We live in Korea. Read about it.

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2009-09-16T02:48:00.001+09:00

We are back in the states and living in Durham.

Life is good...we're still busy settling in.

More to come soon.

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN.

2009-08-11T21:58:00.000+09:00

As I post this, we are finishing up Tuesday. Our plane leaves on Saturday at 10:30am, Korea time. We will land in Portland on Saturday at 11:59am. Needless to say, it will probably be a LONG day.

We've been bantering back and forth about the things that we will miss and the things that we won't miss.

Here is the rough list.

We will miss...
-the adventure of traveling.
-learning about a new culture.
-the ability to talk about whatever we want, wherever we want, without people really understanding us.
-how cheap eating out is.
-super fast Internet
-the Jim Jil Bang, which is like a spa, minus the special treatments. It only costs $5 to stay for as long as you want.
-spending so much time with kids.
-using public transportation (We LOVE taking the train and it's only $5 to get to the beach!)
-having time to read fiction
-the wonderful friends we've made.
-I'm sure a lot more things that we can't even think of now in the craze of leaving...

We won't miss...
-kimchi, and for that matter, a good portion of Korean food
-not having an oven, dryer, or dish washer
-not speaking the language well and always feeling bad or ignorant because of it.
-the ability of other people to talk about us while we are in the same room as them, assuming that we don't understand. A lot of times we don't, but you learn the word for foreigner or white-person pretty quickly. (Keith speaks WAY more Korean than I do. He understands about 20% of what he hears.)
-how expensive imported food is. (Example: can of Campbell's soup...as much as $5)
-having to look at the pictures on everything to figure out what is what. (Example: salt vs. sugar, dish soap vs. laundry soap.)
-not having a car or bicycle when going to the store on that one day where you have to buy all the heavy stuff.
-having NO SICK DAYS for an ENTIRE YEAR

What we can't WAIT for...
-WALDO
-seeing family and friends
-being just "a phone call away"
-Mexican food
-grocery shopping
-driving
-having our bikes back
-solving small problems with ease

This is it. We are really leaving. It's been an incredible year.

(Sorry for the lack of pictures. Keith's hard drive crashed 3 weeks ago. My computer no longer has internet capabilities for a reason that I do not understand and thus, cannot fix. Also, I accidentally packed the camera cord and I have no idea which suitcase it's in. So, pictures from this summer, our anniversary, and our final days coming soon.)

The Bright Lights of Tokyo

2009-07-08T17:17:00.010+09:00

It's been about 3 weeks since we took a long weekend away to Tokyo, which we absolutely loved. We were really in need a a vacation, some solid together time, and a little escape from Korea...and Korean food.

Our bosses were so worried that we were going to go to Japan, get swine flu, bring it back, infect and kill all of our students, and destroy their businesses, that we kept our trip on the down-low. People are so paranoid about that stuff around here, that I wasn't and still am not allowed to tell any of my students that I've been to Tokyo in the last six months. But, it's been more than 9 days since we've been back, so we are officially not infected with the disease, so all is good. (You wouldn't believe the number of people wearing masks in Tokyo. It was quite amusing.)

In all honestly though, we not only enjoyed our trip, we LOVED Tokyo. It's so much more diverse than Seoul, and in that sense, felt a lot more like being in LA or NYC. Overall, Tokyo is just our kind of city. There were big parks all over the place. It's extremely bike friendly, so much so, that there are entire parking lots at the big subway and train stations that are only for bicycles. We rented bikes for the whole time we were there and it was SO GREAT to ride a bicycle again! We've missed our bikes a lot this year. Of course, the food was INCREDIBLE. We used to eat sushi a lot at home, but haven't too much this year, because the Korean version is not so great and not so healthy. While in Tokyo, we ate sushi for 5 meals I believe, which is quite often if you are only there for a long weekend.

So...basically the entire trip, we were asking ourselves...why haven't we been living in Tokyo this whole last year? But, life would be miserable if we really lived with those kind of regrets. Also, it is SO expensive. Keith read an article on the BBC a couple of days ago that ranked Tokyo as the most expensive big city in the world for ex patriots to live. Although there are a lot of things we really enjoyed there, we probably wouldn't have been able to pay off debt like we've been able to do here in Korea, so, it's probably for the best.

I will post a few pictures from our trip here, but you can see a whole album of pictures by going to my facebook page and viewing the album. (NOTE: For non-facebook users, you do not have to be a facebook member to view the album. You can view it from my profile page.) http://facebook.com/meganpardue

This last weekend we went to the coast for Fourth of July with some other Americans that we know here. We ate pizza and played Red Rover. It was a beautiful day and warm enough to swim in the Pacific. We tried to set off fireworks, but, apparently, they are illegal. We found that out after the lady in the convenience store willing sold a bunch of them to us. We will be going to the beach again this Saturday for Korea's famous Mud Festival. By Mud Festival, they mean that you cover yourself in this famous mud that is supposedly good for your skin and hang out all day in the sun covered in it. It should be interesting, to say the least.

We are counting down the days, 37 to be exact. Still, though, we are trying to savour our time here with our friends and this great experience. Can you believe we've been here for about 5 weeks shy of a year? What an incredible adventure it's been.

The Last Several Weeks

2009-05-25T10:17:00.011+09:00

Sorry for the blog neglect. But, here we are.

We have spent the last several weeks trying to see more of the country and enjoying the beginning of the warm dry weather before the rainy season hits.

We have only 12 more weeks in Korea. This last nine months has flown by...well, on most days. It's hard to believe that it's already been one year since we graduated college and saw most of our friends in Oklahoma City.

Many people are asking what our plans are for the fall and we have some answers! We will be returning to the US on August 15th with just enough time to pack up our cars and drive across the country. This cross country move will take us a little farther than Oklahoma City though. We are moving to Durham, North Carolina for me (Megan) to begin a master's program at Duke University. Keith will be working the first year we are there and beginning the tedious and thorough process of applying to PA and Nursing Schools in the area.

We have never been to Durham before, or North Carolina. But, we had also never been to Korea before, and we've managed here just fine. Although moving to a new place does always bring a few uncertainties, moving and living here has pretty much thrown us into a whirlwind more than any city in the US could possibly have...or at least, so we think.

