Mask Dance Fest & 5K

This weekend we were super busy. On Friday night we met our friend Pat and had a nice dinner with him. Then Sat. morn we got up bright and early and headed to the bus station, where we met up with Pat to take off to Andong for the Internatl Mask Dance Festival. We went there last year, and had so much fun. We watched dances from China, Bhutan, Indonesia, Korea, and Russia. It was such a nice festival, and we had a lot of fun. We decided to take the train back to Wonju (the station is close to our place!!) and got home at 10pm!
B and I tried to fall asleep quickly as we were set to do the 5K run in Wonju at 9am. Our co-teacher's husband was nice enough to drive us to the stadium and get us registered. At the last minute, he decided to register as well. This was a big marathon, so were surprised to see that we were the only foreigners. The cameramen capitalized on this and at the start line, they forced us to move up to the front of the pack and pose for pics. Who knows, maybe we'll find ourselves in a local newspaper next week! Mr. Hyun, an avid runner, finished in 24 minutes, and we were 9 minutes behind him at 33 minutes! Hey, last year we clocked in at 34 so we're improving! ha-ha! Next time we'll have to prepare I guess!




Bhutan Dancers








Indonesian Dancers





Russian Dancers

Getting ready for the big race.

Big Plans

I uploaded some more pics of our Taiwan trip on my other website, so if you want to browse, here's the link: http://uwrf.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2046691&l=e5ea9&id=184902869

It turns out we may have a busy weekend ahead of us. Tomorrow we'll be going to a Mask Dance Festival in Andong with our friend Pat. We went there last year and had a blast. Then on Sunday there's a marathon in Wonju, so we may do the 5K thing. We found out about it today, so there's no time to practice! At least we'll be able to stretch b4 we run! :> We should have more pics to post after this weekend!

Kinks

Our final day in Taiwan was so hot, about 31d celsius. We visited the National Palace Museum where lots of valuable Chinese artifacts are stored. We were surprised when many of the the exhibits were closed for renovation, but still saw lots of interesting things. We hit a snag right before lunch since we were out of Taiwan dollars, and couldn't find a bank to exchange our Korean Won. We visited 4 banks and finally had to exchange the US $ we had. After lunch, we walked around some more and then picked up our stuff at the hotel. The hour-long shuttle bus to the airport only cost $3 each, and we made it there with no problems.
I always love the window seat, so when asked, we requested as much.When we got on the plane, however, my seat was the only one on the plane that was on the window side but didn't have a window. It was kind of strange, but no big deal. Our plane landed with no problems at 9.55pm, and we hustled thru customs and got our baggage. We made it on the 10.35 bus bound for the express bus terminal, and we got there at 11.40pm. We were rushing in hopes of catching the last bus back to Wonju...we were an hour late!
We tried to find a cheap motel around the terminal, but couldn't find any. We ended up checking into an all-night spa. Here's how it works: we paid $6 and were given a towel and a locker. The rooms are segragated by sex, so we went our seperate ways. Once in the rooms, there's an open area for relaxing or sleeping. The other big room is the spa, which has 2 big hot tubs, a cold tub, two saunas, numerous showers, and massage tables. The only catch is; you must be naked in the spa area. Luckily, there were only two older ladies in my room. B's room had lots of men, but all were sleeping already. These spas are popular amoung Koreans, but this was the 1st time we experienced it.
At 6am, we boarded our bus bound for Wonju. We arrived at 7:30, and were both at school by 8:20. Both of our schools are busy preparing for tests so we have light days today. Hopefully tonight we'll get more pics up!!

Day Trip

This morning we hired a cab for an all-day adventure. We headed to the northeast coast of Taiwan, and saw some amazing natural and man-made sites. Our favorite was the park where sandstone firgures have been carved out by the splashing waves. The coastline was wonderful. We also visited some beautiful temples; the colors and shapes were great. After an authentic Chinese lunch, we did some more driving and visited an old gold mining town that's been converted into a tourist town. The old buildings are still in place, and it was really a cool experience.

After 8 hours, our driver dropped us at our hotel where we relaxed a bit. This evening we ate dinner near our hotel and walked around a supermarket (we found some American snacks that Korea doesn't have). Tomorrow we plan on visiting the 3rd largest museum in the world, The Palace Museum, which contains Chinese artifacts. Then we catch our flight back to Korea at 6:25pm.

We've been lucky in that it hasn't rained as much as the forecast said it would. It's been very hot though, so we're a bit pink in the face!

9-23: At the Yehliu formation park.

9-23: At a temple in Keelung city (our driver Mr. Chen)

Everyone has a scooter here, and we've seen lots of dogs getting free rides! How cute!!

9-22: At the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Memorial, with the Taipei 101 in the background.

Busy, busy

We've been coming back late and getting up early so the pictures are going to some time coming. Last night we went to a street market, it rained sporadically so umbrellas were added to the already jam packed streets making it a bit uncomfortable. Today we went up Taipei 101, currently the tallest building in the world, and got a great view of the city and surrounding regions. We also visited another shrine and another temple. We're putting lots of miles on our feet so we may indulge ourselves in foot massages tomorrow. We're going to try and buy a taxi for the day to take us out of the city around the north coast and small villages. No telling how that will go. We've also had a hell of a time trying to change Korean Won into Tawain New Dollars, the banks are all closed and the hotels only change about four types of money. Luckily we got some sympathy from a worker at the Hyatt, the only hotel around that would take Won, who changed our money without actually having a room at their hotel. It is late and we need rest for another full day tomorrow so stay tuned.

