So... It's been a while

Yes, it's been forever - but you can't blame a girl for having fun and neglecting her blog... right??  Time continues to fly past me at the speed of light - can you believe that next week marks my 10 month anniversary with Korea?!? (Me and Korea, we're thinking of buying matching T-shirts and phone accessories to mark the occasion... maybe well get a few sticker photos made too...)  

Anyway, I thought rather than spend years trying to make a million posts to get things up to date, I'd just add some links to my facebook photo albums... after that's done I promise to make a concerted effort to blog more often - which should be a little more manageable now that the weather is distinctly more winter-like.

Not surprisingly, my blogging slackness coincided with two things; 1) Claire arrived in Korea and 2) the weather warmed up to a point where weekends away upped in frequency, so first up I'll start with some links to albums from said weekends away.  

I guess the best place to start is way back in... well actually, I can't remember if it was May or June.... but we'll kick off with an impromptu weekend away in Yeoju with Claire, James and John.  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=124774&l=9bd90&id=892645136

Next up, was one of my favourite weekends to date - The Boreyong Mud Festival where group of 10 of us spent a crazy July weekend at Daechon beach covering ourselves with 'therapeutic' mud and generally just running amok... who knew mud could be so much fun?? http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=151128&l=75c8c&id=892645136

A week or two after the mud festival I was lucky enough to get a week long visit form my lovely sister Cathy and her Gyles.  It was SO awesome to see them and equally as cool to be able to share my life here with someone from home - at least now someone will know who/what/where I'm talking about when I get back, plus now they won't be able to tease me and say I was really in a mental asylum for a year or something... 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=158540&l=55e6b&id=892645136

The day after Cath'n'Gyles left Korea, my summer holidays started (typical right?)... oh and by vacation, I mean 4 days and a weekend off work... bullshit excuse for the word 'holiday' if you ask me, but something was definitely better than nothing, and Claire and I took the opportunity to beach-bum on the north of the east coast of Korea in a great little place called Sokcho.  The beach rest was welcomed with open arms, and when the weather turned on us (as it is known to do in the middle of rainy season), we took the opportunity to check out the beautiful Mt. Serok - we didn't actually see much from the top due to some crazy cloud cover, but it was pretty all the same...  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=160153&l=b1446&id=892645136

Korean thanksgiving (Chuseok) fell early in September this year, and Claire, Jeff and I decided to take advantage of the one public holiday where the whole of Korea WASN'T heading to Jeju Island, by heading to... yup - Jeju Island!  Jeju has been likened to a lot of places ranging from Hawaii, Australia, Disney Land and just straight up Paradise... I think that the last two give the most apt description of Jeju -(you may understand the Disney Land part when you look at the first few photos... at times it was a bit bizarro). It was a great long weekend - even if the rain did spoil our hopes of another 4 days of beach bumming.  Instead of tanning we went to the circus, rode funny bikes, looked at waterfalls and bypassed security so that we could climb Mt. Halla in flip-flops (it's Korea's tallest mountain I'll have you know)... http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=165125&l=a4603&id=892645136   

The most recent and last long weekend before Christmas was at the start of October - our lovely school gave us 4 days while everyone else got 3 (whoot whoot!) so my travel buddy, Claire, and I decided to check another few places off our list of things to see.  This time we headed South East to the country's 3rd largest city, Daegu.  There we perused the traditional herbal medicine market, and some other smelly markets and hung out with old men and random wild animals in a community park.  Then we made our way to the ancient Silla era city of Gyeongju.  This place is stunning and should be on every must-see list in Korea... we spent days strolling around ancient tombs, serene ponds and beautiful temples. Check out the photos to see for yourselves. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=173477&l=6ea73&id=892645136

That wraps up the weekends away - and if you weren't already starting to get the picture as to why it's been so long between entries... well you just should be.  I'll leave you with another few links to a few other facebook albums I put up (Mama, Pa and Dad, I hope you know this link business is almost entirely for your benefit as you are just about the only people I know that don't have a facebook account...) Anyway, here is a link to some pics of the kiddies at school - little angel-faced monsters that they are... http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=158536&l=7e900&id=892645136

This one showcases the latest installments in the world of EngRish...  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171567&l=92b1e&id=892645136

And last but not least, the extravaganza that was Halloween - first for the kids, then for the grown-ups (if you can't figure out what Claire and I went as, we are dressed as our kindergarten children - complete with our school backpacks and all)... http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=179533&l=49c19&id=892645136

Well, that brings me pretty much up-to-date with life in the dong of Youngtong... I'll try and keep on top of things a little better from now on... but just remember that I said try and not promise. xx

Recently Local... (I'll tell you about the weekends away some other time)

Recent blog slackness is once again duly noted... my lovely sister has even created a facebook group called "Amy should update her blog" (of which I am now a member), in an attempt to give me a swift kick out of cyber-laziness and back into bloggy-diligence.  Given that I'm not one to turn my back on a good cause, here's one of what I hope to be a few updates on life in Happy Suwon... I've opted for photo-board style once again as it's the only way I can begin to cover what's been going on.

