I was able to get out of Daegu again this last weekend (that sounds terrible, like I just count the days until I can leave Daegu – but really I just get very excited for the weekends and the chance to do something a little different). A lady from my school got married Sunday in the city of Andong, and the principal decided to turn it into a cultural experience for me! She’s very thoughtful that way (she’s the same lady who let me tag along to see Jekyll and Hyde at the school’s expense). Sunday morning Bosun, the principal, one of the gym teachers, another lady who works at the school, and I met at Jeil Middle School and drove to Andong in the gym teacher’s car.
My experience of the wedding was very funny to me, and fit right in with Korea’s typical quick-and-dirty methods of making things happen (Korea is dynamic, remember?). Koreans usually get married in a “wedding hall” rather than a church, and they also like to get married on special days that they consider lucky. So yesterday being a lucky day, there were at least two weddings happening every hour in the wedding hall of Andong. The ceremony itself only lasts about 20 minutes – not that I would know, because my group waited for a while in a little lobby of the hall, made quick eye contact with the bride as she was being photographed, and then trooped down to the hall’s cafeteria with our meal tickets to eat at the huge buffet line, along with the friends and family of every other couple who was being married in that time slot! Bosun informed me that this is common if you don’t know the couple that well – just make an appearance and skip the ceremony to make sure you get a seat and some food while it’s still warm!
The others returned to Daegu after our meal, but they dropped Bosun and I off at Andong’s bus terminal on their way out. As I said, the principal was kind enough to turn the wedding trip into an opportunity for me to see more of Andong, at the school’s expense. The city is famous for maintaining a lot of Korea’s culture and traditions, most notably in the form of ancient buildings and folk customs like the mask dances (it’s also famous for its own type of soju and steamed chicken!). Bosun and I took a forty minute bus ride from Andong to Hahoe Village. It’s a traditional village that was built in the 16th and 17th century, and a lot of the original buildings are still standing and people continue to live in them! The village was beautiful – a river wraps around it almost entirely, there’s a large cliff called Buyungdae overlooking the whole thing, and we also had great weather and a beautiful sunset to enjoy it in.
But my favorite part of the day was watching a performance of the Hahoe Mask Dance Drama. I read about mask dances before I even left the States, and was disappointed that I missed the annual Mask Dance Festival at the end of September (cancelled because of stupid swine flu!). So I was really excited to hear that I would be able to see this performance. According to the booklet I bought there, “Hahoe Pyolshin-gut T’ al-Nori is one of Korea’s most traditional folk plays [and] has been performed for centuries as a village ritual…The drama combines shaman rituals and popular entertainment. The village ritual was intended to please the local goddess and exorcise evil spirits…The whole village took part in the event and enjoyed the satirical story revealed in the drama…Each of these characters represents a social class. Conflicts among different classes and individuals were satirized to relieve social tensions among the families in the village.” Pardon my terrible quotation job, but they summarize it better than I can! The show was in a circular outdoor theater and was so cool – I didn’t understand much because it was in Korean and I didn’t buy the booklet until after the show, but it was funny and the actors interacted with the crowd. Not to mention I was watching something that has been maintained and handed down for centuries, not only the stories but the masks and costumes as well. I also loved the live music that accompanied the show – there were drums and some sort of horn that emphasized certain dialogs or the end or beginning of a scene. Not to mention the free concessions – men and women walked along the bottom of the stands passing along warm rice cakes to the crowd, or hurling them at anyone who had their hand out but was sitting too high up to reach (I brushed rice cake crumbs out of my hair that night and shook them out of my purse).
So anyway, Andong was great! I know that reading this without visual aids just isn’t the same, but I killed my camera battery taking too many pictures. I WILL put up pictures of Busan and Andong soon! Thanks for reading these ridiculously long posts and keep in touch! I miss you all!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Don't Mess With Busan
Last Saturday people from all over Korea converged on the city of Busan for the Fireworks Festival. This included a group of six of us – Jeannine, Mark, Peter, Dave, Amanda, and I – who traveled together from Daegu. Busan is about an hour southeast of Daegu by the KTX train, or an hour and forty minutes by the slow train. It’s the second-largest city in Korea and right on the coast; although the organization of the trip was last-minute, I was really excited to finally visit. Busan is famous for beaches, mountains, and awesome festivals – the International Film Festival was the weekend just before the Fireworks Festival.
