Guest Blogger - Tours and Fireworks

At 3:30 AM, a series of three knocks (not Sheldon knocking on Penny's door.), a chorus of "I'm sorry"s and Plan B took effect (I was supposed to sleep in the extra bed in Bernie's room, but in my drunken state I couldn't work the key to unlock the door!!  Biggest fail. Ever!). Meagan got three hours sleep, and felt worse for wear but she did get her hotel breakfast.

We were off and running to her apartment for clean clothes (I did their laundry - I'm a good daughter) and to feed Cow and all was good. Although Meagan has had better mornings (I was dying!!!!), she never complained and soldiered on!

First stop, Busan City Culture and History Bus Tour. Initial impression; massive fail as our guide talked endlessly in Korean and briefly in English. Lost in translation? The Bokcheon Museum had displays of the 4th and 5th Centuries of a warrior culture that buried their dead in tombs. The museum is on the site of the tombs but our tour did not include them.

Next stop Geumgang Mountain and the cable cars to the top. The views on the way up were great but the ones from the top were blocked by the trees. Still very impressive.

Our last stop was Beomeosa Temple and our guide made up for everything here by devoting herself to us.

The pictures tell the story better than I can.

                         

We had lunch at Meagan's 'home' restaurant (my kimbap/bibimbap weekly stop - Cham's) and then went back to our hotel for a nap and church. Church was a fail as mass was at 7 PM, not 4 PM as advertised but Bernie said it counted.

Meagan and Debbie were successful at their naps however, and fully charged for the evening's activities. 

The monsoon on Saturday had washed out the Fireworks Festival and it was conveniently rescheduled for today, Sunday, so we got on the subway with every other person in Busan and went to Gwangali Beach for the  Busan International Fireworks Festival; 80 minutes of incredible explosions which we watched from her friend, Mallory's apartment.

Back on the subway with everybody from Busan, a quick meal at a Korean BBQ restaurant, and it was time for the hardest part of the trip. No dry eyes here.

I do have to say that we had every parent's fears about their child being fourteen time zones away, literally half way around the world BUT, having visited Meagan, and seen her in her environment and element, our fears have been allayed. She is happy, she is safe, and she is good at what she does. In real time, not her father looking back, she signed for a third year on 10 December 2012. And we are okay with that, really.

Guest Blogger - The Day of the Monsoon

Busan experienced a record rainfall today. The most rain in twenty seven years fell on the city and we were out in it.

The day started well. We taxied to Harley-Davidson of Busan for my only Harley shirt of the trip. Really. I have too many as it is. 

From there to the Yonggungsa Temple which is also known as the Water Temple. There was a light rain at this point but it was manageable.

The Water Temple involved a lot of steps but the trek was worth it as the following pictures should indicate.

After that it was on to Haeundae and The Wolfhound, an Irish pub. This, too, is one of Meagan's regular haunts and a part of the ex-patriate experience. The fish and chips were outstanding.

Typhoon? Monsoon? Who knows? It was torrential rain and lightning - which is a rarity in Korea.  We bagged all plans and went back to the hotel for dry clothes and the Lotte Shopping Experience.

Western dinner from Pizza Hut and then Meagan was off to celebrate Halloween with her friends, have a couple of drinks, and spend the night in Bernie's room so that she could experience the full hotel breakfast at Lotte Seomyeon. 

At least that was the plan.

Show-n-Tell

I couldn't just let my family sit back and take it easy while they were in Korea.  It's not all about sightseeing here!  They had to do some work.  Especially if they were going to "get" my life.

So I took them to school!  I used them as my own special "meet-and-talk-to-some-more-foreigners" show-n-tell activity for my 6th grade students.

I was extremely concerned going into it that my students would clam up and not talk to my parents (perhaps I worry a bit too much).

However, in order to try and prevent that from happening; I gave my students 8mins to write down three questions they would like to ask my family (my mom, my dad and dear ol' Aunt B).  They could ask whatever they wanted, but they had to keep in mind that the questions they asked would later help them with the game - so it might be helpful to stick to topics we had learned in class (birthday, age, favorite things, job, wants, etc).

It went amazingly!

Sure, not every kid talked.  Really it was the same 4-5 students asking questions the entire time, but it worked!!  They even asked my family more questions when they had them on their teams during 'Redding Jeopardy'.

We also got juiced and cookied (Korean school time version of soju-ed and fed) by the Principal.  Twice!

More foreigners should come to work.  How about it?!  Any takers?

Guest Blogger - First Full Day in Busan

Today was the day to run in another country so off I went. If it hadn't been for an underground rotary and a missed turn, my string of never getting lost running in a foreign or new location would still be intact. Fortunately, I had a card with the hotel address and several kind Koreans pointed me in the proper direction.

View from the hotel.

The hotel breakfast was excellent and as good as Shanghai which had set the standard pretty high. Mrs. Jang, Meagan's co-teacher had written the address of Daepyung Elementary School in Korean for us to give our taxi driver and we were off for Show and Tell. Meagan is a warm and personable teacher. Her activity went well and everyone from students to staff enjoyed our visit to her school.

From school to Meagan's apartment is a brief walk. We met the neighbor lady who watches out for her every day and then we met Cow, her cat. (black and white like a Holstein) Should we have been surprised? Not really. Typical Meagan!

