The Last Few Weeks

It's been a while since I wrote. After my trip to Taiwan, it didn't seem like anything could be that exciting to write about. However, the past two weeks have been filled with fun. Britney's birthday was Sunday, November 15th, so we headed to Seoul to celebrate the night before. On Saturday evening, we had a delicious Thai dinner and then had a fun night of bar hopping in Itaewon. Some of the evenings highlights include: dinner, of course; free drinks for women at one bar; my first picture with a Korean after three months of being here; my friend Zeb's dance moves; running into our other teacher's out that evening; and all the fun pictures we got on a great night out in the city! On Sunday, we (London, Shuana, and I) knocked on Britney's door to surprise her with her favorite Korean cake, Hapy (missing one P as a common Korean/English translation problem) Birthday candles, and a tambourine as a present. Now, she has her own tambourine to practice and bring along to Noraebong nights, as that's her specialty. Britney and I then headed to Seoul to do some Christmas shopping. We spent 7 hours in the bitter cold, realizing the crisp fall weather was finally here. We ended up buying scarfs, mittens, and socks off the street to stay warm while I was determined to finish getting all my gifts! It took the entire bus ride home to un-thaw!

Not much new has happened in school. Since the school closure, the chatter of H1N1 has come to a calm. Kids are slowly coming back to school and we don't hear much of the flu anymore. I even got two new kindergarten students, Richard and Haily, who are cousins and very cute!

On Friday, I headed to Jeonju once again to spend the weekend with my aunt and uncle who are leaving at the end of December. I didn't catch a bus until 10:30pm, so I arrived around 1:00am to uncle Bob waiting for me at the bus station. (Oh! When I left Suji, there was excitement from the first snow fall that melted by the time it reached the ground.) Saturday was a beautiful fall day that we spent shopping in downtown Jeonju and the market as well as trying lots of new street foods (chicken skewers, deep fried vegetables, and sweet potatoes). Of course, we also snacked on some Songpyeon, my favorite traditional Korean snack! Then, we visited the Jeonju paper museum where I learned about the history of paper, discovered the many things made from paper, and got to make my own sheet. We made our second attempt for the famous Jeonju Bibimbop, which I liked better than the first place we tried. I still have to say that Suji has my favorite Bibinbop (sorry Jeonju)! We ended the evening at a performance by a group of well toured Korean musicians playing traditional drums. Their speed and synchronicity were incredible, but somehow the rhythmic sounds still allowed me to fall asleep! On Sunday, we attended a Korean church service. I cried for my first time of homesickness, but also tears of joy. I was so happy to be in such a special place with family while I was so far from home, but I also realized how much I miss my parents as church is the one place we always go together when I am home. The tears quickly passed as the service began and I was able to recognize a few words I had learned over the weekend and one contemporary song that I sang along to in English! After lunch, I started learning the Korean alphabet thanks to uncle Bob and aunt Shina's willingness to tutor me. I'm just starting to be able to sound out Korean words. I'm excited to be able to read the words all around me. I might not know what they mean, but reading is a place to start! My aunt and uncle are leaving at the end of December after 10 months here. I can still remember last Christmas when they told us they were arriving in February. Now, they are already going home, and my time is going just as quickly! I have been making the best of my time here and with them as I will see them much less frequently once we both return home. It was a great weekend, and I hope to see them and Shina's family once more before they leave! Thanks again Bob and Shina!

My surprise vacation in Taiwan!

My last blog was written in anticipation of an unexpected but well needed trip to Taiwan after school had been closed for a week to take "preventative measures" against an H1N1 outbreak. The cancellation was announced Friday after school, and Shauna, Britney, and I spent the next 24 hours planning our trip around Taiwan.

