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.
Monday, July 28, 2008
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
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
Thursday, July 24, 2008
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?
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?
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