Grinning like a Cheshire Cat
Hope you like the picky, It kinda sums up my mood!!!
I can’t stop grinning. I have just got back from looking at my new apartment with the director of my school. OMG! It is a palace!!!!
I had heard rumors that it was in a decent building and with the director’s rough description is where it was I had spotted somewhere I thought it may be, but had written it off cause it was a proper apartment block. But I was RIGHT.
I am actually going to be living in a proper apartment block in a decent flat. This is amazing; I’m never going to leave the house!!!
At the moment I live in what is effectively a bed-sit. The new apartment isn’t a one bedroom flat; it isn’t a two bedroom flat; it is a THREE bedroom flat! We will even have a guest room; albeit with no bed in, but a guest room all the same.
Plus massively beating my underground hovel with bars on the windows that I can’t open. It is on the 11th floor, meaning I can let in as much air as I want. And the views are pretty good too. Plus I don’t think the cockroaches could be bothered to climb 11 floors to bother me!
I can’t believe it. I can’t wait to move in. It is going to be ace!
Paul, Julia, Kandy, Jane, Grace, Danny, Phil, Irene, Eric, Sarah, Amy, Rebecca, Brian, Daniel, Jack, Josh, Tim, Alex & Cindy
Despite my guilt this is just a quick post because a number of people have asked me why all the kids have English names.
I work at a private English school called a Hogwon. Because of this when the kids come to the school they are all given English names that are used in the school. They all have Korean names that are used everywhere else. I know someone who teaches English at a middle school and there they all use their Korean names. But some of his students come to my Hogwon and here they use their English names.
Guilty pleasures
Well, after only blogging once this week I have to say I am feeling incredibly guilty. I promise the posts will be more frequent next week.
Since meeting other foreigners and realising they hang out on the street I have to walk down to get to the internet café it has become very easy to get distracted on the way there! I went to the internet café last night to blog only to bump into Rob and end up having a couple of beers with him then heading home!!!
Anyway got go. The director is taking me to view my new flat in a bit. Will catch up on the blogging soon. Have loads to write about and this coming weekend looks to be full of new adventures!!
Note to self:
Chusock
Drinking with Koreans
Andong maskdance festival
Childsplay
It has been a quiet weekend, but that will follow in a later post. First my field trip on Friday with the Kindergarten children.
We went to the Sudoguk-san Taltongne Pangmulgwan, which means "Sudoguk mountain hillside (squatter) neighborhood museum" but has been given the official English title of "Sudoguksan Museum of Housing and Living."
It was a rare opportunity to spend time with the kids and not be shouting at them to "be quiet" "listen" or "sit down"! In fact I barley said a word all morning as none of the Korean teachers I was with can really speak English and my ability to communicate with the kids is limited! But it was a good day (well morning) nonetheless.
We left the school about 10:45am on the school bus. Getting on and seeing the kids crammed in three to each seat meant for two was a surprise, and obviously there weren't any seatbelts. Sometimes the differences between England and Korea astound me.
It took about 45 minutes to get to the museum, during which time the kids were incredibly well behaved with only limited shouting and standing on the seats! And it wasn't until the way home that the first one of them was sick!!! At the child threw up in a bag I looked out the window and pretended it wasn't happening! Let the Korean teachers deal with it is fast becoming my motto!!!
When we arrived at the museum we walked around pretty quickly with the teachers explaining everything to the kids in Korean. I managed to guess that it had something to do with a mountain (well the massive hill we'd driven up to get to the museum) and old Korean houses. But most of the explanations were written in Korean and we walked around so quickly I didn't have time to read the occasional English plaque. I found an article about the museum on the Korea Times website. It makes sooooo much more sense now!
We walked around so quickly I didn't get chance to take any pictures. But as we reached the end the teachers began lining the children up in their classes and taking pictures. Here are some of my pickies.
Some of Blue class. From left to right: Josh (making the victory sign, as nearly all Korean kids do in photos!), Tim, Kate, Amy, (a very uncomfortable looking) me and Rebecca.
Pink class. From left to right: Daniel, Kandy, Philip, Alex, Jack, Danny, Julia.
