Squid Island

A few weeks ago I took a bus/boat/van trip with my Bible study group to a Korean island called Ulleungdo. The group wanted to get away for some much needed down time, so we decided to head to an island that harvests eighty percent of Korea's squid. It's a random place to go for rest and relaxation, but it turned out to be the perfect spot.

After enduring the most nauseating boat ride of my life, all seven of us hopped into a rented van and cruised around the island. I have never seen so much squid in my life! There were racks and racks and racks of squid around every bend and corner. After exploring the island, our final destination for the evening was a little cottage on a hill. It was absolutely adorable and absolutely freezing! Everyone was so cold that we all fell asleep by eight o'clock. EIGHT O'CLOCK ON A SATURDAY NIGHT! Who said teachers weren't exciting??? The next morning we drove around the island a bit more, then timidly headed back to the port. None of us wanted to get sick from the boat again, so anti-nausea pills were quickly purchased and consumed. As I napped on the way back, I kept dreaming of long tentacles trying to grab my legs. I think I've seen enough squid for awhile.



The car rental sign. How appropriate.



Ferry port at Ulleungdo



Squid, lots of squid......





Dinner!





The group



Our home for the night. What a great island!

Days of Scooter...

I think I look a little bit like Lloyd when I drive my scooter.

That's right; I am now the proud owner of a scooter! I've been contemplating buying one for months, but impulsively purchased one three weeks ago. It's been exhilarating (carefully!) whipping through the streets and alleyways of my dong (neighborhood). And yes, I wear a helmet every time I ride. She's not fast, but she's my 250,000 won bundle of joy. Any suggestions for names??

Yanji, China

Chinese sign:


Escape to Russia!



Back in Minnesota, fall break usually involved sleeping in, visiting an orchard, watching tons of movies, or shopping for new winter clothes. This year my fall break included celebrating the birth of Communism, walking halfway across a bridge to North Korea, and escaping to Russia through a wire fence. Every trip truly has its own charm.

Every 3-4 years, TCIS sponsors a trip to Yanji, China. It's a random place to visit, but many of our OCK's (out-of-country kids) come from this city. Their parents work as professors at Yanbian University of Science and Technology, otherwise known as YUST. It was fascinating to see the home of my beloved students! Apart from visiting Yanji, our troup visited other local Chinese sites: Baekdoosan, a beautiful mountain lake that is rumored to be the birthplace of Korea; Tumen, a Chinese sister city to North Korea; and the triangular intersection where Russia, China, and North Korea meet. The scenery of northern China is stunning. It reminds of the stillness and serenity of Minnesota.


Russia pics:





Every trip seems to contain an educational aspect. I learned so much about North Korea on this trip. The "hermit kingdom" is such a sad, horrific, and fascinating country. I was under the impression that North Koreans were not allowed to leave the country, but I ended up meeting several North Koreans on the trip. One night our group ate at a North Korean restaurant in Yanji. The food and service were incredible! The waitresses beautifully sang a number of North Korean karaoke songs while serving HUGE portions of food. One of our tour guides said the wait staff comes over to China for several months to work at the restaurant, but head back into North Korea to do who knows what. We tried to pry personal information out of the waitresses, but they remain extremely tight-lipped. I found a few online articles that slightly mirror our dining experience. Luckily, we were able to get photos!!!

http://globespotters.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/a-taste-of-pyongyang/
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/JB08Ad03.html


I've never been truly thankful for freedom until this trip. It's scary not being able to openly discuss faith and politics in public. I'm glad 70% of my salary doesn't go to the government. I'm glad that I have food on a daily basis. I have no idea what will happen to communist North Korea and China over the next fifty years, but the people were extremely wonderful. Perhaps Yanji will be your next vacation spot!



North Korean bridge, restaurant, house, and singing waitresses:






Baekdoosan pics:

Florence Nightingale

The month of September at TCIS is always hectic. Cross country, teaching duties, and weekend trips to Seoul fill every waking minute. I didn't realize I would be adding nursing duties to my schedule. Just for the record, I'm no Florence Nightingale. I'm a horrible nurse. My reaction time is incredibly slow. Good luck to anyone that starts bleeding out if I'm nearby. Seriously.

Luckily, people can change. The proof is in the pudding below. You be the judge.


CASE #1:
My good friend Sarah was mysteriously sick with stomach issues in early September and had trouble eating. After multiple trips to the Korean doctor, she seemed to be on the mend. We celebrated her good health with a trip to an Indian restaurant, but by the time dinner was over, she was violently sick. My friend Jen and I ended up taking her to the hospital overnight. The diagnosis? An inflamed gall bladder and colonitis. What???? Korean hospitals are very interesting. Visiting hours are nonexistent. The nurses don't use gloves to inject IV tubes. Patients move around the hospital with their IV's attached and head down for a smoke in the parking. It's a bit of a freak show. Sarah ended up needing surgery the following Monday. I volunteered to be her "person" and sign all the necessary forms. I waited for two hours while they removed her gall bladder and gall stones. After the surgery, the surgeon brought out Sarah's innards on a silver metal tray as proof of surgical success. I don't what posssessed me to look at her gutted organs let alone take a picture, but it was fascinating! I'm please to report that Sarah is happily back to a normal routine sans gall bladder.

Pre-surgey pics. And no, I didn't squeeze her IV bag.




