Thailand Trip in Videos

We just got back from 16 days traveling in Thailand and Cambodia. It was one hell of an adventure and since I have exactly been keeping up with this blog, here are the video updates that I was making. :)

Gwangju 2015 Universiade

This past weekend we went to Gwangju to watch the Gwangju 2015 Universiade (or World University Games). It’s touted as the biggest sporting event outside of the Olympics. This is because there are athletes from all over the world competing and there are lots of events. The quality of competition is pretty high as well, but with the Pan Am games going on at the same time back in Canada, the teams from North and South America wouldn’t have had their absolute top university athletes. To qualify for this event, you must be between 18 – 28 and enrolled in at least a single, 3 credit course within the nearest semester. It’s been going on since the 4^th and we’ve even been able to watch it, in English, on television. We were pretty excited to get down there and soak up the atmosphere.

As usual, the travel was the biggest hurdle. There’s a brand new KTX (high spped train – 300km/h) station in Gongju (well between Buyeo and Gongju and so we could take that train to Gwangju and it would only be 50 minutes, as opposed to 4 hours! We had no idea how to bus to the KTX station however, and so we had to take a taxi. The taxi cost 40,000 Won. STEEP! The train tickets were 21,300 each for ‘economy class’. The trains were nice, similar feel to flying. We arrived in Gwangju at 8:34AM and headed out to the street to figure out how to get down to the main stadium where we could watch the athletics events. Right outside the KTX station there was a tent set-up with helpful ladies that gave us busing information, and then requested a photo with us. We got on the bus they told us and while it went in the general direction, as it got somewhat close, it made a series of unfortunate turns that led us in the opposite direction of the stadium. After a number of the turns, we gave up hope and jumped off. We got a taxi to the stadium, another 8,000 Won. When we finally got to the stadium and paid our 5,000 Won each to get in for the day, we were surprised at how poorly attended it was. It was a Saturday after all. It was such a big production to put on with many venues and organization, it seemed like a bit of a disappointment. Nevertheless, we got settled in right in front of the action. We were literally standing at the railing watching the long jump competition from 20 feet away. It was awe inspiring to watch their preparation and execution. It must be a heck of a lot of pressure to come all the way to Gwangju, South Korea (from anywhere) just to take 6 jumps into a sand pit and hope you jump the furthest! What was also very cool about where we were watching from is that it was also where all of the coaches stood, so we listened in as the coaches and athletes discussed strategy between jumps. Admittedly, most were not in English, but the ones in English were quite impressive. The minute details and alterations they make from jump to jump gives a whole new level of appreciation. There was a mid-day scheduled break for 3 hours that allowed us to shoot over to where we were staying and drop off all of our stuff. We decided to take a taxi as it was raining. We got to the place and found our room without issue. We booked the place with Air BNB and so you’re renting from an individual, so your place can be in any sort of building. Ours was a small apartment building. He gave us the code to get in and we were more than satisfied with the place. It had everything we needed and then some! A full kitchen and laundry even!

After dropping stuff off, we caught a taxi back to the stadium, where there was also a Lotte Mart. It’s a big department store with a full supermarket, so we headed in to get some lunch and snacks for later. It was quite busy and a very multicultural affair which was cool to see. Our snacks were kimbap, a salad and a variety of nuts and dried fruits. We got back to the stadium in plenty of time to see the events kick off again at 4:00. We stayed until it ended at just after 9PM. We weren’t bored for a minute. Lots of running events, steeplechase, hurdles and most field events also. There were a few Canadians to cheer on, but not as many as we would have liked! The time flew by and at the end of the night we walked a part of the way back to our place, but the rain really picked up and our very mediocre umbrella wasn’t cuttin’ the mustard. We caught another taxi, got in, cleaned up and passed out.

