Next stop: THAILAND!

Sometimes, all we need
is some chocolate ice
cream with M&Ms!

This time next week we will be settling into our hotel in Chiang Mai, Thailand! We are so excited! We are ready to get on the plane right now. But we still have 5 days of work & some packing to do. We must contain our excitement until then.

The past couple of weeks have been better for us. Work is still very difficult for us & we don't anticipate that getting any better. But we can find ways to deal with it all... & Thailand is one of those ways! We haven't done anything out of the ordinary lately because we don't have the time but we're trying to come up with creative ways to live in Korea.

It has been 4 months now since we've been here. We've developed a routine, & it has come to the point where things just aren't new & exciting unless we go searching for them. But to go searching we need time & sometimes money - we usually don't have time, & occasionally the money either.

Bar, better known as Pop Con.

However, we did have a few enjoyable things happen. After getting paid, Nicole went shopping with a couple of her coworkers & got some clothes for our Thailand trip!
Nicole witnessed a taxi driver hit a delivery guy on a motor bike. The guy wasn't hurt but his bike fell over along with him & all of his stuff. The taxi driver got out, helped him put his things back & they both drove off. NEVER IN AMERICA!
We had a "foreigner night out". One of the foreigner-friendly bars (Yellow Taxi) in Time World was having a Jazz/Funk music night. They have a foreigner night about every other month. This particular night they had a band & a "DJ" alternating. It was a $20 cover & all you can drink beer & cocktails. It was a really fun night. And the band sounded great!
Nicole also bought a new camera for the Thailand trip! It's more traveler friendly & takes better quality pictures. We can't wait to use it on our trip!
Nicole also finally received a debit card from her bank. She found out that when she uses said debit card, she will receive a 3% discount on a few websites & markets, & also 10% discount at some cafes, including Starbucks!

Bathroom sign in Pop Con. If you look
closely, you can see that the woman is
actually peeing like a man.

After several attempts to wire money from our SK bank accounts to our USA bank accounts, we both finally managed to do so! We both were able to send a significant portion back to the USA to finish paying off some debt we have. That was a very big stress reliever.
We've started doing group workouts. It's actually for the ladies, but John & our friend Jude help out with the workout since they are very knowledgeable about Crossfit. The group thing is to get more ladies motivated to workout (for free) & create a new network of friends.

Nicole's coworkers know how to have
a fun time at work!

Trip to House Grill; John got the Double Monster Burger with bacon.
That's the height after he tried to push it down.

Other than that, we've just been finalizing our plans for Thailand. We are more than ready to go! We will be flying to Bangkok, then to Chiang Mai. Staying in Chiang Mai for 2 nights. In Chiang Mai we will do a jungle trek (ride elephants) & see some temples. Then we will fly to Phuket & stay there for 3 nights on the beach. We don't have any concrete plans there yet except to relax on the beach, but we are hoping to go thru an hour of trapeze training that they have there. Like we said, we're ready to go NOW! But in exactly one week, we will be settling into our hotel in Chiang Mai: http://www.agoda.com/asia/thailand/chiang_mai/centara_khum_phaya_resort_spa_centara_boutique_collection.html?cklg=1

Lemon drop shot!

Since it will probably be after our Thailand trip that we post again, we will also add a few things: tomorrow (Monday), we are finally getting a bed frame! No more sleeping on a mattress on the ground. Wednesday we are receiving a vacuum so we can tidy our place way better. And on Friday Nicole is getting a phone! We will be making calls to home before we leave for Thailand on Saturday afternoon. We know of a few apps that will let us call the U.S. for free, only using the minutes we are already paying for. We will double check to make sure that receivers will also not get a charge. So family & friends, anticipate a call next weekend!

Thanks for reading!

Best way to start the day.

Just another bar in
Time World

A couple of interesting things we've learned recently:
~In Korea, they make the 'V' for victory with their fingers for pictures (which we've known for a while). Well, we also found out that where they hold their 'V' says something about their self-confidence. The closer to their face it is, the more self-conscience they are; farther away, more self-confidence.
~The way Korea (and many other Asian countries) view marriage is very different from Western culture. Women will marry men based on their status, rather than for love. We've been told by our Korean bosses that you will rarely meet a taxi driver or bus driver that is married because of their job. Basics: the husband is to provide for the wife so that the wife can keep herself presentable & beautiful for the husband.