View from my Apartment

What I like the most about my apartment is the wonderful view of it. We are living in the highest floor of the building and it is located near downtown so it has a great view. But I'm afraid of the sun so I always close the window blinds and curtains during the day and open them at night. But one time as I was cleaning the house and shook the dusty rug on the window, this wonderful view has caught my attention again so I grabbed my camera and took a picture of it.

Here's the view on the left side of the building.

Here's the front view.

And the right view where you can watch the sunset.

Want To Marry a Korean Guy?

My father in law asked me to find a Philippine woman to get married a korean guy. He said, find someone who's as kind as me (I was happy to hear that but would be happier if he said as pretty as me ^-^). The guy is over 40 years old. I was willing to find a Filipina when my father in law said that the guy was his nephew (his sister's son) and my hubby's cousin. Later on, I found out that the guy is a farmer living in the countryside. My husband is against it. He said the filipina will be very pitiful. She can't have some money and will have a hard time living in the country. She will live without friends and work in the farm even in the cold weather. Not to mention the language barrier, the weather and homesickness. I agree with him.

The next day, my father in law invited us to visit his sister. His nephew's (looking for a filipina wife) mom. We went to their house. It's an old house in the countryside. It was too cold so we stayed in one room with old, dirty and cracked wall. It was grandma's (my hubby's aunt's mother in law) room. I couldn't go out of the room because it was too cold. The living room, the kitchen and the bathroom were too cold. I was freezing. The living room doesn't look like one because of lots of stuffs stocked that are mostly crops. The small dirty kitchen has lots of big old pots. The cold bathroom has also lots of stuffs that I couldn't imagine if someone could take a bath there. There is no shower and bathtub, just faucet and bucket under it. There are lots of basins and washing machine is also there. It is too stuffy. I'm not sure if there's hot water to use. My hubby was too sleepy so they told us to use the other room and sleep. But my hubby's cousin's niece was there using the computer. Beside the two tables was a quilt and heavy blankets. We lay down but we couldn't sleep because it was too cold. So, do you want to get married this guy and live there?

I don't know why people from the Philippines think that once you got married to a foreigner, you are lying in the bed of roses. There are so many women out there dreaming of coming to Korea and get married to a korean guy. Don't you know that those who are looking for Filipinas are those who got divorce or old guys who couldn't get married to Korea because Korean women don't like them? Most of them are farmers or fishermen living in the countryside.

Do you still think that all filipinas who got married to korean have good lives here in Korea? I'm telling you. You are definitely wrong! You don't know how hard their lives are, living with someone they don't know well. You don't know how they suffer specially to those who live with their parents-in-law. (Most of them are living with their parents in law. Another reason why Korean women don't like them (korean guy married to foreigner) because Korean women can't live with their in-laws.) Don't envy those filipinas because they are married to korean guys. You are luckier than them. Living in the Philippines is more fun with friends and family. Nothing can compare to the happiness when you talk in your own language and eat filipino dishes. I think most of you have even better house than the other filipinas here in Korea.

There are some who live well but don't expect that you will also do, specially if the married is just a match. For those who got married because of love (courted in the Philippines), some of them still face some problems here in Korea because of the against parents because if the korean has good education, young and live well in Korea.

Some Korean Lifestyles

1. Cars in each family. In korea, each family has it's own car. Some have 3 or more cars in a family. The legal driving age is 20 (korean age). Koreans must attend driving school before they get their licenses.

2. He's my Junior. In korea senior-junior relationships are very important. The relationship is usually defined by age but sometimes it's defined by position. Seniors can make their juniors to do many things. this is because of the influence of confucianism in Korea.

3. Age is very important here. Korean often ask others about their age. They will even ask this the first time they meet someone. This is normal behavior in korea. Knowing a person's age is important- it lets the person know what kind of language to use. Also it helps deternmine the two people's relationship.

4. It's a national ID card. All koreans have a national ID card. They mush have this card when they turn 17 years old. This card holds personal information of the card includes your name, date of births, address and finger prints.

5. Why is everyone walking on the left? In korea, pedestrians are supposed to walk on the left. However koreans drive on the right side of the road. Walking in Korea can be confusing for most foreigners. They often walk on the wrong side.

6. I can't afford the key money. Koreans often pay key money to rent an apartment. This is very large security deposit. Small houses don't need much key money. Large houses need a lot. Key money is often over ten million won (around $40,000). Also the higher the key money, the lower the rent.

7. You need to haggle with her. At many places in korea, prices are not set. Shoppers often bargain with the seller. Many people actually enjoy haggling over prices. However you don't haggle everywhere. You should haggle at department stores but not usually at the markets.

8. Let's use cards for the buses or trains. Rides cost the same amount of money. It costs the same to go everywhere. You can even transfer to another bus or train using the card without any charge before 30mins.

9. Meet at a different location. In korea, it's more common to meet at a different location. Koreans often don't invite their date over to their house (specially people living with their parents).

10. There are many salespeople. In korea, department stores employ large numbers of salespeople. The salespeople never leave you alone. There are always seems to be a salesperson near you while you are shopping.

11. Did you eat? Did you eat is a common greeting in Korea. many koreans (specially concerned mothers) will ask this question then they talk to someone. Koreans often ask that when they greet a friend.

12. How old are you? Age is very important in Korea. It helps to extablish relationships. Tt is one of the first questions a korean will ask someone.