  HONGDAE (or HONGDAZE as we like to call it)

 Tucked away in Seoul, is a little place called Hongdae that houses a myriad of bars, pubs and clubs.  It is considered mandatory for anyone living in Korea to partake in periodic wild nights out in Hongdae.  The last friday of every month is "club night" where, for about $25 you can purchase an arm-band that gives you a 'free' drink and 'free' entry into just about any club in the area.  When one goes out in Hongdae they must party the night away until the busses and subway starts running again in the morning to take them home... at which point the prospect of sitting on public transport for over an hour is so unappealing, money is pooled and extra people are squished into cabs for the long ride home (thus defeating the purpose of staying til 7am, yet never stops it from happening). During my first venture to Hongdae we visited a number of bars, including an 80's bar (the name of which escapes me now... perhaps it's 80's Club), that had Milli Vanilli AND INXS on vinyl - really, I was like a pig in poop.   

BUDDHA HAD A BIRTHDAY

In May, we had 2 long weekends in a row (oooh yeah!).  One, was for Children's day and the other was to celebrate Buddhas Birthday... (no, I'm not sure how old he turned this year).  Buddha likes to get his party started a week early with a few lantern festivals around the country, so I went to Insadong in Seoul with my friends Darian and Darryn to check it out on the Saturday... shame the festival didn't actually start until the Sunday...  however, we did get to see a few lanterns that had been put up in preparation.  I really ♡ lanterns (maybe almost as much as I love cherry blossoms). 

Disappointed with the lack of lanterns to look at, we wondered around Insadong for a while.  I like Insadong as it's one of the few areas of Seoul I've been to that has a traditional feel to it (although, it is a fairly touristy-traditional feel).  There are a lot of old-style buildings, restaurants, shops and tea-houses in they alleys that run off the main street, all selling 'traditional' Korean crafts etc (if you can call a Hanbok-wearing Hello-Kitty mobile phone charm traditional... but there are a lot of calligraphy, ceramic, book and antique shops too).  Anyway, the main drag of Insadong is one of the only areas of Korea I've been to without a million 7-11 style convenience stores dotted along the street at 5 meter intervals - and better still, there is not a Paris Baguette or Dunkin' Donuts in sight (which is less than I can say for every other street in Korea)... there is, however, a Starbucks on the main street of Insadong.  Booooo.  BUT, the reason I mention this is that there was such a hoo-ha about a Starbucks opening in such a traditional area, that it was a condition of opening that the company name be written in Hangul on the storefront rather than in latin script... it roughly reads "Su-Ta Bok-Su Ko-Pi".  Love it! 

Not too far from Insadong you can also find this little gem - the Chonggye Stream, which is definitely one of my favourite places to spend time in Seoul.  The stream, that runs through the centre of the city, was covered over by development for decades (?), but was re-opened a few years ago to be used as a public recreation space... it's just really beautiful and peaceful area of the city.

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

Foreigners aren't always loved in Korea... we look funny, we tend to drink a lot and we don't really understand a lot of the social customs of Korea, so we probably unwittingly offend the locals from time to time.  So we decided to do some image maintenance and show the local Koreans that we're not all the scary drunks we appear to be.  We decided that it was time to give something back to the community...  A group of foreign teachers living around Youngtong managed to organise an 'international' festival to run alongside a market day being held by the local YMCA (no mean feat given the language barriers we face here!).  So one Saturday in May, a gaggle of foreign teachers (not sure what the collective noun would be) from the Youngtong area set up stalls near the YMCA flea market with free activities for the local kids.  There was paper airplane competitions, colouring in competitions, hair-wraps, sports, drawing - everything!  I was working on the face-painting site with 4 other girls and WOW did we have kids lining up to get our crappy artwork on their faces!! - Even when a few Korean girls from the YMCA set up their own face-painting stand near us and the kids realised these girls had artistic skill far superior to the foreigners.  It was so much fun - although I'm sure a few kids were wondering what the hell they had painted on them... see exhibit A:

Despite the fact that this kid is still in a pram and therefore isn't really qualified to pass judgement on my art work, I couldn't help but notice her look of "W.T.F?" when she saw the flowers on her arm and the rabbit on her hand.  I did some awesome spiders (even if I do say so myself), but I wont be quitting my day job to become a face painter - even if I wasn't the worst there... My buddy Joe painted a robot on this kids face (being a male, he thought he was more qualified to do this than we were)... well, this robot was so terrible it looked like a rag-doll. He told the little boy's dad that it was an "American robot" and retired his paintbrush then and there... The local's loved us despite this.

