April 2010

I know it's been a while. Things have been pretty hectic in my life lately. Working from 8:40am-8pm 5 days a weeks pretty much leaves me exhausted by the weekend. April was a pretty fun month. Here's what I have been up to:

Saturday April 10th, Andrew and I went with a church group to Busan. We spent part of the day at the Famous Busan Fish Market and the other half at an orphanage. The experience at the fish market was interesting. It was basically a bunch of people selling all types of fish. It smelled disgusting and I wasn't particularly excited to see people beheading and gutting the fish in front of me. It was an experience and maybe if I actually liked eating fish I could have appreciated it more. I was glad I witnessed it but I don't think I need to go back.

The next part of the day was an experience I will never forget. I have never been to an orphanage before and the closest thing I can relate it to it the movie Annie. I'm thinking mistreated dirty children cleaning floors with toothbrushes while Ms. Hannigan yells at them to clean faster. This was not the case at all. It was a very nice home that housed about 60 kids ranging from 4 to 14. When we arrived, we were greeted by a few of the children, while the others looked on from their windows. The 12 volunteers broke up into activity groups and the kids joined whichever one they found an interest in. Andrew went and played soccer while I took charge of the crafts. As soon as we brought out the chalk, the kids decided to join. We covered the driveway with drawings or flowers, hopscotch and Spongebob. However, the drawing soon turned into the kids chasing the volunteers and wiping chalk on our faces. But it was still fun; after all, we were there to have fun.

When the drawing got boring, we ventured into the kids school room where we began to just draw pictures and hang out. Park Hae Min is an 8 year old girl who was always by my side. She wanted to draw chalk with me and took pride in the fact that she was the one who managed to get blue chalk on my face. She drew a picture of me, and asked if I would draw one of her. This adorable picture was the result. The rest of the afternoon involved playing some games roughly discussing their favorite Korean Pop singers and trying to communicate. Overall it was an awesome day and the church plans to go back in May. Andrew and I do too.

Saturday April 17th, Andrew and I ventured to Gyeongju, a city about 45 min from Ulsan. Since winter has lasted longer this year than normal, the cherry blossoms bloomed a little later. We wanted to see them in their prime state, and we were told to go to Gyeongju. After a mix up when we got off the bus (of course), we managed to find a beautiful canopy of trees. I felt like I was in a movie as we walked the path beneath them. They were just beautiful. It was a perfect spring day and the flowers were so full, it looked like the trees were covered in snow. It's sad that they don't stay in bloom very long. Most of the trees in Ulsan have lost their flowers and their beautiful scent. But I am glad we had a chance to see them!

Friday April 23rd, my school had their annual class picnic day. Every grade goes to a different destination and participates in an activity. I got to tag along with the 5th grade. We rode in a coach bus for about an hour. The bus ride was great and we were entertained by a flat screen tv playing Korean pop music videos...it was just hilarious.

When we arrived at our destination I got a little concerned. We were in a rural area in the mountains and there were about 25 buses already parked. We were not the only school there. The first thing I noticed were two baby goats tied to totum polls. The area was basically a mud pit and a few tents and some playground equipment. I had no idea what was going on because Johnson had a meeting as wasn't there...I was just following the crowd at this point.

After what I assume were instructions by some of the staff members, the class I was with, were handed blue plastic bags. What I understood from one of the students was that we were to go into the muddy field and pick weeds. In my head I thought, this was some picnic. Let's go do some yard work as a field trip. Later I found out that we were using the weeds we just picked to make into rice cakes. I heard the staff member over the loudspeaker so we grab as many weeds as we could and went on our way. The next step was a tent. The kids got the chance to beat the weeds into the rice cake with a massive wooden hammer. I later found out that this was the traditional way rice cakes were made. After everyone got to hit it, we were given samples. It wasn't too bad considering I was eating rice and weeds.

Next the kids were given free time to run around, do some archery, slide, and jump on the trampoline. As our luck would have it, it began to rain and the mud just got worse. Picture 100's of kids running around a field of mud while it's raining, basically unsupervised. Chaos. The most entertaining part for me was witnessing the trampoline. If you have ever seen Four Christmas' and remember the scene when the kids were in the "jump jump" it was much like that. Way to many kids trying to jump. They were screaming, trying to climb out, slipping and falling. The best part was when they managed to get out. The kids had brought snacks in with them and food was everywhere. Remember it is still raining at this point. So kids were falling and rolling in mud and snacks. Food was stuck in their hair, on their faces, on their clothing...ah, it was so funny to watch. The kids kept saying, "Sarah Teacher come jump, come jump!!" I was like no way, I will participate in most of the activities...but not this one :)

Next was a very unsafe tractor ride at a speed way to fast for the amount of kids in the back trailer and the rough terrain. I was waiting for a broken neck...but to my surprise everyone seemed to make it out unharmed. It was the most hilarious field trip/picnic I have ever experienced.

Sunday April 25th was one of my favorite days since being in Korea. Andrew and I got involved with an organization called THOPE (Teachers Helping Other People Everywhere) and went to an orphanage in Ulsan. It took us about an hour to get there and the facilities were amazing! There are about 110 kids that call this place home. They range in age from babies to high school. They have their own gym, sauna, pool, playground, and really nice rooms. When it came time to divide the volunteers I jumped at the chance of working in the nursery while Andrew played sports.

