k_millington's site

My Birthday

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 09:39:39 +0100

I hadn't wanted to spend my birthday in the sleepy rather dirty town of Kampot so on the 18th we moved up to the capitol, Phnom Penh.

On the morning of my birthday I opened a couple of presents from my friends back home and then headed out to the Russian market. It was fantastic, it had hundreds of stalls selling silk scarves, silk cushions, silk bed throws, carvings, Buddha heads, dvd's, clothes, food and much, much more. It was however roasting as the roof to the market is made of metal which heated up very quickly and began to slowly cook people on the inside.

Next we went for a walk along the river where we came across a place advertising blind massages, we had heard they were good and for only $5 an hour you couldn't wrong. They were so friendly but I don't think I have ever been in that much pain. They dug their elbows into my back, their fingers into my arms and for the entire time I kept looking over to Emily to see if hers was more relaxing. But with her face screwed up making silent yelps I knew she was enjoying it as much as me.

There was one point when Jenna was getting her butt massaged and I was dying to take a picture but my girl had me in a death grip that would have been impossible to escape from. After wards I felt a bit more limber, I had also found out that I can touch my lower back with my feet and I have some very soft points on my skull.

We moved down the road to a beauty palour of sorts as Jenna wanted her legs waxed. I some how got persuaded to have a facial which I found out later was an attempt to get rid of me so they could get me a birthday card.

I got some lovely presents including a small ruby necklace (my birthstone) from a jewelry factory in Changmai, along with a bracelet from every country they had been without me, a T-shirt from the Hobbit House Bar in Manila (where the bar is run by dwarfs) and a key ring.

That night we went to a famous little restaurant that we'd heard about through word of mouth. It was a small little pizza place called 'Happy Herb Pizza' the title says it all. So we ordered a couple of 'happy' pizzas and settled back to watch the hustle and bustle of the streets of Phnom Penh.

Traveling to and through Cambodia

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 13:44:08 +0100

The journey from Thailand to the border in Hat Lek, Thailand side and Koh Kong on the Cambodian side. A ferry and few buses no problem. We did however get to the border at around 7pm an hour before it closed and the time of night when all the last of the traders, beggars and 'helpers'come out of the wood work with their hands out stretched hoping to get some luck at the end of a long day.

The guide book had told us we could pay in dollars when applying for our visa, which takes a few minutes but it was wrong. They would only except Baht and so we had to cross back over the border to go to the ATM in Thailand. For anyone that's thinking of going there they charged us 1,200 Baht and pocketed 200 of it. Luckily for us we had already arranged through Fiona (the womnan that owned Bo's Independant) to have someone pick us up and take us to his guest house. His name was Whisky and once he realised we were from England he tried his hand at impressing us with some cockney ryming slang. "Lovely jubbly, no worries chicken curry and alright geezer," it did however take us a few minutes to work each one out because his accent was so hard to understand.

The guest house (Koh Kong Guesthouse) we stayed at was simply but clean and had a nice little restaurant upstairs. In the morning we waited for our bus to arrive at 8.40am, half an hour later we were still waiting. Cambodia knows nothing about being prompt. We clamboured onto a small mini bus and off we went.

The roads in Cambodia are very unkept and it was rough going at some points. There are signs of building work taking place by the rivers but until the bridges are built you will have to suffice with crossing by a small car ferry. There are four of these ferrys all in all and I swear each one gets muddier and muddier. When we reached the first ferry point we were told to disembark the mini bus in case the boat sinks this way we would have more chance of survival.

The last ferry was by far the worst at one point the mud was so bad that the mini bus got stuck and we were told we might have to get out and push. Thankfully with some help from the locals we got onto the ferry. However this time the ferry wasn't made of sturdy metal but from two small boats with a patch work quilt of wood placed on top, that would creak or crack under our weight.. Walking around it was like a death trap one wrong move and you would submerged in dirty water.

But its okay we all survived and reached the other side in one piece. Not long after the raft ride we reached Sihanoukville, popular with Cambodians and tourists a like. It is supposed to be Cambodia's premiere beach resort and that's exactly what it was, a nice beach with plenty of restaurants aimed at tourists but we had fun there for a few days before moving onto Kampot.

Kampot compared to Sihanoukville is a sleepy little town with not much to it. The reason we went there was for a visit to the very unique Bokor Hill Station.

In the morning we woke to the sound of heavy rain and was not to happy about climbing in the back of an open top jeep. After a few stamps of my foot the tour guide put us all under cover, Jenna and I in the cab of the truck and Emily in the car. We hadn't realised that the journey to the station would be so long or have a poor excuse for a road, so we had some pretty pissed off French people in the back getting wet.

The town was built as a resort by the colonial French settlers to offer an escape from the humidity and general insanity of Phnom Penh. The centerpiece of the resort was the grand Bokor Palace Hotel & Casino, complemented by shops, a post office, a church and the Royal Apartments.

The once very popular resort was first abandoned during the late 1940s because of Vietnamese fighting for independence against the French, and finally for good in the early 1970s, when it was overran by the Khmer Rouge. They were driven away by the Vietnamese troops in 1979, and since then the hotels, casino, Catholic church and dozens of other buildings have stood derelict.

It was extremely creepy and the low flying clouds acted as a eery mist settling around the hotel that as the tour guide egerly told us it was haunted. It was covered in the scars of battles with bullet holes in the ballroom of the once lavish hotel.

