Pohang Hangdo’s Got Talent (well, maybe….)

No expense was spared on the decorations for the contest.

Today I was to be a judge for the day in the school English Speaking Competition along with Jenny, my co-teacher, and 2 other HomeRoom teachers from 5th and 6th Grade.

Its funny, as I often feel that the school do not use me to my full potential and never ask for anything outside my duties of teaching lessons. This was another example, as no teachers or children had asked for help with script writing or pronunciation and the first I knew about this competition was 2 hour before it when I was told that I was to be a judge.

Anyway, it was one of the cutest and funniest things so far in school and I thought I would share with you some pics of the little darlings in their role plays.

A 4th Grade class doing a unprepared role play from the textbook.

Another 4th Grade class doing a traditional Korean story in English.

The winners, The Three Little Pigs, who were really good.

The wolf was excellent, so funny!

A group of my 6th Grade boys were the funniest though and had chosen Cinderella for their role play. One boy dressed up as a girl – in the UK this would be funny but in Korea, where acting outside the box and being a bit different is very unusual, it was hilarious for the audience and they could not control themselves. Their pronunciation was not great but they understood the words and meaning and acted it really well.

Boys dressed as girls, even at elementary school, will always pull a crowd.

Little Red Riding Hood from class 6-6.

The winners were a Grade 4 class whose teacher had obviously gone to a lot of effort with the costumes and they were all very good at their lines, especially the girl who played the wolf – she was hilarious! She even farted on the wooden house to set it alight.

Some others were a bit more painful but they tried and in a nation where getting something wrong is worse than death, it meant a lot that these kids had got up and performed.

Definitely one of the more fun days at school so far!

Homigot Beach Day, kind of....

Today we met up with the crew – Corey and Paul, Matt, Adalet and Kate and we all headed to Homigot which is the most easterly point of South Korea and very famous for sunrise (although clearly we were not up early enough for that…..)

Corey had been a proper Mum and had spent most of the previous evening preparing food for our little beach picnic. She had even bought beach mats, a volleyball and a cool bag. Good work Jollers!

We jumped on bus 200 from Pohang Intercity Bus Terminal and took the 1 hour journey to Guryongpo, a town near Pohang where we then got a taxi to Homigot (cost about W10,000 = 5 pounds between four people so not too shabby). And we arrived!

Homigot is also famous for a giant sculpture of a hand that comes out of the water in the direction of sunrise. There is also a second hand on dry land facing the first hand. I know not the significance of these hands but they are just there.

The hand in the water.

Now, someone had been told that there was a good beach at Homigot and hence we had packed all our beach stuff, picnic, volleyball etc. But no, we could not find said beach and instead had to make do with a rocky rather small beach which was close to the water and near the Lighthouse Museum. We made the best of it however and had a fab day with beers and Corey’s well prepared picnic!

Our beach for the day.

Corey's well prepared picnic.

Garry rocking the Hite and Ketamine look.

Cheery Jolley face.

Matt happy as always!

Kate, the lovely, funny South African who has brilliant comedy timing.

Now, we warned Garry and Matt about playing volleyball so close to the rather unsavoury water.

And this is what happened - Garry knee deep in not very nice water.

Matt stood and watched while Garry tried to climb out. And I took pictures.

It turned out to be a really lovely sunny day and with a few beers, it could have been any beach.

So, a few beers later I thought it was a good idea to get Garry to help me up onto the hand (watched by a few frowning Koreans).

And Paul tried to follow - it looked easier than it was!

Looking good after 6 cans of Hite.

After we returned back to Pohang, it was to be a gender-specific night with the girls doing one thing and the boys doing another. The girls rendezvoused at Corey’s and the boys gathered at ours.

So, use girls went out to Rosso and Cucina, a really nice little Italian on 5th Street in Pohang, drank some nice wine and ate some tasty treats. Afterwards, we decided to head up to WaBar, a Western bar serving lots of European beers and then inevitably we went to Tilt, the only foreigner own bar in Pohang where lots of teachers tend to congregate for cheap drinks and good music!

It was a really nice night, and although I still really miss my friends back home (especially for drinks and chats) it was great to have a night out with friends here and feel really comfortable and loved. Thanks ladies!

Night Night x x x x x x

Ocharina, Ocharina!

One of the funniest experiences in South Korea so far!

It all began with an innocent invite to a music concert. Garry’s co-teacher, HaeSoon, really enjoys music and has taken us to Pohang Orchestra a few times in recent months which have been really good and free! So, when HaeSoon invited us to go to a concert a Postech University, the main university in Pohang, we agreed readily and also invited Corey and Paul along for the ride. It was on a Tuesday night and we were off school the following day for Children’s Day.