I can't even express to you how adorable these kids are. I was in a room with two other volunteers and we were in charge of watching and playing with seven, two and three year-olds. (I would have taken pictures but we were under the impression that you aren't allowed. When we left, I found out it was ok. We are going again on May 9th, so I'll take some then.) It was such a fun afternoon just reading and playing. It just melted my heart when they would hold their hands up so you would pick them up, or when they would fight to sit in your lap. They were all such sweet, sweet babies. We were told that not all the children in the orphanage are up for adoption. A small percentage of them are in there because their families have found themselves in financial trouble and can no longer support the child. When they get back on their feet, they go and pick them up. But again, it's a small percentage.

I am so grateful to have found THOPE and that I am able to volunteer my time every other Sunday to visit these kids. It was hard to leave but very excited to go back.

St. Patrick's Day Fun!

In my new Saranbang (evening) class, which is everyday from 6-8pm, we talked about St. Patrick's Day. I am really lucky because I have the advanced class this semester. It's much more fun because they understand so much more which allows us to do more activities.

After talking about the basics of the holiday, I taught them what a Limerick is. For those of you who don't know, it's an Irish poem that began in a pub in Limerick and are often crude and dirty. But they have a definite structure. It is made up of five lines. Line 1, 2, and 5 all rhyme with each other and contain 7 to 8 syllables. Lines 3 and 4 rhyme with each other and contain 5 to 6 syllables. It was hard to find examples for the kids that weren't dirty or the words were to hard to understand, so I had to write the examples. The first is mine, followed by several of my students. Most of them got the concept...and others...well, gave it their best shot! It is typed how they wrote them! Enjoy!

Mine:

There was a big dog named Jean.

His fur was the color of green.

He would run really slow,

and at night he would glow.

If you weren't really nice he'd be mean.

Jamy:

A girl named Jamy likes to play,

Thursday is her favorite day.

She likes the sea,

So she saw the sea,

And she had a great day

Sue:

When I was young I saw a bee,

The bee saw that I see.

I run away like a bee,

The bee follows me.

But I hide in the river, OOPS!

Michelle:

My friends like a very cute dog.

I like a very cute and pretty cat.

My fren like play piano.

I like too play piano.

My friends and me likes going on a picnic

Joyce:

There was a small cat named Berry.

Her favorite fruit is a cherry.

She wears a green hat,

She is white and black,

Her other friends name is Marry

Jason:

There was a big bear named Joon.

He was like the red balloon.

It was on his head,

But it was not red,

So he painted in the noon.

Amy:

The one girls loved a brown bear.

The bear is like seat on chair.

And likes to play with key.

And he likes to eat peas.

And brown bear likes to draw square.

Janis:

There was a one young girl name of Mery.

The girl name Mery want to fly.

She going to dream.

And a night was come.

Then Mery was fly in the sky.

Sally:

The young boy name was a Joy

He is very cute and kind boy.

Joy has a little bird.

Little bird know many word.

Little bird and Joy say bye!

The New Semester

Second semester has come to an end, and March 2nd marked the start of a brand new school year at Hakseong Elementary School. It has come with plenty of changes that I am getting use to. I thought I would spice up this blog with a poetic tale of how the first week went, enjoy :)

It is March 5th a new year has begun,
Not sure what to expect, but it better be fun.

The new year started off in a brand new room,
But we’re kinda cramped there’s no room for a broom.

It’s nice and new and not like the old closet,
That was our old office filled with dusty deposits.

I no longer have third grade, but fourth, fifth and sixth,

Another new co-teacher to throw in the mix.

The kids call her Sunny and she seems really sweet,

Perfect for making the English teacher's complete.

Twelve teachers left and fourteen new came in,
Two from America it’s an English win-win.

The teacher’s move schools every four years,
Not really sure why but it’s ‘cause of their tier.

New teacher Dorian, his skin color’s black,
‘Obama’ he’s called by kids to his back.

My new classroom has a smart board and big screen TV,
Not sure how it works but the kids scream in glee.

On Wednesday March 2nd the staff took a bus,
To drive for an hour through the mountains and dust.

“We’ll hike to the top and then have a good meal,”
I was told nothing more not sure what to feel.

As the hike started up, the hill was not steep,
Then twenty minutes passed by, I wanted to weep.

It was muddy and slick all at the same time,
I was not prepared for this torturous climb.

When we reached the top I imagined a view,
Nothing but trees and the sky a faint blue.

Some teachers kept going while some stayed back,
Then there were stragglers still far from the pack.

Those of us tired and ready to eat,
Walked in the ‘restaurant’ and felt our defeat.

We took off our shoes and sat down on the floor,
Anxious to chow on what the hiking was for.

There was kimchi and rice and some veggies too,
Then came the pot of a chicken type stew.

It was nothing more than a bird in hot water,
Just its neck gone it must have been quite the slaughter.

We ate and we talked and some teacher’s toasted,
To a new school year while the principal boasted.

It wasn’t ‘till later I found out why he smiled,
He was shooting liquor which makes him quite wild.

It was nothing but smiles as we all left the tent,
Dreading the dark and unstable descent.

We all made it down and only one teacher fell,
She was a good sport and was muddy as hell.

We piled back on to our escorted ride,
Hard to stay awake and keep my eyes wide.

When I made it home I told Andrew this news,
And picked off the mud that was stuck to my shoes.

I hope our next dinner is far less demanding,
And hopefully involves some food that’s outstanding!

Guam: Where America's Day Begins

Oh...what can I say. Guam was glorious! Andrew and I took a restful vacation compared to the 'tourist attraction mayhem-must see everything- always on the go' Beijing, China trip we went on in December. I know what you're thinking...another vacation already?! How can I get that job? Well, with the way the Korean school system is set up, their "Spring Break'' is during the last week of February because the new semester begins in March. So, it just seems like we had two awesome vacations back to back...but really...we had a lot of teaching hours in between...remember the English Camp post, 3 weeks, 11 hours a day, getting punched in the face? Guam was the perfect place to get away and enjoy a little American culture for a change.

