Seeing the sights....

Sorry about the delay on getting posts up folks - I ran into a technical difficulty.... :-) Honest!!!

So, after a very long night on Saturday being introduced to the Korean night life (yes it included Karaoke.... and no I'm not telling....) it was good to have a bit of a sleep in on Sunday.

Met Mr Brown at the dojang at midday and headed off to see a bit more of Busan. We jumped on the subway (so easy to use!!!!!) and headed out to one of the temples called Beomosa or Pomosa depending on which sign you read....

On leaving the station we were approached by a man who we finally figured out was trying to sell us a ride to the temple.

Hang on just a second, we don't need a ride, it'll probably be just around the corner and down the road, and after all we're fit martial art practitioners right?

So 3 kilometres up the side of a mountain later..... hot and sweaty from the Korean humidity we arrived at a beautiful Buddhist temple.

Sunday is a day of rest and recreation here in Korea, so there were plenty of tourists and other people wandering around the grounds, not to mention those people there to complete there own religous practices. In fact, apparently they were doing a rehearsal for Buddha's birthday at the same time....

Mr Brown said that the air was as clear from the dust as he has ever seen it, and the view was spectacular. Unfortunately I don't think the photographs do it justice - you'll just have to take my word for it.....

So after wandering around in this busy but somehow completely tranquil setting, we realised it was time to head back to the dojang in time to meet the crew for the next phase in my journey. Half way down the mountain we crossed paths with a couple of American(?) tourists huffing and puffing their way up the mountain who looked dowbtful when we told them that the walk was worth it - well, I definately thought it was.... :-)

Saturday - First ITFK Grading

Saturday morning was an early start - relatively speaking.... We set off from the dojang at Busan and headed up(?) to Ulsan for the first ITF Korea Grading - very exciting! Mr Brown and Mr Chirtoca have been working hard setting up the syllabus and training the kids for their yellow stripe grading.

I have to offer my complete respect to our ITF examiners at this point.... I was asked to make notes with regard to the performance of the kids at this grading, and offer my gratitude and thanks to the examiners that I have graded under in the past - it's hard work!!!!

Anyway - the students went through their stuff - and looked pretty good, especially considering the small amount of time that they have had to study the syllabus.

BTW - all of you junior belts out there - thank your lucky stars that we do not have to complete our patterns the same way that these guys had to complete Saju Makgi and Saju Jirugi. The students here are learning English in the same way that we learn Korean, so to help them with this they are asked to say the English name of each move in the "pattern" before they do it - whew!!! Could make Yul Gok tough couldn't it? :)

We were treated to a Gumdo demonstration at the second of the two gradings - the skill these guys have with swords is incredible!!! There were pieces of bamboo landing all over the place!!!

Mr Chirtoca also showed his stuff with two of his black belt patterns which had the audience in awe.

All in all - a very successful day! The work done so far for the ITF in Korea by Mr Van Roon, Mr Doogan, Mr Brown and Mr Chirtoca is pretty spectacular!

Kindergarten!!!

OK - so my abject apologies to Mr Doogan and Mr Brown.... they're sooooooo right - Korean driving is crazy!!!!

Friday morning we set off early from the dojang in Busan and headed to Gimhae for Kindergarten... How to illustrate the traffic here in Korea in words.... lets see....
First.... driving down the motorway with a on-ramp coming up, the cars just come straight on and across several lanes of traffic,
or second.... cars just parked on the side of the road and so the cars in that lane of traffice just move over and try to share your lane with you..... yes two cars (or trucks or buses or whatever) in one lane
Mr Brown said today that he reckons if he had to drive here in Korea that he'd buy a tank.... not sure how that would go down, but at least you'd get your lanes to yourself right?

Anyway - so off to Kindergarten, what does Mr Brown say? "It's life Jim - but not as we know it...." 4 classes of 60 kids each.... yes that's right - 240 kids in one day for class..... WOW!!!! It's so great - they're so full of energy, and once they got past the "oooooh, woman sabum" thing they were great!! I got some photos of the Kindy too... check this out:

Subject to change without notice...

This is definately the theme here at the moment... I don't really know what I'm doing from moment to moment at this point....so I'm sorry if things seem a little disjointed....

Yesterday after lunch Mr Brown and I were separated... I was bundled into a van with "non-English speaking" instructors and taken to a dojang (they say that they don't speak English - but they speak more English than I speak Korean!). There I was introduced to 3 classes of primary school students that it sounds like I will be instructing over the coming weeks - they're a happy lot and seem to think my attempts at Korean are a riot - let alone saying hello to them!

Got my first introduction to traditional Korean food yesterday - not as hot as I thought it was going to be - but definately spicy, and very tasty! The instructors at the dojang take a dinner break from 5-6pm and go for food, walking up the street in their dobok without a worry in the world about spilling anything on it, like it's the most natural thing in the world....

This morning was spent on the subway and at the markets.... They sell absolutely everything there - and I mean everything! Mr Brown bought a traditional Korean Hanbok (costume) which looks incredibly comfortable!

Anyway - lunch time, more Korean food - yay!!!

Next time I'll get some photos up - I promise!

Alive and well.....

Well of course I'm alive and well! It's not rocket science getting through airports right? Although working out that you actually have to "enter" China to do a transfer through Shanghai Airport was a bit hairy, but managed to come through relatively unscathed.....
Just a couple of quick points before I go and watch Mr Brown instructing.....
Picked up at the airport by Mr Brown, Secretary and Director Kim - with a sign welcoming me to Korea - nice!
Mr Brown's being a wuss about the whole driving thing - I didn't freak out once on the way to the dojan, but then Secretary Kim was driving and he told us he was a driver in the military during his compulsory service - so he has specialised training....
Walking across the road or on the footpaths though? That takes skill!!!!! Well, skill to do it without getting run over.... Apparently the road rules are more like guidelines here.... Look left, look right, look left, look right, look left, look right again and then still wait for someone else to start before you cross the road!
Was treated to tea with the President of ITF Korea this afternoon also which was definately a nice way to start my trip.....
The brain is starting to lose substance at this point (have been awake since I don't know what time as the time zones have all been changing), so am going to keep it short and sign off for now.
Annyeong Haseyo!