Kids will be Kids

One HUGE advantage that my students have over me is that I speak ZERO Korean. But with that being said, I am not sure how much my students realize they could use this nugget of information to torture me/cheat/make fun of me without me knowing a word of what they are saying the entire time. So until they figure this out, I'm going to fake that I do understand most of what they say, not let them talk during tests, and pretend that I don't care when they are all laughing and I don't know what they are laughing about...

The kiddos are pretty good most of the time...but the other day when I picked up this note off the ground, I realized that no matter what country you are in- kids will be kids.

One of my classes of 3rd graders has 4 boys in it that loooove to make trouble. I have separated them from each other time and time again, taken 'points' away from their names on the board, and even threatened to call their moms (yeah right, i dont even know how to say "Hello Ms. Trouble Maker Mom, my name is Amy" in Korean..), but they are still little punks.

The other day I saw one of the punk-boys, Jony (you guys won't tell their moms this right?), drop a note next to another boy, Charlie's, desk. I immediately scooped it up, gave them my "imsomadatyoubutisuckatlookingreallymad" glares, and put it on my desk. I quickly glanced at it, but of course, it was in Korean, and so I had no idea what it meant. I decided to not let them know that I could not read it, but rather, a note is a note, and should not of been passed, so I was mad, and they were "in trouble".

I later asked my Korean co-teacher to translate and she burst out laughing.

Translation:

Dear Charlie,

F-you.

(the picture is suppose to represent a middle finger)

This note now hangs proudly on our fridge.

Another gem I came across today was little Dennis' book report:

Looks like one heck of a party Dennis...Im sorry I missed it buddy :)

goodnight yall!

xo,

amy

Chuseok- a total success!

Hey yall!

As Bryan told you, it was Chuseok yesterday and we have had the best first Chuseok ever! I am enjoying another day off today, and go back to teach tomorrow (Friday), and then its the weekend! Woohoo!

The celebrating actually started for me last weekend when I took part in a cooking class that was offered at Homgbeop-sa Temple, one of the many Buddhist temples here. This temple offers a different cultural class each month (cooking, lantern making, hiking, etc), so I am excited to take part in these over the next year.

Hongbeop-sa Temple

In this class we learned how to make Songpyeon, which are the traditional rice cake deserts made for Chuseok. Chuseok is a holiday celebrating the ancestors for each family, and these treats are made as one of the main dishes for them.

The shape of the Songpyeon vary from region to region, but most of them are in the shape of a half moon. Since Chuseok is held on the largest full moon of the year (it was raining last night...we didnt see it), the moon symbol is an important one. It is said that mothers use to tell their daughters when making Songpyeon, "You will have beautiful children if you make beautiful Songpyeon"

What do ya think? Pretty kiddos in my future? Eh..might need some more Songpyeon classes..

So in addition to the Songpyeon class and the AMAZING hike we did on Tuesday, we had an incredible dinner last night at our friend Ryan's house! There were 8 of us there, from 4 different countries: USA, Mexico, Korea, and China. We grilled delicious steaks and enjoyed them with yummy baked potatoes, sauteed veggies, and a spicy Chinese tofu dish.

Ryan and Kareem "manning" the grill. We were at Ryan's apartment on the 26th floor so we had to get a little crafty with the grill. The police actually came at one point because someone reported smoke billowing out of the windows...woops! :)

Absolutely amazing American/Korean/Chinese meal!

It was so nice to spend the holiday with this lovely group of friends, and our laughter and good times made our first Chuseok very special :).

John, Bryan, and Nick

Soo and me!

Before I head out for the day, I wanted to leave you with some pretty hilarious little videos from last night. Before viewing, I need to preface a little bit.

The first video is of Soo and John doing the dance from a verrry popular Sojo commercial here in Busan. Bryan and I have not seen it because we dont have a TV, but watching Soo and John is enough entertainment for me, I could not stop laughing :)

Soju, which we have probably mentioned before is THE drink of Korea. It is extremely cheap, and is at every Korean table for every dinner. It tastes sort of like vodka, but is about half as strong...and some Koreans can rrreally go through this stuff. Bryan and I have tried it, and its ok, but I doubt we will develop a taste for it like the Korean men do here.

