Pinch me! I am dreaming. It's really because I have finally had a weekend to just chill out. I think all of us here in Korean Teaching Land try and fill things up because although teaching takes up our days, we can get our work done pretty easily and not have anything to do on the weekend. So after I have cleaned my apartment, (I feel I do this far too much for a one room place) and sent out emails (I am hoping I am up to date with everyone). I am getting geared up for the holidays and here's a Christmas surprise... I am coming home for the holidays. I am in on Christmas Day (hopefully it won't be too crowded) and in New York until the 3rd of January, so a little more than a week. I am excited to see everyone, but I know it will fly by.
Christmas in Korea is weird. Chuseok (which is in September) is the big holiday, and they recognize the 25th as something special commercially, but not in any other way. This is both good and bad. It means I am not bombarded with Christmas advertising all the time, and I can enjoy the Holiday Spirit in my own way, and also stores and restaurants are open on Christmas Day, which is extremely convenient. Seriously. The downfall of the lack of Christmas is the decorations. All the trees around the mall are lit up, which is pretty, but save for the pair of Christmas trees outside Homever (which is being converted into a Tesco HomePlus), the only place I have seen Holiday-like interiors is in Starbucks, only giving me more of a reason to frequent their fine establishment. Which I have. A lot, but I don't feel really bad because I have a frequent buyers card and I think I am pretty close to getting something for free, but I can't read the card, so I am not sure. Here's hoping!
Thanksgiving is coming up and I obviously don't get that off. Canadians have it in October, and the British don't even care that we may have shared a meal with Native Americans, so that leaves only the Americans to have dreams of potatoes and Turkeys. Ashley, a girl from Wisconsin, and I are going to get a couple of the other Americans together and maybe have a pot-luck Thanksgiving at my place. If I am feeling generous, maybe I will invite people's from other countries, but I don't think they could ever feel the way about canned cranberry sauce that I feel. I hope this holiday season finds you all well and with the ones you love. Hopefully I will get to see you when I come back to the States for a short stint. Bye for now!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
I am still doing things!
Hey!
Alright, a bit of a super efficient post coming your way. It's report card time, so after this I will be getting cozy with attendance forms and test grades...ASA! Also an important, congrats to the United States for setting a really cool precedent for a President (I am so sorry I just did that). So here's been what for the past few weeks:
Gyeongbukgung Palace: This was the main Palace for the Korean royalty during the last few years of monarchical reign. And it's right in the middle of Seoul. It's beautiful and actually the current building is only 1/10th the original size, which means that I can't even think about how huge it is. Jade was my traveling companion and we eventually met up with the English guided tour, which helped because we had no idea how intricate most of the things in the building were. Looking back on my pictures (of which I will post later) I saw that most of them were of the architecture and painting done. Although it was repainted a couple of years ago, it was very carefully restored, and the designs are incredible. Interesting tidbit: Only the Royal Family was allowed to die within the walls of the estate, so everyone else had to be CARRIED OUT ON THEIR DEATH BED. Crazy.
TaeJoSan: This is a temple within Cheonan that has a huge sitting Buddha. I made this trek on my own, which I think was the best choice. It was very surreal. When I got to the Buddha, I was taken aback. It may have been just the stark contrast between the fall leaves and the green of the aged Bronze, but I was silent for a very long time. A very long time. Then I decided that I should head up the mountain, just to get some excercise. I apparently had never taken into account that Korean people are crazy. The trails, are merely foot trails and ropes at extremely steep areas. My only motivation for continuing was the Korean family in front of me with a 5 year old and infant, who seemed to have no problem bounding up the hill. When I got to a level area with a platform, there was a really wonderful view of the city, where I sat and took pictures for a bit. Then I realized that there was a giant carving of the Buddha in the mountain behind me, this being the real reason that there was a meditation platform. I gave a small offering and then a woman gave me a packet of Red Ginseng extract, which tasted really bad (it's seen as bad manners to reject a gift from others, so I drank it). It sounds weird but it gave me the energy to continue the rest of the way up and find that there was a also a restaurant at the real top, that served alcohol. I did not partake. Made it back down and caught a cab back home, really exhausted but glad that went.
Well that's it for the most part. Went to Costco with Troy and David. They made fun of me because my bill was only $200. I was slightly ashamed, as David spent twice that, easily. Also Troy and his wife got a new apartment that we visited. It was gorgeous. I almost hid in one of the cabinets in the walk in closet. They would have never found me.
Hope everyone is doing well. Talk to you soon!
Mallory
Alright, a bit of a super efficient post coming your way. It's report card time, so after this I will be getting cozy with attendance forms and test grades...ASA! Also an important, congrats to the United States for setting a really cool precedent for a President (I am so sorry I just did that). So here's been what for the past few weeks:
Gyeongbukgung Palace: This was the main Palace for the Korean royalty during the last few years of monarchical reign. And it's right in the middle of Seoul. It's beautiful and actually the current building is only 1/10th the original size, which means that I can't even think about how huge it is. Jade was my traveling companion and we eventually met up with the English guided tour, which helped because we had no idea how intricate most of the things in the building were. Looking back on my pictures (of which I will post later) I saw that most of them were of the architecture and painting done. Although it was repainted a couple of years ago, it was very carefully restored, and the designs are incredible. Interesting tidbit: Only the Royal Family was allowed to die within the walls of the estate, so everyone else had to be CARRIED OUT ON THEIR DEATH BED. Crazy.
TaeJoSan: This is a temple within Cheonan that has a huge sitting Buddha. I made this trek on my own, which I think was the best choice. It was very surreal. When I got to the Buddha, I was taken aback. It may have been just the stark contrast between the fall leaves and the green of the aged Bronze, but I was silent for a very long time. A very long time. Then I decided that I should head up the mountain, just to get some excercise. I apparently had never taken into account that Korean people are crazy. The trails, are merely foot trails and ropes at extremely steep areas. My only motivation for continuing was the Korean family in front of me with a 5 year old and infant, who seemed to have no problem bounding up the hill. When I got to a level area with a platform, there was a really wonderful view of the city, where I sat and took pictures for a bit. Then I realized that there was a giant carving of the Buddha in the mountain behind me, this being the real reason that there was a meditation platform. I gave a small offering and then a woman gave me a packet of Red Ginseng extract, which tasted really bad (it's seen as bad manners to reject a gift from others, so I drank it). It sounds weird but it gave me the energy to continue the rest of the way up and find that there was a also a restaurant at the real top, that served alcohol. I did not partake. Made it back down and caught a cab back home, really exhausted but glad that went.
Well that's it for the most part. Went to Costco with Troy and David. They made fun of me because my bill was only $200. I was slightly ashamed, as David spent twice that, easily. Also Troy and his wife got a new apartment that we visited. It was gorgeous. I almost hid in one of the cabinets in the walk in closet. They would have never found me.
Hope everyone is doing well. Talk to you soon!
Mallory
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