Long weekend :)

David and I had a three day weekend, which was SWEET! We spent it on the South Coast in Busan. This is the second largest city in South Korea, population 3.6 million.

We got the bus from Changnyeong on Friday night. We stayed in the Oncheonjang area for the first couple of nights. On Saturday we done a 14KM hike 'YES, THAT'S RIGHT 14KM!' We walked to Beomeosa Temple and along Geumjeong Fortress. It was extremely beautiful and incredibly hard but it was well worth it!

On Sunday we went to Haeundae Beach for a little sunbathe and a dip in the Ocean. It was too cold to swim so we just had a paddle. After this we went to the Nampo area and got another lovely love motel. Then we went to Jagalchi Fish Market and smelt all of the strange and wonderful smells! We also went to China Town and Texas Street. The American Navy were there, so this was an interesting sight. In the evening we went shopping at the late night markets and then went for dinner. We decided on saving the fish until next time and we had galbi instead. This was delicious!

The next day, Monday we went up Busan Tower, it had a spectacular view as it was such a clear day. Then we went for a walk through the park and done some more shopping. After all of this our legs and feet were killing us so we decided it was time to head home!

First Weekend

For our first weekend in South Korea we went into Daegu. We done some shopping, got some food and then some beers! :) We ended the evening in a classy love motel as we missed our last bus out of Daegu. (On purpose!)

On Saturday evening we went back to our apartments in Changnyeong and had a BBQ on our roof, with the other staff from school. This was a great evening. We may have had a little to much to drink but worst things have happened!

The next day David and I went on a 10KM walk! We walked through Changyeong to the South base of Hwang mountain. This was a beautiful walk as I have never seen this side of Changnyeong before. We walked past a huge reservoir, quirky Korean houses, numerous paddy fields, pretty temples and many cute insects and not so cute giant spiders!

When we reached the base of the mountain we decided to walk to Gwallyonga Temple and the seated Buddha. The view from the top was beautiful. When we arrived at the Buddha there were many people meditating. David and I thought it was appropriate to join in...very relaxing!

Working at Changnyeong English Village

Becky and I decided to take a job at Changnyeong English Village, there were many reasons why, but the main reason was because we missed Korea and Becky had worked at CEV in the past. CEV is situated about 7km away from Changnyeong in a village called Gyeseong. Changnyeong is a town of 70,000 people and is very rural by Korean standards. Gyeseong is very small with only a handful of houses.We are about 40km away from the south coast, in between Busan and Daegu.

CEV is an English Village, where students come to be taught in an immersion program. There are 8 teachers, from various countries and we teach different students every week as part of the 'camp'. In the evenings we have a hagwon style class where the same students return everyday, this is nice as we get to know these students much more.

We really enjoy being in Gyeseong, we have a lovely apartment overlooking fields and mountains and our car makes everything much more accessible.

I heart HK!

We started our adventure early by having a short stop over in Hong Kong on our way over here. Hong Kong was fantastic. We spent one night there and we stayed in the Guangdong Hotel. This was in Kowloon. We arrived in HK at 10am. We dropped our bags off at the hotel then we started sight seeing straight away.

First of all we took the star ferry across the harbour to central HK. Then we took a sight seeing bus and went to 'The Peak' via a railway. After this we got back on the sight seeing bus and completed the tour in central HK. Next we got the ferry back to Kowloon. We went back to our hotel for a nap.

Around 8pm we went back to the water front and watched the famous light show of Hong Kong. This was spectacular!

After this we went on the subway to Temple Street where a night market was held and we ate some food and drank beer on street stall. We then walked back to our hotel.

After a long sleep we made our way to Tian Tan Buddha. This was a cool day. We took cable cars across the ocean to the top of the mountain. We then climbed 100 steps to reach Tian Tan himself. After spending most of the day here we then went back to Kowloon and done more shopping at the ladies market. We bought a few souvenirs, got some food and then headed back to our hotel to pick up our bags and headed to the airport. Overall a very successful trip.

Third Time Around

The grass is always greener, so they say! David and I were living in Nottingham, England for around ten months. After some thought we decided on returning to South Korea to work as ESL teachers. For one reason or another we thought it would be best! Best for our pockets and our sanity! We are both working for the same bosses I (Becky!) was working for in my first year. (2008) We are both extremely happy about this as they are fantastic people. So here we are, living in Changnyeong, Gyeongsangnam Province, South Korea. I am extremely excited about this year. We are working in an amazing school with lovely people and we have brand new apartments with a fabulous view. Even though this is year number three, I am looking forward to a whole new adventure.