Durham seems like a pretty cool city and we are looking forward to its proximity to other places in the US that we haven't been able to spend any or little time before, such as DC and the Appalachian Mountains.

Both our Moms, Gayle and Lynette, tell us that people often ask how they can be praying for us. What a blessing it is to feel like we are remembered and supported even when we are so far away. We are praying now that Keith will be able to find a job, preferably in his field, but any job at all would be an answer to prayer when we come back to the states. We have been so blessed to have job security here in Korea this year in midst of the economic crisis, unlike so many others. We are also praying that God would bless us with good friends and relationships when we move once again. The friends that we've made over this year have become our temporary family; the people that we spent Christmas with and traveled with and that have supported us in this first year of our marriage. We are so grateful.

That's enough about the future though. We are trying to soak up every last minute of our time here in this part of Asia. In two weeks, we will be going to Tokyo for a long weekend, which we are really excited about. Over the last several weeks, we've visited some nice places around the country and we will continue to do so over our remaining 12 weeks.

Here are some pictures of what we've been doing while we haven't been updating our blog in no particular order...

Fortress Wall in Suwon, which is half way between Cheonan (our city) and Seoul

This view from the wall is an older part of the city...a sight we don't see often where we live.

The wall Keith is leaning on is older than our country.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a total of nine people in our apartment for a fajita dinner. This is the most people we have ever had over at one time...primarily because we didn't think it would be possible to feed nine people in our apartment at one time. But, it worked and it was great. We did, however, run out of dishes. So, Stephanie ate her fajita salad out of a frying pan.

Another train ride to the coast without any seats. This was the most crowded train we've ever been on. But, after about 45 minutes, we were able to find a place to sit on the floor of the dining car.

These two little kids are playing with a buoy that's washed up on the shore and having the time of their lives.

This is the biggest sitting Buddha in Korea. It's one of the big attractions for many people who come visit our smaller city.

The lanterns are in celebration of Buddha's birthday a few weeks ago.

An alley in Seoul in the foreigner district. This is the part of Seoul where we go to eat hamburgers, go grocery shopping at the foreign food market, and buy English books.

Another day trip to Daecheon Beach for Shannon's Birthday on the west coast.

Easter Sunday with a little girl from church. She is wearing her "hombook" in celebration of Easter.

This particular Saturday, we rented bicycles and rode along the Han River in Seoul for the Cherry Blossom Festival.

This is at Independence Hall, which is a museum and memorial celebrating Korea's independence from Japan. We both ran the 10k in the 2nd Annual Hope Marathon with our friend Steve.

Keith's weagookin (foreigner) soccer team that plays various Korean church teams on Sunday afternoons.

That was a lot of catching up. Thanks for checking up on us.

The many faces of winter.

2009-03-17T00:05:00.007+09:00

We are good.

The winter has been long and cold, but it's almost over.

We have made our best effort to avoid cabin fever.
Here is a video compilation of pictures throughout this winter, including our beach getaway this last weekend on this side of the Pacific. (The video is compliments of Keith, as usual.)

Click here to watch, or for low quality, check out the video bar on the right.

Enjoy your Monday.

P.S. Here's a slice of news about North Korea that doesn't have to do with war...instead, pizza in midst of famine.

ON AIR.

2009-02-19T23:14:00.006+09:00

Our Beijing videos and pictures are compiled and put together. Great thanks to Keith. He's the best.

WARNING:
The video is a little long...about 10 minutes. But, if you have the time, enjoy!

The video is on youtube, via the link in the column on the right. Also, if you would like to watch it on full screen or in higher quality, you can go to Keith's channel page on youtube and watch it that way.

Click here for the youtube link.

Enjoy your weekend.

The Land of Jackie Chan. (成龍)

2009-02-17T20:41:00.014+09:00

After six months of hard work teaching, we were ready for a holiday! It was time to escape for a few days and go somewhere new, which is all a part of our purpose this year.

My parents came and visited us here in Korea, giving us the perfect excuse to head over to Beijing. Even though the Korean peninsula is connected to China, there is a significant road block on the way there...North Korea. Needless to say, we flew.

We had an amazing two weeks with them. It was incredible to show them our life here in Korea and experience all of their "firsts" with them...things we have adjusted to as somewhat normal living here. On the other hand, it was wonderful to visit Beijing together, since that was the first time for all four of us to be in China. Also, I think that having them here right at our sixth month mark will help push us through the second half of this year. We are so thankful that they were able to come.

It's hard to sum up all that we did and saw in Beijing. I will just expound on a couple of the highlights and observations I had from our trip, which I absolutely LOVED!

The first thing that really stands out to me when I think about our trip was the difference between Seoul and Beijing. Of course, there are many differences between Korean culture and Chinese culture. But, I was surprised at the how unique Beijing looks and feels. It truly is a harmonious blend of the past and the present, the traditional and modern. This is especially evident in the architecture of the city. You can quickly walk from a block of high rises to a street of tile roofed, single story shops. I loved this part about the city.

We visited the main Beijing attractions.
If you are interested in the historical background information on any of these places, you can on the title for a somewhat accurate explanation, courtesy of Wikipedia.

The Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was as elaborate and ornate as you could imagine. (I would venture to say it was even more magnificent than the biggest palace in Seoul, but, I'll probably keep that to myself within my circles here in Korea.) It was the emperor's palace from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. These are various pictures from around the different sections of the Forbidden City.

Interesting fact: It is called the Forbidden City because no one could enter or leave without the permission of the Emperor.

Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square is a huge area where thousands of people could gather together if they wanted or needed to, as they have in the past. It somewhat reminded me of our National Mall, in that they have similar purposes. It is a national iconic location where thousands can gather together, whatever their reason. One thing that I found odd was all of the towers surrounding it. These towers could very well be for the media as camera towers...but, I couldn't keep my mind from imagining what else these towers could be used for in this powerful communist nation.