Andrew and I set off on our sunny beach bound vacy on February 20th. We decided to fly out of Busan instead of Seoul this time. It's about $50 more, but MUCH less of a hassle. So we boarded a bus at 7:00am and rode for an hour to the airport. Our first flight took us to Narita, Japan...a small little city in Tokyo. We purposely scheduled a six hour layover so we would have the chance to leave the airport and explore a little. Everyone says that Japan is a lot like Korea, except that it's outrageously expensive to get to but also to tour. It's about a one and a half hour flight, but costs about $500.

I had previously done some research on what to do in Narita (my typical Type A personality self) and found out that there is a cute little town and temple just a 10 minute train ride from the airport. So once we landed, all we needed to do was to find the train station. Well lucky for us, there was a stop at the airport! We paid about $6 for a two stop ride and it couldn't have been easier. We made a quick stop at McDonalds so Andrew could have some nuggets, and then we were off. As we made our way down the long street, we noticed that it was just a bunch of little shops and restaurants. Having nothing but time to kill, we made our way in about 90% of them just enjoying the beautiful weather and tourist gimmicks. Being slightly more adventurous, I decided to try a local snack from a street vendor. It smelled of syrup and calories and I just had to try it. Turns out, it was a pancake type doughnut with red bean filling. Ahhh...we have stuff like that in Korea. And even though it's put inside a pancake, the red bean taste is disgusting in both Japan and Korea.

About an hour or so later, another food vendor smell caught my attention. But this time, it was a salty aroma. It looked like a giant round pretzel and sounded delicious. Again, a disappointment. They covered the snack in soy sauce and seaweed leaves. It was ok for the first few bites, but it was just so salty we couldn't eat anymore. But hey, at least we tried. We decided to see the temple on our long layover on the way back so we would have something to do. Well stupid me, looked at so many flights on the way to Guam I got the times mixed up. On our way back to Korea, our Japan layover was only two hours...my mistake and I'm still bummed about not being able to see the temple. We live and learn I guess.

We made it back to the airport with about two hours to re-check in and hang out before our flight to Guam. Check in was a breeze and they told us our flight was overbooked but we didn't think much of it.

Much to our surprise, we we went to our gate to board the plane, the attendant handed us a new boarding pass and said since the flight was overbooked we had been upgraded. Andrew and I were like "OK," and went on our way down the hall to the plane. What the attendant failed to mention was that our upgrade was to Business Elite! And wow...all I can say is that we wished the flight was way longer than three hours. This is the part of the plane that we normally just walk through in awe on our way to the 'cramped-middle seats-between two screaming babies and-smelly men' that we are use to. But not this time. We were treated like royalty. As soon as I sat down we were offered champagne and we had nice fluffy pillows and HUGE seats that reclined to a bed position. We each had private screens to pick our own movies and it was like a dream.

Then, a stewardess came around and draped white linens over our tables for dinner. Andrew and I were handed a menu full of salmon spring rolls and beef kabobs and custards and salads. We just looked at each other afraid to get our hopes up not knowing if it was free or if we were going to be charged outrageous prices, (clearly a rookie mistake). Andrew shyly asked when the waitress came around and said, "Mr. Lacy, what will you have for dinner?" He replied, "Does it cost anything?" She rolled her eyes and shook her head "No." He then quickly replied, "I'll have the beef." It was amazing. I need to make a lot of money in the future because that is the only way to fly!

We arrived in Guam about 12am Guam time which is an hour ahead of Korea. You could feel the tropical humidity in the airport as we waited for our bags. The hotel sent someone to pick us up and we went to sleep as soon as we got in, anxious for the day that awaited us.

Guam is a lot like Hawaii. It feels foreign, yet it's still the comfort of American soil. The water was crystal blue, the beaches a sandy white and the temperature was a perfect 85 degrees. It was going to be a fantastic week. Andrew and I were pretty lazy. We laid at the beach pretty much all day with the exception of lunch time when we usually made our way down to Subway for some much needed turkey sandwiches.

On our third day there, Andrew and I scheduled a 6 hour island tour. The tour guide took us all around the island and the famous sights. We saw beautiful beaches and Guam's own Statue of Liberty, ruins of buildings from before the Japanese invaded during WWII, naturally made tide pools with a view so beautiful, my camera couldn't even capture it, and several other WWII memorial sights.

Our first stop was a local attraction called, Two Lovers Point. It is Guam's version of Romeo and Juliet. After being banned to see each other, the two lovers tied their hair together (not sure why) and leaped to their death from a high cliff so they could be together forever. The story was tragic, but the scenery was beautiful, well worth the stop.

We got to stop and try some local flavor...baby coconut! It has a very mild taste and I was a big fan, it would have been great in a smoothie! Andrew wasn't too fond of the flavor but he was a good sport anyhow.

One very interesting story was about a Marine named John Gerber. He walked this sign 26 miles down their main road called, Marine. He was so determined to get the street renamed to 'Marine Corps Drive,' to show respect to the the fact the it was the Marines that were the first to arrive on Guam when the Japanese began to invade. He was successful and has since opened up a museum, "The Pacific War Museum," and restores old military vehicles for display. We got to go to the museum and it was so interesting. One side was all about the USA troops, and the other was about the Japanese. Each was filled with personal stories and memorabilia and pictures and it was just really educational and gave Andrew and I a much better understanding of what happened.

