Aaaaaaargh..... 12 days and counting!!!!!!
So much to do and so little time!!!! For those of you who are interested, Babbeuda is Korean for the verb "to be busy", and busy we are......
Much of the last week, the weekend and today has been spent making arrangments for new instructors to come to Korea to ensure that everything happens without any hitches.... So far so good!!!
If all goes according to plan we have an instructor coming from Poland with his wife next week with a view to stay for 2 months. I'm just waiting for final confirmation before I tell you the identity of this person on the blog, but I have to say I'm excited.
Also in the works is the possible arrival of our first Kiwi long stay instructor.... again, I'll wait till we're all go before telling you who this is going to be.... But from what I have seen and heard of this person, ITF Korea are incredibly lucky!
Also on the list of things to do has been the putting together of lesson plans with ITF Korea for the English side of the English Taekwon-Do syllabus. Mr Chirtoca has been slaving over the actual Taekwon-Do Syllabus, while I've been putting together the beginnings of the English Syllabus.... It's an interesting project which I'm enjoying immensely as it is furthering my Korean language knowledge at the same time....
Stay tuned....
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
Birthday at Bubble.....
What little time I had away from the dojang this weekend I spent in Busan celebrating Jennifer's birthday.
We (a number of friends of Jenny's in Busan) gathered at her apartment near Dong Eui University, where we did the introduction thing and kicked the night off with a couple of toasts and accompanying shots of Soju.... I have to tell you, they liken Soju to Rice Vodka.... but I have to say, Vodka is less strong tasting than this stuff - whew!!!
After this we made our way to Seomyeon (pronounced Saw-myawn) to a bar called Bubble. Seomyeon has been packed with people every time I've been there, whether it be morning, afternoon, evening, late night, very early morning...... and this was no different, there's light and colour and people and noise..... it's great!
At Bubble we met up with more contacts of Jenny's and what followed was a hilarious night of Soju, Maekju (beer), food, cake, talking, laughing..... basically just a good old night out in Busan, Korea....
Needless to say it finished in the early hours of the morning when we stumbled our separate ways.....
We (a number of friends of Jenny's in Busan) gathered at her apartment near Dong Eui University, where we did the introduction thing and kicked the night off with a couple of toasts and accompanying shots of Soju.... I have to tell you, they liken Soju to Rice Vodka.... but I have to say, Vodka is less strong tasting than this stuff - whew!!!
After this we made our way to Seomyeon (pronounced Saw-myawn) to a bar called Bubble. Seomyeon has been packed with people every time I've been there, whether it be morning, afternoon, evening, late night, very early morning...... and this was no different, there's light and colour and people and noise..... it's great!
At Bubble we met up with more contacts of Jenny's and what followed was a hilarious night of Soju, Maekju (beer), food, cake, talking, laughing..... basically just a good old night out in Busan, Korea....
Needless to say it finished in the early hours of the morning when we stumbled our separate ways.....
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
It's Getting Hot In Here!!!!
So a little bird told me it was about 5 degrees celsius in Wellington tonight....
It's sitting on an average of about 24 degrees here, and is only just getting started.....
Would go to the beach but it doesn't "open" until July (as in the life guards aren't on duty and no-one will swim without them), although that doesn't worry some people..... might have to go to the pool again tomorrow....
Instructing at Buam Taekwon-Do Academy again tonight..... approx 80 students spread over 5 classes from 2:30pm - 10:00pm.... lots of English, lots of recreational stuff, and lots of basics....
The students LOVE soccer here, and before class grab one of the balls and play ... by the time class comes around they're dripping in sweat and it takes a fair amount to get them motivated to work hard.
Remember that these students train every day. This is like another school subject to them... they get up in the morning, depending on their parents they might have a private tutor session or extra class before school, then the day at school, then study either at home, in groups, private tutoring or additional "classes" after school.... Taekwon-Do is just another after school subject to them....
Also remember that if it wasn't Taekwon-Do it would be Hapkido, or Gumdo, or Judo or another martial art - pretty much everyone does one up to early adulthood. Then they do their 2 years compulsory military service where they do more martial arts as part of their training, and then they start real life.... Uni might have started before the military service, or after, or not at all.... From what I gather, unless you're going to make your living running a Martial Arts School, many of the adults here do not continue their Martial Arts training......
So of the 5 classes that I taught tonight, 3 were primary school students, 1 was middle school and the last was high school.....
There's a lot of demonstrating involved and a lot of energy expended keeping the students motivated and doing the correct techniques.... and with the heat and humidity - I'm in a sweat too.....
Not that I'm complaining.... I've experienced the same thing as Mr Brown and Mr Doogan and have dropped some weight - nothing like great food, hot weather and plenty of excercise to increase the fitness levels!!!
Anyway - it's 10 o'clock, time to head back to Gimhae!
Signing off!!!
It's sitting on an average of about 24 degrees here, and is only just getting started.....
Would go to the beach but it doesn't "open" until July (as in the life guards aren't on duty and no-one will swim without them), although that doesn't worry some people..... might have to go to the pool again tomorrow....
