Drunken Spa Adventure

The day after our big hike we decided to go a traditional Korean hot spring spa (Hurshimchung Spa). We ventured out of our appartment and grabbed a cab that took us a mile down the road to the biggest spa in Asia! We met up with Carly and Matt, not knowoning what to expect. I mean, we were a little intimidated. We heard that eveyone goes naked, and the guys and girls spa is separate. Sounds like fun right? ugh..Anyway we walked in to the change rooms and put on our spa uniforms! Kinda like scrubs but with crazy patterns-Actually we ended up stealing the uniforms as a momento, and to have crazy foreigner spa parties in the future. Anyway, we changed and went downstairs (with clothes on) to the common room where we met up with the girls. Everyone in this area of the spa had clothes on. First we went into a 10 degree room, followed by 55 and 80 degree saunas. It was crazy hot especially with full clothing on. We then decided to walk down to the cafeteria to grab something to eat, and happily noticed they sold beer for about $2 a pint! We sat down, started drinking and talking about how it would be much less awkward if we got a little drunk before heading into the spa. So, we sat and had 4-5 drinks until we were feeling good to go! Matt and I headed up to the guys changing room, and Sarah and Carly to the girls. We undressed and headed into the spa, still feeling very awkward I must say.

It's hard to get used to the fact that you are walking around this spa with hundreds of other naked men. Anyway, there was a massive warm pool in the middle with about 10 other pools and hot tubs surrounding it, including an herbal medicine bath. We stayed for about an hour getting a sample of everything the spa had to offer. They offered massages which we opted to pass on, however the girls took full advantage! I think it cost them $15 or so. All in all the spa was a great experience, and for only $8000 won (about 7 dollars), we will be sure to return again soon!

Hiking and Suicidal Transportation

So, Chuseok has come and gone and now we are faced with three lonnnng months of lesson planning.  I really hope we get some sort of vacation between now and Christmas because I think we will definitely need it!

On a happier note, however, our Chuseok consisted of a solid week of well needed rest! I can honestly say that the Monday after Chuseok was probably the first day I didn't yawn while teaching. The teachers no longer say "oh Sarah, you look tired. Eat this, good for health". So, thank you, thank you, thank you Chuseok!

During our break we decided to stay in Busan rather than venture throughout the country or explore other areas of Southeast Asia.  Although the latter sounded verrry appealing, we were unfortunately lacking the funds to travel.  Our dear and lovely schools thought it would be wonderful to hold out on payment as long as they could.  A $300 settlement allowance? Who would ever want that when starting up in a new country! Definitely not Svein and me! Oh, and I dare not mention the flight allowance and monthly salaries! When we would get them was completely up in the air. You see, in Korea, they like to fly by the seat of their pants. For us Guest English Teachers (GETs) applying for the opportunity of a lifetime (teaching overseas!) we are expected to meet every guideline and agenda the Korean Government (EPIK) sets forth for us. Obviously we are right on the ball with doing everything and anything to help secure our chances of teaching in this country. So, now that we are here, you would think that Korea, in general, would follow similar suit.  Oh, no no no my dear readers.  Asking your Korean co-teacher when you will receive your settlement allowance is like asking her to fly you to the moon. Along with this goes the strong communication barrier.  In my situation, my co-teacher has the English proficiency level of about a kindergartner - and that's being generous! Svein on the other hand has been blessed by the gods with a wonderful, fluent in English co-teacher (Danny).  So, luckily we can resort to throwing the majority of our questions, problems and difficulties onto him! So, back to what I was getting at. Svein and I unfortunately were not paid a single cent prior to Chuseok and well, the line of credit really couldn't stand to see any additional withdrawls.  So, we, and a wonderful group of EPIK teacher friends, decided to stay in Busan for Chuseok.

On Monday we decided to hike Geumjeong Mountain, which is has the highest elevation of all the Busan mountains (800m - but nothing compared to Skaala in Norway!).  Svein and I are lucky as we live in the valley of this mountain, so it is very close to travel to this great hiking destination! Before we started the hike we visited Beomeosa Temple, which is located about 1/3 of the way up the mountain. We decided to take a taxi to the temple as a very friendly taxi driver offered us a group rate up the mountain.  Well, how could we resist?? So, the five of us piled into the small cab and started our way up the mountain.  For those of you who haven't experienced Korean taxi drivers, well, they are insane. Especially when ascending or descending a mountain. This also includes buses, but that is another story. So, if you like being thrown down/up a mountain in what seems like a roller coaster, then, well, you would love the public transportation in this country. We finally reached the Temple and it was pretty spectacular (Svein says it was just okay haha).

