Blogs from Gangwon-do, South Korea, Asia - page 6

Right...so here I am! A few weeks in and starting to find my feet in Korea.... This week I'm observing and getting a feel for the classes I'll be teaching - I'm teaching boys and girls, and let me tell you I get the feeling the boys will be a handful. The problem is the kids over here are bored shitless in their English classes - so they need to be awoken - I almost feel like bringing a bloody firework into my first class and letting it off. They are so excited about having a 'real' English teacher teach them...I'm hoping they will at least partly behave for me. Although we are warned to be strict aka not crack jokes, not be there 'friend' for a few weeks - that's right, I've got to try ... read more

Alas we awoke to alarm bells ringing at 4:30 am, after six hours of slumber in our beds as we stumbled around beneath the covers wishing for more time to sleep. Pressing her snooze button only once, Shauna bounded out of bed ready to press the coffee pot into action and climb into her already running hot shower. It wasn't yet in me to venture out of the bed where I lay eyes sleepily awake pressing the snooze alarm another couple of times, wishing I hadn't agreed to go on another Korail trip. Thankfully all we had to do this morning was wake up, eat a light snack, drink a fresh cup of java and head out the door to catch the early morning express bus to Hapjeong station because we had packed our day bags ... read more

As I write this blog my body has only just recovered from the trauma that was Seoraksan, and that was four days ago now… It’s autumn time in Korea and in the true, unique nature of Korean people; everyone pulls on their spandex, jumps on a bus and heads east from Seoul to Seoraksan National Park, home of the third largest mountain in South Korea. To say that the trail was crowded would be an understatement. To illustrate further my point we faced pre-sunrise traffic jams (on foot!) and were frequently bashed by the bandana clad, pole wielding Koreans who seemed to have left their usual friendly demeanours back in the city. We met up with the Seoul Hiking Group and local celebrity/ kook/ all round nice guy Warren at 11pm and drove the three hour ... read more

Chuseok, "The Korean Thanksgiving", is an especially wonderful holiday because us teachers get the week off and some of us get exciting gifts like Spam, toothpaste, and corn. Maria gave me a box of songpyeon and corn, which was sweet and she helped me write out the directions in Hangul for getting to Sokcho. Sometimes when I attempt speaking Korean, people still don't know what I am saying so having it written out can be incredibly useful. I had decided to go to Sokcho to see Mary Rosenberry, a fellow Placervillian. Sokcho is farther north by the sea and surrounded by massive mountains, most famously Mt. Seorakson. The bus ride from Daejeon took 4 hours and was non-stop. Oh fantastic, non-stop, but wait I have to pee! That was an uncomfortable bus ride. Adding to the ... read more

After leaving Gyeongju I stopped in Seoul for one night so that I could figure out how to get to Inje. It turns out there is a free bus for tourist from Gyeongju to Seoul, but you had to book in advance so I was left paying and the bus took longer than I wanted to get to Seoul. The following day I left for Inje. When I arrived in Inje I knew there was not going to be a hostel so I preceded to a motel suggested in Lonely Planet. I found the location only by matching the Korean characters in the book with what was on the building. I had a hard time trying to communicate that I wanted a bed for the night, but they realized through charades what I wanted. I didn't ... read more