Thanksgiving in Kimchiland

I'm not going to lie, this time of the year is my absoulte favorite. Sometime between when it starts getting chilly around October, and till right after the new year is clutch (after that is rubbish).
Something about knowing that everybodys going to be curled up on their couch, watching the Macy's day parade, eating stuffing and laughing with their families makes teaching grammar tomorrow kind of bum me out.
I don't usually get homesick, but I guess if you spend 21 years of your life doing something, and if a holiday is so important in your culture, spending the 22nd year eating Kraft and watching Korean cable is just not appealing.
I'm okay with it. I knew I'd miss out on things, and its not like we're not doing anything (But dinner is postponed until Saturday since we have to work till 8 tomorrow night.) I'll be with some of my friends here, and It'll work out, but still. Holidays are Holidays and if the country your in doesn't even recognize it, its downer.

BUT, I do have SO SO SO much to be Thankful for!!!
Not everybody gets the AMAZING opportunites I have been so BLESSED To have:

Since Thankgiving, I got close with the most amazing roomates; who helped me though senior year, so I am thankful for Digs, Kirface, Hollyyyy, and Johosophat!

Where would I be without '09? WHo knows?

I graduated a great univeristy with a respectable GPA thanks to my parents, so for that, I'm thankful!

I had a great summer with my family, so I'm always thankful for them! Including (but not limited to) Elena, my amazing uncles, and my grandmother; seeing as my summer was spent between Bozrah and New London!

I spent time in the most beautiful country on Earth, meeting amazing amazing people!

Not everybody gets the opportunity to leave their life and travel for a while, so for that, I'm uber thankful!

So Happy Thanksgiving States!

Patience and Faith
ErinJ

This tour needs more Mounds!!

Spidey's ready to tell you of the Gyeongju adventure!

So this weekend I went on my first Adventure Korea trip to Gyeongju (Kyeongju if your feeling frisky) Adventure Korea brings foreigners (mostly teachers) to different places around Korea which are hard to get to without a car. Although they weren't as informative as I would have liked, they got the job done, and I met some really cool people.
So the tour started early in the a.m. with a 4-5 hour bus drive to Gyeongju. We finally got to the site of old tombs where various kings from the Silla dynasty were buried. Silla was one of the three dynasties of Korea, if interested, wikipedia. It was a pretty park with lots of mounds, that was good for a walk, but boring.
The tombs!

We then went to Cheomseongdae, which is the oldest observation tower in East Asia that survives, making it one of the oldest science labratory on the planet. WOAH. This was also kind of boring, but neat to see, and pretty cool that it still stands 14 centuries later. Good for the Koreans! This is one of the National Treasures (Koreas got heaps, and we saw a lot on this trip!).
Me with the Cheomseongdae!
We walked to to the manmade pond of Anapji, a site of a great palace of the Silla dynasty. Unfortunatly, that palace no longer exists, but over 33,000 artifacts and some foundations. There is another lovely park to saunter around, and a few reconstructions of what they think it looked like, as well as a few neat artifacts.
At least it was pretty

After that we strolled to the Gyeongju National Museum with heaps of artifacts, and a Silla dynasty crown (which I got one blurry stolen picture of), and the 'greatest bell ever made'. It was really cool to see the oldest things in Korea. These things were OLLLLD. There were some pagodas (Reconstructions) and all sorts of things. I wish there was a little more information on the 3 Kingdoms, but theres only so much English you can hope for.
Cave drawings!!

After that we were done site-seeing for the day, so we went back to the hotel where I crashed with some realllly awesome girls. After an adventure with the mediochre-at-best restuarant nad the hunting aujamas (Read:old woman with a power greater than unicorns), we ended up at the norebang (Norebangs are different story for a different day), and drinking in some people's hotel rooms. It was really nice to hang out and meet people.

The next day we woke up early to go to the Seokguram Grotto, with one of the prettiest Buddah's I've ever seen. No pictures were allowed, sorry! But the Buddah was dated to about 750 AD, and was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

We went to Bulguska Temple, Scenic site number 1 in Korea. It was very large, and very interesting to explore. There were services going on, so not a lot of pictures of the Buddahs. There was also a random warthog, that I didn't understand. There were some neat pagodas (one under renevation, sadday) and may have been my second favorite thing of hte trip. There was a stairway called the blue and white bridge, with 33 steps to represent the 33 steps to enlightenment. This was much more interesting then Bungeusa next to Coex, and gave a better insight into the ancient Buddhist ways.
Me in front of the blue and white bridge and the main gate of the temple.

Finally was Mt. Namsan. This was claimed to be a leisurly stroll, but thats a lie. It was a hike, 500 meters up, but I was one of few that made it and was proud. This mountain had one of the best treasures in Korea, but unfotunatly was under construction, and therefore we couldn't see it, bummer! There were a few Buddah statues that were visible, and from the Silla dynsty, so really cool. Climbing a mountain always makes me feel accomplished.
Summit!

