Hwanseongul Cave

Not ones to let the rain detour us, Jeremy, John and I took a bus from Samcheok to visit Hwanseongul Cave, one of the largest caves in Asia.  It was WAY bigger than I anticipated, and the neon lights and hokey names only slightly detracted from the awesomeness of the cave. 

About to enter the cave.

We didn't stay in the same city for two nights in a row till we got to Seoul so all of  our hiking and exploring was done with our backpacks on.

It was about at this point when I figured out the best light setting for my camera in the cave.

Andong

The city of Andong is known for it's "traditional folk village" where a small group of people still live, and mask dances.  We learned that the mask dances evolved as a way to poke fun at the nobility. 

Mask dance performance.

That night was one of the first nights when we were not rushing to catch a train and got to enjoy a sit down dinner.  The cook/hostess/dishwasher at one point handed us her cell phone and encouraged us to speak to her son(?) we think so he could practice his English.  

Our good friend the train.

Doing Busan Right

Before we had even bought our plane tickets to Korea Jeremy said he would come and visit us.  We've both been really looking forward to a visit from a friend from home, getting to show him around, and witness Korea all over again through his eyes.  We picked Jeremy up from the airport (not without confusion) and proceeded to fill the next 10 days with adventure, simple carbohydrates, hysterical laughter, and buses and trains galore.

The first three days we spent here in Busan where Jeremy got to meet our friends, check out the legendary beach nightlife, and wow Korea with his karaoke skills.  Here are some photos from our weekend in Busan.

This is a group of English students who approached us asking if they could practice their English.  We of course said yes, and chatted while enjoying our favorite Korean pastries.

Friday night we watched the fountain of dreams light show and camped on one of the beaches in Busan.

You can't see it but we're eating jjajangmyun, a Chinese dish of noodles with black bean sauce.  It was very greasy and very yummy.

This photo doesn't really do it justice, but the entire beach is covered in umbrellas.

Karaoke Saturday night.

Karaoke. 

Sunday we tried to visit a temple on the ocean, but the traffic was terrible, so we went on a short hike before ultimate instead.

After playing ultimate frisbee we headed to the arcade.

The silliest game we played was called "bishy bashy".  Look at Jeremy's hands fly!

Hereby closes our weekend in Busan.  Monday morning we  took to the open road.

Ups

Plants We Eat

For summer school, I was fortunate enough to choose the topics that I wanted to teach; I chose "Social Movements" and "Plants We Eat".

On the first day of my "Plants We Eat" class, we talked about the different parts of the plant that we eat incorporating the classic song, "Roots, Stems, Leaves".  Then we talked about what plants need to grow, and then the 6 students in the class each got to plant collard greens, nasturtiums, lettuce, and kidney beans in an egg carton.  Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera that day, but I took some photos during the next class of the students tenderly watering their plants and being super excited when the collard seeds had sprouted over the weekend.  While they did a great job of naming tons of fruits and vegetables, none of them have a garden at home, or had ever planted anything.

Success!  A collard green plant!

Our Saturday Afternoon

We enjoyed some beer, kimbap (Korean sushi) and chips, as we took in the bridge and the beach.

Can you see the dyed tail on the dog?

This woman is pointing to no one, but is also amused by the dogs tails.

There's a library on the beach!

We were asked to add our fingerprints to some sort of sign and received flags as our parting gift.

Igidae Park

Sunday afternoon before our ultimate frisbee pick-up game we headed to Igidae park.  I had seen this park written about in the foreigner magazine and the coastal photos looked amazing.  The park was much larger than I anticipated and I look forward to going back soon to explore some more.

This trail leads all along the coast.  Unfortunately we only had time to make it 1/3 of the way around, and then ended up hiking to the top, and then to pick-up.

It really makes me happy how many locals (what I presume to be locals) take advantage of the great outdoors Busan has to offer.

Crazy catepillar.

At the top of the mountain, again there was the requisite exercise park, and a track!

Heart

I can't help but seeing a heart hanging.