Busan did not disappoint. We got off to a rocky start – of the six of us, Dave barely made it onto the train that morning (he was literally still standing when it started moving) and Mark missed it completely. However, he managed to get a later train and arrived in Busan very soon after we did. We bought our day passes for the subway system and took a long ride to one of Busan’s famous beaches, Hyundae Beach. It was absolutely beautiful, especially after being in all the dirt, noise, and concrete of downtown Daegu for so long. The weather was cloudy and breezy but warm, and we all took our shoes and socks off to wade in the chilly water, take pictures, and collect some seashells. Just that hour (or less) that we spent at the beach made me fall in love with Busan, and I can’t wait to go back – next spring when I can actually lay out at the beach!
Even though the Hyundae was great, the adventures did not end there. We were all hungry, and like any coastal city Busan is famous not only for beaches but seafood! So we found a great restaurant on the 13th floor of a building overlooking the beach. Besides the great view, we had an amazing meal – the waitresses grilled abalone, shrimp, and pork at our table, along with the usual garlic and side dishes. Abalone is a rare and very expensive shellfish, at least in the States, but we had as much as we could eat, plus beer, for about $20 per person. And the abalone was still alive when they brought it to our table! We watched it squirm on the grill and then ate it right out of the shell – a little disgusting but soooo delicious, and again considering the price, probably not something I’ll do often after I leave Korea!
After our meal it was back on the subway to another beach, Gwangalli Beach, for the fireworks show. It was a beautiful setting – Gwangalli Beach is in a little cove, with the Gwangan Bridge stretching across the water in front of it. The bridge was lighted once the sun went down, and there were small boats with giant TV screens placed along it facing the beach. The crowd was unreal – 1.5 million people on a beach less than a mile long – but luckily we had some connections with people who held spots for us. We had just enough room for everyone to sit down, close to the water right in the middle of the beach. And the show was absolutely stunning. It was set to music as well as words and pictures on the TV screens, and just so over-the-top compared to shows that I’ve seen in the States. The pictures don’t do it justice.
Getting back to the train station in Busan after the fireworks was pretty scary. 1.5 million people all left at the same time, making their way for a select few subway stations. The six of us clung to each other and formed a chain, and Mark led the way through masses of cars, vendors, mopeds, and people. There were cops at the subway entrances, and we barely got into one before they started shutting them down! Underground the crowd was just awful – people wall to wall, pushing and yelling and trying to get through the turnstiles with their tickets, and then we had to line up to get into the subway cars, which were also packed. We were going through the turnstile, after having fought our way to the front of that crowd, when Mark realized he had lost his wallet on the beach! Dave went with him to look for it and we agreed to all try to find each other at the train station. Miraculously, our friend Chris, who stayed behind at the beach, actually found Mark’s wallet right after we left, and Mark and Dave also somehow managed to make it through the crowd to find us at the train station in time for our train.
And it was lucky that they did, because we were booked on the very last train out of Busan that night – 11pm. We were in our seats waiting for the train to leave, and for some reason that we couldn’t figure out, Koreans kept coming up to us and trying to take our seats. We argued with them until one passenger looked at our tickets and pointed out that the date on the ticket was for the 16th. And yes, last Saturday was the 17th. Jeannine had accidentally purchased the tickets for the wrong day! The conductor came up and wanted us to get off the train – which was the last train of the day back to Daegu, and just seconds away from departing – to purchase standing-room tickets. It never would have worked, and we would have been sleeping on the beach that night had not Dave been along. He luckily can speak Korean, and he convinced the conductor that we had purchased our tickets just that day, and the ticket office must have made a mistake. The conductor left us alone and we spent an hour and forty minutes riding the rails Great Depression-style – in a compartment between two cars, sitting on the floor and sipping soju from a shared bottle. Jeannine was upset by her mistake but it was honestly pretty fun, not to mention the fact that we were all so grateful just to be on that train in any way, shape or form. Never have so many things going wrong – Mark missing the first train, then losing his wallet, almost being crushed by a major crowd both above and below ground, barely getting a ride home, and the boys also dropping and smashing a glass bottle in a convenience store – provided such an amazing day. We were thankful to make it back to Daegu in one piece, but we also can’t wait to see Busan again!
Busan did not disappoint. We got off to a rocky start – of the six of us, Dave barely made it onto the train that morning (he was literally still standing when it started moving) and Mark missed it completely. However, he managed to get a later train and arrived in Busan very soon after we did. We bought our day passes for the subway system and took a long ride to one of Busan’s famous beaches, Hyundae Beach. It was absolutely beautiful, especially after being in all the dirt, noise, and concrete of downtown Daegu for so long. The weather was cloudy and breezy but warm, and we all took our shoes and socks off to wade in the chilly water, take pictures, and collect some seashells. Just that hour (or less) that we spent at the beach made me fall in love with Busan, and I can’t wait to go back – next spring when I can actually lay out at the beach!
