Cory And Katy

We are now settled and getting cozy in our town of Gijang. Cozy is a nice way of putting it, because our studio apartment Katy’s school set us up in is very, very… cozy. Actually, we just learned that the Korean name for such apartments is wonrum. Get it? Get it? No worries though… this type of apartment is generally what English teachers get. Ours is at least clean, somewhat modernized, and within walking distance to everything we need. The only con is that we basically have to do a backbend over our bathroom sink to wash our hair.

In one shot you can see our kitchen, laundry room, bathroom, dining room, living room, and bedroom.

Over the weekend, we decided to explore some neat things our town has to offer. We hiked up a nearby mountain and got a great view of Gijang. We could even see how close the sea is to our house! Lots of other people were hiking that day and when we reached the peak, a couple of different families offered us some of their food after seeing we only brought a couple of oranges with us. Apparently, the big thing is to bring a huge spread up to the top of the mountain and eat there for lunch. We heard some families even bring grills with them! Anyway, one family in particular made us sit down and eat their meal with them. Delicious!

This is the view of our town from the top of the mountain.

The happy hikers.

This is the nice family who shared their kimchee with us.

We took a different way down and came across a small Buddhist temple. Some of the women in the kitchen made us come in and they gave us fruit and coffee. One of the monks even sat down with us and tried out some of his English. After we ate, we were full and we hadn’t even paid for any food all day! So far in our journey, we’ve encountered nothing but hospitality and generosity. After a short tour the facilities, the monk pointed us up towards a fresh spring, and we followed a path up to find some of the most delicious water we’ve ever had.

Buddha-belly luck!

It's like you can see the inner peace in my eyes.

Best. Water. Ever.

Sorry it’s been so long between posts. We’ll try to be better! Don’t forget about us! We’re still alive!  And if you want to see more pictures, you can check out our gallery in the sidebar or my (Katy’s) facebook page.