It's been awhile since I've updated this, so I'm sorry to anyone that checks on a regular basis. I've picked up 7 new classes each week, and they are keeping me pretty busy. My typical schedule is as follows. Monday: Night Class til 9; Tuesday: Korean Language Exchange til 10; Wednesday: Climbing til 9; Thursday: Night Class til 9; Friday: Climbing til 9; Saturday and Sunday travelling. My biggest problem is the amount of time that it takes to get around over here. Leaving from school, I'm 1hr from climbing, language exchange, and Christine's. In a single night, I lose 2hrs to transportation (not including waiting/walking-time at the bus stop). It's really wild to think that it takes that long to go no more than 5-10miles as the crow flies. There is just no direct route anywhere due to all the little mountains.
Christine and I went to our orientation two weeks ago, which proved morehelpful than I'd expected. I got some good ideas for lesson planning, andwas provided a crash course in Korean pop-culture...something that the kidshere are crazy for.I also played hours and hours of ping pong. I was definetly the best of theAmericans, which was quite fun. I had a similar experience to yours atSchindler I imagine. There were a few players that were quite good, but"the jizz" I was putting on the ball really messed with their heads. One ofother teachers from Wisconsin said that after I left the ping-pong room,there was wild speculation about how I held the paddle, where I wastrained, and exactly what kind of angles I was hitting the ball at to makeit spin the way it did. Still, as much fun as it was to have strangers comeand ask me to play them in ping-pong after the seminar, playing the Koreanswas a much better time. The Koreans (a separate group at a separateconference) took over the table in the evenings, while our group wasdrinking/socializing. They seemed very surprised when Christine and Iwalked in, and asked to play. They were even more surprised that a 'miguk'(essentially means...a white person) played so well. All of them wanted tosee the miguk (me) beat their friends (the crowd was completely on myside), and they piled into the room like it was a tournament. I beat thefirst Korean 21-15, which created one hell of a ruckus. The second wassignificantly better, and beat me 21-17. We played a second, much closergame, that he won 24-22. The other 30+ full games I played were a mixedbasket. Of the Koreans that were playing regularly, there were 2-3 that Icould beat confidently, 1-2 that were at my level, and 2 that I could keepup with, but who were clearly better. It was an awesome time.
The weekend after the conference Christine and I joined 3 friends, and went to the islandsoff the west coast. We stayed on an island called Dokjeok-do, which wasreally beautiful. The weather was sunny and clear, and the tempurature wasin the 70's during the afternoons. It was a holiday weekend, so we spent 3days and 2 nights there. We got in some good hiking, swimming, relaxing,and eating for less than $120 combined (including transportation). I made friends with one of the local dogs, and it kept us company for most of the trip. The area we stayed at was run by the dogs. There must have been 10-15 (none of which stood taller than your knee) that patrolled the beaches and whored themselves out to whatever tourists had the best food. I carried the fatty grizzle from the soups we ordered, which seemed to be the top dollar. On the ferry ride home, our group was befriended by a men's hiking group that was hopped up on soju and makoli. Our two hour ferry felt like four, as we spent the entire duration desiphering their cherades and having odd foods shovelled into our mouths . On the brightside, our tolerance of them and their food won us a ride home, and saved us each about $8. Because they had offered the ride on the ferry (while they were intoxicated and apparently unable to count our numbers) they insisted on fulfilling it. We fit 8 people and all of our packs into a small 5 seat SUV. Oh the random fun you can abroad.
This past weekend, for our 1yr anniversary, Christine and I went to the opposite side of the country, and visited Sokcho on the east coast. The trip takes about 5hrs , but we were each given the afternoon off of work. We arrived in Sokcho around 6pm on Saturday. It was nice to finally see some waves in the ocean. The west coast (where we live) doesn't get any. On Saturday we hiked through Soraksan National Park, which was breathtaking. It had the best scenery I've seen in Korea. Christine had caught a cold, so we decided to do a short 6k hike up to the top of one of the shorter (but more famous) peaks in the park, Ulsanbawi 880m. From the bottom, it looks like a long blade of rock was forced up from the earth. The slopes were so dramatic compared to the landscape around it. Unlike most mountains in that area, it did not have a conical shape and incline. It was just 2 or 3 tall pitches of rock face, and there were plenty of roped-in climbers taking advantage of its features. The hike that WE did consisted of a 2km approach and a 1k nearly vertical stairway ascent. No need for the gym's stairmaster this week. On the way down, I found some neat boulders and coincidentally had my climbing shoes in my bag. They were nothing great, but it was still a fun addition to the day. We spent Sunday on the beach, waiting for our bus home.
