Korean kids are tough

UNESCO Volunteering Weekend

Ellen and I had last Friday off, as we had signed up to go to a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) weekend. This was organized through the Jeollanamdo Office of Education. We did not get too much info other than we were going to cook at some point and to buy what we needed. It was a fantastic weekend and we really loved it. The volunteers like us were both a mix of teachers and students. There were people from the US, Canada, Nepal, Gabon, China, Tanzania and New Zealand. The teens participating at the event were 13/14 years old. The kids had been selected by their school to attend, and usually only one or two from each school. All the smartest kids in the province were there. Upon arrival on the bus at the camp facilities, there were 125 teens cheering and yelling "we love you" holding signs they had made that morning:

Kids had spent the morning making signs for us. Each person had 3-4 teens assigned to them for the weekend to interact with and learn each others culture as well as participate in the activities. There were opening ceremonies in a the International Hall where there were speeches by officials and then each group of kids gave us the signs they made us as well as our name tag for the weekend.


We were brought to our rooms which of course had the boys and the girls separate. Here is the boys view. On the right there is Kerry. A stand-up comic for 13 years from Edmonton, Alberta, he made me laugh all weekend. Ellen met up also with Nicki (on the right. Kerry's wife) and Jen who she had made friends with during orientation when we first arrive, but we had not seen since getting to Korea as they teach in a different town.




After some preliminaries, we jumped into the cooking contest. Each country was represented and made their own dishes. We decided to make des beignes come au Quebec. On voulais les faires aussi bonnes que celle a ma tante Reine, mais ils nous manquent encore de la pratique et surement quelque secret!!






After dinner we were treated to a show by three shows. A Concert by the Bridge Viola Chamber Orchestra, Modern Dance, as well as a Taekwondo demonstration. The shows were put on by people not part of the camp. They came by bus to put the show on for the kids and volunteers. It was quit a show we got which lasted just over two hours.


The orchestra had 8 violins, a grand pianist and also a clarinet player. Very nice classical music was played.



The dance was interesting, but got most of us out of our seats was the Taekwondo demonstration. Kids jumping/kicking off of kid made pyramids breaking boards:


This little guy is skipping inside a double dutch jump rope (2 ropes).



There were also about 3 choreographed dances including standard poses that were done to very popular Korean pop songs. They were really into it, and you could tell they had practiced a lot!!


After the show wrapped up around 9:30, we headed to an observatory to look at the stars.




Once all the kids had gone to bed, they brought in some beer and Soju as well as lots of pizza for all of us and the staff to relax and have a snack before bed.

Saturday morning the kids were up at 6 doing exercises in the yard. You could here the military like orders blaring from the leaders. We got up close to 8:00am, had breakfast and then went on a 2.5 hour hike with the whole gang.

We stopped at the end of the hike for a team picture.


They all love their English writing on their sweaters. Doesn't matter what it says, as long as it is in English. Check out the guy in the yellow sweater. Says he didn't even know what it meant, but I'm sure he knows exactly and had looked it up on the net or something. We did laugh, but c'mon.


After a hike and lunch, it was time for us to mark our weekend with a Mosaic. This was the 5th annual camp at this location, and every year before, mosaics designs had been made by each country, then actually made. Here is one from a previous year:


Kerry who has the artistic sense help come up with design and then with a simple color/number system, the kids went at it cutting up the colours in shapes and gluing them onto the poster.



Here is most of the team with the finished work. It has Northern Lights, mountains, and an Inukshuk. Appreciate nature and its beauty when you get a chance to admire it, to remind you of the importance to keep it as it is and respect the environment (northern lights). The mountains are a sign of strength and beauty in Canada to prosper. The traditional meaning of the Inukchuk is "We were here" or "You are on the right path".



On the Saturday night we had to go up on this huge stage and each country would do an act or sing Karaoke and then have a fire. We had an animator break the ice with all these games that revolved around Rock Paper Scissor. In Korea, Rock, Scissor, paper is the Ultimate decider. They use it for everything...and they swear by the outcome. No matter who loses, they must do whatever. We use it in class if there is tie for a winner. One of the games, was the loser had to give the other a piggy back. I was teamed up with this tiny little Korean girl from my group. When she lost the for RSP showdown against me, she immediately turn around and hunched over waiting for me to get on. I told her it was ok, 'cause there was no way she was holding my 190 lbs up. We had a dance showdown later too. I showed them the worm. When came time for us to do our Canadian show, we did Stompin' Tom Connors (The Hockey Game Song). I went to the cafeteria, we got spoons for everyone. We also sang Oh Canada and a couple other tunes. Good times. Every country did a dance or song representing their country. Afterwards was the fire. Not just a fire though. There were roman candles, words lit up with gas, and a big fire fuelled with gas. Not super safe, but what the hay. That`s they way they do it.






