Hwagaesa Temple Stay

Got to the temple around 11, they gave us clothes and showed us to our rooms. In our group, it was Julia, Ben (not my Ben, from Chicago), Ellie (from Scotland), and Alex (from Whales) and me. There were some other foreigners there too, a girl from the Ukraine and two boys from Singapore. Ok, so they split us up into boys and girls room.
We ate lunch of rice and veggies and kimchi. Then we were sent to meditation for two hours. They didn't really give us any instruction so I wasn't really sure what to do. I tried clearing my mind but it was tough. The meditation room was so hot and it was basically just a room with white walls, nothing to look at or anything. After that we took a hike up the mountain behind the temple. It was the head monk, the Ukrainian girl, the Singaporians and a lady who has been there for three months studying. About halfway up the mountain it started raining so hard, it was crazy. And we just kept on going! The monk was chanting the whole way up the mountain. We got to the top and I was so exhausted and soaked! We hiked back down.

It was pretty cool. So, then another round of meditation, then work which consisted of us cleaning the bathrooms. Then we ate dinner of rice veggies and kimchi. After dinner our main monk gave us some instruction on how to bow and why they bow and stuff. Then we had chanting then more meditation. After the last meditation of the day, we had tea and watermelon with the monk and the lady from the hike. They both spoke fluent English. We had a chat with them for awhile, I'll tell you more about this when in person, very interesting stuff. Then off to bed at 9pm. Wake up at 3am, straight to meditation. After meditation was bowing 108 times. I only made it to 43. It was tough. It's a full bow from standing to on hands and knees. I'll show you when I get home, pretty cool. Then off to chanting, then breakfast of rice veggies and kimchi at 6am. Then rest. We slept for a few hours then it was time to go home. We could have stayed through another dinner, but we were ready to go. I don't think any of us could do another meditation. I'm sure it sounds like a pretty relaxing weekend, but I was so worn out I slept Sunday night for 14 hours!!! It's really hard to explain the whole experience but basically it was intense. That's the only word that really encompasses the weekend. My favorite part of the weekend was the hike (even though my legs are still sore) and the chanting.

I <3 Kimchi!

So, it's been a long while since I have posted a blog. Sorry. I have been so busy and lazy at the same time. I have really grown to love Korea as a place to live. I am so comfortable here. I don't get bored ever. My job is still good even though I am working so much! I still have so much fun with my kids. It's so cool to see so much progress in these kids that didn't know any English just a few months ago. I'll post some videos soon, they know Three Little Monkeys and Twinkle Twinkle now. I am learning Korean slowly, but I'm getting there. I can read it now which is good. I am learning a few phrases at a time. Hanging out with Koreans helps a lot. The food here is good, I really like kimchi now. It doesn't feel like a proper meal without kimchi and rice. I don't know what i am going to eat back in the States. I have made some awesome lifelong friends here. Life in Korea is just great.

I have gone on a few weekend trips which have been so amazing.

I went to Samcheok with some guys from my school. We had a blast, we went to some caves, the beach and a penis park. We stayed in a Minbak, which is like a guest house, right on the beach.

































I went to An Heung last weekend with two Korean girlfriends, Angie and Gloria, and four guys from my school. Angie's grandparents have a pension, which is like a cottage, in the country. It was really cool. They had made some food for us and left it there. Homemade Korean food is amazing. We were only about an hour from the beach, so we drove there on Saturday. We took a boat ride, it was so beautiful. It was a blast. Last weekend was also Buddha's birthday. There was a big festival and parade. It was really cool. This weekend is the World DJ Festival. All of my friends will be attending, so that will be fun. Next weekend, I am
going on a wine cruise down the Han River with my friend Christie. And then Sunday, my friend
Wesley and I are going on the DMZ tour. There is so much to do here! I also have a trip to a Buddhist Temple stay soon, Mudfest at Boryeong Beach in July, then to Bali in late July! I will be there for my birthday! I am sooooooooo excited for that! Sorry, I had to rub it in.

Anyways, just wanted to check in. I am so bad at updating this thing! I think everyone should get a facebook account so you all can see my current pictures and we can chat! I still think everyone should come and visit me, if I come back for another year, someone better come and visit me! Anyways, I miss everyone! Send me stuff if you want. I don't really need anything, but getting letters and cards is always fun! And thank you Grandma for the Easter card and garland! I'll be home in six months! I can't believe it's been six months already!

XOXOXOXOXO

Winter Gala 2009

We had our Winter Gala and graduation last week. All of the 7 year olds graduated and are moving on to elementary school and the other kids move up a grade. We had to put on a performance for the parents of all of the kids. We have been working on the plays and songs for two months. It is really nice to have it over with! It was a big success! So, I get my new 5 year olds on Wednesday, should be exciting. They won't speak any English so it will be a challenge. I am ready for it though.

