September 12-20
Well this week couldn't go by quick enough at times, while at others it seemed as though I was begging for time to slow down so that I could rethink my weekend plans. See last week Margaret, Jameson, Brian, and I signed up for a weekend long trip with a company called Adventure Korea to the DMZ and a change to go BUNGEE JUMPING!!!!!!!
As the week went on I kept studying my Korean with Alex and teaching what students we had, since holding was setting in again and students were beginning to fade out. We had a pretty good week at school with the kids, because with less kids we were free to stray from the material more and could give the kids more personal attention when we were doing school work. I played scrabble with one of my students, had a chance to talk about proper essay outlines with others, and even stepped in on Margaret's class to play some pictionary.
Then before we knew it, it was Friday and I was heading home from work to pack my bag for the weekend. Jameson, Brian and I planned to stay at Blakes place since he lives right next to Express Bus Terminal and we had to be there by 830 am. So after I packed my bags I went to meet the guys and Danielle in Gangnam fora few drinks. We eventually got back to Blakes and passed out around 430 am. We got up in the morning at 730 and slowly made our way to the bus station to wait for Margaret, who was running late and almost didn't make it, to show up. then we were off.
It was a quick couple hour bus ride northeast to the Cherwon, Gangwon-do Province to see the DMZ. We started the day at a military museum rest area; where we had lunch and got to see some old war machines. After that we headed to the 2nd tunnel, which had been dug by the North Koreans as infiltration tunnels, that the South Koreans found. It was neat but nothing to make a huge deal of. We were only able to walk in about 500 m or so because after that you get into no-mans land territory that is off limits. Along with the tunnel was a small museum of artifacts found in the tunnel when the North Koreans had abandoned it including shovels, guns, cooking supplies, alcohol, and clothing.
After the tunnel we headed to the Unification Observatory to have a look at Battle area called the Iron Triangle, which was the headquarters and front line of the North Korean forces and witnesses the highest number of casualties during the war. We were able to see North Korea through some binoculars and take pictures of the DMZ. Unfortunately it was all just grassy fields and hills/mountains hat didn't look all that different from the areas I have see elsewhere in Korea. Following the observatory we headed to the sight of Wolcheongri Station, which was the last train station at the border between the north and south until it was bombed and now sits right on the edge of the demarcation line. It has been sitting and rusting for 40 years and was a real glimpse into the damage done during the intensive bombing of the war. Following that was drove past the Labor Party Building, which was used as a prison and torture site. We didn't get a chance to stop due to construction.
Now for the fun stuff.
We were scheduled to do a bungee jump on the Sunday, but for fear of bad traffic the tour guide decided to move it to Saturday. We headed to a local bridge with a platform 51 m above a shallow river. Those who cared to jump signed up and climbed the tower to get suited up. We had a choice of jumping with a body harness or ankle harness. All of us except Margaret chose the ankle harness way so that you go down head first. Since there were so many of us it took a long time to get through us all. But, as each person got to the edge you could see the tension build and the thought of not doing it cross their minds. In the end everyone jumped, and only a couple had to be "escorted" of by the jump supervisor.
I have wanted to bungee for a long time but have never had the chance so when I got up there I was super pumped. It wasn't until I got right to the edge and looked down that I realized how crazy it was. Needless to say I jumped anyways and watched as the river bellow came screaming at my face before getting snapped back into the air. It felt fantastic once it was all over and we had a chance to look back at what we had just done. After the jump we were all starving so we headed back to the area we would be staying and had a BBQ, bonfire, and had some drinks.
The after party was a great time. We had a chance to talk to some people on the trip who were pretty cool, and some who were really annoying; but in the end it was a good time. The humor in it all was that between the 4 of us we only had $13 for the night since Jameson and Margaret had forgotten to bring money and Brian and I had payed for their jumps, and there were no ATM's in the town. So we drank straight soju instead of beer because it is cheaper and eventually, and this sounds really scummy, after almost everyone had called it a night and we were bored we cleaned up around the fire and found tons of unopened booze and took the liberty of drinking some of it. Now normally I would not do that because if it's not mine I shouldn't touch it. But I know that the people who did own it were in no need of it and that it would have all been cleaned up and thrown out the next morning before woke up. We partied with a few awesome Britt's until the early morning before getting some sleep.
