I know you may be tired of hearing about Roh's tragedy. But today is the grand funeral for him. My coteacher has been watching it live via her computer in class today. We played it for the 6th grade.
I feel like I am witnessing history as it happens.
I asked her why Koreans didn't have the day off, and she said the President (Lee) didn't allow for it.
Sigh
Looking around you can tell on the faces of people that they are at a lost for this event.
My pal Kristen works at one of the hagwons currently under the fire from the swine flu mania. I am not going to name which one she works at, but I will say it is one of the bigger establishments.
I met her last Monday just as her school was being shut down and she was told to stay at home or nearby for 7 days.
Well I am not going to reword her experience, for I think it is best you go take a glimpse of it over at her blog. You can really get the sense of how it feels to be the "other" here.
Goodluck Kristen!
I have mentioned how some people set up a make-shift memorial for ex-president Roh in my area. Well since then it has grown to quite an establishment. It is located in the center of my town so you really can't miss it on your way to places like Emart.
There is usually a line where people wait to give their respects. A part of me wishes I could feel what they feel and mourn with them. But I can't help but feel disconnected. However I do feel sorry for the way he died and hope Koreans can handle this as part of their history.
Today I went to my Korean class and when class got out I had dinner with some other teachers. At the table one of the teachers asked us all a question:
Does Korea have a constitution?No one gave an answer and we all admitted we didn't exactly know. I felt really like a dumbass for not knowing considering I have been living here one year and studied Korean art when I was in college. But I had the feeling the answer was yes.
The South Korean government's structure is determined by the Constitution of the Republic of Korea. This document has been revised several times since its first promulgation in 1948Now when someone out of the blue asks me that again I have an answer, and hopefully you will too. This also makes me feel like I should stop being such a passive person and get into the history, politics and social structure of the place I am living in. First I should stop reading so many blogs all the time, unless of course they are blogs that can teach me something. ;) Read more...
Despite all the news, paranoia and your usual everyday-Korean-crazy stuff it is still fun to live on this peninsula.
Where else can you find yourself wondering how to console your teary eyed coteacher after she had spent all of the planning time reading news about the deceased ex-president?
I have been here for a year now and I am still trying my darnedest to understand all that goes on here. I think the day is going to come when I just accept it all as the way it is and learn to let it all go.
I really want to write about my 1 whole year experience here and provide a great video montage, but I have yet to get around to it. Don't worry I will, just don't know when..haha.
So life is still fun here, you know?! Last weekend, on Saturday, I went to Insadong to buy some art supplies and meet up with JH. While there I contacted Roboseyo and met up with him and his friend Evan.
We went over to Kyobo bookstore because the guys were looking for Korean study books. While we were there we ran into Jennifer from Fat Man Seoul and it became an instant meet up. JH was nervous meeting a lot of foreigners at once but I think he had himself a real memorable time.
JH and I were hungry so we split from the group to catch a bite of Korean chicken soup or samgyetang 삼계탕. It involved a lot of bones, which I have a fear of so it was interesting to eat. I would say if it were a freezing winter day and I felt a cold coming on I would have enjoyed it more. Supposedly you are to eat it 3 times during the summer.
After that we met up with the rest of the gang and went to Jennifer's new smashing great house. The place has more than 1 room and a balcony of all things! My one room hovel compared nothing to this place. To top it off her home is located in a cutesy area with lovely cafes. Someday...someday.
Sunday, sunday, sunday! On Sunday JH and I went back to the Anyang Art Park for some relaxation. We sat near that water-spouting sculpture. I did some sketching and we played around and took some pictures.
There you have it folks. Hopefully we can all keep our heads screwed on correctly and get through these various crisis occurring across kimchi land.It seems you can't really live life with rose-colored glasses on all the time. You never know when some virus might catch up to you or a missile may land in your back yard.
Therefore it may be wise to let your country's embassy know you are living next door.
Today I registered online at the US Embassy so that if something were to happen or there was a crisis situation I wouldn't be an "unknown" in the statistics.
