot last year and plan on doing the same this year. My goal is to enjoy my time here while I am still here, while allowing myself at the same time to daydream about going home.

During our Malaysian vacation Matt and I talked a lot about what we want to do when we’re finished in Korea. Like I have mentioned before, we have plans to travel after our 3^rd year contract is up. Although we are still going to travel, our plans have changed a bit now. I will write in future posts about what that means for us.

Coming up: the start of our adventures into the realm of stationary. We plan on ordering the card stock and materials for our save the dates and invitations within the week, which is exciting and daunting!

Malaysia in Pictures

So, I am back. Actually, I've been back for almost a week, but came home to a dead computer battery and have been trying desperately to start up a routine again only to fail miserably. It seems that I need to be working in order to have some kind of order to my life.

Speaking of work, school starts tomorrow for me. I don't feel ready, but what can you do? At least I will get back into exercising and blogging, at least that's my hope.

Here are some pictures of our amazing vacation in Malaysia. It was all incredibly awesome, except for the 48 hours where I battled the flu-symptoms of what was most likely heat stroke. Not fun, especially since I was on an island paradise and couldn't enjoy it to the fullest. Oh well, you live and you learn.

I will post more tonight or tomorrow about our Malaysian adventure.

Since we've been back, Matt and I have gotten right into wedding planning, since we haven't discussed it much for almost 2 months now. It's crazy how fast time can fly here.

Speaking of time, it's less than a year until our big day! I can't believe it. Sometimes it still feels like 12 months is a long ways away, other times I think about how fast the months fly living here in Korea and it makes me anxious.

I will definitely be blogging a lot in the coming days with wedding stuff!