Sometimes ramblings, Though heavey going at times, the detailed descriptions of all the cool stuff I hope to do while I am teaching in SOuth Korea!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
A couple of Fridays ago was Graduation day at my main school – Gogyeong Middle School. This is the day one which the 3rd graders are officially seen off to the wider world of High School. There is a giant prize giving of sorts and to me it was a bit strange. Let me explain why…
The class size of the 3rd graders was a staggering NINE students, and yet there were something like 20 odd awards. Not much for competition, but I suppose it is good for ones confidence when every student gets at least one prize. It was a very subdued and respectful ceremony.
I was late in arriving for it.
Why was I late? Well…
When I asked Mrs Won (my head Co-teacher) what my schedule is for the day and asked if I can watch the ceremony, she told me to stay in the Teachers Lounge by my PC. I did this not knowing (which I have known, as she had displayed her hesitancy with e before) that she was incorrect in her instructions. Sitting at my desk the PE teacher came in and asked me what I was doing here and told me to join the presentation, which I am glad I did.
Grad ceremony
This is what the school grounds looked like on Grad day:
Before the students left I even got given a chocolate as a gift to say thank-you.
When all the pomp and ceremony had die down I joined the staff for a lunch of Galbi-sal (small, bite size cuts of pig meat, which you cook in front of you on a stove in the middle of the table and eat with a variety of sides). As with every meal, the now retired principle tried to correct the way I held my chopsticks and the Science teacher tried to get me hammered on Soju. I had a couple of beers instead.
Tanks full and dutch courage obtained – Nori-bang (Kareoke) time means P.A.R.T.Y time! We drove back to Yeongcheon and went to a Nori-bang room where all the staff (save Mrs Won) had a go. I sang Billy Joel’s classic - Piano Man (thinking it was old enough and well known enough for Koreans to know it. I was wrong). It was a slow mood-killer (despite the merits of the tune). All the rest of the teachers were singing fast songs or disco versions of slow songs (As I told you: Party time!). Despite getting a score of 92% for it I had to redeem myself and followed that up with Ricky Martins late 90’s primary school disco fav – Livin La Vida Loca.
Mood rescued I even scored 100% on my rendition which earned me a couple of hugs and a high 5 or 2. Songs that followed included: 500 miles (NOT by The Proclaimers, as I had thought, still go 99% for it though even though I had summarily killed the mood again!); Yesterday; Another One Bites The Dust; Hotel California and a dismal attempt at Call Me When You Are Sober – Evanescence (NOT MY FAULT – the Kareoke version was much slower than the normal version and I struggled for timing). Graduations over, now it is 2 weeks of desk-warming and the start to the new (and probably my last) semester in the Korean teaching system!
More adventures to follow soon ladies and gents so stay tuned! :)
The date was 29 Jan. The time was . The place was Yeongcheon train station where I was imminently to jump onto a train headed for Gyeonju to begin my trip to enlightenment.
flashback
Fade to black… 2 weeks previously… Fade into past time…
I had been wondering what to do with some of my time on winter holiday, seeing that I was not given sufficient time to head out of Korea, when I had a thought.
“Temple Stay.”
I had been wanting to do one and it was on my list of “Things to do while on an Asian adventure”
(along with: jump off a ledge attached to a giant rubber band; ride an elephant, pet a tiger, see an orangutan, run off a mountain with a cloth attached to my shoulders and a seat attached to my back; amongst other things – incidentally thus far I have accomplished the last in that list… NO, not the “amongst other things” bit … the “run off a mountain with a cloth attached to my shoulders and a seat attached to my back”)
So I began searching and after a couple of days trolling over google I found what I had been looking for. There was a picture of a guy doing the splits and touching his toes at the same time, and all this was about a 1-1.5m off the ground and below it was a picture of a monk in worship at a Buddha statue.
“That’s the place for me,” I thought. So I booked a spot for a night (as a trial stay for potential future stays) and took a walk down to the bridge over the local river to watch the sunset over the ice covered waters on the crisp winter horizon, to celebrate.
