Deokjin Park

August 5th and we had the day off work. In the afternoon we decided to visit Deokjin Park which is located not far from the uni area of Jeonbuk Dae. A large park centred around a natural pond with huge lotus flowers blooming within.

As we reached the pond round to the left is a pagoda that overlooks the park, it's such a peaceful place and while we we're enjoying just relaxing in the pagoda - a woman who was having a picnic with her family - offered us some food. Once again an example of just how nice and welcoming people here are.

The arched suspension bridge that takes you across the centre of the pond, this also leads to more trails to explore. There is also a huge theatre screen in the car park for anyone looking for a drive in.

We continued to walk around the park we came to another bridge, this time a smaller wooden one that snakes through that pond and really is quite beautiful. halfway across the bridge sits another pagoda, you get some great views from here especially at sunset as the arch bridge becomes silhouetted against the red sky.

You can spend as little or as long as you want here, if it coincides with your travels, they hold an - they hold an annual Dano Changpomul (Water Iris) Festival on the 5th day of the 5th month. On this day amongst the celebrations,  women wash their hair in iris-infused water from the pond to wish themselves good health for the coming year.

To view the full photo album please follow the link below
Deokjin Park Jeonju

Busan South Korea

From July 28th - August 1st, we had our first proper holiday in Korea. Me and Sophie took the bus down from Jeonju to Busan, which took about 4 hours or so. On arrival we met up with some friends who drove down the night before and made our way to the hotel which was only a stones throw away from Gwangalli Beach - cost was 60,000 won (£30) per night for a double room.

Just before we reached the beach, a couple of guys rode up on motor bikes, ones I've seen nothing like before. Some serious customisation going on here!

There are two things that I like about this photo, first is the way you have these two guys on beasts of bikes, then the guy on the far side rolls up with his little scooter and a honk of his horn! Second, after looking at the photo a little more closely, I notice the holstered gun on the guys hip - brilliant.

Anyway after being rather pleased with myself capturing this moment - thank you camera phone - we continued down the road to the beach.

The beach is beautiful with amazing views, behind you there's a strip of bars and restaurants that run the entire length of the beach that horse shoes round into the ocean with an amazing city backdrop. As you look out to sea from the beach, a bridge spans the horizon joining two sides of the city. At night the bridge lights up the ocean below for a spectacular view wether your relaxing on the beach, or enjoying a few beers in one of the many beach front bars.

The following day we all piled into Scotts car and off we went to visit  Haedong Yonggungsa Temple. First built in 1376 during the Goryeo Dynasty, this is the first coastal temple ever built in Korea. I strongly recommend this to anybody who's visiting Korea. As you make your way down some winding steps, the trees break to give you a partial view or the temple and ocean.

Soon enough the steps divide, to the left leads to the rocks below where you can sit with your feet in the ocean and enjoy the view. 

If you continue down the main steps they lead across the bridge you see above to the temple. On the far side of the bridge there is a water feature, and approximately 30 yards or so a chalice of sort. It is said that if you can throw a coin into the chalice from the bridge, you can make a wish. I suppose in much the same way as a wishing well, however you just need to hit the target. I did make a shot, however my wish ended up costing me more coins than it was probably worth.

Over the bridge you find the main temple, theres lots to see here from huge statues of Buddha to hundreds of tiny dolls that adorn some rocks. There's a cafe for some food and you can enter into the main temple to say a prayer if you wish. The only advice I would offer is to avoid the public toilets here - not good and will destroy a little part of this beautiful place.

We came here during the summer, the weather was amazing which helped make the day. However I've read that many people visit here on new years day to watch the sun rise an make their new years wish. Also during April the cherry blossoms are in full bloom which I can only imagine changes the whole experience of this temple.

I have taken more photos which I'll add a link for at the end of this post.

We probably spent half our day here and feeling suitably cultured we decided to head back to Gwangalli to lay on the beach, play in the sea and drink some beer. Now as beautiful as it looks, the sea isn't all that nice. There's a kind of film to the water and there was a fair bit of rubbish, not so bad you wouldn't want to swim, but still wouldn't put my head under thats for sure.

That night we sampled a few of the sea front bars that Gwangalli had to offer, we found ourselves in a bar called Thursday Party, there are two in close proximity but one had great staff with great music. Much of the next few hours have somehow evaded me, can't think why. 