Reaching the top of Bokor Hill required a 32km grind from sea-level to the top of the 3000ft peak up a broken road that is barely passable under optimum conditions and takes 3 hours to complete in either direction. So when Emily and I climbed into the back of the open top jeep on the way back down we were, in least a little nervous.

As we bumped along the pot holed road all sorts of creepy crawlies fell into our laps. Not to mention the constant whipping of passing grass plants, when every so often our guide yelled, " spiky plant, duck!" At which point we all put our heads between our legs until it was safe to resurface. A couple of times I made the mistake of entering into a conversation with our guide, distracting him from warning me, only to turn around and be smacked in the face by a tree branch.

After a quick cruise along the Teuk Chou we were dropped at the hotel, where we packed ready to move onto Phnom Penh the following day.

Normally I wouldn't mention anything as tiresome as a bus ride but this has to be the worst ride we have ever, ever been on. We arrived on time only to set off half an hour late due to a failed attempt of fixing the air conditioning.

With a five hour bus ride in front of us and already having to peel ourselves off the plastic seat I was not looking forward to it. It was only that it had no air con, no windows and was somewhere around the 40 degree mark outside it was that they were piling the passengers on, sometimes three to a seat. At one point I turned round to Emily to see sweat pouring off the end of her nose like a leaky tap and ringing out her face cloth so she could reuse it.

The only air we were granted was from the bus door being opened only to let cloud fulls of dust down the entire bus leaving us coughing and spluttering. So when we arrived in Phnom Penh we weren't best pleased to be met by a crowd of men, with their eyes sparkling after just seeing a load of white people on the bus.

Trying to depart the bus was a mission in itself the second stage was trying to get to your bag before someone else dumped it on their tuk tuk. All the time being pushed and shoved and having leaflets put directly in your line of sight. At times I could hear swearing in the general direction in which I was heading comments like "if you don't 'beeping' leave me alone I'm gonna 'beeping' smack you," only to find out when I got to my bag that it was Emily.

We finally managed to squeeze 5 of us in a tuk tuk (the other two were a couple we'd met the day before on the trip, that had been here before and knew a good hotel) and arrive at the hotel which was pleasant enough but most importantly had a nice cold shower. The following day would be my birthday and was excited to spend it in a new place.

Starting my adventure

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 07:03:19 +0100

I woke at around 5.30 am and desperatly tried to shove the last bits and pieces into my bag and made my way downstairs to catch my lift. Alice and Sophia drove me to the airport and waited there while I qued to check in. They had to leave around 7.45 as Sophia had an all day meeting or as Mr Kwak refered to it "as a workshop." I eventually checked in, cleared customs and made my way onto the plane.

After a few hours I realised that unlike the plane I caught to Korea we would not be landing in Tai Pai on route. This meant that I would be turning up at the airport a few hours earlier than I told Jenna and Emily. After queing for an hour to clear customs in Bangkok I collected my bag just as the Singapore flight began to unload theirs.

I walked throught the main doors expecting to see two rather tanned faces shouting my name. This was not the case and after wandering round a bit I realised that there would be no way to contact them. It had taken so long to go through customs that my flight number had been removed from the board, including which gate I had come out of.

I remembered Jenna telling me there flight from Chang Mai got in around one o'clock and so I hurried over to domestic arrivals and just as I got there I saw them strolling out looking at the main board for my flight. Phew taht could of been a disaster like the one I had when I arrived at Seoul International airport and John my coordinator two and a half hours late.

We couldn't stopped talking we had so much to tell each other about what had happened in the three weeks we'd been apart it took us a while to get our arses into gear. We made our way over to the taxi rank and drove to the YMCA. Shortly after unloading our bags we ventured out to find something to eat. Not long after we'd left the hostel and the skies opened up and poured with rain. It had turned into a cold, grey, miserable day in miutes.

We were lucky enough to find a shopping mall that had a food floor. This was not my ideal choice for my first nigth in Bangkok but the food beat Korean food any day. I think the lack of sleep the night before was catching up with me because as soon as I'd finished dinner I became really tired. We had an early start so we we went back to the hostel where I collapsed in bed while the girls went to find the bus station.

Bright and early the next morning I woke up and tried manouver out o the top bunk without waking the Austalian guy below me. After a 200 yard walk to the bus stop with my heavy pack we climbed aboard a really nice airconditioned bus that handed out snacks once we'd sat down. For around five GBP for a 5 hour bus journey was not bad. That was until the guy sat behing Jenna and me began to sing, badley! It was a mixture of broken English and Thai and he did not stop for breath for the entire time we were on the bus.

After a quick ferry trip we arrived on Koh Chang where we took a taxi to one of the beaches on the south west side of the island, Khlomg Prao beach. We checked into a place called KP Huts, which was a series of small bamboo huts over looking what was supposed to to be (according to the guide book) one of the prettiest beaches on the isalnd. The accomadation was okay but the staff were incredable rude and within the first hour we decided we would only stay the one night. On a positive note the food was extremely good.

We spent the night drinking a cheap bottle of Malibu on our veranda playing cards as it was miles to anywhere. It was fun but we moved off early in the morning to our next destination, White Sand beach.

We walked down the long beach past all the nice fancy and expensive hotels to the end of the beach looking for Star beach bungalows. Whilst asking for directions a lady started shouting at us "weve got rooms, come up." It was right at the end of the beach, colourfully painted kinda resembling a pirate ship and storing more junk than an antiques shop. It was called Bo's Independent and the woman that had called us was scottish (called Fiona) who had married a Thai and now helped run the place.