FAST-FORWARD TO PRESENT TIME…
My journey to Golguksa temple was fraught with peril of the terrifyingly dull kind. It took me 2.5 hours to get to the temple when it should have taken me 1 hour. Stupid language barrier. Anyway…
I registered my arrival with the main office where I met Kate – A Brit who is staying and training at the temple. I was later to find that a Frenchman, a Dutchman, a Norwegian and obviously a Korean or few, were training and staying at the temple. The Frenchman and the Norwegian (who is going for his 4th Sunmudo Black-belt in August) were asked to baby-sit the waygooks (foreigners). Again I am getting ahead of myself…
After collecting one of the most comfortable yet insufficient pair of pants I have ever had to wear, and my vest (the getup we wear to let the monks and administrators know we are temple stayers) I went to investigate my pad for the night under the instruction that I would have the place to myself. There was not much (not that you need much) though there was a fridge if you brought food (which you were not permitted to eat on the grounds) and the infiltration of modern society and its demands dictated the presence of a LAN cable for internet connectivity. I was to sleep on Ondole, which is the heated floor. It was very warm, despite the temp outside being -18C. More description later.
ish and I had 1 hour until the start of my programme and supper so I did a speedy rush around the temple to take pics and for a walk. Absolutely breathtaking views though they were better the next day when the sun was not hiding behind the valley hills. Arriving back to my room the Admin lady told me I would actually have company for the night. This was when I met Shtef and Reinholdt. Two chaps from Gemany. The latter is a German teacher in Shanghai and the former (a psychologist in Germany) is his friend, who had come for a visit, and they had decided to come to Korea for an 8 day temple stay. Supper nice guys – Reinholdt was a real character, I can just imagine what sitting in his classes must be like. Sadly our association was not all bratwurst and beer, as I never got much sleep due to Shtef’s snoring, but I suppose when you are getting up at , nothing is enough sleep.
was dinner and this was what we had:
It was really nice. I was really hungry having not had much of a lunch so went back for a couple of helpings. There was a guideline at the temple that you do not leave any food or sauce on your tray as it means that you are living beyond your means, which is not what (to a small extent) Buddhism is about. You, also, were requested to be punctual and if you were not there was the threat of 3000 full body bows as punishment (which in discussions later I found out would take you about 9 hours if your body did not give way long before then)
After dinner was our “orientation” were we watched a video about the Sunmudo roots and how it links with Buddhism and it’s principles. This was followed by 2 hours Sunmudo training. 10min of breathing, 10min of scilent sitting meditation, 1 hour of warm-up exercises and light work and then 1 hour of training by the Norwegian triple black belt. Sunmudo is actually a beautiful martial art. It is about achieving balance between mind and body and it more about overcoming the limitation of the mind and the body, than it is about aggression and defense. The grading system revolves around a series of movement sequences that are graded from 1 – 10. You then write a 20page paper about a topic given to you about a week in advance about Buddhist teachings and your own thought and journey towards those the topic. Here is a video of what it looks like:
MY WORD – In the warm up I moved muscles I had not moved since my 2nd year at Varsity. The epicenter of the punishment was in my shoulders. We did sequences of punches, rotations and flexes that would get faster the more you do and then slow down to change to the next movement. The total number of each movement you were required to do should add up to 100. when you were finished with the section of the warm-up you would have done in excess of 500 movements.
After warm-up the waygooks were taken aside and we were instructed by the Norwegian how to do the 2 movement sequences that you learn as you progress through your training. By this point my shoulders were shot so anything that needed me to lift my arms was done with a contorted face and locked jaw. In this practice each movement was supposed to be specific and localized i.e. if you were doing twists from side to side you had to only use your torso and abs. Your waist and hips were meant to stay rooted to the floor to act as your centre of gravity. What struck me most about the exercise part of the experience was the balance and muscle control. Remarkable – hence I remarked!
we got back to our room, showered and went to bed, to wake up at to make sure we were at the main shrine for morning chanting and meditation, the total time of which went for 1.5 hours. My word was IT COLD!!! My roommates taught me on the walk up to the shrine that the crunch of the snow/ice under your shoes gives one an indication as to how cold it is outside. Were they messing with me? They were very genuine guys so I don’t think so. After the early wake-up we were to experience something unique, a traditional Buddhist breakfast – the process of which is very complicated and can be explained here, if you are interested.
After breakfast we got a bit of free time, which my German colleagues took to sleep and I tried to read but that lasted all of 15min before I too fell asleep. At 8’ish we were supposed to meet the monks of the temple for team and a chat but they never showed so we sat talking to 2 of the Martial Arts masters for about 2 hours. It was a very interesting chat, listening to their stories, opinions and choice behind coming to stay at the temple.
The last activity in our program was a demonstration of Sunmudo conducted by the masters of the art. There were also a couple of other cultural dances – the videos for which are below:
So ended my 1st but hopefully not my last temple stay. On the bus back to Gyeonju I got a chatting to Pol from Ireland, Yanna from Swellemdam and Brian from the States. So many interesting people on a very interesting if sleep deprived experience.
