Blogs from South Korea, Asia - page 354

For all of those I met in Korea, this is for you. I Left Bangkok on Wednesday morning, and flew back to Seoul after a short layover in Hong Kong. The last weeks have been ones of adventure, of breathtaking temples, torrential rain, burning whiskey, muddy schools, spicy foods, and smiling faces that shadowed tears. The thought of returning to Seoul was like the thought of returning home. Seoul, in many ways, had become my home over the last months. I found shelter in the temples, peace in the eyes of the strangers, and comfort amidst the towering skyscrapers. The street venders knew my face and the buses knew my stops. I was, at heart, a Seoulite. Previous to my travels in SE Asia, this was where I had spent 5 of the last 6 ... read more

Originally I had planned to visit Vietnam this week, however because of difficulties with getting a Visa (meaning, my travel agent just didn't get one) I found myself with a week of no job, no house and no committments. I decided to head to South Korea. I thoroughly enjoyed my trip. I noticed some similiarities between South Korea and Japan.....mostly in touristy desintations. It could have been the overwhelming numbers of Japanese tourists that did it for me. After hitting up a few palaces and museums, I took to the streets to find the "everyday" Seoul. I had intended to take the ferry from Japan to Pusan....although it would have been really cool, and I hope to do it someday, it really cost the same as flying and took way longer. I chose the easy route ... read more

I'm now done what will hopefully be the last of summer camp for me. Not that it wasn't fun but being confined to a tiny living area and spending my time in either a classroom or a field and being forced to eat kimchi every day is just something I never want to do again! Aside from it being a camp, it was a lot of fun. I got used to the kids and learned how to deal with the fact that they have no respect for teachers. They're constantly walking around the class or randomly talk to me while i'm teaching. I have one kid who is always in space and never knows what's going on. So while I'm teaching he'll say something like, "teacher, my feet are cold." And when I give out work, ... read more

Well, only 3 days left! I think this is a good thing, because there are two kids here that I'm ready to throttle....One threw a chocolate milk box at another kid at dinner tonight. Nice. He's actually somewhat defiant which I find surprising for this culture. Erika and I have firmed up some of our travel plans. We're heading to Busan Friday night on the bullet train (we'll see how it compares to the TGV) and then staying there until mid-afternoon Sunday. Sunday we're flying to Jeju Island and staying there for a few days. We decided to fly out instead of the ferry because the cost isn't too bad (under $100 CDN) and it's an hour flight. We had thought about taking the overnight ferry, but then from what I read online and in my ... read more

I should be writing a speech for my Korean class right now (yes, I am at the point where I can write speeches-- crazy!), but instead I'm writing here. I had a pretty fun week this week, so I figured I'd update as I could. First of all, I had my final round of teaching at Camp Fulbright. I taught a low/low-intermediate level, and it was definitely tougher than the advanced kids. Still, I think it went well, and I'm looking forward to teaching again. In other news, two nights ago, Christina and I went out with our karaoke friends again. They invited us out to dinner (for a local specialty called dakkalbi-- a spicy chicken dish), and so we went on Friday. Afterwards, we got coffee and talked some more. It was really fun seeing ... read more