Korean New Year

The Korean New Year, pretty much Asian New Year I guess, was on February 6 and lasted three days. We got 5 days off, our longest stretch of the year. This is the probably the most important holiday in Korea and families gather at grandparents houses, usually out in the country. Children get money from their relatives, getting anywhere from 20$ to a couple thousand! Sometimes the parents end up taking the money from their kids to save it, or help pay for their education. Five of us decided to head to Seoul for three days. It was noticeable that there were far less people around then during Christmas. The most interesting thing we did was a tour of the DMZ (demilitarized zone) bordering North Korea. First let me say that we were not allowed to take pictures while on the bus, or at certain sites, so I don't have that many interesting pictures. The first stop was to a bridge where the first POW's were released after the Korean war. Nothing special to look at really, it was just a bridge.

The five of us. Braun, me, Curt, Shelly and Roy in a Irish style pub called Geckos. (The glasses are fake- they are just for "fashion" as Koreans would say)

This is the freedom bridge.

This was at the same place as the freedom bridge. Each rock is from a place where a war has taken place.

Next we went to see one of the infiltration tunnels that North Korea had built underground as a way to invade South Korea - Seoul is only 50 km away from the tunnel that we visited. The tunnels are big enough for 10,000 soldiers an hour to come through. The tunnels were not finished, and it was a defector from North Korea that told South Korea to look for these tunnels. I think they have found 4 so far to date and are still looking. This one they found in 1990 I believe, and i think it scared a lot of people at that time. Before going into the tunnel we got to watch a video about the DMZ. At times it was a bit ridiculous. It called the area the "birthplace of civilization" and was a place where "extinct animals thrived". We had to wear hard hats in the tunnel, which is a good thing since Roy and I were constantly bent over. We were not allowed to take pictures, but you can imagine what a tunnel looks like, and there are pictures on the internet. It was probably 6 feet high, and 5 feet wide. In a shabby attempt to cover up what they were doing, the North Koreans sprayed the walls black to say that they were mining for coal. Also, the bedrock is granite, and coal doesn't form in granite deposits.

No pictures inside the tunnel were allowed, but this was o.k. On the inside of the globe, there is North Korea and South Korea and they fit together like pieces of a puzzle.

After the tunnel we headed to an observation platform to take a peek over at North Korea. It was kind of hazy, but we could see a trench and fencing on the South Korean side, and town over in North Korea. There is a propaganda city that North Korea built to try and look prosperous that is actually just a bunch of empty buildings- what a waste of money. Also, on both sides of the DMZ there are flagpoles flying their respective flags. After South Korea erected a flag pole, North Korea decided to too, and build the world's tallest at 160 metres. There was a yellow line that we were allowed to take pictures behind, but this essentially made pictures consist of a concrete wall, sky, and a bit of North Korea sandwiched in between. The mountains on the North Korean side were devoid of trees, they had been cut down for heating and cooking. The trees that are left are meant to hide military structures, but essentially the trees mark the spot where they are, so it kind of defeats the purpose. Inside the building located there, there is a small model of the area, so I thought it would be O.K. to take a picture of it. Apparently not as a South Korean soldier came over to me and made me delete the picture. All the soldiers are really young, probably younger than me. All men have to do two years of military service before they are 30, and I think most of them do it after high school, although I'm not sure. Not as bad as North Korea though, our tour guide said that men have to do 10 years, and woman 7.

You can barely see North Korea's record setting flag.

Next we went to a large modern train station that is the last on the line before the tracks head into North Korea. It is mostly used to transport the few troops that are stationed in this part of Korea, and to ship whatever few things are exchanged between the two countries. Actually, there is a factory just inside in North Korea, that is owned by a South Korean company. The North Koreans benefit by the jobs, and the South Korea company benefits because the wages they pay the North Koreans are substantially lower than what they would have to pay in South Korea - outsourcing basically. The train station is basically waiting for North Korea and South Korea to have a friendlier relationship. It was built to handle far more passengers than it currently sees - it was almost completely empty when we were there.

Although the area doesn't possess "extinct animals" (by definition impossible), it is a wildlife refuge that holds many endangered plants and animals because of the lack of development. I did see a Golden Eagle, notably smaller than the many Cinereous Vultures it was soaring with, as well as many beautiful White-napped Cranes in the surrounding fields (global population around 5000). Of course the bus didn't stop to look at the cranes, so I wasn't able to get a look at them through my binoculars- it was quite frustrating. Other than the DMZ tour, the one other interesting thing we did was to go to the top of a tall building where there was an observation floor that overlooks part of the city. We went at night, and I took a few pics, but that was about all there was to do.

Roy goofing around when we were crossing this river that runs though the city..I think it used to be covered by pavement, so this is a little bit nicer.

During the time we were in Seoul, a known arsonist who had some beef with the government burned down South Korea's number one national treasure, Namdaemun gate. It was 600 years old and was part of a wall that used to surround Seoul. The gate was the oldest wooden structure in Seoul. It had withstood invasions, colonial occupation and was one of the few historic structures in the capital to remain standing after the 1950-1953 Korean War. The country is extremely sad about this incident, and its been all over news. You may have seen some of the news coverage on CNN or in the newspaper. Fortunately we saw this gate when we were in Seoul during Christmas and I got a descent picture while we were in a cab.Its not that big, but apparently it will cost 200 million American dollars and two years to restore.

Pictures - Debate and Skiing

Here are some pictures from the debate and skiing trip discussed in the previous post. I will write about our recent trip to Seoul soon.

First - here is a link to see Curtis and Shelly in the news cast that was recorded at Manchon, and looped at the LIKE debate. Click on the second link on the right hand side of the page, there is "TV" within the Korean text. Curt and Shelly are shown at the beginning and end if you don't want to watch all 6 minutes.
http://www.likeschool.co.kr/

Here is a shot of the conference room with many students busily writing essays for the essay contest.

