Monday, November 21, 2011

Update

It's been awhile since I've written, but a lot has happened! A few weeks ago, all the Fulbright ETAs gathered for a mid-semester conference in Gyeongju (경주), one of the most historic cities in South Korea. It was the capital of the Shilla Dynasty, which ruled for a very long time. It was great to see some familiar faces, as well as connect with my fellows and talk about teaching and our homestays. We also took a tour of the city and saw some amazing sites!

Bridge leading to a beautiful temple.

The temple! Beautiful, but very tourist-y.


People stack these rocks as prayers.

Me and my friend Kim :)


Burial mounds of the tombs of ancient Korean kings.

Cool sign and forest!

Closer view of the burial mounds.
I had a really great time in Gyeongju, and I really enjoyed the conference.

November 10th was one of the most important days of the year here in South Korea. It was the day of the Su-neung (수능), which is basically the Korean version of the SAT. This test is the single greatest deciding factor in every student in Korea's life. It is required for all students and it is the only way to get into a university. Pretty much every day of these kids' lives up until that point have been to prepare for this one test. It is so important that planes are not allowed to fly that day, cars are not allowed to honk, and all schools are cancelled so that no one can disturb the test-takers. Many parents, families, teachers, and friends spend the day praying.

My school, instead of being cancelled like every other school in South Korea, decided that they wanted to take the first and second graders on a hike to a temple to pray for the third graders. They separated the boys and the girls, and then sent us on a four-hour hike. To be honest, I couldn't believe they allowed the students to do it, let alone required them to! The trail was a tiny, single-file trail covered in leaves, over boulders and roots as high as my knees. If it was rough for me, it was killer for the poor girls. I caught two of them before they fell off the side of the mountain, and I bandaged three sets of bloody knees! Here are some pics:

Doesn't look so bad, right?...

And then it became this tiny little trail... which only got more difficult!
Here are some other pictures from that day!

Some of my students :)

They're so sweet!!

At the top of the mountain... after only a few hours!

The girls from my class of mixed-level students

The entrance to the temple we hiked to.

Drum?

Bell they ring to signal prayers, etc.

Last weekend, I traveled to Daegu, one of the largest cities in Korea, to spend some time with friends. I had a really great time and got to see some cool sites. I ate Indian and Mexican food, and went to a great American restaurant. It was a nice change of pace after so much Korean food! On Saturday, I went with my friend who is a photographer to take some pics for a magazine. The editor asked me to be in some! We helped a charity feed the homeless as part of the shoot, and it was a really great experience.

This woman is famous in Korea for making these sweet pancakes filled with cinnamon and nuts. The people behind her are in a huge line waiting to buy them!

Seomun Market, it's huge! There are a lot of side streets that branch off of this one.

The entrance to the oriental medicine district. It was really cool!

Funny sign!

So it's been an eventful few weeks. I'm really excited because in only one month, I'll be headed home to the States for Christmas!! Can't wait :)