Tongdosa Temple

In my post last week I mentioned my distaste for taking individual photos. While I do appreciate the gesture, "For your family you have to take picture!" it just isn't really my cup of tea.

Yesterday my co-teacher took me to Tongdosa Temple with her family. It was absolutely beautiful, despite being inundated with solo portraits forced upon me. Not one, not two. . . TEN. TEN times Mr. Kim insisted I stop the picture I was taking so he could take one of me in front of, well, take a look.

First one: "OK, thanks!"

Second one: "Ya, ok, this will be nice."

Third one: "Hmm, this is a bit awkward."

Fourth one: "And this just feels sacrilegious"

Fifth one: "Here, really?"

6th one: "I really can't go to Heaven unless I cross this bridge? Better get some photo documentation."

Over it.

Really over it.

 

This was actually quite impressive. Only a little over it.

Does this count if Minsu ran in?

There you have it. My journey through pictures to Tongdosa Temple.

Testing Madness

Yesterday high schoolers all over South Korea took their big college entrance exams. It was such a big event, in fact, that everyone was encouraged to go into work an hour late so there would be no traffic on the roads when the kids were trying to get to school! I won't deny I enjoyed the extra hour of sleep immensely. I didn't realize it made international news until my dear friend Lindsay in Portland sent me an article about it. Take a look! Article from NPR

While it's great that Korea is so . . .accomodating (?), it saddens me to see the intense pressure these kids are under. Stopping planes from flying over during the listening portion?? "Listen hard, kids! You only get one chance!" At my elementary school, 6th graders are often in tears on exam day. Not only are they expected to do well by their parents and teachers, there is intense social pressure as well. Grades are not private, and everyone knows their class rank. I find this absolutely reprehensible. No student this young needs to know where they rank amongst their peers. A friend of mine has already had three girls at her middle school commit suicide due to the stress. I think it is commendable how much they value education; look at the leaps and bounds they have made in the last 60 years! Their progress in such a short time is not matched by many. America's education system certainly isn't perfect, but it seems like their has to be a more balanced way of going about it. . .

Happy Pepero Day!

Pepero Day is Korea's answer to Valentine's Day. A made up holiday in order to get people to buy candy for schoolmates and the one they love. In Korea's case, you give out a pepero, which is a chocolate covered cracker stick. Good description, I know. Here is a sampling of the loot I got from my students today.

I was in a sugar coma by the day's end after eating about 100 of these sticks. The reason it is today (11/11) is because the 1 1 1 1 looks like 4 sticks, get it? Brilliant. The kids at my school were encouraged not to bring them, but rather bring healthy snacks to share. Ya right! I gladly accepted every last pepero.

A lot has happened since my last post, but I will just touch on a few events.

First, Halloween. My first Halloween out of Colorado and out of the U.S. Since Korea obviously doesn't celebrate Halloween, finding a costume proved to be a bit of a challenge. That is until I found a pajama stand near Christine's apartment. Yes, a onesie pajama stand. My dragon costume was labeled as a nightgown! How one could ever want to wear this cumbersome thing to bed is beyond me. Take a look:

Would you wear this thing to bed?! That is Christine as Lady Gaga. We were on our way to the beach to take a few photos in our costumes. Too much fun! :)

Jack, a friend from high school and college, was also in town. He is currently traveling around the world before settling in New Zealand for a year in March. I was so glad he was able to stop in Busan before going onto the Philippines!

These Koreans insisted on taking a photo with Jack. Amy and Natalie jumped in behind for good measure.

Last Sunday I went to an apple festival with a teacher from my school and her family. It was wonderful! (Can I just point out really quickly that I never used to say the word 'wonderful', but I have to teach it to my kids so now it's in my daily rotation of adjectives. I will hope it goes away when I move home.)

Mr. Park pulled over on our way to the festival and insisted on taking this photo of me in front of the "beautiful fall weather". It was hilarious. And awkward. I hate individual photos.

Only one kind of apple available, it just depended on how many you wanted.

So Yeon, Mrs. Park and I in front of a ski resort. It's only missing one thing. . .

Tonight was my favorite neighbor's birthday. Jessica and her husband Mayo have become some of my closest friends in Korea. Tonight was Jessica's birthday, and yesterday was Mayo's birthday and their wedding anniversary! I was so excited to go out and celebrate with them tonight. I am going to be so sad when they leave in February!!

Finally, one of my favorite photos I have taken in Busan:

I wish I knew Korean just so I could talk to this man and hear his life story.

Quesadillas, guacamole, and . . . whipped cream?

This is what I received for dinner a couple of nights ago. I am curious how this happened. This is what I think. A couple of Korean restaurant owners wanted to add Mexican food to there bustling, western style beach front restaurant. The problem was, they didn't know any Mexicans. No one they knew had had much luck with Mexican food in Busan, so they decided to consult Google, of course. They found out that a few popular Mexican food menu items were burritos, tacos, and quesadillas. I'm fairly positive they stumbled upon this picture of a quesadilla, because it looks remarkably similar to what I got, and it's also the first Google image that comes up when you search "quesadilla".  "Ok, well that looks like some sort of bread. After much a couple minutes of research, they found out it was a tortilla. They noticed it had cheese in the middle. A lot of cheese. "Cheese is expensive, so let's just forget that," they said. "Hmm, that red stuff is definitely salsa. I've seen it in the Mexican sauces section at E-Mart." They weren't so sure about the green stuff. Again, after a few minutes of research, they found out it was guacamole. "This has a lot of ingredients. Why don't we just smash up the avocado and call it good." The white side through them for a loop. What could it be? Mayonnaise? Once again, they turned to their dear friend Google. I am positive something was lost in translation here. Sour cream somehow became whipped cream, and obviously they are the same color, right? Easy mistake to make. . . if you have NEVER had Mexican food before!!! I have had enough poorly made western food here to just laugh it off at this point, and avoid it most of the time. In this case I saved it until the end and ate it like dessert. :)

A week in review:
The teacher's hike last week was great. We hiked near a temple on the north side of the city. I unfortunately don't know any more details about where we were than that. I asked the vice principal if I could take a group picture of all the teachers, and he said no. "Amy, natural pictures better." He took my camera out of my hand and started snapping away. He then made me sit awkwardly on a stump so he could take pictures of me "for my America family." This is the aftermath.