After we left the bar, we loaded up with soju stumbled across to the beach and watched the sunrise from the ocean. This was certainly one sunrise I'll never forget.

The following day myself and Sophie went to Haeundae Beach, it's easy to get to via the subway - line 2. Haeundae in considered the best beach to visit in Busan and it is beautiful. There is a bit more to do in the surrounding area as well, more bars and restaurants. We went for a really nice curry here, which is hard to find in Korea. We spent the entire day just sunbathing on the beach, then once the sun was no longer high in the sky, we went to Busan Aquarium , which is right off the beach. 

I've got no photos from the Aquarium however because my phone died but it was fantastic. sharks, dolphins, giant turtles and some freaky ass fish I have know idea what they were. A good day out for all.

On our last day we had until late afternoon before our bus home. We decided to visit the Busan art gallery which was great, some great paintings, sculptures and instillation work. Also some amusing translation errors.

I have take lots of photos from the museum, I'll add a link to the full album at the end of this post.

Once we felt satisfied that we had pondered and critiqued everyones work with justified snobbery that one must in an art museum, we found that we weren't all that far from Bexco - Busan Exhibition Centre. Kind of like the NEC for us brits. We didn't know what was on but thought we'd chance it.

When we got there we couldn't quite get over the size of the place. As you walk into the courtyard, you are dwarfed by the surrounding buildings. 

Here they had an indoor water park, and much to our surprise a David Lachapelle exhibition. I do like Lachapelle's work and Sophie has often spoken of how she likes his work so this proved to be the perfect ending to our trip. Unfortunately, my phone once again died so there are no more photos. 

Sophie does have some so I might be able to add some later from her phone.

To see the full album though from our Busan trip please follow the link below:

Busan South Korea

Jeonju Hanok Village

It's 08:30 Saturday morning here in Jeonju, I've been awake since 06:00 for some unknown reason and have exhausted Bejeweled on my phone for the past two hours, Sophie is still asleep so I figure now would be a good time to try and catch up with the blog.

Now the good thing about my phone (Lumia 800) and I guess any smart phone these days is that when you take photos it also registers the time, date and location. The down side to that, is I can see how far behind I am with my blogs, and should probably stop waffling uninteresting bull and get on with it!

So here it is, if I may take you back to the morning of July 22nd 2012, we've already been in Jeonju for a month and a half by this point and experienced so much already, yet not entered the traditional area of Hanok Village. Yes We've been here before to the main street where we met Casanova - as mentioned in a previous post - but not entered into the walls of Hanok.

As you enter the main street, a short walk and on your left hand side you come to the main gate. It was free to enter but now they charge but its very cheap, works out about £1.50. As you approach, two traditionally dressed warriors stand guard and remain emotionless and statuesque as tourists pose and take photos. I suppose in much the same way as the queens guard only its us western folk with the cameras.

We we're told that this small village behind us was actually built to enshrine the portrait of General Yi Seong-Gye - King Taejo, founder and 1st King of the Joseon Dynasty. Jeonju was King Taejo's families ancestral hame.

The restored portrait of King Taejo

We visited Hanok on a Sunday afternoon which turned out to be the perfect time to go, there was lots of activities going on in the village. aWe had a go at some traditional print making and got to dress up in traditional official clothing. You do have to pay, but it works out about £1.

Above you can see our final prints, one being a pattern and the other is a map of the traditional area. At the bottom you can see the outer wall, a little above the in the centre you can see the main gate where we had our photo, then in the centre of the picture is where the courtyard is that houses the portrait of the King. This one however isn't the original, that can be found in the museum round the back to the left where the two isolated huts are.

Traditional Officials Clothing

Seoul Trip

Saturday July 14th and Sophie had a trip to Seoul planned to go and get her hair done. Yes apparently for you girls out there who colour your hair (blond) it's hard to find somewhere in Jeonju that has western hair experience and a trip to Seoul is the answer.

We'll ignore the fact that I got my hair done here in Jeonju by a Korean woman with perfect English who studied hair dressing in London's Videl Sassoon's salon because apparently Seoul is the only answer :)

I originally wasn't planning on going on this hair adventure and decided that on Friday night, I'd head to the local dive bar Radio Star. It's a good bar here in Jeonju popular with foreigners with live music and random instruments scattered around the room and an open DJ box for you to add whatever you like to the playlist.

