Sunday, May 17, 2009
Back in the good ol' USA
Hey everyone - I made it back to Memphis around 11 p.m. last night, and our whole group arrived safe and sound! Thanks for your prayers and I'll be posted more updates, photos (via Facebook and Flickr), etc. during the next two weeks. Be patient...I've got about 3000+ photos to sort and edit! :)
Friday, May 15, 2009
Sorry for no updates!
Hey everyone! We landed safely in Japan on May 13 (maybe it was the 14th? My days are all running together!) and I'm sorry I haven't updated the blog or posted pictures to Flickr. Internet is $1 for five minutes over here! That was just a little too expensive for me, so I'll just update everyone later.
We fly home today (well, sort of - I fly out of Tokyo today at 3 and land in Seoul at 6, fly to Chicago and land at 9, then fly to Memphis and land at 10:30. technically with the time changes, that's all on May 16!) Tokyo has been fun and CRAZY - it's like nothing I've ever seen before.
I've got to run - time to go clean the room at the hostel and check out!
We fly home today (well, sort of - I fly out of Tokyo today at 3 and land in Seoul at 6, fly to Chicago and land at 9, then fly to Memphis and land at 10:30. technically with the time changes, that's all on May 16!) Tokyo has been fun and CRAZY - it's like nothing I've ever seen before.
I've got to run - time to go clean the room at the hostel and check out!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Sad to leave
So...tears were shed tonight at dinner and the bar...we hate to leave our new friends in Korea! They have been so wonderful, hospitable, generous, kind, and welcoming, and we hate the thought of not seeing them for a very long time. We ended our goodbyes with "See you soon" in an attempt to make things less sad. I do hope that we will see our dear friends from KNU again very soon and I am excited about several of them joining us at MSU for a year starting this August.
Today was fun but very bittersweet...oh, and yesterday was incredible. Go look at Flickr if you want to see what all we got to do! :) We are all getting weary, but we are excited about Japan. Our bus will be at the hotel to pick us up at 5 a.m., which is in about four hours for me, so I'm getting to bed. 'Night, and hopefully I'l be able to update from Japan!
Today was fun but very bittersweet...oh, and yesterday was incredible. Go look at Flickr if you want to see what all we got to do! :) We are all getting weary, but we are excited about Japan. Our bus will be at the hotel to pick us up at 5 a.m., which is in about four hours for me, so I'm getting to bed. 'Night, and hopefully I'l be able to update from Japan!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy Mother's Day!
Today is Mother's Day back in the good ol' USA, so happy mother's day to my mom and everyone else reading. We are thankful for y'all!
Once again, I have stayed up too late to write much of anything, but here are some highlights:
Saturday (Friday for those of you in the US), my group of 10 MSU students and our guides from Kyungpook National University met up with the 10 MSU students and their guides from Catholic University of Daegu to visit Kyungju, a historical area that's about an hour or so from our current location. It was really interesting to tour areas with Buddhist temples, learn a lot of history, and see the tombs of some of the kings and queens. It was a lot to take in and we walked all day, but it was very worthwhile. After that, we met up with our home stay families. Joshua and I were paired together with a KNU college student, her parents, and one of her friends. We went and got American food (McDonald's!), then went to the market to buy food for breakfast and for our picnic lunch the next day. Today, our homestay girls took us hiking and we cooked outside and played in a stream - it was so much fun. They took us to a friend's house in the mountains, and it was rural and BEAUTIFUL. They actually have a guesthouse that they rent to people because the area is so pretty. Honestly, you could vacation or honeymoon there, and I had no idea that thought would ever cross my mind about a place in South Korea!
I don't have time to tell all the details now, but let me just say that so far, home stay has been my favorite part of the trip! Let's just say that it was great and I wish it could have been longer. :)
All right, it's bedtime. We're headed to Buson (the beach) tomorrow!
Once again, I have stayed up too late to write much of anything, but here are some highlights:
Saturday (Friday for those of you in the US), my group of 10 MSU students and our guides from Kyungpook National University met up with the 10 MSU students and their guides from Catholic University of Daegu to visit Kyungju, a historical area that's about an hour or so from our current location. It was really interesting to tour areas with Buddhist temples, learn a lot of history, and see the tombs of some of the kings and queens. It was a lot to take in and we walked all day, but it was very worthwhile. After that, we met up with our home stay families. Joshua and I were paired together with a KNU college student, her parents, and one of her friends. We went and got American food (McDonald's!), then went to the market to buy food for breakfast and for our picnic lunch the next day. Today, our homestay girls took us hiking and we cooked outside and played in a stream - it was so much fun. They took us to a friend's house in the mountains, and it was rural and BEAUTIFUL. They actually have a guesthouse that they rent to people because the area is so pretty. Honestly, you could vacation or honeymoon there, and I had no idea that thought would ever cross my mind about a place in South Korea!
