Weekend of January 28-30th

It was a quiet weekend for us.  Friday night included dinner with Tommy's co-workers at the Foreigner's Club here in Okpo. Saturday we walked around the town exploring when we experienced snow flurries!!  We are already tired of the cold but it added a little excitement to our day, then we enjoyed the best burger ever, topped with a fried egg....then on to a tour of the open air market. 

Mackerel and Ribbonfish....what we consider bait in

Texas.

Several different types of kimchi.

Octopus

Looks like something you'd buy before heading out

for an offshore fishing trip, but this is food for Koreans.

Bark.  I haven't had a dish yet made with this and I

 am not sure I want to.  Some of this looks dangerous!

Live mullet and eel.

Squid

For dinner Tommy cooked a great pork tenderloin!

On Sunday afternoon we decided to take a drive out to Hakdong to explore the Pebble Beach.  Here are the pictures below.  Today it was about 30 degrees, it felt so much colder!!

Ok these are guys are all over this island. I thought when I first got here that we found Big H's (Prasek's Mascot) long lost siblings!  But knew this couldn't be right...why would they pick sausage men as their mascot but Tommy later discovered that they are sea slugs!

This was a view on our drive back to Okpo from Hakdong. 

1st Korean Meal

After my tutoring lession on Tuesday, my neighbor Malan and I went to find this restaurant that her boyfriend heard had the best fried rice.  Well who doesn't love fried rice?  I was all about it!  My tutor was nice enough to drive us to this hole in the wall place.  We walked in and NOT one person spoke any English and since I only know 3 phrases this wasn't going to get us too far.  The waitress/owner sat us down at a table and brought us a wet towel and then walked away.  Where is the menu?  Do I get a drink?  What about silverware? These were thoughts running through my head.  We patiently waited and after about 15 minutes they bring us this full meal.  Remind you we never ordered!!  Oh and I still have no drink.  So this meal that we have in front of us is in the pictures below.  I was a good sport and tried everything except two items in those sides dishes which included raw oysters in some red sauce and then a veggie that just didn't look to good.  The main dish was steamed rice layered with unknown veggies and two fried eggs on top.  Then there was some sort of broth that we were supposed to pour ontop of the rice mixture and lastly a hot sauce to mix in.  To say that it was enjoyable would be a mistake, but I guess if I was starving then I would have to eat it again.  Oh and it was the cheapest thing we have had so far, 12,000 won which is less than $12 for two people!
  

 

First Korean Lesson!

Here is a video after my Korean lesson.  Just a few phrases down and working on the alphabet.  See the link on facebook.  I wasn't able to get it to upload to the blog.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/video/video.php?v=1625147908604

My Monday Outing & weekend review

Well I have been here for 10 days now and it actually seems much longer than that!  I know that I HAVE to find activities and things to do here to pass my time otherwise I will go crazy.  I spent the first week learning the area and taking daily walks, but that got old after 5 days.  There is a foreigners club here but I have been a little nervous about going to any of the activities by myself.  I knew it would be fine, but I just have to get over my nervousness of being the new person. 

On Sunday, I decided to attend the local foreigners church and thought I could possibly meet a few people there.  Tommy had to work 1/2 Sunday, so I was on my own and decide to just go for it.  Everyone was very nice and friendly.  And I will probably go back when Tommy is working.  In February he will be working Monday through Saturday so I am sure that one free day we have we will try to explore as much as possible. 

This Sunday afternoon we only had about 2 hours of daylight to explore.  We got in the car and just started driving.  Tommy showed me more of the shipyard where he works.  I wish that we could take more pictures for everyone to see because it is so impressive.  It is like nothing I have every seen before.  The ships there are HUGE!!  And the equipment they use to build, WOW~!  After the ship yard we found a few other towns that are every few miles in these coves.  You can see the pictures in the blog post yesterday.  These must be weekend spots or places where wealthy people live.  The homes are much larger and nicer.  We plan to go back when it warms up and maybe we can enjoy the beach.  However the beach was small so we probably have to get there early.

So today, I actually did another thing out of my comfort zone and went to a ladies coffee meeting that is put together through the foreigners club.  Again, I was nervous but decided I had to meet some people!  It turned out to be great and everyone was so welcoming.  They are all ladies that have husbands working in the ship yard.  The ladies were from all over, Finland, Sweden, Ukraine, and the US.  There is another coffee meeting on Wednesday that supposedly has more people.  It was great to meet and discuss things about our experiences here.  They even had a suggestion about getting our showers hotter here and thank goodness because these lukewarm showers just aren't cutting it!  I am looking forward to Wednesday and am thankful for the event!  I know it will make me happy to have some relationships here which will make Tommy happier as well.  Oh, and the ladies said I could volunteer at the international school here so I will be it on my todo list!

