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!!

School is totally normal.

Was talking with mom and dad yesterday. I was was telling them a few stories of things that happen here at school that are totally normal to them. A couple thing happened today and I thought I would share some of these stories.

1) Not 10 minutes ago, I went to the washroom to pee. Well even this is an adventure. The urinals are lined up perpendicular to the door. The door is a normal house bathroom door. No spring, but it can lock. I don't lock it 'cause it is a big bathroom with 6 urinals and 3 stalls (with normal toilets...western style). So I'm taking my pee and I had closed the door. A couple grade 3 boys walk in and fly the door wide open. They say hi, hello and also bow to me while I'm peeing. Three of them standing there saying hello at what they figure is an opportune time to have my full attention. Totally normal.

2) In class today with my grade 6. All is going well. My class is going fine and all the kids are sitting down after an activity. I have their full attention and am ready to explain the next part when my co-teacher tells me to wait. Kids are quiet. She says girl is crying. A boy did something. I didn't really understand and had a puzzled look on my face. One kid offers an explanation: "Head shot teacher" he yells. Pretty straight forward...I cracked a smile unfortunately. Most kids did not see, but the head shot thing got me. I understood pretty quick that the girl was crying because a boy gave her a slap across the head. Mrs. Ahn said a few words to the boy and on we went.

3) We were forewarned that things in Korea change last minute. Yesterday my schedule is three grade 3 classes in a row then one grade 5 class. I was told a day ahead of time that "maybe" the grades 3's were going to have national testing the next morning and that I would not have class. No word by end of the day. "Maybe testing" is what they said. So I pick up my room key from the Vice-principals desk in the morning at 8:35am and class starts at 9:00am. She shows me the schedule so I'm thinking she is going to tell me about the grade 3's, but no. She points to the classes on the schedule and says:"Maybe testing"... I'm thinking> "these tests start in 25 minutes and you have no clue." She says: "we discussing". So I go up to my class and wait. At 8:58am I don't hear little footsteps in the hall yet. 9:10am rolls around and I guess no class. At 9:25am my co-teacher comes in and says: "Grade 3 testing". Thanks for the update!!

4) Oct. 22nd is a big day. We have some big people from the education office as well as many English teachers from the area coming to see a class that me and my co-teacher will teach. They video us. Some people are in class watching us, while others are in a theater hall watching the video live. So it is a big thing. Two weeks ago my real co-teacher Mrs. Park (Mrs. Ahn is a retired teacher that works with me everyday in class. Mrs. Park is younger and is suppose to my co-teacher but she has a grade 2 homeroom. To keep face though, Mrs. Park is the one who is teaching this show class with me.) So Mrs. Park comes to me and we decide that we will teach class 13-2. So I prepare a lesson plan and a Powerpoint presentation and some material. She said we would review sometime last week. She never came. She comes this week and as soon as she sees my stuff she says: "13-2? No. We are going to teach 14-4". Ok. 13-2 is "What did you do yesterday?". 14-4 is "Is Peter there?". One is past tense and the other is phone conversations. So of course my material is no good. So I smile and say fine...14-4. No problem, now I'm well prepared for 13-2. (ma petite maudite!!) She tells me we are going to meet this upcoming Monday to review our material. She comes up to me yesterday with a hand writen plan for 14-4. Nice. So I did a new lesson plan and a Powerpoint and showed her yesterday. She really liked it, but c'mon. No problems...I can keep my cool, but its constantly like this for Ellen and I. To them it is normal.

A little venting today as I have nothing to do this afternoon. My lessons are planned for tomorrow and yes 14-4 is ready for review today again. If she changes something I will............ No problems. Talk to you later.

Foundation Day Long Weekend!!

DOING NOTHING AT HOME is what we did and it was perfect. With Jeju weekend followed by my trip to Suwon to see Adam the following weekend, and us going to the baseball game in Gwangju the weekend after that, we just wanted to stay local and take it easy. We had friday off for foundation day of Korea. A quick blurb on this:

"This day, Kaechon-jol, also called Tan'gun Day, commorates the mythical founding of the Korean nation in 2333 B.C. by the legendary god-king Tan'gun. A simple ceremony is held at the alter on top of Mani-san on Kanghwa-do. The alter is said to have been erected by Tan'gun to offer thanks to his father and grandfather, gods of heaven."

So there it is, and well, we walked around on Friday and there were people about celebrating. We went to the water front and there was a concert going on down by the water front.

Ellen - are you trying not to laugh your tail off at the brutal dancing onstage and pop Korean music....don't be like that!!!

What is a foundation day without some standard fair rides. Like this favourite...ride the swinging thing in the back of my mini pick-up!!! (it was the ONLY ride there)
We also went up a little Mt. Ibamsan. We went looking for a place to sit, read and relax. We ran into this nice family, who invited us to celebrate with them (notice dad is a little rosie in the cheeks...) They were having some holiday drinks and some Korean food. We tried to squeeze by, but they were on us to try some of their picnic treats. Here we are trying it:
They gave us each a piece of Songpyon....we both new what it was as we had just taught a class last week that had us using the word. We both mentioned the word and they cheered like we had just resolved the financial crisis. What is Songpyon?
"Songpyon is one of special foods for Chuseok, one of Korean traditional holidays and Songpyon is a rice cake filled with various fillings such as beans, chestnuts or sesame seeds and steamed with pine needles."

You may also note that Ellen scored huge. She also received a single grape! Lucky gal.

All this excitement and it's only friday. We did find a place to sit and relax. It was really nice actually and the weather was perfect. Low 20's with little humidity and a slight breeze off the water.

Saturday, Oct. 4th (going to the beach!)

We did still want to get a little away on Saturday, so we ventured to Jindo. It was a 50 minute bus ride....to the island. Once on the island, we had to wait for a local bus to bring us to the beach. After a small adventure through the streets of the island, passing people drying their rice and carrying giant rice sacs on their scooters, we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere. People in Korea this time of year do not go to the beach. We were alone. Whole beach to ourselves. Nice quiet time...had a pear and some treats. Low key day.
Here is a picture of my movie star gorgeous wife on the beach talking to her admin assistant that drives here to school everyday. We had been invited to go to her family for the weekend, but would have had to stay overnight. It was a very generous offer, but we were not up to it.

Here we are getting ready to head back to our cozy home back in Mokpo.

Really nice weekend actually. We went for Korean BBQ on the Sat night. Sunday was low key as well. Reading, listened to the Montreal Canadiens game on the radio live on the laptop. Also found www.nintendo8.com You can play all the old games. Played Castlevania, 1942, Kings of the Beach....felt like I was 12 again. We had a great rest though and feel great. We also made some homemade perogies and made 3 Sheppard pies. Yum. Froze two and are having one tonight after the gym!! Later.