After we looked around the temple and took some photos, we started our hike up Geumjeong Mountain.  The hike seemed quite a bit more challenging than we expected.  You see, throughout Korea you will notice these ever so trendy, middle aged Koreans mountain climbers in their brand name, coordinated hiking gear. They also like to cover every part of their bodies to block out the "death rays" of the sun - even in the deadliest heat! 

So seeing as these hiking enthusiasts were so conscious of their appearance (like the majority of koreans are), we thought this mountain climb would be more like a mountain jaunt.  Luckily, however, we got a pretty decent workout out of our trek.   The views from the top were incredible, despite the overcast skies.

 
Our hike down the mountain ended up lasting quite a bite longer than we had intended it to.  Somehow we ended up hiking down the wrong side of the mountain and ended up in a little village on the outskirts of Busan.  As we walked through the village we managed to find a bus stop and sniped a ride home on what I like to call the suicidal death bus from hell! This bus ride was a million times scarier than the short taxi ride we took up to Beomeosa Temple.  Either the bus driver thought it would be funny to scare a bunch of foreigners or he was an absolute loonatic! As we thundered down the mountain, the bus rocketed through switchbacks at over 70 km/hr.  I think we all saw our lives flash before us as the bus nearly flipped at every turn.  Let's just say we were very relieved once we reached the bottom and the beer that night never tasted better!

Finally!

So, as it is Chuseok here in Korea, we thought there wouldn't be a better time to start up our blog.  We are very lucky to have this whole week off in celebration of South Korea's version of thanksgiving - Chuseok.  Here in Korea, they spend their holiday visiting their families and paying respect to their ancestors.  They also eat disgusting amounts of Songpyeon.  Now, this might sound intriguing, however, I warn you now, it is not very tasty! Imagine eating round globs of slightly sweetened, thick and chewy noodles.  The Koreans then decided to throw in a little sweet surprise in the middle, be it red beans, a watery sweet liquid, or something sesame.  Now, maybe we just have had the right songpyeon.  Maybe this Chuseok we will be lucky! Oh, and for those of you who were wondering, Songpyeon is actually made out of rice.  The koreans call it a rice cake.

SONGPYEON

So, aside from eating Songpyeon, we've been lucky enough to try a lot of different Korean dishes! We've had bibimbop, Korean barbeque, or gogi gui, Korean medicine soup, Japchae (a vegetable noodle dish) and Bulgogi (grilled, marinated beef). There are still so many different types of food to try, but so far, the bibimbop is my favourite - maybe because it has the smallest amount of meat in it haha.  Aside from the main courses, we haven't really found a wide selection of desserts.  For me, this was a problem. That was until Svein informed me of the ultimate dessert dish.  I have yet to try it, but I believe it consists of ice, some sort of ice cream/whip cream, berries and other fruit and red beans.  Svein tried it with his coteachers and he said it was amazing.  So, my goal in regards to food this Chuseok, is to try this ice bean dessert.  The Koreans are really good at providing other sweet alternatives.  For example, there's Baskin Robbins, Dunkin Donuts, Mr. Donut, Paris Baguette and Coldstone Creamery.  Those are just a few.  It's funny too that they also like to place these stores right next to each other.  So, for example, you may be walking down the street and see a Baskin Robbins and think, oh wow, that's nice. Then, as you look next door their's a Coldstone Creamery.  The same goes with coffee shops, street vendors, food vendors, etc.  Either they are all trying to compete with each other or, they're thinking that well, if someone hasn't given in by the seventh deep fried squid stand, their's something wrong with them.


NAMPO DONG STREET VENDOR (There were at least six of these stands in  a row haha).

So, aside from eating a lot of food, we plan on doing a lot of hiking during Chuseok.  Today we are planning to head up Mount Geumjeong.  This mountain has a total elevation of 801m (the highest in Busan) and it is located right in our backyard (Svein and I have been living in Geumjeong-gu)! So, along with a few of our wonderful new friends, we will check out Beomeosa temple and then spend the rest of the day hiking the trails. We also hope to hike Mount Jangsan later in the week, so, stay tuned for more details of our hikes!

On Saturday, Svein and I are lucky enough to travel to the Andong Mask Dance Festival with a bunch of other EPIK teachers. We are not entirely sure what will be happening at this festival, other than the obvious mask dancing, but we are very excited!! We will be taking a 4 hour bus ride up into the northern area of South Korea for this event.

So for now, as we get ready to head out for our hike, I must figure out whether we have indeed been washing our clothing in fabric softener.  I guess this just goes with the sometimes frustrating but always challenging language barrier that we are faced with! 
-SM