Even though the Hyundae was great, the adventures did not end there. We were all hungry, and like any coastal city Busan is famous not only for beaches but seafood! So we found a great restaurant on the 13th floor of a building overlooking the beach. Besides the great view, we had an amazing meal – the waitresses grilled abalone, shrimp, and pork at our table, along with the usual garlic and side dishes. Abalone is a rare and very expensive shellfish, at least in the States, but we had as much as we could eat, plus beer, for about $20 per person. And the abalone was still alive when they brought it to our table! We watched it squirm on the grill and then ate it right out of the shell – a little disgusting but soooo delicious, and again considering the price, probably not something I’ll do often after I leave Korea!
After our meal it was back on the subway to another beach, Gwangalli Beach, for the fireworks show. It was a beautiful setting – Gwangalli Beach is in a little cove, with the Gwangan Bridge stretching across the water in front of it. The bridge was lighted once the sun went down, and there were small boats with giant TV screens placed along it facing the beach. The crowd was unreal – 1.5 million people on a beach less than a mile long – but luckily we had some connections with people who held spots for us. We had just enough room for everyone to sit down, close to the water right in the middle of the beach. And the show was absolutely stunning. It was set to music as well as words and pictures on the TV screens, and just so over-the-top compared to shows that I’ve seen in the States. The pictures don’t do it justice.
Getting back to the train station in Busan after the fireworks was pretty scary. 1.5 million people all left at the same time, making their way for a select few subway stations. The six of us clung to each other and formed a chain, and Mark led the way through masses of cars, vendors, mopeds, and people. There were cops at the subway entrances, and we barely got into one before they started shutting them down! Underground the crowd was just awful – people wall to wall, pushing and yelling and trying to get through the turnstiles with their tickets, and then we had to line up to get into the subway cars, which were also packed. We were going through the turnstile, after having fought our way to the front of that crowd, when Mark realized he had lost his wallet on the beach! Dave went with him to look for it and we agreed to all try to find each other at the train station. Miraculously, our friend Chris, who stayed behind at the beach, actually found Mark’s wallet right after we left, and Mark and Dave also somehow managed to make it through the crowd to find us at the train station in time for our train.
And it was lucky that they did, because we were booked on the very last train out of Busan that night – 11pm. We were in our seats waiting for the train to leave, and for some reason that we couldn’t figure out, Koreans kept coming up to us and trying to take our seats. We argued with them until one passenger looked at our tickets and pointed out that the date on the ticket was for the 16th. And yes, last Saturday was the 17th. Jeannine had accidentally purchased the tickets for the wrong day! The conductor came up and wanted us to get off the train – which was the last train of the day back to Daegu, and just seconds away from departing – to purchase standing-room tickets. It never would have worked, and we would have been sleeping on the beach that night had not Dave been along. He luckily can speak Korean, and he convinced the conductor that we had purchased our tickets just that day, and the ticket office must have made a mistake. The conductor left us alone and we spent an hour and forty minutes riding the rails Great Depression-style – in a compartment between two cars, sitting on the floor and sipping soju from a shared bottle. Jeannine was upset by her mistake but it was honestly pretty fun, not to mention the fact that we were all so grateful just to be on that train in any way, shape or form. Never have so many things going wrong – Mark missing the first train, then losing his wallet, almost being crushed by a major crowd both above and below ground, barely getting a ride home, and the boys also dropping and smashing a glass bottle in a convenience store – provided such an amazing day. We were thankful to make it back to Daegu in one piece, but we also can’t wait to see Busan again!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Work Work Work
Whew. I feel like I haven't taken a breath since last Wednesday. I also feel like I start almost every post here with a sentence about how the time is flying, but I honestly mean it. I've been so, so busy, at work and outside of it, that I just blinked and a whole week went by.
Work has been an emotional roller coaster lately. I think I've mentioned this before, but I have a lot of lesson-planning to do every week. I can never get it all done at school, so I'm often working at home nights and weekends. It's been getting pretty stressful; I'm always tired after eight or ten hours at school, and I have the pressure of constant deadlines too - I have to have 5-9 new lessons every single week, and I can never get ahead. So there have been some really late nights when I've been racking my brain for hours, trying to think of activities and games that are purposeful and match the textbook's target vocabulary, as well as new and interesting enough to make 20-35 middle schoolers forget how cool they're trying to be and actually listen to me. Anyway, there have been some of those nights lately when I really hate this job, and get really homesick, and consider starting a prison-style tally system on the wall by my bed to count down the days until my contract is over.
