So we've been doing a massive advertising campaign in Gimhae this week, brochures, visits to schools and they've even pulled in a group of guys who have been beating the street, cold calling, you name it to increase the class sizes in Gimhae.
This morning we met at the dojang at 7:30am, jumped in the car and took of around the schools in the area, standing outside the gates saying hi while the hired crew collared kids and told them they should come to English Taekwon-Do and handing them brochures..... It kinda felt a little strange doing the whole advertising direct to children thing, but hey, it's Korea :-)
Whatever they're doing must be working though.... we've gone from the one class of 4-6 students, to 4 classes. The student numbers in each class are not particularly high, but as the dojang isn't huge that's ok.
I want to show you some more of Gimhae. It's not so much like Busan with the streets packed with buildings and glaring colours and signs everywhere.... yes there is a central area of town that is packed with restaurants, and the area around the University was still teeming with people late last night, but Gimhae is alot more green than Busan with trees and parks everywhere.
I've got heaps of photos... which I'll upload as soon as I work out why my pictures aren't uploading today..... Unfortunately logging in from Korea means I get all the instructions in Korean..... hopefully its just a temporary error....
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
Korea leaves for the World Champs....
So the Korean crew left today - don't forget to say hi to them team - there's only 3 of them!!!!
Yesterday was a quiet one, Mr Chirtoca and I thought we were going to be training in the afternoon, but they skipped the training session for some reason.
Instead Mr Chirtoca went to catch up with some friends, and I tagged along with President Kim, Park, Ki Tae and Jung to find Jung a team tracksuit for this week... talk about leaving it to the last minute!!!! We found the perfect thing - personality wise and style wise and then spent another couple of hours tracking down someone who could a) supply Korean Flag patches, and b) sew them on right then and there..... once we found him I swear it took about 5 minutes to finish!!!
Today's just been a quiet one. Ki Tae and I took a walk into town, then he and I took a class at 5, it was supposed to be just me, but the student didn't speak a word of English (not even hello until I'd finished with him) and then my normal Monday 8pm class. When I first started instructing the 8pmers they started off as a pretty unruly bunch, but they're settling into the swing of things now..... I don't know whether they're getting used to the work and the way that I instruct, or they're just resigned to the fact that there's no use complaining cos I won't understand them...... :-)
Anyway, have been doing some study to finish off my day before heading off for an early night ready for an early rise tomorrow morning - work in NZ have requested my assistance, so it's online 6am my time (9am for most of you).
By the way - we're still looking for instructors to come over and continue the work that Mr Van Roon, Mr Brown, Mr Doogan, Mr Chirtoca and I have been doing. We're wondering what might be holding you all back from putting up your hand and coming over for this amazing experience.... sooooooo, I'm asking for your help....
I was hoping you could spare me 5 minutes of your day and send me a quick email telling me 2 things - 1) are you interested in coming to Korea to instruct Taekwon-do? and 2) what - if anything, is preventing you from putting up your hand......
You can email me on chrismorton75@hotmail.com
I look forward to hearing from you!!!!!
More updates later!
Yesterday was a quiet one, Mr Chirtoca and I thought we were going to be training in the afternoon, but they skipped the training session for some reason.
Instead Mr Chirtoca went to catch up with some friends, and I tagged along with President Kim, Park, Ki Tae and Jung to find Jung a team tracksuit for this week... talk about leaving it to the last minute!!!! We found the perfect thing - personality wise and style wise and then spent another couple of hours tracking down someone who could a) supply Korean Flag patches, and b) sew them on right then and there..... once we found him I swear it took about 5 minutes to finish!!!
Today's just been a quiet one. Ki Tae and I took a walk into town, then he and I took a class at 5, it was supposed to be just me, but the student didn't speak a word of English (not even hello until I'd finished with him) and then my normal Monday 8pm class. When I first started instructing the 8pmers they started off as a pretty unruly bunch, but they're settling into the swing of things now..... I don't know whether they're getting used to the work and the way that I instruct, or they're just resigned to the fact that there's no use complaining cos I won't understand them...... :-)
Anyway, have been doing some study to finish off my day before heading off for an early night ready for an early rise tomorrow morning - work in NZ have requested my assistance, so it's online 6am my time (9am for most of you).
By the way - we're still looking for instructors to come over and continue the work that Mr Van Roon, Mr Brown, Mr Doogan, Mr Chirtoca and I have been doing. We're wondering what might be holding you all back from putting up your hand and coming over for this amazing experience.... sooooooo, I'm asking for your help....
