The spring semester just ended which means that it was time for my school to go all out and bus somewhere for some sightseeing and getting drunk and doing noraebang (karaoke). It was awesome. I suppose I'll have a write-up and explanation of things later but for now check out my pictures by clicking on the panorama up there or on the link down here.
Recently in Misc Category
Temporally Closed Door. Taken in Gangam, Seoul, South Korea, at Butterfinger Pancakes.
In Busan, one of Samuel's former students led us to the top of a mountain where we could see about 70% of Busan he said. I snapped this photo of the Gwanganli bridge on our way down.
So, since I haven't written anything in a long time I guess this post will be a summary of January, February, March and April. I did Winter English Camp for the first couple weeks in January, it was good and since I had the experience from Summer Camp last year I was able to do it much better this time. I had a class of 6th graders from local elementary schools, only about 2 kids came every day so we were able to do a lot of fun stuff and it was a good time. I also had a class of 1st graders from my school and they were cool but a little bit more rowdy. Overall the camp experience this time around was much better the students were all happy with no complaints, probably because I played a lot of games with them. I had planned a 2-week course of lessons with comprehension tests every now and then but based on the students' reactions to the first week, which was not bad but they just didn't quite have the attention span, I trashed the 2nd week and replaced it with Jeopardy games and other fun stuff.
After Winter Camp came a few weeks of vacation during which time I did almost nothing, just hanging out with Hilary when she was here, and being lonely when she went to Japan and America. Thus January and February passed being pretty uneventful with no school and no travelling for me or anything exciting to speak of, except the Hwaseong fortress in February, but that already got it's own post. I did read a bunch of books in February thanks to the epic amount of free time I had and days where I had to go to school but there was no class (about 2 weeks worth I think). It was good times. Also at some point around there I met some new teachers from Simseok Elementary School and I was in touch with another person named Samuel via e-mail, who'd just moved to Maseok.
Continue reading Springtime in Korea.
Day 16 of my 365 project (1 pic/day for a year). Neon sign with moon in the sky, Guri-si. Taken December 25, 2009.
View from the Renaissance hotel between Gangnam and Yeoksam stations. Taken December 16, 2009.
A tractor I found in a parking lot near my apartment. Taken on December 31, 2009.
1st grade (7th grade) students playing Bingo in the English cafe during lunch. Taken 12/10/2009.
Katie had a friend, Beverly, visiting for a week, and so we decided to go down to Suwon and see some cool old Korean stuff. Suwon used to be the capital of Korea during the Joseon period, and the 5.7km wall around the old city center is well preserved.
Hilary was gone home to visit her parents, so it was just Katie, Beverly and I and we met up in Suwon and walked around the whole wall. Here are some cool pictures from the fortress.
Continue reading Hwaseong Fortress.
Christmas started for us on Christmas Eve. Hilary, Katie and I hung out at Hilary's apartment in Donong and exchanged gifts. As you can see, I received a Lego Millenium Falcon which I promptly put together. The next day, Christmas, would be for meeting up with friends and hanging out.
Our plan was first to meet up with Kenley and Stuart in Guri and have food, and then perhaps go into Seoul for a Christmas party. In Guri, we went to an "Italian" restaurant that was decent, and then to the food court at GS Square to get dessert, and debate our next move. Hilary had made tentative plans to meet up with Natalia in Seoul for a party, and eventually we decided to go, except Stuart who wasn't feeling great went home.
Continue reading Christmas in Korea.
In December, John had to return to Korea for some more deposing of witnesses for his case, and this time my oldest sister Elise came also. I managed to secure a couple days off work to hang out with her for the week while John did work. One of her goals, being pregnant, was to buy Korean baby books, and so we'd end up spending a lot of time in bookstores during our sightseeing outings.
They came on December 12th, and I met up with them at their hotel in Gangnam, Seoul, and stayed there with them to facilitate tourism. It was really cool to have them visit, and really nice to see some family. The photo above was taken by Hilary at the hotel's breakfast buffet. As you can see, Elise ate so much that her stomach is bulging way out. Or, she's pregnant, not sure.
Continue reading Elise's Visit.
Hilary and I went back to the National Museum to finish up what we started with John, and met up with Hilary's friend Natalia, with whom we had Italian food in Itaewon afterward. Not much to say about this visit but I took some photos I want to share. The first, above, is some columns out in front of the museum, and that's all I know about them. Also, this was before thanksgiving, even though the blog posts are out of order.
Continue reading National Museum Again.
For Thanksgiving, we actually managed to have a pretty traditional dinner, thanks to the efforts of Hilary, Katie and Stuart. The key was a box of stuffing mix sent by Katie's family, but it wasn't the only thing. Stuart brought mashed potatoes and with it, gravy. I didn't do any of the cooking but I did bring some extra sweet potatoes. It's difficult and expensive to get turkey in this country, but Katie got some chickens to make up for that. All in all, we had chicken, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, gravy and rolls, a good Thanksgiving meal considering the circumstances.
The day after, Hilary, Katie and I went into Seoul and saw a couple palaces and hung out with Kenley and Stuart. Not much else to say about it but I've included some pictures.
Continue reading Thanksgiving in Korea.
"Sir, please don't point."
Ah, the shame! I had committed a cardinal sin of the DMZ. They'd told us repeatedly and from the start 'the first rule of the DMZ is, you do NOT talk about the DMZ.' Really. The second rule is no pointing at the North Koreans. No gestures, no faces, nothing. The instant my hand formed into a point, albeit at the blue UN buildings and not actually at North Korea, a sniper somewhere probably locked onto my face, dialing in the range in seconds, ready to take me out if I was so bold as to point twice. That's what he meant when he added the 'please.' Such is life when you're standing on the border of one of the most hostile, secluded, poor and insane countries on the planet.
Continue reading North Korea (the DMZ).
