Asan City Tour

This Saturday I went on a city tour of Asan, which is the next city west of Cheonan. In Korea it is quite popular to have these city tours...people all get on a bus and just go from place to place in an area and have a person (on a microphone of course HAHA) telling about all of the different areas. It's kind of nice, and it's easy and cheap...so I did that this weekend. Of course, 2 minutes into the tour the woman started talking with her microphone, and pretty much talked the entire time. I'm sure it was some useful info for all the Korean folks, and yes I can understand some Korean thesedays, but it was pretty useless to me. We went to four different spots: The Asan Folk Village, a botanical garden, and old Catholic church built in 1890 and then to the Asan Folk Museum.

I had been to the folk village before, but to a different area, and so this was still a new experience for me. It is cool because at the village, some of the houses are just for tourists, and then some of them people actually live in. I thought that was really cool, and I think it would be fun to live in an old traditional house. Maybe if I'm rich someday, I will buy one! :) The weather was actually really cold in the morning...almost felt like fall, and then by the afternoon the weather was pretty nice. The folk village is a famous area for some traditional Korean movies and Korean TV commercials. So...I took a few pictures of one of the most popular roads there.

The botanical garden was pretty cool too...although the location was RIGHT NEXT TO a dairy, and so since it has been raining a lot, you can imagine the smell was like...ummmm...well, not so nice. Once inside the botanical garden though, it was nice and the smell was gone. There were about 5 or 6 huge buildings that had all kinds of beautiful flowers and plants/trees/shrubs from all over the world. It was really nice, and I really like photographing flowers, plants...so it was cool. The coolest part was lunch though...they sold 꽃비빔밥 (kkot bi bim bap). Bi Bim Bap is kind of like a rice, mushroom, meat mix, it's really delicious. And kkot means flower...so they had this rice dish with flowers in it, and you could eat the flowers. So...it was really beautiful and also delicious :) After eating I went to an area where you could go inside a little area and buy bird feed and the birds would come and eat out of your hands. I thought the botanical garden was really cool.

The third stop was an old Catholic church. It was really cool and unique because it was built in a western style architecture...so it looks different from most buildings in Korea. It was built as I said earlier in 1890, and all around the outside there are statues of Jesus and of course Mary, Joseph, etc. I often see Catholic nuns travelling around on the bus here, but I had no idea that place even existed. It was very cool though, and it was also neat that the sun came out by the afternoon and so I got a few good pics of the church with the sun shining.

The last stop was the Folk Museum...it was OK, it had some really good Korean cultural things, but since I've been here a year, I knew most of them. The best part though was our guide. As I have said before (and I love Koreans, so I'm not being mean here, it just makes me laugh) Koreans love microphones. So...at each stop she got off the bus and even had a little portable microphone with a speaker around her neck, so people could hear her talking. So...in the museum, most people split off and just looked around at their leisure, but I was walking around where our guide was. The funny thing is there were literally 4 of us and her...and she was STILL talking with her microphone. I wanted to get a pic, and should have...HAHA! Anyway...it as a good time, and I had a cool weekend.

I'm excited, my friend Travis (he's from NC, but living in China with his wife) is coming to visit in two weeks, so I get to hang out with him for the weekend. We're planning to go to the DMZ, so I'll try and get some great pics if we go there.

Doosan Bears again...

Well, last Tuesday (May 5th) is Children's Day in Korea, and so I had the day off not only at the middle school, but also at Kids College. I was so happy to have a full day off, and as I said in my last post, I was planning to go to another Doosan Bears game, it was a day game and I was exciting to go back to Jamsil Stadium and watch the Bears. So, I got up around 9AM, hit the subway station and rode on up to Samsung Station which is close by the stadium. There is a Buddhist temple there (Bongeun Sa) which I stopped at last summer. It's a really cool temple and with Buhha's birthday just passing, I had heard that the temples were decorated really cool with many colorful lanterns. So, my plan was to go by Bongeun Sa, snap a few pictures and then head over to the stadium and settle in for some afternoon baseball. Well, after getting my pictures I walked on towards the stadium (it's maybe a 15 minute walk) and as I was getting close to the stadium I saw a whole bunch of people wearing Bears stuff walking AWAY from the stadium and past me back to the city. I thought, "Hmmm, that's strange" and keep walking. Well, as I crossed the river I could see into the stadium and the place was PACKED and it was like 1:30 (2 PM start) So, I keep going, and got up to the ticket window. There were 1000s of people all over but not many in the line to buy tickets, so I thought "This is great, I can get tickets in no time!" So I walked up to the window and the lady said "Sorry, Sold Out!" Ugh! I was bummed out and felt like an idiot. I didn't realize they were playing LG Twins, who is a huge rival, and they both share the stadium...plus with it being a holiday, and baseball being very popular in Korea...NO DICE! So, that sort of took the wind out of my sails, the air out of my balloon, (insert your favorite let down cliche here) I hadn't really planned much else, so I went by COEX, a huge mall, and then just came back to Cheonan. I was pretty bummed about missing the game, but it was on TV and Doosan lost 0-12, so actually I didn't miss much.

