Indoor Skiing

Today I went snowboarding at Tigerworld in Bucheon, Korea's only indoor ski slope and currently one of less than 50 in the world.


The building features a climate controlled environment, with snow cannons producing artificial snow.


The slope is just under 200 meters in length so each run is pretty short. But for about $65, you can rent clothing and equipment, and use the slope for an unlimited number of runs in 4 hours. And best of all, you don't even need to travel to a mountain.

Location:Sang-dong,Bucheon-si,South Korea

North Korea DMZ

Today, Sam and I went to the DeMilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates North and South Korea. The DMZ, as well as the Joint Security Area (JSA), are in Panmunjeom, about 50 km north of Seoul.At the JSA, just outside of Freedom Hall, South Korean soldiers stand at the border facing into North Korea.The South Korean soldiers wear dark shades and are not allowed to show any emotions. As far as I know, this guy was comatose. The border literally splits the room down the middle...the soldier was standing in South Korea while I was right next to him, standing in North Korea.On the other side of the border, a North Korean soldier stands at the top of some steps, occasionally looking at you through a pair of binoculars. You are not allowed to raise your hand or make any provocative gestures...or he might shoot you. No, seriously.After seeing the JSA, we went to the "bridge of no return". After the end of the Korean war in 1953, prisoners of war on both sides were allowed to walk across the bridge into the country of their choice, never to return to the other side again. Also, apparently a dog tried to cross the border a few months ago but tripped a wire and exploded at the North Korean side of the bridge. I guess dogs really just have a shitty time in this country.We went into the Third Infiltration Tunnel, one of four tunnels dug by the North Koreans after the seize fire was signed in 1953 in preparation for a sneak attack on Seoul. The tunnel is over 70 meters underground and extends 400 meters across the border into South Korea. I hit my head on the tunnel's ceiling at least 5 times, confirming the fact that I am taller than the average North Korean.After lunch, we went to Dorasan Station, which at a time was the last train station in the South for trains headed to Pyeongyang, the Capitol of North Korea.We ignored the rules and put North Korean stamps in our passports. So technically, I went to North Korea today. Here's to hoping it doesn't prevent me from successfully leaving the country on Thursday.

Location:Panmunjeom, Korea

Bukhansan National Park

Today I went to Bukhansan National Park and hiked Mt. Bukhansan, known as the "Guardian Mountain of Seoul". There are nearly 15 peaks, the highest of which is Baegundae at 837 meters.


The national park is massive. It covers more than 78 square kilometers north of Seoul and is filled with different cultural relics and historical sites. As I was ascending the Baegundae trail I visited Cheonchuksa Temple, which was completely deserted.


The temple is surrounded by thousands of statues, all standing in prayer lines. So even though nobody living was around, I was in good company nonetheless.


By the time I reached the summit, there was heavy snowfall and the rocky trail was becoming extremely slippery. But the views of Seoul, and in the other direction North Korea, made it worth the struggle.


And once again, I wasn't alone at the top. Oddly enough, a white cat with a black tail was just chilling at the summit. I tried to feed him some of my kimbap, but he took one bit and wasn't impressed. He just sat there, staring at me...must have been just as shocked to see a white person as I was to see a cat.

Location:Howon-dong,Uijeongbu-si,South Korea

Myeongdong

I went to Myeongdong today, a huge area in Seoul filled with stores, restaurants, street food, outdoor markets, and thousands of people.


There was a group of foreigners and Koreans staging a protest of eating dog. Dog is really popular here. Now I'm not a dog lover, but I've still never eaten it. After seeing some pictures of the dogs in cages before they're killed I never will.


You can buy a new head of hair right on the street.


The employees at Forever 21 were apparently being punished today. They were all lined up outside of the store, and every 20 seconds or so they would all bow in unison and chant something in Korean as people walked in and out of the store. A strange sight.

Location:Myeongdong 1(il)-ga,Seoul,South Korea

Screen Golf

Screen golf is a Korean phenomenon. Basically you play a round of golf, indoors, hitting the ball into a screen. You can play 1, 3, 6, 9, or 18 holes, all while sitting around on some couches instead of walking a course. Perfect for cold weather. Making golf into an even lazier sport? This would be huge in America.

Location:Sang-dong,Bucheon-si,South Korea

Goodbye, Gwangju

My tourist visa for Korea expires next week, so my days of working as an illegal here in Gwangju end tomorrow. Here are some photos from my last week at the school, starting with my favorite student, Tristian.


In Chicago Class we had another "excursion", this time going out in front of the school to ride bikes. Even training wheels couldn't help some of these kids.


During an art class, my kindergartners painted pictures using their hand prints. Amazingly, only one student made a mess and covered the table with paint. One out of ten isn't bad.We made our own kimbap rolls for snack, one of the few gluten-free snack times of the last three months...so delicious.


Another day, one of my students, Thomas, spilled his snack all over his chair, then proceeded to sit in the mess. Apparently, I have failed as a teacher of common sense.


Although I've enjoyed it, being a kindergarten teacher certainly isn't my calling in life. After saying "No speaking Korean" an estimated 36271 times in the last three months, I'm pretty relieved that the words will never leave my mouth again. I'll miss all of the teachers here, and I'll even miss some of my students. But I'm excited to stop teaching and start traveling again. On Saturday, I'm taking the train to Seoul to hang out with my friend Sam for a few days before I fly to Beijing next week. He has a Korea blog if anyone wants to check it out: On To The Next One: South Korea.