I was hoping you could spare me 5 minutes of your day and send me a quick email telling me 2 things - 1) are you interested in coming to Korea to instruct Taekwon-do? and 2) what - if anything, is preventing you from putting up your hand......
You can email me on chrismorton75@hotmail.com
I look forward to hearing from you!!!!!
More updates later!
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Farewell to Mr Brown.....
Okay have been holding out on this update for a little bit cos I didn't want to give the game away.... But hopefully everything has gone to plan and Mr Brown has made it home safe and sound and a little earlier than planned (Surprise Min!!!!)
There's a bit of a story behind this.... and I'm not sure if Mr Brown is going to keep blogging - so I'll give you a quick run down....
Mr Brown's mentioned "changee changee" before I'm sure of it.... everytime we think a plan is in place, it changes, everytime we think we're going somewhere, we end up somewhere else etc etc etc.... well get this....
In the middle of last week Mr Brown gets an email from his travel agent.... guess what?!?! changee changee!!!! Without any known reason, Mr Brown's flight has been cancelled!!! He was given two choices, leave a day early, or leave 3-4 days later..... errrrrrm can you guess which one he chose?
Over the last week Mr Brown has had a roller coaster ride of emotions from what I've been able to see.... he's soooooooo happy to be going home to his wife, his kids, his grandson... (by the way guys - hi! I feel like I know you from all the stories I've heard!!!!), and at the same time he's sad to be leaving Korea and the people we've met here.... I'm sure Mr Doogan can testify, the people here are fantastic, it's like being part of a Korean family.... :-)
Anyway... back to the story.... So I had to break the news to the Koreans that the plans had changed and there was a flurry of phone calls etc as plans were re-organised.
I caught the bus in the afternoon to Busan with one of the English teachers from the Kindergarten (Michael) who had met Gwyn and wanted to say goodbye. I think we got to Busan around 6:30 or so? We had tea (no, really?) and then dinner, and then suddenly Mr Brown, Michael and I were left alone and told that we'd be contacted later.... well, we thought that was a little wierd, and decided that we weren't going to hang around the dojang for an unknown period of time. By this stage we'd found out that Roman had had to finish instructing in Ulsan before he could come and join us so we knew he'd be late, and Park and Ki Tae couldn't leave Gimhae until 11 when they'd locked up the dojang/fitness club, so we figured what the heck, we'd go and see a movie..... we decided on Pirates of the Carribean.... good movie, lots of fun, but soooooooooooooooo loooooooooooooooooong!!!! By the time it had finished we had missed 73 calls on Michael's cell phone from the crew wondering where we were.... Oops! But it wasn't as if they had told us what the plan was.... (It's ok guys, I'm kidding, relax....)
Anyway, we cabbed it back to the dojang where we were met by President Kim, Director Kim, Instructors Lee and Gung (from Ulsan where Mr Brown was based for a while), Mr Chirtoca, Jennifer Hierlihy (a Canadian student of Mr Brown's), her fellow English teacher Kerrie, Park and Ki Tae and we headed off for some beer, soju and snacks. After we'd terrorised the staff for a little while we made our way back down the hill to the local Noraebang (Korean version of Karaoke) and sang ourselves to about 4:30 in the morning (and no I won't post any photos - what goes on tour stays on tour).....
Mr Brown headed up to the hotel to do the final pack and collection of his gear which we dragged down to the dojang, a cup of tea or two and we headed out to the airport... We got there at about 5:45am if I recall rightly, and check in turned out not to be until about 6:30, so we spent some time cooling our heels, trying to stay awake....
The last goodbye itself was pretty moving, I think we were all completely drained and probably a little bit at a loss for words....
Anyway.... Mr Brown should be home now - a day early.... I understand his daughters knew what was going on, but that he is surprising his wife (who was going to go up to Auckland today to surprise him!!!!)
Hope you had a good trip Mr Brown! See you at Nationals!!!
There's a bit of a story behind this.... and I'm not sure if Mr Brown is going to keep blogging - so I'll give you a quick run down....
Mr Brown's mentioned "changee changee" before I'm sure of it.... everytime we think a plan is in place, it changes, everytime we think we're going somewhere, we end up somewhere else etc etc etc.... well get this....
In the middle of last week Mr Brown gets an email from his travel agent.... guess what?!?! changee changee!!!! Without any known reason, Mr Brown's flight has been cancelled!!! He was given two choices, leave a day early, or leave 3-4 days later..... errrrrrm can you guess which one he chose?