After that it was hometime, so my long weekend, and this book, is over!
Patience and Faith,
ErinJ

Me on top of a Mountain

Seoul Lanten Festival 2009

I love this picture

So yesterday I bundled up New England style to brave the cold and go see some lanterns! Throughout this post they'll be highlights, but check out eptheexpat.smugmug.com for complete footage.
The lanterns were along the stream, and it was croweded and cold, but worth it for the awesomeness that the festival was. In America, lanterns are something you hang from the ceiling that produce lights. IN AsiaLand, that is not the case. This was a unity and peace festival, so there were lanterns from all over the world. (Americas rep was a jackolantern, it was sad).
Close up of the JapOlantern

Along the stream there were all sorts of lanterns. Some were of various landmarks (Big Ben, the Pyramids of Giza, Ankor Wat etc)
Leaning tower of lantern


Some were more Asian, like zodiac signs, or tigers, dragons, cranes and other animals in Korean myths.
I'm Year of the Rabbit!

There was a whole section on technology, space and KOrean heroes.
There was also heaps of shows, including a lantern dance and a drum show.
All in all it was all sorts of cool, and I'm glad I made it out!

Next Time: Adventures of Spidey, Eating:Korea style; and look forward to an excursion this weekend 8)

Also, shout out to my mom! THanks for the care package! Everybody knows that coffee and Kraft make the world go around!!

Patience and Faith,
ErinJ


Me in front of a dragon lantern! A kind Korean man took this for me even though he had trouble with my camera!

On midnight Runners

So this week my school had 2 midnight runners (not separate events-they planned it together)

What is a midnight runner? SOmebody who pretty much packs up, and leaves with no notice. They don't tell anybody, and nobody knows they're gone until they don't show up at work the next day. This causes extreme chaos in the school, some excitement and a heap load of gossip.

Is it worth it? You burn bridges, get blacklisted from Korea (you will not find a job) and put a lot of stress on your coworkers.
However, in some schools, if you put in a notice, they won't pay you, and probably be incredibly shady.
So in all honesty, its probably easier to just complete your contract; but if your that miserable, I'd just midnight run too. I like to think I'd have more integrety than that, but sometimes you do what you got to.
I personally don't think my job is so bad where I would have to midnight run; especially if you read REAL hagwon horror stories, makes me thankful that I'm not in a sketchy situation. Our hours are long, but really, its a good gig.
But enough of that. Midnight running is really not cool for anybody involved except for the runners, making it a semi-selfish thing to do.
Until next time,
Patience and Faith,
EP

War Memorial and Museum

I think this is the actual War Memorial.
Hellllo!
So today Angela, Spidey and I went to the War Memorial and Museum.
It was very big and very cool. You start on this big outdoor park, with large statues. One was of the Korean War (Can this be classified as a civil war? I'm really not sure). The first picture was supposed to represent a strenght and unity. It was actually a very well done memorial. Surrounding the outside were tanks, planes and airplanes. It was really neat, being able to go inside some of the Korean war era planes and the like.

2 Brothers

We then went inside where there was a big drum that the government made for an anniversary of something, I really don't remember. We walked around for a while, looking at old old old battle scenes (Circa 600 and so on). There was a hall with a few replica 'turtle boats,' which were really neat! Its hard to believe that people sailed these!!
Me and turtle boats!

The museum was honestly a fairly run of the mill war museum until the Korean war stuff. I honestly didn't realize how little I knew of the Korean war until I was reading about it-its insane, and something I defintly want to do some reading up on. I was actually really sad reading about it, and didn't realize how bad it was, but they have almost 2 floors dedicated to all things Korean war, DMZ, North Korea relations and the like. We watched some videos on it, and it really shed some light on the situation. Walking through their mock (although not very well done) refugee camp made me realie how terrible this war was. It made me really sad.

Dogtags of fallen soldiers in the shape of a tear drop.

I wish this museum was a little more interactive, but all in all, this museum was awesome. It shed some light on North Korea/South Korea relations, Japan/Korea relations and the like. Defintly worth the look.

On the next episode of EP in korea: Midnight runners, spidermen and life in Asia.

Patience and Faith,
ErinJ

Pepero Day

Happy Pepero day!!!
Happy verterns day!!

So today is Pepero day in merry Koreaworld.
What is Pepero day you may ask?
Its pocky day.
Thats right, those little cookies with the chocolate on the top? Koreas got a version called Pepero. and since it looks like a 1, they decided that 11/11 is Pepero day. Pepero day is awesome until about noon, wehn you never ever ever want to see a cookie ever again because all of your kids had given you heaps of them. I gave my kids a cookie, they gave me boxes of them (except for a few kids that gave me other candy).
Its a giant marketing ploy, but its turned into a valentines day like thing. Its not anything else, just Pepero. And there are heaps of types of them (including Nude which cracks me up, only the Koreans). Its probably one of Lotte's biggest days, and I guess is a nice way to say hey to people.
Its a couple thing I guess, and kids bring them for their friends.
They even have stuffed pocky sticks, but I think I'mg going to wait until tomorrow when those bad boys are on sale (or not).

