5 Things About Korea

1. Bus Stops and Footpath Etiquette.

We cannot read the bus timetable so when we catch a bus its a bit of a waiting game.
Notice the footpath. Its funny to walk on, it's soft and uneven. The green is for walking and the red is for bikes and motorbikes but everyone just walks on whatever side they want. Delivery people ride their nifty fiftys on the footpath and you have to jump out of the way or you get a honk or a fright.

2. The Universal Big Mac.

Luckily the Big Mac is the same all over the world. You gotta love consistancy and its worth the hour and a half bus ride to McDonalds. What more can I say.

3. Shopping Underground.

This is an underground shopping arcade in Daejeon. It runs from the train station for at least 3 blocks. It is like from Cathedral Square to South City Mall. Yup all underground in a straight line its mad but for those who want to escape the stifling heat or freezing cold its a great idea.

4. The 201 Bus.

This is the 201 bus that we catch over the road from our apartment in Gyeryong. It takes us to the big smoke of Daejeon. When we first caught it our lives flashed before our eyes and sometimes still does. The bus driver becomes Michael Schumacher driving his Ferrari, especially around the narrow winding road by the railway tracks. Lets hope we don't meet the bullet train from Seoul because I think it would come off second best. Yes the 201 drives like the wind and everytime we ride it we hope to see our home country one day.

5. Monsoon Rains.

Every July in Korea the Monsoon arrives with its grey clouds blanketing the horizon and the humidity rising with the smell of rain on the streets.

Its umbrella time and only a fool leaves home without one. This picture is taken from our apartment of the last thunderstorm we had. Life still goes on regardless of the buckets of rain that can pour down.

End of Middle School

This is where I have been teaching at Yongnam Middle School.On my last day there was a school assembly out on the playing field which is dirt. All the government schools are the same. The same dirt playing fields down to the same bricks on the buildings.

Lunchtime the soccer crazy students have turns who gets to play on the playing field. In the background is Yongnam Elementary School.

Hye Bin, Cynshia and Eun Soo are 3 of my favourite students who I talk to at lunchtime. We always talk about music and they wanted to do some funny posing when I took their photos which is quite rare as most of the female students are camera shy but not these 3.

Some of the friendly students. I bribed them with candy to get their photos taken. Once I did that the whole class wanted their photos taken and then one of them deleted them. I was not quick enough which you have to be with these students.

The 2 boys on the left have been a joy to teach. They are really amusing and had me laughing lots. The boy second from the left had visited Auckland and in my opinion was the best at speaking naturally in grade 1 and 2.

This is my desk in the office where I worked and sometimes slept. It is common for teachers to sleep at their desks in between classes. It was strange when we first arrived to see it but with the crazy hours everyone keeps around here its understandable. I have fallen asleep at my desk and at Dions school so now I feel just like one of the team.

This is Bulgogi in its uncooked form. My co-teacher made it for my last day. It took 5 minutes to cook and it was delicious. I am going to get some Korean Cooking lessons from Pastor Lees wife soon. Hopefully I will learn to make Bulgogi and make some when we come home. I dont have any photos of my co workers but I gave them all paua shell necklaces and we had some food after school. I made macaroni cheese the day before but the cheese sauce was like the flour paste glue at primary school so the garbage bin got that. Perhaps I should have taken a photo of it as you would of all had a good laugh. I was not amused as I spent ages doing double quantity of the stuff in 28 degrees. Oh well the teachers liked the Milo I made them and they found Marmite interesting. At first they thought it was a chocolate sauce. I had to keep saying no its not chocolate and its not caramel its a savoury spread you put on toast and crackers but it all got lost in the translation. Not to worry I enjoyed the Bulgogi and Dion came to my school and had some too and thought it was the best he s tried. I agree. So ends another chapter of life in Korea.

Melisas Birthday

Dion surprised me when I came home from school with a cake, party hat, happy birthday candles and sparkling grape juice which were all laid out on the table. It was a nice surprise. We got a huge tub of ice cream and enjoyed eating it with the cake which was a chocolate sponge.

We havent found anywhere that makes actual cakes they look like they are but inside its sponge. It still tastes good and we enjoyed it a lot.

The weekend before we had gone into Daejeon to Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and had lunch at a western place for my birthday.

I took a cake into my office at Middle School and the Korean Teacher who also teaches guitar sang Happy Birthday which was really nice. That was my first birthday in Korea.

Melisas High School Conversation Class

Laura and Katherine are going to Chch.

Patric is going to Chch.

