To ring in the new year we headed to the top of Seoul-Seoul Tower on Mt. Namsan. The day was unfortunately overcast and snowy which made for less than optimal views, but it was lovely nonetheless.

The snowy view from our hotel room

We took the subway to the other side of town, and then after a short walk through a middle class neighborhood, caught the cable car to take us to the base of the tower. I joked that the only form of transportation we didn’t use on this trip was boat!

Going up the mountain by cable car.

At the top of the mountain was a park with ancient signal fire stoves used for conveying messages before the days of twitter. The tower itself was originally a television signal tower but now houses several restaurants, a teddy bear museum, and an observation deck.

Signal fire stove.

The view from the tower really drove home how big Seoul was. We were also thrilled to see Mongolia acknowledged.

After getting our fill of the “high life,” we took the cable car down the hill and went to check out the Myeong-dong shopping district. Filled with upscale and cutesy stores it also was home to street stalls selling giant dried octopuses and curly fries made out of entire potatoes. We had lunch in a Japanese restaurant which was so good I had to take a picture of it.

A wonderful statue hidden behind a department store.

Wandering without a plan took us past the Myeongdong Catholic Cathedral built in 1898, the Seoul City Hall, and Deoksugung Palace, which is the smallest palace in Seoul.

Myeongdong Cathedral

City Hall

Deoksugung Palace. A restful interlude in the middle of the city.

We warmed up with some hot coffee and Dunkin donuts (sweet potato is my favorite) and then headed back to the hotel for one more night of pizza and corny movies on television. Korea you are great and we can’t wait to visit again.

On our second day in Seoul we headed to the north side of  the city to explore the Bukchon Hanok Village. A designated historical neighborhood, the homes were built in the 1920s and are beautiful examples of traditional Korean style homes. As it was New Years eve, many of the museums tucked away in the narrow streets were closed, but we were still able to see lots of wonderful architecture. I found the doors especially lovely.

Don't we all want a turtle door lock?

After warming cups of traditional Korean tea, we wandered down to Insadong a busy tourist street. We had been there before, but it was still interesting to look at all the different stalls. I bought us a 2013 calendar and we filled out a tourist survey which netted us 6 pairs of free chopsticks!

I wish I had a reason to shop here.

After lunch at a tiny restaurant on a side street, we wandered a bit downtown next to the Cheonggyecheon stream. Wandering around Seoul reminds us how far Ulaanbaatar has to go before it is a nice place to live. Walking down by the stream, even surrounded by skyscrapers, was incredibly peaceful.

Our last adventure of the day was Namdaemun Market, the oldest and largest market in Korea. We wandered up and down streets where you could literally buy anything you wanted. Stores go up several stories on either side but most of the selling was through outdoor stalls. We mainly just looked, but I did buy some stickers and paper craft supplies for school. We found lots of PSY Gangnum Style socks for sale but just couldn’t think of anyone we knew that would want a pair.

What is the best thing to do when you arrive in Korea after a 13 hour flight at 5:30 in the morning? You take a tour of the Demilitarized Zone between South and North Korea. We spent 3 days in Seoul and decided to start our stay out with a trip to the most militarized border in the world.

After being picked up at our hotel by the tour bus, we drove about an hour north to Imjingak Park. The park is an odd mix of war memorial, amusement park complete with Ferris wheel, and flea market. At the park itself is a small temple where people can ring the bell in memory of those lost in the Korean war, as well as the Freedom bridge which in the past has been used to send donations from the South to the North.

We next boarded an official government bus for the trip into the 3 km buffer area that runs along the length of the the DMZ. The area is prime farm land and we passed a small community of farmers that receive special incentives from the government to live and work the land.

The main stop on our trip was the 3rd infiltration tunnel. Over the years 4 tunnels from the north to the south have been discovered with this being the closest to Seoul. An amazing testament to what a crazy dictator and his underfed solders can accomplish, this tunnel has only been acknowledged by the north as a coal tunnel that went the wrong way. Considering there is no coal in that area the story raises a lot of questions.

The cutest military police in the world.

Land mine signs remind you that it is not all cute statues.

