My Husband is Famous!

Tom was part of a photo shoot (with a makeup crew and all) for an advertisement for the university he works for. We didn't really think much of it until we were told his picture was up in the subway stations in Seoul. We made a special trip to Gondeok Station to check it out. Here's what we found:

Better Late than Never

Anyounghasayo, everyone! I know – it’s been forever since our last post, but things got busy and we got lazy and the blog suffered as a result. But let me provide a quick recap of the last 3 months.

Bergie’s Work:

Things at Bergie’s work have been going well. Some of the administrative aspects drive her a bit nuts, but she loves the teaching and loves the students. One night, a bunch of her students invited Bergie and some of her colleagues out for a night on the town. Bergie teaches at a women’s university, so I of course tagged along. It was a blast. About 20 Korean women, Bergie, some of her colleagues, and our new friends Mary and Matthew grabbed some Korean barbecue (Samgyapsal) and had some drinks. We all wore funny hats. (I was a pirate.) And after dinner, we moseyed on over to the Noraybong (Karaoke Room), and sang the night away. Karaoke here works much differently than in the States. Instead of just singing to an entire bar, your group rents a private room, and you only sing to each other. Good times, Good times.

Other than that, Bergie’s job has been smooth sailing, which is good. And she is getting some great experience in her field. She’s busy grading right now, and she essentially only has one week left to teach, and then she’ll be on vacation until February.



Tom’s Work:
My job has been going pretty well, too. I work for a university where I design and deliver fully online classes within their English program. This semester I created a course in presentation Skills and a course in idiom use. It is actually a pretty cool setup. A portion of the course each week always involves some sort of video lecture delivered by yours truly. I stand in front of a green screen while being filmed teaching the course I designed. It’s pretty funny because the final product always has some sort of interesting background behind me. So far, I’ve taught from Time Square, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon, and from right in front of Big Ben. It’s been sweet.

The actual job itself is pretty straightforward, and I am enjoying the work. Working in Korea, however, also comes with a lot of required extra-curricular activities that just seem like bad policy. Most of the extra-curricular activities include lots of last minute meetings that you must attend and at which you must get drunk. It’s supposed to build camaraderie. And they don’t just want camaraderie between colleagues. They also want it between teachers and students.

Every university has this tradition known as MT. MT stands for Membership Training. But the fact is that Membership Training is actually not training at all. It is simply a big party where teachers and students come together to eat, drink, and sleep on the floor together - Korean Style. (Sounds like a bad idea, right?)

My MT was especially memorable because one of my colleagues, this Canadian guy, got very, very drunk and decided to start a fight with one of the students. Because I’m an old fuddy duddy, I was already asleep, but I woke up because I heard yelling, and when I stepped out to see what was happening, I found a bunch of students trying to pull my colleague and another student off of each other. I guess no punches actually got thrown, but it was pretty nuts. Turns out my colleague started it. He had decided that something the student had done was disrespectful to someone of his stature (a professor), so he told him to fuck off. The student didn’t take too kindly to that, so he told him to shove it up his ass. And that was all it took for them to want to kill each other.

The next day, after my colleague had sobered up, he asked me, “So, was I as much of a dick last night as everyone says I was?” To which I replied, “Yes. Yes you were.”

The funny thing is that there weren’t really any ramifications for what he did. Everyone just chalked it up to too much booze. Which made me ask again, “Is getting drunk with your students really a good policy?” My Korean colleagues just said that the benefits outweigh the negatives, so it looks like I’ll be back at MT next semester. I can’t wait, because I’m pretty sure that Canadian guy did not learn any lessons, so who knows what the next MT will be like?

Bergie Turns 30

She was dreading it, but her 30th birthday arrived on October 5. We had a good time. We went to dinner at this fancy little French place. It was nice to have a meal that did not include Kimchi. After dinner, we went to our favorite local bar (called the Library) where a party of Bergie’s colleagues and friends were waiting. It was supposed to be a surprise party, but because surprising Bergie is next to impossible, she knew it was coming. It was fun anyway. And for a 30 year old, she’s still effing hot.

Hudak Visits

We had our first visitor. Shannon Hudak, my long lost cousin, dropped in on us for a week. It was great to have her. Shannon and Bergie took in the DMZ. We all checked out a cool palace. We sat in a pool where little fish eat the dead skin off your body (freaky). We visited the sea of Japan, and we ate some real crappy sushi. Actually, we ate a lot of different Korean food, and it turns out that Hudak is not really a fan of Korean. I’ll admit – there is a reason why Korean is not among the world’s most popular cuisines. We also walked – a lot! We took Hudak up and down and all over this crazy town. By the end of every day, we all collapsed from exhaustion.

Unfortunately for Hudak, we’ve since stumbled upon all these cool spots in Seoul. And every time that happens we say, “Why didn’t we take Shannon HERE?” Sorry Hudak! It was great to have you anyways. And everyone else is welcome to visit, too.