Jingshan Park
We hiked up this small mountain behind the Forbidden City in Jingshan Park to see an amazing view of Beijing. Again, it highlighted, so strangely, this gigantic modern city that has not forsaken its ancient history.

Mutianyu Section of The Great Wall of China

Where do I begin? Visiting the Great Wall, was, without a doubt, my favorite part of our trip. We visited a part of the wall is not a popular location to visit, so there wasn't any tourist garbage and hardly any visitors. On the entire stretch that we walked, we only passed about 30 people. Also, the section we visited is one of the best preserved parts of the wall.

My Dad summed up so many of my feelings when he said this: "Being at the Great Wall puts the length of my short life into perspective."

It was phenomenal to be there...to walk on something that is such an important part of world history and civilization, and to stand on something I've heard about for so many years of my life. This is what I love about traveling.

Keith is working on compiling a slide show of our pictures and videos. He did post one very short video from the Great Wall that you can see in the right-hand column. He also took some incredible video at an acrobatic show we saw in Beijing. I guess I will say it again...more pictures and videos coming soon.

And on a final note...a favorite line from Lorelai Gilmore, speaking about her extremely long "To-Do" list:
"Hey, do you know that if the entire population of China walked by, the line would never end because of the rate of population increase? That's my list, every Chinese person in the world."

Coming soon...

2009-02-14T08:53:00.003+09:00

We are safely back in Korea from our trip to China. It was absolutely incredible! This weekend we are headed up to Seoul with my parents. They went up to Seoul one day this week for the DMZ tour, which they really enjoyed. Now, we will get explore Seoul with them until they leave on Monday morning and try to fit in as much of this huge city as we can.

Stories, pictures, and videos coming soon.

Here is one picture of Keith and I on the Great Wall of China. It is as they say...great.

Happy Valentines Day!

The culture that never rests.

2009-01-28T17:43:00.014+09:00

Wow! January has been our busiest month in Korea yet! We can't believe how fast it's gone by...this long with no blog posts! Hard to imagine that I am actually this bad about posting.

We are looking forward to my parents coming to Korea is just one week! We will be heading to Beijing with them for a long weekend to see the Great Wall of China and other historic spots. The rest of the time they are here, we will take them all over Seoul, and of course, our city Cheonan. Although, you can see pretty much all there is to see here where we live in about a day. For a city of half a million people, they really could add a few more attractions. This time with them will be a wonderful way to pass our sixth month mark here in Korea.

January is an interesting month for an English teacher. Students are currently on their longest break from school for the year. Basically, they have a long winter vacation instead of a long summer break like we are used to. However, instead of giving these precious children a lengthy break to play in the snow, sleep a full 8 hours, etc, they actually go to MORE SCHOOL THAN THEY DO WHILE THEY ARE IN SCHOOL. In other words, the extra 7 hours a day during vacation that they are not attending their normal elementary, middle, or high school, they attend academies. (We teach at English academies or "hagwons" in Korean.) They go to English academy, science academy, math academy, Chinese academy, or whatever else their parents think they should learn.

January has been busy for us because we, in return, teach morning classes, in addition to our afternoon and evening classes. The month has flown by because we have mostly just worked.

Here are some of my thoughts and observations living in this foreign culture on this particular issue. In no way does my native culture have it all together. That is one of the things that I love about traveling. I can see what other people do, how they learn, how they work, how they live. It gives me the freedom to take what I like and leave what I don't care for.

You have to hand it to South Korea, even if they are the culture that never rests. Their hard work has paid off. At the end of the Korean War, their infrastructure was destroyed and millions were left unemployed and impoverished. However, they became a wealthy developed country in less than half a century. Now, depending on what statistic you read, South Korea is 11th richest country in the world. When I told my Grandpa Hartill that we were moving to South Korea, he said, "Well why would you want to go there?" This is, of course, a perfectly legitimate question because he lived here during the war. From what I understand, this place was a disaster.

But, I often wonder, when enough is enough? I have students two times a week in three hour class blocks. (This is a normal week, not a current week during their vacation.) When I ask my students what they do on the other afternoons that they aren't in my classes, about 80% of them also attend other academies in other subjects. They stumble into my class looking like they slept only 4-5 hours, which is just not enough for a child. Some parents force their children to study until midnight, no matter how tired they are.

The pressure starts in middle school. If you don't get good grades in middle school, then you can't go to a good high school. (They apply for high schools like we apply for college.) If you don't go to a good high school, then you can't go to a good college, and the cycle repeats itself when it comes time to get a job.

I recently saw a graph that showed the average number of hours working adults put in per year in the various countries around the world. South Korea didn't just make the top 10, or top 5, but actually ranks number one. (I guess this helps explain why I have no sick days.)

Keith and I often discuss our role in this culture. As teachers we do have a lot of power over the amount of work that we require our students to do outside of the classroom. The longer I am here, the less homework I give. I think it is more effective to have my students awake enough in class to have good conversations practicing their English as opposed to giving them additional busy work with vocabulary and grammar homework. We both take a very conversational approach to teaching, which seems to be the most effective when learning a language.

Hard work, determination, and diligence are all admirable qualities in Korean culture. However, I think Latin America has a pretty good practice in place with their daily afternoon siesta. Where is the balance? I'm not sure, but I will be happy to be back to my normal, manageable working hours in just a few more days.

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Well, we haven't worked every hour of everyday in January. Here are a few pictures from what we have done. A couple of highlights were celebrating Keith's 24th Birthday and playing in the snow.

Keith's Birthday.

Snow, snow, and more snow.

Waiting for the bus in the snow.

The tragedy of communism.

2008-12-17T17:10:00.019+09:00

(Authors Note: This posting is not full of funny stories or anything like it. It's about our visit to North Korea and the tragedy of communism. It's not like we left our tour deeply depressed. Instead, we felt more educated and aware about what is happening in the part of the world we live in currently. This tiny peninsula is far from insignificant.)

This last weekend, we went to visit Korea's DMZ.

The DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) separates North and South Korea and is the most heavily armed border in the world. The DMZ was set up after the cease-fire in 1953 at the end of the Korean War. There was never actually a peace treaty signed, so technically speaking, the north and south are still at war.