Taipei: Day 1

We began our 1st day in Taiwan with breakfast at our hotel. Their breakfasts are similar to Koreans' in that they don't eat sweet things for breakfast. Rice also seems to be a staple food. We were on our way by 8.15, where we jumped on the subway and arrived at the Chang Hai Chek Memorial park. He was instumental in the formation of democracy in Taiwan, and they have a nice museum dedicated to his life. We then walked to the Longshan Temple, which is ornate and quite lovely. It was very crowded with Buddhists partaking in a form of worship. Next we went downtown, where we stumbled upon a parade in honor of Buddhism. It was interesting to be a part of the festivities. We grabbed a tasty lunch and were on our way again.
Next we saw the "Red House" which is a Western influenced octogonal building. We also passed by the president's home, which was heavily guarded. We tried to visit the observatory to get some views of the city, but learned that it has closed down. Instead we wandered thru an electronics market.
This evening we plan on getting some dinner and then heading to a night market or two. They're supposed to be lively and fun, so hopefully we'll have a good time! As long as the rain holds out, we'll be ok. The temps are hot here, and since the sun was out all day we got pink. No certain plans for tomorrow; it all depends on the weather.

Taipei

This morning we left Wonju early, anticipating heavy traffic for the major holiday, on the airport limousine bus. There was no traffic to speak of and we made it to the airport six hours early. We spent some of that time standing in the wrong line, duty-free window shopping, and Heather even squeezed in a nap. The benefit of getting there early was that we were able to get seats in the second row of the plane. The flight took off a little late but it was only a two and a half hour flight. We took a shuttle bus in to Taipei and our bus driver skipped our stop so we rode to the end of the line and then back up to our stop. We left Seoul at 3:50pm and finally arrive at our hotel a little after 9. It's a really nice hotel and so far it seems like we're going to have a pretty cheap vacation as prices are quite low. We've got a lot to see here so tomorrow we'll hit the town hard, rain or shine. We want to get out of the city for one day but we haven't decided where to yet. We have free wireless internet in our room so we'll get a few pics up tomorrow night.

A Few Things

We had the internet for about a day and a half, and it's down already! My co-teacher said he would call if he gets a chance, but all teachers are busy this week. On Friday there's an all-school mid-term that includes every subject. The teachers are busy preparing the exams and the kids are cramming.
A few things I've learned about public schools in general: teachers go to class when the bell rings, not before. Students have one homeroom and the teachers change classes, the teachers have lounges where each has a desk and computer to work on. The school provides lunch for the all teachers, with a $2 charge for every meal. All teachers brush their teeth after lunch.
Tonight we're meeting a fellow American teacher for dinner in town. He's a world traveler, and has taught in 4 countries. It should be fun to chat with him! Here's a link to some of our 1st photos in Wonju: http://uwrf.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045871&l=b8c82&id=184902869

9-15: With B's co-teacher Mrs. Bahn and husband at the Buckwheat Festival in Bongpyeong.


Gukje Apt. Our place is in the bottom right-hand corner (1st floor).


The living room of our apartment.




H's co-teacher Jasmine and her children (10 and 5).

Flowers

Today I'm (H) at my "country school." They call it that since it's not in the city and the size is quite small. This is a middle school, and there are a total of 48 students in 3 grades. It's a 30-minute ride outside of town, and my vice principal and math teacher picked me up (they carpool). I was surprised to see a "Welcome to our school, Heather" poster on my desk, and we had a small ceremony where they presented me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers (pic to follow). Both my principal and VP are women, so my male co-teacher informed me that they are thoughtful and enjoy doing things like that.
So far both of my classes have been well-behaved and happy to see me. I have the 2nd graders soon, and then I have to help a few students prepare for the Wonju city Speech Contest.
Tomorrow (Sat) I'm going to the boys school to help with their speech contest. Their school is so big that they must have a contest to see who goes on to the city-wide one. Kids go to school every other Saturday here, and since it's only a half-day, they decided to do the contest then.
This evening is supposed to be the time when our internet gets turned on, so that's exciting! Expect some photos!
The big Chusok (thanksgiving) holiday is coming up, and we've decided to go to Taipei, Taiwan. The price was right and the dates work out for our schedule! We leave on the 22nd and return on the 26th of this month!

First Day

Wednesday we both went to our schools expecting to teach. B goes to his "country school" every Wed, and it has a total of about 80 students. He was able to teach all three grades of middle school yesterday (7th-9th) without any problems. He can tell the difference b/t the city and country kids, as the latter are much more polite. H was scheduled to have 3 classes yesterday, but the students were in the middle of something else, so she sat at her desk in the teacher's lounge preparing lessons most of the day. We're still waiting on internet at our place, so luckily we can use it whenever we want at our schools.
We planned on getting internet today, but were discouraged to learn that since we are foreigners, we must pay 6 months in advance. So, we've got to pay about $225 up front in order for them to turn on our internet. Since we need to use a bank card, we have to go to the internet store, see if our card goes thru, and then on Friday they will hook it up if the card goes thru. The nice thing about our last city was that our directors were more than willing to help us with these sorts of things, but here our co-teachers aren't able to help us sign for the "native discount." So, we're getting used to it.