It was very quant and because it was built into the cliffs it had nook and cranies everywhere, with steep steps and wet slippery handle bars. Luckily for them in Thailand they dont have health and safety inspectors and take an attitude of if you hurt yourself, its your fault.

We spent the on the beach although we only waded in up to our waste as Jenna had over heard this German guy earlier talking to Fiona at the bar. He had said that he met another German man and had had a long conversation with him before he went up to his room. He was looking out from the balcony watching this guy go for a swim when he got swept futher and futher out and drowned. There are no lifeguards or life boats on Koh Chang only red flags warning swimers. Even though we only went up to our waste we could feel how strong the tide was and ended up paddling.

That night we realised just how close we were to the beach when we decided to go and get something to eat. the tide had come right in and was covering the first few steps of the enterance. Basically if we wanted to go out we would have to be prepared to get wet.

We spent one day visiting some waterfalls where we encounterd some wild monkey's throwing nuts at us from high in the tree tops. Other than that we did exacly what I had wanted to since leaving Korea and that was lying on a beach. Also due to the fact that Emilys foot had swollen up from an infected bite she must of got trekking in the jungle in Chang Mai, we couldn't go anywhere. The doctor had advised plenty of rest and to keep her foot elevated which meant when it cam to bed time I was sharing a bed with Emily and her massive bag, working as a foot rest.

It finally came time to move on and hopefully end up in Cambodia. It was er... very interesting journey.

My last Day in Korea

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 06:05:07 +0100

My last day at school was probably the best I've had since I worked there. It even made think that doing the full 12 months wouldn't have been so bad, but my desire to travel quickly spwet this from my mind.

I spent the day saying goodbye to the kids, taking photo's and occasionally teaching a lesson. I recieved so many gifts which inluded notebooks, pens, soap (a traditional Korean gift) a mug and from the teachers a beautiful box of toiletries. I had already sent my boxes home and was leaving at 6.30am the following day so would have no time to go to the post office. I shoved as much as I could into my already over stuffed bag and unfortunatly left all the rest there.

My favourite class of the day was ''Get it Right 3'' (Sophia's class), I was told to close my eyes and was led into a classroom where all the lights had been turned off. When I walked in the lights went on and everyone jumped up shouting suprise. There were balloons everywhere and they had covered the white board in messages of fairwell.

There were snacks and drink and after a few pictures Sophia left me to it. As you can imagine balloon fights errupted crips and drink went everywhere but it was my last day so there was no way I was going to try and keep control over them.

After I finished my classes I went and said goodbye to th staf that were still around, it was hardest saying goodbye to Sophia. Since Jenna had gone we spent a lot of time together and went she started tearing up I said a quick goodbye and left. A few minutes later her and Alice caught up with me and offered me a lift to the airport at 6.30 am the following morning.

Joshua had gone for his weekly visit to Heongday and dragged Peter along which was fine with me because it gave me the house to myself to finish any packing. I stayed up and watched the last Americas next top model (a friday night ritual of mine and Jenna's) and then called family and friends to say goodbye not knowing when I would next get to a computer or a phone.

By the time I finished it was 3.30 am and I had 2 hours before I had to get up. I did contemplate pulling an all nighter but thought I better get a few hours of sleep and sleep the rest on the plane.

'Joshua Teacher'

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 08:27:49 +0100

Jennas replacement, Josh arrived late Thursday night and brought with him three bags the size of my one. They were full of audio equipment as he used to be a music teacher back in the states. Hopefully the experience will come in handy.

His first day at school was hilarious, the kids would just stand and stare or giggle and run off to tell their friends. My first day was a blur so I hardly remember the kids reactions to me. It was funny seeing them act all shy when they have no trouble with being noisy in my class.

Josh seems to be really nice and gets on with the students very well. Mr Kwak has definitely taken a shine to him as they studied at the same University in Colorado. He keeps giving high fives instead of handshakes and he has already invited him out for a drink, just the two of them. Rather him than me I couldn't think of anything worse. Josh however has seen right through Mr Kwak's 'cool' exterior even without me relaying all the encounters Jenna and I have had with him over the past eight months. Josh said, "he can seem a bit fake," got it in one.

I only have two weeks and two days left at the school and in Korea for that matter. My replacement also from the United States (Peter) arrives 30th June. I will have two days to get to know him before I jet off to meet the girls in Thailand. I’m so excited I have already started packing.

All by myself ...

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 08:50:34 +0100

Yesterday morning I went with Jenna to the airport and met Emily there. First they checked their bags and realising that Jenna had managed to pack 23kg, knowing that her flight to Chang mai at the beginning of July has a weight limit of 15 kg, she was a little confused as to what she'd put in to make it so heavy.

Deciding we were hungry we headed for Burger King, unfortunately they had already transferred their money into USD and so they weren't to pleased when they received their change in won. After a quick meal it was time to board, it still didn't feel like they were going anywhere when I said goodbye to them at the gate. It's only four weeks but it will be weird with them not being around.

Once I'd left them I went and booth and bought a ticket for Wondong, I didn’t realise until about 10 min into my journey that the woman had thought I'd said Wondang. I hadn't had time to double check as she told me to run as my bus was about to go. The driver didn't speak any English and so I couldn't translate that I was lost.

I eventually showed him my address in Korean and he understood and told me to stay on board in so many words. I traveled to the end of the line and back to the airport, this took about two and half hours, joy. I finally managed to get on the right bus at 12.30 and made it back in time to go to school.

