Korea

I thought I would drop a quick post about our whereabouts to everyone as the beaches, scuba diving, and rock climbing of Thailand were not conducive to us sitting in front of a computer to say hello to you all.

I am currently sitting in a room only lit by green and blue lights with "gamers" quickly tapping keyboards and yelling out, what I assume, are directions to their gaming friends. Internet is less than $1/hr. Welcome to Korea. After a hellish day of travel from Bangkok, through Taipei, and finally to Seoul we have made it to our trip's final point, yet we are only at its beginning.

Yesterday we learned the true meaning of frustration when we found our bags were not only over the weight limit for our airline, but also so much over the weight limit we had to pay an amount that made me cringe when I handed over my credit card. We made it from Seattle to Bangkok with no problem. Some notification from the airline that we were going to encounter this issue would have been nice. We spent a rather frustrating 30 minutes (the time we had to decide what to do with our bags) attempting to locate an address to send our over weight luggage via mail - the cheaper route. Once we had located the address we had less then 10 minutes to check in so we threw up our hands in defeat. Or at least I did. I am sure Mindy was scheming to take on China Airlines face to face, which has led her to vow to write a letter to them and complain. I feel sorry for China Airlines.

Korea: I must say that my first, yet admittedly superficial, impression of Korea is complete happiness! I am so glad the day in Bangkok was so bad because this place is so good. The people are extremely polite, yet not obsequious; the cities are very modern, clean, and organized (this is something I missed in Thailand), yet the surrounding environment seems to be incorporated into planning; the food is varied and spicy, but not four star thai. The food's spiciness is pertinent because I don't even want to talk about what is going on in our stomachs after three weeks of travel in Thailand. It is westernized, yet decidedly not. The driver picked picked us up at Incheon Airport, which was voted as the world's number one airport from 2005-2007, and driven about 40 minutes outside of Seoul to Gwangju. We were a little concerned after seeing the how nice of a central location in Seoul a fellow English teacher had after she was dropped off - "our place can't be better than this". Well, I don't know if I can say it is better and we would probably prefer to be more central for social reasons, but I can say that we were very suprised at how nice our apartment was. It is brand new, with a bedroom, an office, kitchen, bathroom, washer and dryer, and living room. Further, it is nearly fully furnished with a TV, couch, desk, bed, 2 dressers taller then I am, and radiant floor heating. It is nicer than my apartment in The Ham.

So where does that leave us? Last night we met our Co-Teachers and were introduced to some Korean food, which they fed us until we were stuffed. Mindy was a little dismayed when she found out that she was the one going to travel an hour to work everyday and I was only 25 minutes away even though we requested the reverse - I am more of a morning person and take about 20 minutes to get out the door rather than an hour. We informed them of this mix up, but they said they could not change it at this point. This morning Mindy was asked to come into work for a walk through with the teachers at 7:40am and I was asked to come in at 2:00pm. Needless to say, the disparity in sleeping time may create some resentment over tonight's dinner :-) Today I am going to attempt to locate an electricity converter and some other household items, but Mindy has the language book today and I have a feeling this task is going to be difficult.

I am going to sign off now and try to do something productive with a very large language barrier. By the way, don't expect any pictures of Thailand as I left the camera on a Tuk Tuk taxi in Phuket. Lets admit it though, the only thing we lost was a bunch of couple's pictures in different areas: us on a beach, us in a taxi, us in a bar, us with travellers, et al. We try not to think about the good ones we lost: rock climing, islands, sunsets,....shit. We will post our stories of Thailand later, but I wanted to get you all up-to-date on us.

-Scott

And We are off...

I'm exhausted. We have been going and going for days on end - one event, adventure and obstacle after another. Bags so heavy we wonder if we brought too many of our material goods. Yet, we haven't even left the Seattle airport. After nearly two months of preparation we are sitting, half asleep at Sea-Tac. Mindy, half asleep on the floor, has found a double use for her new Italian leather hand bag, a pillow. I, nearly half asleep in a chair that is simultaneously too narrow and too hard, am looking forward to this next great adventure in my life. Luckily, I get to share this one expedition with someone else. In this nearly empty wing there is only the sound of coffee brewing from one of the few stores open, the echo of footsteps and dragging suitcases. Mindy's head lies just inches away from a very drab 70's inspired linoleum. Oddly, this uninspiring scene is the stage from which we are off to a great adventure.

We have left family, friends, and the familiar for the unknown and the chance to do something that, at any other point in our lives, we would not be able to do. This is something that only a few get to partake in and I am happy to say that I am one of them. It is a rich life and one worth taking advantage of at every opportunity. Even in light of the complete chaos that was the preparation for this trip and the fact that we are going to miss parts of the lives of a few special newborns and our families, sitting here now waiting for our 1:10am flight to Bangkok I think we can say the timing for this trip has proven to be perfect. Perfect because it is an adventure and adventures are always perfect. Yes, we have left our parents and friends behind, but like Mindy said, "Why should we be sad? We are going on an adventure." When she said that I was reminded of one of my favorite sections from Walt Whitman's "Song of the Open Road":

Allons! whoever you are, come travel with me!
Traveling with me, you find what never tires.
The earth never tires;
The earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first—Nature is rude and incomprehensible at first;
Be not discouraged—keep on—there are divine things, well envelop'd;
I swear to you there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell.
Allons! we must not stop here!
However sweet these laid-up stores—however convenient this dwelling, we cannot remain here;
However shelter'd this port, and however calm these waters, we must not anchor here;
However welcome the hospitality that surrounds us, we are permitted to receive it but a little while.