Instructing at Buam Taekwon-Do Academy again tonight..... approx 80 students spread over 5 classes from 2:30pm - 10:00pm.... lots of English, lots of recreational stuff, and lots of basics....
The students LOVE soccer here, and before class grab one of the balls and play ... by the time class comes around they're dripping in sweat and it takes a fair amount to get them motivated to work hard.
Remember that these students train every day. This is like another school subject to them... they get up in the morning, depending on their parents they might have a private tutor session or extra class before school, then the day at school, then study either at home, in groups, private tutoring or additional "classes" after school.... Taekwon-Do is just another after school subject to them....
Also remember that if it wasn't Taekwon-Do it would be Hapkido, or Gumdo, or Judo or another martial art - pretty much everyone does one up to early adulthood. Then they do their 2 years compulsory military service where they do more martial arts as part of their training, and then they start real life.... Uni might have started before the military service, or after, or not at all.... From what I gather, unless you're going to make your living running a Martial Arts School, many of the adults here do not continue their Martial Arts training......
So of the 5 classes that I taught tonight, 3 were primary school students, 1 was middle school and the last was high school.....
There's a lot of demonstrating involved and a lot of energy expended keeping the students motivated and doing the correct techniques.... and with the heat and humidity - I'm in a sweat too.....
Not that I'm complaining.... I've experienced the same thing as Mr Brown and Mr Doogan and have dropped some weight - nothing like great food, hot weather and plenty of excercise to increase the fitness levels!!!
Anyway - it's 10 o'clock, time to head back to Gimhae!
Signing off!!!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Training.....
As for the rest of the weekend....
Saturday afternoon we tried to beat the heat with an hour at the pool.....
On Saturday evening Mr Chirtoca took us through 2.5 - 3hrs of sparring drills where I relearned that sparring guys with very long legs and very long arms is VERY frustrating and occasionally pretty painful..... Lucky for me the gloves here in the dojang are pretty soft so there wasn't too much damage :)
Sunday afternoon we trained in Busan at Yangjeong dojang with some of the new ITF instructors going through stances, sine wave, and the patterns from Chon-Ji to Yul-Gok before heading back to our various bases ready to begin another week.....
Saturday afternoon we tried to beat the heat with an hour at the pool.....
On Saturday evening Mr Chirtoca took us through 2.5 - 3hrs of sparring drills where I relearned that sparring guys with very long legs and very long arms is VERY frustrating and occasionally pretty painful..... Lucky for me the gloves here in the dojang are pretty soft so there wasn't too much damage :)
Sunday afternoon we trained in Busan at Yangjeong dojang with some of the new ITF instructors going through stances, sine wave, and the patterns from Chon-Ji to Yul-Gok before heading back to our various bases ready to begin another week.....
Eunhasa....
Mr Chirtoca joined us in Gimhae again very late on Friday night and the guys opted for another stay at the Jimjirbang, meanwhile I decided to crash in my own bed so stayed home.
On Saturday Park dissapeared to a friend's wedding so Mr Chirtoca, Ki Tae and I dropped him off at the bus station and headed off to entertain ourselves....
After a late breakfast we made a quick stop back at the dojang where we picked up one of our students who had turned up just to hang out and headed off to a temple that we had heard was nearby....
Eunhasa is set on a mountain near Inche University. Once you get to the base of the mountain you move quickly from bustling Uni town to a winding road through peaceful, green forest.
This particular temple site was used in the production of a Korean movie about the Korean Mafia and the strength and indomitable spirit of the monks... You can see why they would use this particular temple from the photos below - it's beautiful!!!
There's a very rough walking track that leads from the carpark up to the temple site itself.....
The first sign of the temple grounds themselves is designated by a beautiful gate....
Then you make your way up the stone stairs (the monks here are part mountain goat - am sure of it)....
Before coming upon the beautiful structure housing the temple bell.....
Then into the main grounds....
The sites for these temples are chosen as much for the geographical beauty as anything else....
The unpainted structures indicate scholarly pursuits....
Nothing like the peace and tranquility of a temple to bring smiles to our faces....
On Saturday Park dissapeared to a friend's wedding so Mr Chirtoca, Ki Tae and I dropped him off at the bus station and headed off to entertain ourselves....
After a late breakfast we made a quick stop back at the dojang where we picked up one of our students who had turned up just to hang out and headed off to a temple that we had heard was nearby....
Eunhasa is set on a mountain near Inche University. Once you get to the base of the mountain you move quickly from bustling Uni town to a winding road through peaceful, green forest.
This particular temple site was used in the production of a Korean movie about the Korean Mafia and the strength and indomitable spirit of the monks... You can see why they would use this particular temple from the photos below - it's beautiful!!!
There's a very rough walking track that leads from the carpark up to the temple site itself.....
The first sign of the temple grounds themselves is designated by a beautiful gate....
Then you make your way up the stone stairs (the monks here are part mountain goat - am sure of it)....
Through the pond(?)....
Before coming upon the beautiful structure housing the temple bell.....
