Back Down South

My total picture count since i've been in Korea is nearing 2500, but this picture of a senior-citizen has to be in the top 10. It's not often you'll see a random old man wearing an Eminem shirt.

Next week is GEC's 'session break' - a week, in-between the end of the last semester, and the start of the next. Many fellow teachers are taking trips around Asia, but I failed to come up with a destination that was exciting enough, so instead of leaving Korea, i'll be staying in it.

That doesn't mean that i'll be staying in Incheon, though. I'll be spending two or three days down in the South of the country, in Busan. You might recall that at the end of September, I took a work-trip down there (only for a weekend), where I didn't get much of a chance to play tourist. It seems like the right time to rectify that.

The trip is planned from Saturday until Monday, which will let me save a few remaining days, for the next break session in July. Regardless of how the trip goes, it'll be good to get a short break from teaching, before starting my final teaching-semester (seems this year has gone by too darn fast).

Have a good one!~

Songmo Island

As part of our GEC contracts, Foreign Teachers are entitled to four different Cultural Trips - outings to expose us further to Korean Culture. On Friday, we went to Songmo Island; a place about an hour and a half away, famous for a Buddhist Temple.

We had to take a ferry to reach the island, where we were actually encouraged to feed Seagulls. The gulls fly continously around the ship, expecting people to throw things their way - and they're quite good at catching them in mid-air. If you held out your hand with one, eventually, a seagull would actually snatch it straight out of your hand (Check out the video at the bottom). Very cool, and very fun! Surprisingly, only one unfortunate teacher got pooped-on.

The Buddhist temple was quite elevated, and involved a bit of an uphill walk. There were many depictions of Buddha, most being statues. Some in stone, some in gold. Inside the temple were several people praying (which I didn't take a picture of, out of respect).

There were also stairs that climbed all the way up the mountain (about a 10-15 minute walk), to reach a carving of Buddha, which was another prayer-area.

Finally, after we were done, we went down to a beach, which because of the low-tide, didn't lead to the water. There was a few hundred-meters worth of mud, where people evidently scour for clams, or some sort of sea-food. It was pretty cool (though a bit dirty) to walk on.

On the ferry, coming back, some of us couldn't help but go feed those sea-gulls again. It's surprisingly fun. Here's that video:

May Days

In the past couple of weeks, it seems May has brought on holiday-after holiday. First, Children's day. Then, Parent's day. Last Sunday was Mother's day (well, not here) - and finally, tomorrow, there's one that concerns me:

Teacher's Day.

On May 15th, it's celebrated by having students present gifts, including Carnations to their teachers - well - it used to be celebrated on May 15th. According to my adult students, school is now usually cancelled on Teacher's Day, because parents were taking advantage of the opportunity, in order to bribe teachers. Korean Public classrooms have 40+ kids per room, so some parents attempted to sway the teacher's attention by giving a 'gift' of money.

Still, my morning adult-students surprised me by arriving this morning with Carnations (the flowers in the this picture), a cake, and declaring 'we're having a party!'. This, of course, being the same group that i've been teaching for 9 months - i've come to expect them to be awesome.

That's them, up on top (minus two who were absent, and one who was late).

The school administration also presented each teacher with carnations, as well as some sort of Vitamin C powder (that tastes like Fun Dip). There aren't many exceptions that will allow a man to say that he was 'touched' by receiving three colorful flower-arrangements, but I think it's fair to say that Teacher's Day is an exception.

Tomorrow, GEC has a planned cultural trip, where we'll head onto some island for a group picnic (which means no work - that's how I like my Fridays). Should be interesting.

Cheers!

Crane Games

Around every populated area, there are multiple Crane-Games, like the ones pictured here. Their main function, of course, is to suck change away from you. I've emptied my pockets for them a few dozen times, and yet the only thing i've ever won is some gum.

Still, it's one of those things i'll miss, when the time comes.

This weekend wasn't a particular exciting one. I didn't get to go out and Trek anywhere, since I had to work for the bulk of Saturday, but I did manage to catch the new Star Trek movie. It had been way too long since i'd been excited about that franchise.

