Day 9:
Today was Children's Day in Korea and we had the day off work :) The weather was gorgeous and we spent practically the entire day outside in the park. They closed down several of the streets behind Bucheon City Hall and had activities for all of the kids.



There was a crazy amount of kids and parents everywhere! They were riding their bikes, driving go-carts and flying kites in the park and on the street. The whole area was buzzing with activity.


It was an awesome day to do some great people watching and take tons of photos. These are just a few of the shots from the day. The kids are all so cute and don't mind strangers taking their photo.

We also ran into some of our students and were able to meet some of their parents too. We made kites with one of our students named Jayden which Brandon had a great time flying in the park. It's too bad every day isn't Children's Day!


With love from South Korea,
Brandon & Shayna

Day 7:
Today we had a very adventurous day~ We went took the subway to Seoul with our co-worker Patrick and his Korean friend. We came along some interesting characters in the market on our way to watch a traditional Korean ceremony called The Royal Ancestral Rite of Joseon which only happens once a year.
The ceremony took place in a shrine dedicated to the kings from the Joseon Dynasty which lasted for over 500 years. They played ancient Korean classical music and the women in purple danced as the king's precession entered the shrine. It was an interesting look into the culture of Korea, it's too bad the whole ceremony was done with their backs facing us.
After the ceremony, we went to Itaewon district in Seoul, which is a famous shopping market for foreigners. There were lots of cool shops, and a group of random local girls wanted us to take a picture with them, so of course- we got one for ourselves :)
The street were jammed packed, which made for some awesome people watching! This man was playing his flute on the side of the road...
and this little girl caught our attention in the crowd...isn't she cute?!
Before heading home, we stopped off at a Buddhist temple that had three massive gold Buddha statues in it. Apparently, it's the main centre for Buddhism in all of Korea! There were really cool colorful laterns hanging everywhere becuase it was Buddha's birthday this Saturday. Here's a shot of one of the Buddhas...

We couldn't have asked for a nicer day to have our first adventure into Seoul. After spending the entire day in the sunshine, we are exhausted! We're off to bed xo

With love from South Korea,
Brandon and Shayna

Day 5:
Welcome to our new home! Here are a few quick shots of our new place. This is what you see when you first walk into our place. There's lots of good closet space to the right, and a big shoe closet on the left! In Korea, it is very disrespectful to walk past the front door with shoes on, you must take them off and put them away as soon as you enter someones home.


Here's our bathroom, more functional than glamorous, but it does the job. Nice big mirrors above the sink and toilet and there a decent sized cabinet for our toiletries. Moving on to our living space....
Here's a bird's eye view from our loft of our living room. The tall ceilings and big windows really open up the space and the whole room has a nice bright feel to it. We love the view of the garden terrace- which you cant see too well in this shot, but it is gorgeous!
Here's another angle of our living room, and the stairs that lead to our bedroom. Those posters were here when we arrived, and are all the decor we have at the moment. We have been told it is going to be hard to find posters for the wall as Koreans are very minimalistic- so we'll have to see what we can come up with. As for now, we have purchased some plants to add some life to the place.
Here's a view of our kitchen, its not very big but it's all we need. We are going to buy ourselves some bar stools for the counter top for eating breakfast and that red wooden block, is a fold out table for our living room. We keep it folded up to maximize the space we have.
And finally, here's our very romantic bedroom, lol. Obviously we need to spruce it up! The ceiling is very low, so caution is needed. Although a little awkward, it is pretty cozy once you get used to it. We plan on putting some photography behind the bed and some plants along the little counter area. So that's our place! We'll post updates on the place as we decorate.
We are heading into Seoul tomorrow (Sunday) for the first time with a co-worker of ours, so there will be many more photos to come. Check back soon!

With love from South Korea,
Shayna & Brandon xo

Day 4:
Hey Guys!
We just got back from a karaoke bar with the other teachers as a going away party for one of the teachers. They put us in this private red velvet room with disco lights and each song had its own hysterical Korean music video. Before karaoke, we went for dinner where Brandon accidentally put raw pig skin in his mouth thinking it was an appetizer before asking what it was...so gross- he spat it out right away!!! He learned the hard way that you're supposed to grill it on the BBQ, oops. The week has been super busy and we're glad its almost the weekend, but we love the school and the kids are too cute. I (Shayna) got a note from one of my students named June, that said I love you Ashley teacher- not my name but I guess it's the thought that counts, lol. We plan on going into Seoul this Saturday for the Buddha birthday festival which is supposed to be really awesome. We still haven't gotten around to taking pics of our place, but we'll do that soon :) Ok, we're off to bed now, all that singing has tired us out! Good night xo

With love from South Korea,
Shayna & Brandon

Day 1:
It's the end of of first day here in Korea and it's starting to set it that we're half way across the world. After our 13.5 hour flight yesterday, we got into town and went to dinner with our director and her family for some authentic Korean BBQ. After 12 steaks and about 45 appetizers, we had to convince her that we were too full to eat any more as she was getting ready to order the next round of food. We got home around 9:30pm with just enough energy to unpack our bedding and fall asleep. Our co-workers picked us up this morning at 8:50 so its been a long day and we're exhausted! The kids our awesome, and our co-teachers seem very nice. We went out to dinner and drinks with them afterwards and the showed us around our area. We're only a ten minute walk to work, and we're close to everything that we want or need in Bucheon. Here's a night time shot to give you a feel for the area, expect many more to come! We're off to bed now, but we'll post some photos of our awesome apartment sometime tomorrow. Good Night xo

With love from South Korea,
Shayna & Brandon