We also got to meet one of Guam's mascots, a caribou named Bessy. She was bathing at the time we saw here but we were able to feed her bananas with our hands (while big Joe fed her with his mouth) and I even got the chance to take her for a little walk. We were at the site of Magellan's landing point and as you can see, the scene was beautiful!

The last stop on the tour was one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen! We climbed to a lookout point and words/the camera can't do the view justice! The mountain behind Andrew and I in the picture is the worlds tallest mountain if you include both above and below sea water. It is decorated with crosses because every Easter, Jesus' walk with the cross in re-enacted to the top.

The next day, we just relaxed by the beach again. We did a little reading, some sunbathing and some snorkeling...just another wonderfully relaxing day. Then that evening, we went to Chamorro Village. It's where the natives and tourists of the island gather on Wednesday nights. It's full of booths selling souvenirs and local food, there is also live music and dancing and just a really cool relaxed atmosphere with an island vibe.

Our last full day was Friday the 26th. Andrew and I decided to rent a car and just drive a long the coast at our own speed, stopping when and where we wanted. Our first stop was to Wendy's...it had been way too long and it was a very delicious lunch! Next we went to a fish observatory that was underwater so we could view whatever exciting creatures decided to swim past the windows on that day. We didn't get to see any sharks or turtles or even an octopus, but we did get to see a few schools of fish and a couple other really colorful straggler fish. All in all it was interesting.

Our next stop was to go back to the scene of the tide pools. They were just so beautiful that Andrew and I wanted to take a few more pictures and really take in the scenery. After all this, our six hour rental was up and it was time to return to the hotel.

Our flight left at 6am Saturday morning, so we were up at 3:30am. Sadly, we were not upgraded and Andrew and I were separated from each other and in middle seats. I guess the airline knew we had it to good on the way to Guam that they really wanted to stick it to us on the way home.

The Taco Bell picture was stuck in there because when I look a it, Etta James' song, 'At Last' comes to mind:)

Great Trip. Great Company. Great Food. Now we are planning our next vacation! Bali anyone? We are looking into it!

Winter English Camp Was Quite A Punch In The Face

For the past three weeks, Jan. 4th-Jan.22nd, Andrew and I taught at a three week English camp made up of about 350 6th graders and 40 4th graders. We stayed at a university in Gyeongju which is about 45 minutes from Ulsan. So Monday mornings we boarded a bus and headed of to camp, not able to return to Ulsan until Friday afternoon when they bussed us back again.

Our days were very tightly scheduled from 8:20am until 9:00pm when our evening meeting wrapped up. We were with these kids literally all day. The first class in the mornings was a listening test followed by three lecture classes. Then came lunch and and hour and a half of afternoon activities which consisted of a rotation between 'mini-olympics', a movie, and some sort of folk dancing mixed with tawkwondo (I was never quite sure what this meant. All I knew was that several kids alluded to Folk dancing as 'Fork' dancing and were very surprised when they had to dance with people and not Forks! So funny!) At the conclusion of these activities, we had snack time, then grammar, followed by two classes of vocabulary and storytelling time. After dinner, we then had an hour and a half of evening activities. Needless to say, we were quite exhausted at the end of each day, but those had to be the fastest three weeks of our lives.

The location wasn't bad for this camp but it wasn't ideal either. The first day we arrived, it was snowing like crazy and the campus is set on the side of a mountain so it was very hilly. Watching those kids try to bring their luggage up the slick, steep hill was probably one of the most comical things I have ever seen. After seeing their friends slip and fall down the hill, I never quite understood why the kids didn't say, "Nuts on this, I'm gonna walk around to the flatter part to carry my luggage." They were all about the steep shortcut.

It was freezing that first day and they didn't turn on the heat. The classrooms were freezing, our rooms were freezing, hardly anyone slept and everyone was so exhausted the next day. I slept in sweatpants tucked into my thick socks, a t-shirt, long sleeved shirt, and a sweatshirt with the hood tied over my ears....oh, and a pair of gloves. It was miserable. Luckily, they got the heat urned on in the rooms the next day, but my classroom didn't have heat for a week!

Funny Story #1: Here are a few funny stories, although there are tons. The first one refers to the title of this entry. "Winter English Camp Was Quite A Punch In The Face." That's right, I was literally punched in the face by a 6th grade boy. As I was leaving the lecture building, I saw two boys just going at each other, really punching each other hard. One boy even had a ripped shirt where his stomach was exposed. Naturally I told them to stop several times and I was even saying it in Korean (or I think I was) but they didn't bat an eye to me. I was nervous because they were on top of this really steep hill and one wrong hit or back st udder step would send a kid rolling down the hill to the concrete bottom. Since they weren't listening, I grabbed one boys arm and pulled him away from the other. Well...that worked for about one second until he wiggled loose of my grip and launched towards the other boy. I got in the middle yelling stop and that's when he clocked me, from behind without warning. It hit my neck and cheek area. It didn't hurt so much as I was just stunned...I couldn't believe it had escalated to this.

I grabbed the boys hand, and whipped the other boy around to my other side. They were yelling in Korean and I was so fed up. I yelled "Shut up!" as I practically drug them down the hill to the teachers room where a Korean teacher could deal with them. They weren't getting out of my kung-fu grip this time.

Sadly this wasn't the only issue with fighting. One evening a fight got so bad that a student was taken to the emergency room and treated for a broken eye socket. Fighting is always the students' first answer to any problem.

