Chunnam Opening Day

The Chunnam Dragons had their opening day last week and of course we went to cheer them on. I have to say, they looked great (a little tired there at the end). It was a physically rough game (with the other team being a bit brutish if you ask me). In the end, the Dragons tied with Ulsan.

Opening day cheering!

And a magic wizard.

The half time show. Lots of drumming and circle running.

And of course the bench warmers can still warm up while the half time show is going on.

And when they scored, the stadium released giant amounts of confetti. It was amazing!

Some more confetti!

And some more drumming

Go Dragons!

Jonjesan Hiking

A few of us got together for a fabulous day of hiking near Boseong Tea Fields. I think the mountain we climbed was named Jonjesan, but it could be called something else. I really wasn't paying that close attention to the mountain name. I was paying close attention to the hike itself, which was amazing! As always, here are some pictures:

Starting Out

Can you see the Nun??

There she is!

Rest stop!

Ji Hye

Meghan

Sang Jun

Almost at the the top.

Thumbs up from Hak Kyeong

Another of Ji Hye

Steve

Meghan

Going to the other 'top'

Steve attempting the big climb

And Hak Kyeong using his billy goat skills to get up the sheer rock.

And Steve's stopped.

Hak Kyeong made it

And Sang Jun too!

Group Shot!

Robin's Visit at Nagan Folk Village

While Robin was visiting us, we took her to some of the best Korean Heritage Sites: Boseong Tea Fields and Nagan Folk Village. While we did take her to see some other neat stuff, these are the only pictures we have of our time together. I'm anxiously awaiting some photos from her, so you can see some of our cool adventure!

Robin admist the Boseong Tea Fields

Some gentlemen walking at Nagan Folk Village

Ed: "Jen don't touch it!" Yup I did touch it. With glee. And yes, thats what you think it is.

Some local wild life.

A wild rabbit that has not been eaten!! A rare site in Korea.

Me and my new boyfriend.

Ed as a guard.

My turn.

Water wheel.

Some local houses.

Totem Pole of terror!

And finally, there she is! No its not a lamp shade, but rather a very stylish hat. I think Robin looks great with it on. Don't you??

Happy March!

Hooray for March!

We are beginning our final semester (for now) teaching in Korea tomorrow. It is actually an exciting time for both Ed and I. We finally are able to get back into the classroom and teach since December. We have new students to keep us entertained and to entertain in return.

In other news, we just spent two wonderful weeks with Ed's mom Robin who flew all the way over here to visit us! We were very excited to have her here and we had a WONDERFUL time with her! I'll post pictures of our travels when I get them edited (and from Robin too!).

Not much else to report other than that. Be prepared for the Third Best English Nickname Awards shortly. I hope I have some good ones for you this year!

Our Trip Through Pictures

Siberian Tiger

Emperor Ed

Jacky and Me


Wendy, Ed and I. (Wendy lives in Beijing and we traveled with her in Malaysia)

The best part about any vacation is the pictures. So I thought that instead of writing a whole ton about our trip to China, I'd show you what we experienced. The pictures are in no particular order, but show our travels around Beijing and Harbin. Enjoy!



Chinese Paparazzi

One thing we couldn't get over was how many people wanted to take our picture. I mean, we live in Korea, and they love us there, but for some odd reason we thought that picture taking of foreigners (in a huge international city like Beijing) was something that wouldn't happen as much. Well we were very wrong. In fact, the picture taking happened more in China than it does here in Korea. I guess Chinese couldn't get enough of our beautiful faces. This guy actually was in the Harbin Ski Resort of Yablin. I think he worked for the ski resort as a press guy. But he could just be some random dude too.

Harbin Siberian Tiger Sanctuary

Run Chicken! Run!!!

