OMG they are so cute!

Sorry it has been so long!

Next week is Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving holiday) and the kindergarten kids all dressed up in traditional Korean clothes today… OMG…. SO CUTE!! I have to share some photos because I am really attached to these wonderful kids! They keep me SO happy!!

It’s been 5 months and summer vacation!

I can’t believe it has been five months already. Time flies so quickly here it’s unreal. We’re almost done with July… two new teachers arrived and it definitely brought me back to how overwhelmed I felt when I was new. One of our teachers is leaving. I will miss her. Half of our supervisors left too, so we have two new ones that are fitting in very well.

This week is our week off and we’ve been waiting for it for so long! I am on my way to Bali, Indonesia. I have a connecting flight in Osaka, Japan and that is where I am right now… relaxing and getting a few things done before my flight. I will be in Bali about five days and then head to Tokyo! I am very excited to go there and see the things there are too see. Unfortunately the stay isn’t long there but it’ll still be FULL of sushi! WOOHOO! I will update when I get back with pictures and stories!!

Hiked Seoraksan for 12 hours!

A few weeks ago I made a crazy choice to sign up for a 10-hour hike up and down one of Korean’s highest mountains called Seoraksan. The hike turned out to be 12 hours… majority of which was in the rain. It was intense but I wanted to see if I could handle it. Mind you… this is the first time I have really ever hiked. Before this I hiked for about an hour or two up a small mountain in Suji.

We started hiking at 2:30am on Saturday with guide lights on our heads. It was pitch black, rocky and often steep. I am quite amazed that I survived it. The first six hours went by pretty fast. As it got lighter out we headed up into the clouds and saw the amazing scenery from the top of the mountain. As we neared the top, it started to mist and then rain. No part of my wardrobe was spared. At the top of the mountain I went to a shelter where I bought a poncho. I figured the climb down would be easier…. boy was I wrong!

The climb down was steep, very rocky.. with occasional neverending stairs. After a few hours of that, it really did a number on my knees. At one point, as I was slowly making my way down the wet, slippery rocks, a Korean man gave me his hiking gloves so I can grab onto things easier. Then when I got down about a 100 feet, his wife gave me some painkillers and sprayed my knees with some pain relieving menthol stuff. It felt great. I spent a lot of time with a woman named Sandy. We spent a lot of time talking and that passed the time. We took it easy and she also let me use one of her hiking sticks so that really helped.

I feel really proud of myself for being able to do something like that, especially in that kind of weather. I was pretty dang sore for a while after but it was so worth it!

After the hike the whole group went to a beach and spent some time relaxing there. The next day we went to a Lavender Festival… it was beautiful to see all the flowers. Overall it was a very great weekend!

DMZ and Nami Island

Sorry I’ve fallen behind in my posts! Time to quickly catch up! In May I went to the DMZ with Carla. DMZ is Korea’s demilitarized zone. It’s the border area between North Korea and South Korea and is highly guarded. It was very interesting to see the vast land between the two countries and how much the area is covered with military. I plan to go see a more in-depth tour later but for now, it was interesting to see the setup. We went to a lookout point and saw North Korea across the vast wildlife area. We also walked through a long tunnel that North Korea built under the DMZ as a way to invade South Korea. Obviously it was found, along with many other tunnels, so now it’s a tourist attraction. We walked to the halfway point underneath the DMZ and it was a very interesting experience. There is a lot of interesting history behind the DMZ. It’s a buffer zone between the two countries that is about 2.5 miles wide. It was set up in 1953, but there have been numerous incursions since then… obviously often resulting in death. It’s a very interesting but kind of sad area.

