Teaching English in Korea Vlog 9

Check out my the 9th vlog about teaching English in Ulsan, South Korea!  In this vlog I talk about the different private classes that I'm currently teaching.  Check it!

Watch the video here! 

Ilsan Beach and King's Rock

The following documents our relaxing hike around King's rock at Ilsan Beach in Ulsan, South Korea. The kids received 3 WHOLE days of summer vacation from our academies, and we decided to take full advantage by finally making it out to the beach that is only a half hour from our apartment.  I'm going to take a step back with the rhetoric and let your eyes feast on some uninterrupted visual pleasure. (Click the pictures to enlarge)

Enjoy!

California Beach Water park

Claire and I are on summer vacation!  Guess how long that is  ....... 3 days.

Oh well, I'll take what I can get!

On our first day of summer vacation we went to a water park with some of my students.  It was a ton of fun but there were definitely some stark differences between Korea and the states.  Allow me to elaborate. (don't forget to check out the videos at the bottom)

But before we begin, I wanted to mention something.  I pointed out a "Made in China" tag on one of the light poles inside the park to Claire.  She said "Wow, the light pole is made in China, in a water park in Korea named after a state in America."  It was a really profound realization for me seeing the world as a global community right before my eyes.  I imagined how separate the world was even a few generations ago, and how truly close and tightly knit the globe is now.  Good or bad, the future is intensely exciting to consider.

Enough pondering and on with the story. The 6 of us drove to the park, groggy and slap happy about the coming day.  We left early, around 7:00, so that we could enjoy the park before it became packed like American chicken farms.

We all pitched in to rent out a bungalow.  While Sarena and Louise went in to pick out a bungalow, Ray, Jay, Claire and I waited in the parking lot.  We needed a bungalow against the wall of the parking lot so that we could sneak food in.  Food, like any amusement park, is insanely expensive at California Beach.

Our box of food.

After going inside Claire and I distracted the lifeguard closest to us with fast and high vocabulary questions about the park in English.  He was very confused but after taking a picture with us we became quick friends.  This allowed Ray to throw the food over the wall to Jay without being seen.  Very sneaky indeed.  Koreans are natural born shufflers and ninjas!  The successful distraction made me think about a life of foreign con-artistry, but in case this post serves as self incrimination later in life, I will digress.

Distracting the lifeguard.

At a Korean water park you must wear a life jacket at all times with the exception of the single person super fast water slides.  It was really annoying at first but we got used to it quickly.  On some of the rides you are also required to wear some sort of hat to stop hair from getting into the water.  Because my hair is so short I was good to go without a hat.  That left five people with only 2 hats.  I suggested that we just wrap some shirts around peoples' heads like turbans.  It totally worked!  Another strange thing is that most Koreans wear shirts even while swimming, many times even long sleeve shirts.  It is in an attempt to avoid being sun burnt/tan (being very pale and white is more beautiful in Korea). 

Everyone is wearing hoodies!

There are two rides I have never seen before at an American water park that I want to discuss.  The first is the not so lazy river.  We called it the tsunami.  You grab an inner tube and wade into a river with 12 foot walls on either side.  About every minute a voice announces to the riders "five, four, three two, one, LET'S GO!"  A 4-7 foot wave (depending where you are on the river) is released from the entrance of the ride like a charging war horse.  It slams into you and throws you with flailing arms further down the river to wait for another wave to come again.  It was exhilarating and one of the best water rides I have ever been on.

The river.

The best ride in the park is a water slide.  After climbing a steep set of stairs your reach the top of the highest slide in the park.  Above the entrance to the tunneled slide is a trap door that you stand on.  Above and around this trap door is what looks like a space ship escape pod with a glass window on the front so everyone can see you.  After stepping into the pod, you are told how to stand so that you do not get hurt.  Cross your legs and put your hands behind your head.  Tilt your chin down and don't move!  A man gives you a countdown and screws with you so that you have no idea when the trap door will open.  "3, 2, 1..... 1.....1..... go...... go......hmmmmmm, go..-POP!"  The trap door flies open and you are in free fall for a second or two.  Your body finally meets with the nearly vertical slide and rushes you down a tunnel in steep curves and high power turns.  When you finally reach bottom, your adrenaline is still pumping and your breathe is still held.  What a trip!!

Claire and Sarena. 

Jay, Ray, and Louise.

Water Explosion! 

For lunch and a few snack breaks we would return to the bungalow.  Sarena made kimbop for everyone and even prepared some for Claire and I without meat.  It was unfathomably good!  By far the best kimbop we have had in Korea so far!

Kimbop.

Chilling in the Bungalow

By around 5:00 we were all exhausted and ready for some uninterrupted hibernation.

Relaxing in the hot tub.

The locker rooms were EXTREMELY nice.  First of all, as opposed to the states, no one cared about being naked.  No one was shy or embarrassed (if they were they didn't show it) about their bodies.  I am a solid believer that everyone's body is strange, and unique.  It is always so weird to me to see people so embarrassed about the temporary form they inhabit.

The locker rooms also had plenty of 10 second dryers for your swim suit and other wet belongings along with complimentary plastic bags to store your damp things in.  Thank you Korea.


I think that covers about everything. All in all, Claire and I were surrounded by some really amazing company and hilarious conversation all day.  Ray, Jay, Sarena, and Louise, you guys are awesome!  Thanks for an amazing trip!