We were not allowed to take any pictures inside the tunnel you can see one here. We walked down a long steep incline and then several hundred feet into the tunnel. The tunnel was moist and warm and not as narrow as I had feared it would be. Also at the tunnel was a very well done museum that looked at the sad history of the DMZ as well as the rich flora and fauna that has been able to thrive unmolested. In fact, when we were leaving the parking lot we saw two tiny water deer grazing.

Our next stop was the very odd Dorasan Station. Built with donations from South Koreans, the station is a state-of-the-art train station, that when reunification comes will be the last station before entering the north. Until then though it sits as a sad reminder of unfulfilled hopes and dreams. I especially liked this sign.

We made a few stops at tourist traps and were finally deposited back into the center of Seoul. After a few false starts we made it back to our hotel in Gangnam (arn’t we cool) by subway with a hot pizza in hand and very tired bodies.

Our last few days in America were spent in heavenly San Diego with Brian’s mom, aunt, sister, and cousins. We took the train down from LA from beautiful Union Station.

Met at the train station by Brian’s mom, we stayed with his Aunt Debbie in her really neat condo. That night we went to a nearby Japanese restaurant with family and ate all sorts of sushi, okinomiyaki, and noodles. The food was good but the company was even better.

Saori, Me, Kim, Brian, and Erin

The next day Debbie took us, Erin, and Dominic (her grandson) to a few of her favorite nature spots. First we drove to the top of a hill where we were treated to a 360 degree view of the northern San Diego county area.

Next we went to Torrey Pines State Preserve for a hike. We hiked up the back of a hill with views of a lush valley and then hiked back down and across the beach. The temperature was perfect, the sky clear, and the ocean breathtaking. I definitely need to live near the ocean sometime in my life.

For our last night, we went to a Mexican restaurant with Brian’s three cousins and their families, his mom and sister, and his Aunt and her boyfriend. They are such a cool group of people it is a shame that we so rarely get to see them. Perhaps our next move will be to Southern California?

The next stops on our world tour were Wisconsin and Ohio (required in any world tour, of course). Picking up a rental car at the Columbus Ohio airport, we drove to my Dad and his partner Libby’s house. We feasted, got a tour of their new barn, gave the cats and Rusty lots of love, and slept like logs. Constantly moving, especially on vacation, is exhausting!

Rustoliam the super pooch

Blurry but handsome Dad

The next day we drove to Madison, Wisconsin and arrived at my cousins’ in the evening. They have a new house and it was great to finally see where they were living. During our two day stay we saw our awesome friend Anne, went to lunch with Ruth (one of my idols), spent lots of great time with my cousins, and experienced a 16 inch snow and ice blizzard. The only disappointment was not getting to see the rest of our friends due to the bad weather.

Ruth

After the storm damage was cleaned up we headed back to Ohio picking up my brother in Chicago on the way. We spent another night with my Dad where we opened presents and dined at a local Chinese/Thai restaurant. Oxford is in a very picturesque part of Ohio, and it was very peaceful walking around their yard.

The boys modeling their handmade mittens from Libby

Our last stop in Ohio was at my mom’s house. We went to a big band Christmas concert at the local OSU branch, decorated the Christmas tree, got to visit with more cousins and friends, and laid around like slugs. It was nice to not do anything for a few days. On Christmas my grandma joined us for gifts and lunch, and in the evening Frank came down. As always our time together was too short.

Mom showing off the art quilt we gave her.

Grandma opening the quilt mom made her.

When we first arrived in America we spent 5 days in Los Angeles with Brian’s dad Phil and his wife Yvonne. I had never really been to LA before, and we were treated to the royal tourist tour. We drove to an outlook to see the Hollywood sign,

visited Grauman’s Chinese Theater, and went star spotting.

We visited the Griffith Observatory where we got to see how much we weighed on each of the planets in the solar system. We appreciated fine art at the Getty Art Center, and we saw the new James Bond movie which we are both dying to see again.

Another day was spent at Universal Studios where we went on a studio tour and got to meet Jaws up close and personal.

Our next to last morning in LA was spent at the beautiful Santa Monica Pier soaking up the sun and ocean views.

My favorite place, though, was the Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits. It was fascinating to learn about the history of the site as well as to see thousands (of the millions) of the bones that have been dug up. I highly recommend the Tar Pits to anyone visiting LA.

