Island hopping on the weekends...because we can!
On the last Thursday that Meg's mom and grandma were here, I met them at their hotel to celebrate Meg's mom's birthday. We had tons of good food and wine while enjoying a view of the city. We noticed that a Korean man was talking to Meg's mom and grandma and they told us that he had talked to them at the hotel a few nights prior. The man came over to say hello to Meg and I because her mom had mentioned to him that Meg was a teacher in Seoul. The Korean man introduced himself as Gabriel and said he had a daughter that worked at a hagwon in Gangnam who was looking for possible subs for when members of her staff were gone. Since we both work in Gangnam, we immediately asked which school. He wen
t on to tell us it was a pretty well known school with multiple branches called Canada International School. Shocked, I exclaimed "I work there!" Turns out that Gabriel is the father of my principal, Sae Hee, and one of the Korean supervisors, Ginny. Gabriel called his wife over and we all chatted while sipping wine and eating birthday cake. In the middle of our conversation, Ginny called her mom about something. You can imagine Ginny's shock when her mom tells her that there is someone at the table who wants to speak with her and I say hello. Gabriel ended up giving us both his card and extending an open invitation to dinner at his house if we ever make it our to Ilsan. So even in a city with a population of over 10 million, you come to realize that the world really is a very small place!
This past weekend Meg and I headed to another one of Korea's islands, Jeju. This island is off the southern tip of Korea, about an hour flight from Seoul. In order to make our 8:15 am flight, we were up by 4:45 on Saturday morning. Luckily, we met up with the Adventure Korea group at Starbucks so we were able to get some caffeine for the road. We arrived in Jeju by 9:15 and made our way to the first stop on our whirlwind trip, a "museum." It is still a mystery to both of us as to what exactly this muse
um was. We were told it had something to do with the history of Korea, but there were relatively few signs (and zero in English) and there was no rhyme or rhythm to the artifacts. For example, one case had a boom box in it. Another, about 30 pairs of tennis shoes. As we continued to wander through it, we finally came to the conclusion that it was supposed to represent life in Korea, as there were various buildings (such as a school, dance club, post office, houses, and so forth) but we still have no idea what time period or area of Korea the museum was representing. However, seeing as it was a week before Halloween, a haunted house had been set up in one of the model buildings. It was mostly just noises and light-up figurines but it was still a random, fun experience (and sadly, probably the highlight of the museum!)
We made our way to one of the volcanic craters on the island, walking up the pathways that were made of pumice stone. Th
e crater itself wasn't much to see but it did provide spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. We were also able to get our first picture with a dol hareubang (stone grandfather) which is a distinct cultural feature of Jeju that is carved out of basalt and can be seen everywhere on the island. After having traditional Jeju black pig for lunch (some pigs on Jeju have black hair and their meat is chewier than normal pork), we made our way to a ferry to head over to Udo (cow) Island. The island was only about 15 minutes away by ferry and upon our arrival we boarded a bus that would take us around the island. Seeing as it is a very small island (the population is only about 1, 750 people) the bus drove us around the entire thing. Along the way we stopped at various spots to check out the scenery. We were also able to spend some time on the beach and even played in the water (yes,
the water was cold, but not so cold that we couldn't enjoy getting our feet wet)! The beach was one where the haenyo can usually be seen diving, but unfortunately they weren't out the day we were there. The haenyo are female divers of Jeju who become the main bread winner of the family because of the dependency on sea products in the area. They dive up to depths of 65 feet and are known to be able to hold their breath for more than 2 minutes. After leaving the island we had dinner and made our way to the hotel where we would be staying...and unlike normal Adventure Korea accommodations, this one did actually qualify as a hotel. The rooms had beds (usually we end up sleeping Korean style, aka, on the floor) and space for more than 4 people to actually exist. Unfortunately, Meg and I got caught up in a room mix-up that resulted in about 30 minutes of frustration. Somehow, 8 people in the group ended up with one 3 person room to share. After the leader spent a considerable amount of time trying to scrounge up where the extra keys went and we worked with the other group on how to make it work, Meg and I lucked ou
t and ended up with a room all to ourselves (and a big room at that, complete with a balcony overlooking the ocean!) Exhausted from being up for over 18 hours, we found an English movie on TV about 2 girls traveling abroad that sufficiently freaked us out and attempted sleep.
The next morning started off with a bang as we made our way to a Chinese acrobat show. The show was amazing and included all sorts of acts - plate balancers, a mother/daughter team who did tricks off a ladder suspended from the ceiling, some people who twisted themselves in long ribbons hanging from the ceiling to do tricks, and many more. Perhaps the most amazing thing was the last act, which was a motorbike riding around in a large metal sphere. What started as one bike turned into two...then three...then four...then five...then six...then seven! Meg and I literally could not believe our eyes! After this we made our way to a green tea farm where we were able to see how gr
een tea grows. Next we made our way to the mysterious road. This road looks like it is going uphill...but it is actually going downhill. In fact, you can actually coast "up" it. It is a puzzling mystery to foreigners and Koreans alike, as noted by the group of middle aged Korean men with a level on the street trying to figure out the science behind it all!