We were able to visit several different areas of the DMZ. It is something that is taken VERY seriously, being that it's not exactly a safe place to visit. We took a tour with the USO, which is an organization that supports military and expats abroad. You are not allowed to just go "see" the DMZ. In order to pass through all of the security, you have to actually be on a certified tour. Once we got to Camp Bonifas, after having our passports checked, we signed a paper during the briefing stating that were war to break out while we were on our tour, we would not hold the UN accountable.

Here is a picture of us standing on the edge of the South Korean border, facing North Korea. You can see the North Korean guard in the far back and the South Korean guards just behind us. This part of the DMZ is where all of the joint meetings between the North, South, and the UN occur.

This is a picture of us straddling the border between the North and South, while in the conference meeting room.

Standing with the South Korean guard.

This picture is taken from another location along the DMZ. While standing there, we could see the "jamming" tower, which jams all radio, tv, phone, cable, and Internet signals from South Korea and other locations that could possibly enter the country. For those of you who don't know, North Koreans have no contact with the outside world. Their only news comes from their own government. Their Internet comes from their government. They have no idea what is going on with the outside world. It is an absolute tragedy, especially because it allows the government to brainwash the people.

These are a couple of thoughts/facts we learned about on our trip:
-South Korea has the tenth strongest economy in the world. This is especially interesting when you compare their economy with North Korea's economy. The average factory worker in North Korea makes $2.50 every month.
-The Bridge of No Return is named this for good reason. At the end of the Korean War, soldiers were given the choice of where they would like to live. However, once they crossed that bridge, they would not be allowed to go back. This is still true today as it is illegal for a North Korean to leave their country and immigrate to another country. They are allowed to leave the country, but if they do not return, the government can look for them and arrest them for trying to escape.
-One more interesting piece of information that you may not know is that the current leader of North Korea, Kim Jung Il, is dying or possibly already dead. If there is going to be a revolution in North Korea, the time is coming soon. Some South Koreans feel a deep compassion for their North Korean families are working hard to simply stay alive. Many South Koreans are taking serious measures to try to alert the North Korean people about their dying leader, encouraging them that this is the time for a revolution. If you are interested in reading more, check this out on the BBC website.

The Bridge of No Return

Also, you can check out the video Keith made with various segments from the day on the right hand side, if you are interested.

Thank you for reading and caring about these current global issues.

So I'm not your average Karate Kid...

2008-12-05T01:09:00.016+09:00

Alright, I admit that I am pretty awful about any kind of semi-regular posting on here. Since it's pointless to make excuses, and I don't have any good ones, I will make up for this absence through including an embarrassing video that displays my inability to be serious when Keith is trying to take a video of me actually being serious.

Check out the video on the right. I just got my orange belt this week, which is actually very exciting for me. I love Taekwondo and what a challenge it is. I'm hoping to be at a very high belt by the time we leave Korea.

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A few people have asked us what we did for Thanksgiving. The weekend before Thanksgiving, we purchased tickets to this English teacher conference thing that had a Thanksgiving meal at the end of it. We didn't go to the conference, just the dinner, but it was amazing. On the actual Thanksgiving day, I had to unfortunately work, because here, it is just like any other day, of course. Keith fortunately had the evening off, so he went to a Thanksgiving dinner with about 15 other foreigners, potluck style. He brought mashed potatoes to the dinner. In order to cook for that many people, he basically had to use all of our dishes to hold them. He also made sweet tea. Even though I couldn't go, Keith brought me back a plate of food, which was delicious.

Thanksgiving is also interesting here because Koreans don't like turkey at all and you cannot buy it anywhere here. But, we were thankful to have turkey from the military base that is not to far away.

Here is a picture from the meal we had the weekend before Thanksgiving and Keith there at the dinner with some of our friends.

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I have working quite a few more hours at work the last three weeks because we had the end of my first term, and now the beginning of the winter term. I was sad to see some of my students go, but I am thankful that I have a few of the same students for another class this term.

I actually really like my new schedule. I am teaching some higher levels now with some really cool topics to cover and discuss. For example, last week, in the highest level class I teach, we watched a news clip about the two blind candidates that were running for state office in the US. In addition to reviewing what they watch and taking notes on it, we also have stimulating discussions about the topic. It is always interesting for me to see their different perspective on issues like this one, for example. Should people with disabilities have equal opportunity in government and other fields as people with no disabilities? Today we talked about freedom of speech, specifically in light of some recent Korean celebrities who have committed suicide as a result of public shame. In other words, they killed themselves because people said bad stuff about them on the Internet. It is a complete tragedy. This raises some important questions in a shame based society about the freedom of speech. Needless to say, I am really enjoying teaching and how much I am able to learn about this culture and society while I am doing my best to help my students learn English.

Here are a couple of my class pictures on the last day of class for the last term.

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A couple of the interesting places that we've visited recently are the National Museum of Korea and the Seoul Tower. The museum was incredible and so big that we only visited the first floor the day we went and will have to go back to see more on another day. The Seoul Tower is the highest building in Seoul and has a magnificent view of this enormous city. The building is surrounded by windows in it's entirety. We ate dinner there with the beautiful view. Also, all around the tower, there are windows pointing in the directions of various locations around the globe, from the North Pole to the South Pole, Cairo, Moscow, and even Seattle. We also visited Hard Rock Cafe for the first time since we've been here and enjoyed some really good burgers.

The National Museum of Korea

The National Museum of Korea. They love their Pagodas.

Putting my Taekwondo skills to work on this ancient warrior.

Ancient pagoda in the National Museum.

When I mentioned that the Seoul Tower has windows literally everywhere so that you can always see the view, I meant that. This picture was taken from the men's bathroom.

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Finally...here is our first Christmas tree. We put it up together on Monday night of this week and we love it. Special thanks to Mom (Gayle) for the ornaments and the guy who used to live in our apartment who left us his fake Christmas tree.

Happy Pepero Day.

2008-11-11T16:50:00.006+09:00

Today is 11/11, also known as Pepero Day.

Here is the explanation of what Pepero is and why pepero day is celebrated, courtesy of Wikipedia.

