Valentine's Day in Korea

This past Thursday was Valentine's Day. Korean's celebrate love day a little differently from back home. First of all, it isn't thrown in your face everywhere you go. I like that. Being single on Valentine's day back home feels worse than it does here. Stores do bring in some extra chocolate, so I bought some Hershey's Kisses to give to my students. I also bought some chocolate for my co-workers, and the director's children.

Valentine's day in Korea is a day for the women to give chocolates to the men in their life. It was a little strange that my male co-worker was actually expecting chocolate from me and asked me, "Where's my chocolate Emma?" I mean I did have some for him but I kind of wanted to tell him to "Slow your roll!" I doubt he would understand that idiom though. On March 15th, Korea has White day where the men then treat the women in their lives. It seems a little heterosexist to me, but Korean's don't exactly acknowledge that not everyone is heterosexual.

Most of my kids were very thankful to get chocolate from me and others begged for more. Later on in the day my students were really quite hyper and had a hard time focusing, so we played some games.

Many of my students brought me chocolate as well and by the end of the day I felt like I had eaten my body weight in chocolate.

Gyeongju & Cheongdo

Last weekend was the Lunar New Years, so we had an extra day off. Kelly and I had planned to visit Seoul again, but then changed our plans and went on a "girl's weekend" with three of her friends to Gyeongju and Cheongdo.

We left quite early on Saturday morning to try and miss traffic. We first went to Gyeongju, which was the ancient capital of the Silla Kingdom. The resort we were staying at the first night was beautiful. It was surrounded by a beautiful lake and the actual resort had an indoor and outdoor heated pool and hot tub. When we arrived we first went out for breakfast and then went to a couple historical sites. The first one was Bulguksa Temple where we walked through a beautiful path and saw traditional buildings and statues. The second was Seokguram Grotto where there is a beautiful and very large statue of Buddha. That statue is actually known as one of the most outstanding masterpieces in the history of the world's religious art. They actually built a shelter around the statue to preserve it. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any pictures of it, but it was pretty breathtaking. Some of the other notable sights at Seokguram Grotto is the three storied stone pagoda, and the guardians that surround the large statue of Buddha. After seeing the sights and having some lunch, we headed back to the resort to test out the swimming pools and hot tubs. We spent a good amount of time there and it felt really nice. What was shocking to me was that after swimming/bathing everyone heads into the showers where there is absolutely no privacy. I basically had to strip down right then and there and wait for the watching eyes. It was completely awkward for the first few minutes, but then it was fine. As I was showering, one of Kelly's friends was in the shower next to me and all of a sudden starts cleaning my back. This took me by surprise but was actually kind of nice. I returned the favor as well. This was a completely new and semi-terrifying experience. I think it brought us all together though haha. Afterwards we made some dinner and went to bed early.

The next day we were off to Cheongdo! We started by visiting one of the girl's mom and had rice dumpling soup which is traditional at new years. I also met her nephew who has taught himself English and we had a conversation. His mom wanted us to become pen pals but he was a 16-year-old boy, so I can't say I blame him for declining. After that visit, we went to a Korean comedy show. I was a little weary about this and if I would understand any of it, but it was hilarious! It's amazing how much I can interpret from actions and people's intonation. Kelly's friends actually commented on how my understanding level is high. That was a nice thing to hear. After the show, we met all the actors and got pictures taken with them. They were all very nice and even said "Emma!" instead of "Cheese!" when we took the picture. It made me feel special.

Next, we moved on to the Cheongdo Wine Tunnel. This was really neat. The wine is made from Persimmons, wich is "Gam" in Korean, so it is quite sweet. The tunnel itself used to be a tunnel for a train, so it is really interesting inside. They have decorated the dark tunnel with beautiful lights and various displays about the wine and how it's made. Before leaving, there were some street vendors outside and we got some "Odeng". Odeng is a "fishcake" on a stick in this very hot, yet delicious broth. I don't think I am selling it very well, but it is delicious and great on a cold day. After our visit to the wine tunnel, it was starting to get dark and we headed to Provence. Provence was probably my favorite part of the trip. It is this little village that is completely lit up with lights. I will add a picture at the end for you to see. It is known as a proposal spot and the theme of the place is definitely love. We had some fun taking funny pictures and then went to a western restaurant because the girls really wanted some steak. The Koreans LOVE steak. It makes me laugh a bit because I am not big on it, so seeing them get so excited is enlightening. After this, we headed to our motel and had some beer and soju and snacks.