X-mas in The Shit (AKA Vietnam)

We’ve locked in our holiday plans, and we couldn’t be more excited. Bergie and I are meeting our friends Juggy, Becca, Clint, and Jackie in Hanoi, Vietnam on December 21. From there, we are going on a Junk cruise (Junk is a type of boat) in the Halong Bay, then we are spending a few days touring around Hoi An, and another couple of days in Hue. After that, we’re hopping on a plane to Ko Samui to spend New Years on the beach in the Gulf of Thailand. We’re going to eat great food. We’re going to see amazing sites. And we’re going to get brand new suits tailor made for next to nothing. It is going to be AWESOME!!!

That’s basically the latest with us. We miss everyone like crazy, and we’ll try to do a better job of updating things more regularly. I have some congrats to send out:

• Meggy and Jeremy – Congrats on Theo! He’s adorable!
• Kev and V – Congrats on Linnaea! She’s wicked cute.
• Alexi and Steph – Happy 21st! When we get home, I'll let you take me out for a beer.

Hugs to all,
The Godfreys

P.S. - Check out our photos by clicking the pics links on the right. We've got a ton of new ones.

Gambe!

Before coming to Korea, I read in my travel book that drinking alcohol with your co-workers is a very important part of the business culture here in Korea. The book didn't really describe it properly. It is not just your typical happy hour and go home sort of a deal. These people are all out to get drunk - very, very drunk. And they are also out to get everyone else drunk. Needless to say, when I found myself in the middle of just such an occasion, I fit right in.

The semester at my new job just kicked off, so the President of our company wanted to celebrate with all the new faculty members so he could properly welcome us to the school. So I joined 7 other new faculty members along with some of the more seasoned professors, and we went to this Korean barbecue place. I was pretty stoked about that, because I love Korean barbecue - the tables have big grills in the middle, and they essentially bring you a plate of raw meet that you cook yourself - very fun, and very delicious. Anyway, when I sat down (on the floor), I immediately knew I was in for a bit of trouble, because every place setting had two glasses - a beer glass, and a shot glass. You all know I love my beer, but shots? Not so much.

We were all sitting around just chatting when someone ran upstairs to warn us that the President was coming. So, we all stood up to greet him properly. The president came in and greeted every person in the room. We all waited for him to then sit, then we could all sit. Once he got there, the drinking began. It started with some Maekju, which is Korean for beer. Beer here is very light - like Miller. Everyone's glass was filled with beer, the President made a toast, we all yelled "A-hi-ya" or something like that, and the dinner had begun. Quickly after the beer, the waitresses began bringing in the soju. Soju is a rice wine, and it is essentially the national drink of Korea. It tastes a bit like vodka, but it isn't quite as strong. I don't particularly care for the stuff, but somehow I find it very difficult to say no to these people.

In Korea, they are very formal about how they drink. One is never supposed to fill his own glass. If you see your neighbor's glass is empty, you should offer to fill it for him or her. This approach pretty much makes the whole event about making sure your buddies are constantly drinking. The funniest part about it is that everyone is so into it. It seemed like they all wanted to just get obliterated, and they wanted to take me along with them.

The President of the company was especially interested in making sure I was taken care of. Twice in the evening, he offered me his shot glass. At first, I wasn't sure what to do about it. I thought he was asking me to fill it up for him, but it turned out that he was asking me to take his glass and drink from it - a gesture of friendship. So I took his empty shot glass, he filled it up with soju, I shot it, and then I handed it back to him and filled it back up for him. Then he shot his. And everyone cheered.

At another point in the evening, they decided it was time to do beer bombs. Typically in Korea, a beer bomb is a glass of beer with a shot of soju in it. That was too low class for us, though, so instead they bought a bottle of 17 year old single malt scotch, and mixed that with the beers. Kind of a shame that they'd do that to scotch, but who am I to judge? Again, the President was especially interested in promoting my alcoholism. So he had them mix me up a special one, and he handed it to me. Before I drank it, he said "We have rule! You must drink! One breath! If no drink in one breath, you total failure." I know a challenge when I hear it. I slammed my beer/whiskey, and they all proclaimed me a true Korean.

I was really starting to like this President. He seemed like such a good guy. Then, this guy who was sitting next to me leaned over, pointed to the President and said to me, "He is my boss. I don't like him." He thought he was whispering, but everyone heard him and busted up laughing. One of the many dangers of soju, I guess.

So the dinner went on like this. Just when I thought things were winding down, the waitresses would bring more food and more booze. We ate and drank until about 9:30. It seemed like things were wrapping up. Everyone stood up and started making their way to the exit. I figured the evening was over. I was wrong. The drunk who publicly announced his dislike for his boss grabbed my hand and started pulling me. "Round 2!" he said. "Round 2!" After all the drinking we had done for dinner, it was more like round 15, but who's counting, really?

In round 2, everyone but the president moved to a new bar where we sat and had beers. I guess that's normal for round 2. This is the round where people can complain about work. But mostly people were just having fun. Several were getting up and making toasts. We'd all yell, "Gambe!" and throw back our drinks. I even gave a toast. That went over quite well. At the end, this one woman says, "I'm so impressed. You speak English so well." And then she just busted up laughing at herself.

We stayed there for about another hour. They tried to talk me into joining them for round 3, but I just couldn't do it. I was already completely blitzed. I had mixed beer, whiskey, and soju - i knew if I had much more, it was not going to be a pretty seen. So I backed out. I wasn't the only one, though. It looked like only the hardest of the hard core boozers made it to round 3.

