Korean Hip-Hop & Jimjjilbangs...

This week has been pretty relaxed so I'm afraid we dont have any new photos to put up. We went to Shinae-Dong at the weekend with some friends. Shinae is another neighbourhood in Gimhae and there is quite a high population of Indian and Filipino people living there. This means that it is excellent for buying curry pastes and spices so we stocked up on some decent non-Korean food. There are also lots of clothes shops and second hand shops so we spent a bit of time browsing and window shopping. We have been venturing to DVD Bang fairly frequently and have recently watched I Am Legend, The Constant Gardener and Babel- the latter of which was well worth watching.

On Sunday we cycled to meet Sarah for coffee in the pouring rain and in the evening we went out for dinner with a few friends which was lovely. It is really good being able to eat out for such little money here. In England it was so difficult to be able to go out for dinner with friends as it cost ridiculous amounts- in South Korea the most you would ever pay for a really good meal including wine is about £10 per head.

We are settling into things at the school quite well. Two teachers are leaving in the next couple of weeks so our schedules will be changing as of next week. We're not entirely sure which classes we have yet but I (Kim) have volunteered to run a cooking class for 3-6 year olds (this could be the biggest mistake of my life....) I am told by the previous cookery teacher that it was stressful but good fun. I need to think of some simple western recipes- at the moment my repertoire consists of chocolate cornflakes and chocolate rice crispies. Let me know if anyone has any bright ideas!

Last week I (Kim) made the decision to join a Korean hip-hop dance class. It runs 3 times a week after school which keeps me fit and active. It's very hard and all the movements are typically Korean and very 'cutesy.' The dance teacher is about 4ft tall and as slim as my little finger and she moves so precisely. I, on the other hand- well, I'm sure you can all imagine....

I have included the link for the video of the incredibly gorgeous Korean girl who sings the song that I attempt to dance to in my class.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHmTwtK8IVY

In Korea there seems to be three stupidly catchy pop songs out at a time and these get played continuously in every shop, bar, restaurant, cafe, bank etc. It gets incredibly boring and repetitive and the most annoying thing is when kids sing them in lessons too. I have imposed a ban. Live music seems to be pretty non-existent here, it's all about the cheesy pop.



Sarah and I (Kim) ventured to a jimjjilbang (Korean spa) after dance class on Wednesday. It was my first experience in one of these places but it was really relaxing and enjoyable. We paid the equivalent of £3 and you can spend as long as you like bathing in one of the ten baths or so that are all at different temperatures. Some of them are like Jacuzzis and some of them are just really deep with mini-waterfalls running into them. There is one stipulation of using these places though and that is that you have to be totally naked. Fortunately we are both open minded ladies but it was still a little strange! Thank God the men and women's baths were segregated though.

This week Korea seems to have been in the news a fair bit (in fact there may have even been a Gimhae mention.) The ex-president, Roh Moo-Hyun, threw himself off a cliff very near to Gimhae at the weekend and his funeral is to be held after a 7 day mourning period. The circumstances of his death are slightly suspicious and all the Koreans that we have talked to seem to be pretty shocked. His supporters believe that the current president, Lee Myung-Bak, and some of the top officials drove him to his death. He was a really popular president and apparently over 80,000 people went to Bongha, his home village, to mourn on Sunday.

North Korea has also been in the headlines recently- first with its unsuccessful long range missile test on April 5th but more recently with the atomic bomb test. You probably know as much as we do, but it is pretty clear that the people here feel quite scared and threatened by North Korea. The international community (apart from Iran) have all strongly condemned the test, and there is a certain tension in the Korean peninsula now. The South Korean army have been placed on high alert since the test. It will be interesting to see the reaction of the UN security council in the coming days and also the effect that this will have on the Koreans around us.

Nevertheless, life here is going really well for us both and we are planning the next adventure!

Busan!

We spent the weekend in Busan which is an hours (crazy) bus journey from Gimhae. The driving in Korea doesn't seem to be as bad as some other areas of Asia but at times it can still be pretty nerve-wracking- though at least the buses are pretty comfortable and they do provide seat belts.

Saturday blessed us with torrential rain which was non-stop all day. It was the type of rain which is enjoyable though, if you can imagine it. By this we mean none of the fine, freezing cold horrible rain that frequently pays a visit in England (normally coupled with harsh winds that make my limbs go numb with cold.) This rain came in huge droplets as though the doors of the clouds had just been opened and there was no control over the amount of water that was being spilt. It gushed all day but stayed fairly warm so we didn't mind getting soaking wet.

We took the highly efficient subway to Nampo-Dong which is one of the major shopping districts of Busan. It was a really cool little place- full of lots of famous high street stores selling all the big names, smaller independent shops selling quirky outfits and markets selling anything from badly spelt 'English' t-shirts to wigs and florescent lighting. As well as this were all the usual food markets- waffles, dried squid, fatty kebabs, Korean dumplings and stuff that was totally indistinguishable. We spent the afternoon and early evening doing a bit of shopping and wondering around the markets intrigued by all the wonderful things on display. After eating and a trip to 'DVD Bang' to dry off and find some comfort we checked into a 'Love Motel' for the night. Love Motels aren't as seedy as they may sound- they are basically an incredibly cheap no-frills place to stay the night (we're talking £15 for the room.) They are used frequently by travellers as they are so cheap but their name most definitely comes from their popularity with Korean businessmen and their many mistresses. It's a bit of a funny system because when you pay for a room you can't see the person you are talking to- just a sliding door with a pair of hands at the bottom waiting for the cash...