Monday morning, we got up a little later and started our journey home. We stopped at Unmunsa Temple, which is a college for female monks, or nuns. The temple was beautiful. There is a 500 year old weeping pine tree there that is quite extraordinary. After our visit there, we headed back home and I have to say I was quite spent by the time I got home. I took an extra long nap and it was glorious!

Gyeongju Resort - Outdoor pool at night

Provence - Beautiful Light Display

Cheongdo Wine Tunnel

Umunsa Temple

Umunsa Temple - Weeping Pine Tree

Going to the Gym in Korea

My roommate, Kelly, and I have started going to the gym in the morning before work. We walk to the local community centre that is about twenty minutes away. Going to the gym in Korea is really quite similar to back home, but with a few differences.

The overall experience is the same, and many of the machines are the same. The gym we go to is rather small so there aren't that many machines. However, there usually are not too many people at the gym so it's not so bad. Some machines that I haven't seen back home are the vibration machines. There are two kinds. The first is one where you stand n a platform and two pedals underneath your feet move up and down and your whole body shakes to the vibration. I was skeptical of this machine at first, but now I love it and use it at the end of my workout. The other kind of vibration machine is the one with the belt that vibrates. You have probably heard of or seen these before, maybe a couple decades ago. This I was also skeptical about but it is really good if your muscles are sore. It feels like a really good, intense massage. They also have leg massagers there to use. They feel nice on the feet, but I am a little too ticklish for them and I start to giggle.

What I love the most about the gym is probably the people. Because it is a community centre, there are many older ladies and a few men who like to frequent the gym almost every day. The first few times I went to the gym, you could have sworn I was the first foreigner they had ever seen. It was awkward to feel eyes on me constantly especially while trying to work out. Now it is a little different and you kind of feel like a family a little bit. The ladies and I say hello and bow to one another when we see each other and sometimes they invite me to their coffee breaks. Yes, there are coffee breaks at the gym haha. They are also very encouraging to me and motion that I look slimmer.

There are still the people that are jacked and make you feel inferior, but that will always be there. Also, I tested out the cross trainer (elliptical) one day and I think I am too tall for it because it felt odd using it, like I couldn't stand straight on it. I avoid that machine now.

Kelly is a really good person to go to the gym with because she gets my but out of bed in the morning to go and helps me with my form. She is more focused on how much she weighs though, and I just want to feel good.

Jinha Beach and Ganjeolgot

This past weekend I was lucky enough to venture out and see our local beach and main sight seeing spot.

Sunday we headed over to Jinha Beach first which is only a 15 minute bus ride away. I don't know if I can call it a bus ride though. It is more of a roller coaster ride. We thought we were going to have to wait for the bus so we got coffee before heading to the stop. We were lucky that we did not have to wait, but this ride was intense. It was like we were playing a game to see who could protect their coffee from spilling the longest. We were sitting at the back of the bus and were sliding everywhere. It was quite comical actually. Needless to say, bus rides in Korea are a little different than in Canada. On our ride home, our bus driver was actually passing cars!

Jinha beach is pretty nice. It's a sandy beach and has a little island that you can swim to. It felt odd being on the beach at the end of January and not being surrounded by snow or ice. It was pretty mild on Sunday too so that helped. It looks like it would be a popular spot in the summer.

After we had walked along the beach for a while, we decided to head to Ganjeolgot, which only one stop on the bus away. It felt like we were further away than we actually were. Again we were along the water, so we got to see more of the ocean, and a few lighthouses. There is also a giant post box and various statues. They also have this place called the Drama House where they used to put on plays but it has been turned into a restaurant now. The building is quite beautiful though. There are also very many food vendors at Ganjeolgot and we indulged in some delicious snacks.

It was an enjoyable outing!

