tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64442612080938257242024-03-05T07:10:14.792-05:00Gwangju in StitchWe finished our one year contract teaching English in South Korea. Now we are living on Cat Ba Island in Halong Bay, Vietnam. Matt is a rock climbing guide for SloPony (www.slopony.com) and I'm teaching a bit of English here.Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-20435322821650080182009-08-30T01:59:00.002-04:002009-08-30T02:10:46.781-04:00Plans.Some of you may be curious about what we'll be doing for the next few months before we make our return to the homeland just before Thanksgiving. This is the rough outline:<div><br /></div><div>I'm going to leave Cat Ba in the middle of September and head off to the Yunnan province in southern China on my own. Matt is going to finish September on Cat Ba trying to squeeze in as much climbing as he can. His friends, Gregg, from home is also coming to Vietnam to climb with him. I'll let them climb their faces off, while I explore a bit of China.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'll meet back up with Matt (and maybe Gregg) during the first week of October back in Vietnam. We're going to make a fairly quick exit for Laos for about two weeks, then back into central (Hue and Hoi An) and southern (Saigon and the Mekong Delta) Vietnam for a bit. Then we'll cross into Cambodia to Phnom Penh and to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat. Then, last stop Thailand, we'll fly out of Bangkok and we'll leave tropical, steamy, fruity and spicy south east Asia for sweaters and pumpkin pie on the east coast of America!</div>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-59738211718379319242009-08-04T01:30:00.005-04:002009-08-04T02:17:26.537-04:00A weekend in Hanoi<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Rui6miO_55zFVO6vHRM_7_3-Zpwz8aqBUpbdH6GL_QZh28es6yv4KItefcBogL2BDSc9CIDza3lojP0SzDiKyOgxuodO91ZsfzzRuFU4p6NeybXJeIA0bS2JyFuXVoplxomI98q6b8Rh/s1600-h/DSC_0145.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Rui6miO_55zFVO6vHRM_7_3-Zpwz8aqBUpbdH6GL_QZh28es6yv4KItefcBogL2BDSc9CIDza3lojP0SzDiKyOgxuodO91ZsfzzRuFU4p6NeybXJeIA0bS2JyFuXVoplxomI98q6b8Rh/s400/DSC_0145.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365987401836446242" /></a><br /><div>This past weekend, we headed up to Hanoi for a few days. I basically wanted to get off the island for a few days to do a little sight seeing, shopping, and soaking up a little city life. </div><div> </div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQEA_VMrkUFMuFsXUkThD7Xql-6jkbBl2ei0Y56I45H6o59TjTByRIoHvd2lnhlD-QN0Xw3RTZ2cTWc_kEcp-UfVNpL9XvpFWZ8HhvE2FF_vYdO9SZpGjZFDyvHSIn_E01orL5mOgBl4Dc/s1600-h/DSC00944.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQEA_VMrkUFMuFsXUkThD7Xql-6jkbBl2ei0Y56I45H6o59TjTByRIoHvd2lnhlD-QN0Xw3RTZ2cTWc_kEcp-UfVNpL9XvpFWZ8HhvE2FF_vYdO9SZpGjZFDyvHSIn_E01orL5mOgBl4Dc/s400/DSC00944.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365979296700192386" /></a><div>On Friday night, we went to a concert. We heard "the world's best beat boxer" was playing that night and decided we couldn't pass up a chance to see the world's best beat boxer, so we went. It was our first hip hop show and was pretty fun. I'm not convinced that Killa Kela is the best beat boxer in the world, but entertaining none the less. There was also a sweet break dancing dance off between two teams of boys from Hanoi. </div><div>Here's a video of some beat boxing, he's making all the sounds with his mouth. </div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxnMdjBHV_ek4lMVFEJiMKa1gyPbTjnSM3fc6cYmiSV-gCg5pde36XKJ826p1tNMXP44TVqpk5jkG6YI6zKnw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><div><br /><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 360px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8BGa3JjrAyaT2bB799cCtIxetWi_0xmrR7NvxjKPBjAH6SoXZIWuW9ctV8h0uju9l61ywUA-A-YyIKYv9rYRD2zaLHjrvauycSWX_CmYC1bI-RGYdmrH7PSyDjRFfBmYH2IB19DBq0e1n/s400/DSC00975.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365979290451531362" /></div><div>Our hotel was on a little alley street in the Old Quarter. The street was a little bustling market in the morning, but very quiet at night. </div><div><br /><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggXm2idUL3gnG5WWMoq7JXCHyX36wDeYpE09aWooWAtqSB1KZOWZ1ESAu1ZOD39TfhwzDz9gZQwweF9LMVn3vzUfZwdRMj3rrBcQ3OpY3LL2u4crQEaj2FL2FGYFSQEcOI9ldT-3bGgu3n/s400/DSC_0101.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365979289413150018" /></div><div>On Saturday morning, we went to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. They keep Ho Chi Minh's body preserved and mummified in this shrine. It's pretty bizarre. You must silently and respectfully shuffle around the mausoleum in a line. You cannot take your camera inside. The mausoleum is chilled and dark and only open three hours a day. Imagine if you could go see Jefferson, Lincoln, or Kennedy or any or all of our president's bodies preserved for the public to revere. It's a very somber visit for the Vietnamese, but for foreign visitors it's so bizarre to us, it's almost like a side show. Ho Chi Minh wanted to be cremated and have his ashes spread across Vietnam, but those in charge after his death created this giant spectacle against his wishes. </div><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-HrUvGcuVXeZnOJk9F-v16dh7An0eljeSBc_GJanYJkV8Te4fgvS8GdtkAbtr96_DmzcsaVlYudZXemV_Xy5mbbmrs4XW34Di_IZvymweI-29PDPFvXW84VauNT81rmuHyuRgtGG88V1t/s400/DSC_0113.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365987410324240690" /></div><div>Inside the Ho Chi Minh museum. </div><div><br /><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 360px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7JvXezvhALzJHjv2kGgTohAIuM_01cjTYjRplrqqGtKCHQnOUxVM29vc2JjmitGoSc86kj5HIZI_natCA9aheqi3vSGNWMmhJcsx_9tZpZ51nzsxKVm8lrulYZaCJ5Sh67lnlLA8YPYOp/s400/DSC00980.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365978595813354018" /></div><div>This is the one pillar pagoda, which is very near to the mausoleum. It's special because it's on one pillar!</div><div><br /></div><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 360px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjicM7cyJvxtpTiWbJmWo4sktapU2Lx9O-Fou_aNTW-8yixbOmEg-rp6jvlbjXxRc3Srbct7T4WOkzsPQR-cjOikPZ5x6AGwFY68cOPLrHdQyxcleKrCWZ7HLegK1E93AepB_xJMdhhQNI5/s400/DSC_0167.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365987405789990738" /><br /><div>Then we hit the next big tourist spot in Hanoi, the Temple of Literature. It is a temple dedicated to higher learning and where many Confucius scholars studied. <br /></div><div><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJmdSV6ZX0uQvJBc334m_vZZEwV6m2U1JbCe202a_D_cd98aN4034_S1syBf8hdKXiS3RHu_1K9gexMTEP6p_p42XTmojrt4M7Fp8b7LEQP8uLcpLePjeOf3W2hvy_jYG_-foHY5OwRJOf/s400/DSC_0156.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365987405730826434" /></div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhml2cyY7Noywj5aAwvW_dYWbsDsR1HmVRp3QKtegJvOzACMvM0m_MN-B7CXE8LpwYs2T4cWsBTslnAzpLlIa8taQPQNLgsVeNsSghNPRxQtkL3x4hV3sogRP5iLBJiuyGemre0YDfCPlbG/s400/DSC01011.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365978584929207714" /></div><div>Then we did a walking tour of the Old Quarter. It was originally the merchants quarter with each street selling a different type of goods, from an herb street to a towel and tin box street. Now, the Old Quarter is the main district for travelers. There are many hotels and restaurants catering to foreigners. </div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>There isn't actually too much to do in Hanoi besides drop money! There are plenty of shops and nice restaurants. We splurged on a few meals while in Hanoi (meaning we spent $15-20 on a meal for two rather than the $5-10 we usually spend in Cat Ba). I bought a new dress since the only dress I brought here got lost in the first week when our laundry disappeared from our hotel's laundry services. Matt picked up a few new books. We sought out a movie theater and enjoyed a movie resting in the cold air conditioning after a lot of walking around town. </div><div> </div><div>Below is Matt whining about being hot and tired. "Aaaashley, my feet hurt, I'm tired, I'm sweating through my shirt..... don't take a picture of me!" Also, his beard is getting ridiculous. I threaten to cut it at night. </div><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDFBttWnq7_v6LKXBNuH16SyO25cXtVLEfOzVCfb3guZHFx4eCNGBz7Hi7gsI3wOMP3_gNBYnCYdg63BcG_VOQcEWIqgFToOd75UyDl1koqWrqTWH5cdNCfaVHnq6oQFfjDkHCTGaI1sKg/s400/DSC01013.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365978578696657202" /></div></div></div></div></div></div>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-90275651907851977052009-07-21T01:15:00.007-04:002009-07-21T01:59:40.674-04:00Korea friends visit Cat Ba!As a few of our friends from Gwangju contracts were up, they stopped by Cat Ba and Halong Bay on the beginning of their journeys through Southeast Asia. Caitlin and Justin were the first to arrive and we rented a boat for a day and a night to cruise around Halong Bay.<br /><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6mBLLd14HlQCN7U_AnS2ufctZyQyq3Z6cqdt51IjVwGIPSPzRSRdGm9mgi9PIwwoesGjtHQ9Dol6CWJtboHnpeaRZdD3GVu4uEdg8snlYS8Q9uJRLRibSgf0fCMS7V9Jr-fDr0HxW_o_2/s400/DSC00881.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360782290749788530" /><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghIgTH_2mBGy2JOo1-KGFZOoj5LYCPhL6d-oI1biV78uSVBcavhQhsTzK9AejznrxJdhWmlSjGur5t4RQmzQOf9or1UaVz1dZUdJbwUyFN6Az7PlH2NRAxsv3fgLQ3Es9HNpxo37cjrXvm/s400/DSC00839.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360782312048212914" /><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRbjox8j8FNMizVFLBWFhLX7jOvdc7Vfpwx7QKqKZpkd3P58ovY-X785azID2OHwrUp7GmOs9z2UnT6SJz7PKm90FG2Jle9F3hcBv2nLQydLlCSB1rXN4nUdSQpn1uxfi85jJ6Le-Hiaae/s400/DSC00850.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360783842489008722" /><br />Justin tries his hand (s and feet!) at deep water soloing. <div><br /><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzX93zgka6_yQbGqLCGkaBbXhqoZoJf-rUGpQvguA-GgBBsN83vzKQQ87lNorrmvwTkM6OUAd2Yg7A-RlbqWojCPnmAgqSJgk7-0n-B8MdENcoVQaLD3ocU5xEirOAoytzGU95ERal0IvD/s400/DSC00876.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360782303680247234" /></div><div>It's feeding time at the floating fish farm.<br /><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnWSJB9kV6eqIbvLyaZrCB80MkDVWj7nyudGoKfA_agnpxXdx98bdK9DqTf1BySAqg2oRpJEj6Tjtul2CgGS8QEXfHJzTE6u9xTnMXQYLGsZC0ltf7ZqbYGhcP_tj4rMQyk3Y0HyYjn8Tt/s400/DSC00877.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360782302367913218" /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitrq1FS1H3tttJe7FN01ipSZkBY17Bd9XWKUNClHfwmG9d4lT6sF8p5CzpbRJ86WOiy8k8FNpoaE0ptj0V_yyUDaXh5tDQ4IIro-M79D423QVmc8z0bO2sulkaJmErgeDAODlsO0Vi5kcY/s1600-h/DSC00883.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitrq1FS1H3tttJe7FN01ipSZkBY17Bd9XWKUNClHfwmG9d4lT6sF8p5CzpbRJ86WOiy8k8FNpoaE0ptj0V_yyUDaXh5tDQ4IIro-M79D423QVmc8z0bO2sulkaJmErgeDAODlsO0Vi5kcY/s400/DSC00883.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360780539410488354" /></a></div><div>Kelly arrives after a storm delay and a detour to the north. We are rad on motorbikes. I kind of want one when I get home. </div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6sRx2F9gPxD1YvTz0ZdTLodP1ITzwIdfEDSbQj104-Y0eYgIbruJg7hX_cf1lxyVKz7JD-1WFOeqxUxAPpDS8f__AqNX9Ep0Oz6BwtA7TaFRawuJ73rbgYZc6v-Kc0nlFUWM_q4UC_QPQ/s1600-h/DSC00892.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6sRx2F9gPxD1YvTz0ZdTLodP1ITzwIdfEDSbQj104-Y0eYgIbruJg7hX_cf1lxyVKz7JD-1WFOeqxUxAPpDS8f__AqNX9Ep0Oz6BwtA7TaFRawuJ73rbgYZc6v-Kc0nlFUWM_q4UC_QPQ/s400/DSC00892.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360780533891353282" /></a></div><div>Enjoying some afternoon bia hoi and Justin cleans the mud off Caitlin's leg by spitting water on it. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOLbQpq0jFQ7uhNZKfno1OgZDE0F38OUIvOgKP83-fceyiasyL6NDF3wz0Zxx1VOT4sKaE1cAlx1_mgEkasdEwi-f01lBmlzgwO3Ne3clDC-byxZz0WJFapwKBVxfaZFObyPtyq1OXRM3L/s1600-h/DSC00895.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOLbQpq0jFQ7uhNZKfno1OgZDE0F38OUIvOgKP83-fceyiasyL6NDF3wz0Zxx1VOT4sKaE1cAlx1_mgEkasdEwi-f01lBmlzgwO3Ne3clDC-byxZz0WJFapwKBVxfaZFObyPtyq1OXRM3L/s400/DSC00895.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360780524939473874" /></a></div><div>On Saturday, we went Lien Minh, a village on the island where a lot of the climbing is located. We didn't get to climb long before we got shut down because the cliff is in the middle of lease negotiations. We spent the rest of the day lying in hammocks and trying to slackline. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirv3yaGZvxm5fVXLSHAO3wfZloyWeKAGsBVnF4dYPKhA6CdAjemS7uJIHWmCB7y_EC-c8uKbHb3ftgkmmTRzz-ydx9zQybNSKNVOLIwQqCbsENx3w5sNx4opltqLa20T9rvjfKYYW2Hwjm/s1600-h/DSC00903.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirv3yaGZvxm5fVXLSHAO3wfZloyWeKAGsBVnF4dYPKhA6CdAjemS7uJIHWmCB7y_EC-c8uKbHb3ftgkmmTRzz-ydx9zQybNSKNVOLIwQqCbsENx3w5sNx4opltqLa20T9rvjfKYYW2Hwjm/s400/DSC00903.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360780521754792930" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJoTg8ntViAT4b4MlZP9KVNS6CH6cZwaVkCJ7w6xf_7bq9f7mEsZQ9nRHZJEHkKdglUVjjkJ5SKeTMgCndK0-Wicpxar1bYlkz8IbZZS8ZmTCN1irFIFnyQ7PKCO6DIxFJUmj_e-4hkTBn/s1600-h/DSC00907.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJoTg8ntViAT4b4MlZP9KVNS6CH6cZwaVkCJ7w6xf_7bq9f7mEsZQ9nRHZJEHkKdglUVjjkJ5SKeTMgCndK0-Wicpxar1bYlkz8IbZZS8ZmTCN1irFIFnyQ7PKCO6DIxFJUmj_e-4hkTBn/s400/DSC00907.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360780512024208018" /></a></div><div>This boy was very enthusiastic about having his picture taken and taking our cameras to try his hand at a bit of photography. I now have many photos of this water buffalo and his friend.</div><div><br /></div><div>Trang's family was visiting Cat Ba from Hue. We were really lucky to be invited to a big dinner in Lien Minh with Slo Pony folks and all the people that help them here. Trinh and Nha facilitate climbers at Butterfly Valley. I teach their son, Tuan. Also, Quang and his wife. Quang is a very important man around Cat Ba and owns the boats Slo Pony uses for their bay trips. This dinner involved a food and a lot of homemade honey rice wine! </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYiVErXZhmIjSfCcMWfaC1gPV4UMc07eSRWAOUxRARAniRIURasB3wghmSLyakvTsbAJfflbhk6h8y6IdMG5sq0YJmC1EbWPjSoumZYNzF_OBgNRG8F9Q4-wPpxjI81BqgdHuFLKNRST2X/s1600-h/DSC00921.