Sunday proved to be a beautiful summers day so we made the most of it by getting some spectacular views from the top of Busan Tower in Yandusan Park. The tower is 120 metres high and the views were really amazing, especially on such a clear day. We could see all across the city with it's towering skyscrapers to the huge port (the world's 5th busiest seaport,) to the islands of Oyugdo and the mountains beyond.

After this we went to check out Busan's 'China Town' known as 'Shanghai Street.' This was a rather disappointing experience- it was really seedy and tacky. This is probably as it is located very close to 'Texas Street' which is basically a red-light district that caters for military men (there is a huge American army base in Busan) or men passing through on ships for one night only. There is a huge Russian population here, all the signs are in Russian and most of the businesses are run by Russians- its all a bit surreal.

We decided we needed to find somewhere a bit more pleasant after this, so we headed to Dongbaek Park near Haeundae where we took a walk along the coastal promenade. It was really beautiful with some excellent sea views and a nice bakery where we had a bite to eat. We headed back to Gimhae early evening and cycled to Jake's house where we had dinner waiting for us.

Busan seems like a really exciting city- there is so much to do! Parks, Buddhist temples, museums, a yacht centre, aquarium, huge shopping malls, night markets, traditional markets, theme parks, a ceramic and arts centre, mountains and beaches. As well as this it's possible to participate in an overnight temple stay in the mountains, learn Korean cooking and take part in a tea ceremony. We will definitely be going back to Busan!

Weekend & Week Night Antics

Unfortunately Kim has already caught a nasty cold from the children so the weekend (May 10th & 11th) wasn't quite as active as we had originally planned. We managed to get out on our bicycles on Saturday and took in some of Gimhae's cultural sights. We went to King Suro's tomb which is an enclosed garden with houses and statues dedicated to his memory.

According to legend, King Suro originally came down from heaven to Gujibong and founded the kingdom of Karak. He married Princess Ayodhya who was from India and her tomb can also be found in Gimhae (we will go there soon.) King Suro supposedly died at the age of 158 in the year 199. His wife was supposed to have lived to an even riper age of 189. The earth mound we saw is believed to be his tomb. There are tombstones and statues erected around it - from various centuries and kings from Korea. It was a really tranquil and calming place to spend some time.

It was an incredibly hot day, nearing 30 degrees and very humid- it was almost impossible to do anything that involved movement especially when the sun was high in the sky. We rode our bikes to Samgae Dong, up a very steep hill to the Gimhae Citizens Sports Park. We had planned to check out the shooting range. However we chickened out when we got there as nobody could understand any of our words or miming and it looked like a very serious affair. We will try again with our friends next time!

After work on Monday we met up with some friends for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. This turned into cocktails and then from cocktails to a session at the nearest Norebang. Norebang is Korean for 'singing room' or karaoke. There are lots of these places around and it seems to be their equivalent entertainment to clubbing. You hire a room with your friends and choose whichever songs you feel like singing and a waiter will come in and keep your drinks topped up. It was really good fun and we all made fools out of ourselves singing everything from The Spice Girls to Bonnie Tyler and Frank Sinatra. It was a late night but this didnt matter too much as we don't start work until 2.30pm.

Anyway, enjoy these pics from King Suro's tomb and check out Kim's amazing new hoodie (complete with ears.) We will write to you about the weekend that has just gone very soon.

TLC Sports Day, Children's Day and our first day of proper teaching.

We had a fairly relaxed weekend after moving into our new apartment. We are now living in a studio apartment in central Nae-Dong on the fifth floor of a block of high-rises. This may sound pretty dire but the place itself is clean and tidy and it is so convienient for getting to school and getting around to other places in our free time. We live close to all of our friends now and we can come and go to the flat as and when we please.

So our weekend consisted of eating out with friends, exploring some of the excavated tombs in Gimhae, walking along the riverbank and searching through the endless crazy junk in the Korean 'tat' shops.

Monday was sports day and this day-long event took place in a public park which is adjacent to the school. Each teacher had a different event to set up and referee which meant that there were 7 events in total. At this point it is important to inform you that the events at a Korean sports day seem to be rather different to the traditional athletic events that we are used to in Britain. Here are some of the events that took place: Apple bobbing; treasure hunt; spin round as fast as you can then run five metres to sit on a balloon and make it pop; put your face in a bowl of flour and try and eat the candy that is hidden in it (this made one child rather ill); bounce a ball and then jump up and attempt to eat one of the crisps that were hanging from a washing line; twister and finally dodgeball.

After 6 hours of activities our boss took us all out for dinner to a really excellent local restaurant. We had pork on the bone which was cooked in a really spicy soup with lots of chillies and vegetables, served with rice and the usual Korean side dishes.

Children's Day is celebrated on May 5th in South Korea and is a national holiday to enable families to go out for the day together and give gifts to their children. We spent Children's Day on Haeundae Beach in Busan. It's a huge sandy beach with all the usual seaside entertainment and corporate restaurants dotted along the edge of it. It's admittedly not to everyone's taste but it made for a good day out and we got to meet some new people. In the evening we came back to Gimhae with Sarah and Jake and went to 'DVD Bang.' This is a place where you can hire a DVD
and go and watch it in your own private mini-cinema. It's really cool as it's cheap as chips and you can take in your own food and drinks and relax in the comfort of a very squishy sofa.

We are now both teaching about for about 5 hours a day but we go into school an hour or so early to prepare for our lessons. We are teaching mixed students from the ages of about 8 - 19. However, Koreans start counting age from the moment of conception so a child is already 1 year old when they are born. After about 3 months they then reach 2 years of age- so Korean children's ages are actually 2 years younger than an equivalent aged western child. The teaching is going well though some children are much more manageable than others. At the moment we are finding our feet and working out which techniques suit us and our students. We will keep you posted...