Here for you is the link:
Travel Registration US Embassy
If you belong to a different country then I suggest finding how to register and getting that taken care of before it is too late.
Something tells me that the Swine Flu or H1N1 virus is starting to have an affect on native teachers out here as news of quarantined teachers starts to show up.
Not only that but just today my coteacher got a call in the middle of class.
Her: "Joy! Do you have the H1?"
Me: "What are you talking about?"
Her: "The pig virus, do you have any symptoms?"
Me: "No." (serious and confused look)
Me: "Why?"
Her: "Somebody is asking, there are some cases."
And she proceeded to tell them something on the phone and then we continued class.
I don't know about you but I think local governments are on a hunt now to check for any teacher showing "signs". Sure I can understand the concern for the safety of the children, but I know this search is going on in the typical frenzied way.
My real concern is that I am going to America on my summer vacation and am now wondering if I will be quarantined after my return. I am going to do some reading up on quarantine procedures so that if I end up in that situation I know what my rights are.
Good luck to those who are quarantined, especially if you are new to Korea and this is part of your first few months experience here.
**Update: 5/26
School nurse called our classroom and inquired whether I had been to America in the past month. Um no. You have seen me here everyday. Sometimes you gotta wonder.
Ken a "Korean who lives in Seoul" responded to my last post "The News Today" via email. I thought it was post worthy so here for you are his 2 cents.
Hi Joy. I'm a Korean who lives in Seoul. Below are my opinions regarding your post. (Your comment functions are closed to me unless I sign up for some blog, so I decided to e-mail.)Dear Ken,
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I now know how Americans felt when they first heard the news that John F. Kennedy was shot.
Never thought I'd cry for someone I didn't even vote for. Roh was a decent man, a statesman who truly cared for his people regardless of their origin----an absolute anomaly if you know the modern history of Korea. 6 years ago, Many Koreans saw an incredible hope through him. Even though he was far from perfect, it was the IDEA, not the personage, of such a leader that led many Koreans to support him. Many of them subsequently retracted their support over the years due to disappointments in his policies, but the idea lives on.
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I see some expatriate bloggers who made unforgivably nasty comments (to my Korean mind) regarding Roh's death. I wonder if most of them are Americans who were offended by Roh's so-called anti-American stance, feeling their easy life in Korea is threatened by his left-wing policies? Or are they merely 'patriotic' in a neocon sort of way? Or are they offended by what they regard as typically "unthinking" characteristics of some Koreans who flock to the city plaza holding candles? I'm not bitter. I'm just curious about the way they feel.
Yet I fail to understand their vehemence, unless they have their loved ones killed or abducted by North Koreans during the last war or something. They seem....Koreanized, you know, for some of their unsavory comments are quite indistinguishable from equally unsavory ones you can find in Korean portals. It could be that some of them are Korean Americans who got their political opinions straight from their parents, whose opinions in turn had a tendency to get "frozen" at the point when they departed Korea in the 70s for greener pastures. A curious, but not wholly unknown, social phenomenon, I hear.
Thanks for reading.
Ken
So I am sure most of you know about Korea's ex-president Roh Moo Hyun's tragedy. As I learned of this event I couldn't help but realize how much I don't really know about this country's government. Along with how easily I pass through life here without paying much attention to the inner side of Korea.
My first site of this event came yesterday when I was taking the train to Seoul. Sitting next to me was an ahjumma reading a newspaper. The front page had the picture of the ex-president and then text all around it. But the only thing I really noticed was how the ahjumma was spreading her arms out to read the newspaper. I didn't know what all the fuss was about on the front page. After reading it she gave it to the ahjumma next to her to read.
Not until later that day when I met up with Roboseyo that he told me about what had happened, and I made the connection with the newspaper. Elbow-shoving was immediately forgiven.
Now it is the buzz on the TV and the Internet. Walking to the bank this morning a group of older folks were setting up a shrine in honor of the ex-president. Under the tent was a table with flowers, incense and an honorary picture. I wanted to capture the moment with my camera but felt I would have looked like I was making a rude act.
I feel this incident, once again, exposes how corrupt and complicated politics and government can be.