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYiVErXZhmIjSfCcMWfaC1gPV4UMc07eSRWAOUxRARAniRIURasB3wghmSLyakvTsbAJfflbhk6h8y6IdMG5sq0YJmC1EbWPjSoumZYNzF_OBgNRG8F9Q4-wPpxjI81BqgdHuFLKNRST2X/s400/DSC00921.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360778864757824770" /></a></div><div>This is Dinh and Vu. They are Trang's younger brothers and Slo Pony rock climbing guides. I'm teaching them English and I just love them! They're really great guys and super cool, just look at Dinh's hair. (He's only 20, but I just found out he was a hair stylist before getting into rock climbing.)</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaU-FgKmRR5w2JAIvZwj9BR5nEa4ev4OaBu4C3RyvLw8Ec7pnLwMJq8nt0iEPZqDCHyGzpfzR2OrHFX4KtdqnpO_mxEUVSBnnv0oO56ErI04iYvXkaUTTrKE1C-AnuiGhGB7-N-Jlyp5QR/s1600-h/DSC00929.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaU-FgKmRR5w2JAIvZwj9BR5nEa4ev4OaBu4C3RyvLw8Ec7pnLwMJq8nt0iEPZqDCHyGzpfzR2OrHFX4KtdqnpO_mxEUVSBnnv0oO56ErI04iYvXkaUTTrKE1C-AnuiGhGB7-N-Jlyp5QR/s400/DSC00929.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360778856938350946" /></a></div><div>The honey rice wine was flowing and Trinh and Slo couldn't help from dancing!</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhywafo51QBAcmM7bQMZjuevmtS5jxohZ3RV7joYfPsnckhONUcnj21xnmgdA9RW-mqo7ibrgpZP3FJ9nRbPrfclPI-nsK7lwMaw_zygnQa9OHNOKFp7mh7oP1Sl1pa8m3L5PkaWZoInNkN/s1600-h/DSC00930.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhywafo51QBAcmM7bQMZjuevmtS5jxohZ3RV7joYfPsnckhONUcnj21xnmgdA9RW-mqo7ibrgpZP3FJ9nRbPrfclPI-nsK7lwMaw_zygnQa9OHNOKFp7mh7oP1Sl1pa8m3L5PkaWZoInNkN/s400/DSC00930.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360778849466165970" /></a></div><div>Caitlin is getting a Vietnamese lesson from Tuan, also a really great young man that I'm teaching as well. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgllK5T2Oa6N49LXT6vlYEp5UAmLSx7XqL4ugvVyE9CcRWPEoYt3SU5ez7PbhKtV0mooFG5ensaqM39TCB0IkiGldYPbgNDD_X6uktYUx5_RXVK4WdQ0Ol2_WA8Vdz2TniGZM4hMUNsFVCg/s1600-h/DSC00933.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgllK5T2Oa6N49LXT6vlYEp5UAmLSx7XqL4ugvVyE9CcRWPEoYt3SU5ez7PbhKtV0mooFG5ensaqM39TCB0IkiGldYPbgNDD_X6uktYUx5_RXVK4WdQ0Ol2_WA8Vdz2TniGZM4hMUNsFVCg/s400/DSC00933.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360778849106088162" /></a></div><div>This is Trang, Dinh, and Vu's youngest brother, Vinh. He is the cutest (and sneakiest) thing ever. Whenever my back was turned, my rice wine glass was suddenly full again. Usually, I want to steal children under three or four years old, but I would steal him. </div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ-SWt_JSzYCMjZD8b-rI0dwL3KWZdZP4KpIHMhZp30FNWAYLHrmq3odNn3TfbBNnkNEoOayxbRSlEXSfrCOlDcE2XWGkyl5RLlGrpYfKnvE-fAiUHwbZgAeZM-OQX3JbMpVa_5Kt7IF4z/s1600-h/DSC00936.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ-SWt_JSzYCMjZD8b-rI0dwL3KWZdZP4KpIHMhZp30FNWAYLHrmq3odNn3TfbBNnkNEoOayxbRSlEXSfrCOlDcE2XWGkyl5RLlGrpYfKnvE-fAiUHwbZgAeZM-OQX3JbMpVa_5Kt7IF4z/s400/DSC00936.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360778836919622402" /></a><br /></div><div>Here's a group shot of our extended Vietnamese family dinner. It was really a great night and I'm glad our Korea friends got a chance to share it with us! </div>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-13061822476089813112009-07-21T00:58:00.005-04:002009-07-21T01:14:31.610-04:00Rainy Season Begins....Last weekend, we were rained in all day and cabin fever set in hard. All the boats on and off the island were cancelled, which delayed our Korea friends a few days, but more on their visit later. They tell me that this past storm was hardly a storm at all, but it look like a whole lot of rain to me! <div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioxSg3FMemadbt6ScWA8JMUidd2T1DA-sE8BFynv7lWtygm8iDVmRA8hNTsjgFqzi6JSsf0M674RoBFwhdPg_VSYqpwYGAlggGVwxwfpJ69Yc-Q1-alV-oQTD_1FbC7ZYpu0l_0tFOfDyC/s400/DSC00818.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360774118211774930" /></div><div>This was the bottom of the main street after the rain stopped. There was a huge pile of rocks from the steady stream of water running downhill to the harbor. <img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmje4WUVc4DCI5L_Ssw8m4JOUSJ-lqzlHwR8_NI31VdJotx2TdJmRJioPcGWkEWxGdD8IA4WECAQv0yVOY8e0NRp2PAtGKm0jwp80-WkfLRd6B-Oy-6Iq7PPaWbcPumufEc00_hoNaqnKt/s400/DSC00822.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360775184160306098" /></div><div>This isn't a very good picture, but where the water changes color is the line between where the water is brown from all the dirt runoff coming downhill and the regular water. </div><div><br /></div><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4U-KTJIZCbd0NlA4RAHUcuIit2AhjEFhyB4nyiLPFo8ZKe2tvfF-wvdj_Ig-zEoaAeP_ynEKvRY2Q_ckdssPx1qlHzxWehvvIeLQ-oREI8e2eS6Tt4xi_-tVtATQG1m5GTyKhrcrEnFa5/s400/DSC00824.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360775165221599250" /></div><div>Brian's motorbike got a bit too soaked to start up again and instantly had a team of Vietnamese amateur motorbike mechanics. I believe they broke it while trying to fix it, fixed what they broke, then, in true Vietnamese style, asked Brian to pay them for fixing what they broke .</div><div><br /></div><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJqkKPuAPJ461ioaCF3MjmHd5WsnRYpgvxICTmZZHyhCl0ihClHnknArt8RSJOBf2fNzsJBAxcxotCF4e3Jxvc2u3BSDleXyTWyyZwa5cY-GmAscu4gi-sjQ9g64bym-PJUthPAiVup0qC/s400/DSC00826.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360775169909484674" /></div><div>A few of the girls who work at the Noble House. </div><div><br /></div><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFa7PmFUEdpGhOl9j2Ocek6VW_qzhIPqkhyaU0Xaqi6G8JlnMZDdN6P3d6sh68S_ODL0CIOkPoMLmwe2eSXIQUteK6p1eLOm-yQeh7XWzPlbX5yzJm1Tph3wXWpRCKNAGdcv28YA9PtliF/s400/DSC00830.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360775179834707234" /></div><div>This is Llet (sounds like "let" with a long l and a hard t). She is the sassiest of Noble House girls. She is always hitting Matt and telling him his beard makes him look like a monkey. I'm pretending that she is tormenting me because she usually is. Here we are having a cabin fever photo shoot in the kitchen. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm pretty sure we will be rained in many more days before the summer is through. </div><div> </div><div> </div>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-73450257621120813862009-07-12T23:18:00.004-04:002009-07-12T23:39:24.214-04:00Photo update....<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNnwg4duvAvj1DB6nJW_VYghEz4kEY8wFo8rPvhQMH0Z5lv5Rszui_ppcErHj0hH7laX_LdAs1UelmeSMjVjE-FyamCYA48j6LRvza8nBJldOZerv34p36GKl_SpW3DZjEuLOZFh5egOjv/s1600-h/DSC00663.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNnwg4duvAvj1DB6nJW_VYghEz4kEY8wFo8rPvhQMH0Z5lv5Rszui_ppcErHj0hH7laX_LdAs1UelmeSMjVjE-FyamCYA48j6LRvza8nBJldOZerv34p36GKl_SpW3DZjEuLOZFh5egOjv/s400/DSC00663.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357780923521937586" /></a><div>This is the giant neon arch in the center of town. Why an island that isn't exactly affluent spent a quarter of a million dollars on this neon monster, I don't know. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDTzqf-sEPI4ulxKCh_GGl0IPVF-Px-fHAtiJM-pJKEHUPJLKZTA4BCAtHUkvFUfSm2eeCPYEJEM14mQNAq3srJ6d63VKsGUgyBMPelDSEdGxlVhNBV38efwmYOwDEKXqUdsAE0eQjtQvw/s1600-h/DSC00668.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDTzqf-sEPI4ulxKCh_GGl0IPVF-Px-fHAtiJM-pJKEHUPJLKZTA4BCAtHUkvFUfSm2eeCPYEJEM14mQNAq3srJ6d63VKsGUgyBMPelDSEdGxlVhNBV38efwmYOwDEKXqUdsAE0eQjtQvw/s400/DSC00668.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357780913816531554" /></a></div><div>This is my classroom at the National Park. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_CRXos1JdutmdFSQ027Yd58Te0wzYnGM7nebq2A0TF4l7J560Wdt-OrA_TzTzgH_JvOIVuhPkXDFFO0dJO9mu3tSzeFP1HdUgMCllS8AJBr6imjM4eWJXS3Pw9KS2pOu51w6ouw8E34G7/s1600-h/DSC00699.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_CRXos1JdutmdFSQ027Yd58Te0wzYnGM7nebq2A0TF4l7J560Wdt-OrA_TzTzgH_JvOIVuhPkXDFFO0dJO9mu3tSzeFP1HdUgMCllS8AJBr6imjM4eWJXS3Pw9KS2pOu51w6ouw8E34G7/s400/DSC00699.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357780898040250962" /></a></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHjWsbdXXngIcTJzt9_NqmY-yIjJRW3al4HQCYKDm4A9teO7WFkR2FAzSzKUwQhlLZuSp2gPzsdWQYFnEL9bV4hHXoNDgPedZGsWL0y1u66Q2ywS3FuHffjoUIZiLKb76H4MZMucOQFp53/s1600-h/DSC00707.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHjWsbdXXngIcTJzt9_NqmY-yIjJRW3al4HQCYKDm4A9teO7WFkR2FAzSzKUwQhlLZuSp2gPzsdWQYFnEL9bV4hHXoNDgPedZGsWL0y1u66Q2ywS3FuHffjoUIZiLKb76H4MZMucOQFp53/s400/DSC00707.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357780895246278514" /></a></div><div>Kayaking in a Slo Pony kayak. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6JO5abFICPDDOclycIxISP6qz_ilOHQvObo_SfCFIP0qWL2_9htdb3TydtE-qOn1my14Ldlivfk9zfccKCTrD6get4WvILvIKp9qQhwi-Kkg9JuKR0blHKPQ7Fjr8UN0-4c117IZx-jB/s1600-h/DSC00709.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 360px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6JO5abFICPDDOclycIxISP6qz_ilOHQvObo_SfCFIP0qWL2_9htdb3TydtE-qOn1my14Ldlivfk9zfccKCTrD6get4WvILvIKp9qQhwi-Kkg9JuKR0blHKPQ7Fjr8UN0-4c117IZx-jB/s400/DSC00709.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357780215709950642" /></a></div><div>I had to cajole Matt into letting me use his dry bag so I could bring my camera in the kayak. He doesn't like to let go of his dry bag. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmio9I0ZuonAqMO0g16DgHAZuVLqXSP50xqlw9gpY1rNOie8HSpW5PxLEbPyMRJ-6GIqUuTgvWKawxwPOt8sCWF9nDZjujihr3XaiLgdSC9DAVdP0unki1sSQel77v7253hJm9MidLs1pg/s1600-h/DSC00724.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmio9I0ZuonAqMO0g16DgHAZuVLqXSP50xqlw9gpY1rNOie8HSpW5PxLEbPyMRJ-6GIqUuTgvWKawxwPOt8sCWF9nDZjujihr3XaiLgdSC9DAVdP0unki1sSQel77v7253hJm9MidLs1pg/s400/DSC00724.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357780213742812882" /></a></div><div>Sometimes, it just rains.....</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-TjbyRRVSYOKSEiP_BM49oJxs1wzF2hyphenhyphencILWsJ5kJoKlenlyjekl3XYfTT-5MGvYeUCtMjGT3_bKeAeVhracchfTQpVuoQrNu4PlTKKdgZbxHyDzQ9vrQg0pEj37_lUOwgoOFi6STUGTP/s1600-h/DSC00734.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-TjbyRRVSYOKSEiP_BM49oJxs1wzF2hyphenhyphencILWsJ5kJoKlenlyjekl3XYfTT-5MGvYeUCtMjGT3_bKeAeVhracchfTQpVuoQrNu4PlTKKdgZbxHyDzQ9vrQg0pEj37_lUOwgoOFi6STUGTP/s400/DSC00734.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357780208857663426" /></a></div><div>The view from the watchtower in the National Park. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMVKYbp0Mc7l1vYbo7-q8-Xgk0ADztK2Y9DOGIwzpIYOaoPCsL8b06dZxM1Z0fIgmf4vFl_DlClYx_NTyjdLDVMXOGrWi-CpHG2ovfZlp9LzTyhPXVT35A1uZSjPOem5Ya3Mwi8m6VW5qk/s1600-h/DSC00741.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMVKYbp0Mc7l1vYbo7-q8-Xgk0ADztK2Y9DOGIwzpIYOaoPCsL8b06dZxM1Z0fIgmf4vFl_DlClYx_NTyjdLDVMXOGrWi-CpHG2ovfZlp9LzTyhPXVT35A1uZSjPOem5Ya3Mwi8m6VW5qk/s400/DSC00741.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357780209187241026" /></a></div><div>The scary, rusty watchtower in the National Park. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGjNjJgkeS30E117EvgyW53HxJcuZ3p-DNemsyy7yaDE0l1UPzjl3HlaoCXpiepLGhNmF2-88Hvm0a1rqfG21dzgGVEfS3_IqapMfuzKihcfyWLZg3LYja9_q6OgUzZtGNpmjTzwubBvw3/s1600-h/DSC00742.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGjNjJgkeS30E117EvgyW53HxJcuZ3p-DNemsyy7yaDE0l1UPzjl3HlaoCXpiepLGhNmF2-88Hvm0a1rqfG21dzgGVEfS3_IqapMfuzKihcfyWLZg3LYja9_q6OgUzZtGNpmjTzwubBvw3/s400/DSC00742.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357780204450672210" /></a></div><div>Very very sweaty from hiking. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbncFIms41PA-PIRLgYuAubVCbCJ-nqlc6HTZKhwP5SdA2eh7Cf9n-kzcUlgne7Mli2HxK9gjLmCtqInC8e6uOxCB1jHGr4DGUNrnQjfbXb7AX9BFyxR4IkwMMCLpqySwWMPZ0P1tDqXBp/s1600-h/DSC00751.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbncFIms41PA-PIRLgYuAubVCbCJ-nqlc6HTZKhwP5SdA2eh7Cf9n-kzcUlgne7Mli2HxK9gjLmCtqInC8e6uOxCB1jHGr4DGUNrnQjfbXb7AX9BFyxR4IkwMMCLpqySwWMPZ0P1tDqXBp/s400/DSC00751.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357779505858534594" /></a></div><div>This is the entrance to Hospital Cave. It's a Vietnamese secret hospital they used during the American War (as they call it here, we know it as the Vietnam War). It's three stories inside a natural cave. I don't have any good pictures from the inside because it was so dark, but it was mainly empty concrete rooms. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfRSDVd5wA01ofsBkgeYFTL_2_rMqbnXHsolZMILxMxn0IurQ8-XoR-R4v5eL_-qlcLv8B_HHN0iEv5aBe3ArfGjgFM9i4GbBo4yqWSWLcrXwWEfSiXIdNDgpWFEuGx_vYTkYBLso8-Z5J/s1600-h/DSC00775.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfRSDVd5wA01ofsBkgeYFTL_2_rMqbnXHsolZMILxMxn0IurQ8-XoR-R4v5eL_-qlcLv8B_HHN0iEv5aBe3ArfGjgFM9i4GbBo4yqWSWLcrXwWEfSiXIdNDgpWFEuGx_vYTkYBLso8-Z5J/s400/DSC00775.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357779499004087874" /></a></div><div>This is a very tiny kitten that belongs to Trang, Erik's wife. </div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEituPsoZxJfpOqdPfxsqWm-NFUAWfgv2ZUAr_ykOg94Z-YThY83TYVsWTYzXU6xzlDPgGr6mTNyshjeKjl4ruAa7NmXD-YNBtzgoA_10Y4H-9WT1Rc0QXEeOk3kPd_mL8ZwuB2TTQmxJV6Q/s1600-h/DSC00785.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEituPsoZxJfpOqdPfxsqWm-NFUAWfgv2ZUAr_ykOg94Z-YThY83TYVsWTYzXU6xzlDPgGr6mTNyshjeKjl4ruAa7NmXD-YNBtzgoA_10Y4H-9WT1Rc0QXEeOk3kPd_mL8ZwuB2TTQmxJV6Q/s400/DSC00785.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357779494608135986" /></a></div><div>Vietnamese tourists. The beaches are beautifully quiet before 3:30pm, then the Vietnamese come out in force when the sun is a bit less fierce. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAFLHq68u-W2BBZhyphenhyphenG1ozY2rfj8bWHv696s5ISj7pc6TTEn8YZgVF_Y4DDUtJiplV7zFfBln6KtLPxl_AnfjWIY_QBbqHG4FmCa2mZo3oVTMC7uu9e6aRhc_Og0_b7pUmbx6UxIoGE1Ami/s1600-h/DSC00796.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAFLHq68u-W2BBZhyphenhyphenG1ozY2rfj8bWHv696s5ISj7pc6TTEn8YZgVF_Y4DDUtJiplV7zFfBln6KtLPxl_AnfjWIY_QBbqHG4FmCa2mZo3oVTMC7uu9e6aRhc_Og0_b7pUmbx6UxIoGE1Ami/s400/DSC00796.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357779491687734482" /></a></div><div>Matt is getting a massage from Mr. Vu, our massage guy. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUmLb1pGINFGoalxDDHr9iFjV3gtcZdaX5dOEfegpna24EXda9kaqz6vacgpjI9VDMS7ej6fG9DzUvVbxdY3VeII3TQKBAnSymfKreybz7dtQ6o-GyOgaTg77DBIz9N49oyiwjHd17bTa8/s1600-h/DSC00801.