Sunday, August 24, 2008
The Perfect Korean Day
Yesterday was the perfect day in Korea. A bunch of us made plans to spend the day at the jim jil bang in Dongtan, so we all met up there around 1 or so and hung out until 7. First we spent about 2 hours in the baths, during which time us girls all also got the scrub. For the scrub basically this older Korean lady puts a brillo pad mitt on each hand and scrubs off the top layer of your skin. It takes about 20 minutes and is quite painful but the results are fantastic. I have never felt so soft or clean in my life. After we finished up in the baths we put on our funny little jim jil bang outfits and went upstairs into the coed section where we had lunch and then we all got massages for an hour or so. And then we hung out in the hot and cold rooms upstairs. The coolest part is that there's actually a little igloo up there. It's kind of great after spending so much time in hot saunas and baths. After dinner we went to the Pig House for galbi (Korean bbq) and soju of course and then we went out for some beer and eventually ended up at the norae bang. So all in all the day was pretty much the epitome of a great day in Korea.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Thailand
I just got back from my week in Thailand. It was a pretty great trip. It ended up being me and three other girls I've met since coming to Korea that went. We left early Saturday morning and flew to Bangkok, which is actually quite a bit further than I thought it was. If nothing else I'm learning some asian geography this year.
So anyways it was evening by the time we got into Bangkok. We went to our hotel which was pretty sweet considering we each paid about $20 a night for it. And then once Joanne and Troy got in we headed out for our one night in Bangkok. Unfortunately it was so late by the time that we ate and had a couple drinks that most things were closed. We did follow this one Thai guy all over the place because he promised us taht he could show us a good show, but eventually it was just getting too sketchy as he seemed to be leading us in circles so we all jumped into cabs and ran away.
The next morning we got up and headed back to the airport to go to Krabi. When we arrived in Krabi we went to this restaurant to wait for the ferry to Ko Phi Phi and while we were there we started talking to this really nice guy Sin who worked in the hotel.
Ko Phi Phi was gorgeous, we spent 4 days there. While we were there we took boat taxis to some different beaches. The blue lagoon was amazing. It was just this lagoon where you could stop the boat and go swimming, so we spent like an hour there swimming one afternoon. The other really cool place that we went was Monkey Bay. It was this beach that you had to take a boat to get to, and there were a whole bunch of monkeys just hanging out on the beach. We had been warned not to leave any of our stuff unattended cuz the monkeys would steal it and I totally believe they would because they weren't afraid of people at all. It was awesome. Although it did kind of remind me of that scene in Jurassic Park where the family is on the deserted beach and the little girl gets attacked by the dinosaurs ... but maybe that's just my imagination being a bit wild. Oh, and one night we saw a fire show, also kind of awesome.
After Phi Phi we headed back to Krabi for a day, where we once again lay on the beach. Then at night Sin and the other guys we had met the first night had a delicious bbq for us. There was a night market going on and a show put on by the local kids. So we just spent the night hanging out with locals.
The next day it was back to Bangkok. That night we went to this area in Bangkok called Nana, it was really cool, and I guess it was like the Muslim area of Bangkok. I had no idea there were so many Muslims in Thailand but apparently they make up like 30% of the population, so there's some more learning for me. :P As we were making our way back to the hotel we saw a baby elephant on the side of the road!! It was so adorable. Oh, we also rode in a tuk tuk, which is like a taxi on a scooter, kind of crazy and definitely kind of scary.
All in all it was a good trip, although it was kind of rushed, if I were to do it again I think I'd skip Bangkok and fly straight to somewhere close to the beach. It's just too much travelling for one week and also Bangkok just has this air of exploitation which kind of creeped me out. Oh, the final touch was that on the flight home Lydia and I got upgraded to first class. Woohoo!
So anyways it was evening by the time we got into Bangkok. We went to our hotel which was pretty sweet considering we each paid about $20 a night for it. And then once Joanne and Troy got in we headed out for our one night in Bangkok. Unfortunately it was so late by the time that we ate and had a couple drinks that most things were closed. We did follow this one Thai guy all over the place because he promised us taht he could show us a good show, but eventually it was just getting too sketchy as he seemed to be leading us in circles so we all jumped into cabs and ran away.
The next morning we got up and headed back to the airport to go to Krabi. When we arrived in Krabi we went to this restaurant to wait for the ferry to Ko Phi Phi and while we were there we started talking to this really nice guy Sin who worked in the hotel.