When I arrived home I was exhausted as I had been up at 6am so I made some dinner and went to bed. Ignoring the mess in the kitchen, living room and bathroom. Therefore I did not appreciate a phone call at 10 o'clock the following morning from my director asking to come round in 30 min to inspect Jennas room.

I rushed around for the next half an hour tidying everything I could. Jenna had cooked me a lovely meal as she hadn't worked on the Monday but she had managed to use every bowl, plate and utensil in the entire kitchen. I managed to chuck all the rubbish bags in my room and closed the door just before the doorbell rang.

He said Jennas room was fine, but that the flat needed some more cleaning and that I should teach the 28 year old guy that’s coming to replace Jenna how to clean. I know he's a guy but I'm sure at 28 he knows how wash up. I then had to listen to another 10min of him telling me not to say negative things about the school and the area, I think he'll be able to figure it out for himself soon enough. Then just before he left he used the bathroom and had the cheek to leave the toilet seat up!

So the new guy or Joshua as I’ve been told is arriving late Thursday night, not Saturday which I was told last week. He's going to come to school with me in the afternoon for a couple of hours to get familiar and 'start his training' as Mr Kwak calls it. I don't remember being introduced to anyone let alone being trained, we just got thrown into the classroom and expected to make do.

This guy has got it easy, not only does he have every piece of work me and Jenna have ever written at his disposal but he has also got furniture, cutlery, plates, bowls mugs etc. in the house. A concept which Mr Kwak hadn't considered when Jenna moved in. Anyway I’ll keep you posted on what the 'new' guy is like, watch this space.

Everland

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 10:02:49 +0100

Seeing as it was Jenna's last weekend in Korea we decided to something fun, that involved getting wet.

We journeyed South to reach our destination and after two bus rides, totaling three hours we arrived at Everland. There's not a whole lot to say about the place, its a water park like many others you would find. However it was our last weekend in Korea and so I felt the need to blog.

We bought an afternoon pass, headed to the locker rooms only to find a hundred half naked Korean woman of all ages and sizes. I quickly changed and ran outside into the sun. The theme was pirates and so all the pools had their own pirate theme. There was a wave machine, rafting river, tube slides, rubber ring slides and a surf ride, which we only found after it had closed.

It was a lovely hot day so perfect to be in a water park and although it was hot it could have been busier. The only time we really qued for anything was the biggest slides in the park. We thought we were queing for this huge red bob slay slide but it turned out we'd qued for the more tame white tube slide. However tame was not the word I would have used when I came screaming out the other end. The whole slide was pitch black and if that wasn't enough, it started spraying water in my face. After getting a mouthful of water from screaming I closed my eyes, pinched my nose and held my hand over my mouth waiting for it to end. Unfortunately it was rather long so half way down I realised I couldn't hold my breath any longer, opened just in time to get another mouthful of water as I entered the pool.

For anyone that wants to go here are some directions:

Go to Incheon Bus terminal and ask at the ticket counter for a ticket to Everland.

It will cost about 4, 900 won and takes about 2 hours to get there. One tip if you are going buy a cheap swim hat as you are not allowed to go on any of the slides without one. You can get one from the gift shop for around 6,000 for a plain one. If your feeling more piratey there’s some more suitable headwear but these are upwards of 15,000 won. You are however allowed to wear bangles, belly chains and great big hoop earings.

'i to i' Update

Wed, 23 May 2007 10:38:58 +0100

I haven't really blogged about my contract and any dealings with i to i for a while so I thought I would rectify that. Jenna has had a lot more dealings with i to i and various other people that feel mistreated by them. So here is a link to Jenna's blog where she highlighted the latest excuses of i to i's poor performance in finding us a job in a reputable school and providing us with support throughout our time in Korea.

http://www.etribes.com/node/106694

For anyone that is considering in teaching abroad please do your research, people are crying out for English teachers and you can do it a lot cheaper on your. I would advise through my experience and those of my friends not to use i to i.

Temple Stay

Fri, 18 May 2007 14:06:04 +0100

With just less than a week to go until Korea and the rest of the Buddhist community celebrate Buddha’s birthday (24th May) we decided to mark the occasion by visiting one of the Buddhist Temple that welcome visitors of any religious background.

The Lotus Lantern International Meditation Center in Ganghwa is a place where foreign monks and nuns are practicing Seon (Jap: Zen) and lay Buddhists from Korea and abroad can experience Korean Buddhism. The center was founded in 1997, due to the vow of the late Venerable Wonmyeong Sunim, who was a disciple of Seon Master Seongcheol.

At the time of its founding, it served only as a Seon practicing ground for foreign monks, but gradually transformed itself into a temple for practice, dharma propagation, and Buddhist cultural experience.The center is an open place for practice where people exhausted by city life can breathe fresh air in the midst of the forest and rest their minds through Seon practice and prayer. These programs are intended to help people understand Buddhism in a short period of time.

When we first arrived at the centre we were told to put on our trainee monks clothes, which were all grey and included a pair of baggy pants, a t-shirt and a waistcoat. We had arrived early as the information had told us to arrive by 2pm although nothing really got under way till later. This gave us a perfect photo opportunity where we showed off our lotus and yoga posses.

Orientation began at 4pm, which consisted of a short tour of the grounds and the small temple. We were given a brief introduction into Buddhism and some of it's practices. I am a little vague about this because our monk was Russian and unfortunately his Korean was better than his English.

