My EPIK Life

This is Keumam Elementary, my Friday school located out in the...

asseenfrommyeyes — Fri, 24 May 2013 00:08:53 -0400

This is Keumam Elementary, my Friday school located out in the countryside. This school is more on the borders of Iksan rather than in my city. If you drive it takes about 20 to 30 minutes to get there, and if you bus it takes just over an hour. So it’s a bit of a trek to get out here.

I do love this school though. As there are only 14 students in the entire school plus 6 teachers (not including the admin staff which is about another 5) there is an air of community and family. All the students are so friendly, welcoming and are definitely not shy. Even though some days they are too hyper beyond control, they are pure entertainment and bring happiness to my Fridays.

As the classes are so small I don’t have any co-teachers here. Sometimes it’s tough but we manage to get by with the language barrier.

The photos above are just of the school grounds plus the little garden at the back where they grow their own produce for lunch.

A proper sushi shop opened recently in Gunsan so we decide to...

asseenfrommyeyes — Thu, 23 May 2013 10:55:02 -0400

A proper sushi shop opened recently in Gunsan so we decide to give it ago tonight. Happy to say it was DELICIOUS!!

The people running this place are also part owners of a few clubs/pubs here as well so they are already a hit with many of the locals and US army guys. The chef studied as an international student in Florida so his English is really good.

They said business has been slow so far but I hope it picks up soon so they stick around for a while. I know we’ll definitely be back. Prices are pretty good as well with most 6 piece set around 6,000won.

This bug is what can stop a class for 10-15 mins. Girls are...

asseenfrommyeyes — Thu, 23 May 2013 01:48:39 -0400

This bug is what can stop a class for 10-15 mins. Girls are under the tables screaming like their life is about to end and the boys are being heroic by trying to kill or capture the damn thing. Silly kids lol

"I wish there were more leisurely things to do in Gunsan. Would make the nights a little more..."

asseenfrommyeyes — Thu, 23 May 2013 00:16:07 -0400

“I wish there were more leisurely things to do in Gunsan. Would make the nights a little more exciting. Somebody find me a dance studio and a badminton hall and I’ll be one happy lady!”

My friend put together this video of our time travelling...

asseenfrommyeyes — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:49:19 -0400

My friend put together this video of our time travelling Cambodia and Vietnam in January 2013.

Wish I could go back there!

Photo

asseenfrommyeyes — Tue, 21 May 2013 23:56:52 -0400

No classes and Krispy Kreme. It’s been a good morning so...

asseenfrommyeyes — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:04:37 -0400

No classes and Krispy Kreme. It’s been a good morning so far. And yup, we ate donuts with chopsticks.

Buddha's Birthday

asseenfrommyeyes — Sun, 19 May 2013 19:55:00 -0400

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 lanterns line the streets for most of the month and every city will have a festival of some sort to celebrate this day. This is one of the best times to visit a temple as they look even more magnificent when they are decorated with many colours and lights from these lanterns.

According to Buddhist beliefs, lanterns symbolise wisdom in that they bring light to the world. “Yeondeung”, which means lighting lantern, is an important ritual in Buddhism as it gives respect to the Buddha.

For the first time, I was able to attend a local lantern festival here in Gunsan at Eunjeoksa temple (one of the oldest temples in the city). It is located at the foot of Wolmyeong mountain. Here, I was able to witness and partake in the Buddhist rituals to honour Buddha.

Gunsan and its gems

asseenfrommyeyes — Sun, 19 May 2013 19:34:35 -0400

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.

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"6th graders on a field trip for the next two days. This means no classes and deskwarming instead...."

asseenfrommyeyes — Sun, 19 May 2013 19:24:20 -0400

“6th graders on a field trip for the next two days. This means no classes and deskwarming instead. Gotta be more productive with my time!”

- Kristine teacher

Got to catch up with old St Cuthbert’s girls on Saturday...

asseenfrommyeyes — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:06:00 -0400

Got to catch up with old St Cuthbert’s girls on Saturday in Seoul. They treated me to a picnic at Han River with home made food and wine. Even with all the time between meets, nothing ever changes. Love

Crib life 2013

asseenfrommyeyes — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:03:53 -0400

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 with free delivery. The ends can be taken off so it can turn into a massive bed too.

This is my room and all my junk.

Spare room which also acts as our closet space.

Kitchen and entrance way. (excuse the mess)

Getting naked with strangers...

asseenfrommyeyes — Wed, 15 May 2013 23:42:00 -0400

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 totally naked with someone you have just recently met will definitely allow you to pass into the other person’s comfort zone in a very short amount of time!

I’ve been living in South Korea for nearly nine months now and it was only a month ago that I finally managed to pluck up the courage to visit a jjimjilbang. I knew I would have to at some point if I really wanted to experience one of the aspects that makes the Korean culture unique.

A jjimjilbang is basicly a public bathhouse. It is often visited by those late night party-ers that just need a shower and a floor to sleep on, or travelers on a budget, or even by families as a bonding trip. They are open 24 hours and have hot tubs, showers, Finnish-style saunas and massage tables. Depending on the size and popularity of the jjimjilbang, as well as if you are just using the shower area or want to stay the night, the prices range from 4,000won to 10,000won per night (approximately $4 - $10 NZD).

