Life as a Tourist/Teacher

As summer rolls along we are finding ourselves to be tourists more than teachers. Our working hours have changed since it is the summer holidays for the students. We now teach in the morning and have most of the afternoon off, allowing for more time to explore this crazy concrete jungle.
Last Saturday we had a great day of touring and sightseeing. We went biking along the Han River in Seoul in the morning. Found a random place to have lunch. Then jumped on the Ferry boat from Jamsil to Youido Island also along the Han River. The ride was about an hour and we were able to gauge where we were as the boat sailed along. Another added bonus was the weather is was overcast and not smoggy. The air quality was decent which made for good pictures and less humidity. That is definitely something to be thankful for because we've been having lots of humidity and rain.
After the ferry boat we got off and ventured into the 63 Building. This is the tallest building in Seoul, they have a viewing tower on the 63rd floor so we braved the elevator and went to the top. We were greeted with a spectacular view of Seoul. With the great weather and lack of smog we took some great shots until the camera battery died. Last time I was in Korea I didn't go up this tower. I am glad I saved it for this past weekend because the view was better than the Seoul Tower. (my opinion)
Chris and I spend a lot of time traveling to get places. If you expect to go anywhere in the city from our place it takes at least an hour. Even to our church which is in the same city takes almost an hour. The subway system is very convenient but, it can take a long time. The buses as well, but the buses for getting around Suwon where we live, can be a pain. If church took an hour to get to in Canada how many of us would go to it? Not many, here though travel is just part of life and when it takes less than an hour to get somewhere that's a bonus. Such a different mindset.
Church has been going great. We are in a Bible study with 3 other married couples from church. It's nice to be part of it and get to know some more people. Plus we get to see what kind of housing the different schools give their teachers.
I went swimming with a friend a few days ago at a public pool. That was quite an experience. It was my first time, in Korea you have to cover you hair in the pool. Or so we thought. I put on a hat and shoved my hair in it. As soon as we got in the pool the lifeguards were waving at us and motioning for us to get out. Find out we have to have a 'swimming cap'. Unfair though because there were other girls in the pool with only hats on as well. I guess foreigners cant get away with every thing. Also you have never seen so many speedo bathing suits and high heels on the pool deck. Fascinating, and the deep end well that was up to my waist... if you call that deep. I am glad I went but definitely not again.
Wow this blog is getting long I am almost done hang on. This weekend we leave for holidays in Jeju. Very excited and looking forward to it. I will definitely update the blog and put on some pictures when we get back.
Well I hope you all have been enjoying the updates and silly adventures I am posting about. Also Check out the post below as there are a bunch of pictures there! Enjoy :)
blessing
Becca and Chris

Pictures/A day on the Hangang

View from the top of the 63 building. West Seoul I think!

Concrete, the city of 10 million.

Looking North West down the Hangang, check out all the bridges.

The 63 building on Youido Island.

View from the ferry boat, Seoul tower in the background.

Chris loving the random 7-11 along the bike path. No slurpees thou :(

Me just loving life down by the boat dock in Jamsil. Check out the clouds~awesome.

The Monsoons/Pictures

Chris and I hiked Namsan Mountain in Seoul. This is a view from the top. We didn't go up the tower because the weather wasn't the best and it's not worth it to pay 8 bucks and see what you see in this picture.
I was seriously wondering why all these locks were attached to the wires. I was disappointed to find that they don't mean anything. Just a fad that Korean are in to. Put a little love message on a lock and lock it to the thousands of others up at the tower.
View of a 'small' portion of Seoul from our hike. We are looking forward to the day when it's clear and we can really enjoy the view and take some great pics.
This picture is from a baseball game we saw at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. Awesome experience tons of action as the LG Twins won 11-2. Now for the update.

So the rainy humid season is upon us. It's definitely not the preferred weather but what control do we have over it? Anyways life is going fairly well these days. Teaching continues to be what it is. I am looking forward to next week as summer vacation is here which means my schedule is changed to morning classes. So I have every afternoon off until near the end of August. Plus we have our vacation first week in August. We are going to Jeju Island here in Korea with a couple of friends. Definitely looking forward to it. Although most of Korea will be joining us there it's sure to be um busy. We will have pictures to show for it. :)
Chris and I have been playing ball a few times a week. Enjoying it a lot as we like to dominate, I don't think the opposing team likes playing us but it's exercise and lots of fun. It's quite entertaining to see people stop and watch us play at the park. We are pretty much celebrities, jk.
Anyways that's really all I have to report. This coming weekend we will be going on some adventures so until next weeks update. blessings~

Birthday Adventures

Greetings from Korea. This year was the first time Chris and I had the chance to celebrate our birthdays together, and celebrate we did. It's been a fun past couple of weeks and I will do my best to fill you in on what has been happening. I usually don't care to much about birthdays because it just means I am getting older. Really though we are not that old but, I am finding that age is relative depending on who you with and what circumstance you are in.
So this past weekend we took a little adventure into Seoul. After playing a bit of screen golf on Friday night, we packed our backpacks and headed out praying for good weather. We hiked Namsan mountain which is where Seoul Tower is. The weather was really overcast so we decided to just look around and not go up. It is much more worth it when the skies are clear. The weather did hold out until we reached the bottom of the mountain. A rain shower ensued but we continued adventuring. Later we went to Jamsil Stadium to take in a baseball game. What a fun experience, I have never seen such devoted fans. Not matter what was happening in the game they were cheering. Every player seemed to have a different cheer, so each time a new batter came up a new cheer erupted. It was a lot of fun to be in the middle of something like that and we will be sure to go again. We decided to stay the night so we found a hotel called the Jelly Hotel. Interesting name but a really nice place, very clean and modern.
We've been learning a lot about what is going on in North Korea. Not just the fact they keep launching missiles but what is going on with it's people. How the general population of N.Korea is starving and suffering. Everyday people try to deflect to China, but the Chinese don't want N.Korean refugees and send them back. If you have a chance look up the DVD called Seoul Train. It is hard to watch but if you want to know and be aware of what goes on there please look into it. Also please pray for the situation here. Tensions continue to build and something is going to happen soon.
Teaching has been going well/ok. We have our ups and downs with the company we work for but overall we are content to be here. We describe our classes like this: There is about 15 kids per class, 5 know what's going on, 5 sorta know what's going and 5 don't have a clue. So who the heck do you teach.? Yeah, we are still wondering.
I am feeling better now so that's good. Now to survive the plus 30 temperatures and the humidity that would allow a fish to live out of water. (That's all Chris right there)
We hope to do some beach adventuring soon as summer vacation is coming and our teaching hours change only to the morning. Well I hope this was a good update for you all.
We hope to have more comments at the bottom of our blog.
Take care~ until next time.