"Pepero (빼빼로) is a cookie stick, dipped in chocolate syrup, manufactured by Lotte in South Korea since 1983, and is similar to the Japanese chocolate-covered snack food, Pocky."

Pepero Day is an observance in South Korea similar to Valentine's Day or Sweetest Day. It is named after the Korean snack Pepero and held on November 11, since the date "11/11" resembles five sticks of Pepero. The holiday is observed mostly by young people and couples, who exchange Pepero sticks, other candies, and romantic gifts.

"According to one story, Pepero Day was started in 1994 by students at a girls' middle school in Busan, where they exchanged Pepero sticks as gifts to wish one another to grow "as tall and slender as a Pepero"[citation needed] (Pepero means "thin like a stick"). However, it is more likely it was initiated by Lotte, the company which produces Pepero." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepero)

(This is a Pepero display in the grocery store.)

I love that explanation..."more likely it [the holiday] was initiated by Lotte, the company which produces Pepero." You would think that people would realize it was just a marketing scam, but they don't seem to care.

Yesterday and today, my desk was piled high with gifts of Pepero from my students. I have to admit, I actually love the candy, particularly the green box, which is almond. Yesterday, I dipped one of the Pepero sticks in my coffee, which tasted fabulous, but my students thought it was the grossest thing they've ever seen for some reason that I do not understand.

Living abroad is especially amusing on days like today when you celebrate holidays that you had never even heard of just 2 weeks prior.

When in Korea, do as the Korean do.

2008-10-28T21:49:00.011+09:00

I would like to apologize for the long absence. I got out of the routine of posting on the blog for a few weeks. We have been spending a lot of time with the new friends that we are making, which is awesome. In all honesty, I've also read a few good books in the last few weeks, which is where my computer time disappeared to.

Overall, we are good, we are safe, and we are still in Korea.

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We haven't fully embraced this classic Roman philosophy in every way, "When in Korea, do as the Koreans do."
We have yet to eat octopus while it is still alive.
We haven't learned to drive like a maniacs and run over or swerve around any living or non-living thing that comes into our path. (Granted, we don't have cars or drivers licences, which is a pretty legitimate reason for not taking part in this Korean practice.)
But, we are doing our best to embody this philosophy in many other ways.

Keith has started to wear his Ipod everywhere he goes. He fits right in. EVERYONE has earphones in all the time.

We are both working on speaking Korean, but I have to confess that Keith is doing much better than I am. My Korean accent is horrendous.

Keith is playing soccer on Sunday nights on a team of mostly foreigners from all over the world. Keith played on awesome game on mid-field last Sunday night. They play against a Korean team at Cheonan Stadium, which is about 2 km from our apartment and a really nice sports complex. (The U-17 World Cup was held there last year.) Soccer is definitely one of Korea's favorite sports. It is second to baseball, which they love, especially considering that the Korean team won the gold metal at the Olympics this summer.

We have learned to walk and push our way through the crowded subways, streets, sidewalks, crosswalks, stores, and trains, but we are still learning to lose our "personal space bubbles". There is no such thing as a "personal space bubble" in a country the size of the lower half of Indiana with a population of 49 million people.

We have fallen in love with the bakery, Paris Baguette, which really has nothing at all to do with Paris and is a South Korean based company with the most wonderful breads, pastries, and coffee. They know our order in the morning...it's awesome.

I got a library card on Tuesday, which is very exciting for me, as ridiculous as that sounds. English books are scarce and very expensive, so this will be really nice to have. The library is only about a 5 minute walk from our apartment. They have about 150 English books, mostly classics...you know, the books you think you should've read by now, but just never have.

The biggest way that I have embraced this philosophy is through a little hobby that I picked up. I am now taking Taekwondo. I just completed my fourth week. I absolutely love it. As a matter of fact, last Friday I was promoted from a white belt to a yellow belt. I am still the lowest level in my class, but I'm moving up slowly. Taking Taekwondo is humbling and humorous every single day. It is SO much work, but I really love the workout and learning the self defense.

I mentioned that it's humbling. Well, that is because I go to Taekwondo with about 25 7-year-old boys who are all at higher levels than I am at. It really is fun though. I am humbled at how good they are with their positions and form. Their faces are wonderful we are sparring together. Today, I had to spar with a little boy who was wearing a protective vest around his upper body. I couldn't bear to actually kick him until my instructor said that I had to because his little precious eyes were full of fear and terror because he's only about 3.5 ft. tall. My full stretch kick is higher than his head.

Anyway, it's embarrassing all the time, but we laugh together, and I really enjoy it. Laughter is definitely one of the few things that transcends all languages...laughter, the head shake for "yes" or "no", and the profound English phrase, "OK".

Keith will be starting Kendo soon, which is Japanese sword fighting.

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Please check out the two videos that Keith made on the right hand side.
The first link is to Keith's his debut music video, which we recorded on the public bus full of people.
The second video is full of pictures from a few of the things we've done since we've been here. Please, please, please...take a look.

An apple is not the teacher gift of the 21st century.

2008-10-09T12:51:00.011+09:00

It's been a while since I posted on the blog. I tried for a while to come up with an excuse...but I realized that I don't have one, so I'd rather not lie about it.

In an effort to avoid writing a book about the last two weeks,
here are a few of the highlights:

-Last weekend we had lunch at Outback Steakhouse, which we have here in Cheonan. We split the ribs and they tasted just like they do at home, with the exception of the fact that there were no garlic mashed potatoes.

-Keith is playing soccer on our "church team", which is really made up of about 3-4 guys from our church, and the rest just other foreigners that live here in Cheonan. He loved their game last Sunday and looks forward to playing with them every Sunday. There are a few British guys on the team who take "football" very seriously.