I don't have time to tell all the details now, but let me just say that so far, home stay has been my favorite part of the trip! Let's just say that it was great and I wish it could have been longer. :)
All right, it's bedtime. We're headed to Buson (the beach) tomorrow!
Friday, May 8, 2009
I ran out of room on Flickr
I ran out of room on Flickr tonight...whoops. Guess that's what I get for taking huge pictures and not resizing them! Anyway, here are the links to my two Flickr accounts; the first one is full and the second one will hopefully last me for the rest of the trip. Those of you that have Facebook, I'll be putting a lot more up on there eventually. :)
First Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/37920946@N04/
Second Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38159752@N05/
Oh, to all the parents reading this - Happy Parents' Day! In Korea, they don't celebrate Mother's Day or Father's Day, just Parents' Day. The students told us that they buy their parents flowers and sometimes gifts, but as one guy put it, "I am the best gift to my parents." :) He said he was going home to enjoy an evening with his sisters and parents, so quality time with his family was going to be his gift.
Today was a fun, very busy day! We started off the morning with a lovely American breakfast from Dunkin' Donuts! We were all very excited about American breakfast food. We like Korean food, but it gets very interesting for breakfast. Americans don't usually do tomatoes, spicy foods, or rice for breakfast. :)
After breakfast, we went to our second Korean language class. We attempted to learn our numbers and some "shopping" and "taxi" language (how much is this, please take me to this place, etc.) Our teacher was so nice and very dressed up. It seems to be a pattern here with most of the women/girls - they love dressing up! (or maybe they don't love it, but they just do it) They have no problems walking in stilettos up some pretty decent hills and steps!
Following Korean class, we went to a short lecture on Korean history and culture just for our group. We then got to sit in on a class at the university taught in English on Korean culture, traditions, history, etc. It was really interesting and there was a lot of dialogue going on throughout the class. It was a mixed group, too; we had Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, Americans, and several other countries represented. Kyungpook really is a national university!
We then grabbed lunch on campus, which was delicious! (It was a really good day for food...at least in my opinion.) I had something similar to fried rice. That's not what it's called in Korea, but I don't remember the actual name. It had chicken and crab in it and it was yummy.
After lunch, we headed to calligraphy class! We learned how to mix the ink, grind it, dip the brush, hold the brush, and make our strokes. It was more difficult than it looks! I did learn how to write my name and I'm pretty excited about that. I have a sheet with my name and "Korea" written on it, so that will be coming home with me to go on my fridge...hah...either that or I'm giving it to Mom as my lovely "artwork." :)
We then headed to the international students' lounge and chilled there for a little bit. They brought in a whole group of Korean students who will be studying at MSU in the fall, and it was so exciting to meet them. They are nervous about coming to the States, but they were so sweet and their English is really great. All but one of them are English majors! We then ate pizza and chicken - American food! - sort of. The chicken was very American. The pizza was a little bit different. In Korea, they put cheese, sauce, ham, onion, and potatoes on the pizza! It was very good, but it was interesting to have potatoes on a pizza. They also serve pickles along with the pizza. When I asked why, they said that pizza is very heavy and they like a side dish that's lighter and had a different texture. Sounds like good reasoning to me!
We finished out the night by watching a Korean movie. I don't know the title, but I got confused because they said it was a comedy. It had funny parts, but it was a war movie and people died...so we were all wondering why they were telling us it was a comedy. Oh well.
Tomorrow we take a tour of a historical (former capital city) area near Daegu, then we leave the hotel to spend a day or two with our host families! (Just FYI, I may not have Internet for the next day or two, so there might not be new pictures/posts for a couple of days.) I'm excited and can't wait, but must get to bed! :)
First Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/37920946@N04/
Second Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38159752@N05/
Oh, to all the parents reading this - Happy Parents' Day! In Korea, they don't celebrate Mother's Day or Father's Day, just Parents' Day. The students told us that they buy their parents flowers and sometimes gifts, but as one guy put it, "I am the best gift to my parents." :) He said he was going home to enjoy an evening with his sisters and parents, so quality time with his family was going to be his gift.
Today was a fun, very busy day! We started off the morning with a lovely American breakfast from Dunkin' Donuts! We were all very excited about American breakfast food. We like Korean food, but it gets very interesting for breakfast. Americans don't usually do tomatoes, spicy foods, or rice for breakfast. :)
After breakfast, we went to our second Korean language class. We attempted to learn our numbers and some "shopping" and "taxi" language (how much is this, please take me to this place, etc.) Our teacher was so nice and very dressed up. It seems to be a pattern here with most of the women/girls - they love dressing up! (or maybe they don't love it, but they just do it) They have no problems walking in stilettos up some pretty decent hills and steps!
