2011 Marine Corps Ball

On November 12th, I attended my very first Marine Corps Ball.  It was held in Seoul, South Korea and was a night I will never forget.

Before leaving for the big night

As many of you know, my wonderful boyfriend Dan is a Marine and I was so excited to be part of his night to celebrate such an amazing organization.  Since Dan and I have been dating I have learned so much about the military and exactly what the Marine Corps does to keep people safe.  This year marked the 236th anniversary of one of the most prestigious and proud military organizations in the world.  He has taught me about exactly what the Marine Corps does and how it is varies from the Navy, Army or Air Force.  After everything i've learned, i've become even prouder (if that's possible) to  be the girlfriend of a Marine.

Well, now that you know how I feel about the Marine Corps, let's talk about the actual ball.  After a somewhat stressful journey to get to our hotel (the buses to Seoul were sold out) we were dressed to impress and out the door on our way to meet up with the rest of Dan's unit.  We hopped on a bus with the rest of the Marines and headed to the hotel that held the big event.

We arrived at the hotel and saw hundreds of people dressed in their finest.  The men and women there representing the Marine Corps in their finest dress blues, their dates in their best attire and every other important person in attendance looking their best.  The decorations were beautiful, the food at dinner was delectable and the company incomparable.

The majority of the guys from the Mujuk Ordnance Unit

My favorites from that night:  Kennedy, Alisa, Dan and I

We had an amazing night.  After eating and drinking to excess we hit the dance floor.  Watching all of the high ranking officers do the electric slide or get their groove on with their dates was one of the most amusing parts of the night.  With (hopefully) many more Marine Corps Balls to come for me it's hard to know how any of them will top this one.  I was so lucky to be able to be part of Dan's special night and finally see face-to-face how proud the men and women of the Marine Corps are of their organization.  Congratulations Marines on 236 years of amazing service to our country.

Halloween 2011: Pohang Edition

I hope you all had a very happy Halloween and that you are stuffed to the brim with candy and spooky treats galore.  As my last post explained, my spooky day at Kids College was a barrel of fun.  While it was a barrel of fun, it was with dozens of tiny children who were vying for my attention by screaming about their favorite candy, throwing tantrums about not getting the candy they wanted or not getting as much candy as the person next to them.  Obviously candy was a big factor in this years Halloween for my students.  Shockingly enough though it wasn't my littlest kids that were the biggest whiners.  The whines came from my oldest kids.

But, i'm getting away from the topic of conversation at hand.  This post is about a Halloween away from all the itty bitties and being in the company of people who have the ability to understand what i'm saying and be able to enjoy an adult beverage or two.  Or three.  Or four.

This year, I split my time between TILT (you know i'd be there) and LiveStory (a local bar that plays live music) with the boyfriend and all of my friends.  Dan and I went all out this year and got mail ordered costumes of Mario and Princess Peach.  Unbeknownst to us, Mario and Princess Peach are HUGE in Korea.     Everywhere we went, we were greeted with, "MARIO!  PEACH! Picture!  Picture!"  We felt like quite the celebrities and actually ended up being the winners in a contest!  Hooray for us!

Due to the fact that a picture is worth a thousand words, I think the pictures of that night can explain it better than I can.  

Princess Peach and her Mario

Mario getting embraced by the owner of LiveStory

A demon, zebra and a bunch of grapes

Vampire and Elphaba (from the musical Wicked)

The ever famous, Angry Bird

Wonder Woman and a very realistic skeleton

Some of my favorite ladies partying the night away

An Everland Weekend

Last weekend was spent in one of Seoul's must-see destinations for the children of Korea...and myself and Dan. We went to Everland, the world's 4th largest amusement park.  An entire day filled with rollercoasters, spinny rides that make you feel like you want to puke, vendor food, animals galore and more walking than should be allowed.  Right up our alley.  While the actual experience was a walk in the park (excuse the pun), the actual process of GETTING THERE was an endeavor to say the least.

According to all of the online reading I had done about Everland, supposedly the park was a mere hour bus ride from Seoul.  We specifically stayed in Seoul so that we could be closer to the park to get there right at the 9:30 opening.  Should have been a breeze, right? Wrong.  Turns out we needed to do quite a bit of traveling before we could actually get to those golden gates.  First was a subway ride that involved us getting a bit turned around (my fault, I admit) that ended up being about an hour.  Then we ended up at Seoul Station where we were told there was NOT a bus to Everland but a train to the nearby city of Suwon.  Another hour.  We get to Suwon.  Where is the bus?  No clue.  We head over to the tourist information center where we are informed to get on another bus to get to Everland.  Another hour.  We finally arrive to Everland, right?  Wrong.  We then get on ANOTHER bus to take us from the Everland parking lot to the actual gates of Everland.  Before we even get to the park we have ridden a subway, train and two buses.