So...I had to have a rebound game and so I went back again on Saturday, this time with more success, not only for me, but also for Doosan as they won 4-3 and are now 3-0 in the games I attend this season! :) HA!

It was a great night for baseball Saturday...the weather was nice in the evening, a little breeze and it just felt great!

PS: If you're curious why my t-shirt says "OB Bears" and not Doosan, well...OB was the previous name, so this is sort of an old school t-shirt, and I got it for 10,000 Won! ($8) So, maybe you didn't notice, but I know Becca will notice! HA!

Everland and 이순신 Festival

This past weekend was really cool. This time of year is holiday time...Saturday was Buddha's birthday and then tomorrow is Children's Day. So...I had several days off of school (including tomorrow) and so I tried to get out and see a few more sites. Friday I went to Asan to the 이순신 (Lee Sun Shin) festival in Asan. I don't know if you remember in my first ever blog I went to his house in Asan (Hyeonchungsa) and posted some pictures. Anyway...he is really famous in Korean, he was an Admiral of the Korean navy and fought bravely against the Japanese in the Japanese Invasions during 1592-1598. His birthday was April 28, 1545 so I think that's why they had the festival this past week. He did some really amazing things. He designed the "Turtle Ship" which was an amazing war ship which sometimes featured over 20 cannons, versus the Japanese ships having 1 or 2. At the Battle of Myeongnyang Lee Sun Shin commanded 13 ships versus 133 for Japan. The Koreans were victorious and forced the Japanese to retreat. He grew up in Asan (near Cheonan) and that's why the festival is there. It was really cool...I went to Hyeonchungsa again (his boyhood home) and then they had 100s of exhibits set up along the river in Asan. They had a portable bridge across the river since the festival was on both sides of the river. It was a little windy late in the afternoon, and it was kind of funny watching people try and cross the floating bridge. As the wind picked up, or course it was moving the water and then people just walking across the bridge too...hahaha, it was swinging all over the place! HA! It had been nice most of the day...and then around 4 PM the sky turned black and the rain started pouring down. I was glad I had been there long enough to enjoy it before I got soaked! :)

So on Saturday I went to Everland! I had been waiting to go here for quite a while...it's the biggest amusement park in Korea and has the steepest wooden rollercoaster in the WORLD! It has a 77 degree drop...unreal how scary this thing was. I've been on some pretty scary rollercoasters over the years, but the T-Express was by far the scariest. The first drop it literally feels like you're going straight down! It was scary, and I thought my stomach was going to come out of my mouth! HA! The only thing I was a little disappointed in as that they were working on two of the rollercoasters in the park, so the T-Express was the only coaster I got to ride. There were still some other cool rides though, so it wasn't a wasted day or anything. The park in HUGE. There are some really pretty areas with flowers and fountains, and the weather was perfect for a day at an amusement park. It was nice and sunny but not hot.

I had a great weekend, and tomorrow I'm planning to go back to another Doosan Bears game...they are having a day game since it's Children's Day. Hopefully I can help them go 3-0 this season! HA!

Doosan Bears!

This past weekend I went to my second Bears game of the season...and so far I guess I'm a good luck charm! They have gone 2-0 in the two games I've been to this season. Last year I went to watch them when I first got here and they lost in the 10th inning...so they are 2-1 in the three games I've been to.

I LOVE Korean baseball...not to knock MLB, but I think I'd go to a Korean game anyday! The crowd is loud and they cheer literally from before the first pitch. I think one cool thing here is that as small as Korea is there are usually fans for both of the teams...so even though Doosan had a home game, maybe like 40% of the crowd was cheering for the other team...so the atmosphere is really cool.

I've been a fan of Doosan ever since Hines Ward visited Korea after winning the MVP award in the Super Bowl. He went to a game and threw out the first pitch, so I just sort of adopted Doosan. I felt a little like a traitor cheering for Doosan since they were playing the Hanwha Eagles. The Eagles are from the province I live in (Chungcheongnam Province) but oh well! HA!

The game was really exciting, Hanwha got off to a quick start scoring 2 runs in the top of the first, but then Doosan struck back and matched them. Doosan added another run in the 2nd inning and led 3-2 until the 7th inning when they hit a 3 run HR and pretty much sealed the game. They went on to win 6-2, and so I was of course very happy.