I also went to Nami Island, known here as “Namiseom.” It’s a tiny island near Chuncheon (about two hours away from Seoul) that was formed by a dam. It’s privately owned and pretty much its own little tourist business. It is an ‘imaginary country’ that declared independence in 2006. It’s kind of silly, but beautiful. I was the only white person on the whole island… and definitely got a lot of stares. There were a lot of tourists from Thailand and Japan there. The island is known as a film location so lots of people come to see it. It’s full of nature and fun outdoor activities. I took time to exercise my arms in a row boat and enjoy the river. I had a really good time! I ate chicken barbecue afterward and it was spicy… just like everything else I eat here. I did my best to manage because eventually I will have to get used to it at least a little bit. On the bright side, when things are too spicy… I just don’t eat very much, so that helps with the weight loss! LOL

Gyeongbokgung Palace, Dongdaemun Market

On Sunday I went to the Geongbokgung Palace. It’s the largest palace in Seoul where the king used to live. It’s huge! At the front of the palace, they hold a ‘changing of guards’ ceremony. The costumes are very interesting and the scenery is amazing. Inside I toured the different rooms and houses of the palace. It was interesting to see where the king used to live. Inside the palace there are different housing units and places where the royalty can hold parties. At the other end of the palace is the Blue House. It’s like our White House… but blue. It’s a gorgeous building that no one can get too close to. There are secret service agents that stand outside. I got a lot of great photos there!

After that I headed to Dongdaemun Market. It’s one of the largest (ifnot the largest?) markets in Seoul. The clothes part of it was mostly
closed because it wa Sunday, but the food market was open. I sat down with Koreans and ate a Korean pancake. It’s made out of something called mung bean or something like that. It was really good.  I walked around a bit and looked at all the food.

After that I went to a public park by the Han River. It was very pretty. They rent out bikes there that you can ride down the path. Kids were flying kites and adults were walking the path. It was a fun place and very relaxing to gaze out onto the river.

Russian store, dog cafe

On Saturday, I slept in and headed into Dongdaemun Stadium. This is the Russian area that I visited before. This time, after a long Google search session, I found another Russian restaurant… claiming to be more authentic. I took the subway and walked out of Exit 7, just as instructed. I pulled a U-turn, took a left and found the restaurant called Gostiny Dvor. I walked up into the small restaurant with Russian MTV playing on their TV. I sat and enjoyed some galubtsi with sour cream and kefir. After I was done, I chatted with the waitress a bit. She is of Korean descent but was born in Uzbekistan and is living here on a visa. She doesn’t know how to speak Korean. She only knows Russian and a little English. Eventually we came to the conclusion that we both rarely drink and like to dance so we exchanged numbers. She said she goes out with her friends sometimes and would love to have me join them. Yay!

Earlier in the week I went to Lotte Mart and discovered that they don’t sell sour cream! Apparently it’s really hard to find in Korea! I walked around the dairy section what must have been 40 times. I probably looked crazed. No sour cream and no beans. Ahh! I asked my friend, Joseph, if he knew where to get sour cream and he suggested a Russian store. I was hopeful that I could find it by myself. After finishing dinner, I asked the waitress (Tanya) and she told me it was just down the street and open until 11pm! I walked over and up to the second floor into a small store. They had pelmeni, Russian candy, grechka, blonde hair dye, and sour cream! YAY! I bought all of the above (except the hair dye).

I had about two hours to kill before going out for the night with Carla, so I decided I’d try to find the ‘dog cafe’ that I read about online. It’s called the Bau House and it’s everything you need for your fill of wet noses and wagging tails! Koreans mostly live in apartments so if they have dogs, they are typically little and often wear little cute outfits. There are a lot of dog outfitter stores here. The Bau House owners apparently own a lot of dogs, big and small, and they invite other dogs to the cafe to come play. It’s a cafe and a hotel for dogs. I followed the directions from the Hapjeong station. I walked through an area full of coffee shops and to a road known as “parking lot street.” It’s because there is a parking lot in the middle of the street. I found Bau House easily and took the elevator up. I could hear dogs barking and was so excited! They said they closed in 15 minutes, but I said I just wanted to take some photos of the dogs. The dogs were crawling all over the tables and chairs and doing their business. Kind of messy (though people walk around and clean it up right away), but I didn’t care! I got to play with big and small dogs! YAY! It was a very good night!