Danny, David and John are going to Chch. Lisa and Heidi are going to Chch.

Melisa, Beatrix, Heidi, Lisa, Elizabeth, Laura, Katherine and Christina

Students studying Maori Culture and New Zealand Facts

Here are some photos of my conversation class. We have had 22 hours together over the last 11 weeks. The first session the students chose english names which made my life easier. They are a great bunch of students with 8 of them coming to Christchurch.

Yongnam High School has a Korean contact in Christchurch where Dion got the job. They have organised an English trip to Christchurch from July 21st to August 12th. They are attending St Thomas School and Lincoln High School. With 8 of my students on the trip I have taught them some New Zealand Facts and Maori Culture. We have discussed some myths they were told about Christchurch and I have talked about New Zealand High School Life. They thought they could go swimming at the beach but I told them its Winter. I will wait and hope they get on ok. We also had a lesson on slang and I made up some slang roleplays with G'day Mate, Bro, Cuz and Kia Ora etc in it. That was really funny.

I have roughly 16-17 students who come to class. They are so nice and its probably a time for them to get away from the usual monotony of self study. The students are at school from 8.10am until 10.00pm and then they go to an Academy which is extra classes until 12.00pm and finally they go home and some do more study until the early hours of the morning. Then they get up the next day and do it again so when students fall asleep in class its okay.

My middle school students have a simialar routine except their academies finish around 9-9.30pm and they may study until 10 or 11pm. They are aged 12-14 years.

This Monday is my last day at Middle School and my office is having a farewell dinner. My co-teacher is making Bulgogi (my fav Korean dish) and I am going to try and make Mac Cheese and Garlic Rolls which will not be like the stuff made at home. Pauline sent us Marmite and Milo so I will let them try some. I wanted to make NZ food but with only a stove top and no oven and limited ingredients it is a bit hard to whip up a Kiwi Roast and Pav so the 3 M s should be ok. Marmite Milo and Mac Cheese. I ll post up some photos after Mon.

Buyeo Day Trip

Restaurant in Buyeo

Shawn and Pastor Kim

Shawn Dion and Pastor Lee

Baekje Royal Tombs

Pastor Lee, friend and Melisa outside Baekje Royal Tombs

Melisa and Dion at the Pavilion

We are attending a church which is a 5 minute walk from our apartment in Omsa. Recently we discovered we live in the suburb of Omsa which makes things easier when telling people where we live. However the Church is a Korean Presbyterian Church and there is a long story of how we ended up there. The main point is the Church family are inviting and friendly and we met a Korean man who speaks english very well after living in America for 11 years, and he interprets the service and everything else. Pastor Kim is the main Pastor and Pastor Lee is the second Pastor.

The 2 Pastors wanted to take us out and show us around the province. Last weekend they took us to Buyeo which is a 30 minute drive from Omsa and also where the last capital of the Baekje Kingdom was in AD 660. So there is a lot of history there. They took us to a restaurant which is popular with tourists and is always busy. You can see in the picture if you click on it, the amount of side dishes the meals can have. Dion tried stingray which he thought was interesting.

After that we went to the National Museum of Buyeo which was nice and cool with air conditioning as the temperature outside felt like it was in the late 30s. The main treasure on display was an incense burner from the Baekje Period along with other things from that time.

We thought we were going to sightsee from the car but we ended up going to Busosan Park and in the heat of the afternoon hiking up hill for an hour and reaching a temple where thankfully there was a spring we could get water from. Above the temple was a pavilion which was built in memory of 3000 court ladies who jumped to their deaths in the river below. They preferred to die rather than be slaves when the Baekje Army was defeated in AD 660. The legend says there were 3000 young women but no one is too sure how many women died. That is the pavilion where Dion and I are sitting in. The view was beautiful but the story wasnt too nice.

After drinking from the wonderful water at the temple we walked down to get a ferry boat on the river. It was very hot and we were hoping we wouldnt have to hike back the way we had come. We were in luck the ferry boat dropped us off at a car park where Pastor Kim was waiting with cool drinks and watermelon under a huge shady tree. The taste of the watermelon was so refreshing and juicy and the sight of the car was also very welcoming.

The last stop was at the Baekje Royal Tombs which was more walking but this time no up hill.

There were 7 tombs but unfortunately we couldnt enter them. They made a mock tomb into an Exhibition Hall which was interesting. It was a cool place because of the long history dating back to AD 538.

It was a long day but we were grateful to be taken around by Pastor Kim and Lee. Shawn was there for the first half to interpret and then we communicated through body language and

broken english all in all it was a good day.