sorry we haven't posted, we've been busy on the islands

Yes, it has been almost 3 months since we wrote a post. The only excuse I will give is that not having a computer makes this whole process a lot more laborious. But, in case anyone even checks this anymore, and so that Ryan and I actually remember some of this somewhat bizarre year, I'm goin' make this happen.

A lot has actually happened since the nasty weather went away and I felt like my life started once again. It was the longest winter of my life, but now I know I am strong enough to survive (with perhaps a few mental scars). Right when Ryan and I were starting to feel like we'd really had our fill of Korea and winter, and big cities and no good cheese, etc., etc., we got a visit from Ma and Pa Spitler.As it turns out, a studio/one room apartment isn't very spacious for 4 people, but we made the best of it. And in fact, they did splendidly well making friends with Koreans. Everytime they went anywhere without us, they would bring home a Korean! We did the best we could showing them our favorite parts of Korea--namely: food. Kam Cha Tang, Galbi, Shabu Shabu, and of course kimchi. The trip definitely renewed some of our interest in Korea and satiated our need for home (and See's candy).



So now, Ryan and I are soaking up the sun as if we haven't seen it in many many months--as long as it isn't raining. This apparently isn't the wet season, but it's raining about 3 days a week (can you imagine the wet season?!). We went to a small island called Deokjeok-do just a 45 minute ferry ride from Incheon 2 weeks ago. It was wonderful! It was like we weren't in Korea! It smelled good, it was quiet, it was so green and every little house had a big garden outside where a little old Korean woman was squatting to weed or harvest. And then there was the beach! Oh, it was good. It struck me so clearly as I sat it the morning light pretending to read a book in the back of our little guesthouse (but really just trying to fix the perfect moment in my mind), while I watched 2 little birds playing in the springtime-green leaves above my head, that my mental well-being is dependent on nature. I almost would have told Ryan to head back to Incheon without me because I was going to find some Korean grandma that would take my free labor in her garden, if we didn't have plans that required some money-making. I need fresh air. Sun-light. Water--in a river, an ocean, or at least a swimming pool. I'm much like a plant.





This place makes me so happy!! Do you see the green? Everywhere. Ryan took this picture in front of a dilapidated old Korean farm house covered in ivy. We thought, "This is what Korea might look like (except for the dilapidated part, hopefully) if the colossal powers of the world hadn't blown it to bits and then built it up again much uglier."

Ryan's saying: "Oh my god, why did I put myself in this situation? This water is freezing!"

Ah, the Beachy Love guesthouse. You sleep on the floor, but they built us a bonfire and I felt right at home with that miniature Statue of Liberty.


Last weekend we took an overnight train ride to Mokpo in the South, then a 2 hour ferry ride past some of the 1000 islands that are littered just West of Mokpo, to a tiny island called Hongdo. These islands used to be part of mountain range connected to the peninsula, but when the land shifted, or water rose, only the peaks were left above water. The rocky islands covered in vegitation emerged eerily from the morning mist as we took our ferry ride. Hongdo's population is only 500, but 1000s of people come every weekend to its miniscule (really) town which consists of lots of small hotels and raw fish restaurants. And a church and a school. That's it. It's really beautiful, but it would be a dismal winter.

Besides the beauty, the highlight was probably a dinner at one of the impromptu restaurants on the dock where women sat amongst big plastic bowls of live fish, which you pick out and they would expertly slice for you into sashimi (raw fish, or hwe, as the Koreans call it) right before your eyes. Koreans are much more adventurous than us when it comes to fish consumption, eating weird amorphous things that I didn't even know existed (ie. what we have nicknamed 'sea penis' [sorry mom]). We ate halibut and ray, as well as some none-descript white fish grilled. All good. Best of all, the older Korean gentlemen who was staying at our hotel and came to sit with us and force soju down our throats, paid for it all! It's the Korean way. As his wife kept saying in her limited English: "CEO (pointing to hubby), money, money." Then: "don't marry, ha ha, DON'T MARRY!"(side note: gender roles haven't advanced as quickly as cell-phone technology here)

So, Korea's got a lot of islands and we've really got our work cut out for us. When we aren't planning weekend trips offshore, we're planning our trip to Southeast Asia after our contracts are finished. We're trying to live in the now, which is hard since planning vacation is so much more fun than working in the present, but these islands are really making it easier.

p.s. i will rustle up some photos of our island escapades and post them soon