A Day in Mokpo

Today I took a day trip with E to Mokpo, a small city about an hour south of Gwangju. Mokpo is right on the water and is a port for ferries to the many islands in Southwest Korea.


It's a really quiet and laid back place. There are still a few of the identical eyesore apartment buildings that every Korean city is filled with, but Mokpo had many more tiny alleyways and rows of fishing shanties.


It's known for having great seafood, fresh on the street.


We wandered around the downtown area for a while. The main street, Avenue Lumiere, is lined with light fixtures that apparently don't light up until 10 at night...kind of a waste if you ask me.


After lunch we went to Shinan Beach, which is literally about 10 meters of sand. But a pretty cool area nonetheless.


From the beach we hiked Mt. Yudalsan. The trails were all very natural. The sea breeze gives the whole mountain some nice fresh air.


The summit of the mountain is the highest point in Mokpo...definitely makes for an exhausting hike.


All in all I really liked Mokpo. I enjoyed the relaxed feel of the place, and it has a lot more character than some of the other cities I've been to in Korea.

Location:Mokpo, Korea

Mt. Geumdang & More Kids

After a long 2 months of nothing but cold and snowy days, the last few weeks have been much warmer here in Gwangju. It was even in the 60s for the first time this weekend. I've been hiking Mt. Geumdang, which is a 5 minute walk from my apartment.


I tried to get to the summit of the mountain in the winter but it was so icy that most of the trails were closed. It takes about an hour to reach the top, where there are two little old Korean women selling cold drinks and of course, kimchi. There are a few pieces of exercise equipment and jagged rocks to climb. The view from the top isn't too great, but it's really quiet with not many people around at all. I was sitting on a rock at the top listening to my iPod when a Korean guy tapped on my shoulder and we began to have a conversation about the nuclear crisis in Japan. I'd say about 1 in 1000 people here speak English, and this guy was almost fluent. These are the kind of things that happen on mountaintops in Korea, I guess.


My three-year old class is showing some unbelievable progress. Last week, they could barely speak a single word, but this week, one boy named Tristan is able to repeat colors, numbers, and animals. He can even put the letters of the alphabet in order. It must be my amazing teaching...I take all of the credit.


These kids take a lot of naps.


We've moved on from rolling the ball back and forth to "dribbling", which consists of the kids dropping the ball and watching it bounce.


At this rate, they should be dunking by age 7.
The Korean MJ? I think so.

Location:Pungam-dong,Gwangju,South Korea

Three Year Olds

In chicago class we had an "excursion" earlier today. This meant going outside and crossing the street to a park. Some excursion.


I blew bubbles and the kids excitedly chased them in the wind. It really doesn't take much to amuse five year olds. There's no daily recess here; I remember having two recesses when I was younger, and then being pissed off years later when we only had one recess. In retrospect I guess I had it pretty good.


A teacher quit on Monday so my afternoon schedule changed. This week, I am with the Yale English Class for three hours every day after lunch. Yale is a group of four students who are three years old...and don't speak a word of English. I'd say that I am a glorified babysitter, but there's no glory in this job. Lowlights from the first three days include rolling a ball back and forth for 40 minutes and practicing using scissors for another 40 minutes. I'm still amazed that I made it through the entire class without once using the scissors to gouge out my eyes.


Boring would be a gross understatement here. Luckily, after the first day I managed to turn my brain off and since then I have been spending the three hours in a vegetative state.


On the bright side, at least I don't have to clean their faces after snack time.

Location:Pungam-dong,Gwangju,South Korea

New Students

After five days off from teaching English Kindergarten, I now have ten new students as the teacher of Chicago class. My students are all Korean age 6, which means they are all really just 5 years old. Some of the students come from the Korean Kindergarten at my school, so they know a little bit of English already, but three students had never gone to school before and didn't even have English names. Now, one lucky girl in my class will forever be known as "Rapunzel".

Because the kids know so little English, our "lessons" are extremely simple. Most of them don't even know the alphabet. Today we learned how to write the letter "A" and colored in a picture of an apple. I had to write the students' names and the date on their papers with a highlighter so that they could trace them. I thought things were pretty basic in the last few months with Duke Class, but even those kids seemed years ahead of my Chicago class.

The students are not allowed to leave the room by themselves since they may get lost and not be able to find the classroom. So we go to the bathroom as a class. If one student needs to go, we all go. This makes for many trips to the bathroom. Which is fine with me...we spend a good chunk of the morning lining up and waiting in the hallway. I figured since the kids were so young, I'd have a lot of trouble getting them to behave. Luckily, nine of the ten students are really well behaved. But the tenth student, Jack, is an absolute terror. Some of the other teachers here call him "the spawn of the devil". I taught Jack in Korean Kindergarten last month, so I knew I was going to have my hands full with him, but oh my god. In 2 days, Jack has already flung a spoonful of rice porridge across the room, stood on a desk and pulled down his pants, and eaten Vaseline. At least he's keeping things interesting.

On another note, it's been exactly one year since I was diagnosed with Celiac disease. I look at where I was at with my health one year ago, and it's kind of shocking how much my life has changed. If developing Celiac disease was the worst thing to ever happen to me, then being diagnosed and beginning a gluten-free diet was without a doubt the best thing. One year later, I have regained almost all of the weight that I initially lost, and although it’s still a nuisance, I very rarely get sick from gluten. Which is nice.