Jo's Korean Adventures

Third Time's A Charm?

miss_traveller — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:24:00 GMT

After being away from Seoul, Korea for six months, I decided to bite the bullet and come back to 'Korea Sparkling,' and 'Land of the Morning Calm.' I decided that being offered more money and more holidays, plus getting a chance to see all the great friends I had made previously, was a good enough reason to embark on a new adventure.

The area I moved into was an area that I vowed I would never move to. It is the busiest area of Seoul, where all the businesses are located, and it is the most modern area of Seoul. Modern also equates to more expensive as I'm quickly learning. I've been living in Gangnam area for a few months now. The place is a zoo. Don't get me wrong. It is clean, and my apartment is extremely new and modern. There are just tons of people around dressed to the gills. I could never dress like I would back in Canada. People in Canada would look like slobs compared to the way people dress here.

Suits, ties, dresses, high heeled shoes, and expensive purses pervade my area. Korea is all about looking the best. The way people look here must be important. I see signs all over the place for plastic surgery. I see girls on the subway looking in mirrors obsessively. I find it sad in a way. Appearances are only skin deep in my opinion. This society has taught me to take more pride in my appearance in a way, but they go way overboard at times with appearances.

This 'superficiality' also happens in the workplace. My boss worries so much about what the parents will say, and how the classroom looks, because I know she is worried about getting a promotion. Things have to appear to be perfect, and orderly. When in fact underneath this facade, things are often disorganized as I'm realizing. This is part of Korean culture that I accept, but don't always agree with.

I'm guessing I'm noticing it more because I live and work in the most affluent area of Seoul. That is just one thing that I've observed over the years of living here in South Korea. Seoul has become so modern and technologically advanced in the past ten years, that it boggles my mind just how westernized it has become. Coffee shops including Starbucks, and Coffee bean are on every block in my neighborhood. The prices for things have also skyrocketed. No thanks, I don't want to pay $5.00 for a coffee at Starbucks.

You have to pay a lot more for western goodies here in Seoul, than you would back home. This makes sense, but Seoul is the second most expensive place to live after Tokyo, Japan. Thankfully my employer pays for my rent, because the cost of living has increased. This is being felt all over the world I suppose.

On the flip side, It has been wonderful to see my many friends, and talk about my adventures in the past six months. I spent three months in South East Asia. A month in each Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand. I also feel that once you've spent time in Cambodia, you draw a different perspective about money and poverty. The people in Cambodia are so poor, and they work to live. They are friendly towards foreigners, and very giving. It was very refreshing to see.

After leaving Cambodia, I felt that we are spoiled as westerners, and even Koreans are spoiled. We don't appreciate what we have. For many people, life is often about wanting more, and being never satisfied. I learned a lot from visiting Cambodia. It has changed my outlook on life.

Busan Christmas trip with Soo-yeon

miss_traveller — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 04:18:00 GMT

From December 21st to 24th, My best Korean friend, and I, took the bullet train down to Busan, Korea. Busan is Korea's second largest city, and it has the second biggest seaport. Busan sits on southern coast of Korea. I had been wanting to visit Busan for the longest time, so I was very happy when I was asked to visit Busan from my best Korean friend.

We have been friends since I first arrived in Korea back in September 2005. Soo-yeon was my partner teacher at the hogwon I worked at. We hit it off instantly when I told her I was from Canada, as she had been there before, and wanted to go back in the future.

We boarded the speed train, and arrived in Busan, three quick hours later. During this time we went to see many parts of the city. Busan is famous for its beaches. We went to Haeundae beach, and we couldn't believe all the seaguls that were on the beach. Think about the movie, 'The birds' and you'll get an idea as to how many birds there were.

Here's proof!

Hyaeundae beach is really beautiful, but it was too cold to swim. I heard from others that this place gets so packed in the summer that you can barely move, and all you see is sun umbrellas on the beach.

They had this statue of on the beach which represented the 'year of the rat' that was coming up in 2008. I thought it was fitting to get a picture of us together since we had spent so much time together in 2007, and hoping that 2008 would be a great year for both of us. Especially since I am a rat in chinese astrology. I was hoping that this was a good omen.

We walked along the beach, and then at the end of the beach there was a path going up a rocky mountain and we decided to follow it. I thought it would be a nice walk along the water. We got ripped off by an Ajumma lady! How ironic was that! As we walked up the stairs and around the corner. There were two old ladies selling some nuts that are popular here. They cook them so they are soft, and then you open the shell and eat the inside. I don't find them that good, but the lady put them in my hand, and said, 'Ocheon.' She wanted five dollars for them. I didn't really want to pay so much for them, but I already had them in my hand, and felt bad for the lady. So, just as I was about to give her the money, she put 'songpyeon' in my hand. Songpyeon is a rice cake, with sweet stuff inside. I really didn't want all this stuff, and sooyeon wasn't saying anything as I was saying no to the lady. Then the lady yelled, in a rushed voice, 'manwon!' I was thinking no way do I want to pay ten dollars for this. I felt bad because I already had them in my hand. So, being the nice person that I am, I caved in and handed over the money into her fast grabbing, oily hands. I looked at Sooyeon in shock.