새해 복 많이 받으세요

Happy Lunar New Year everyone! Seollal was today, which is the first day of the Lunar Korean calendar. It is the most important holiday in Korea. Many Koreans will spend this holiday with their families and perform ancestral rituals in the morning. Many Koreans will dress up in traditional hanbok and play traditional games and fly kites. Today, Ben and I went to Gyeongbok Palace. They had special games and crafts set up for the holiday. There were many more people there than I expected. All of the little kids were making kites or masks wearing their traditional hanbok. Some of the adults were wearing traditional Korean clothing as well.



Korea is such a beautiful place with such a rich and deep history. The Koreans have been through so much and have come such a long way, especially South Korea compared to their North Korea counterpart. I didn't really know much about this country before I came here, so I'd like to tell you all what i have learned. Korea is a peninsula in East Asia. South Korea occupies the southern half and North Korea occupies the northern half. North Korea is bordered by China to the north and South Korea is bordered by Japan to the south. Seoul is the capital of South Korea and is the second largest metropolitan city in the world. South Korea is in a temperate climate region with a mostly mountainous terrain. Seoul is surrounded by mountains.

Korea was founded in 2333B.C. from various tribes from Mongolia. The first dynasty ruled from Pyongyang (Northern Korea) from 2333BC to 1122BC. After that, the Chinese controlled much of the Northern part of Korea while three kingdoms emerged each controlling a part of the Southern part of the peninsula. The Chinese influence on Korea was great, bringing customs and Confucianism to the people. Buddhism was introduced to Korea in the fourth century AD and many temples were built. The Chinese and Mongolians occupied Korea and tried to control it many times throughout the years. In 1388, Korea was ruled by the Joseon Dynasty. The first 200 years of the Dynasty were relatively peaceful. It was during this period that King Sejong the Great created Hangul (the Korean language used today) and the influence of Confucianism became greater. He also moved the capital to Seoul. In the 16th century, Japan invaded Korea. Much of Korea was destroyed before the Japanese retreated. Then came another 200 years of relative peace. Korea did not trade with the rest of the world during this period, giving them the name "The Hermit Kingdom." They were trying to avoid Western imperialism.

Korea turned to Japan for trade. Eventually Korea fell under Japanese domination. In 1910, Japan turned Korea into a Japanese colony. The Japanese destroyed many Palaces and Temples. They made Koreans take Japanese names and forced them to speak Japanese. Japan wanted to make Korea a part of Japan and only failed when Japan surrendered to the allies in 1945. The Russians invaded Northern Korea in 1945, just when the Japanese were retreating and American were coming into Korea from the South. So, after World War II was over, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel with Communist Russia in the North and the Americans in the South. The two powers were planning on unifying the peninsula but the Cold War interrupted that plan. The Russians installed a Communist government in the north and the Americans a Democratic government for the south.

The North Korean army invaded the south on June 25th, 1950. They quickly drove south and captured Seoul. The U.N. and the U.S. sent troops over to help drive back the communists. They drove them back far over the 38th parallel until the Chinese jumped in to help the North Koreans. The war went on for three years and finally ended in a stalemate and a cease fire was signed. The once unified peninsula is still divided at the 38th parallel with one of the most heavily patrolled borders known as the Demilitarized Zone or DMZ. No peace treaty was ever signed and the two countries are technically still at war.

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's already 2009! It still feels like October to me! I have been here for two months now. It feels like two weeks. I know two months isn't that long but considering I lasted in Chicago for about two weeks, two months is a very long time! I am still having a fabulous time here. I love my apartment and I love exploring a new city and doing new things. This past month has been especially nice since we got a lot of time off work. I know I have been slacking on blogging but I've been very busy doing stuff and being lazy. So, here is a rundown of what I have been doing all month.

I went snowboarding. It was amazing. I sucked and I fell a lot. I busted up my knees and they were bruised for days, but it was so worth it. I want to go again. I went with a friend named Christy and her friends. She is from the States. Darcie is from Australia, Ellie is from Scotland, Nayoung is from Korea, and Tim is from South Africa. It was quite a mix of people. It was a lot of fun.Taking a beer break before night session

The night before the Christmas break, the Director, Mr. Shin, took everyone out for dinner. We went to a meat restaurant. There was so much food on the table, it was crazy. Koreans love their sides. Mostly kimchi and radish though.Gloria, Joy, Rachel, and Jules. Korean teachers

So much food!

After dinner, we went to a beer cabin and drank some more, on Mr. Shin. It was fun hanging out with all of the teachers.Christy, Jessica (my manager), Joy, Angie, Adam, Jules, and Jaqueline

John, his girlfriend, Jaqueline, Jimmie, Adam, Jules, Ben, and Me!

The next morning, Ben and I had to catch our train to Busan at 9am, it was a tough morning. Busan was pretty cool. It's on the Southern coast of Korea. During the summer, the beaches there are packed. Ben and I at Haeundae beach

We stayed in a hostel that was in a high rise apartment building.Our bunk beds, I got the top bunk

This is the view from the hostel

We went on a ferry ride around Busan.
After the ferry ride, we went to the fish market which is the biggest fish market in Korea.
You can buy fish there and take it upstairs, where they will cook it however you want it. We went to eat at Outback for Christmas dinner, it was yummy :)

Ben and I at Outback

Our Busan friends

We took the KTX train back which is the high speed train here. That was cool.

