Wow. Life has been so crazy the past few weeks, it all just feels like a dream. In the past month Korea has taught me a few things:
1. Koreans take sightseeing VERY seriously.
2. Koreans take sports day VERY seriously.
3. Koreans DO NOT take exam times seriously (You can't fail in this country).
3. Koreans eat a crap load of food and stay skinny.
4. Teachers Day is a real day in Korea where students give you flowers and chocolate which is supposed to make up for being assholes every other day. (I think a once a year 'girlfriends day' may be cheaper for some guys?)
5. I still don't like Kimchi.
Well, last time I posted I mentioned I was going on the school field trip for 3 days to Seoul and this definitely happened, although it was less of a relaxing field trip and more like an extreme endurance boot camp because Koreans can and do manage to see EVERY sight in Seoul in two and a half days!
On Day 1, we managed to have a University tour at Korea's "number 2" University where we were marched around hi-tech libraries, study halls, sports fields, auditoriums and such. This was followed by a shopping spree in Myeong Dong (the shopping district of Seoul) where girls spent tens of thousands of won on make up and cream and lotion and cream and hair ties and cream and make up and cream. The boys on the other side of the spectrum bought food. At this stage we had walked at least 5km's worth around the Uni and Myeong Dong so as a reward we got to do a 2km hike up the steepest hill I have ever seen to see the Namsam Tower - the tallest building in Korea (probably because it is on a hill). There was relief in site as a theater show was the end to our evening. We saw Fanta Stick, which has nothing to do with an orange flavoured soda, but more with drumming FantaStickly. It was good.
We had boarded the bus at 8am and we got to our accommodation at 10pm.
Day 2 followed a similar pattern, starting with a tour of MBC (a large broadcasting station in Seoul) where we weren't allowed to take photos and everyone was miserable because they are currently striking to regain freedom of speech for the media (sound familiar?). Kyeong Bok Palace was next, a famous palace made up of many temples and lakes that go on for miles - all I can tell you is the changing of the guard takes 45 minutes and you can see this phenomenon every hour. This baffles me as the palace is technically only protected for 15 minutes of every hour and the rest of the time is spent dancing, waving flags and beating on a pot. The presidents house was the highlight for me because even though we could not take photos, I felt like I was in South Africa for the first time on my trip. There were so many trees and plants, it was hot and there were actual grass lawns!!! This may seem silly to you - but where we stay in Inje, there is no such thing as a yard - there is only... more land for crops!!!! Anyhow, just to give our feet a rest, we decided to go ice skating at the end of the day. #ihategoingroundincircles (for the tweeters).
Day 3 was a little different, there was only one destination on the itenerary - EVERLAND! An amusement park which is heavily based on the feel of Disney Land with all the characters, fake plastic trees and loads of rides. But there was a downside, the first and only ride I wanted to go on was 3.5km away... The great trek began and as we arrived we were met by a line that said "60min wait". Fuck. 60 minutes later I got on the scariest roller coaster I have ever been on which lasted 3 minutes and 20 seconds - SUCCESS!!! I could go home, nut first I had to sit around for 3 hours...
So, like I said... Koreans take sightseeing VERY seriously!
The week before the field trip, we had a sports day at the school and I must say it was totally awesome! They have official sports like jumping rope, wrestling, tug of war and my favourite 'foot volleyball'. This is basically a combination of volleyball and one bounce and you play in teams of 5. Killer fun! We also had the more general athletics and soccer. One thing I have got to say though is there was no spirit, not like home at least... No war cries, face paint or colour co-ordinated clothing... It made me miss South Africa again.
Exam week was just before all these "relaxing" and "fun" days... which I just do not understand - as long as the student comes to school, arrives at the exam and attempts to answer the questions - he/she is guaranteed a pass. The only time good grades matter is when the student is being chosen by respective universities... The logic is that if the students want a good job they have to go to university and if they want to go to university they must do well in school. I am not saying it's not logical, but I am saying it doesn't work!
This leads me onto teachers day... a day when teachers still have to come to work but get given loads of chocolate and flowers. I only got a few because it isn't "customary" to give the foreign teacher - but some of my co-teachers had more chocolate than I get on Easter! Pretty cool.
Anyhow, on a personal note - we hit our 3 month mark just the other day and have been a bit homesick. The way we figure it is that it's not new and exciting anymore and we are starting to just fit in like a cog in yet another big machine. This is disheartening because it makes the culture differences a lot harder to deal with, the food selection irritating and it also makes you realise that nobody knows or could ever know you properly in this country... A rather unpleasant pill to swallow...
I don't wanna end on a downer, so, I must tell you - we are planning trips to Indonesia in early August and Thailand in October! That fine folks, makes the harder days easier to bear.
Over and Out.
