Video: North Koreans in South Korea

Came across this video today. It's about children who have escaped from North Korea and are now living in South. Many of them were smuggled out when they were children and are now trying to adjust to life in the democratic South. There is a school outside of Seoul that helps with the adjustment process. It's interesting to hear all of the propaganda being fed to them, especially about America's presence in the South. Definitely worth a watch.

Video link here.

Daytime Drinking

No, not me. But this indie Korean film should be in Portland in the next few months. The trailer looks pretty good and sheds a lot of light on the drinking/dining culture over here. Hopefully I'll be able to catch it at one of the many film festivals they have here. Go watch the trailer and also check out the Korean drinking FAQ on the site, it's interesting and very true. Notice how they put the movie poster on the bottle of Soju, clever.

Great essay

This is a great essay about living and working in Korea. It covers a lot of the main cultural differences and also has a great perspective on being a foreigner here.

Haeundae

Greetings from Korea. The weather here is starting to warm up and spring is in full effect. What better way to spend your time then at the beach?

Haeundae beach is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Korea. It's a fantastic beach located in Busan, about 30 minutes away from me. There's also a lot of foreigners in this area and they have many clubs and Western style bars to check out. I've heard that in the summer it's literally impossible to find one square inch of sand to hang out at, it gets that crowded. Enjoy the pics.






Korean pizza before the trip. They don't put marinara sauce on their pizza here, and it's kind of sweet. Difficult to describe but it's pretty decent. I still prefer New York style pizza though.


They have these monitors at almost all of the bus stations here in town. It's nice because you can tell when exactly your bus will arrive.


Bus terminal in Changwon. They have buses traveling all over S. Korea leaving all of the time. My particular bus to Busan leaves every 10 minutes and is less than $3 for a ticket. Very efficient and affordable.


Vending machine selling books.


Haeundae at night. There were many people lighting off fireworks all over the beach. Actually you could buy bottle rockets from an old lady 10 feet away from this spot. I don't think they have firework laws like we do in the states.


Night shot.


Another night shot.

Cass, the Korean version of Budweiser. They have no laws in terms of open containers. You see people walking around with beers everywhere- on the street, on the bus, in movies, you name it.


This is the main area nearby the subway station. Many nice hotels along this strip.



Same beach, the next morning.


All of those buildings in the background are hotels, again, very popular tourist destination.


More people enjoying their Sunday at the beach.


NO SMOKING! Many kids signed their names on the sign.


This ship looked like a booze cruise from the distance.


Random.


Random.

It was pretty crowded but nothing like how it gets in the summer.



Saw a few jetskiis and sailboats out today. I've heard the water here is very warm, definitely planning on coming back in the Summer to swim.


Backpack baby is having a good time.



Spent most of the day just hanging out on the boardwalk and people watching.

I have a few other interesting stories about my jimjilbang experience that I think deserves a full proper post. Definitely one of the most interesting experiences I've had here. More to come soon.

The Dream Chamber!

I brought my camera to school today. I'm sure some are curious about what my school looks like. The kids loved having their picture taken but they are sooooo shy, as you will see. It was good timing for pictures because the cherry blossoms lining the road into campus were in full bloom and it was a nice day today. There were numerous vendors selling food on the sidewalks as well during lunch- kimbap and a nice warm day under a cherry blossom lined roof make for a pretty good afternoon in Korea. Enjoy the photos!

(click thumbnail for larger image)


Changwon Times. Local city newspaper (English edition) I picked up at the community center. Changwon is known for being one of the first 'planned cities' in Korea. It's pretty young in terms of other cities but it's growing fast and attracting a lot of industry and expansion.



Neighboring school, about a stone's throw away from ours. I think it's some type of private academy. You can see the mountains in the background, they're everywhere on the horizon. The city is completely surrounded by them and kind of reminds me of a smaller scaled Willamette Valley.



Cafeteria where we all eat lunch. The food is actually pretty good, no complaints here. You can always expect rice, kimchi, and some sort of soup among other dishes each day.


The students' bike rack. Still trying to figure out what these little creatures are... maybe cartoons promoting the buddy system or friendship? I have no idea but I see them often.



Our school gymnasium and sports field. Kids play baseball, basketball, and soccer out here all the time. Can't imagine slide tackling anybody on hard dirt though.



Cherry blossoms near the school.



Road heading into my school, Gyungwon.



More blossoms.

Even more.







As you can see, the whole street for a long distance is lined with them.




Outside of my school.


Shoe locker where the teachers store their shoes for the day. Everyone (faculty and students) wears slippers indoors all day. I'm not complaining, it's pretty comfortable.



Fish tank right inside the main lobby. The students are responsible for feeding these. I just look at them and violently pound on the glass to say hello each morning. Just kidding.



Cherry blossom gift from the 3 students below.



These three always come hang out during lunch. They're really nice and sweet but are totally shy during pictures.


One of my girls classes. All the classes are seperated by gender. They are SOOOO much easier to manage than the boys classes. This happens to be my smartest class by far. Really fun to teach to.


All they want is peace. It's actually pretty funny- 8/10 shots taken here in Korea with girls will be flashing the peace sign.

They are pleading for peace to you as well.



Group shot.


One of my boys classes.



Some of the material from the books we work out of. Look at 1-C.

The SUPER shy girls class. They wouldn't even look at the camera but Ms. Lee would!



My battle station.



Pretty nice LCD screen I use for lessons. It's got a touch screen too which makes games and other things really convenient.


Wonder what the time in Moscow is? Oh, wait..



The calm before the storm.



The English room, dubiously titled the 'Dream Chamber'. I think they poured more than $100,000 into this room. All the stuff is brand new and was literally opened days ago.



Beware, all ye who enter here.

There it is, my day-to-day for the most part. It's really fun and a lot of the time doesn't seem like work at all. A LOT less stressful than deadlines and 10-keys.