-Josh and Sarah, the pastors at our church, took us out to lunch one Sunday at a restaurant that we can see from the window of our apartment. It is really close but we had never been there before because we didn't know what they had or how to order. They taught us how to order galbi, which is pretty decent. We've been back to the restaurant once since then and enjoyed it.
This is basically what your table looks like...give or take a few sides depending on the restaurant:

-I love running into my students around Cheonan. It makes me feel like we know more people than we actually do and helps me feel settled. I saw one of my students when we were having galbi one night. I saw another student at church on Sunday, which was really impressive, since it's an English service. Then, a couple of days ago, I saw a student who was walking home from school (not our school, her daytime school) while I was walking to buy apples. The apples are amazing this time of year and the old ladies have come out of the woodwork to sell them on the sides of the streets.

-We got a package this week from home with our wedding dvd and wedding pictures. It was awesome to watch it and remember that incredible day. Also, we are so pleased with the pictures. Tyler, our photographer, was amazing, and we couldn't be more thankful or more pleased.

-The weekend before last, we went to the Gyeongbokgung Palace, which is considered by some the "main palace" or the "national palace" in Seoul. We absolutely LOVED it. It was one of the key moments where we both thought, "This is why we love traveling and this is one of the huge reasons that we are here. We want to learn about the history of this foreign culture and see what their lives were like (or at least where they lived) before our country was even 'discovered'." The palace is unfortunately a reconstruction since the original was burnt down by the Japanese like most of the ancient architecture in this country, but still amazing nonetheless.
Also, while we were at the palace, they were doing an ancient archery reenactment, which was pretty cool, and a little funny. We could see the glue on their faces from where they put on their fake beards.
Here are pictures of us at the palace.

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This week, my students have enlightened me. We have a calendar in my classroom with each of the days circled when it is someone's birthday. Since I teach five different classes of students during the week, that is quite a few circles. My birthday, which is Sunday, is also circled. I didn't think anything of it and of course didn't expect any gifts. However, I was surprised when three different little girls brought me gifts, all on different days, but they brought the exact same gift, with just a different "flare". As a teacher, I wouldn't have been surprised to get three apples for my birthday, since that is, after all, the classic teacher gift. However, I have learned that an apple, is not the 21st Century.

Instead...the cell phone charm. Check these out.

It's definitely different. I've never had a cell phone charm before. I guess we'll just add that one to the unending list of "firsts" we already have and will continue to have this year.

Beef. It's definitely not what's for dinner.

2008-09-26T18:35:00.018+09:00

This week has flown by! I have had pictures to post from last weekend and I can't believe that it's already Friday night and I am just now posting them.

Here we are!

This last weekend, Dalene came and stayed with us. We went to Seoul on Sunday together with the intentions of going to the zoo and a palace, but actually only made it to Tapgol Park, a cool shopping area with traditional Korean goods in Insadong, and the arts district.

While we were shopping in Insadong, we saw this man holding this sign.
Keith took advantage of his offer.

We also to went to an old fashioned American diner, with really wonderful hamburgers and milkshakes; they even had Dr. Pepper. It was excellent. The waiters and waitresses wore 50's style costumes with the funny paper hats that you can still get at In and Out Burger today. It was really funny. Even though everything was "American" food, we still had to point to the pictures on the menu to order in English.

It's interesting how much we connect food with our culture and even with home. One of the biggest struggles that I experienced living in Kenya was how different the food was and how I just couldn't seem to adapt to it at all. (That is of course with the exception of the phenomenal pineapples and mangoes that are far and above any others I've ever had.) There was only one meal a week in the cafeteria that I enjoyed and looked forward to. Nothing else ever looked good. Here, I am thankful that we have the ability to cook for ourselves. We still are definitely not used to Korean food and I still can't really eat kimchi without making unpleasant faces...it's just too spicy. Needless to say, I am SO thankful that we a have fridge, two burners, and a sink, so that we don't have to eat Korean food all the time. There are a couple things that we do like, but we are still learning how to order correctly.

We wanted to do something different and unique and we are so happy that we are here, even on the harder days. Please don't misunderstand me...we are trying to experience the culture in full swing. But, there are some places I would just rather the swing not go.

I mean...would you want this for dinner?

I think I'll pass for now and stick to trying to like kimchi.

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Chuseok...hiking...and sushi.

2008-09-17T13:57:00.014+09:00

This weekend was Chuseok, a national holiday here, one of their biggest holidays of the whole year. We had Monday off of school for the holiday, and the three day weekend was wonderful. Unfortunately, like I have mentioned before, Koreans don't believe in days off, so we will be making up our school day from last Monday this Saturday.

If we had known in advance about the holiday, we would've made plans to go away for the weekend. By the time we knew about it, everything was already booked all over the country, from trains to hotels. Also, as we talked more about it, anything that we would really want to go see would most likely be closed. The whole city shut down on Sunday, with the exception of McDonalds, which we saw on our walk home from church. (Some things are the same no matter what country you're in.)

Sunday afternoon, we went hiking on a trail that is only about 2 miles from our apartment. It was really nice. It is definitely an escape from the busy city and I didn't even notice the sounds of traffic up on the hill. Along the trail, there is random exercise equipment for people to use if they want to. It's actually really common. Not far from our apartment is a small jungle gym playground area that is not just for children. There is weather resistant exercise equipment for the public to use while their kids play. It's really cool.

At the top of this hiking trail on the hill, there is a bungalow.

Here are a few pictures from our hike...

After our hike on Sunday, we were again left with some nice vacation time, without having to get ready for work on Monday. We did something that I have been wanting to do for two years now. Kim and I kept saying that we were going to learn and try this together sometime, but in the reality of the "college lifestyle", both going to school full-time, both working, both in serious relationships, both studying...we never got around to it. (I promise Kim, we will still do this together.) So, finally, Keith and I sat down with almost all of the necessary supplies and some online directions with pictures, and we made SUSHI!

The desire and inspiration to do this after so long was once again rekindled on Saturday when we went to the mall to try the "Japanese Sushi Restaurant". It was unfortunately mostly Korean food with a speck of Japanese influence. (Koreans have their own version of sushi called Gimpab, which we do like, but it is different. Sometime soon, we will go check out "Little Tokyo" in Seoul, which I'm sure will have amazing Japanese food. Then eventually, we hope to go to Tokyo, the actual city...we are pretty close after all.

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Thank you to all who gave suggestions on my cheating students. There have been no more incidents to report. Also, Keith and I are both over our colds, which makes life definitely more enjoyable.