Hope everyone in the US has a Happy Monday!

Love-Shawn AKA Turtle if you haven't noticed Tommy's comments!

Sunday Geoje Road Trip

We call it "the coca-cola beer" since you can just

close it back up and stick it back in the fridge.

Serious Soccor Sunday outside of our balcony.

Our first beach visit.  The little platforms are seafood farms.

Turtle's first Korean beach.

The Ocean Palace Hotel, pretty cool place.

Looking out into the Pacific.

One of the finer Korean homes we've seen.

It's a crappy pic, but we had to set the camera up

on a set of steps leading down to the beach.

A little stop at the top of the mountain going back

to Okpo.  Nice view.

It was about 25 degrees F today, and there's still die

hard fishermen out there...my kinda guys.

There is a little town like this in every cove of the

island, every few miles, just one after another.

Rice fields are also at the base of every town.  They

have little canals that lead from the Pacific so I'm

pretty sure they irrigate with sea water.

A little sign at a tourist stop....I can just hear the Koreans

saying "ooooh John rain was here". 

Tuesday

Thank goodness I was able to finally get a good nights rest.  I was very happy to sleep in.  Today was a great day on my own.  I took a 2 hour walk today starting with the pier around the water.  My intentions were to walk down there and read my book, however it was way too cold.  Even though there isn't snow on the ground the wind off the water and the mountains make it unbearable to get around for me without my Michelin Man jacket, snookie and scarf. I ended up ending my walk at Starbucks and enjoyed a nice warm spot and started a new book.  During my day out a passed 4 Americans!  Two were guys around my age and they yelled hello across the street at me.  I know they were being nice and not attempting to pick me up because I look like black stuffed animal with all my gear on!  It was just great to be able to say hello back in English.  I know the Koreans at the store are being nice but I have no idea what they are saying or how to respond.  I am going to look for a Korean tutor, I need to talk to people!  I would love to speak to all the senior citizens I am walking about with while everyone else is at work!  A cute older man tried to sit with me on the pier today and start a conversation, sure wish I knew what he was saying. 

Tonight will be our first night to try traditional Korean food, well at least what the women in the grocery store pushed on me.  I have no idea what is in it besides pork and that I can cook it in a pan.  I will post pictures of the dish later tonight. 

Another exciting note, I found the ATM and discovered I now have 4 channels on the TV that are in English (well one is in English have the time). 

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!!

Pictures from Dinner!

Uncooked Pork??

Cooked Pork on Rice.  It was actually a little sweet.  It didn't taste too bad, my only complaint is that there was too much fat mixed in.

Day 1 as a house wife!

Today is Day 1 of my new job, House Wife!!  I never thought this day would ever happen in my life!  My day started off at 4am!  Not exactly what I wanted to happen, but I can't seem to sleep very well here.  It may be jet lag or that box spring they call a mattress.  So I started my day by finally finishing Gone with the Wind (only took me 6 months), making coffee, cooking breakfast, starting a load of clothes, watching a little CNN, showering, Skyping both parents, checking email all by 9am!  That surely should be 1/2 days worth of activities!  I have got to start sleeping later!

This afternoon I took my daily walk to the grocery store and decided to try a different route and found this great outdoor market with fresh produce, meat and of course fish.  Strange enough they have someone selling clothes right next to a fish vendor.  I will take my camera next time so you can see what it is like. However, I didn't buy anything.  I am still shy because I have no idea what anyone is saying and much less what the food is they are selling (well what I am supposed to do with it!).  Eventually I will break out of my shell, but it is only Day 4 in Korea!

1st Okpo Exploring Trip

A little selection of live seafood down by the harbor. 

More live seafood stuff.

Mullet are apparently edible here.  The bigger fish looking

at me looks just like a speckled trout, spots and all.

Turtle says "are those sheepshead?"

The fishermen's harbor, just a short walk from the apartment. 

Another shot of the harbor.

Close up of the fishermen boats. 

A fisherman coming in for the morning. 

Ol boy gassin' on that old beast. 

A fisherman's net/trap barge.

The Okpo Harbor Walk hiking trail.

Fisherman stage their barges in the coves around the harbor walk trail.

Starfish are everywhere. 

Starfish colony.

The green tarps on the side of the mountain in the background are

stacks of wood....these are all over the area and apparently how

Koreans store their winter wood. 

The edge of the shipyard where I work. 

More of the DSME yard. 

A few of the projects in the yard. 

A huge barge crane being moved for a big sealift. 

This thing is huge.

The barge crane getting into position to lift the ship bridge on the right side of the pic. 

Another shot at some of the platforms in the yard.