Sun and Sand

Another sun-filled, sand covered weekend on the beautiful beaches of Pohang.

After a Friday night out on the town, Saturday was spent on Bukbu Beach surrounded by grilled goodness, multiple volleyball games and beers aplenty.  I never thought i'd be the beach type of gal but living so close has got me seriously reconsidering.  Imagine if you will, about 20 foreigners of all shapes and sizes playing a (somewhat) competitive game of volleyball complete with all of the usual comments about people being less than stellar athletes (in a much more colorful way of course) and the usual ribbing that comes with playing games.

Part of our beach volleyball, day in the sun crew

As usual, our game drew quite the crowd and by the end of it we had amassed a large cheering section.  While our enthusiastic cheerleaders didn't QUITE understand the rules of the game, they were more than happy to take our picture (repeatedly), cheer at the right places and be our referee when a call was questioned.  Our beach-side afternoon ended  with everyone exhaustedly going their separate ways to go home for naps and more importantly, a shower.  I swear I can still feel sand in my ears and it's been a solid day and two showers since leaving.

The rest of my weekend was a change from the usual hustle and bustle that happens during the summer.  Dan and I went to see Green Lantern (pretty good movie actually) and just stayed in for the night.  Call me old fashioned but sometimes I like the relaxing, easy-going nights more than getting dressed up for a night on the town.

Posing for a quick picture with Dan

The next few weeks are going to be pretty darn busy.  People coming.  People going.  Weekend motorcycle rides.  Mini vacation getaways with the boy.  The upcoming Mudfest trip.  4th of July celebrated  teacher/TILT/military style. And of course, getting in as much beach time as humanly possible.  Get ready for a hectic (in a great way) summer, loyal readers.  I can't wait to take you along with me on the last leg of my Korean journey!

Guryompo Sulipalooza Weekend

[Pictures courtesy of Nadia Hugo]

The last weekend of August meant the annual Lisa White/Susi Gong birthday bash weekend (also known as Sulipalooza Weekend) at Guryompo beach.  Lisa White is one of my closest ladies here and it was only natural that I spend the weekend with her and 40 of my closest friends.  Yes, I know I said 40 of my closest friends but here it's true.  Just like in Cheers, everyone DOES know your name.  We were even joined by Nick Kelly, the friend of mine who recently returned to Korea after spending two months at home.  We all spent the better part of the day swimming, drinking and catching up on the happenings of eachothers lives that don't include little children or school scheduling.

After a day of swimming, we built a huge fire (we all know I don't build fires so I cheered enthusiastically from the sidelines) and proceeded to have a true beach experience complete with guitar playing, hot dogs and smores.  Yes, I said smores. It's weird the random things that just cannot be found in the majority of Korea without going to a Costco or bribing a buddy from the Marines to get from the military base.  Graham crackers is just one of the many, many things that are largely unavailable to us here in Pohang.  Marshmallows?  Yes.  Chocolate?  Of course.  Graham crackers?  Not a chance.  Frank McGirk, who had the foresight to bring graham crackers back from the states, allowed us to partake in the American classic.

Thank you Frank for that little taste of home.

The combination of the smores, sun, amazing weather, friends and fun made this weekend one that will be hard to top next year.

The band of Pohang:  "Jack Russell Terrier"

Where we stayed most of the night

Hundae Sandcastle Festival

Here is a slideshow from a sandcastle festival at Hundae beach in Busan.  The sandcastles were ridiculous, the beach was gorgeous and the city was spectacular.  Hope you like them.

(Mom all you have to do is push the play button and be patient)


Summer in Korea - slideshow maker

Korean Men and Old Women

[So I have been without a working computer at my apartment for almost a week.  That's one week of not skyping with my family (sorry Mom!), being able to watch my choice of movies or television shows in English, etc.  I am entrusting my computer to a friend I work with who is a computer whiz for the weekend to hopefully fix it up. I can't handle being cut off from everyone back home for too much longer]

#101.  This is going to be the most disturbing Korean-ism thus far.  It is not a widely known fact so I am not certain of its validity so take this with a grain of salt.  Fact or fiction?  Who knows.  Here goes. In the Korean culture men are considered to be of more importance than women due to their ability to carry on the family name.  The only way to carry on the family name (in any culture) is to produce viable offspring.  All of this you probably already knew.  What you did NOT know is that in order to make sure that their sons can do this is to help along the process at an early age.

