Culture trip and other things.

So, it's been a long time since I've made a new post. The reason being that nothing has really been happening other than the day-to-day grind of going to work, teaching, coming home, eating, then sleeping. My time in Korea is quickly (though painfully slowly from my point of view) coming to an end. I am excited to go back home to the United States in three weeks, not because I'm homesick, but because I'm ready to get my affairs in order in regards to school, graduating, and getting secure in the real world. Korea has been a nice vacation, but the experience has really put whats important into perspective. I am grateful for it.

A few weeks ago the TaLK Scholars in my province were sent on a mandatory culture trip. This was nice because it allowed us a couple days off and it was free. We went to three destinations to experience "Korean culture". These destinations included a naval base, an air-force base, and a small island situated in a river that was made famous by a Korean drama called Winter Sonata.

The first day included a long bus ride to a naval base near Seoul. We were shown a few monuments to fallen sailors, a small museum, and the Cheonan ship. The Cheonan ship is a South Koran naval vessel that was blown in half and sunk, presumably by the North Koreans a few years ago. They salvaged the ship and put it in display for the world to see. The damage was pretty impressive. The tour guide went on and on about the details of the explosion and how it all correlates to the North Koreans sinking it, also refuting other possibilities which may have caused the explosion. Honestly, by the way they went on about it, it almost sounded like force fed propaganda. I believe what they claim, but the way they were presenting the information seemed as though they were trying to prove themselves to disbelievers. This may be because there are conspiracy theories claiming that the South Koreans staged disaster for propaganda reasons, but that would be ridiculous and unthinkable since 40+ sailors died in the explosion...though there are theories like this for any disaster (see 9/11 conspiracies).

This is not a small ship (not large either).

The hull was ripped apart.

View of both sides of the explosion.

After the naval base we took another bus ride to an air-force base which was about two hours away. Here we had to sit through a 30 minute presentation about how awesome the South Korean helicopter fleet was and were shown a "top-secret" power point presentation on what kind of helicopters they have and their armament (which was basically U.S. leftovers and nothing impressive or secret at all). Also, as we walked in and out of the building where the presentation took place they played the South Korean anthem...This place was hilarious in their attempts to use propaganda on us, it may work on Korean elementary school children, but college age foreigners? were they serious? I don't know, but after the presentation we got to play around and take pictures in a few of their real helicopters on the run-way. This was probably the coolest part of the culture trip, its a shame we didn't get to actually ride in them.

They let us go inside and look around these real helicopters.

I got to wear on of their helmets and look like a tool.

They really wanted to show us how awesome they are.

They started preparing to move the helicopters back to their hangers after our play time was over. 

After yet another long bus ride we got to our hotel for the night. They booked an off-season ski resort for us to stay in. It was really nice, with a convenience store and a buffet. Most of us drank outside and made a lot of noise until late at night before we went to sleep. Some of us would have preferred to have just been here the whole time, but that would have defeated the purpose of a "culture trip". The next day we took another long bus trip to Nami Island, where a famous Korean drama called "Winter Sonata" was filmed. We spent about an hour on the island before we ate lunch and took another long bus ride back to our province. The island was fairly small and there wasn't much to see. Some people rented bicycles and rode them around, I wish I did that, but I was content with eating my icecream cone and relaxing. I didn't take any pictures here because as I mentioned there wasn't really anything interesting to take a picture of.

The culture trip was fun for what it was, but didn't really show us any South Korean "culture". It mostly consisted of a lot of time (+/- 16 hours) on a bus, with a couple stops in between. Honestly at times I could have sworn it was just an opportunity for TaLK photo opportunities to promote the program ("hey look at all those foreigners smiling and enjoying our military bases, go Korea!!") but I digress.

Anyway, two more weeks of teaching, then a week of vacation where I will get my finances in order and make sure I get paid everything that's owed to me before I come back the the States on July 30th.

Until next time.

Open Class 5/23/2012

Each semester a teacher has to hold an open class. This is a class where the teacher goes all out, makes an elaborate lesson plan, and is observed by any teachers that want to travel to see how the teacher works. Usually around 5 teachers may attend an open class...mine had 20.

