Andong and Easter Sunday

Sorry that I haven't written anything in so long. I have been busy with school. Being a teacher is a lot more work than I thought it would be. As a new teacher there is so much I don't know yet and it takes me longer to do things. A lot of my time is spent writing lesson plans, writing definitions, thinking of fun art projects, and making lyric posters for music. At night I've been tutoring the director's daughter. I also go to yoga 2-3 times a week. Internet at my place is sometimes down, so even if I do have free time.. I might not get to use the internet during it.


Last weekend was a lot of fun.
On Saturday I went on a bus tour of Andong with the other teachers, ladies from the school, and their families. There were also many other Koreans on the tour that we didn't know.
Andong is about 3 hours by bus away from Gangneung, it took us a lot longer than that to get there because we had 2 rest area stops on the way there and coming back. That seemed like too many stops to me.
The first place we went in Andong was to a cliff that over looks Hahoe traditional village. The view was really nice, you could see people taking little boats back and forth across the river.


Next we went to the "starter" village and had lunch. Us teachers and the ladies from school split Andong Chicken. It was delicious! It was chicken, clear noodles, mushrooms, and other veggies in a very mild sesame seed sauce. One my new favorites, but I doubt I'll get to have it again since its an Andong specialty. After that we took a very crowded shuttle bus to the real village.
The first thing they took us to was a special museum dedicated to Queen Elizabeth, she spent one of her birthdays in the village and they set up a museum to keep everything related to that visit in.
We had a guided tour, but it was very boring for us English speakers because we couldn't understand anything. The ladies from the school were bored too so we all just wandered off and explored.











Somewhere along the line a Korean lady from the bus befriended Chris and hung around him for the whole day. That became a really big joke for the rest of us and kept us laughing all day long. We are still making jokes about it.
One thing that I did get out of the tour was that the rich people live under the black roof homes and the poor live under the straw roofs.










My favorite part was seeing this 600 year old tree. Those pieces of paper tied up around it are wishes and prayers.












We caught up with the group and walked along the river back to the bus. You can see the beautiful cliff where we were when we first looked down on the city.
Director family.
I tutor the girl at night and

the boy is in my returnee(advanced) class. Teacher family.

The next place we went was to a museum. Only us teachers had the strength to go on, everyone else from the school stayed on the bus and napped. At the museum we watched a really cool 3-d movie that told about the history of Andong. Then the curator pulled us teachers aside and gave a special tour in English. The museum wasn't like any I've ever seen before. All the exhibits were digital and interactive. You could put on a mask and dance in front of a blue screen and see an image of it on a monitor. Or you could make a digital block print, or walk over a map of the area and it would zoom in and out and show pictures. And there were many games and things like that.
The bus ride home was very long. This was a classic bus tour and had everything that I don't like about bus tours. The director said "No more bus tour," I guess she isn't a fan either. She said that maybe sometime in the summer we could go to the Korean version of Disneyland. I think Korean buses make me more sick, maybe the air circulation isn't very good. Anyway, I'm still sick. I feel ok but am having serious mucus and snot problems.


On Easter Sunday Chris and I went hiking together. The plan was to go to Odae-ssan, a nearby national park. However Chris ended up seeing a stream on the side of the rode on the way there and decided we should hike up it. I agreed because I thought eventually it would become impossible and that we'd give up and move on to the park.



Well, it did get impossible but we kept going and we actually made it to the top of a freaking mountain by pulling ourselves up on tree roots and hanging onto rocks. The scenery was really pretty, there were many little waterfalls and peaceful pools.











I wanted to jump in many times but the water is still too cold.
















On the way up I got scratched up nice and good on my arms (they are already mostly healed), Chris's legs got a lot of scratches because he wore shorts for some reason. My face ended up getting the worse of it, I ran/fell into a pine tree. It looks a lot better now thanks to neosporian but I was feeling ugly for awhile.