As we walked away, I looked at Sooyeon and said, 'I can't believe I just paid 'manwon' for this. So, I said, let's enjoy it. We walked around big boulders, and ended up on a path. The path led to the lighthouse that we had seen in the distance on the beach. This is where I was hoping we'd end up and not in the middle of nowhere to where we were lost. I always felt comfortable having Sooyeon around, because she could speak Korean, and could help me out in so many ways.

Here is what we bumped into on our meanderings, and after being ripped off by ajummas. The views from the lighthouse was well worth the walk. We could look out on the south China sea, and there were mountains on one side. It was such a clear night. On the right of the lighthouse was the Gwangan bridge that was lit up in so many vivid colours. This bridge is famous here in Busan.

The next day we decided to take a walk to see Busan tower. When we arrived, we had to walk up a lot of stairs, until we got to the top. At the top we saw Busan tower which is alot smaller than Seoul tower, I was thinking at the time. There was a cool map of Busan as we reached the top of the stairs. Here is Sooyeon pointing to where we were on the map.

A statue of a famous man (not sure who), and Busan tower in the background. We were heading there to go to the top and see the view of the magnificient surrounding water. Busan shipping port is the second largest second to Incheon near Seoul.

The views from the top were just awesome. It was a clear blue sky, and there was nothing like getting a birds eye view of Busan and the shipping port. Beautiful place!

We only went to Busan for three days and two nights, and we were lucky to get to see quite a lot. We also went to the famous Busan fish market, and I took a trip to Beomosa temple.

I hope to get to Busan again sometime. Busan was smaller than Seoul, and only had a few subway lines. It was a really nice change of pace, and I wouldn't mind living in that type of place. On the KTX bullet train, you can get to Busan from Seoul in three hours. It was a nice way to spend the Christmas holidays, and spend time with one of my favourite friends.

Jeju Island and Jen's Visit

miss_traveller — Sat, 9 Feb 2008 04:03:00 GMT

My time in 'The Land of the Morning Calm' is coming to a sad end. In a few weeks, I'll be on my way to Thailand for a week vacation, then I'm off to teach English in Cambodia for three months. More about this in another entry.

I want to backtrack right now because I have done so much since the last time I wrote. During 'Chuseok,' (Korean Thanksgiving) my best friend from Canada, came to visit me. She was here for ten days. During those ten days, we took a four day trip to Jeju Island.

I had been wanting to go to Jeju Island, since the first time I arrived in Korea. As every Korean will tell you, 'Jeju is the place to see.' Jeju Island is often called, the 'Hawaii' of Korea. Many young Korean couples go there for their honeymoon.

We took a discount airline called, 'Jeju Airlines' to get to the Island, which is Korea's largest island. The island is oval shaped, and is 73 km from east to west and 41 km from north to south. Jeju Island has a temperate climate, thus, why it is called 'the hawaii' of Korea. Jeju also has 'Hallasan' which is the highest mountain in Korea, and sits (more like towers), in the middle of Jeju. We could see Halla mountain from anywhere on the island, but it was hard to see the peak because it is so high up (1950 metres).

Jeju Airlines. On the way!

The plane we were on made me a bit nervous. It was a propeller plane, and it was extremely small. It was kind of cool to leave from Gimpo airport, because we had a nice view of Seoul during the day. Seoul is soo huge! When we arrived on Jeju the view coming down was awesome. Jeju is a volcanic island, and the beaches are full of black volcanic and basalt rock. The contrast between the green of the island, the blue of the ocean, and the black of the rocks, was magnificient.

The first thing we noticed when we arrived was the temperature. Even though it was October, we found it really warm compared to Seoul. We didn't even pack any long sleeved shirts. We saw palm trees, and found out that mandarins, are one of main fruits that they grow there. Jeju oranges are famous in Korea. They are sold all over the Island, by Ajummas(older women), at every tourist place we ran into. In the airport, Jen - being the smart thinking ahead one - decided to buy a rain poncho. She said, that it is better to be save then sorry. I thought that she may have been right, so I decided to buy one too. As we found out the next morning - Jen was right.

We hopped on a bus, and headed to Seongsan, which is located at the northeastern tip of Jeju. We were excited to climb, Seongsan Illchulbong (sunrise peak), which is a volcanic crater, surrounded by 99 sharp rocks. Many people climb this mountain to see the sunrise. We booked into a room which had incredible views of the ocean, and of illchulbong. We arrived at night, so we couldn't see much.

The next morning as we left our room, this is what we saw towering in front of us. Wow!

The next morning we planned on getting up very early to hike up the crater. When the alarm went off at 530am, we looked out the window and realized it was very foggy, and rainy. We decided to wait a bit, to see if it cleared up. We headed out around 8:30, and knew that we had missed the sunrise, but wouldn't of seen much with the weather the way it was. I didn't forget to grab my poncho, on the way out.

The climb was amazing. The crater had stairs that went up on side of the crater. You could see all of Seongsan, and Udo Islet, which was across the sea. It rained quite a bit, as we started off, but as we neared the top, it cleared up a bit. Thankfully, we got some nice pictures.

The view from the top. It started to clear, finally.

Here is the volcanic crater at the top of the Illchulbong. What an awesome view. The east sea is behind it, but the illusion of the photo, makes it look like the sea is at the same level as the crater, but the crater is much higher up.

This was the sign in front of the crater, to give some information on this unusual looking crater that is shaped like a crown.