My open class was yesterday and it was a stressful but interesting experience. I had an hour break before my class was scheduled, so I got to greet and see the many teachers that were arriving. This, as you can imagine, got me more nervous than I already was. I didn't know what was expected of me or how they would judge my performance. I knew nothing. As my lesson time arrived everybody sat down and it got quiet. I looked at my watch and started at the exact time my lesson was supposed to start. Then my nervousness vanished.

When I was actually teaching I didn't see the many teachers in my classroom. I was only focusing on the kids. I never interacted, looked at, or really cared about the other onlookers. Perhaps this was a defense mechanism, but it worked out perfectly. My lesson was on restaurants and how to order food in English. I had the student make their own menus and practice ordering food from their partners menu. I focused on the key phrase "I would like.." throughout the lesson. It was really fun to see the students interact with each other, especially considering how..unique their menu choices were. The open class turned out to be an easy event that I actually enjoyed.

After my class there was an hour critique where the other Korean teachers took turns saying what they liked and didn't like about my lesson (in Korean of course so I could barely understand). They said I have a kind heart and smart mind, and the students open up to my warmness. They also said I talk too fast to the student, so I do have some stuff to work on to improve my teaching ability.

After the critique we all went across the street to have dinner at a restaurant nearby. It was some variation of bipimbap. Delicious.

After this experience I feel more confidant as a teacher and in my work, it turned out better than expected.

The teachers gathering in the critiquing room after my lesson.

Dirty Urban.

It has been awhile since I have posted anything, mostly because I've been working and being lazy when I'm actually home.

Last weekend I went to Japan! It is so cool to be so close to completely different countries that you can take a quick, relatively inexpensive, flight to go there for a weekend.

Tokyo Tower.

I arrived in downtown Tokyo on a Friday night and my first experience was walking around Shibuya, which is one of the many popular areas of Tokyo. Shibuya is famous for its crosswalk which is supposedly the most busy in the world, and I believe it. When I left the train station there was a flood of people I had to navigate through. What was striking was the fact that they all seemed unique and similar at the same time. This is very different from what I am used to in Korea, where collectivism is at its best. There were punk kids, lolita girls, business men, foreigners, shoppers, and many many more different kinds of people all packed into this one area. It was late however, so I only spent a little time here at night.

The next day I went to Shibuya again to look at the shopping areas they offer. It was intense to see the amount of different fashions and merchandise in the area. Shibuya 109 (a shopping building) was probably the most insane. There was nine levels (I think) of cramped shops without any windows and a constant stream of people walking through it all. Each person likely shopping for an outfit to wear for the next time they go shopping in Shibuya, as they were all very stylish.

Shibuya 109

Then I went to an area called Harajuku. Harajuku seemed to be more crowded that Shibuya. It was basically a torrent of people walking down one small street. Barely enough room to stop and look around. I don't remember a lot from here because I couldn't read what the shops were or take the time to browse. It was Golden Week, which is a week long holiday in Japan, so there were many sales which could account for the amount of people. Though it could always be that crowded, which is unfortunate. I do remember the temple in Harajuku though. It was beautiful. Surrounded by trees, it may have been the most peaceful place in all of Tokyo as far as I know.

Harajuku shopping area.

Temple entrance.

Main temple.

After Harajuku I headed to Akihabara, which is famous for its many anime and videogame shops. I spent a long time in this one store that was many floors of just anime merchandise. It was so big that I couldn't make it to the top, not because I was physically exhausted, but because I wore terrible shoes (sperry topsiders) so my feet were killing me from hours of constant standing and walking.

Akihabara was very colorful.

That night I had the most amazing sushi of my life. I tried a new sushi called Bintoro, which I could eat all day it was so wonderful in both taste and texture.

Sushi from the sushi place. This is not Bintoro, but delicious none-the-less.

The next day, Sunday, I had to catch the plane back to Korea. I explored this area called Ueno near the train station to the airport. I liked Ueno a lot. It was very contrasting in the amount of shops it had and the amount of built up industrial urban decay it had. I had the best bowl of Ramen in my life in a small Ramen shop under the train tracks. Every couple minutes the restaurant would rattle from a train going by overhead. It was very very cool.

The mix of modern technology and decay, dirty urban.

Article Submission

For the TaLK program everybody in my province was required to submit an article to be considered for the quarterly TaLK news journal. This is mine.