Perhaps the BEST part of our trip was the Harbin Siberian Tiger Sanctuary. Basically a few years ago, China put a legal stop to killing tigers for their fur and medicinal purposes. So that left the Harbin Tiger farm in a fix. Fortunately, they are making a killing (no pun intended) by saying that they now are a sanctuary for the endangered Siberian Tiger. You can go into the sanctuary and 'feed' the tigers a wide range of animals including chickens, goats, and even a cow if you've got enough money. I know it sounds gross and inhumane, but honestly it was the coolest thing ever. Not to mention extremely exciting! Although we did only buy some chickens; I wonder if I would be saying the same thing if we had bought a cow. I do know this for sure though; next we are buying the goat.

PS: If you're interested in seeing some videos, you can youtube Haerbin or Harbin Siberian Tiger Farm/Sanctuary. Cows and goat videos will come up.

Ridiculous Ski Trip (Yablin Ski Resort, Harbin)

Ahhhh skiing. When Wendy (our friend) brought up the plan to go skiing in Harbin, we jumped on the chance. The hotel said they had a deal where we pay 70RMB to get to the mountain and ski. Now the mountain was about two hours away, but we thought we would be able to get at least a half a day of skiing in. WRONG! We paid basically to ride a stupid bus for six hours. We were part of a Chinese tour group, so we had to go along with what they said. On the positive side, they fed us lunch and we did get to 'ski' for two hours (basically two runs). All for like 10 USD, so I guess we can't complain too much.

PS: Check out the lady's shoes!! Seriously?! "I think I'll wear my heels today."


Death by Chicken Head (almost)

Ed put this in his mouth and ate some of it. Yup its a chicken head. No he did not know he was eating chicken head until he ate the brain out the back side. GROSS!!!

Harbin Ice City and Festival

So the main reason why we traveled to almost the Russian boarder was to go to the Harbin Ice Festival, which was:

1. Balls ass cold.
   
2. Balls ass cool!

Imagine a huge city built out of ice. There was skating, ice bike riding, sliding, beer drinking, dancing in bikinis, sledding, and pretty much a good time had by all. Very awesome. I highly recommend it. Annnddd during the day you can go and feed the tigers if you want to. :)

Sleeper Train

To get to Harbin (10 hour train ride from Beijing) you can do two things. Fly or take the sleeper train. We chose the sleeper train. Basically there are six bunks to a small stall, three bunks high. You can see me on the middle bunk. Very cool way to travel. Not so awesome way to sleep. Imagine everything people do in the their sleep and multiply it by 70 people. Interesting experience, and I'll do it again if I have to. But next time I'll bring ear plugs and some nice smelling spray.

THE GREAT WALL

The Great Wall gets all caps because its great! Although we walked along one of the more restored sections of the wall, we still were able to do a three hour hike, and see some very cool scenery. The best part about the whole thing was that it was EMPTY, except for the people trying to sell us stuff. We got to experience it ourselves. Who can say that?? I think we really got an authentic (as it can be in the year 2010) experience. Plus its just damn cool to say that I've walked on the Great Wall of China. Something that I never thought I'd get to do.

The Car Crash

And the reason why I thought I'd never get to see the Great Wall was because of this. Long story short, the dumb ass driver sped up on the very icy road right before the entrance to the Great Wall, causing the van (not surprisingly) to spin out of control. Eventually we landed in this ditch here, and in all honesty we were/are VERY lucky to walk away with only bumps and bruises. That's right bumps and bruises. Ed and I were sitting in the middle of the van and another girl was sitting in the back seat. She ended up outside the van, and we ended up in the back seat. She only sprained her ankle. And we went on to climb the Great Wall.

Pandas!!!!

Enough said. They are cute, but just sleep a whole lot (as you can see in the background).

Ed's Photo Skills:
This section highlights some of the coolest photos Ed took on the trip.

Summer Palace Guard


Me being arrested (not really)!



Glamor Shot (Summer Palace)

Chinese Shopping

Another one of the Great Wall.

Beijing Zoo

Summer Palace Pagoda

Well that's all for now friends. I'm sorry it took me a while to get this up, but I've been lazy. I also have a couple of fun videos to share with you. I'll see if I can get things rolling soon.