Today was my first day "teaching" at the summer camp--I use quotes because I was only teaching one 45 minute class. It was still a busy day, though, as I had my own Korean language class all morning and then had to rush to the English language classroom to set up my computer (never thought I'd say this, but I used Powerpoint), and after that all I had time to do was run out to the shop to buy some kimbab (rice balls with kimchi meat wrapped in seaweed) and juice for lunch before the class. X_x
Anyways, since the class was doing an overarching theme of fairytales, I did a lesson on monsters. I'm not sure if they actually learned anything from it, tbh (you know how vocab goes in one ear and out the other), but as the class was 9 boys out of 12 students, they were pretty into the monster theme. As a starter, I showed pictures from D-Wars/World of Warcraft/The Host, which I knew they'd all recognize. And I got pretty much all of the kids to say at least one thing, which was my goal from the start. I thought I would be nervous as hell during the lesson but I really wasn't, actually. I didn't even feel like me really, I was 100% obsessed with monsters and slow-speed English for the whole lesson. It did learn a lot from this one experience, however, such as that I need to prepare even more in the future.
Today was intermediate English. Next week I teach advanced and beginner (beginner is a joint lesson). Good luck me!
In other news--never have I been so glad to own an umbrella. Monsoon season is definitely starting to kick off, and it's as if the heavens have opened and are falling in buckets of rain. This really explains why Korea is so green (and northern China is so dry by comparison). The whole week is supposed to be like this. Is it too early to start singing, "Rain, rain, go away...."?
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Songnisan!;
Hi again! Sorry about the lack of regular updates, the last week has been a bit of a blur. This weekend we took a three day trip to Songnisan National Park, which is located in the middle of the country. It was a chance for us to relax and take in the nature et cetera et cetera. Dispute the typhoon warnings, I had a fabulous time.
I cannot textually convey just how amazingly pretty rural Korea can be, so instead: pictures!
Taken from the bus. Farmland! Maybe I'm just staying in an especially farm-y area, but it seems like every stretch of open land is being used to grow corn/rice/potatoes/apples/etc. I find it quite lovely; where I live in America has practically no farms.
On the bus. Like the purple fringe/doilies? Koreans like to decorate everything, it seems.
Lunch! This meal was amazing. We had over a dozen different side dishes, a communal soup (in Korea, almost everything is eaten communally), rice, fish...... it was all so much. I ate too much, but it was all so delicious. (Except for the mushrooms, ick. I really did try, but I still can't eat mushrooms!)
Kirstin and me, mid-meal. My legs were probably asleep at this point--sitting on the floor is hard (no pun intended).
A shot of our hotel room. 4 people to a room. "But were are the beds?" I hear you ask. Good question! We were staying in a traditional Korean-style room, which means that the guests just set up mattress pads on the floor to make their beds. The mattress pads and blankets are kept in a side closet during the day. It's not that bad, but I have to admit that I did miss my dorm bed a bit.
Inside the Songnisan forest, walking to the Buddhist temple. Korean forests are really something.
Drinking mountain spring water is supposed to be good for your health. It didn't taste all that special to me, but I was told that was because we were at the base of the mountain. The water tastes better the closer you are to the peak.
My, this isn't Chinese at all.
A closer shot of the same gate. It was was really beautiful, but it did remind me a lot of traditional Chinese architecture. I thought Korean architecture didn't use the same colour scheme? (i.e. lots of red.)
Korean! Nature! Oh I love it so! I went truly snap-happy while I was at Songnisan.
...... And that is one BIG Buddha. Seriously, I have been to many a Buddhist temple, but never have I seem a Buddha this impressive.
One of the pagodas(?)/temples in the Buddhist temple area.
Another shot of the pagoda. I thought the bells were an interesting touch.
Raisa and me in front of the temple/pagoda! And yes, skinny jeans in 90% humidity was totally comfortable.
Grace trying to teach me how to sel-ka (take a picture of oneself). I kind of failed. This is an important skill that I must acquire in Korea, or risk being a social outcast! XD
I was happy that I got this quick shot of the monks walking around the courtyard.