In this time I have made a patriotic bowl come mug (still trying to decide which object the size of it dictates it is)...
... and seen a couple of 4D movies (and 4D is not all it is cracked up to be - MegaMind is good fun even in 2D and The Green Hornet is crap no matter how many D’s you see it in).
I met a bloke on a train who is now a Korean pen pal of mine, contemplated the beauty of Africa while watching the sun set.
I have marveled at the living organism that is any modern day city and stayed at a Zen Martial Arts temple (where I met a couple of awesome Germans, an Irishman, a chap from The States and a young lady from Swellendam).
I have gone in search of a House and Home type store only to come back with Breakfast for the next Month; and finally visited some dear friends at a PICTUREsque (with picture/photo being the emphasis here) but far from costal’ly pretty/impressive, (when one compares the beaches at Cannon Rocks or Llandudno for example) city...
...,where I hung out at a Coffee Shop that was running wild with some real hip CATS.
I have also experienced a proper Snow Day such that I stayed home from work because the snow was too thick for me to get in and sung Kareoke with a couple of drunk Koreans.
Along the way I have taken many an artistic picture.
3 fisherman in a panoramic experiment
Varied of length documentation of these events may or may not occur, for that you will have to wait and see but soon to follow I will begin by telling you about my 2 days that I spent@the temple.
On the 15th of January I embarked on one of the Touristy things I wanted to do in Korea, but that said it is a must do. I took a tour through the Adventure Korea tour company to the Demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. This post is a little factual but I am hoping interesting, there will also be a number of slide shows to show off pictures.
I was picked up outside Hongik University Subway Station in Seoul at 09:30 and from there we had about a 40min drive to Tongil Bridge, the Military control line for the South Korean side of the Joint Security Area at Panmunjeom between North and South Korea.
For those of you who don’t know how it works the DMZ is a 4km wide 250km long stretch of the Korean peninsula. In the centre of this strip is a de-facto border with 2km on the North Korea side and 2km on the South Korea side. This stretch was established at the end of the 2nd World War when things were still greatly heated between the US and the Soviets who supported South and North Korea respectively. Since then, this area has been the symbol of the tension that exists between Kim Jong Il (North Korean) leader and the rest of the world really. Interestingly enough the South Korean government is promoting the area as a tourist attraction and nature reserve in the hopes that it will become the symbol of unity between South and North should unification ever occur.
The 1st stop once the checkpoint was cleared (where we were not allowed to take photo’s and had to hold up identification cards/passports so that the soldiers could check who we were) was Imjingak at Paju City.
This centre was set up as a memorial to the Korean war. Here I had a look at an old rusted Steam Locomotive and mulberry tree that were both retrieved from the DMZ and transplanted to their places of rest. From here you could also see The Bridge of Freedom – a railway line that crosses the Imjin River and allows supply trains to go through to North Korea once a week.
Visitors to Imjingak tie ribbons and flags with messages of piece to the fence that leads into the DMZ
From there we moved on to Lunch was rice, kimchi and a whole heap of Soy-bean products. The area inside the DMZ is very famous for its Soy-bean production.
Lunch
There are actually houses inside this joint security area and the people who live here do not have to pay taxes to the Korean government and male members of the families who live there do not have to do the otherwise mandatory army service that is required, because they pretty much have to live their lives as if they are in the army anyway. After lunch I had a very interesting chat with our main tour guide and he was less than complimentary about the current Korean government. He went as far as saying that “The president of Korean is not my president”. Apparently previous government administrations were seeking and achieving the gradual withdrawal of US soldiers from the country and as a result a decrease in a major factor that was fuelling the animosity between North and South.
Me with our tour guides
This administration however, is again asking the US for aid in keeping North Korea in check and thus the US withdrawal has been halted. This is something that our tour guide did not look on at all favourably. There were certainly some interesting opinions flying around.
Lunch was quickly followed by a visit to Panmunjeom itself, where we were taken into the 3rd infiltration tunnel that was being dug by North Korea in the hopes that they could launch a surprise attack on Seoul. Thus far Southern forces have discovered 4 such possible infiltration tunnels, all of which were being dug from the Northern side of the DMZ with the aim of getting to Seoul. What the North did not expect was that they would have to dig (with picks and spades) and blast their way through granite and they primitive tools they were using certainly did not help them. The 1st tunnel that was discovered was done so in 1974, the 2nd in 1975, the 3rd in 1978...