Well, what we did not realise was that it was an ‘ocharina’ concert. I have never been blssed by the sound of an ocharina before and, after tonight, am not sure I want to again. Its kind of like a slightly mor tuneful recorder but definitely not pleasant and incredibly humourous when played by fully grown adults, dressed in matching clothes along to keyboard demos of popular songs, including ‘Obladi Oblada’ by The Beatles.

It was pretty difficult hiding the laughter and my personal favourite as when three grown men came on to play ‘Hey Jude’ on a flute, clarinet and trumpet.

But the fun did not stop there. Oh no no, half way through the concert they instructor asked (in Korean of course) who had travelled the farthest to come tonight. People were shouting out Gyeongju, Busan etc but he kept asking. Now HaeSoon is friends with the ocharina players and quickly realized that he was referring to us waygooks as she had told him she was bringing some foreigners along. So, she instructed Garry to stand up and he got called out to the front to receive a present of a traditional Korean ocharina. He was a bit confused but it was such a kind gesture and again highlights the caring nature of Koreans.

After the concert had finished, we were invited out with the “band” for dinner and in Korea it is kind of rude to refuse so off we trooped to Edong, a newer area of Pohang which has lots of restaurants and some cool bars. The food was AMAZING! It was BBQ style food with lots of sam gyup sal but also beef and soup and lots of great stuff. We feasted like kings and were forced into drinking more soju than we liked but they were so happy to have some foreigners along on their night out that we could not refuse them anything!

Quick lesson in Korean drinking manners – when you are out with people that are not close friends or family, you must never top up your own drink. You must wait to be offered and in turn you must keep an eye out for other people and top up their glass if it’s empty. Also, if you are offered a shot of soju, especially from an elder, it is rude to refuse. You must hold the shot glass in two hands and let the person fill it. You must then drink all the soju in one go and return the offer to the offerer. This can all get a bit confusing, and does explain why Koreans end up way more drunk than they intend!

After dinner, we headed down to the beach to meet up a lot of the other teachers in Pohang for a beach party, involving fireworks, guitars, singing and lots of beer, which went on til the wee small hours.

Goodnight Korea! x x x x x x x x

For you viewing pleasure, here is a small clip of the wonder that was 'Hey Jude' - sorry about the brightness, they did not infact look like oompa loompas but it was rather bright in there!

Untitled from Monica Lindsay on Vimeo.

I got Seoul but I’m not a soldier!

This weekend we made out first ever trip to Seoul, South Korea’s capital and LOVED IT. Now some people may say that its just like ay other big city but when you have been in the sticks for a little while, lacking good Western food, H&M and catching up with friends, Seoul is amazing for all of the above.

We set off Friday night after school and caught a bus for 5 hours to Seoul. On a Megabus in the UK this would hurt – a lot. However, buses in Korea are a whole new level of bus. They are called limousine buses and they live up to their name. You each get a wide, comfy seat that reclines to almost 45degrees AND has a foot rest that comes up to the same level as your chair making it a very comfy ride indeed. When you buy tickets for buses in advance, you get a seat number meaning that there is no last-minute fight to board said bus and get a seat – you just take you time and chill out. Korea, you are good at public transport.

Anyhoo, we arrived and decided that being 11pm and never having navigated the underground before we would just hop in a taxi. To our dismay, the huge queue of empty, idle taxis would not accept us and kept pointing down to this long queue of people standing waiting on taxis driving past. Confused, we joined the queue and then realized that these people were waiting for taxis that have English interpreters. A short journey later and we arrived at out hotel called Hotel Biwon. We had arranged to meet up with our friends from orientation – Sarah and David who have come from Oz to work in Korea and Katy and Danny from Colorado – and we all arrived about the same time and so, with out Seoul tour guide for the weekend (Danny’s friend JP who is from Korea but grew up in the USA but now lives back in Seoul), we headed out for a beer. We all decided that to get an early start in the morning would be good so had one beer and then to bed.

Our room in the hotel was pretty cool and our first real experience of Korean hotels. It had a massive flat screen TV, all the toiletries you may require, a spare single bed and a sauna in the the shower cubicle. Pretty cool. My favourite was the escape rope in a box in the wall “in case of fire” I’m not sure I want to jump out of the 11th floor with a rope? Sheila would love this though – does anyone remember the escape ladder she made us have in Dorchester Ave?

Self-explanatory.