With very little sleep, we started our full day of traveling at 5:30am Sunday morning on a bus to the airport. We flew out of Korea at 9:10am and arrived in Taipei (northern Taiwan) at 11:30am. From there we went from bus, to a high speed train, to a third bus ride all the way to the southern tip of Taiwan. We safely arrived in Heng Chuen around 6:00pm thanks to our first of many generous Taiwanese people who had the bus stop literally across the street from our hostel- The Surf Shack Bar & Grill. This man also wrote down many of the areas attractions in Chinese (the language spoken in Taiwan) to show bus drivers as well as his home and cell phone numbers in case we ran into any trouble during the week.

With hostels, you never know what you're going to get. Well, we got LUCKY! We had a very clean hostel with a husband (Terry- Canadian) and wife (EE- Taiwanese) who owned it and both spoke wonderful English. EE also happened to make the most wonderful American food (burgers, salads, breakfasts, drinks, etc.)! On top of that, they had an ADORABLE five month old daughter, Charlyn, who we got to entertain (or she entertained us) all week while her mother cooked for us! As soon as we checked in, I knew we were set. EE changed our reservations (because it was off-season and so we could all be together) from a double and single room to the biggest room in the hostel with three queen beds for the SAME PRICE! This was the first of their many kind gestures towards us during the week. That night (Sunday), compliments of EE, we had a delicious cheeseburger dinner (topped with a little American flag), a few delicious drinks (Margaritas, Mojitos, and Pina Coladas) and an early bed time!


Monday morning, Terry met us at the hostel to give us a ride to Baishawan Beach, about 15 minutes away and picked us up again that afternoon. The wind and clouds (from their first "winter storm" passing through) weren't what we had hoped for, but the beach was nothing less than perfect! The first hour was ours alone on the beautiful, secluded beach and remained that way for most of the day(s). After being sand blasted for about an hour, we found a sheltered little cove that blocked us from the wind and allowed us to enjoy the rest of the day sand-free. Just after we had finished swimming in the warm salt waters of the SOUTH CHINA SEA for over an hour, a group of Taiwanese people approached us and asked to take pictures with us. They spoke enough English to have a great conversation and invite us out for drinks! That evening, we met Fairy, Anita, Charleton, and a few others at a lounge/bar and spent hours talking as if we were long lost friends! The night ended around 2am when were so happy to have met them, but so sad to know that we may never seem them again.

Tuesday morning, the sun was shinning brighter than we could have hoped for, but the wind was still strong. We decided to venture to a new beach that we soon realized was a mistake as it was very open. We took at cab back to the beach we were at Monday and decided we were content not exploring any more beaches. While taking pictures, a tiny Taiwanese man we saw snorkeling in the water came running up to us, speaking no English, making gestures that he would take pictures of the three of us. Little did we know that his nice offer locked us into a morning on the beach with him drinking wine and eating over-processed bread that he ran home and brought back for us. He also loved Britney and brought her a large, BEAUTIFUL polished shell to take home. He was so kind that we couldn't help but stay in his company for a while. However, over an hour later, we motioned that we were going to go rest in our little cover and he headed home. We also didn't know, that wouldn't be the only time we were "enjoying" his presence. After baking in the sun all afternoon, we knew we were going to have to start searching for a way to get home. With a tiny town across the road and no taxis that far out, we were hoping to find a phone to call our hotels owners or a taxi to come get us. After our encounters with so many helpful Taiwanese people in just the first two days, we trusted our gut and hopped in a car with two locals who left their coconut stand to bring us 15 minutes back to town. We simply handed them the hostel's business card, made a few helpless Americans gestures, and we were on our way! That evening, our hostel owners took us out to dinner for a traditional Taiwanese meal and the hot springs nearby. Another perfect end to a perfect day!