Over the last week Mr Brown has had a roller coaster ride of emotions from what I've been able to see.... he's soooooooo happy to be going home to his wife, his kids, his grandson... (by the way guys - hi! I feel like I know you from all the stories I've heard!!!!), and at the same time he's sad to be leaving Korea and the people we've met here.... I'm sure Mr Doogan can testify, the people here are fantastic, it's like being part of a Korean family.... :-)
Anyway... back to the story.... So I had to break the news to the Koreans that the plans had changed and there was a flurry of phone calls etc as plans were re-organised.
I caught the bus in the afternoon to Busan with one of the English teachers from the Kindergarten (Michael) who had met Gwyn and wanted to say goodbye. I think we got to Busan around 6:30 or so? We had tea (no, really?) and then dinner, and then suddenly Mr Brown, Michael and I were left alone and told that we'd be contacted later.... well, we thought that was a little wierd, and decided that we weren't going to hang around the dojang for an unknown period of time. By this stage we'd found out that Roman had had to finish instructing in Ulsan before he could come and join us so we knew he'd be late, and Park and Ki Tae couldn't leave Gimhae until 11 when they'd locked up the dojang/fitness club, so we figured what the heck, we'd go and see a movie..... we decided on Pirates of the Carribean.... good movie, lots of fun, but soooooooooooooooo loooooooooooooooooong!!!! By the time it had finished we had missed 73 calls on Michael's cell phone from the crew wondering where we were.... Oops! But it wasn't as if they had told us what the plan was.... (It's ok guys, I'm kidding, relax....)
Anyway, we cabbed it back to the dojang where we were met by President Kim, Director Kim, Instructors Lee and Gung (from Ulsan where Mr Brown was based for a while), Mr Chirtoca, Jennifer Hierlihy (a Canadian student of Mr Brown's), her fellow English teacher Kerrie, Park and Ki Tae and we headed off for some beer, soju and snacks. After we'd terrorised the staff for a little while we made our way back down the hill to the local Noraebang (Korean version of Karaoke) and sang ourselves to about 4:30 in the morning (and no I won't post any photos - what goes on tour stays on tour).....
Mr Brown headed up to the hotel to do the final pack and collection of his gear which we dragged down to the dojang, a cup of tea or two and we headed out to the airport... We got there at about 5:45am if I recall rightly, and check in turned out not to be until about 6:30, so we spent some time cooling our heels, trying to stay awake....
The last goodbye itself was pretty moving, I think we were all completely drained and probably a little bit at a loss for words....
Anyway.... Mr Brown should be home now - a day early.... I understand his daughters knew what was going on, but that he is surprising his wife (who was going to go up to Auckland today to surprise him!!!!)
Hope you had a good trip Mr Brown! See you at Nationals!!!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Free Day.....
So what did we spend Buddha's Birthday doing? Well after a 10am start, Mr Brown and I hit the shopping centres starting in Seomyeon at the Lotte Department store....
You get a sense of what you're in for as you make your way from the subway station.... especially with the mini Trevi Fountain in the entrance....
You get a sense of what you're in for as you make your way from the subway station.... especially with the mini Trevi Fountain in the entrance....
The department store is huge and is jam packed with stores like Prada, Gucci, Chanel, Tiffanys..... needless to say I was in heaven!!!!
Next stop was Nampodong, home of the Busan Markets.... we stopped for lunch in the area and then just wandered around looking, shopping.....
According to my calculations Mr Brown and I were out and about for a good 6 hours.... by this time the feet were getting sore and we were starting to fade and decided to head back to the Yangjeong.
Later we were packed into the van and driven across the city to the Russian quarter for Chinese food.... yes that's right - the Russian quarter for Chinese food..... and pretty darn good Chinese food in fact!!!!
On another topic entirely - Mr Brown heads home this weekend.... is kind of strange, Mr Brown was there to welcome me when I stepped off the plane after a 17 hour trip (including stopovers and customs...), introduced me gently to some of the..... errrrrm.... different (?) customs here in Korea.... and he's been my travel, shopping and exploring buddy..... and now he's going!!!
Mr Brown - thank you for everything! I hope your trip home is comfortable and I look forward to seeing you at Nationals in September!!!
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Buddha's Birthday
It's Buddha's Birthday today, so Mr Brown and I have the day off.... (although Mr Brown has pretty much had the whole week off - slacker!!! :) ) So we're off exploring shops and seeing if there is anything left that we haven't seen in Busan tourist-wise.... The temples are going to be packed, as are the roads, so this could be interesting....