CASE #2:
Later that week I went biking with my friend Brenna. She ended up wiping out on her bike in the middle of a busy intersection. She managed to pull her bike onto the sidewalk, but almost started to pass out when she looked at her nasty road burns. I froze for a minute while a million questions raced through my mind. How was I going to get her to a hospital? Where should I put the bikes? Do you pour water on a road burn? Do you keep on a bike helmet if someone passes out? What is the Korean version of 911?????
Luckily,she ended up not passing out. I quickly took apart both of our bikes, poured water on her burns, flagged down a taxi, and bribed a taxi driver to take us back to her apartment. I immediately called my friends Heather and John to come over and help out. Heather brought over a "Mom Kit" full of nifty bandages and iodine. I was more than grateful! I ended up bringing Brenna to the orthopedic clinic. I'm always fascinated how resilient human skin is. An hour later, the doctor sent Brenna with a sprained elbow and seven stitches. We celebrated her lack of a broken bone with pizza and a trip to the movies to see "The Ugly Truth".

I'm still no Florence Nightingale, but I think I could be a nurse. I will take pictures at your organs, help you pee after surgery, and call the right people to help put iodine on your wounds.

You be the judge.

Asian Snow Day-=H1N1

I remember my first snow day as a teacher back in Minnesota. I cranked up the heat. I actually shoveled the driveway by myself for the first time in my life. I watched MANY episodes of Scrubs and Friends over a 48-hour period.

Life the last three days has been similar to a snow day, but snow hasn't been the reason to stay home.

H1N1 has been the culprit.

This past Tuesday our school shut down for a week because of swine flu. Eight students and two staffs members contracted the virus and the Korean Health Department advised us to shut down for a week. What???

School re-opens next Wednesday. I've been busy eating, running, and watching plenty of movies indoors to avoid catching the pesky infection. Life never ceases to get boring living overseas!

The 1000 Kilometer Summer

This summer was a complete whirlwind for me. Every day was planned out. No lie! I felt like I was going a 1000 kilometers an hour! I vacationed in Manila, toured around Korea with my family, attended two classes for graduate school, zoomed around a motorcycle across the Ontario, relaxed at my cabin, and reunited with college friends at a wedding. I think I traveled close to 1000 kilometers each trip this summer! Regardless of time and distance, here are some highlights from my hectic summer.


DESTINATION: Korea
DISTANCE: ?????????????????????????????????????????????

It takes 15 hours and 50 minutes via Tokyo to fly from Minneapolis to Seoul. Math is not my strong suit and I’m not even going to attempt to figure how the kilometric distance. (Is kilometric a word?!)
I have been anticipating my family coming to Korea for two years and was absolutely tickled pink when they arrived in June. I took them all over Daejeon, Seoraksan, and Seoul. We hiked mountains, ate bulgogi with a random family, shopped, scrubbed down at the jimjilbong, and marched all over Seoul. I can’t believe I managed to get my family around Korea with my limited Hangul. This adventure is definitely one of my favorite Nelson family vacations.

Korea photos:








DESTINATION: Canada
DISTANCE: 1286 kilometers
I finally made to Canada. I suppose dating a Canadian gives one incentive to visit!
I toured the Ontario province with Alan on his motorcycle in early July. Let me clearly state I have NOT converted to motorcycle riding, but I enjoyed the brevity of being a “motorcycle mama” for a week. (If anyone else ever takes me a on ride, I usually have a breakdown after five hours on the bike. I wish I was kidding!)

We went to a cabin for 4th of July, dinner cruise, Niagara Falls, and his hometown. Alan and I met up with three of my coworkers from TCIS from dinner in Toronto. Such a cool city! After visiting the Toronto area, Alan drove us to North Bay and Sault St. Marie to meet some of his relatives. We eventually drove back to Minnesota (a.k.a. the Canadian Riveria) in his aunt’s Mustang so I could get back for grad school. I could definitely convert to becoming a “Mustang Mama”. :)


Canada photos:







DESTINATION: Chicago
DISTANCE: 622 kilometers

This weekend was a preview for NPU Girlfriend Getaway 2010!! My good friend Rebekah got married in late July, but it was a mini-college reunion of sorts. I got to enjoy some sister bonding with Mals in the car on the way to wedding, then smashed into a suite with Mallory, Davia, Stephanie, and Aubrey for two nights. It was such a fun weekend of reminiscing and girl bonding. I can’t wait for next summer!

North Park Girls:

Ten years??????

During the graduation ceremony last week it dawned on me that it's been TEN YEARS since I graduated from high school. Has it really been that long since I donned my own maroon cap and gown?

It has.

My over-analytical nature went into overdrive as a I pondered about the things I have done and/or accomplished over the last ten years: graduated college, tatooed my body, dyed my hair more times than I can count, lived in a foreign country, lived with folks, learned a new language, became a teacher, and traveled the globe to my heart's content.

Life has been pretty good thus far.

As the graduation speaker talked about the challenges the seniors would face, I daydreamed about what my own future would be like in the next ten years. Where will I be? What will I be doing? I get scared thinking about the future. Deep down I still feel like the starry-eyed 18-year-old that was nervous about moving to Chicago and living on her own for the first time. Regardless of whatever fear I feel, God has taken me down a path. And he has always been consistent and faithful. He really hasn't left me, just gently guided me down other paths or taken me places I would never normally go. This has helped me shape my goals and dreams more realistically. I've learned to work harder for them, but be more relaxed if they don't work out the way I want them to. This has been good progress for me.

I'm excited to see what happens over the next ten years. Maybe I'll eventually learn to cook during the next decade. :)

In the month of May

Things are busy. Really busy. Extremely busy. But also really fun. Here are some highlights from the month of May!


Girls (plus Johnny!) weekend way to a beautiful cabin in the Korean mountains! We ate, slept, and talked for three days straight. Awesome!





80's party!!!






Spring bike trips in my stretchy pants. (And showing off my muscles from lifting so much this semester!)




Alan comes to visit for a weekend to visit me and attend some great festivals in Seoul!