Jeju Ultimate Frisbee Tourney!

Jeju Fury Ultimate frisbee tournament is one of the biggest sports events on the island, next to the beach v-ball tournament. However, what makes this event special and more competitive is that it is an international event. Every spring, about 15 teams in total participate, 11 coming from other countries, including Japan, Tawain, China, Guam, Singapore and the mainland (Seoul). Although most of our Jeju teams do not take the sport TOO seriously, the top teams from Jeju, along with Seoul and Tokyo teams do. They practice probably yearlong, perfectly their team's ability to play well together and master the frisbee skills.

Although I watched one day of the event last year to root for Keith and his team, this was my first year playing. Unfortunately, Keith could not play because of his injury from b-ball in February, so we switched places and he came to watch me this year. FYI: He's starting to walk around and strengthen his foot a lil with physical therapy but is still resting up and not using it much. His team was really disappointed because he's a dominant player.

Well, I spent the whole month of April practicing with my team for about 4 hours on Saturdays and Sundays each weekend. This was excellent off-training for my marathon, since games involve LOTS of sprinting.

I was very happy with the team that asked me to join because there were several new players (so we were all in the same field) and everyone was so incredibly nice. Our captain and a few other players have been playing for several years so were helpful with helping us understand the rules and strategies of the game.

The weekend of the tournament was a lot of fun. We arrived on Friday, checked into the hotel that the event provided for the team (which was near the Seogwipo soccer stadium where the tournament was held) and then went into the meeting room where all the players hung out, socialized, ate some snacks and received our goody bags. In our bag, we received our schedule for the weekend along with vital information, an ultimate frisbee, and a cup for the free beer that was provided throughout the entire weekend.


On Saturday, our team, called Team Awesome :), played four games. We started our first game at 8:30am and were lucky because we were able to play all of them early so ended around 2ish. Other teams, on the other hand, had to wait a few hours between games, so didn't end until around 5 or 6pm. For many of us being first-timers, I think our team did pretty well! We were in C-league and placed 3rd! The first day we won 2 and lost 2 (only by 1 point or so). And on the second day, we lost both of our games but they were very competitive games and again, we only lost by about 1 or 2 points. Not bad at all! So overall, the whole experience was fun and definitely something I would consider being part of again in the future.

Another great part of the weekend was the party Saturday night that was held at the popular foreigner bar/restaurant, Geckos. We had payed a set amount for the tournament ($60), which included the hotel, the team shirts, a nice buffet at geckos sat night, free beer all weekend, and other snacks/transportation, plus donated some money towards families in need here in Jeju. The food was great and the "moustache-themed" party was a lot of fun. Good thing my friend Tim used washable marker when he colored on my moustache. :) He drew the Pringle's (chips) moustache on me and drew a tough-looking Harley Davidson moustache look on Keith. Both looked great! Check out the picture below.


Since the tourney was a lil early this year (in April instead of May), we were not very lucky with the weather. Saturday was very very windy and pretty chilly. The wind made it very difficult at first to adjust to throwing the frisbee. Also, the weather didn't help my sore throat and cold that I had started to catch from Keith a few days earlier. The weather was better on Sunday (sunny both days), but still made me feel pretty sick throughout the whole weekend. I ended up staying home from work on Monday because I lost my voice and had a fever.

Besides the weather and sickness, the weekend was fun and I love playing ultimate frisbee. It's such a great workout, seems like a combination of many sports (b-ball, football, soccer), and it's always great to be part of a team and make new friends.

Ryan's wedding

A few weeks ago we went to our friend Ryan's wedding. It was held at a fancy resort called Deviche, which is pretty close to sunrise peak, on the southern east side of the island. The bride works at the resort so we were lucky to get a great deal staying there for the night. The wedding ceremony was held outside, with the ocean view as the back setting. It was a beautiful wedding, with the audience filled with half korean and half foreigners (a lot of our friends were there).

The wedding was more similar to a western wedding than traditional Korean wedding. For example, the bride wore a gorgeous white western style strapless wedding dress. There was also a little Korean flower boy and girl. The couple read each others vows in both Korean and English, which really impressed me. AL so, Ryan made sure to bow all the way to the ground to his new wife's parents after reading the vows. This shows deep respect.

One of our friends, Kendra, sang their wedding song at the ceremony. She has a beautiful voice!!!! I couldn't believe it. When the bride and groom walked back down the aisle together after being married, everyone in the audience through confetti at them and cheered for them. They took family and friends group photos and also did the bouquet toss.

After the ceremony, everyone moved inside for the reception party. There was a very fancy buffet which included tons of small delicious appetizers. There was also a fondue fountain which everyone seemed to go crazy over. We all enjoyed the open bar as well:) We all just sat at tables or walked around chatting with one another and meeting the bride and groom's parents. After the reception was over, Ryan hung out with his parents and his new wife, while about 10 of the foreigners (including us) stayed and headed to our room that Keith and I were sharing that night with our friends Kyla and Mike. We drank more there and then headed outside to the huge hot-tub. It was such a fun and pretty crazy night. We'll never forget his wedding!

It's so nice to be part of someone's special day. Keith and I feel so lucky to celebrate so many marriages and exciting events for our friends here on the island. It seems like there's always a big event almost every week! Always happy times here:)



















the folk village (traditional Korean houses) right outside the resort

































Ryan (the groom) and his dad and brother
















Deviche Resort, on the east side of Jeju

















Me and Sujeon at Ryan's wedding






















Dan and Keith on crutches, both from sport incidents:(




















Me and Keith all dressed up and looking good:)



















Ryan and his wife's family wedding photo. People were wearing the traditional Korean clothing (Hanbuk) and western style clothing.





