What I really want to know is how Korean citizens truly feel about this and what effects it will have on the psyche of the people here.
I posted a while back about how I pushed my coteacher to honor my contract and provide me with an functioning rice cooker. Well this week she pulled through and I have for you my new rice cooker. Although it is technically the school's property it will serve me well.
And because I think there are still some curious minds out there who wonder what us expats eat, here are some pictures of recent groceries I bought. Keep in mind I have other stuff besides this so here is just a sample.
Well there is that slice of life. Wonder if my first pot of rice will come out good today.
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Whatever our theories on relationships may be you gotta have other loves in your life. I am talking about pancakes!
Sunday morning I woke up with a craving for Butterfinger Pancakes. If you don't know by now this is the hot spot to go for Western style breakfast / brunch. I have been there 3 times already.
There are actually a number of locations. The one I usually visited was in Apgujeong but because I have some memories there I decided to go to the one in Gangnam. It is near exit 6 down one of the side streets of the main road.
Whenever you go to Butterfinger Pancakes you end up waiting for a table. I think there is nothing wrong with this as it builds up your appetite and anticipation. For JH (that is the new guy's initials) it was going to be his first time having an complete western breakfast.
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I am going to go out on a limb here and be ambitious. You see after the break up with BK and hitting the dating scene here in Korea I came up with this formula in my head for dating Koreans. Now I am no expert and I still don't really have a good sample rate to validate my findings. But after talking to some seasoned expats and some coteachers (women) I got the feel for this equation.
What I will do is present to you my idea of the American (western) dating equation coinciding with the Korean dating equation. Keep in mind that this is probably not true for every American (Westerner) or every Korean.
Let's begin..
The American (Western) dating equation(s):
(likes the same things) (loves / likes each other) (man) + (woman) (likes the same things) (loves / likes each other)
(likes the same things) (loves / likes each other) (man) + (man) (likes the same things) (loves / likes each other)
(likes the same things) (loves / likes each other) (woman) + (woman) (likes the same things) (loves / likes each other)
The Korean dating equation:
(Family matches) (Age is not too high or too low) (Job is honorable) (Body type is desirable) (Education background is honorable) (Blood type compatibility) (loves / likes each other)(man) + (woman) (Family matches) (Age is not too high or too low) (Job is honorable) (Body type is desirable) (Education background is honorable) (Blood type compatibility) (loves / likes each other)
And although I am positive that there are gay / lesbian Korean couples I am not going to include that equation because it isn't considered a standard here.
Analysis:
As you can see, from my point of view, there are some fundamental differences between the Korean equation and the American one. Most importantly that the Korean equation is based upon certain requirements instead of simple platonic love.
When you think about these two equations, as I did, you have to wonder where you fit into it. I realized that I didn't fit into BK's equation or that he couldn't fit me into his. As a western person with no real moral checklist I feel free to include anyone into my equation as long as they aren't creeps or a**holes.
But there are many expat women out there who have managed to get themselves inside the Korean equation and successfully. (Although there are some who have gotten on the inside but still it ends badly, so it varies.) I believe this was done because the individual they found put aside most of the stuff attached to that equation and matched it with the American or (western) equation.
In the end, these ideas of mine are just .... ideas. Whether Korean or Western we are human and looking for companionship. But this is how I see myself as a woman embracing the dating scene here in Korea. I feel my competition is not with Korean women but with this equation. However, my theories may just be pudding one day...who knows?
What do you think? Am I completely bonkers here? Is this too bias, obscene, obtuse...? Lemme know~
It is getting closer to the time when my school will review my work performance and decide whether they want me to re-sign for another year. Basically my current contract will end in October and three months before they need to determine whether they should be looking for a new teacher or not.
Every week the thought of what to do after this contract crosses my mind. The most important thing I think about is my housing. I am already set on continuing another year here in Korea, but it isn't going to be inside a shoebox sized house.
So if my current school wants to keep me they are going to have to offer me better housing. I won't sign the contract until I get a guarantee and start seeing action by the administration that they will move me. But I have to wait till July to start the negotiations. If that doesn't work out or they don't even want me for a second year I will take my chances at another school, being patient this time before I make a choice.