After only a couple hours of rest we got back up and had some breakfast before going to see a war memorial dedicated to the Battle of White Horse Hill, which was one of the most gruesome battle sites of the war. From there we went to have a chance to harvest rice using sickles like they did back in the day.
And wouldn't you know it shit hit the fan.
I, along with several others, had taken some pictures of a guard post that we walked past. Thinking nothing of it, because it really makes no difference what I am taking pictures of, everything looks the same, we kept walking. Well a few minutes later some troops approached our group asking for the person who took pictures of the guard post. Nobody was going to say anything so i stepped up to take the blame so that if my pictures were sacrificed then all the others could keep theirs. My plan of attack was to show them my pictures while everyone else put their cameras away, since I had only taken a couple and they all had dozens. It was made easier when the guards wanted to take my camera out of my hands and I told them no, that they can watch me delete my photos without touching my things. After a few minutes of awkwardness I had deleted the pictures I assumed were the problem. Boy was I wrong, they asked me to see the rest and as I showed them a few more they asked me to delete some really obscure mountain photos. This aided my plan because I got rather upset telling them that the pictures I took could be taken from miles away and that anyone could get them. i deleted them anyways and it was enough for them to want to get away from the yelling foreigner and not check anyone elses photos. I didn't lose much and we headed out after that. the bus ride home was not that long since there was no traffic and we got back earlier than we had planned, which gave us a chance to get some well needed rest.
Sorry this is such a long one,but it was been a pretty eventful weekend.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
September 7-13
Well what did I get up to this week? I was working some more on my Korean with Alex across the hall and eventually Margaret started up again. We are getting the hang of it but there is so much vocabulary to remember that it takes a lot more time than we thought. Aside from that, I have started planning my trip for after my contract is up. I spent my spare time at work this week typing up things from the Southeast Asia Lonely Planet for both Vietnam and Cambodia so that it would be easier to go over with Jameson than trying to flip through the book all the time. I did Vietnam during the week and Cambodia on the weekend, so hopefully we can get a game plan going.
The one thing we did this week was a return trip to the Renoir exhibit to see the things we missed the last time since we were in a rush. So Margaret, Blake, Alex and I went there on Wednesday. Other than that the week was OK. As usual the kids are busy with regular school and have put academy on the back burner, not that I can blame them, which means many of them aren't handing in their work; giving me an easier marking load. I do this semester have a few kids who are going to give my patience a run for its money though. As the academy system work, children get pushed up so that they will return without having to repeat levels. Unfortunately this mean we got a dozen new students this term who shouldn't be at our level and even a few who shouldn't be in academy at all. I am doing my best to work with it but it makes me pretty angry when they sit around not trying.
Enough about school. The week went by without any major problems and then it was the ever popular weekend. On Friday night we headed to Gold Bar for a few drinks, but nothing crazy since I wanted to be productive the next day. I was home at a decent hour and got up Saturday to type up some stuff on Cambodia.
Saturday night Blake, Danielle and I went to Emily's new area for her birthday party. It was pretty cool to go out in a different area for once and meet some new people. We ended up in the little foreigner bar in her area and then a small dance club before going to Noraebang. It became a late night and we took a cab back to Blake's around 5 am. I slept over at Blake's and got up in the morning to get to Olympic Park to tutor.
After tutoring I just hung out at my place, cleaned up a little and then got a hold of Dave and Kate. We decided not to do trivia again and they came up to meet Jameson and I for samgyup-sal and a few beers. It is always nice to see them because they are super nice and easy to chat with. Eventually it was time for them to get on the subway to head home. So we all dispersed for the night.