Update later!
Update later!
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Weddings, Temples, Kobukson and Chinese Food....
Well, as you can probably guess from the title it was another jam-packed weekend! Those of you who don't make it to the end of the blog - I understand. Those of you who persevere - I hope you enjoy the trip!
We start on Saturday morning with a visit to the tomb of King Suro....
King Kim Suro founded Garakguk (A.D 42) as ruler of Gaya and helped to promote the magnificent Gaya culture. The Gaya period saw the cultivation of rice and production of iron, thereby playing a leading part in helping to form an ancient civilization in Korea. King Suro's tomb stands as a state symbol of the Gaya culture."
The grounds are another example of peace and tranquility and space in the middle of a bustling town....
Tongyeong is a beautiful town with many temples and memorials to the Admiral including a scale reproduction of the Kobukson which Mr Brown and I took great pleasure in exploring. (Sorry Mr Doogan!!)
We start on Saturday morning with a visit to the tomb of King Suro....
King Kim Suro founded Garakguk (A.D 42) as ruler of Gaya and helped to promote the magnificent Gaya culture. The Gaya period saw the cultivation of rice and production of iron, thereby playing a leading part in helping to form an ancient civilization in Korea. King Suro's tomb stands as a state symbol of the Gaya culture."
The grounds are another example of peace and tranquility and space in the middle of a bustling town....
In line with Confucian custom the King's tomb is burial mound and because of his status is very big (6 metres tall) in comparison with the average citizen (0.5-1.5 metres tall).
After wandering around the grounds for a bit it was time for Ki Tae and I to make our way to Busan to attend the wedding of Park's older brother....
I can't tell you what was said during the service, firstly because I couldn't understand a word they said, but secondly because the atmosphere at this particular wedding was very different to the weddings I've been to in the past.... None of this quietly listening to the service, there was talking, laughing (not with the bride and groom - with other people in attendance), cell phones ringing..... but the sentiment was there and I could follow the gist.....
Poor Park had to play receptionist during the ceremony....
After the reception lunch, next stop was Mr Gung's dojang where Mr Brown instructs. Mr Chirtoca and I were roped in to assist with an English class - "Excuse me, how much is that?", "Is that your best price?", "Do you have anything cheaper?".
Time flew and in what seemed like no time at all we were back at the YangJeong dojang discussing plans for the evening.... No Karaoke this time, but after dinner once again we were off to Seomyeon. This time we filled our night dancing at one of the many clubs in the area. Unfortunately the smoke machine and cigarette smoke in the club has played havoc with my chest cold and it looks like I might have to go back to the Korean Herbal Medicine clinic - not that the guys are complaining, that means they get to talk to the assistants again..... But you'd never believe it, I walked into the bathroom at one stage during the night and ran into a girl from Hataitai, Wellington!!!! Talk about insane!! She's over here teaching English and from the sounds of it is not having as good a time as we are as guests/employees of ITFK.
Tongyeong is a beautiful town with many temples and memorials to the Admiral including a scale reproduction of the Kobukson which Mr Brown and I took great pleasure in exploring. (Sorry Mr Doogan!!)
And all this before breakfast! Breakfast by the way was at about 10-11 o'clock and consisted of rice rolls (rolled in seaweed), with chilli squid and kimchee (chilli radish)... not your average breakfast really is it?
More exploring of the hills and bays, a walk down a historic underwater tunnel, a walk through the outdoor sculpture garden of the local Arts and Culture Centre.... (by the way - mum? this set of photos is for you :-) )
Finally a stop at the Traditional Handcraft Exhibition Centre where we were blown away by the mother of pearl inlaid lacquered furniture and exhibits..... We asked the price of the wardrobe pictured behind Mr Brown and Mr Kim..... guess.... you'll never guess..... we thought they must have had it wrong..... $1,000,000.00!!!!!! That's right!!! Mr Brown was contemplating putting it on layby.... I think he was really quite taken with it.......
By this stage we were starting to fade a little at the edges, so we decided it was time to head back to Busan where we'd been invited to join some friends of Mr Kim's for a home cooked Chinese meal.