I thought I would write about this because I was wondering if anyone else has experiences with negotiating their second year contract at a public school. Already the feel I have for my school's administration is that you have to point out the words in the contract and remind them over and over what it means.
All in all though I have a set of choices to ponder over till it is true decision time. Let's take a look:
My Choices:
Okay so I guess I have been dancing around this new development in my life where I have met someone new and I haven't introduced them yet. And well you are right to think that I have met someone new. However, I am still going to be a bit shy in revealing this person. So in the meantime you will get some posts like today's where I tell you about what we did but still keep his identity in the dark. If this is driving you crazy....sorrry.
So Saturday we met up in my neighborhood and went to MOCA, which stands for the Museum of Contemporary Art. I think when I end up going to a museum that the Art History nerd inside of me wakes up and I become this kind of "know-it-all and I am going to tell you" type person. But still it was really nice to get inside a museum again.
This museum is not far from my area, located in Gwacheon near Seoul Land. It was a rainy cool day so going inside to view some art fit well.
Multiple / Dialogue Exhibition:
When you first enter the museum you walk into an area where there is a spiral ramp which leads upwards to a skylight. In the center is Nam June Paik's "The more, the better."
When seeing Paik's works I am usually first set into a daze as the flickering images on the screens go in and out. After waking up a bit I usually look around the whole piece and take in the breadth of the size and scale. This particular work of his reminded me of pagodas, especially with the long rod like construction on top. Certainly you can make a lot of parallels between his media and technology saturated imagery and the way in which Buddhist temples, pagodas and statues have that gargantuan feeling.
Visitors are greeted with “The more, the better” by artist Nam June Paik, which was installed at the center of the Ramp Core in 1988. 1,003 TVs, a number that was chosen to represent Korea’s National Foundation Day, October 3, are installed in a round tower 18.5m high and 7.5m in diameter. This vast cone-shaped video tower is the first work of art that visitors see in the main entrance hall, and each monitor can be individually appreciated by walking up and down the slope of the Ramp Core.
But there is more at play here than Paik's centerpiece. Alongside the spiraling ramp is a coinciding exhibit of Ik Koong Jang's retrospective works.Kang’s Samramansang, which features around his 60,000 ‘3×3 inches’ works, will be installed on the 200-meter long spiral wall that ascends around the stately video tower of The More The Better, together with his other works in the forms of object, video, sound and interactive media art.Covering every inch of the wall leading up the ramp were tiles, paintings, found objects and displays. The breadth of the work is overwhelming as you not only take in the delicately painted tiles which feature Hangeul, but also tiny video screens and boxes emitting sound. Definitely I felt saturated in this installation piece while Paik's piece in the center kept me going up and up to see more.
Viewers are invited to participate in the dialogue between the two artists as they experience constantly blinking Paik’s video images on one hand and on the other the endless flow of Kang’s ‘3×3 inches’ pieces. And they will find themselves climbing up to the summit which possesses infinite dialogues and encounters.The interaction I saw consisted of viewers photographing each other as the walked up the ramp. There were some spots where live video was showing you walking upwards.
The exhibition guides the viewers to 'India Now' through the five sections of 'Prologue: journeys,' 'Creation and Destruction: Urban Landscape,' 'Reflections: Between Extremes,' 'Fertile Chaos,' and 'Epilogue: Individuality and Collectivity / Memory and Future'. There are revealed in a state of disorder the questions of the individual and society, identity, the city, civilization, memory and so forth. We may be embarrassed by our own unfamiliarity with the coexistence and chaos of diverse voices. Then, India will ask us - Can you endure the tense energy of chaos?At one point I read that in the brochure, looked at the new guy and tried to transcribe it to him. But I think all that came out was a muttering sound. He read the Korean part and got the gist of it.
Hmm well I think I talked enough about art for a while. I would recommend getting out to see this exhibit of Indian art. For the simple reason that it is a great collection of contemporary Indian art which is hard to find in one place. Also there were some good conversational pieces, as well.
