We just thought we'd post a quick blog. We're at the airport in Seoul (stealing an internet signal from the First Class lounge....) on our way to Canada for just over a week.
An early start time today coupled with a LONG flight home will ensure that I am thoroughly exhausted when we set foot on the ground in Canada (we get to fly into the Waterloo airport - so exciting!!) But, we're excited to be coming home for a visit. It will be great to see our friends and family and to be there for my sister's wedding.
I'm also hoping that I can strap my cross country skis on my feet and get out for an hour or two some afternoon. I'm so excited about snow!!
So, we'll see some of you very soon - our Korea peeps, well, we'll see you when we get back!
I'm out.
~Jen
Jen and I really enjoy our life here in Korea. We have a lot of great friends, we have good working environments, there's a lot to do and see around here, and we've enjoyed learning about the Korean language and culture.
One thing that Korea doesn't do quite so well yet is market itself. Its tourism industry is very much underdeveloped. There is, as I've already said, lots to see and do, but it's just not well advertised. Through a lot of word of mouth and a lot of exploring, we and our friends have all kept busy schedules here in Korea.
When we had originally thought about moving abroad and had suggested Japan as a possible destination, almost everyone we told was so excited for us and wanted to come and visit. But after a long series of events that saw us ending up in Korea, it seems as if our final destination wasn't nearly as exciting. And I guess we fell folly to the same marketing as well. We thought Japan would be a great place to be (and not having yet visited, we don't have any first hand experience to draw upon to verify or refute that), but after having spent the past 6 months here in Seoul, we can't imagine being anywhere else.
Why is it that everyone loves Japan? Why do they want so much to visit Japan? What makes it so special? A lot of people have visited the small island country and brought home many positive experiences. Indeed, that is one of the primary goals of the Japanese Exchange and Teaching (JET) program that Jen and I had originally applied to - to learn about Japan and to spread it's culture around the world once we returned home. Japan is a known quantity. Lots of visitors and a lots of good stories that inspire others to want to visit. Importantly, Japan also has a very well developed tourist industry and makes traveling there easy.
So, if we were in Japan, would we actually have more visitors than we have here in Korea? Incidentally, we haven't yet had anyone visit us, and I think that it will remain that way for our entire stay. It's such a far distance and costs so much that it's not an easy trip to manage. But I digress... Back to the question. More visitors in Japan than Korea? I don't know. Japan is still a costly and time consuming trip. I think that people were just more excited about Japan and made grand plans with their small talk like most people are apt to do when they are excited.
Whether or not our home makes a difference as to how many visitors we get doesn't really matter though. It's purely theoretical. We're here in Korea and not in Japan. I guess the point I'm trying to get across is that although many people wouldn't consider Korea as a top travel destination, it definitely has it's hidden gems.
Life's been good and we're both glad that we had the opportunity to live here.
Now, is anyone going to come and visit us when we're in Dubai...
While Jeff and I are trying to prepare for job interviews, Sara has taken the opportunity to interview me about life. I had posted about being interviewed our blog a couple of weeks ago. Here are the questions that Sara asked me.
1. What was something you found different about China (as compared to Korea)?
We were only there for a week, but we couldn't believe how cheap it was to eat out. It cost us $5 for both of us to eat (like crazy including tea and HUGE bottles of beer! Jeff was an eating monster - and even then we could barely finish our meals most of the time - though I usually was able to finish the beer....) All the food was so delicious too... mmmm!!! It's so much more expensive to eat out (even Korean food) in Korea. A (Korean) meal here will cost us about $10 or more for both of us depending on what we eat...
The other thing that I noticed was different is that Chinese people (at least the ones we met in Beijing) don't seem to bow as much as Koreans. I was bowing more than they were!
