Hiking and Making Friends

I am sorry I have not updated recently. It has been a very busy month. This weekend it another long weekend for us. It is Korea's National Foundation Day on Monday, which celebrates the creation of Gojoseon (ancient Korea). So that means I have no school on Monday, YAY!

Anyway this post is not about the holiday, this is about my adventure I had today. So I have been wanting to go hiking for awhile now and Korea is full of places to go hiking, especially in my area. I have not been able to go because I was unsure of where any of the hiking trails were and also because it has been too hot to go hiking. Now that autumn has come, the weather is cooling off but we still have beautiful sunny days. Perfect for hiking.

I went hiking today up one of the peaks near by, which was 469 meters uphill. Towards the beginning of the trail there is a temple. When I got to the temple there was a monk who came down and greeted meet. He spoke a little bit of English and so we were able to communicate with each other a little bit. He asked where I was from and then he offered me some water from the fountain. He then looked at my palm to look at my lines and said "good". I'm assuming he was looking at my "life lines." He also asked if I was a christian. He was very nice.

Then just after I had left the temple, there were some adjoshi's (older men) taking a breaking and eating some apples. As I walked by one of the adjoshi's had an apple cut and on his knife and he offered it to me. I at first said no in Korean but he kept insisting. So I took the apple and thanked him and went on my way. On my journey up the mountain, even though it is a short distance, it was all uphill. It was pretty steep. There were sometimes makeshift steps and from where my foot stood on the ground, the step would be as tall as the top part of my shin (a little over a foot tall). But I was finally able to reach the the top. The view of the city was beautiful. And the leaves were already changing colors faster than they were in the city. When I was at the top, another adjoshi wanted to talk with my in English. He told me about how he has been to the US twice and some other stuff.

Gunpo

 

After making it to the top and then eating a sandwich, I headed down. Going down was easier than going up but it was really bad on my knees. I really enjoyed the hike, though. Next time I go hiking I'm gonna hike Taeeulbong Peak, which is 489 meters.

Walking the Neighborhood

I went on a walk in my neighborhood today. Was able to walk around and get more acquainted with it. I've been walking the same path to and from work and to and from the station and have not done much in the city other than that. So I wanted to go out and follow a path and then eventually end up back to my apartment building. I was able to make an odd circular shape and make it back to mu building. Here are some photos.

Chuseok (Korean Thanksgivng)

This weekend is one of the big holidays for Koreans. It is a time when family members come together to share food and stories with each other and to give thanks to their ancestors for an abundant harvest. At my school they wanted the little kindergarten kids to learn some of the customs that go along with Chuseok. This includes all the children wearing their hanboks (traditional Korean clothes), and that includes me wearing one too!

We also learned the art of tea making and drinking. While making the tea we were told to have a clear mind, to meditate while we are making it. The tea itself didn't really taste like tea. It tasted like warm water with maybe a hint of some sort of flavor. I feel it needed to brew longer. They were having us brew it for only a minute.

Then on Friday, we learned a couple tradition Korean games, we learned a dance, and we learned how to make rice cakes.

For the games, we learned jegi chagi, which is basically a form of hacky sack. We also learned how to play paengi-chigi, which is a game where you spin a top and have to try and knock it over with a rope. Another game we learned is called tuho, which is where we throw an arrow into a large pot. We played another game (I don't remember what it was called) where we had a small basket on our head with a wooden block inside and we had to walk to the other side of the room and drop the block out of the basket on our head to try and knock down a block that is on the ground.

We also learned a Korean traditional dance called, Ganggangsullae. This is a Korean circle dance performed by women and children. In the dance we would hold hands and sing along with the music. We would also let go of each other hands and move our hands back and forth, in and out of the circle.

One last thing we learned was how to make Songpyeon. They are a traditional type of food eaten during Chuseok. Your first start by getting a small piece of rice cake and flattening it out to make a circle. You then stuff it with either red beans, raisins, sesame seeds, or chestnuts. We had the choice of raisins or red beans. Once you have placed the stuffing on the circular rice cake, you wrap it up to form a ball. While I was making my songpyeon, one of my Korean co-teachers made the comment to me that if I make a beautiful songpyeon I will meet a good-looking spouse (if single) or give birth to a beautiful daughter (if married). The rice cakes are then packaged with pine needles to add a fragrance to the rice cakes.

That is all for now. I'm gonna try and get to one of the palaces during the holiday because they put on some special events for the holiday.
You can find more photos on my flickr account!
Find out more at these websites!

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

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

End of my First Week of Teaching

Hey yall, it has been one week since I have been teaching on my own now. I feel pretty confident that everything is going very well. Even when I was still in training my co-teachers and the person who is in charge were surprised how well I was able to jump in and teach well. I have experience with working with younger kids and so that gives me a bit of an advantage. I have also heard from some of the other teachers that when they first started, there was always someone watching their classes but so far in this last week my classes have only been watched a couple times.