Funny Story #2: So this picture of the roof with a hole in it was taken because I couldn't stop laughing. Some idiot kid thought it would be funny to run across this really weak looking roof of a old home on the campus property and he fell through! I wish I could have been there to see it happen in real time :)

Awesome Story #3: On the last Thursday of camp, they had a talent show. I am proud to report that my class took home a third place prize for our version of the YMCA. I re-wrote the words to the first part and the chorus and instead of YMCA, we spelled CAMP! It was great and we had fun planning it. The kids were really into it!

Below our some of my favorite journal entries. Every night, the kids had to write in their English Diaries. What you are reading is exactly how it appeared in their notebooks. That includes spelling and punctuation. They are hilarious and remember they are in 6th grade, enjoy!

1) I'm so tired. I'm very very tired. I miss my home. I want to go home. I'm so glad to meet my roommate again. My roommate brought strawberry perfume from her house. That is becaus she said "my blanket has bad smell." The strawberry smell is good. It's sweet. But is make me hungry. I want to eat strawberry!

2) Title: I got punish

Yesterday, when teacher check out room for sleep, we have to come out front of my room. But, when teacher was come to my room, we didn't come out and stayed in room. So, teacher said stand in front of your room. Later, teacher called me with few girls and made us line up and said ''hold your ears and stand up and down 50 times. After I did, my legs was really hurt. And I feel that I can't walk from now to 1 week. From today, I have to ready to roll call time.

3) Today my feel so good! Because tomorrow I go to my mom! Hooray!! And today I see movie!! Movie title is ‘Up” it is interesting!! Today vocabulary class time is very great! So Excited!! Now I like vocabulary time! Ah! I like English teacher Sarah (heart) Andrew, Mitchell, Matthew! Ah! Today we doing test so, my grade is 100 congratulations!!! I hope Sarah and Andrew love so long time!! I want to marry with Andrew…this is joke Sarah Teacher…I like Mitchell! Next time I ‘m marry with foreign! I think every foreign is very very kind people!! Teacher I love you! My English name is Ella, remember.

4) Today I feel tired, because we’re not turn on heater, so I’m so cold and we doing Folk dance that is tired and not exciting. Our abode is not warm, only cold!!!! I miss my family!! This camp is not so good!!! Ah! Today I go to clinic two times! Because first, I have a terrible headache and two, I eat food but bite chopstick so my tooth is feel breaking abd my nose is hit to a chair to nose is so sick…now…very sick.I want go home! Mom come here!!! My teacher some kind! But English teacher more than more kind! But mom is more than more everyone! Bye!

5) Tomorrow I go back to English camp too!! Feel bad!! I think I miss my family…ha… Ah! Today I cut my hair! So my hair style is change. Well long hair style is change short hair and I have an bangs (front hair)?? So, I am look like a mini pig. Oh, no!! but mom dad say me “you are so cute!! Oh, now!! But feel so good! Mom and dad! I miss you forever! Bye! Take care!

6) Today feel very sad.. because I go to the English camp! And one friend is betrayal. So, I really hated coming here!!! Ah..everybody say to me, (I think)… “Her hair style is not good!” So I’m not play there…well..ha ha one person say me I borrow my dictionary so her fret and her look my MP3 player so her say “This is so old, so very bad!” Feel sad!! Oh no!! Mitchell I want you my boyfriend! So sad!

7) Today I happy because I stay home and play computer games. My dad and dads friend drink lots of alchol and had many fun. My dads friend stay at my house and he sleep in my bed. In the morning he give me 10,000 won!!! olleh!! I am rich now! Bye!!

Haggle Like a Fiend: Christmas in China

"Haggle like a fiend," some very good advice I received from the Lonely Planet Book:China. From December 23nd to December 30th, Andrew and I spent our first Christmas away from home in Beijing, China.

December 23rd: We arrived in China and the first thing we noticed was the amount of smog. I have read about pollution issues in China but even the airport was foggy! Very quickly the pollution issue took a backseat to the unbelievable cold winds that hit us the second we got into the taxi that would take us to our hotel. We arrived in the evening so we didn't get a chance to see very much on the ride in...but we were very excited none-the-less. When we arrived at the hotel the taxi meter said 52 Yuan, so that's what I paid him as Andrew was getting the bags out of the trunk. He kept pointing to a 10 Yuan all while speaking really fast Chinese (like I could even understand slow Chinese) and wanted me to pay more. Being stubborn...especially when it comes to spending money, I said 'NO' and pointed to the meter. Andrew just stood outside, he didn't bother to get back in and help me, so I was sitting in the stupid cab arguing in English while he spoke Chinese. Going nowhere...I began to get flustered and a woman from the hotel came over and said sometimes they make you pay 10 Yuan more for gas...I was like that's crap but whatever...here is your undeserving 62 Yuan and we walked into the hotel to check it. Needless to say...I wasn't speaking to Andrew and made him carry the bags.

December 24th: Being that we were in China for the first time, Andrew and I were very excited to begin our explorations. Before we left, like a big dork, I tabbed all the places I wanted to see in the Lonely Planet book that Andrew's dad had sent us (thanks again) so that we didn't have to research so much while in Beijing.

We began at the Forbidden City. Built in 1406-1420, the Imperial Palace was the permanent residence of the emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties and it wasn't until recently that the public has been allowed to tour it. The Imperial Palace is the largest and most complete group of ancient buildings that China has managed to preserve, and the word 'huge' doesn't even begin to describe it. It is made up of 980 buildings and covers more than 7,800,000 sq. feet! Andrew and I didn't get the chance to see all the buildings because we only spent two hours there and not several days but it was very cool. The buildings were beautiful and everything was so open. The only down fall was that it was so freakin cold we had to cut our trip to this beautiful landmark shorter than we want to.