Dinner was at six o'clock and consisted of rice (what a suprise), yummy potatoes, mushroom and onions and of course kimchi. Buddhists are vegetarian as they believe all animals have a soul and so there was no steak for dinner. Plus we had to wash up in silence although we didn't quite manage it.

After dinner we entered the temple to pray and chant. The chanting was all in Korean and although I couldn't understand a word of it I found it very soothing. The bow according to the Korean Buddhist tradition was to kneel down, touch your forehead to the floor and rest your hands, palms up, on the ground.

The bowing in parts were difficult and after a while it began to hurt. In the space of a few minutes we had completed half a dozen bows and I was beginning to feel it in my toes. A few others seemed to have the same problem as I heard them crash into the wall from loosing their balance. The first part of the bow is a half bow, followed by kneeling down and pressing your forehead to the ground. The final part is turning your palms skyward.

When the moktak (a wooden percussion instrument used to signal the next movement) sounded we rose back onto our knees and then attempted to get up without letting your hands touch the floor. Try it it's quite hard.

Video (Bowing) - http://www.mediamax.com/katrinaleanne/Hosted/Bowing.MPG

Around 8pm we made our way to the mediation room where our second monk introduced himself. He was from Switzerland and spoke a lot better English. He told us the brief history of Buddhism and about Buddha's life. This was really interesting as it helped me understand more about the religion.

Quick history:

Prince Siddharta Gautama was born some 2,500 years ago as a prince in what is now called Lumbini in Nepal. At his birth, many special signs appeared. His father asked a sage living in his kingdom for advice on his son. The sage predicted that Gautama would become either a great King or a great spiritual teacher.

The King wanted his son to be his successor and tried to keep him far away from all matters of life that could incline him to a spiritual life. Gautama usually spent his life in his father's palace, surrounded by all the possible luxuries of the time. He proved to be a special child, being quite intelligent as well as an excellent sportsman. He married to a beautiful woman he loved, and they had a son.

When Gautama was 29 years old, he discovered there was much suffering in the world around him. Traditionally it is explained that he suddenly recognised the problems of sickness, old age and death when visiting the city. Being shocked by the suffering of all living beings, he decided to search for way to end it. He left his wife and child, the palace and even his royal clothes, and started out on a spiritual quest.

Gautama studied under various teachers and followed their practices until he mastered them all. The most extreme was ascetic practices until in the end, Gautama nearly died of starvation. He then sat down in a place now called Bodhgaya (North India) under a Bodhi-tree and decided not to get up until he discovered the truth. Just a short time later, he became a fully enlightened Buddha. This means that he actualised all positive potentials of a sentient being and rid himself of all negative qualities. With this, he realized the true nature of existence and suffering (emptiness), and how suffering can be ended - http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/buddha.html

'Chelsea flower show here we come'

Finally we packed up our bags, cleaned our rooms and had a last round of tea in the garden, before we thanked our hosts and headed out of the village to main road to hopefully catch a passing bus. We had a really good weekend. It was nice to experience something like this in its natural and traditional settings. If anything it was a chance to escape from the noise of the traffic and flashing neon lights.

For contact information and itenerary for Lotus Lantern International Meditation Centre click here and for directions click here

The beginning of the end

Mon, 14 May 2007 07:48:17 +0100

A couple of weeks ago we had a very eventful week at the school. Jenna finally handed her notice on Monday 7th May after months of worrying how it would be accepted. It came as a great surprise to our director, which in turn surprised us as the last couple of months have not been easy.

Tension had been rising between us and a particular staff member (Henry) and after all the complaints we had made to them I honestly thought he would see it coming. Following her resignation she also gave him Section 2, article 27 of the Labour Standards Act. Which states that, An employer shall not enter into any contract by which a penalty or indemnity for possible damages incurred from nonobservance of a labor contract is predetermined.

Since then he has assured Jenna that she will receive her full pay minus bills. We haven't got that long to wait till we find out whether he will come through on this promise.

When I arrived at 2pm I was called straight into his office, which I had expected but I didn't realise this would be a regular occurrence throughout the week. He told me he was very shocked and subtle asked whether Jenna would be changing her mind. I acted dumb and said that I heard about the job offer but hadn't realised she had taken it until earlier that morning.

From this meeting things began to spiral. I had originally planned to hand my notice in 2 weeks before I left in July (as that's the notice stated in my contract). But this changed as I realised that it would be better for everyone if I handed in my notice as early as possible.

Later that day Mr Kwak came to me and asked me whether I would be prepared to stay until February 2008 and take over kindy after Jenna leaves. I definitely didn't see that one coming, I thought he couldn't wait to get rid of me. It made sense as the kindy kids are to young to really understand people coming and going but there was no way I could except that knowing I was leaving. So the following day I told him that I couldn't be away from home that long, little does he know that, that’s when I'm actually planning on going home.

He said he understood and invited me out to dinner that Friday with the staff. Ever since Jenna has resigned he has been particularly nice, telling me not to worry that he will find the right person to replace Jenna and that he wants me to be happy. Well unfortunately its a little too late to start being nice.

I spent the rest of the week implying I was going to be unhappy when Jenna leaves, that there aren't many westerners in our area and I don't know if I want to stay. I wanted it to make it look like I had spent a few days thinking about it carefully.

On Thursday I walked in unexpectedly calm considering I had been worrying about it all week. I asked to have a word with him and when I handed him the letter I could tell he had been expecting it. I told him I was not prepared to stay once Jenna had left and handed him two months notice, with my last working day being the 6th July.