The next morning we were determined not to take a taxi. We were heading to another venue and managed to stumble across a subway system! It wouldn’t have helped us the day before, but maybe we should have researched public transportation in Gwangju before actually arriving. We got out to the Taekwondo venue in good time and settled into our seats to watch the actions. Those seats just so happened to be beside the ‘Team Leader’ of the Canadian Taekwondo team. It was great to chat with him and get some insight into the team and how it all works on the international level. The action was great, with three matches going on at any given time. Just watching closely, you can learn a lot about the strategy of Taekwondo as well as how the event is run. I love learning about these sorts of things! We spent the entire morning there and decided that we’d leave Gwangju a little earlier than originally planned. Around 1:30 we headed back to the subway and out to the KTX station on the other side of the city. We got tickets for the 2:24 train back to Gongju station and Julia grabbed a snack of Tteokbokki. This time though, we couldn’t get seats together and so we were on our own for the 50 minute ride home. Arriving back in Gongju we still had to figure out how to get back to Buyeo, and were determined not to take another taxi. We asked about buses, but as our luck had gone most of the weekend, the next bus to Buyeo was in 3 hours. We went out to the bus stop anyways to try and read the schedule. Maybe we could go to Gongju and then take an express to Buyeo, which run fairly often. While standing there, looking confused, an SUV drove by and then stopped a couple hundred feet past us. A minute later they back up and asked ‘Where you go?”. We said Buyeo. They said get in. We asked ‘Are you sure?’. They said yes. We got in. They were going to Gongju but still drove us all the way to Buyeo. Wow! Talk about our luck turning for the better! We tried to tell them that we lived in Buyeo and were teachers. That didn’t work so well, so after a while we just played up their assumption that we were tourists. They dropped us off right in front of Busosaeng Mountain (3 minutes from our place) and even gave us snacks! Talk about KINDNESS! This ride may have been the highlight of the weekend.

Home in late afternoon on a rainy day. Time to chill out.

Most of May

As has been the overarching theme with this blog lately, I'm going to open with a comment on how terrible I've been at consistently adding content. It makes the task even more daunting as I can't fully recall everything we've done in the past three weeks!

My last post was after exploring Gurye and Jirisan. We then headed to Busan for a couple of days.

Here's what I'll do. I'll just make bullet points for everything I want to cover, that way I can stay sane while trying to get this thing caught up.

Busan:
- The day we got into town, we met up with our friend Lindsey that we met in orientation. She's from North Carolina / Chicago and we did our practice lesson at orientation with her. She's also in Chungnam province. We had Indian food, which was extremely nice as we don't have options other than Korean or Pizza here in Buyeo. We love most Korean food, but it was nice to have some more options!

- Later in the day we met up with another couple from Tennessee that we met in orientation also. They're in Andong. We get along great with them and really enjoy their company. We had Mexican food and then a great evening of drinks and good conversation.

- The next day we explored Busan.

- We walked along a boardwalk by Heundae Beach.

- We went to Busan tower and had a great view of the city.

- We went to Jagalchi Fish Market and were absolutely blown away by the size of it. Everything you could possibly want (seafood wise) is there.

- We went to the top of a massive department store (12 or 13 floors) and had a coffee in a nice park that is on the roof.

- We had more Indian food.

- The next morning we spent the morning at the beach, skyped with Mom and Dad Lafleur AT the beach and then headed for the Subway station to make our way to the express bus terminal and eventually home. We took the bus to Daejeon and then to Buyeo. It was about 6 hours of total travel time.

Friday the 15th:

In the evening we went up the mountain for a couple drinks at a pavilion and a view of our city at night. We came across a little performance and watched for a bit. It was a lady in traditional clothing singing some songs that everyone but us seemed to know and were singing along. We made our way up to the pavilion and enjoyed the view and then Skyped with Andrea, John and Sierra. It was very cool as we were able to Skype from the Pavilion on the mountain, and then walk down, through downtown and back to our place WHILE Skyping them! So they got a bit of a tour of our area.

Bike to Gunsan

Last Sunday (the 17th) we biked to Gunsan. Gunsan is on the coast and is about 60 - 65km to cycle to along the river. It was our first time out on the bikes together. It was a perfect day. The route is great because there is no traffic (except the odd car that finds it's way onto the path) and decent quality path with great views. Halfway along the trip, we were riding through a bit of a forested area when we passed by a make-shift restaurant set up with a tarp and some picnic tables and rudimentary camping cooking equipment. We were summoned over and decided to take them up on the offer of free Makgeolli. They were extremely kind and we had some great laughs even though there absolutely zero understanding of each other's languages. One other cyclist was there also and was from Gunsan. He had cycled to this spot and was heading back and asked if we could cycle together. Of course we obliged! As we cycled, we had a tiny bit of back and forth, basic conversation and he stopped us a couple times for photo ops. He eventually took us to the bus station in Gunsan where we waited for 3 hours to take a 2 hour bus ride home. We ate two meals as we were very hungry by that point, so the wait wasn't all that bad!

Day In Seoul

This past Saturday (the 23rd) we spent the day in Seoul with our friend Jane (English Name). She lives in Incheon and goes to University in Seoul. She was a student teacher at one of Julia's schools and they became friends. She showed us around Seoul for the day and it was a ton of fun. She showed us Insadong, which is an artsy area, a street with all traditional houses, a bit of Gangnam and Namsam mountain, which had great views of Seoul! Fun day!