SUWON FOLK VILLAGE

Me'n' Darian at the Folk Villageeeee (this is how the word 'village' is said by koreans - I'm not kidding, if you want to get to a village of sorts by cab, you have to say villageeee to be understood - good friends of mine live in youngtong villageee, so I get to say it a lot)

.

I don't know what to say about the village - I guess it's the Sovereign Hill of Suwon.... but, in typical Korean style,  there were a lot of things at the village-eee that one wouldn't expect from a 'traditional' village.  The above picture and the fact that the folk village has an amusement park speaks for itself and the sheer randomness this country can bring - humorously strange things in stranger locations .

MONKEY BEACH

Another night out in Seoul... this time, at a club called Monkey Beach in Apgujeong.  Monkey Beach followed a farewell dinner for my lovely friend Darian...  A group of about 30 of us went to an all you can eat and drink restaurant (salad bar, seafood, meats, pasta beer, wine and spirits and more - all for $25!) then stumbled our way to the club...

All that needs to be said about this photo is that there is a cocktail in that bucket.  A cocktail with 12 shots of tequila sunrise goodness.  A cocktail with 12 shots, that only costs 12,000 won (about AUD$12.10). A cocktail with 12 shots, that only cost $12 and some very thirsty people.  The only other thing that needs to be said about this photo is that the cabbie had to pull over a few times on the way home for our mate James... to, erm, de-cocktail.  

R-16 FESTIVAL

The R-16 festival was an urban arts festival and b-boy competition held in Suwon.  Yes, I went to an international breakdancing competition in Korea -bahahahaha!  It was so fun - and the breakdancing really was world class! (in my humble breakdancing opinion). 'Crews' (see, I'm down with the lingo) from 15 countries were competing for the title, which Korea unsurprisingly won...  little rigged perhaps?- I was sure Japan or France had it in the bag.  Anyway,  I love how Koreans can fit cartoons into the most unlikely situations....

Me'n'Trav with the 'boy mascot' (could you get any LESS b-boy??)

The crowd at R-16... The Korean MC liked to say 'aiii'iite' at the end of his sentences.... the American MC made up a new word:  he said the 'R' in R-16 stands for 'Respect' then he said it also stands for 'Recognise'... then he actually said "Respecognise".  Oh, how we laughed. It's my favourite new word.

AUSTRALIA WEEKEND

Last weekend, Claire (my friend from home who came to Korea to take a job at my school at the start of May)our buddy Trav (who is another Melbournian we met over here) and I, while waiting to meet some friends in Itaewon, Seoul,  decided to head to an Aussie bar in the search for a Coopers Pale Ale.  Now, I'd like to say that this was the first Australian ANYTHING I've been to in the 5 months I've been here, and I'm not going to make a habit out if it.... but it really was nice to sit down and eat beetroot in a hamburger while watching a bit of AFL on TV (even if they didn't have pale ale). Anyway, I'd heard rumors that this bar was owned by the old drummer from the Chiorboys.... turns out the rumors are true - as you may or may not have noticed from the above picure.

The following day, Claire and I joined a bunch of our American friends to watch Australia Vs USA in Womens Soccer - just another wonderful event to take place in Happy, Harmonious Suwon.   Not wanting to be outdone by our friend with a U.S. head-bandanna, we sacrificed the last of our Aussie flag stickers and got ourselves down to the shops for some green and gold ribbon...  We were the ONLY Aussie supporters there, so LUCKY we had some flare to show it (and lucky we were able to convert some korean kids and old men to our side... they liked us so much, they even shared their lunch of kim-bap with us!)... too bad Australia lost the game though - perhaps our chanting wasn't loud enough??

I'm pretty sure these kids thought we were famous... who was I to burst their bubble???

 

The end for now.

P.S.  This post is dedicated to my sister Cathy - cos she made me promise to dedicate it to her. 

Flowers in trees are pretty

I have never experienced the seasons change as rapidly as they do in Korea.  A few weeks ago it was winter - freezing and snowing, the trees were bare and the grass was completely dead and brown... the next week it poured with rain, but I lost the need for my thick winter jacket... the week after, the sun was shining again - it was shining nearly all winter, but I could actually feel it's warmth this time.  The grass turned green over night and all of a sudden, the bare trees of winter burst into full, glorious spring time bloom - it is, in  a word, stunning. And better still, no longer am I bound to the confines of my apartment with the ondol switched onto high.  Now, my time off work is spent lazing about in one of the many nearby parks with a book or a few friends... it's noice. It's different.  It's unuuusual.  