At the enterance to the 3rd Infiltration tunnel
...and the 4th interestingly enough, only in 1990. That the 4th was found only 21 years ago when the other 3 were found a minimum of 22 years before that, makes one wonder 2 things:
1.How many more tunnels have they North dug?
2.How far have they gotten?
The tunnel that has gone the furthest is the 3rd tunnel which progressed 1600m across the DMZ but considering it was another 56km to get to Seoul it had a long, long way to go. As Tourists we were allowed to go 235m into the tunnel which was located 300m underground. At the end of the tunnel are 3 steel doors about 10m apart, which are sealed to prevent anyone from either side getting across.
After Panmunjeon we were taken to Dorasan Station which is South Korea’s northern most train station. It is from here that the supply train goes through to the North once a week and there is also a commuter train that takes South Korean people from that station into Seoul. I even got a joke stamp in my passport to say I was this close to North Korea
Our final stop was at the Ohdu Tongil Unification Observatory where we were given a glimpse onto North Korean soil. Well we would have had a glimpse had it not been for all the snow and haze. After that we made our way back to Seoul, safely returning from the DMZ!
For your humble enjoyment, I present to you my best work yet with Windows live movie maker - My DMZ Trip in 9min. I hope you enjoy it :)
Until next time fellow travellers - Tune in again to Geoff's Asian Adventure
Today’s adventure described herein was the trip Sandy and I took to the Bears Town Resort 50min away from Seoul
We decided to take this trip when we both found out that we would have Friday 07 Jan off from our winter teaching. I, in fact, had an entire week off of teaching, so I was defiantly up for it.
Why did I get the week off you may ask? Well, on Monday I arrive at Imgo Middle school prepared to impart my language on the sectors of students that I would be teaching. With my lessons set to start at 10:00 I get to the bus stop to get to school at 08:40, so that I would have time to make sure I was prepared. By taking this bus I would be at school just after 09:00 so I would have more than enough time to ready the class. 08:40 comes and goes and for one reason or another I am not on any busses heading towards Imgo. So I decide to stick it out and sit at the bus stop for the next 40min waiting for the next bus going my way.
It arrives so I hop on, expecting to arrive at school around at about 09:45. Not as much time as I had wanted but it was workable. Oh and I would be able to thaw my hands and face as it was -1 on this day , so I will arrive to school a little icy.
SUDDENLY I RUSH TO PRESS THE BUZZER TO GET OFF THE BUS – it is going the wrong way!!! Before I am too far off the beat and track I jump off the bus and figure if I start walking in the right direction I could jump on the next bus that comes past/I could grab the next empty taxi.
Long story short – I walked the 8 Km’s to school from the point where I got off the bus, in -1 degree temps, because as it happens, for the entire 50min that it took me to get to school, no bus or taxi came past. I arrive 10min late – at 10:10. I am shown to a class of 5 - 3rd grade girls and asked to teach and I will get to speak to Mrs Yoon (my 1 great co-teacher, (I have 2 useless ones as well)) when she is done teaching her class. After the girls had a little giggle at the 10min it took me to thaw my lips so that I could actually talk properly, we had a discussion about restaurants which became the lesson.
When finished, I go to the teachers office and (now this is why I had the rest of the past week off) am told that Winter camp for this week is cancelled because the Principle is nervous about students travelling because of the recent Foot and Mouth outbreak that recently struck Yeongcheon farm animals. I get to stay home.
Taking advantage of this, I had already booked a trip up to Seoul as I was going on a tour of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) (Basically a 4km wide stretch of land that that separates North and South Korea), I tag along on Sandy’s adventure of going snowboarding on the Friday.
Sandy had yet to go skiing or boarding, so she was desperate to take some of her free time to do that, so we left Yeongcheon at 07:12 on the Friday morning and got to Seoul at about 10:00, where after some confusion we caught a bus to the Bears Town resort to enjoy our day on the slopes. Aside from the train ride to Seoul, the whole experience was relatively cheap and we got a good 3 hours on the slopes.
I had to unpack my whole bag, in the middle of the subway station, to find my Seoul Subway card
Rather than talk in intimate detail about the slopes and such here is a video about the day – sit back, relax and enjoy the pics and music.
That evening we headed back into Seoul found a motel and grabbed Pizza at a place called “Mr Pizza” which... ended up being a slightly tense meal due to their salad bar regulations but dessert mellowed the environment out and back at the motel for the night we settled into some good old fashioned TV watching. Sandy had found Discovery channel so we watched “Man vs Wild” where Bear Grylls...
