Zip It!

The Village People ready to rope! 

We found a zip line!! It's called the Eco Adventure.  We found out after our experience that this is a very new event in Korea and we were some of the first folks to use it!  Had we known this information before, we may have been a tad more cautious being the guinea pigs.  It was by far the best zip line course any of us had ever been on!  It had very challenging obstacles and exciting variations to some 'traditional' ropes course events we've seen. A little pain along the way when you crash...(whoops)... but what's a little soreness the next morning? Our ground instructor spoke all Korean but we had two great friends with us to translate any verbal directions into English. Everything else was done in (what else?) pictures! Makes you feel safe that high up, huh? We were literally in the mountains for the experience and it was very much amazing! All in all we had a great time and are excited to take company back with us!  

My favorite bag lady, Alicia, holding all our stuff 

Entrance leading to the Eco Adventure zip line

...because, why not?

Pondering life in Korea

That helmet isn't going to do me a lick of good!  

The first plunge of the day

Here comes Jake! 

(It really hurts at the end!)

The skateboard challenge is pretty short but you can see the instructions at the end that are guiding us through to our next course. 

I give a big, fat HA! 

Riding 'Old Faithful' 50 feet off the ground through trees.  Isn't that every girls dream? 

After our safe return to the ground, Jake and I were interviewed for the
Korean News Station!
(We'll be sure to post the newscast if we can find it)

As we were leaving, the cutest Korean girl asked if we could take a picture together!
I can't lie, I kinda love these moments.  

Bubble Boy

So, he's not exactly Jake Gyllenhaal but he does look good as the Bubble Boy!  We ventured to the herb hills and found this fun venue!  We had some friends with us and got a ton of laughs!  There was supposed to be a max. of 6 minutes inside the bubble because of obvious oxygen needs but each time they would hamster wheel their way over to the 'owner' to get out...he would just push them back out to sea!  All were dizzy and light headed after for obvious reasons...definitely a day for the memory books! Hilarious! 

For some reason this reminds me of Lord of the Rings when the  orcs are being dug up from the underground! 

Bubble Boy! 

Check out this video of Jake! 

'Susan' inside her hamster wheel

'Sarah' playing it steady! 

Inspiring the youth...

Apsan Mountain

           Korean Lesson for the Day: 

Ap= Front

San= Mountain

So where did we take a hike? On the FRONT MOUNTAIN.  Also known as Apsan!

We had the day to ourselves and thought we'd test out the trails. The weather is getting really chilly here! It's a fun change though from the humidity when we first arrived but has thrown us into a different level of prepared thinking, especially for hiking days. 

While hiking Apsan, we stopped at a Temple on the way up and got to see a few monks preforming their rituals.  Because they were participating in their religious beliefs, I didn't feel it was appropriate to snap pictures of them but we did get one right outside the ornate building! 

Temple 'n it up! 

We hiked about half way up Apsan and then took the cart up to the tip top of the mountain. We felt a healthy nervousness while moving closer to the Heavens unsure of Korean cable requirements.  

The carts we rode to the top

Apprehensive inside the wind blowing cart 

Our reward at the top! 

Marvelous mountains for miles!
We think it looks like Lego Land. 

The Jones' nearing a portion of the top 

Just relaxin'...

Furniture Find

We got lost.  After getting our barrings we found ourselves in the furniture market!  Keep in mind...we still have no furniture.  So when we stumbled across this gold mine with aged men standing about 5 ft. tall before picking up entire couches and saddling them upon their backs- we thought we would shop around for a bit!  


We found 2 identical khakis ottomans that are about3x4.  In our efforts not to "stick out" getting our new values home, Jake followed suit and hoisted the leg lifts over his noggin and headed for home (about a 6 block walk each way x 2 trips).  

About 2 blocks down from the market and 4 more to go

The best part was when we were waiting at the cross walk and, naturally, Jake received many confusing stares and points (We knew the "blending in" part wasn't going to happen regardless- but it was worth a try...).  Two grandmotherly Korean women approached Jake and tried to speak to him.  Having no clue what they were saying, Jake took this opportunity to impress upon them the strength of his muscular biceps and preform a bench press type move with the ottoman still hovering above him.  The women "ahhhed" and giggled excitedly and proceed to come closer to Jake then rub his BELLY!  They rubbed on that little tummy and spoke at high velocities until the light turned green and the cross walk was available for pedestrians again... at which time Jake bowed and picked up his pace to leave his fond fans in the Korean dust.  

I'm sorry I can't figure out how to turn this landscaped. 