A beautiful little shrine. Inside is a golden Buddha statue.
While we were visiting the temple, the monks happened to be doing a special drum/bell-ringing service. I don't know, it was just really cool. The monks were pretty impressive drummers, too.
Much, much later that evening, a group of us found ourselves engaging in Songnisan's only social event: karaoke. (Known as noraebang here.) Karaoke in Asia means that each group gets a private room in which to embarrass themselves, complete with a disco ball!
A full shot of the whole noraebang private room.
The next day, we were given the whole day to ourselves to do whatever we wanted: hike, sleep, eat, etc. Most of us wanted to go hiking....... until we were informed of the typhoon warnings and were not allowed to go out on the trails. = ( I was very sad about that. But, made the most of it and wanted around the town, instead.
Pretty (man-made?) waterfall in the center of town. Almost every place around Songnisan was a photo-op.
This tree is famous! Apparently! That's why it's begin help up by all those wooden planks now. Apparently, legend goes, one of the past kings ordered that tree to be chopped down, but they were unable to do. (Don't ask me why. The tree was too resilient?) The king was so impressed by the tree's resilience that he made it a minister. This is almost as good as Caligula and his horse. You can't tell btw, but this picture was taken in the pouring rain. It was pretty miserable.
Caught in the pouring rain in South Korea. But at least it's still beautiful landscape!
Mist/steam? rising off the mountains after the rain finally stopped. It was pretty humid.
Even though it's in the middle of nowhere, Songnisan manages to have a fair amount of neon. The place really lights up at night--even though it's so quiet and almost no one else is around.
On the final morning, the sun came out--of course. I took a quick hike by myself, because that was all I had time for. I look forward to trying some real trails in the future, though. Korea's extremely mountainous and hiking is practically the national sport.
So what did I learn this weekend? 1) That rural Korea is really quite beautiful (I guess that shouldn't be a surprise, but if you've seen rural nothern China like I have.....); 2) a lot about Buddhism that I hadn't previously known, or even thought of; 3) that I can still karaoke to songs I haven't heard in years, such as......... the Bee Gees and 4) that I really, really, really had to buy an umbrella.
Pretty good weekend, all in all.
+++
In more recent news, it's summer camp time here! For the next two weeks, we're hosting an English summer camp for over 100 kids from all over South Korea. Most of the classes are taught by past English teachers, but we're teaching classes on our own, too. My first class is Thursday. Wish me......... luck. ^^;; According to someone who already taught them, my class is mostly apathetic, unresponsive boys. So it sounds like I have my work cut out for me. Yay! This weekend as well, we're hosting a bunch of games and competitions. Speaking of which, my group is meeting a few minutes to discuss that.....
PS: I accidentally ate intestine this weekend! As is often the case with Korean food, I had no idea what I was eating, but it wasn't too bad. = ) (Sometimes I can't even tell if I'm eating meat or vegetable. It makes for interesting meal times.)
I cannot textually convey just how amazingly pretty rural Korea can be, so instead: pictures!
Taken from the bus. Farmland! Maybe I'm just staying in an especially farm-y area, but it seems like every stretch of open land is being used to grow corn/rice/potatoes/apples/etc. I find it quite lovely; where I live in America has practically no farms.
On the bus. Like the purple fringe/doilies? Koreans like to decorate everything, it seems.
Lunch! This meal was amazing. We had over a dozen different side dishes, a communal soup (in Korea, almost everything is eaten communally), rice, fish...... it was all so much. I ate too much, but it was all so delicious. (Except for the mushrooms, ick. I really did try, but I still can't eat mushrooms!)
Kirstin and me, mid-meal. My legs were probably asleep at this point--sitting on the floor is hard (no pun intended).
A shot of our hotel room. 4 people to a room. "But were are the beds?" I hear you ask. Good question! We were staying in a traditional Korean-style room, which means that the guests just set up mattress pads on the floor to make their beds. The mattress pads and blankets are kept in a side closet during the day. It's not that bad, but I have to admit that I did miss my dorm bed a bit.