Yellow class, the youngest and possibly my favourite! Left to right: Irene, Alex and Brian.
There are plenty of blogs to come about yellow class. Since they realised they get 'candy' or in ENGLISH sweets if they are good I get hugged (well two kids clinging to my legs) every time I walk into their classroom!!! And I think there may be a budding romance between Irene and Brian! (more to follow on that!)
After we went to the museum we had lunch. It is traditional for the kids mothers to make food for the teachers when the kids go on a trip. The food was pretty good and I was very good. I sat and ate traditional Korean food WITH chopsticks!! I can almost use them now!
After lunch we took the kids to a park near the museum. It has been years since I have watched kids play in a park. I guess pretty much since I was a kid. It is amazing the memories it brings back watching kids behave like kids and remembering all the things you used to do when playing in the park. After all a slide is never just a slide, it has many more uses than that.
Here are some pictures I snapped when the kids weren't looking. Oh the memories it brought back..........
The kids having fun in the park.
Amy Standing on a swing. Kandy standing on a swing whilst Daniel sits down.
I remember doing this as a kid and watching them it looked like wicked fun. But I got the impression I was a bit too big to go and play! Unless of course it's 2am I'm fairly drunk and walking past the play park on the quay in Exeter!
Shortly after I took this picture Kandy's friend Julia came and said something to me in Korean the only English words she managed were Kandy and Daniel with lots of together type actions. I think she was trying to tell me that Kandy is going out with Daniel!!! How cute!
Slide jam. This was always more fun on a helter-skelter!!
Jack ties the swing up then giggles as he wizzes around in circles.
Why am I to old for this stuff?
Julia shows that a slide is never just a slide!
Aside form watching the kids the views from the park were pretty spectacular, buildings as far as the eye could see with skyscapers rising in the distance. It just looks so different than British urbanisation! Check out the picture below.
View from the park at Sudoguksan.
OneWebDay
I just came across this (OneWebDay) on the BBC news website and figured I should do something to mark the occasion.
So a reflection on how the web has changed my life. It'll have to be short and sweet as I only have a few minutes.
Firstly I have this blog and am able to communicate with (effectively) millions of people simultaneously. Obviously there are probably more like five people reading this blog but the potential is still there!
The web enables me to send information via email (using hotmail, before someone points out the difference between the web and the internet) at the touch of a button.
Using services such as MSN messenger enables me to talk to people and stay in contact with people that I would probably otherwise have lost touch with.
Whilst the internet has been criticised for encouraging people to socalise less it is also a great aid to communication. At the touch of a button I am able to have a real time (all be it typed) conversation with someone in England whilst sitting in an internet cafe in South Korea! Amazing really when you think about it.
Lastly, cause I really have to log off.
Without the lure of online journalism I would probably have given up on the idea of being a journalist when I realised I could NEVER work for a local newspaper! Which incidentally was half way through my degree in journalism!! The capacity for journalism on the web is immense and with the rise of citizen journalism who knows where it could end!
Also the web has revelotionised the ability of the journalist to carry out research. I have no idea how journalists (and ordinary people) ever functioned without the ability to 'google it' in order to find out almost anything.
Gota go. Happy OneWebDay! Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
An alien with a bank account
I’ve been here nearly three weeks now and this week saw a number of significant happenings.
Firstly it is the longest I have even been outside of England. And I have to say that apart from my friends and family I’m not really missing England that much.
The main things that are strange are still having to remember to look the other way when crossing the road. The lack of rules and regulations when it comes to speed limits and red lights. Having to catch a bus everywhere and the realisation that I will never be brave enough to drive around this place because the driving here is insane!
Not being able to read signs – was very strange at first but in some way it’s kind of nice not to be constantly bombarded with advertising. At least I know I’m not being unconsciously influenced into buying a product I don’t want! It does, however, become a problem when I am looking for somewhere or wanting to order dinner. Daniel still orders everything for me cause I can’t read the menu. I will have to rectify this at least to some degree before he leaves. Otherwise I may starve! Or alternatively have to live on chocolate…. Ummmmm on second thoughts………
Talking of food. The Koreans (well the teachers at my school anyway) are obsessed with foreigners not liking Korean food. I am going on a school trip tomorrow and it is traditional for the children’s mothers to make food for the teachers. The school director actually came to me earlier today and said he would have to get me some sandwiches because I don’t like Korean food. He started going on about a traditional Korean roll assuming I didn’t know what it was called, (which incidentally is called Kimbap (pronounced Gimbop)) and how I didn’t like it! To which I told him I’d eaten it a few times and actually quite like it, he was mega surprised.