Along the way things will, no doubt, have there tough times: two strong headed people travelling together thousands of miles away from everything we know. Then again, like the drab empty scene we currently sit in great adventures start from the most unlikely spots and have the potential for great adversity. No doubt all travellers start from the same spot as we.

We will be back at some point to partake in the hospitality of our friends and family soon enough. We will have more adventures to share with you all and we look forward to the many more adventures that we have missed of yours while we were away. Keep in touch and check in every now and then.

-Scott

!Thailand!

So, we FINALLY have our teaching city established, Visas in order and now we have a country picked out for pre-travel-teaching-expedition: Thailand! Yes, I know we will be travelling/living abroad for a year, but we felt it necessary to find our way to warmer climates in order to gather oursevles before we actually committed to a 40 hour/week job. Mindy and I have lives that make committing to a 40 hour/wk job a scary predicament, so we felt like procrastinating from this responsibility as much as possible. After contemplating many scenarios -financial, practical, and otherwise - we have decided that three weeks in Thailand would best serve two broke, but aspiring ESL Elementary school teachers. With the going away party on March 29th and our Visas scheduled to be processed by April 3rd we have decided to fly out of Seattle for Bangkok on Saturday April 5th. Mindy was there for four months a couple years ago, so she, in her infinite wisdom, will be guiding me through the region. From Phad Thai to Thai strippers - er, I mean Thai History Museums - we will be experiencing the entire range of possibilities the country has to offer. Northern Thailand has more local culture with the possibilities of treks and remote adventures, whereas Southern Thailand is more susceptible to tourism, but also has snorkeling, scuba diving, rock climbing and, most importantly, cheap drinks, hammocks, and $5 massages.

So check back every now and then. We will give updates from Thailand and wherever else we happen to be in the world over the next year or so.

-Scott

Going Away Party!

We are planning a going away party because if we ever had a good reason to party leaving the country would be it. If you are in the area you should stop by for it. We are not planning anything huge, but we are going to have a band called Sugar, Sugar, Sugar, some kegs and a little BBQ fun. I don't know, maybe we will have some kimchee in honor of our new foreign home. Speaking of which, our teaching city has, once again, changed to a city an hour South East of Seoul called Gwangju. After both Mindy and I gave our placement "agent" an earful on multiple occasions we have succumbed to the realization that we are at the whim of the ESL gods in this thing - that god being named Chaos.

Plan on showing up and be ready to hot tub, mingle, BBQ, dance and drink lots of beer.

Party Details

What: Going away party for Scott and Mindy. BBQ, Band (Sugar, Sugar, Sugar), Keg, Hot Tub

When: Saturday, March, 29th
* BBQ starts at 7:00 and ends whenever we run out of dishes, fresh wild caught seafood from our buddy Kyle (sorry you can't come man) and/or meat.
* The Band - Sugar, Sugar, Sugar - will start around 10:30.

Where: Mike's house, which is in the process of renovation, on King St. off of Alabama (see link at the bottom of page). It is the second or third house on your right after you get on King St. Yellow with white pillars.

What to Bring: Yourselves, a small side dish if you make it in time for the BBQ, swim trunks.

-Scott

Holy Crap, We Have a Job!!

Amazingly, Mindy and I have been placed in a school in the Gyeonggi Province.  Our parents are proud - we have jobs!  We were assigned to Guri City, which is just a 10 minute drive from the eastern side of Seoul.  Mindy and I will be teaching in separate schools, which is good and hopefully keep us from killing each other.  I will be working in the Booyang Elementary School while she will be teaching in the Inchang Elementary School. I have a little experience with Elementary school kids through volunteering, but all-in-all this is going to be new ground for Mindy and I.  The preparation of learning materials, classroom organization, disciplining, and everything else that comes from working with kids of that age.  Apparently, Korean kids are pretty much identical in demeanor to American kids; they talk about their favorite bands, joke around, have fun, and giggle.  The only difference is they are slightly more responsive to authority, which is a good thing for us!

 

As usual we are hesitant to jump in, so we are looking for a place to travel before we start teaching.  Thailand looks pretty sweet, so we are planning to go there.  Unfortunately travel to and from South Korea is hindered by the need to obtain the proper documents and Visa requirements, so we are having to jump through some hoops before we can purchase a ticket.  Right now we are about two+ weeks from obtaining our Visa, which means we have to wait that long to purchase a ticket.  We have to send all our accumulated documents (notarized criminal background check, transcripts, diploma, etc) to Korea for processing, which is then sent back to us; then we have to run down to Seattle to the Korean consulate so that we can have them process it so we can obtain a Re-Entry Visa, which allows us to come and go as we please...*phew*!  Just the thought of all this damn paperwork ALMOST makes travelling in Thailand seem like a waste of time - then i start to think of cheap drinks and Phad Thai, sandy remote beaches with translucent blue waters, extensive archipelagos, 75-80 degree weather, $5 massages on the beach, and running around half naked in the jungle and I realize it is worth it!

 

The next few weeks in Washington will be spent cleaning and moving out of Mindy's VERY cluttered apartment, visiting friends and family around the state, and basically trying to stay sane in the face of such a drastic change in lifestyle.  It is going to be fun!  Let the chaos ensue.  To those of you who are wondering why we are travelling abroad instead of coming to visit you (you know who you are) before we take off, all I can say is please don't be offended. You are important and we love you, but we just can't do it all and we will be happy to pass along our adventures on our return. As always please stay in touch and stop by the blog site from time to time to see what we are up to.  We will post pictures and stories with a fair amount of frequency.