속초... Sokcho

Since it's our summer break, we took a little weekend road trip with my birth family to 속초, a city on the northeastern coast of Korea. It's pretty close to the DMZ.

Little fun fact learned from Wikipedia: "Lying north of the 38th parallel, the city belonged to North Korea from 1945 until the end of the Korean War, when the dividing line between the two Korean states was officially altered. Consequently, many of the population have relatives in North Korea."

We clown car-ed it with 6 people smashed into a car designed for 5. Mark and Mr. Kim were in the front and there were 4 people in the back seat... SangKwun, Emily, her sister, and me. Luckily, we're all pretty small.... but it wasn't the most comfortable of situations.

Needless to say, I was pretty happy when the 3.5 hour drive was completed. Once we arrived, we relaxed in the hotel room for a little while, then had lunch.

We went to a grilled fish and soup restaurant. But what they really seemed to specialize in was side dishes. Check out all those 반찬!

After lunch, we set out for Sokcho beach. Actually, Mark and I weren't informed that we were going to the beach until we were there, so we didn't have our swimsuits. But it was still fun walking in the sand and putting our feet in the water.

After the beach, we boarded a little tourist boat for a cruise around the area.

There were a TON of seagulls waiting to be fed by the passengers. Some of them were even able to catch chips and snacks in mid-air. Mark took a couple videos that we will post later.

After the ride, we went to this old fashioned restaurant for dinner.

This light is so pretty isn't it?

속초 is famous for two types of food, both of which we got to try at dinner. We had 순두부 찌개, a tofu soup. I like it a lot in Seoul, but this was the best version I've ever had. It wasn't spicy, though you could add your own seasoning. We also had 오징아 순대, which according to the Korean Tourism Organization is: This “sausage” made from squid is cooked by taking the intestines out of the squid and filling it with a mixture of tofu, rice noodles, onions, carrots, and egg. The stuffed squid is then baked or sauteed and cut up into small edible pieces and is a very popular snack or side dish when drinking.

Unfortunately, I failed to take pics once the food arrived, and I couldn't find a pic of the 순두부 찌개 that was similar to what we ate. So I just leave you with a pic of the 오징아 순대. It was just okay for me. I still haven't fully jumped on the squid-eating train, but Mark looooved it.

::image via Wikipedia::

Wow, this is a looong post. Looking back we did a LOT on this trip! I think I'll stop now and add another post about Waterpia and Seorak Mountain soon.

All Caught Up!

Whew... I think I'm officially caught up on the blog. I haven't been able to say that in awhile!

This is a good week for us, as it's the last week before Poly break. This is one week that we've both been looking forward to for awhile.

We will be heading to China for the break. On Saturday we'll fly to Beijing to see Emily and her family. We plan to visit the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City. In addition, we're both excited to sample the local fares. I'm told that peking duck and scorpians are "must-tastes"... we'll see just how adventurous I'm feeling. :)

After staying in Beijing for a couple days, we'll go to Quingdao. That's where my birth father's factory is located. We're told we have to sample the TsingTao beer. The brewery is located, oh-so-conveniently, right next to my birth father's factory so that shouldn't be too difficult.

Finally, we'll head to Guangzhou to see SangKwun's stores and home. I know it's a big city, but I don't very much about it. The one thing I DO know is that it's right across the river from Hong Kong. I imagine we'll get to visit there as well, since we're going to fly out of Hong Kong to Korea on Sunday. 

Should be an exciting trip -- we'll take a ton of pictures and update the blog quickly when we return!

OH -- and we received some FANTASTIC news today from the director of our school. In the new semester (starting in September), our hours are going to be shortened. We will all have separate contract negotiations with her after the break to decide how or if we'll take a pay cut. I, personally, could care less about a pay cut if we're working less! Our current hours are Monday through Friday 9am-7:30. The new hours will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 9am-6pm. Tuesdays and Fridays will remain 9am-7:30, but the last 40 minutes will be meeting with the management, so not teaching time like it is now. WooHoo!