Happy Halloween from Gwangju!

     Even though Korean's don't really celebrate Halloween, there were plenty of festivities going on for us for the last couple of days. On Saturday we went downtown with a large group of foreigners (mostly other teachers) for a big night out. We started at someone's tiny apartment, went for some amazing and cheap Thai food, and then downtown to 3 different foreign bars. Costumes were difficult to make here, as there aren't any second hand stores or many party stores, so creativity was the key. Cam went out as a tacky tourist and I went as Cleopatra. Some people went all out for their costumes, and we even managed to run into Kim-Jong Il. 




     Today at school we had a Halloween party for all of the kids. All of the teachers made a haunted house in two of the classrooms where I was fortunate enough to act as one of the ghosts who got to jump out at the kids as they went through. I think it was a lot more fun for the teachers as many of the kids left crying in fear. The rest of the day was filled with face-painting, lots of candy, and watching Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin. Not quite as good as a true Canadian Halloween, but enjoyable to say the least. 

      No matter which way you look in Gwangju or where you are, you can always see a mountain. The skyline is littered with these blips of nature, rising majestically among the concrete and steel. These mountains offer the perfect refuge from the bustle of day-to-day Korean life. As such, all the mountains offer well-established trails and outdoor exercise equipment that are very popular with locals. In fact, hiking is the number one Korean past-time, and on every trail you can expect to find many people, young and old, some taking a leisurely stroll and some working up a serious sweat. They definitely don't take hiking lightly, most people wear special hiking gear with walking poles and CamelBaks. For Koreans, you always have to look good, even while working out and there are a large amount of hiking equipment stores and athletic clothing stores.
    In Pungam-Dong (our neighborhood) there is a decent sized mountain with over 20km of trails and 5 separate peaks. We decided to trek up the first 2 peaks the other day, amounting to a decent hour and a half hike. The peaks offer beautiful views of the city, although the day we decided to go it was unfortunately quite foggy. We will have to go another time on a clear day to get some photos of the skyline.

Bright lights, big city

Downtown Gwangju at night

Yangdong Market

   On Saturday we finally made it to Yangdong market, Gwangju's largest traditional market. For the most part, we haven't felt too overwhelmed being in Korea but this was the first time that both Cam and I truly felt out of our element. It was pretty much what you would expect from an Asian market. Stall after stall selling everything imaginable, from full pigs heads to knock off purses, and every type of meat and seafood possible. The smells, the loud noises, and the lingering glares were a little unsettling but the prices of most things were considerably cheaper than buying things from a department store.    

Excursions

Peter at the pear orchard

   Once a week, our school takes the kids on an excursion to nearby places, like mini field trips. These excursions are basically just photo-ops to show the parents later how much fun their kids are having. As the English teacher, we just have to entertain the kids on the bus and take many, many, many photos with each of the kids. Each co-teacher has a camera and asks you to pose with each kid in front of the destination. The other strange part is that the English teachers basically have no idea what is going on. We are told where we are going on route and that is about all the information that we get. I just follow my co-teacher (who barely speaks English) and try to enjoy the ride. 
  This week, we were lucky enough to go on an excursion on both Tuesday and Wednesday with the kids. On Tuesday we took a 30 minute bus ride to a pear orchard in a small farming town outside of Gwangju. Korean pears are huge, basically the size of a large grapefruit, and really crisp, almost like an apple. At the orchard, we helped each kid pick their own pear, while taking many photos, and got to sample some of the fruit. Not really that educational but each of the teachers got to keep a few pears to take home so I can't complain.

  On Wednesday we took an hour long bus ride out to the ocean and went digging for clams. It was actually a lot of fun, but probably the messiest activity that you could have 5 year-old children running around and doing. We didn't get to keep the clams to take home, but they did make a pretty good lunch. Again, I don't know how educational this activity was for the students, but we did get some good photos, and it served as a nice break from the classroom. It was however very refreshing to be near the ocean again. I can't wait until I get the chance to go back and further explore the coast of Korea.

Brad and Fonzi fighting over something, which is a common occurrence.
And yes, someone actually named him Fonzi.

Maria and Holly eating freshly picked Korean pears

Lucy and her giant pear

   

Say Kimchi!

   After a late night on Saturday, we got up early to accompany a group of our students who were performing at the Kimchi festival. For those who have never had Kimchi before, it is a traditional Korean side dish made of fermented vegetables, most commonly cabbage, radish, or green onions. Although I don't find it particularly appetizing, Koreans love it and it comes with EVERY meal. The festival occurs annually in Gwangju where visitors are able to try a multitude of varieties and take part in making Kimchi for themselves. 
   We didn't stay long at the Kimchi festival itself, but we did get to make a quick trip to the Gwangju folk museum, which was held on the same grounds, before watching our students perform. They performed a traditional piece with drums and gongs as well as a not so traditional piece that included yodeling and an accordion. Not quite sure why they chose to perform that number, but it was pretty darn cute to say the least.   
   Also going on next to the Kimchi festival was the Design Biennale to which our boss gave us tickets. It is a huge art exhibition featuring work from over 130 artists from 44 different countries. The theme this year was 'Design is design is not design'. Although it was a little pretentious (as is a lot of modern art), it was definitely interesting to see some contemporary art on an internationally renown scale. 

