Suji goes to Pohang

This past weekend I headed down to Pohang to visit Fred again. Some of my co-workers have chosen to come with me for the past few trips. Last weekend was no different. After work on Friday Christine, Shauna, Britney and I headed to the train station. The girls got to experience my usual travel itinerary as we had to take two trains and a bus to reach Pohang around 12:30am. We met Fred at his apartment and the girls checked into a love motel right across the street. We were all wide awake and ready to see the ocean. We decided to take a quick walk along the beach. We walked to the beach, about a three minute walk, and enjoyed the night lights from the steel mill. We then walked to a food tent and had some stuffed squid. Britney and Shauna enjoyed it however Fred and I had much better on our two trips to Sokcho. We all then headed to bed.

On Saturday we woke up to sunshine. This was a very welcome surprise as the forecast had called for a rainy weekend. We had a fast lunch before heading to the beach. We enjoyed the day as we talked, read and made numerous coffee/smoothie runs. After a few hours, and sunburned body parts, we all left to shower before dinner. Fred and I took the girls to our favorite restaurant in Pohang (and possibly in Korea) which is a clam place right on the beach. Christine does not enjoy seafood so she had a different meal before joining us. We had two orders of clams as we relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful weather. After dinner we walked on the beach and shot fireworks. This is how I really love spending my Saturday nights in Korea! We then decided to head to the local foreign bar, Tilt. We met up with a few of Fred's friends for a while before going home.


Enjoying our clam dinner


Fred and I with our fireworks on the beach


All of us after shooting fireworks on the beach

On Sunday we woke up to more sun. After lunch the girls headed to the beach and Fred and I went to get our bus tickets home. We then shopped around for a while in order to avoid the beach and worsening our sunburns. In the afternoon we met up with the girls and then sadly we had to leave. We took a 5:10pm bus back to our area. The bus takes about four and half hours with a little break at a rest stop about halfway through. I had a fantastic weekend and I hope the girls did as well. I can't wait to get to Pohang again!


Enjoying the beach on Sunday before coming back to Suji

Cheering on South Korea

Here are my students cheering on Korea the day they played Argentina. Too bad Korea got smashed, 4-1.

Tay-hahn-meen-guk

Tay-hahn-meen-guk! This roughly translates to Fighting Korea! We heard this a lot this past weekend as we prepared for Korea's first game in the World Cup. The entire country was decked out in Korea gear and covered in red from head to toe. Everyone was wearing red horns in support of the Fighting Red Devils. It is so exciting to be in a country that actually cares about soccer during the World Cup.

This past Friday, Steve, Josh and I headed down to Pohang to visit Fred and enjoy the game there. When we woke up on Saturday we headed straight to the beach. Most of the foreigners in Pohang came out to play beach softball. After hanging out on the beach for a while we headed back to Fred's apartment. On our way we stocked up on our Korean gear for the game. We got t-shirts, bandannas, red devil horns and tattoo stickers. We then headed to the favorite foreign bar called Tilt. As we walked cars and taxis were literally slowing down as we passed to shout Tay-hahn-meen-guk. We got numerous shouts and fist pumps for other street walkers as well. Tilt is owned by a Korean-American from WI who went to St. Cloud State. He had bought some American hot dogs and brats and made home-made potato salad for a grill out. The game was being shown on a jumbo screen on the beach but we thought that it might rain so we stayed at Tilt for the game. The bar was packed with foreigners and Koreans. Korea ended up beating Greece 2-0. It was so much fun!

We ended up staying for the middle game as well. We filled our time with the soccer game and our own card games as we waited until the 3:30am start time of the USA-England game. Finally, after hours of waiting, the game started. I didn't think that it was possible but more people had squeezed into Tilt. There were a handful of teachers from England thrown into the mix as well. This made it very fun. It turned out to be England and Canada vs. US, Ireland and Scotland. (There are foreigners from many more places in Pohang then in Suji. There are also many South Africans.) Our 'team' was elated with the tie and the English team was upset and shocked. Around 6am we finally went to bed! We woke for lunch then took a 3:30 bus back to Suji. Overall it was a great weekend and I cannot wait for the next Korea game on Thursday. I hate to say it, but I officially cheering for the Fighting Red Devils! Tay-hahn-meen-guk!!