Ko Phi Phi was gorgeous, we spent 4 days there. While we were there we took boat taxis to some different beaches. The blue lagoon was amazing. It was just this lagoon where you could stop the boat and go swimming, so we spent like an hour there swimming one afternoon. The other really cool place that we went was Monkey Bay. It was this beach that you had to take a boat to get to, and there were a whole bunch of monkeys just hanging out on the beach. We had been warned not to leave any of our stuff unattended cuz the monkeys would steal it and I totally believe they would because they weren't afraid of people at all. It was awesome. Although it did kind of remind me of that scene in Jurassic Park where the family is on the deserted beach and the little girl gets attacked by the dinosaurs ... but maybe that's just my imagination being a bit wild. Oh, and one night we saw a fire show, also kind of awesome.
After Phi Phi we headed back to Krabi for a day, where we once again lay on the beach. Then at night Sin and the other guys we had met the first night had a delicious bbq for us. There was a night market going on and a show put on by the local kids. So we just spent the night hanging out with locals.
The next day it was back to Bangkok. That night we went to this area in Bangkok called Nana, it was really cool, and I guess it was like the Muslim area of Bangkok. I had no idea there were so many Muslims in Thailand but apparently they make up like 30% of the population, so there's some more learning for me. :P As we were making our way back to the hotel we saw a baby elephant on the side of the road!! It was so adorable. Oh, we also rode in a tuk tuk, which is like a taxi on a scooter, kind of crazy and definitely kind of scary.
All in all it was a good trip, although it was kind of rushed, if I were to do it again I think I'd skip Bangkok and fly straight to somewhere close to the beach. It's just too much travelling for one week and also Bangkok just has this air of exploitation which kind of creeped me out. Oh, the final touch was that on the flight home Lydia and I got upgraded to first class. Woohoo!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Mudfest
Ok, so this is a bit of a delayed post but last weekend I went to mudfest. We had a group of 29 Dongtan people and we all went up together on the train and got a bunch of hotel rooms. For those who don`t know mudfest is this big annual festival in Boryeong, on the west coast of Korea. It`s apparently the biggest festival in Korea and for some reason it has become the biggest foreigner party as well. It was strange being completely surrounded by foreigners for two days. It was so much fun though.
We spent two days just lying on the beach and getting muddy. The mud is supposed to be great for your skin too. We had great weather too, it only rained late on Saturday night, which was kind of unfortunate because it ruined my plan to crash on the beach but oh well. On Sunday afternoon a bunch of us went to the sauna too, which was just the perfect way to end off the weekend. The sauna is so relaxing, I think I may be getting a little addicted.
This weekend is my birthday so I'm having a little party and then next weekend I'm off to Thailand. I can't wait, an entire week of lying on the beach!!! We've decided to spend 2 days in Bangkok and the rest of the week on Ko Phi Phi, an island near Phuket. From the pictures I've seen it looks stunning,
We spent two days just lying on the beach and getting muddy. The mud is supposed to be great for your skin too. We had great weather too, it only rained late on Saturday night, which was kind of unfortunate because it ruined my plan to crash on the beach but oh well. On Sunday afternoon a bunch of us went to the sauna too, which was just the perfect way to end off the weekend. The sauna is so relaxing, I think I may be getting a little addicted.
This weekend is my birthday so I'm having a little party and then next weekend I'm off to Thailand. I can't wait, an entire week of lying on the beach!!! We've decided to spend 2 days in Bangkok and the rest of the week on Ko Phi Phi, an island near Phuket. From the pictures I've seen it looks stunning,
Saturday, June 28, 2008
My First Korean Spa
Time for a long overdue update. Today I went to a Korean spa for the first time. It was cool, this place was like a spa/waterpark. So, the only problem was that there were like a billion children. For some reason after teaching all week the last thing I want to do on the weekend is be surrounded by screaming children lol.
But I actually met this really cool little girl who had the most amazing English of anyone I've met since I've been here. She picked me out like the minute I arrived and then kind of followed me around until eventually she started talking to me, it's funny how kids do that here. You can totally sense it when a kid keeps looking at you and you know they're just working up the nerve to talk to you.
Back to the spa though, so after the water park part we went to the mixed jimjilbang (Korean spa) part, where everyone had to wear these funny brown shorts and t-shirt outfits. It looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. Everyone walking around in the same nondescript outfits.
So the coolest/creepiest part of the jimjilbang was that the "Dr. Fish." The dr. fish are these weird fish that are all in a pool and you put your feet in and they eat all the dead skin off your feet. At first it felt really weird but then it was kind neat. And now my feet are way smoother.