The view from the top was anticlimactic. Mostly we could just see trees and more mountains. At the top we had a small lunch of rice cakes and yogurt.


The way down was scary. We went down a different way than we came up so I was worried that we wouldn't be able to find the road again even though Chris had a compass.

"Which way down, Chris?"

The way down was extremely steep. I had to use a branch.



We had to slide down on some parts. There was some ice and snow under the leaves making things slippery. Finally the steep ravine turned into a little stream and we started jumping from rock to rock. Eventually we came out to the road at an area that we had stopped to take pictures at before we started the climb.



It was about a 15 minute walk back to the bike. We checked the time.. We spent 5 hours up in the mountains!
Here's a picture of the legendary "bike" if you were wondering about it. I really like this scooter, we have a lot of fun riding around on it. I don't think my adventures in Korea would be anywhere near as fun if there wasn't a scooter. I may buy it from Chris once I get a paycheck, he wants to get a zippier one.



It was a memorable way to spend Easter (although I do wish I could have had some crawfish). I climbed a mountain! Climbing a mountain leaves you with such a good feeling.
No plans for this weekend yet. Stephanie is going to visit some friends in Seoul, so it will be just me and Chris again if we do anything. I've only briefly met 2 other oeguk (foreigners) here. I'd like to meet some more people, but I think my co-workers are really awesome so I'm not dying for company.

Cherry Blossoms

Today we took the kids to view the cherry blossoms at a pavilion on top of a hill with many stairs. There were a lot of other schools there, I'm glad our kids had on their uniforms.



It was very lovely. I really like the flowers, they are so pretty!



Me and Stephanie with her morning kinder girls. I did art with them today. I printed out a picture of a cherry blossom and had them fill it in mosaic style with bits of green, pink, and yellow paper. It went really well. The girl hanging on to me is Annie, she is one of my favorites because she always says "HI teacher!" to me all day long.

Many (older) Koreans are very weary of the sun.. when you see them out they wear large visors, scarves, gloves, long sleeves, pants and sunglasses. The face mask is so they won't get or pass any germs. Face masks here are quite common for all ages and they come in all sorts of patterns other than the boring white one this lady is wearing.


Here are 4 of my PK6, they are building towers... something they love to do if we manage to finish all their work or if I give in because I'm tired of them asking. Richard, Stella, Steve, and Brian.



Tonight I start tutoring the director's daughter from 9:30-10:30pm.. This is really late for me, I usually go to be around 10 after I shower. From now on I don't have to be at school until around noon though, so I guess it evens out somewhere... I hope I get a morning kinder soon so I won't have to worry about private tutor and art and music anymore.

My first weekend in Korea

This weekend was so amazing.. I don't know where to even start. Hm ok, I'll start with how I might get a motorscooter. They are so awesome and a really good way to see the area. On Saturday morning I went riding around the town, coast, and country side with Chris. I have to admit, I was a little scared at first, but it feels quite safe on the scooter. Even though Koreans don't follow the same traffic laws as we do back home (e.g. barely stopping for red lights if at all), it does seem like they are cautious drivers. It is breathtaking here. The coast is so beautiful and the water is so clear.


I can't wait for summer so I can go swimming.


Every now and then we would hop off the scooter and take pictures. Chris teacher tells me that this is in the Guinness book of world records for closest train track to the coast.

You can just leave it running on the side of the road without fear of it being stolen. At one point we jumped off where there were a bunch of Koreans hanging out and chatting, I bet not one of them even had the thought that they could just hop on the running scooter while the stupid foreigners were taking pictures on the other side of the road. I like how safe I feel here.

Soon we came to what looked like temple so I made Chris pull over and we went to it. My first authentic temple. It was incredible! Inside the monks were chatting and banging drums. They have really nice singing voices, I wish I could have recorded a sample to share. I did take a ton of pictures though.
The first thing you see at the temple is this structure, do you see the dragons hanging up there? Everything is so detailed and colorful.




















































































On our travels through the countryside we found many small Korean villages with old traditional houses. The country side is really rural, many of the homes look ready to collapse.






























