SMILE! If you are a foreigner in Korea!

My grade 3 student- Howard

Another grade 3 class watching a short movie and writing 20 words they hear longer than 4 letters.

My grade 1 class

Another grade 1 class... Tai (my student named after my dog) is the one with the monkey ears! Sara is to his left, Sean is behind her and Alice and White are in the back.

Lisa- she is adorable and is missing all her front teeth!

Tai again... classic example of why he is named after my dog- always running around the classroom and me yelling, "Tai SIT!!" "BE QUIET!!"

He loves the camera

HAPPY MAY! I can't believe May has already arrived and my birthday is just around the corner! The weather has been exceptionally hot this past week. My sweaters are packed away, balcony's and patios are open and I already purchased my first slushy... summer weather has finally come! It almost feels like we skipped spring and moved from winter to summer (since we had our final snowfall the third week in APRIL)! But I am most definitely NOT complaining! I'm just happy to experience Korea in a much different and desired temperature.

I decided I should probably update you all tonight because the next 5 days are going to be busy ones! Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo and with the opening of a new Mexican restaurant in Gwangju, they have decided to host a Mexican buffet party to celebrate! Also, Wednesday is a holiday in Korea known as Children's Day so everyone has the day off! I know you are probably thinking..."Children's Day? Reallllllly?" but these kids damn well deserve their own day! They work and study soooo hard so Children's Day is basically one day off out of the entire year where they don't need to study (unless they have a test the next day which knowing Korean culture... is more likely than not). Poor kids.

Wednesday there is a baseball game (Gwangju's team is the Kia Tigers) and apparently they are a great time! Then of course Thursday is my birthday and I'm planning on being "sick" that day...either that or telling my Principal I got hit by a taxi walking to work (I seriously think that would be more probable) but anyhow, I'm taking the day off and then meeting some friends for a Korean BBQ. Friday night Feed the Boats (my co workers band) is playing a show downtown Gwangju for our friend Katie's goodbye party and then Saturday I am catching an early bus to Seoul for the International DJ festival! So like I said before, I have a busy week coming up and I'm somewhat worried if I/my liver will make it...

This past weekend Suzy came to visit and we, along with 7 other native teachers took a bus to Damyang for the Bamboo festival. Damyang is a small town in the country that is known for its Bamboo forest. The forest was covered with bamboo trees (go figure) and the feeling you get walking through it is complete zen. I have heard that walking through this forest can actually cure a bad hangover! It was a perfect day for a festival so after walking around the forest and watching the parade, we decided to set up camp on a field by the water and get some sun. Well, after about 3 minutes of us relaxing on the grass, we had a Korean family come up to us and in broken English, ask if they could take a picture of us...with their 3 year old son. We agreed and sort of laughed about it.....that was until we looked to the right and saw a LINE UP of Korean families and friends waiting to take their picture with US!!!!!! It was literally as if we were a circus attraction at the zoo! I could not believe how these people thought it was normal to want to take pictures with us (and sometimes just by ourselves) ONLY because we are foreigners!! Absolutely ridiculous! At one point we wanted to start charging $5 per picture which would make it a win win situation for us (we either get some cash, or they leave us the hell alone)!! All in all, it ended up being quite a strange afternoon- I even got harassed by a Korean transvestite who would NOT let me go until I purchased a box of his/her tofu he/she was selling. It was definitely a unique and aggressive selling strategy and also my first (and hopefully last) experience with a Korean tranny! So bizarre!

The transvestite with Suzy... just before he/she took me camptive!!

Suzy and I in the bamboo forest

Our crew trying to relax on the grass... little did we know we were in for a photo op!

The parade

More of the parade...

Some kids trying to catch fish in wooden nets at the festival

Something random I noticed about this country while being at the festival is the absence of garbage cans but the small amount of litter present on the streets. I'm not really sure the name of this particular job title but I have noticed ajamas (elderly people) walking around the city with old brooms (sort of like a witches broom) sweeping the garbage away. What makes me laugh though, is that unlike home, where littered garbage would consist of Tim Horton's cups and gum wrappers, the garbage left on the sidewalks here are comprised of chopsticks, napkins, dried ramien and metal rice holders. Very Korean-esq!

While we are on comparisons, I must explain to you all about Korean police officers! Not so much the cops themselves, but more their vehicles. Firstly, Korean police officers (or at least the ones I have observed are the LEAST intimidating cops EVER! They walk around the city in groups (of 4 or 5) sometimes eating ramien noodles (their noodles are like American cops donuts) and other times peacefully napping in their car! Now I am sure they work long hours like everyone else in this country, but it doesn't really give them the best reputation. To be honest I'm not even sure what a cops job here really entails since red lights are only suggestions and the speed limit is simply a meaningless number. On my walk to work the other day I had my earphones in listening in content to Lady Gaga, when I heard a very strange sound. It sounded seemingly familiar...almost like a barking dog, however it was too mechanical to be a real dog so I paused my iPod trying to determine what this unknown sound could be. It was now coming closer and it wasn't until I actually turned around to look behind me that I figured out what it was... the "dog barking sound" was the cop cars honk!! Seriously?!?!?! Like I said before, LEAST INTIMIDATING COPS EVER!

Write more soon...

Signing off,

Gillian teacha xx