The movie was great. It's absolutely beautiful, with a decent story, and a lot of nods to the Original Series (poor Redshirts!), as well as a hilarious one to Archer's Beagle from Enterprise. hehe.. My inner-geek is glad to see Star Trek rejuvenated again.

Happy Mother's Day!

Monuments, Stars, and Parent's Day

Back on Tuesday, after heading into China town, I went to a nearby Park. This park seemed to be a dedication to Korean-American relations, where several interesting monuments could be found.

The first (somewhat strange) monument was a dedication to 100 years of relations between the two countries (1882-1982). The reason I say it's strange, is that you have to consider that Korea was occupied by Japan from 1905 to 1945. I wouldn't call myself a very good ally, if I didn't help a friend in a time of need.

Another interesting monument was a Statue dedicated to General MacArthur, in 1957 (7 years after his operation in Incheon). The plaque of dedication is long, but the last paragraph really hints at how strong the anti-communism sentiments were, back in the day. It's the first time I see such direct political speech on a memorial plaque. Here it is:

''We shall never forget what he and his valiant officers and men of the United Nations Command did here for us and for freedom. And until the last battle against the malignant infection of Communism has finally been won, may we never forget. It was also he who said 'In war, there is no substitute for victory.''

Anyway - the rest of this short-week was good. Today (Friday), we had our once-per-semester 'Star Show', where kids compete against each other by giving pre-rehearsed speeches. 5 of my kids were competing at the same time, against a total of 40 other kids. That's all of them in this picture (numbers 1 through 5). Being my students, of course, they were all excellent.

Sarah, contestant #2, did me proud & pulled off a third-place win.

Well, lastly, today was Parent's Day. I celebrated by receiving a free steak at a local restaurant.
It was a little undercooked.
Oh well.

Happy Parent's Day!

Children's Day in Incheon

I took advantage of the mid-week day-off to explore a place I haven't seen very much of, in the last 8 months: Incheon. While I technically reside there, it's actually a shorter ride from GEC to go into Seoul, than it is to go into downtown Incheon. Because of the distance, and the seeming lack of attractions, I didn't make the trip 'til now.

Our first stop was Walmido, which is a popular attraction for families. It's a boardwalk with many restaurants, arcades, shooting ranges, and midway-rides on one side, and a good view of the Yellow Sea on the other.

Now, I knew that the Allies landed in Incheon in 1950, at the beginning of the Korean War, but I had no idea where. Neither do most of the Koreans that i'd asked. Randomly though, at the end of the boardwalk, I found this landmark:

Walmido, according to this landmark, was one of three landing-points for General MacArthur's landing. What struck me about it was that there's absolutely no indication, other than this fast-decaying sign, that an important part of Korean history took place here. It was dumb luck that I came upon it, but it was a pleasant surprise.

After we were done, we headed off to Incheon's China Town - which according to some Koreans i've spoken to, is better than Seoul's. It has quite a few restaurants, and many interesting shops. I had fried dumplings (quite good!) and black noodles, two of the more popular dishes on the menu.

A quick walk away from China Town was a park, with a lot of war-themed Statues and memorials. I found it very interesting... but since it's getting close to midnight over here, i'll hold off, and detail it a bit more later in the week.

Happy Children's Day!

Sleep Catchup

I didn't do anything terribly exciting this weekend, since I was pretty tired from having worked all of last-weekend. Still, I didn't let a 3-day weekend go completely to waste: Yesterday night, I went and watched that new X-Men movie, which was pretty good.

I also got caught up on Lost and The Office. Thank goodness for streaming-television.

As i'm well-rested, and ready to head back to work, I won't be heading back for very long. I do have to work tomorrow (Monday), but Tuesday is a National Holiday: Children's Day.

Children's Day is the 'Christmas' that kids look forward to, when they usually receive gifts from their parents. For that day, everyone in the country is off. Three days later, on May 8, it's 'Parent's Day' - an exciting day nationwide, where parents go about their regular chore and duties, and still have to go to work.

It's a combination of Mother's Day and Father's Day, where usually, according to Wikipedia:

...one gives a carnation with presents to his/her parents and/or sings the Parents' Day song.

I'll make it my mission this week to find out about this 'Parent's Day' song. It sounds nice.


Have a good week!