The weather was really cold...I was surprised because it's been so warm here the last few weeks, but I braved the wind and a little rain. Ramen Noodles are popular here, and so I got some of those to keep me warm.

Hopefully I'll have a chance to go to quite a few more Bears games. One nice thing I've said over and over is that stuff here is priced right, Koreans don't feel the need to rip you off just because you're at a sporting event. Tickets were 5,000 Won (about $4) and then a big bag of chips was 2500 Won. Ramen was 2000 Won. I love the fact that I can do so much here for so cheap!

Cherry Blossom Festival/대천 Beach

Ok...well, the cherry blossoms FINALLY arrived like I was anticipating, and so this past weekend I went to Cheonan's Cherry Blossom Festival, and it was really awesome. Actually...I went to 대천 (Daecheon) Beach in the morning and then to the Cherry Blossom Festival in the evening.

We (Dana, Sam, I) left for the beach at around 10 AM. We had planned to leave at 9, but Sam overslept and honestly (even though this hardly ever happens) I did too (I woke up at about 8:50). I hit snooze several times and then then did the "Ok, I'm awake so I'll turn off my alarm, but then I actually fall back asleep" routine. I thought I was going to make us late, and when I called Sam he answered on like the 10th ring and I could tell I woke him up! HA! So, anyway...we took off for the beach. We stopped along the way and you can always tell the areas that don't see many foreigners because they all just stop and stare at you. So, we grabbed some snacks and headed down to the beach. We got there around 11:30. I was hoping to jump into the sea and take a swim...but when I got about ankle deep in the water, I quickly decided that there would be no swimming taking place (at least not on my behalf) as the water was freezing cold. The weather was nice, but the water was cold. So...we bummed around and looked at all kinds of sea creatures, and then strolled up and down the beach. Koreans dress a lot different than Americans at the beach. Very few people were wearing swimming suits...in fact...most people were wearing pants and jackets, and I swear it was mid 70s! I was surprised! Dana's friend lives there and so she met us for lunch, we had 해물탕 (Haemultang) which is seafood soup http://www.flickr.com/photos/misskoco/443445835/ It includes shrimp, octopus, and a whole bunch of other seafood. There were some really good things that I pulled out of shells! HAHA! Sam didn't eat much, I guess I am pretty adventurous when it comes to food. Anyway...I thought it was really good, and actually octopus is very delicious. So...after we ate, we saw a really cool hiking area that had some rocks, so we hiked around there for a while and got some really cool pictures.

We headed back to Cheonan and then went to the Cherry Blossom Festival later in the day. It was at a local high school (Bugil High School) and in the evening there were fireworks. It was a little crazy, I had never been up front for fireworks, but we were like literally in the very front row and the fireworks were exploding right over our heads. So, after they fell...all the little stuff from the fireworks was like falling all on us! HA! It was crazy! It was cool I saw some of the girls from the middle school too...so they said HI and I talked to them for a bit.

So...I had a great weekend...now that spring has finally arrived, I'm hoping for more good times. Good Bye winter!
:)

Spring's finally here...ok, maybe not!

Hey everyone! I hope you're having a great week. Well...about this time last week, I really thought I could put my coat back into the box and forget about it for 6 months. I went to Seoul Saturday and the weather was absolutely amazing. I mean, sunny, warm, birds singing, flowers blooming amazing. I was basking in the sunlight, walking around with a smile on my face. I almost wore shorts, and I pretty easily could have. Sunday cooled off a bit and the winds picked up...and by last night after school there were snow flurries as I was leaving! Yeah ugh is right! The trees are starting to blossom though, and there are some flowers starting to pop up...so I am anticipating that it won't be long until I really can put that big bulky brown coat up and not have to look at it or think about trying to get warm!

School has been going well...I've really enjoyed my middle school classes this year, there are some really smart, nice girls in those classes. I am so amazed at Koreans and their ability to master two languages. So many people here speak English really well. A lot of Koreans are quite shy, so they play it off like they can't speak English well, and then I can sit and talk to them for an hour and understand 99% of what they're saying. I think most people here are perfectionists, so they feel like if they aren't perfect and don't sound like a native English speaker then they can't speak it. But, I am amazed everyday at the skill that the kids show...some of the kids at Kids College are like 6-8 years old and they can speak almost perfect English and of course Korean. I envy them so much...funny that I'm the teacher when really they are the ones with the knowledge. Anyway...things are going well. One of my classes has drove me a little nuts some days, but most of the days are pretty good and the kids are for the most part pretty cool.