All in all, it was a very cool experience. I felt a little wrecked the morning after, but I recovered soon enough. I made some new friends out of the deal. And the best part - it was all on the company dime. I think I could get used to this.

That's all for now. We miss you all!

Gambe!

Godfrey

Feelin' oh so clean

Even before arriving in Korea, I had heard about the bathhouses. In the past, and perhaps even today, many homes didn't have baths so people really used the bathhouse as a place to wash. In any case, going to the bathhouse is very much a part of Korean culture and, according to Lonely Planets, there are still over 2000 bathhouses in Seoul alone. Even the basic bathhouses have hot and cold tubs, a sauna, and offer massages and "scrub down" treatments. So, when we found our apartment I was excited to learn that Mrs. Ko, our landlady, also owned the bathhouse on the first floor of our building.

After being here for a couple of weeks, I decided that I needed to immerse myself into this Korean tradition and check out the bathhouse for myself. I went downstairs hoping Mrs. Ko would be there to help me out but she happened to be away so Mr. Ko gently pushed me into the women's side. I was a bit nervous since I had read that there were certain "rules" and an order in which things should be done.

After a quick glance around, I quickly determined that I needed to strip, seat myself down on one of the stools, and begin to wash myself. The stools were tiny and each one faced a mirror and a hand held shower hose, a sort of "personal" washing space so to speak. Women of all ages, shapes, and sizes were washing and scrubbing while chatting and laughing. As I was rinsing, Mrs. Ko showed up - yes my landlady has seen me in the buff - and asked me if I wanted a "scrub scrub". Of course I wasn't going to miss out on the best part of the bathhouse so I nodded in agreement. She told me that I should wait my turn in the hot tub to get my skin soft.

Soon enough, I was called over to the massage table and Mrs. Ko came over to talk to the "scrub scrub" lady. I assume she was telling her that it was my first time and that she should be nice to me but really, who knows. My lack of Korean language skills leaves me making up conversations quite often. And sometimes, it's perhaps better that way! Anyways, the "scrub scrub" began when the lady, who was in her undies by the way, put on her scrubbing mitts and went to town. The pile of dead skin (i.e. my summer tan) was growing high as I was flipped around on the table and scrubbed all over, I mean all over! (Shannon, are you ready for this?) The first round of scrubbing was soap free but then I had two more rounds with different soaps and then was rubbed down with lotion and oils. Along the way, I also got a short head and face massage. 45 minutes and $15 later, I felt like a whole new person. I was so clean, I squeaked, seriously. And my skin was incredibly soft. After feeling a bit grimy from sweating so much and walking around in the pollution of a big city, I felt so great!

I must admit that at first the whole experience was a bit strange and awkward. But during my "scrub scrub" I looked over and the woman next to me was getting the same treatment. I then realized that to everyone else this was all very normal and I decided that things are only as weird as you let them be. When in Rome ....

Mrs. Ko came back to check on me and see how I liked the scrub. She was so happy when I said that I would come back again. And while I'll definitely go back to her quaint little no-frills place, I'm really looking forward to going to one of the big spas that have co-ed (not co-ed naked) indoor/outdoor pools of all temperatures and stuff. Some even have fish that come and eat the dead skin cells which I hear this is gaining popularity in the US too. We'll keep you posted on that and the men's side of Mrs. Ko's bath house.

Hugs to you all,
- Bergie

Up and Down Bukansan's Juan-Bong Peak

If you haven't heard, Seoul is full of people - over 10 million they say. And you feel that 10 million every day. From the hoards of people crammed into the subway during rush hour (I had to suck in my gut yesterday just to get on), to the dodging of mopeds while you walk on the sidewalks, to just the constant hum of traffic at all hours of the day - this place is bustling. We knew that was going to be the case - we read about it, but the reality of it is something different. So, after our first 3 weeks, we thought we'd do something to "get away" from it all.

Back home, hiking is always a good way to escape, so we read about a cool national park that isn't too far away and we thought we'd go check it out. We figured a nice hike out in the woods would be the perfect way to escape and relax. Little did we know that thousands of other people had the exact same plans. I'm quickly realizing that escaping in Korea is going to require a little more than simply taking an hour train ride to a national park. As we took the train out to the park, more and more hikers boarded the train. I knew they were hikers because these people were all outfitted from head to toe in some serious hiking gear. I was wearing a sporty shirt and some khaki shorts, and I sort of laughed at these Koreans assuming that they we a little over-dressed. I quickly learned, however, that it was I who was not fully prepared for the hike.

When we finally reached our stop, all us hikers unloaded from the train and started making our way to the entrance of the park. The entrance to the park is about a half-mile from the train station, and the road there is lined with an endless supply restaurants, vendors, and hiking supply stores. The picture on the left is a stand selling chicken feet - just what one needs on a hike. There were lots of other options as well - including some sort of roasted larvae we keep seeing all over the place. It smells a little off, and I've never actually seen anyone buy or eat them, but it is an option.

