Softball in Korea

What's an expat in Korea to do?  There's only so much Kimchi and grilled meat I can eat, sometime's we've got to get out and get active.  Last week a bunch of foreigners from all over southern Korea held a softball tournament.  It was almost surreal, sixty guys from all over the world, all who have basically the same job as ESL teachers, hanging out and playing softball.  I've been playing with a dozen or so people here in Pohang and so far it's been a blast.  How did we do?  We lost all three of our games and made a quick exit from the tournament.  Oh well, better luck next time.

Hey, that's me!  Love those white shoes.  

Daegu's a huge city, but far from the center, it turns country in a hurry.  We played on a field next to some rice paddies and a river.  Pretty spot just outside all the chaos of the big city.

My wife and her friend.  Every team needs a cheering section, here's ours.

Summer in Korea is basically toast.  We're on to fall now, which means cool weather and some seriously pretty fall foliage.  Can't wait to get out and take some pictures.

A Trip to Ulleung-do!

Sara and I got a four day weekend last week and we took advantage of it by hopping on a ferry and sailing to Ulleung-do, a tiny island three and a half hours off the east coast of South Korea.  Ulleung-do is a shockingly beautiful place with the clearest water I've ever seen.  We rented a car and we drove all over the tiny island, though a full lap only took about an hour.  Sara and I are doing great, enjoying our third year at our job and enjoying all the things that Korea has to offer.  Here are some pictures of our trip.

Pretty much the entire island had us going "Woooowwwwww, beautiful."

Look at how high up we are!  We took a cable car and then hiked up a ton of stairs.  High places, pretty views, and tons of stairs, that was the trip.  Worth it though.

The mountain water or the sea water is supposed to have healing properties, I can't remember which.  Here, we swam in a place where the ice cold mountain water was running into the sea, so I think I'm covered.

I'm so happy to be on the ferry.  It smelled like someone'd opened a gas can on board and dumped it all over the place, but it got us there.

Ulleung-do was awesome.  We hiked, we swam, I sweated through my shirt a dozen times.  A great vacation.

Korean Countryside

When people think of Korea, if they think of Korea at all, I assume they think of cities and lights and neon and tiny despots threatening world peace.  What they might not think of is the Korean countryside, which can be spectacularly beautiful given the right time of year and the opportunity to get out in it.  My wife and I spent this weekend driving around the rice fields and the mountains, the lakes and the tiny folk villages and I thought I'd check into this blog with a few pictures from our weekend.

It is insanely hot and it rains every time we try to go to the beach, but with our car, and its AC, this summer has been pretty awesome.  I'll be posting more over at 10picturesinpohang.com, but I wanted to check in here and say hello.

Hey, I'm the heir

I guess I'm the heir, but don't worry, there's plenty of room for those other two.  Currently I live in Pohang, South Korea, a town known for dried squid and steel, with my wife.  We're currently teachers working on our fourth year in South Korea.  Unbelievable that we've been here that long, but we like it a little bit more every day.

Introductions over, on to my first post.  This weekend was the Pohang International Fireworks Festival.   I took my camera down to snap some shots and here are a few of my favorites. You can see a few more, if you like, at 10picturesinpohang.com.

Alright family, who's next to post?  I guess it's a challenge to go do cool stuff and write about.