Mt. Mudeung-san Park

So far I've only explored one trail in Mudeung-san and it was the easy route. Next time I will hike to the 3,000+ ft. peak. The views are great. It's easily accessed by bus making it a nice quick get-away from the city. Lots of people on the main trail, one sign said 4500 people visit daily, I find that hard to believe, but... there are many living in Gwangju.

The hike goes up and up or you can take the easy trail which is up and then down and down. We did the easy route today, non the less my feet are feeling it.

The park entrance starts and ends at two different buddhist temples.

There are delicious restaurants to recharge at with outdoor seating on the stream.

And if you find yourself muddy look for a shoe "air hose station" to blast that dirt.

Myeongsasim-ni

This past weekend a group of us traveled about 3 hours south of Gwangju to the island of Wando and from there took a bus to Myeongsasim-ni (a smaller island). The water was warm enough for swimming, the South Sea sounds beautiful, and the campfire was much needed.

Camping on the beach is prohibited in some areas. There are cheap rooms to rent called Minbak or stay for free outdoors on a platform (shade included).

pizza haiku

dreaming of pizza

oregano, tomatoes

eat cheese fork and knife

Imsil Pizza, they serve the Supreme with veggies and pepperoni and the Golden Potato with piped mashed sweet potatoes and hidden french fries. Good price, booth seating, (and if you don't kid yourself by thinking you can eat a real deal pizza in s.korea) it's delicious.

public exercise equipment

The first two photos show a very common scene here in Gwangju. Public Exercise Equipment. Including things to walk on, swing your arms with, twist and turn on, stationary bikes, and stretching stations. Honestly it all makes you look kinda goofy but I appreciate the grown-up playground. I walk past at least one of these stations everyday, they're everywhere. I see people (mostly 50+ age group) working out at all hours of the day/night.

The Red Face is local competition for North Face, which they also sell here. But if anyone has seen me after riding up a steep hill you will understand that I giggle each time I see this brand.

As for the last photos- some cute.

Sunday in the park

Last weekend I stopped by Jungoe park which is near the Biennale museum. I haven't made it in to the exhibition yet but I have some time. Sunny day and lots of people were enjoying the park, picnic-ing and listening to this great concert. Big band korean "adult contemporary" music. The one performers dress (orange and white) was amazing and giant as she twirled. Also amazing and giant is the swing set found at this park.

Come here for the Kids Cultural Center, The Gwangju Folk Museum, Biennale Hall, Gwangju Art Museum, and The Gwangju National Museum.

school broadcast

It finally happened, I'm on weekly TV. Ok, it's only the in school broadcast system, but still. A weekly mini-lesson for the elementary school kids. This week I read a story about animals which snuck in the use of prepositions. I need to channel my inner sesame street character to make this really good, because it feels silly to be so enthusiastic for a camera (the camera doesn't always love you back).

The show is run by 5th and 6th graders, very professional.

Voting day and teachers' sports

On Thursday Joon tells me we have to break from class for a few minutes to go vote for chairman. I was really shocked that I was expected to vote for class chairman. How would I know who to vote for. I started getting nervous. We wrap up class and all the kids head to the gym and I'm thinking I have to ask questions of the candidates and select a chairman, that's going to be heartbreaking for some kid. When we get to the gym I'm relieved to see that there is no debate taking place, just polling by the students. It was sweet they were so serious about it.

Later that day, back to the gym for teachers' sports day. We played volleyball/ soccer tennis (a mix where head,hands, and feet can be used with the rules of volleyball). I was psyched to play and I'm terrible but was asked to play every round because I was so enthusiastic. The vice principal was taking shots that made her do knee slides and she's close to 60! The ref. in the photo (white shirt) is Joon -one of my co-teachers. My team lost. I'm sure I disappointed my vice principal, but we ate grapes and chicken afterward, so all's well.

Atlantic City

Girls playing on a trampoline under the bridge.

Inflatable ads.

(This is a street of restaurants that seemed to be recovering today after Friday night merriment)

Night Shopping down town Gwangju.

Maybe it's the humidity but the past two days I've felt like I'm at the boardwalk.

Especially at night- there are so many lights and neon signs. I went through the 'love motel' neighborhood and it just had that Atlantic City feeling. (a love- motel is a cheap room -hourly or whole night options)

Little puppies are for sale in the weirdest places. You can have tea at a puppy cafe, where there are puppies and kittens behind a partition in the display window. The other night I walked past a puppy cafe/bar and two older dogs were humping in the window. Kinda weird.

I've seen a few medium/large sized dogs but most have been little 'glamour' dogs with fancy haircuts and celebrity attitude.

Also dog hair dye is very trendy. Blue and purple seem to be the 'in' color this season.

Toilets

I like a little variety in my toilets. Actually I have yet to use a fancy bidet toilet. I've only encountered them in public places like restaurants, and honestly I haven't been brave enough to give it a try. What if something goes terribly wrong.