You can see pictures here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/108080094162280120728/albums/5835466218878009793

I do not have much to report, as things have been pretty quiet since my trip to Seoul.

Last week I had my medical exam and it was odd but good at the same time. My director said "Wow!" when they recorded my height at 174.8 centimeters. Its as if seeing the number makes me appear taller. Also, my eyesight my be getting worse, but I should get an eye exam soon to be sure. Everything is normal and I passed so that is good! Tomorrow the director is taking me to the immigration office so we can apply for my Alien Registration Card (ARC).

I made the decision to get a straight perm, or what they call "magic straight" to make my life a little easier. I was skeptical about it but my roommate persuaded me that it would be good. It was an interesting process and took over two hours. I agreed to let her give me my bangs back but then she also thinned it out which was nice. My hair really is straight and all I have to do is blow-dry and go, so that is a definite bonus.

Kelly and I also joined the gym at the local community centre. Its only about $25 per month and takes about 20 minutes to walk there. There are other gyms closer (one on our street!), but they cost about twice as much. This gym has everything we would need so it works well. We have been getting up before work and going. Its tough to wake up early but once we're out there we're glad we went. I am glad we did this together as Kelly is really good at motivating me to get up and go with her. My muscles are a little angry with me right now but they'll get over it soon (I hope!).

Other than that things have been pretty quiet. For the month of January, we finish earlier so that has been really nice. It is helping me keep a normal sleeping schedule. It was getting a little out of control for a while.

I am starting to get quite homesick, more now than at the holidays which I think is strange. It's weird though, I have thoughts of certain places and then imagine the floor plan and things that happened there and how I wish I could go there again. maybe this is normal, but it feels strange.

My family sent me a small care package with a family calendar in it and some more Canada souvenirs. The kids love anything with Canada written on it. They also really like my calendar, they are fascinated to see the people in my life and think everyone is handsome or beautiful or cute. I decided to post the calendar in my classroom rather than take it home so they can look at it whenever they want. It is also nice to have a piece of my family with me in the class.

Well, I hope next time I have something more exciting for you to read. Sending everyone some love from Korea!

Winter Vacation: Seoul

After our NYE and lack of sleep, Kelly and I took the express bus to Seoul that takes about 4.5 hours. We both slept the whole way and before we knew it we had arrived.

Day One:
We stepped off the bus and went into a Dunkin' Donuts to wake up and have a coffee. Afterwards, we went to a Jimjibang, which is the Korean version of a spa, or a bath house. I was really nervous about this as it is open and there are male and female baths, but you are naked with a bunch of strangers. My thoughts were that I already get stared at constantly when I have my clothes on, I can't imagine when I don't have any clothes on at all. We ended up not being able to go as there was nowhere for us to put our backpacks. I can't say I wasn't relieved, but I think I will have to eventually try a jimjibang out. In hindsight it would probably have been better to go to one in Seoul rather than in Ulsan where I could run into a student and well that would be horrifying. We went back to the bus terminal and stored our backpacks in a locker because they were really quite heavy.
We started our trip by going to Insadong and took the subway to get there. Seoul's subway system reminded me a lot of the Tube in London, England. It was pretty easy to navigate around the city. In Insadong there is a huge foreigner market and many of the vendors speak some English. One of the food vendors actually yelled across the street "Hello Lady!" It made me laugh and think of Andre the Giant in The Princess Bride. There were many beautiful items for sale at various stores and I think I will have to return to get items to take home with me. I ended up buying some postcards that I can send out. For dinner we went to a dumpling place and they had very good dumplings and very many varieties.
After seeing Insadong, we moved on to Cheonggyecheon Stream and walked along it while taking photos. It was really beautiful with snow on the ground. After seeing the course of the stream, we found our way to Gwanghwamun Square. At this point it had started to really snow and Kelly and I were enjoying it at it doesn't often snow in Ulsan. At the square there were two statues of important people in Korea's history. The first statue was of Admiral Yi Sun-shin who protected Korea during the Japanese invasion. The second was of King Sejong who created Hangeul (Korean letter system). Afterwards we went to the National Museum of Contemporary History. Here, there was more information on the two statues and I had the chance to write my name and Canada in Hangeul to be posted in the museum. I also got to write one for myself, but I made a mistake and spelled Canata haha. At least the one for the museum was done correctly. After this we decided to head to Kelly's parents place where we would be staying.
Kelly's father is a short man and is very kind. He would try to talk to me in Korean when Kelly wasn't in the room but I couldn't understand and felt really bad. The first night was a quick introduction and then we set up our sleeping area. Their apartment is really quite small and about half the size of ours in Ulsan. They don't sleep on beds but on the floor. Kelly was worried this would be an inconvenience for me but it actually wasn't too bad. Also they do not have the luxury of as much hot water as they want like we do or a proper shower but instead have a bucket of hot water and a hose for cold water which we mixed and then used a basin to wash up and "shower". It was different but worked. We were so tired that it didn't really phase us. We slept for about 12 hours that night.