Remember that you can see a larger version of any picture if you click on it!
Something interesting that I've forgotten to mention is that every now and then all along the side of the roads there are sometimes very old Koreans digging and picking through the grasses for stuff. By the shoreline there are many who walk up and down picking out things.

Chris showed me another nice public beach. As we were walking by the entrance I made us stop so we could get some boiled bugs and shells. The snails were my favorite, they have a really nice sorta crabby taste. The bugs I liked but I don't think I'd have them again.


We got one of each then went to the rocks by the shore and ate our bugs and shells while admiring the sparkling coast. In the distance you can see a cruise ship hotel that has been placed high up. I'd like to stay there one night. I bet it is fun.

For lunch we stopped at a shack on the side of the road. The way we choose places to eat is by seeing how many Koreans are eating there, this place was jumping for just a tent on the rode. We saw a table eating crabs, so that is what we pointed to. We got some crabs and kimchi, they were tasty and
cheap.

















We tried to climb up a waterfall/stream that was on the side of the hill but had to turn back because I kept slipping into the water. Need hiking boots ASAP.

After he dropped me off at my place we took a couple of hours to rest and regroup. Then we went and checked out the cherry blossom festival. There was a full orchestra and opera singers. We listened for a bit then headed to the food stands where we got crab corndogs and sweet crispy french fry kind of things. We walked to the beach, then found a place to eat. We ate Eastern style (sitting on the floor). We had a tofu, fish, and green stuff stew and many side dishes.



On Sunday the 3 of us were suppose to go to Seoul, but Stephanie bailed because of some lame excuse about church or something. So it was just Chris and I. We didn't have much of a game plan and we went to DongSeoul station instead of Seoul station. Then we got ripped off by a taxi driver, never again though! The day was somewhat of a disaster until the very last few hours there. Mostly we walked around a lot, asked for directions, and traversed the subway. Impressions of Seoul? Very big! I am glad that I'm not living there. I love my small little down by the sea with cleaner air and friendly people.



One thing we did was go to Namdaemun Market, this is a HUGE market that spreads over many blocks. There are people selling anything and everything you can imagine. We got there right was it was opening up so it wasn't very crazy yet.











After the market we went to Lotte World. Lotte World is a very strange but a neat place. Lotte is one of the major companies here in Korea, they make candy and also have many department stores and cafeterias. Lotte World is one of the largest malls in the world. They have an ice skating rink, swimming pool, indoor and outdoor amusement park, and more stores than you could visit.

We did go ice skating. It was only my 2nd time ice skating. I was a little wobbly at first but then I got the hang of it. Under Chris' tutorship I even managed to do a fancy circle turn.
I did find some hiking boots. I never would have believed it but my feet are actually small by Korean standards. I had to get kid size shoes, the sale ladies had a good a laugh. haha. Now I can go hiking! And because they were kid shoes, I got a really good deal. If you say "sale" or "discount" or "special price" many stores will give you 10-30% off. Chris said that the shoes I got (Salomon) are a good brand too. We found some brand new sketchy converter boxes and each got one. I also got some postcards, the first I've seen in Korea. You don't see any places with stands of postcards and tacky trinkets here. I had to buy them at a stationary store.
Even though there is much to do in Seoul.. I'm in no hurry to go back. From all the haggling and traveling Chris and I did learn some Korea.. olma-eyo means 'how much' and odee- 'where?' cho-ghee 'there' and yo-ghee 'here.' Also learned 'expensive' and 'inexpensive' and a few other words. I took flashcards with us on the bus and made us practice periodically. I think the flashcard thing was a sucess and will be doing it again for future trips.

I'm feeling a little stressed out and homesick. Today I was told that I would be teaching art and music to the kinder kids mon-thurs starting tomorrow. I need to learn some kid songs on my accordion, I've hardly had time to practice since being here and now I need to go learn polly wolly doddle and things like that. I wish I had more free time. I'm feeling a little sick. I have a small cough and headaches. My head feels cloudy. I hope I feel better soon.

