So I made it down to the most southern point of Korea last weekend - quite a bus drive! It took about 6 hours each way. The weather was a little crummy as you can see, but it was definitely worth seeing the sea 'part' and all these people walk out to the islands. It only happens once a year, and lasts for a couple of hours. I don't think there were as many people this year because of the Tsunami in Japan, but there was still quite a crowd. Lots of people were picking up the seaweed that lay on the rocks and the ground - guess it's super fresh!
Because I got back to Seoul so late on Saturday night I thought I'd sleep at a jimjilbahng (Korean spa) - definitely an experience. Basically I slept on the floor in a big room about the size of the wing of the library at CDU, and which was packed with people. When my friend and I finally found a spot to lie down, I could only lie on my back, with my arms folded across me - there wasn't room to put my arms down next to me!!! Luckily the person next to me moved after a couple of hours, so I could curl up a bit, but let's face it; nothing really makes a floor comfy, even one that's heated. I may think carefully before pulling an all nighter in Seoul again!
Friday, March 25, 2011
Jindo Sea-Parting Festival
Friday, March 18, 2011
Long time no post...
So I realized it's been a while since I've posted anything here, which I guess puts me at risk of losing my precious 5 followers - sorry! Mostly this has been because I've been doing very little, other than bonding with my couch. I didn't think anyone was really interested in the latest TV I've been watching (Torchwood, Misfits and Band of Brothers ;-) or books I've been reading (Keith Richards' autobiography). Actually I have some movie recommendations! For Rachel - Monsters is awesome, I just wanted to watch it over and over, and seeing as you like your monster movies intelligent I right away thought of you. And for Bev, if you haven't already seen it, Waltz With Bashir totally blew my mind, and I really think you'd love it. If anyone can recommend anything for me I'd love to hear it! It's still pretty cold here, hence my complete lack of motivation to do anything energetic. I think I've been cold for about 5 months straight now, and now that the snow is gone I am definitely over it. For one thing I'm sure that I'm a much slimmer person without all these layers - hopefully come summer I won't be too disappointed once I can no longer hide beneath said layers ;-)
A new semester - and year - has started for me at school, which has had me pretty pumped. I am loving having new classes, it's like I get a whole new chance at mastering this teaching thing. One important thing I learned last year was don't bother trying to be too nice at the start if you ever want them to do what you say. The new grade 5's this year have been really excited to finally have the 'foreign' teacher, so it came as a bit of a shock this week when I put crosses through their stickers when they didn't shut up when I told them to. They all looked so completely betrayed, as if a favorite toy had turned on them. Oh and don't underestimate the power the stickers have over these kids; stickers are cause for respect - or abuse - from classmates and eventually lead to candy and even movie days, so putting a big black X through them had the desired effect. News travels, I've discovered, so now when I say 'attention one', I never get past 'attention two' before the classroom is as still as a grave. Yay!
So not much else happening; I am going away this weekend, to visit a place called Jindo Island. Every year it has this phenomenon occur that makes the ocean between the mainland and the island part, leaving a pathway for people to walk down a-la Moses and the Red Sea. Hopefully this is still what the sea does this year - things have been pretty crazy in this region, as I'm sure you've all seen. But all going well I should have some good photos to post next week :-)
A new semester - and year - has started for me at school, which has had me pretty pumped. I am loving having new classes, it's like I get a whole new chance at mastering this teaching thing. One important thing I learned last year was don't bother trying to be too nice at the start if you ever want them to do what you say. The new grade 5's this year have been really excited to finally have the 'foreign' teacher, so it came as a bit of a shock this week when I put crosses through their stickers when they didn't shut up when I told them to. They all looked so completely betrayed, as if a favorite toy had turned on them. Oh and don't underestimate the power the stickers have over these kids; stickers are cause for respect - or abuse - from classmates and eventually lead to candy and even movie days, so putting a big black X through them had the desired effect. News travels, I've discovered, so now when I say 'attention one', I never get past 'attention two' before the classroom is as still as a grave. Yay!
So not much else happening; I am going away this weekend, to visit a place called Jindo Island. Every year it has this phenomenon occur that makes the ocean between the mainland and the island part, leaving a pathway for people to walk down a-la Moses and the Red Sea. Hopefully this is still what the sea does this year - things have been pretty crazy in this region, as I'm sure you've all seen. But all going well I should have some good photos to post next week :-)
Monday, February 21, 2011
Mount Yongmunsan
So enough time seems to have passed for the memory of the aches and pains of my last hike to have faded, leading me to embark on a new hike this weekend to Mount Yongmunsan, in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province. Again there was a lot of up and a lot of down, but this time it was complicated by the added factor of ice. I'm not terribly stable on my feet at the best of times (something to do with a complete lack of coordination) so this meant that I was inching along at a snail's pace for a lot of the time. When there wasn't ice there was mud, a lot of which ended up coming home with me. Unfortunately mud is pretty much as slippery as ice, so I had a lovely patch on my butt to go with the mud-splattered legs, which at least amused the people who shared a train with me on the way home.
Enough complaining however (I really should have written this post when I could walk without pain again), no doubt I shall look back on it and think how great it was. It was definitely great to get out of Seoul and to see more of Korea's country side, especially while there's still snow around. I will never get bored of seeing snow - even trudging through it when you're tired and sore is somehow still cool. I will however be quite happy if I never have to walk over ice again :-)
Enough complaining however (I really should have written this post when I could walk without pain again), no doubt I shall look back on it and think how great it was. It was definitely great to get out of Seoul and to see more of Korea's country side, especially while there's still snow around. I will never get bored of seeing snow - even trudging through it when you're tired and sore is somehow still cool. I will however be quite happy if I never have to walk over ice again :-)
Monday, February 14, 2011
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