This weekend we're meeting a Korean friend in Seoul. Christine and I have wanted to see the 4 palaces that are in and around the city. Our friend, Sungguan Shin, has volunteered to be our tour guide, and it's sure to be a great time. I'll post pictures soon. They are on my home computer. Take it easy, and keep in touch.
Christine and I went to our orientation two weeks ago, which proved morehelpful than I'd expected. I got some good ideas for lesson planning, andwas provided a crash course in Korean pop-culture...something that the kidshere are crazy for.I also played hours and hours of ping pong. I was definetly the best of theAmericans, which was quite fun. I had a similar experience to yours atSchindler I imagine. There were a few players that were quite good, but"the jizz" I was putting on the ball really messed with their heads. One ofother teachers from Wisconsin said that after I left the ping-pong room,there was wild speculation about how I held the paddle, where I wastrained, and exactly what kind of angles I was hitting the ball at to makeit spin the way it did. Still, as much fun as it was to have strangers comeand ask me to play them in ping-pong after the seminar, playing the Koreanswas a much better time. The Koreans (a separate group at a separateconference) took over the table in the evenings, while our group wasdrinking/socializing. They seemed very surprised when Christine and Iwalked in, and asked to play. They were even more surprised that a 'miguk'(essentially means...a white person) played so well. All of them wanted tosee the miguk (me) beat their friends (the crowd was completely on myside), and they piled into the room like it was a tournament. I beat thefirst Korean 21-15, which created one hell of a ruckus. The second wassignificantly better, and beat me 21-17. We played a second, much closergame, that he won 24-22. The other 30+ full games I played were a mixedbasket. Of the Koreans that were playing regularly, there were 2-3 that Icould beat confidently, 1-2 that were at my level, and 2 that I could keepup with, but who were clearly better. It was an awesome time.
The weekend after the conference Christine and I joined 3 friends, and went to the islandsoff the west coast. We stayed on an island called Dokjeok-do, which wasreally beautiful. The weather was sunny and clear, and the tempurature wasin the 70's during the afternoons. It was a holiday weekend, so we spent 3days and 2 nights there. We got in some good hiking, swimming, relaxing,and eating for less than $120 combined (including transportation). I made friends with one of the local dogs, and it kept us company for most of the trip. The area we stayed at was run by the dogs. There must have been 10-15 (none of which stood taller than your knee) that patrolled the beaches and whored themselves out to whatever tourists had the best food. I carried the fatty grizzle from the soups we ordered, which seemed to be the top dollar. On the ferry ride home, our group was befriended by a men's hiking group that was hopped up on soju and makoli. Our two hour ferry felt like four, as we spent the entire duration desiphering their cherades and having odd foods shovelled into our mouths . On the brightside, our tolerance of them and their food won us a ride home, and saved us each about $8. Because they had offered the ride on the ferry (while they were intoxicated and apparently unable to count our numbers) they insisted on fulfilling it. We fit 8 people and all of our packs into a small 5 seat SUV. Oh the random fun you can abroad.
This past weekend, for our 1yr anniversary, Christine and I went to the opposite side of the country, and visited Sokcho on the east coast. The trip takes about 5hrs , but we were each given the afternoon off of work. We arrived in Sokcho around 6pm on Saturday. It was nice to finally see some waves in the ocean. The west coast (where we live) doesn't get any. On Saturday we hiked through Soraksan National Park, which was breathtaking. It had the best scenery I've seen in Korea. Christine had caught a cold, so we decided to do a short 6k hike up to the top of one of the shorter (but more famous) peaks in the park, Ulsanbawi 880m. From the bottom, it looks like a long blade of rock was forced up from the earth. The slopes were so dramatic compared to the landscape around it. Unlike most mountains in that area, it did not have a conical shape and incline. It was just 2 or 3 tall pitches of rock face, and there were plenty of roped-in climbers taking advantage of its features. The hike that WE did consisted of a 2km approach and a 1k nearly vertical stairway ascent. No need for the gym's stairmaster this week. On the way down, I found some neat boulders and coincidentally had my climbing shoes in my bag. They were nothing great, but it was still a fun addition to the day. We spent Sunday on the beach, waiting for our bus home.
This weekend we're meeting a Korean friend in Seoul. Christine and I have wanted to see the 4 palaces that are in and around the city. Our friend, Sungguan Shin, has volunteered to be our tour guide, and it's sure to be a great time. I'll post pictures soon. They are on my home computer. Take it easy, and keep in touch.
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