Sniper's Ridge monument in Gimhwa

It's no secret that I enjoy walking; I do a lot of it here since everything is close in town. Last weekend, I spent most of an afternoon walking to Gimhwa and back via the walking paths along the Wasu Stream. The sun shone brilliantly and the weather was about as good as spring gets before the summer rains come.

As mentioned before, Cheorwon County sits on a Korean War battleground. It's home to Sniper's Ridge, in fact. See the beautiful monument below:

The stairway to the top, with the flowers in full spring bloom.

The monument

A wider view of the monument. Not pictured: The other cannon. 

Pastoral Gimhwa, the town just north of Wasu.

Just north of where the Wasu Stream meets the Hwa River. I stopped here to eat a roll of a kimbap.

Above: Two bunkers built into the earth near the monument. Bunkers are everywhere here. The soldiers probably use the bunkers when they have drills.

Update: 28 November 2012 posts and news links

Again, more Wednesday writing action for you.

Here's what went up today:

Eating dog in Korea - A long-delayed post about the time I ate dog meat at a teachers dinner.

We have a weight room now... A quick hit about the new weight/exercise room at my high school.

A partial reblog and commentary on a post called "I Got All Emotional About Leaving Korea," from a South African teacher/journalist's blog about what she liked the most about Korea. She said many of things I've said or been meaning to say and I thought I'd share her words with you. I'm not sure if she was EPIK or hagwon, but she taught elementary school.

In addition to the new posts, here are some links from the Korea Joongang Daily, the paper that arrives at school every day. It stopped coming for a while, but now it's resumed again. Look for more news articles in the future:

Jeju's been in the news lately: "City Transplants Are Changing The Face of Jeju" details how some Koreans are moving to or wanting to move to Jeju to begin new careers or phrases of life. The island's undergoing a rapid influx of new people and many are finding that it's not easy as they'd thought.

"English Schools Migrate To Jeju" is about international schools setting up shop on the island. [Should've posted this months ago]

"Jeju International Schools See A Boom In Business" is a longer article focusing on how some well-off Seoul mothers have been moving themselves and their children to Jeju so their children can attend prestigious schools. It also mentions the idea of the "goose father" staying at home and earning the money while the mother goes overseas with the child(ren) to oversee their schooling. Like I've noted here, schooling is a big deal here. Perhaps too much?

"With Gamification, Banks Build Profit By Adding Fun" caught my eye because it's about banks building promotions into games. For instance, one game allows patrons to boost their interest rates by getting high scores

Back to Wasu: All along the walking path

This goes together with the "Thankful for my country home" post from earlier. The past couple of posts were about places in Seoul, so I thought it best to return to Wasu and Gimhwa for another look at the lovely countryside here.

Rochelle and I took a long walk up one of the walking paths from Wasu to Gimhwa recently. Wasu has a shallow stream running alongside the town and it has walking paths on either side. The summer and its rains have suddenly become a mild fall and we've had some great sunny days here.

The towns of Wasu and Gimhwa may as well be one and the same because there's barely any separation between them. Gimhwa's actually the smaller of the two, but that happened because Wasu's population grew faster. This may explain why the schools carry the Gimhwa name instead of Wasu, despite having a location closer to Wasu than Gimhwa.

Any of you know that John Mellencamp song "Small Town"? I used to loathe that song and everything it stood for before I arrived in Korea. Who wants to live in a small town with nothing to do? To my pre-Korea mind, small town America was all about complacency, dependence on cars, lack of intrigue, and boringness. Growing up on the outskirts of Waukesha, WI fueled the resentment of small towns. Not being able to get anywhere without a car did a number on my adolescent psyche. Ages 13 to 16 felt isolating.

All that has changed upon arriving here. I couldn't get much happier living here: everything's within walking distance, the air's clean, traffic's light, and people are nice. Let me repeat that last point: the people are nice. Moreover: there's frequent bus service to Seoul, Incheon, Chuncheon, Suyu Station (northern Seoul), and a bunch of points in between those destinations. The local buses connect Wasu to Sincheorwon, Dong Song, Yukdan-ri, and a bunch of other small towns. Korea knows its public transportation. Can I say the same for the United States? No, especially in Wisconsin.

