Recent Happenings.

There are many times I find it difficult to convince myself that I need to publish a blog post.  On one hand it makes it easy to tell people who care/know about my blog/know how to use the internet what we are doing in SoKo in one fell swoop as opposed to telling roughly the same story numerous times.  There are also times, however, when I am too lazy to write a post and I feel like I don't need to update on much.  One thing that I find to be true and most common for all travelers is that there is an air of arrogance and boasting between them.  Most travelers have this incessant need to tell other people where they have been and what they have done.  If you get a handful of travelers around a cocktail table you'll know what I'm talking about.  While I find myself in that category I try to curb my enthusiasm when sharing stories with people who have never left state side.  That is why I decided to write a blog in the first place because I can brag all I want and nobody has to listen.  

I digress.

The month is April, and the last I have written a post was April 1st.  Twenty days has been a good break for me but terribly long (I'm assuming) for my readers.  While my writing style hooks a reader faster than J.K. Rowling, I figured it would be apropos to allow some time to pass before anything significant happens in our lives.  With that being said, I will start this epic post.

The Others

At this point Kelly and I have been living in Korea for about 4 full months and the possibility of having people come visit us was about as mysterious and unpredictable as "The Others" from Lost.  We have had the pleasure of having Ms. Meghan Donner and Mr. Drew Gernand visit us for about a week.  The living quarters were tight but it was comfortable.  Drew visited us from Thailand and Meghan flew all the way from Minnesota for the week.  It was a great time.

Cherry Blossom Festival

One cool thing about coming to Korea in the winter time is that we are able to see the sweet transformation in the spring.  Blossoming trees are a boomin.  Two trees in particular are in full bloom and they look beautiful.  The first of which is the magnolia and the second is the cherry blossom.  Cherry blossoms, like in Japan, are everywhere.  The cherry blossom festival is a pretty big festival, however, Korea is having their worst/longest winter in a long time rendering a late blossoming season.  One of the perks of living here is that we are able to see them regardless of how late they are.

A couple enjoying the festival.

This is a common food vendor stand.  Octopus.  I will never eat it, but will certainly take a picture of it.

Korean Baseball

We were able to experience our first baseball game this past Saturday.  We have heard a lot of good reviews about baseball in Korea, and let me tell you that it is an experience much different from the MLB.  The first aspect of this game that I very much appreciated was that it was my first outdoor baseball game.  I know that sounds crazy but I have only been to Twins games in the Metrodome, not an ideal place to watch baseball.  The second aspect was that we went with some good people.  We were able to go to the game with Mr. Reuben Haggar, Sir Erik Johnson, Miss Holly Schoephoerster, Count Drew Gernand, and Mme Kelly Freeburg.

 

The enthusasim at this baseball game was unlike anything I have experienced at a sporting event.  Well, I have experienced a lot of energy and excitement at a baseball game, but not for 9 straight innings.  Before we went to this game a fellow coworker of ours stated "every pitch is like the final pitch of the World Series."  While I took that comment with a mega huge grain of salt, he was not too far off.  If the batter made contact with the baseball, I thought people were going to charge the field, only to find out it went foul.  There were cheerleaders and guys who flamboyantly stood on a deck and led chants.  People were going crazy.  It was the most fun I have ever had at a baseball game.  (Those bags were our version of rally caps.  They were passed out to everyone and the visitors side was a sea of orange bags.)

Lake Park Musical Fountain

As mentioned in a previous blog post we live near a big attraction called Lake Park.  It is allegedly the largest man made lake in Asia.  At one end of this park lies, what I believe, the 8th wonder of the world.  Not really, but it is incredible.  There is an enourmous musical fountain.  When Kelly and I first got here in December, we noticed this attraction.  We have been greatly anticipating the debut of this musical fountain for 4 long months.  The show is 1 hour long and from April-June it is only on the weekends.  Througout the summer it is everynight.

The debut of this musical fountain from a lifetime in hypernation lied on the same weekend that our friends visited us.  The first night we missed the show by an hour, coming at 8:30 which was the exact same time it ended.  We then decided to come back the following night but it got cut short.  We were, however, able to go back the next weekend and were able to watch the full show.

The show was amazing.  It was very relaxing just to be able to sit and watch this show for an entire hour.  If we were not mesmerized in the streaming lights and flowing water we could just relax with good conversatoin. 

We certainly will make regular visits to this fantastic show.   Click to view a short clip of the fountain, or look on our web album.

Or click this one.