Hope you are all enjoying the changing weather. Talk to you soon.
Well what did I get up to this week? I was working some more on my Korean with Alex across the hall and eventually Margaret started up again. We are getting the hang of it but there is so much vocabulary to remember that it takes a lot more time than we thought. Aside from that, I have started planning my trip for after my contract is up. I spent my spare time at work this week typing up things from the Southeast Asia Lonely Planet for both Vietnam and Cambodia so that it would be easier to go over with Jameson than trying to flip through the book all the time. I did Vietnam during the week and Cambodia on the weekend, so hopefully we can get a game plan going.
The one thing we did this week was a return trip to the Renoir exhibit to see the things we missed the last time since we were in a rush. So Margaret, Blake, Alex and I went there on Wednesday. Other than that the week was OK. As usual the kids are busy with regular school and have put academy on the back burner, not that I can blame them, which means many of them aren't handing in their work; giving me an easier marking load. I do this semester have a few kids who are going to give my patience a run for its money though. As the academy system work, children get pushed up so that they will return without having to repeat levels. Unfortunately this mean we got a dozen new students this term who shouldn't be at our level and even a few who shouldn't be in academy at all. I am doing my best to work with it but it makes me pretty angry when they sit around not trying.
Enough about school. The week went by without any major problems and then it was the ever popular weekend. On Friday night we headed to Gold Bar for a few drinks, but nothing crazy since I wanted to be productive the next day. I was home at a decent hour and got up Saturday to type up some stuff on Cambodia.
Saturday night Blake, Danielle and I went to Emily's new area for her birthday party. It was pretty cool to go out in a different area for once and meet some new people. We ended up in the little foreigner bar in her area and then a small dance club before going to Noraebang. It became a late night and we took a cab back to Blake's around 5 am. I slept over at Blake's and got up in the morning to get to Olympic Park to tutor.
After tutoring I just hung out at my place, cleaned up a little and then got a hold of Dave and Kate. We decided not to do trivia again and they came up to meet Jameson and I for samgyup-sal and a few beers. It is always nice to see them because they are super nice and easy to chat with. Eventually it was time for them to get on the subway to head home. So we all dispersed for the night.
Hope you are all enjoying the changing weather. Talk to you soon.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Second week on the up an up
August 31-September 6
Well this week was much better than last week. I was feeling better and classes were going faster. Maybe it was because i had shaken the sickness I had been supporting for the past while, or maybe it was because I was set up and rolling on the new semester.
This week went by like most others, wake up, go to school, come home, go to bed, repeat. I did get back to studying my Korean with Alex and eventually Margaret restarted with us. The week went by as usual until Friday, when I finally decided to get up early enough to head to the Canadian Embassy to ask about bringing my cat home for a visit in between contracts here in Korea, and to look into a new passport. My passport is due to expire in the next seven months; and while that seems like a lot of time, I am planing on doing some traveling when I am done here and most countries like people to have 6 months on their passport while traveling.
To make a long story short, I did not like the system of getting a new passport while outside of MY OWN country and had a bit of a freak out in the embassy resulting in me cursing out the system and leaving the embassy. My next step is to go to the individual country embassies to see if they will give me advanced Visas so that I can just wait until I get home to get a new passport.
After that I went to work and the day couldn't go by fast enough. At the end of the day it was time to get out of work and head out for a couple drinks. I met up with Blake and Danielle in Kondae for a few beers and then came home before it got too late. On Saturday I got up early and went tutoring at Olympic Park for a couple hours and then just killed time in my apartment until it was time to go out for the night.
For a change of pace we, Blake, Brian, Jameson, Margaret, Dustin and I, decided to go to a wine and cocktail buffet at the Intercontinental Hotel. Held from 6-9pm it gave us the chance to dress up a little and drink some wine instead of beer for a chance. We did this until the time ran out and then headed to Gangnam for a couple drinks and the joining of Danielle. After a couple drinks we went to Itaewon, where Emily came to meet us and then finished the night off around 3am.
