Category Archives: Travel Korea
Welcome to Vo-Pulayya.com!
Welcome to our new web site! We couldn’t possibly stop blogging because we’re leaving Korea, so we decided to make a more permanent web site – also because we’re engaged and all. It just didn’t make sense to have “ourkoreanteapot” if we weren’t in Korea. However, ourkoreanteapot.com will still be live, but we will use Vo-Pulayya.com to write and show the world our travels from here on. Though, you’ll see that the current posts are linked back to ourkoreanteapot. So, please be sure to subscribe to both, because we were selected for an interview with Agrafood in Korea. The interview will be published in the October issue!
With that said, we’ve had a wonderful experience in Korea. It’s bittersweet. We’ve made some wonderful friends, foreign and Korean and have had a chance to travel Korea and other parts of Asia. But, we are looking forward to our next adventure, which will be in Vietnam! We’re taking a one-way flight to Hanoi tomorrow! We’ll be traveling down the country until we reach Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) where we hope to find a teaching position at an International School. It’s exciting yet scary to think that we don’t have jobs yet and we’ll be homeless for a few weeks. However, we’ll be experiencing so much in a beautiful country full of history.
So, please join us again on this remarkable opportunity of a lifetime – TRAVEL.
Sports and Past Times
Red shirts + Red devils = Korea wins!
June 17, 2010 | Author: Shauna Vo
Korea dominated Greece in their first match of the world cup in South Africa! The country’s spirit and pride finally appeared. I always knew that Koreans are prideful, but it was different seeing it with sports. Click here to read more on ourkoreanteapot.com.
School Sports – Jump Rope, Dance, Soccer and Archery
June 16, 2010 | Author: Shauna Vo
It seems that middle schools and high schools in Korea aren’t involved in organized sports. Students are always studying and hardly have time for outside sports unless they have P.E. class, where they learn all types of sports, but never focus on one. But, schools have random sports days or dancing contests. Click here to read more on ourkoreanteapot.com.
Screen Golf
May 28, 2010 | Author: Shauna Vo
Golf, the rich man’s sport, is definitely for wealthy people in Korea. To play a 9-holf golf course in Korea costs about $100, plus the club membership. But, there is an alternative that exists on every block, screen golf. Click here to read more on ourkoreanteapot.com.
Hiking Munsu Mountain
June 8, 2010 | Author: Randy Pulayya
We needed to start our preparation for hiking Mt. Fuji and what better place to start than in Korea where almost 70 percent of the country consists of mountains. Our first mountain to climb to train for hiking Mount Fuji was Munsu Mountain, which is located in Ulsan. Click here to read more on ourkoreanteapot.com.
Hiking as a Pastime
December 9, 2009 | Author: Randy Pulayya
The food is only one part of the equation on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The geography of Korea is 70 percent mountainous. What do people do when their country is covered with mountains? They go hiking! Because hiking is such a popular sport, Korea has many hiking clubs that offer weekly group outings for its members. Click here to read more on ourkoreanteapot.com.
Health
Free from Annoying Glasses and Contacts!July 19, 2010 | Author: Shauna Vo
It’s been almost a month since I’ve had IntraLASIK eye surgery! I couldn’t be happier with the results, recovery process, eye clinic and surgeon. Click here to read more on ourkoreanteapot.com.
Eyeglasses for 20,000 won ($15)?!?
July 16, 2010 | Author: Shauna Vo
Eye care in Korea is unbelievably cheap and accurate. Before coming to Korea, I spent $400 on a new pair of glasses and bought $200 worth of contacts. Click here to read more on ourkoreanteapot.com.
Bathing like a King and Queen
December 11, 2009 | Author: Randy Pulayya
The best thing to do after hiking is to find a jjimjilbong (찜질방). A jjimjilbong is a spa and sauna that is divided into male and female bath houses. They give you shorts, a shirt and a few towels, and then you go into the respective locker rooms and get naked. Click here to read more on ourkoreanteapot.com.
“It’s Good for your Health”
December 8, 2009 | Author: Randy Pulayya
After a few months in Korea, it became apparent that people love to take care of themselves. It doesn’t matter where you live in the world it is always important to spend time taking care of yourself. Everything from what we eat and drink to products that we put into our body has a lasting effect and will catch up to you in the end. Click here to read more on ourkoreanteapot.com.
Sightseeing in Korea
Gyeongju Cherry Blossoms and Namsan
May 5, 2010 | Author: Shauna Vo
Despite the yellow dust, which as since passed, the cherry blossoms were still beautiful this season. Randy and I have been lucky enough to have seen them in Washington, D.C. when we were living in the metro area, but it’s definitely different seeing them in Korea. Click here to read more on ourkoreanteapot.com.
A Peak into the North and a Leap into Ice
January 1, 2010 | Author: Shauna Vo
As if skiing for Christmas wasn’t enough snow, we went back to Gangwando province for more. The MOE (Ministry of Education) organized another adventurous trip to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) and Ice Festival. They took us to the DMZ on the east side of the country. Click here to read more on ourkoreanteapot.com.
Christmas in Korea
January 25, 2010 | Author: Shauna Vo
It’s a little hard to tell that it’s Christmas in Korea. There were a few Christmas lights and Christmas trees in Ulsan, but if you wanted to see a lot of lights and feel the Christmas spirit, you had to go to Busan or Seoul. Kosin (pronounced koshin) University in Busan had their first Christmas Tree Festival where they had millions of lights around the Christian campus. Click here to read more on ourkoreanteapot.com.
Hanji and more in Andong
December 22, 2009 | Author: Shauna Vo
The Ministry of Education (MOE) in Ulsan, South Korea has treated us like royalty. They take care of everything. When we first got here, we had orientation for 10 days that somewhat prepared us for teaching in Korea. But of course, learning to teach is something you have to practice to actually learn how to do it. Click here to read more on ourkoreanteapot.com.
Are we still in Korea?
October 9, 2009 | Author: Shauna Vo
Happy Chuseok, Korea! Chuseok is Korea’s thanksgiving holiday. It is a time when families gather to remember and pay respects to their ancestors. They spend many days preparing food and offerings and then go to their ancestors’ graves, which is sometimes on the sides of mountains, to pray and give the offerings. But, because we got two and a half days off of work, we made a trip to Jeju Island (Jeju-do)! Click here to read more on ourkoreanteapot.com.
Looking for a creative mind to fulfill your design needs? Shauna Vo is also a freelance graphic designer who specializes in web and print design. Feel free to browse her portfolio at