...was teaching us how to survive in the Sahara desert. Good day all around, it was off to bed and early to rise as the next day I would be embarking on my Tour to the DMZ (Described in my next post)!!!
Hi all! So it has been a little while since I last wrote with due reason. Thing have not been going too swimmingly for me of late. I had a bad case of flu over Christmas, which I duly spent in bed and it has been dreadfully cold over here for the last while which certainly has not helped my mood. In a nutshell I have been rather depressed and homesick for the last month or so, but I am happy to report: With some advice from some wise sages of Korean life and with the support of my wonderful girlfriend Sandy and my great friends Alan, Lisa, Marelize and Deborah, I am in a much more positive frame of mind as I head toward the 6 month mark of being in Korea. A great deal of my slow assent back to happiness can be put down to my New Year weekend on the slopes. This post hopes to illuminate all of your minds as to my 1st experience of proper snow and what to do with it.
As briefly mentioned earlier the weather has been rather ghastly for the last month and a half. This of course is to be expected – it is winter after all. That does not, however do much to increase my enthusiasm for the scale of the cold that I have experienced (which I am in no way used to back home). To give you some idea: the coldest day I have experienced has been about -12C during the day and about -14 at night. The average by my completely unscientific guessing skills has been about 3-5C during the day and -3 to -8 at night. With this cold however, I have been exposed to my first experience of snow!
The 1st time I had about a 20min experience of snow was one evening in early December when Sandy and I were walking to go get supper. WE GOT SNOWED ON! I duly stuck my tongue out and caught a snowflake on it – as is the cliqued thing to do J
My next experience was when I got to school and it started to, I guess, pelt down. The snow fall of those 3 odd days created rather thick snow and ice on the roads and the pavements. Watching the cars crawl through the sludge that had been covered in snow and then sand/salt (still unsure which-but either is used to make roads drivable) was a very enlightening experience. Cars even had snow chains around the tiers, which I was told was a little silly as there was not enough snow to warrant that, and that all that was doing was damaging the tiers. At the time of this mass snow fall I was still on the mend from my flu, so I have yet to participate in a snow fight or build a snowman.
During this period though, I got a message from Deborah saying that she was going on a skiing trip with Marelize and other from Daegu and surrounds. I emailed Marelize and the rest was just logistics – I WAS GOING SNOWBOARDING!!!! Oh... AND I WAS GOING OVER NEW YEARS EVE!!!! Below is a video-pictoral summery of my trip:
On Friday 31st December 2010 I got up at 7am and caught my train (arriving@09:40) to Daegu, where I was meeting Marelize, Alan, Lisa and Jac (a friends of Marelize’s) at 10:30 to catch our train to Yeondong at 11:00. Having arrived in Daegu rather early I found a soft spot to sit, placed my earphones in and pulled out my book – “Good Omens” by Terry Prachett and Neil Gaiman. 1st to arrive and wait with me was Lisa followed by Alan and we then waited for Jac and Marelize who arrived at about 10:45. We climbed on our train and 1hr 20 odd minutes later arrived in a rather chilly Yeondong and climbed on a bus to Muju another 40min away where, when we arrived we met up with Deborah who had caught a bus from Daejeon.
See how cold all us South African's look!!!
It was good to see all these lovely people with whom I flew to Korea on 17 August 2010. It was definitely a lift that I needed. In life one meets few people who you just feel comfortable with and who make you feel at ease no matter the situation. I have been lucky to have met 8 such people in my Varsity years and now these 4 people along with Lauren (who stays in Ulsan) and Andrea (who is with Deb in Daejeon), not forgetting the people I am close to in Yeongcheon. It is in times like I was experiencing that you lean on those around you and I’d like to thank all these people for helping get my spirits back up.
In Muju – we climbed into 2 Taxi’s and drove our accommodation, called a Penshion (Essentially a rented floor of a house). It was really decent digs for the 2 days – 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, a big lounge, 2 bedrooms and a balcony with a stunning view of snow capped mountains and a lake.
The Accomodation
The View
Decisions then had to be made. It was 14: 50 and we had not had lunch yet. So... do we have lunch or go to the slopes for some skiing before the slopes close at 16:30, to re-open at 18:30. We decide on lunch but due some urm... preferences we end up not having lunch and go straight to the Ski Shop to collect our gear. I had said I wanted to go snowboarding, as it sounded so much cooler and more of a challenge. I try on my boots a couple of times until I got the correct size and then claim some waterproof clothes for rent as I figured it would be awfully unpleasant if I had to trudge around in wet Jeans (due to the dampness of the snow). All kitted out we climb into the van and wait for the guys at the ski-shop to take us up to the slopes. It was a rather cramped 15min but we eventually get to the slopes in one piece and are told we will be picked up at 22:00.