The photographer got sprayed by the audience (especially Keith) when they sprayed confetti into the aisle at the newly married couple!





















They look so happy!







































































The pretty little flower girl






































The beautiful couple getting married, with a wonderful ocean view in the background!

My new five finger shoes!

So I just got these new froggy shoes, as you might call them. Yes, they look really weird, but they are super comfy! A bunch of athletic foreigners here in Jeju have been wearing them and speaking so highly of the shoes that I just had to figure out what the fuss was about. I first read this article and after hearing how great they are for your feet, what they are designed and used for, and how they feel like you're not even wearing shoes, I was sold.



Here is an article that explains the shoes and why they are good for your feet.

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/05/07/vibram-five-fingers-shoes/



One thing you must know about me is that I really hate wearing shoes. I know that sounds funny but as soon as the weather permits, I start wearing flip flips because they're not as bulky as gym shoes. However, they are definitely not practical. Keith always teases me that I'm always wearing flip flops at the wrong times ...walking through a cave, hiking a mountain, riding a bike, walking far distances, etc. And each time I do this, I end up not enjoying the day because of the pain that I put my feet through.

Well, the finger shoes is a new solution! Not only are these shoes great for casual walking, hiking, at the gym, in the water, for running and for sports, but they're very comfortable, practical and look pretty cool in my opinion!


Here is the website that shows the different types of five finger shoes, and also where you can order them!

http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/
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I just received them a few weeks ago and am currently using them for casual walking because I don't want to ware them out with all the running I'm doing for marathon training. Last week, I wore them to school when I started my b-ball after-school class and I was shocked by the reactions of my students. They did think they looked funny and like frog feet; however, the boys all were jealous of the shoes and loved them! They insisted that I give my shoes to them! They were all oohing and ahhing and crowding around me asking me, "how much teacher?! and saying "really teacher?! frog shoes teacher!". It was hilarious and I think I definitely scored some cool teacher points.

These shoes might become the new popular thing in America, so if I were you I'd check out the website and order a pair now while they're still being sold! :)

Pub Trivia night and wine and cheese double date night!

At the beginning of April, our friend Matt Harris started a "pub trivia" night at a favorite foreigner bar called La Vie in Shin Jeju. It's a small lil tiki style bar and it's become very popular among the waygooks (foreigners). They have movie nights every Thursday at this bar, as well as reggae nights on Saturdays. I have yet to go to these events' however, I made sure to make it last Friday for the 2nd pub trivia night. They will have this event every other Friday and its like a big game to see whose team can answer the most trivia questions. Everyone pays 2,000 won ($2) to be in the game and then the winning team receives the money for first prize.

Keith volunteered to be the host for this pub trivia night so I made sure to be there to support him. He worked really hard to find the best 50 trivia questions and he made sure to cover all possible topics (history, entertainment, art, sports, food, culture, etc) from all over the world. He did such a good job and the fifty people who showed up for the game all really appreciated his effort with the questions. Many were telling him throughout the whole night what an incredible job he did and everyone seemed to have so much fun.

Since Keith had shared most of the questions and answers with me before the pub trivia night, I just relaxed with some friends and sipped on wine while enjoying the game.






Friends at pub trivia night































Me and Caroline



















Keith was the host of pub trivia night!




















We also went on a double date last weekend with our good friends, Sarah and Brady. They are my yoga teachers on Sunday at Sarabong community gym. They are very positive people with fun personalities so it was a great night when we went with them for sujaybe (our favorite green tea noodle soup) at the tea place near our apartment, then to Milpaso, the wine and cheese restaurant that is near Tapdong right off the ocean road. I love this place. Every time I go it reminds me of being in a lil boat (because of the round windows) or a type of treehouse. Everything is made of wood and instead of real decorations, everything is painted on the wall. They have wines from all over the world and a nice variety cheese plate. We also treated ourselves to mocha lates and chocolate chip cookies. It was a sinful night full of indulgence:)






Double date night at the wine and cheese oceanview restaurant









Our friends, Sarah and Brady

More Farewells

I never posted pictures from my winter camp back in February, so here they are! This camp was a lot of fun because each day we cooked a different type of food together from around the world.

Here are the foods we made:
-tacos
-pizza
-hamburgers
-Vietnamese salad rolls
-sandwiches


The camp was five days and from 9am-12:30pm. It was sad to end the camp because the kids were so darn good! Also, the students were all 2nd graders and since it was now the end of their 2nd year in middle school, they would be heading to 3rd grade. This means that I would no longer be teaching them. :( It's sad to say goodbye to my wonderful students, but luckily I still see them in the hallway and they always chat with me and catch up!












More goodbyes for the month included wishing off Bethany Carlson- a friend and popular photographer on Jeju. She actually asked me to be a model for one of her shoots back in November, which was an amazing and fun experience! I will miss her creativity and positive impact that she has had on so many people here. I know she will be a successful photographer back in her hometown in California. Good luck Bethany!

Another farewell was saying bye to our friend Mona. She is such a fun person and I enjoyed learning bellydancing from her at a yoga retreat last year. She will be going back home to Canada, but she insists that we will meet again in the future (possibly back in Jeju). We'll miss you Mona!


And finally, we sent off our friend Sujeon by saying one last good luck to her at the airport last week. It is a tradition in Korea to meet at the airport before the flight and take one last group picture, so we continued the tradition. She will be living in Canada for 6 months to study English. Luckily, she is staying with her fiance's (our friend Dan)parents. I'm sure they'll have a great time getting to know one another. And when she comes back next year, they will be getting married in the summer. I can't wait to be at their wedding!














Bethany's farewell dinner at Rajmahall!


















































Wishing Sujeon off at the airport for her 6 month Canada adventure!






































Mona's farewell dinner at Bagdad's Cafe!