Finally the hike began. It started of well enough. It was a bit uphill, but the scenery was cool. We were walking alongside a stream for a while. It was nice to be in the woods. And as we ascended, the air started to cool as well. (It has been hot as all hell here lately.) After walking for about a half an hour, we hit a fork in the path. One led to the top of Juan-bong peak. The other somewhere else. Bergie, being Bergie, wanted to take the longer route, so Juan-bong it was. At that point, the hike changed considerably. It went from being a pretty decent uphill, to pretty much straight up for 2 miles. I might be exaggerating just a little, but it was seriously steep. But there were a couple decent rest stops on our way up. The first was this Buddhist Temple. I've included a couple pics from there. There was actually a service going on at the temple, and it seemed as if a lot of people had gone on this hike specifically to go to the service - makes all my complaining about going to church seem pretty weak considering all I had to do was pile in the car and drive 10 minutes. These people had to scale a mountain to get to church. Of course, they looked as bored at church as the rest of us do, so go figure. I digress.



The next stop was simply named the Rock. It was this big exposed section of limestone on which people were sitting. At this point, I was getting a bit exhausted. Getting to the rock was a very steady climb, and I had already sweat so much that my clothes were completely drenched. To the right is a picture of me trying to rest. Do I look tired? Bergie, my marathon running wife, is bouncing around ready to run up to the top of the mountain, and I'm thinking, "You go on ahead. I'm just going to catch my breath for an hour or so."

Well, that didn't really work out. So we started out again. Next official stop - Juan-Bong Peak. I thought the climb up to the Rock was difficult, but that had nothing on the rest of the ascent. At many points, we really felt like were doing more climbing than hiking. And when you finally reach the very last portion, you essentially have to pull yourself up to the top using this metal railing they have installed. Without that, it'd be too steep and slippery to climb without equipment.

We finally made it to the top. And while the trip up completely wore me out, it was definitely worth it. The view from up there was amazing. This mountain is actually still inside Seoul. So when you reach the top, you can see the entire enormous city sprawled out below. And the view of the rest of the park is also quite amazing.

Of course, that still left getting back down. That also proved a challenge. Luckily in Korea, if you just stand around looking confused for long enough, someone will eventually offer to help you. And that's what happened to us. A nice Korean man named Kwon offered to be our guide back down. Well, actually, he offered to let us join him on his hike, which meant we didn't go directly back down. At this point, we had met this nice British couple named David and Julia - they were equally perplexed about getting down, so we all decided to follow Kwon together. Kwon took us up and down and all around that mountain. There were spots where we had to go single-file down a steep section of rock, lowering ourselves down backwards while gripping a rope or a metal railing. There were more steep climbs and some serious rugged terrain.

Three hours later, (after six hours in total) we finally made it to the end. I was absolutely wrecked, which is pretty embarrassing considering that the whole time we were being passed up by old ladies and old men. The worst part is that I had sweat so much that it looked as if I had been swimming in my clothes. One Korean woman who was walking alongside us for a bit thought that was the funniest thing she had ever seen (Koreans don't tend to sweat so much). She kept pointing at me, saying something to her friends, and cracking up laughing. I can only assume she was saying "Look at the sweaty American. He's so sweaty. Ha. Ha. Ha." It was funny at first, but she kept talking about it for like 15 minutes. I kept thinking, "Go away, you extremely fit and healthy old lady."

So that was our trip. It was a pretty amazing hike. I'm glad we did it. I'll even probably try to do it again someday. And I know that Bergie is ready to do it again. Maybe, if you come visit, we'll take one of you.

Hugs to all,
The Godfreys

A place to call home

We've been in our apartment now for about two and a half weeks and it's really starting to feel like home. We live on the fourth floor - no elevator - of a pretty nice apartment building. We've heard that the other tenants are mostly military or military contractors though, we don't see too many people around. We are upstairs from a bath house/sauna, which I plan to check out soon. I'll report about that adventure. Here are some pictures of our little pad - keep in mind the place came furnished so the teal leather couches, while pretty cool, were not our choice.

The kitchen is working out ok. It's not nearly as well equipped as we've grown accustomed to. But, we're slowly gathering some necessities. We love that we have a washer/dryer combo so don't have to do 4 flights of stairs each time we need to do laundry.

Our bedroom has a nice view of our neighborhood, or "dong" as they say in Korean. And now that the insane heat seems to have gone we can keep the doors and windows open and we get a nice breeze throughout the place.

The neighborhood is really great. We've got everything we need within a 10 minute walk. We've got a little outdoor market in the back alley, a fish stand, a flower shop, a pharmacy, many Korean restaurants, several foreign restaurants (spanish, mexican, thai, japanese, italian, chinese, french and more), bakeries, a tailor, a barber shop and so much more. It's really great and it's a fun to see the mix of foreigners who also live nearby. And for as complicated as adjusting to a new life in a country where you don't speak the language can be, in someways it's a lot simpler.

Favorite Sights Thus Far

While there are many cool things to see and do in Korea, my favorite sights are by far all the cool signs, products, and just different things we run into on a daily basis. Click the link on the right titled signs and products to see what I'm talking about. I'll be adding to that on a regular basis.

This awning is my latest favorite. I think it is a bar, which makes sense. The more you drink, the more fucking lovely you make yourself.