Now, Mr Brown and I thought the Koreans ate alot of food..... But the Chinese guys that we had dinner with? (Not to mention Mr Kim and Mr Gung who were there as well? These guys ate for pretty much a solid 2 hours..... drinking, talking, eating..... It was basically a giant hotpot dinner, they started by just making a basic soup which bubbled away for a while as we waited for the other guests to turn up making the flat smell delicious!!!! This was surrounded by plates of food, ham, tofu, mushrooms, chinese cabbage, lettuce, shaved beef, crab sticks...... 
and basically the idea was to throw the food into the pot and when it was cooked it would bob to the surface and you'd know it was cooked so you could fish it out..... No problem! We can do that! Slowly we began making our way through the food on the table thinking that this was a great way to eat (and it was!!! the food was delicious!!!!) and that just this food on the table was a big meal for all of us and how on earth would we make it through it all.... but wait..... there's more!!!! every time Mr Brown and I thought everyone would stop and the meal was coming to a close the guys would bring out another couple of plates of ingredients and chuck it into the pot, some more soup mix, more water.... Oh My God!!!!!! Mr Brown and I stopped pretty early in the piece thinking even then that we'd need to be rolled down the stairs and out to the car...... But the guys just kept going and going and going and going....... And of course as you can imagine the soup in the pot just kept getting thicker and thicker, eventually looking more like gravy than soup....... What an amazing experience! Nothing like a Chinese meal cooked specially for you by Chinese students in Korea!!!
For those of you who have actually made it through to the end of this particular entry - thanks for sticking with me, and I hope you enjoyed the story.... I certainly enjoyed the weekend......
Signing off now.....
Friday, May 18, 2007
Korean Medicine.....
So - have been suffering from a bit of a chest cold over the last week.... Started on Monday with the sniffles and moved down through my throat (almost no voice) and into my chest with a bit of a cough and that tight feeling that you get as if you can't take a deep breath properly.... I'm not actually feeling unwell, I just cough and sniff occasionally....
Anyway, the guys (Park and Ki Tae) kept saying that they wanted to take me to the hospital.... What?!?! The hospital? Are you kidding? It's just a cough!!!! Finally they talked me round to going to see a Korean Medicine practitioner....
We walked in to a very nice waiting room, sort of half doctor's office and half Day Spa.... very tranquil and relaxing.... I was invited into the doctor's office where my pulse was taken and Ki Tae and Park spoke in rapid Korean to the older man behind the desk. Next thing I knew I was being given a paper cup of something the colour of coffee which smelt faintly like annisseed - drink up! EEEEEEWWWWWWW!!!!!!!! It tasted nothing like coffee or annisseed!!!!!!! Blergh!!!!
Then I was led around the corner to a small platform (heated!!!!) with a pillow and asked to lie down. In came the doctor (?) and his assistant with a tray of accupuncture needles.... Now I've never had accupuncture before, so needless to say I was a little apprehensive about having needles/pins stuck into me.... sure i give blood every couple of months, and have had more than one or two needles stuck into me over the years, but this?
I figured that people had it done every day, and that I should go with the experience..... I had a needle in each foot (just above the 2nd last toe), and two/three in my right hand..... Not so bad as all that.... we'll see if it works shall we?
Anyway, the guys (Park and Ki Tae) kept saying that they wanted to take me to the hospital.... What?!?! The hospital? Are you kidding? It's just a cough!!!! Finally they talked me round to going to see a Korean Medicine practitioner....
We walked in to a very nice waiting room, sort of half doctor's office and half Day Spa.... very tranquil and relaxing.... I was invited into the doctor's office where my pulse was taken and Ki Tae and Park spoke in rapid Korean to the older man behind the desk. Next thing I knew I was being given a paper cup of something the colour of coffee which smelt faintly like annisseed - drink up! EEEEEEWWWWWWW!!!!!!!! It tasted nothing like coffee or annisseed!!!!!!! Blergh!!!!
Then I was led around the corner to a small platform (heated!!!!) with a pillow and asked to lie down. In came the doctor (?) and his assistant with a tray of accupuncture needles.... Now I've never had accupuncture before, so needless to say I was a little apprehensive about having needles/pins stuck into me.... sure i give blood every couple of months, and have had more than one or two needles stuck into me over the years, but this?
I figured that people had it done every day, and that I should go with the experience..... I had a needle in each foot (just above the 2nd last toe), and two/three in my right hand..... Not so bad as all that.... we'll see if it works shall we?
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Regular Updates....
So, have been told off by a number of people for not updating my blog more regularly despite nothing out of the ordinary happening..... so....
Yesterday was a day of planning training sessions and the Gimhae evening class. More of the students are turning up in Dobok now which means that they're formally signing up which is great news!!!!
Another 5 classes tonight at the Buam Taekwon-Do Academy. We began learning the student oath tonight. The first 3 classes we just covered the name "Student Oath" and the first 2 phrases.... Remembering of course that they're learning the oath in English... it would be like us having to learn the oath in Korean.....