Most of the foreign teachers around here had Wednesday off work due to a local or provincial election (can't be sure of which it was... most of the explanations I've received from my Korean co-workers have been vague and/or sketchy to say the least) - but we at the wonderful ECC were lucky enough to get Tuesday off as well! (yes, we were the envy of many).  So my fellow Aussie co-worker, Mardi, and I decided to head into Yeouido Island in Seoul to have a look at the Cherry Blossom Festival.  Wow....  I don't normally go ga-ga over flowers (or trees for that matter), but these flowery trees were gorgeous.  I must've said "it's so pretty" about 7 million times in the first 10 minutes of being there - and that's just the times I said it out loud. 

A stream running through the beautiful Yeouido Park - with the obligatory high-rise buildings in the background... wouldn't be Seoul without them.

(BTW.  Yeouido... seriously, how many vowels do you want to put in a single word!?)

I like photos that capture the old and new... well given that the park isn't even 10 years old (like most things in Korea) I guess I should say that I like the contrast between the traditional and the modern style - or something like that.

Purdy cherry blossoms... around much of the world, these would often just be regarded as nice flowers, but almost everything in Korea carries a deeper symbolism - even the letters of the Korea alphabet represent the land, the sky, people etc.  Aside from the visual beauty of blossoms, Korean thinking uses their short, but stunning existence as a metaphor for life.  The fleeting glory of the blossom signifies the precarious and transitory nature of life - something we're supposed to be reminded of during the festival.  Nice huh?

... Aaaand back down to earth - in the Korea of day-to-day-  an outing wouldn't be complete outing without seeing something completely bizzare... and here is a fine example.  Yes, these girls are riding a tandem bike - whilst wearing roller blades.  "Why?", you may ask?  Well, my guess is as good as yours... but it typifies the sheer randomness I see here on a daily basis.  I'm learning not to ask questions about it as the answers are generally more confusing than the behaviour in question.

The Cherry Blossom Festival was a nice day out for many a couple... as I imagine it would be anywhere in the world.  Difference here is that couples often wear matching outfits.  The matching aqua tops above are far from the best his-n-hers outfits I've seen, but at least it gives you an idea.  I once saw a couple wearing identical hot pink t-shirts with a picture of said couple printed (in a love heart) on the front. Let me also throw in that the guys carry their girlfriends handbags everywhere - no matter how girly the bag may be. 

Ahh... Beondegi - the bane of my pedestrian life in Korea.  Beondegi are boiled silkworm larvae... mmm... unfortunately it is also very popular snack here - you can get it in on the street, in restaurants, bars and even in a can at the supermarket.  Every bloody street vendor (of which there are many) boils up beondegi for peckish passers-by.  The main problem is (if you can get past the obvious 'you are eating freaking pupae' issue) - that it smells absolutely vile.  I have to remember not to breathe when within 15 meters of it, as it is one of the most pungent, thickest, stick-in-the-back-of-your-throat smells going 'round. I've had a few close calls with the old gag reflex and really want to avoid jumping on the Korean band-wagon that apparently okays vomiting on the street (although they do it when drunk... which, judging by the number of spew piles dotted around, is quite often). Moral of the story is: I hate Beondegi.

Ah yes.  Back to the Cherry Blossom Festival.... in all it's Korean-ness.

This picture is my attempt at capturing the Korean penchant for unashamedly photographing oneself in a range of hilarious poses... but they do it for serious.  I could have taken this picture a million times since arriving here- insomuch that everyday I see girls sitting on their lunch break taking pouty photos of themselves with their mobile phones... or just sitting and and checking themselves out in the obligatory hand held mirror.  I'm not sure how much of it is vanity and how much of it is just taking care of their appearance... but it makes me giggle.  

Another interesting insight into Korea... here you see families and friends picnicing on a hillside.  Well, to be accurate, this was less of a hillside and more of a ditch leading down from the blossomed Yunjungno street to large, noisy road.  I'm not sure why this was deemed a nice spot to sit and eat kim-chi and drink ginseng tea - particularly when Yeouido park was mere minutes away - but for some reason it was.  It's not like there was even a nice view across the large road onto which the picnicers were facing - there was just a big, packed car park!  I really don't get it, but again, I got a good giggle out of it!

I don't think I'll ever get used to the cartoons... This one is on a police station.  If there's one profession that shouldn't use cartoons, it would probably be the police, right?  And maybe politicians.  Which reminds me - the candidates for the election on Wednesday... well, their campaigns involved a lot of  dancing and singing in the streets.  One candidate (I only know him as #2) had his campaigners set up shop on a traffic island in the middle of a 6 lane road and dance on the back of a truck to cheesy music while illuminated by a range of colourful disco lights.  No joke.... perhaps candidate #2 is a joke.

