School Picnic to Mireuk Mountain

Last Monday, no students were in sight at Tongyeong Elementary School! Why?!...You might ask. It's because all of the students were taking part in their class picnics. Each grade level went to a different destination, and since I teach only 6th grade right now here, I tagged along to Mireuk Mountain along with the other English teachers. I must be honest in saying that our little group didn't actually summit the mountain, but we did hike about halfway up and wait for the 6th graders to come down from the other side and have lunch. Here are some pictures from our day:

Our hiking group...아름, me, Minie, Karen, and Jennifer

We passed a temple on the way up and there were lanterns leading up to it in honor of Buddha's birthday next week

Beautiful Minie and me with the island view

Pretty in Pink ladies...Karen and Jennifer

I took my traditional picnic lunch with PB&J, chips, and a banana, but that is nothing like the picnic lunches in Korea. These kids feast on gimbap, mini sausages, rice-stuff tofu pockets, and a variety of other foods. These mothers here aren't messing around when it comes to picnic lunches!

The teachers opted for a local specialty for lunch...Chungmu Gimbap (충무김밥). This special type of gimbap was created in Tongyeong and is a favorite for tourists. Instead of the fillings of the gimbap being inside, they are instead served on the side. There are sort of mini rolls of rice and gim, served with sides of spicy radish and spicy squid. It has quite an interesting history and is pretty popular around here.


Of course, spending the day with my wonderful students was lots of fun! Since I didn't start the journey with them and only met them for lunch, most of them were quite surprised to see me...which is good..I like to keep them on their toes!! :)

After lunch, the students played games in their respective classes.

On the way down the mountain, I enjoyed seeing the sun peek through the trees.

It was a great day and I can't wait until the next one! :)

Eobang Festival in Busan

I can tell it's spring, because I'm a busy little bee these days! The last few weekends have been a wonderful contrast to the previous weeks...weather-wise...and I've been taking advantage of it!

Last weekend, Busan was the destination and the Eobang Festival at Gwangalli Beach was the target! It was quite a fun weekend on the beach and the weather was amazing!! I headed to Busan on Saturday morning with Danielle, where we met up with a few of her friends and a few of my friends from around Korea. One of the best things about traveling to Busan is that the west bus terminal is right on a subway stop (Sasang), so it makes it quite easy to get around town from there. And now that they opened the Geoga Bridge connecting Geoje to Busan, the trip is a little less than an hour and a half! Amazing!

On to the festival...From what I could tell, this festival was to celebrate fishermen and the fishing lifestyle. It was pretty similar to most of the festivals I've been to...with booths, festival food, and the likes...but in my opinion, the best thing about this festival was the fireworks at night! I am a sucker for fireworks! Also, I finally got to see the Gwangan Bridge in Busan...a pretty popular bridge in Korea. It made a beautiful backdrop for the day's events. Ok, let's get to the pictures!

A show with fishermen singing and swinging a net on the beach

This is a traditional game in Korea, Neol-Ttwigi, that is similar to a seesaw...except you aren't sitting down. I have seen this at several different places, but these two girls were the best I've ever seen. They were getting some serious air!

There was also a parade during the festival...these are my two favorite pictures from that! I love the bright colors!

At night, we enjoyed the fireworks on the beach. Here's a portion of the group that we wandered around with:

This was the best picture I could get with my camera...but I like it!

There were a couple of these arches with hanging lanterns and at night, it was such a nice sight!

Group picture under the lanterns:

After spending the night in Haeundae, we woke up Sunday morning with one thing on our minds....BREAKFAST!!! We Googled and found The Pancakes in Seomyeon had the best reviews for a Western style breakfast. So we hopped on the subway to Seomyeon for an amazing treat! Here are the directions we followed, just incase you don't click the link above...Subway: Seomyeon exit 1. Take your second right, and turn left on the main street. Go down a half a block. The Pancakes is on the left, just past Uncle Tomato Italian restaurant. Orange sign. Second floor.

My awesome breakfast...except...what is that salad doing on my breakfast plate??!!