We headed into a giant hall to put our shoes and valuables in a locker it is now closer to 16:00 so we decide to wait until the slopes re-open at 18:30 before we try our hand at anything. Instead we finally get something to eat. Where my 5 companions had chicken burgers I needed something a little more substantial so decided to get a bowl of Udong noodles...
Bottom Left: Kimchi, Above that: Pickled Radish, Above that: My Cinammon Chierro,
Then my Hot Choc and bowl of Udong
It was about double the price you would pay anywhere else for the same dish but I suppose when you have a monopoly on food you can charge what you want. I also bought myself a cup of hot chocolate and a cinnamon chierro for desert. The 2 hours that followed were very therapeutic for me I just chatted with everyone particularly with Deb and bitched about all the issue I was having. It was nice to get it all out and have such a sympathetic ear to talk to.18:30 came round and we head off to the slopes - which looked Awesome under floodlights!!!
Staring at the big slopes we were not aware at the time that we had to buy a ticket to go up them but regardless of that, we all thought, “shit that’s high... let’s find a bunny slope to practice on first”. We all walk around for a bit until we find a sufficient practice area.
It was rather amusing for Alan and I, who were carrying our snow boards around, as we watched the skiers of our group, get there bearings on the skis. Deb was less than comfortable on her extended long feet, Marelize even fell over and it was like watching a turtle on their back as she struggled to get up. Later in the practice area, where I would unclip my boots form the board the skiers tried to keep their skis on and look awfully funny crab walking back up the slope.
Deb on her Skis
We all practiced for just over an hour and then went in for a break and a cup of hot chocolate. The break brought about talk of moving onto the grown-up slopes and then bodies started to drop out. Alan was not well, so he opted to stay inside and Lisa and Deb chose to stay with him, so Jac, Marelize and I ventured out to what we assumed would be our death.
After a couple of aborted attempts to figure out how much the ski-lift/conveyor belt cost to use, we eventually found that we could get a 1 go ticket which we duly did. We climb onto the lift and were a little concerned that we could fall off or drop out equipment when a safety bar came down.
We calmed down a bit and glided past the end of conveyor belt which ran about half way up the slope and my companions got a little worried as they believed we would get off at that point. We didn’t. Just after we cleared that error of belief up Marelize announces that she has dropped her ski poles. We look down and see nothing but there are no poles in her hands. We established (after a good laugh) that she must have dropped them just at the end of the conveyor belt. So we decided to just tell the lift operator when we got to the top of the slope.
Getting to the top of the slope was an adventure in itself! The lift get there and none of the 3 of us can figure out how to get the safety bar up. I got a little tangled in my board and Jac had his ski poles bent around his legs! The lift operator had to stop the lift to allow us to get off – sigh, silly foreigners who have no experience of snowing!
Jac bent back hi ski poles and then we waited... and waited... and waited... We ended up waiting for about 30min in the-14C temp at the top of the slope but eventually Marelize’s poles arrived and we agreed to stick together on the downslope. I thought I would be the one going fast so I said if I go too fast I will fall over (as I had yet to figure out how to stop) and wait for the others to catch up. As it turns out, the slope was virtually like Ice and the skiers flew down the slope while I, through observation of more experienced Koreans, was able to mange my speed and even get my turning going! All in all it was a great 20min going down the slope. Jac got to the bottom so fast (as there were not very many ways for him to stop) he ended up waiting for me for 10min and then we waited for another 5 min for Marelize to arrive, who also through observation, had figured out a way to go down the slope in a slower fashion.
Covered in Snow Marelize and I hose ourselves down with an air pressure hose just to get the snow off and we then make our way inside to gather our things and head to the parking lot as it was 21:55. Our haste had no effect however, as our ride was not even there. After a couple of phone calls and 20min waiting in the cold, we find our ride in section 5 of the parking. We hop into the van and again we wait... and wait...
