Cherry Blossoms!

(click on photos for more detail)


It is spring in Korea, which means the cherry blossoms are blooming. Before coming here, I had heard that the blossoms in the spring are one of the most beautiful things you can see in Seoul. According to my friends, the blossoms are elusive and sneaky, and will bloom and wither within the span of a week. Slightly panicked, and not wanting to miss out, I made the trek to Yeouido park to see what the fuss was about.

Apparently, so did everyone else in Seoul.

Most of the other trees in Yeouido Park are only starting to bloom, so it was relatively easy to find the cherry trees.

I followed the crowds of people to this. Cherry trees on either side of the sidewalk, and blossoms as far as the eye can see. As it is Korea, there were hundreds of people taking photos, and selling food, and offering to take pictures of you and then sell them back to you.

After a few blurry self-portraits, I asked a passing couple to take my picture:

It was a good day!







A more sombre note. On my way home, I passed a memorial for the 46 South Korean sailors who died in the Cheonan explosion on March 26th. Long tables had been set up for people to write notes of support and remembrance. Many children had drawn pictures for the sailors.



Flowers for the sailors.


I stopped to write a note, and posted it among the thousands of others on the walls. Although I am a foreigner, I was very thankful to be able to share in the outpouring of support for the sailors and their families.

More posts soon.

Seollal (Lunar New Year)

This post is a little (understatement) belated.
Seollal (or Korean Lunar New Year) is the first day of the lunar calendar. This year it fell on February 14th, and our school had a big celebration the week before.
Traditionally, Seollal is celebrated by getting together with family, cooking traditional Korean foods, playing traditional games, and wearing the traditional Korean Hanbok (한복).
At Maple Bear, all the students and teachers (including me) wore hanbok, invited parents for snacks and played traditional games.

Brittney, Stephanie and myself posing in our hanbok.

Sarah showing off her hanbok.

My old Pink Bears in their finest! I miss them!

Tommy putting on his shoes. He's moving to America and I will miss seeing him every day.

Adela, Rosa and Iana. Such little princesses.

Happy Easter!

I know, I know. It's been too long. I have been a lazy bum, and you all probably think I'm dead or a prisoner in some communist country. Not true. I have been very busy over the last 2 months, saying goodbye to my old students, and hello to a much tinier (read: younger) class. As an apology, I've included some really cute pictures below.

For Easter, we did a tissue paper craft, filling blocks of colour with the corresponding tissue paper colour.

Some students were really on the ball with the activity. Everyone was really focused.
Yenny:

Allison and Winni:

June and Bill striking a pose:

Chris (he's a model^^)

Jeff:

A very successful craft!


Now some introductions are in order:
June. One of the twins. Her and her sister are both so good at repeating English. Cutest little singer too.

Dean is very sweet to his friends, and loves to make silly faces. His spoken English is improving so quickly!

Jeff is our newest and youngest student. He turned 3 years old (Canada age) in January!!

Sian is my smallest student. He tells me the longest stories (entirely in Korean) and I sit there and nod uncomprehendingly.

Ted. Super smart (he can count to 60 in Korean in English), and very sweet.

Yenny knows what she wants in life. Unfortunately sometimes other students get in the way ;).

Winni. Sister of June. So friendly and helpful, and picking up English very fast.

Bill has the best English in Pink Bear. He can speak in short sentences, and always wants to help his classmates.

Cindy and Ms. Ali.
Cindy is very sweet, and LOVES looking in the mirror.

Terry is really funny, and has made such progress from not being able to stop crying, to being a real leader in class.

Chris is a model. Note the permed hair. His mom has told us that sometimes he won't be at school because he has "shoots".

Allison has the best name. Live in the US for a year, and very smart.

Winni, Allison and Bill in the toothbrush line.

The twins. They are sort of identical, but easy to tell apart.


I hope this begins to bridge the gap that has opened between us since I last posted. I have many pictures to put up from February and March, and they will be forthcoming. Promise. Don't look at me that way...

Skiing at Vivaldi Park

This weekend I went skiing with all the teachers from school, some of the Korean teachers, and a few of our other Korean friends. It was amazing!

In Canada our weekend would have cost approximately $250+, with lift tickets, transportation, food and accommodation. In Korea, everything (including bus there and back, snowsuits, board rental, lift tickets, accommodation, food and alcohol) cost less than 100,000 won ($92.13 CAD)!

Early Saturday morning we board a bus going straight from Yatap Station to Vivaldi Park. I knew it would be a good trip when I saw who was sponsoring our bus.


Vivaldi Park is an hour and a half from Seoul in Gangwan Province. We arrived at 8:00am, and were picked up by the board rental shop, who drove us to their store and outfitted everyone with boots, pants, jackets, goggles and boards/skis. These guys were amazing. After we picked up all our stuff, they drove us back to the ski hill and dropped off our bags and coats at our pension (a mix of a cottage and motel). When we were finished for the day, they picked us up again and drove us to the pension, and picked us up this morning and drove us to the bus!

The rental place.


My handy butt and knee pads (which did not help my knees)


Bonnie putting on her knee pads with the help of the guy from the rental shop.


Once we were suited up, we were ready to hit the hill!


Getting ready to board.



I did get better, but fell A LOT, and always on the same place on my knees. After the bunny hill, Jessica, Young Heon and Hyun Il took the gondola to the very top.


I'm sad because the line is so long. Young Heon is not impressed, and I'm not sure how Hyun Il feels about the situation.


Before going on, I'm sure you're wondering how we met our Korean friends. Jessica takes Kung Fu at a Korean Club in Yatap, and met Young Heon through that. He is good friends with Hyun Il, and we've gotten to know both of them. I'm doing a language exchange with Young Heon, to help him with his English, and to improve my Korean.


Seen from above, the lines for the lifts were crazy long.


At the top, the "Sky Lounge".

Jessica getting ready to board.

Jessica is the most experienced boarder and was so much help while I was learning. She stayed with us all day even though we were very slow. What a good friend.


The view of the resort (at which we did NOT stay).


Our pension was a short drive from the hill. The area was very rural, and it was a nice change from the constant noise and light of Bundang and Seoul. I can't wait for Spring to come, so everything stops being so grey and brown.

A temple and ancestral burial plots.


A field of some sort. Rice?


Our pension.


The pension consisted of two rooms, with no furniture (very Korean). We sat on the floors, which were delightfully warm thanks to Ondol floor heating. () We slept on traditional Korean style beds, which are thin mattresses rolled out onto the floor with a blanket on top. I'm starting to get used to the hardness of mattresses here, so it wasn't too bad, but laying directly on the hot floor made it hard to sleep.



We left the pension Sunday afternoon, and a few of us stayed at the hill to eat lunch and play some games. We rode the bumper cars, bowled and played home-made Apples to Apples.

You may not be pregnant in Korea (or at least on the bumper cars).


Steph is very excited about bumper cars.


At the indoor amusement park/mall, they had these bear/lion cars that you could ride around. It was good fun.


We bowled, and I lost. I did manage however, to beat my goal of 47 points.


Much love from South Korea!


It was a great weekend, and I hope to try boarding again before the weather warms up. Updates soon.