The other day after classes, the English Department had a bowling tournament. Here's my team with me: Song, Jin, Kevin, Mary and Alexander.

Yesterday was Buddha's birthday. A few of us went up to Gyeongu and checked out the temples and other festivities. There were lanterns like these everywhere. Often they had "wishes" or prayers hanging from them, which people had to pay for (kind of like indulgences?).

This pagoda is one of the national treasures of Korea. It's pictured on the back of the 10 won coin.

This is from the car ferry to Goejedo the other week. One of the rooms on the main deck was a sleeping room, Korean style. I snuck this picture without appearing too touristy...I think.

Day 14

Here are some of my students watching a basketball game recently. The perception here of getting sun is quite the opposite of America where we almost worship the sun's rays so as to get darker. These girls (and guys) are using parasols to protect themselves from the sun because they want to have white skin. They were kind enough to offer me one so that I could protect my pale skin (I politely declined). Some of the guys simply popped their collars to protect their necks. It was quite an interesting comparison to American (beach/summer) culture. I guess the grass is always greener...

Day 13

Although this is from earlier this month, it's similar to today's weather. Many mornings these last two months have looked like this with fog and rain. Yeongdo sometimes seems to have its own weather, so the fog is especially bad here as compared to the rest of Busan. Needless to say today has been really foggy and rainy which makes students sleepy...or they just skip class altogether.

Day 11 & 12

Here's the northern part of Yeongdo that I hadn't seen from this angle. I always drive through this area, but hardly ever have a reason to stop there. The area right across the bridge is called Nampo-dong. It's a popular place with shopping, restaurants, movie theaters, etc. You can also see two of the bridges going off the island, the famous fish market (with the seagull roof), and Busan tower. I hiked the mountain directly across (with the tower on it) last weekend.


Here's a Korean picnic table up on the mountain. While I did see one or two Western style ones, there were a few of these as well. Traditionally Koreans eat on the floor, so this same principal applies here.

Day 10

Yesterday afternoon, Andy and I hiked Kosin mountain. We spent a couple hours up there exploring the whole ridge and taking in the views as it was one of the clearest days we've had in awhile. Besides the views, one of my favorite things about going up the mountain is being surrounded by trees and other plants. Korea is a very mountainous country which means that most of the flat land is built upon, especially in the cities. It's nice to be able to get away from the city, even if you can see it half the time you're climbing.

Day 8 (and 9)

Here's our group from the baseball game last night. From the left, Kevin, Andy, myself, and Min. The bags are kind of like a rally cap, and also serve as trash bags on the way out.

While there are many differences between the Korean baseball experience and American baseball, one of my favorites is the fact that you can bring any food or drink you want into the game. Take that food vendors! Part of our snacks was the obligatory kimbap (think something similar to a California roll) which is pretty much the Korean equivalent of PB&J.