Outside of Tilt during our BBQ before the Korea game


Fred and I waiting for the game to start


Fred and Steve

Johnson's Birthday

On June 10th we celebrated Johnson's birthday. He turned Korean 6 which is US 5. It is crazy to think that I still have a few students who are US age 4. I still remind myself that even though they are in their second year of English they are still so young. Soon they will all have turned five. Johnson's mom showed up to LCI with a chocolate cake, candies, watermelon, Capri-Suns, bananas and cookies. We all sang happy birthday and took the usual pictures. After the students stuffed themselves with sugar we opened presents. Johnson's mom stayed for the entire party. They had lived in Texas for a few years so her English is very good. She would yell at the kids to speak in English and even answer their Korean questions in English. Usually during birthday parties the kids can speak Korean with the moms but not at this party. It was so funny to see the kids reactions when she spoke in English. I think they were very surprised!

The weekend before a bunch of us went into Seoul to celebrate Josh's birthday. We had Mexican for dinner then went to a few bars before coming back to Suji.

May Field Trip

Sean, from my old class, and I


My class and I with my supervisor Michelle


Samuel, from my old class, and I


Gimbap: traditional lunch that most of the students brought. It is similar to sushi but usually without fish


My class and I

Last Thursday we took a field trip to Seoul Land. Seoul Land is an amusement park outside of Seoul. We visited the flower gardens and the zoo. We all arrived at LCI around 9:40am and waited for our kids to arrive. Once they did we took them off of their small LCI buses and put them onto one of three coach buses. On my bus was my class, Josh's class and Nathan's class. We rode about 40 minutes to Seoul Land. Once there we walked around the gardens then through the zoo. The animals were minimal but the kids loved it. We saw moneys, rabbits, turtles, horses, sheep and dogs. We then had a picnic lunch. All of the students came with a packed lunch and the teachers were given food from the school. Many of the kids had extra food, or even entire extra lunches, for us teachers. We then walked around some more and took photos before getting back on the bus to Suji. It was a very tiring day. It is not easy to walk around a huge place with only about 15 adults and 100 kids who are 6 years old and under. To add to the drama, the kids had to carry their backpacks with their lunches. When we got back to LCI our owner bought all of the teachers coffee to liven us up for our next 4.5 hours of classes. Overall, it was a very successful field trip.

Simon's Birthday

This past Wednesday we celebrated Simon's birthday. The kids were so excited. They all came to school with gifts and lots of energy. As Simon came into the room they all started singing to him. He was such a proud boy. He leaned over to me and said, "teacher secret, piano cake. Chocolate piano cake." It turns out that his mom had indeed bought a piano shaped cake. We also ate watermelon, candy, cookies, yogurt and even a coffee for me. We took tons of pictures and then opened presents. It was a very fun morning!

Buddha's Birthday

This past weekend we celebrated Buddha's Birthday. It is one of the most important national holidays in Korea. This year it fell on a Friday so school was closed. On Thursday after work, Steve, Josh and I took a night bus at 9:30 from Seoul to Pohang. We arrived in Pohang a little before 3am. The bus normally takes less than 5 hours but there was a lot of traffic leaving Seoul. Korean people usually work 6 days a week and there are only a few national holidays which results in a lot of people leaving Seoul when they get the chance.