On Sunday I got up and took Emily sight seeing around the older northern part of the city, including Gyeongbuk Palace and Insadong. After that I tried to get home for some rest before trivia.
It didn't work out, I never got any rest, but it was OK because trivia was cancelled. Even thought it was cancelled Jameson and I still went down to meet with Dave and Kate. We went to a jazz bar and then back to their area for some beers and eventually Noraebang, against all we knew to be right. It quickly turned into a 430am morning and a sleep over at their place.
Well this week was much better than last week. I was feeling better and classes were going faster. Maybe it was because i had shaken the sickness I had been supporting for the past while, or maybe it was because I was set up and rolling on the new semester.
This week went by like most others, wake up, go to school, come home, go to bed, repeat. I did get back to studying my Korean with Alex and eventually Margaret restarted with us. The week went by as usual until Friday, when I finally decided to get up early enough to head to the Canadian Embassy to ask about bringing my cat home for a visit in between contracts here in Korea, and to look into a new passport. My passport is due to expire in the next seven months; and while that seems like a lot of time, I am planing on doing some traveling when I am done here and most countries like people to have 6 months on their passport while traveling.
To make a long story short, I did not like the system of getting a new passport while outside of MY OWN country and had a bit of a freak out in the embassy resulting in me cursing out the system and leaving the embassy. My next step is to go to the individual country embassies to see if they will give me advanced Visas so that I can just wait until I get home to get a new passport.
After that I went to work and the day couldn't go by fast enough. At the end of the day it was time to get out of work and head out for a couple drinks. I met up with Blake and Danielle in Kondae for a few beers and then came home before it got too late. On Saturday I got up early and went tutoring at Olympic Park for a couple hours and then just killed time in my apartment until it was time to go out for the night.
For a change of pace we, Blake, Brian, Jameson, Margaret, Dustin and I, decided to go to a wine and cocktail buffet at the Intercontinental Hotel. Held from 6-9pm it gave us the chance to dress up a little and drink some wine instead of beer for a chance. We did this until the time ran out and then headed to Gangnam for a couple drinks and the joining of Danielle. After a couple drinks we went to Itaewon, where Emily came to meet us and then finished the night off around 3am.
On Sunday I got up and took Emily sight seeing around the older northern part of the city, including Gyeongbuk Palace and Insadong. After that I tried to get home for some rest before trivia.
It didn't work out, I never got any rest, but it was OK because trivia was cancelled. Even thought it was cancelled Jameson and I still went down to meet with Dave and Kate. We went to a jazz bar and then back to their area for some beers and eventually Noraebang, against all we knew to be right. It quickly turned into a 430am morning and a sleep over at their place.
Monday, September 7, 2009
The end of intensives
August 24-30
Intensives are over and we can get back to our "regular" lives again.
This week was the first week of being back to our regular afternoon schedule and as much as we thought it would be nice to be back to the later schedule, this week dragged on as if it would never end. For me it was weird because while I was at the middle school every semester meant changes in classes and books, and getting to know a large number of new faces. However, up in the Nokchiwon it is for the most part, the same kids and material as last semester. This made it a little less exciting and a little more monotonous to start the semester. Adding to the is the fact that I am teaching the same two classes all week, 5 times a piece, to a bunch of kids who just want to freak out at life for dragging them down.
We started the week giving out books and going over class stuff as usual and trying to adjust back to the afternoon schedule. At midweek Margaret and I went in the morning to see Ice Age 3 with one of our Korean coworkers. Unfortunately she had to cancel to take care of her kids, so we saw the movie just the two of us and had a good laugh even though we both could have used the sleep more than the laugh. The rest of the week went by at a snails pace and made the head cold that I had been fighting that much more annoying and hard to live with.
