Halloween 2010

Last year we were able to have a Halloween party at our apt... this year, we're all in different places and it makes me sad.

Also, I'm not able to participate this year due to being really sick from something the doctors keep saying "isn't serious."

Happy Halloween yall

Andong Mask Festival

On the weekend of Oct 3rd, soon after my China trip, I was able to go to the Andong Mask Festival! Andong is one of the oldest cities in South Korea, and is seen as the cultural center of all the old traditions.

The most famous of the Korean masks, the Ha-hwae-tal

Andong is also famous for it's jim-dalk! (Or stewed marinated chicken with noodles and veggies)

Soooooooooooo yummy!

We were also able to make the traditional masks that we saw in the performances!

This is the traditional woman's mask, the gak-shi-tal.

Hong-sung's is the traditional man's mask

The kids were doing a performance of the Korean mask dance

Then we saw the real one later on!

All the performers were men, as per tradition.

They also had village totems up with people writing and tying their wishes to the strings around them

Our wishes

Hong-sung and I had a great time at the Andong Mask Festival and I was so grateful to have such a great tour guide!

Our haunted hotel in China

Late flight into Beijing. Angry taxi driver kicked us out because he didn't know where the hotel was... and then we were forced back into the taxi by the airport taxi guy who insisted the driver could find it.

Anyway, we finally get there and find that the hotel is empty, creepy, and haunted.

This is our story:

Beijing, China

The best thing about Beijing was sleeping on the Great Wall. With a bunch of foreign English teachers (like us), from Korea (like us), mostly from Daegu (like us).

What're the chances, right??? haha

The second best thing was the Summer Palace. It is HUGE. We didn't know how huge it was until we got there and realized that we weren't even going to cover half in the few hours we had. We hardly covered a quarter! And they have a map... but they don't have any signs, so you just kinda hafta guess where you are all the time. haha. I thought the most amazing thing was that it was all built for one woman. She had it practically all to herself. THAT was an amazing thought. If I had a "garden palace" that size... wow. Jeeeeeeeeaaaaalous!

The third great thing was the shopping. Beijing's markets are fantastic! You really can find "name brand" stuff there for less than $10. Bargaining was an absolute must, and usually it

worked out pretty well.

The best thing I got was a warm Abercrombie jacket for $15!

The Forbidden City was also pretty amazing. It had a lot of things to see on the side, so it was possible to get lost in it! A lot of areas looked the same too, with maybe one or two defining features. I think I was expecting it to be a little more "forbidding," but I'll take what I can get from one of the most historical sites in the East.

Beijing was not my favorite, but it was definitely different enough to warrant going.

Hong Kong: The Low-down

Traveling with people is always tricky. Traveling with people you don't know is even more so. Traveling with people you know can also be surprising.

As for the places, Hong Kong was really nice. Such a difference from Korea! The culture was mixed... and I saw so many interracial couples I almost didn't know what to do with myself! People actually spoke English and were so helpful! The public transportation system was so easy that by our second day there we felt comfortable with it. And their system is really extensive! There's no place you can't go, by bus, subway or ferry! Truly incredible. ^^

The sites in Hong Kong were really cool. Tall mountains with equally tall buildings on top of them. (yeah, that's right Korea... they BUILT on their mountains!) The view of Hong Kong harbor was really amazing, as was the architecture there. My favorite place to see it that way was from Victoria Peak. It's one of the "hot spots" in Hong Kong and I could see why, with its view and nature all wrapped into one. It was a really modern city with a lot of natural charm.

Thanks to my dad I was also able to go to Hong Kong Disneyland! :D It was fun and short; we finished it in about 5 hours. It's just the basic "Magic Kingdom," but they added their own "Hong Kong" twist. For example, some of the Lion King show was in Cantonese, and they had a "Tarzan" tree house instead of Robinson Crusoe. I'm really glad I got to go; I think Disney is truly magical. ^^

A kind of seedy underside of Hong Kong was the immigrants. They were mostly Indians and Nigerians. I don't know much about the politics of it all or the reasons why so many immigrants were there, but the area they lived in was stereotypically low-income with a lot loitering about and trying to scam any tourist that walked by. It was a little frustrating at times because the hostel we stayed at was in the middle of that area, so it felt a little skeazy and dangerous.