Wednesday morning, instead of calling a Taxi, EE's mother (who also helps around the hostel) took us to the beach and picked us up again that afternoon. Right when we arrived, Shauna noticed "Scuba Man" sitting in the sand (in the same snorkel gear as the day before) as if he was waiting for us to return! We immediately headed to the opposite end of the beach. When we were sure he was gone, we went directly back to our favorite cove. After hours in the sun, we decided to walk into the little town to buy a coconut from the locals who gave us a ride home the day before. It was our first time drinking coconut juice with a straw right inside the fruit! It was so delicious, but we couldn't decided if it was worth it when on our walk back to the beach, "Scuba Man" appeared on his scooter. He immediately stopped and made eating gestures that we CLEARLY said, "no thank you, not today!" to. We thought he was gone, but we thought wrong when 20 minutes later he appeared in our cove with more processed bread and another bottle of wine. After his pleading, we finally accepted the wine (not the bread) that he started pouring. We laughed at first, sang some songs to him, but decided it was time to send him home when he tried napping with us between Britney and Shauna. When we started packing up (during our last hour on our last day at the beach) to get away, he finally got up to go home. He wasn't the best or worst part of our trip, but we sure won't forget him! On our last evening, our hostel owners took us into Kenting (the tourist trap 15 minutes from Heng Chuen) to look at all the gift shops. Like I said, we were lucky to have such a nice place to stay with such generous people!

Had we known how perfect we had it down south, we probably would have stayed another day, but we got up on Thursday for our last delicious brunch and headed back up north to Taipei by bus and the high speed train. Our travels were delayed by an hour when the train stopped abruptly which we soon found out was due to an EARTHQUAKE! Knowing we would now be late for our check-in, I asked the two Taiwanese women sitting next to me who spoke very little English, but enough to understand what we needed, to call the hostel and let them know (in Chinese) that we would be late. Without their help, the hostel owners would have left and we would have been sleeping on the couches in the lobby of the hostel. After their call, they did their best to learn about our travels and offered us a delicious Taiwanese snack! We finally checked into our new hostel in the city that was definitely no Surf Shack! We each had our own tiny little room with less than sanitary bathrooms on each floor. At that point, we decided we wanted to spend as little time at the hostel as possible. We headed to a fun night market filled with delicious new foods and unimaginable streets full of late-night shopping.

Friday morning, we had plans to call yet ANOTHER Taiwanese friend that we had met on the beach who lived in Taipei and offered to take us to all the major attractions in the city. Our minds quickly changed when we saw the sun shinning brightly on our last day of vacation! Instead, we rushed to the train station to head to the nicest beach around Taipei. Our confused faces attracted another helpful Taiwanese woman (living in Canada, but visiting friends/family at home) who happened to be going exactly where we were! She got us off the train at Fulong Beach and wrote down all the times of the trains returning to Taipei that evening. Sadly, the beach was closed for swimming, but we had no problem enjoying our last day relaxing on the sand. It was a completely different beach from our hidden paradise in the south, far more public with scenery (a beautiful temple), but just as beautiful! On our last night, we did something I'm sure not many people can say they have done. We went to the top of the 101 Tower, currently the tallest building in the world! It was a cloudless day, which made for an incredible sight at night. It also has the world's fastest elevator taking us from the 5th to the 88th floor in just 45 seconds at 25 mph! We then hiked to the 91st floor and enjoyed the beautiful city lights from the outside observatory. It was an awesome end to such a fun week!
The week flew by, as they always do, and we were back on our plane home by noon on Saturday. We safely returned to Suji (our city) around 6:30pm that evening. I was so excited about the trip that I had my dad (and brother who were up at early for deer hunting opener) wake up my mom at 4:30AM to tell my family all about the trip! I am still in shock of how many truly generous and friendly people we met in Taiwan! We have been in Korea for over two months and haven't met any Korean friends our age, yet we met several people who wanted to be our friends within a day of being in Taiwan. When we got off the plane, we knew it was back to reality with the always rushing Koreans making their way home from the airport as well. Tomorrow will finish our first week after the break and I can tell you that my patience and energy has been renewed! I have found myself a much better teacher after the break. Now, it's only a month and 12 days before I'm flying to Hong Kong for my Christmas vacation!