"

Talk Article

Who knew a bus could be a time machine?

By Jonathan Marcus Earp

            I’m sitting in my small one room apartment writing this article while drinking a strange herbal concoction and swallowing pills with unknown ingredients. I caught I harsh cold, where if I breathe I cough and if I don’t I die, and this is what Korea gives me. A remedy that has most likely been used since before Hangul was invented. Korea is a very intriguing place. Korea is at the cusp of worldwide technological advancement with huge, modern cities and a booming economy. Yet a short bus ride away you find a Korea that has not changed in decades if not longer.

            Everyday I leave my aforementioned apartment, walk for fifteen minutes through a normal neighborhood and an even more normal downtown to the bus terminal. I catch bus number 33 which happens to head to my destination, Bonghwa. Bonghwa is a small town in central Korea nestled in a valley between many tree covered mountains. When driving on the highway you can hardly make out Bonghwa as it only creeps into view for mere seconds before another mountain hides it from view. This is the land that time forgot, a land that has no reason to change.

            As I stumble off bus 33 I am greeted with the presence of a dozen or more ajummas selling their wares on the street. From clothing to shrubs, and everything in-between. I walk a block down the partially busy “main street” to the local bus terminal. This terminal consists of a big, cold, dirty room with dozens more ajummas waiting for their respective buses. While they look normal when they’re sitting down, about half of them have permanently bent backs from harvesting rice all their lives. People here have the scars of hard labor. The men are rushing past to get on their buses, with looks of pride over their acquisitions at the market that day. Some carrying shovels and others carrying various objects most likely meant to fix their equipment with. Everybody is pushing each other to get on the bus first. Of course I am always standing on this second bus ride. As this bus leaves and takes the even more desolate road out to my school I can see where these people get off, their homes.

            What I see as barren is the home of a past generation that continues their traditions as the rest of the world grows. While the rest of the world may be developing it may also be growing more immature, as there can’t be a more mature place as Bonghwa. Bonghwa knows what it is and it is not going to change. Not because it can’t change, there’s just no reason or purpose to do so.

Bonghwa is a time capsule, remote and set in its ways. Only a bus ride away. 

"

Unrelated pictures of the cherry blossoms I see every day.

I am especially proud of this one!

 

Spring has arrived.

Spring has arrived, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, and it is finally t-shirt weather. I am excited. I have noticed though that even though it is so warm and nice outside, Koreans are still wearing jackets. Are they cold? It is strange to me.

Yesterday, which was a Saturday, I got to teach my first English camp class. I had to go to my main elementary school and teach a couple classes. The topic I chose was directions, in which I had the students do certain activities to actually utilize the words "left", "right", "straight", and "back". I think the lesson was overall a success, but It is definitely a challenge to explain certain games and activities to Children who cannot understand you. I need to get better at this skill.

After English camp I went to lunch with my mentor teacher. We went up to a literature festival (that's what he called it) in the mountains where there was food and different people in this club got to read their poems and other works to the community. It was an interesting experience for sure. It took place at a congressman's home, which looked very traditional, almost like a temple. I wonder how many generations of his family lived in this house.

My mentor teacher and I also went on a hike before the show started. We walked around the fields and mountain nearby. There were many beautiful yellow flower trees and dynamic pines. It was a beautiful day.

The scenery on our way up the hill to where the event was taking place. This place is famous for their yellow flowers.

We ate in a temporary restaurant that served homemade Korean food. I believe we were in a green house.

The fields along our hiking route. I'm excited for when the crops begin to grow and Korea turns green.

A house that was on my hike. I thought it was a temple, but I was told it was just a traditional house.

This band was playing at the event. They go all out in Korea.

The congressman's house where the event took place.

The beautiful cherry blossoms in front of my apartment.

Busan...

This weekend I went to Busan, which is the 2nd largest city in Korea. I met up with a group of about 30 TaLK scholars and we stayed in a pension, which is basically a rented 2 room apartment that we could all sleep in.

Busan is hands down my favorite city. I love Busan.

I left for Busan straight after school on Friday. The journey took about 3.5 hours by bus, costing me about $18.00. I arrived at the pension around 10:30 at night and then we waited for a few other people to show up and headed to the bar.

