Jan 2009 - Snowstorm

We got about a foot of snow today. This was the biggest snowstorm in recent history in Korea. One of the Korean teachers said she had never seen this much snow. I don't think they have any snowplows, so the traffic really suffers when snow hits. Many store owners don't even have snow shovels. They use large pieces of cardboard, wood, plastic...whatever is available. Oh and no such thing as a snow day.

New Year - New Job

Today, I started 2010 at work with a new position teaching in the After School Program in a public school. It is a satellite program of Incheon English Village. I travel by subway about 1hr each way with about a 15 min walk on each end. That in itself is not so bad, but we did have a major snowstorm hit this morning which made the walk less than pleasureable. Anyway, I think I'm going to love the position. I have my own classroom! It's small, but it's mine!! I met about half of the kids today and will meet the rest tomorrow.

The Holiday Season in Korea

We worked Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Years Eve/Day. I don't think I've ever work on either of those days in my entire life. It certainly made for a strange, sort of surreal holiday. The calendar told me it was the holidays, but it really didn't feel like it. The great news is that we have such a great “community” of foreign teachers that got together for several small celebrations. It was a lot of fun, just different. One of the highlights of the season was going to see The Nutcracker on Christmas Eve. It was beautiful...exceeded my expectations. Koreans celebrate Chuseok (their “Thanksgiving-type” holiday) in late September. Although there are a lot of Christians in Korea, the Christmas holiday is more of a commercial one. The New Year is celebrated here, but the BIG new year celebration is Lunar New Year, which this year is in mid-February, this year bringing in the 2010, the year of the White Tiger. Now THAT will be a HUGE celebration here.

Bungee Jumping and White Water Rafting!!!

I figure...if you decide to sell most of what you own, leave everything you know and love and move to the other side of the world...jumping off a bridge does not seem like such a huge risk in comparison. In early August, a few co-workers and I went on a white water rafting trip (with an option to do bungee jumping). The trip was on the Hantan River in the Gangwondo province, about 2 hrs east of Seoul. The rafting was first. The scenery was BEAUTIFUL, but the "rapids" were probably Class 0.5 and the only thing out there that was white was most of the participants. It was more like a trip down lazy river, but fun, nonetheless. Then the BIG event...it was not what I expected. At the last minute, once I was all strapped in and it was my turn to jump, I froze for a moment. All I could think was "What the #@/! am I doing...I can't do this." Then I just ran and dove off the bridge. It was kind of surreal. I expected a jolt when I hit the end of the cord, but the whole time, it was like floating. When I was rebounding back up, I thought I might hit the bridge, but didn't get anywhere near it. It was fabulous. I will do it again next summer. Here are a few pics and a video of the actual jump.

The trip was organized by a group called Adventure Korea that organizes trips all around Korea for foreigners as a way to explore the country. Anyone is welcomed to attend, but it is mostly foreigners. The great things about these trips are you get to meet lots of new people and all of the organizing is taken care of...you just pay and show up. Easy!

I'm baaaaaaack!!!! It's been waaaay too long since I've posted on my blog and I am committed to doing a much better job. As far as an excuse goes, my laptop died several months ago and took my photo editing software along with it. Well, I did get a new laptop and only recently downloaded some software for my photos. My next several entries will more than likely be regarding things that have happened over the past several months. I hope you enjoy them...

Octopus

After Dr. Fish, we did some shopping in Seoul in Myeong Dong. It is a maze of alleys with tons of shops, vendors and restraunts and lots and lots of people! We stopped to have lunch and got a table by the window and were able to do some people-watching. Check out the “octojerky”. I’m sure that’s not what it is called, but it was dried octopus being sold by street vendors. Who knows…maybe it tastes just like chicken. I may try some. Cooked octopus is kind of chewy, not my favorite texture, especially since you can feel the little “suckers” on the tentacles. With dried octopus (octojerky), maybe you get all of the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, etc without the gross texture. Then we have LIVE octopus tentacles. Haven’t tried those and probably won’t. Here’s a video of this dish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pj9oL5BA3E

WARNING: This video may not be suitable for sensitive stomachs. Evidently, the tentacles don’t die right away. While you are eating them, they actually are “fighting” to stay alive. They suction onto the roof of your mouth and tongue, making it difficult for you to eat them. I can’t figure out why anyone would want to eat this, other than being on the losing end of a bet.

Culture Note

Over the past six weeks, I have observed and learned SO many interesting things about the Korean culture. From time to time I’ll add these “Culture Notes” into my blog. Please understand that these are my observations and have not been reviewed and/or approved by the South Korean government and therefore, may not be a true representation of Korean culture.