Imjingak Tourist Site

Except from Unification Observatory, we also visited Imjingak. Another worth-seeing in Gyeonggido which is also related to unification and freedom. At the Imjingak Toursit Site, you can see the Bridge of Freedom, Peace Bell and Unification Fond. It is free of admission and open throughout the year.

The Peace Bell which is 2.23m in diameter, 3.8m high and weighs 21 tons is made of bronze and tin in the korean traditional style. The bell pavilion which is made of wood with a four-sided arched roof, sits on an area of 70.5m² and is 12.18m high.

Those who are interested in ringing the Peace Bell, in the name of peace, unification and hope may purchase tickets which cost 10,000 won or around $10. The ringing time is 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. The method of ringing is seven strikes by individual or a group.



Standing behind Mangbaedan Memorial Altar at Imjingak Square, Freedom Bridge takes its name from the return of 12,773 prisoners of war in 1953 in the first exchange of prisoners after the signing of the armistice agreement that ended the Korean War.

Two railrooad bridges on the Gyeongui Line originally spanned the Imjingang River side-by-side. Both were destroyed by bombing and only the piers remained. To enable exchange of prisoners of war, the west was rebuilt as a temporary structure over the original piers. The repatriates were taken to Freedom Bridge by trucks and they crossed the bridge on foot.

Freedom Bridge is 83m long, 44.5m wide, and 8m high. It is a wooden structure reinforced by steel. Freedom Bridge has little architectural value but hold tremendous symbolic importance of "Return to Freedom".



See that railway train to North Korea? Everything is all set and we're just waiting for the two countries to be united.



The remained of the train that was used by the people of North and South Koreans is still seen at the site. This steam locomotive is a symbol of the tragic history of the division into North and South Korea, having been left in the DMZ since it got derailed by bombs by the Korean war. It says that there are more than 1,020 bullet holes at the locomotive which shows how cruel situation had happened at that time.



There are also some pictures of what happened during the war.



There's also an observatory or lookout to see some sites of North Korea.



For more information, contact 031-953-4744.

Jangseong Confucian Temple

My hubby bought a new car so we had to break-in the car. My hubby just drove the car without nowhere to go so the wheels took us to Jangseong. We drove around Jangseong and when my hubby saw a small road in the county where there were some rice planted in the farm, he directed the road and we happened to reach the Jangseong Hyanggyo.

Jangseong Hyanggyo or Confucian Temple in Jangseong is a national school established in local districts to teach Confucianism. This school was first established in Osan-ri in the 3rd year of King Taejo (1394), but it was merged with Jinwon Hyanggyo before it was relocated in the 33rd year of King Seonjo (1600). Then, Ipam Mountain Fortress was built as a tactic of the expansion of armaments in the 9th year of King Hyojong (1658) and the status of Jangseong-hyeon was promoted to Dohobu. Later the school was relocated at Jangseong-gun, Jangseong-eup Seongsan-ri 110. There remain the tablet hall, a lecture hall, gates, a school office and other minor structures. Hama monument is erected outside Oesam Gate. This compound follows the typical arrangement of traditional schools with the academy facing the front and a shrine at the back.

Post Office Voice Phishing

You're familiar with voice phishing, aren't you? Specially if you're living in Korea, this words or tactics on how to make money through deceiving others is very popular in Korea. The most popular one is the Post Office Voice Phishing. They call and tell that the caller is from the Post office and will tell you to send some money or you need to pay some amount of money. It's easy for Koreans to be deceived because you can do lots of things in the post office. You can send money, pay bills, pay insurance, taxes, etc. So, if you use some of their services, you would believe if someone call you and tell that it's from the post office and you need to pay some amount of money.

Just a few minutes ago when I received a phone call. It appeared on my cellphone that it's an international phone call so when I answered it says "Annyeonghaseyo, ucheguk imnida..." so I suddenly hang up. I was so irritated. They are smart enough to use international phone call as a caller. I'm 100% sure that it was voice phishing. There aren't many thieves in Korea but there many deceivers and they do it secretly.

Be careful!

Yesterday, there was someone knocking on the door or good to say that she was hitting the door because she was knocking very hard that created a very loud sound. I was preparing lunch and my hubby was watering the grass (artificial grass). Just imagine us what we are wearing in this very hot weather so we hurried and put on clothes.

Hubby was talking to her at the cordless security phone looking at her face on the video monitor. She said she came to check out the gas. We paid a month for the management fee and checking the gas is one of them. But before they will check something they always put a noticed on the elevator so hubby was curious with this hajuma (old woman). He opened the door and told hajuma that it's ok not to check the gas. But hajuma was insisting and wanted to get inside but hubby refused.

My hubby said, she's strange and she's not the one who always checks out for the gas. Hubby called the security guard and told him about this hajuma. The security guard said there was no schedule yet for the gas service.

There were many people like hajuma who doorbelled and told us that they would check or fix something like gas, computer, running water, etc... That surprised us because those things don't need to be fixed.

I already saw this kind of things on tv. People go house to house and say that they would fix something and if you let them in, they just spy what is inside your house. Others steal or ask some money. I always pretend that nobody is at home when somebody doorbelled and see the unfamiliar face on the screen.

Be careful with this kind of people specially if you are living in Korea. Although some of them don't have any bad intention but i'm telling you again, be careful.