Pretty tough huh? So that's why we only did the first two phrases..... For the last two classes we went through the whole thing, and we've created homework sheets and stuck it up on the wall.... we'll see how much they remember on Tuesday.....
Kindy tomorrow!!!!!
Yesterday was a day of planning training sessions and the Gimhae evening class. More of the students are turning up in Dobok now which means that they're formally signing up which is great news!!!!
Another 5 classes tonight at the Buam Taekwon-Do Academy. We began learning the student oath tonight. The first 3 classes we just covered the name "Student Oath" and the first 2 phrases.... Remembering of course that they're learning the oath in English... it would be like us having to learn the oath in Korean.....
Pretty tough huh? So that's why we only did the first two phrases..... For the last two classes we went through the whole thing, and we've created homework sheets and stuck it up on the wall.... we'll see how much they remember on Tuesday.....
Kindy tomorrow!!!!!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Woo hoo! Boys in uniform!!!
Park heading off to another Military Training Update day.....
Hang on!! That's Mr Brown!!!
Monday, May 14, 2007
What a week!!!
OK - sorry everyone, I know it's been a little while..... Last week seemed pretty uneventful on the daily front and then the weekend was packed and this week I haven't had a chance to sit down and update the blog..... Enough excuses? Ok then......
So last week on the work front we had some successes.... new students, new patterns, new english words. The week training wise was pretty settled... Monday and Wednesday were pretty quiet, with only one class in the evening made up of 4-6 five year old boys and 2 eleven (?) year old girls. The boys can be right terrors and do plenty of mucking around, while the girls are very smart and very quiet - same ol' same ol' heh heh heh heh.... Actually one of the girls is pretty amazing, Mr Brown took her for half a class and had taught her Saju Magki, Saju Jirugi, Chon-Ji and Dan Gun which she could then complete by herself without any problems, he said she is one of the most talented students he has ever seen..... Much of this can be attributed to Park's great teaching skills as she has been his student for a while.....
Tuesday and Thursday were spent at Buam Taekwon-do Academy where we start at 2:30pm and finish at 10pm after teaching five classes. The classes are arranged so that I instruct for an hour and then have a break for a half hour, except for 7pm where i get an hour break for dinner. The students are a good bunch, who seem to very much want to learn what I'm teaching which is nice.... The first three classes are Primary and Intermediate School Students, while the last two classes are High School students. I've been working with them for a couple of weeks now and am really happy with their progress, we've got a grading at the end of the month and I think we'll probably have them all grading with the last two classes possibly double grading if Mr Chirtoca and Mr Brown are happy with them....
Friday's a long day with Kindergarten during the day and then the Gimhae Dojang class in the evening.....
As Mr Brown has told you in his update we had one heck of a weekend. Mine started with Park and Ki Tae at the Gimhae Dojang on Friday night. After they had closed the Health Club side of things we set up the DVD player and the guys showed me a Korean movie about the Korean War. Oh-My-God!!! It had to be one of the most realistic and frightening portrayals of war that I have ever seen. And to think these guys all do compulsory military service and all face the very real possibility of being involved in a conflict. It's a major wakeup call..... Anyway, the movie finished in the early hours of the morning at which point we all trundled off to bed to get whatever sleep we could before the grading in Busan the next day.
The grading was interesting, not the formatted standard grading that we're used to, but definately interesting. Mr Brown, Mr Chirtoca and I seemed to spend a lot of time sitting at the front of the Dojang patiently waiting for things to begin.... We were a little worried that the parents would not be happy, but once we got under way and the students got up to do their thing there was nothing but smiles all around.....
After the grading the foreign contingent and Park went wandering around Busan for a while, ostensibly to look for a Hanbok for Mr Chirtoca for an event we're attending this weekend, but in the end we spent time wandering the streets, stopped for a drink and a bite to eat, and then into one of those games parlours like Time Out so that the guys could play shooting games.... Yes, I was out with the boys.... ah well, if you cant' beat 'em.......
Sunday started with a 6am meeting time at the Busan YangJeong Dojang in preparation for our trip to see Mr Kim's Chinese Calligraphy teacher on the eastern side of Korea.... We all turned up in various states of wakefullness (or not) and disarray and piled into the van, quick trip to the next suburb to pick up Mr Kim's Tea Teacher and some scholars and we were off!