I'm off to work.

P.S. Here's one more picture of Keith with portion of a very large person, in downtown Cheonan.

This weekend...what I hate about being a teacher...and chicken noodle soup.

2008-09-10T23:50:00.000+09:00

Keith at Starbucks on our first day in Seoul (left)
Riding the bus from the airport the night we arrived (below)

The Arario Gallery Art Museum in Cheonan with Houston (1st)
Walking in downtown Cheonan (2nd)
This is one of the permanent sculptures in downtown Cheonan; this street is covered with art. (3rd)

This weekend we went to the art museum here in Cheonan and to Seoul for the day with our friend Houston. In Seoul, we went to a pretty decent English bookstore and had our first Mexican food in 3 weeks. I never realize how much Mexican food is a regular part of my diet until I don't have it anymore. I remember having the same tragic realization in Kenya last summer. I just can't seem to get enough of it. So, the burrito that I had on Saturday night was amazing. The service at the restaurant was awful and awkward. The servers stand around your table watching you, which is weird...but the food was great.

On Sunday, I went to visit Dalene in Daegu and we had a great time. (We went to college together and had no idea that we would end up working for the same school, just at different branches an hour train ride apart. She's amazing and I'm so glad that we can see each other every once in a while.) She is such a joy to be with and she makes me feel so much closer to college and the friendships that I miss so much. I know that I will continue to look forward to the times that we can get together. Also, it was cool to see some more of Korea. The city that she lives in is the third largest in the country. We went shopping and bought fruit and vegetables from sweet old ladies on the side of the street. There is a lot more to do there in Daegu than where we live and there are also a lot of cool places to visit in her area, like Buddhist temples over a thousand years old. I'm excited to go back when we can spend more than just the day there and together.

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Overall, Keith and I are both really happy with teaching. My classes seem to be going very well. Here are always some humorous moments, especially while reading a book called Gross Body Facts with one of my middle school classes. The first chapter was about burping, the second, sweating, the third, bad breath, and the fourth, vomiting. I am scarred to open my book and prep for the next lesson because it seems that it just keeps getting worse. Since I am teaching English as a foreign language to these students, they ask vocabulary questions often. While reading Gross Body Facts, some of the vocabulary questions I've been asked, I would've preferred not to explain. For example, words like "drool", "tossing your cookies", "snot", "plaque", and "queasy", make me feel like I am teaching a class on personal hygiene, rather than the English language.

One really great thing about my classroom is that I constantly hear wonderful piano music while I'm teaching. For a while, I thought that someone above us must be teaching piano lessons, and that was likely where the music was coming from. After a while though, when all of the music seemed flawless, and definitely not the level of students that are still taking lessons, I asked one of my co-workers what was up there. There is a ballet studio right above us and the accompanist plays beautiful classical music all evening. I love it.

As much as I am enjoying my job, I have discovered what I hate about being a teacher.
Kids cheat.
I HATE IT.
I HATE CHEATING.
It's awful! Our students are attending what others have told me is the best English language school in our city, with regards to test scores, structure, discipline, and fluency rates. But, they are still cheating! It drives me crazy! In the 10 days since I have been giving exams, I have caught 10 students cheating. It's horrible. I tell them ahead of time if they cheat or talk, it is an automatic "F", but they still do it. Then, I have to call the principal to have him come in here and yell at them all in Korean about how they shouldn't cheat. Then they respond to him with their different excuses about how I'm making it up and how they didn't really cheat. But, I can prove it by their answers and I see it with my own eyes. Some of them argue, some of them cry, some of them hate me now, for their own mistakes, and at the end of the day, I end up feeling bad. It's ridiculous. It is definitely the one thing that I hate about being a teacher.

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As you might have read before, Keith and I have no oven, microwave, toaster, or toaster oven. It provides some little "adjustments" to what I used to consider normal. (Please don't misinterpret this as a complaint. Although it is annoying, we are still grateful and blessed to have a nice apartment with two working burners, which are WAY better than most people around the world.) For example, this morning I woke up hungry and looking forward to the cinnamon raisin bagels that I bought at Costco this weekend when I went to visit my friend Dalene. Anyway, I pulled the bagel out of the freezer and realized I had a small dilemma. How do I defrost this bagel without a toaster or microwave and without 2 hours to let it sit there and happen on its own? I have a great solution just in case you ever experience a similar dilemma. Let the bagel soak in hot water concealed in a plastic bag to keep it from getting soggy for 15 minutes. Then, turn on the stove, and use a frying pan to toast your bagel on medium heat. Turn the slices over after about 3 minutes to toast the other side. Viola! A delicious breakfast! The point is…every day requires new creativity…and at this point…I love it.

Yesterday, once again, I tried something new with regards to cooking without processed and prepackaged foods, and without an oven. Keith has been sick the last couple of days with a cold, so I thought that I should get him some chicken noodle soup. The challenge is…there is no chicken noodle soup here…not even at Costco. So, I made it from scratch and surprisingly, it tasted awesome! I'm so thankful that I did, not only because it was such a great accomplishment, but also because last night, I also came down with this nasty cold, so I'm glad that we had enough for the next couple of days.

I hope we get better soon. It's hard to be patient with little kids when you feel like you should be in bed. (I know what you're thinking...stay home from work...but Koreans don't believe in sick days, so it's not an option.)

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We miss you all and appreciate your prayers. We are so glad that we are here and are truly enjoying ourselves. But, we are realistic in knowing that there will be more challenging days to come. Please let us know how you are doing.

Additions...

2008-08-30T13:09:00.000+09:00

Here are links to two of our videos.
The first video is a slide show of pictures from the week before our wedding when friends and family started coming to town and the two weeks after our wedding, including our honeymoon and climbing Mt. Jefferson.

The second video is the slide show from our wedding for those of you who were not able to be there. Thank you Emily for doing such a good job.

P.S. Yesterday, I ate birthday cake with chopsticks.

Getting settled.

2008-08-29T10:26:00.000+09:00

Sorry for the absence...we've been having some internet issues that are finally settled. We now have wireless in our little apartment and are set up for the next year. (Granted I have no idea when or where the bill will come to, or even if I will be able to read it, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.)