With a little more than frustration on our faces, we finally walked into the famed park of Everland, where the dreams of tiny Korean children everywhere come true.  This particular park mirrors its decorations from the different holidays in the year.  We had arrived right at the change over from their "Summer Splash" theme to the "Happy Halloween" decor.  With pumpkins, ghosts and cute little goblins everywhere it definitely got me in the right frame of mind for the impending fall that I knew was right around the corner.

Jack o'lanterns galore seemed to be the perfect backdrop

We spent the rest of the day riding (almost) every single ride, taking pictures with every cardboard cutout or funny statue, eating amusement park food and everything in between.  Among others, we (somewhat) successfully rode the world's steepest wooden roller coaster, the biggest viking ship I have ever ridden which included a 75 degree vertical lift and a haunted house ride that would freak out even the most stoic person.

Now when I say that we (somewhat) successfully rode the roller coaster, I mean that Dan successfully rode it while I literally cried like a child for the entire ride to the top of the first drop.  After that first drop, THEN I became successful.  There was something about seeing all that rickity wood, screaming people and swaying pieces that threw me for a loop.  A loop.  See, I can make a joke about it now.  But in all seriousness, take a look at this picture and tell me it doesn't make your stomach flip-flop.


The rest of our day was spent looking at the "Zoomania" section of the park (obviously complete with zoo animals), walking around to take in all the sights, riding every ride we could find and of course taking a million pictures.  To close on this post from one of my favorite places in Korea, here are a few of my favorite pictures from that day.  Hope you enjoy them and if you have the opportunity to visit Everland, do it.  You won't regret it!

We make quite the couple don't we?

Getting ready for a 3D ride

Dan loved feeding these birds.  They really freaked me out.

Ending our weekend with delicious Chinese food in Suwon with one of my
 favorite childhood/college friends, Tristen.  Perfect end to a perfect weekend!

Busan for Chuseok: Part 2

Sunday

We motivated ourselves to be up and out the door by 12.  Dad, I know.  12 isn't early but it's the best we could do.  Neither of us is quite the early bird that you are. We made it to Gecko's (a foreigner favorite) for a delicious western lunch accompanied by a few grown up beverages (it's 5 o'clock somehwere right) and a coloring sheet (they know us far too well).  We ate ourselves silly with western food and eventually made our way outside where it was raining...again.

Next on our list was the famed Haedong Yonggung Temple (해동용궁사) or known to the foreigners as the "Temple by the Sea." Unlike most other temples in Asia, this particular temple was not built near the mountains but on the edge of the sea.  The beautiful view, shrines intermittently placed along the walk and the grandiose sculptures that pay homage to the Buddhist religion make it a sight to see.  Due to the fact that I also came to this particular temple last year I had a general idea on where to go and which parts Dan would like.  It was a change coming here with just one other person instead of an entire group.  While taking photographs together was a bit harder due to the fact that we had to badger unsuspecting people to take our photos, I enjoyed it in a different way from last year.  This year was quieter and we were able to truly feel the spirit of those that came to the temple to pray.  With the rain falling all around us, the temple was less crowded and gave us a chance to stop and really look at what we were seeing instead of snapping quick photos and moving onto the next shrine.  Here are just a few pictures of what we saw on that rainy afternoon.   

After our afternoon of temple visiting, we decided to take the subway and haphazardly stop wherever we thought looked like fun.  We saw a stop that included the Busan Museum of Art so we thought, "Hey, why not!"  We hopped off our subway and went into one of the most unusual museums I have ever been to.  I am not a self-proclaimed art enthusiast of any kind (neither is Dan) so the majority of the art we saw was a bit lost on us.  Due to the fact that photography was banned in the "contemporary" section of the museum you won't be able to truly appreciate the little gems we saw.  For example,  one "piece of art" was a wall length piece of gray felt that fell to the ground at an angle.  That's it.  No really, that's the art.  No paint.  No different colors.  Just gray felt, at an angle, on the ground.  Another was string that had been stretched from the ceiling to the floor at different angles.  It didn't make a picture.  It didn't make...well...anything.  It was just white string.  Like I said, the "art" was lost on us.  While there were some paintings that we thoroughly enjoyed, it wasn't exactly a museum that  I would recommend to anyone who is not an art enthusiast. 