Our pension was in the Haeundae area of Busan, which was about a 5 minute walk away from a beautiful beach and the night life of this area. The first night we went to a bar and then to Club Elune. This club had electronic music and was a great time. There was also a drunk Korean guy buying everyone drinks, which was nice and made it a more fun experience (not paying for drinks is awesome).

The next day I woke up with a slight hangover. I cured this by walking to the beach and enjoying the sea breeze for a little while. Once everyone woke up we got breakfast and then walked along the beach and did a short hike around a peninsula. It was beautiful. Perfect rocky cliffs next to the ocean and the most greenery I have seen in Korea so far. I wanted to stay here far longer, but we had places to go and things to see.

Next we all hopped into a cab and went to a famous ocean-side temple in Busan. This temple was AMAZING. It was strewn across cliffs by the ocean. The walk to get to the temple went through a small street market selling various foods and trinkets. Once we finally get to the temple we say on the rocks overlooking the ocean for what seemed like hours, doing nothing but enjoying the experience. It was so nice to just chill and not worry about anything for once.

We got back to the pension around 5:00 and then ate dinner and started getting ready for another night out. We first went to a really cool bar called Sector 510. This bar had a DJ, white walls, and florescent pink and green lighting. It was a fitting place to start the night as we got (yet again) more free drinks. I think its a symptom of being a foreigner in Korea, the free drinks. I like it, but then again don't deserve it. I'll take what I can get though. After the bar we went to a hip-hop club down the street called Maktum. This place was awesome and the music was varied so it didn't get boring. I was one of the last ones out of this club, leaving at around 4:00am. It was a nice evening.

The last day we woke up and went to get Chinese food for breakfast. Afterwards we cleaned the pension and left to go to the famous Jalgalchi fish market. Here we explored, had a nice lunch of fried fish, and the group I was with decided to take the plunge and try live octopus. yes, LIVE octopus. This was one of the best meals I've had in Korea so far. It was like sushi, but still moving. You could feel the suction cups of the tentacles grab onto the inside of your mouth as you chewed and swallowed it. I would definitely eat it again. (It tastes pretty good as well)

The way home was tricky. The bus was sold out for the rest of the night, so I had to go to a different city (Daegu) and then get on a train that took about 3 hours. Oh, and there was only standing room left on the train. But it was worth it, because I love taking the train and I had an awesome weekend. So as long as I got home I would be happy. (and I got home)

That was the story of my weekend in Busan, and I want to go again, and again, and again.

I love Busan.

Club Elune.

The Beach!

Walk along the ocean.

Green!!

Sector 510.

Club Maktum.

Live octopus! Loved it.

Jalgalchi fish market.

Fish market. 

Train ride home.

Took the train.

This weekend was surprisingly busy.

On Friday night I met up with a group of foreigners in my town and we went out to dinner and then we got drinks. Dinner consisted of all-you-can-eat meat that you cooked yourself for about 10$ each. It was a pretty good meal, any large quantity of meat is hard to come by and expensive in Korea, so this particular get together was quite welcome. The only catch was that you could only really cook a small amount of meat at a time on the table top grills. So it would take forever to get a decent sized portion down. It was worth it though. The bar we went to had kettles of alcohol for about 4$ each.  It was awesome. We chose a milky kiwi alcohol which was really nice on the pallet. I went home content that night, I had good company, good food, and good drinks.

My only complaint is that there were no actual Koreans with us. Foreigners seem to stick together here and its nice that there is that bond available, but at the same time they don't provide a link to Korea that will last.

On Saturday I was really bored so I decided to take a 10$ train ride to Daegu, the 3rd largest city in Korea. The train ride took about three hours and I went alone. I was kind of winging it to be honest. I knew that some people were going to be in the city, but I had no idea where or if I was going to stay the night and how reliable communication with people would be. About 20 minutes after getting off the train I was walking around the major downtown shopping/bar district of the city and I ran into Tyler, a fellow TaLK Scholar. I decided to tag along with him and we eventually met up with other people in the city. We went to a couple bars first and then around 11pm we went to a place call MK Club. This club had good music and was packed! We went on the stage area and danced for a few hours until we were deaf and tired and then made our way to a cheap motel about a mile away to get some sleep. (I bought a 30$ small sleeping bag earlier that day and it was one of the best purchases I made in Korea so far as I have been sleeping on the floor a lot on the weekends.)