Meagan and Cow.

We taxied to Taejongdae Beach, a rock beach on the Sea of Japan or the East Sea as the Koreans call it. There is an ongoing dispute over who owns the rights to what waters currently with China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam all staking similar claims to fishing areas and possible oil-producing parts of the oceans as well.

We went to the top of the Busan Tower and had panoramic views of the city and harbor. Every city seems to have one; Macau, Hong Kong, and now Busan. There were others that we didn't go up in as we opted for the Bell and Drum Towers instead.

We walked around Nampo and had dinner at the world famous Jalgachi Fish Market. Blue Crab Soup for me and sashimi for Meagan. Our observers opted for McDonald's later.

Dessert was donuts from a street vendor, a Busan treat. Another subway ride and we were back at the hotel. Tomorrow will be another full day with our personal guide.



*this is from my father's blog.  You can read more about it here.

The Reddings Are Coming

They aren't exactly the British, but my family is coming to Korea.  

It isn't going to be as much of an invasion, more a long overdue visit and look into my life; but I feel ok in saying that my nerves are at a level similar to those the American first settlers felt when they were preparing to fight for their freedom.

Big comparison I know.  But in a sense… this visit is a declaration of freedom for me.

Not really freedom, "freedom" isn't the right word, but what's associated with freedom is correct.  Mainly the feeling of independence - a feeling of acceptance, a belief that you're on your own now and that they feel you will do all right.

And that leads to an even more troubling issue of why I need that acceptance.  Especially at 27-freaking-years-old!  Surely by now I should be confident in myself and who I've become to not hang on the shirttails of my parents, waiting for them to pat me on the head and tell me I've done good.

I'm not.  I don't need a pat on the head.  

But what I want from this visit is for my parents to see my life, see how I'm doing, how I'm… doing OK!

For the most part, I don't think my parents understood a lot of what I've done in my life.  In terms of alignment for the future it's all been a swirling, jagged, zigzagging line towards... something; but it has allowed me to go to some pretty incredible places!  Which again would be things I don't think my parents initially understood (Africa, wandering, being idealess for the future, nannying, working in a dog shop, and eventually Korea), but my parents supported these things and didn't prohibit me from going.

Note: my parents are awesome.  I don't think they would ever stop me from doing anything.  But that's not the point.  The point is not about stopping me, but not understanding me.  And that's where I'm going with all of this rambling.

I want my parents to understand me.  To know that although I might have come to Korea with little more than an idea that it would be "cool", I'm now doing great.  And that this life that I jumped into, that I choose because "why not" has turned into an experience, a moment, a huge part of my life that has been/is really good for me.

I want them to see that, to see Korea and to get it.  

But this visit isn't just a trip to Korea.  It is a grand Asian adventure for them filled with non-stop sights throughout China (before Korea) and Japan (after).  No knocking my new home country, but I can't say many people put Korea on their list of desired tourist destinations.

How are they supposed to get it when they are coming/going to all of that?  How are they supposed to understand?  Even I love Japan more than Korea!!?!

I don't know if this rant went anywhere, but the Reddings are coming and I'm nervous.

Cat's Outta the Bag

This is Cow.

We sort of co-habit together.

He's my.... He's my Cow.

Hey Dragon!

Yunjoo had her story telling competition today.

Teachers, parents and any adult figure - other than the judges - were barred from entering the room where the contest was held.  Which was a bit poo, because I would have LOVED to see her perform.

Not like we hadn't been practicing twice a week for the entire last month, but still... It would have been exciting to see the big moment she'd been working so hard for!!

Luckily there were many rehearsals and there are camera phones!

I might not have been able to see the actual event, but at least we can see a little glimpse of what it was like. ^^

They won't know the results for a few more days.  Seems a bit odd and cruel - to make little kids wait - but hopefully they'll come back favorable for Yunjoo!!

Ink'ED

Being tattooed with a machine is much different than being tattooed with bamboo.

Perhaps it was the location and the amount of work being done that was the "real" difference, but phewww that was an intense way to spend a few hours.


Once Mal and I arrived in Daegu (10/13), we headed straight out to meet Jeff.  A few minutes shooting the breeze and it was time to get down to work.

My tattoo was significantly smaller than the piece Mallory was having done, so despite being an almost tattoo virgin, I was up first.  Since my first tattoo was not done by machine; I was a bit... a little... a lot... I was freaking out nervous.  But once the stencil was on and the arrangement was sorted, my worries subsided and things got permanent.

Important lesson to note: when having a tattoo done on your stomach/hip do NOT laugh.  Laughing pulls the muscles in your abdomen which can in turn cause the tattoo machine to jump placing ink in areas that it is NOT supposed to be.  Luckily we were doing some shading on the flowers and this little laughing blip was easily covered up.

Two and some hours later it was all over and I was posing for a photo shoot to have my art added to Jeff's portfolio.

I'm really happy with it.  He did an amazing job.

Only trouble is I'm a little bit sore

But now my Thai tiger is no longer lonely, she's added a bit of Korean to the streak. ^^

Ink

Today Mal and I are off to Daegu to see a Pirate about some Ink. 

Did you know that a group of tigers is called a streak.  

Looks like I might be getting a streak of tigers...