I arrived back home somewhat intoxicated at 7:40, and in efforts to prevent waking up Sophie thought it was best to get undressed for bed - outside the apartment door - to cause as little distraction as possible. This however didn't work and whilst sneaking in Sophie awoke. She asked to wake her up at 7:30 to which I replied with the current time!

Sophie got up and started to get her stuff together for the morning bus to Seoul, now the night before my friend and co-worker had invited me to Seoul with him as he was heading to visit a friend, so still drunk thought that this would be good. We can all go to Seoul together, the girls can go off and do the hair thing and we can do our thing and meet up later for drinks. I packed a bag, poorly and was on my way.

I slept for the duration of the trip and when I awoke in Seoul I was struggling but, was determined to have myself a good time. We found our way to Chris' friends apartment where we we're treated to home made Mexican food! I feel now would be the time to mention that Chris aka Mexi-Chris and his friend Linda are both Mexican. It was the perfect food for the state I was in and ended up taking priority over any sight seeing we originally had planned.

We did however make it out to Seoul Tower and although the weather was a little rainy, in my opinion just added to the view over Seoul. The stormy sky for me really made the view so much more dramatic!

Martyrs Mount Jeonju

On July 9th after our trip to the museums the day before, we decided to hike Martyr mountain, Martyr Mountain is in the southern part of Jeonju and is the final resting place of six Catholic missionaries, killed for their beliefs. We walked there from Hannok Village as we were told it was just five minutes away. Not quite true, it's about a half hour walk from Hannok and fairly easy to find.

The trail itself was beautiful and laden with 13 crosses marking the burial sight of members from the Catholic Church. We were the only people on the mountain and found it a very peaceful experience, however the humidity and heat made it a challenge, the climb is very steep.

Towards the top of the mountain - just as we were thinking of turning back around - we came across a Catholic Church, outside was a much needed water fountain and inside was a wonderful Church that anyone religious or not can appreciate. There was a lady inside playing some 'your going to die' music on the organ and after an hour of thinking we were the only people on the mountain, it kinda felt like a scene from a horror film! Still this is an amazing place I'd recommend to anyone.

As we reach the peak there's a traditional-style tomb that marks the final burial place of the martyred family, six painted circles on the floor which, I assume, is one for each family member. A man appeared from behind us and stood in front of the tomb to say a prayer, he moved to the largest circle on the ground to say a second prayer. He then followed the circles that lead to a path that took you up to a cross overlooking the tomb and I can only guess that here he said a final prayer. 

Even if you aren't Catholic, as in my case, it's still an amazing and peaceful place to visit with some great views over Jeonju.

Jeonju Historical Museum and Jeonju National Museum

Ok, so it's been a month or so now since I've last blogged. This is largely due to the fact we've been really busy and not had much time at the apartment. That and it's the end of term so report cards, testing, and other goings on has kept me from this blog. However I find myself here on a Friday morning with nothing to do, the rain falls outside and I've exhausted Facebook already so let me take you back to July 8th.

About an hour's walk from our apartment are two museums - the Jeonju Historical Museum and The Jeonju National Museum.

Id did however take us about three hours as we had no real idea where we were heading. On our walk we came across what looked like a business park, all nice new shiny buildings with some nice surrounding grounds. Now, just out the front of this business park were a load of cars and bikes lined up, OK nothing strange there however these cars and bikes were Children's cars and bikes! I figured this must have been the HQ of Triple Velvet or something.

Last week and cover lessons

Firstly just a recap of the week just gone. It was a bit of a difficult week, it should have been easy, all my middle school classes were in testing so my daily lessons were greatly reduced. Some of the middle school kids were finishing their tests and I, basically, had to do cover lessons. Nothing from the books but something light and fun but still gets them working.

I think it's fair to say I failed. 1st class I decided to focus on creative writing and got over my personal opinion and printed out some passages from Harry Potter. The plan was to try and get them to describe a character of their own. I was faced with blank, bored expressions that gradually found themselves planted firmly on the desk. This was clearly not the way to go. 