Enjoy the pictures.

Harvesting the rice

All of these pictures were taken between 10 and 25 minutes from the E-3 apartments here.

9 Months This Week / Stuff Back Home

Standby for a series of posts for the page. I've been a bit slack on getting new stuff up on here and wouldn't want to let anyone down. This week marks 9 months in Korea and I can't wait for what the next 15 will bring. 1 year just isn't enough, not with a job that's beyond satisfying and a great group of people to share it with.

This time of the month's always a bit of a reflective time because I left the States on my birthday (23 August) and another month's passing brings the country back to mind. It seems time to note what I do and don't miss about the USA:

What's missing

Soy milk

Can't find Silk soymilk or anything comparable here. Soymilk is available, but it's not the same. There's more sugar in it and it doesn't satisfy the way soymilk does in the States. Korean soymilk somehow has more calories and more fat in it, yet it doesn't seem as filling as Silk does. Strange. Not cool. I've gone back to regular milk and somehow the regular stuff tastes better here.

Public Trash Cans

They may as well not exist here. Stores put out giant bags for trash and that's it. Most of the time people throw their can of ____ on the sidewalk and keep on walking. Kids get these little bowls of spicy rice cakes, eat them, and then throw them on the ground. I should be used to this by now, but I'm not. Seeing this stuff makes me wonder why people can't wait until they do find a trash can. Trash in the street isn't the greatest sight to see. But, on the other hand, this may not be such a bad thing for two reasons:

1. The trash does get picked up y retirement-age men and women come around every so often and pick up the random trash on roads and sidewalks. I don't know if they get paid to do this or not, but either way, it gives the older people something to do and keeps them active. 

2. People can't get busted for littering so easily--if they can get busted at all. 

Being Able to Drink Alone in Bars

This is trivial, but it's enough for me to write about because there've been a few times where I wanted to drink a beer or two and not stay in the apartment. It doesn't work over here because bars expect you to either order food with your drinks or come in a group of two or more people. Stopping by the local for a drink after work doesn't happen here. There is no such thing as stopping by. 

Every time I've tried this, I've gotten a puzzled expression and a bunch of Korean I couldn't understand from the barmaid or bartender. Apparently a guy can't go get one beer and go home here. I don't know. It isn't a big deal when you consider that beer's available 24/7, but sometimes a change of scenery is good. 

Record stores and Spinning Vinyl Records

I've been in a few shops so far, and the only one worth mentioning was this small joint in the Hongdae area of Seoul. Me and a lady friend had happened upon it by chance when we'd met for a date in the winter. I saw it from across the street. It sold nothing but blues and jazz CDs. It felt good to scour the racks in there; it took me back to those days at Bullseye Records in Milwaukee. She pointed out a few people here and there until I found The Essential Bo Diddley. That's an album I should've had since day 1. He's up there with Chuck Berry for archetypal rock and rollers. The New York Dolls covered his song "Pills." It felt good to hear his original version of it. 

As much as the apartment feels like home, it may not feel complete until a turntable and a proper stereo get acquired. I haven't had a proper stereo in years. It's strange to play everything through the computer, iPad, or MP3 player. Those speakers I bought in September aren't any good. A former co-teacher gave me his computer speakers in the winter. They make the music loud and clear. 

One side effect of the change in music listening is I've been steadily buying stuff on iTunes. And even though I miss the packaging of albums, it doesn't make any practical sense to accumulate album after album here. Buying the physical product gets saved for the (awesomely packaged) Kpop albums and Western stuff that burns at my soul. 

