Life in Busan

Hello friends and family! It's been quite a while since we've had some time to update you after moving back to Korea last February. We'll attempt to catch you up in the coming months.

As always, thank you for your continued thoughts, prayers, support, and updates as we live in Korea. Though keeping up with everyone we'd like is difficult, we appreciate your text messages, emails, and posts on various social media accounts. What did we ever do without the internet?? Those of you who are older have permission to roll your eyes because you probably realize I have zero memory of a life without internet. 

Let's rewind. Last February, Andrew and I said goodbye to my mom and dad at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta. Our journey back East took us Atlanta -- Dallas -- Vancouver -- Tokyo -- Busan. Looking back, I was in complete auto-pilot mode because I have zero recollection of how we managed to get from the airport to our hotel.

We knew this coming year would be far different from our first year spent at CEV in Changnyeong, where we depended on our bosses for more than we realized. In Busan, we were forced from the get-go to be completely independent. This meant finding our own apartment, managing the logistics of the lease, me finding a job, etc. As the haze continued to clear away from our jet-lagged brains, we set out on foot to explore an area of the city in which we thought might be nice to live. Seomyeon is known as Busan's most "downtown-like" neighborhood. It's home to the Busan International Finance Center, the intersection of two major subway lines, and a restaurant/nightlife scene that we're feeling too old for. We stumbled upon a new apartment building called The Cube, took a look at some pictures, spoke with management, and toured an apartment all in one day.

With translation help from our good friend from Changnyeong, Ryan, I took care of sealing the deal on our new big city apartment while Andrew was on a visa-run in Japan. Now, we've been settled at The Cube for over six months, and while it hasn't gotten any bigger, we've managed the small space well. We live on the 18th of 21 floors. 

Here are a couple views from our window:

We initially moved to Busan because Andrew received a job offer with Silla University as an English Instructor. He settled into his first semester with the help of his awesome coworkers. Andrew's first semester began in February and ended in May. During that time, he taught seven sections of the general English education course for freshmen, two sections of English conversation class for higher level students, one Global Business Success Center course for students seeking internships at a Hyundai plant in southern Alabama (bless their hearts), and mentored four "English buddies" each week. He was quite busy but handled it with ease and grace.

Here are some pictures from Silla's campus at a particularly beautiful time, cherry blossom season:

Pictured below are a few of Andrew's classes from his first semester at Silla:

Then, he taught a three week summer course before embarking on a well-deserved vacation. Andrew's current semester began at the beginning of September. Along with second-level English and Conversation courses, he's getting to teach Introduction to Philosophy, his true bread and butter.

For the first month of our time back in Korea, I like to say I had the "Housewife Visa", because it would have been illegal for me to do anything but nest into our apartment and be a spouse to someone who had a job in Korea. Not to brag but I also accomplished those tasks with ease and grace.

But as nice as it was to visit multiple grocery stores every day, eat all the samples at the bakeries, prepare completely ridiculous and elaborate meals, and pretend to be a cast member of "Desperate Housewives: Busan", I needed to get back to work. I interviewed for a couple of positions in which I'd teach adults and decided to accept a job offer from Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Company. Don't worry -- I'm not teaching nuclear engineering or operating any important equipment. It's actually a unique position. KHNP has partnered with The United Arab Emirates to open the first nuclear power plant in the country. Since the common language between the engineers is English, KHNP has hired a dozen or so native English instructors to improve their language and conversation skills. Each day, I teach an average of 4-6 one-on-one lessons as well as occasional group classes. It's been interesting to work within a Korean company and observe the Korean work culture that is so often talked about, usually related to stress, bureaucracy, and long and unnecessary work hours.

My work is located on the coast, so I often enjoy the scenery with a lunchtime walk:

Our work lives are far different from those in CEV, as you can tell. As lovely as it was to spend literally every waking moment together, Andrew and I are enjoying our separate workplaces. Our life is much more settled in Busan, and doesn't involve leaving every weekend to get away from life on the rice paddy. We both miss teaching cute Korean children, but teaching adults has given us a new perspective and is stimulating in ways that teaching children was not.