Mr Chirtoca was out like a light in the front seat of the van (late night sir?), and the President was out like a light on the back seat with Mr Kim driving and Mr Brown and I in the back seats with the rest of the crew..... We stopped for a bite to eat (breakfast of rice, vegetables and chilli paste) and to see the Bamboo Museum (Mr Brown's right - you can make one heck of a lot of things from Bamboo) and finally arrived in a very small town off the motorway which was the home of Mr Kim's Calligraphy teacher.
His house is built in the traditional style and is about 60 years old. It has beautiful, dark, chunky wooden floors polished by years of feet and socks, wooden grilled doors with rice paper screens.... Mr Brown and I thought it might get a little cold in winter as it didn't look like the rice paper would keep much of the cold out, but we were sure that they had some ingenous way of staying warm.....
Across the driveway is his family temple which has been there from the time of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather....
Of course when we arrive anywhere here in Korea it's tea time. First we were ceremonially welcomed to the home with much bowing and kneeling (by us :-) ) and then we were invited into the study of this amazing man. He has been studying Calligraphy since he was a child, has books on a huge range of topics.... Mr Brown discovered that even when you think that people cannot understand what you're saying that you need to be careful what you say as he said at one point that the teacher was a cheeky old bugger and we're both convinced that he understood....!
What seemed like 5 seconds later it was time for lunch (more food!?!?!). Rice, kimchee of all different types and fish. The fish was great and the teacher took it upon himself to keep pulling off pieces of the flesh with his chopsticks and placing it in our bowls to ensure that we didn't end up with bones and to keep us eating. Time and a very full belly later we rolled back out the door onto the verandah and the Calligraphy began!!!
I'm incredibly lucky as I've ended up with two pieces.....
The calligraphy continued and Mr Kim offered to drive us to a nearby temple (despite the fact that this is the first time he has been to his teacher's home since he began studying with him many years ago). Mr Brown says he's seen many temples since he's been here in Korea and that they are starting to become just another temple.... if that makes sense.... but I'm still blown away by the sense of peace that eminates from these places, and majesty of the geography that is chosen as the settings of these places of worship and meditation.....
After wandering around for a while soaking up the atmosphere we headed back to the house of the teacher where the calligraphy was just finishing up. We had a quick snack of some Korean Pancakes (made with spring onion and chilli - yum!) and green tea and started to make our goodbyes which included a large number of photographs of everyone. (yes Roman and I were getting our butts pinched!!!)
So last week on the work front we had some successes.... new students, new patterns, new english words. The week training wise was pretty settled... Monday and Wednesday were pretty quiet, with only one class in the evening made up of 4-6 five year old boys and 2 eleven (?) year old girls. The boys can be right terrors and do plenty of mucking around, while the girls are very smart and very quiet - same ol' same ol' heh heh heh heh.... Actually one of the girls is pretty amazing, Mr Brown took her for half a class and had taught her Saju Magki, Saju Jirugi, Chon-Ji and Dan Gun which she could then complete by herself without any problems, he said she is one of the most talented students he has ever seen..... Much of this can be attributed to Park's great teaching skills as she has been his student for a while.....
Tuesday and Thursday were spent at Buam Taekwon-do Academy where we start at 2:30pm and finish at 10pm after teaching five classes. The classes are arranged so that I instruct for an hour and then have a break for a half hour, except for 7pm where i get an hour break for dinner. The students are a good bunch, who seem to very much want to learn what I'm teaching which is nice.... The first three classes are Primary and Intermediate School Students, while the last two classes are High School students. I've been working with them for a couple of weeks now and am really happy with their progress, we've got a grading at the end of the month and I think we'll probably have them all grading with the last two classes possibly double grading if Mr Chirtoca and Mr Brown are happy with them....
Friday's a long day with Kindergarten during the day and then the Gimhae Dojang class in the evening.....
As Mr Brown has told you in his update we had one heck of a weekend. Mine started with Park and Ki Tae at the Gimhae Dojang on Friday night. After they had closed the Health Club side of things we set up the DVD player and the guys showed me a Korean movie about the Korean War. Oh-My-God!!! It had to be one of the most realistic and frightening portrayals of war that I have ever seen. And to think these guys all do compulsory military service and all face the very real possibility of being involved in a conflict. It's a major wakeup call..... Anyway, the movie finished in the early hours of the morning at which point we all trundled off to bed to get whatever sleep we could before the grading in Busan the next day.
The grading was interesting, not the formatted standard grading that we're used to, but definately interesting. Mr Brown, Mr Chirtoca and I seemed to spend a lot of time sitting at the front of the Dojang patiently waiting for things to begin.... We were a little worried that the parents would not be happy, but once we got under way and the students got up to do their thing there was nothing but smiles all around.....