Following Korean class, we went to a short lecture on Korean history and culture just for our group. We then got to sit in on a class at the university taught in English on Korean culture, traditions, history, etc. It was really interesting and there was a lot of dialogue going on throughout the class. It was a mixed group, too; we had Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, Americans, and several other countries represented. Kyungpook really is a national university!
We then grabbed lunch on campus, which was delicious! (It was a really good day for food...at least in my opinion.) I had something similar to fried rice. That's not what it's called in Korea, but I don't remember the actual name. It had chicken and crab in it and it was yummy.
After lunch, we headed to calligraphy class! We learned how to mix the ink, grind it, dip the brush, hold the brush, and make our strokes. It was more difficult than it looks! I did learn how to write my name and I'm pretty excited about that. I have a sheet with my name and "Korea" written on it, so that will be coming home with me to go on my fridge...hah...either that or I'm giving it to Mom as my lovely "artwork." :)
We then headed to the international students' lounge and chilled there for a little bit. They brought in a whole group of Korean students who will be studying at MSU in the fall, and it was so exciting to meet them. They are nervous about coming to the States, but they were so sweet and their English is really great. All but one of them are English majors! We then ate pizza and chicken - American food! - sort of. The chicken was very American. The pizza was a little bit different. In Korea, they put cheese, sauce, ham, onion, and potatoes on the pizza! It was very good, but it was interesting to have potatoes on a pizza. They also serve pickles along with the pizza. When I asked why, they said that pizza is very heavy and they like a side dish that's lighter and had a different texture. Sounds like good reasoning to me!
We finished out the night by watching a Korean movie. I don't know the title, but I got confused because they said it was a comedy. It had funny parts, but it was a war movie and people died...so we were all wondering why they were telling us it was a comedy. Oh well.
Tomorrow we take a tour of a historical (former capital city) area near Daegu, then we leave the hotel to spend a day or two with our host families! (Just FYI, I may not have Internet for the next day or two, so there might not be new pictures/posts for a couple of days.) I'm excited and can't wait, but must get to bed! :)
Thursday, May 7, 2009
More Korea
Sorry for no update yesterday. I answered some e-mails, uploaded some photos, and then got too tired to update the blog.
Yesterday, we visited Korea Foundation where we got to dress up in traditional Korean garb, learned some history, learned how to conduct a formal tea ceremony, explored a traditional Korean house, and did some cooking. It was a lot of of fun! We then ate a traditional Korean lunch and then split up into our university groups. The two groups headed to Daejon had a four hour bus ride (that included me), so we then headed out to ride the bus. After meeting several university students, we went out for dinner and drinks.
Today, at Kyungpook National University (KNU), our group of 10 enjoyed a more modern Korean breakfast, then went to the university for orientation. After orientation, we received a one-hour campus tour and lunch (chicken noodle soup with the whole chicken inside of it! I've got to post that picture later). Following lunch, we went to Korean language class (I learned that I'm not very good at speaking Korean or learning a new alphabet - shocking, I know) and then taekwondo class (also not very good at that either, but again, no surprise). We then went to dinner with our new friends from KNU! There was some interesting stuff at dinner, including squid...
It's getting late and I'm ready for bed. New photos have been posted to Flickr, so please check them out! The link is listed in the post below this one.
Yesterday, we visited Korea Foundation where we got to dress up in traditional Korean garb, learned some history, learned how to conduct a formal tea ceremony, explored a traditional Korean house, and did some cooking. It was a lot of of fun! We then ate a traditional Korean lunch and then split up into our university groups. The two groups headed to Daejon had a four hour bus ride (that included me), so we then headed out to ride the bus. After meeting several university students, we went out for dinner and drinks.
Today, at Kyungpook National University (KNU), our group of 10 enjoyed a more modern Korean breakfast, then went to the university for orientation. After orientation, we received a one-hour campus tour and lunch (chicken noodle soup with the whole chicken inside of it! I've got to post that picture later). Following lunch, we went to Korean language class (I learned that I'm not very good at speaking Korean or learning a new alphabet - shocking, I know) and then taekwondo class (also not very good at that either, but again, no surprise). We then went to dinner with our new friends from KNU! There was some interesting stuff at dinner, including squid...
It's getting late and I'm ready for bed. New photos have been posted to Flickr, so please check them out! The link is listed in the post below this one.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Photos from Korea
I'm having trouble posting photos on Blogger, so please view them via our group Flickr stream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37920946@N04
Sorry for not updating yesterday. I finally got around to answering e-mails, which meant I had no energy for a blog update. Maybe more tonight - I'm getting ready for breakfast and have just packed to head off to my university for the next six days!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37920946@N04
Sorry for not updating yesterday. I finally got around to answering e-mails, which meant I had no energy for a blog update. Maybe more tonight - I'm getting ready for breakfast and have just packed to head off to my university for the next six days!
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