Another interesting thing that I had read in the Lonely Planet book was about tourist scams. The book said where, when, and to whom it would happen to. Like clock work, as soon as we stepped off the subway to the Forbidden City we must have had "dumb tourists" stamped across our foreheads. Word-for-word what the book said was going to happen, did. A very nice Chinese girl approached Andrew and I and began striking up a conversation about how she was an art student and they were having a free exhibit right outside the city and wanted us to take a look. I politely said no and Andrew and I kept walking. It's important to take notice to who these scammers are talking to. They NEVER approach Chinese people....it's ALWAYS westerners...that's how you know something is up. The book said that people will come up to you claiming to be art students and will invite you to a free exhibit and then pressure you into buying really expensive knock-off paintings. They didn't realize they were messing with someone who A: is very stingy with money, and B: has done their research on scams in Beijing. Andrew and I were hit up by at least 6 'art students' that day...each conversation I got just a little more pissed off and annoyed.

Another annoyance in the Forbidden City dealt with the people handing out little Chinese flags to people as they were walking in. As soon as I was handed one they demanded money. They didn't make anyone else in front of me pay so I said "No way!" and tried to hand it back. Since I took it they were trying to make me pay. I was already annoyed with the fake art student scam that I was like whatever and just plopped the stupid little flag at their feet and kept walking. I was just annoyed about the whole thing because they were going to make me pay while they gave out 'free flags' to everyone else. The lesson learned on this Christmas Eve: Do your scamming homework!

After our two hour, freezing our butts off Forbidden City excursion, we decided to do something indoors. We checked out my tab marked "Shopping" and decided to experience the Silk Market. Now don't be fooled by the name, they did not just sell Silk here, they sell EVERYTHING here! There were 6 floors worth of knockoff watches, clothes, shoes, jewelry, electronics and pretty much anything else you can think of. Andrew and I walked in totally unprepared and overwhelmed by the whole thing. Chinese sales people shouting and literally pulling you into their booths to sell you stuff...I really wasn't quite sure what to do. But I remembered what the Lonely Planet book said, "Haggle like a fiend," and boy was that the best advice I have ever received about China. The Silk Market is a free market so you basically offer your best price and negotiate EVERYTHING! I was scared at first because this was nothing like bartering in Mexico, these people were literally crazy. But the more I did it, the more it became like a game and it was probably one of my favorite things to do while we were in China. To cap off the night, Andrew and I sat in the hotel lounge listening to Christmas Carols sung live by a Chinese Trio...overall, it was a very successful Christmas Eve in China.

December 25th: Merry Christmas! We wanted this to be a Christmas to remember so we had hoped to go to the Great Wall, but it was supposed to be really cold, so we set up our Great Wall tour for the 28th instead. So for Christmas, we thought we would go to a really cool science museum that I had tabbed. I know it sounds so strange...a science museum on Christmas...but whatever...being in China for Christmas was strange anyways. We bundled up and braved the subway. Once we got to our destination, our guide book did not tell us which direction to go to get to the museum. So we just decided to walk. Well...BIG mistake! I have never been in wind so cold in my entire life...we were lost...far away from the subway and absolutely no idea where this museum was. Andrew walked across the street to ask the man directing traffic. He spoke no English, he just pointed down the street, gestured right, gestured straight, and then right again. I looked and Andrew like, "What?" We thanked him and began walking straight. It was almost comical how cold it was. There was a mop proped up next to a tree, frozen to the trunk, and the water dripping off the mop was frozen into icicles! I told Andrew that mans directions mean nothing to us so we went inside the closest bank to ask the guard for directions. He didn't speak English so he went to get another man that couldn't understand us, and then finally a bank customer came over. She told us we needed to get on bus number 104 and then get off at the stop that sounded like, (enter Chinese name here). We thanked them and left. Knowing our past experience with buses in Ulsan, we were not about to get on a bus and not know when to get off.

It was so freaking cold that I was literally speaking with the kind of lisp you get when you suck on ice and I thought my cheeks were going to fall off. We decided that our first indication that we're going to get lost was when I asked the concierge about the museum and she had never heard of it...then stupid us, we thought we could find it. Well...we never did make it so again we turned to an indoor activity...the Pearl Market. Much like the Silk Market but a little calmer. With a little more confidence, we let the haggling games begin and we had ourselves a very Merry Christmas!

December 26th: Of course, it was freezing cold again but we had to see the sites. So once again, we bundled ourselves up and took off for the Temple of Heaven and the Temple of Heaven Park. Built in 1420, it was the place where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties went to worship Heaven, offer sacrifices and pray. It was a very large and beautiful park. I wish we were able to see it in the spring when I'm sure it's gorgeous. When we walked in, there was music playing and local Chinese dancing away. It was a hilarious sight to see because everyone was just doing their own thing. Some were gypsy dancing, others were ballroom dancing, and there were a few that Andrew and I were not sure what they were doing.

As we got closer to the monuments, the painting detail of these structures were unbelievable. I can't imagine how long it takes to repaint them to keep the colors so vibrant but it was absolutely beautiful to look at. One of the coolest things we saw/read about was the 70-year-old door. In 1779 Emperor Qianlong was 70 years old and his health was failing. So in order to make the walk to the ceremonies a shorter distance, the Ministry of Rituals made a small door in the wall west of the Imperial Hall of Heaven. However the Emperor was scared that his offspring would abuse the convenience of the door he issued a decree saying, "From now on only he among my offspring can enter and exit by this door who has reached the age of 70." None of the following emperors reached this age so he was the only one to ever use this door.