Meditating with Buddhist monks

On Sunday, I headed out in the morning to a subway station about 45 minutes away. It was a long trip… from bus to subway, then to another bus… then a walk up into the mountains. I arrived at a Buddhist Temple that was holding a free meditation session in English that day. I guess they hold it every Sunday. I went up to the top floor and came into the main meditation room. It had mats on the floor with pillows on them. The leader of the meditation explained the procedure and off we went. We sat on the mat cross-legged and with a straight back, facing the wall. They gave us a question to ponder… which got me all confused, but maybe that’s the point? Get so confused that it clears your head? Haha. The sheet of paper said:

“A student asked Venerable Master Yun-Men; Not even a thought has arisen, is there still a sin or not? Master said; Mount Sumeru! When thought arises, sin also arises. If no thought arises, there should be no kind of sin or error. But why did the Master say that sin, that is, error, is as big as Mount Sumeru?”

Yeah… that confused the heck out of me! I switched my meditation from breathing exercises, to my mantra and back to this question throughout the two hours. It was 30 minutes of sitting meditation, then 10 minutes of super slow walking meditation and back to sitting, then walking, then sitting. It’s not as easy as it sounds. I almost nodded off a few times! The next day my legs were definitely sore! It was like a workout… for mind and body!

After the meditation, we had a Dharma talk. A Korean monk sat with us and talked about Buddhism. His English wasn’t amazing and he kept saying something about a frog that I couldn’t quite understand. Nevertheless, it was interesting. After that, we all sat down for some tea and pears. Korean pears are the size and shape of grape fruits (Google it!) and they taste really good! It was definitely a day of sitting on the floor, since we drank tea on the floor too!

After that, the monks (one was Korean, the other was from the Netherlands) invited us for bibimbap. It’s a very traditional Korean dish. It’s mixed rice with toppings on top, such as an egg, veggies, kimchi, etc. This one was vegetarian and it was really good. There was a total of about 10 or 12 of us… a few Americans, one Australian and the rest from Korea and possibly other Asian countries.

It was really a good and relaxing experience. After that, I got on the subway to Itaewon. I was curious to try a restaurant that actually had “sushi” in the title. I went in and saw that one sushi roll was $20… and I think it was a California Roll. Thanks, but no thanks. I headed to Mr. Kebob… where Carla and I went before. For $4 you get a really delicious gyro-type meal. YUM and not spicy! Yes!!

Seoul Tower, Myeong-dong and Namdaemun Market

On Saturday, I decided to browse some typical tourist locations. I wanted to go see Sungnyemun (also known as Namdaemun). Here’s a link to the Wikipedia explanation (has a photo too): Namdaemun. It’s a gate that, according to Wikipedia, was built in 1398 and was “originally used to greet foreign emissaries, control access to the capital city, and keep out Korean tigers.” It’s supposed to be pretty cool to see. I heard that the second floor was being rebuilt due to arson that happened in 2008, so I expected there to be some construction. Apparently, though, the whole thing is blocked off and covered, which I didn’t know. I took the 5500 bus to the Seoul Station and walked around the area where I thought it would be. I stopped into a Starbucks and asked two women that spoke pretty good English. They said it was right around the corner. Apparently I already passed it. When I went back, it was completely blocked off. Damn.

I continued walking and hit Namdaemun Market. It’s a large outdoor market with food tents and clothes vendors… very interesting to peruse. I browsed around a bit and took some photos. I continued on my walk and eventually hit the Myeong-dong shopping area. Now that is quite the sensory overload! It’s all the typical bright signs of South Korea… times ten! It was super bright with huge crowds and tons of shops. This was the area where the new H & M recently opened, pulling in huge crowds. I walked around in circles… checking out every alley and corner to see what kind of stores were in the area. I will definitely go back into this area sometime soon!