However, as I said it is a roller coaster so there are parts of my job that I do really enjoy. I've gotten some nice compliments from some of my co-teachers about some of my recent lesson plans and classroom activities, and that they and the principal noticed that I'm working really hard and putting a lot of effort into my classes. It's really uplifting to hear something like that, especially when you're struggling.
My students often make my day too. They definitely don't always like to listen or behave in class, but outside of it they are really friendly and interested in me, because I'm new and different. I'm even enjoying my harder classes more now. I don't usually look forward to the C-level (lowest level) classes, because neither their behavior nor their English comprehension are great; but I'm getting more comfortable and confident with teaching now, so even they have been a little better lately. Jeil Middle School has also started an English Club during the lunch hour every day - my co-teacher Bosun is in charge of it and I sometimes go and hang around too. At first I was afraid it would mean more work and lesson planning, but I basically play cards and gossip with the girls, and we listen to English music or watch Sponge Bob Square Pants on the big screen. The students are super funny and I learn a lot from being around them, and they are forced to practice their English with me, so it's a win-win situation.
So anyway, that's how work has been lately. As I said, I've been staying busy outside of work as well. My co-teacher Sook-hee is in charge of a club at school where the students meet after classes or on weekends to do different activities, like hike or see movies. I had mentioned to the principal earlier that I like going to musicals and concerts and the opera, and last week this club went to see the musical Jekyll and Hyde so I was invited along! The performance was in English (with Korean subtitles), by an American company, at a nice new theater at Keimyung University. Bosun went too. We had a nice meal brought in to the school around 6pm, and we all ate together and then left for the theater. It was such a cool, fun thing to do with my coworkers and students, and the school paid for it!
I have other things to talk about (I'm a little behind on my blogging) but this is long enough for now! I'll try to get caught up here and put up more pictures in a few days, so come back soon!
Work has been an emotional roller coaster lately. I think I've mentioned this before, but I have a lot of lesson-planning to do every week. I can never get it all done at school, so I'm often working at home nights and weekends. It's been getting pretty stressful; I'm always tired after eight or ten hours at school, and I have the pressure of constant deadlines too - I have to have 5-9 new lessons every single week, and I can never get ahead. So there have been some really late nights when I've been racking my brain for hours, trying to think of activities and games that are purposeful and match the textbook's target vocabulary, as well as new and interesting enough to make 20-35 middle schoolers forget how cool they're trying to be and actually listen to me. Anyway, there have been some of those nights lately when I really hate this job, and get really homesick, and consider starting a prison-style tally system on the wall by my bed to count down the days until my contract is over.
However, as I said it is a roller coaster so there are parts of my job that I do really enjoy. I've gotten some nice compliments from some of my co-teachers about some of my recent lesson plans and classroom activities, and that they and the principal noticed that I'm working really hard and putting a lot of effort into my classes. It's really uplifting to hear something like that, especially when you're struggling.
My students often make my day too. They definitely don't always like to listen or behave in class, but outside of it they are really friendly and interested in me, because I'm new and different. I'm even enjoying my harder classes more now. I don't usually look forward to the C-level (lowest level) classes, because neither their behavior nor their English comprehension are great; but I'm getting more comfortable and confident with teaching now, so even they have been a little better lately. Jeil Middle School has also started an English Club during the lunch hour every day - my co-teacher Bosun is in charge of it and I sometimes go and hang around too. At first I was afraid it would mean more work and lesson planning, but I basically play cards and gossip with the girls, and we listen to English music or watch Sponge Bob Square Pants on the big screen. The students are super funny and I learn a lot from being around them, and they are forced to practice their English with me, so it's a win-win situation.
So anyway, that's how work has been lately. As I said, I've been staying busy outside of work as well. My co-teacher Sook-hee is in charge of a club at school where the students meet after classes or on weekends to do different activities, like hike or see movies. I had mentioned to the principal earlier that I like going to musicals and concerts and the opera, and last week this club went to see the musical Jekyll and Hyde so I was invited along! The performance was in English (with Korean subtitles), by an American company, at a nice new theater at Keimyung University. Bosun went too. We had a nice meal brought in to the school around 6pm, and we all ate together and then left for the theater. It was such a cool, fun thing to do with my coworkers and students, and the school paid for it!