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Usually the 14th of every month is a special day. This particular month's 14th day was Rose Day... and would you know someone .... well.. I ended up with some Roses.
Here's to a belated Rose day...
Last week as I was about to start my Advanced class when my coteacher quickly showed a document to me. Asking "Do you know anything about this?"
I wasn't in the mood to look at and decipher one of those GEPIK documents that are usually vague. Often times I have to read these things a few times just to get the idea of what they are talking about.
So I told her to show it to me later, which she did.
Basically the GEPIK Coordinator is requesting that we obtain Proof of Residency from our home country.
Due to the request from the Korean National Tax Service, regardless whether one is object to or exempt from. ALL Foreign Language Assistance Teachers in Korea must submit their Proof of Residency (PS) for all administration related to tax purposes.When she first brought it to me she asked me if I had taken care of this already when I first came to Korea. But I have no clue, due to that the Hagwon did all the paperwork junk for me.
Last Sunday I ended up in Ilsan at the Goyang International Horticulture Festival. Although I didn't really walk around the displays I did enjoy a stroll around the man-made lake and fountain.
Basically this area was really just one long and large park. The day was overcast with a chance of rain.
Hehehe well it was a good day and pretty too.
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Work has been going well lately. I have gotten use to the new coteacher and we are getting along well.
A few weeks ago she brought to my attention extra work that I had the option of taking part in. I opted out of all the actual extra teaching stuff, because at this point I am not ready to take that on. But at the end of the list was a "Delight Your Hangeul" course.
About every Wednesday the Gunpo city is putting on a Korean class for native teachers. Today was the first meeting.
Like any meeting that happens to be organized by Koreans you usually go through a lot of confusion sorting at the beginning. "What time is this?" "Wait I thought..."
But the class looks somewhat promising. It is meant to teach us office Korean so that we can communicate with the people at our school. Also it will be geared more towards speech than grammar and writing.
I am a bit skeptical since the one's teaching are kind of normal non-trained teachers who have been given the job. *(But AS AMANADA SUGGESTED they are just like us English teachers who come here with no experience and little training.)
But heck a free Korean class is better than none.
Joe over at Zen Kimchi has his own 2 cents on this matter.
Just what is going on?
Really I don't get why people just can't get their heads around the fact that we as expats and migrant workers need to be more organized.
Ah well~
It states in my contract that the school will provide me with the necessary "appliances" to live my life here. Including a bed, stove, air conditioner and etc. So last month I inquired about a rice cooker and fan.
The teacher before me left some stuff that has been in storage here at my school. So my coteacher and I went to the storage room and looked around. There was a bed, refrigerator, a fan, an old rice cooker and some boxes. So I took the fan and rice cooker.
The fan works wonderful (after I cleaned off the dust). But the rice cooker is a piece of sh**. It was really dirty and I cleaned it up. It is missing that little water collecting thing on the side. Also there is a collection of rice particles at the bottom that I can't seem to get out. When you shake the thing it sounds like a rattle.
At school I told my coteacher that the rice cooker doesn't work. I made up a story that when I turned it on to use it that it made smoke.
She said to bring it back here and we will see what we can do.
So last week I brought it back, but we were too busy to do much about it.
This week I reminded her and finally got an answer. The school will pay for one. The condition is that it belongs to the school when I leave. Fine by me!
But do I buy it and get reimbursed?
Turns out I need to go to Emart and look at the models and make a choice there. Then I write down the model number and give it to the school who will probably go online and find a cheap version of it.
I am hoping that by next week I will finally have a rice cooker that I can use to stop myself from eating out for dinner.
*Finally, after giving up I finally got a new monitor at work. Although it is still attached to the POS of a computer. My coteacher got it from her brother. How nice of her. ^^
Remember that big earthquake that happened in China a while back. Well maybe it is time for a little kicker to remind us how precious life is.
Poor Rob is like the lone soldier fighting for the truth. Apparently there has been a lot of bashing of ATEK on Dave's ESL lately. And so after reading Rob's digestion of that I had my own 2 cents to add.