Coffee

I've never understood this. This whole country works itself to the bone every day of the week and prides itself on doing things quickly. Students study from 8:20am to 9pm (not counting private school) with a few breaks, businessmen work until 7 most nights and Saturdays, construction crews work on weekends, convenience stores are almost always open 24/7, and yet decent coffee's only for those who can afford the coffee shops every day. This country needs better coffee! Cans of coffee are ubiquitous, but they're overmilked and oversweetened to the point where it's not even coffee but some express ticket to Diabetes Land. You can find a couple brands of straight Americanos, but it lacks even a tinge of bitterness. It's smooth, but it's devoid of any character. The caffeine certainly does the job, but coffee shouldn't taste like caffeinated water with food coloring. The instant stuff's even worse. More than once already I've tossed out my cup because of the taste.

The local Tous Les Jours coffee shop does do a decent Americano. The Paris Baguette is okay as well. When Kirsten first moved here, she used to tell Gabe, Peter, and I about how Wasu didn't have any coffee shops and she'd stop at the Starbucks in Chuncheon every time she went there. Maybe we should count ourselves as lucky. Gabe, Peter, and I went to Tous Les Jour on our second day here and the Paris Baguette only started serving coffee when it renovated over the winter. Maybe this is what I get for living in a small town. Ground coffee's easier to find in the bigger cities. I'll have go online or go to Seoul or Chuncheon if I want to buy some. 

Another thing: instant coffee mix packets are huge here. The packets already have the coffee, creamer, and sugar mixed in them. You boil a pot of water on the regulation office electric kettle, pour the mix into a Dixie cup, and pour in the water. The teachers call this coffee, but I swear a better name is coffee shot. 2oz doesn't count as coffee unless it's straight espresso. Again, they're sweet. They do go well with soju though. My idea. A few of lady teachers as well as members of the Cheorwon crew like them. 

*Tous Les Jours and Paris Baguette charge 2,500won for an Americano. It's around 2 dollars.

=============

So that's five things and none of them carry much importance in the grand scheme of things. That's about all I've got for complaints against daily life here. Everything else is great. Everything necessary is in walking distance: the school, the restaurants, the grocery store, the walking paths, the coffee shops, and the bus terminal. Beer, makgeolli, whiskey and soju are available around the clock. 3 cool EPIK'ers plus a great co-teacher and a cool apartment manager live in the building. The townspeople are nice. The scenery's gorgeous. Spring's turning into summer and the weather's grown warm.

I do miss waking up to a big  mug of strong coffee and a bowl of granola, but oh well. Life was good then, but it's better now. Cheers!

The high school/middle school campus, revisited

I've already posted pictures of the high school, but until now I haven't said much about the campus itself. The campus comprises the high school, the girls middle school, the big detached gym/auditorium, the English/math building with the "multi-purpose room", the teachers' apartment building* and a dorm. The dorm got built during the last semester and houses about 1/3 of the high school boys and girls. It also has a cafeteria and couple of lecture rooms. Most teachers share the cafeteria with the students, though some of them go out for lunch or eat in their apartments.

Gimhwa's rural area makes the campus different because most Korean schools don't put a middle and high school together or have dorms for students or apartments for teachers. The teachers in Seoul commute to their schools, for example.

The new dorm.

The other side. Note the big balcony on the right.

My middle school 3rd graders saw me taking pictures and practically begged for a picture. They're a fun bunch :) A lot of girls do like Mi-yeon does and wear big fleece towels to keep warm. The weather's been warm though, yet the towels are still out. 

Here's the courtyard between the two schools.

The flowers in front of the high school.

I hereby bring you...a shrubbery!

Some flowers for you horticulturalists out there.

* - There are three apartment buildings for teachers: there's one mentioned above, my building, and a big one next door to my building.

8 months last week. The rock and roll continues.

Announcement: I'm staying in Korea for two years; possibly three.

One year just isn't enough, not when every day brings as much joy as it does here.