Monday

Today we both observed an EPIK teacher in action. H was at an all girls' school, and B was at a different all girls' school across town. We had a good day, and picked up a few tips on how to go about planning lessons and such. We also learned today that our boxes from Tongyeong are en-route and will be here tomorrow (hopefully). Surprisingly, it's only 5 bucks a box, which is so cheap considering it takes over 5 hours one way! Hopefully at this time tomorrow we'll be unpacking boxes.
Tomorrow we'll be at different schools again, and on Wednesday we'll be back at our original schools to start teaching. We're both ready to teach, so we're excited for Wed.
We're still trying to make plans for our 5-day holiday that's coming up in less than 2 weeks. We may go to Taipei, Taiwan, as flights there are both cheap and available at the moment! Everywhere else is either booked or 800bucks for a plane ticket!! We'll keep you posted on our travel status!

Hanji Paper Festival

Our city is well-known for its traditional paper (hanji). This weekend there's a festival in town, so today we went with my new half co-teacher Jasmine and her family. She has two girls, ages 5 and 10. The 10 year old goes to an English Immersion school, and her English ability is amazing. Her parents pay good money for this school, and her mom told me that she wasn't sure if it was the right choice, but after seeing her talk to B and I she's happy with her decision. It's fun for us to chat with her, and we're always amazed at how much she knows.
The 5 year old is very curious about us and loves coming to our apt. She even picked out her fave dress, had her sister do her hair, and brushed her teeth by herself b4 coming to see us today (she's age 4 by western standards). She's always happy and smiling, and we had fun today with the family.
Tomorrow we may head back to the festival, as we didn't take everything in yet. Luckily we found a PC room near our home, so we're not hurting too badly yet, just wishing we could get the pics on to correspond with our stories! The weather was perfect today, so we're glad we were able to spend it outdoors.

Wonju (원주)

We're in our new city of Wonju! We're taking in lots of info, in terms of our new schools, meeting important education people, and taking everything in. For starters, B is at a co-ed middle school. It's a brand new school, and for now it only has 1st grade students. Next year they will bring in 2nd grade and so on. He has another school on Wednesdays, but that's all he knows about that so far. His co-teacher lives 6 blocks from us, so he gets a ride to and from work everyday. Not a bad set up!
H ended up at an ALL boys' middle school. There are about 750 students, and one native teacher! I will only teach 1st and 2nd grade boys, and on Fridays I will go to a country school, reportedly with 90 students in the whole school. My co-teacher was an older man who is "uncomfortable" with having a female co-teacher, so I'm in the process of getting that straightened out.
Our apt is very nice. The building is 10 years old (old by Korean standards) but we're happy about it. It's in a nice location from what we've been told, and we're pretty excited about it. True to form, our hot water wasn't working the 1st day, so we took cold showers! Now that's fixed, so all we need is gas for the stove, internet, and perhaps a phone. We'll most likely get cell phones instead of house phones.
Our district coordinator Sonya lives in Wonju, and we're really lucky to have her in our city. She's quite helpful and very nice. She set up a big group dinner tonight for all the new and returning native teachers. It should be fun!
This weekend we're hoping to unpack our stuff and get things organized at our place. We're still trying to arrange for our things from Tongyeong to be sent to us. All in all we're doing well and are easing into our new adventure!Pics will follow as soon as we have internet at our place.

Back in Korea

We made it to Korea. Our flights were ok with nothing special to report. We arrived at about 10pm on the 30th in Korea. We took a 2 hour long bus ride into Seoul to meet our recruiter, and finally made contact with him at 12.30am! He dropped us off at a motel, and came back for us the next day at noon. We grabbed some lunch and took off for Yangyang, the city where the orientation is taking place.
There are 50 people in our orientation, with the majority being from the US. There are a few from Canada, Australia, and Ireland. This orientation is a new thing for our province, so there's been a lot of down-time and confusion. It's also been raining for the past 2 days, so all of our outdoor activities have been changed.
The real program starts tomorrow, with all of the "big dogs" coming to observe, take pictures, and shoot video of us. We're hoping it's more interesting than the past few days, as we feel like it's all old news for us.
We will go to our new city on Wednesday afternoon, and will most likely be shown around our school on Thurs and Friday. Our orientation director is stating that we most likely won't start teaching until Monday, which is nice to know.
Other than that, we're pretty bored! Our condo's internet isn't working so this is the 1st time we've ventured into town to use a local PC room, about a 15 minute walk from our place. The food at the cafeteria isn't as tasty as real Korean food, so we'll grab a bite in town b4 heading back to our room for the night. Our sleep schedule has been surprisingly irregular so we're working on that. We'll get some pics on as soon as we take them!!