Here is my own response to this dynamic situation: Including spelling and grammar issues
Rob,
This is disheartening to hear. But it reflects how most of our expat sentiments are discussed and dealt with here in Korea. And that is on Dave's ESL.
Before I came to Korea I thought that as an expat we would all find ourselves as one group and keep ourselves safe. But it really didn't turn out that way. Sure I am friends with you and you help me out.
But I am talking about the expat collective.
In America, I believe, expat Koreans and Asian nationals get together within their national group to form a community. You know how there is Chinatown, Korea town..etc. Well I think it is not just because they want to sell cheap trinkets on the roadside. It is because they come together to form a community. The help each other with housing and legal issues.
I thought as an expat coming to Korea I would find a similar "community" feeling. But unfortunately it is not true. Instead I think most expats get to know certain people within their school and group and consider that as enough. They get screwed in one way or another and immediately brand their life in Korea as horrible. This affects their outlook on life and gets spilled over to small talk, which gets passed around and before you know it groups like ATEK are branded as the enemy. When in fact they are trying to be our superhero.
What also happens here is that people build up their lives here as if they are their own superhero. They survived crap and got out of on their own without anyone else's help. Now some group is coming along and it promises to be their umbrella.
Fortunately for ATEK there are still a number of expats that could benefit from their program. In fact we all could.
We just need to realize and rethink our positions here in Korea.
Whether you are married to a Korean, not a teacher or a teacher we all come from the same background. And that is that we are expats. We weren't born in this country. And so society works differently here. The outlook of this is that some of us have been mixing in well and other haven't.
If we don't group together as a whole and continue to keep ourselves distanced from one another than the problems that occur to us today are going to live on.
This isn't just about getting to know each other and sharing a few beers.
This is about understanding our role here in Korea and helping Koreans understand us, our background and our role.
We need to represent ourselves. And Dave's ESL is not going to do that for us.
Maybe even ATEK can't do everything for us. But if we ATEK's enemy than that means we have the power to make ATEK work for us. I know that sounds strange. But we have the ability to take this group and suggest what we really need and don't need.
If you look at the dynamic of ATEK it is a group that has the possibility to break the barrier between being an "alien" to being a person in this country with better rights.
So instead of us throwing shit at ATEK let's throw something more useful.
Finally I want to add that this hiatus reminds me of my disappointment in the expat community here.
I believe that we all have higher educations, learned critical thinking and how to judge life. Instead all I usually see (talking about Dave'e ESL here) are a bunch of whiners without a light at the end of the tunnel.
Let's get it together people. You are here and we are all here. It's time to get our act together!
Somewhere amongst the tall apartment buildings and crowded streets is an oasis set in the foothills of Anyang.
I heard about an Art Park out there and so yesterday I checked it out. After arriving by taxi from Anyang station I was completely surprised. I thought it was going to be another open green space with some sculptures in it, but this was totally not what I had in mind. Instead the Art Park was one long corridor of restaurants and shops on one side with a creek or river (not sure) on the other side.
Since I was discombobulated I didn't really know where they hid the sculptures but I enjoyed the scenery anyways. Here I found some little house nestled in the grass.
Kids were seen playing in the water. It reminded me of the Yuba River back at my Dad's home and how I can't wait for my summer vacation when I get to go back there.
There was this large water pipe sculpture that spouted out water at various points, which made different kinds of splashes. It was fun to watch as it rotated through the spouts.
There were some gallery spaces too. This area felt so down-to-earth and artsy that I was a bit shocked to find such a place here in Korea. I became really grateful to have such a place to go to that is near my area.
I spent some of my time there sketching the scenery and relaxing. It felt so good to find this place. I hope to go back again and again.
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Just thought of a great name for a K-blog:
Made In Korea...
hmm let me check if it has been taken...Ooo Google came up with this site.
I am not changing the name of my blog but this title would be great I think...haha..
Ok I should get some sleep.
Korea has gotten a lot warmer these days. That means checking to make sure fans and air conditioners are working properly.