Hong Kong is also famous for its shopping. Although I'm not exactly sure why because it's all freakin expensive stuff. I have to say though, that the markets are definitely worth going to! They were fun, cheap and had lots of knock-offs. haha

Anyway, all in all I really enjoyed Hong Kong. I would even consider living there for awhile!

Next topic: Beijing

What a trip...

So much to say. SO much happened.

Pictures soon with details. ^^

One thought, though: I'm VERY homesick after that.

Next up: Andong (안동) for the mask festival, and then Kyung-ju (경주) for the historical sites!

Going to China!

So for Chuseok (추석 - Korean Thanksgiving) we have a few days off. My old roomie, Tharine, and I are going to China together!

First stop: Hong Kong, then on to Beijing!

I'm very excited. ^^

However... went to get my visa processed today and they said it would be returned to me the 17th. I leave for Seoul that very night and for Hong Kong the next day! Yikes!

I'm praying it gets here in time...

Success!

I ordered food in Korean on the phone without the help of anyone else. And it came, too.

:D

I'm so proud of myself. hehe

Back to School

First day of the new semester today! I was actually excited about it because I already did my freaking out yesterday when I thought we had classes. I was totally unprepared and in "vacation" mode. Thank you Lord for that one day of preparation! It's amazing the difference it makes.

In my preparation though, I realized once again just how much effort teachers put into EVERYTHING. (Or I guess should put into everything.) I mean, to stimulate the students you need to have things on the walls for them to look at and learn from. Whether it's a "word wall" with vocabulary they're supposed to be remembering, or class rules, or art that they did in the chapter... organizing all that takes a whole lot longer than I ever thought!

There's also the enormous amount of mental/emotional energy that goes into teaching. You need to be OVERLY positive to balance out the negatives to encourage them. You need to try to smile as much as possible. You need to remember to be fair and enforce your rules all the time (...I tend to get a little lax when I'm tired). You need to make the kids feel safe and comfortable so they can interact with each other and you in a healthy way. You need to discipline positively... not out of anger or frustration (definitely made that mistake before)!

...And the list just goes on and on. (On top of all THAT--you also need to teach them things! haha)

But those are things I need to try to remember every moment of every class. They're things I WANT to do! I WANT to be the best teacher I can! Not just a "good" teacher... I want to continue to improve.

It's made me realize that I don't want to be this unprepared when it comes to teaching theology.

SO... I'm looking into getting a teaching certificate! Preferably Christian. Preferably for "Higher education"/college. So far, not too many options. They must have something, though, right? They can't just expect me to finish my masters and jump right into being a professor without any idea as to the best ways to get the concepts across clearly to the students, right?

...Oh, wait... They do that ALL THE TIME. (haha)

Anyway, please pray for my new year that I can be a good example of God's love to the students and also a good teacher.

Love and miss you all!

Thailand Highlights

To see more:

Thailand and Thailand Cont.

My Life in Daegu

(Click here to check it out!)

Moving Day

Eli left this morning... and now back to packing.

I forgot how overwhelming moving is! My first move into Centro Palace, I didn't have NEAR this much stuff. Since I've lived here a year, I've bought all my major items (bed, desk, dresser). It makes a big difference.

I can't imagine what would've happened if I hadn't had to buy them, though. There's no way the school would've given anything to me! As it is, I had a hard enough time getting them to pay the key money to the landlord of my new place (even though it's in my contract)! Sheesh. Well, in the end they worked it out. No key money, more rent money.

As of now, my chest is going to explode with all this stress!!!

In Korea again

Thailand trip over. Back in Daegu once more... with food poisoning. Stupid Smoothie King. I didn't even know you could get food poisoning from a SMOOTHIE! Just goes to show... you never know what evil is lurking around the corner. (haha)

Sad thing is: I'll miss Eli's "going away" party because I'm too busy throwing up... and I had to post-pone some of my packing because I have no energy.