I have other things to talk about (I'm a little behind on my blogging) but this is long enough for now! I'll try to get caught up here and put up more pictures in a few days, so come back soon!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Dynamic Korea
At the EPIK orientation the lecturers kept telling us that "Korea is dynamic," which basically means that growth and change have become a way of life here, as the country has developed and entered the global economy so quickly. The word 'dynamic' makes everything sound really fun and exciting, and sometimes it is, but - to rant for just a moment - it's also used as an excuse for what seems like last-minute planning and changes. A good, or at least not annoying, example of dynamic Korea is the rate of construction. When I first moved to Daegu and was learning my way around, there was a certain building on the corner of my alley that I always looked for, so I knew where to turn to find my studio. One morning I left for school and everything was quiet and normal. However, as I was walking home that day I thought for a moment that I had gone the wrong direction, because where the building used to be there was now just an empty lot and some people standing around watching a bulldozer scrape the bare ground. They flattened a multiple-story building in one day. They've already started construction on the new building that will take its place, and I have no doubt that it will be finished and in use by winter.
There have also been a few annoying examples of dynamic Korea: Like how I found out at 11pm Tuesday night that there was an essay contest re-scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, so every class period on Wednesday would be shortened, and there were also some classroom changes, so I actually wouldn't be teaching my third-period class at all. Or like Thursday, when I finished teaching my first class of the day and that co-teacher informed me that we had to hurry up, because now it was time to take yearbook pictures (I wouldn't have come to school in jeans and a ponytail had I been aware). I'm sure that some of this, or at least my impression of it, is due to my ignorance of the Korean language. There is a messenger system on every computer, and I get several messages every day, but they're all in Korean so I never even look at them. I'm not making excuses or asking for special treatment, but living and working in Korea is definitely a lesson in flexibility!
Anyway, it's almost time for another weekend. The weeks go so quickly here. I'm just so busy trying to keep my head above water every day as far as lesson planning and work go, that it's all over before I know it. I didn't end up traveling for the Chuseok holiday last weekend (I just waited too long to figure things out and make plans) but I did have a really nice weekend. I didn't have to work Friday or Monday, and I spent time with other people that were hanging around Daegu for the weekend. Hyun Joo and I had dinner Thursday night, and we also tried the 'Super Rider' 4D motion theater. It's just a little place downtown with a waiting room and a tiny theater. The only thing in the theater is a screen and little roller coaster-cart (not sure what they're called) for four people. For 3,000 won you can choose from eight or ten different 'rides,' sit in the cart, pull the bar down across your chest, put on special 4D glasses and enjoy the ride! It's very realistic - Hyun Joo and I chose one that simulated sledding through a steep mountain valley, and the cart actually bumps you and throws you around like it's really happening! We were all screaming and shrieking but it was really fun.
I also met up with one of my co-teachers, Bosun. On Friday we ate lunch at an Indian restaurant, and on Saturday night she introduced me to one of her friends and we had dinner and went to noraebong, or karaoke. At first I wasn't sure I would like it but it was really fun - instead of being on a stage like with karaoke, for noraebong you rent small private rooms for just you and your friends. The singing club was really nice - they all have couches and tambourines, and you can buy snacks and drinks. I went again last night with a bunch of other native teachers - there were nine of us so we got a bigger room that had 3 or 4 TV screens!
The next big event that's coming up is Halloween! Since it's on a Saturday this year I have to start looking for a costume because there's sure to be a lot of parties. I don't think it's really a big deal for Koreans, but of course there will be a lot of Westerners out. I might be tagging along with a group of people going to Seoul to party, which is really exciting! I haven't been out of Daegu since I got here and I really want to visit Seoul a few times this year.
Be sure to look at my pictures and keep in touch!
There have also been a few annoying examples of dynamic Korea: Like how I found out at 11pm Tuesday night that there was an essay contest re-scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, so every class period on Wednesday would be shortened, and there were also some classroom changes, so I actually wouldn't be teaching my third-period class at all. Or like Thursday, when I finished teaching my first class of the day and that co-teacher informed me that we had to hurry up, because now it was time to take yearbook pictures (I wouldn't have come to school in jeans and a ponytail had I been aware). I'm sure that some of this, or at least my impression of it, is due to my ignorance of the Korean language. There is a messenger system on every computer, and I get several messages every day, but they're all in Korean so I never even look at them. I'm not making excuses or asking for special treatment, but living and working in Korea is definitely a lesson in flexibility!