The Frienship in flames was a little different, but appreciated by most all the same. The people from Nepal took it pretty personally though that Friendship was burning. All good.



What a weekend! Whenever there was some relax time, which there was, we filled the yard and played sports. Canadians had brought Frisbees and a hackey sac which was completely new to the kids. The US boys brought a football, which was also totally new to the kids. The Korean kids introduced some of their games as well. Like playing volleyball, but only with your feet. We had a wonderful weekend and we really glad we participated. Good laughs with our friends and also all the boys and girls we met. We really had an amazing time. Here is Ellen as we were saying goodbye with the girls in her group that stuck to her like glue. Everyone called Ellen barbie or movie star. She was a real hit with all the girls and some boys of course too.

Oktobefest in Korea

Hey all. Well, it for sure was not the same as being with all of our friends in Waterloo, but we made the best of it. Ellen and I made sausage on a bun as well as homemade schnitzel on a bun. Turned out the buns had a red bean filling in them, so the hot dog buns got used up real fast.

Ellen and I also put on some Oktoberfest music on for our guests coming to our house. When playing one of the songs, we found an interesting line in it. This applies to many, but the song and the dance made me think of Rozsko. Enjoy Andrew.


You heard right: "She's too fat for me!!" Thought those German boyz liked the curvy mountain girls, haha. After that dance, my t-shirt also says it all: "My name is Lou Zerr". Ah well. Yes, we really have too much time here in Korea.

We did end up going to a German bar as well at some point in the night. They had these crazy large glasses of beer that you would sit in this litlle holder on the table that was set at -20 C to keep your beer cold. Another great Korean idea I tell ya!! Ellen had the guys all proper with their pinky's up. We had a small group of 8 of us and of the 8, 6 were from Guelph or had been to University there. There were only two of us not from Guelph and that was me and Nick from the States.


We tried our best to have an Oktoberfest, and we did have a good time. Ein prosit...can't wait to spend it with you guys next year.

Thanksgiving in Korea at the Jinju Lantern festival.

Ellen and I took the opportunity to head to Jinju this past weekend and check out the Lantern Festival. What is it?

"The city of Jinju in southern Gyeongsang Province hosts the Flowing Lantern Festival on the Jinju Namgang (Nam River). The river dazzles as close to 50,000 rainbow-colored light sculptures illuminate the surface of the water.

The festival dates back to October of 1592 and the battle for the Jinju Fortress. Leading a force of only 3,800 men, General Kim Si-Min is said to have killed close to 20,000 Japanese troops in the heroic 7-day siege. Korean soldiers inside the fortress flew lantern kites and floated lamp lights on the water to send signals to other loyal troops and prevent the Japanese forces from crossing the river in secret. They also used flowing lights on the river to signal their safety to their families. Later, the floating lanterns served to commemorate the lives of the fallen soldiers and in 1949, the floating lantern tradition turned into a river play. 2002 marked the inception of the festival as it stands today."

We got there in the afternoon Saturday and spent the night. It was well worth it. Here is the what we saw!!


A little Konglish spelling here as we got ready to cross to Pontoon Bridge...no wait...potoonbridge passage. Ah well. We are here as English teachers, not spelling verifiers.

We also had a chance to dress-up in vintage Korean clothes. We picked the King and Queen combo. The kids looked priceless in their outfits and we could not pass up a chance to have Ellen pose with them.


We took a break from the action for a while and went to have dinner. When we came back at dark, the people had come out of the wood works and all the lanterns were lit up for a completely different show.

Aie mom! On a meme eu des feux d'artifices, mais ils n'avaient pas les grosses larmes comme tu aimes.
We also took the opportunity to write some wishes, light a lantern, and let it float down the river.

Towards the end of the night, Ellen spotted a Princess Cafe. No choice. Actually worked out well because I got some treats out of the deal!!
On the Sunday, we went and toured the Jinju fortress.
Had to get some energy out. So as Ellen was taking another picturesque shot, I decided to show off how I would have taken care of the 20,000 Japanese back in the day (I realize a bad joke for such a sad historical moment, but I have to admit that we both cried laughing when we stopped right after to look at the picture!!)

We also walked through a street market on our way to the bus. We thought maybe this would be a good substitute for the turkey, but I couldn't get Ellen on board.


What is a walk through markets without finding an anomaly? Can you find it?

Actually got back home by 4pm and then went and did our groceries for the week. We had our Thanksgiving meal and the little roast chicken with Swiss Chalet sauce we brought from home was delicious.
That was our Thanksgiving. We wish you all back home a wonderful Thanksgiving and we certainly wish we could be with you. On vous embrace fort!!