*I should also add that Ryan makes an appearance in this video, and even though it might look like this is his 20th Soju drink of the night, its really only his 2nd, and he was just adding a dramatic touch for the song :) Enjoy:

For all of you "Friends" fans out there, this video is for you! IngIng, our teeny adorable Chinese friend, stated in the middle of dinner that she knows how to dance "American style". When she unleashed "The Monica", I knew I had to record this hilarious moment.

Alright, over and out!

love yall,

Amy

Geum to Beomeosa

This week is special for Korea. They celebrate the holiday of Chuseok on the night of the largest full moon of the year, which we call the Harvest Moon. Chuseok falls on the Wednesday the 22nd this year, oh wait that's today! And so we get the day before and the day after off from

school. Most everything closes down for at least wednesday, except for bars and some restaurants, which seem to stay open regardless of anything. This holiday is similar to our Thanksgiving. Young families usually visit grandma's or grandpa's house, where they eat and eat and drink 'n drink 'n drink....

Yesterday, our first day off for the holiday, Amy and I went on an amazing hike.

We took the subway north for a while and then walked to this place called Geum Park. From there, we rode a gondola about three quarters of the way up the first mountain.

We got out to a small hiker camp, complete with a small restaurant. 70% percent of all of Korea is mountains. So, hiking is huge. Throughout the day, we ran across entire families, groups of older men, dudin' it up, and other young couples out for a day of trekking through the wonderful landscape. Koreans know how to do it right. All of them are decked out with hiking boots, hiking pants, jackets, and hiking poles.

After our first ten minute hike, we emerged on an even bigger hikers' camp at the summit of the first mountain. There were about a hundred people up there with three or four food and drink stands. Many of the groups of men, hiking gear and all, were sitting around, mid-way through their hike, eating, smoking, and drinking beer and soju. Wow. I thought Texans and the Irish drank a lot. HA! It is really impressive and simultaneously disturbing.

We didn't have a map of the trails at first, but luckily ran into a man who knew enough english to tell us which trail to take for our trip to Beomeosa Temple. It took us a while to get it across that we were going to this temple.

"Oh, Beomeosa? Very far."

"Yeah, that's it."

He pointed north and smiled while he checked out our lack of any gear. Before we came to Korea, I got my first pair of hiking boots. I'd worn them a couple times for walks in Texas, but hadn't really gone out in them for a day. They had to be broken in, and it was going to be a little unpleasant.

We made our way north until we found the "Fortress Wall." After the Chinese and Japanese invaded Korea during the 15th and 16th centuries, the emperor realized the urgent need for a strong national defense. So, he built a massive fortress in the mountain range lining the backside of Busan, away from the sea. There were four gates (North, South, East, and West), and a wall (from 2-3 meters in height) that connects each.

First, we made our way up to the East Gate. From there, we followed trails that ran somewhat along the wall, all the way to the 2nd and 4th watchtowers, and then to the North Gate. Throughout the hike, we went up and over four different peaks. The last of which was the biggest, about 690 meters. You have to remember that, unlike the Rockies or Appalachians, we are starting at sea level. It was kind of hard for me to judge how high we were actually going. Amy seemed to think that the mountains were about the same as the Flat Iron Mts. near Boulder.

Once on top of the highest mountain, you could see virtually all of Busan. It was spectacular! We could just make out our neighborhood. We could see the Gwangalli Bridge, Haeundae, the Busan Tower, and the ocean.

About six miles or so later, we reached the North Gate. We ran into some friends we made the weekend before at a bar in Kyungsung, a university area of town. They were headed for a different trail, but had just come from Beomeosa Temple and pointed us in the right direction. The hike down to the temple was another mile or two through a massive collection of boulders. We reached the bottom, or what we thought was the bottom to a small temple.