Day Two:
The second day started with a home-cooked meal being ready for us and Kelly's mom being home. Her mom works at a temple in Seoul and often stays there and has her own living quarters at the temple. Her mom is an excellent cook and even has a second bunker fridge devoted to kimchi and side dishes. After eating and getting ready we were out the door again to see some more sights. We started at Gwangbokgung Palace. We did a guided tour which was great because you got to learn about the history of each building. It was extremely cold that day but the palace was beautiful and extremely big. After our tour finished we went into the National Folk Museum that is on the grounds to warm up. This  museum was quite interesting. After we had finished there we went on to the National Museum of Korea which is HUGE. We spent over four hours there and only saw half of it. It was really interesting to see the tools they used in the past and how everything developed. There was also a large section on Buddhism in Korea that was very intriguing. We went home a little earlier that day because Kelly's mom had made one of her favorite dishes and she really wanted it haha. After seeing 3 museums in 24 hours we decided that we were done on the museum front. There are a few others there that I would like to see eventually but at another time.

Day Three:
We went to Lotte World on the third day. This was quite fun and is Korea's version of Disney Land, but I found it quite similar to Canada's Wonderland too. It is mainly for kids, but we still had a good time and the outside attractions were really neat. We went on a couple rides and watched the parade they had, along with some of the entertainment shows. After we had finished at Lotte World, we met up with a friend that I grew up with who is now living in Seoul. We went to a foreigner bar called Traveller's and I had a really good burger. It was really great seeing him and catching up. Seeing him made me miss home a little more though. His friend Juno came along too and he is Korean but speaks excellent English. After dinner we played a game of foosball that turned out to be more fun than I expected.

Day Four:
Kelly and I had decided to to a city bus tour this day where you can get off and hop on at various sites. Her father woke us up quite early with breakfast (rice soup). Kelly's parents were very accommodating and kind, which I was very grateful for. The city tour is a good way to get to many places in one day. Our first stop was Namdaemun Market that was HUGE. I thought the Namchang Market was big, but this market took over eight streets and had all kinds of shopping from souvenirs, to clothing, to shoes, to food. After touring around there for a while, we hopped on the bus and stopped at Itaewon. This was more shopping and we found an English book store that had a huge selection and I ended up getting a Korean-English dictionary and a travel book on Bali, where I intend to visit after my contract finishes. One thing I noticed about the shopping in Korea is how the sales people follow you throughout the store. It drives me a little crazy, but it's how they are here. Also, they assume because I am a foreigner that I have lots of money so they try to get me to buy everything. And people on the street begging for money approach me first.
Next stop was Myeongdong which was also another shopping district and we had lunch there. We had something called Shabu Shabu that was a broth with various vegetables and thinly sliced beef. First you eat the beef and veggies and dip it in various sauces you are given and then you add noodles that are similar to udon, but not quite and make a soup out of the remaining broth and veggies. My friend we met the day before recommended it and I have to say I am glad we tried it out.
Our next stop was Namsangol Hanok Village. This was a traditional village that was really great to see and tour around. Here we were able to spot the Namsan Tower as well. They had an area of ice sculptures that were really cool and well done. We decided to end our evening with a trip up to the Namsan Tower and although the climb was a bit challenging, we made it and the view was spectacular. Once we got inside the tower we were waiting for the sun to set and walked around seeing the different shops and exhibitions they had. We got a little silly and started taking photos wearing masks and with stuffed animals.
Once night fell and we saw the view and took our pictures, we went home to have dinner with her father. We ordered Chinese. Chinese is a little different here than is it back home. We had soup with noodles and seafood and then sweet and sour pork. Food places here almost always deliver, including McDonalds. You also get your food in actual glass bowls and they come and pick them up later.