Day in Nonsan

Yesterday (Sunday) we went to Nonsan. Before leaving though, we did our workouts. Julia went for a run in the mountains and Brian went for a 60k ride around the river area. It was hot. We wandered around Nonsan a bit, went to a cafe and then made our way to Home Plus, which was our planned destination for the day. Home Plus is a department store that has a lot of things that we can't find in Buyeo. We spent $300 and loaded up some groceries that are difficult to find in Buyeo, and some cheap clothes. :)

Happy Birthday Buddha

Today was another busy day! First we started with our workouts. Julia did a workout on the roof of our building and Brian went for a 17km run along the river.

We then walked to the Boys middle school and met a teacher (Mrs Yun) from Brian's main school, and her daughter. Her daughter is moving to Ottawa in August to attend high school. Her English is fantastic, as she spent last year in Arkansas. She will stay in Ottawa at least through the end of High School and possibly go to university there as well.

We went to a temple in Oesan (where Brian also teaches at a school). It was busy with people visiting as it is Buddha's birthday, and so a National Holiday. We walked around the temples and learned a lot. We were then treated to a delicious lunch of Bibimbap, Acorn Jelly and Panjeon. We also ran into a student of Brian's who was excited to see him.

After lunch we headed to Boryeong and met up with a group of people that Mrs Yun plays badminton with. They were spending the day hanging out in a park along a river. Extremely beautiful and peaceful. They were nice people and offered us some drinks. One of Julia's students was there as well as she is a member of this badminton club and apparently a very good player! We will have to get lessons.

Leaving there, we went to a sculpture park (also in Boryeong) and looked at some art, sculptures and animals. There were sheep, a deer, a couple pony's, ducks, rabbits and more! It was a very neat little place. Very busy though, because of the holiday.

Now

We just got home and I felt compelled to write this, so I did.

We are about to head back out see what there is to see, maybe make our way to a temple that is on the backside of Busosan Mountain. Apparently they light the lanterns in the evening and it's beautiful!

Making friends and searching for fitness....

This has been a big week for meeting other foreigners. Last Saturday, we just happened to be wandering the streets on a rainy evening and passed another foreigner couple. We stooped and said hello and ended up going for a cup of tea and a chat. The next day we met up for lunch and got to know each other a bit better. They are a couple from the United States, but had been living (and met) in Spain for the past 8 years! As we talked we found we had quite a bit in common with regards to our goals with teaching abroad and our experience in Buyeo so far. It was quite relieving to hear that other people have had some of the same difficulties as us with regards to getting set up and settled here. We're excited to have met them and look forward to hanging out with them more often. The weekend was rainy so we stayed in Buyeo and made the most of it, walking when we could and getting some errands taken care of. This past Tuesday we met up with another bunch for dinner. Three are teachers the fourth is eh husband of one of the teachers. All very nice people. We had dinner at the buffet at the outlet mall and it was pretty decent. We got a lot of great info and tips for teaching and living in Buyeo and Korea. It's been a steep learning curve to date, but people like this make it heaps easier.

I (Brian) am finally in a place / routine where I can get up and have enough time for an hour long walk / jog / hike / run. I'm loving having the mountain right across from us. I step out our door and within a few minutes I'm up into the mountain. It's quiet and beautiful at 6:30AM. Just me and a handful of the ever so prominent 60+ crowd. They walk, stretch, do sit-ups and aerobics, it's awesome to see. Today I went for an hour, 40 minutes of which was in the mountain with lots of uphill running, jogging and power hiking. The last 20 minutes was back down through town, with a stop at the grocery store to pick up some soy milk for Julia. I managed 11k in the hour. Not bad considering the hills and technical trail on the mountain.  The fitness is coming back. We have the Spartan Beast (25 obstacles over 20km of running) June 13 and I have the Incheon  70.3 on July 5^th. I'll have to get out cycling soon! And Julia's main school in Buyeo supposedly has a pool that will open in June. I suspect it will be packed though.

The teaching is getting a bit easier, but we have good days and bad still. Sometimes it was our lesson or our delivery and other times it's because we aren't getting much help from our co-teacher. It's a tricky situation because we want to do a good job and have the support of our co-teachers, but we know how busy they are outside of our classes. I also start a Teachers Training class this Friday that will run from 3 – 5PM. I found out about it last week and will have to figure out what to do ASAP. After a class or two I'm sure it will be easy.