Now what the hell does that mean you may ask?  Well, when Korean men are between the age of around 4-14 (give or take a few years) their parents masterbate them at night to make sure they can get an erection. They say it is for their own good and that they will thank them when they are older and can maintain an erection in order to impregnant their spouse and produce MORE viable offspring.  In America this sort of "help" is called molestation.  In Korea it is just part of the culture.

#102.  Continuing on the same sick topic...in Korea it is not uncommon for an old woman to reach her hand into the stroller of a baby boy and touch his penis and make sure it is satisfactory.  This is common in Korea.  While the parents may not like the idea of their little bundle of joy being touched in that way by a complete stranger, it is not their place to disagree with an elder.  In America that old lady would be bitchslapped back to Korea.  Twice.  .

Alright...enough of the disturbing topics.   Little recap of last weekend for you.

So last weekend I went to Busan with a few of my close friends Jen, Nick and Tim.  While the BUS ride to Busan was not eventful...the subway ride into Busan was a  completely different story .  Right off the bat we were promptly annoyed by a drunken korean man in a zip up jumpsuit.  (Jumpsuits are all the rage here in Korea by the way.) He assumed that the two boys and two girls were together (most Koreans make this mistaken assumption) and kept bowing to the boys and giving them thumbs ups.  It was fun and games until he took Tim's bottle of beer,  shotgunned it and ended up spewing it all over the floor.  Not funny.  He ended up lighting up a cigarette (smoking is prohibited in subways by the way) and was forcibly removed from the bus.  Think of when people are thrown out of bars.  Dramatic but effective.

While in Busan we went to the sandcastle festival (pictures to come later when my computer doesn't hate me.)  These were more than just mere sandcastles.  They were freaking works of art.  Some were 20 feet high and so intricate that I had to remind myself they were made of sand.  To name a few there were sandcastles depicting Jesus,  Abraham Lincoln, The Statue of Liberty,  Eiffel Tower and the Bat Mobile.   Epic.

I also managed to acquire the first coveted Coach purse to send home to the women of my family.  More will follow but hopefully the one will suffice for now.  Happy Momma? :)

All in all a pretty solid weekend.  Good friends.  Sunny beaches.  Amazing western food.  Hopefully this weekend will be just as solid.  Fingers crossed kids.  Toes too.

Bukbu Beach, Conservative Koreans, Volleyball

[Pictures were taken by Chris Kuisle and Darin Novak]

#82. Koreans are very conservative when it comes to clothing. They don't like to see women's bare shoulders. My coworker Jen has actually been slapped on the arm by an Ajumma for exposing her shoulder skin. Honestly Koreans. If you are that worried about shoulder skin you should come to America and take a look around. It'll shock you into the 21st century.

#83.  Even when it is hot out Koreans cover up their skin.  Long pants.  Long-sleeved tshirts.  Visors.  Umbrellas.  Basically they come out to get sand in their underwear, judge the foreigners for wearing tank tops and complain about how hot it is.  Sounds like my idea of a fun day.


Today was 80 degrees with a blue sky and not a cloud in sight.  The first hot day since my arrival in Pohang deserved a day at the beach.  I have a feeling that  Bukbu beach will be my home away from home on the weekends.  Miles of sandy beach.  Bathrooms nearby.  Restaurants a short walk away.  Volleyball.  Soccer. It's the perfect spot.

View from Bukbu Beach

Rainbows at the beach.  Love it.

The only downside to being a beach bum is that all of the foreigners tend to bum together...thus creating the "caged animal" effect.  While playing volleyball we literally had entire rows of Koreans just watching us.  No cheering.  Minimal talking.  Just watching those foreigners attempt to play volleyball

Our "cheering" section

Their minimal talking was translated for us by one of our Korean friends.  It went something like this.

"Why don't they try and hit the ball harder?!"
"The ball didn't go very far."
"Why are they playing this game?"
"I can see her underwear."
"They're not very good."
"Why isnt' she wearing more clothes?"
"They drink alot of beer."

Basically, Koreans like to judge you.  Constantly.