Good thing is: I saw Oppa (Jin)! hehe. It was dumb that all I could do was lay down and talk with him... but it was so good having him around again. ^^

So Thailand was incredible... so many stories to tell! And of course, I need to sort through my pictures, post them and write about my experience to share with all you my loved ones. hehe. A thoroughly daunting task, especially with the move on my mind. Well, it'll happen eventually.

Here's a teaser though!

Mmm... I miss the food already...

Off to Thailand!

Yay summer adventures!

Eli and I are off to Thailand and I couldn't be more excited! From what I've heard from so many other friends that have made it there... it's very adventurous. hehe. All their pictures boast of riding elephants, petting tigers, eating delicious food, and really having an amazing time!

So tomorrow we head to Seoul for the day and then early Sunday is our flight. We're flying into Chiang Mai first (to see Eli's fam) and then down to Phuket for the second half of our vacation and some relaxing.

Not sure if I'll be able to update while I'm there, so I guess I'll save most of it for when I come back and sort through my pictures. (I already know that's going to take me forever!)

We're avoiding Bangkok altogether because of the drama that was happening there recently... so pray for safe travels!

Apartment Found!

All that apartment hunting finally paid off! I have 2 apartments I can choose from... one is in the area I already live in, the other is in a different area not too far away.

Even though I want to take a day to think about it, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the one already in my area. It's just more convenient that way. I already know the school bus here, and the driver is expecting me too. And I pretty much know the shops/downtown area.

So even though the place in my area may be missing a few nice things the other had (clothing rack, big fridge)... I think all-in-all it's a better choice.

Signing the contract comes next! Let's just pray my school doesn't come up with any bullshit complaints. (I-goo!)

MudFest / Birthday

MudFest and my birthday were incredibly fun with my roomies and Suzanne. They made it so much better than I could've expected or hoped for!

I was even sung happy brithday in Afrikaans! How awesome is that???

Funny, ridiculous, frustrating thing was the "mud rides" there. They shut them down early after we stood in line for over 2 hours! So we didn't really get to ride anything! The only thing we rode was something we begged to go on / snuck on to. haha. Fun... but not fun. More like unbelievable!

My birthday dinner was delicious! Like with Jin last year, we had the grilled fresh seafood. (It really make a difference having seafood buy the ocean you know they caught it in!) So delicious! Then afterwards we got a cake, and celebrated my birthday with drinks and card games on the beach.

Absolutely PERFECT.

We also did have a few surprise visitors while we were playing... random drunk foreigners and Koreans. haha. We did have a few guys that stopped by though, and were "normal" in general respects. They taught us a Korean "Kings" game, and definitely made the night more interesting! We played pretty much the rest of the night. hehe

Yay birthdays!

The only thing I didn't really enjoy (again) was the bus ride. Drunk foreigners are drunk foreigners no matter where you go. Yuck.

Last Korean World Cup game

Eli and I went to the Daegu World Cup Stadium for the World Cup game vs. Uruguay. It was way better than we expected! The stadium was huge and the people were so excited and friendly! The guys we sat next to gave us blow-up clappers to cheer with!

...and the guy in front of us was really enjoying his Soju. haha.

Drinking straight out of the bottle man! geeeeeez...

However, it was pretty incredible to once again see how strong Korean spirit is when they're together. It's infectious!

At the beginning of the game they also played the Korean National Anthem, and it was really beautiful and amazing to see the Koreans singing it at the top of their lungs.

I've never seen so many people so gathered for and excited about a game they're not even at!!! Koreans are amazing!

Count of Monte Cristo

Last night I went to a musical performed by Keimyung University (게명대) Arts program in their Student Arts Center. It was amazing! I haven't been to a musical since Chicago, and I had forgotten how much I loved them.

Their singing was INCREDIBLE. The stage effects were also very creative-- especially the prison scenes. I wish I could've taken pictures during the performance!

Sooo... only downside was that it was in Korean. (Of course. hehe) But there's a LOT you can pick up from body language and tone of voice, etc. You'd be surprised! Thankfully, when I wasn't exactly sure what was going on my friend Hong-sung helped me out.