Anyway, it's almost time for another weekend. The weeks go so quickly here. I'm just so busy trying to keep my head above water every day as far as lesson planning and work go, that it's all over before I know it. I didn't end up traveling for the Chuseok holiday last weekend (I just waited too long to figure things out and make plans) but I did have a really nice weekend. I didn't have to work Friday or Monday, and I spent time with other people that were hanging around Daegu for the weekend. Hyun Joo and I had dinner Thursday night, and we also tried the 'Super Rider' 4D motion theater. It's just a little place downtown with a waiting room and a tiny theater. The only thing in the theater is a screen and little roller coaster-cart (not sure what they're called) for four people. For 3,000 won you can choose from eight or ten different 'rides,' sit in the cart, pull the bar down across your chest, put on special 4D glasses and enjoy the ride! It's very realistic - Hyun Joo and I chose one that simulated sledding through a steep mountain valley, and the cart actually bumps you and throws you around like it's really happening! We were all screaming and shrieking but it was really fun.
I also met up with one of my co-teachers, Bosun. On Friday we ate lunch at an Indian restaurant, and on Saturday night she introduced me to one of her friends and we had dinner and went to noraebong, or karaoke. At first I wasn't sure I would like it but it was really fun - instead of being on a stage like with karaoke, for noraebong you rent small private rooms for just you and your friends. The singing club was really nice - they all have couches and tambourines, and you can buy snacks and drinks. I went again last night with a bunch of other native teachers - there were nine of us so we got a bigger room that had 3 or 4 TV screens!
The next big event that's coming up is Halloween! Since it's on a Saturday this year I have to start looking for a costume because there's sure to be a lot of parties. I don't think it's really a big deal for Koreans, but of course there will be a lot of Westerners out. I might be tagging along with a group of people going to Seoul to party, which is really exciting! I haven't been out of Daegu since I got here and I really want to visit Seoul a few times this year.
Be sure to look at my pictures and keep in touch!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Look At My Pictures!
So I've finally gotten a start to organizing my pictures. I don't take very many so it wasn't too difficult, but I'm still very proud of myself because this is something that I normally don't do until several years after a trip ends. I'm using Picasa Web Albums because I already have a Google account; I've never tried it before so I don't know how well it'll work for everyone, but it seems pretty good - it's free, easy to organize and label my pictures, and even shows a map of album locations (in Korean, of course, but still kind of cool). I haven't had time to comment on many pictures but the albums are labeled so you can figure it out.
The "Korea so far" album is mostly the random pictures that don't belong anywhere or that I haven't gotten around to organizing yet...you can look if you want but it's mostly food or random stuff from around Daegu. Make sure you look at the Donghwasa Temple album, as well as My Studio in Daegu if you want to feel better about your own house.
http://picasaweb.google.com/kristin.laufenberg/MyStudioInDaegu?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/kristin.laufenberg/DonghwasaTemple?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/kristin.laufenberg/WoobangLandAndDaeguTower?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/kristin.laufenberg/InternationalBodypaintingFestival?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/kristin.laufenberg/HanokVillageInJeonju?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/kristin.laufenberg/KeumsanTemple?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/kristin.laufenberg/OrientationJeonjuUniversity?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/kristin.laufenberg/KoreaSoFar?feat=directlink
These are all links to individual albums. Please comment here, email or Facebook me to let me know if this works or if you have problems viewing my pictures!
The "Korea so far" album is mostly the random pictures that don't belong anywhere or that I haven't gotten around to organizing yet...you can look if you want but it's mostly food or random stuff from around Daegu. Make sure you look at the Donghwasa Temple album, as well as My Studio in Daegu if you want to feel better about your own house.
http://picasaweb.google.com/kristin.laufenberg/MyStudioInDaegu?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/kristin.laufenberg/DonghwasaTemple?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/kristin.laufenberg/WoobangLandAndDaeguTower?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/kristin.laufenberg/InternationalBodypaintingFestival?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/kristin.laufenberg/HanokVillageInJeonju?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/kristin.laufenberg/KeumsanTemple?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/kristin.laufenberg/OrientationJeonjuUniversity?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/kristin.laufenberg/KoreaSoFar?feat=directlink
These are all links to individual albums. Please comment here, email or Facebook me to let me know if this works or if you have problems viewing my pictures!
Mid-term Weekend
I can’t believe it’s already October! This month completely snuck up on me. Having such a weird work schedule this last week really threw me off, and I was shocked when I woke up this morning and checked the date. Last weekend (9/26-9/27) was pretty quiet for me, compared to the last few. I got really paranoid because it seemed like every single one of my friends was getting sick, so I’ve been making sure to get plenty of sleep. I went out for dinner and drinks both Friday and Saturday night, but was home and in bed by midnight.