2nd period comes around and I'm a student short, I figure he was so bored he was allowed to go home...nice one Chris, way to connect with the kids. Anyway for the next period I thought a more visual approach might be more fun. So ready for round two armed with story boards and pencil crayons I at least managed to keep the remaining two students mildly entertained.

The following day I had cover again. I decided I'd keep the same subject of descriptive writing but with a more visual approach. I created some character sheets where they could design their own and fill out the expression, appearance and traits sections. I figured this combined with talking about what different traits etc would take up the 1st lesson. Next lesson I had some story boards that they then had to come up with a short story to place their character in.

Kids naturally are expressive and descriptive in their drawings no matter what the quality, I thought it would be a good way to help them visualise something to write about in a descriptive way as for the final lesson they had to then write me a short story or just write about one scene in particular. It did work ok, but they did get bored quickly and refused to write anything.

Thursday I had the same thing, as the lesson almost worked the previous day I though I'd try it again but just focus on the one character and describing that alone. I was faced with a solid wall of defiance. They felt patronised that I had crayons and refused point blank to draw or write anything. I tried to talk to them and get a conversation going and just have a speaking lesson, but still they would rather sit for 3 hours in silence than draw or have a conversation.

I resorted to asking them what they would like to do, same response. I ended up putting up on the board a Wordament puzzle. Kind of like a word search but you can find words in any direction providing its a touching tile. I didn't say anything I just put it up on the board and drew one example and just sat back. Sure enough not even the most stubborn of minds can resist a word puzzle and the silence is broken from the most difficult student with a good 6 letter word! So for the remainder of the day it was a variety of word games. Although I've now learned Hangman is not allowed in Korean Schools, it because of the high suicide rate of children they don't want to give anyone any ideas.

So Friday comes and I though life was back to normal but I was mistaken. I had another cover lesson. I don't feel I've had my head in the game all week and with no free periods I was just unable to prep any form of lesson plan that even I wasn't bored just thinking about it. I decided to turn to a colleague for help and just be honest. I wasn't prepared and I had no idea how to teach/entertain these students for 3 periods. I was aware that my previous plans were not working and weren't really fit for their level and it had been noticed.

My colleague very kindly let me use his lesson plan about truth and opinion, distinguishing the difference and getting into debates. As defiant as they were not to do any work they did get on with it as if it were a normal class. 

Eventually the bell ended what felt like a very long week and I enter the weekend slightly demoralised with some harsh lessons learned. I guess every teacher at some point or other has days like that. At least my basic classes have me smiling.

Saturday we went to the Jeonju museums, I've got loads of photos so when I get back from today's adventures I'll update again with some pics.

Working at Sullivan Language Institute

Ok, so I've been a little slack on the blog updates recently but I have a good excuse. It's Friday evening and I've just completed my 2nd solo week working as an English teacher for Sullivan - so let me tell you what the working life is like so far - being the new boy.

Sullivan is an English Hagwon, it's a school that parents send their kids to after their normal day at school for extra tuition in English. There are all kinds of Hagwon's from language – dance; and it's not uncommon for a child to finish their school day and still have 3- 4 Hagwon classes to go to.

My working day starts at 14:10 and I clock out at 21:10 Monday - Friday. I've got 11 classes in total. 4 basic classes which are the young ones and the rest are intermediate and middle school. My students age ranges from about 7 years of age to 15 - Korean age - which is 1 or 2 years older than western age depending on when in the year they were born - I still don't get it.

Monday is pretty full on, I arrive at 14:10, first class is 14:45 and continue to have 5 more back to back classes with 5 minutes between. Lunch is a 10 minute break between 3rd and 4th class. For food we order from a menu for the week and it's delivered to our office. Friday is McDonald's Friday - Ah Yeah.

Tuesday - Thursday I'm lucky enough to have the 3rd period free to regroup and get started on the next day’s prep. Also these are the days I'll order something a little more substantial from the food menu as I have more time to eat. Friday my time table is the same as Monday however with one difference - Friday is Wee Sing day! (The book spells it wee) so for my 1st two basic classes we sing nursery rhymes while I dance around like a prat - at the moment we're learning 'The Train' song and I've been getting them to all dance like Andy Kaufman - my sister will be pleased.

Teaching here is great fun and is nothing like schools back home, the younger kids are so excitable and eager to learn - competing to be top of the class, the older ones are pretty universal - becoming teenagers sees them grunting in defiance just as we all once did.