At the end of the show a pretty amazing thing happened: half of the people in the theater whipped out their cameras to record the actors "finale," when they come out and bow and sing all together. It was like it was an "unwritten rule" for them that it was ok because they ALL did it at the same time! It was crazy. (Just another example of Korean's funny uniformity--hehe).

Anyway, even though mine was a little delayed, I tried to do the same thing:

"Fan Death" is REAL?

Ok, so when I first heard about "fan death" I thought it was completely ridiculous. Seriously? Death-by-fan? And not like a hand-held fan like the type used by Jackie Chan to kick some guys butt... but those fun osculating fans that you used to speak into when you were a lil kid to hear your voice change into a robot's.

"How," you may ask? Well, the fan creates a vortex and sucks out all the oxygen and then you suffocate. That is, if you leave it on in a room and close all the windows and doors.

~OR~ (equally as crazy) Since you breathe through your skin, and the fan blows on your body... the fast moving air from the fan makes skin-breathing difficult and you suffocate that way. One friend even explained that when you get goosebumps your pores close up and you can't breathe through your skin, and fans give you goosebumps. Hence, death.

Since America is one of the most advanced countries in the world scientifically, etc, and it has never been mentioned there... I passed this off for utter nonsense and complete (albeit, hilarious) urban legend.

However, today something changed my mind. This article. Along with this pamphlet by the United States EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).

Basically, a section in there states that when you use a fan in temperatures above 99 degrees F, you are more likely to get heat exhaustion or a heat stroke, due to the cooling effect with your evaporating sweat and the circulation of hot air. If you don't have a window or a door open, your room becomes like an oven and you get hyperthermia.

After I saw the facts, I realized I had the "Korean Derangement Syndrome." I didn't think I was one of "those kinds" of foreigners... but so many of the things in Korea that seem odd to me or "mis-practiced" (like their dentistry--seriously, what kind of dentists don't check for cavities???), I'd just write off as ridiculous.

Well, my opinion has changed--a little. Why not completely? Because there are other factors than besides just the fan. Like the persons age, and if they have any other medical conditions that could be aggravated by intense heat.

Korea's own prove this point (from Wiki):

Dr. John Linton at Yonsei's Severance Hospital, who attended medical school at Yonsei University, is licensed to practice medicine in South Korea:^[2]

There are several things that could be causing the fan deaths, things like pulmonary embolisms, cerebrovascular accidents or arrhythmia. There is little scientific evidence to support that a fan alone can kill you if you are using it in a sealed room. Although it is a common belief among Koreans, there are other explainable reasons for why these deaths are happening.

Dr. Lee Yoon-song is a professor at Seoul National University's medical school and works with the school's Institute of Scientific Investigation. He has conducted autopsies on some of the people who have been described in Korean media as having succumbed to fan death:

When someone's body temperature drops below 35 degrees, they do start to lose judgment ability. So if someone was hiking and later found dead, that could be part of the reason. But we can't really apply this to fan accidents. I found most of the victims already had some sort of disease like heart problems or serious alcoholism. So hypothermia is not the main reason for death, but it may contribute.

So there you have it, folks. It's real. And extremely rare.

Armored Vehicle Accident

When I first came to Korea, while I was trying to navigate my way through culture shock and understanding Koreans, I learned about the Armored Vehicle Accident.

During a training exercise, two Korean girls were killed. They were run over by tanks. Sounds horrible, right?

It happened during a time when Koreans were resenting US involvement in South Korea. So... not good timing at all.

When I heard this story, all I learned was how irresponsible the US Military was and how Koreans still resented the Military for killing those two girls. I, also, was angry at the Military for their obvious negligence... and a little sickened at the thought of being run over by a TANK--of all things.

Today, I read an article from the other side. I hadn't realized how one-sided what I heard was until I read this!

Basically, it explains how it was a horrible coincidence. The mountain road was narrow, there was no shoulder to walk on, the tanks have blind-spots while driving, and the radio headsets weren't working to hear the warnings of other soldiers.

Sometimes when you hear about a tragedy it's easy to only hear the side of the victim... but I guess some horrible happenings are just really bad accidents.