Here is a view looking towards the small strip of bridge that you have to cross to get to Seongsan, which is the northern most tip on Jeju. I am surrounded by the sea here. What a surreal moment.

The next day, we took a bus over to the southern part of Jeju, to Seogwipo. This area is known for their famous resorts, and Jungmun beach. It also has quite a few waterfalls, that we discovered. This one below is, "Jeongbang Waterfall." It is the only waterfall in Asia that flows directly into the ocean. At 23 metres, it is one of the twelve most beautiful scenic views on Jeju Island.

What do you think? Unbelievable!

Close-up! I wish we had more time to spend in Seogwipo area. We only had a day and a half to take in all the sights.

We then headed to see another famous waterfall on Jeju. This one is called, "Cheonijiyeon waterfall." It has been designed and protected as a natural monument. Wow!

We also took a bus, to try and find this famous temple named, "Yacheonsa" that we saw in the tourist booklet. I had read that it is supposedly the largest Buddhist temple in Asia. I really had to find it. We got off the bus, and had to walk for about 15 minutes before we stumbled onto it. On the way, we were surrounded by Orange groves. Can you believe it? Rows and rows of orange trees. The oranges (mandarins), were still green, and not ripe yet. However, it was truly a sight to see.

It was truly a peaceful walk towards the temple. There was no one around, but us, and mandarin trees. I noticed how different Jeju seemed to be, compared to the rest of Korea. It was way more laid back, and there was a lot less people. What a splendid vacation, indeed.

We finally ran into Yacheonsa, and were we ever amazed at how intricate, and huge it was. This is just one part. We walked around the grounds, and I took many pictures. Here are just a few that I took that day.

On the way out, you get a whole view, of the area. How peaceful can this be. I wanted to stay here forever. Almost, surreal looking.

There were many wild flowers growing in this area. I decided to snap afew of the beautiful flowers that were growing near the temple.

We saw many other sights, on Jeju during those four days. We packed everything in, so we could see as much as possible. On the way home, I had spectacular views of the sunset from the plane. What an end to a truly magical place.

B-Boy Korea - Bust a Move!

miss_traveller — Sat, 4 Aug 2007 13:04:00 GMT

^^The youtube video is from Planet B-boy. It is break dancing between North Korea and South Korea soldiers at the DMZ (demilitarized zone) border. It is a must see. Phat stuff! Dope music and break dancing.

Here is what you see when you walk into the entrance to the B-boy Korea show. There was some wicked graffiti.

A B-boy is a term for a person who is devoted to hip-hop culture. More specifically it refers to a male who practices break dance. I had the chance to see the B-Boy Korea show in Seoul, recently. The show harmonizes B-Boy dance and Korean traditional music. The show was 40,000won, and we had second row seats. Me and a few friends, were excited to see this show that we had heard good things about previously.

More wall graffiti at the entrance to the show. That dope is phat, Yo!

I like to watch break dancing, and I've seen awesome break dancing in NYC, and in movies before (thinking about the movie, "Breakin"). I wasn't sure what to expect from this show, although I figured it would be mostly hip hop dancing. I was a bit disappointed because the first half was more like watching an amateur theater performance.

There was one part where it reminded me of a freak show. There was a Korean guy with blond dreadlocks, who was behind a box. His arms and legs were scrunched up to his ears, making him look like a midget. He was kicking his legs, and arms to the music, making it look funny as hell.

For a moment, I felt like I was watching this freak on 45 - on speed. 100% freak show entertainment folks. Only in Korea! ;) It was whack. I couldn't stop laughing. We kept waiting to see the boys take off their shirts and dance god dammit! "Chill out Jo," my friends kept whispering.

The Korean drumming was typical, but I've seen traditional drumming many times (thinking of Nanta performance) before. I guess they had to fill the two hours with something. Get on with the show!

Finally, after fifty minutes into the show - they started break dancing!!!!!! There were about eight dancers total who looked like Korean teenagers. There is a reason why they call it B-boy, and not B-man! At the end of the storyline, there is a B-boy battle between two sides.

Most of the boys were good at "popping" - or as I say, "vibrating," their bodies to the beat. One boy, who looked no older than 15 - could spin on his head. It looked kind of painful, actually. Later in the show, he decided to be smart, and put on a helmut. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to use a flash in the performance, so my pictures of the actual breakdancing, didn't turn out. Note: See youtube video for actual breakdancing!

There were a few cuties who took their shirts off, and were quite ripped from being dancers and all. It was the highlight of the show - well almost!! The show left me wanting to see more dancing, since they only danced for about half an hour. The music was NOT hip hop type music. It was more of a mix of Korean traditional music, fused with hip hop music.

Disappointing to say the least. The break dancing wasn't too bad, but I've seen better. And that is my very critical review of the B-boy Korea show. If you are debating on going to see it - I'd say skip in and see the "Nanta" musical instead. Thumbs down X 3 (my friends).

This link is a preview of part of the B-boy planet documentary. It's dope dawg ;) I especially like the Koreans break dancing in the subway in Seoul, at the end of the video.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfq2Zwr0ABM

Disclaimer - B-boy Korea is a spin-off from the documentary that was recently made, called, Planet B-boy.