I put this one in just because it is such a typical view in Korea - I like the views across the Han river because it's one of the only times (in Seoul at least) that you can see more than 100 meters in front of you - normally you are crowded in by big buildings.

Hehehe... this kid had a sticker with his name and parents mobile phone number stuck to his back.  It made me happy to see that this kind of thing happens all around the world - I remember my dad writing my name and address on my arm in permanent marker at the Royal Melbourne Show... just in case we got lost and it was really rainy or something.

More odd posing with flowers by the Koreans... that's three different photos going on in the background there...  Cos squatting with your face in a pot of flowers is the most natural pose you could get!

Meh... when in Korea eh? But just as I suspected, the photo looks ridiculous and will never make it's way into a photo frame in my house... mostly because it looks like I'm on a squat toilet hidden behind the flowers (perhaps I was?).  I'm yet to discover how any of the others taking this style of photo could have avoided the same problem, yet I'd put money on it that this pose is the source of many a framed photo in Korea.

Seoul through the blossoms.

Yunjungno street with its festival goers.  There were parts of the street that were so densely covered with blossoms that it felt like we were walking in a cloud... or a fluffy, white tunnel... or some other analogy that describes the feeling better... 

And to top off a great day, I found this.  It's a truck with rotisserie chickens on the back.  Yup, you can buy an entire chicken at a street stall... intended as a snack on the subway home?? Who knows, but I think it's brilliant.

Anyway, I hope that my day at the Cherry Blossom Festival gave you all a better insight into Korea... and how weirdly wonderful it is.

  Until I can be bothered blogging again...

More about the rug-rats...

My new role as a kinder teacher has not only forced me into morning classes (ugh... I hate getting up no matter where I am in the world), but it's also given me a much better opportunity to be a lot more involved in the hagwon I work in.  Although I still only teach some classes 2 or 3 times per week, there are 19 kids that I teach on a daily basis (one class of 7 and another of 12).  I feel like I'm starting to establish a good relationship with some of these kids (even though some of them drive me absolutely nuts!)

On top of this I'm the only foreign teacher on the full kindy shift and consequently I've become quite the celebrity around school... Often when I walk out of the staff-room for a class I'm confronted by a sea of children fighting over who will hold my hand (lucky I've got two) and who will carry my basket to the classroom.  Upon arrival in the classroom there is often a scramble to give me a back massage (I honestly did not teach nor ask them to do this) and a fight over who gets to be my 'helper' for the class.  If only all of this meant they'd behave themselves a little better during class time... 

The kids seem to love all the teachers and we are often inundated with attempts to get our attention.  Every time I walk down the hallway I'm greeted with choruses of "Hello Amy Teacher!!", vigorous waving and peace signs (très cool yes).  Sometimes they just run up yelling "Amy Teacher, Amy Teacher" (they always say it twice) to get my attention, but then forget to have something to say for after the greeting... or they just say something so totally odd that all I can do is nod, say "oooh" or "hmmm" and smile.  For example, the other day while on my way to the photocopy machine, I had the following random exchange with a girl called Gina who is in her third week of learning English.

Gina: "Amy Teacher, Amy Teacher!"

Amy: "Yes Gina"

Gina: "Hello"

Amy: "Hi" (smile... wait for something more, then continue walking)

Gina: (running after me) "Amy Teacher, Amy Teacher!"

Amy: "Yes Gina"

Gina: (pause) "Uuummm... Zebra!"

Amy: "Hmmm! Zebra.  Good!" (smile... wait for something more, then continue walking)

Gina: (again, running after me) "Amy Teacher, Amy Teacher"

Amy: "Yeah"

Gina: (long pause) "... Glue!"

Riiiggghhht...

Anyway, last Thursday three of my kinder classes were cancelled due to some nasty fumes coming into the school from renovations happening on the floor below.  While the school was being aired (opening up the windows, cranking up the fans, laying out plates of giant chopped onions- wtf? I thought we were trying to get rid of the smell...) we took the kinder kids to the Gyeonggi Provincial Museum.  YAY field trip!!  It was really fun to spend some time with the kids out of the classroom for a change - although I didn't get much of a chance to see any of the exhibits as I was constantly either chasing seven 4 year olds around the museum or trying to get them to stop hanging from my arms screaming "What's that! Look! What's that!".  I have to say, as annoying as the hanging off the arms was, it was also pretty of sweet.  Joey, one of the girls, was particularly clingy that day and spent most of the morning kissing my hand, or my jacket, or my scarf, or my bag, or my camera.... or anything that was remotely traceable to me.  As weird as that was, it was nice to know that my students like me... and really, it's days like that that make the more trying times in class a lot easier to bear.