Inside the Songnisan forest, walking to the Buddhist temple. Korean forests are really something.
Drinking mountain spring water is supposed to be good for your health. It didn't taste all that special to me, but I was told that was because we were at the base of the mountain. The water tastes better the closer you are to the peak.
My, this isn't Chinese at all.
A closer shot of the same gate. It was was really beautiful, but it did remind me a lot of traditional Chinese architecture. I thought Korean architecture didn't use the same colour scheme? (i.e. lots of red.)
Korean! Nature! Oh I love it so! I went truly snap-happy while I was at Songnisan.
...... And that is one BIG Buddha. Seriously, I have been to many a Buddhist temple, but never have I seem a Buddha this impressive.
One of the pagodas(?)/temples in the Buddhist temple area.
Another shot of the pagoda. I thought the bells were an interesting touch.
Raisa and me in front of the temple/pagoda! And yes, skinny jeans in 90% humidity was totally comfortable.
Grace trying to teach me how to sel-ka (take a picture of oneself). I kind of failed. This is an important skill that I must acquire in Korea, or risk being a social outcast! XD
I was happy that I got this quick shot of the monks walking around the courtyard.
A beautiful little shrine. Inside is a golden Buddha statue.
While we were visiting the temple, the monks happened to be doing a special drum/bell-ringing service. I don't know, it was just really cool. The monks were pretty impressive drummers, too.
Much, much later that evening, a group of us found ourselves engaging in Songnisan's only social event: karaoke. (Known as noraebang here.) Karaoke in Asia means that each group gets a private room in which to embarrass themselves, complete with a disco ball!
A full shot of the whole noraebang private room.
The next day, we were given the whole day to ourselves to do whatever we wanted: hike, sleep, eat, etc. Most of us wanted to go hiking....... until we were informed of the typhoon warnings and were not allowed to go out on the trails. = ( I was very sad about that. But, made the most of it and wanted around the town, instead.
Pretty (man-made?) waterfall in the center of town. Almost every place around Songnisan was a photo-op.
This tree is famous! Apparently! That's why it's begin help up by all those wooden planks now. Apparently, legend goes, one of the past kings ordered that tree to be chopped down, but they were unable to do. (Don't ask me why. The tree was too resilient?) The king was so impressed by the tree's resilience that he made it a minister. This is almost as good as Caligula and his horse. You can't tell btw, but this picture was taken in the pouring rain. It was pretty miserable.
Caught in the pouring rain in South Korea. But at least it's still beautiful landscape!
Mist/steam? rising off the mountains after the rain finally stopped. It was pretty humid.
Even though it's in the middle of nowhere, Songnisan manages to have a fair amount of neon. The place really lights up at night--even though it's so quiet and almost no one else is around.
On the final morning, the sun came out--of course. I took a quick hike by myself, because that was all I had time for. I look forward to trying some real trails in the future, though. Korea's extremely mountainous and hiking is practically the national sport.
So what did I learn this weekend? 1) That rural Korea is really quite beautiful (I guess that shouldn't be a surprise, but if you've seen rural nothern China like I have.....); 2) a lot about Buddhism that I hadn't previously known, or even thought of; 3) that I can still karaoke to songs I haven't heard in years, such as......... the Bee Gees and 4) that I really, really, really had to buy an umbrella.
Pretty good weekend, all in all.
+++
In more recent news, it's summer camp time here! For the next two weeks, we're hosting an English summer camp for over 100 kids from all over South Korea. Most of the classes are taught by past English teachers, but we're teaching classes on our own, too. My first class is Thursday. Wish me......... luck. ^^;; According to someone who already taught them, my class is mostly apathetic, unresponsive boys. So it sounds like I have my work cut out for me. Yay! This weekend as well, we're hosting a bunch of games and competitions. Speaking of which, my group is meeting a few minutes to discuss that.....
PS: I accidentally ate intestine this weekend! As is often the case with Korean food, I had no idea what I was eating, but it wasn't too bad. = ) (Sometimes I can't even tell if I'm eating meat or vegetable. It makes for interesting meal times.)