Boryeong Mud Festival 2007 - Let's Get Dirty!

miss_traveller — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 15:16:00 GMT

"Let's get dirty," was my theme for this past weekend, where I visited the 10th anniversary, of the Boryeong Mud Festival. I went with the "Adventure Korea" tour group, to Daechon Beach, which is two hours south west of Seoul, on the yellow sea. The mud festival is a yearly festival that attracts many foreigners. Many people go to not only see the beach, but to partake in the mud activities near the beach. Daechon Beach mud is known for making mud cosmetics, as the mud is supposed to help tighten the skin and prevent aging (I sure could use a little of that). More about the mud benefits below.

"As lovely as the city’s beaches, mountains and ocean views are, Boryeong is mighty famous for its mud. Beginning in July of 1996, the city of Boryeong began extracting superior-quality mud from the pristine tidal mud flats near Daecheon Beach. Boryeong mud was discovered to be remarkably good for the human body. The mud produces a large amount of so-called far-infrared rays (FIR), a form of light - invisible to the naked eye - which ionizes and activates water molecules in our cells and blood. The effects of FIR are improved oxygen levels in our bodies, the removal of toxins and fats from our bloodstream and elimination of waste, and improvement of nervous functions. The mud contains more germanium, minerals and bentonite than mud imported from overseas, including the so-called “black mud” of Israel’s Dead Sea region, also renowned worldwide for its cosmetic effects and used as an ingredient in skincare produces.

The city of Boryeong produces some 16 cosmetic products using Boryeong mud including the ever-popular mud packs. The wondrous health and cosmetic effects of the mud have been proven by studies by the Korean Research Institute of Standards and Science, Korean Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Taepyungyang Technology Institution and Wonkwang University. The town’s mud products, meanwhile, have passed the rigorous standards of international health agencies such as the United States’ FDA and Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. In 2001, it also received ISO 9001 certification."

http://english.tour2korea.com/03Sightseeing/TravelSpot/travelspot_read.asp?oid=3755&kosm

http://www.worknplay.co.kr/buryeongsites/buryeong.html

I found out upon arrival to the area, that the real mud flats where Boryeong ships its mud from, is twenty minutes away from Daechon Beach. We stopped at the mud flats, and had to change into military gear. There were about 300 of us from 'Adventure Korea' who had to take part in a rigorous military training, in the mud. We had to wear, mud shoes, and dress in army pants and long sleeve shirt. The mud was quite deep and in some places, I lost my shoes. My friend actually had her shoe sucked underneath the mud, and we couldn't find it. We had to run in the mud around flags, and do jumping jacks. We had a mud fight, and mud wrestling. I have never felt that dirty before.

I'm waiting to get the pictures from Adventure Korea before I post any on here of the mud flat experience. After spending about a few hours or more, playing in the mud, we all got to indulge in a beer, by the side of the road. Only in Korea can you drink outside by the road, and on the bus. I had mud in EVERY crevice of my body.

The showers consisted off some guy spraying ice cold water from a fire hose (strong) at us as we walked by. There were also a few showers outside, for everyone to share. Lets just say, that I wasn't that clean afterwards. There were no places to change, so we were pretty wet and dirty afterwards.

We then headed to Daechon Beach, where we were staying in guesthouses for the night. The beach is nice, but it is a sand/shell beach, at 3.5km long. The mud events were taking place on the street, where they had a mud wrestling area, and a huge water slide. There was also a band shell, facing the beach. We walked along the beach, and ended up sitting on the beach at night drinking, while my friend played the guitar for all of us. All that was missing was a campfire. I walked along the beach with friends, and enjoyed the good company, with the sound of the waves crashing on the shore.

Here is a picture of the happening area along the beach, where there was some mud events taking place. You can see part of the slide on the left hand side. There were many people here, but not as many as the weekend prior. We were at the last weekend of Mudfest.

Mud wrestling was fun to watch.

Kids being kids, and having a blast.

Crazy Koreans in the mud bath.

The weather was very cloudy on Saturday, but the sunset ended up being really beautiful. Sunday was very sunny, and it was too bad we had to go home by 4pm. On Saturday, I put some blue mud on me, I think it was more like paint, because it was so hard to get off of me. They had a jail, where I had to go, because I was a bad girl that day. Thankfully, I had a get out of jail for free card. Phew, that was close.

Beautiful sunset on the yellow sea.

The whole weekend was pretty relaxing. On Sunday afternoon, me and a few friends had booked an appointment to get a mud massage. What a treat that was!! It was a full body massage, where they put mud all over you. I mean everywhere! You let the mud dry, and then you take a jacuzzi afterwards. It was a two hour blissful experience, and we almost missed our bus back, because it took longer than expected. For forty five thousand won, it was well worth it. My skin still feels smooth, and soft, four days after.

On Sunday it was a beautiful day with blue sky, and I am sans-mud at this time.

I would recommend going to this mudfest if you get a chance. It is always around the same time every year. This year it was held for two weekends including July 14th, and 15th, and July 21st, and 22nd.

These are some crazy signs that were posted on the main street. I felt so special as a foreigner. Only in Korea, I say.

;););)!