From here we made our way to Loveland, an outdoor sculpture park that opened up in 2004. Korea has a very traditional culture, where it is rare to see public displays of affection, living with a boyfriend before marriage is fro
wned upon and being single past 30 is a big no-no. However, as these olden ideas clash with the more liberal younger generation, Korea has started to see some of these traditions falter. The more than 140 sculptures in the park were created by graduates of Seoul's Hongik University and range from G rated to R-rated (you do need to be over 18 to enter the park). After spending about an hour here, we made our way to the airport, tired (as usual) but happy with our successful weekend!
Fr
iday was Halloween party day at CIS! Halloween is not celebrated in Korea, but CIS has turned it into a huge deal. The foreign teachers turn the gym into a haunted house for all the students go through and we take the kids trick or treating to all the classrooms. For the kindergartners in particular the day is a big deal - the photographers come in, everyone is in costume (many of the afternoon kids didn't wear them) and we are (supposed) to take them outside to local businesses to trick or treat as well (it was canceled this year due to swine flu). My partner teacher for the haunted house, Nicole, and I created a graveyard for our section of the gym. We went all out, creating fake mounds, throwing some fake bloody hands and gauze in there, and even managed to wrangle up a fake skull. All the Korean supervisors spend the day in the 
gym, hiding in corners to pop out of kids and help keep things in control (the gym is almost completely dark and they of course, play scary noises/music). Since I have the Nemos, I was the first class to enter the haunted house. I had one boy who refused to go down the stairs and 3 girls who started crying less than 15 seconds after entering the gym. We had to turn the lights on and stop leading them through the haunted house before they were even half way done because all of my kids were refusing to move. To cheer the kids up after this traumatic experience I took them trick or treating and let them watch "Its the Great Pumpkin, C
harlie Brown!" Of course, while trick or treating, Kelly refused to go ask one of the teachers for candy because she was so afraid of the mask that went with his costume, but the rest did great!
My ESL K kids were also pretty funny to watch in the haunted house. They were all very nervous going down the stairs, especially when they were able to hear the music and see how dark it was. Hailey clung to me the entire time, bawling her eyes out. Christine went through the whole thing, but whimpered the entire time. And probably my favorite moment was when Joshua, dressed as Harry Potter, whipped out his wand and started yelling spells at Jenny (my supervisor) as she attempted to reach out and grab kids. I rounded out the festivities by giving everyone candy corn and painting their fingernails orange and black.
In more recent news, it has officially hit below freezing here. Tonight, the temperature dropped to 31 degrees. Of course, this is just a freak cold spell as it is supposed to be back to the high 60s by mid-week!
t on to tell us it was a pretty well known school with multiple branches called Canada International School. Shocked, I exclaimed "I work there!" Turns out that Gabriel is the father of my principal, Sae Hee, and one of the Korean supervisors, Ginny. Gabriel called his wife over and we all chatted while sipping wine and eating birthday cake. In the middle of our conversation, Ginny called her mom about something. You can imagine Ginny's shock when her mom tells her that there is someone at the table who wants to speak with her and I say hello. Gabriel ended up giving us both his card and extending an open invitation to dinner at his house if we ever make it our to Ilsan. So even in a city with a population of over 10 million, you come to realize that the world really is a very small place!This past weekend Meg and I headed to another one of Korea's islands, Jeju. This island is off the southern tip of Korea, about an hour flight from Seoul. In order to make our 8:15 am flight, we were up by 4:45 on Saturday morning. Luckily, we met up with the Adventure Korea group at Starbucks so we were able to get some caffeine for the road. We arrived in Jeju by 9:15 and made our way to the first stop on our whirlwind trip, a "museum." It is still a mystery to both of us as to what exactly this muse
um was. We were told it had something to do with the history of Korea, but there were relatively few signs (and zero in English) and there was no rhyme or rhythm to the artifacts. For example, one case had a boom box in it. Another, about 30 pairs of tennis shoes. As we continued to wander through it, we finally came to the conclusion that it was supposed to represent life in Korea, as there were various buildings (such as a school, dance club, post office, houses, and so forth) but we still have no idea what time period or area of Korea the museum was representing. However, seeing as it was a week before Halloween, a haunted house had been set up in one of the model buildings. It was mostly just noises and light-up figurines but it was still a random, fun experience (and sadly, probably the highlight of the museum!) We made our way to one of the volcanic craters on the island, walking up the pathways that were made of pumice stone. Th
e crater itself wasn't much to see but it did provide spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. We were also able to get our first picture with a dol hareubang (stone grandfather) which is a distinct cultural feature of Jeju that is carved out of basalt and can be seen everywhere on the island. After having traditional Jeju black pig for lunch (some pigs on Jeju have black hair and their meat is chewier than normal pork), we made our way to a ferry to head over to Udo (cow) Island. The island was only about 15 minutes away by ferry and upon our arrival we boarded a bus that would take us around the island. Seeing as it is a very small island (the population is only about 1, 750 people) the bus drove us around the entire thing. Along the way we stopped at various spots to check out the scenery. We were also able to spend some time on the beach and even played in the water (yes,