As I mentioned before, my school didn’t have any classes on Monday or Tuesday because the students had midterms. Monday morning I ran some errands around town, and finally took the subway by myself for the first time! It’s a little sad that it took me a month to do it, but that’s one of the drawbacks of living in the middle of everything – I’ve never had to go very far for anything, except when Carrie was there to drive me around. I was really glad that I could read in Korean – some signs underground are in English but not all, and I would never have found the right place if I couldn’t sound out the words. My subway stop is the big downtown transfer station, so I was nervous even though there are only two lines in Daegu!
Anyway, I met all the other teachers at school around lunchtime (everyone except me had to come in at the normal time) and every teacher in the school went out for lunch. It was delicious and huge – we had galbi with duck meat. As far as I can understand, eating galbi in a restaurant is usually beef, and at a restaurant it’s grilled right at your table. I’ve had beef and chicken galbi, and the duck was really good too. As I said, the meal was huge – we grilled two different types of duck, and then there was something that tasted like ham, and then a type of rice stew, a beef soup, a bowl of cold noodles, and finally dessert. The waitresses just kept bringing out more and more trays of food. Afterwards three of my co-teachers and I went out for coffee at an Italian restaurant. Then Carrie and I drove downtown and she helped me pay my bills. In Korea you don’t send checks to companies or receive paychecks; it’s much more common to either have automatic withdrawals and deposits (I do for my cell phone bill and my paycheck) or to go to one of your bank’s ATMs and electronically transfer the funds yourself using account numbers the companies give you.
So Carrie helped me do that for my gas bill, and then we drove out to Woobang Land. It’s the amusement park here in Daegu, and also the site of the Daegu Tower. We wandered around Woobang Land for awhile, not going on any rides but just enjoying the views (it’s a little higher than the rest of Daegu) and the scenery. It was actually a little creepy; since it was a Monday night very few people were there, and so even though it was getting dark only a few rides and stands were lighted up and operating. When it got darker we went into Daegu Tower and rode the elevator up 80+ floors, and there we could walk around and see a 360 degree view of the city at night. The lights were pretty but I don’t think the skyline is as scenic as most big cities in America – even though Daegu is the 3rd or 4th largest city in Korea, it has very few skyscrapers or architecturally fancy buildings; most condos are 20-30 floors and the clusters of them are pretty much the biggest buildings. Most others that I’ve seen or been in aren’t higher than 3-4 floors, even downtown.
On Tuesday I made lesson plans in the morning and met Carrie at school around lunchtime again. We drove to the “guarding mountain” of Daegu, Palgongsan, which, according to Carrie, is famous for three things: food and restaurants, hotels, and cultural or historical sites. We ate a really delicious lunch with two types of soup/stew, rice, rice water, and more than 15 side dishes, eaten on the floor, all for $10-11 apiece. Then we drove to Donghwasa Temple. It was similar to the Buddhist temple we visited in Jeonju with EPIK, but I liked Donghwasa better because it was up on a mountain and a lot cooler, there were far fewer people around (Tuesday afternoon), and the statues were amazing. The temple was founded in AD 493 and is still active – monks live and study there. The best part of the temple was “The Great Pharmaceutical Stone Buddha for Unification,” built in 1992. I’m not really sure what the ‘pharmaceutical’ in the name means or if that’s the best translation, but the statue was amazing. It’s a huge standing Buddha, 33 meter’s high, standing in the middle of a sort of circular courtyard. It’s hard to find a straight answer, but some websites I’ve searched through say it’s the largest standing Buddha in Korea, and some say it’s the largest in the world. It’s meant to represent hope for the reunification of North and South Korea. Some people were praying or taking pictures, and we walked around it three times to look at all the smaller stone carvings that surround the main statue. You could see the mountains and trees in the background and it was so beautiful.
After Donghwasa Temple we drove to Bongmu Park, also on Palgongsan Mountain. It’s just a recreational area around a small lake, Bongmu Lake; I saw people picnicking and hiking, and there are outdoor playgrounds and tennis courts. It sort of reminded me of a campground – there was even someone water skiing on the lake! We walked around for a few minutes and visited a small museum that was all about butterflies; they had hundreds of different species of butterflies pinned in cases with maps about where they were from; some of them were really big and beautiful. There was also a small greenhouse – lots of plants, obviously, and some more (live) butterflies, as well as a few cases full of gigantic scary beetles. It was a very long day with a lot of walking but I saw so much in one afternoon!