Another cool thing in this park was the Circular Mound. Built in 1530, this alter served as a place for holding the ceremony of worshipping Heaven at the Winter Solstice every year. The steps of each flight of stairs contains 9 steps, symbolizing the 9 layers of Heaven. Everything thing about this structure was made up of multiples of 9. In the center is the Heavenly Center Stone. It is said that the voice of a person standing on this center stone sounds perfectly resonant and sonorous.

Again freezing our butts off, Andrew and I went into this little souvenir shop to warm up. When we walked in we noticed all of these fancy Chinese dress up clothes. Well turns out, you could get your picture taken dressed up as an Emperor and Empress. Naturally we asked how much. The price was perfect, so being the good sport that Andrew is, we got to play dress up and had our picture taken! It was hilarious and even other tourists walking by us were laughing and taking pictures of us on their cameras!

December 27th: One of the other most recognizable tourist attractions in Beijing is Tian'anmen Square. Set right across the street from the Forbidden City. Its claim to fame is the largest city square in the world but it is also home to several events since it's building during the Ming Dynasty. Sorry there is not a whole lot to report about it. It's literally a giant, flat meeting square. There is one very cool monument that is guarded 24 hours a day and dedicated to The People's Heroes. I'm not really sure why we didn't just go when we were down there at the Forbidden City, but I guess we just thought there was more to it.

After we left Tian'anmen Square we decided to take the day easy. We once again opted for an the indoor activity of shopping and returned with confidence to the Silk Market...just to see what unnecessary things we could haggle for (and when I say 'we,' I really mean me. Andrew is to nice of a negotiator).

December 28th: The day has arrived that we have finally been waiting for! When you think about things to see in China what's the first thing that comes to your mind? ...The Great Wall of China or course! Our tour was to begin at 9am and continue until 5pm. 9am rolls around and we seem to be the only one's waiting in the lobby. A nice, young Chinese woman appears and Andrew asks her about the tour. Apparently, we were the only ones crazy enough to want to climb the Great Wall in the winter time so we had a private tour! We rode the bus about an hour and our first stop was the famous Ming Tombs. There are 13 emperors of the Ming dynasty buried at different parts of the foot of this massive mountain. Each tomb significantly smaller than the previous Emperor because they could not have a tomb bigger than their ancestors which I thought was interesting. You can only tour the first and the biggest one. It was the tomb of Emperor Chengzu. He was the third Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and he was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City. The previous two emperors had gone 'missing' so their tombs were not part of the 13.

Basically what I understood was that they build their own tombs while they are still alive. There is such a strong belief in the afterlife in China, that the emperor in a sense builds himself a palace similar to the one he rules in underground as his tomb. When he passes, he is buried with all of his belongings...jewels, crowns, clothing, dinnerware....everything. However, his tomb just looks like a giant hill because the Chinese government will not allow it to be opened. So all they know that somewhere in this 'hill' lies the emperor, his empress and their underground palace that no one has ever seen. In the early 1950s, the government sponsored an excavation of the 13th and smallest tomb to see what they could find. As soon as the oxygen hit the treasures, everything was completely ruined except the actual casket tomb of the emperor. However, that was later burned in a protest during their cultural revolution. Since everything is destroyed, the Chinese government will allow no one to open any of the other tombs. So, we were kind of bummed that we were unable to see anything besides huge mounds of dirt...but it was still pretty neat.

Another cool/scary fact our tour guide told us about was the ancient Chinese version of quality control. All of the bricks used in the Ming Tombs, the Great Wall and many other ancient buildings are stamped with the name is the man who built the bricks. If the bricks were to crumble or fall apart, they would look for the bricks stamp and kill not only the man who made it, but also his entire family! Talk about quality control! After the Ming Tombs we visited a Jade factory where we learned about the history of China Jade as well as how to tell if it's real or fake...it was very beautiful and very interesting.

The Forbidden City, The Great Wall, The Ming Tombs, and even Olympic Park are all built on the same line. If you were to take a birds eye view of these places, they are built in a perfect line the Chinese call the Dragon Line...just a cool fact I thought I'd share.

After a delicious Chinese lunch we drove another 20 minutes to the Great Wall of China! It is more than 5,500 miles long in total and I think Beijing has over 1,000 miles of it. When we arrived at the base, our tour guide said that it's about 1,600 steps to the 7th tower. Ok...now let me set the scene. Anytime I have seen pictures of the Great Wall, people are smiling and it seems to go on forever in the background of their pictures. But it looks fairly flat...more on the horizontal side. Well...the part of the wall we went to in Beijing was built completely vertical on the side of a mountain. I was beginning to have chest pains just looking at it. We are so bundled up we look like we are going skiing and it's not quite the loose movement attire you would wear mountain climbing, which was exactly what we were about to do. Andrew and I snap a couple of pictures and excitedly started our assent to the top. This excitement fades fast and turns to pure exhaustion and we hadn't made it to tower one yet! Tower two seemed already out of the question if I didn't pass out making it to tower one. We were never told this was such a physically demanding adventure and we now knew why our tour guide told us to meet her back at the bottom in an hour and half...she was not about to climb it with us. Andrew had momentum from the get go and quickly surpassed me. Embarrassed as I am to say it, I took my camera out and 'pretended' to take photos of the scenery so that I could catch my breath. It's so pathetic I know...but my heart has never beaten that fast and I honest to god though it was going to leap of my chest...or go into cardiac arrest...which ever came first. Here is the reason it was so hard, despite the fact that it seemed to be at about an 80degree angle, the steps were really uneven. Some little, some were normal sized and then the killer ones were knee level. You are already exhausted and then you have to lift your leg knee height and push off like some ridiculous stair stepping class.