Back to Saturday...I went to watch Seoul Samsung Thunders (yes, it is Thunders, not Thunder HAHA). It was a fun game, it was cool it was played in the same basketball arena that they played the Olympics basketball in in 1988. The USA got a bronze medal that year, and that was the last time they used amateur athletes, the next Olympics was the original Dream Team with Magic, Bird, Stockton, Robinson, Laettner, etc. So, kind of cool to be in a venue like that. The Thunders weren't very good really, they got beat down pretty bad. The other team KT&G was pretty good and I think they are one of the top teams in the Korean Basketball League. I think I still like Dongbu Promy the best, maybe since they were the first team I went to see! The game was fun though, my friend got us some discount tickets from a woman on the street. She said that she hoped they weren't counterfeit! HAHA! When we got to the door though, they let us in...so I guess they were OK! :) They were like half the regular price, which still wasn't much. That's one thing I keep saying...Korea actually prices stuff fair, like we paid 9,000 Won for 2 tickets (about $7) and we were sitting pretty close. At the Bobcats games those tickets would probably be $60-75 each. Obviously the level of competition between the NBA and KBL aren't even close, but basketball is basketball and I still have fun going to the games. They had some nice give aways (Papa John's pizza and Krispy Kreme doughnuts) so we yelled loud, but didn't get anything. It was a good time! When we left after the game, they were playing a soccer game in the Olympic Stadium, so we went in there for a minute. I got a little better picture of the stadium then I did in August last year. I think it's so cool to think that's where Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson ran against each other!

I'm hoping to go the West Sea in the next few weeks as the weather warms, and also to the Cherry Blossom Festival the first week or two of April...so hopefully I'll have some great pics here soon!

유관순

유관순 (Yu Kwan Sun) is one of the most famous patriots in Korea, and since today was her birthday I figured it would be fitting to come out of hibernation and make a post! Greta thanks for your concern about me, HAHA! Yes, Duke losing a second time to Carolina was a little tough to take, but it's comforting to know that they'll be playing the ACC Championship game in a few hours as Carolina takes the bus back to Chapel Hell, losers! HA!

So...back to Yu Kwan Sun...(I hope you all aren't burned out on my weekly Korean history lessons) she was a patriot during the Japanese Occupation of Korea (1910-1945). She was born just outside of Cheonan (where I live) and so she is especially famous around this area. Most Korean cities have little icons and so she is Cheonan's icon, and also there is a little cartoon type statue of her in town as well. Anyway, she was born on March 15, 1904 in Cheonan. Last weekend I went to Seodaemun Prison where she was held and eventually murdered by the Japanese, and also to her birthplace here in Cheonan.

She was attending Ewa Women's University in Seoul in 1919 when she helped to organize the Samil (Sam is 3 Il is 1) Movement on March 1, 1919. People gathered in the Aori Marketplace and shouted "대한 독립 만세" or Daehan Dokrip Manse, which translates to "Long live Korean Independence!" Of course the Japanese police came and broke up the crowd and she was arrested. She was tried and sentenced to 7 years in prison at Seodaemun. After only about one year of being there she was tortured and murdered by the Japanese. The saddest and most shocking part to me was that she was only 16 years old. Hard to imagine that the Japanese could be so cruel to anyone much less a 16 year old girl. The prison was interesting but quite sad of course. The Japanese tortured and murdered many of the prisoners, and they were held in very small cells sometimes with as many as 30 people packed into an area about 10'X10'. Many of the times they said the cells were so packed that the prisoners couldn't sleep because there was no where to lie down. I was a little disappointed that the facade of the prison is undergoing some construction so I couldn't really get any good pictures of the outside. They used the tunnel after they would murder the people they would drag them out through the tunnel to a cemetery right outside and bury the prisoners so that the citizens of Seoul wouldn't know they were killing prisoners.

I also went to her birthplace...it was such a pretty day. There is a burial site for her, but according to what I've read her body isn't there, and in fact her body was lost during the Korean War...so it's more of just a memorial. It was a nice hike to the top of the mountain where there is a monument for her.

Sorry for such a sad post...

HA!

I'm doing well...springtime is almost here, I saw on Yahoo! today that it's supposed to be up to 60 degrees on Wednesday, which is a welcome site for me. I'm so sick of winter, and ready to get back out and enjoy the outdoors. My friend told me there is a Cherry Blossom festival usually around the 1st or 2nd weekend of April, so I'm planning to go there with her, and hopefully I can get some pretty pics. She said there are so many blossoms that it looks like snow!

Hard to believe I've been in Korea almost 9 months already...the time has gone so fast looking back. I've had a great time here, and this has been a great experience.

As I said...hopefully my next post will be more uplifting. I just like history so much because there are so many things you can learn from the past, and hopefully help make the future better. I think knowing the history of Korea has helped me love the people even more too...just knowing all the struggles they have overcome.

Have a great week, and GO DUKE!