This little girl is not affiliated with Manchon school, but both Roy and I have worked with her on speeches at Samduk. She is like 10 years old, super smart, composed, animated, and awesome at English. She gave a speech on wanting to visit Canada I believe, although Mr. Kim would have been the one to write it. She is like some sort of next generation super human.

One of the semi-final rounds of the debate taking place in the conference hall, with all four judges looking on. Chris on the left was hired just for the intensive period in January, and has worked in Korea for 4 years. Next is Shelly, me, and Curtis.

Heeduk Kim is on the left. The next girl is the student who won the essay contest, followed by the winning team, Chris, Shelly, myself, and Curtis. The girl in the front row, second from the right was the best debater.

Panorama from the top of the mountain.

Some icy trees.

Me on my skis.

Shot of me on the ski-lift. Thanks for the leafs toque Broker family.

Curt and I with our awesome matching jackets. I think I was wearing the biggest clothes and boots they offered.

Debate / Skiing/ Teaching

I’m writing this on my laptop on a bus to Seoul. I will try and upload it when a wireless Network becomes available, but it might mean that no pictures will be up until I have more time. We decided against going to Japan for the Asian New Year due to the cost and time constraints. This blog kind of turned into a novel.

The last week of work at Manchon was pretty sweet. Some days I finished at 11:15 so I had the rest of the day to be productive. On Thursday, LIKE put on a debate and essay marking contest in a big conference hall at some Hotel. A rival school also rented out a hall next to us, so Heeduk wanted to make our area as grand as possible. He hired two models to wear LIKE sashes and to greet people at the door. There was a large flat screen T.V. that was looping a news broadcast that was filmed at Manchon. Curt and Shelly are in it, and they added some graphics so that it looks like flowers are growing out of Curt’s nose. Also, he got a colonel from the U.S. army to give a speech on leadership- slightly entertaining. Our job was to basically dress up, look good, and be proof that we have English teachers. Also, we ran all the debates and chose the winners of all the preliminary rounds. The semis and finals were in front of all the parents and we got to sit front row center to do the judging. The students put a lot of work into this, and it really showed; they performed awesomely. They debated English emersion in high school, a proposal that is getting some consideration in Korea right now. The winning team got a cash prize, and also we had to choose the best debater from the whole day. She came from the winning team, and is one of our favourite students- she won a new laptop. The student who won the essay contest also got a new laptop.

During the debate we met a woman from Kyungpook University and she told us about some websites where you can watch Korean movies and T.V. shows with English subtitles. Korean cinema is actually very good; we just don’t get exposed to it. Anyways, some of us have checked it out, and Shelly and I have become addicts. Mostly the movies are comedies / dramas/ chick flicks / and maybe documentaries. I saw one movie that I thought was hilarious, and highly recommend it. The quality isn’t great because it is streaming video, and usually the movies are broken into multiple parts. Anyways, if you have some time to kill, go to www.mysoju.com , and watch “My Sassy Girl”. This movie grossed more in Korean theatres than Shrek, Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter. It is being remade into an American version due out this year, but I don’t think many of the jokes will cross over very well, so I think it will bomb.

I’ve been getting out a lot lately to go birdwatching in and around Daegu. And I only mention this because I actually found something quite rare. It is called a Temminck’s Stint, a type of sandpiper, and it shouldn’t be in Korea right now. During spring and fall they move through, but never more than 100 in a given year. I contacted the birding community in Korea and apparently it is the first, or one of the first, over wintering records for Korea. It should probably be in Indonesia right now.

On Sunday, we went skiing at a resort called YongPyong (spelling?), it was about a 3 hour bus ride away, and part of the chain of mountains where Seoraksan is. For the bus ride there and back, ski rentals, jacket and pant rentals, and lift ticket, it was only 88$ - quite a good deal. The largest pair of ski boots was a 12 ½ about ½ size too small. I needed Curt’s help to cram my feet in, and having the “Cleland big toe” didn’t help either. It’s the nicest skiing place in Korea I believe and holds small international competitions. Curt and I wanted to hit some more challenging slopes so we paid 7$ to take a gondola over to another mountain where all the runs are double black diamond. It was definitely worth it, as the view was great, and the slopes were really steep and fast. The snow wasn’t too bad either, not too many icy spots. Also, there was a run from the top all the way to the bottom that was 5 km long.

I returned to work at Chimsan this week. It was nice to see my kids again, and they were all nervous because Monday and Tuesday were big test days. I’m not sure what the testing is meant to do, but the kids were pretty freaked out, it was pretty funny seeing all the brats being super polite. My job was to grade their reading, and then ask them questions of my choice and grade their responses. Basically if I could have a conversation with them they got great marks, if they couldn’t talk they failed, and then everything in between. Many of the bratty girls call me dirty when I have a moderate amount of facial hair, and right now I have the thickest beard since I’ve been in Korea. They say “dirty teacher”. So, during the testing I asked some of them “Is teacher dirty?” – and then picked up my pen as if to grade them. They were like “ uh..uh..uh..ha..uh..I don’t know”. On Tuesday we ate some cake to celebrate the Korean New Year. It’s the reason I have the next 5 days off. I think it is like the 8th cake I have eaten at Chimsan, that school is so nice. Also, all the like teachers from all the schools got a gift set of tuna and spam. I know that sounds funny, but some how it just seems normal here – and will feed us for weeks. Also, they paid us early so that we would have money over the holiday, and even though they took away a lot of hours from me, I still made 450$ in overtime for January.

I will try and add pictures etc when I have more time, and will also post about this present trip to Seoul.