New Year's Eve was pretty low key. A few of my co-workers and I went out to dinner and then to our favorite bar, Woodstock. We drank and danced and toasted at midnight. It was a good time.

Today Ben and I went to Suwon Fortress. It's a fortress that was built by King Jeongjo in 1789. There is a palace there that was really cool to see. The fortress wall is about 5km all the way around and there are four gates along the wall. It was pretty cool.
So now I have to go back to school tomorrow after having two pretty decent little holidays. Lunar New Year is coming up at the end of the month though, so I'll have more time off then :) It's one of the biggest holidays in Korea. So, I'll sign off now, hope everyone had a great holiday and a Happy New Year! Love you all and miss everyone!

My School

Hey everyone! I am so glad that many of you are still checking my blog. It is getting harder to actually find time to sit down and write though! Things are going really well here. It is supposed to be a cold weekend though! They say it's going to be -7 degrees Celsius tomorrow. Brrrr.

I posted some pictures on my Flickr account. The link is to the left. I wanted to show everyone my students.
This is some of my Rainbow class. There are six kids all together. Their names are Oscar, James Kim, James Lee, Sophia, June and Boo Young. They are the youngest kids at ECC, korean age 5, which is Western age 3 and 4.

This is Oscar and June. Oscar is a riot. He is so goofy.

This is Boo Young. She is adorable.


These are the girls from my Yellow class. They are age 6. They are all really sweet and very smart.

These are the boys from my yellow class. They are really crazy and goofy.

So, my school is called a Hagwon called YBM/ECC or we just call it ECC. Schools here are a little different than in the U.S. Pre-school age kids go to "kindergarten" at Hagwons. There are English Hagwons and Korean Hagwons. A lot of Hagwons are chains, YBM is a chain with different purposes for each school, ECC is for children while YBM/SISA is for adults. Kids go to kindergarten Hagwons from 9:30am to 2:30pm from age 5-7 Korean age. (Click on the underlined words for wikipedia pages). So, then at age 7, kids start first grade at a public or private school. They usually go to school until about 3pm. There are also Hagwons for after school study. These can be for many subjects such as math, science, or English study. My Hagwon also does after school English study for Elementary school kids. They come from anywhere between 3pm and 8pm.

I teach two different kindergarten classes, Rainbow and Yellow classes. I teach each class for two periods. One period is always a language class and the second period is either story reading, science or art. Then I have four elementary classes that I teach language. Some of the elementary school kids go to ANOTHER Hagwon after mine. Some kids go to school from 9am to midnight and if they aren't in school, they are studying. Koreans put so much into their education, it is pretty intense. Here is a very interesting article from USA Today about the US education system vs. the South Korean system.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/world/2008-11-18-korea-education-usa_N.htm

The kids here are super smart. Can you imagine sending your four or five year old to a school where they weren't allowed to speak their own language, only a foreign one? At my school, they have an English only policy. Kids are not allowed to speak Korean during my classes, only during Korean class, where they learn normal pre-school stuff. It gets a little tough with my Rainbow class since they are so young. All in all though, the kids here are like any other kid in the world, very sweet, very goofy, and they cry a lot. I am learning so much here. It's great. Re-Re- now I know why you teach this age!

OK, this is getting long enough. Now that I showed you all my kids and explained my school and job, I can blog about the fun stuff I have been doing. So next blog I will tell you all about my trip up the death trap, known as the cable car up to Seoul Tower. Also, Ben and I were looking for Coex mall today and stumbled across a temple built in 794. No joke. I took some really cool pictures i will post soon. So, until next time- love and miss everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello family and friends! Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone is having a good one! Eat some pumpkin pie for me! Korean Thanksgiving was in September I think, so we are not celebrating here. And they don't have turkey here either :( We might go out to dinner tonight, but nothing special.

Not too much going on here. It is almost the end of the month so we are giving a lot of tests and doing a lot of evaluations at school. School is going really well. I am getting to know all of my students better. I had one of my afternoon classes do a play yesterday and they had a lot of fun! They each wanted to read every part! It is fun watching the students learn English. I like having conversations with them. Today in my kindergarten class, we made snowmen for art class. They told me all about the winter here and how they each celebrate Christmas. I am happy to know that Koreans celebrate Christmas. The Christian population is pretty big here. I still haven't decided what I am going to do for the break yet. I get paid soon! It's going to be funny to see millions in my bank account. Too bad it's Won and not dollars!

Anyways, I should be getting my Alien Registration card any day now, which means, I will have internet at home! WHich also means, I can post pictures! I can't wait for you all to see my adorable students! We are taking class photos tomorrow. Should be fun! Hope everyone is having fun and eating lots!

xoxoxoxo
-Liz