A rough start

Hi All,

Well, things in Korea got off to a pretty rough start - so much so that we both seriously considered just packing up our bags and coming back home. But, we are learning much can change in a few days, and we're both back on board with this grand adventure.

The first big issue we faced was related to my job. As many of you know, I got this job by essentially cold calling the Director, telling her who I am and what I do, and asking if she might need someone with my skills on her team. After much back and forth, she finally agreed that it might be a good idea, so she made me an offer. There were a few issues I still needed to clarify with them before I signed the contract, but she was gone on business, so were weren't able to clarify those items before I arrived in Seoul. Many would say that I'm crazy for going without a contract, but the fact is we were going whether I had a job immediately lined up or not, and I'm glad that I didn't sign a contract from the states, because when I did finally meet this woman in person, see my working environment, and learn more of the specific details of the contract, I immediately got this sick-to-my-stomach feeling that this job was not going to be nearly as cool as I thought it was going to be. I won't go into specifics about why, but that night I came home, discussed my concerns with Bergie, and we decided that I should trust my gut. The Director is very angry with me - saying I have embarassed her greatly with my decision. I feel really bad about it, because this woman did essentially create this position for me, but we're talking a year of my life here. I had to be selfish about it. So that really threw a wrench into our plans. I'm now scrambling to find something else.

So that caused some serious stress. The second issue was related to our apartment. When we arrived in Seoul, Bergie's school had arranged for us to stay in the VIP room near the school. VIP in Seoul has a different meaning. It was essentially a large dorm room, and we had to pay 66 bucks a night. Because of that, we wanted to get out of that situation and find ourselves an apartment ASAP. So, we were referred to an English speaking realtor in the Itaewon neighborhood, and we started looking for apartments. We quickly found a place we like, so we signed the papers. The day we moved in, however, we started noticing all these little things that we hadn't noticed when we initially visited the place. First of all, the refrigerator door wouldn't close. Then, the hot water to the shower didn't work properly. All of a sudden ants appeared in our bedroom. And at one point, when I was brushing my teeth, the pipes from beneath the bathroom sink just fell off, and water started flowing directly from the faucet onto the floor. We were both just exhausted and quickly sinking into a depression wondering what the hell we would do. I had no job. And our great apartment was turning out to be a hell hole. The weather down here has been oppressively hot and humid. It seemed like the world was against us. We seriously considered just cutting our losses, packing our bags, and moving back home. Of course, we knew we couldn't give up that easily, and the next day, things immediately started looking up.

Our landlady, Mrs. Cho, is a cute little old Korean woman, and she speaks some pretty decent English. We told her about our problems, and she showed up the next day with her husband. Within minutes he replaced the pipe beneath the sink and he fixed the hot water in the shower. Now our shower is even better than the one we have on Nicollet. On top of that, Mrs. Cho bought us a new fridge. We should have internet in the place soon, and our apartment is actually starting to feel like a home. (I'll post pictures soon.) We've begun exploring our neighborhood, and it is really great. We live in an area with a lot of other expats, so many of the locals speak at least some English. Some would say that we aren't getting the full Korean experience this way, but considering how difficult our first week has been, I am extremely thankful for our location. We live very close to Namsan mountain, which has all sorts of great walking paths. We also have a ton of restaurants and bars near us - many of which are foreign, so when we get our fill of bi bim bap, we can switch things up and grab some tacos, thai, italian, etc... - all within a few blocks of our pad.

And Bergie's job is going quite well. She loves the classes she is teaching, and she loves her students. Her colleagues are really great, too. We've already made some decent friends out of that bunch.

And I actually had a job interview yesterday with another online school. For this position, I would be teaching online. It went pretty well I think. After the interview, they invited me to go out to lunch with them. I had another appointment, so I couldn't, but they said I could do it next time (a good sign, no?) The funniest part of that experience was at the end, the admin brought me into this room and presented a sheet to me that had my name on it and next to my name was a field that said 30,000 won and then next to that was a signature field. She pointed at that and said "Interview Fee." I replied, "What? Interview fee? What are you talking about?" To which she replied, "Interview Fee." So, I reluctantly started reaching for my wallet to get the 30k when she said, "No! We pay you!" So that was pretty sweet. I got 30 bucks just for sitting for an interview. Maybe I should just go around interviewing the whole time I'm here.

Anyway - that's the latest. Once we get our internet installed at home, I'll upload more pics. I'm posting this from a PC lounge called e-Nature, the Natural Internet Park. Their motto is "Become Delightful Time."

And that's what we're slowly starting to do.

Hugs to all.

The Godfreys

Our New Gym

The parks we've found here in Seoul are very cool - they all seem to have beautiful walking paths, cool statues or monuments, and a wide variety different activities you can do. There is one near Bergie's school called Hyochang Park. We've gone there every day so far, because it has a great walking path, and it has an outdoor gym that is free for the public to use. This gym has several different stations, each designed to either help you work a specific muscle, simply get your blood moving, or help you stretch out. One of the cooler elements is this small walking path. You take off your shoes and walk slowly over rocks of varying sizes - it is supposed to help you work different pressure points on your feet. I did it, and it hurt like hell walking over those rocks, but the old ladies who were doing it seemed to love it. Check out this set of pictures to see Bergie try out all the different stations.

