Stamp Happy!

Instead of signing their names, Koreans stamp important documents with their own personal name chops (dojong)!  

I love this about Korea, and have actually had 2 made for myself! The pink one was made by a machine, and the black one was actually tediously hand carved by a 70 something year old Korean man in Gukje market!

Nowadays the practice of stamping is being replaced by actual signatures... but when I go to the bank, I always have my stamp kit in hand!

  Traditionally, the name stamps used the Chinese characters (Hanja) of the person's name, but Korean characters (Hangul) have become more common now. 

This is the stamp that was made by a machine.  It says "Jill Anderson" (Or, actually, phonetically, it actually says: Jeel Un duh sun - close enough!)

... and this is the hand carved one!  It just says "Anderson" (En Dul Son)  haha

You can actually order your own personal Korean name stamp, on-line, from this online Gift Shop, or you can tell me you want one, and I'll have one made here for 1/5 of the price!  They're awesome, and now that I found the right kind of stamp pad for it, for the equivalent of 50 cents, I'm gonna start stamping everything!  :)

Saturday at Beomeosa Temple!

I decided to take a spontaneous trip to Beomeosa Buddhist Temple today!   It's one of the most famous temples in Busan, and I had yet to see it for some reason!  So, I jumped on the subway and rode 28 stops to Beomeosa!  When I got off the train, I looked at the map and realized I had a trek in front of me!  (3 kilometers to be exact - up hill!)  eeeehhh!  I started to walk up the hill and realized that this was going to be a long and hot climb!  (It was about 85 degrees and VERY humid!)  I stopped to snap this picture...

... and as I was taking it, a korean woman stopped her car next to me and asked, "Where are you from?"  I thought it was really funny that she stopped in the middle of the road to ask me where I was from!  After talking for about 45 seconds or so, her teenage daughter asked, "Can we give you a ride to the temple?" in the most perfect English I'd heard a Korean teenager ever speak!  Turns out, they lived in Malaysia for 2 years, and she became fluent during that time!  They totally made my day, and my legs were very thankful for their generosity! :)

There's a gorgeous river that runs down the mountainside, alongside the temple!  There were lots of families playing in the river and picnicing along it's shore!

I finally made it to Beomeosa after a year and a half of living in Busan!  

I loved these!  They are roof and wall tiles that patrons are allowed to purchase and write their own personal messages on.  They are on display for now, but will soon be used in the construction of future temples throughout the complex!

I just can't get enough of the temple drinking fountains!  They're all so creative in their own ways!

One of the small prayer rooms...

I have NO IDEA what this says... but I loved it!  I love carvings and writings on trees... There's something so country about!  

A lonely lantern hung in the trees near a prayer room...

Can you believe I live in a place where I can take a subway to a place this beautiful, old, and with this much history?!   If you can... Congratulations, because I still can't believe it!

He's supposed to be protecting the temple... but I'm pretty sure, by the look on his face, that I terrified him with my tiger impersonation!  I can be pretty realistic sometimes!  I've had a lot of practice, after teaching animals to elementary kids for almost 2 years!

I spent a couple hours, walking through the temple complex!  It was such a nice way to spend my Saturday afternoon!
***

RESCUE 911

My apartment sits on the corner of one of the most dangerous neighborhood intersections in Busan, as far as car accidents go!  Since living here, I have seen 7 car accidents in this intersection... and those happened to have been on the days when I was actually at home.  Who knows how many more have occurred while I've been at work or away somewhere else!  Today's was one of the worst though!  I was cooking a couple minutes ago and heard a huge CRASH sound outside!  I ran to my window and saw that a woman drove right into this building, across from my apartment!  

What's worse is she was holding her infant son in her lap as she was driving...  eeeehhh!  I don't know why Koreans do this!  It's sooo dangerous!  It looked as if he hit his head on the steering wheel...  Poor little guy.

As bad as it may sound... living here is fairly exciting because of this dangerous intersection!  It's like watching RESCUE 911 out my own window!  I just hope no one ever gets hurt!

Dinner with the gambling boys!

Remember this place?  It's the "gambling shack" near my apartment!  

I walk by it every time I go home, and usually wave hello to all the old Korean men, congregating outside, waiting for their turn at the table!  Well, tonight, I waved, as usual, and then thought... Hey, I'm gonna ask if I can come inside!  I've always been intrigued!  

Getting the chance to enter "the gambling shack" was easier than I thought!  They invited me right in, as if I were one of the guys, and even invited me to take a seat and join in on the poker hand!  I kindly refused, and watched for the next 10 minutes or so, until one of the old men asked if I liked Cola!  "Sure" I said.  He then motioned for me to follow him to the tiny neighborhood Korean restaurant next door.  We sat together, sharing a bottle of Coke and speaking Korean to each other... which was pretty limited, considering I'm not quite fluent yet!  I did learn that he was a chef at a Korean restaurant in Hawaii for 10 years!  It was funny, because he thought he was speaking English at points, but he was actually speaking Spanish! haha  

After we finished the Coke, I said, "Okay, Kapshida" (Let's go) and figured we would go back to the gambling shack... but instead, he said, "Ee dee wah," (Come over here) and we went to the makeshift bar next door.  When he opened the door to the bar, I was immediately met, and welcomed, by 6 of his friends:  3 women and 3 men in their 60's, who didn't speak a lick of English either.  I sat and hung out with them, eating raw fish, cooked fish, boiled peanuts, garlic, corn, peppers, and cucumber, while they indulged themselves in the unending bottles of soju and beer on the table!  By the time I left, they were VERY tipsy, and had been feeding me right and left (a very common act done between friends in Korea) for the last hour!

I feel like I'm always saying, "It was the coolest experience!"  Having dinner and drinks with the gambling men and their cougar girlfriends was definitely one of those experiences!  It's funny where a simple Hello, Can I come inside your gambling shack will get you!  I love this country!

Every mom's nightmare!

Last night, Aaron and Sam both crashed, on their rented scooters... :(

They were driving on a 1/2 gravel and 1/2 newly paved road n Vietnam.  Sam was driviig in front of Aaron and swirved to miss hitting a stray dog and his scooter basically slipped in the gravel, sending Sam, chin first, into the street.  Ouch!  Aaron said he had about .05 seconds to decide whether to run right into Sam's crashed scooter, or bail!  So, he jumped off the scooter and landed on his elbow, rolling through the tar!  They were able to ride the bikes back to the hostel, but apparently as soon as they arrived there, Sam got off the bike and immediately blacked out. :(  Looks like someone's adrenaline had run out...

Aaron said they are both doing okay today, but had to throw away the clothes they were wearing from the bloodstains and tar... and Aaron has been picking tar off his skin all day!  Luckily they were wearing their helmets though!  Good boys!

Today, they were back in the saddle and riding the scooters up the coast!  That's right... just dust it off boys and get out there and explore the world!  Just don't swirve out of the way for any more animals please!