It is a full on day’s work, and sickness isn't really accepted. There are no cover teachers and you can't be seen to be doing nothing. Korean culture is a - very - hard working one. Some of our co-teachers are working 7 days a week.

We only get 10 days holiday throughout the year and we can’t take that in one block, we can’t even choose the days we do take. We get the national holidays off and that’s pretty much it apart from the odd optional day where if you do decide to work you get time and a half. 

At the end of July we'll have a 4 day weekend so we'll be making the most of it and will be going somewhere nice. Although you don't get the holidays as you would back home, it’s easy enough to travel around Korea at the weekends and there’s plenty to see.

I would also like to say just how good Sullivan Language Institute is, obviously when deciding to do something like this it can be a bit daunting and there are horror stories of people getting screwed over, people doing the midnight run etc, you can find a list of blacklisted schools online - I'll add a links page when I get the chance - but it's still somewhat of a risk.

Sullivan, however, has been great. They have looked after both me and Sophie so well, on arrival at the airport I was met by a guy who bought my bus ticket and put me on the right bus to Jeonju, after a 4 hour bus ride Mr Lee and Sun were waiting for me and drove me to my apartment.

They took me to the bank in the next few days to get my bank account set up and also got my alien card sorted. It was my birthday in the first week and I was surprised with a cake in the office and a present from Sun and Mr Lee. All the staff are lovely and very helpful, I don't feel awkward asking for help at all.

I would say for some advice if you do decide to do this, always ask for help if you’re unsure, I know it's often said but in this environment it's a must. It's so fast paced that you’re going to miss things to start with, but everyone else has been there before and knows what it’s like.

At my school there are 3 foreign teachers including me and 8 maybe 9 Koreans, upstairs is another school, EG which is part of Sullivan, I think, it's owned by the same people anyway and I teach one class up there myself. There are a further 4 maybe 5 foreign teachers that work up here, I'm not entirely sure. EG kids are generally the advanced kids, the ones who can actually hold a full conversation with you. Again I will add a links page with info on Sullivan. 

It's also a good sign that most of the foreign teachers that are here have stayed on for a 2nd or 3rd year. Right now there is a change over, with me and others arriving, old staff are heading home or elsewhere on their travels. There is a very strong community here amongst the westerners which is great but also if you want you can head out and not see a single westerner all day. I am loving living in Jeonju, Before moving here I'd never heard of it, but after visiting a few of the larger cities with more westerners around I actually wouldn't want to live anywhere else. 

We really have landed on our feet here and would recommend Jeonju to anyone.

Daedun Mountain in North Jeolla

So last Sunday we were invited to join Jennifer for a hike up Daedun Mountain. Now I don't know about you but a hike to me suggests a good long walk, perhaps a slight incline from time to time, like a hike in the lakes for example. Here in Korea it seems a hike means full on mountain climb!

We took the one hour bus ride north to Daedunsan from Jeonju, pretty straight forward with a direct bus that dropped us off at the foot of the Mountain. As we walk up the steep hill past the restaurants and shops the first moment of doubt hits about the level of difficulty this hike will be.

I feel I should also mention the fact that the Euro 2012 games are at 1am and 3:45am here I was going off 1 hours sleep.

There were some interesting sights on the short hill past the shops, this being my favourite.

A pissing fountain 

Now if I can just bring your attention to the white bottles around the base of the fountains piss bowl, they are bottles of Mokoli. A rice wine that we were introduced to by Casanova in Hanok. It seems they like it here...a lot! We're told that the Koreans, before a good hike like to partake in a little Mokoli drinking and there are stations all up the mountain that serve Mokoli. Now I don't now about you but getting pissed while climbing a mountain sounds like a bad idea to me! We decided to pass on the Mokoli this time.

As we progress to the mountain we start with an amazing staircase through the trees, never really sure where to look because there's so much to take in. Although I did find it funny that there was some work out equipment here, it seems that's another thing they like here, to work out while on a hike!

Stairs at the foot of the mountain 

It's not long before the stair case loosens and the rocks become more uneven and scattered making this hike a little more of a challenge, not to mention the steep incline that the path is on makes it feel more of a climb than a hike.