At the school I know for sure the air-con won't be turned on unless it is hellish outside, so I have been wondering how I will survive the summer at work. But the class is equipped with fans on the ceiling, which work quite nicely. However, my coteacher doesn't want them on all the time since the kidlets can't hear what we are saying. So I have been wondering about this too whether we are just going to end up baking in the class. Again the ambiguity rules here.
At home I have both a fan and an air-con unit. Except my air-con unit is old and stinky. But I know I am going to use it anyways because it beats sweltering in the summer heat to come. I am starting to think of ways to clean it, but the thing is kinda complicated.
I can't believe I am already into my 7th month here at the public school. In 3 months they are going to ask me whether to resign or not. So I have to get thinking on what my decision will be about my contract. Sigh ~ decisions.
On Wednesday after work I went to Beomgye's park and did some sketching. It was good to get out and do something on my own...something personal. Hopefully I won't be a lazy butt and will get out there and do it again.
Here comes the weekend. I heard it might rain Sunday.
Children's day, the day to celebrate children here in Korea fell on Cinco de Mayo. The buzz on facebook was that Tomatillo Grill was having a festival for this special day. I am guessing because the advert was on facebook is why so many people showed up for 2,000 Won tacos, Mexican beer and margaritas.
I went because it promised live music and well you got to love your Mexi food here in Asia.
Arriving you immediately see a long line out the door. My thoughts were that there was going to be this taco stand outside near the live music, but it wasn't that way. Ah well~
As I waited in line I saw the person in front of me and realized it was the guy from the Seoul Patch. But I wasn't too sure so I hesitated for a while and then finally tapped him on the shoulder. Indeed it was and we had a delightful conversation while we waited for an hour in line. Meeting him for the first time after reading his blog for a long while now was really thrilling. :)
After finally getting some tacos we went outside to eat. People were enjoying the live music and sunshine. As I finished my tacos I looked over near the music area and who did I see??? Why Roboseyo came out to the event with his friend Evan.
Evan is the guy in this next picture talking to the two ladies sitting on the bench. He was "planting seeds" as he called it...so cute haha.
Rob, Evan and I chatted for a while until more bloggers showed up. First we came upon infamous Joe from Zenkimchi and the Seoulpodcast. Then we meandered are way to a different shady spot and met up with Stafford from the Chosun Bimbo. Before you knew it we met with PheonixStorm from Kiss My Kimchi, which I had met for the first time. Even Jennifer showed up and boasted about her new house. Another Jennifer showed up too and it was like the clashing of the universe...inside joke stuff.
I had a good time and felt like I spent the day off in a good way. It was a little bit helpful having a positive experience in Seoul, which made me not so paranoid about my memories with BK there. Yea it has been nearly 3 weeks now and sometimes it still feels like yesterday. Trying my best to put my feet forward.
All in all though I thought it was a real pleasure to meet all these bloggers...do wish I met more female ones...hehe. Anyways thanks Tomatillo's for the event!
Monday was sports day at my school, which meant no classes and time spent outside. Last week there was a lot of prep work going on, where the kids were seen outside practicing for this day.
Mothers, fathers and siblings attended the event. It was overall a fun time.
The school made the kids dress in white sports clothes. There were two teams the white and the blue. Strangely the white team wore red wrist bands, I guess they didn't have a stash of white ones.
The first part consisted of listening to a speech by the Principal, singing songs and doing warm ups.
Afterwards we all went back inside for lunch, and to our surprise the Principal let the teachers have the day off. Today is Children's Day, which means no school. What to do?
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Waking up in a different place can be bewildering but also refreshing. Unfortunately Jennifer woke up with a sinus infection and knew she should head back home after our day's journey. We were going to go to Gyeongju and see the Buddha's and what-not but she knew it wasn't going to work.
However we were pleased to be where we were and continued on with seeing the Tea Bowl Festival.
Leaving the 민박 I was captivated by the sunshine and greenery. Next door there was a crowing rooster, which made the morning even more welcoming.
Along our walk there were many sidewalk vendors selling local wine specialties.
One restaurant had this oven type contraption out front.
Before we entered the festival I insisted on a little something for breakfast, so we stopped inside one place and had some rice, soup and side dishes.