Breakfast courtesy of Krispy Kreme.

Danny in his second wedding.

On Saturday morning it was decided that the boys would head to Yongsan Electronics Market (uh huh) and the girls would head to Myeong Dong, the main shopping district in Seoul where there is a real H&M. We were amazed at how quiet the shopping area was at 11am and even through to 2pm it was still pretty quiet. I spent lots of money in H&M and had a pretty good strawberry juice from a street vendor.

We headed to Namdaemun Market for lunch as JP insisted we had to try some proper street food. Namdaemun is a typical Korean market, which sells anything and everything – kind of like a really big Barras. However, it is now my new favourite place as I found this wee Turkish man selling delicious chicken kebab wrapped in pitta bread with lettuce, veggies and sauce. It was amazing! The others had some interesting Korean delicacies – including intestine, lung, and liver. No thanks!

T-shirt in Namdaemun Market.

Ginger superman? Yes please!

Traditional Korean clothing for children - they wear these for special occasions but particularly for their first birthday.

Rocking the agjuma look.

David. He is a special one.

Roasting chestnuts, some of the more palatable street food.

Walking out of the subway.

In the afternoon JP took us to Namsan Park, a huge park in the centre of Seoul which has a traditional folk village at the bottom and Seoul Tower at the top. We spent some time exploring the traditional village and then headed up the tower for views out over Seoul.

Me as a traditional Korean lady.

Traditional Korean kids game, not dissimilar to those played in the UK in the olden days.

Sauce pots - where spicy red and black sauces are made, left to cook by the heat of hte sun for weeks or months. Nice.

Another traditional Korean game where you whip the wooden piece with a whip to keep it spinning. Would never be allowed in the UK.

Roasting sweet potatoes.

Traditional Korean home - they are set up off the ground so that the inner living areas have space under them for under floor heating, which was used way back in the day.

Inside a traditional Korean home.

Girl learning how to make rice cake. Slowly.

Flower baskets at Seoul Tower.

Grafitti at Seoul Tower.

The final steep walk to the tower.

Really amazing wire sculptures that hung in the air above the tower. At night they were lit up and looked fantastic.

Going up in the elevator.

Cheesy tower face.

Wow, its a long way home.

Some clever camera trickery from Garry with the tower and the sunset.

Another example of Korean couple cuteness - they buy padlocks and write love messages and then hang them all around the railings. Its looks pretty cool. Garry refused.

Made me laugh quite a lot. Just feel it.

Another wire scultpure.

Where else would all the gingers in Seoul go?

The best part of the day was yet to come however. JP had told us that he knew of the BEST Mexican restaurant in Seoul which did amazing burritos, margheritas and salsa so off we went to Gangnam, an area south of the Han River which hosts all the Head Offices of major Korean companies including Pohang’s very own POSCO (steel company). And JP did not lie! The food was good. It was a small place with no frills and we had to wait about an hour for a table (good drinking time I say) but the food spoke for itself and the people were really friendly. And they had limes – something I have not had in Korea for over 2 months.

Katy, who loves Mexican food more than life itself, was rather excited.

Corona, two of them, with actual lime in. Amazin.

Enjoying the margaritas ladies!

It was pretty late by the time we finished eating and so after another beer, we headed back our new hotel (long story but there had been issues with booking and so we had to change hotels for the Saturday ngiht). This was also a whole new experience as the new place was called ‘Hotel Dodo’ and as soon was we arrived we knew it was a love mote. There was clearly a lap dancing club downstairs, it was lit in a huge amount of neon and there was a middle aged man cleaning rooms at 11.45pm at night. Not your usual chambermaid service! Anyway, we checked in and the rooms were hilarious. Ours had a double Jacuzzi hot tub, a huge bed, silk dressing robes and lots of Korean porn on the TV (which is just odd let me tell you). David and Sarah lucked out with the best room – it had a glass walled bathroom with a massive round Jacuzzi and great lighting. Well, it was another Seoul experience.

Rather phallic looking hotel opposite our love motel.

Love motel stylee.

The next day we headed slept late and headed back to the bus station to get tickets – the only buses with spaces to Pohang were at 1pm so we bought those and were soon on our way home. Note to self – buy tickets on arrival in Seoul in the future.

We arrived back in Pohang about 6pm and headed to our favourite sam gyup sal restaurant – this is now tradition after a weekend away.

So, another great weekend in a country that I feel I am learning more and more about all the time. What I love most is that every weekend feels like a little mini holiday, catching up with friends and seeing new things and we always seem to have really different experiences.

I do not like the work dread however…….