The teachers here seem to judge foreigners by the way they have acted when they have been abroad. I know from chatting to them that when they have been to England or America they find it hard not to have Korean food and often cook Korean food at home rather then eat western food.
The teachers here are convinced that I am really missing western food. Which for the first week I was, but once your find you way around there are plenty of nice restaurants that serve decent Korean food. And I have tried more random things since I’ve been here than ever before (yellow radishes and dried squid for example). There are a few things that are not likely to be seen anywhere near my plate – whole octopus being one of them. The food here is a post in itself, which I will try to add soon (with pictures!).
Another significant thing that happened this week was getting my alien card. I am now officially an registered alien living and working in Korea. Having this card also meant I have been able to open a Korean back account. So gone are the days of having (literally) millions of won in my flat!
The other significant event and also (possibly) highlight of my stay so far was on the way home from work last night. I was walking up to the big crossroads near my house when I noticed a few western looking people stood at the lights. As I got closer they looked at me and shouted ‘Hi’. I got to the junction and introductions were made. I was absolutely gob smacked – three whole other foreigners in my area – and it turns out there are plenty more. I went for a beer with them and found out that there are about ten of them living in one building which is about five minutes from my flat, and opposite the internet café where I normally post my blog. I can’t believe I’ve not bumped into them before. I spent most of the evening drinking beer with them totally shocked and relieved to have finally found some more English speakers in my area. And to top it all of they all seemed very nice and very friendly.
There is an American guy called Rob who is also a journalist, he has a degree in television production. Another guy called Joseph who was so laid back he was almost asleep – but also quite attractive. He didn’t speak much so I’m not sure where he is from. And also a bird from either New Zealand or Australia (I can’t remember which) but she went to Nottingham University and liked living in England. She was possibly the most excited to see me because apart from a 60 year-old woman she is the only other girl in the area. She was even more excited to here that Katrina will be coming over soon.
Emily is coming here for the weekend and I have arranged to go out with them on Saturday night. Wey hay – bring on the party! I’m so excited to have more people in my area.
Over and out for now. Probably no more blogging till Monday, but I’ll be sure to fill you in on the details of the school trip I’m going on tomorrow – complete with pictures.
Kindergarten - ME!!!
Almost three weeks in to my job as an English teacher and I have become aware that I have not talked much (or at all) about the kids. Being that I'm not really into children this was an interesting choice of job. Made even more interesting when I discovered I was teaching Kindergarten!!
My experience with young kids is non-existent unless you count the occasional lunch with Laura and Jak (my 20 month old godson). But even then as soon as things got tough Laura was always on hand to take charge of the situation! I certainly never dealt with any of the gross stuff produced by young children!
So imagine my horror when I arrived to discover I would be teaching children as young as four! I am still yet to decide if, with the really young kids, the language barrier is a good or a bad thing. On one hand it makes it very difficult to give them instructions, but on the other it gives me a great excuse to watch them colouring and plan my lessons rather then engage them in stimulating conversation about their colouring. When they try and talk to me (always in Korean) I spend a lot of time looking confused and shrugging my shoulders!!!
I have three classes of kindergarten, the four and five year olds, six year olds and seven year olds. The two slightly older classes are a bit easier as they are able to understand basic instructions – all be it with a lot of miming, pointing at pages in a book and demonstrating what I want them to do!!