My first experience was at Riverside Spa Land in Seoul. This is quite a big and well-known jjimjilbang, so I’m glad this was where I had my first taste at this sort of thing. Upon entry, you are given two Korean-sized towels (meaning the size of what we use as hand towels in western countries) and gym clothes to change into to sleep in for the night. As I had a hiking back-pack they allowed me to store this behind the desk overnight, but for smaller bags you can store these in your locker they provide for you in the changing area. Also, if you forgot any toiletries there is a mini convenience store in the changing areas for you to buy and they sell everything from underwear, clothes to shampoo and soap.

As soon as I enter the woman’s area I am faced with ladies in their birthday suits casually walking around either getting ready to enter the sauna or having finished, and some even just sitting around socialising or watching a K-Drama on the TV that the little convenience store had playing. I found my locker number and after standing there awkwardly trying not to make eye contact, I decided that I stood out more being clothed so I took a deep breath and disrobed. Being a foreigner I immediately expected the not-so-subtle stares to come my way, but fortunately and surprisingly no one really paid any attention.

As the ladies at the entrance counter didn’t really do any run down on what the rules or procedures were, I ended up aimlessly walking around the lockers, nude, for a few minutes trying to figure out what the next step was and hoping I wasn’t infringing on the social etiquette of this place. After observing for a little bit and feeling anxious to do something else other than walk around in a bright lit place naked, I finally entered the sauna area. Straight to the left and the right are the showers with standing or sitting options. Ladies of all ages are sitting there with their traditional Korean hand scrubs giving themselves a full rub down before entering a sauna. The number one rule of the sauna is that you MUST shower before you enter a spa. If anyone catches you not doing so, be ready to suffer the wrath of an ajumma (middle-aged or older Korean woman).

There are different baths to choose with differing temperatures. There is also a sauna and if you want, a massage table where an ajumma is waiting to give you a full body scrub. This is not for woman who are feint of heart or shy about their body because they will get into nearly every nook and cranny! I opted to sit in the mid-temperature spa.Though, after about 10 minutes I almost forgot I was completely naked and just began to relax and enjoy the moment.

Hot baths

Once you have finished with the hot baths, sauna and showers you go back into the lockers and change into the shorts and t-shirt they provided for you. You go up one level and this is the unisex area where there is a variety of facilities to enjoy: aeorbics room, fitness room, movie room, arcarde, comic book room, eating and restaurant area and more. There are also themed rooms which you can either relax in or sleep in. For example they have the oxygen room, cold room, hot room, salt room, iron room etc. In terms of sleeping, it ranges with each jjimjilbang. Some may have some bunk beds, some will have mats that you can take and put on the floor and some will just have pillow-like blocks and you just pick a spot on the floor and this is your area for the night. For this particular jjimjilbang, it was more a first in first served for the good, dark areas and sleeping mats and just pick an area to lay down
.

Sleeping caves

To be honest, unless you can sleep easy or are a deep sleeper don’t expect a good night sleep here as most lights are on during the whole night and you will hear some loud snorers you can’t block out. Although, it is definitely a great experience, one you have to do when you are in Korea. I would definitely go back again if there is ever a night I just need a quick and cheap place to sleep. Also, as much as I dread being naked infront of complete strangers I must say that I found it to be very invigorating and refreshing. It definitely makes you appreciate your body more.

Common area / sleeping area

So if you ever head this way and want to do something a lil different, how about staying at a jjimjilbang for a night.

Crazy thing is that it’s not even the middle of summer...

asseenfrommyeyes — Wed, 15 May 2013 23:27:30 -0400

Crazy thing is that it’s not even the middle of summer yet!

My school principle likes to treat his teachers. This is one of...

asseenfrommyeyes — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:30:35 -0400

My school principle likes to treat his teachers. This is one of many staff dinners we’ve had this year. This time it’s for a combination of teachers day and also because his daughter got married last weekend.

Before my 1st and 2nd grade elementary class starts, they always...

asseenfrommyeyes — Tue, 14 May 2013 05:45:26 -0400

Before my 1st and 2nd grade elementary class starts, they always request a song. Along with them trying to sing along some will always try to dance, too.

They definitely provide some cute entertainment for a Friday afternoon.

Rocking the Korean socks today. Not much for cutesy things,...

asseenfrommyeyes — Tue, 14 May 2013 05:42:42 -0400

Rocking the Korean socks today. Not much for cutesy things, which Korea has many of, but I do love their cute socks.

The official day for Teachers is 15th May, however, my school...

asseenfrommyeyes — Mon, 13 May 2013 23:34:34 -0400

The official day for Teachers is 15th May, however, my school decided to take the day off this past Monday so the teachers could have a long weekend. On the same day, Gunsan had a sports day for the Elementary teachers. But really, sports day actually meant just playing volleyball. As the teams were warming up there was a jump rope contest done mainly by female teachers, which I joined in. The rules are are twelve jumpers and your team has to make as many rotations as possible in two minutes. We didn’t do too bad.

I ended up sticking around to watch my school play one game of Volleyball before I headed back home to make the most of the good sunshine and tanned for a little bit on my rooftop.

Thoughts

asseenfrommyeyes — Fri, 10 May 2013 07:16:00 -0400

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 semester of the school year is nearly done. Then it’s summer camp, summer holidays and then onto the last semester of the year which always goes a lot quicker than the first.

With all of this nearing it’s hard to not think about future plans. I have a vague idea as what I want to do but at the moment the path to get there looks very laborious. But hey, hard work never goes unrewarded so I’ll make whatever I want to do happen.

This is what one of my girls from my kindergarten class drew....

asseenfrommyeyes — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:14:13 -0400

This is what one of my girls from my kindergarten class drew. It’s a portrait of me- pretty accurate, I’d say!