                  I'm proud of my Jake Jones and his muscles/tummy (Where was the video camera, then?) 

A Foggy Day in Daegu Town

We tried some cinematography to let you get a feeling of our view from the 28th floor... I can't say I'll be winning any Emmy Awards with my little digital but it is too pretty not to show and share.  The day of shooting depicted overcast skies but I was afraid if it was too sunny I might accidentally blind y'all. You're welcome.  We 'd wished we could get a night scene but it just didn't work (maybe when there is snow on the ground?). Excuse the narrative.  I shall prepare a script next time...

Movin' On Up

We moved into our apartment about 2.5 weeks after our arrival in Daegu.  We were very fortunate to find a place so quickly that we really liked.  Many of the other apartments we were shown had views of other apartment buildings and the road. Let's be honest, they were boring and ill-kept.  We live on the 28th floor and have a stellar view of the huge city and the mountains which hug our Daegu home.  Very few Koreans actually live in this big of an apartment.  Most live with extended family in something maybe half the size of our new home. Though the city looks like it has lots of skyscrapers, I have to remind myself that they build UP instead of out (unlike the plains in Oklahoma).  Many of the buildings we see are franchises while some are apartments or malls.  It's hard to tell from way up high but there are indeed your traditional roofing's and Korean architectures but many of them are squeezed in the alleys and look microscopic in comparison to everything else going on above them.


Keep in mind that we have no furniture so anything you might see in pictures was provided by Uncle Sam until our household goods arrive (I'm crossing my figures for sometime mid-October). It's been rough living without 'luxuries' such as pots, pans and dish soap...but it does give us a chance to check out the local markets and barter with elderly Asian woman to come down on inexpensive chopsticks and hand towels. 


We are definitely living like royalty and can't wait for family and friends to come check out our "As Good As" Penthouse! We, honestly, thought we would be living in a one bedroom apartment maybe 500 square feet...so we understand how fortunate we are to have found such an incredible situation!! 


Details: 4 Bedroom/ 3 bathroom; 69 Pyong (Yes, I am going to make you Google that so you can learn a new unit of measure and then pick your jaw up off the floor!); Sliding glass doors throughout house; hardwood floors and tile; 220 V (which makes cooking really fast); and a garden roof on top (which is not yet photographed...). 

Living Room Area (That's our AC unit in the corner but we really don't turn it on much- just open the windows!) 

Kitchen area plus filtered water (we get two bottles a month since there is a high bacteria count in the Korean H20 system)

Hallway

"Office"

Master Bedroom

Closet Alley.
Vanity is at the end on the right and it leads into our master bathroom...
Sigh...

Master Bathroom with jacuzzi tub and shower...

Hallway Restroom

Entry way from door.  This room is full of shoe racks since we do not wear anything but slippers
inside the homes in Korea. 

On left is the hallway leading to the biggest guest room with bathroom attached and on the right is another guest bedroom.  Both have deep walk in closets. 

Showing off that stylish Hampton Inn furniture the US loaned us!


See...we have plenty of room for you...so COME AND VISIT US SOON!! 

Little of This and Little of That

We have had so much going on within the past month that we (I) apologize for neglecting to post sooner!  I'm going to try and just give a huge overview and then, now that things are hopefully becoming more steady, I can post more on a regular basis!


Our first day we opened up a bank account here in Korea! Mis Yi helped us out and she was just precious.  It really didn't matter what we said- she thought we were hilarious.  She would giggle through all her responses and would often interject how much she wanted us to be good friends with her and hang out.  I think that's a really great PR for a bank! After opening the accounts, she gave us our gratitude gift of three shot glasses.  We thought it was such a funny "Thank you for opening up a bank account with us" gift.  She insisted that we really needed to all get a picture with them...so we did!  Little did WE know...these are the typical sizes of most cups here.

Mis Yi, Becca and Jake with our gratitude shot glasses. 

For two weeks we resided in a Hotel in downtown Daegu.  It is called the Novotel and it was wonderful!  They were very endearing to us and spoiled us daily! Even little things like opening the door for us at the main entrance, doing our laundry or writing in Korean scripts so we could hand the paper to the taxi drivers to get from Point A to Point B.  If you're in the area (well, you better be staying with us) but...if for some reason you need a hotel- this place was wonderful!!  We felt like Annie living with Daddy Warbucks!  The Novotel staff even brought me a present for my birthday! Seriously? Who does that?!

My nice birthday card from the hotel and present! 

Surprise! It's a pen.