After our attempt at appreciating art, we took yet another subway ride to a bridge i've been wanting to see since our arrival in Busan.  It is in the University district and is one of those bridges that has the cable archway that stretches across the ocean.  My favorite kind of bridge.  At night, the cables light up in different colors and people come from all around to see it.  Unfortunatley, we weren't able to see the bridge in all its nighttime glory but the afternoon panoramic shot did come out quite nicely.  

A rainy panoramic of my favorite bridge

We were just about ready to call it a day and start the walk back to the subway station when something caught my eye to the left of the bridge.  I saw something circular and huge.  It looked like a ferris wheel but surely the amusement park enthusiasts we were would have known if there was an amusement park near us.  Right?  Wrong.  We had stumbled upon a rinky dink carnival of sorts hidden in the heart of Busan.  During our walk to our little carnival we also stumbled upon something else.  A Coldstone Creamery.  Just looking at the smile on Dan's face was enough to convince me that we clearly needed a waffle dish of deliciousness for our walk. 

A waffle bowl filled with cheesecake ice cream, strawberries
 and blueberries?  I don't mind if I do!

We eventually made our way to the amusement park carnival.  It had a ferris wheel, one roller coaster, a scrambled eggs sort of ride, log flume, spinning chairs, drop zone and of course...a viking ship.  We screamed like tiny children as the viking ship became almost vertical with the ground.  Laughed ourselves silly on the spinning chairs.  Enjoyed the view from the top of the ferris wheel.  While it was a itsy bitsy amusement park, "Me World" made our Sunday evening an amazing one.

With our Chuseok vacation coming to an end, we made our way back to our hotel where we found another delicious foreigner dinner, this time mexican food.  We ate ourselves into a food coma, took to the beach with a bottle of Korean wine (our favorite) and talked until our eyes became sleepy.  We talked about our favorite parts of our time in Busan, the upcoming weekend and everything else in between.  

While this Chuseok was completely different from the mayhem of last year, I wouldn't have had it any other way.  I was able to truly experience one of my favorite cities with one of my favorite people.

What's next on our agenda?  This weekend we will go to Everland, the worlds 4th largest Amusement Park.  Get ready for a post filled with rides, amusement park food (hopefully) and the sights of Seoul!

Busan for Chuseok: Part 1

While I look at the hundreds of pictures from Busan last weekend (no seriously, we took 338) I am struck with two thoughts.  We take alot of pictures.  We can really cram culture into a trip.  Even though the rain tried its best to put a damper on our trip, we were able to cross off everything on our to-do-list.  From Friday night to Monday afternoon we were away from work and in one of the most beautiful cities in Korea.  It is safe to say we made the most of it.

Friday

American beers

After arriving in Busan a bit later than expected (11pm) we were hard pressed to find a restaurant other than Burger King or a Korean shop that was open.  While Burger King sure is great and Korean food delicious, it just wasn't what we were looking for.   We ended up at the foreigner favorite, Fuzzy Navel, for a few American beers and nachos (the only thing on the menu.)  The music was loud and the place was packed with foreigners who were gathered from every city in Korea to enjoy this long Chuseok holiday.  We enjoyed our little taste of America, strolled around the beach and then back to our hotel for some sleep.

Now for my long-time readers, you already know what I did last year for Chuseok from last years posts and a general idea of what it is.  For my newer readers,  Chuseok is basically the Korean version of American Thanksgiving.  They spend time with their families.  Eat traditional Korean food.  Do not work for two days.  During Chuseok, the streets are emptied and most restaurants or stores aren't open.  Thankfully I had the foresight to get a few foodstuffs last week before leaving for Busan or I would have been one hungry girl when I got home.

Saturday


After sleeping in a bit longer than anticipated, we were finally out the door and ready for lunch at around 1pm.  With all of Busan's foreigner food available to us it was hard to choose just what we would indulge in first.  We chose TGI Fridays for our first lunch.  While it was one of the most delicious (chicken quesadillas) it was by far the most expensive of our trip with the bill being around $60.  I guess we got a bit carried away in our search for all things American.

A bit overly excited about the guacamole and sour cream

After lunch we decided to get out of our food coma and head to the popular "Centum City" via the subway system.  That's right folks.  We navigated the subway system all by ourselves and I am proud to say that not ONCE did we accidentally go the wrong way.  We were able (for $3.50 a day) to travel to all the parts of Busan we wanted to and never once have to ask for directions.  I credit alot of this to our handy dandy Busan Travel Guide and to Dan for always double checking where we wanted to go instead of doing the patented Jenn "oh i'm sure this is it" way.