A dragonfly landed on Claire's finger.  Good Luck!!






Check out some of the videos I took with my waterproof camera!  1 2 3 4 5 

Korea Vlog #8

Norebang!!!!!!!  

Check out my eighth vlog about teaching English and living in South Korea.

Watch it here! 

English Teaching in Korea vlog #7

To view Vlog #1 click here
To view Vlog #2 click here
To view Vlog #3 click here
To view Vlog #4 click here
To view Vlog #5 click here
To view Vlog #6 click here


Check out my new vlog about teaching English in Ulsan, South Korea.  Topics include garbage, beer, insane driving and EXPLOSIONS!!!! psshhh brghghdhf pew!!!

Watch Vlog #7 HERE

Cars careen, moon-glow steady.

The bus bounces and creaks.

Multicolor lanterns line main roads and misplaced street lamps light side streets. 

                     Soft glow, orange glare. 

I'm wondering if there is a universal symbol to express selfless affection, a single cosmic action of endearment.  

Time is rolling now, snow balling into...into... that's the question, isn't it.

Family...

My genes battle with patchwork plans for myself.  Unconscious pokes at the conscious mind.

I am sure of nothing, except that it is best to not be sure of anything in life or else the whole game would slide away, the whole farce would melt and transform into something reasonable and sane, like sand into glass.

That's what happens when lightning strikes a beach.  The sand turns into glass.  I pretended to teach that to the nine year olds in my class as they read it out of their textbook. Truth is, I was more excited and awe struck by the idea than they were. 

All of us, we are all children, from birth unto burial, facing the reality of seeing children grow into bodies far too large for their childishness.  

Adulthood is an act.  It is a quasi-entertaining performance and discipline.

My greatest struggle is holding in laughter when my students make funny sounds, and when they believe themselves to be invincible.  

Two very different types of laughter - laughter all the same. 

Mystery attempting the mundane. Mundane attempting mystery.  It will be like this forever, something tells me.  The mundane will never understand the mystery.  The mystery will always coalesce into the mundane, forgetting the whole time, the whole time, that there is nothing mundane, ever...

My only regret here and now is that there is still space reserved in my thoughts for the possibility of regret.  Mistake precedes regret.  There can be no mistakes if the whole damn thing is a mistake. 

That's the beauty of it, the wonder of it, the mystery of it. 

Don't believe them, any of them.  The only thing that is regrettable is fear. It's not real. You create fear when you mistakenly deem it necessary.  It is only temporary, fear.  It is a fiction you craft, and you are infinitely temporary.

                           

                      every moment is infinitely temporary

                                     reality is composed of an infinite number of moments

                                                                                           all infinitely temporary  

And so,  reality is infinitely temporary; temporary and infinite.

An eternal moment. 

When you zoom out far enough, everything that makes sense is nonsense, and when you zoom out further, nonsense is far more nonsensical than it was when you first zoomed.  

Nonsense, silliness,  mistake-

Whoops.

That is what the all is. 

                       The universe, reality, existence, god - whatever. 

It's just a big whoops.

You see, that is really, really great!

There is no intention, no idea, no purpose, no why, no who, no reason.

Nothing of actual importance.

There is just a big whoops. 

A big beautiful puddle of broken glass and spilt milk.

You are the break. You are the spill.

Ascension to the Buddhist Temple

                                 

Last weekend some friends and I trekked through a quaint village filled with various farms and Koreans busy with rural life. It was at the base of a mountain with a breath taking Buddhist temple near the 

summit. 

      The village!

                       Such appetizing architecture.

 

A man cultivates a field outside his home in preparation for a future rice harvest.

                                  

Much of the mountain trail was filled with tall growing plants and overhanging trees.

                                                                               

On our way up.  Lanterns line parts of the trail as we drew closer to the temple.  

                                                

A man helps another person climb this steep rock face.  I hope he has some experience!

A lovely view from about half way to the summit.

 
A beautiful structure just outside of the temple.
                           







    Overhead oceans of lanterns!


    Hey there, it's us!

                         

I am unsure what each of these statues represent.  I assume the middle statue represents Gautama as the enlightened buddha being.  The statues on the right and left are possibly future and past incarnations.  Just a hypothesis.  Upon entering this part of the temple you are required to remove your shoes and fully prostrate yourself before the statues.

  A smaller shrine outside of the main temple.

The following images were painted on the walls inside the shrine.  They are disturbing to say the least.  My guess is that they are a reminder of the suffering of life, and the necessity of enlightenment.

 

                                                                           

The outside of the shrine on the other hand was quite elegant and warming.  

These figurines were scattered all around the jagged faces of the mountain around the temple. Kids enjoyed playing with them while their parents prayed.  

This is a method of one pointedness meditation.  The idea is to hold one of the smaller, darker rocks seen and grind it against the large boulder beneath it.  There are deep grooves in the boulder from centuries of use. 

 Some pictures of the hike back down to the base.

                                      

                                                                           

A traditional Korean burial site.  On the right you can see the burial mound.

 That is one gigantic beetle! Measuring its body and legs it spanned about the size of my palm.



















 

After the 4 or 5 hour excursion we grabbed some dinner and beers.

Farewell!