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itself. We woke up a bit early to catch the earliest bus to Incheon. It left Buyeo at 7:10 and took 2.5 hours to get to Incheon. We (I) assumed that it was going to Incheon airport. I don't know why. I guess I don't think of Incheon as being a legit city, just the place where the airport is. Boy was I wrong. We got to Incheon's main bus terminal and were still a ways from the airport. We managed to find an information desk in the terminal and asked how to get to the airport. We got so some information and knew where to go and which bus to get on, but quickly decided that it would take way too long to get out there. Our friends (Nick and Lanie) took a cab and we decided to also. The cab itself took around 40 minutes 
(and was ~$70) but took us right to the ferry, which was another bus ride from the airport. We then bought our $3 return ticket to take the ferry to the promised land. Once on the island, we caught a $1.50 bus ride across the island to our final destination, Hanagae Beach. In a word (or 4), it was worth it. The beach was great, not too busy, nice sand and the weather was absolutely perfect. Hot enough to make a day at the beach the ideal thing to do, but not too hot that we could enjoy ourselves. 
We were met by Nick and Lanie as we arrived and we quickly and easily rented our hut. It's 30,000 WON ($35 CAD) per night. It's super basic, but had linens and pillows which I wasn't expecting. We dropped off our stuff and went for a walk before finding food. As the tide was out, (WAY OUT) we could walk pretty far and find some cool sea life along the way. Mostly crabs and sea slugs of some kind, but also jellyfish. Lunch was Pajeon. The rest of the day involved good conversation, playing in the water and a quick down the zip line. As it was the 4th of July, there were plenty of foreigners there to party, and did they ever. Lots of drinking, singing and fireworks. ALL NIGHT. It was a bit annoying as none of us could sleep all that well, but we managed. On Sunday morning we killed time until the convenience store opened at 8AM and we grabbed some snacks and drinks, while we waited for the bibimbap restaurant to open at 11AM. It was a long wait (and they opened late) but it was soooo worth it While waiting we went for a walk up the beach and Lanie found exactly 28,000 WON randomly in the sand. Lunch was exactly 28,000 WON and that is no coincidence, that is fate. While up at the far end of the beach, we found a huge pool of soft, slippery mud and Nick couldn't help but go for a full dip, and so I naturally HAD to follow suit. We were absolutely filthy but it felt incredible and was pretty darn hilarious. We cleaned up and headed for our free lunch. After lunch we hung out for a bit and then made our way out to make the reverse trek home. It was the same, but in reverse and this time we could split the cab fare with Nick and Lanie. We got to the bus terminal and their express bus home to Andong left in about 45 minutes, while ours left in 3 hours. Luckily the bus terminal was attached to a huge department store that had an absolutely incredible food court. To kill time, we ate and did groceries at EMart. We hopped on the bus at 6:00PM and immediately fell asleep for nearly two hours, only waking up when the bus stopped in Gongju and all but 4 of us got off.
These little pieces of sushi were something like 75 cents each. They were fantastic and were the perfect food for the long bus ride home.I got these at EMart. The selection was pretty awesome. 
First
thing this morning I went and picked up Korean rice cakes. Julia's
favourite dessert here. You can find them pretty much anywhere (market
and grocery stores) and Julia's favourites are the big white ones. So
rice cakes for breakfast it was! The forecast called for rain all day,
but we made the best of it before it started. We went out for a bit of a
workout on the mountain, running around and ding bodyweight exercises.
After
a quick clean-up, we hit up the grocery store and picked up some
essentials. Not exactly an exciting birthday excursion, but important
nonetheless. After lunch we headed out for a walk and ended up at
Gungnamji. It's a giant pond / maze that's jam packed with Lotus plants.
They bloom in the summer and in about a months time there will be a big
festival with many, many tourists coming to our little town. Today was
also busy, and for good reason, it's absolutely beautiful! The plants
have grown immensely and the flowers are starting to bloom. We wandered
around and took photos, but it started to rain heavier so we had to run
and find shelter. We decided that it was a good time to go eat dinner,
as it was now 4:45 and we were both a bit peckish. There's a place right
near the pond that specializes in Lotus Leaf Rice. They cook rice and
wrap it in the lotus leaf and add some beans and a couple other
vegetables. It's pretty delicious and one of Julia's favourites! The
owner of the restaurant speaks almost fluent English, which was a bit of
a shocker the first time we went there!
Despite a Graduate Diploma in Education, I'm (Brian) starting at the 'bottom' of the pay scale (level 2) as jobs are so competitive that EPIK is not hiring what they consider to be a level 3 (only a bachelor's degree in any discipline). You need some sort of accredited ESL teaching certification (TEFL, TESOL etc). Because of where we are located (Chungnam Province) this puts us both at a base salary of 2.2KRW.
I've finally been getting out on my bike here in Korea and it's been
absolutely incredible. The paths here are great, and today I did a 76km ride,
mostly on roads and the roads are just as awesome. I was worried about riding
in Korea, as I've heard that it's not great to ride on the roads, but from my
experience today, I think that only applies to the cities. Out here in rural
South Korea, the roads are great quality, the traffic is minimal and the
drivers have been extremely courteous. Today’s ride was an adventure. I set out
with the intention of riding all along the path towards Nonsan and then
crossing the river at Nonsan as I did last week and then make my way home along
the other side of the river. The only issue with this was that about 8 or 9k
in, the path (a boardwalk section) was closed and I had to turn back. Instead
of riding all the way back to Buyeo, I cut into a little neighborhood and rode
along the main road past the rice fields and little homes. The road was better
than I expected and the traffic was virtually non-existent. I check Google maps
on my phone and found a route that would allow me to bypass the closed section
and eventually make my way back to the river. It was a big loop around, but 
I was excited to ride around and see some new sights. I rode through some small
villages and even past one of Julia’s schools. It was absolutely gorgeous. I
even managed to draft behind a tractor for 5 minutes or so, as he was going at
a perfect speed. Once I got back on the path I was only about 5k from Nonsan.
The path at this point is great, smooth riding. I crossed the bridge where I
had intended to, but instead of getting on the path and coming back along the
river I decided to follow the road I was on and see where it took me. It was a
perfect little route. It took me past a middle school in Sedo, where I will
likely teach next semester, and through Imcheon, where I visited with some
other teachers. Did I mention that the roads were great and the traffic was
light? I had a blast. There were a few long climbs that put a wee sting in the
legs, but the descent on the other side was well worth it! Once back on familiar
roads / paths, I calculated how much further I had to ride to hit my 75km goal
for the day and just got it done. It was a glorious day for riding. 