Here in Korea they are all about discipline, so I have to discipline my children. It’s nothing really bad but if they get in trouble a couple times I would either have them stand in front of their chairs or stand in the corner with their hands up. And those aren’t even the worse of them. If they keep acting up I would send them to the principal and he will discipline them much more than I would. But that is just how Korean culture is. It is much different from the states. In the states, to even put a child in the corner with their hands up, I would get in trouble.

So about the classes I teach, I have a class of kindergarteners that are about 4 or 5 years old (and I think that is their Korean age). There are four of them, one girl and three boys. So far they are my favorite class. They are able to speak in English a lot better than some of my older kids and they are able comprehend a lot better too. I have one class of 1^st graders, two classes of 2^nd graders, and two classes of 3^rd graders. And then I have a class of 6^th graders, but they use a different program then my other classes. With the MeySen program, we teach children English through songs, poems, and stories. So I have been singing a lot since I have gotten here but it is fun.

The week has been very tiring but once I start to get used to teaching and all I will most likely be less tired as the week’s end. That’s all for know. I will post again soon!

Trickeye Museum

Today is the Independence Day for Korea, aka I got the day off. It is interesting being here when they have their Independence Day because it is just so different from the ones I have in the states. In the states, we would celebrate with fireworks but I have not seen any fireworks. It might also just be because of the area I live in.

In celebration of having the day off, me and some of the other english teachers at my school decided to go to Hongdae. It is one of the many neighborhoods within the Seoul. Hongdae is where Hongik University is and is known as the entertainment area and clubbing district, though we did not go for clubbing. One of the teachers found out about a museum called the Trick Eye Museum and so we all decided to go on our day off.

The introduction of the pamphlet states:
"Trickeye Museum is an interactive museum with a new concept that simulates your creativity and imagination by Trompe-l'œil (eye-tricking, French) technique through your vision. The time has come when you can enter the picture, which you used to only watch and become the subject of the picture yourself! You are invited to the world of various masterpieces and wonderful three dimensional pictures."

It was a very fun and interesting. Here are some of my favorite images.

(make this one bigger, it plays with your eyes)

You can find more images on my Flickr photostream!

If you want to find out more about the museum here is a link to their Facebook page because it is in English as opposed to their website.
Trickeye Museum Facebook

Finally Made It

I have finally made it to Korea. It took me a while to get here but I finally made it! I have already had a very busy first 24 hours here. I was picked up from the airport by my director who took my to one of my co-teachers apartment, where I will be staying for a couple weeks.

We went out to dinner near by and had Gogi Gui, or Korean BBQ, where we barbecue the meet at the table. We then wrap the meet in lettuce and other side dishes. After it has been wrapped up, you stuff it in your mouth. It is an interesting experience. We also had some rice and a soup/stew dish that was red in color, aka spicy, with clams, a crab leg, and some random vegetables.

It was around 9:30pm when we got back to the apartment and an hour later I was able to fall asleep with no struggle. I was able to get about eight to nine hours of sleep. I have not felt jet lag at all and hopefully it stays that way.

Today I was able to meet a friend, from the states, in Seoul. She has been in Japan for the past month and was visiting Korea for a couple days. I met her in Namdaemun Market and we basically just walked around for a couple hours exploring. It is a very large market and had a lot of different items. I wanted to take a couple photos but then realized my camera battery was dead, so I ended up having to take photos with my iTouch.

As a Washingtonian I had never used an umbrella when it rained. I even swore I wouldn't use one here. Well there is a difference between the rain here in Korea and the rain in Washington. When it rains in Washington, it usually just starts out as a sprinkle then it may pour but eventually stops moments later. Being in Korea at the end of Monsoon season, as soon as it starts to rain it is pouring constantly. Not only is it raining it is also very humid out. So most Koreans are wearing flip flops, shorts and a t-shirt while walking around with an umbrella. Not only is it the end of monsoon season, but we have also been affected by Typhoon Muifa which has been going through the Yellow Sea to the west or Korea. So when I went to Seoul I used an umbrella while walking around.

So that's all for now. I start my training tomorrow!

Leaving on Saturday

It is official; I am finally leaving the United States on Saturday, August 6th! After having to send paperwork to D.C., I am only leaving 6 days past the original planned departure date. With the plane ticket all purchased, it feels so real now. When I received the email from my director last night at 2 am, I was unable to get hardly any sleep. I was able to finally go to the Korean embassy in Seattle to submit my Visa application and will be receiving it on Friday so I am able to fly out on Saturday. I will be flying out of Seattle at 9:30 am for a 2-hour flight to San Francisco. I will then have about a 2-hour layover to explore. Then at 2:10pm I will be on my way for a 12-hour flight to Seoul. I will be arriving in Seoul at 6:35pm on Sunday, or 2:35am our time. This will most likely be my last blog until I reach Korea so I will inform you more once I am over there.