I pretty good tree, as far as trees go

Out of focus but you get the picture

looking back 

Soon enough the trees begin to break and due to the steep incline the views begin to emerge. It was a beautiful day with only a few clouds in the sky which proved for some great views.

Not even half way up yet

Daedun Mountain is know for it's suspension bridge, which I think is one of if not the biggest suspension bridge that connects two peaks of the mountain with an 80M drop. This is where I start to get excited with ideas of Indiana Jones re-enactments and photo opportunities and Sophie becomes a little nervous. By the time we reach the bridge the 80M drop turns my stomach a little and a moment of worry before thinking just how brave Indi must have been to cut that rope!

Just arrived at the suspension bridge

Made it across

Looking from above

A borrowed photo just to illustrate the hight and distance of this bridge 

A slightly dodgy panoramic from the centre, but you get the idea

We progress up the mountain with yet more amazing views until we got to the suspension staircase, yep, not only do they have a bridge but they have a staircase which is round about 60 degrees steep with waist high hand rails. This was a little easier than the bridge but as you got higher you could feel a slight sway and when you turned around, well, the view and feeling was amazing. It felt as though you were right on the edge with nothing disrupting your view.

Suspension Staircase

View from the foot of the staircase

The other way

Couldn't help but think ' what if it breaks' I kept my thoughts to myself though 

View from half way up the staircase

Half way up, the previous photos were taken from that green platform 

Looking down the staircase, also in the background you can see the bridge we crossed

                                   

Prometheus

After our golfing fiasco we went to the cinema to watch Prometheus, this in itself is pretty boring to read I know, it's not like I update everyone with every film I see back home so why now? Well no real reason really apart from the fact that I've got some quite nice, maybe even average, stereotypical holiday snaps I'd like to share :)

Golf is most definitely not our sport

Right then, I've got a bit of catching up to do with this blog. I've started work now so have less time but I'll get to that. Last Wednesday we had the day off, so we thought a good way to start the day would be a spot of golf. Golf is extremely popular here, there's a couple of driving ranges and a couple of indoor golf screens within walking distance, and loads of golf shops!

We decided that the golf screen was the way forward, something neither of us had done before and just seemed a little less serious than the driving range. You see, the Koreans, when they are interested in something, they go all out. They rock up at the driving range all kitted out as though they were doing a full round. There's nothing wrong with this, just a little intimidating if we roll up in our shorts and flip flops with no real idea of how to hit a ball.

Anyway we were wrong, the golf screen was just as full on, if not more so than the driving range! I'm sure one guy even had the gingham pants like the pro's. Walking into the lobby felt like walking into the Hilton with a huge (fake) oak tree trunk disappearing into the celling. I didn't get any photo's from the lobby unfortunately.

GOLFZON TOWN! I think this is the right place

 After a few minutes of poor communication on our part, we were escorted to our very own golf room with some his and her's hired clubs. The system was all in Korean so the woman set us up with a game.
I did notice that she chose a 3 star difficulty level out of 5, pretty standard, she should however have chosen 1 star!



The room itself was amazing, nice comfy sofa at the back for those who are waiting for their shot, coffee table and refreshments provided such as a bowl of water melon, sweets and green tea.

The Golf Room

The Golf Room

Sophie working on her swing

After 12 holes it was apparent that I was too far ahead on the score card for Sophie so we decided to call it a day.

Chris takes it by 1 :)

12 holes and a few blisters later I finally become the first of us to actually put and complete the hole before disqualification.

Busan

Right so after we left Hanok Village Saturday night we went to Busan, stopped somewhere for food - that wasn't all that great and over priced from other places we've eaten - then made our way to a foreigners bar. I don't really remember all that much about the evening from here on out if I'm honest with you, the Mokoli had fully inhabited my body and it was good night Mr Pearce.

The little I do remember however was meeting lots of lovely people including members of the local football team that - if I can still play - hope to join.
Memories of leaving the bar, the ride home and many other details of the night seem to have escaped me so I think I'll just let the photos tell of the nights events.

I've decided to leave in the out of focus photo's as a more true representation of what I saw seeing that night. From the photo's it looks nice, I might have to go back and explore again.

I remember pretty lights

Just follow the light 

?

I think on the right is where we ate 

A plate of raw meat pringles is all I can remember thinking when taking this photo 

?

Domino's Piza =

Hangover Cure!