The really little ones however are quite a challenge. They have the concentration span of a nat and no ability what so ever to comprehend my instructions, luckily there are only four of them in the class! For these lessons I have developed a unique teaching style. We usually spend the first 15-20 minutes of a 40 minute lesson doing the work they are supposed to be doing – either memorising a story book or phonics classes. Then if they’ve been good and listened rather than wondering around the room, making noises, putting their book on their head, or trying to blow snot out of their noses (without the aid of a tissue) they get a small chocolate and do some colouring for the rest of the lesson!! This means I can sit and plan my afternoon lessons whilst they colour, chat and sing in a language I don’t understand!
I was beginning to quite like this class until the snot-blowing incident. It reminded me why I could never have children. They were sat colouring and I was engrossed in my lesson planning, admittedly not paying enough attention to what there were up to. Suddenly they began laughing. I looked up to find one of them had blown more snot out his nose than I have ever seen. I knew it was my job to wipe it up but just looking at it made my stomach turn. How was I supposed to actually go near it. Luckily (or maybe unluckily) just as the realisation dawned that I couldn’t just sit and stare the school director opened the classroom door, said something in Korean and called the Korean teacher to wipe it off his face, mouth and chin. I had lucky escape there. Until the next lesson when he decided to do it again. This time I looked around and realised I was completely alone. But regardless there was no way I was going anywhere near that volume of child snot – yuck! I spotted a toilet roll ripped off a piece and give it to him. He cleaned up the majority of it himself leaving me just to wipe up the residue – not too bad, but something I would rather not have to do! A firm NO and a dirty look (before letting him clean it up) made sure he knew he wasn’t to do it again. Not in my presence anyway!
The other two kindergarten classes are a lot less eventful – most of the time it is just a battle to keep them vaguely interested in their story book or phonics class. But more about them at a later date.
The meaning of Blog!
Just a short post tonight as the coast of going to an internet cafe every night is starting to add up!! Plus I'm tired and want to go home, drink tea and eat chocolate. See even in South Korean nothing really changes!
Dad said everyone is asking him what a blog is. Basically bog is short for Weblog, which is an online journal or diary. In recent years Blogs have become massively popular. Some heads of major companies have weblogs or blogs (obviously as a marketing exercise), the BBC news political editor, Nick Robinson, has his own blog that is often promoted on the BBC news homepage. You can access it here.
A few of my friends also have blogs that I have linked to in the links bar on the right.
I found this information on the term blog on Wikipedia.
The short form, "blog," was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in April or May of 1999. This was quickly adopted as both a noun and verb ("to blog," meaning "to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog").
For a more detailed explanation of blogs and blogging check out Wikipedia by clicking this link.
That's it for tonight. I'll check in again tomorrow night.
Ta da for now.
A mystical treasure of Korea - Mount Inwangsan
After a hard day at work it is time to spend the next couple of hours learning about Mount Inwangsan the amazing hill/mountain that I climbed on Saturday.
Climbing to the top of this mountain was an experience I will never forget. At the bottom are a number of amazing Buddhist and Shamanist temples and when we reached the top there was something strangely peaceful and serene about it. It made you just want to sit and meditate (if I knew how to). It is definitely somewhere I will go back and visit again, probably to sit at the top with a book and learn more about Buddhism and Shamanism.
During the Joseon period Inwangsan was known as 'white tiger mountain' because of the number of tigers that inhabited the area. Walking around it was clear to see that a tiger could be quite at home there.
I went with Emily, Daniel and his girlfriend Lim. Luckily Lim is Korean because as we approached the mountain we came across the wall of a construction site. Lim was able to ask for directions and we navigated our way around the wall, but in true Korean style were soon directed up a road that ran directly through the middle of an at work construction area!!
Mount Inwangsan only stands at 338 meters high and so is more of a hill, but the steep incline at the bottom soon had us all puffing and gasping for water. As we entered the bottom of Inwangsan we passed through an elaborately decorated gate. The picture below was taken on the way back down.
Once the steep hill subsided most of the rest of the way was steps. The steps lead you to this bell (picture below) which marks the entrance to a Buddhist temple called Bongwonsa. The Bongwon Temple is the head temple of the Tageo Order of Korean Buddhism and was originally founded in AD889.
In Korea Buddhism probably has the largest following of any organised religion. It was introduced to Korea from China in AD372.