I took the train home the next day. I have decided I really like using the train is foreign countries. There is a real sense of adventure AND comfort that the train brings to travel. (you also KNOW where the train is going, which brings a nice feeling of security to a trip).

I took this picture on stage in the MK Club. Lots of people.

Kettles of Alcohol. It was a nice (inexpensive) time.

Long bus ride to Pohang.

This weekend I finally got out of Yeongju to see some places I haven't been before. This weekend that happened to be the coastal city of Pohang.

Pohang is a city that is famous for the POSCO steel plant. This is a huge facility that makes and refines a crazy amount of steel. Pohang also has numerous beaches and a Navy base, so at night you can see all the U.S. Navy personnel walking around downtown and going to the bars.

The first night I went to a TaLK meet and greet at an Indian restaurant. It was delicious, is weird how after a week straight of only Korean food and ramen anything different becomes a gourmet meal (including McDonald's).  I ended up sleep on the floor of another TaLK scholars apartment, it was pretty comfortable surprisingly. The next day I went with a couple other people from my town, Elisa Kim and Ian Preston, to the beach and then to downtown for some shopping and McDonald's. We left to go back to the bus when it started raining.

The bus is fairly cheap here. For a 3 hour bus ride to Pohang it is less than $20.00. When I finally get paid I'm excited to explore Korea and see people more often like this weekend!

Beach!

A small fraction of the huge POSCO steel mill.

Road and shops along the beach.

Downtown Pohang.

Eliza Kim, Ian Preston, and I. We all live in Yeongju!

Dirty Streets and Neon Lights

Korea can be characterized by the coexistence of the old with the new. While nothing is really maintained, its simply changed. I've noticed that while a lot of buildings are new, shiny, and brightly lit up at night, a good number of the buildings on the side streets are literally falling apart. I don't know if this is a cultural thing or not, but it seems as if a new paint job every once in awhile would make Korea a better looking country in general. Though this would probably be seen as a waste of money over here.

On another note, my weekend after the first week of teaching was nice. The first two days I just chilled at home and rested. On Sunday night I went to the nearest bigger city to meet up with some friends for dinner. We had fried chicken and beer. It was really good. I headed back the next morning and went straight to work. Overall a good weekend!

One of the many Korean buildings that seem to be in disrepair.

Beautiful walk to the bus terminal with mountains in the background.

Andong at night! Pretty new facades.

Andong in the morning, Trying to find a taxi to get to work.

Hweshik

My first week of teaching is almost over. I really enjoy teaching. Little kids are really cute and when you teach (or attempt to teach) you really have a sense of productivity. I teach in two different schools, one mwf and the other tues/thurs. Both schools are fun to teach in and it lets me re-use lesson plans. However traveling to the schools is a pain, but manageable. The country side is beautiful! with many huge and dynamic mountain ranges. I want to explore them someday.

On Wednesday night I was asked by the Vice Principal to join all the teachers for dinner, drink, and afterwards Noraebang. This is what is called a Hweshik in Korea. Every so often all the teachers get together and have a good time. It is akin to a team building activity where the staff gets to know one another. Before we started eating the Principal asked that I introduce myself to everybody (the schools staff only consists of about 10 people) by making a short speech on the spot. After dinner everybody went to a Noraebang for continued fun. I was asked to sing first, so I chose "A Whole New World" from Aladdin. It is one song I just happen to know all the words to. Luckily one of the other teachers lives in Yeongju so I got a ride home at around 9pm. 

Everybody has to take off their shoes and put on these sandals when entering the school.

My classroom at my second school.

First day of teaching!

Today was my first day of teaching at Dong Yang Elementary School. It was awesome! I taught 1st-4th graders today and they were all angelic. Amazing attention spans and they were nice. To get to the school I had to take 2 buses and it took about 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Teaching for the first time was an interesting experience. There were a couple times where I ran out of things to do or they did not understand what I wanted them to do so I had to think on my feet and make up stuff. This was just a reminder for me to keep a whole set of games ready just in case. I feel better about teaching now than I did before.

1st bus station that I walk to.

2nd bus station that I transfer at.

My classroom!

My main school, Dong Yang Elementary School.