Fall Festival Fun
On Friday night my school hosted an annual festival. Everything got under way with an art show which featured original works by a number of students. I was really impressed by the entries; they all have so much talent. I took photos of a few of my favourites. After the art show there was a mass games; which included races, tug of war matches, and other fun activities. Following the mass games there was a talent show filled with dancing, singing, beat boxing, and guitar solos. The students and staff alike really seemed to enjoy themselves which was great to see.

Following the activities the teachers assembled for a very large and delicious meal of Kimbap and other traditional Korean dishes whose names escape me. I was able to have a great conversation with Oh and his wife, Maki over a number of subjects. We talked politics for most of the night which was a real treat and gave me insight into a few important issues in Korea. Prior to the festival all of the teachers were given white shirts with a Dokdo islands symbol on the crest. Dokdo are two very small islands which are disputed between Korea and Japan. Both countries claim that historically the islands belonged to them. The islands are rich in natural gas and have earned themselves the right to be environmentally protected by the government of Korea meaning you need permission to visit the area; similar to Sable Island in Canada. Oh explained to me that the importance of Dokdo is very great in Korea as it is one of three main historical landmarks that Koreans hold dear to them. The other two, a river and a mountain are now located on the North Korean side of the DMZ. Subsequently the symbolic importance of Dokdo is very powerful as they do not want to lose the final landmark as well. It's a very interesting debate and I feel so very lucky to be here and to be able to engage Koreans in spirited conversation over such issues.

I was the happiest I've ever been in Korea that night; which is saying a lot considering how great of a time I'm having. I'm fascinated by the Korean language; we talked in great detail about its Chinese origins and its influence on the Hangul. I'm very motivated to pick up the language.

                                                       The Summer Ends
I'm approaching the two month mark of my stay in Korea. The time has honestly flown by. I'm feeling great and really coming into my own here. My classes are progressing nicely at school and I'm heading to Seoul this weekend for the Seoul-less Zombie Walk, which will be the first ever Zombie Walk in Asia. As it stands now I think I'm going to be a victim that gets attacked by the zombies along their path and turned into one of the living dead myself. Apart from the Zombie Walk I'm going to spend some time poking around a few ancient temples and historic sites.

A lot of people have been asking me how I've been dealing with culture shock. I can honestly say that I've experienced next to no culture shock, but I think I did a good job in mentally preparing myself before I embarked on this journey. I knew things would be very different from what I'm used to and it was really one of the motivating factors to come to Korea; I wanted something completely different. It's fascinating to leave a country like Canada which you've known all of your life and to be thrust into a completely new environment; to become a visible minority the moment you step off the plane so the speak. Though the language barrier is challenging, it gives rise to many fun opportunities. My second week in Daegu for example I was attempting to purchase an international calling card. The girl at the store couldn't speak any English and I couldn't speak any Korean so we essentially played charades for five minutes until we finally got on the same page. The clincher came when I pulled out my metro card and my phone and pretended like I was reading the card while punching in the numbers followed by me trying to become the shape of the Earth and pretending that my call was coming from Korea and going to a far away land.

Another example of the language barrier comes from my school. Even though my co-teachers are there to help me they are very busy themselves with their own classes and work so often it seems that I'm the very last person to know what is going on. I knew this going in though and instead off seeing it as a hinderence, I feel like it's an essential part of the experience. Today I was given a brand new shirt, infact all of the teachers were given the same style of white dress shirt. It turns out that on Friday the students will be putting on a sort of production for the school. I'm not entirely sure what it will entail but I'll be sure to bring my camera. Along with the shirts that all the teachers including myself will be wearing, the school day will not begin until 3PM and it will run until 7PM. There will be no classes as the whole thing is the students production. More soon.

                                                Sweet Sweet Comments
Oh boy, here we go. I've installed an option for comments; a link can be found at the end of all posts. If you would like to leave a comment simply click "Discuss". I'm really new to this comment system so please bare with me while I figure it out. Things are going great; work is rolling along quite well and I'm looking into a Temple Stay for either this weekend or the next. The general idea is to spend a day or two at a Buddhist temple and live the life of a monk for the duration of the stay; morning chanting at 3am, meditation, traditional food, and so on and so forth. It sounds like quite the experience. More soon.

                                              East Sea / Sea of Japan
The East Sea, also known as The Sea of Japan is vast and beautiful. I spent the weekend in the ancient city Gyeongju. I explored a number of temples, tombs, and museums. My camera died about half way through because I forgot to charge the batteries before I left, but I did manage to get photos of Bulguksa Temple, a UNESCO world heritage site, Daereung-won Tumili Park Tomb, and The East Sea (self portrait pictured above). My school went on a field trip to the East Sea and dropped me off in Gyeongju on their way back. I had my first meal of raw fish with the other teachers at my school. This went above and beyond just sushi; this was an entirely raw fish. Other dishes included shrimp (whole bodied, not just tails as in Canada), octopus tenticals, and a number of other interesting dishes. It was a great experience.