Middle Schoolers and a movie set

This past weekend, Ryan and I accompanied the middle schoolers of YISS to Yong Pyeong resort, located about 3 hours south of Seoul. The bus ride revealed a green, beautiful and mountainous Korea. This resort is famous as the filming location for the Korean movie "Winter Sonata." This cardboard cutout of the actor and actress is on the top of the mountain.

All these precious children are my Spanish students.

A highlight of the trip for many was the "mountain coaster." A ski lift takes you to the top and then you ride down through the forest on it.

Ryan agreed to come along with me to this middle school event and stayed in the cabin with six of the rowdier eighth graders. He couldn't remember when he'd seen more ramen noodles and mountain dews consumed in a single weekend. On the last night, they bonded over a dried octopus. I was in a cabin of sixth grade girls. We still haven't recovered and it's now Thursday, but we had a good time.

Dobonsan

Last weekend, we went with Will, JungMi, Cara, and Toby to hike Dobonsan, a mountain north of the city. Hiking is like a national sport here in Korea. When we got off of the train to walk to the trail head, we found ourselves in a swarm of people. Pretty much everyone, young and old, was decked out in the latest outdoor fashion. All sorts of hiking gear, from low to high grades of practicality and relevance, were able to be purchased from the many mountaineering shops that lined the road to the mountain. It was easy for us to feel inadequate and intimidated in our comparatively pedestrian getups, but we pressed on.

At one point on our hike, we came to a cliff and were able to see a Buddhist temple across the valley (above).

The scenery on the way to the top was gorgeous.

About halfway through the hike, we began to wish we had some high tech equipment of our own. For much of ascent we were scrambling up steep, smooth rocks, grasping for weeds, branches and tree trunks. At one point (below), we had to use some footholds chiseled into the rock and a rope to ascend a steep part of the trail.

We finally made it to the top, and rested for a while among the other hikers. Evidently, it is the tradition to carry exorbitant amounts of a type of rice wine called Makoli up to the top of the mountain when you hike. There were a lot of people filling and emptying their tin camping cups. I worried that a few of them (including the two gentlemen below) might have trouble safely making the descent. The face of the man in the background pretty well sums up the mood at the top of Dobonsan (worth zooming in).

The trail down the mountain took us by a little temple under a cliff. We stopped for a while, taking shelter from the rain, and were given some bananas by the monk who lives there.

The rain continued to pick up on the way down the mountain. Most of the Korean hikers were, of course, well prepared with rain jackets and plastic bags. We ended up pretty wet.

Breakin' around

It's hard to believe that Chusok break is almost over. This week we have tried our best to ignore the inevitable pull towards planning for next week's lessons. On Monday and Tuesday, we visited an island off of the coast of Korea with Will, JungMi, Cara, and Toby. It was good to get out of the city for a while and see the Yellow Sea.
Yesterday, we went to Namdaemun market, a well known shopping area north of our neighborhood. There are many interesting things to purchase and consume in Seoul.
For example:

Below are many jars of pickled items and preserved items, including Ginseng, a very popular health supplement in Korea.

Later on, we took a tram to the top of Namsan mountain, where the North Seoul Tower is located. It was a little unnerving riding the tram. They herd as many people as they can into the little box, and unless you get packed in next to a window, all you can see are the backs of the people around you.

There is a great view of the city from the top of Namsan mountain. You can either pay more money to visit the observation deck at the top of the tower, or sit in the traditional gazebo and enjoy some bondaegi (steamed silk worm larvae).

We also visited our local iPark, a huge structure containing a department store, shopping mall, cinema, train station, food court, and E-Mart (similar to Wal-Mart).

Grocery stores in Korea feature a wide variety of Kimchi, the ever present side dish:

There is also an abundance of the other Korean staple, fish, which is available in many shapes, sizes, and states of decay. Here are some frozen:

And some dried:

Chuseok holiday

Students and teachers alike are rejoicing that we have made it to Chuseok holiday and have all of this week off school! On Friday, the middle school went on a field trip to Olympic Park. Abby had to keep track of nine sixth graders with three subway transfers to make on the way there. The day began beautifully but took a turn for the worse when one of the kids asked to buy a gatorade. Soon, the whole group was in line, disregarding Abby's instructions to put their items away and hurry. They got left and had no idea where they were going. Luckily one of the kids had a cell phone, so they were able to communicate with the other group and find their way. Abby's group bragged all day to the other groups that "we got lost! it was really fun!"

A lot of our students will probably have to go to hogwan all week during the break. Hogwan is an after school academic supplement which most of the Korean kids attend. A lot of the students in my Spanish class are also taking Chinese at hogwan and they are already fluent in English and Korean. There is tremendous pressure on these kids to succeed academically.

Ryan got sick this week so we had our first experience with the Korean pharmacy. There is one right near our house. I went in and acted out the cough that he had and the pharmacist came back with this green box of pills and said; " 3 x a day. no smoking!" Also in the picture is a bottle of vitamin C tonic, an orange popcicle and some o.j.

Ryan has begun to develop good relationships with his students. It is already evident that it would be really hard to have to leave the school to teach somewhere else. On Saturdays, he practices with the varsity soccer team. It's really interesting to see kids from Mexico, Spain, Nigeria, Korea, and Japan, all of them with their own styles of playing, learn to work together as a team. Many of the sudents have asked how long we plan on staying in Seoul. It really seems to mean a lot to many of them to hear that we don't plan to just put in our time and leave. There is a strong sense of community here that benefits from commited teachers who have invested in the students over many years.

Seoul is emptying out as families leave to return to the place their ancestors are from for Chuseok. Those are Asian pears in the first box.

These pictures are from last weekend. This area is called Myeongdong; it is a yet another fashion district.

Our camera has since broken. Hopefully we will get a new one soon. Tomorrow, we plan to go to a nearby island for a night with some friends for Chuseok. Maybe we will cook some rice cakes over pine needles and eat them under the moon.