As I mentioned before, my school didn’t have any classes on Monday or Tuesday because the students had midterms. Monday morning I ran some errands around town, and finally took the subway by myself for the first time! It’s a little sad that it took me a month to do it, but that’s one of the drawbacks of living in the middle of everything – I’ve never had to go very far for anything, except when Carrie was there to drive me around. I was really glad that I could read in Korean – some signs underground are in English but not all, and I would never have found the right place if I couldn’t sound out the words. My subway stop is the big downtown transfer station, so I was nervous even though there are only two lines in Daegu!
Anyway, I met all the other teachers at school around lunchtime (everyone except me had to come in at the normal time) and every teacher in the school went out for lunch. It was delicious and huge – we had galbi with duck meat. As far as I can understand, eating galbi in a restaurant is usually beef, and at a restaurant it’s grilled right at your table. I’ve had beef and chicken galbi, and the duck was really good too. As I said, the meal was huge – we grilled two different types of duck, and then there was something that tasted like ham, and then a type of rice stew, a beef soup, a bowl of cold noodles, and finally dessert. The waitresses just kept bringing out more and more trays of food. Afterwards three of my co-teachers and I went out for coffee at an Italian restaurant. Then Carrie and I drove downtown and she helped me pay my bills. In Korea you don’t send checks to companies or receive paychecks; it’s much more common to either have automatic withdrawals and deposits (I do for my cell phone bill and my paycheck) or to go to one of your bank’s ATMs and electronically transfer the funds yourself using account numbers the companies give you.
So Carrie helped me do that for my gas bill, and then we drove out to Woobang Land. It’s the amusement park here in Daegu, and also the site of the Daegu Tower. We wandered around Woobang Land for awhile, not going on any rides but just enjoying the views (it’s a little higher than the rest of Daegu) and the scenery. It was actually a little creepy; since it was a Monday night very few people were there, and so even though it was getting dark only a few rides and stands were lighted up and operating. When it got darker we went into Daegu Tower and rode the elevator up 80+ floors, and there we could walk around and see a 360 degree view of the city at night. The lights were pretty but I don’t think the skyline is as scenic as most big cities in America – even though Daegu is the 3rd or 4th largest city in Korea, it has very few skyscrapers or architecturally fancy buildings; most condos are 20-30 floors and the clusters of them are pretty much the biggest buildings. Most others that I’ve seen or been in aren’t higher than 3-4 floors, even downtown.
On Tuesday I made lesson plans in the morning and met Carrie at school around lunchtime again. We drove to the “guarding mountain” of Daegu, Palgongsan, which, according to Carrie, is famous for three things: food and restaurants, hotels, and cultural or historical sites. We ate a really delicious lunch with two types of soup/stew, rice, rice water, and more than 15 side dishes, eaten on the floor, all for $10-11 apiece. Then we drove to Donghwasa Temple. It was similar to the Buddhist temple we visited in Jeonju with EPIK, but I liked Donghwasa better because it was up on a mountain and a lot cooler, there were far fewer people around (Tuesday afternoon), and the statues were amazing. The temple was founded in AD 493 and is still active – monks live and study there. The best part of the temple was “The Great Pharmaceutical Stone Buddha for Unification,” built in 1992. I’m not really sure what the ‘pharmaceutical’ in the name means or if that’s the best translation, but the statue was amazing. It’s a huge standing Buddha, 33 meter’s high, standing in the middle of a sort of circular courtyard. It’s hard to find a straight answer, but some websites I’ve searched through say it’s the largest standing Buddha in Korea, and some say it’s the largest in the world. It’s meant to represent hope for the reunification of North and South Korea. Some people were praying or taking pictures, and we walked around it three times to look at all the smaller stone carvings that surround the main statue. You could see the mountains and trees in the background and it was so beautiful.
After Donghwasa Temple we drove to Bongmu Park, also on Palgongsan Mountain. It’s just a recreational area around a small lake, Bongmu Lake; I saw people picnicking and hiking, and there are outdoor playgrounds and tennis courts. It sort of reminded me of a campground – there was even someone water skiing on the lake! We walked around for a few minutes and visited a small museum that was all about butterflies; they had hundreds of different species of butterflies pinned in cases with maps about where they were from; some of them were really big and beautiful. There was also a small greenhouse – lots of plants, obviously, and some more (live) butterflies, as well as a few cases full of gigantic scary beetles. It was a very long day with a lot of walking but I saw so much in one afternoon!
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