May 2013
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Buddha's Birthday
Friday 17th May was a public holiday for South Korea as this was Buddha’s birthday. Koreans know it as 석가탄신일(Seokga tansinil), meaning “Buddha’s birthday” or 부처님 오신 날 (Bucheonim osin nal) meaning “the day when the Buddha came”.
Buddhism is one of the main religions here in the ROK so this day is a very important and special one for many people here. Lotus...
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Gunsan and its gems →
What to do in my little hometown. It may not look like much, but I like it =)
Gunsan is located in the province Jeollabuk-do and this site also shows what else you can do in and around my town.
여기는 전라북도 문화관광 사이트입니다.본 페이지는 XHTML-1.0-Strict DTD를 준수하고, 웹 콘텐츠(의) 접근성(을 높이기 위한 제작) 지침 1.0 W3C 권고안을 최대한 준수하여 제작하였습니다.
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“6th graders on a field trip for the next two days. This means no classes and...”
– Kristine teacher
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Crib life 2013
Thought it’s time to finally share what my new apartment looks like. We’ve just recently gotten a couch so it’s more homely now. This has definitely been a massive upgrade from my little box last year.
Also, the name of my apartment building translates to Richville.
We finally got a new couch! This is from the awesome second hand store down the road from us. Only 90,000 won...
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Getting naked with strangers...
Got your attention? haha
Just an old post I’d put up again as it’s gotten a few hits on my travel blog. This is a run down of my first time in a Korean public bathhouse (jjimjilbang).
Jjimjilbang (찜질방)- South Korea’s public bathhouse
If you want the quickest way to break the ice between new-found friends, I would suggest visiting a jjimjilbang. I guarantee having to be...
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Thoughts
I can’t believe it’s already May. I feel like this year has gone a lot faster than 2012 and I don’t think I like that too much! At least with last year, I knew that a second year here in Korea was pretty definite so I wasn’t too fussed with having the time fly by. However, next year looks pretty uncertain with me. As the middle of the year draws by it also means the first...
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Only you can stand in your own way.
I’ve obtained a degree, worked in roles that have been challenging and somewhat rewarding, represented Auckland, NZ in two separate occasions and through two different activities, traveled and seen amazing sites, witnessed hardship in some form, semi-learned another language and have lived in a foreign country.
I’ve always been the type of person who once their mind is set on something...
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Thank you, Labor Day!
Thanks to Labor day, some of us foreign teachers were given the day off yesterday. This allowed a group of us to take a road trip down south to see Damyang’s Bamboo Forest (one of the top sites to see in South Korea) and the country’s biggest buddha statue further south of Damyang.
Pictures will come up soon.
April 2013
11 posts
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3 reasons to travel while you're young.
Simple but well-said.
I encourage you to read this.
http://goinswriter.com/travel-young/
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Check list for this year
- Cheonggyecheon stream, Seoul (check)
- Namsan Tower, Seoul (check)
- Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul (check)
- Gyeongju (check)
- Boseong Green Tea Fields
- Damyang Bamboo Forest
- Jinju Latern Festival
- Seonyudo Island, Gunsan
- Busan Beomeosa Temple (going to visit this weekend coming)
- Busan Haedong Yonggungsa Temple (temple by the sea, going to visit this coming weekend)
- Jeju...
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Something from last week
With all the talk about NK’s missile launch, I found it a little ironic how last week my school decided to make and test out water rockets in science class on the day NK was predicted to possibly launch a missile attack.
It was good to see the SK’ers having a little fun in their current predicament.^^
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North Korea's threats and South Korea's...
To family and friends that have sent me messages about the tension between North and South Korea: everything is okay here, life has remained the same. All the locals around me have remained calm and to an extent have ignored the latest threats from their neighbouring country, which is exactly what I’m doing too. SK and NK were always at war, it never ended; only a truce was agreed upon. Every year...
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One-man conversations
One of my favorite things that the students do is when they get so excited to talk to you, or just to practice their English, that they blurt out a string of sentences at you and run off. You don’t even manage to get a word in! It makes me smile each time and almost gives me a sense of pride that these kids are not afraid to a)speak to me and b)speak English.
The one-man conversations go...
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Seoul eats
A weekend of sightseeing and eating well in Seoul.
VATOS URBAN TACOS. This is one of Seoul’s newer restaurants and serves Korean-Americanized mexican food. Located in Itaewon, this place is always popular so it’s best to go in early and put your name down on the waiting list for a table. We arrived at peak hour and waited an hour and 45 minutes but it was well worth it.
*Kimchi...
March 2013
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Mudeungsan, Gwangju (무등산, 광주)
This weekend past a small group of us headed to Gwangju and hiked Mt Mudeung. Overall, the hike took us four hours to finish and wasn’t too strenuous. It was only as we headed to the peak that the thighs started to really burn.
There are three rock peaks at Mudeungsan and the one we reached was about 1100m. We also stumbled across a really awesome temple half-way up the mountain. Brett and...
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2013- the haps so far
Just a quick update- it’s nice going back into the same schools as I had last year. My 5th graders from 2012 are now the kings of the school (Seohae Elementary) and it is definitely a lot easier going into lessons when you already have a good rapport with the students. They know who I am and are accustomed to my teaching style. This also means less rowdy students and more diligent...
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Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional
Another year gone celebrated by chowing down on sushi and chocolate cake.
February 2013
2 posts
“Finally heading back to NZ tomorrow. Be back in Korea in 10 days.”
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WatchSinging the alphabet has never been so entertaining. These are my 1st and 2nd graders at my country school- Keumam Elementary (금암초등학교). This is what greets me every Friday morning.
January 2013
14 posts
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Vietnam in a nutshell
We definitely did not have enough time to explore this country. While we managed to visit the north and south I may have to come back to see what the middle of the country has to offer.
Backpacker area in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).
View form our hostel. Rooftop common area at Lofi Inn Saigon.
Cu Chi Minh Tunnels
Shooting an AK47 at the Cu Chi Tunnels.
What we thought...
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Cambodia in a nutshell
Angkor What? Nightclub
Pub Street, Siem Reap
The most ticklish thing I’ve ever had to sit through.
Amazing Angkor Wat. We didn’t get much of a sunrise but it was still beautiful nonetheless.
Ta Prohm Temple (where Tomb Raider was filmed)
Bayon Temple. One of my favourites.
Taking the Sleeper bus from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville. Was a 11 to 12 hour...
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“Cambodia and Vietnam are just memories now…back to the snow and cold.”
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Winter Camp success
Today is the last day of my 6th grade winter camp and I have enjoyed every single day! To be honest I was almost dreading my 6th graders and was a little anxious as to how camp would go. Don’t get me wrong, outside of class these kids are an awesome bunch but once you get them into a classroom, especially for English, some turn into the most unresponsive, naughty students ever! That is a...
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“6 more days until South East Asian adventures….5 more weeks until I get to...”
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