Address

Okay, so some of you have been asking for an address. Here is our school address, to which you can send postcards, letters and/or, ahem, packages:

Seo Elementary School English Town
898 Seogyo-Dong
Yeosu, Jollanamdo 550130
South Korea (ROK)

Games

I played poker for money for the first time on Saturday, and I more than doubled my money. It was a good time.

Climbing. Or, what do you mean you can't pull up your body weight with one finger nail?

I went climbing outdoors for the first time yesterday. Today, my forearms are so sore I can barely type. I did have a wonderful time, though.

We took the train an hour north to Gurye-gu (구려구) and then had a short taxi ride to the mountain. After a five minute hike, we reached the climbing area. We were in a valley with a waterfall, surrounded by stunning cliffs. The foliage mainly consisted of bamboo and gingko trees with bright yellow leaves, and there were also some candles and stone markers that are apparently regularly used for religious ceremonies.

The other five people in our group were all relatively experienced climbers. While we had our first taste of actually climbing up a rock face (pictures coming), the others were practicing lead falls and making their way up some impressively challenging routes (5.10c and 5.11a routes). It was so nice to spend an entire day outside, and to spend it with intelligent, outdoorsy people. Three of the group members had very passable (near fluent, as far as I could tell) Korean, two being Fulbright Scholars, and another had recently completed a six month backpacking/hiking trip. I hate to say it, but this is somewhat in contrast to the general English Teacher in Korea crowd (i.e. beer and soju are very cheap here).

We've been invited to go climbing again - either next weekend in Maisan or next month in Mokpo. I'm going to have to practice my pull-up skills (they are currently non-existent), but I'm hopeful...

tick, tick, tick

Vacation time has officially been booked. We have from January 23rd until February 17th. Now it's time to look into flights. Youpi!

My First Judo Tournament in Asia

I can't get over the fact that Koreans tell me: "Your English pronunciation is very good." It's definitely a compliment when given to other Koreans, but really, is it really worth mentioning that I am "good" at speaking my native language? I usually tell them that they're Korean pronunciation is very good too.

On Saturday I fought in a judo tournament. It had a lot of similarities with other judo tournaments I've entered in Canada. I had to get up way too early in the morning (6 a.m.) to get there. The referees wore suits. The mats were the same colours.

There were also big differences. My name was the only one in the tournament draw written in English letters. I was the only white guy in the building. Children and teenaged girls went out of their way to speak to me. After I threw my first opponent cleanly for ippon, I received many congratulations and little kids told me "very beautiful." After I made it to the final, it was time for lunch.

We went outside and had kimbap (sushi with crab, egg, spam, and carrot) on the grass and leaves. All the little children were very impressed with me. So impressed, that they all decided that they wanted my autograph. I spent something like twenty minutes autographing leaves, while one of the kiddies toddled around listening to Modest Mouse on my iPod. I think I signed more leaves than there were children, and then it was time for me to head back to the mats for the final.

I was losing until the final minute, when I took my opponent to the ground and pinned him. For some reason they don't teach groundwork very well here. In all of the fights I had seen in which someone got a pin, nobody seemed to have the faintest idea how to escape. My fight was no different. My coach had enough English to say to me, "Congratulations, you are a champion" after I was awarded my gold medal.

The day concluded with a celebratory dinner of chicken, white wine, and "The Bourne Ultimatum." It was an excellent day, especially since no thoughts of impending grad school deadlines entered my head.

Taekwondo Demonstrations

Here are a couple videos of taekwondo demonstrations I've seen in the past two weeks. The first was at a concert during the middle school camp in Damyang. The second video was taken at a taekwondo tournament in Yocheon (part of Yeosu). The first one has superb sound effects, and the second has great costumes. Ah, Korea, I love you.




P.S. For the record, my taekwondo classes are nothing like these demonstrations.

May 18th Massacre

What the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre is to China, the 1980 Gwangju Massacre is to South Korea, a mass demonstration and protest against an authoritarian regime with deadly consequences that became an icon for its time.

Following large-scale student protests against military rule, on 18 May 1980 the army was ordered to move into Gwangju on the pretext of quelling a communist uprising. The soldiers had no bullets, but they used bayonets to murder dozens of unarmed protesters and passers-by. Outraged residents broke into armouries and police stations and used the seized weapons and ammunition to drive the troops out of their city.

For over a week pro-democracy citizen groups were in control, but the brutal military response came nine days later on 27 May, when soldiers armed with loaded M16 rifles, supported by helicopters and tanks, retook the city. Most of the protest leaders were labelled 'communists' and summarily shot. At least 154 civilians were killed during the uprising, and an additional 4089 were wounded or arrested. Many of those arrested were tortured. For eyewitness accounts of the still-controversial street fighting, read Memories of May 1980 by Chung Sang-yong (2003) or view www.518.org.

In memory of the pro-democracy martyrs, the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights has been awarded since 2000, and recipients have included Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader struggling to overthrow the military rulers in Myanmar.

--Korea Lonely Planet

Wandering and Wondering

I spent a few hours wandering the Chonnam University Campus in Gwangju last weekend during Alden's GRE exam. It's a beautiful campus - rolling hills with notable architecture, impressive fountains and deciduous trees in full colour.

It was a Saturday morning, but there were still plenty of people on campus. There was some sort of communal fair/garage sale happening on the track, and there were people milling about the dorm areas and around the covered seated areas. I also came across an older guy with white hair and a big bushy white beard waiting around the outside of the dinosaur museum (http://www.dinosaur.co.kr - it's in Korean, but if you click around, there are some good pics). We started talking, and it turned out he was an Aussie professor, who was here to work on a project for a few months. They were busily trying to complete the UNESCO paperwork to try to have the dinosaur nests and footprints in the area declared UNESCO heritage sites (the deadline was in January, and I can certainly believe that there would be that much paperwork). He let me into to the museum, and showed me around. There was also a video playing, discussing the sites and comparing them to other sites around the world. There were even some interviews with scientists working at the Royal Tyrell Museum, so that was a nice touch of home.

I also came across several reminders of the May 18th, 1980 uprising that took place in Gwangju. It is to Korea what the Tiananmen Square Massacre is to China. In response to the martial law imposed by the military government, thousands of democratic protesters took to the streets (some sources say over 100,000 people). Over 200 protesters were massacred during the uprising, which lasted until May 27th. There is a touching write-up in the lonely planet which I will post here when I get the chance. It really affected me... and reminded me of seeing the monument to the desaparecidos in the cemetery in Santiago, Chile.

After this, I went to meet up with Alden. It sounds like the test went well, so now we just have to wait the six weeks until the he gets the results. Here's to hoping!


P.S. For those of you who wanted to see the love motel, here is a picture. The was the inside of the room!