Culture Note – Fighting

A couple of days ago as we were sitting on the bus waiting to go to work/school, we watched two Korean men “fighting”. It was 8am in the morning and it appeared that the younger gentleman hadn’t paid the taxi cab driver. There was lots of posturing, but there were no punches thrown until the very end of the fight. This “fight” went on for about 4-5 minutes. They were shouting at each other, which was about the only thing that looked familiar for a fighting situation. They kept pressing their foreheads together and then separating, kind of like mountain goats do. They must have done this about 10 times. They also took their shoes off. Oh, did I forget to mention that this fight was happening in the street. There was a friend of the younger guy that at one point, bowed to the two fighting men…not sure what that was about. Near the end, the cab driver called the police and the younger guy started punching him and he never hit back, just kept trying to evade the punches. Evidently, in Korea, if you throw the first punch, you can get fined a LOT of money, so there is a lot of yelling, posturing, etc, in lieu of throwing the first punch. Once the first punch was thrown, the driver was on the phone to the cops. They arrived in about 30 seconds. The bus left, so we didn’t get to see exactly how it ended.

Dr. Fish

We went into Seoul this weekend for a “Dr. Fish” experience and I don’t mean a nice seafood meal. It’s a place where you put your feet in a small pool of water and little fish (with teeth!) swarm around your feet and eat the dead skin. It is in a really nice like café. You go in and have coffee or tea and then do the foot thing. I was really looking forward to it and REALLY wanted to do it, but to be perfectly honest...it completely freaked me out. It was really creepy. They lure you in there with the cool coffee shop, playing nice soft music, etc. and you think you’re going to have this wonderful spa-type experience and then, next thing you know...the fish are eating your feet!! I could actually feel what seemed like millions of little mouths (with teeth!) chewing on my feet. They give you a 15 minute time limit and I think I had my feet in for about 10 minutes of that time. That was plenty. I think they give you the time limit because if you go much longer you may end up with bloody stumps instead of feet!!! Now that it's over, I feel like I wimped out a little bit. I may go back and try it again….possibly after having something a little stronger than coffee!

Potato Festival

The ICEV owner, Dr. Lee, sponsored a trip to a Potato Festival in his home town. It is in the country and is just beautiful. It was a very nice break from the “city life” in Incheon. We took a bus yesterday evening after Saturday classes. The bus ride was about three hours. When we arrived at about 10pm there was a full Korean barbecue spread waiting for us along with several townspeople…I think they were something like town councilmen. We stayed up all night playing cards and other assorted games, along with lots of beveraging. After we showered in the morning a few of us went on a hike up a nearby mountain, then we loaded up on the bus and went to the festival. The weather was perfect. We actually picked potatoes! I came home with about 20 lbs. Waaay to many potatoes, given that I really don’t eat them. I guess I’ll have to look up some potato recipes. Unfortunately, my camera battery died, so I only have pictures of the partying and merriment on Saturday night and no pictures of the actual potato festival or potato picking on Sunday.

S. Korea World Cup qualifying match

Went to Seoul World Cup Stadium to watch a 2010 World Cup qualifying match between S. Korea and Saudi Arabia. S. Korea had already qualified, so they didn’t seem quite as hungry and Saudi Arabia. It was a good, even match and ended in a nil-nil tie.It was great being at the stadium. I definitely have to go see more local soccer matches, baseball games and basketball games. Evidently, basketball is somewhat popular here. There are actual leagues.

Saturday Program

I started teaching in the Saturday Program at ICEV two weeks ago. It is a 12-week program in which students attend two classes (3 hours) on Saturday afternoons. I am teaching Math and Arts & Crafts. I am not teaching math per se, but English word usage in math, telling time, etc. I really like this program because you get to work with a specific group of students for a 12-week period and get to know them and see them develop over time versus our main program at ICEV where we see a new group of students each week. This eats into my weekend a bit, but I do receive extra pay and I am only there from 2-6pm…plenty of time to do other things. This program finishes in the first weekend of September.

More pics from the Pungmul Festival, Bupyeong, May 23, 2009

Pungmul Festival

The highlight of the day in Bupyeong was the festival. It was just a good ol’ fashioned street festival with lots of music, food and people having fun. Pungmul is a type of Korean folk music using drums, metal gongs, dancing and acrobatics. In addition to the more traditional performances in full costume, there were several groups of young people playing various percussion instruments throughout the festival. The picture with the umbrella-shaped objects is a very popular snack here. I’m not sure of the name, but it is made from rice and it tastes like popcorn. It’s very good. The festival was a feast for the eyes, ears and the soul. All in all it was a WONDERFUL day! Hopefully, the pictures tell a better story. Capped it off with a beer and spaghetti in a 14th floor jazz bar overlooking the city, then an all-out run for the subway to catch the last train at midnight!