We are now living in Cheonan, a town about an hour south of Seoul by car or train, or only 37 minutes if you take the bullet train that goes 175 miles an hour. The Cheonan Train Station is only a $1.80 cab ride from our apartment. Cabs are CHEAP here. Needless to say, Seoul is very accessible on weekends, but we'll probably be spending most of our time here in Cheonan during the week. It's not a small town though, about half a million people live here. We haven't been able to explore a whole lot yet since we've been getting settled into teaching...but it seems like we definitely won't be bored living here.

Our apartment is nice, and even bigger than I thought it would be. I miss the luxury of a dishwasher, microwave, oven, and dryer, but I'm learning how to cook with only two burners which is going alright. We have a lovely wall covered in pink daisy wall paper, which Keith is just crazy about. I'm just disappointed because after one year of starring at that wall, there's no way daisies can be my favorite flower.

Teaching is also going well. I really like the school that I work for. It's very structured and very challenging for students. I feel guilty about how much homework I give them, but I just follow the curriculum. You would be amazed how young some of these Korean students are. They are reading and writing English, summarizing essays, and answering questions with a broad vocabulary almost as well as any other 4th grader, whose first language is English, not Korean. They truly are amazing students and I can already tell that they've worked for years to get to the point that they are at.

Adjusting to living in a foreign country always has it's moments of humor when you realize that you really have no idea what you're doing, but it is all a part of the adventure of living abroad. Here are a few highlights from the last week or so...

When I open firefox on my computer, it automatically goes to Google, which is my home page. The problem is, the entire page, with the exception of the word "Google" is in Korean and I can't figure out how to change it back to English permanently because I can't read any of options. (I'm sure there is a way to fix this...but I'm not the most computer savvy person out there.)
Walking through the grocery store yesterday, we were trying to find pepper. Things are organized differently than we're used to, so there isn't a central "spice" isle where it is easily noticeable. For example, I found salsa between two jars of spaghetti sause. I guess both have tomatoes, so that is logical, just not standard for what I would consider normal. Well, we still have no pepper because very few things in stores are written in English. It really is humorous every time we try to shop because it takes a LONG time to figure out what is what.
We have a bus stop right across the street from our apartment, which is wonderful. The public transportation system is incredible here, even though we're in a smaller city. When the bus drives by your stop, you have to be standing up next to the bus sign or they won't stop for you. If you're sitting under the covered bench, it doesn't matter, they are not going to stop. Well, once you step onto the bus, the door behind you closes IMMEDIATELY and the driver takes off. You have to grab onto the closest rail to hold onto or run to a seat because they do not wait until your sitting down. Once you're on the bus, it amazes me that they drive just as crazy as the taxi drivers, even though it is 10 times the size of a cab. We're going like 60 mph, passing little cars, and we're not even on the highway. Keith and I watched as one woman hit the "next stop" button, and the driver pulled over to let her off. She still had one foot on the bus when he started driving away. It looked like she was jumping off a moving train in an old western movie. EVERYTHING is fast paced here.
The other day, we needed to take a bus back to our apartment, but we didn't have any small bills for the bus fare. So, we went into Krispy Kreme to buy a donut and get some change. (Yes, there is even Krispy Kreme in South Korea.) Most of the donuts are similar...of course they have the classic glazed donut and it tastes exactly the same. But they also have a couple of different green donuts, made with green tea. It puts a little Asian twist on the Krispy Kreme phenomenon.

Well, I think that I should get ready for work. Again, I'm sorry for the absence, but we should be much better about using our blog now that we have internet at our apartment.

Please feel free to send us an e-mail...
meganpardue@gmail.com
keithpardue@gmail.com

Also, here is our address. Our mail has to go my school address so things should ONLY be addressed to me, and not to Keith, for the sake of not confusing the non-English speaking staff. However, if you would like to send something just to Keith, just make a note on the inside...this is for Keith, or something like that, but still put Megan on the outside of the envelope.

Megan Pardue
c/o CDI
4F #963 Buldang-dong Cheonan-City
Chungnam, Korea 330-230

That's right. Our neighborhood is called Buldang-dong. It's awesome.

Meg

P.S. More apartment pictures to come and cool pictures of us doing awesome things as soon as we are not working...which so far...is basically what we've done.

We arrived safely.

2008-08-17T11:47:00.001+09:00

Keith and I arrived safely last night to Seoul. We have today off before our training begins tomorrow. Keith will be leaving tonight for Cheonan, where we will be living, and I will be staying here in Seoul for a week until my training is complete.

We woke up this morning and walked to Starbucks. Our coffee's tasted just the same as they do at home.

We appreciate your prayers while we're apart this week. So far, we are relaxed and enjoying ourselves. Please check back for more updates after we are settled and no longer dealing with jet lag.

Bye.

Preparations

2008-08-08T07:10:00.000+09:00

Well yesterday we finally got our web cam, and it is up and running. Megan and I went to dinner with a friend of mine from Costa Rica, and SNU. It has been fun learning how to be married. Megan is figuring out that sudoku and coffee really is the best way to begin the day, even if the beginning happens at 10 am. Neither of us are working before we leave for Korea, but we have plenty of stuff to do before we leave. Saturday we are going on a 3 day backpacking trip to Mt Jefferson with Cassie Jacob and Blake. Then next Friday we fly out for South Korea. I have been in the process of growing a beard since from what we understand South Koreans rank people based on a hierarchical system where age is the most important factor in determining the respect you receive from the people. Megan is trying but her beard grows alot more slowly than mine.

< this is a picture of Megan and her beard.

< this is mount jefferson

Thank you for visiting our blog!

2008-07-18T06:50:00.000+09:00

This will be an excellent way for us to share about our travels and unique experiences, as well as post photos from our new life in South Korea.

However, since we are still in the U.S. and there is still a lot of preparation before we leave the country, we will consider this site still "under construction".

We would appreciate your prayers as we embark on both the adventure of marriage and the adventure of living abroad.

Love,

Megan and Keith