All in all we sat in the van 40min before we left to return our goods to the ski-shop. 1st we were waiting for a Korean gent to come back from the slopes with his rented gear and then we waited for a car to drive up so that they would not lose their parking spot. It is now 23:35 and we are at the ski-shop hoping to get back to the Penshion before 00:00 so that we could see the New Year in but there were worries around that we would end up spending new year in the back of a cramped van. We end up getting back to our place at 23:50. As we pull into the driveway 2 more of Marelize’s friends arrived – Johan and Gerrit. Both gentlemen own cars. We were supposed to get a lift with these guys but about a week before the weekend Gerrit dislocated his shoulder snowboarding so that plan changed to train and bus. However they still joined us and drove through in Johan’s car and they arrived just in time to see in the new year after about 5 hours driving because of accidents on the roads. We were all eternally grateful to both of them as they bought us groceries for the next morning’s breakfast and what’s more they didn’t ask us to pay them back for them. Seeing in the New Year we had some wine, some vile Korean beer called “Cass” and some sparkling wine.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Not much debauchery but loads of chatter and wholesome enjoyment. Having mixed drinks I thought it best to head to bed at 02:00 and woke up at about 09:30 later on New Year’s morning. Johan, Gerrit and Jac all left pretty early and that left the rest of us to enjoy some fantastically cooked scrambled eggs and bacon courtesy of Lisa and Deb. Thrown in some yoghurt, OJ and coffee it was a worthy 1st breakfast to 2011.
We then packed up went back to Muju where Alan, Lisa, Marelize and I said goodbye to Deb and made our way back to Daegu via bus and train trips. Once back in Daegu the executive decision was taken to go out for supper and Lisa and Marelize lead the way to a place called “Poom rooftop garden restaurant”.
It was a lovely dinner. I had some pork fillets with rice, butternut and teriyaki sauce. That was what I paid for. Then there was what Korean’s call “Service”. This is in no way the tip you give to waitering staff in SA. No, no. This is what the waitering staff can do for you – without reward and tip. So we were each given a soup, garlic bread, salad, small 1cm3 coffee cake for dessert, and a desert coffee. I had a Mint Mochachino. All that was complimentary. It was great and a wonderful way to end our New Year’s weekend with great friends.
This coming weekend I am heading north again, for a spot more snowboarding and I am taking a tour to the DMZ. Wish me luck ;)
Stay tuned for more from Geoff’s Asian Adventure...
At this festive time of year where family come together to be with one another I would like to take the time to dedicate this post to my parents and my brothers, and also to 3 very important people in my life whose birthdays are on the 9th (The Hazle Twins) and 15th (Dr Faye Gordon) respectively.
On Monday of last week I received a message via the social networking tool that everyone loves to hate... no not that one. This tool thankfully doesn’t wake you up in the morning with a Twitter or a Tweet. I am talking about the granddaddy of social networking tools.
Anywho courtesy of a remodelled Facebook – Marelize, a friend through flight, form Daegu got hold of me and invited me, and other Saffa’s longing for a taste of home, to join her at her friends flat for a taste of home and some “oorspronklike lekker Suid Afrikaanse kos”. Eventual attendees were:
Myself, Lisa (with whom I flew to Korea); Andre (who knows Marelize); Adean (my roommate from orientation), his friend Wynand and another of his friends/girlfriend? (status to me was unknown but I’m guessing so from all the hand holding) Cassie, who hails from The Midwest (I think Iowa) in the States. Oh and let me not forget our gracious host’s Leon and his wife Santjie, and chef extraordinaire – Marelize.
From Left to right: Adean, Cassie, Andrea (notice the Cheetah's Jersey!), and Wynand
The event itself was arranged to mark 2 days both occuring on the 16th of December: The Day of Reconciliation and Hug A South African Day.
On Saturday morning I watched (through streaming over the net) Aus slowly murder England in the 3rd Ashes test, being played in Perth, and then I climbed on my train at about 14:30 bound for Daegu. The weather over the past weekend was amazing – comparatively of course. The temperature ranged from about 8C at night to about 12 during the day. My plan was to wonder around Daegu and buy Christmas gifts for our Christmas party at the end of the week, but the shops I was looking for were rather difficult to find. I ended up just walking around town for an hour before making my way to the subway station where I was meeting Marelize. Through various circumstantial occurances I waited at the subways stop for about an hour before Marelize arrived. In that time I just leaned agains a support pillar and watched the world go by. I had my MP3 player playing pleasantly loud Music and began to let my mind wonder around the subject of human movement and habitual behaviours. Watching the throngs of commuters enter and exit the subway trains, the rushing and strolling to meet the trains on the platforms, with Muse’s latest single “Neutron Start Collision” blaring in my ears...