Right away on Friday morning we took a bus to a neighboring city, Gyeongju. It is very significant in Korean history and has one of the most famous temples in Korea. We decided to try and beat the rush, which worked but the area was still packed with people. The temple was covered in lanterns. There were people everywhere, both for religious purposes and for tourist reasons. After walking around one temple we took a bus ride up a mountain to another. The bus was packed so we had to stand, being swung around as we made our way up the road. Once we were close to the top, the bus broke down. Instead of waiting we got out and walked the rest of the way. We walked around a smaller temple then continued to walk to grotto. Inside there were stones everywhere. There were large Buddhas carved out of gigantic pieces of stone. In the center there was an amazing Buddha. It was one of the coolest things that I have seen in Korea but we could not take pictures. We then took a bus back to Pohang and relaxed before dinner. Fred and I took the boys to our favorite clams place on the beach. From there we shot off fireworks on the beach. It was a very fun day.

On Saturday it was very rainy. We had lunch then decided to go see a movie. We saw the new Robin Hood movie and then walked around downtown for a while. We just relaxed for the rest of the day.

Sunday was also rainy so we went to the Pohang Museum of Steel Art. Fred and I had been there before but most of the art had changed. From there we had pizza and watched a movie before we had to leave. We decided to take trains home to avoid the traffic on the roads. We took a train from Pohang to Daejeon and a train from Daejeon to Suwon. We got back around 12:30am. It was a very fun weekend and I can't wait to get back to Pohang.

More Lantern Festival pictures

Children waiting to perform

In front of the temple

A ceiling of lanterns

Lantern Festival

South Korean flag made out of lanterns near the temple

This past Sunday Fred and I went into Seoul to attend the Lotus Lantern Festival. It takes place in the middle of May each year in honor of Buddha's birthday. This year the holiday falls on Friday the 21st. We took the bus into Seoul and then walked to the festival area. There were many individual sections of the festival. The first on that we arrived at was a roped off block where tables lined the street. Each table was set up to show foreigners how to make lotus flower lanterns. There were literally signs in Korean and English that said 'foreigners only.' We had not registered early so there were no spots left for us to join. After watching for a while we moved on.

Entrance of the temple

We then arrived at a temple which was the hub of the festival. The temple was covered in thousands of lanterns, from the rooftop to the entrance. The South Korea flag was formed from lanterns above the temple. There was a stage set up where musical groups and children performed traditional dances and songs. From there we went to another area, at least 3 blocks, that was lined with different booths. Here we made Buddhist prayer breads and walked around. You could make paintings, buy books, speak with a monk, learn dances and do yoga. It was so much fun to see all of the activities. After walking around for about 4 hours we headed to Seoul Station so that Fred could get on a train to Pohang. It was such a beautiful day and it was exciting to partake in a very important Korean festival.

Older women in Korean Hanboks, enjoying the show

Traditional tea ceremony

Teachers Day

Teachers are very honored and respected in Korea. The month of May is filled with family holidays such as Children's Day and Parents Day. Teachers also have a special day. May 15th is Teachers Day in Korea. This year we celebrated on Friday the 14th at LCI. The morning began with students swarming the staff office with cards, gifts and hugs. I was given many cards from my Kinder students along with chocolate, flowers, lotion gift sets, cookies, candy and even strawberry milk. Most of my students mothers came during the class music time and met with me. They gave me an award, a very nice Lancome gift set and a bouquet of flowers. It was very nice. As the day went on, move gifts arrived for the teachers as a whole. We ended up with donuts, pecan pies, chocolate cakes and candies. I even got a hair band from my old Kinder student, Jasmin and a traditional handcrafted jewelry box from my old Kinder student Lex.

The office at the end of the day

My desk


Flowers from my Kinder class

As the classes went on the gifts continued. From my elementary students I got more cookies, two cakes, brownies, flower pens, flowers and lotions. At the end of the day we headed to dinner and met up with Fred, who came to visit this weekend.

On Saturday many of my co-workers, including 3 Korean staff members, Fred and I headed to a LG Twins baseball game. The game was sold out and so much fun. It was about 65 degrees and perfect. We met a Korean man who saw our MN Twins gear and started talking to us. It turns out that his major was English Lit and he was very social with us. He knew about Minneapolis and St. Paul, and of course our winter weather! Unfortunately, the Twins last 13-2. It was a great way to spend a Saturday evening!

At the LG Twins game

Fred, Steve and Josh with our Korean friend