We've Arrived

Thankfully, that whole visa thing worked itself out. LeeAnne and I picked them up on Thursday morning, drove back to Minneapolis from Chicago, packed our bags, and got up early on Friday to catch our 8:30 flight. 17 hours later (1 hour to Chicago, 3 hour layover, 13 hours to Seoul) we landed. And while that last leg was seriously long, it wasn't all that bad.

Korea Air is by far the nicest airline we've ever flown. The flight started off with cocktails. Then they serve an actual meal - mine was steamed cod on rice with a side salad and fresh fruit. With dinner they bring you wine. And then, about fifteen minutes later, they come by to refill your wine. And this level of service continues throughout the flight. It doesn't hurt that the stewardesses are all hot little strumpets wearing sexy uniforms. Bergie got a little tired of my comments about that.

Once we got on the ground, everything went smoothly enough. Soo, the admin from LeeAnne's school was waiting for us when we arrived, and she helped us get settled in our room. We're basically staying in a large dorm room.

We've spent the first few days just touring like mad. The place is pretty overwhelming - there are people everywhere. It is extremely hot and humid right now. I start sweating as soon as I step outside. By the end of each day, my clothes are completely soaked. That's been pretty nasty.

Our days have mostly revolved around trying different types of Korean food. We've eaten Bi Bim Bap, which is rice that is mixed with egg, vegetables, and a hot sauce (very good), bulgogi, which is a dish of heavily marinated and very tender pork or beef (also very good), galbi, which is barbecued meat that is grilled at your table (also delicious), and of course we've eaten all sorts of kimchi, which is a pickled cabbage dish that comes with every meal. I like it.

I'm going to work on getting some pics up soon, and I'll add some more posts to give some detail about some of the specific things we've done like going to the markets, taking the subway, visiting the parks and palaces, and renting an apartment (we move in on Friday).

We already miss everyone!

Hugs,
Godfreys

The Visa Run

A lot has happened since our last post. I could spend forever explaining it all, but to make a long story short, LeeAnne is putting her PhD on hold, we left Tucson, spent June and July on Madeline Island, and in less than 24 hours, we're moving to Seoul Korea where LeeAnne will teach Second Language Acquisition at a private university and I will be a visiting researcher providing eLearning support and consultancy for Seoul National University. Since before we were married, we have been talking about wanting an international adventure together, and we're finally making it happen.

Right now, we're in Chicago trying to secure our visa before we leave. Did I mention that we leave in less than 24 hours? This whole visa run thing has made this a very stressful start to our adventure. Our whole plan was that we would head down to Chicago on Monday, go to the consulate Tuesday morning, get our visa stamped, and we'd head back to home to spend time with friends and family for a few days before we leave. Turns out that Korea is pretty notorious for making you wait until the absolute last minute before issuing the visas. The consulate takes 2-3 days to process your visa - no exceptions. We begged, we pleaded, we even offered a bribe, but the woman at the consulate would not expedite our visa for us. Thankfully, Bergie's friend Sunny and his wife, Yi, have been very gracious, and they have allowed us to crash at their apartment while we wait for the visa, but we are both extremely disappointed that we won't be able to properly say goodbye to our family and friends as we had planned.

Now it is Thursday, and they have guaranteed the visa today. We've decided we're showing up at the consulate in the morning, and we're just going to sit there until it is done. If we're lucky, it will be done by 10:30, and we can be on the road by 11:30. But the way things are going, that seems doubtful.

Needless to say, it doesn't seem that our grand adventure is getting off to the best start, but we've been assured by all who have gone before us that this is extremely common and by far the most stressful part of our experience - I hope they are right.

We'll miss you all very much and we'll be sure to keep in touch. We MAY have a US phone number through our Vonage account, which would be very cool. We'll keep you posted.

Check back for updates - we plan to do a much better job updating the blog during the next year.

Hugs,
The Godfreys

ps/ Anyone who wants to visit Korea is more than welcome to come stay with us we'd also love to meet up in another Asian country - a cycle trip through Vietnam or an adventure trip in Thailand anyone?

Hello Summer, Goodbye Tucson

As our stint in Tucson is coming to an end, we are trying to make the best of this place we've called home these past 10 months, by taking in a few last sites and activities. Two weeks ago we went to Kitt's Peak National Observatory to take part in their night sky program. It was fantastic! The peak is scattered with optical and radio telescopes that are operated by various universities and organizations around the country (world?). Kitt's peak is only about 60 miles south of Tucson but it's at an elevation of about 8000 ft so the temperature change was quite drastic and we actually had to pull out hats and mittens! Anyways, were treated to an amazing view of the sunset, a lesson on how to use a planisphere, a guide to the constellations (Leo, Orion, the Beehive Cluster, and more), and views through the telescope (the whirlpool galaxy, Saturn!!!, and more). The highlight was definitely the view of Saturn, complete with it's rings and four moons!