Yes I know the birthplace and existence of this track is from a very regrettable source – namely a certain 2nd film sequel to a very hatred inducing, sparkly vampire series of books that were made into a dreadful series of movies)
But that aside it is a really catchy track and provide sufficient power to be the soundtrack to my wondering mind
... I started to formulate a little poem in my mind to describe my thoughts. It progresses thusly:
I call it: Like Lemmings...
Like Lemmings...
*Press play*
The sound in my ears illuminates my surroundings.
I stand.
I watch.
I see dozens of lemmings shuffling into and out of giant metal boxes.
The air clears.
Thoughts surge through my mind:
Who are they? Where are they going? Why do they follow so blindly?
The answers to these questions only they know.
Another metal box emerges from the darkness and a new set of dozens disappear as fast as they appeared.
The air clears, the mind clears.
An endless cycle as if set to shuffle,repeat all.
Like lemmings,
Only they know...
*Volume up*
Following such a deep read here is a little something to bring a smile and lighten things up – I played Merry Christmas Mr Bean as a treat for my last lesson of the semester and this bit is one that I particularly enjoy:
So... how are you feeling? A little happier? Slightly philosophical yet your minds cleared of thought? Relaxed?
Good. That is the perfect frame of mind with which to read the rest of this post...
As I listened to my music (and completely zoned out, as only my friends know I can, when my ears are filled with little plastic plugs explelling the wave form we know as Sound) I did notice a chap who arrived at the platform around the same time as I did. He too was leaning against a pillar. Waiting. Much like me.
In a phone call to Marelize to see where she was, she had told me the Lisa and Andre (the latter of whom I had never met) were waiting at the station as well. I hadn’t seen Lisa and assumed she would be standing with Andre so I figured that this other chap was waiting for someone else. As time pasted and 15min became 30min I noticed the lining and collar of this gent’s shirt.
We were asked in our invite to this event to wear something South African. All I had brought with me was my green Bafana Bafana beanie, so that is what I wore. This lining and collar though, looked distinctly like the lining of a Springbok Jersey and if not that then certainly of a South African provincial Rugby Jersey. I thought *might this be Andre?* but stopped short of going over to ask for no other reason than because I lost my normally unflappable nerve. Lisa eventually arrived and she pointed out that the gent in question was indeed probably Andre, so we went and joined him. Marelise arrived shortly after and it was then that I became a small moment of amusement. Sticking out of the top of my backpack was a whisk which (along with a can opener that was much easier to use than my current one) I had bought when I arrived in Daegu that evening. This was very amusing to the girls. Cé la vie.
We all then walked to the venue for the evening’s “jol” and were noticed by a passing taxi containing Adean, Cassie and Wynand who pointed out that we had about a 6-7 min walk in front of us and they would see us there.
Leon and Santjie were very welcoming and gracious hosts and overall it was a grand evening.
On the menu was “Vetkoek en Mince”, “Pannekoek”, “Biltong”, and Ghostpops (Supplied by Lisa). There were also 2 bottles of wine: Obikwe-sweet red (which I brought and very much enjoyed) and a Nederburg Pinotage (Which Lisa brought-which was also very much enjoyed).
On the airwaves, streamed live form the Mother City, was Western Cape’s finest (The merits of this musical entertainment are still to be decided considering I am a guy who lives across the Vaal) – Kfm. The talk was about anything and everything: from of course our South Korean expeience, what we like about SK and miss about SA, the reasons there are (apparently) a large number of South African’s who emigrated, returning to SA... as well as the South African education system and language policies within it. Amongst this there was a great deal of linguistic exchange “in die taal”. Lisa, Myself and Cassie are not altogether fluent in said tongue (Cassie not at all familiar with it), but Lisa and I could at least both understand what was being said.
Above: Marelize Prep'ing the Dough for the "Vetkoek:
Below: Lisa Prep'ing the Mince
It came time to head home butfor me that was not an option as I had missed both the last train and the last bus back to Yeongcheon. Adean offered his floor for me to sleep on and I was prepared enough that I had a sleeping bag and pj’s so it was overall a very fun evening and hopefully I would see everyone again soon.
Andre and Wynand horsing around as we headed home
This coming week see’s Christmas upon us and Yoengcheon is playing host to a nice little get together of Sandy (Our Hostess); Me (the man with the accommodation); Colleen; Melinda; Courtney and Sam. Dan is not available and Ashli is off to Seoul so sadly whey will not be with us. Still looking forward to it. Happy Holidays everyone!
Stay tuned to Geoff’s Asian Adventure for more soon...