First Saturday in Gwangju

     Saturday we left early in the morning to do some exploring. We took the bus from our house to U-square, which is the Gwangju bus station. It also has a huge department store called Shingsae attached to it that has a multitude of stores, from high-end designer stores to the Gap. Attached is also an IMAX theatre, a huge food court, and E-mart, which is another Walmart-type store. Didn't buy any clothes this time trip, but we will see how I hold out after the first paycheck arrives.


    After we got home we decided to venture out in our nearby neighbourhood to explore the streets. Restaurants, hair salons, and little Kwik-E-marts flank every street corner. There are an excessive amount of these businesses and they are never full so it is a wonder that they manage to stay open. Just walking around there is so much to see and look at. On Saturday alone we probably clocked 5km on foot.  It is the perfect time of year to walk around, just in time for all the leaves to start turning but still mild enough to stay warm. 


    We capped off our night by watching the rugby world cup at a co-workers place followed by a trip to downtown. The first stop was a new Korean restaurant right downtown where we ate pork cooked at the table with a multitude of side dishes that were all amazing and lots of terrible beer. After, we crossed the street to a place called Bubble Bar where both foreigners and Koreans party till late in the morning. Unfortunately there are no pictures from that part of the night but perhaps that is a good thing. Downtown is quite amazing but it's different than you would expect. There are no skyscrapers but a lot more foot traffic. The alleys are wall to wall people walking and lots of little boutiques that stay open really late. We didn't get much of a chance to explore downtown but perhaps next weekend. 

Mystery meat seems to always come on a stick

At the food court at Shingsae, only $2!

A trip to the market...

    Yesterday after school was over we walked to Lotte Mart, which is Korea's largest department store, to get some stuff for our apartment. The weather was gorgeous, bright and sunny at sunset. Even though it is halfway through October, it was really warm (hence the shorts and t-shirts), probably just over 20 degrees plus the humidity. The walk to Lotte Mart only took 15 minutes but along the way is a beautiful lake, not sure the name of it, that has really nice walking paths along it that are really popular. 

    Lotte Mart is crazy, it is the best place to shop nearby, kind of like a Walmart in a sense, but 4 stories high with an outlet part that sells designer clothing. Some things are a lot cheaper here than in Canada and some things are oddly expensive like pillowcases. 

    Reading the labels is obviously difficult, but there are a lot of the same brands so you just kind of have to guess about what things are. The language is really a challenge, even more so with the different alphabet so you can`t even read things and guess how to say them. Hopefully we will learn more but for now it is only hello and thank-you. Good thing we`ve got a full year to learn!
  

  After Lotte Mart, our boss Simon took us and 3 other English teachers to the Korean Symphony that was celebrating some famous Korean composer and war hero. Not really my scene, but it was interesting to see more of the city and do something new. While we were waiting in the lobby before the show, the mayor of Gwangju came in and did a couple of interviews for Korean news groups. Oddly enough the mayor`s people asked us to be in the background of all the shots, I guess because they like the look of Westerners. Pretty strange though, Simon just laughed. 

   It`s been a really long week, and we are both really glad that it is Friday, both for sleep and for more time to explore. Apparently we are going to some ice bar tonight, so expect another update tomorrow!

Jumping Right In

Nothing like a cold can of Max after a day of work...
Although we didn't get into Gwangju until 12:30pm last night, our boss Simon told us to stop by the school in the morning to check it out. Little did we know that stopping by would lead to a full 8 hours of work and teaching classes completely by ourselves. Two of the other teachers left today for holiday so they asked us if we could fill in for their class schedule. The good thing is that it can only get better from here, and there wasn't much time to be nervous about the first class. To thank us for our hard work, Simon took us to a huge dinner at a traditional Korean restaurant that was amazing, although both Cam and I passed on the blood soup. The whole chopsticks thing might be a bit of an issue but I've got a year to practice. Long day, but it will only get easier... now back to my Max and my bed.

Final Goodbye

20281 km and 28 hours later, we finally made it to Gwangju, South Korea, a place so far removed from Kamloops, so foreign and surreal. Thank you to everyone who made an effort to see me off and who shared their support for this endeavor. Although I am excited about the future months to come, I will no doubt feel the distance between me and loved ones. It isn't goodbye, only see you later.