Sunday, June 27, 2010

World Cup Fever

We spent the weekend in Seoul with our friends, Danny and Katy, from Colorado.


Danny and Katy at Ponchos, a Mexican restaurant in Itaewon - Itaewon means place of foreign birth. This area is highly populated with foreigners. It was such a change to see this amount of diversity!
Seth and I enjoying good friends, good food, and laughter in Itaewon


Everyone in this popular shopping district was walking around with these face-size (as Katy would say) ice cream cones. We couldn't resist.


Oh, yes! Koreans love the Twilight Saga too :) I can't wait for Eclipse to come out.
P.S. I am learning Korea. I can read what the ad. says!


We went to Seoul City Hall to watch Korea play in round two of the World Cup. Soccer is Korea's biggest sport. Throughout the first round, everyone stayed up all night to watch Korea play. My students and co-workers came to school exhausted because of late game schedule.

Seth and I have jumped on the bandwagon. We decked out in Red Devils gear and cheered with the best of them. At City Hall, there were tons of huge flat screens set up for the game. Every single person was wearing red. You can see all of the glowing devil horns. We joined in dancing, jumping, cheering, and yelling for Korea. We arrived at City Hall two hours before the game began. The park was so packed that we didn't even attempt to find a sitting spot. People were flooding the streets. The police had to close the major highway because of the high concentration of people. We were standing under a stoplight watching the pre-game show.



Supporting Korea


Danny and Seth looking so cool


Right before the game started, it began to rain, but the rain didn't scare us or the Koreans away. Everyone bought ponchos and stood out in the rain wet and soggy cheering for Korea. I'm sad to report that they didn't win, but it was a once in a life time opportunity!

-Anna




Explore the DMZ!

Friday, June 25th was the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War. This weekend we went on a tour of the Demilitarized Zone between the North and South. The DMZ is 4 kilometers in width. The area is a no civilian zone. Civilians are only allowed in this area on tours. Both borders are heavily armed. Our tour guide explained that the US army dropped landmines in the DMZ in order to prevent land attacks from North Korea that regularly happened after the Korean War "ended" and sometimes even happen today. We were able to see areas fenced off with red flags warning that the area was covered in landmines. We were strongly cautioned to always stay with our guide. Despite being a demilitarized, no civilian, zone the area is also a "nature reserve." Because human habitation is prohibited, unique and endangered plants and animals exist here.

Freedom Bridge - This bridge was built to commemorate the location where North and South Korea exchanged 12,773 prisoners of war after the ceasefire in 1953. The two Koreas are technically still at war.


This is the final and north most railroad station in South Korea. It was built in the hopes that one day it will connect the North and the South. Pyeongyang is the capital city of North Korea. After the Korean peninsula is united, this railroad will connect Korea, China, Russia, and Europe.

President George W. Bush visited this railroad station after it was built in 2002. He gave a speech recognizing South Korea's strength and achievements. He also encouraged South Koreans to continue to hope for and strive for the unification of Korea.

There is one road that leads to North Korea. South Korea is only allowed to use this road 12 times a day total. Those who do travel on it must have special permission and must have gone through an application process.



We were able to look at Gaesong city, the third largest city in North Korea. You cannot see it in this picture, but we were able to clearly see a propaganda village, Gaesong industrial complex, a statue of Kim Il Sung, and the tallest flagpole in the world displaying the North Korean flag.

At this location, we were only allowed to take pictures outside (I was disappointed because the inside of this area was my favorite part of the tour)! After taking pictures, we entered a building, locked up our belongings, threw on hard hats, and headed down a narrow tunnel. The tunnel we explored is called The 3rd Tunnel. It was discovered in 1978. This tunnel was dug by North Koreans. It starts in North Korea and goes under the DMZ. The intent was for North Korea to use this tunnel and others to once again attack the South; however, their progress was stopped when the tunnel was discovered. After the tunnel had been discovered, the North Koreans quickly spread coal along the roof and sides of the tunnel. They told the South that the purpose of the tunnel was for mining coal, but the tunnel is all granite. There is no coal in the area, except for what they smeared on the tunnel walls. Four of these tunnels have been discovered. They all point in the direction of Seoul. South Korea believes that there are still many tunnels to be discovered. It is estimated that 10,000 soldiers could move through one tunnel in one hour. Exploring the tunnel was very intriguing. Dynamite holes covered the walls, yellow powder still lingered around the holes, and coal was smeared in random spots.

Although their hope for this has dwindled by the recent rising tensions, South Koreans are very eager to unite the Korean peninsula. This statue represents the unification of Korea.

All in all, it was very intriguing to learn about and see the most isolated country in the world.

-Anna

DMZ!!!... Oh yeah, WORLD CUP!!!!!!

So, yesterday we went up to see North Korea :) This train station was built in the hope that one day South Koreans and North Koreans would be traveling freely within their respective territories.


This platform overlooks the Demilitarized zone. From here you can see a small North Korean town, opposing North and South Korean flags, the third largest city in North Korea (which is not big), and plenty of barbed wire and watch towers.

This is City Hall for the South Korea v. Uruguay round of 16 match. IT. WAS. CRAZY.