As I have said before this place is really something special, mostly because living in Korea I mostly am around buildings and sidewalks. Rarely do I have moments where nature is dominating the scenery. The air was fresher and all around even the local people were nice.
The Festival: Outer Area
The tent area wasn't so bad but apparently the real ceramics were past the gate inside the recreated palace.
After walking a while we crossed a bridge and you could see the recreated village area. Inside each little house were the galleries. Alongside shelves and tables the ceramicists displayed their works.
I enjoyed walking around past these buildings due to that my imagination started to go wild.
More views of the village...
Deeper inside we came to the "market" area of the village where people were showing off more handicrafts.
Around this area was another gate...
Found Peace:
In one of the houses was a large window that looked out onto the creek. Jennifer sat down upon the window sill and took a moment to relax. I joined her and we embraced the peaceful scenery. Certainly I wished that this was my house and that I could sit at my window like that everyday. Ah well something to aspire to.
Ceramics:
Coming out of the village part of the recreated palace grounds you come to the area where the "palace" part was recreated. You could tell because the buildings were more colorful and structured higher off the ground.
We left the palace area and looked around more at the Korean artists works.
One area had a recreation of Gwanghwamun...which tried.. but.. was short a little.
Lunch:
Goodbye:
On the way we had a little chat with a paper maker and this lady. She said hello to us earlier in the day and said she wanted to practice English with us. As we walked around the festival we saw her chatting with several people. She was quite a character! Flamboyant and joyful... I think she was like the festival mascot...so lovable. I got a few pics with them.
It was so wonderful! And to think that Mungyeong has more to offer in that area like hot springs and several other cultural sites. Since I know it is an easy bus ride away I may go back...even if it is just me. ^^ Thanks Jen for helping me and listening to all my ex-boyfriend chatter.
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Come... let's go.
Because life seems too crowded these days. Memories have been drowning in thoughts of him of the times that felt good. Come let's go... get away from the past and make a new future.
We are traveling on a bus leaving Seoul and Gyeonggi-do behind to a new part of this land. All the people and noise fades away as we see the green dome mountains.
Going to some place called Mungyeong.
Mungyeong City is medium mountain area which is located in the southeast of Korea and the northwest land of Gyeongsangbuk-do in its local section. It shares a border with Yecheon County to the east, Sangju County to the south, Goesan County of Chungcheongbuk-do to the west, and Jecheon, Chungju and Danyang County of Gyeongsangbuk-do to the north.Somewhere there in the center of South Korea. Does it matter? It is far away and deep in the country side.
The taxi drops us off near the main town that connects us to the tea bowl festival, the point of our journey. Before we head into the festival grounds we see around us restaurants and such.
Although we were very much interested in getting to see the festival we knew we needed accommodations, so we sought out a place to stay and store our stuff. For now I can't remember what Jennifer called it but the place we stayed at was like a home-stay hotel. A family fixed up their house in a way that let visitors stay there for a short period of time and for a small sum of money.
Shops sold souvenirs.
Entering the festival we realized we were late to the day's festivities as the tents were closing for the day. But it was a good primer for what we would see the next day. As we walked and walked we came to some pleasurable sights.
This area is known for famous Korean drama recording sites. But beyond that it is also known for it's historical structures and scenic beauty. The festival took place in the Saejae Valley.This valley that rides over Joryeong Mountain of Baekdudaegan was important place in social, cultural, economical and military aspects as the highest and roughest valley on Youngnamdaero connecting Han River and Nakdong River
Hunger set in and we looked around the booths and decided to head back to town for dinner. On the way capturing more moments.
As night fell I could feel the crisp cool air around me and see the dark night sky. It was as if in a poetic sense I was able to feel whole again after what happened. And of all the feelings I felt the most important was recognizing how safe I felt. It felt like time to recognize my journey and appreciate the choices I have made. And so from all the girl talk on the bus, the feeling of being far away and finding peace we tucked ourselves into bed. Morning came and we discovered more, but to know of this you must wait till Part 2. Till then ~
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