I felt so relieved once I left his office that I just wanted to scream. I couldn't keep the smile off my face that I had finally done it, that I didn't have to worry about it anymore and that this part of my trip is nearly over. It's not long now before I get to begin the second part of it.

The first Sunday in May

Tue, 08 May 2007 13:21:48 +0100

At the UNESCO designated site of Jongmyo (Changdeokgung Palace), Jongmyo Daeje is celebrated on the first Sunday of May every year. It is a solemn national ritual that represents the 500 year history and spirit of the Joseon Dynasty. This only happens once a year so we thought we would take advantage of that and drop in to see what was going on.

When we first arrived at the main coutyard where the peformances were taking place there were so many people that you couldn't find a seat. They began to push the people down in front so the ones at the back could see. After some pushing and shoving we managed to find a space enough to see what was happening.

After about five minutes we had ajimas (old women) poking us and prodding us, so we would move out of the way. It got extremly frustrating as we couldn't move forward, or backwards or even have enough room to sit on the floor. At one point Emily turned round to me and said "if they push one more time I'm going to hit them," go Emily!

Palilmu Dancers

The dancers peformed in Jongmyo Daeje are called Ilmu or Palilmu. Pal means eight and they therfore stand in rows of eight, totalling a number of 84 dancers. Ilmu consists of two types of dance, Munmu and Mumu. Munmu is danced to the music of Botaepyeong, with Yak (a three-holed bamboo flute) in the left hand and Jeok (a pheasnat-feather tasseled wooden bar) in the right hand. It is a dance of civilian tates. Mumu is a military dance, with those in the front four rows holding wooden swords and the rear four rows wooden spears. It involves fast forcible moves.

Video (Palilmu Dancers) - http://s154.photobucket.com/albums/s254/katrinaleanne159/?action=view&current=MOV03271.flv

The peformance was good and plenty of information was provided in English so that we could understand the ceromony. But after a while it got to hot sitting in the sun so we moved away from the main courtyard back to the entrance where we found staff handing out plastic vissas. We couldn't resist and so below is a picture of us doing our 'ajima' impressions.

Tol, The first milestone

Tue, 08 May 2007 13:15:50 +0100

On the weekend of the 28th April we had been invited to Mr Kwak's (my director) son's first birthday. Reaching the age of one is a momentous occasion in Korea as up until a few years ago many children didn't live longer than the first year. In the past, due to a lack of medical information, Korea's seasonal temperature differences, and many childhood related diseases, the death rate for children was extremely high. Many children died before their first birthday.

Tol has two meanings in Korean. The most common meaning is a child's first birthday. It can also be used as a generic description for birthdays: Chut-tol (first birthday), Du-tol (second birthday), Seo-tol (third birthday), and so on. There is a series of proceedures that must be followed in celebrating this happy day. The first is a series of prayers that are made to "Sanshin (a mountain god) and Samshin (a birth god, also called Samshin-halmuni 'grandmother')."

A prayer table is assembled and placed on it will be a bowl of rice, sea mustard soup and a bowl of water. Along side this will be a type of rice cake, which can be made out of any colour and quite often look sweet and tasty. Despite its bright candy colour's it has very little flavour and is made purely of rice. Koreans on the other love it and the children rave about it saying, "it's delicious!"

The second phase of the celebrations involves dressing the child in the tol-bok which are colourful, dressy clothes that seem to resemble a smaller version of the hanbok. However a lot of superstitions connected with these clothes for instance buttons are not used to protect the child’s longevity.

For more information on the tol-bok and the differences between boys and girls tol-boks click here

Mr Kwack's wife, Amy and Mr Kwack's son

I wanted a picture of Mr Kwak's son dressed up in the tol-bok but he didn't seem to want to put it on so his mother posed with him and their first child Amy who is currently taught by Jenna in kindergarten. As you can see the birthday boy wasn't very happy about having his picture taken. For some reason people in Korea tend not to smile in pictures hence why none of them are smiling.

The third stage and probably the most fun for most is presents time. Traditionally a child is presented with a gold ring, this is not for the child to wear but to be used later to pay for the child's education and other needs. A ring was given by the teachers but Jenna and I had no idea whether we were supposed to bring a gift or not so I don't we were included in that group gift.

The table at the far end was set up like a shrine with offerings of fruit and tradtionally 12 different kins of ddeok (rice cake). But the most important part of this stage is the Toljabee which is when the child is given a series of objects that could determine his or her future. The items include a large bundle of thread, a brush, a Korean calligraphy set, pencil, book, money (10,000 won bills), bow and arrow (needle, scissors, and ruler for girls). These are then arranged in front of the child and the child is encouraged to pick one up, each items carry's a different prediction. From talking to Anne (one of my Korean co-teachers) I discovered that the pencil represents intelligence, the money represents wealth and the bundle of thread represents good health and long life. After doing some research I found what the items predict.

Bow and arrow: the child will become a warrior
Needle and thread: the child will live long
Jujube: the child will have many descendants
Book, pencil, or related items: the child will become a successful scholar
Rice or rice cake: the child will become rich (some resources say choosing a rice cake means the child is not smart)
Ruler, needle, scissors: the child will be talented with his/her hands
Knife: the child will be a good cook

The birthday boy picked up the pencil everyone cheered and began to eat, talk and mingle again, whilst the family had there pictures taken. What struck me and Jenna as strange was that through out the entire event people were constantly coming and going. Either arriving late of leaving early and there were many empty tables during the event. The closest thing we could associate this with would be a christening, the difference is I wouldn't call this a party and no one gets drunk claiming their wetting the babies head.