Overall, it was a fantastic weekend. It was great meeting up with some of the new friends I met at EPIK training and to make new friends! I can't wait until the next one...Tea Festival in Hadong in May!! See you there! :)

Jinju Castle

I figured that before I set off for my next weekend adventure, I should tell you about my adventure last weekend! I didn't go too too far, but in Korea, you can't go too far without being in another country! Anyways, I headed to a town only about an hour away, Jinju. I visited this city for the Lunar New Year when I was in Korea last time, but I didn't actually see any of the city.

I went to see some friends, but before that, I headed to Jinju's biggest attraction, Jinju Castle (진주성). As always, I'm sure I didn't appreciate it to it's full cultural potential, but it was still a nice little visit! I took a few pictures to show you! I can't really explain the pictures, so you'll just have to put captions there for yourself!!

I would like to mention that if you ever go to Jinju Castle and you go to Jinju by bus, please be aware that the castle is in walking distance from the bus terminal that is close the center of the city. I didn't know that and I hopped in a taxi for all of 2 minutes. So when you come out of the bus terminal, just head straight left for about 7-10 minutes and  you can't miss it!

Until next time...

No Dryer, No Problem!

Few things surprise me in Korea anymore, so sometimes I forget to share them with you...but the other day, on my way to the bus stop, I snagged a couple of pictures that demonstrate Korea's efficient side. There is a little cleaning shop near my apartment that mostly cleans shoes, but also does a purses too. I guess they couldn't be bothered to get a drying rack, so they took advantage of nature's drying racks!

Korea's 'Grand Open' Experience

Recently, a new mart opened in my part of Tongyeong, so I thought it'd be a great time to show you what this experience is like in Korea. While we would call this a 'grand opening', Korea has Konglished this into 'Grand Open'...so here a look a this mart's 'Grand Open'.

It's always easy to recognize a new store that is opening because of the loads of flowers that are outside on the street. They almost remind me of funeral flowers back in the States...with their massive size and free-standing structure. But they are still beautiful and eye-catching, so it is a pretty sight to see! At some bigger stores or business, the Grand Open event can be really big. Sometimes they'll have dancing girls, a band, or stilted men. It's all very fun!

A close look at the pretty flowers!

One reason it's good to spot these 'Grand Open' occasions is because the new business usually gives away free things to promote their new business. I've gotten a range of different things...reuseable shopping bag, coffee mug, etc....just by going to these events! And we all know how much I like free stuff! :)

Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival

This past Saturday, a friend of mine and fellow EPIKer, Danielle, headed to Jinhae for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. Since first being introduced to these beautiful trees when I was living in Georgia, I can't get enough! The only downside to these amazing trees is that their blooms only last for a few weeks out of the year...so when they come, you can't procrastinate taking pictures of them! I attended the festival when I was in Tongyeong a couple of years ago, but because of a freak eye problem with one of my fellow travelers, our time was cut short. This year was different...we had a full day of fun!

Here's a look at our weekend in pictures:

Danielle and I took the bus from Tongyeong to Masan, and then had to take the city bus from Masan to Jinhae. (Buses 160-164 run between the cities...bus fare is currently 1,100 won) The city bus to Jinhae was quite packed...as you can see in the picture. It was about a 45 minute trek with traffic, but much cheaper than a taxi!

The 49th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival! The streets are lined with cherry blossoms, making the scenery look amazing!

In the center cirle of the festival, there was a huge performance while we were there. I must admit I didn't pay close attention to the performance, but I did enjoy taking a few pictures!

 A traditional Korean dress...a hanbok. I love these dresses!

Cherry blossom trees everywhere!!

Caitlin met us in Jinhae for the day and Danielle's friend, Junsang, joined us at the festival. Later, we all visited a local tofu restaurant that was quite delish! 

In a strange turn of events, Danielle and I ended up spending the night with Caitlin in Daegu. It turned out to be ok because Danielle knew of an AMAZING breakfast place near Camp Walker in Daegu! I had the biscuits and gravy and an omelet, along with a Dr. Pepper! The biscuits and gravy were SOOO good!! Danielle & Caitlin had the stuffed french toast..which they loved! So if you're ever in Daegu, head to Hami Mami's near Camp Walker and get some awesome breakfast...you won't regret it!! (Just tell the taxi driver Camp Walker, Gate 4...it's on that road, just look for the sign!)

