Work Begins...

It has been a few days since I have updated, so here are a few things that I have been doing. 

(7-3) I met Jason (who worked at Camp Fitch in Pennsylvania for the last 15 months) and his family and had an American style dinner consisting of; hamburgers, salad, and fruit. Jason has a wife and two daughters 주은 (Juneun) and 고은 (Geoeun). After dinner we went to the 팔당호, which is the place where the Han river comes together from the north and south and then splits Seoul to the west. (Pictures below) 

(7-4) I met a friend (Ruby, lives in Minnesota as well and met at Korean camp in 2011) and went to Namdaemun. We walked around the market looking at various of things and got Ruby some new glasses. After walking around I wanted to show Ruby what a Korean department store was like so we went to Shinsaegae. (Note: Korean departemnt stores are not like the ones in America the have several floors.) We started in the basement which was the food court where Ruby spotted a Jimmy Rocket's and she wanted some french fries so she orderded them and ate. After finishing her fries we started our treck upwards. Once we reached the top floor, 12 stories high, Ruby was amazed of how high that it went. On the top floor we had Starbuck and then went down and walked to Myeongdong. At Myeongdong we walked around some more and Ruby bought some more CDs. Ruby needed a phone as well however there were no shops near Myeongdong so I took her to Gangnam where we found a shop and got her a phone. After successfully activating her phone we went to a 만두 (dumpling) restaurant. I have 떡만두국 (dumpling soup) and Ruby had 튀만두 (Fried dumpling). We ate well. After dinner it was time to part so I directed her way back to her station and we left. 

Entrance to Shinsegae

Dinner

 

(7-5) Today, I went with the staff of the organization that I will be working for to 증평 (Jeungpyeong), about 1.5 hours south of Seoul.

There is the place where the camp is stationed. While we were there we had lunch and then explored around the area to find some activities to do while the kids are at camp. After finding a couple things we went to the campsite which it was pouring rain but we still walked around. We looked for a place to set up an archery area and a place to set up tents for the elementary kids to campout for one night. Successfully completing all of the tasks we headed back home. 

(7-6) I spent most of the day at home just resting and preparing to go to 풍기 (Punggi) with Kuk and his son Sang-su-ri. Kuk has a friend who asked Kuk to lead a workshop for high school students. We left the house at around 6pm and headed south. We arrived in Punggi at around 9pm, had dinner found a hotel and slept for the night.

(7-7) We woke up early and were met by some of Kuk's friends who took us to a nearby church that had a big gym like space where the workshop would take place. The students arrived at 9am and the workshop began. During the workshop Kuk had the students do a various of group and partner activities. The students were a year younger than me and found it intriguing that I was participating with them. The workshop lasted until noon and then the the student had to leave. I exchanged contact information with some of the students and I hope to keep in contact with them in the future. 

A few thoughts from the expereience:
-The relationship between students is way different than in America. Where in Korea high schools are usually seperated by genders and the class is always together because they stay in one classroom for the whole day. So the relationship is much closer both personally and physically ("skinship"). I think that the close knit relationships that the students form really shows how much students in Korea rely on the their peer and the vital role the play for each other. 

After the workshop I went with Kuk and his friends to have lunch and after his son and I went to 부석서 (Buseok Temple), which is a Buddhist temple from the 600s. There secenery was beautiful and I took lots of good picture. (Below) After the visit Sang-su-ri and I went to pick up Kuk and then headed home. We stopped for dinner and had 순대 (pig stomach soup) it was not my favorite food and I think the name just explains itself so I won't go into detail but I politely forced it down. Once I finished eating we left and headed home.

Jason and His Family

Han River North and South Meet

A Stray Boat

The View from the Campsite

Me and One of the Staff

Traditional Korean Blacksmith

Big Drum Hanging Inside One of the Buildings

Map of the Area

The Description About Buseoksa

Map of the Area

View from the Top