We also decided to visit the Tucson Botanical Garden and revisit Saguaro National Park East to check out all the desert blooms. The otherwise, fairly brown landscape, is quite colorful these days with bright orange, pink, and purple colored flowers. It's quite amazing. The Saguaro are also full of little buds - I think they looks like teletubbies or creatures with dreadlocks! - that are starting to blooms into white flowers. Very cool! And yet, so hot! It's been in the 90's most of the month already so we're looking forward to a Minnesota/Wisconsin summer.

Last weekend, we enjoyed a really awesome dinner at La Hacienda del Sol. It's a pretty fancy place in the foothills of Tucson. My sisters, Alicia and Steph, got us a gift certificate as a wedding gift so we were able to splurge and really enjoy the great wine list and menu! We also got to spend time with some friends, which was great!

Today we're hoping to hear from the movers so we know when we actually leave town. It's crazy how fast this year has gone by!

Click here to check out the full set of pictures.

A grand weekend indeed!

Hello!

Well, once again it's been a while. Despite all good intentions, we just aren't so good at posting regularly to the blog! I guess it's more fun to report on adventures - keeping true to the title of our blog. Since our last post, we've decided that Tucson is not the place for us. The plan right now is to move our stuff home (aka the Twin Cities). We're still planning on spending the summer on Madeline Island but after that we're a bit up in the air. It's either back to Minneapolis or, given the right opportunity, perhaps an international address, we'll see. I still hope to pursue my PhD and plan on applying to a program at the U of MN.

Anyways, in light of this decision we decided that we could not leave Arizona without a visit to the Grand Canyon. We drove up to Flagstaff, a cute little mountain town in a pine forest, on Friday night and checked in to the England House, a cozy B&B we discovered earlier this year. On Saturday we were treated to a delicious breakfast and shortly after we got on the road. We started our grand adventure by checking out Sunset Crater and the Wupatki Ruins - a very cool side adventure! From there we headed up to the Grand Canyon in search of "the secret spot" - a secluded viewing point recommended to us by Richard and Laurel from the England House. For anyone planning a trip to the Grand Canyon, it's mile post 246! The mile or so hike in was totally worth it. We had the canyon pretty much to ourselves, which was so cool considering the numbers of tourists all over the park.

We had lunch at the El Tovar Hotel, which is right in the village at the head of the Bright Angel trail. It was a very tasty restaurant with beautiful views of the canyon - the perfect snack before heading out on our hike down the South Kaibab trail. Despite its steepness, it was an awesome trail with magnificent views of the canyon. By the time we got there, the crowds we not too bad at all. Based on huffing and puffing of the people we crossed going up though, we knew the climb back up would be a challenge - good thing Richard and Laurel loaned us their walking sticks!

After the climb back up, we treated ourselves to happy hour back at the El Tovar. All bundled up, a nice change from the already 90+ degree weather in Tucson, we watched another amazing desert sunset - giving the Grand Canyon a truly beautiful pinkish glow! Desert sunsets - now that is something we will miss!

We finished off our weekend getaway with a visit of Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West. We've never been to any other Frank Lloyd Wright property but this has inspired us to visit more, especially the original Taliesin in Wisconsin. The property was amazing and totally worth the visit! A great end to a grand weekend! (click on any picture to see the full collection of pictures)

Now it's back to Tucson for about 5 more weeks. Our stuff is partially in boxes, movers have been booked, and we're getting ready to come home!

Vaya Con Bergfrey

Hola Todos,

Bergie and I just returned from our honeymoon in the Mexico's beautiful Yucatan Peninsula, and I thought now would be a good time to start working toward one of my many '08 resolutions and update the blog by telling you all about the trip. To check out our pics from the trip, view our Flickr page.

Whenever Bergie and I go on a trip, it is always a go, go, go kind of affair, with us constantly on the move, trying to do as much as possible. It is usually great, but we are also always exhausted after the vacation. This time, we wanted to do something a little more on the chill side. So, we decided a week on the beach might just do the trick. Of course, to spare as many people as possible from seeing me in all my flabby hairiness, we picked a location that is about as secluded as we could possibly get - Xcalak, Mexico. Our friends, Angela and Keith Watson, spent their honeymoon there, it they convinced us it was exactly what we were looking for. So, we booked our trip. The plan was one night in Cancun (so as to avoid driving through Mexico in the dark), and then we would quickly escape the crowds of tourists and head south for 5 days in Xcalak and 2 days in Tulum.

We got into Cancun at 4:00 and picked up our car, which was a tiny little beater that barely ran, was full of dents and scratches, lacked power steering, and sounded like it could fall to pieces at any moment. That's what going "economico" gets you. But, the car drove, which was all we needed, so we hopped in and headed off to our hotel in Cancun.

When we arrived at our hotel, the guy at the desk liked Bergie because she spoke Spanish to him, so he upgraded us to an oceanview suite. It was gorgeous - way more room than we needed, but the view was fantastic. We promptly hit the town in Cancun, which is exactly what you'd expect it to be - hotels and theme restaurants in every direction. We had fun walking around, people watching, and grabbing dinner, but one night in Cancun made us feel all the more strongly that our plan to get the hell out of there was a good one. So, we got up at around 7 in the morning and hit the road to Xcalak.