TGIF!

I am so glad today is Friday!!! I am greatly looking forward to my first weekend here in Gangneung. This weekend will be the first week of Gangneung's cherry blossom festival. I love the cherry blossoms, this is my first time seeing them up close and personal. So pretty! I thought that they would be more pink, but many of them around where I live are white.
Yesterday I finally got to see some of the city. I do not live in the city itself, but in an area called Taek Ji. Chris teacher tells me that this is very trendy area; there are many bars, restaurants, and fancy Koreans walking around at night. At lunch yesterday he and I took a cab to the big exchange bank, this is the only bank in town where you can use foreign debt cards to withdraw money and do banking. Riding around in cabs is really cheap, usually it is under $4 to get anywhere. The ride to the bank was my first time seeing the city outside of my 3 block radius. Looking at the city in the daylight is a real treat, usually once I get off work it is almost dark. There are alot of little speciality shops all along the streets. Like there is one store that sells only jars, one that sells only eggs, one for chainsaws, one that sells bedding, one for only TVs, and one that sells only robots. Robot store is right near my school, I think us teachers are going to check it out sometime.. they look cool(but expensive) from the window. Its really different, its confusing. I feel like I'm turned around all of the time when I am walking, luckily Chris has a built in compass and always knows which way is what. I'm starting to learn. I know where Stephanie teacher lives now, all us teachers are only a few blocks from each other. Her place is not as nice as mine and it has a smelly bathroom drain but she has a big desk and a table where I only have a small desk and a Eastern style table (low to the floor table). I haven't seen Chris teacher's place yet, but I hear it is nicer than both of our places except that he has Eastern style bedding (that means he sleeps on the floor on top of mats).
Last night all 3 of us went out together for dinner. We took a cab to Gyeongpo Beach, I think some cab drivers must take foreigners the scenic way around so they can get more money. That was fine with me for this time because I also got to see the lake. The lake is big and beautiful. In the middle there is a little island with a pagoda on it.


Gangneung is very special because it has a lake and a seashore that are only a short walk from each other. The seashore and beach are so beautiful, I can't wait to see them during the day and go swimming in the summer.

On the beach it is ok to shoot fireworks. So teachers and I bought some roman candles and fired them into the night from on top of rocks. Stephanie took this awesome action shot!

When we were done shooting, we walked along the beach strip. There are many different restaurants, but they all have similar things. I love the lights at night.


All of the restaurants have tanks of fish and sea creatures in front waiting to be eaten. Check out this huge octopus!


We walked long until Chris stopped and said "Lets eat here." So we did. No English menu of course, so we mimed and pointed to pictures of things we wanted. In Korea you get SO much food for so little money. This was our first course, I didn't think to take a picture before we started eating.

Hmm lets see, there was corn pudding, cucumber apple carrot and pineapple salad with mayo dressing, something fried and delicious, potato salad (I think?), dumplings (not pictured because we ate them up), seaweed soup, and a whole fish. The whole fish is cut off in this picture for some reason, but if you click on any of the pictures you can see a big version. All that stuff comes with the meal. For our main course we had some sort of fish sushi. This was the best sushi I have ever had. I watched them pull our fish out of the tank, it was that fresh. The roe eggs were the best I've ever had. I think all this cost around $12.