The other model is more common in schools or in public toilets. At home I have a standard model, maybe I'll spend $100 to get the bidet seat attachment.

(Sorry about the waste basket being in the frame, you don't flush t.p. here so it just goes in the basket. I like the if it's yellow let it mellow attitude)

I'm not being rude, I just don't know you

Looking in the eyes, smiling, and hellos will get you nowhere. If anything this will cause some confusion on the receiving end. "Do I know you?"

There's no such thing as letting someone go ahead to get on the elevator, bus, holding a door, move through the aisle at the grocery store, etc. Koreans generally place a non-receptive distance between themselves and strangers in public (watch out for umbrellas). Basically I expect to constantly bump into people without apology. There is a public sense of privacy. You just don't make eye contact with people in the sort of way where you acknowledge them, even on a crowded bus where you're standing hip to hip and leaning over someone's seat, (this does cut out some awkwardness).

Then there are the ajummas the notorious Korean older women who in my experience and through stories I have heard "dish it out". They've been through it all and they don't apply conventional and unnecessary politeness. Comical. I had one basically sit on me on the bus today. Or... I'm in the supermarket checkout line when an ajumma who is standing behind me in line gestures to her friend who is waiting outside of line, they go ahead of me to the front of the conveyer where my groceries are piling up and she and her friend just stare at me and my things. So I give them a little nod, like "hi" to invite any conversation or charades (still lacking Korean language skills at this point) and they just stare through me and talk (presumably) about me. When I have to maneuver around them to the debit card machine they stay anchored. Blocking. So I have no choice but to give them a little shoulder bump.

A tip for travelers:

Home Plus is a supermarket with (supposedly) the lowest prices and just about everything: stationary, clothing, shoes, cosmetics, groceries, common car parts, electronics, etc.

They carry Tesco items (Tesco is an EU supermarket) so you can find coffee beans, canned baked beans, spaghetti sauce, wine, carrot juice, dijon mustard. -Sometimes you want chili beans and cheese.

Home Plus is really entertaining. Not only are there hundreds of people to bump into and ignore but in store advertising is live and pretty aggressive. Lots of shouting sales people and sales women with little visors over their mouths grabbing people to feed them samples. The place is like a buffet of samples including wine.

There's a tasty food court with beautifully shellac-ed display foods to choose from,which is helpful if you don't know the name of a dish. Another option is inside the actually grocery store in addition to all the samples there is a "soup island" where you can eat fresh noodle soups.

English Zone

I amaze my co-workers with my love of kimchi and my use of chopsticks.

They are convinced that I like kids (can you believe it?)

And everyone thinks I look 25.

The students say hello, hello teacher, or "I don't like English" (under their breath).

I couldn't be happier with my first few days of teaching.

So far I'm successfully tricking the kids into speaking English, and they don't seem to mind or be wrecking their heads over it.

Kids here will go to school from 8:30 until 2:40 and then depending on their age, they will have after school programs until 6 or 10pm. Students in high school have the most difficult schedule. I'm sorry for them sleeping on the bus because I can see that they are truly exhausted. (By the way teenagers here don't heckle you on the street like they do in Philadelphia or Oakland.) I guess that brings me to my point of not wanting to add stress to the high standard education these kids are getting. (As I've experienced it speaking and listening skills are lost to book smarts, and don't work for communication needs.)

The Ministry of Education has put a lot of money into English Language Education.

But overall schools here in Korea are amazing. Lots of TLC. The campus is green with flowers and vegetables growing , a fish pond, and outdoor seating for relaxing. School lunches are complete meals and tasty, served buffet style by really nice lunch ladies, and kids can get seconds if they want (or need).

Teachers in Korea are well paid and successful. A comprehensive test is given to prospective teachers. It's the type of test you would need to study for over a whole year. The test is given once a year, so unfortunately when a teacher fails (which is normal) the test must be taken the next year (and therefor studying another full year). I'm really impressed by the teachers, mainly their ability to use the harshest voice I've ever heard when addressing the class.

* I have a sore throat from talking for so many hours but I refuse to use the microphone, instead I've found Korean "Ricola".

Need more maps!

The fact is that streets here don't all have names. Major boulevards have names. Maps don't always have street names indicated. So, for the past week I've been feeling that this is somehow intentional to make the city more mysterious, or that the Powers That Be felt why bother. After so much frustration I'm coming to terms with it. Everyone I have asked has the same advice, just forget about street names and go by landmarks. My frustration continues because the English language map only has landmarks such as department stores, hotels, or fire departments while the bus map lists mostly high schools, community centers, etc. Give me some time and I'll have the bus map translated well enough to hit those target landmarks.

http://www.interpacificrecruiting.com/maps.php

Scroll down in this link to see a map of Gwangju.

(To see my neighborhood look in the north east for Ochi-Dong)