This weekend we decided to take a last minute trip to a town about an hour away, Gyeongju. We were tagging along with friends of friends, so we weren't sure what was in store for us. We found out when we got there that we were going to rent ATV's. I'd never driven one before, but was up for it regardless.

Christine, Jon, Sam, Kurt, and I with our sweet helmets.

Sam used to go to horse camp. . . can you tell?

The next day we checked out Bulguksa Temple. The fall colors where stunning, and the Temple wasn't half bad either, except for the hordes of tourists.

I finally caught something on film I have been waiting months for! The Matching Couples Phenomenon.

This isn't the best example, but you get the idea. They have matching Levi's sweatshirts. I bet the girl is upset because he's wearing it around his waist and it isn't actually on. Still working up the nerve to ask a Korean why they do this.

More updates to come after Halloween!!!

Festivals, Festivals, Festivals!

It is festival season here in Busan. Everywhere you turn, you will see a sign for a festival currently going on or one about to happen. Last week was the Pusan International Film Festival. Films played all over the city, and we were able to catch movies from Albania, France, and Australia.

Waiting for the movie "Sisters" to begin at the outdoor theatre

This weekend was the Busan Fireworks Festival  I can safely say it was the best fireworks show I have ever seen. It lasted about 40 minutes and some, well, interesting music to accompany it. Everything from the Sound of Music to Heal the World by Michael Jackson was played.

In other news, I currently have a friend from CU crashing in my kitchen/ guest bedroom. Jon moved out here a couple of weeks ago to look for a job and was very fortunate to get one at his friend Kurt's private school (hagwon). He was staying with Kurt and their other high school buddy Sam in Kurt's one bedroom apartment, so I offered up my floor to ease the burden. Jon is very easy going, and it's nice right now to have someone else around to hang out with all the time.

Jon and I out and about.

Not a lot else to report. Tomorrow I get to take the afternoon off to go hiking with the some of the staff. For some reason I am getting paid extra to go on this hike since it is mandatory. I don't get that at all, but I won't question it!

I will leave you with this. . .

Seoul and Beomeosa

Day 52 in Korea: This could be the most boring news ever, but I am now bronchitis free!! After 3 trips to the doctor, I finally got enough meds to cure me. I think. I coughed once today, panicked for a moment, and then realized a bus had just driven by and I had inhaled enough exhaust to make any healthy person cough. OK, I promise to never blog about my cough again, but boy am I glad that is over with!

The girls and I had a whirlwind of a trip to Seoul that started off with a bang, at least for me anyway. Our train was departing at 6:10, so the plan was to meet at the station at around 5:45 to get situated. My co-teacher was taking me to the doctor directly after school for another check-up and another round of medication, so I knew I would be cutting it close. I was in and out by 5:15, but that only left me 30 minutes to get to the station, which was completly impossible in traffic. I took a deep breathe, got on the next bus, and told myself somehow everything was going to be ok. Realistically I could be there by 5:55, but I would have to book it. The problem was, I wasn't actually sure where to get off and where to go once I finally did. As 5:45 struck on my awkward little Korean phone, I anxiously called Amy. "I think I'm close but I'm not sure! You might have to go without me!" I decided to ask a young man on the bus how far Busan Station was, and he replied, "a little". Hmm ok. When it was finally my stop, he motioned for me to exit and we got off together. It was 6:00 and I told him I had to catch my train in 10 minutes and asked where to catch the KTX. "10 minutes? Let's go!!" We both took off in a sprint and I followed hom across a busy intersection, through a park, up an escalator, and into the station. I thanked him profusely, as I absolutely never would have found it in time had he not run with me and taken me there. How many people do you know that would do that? Take the time to help a complete stranger, let alone a foreigner, find their way? "Eh, cross the street and you'll find it over there," is probably what most people would say/do. I will definitely be paying it forward. I sat down in my seat at 6:08pm. And we were off. . .

Because of the Chuseok holiday, most things in Seoul were closed down. We managed to get a little shopping in, go to the famous Changdeokgung palace, and visit the War Memorial museum. Unfortunately we didn't plan very well ahead of time and the weekend was a little scattered. This won't be my only visit to Seoul, so next time we will get a lot more in. Somehow I managed to forget my camera, so when I have a chance to get some photos from Christine, I will post them

We had Monday off as well, so we decided to go on a hike starting at Beomeosa Temple. Like most photos of temples, you can't truly appreciate the beauty and intricacy unless you see it in person. The hike was about 5k and took a couple hours with a couple water breaks and a stop for lunch.

Christine, Sam, Amy, and Jon at the top.

A whopping 801 meters! Not even half the elevation of Denver. :)

We purchased this tile for 10,000 won to dedicate to the temple.

This week is the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF). We were able to get tickets to 3 movies and I am totally stoked. Read more about it here: http://www.piff.org/ We are going to see Honeymoons tonight, the world premiere of the French film Sisters tomorrow, and The Waiting City next Thursday. Looking forward to a great weekend!