Getting back to it

We're finally back in Merica! We've been thoroughly enjoying the hollidays, visiting friends and family, home food and unemployment, but it's been busy none the less. I'm planning our June wedding and studying Japanese in the hopes of getting a job there through JET, but now that we're finding a rythem I'm going to start updating with posts from all our adventures in South East Asia, including our engagement in Laos. Til then you can check out our wedding website at www.theknot.com/ourwedding/jessbartelsandbrianlaggis. Stay tuned!

A Chingu Christmas

This past Saturday we had Christmas with our tiny Korean family - that's David, Duck, Ryan, and Shannon. Brian and I hosted a potluck Christmas feast at our house and afterwards we exchanged our secret santa gifts. Dad and Margo's package arrived just in time for us to share some yummy Highland brews and chex mix with everyone, and we all made some delicious, if not traditional, dishes.
David and Duck brought pumpkin, raisin, and pistachio pancakes, I made pretzels with hot mustard, Ryan and Shannon made a delicious salad, and there was rice of course. Behold (the pretzels were already gone at this point).

After the feasting, it was finally time to rip open some PRESENTS! The secret santa restrictions were only 15,000 won (15 bucks), and you can't have your boy/girlfriend. So, Brian got to go first, and his secret santa turned out to be David. Below you will find David's gift, a replica of a photo posted from Halloween on the site where costumes were judged; the site called it Soju vs. Laggis. Neither Brian nor David new about this photo when it was taken. And also, the original photo for a side by side comparison.

Pretty good eh? And just because it's hilarious, below is the photo that was entered in the costume competition for David. He was a bit too tipsy to comprehend the situation, so instead of his costume name (tiny princess), he put his own name in the blank so that his costume was called "Laggis" and this is what was judged. Some princess. He'd already lost his crown, earrings, wand, and his boobs had merged into one. But really, the picture couldn't have been more perfect.

But here he's looking jolly again as he gets his present from Shannon!

3 in 1, a hat, a soju cup w/ carribeaner for hiking, and a set of soju cups with Koreans in traditional clothing in various sexual positions! Great work Santa Shannon!

Next it was Shannon's turn, and Duck was the secret giver. As anyone who knows Duck knows, Duck is a master haggler. So Shannon got a bundle.

First up was a notebook with a bit of bad English on the front (something about the environmen (no t)) but with laminated litter pick up tickets to give Duck anytime Shannon sees some litter she'd like removed (This stems from an incident in Gyeongju when Shannon got David to pick up his butts). Next, 3 bad English shirts - number 1: the travel shirt, tiny print says "I wish for a plane!" and other such simple requests, number 2: toughness, kindness, both nessary, and number 3 (not pictured): Charming, 3 times. I hope so! Translation - 3rd time's the charm. All this in a reusable mickey mouse grocery tote. Fantastic work Duckanie. Ryan was up next.

I was Ryan's secret santa! And I got for him a traditional Korean ceramic incense burner with some Korean incense and a couple of candy canes from Dad and Margo's care package. Short story compared to Duck's, but he was excited because they needed one and this one is a Korean keepsake. And then it was my turn!

Ryan was my secret santa and he got me those crazy colored socks (we all know how I love colors) and this hood hat. I've been eyeing these hood hats ever since I got here. They're intriguing. Is it a hood? Is it a hat? It's awesome, I know that much. Thanks Ryan! Last, but most certainly not least, Brian brought some of Duck's Christmas dreams to life with this gift.

The Black Face. Read that tag. NEKEE! GREEL! THE BLACK FACE! Excellent work Brian. After presents and feasting we all settled in for a viewing of Christmas Story, which turned into a winter nap for most of us. And a merry little Christmas we had. And tomorrow night we leave for the Philippines! We're headed for Christmas on Busuanga, New Years on Palawan, and everything in between. We'll be back January 3rd. If you don't hear from us on the 4th, send ransom money. Merry Christmas everyone!

Hey, wanna come over?

Here it is! Sorry for the long delay. Our brand new home in all it's square footage. It may be small, but it's got spunk, and class.

This is an apartment for one person, but Brian gets paid a housing stipend (about 300 USD) to live in it instead of his own apartment. The place is free for us, we just have to pay utilities and a 30 USD maintenance fee for 2 in a 1 person. It's well worth it for the setup we have. Our landlords, Mr. and Mrs. Lee, live in the floor above us and they're such honey pies. Our washing machine broke down when we first got here, so we were walking around with our laundry when Mr. Lee saw us and showed us the laundry machine in the garage of our building. He explained how to use it and we told him we'd try it another day because we were spending the night at David and Duck's. But he wouldn't hear of it. He told us to go ahead and do the laundry (he speaks a little English, but we sherade a lot with each other) and that he'd hang it up on the lines on the roof for us. What landlord have you ever known to do something like that for a tennant? They take great pride in the cleanliness of their building too, which is very nice for us because the buildings nearby are sick. There's recycling and food waste all over the entrance ways.

We're also in an ideal location. It's about a 20 minute bus ride for Brian and I to get to our schools - a necessary buffer judging from what we've heard about kids following teachers home (not in a creepy way, just because they LOVE their English teachers, which depending on your disposition, could still be creepy). The area near our apartment is a lot of fun. We're about a 5 minute walk from 2 universities (where there's a subway stop), so there's a ton of cheap, delicious restaurants and bars and kareoke rooms nearby. There's always a party if you want it, but we're just far enough away from the relentless nightlife that it's quiet. 5 minutes walking in the other direction there's the UN Peace Park, a large green area where we can run and people watch. The UN cemetary is also there. There's also the Busan Cultural Center (ballets, symphonies, etc.) and Busan Metropolitan Museum (30 cents fee, haven't been in yet but we hear it's good). Near the universities there's a street market where we buy all our produce, including the best dubu (tofu) I've ever tasted. I feel that I could say more, but I think I've tantalized you all enough into coming to visit. You can get an idea of the lay out from these google earth images. If you want the interactive version, email me (jessbartels@gmail.com) and I'll send it to you. I couldn't figure out how to embed it here.


Here's the grand view.

Zoomed in on our apartment, Kyungsung area, and our schools.


A close up of the house and park.

Same view scooted up to the Kyungsung area.

A close up of our schools.

And one of David and Duck's place.

Jess