After dinner we took a cab to E Mart, this is like the Walmart of Korea but it is crazy! It has 4 or more levels, they don't have escalators like we do but ramps that move up. It isn't like home, where you go into a store and there are all kinds of different people.. here there are only Koreans and we stick out like sore thumbs. I don't notice it (or care) as much as the other teachers, I guess I was too busy looking at all the amazing Korean products. Wherever Chris goes, the Korean ladies stop, turn around, and stare until he is out of viewing distance. Children are very curious about us. Stephanie showed me around and I got an iron, ironing board, a hair dryer, toilet paper, milk, cute pillow case,and detergent. The people who work at E mart are very friendly, I've found that Koreans on the job here are way more helpful than people back home, even though they don't speak much English. The ladies working at E mart all wear cute little outfits and usually there is one stationed every few aisles to help customers decide what to buy and tell them about the sales. In E mart they have a gelato stand so we got some gelato, it was really good! I had some sort of fruity one that was orange, other teachers had cherry and cookies and cream. At the gelato place they had the most amazingly cute cakes. Ryan, check them out! I thought of you when I saw them and had to take a picture. Magical :)

This morning I woke up at 4am when a bunch of singing drunken Koreans came home. My apartment building is a little high spirited sometimes, but at least I don't live above a nightclub like Stephanie- she also lives across from a place called "sexy bar" haha! I couldn't get back to sleep so I did some ironing, worked on this entry, and emailed home.

I love it here. I am so happy with my place and at my school. I don't know how I managed to get into such an awesome school; the other teachers and I are becoming fast friends and the Korean ladies at the school are very nice and seem to like me. I gave each of the Korean ladies a praline that I brought from home as a gift, one of them was so happy that I got a huge hug! The kids are bright and more advanced than I thought they would be. They are soooo funny too. The phrases they pick up and use are cute. I love being called "Jane teacher." I feel really lucky. I'm so glad I came to Korea, I'm having such a good time.

Phew. I arrived safely. The flight was very long, but there were no issues and everything went smoothly. I was really happy to get to my apartment and see that there is wireless. Its a little slow, I may get a real hook up once I get settled.
The toilets in Tokyo's airport were strange. Here is a picture of all the opitions you have. I tried the flushing sound, it plays melodic toilet flushing noises. I didn't try the asswash or bidet.


When I got to Seoul, Mr Lee was waiting for me. He bought my bus ticket to Gangneung and waited with me until it came. The bus ride took about 3 1/2 hours, it started snowing at some point. It was also snowing a little when I woke up this morning, but its too warm to stick and now the sun is out. When I got to the bus stop there was no one there waiting. I tried to go inside but it was closed, then they opened it for me. Some Korean men tried to help me figure it out even though they couldn't speak any English, one of them let me use his phone to call my director. Then I was kicked out because it "close." She came right away. While waiting for her he kept trying to get me to go to a bar with him, it was really funny. I kept saying "No, stay" and shaking my head and saying "bye bye," while he said "cold" and made drinking motions and pointed across the street.
When the director met me she gave me a huge hug and took me to my apartment. Its on the second floor.. lugging my suitcases up the stairs was not easy but I made it. It is pretty cute. There is a kitchen and entrance area,


there is a door that separates that from my bedroom and living area.


I have a small inside "balcony." Its unheated in there so leaving the door open a crack helps it not be too stuffy inside.


The view is nothing to speak of...


The floors are heated and soothing to walk on. The bathroom is Korean style, that means there is nothing separating the shower from the rest of the bathroom. The water goes down a drain in the floor.



Hot water is very hot! I don't have my own washing machine, there is a communal one in the hallway. It makes funny little noises when you turn it on.
I had a hard time going to bed last night, I must be jetlagged. I got a 7:30am wake up call when all the Koreans in the building stomped off to work.
Today I am going to unpack and make the place my own. Whoever lived here before me left a lot of stuff behind. Some of it I can use, like a clothes drying rack, kitchen things, and a yoga met.. but most of it is junk like old food, smelly towels, and wore out purses/backpacks. Strangely there is no garbage can. I need an iron badly too and an adapter. Another thing I need is a music stand since I left mine at home. I'm nervous about today. After awhile I will go to the school and say "hi" to everyone and meet kids. Hopefully someone will take me around to get things. I'm anxious to go walk around and see the city but is so much colder here than it is back home. Gotta go if I want to conserve my battery until I get an adapter. More to come!