I found this information about Korean Buddhism on Wikipedia:
Korean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what it sees as inconsistencies in Chinese Mahayana Buddhism. Early Korean monks believed that the traditions they received from China were internally inconsistent. To address this, they developed a new holistic approach to Buddhism. This approach is characteristic of virtually all major Korean thinkers, and has resulted in a distinct variation of Buddhism. Korean Buddhist thinkers refined their Chinese predecessors' ideas into a distinct form. Korean Buddhism then went on to have strong effects on Buddhism in the West.
Near the bottom of the mountain was a Shamanist shrine (picture below). The shrine called Guksadang houses the spirits of Joseon Dynasty's (1392 - 1910) founder King Taejo and various generals. It was probably the most simple of all the temples we saw. If you look to the far left of the picture there is tree just on the edge. This must have been significant because shortly after I took the picture a couple of Koreans walked past, stopped and bowed at this point as if paying respects.
The inscription on the plaque near the shrine read:
Designation: Folklore Material No. 28
Period: 1925
Location: San 2-12, Muak-dong, Jongno-gu, SeoulThis building is a shamanic shrine that houses the spirits of Joseon founder Yi Seonggye (King Taejo) and various guardian generals. It was built in 1395 on Namsan and was called Mongmyeoksinsa, because Namsan had been given the title of Great King Mongmyeok.
Guksadang was located on the site of the Namsan octagonal pavilion up until 1925, when the Japanese built the shrine Joseonsingung on the site. The shrine was moved halfway up Inwangsan in July of that year.Even today shamans perform rituals for invoking spirits, for healing, for good fortune, and for praying for the spirits of the dead.
Nearby Guksadang is the Seonbawi, called Gijaam, and several small temples, which are helpful in the study of shamanistic beliefs in Seoul. Within Guksadang are various paintings of shamanic gods, which are collectively designated Important Folklore Material No. 17.
Some more information on Guksadand can be found here.
Some more information on Guksadand can be found here.Shamanism is an ancient religion and has existed in Korea for centuries. It has been argued that Shaminism represents the original human religion and archeologists have inferred evidence of Shaminism among homo sapiens.According to Shamanism spirits exist in every part of nature. Every river, mountain, animal and home has one and everyone who dies has one that may or may not move on to another world. Doors singer Jim Morrison claimed to be traumatised when the spirit of an Indian Shaman entered his sole! The spirits are not inherently good or bad but if treated badly they bring about misfortune including sickness, natural disaster and family problems. When worshiped or summoned they help prevent problems and ensure good luck.Shaminism consists of magical and ritual practices during which the Shaman performs a ceremony to invokes spirits to cure diseases, attract good fortune, foretell the future or pray to the spirits of the deceased. Korean Shamanism, introduced from Siberia, is unique in that ceremonies are mainly carried out by female Shamans called mudangs. Mudangs act as intermediaries between the human and spirit worlds.
Some more information about Korean Shamanism can be found here and here.
Whilst on the mountain we also visited these rocks (picture below) called Seonbawi rock meaning Zen Rock, it is said to represent a robed Buddhist monk.
The inscription on the plaque outside beside the rock read:
This rock is called Seonbawi (zen rock) because it looks like a robed Buddhist monk. It is also called the "Rock of Preying for a Son" as many women who wanted to bear sons came here to prey. This rock is said by some to resemble the likeness of King Taejo, Joseon's founder and first King and the Great Monk Muhak daesa and by other the likenss of King Taejo and his wife.
Beliefs concerning Seonbawi became more closley linked to folk beliefs after the Japanese Empire moved Guksadang , which had been at Namsan next to Seonbawi. Guksandang was a srine to a Shamanic god and the place where shamanic rites were held. As a result Seonbawi became connected with these shamanic beliefs.
These is an interesting story about the time when the city wall of Hanyang (Seoul) was being built. It is said that Muhak daesa wanted Seonbawi to be within the city walls , but Jeong Dojeon wanted the rock located outside the walls. Jeong Dojeon said: "If Seonbawi is within the wall Buddhism will flourish; if it is without Confucianism will flourish." Taejo followed Jeong Dejon's advice , an Muhak daesa sighed: "From now on the monks will be following the Confucian scholars around carrying their packages of book for them." The story tells us that Seonbawi attracted attention from the early Joseon era as a striking feature of Inwangsan.
