Recently in Photo Entry Category

DSC_2987, originally uploaded by briancolella.

Hong Kong! On the way to India, we had a long layover in Hong Kong and we took advantage of it to get out and walk around the city a little bit. It was me, Hilary, and Paula, and we had a great time. The weather was super hot and we were sweating like crazy but we went on the longest outdoor escalator in the world (allegedly) and stopped in a Mexican place for margaritas. We also went to the zoological garden and saw monkeys hanging about (literally). We also stopped into a Hong Kong diner to get some food - real Chinese food! And dropped by the waterfront to see some amazing views.

Beautiful Hong Kong!

Read on for the real adventure - India

East Sea / Sea of Japan 2, originally uploaded by briancolella.

The spring semester just ended which means that it was time for my school to go all out and bus somewhere for some sightseeing and getting drunk and doing noraebang (karaoke). It was awesome. I suppose I'll have a write-up and explanation of things later but for now check out my pictures by clicking on the panorama up there or on the link down here.

Supersonic, stationary, originally uploaded by briancolella.

One of my favorite Korea photos of one of my favorite baseball players, Lee Dae-hyeong of the LG Twins, (out)standing in his field.

IMG_4007, originally uploaded by briancolella.

Temporally Closed Door. Taken in Gangam, Seoul, South Korea, at Butterfinger Pancakes.

IMG_3930, originally uploaded by briancolella.

It's like wading through water
Except,
The water is made of children
Little Korean children
And the surface
Of the water
Is a collide-o-scope
Of multicolored umbrellas
And sometimes (always)
It pokes you
But sometimes
It's nice
Head above water
Where no one can see
And no one can stare
Because they're drowning
In umbrellas

Busan, originally uploaded by briancolella.

In Busan, one of Samuel's former students led us to the top of a mountain where we could see about 70% of Busan he said. I snapped this photo of the Gwanganli bridge on our way down.

DSC_8624, originally uploaded by briancolella.

So, since I haven't written anything in a long time I guess this post will be a summary of January, February, March and April. I did Winter English Camp for the first couple weeks in January, it was good and since I had the experience from Summer Camp last year I was able to do it much better this time. I had a class of 6th graders from local elementary schools, only about 2 kids came every day so we were able to do a lot of fun stuff and it was a good time. I also had a class of 1st graders from my school and they were cool but a little bit more rowdy. Overall the camp experience this time around was much better the students were all happy with no complaints, probably because I played a lot of games with them. I had planned a 2-week course of lessons with comprehension tests every now and then but based on the students' reactions to the first week, which was not bad but they just didn't quite have the attention span, I trashed the 2nd week and replaced it with Jeopardy games and other fun stuff. 

After Winter Camp came a few weeks of vacation during which time I did almost nothing, just hanging out with Hilary when she was here, and being lonely when she went to Japan and America. Thus January and February passed being pretty uneventful with no school and no travelling for me or anything exciting to speak of, except the Hwaseong fortress in February, but that already got it's own post. I did read a bunch of books in February thanks to the epic amount of free time I had and days where I had to go to school but there was no class (about 2 weeks worth I think). It was good times. Also at some point around there I met some new teachers from Simseok Elementary School and I was in touch with another person named Samuel via e-mail, who'd just moved to Maseok. 

neon moon, originally uploaded by briancolella.

Day 16 of my 365 project (1 pic/day for a year). Neon sign with moon in the sky, Guri-si. Taken December 25, 2009.

Samseong-dong, Seoul, originally uploaded by briancolella.

View from the Renaissance hotel between Gangnam and Yeoksam stations. Taken December 16, 2009.

143, originally uploaded by briancolella.

143 at Jongno intersection. Taken on Dec 14, 2009.

IMG_1849, originally uploaded by briancolella.

A tractor I found in a parking lot near my apartment. Taken on December 31, 2009.

Bingo, originally uploaded by briancolella.

1st grade (7th grade) students playing Bingo in the English cafe during lunch. Taken 12/10/2009.

DSC_8109, originally uploaded by briancolella.

Katie had a friend, Beverly, visiting for a week, and so we decided to go down to Suwon and see some cool old Korean stuff. Suwon used to be the capital of Korea during the Joseon period, and the 5.7km wall around the old city center is well preserved.

Hilary was gone home to visit her parents, so it was just Katie, Beverly and I and we met up in Suwon and walked around the whole wall. Here are some cool pictures from the fortress.

building legos, originally uploaded by briancolella.

Christmas started for us on Christmas Eve. Hilary, Katie and I hung out at Hilary's apartment in Donong and exchanged gifts. As you can see, I received a Lego Millenium Falcon which I promptly put together. The next day, Christmas, would be for meeting up with friends and hanging out.

Our plan was first to meet up with Kenley and Stuart in Guri and have food, and then perhaps go into Seoul for a Christmas party. In Guri, we went to an "Italian" restaurant that was decent, and then to the food court at GS Square to get dessert, and debate our next move. Hilary had made tentative plans to meet up with Natalia in Seoul for a party, and eventually we decided to go, except Stuart who wasn't feeling great went home.

us at breakfast, originally uploaded by briancolella.

In December, John had to return to Korea for some more deposing of witnesses for his case, and this time my oldest sister Elise came also. I managed to secure a couple days off work to hang out with her for the week while John did work. One of her goals, being pregnant, was to buy Korean baby books, and so we'd end up spending a lot of time in bookstores during our sightseeing outings.

They came on December 12th, and I met up with them at their hotel in Gangnam, Seoul, and stayed there with them to facilitate tourism. It was really cool to have them visit, and really nice to see some family. The photo above was taken by Hilary at the hotel's breakfast buffet. As you can see, Elise ate so much that her stomach is bulging way out. Or, she's pregnant, not sure.