Fun Filled Weekend

The homestay family took off for China this weekend (business trip), leaving me to my own devices. Luckily I had fantastic island-hopping plans...four different islands in four days.

Thursday
새섬=Seh Seom, island #1

My middle school first and second graders (American equivalent 7th and 8th graders) had midterms all day, meaning a free day for Teacher Alicia. I used the free time to go on a longer run, which included a venture across the Seogwipo bridge and around Seh Seom, where I went 2 weekends ago with my homestay family. The island has quickly become a tourist destination; I had to weave in and out of a sea of tourists in the parking lot. A quick strech and shower later, I was back at school to join the teachers for a duck 샤브샤브 dinner.

Saturday
우도=oo-doe=Udo, island #2
Three other ETAs and I ventured off early (7am departure from the apartment) Saturday morning to go see Udo Island, a small but populated island off Jeju's east coast. A bus and ferry later we arrived on Udo only with plans to bike around the island and catch the 5o'clock ferry back. For only 10,000won ($8!) we able to rent bikes for the next 6 hours to pedal our way along the coast. The first stop was one of Korea's few white coral beaches, the next stop a light house, the next stop another breath-taking blue beach. The island seems to have a good haenyo (Jeju's women sea divers) population; we passed numerous haenyo shops, saw several haenyo statues, and even came across a group that had finished a dive. After an adventurous lunch (any meal where I don't know what I'm ordering is adventurous) we found the Cliffs of Moher, or at least a small Korean version of the Cliffs of Moher. Even better was the traditional music concert in the cave. All that and we still easily caught the 5o'clock ferry back to the "mainland".

Sunday
숲섬=Sawp sawm=Seop Seom/Island island #3
It was expensive, but Seogqipo friend Ashley and I decided to go for it; we whipped out some won to go scuba diving. We had signed up for the TryScuba dive, one dive accompanied by a professional (Ralf of Big Blue 33, guidebook featured and the only English-speaking scuba diver instructor in Seogwipo). Nine of us (by nationality: 4 Americans, 2 Hollanders, 2 Germans and a Canadian; or by experience: 2 instructors, 4 certified divers, and 3 novices) went to Seop Seom, 10 minutes by boat from Swogwipo harbor, to dive and hang out in the sun.
Diving is one of the most peaceful things I've every done. There's a lot of concerns, like breathing and oxygen level, equalizing pressure so as to not bust a lung of ear drum, but the best advice from one of the certified divers was to be relaxed like you had just smoked a joint. It's true, you're there just to enjoy the (underwater) scenery. I would like to describe what I saw, but it'd take a writing skills beyond my capacity, not to mention the amount of time. Just go and do it--my 20min underwater was definitely worth the 100,000won ($85) and 6 hour expedition. If I had the time and the money, I would consider getting certified, but just a poor English teacher who has the rest of Korea to see on her weekends....

Island #4? I'd have hoped you'd figure it out by now....I live on an island...제주 (=Jeju)!

A weekend in 서울!

서울= Seoul, Korea's capital

[This is a week in retroscpect; I apologize.]

Before we were all scattered across Korea, we (the ETAs) had the weekend to relax in Seoul. No more language classes, no more workshops, no more meetings...just freedom in the heart of Korea.

Friday: We checked out of the dorms early (8am) to get on the bus and on the road to Seoul. We had a couple hours off before a medical briefing (*no immodium for diarrhea*) and then a "BBQ" at the ambassador's residence. At the BBQ, we several staff from the embassy as well as the ambassador, Kathleen Stephens, who was a Peace Corps volunteer in Korea during the 70s. Life in Korea was much different then than now: the North's GDP was greater than the South's, no plumbing, ...essentially third world conditions. As for the food, all the essentials were there: hot dogs, burgers, chips, veggies, even s'mores!

Saturday: I spent most of the day hanging out with Kyunghwa, my mother's former graduate student. It was good to see a familiar face in Korea! Along with her brother and two middle school Korean girls, we went to see Seoul University (one of the best in Korea), ate lunch, visited her friend's clothing store, went shopping, and (I) got a haircut. She's one more reason I'll be visiting Seoul often!

Sunday: By far the most fun and touristy day. I spent the day with my hotel roommate, Amy. We first went to Myong-dong, (one of) Seoul's shopping districts, to find running shoes for Amy (she's runner, very particular about type). Also in Myong-dong is South Korea's one and only Apple store (Macs aren't so popular in Korea). We then went to the Seoul Tower on Namsan, located near Myong-Dong. At the top of Namsan (san=mountain), we arrived in time to see a short weapons demonstration (very neat), and then went up the tower, where we had a great 360 view of the entire city (Seoul is huge!).