the water was cold, but not so cold that we couldn't enjoy getting our feet wet)! The beach was one where the haenyo can usually be seen diving, but unfortunately they weren't out the day we were there. The haenyo are female divers of Jeju who become the main bread winner of the family because of the dependency on sea products in the area. They dive up to depths of 65 feet and are known to be able to hold their breath for more than 2 minutes. After leaving the island we had dinner and made our way to the hotel where we would be staying...and unlike normal Adventure Korea accommodations, this one did actually qualify as a hotel. The rooms had beds (usually we end up sleeping Korean style, aka, on the floor) and space for more than 4 people to actually exist. Unfortunately, Meg and I got caught up in a room mix-up that resulted in about 30 minutes of frustration. Somehow, 8 people in the group ended up with one 3 person room to share. After the leader spent a considerable amount of time trying to scrounge up where the extra keys went and we worked with the other group on how to make it work, Meg and I lucked ou
t and ended up with a room all to ourselves (and a big room at that, complete with a balcony overlooking the ocean!) Exhausted from being up for over 18 hours, we found an English movie on TV about 2 girls traveling abroad that sufficiently freaked us out and attempted sleep.The next morning started off with a bang as we made our way to a Chinese acrobat show. The show was amazing and included all sorts of acts - plate balancers, a mother/daughter team who did tricks off a ladder suspended from the ceiling, some people who twisted themselves in long ribbons hanging from the ceiling to do tricks, and many more. Perhaps the most amazing thing was the last act, which was a motorbike riding around in a large metal sphere. What started as one bike turned into two...then three...then four...then five...then six...then seven! Meg and I literally could not believe our eyes! After this we made our way to a green tea farm where we were able to see how gr
een tea grows. Next we made our way to the mysterious road. This road looks like it is going uphill...but it is actually going downhill. In fact, you can actually coast "up" it. It is a puzzling mystery to foreigners and Koreans alike, as noted by the group of middle aged Korean men with a level on the street trying to figure out the science behind it all!From here we made our way to Loveland, an outdoor sculpture park that opened up in 2004. Korea has a very traditional culture, where it is rare to see public displays of affection, living with a boyfriend before marriage is fro
wned upon and being single past 30 is a big no-no. However, as these olden ideas clash with the more liberal younger generation, Korea has started to see some of these traditions falter. The more than 140 sculptures in the park were created by graduates of Seoul's Hongik University and range from G rated to R-rated (you do need to be over 18 to enter the park). After spending about an hour here, we made our way to the airport, tired (as usual) but happy with our successful weekend! 
Fr
iday was Halloween party day at CIS! Halloween is not celebrated in Korea, but CIS has turned it into a huge deal. The foreign teachers turn the gym into a haunted house for all the students go through and we take the kids trick or treating to all the classrooms. For the kindergartners in particular the day is a big deal - the photographers come in, everyone is in costume (many of the afternoon kids didn't wear them) and we are (supposed) to take them outside to local businesses to trick or treat as well (it was canceled this year due to swine flu). My partner teacher for the haunted house, Nicole, and I created a graveyard for our section of the gym. We went all out, creating fake mounds, throwing some fake bloody hands and gauze in there, and even managed to wrangle up a fake skull. All the Korean supervisors spend the day in the 
gym, hiding in corners to pop out of kids and help keep things in control (the gym is almost completely dark and they of course, play scary noises/music). Since I have the Nemos, I was the first class to enter the haunted house. I had one boy who refused to go down the stairs and 3 girls who started crying less than 15 seconds after entering the gym. We had to turn the lights on and stop leading them through the haunted house before they were even half way done because all of my kids were refusing to move. To cheer the kids up after this traumatic experience I took them trick or treating and let them watch "Its the Great Pumpkin, C
harlie Brown!" Of course, while trick or treating, Kelly refused to go ask one of the teachers for candy because she was so afraid of the mask that went with his costume, but the rest did great! 
My ESL K kids were also pretty funny to watch in the haunted house. They were all very nervous going down the stairs, especially when they were able to hear the music and see how dark it was. Hailey clung to me the entire time, bawling her eyes out. Christine went through the whole thing, but whimpered the entire time. And probably my favorite moment was when Joshua, dressed as Harry Potter, whipped out his wand and started yelling spells at Jenny (my supervisor) as she attempted to reach out and grab kids. I rounded out the festivities by giving everyone candy corn and painting their fingernails orange and black.
In more recent news, it has officially hit below freezing here. Tonight, the temperature dropped to 31 degrees. Of course, this is just a freak cold spell as it is supposed to be back to the high 60s by mid-week!
Love that Harry(Joshua) used his magic during the Haunted House. So cute!
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