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUmLb1pGINFGoalxDDHr9iFjV3gtcZdaX5dOEfegpna24EXda9kaqz6vacgpjI9VDMS7ej6fG9DzUvVbxdY3VeII3TQKBAnSymfKreybz7dtQ6o-GyOgaTg77DBIz9N49oyiwjHd17bTa8/s400/DSC00801.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357779485898391090" /></a></div><div>An empty beach before the tourists fill it. </div>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-60458648552048416942009-07-05T01:30:00.004-04:002009-07-05T03:52:03.308-04:00A few videos...<div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy87698CZZ9cQBlDouTbzbZAUQ0kbqq0F_1OGWp3Sfe8bypaH8GBBXDcSu2S5AdlcVxot-2FHGgXfj_PryYIQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /></div><div>This is a time lapse video that I shot from the roof of our hotel. It's about 30 minutes condensed into about a minute and a half. This harbor is where many of the tourists on the island board their Halong bay cruises and is quite bustling in the morning! The littlest boats are actually the loudest and start waking us up around 5:30am. </div>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-35602393481061677402009-06-20T06:44:00.002-04:002009-06-20T07:06:56.227-04:00Cat Ba UpdateI have been a bit lax with updating this blog. I don't always have the Internet right in front of my face here!<br /><br />Since my last update, we have been settling into our jobs and lives here. Matt has started guiding and working in the office for Slopony and I started both of my teaching gigs last week. Teaching here is incredibly different than in Korea. Here I'm totally on my own, which is both a relief and a challenge.<br /><br />I started teaching my classes at the National Park last week. I went on Monday afternoon for a meeting to organize the group of 34 students into three classes. However, it seems there was some sort of party celebrating rangers visiting from another National Park. About half of my students were too drunk to show up! We organized the classes anyway, but now they are being reorganized because apparently drunk organizers don't organize classes well!<br /><br />The National Park classes got off to a rocky start last week. Most of them have a very low English level. I have been telling them that we don't need a translator, but one of my classes went and retrieved one during the break. There seems to be several sets of expectations about what will be happening with English lessons at the National Park, which is difficult to balance. Our main goal is to improve their pronunciation so we are using simple vocabulary. Many already know these words, so they think it is not helpful and they are bored. I'm trying to get them to understand that if no one can understand you, it doesn't matter how many words you know! This coming week should be better as the classes are being rearranged by level. I go there three afternoons a week and meet each group for about 2.5 hours.<br /><br />My other English teaching post here is to work with the Vietnamese staff of Slopony. They are the wife of one of the owners and two of her younger brothers who help belay and guide on trips. I'm also supposed to teach the son of the farmer who owns the cliff with most of the climbing on the island. He didn't come to the first lesson because he was sick, but I think he's worred he can't afford the lessons. I need to tell him that I don't really want any money from him. He's a sweet, smart kid from a poor farming family and I really couldn't take any money from him. He leads trekking trips for SloPony sometimes. They are all really nice and sweet. Two of the boys are about 20 and the younger brother is about 18. We have lessons three times a week also, but I see them all the time so I'm trying to verbally quiz them everytime I see them. If they can speak English, at least conversationally, they will have much better opportunities living on a tourist island. I think I 'll see a lot more improvement with this group.<br /><br />In other news, I learned to drive the motorbike this week! It was the first step on my list of things to become badass. I can now drive myself all over the island. Also, I have somehow managed to catch a sneezy, snotty, sore throat cold in tropical conditions! I haven't been taking many pictures, but I'll pick up the slack on that too.Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-87818861222583090312009-06-10T01:49:00.011-04:002009-06-10T02:16:59.799-04:00We're in VIETNAM!<div><div><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_hjcdVFcfDV3ZjzTiPShZFLDmgnahyphenhyphen1S3ARPgs7rONB_3Alz73rs0QC3j9ma-oQbDZ_FIQ911BcEgegjGWm2R-9AS8Wio52Chcb_5cPRaSN5cmV8N2cOq4rG_yBJy7mT7FHJeH70ssdxj/s1600-h/DSC00493.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345572617199154258" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_hjcdVFcfDV3ZjzTiPShZFLDmgnahyphenhyphen1S3ARPgs7rONB_3Alz73rs0QC3j9ma-oQbDZ_FIQ911BcEgegjGWm2R-9AS8Wio52Chcb_5cPRaSN5cmV8N2cOq4rG_yBJy7mT7FHJeH70ssdxj/s400/DSC00493.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />We left our home of one year last Tuesday afternoon. We headed to the train station and took the KTX train to Seoul. We stuck near the train station because it had everything we needed, an airport bus stop and a giant jimjilbang. We got a room accidentally in the red light district. I didn't know that Korea had a red light district, but our hotel was on a street with sliding glass door store-fronts and girls in tight pants and bikini tops. We were surprised that Korea could ever be that open about prostitution (or whatever goes on behind the store front). But anyway, we saw a movie and got our last jjimjilbang fix, slept then got on the airport bus early in the morning.</div><div><br />We arrived in Hanoi without any problems. Our flight was really good. We had the emergency exit row and they showed Slumdog Millionaire for the in-flight movie. Our visas went through without a hitch and our pre-arranged airport pickup was waiting with a white sign with my name on it!<br /><br /><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOXwGA7pCQ3jUYocoPByMi32Gj_oJjrBrqUpQjSNuh9FGFoq9BW5ho1eIOdWSVLuI1jjq008yY3qO0qbewRwkw9gY7wKSYyTD1i5U0ASSGq2LDZGyRirT9H9kYfejB4RsKiGqYCf1mU5Ur/s1600-h/DSC00501.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345573120058840034" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOXwGA7pCQ3jUYocoPByMi32Gj_oJjrBrqUpQjSNuh9FGFoq9BW5ho1eIOdWSVLuI1jjq008yY3qO0qbewRwkw9gY7wKSYyTD1i5U0ASSGq2LDZGyRirT9H9kYfejB4RsKiGqYCf1mU5Ur/s400/DSC00501.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzBsF7tc5epAOJXnBSbDcUZuwH1a7dTYq0zHpUhjq0cCtL_faXiTz7Y7j_vs2Eq8dc3rCVeDIVGm8OFPC_37aqn88c8yfarUJAaboPyYcL1ocDX8mRQ5WMg6aSfq1YDlFCldzpbnH06sSj/s1600-h/DSC00495.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345573116975456050" style="WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzBsF7tc5epAOJXnBSbDcUZuwH1a7dTYq0zHpUhjq0cCtL_faXiTz7Y7j_vs2Eq8dc3rCVeDIVGm8OFPC_37aqn88c8yfarUJAaboPyYcL1ocDX8mRQ5WMg6aSfq1YDlFCldzpbnH06sSj/s400/DSC00495.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />We checked into our hotel and wandered around the Old Quarter of Hanoi a bit. We had some good food, walked around the lake, and dodged motorbike traffic. We watched a water puppet show. The stage is a pool of water and the puppeteers stand behind bamboo screens and operate these marionettes. The puppets don't have strings, but are on the end of a long bamboo pole. It was pretty cool. Pictured above is bustle of Hanoi and this cute boy about the enjoy a meal with me in Hanoi!</div><div> </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqrXyPS4jfvDsPkPnDaDHdp5rdMdsKZl_jWbZgKQDjKDtFbAWVLfiCOh7KwBF0BB1U_jYZJkRdDs4s1Y6Vurne4z3vpFO7_nexqv3wEobzNkCFHf1VQFFUEPVPRuevB5ZLlL1fAivoGCV6/s1600-h/DSC00517.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345573125702463266" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqrXyPS4jfvDsPkPnDaDHdp5rdMdsKZl_jWbZgKQDjKDtFbAWVLfiCOh7KwBF0BB1U_jYZJkRdDs4s1Y6Vurne4z3vpFO7_nexqv3wEobzNkCFHf1VQFFUEPVPRuevB5ZLlL1fAivoGCV6/s400/DSC00517.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Thursday morning, we began our trek to Cat Ba Island from Hanoi. It starts by taking a 2.5 hour drive to Hai Phong, the largest port city near the island. In Hai Phong, we get off and wait for another bus to take us the the ferry port. Then we hop on a high speed ferry for about 30 minutes, and finally get on one last bus that took us to the center of Cat Ba Town. It sounds more arduous and difficult than it really is. You buy one ticket in Hanoi that covers all the transfers.<br />We walked into Slo Pony and met our boss and other Slo Pony employees. Our room was still being occupied for one more night, so we stayed in a hotel for the first night on the main drag of Cat Ba Town. There were speakers blaring with a karaoke contest. The Vietnamese are also huge fans of karaoke, like Koreans. However, Vietnamese karaoke seems to be better if everyone on the street can hear you.<br /><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNY7371WrJcHgDTJLMRkoBaiomu9SWhi-fpLv-FCJ-0E-ulG4hu9Ko3EVzvp5yMCE-le6Aovp_7h2UwGzGhMzErEHy0JIeH3v2nsZb3zw870MkjnT1BTUEp25HQJ301cuCWkfveERaKYoP/s1600-h/DSC00519.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345573134414159922" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNY7371WrJcHgDTJLMRkoBaiomu9SWhi-fpLv-FCJ-0E-ulG4hu9Ko3EVzvp5yMCE-le6Aovp_7h2UwGzGhMzErEHy0JIeH3v2nsZb3zw870MkjnT1BTUEp25HQJ301cuCWkfveERaKYoP/s400/DSC00519.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div>The main drag along the harbor of Cat Ba Town. The bright orange building on the right is Slo Pony headquarters and Noble House, the restaurant that hooks us up! We've already befriended all the girls that work their. They are quite curious as the why Matt hasn't married me yet! He tells them that I am too dangerous!<br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWcqotxC16c0cl5oKcC6wHBnpfmwSiVVRa-yXNe_L_FMyNHw8mVSYkb8qLp1h3c7ykzGCEyBXYNrYCka-vNzLGF-5lx6aOnWOBvHcRc9oq24BFrk7ytjMRothChypyH2fXUpZ5fr2R2nWY/s1600-h/DSC00530.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345573132961453634" style="WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWcqotxC16c0cl5oKcC6wHBnpfmwSiVVRa-yXNe_L_FMyNHw8mVSYkb8qLp1h3c7ykzGCEyBXYNrYCka-vNzLGF-5lx6aOnWOBvHcRc9oq24BFrk7ytjMRothChypyH2fXUpZ5fr2R2nWY/s400/DSC00530.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />On Friday morning, we were able to move into our permanent room here. We had to load ourselves and our heavy bags onto motorbikes to get there. We are staying in Ben Beo Harbor, which is only a few minute ride from the main part of town. Our room is very nice. We have our own bathroom, mini-fridge, and air-conditioning! It's pretty hot here. Our room has a waterfront view. We can throw a pebble from our front door into the harbor. It's by far the best view I ever had from a living situation. It's quieter than town because there is less traffic and people, but there are plenty of boat engines to get you up at sunrise. Ben Beo harbor is where most tourists board their Ha Long Bay cruises on the island. Above is Matt standing in our doorway, modeling the view from our room and below is our room is the state of unpacking!</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD3cyifWAwxandTeWTzvF32FbmpqbvK0t-kQnFYE2KQgjdGTJn_8dbmR4g3hip2ke2JvlBSe2Hyv8qUQA3JYMNC-pDP6ecO8YXokiVCIO_f50qDDbWqG3ZMGeYtFYjuTdTDPP7Q7nHIzKe/s1600-h/DSC00531.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345575692612972674" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD3cyifWAwxandTeWTzvF32FbmpqbvK0t-kQnFYE2KQgjdGTJn_8dbmR4g3hip2ke2JvlBSe2Hyv8qUQA3JYMNC-pDP6ecO8YXokiVCIO_f50qDDbWqG3ZMGeYtFYjuTdTDPP7Q7nHIzKe/s400/DSC00531.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIK7oBGPfMMf5ycse4yBJDFRl8Oi1EYmq3LULVddXIEI5E2nvcS_DIYcw300eODJQkxAGmopaUJxvnIUYOJZrwbcp4VeJySGnOsi3jlWandqErgqrjYBd5UC20LNhOICnhH7mjMhyIW3Bl/s1600-h/DSC00535.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345575700241083538" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIK7oBGPfMMf5ycse4yBJDFRl8Oi1EYmq3LULVddXIEI5E2nvcS_DIYcw300eODJQkxAGmopaUJxvnIUYOJZrwbcp4VeJySGnOsi3jlWandqErgqrjYBd5UC20LNhOICnhH7mjMhyIW3Bl/s400/DSC00535.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />The exterior of our new home.<br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEgoBoWC3CK-ZOv7Vil0PCBEFY81zz1m008w09UCtmhjIK4xRX9KBKdxz2BOwB7Ab0BYSXhyphenhyphenL3JvredFNJecbH86xxvb2jr9eYwgO6LALrWNm7Z3ppOAomQQAylQZTL_WacB-iODu1_yT1/s1600-h/DSC00539.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345575703447413906" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEgoBoWC3CK-ZOv7Vil0PCBEFY81zz1m008w09UCtmhjIK4xRX9KBKdxz2BOwB7Ab0BYSXhyphenhyphenL3JvredFNJecbH86xxvb2jr9eYwgO6LALrWNm7Z3ppOAomQQAylQZTL_WacB-iODu1_yT1/s400/DSC00539.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />As its our first week here and we are both working out the details of our working situations here, we've been going to the beach almost every day. The beach is quite nice and we are working on our tans despite slatherings of sunscreen. </div><div><br /><br /> </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQO4VSypuLh83QDIHwU8O3brezK7OpCKHipJUCJLsErdxGZs0VDhrod_OQMWa-SS7yzv315HNRhentYyKf0CR9yrluoWVE59KV-bBQffUGsbmBtlz9J4aCH668paXaNNPoJSjmLj_A5vI/s1600-h/DSC00542.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345575705037060210" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQO4VSypuLh83QDIHwU8O3brezK7OpCKHipJUCJLsErdxGZs0VDhrod_OQMWa-SS7yzv315HNRhentYyKf0CR9yrluoWVE59KV-bBQffUGsbmBtlz9J4aCH668paXaNNPoJSjmLj_A5vI/s400/DSC00542.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div>(A view from our motorbike tour of the island- Jurrassic Park could have been filmed here!)</div><div><br />Our mode of transportation is no different from any other Vietnamese person. We ride a motorbike like everyone else. Matt is doing all of the driving right now, but soon I will learn to drive it myself. I will need to drive it to get out to my lesson in the National Park. Aaah! It's scary, but it's my first step in becoming badass. On Saturday, we rode the motorbike all around the island and did a tour. It only takes about two hours to drive all the main roads on the island.<br />On the days we haven't gone to the beach, we tagged along on the climbing trips Slo Pony offers. On Sunday, we rode out the Butterfly Valley (and the name doesn't lie, there were tons of butterflies). This is the main climbing spot on the island. It's a huge cliff on one side of a farm. Matt climbed, I watched. </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRrjvN1eGD4p9-IB0SidqW5u-VnhRtsYYt8Yl4KLFx-__aYZHZHTvqO3hLHJqaAU0ebtnJvhpEmp6RV8qSg276DJ4rxkvitN-ViRmfl_zA560yKy9RQiXd-Qwr8OJLOtsYjDa1FCYFK3ZL/s1600-h/DSC00581.