After the grading the foreign contingent and Park went wandering around Busan for a while, ostensibly to look for a Hanbok for Mr Chirtoca for an event we're attending this weekend, but in the end we spent time wandering the streets, stopped for a drink and a bite to eat, and then into one of those games parlours like Time Out so that the guys could play shooting games.... Yes, I was out with the boys.... ah well, if you cant' beat 'em.......
Sunday started with a 6am meeting time at the Busan YangJeong Dojang in preparation for our trip to see Mr Kim's Chinese Calligraphy teacher on the eastern side of Korea.... We all turned up in various states of wakefullness (or not) and disarray and piled into the van, quick trip to the next suburb to pick up Mr Kim's Tea Teacher and some scholars and we were off!
Mr Chirtoca was out like a light in the front seat of the van (late night sir?), and the President was out like a light on the back seat with Mr Kim driving and Mr Brown and I in the back seats with the rest of the crew..... We stopped for a bite to eat (breakfast of rice, vegetables and chilli paste) and to see the Bamboo Museum (Mr Brown's right - you can make one heck of a lot of things from Bamboo) and finally arrived in a very small town off the motorway which was the home of Mr Kim's Calligraphy teacher.
His house is built in the traditional style and is about 60 years old. It has beautiful, dark, chunky wooden floors polished by years of feet and socks, wooden grilled doors with rice paper screens.... Mr Brown and I thought it might get a little cold in winter as it didn't look like the rice paper would keep much of the cold out, but we were sure that they had some ingenous way of staying warm.....
Across the driveway is his family temple which has been there from the time of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather....
Of course when we arrive anywhere here in Korea it's tea time. First we were ceremonially welcomed to the home with much bowing and kneeling (by us :-) ) and then we were invited into the study of this amazing man. He has been studying Calligraphy since he was a child, has books on a huge range of topics.... Mr Brown discovered that even when you think that people cannot understand what you're saying that you need to be careful what you say as he said at one point that the teacher was a cheeky old bugger and we're both convinced that he understood....!
What seemed like 5 seconds later it was time for lunch (more food!?!?!). Rice, kimchee of all different types and fish. The fish was great and the teacher took it upon himself to keep pulling off pieces of the flesh with his chopsticks and placing it in our bowls to ensure that we didn't end up with bones and to keep us eating. Time and a very full belly later we rolled back out the door onto the verandah and the Calligraphy began!!!
I'm incredibly lucky as I've ended up with two pieces.....
The calligraphy continued and Mr Kim offered to drive us to a nearby temple (despite the fact that this is the first time he has been to his teacher's home since he began studying with him many years ago). Mr Brown says he's seen many temples since he's been here in Korea and that they are starting to become just another temple.... if that makes sense.... but I'm still blown away by the sense of peace that eminates from these places, and majesty of the geography that is chosen as the settings of these places of worship and meditation.....
After wandering around for a while soaking up the atmosphere we headed back to the house of the teacher where the calligraphy was just finishing up. We had a quick snack of some Korean Pancakes (made with spring onion and chilli - yum!) and green tea and started to make our goodbyes which included a large number of photographs of everyone. (yes Roman and I were getting our butts pinched!!!)
Monday, May 7, 2007
Tea Time.....
Mr Kim had mentioned a couple of times that he was going to take us to partake in a traditional Tea Ceremony conducted by his Cha Sabum (Tea Teacher) and Saturday was the day. After a quick cup of tea at the dojang we headed off in the car. The journey would have taken a short time except that Saturday was Children's Day (yes that's right, Children's Day..... my parents would have argued that they thought every day was children's day.....) and the streets were packed!!!! Finally after a couple of detours we arrived at an apartment block and jumped into an elevator.....
We got off and walked into a beautiful apartment complete with full tea ceremony setup in the middle of what we would consider to be the lounge room. There we were served tea and rice cakes in a simple but beautifully elegant ceremony.
We got off and walked into a beautiful apartment complete with full tea ceremony setup in the middle of what we would consider to be the lounge room. There we were served tea and rice cakes in a simple but beautifully elegant ceremony.
Following the ceremony the Tea Teacher offered to take us to the shop of a ceramics maker. The shop was full to overflowing with tea sets, plates, vases, urns. I said that I would like to buy a set and asked the teacher to choose for me and I've ended up with a beautiful, simple set that I am dreading trying to get home.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)