My Birthday Weekend

After the craziness of my birthday last year, I really wanted a quieter event this year -- and I got just that by heading to the beach. Saturday morning was rainy, but I had decided that I was going to the beach no matter what this time. So I got ready and left for the bus. I met Jill on the way into Seoul to get another bus. We were supposed to meet a bunch of people, but between the weather and illness it was just the 2 of us.

We got into Seoul only to find out we could not get tickets for 2 hours, so we went wandering and looked around a mall before heading to the beach. By the time we got to the town near the beach the weather was great. We went for lunch (mmmmm fried chicken). Then we hopped on the bus to our beach, Hagampo in Taean Seashore National Park. When we got there we took some pictures before finding a place to stay, dropped off our stuff and then took lots more pics.

These are the waves at one of the 2 beaches when we first arrived. Take a close look at the island it changes over time :)


Tide was so high when we first arrived that the waves were breaking over this sea wall and cars were having an interesting time.


These bamboo posts provided a tiny amount protection for the shoreline.


The sunflowers were very beautiful. We found them on the way to finding a motel. At lunch Jill and I had got a call from Anna, she was on her way so we needed a room for 3. The first place we went into had a room with enough yos (thin foutons) -- perfect. We dropped our stuff off and went back out for our own little photo session.

One of the first things we noticed as the bus arrived at the beach was the power plant. Nice to be out enjoying the country scenery :)


The beach was basically empty. I love September in Korea, the water is warm and no one is there. This was the beach as sunset was nearing.


Soon the sun started to set and it was beautiful.


Here is that island again at sunset -- it really was a majestic island.



Jill playing in the water at sunset.

When the sun had set it was pretty chilly so we went back to our room. And then we got a call from Anna. She had just arrived in Taean (the town nearby). It was 8:30 and there were no more buses. So we needed to get her a cab, but she is new to Korea, so I told her what to ask, and she reminded me that she would not understand the answer. So I told her to give her phone to the driver and I would talk to him -- knowing that that could be interesting. I asked him how much it was to get to the beach. He said 20,000 won, I asked for a discount-- he gave it to me for 18,000 -- so not bad. That made it cheaper for Anna to come out to the beach and stay with us, than to stay in the city and come out in the morning -- so she arrived 20 minutes later. We relaxed, talked, watched TV and then went to bed, as we wanted to get up for sunrise.

We did wake up at 5 for sunrise, but sadly there were too many clouds on the horizon, so there was not much to see. It was however interesting to see the tide so low. The clouds were also beautiful.

After the sunrise we went back to bed.

When we wokeup the second time we went out to have fun on the beach, and swim. I had decided that I was swimming this weekend no matter what, and the water was beautiful, but it was windy so when I go out of the water I needed to go inside quickly. Here are Jill and Anna as we headed down the beach.

When we got to the beach we realized we had slept until low tide, so that island, from the night before was now at the edge of the water line.

We were having a good time watching some little hermit crabs leave marks on the sand -- one left this one!

After swimming we headed to the other beach where there was a harbour. There we found all of these traps.

And these boats, aren't they great colours?

Students

They are sooo cute sometimes. I teach kids from about 8-17 and I love my kids (for the most part). They keep me entertained. They are fun to teach and to communicate with. Here are a selection of a few of them.

Noah (in red) and Trevor (in blue) 2 of our cutest little guys. I used to teach these two, but they have moved up out of my class now.


Alisha, Gemma and Charlotte (from left to right). I still teach Alisha they other 2 have moved up. Gemma is one of the brightest little kids I have ever taught. She learns amazingly fast.


Angela is the youngest kid in one of lower-mid level classes. She is so small and so cute.


Lauren (pink), Kenny (red), Suzy (yellow), Jake (white) and Michael (behind) are all in Angela's class. Actually Jake has moved up. They are all bright students and I love that class, tons of fun, but they know when to sit and listen.


Trust and Josh (left to right), Greg is the one hiding his face and laughing. They are in my second highest level class. There is a girl who spent a year in Britain in this class and the rest of the kids keep up with her, it is quite impressive considering we study biology and world history!

These girls are amazing! Lisa, Minny and Christy (left to right). Christy has just returned from Britain and has the cutest little accent. Minny and Lisa are so good for their age it is unbelievable!



Caitlin, Beth and Emily (left to right) are all in my home school class. Emily is an amazingly smart little girl. She is only 10 years old and she travels for an hour by herself to get to our school every Tuesday (soon to be every Tuesday and Thursday). Caitlin is also very smart, and the daughter of the lady who works the front desk at our school.