 Anyway, here are some pictures of my kindies at school and at the museum...

The kinder kiddies en masse.

And now for the classes - little rascals that they are...

SUN CLASS

L-R: Julie, Kelly, Sam and Daniel.  

These are the babies who are 5 y/o in Korean age - hence about 3 or 4 in Western age.  Missing from this picture is Candy.  She was crying - as she does 95% of the day.  I have never seen a kid cry so much... seriously, she colours outside the lines - cries.  Drops a crayon - cries.  Sneezes - cries.

Kelly and Julie are the most awkward, clumsiest little girls I've ever seen!  Consequently I think that they are both an adorable and constant source of entertainment.  They can barely walk without bumping into something - each other usually, otherwise it's walls, doors, chairs, tables... everything.  They both break into a sweat at the slightest hint of physical activity and are often found with food all over their faces, clothes on backwards and shoes on the wrong feet. Standard kid behaviour, yes, but these two take it to a whole new level. Gorgeous.  

As for the boys in Sun class... Daniel is lovely and generally pretty well behaved.  Sam, on the other hand is trouble. Actually, I think he may be a reincarnation of the devil - but he still has his cute moments.  He has 2 older brothers who play rough with him and as a consequence he is indestructible (yet still loves a band-aid on a bruise).  Sam enjoys; breaking things, head-butting things, throwing things, climbing on things and yelling.  I actually really like him, but wouldn't be surprised if he serves a few stints in juvi  before he reaches high school.

I teach Sun class twice a week - one of these classes is Science.  They can't even write their own names and I'm somehow supposed to talk to them about the properties of magnets and polarized lenses! Whatever, we just play with the science stuff, do some drawings and generally just make a mess instead.  

Sam at the museum.  He ran around for a solid hour wielding this beating stick and terrorising all in his wake in the process.  Between 6 teachers, we couldn't manage to take the stick away from him. 

(also, you may notice a little pair of black legs in flight in the background... they belong to Erin - more on her later - who was mid-tumble as I took this photo.  I don't know if you can see it too well on here, but her legs are completely tangled together just from walking... something only Erin can do)

Hmm... Safe kids games.  Let's all stand in a circle and throw a pointy stick into a really small opening.  Of course this turned into 'throw the stick as hard as you can at the person opposite you'...

MOON CLASS

I still can't remember all these kids names... neither can they.  

Moon class are 6 year olds (4 or 5 western age) who have never learnt English before.  They were all given English names on their first day and I can guarantee that 90% of them have either forgotten or changed them without telling us.  Therefore most of them generally don't answer to any name.  They are HARD work... thankfully I only teach them a few times a week!

MOUNTAIN CLASS

Paul, Andrew, Andy (the one who cried through his first week at school), Alvin (I don't know why he chose that name - he was called Eddie before and that's heaps cooler!), Brian, Ricky, Gina (zebra/glue girl) and Judy

I pity the two girls in this class of boys.  They are sweet and quiet while they boys yell, punch and kick each other ALL DAY.  Mountain class are 7 in Korean age and have never learnt English before either.  The difference between the 6 and 7 year old classes is HUGE though, and these kids actually remember their names (despite changing them often), so they are a bit easier to control.  Andrew and Brian had a little stint of sitting outside the classroom earlier in the week and the whole class is starting to calm down a little as a consequence as I think that they are now a little scared of me (mwah ha ha ha!).

OCEAN CLASS

Back: Cherry, Lewis, Lynn, Grant and Jacky.

Centre: Sarah, Kevin and David.

Front: Angela, Andy, Sophia and Ann.

Ocean class is the other class I teach 5 days a week.  I love them sometimes and really-don't-like-verging-on-hate them at others.  Today, I kind of like them again, but yesterday I was definitely not a fan.  There are 12 kids in this class including 6 big, strong personalities.  This creates chaos.  When they are good, they are great though (ain't it always the way?!)... it's just getting them to be quiet for a few minutes that is my greatest daily challenge.  We are all on a discipline rampage with this class at the moment and I really don't like having to be strict, but they get seriously out of control (just thinking about that makes me not like them again)... please be good tomorrow, please be good tomorrow, please be good tomorrow. 

The boys: Andy, Kevin, David and Grant... Andy is an absolute angel (I heart Andy!).  The others are the trouble makers.

Sarah is possibly the sweetest kid in the entire school.

Sophia hugs my leg for a solid 5 minutes every day.  I tell her she is a leech... but I don't think she gets it.

Angela knows how to strike a pose.  She's a feisty little one who likes to dish out the hugs when she's happy...  Tell her off though, and she can deliver a dagger stare that rivals the most practiced divas.