Our first stop was right off the subway and one of the biggest landmarks in Busan.  It is called Shinsengae Centumcity Department Store and is in the Guinness World Book of Records as being the largest department store in the world.

No really, it is.

Included in this monstrosity is a department store, a mall (with the same clothing from the department store), an ice rink, multiple food courts, art gallery, book store, movie theater, park located on the roof and so much more.  We walked around for hours enjoying everything there was to see and do.  We quietly made fun of Korean clothing (do men really need glitter on their baseball hats?), watched children attempt to ice skate (we know it's not nice to laugh when they fall), peruse the books in the book store so much more.  If you are ever in Busan and are looking to kill some time, take a few hours out of your day and head to Centum City.  You won't be disappointed.

The view from the 1st floor all the way to the top

After taking a few pictures outside with the random sculptures they had and the rose garden, we were on our way to the heart of the shopping district which included our must-see,

Busan Tower. 

Our last stop of the day was Busan Tower, a must-see for tourists.  It is situated 120 meters above the ground and gives you a birds eye view of the city, complete with bright city lights and the ocean off in the distance.  After hearing it was most beautiful at night, we decided to do just that.  

Temple in front of Busan Tower

Busan Tower all lit up

Breathtaking view from the top

Quick picture in front of the "picture pose" area

A pretty great way to spend the first half of our holiday weekend.  Stay tuned for part 2. 

Sunrise Sunday at Homigot

Anyone who knows me in the slightest bit knows that I am not exactly a morning person.  Alright, I am not at ALL a morning person.  I hit the snooze button.  I drag my feet getting out of bed.  I whine.  It's safe to say that being around me first thing in the morning is an experience not wanted by many.  I say this about myself to tell you about my Sunday morning.

It was decided last week that Homigot, a famous landmark in Pohang, needed to be seen.  Not only did it need to be seen, but it needed to be seen at sunrise. Currently the sun rises in Korea at 5:43am.  I live just about an hour from Homigot.  Do the math and imagine how thrilled I was about getting up at 4:30am.  Let me paint you a picture as to why the very "un-Jenn" time of sunrise was decided. There are two enormous stone hands that seem to cradle the sun as it rises and sets.  One juts out of the ocean and (when photographed correctly) is at it's most beautiful right at sunrise.  With my time in Korea coming to an end, I want to experience as much I can in the little time I had left.  One of those things was a Homigot sunrise with Dan.  Check.

What's next on my list of "must see" adventures you may ask?  Well, next weekend we are going to make yet another attempt at finding that amusement park and those ever elusive cable cars in the beautiful town of Daegu.  Let's see if we can get our navigational challenged butts in gear and check another item off my ever-growing list.  Until then, here are a few pictures from our early morning adventure to Homigot.

Sunrise at Homigot with Dan

The famous "Homigot Hands"

Quick kiss before leaving.  One of the best mornings since arriving in Korea all those months ago. 

Even though it was early (before 6am) when these pictures were taken, it was by far the best part of my Sunday.  If anyone in Korea has the option to see Homigot at sunrise you would be doing yourself a disservice NOT to go.  Grab your guy (or girl) and watch the sun peek out from being one of Korea's greatest landmarks.  Breathtaking.  

Wordless Wednesday: Aimless Afternoons in Daegu

Last weekend the boy and I ventured to Daegu for a little time away from Pohang.  We had grand plans for the day that included making it to Apsan Mountain (rumored to be one of the most beautiful spots in Daegu) and roaming around to all the little places their website CLAIMED they have such as: cable cars, a small amusement park, multiple museums, etc.  Now, i'm sure all of those lovely things were at this beautiful mountain but we just weren't able to find them.  Seeing as how neither of us speaks fluent Korean or has the best sense of direction (you all know I don't) we wandered around for a bit until eventually the heat became unbearable and we called off the search and went back to civilization.

Even though we didn't get to cross another amusement park off our list, we still had a great time.  In between amazing western food, wandering the streets of Daegu, the beauty of the mountain or an impromptu drum concert, our day ended up being great.  Not what we expected, but great.

Welcome to the overcrowded streets of Daegu.

The Boston Buttsteak at New York Steakhouse.  

A trip is not really a trip for us until we pose with something in a plush costume or cardboard cutout.

The outside of a Korean war museum. 

During our search for the ever-elusive cable cars, we were able to sneak in a waterfall and a happy smiling photo to remember our day of aimless wandering.