Monday, July 14, 2008
Today was my first day of taekwondo classes. God are my legs going to kill me tomorrow. X_x And this is four times a week! But it's kind of exciting to be doing martial arts again.
Anyways: this Saturday, a bunch of us went to Seoul and did exciting, touristy things in the rain. Oh boy did it rain. (I cannot wait for Monsoon season.) Given the enormity of Seoul and lack of time, we only saw a few places. I hope to go back soon and see some other neighbourhoods! Here are the pictures I took from this trip:
Still in Chuncheon, at the train station. It was pouring then. Isn't it pretty? XD
...... Also very pretty is the outskirts of Seoul next to the train tracks. Not.
Inside one of Seoul's many shopping malls. This one is on the top level of Yongsan station, where we also got lunch. The shops were pretty nice, actually, but way expensive. I saw a couple of American military guys walking around here and they kinda scared me. O_o
When you leave Yongsan station, this is what you see.
The Koreans love their steps. I have climbed thousands of steps since getting to Korea.
View from the entrance of the War Memorial Museum (....... I think that was the name). The front plaza was very impressive in sheer size alone.
Trying to take a picture of the actual entrance to the museum and failing. It was huge. The whole museum was huge.
The front hallway of the museum was lined with bronze busts of modern war heroes; each had a commemorative plaque stating what they had done to earn their medal. I found this one simply too depressing for words--the guy died in training--so I decided to take a picture. 'Cos I'm weird like that.
Still in the museum.
These are from the Chosun Dynasty, I just found them very well-crafted.
As the Koreans say in English, "handsome guy."
I admit it, I took this picture solely for Elizabeth. XD Also Josun Dynasty-era (so hundreds and hundreds of years old).
...... I also took this pic for another person. They know who they are. = ) A Colt M1851(?), from Korea's early interaction period with the West.
The entrance to the Korean War exhibit hall was a round room playing 360 degrees of war footage videos. I don't think my camera really conveyed the intensity.
...... A boat. Just a boat.
A ceiling, STILL in the museum I took so many pictures there. (Because it wasn't raining in the museum!)
At dinnertime, we ended up in the Itaewon area, which oddly enough serves mostly foreign food. (It's a foreigner/expat area.) This place an extremely small burger joint. They had 10 plus different types of burgers on the menu, including an homage to the In-n-Out burger! BTW, you can see the back wall of the restaurant in this picture: it's the thing with all the frames hanging on it. Veeery small place.
Funny how I remembered to take a picture of a coke bottle but not my meal. Oh, well. (I had half of an avocado burger and half of a "California" burger, for anyone who's actually curious. Australian beef is pretty good, haha.)
And finally, people! Just to prove that I did not wander the streets of Seoul alone. (No pics of me this time, I was too busy running in and out of the rain to pose much.) This is at a bar in Itaewon, which was populated by USFK men and Korean women, LOTS of Korean women. Guinness cost $8 a pint. Seoul is expensive, and Itaewon even more so!
Wow, I actually made all through these. *phew* Now on to my schoolwork--I have a camp lesson to plan and not enough time to do it in.....
Anyways: this Saturday, a bunch of us went to Seoul and did exciting, touristy things in the rain. Oh boy did it rain. (I cannot wait for Monsoon season.) Given the enormity of Seoul and lack of time, we only saw a few places. I hope to go back soon and see some other neighbourhoods! Here are the pictures I took from this trip:
Still in Chuncheon, at the train station. It was pouring then. Isn't it pretty? XD
...... Also very pretty is the outskirts of Seoul next to the train tracks. Not.
Inside one of Seoul's many shopping malls. This one is on the top level of Yongsan station, where we also got lunch. The shops were pretty nice, actually, but way expensive. I saw a couple of American military guys walking around here and they kinda scared me. O_o
When you leave Yongsan station, this is what you see.
The Koreans love their steps. I have climbed thousands of steps since getting to Korea.