Grant - the smallest boy in the class but the biggest pot stirrer around.  Grant makes the bullets for the other boys to shoot (but he looks so cute!).

STAR CLASS

Leo, Lynn, Rosemary, Joey, Kyle and Erin (hiding behind her book).

I'm not going to deny it, this is my favourite class - hands down, no competition whatsoever.  It was this class that noticed my resemblance to the Korean penguin cartoon Pororo and it is this class that I am generally in charge of when we do anything outside the school walls.  Leo and another boy, Sean (who was sick the day I took this photo), were recently moved into star class, giving Kyle some boy power (and apparently a growing attitude!).  As a class they can be pretty rowdy, but usually quieten down when I tell them to (or threaten to take away their stickers). There are often tears, but we all hug it out and everything is fine (yes, I taught them to say 'hug it out').  They have the attention spans of, well, the 4 year olds they are, but can dance to the Wiggles 'Hot Potato' song for a solid 15 minutes (which I love as it doesn't involve me trying to teach them to write! Plus, let's be honest here, I certainly don't mind a boogie to the wiggles every now and then... or every day as the case may be now). 

Joey (the hand/jacket/scarf/bag/camera kisser).  

Distinguishing characteristics: Very cuddly. Is built like a midget giraffe . 

 Likes: Pinching my cheeks and singing the "5 Little Monkeys" song.

Dislikes: Blueberry lollies.

Favourite crayon colour: Purple. 

Leo

Distinguishing Characteristics: Always wears entire outfits from the GAP

Likes: Saying "I can't do it" and pretending to be the Red Power Ranger (see above pose). 

Dislikes: Reading and writing

Favourite crayon colour: Red (like the Power Ranger)

Lynn

Distinguishing Characteristics: Almost always has her dress tucked into her tights after using the bathroom.

Likes: Saying "No!" (Amy: "Hello Lynne!" Lynne: "No Hello!").

Dislikes: The "5 Little Monkeys" song (she hates it so much that she sometimes covers her ears and hides under the table when I put the CD on... shame, as I have to play it every day because it accompanies their story book).

Favourite crayon colour: Pink.

Rosemary

Distinguishing characterisitcs: Wears nothing but PINK.  Sometimes looks like an old lady.

Likes: Arranging crayons in their correct colour order in the packet.

Dislikes: Being called Rosie. Crayons that are haphazardly put back into the packet. 

Favourite crayon colour: Sky Blue ("No light blue", she tells me, "sky blue").

Erin (the one who spotted my similarity to Pororo)

**Erin has 2 personalities that switch in an instant - happy Erin and angry Erin. See below the next picture for angry Erin's profile**

Distinguishing characteristics (of happy Erin):  The youngest in the class.  Is very floppy, bendy and awkward (trips over her own feet often).

Likes: Hiding behind the door or under the table and calling me "Pororo Teacher".

Dislikes: Leo and Kyle.

Favourite crayon colour: Orange.

Angry Erin

Distinguishing characteristics: Exhibits a scornful look that she has down to an art-form.

Likes: Scratching, hitting and screaming.

Dislikes: Everything.

Favourite crayon colour: None of them.

Like I said, sean was absent the day I had my camera in class and I couldn't get Kyle to stand still for long enough to take a photo, but I will give you their profiles anyway: 

Sean

Distinguishing characteristics: Very small and quiet.  Is often sick.

Likes: Picking his nose. Rosemary.

Dislikes: The "Heads, shoulders, knees and toes" song.

Favourite crayon colour: Dark blue.

Kyle

Distinguishing characteristics: Always wears flannel, tartan-print shirts.  Has rainbow striped leggings that he wears as stand-alone pants.

Likes: Playing the part of 'Mr. Crocodile' in the "5 Little Monkeys" song/story book. 

Dislikes: When I touch my nose (no idea why, but it limits my 'Simon Says' and 'Heads, shoulders, knees and toes' repertoires somewhat).

Favourite crayon colour: Green.

Here they are again as a complete class at the museum... they don't look very happy because they were hungry and pissed off that we had to go back to school...  So was I. 

The story of Dumb and Dumber

In the days leading up to the recent Lunar New Year break I'd been hanging to get out and see a bit more of 'traditional' Korea.  Aside from Thursdays trip to the Changdeokgung Palace, everything I'd seen of the country so far has been really modern and shiny and flashy (like neon flashy, not show-offy flashy)... and unless I'm mistaken and Dunkin' Donuts and Paris Baguette are actually remnants from the Silla Kingdom, I think it's pretty fair to say that at least visually, Yongtong isn't exactly dripping with traditional Korean artifacts and buildings.