The birthday surrounded by gifts

As we left we were given a cactus plant and a box of rice cake as a thankyou for coming. It was good to be invited to something you dont generally get to experience when your in Korea, and to see our boss acting like a human being i.e. smiling. He doesn't do it very often and although we assumed we were simply their to be shown off I actually felt very welcome.

Korea House

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 10:04:16 +0100

A taste of charm, beauty, history and tradition, is the inviting welcome used by Korea House. Situated in Chungmuro, Seoul it is hard to believe that in this area there is a tranquil gardens that will take you back to a time where Korea was at a cultural high.

Some history:

Korea House is a comprehensive cultural complex representing the traditional Korea culture. Kore House not only shows off the exquistie beauty of traditional Korean architecture but also presents traditional Korean food, music, dance, craftwork, weddings etc. to its visitors. The complex building was designed and built by Shin Ung-su, a designated important intangible cultural property for large-scale carpentry.

The complex, sizing up to a total of 2,500 pyeong(approximately 8,265 square meters)was built exactly in the traditional Korean style consisting of tall gates, a detached house. main building, servants' quarters, and a back yard. Zelkovas, maples, pine trees, yews, Chinese quineces, royal azaleas grow in the beautiful grove with a narrow path paved with stones.

The Korea House introduces traditional court cuisine to visitors from abroad and home and stage traditional Korean art including traditional music, dance, plays, ceremonies, and games. You can also enjoy your time watching or listening to performing arts such as the Gainjeonmokdan, Bongsan Mask Dance, Salpuli dance,Fan dance, Pansori, Ganggangsulae, Shinawi ensemble, Samulnori, and the drum dance.

As Emily's parents had traveled over to see her we decided to do the tourist bit and inject some culture into our lives. Once we'd arrived and said our hello's we took a short walk around the gardens before the peformance started. They were beautifully sculpted and house some of the outer buildings that once served as Kimchi and rice houses.

A view of the tranquil gardens

The small concert hall was set up like a cinema with a small stage at the front and extremely confortable seats. They even had a small screen that translated what each act was, in several languages including English and Chinese.

Chang go ch'um

Chang go ch'um is a traditional drum dance that was originally part of the farmers dance performed at rural festivals. I thorally enjoyed this peformance as the dancers moved to the beat of the drums. They made dancing whilst playing an instrument look so easy and graceful.

Buchaechum

The fan dance was beautiful as they created shapes and moves with fans of which I have never seen before. In Korean it is called Buchaechum and is said to be

Video - http://s154.photobucket.com/albums/s254/katrinaleanne159/?action=view&current=fandance.flv

One peformance that I would have prefere not to hear was the P'ansori. One singer leads throughout P'ansori, a Korean opera which is a narrative song with dramatic gestures and expressions. I have never particularly been a fan of opera but it reminded me of a cat in a great deal of pain. This might sound harsh but if you take a look at this video you might be inclined to agree with me.

Video (Korean Opera) - http://s154.photobucket.com/albums/s254/katrinaleanne159/?action=view&current=opera.flv

Sinawi is an ensemble of eight traditional musical instruments, Geomungo (a Korean zitherlike instrument with six strings), Gayageum (twelve-stringed Korean harp), Jing (a Korean gong), Ajaeng (a seven-stringed court musical instrument), Haegeum (a Korean fiddle), Piri (a Korean flute), Daegeum (a Korean large transverse bamboo flute), and Janggu (a Korean double-headed drum), and the Samullori.

Again this was not particularly nice on the ears, in fact it sounded like a load of todlers had got hold of some pots and pans. But it was a great opportunity to see traditional Korean instruments used by masters.

Video (Sinawi) - http://s154.photobucket.com/albums/s254/katrinaleanne159/?action=view&current=music.flv

Sangmo Peformaers

The Sam-Kuan Chon dance requires unbelievable concentration as a ribbon was attached to the top of each mans hat. They peformed only to the beat of the drums the four men carried on stage. One of them even peformed moves that were similar to break dancing.

Video (Sam-Kuan) - http://s154.photobucket.com/albums/s254/katrinaleanne159/?action=view&current=longribbon.flv

At one point towards the end of the show the dancers came into the crowd and pulled people from there seat. Jenna had insisted on sitting in the aile seat as it was closest to the toilet and due to her constant need to pee, this was a good idea. Although I think when she was unwillingly dragged from her seat with encouragement from us, she was regretting it. Below is a little taster of Jenna's fantastic uncoordination.

Video (Jenna on stage) - http://s154.photobucket.com/albums/s254/katrinaleanne159/?action=view&current=embarrasedagain.flv

Group picture - At the back are the peformers from the show and on the front row (from left to right) is Adam (Emily's dad), Jenna, me, Tracy (Emily's mum) and Emily.

Current Price List:

The Korea House Folk Peformance 30,000 won

The Korea House Folk Peformance plus Korean court cuisine 60,000 won

Speach Contest

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 11:51:39 +0100

Since I have been at the school there have two speach contests. The first happened when Jenna and I were on our holidays (Japan) from school over new year. The second took place at the very end of March and this time we had the ooportunity to see all are hard work pay off, or in some cases not.

For weeks before we have to practice depending on their level either story book or conversation. This is then drilled for two or three weeks before hand in EVERY single class. As you can imagine we get bored, the kids get bored and everyone is grumpy.

Below is just a few pictures and video's of some of the students I teach peforming in front of a small audience. I also understand that a lot of this will be meaningless to any readers but in years to come this will bring back good and bad memories of teaching at this school.