Day Five:
We were originally going to spend six days in Seoul but decided later that we would need a day for rest with all of the walking and sightseeing we had been doing. On our last day we went to the Buddhist temple Kelly's mom works at because they were having a special celebration. The temple is huge and absolutely stunning. We went to the top floor where we bowed and paid our respects. The on a lower floor was where they had the celebration. I couldn't understand what was being said but it was really neat to watch and be a part of. Many people were quite shocked by my presence as it is not a typical foreigner hang out. Many of the older ladies smiled and we bowed to one another. One actually dragged me into the procession which was both scary and good at the same time. After the celebration we were given a meal of bibimbap and after visiting with Kelly's mom for a short while, we were heading home.

Overall it was a great trip to Seoul and I was able to get some good pictures. My pictures are up on facebook, and for those who are not connected via facebook, you can view them here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/108080094162280120728/albums/5830227822086723361?authkey=CLeEh8at2PnlqQE

I did take a couple videos but they don't seem to want to load so I will figure it out and add them shortly.

New Years Eve in Ulsan

This year's New Years Eve was a different one than I have had in the past, but it was quite possibly the best in my books.

The day started off with a 3 hour meeting for class placement of the students in the new year. This was a really good meeting and I am now a homeroom teacher to four classes. The rest of the day was fairly normal with teaching classes and having fun with the kids. My passport arrived that day too which was a nice surprise. I may have hugged it when I opened it haha.

When Kelly and I got home from work we packed for our upcoming trip to Seoul. When she said that she thought we should take only a knapsack I thought she was kidding, but she was not. Trying to figure out what to pack for 6 days in one bag was tricky but I made it work. Then we went to the Buddhist Temple that she goes to here in Ulsan, it's about an hour away and the president was nice enough to pick us up. When we got there, Kelly took me into one of the prayer/bowing rooms and she showed me how to bow properly and we paid our respects. Then we went to help hand out candles for the ringing of the bell ceremony. Midnight quickly approached and we lit our candles and went outside where this giant bell was being rung 33 times. We set our candles on the steps of the temple and participated in ringing the bell a couple times. This was really cool and seeing all the people together ringing in the new year was great. I forgot my camera at home and was quite upset about it. Unfortunately you will have to picture it in your minds.

Afterwards we spent some time with Kelly's friends from the temple who were really nice and decided that we would go downtown for some drinks. Its interesting how comfortable I feel going out with people who don't speak any English. It's amazing how much you can read from body language and intonation and of course laughter. In Korea people don't go drinking without having snacks or some kind of food along with it so we had some good eats and the girls drank pineapple juice and soju which was delicious. Later Kelly and I drank somae which is beer with a shot of soju in it. We ended up going to a couple places and before we knew it, it was 4am. We had planned to get up and see the sunrise and at this point we realized that there was no point in sleeping so we stayed out and then drove around trying to decide where we should see the sunrise. I ended up falling asleep in the car and before I knew it we were back in Namchang driving up the mountain that is behind our apartment.

At the top of the mountain they had fire pits to keep us warm, free coffee, soup, hot packs, and sweet bread. When we got there it was still dark, but people had already started rolling in and before we knew it you could see the sky get lighter and then the sun was beginning to rise. I can't explain how beautiful it was to see but I am glad we stayed up to see it.

Driving down the mountain to go home was quite an adventure with all the people and we took a detour down a road that wasn't completely car friendly. We all had to pile out of the car at times to reduce the weight and guide the driver to miss major potholes or rocks. Eventually we made it home but it was after 9 and we figured that we had better get ready and head to Seoul or we would surely fall asleep.

All in all it was quite different but a really great experience.