Opposite side of planet Earth

08:40, Friday 17 January 2014. 34.8881° N, 128.6936° E Near Okpo-dong, Geoje-do, South Korea.
Traveling from one side of the globe to the opposite used to be an affair of grand design. It would take years to accomplish. Now, one simply clicks a series of buttons, maybe makes a phone call or two, and the arrangements are made. There is then only to transport the footloose traveler to a nearby airport where we are whisked away just shy of the speed of sound to a faraway exotic land. In about twenty-two relatively short (but very arduous and long when you are the traveler) hours, we've been whisked away to the future in relation to our homes in the Dirty South of the good 'ol USA.

Here in the very southeastern tip of South Korea on Geoje Island we are fourteen timezones ahead of our great family and friends in Lafayette (CST) and thirteen hours ahead of our awesome loved ones scattered about the Eastern Standard Time Zone.

We are slowly adjusting already and overcoming the wicked jetlag. She (B) might be doing a little better than me (J) so far. We'll see. Breakfast is an interesting affair. The owner of the school has us staying at his place. His parents in law also live here. The mother in law cooks a spread of fried lotus root, fried or baked mackerel or herring, kimchi, several types of seaweed, raw bell peppers and carrots, pepper pasted and plain cod anchovies, a bowl of rice with black beans, and ox tail soup!

Our plan so far is to take turns writing blogs so it is not an overload on either of us. Also, so that we can be completely candid we will be referring to ourselves/each other just as J & B. We think this might make it less easy to be found on a google search by the director/owner of the school. This will allow us to take greater liberties in what we feel inclined to talk about regarding classroom and school issues.

We were out late last night with Mr. A (school owner/director), his wife, and four other ESL teachers for a send off dinner of the couple that is finishing their teaching contract today (Friday). The most interesting dish of the night for me was strips of raw beef mixed with pears, cilantro, and some other herb. It was consumed just like that with a strip of dry seaweed folded over it. Very tasty!

Today, we move into our apartment after classes. That'll be around 21:00 or later tonight, local time. I think we are both very ready to start finding a groove here and getting into a solid routine so we can explore and enjoy the hiking that is so highly spoken of here. There will be so many great experiences had this year. We are very excited about it all and are very happy to share with any and all who are looking forward to following our life of adventure. Also, expect some blogs to be about completely unrelated things such as our future travel plans, our ideas of building a cob home, purchasing land for said home, food blogs, homesick blogs, and other surprises…Until again, remember that life is too short not to live. Live well.

Best Regards,
J & B