Sunday Hike to the Temple

Yesterday afternoon, I decided to hike up to the temple on the mountain behind my apartment. As I was hiking up the mountain, through the narrow alleyways of my neighborhood, I stumbled across this local joint.


There's no name for it... but one of the men said it was his "momma's house" and invited me to come every Sunday for Makoli (korean rice wine) and acorn jelly (which is absolutely disgusting)! This is me and Momma!


It's common for friends to feed each other in Korea. Everyone at my table kept trying to feed me the acorn jelly squares, which are absolutely vile! In Korea, when someone offers you food, it's extremely rude not to eat it, so I did the best I could!


Then... Momma came to my table with a smile on her face and handed me this ENTIRE plate of acorn jelly all for myself! It took everything within me not to throw up after eating one... much less an entire plate!


It was a really fun experience to hang out with so many of my neighbors! Unfortuatey, no one spoke a lick of English, but with the help of body language, the small amount of Korean that I knew and lots of hand motions we were able to communicate! When I could no longer eat anymore acorn jelly, or drink anymore Makoli, I said "goodbye and thankyou" and headed up to the temple.

This is the treeline road leading to the Temple! (About a 10 minute walk from my apartment)

Temple grounds

Main worship area...


The building which houses the temple kitchen, dining hall, and offices.


The dorm facility for the Monk's.


I'm not sure what the significance is of these tiny little statues, but they're cute none the less and can be found in nooks and crevises of the rock walls and mountains surrounding the temples in Korea.




This temple had four of these creatures, carved from wood, hanging from the roofline of the main worship building. I thought they were stunning!

Outside of the Monk's housing facility, looking down into my neighborhood.

Inside the main worship area of the temple, there are intriquite statues and wall hangings. I thought this one was beautiful. As a side note... there was no one in the room, so I took advantage of the opportuntiy to take a close look at everything! It was actually really cool.

One of my favorite things about this temple is the fact that you can't hear anything but the trees blowing in the breeze! It is completely quiet and serene, set up and away from the hustle and bustle of the city below. It's not huge, or extraordinarily spectacular, so there are not hundreds of tourists walking through, and the monks living here are happy to see you and don't mind if you take pictures. There were a few benches on the temple grounds that overlook the cityscape where I'd like to come back with my book! Maybe tonight after work! :)

How to Have a Successful Hiking Experience in Korea!

STEP #1

WALK TOWARDS A MOUNTAIN, FIND A KOREAN DRESSED IN HIKING CLOTHES, AND FOLLOW THEM!

* The trails in Korea are sometimes hidden... like this one, which began on a cement staircase off one of the side streets near my apartment.

Step # 2

DECIDE WHICH PATH YOU WANT TO TAKE!

* There are literally hundreds of different pathways on every mountain, so it makes hiking a more personal experience. On a typical 2 hour hike, like the one I took today, I only passed about 10 people.

Step # 3

STOP TO LOOK AROUND AND TAKE IN THE VIEWS OF THE PATHWAYS ALONG THE TRAIL.

* One of my favorite parts about hiking here, is that it can be a beautifully sunny day, but when you get into the really wooded areas, the trees completely block the sun and it becomes a magical and eerie place!

Step # 4

STOP ALONG THE TRAIL TO MEET A MONK WHO'S ON AN AFTERNOON WALK AND ASK HIM TO TAKE YOUR PICTURE.

* Sorry, I know most of you want to see a picture of him, but I'm not sure how they feel about their pictures being taken and I didn't want to overstep any boundaries as this was the first monk I'd ever actually spoken to. He was very nice and spoke English pretty well. He invited me to come to his temple and show me around, but I knew I wasn't wearing appropriate temple attire (arms should be covered) so I thanked him and told him I would come visit him soon.

Step # 5

STOP TO GET A LITTLE WORKOUT AT THE LOCAL "MOUNTAIN EXERCISE PARK."

* These exercise parks are all over in Korea and are typically donated by the local water companies as a gift to their customers. I'm baffled by most of the equipment and have no idea how it's supposed to be used.

Step # 6

STOP TO DRINK SOME WATER, EAT AN APPLE, AND READ A GOOD BOOK, WHILE ENJOYING THE BLUE SKIES!

* My book choice for the afternoon happened to be Lady Boys. I found a comfy bench, laid my head on my backpack and enjoyed the sun on my face and the sound of the trees blowing in the ocean breeze!

Step # 7

REPEAT STEPS 1-6 AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE!

"Good Morning Teacher!"

Nothing like a crazy looking bug held infront of my face to wake me up in the morning! Thank you Zack!

Lunch Time at Gamjung!

Lunchtime in Korean schools is MUCH different than in the US, and lunchtime at Gamjung Chodun Hakyo (my school), it's even MORE different! First of all, students don't bring their lunches to school in Korea! They are served actual meals, with rice, some sort of meat, a soup, and some vegetables. Most schools have their own cafeteria, but my little itty bitty school doesn't... so the food is shipped from my friend Aaron's school (a couple miles away) in large rolling carts. Here's how the process goes:

4 moms volunteer to come everyday to put the carts of food on the elevator and roll them down to the ends of the hallways on each floor.


Then, when the bell rings, the class leaders find their cart and roll it to their classroom.

Once the cart is in the classroom, the class leaders cut the rice into squares, pull all of the canisters of food out, and of course - put their aprons on! :)

Then it's time to serve! TEACHERS ALWAYS GO FIRST!! This is Josh, (4th grade teacher).

Then it's the kids turn! They were very excited today because they were getting fried food!


This is the 5th grade class down the hallway. They don't wear aprons, they were bandanas!  It's important for them to be fashionable at all times around here!

... and these are my sweet little kindergartners!   Once the student's food is served, they eat lunch in their classrooms at their desks.


After they are finished eating, they have to put all of their uneaten (sp?) food into a recycling bowl, stack their trays, wash their chopsticks, and brush their teeth! We've got them trained around here!

As much as I love these kids, I am VERY thankul that I am not a "homeroom teacher." I actually get to eat downstairs with the adults!!! :)

Welcome to My Classroom!

Since I can't give you all the official tour in person, I've taken some pictures, so you can see where I live from 8:40am - 4:40pm Monday through Friday! If you remember, when I first got to Korea, I posted some pictures of my classroom. Since then, they have knocked down walls and remodeled the space and have come up with this! I took these this morning. Enjoy!

This is the view from the door, walking into the classroom.


This is looking from the back of the classroom - forward.


This is my view from the front of the classroom while I'm teaching...

This is the computer area of the English Plaza.

This is the English Plaza and MY DESK!

This is my desk - clean and organized as always! Some things never change!

I hope you enjoyed the tour! If you ever want a real tour, feel free to come over :)