The trek from Cancun to our bed and breakfast in Xcalak would take us 6 hours, and when driving through Mexico, one has a lot of things to watch out for. We were warned to watch out for the Policia - supposedly they like to scam tourists and look specifically for rental cars to pull them over. Luckily for us, we never had a run in with them. Then we were warned of Topes, which are these killer speed bumps that occur every so often, and if you're not paying attention, can totally wreck your car. We negotiated those as well. Gas station scams are pretty common too, and I did witness this one first hand. In Mexico, you cannot fill your own tank. An attendant fills it for you. And it is these attendants who are shifty as all get out. During one of my fill-ups, I pulled up to the pump, jumped out of the car before the guy could start pumping (so I could make sure he set the meter to zero), and I watched him real closely to make sure everything was legit. Then, when I payed, I gave him a twenty and a one. He took the money and then, with some pretty snazzy sleight of hand, shuffled my twenty away and tried to claim I only gave him two ones. I called bullshit and got a little loud about it, and he didn't push the issue, but I guess that crap works on a lot of tourists. Shady!

Anyway, when we made it down to Xcalak, it started pouring rain. We only had 5 more miles to go, but that five miles proved to be the hairiest part of the entire drive, as it required us to travel the worst road I've ever driven over. The imbedded picture fails to truly capture the freakiness of this ride, but it's all I got. I can't believe our little car ever made it through, but after an hour of negotiating the deepest puddles of all time, we finally arrived in paradise.

Our hotel was called Sin Duda, which is Spanish for Without a Doubt. And Sin Duda was definitely without a doubt the perfect place for our honeymoon. With just a few other guests in our hotel, we essentially had an entire beach and coral reef to ourselves. The Villa was this amazing house designed by the owners. It is powered by solar energy, and they get their shower water by collecting the rain. During the day, you look out upon white sand beaches and clear blue waters. At night, the stars shine bright, and you can sit upon the Sin Duda rooftop drinking down Margo-Ritas (named after Margo, one of the owners). Sin Duda is run by some really great people - Margo, Robert, Jaime, and Jennifer all made our stay fantastic. Compared to what you might find in those all-inclusive resorts, this place is pretty much no-frills, but what it lacks in ammenities, it makes up for in charm. Nothing illustrates this point more than the fact that the best way to get food in Xcalak is to wait for the grocery trucks that arrive on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Locals drive up to the hotel and sell you fresh frood from the back of their pick-ups.

We spent most of our time at Sin Duda either relaxing on the beach or snorkeling. We saw all sorts of amazing reef fish. And one day we went fishing with some locals. Bergie caught a pretty decent yellow tail snapper, and I caught a barracuda. For me, that was one of the highlights of the trip. We were trolling along, and all of a sudden, I could see something following my bait. And Bam! It hit my hook, and that mofo pulled hard. Baracuda fight great at first, but they give in pretty quickly, and I was able to haul him up to the boat after five minutes or so. The guide stabbed the fish with this very sharp hook thing to pull him into the boat, and when we got the fish aboard, the same guide took a thick stick and beat the fish in the head 8-10 times until it stopped flopping about. Barracuda have very sharp teeth, so the beating was pretty much necessary so he could safely remove the hook. We took our barracuda back to Sin Duda, cleaned it, fileted it, and made some delicious ceviche out of it - very, very cool.

After our five days at Sin Duda, we reluctantly packed up the car and headed north to Tulum - another beach town a little more than half way between Xcalak and Cancun. Here we stayed in a more average hotel - still nothing fancy, but it did have hot water, air conditioning, and TV, which I must admit that after 5 days without any of those was quite nice. Tulum is a cool little town, though. Great little restaurants and shops line the streets, and the beaches are gorgeous. Tulum also has some of Mexico's better ruins. And they have Cenotes, which are underwater caves. We took in all of it, and had a great time doing it. Of course, we traded the peace and tranquility of Xcalak for the hustle and bustle of the city, and we were woken up each morning by the sounds of Mexico - roosters crowing, dogs barking, and taxis honking.

And that was the trip. It truly was a perfect honeymoon. We're already thinking about when we can go back to Sin Duda. It would be great to take a few friends with us. If anyone is interested, let me know.

Also, I know there has been quite a lag between my last post and this one, so here is a quick synopsis of everything else between then and now. In October, we rode the Tour De Tucson - an 81-mile trek around the city. The first 60 miles weren't so bad. The last twenty sucked ass. In early November, I went to Vegas with my friends Ron and Michael - good times. I lost a ton of money though. Juggy came down for my b-day in November. That was awesome. We went biking and hiking and had all sorts of good times. Bergie finished her first semester at the U of A. It was a painful one, and we still aren't sure what is in store for next year, but she was able to get a new TA job for winter semester, so we are both hopeful next semester will be a little less painful. Bergie's buddy Delphine visited for a few days, and it was good for Bergie to have a girlfriend to play with. Then Bergie's entire family came for Christmas, which was a lot of fun. I basically played golf with Yves every day while everyone else did the tourist scene in Tucson. Bergie and I celebrated New Years quietly at home. Our resolutions include learn new skills, meet more people, get in shape (as always), and keep up with the blog.

And that is that. Hope all is well with everyone, and Happy 2008.

Love,

The Godfreys