By the time we made it to tower one I wanted to die. We 'rested' there for about 10 minutes taking pictures and trying to get our breathing back to normal. Now at this point, the scenery would have been breathtaking had the stairs not gotten to us first. It's even colder since you are on a mountain but you begin to sweat from the grueling physical activity that now you're even colder because your sweat is drying. So let's recap my state at this point...tower one, sweating but freezing, thighs/calves burning like hell, heart pounding so hard it's beginning to hurt and be a little scary, and the worst part is that we still have to go back down! They do have a railing but it's at knee level and more awkward to use that not use.

After some much needed resting, Andrew and I know this might be the only time in our lives to see the Great Wall, so we can't wimp out now. So we decided to climb to tower two and then decide from there. This climb was significantly easier...I didn't even have to "take pictures" on my way up. My heart was still pounding and my calves were still burning but we took a minute rest and decided to suck it up to tower three. Well tower three was worth the view. It was stunning and we were proud to have made it that far. We snapped some pictures and looked at tower four. "Ya, right" we thought. Tower four seemed even more horrendous than the others, we decided that three was enough because we wanted to live to tell about it and walking to tower four would have probably killed us. To help with our bruised egos, we decided that if we weren't on a time crunch and had as much time as we wanted...we could have gone higher...but I guess we'll never know.

Now the way down...there is only one word to decribe it.....SCARY! You are walking down uneven stairs at an 80 degree slant with a railing that hits at your knees. Your body is exhausted and your legs are shaking...the perfect mixture for a disasterous fall. Luckily for us, we managed. I couldn't imagine what would happen if you did fall...there is nothing to stop you from rolling or break your fall except for some uneven concrete. My heart goes out to the poor souls who had to build it...I don't know how they got those bricks up there. The tour guide said they also call the wall the 'Longest Cemetary in the World' because when men died building it, they just buried them on the side of the wall.

To congratulate myself on making it to tower three, Andrew bought me some ice cream in the souvinere shop at the bottom of the wall. I was probably the only ice cream consumer that cold day, but I deserved it! It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen....but seriously the most exhausting!

December 29th: Surprisingly we didn't wake up sore as heck. We decided to take an easy day so we took the subway to the Lama Temple. It's the largest Buddist Temple in all of China so being the temple goers we are in Korea, our trip wouldn't have been completed without visiting the largest one. Sadly there isn't much to share other than it was comprised of beautiful buildings and architecture. People were burning incents to honor Budda so we didn't take a lot of pictures since it's still an active temple and we didn't want to offend anyone. But it was cool to see and a very beautiful place.

That evening was our last in China so we only had one thing left to do, eat Peking Duck. Beijing is famous for it so we couldn't have returned to Korea without filling our stomachs with delicious duck. Andrew and I met a friend from high school who lives in Beijing now, Kyle, so we all decided to meet up for some duck. I was really nervous at first becuase all of the pictures I have seen show the cooked duck with its neck and beak still attached...it completly grossed me out. Well, having Kyle there was very helpful when it came to ordering because he speaks fluent Chinese so we were able to order a traditional Peking Duck meal. Well, when the order came out, the chef rolled the duck out on a little cart and proceeded to slice it like a turkey after cutting off its neck. I was happy because now I could tell myself it was turkey. Then, he cut off the head and sliced it in half, put it on a little plate, and set in in the middle of the table like we were supposed to eat it's brains out. It was totally disgusting and I had to move it out of my sight. You could not pay me to eat the brains. It had it's beak on for gosh sakes! Anyways...the duck was actually really good and kind of tasted like a greasier, fattier turkey,

December 30th: At 9am we left Beijing with frost-bite, a lot of unneseaasry haggeling purchases and great memories and headed to Seoul, South Korea for New Years. The 3 1/2 hour flight took us a total of 14 hours travel times due to delays for things we aren't sure of because no one spoke English. So after an exhausitng 14 hours travel time, one taxi scam, and a wrong hotel number, we finally made it to Seoul.


December 31st: We took the day easy and lazy. We finally left the hotel about 2pm and headed out for something to eat. Excited about Quizno's, but after an ad for Mexican food in the subway, our appetites changed and we found a whole in the wall, Korean version of Mexican food that was delicious. We went back to the hotel to relax until the New Year's Eve festivites began. We heard about a "Times Square type" celebration in downtown Seoul and we wanted to take part. We got there about 10:30pm and there weren't that many people there so we thought maybe we had the wrong place. The number of police officers outnumbered spectators at leaset 2 to 1 at this point. Well, 11pm rolls around and the people start flooding in. The police closed off the street and the crowd flooded in so naturally we followed. Since we were there early, we weren't too far from the stage. Some Korean pop groups performed and then after the countdown from 10-1 in Korean, Roman candels went off everywhere, and they rang this huge gong.

Well, the stroke of midnight was not as climatical as I had hoped. This jackass (excuse my language) next to us thought it would be a great idea to trow an egg in the air as the gong was rung. I don't know what he thought would happen when he threw an egg in the air with tens of thousands of people packed like sardines. Well...what goes up must come down. That darn egg hit the head of the girl next to me, splattering my camera, my coat, Andrew's camera and jacket and the guy behind Andrew. The idiot man kept saying, "I sorry, I sorry," and something to the effect of, "I friends of Korean President...blah...blah...blah." I was so mad I just looked at him in awe like, "You are the biggest dumbass!" Well...the egg incident ruined the evening but I guess it made for a good story!

Sorry this is so unbelievably long...if you made it to the end, congratulations! I'll make the next entry shorter!

Happy New Year everyone!