"How can a Fish Survive without Water?" ~Templestay Weekend

miss_traveller — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 12:56:00 GMT

"How can a fish survive without water?," was what we were asked to meditate on by our host monk, during our 20 minute sitting meditation. I went on another 'Adventure Korea' trip, but this time I went on a Templestay weekend to Naesosa Temple, in Byeonsan National park region, Jeollabuk-do province. It took us four hours by bus to get to this enchanting temple, near the west coast of Korea. To learn more about Naesosa, click here.

http://english.tour2korea.com/03Sightseeing/DestinationsByRegions/Depth04.asp?ADDRESS_1=36071&ADDRESS_2=34928&konum=1&kosm=m3_1&sight=sightseeing&sightseeing_id=210

On our way, we stopped at Gyeokpo Port, Chaeseokgang Cliff on the west coast. I was excited to see this beach area, since it was the first time I had been this south of Seoul. This port, was the headquarters of naval forces in old times, and served as the hub of sea transportation linking many islands to the Yellow Sea. The sea cliffs were just stunning, and Chaeseokgang Cliff resembles a stack of books.

Can you see all the small stacks of stones along the cliff? Do you know what they represent? I was curious myself. Stacking stones is actually a Buddhist precept, and is a form of worship and asking for good fortune. Read more about stacking stones here.

http://www.tomrchambers.com/index-96.html

Chaeseokgang Cliff with stacks of rocks on each layer.

Up close and personal with the stack of stones.

There was a pier that we didn't have enough time to go on, but it had a lighthouse at the end of it. Unfortunately, it was very overcast, and foggy, so the view isn't as clear as I'd have liked. The rocks along the coast, reminded me of the Grand Canyon. As you can see, some of them had green moss growing on them.

After spending an hour or so walking around enjoying the rocks, and cliffs, we had to board the bus to get to Naesosa temple. The temple is in a national park, so the views were stunning along the way.

Our goal of the templestay was to live like a monk for a day and a half. I knew monks led a strict, and disciplined life - although I didn't truly know how strict, till after the templestay weekend was finished.

When we arrived, we all had to change into the same outfit. It was killer hot on Saturday, and the outfit was a brownish colour, of long pants, and a long shirt that tied up at the neck. It was also way too big for me - which wasn't a complaint, since I'm used to Korean sizes being way too small. It wasn't exactly the coolest outfit. I thought I'd die of heat exhaustion before I became a monk (or at least lived like one). I was having visions of being in jail - with the only thing missing being the ball and chain.

Me (someone who looks like me), standing in front of the main temple gate.

One of the monks came to talk to us, and since he talked Korean, we couldn't understand him. There was a translator there to tranlate his words into English, but I got the feeling throughout the weekend that, a lot of what was said was, "lost in translation." Many times the translator had a hard time expressing himself in English, because he was also Korean, you see.

It was then time for dinner. We were advised not to talk at all once we entered the dining hall. Our meal was vegetarian and consisted of rice, kimchi, and a few other things that I wasn't quite sure of what they were. It was nice to be able to eat in silence. That is one thing that I enjoy is being able to eat a meal in contemplation, and solitude. Silence is hard to find, living in Seoul.

Aftewards, we got to make lotus lanterns from scratch. I enjoyed doing this, and put a lot into the process. In fact, It took me a long time to finish my lantern. I was the last person working on it; and while everyone was walking around me eating potatoes, (evening snack) I was adding more leaves to my lantern. The finished product could of looked better if I had more time, but then again, I knew no one would notice it but me.

Finished lotus lantern (with hard work of blood, sweat and tears;)

After the lotus lantern event, we had to get to bed. We were told that we would be woken up by the sound of a bell, at 3:30am. We ended up going to bed at 10:30pm, and all the girls slept in one small room on the floor, with a blanket and pillow. Of course I couldn't sleep, knowing that I'd have to get up in less than five hours. It was so hot in there, I thought I'd die. At least there were fans on the wall to help cool it down.

At 3:30am, I heard someone clapping in our room, and a bell being hit, in the distance. I could barely get up, but finally pulled myself up, when I was told that we had to be in the main temple hall in ten minutes. Being barely awake, we all walked to the main temple hall to chant, and bow to Buddha. The evening before, we were taught how to properly bow, and practiced bowing as a group. In the main temple, we had to chant, and bow many times before Buddha. The whole experience seemed surreal, but I did really enjoy it. It seemed very peaceful, and holy in a way that I can't describe. I left the temple feeling, more awake, and more like a monk than ever.

The main temple hall where we chanted and bowed at 4:00am on Sunday morning.

Inside the temple. Images of Buddha.

We then went back to the temple we slept in, and had to do a sitting meditation. We sat in two rows, in the half lotus position. The monk told us to focus on the question, "How can a fish survive without water?" At the time, I didn't realize how good a question it was to be able to focus on, as our thoughts drifted onto other things. I had done meditation a long time ago, so I knew what it was about. It was nice to be able to get back into it. I enjoyed the peacefulness about it, and could hear the birds through the screened doors.

After meditation, we had a traditional Korean breakfast. It took almost an hour just to set up for the breakfast. We were seated in two rows facing each other. We each were given a set of bowls/chopsticks/spoon/, all tied up in a bow. We were taught by the monk, how to set up our bowls, in an orderly fashion. Eight of us, had to serve the food from big stainless steel pots into each bowl, then we had to clean our bowls with fresh water, that was poured out of the biggest kettle I've ever seen. Once everything was served, and our bowls were in order placed in front of us, then we could eat in silence for fifteen minutes.

Here is the traditional breakfast set up.

