CHANGwon

kickin' it in CHANGWON, oh oh, kamsamnida..annyonghaseo!..so i hopped the bus west a couple of weekends ago and made my way to visit an old college friend. my buddy MATT FISH moved over here to SOUTH KOREA about 5 months ago. we used to kick it in college, so why not in KOREA? after a pretty eventful friday night, i allowed myself to naturally wake up saturday morning and regroup before i bussed it over to MATT's humble abode. we hung out, reminisced, drank beer, and laughed at both old and new jokes. we talked about our old friends at college and our new friends that we have made here. it's a really good feeling to have people who know and understand you just a stones throw away, or a 74 minute bus ride, you can look at it either way! it was a fun little town and after he comes to ULSAN, i will, for sure, be going back there again.

2 and 1/2 years and over 8000 miles later, we pick up right where we had left off. good times with a good friend.





found the korean HARRY POTTER..he was awesome. please listen to the following!..



he said it, not ME!!





kicked in ULSAN for the weekend after i went to CHANGWON, kept it low key and i was gearing up for my first of just two or three breaks i get. i didnt really have much time to prepare so i decided to head up to SEOUL, south KOREA's capital city. it is just south of the north korean borded. i went up there with a few of my new friends, DAN(ireland), BEN(scotland), and LEON LEE(korean, china for 10 years). we just went with the flow and kind of found things to do along the way. the highlight of the trip was going to the KING's palace. before KOREA moved to democracy and a president, they had a KING. i went to his abode..check it out.

not really sure what this was used for, but it looked cool and somewhat important. i mean, i know i don't have that kind of chair in my house!


this was the entrance to his palace. he must have been kind of a big deal..just guessing!

just another beautiful building that was on the grounds. this place was enormous, it took an hour and 20 minutes to walk it.

from left to right...BEN, LEON, ME, DAN. again..good times with good people.




we went out in SEOUL, ate good food, hungout with good people and made good memories. it is a very westernized city and that being said, it was much easier to get around and figure things out. there is english everywhere. we also had our korean friend LEON who speaks english, chinese, and korean. that is always a bonus!!



oh yeah, saw this guy in SEOUL too!!!...watch:



not sure what he was trying to accomplish, but i'm pretty sure that he didn't get it done!!



oh, the weekend between CHANGWAN and SEOUL, i was able to experience a traditional korean dinner at my friend JI WON PARK's home. teacher KELLY introduced me to my korean friends and JI wanted to host a going away dinner at his home in ULSAN. we went and did the traditional korean dinner and met his family and shared stories. JI served as our translator as we exchanged different things that we have experienced in our lives. it was really an amazing night and his family members are great people. thanks JI!




i am back to work on thursday, we have a new teacher so that is a little exciting. i am no longer the new kid, however, the girl who left, KELLY, was one of the most amazing people i have met. she really made transition from the states to korea very smooth and easy and always lended a helping hand or an ear to bitch into when i needed either of the two. after the two day work week, i am going to make it down to BUSAN again for my friend JI's, who i mentioned above, skating competition. he is a professional sponsored skater. should be a good time, he lent me his home for a night, the least i can do is lend him support at his competition this weekend.



miss all of you back home, take care and stay healthy...






"to live is the rarest thing in the world, most people exist, that is all.." -Oscar Wilde