Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Dan & Sherry Come to Asia!!! - At School

On their first day in Ulsan, they spent the morning
at Andrew's school with 1st and 3rd graders.

MyungKyo and Dan

A game of 'Dan Says' with 3rd graders


Alessa Landenberger as a third grade Korean



Andrew's Favorite 1st Grader
(Who's new thing is saying, "hey-uh baby!")

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Later in the week, Andrew and his parents went to Judy's after-school class to talk with the students, have some pizza and play a game.

Pizza Party!

Judy and her co-teacher, Ms An

This girl wrote down every word that came
from Andrew and his parents' mouths.




The winning team!

Sally modeling her text book

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Dan & Sherry Come to Asia!!! - Seoul

Waiting for them to get through baggage and immigration

There they are!
Dan & Sherry are in South Korea!!!

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A teacher from Andrew's school hooked us up with a discounted rate at the Imperial Palace Hotel in Seoul, where we stayed for the weekend. It was a beautiful hotel.

The Imperial Palace at night

The outdoor bar



Our reservation was under the name Kang Wan Yong.
We have no idea who that might be!

It looked just as nice in the daytime.

The Lobby

One of the bars


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The DMZ tour ended in Myeong Dong, one of the major shopping areas of Seoul, so we explored a bit. It was a warm, Saturday evening, so the streets were packed with shoppers and vendors of all kinds!

Mmmm, Street Meat...

A motorcycle equipped with a cotton candy machine

We had drinks in the Matching Mole

Sherry posing outside of Teenie Weenie!
(A fairly popular Korean clothing brand...)

Koreans everywhere!


Down into the subway

On the train!

Sunset from the subway car

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The next day, a huge market and a traditional village were on our itinerary.

South Koreans don't really understand that Christmas things are only supposed to be displayed during Christmas time, so many places are still/are always decorated for the season! This was in a subway station.

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동대문시장

Dongdaemun Market is one of the largest markets in South Korea, selling everything you could ever think you wanted to buy.

Gangsta

Hooded sweatshirts that zip all the way up to cover your face and turn you into the character on the sweatshirt are REALLY popular here.

BIG PIMPIN'




A booth selling seaweed in all forms

A sexy stall for men!

Korean men are pretty damn skinny, so they are lacking in the butt department. Not anymore, thanks to these padded briefs! (No comment on the article of clothing above the briefs)

Who doesn't like elephants?






Lunch!
Fried Rice, Japchae (stir fried noodles-ish),
fried dumplings and rice wine!


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After lunch, we wandered around the market a little more, then made our way to the traditional village. Buddha's birthday was only a few days away, so we figured some festivities might be going on.

남산골한옥마을 - Namsangol Hanok Village is an area in Seoul where the traditional houses and buildings from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) have been restored to provide tourists a little glimpse into traditional Korean life. The village houses royal living quarters, common family dwellings, meeting halls, gardens and a number of traditional handicrafts and artifacts from the era.


Judy - A prostitute
Sherry - Royalty


There was some sort of rice harvesting dance or play going on that used these, but without a working knowledge of Korean, it was lost on us.

Giggling about the 5th largest dong in Seoul!

Judy's Headshots
(For the record, Andrew chose to take these pictures, Judy did not force him!)




Way too bright for black and white...


Meat on sticks!



On our way to Seoul Station, to take the train to Ulsan.