Breakfast is about to be served. Side dishes of Kimchi, tofu, greens, and gim (seaweed).

After breakfast, we had half an hour to get ready to go on a four hour hike to a waterfall. I was quite tired, but looking forward to exploring more of the park. I'll write about it in my next story. Here are more pictures of the templestay area.

The temple that held the bronze bell that woke us up at 3:30am

A cool looking drinking fountain. The water was clean, and was drunk from the cups hanging by the side. I'm still trying to figure out why the turtle is on top of the dragon. Good fortune symbol perhaps?

The temple is well known for the 1000 year old, Dangsan tree, that people used to come to pray too. The picture doesn't do this tree justice. It is truly beautiful.

Canada Day in Korea ~ Woodstock style

miss_traveller — Tue, 3 Jul 2007 09:37:00 GMT

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Korea, held a Canadian Day event at Nanji campground in Sunday, July 1st. I had missed this event last year, and was determined to check it out this year. Am I ever glad that I did.

The weather was horrible. It had to be Murphy's Law that it decided to pour off and on all day on Canada Day. We weren't sure where the place was, so we took the subway to the station marked on the website, and decided to just walk straight. We walked for over fifteen minutes, and I was getting worried that we were going the wrong way.

After a good fifteen minutes, we saw the signs for Nanji campground, we could also hear the music blaring. We started singing along with, "It was the Summer of 69" by Bryan Adams that the band was playing. When we arrived, we just walked right in, but were told that we had to go to the front gate to check in. Once inside, we lined up for some great chicken shawarmas by Pita Pit. There were many big canopies set up, and there were many Canadians there, all dressed up in Canadian gear.

I was happy to see they had, "Moosehead" beer, and Red Rock. Both East coast beers. We grabbed some beers (nothing like drinking at 2pm in the afternoon), and waited in line for some grub. There must of been about 200 people or more there. While looking for a place to sit, I heard my name being called out.

My friend, Kerry, and her husband Phil were there. I was so happy to see them, cause we had met during our March training, and hit it off. They are Teachers from Toronto area. We sat with them, and met their friends.

They had a tug-of-war competition going on, and Phil was involved in it. I was told that the central team of Canada had already been put out of the competition. Too bad I missed getting into it. We watched the tug of war, and chit chatted for awhile. They had a raffle draw for a return ticket to Vancouver from Seoul. I was praying I would win it, for the reason that I've been saying I will get to the West coast for the last ten years or more. Unfortunately, I didn't win. A Korean girl won - go figure!

It was pouring all day, and most people were just sitting around, and drinking. I had brought a Canadian frisbee my Mom had sent over to me. We played frisbee in the rain, and had a good time. I heard some yelling, and saw that people had started to jump, and splash in the mud pit that was circling the front of the stage where the band was playing.

There were only a handful of people that were daring enough to get all muddied up. We were all watching, and taking pictures. I met my friend Aaron there, and he was in the mud. Next thing I know, Aaron comes up full of mud, and gives me a big hug. He also hugged my friend, Kerry. We both looked at each other, and decided to go run and play in the mud too. It was hilarious. We were having a mud fight. Aaron was sliding in the mud, and then his friend dared me to do a slide in the mud. I figured why not, cause I was already covered.

I ran and tried to slide in it. I don't think there was enough water in the mud, because I didn't slip as much as I wanted. I actually landed hard and ended up with cuts and scrapes on my elbow. I also hurt my side, and am seriously bruised on the side of my abdomen. That'll teach me to take dares. I wonder how old I am sometimes. :)

Well my friend, Daniella got all of this on camera. I wanted to get her in the mud but, she just wanted to take pictures. After all the mud fun, I went to clean off in the tap. I was covered with mud, and there were not showers. I had to go home like that, and I didn't live close either.

I was asked by my friends to go out for drinks after the party. The party ended at 6pm, and we were all pretty tipsy. I said, "I can't go like this" and they laughed, and said, "We are all muddy!" So, I couldn't really get out of it. Six of us somehow squished into a taxi, and headed for Itaewon for more drinks. The drive over to Itaewon was so much fun. We were all cracking jokes left and right. I was laughing so hard, I almost pissed myself.

We ended up going to the Canadian bar in Itaewon. It looked like we weren't the only ones with the same idea. The bar was packed like sardines. It was so hot in there also. We had a quick drink, and took off to another place. As we were walking to the other bar down the street. A Korea guy starts talking to us. He could hardly speak English, but he was soo funny. He kept saying, "Me friendwy" and "me you friend." A few of my friends stayed back and chatted with him. Me, Kerry, and Phil took off towards the bar. We ordered beer, and food. About ten minutes later, the rest of the crew shows up with this Korean guy.

He was hilarious. I think he was gay. He kept trying to hug my friend Phil. Later on, Phil said to us, "Let me take a poll, who is annoyed as fuck at this guy?" Only two of my friends out of six said they weren't annoyed by him. So, Phil switched seats. It was too funny. Me and Phil had a great conversation. He had been in Phuket, Thailand during the Tsunami. He was in Patong Beach area. He told me about the whole experience he had. It was a truly sad thing. He was amazed at the Thai people, and how altruistic they were.