Finally I went to the girls' part of the jimjilbang, which is the naked part. Which I really wasn't sure I wanted to do, but I figured when in Rome... So I went and it was great, there was one huge room that had all sorts of different baths and showers and stuff, and then there was this other outdoor section that was really relaxing and had all sorts of different stone baths. So yeah, I survived my first excursion to a jimjilbang, and I loved it. There's one right by my school but I think it might be kind of weird because what if I run into my students there? So we'll see, I might just stick to going to out of town jimjilbangs instead.
But I actually met this really cool little girl who had the most amazing English of anyone I've met since I've been here. She picked me out like the minute I arrived and then kind of followed me around until eventually she started talking to me, it's funny how kids do that here. You can totally sense it when a kid keeps looking at you and you know they're just working up the nerve to talk to you.
Back to the spa though, so after the water park part we went to the mixed jimjilbang (Korean spa) part, where everyone had to wear these funny brown shorts and t-shirt outfits. It looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. Everyone walking around in the same nondescript outfits.
So the coolest/creepiest part of the jimjilbang was that the "Dr. Fish." The dr. fish are these weird fish that are all in a pool and you put your feet in and they eat all the dead skin off your feet. At first it felt really weird but then it was kind neat. And now my feet are way smoother.
Finally I went to the girls' part of the jimjilbang, which is the naked part. Which I really wasn't sure I wanted to do, but I figured when in Rome... So I went and it was great, there was one huge room that had all sorts of different baths and showers and stuff, and then there was this other outdoor section that was really relaxing and had all sorts of different stone baths. So yeah, I survived my first excursion to a jimjilbang, and I loved it. There's one right by my school but I think it might be kind of weird because what if I run into my students there? So we'll see, I might just stick to going to out of town jimjilbangs instead.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Foot Stones in the Park
I just discovered something very cool in the little park near my house. Ok, well maybe I didn't discover them, but I was just shown something very cool. There is this whole path of all different types of rocks and wood arranged in different patterns to massage your feet. It's awesome, my feet always hurt after teaching all day so I'll definitely be heading back there regularly. I took pictures of the rocks with my phone but then I realized that I have no way of getting the photos from my phone onto my computer so I'll have to go back with my camera.
Anyways, the rock foot massage totally made up for the fact that I got completely soaked walking home from emart today. I should have known that the second I took my umbrella out of my bag it would rain. I totally looked like the crazy foreign girl today just walking through a huge rainstorm with no coat or umbrella or anything. And then every time I kind of resigned myself to the fact that it was raining it would rain harder until at one point I actually laughed out loud at how soaked I was, which was the point when I realized that I looked like a crazy foreigner.
Anyways, the rock foot massage totally made up for the fact that I got completely soaked walking home from emart today. I should have known that the second I took my umbrella out of my bag it would rain. I totally looked like the crazy foreign girl today just walking through a huge rainstorm with no coat or umbrella or anything. And then every time I kind of resigned myself to the fact that it was raining it would rain harder until at one point I actually laughed out loud at how soaked I was, which was the point when I realized that I looked like a crazy foreigner.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Folk Village
Yesterday we had the day off work for memorial day, so a bunch of us went to the folk village in Yongin. It was pretty cool and a lot bigger than I expected. We walked around for several hours and I don't think we saw most of it. The best part was that they had these shows, there was a farmer's music and dance show, a see-saw show, a tight rope walker and a horse show. My favourite was of course the horse show. It was crazy, it was just one small ring and they'd have one or two horses in at a time, and the riders were basically acrobats, doing all sorts of tricks while they were riding. The tightrope walking was pretty cool too. One other interesting thing was that there were two women taking the silk off of silk worms, that was interesting. I knew they did it but I never really knew how.
This week I finally went to this cute little restaurant near my house called Il Blu. It's just this gorgeous little cafe that makes me really happy and it's like a minute away from my house. I just went there again this morning - they have french toast!!! I was so excited when I was french toast on the menu, I knew I had to go back this weekend. Finally a proper breakfast, now if only they had bacon.
This week I finally went to this cute little restaurant near my house called Il Blu. It's just this gorgeous little cafe that makes me really happy and it's like a minute away from my house. I just went there again this morning - they have french toast!!! I was so excited when I was french toast on the menu, I knew I had to go back this weekend. Finally a proper breakfast, now if only they had bacon.
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