These 2 are also home schooled. Brandon on the right is great. I have been teaching him since I arrived, his is very good, all be it a bit quiet. Matthew (left) started about a year ago and he is amazing. He stopped going to regular school because he asked too many questions and his teacher told him that she couldn't teach him. I love teaching him, although I prefer him in science class rather than history because I do know more than he does about biology.

This is Bella and Kate (left to right). Bella is a full-time student at our school as well as a home school student. She is great. She studies constantly. She is in our highest class, which I love teaching, because they are so inquisitive. Most Korean students do not ask many questions as they are discouraged from doing so in school.

Kids in Korea (mainly girls, but guys too), like to use crushed up flower peddles to dye their fingernails. Here is an example. This is Silvia. The colour is starting to fade from her skin, but it will be on her nails until the grow out.



Here is another student, Sally, the day after she dyed hers. She is embarrassed because her nails are dirty (because she just dyed them). Christy is in he background laughing at her.

Xuen's Wedding

Xuen is the Chinese teacher at my school. She is one of the most western Koreans I know. What I mean by that is that her attitude towards many things is more western then Korean, and she is great. Yesterday (September 2) she got married, and all the teachers attended her wedding; excited about seeing a Korean wedding.

It was very interesting to attend a Korean wedding, that was neither traditional or Christian. I believe that the Christian ceremonies are more similar to ours in that vows are exchanged. However in Xuen's ceremony she and her husband never spoke to each other. It was definitely a new experience.

When we arrived there was a big meeting area with lots of people milling around. Through that doorway there was another wedding taking place. It was hard for us to understand why weddings would be that close together. In this room there were tables set up for both weddings, with the bride and grooms families sitting at tables accepting wedding gifts (mainly money).

Also before the ceremony Xuen was sitting in a special room for photos. Everyone would go in a visit her and have their picture taken. A beautiful bride.

After the first wedding finished we went into the hall and sat down (the bride and groom sides are the opposite to those at home). The wedding started right on time (3:50 pm because 4 is a bad number). First the mothers walked down the aisle together. Then the groom (on his own and very fast). He then bowed to the man who would conduct the service and to the room. Finally Xuen, looking beautiful, walked down the aisle with her father. This, by the way, was her first wedding dress.

During the service Xuen and her husband stood in front of the official while he spoke to them. They never said anything. After that they had a friend of theirs sing a song to them.

After the song they bowed to their parents. First to her parents and then to his mother. This is the bow to his mother.

then they told him to pick her up. He is such a tiny guy that this was quite fun to watch, and you can tell it was surprising to her too!

After picking her up they walked back up the aisle together.

That officially ended the ceremony and then they came back in for photos. This was cool -- but it was hard to get photos, because all the photos were obviously meant for the professional photographer, and the woman who seemed only to be there to fix Xuen's dress was always in the way! This first photo is the happy couple and their parents (on his side it is his mother and uncle).

After the photo session we went upstairs in the wedding hall for a meal. The group before us had already eaten. We sat at a table that was set up and started to eat (no waiting for everyone else). The food was very good (as always). Then a bit later the couple came in having changed into traditional clothes. They cut the cake and then visited all the tables for about 2 seconds. At our table Jen and Joy gave her a cup of beer (she had asked them to beforehand), she was very happy about that.

After the meal there are another ceremony, but it was mainly for family. It was in a tiny room. The bride and groom had changed again into a different traditional outfit and her makeup had been redone. They had to bow to their families again.

That was it. We didn't stay to see her in her 4th dress, a formal party dress. As that dress was just for leaving, but most people leave during (or before) the bowing ceremony. All in all a fun and interesting day.

Ichon Pottery Village

Ichon is a small city close to Seoul (not to be confused with Inchon -- where the airport is). Within the city there is a pottery village created because of one very old man. This man started researching a 1000 year old Korean method of making pottery. He had pretty much figured it out and started making the pottery in that style before the Korean war, but then during the war all his work was destroyed. As soon as the war ended he began his work again, and now you can find new examples of the old style pottery all over Korea. All of that work is fired in traditional style kilns that are heated using wood fires (below).

Ichon is also well known for have many modern examples of pottery. I visited the town this past Saturday and enjoyed looking at the beautiful works of art.

This giant (~2' 6" diameter) plate has a very traditional Asian scene on it and it is worth about $3000.

This giant vase (more than 3' tall) had this amazing dragon all over it.

This vase had a very cool glaze on it -- but it was also the most expensive glaze ever. All the pieces I saw using this glaze cost over $1000. Behind it the one with the green glaze is one of the traditional celedon pottery vases that the area is famous for.

I loved this. Those plants are real and the frogs are coming out of the picture -- they are 3D -- very cool.