I will be visiting Phil, and Kerry in Phuket, next month. They are staying at a Resort on Patong beach, and I'll go visit them. I can't wait. The night ended around 9pm, and I headed home with mud all over me. I sure got some funny looks on the subway. :)

What a Rush!!

miss_traveller — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 12:31:00 GMT

I DID IT!! On Sunday, I had the chance to go bungee jumping. I went on a day trip adventure with the group called, 'Adventure Korea.'
There was a mix of 28 people both Korean and foreigner, who went on this amazing rafting/bungee trip. We spent the day white water rafting along the Hantan river, in the suntam valley, Gangwon-do province. The whole rafting trip took about 2.5 hours, but the rapids were not very strong.
Unfortunately, monsoon season is just beginning, so the river felt like class 2 rapids. Compared to when I went white water rafting in Phang-Na, Thailand; this was very tame. The fun part though,was all the games they would get us to play during non-rapid times.
We stopped along the side at one point, and because it was a high level of land, they turned the raft over, covered it with water, and had us run down the hill, while slip sliding across the raft, into the water. We also did wrestling on an upsidedown raft, that was floating on the water.
My friend, thought she was tough, and tried to take me down..she wasn't prepared for a fight though. We both ended up in the water, laughing hysterically. We also played stand on the side of the raft and rock the boat to see who would fall in. I got soaked through, and through all day, and had a jolly ole time,body surfing down the rapids, while getting dinged on the butt from jutting rocks.
I heard a gross story from our experienced, good-looking Korean rafter guide (who spoke a little bit of English). He told us that the water was full of shit. I don't know what kind of shit, but some kind of animal dung. I don't know what he was talking about, but everyone was swimming in it anyway. I didn't smell shitty, so I figured it couldn't be that bad! haha.
After rafting, I was dead tired from all the dunking, and going overboard, while being pulled up lifevest first by our guide. I also knew that I was about to be challenged with going bungee jumping or not. My friend said she was going, so I said to her, "if you do it, I'll do it." Famous last words, I thought.
When we arrived at the bungee jumping point. I almost had a heart attack. The plank like, steel structure, was off a bridge that we had to climb up swivel stairs, to get to the top. I was told that the jump was 54 metres high. Me, and a few others, just stood watching people jump from the side of the bridge. My friend was already at the top, and yelling down to me to get my butt up there, stat.
I said to her matter-of-factly, that I was just watching what I was about to get myself into - meaning being a crazy ass 'daredevil' who was facing her worst fear.
I finally got up the nerve (after ten minutes) to go in, and climb the steps to the top platform where 17 others were waiting to be suited up to jump (and to take their lives into their hands). Most people were wearing harnesses that I've never seen bungee jumpers wear. I thought it was more of a foot pulley you were attached to.
Anyhow, he tried to suit me into a harness, but being the busty girl that I am; he couldn't fit it around my chest. No kidding!
He said the only option was to do the 'leg bungee.' I thought to myself, "come again my friend." There were only two or three others doing the leg style jump. Apparently, it is scarier, because you have to dive off the plank. My logical thinking at the time was that; I am already at the top, and if I chickened out, I would look like a big balk, balk chicken. Plus, I paid 30,000 won ;)
After a brief minute (felt like an eternity), I said okay, "let's do it." I waited a long time to jump, and it seemed like forever. I watched everyone thinking to myself - how crazy they are, and how crazy I'm about to be. Some looked more scared than others. One girl in particular, almost didn't jump. I was happy that she didn't chicken out.
Actually, I'm glad I didn't chicken out. Visions of me, in a chicken suit with eggs being shot at me, quickly crossed my mind.
When it came to my turn, I went close to the edge, but then held onto the side. The guy said to me, he would count to three, then I had to jump (dive more like it). He said, "don't hold onto the side." I thought, "yeah, easy for you to say buddy." After his first count, I couldn't jump. I have never, and I mean never, been that scared in my life. The scenery in front of me was breathtaking, and I was trying to focus on that.
There were mountains, forests, and houses dotting the countryside. I took a deep breath, and after his second count, I dove off the end, in a perfect swan dive, I might add.
I don't remember much about the jump except, It looked like I was going right into the water below me. As I was just about to hit the water, I was pulled back up, and that was the scariest part. I was oblivious as to where I was. I was just screaming as loud as a tyrant.
I bounced about five or six times. My top was about to come off, and I knew that I had to hold it down; and that was all I was concerned about at the time. Knowing that everyone, and I mean everyone (including the big group of drunk Koreans picnicing at the bottom of the hill), was watching me.
There was a boat waiting to grab me, but I couldn't stop bouncing. As I was about to get into the boat; I heard the drunk Koreans, yelling for the Korean guy in the boat to dunk me in the water. I was so petrified at that moment -being disoriented and all; that I landed in the boat head first. And, I have a huge 'goosehead' on my head to prove it people!
Well, once I got back on safe landing, there were many people waiting there, and I got a big hand for jumping. It was a freeing, and thrilling; albeit scary experience. I don't regret doing it in the least.
The ride home was sweet. Our bus had the music blaring, and I was really 'buzzed' for most of the trip home. What a memorable, and fun Sunday. The group guide took some pictures from up at the top. I will post it when I get the pictures.

Small Improvements count

miss_traveller — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 05:38:00 GMT

What a week! This past week I have been giving conversation tests to each student one-on-one. I am testing their knowledge of the lessons we have covered thus far. I was very happy to see that they have improved since the first time I interviewed them during the first week of March. I made five conversation questions to test what level each student was at when I started teaching in March. There was one similiar question that I added to the conversation interview this week.

