So far in 2012. . .

One day we went to Busan.  Maybe it was my first or second or so weekend back here in Korea.

We woke up and decided that we were bored and it was time to go somewhere.  We went to the train station and asked for three tickets for the first train out of there.  They asked us where we wanted to go and we shrugged and said that it didn't matter.  They laughed like crazy and gave us a choice between two places we had already been, so we chose the beach.

Busan.

On the bus to destination unknown.

Bound and determined to find something awesome.

At the train station, eating Oo-dong noodles.  Cheap and delicious!

On the train to Busan.  The only way to travel.

Anriette, ready for trouble.

We left a little later than we planned so here is the sun setting against the ocean.

Isn't it pretty?  And only about an hour from us :-)

Sunset against huge apartments.

So, we went to Busan and had a lovely time.  Then we came back and had to go to work for a bunch of days in a row.

That's pretty much how it worked around here.  Work all week and then go somewhere on the weekend, or sleep, or something.

But, now there's a new schedule.

We decided it was time to get serious about some things, namely, going to the gym and getting ready for our black belt test next month.  So, now we have a very strict schedule that we follow everyday, and Anriette thought it would be a good idea to take some photos, so here it is, our daily lives these days.

7:20am on a freezing cold morning, on the way to meet Lindie at the corner on the way to the gym.

Anriette in her cold weather wear for the long trek to the gym.

Not feeling it this morning. . .so cold and early.

It takes about 15 minutes or so to get to the gym.  Every morning we stop at this little convenience store called GS25 and get a few supplies, as you can see.  Dr. You breakfast bars, water, Hot 6 (like Red Bull) and this juice I love called "Salad Juice" that is kind of like V8 Splash.

Every morning.

This is the corner right outside of the GS.  This is Babo Street, which means Idiot Street, and is where all the university students go to get drunk and, well, act like idiots, I guess.

The view from behind us, the English Cafe is right there on the right, where we used to study Korean.

Almost there, this is the last crosswalk before the University, Anriette beat the light, but I guess Lindie and I were too slow.

Here is the main entrance to the University of Ulsan, where the gym is.

See?  University of Ulsan! :-)

Here is the gym!  Kinda pretty, isn't it?

Here is the lobby.  It's very shiny.  It's also the last thing we thought we could safely take photos of.  Here, they scan your card and give you work out clothes and a towel.  Then you walk through the endless locker room/shower room which is usually filled with naked women of all ages just, well, being naked.  Then you walk up the stairs and get to the pretty awesome work out room and we stretch then start kicking it hard.  :-)

 After the gym Anriette and I take off for the next 15 minute or so walk to the taekwondo gym.  This particular morning it was a little messy, so, we took a few minutes to get it straightened up.

Beating the mess with a padded bat thingy.

We take this stuff REALLY seriously.

That's what she gets for being flippant.

Kimchi!

Time to get started.

Master Jack and I. . .waiting for the rest of our class.

So, that's what we do Monday through Friday.  Now, on Saturdays we have a special sparring class, which is really just a kicking our butts cardio class with some fighting at the end.  Sometimes, after we get run ragged, Anriette and I stay after and practice some random things.  This particular Saturday we didn't have a scheduled class, but we convinced him to give us a key and let us practice on our own, since our apartments aren't big enough and it's still too cold outside.

So, last Saturday we got to class, unlocked the door and walked inside.  It was a wreck!

What even is all of this stuff???

So we spent a while straightening, vacuuming, and mopping.

All clean!  Time for work!

So, we did.  For a couple of hours.  Just practicing random stuff in our own studio.  Awesome.

BUT

Last Monday there was a special surprise while we were at the gym which caused us to go rushing out before we really did anything:

Woo hoo!!  Snow!!

Big, fat, lovely flakes of snow!

:-)

We stood out there for just a little while and it really started piling up.  We were having sweet dreams of a snow day. . .

First snow! :-)

Look at these snow flakes, man!

Getting ready for a snow ball fight.

I think snow on bamboo looks really amazing :-)

Snow :-)

Annie's first snow angel ^^

It started to really slow down, but we still wanted to make the most of it, so we skipped taekwondo and walked all over town looking for a good place to throw snow at each other.  After it nearly stopped we realized we were starving and walked to the grocery store to buy some bacon.  I haven't had bacon that wasn't from McDonald's in Korea yet, but it sure sounded like a good idea to me.  So, we loaded up on home-style breakfast foods and headed back to my house.

Lindie on bacon duty, and I'm on eggs.

Bacon and little sausages.

Look at this breakfast :-)  OJ, cheesy scrambled eggs, pinapple, bacon, sausages, kiwi, toast, and my mom's home made jam :-)  Awesome.  Then. . .we had to go to work.

It's Saturday morning now, and I'm getting ready to go to sparring class.  Our black belt test is on March 27th and we're starting to get nervous.  We were on a really good schedule but then I hurt my ankle, Anriette hurt her knee and now I have a cold.  We are tragically fragile creatures.  But we will get there :-)

But that's most of what we've been doing lately.  Thank you for reading :-)