After that, I headed to Seoul Tower. I really wanted to go there at night because I heard the view of the city from up there was amazing. I hopped on a bus that takes you up the mountain to the tower. Then I walked up a steep road to the tower. When I got up there, a light show was starting. It was a combination of lasers shining down on the area where we were standing and then a light show projected onto the tower itself. It was pretty cool, accompanied by fun music. The show went for a few minutes and then I headed inside and took the elevator up to the top of the tower. I went into to observatory and looked out at the city. It is a gorgeous view, though the windows were a bit fogged up. I took some nice photos of the city lights. It was a great and relaxing experience.

If you want to see more photos from this trip, here is the full photo album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2880698&id=13936267&l=3fa1a2c58a

Grocery shopping in South Korea

Grocery shopping is the same as back home in a lot of ways, but there are some fun things to mention. I usually go to Lotte Mart. It’s about a ten minute walk from my apartment. I bought a little cart on wheels like my grandmother has, so I can attach my backpack to it and load it up. It works well when I want to buy a lot of things at once.

Once you walk in, if you have a backpack or a large bag (that is not a purse), you need to put it in a locker. The locker costs 100₩ (about 8 cents)… then you get the ₩100 back when you take your stuff out. Same goes for the shopping cart. It’s kind of like ALDI in the U.S.  As you enter the grocery part of the huge mall, there is a guy standing on a piece of carpet (probably soft so his back doesn’t hurt because he has to stand for hours) that bows and says something every time someone comes in. I’m not quite sure yet what he is saying, but I will try to find out!

In the fruit and veggie area, the workers cut up tons of samples to try. Once you hit the meat section, you hear a bunch of people yelling at you. LOL. They are advertising their product in each area and yelling for you to come look at it. It’s kind of funny. The rest of the grocery store is packaged goods. There isn’t much of a frozen food section… at least not like it is back home. They do have a lot of frozen wontons though. The mall is three to four floors and you can take your card up the escalator ramp and shop in each section and then pay on one floor for everything at the end. It’s convenient. Lots of things are really cheap, so it’s worth buying food and cooking it.

Puppet show field trip!

The kindergarteners got to go to a puppet show today! We are supposed to have one field trip per month, but theteachers who have been here a while say it doesn’t always work out that way. This one was actually really fun! We packed about 6 buses and headed to an outlet mall that had a small theater. It was a hassle to get the kids to stay together, but they did pretty good. All eight of them showed up for class, so I was happy about that. Lily wasn’t in the best mood, but I did my best to give her some attention. Our kids packed half of the small theater and other schools packed the other half. Some of the kids were so tiny from the other school that I’d be surprised if they were all even potty trained.

The puppet show had a bunch of bright strobe lights and laser lights. Thank God no one is epileptic at our school, because there is no way they could sit through that! The kids had a great time! It was all in Korean so I couldn’t really get the humor… but the kids sang along and laughed a lot. The characters were very “anime”like, just like the cartoons here. Kind of big-eyed and round like Teletubbies. The gist I got was that there were good guys and bad guys and the bad guys kidnapped the good guys and stole something from them and in the end the good guys won. Your typical kid story.

The field trip took up the first part of the kindergarten day, so when we came back we headed right to lunch. After lunch it was “arts and crafts” hour, so they decorated boomerangs. A lot of the science projects and art projects are typically very teacher-intensive. I always have to tape things for each kid of put things together. This one was pretty much all made… they just had to decorate it. It’s always a challenge with art projects… or any other kinds of projects. An adult looks at a paper truck powered by a balloon and thinks, “Cool, I am going to try to make that roll as far as I can.” A kid looks at it and thinks, “I am going to blow the balloon up as big as I can and use the truck wheels as Frisbees.” Lovely. So when I saw that the art project was a boomerang, I imagined children’s eyes being poked out and painful paper cuts. I always set up rules. “If you throw the boomerang before I tell you to, I will take it away.” Seems to work well.

All boomerangs were decorated and off they went flying across the whole room. I got hit in the neck once and in the back a few times. Overall it wasn’t too fatal. LOL.

I had all my kids show off their boomerangs (here they are wearing their gym uniforms. I think they had them wear them so we wouldn’t lose any kids on the field trip):