The 5 day break provided me with the perfect opportunity to get out there and check out what else Korea has to offer.  On Saturday Ellen and I decided to head to the nearby city of Icheon- popular for it's ceramics, rice and natural hot springs. Mmm... hot springs...

And here begins the story of Dumb and Dumber (AKA. Ellen and Amy)

Our day didn't get off to the best start when we got a bus into Suwon city (north-west from here) to get a bus to Icheon (south-east from here) only to find that the second bus drove pretty much right past our apartment building (at least an hour or two wasted with that)... Furthermore, the bus driver on the way to Suwon was apparently training to be an off-road drag racer, which made for a bumpy and often hair-raising trip, some serious back jarring and sore behinds (this is probably why he was given the oldest, most rickety bus in Korea to drive). However, the bus ride was made all the more entertaining by a little man with very big shoes sitting a few rows in front (see below for the covert picture of the year award).... 

Now, I know the quality of the pic isn't the best, but unless this man is on his way to tap-dancing class (and hasn't attached his tappy bits yet), I am going to conclude that he is wearing high-heeled (and platformed) court shoes due to a severe complex about his lack of hight - a complex he has obviously harboured since childhood, ( a speculation I have made based on the agility and ease in which he mastered the aisle and stairs of the dirt-derby-speed-racer-bus as it barely slowed down to let him off at his stop). 

After arriving in Icheon we headed to the "Ceramics Villiage" (a village where ceramics are made, not a village made out of ceramics, I believe).  Getting off the local bus at the "Ceramics Village" bus stop, we were a little shocked to find a "Not a Ceramics Village".  

Yes, it's a paddock with nothing in it... AKA a "Not A Ceramics Village".

There were some shops (and cool statues) opposite the "Not A Ceramic Village"... selling ceramics (surprisingly enough)... although we decided we didn't really like clay that much anyway, so we just stood in the shops to get out of the freezing cold...  Really didn't bank on standing in a bloody paddock when I got dressed that morning.

Me, being cold (opposite the paddock).

We decided to have a walk around and look for the mysterious village of ceramics. This was scary as it involved walking down a highway with no pedestrian facilities. Plus we were having trouble feeling our extremities by this point which made walking somewhat difficult and painful.  The village would want to be pretty bloody good after all the effort we put into trying to find it... but we didn't. Find it, that is... not until we got back on the bus into Icheon city where we passed it about 5 mins down the road - we'd just gone the wrong way (Dumb and Dumber strike again!). Meh, it looked kinda crap anyway and upon re-reading the guide book, which pretty much said it was as crap as it looked (why neither of us read the entire article rather than just the misleading first sentence remains a mystery), we figured we hadn't missed out on anything much by not getting there.  Besides, it was a bit of an adventure... into a paddock... but we did see pretty mountains, a stunning sunset and some  interesting statues.

Umm, what the..??? If you look just above and below the sign that the carving is holding, you may understand my curiosity.  This statue was outside a building we found which could be named  "The Building That Was Closed and May or May Not Have Contained A Village for Ceramics".

The not-so-happy-campers... jaded with their trip to a paddock - even if it was a kinda 'pretty-surrounded-by-snow-capped-mountains' type of paddock.

Isn't this the dude from the video game Crash Bandicoot or something?

Arriving back in Icheon city after dark, we kept our fingers crossed that our attempt to find the hot springs would not be as disastrous as the ceramic village attempt... (thank goodness everything in Korea is open 'til late!) 

We stumbled across this picturesque bridge and and frozen lake on the way.  

Ellen's crafty camera work...

When we finally made it to the spa place we were suprised to find that what we thought would be a "bring-ya-swimmers" type of place turned out to be a room full of naked women greasing us off for wearing bathers. 

**Can I just add that I haven't run off to some hippy-nudist commune or anything, the nakedness is the norm in Korean bath houses (Jjimjilbang)... but we didn't expect in this place for some reason.   (I'll write about my experience at the Jjimjilbang some other time as it really does require a post of it's very own). **  

So we followed suit, or rather, removed suit, and did what we went there to do... we walked outside into the minus 10 degree night (yes, incredibly cold... particularly without clothes) and spent hours soaking in steaming hot herbal spas, mud spas, green tea spas, salt water spas, charcoal spas (although the charcoal one did smell and look a little like sewerage). We soaked away the cold that had frozen our bones in the paddock and soaked away all the memories of the "Ceramic Village" (still gets inverted commas as I am not sure it (a) actually exists or (b) is deserving of the title 'village')... we were hoping for snow, but when none came, we soaked and soaked some more until all fingers and toes were sufficiently prune like. Then, warm, relaxed and satisfied that the day had not gone completely to waste in a paddock, grabbed some dinner and headed home where Dumb and Dumber live to do dumb things another day.