My New Do

When I was in Seoul I think saw my next hair style. It is very frustrating to get a hair cut here. I show them a picture everytime but it is always too short. I can't explain to the hairstylist to make my bangs longer and the sides a little longer than the picture. I have decided to grow my hair out a little. I saw this foreigner in the subway and I asked if I could take her picture for my future new style. What do you guys think? Should I try a little longer? Let me know what you think.

The Shopping Trip of the Century

I met Claudine and Erin at the bus terminal at 7:30 Saturday morning. We got on a bus and headed the three hours to Seoul to go shopping. Now I have been to Seoul before to go shopping so I thought I could handle this simple trip. Boy was I wrong. We started shopping at 10:30am and didn't finish until 15 minutes before we boarded the bus at 9:30pm. Erin and I were so tired but Claudine said she could have shopped for three more hours.

Out first stop was Namdamuen Market above. This is one of the largest outdoor markets in Seoul. There was even a street that was filled with pet stores. There is this idea in Korea that it is better for business to have all of the same stores on the same street. They say it is better for business. I am not sure of that but I did enjoy seeing all of the animals.

I almost took this little puppy home, but I am not really allowed to have pets that don't fit in cages!

While we were shopping I also say a monk on the street praying. This is the first time I have seen this. It is very common to see men or women with their heads shaved wearing grey outfits. I had never seen one on the street praying before.

I forgot to take a picture at the beginning of the day but this is what Erin and Claudine looked like on the subway back to the train station. It was a great trip and I will remember it forever.

Home Ever

Claudine has a tradition of going to Home Ever every Friday night. Claudine works for New Zealbnd International School in the country. She has to eat Korean food all week long so by Friday she is craving something that resembles western food. Home Ever is like a Super Wal-Mart. On the third floor there is a Loteria, something like a Burger King, and a Baskin Robins. One Friday I took Sunny, Alan, and Eirenne to meet them. Eirenne got all dressed up for the occasion.

Buan with Kelly

I went to Buan on my first motorcycle trip with Kelly. We had so much fun and I great time was had by all. When we went to the beach the first day it was low tide so the shore was very dirty and muddy. I was so disappointed that I had driven almost two hours to see such an ugly sight. The first place we stopped to walk on the beach I did find a live sand dollar that was really cool. Before we headed back we took a short walk and I stumbled on this old love motel.

I went exploring while Kelly stayed on the ground. If you don't know what a love motel is it is exactly what it sounds like. It is a place where men and women go during the day to have affairs. In Korea cars only have a combo of 4 letter or numbers on their license plate so it is very easy to memorize. So they hang these shades to make it harder for people driving by to see the license plates of the people who are using the love motel. At night the love motels are usually empty and very cheap to stay in. I had my first stay in a love motel on this trip. Here is the circle bed I stayed in.

One of my students also lives in this very small town we visited. He took us out for dinner. This place had more side dishes than any place I have every been to. It was awesome so I thought I would take a picture. After dinner we decided to take a few pictures of this huge town. We decided to walk home with our helmets on. It was great fun.

The next morning I wondered to the market for some fruit. I couldn't resist taking a picture of these awesome mannequins They spared no expense here! A butcher shop with the meat hanging in the open is very common here especially in the market. Don't worry I have never bought any meat from a market butcher. If you think this is weird you should see the fish!

When we went back to the ocean after a morning of lounging around in our room the water was beautiful. The pictures do not do it justice. We also saw some very old ships. One of the ships even had a dragon head on the mast.

Trip to the Zoo

My class took me to the Jeonju Zoo last term. I had a lot of fun. Zoos here are very different than in America. The animals are in a very small cement cage with usually only food. The zoo does not at all try to provide a natural habitat for them. This is the second time I have been to a zoo here and no matter how big or small the zoo is it is still the same. The cages are very dirty and very bare. The admission price is very cheap. This zoo it is less than a dollar. I wish they would charge more and take better care of the animals.


My Class Picture



Me as Marilyn Monroe!



A place to sit and chill