View out of our hotel room.  We were on the 14th floor. 

A dark duo portrait

We were so excited that we found Harry Potter in Korean!  Jake watched the whole movie in this position while eating his Korean cake. 

Pretty park outside our hotel

If it's not an umbrella, it's a parasol.  A must in Korea during typhoon season. 

The children's orchestra we listened to in the park!  I wouldn't be surprised if these kids end up on Oprah- they were amazing!
One of the parks outside of the hotel often has different concerts.  We took a walk one day and just enjoyed the beautiful orchestra sounds.  Even when we are just hanging out and listening to music in the park, we get approached by the people here.  Sometimes they want to "practice their english" and ask us questions.  Sometimes they just want to greet us.  On this particular trip a young girl (maybe 19?) came up to me with her boyfriend and told me how pretty my eyes were and asked if we could be friends.  Isn't that too cute?  Jake, on an oddly frequent basis, has older women approach him and rub his red beard.  They LOVE it! Sometimes they say things in Korean, rub his face and then just walk off.  Other times, they might take his hand like they are pretending to take him home.  We went shopping for shoes the other day and the man who was helping me lifted up Jake's hat and said, "Oh! SO handsome!"  I was in the market a few days ago and a little girl kept telling her dad that I was Cinderella and pointed furiously!  It's funny.  We get stared at.  A LOT!  We are hoping for many reasons this ceases after awhile.  If not, we might pull a celebrity move and get the dark sunglasses and the baseball caps to hide behind.

Home Sweet Novotel! 

The food: it's different.  It really is very tasty but it is a taste worth taking your time getting used to.  Things are very spicy and can throw you for an emergency run to the toilet if you're not ready!  We have also decided Asians are so little because 1) Those chopsticks just don't allow you to eat a lot and 2) Whatever you do manage to eat...well, it doesn't take long to "digest".  No long trips without facilities nearby if you get my 'drift.'  And while we're on the subject of "facilities"... we call them "Squatters."  Ladies, the best advice I can give you is to work on your leg muscle strength! Guys don't have too much of an issue except for the massive back splash.  Just sayin'...

This is a bathroom for boys and girls.

While we were living in the Novotel, we saw a documentary on an Indian man living in Daegu who was married to a Korean woman (ps-if you find anything spoken in English on TV...you watch it regardless!).  He opened up an Indian food resturant here with the desire to bring Indian cuisine to the people of Korea.  The man, Prakash, is unbelievably talented.  His desire is to bring cultures together through food.  He has many people come to his resturant just so he can interpret for them to their spouses!!!  I know we have all heard of marriages in various countries which husbands and wives cannot speak the same language...but come on...this is the 21st century!  I didn't realize just how prevalent it still is! Prakash speaks 5...yes, 5...different languages fluently.  He loves to help people who might be struggling and then he likes to feed them!  We decided we would be bold and try to find this place.  It took a couple days of hunting scary alleyways but we were so excited to try out his restaurant! When we located 'Maya', we got the biggest surprise of all! Prakash was there!!  He was our celebrity!  He served us his food and sat with us and talked for awhile!  He told us how if we ever needed anything to call him, he gave us his number, and he would translate for us and help however he could.   That was an awesome sacrifice to do for strangers. It really touched Jake and me and reminded us of how we should love others ...even strangers.  (Side note: The food is our favorite Indian food we've ever tried!)

Mmmmmm!

Our new friend, Prakash. 

We love to go out with our friends!  We find ourselves just pointing to something on the menu and being risk takers when it comes to our dietary needs.  It's a hit and miss game, really. We've been gutsy each time and have tried things from green meat (I don't know if I want to know what this orginated from) to sweet fish jerky!

Vanessa, Tina and Mark at "Favorite Place" (We can't pronounce it so we just coined it) eating yummy bulgogi! 

Susan and Becca enjoying the food

Teachers eating before the start of school

Dried fish...

Like at a Mexican food restaurant where they serve you chips, these items are traditional Korean munchers.
Peanuts, spicy dip and dried fish with a bowl of what tastes like the child of a Bugle and a packing popcorn. 

Susan and Tina

Alicia is thankful there are pictures on this menu! 

Finishing up a pepper that made me cry. 

Gagging.  Green meat with some black sauce on top.
Bravery at it's finest. 

Another favorite here! Korean "BBQ".  You  cook it yourself on the tiny grill in the middle of the table.  Everything else you see are different kinds of traditional sauces, soups, kim chi's, sprouts, etc. 

Becca and Vanessa 

Our cook: Jake Jones!