After the tower, we headed back to Myong-dong to pick up some final small gifts for our host families. We ran into a street magic show (a preview or teaser for a bigger magic show performance coming to Seoul), got a demonstration of how to make Kkul Tarae (a Korean candy wrapped of honey strands wrapped around ground nuts) plus the cute English sales pitch, and tried street food. Dinner was in two parts: (1) a waffle with honey butter and (2) a small wrap (maybe an attempt at a burrito) that had chicken, cabbage, and the 3 great American condiments (mayo, mustard, and ketchup). After all that, we headed back to the hotel to pack for moving day.

Monday: Yonsei Day and moving to Seogwipo, more later!

First Impressions of Seoul: I was expecting Seoul to be extremely dense and crowded, like New York City. However, it was quite the opposite; there were few skyscrapers, the streets were wide, and the subway was very clean. I knew there was much more in Seoul than I could do in one weekend and that I'd be back, so I didn't try to cram a lot of activities into this weekend. I'll definitely be back!

Most interesting: Apparently, the Seoul tower is a couples' place. Somehow, it became custom for couples to signify their love by placing a lock (i.e. combo lock) on the fence at the top of Namsan. There were so many love locks! Locks locked on locks. Imagine all the metal weight and the force on the fence. Amy and I, both anti-chickflicks, were amused, especially when we saw the signs "Don't throw away your key!" (pictures: Amy in front of one of the fences filled with locks, and key sign hidden among locks).

More to come! About Seogwipo, my host family, starting to teach...

Songnisan (속리산)

Songnisan means "leaving the mundane chores", which was the purpose of this past weekend (July 17-19). No studying, just relaxing. From Chuncheon, Songisan is a 4hr bus drive. We arrived around 1pm, had lunch with Ms. Shim and the KAEC Office staff, then began our weekend in Songnisan. We all stayed in Lake Hill, a tourist hotel; some of us had Western accomodations (beds and shower curtains), while other (i.e. me) had Korean accomodations (mats on the floor and no shower curtain).

Ms Shim: One test this weekend was using correct Korean etiquette. Ms. Shim is the KAEC (Korean American Education Commission) Fulbright director, our ultimate authority. Correct etiqutte includes insa (the bowing greeting) at every meeting, lots of thank yous, 잘 먹겠습니다 (chal mawk-kuess-seb-ni-da='I will eat well') before all meals, and 잘 먹었습니다 (chal maw-kawss-seb-ni-da='I ate well') after all meals. The OCs (orientation counselors) continually stressed that we show our respect to Ms Shim and the office staff. As one out of 70 ETAs, Ms Shim knows me as 'the first one in the [Fulbright] facebook ("Easy to remember!")' and "double A number 1" (there's three AAs); she also instructed me on correct chopstick hand positioning.

Friday-Bebjusa Temple: After lunch, we were given a loooonng and disjointed talk about some aspects of Buddhism by an American monk who has spent the last twenty years practicing in Korea. What I enjoyed more was the brief tour he gave us of Bebjusa, an ancient but still operating Buddhist temple. The temple was built in the 7th century AD, rebuilt in the 17th century, and once housed 3,000 monks (compared to 60-80 monks currently. The temple is home to Korea's largest rice pot cooker, which was used to cook lotsa-lotsa rice to feed those 3,000 monks. The temple is also known for the large 33m high, 160 ton Buddha statue and its wooden pagoda. At 6:30pm, we got to watch the evening prayers, during which 4 instruments are played, to 'calm and soothe' sentient beings: a large drum for landwellers, a hollow wooden fish for ocean dwellers, a cloud shaped ironboard for the heavens and winged animals, and a large bell for all those suffering and/or in hell.

Saturday-hiking in Songnisan National Park: Saturday was our free day to relax, which for me meant a 16km hike. With two other ETAs, I hiked to Manjangdae Rock (1054m), then across the ridge to Cheonhwangbong Peak (1057.7m), then back down. Koreans take their hiking seriously! While, we wer outfitted with the basic shorts, shirt, tennis shoes, and water bottle, the other hikers we came across had boots, walking poles, hats, proper hiking apparel, lots of water, food, etc. To give them credit though, the hike was pretty strenuous; some parts of the trail were almost straight up. We were hidden in the trees until we reached the first peak at Manjangdae Rock, where we had a great view of the mountains, which are covered with vegetation. Both peaks were incredibly windy, enough to make you nervous about the height. In total, we covered 16km in 5hours--quite relaxing! ;)

Sunday-back to Chuncheon: And we're back to the dormitories and cafeteria food! These coming two weeks are going to be much more busy than the first two. Camp Fulbright, an English camp for us to practice teaching, has started. In addition to Korean language class, TKD, and cultural workshops, we're lesson planning, observing, teaching, and playing with the kids. We're being kept to busy to get homesick....

If you click on the pictures, a new tab/window should come up with the larger/actual size picture.

topics to come: food, living in Chuncheon and Kangwang Univeristy, laundry, Korean language/etiquette culture...