View from the entrance of the War Memorial Museum (....... I think that was the name). The front plaza was very impressive in sheer size alone.
Trying to take a picture of the actual entrance to the museum and failing. It was huge. The whole museum was huge.
The front hallway of the museum was lined with bronze busts of modern war heroes; each had a commemorative plaque stating what they had done to earn their medal. I found this one simply too depressing for words--the guy died in training--so I decided to take a picture. 'Cos I'm weird like that.
Still in the museum.
These are from the Chosun Dynasty, I just found them very well-crafted.
As the Koreans say in English, "handsome guy."
I admit it, I took this picture solely for Elizabeth. XD Also Josun Dynasty-era (so hundreds and hundreds of years old).
...... I also took this pic for another person. They know who they are. = ) A Colt M1851(?), from Korea's early interaction period with the West.
The entrance to the Korean War exhibit hall was a round room playing 360 degrees of war footage videos. I don't think my camera really conveyed the intensity.
...... A boat. Just a boat.
A ceiling, STILL in the museum I took so many pictures there. (Because it wasn't raining in the museum!)
At dinnertime, we ended up in the Itaewon area, which oddly enough serves mostly foreign food. (It's a foreigner/expat area.) This place an extremely small burger joint. They had 10 plus different types of burgers on the menu, including an homage to the In-n-Out burger! BTW, you can see the back wall of the restaurant in this picture: it's the thing with all the frames hanging on it. Veeery small place.
Funny how I remembered to take a picture of a coke bottle but not my meal. Oh, well. (I had half of an avocado burger and half of a "California" burger, for anyone who's actually curious. Australian beef is pretty good, haha.)
And finally, people! Just to prove that I did not wander the streets of Seoul alone. (No pics of me this time, I was too busy running in and out of the rain to pose much.) This is at a bar in Itaewon, which was populated by USFK men and Korean women, LOTS of Korean women. Guinness cost $8 a pint. Seoul is expensive, and Itaewon even more so!
Wow, I actually made all through these. *phew* Now on to my schoolwork--I have a camp lesson to plan and not enough time to do it in.....
Sunday, July 13, 2008
First post;
Hey everyone! It's taken me waaaay too long to set this thing up. Mainly because I have been so busy this last week. Has it really only been a week since I landed in Korea? It feels more like a month, to be honest. Everyday we're in Korean language class from 9 am until 1 pm, then we have lectures from 2 pm - 5 pm, and the dining hall closes at 6:30. Starting tomorrow, too, I'm taking taekwondo lessons from 5 pm until 6 pm, and on top of helping a past Fulbright fellow in his linguistics study and trying to get involved in the Korean-English student exchange club, I am going to be..... very busy.
And with that cheery intro..... Welcome to my "Korea" blog! I'll be using this site to talk about my year in Korea; I'm better at blogging than personally emailing everyone, sorry for those of you who love email. I feel a bit self conscious doing this, as a lot of other ETA's are doing blogs, too, and given the amount of English majors we have in the program, mine will definitely be the blog with the worst writing and grammar. For anyone who happens to accidentally google this, consider yourself warned. = )
Anyways, right now I am living in a dorm in Chuncheon, eating too much kimchee and dying of the extreme Korean humidity. But at least I'm experiencing Korean, er, "culture." Stay tuned for later entries that will have real content! Right now I need to finish studying for my quiz tomorrow.
And with that cheery intro..... Welcome to my "Korea" blog! I'll be using this site to talk about my year in Korea; I'm better at blogging than personally emailing everyone, sorry for those of you who love email. I feel a bit self conscious doing this, as a lot of other ETA's are doing blogs, too, and given the amount of English majors we have in the program, mine will definitely be the blog with the worst writing and grammar. For anyone who happens to accidentally google this, consider yourself warned. = )
Anyways, right now I am living in a dorm in Chuncheon, eating too much kimchee and dying of the extreme Korean humidity. But at least I'm experiencing Korean, er, "culture." Stay tuned for later entries that will have real content! Right now I need to finish studying for my quiz tomorrow.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)