It was intensely still in that place. There were no other visitors. I saw a couple monks look out at us, but no one made a sound, and so we decided to keep going down the trail. After another half mile, we found Beomeosa. It was closing down for the day, and so we just looked from the outside. It was quite beautiful. I saw six or so monks walking out, all of which were women. I think movies are to blame for my previous depiction that all monks were women. It might also have to do with the fact that in Christianity, monks are only men, and women are nuns.

Five hours and about seven miles later, we had made it back to roads and subways. There are many synonyms to epic and wonderful I could use to describe this experience...all of the work. I didn't even really care that might feet were numb and possibly bleeding; but my hiking shoes are now worn in.

Busan Aquarium

Hey everyone!

Another fun part of the orientation that we went to was going to the Busan Aquarium. The aquarium is located right on Haeundae Beach, and is actually entirely underground! It was a really cool thing being able to experience so much 'sea life' while being right next to the beach.

This shark was in a HUGE aquarium that had a glass tunnel running through it, giving us the feeling that we were inside the tank with the sharks. eek!

Bryan was even able to reach up and 'touch' one of the sharks in this cool tunnel aquarium.

This is one of the smaller circular tanks that featured teeny fish.

Jelly fish in a tank with a beautiful rainbow of lights shining through.

These black and white eels were super interesting. If you put your finger up to the glass, they would follow it wherever it moved.

I was mesmorised by this tank. It was probably 50 feet tall, and I could have sat there and watched the fish swim around for hours.... There were a few schools of fish that moved fluidly as a group around the tank, as this huge shark glided around them. The picture doesn't really do it much justice, but the coral was also stunning. It made me want to go scuba diving..

This was at the penguin tank, and no, that is not a real penguin :)

Hope everyone is having a good week! Bryan and I have 3 days off for the Korean holiday 'Chuseuk' (more on that later), so we are about to go check out some hikes around Busan!

love yall,

Amy

Haedong Yonggunsa Temple

Last weekend, we went to an orientation to Busan that an international cooperation organization put on for foreign teachers and new comers to Busan.

First there was a presentation about tons of different things to do, see, and eat in and around Busan.

After learning some interesting history about the city's development since the Korean war, some awesome food ideas, and the many amazing firework and lantern festivals in the area, we loaded on up on a bus and headed for Haedong Younggunsa Temple.

I had never been to a Buddhist Temple before and didn't really know what to expect.

I was a little turned off by the touristy aspect of this experience and got a moody on the bus ride.

I will be much more excited the next time we go to a temple. Wow.

It was absolutely majestic.

Different than most temples, which are located in the rural mountains, it is placed in a perfectly serene area on a cliff by the sea. It's just a few kilometers from our favorite beach, Songjeong.

Twelve statues that signify the twelve cycles of the lunar calendar greet you on the path down to the entrance.

It is custom to pay respect to yours by making a wish and placing a coin on the statue as a donation to the temple. I feel pretty good about mine, but I can't tell you what it is :)

A few different monuments and gates line the entrance down the many, many steps.

Down the steps, there is a viewing area that juts out over the ocean. Then you walk across a small bridge over a small cove of small rocks. I think it might be used for people who visit the temple with small boats or kayaks.

The actual temple was spread out into a few different buildings. There were some large golden statues of pigs and one of Buddha that was about 15ft. high. I'm not very familiar with how Buddhism is practiced, but each of the buildings and statues seemed to be for different aspects of meditation.

Once again, I'm not sure what it was for, but in the middle of the temple complex there was a room underground where people would scoop up water from underground in ladles, walk up top and pour it into a large basin. This was definitely one of the instances where I wished I could talk to the people around me more. Everything was familiar enough in its spititually representative qualities to insight a great deal of curiosity; but the language barrier left me with little explanation.

I'll let the pictures speak for the rest of this experience.

We can't wait to get to the mountains and see more of these inspiring places.