Suncheon Bay, Take Two

Hello, all. K here. June is just around the corner, and that means two things. It is getting super hot, and we are leaving soon! This has left us feeling that we need to do everything we wanted to do just one more time before we leave Korea now, and it's a bit overwhelming. Last week's issue was the Suncheon Bay Gardens, which you may remember as one of our very first posts after moving here almost two years ago. The beauty of these gardens is that they are incredibly extensive, and while we spent five hours there last year, and nearly as long this time, I'm still not sure we've seen absolutely everything there is. And even if we had, exhibits are added so often that it's a new experience each time anyway. Highlights of this year's excursion involved...

A mariachi band in the Mexican garden:

A floating tandem bicycle ride:

Strange wooden sculptures wading into the lake:

A goose who didn't know he wasn't a duck:

A field of tulips:

And a love garden:

The weather was absolutely perfect, as you can see, and we managed to buy an umbrella to keep from sunburning (that now makes six umbrellas we have to our name in Korea, but who's counting). We enjoyed green tea ice cream as a snack, and I successfully managed to get through the gift shop without another plant for our already overcrowded apartment, unlike last year. It's a shame we won't be seeing this place again before we go, but we loved each visit and will surely recommend it to our teaching replacements.

Have a great week, everyone!
K

BD (and other holidays) in Yeosu

Hi, all!

As you may remember from last year, J's birthday falls on a very lucky week here in Korea, as we celebrate Children's day on May 5th, and Parent's Day on the 8th. This means that almost no matter what days of the week those two holidays fall on, at least one of the dates grants us a long weekend to enjoy. This year, in honor of those holidays, and for J's birthday, we went to Yeosu, which you may recall is a beautiful little port town just about an hour and a half from Goheung. There was a turtle ship festival celebrating General Yi's famous boat style, a carnival for children, lots of street food, and strobe light shows over the water to the tune of techno music. Needless to say it was hard not to be utterly entertained for the weekend, though there's really not much to tell. We had a blast, slept late, ate too much, and paid for it the remainder of that week. See for yourself!

An actual size model of the ship style invented by General Yi for use against the invading Japanese. Opposite this, just out of view is a stage where performances took place all evening.

This take on Mexican Korean food, cleverly names Mexicorea, serves Quesadills... that's right. Not quesadilla, quesadill. We opted for a tent bar a bit further down the waterfront for some pretty decent American pizza, but I couldn't help but stop and wonder, and snap a photo of this particular cart.

Grilled corn, pork on a stick, and spiral fried potatoes kept us satisfied all night up and down the boardwalk.

Finally, some street art depicting Korean heroes lecturing children, cartoon style, on history an honor. I don't know who the small man with the floral beard is, but he is certainly my favorite. Even that purple fish dying at his feet seems happy to be there.

Now the holidays are taking a brief break, though we have another long weekend this coming week, for a holiday that if I'm completely honest, I'm not sure of yet. Stay tuned!
-K