You might remember that we attended an English speaking church in Daegu, a city that was about 40 minutes from CEV. We've been back a handful of times since living in Busan, but the commute is further and a bit more expensive, so we don't make it to Red Door as often as we would like. Additionally, my work commute requires me to take a train 45 minutes each way every day, so riding another 3 hours round-trip to Daegu on the weekend seemed a little taxing. However, we've found a nice English service at Choryang Catholic church in Busan. Most of the attendees are migrant workers from the Philippines with a few other nations represented. It's been a really great option for us in Busan.

Nearby our apartment is Busan's largest park, Busan Citizen's Park. It was once an army base that has now been converted into miles of walking/running paths, playgrounds, picnic areas, etc. We spend a LOT of time here.

We're also fortunate to have Busan's largest meat/vegetable market less than a 10-minute walk from our door. I've enjoyed getting to know the sellers and increasing my tolerance of the smell of raw meat and fish.

   

Another thing we've enjoyed a couple times this summer is Busan Lotte Giants baseball games, where we eat with chopsticks.

Busan fans are loud and proud and directed by the cheerleaders and "hype" man. It's hard to remember that a baseball game is going on.

As I mentioned, our day-to-day lives are pretty "normal". As individuals from two land-locked states, we've loved living 20 minutes from the beach. We're still able to feed our hiking needs, as Busan has both sea and mountains. Many aspects of our lives in Korea are easier this year, but what never gets easier is the distance from our families and friends; we miss you dearly! We're thankful for the ways in which we've been able to stay connected throughout our time in Asia.

Andrew will be back with updates on our travels together to Taiwan and his own to China and the States to celebrate his dear Grandmother's 90th birthday.

I'll be excited to share about my mom and sister's visit this past month.

Thank you for taking the time to catch up with us. We miss you all and wish God's blessings upon you this Autumn.

Love, Rachel

P.S. If you're wondering if we watched the Battle at Bristol, we did.

GBO!

Australia

Long time no see! Andrew and I have returned to Korea after a wonderful three months in the United States. We're living in Busan, a city of nearly 4 million people and a far bigger one than any place either of us have ever lived. We're excited for this next chapter in our lives and cannot thank all of you enough for keeping up with us. Thank you, especially, to those who housed us, fed us, entertained us, wined us, and generally expressed your continued support in our adventures. The memories that we have from our time visiting family and friends in the United States are ones that we'll cherish here in Korea. 

Now, I'm going to take us back to November 2015! Andrew and I said our goodbyes to CEV and Korea on November 9th, where we boarded a plane bound for Melbourne, Australia, by way of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The idea for Australia came about on one of the many desk warming days we had at CEV. I was binge watching YouTube videos of Mumford and Sons, dreaming of the next time we'd get to see them. For kicks, I googled their tour schedule and found that they'd be playing shows in Melbourne and Sydney a few days after our departure from Korea. Since desk warming days were mostly focused on finding things to do to take up the time, I Googled flights from Busan to Melbourne. Call it luck, destiny, fate...tickets from Busan to Melbourne were $188 each. Busan to Australia for less than $200. I hit the refresh button to make sure that it wasn't a glitch, then I approached my ever so adventurous husband with the idea. "How about we spend the week after we leave in Australia (also, honey, it's my birthday.)" After sorting through some logistics, we booked our (reimbursed by CEV) flights from Busan --> Kuala Lumpur --> Melbourne --> Sydney --> Los Angeles --> Charlotte --> Johnson City. 

Another draw was that we'd be leaving colder-by-the-day Korea for warmer-by-the-day Australia. So, on November 9th, we flew Air Asia from Busan to KL, then KL to Melbourne, where we arrived the morning of November 10th. 

What blog is complete without a photo of your plane's wing? 

Our first stop was Melbourne, the second most populous city in Australia. Melbourne was officially declared a city by Queen Victoria in 1847, after which it became the capital of the newly founded colony of Victoria. 

Andrew and I decided to use Airbnb for our lodging needs in Australia. We've really come to love using Airbnb, because you usually get more bang for your buck. Additionally, most places we've stayed have been in neighborhoods we might not have been aware of had it not been for our Airbnb. In Melbourne, we rented an apartment in St. Kilda, a neighborhood about 6km from the city center situated by the water. It wasn't beach weather while we were there, but we enjoyed a couple of nice walks along the port. 

We led ourselves through the streets of Melbourne on a beautiful Spring day. The results of that are pictured below. 