2. What was the best moment of your trip to China?
Walking along the Great Wall the second time was amazing. The first time we walked "along" the Great Wall we walked up the mountain for 45 minutes and then walked back down for 45 minutes. We didn't even make it to the top! The part of the wall we walked along the first time overlooked a highway. The second time we hiked 10 kilometers over four hours along a part of the wall that was 3 hours outside of Beijing and in the middle of nowhere. The scenery was amazing! That part of the wall was definitely how we pictured the Great Wall to be (well, aside from me picturing a wall made of china plates and cups as seen in an old McDonald's commercial...) I'm amazed at the time and effort that went into building the Great Wall (3000km over 300 years... that's dedication!) We'll be sure to post a couple of the hundreds of pictures of the Great Wall soon.
3. If you could eat only three foods (choosing just one would be too difficult!) and one drink for the rest of your life, what would they be?
This is hard!!!
Jen
Food: Chocolate, perogies, Thai food (does this count!?!) maybe green curry....
Drink: Black tea with milk (yum!)
Jeff
Food: Pad thai, home made butter tarts (no raisins), channa masala
Drink: Freshly squeezed orange juice with lots of pulp
4. Who taught you how to knit and why?
I really have no idea. I think that I most likely originally learned as a Brownie or Girl Guide... maybe so I could earn a badge (I'll have to check my badges when I get home to see if I have a knitting one...) but I can't remember. Over the years I've tried to learn as much as possible from others (friends of my mom, and my own friends). With the dawn of the internet I have been able to continue to learn new techniques and improve my knitting as I search for patterns and help online.
5. Where will you be five years from now?
Geeze... um.... Jeff's answer:
Two kids, a dog, a Volkswagon, and a white picket fence... "How else would you answer that?" he asks. That wouldn't be my answer.
Maybe working in Waterloo? At education related jobs that are fulfilling and meaningful. Jobs we are passionate about. Maybe with a kid... and a cat? With one car - being able to bike or walk or take public transit (!!) to work... living in a house (or an apartment... or a condo... I don't mind living in a small space, I actually kind of like it...) As long as the place we're living has no mold and sunbeams galore I'll be happy.
Although I love having some security in knowing what is going to happen in 5 years, I also find that it is fun to see what will happen. We have plans, dreams, and ideas as to where we'll be in the next five years, but we're open and flexible to whatever might happen in the future.
Thanks for the questions Sara!
Jeff and I have just returned from our week long "honeymoon"/winter vacation in Beijing, China. The week was great fun and included two Great Wall hikes, a Peking Opera, an acrobatics show, Peking duck (we're vegetarians, but we HAD to try it...), the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, a Hotong tour, a visit to a pearl (I originally typed purl!!) market, a silk market, and a trip to KFC for Jeff so he could have his egg tart.... oh yeah, our trip also included fireworks. LOTS of fireworks! When we first arrived in Beijing our tour guide told us that it was impossible to see fireworks in the city, we had to go outside Beijing in order to see a show since fireworks are illegal in the city centre - boy was he wrong!
The above video is not ours (we didn't think about taking a video until the morning after, and by then it was too late, but this video depicts exactly what we saw on February 6th - the beginning of the Spring Festival, more commonly known as Chinese (or Lunar in Korea) New Year. We watched the fireworks from our hostel window. The whole sky filled up just like this (this video was taken in Beijing 2008!)
Througout the day we periodically heard firecrackers being set off, the short ones that don't fire high into the sky, but that do make A LOT of noise. By the time midnight rolled around the fireworks were in full swing and didn't stop until at least 1:30. There were about four hours of solid fireworks that night - I'm pretty sure that most of them were set off by the general population - we certainly saw a few that were a little too close for comfort for me!!!
Walking down the street was insane too. We had to make sure that we watched where we were going since people were lighting firecrackers everywhere. It really did sound and look like a war zone. The next morning we saw the carnage of the night before - red paper and cardboard were strewn everywhere along the small streets where we stayed!
Over the next couple of days we'll try to get our pictures posted and post a few more blog entries.. there is certainly a lot to blog about!!
We are also preparing for another trip - our trip home to Canada for my sisters' wedding. We leave in a week!
So we're off to catch a 5am bus to the airport. Not sure if we'll get a chance to blog while we're away, but we'll be sure to share our stories once we return. Back in a week!!
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