I think its sort of silly, but the Korean Kids work so hard, I think they deserve a few cookies.

North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe

Well, mo Marilyn Monroe on yesterday's trip into the DMZ, but there was North Korea and South Korea
Mike, Me and Kimberly at the DMZ


Heres a few fast facts: The DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) is the most heavily militarized border in the world. What does that mean? That for every 100 meters, theres a very heavily armed guard. Almost every precaution is taken. North koreans could not march, swim. climb, or drive into ROK without a fight. It runs along the 38th parallel and splits the 2 Koreas. NOw, since nobody could live there, its one of most natural wildlife preserves in the world.

OKAY. So we had to get up at 530, to get to USO Camp Kim by 7am. This meant leaving our friends who didn't wake up :( but we got there The tour starts immediatly, as when you leave you notice that theres barbed wire surrounding the highway,from when the North Koreans snuck in and tried to kill the president.
Our first stop was the JSA (Joint Security Area) where we picked up a jaded, but beautiful army boy to protect us. There, we saw a 1-hole golf course dubbed the most dangerous golfing in the world, as it is surrounded on 3 sides by life land mines. Oh dear! We saw some bunkers, but all in all the place was sad. We drove around the area, which was abandoned and sad. No civilians, just army. The army life here seemed weird. They are so well trained in case something happens, but it seems like a lot of puttering if you ask me.
We then went to go chill on the line. At the friendship park (which is not friendly despite the name) there are 2 empty buildings looking at eachother, with a few smaller buildings that lie exactly on the line. Its pretty intense. NOrth Koreas staring at us (we're not allowed to make any jestures to them. There were 5-6 korean soldiers hanging out to make sure we did not get into trouble. This area was very tense, and they have had incidents here (few and far between mind you
Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom The Panmunjom, and the border (the concrete line)

We then made our way into the tunnels, which were close to the DMZ. The North Koreans dug tunnels (4 have been found) to try to get into Seoul. They covered it in black, so they could say that they were 'coal mining' even though the area is obviously granite. After a very steel slope 350 meters down, we walked through this small tunnel for half a km or so until we got to one of 3 blockades. It was neat, being able to see the dynomite marks. If the NK had been successful, they would have been able to get thousands of soldiers into Seoul within an hour. It was crazy.

Foolin' around at the tunnel site!

After lunch we went the Dora observatory where we could see the DMZ, the largest flag pole in the World (in a propeganda villiage in NK) and the area, even though it was foggy. It was pretty cool, but pictures were not permitted (if they saw you take them, which they do, they see everything, they have you delete them). But theres nothing in NK. Just land, mountains and more nothing.

After that, we went to the last train station in South korea, or the first station in NK, depending on how you look at it, to stamp our passports, and hang around.

After a long morning in the DMZ, I feel like I have more of a grasp of the severity of the situation, what is going on, and how terrible it actually is. The south beg for reunification, or at least civility, where as nobody actually knows what NK's problem is. Its scary knowing that they have missiles that could hit me right now, and to know how close we are. Its one of those things.
Barbed wire and grey skies.....
Until next time,
Patience and faith,
ErinJ

Who Turned off the Heat?

Mary is Precious

Hey Ho!
I'd like to say that I've been too lazy doing awesome things to post, but I don't want to lie to you. I've just been lazy!

So heres life in Korea:
October 30th-the weather is AWESOME
October 31st-Rain
Novmeber 1st-30 degrees. (this is not an underestimate)


When korea wants to do winter, THEY DO WINTER. I'm personally a fan, as the cold reminds me of the crisp autumn nights in NE. But it was weird. IN CT, you see the temps start to drop. Here it was sudden! Thanks Korea! Leaves went from green to yellow (no cool oranges or anything :(. I guess you have to go to the mountains for that?)

Me and my kids on Halloween at school

We also had Halloweenday in Korea. DOn't ask me WHY They call it Halloweenday, but everybody does. EVVVERYBODY. Signs say halloween day. ITs hilarious. But my kids dressed up in an ultra adorable fashion, and I gave them heaps of candy and lovin'.
Speaking of which, I got 3 new kids and almost have a full class. I love love love those kids. They're a lot of work, and very trying, but heaps of fun.

So I promise I'm totally going to start doing interesting things and not sleeping all day. Its only been a few weeks. But I need to get out more.
We adventure, but since we live here its more of doing things and less of exploring. Like we went to Dongdemun looking for halloween costumes. It was an adventure, but nothing that interesting.

So thats life in EPers land. I'll start blogging, cause I have a lot to say about living in Korea.

I did put up heaps of pictures from halloween, so enjoy them!!

Patience and Faith,
ErinJ

Samantha Teacher and I in Itewon