Super Special

Crystal and Alice

http://s154.photobucket.com/albums/s254/katrinaleanne159/?action=view&current=MOV03009.flv

Amy and Luna

Arnold and William

Kelly and Anna

Kenny and Kate

Super Special is one of my favourite classes, it consists of all the best students in the 3rd and 4th grades that attend the school. They are extremely cute and love acting out conversations to me. They are also incredable good at hang man and usually guess it within the first few guesses, which makes it an absolutly usless tool to fill some time.

Because of their level each one was given a short speach as well as their conversation. They all did very well and have made definite improvements since me and Jenna have been teaching them i.e. they don't have american accents, just cute posh british ones.

Basic Phonics (Sophia)

http://s154.photobucket.com/albums/s254/katrinaleanne159/?action=view&current=MOV02995.flv

This is a relativly new class, since the new term begin they seemed to be a lot less older students and so I was given a few younger classes. These were a bit of a challenge as I now teach kids from ages seven to seventeen. The younger ones to seem to keep me buisier but they are definitly more fun. Although none of my seventeen year olds have had nose bleeds, teath falling out, snot running down their nose etc. So there's good points and bad.

Inter Fantasy (Jinny) - http://s154.photobucket.com/albums/s254/katrinaleanne159/?action=view&current=MOV02998.flv

Basic Fantasy (Alice) - http://s154.photobucket.com/albums/s254/katrinaleanne159/?action=view&current=MOV03003.flv

Basic Junior (Alice) - http://s154.photobucket.com/albums/s254/katrinaleanne159/?action=view&current=MOV03031.flv

http://s154.photobucket.com/albums/s254/katrinaleanne159/?action=view&current=MOV03034.flv

Daegaya Kingdom festival

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 10:26:32 +0100

The Daegaya Kingdom festival is held in Goryeong and celebrates the areas history, and their famous iron ware. This is where the second part of our Adventure Korea tour. It was a beautiful sunny day one of the first really hot days we'd had. There were plenty of activities to participate in like, pottery making, dressing up as the Gaya king, queen or other characters in a drama titled "Protect the Gayageum." You could also look at the ironware culture of the Gaya Kingdom, put on armor and play with weapons of the Gaya period.

That weekend Adventure Korea had agreed to let KBS a Korean television show do a documentary style program on us. They had followed us around all day at the Snow Crab Festival and all night at the home stay. It was however getting a bit tiresome and to top it all off they were making next year’s pamphlet and there were hundreds of cameramen roaming the area to catch unsuspecting foreigners, mainly us doing something of interest.

This is the picture of the men taking our picture.

We did however manage to have a really good time, the sun was shining and there was lots of things to see and do, including They recreated a story of an Emperor’s castle being attacked and loosing his one true love. It was in Korean with no translation so it was a little hard to follow but it had fighting, explosions and tears. What any good drama needs.

After leaving the festival and before we began to make our journey home we stopped at Ureuk Museum, for a commemorative ritual in honor of a musician.

Here's a brief history:

Originally, he comes from Garaguk. King Gasil manufactured the Gaya harp after the model of a musical instrument of the Tang Dynasty. Then, he ordered Ureuk from Seongyeol-hyeon to compose 12 tunes, saying that “Since every state has its own dialect, the vocal sounds cannot be unified.”
In the present, only the names of 12 tunes remain. As Gayaguk became in disorder Ureuk exiled to Silla with the Gaya harp around 551 and found favour with King Jinheung of Silla.
After exile he mainly worked in Gukwonso-gyeong (nowadays, Chungju). In these days, there is Geumhyupo under the Daemunsan in Chungju. Tan-geumdae which is known as a place where he played the Gaya harp is also found in the Daemunsan.
The 12 tunes compose by Ureuk were Hagarado, Sangarado, Bogi, Dalgi, Samul, Murye, Hagimul, Sajagi, Geoyeol, Saparye, Isa and Sanggimul. The twelve tunes have a character of local folk songs because most of the names of the tunes are similar to those of gun and hyeon. - Cyber Museum of Daegaya
Click on the link to listen to one of the best Gayagum players in Korea http://www.daegaya.net/english/D/d71.htm

We were each given a traditional but plain hambok when we arrived and were told we were going to be part of the ceromony. When it began we were told to stand in line at the edge of the courtyard.

It went on for a long time as the elders that stood in front of us had to go up and bow to the alter that was laden with fruit and other offerings. Many of the foreigners on our trip bowed out early, took their outfits off and went and lay in the grass. But however much I hated being on display and play a part in something I couldn't really comprehend, it was rude.

Eventually we were ushered in front of the alter and the oldest one of the group, (which happened to be the dad of an Australian girl, that had come to visit her) had to approach the alter and do a series of bow's. We then followed his lead and bowed making are foreheads touch the ground, this was done twice before fully standing up. This was very difficult as every time I attempted to stand up I stood on the back of my skirt. I would make a poor haji ma.

Traditional Korean bow

Finally we headed back to the village where we spent the night to participate in my favourite activity, strawberry picking. They had fields and fields full of strawberry patches that were covered by great oval plastic covers. We were each given a punnet to fill and there were a few people that were extremely skilled in that department. The further you got in the hotter it got and by the middle I was absolutely sweltering and it was difficult to move either forward or backward because there were so many people.

Free strawberries!! That's what I'm talking about.

Eventually I got out with enough strawberries to last me a while and we jumped back on the bus to start the long journey home.