One other interesting tidbit. When walking anywhere in a city, be aware of your surroundings. Should you at any point lose your focus, you may easily find yourself... being peed on. Last weekend we were visiting the coastal city of Busan. It was a great place:
On our way to watch that, um, spectacle, we were witness to two peculiar parenting practices. The first was a 3-4 year old boy being carried out of a store (while vomiting) to throw up in the street. The second, just outside of a beach-front hotel on a busy street, was an older gentleman instructing a young girl of 5-7 to pee on the sidewalk, a puddle we narrowly avoided.
On our way back from Seoul this weekend, on the subway platform no less, a woman had a young boy pull down his pants and underwear and pee into a pop can.
...
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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

The Great and the Not So Great

Great Things about My Job . . .
If you are a teacher, you will understand why these things are so wonderful :)
I have a full hour lunch break!
The students have a 10 minute passing period between classes, and I don’t have to do hall duty!
I do not have to do any grading, unlike last year when I had to grade hundreds of essays.
I have my own office and my own classroom.
I have computers in the classroom for student use.
Windows surround all but one side of my building.
I have a huge book shelf full of young adult literature for the students!
My classroom comfortably fits 35 students.
I have hours and hours of prep. time!
Most students WANT to be in my class.
My students treat me like a superstar. They constantly yell, “I love you!” out the windows, and whenever the see me, they happily greet me. I think this is the most famous I will ever be :)
Many of my students are interested in learning about my life and my country.
Teaching is highly regarded. Teachers are treated with respect.

Not So Great Things about My Job . . .
Although it’s nice to not have to do grading, it makes it hard to motivate the students because Korea is so focus on tests and grades..
The bathrooms do not have toilet paper; therefore, I have to supply my own.
The students clean the school. There are no janitors. My classroom gets cleaned once a week at most, and the students aren’t the best cleaners.
I believe that some of the students come from racist homes. I have experienced a little bit of racism towards non-Koreans and disdain for English and English speakers.
Even if I have absolutely no work to do, I have to sit in the office and fulfill hours . . .
I only get eight days for summer vacation, and I had to fight for those eight days.
The principal and my co-workers are very reluctant to use air conditioning, fans, and heat. They put strict restrictions on the use.

Great Things about Korea (in my opinion) . . .
Koreans have strong national pride.
They work hard, hard, hard!
Korea is soooo green, and there is a wide variety of flowers.
There are many beautiful places to hike.
Most convenient stores are open 24/7.
The subway system is awesome! It is clean, efficient, and cheap.
Buildings are heated by hot water running through the floors, so my feet stay nice and warm during winter.
There are gazillions of coffee, donut, and ice-cream shops J
Koreans are very respectful to their elders.
Bulgogi . . . yumm :)

The Korean soccer team, The Red Devils, is awesome!
Although it is a little to “poppy” for me, Korean music is extremely popular throughout Asia.
Korean kids are so adorable!
Grilled duck . . . yumm :)
The universities have beautiful campuses.
Taxis are cheap and speedy.
PC Rooms! On the fourth floor of most buildings, there is an independently owned PC Club. The internet is super fast. You can play games, surf the web, work, and buy snacks, like ramen.
Korea is sooo safe. We have never worried about our safety, even late at night. We haven’t even heard of any crime since we have been here.
There are countless flavors of ramen!
The Korean language is easy to learn. 99% of Koreans are literate.

Not So Great Things about Korea (in my opinion) . . .
Most Koreans hate the sun! Many of them wear long sleeves, pants, hats, scarves, and even gloves during the summer! Koreans consider fair skin to be very valuable.
In any situation, the elder or person who is in a higher position than you can command you what to do and you are expected to listen and obey directly.
Every possible space of land is filled with buildings, buildings, buildings. There are no yards. In my classes, I had to explain what a yard was.
Many Koreans eat dog meat. I was told that some Koreans believe that if the dog is tortured before it is killed, it will have a better taste. Older men also eat dog meat in a spicy sauce in order to give them stamina
There is no national or provincial system for dealing with garbage. Each section of town has a different system, and individuals come around and sort through and collect the garbage. There is often trash scattered around the streets.
There is always a haze of pollution and yellow sand.
Adults are always working and kids are always studying.
Some of my favorite things are hard to find or extremely expensive . . . cheese, Western-style popcorn, limes, margaritas, macaroni and cheese, Mexican food, etc.
Unless you are talented enough to go professional, you do not get to participate in organized extra-curricular sports. There are special programs and schools for those who are skilled athletes.
Coffee shops and bakeries are not open in the early morning. It is impossible to get a cup of coffee and a donut before work!
Buildings are heated by hot water running through the floors, so our whole apartment gets super hot when we take showers during the summer.
There are no street names.
Most Koreans love entrails and squid.
There are no ovens :( I miss baking, especially cheesecake!
There are no dryers!
There are no dishwashers!
There’s hardly any wildlife. When I asked what kind of animals Korea had, my co-teachers said, “Tigers, lions, etc.” I was very confused. I later found out that the tigers and lions can only be found in the zoo :)
The Koreans whom I have met do not like to read for pleasure.
Video game and computer game addiction is a national problem.

People stare me down and repeatedly say, "Russian? Russian? Are you Russian? I'm looking for a Russian?" Sadly, young Russian girls will be sent to Korea for prostitution, and apparently, I look Russian.
People have said behind my back and directly to my face, "We are in Korea. Why are you speaking English?" I now have much more empathy for those who are living in the US and are still in the process of learning English.
There is very little diversity in race, life-style, and fashion. It is a very uniform country.

Come visit us in Daegu and you can experience all of these things first hand! *hint *hint to a few specific people out there :)