It's a beautiful thing when the students clap for you at the end of a lesson. A couple weeks back, my co-teacher Ms. Jeong and I taught the high school first graders expression "I'm going to the ~ so I can ~" with various places around town and what they can do at those places. They now know what they can do at the bank, the coffee shop, the library, and a few other places here. Throughout the lesson they were taking notes and participating with enthusiasm. They spoke to each other loud and clear in the free speaking part of the class. We coached some of the more difficult words to pronounce and the students caught on quickly.  When the time to finish came I said, "Okay, time's up. Goodbye!" to hear a chorus of "Thank you!"s over the hand claps.

Or how about this: In my high school first grade English Elective class, Min-joon asked me about the island of Dokdo. I said yeah. He said, "Japan maintains that it is their land." He used maintain as a verb. This blew me away. I wrote his words on the board for all 8 students to see and congratulated him for using an excellent word and for using it well.

These are just two examples of what's going on here. These kids rock.

And because I haven't posted in a month, here's a quick review of April 2012:

-- Went to Seoul every weekend for various activities.

-- Drank beer beside the Han River and walked along the park there.

-- Wandered the Chunggye Stream.

-- Had Carrie's birthday party in Dongsong.

-- Attended two weddings of teacher friends. Wedding one was Ms. Yeo and it took place in a wedding hall. We were in and out in 45 minutes because that's how weddings work here. We shot in, grabbed, lunch, the couple say "I do," and took some pictures. Wedding two was Ms. Lee and it took place in a church. Aside from the lack of bridesmaids or groomsmen, and the Korean speeches, this wedding looked like every other one I've seen. The resulting lunch buffet was top notch!

-- Partied in Gangnam, Seoul with my friend Da-som.

--Partied in Hyewha, Seoul with Paula.

-- Bought an Epiphone SG guitar at the Nagwon market the day of wedding two. Got an amp, cable, tuner, strap, strings, case, and stand thrown in as well.

Let there be rock. 

I've wanted an SG since I was 17 and now it's mine. Her name is Ji-young (지영), after the name of recruiter who told me about EPIK this time last year in Madison.

Cheers.

Two weeks ago today

Two weeks ago today I left General Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee and connected to my plane out of Chicago to fly here. It feels as though I've lived a lifetime in these two weeks, all cliches aside. I do mean it. With each day the language and culture becomes easier to adjust to. The homesickness comes and goes like the ocean tides. My new friends and emails to family and old friends has also helped. Being at school and teaching provides the bridge between life in the US and life in Korea since it has as many similarities as it does differences. The teachers and staff here at Gimhwa High School and Gimwha Girls Middle School have been welcoming. I daresay the teachers, staff, and students are nicer here than back home. Nice doesn't begin to describe it.

Despite the smallness (~3,000 give or take the soldiers coming and going) of the town, life's been, well, active here. It feels like a rollercoaster ride, like all I can do is simply hang on. Each day brings more words and phrases learned and more food sampled in this beautiful and strange landscape. By now I've learned to read most or all of the Korean alphabet and have begun sounding out words. The teachers here say they're impressed. I'm glad. I came here to learn. Learning to read has eased the frustration.

That and the dinners with the school staff. Between yesterday and last week I've gone to dinner with the middle school and the high school staff, plus a few teachers (and other EPIK friends) here and there. The dinner and drinking culture's quite different here. At the high school dinner for example, we took a shot with all three of the toasts before we started eating. I've done shots of soju with my principal. He's apparently told other teachers that I drink like a Korean. Over here, that's a high compliment. Where else would this happen? Where else can you drink with your co-workers at dinner and then sing karaoke with them (whilst drinking more beer)?

I meant to show these pictures earlier, so here they are. These are pics of the schools:

Outside of Gimhwa High School. The right-hand building houses my English classroom, another English classroom, and a math classroom.

My desk inside the high school.

Office space at the middle school

The middle school English classroom. Spacious.

The back wall of the middle school English classroom.

The high school English classroom. Behind the partition lies my desk as well as Mr. Kim's desk.

The back wall of the high school English classroom. One of the blinds has a Shakespearean sonnet on them.

As you can see, each classroom has a Smartboard and top-notch equipment.

Cheers!