Flinders Street Railway Station, completed in 1909. This was the first railway station in an Australian city and the world's busiest passenger railway station in the 1920s. 

This Melbourne arcade was decorated for Christmas! Seeing Christmas decorations at the right time but unfamiliar season was disorienting.

St. Paul's Cathedral, an Anglican cathedral across from Flinders Street Station pictured above. We were delighted to be passing by as the Choral Evensong began, so we stopped in for some quiet time. 

Across the street from St. Paul's sits Federation Square, Melbourne's first public square built in 2002. It's a nice place to hear music, drink a beer, or eat your lunch on a Tuesday. 

At the time we were there, Melbourne was gearing up for the Rhonda Rousey vs. Holly Holm fight. Australians seemed to be on the side of Holly Holm, and it wasn't until we returned to the United States that we realized she was from New Mexico. 

Just down the way from Federation Square is Hosier Lane, a pedestrian and vehicle lane way celebrated due to its unique urban art. There didn't seem to be any rules about who could leave their mark. 

Two men and a can.

Another important aspect of Melbourne's culture is its sports culture. Home to the Australian Open every January, Melbourne also hosted the 1956 Olympic Games. 

Not Centre Court, but close enough!

Melbourne Cricket Ground, built in 1853, home to a very popular sport in Australia that I have difficulty understanding. It's the 10th largest stadium in the world and the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. Below, you can see it in the background of the courts at Rod Laver Arena. 

In the same area, Olympic Park. 

Melbourne Rectangular Stadium/AAMI Stadium, home to rugby and Australian League Football.

Hisense Arena, a multi-purpose venue.

Some rowers. 

A stroll through Queen Victoria Gardens.

Perhaps Andrew's favorite thing about Melbourne was the State of Victoria Library. It was truly one of the most beautiful public spaces we've seen. Here are some shots of the Main Reading Room:

Mebourne Museum and Royal Exhibition Center.

One of the many things we came to love about Melbourne was the incorporation of public green spaces throughout the busy city. They were nice places to relax without having to veer far from the city center.

A tiny tudor village.

For scale.

After three nights in Melbourne, we had a short flight to Sydney. Can you spy the Opera House in the scene below?

If you have an aversion toward pictures of the Sydney Opera House, you might want to stop reading here. Can you really have too many pictures of such an iconic building? We didn't think so, and we have proof below.

Our first morning in Sydney was also my birthday! Andrew and I went for a misty run from our neighborhood north of downtown and across the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Our Airbnb was located north of downtown and across the Harbor Bridge, so each day, we either walked into downtown over the bridge or took a ferry, a very popular form of public transportation in the harbor. 

We made our way to The Domain, an outdoor event venue located next to the Royal Botanic Gardens. Gentlemen of the Road is an all-day music festival showcasing local and international talent. 

It rained on and off the entire day, which gave me a great excuse to buy this patriotic poncho. 

Mumford and Sons.

The morning of the 14th was when we became aware of the terrorist attacks in Paris. As a sign of solidarity, many of the buildings in Sydney were lit with the colors of the flag of France, including the Sydney Opera House.

Sydney Town Hall.

The next day, we continued with a self-guided walking tour. We spent a couple of short hours at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

St. Mary's Cathedral.

After lots of walking, we stumbled into the oldest pub in Sydney, Fortune of War. There's a dearth of cheese in Korea, so I think we made up for a year without during our one week in Australia. 

Our last full day in Sydney/Australia happened to be the warmest and sunniest one yet. We took advantage of the weather and took a local bus to the stunning Bondi Beach. It seemed like one of the first days that the locals were able to lay out in the sunshine based on the happiness level of most we encountered. 

After some exploration of Bondi, we followed a 7km foot path along the coast that led us from one beach to another. The path is frequented by walkers, runners, and lovers of the gorgeous scenery.

We returned to the harbor for one last Australian sunset. 

The last item we had to check off our list happened at the airport. Meat pies for breakfast! 

And finally, we're on our way home. At this time, we had no clue that we'd get to see as many family and friends as were were fortunate to.

Thanks for catching back up with us! We're getting settled in Busan and will look forward to updating you from here. We're incredibly grateful for your continued love, support, prayers, and well wishes. Love to you all from our new home in Busan!