Finally we climbed to the top of the mountain where everything seemed amazingly peaceful. It was a feeling that is very difficult to describe. I kind of felt at peace with myself, just relaxed and chilled out. Maybe it was being away from the busyness and congestion of Seoul below. Maybe it was looking around at the beautiful views. Maybe it was hearing the Buddhist monks worshiping in the distance. Maybe it was a combination of them all. Or maybe this mountain does just have something extra special about it. I know one thing for sure; I will definitely be going back.
Daniel and Lim enjoy the view from the top of Mount Inwangsan.
A few random happenings from the weekend
This weekend was definitely the most random so far ..... ok so it's only the second but that’s not the point!!!We spend Saturday climbing up a hill/mountain and shopping but who would have though so many odd things could happen in one day!!
The first half of the day was uneventful but once we had climbed the mountain things just seemed to get odd!
Legs shaking and exhausted from our walk we headed for the tube to go shopping make our way back to Emily's. After consulting my tube map (the only English tube map we had) we made our way to the platform to get the train. A train arrived and I successfully boarded the train whilst Emily learnt why daydreaming in a train doorway is a bad idea. In Korea the trains don't give you any warning when their door are about to close and Emily manage to get trapped in the door with one leg on the train and the rest of her on the platform. After unsuccessfully trying to prise the doors open she had no choice put to remove herself from the door and watch from the platform as the train pulled away with me on board! Luckily she had the sense to get on the next train and I met her at the next stop. But with no tube map and no means of communicating anyone it was a potentially scary situation. That is often the most daunting thing about being here. We are unable to communicate with the majority of the population and all the signs are written in a different alphabet. Meaning being stranded somewhere or ending up somewhere you don't want to be can be a very difficult situation to get out of.
Random incident number two: After successfully arriving at our target destination we decided to make use of the public convenience. As we walked in I was approached by some Korean teenagers trying to ask me something. This girl kept whispering something in my ear, but instead of miming what she wanted she just keep talking in Korean. After two days reflection neither Emily or myself have been able to figure out what she wanted!!! Strange....
Random incident number three: Later as we walked through a shopping centre another couple of teenage girls approached me and wanted me to fill in an English survey (I guess for school homework). As they fumbled for a pen I produced one from my bag and began to write only for them to panic and swiftly produce a pencil from their bag. Koreans only seem to write with pencil! (If anyone knows why this is please let me know, I’m intrigued?) The survey began with normal questions, how long have you been in Korea? Why are you here? etc.. But then asked me to describe my ideal man including, age, height, hair colour and weight (talk about specific)!
Random incident number four: Ok not so random but it rather amused me that Emily's feet are too big for her to buy shoes here!!! I'm just about Ok but still at the top end of the sizes. (Mum - you'd like it here, they all have feet abut your size, you'd have loads of choice).
Random incident number five: We got mega squashed on a tube train. Sometimes Koreans have no manners. The train was busy and there were a lot of people on the platform and they literally shoved everyone out of the way to make sure they got on the train. This train was so packed it was impossible to even move my arms!!! I never thought I would find a train more crowded than the London underground! But then to make matters worse (whilst we still couldn't move) a group of Korean teenager got on and having not seen many westerners before decided to take pictures of us!!! Not nice when you have no choice in the matter.
Random incident number six: The driving here is terrible - but that is a post in itself. After dealing with the tube we had to get a bus the rest of the way back to Emily’s. Exhausted and wanting a sleep before we went out that night we wanted to get home as quickly as possible. But as we made our way home the bus managed to collide with a car in the next lane putting a nice dent in the passenger side door of the car!!!! Not surprising because of the way they drive, but it meant we had to listen to a load of Koreans being irate in a language we couldn't understand and wait for the next bus to came along. The best thing was that neither driver pulled into the side of the road. They both just stopped in the middle of a four-lane road and decided to sort the incident out there!!!!
Anyway best be off. Time for dinner. Will blog the mountain tomorrow.