Bupyeong Market

We eventually stumbled through getting directions to the festival and since weather was perfect, we stopped at the Bupyeong Market on the way. It is a huge outdoor market with everything from produce, meat and seafood to bedding, fabrics, household goods, clothes, shoes, etc…anything and everything! It’s not uncommon to see live octopusses (octopi???), squid, eel and other sea creatures swimming around in bins of water. Kinda creepy (I’m slightly terrified of the ocean), but you know you’re getting fresh fish! Oh, and lots of dog meat (pic above). While we were walking through the seafood aisle, we happened upon a vendor whom upon recognizing that we were foreigners said “USA?” When we said yes he asked if we wanted coffee and invited us into the back of his shop. We went back and they had a huge spread of several dishes laid out on a small table. He asked us to join them (him his brother and two other women working there) for lunch. We sat and sampled many things, some with tentacles, some mysteriously chewy, but it was all delicious. There were some things I wasn’t too sure about, but I tried it all because I didn’t want to offend them. Because we didn’t know each others languages, there was lots of nodding, pointing and gesturing. It was the best lunch I’ve had here. We were blown away by the warmth and hospitality.

Taekwondo in the Park

I went to Bupyeong yesterday with Myriam, one of the other ICEV teachers, for the Punmul (folk music) Festival. It is a large street festival with lots of food, games, traditional music performances, vendors, etc. When we departed the subway we headed to the park where we thought the festival was and didn’t find it. Instead we found a taekwondo tournament. It was amazing to see the similarities between our taekwondo tournaments at home and this one.

Teaching

ICEV (Incheon Cultural English Village) is an experiencial learning camp facility. Children come here for a week at a time to enhance the English they are already learning at their regular schools. The kids are in 4th-6th grade. The curriculum consists of job experience classes (science and arts) and life experience classes such as post office, banking, cooking, library, nature, hotel, hospital, etc. (there are about 25 of them). My first week was spent in orientation and observing classes. This week, I’m actually teaching. It has been FABULOUS!!! My first day was a little nerve-racking like doing anything for the first time, but since then has been going very smoothly. I am having loads of fun, mainly because the curriculum is fun. It leaves lots of room for using creative ways to engage the children in the learning process. And the kids are like sponges. They are so much fun to be with. There are several other programs at ICEV, some weekend programs, some for adults and teens. This week there was a Public Officials Program (POP) at ICEV, basically men and women Incheon public officials here to enhance their English-speaking skills. We had a soccer match this afternoon; teachers vs. public officials. We lost 5-3. I played defense the first half and keeper part of the second half. I was the only woman on the field and probably the oldest person, but I held my own. Fun, fun, fun…. Pictures in a future posting.

Language Exchange

Learning the Korean language has become a priority for me. I have learned a few basic words, but don’t want to end up with another experience like the one at the supermarket on my second day here! I am now meeting with two friends, Myriam (from Quebec) and Hye Kyung (sounds like hyae-kyoung) (from Korea) to learn Korean and French. The great side benefit of this is we are also learning many cultural nuances. For instance, when Korean people meet, it is very common to ask “How old are you?” and “What is your blood type?”. Go figure. We’re meeting at the coffee shop downstairs on Monday and Wednesday nights 10-11pm (again…past my bedtime…maybe I’ll become a night person). Having these meetings at a coffee shop means we’re drinking coffee, which means I’m WIDE awake at 1am doing blog entries. Hopefully, I’ll get sleepy soon…. “Kopei juseyo”

Jogyesa Temple

We visited the Jogyesa Temple. It is the only traditional Buddhist temple within ancient Seoul’s city limits. It is the headquarters of the Jogye sect of Korean Buddhism. The temple is situated in a dense downtown neighborhood, not what I was expecting. It was interesting as we approached the temple, to see monks out on the street shopping, eating in restaurants and talking on cell phones. We were able to enter the temple and rest briefly on small pads on the floor for a moment of reflection. It was very calming. This picture is one of three massive gold buddhas in the temple. The tree with the colorful lanterns was in the courtyard area of the temple. After being there, we decided to do a 2 or 3-day temple stay at a Buddhist temple in the mountains some time soon. Looking forward to that one.

Trip to Seoul

Myriam and I went to Seoul on Sunday. We watched the Royal Guards changing of the guard ceremony at Gyeongbokgung Palace. This was the main palace and center of royal affairs during the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910). Now, city buildings surround the grounds. What a beautiful ceremony. It was quite windy, which made for a more visually interesting experience with all of the colorful flags and robes.

Initiation

Well, I believe I have been officially initiated. I have eaten squid and octopus and have used a squat toilet! When you have to go and don’t have a choice… That was interesting. No spillage or sprayage…yay!! I’m feeling pretty special. The real test will be doing that after a few adult beverages! Definitely no pics for this post!