By the time Friday came around there was nothing short of a nuclear war that could have kept me in that building. We took off and headed to the Wa Bar in my neighbourhood to meet up with most of our friends from the elementary school to celebrate Brett's birthday. It was a good party and we hungout talking and having a few drinks until about 3am. On Saturday I woke up at a relatively decent time and went with Margaret to the Seoul Museum of Art to see a Renoir exhibit. Unfortunately we didn't have much time and only got to see half of it before leaving to make it to Myeongdong for Brian's belated birthday lunch.
For lunch we went to a restaurant called Todai, which is an all you can eat sushi style place that also includes some other styles of food. It was a bit expensive but well worth it. After that some of us stuck around to check out some stores before going our separate ways to have a rest before we got together later that night. Eventually we decided to get together in Gangnam for some drinks, which eventually turned into Hookah and drinks and a trip to noraebang (to give Emily her first experience) until 5 am. After that we all headed home and crashed.
We didn't get to sleep long though, because around 11 am one of our coworkers called Margaret to invite her to the movies; who in turn phoned to invite me. We dragged ourselves to the theatre to see the new G.I. Joe movie, which was totally awesome and then had a quick bite before I had to come home to get some rest before Sunday trivia. I never did get the rest but I had a chance to get some things tidied up before heading to trivia. While at trivia I started to feel pretty bad, as life was catching up with me and eventually ended up as more of a sideliner than a participator. Eventually it ended and we got on the subway and I came home and got some rest.
I'm hoping the coming week goes much better.
Hope you are all enjoying the end of the summer.
Intensives are over and we can get back to our "regular" lives again.
This week was the first week of being back to our regular afternoon schedule and as much as we thought it would be nice to be back to the later schedule, this week dragged on as if it would never end. For me it was weird because while I was at the middle school every semester meant changes in classes and books, and getting to know a large number of new faces. However, up in the Nokchiwon it is for the most part, the same kids and material as last semester. This made it a little less exciting and a little more monotonous to start the semester. Adding to the is the fact that I am teaching the same two classes all week, 5 times a piece, to a bunch of kids who just want to freak out at life for dragging them down.
We started the week giving out books and going over class stuff as usual and trying to adjust back to the afternoon schedule. At midweek Margaret and I went in the morning to see Ice Age 3 with one of our Korean coworkers. Unfortunately she had to cancel to take care of her kids, so we saw the movie just the two of us and had a good laugh even though we both could have used the sleep more than the laugh. The rest of the week went by at a snails pace and made the head cold that I had been fighting that much more annoying and hard to live with.
By the time Friday came around there was nothing short of a nuclear war that could have kept me in that building. We took off and headed to the Wa Bar in my neighbourhood to meet up with most of our friends from the elementary school to celebrate Brett's birthday. It was a good party and we hungout talking and having a few drinks until about 3am. On Saturday I woke up at a relatively decent time and went with Margaret to the Seoul Museum of Art to see a Renoir exhibit. Unfortunately we didn't have much time and only got to see half of it before leaving to make it to Myeongdong for Brian's belated birthday lunch.
For lunch we went to a restaurant called Todai, which is an all you can eat sushi style place that also includes some other styles of food. It was a bit expensive but well worth it. After that some of us stuck around to check out some stores before going our separate ways to have a rest before we got together later that night. Eventually we decided to get together in Gangnam for some drinks, which eventually turned into Hookah and drinks and a trip to noraebang (to give Emily her first experience) until 5 am. After that we all headed home and crashed.
We didn't get to sleep long though, because around 11 am one of our coworkers called Margaret to invite her to the movies; who in turn phoned to invite me. We dragged ourselves to the theatre to see the new G.I. Joe movie, which was totally awesome and then had a quick bite before I had to come home to get some rest before Sunday trivia. I never did get the rest but I had a chance to get some things tidied up before heading to trivia. While at trivia I started to feel pretty bad, as life was catching up with me and eventually ended up as more of a sideliner than a participator. Eventually it ended and we got on the subway and I came home and got some rest.
I'm hoping the coming week goes much better.
Hope you are all enjoying the end of the summer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)