It was a fun weekend and a tiring one! My feet were happy to be home, but I had a really good time, so it was worth it!! Can't wait for the next adventure....soooo glad it's spring!! :)

EPIK Training - Daejeon, South Korea

As you know, I just returned home from a six-day training session for EPIK teachers that was held at the KT Center in Daejeon. I had heard a few things about these training sessions, but I still felt pretty 'blind' going into it.

On Saturday morning, bright and early, I boarded a bus with a few other teachers from Tongyeong and surrounding towns, Goseong and Geoje. We drove for about an hour and picked up another group of teachers in Jinju and after that, it was on to a small town to get the final group of teachers from our area. Once we got to Daejeon, we had a bit of a delay because the other bus that was coming from our province, Gyeongsangnam-do, broke down, so we went to their rescue. When we finally reached the KT training center in Daejeon, we were all hungry and grumpy...but in my eyes, the week only got better from there!

I was a part of Class 2, which contained mostly all teachers from Gyeongsangnam-do. Our class quickly gained a reputation for being an experienced group of teachers, and we were...in comparison to the classes that had mostly teachers that just arrived in Korea for the first time. After our class meeting, we headed to the opening ceremony and it was quite nice. There were a few introductions, 3 different traditional Korean performances, and a wonderful and informational speech by Hyunwoo Sun (who is most famous for his website Talk to Me in Korean...I might just have to start using that!). Here are a few pictures from the opening ceremony: 

The bulk of the days were full of informational classes...starting at 8:40am and going until 8:10pm, the days were long and packed, but personally, I found all of the lectures to be very informative and relevant to my life as a teacher in Korea. I think all classes were presented really well and I really enjoyed all of them! On our final day of classes, we had to present a lesson that we had prepared through the week. I was partnered with 2 other elementary school teachers in my class and we had the topic of "Where are you from?". This was good news for all of us, since the first chapter of the 6th grade English book in Korea is this exact same topic...so we had all taught this just weeks before. The three of us pooled our ideas together and I think our presentation turned out well. We got good feedback from our peers, so I think it was a great success!

On the final full day of our training session, we headed to a nearby farm village to learn a little bit about Korean culture. I love going to these type of things, so it was a great time for me! I'll describe the experience with the pictures:

My group's first stop was this old house. The guide told us that this is the oldest house in the town...about 80 years old. I was surprised there weren't any older houses there...that number seemed a little low for me.

Then, it was off to a lesson in brick making. Our guide is going to be building a Korean treasure, so the bricks our group made will hopefully make it into his structure.

Next, we made some flower rice cakes with edible flowers and leaves. After pan frying them, they take a little dip in some honey and then they're ready to be eaten!

Next, we learned how rice is harvested...starting with cutting our own rice stalks (?) from a field, then stripping the stalks, crushing them to remove the outer husks, and lastly, sending them through a wooden mechanism to separate the rice from the junk!

Our last project was making this ostrich out of a pine cone and some pieces of wood. Mine looks nice in the picture, but in reality, it didn't make it home in one piece. I need to get some super glue so I can reassemble it!

After our full day, lots of the teachers headed out for a night in Daejeon. It was fun getting to hang out with everyone for one last hoorah. I really loved getting to know all of my classmates and building friendships with fellow teachers from around Korea. Here are a few pics from the night:

And on Thursday, it was time to say good-bye and head back to Tongyeong. I had a good time but I was happy to get back into my daily routine and 'normalcy'. I snapped one last picture with our class leader, Juyoung, who was really amazing! She was so helpful and willing to help in any way she could! And I'm excited to see her again in Seoul someday!

Overall, it was a great week and I am really glad that I got to meet some other teachers from around the country. It was so nice to talk with people that are going through similar experience and make some new friends!

So now I'm back in Tongyeong, and spring has sprung and I couldn't be happier! I love spring and all of the beautiful flowers! Hopefully I'll have some pictures of beautiful Tongyeong for you soon!