The base of which is made up of huge tree trunks....
Then into the main grounds....
The sites for these temples are chosen as much for the geographical beauty as anything else....
The unpainted structures indicate scholarly pursuits....
The gardens are filled with simple lines and beautiful plants.....
The painting of these buildings plays a dual role, not only one of beautification, but also of protection from the elements and from borers.... One month a year is dedicated to the repainting of these buildings, and at every temple site, one monk's role is the repainting itself.....
Nothing like the peace and tranquility of a temple to bring smiles to our faces....
Friday, June 8, 2007
Light Fantastic....
Just a quick photo blog.... This was the light show that I caught some of at the Park Down The Road in Gimhae on my return after Wednesday's Busan trip....
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Rememberance Day...
So Wednesday here in Korea was a holiday - Rememberance Day to remember those who died in the Korean War - from both sides..... and as with the stat days at home, that meant that we were closed for business and free to explore....
I had been planning to go to the United Nations Memorial Park with Park, but he thought it would be a bit too formal and stuffy with the politicians around doing the formal memorial thing.... Park was going to be my guide, so we flagged it and I started to think about what else I might do....
Park and Ki Tae had to go to Busan for a meeting with the President who had just returned from Canada, so I decided to tag along for the drive and then head out into Busan for the day.
Of course we started with tea on arrival and a quick run down in rapid Korean of the highlights of the World Champs. The President sang the praises of Mr Banicevich and the 2011 bid team, Master McPhail and of course Mr Van Roon who he was wrapped to find speaking some Korean :-)
After several cups of tea I was asked politely what I was planning to do for the day, so I took the hint and headed out....
One of Mr Brown's students - Jennifer, an English Teacher from Canada - had said to give her a call if I was in town, so I did. We decided to head to Busan Tower which neither of us had seen yet.
It had to be one of the most hot and humid days I can remember so far, and not surprising that the streets and subway were packed, although I think the subway might have been packed because it's airconditioned.....
We arrived at Nampodong and made our way to the street entrance to the tower. Luckily they've installed a series of escalators reminiscent of the Hong Kong Water Park, otherwise we might have flagged the visit and just headed for somewhere cool, but the esclators made the trip up the hill incredibly easy and we were back out in the sunshine in no time.....
At the base of the tower are more sculpted gardens, and today at least, hundreds of people sitting around the edge of the park in the shade of the Gingko trees which who unfortunately you can't see because of the way I took my photos.... Jennifer is a blonde which makes her the star attraction of the day - I thought I got some double takes as a western woman, they just plain stared and pointed at Jennifer!!!!
Anyway - here are some photos of the gardens etc at the base of the tower.....
I had been planning to go to the United Nations Memorial Park with Park, but he thought it would be a bit too formal and stuffy with the politicians around doing the formal memorial thing.... Park was going to be my guide, so we flagged it and I started to think about what else I might do....
Park and Ki Tae had to go to Busan for a meeting with the President who had just returned from Canada, so I decided to tag along for the drive and then head out into Busan for the day.
Of course we started with tea on arrival and a quick run down in rapid Korean of the highlights of the World Champs. The President sang the praises of Mr Banicevich and the 2011 bid team, Master McPhail and of course Mr Van Roon who he was wrapped to find speaking some Korean :-)
After several cups of tea I was asked politely what I was planning to do for the day, so I took the hint and headed out....
One of Mr Brown's students - Jennifer, an English Teacher from Canada - had said to give her a call if I was in town, so I did. We decided to head to Busan Tower which neither of us had seen yet.
It had to be one of the most hot and humid days I can remember so far, and not surprising that the streets and subway were packed, although I think the subway might have been packed because it's airconditioned.....
We arrived at Nampodong and made our way to the street entrance to the tower. Luckily they've installed a series of escalators reminiscent of the Hong Kong Water Park, otherwise we might have flagged the visit and just headed for somewhere cool, but the esclators made the trip up the hill incredibly easy and we were back out in the sunshine in no time.....
At the base of the tower are more sculpted gardens, and today at least, hundreds of people sitting around the edge of the park in the shade of the Gingko trees which who unfortunately you can't see because of the way I took my photos.... Jennifer is a blonde which makes her the star attraction of the day - I thought I got some double takes as a western woman, they just plain stared and pointed at Jennifer!!!!
Anyway - here are some photos of the gardens etc at the base of the tower.....
Busan Tower...
I'd tell you why this bell was here, but all the signs were in Korean....
It was huge and looked cool though... :-)
Another statue of Admiral Yi - he's everywhere!
I love this dragon, Jennifer thought he was creepy....
I love this dragon, Jennifer thought he was creepy....We stepped out of the elevator to a spectacular view.... Mr Brown and I wondered occasionally how the shopkeepers in Busan actually made any money as there seemed to be so many shops selling the same thing over and over and over again no matter where you went..... Well, one look at the view from the tower and you understand how they make their money.... There's 4 million people out there...... And Busan is just a small town...... Ok - so here's the 360 degree view....
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