Perhaps the best part of our visit was getting to spend so much time with Phil and Yvonne and eating at all their favorite restaurants. We got to have seafood, Mexican, French, Japanese, and more Mexican food. It was a glorious change from freezing cold weather and our basic fare in Mongolia. We can’t wait to go back.

In December we went on vacation to Ulaanbaatar, California, Ohio, Wisconsin and South Korea for just under a month. It was a much needed change of pace, and we got to see many friends and family members, visit all sorts of great places, and eat some amazing food.

On our way to America we had a 7 hour layover in Korea which allowed us enough time to stuff ourselves with onigiri and Dunkin Donuts, shop at duty free, and go on a free 2 hour layover tour. We had gone on a layover tour in Seoul before, and I highly recommend them to anyone with a few hours to spare.

This time we went to Heungryunsa Temple which is located halfway up Cheongryangsan Mountain about 30km from the airport above the Incheon Grand Bridge. They had just had a snow storm, and the whole area was very picturesque. The temple was originally built around 1400 but destroyed in 1592 by a Japanese invasion. The current buildings were built in 1977.

Brian in front of the main temple building and a few inside shots.

Back at the airport we were treated to an opera concert. Layovers in Korea are fun.

Back in December we were interviewed by a reporter with the local newspaper, The Mongol Gobi. We gave the interview in Mongolian and the reporter was nice enough to clean it up a bit for the readers. It may not have been the New York Times, but we can proudly say we have been front page news.

Today was the 47th annual celebration of Teachers Day in Mongolia. Being a teacher in Mongolia is a highly respected occupation (as it should be everywhere) and students, parents, and the education system are good at honoring teachers for their work. While the holiday is officially the first Sunday in February (today) our school celebrated on Friday.

In the afternoon we had an awards ceremony at the culture center. While we waited almost an hour for the governor to show up we were treated to a slide show and made-for-television show about my school. They were both really well done and I will try to get a copy of the video to post here.

At last the program began and Bold, the school director, and Baigal, the kindergarten director, spoke a few words of welcome. They are pictured here with Darkhuu (in purple) and Battsetseg the school manager (in white).

Several teachers and school workers received medals and plaques for their work and achievements, and I was very honored to receive the “Creative Teacher” award from my coworkers. Here I am excitedly receiving my award.

The biggest surprise though was when Brian and I were presented with a very lovely painting by the culture center staff. It was done by a former art teacher from my school, and it is not only very well done but appropriately enough features, in addition to traditional gers and animals, several coal trucks driving across the desert in the background. I can’t wait until we have a flat wall to hang it on.

That evening we gathered at the community center again for a light meal and karaoke.  Non-slobs like myself dressed up for the occasion with my friend Enkhtsetseg looking especially lovely.

We were divided up into teams for the competition-pictured below is my hardcore team, us making a toast with milk (watch out competition-we mean business), and one of the other teams (obviously filled with our singing enemies).

The competition was fierce but fun, and between each round there was some dancing. I don’t know who won because Darkhuu and I are wimps and went home early, but it was a lovely day of feeling special with my wonderful coworkers.

The harsh realities of life tend to be more visible in Mongolia than in America. For example, every year millions of cats and dogs are euthanized in America, but unless you volunteer at a shelter or are passionate about animals, this is just a sad, but fairly abstract fact. You didn’t know any of those animals and it doesn’t really affect you. But here street dogs are quite common, and it is not unusual to walk past tiny puppies, injured pooches, or even dead dogs on the street. Last Friday there was a cull of all ownerless dogs in Hanhongor. While the problem was not as bad as in Ulaanbaatar where there is a group of city employees who shoot approximately 300 dogs a night, there was a fairly sizable number of dogs running around. As someone who loves animals enough to not eat them, it makes me very sad to walk to work now and not see, as Brian and I named them, Pink Feather, Farkus, Bendy Legs, Clown Pooch, and many others.  The only dogs left in town are those owned by people and two very lucky/wiley puppies in my neighborhood. Animal control in Mongolia, aside from shooting them, doesn’t really exist. We have gone out of our way to have Santi, Monster, and Lulu fixed, but that was an expensive and fairly laborious thing to do. There are no vets outside of Ulaanbaatar who fix cats and dogs and the price, while cheap compared to America, is well beyond what most people would pay. My heart breaks for all the sad homeless pooches, but we just can’t fit any more of them in our ger. Where is my magic sterilization wand when I need it?