The one thing that most of the grade six students didn't know was, "when is your birthday?" Over the last four months, one thing I did teach them was the months, and ordinal numbers. The majority of the students could answer this question this week. I was quite pleased about it. I remember when I first asked this question to them in March, I got weird stares, and most of them can say their birthdays like 5/10. They also don't know what year they were born in. What a bad habit that the Koreans have, in teaching the students their birthdays using number short form, and not saying the month or ordinal number.

The students seemed to do better in conversation then in the writing test that we gave them last week. I am not overly surprised at this, because the textbook has two sentences for them to copy. I spent a bit of time on writing during class, but have only forty minutes to do it all. Unfortunately, I only teach 80 minutes a week on one theme. The other eighty minutes is from the textbook; which my co-teacher teaches.

Another exciting thing happened this week. I started teaching an afternoon English class to Grade one students. I really miss my little ones from working in the 'hogwan' last year. I taught kindergarten, and loved that class to death. So, this week was challenging, because they barely know a word of English except their ABC's. At least they know that.

Today I played a fun game, and had them make funny team names for each pair. We had the tigers, rabbits, cats, rainbow, and Korea fighting team. I got to do some funky drawings on the whiteboard and act like they were going down a ski hill. They had to answer my questions based on what I was teaching them. If they got the right answer then they could move slowly down the ski hill.

I was acting as if I was each animal, and I got them laughing so hard. I really miss my kindergartens for that. Little kids love when you get a bit 'nutty' and act out things. I have seven weeks of teaching them left, and I can see their progress everyday. There is only ten students in the class so I get to know them more. I like that part of only teaching ten as opposed to 38 in my other classes.

I'm going white water rafting this Sunday. I may also go bungee jumping if I get the nerve. My fear of heights will make it a challenging jump if I can do it. If I do it then, the skies the limit..muahahaha!!

Today's Rant - Rote Learning is a Crock of Shit

miss_traveller — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 09:49:00 GMT

Rote learning is a learning technique which avoids understanding the inner complexities and inferences of the subject that is being learned and instead focuses on memorizing the material so that it can be recalled by the learner exactly the way it was read or heard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rote_learning

The textbook that we use in the classroom is based on rote learning for the most part. Today was frustrating because one of my grade six classes missed last week because of a field trip. So, today my co-teacher informed me that he was going to whiz through Chapter 6. Because we teach an 80 minute class, I usually expand on the chapter for forty minutes. I don't follow the textbook, but I use games and activities that encourage them to speak English. I think the more they use dialogue, and other interactive games, the more they will improve their conversational English.

The text book which is also the national curriculum for primary schools in Seoul; covers different chapters on different themes. Today we were studying the theme of occupations. Me and my Korean co-teacher, teach two 80 minute periods to cover one chapter. This is not enough to cover the topic in any depth, nor let alone learn anything. There is usually one half a page on writing, a song, and the rest on scenarios between two English speakers - which for the most part, has bad accents.

Why does my co-teacher have the need to have them repeat everything all the time. For example; today he had them repeat the phrase - "my dad is a pilot," about ten times. The students didn't even learn about jobs, what are the different types of jobs or any introduction to the subject. They were just repeating this phrase. I mean, WTF? I don't think he realizes that the students aren't learning anything by constantly repeating a sentence.

I know that drilling is good at times for pronunication purposes, but only if needed. I continually shake my head at the education system here. Being my first year in a government publicly funded school (but have previously taught one year in a private language school), I am learning why my Grade six students, who will go to middle school next year, can not even have a simple conversation, write the months or ordinal numbers, nor, write a grammatically correct sentence.

I was told by the government that hired me,that the reason why they put Native English speakers into the classroom is to bring some of our 'western teaching methods' to the table. But, in what capacity I ask?

On a more positive note, small changes are being made in my school. I feel that my co-teacher is open-minded to an extent that he lets me teach at least half of the lesson, the way I want to teach it, and not have to follow the textbook to the tee. Next semester, I have a new co-teacher and I hope that she is not as controlling, and allows me to teach the whole eighty minutes, and not have to follow the textbook.

I felt bad for the kids today. There are a minority that are interested in learning English. Most of the kids seem to think it is not important. Why should they learn English when it is not spoken on a regular basis outside of the school? I even have trouble getting the staff that do speak some English at my school, to speak in English. I am always told by my co-teacher that the reason why they don't speak English even when they know it, is because they are shy, or they are afraid of making mistakes. Well, that's great, but how are they going to learn and become better at the language? Not all Koreans that I've met are like this, I will add.

The push to learn English is strong in Korea. There are hundreds or even thousands of parents that send their kids to a private language institute after school to learn more English. It is the students that are in private language schools that seem to know a lot more English in my classroom. There are about half of them that go to a private institute. The other half are not as lucky in that, from Grades 1-3, they aren't instructed in English. In Grade three, they are not taught any English writing skills, and the focus is on conversation (or shall I say, rote learning).

I will not stay teaching at a public school next year. I will do what I can do this year, to help those students who want to learn. The ones who raise their hands when I ask for volunteers, the ones that bring their books to class, and do their homework. This experience has been an eye opener on so many levels.