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345575710106114706" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRrjvN1eGD4p9-IB0SidqW5u-VnhRtsYYt8Yl4KLFx-__aYZHZHTvqO3hLHJqaAU0ebtnJvhpEmp6RV8qSg276DJ4rxkvitN-ViRmfl_zA560yKy9RQiXd-Qwr8OJLOtsYjDa1FCYFK3ZL/s400/DSC00581.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivGJU9oS5oIa-ZJC40Pgh6jCzclqbqCf6uAs6oCrNwtHc21MdNfN9_ErpZff3OqJDIMgQqEeE9jlX4GgXUgjzF4r9BMzkS8O5yCUGg-3I4Bctt682G5Op2-ClgGpv-amHMLeZ1H6tw-VZz/s1600-h/DSC00609.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345577552058132274" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivGJU9oS5oIa-ZJC40Pgh6jCzclqbqCf6uAs6oCrNwtHc21MdNfN9_ErpZff3OqJDIMgQqEeE9jlX4GgXUgjzF4r9BMzkS8O5yCUGg-3I4Bctt682G5Op2-ClgGpv-amHMLeZ1H6tw-VZz/s400/DSC00609.JPG" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj7vn5usz409EWCW_INC3o7dyNHGxStMr2vvJzQiLTcRAvlumNSCCUV111nkUC-B5a02HQuRSr2c9QVuaK3q3MKS9FVFM7_GyabG-AOyCI6GpYH3zbFH8GljgspREuTyw5z5L_ZL3A1r0g/s1600-h/DSC00597.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345577557469780578" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj7vn5usz409EWCW_INC3o7dyNHGxStMr2vvJzQiLTcRAvlumNSCCUV111nkUC-B5a02HQuRSr2c9QVuaK3q3MKS9FVFM7_GyabG-AOyCI6GpYH3zbFH8GljgspREuTyw5z5L_ZL3A1r0g/s400/DSC00597.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /></div></div><div>Yesterday, we were able to tag along on a trip out into the bay! The climbing in Ha Long Bay is called deep water soloing. You aren't tied into a harness or with a rope, you just fall or jump into the water when you're finished climbing. I only watched this activity, too. I did a bit of kayaking, sunning, and beer drinking while the rest of them climbed up cliffs to jump back in. In the bay are fish farming villages. There aren't many fish left in the bay, so people have created fish farms on the water and grow the fish from babies in nets all around their small homes on the water. Entire villages live out there and there are convenient stores on small basket boats that paddle around selling chips, fruit, and drinks. Matt is swimming and browsing at the same time. </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR-wFQ7w-uZ794ZgdsaZ-M42F0rBNWBUieabkgZmxri90ar3hlpQTYB5HL-Om3lbVvP1Fb3TbVH0hvvYgyTmAq-KyeL69RA_LRz5jn4fkSs0JKcWYn9PVdYzYMGOykAH6goRc1VsFK1_ah/s1600-h/DSC00612.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345577549274069074" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR-wFQ7w-uZ794ZgdsaZ-M42F0rBNWBUieabkgZmxri90ar3hlpQTYB5HL-Om3lbVvP1Fb3TbVH0hvvYgyTmAq-KyeL69RA_LRz5jn4fkSs0JKcWYn9PVdYzYMGOykAH6goRc1VsFK1_ah/s400/DSC00612.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div><br />So, our life here is pretty good. We don't have a kitchen to cook in, but the restaurant below Slo Pony give Slo Pony employees fifty percent off everything, but booz. We'd drink them out of business if they did. So , we have been eating there a lot. We have been going to bed early and waking up early, which is a nice change from our previous hours in Korea. Vietnam is an early country and Korea is a late one. Not many things are open before 10am in Korea, but in Vietnam you are considered physically ill if you sleep past seven!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZtZHn07ZGsnNJARnLREKMzGNB8K4vumyFObQOmb2DydjOQlefmM6gYgrhRPV-Qk1CscFGpzZ2ODpJb36YZt5AAj_NJccukQJt7WZGTYVKHJYtW2ZKtDS_Grc_zwuvumQFTFeXI7wiIeRa/s1600-h/DSC00625.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345577543095040322" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZtZHn07ZGsnNJARnLREKMzGNB8K4vumyFObQOmb2DydjOQlefmM6gYgrhRPV-Qk1CscFGpzZ2ODpJb36YZt5AAj_NJccukQJt7WZGTYVKHJYtW2ZKtDS_Grc_zwuvumQFTFeXI7wiIeRa/s400/DSC00625.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div>Our place seen from the harbor.<br /></div><div>This is kind of a long update! We'll try to get on the Internet more than once a week!I'm still going to post to this blog. I'll have to change the title, I suppose, but I'll do that another time. </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-35857927088853902222009-05-31T21:18:00.002-04:002009-05-31T21:35:21.264-04:00Leaving KoreaWe leave Korea in two days! This weekend was action filled with packing, organizing, and squeezing in a few more fun nights with our friends here. We've been eating our "last meals", repeating all our favorite Korean food in the last week. All of our things that we aren't taking to Vietnam are packed up in boxes. Today, we have to lug it all to the Post Office and then go to the bank to close our Korean bank accounts. Then we only have to clean our apartment for its next tenants, say our final good byes, and take the train to Seoul tomorrow afternoon. Aaah! <div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Things I <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">won't</span> miss about Korea...</div><div>- hagwon life</div><div>- lack of cheese and delicious beer</div><div>- no city planning</div><div>- certain Korean students</div><div>- stone cold adjummas</div><div>- "more work is better than efficient work" work ethic</div><div>- squid</div><div>- always standing out</div><div>- Summer and Winter Intensive session</div><div>- national inferiority complex</div><div>- communication fails</div><div>- mandatory over-organized fun</div><div><br /></div><div>Things I <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">will</span> miss about Korea... </div><div>- excellent public transportation</div><div>- riding my sweet bike everywhere</div><div>- going out to eat and drink on the cheap</div><div>- certain Korean students</div><div>- generous adjummas</div><div>- no open container law</div><div>- safe cities</div><div>- cheap hotels</div><div>- yukechang</div><div>- shabu shabu / mongolian shabu shabu</div><div>- service-eu</div><div>- affordable health care</div><div>- JIMJILBANGS!</div><div>- the people who are our friends, neighbors, co-workers (and sometimes partners in crime) simultaneously. </div><div><br /></div>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-87766268938938562432009-05-29T08:05:00.003-04:002009-05-29T08:09:24.082-04:00Goodbye Gwangju Reading Town!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN1rnz9V-5PvbRAVjbO3ec2ZPfgGT6MIyRkmg7r3sqfE-ukKIHy5DWYOi4FKtO-2_jtq6E_9b5rvi0C-0m-CI1zqrOwvIDzuwzu_TPuyKyH7-h0m5EhbJaX_xxg9VC9KyCTyG1MiR-WUrz/s1600-h/DSC05941.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN1rnz9V-5PvbRAVjbO3ec2ZPfgGT6MIyRkmg7r3sqfE-ukKIHy5DWYOi4FKtO-2_jtq6E_9b5rvi0C-0m-CI1zqrOwvIDzuwzu_TPuyKyH7-h0m5EhbJaX_xxg9VC9KyCTyG1MiR-WUrz/s400/DSC05941.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341216287924012322" /></a><br />I just left from last day at Reading Town. The other teachers and staff were kind enough to send me off with an exuberant farewell! <div><br /><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKO4AMap7yVCqTeREtob5_wB63CR4IOvgOweEhw-8oUPMXthiSTTu0bMfrslmAxDN9zgL6y2gHbhXpwbxPO5NrAz-2rP9pr34w2-hjaaeqzrsYonsMAdIvoqYT_cOVLgbwrPytFrdd32i/s400/DSC05948.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341216287233486978" /></div><div>See ya later suckas!</div></div>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-69620125334922765282009-05-27T21:50:00.004-04:002009-05-27T21:59:28.628-04:00Cute Goodbye Letter from TomYesterday, one of my cutest students shyly slipped me this letter after I told them on Monday that I would be leaving Reading Town after this week.<div> <img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 360px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPt3Oa46p5oq_xlSUiBncxTkYNX-khEOhjGLAPTDRfhrsOLPOe249ZFQpcCZQGIzNRUYz6vzCogOY8haLsx0NyZTe4i_yEGHK4mkEDGA1PcpQCLAh_5pg69Iryxe4Eom3wUTp775VZGOZx/s400/DSC00484.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340686672704790562" /><div> </div></div><div>If you can't read it, here's what it says. It kind of made my day yesterday. I'm his writing teacher so I want to correct his spelling and missing periods, but I won't. </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">"To Ashely teacher</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">Hello? ashely teacher? This is Tom Thanks to study 3 months at 2D1.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">I sad you going to return the United States. but I like you very much. I love you but usally I caN MISS you. but You have to live in U.S. Thanks for to teach in Reading town. Good bye! </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">(PS My gmail is ************)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">2009.5.26</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">From Tom"</span></div><div><br /></div><div>My favorite part is the "but <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">usually</span> I can miss you" part. I think he means "I will miss you."</div>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-10182904302181663722009-05-21T10:29:00.005-04:002009-05-21T10:43:26.245-04:00Beard and Salad<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSp9wEC4n-4hrFIpLwfQOg3IqrJkaOlyY_-2Xxkeq1LlWXdJzTuP9HOSUdpIuIq27j2q4xQh596VozwfKhOPN2bIgUPLtC7WSXbDk6otsoUOHJQm_Cz8Fu7M5EVkLfpj2QBypWxyjiCpaA/s1600-h/DSC00471.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 360px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSp9wEC4n-4hrFIpLwfQOg3IqrJkaOlyY_-2Xxkeq1LlWXdJzTuP9HOSUdpIuIq27j2q4xQh596VozwfKhOPN2bIgUPLtC7WSXbDk6otsoUOHJQm_Cz8Fu7M5EVkLfpj2QBypWxyjiCpaA/s400/DSC00471.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338284531668329682" /></a><div>A few weeks ago Matt decided to forego shaving. This is his new beard-y face. He's working on looking rugged for Vietnam, I guess. Also, Matt can never make a normal face for a photo. Then he said that I'm supporting voyeurism. </div><div><br /></div><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibyBFymrqLTdXgPj9IY51zri5LST5DxinMdraKNKwyVeC_h8Tb6VsKeZMjRts5CuSHAm6R2zBY-7igaV8nQnOQBye_IZ8RWvC2JbP6MyhmNiHlwHOhIFyzg0zd8WIhkKqyUl4p6bl6GmOx/s400/DSC00465.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338284536229195170" /><br /></div><div>Here is my version of Korean salad. It's pretty simple and easy. The Korean version is totally soaked so that the leaves are soaked and wilted. I took it down a notch by using bit less dressing. </div><div><br /></div><div>Wash and rip up green lettuce leaves. Mince a couple of cloves of garlic. Throw on a little sesame oil and soy sauce. Shake on some red pepper flakes. Douse in sesame seeds (they are my new favorite thing to add to every thing). Toss. </div><div><br /></div><div>We're going to the beach this weekend. Then we're down to our last week at school. Aaah!</div><div><br /></div>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-91941932545610610302009-05-12T08:08:00.007-04:002009-05-12T09:01:39.767-04:00Korean Wedding<div>On Saturday, the foreign teachers from our school were invited to the wedding of a man who works for Avalon, Matt's school. Neither of us really know him and have never seen his wife before the wedding, but we were invited and took it as a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a Korean wedding. I was kind of hoping I'd get a chance to go to one while I'm in Korea. I'd heard what they are like (fast-paced, impersonal, cookie cutter princess-like), but nothing really prepared me for the real thing. It was interesting to say the least. </div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikcmL_nj_eUNVajyzY8NQ6qwec3_4zU9oiS5-9gaxaPJqpIETvfwBHIz94BJJH4mGllVpvq6bksvznoZlmK2AX2y2R116xWVncZaulbe1aKCBLXeZDnSoZpOZVwG880U8HoBOVp67XkP6C/s1600-h/DSC00399.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikcmL_nj_eUNVajyzY8NQ6qwec3_4zU9oiS5-9gaxaPJqpIETvfwBHIz94BJJH4mGllVpvq6bksvznoZlmK2AX2y2R116xWVncZaulbe1aKCBLXeZDnSoZpOZVwG880U8HoBOVp67XkP6C/s400/DSC00399.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334910254852609634" /></a><div>The wedding took place at the "Jeonju World Cup Convention Wedding Center". All of these words apply to this place and none of them would a westerner really want to associate with their own wedding. It was in a convention center for weddings underneath a World Cup soccer stadium. There were 6-8 halls for weddings, each having a different wedding every hour. Bam, Bam, Bam- three wedding in three hours in one large room. You are milling about in the lobby with guests, brides, and grooms from various other weddings. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmKlql8jQqNit8fHMFS33gp4SeU2VOvOcaydx6EShQ9mYmA_KN17w-F-YVsy4IJf3dhGAOqOVssgxKhBCZiZG4VqkTJsSP7Lc4ufAa4VL9eJagX-ZVv81NU9UUK5Cjj7aNI-g7iL4RLD8e/s1600-h/DSC00401.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmKlql8jQqNit8fHMFS33gp4SeU2VOvOcaydx6EShQ9mYmA_KN17w-F-YVsy4IJf3dhGAOqOVssgxKhBCZiZG4VqkTJsSP7Lc4ufAa4VL9eJagX-ZVv81NU9UUK5Cjj7aNI-g7iL4RLD8e/s400/DSC00401.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334910252091482930" /></a></div><div>Before the wedding, the bride just sits in this room for photos. We were lucky to get a photo opportunity with her even though we'd never met before. It was a little like a holding room for brides. Also, I'm really short when I stand next to Justin and Caitlin. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-cY_tjg6K7qBjqERTSlMi83dkMv31wo0ECkf4UIRY8Ah0Zo-Dw0StLlnys81V4MU2EB728aA2nvV6oqKElDiINmqbIZisEtHaYKpyz2MQ9LJNTbE5EBesIkHkMknG84HTKqFNVWon7HbB/s1600-h/DSC00414.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-cY_tjg6K7qBjqERTSlMi83dkMv31wo0ECkf4UIRY8Ah0Zo-Dw0StLlnys81V4MU2EB728aA2nvV6oqKElDiINmqbIZisEtHaYKpyz2MQ9LJNTbE5EBesIkHkMknG84HTKqFNVWon7HbB/s400/DSC00414.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334910252637459266" /></a></div><div>Finally, it was our wedding's time (strictly from 1:30-2:30). Their guests milled in and filled the seats and lined the walls. I doubt many of the guest knew each other. The guest list is not a personal affair. You're expected to invite most co-workers and anyone you know (hence <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">my invitation</span>). The groom had been in the military (as basically all Korean men have, but I think he was a lieutenant), so he had a military welcome down the aisle. All the flowers are fake and the candles are gas lit. In the above shot, you can see the liquor store-like security camera shot broadcasting the wedding on the wall to the left. When you walk in the front door of the convention hall, you can watch all the weddings happening on eight screens. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG53cjKLZ4K8KHGs6P9uNailH3bk11AHomurIv6RjZQzdZUo5IJccGK360v4qKAl_9x0DuBIvIx5xUFNyx_UcDNta4wZb47dJ7k4gVb3Vkl8DNkOJ9qX-tWBXOlKu5H_Ou9FFfphH-RRNY/s1600-h/DSC00418.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG53cjKLZ4K8KHGs6P9uNailH3bk11AHomurIv6RjZQzdZUo5IJccGK360v4qKAl_9x0DuBIvIx5xUFNyx_UcDNta4wZb47dJ7k4gVb3Vkl8DNkOJ9qX-tWBXOlKu5H_Ou9FFfphH-RRNY/s400/DSC00418.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334909688153989554" /></a></div><div>The guests came in all kinds of attire, from jeans to traditional Hanboks. People didn't seem to think much of taking a cell phone call mid-ceremony or having a nap (see the gentleman in the right back). </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgKLyoZLgW-T5GHYSmBC7v9_do69V6Hq6QOpN2QJGpz9QfKdPD-fus5Oo7g1kG16XKTP-tBoBoT9DNz4U9U5S67WC_F3ps-V8Jbd4SfTYBWqMN7N_7-oPsFKjD6LaPBabhHyvTrh09P3y/s1600-h/DSC00424.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgKLyoZLgW-T5GHYSmBC7v9_do69V6Hq6QOpN2QJGpz9QfKdPD-fus5Oo7g1kG16XKTP-tBoBoT9DNz4U9U5S67WC_F3ps-V8Jbd4SfTYBWqMN7N_7-oPsFKjD6LaPBabhHyvTrh09P3y/s400/DSC00424.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334909684655884642" /></a></div><div>In your wedding package, you can have a stock wedding hall singer sing you a love song. I'm pretty sure this guy sings this song eight times a day. Also, note the dramatic fog machine. Artificial fog was dispersed several times for a dream-like fairy tale effect. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyZcBRS7eHfuOU6NgHt6jdhfCb2-fwjsBZ_boaTGcBSSobrEa4eN_LK0V66VKVDznwt1JVkvR48dEsrla_meavNPGJ5IAtHPOC5unbR_BoscRecwQPAeTvLa3TTBTLsXPKur6lq_0TtjkN/s1600-h/DSC00425.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyZcBRS7eHfuOU6NgHt6jdhfCb2-fwjsBZ_boaTGcBSSobrEa4eN_LK0V66VKVDznwt1JVkvR48dEsrla_meavNPGJ5IAtHPOC5unbR_BoscRecwQPAeTvLa3TTBTLsXPKur6lq_0TtjkN/s400/DSC00425.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334909685709280354" /></a></div><div>Foreigner reactions to this warped westernization of a wedding. Matt is open-mouthed, Lisa is W-T-F. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtYWoYJ6aFzaE2N23vjnjY2OitjFtRDmOH2bOaJ5iGg9E_iOelT2_7vcrUbzJdMP_N8sft9aZg3ODCJGqcEJisBz0VibX6PhCDM9ukiX2DNgspQlgc7LXavnukBkWGXMDexKQPk3NLSvC-/s1600-h/DSC00427.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtYWoYJ6aFzaE2N23vjnjY2OitjFtRDmOH2bOaJ5iGg9E_iOelT2_7vcrUbzJdMP_N8sft9aZg3ODCJGqcEJisBz0VibX6PhCDM9ukiX2DNgspQlgc7LXavnukBkWGXMDexKQPk3NLSvC-/s400/DSC00427.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334909677759358514" /></a></div><div>After the song, there was a drag-n-drop I-Movie-like slide show. The photos weren't even personal! They were all cheesy studio shot in wedding attire. Cue the fog machine. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht2ZkevwjkGhVP8bQ-5OONYYKv7jaZcIVnRc-irP36RrO-ETDlxwyFFpCoH2PFMs_2VaV9oV-fdGkw8yyfF-WcZ8BD-06vGBMD9aZL0cVXR3UiU9xw34c9i7DLzvldFWqyf1sukNRYZ6Lu/s1600-h/DSC00445.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht2ZkevwjkGhVP8bQ-5OONYYKv7jaZcIVnRc-irP36RrO-ETDlxwyFFpCoH2PFMs_2VaV9oV-fdGkw8yyfF-WcZ8BD-06vGBMD9aZL0cVXR3UiU9xw34c9i7DLzvldFWqyf1sukNRYZ6Lu/s400/DSC00445.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334909677895262338" /></a><br /></div><div>After the wedding, you don't even eat with the other guests. You get a meal ticket and head to a buffet hall and dine with the guests of all eight weddings from the center. But hey- free beer and soju!</div><div><br /></div><div>This was someone's wedding, so I hate to crack on it too much. However, they adopted the format of a western wedding and condensed it into less than an hour and removed the personal or intimate elements. It's pretty Korean to put things in a nice easy package that is suitable for everyone. They put all of their products into nice easy packages that include every thing and a wedding is no different. Koreans travel, shop and eat this manner, so why not a wedding?Maybe, they have a traditional Korean ceremony that is more intimate and they don't invite everyone to. Anyway, it was captivating to watch with the theme music and fog machine- a theatrical production of a fairy tale, stage lighting included. </div><div><br /></div><div>Here are some videos-</div><div><br /></div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyc3EPhR1MGltAMz3FBZ-OuAQSBEQUHvwbyAqZmaY8skB94XuWHjvS4AxrCSKhML1-NlfO0huXRdSnRzuPn7g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><div><br /></div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxqGTpsctFw-nV-s9mxw1qGoyINLSAOfDVf7dXqHDw1PQcdE23lBry_oN3ppzWKf8V6aauR-1TkI0w5IbfeeA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-35546045276927672992009-05-11T07:16:00.003-04:002009-05-11T07:31:47.245-04:00Three weeks left.Matt and I have three weeks left in Korea. Three teaching weeks to finish. Three weekends to enjoy. Three weeks to get rid of a lot of stuff! <br /><br />Three weeks of this....<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiugoJvjdckjkf4VjELK2UwtXoxSYdUJ2O7MBKT0ek3qM8XoH-wBup_Nz1TKk7J90Ru3YumHHjOrynGWwoeqVQdnP-QI3OFWIUusNVFQl8IfKTAndxg20fA9QHGm09vJtY4KmQOTp1VsMqD/s1600-h/DSC03530.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiugoJvjdckjkf4VjELK2UwtXoxSYdUJ2O7MBKT0ek3qM8XoH-wBup_Nz1TKk7J90Ru3YumHHjOrynGWwoeqVQdnP-QI3OFWIUusNVFQl8IfKTAndxg20fA9QHGm09vJtY4KmQOTp1VsMqD/s400/DSC03530.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334525798331715682" /></a><br />Then this.....<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiql2TISuaQfFROf9b9YeGM0D4jLsMiaGeoYaskVm1EqJWBFeLUhfkW2aTgVnrfdol5k2qMLMXiXlJdUiEZWtvH519r3Uch_3eBhkXVN6DU-jlUxyQFoBKmEIn2hi_3rQEtFDKFuTiQ-fZQ/s1600-h/%EC%A0%9C%EB%AA%A9+%EC%97%86%EC%9D%8C.bmp"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 248px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiql2TISuaQfFROf9b9YeGM0D4jLsMiaGeoYaskVm1EqJWBFeLUhfkW2aTgVnrfdol5k2qMLMXiXlJdUiEZWtvH519r3Uch_3eBhkXVN6DU-jlUxyQFoBKmEIn2hi_3rQEtFDKFuTiQ-fZQ/s400/%EC%A0%9C%EB%AA%A9+%EC%97%86%EC%9D%8C.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334527371803320530" /></a>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-70425960557250773532009-05-04T09:45:00.003-04:002009-05-04T09:51:11.213-04:00Campus Couple!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbh4EUeNjReGQEalXIcGgCFczH2I5oVZ68h_RSw2UX71dsQtfJBUzRSDAijtvx1ziJ5tP22Q2KHrG6aeRFcUfXYvSE9Zf4mvNbGe7RLHvPn1Xz5BjIthWqbfoUrXrTaajSLjxYrGrw2T_X/s1600-h/DSC00391.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: undefinedpx; height: undefinedpx;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbh4EUeNjReGQEalXIcGgCFczH2I5oVZ68h_RSw2UX71dsQtfJBUzRSDAijtvx1ziJ5tP22Q2KHrG6aeRFcUfXYvSE9Zf4mvNbGe7RLHvPn1Xz5BjIthWqbfoUrXrTaajSLjxYrGrw2T_X/s400/DSC00391.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331965572792343522" /></a><br />Matt and I finally joined the ranks and became a real couple. We bought matching t-shirts! Wearing the same clothes as your significant other is quite popular among young couples. We're finally Korean. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqIufiPSPqHC8z6FGybSemQkuXcz7EygbhxLTIPZ5J_rEAM-TYKIm-uFCRbOcKyIrngqj27vmidsnofY4etJYx8XoGp9aEKFbiBwKA71Y6ehqawojdMfye3xm08Am3CCBMU0CcXLRhNcTM/s1600-h/DSC00215.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: undefinedpx; height: undefinedpx;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqIufiPSPqHC8z6FGybSemQkuXcz7EygbhxLTIPZ5J_rEAM-TYKIm-uFCRbOcKyIrngqj27vmidsnofY4etJYx8XoGp9aEKFbiBwKA71Y6ehqawojdMfye3xm08Am3CCBMU0CcXLRhNcTM/s400/DSC00215.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331965571357666258" /></a>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-28499788980118951712009-04-23T22:14:00.002-04:002009-04-23T22:18:18.874-04:00Gwangju in Stitch website is up!This week, I took my embroideries into work to use the scanner. I needed better images than what I had. Then I've put them together on this website, <a href="http://ashleylmeadows.weebly.com/">Gwangju in Stitch</a>. This project was the motivation behind my blog title hence the same name. There are better and bigger images of the embroideries here and you can see them all together. Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-605263755817942822009-04-22T11:09:00.003-04:002009-04-22T11:35:38.283-04:00Climbing and Boseong Green Tea Fields<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBNh-2ODqsCynWEryBupdoymwFVMADC0QcwyMymjj5HcjE3zdVnhL_xjSIxmVoWG7C-O51_0QJU6DTvuGplH3jpYQN7dKYYDZ9ENSDNanMzvYWD902Fm2tPuJ4SQhc6rQKNru-0zXnzp8N/s1600-h/DSC00347.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBNh-2ODqsCynWEryBupdoymwFVMADC0QcwyMymjj5HcjE3zdVnhL_xjSIxmVoWG7C-O51_0QJU6DTvuGplH3jpYQN7dKYYDZ9ENSDNanMzvYWD902Fm2tPuJ4SQhc6rQKNru-0zXnzp8N/s400/DSC00347.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327537382911132818" /></a><div>On Saturday, we went to this little climbing spot that was basically empty. We packed a cooler with beer, chicken sandwiches, and my homemade salsa! Lisa and I went along for a day of relaxing, while Matt and Shane <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">gushed the gnar</span>! Haha- this is climber speak for doing hardcore and awesome things climbing. </div><div><br /></div><div>Then Sunday was my turn! We went to the Boseong Green Tea fields, which are about an hour and a half away from Gwangju. It was one of the things on my "to do before leaving Korea" list. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_fCBVNUz1BMeOQtF3b0roVpJzU-bQ1MFoQyS30dOvpgGqDBtrmw1mc5Q7T4t6mrrm2xRSRGlCBdqhEG2BJI4p7F-Mz1gWw8cnByDHY-UbBCPqdqoThOMdZPAEdZMOCBSSBycxWY0fqOtP/s1600-h/DSC00365.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_fCBVNUz1BMeOQtF3b0roVpJzU-bQ1MFoQyS30dOvpgGqDBtrmw1mc5Q7T4t6mrrm2xRSRGlCBdqhEG2BJI4p7F-Mz1gWw8cnByDHY-UbBCPqdqoThOMdZPAEdZMOCBSSBycxWY0fqOtP/s400/DSC00365.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327537372063821426" /></a></div><div>It was very picturesque and more touristy than a practical tea plantation. I'm sure they make way more money from tourists than from selling the tea. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrOE4-UADjKSmc3ECcUczwuLFvfIEIs-btJUny89WDRVuPY2KnxAhriJFCGyrK0EWNM4rv3HWmu32eeySoqpMoWVxNRqzwltHBYEkIE7ce-8_CElz7TEofciBfCb4lhNkuz5stz5XxqzJA/s1600-h/DSC00366.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrOE4-UADjKSmc3ECcUczwuLFvfIEIs-btJUny89WDRVuPY2KnxAhriJFCGyrK0EWNM4rv3HWmu32eeySoqpMoWVxNRqzwltHBYEkIE7ce-8_CElz7TEofciBfCb4lhNkuz5stz5XxqzJA/s400/DSC00366.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327537368427722082" /></a></div><div>Obligatory cute couple photograph on the landing. (Sidenote: our school lunch lady said yesterday that Matt and I look alike. I scoffed, but there may be some freaky truth to that.)</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJoQj6FrudAnEUywNCM8Di4ZTDRDciLr9g0fJBtiP7SiP527fzTMDu9oJqq-GNdtugMnJB0LrZhbjNPPpr_ixnvaFIQhjA2hTJKt4QNwA5mKS430IIHoBq24dxYvMwxfvzalUR8vgmipLu/s1600-h/DSC00369.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJoQj6FrudAnEUywNCM8Di4ZTDRDciLr9g0fJBtiP7SiP527fzTMDu9oJqq-GNdtugMnJB0LrZhbjNPPpr_ixnvaFIQhjA2hTJKt4QNwA5mKS430IIHoBq24dxYvMwxfvzalUR8vgmipLu/s400/DSC00369.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327537359400175666" /></a></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj468bMpOAmaIEKFKTkphJP9dr9aPgwaudjTP7_mdy1xi6Tf3M5gPIMvtRvmClaqViTYS1J_rH1HwswGMzISK7PWSItcOiim7VLmm6pCO7QwzvKiXX1Wg_jpiwBroBVbmbkpE4FMrIir8RF/s1600-h/DSC00354.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj468bMpOAmaIEKFKTkphJP9dr9aPgwaudjTP7_mdy1xi6Tf3M5gPIMvtRvmClaqViTYS1J_rH1HwswGMzISK7PWSItcOiim7VLmm6pCO7QwzvKiXX1Wg_jpiwBroBVbmbkpE4FMrIir8RF/s400/DSC00354.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327537357301470786" /></a><br /></div><div>Also, here is another striking resemblance! </div>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-52448901063528324032009-04-14T22:13:00.003-04:002009-04-14T22:25:18.884-04:00Maekju JuseyoMaekju juseyo (beer please)! <div><br /><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp2lE_YRI5BQyfFGlHSkk8252RymqlnP7nrQWKsV0L6UYN2Wk80QRxxrTX_apdllqsYKEpzUnycUVBsX4G0i4PS0kKmGgSw_yXeGIzXp-NRc9-U8mbSRsU2CuLNT7wSwFvEexsEn9gW7_t/s400/DSC00345.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324737005431604642" /><br /></div><div>Here is an embroidery that took me seemingly forever to finish despite its linear simplicity. I was working on it during winter and the winter doldrums had sucked the creative motivation from me! It's been finished for sometime now, but I haven't posted it. These are your basic beer choices in Korea. They are not particularly distinguishable in taste or quality. It's all about the same basic beer! While I miss Blue Moon, microbrews and the many seasonal brews of North America, sometimes there's nothing like simplicity. </div><div><br /></div><div> Now that spring has arrived, I have been working much more diligently on my embroidery. Two new pieces to be debuted shortly. Also, I'm going to take all the pieces into work and scan them to get better images of each. Sometimes, my little camera doesn't do them justice even though I love it so. </div></div>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-21276676423395648172009-04-05T20:52:00.007-04:002009-04-05T21:42:05.682-04:00Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxvghe5fn9St3x-79CywAkB8gjKH3mEFjLuLHfiPWEHnhVWZ-0gVpXEeo94YRjqRl5j1VqGQyYc4V6wB67085UGiRglWnLMQboDIninMoBeuPU-EItmHkx5GVkcrfu7SPm46ZhTT-K-QAw/s1600-h/DSC00202.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxvghe5fn9St3x-79CywAkB8gjKH3mEFjLuLHfiPWEHnhVWZ-0gVpXEeo94YRjqRl5j1VqGQyYc4V6wB67085UGiRglWnLMQboDIninMoBeuPU-EItmHkx5GVkcrfu7SPm46ZhTT-K-QAw/s400/DSC00202.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321381330676626914" /></a><div>This weekend we went to the largest cherry blossom festival in Korea! <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Jinhae</span> is a little town on the south coast about three hours from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Gwangju</span>. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Jinhae</span> is known for its cherry blossoms and that the Korean Naval Academy is there. It was kind of like a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">bizarro</span> Annapolis- cute little town, midshipmen everywhere, they even had a bar names "Annapolis", which you'll see more of later. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Jinhae</span> is a really beautiful little city, very <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">un</span>-Korean in its layout. This is because this particular city was designed by the Japanese during their occupation. Don't tell Korea, but Japan is better at city planning simply because there is city planning at all (Korea does not excel in this subject). There were nice, wide sidewalks, rotundas, and cherry blossom lines streets. All the building were low, not towering concrete masses. </div><div><br /></div><div>Before going this weekend, I read in different sources that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Jinhae</span> has anywhere between 70,000 and 340,000 cherry trees. I didn't count them, but there were a lot! It was very beautiful and I'll probably never see that many flowering trees at once again. Therefore, this post is really picture heavy! </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp12AfkBC35L8h4bRAC07cRLBw1AMPVwOjR8NrdRUYgIMWknJkxy_ZGEJ1Hg0BKJebrLjySZ-84cgrrLXtY1VNUp9Qt6wCtBOTh4mW7WAySEFMeI6QnITwXcAL-LuQzg3-wjkP-9mVpWoW/s1600-h/DSC00154.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp12AfkBC35L8h4bRAC07cRLBw1AMPVwOjR8NrdRUYgIMWknJkxy_ZGEJ1Hg0BKJebrLjySZ-84cgrrLXtY1VNUp9Qt6wCtBOTh4mW7WAySEFMeI6QnITwXcAL-LuQzg3-wjkP-9mVpWoW/s400/DSC00154.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321381329257367634" /></a></div><div>Matt pouts on the bus saying, "there aren't that many flowers." We aren't there yet!</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-ooDGjAoKGAnf2pHJtHhRMXkMrNU8hG_UBflzk9LkqQN5fRdXqcO6UkLxFX4y_PU5I6EjHxrDJJWh-2yGLOT3c-U8GFbzuJ5mx_bxcBHnRFAVn2epRm9AelElGLkP7yXIbjD3BtweoTw/s1600-h/DSC00177.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 360px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-ooDGjAoKGAnf2pHJtHhRMXkMrNU8hG_UBflzk9LkqQN5fRdXqcO6UkLxFX4y_PU5I6EjHxrDJJWh-2yGLOT3c-U8GFbzuJ5mx_bxcBHnRFAVn2epRm9AelElGLkP7yXIbjD3BtweoTw/s400/DSC00177.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321381332270659042" /></a></div><div>A prime example of an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">adjumma</span>. She is a scary one. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC5ktSXmqmiMJda_71g_C9hEngCjl1tnDHHoq6-cPtEzynRR3T5ZAPesRnF8nHanzxMRykB9a7MKADe6tFNpxDoRK1dtqbwRFDt5tY5PdtBpUz9jwyNcaRBFA3WdepQRIcLcDHjxQPWXr5/s1600-h/DSC00188.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC5ktSXmqmiMJda_71g_C9hEngCjl1tnDHHoq6-cPtEzynRR3T5ZAPesRnF8nHanzxMRykB9a7MKADe6tFNpxDoRK1dtqbwRFDt5tY5PdtBpUz9jwyNcaRBFA3WdepQRIcLcDHjxQPWXr5/s400/DSC00188.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321381333083063970" /></a></div><div>This Korean man was fascinated by Matt's pull up. He walked up to the bar next to Matt and I think he was about to challenge him, but we left. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghMd0iGUAgeQvDO1jCdUVDQhb5gKNFW6CUC2X1PQzv4i3QMG3X0Yz-ndycYNIwC1vVbNrUQFMex7oTlb8SkOu9zU8Ogvod-sxrjGNGeiUh5PZXt9zM3k4UEOZ2DnqZC0xZ1OXFh8UWn7Nf/s1600-h/DSC00194.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghMd0iGUAgeQvDO1jCdUVDQhb5gKNFW6CUC2X1PQzv4i3QMG3X0Yz-ndycYNIwC1vVbNrUQFMex7oTlb8SkOu9zU8Ogvod-sxrjGNGeiUh5PZXt9zM3k4UEOZ2DnqZC0xZ1OXFh8UWn7Nf/s400/DSC00194.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321381324939983410" /></a></div><div>Holy Shit! Sarah is here! Eating Korean street food with me! </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_e28VqYB9oEBGrNw__CEtvzKm_7ZcCywG55lSuFbDo-_TV9CTYRFt-xewUXc5mWfNC1M4pDjFPjZ2_v7E-PPP_5-6paRdnv1xXdW9PWNhy-RabDMHq5iUWLhWW78QiIEXLOYqqGhd-wID/s1600-h/DSC00200.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_e28VqYB9oEBGrNw__CEtvzKm_7ZcCywG55lSuFbDo-_TV9CTYRFt-xewUXc5mWfNC1M4pDjFPjZ2_v7E-PPP_5-6paRdnv1xXdW9PWNhy-RabDMHq5iUWLhWW78QiIEXLOYqqGhd-wID/s400/DSC00200.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321379325176925138" /></a></div><div>For many, the Cherry Blossom Festival is an opportunity to take ever so cute photos of one another. As you see below, I didn't miss this opportunity. Remember, for optimum cuteness you should put your hands near your face!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixt6lesnNH2buNOP_LxfUtzOAGL_5opd9T72ugPPncv_Xu8zrgDt_qm3zOKokJToXxpvBBlDuCCzgDibDeLFr7ZVhez2Y1nP8UpVD-1hIkhBsrjpUS0z2ZYyVYxUbPc28edFTkxlTY8mzv/s1600-h/DSC00205.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 360px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixt6lesnNH2buNOP_LxfUtzOAGL_5opd9T72ugPPncv_Xu8zrgDt_qm3zOKokJToXxpvBBlDuCCzgDibDeLFr7ZVhez2Y1nP8UpVD-1hIkhBsrjpUS0z2ZYyVYxUbPc28edFTkxlTY8mzv/s400/DSC00205.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321379323358305778" /></a></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUJ7EZahOMqe31Ftu0TR0iaKDLnlsMF-r3SGr8om_mmK2BUHzgJNlKBTXbvuVk5o6aKfgShWswhUZ_SxWU2vhrF1bjvdBD2RJn5x9ZwIiqGWIG-uu5F_VpsAE6Tp3bpDEShKoQV8f8OlXL/s1600-h/DSC00212.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUJ7EZahOMqe31Ftu0TR0iaKDLnlsMF-r3SGr8om_mmK2BUHzgJNlKBTXbvuVk5o6aKfgShWswhUZ_SxWU2vhrF1bjvdBD2RJn5x9ZwIiqGWIG-uu5F_VpsAE6Tp3bpDEShKoQV8f8OlXL/s400/DSC00212.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321379317365936274" /></a></div><div>This is the view from the top of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Jinhae</span> Tower. All the pink you can see are cherry trees. Cherry blossoms are everywhere!</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi488aunexzqQxPAJpDCpneV-SoQpD4ZUQc7QnFkJpva9UI8ubM_fFHrXHdre6qwa50gvGMMhaKSwgccZQrA3MBS2XKEsOUUPip6yVEC5EN3DYHeUYscctbTf-HzuIZRtKCRDhdaJ6-wAbr/s1600-h/DSC00215.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi488aunexzqQxPAJpDCpneV-SoQpD4ZUQc7QnFkJpva9UI8ubM_fFHrXHdre6qwa50gvGMMhaKSwgccZQrA3MBS2XKEsOUUPip6yVEC5EN3DYHeUYscctbTf-HzuIZRtKCRDhdaJ6-wAbr/s400/DSC00215.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321379317711078354" /></a></div><div>Matching couples' <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">hoodies</span>! They say "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Mungky</span>".</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXPTw_ljtJ5TOo-3M4km5d61KA-GkM89OrI1SugTIdvaA2v_dy1tQs1agWKf-QdAEXefUUG_EUO43TX-RIMpwmp4V3kHONCGmKQMdK0cMlHkwkZJ7IGr3tLTD7-kzVK15KOXzV6QODqYTn/s1600-h/DSC00218.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXPTw_ljtJ5TOo-3M4km5d61KA-GkM89OrI1SugTIdvaA2v_dy1tQs1agWKf-QdAEXefUUG_EUO43TX-RIMpwmp4V3kHONCGmKQMdK0cMlHkwkZJ7IGr3tLTD7-kzVK15KOXzV6QODqYTn/s400/DSC00218.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321379317695268770" /></a></div><div>I'm trying my hand at a six foot, very heavy hula hoop. It proved rather difficult. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTU4oEOpDieqjRZOc8A3CxyGUM7gKts3J3ZjEuqCRsmMM9W8eIbukxjacJgv714OmLNIOPOltpYc0k9UBu4WWh8-JLp5yj381oArvpxKGYSTfo-5wTpYNWSxCJeuP2D1KGCYZ45IAGJt2G/s1600-h/DSC00222.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTU4oEOpDieqjRZOc8A3CxyGUM7gKts3J3ZjEuqCRsmMM9W8eIbukxjacJgv714OmLNIOPOltpYc0k9UBu4WWh8-JLp5yj381oArvpxKGYSTfo-5wTpYNWSxCJeuP2D1KGCYZ45IAGJt2G/s400/DSC00222.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321378521823356066" /></a></div><div>Photo op. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfcxbmkKwNg0CczbmwKFVlu-pw7cQm-4yLdUaE3H4Yd_axAKb4USJpVhlmnx2GUivZdJpLQMJwOcWKCB6XlT4BPefQNm6Q8ab1LswnZDQRCuneicY37PCbAvd4ZTrTiCyn7M75C4mgI1sa/s1600-h/DSC00225.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfcxbmkKwNg0CczbmwKFVlu-pw7cQm-4yLdUaE3H4Yd_axAKb4USJpVhlmnx2GUivZdJpLQMJwOcWKCB6XlT4BPefQNm6Q8ab1LswnZDQRCuneicY37PCbAvd4ZTrTiCyn7M75C4mgI1sa/s400/DSC00225.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321378520278940146" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFGEKod_Vn75JSDh5qavQGKhkf28yF9NwCSDP6DMZGr4BFPf39r3szHaE5qX-q1yK9XP2CIsjo8tjVnddPYP8kGiCABdIs7MBYH55hJV1dIXxz-8k1HIycJak_2Yim3W7LxlVExJvxMGrD/s1600-h/DSC00242.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFGEKod_Vn75JSDh5qavQGKhkf28yF9NwCSDP6DMZGr4BFPf39r3szHaE5qX-q1yK9XP2CIsjo8tjVnddPYP8kGiCABdIs7MBYH55hJV1dIXxz-8k1HIycJak_2Yim3W7LxlVExJvxMGrD/s400/DSC00242.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321378521815559074" /></a></div><div>Matt made friends with a man who was eating a raw sea creature of some kind. He feeds Matt the first bite, which Matt said was kind of like a raw oyster. Then he fed Matt some of the tough outer skin of the creature, which was <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">un</span>-chewable. Matt freaked out, laughing, telling the man "no no no" and then spit it in the gutter. It was hilarious from across the street. </div><div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6o34PIV06nxotrea_QkqqE2urpWsO6NIMU2OGhIA5Z3vSVInVJK2cJw8a2zQm3WIf-abccWTap_-CSqDDzycjJpr7YSFls0tQ8u2dn4k8JI5S638X7rxOVeaMaxRr99lAUQqLd40o4waA/s1600-h/DSC00254.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6o34PIV06nxotrea_QkqqE2urpWsO6NIMU2OGhIA5Z3vSVInVJK2cJw8a2zQm3WIf-abccWTap_-CSqDDzycjJpr7YSFls0tQ8u2dn4k8JI5S638X7rxOVeaMaxRr99lAUQqLd40o4waA/s400/DSC00254.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321378519570862914" /></a></div><div>Delicious scallops grilled in their shell with onions, tomato, and more!</div><div><br /></div><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtMRvWD_D2sFmcqkRbokpEQSkkt-oR9Djoh8BAve57HScaDTayzsel-LYzz3akRCUz1Yy_cUfnhp1v-UU4l3ZfOMG-G1lMFVm9Hptq-TAIc8RTpR6zhWyGEGLkiyK3UyqOuqAQ94tC6iT5/s400/DSC00251.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321378520151887586" /></div><div><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Bizarro</span> Annapolis! Here I am <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">harrassing</span> some nice, young Korean midshipmen. Below is the bar called "Annapolis". It was a real dive and largely empty. I tried to tell them I was from Annapolis and they basically didn't understand or care even though I was quite excited to be in a bar called Annapolis in a tiny Korean town. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpd4zjUhbq08yt60CnFYcvwIDjJuadgUNv4XwGSuljOfm5rQPENmWyLLQN0k2cLcBEOL52xa6na0lD96XSNab7s06gIb0SBEqr6DS1dMby3rPr4JNavPxsjAw04af9b95qptZSmh6_lKzL/s1600-h/DSC00262.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpd4zjUhbq08yt60CnFYcvwIDjJuadgUNv4XwGSuljOfm5rQPENmWyLLQN0k2cLcBEOL52xa6na0lD96XSNab7s06gIb0SBEqr6DS1dMby3rPr4JNavPxsjAw04af9b95qptZSmh6_lKzL/s400/DSC00262.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321377593035556674" /></a></div><div>Naval Academy blanket inside the bar. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdt0PLEx6xvU_cv8LyfKUTiiWZyYAOZUapimyRZlYSzMLzM6CFBPbPcVB6FfC3dTi8htywW2rLoo84HzSvRXcSCrLZPZKqTFtTry1_o_XYZKYn7rKgvDUGDWVkn5WO22-LPWbpWeDQCQAx/s1600-h/DSC00264.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdt0PLEx6xvU_cv8LyfKUTiiWZyYAOZUapimyRZlYSzMLzM6CFBPbPcVB6FfC3dTi8htywW2rLoo84HzSvRXcSCrLZPZKqTFtTry1_o_XYZKYn7rKgvDUGDWVkn5WO22-LPWbpWeDQCQAx/s400/DSC00264.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321377590065082562" /></a></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheWP1JJiNrrSX0bYXsEkqI2WHWMtFnq3h0xV9CQn6-T_z394y2kB3yauBW5dcVwE6EFPVWqDNvY-CXFlKsJwsnyhBk-Qf0uEIVltFeJqCVUsUs1Fi2JZq24FPkxsMInxNll0mgCargVvBF/s1600-h/DSC00279.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 360px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheWP1JJiNrrSX0bYXsEkqI2WHWMtFnq3h0xV9CQn6-T_z394y2kB3yauBW5dcVwE6EFPVWqDNvY-CXFlKsJwsnyhBk-Qf0uEIVltFeJqCVUsUs1Fi2JZq24FPkxsMInxNll0mgCargVvBF/s400/DSC00279.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321377592017509810" /></a></div><div>Cherry Blossoms at night outside our <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">yeogwan</span>, a simple hotel you share with several people and sleep on blankets on the floor. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy5LTGPCTi099jus1W3ZlWBpFFoWOMTV8hVM3P-sJY5J0UVJzZ-bPj_I1Y1HkxR_Uco4iLIHRUhYKCHrzlzlIsDXhUXB4GRsU9mewL7cXHu_4t2mKfxQdht9yPMYP_wLcGcqgVKQ8oAI5I/s1600-h/DSC00310.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy5LTGPCTi099jus1W3ZlWBpFFoWOMTV8hVM3P-sJY5J0UVJzZ-bPj_I1Y1HkxR_Uco4iLIHRUhYKCHrzlzlIsDXhUXB4GRsU9mewL7cXHu_4t2mKfxQdht9yPMYP_wLcGcqgVKQ8oAI5I/s400/DSC00310.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321377588605998066" /></a></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV4NItMDKEUkB31XYiIB0ZdWX9InAYEUnDPZhFxw-t4Wyq7VI_IDXXJXDpuewP4YtD5hLVREKvu_UhG80gXt3nPr-4B_Z9EssKkxNBVbj9_FUI1sfqz3D8xtgZ6iTfxPjnnq6OBL7KhvD1/s1600-h/DSC00333.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV4NItMDKEUkB31XYiIB0ZdWX9InAYEUnDPZhFxw-t4Wyq7VI_IDXXJXDpuewP4YtD5hLVREKvu_UhG80gXt3nPr-4B_Z9EssKkxNBVbj9_FUI1sfqz3D8xtgZ6iTfxPjnnq6OBL7KhvD1/s400/DSC00333.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321377590447406722" /></a></div><div>On Sunday, we walked down the Naval Academy to tour a ship. However, it was done in the typical Korean fashion- wait in a long line to move slowly and in a single file around the ship. Matt was very dejected and disappointed. We didn't wait in the line, but hung around the harbor a bit. Korean sailors are funny to me. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5I12ResxXS-nGGSWW3wM1OEll2DtNLbviOllA4_wB4T_gzpv_cuLkUvImDMT3YYDoogyI1hGYK_Jucy_IIY8iu2wXPqWtzPX_rUt7N4vd9p0knD2DYVEbZNsJbMguDFcUnT9VEqTjoy0E/s1600-h/DSC00336.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5I12ResxXS-nGGSWW3wM1OEll2DtNLbviOllA4_wB4T_gzpv_cuLkUvImDMT3YYDoogyI1hGYK_Jucy_IIY8iu2wXPqWtzPX_rUt7N4vd9p0knD2DYVEbZNsJbMguDFcUnT9VEqTjoy0E/s400/DSC00336.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321376945368027090" /></a><br /></div><div>Good weekend! </div>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-69844244778308744662009-03-30T22:28:00.002-04:002009-03-30T22:31:37.686-04:00Happy Birthday Mommy!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh35Iz1plvJZ4GAQ2nCIH9K97pKf6K2L-JqkNqhUqN3_g1zT_aszYgWavVj8GqSOmY_EZ4sE0a5RX2ZM7F_fMxppv-Bo2VHKZTIslYK8uxxsAnyGQqPhiCHiodcmNsYPEccN-Quc6-gSBEa/s1600-h/Photo+159.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh35Iz1plvJZ4GAQ2nCIH9K97pKf6K2L-JqkNqhUqN3_g1zT_aszYgWavVj8GqSOmY_EZ4sE0a5RX2ZM7F_fMxppv-Bo2VHKZTIslYK8uxxsAnyGQqPhiCHiodcmNsYPEccN-Quc6-gSBEa/s400/Photo+159.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319173849075718642" /></a><br />I want to wish my mom a happy birthday from Korea! I miss you, love you and hope you had a great birthday!Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-87811807702980914802009-03-18T22:35:00.004-04:002009-03-22T22:32:56.219-04:00Hillside Campfire / Magnum Korea<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhChASRCAdsNoKzGN5FSeTWkKWmIn-9Od9wfidpg-nd1qA6-z1dnHo5VOFO3z-vc9gG7gH63TU7mgab7uPWHOc0vKsefL_b323F3ViTUb9OfR6Q1T8epEp0LkSm48zajsO8w0ijUbWH-nPC/s1600-h/DSC00062.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhChASRCAdsNoKzGN5FSeTWkKWmIn-9Od9wfidpg-nd1qA6-z1dnHo5VOFO3z-vc9gG7gH63TU7mgab7uPWHOc0vKsefL_b323F3ViTUb9OfR6Q1T8epEp0LkSm48zajsO8w0ijUbWH-nPC/s400/DSC00062.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316189838409972850" /></a><div>There is a hill/ridge that runs behind our apartment building and down through the end of our neighborhood. It's a nice place to go for a walk and is quite well-used during the day time. There is one spot about a fifteen minute hike from our place that has a small pagoda for sitting and and a clear view of the city. Friday night, we went up with backpacks of beer and snacks and enjoyed the coming spring weather (although it was still a bit chilly). We eventually built a fire and stayed up there all night. It felt like being back in Maryland if you ignore all the city lights! </div><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBIiuYNn2TjKy3-aChXmkVlZC1KsChRCeRUfd9ZgNyTx9IMpp_CTrJ5ZDl-PJSTjv1TsYJ_PtFlxclbO3r5BCq5Ru9BtH-vFrYtEjgdADEachfLYFbPk0WNgdmX1hXrBeRQOSSozXwdc-q/s400/DSC00074.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316189845850057890" /></div><div>That night, I also discovered that I can do extended exposures on my little digital camera! I've had it for three and half years now and have never used this feature. I took the above Gwangju city picture. Gwangju is really not that glamorous without the timed exposure. Also, fun with light writing!</div><div><br /></div><div>On Saturday afternoon, I went for a little bike cruise down by the river. It was a little gray and windy, but I really enjoy riding my bike down there. It's pretty flat and the only traffic you have to dodge are adjummas and tiny dogs. I took this video while I was riding, so it's a little shaky. However, it ends with two old men having a dispute. Keep your eye on the left side of the screen towards the end. One man whaps another with a giant stick. A little afternoon soju, perhaps? <br /><div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxhncTubgXJPr_5kh4qnd7s9ioydatXGw6_v-lBdeS7unW0MfwKhj0KfxCxzIZDsahNrxTakkUNLh2kOpn9vA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>On Sunday, we went to see the Magnum Korea photography exhibit. If you are unfamiliar with Magnum, they are a group of excellent and highly prestigious documentary photographers. You have probably seen many of their photographs and not realize that they are by a magnum photographer. They did a project on Korea recently. Twenty photographers came to South Korea over the course of a year to shoot contemporary Korean life. It is an excellent visual description of South Korea. I bought the exhibition book because the photos are so indicative of what we see here all the time except better because they are done by highly regarded professional photographers! </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://magnumkorea.com/">Check out this link of the exhibit.</a> It has many of the photos from the show. The website is in Korean, but you just need to scroll down a bit and click on a thumbnail photo. This will take you to a slide show where you can flip through the images. </div></div>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-68865080013869894992009-03-16T10:13:00.002-04:002009-03-16T10:23:08.619-04:00This is my life.<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjBfy_HVoSM">This video</a> has been floating around on YouTube for a while now, but I think I should share it with everyone. Three guys are living in a small Korean Town called Geumchang and they made a really funny video and have managed to include a huge amount of ubiquitous elements of Korean culture. They include fish markets, adjumma visors, swim caps, Family Marts, norebangs, soju mixers, the inconsistent Romanization of Hangul letters and even adding the "eu" sound to every word ending in a hard consonant. For example, I live near a store called "Hi Mart" and this is how I tell a cab to get take me home. However, the driver will not understand me unless I say "Hi Mart-eu". Drinking Hite-eu, drinking Cass-eu.... All in all, this is a really clever and funny interpretation of life as a foreigner. Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-15725684671160739552009-03-13T23:52:00.004-04:002009-03-14T00:19:59.984-04:00Cell Phone Pictures<div>I have been neglecting the photos from my cell phone. Sometimes, I don't have my camera, but can't miss a photo op so I take it on my cell phone! So here is a little recap of events sans my digital camera. </div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6WrgJEb4HcErk0bPPvn8fDJGU1V8xoiuLlfxLorBvC40GCnOgP5FnaFfnabBmCE61WCxNd2jh6Ab-HFLyZgRlYQkQQ9QhtpdfmRglTUEma5TUvGDRlGIEElRGBBXJmGPzQ9MBM85HOtv/s1600-h/Photo081130_1.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 360px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6WrgJEb4HcErk0bPPvn8fDJGU1V8xoiuLlfxLorBvC40GCnOgP5FnaFfnabBmCE61WCxNd2jh6Ab-HFLyZgRlYQkQQ9QhtpdfmRglTUEma5TUvGDRlGIEElRGBBXJmGPzQ9MBM85HOtv/s400/Photo081130_1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312887474073495138" /></a><div>These animal hats are all the rage with the kids! When the busses unload, it sometimes looks like a zoo running through the doors! Tigers, bears, ducks, and dogs coming running in. I got a koala one in a secret santa at Christmas time. <img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4px2LKJIiuHlo-AEq_XgquMXvv5shyqViQOXlxM-QWCSjdomkGlZZR074n7GKj-WdiaHdf2XHVL8d1NNxr8zWFKLi4E8Vtw0TcjzbTYzeXoULtwJMUdBxuLaKhDXkVMD_Cawap63eAGbw/s400/Photo+163.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312888828108949586" /></div><div><br /></div><div>Here are some little Koreans who poured into the elevator with me. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXgMexTgI0QVfQsKhgzbrS4JzodGyWbDXj6GVhU5Tek-UR0ndWKRD00Hr1AHgzj1CzHOWjNoEOz_xL_nTXHU85_Jjk2Bsiac529pTCfUzqMQPNBGYwrjh2PTwhTM_DBVjscXDkHH8uL4s_/s1600-h/Photo081211_1.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXgMexTgI0QVfQsKhgzbrS4JzodGyWbDXj6GVhU5Tek-UR0ndWKRD00Hr1AHgzj1CzHOWjNoEOz_xL_nTXHU85_Jjk2Bsiac529pTCfUzqMQPNBGYwrjh2PTwhTM_DBVjscXDkHH8uL4s_/s400/Photo081211_1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312887474078786210" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Here is Matt having a good hair day at the Shabu Shabu restaurant one afternoon. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimxupWf4jMxlRR7jIfWxeMEch1iRuB0ChjR9xjXOwr84NIEqcxNkK35DxcI5uq63jrIZsr7fZiqfBDKVYhQFxHYTInlbuOfGRx3WbmXX_bqJZMttBCipJA0CiMa5wR6RXkIZTjjQOn7fbD/s1600-h/Photo090201_1.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 360px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimxupWf4jMxlRR7jIfWxeMEch1iRuB0ChjR9xjXOwr84NIEqcxNkK35DxcI5uq63jrIZsr7fZiqfBDKVYhQFxHYTInlbuOfGRx3WbmXX_bqJZMttBCipJA0CiMa5wR6RXkIZTjjQOn7fbD/s400/Photo090201_1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312887470707896338" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Last Friday night, we went out with the Korean teachers from school. Gumbai! (Cheers in Korean)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBWmBYIXB2q67wUeKcIAKaa7awVKqi8WSUR0POAxAJmflReQ0zUHQuBzzoT9o5Usa8-TQV7DjwHm6FltssUIibDt4SB0rAm9aF4c-cfJAraJAY5MG_QuTeiQDYVpzkL-wyjJ02E7U7TeWt/s1600-h/Photo090306_2.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBWmBYIXB2q67wUeKcIAKaa7awVKqi8WSUR0POAxAJmflReQ0zUHQuBzzoT9o5Usa8-TQV7DjwHm6FltssUIibDt4SB0rAm9aF4c-cfJAraJAY5MG_QuTeiQDYVpzkL-wyjJ02E7U7TeWt/s400/Photo090306_2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312887471880919362" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtFnHOrIqYqAXOX_8xuimTNBic-JSuqFNoKi3FoIcK6Bqyx3UIWu5dVUsSqVXI2dmSCcOYOnUKdKq2IdW5l_at7DQJ-HPO1wROFstbaOtcI5i_d6SLH_qQaseg17VSCpUKFlxVGxAjkRBm/s1600-h/Photo090306_4.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtFnHOrIqYqAXOX_8xuimTNBic-JSuqFNoKi3FoIcK6Bqyx3UIWu5dVUsSqVXI2dmSCcOYOnUKdKq2IdW5l_at7DQJ-HPO1wROFstbaOtcI5i_d6SLH_qQaseg17VSCpUKFlxVGxAjkRBm/s400/Photo090306_4.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312887093513108002" /></a></div><div>This is beef sashimi! Quite an interesting dish- raw beef on a pickle slice on a gob of mayonnaise on a sesame leaf! </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2DcKFXWdDgGNDhZ1WHtb8FNGCdDYY12Fii3VWrtyYY6eLW55YYGQGdv6lvVieqSjRqa6BtkU6B4GPjuVrwrLP3Y3_CRwJk_j2f9QJEHAtKbnPiGVtnL7U-HLcLA3vV_yO_R_ZzhqB4Mol/s1600-h/Photo090307_1.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 360px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2DcKFXWdDgGNDhZ1WHtb8FNGCdDYY12Fii3VWrtyYY6eLW55YYGQGdv6lvVieqSjRqa6BtkU6B4GPjuVrwrLP3Y3_CRwJk_j2f9QJEHAtKbnPiGVtnL7U-HLcLA3vV_yO_R_ZzhqB4Mol/s400/Photo090307_1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312887094630225250" /></a></div><div>Rebekah threatens to drop Shane's phone in a pitcher of beer. He probably deserves it! Also, Jesse loves Shane. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkHoNZuk-XKaDVU5xaLzpEYkRmEztl5KBeizTe8b5h-C6YrbFhMqHAstrN9LHjdkY9XUtKV5rSRMLaQYJVW4x892HpprqnoMjsxFHNK1aNhrvgs-zbZMdsGvGSQj4y7ETvNSh3ytldIs4J/s1600-h/Photo090307_5.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkHoNZuk-XKaDVU5xaLzpEYkRmEztl5KBeizTe8b5h-C6YrbFhMqHAstrN9LHjdkY9XUtKV5rSRMLaQYJVW4x892HpprqnoMjsxFHNK1aNhrvgs-zbZMdsGvGSQj4y7ETvNSh3ytldIs4J/s400/Photo090307_5.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312887094099918674" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I confiscated this from one of my students this week. It's a gum ball machine container with three live bees inside! This student holds it up in class and proudly says, "Teacher- BEE!" I was like "what?!" and made him give it to me even though he really really wanted to keep it. It was probably not easy getting those bees in there. I kept it on my desk all day then threw it outside. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8rMeAcoPA2tIGcudnAltCCsBxEZeR8sKRBwj54dHk6jeKcQi0ziEjD2XTIQ32VsotIltrk2CHrh4-vw6_Sd4cfRoD0Ws21zqFdvgRjNKGLxUXRXbG8KnAU-33BNvutKNCsjObev44UGrr/s1600-h/Photo090312_2.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8rMeAcoPA2tIGcudnAltCCsBxEZeR8sKRBwj54dHk6jeKcQi0ziEjD2XTIQ32VsotIltrk2CHrh4-vw6_Sd4cfRoD0Ws21zqFdvgRjNKGLxUXRXbG8KnAU-33BNvutKNCsjObev44UGrr/s400/Photo090312_2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312887087135199570" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Fun cell phone feature! <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1H_M9wK2uNQ6k1ZDAaIhpZtkGk0B5Xa69c1FTAEW1zwIl6LHQ9rFaCoffXA3UjiFrRSEO1jszCPFVfxtXdpAbmW-yfkn_lw0h_r92kvgu1EuEaBZutRG_K0UpmtvoU3pNWKL9SAt6mT6V/s1600-h/Photo090313_1.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1H_M9wK2uNQ6k1ZDAaIhpZtkGk0B5Xa69c1FTAEW1zwIl6LHQ9rFaCoffXA3UjiFrRSEO1jszCPFVfxtXdpAbmW-yfkn_lw0h_r92kvgu1EuEaBZutRG_K0UpmtvoU3pNWKL9SAt6mT6V/s400/Photo090313_1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312887089973983442" /></a><br /></div>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-61122421958238185292009-03-10T22:04:00.005-04:002009-03-10T22:27:35.989-04:00Gwangju Soccer Game!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPrNq7v4nXqcbovdvhPN1FEagMqKEm6ywmC9u-rJdV-ueGttA0PqvrI_pO7qwg9w8DkD_NcFzieW-ek8rluxGKZFXH8UrRxsyIHb9N6vZvzLFb5ZeW2gOIbSjbFm30qmHHiv999-k6ulAF/s1600-h/DSC00005.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPrNq7v4nXqcbovdvhPN1FEagMqKEm6ywmC9u-rJdV-ueGttA0PqvrI_pO7qwg9w8DkD_NcFzieW-ek8rluxGKZFXH8UrRxsyIHb9N6vZvzLFb5ZeW2gOIbSjbFm30qmHHiv999-k6ulAF/s400/DSC00005.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311748223124521714" /></a><br /><br />Sunday afternoon was warm and sunny! We went to the World Cup Stadium for the opening soccer game of the season. The tickets are free because it seems to be difficult to get people to come, but there were many people there this weekend. Maybe because it was the first game. Also, last year the Gwangju team was a military team so there weren't many good players. This year they opened it up to anyone. Gwangju played Daejeon and won 3-0! I'm not much of a sports fan, but this was fun. Instead of eating hot dogs and drinking Budweiser we ate ramen and drank Hite! They shot off fireworks after each Gwangju goal. Gwangju is in the ever-stylish bright orange jerseys. <div><br /><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOepee5_AsDYzSSTjLNZNiabAXDySu1JF0OX-pzhnB-GsM0wFwU8emkhkxm1OduvtZmWlnmpJcBr7VrNxg3Y2fqkP0-BIaD3H-VYK9ErChwCg69GsWPz2YwQnrWugq38oSjqO6WpKiRHDr/s400/DSC00013.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311748220812945458" /></div><div>(Shane is not as bored as he is pretending and Stuart has a face under his hoodie! )<br /><div><br /></div><div>The half time show consisted of two groups of kids doing a tae-kwon-do choreographed dance routine- not so unlike to cheerleading, but with kicks and punches. It was pretty Korean- they love choreographed dance moves because they are mostly too self-conscious to dance on their own. If you go to a "dance" club, Koreans pretty much only do the choreographed moves from the music videos. Here is a video of the half-time show, probably the most entertaining part of the game. </div><div><br /></div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz-rZvyyUnT8U5Y_QOeZ-EmWNFv5oScbArvRK7wkEKJMasDGxh7D_Y9JzraJBXEId6wQ-KRpLHok2iJRhZweQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><div>(PS- I swear I didn't just copy Lisa's blog! Haha!)</div></div></div>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6444261208093825724.post-15060654209447307862009-03-10T07:58:00.005-04:002009-03-10T10:01:45.703-04:00Bali - Part 2<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDMojr7VU0gD8VxQUKCcoBLIUXZnRHP4_PdgHwW73VinyepHuGEM8-SOS_epgtWl3kIlrI0SX-wJ_7Nh8Gp4s84wBbStgWPJ_6pRg2dQE8ojpCng-bgZkJQ0E0NCWAIm6CqyW06vFrjrYH/s1600-h/DSC09908.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDMojr7VU0gD8VxQUKCcoBLIUXZnRHP4_PdgHwW73VinyepHuGEM8-SOS_epgtWl3kIlrI0SX-wJ_7Nh8Gp4s84wBbStgWPJ_6pRg2dQE8ojpCng-bgZkJQ0E0NCWAIm6CqyW06vFrjrYH/s400/DSC09908.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311530784640979986" /></a><div>From Ubud, we hired a car to take us to Sanur. This is a much quieter place to enjoy the beach and it is also the launching point for boats to Nusa Penida, our next destination. This beach was a relief from the many touts of Kuta. We rented these chairs from a restaurant that also kept us in fresh, cold Bintang beers. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdmgeMEprFNXhUKqa5KJqOqkmUahRWiaTcByl1AkkFZMZ_yBFb6ULEcYlxfTWjgv7b8QwLUPu5o6RPAG1ajk4lsQdJieawBBf11UuxnhbAdtjLT7YRel8Q5W-coz4JsyFwv8VNNUVv57fj/s1600-h/DSC09903.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdmgeMEprFNXhUKqa5KJqOqkmUahRWiaTcByl1AkkFZMZ_yBFb6ULEcYlxfTWjgv7b8QwLUPu5o6RPAG1ajk4lsQdJieawBBf11UuxnhbAdtjLT7YRel8Q5W-coz4JsyFwv8VNNUVv57fj/s400/DSC09903.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311530786785271858" /></a></div><div>There are many Indonesian tourists that travel to Bali as well. The day we sat at this beach we were approached by two different groups of people from Borneo and asked Matt and I to take photos with each of them! There were excited to meet Americans because not very many people travel to Borneo. Here's a shot of the scene! I'm taking a photo with a guy whose shirt says "Don't Worry. Be Wary!" I'm not sure he knew what his shirt said and I didn't heed his own warning apparently. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyx_xl2K3OMpVcjURwgZbaZEccrAb0Y1hSVvdiQBwiUgB5F69-RRhJ04D86YKardcXCWeLTr30ElutC-nhUT572begsE-NTk2qCYcDX5hCZojeTEe8vwzcGrCw8Ou9MH6RjcW8N4LrX6sc/s1600-h/DSC09922.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyx_xl2K3OMpVcjURwgZbaZEccrAb0Y1hSVvdiQBwiUgB5F69-RRhJ04D86YKardcXCWeLTr30ElutC-nhUT572begsE-NTk2qCYcDX5hCZojeTEe8vwzcGrCw8Ou9MH6RjcW8N4LrX6sc/s400/DSC09922.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311530780079751090" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Thursday morning, we hopped on the public boat to Nusa Penida. Tourists rarely take this boat, you might be sharing it with a chicken. We were on our way out and were called back in to take on some more cargo. We waited about 45 minutes to load about 15 mattresses, some boxed furniture, and some painting of tropical flowers. Must've been heading to some hotel. It was like watching a mattress parade come down the beach. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYD-AwPzeFgL20GsRz8BSyB3atKKdTMUfNW13-lfHLmIY_T8FT5sHZe-oqmetjnNW_IHJRmKTYoZTPz-iuUwz7wKy3bCgbGBkRaWCWCCXpXVzOQaDDL4wGdVYzK17KeCNS_FJidq0X_6S_/s1600-h/DSC09937.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYD-AwPzeFgL20GsRz8BSyB3atKKdTMUfNW13-lfHLmIY_T8FT5sHZe-oqmetjnNW_IHJRmKTYoZTPz-iuUwz7wKy3bCgbGBkRaWCWCCXpXVzOQaDDL4wGdVYzK17KeCNS_FJidq0X_6S_/s400/DSC09937.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311530097874425794" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, we arrive on Nusa Penida, which is a small island off of Bali. Tourists rarely go there. There is really only one or two places to stay. We stayed with MM Diving. It's a motel, small cafe, and diving operation run by a few Czech people. They helped us with everything on Penida and had all of our meals there (there aren't any restaurants, only small stalls). </div><div><br /></div><div>We rented a motorbike for about $7 and rode over to Crystal Bay, the most gorgeous beach I've ever stepped foot on. It's the only beach that matches up with its cheesy name. It's really out there. Villagers come and walk their cows down the beach. Boys fish naked with a hook on a string, women and girls bring their laundry down to wash on the rocks at the end of the stream that runs into the ocean. There is beautiful coral and all kinds of tropical fish there. We went snorkeling and saw some pretty amazing stuff. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnvxSvNKUzXhBBbXEX1o_v1jn0uGOBe_i5IKgN2FjVnLfx2kqmm2fwjj5UmIgg09JuXekF_4Q8qq8BlPfcajEJnv3FCyJWP01IhEEOU6sQhTIDfZnsPC6fGy7K1AffynCDGN6Txgy_1NyB/s1600-h/DSC09946.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnvxSvNKUzXhBBbXEX1o_v1jn0uGOBe_i5IKgN2FjVnLfx2kqmm2fwjj5UmIgg09JuXekF_4Q8qq8BlPfcajEJnv3FCyJWP01IhEEOU6sQhTIDfZnsPC6fGy7K1AffynCDGN6Txgy_1NyB/s400/DSC09946.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311530098892973202" /></a></div><div>At one end of the beach is a rarely used sea temple. A local man said they only use it about two times a year. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtVYatdkTHTR16qpRiI3l0eLpfBl5yOWVeiiFqE-Pc2jIaBvNHakJK1Eu11GCzFjXi4PiSKmcHoqSx0pYtOQ90KvfAoo_TFkRfpRsYpefVDxd7Lt-yCe-rfO-YXQemcruUAnX24oF5dZV/s1600-h/DSC09958.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtVYatdkTHTR16qpRiI3l0eLpfBl5yOWVeiiFqE-Pc2jIaBvNHakJK1Eu11GCzFjXi4PiSKmcHoqSx0pYtOQ90KvfAoo_TFkRfpRsYpefVDxd7Lt-yCe-rfO-YXQemcruUAnX24oF5dZV/s400/DSC09958.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311530094816964162" /></a></div><div>That night we ate, drank Bintang, and watched Czech diving videos at MM Diving with a bunch of Czechs. I was pretty beat and we went to bed early. We got up early the next morning, ate breakfast, had a box lunch made for us and rented a scooter again. This time we did a trip circumnavigating the entire island. This is maybe one of the most amazing, off the grid days I've ever had. We rode our motorbike (sans helmets- sorry Moms and Safety Girl, but no one has a helmet on this island) around this tiny, little roads that have very little traffic. We kept being passed by twelve year old boys and old men - we weren't going fast at all! Matt had never driven a motorbike before, but, as usual, was a quick study. I held on for dear life and drove him nuts by squeaking in his ear on a rough gear change. Soon, I also learned when he was going to shift gears and braced myself for it. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqFI8QPW1y9eFV4EVhIeIN9_SbI_9f_CWX8__AexUPZB6X0wyva_zac7XI79YlTRkOkr7R21RweayUlXeKpftxBgKHtMDfgRKpw6naiPQqf4H7fVbZO9pyk5MCtmG5BIdcKgCvSUFt5Fre/s1600-h/DSC09979.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqFI8QPW1y9eFV4EVhIeIN9_SbI_9f_CWX8__AexUPZB6X0wyva_zac7XI79YlTRkOkr7R21RweayUlXeKpftxBgKHtMDfgRKpw6naiPQqf4H7fVbZO9pyk5MCtmG5BIdcKgCvSUFt5Fre/s400/DSC09979.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311530087314354402" /></a></div><div>The main island road runs by the coast on the north and north west side, but then cuts inland over the interior hills. We kept passing all these beautiful little spots. We stopped to take some pictures and stretch our legs. We made one pit stop at a bat cave temple on the island. We walked up these huge steps to a little temple and weren't sure if we'd found it, but it was it. There were three men who seemed to live/always hang out up there. They really laughed at all of Matt's gear- they found it so ridiculous and probably totally unnecessary. Below is Matt and the man who guided us through the cave and laughed at Matt's gear. There were real bats in there! <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhPoCwjGxA36yjokDboXGbLh4zXf-eH6OnmkKxTzDx090KvPxy_3dlQGQXSf35SPYAZNsQc43KPmoQK0Fv7RhFGwx8sP06ZXOaq1kXAGjvNzTEpIUYM0qvQ_L12lu8rVF62N_7FglFy3bI/s1600-h/DSC09991.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhPoCwjGxA36yjokDboXGbLh4zXf-eH6OnmkKxTzDx090KvPxy_3dlQGQXSf35SPYAZNsQc43KPmoQK0Fv7RhFGwx8sP06ZXOaq1kXAGjvNzTEpIUYM0qvQ_L12lu8rVF62N_7FglFy3bI/s400/DSC09991.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311530086823516402" /></a></div><div>The tiny person-sized hole you have to crawl into. Then you have to crouch and crawl through a low cave, which eventually opens up into a large cavern. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgincOrn_1qQKzFiYYwgDzolVkiuPeX1p5X2MVE5u-fK6vwkZPutBZqgse-aIckSqOakMEI1Pecx9L7vQqsAVRDR8VPydWcW2xPYRG5rQrrhbEy07Y9FSqpfZEVlfHzGArvfav70HvDQKRn/s1600-h/DSC09996.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgincOrn_1qQKzFiYYwgDzolVkiuPeX1p5X2MVE5u-fK6vwkZPutBZqgse-aIckSqOakMEI1Pecx9L7vQqsAVRDR8VPydWcW2xPYRG5rQrrhbEy07Y9FSqpfZEVlfHzGArvfav70HvDQKRn/s400/DSC09996.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311528979879327602" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Matt and I have never been so famous! Children and many other people stop whatever they were doing to wave furiously and yell "Hello" and then any combination of any other English greeting if they knew it. "Hello nice to meet you what is your name by!" All while we are driving by on a motorbike. These boys had us surrounded when we came down from the cave. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxxhAOJtekkWX-KMTifmuqokKrv7uo6wELerNXpoPp6fKqh8JRy2PaqjEXIZwoJBBZELSnaYL2PJAcoL4cMmP_nddQH2o85nO2V0yZwIF4TyWXGB4Md2i1mX8WIW9Yk6mV7_4oY4e2HAHD/s1600-h/DSC00003.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxxhAOJtekkWX-KMTifmuqokKrv7uo6wELerNXpoPp6fKqh8JRy2PaqjEXIZwoJBBZELSnaYL2PJAcoL4cMmP_nddQH2o85nO2V0yZwIF4TyWXGB4Md2i1mX8WIW9Yk6mV7_4oY4e2HAHD/s400/DSC00003.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311528983411193026" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEaWwGhfFqOGcmMc4XqyoG1sASI_40GDU78lWgaSEN9eoZ0oggYotJgCRnidcOVO_kGHPlAPGB7FLj8LrkqEVpTV3umDErtLcIFMOYlnh_gsi-ZEpZPznL6R63f6l2X0ulI3X6f9UkN5Li/s1600-h/DSC00005.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEaWwGhfFqOGcmMc4XqyoG1sASI_40GDU78lWgaSEN9eoZ0oggYotJgCRnidcOVO_kGHPlAPGB7FLj8LrkqEVpTV3umDErtLcIFMOYlnh_gsi-ZEpZPznL6R63f6l2X0ulI3X6f9UkN5Li/s400/DSC00005.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311528977416553394" /></a></div><div>Sweet sea temple. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-OQfPUr4At1RB59I1r9kHSM4Hkt0HInI4pcW2mnOJinVKrDYhbpO8J1XiXR6hZMAtQSC4nBjb1mL4Ntg5ltV0wZCGlI5WyRxjNfQo60E3ipW52ElCgGgDH41fE23yUyAYTgIwA9CuFgP/s1600-h/DSC00013.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-OQfPUr4At1RB59I1r9kHSM4Hkt0HInI4pcW2mnOJinVKrDYhbpO8J1XiXR6hZMAtQSC4nBjb1mL4Ntg5ltV0wZCGlI5WyRxjNfQo60E3ipW52ElCgGgDH41fE23yUyAYTgIwA9CuFgP/s400/DSC00013.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311528971956113426" /></a></div><div>Here we are heading inland over the hills. Deserted skinny roads. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqn0bbJBf_z0E86x9gFfZFys0veP8W6TazpUmBF3-BL3cPK9XA3e3MCqYpEYudxWynCS62W9tAdOgQdYVHyT5IzAcrPT1-VCsig4TTVdkL4OUK0YEa5J_vYo9_yJ9tQwtQmjbqk_2v1hAw/s1600-h/DSC00021.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqn0bbJBf_z0E86x9gFfZFys0veP8W6TazpUmBF3-BL3cPK9XA3e3MCqYpEYudxWynCS62W9tAdOgQdYVHyT5IzAcrPT1-VCsig4TTVdkL4OUK0YEa5J_vYo9_yJ9tQwtQmjbqk_2v1hAw/s400/DSC00021.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311528966524805938" /></a></div><div>We drove for hours around exploring. We took a detour looking for a waterfall. Our map showed one straight, easy road, but after about the fifth or sixth fork in the road we decided we were lost and didn't know how many more forks there were. We cut our losses and backtracked. Our detour took us off "the main road" and into some very small, out-there villages. It was probably the most National Geographic I'll ever get in real life. Old women crushing grains bare-chested, all the men working on building something together. Then we went back to Crystal Bay. Below you can see a naked boy fishing. Later he caught a long skinny fish and played with it by dragging it around the beach. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjFlO35rQG4-9VE0hvZ-Vj_kReeqs40apU2iTwKKiCrPC24vJiXW8pnlECkzdHDzi1nXkpc-yK9yYu7l4tVNs-cZ7pNdZRm5uhWXE70W9hxr2UOaKZrgjsL2Eig8Cugyh2rigGy9Qo_MrE/s1600-h/DSC00023.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjFlO35rQG4-9VE0hvZ-Vj_kReeqs40apU2iTwKKiCrPC24vJiXW8pnlECkzdHDzi1nXkpc-yK9yYu7l4tVNs-cZ7pNdZRm5uhWXE70W9hxr2UOaKZrgjsL2Eig8Cugyh2rigGy9Qo_MrE/s400/DSC00023.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311528331913240754" /></a></div><div>Matt is coming back from snorkeling Day 2. This time he got to swim with two 8-9 foot Manta rays. They came up and swam around him, played with him, touched him and let Matt touch them. He said it was one of the most awesome things that has ever happened to him. </div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpS-HlLWFgiKNzQvWtRGyfhQ-vZj4Et6fEGJezXJgeeRAc8GPVa01ACt3uf4-PBFTTNotOABX3IuX5zS55TCcUyDv42szUe2sfnuBbxnCFaa3Uo4WXeyKonQtl8fEg61IrlQLs_jTOWJN/s1600-h/DSC00024.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpS-HlLWFgiKNzQvWtRGyfhQ-vZj4Et6fEGJezXJgeeRAc8GPVa01ACt3uf4-PBFTTNotOABX3IuX5zS55TCcUyDv42szUe2sfnuBbxnCFaa3Uo4WXeyKonQtl8fEg61IrlQLs_jTOWJN/s400/DSC00024.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311528334633268354" /></a></div><div>We headed back to the hotel and giant Czech men who were staying there gave us a "Pena Penida" like a pena colida. They drank giant beers for breakfast, sat around talking loudly in czech, and a few wearing only sweaty tank tops and bikini brief underwear! Clothes are way over-rated on Nusa Penida. Anyway, these guys gave our stay there a lot of character. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPZhvmIgFb0bG6_2AlyqUlryacX9BFMM6KG5-1aLTBbX_IKhgZbiVsLMxuC1FOmRYVzNzMwuUveqwX65QBPhT_BGJDs4SJLH-hBCOTUpA4m1_MF90XGBMrckJSaRFKvWfeAWqIjXredeEY/s1600-h/DSC00030.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPZhvmIgFb0bG6_2AlyqUlryacX9BFMM6KG5-1aLTBbX_IKhgZbiVsLMxuC1FOmRYVzNzMwuUveqwX65QBPhT_BGJDs4SJLH-hBCOTUpA4m1_MF90XGBMrckJSaRFKvWfeAWqIjXredeEY/s400/DSC00030.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311528329614461922" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9eaO4tAd9OEA2qe65hgj4_2HVYOLxDZG06c4vl7NeHIOlMX7mdebRJ4T-1jIKxM8_E-r6Qt5i4rPLJLiNuNKA9Jze79ttqZRSE1RDX2p31nnsdZh8qMZdJOPnrGQND8M_Ai269FV38oK/s1600-h/DSC00037.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9eaO4tAd9OEA2qe65hgj4_2HVYOLxDZG06c4vl7NeHIOlMX7mdebRJ4T-1jIKxM8_E-r6Qt5i4rPLJLiNuNKA9Jze79ttqZRSE1RDX2p31nnsdZh8qMZdJOPnrGQND8M_Ai269FV38oK/s400/DSC00037.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311528326572096498" /></a></div><div>This is a mutant gecko outside our room. It has two tails! The next morning we caught the boat back to Bali, spent the day sitting on the beach in Sanur, and then flew back to Korea late that night. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKAux5Lz3HYW-rBMW4OdkPDw18kc5_Q3U1wlwHdROtnPFeU2J4TQf5erp6DNpokENzDXQeSopL7h1PisUrRJ6UTRVVIL1DjL6Y6s6tARZRNCpb4y2R1NeehHEfulf6aIk01xkEiGI02DGb/s1600-h/DSC00038.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKAux5Lz3HYW-rBMW4OdkPDw18kc5_Q3U1wlwHdROtnPFeU2J4TQf5erp6DNpokENzDXQeSopL7h1PisUrRJ6UTRVVIL1DjL6Y6s6tARZRNCpb4y2R1NeehHEfulf6aIk01xkEiGI02DGb/s400/DSC00038.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311528319893021570" /></a><br /></div>Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043350832561812306noreply@blogger.com1