It's never good to do it this way; however, in favor of new organization strategies for 2013, I'm dropping lots of old photo's that I have meant to put on here for quite some time. Out with the old, in with the new! To my friends and family near and far, I hope that you've had happy holidays. God bless you in the new year!
It is a rare thing to see graffitti anywhere in Korea.
Koreans eat this ricecake soup (deokguk) on New Year's day. Getting older is different in Korean society. Your birthday is nothing more than a day during which you are kind to your mother. Koreans all believe that the eating of this soup on January 1st each year makes them OFFICIALLY one year older.
This is my friend Wandong's travel group (not grop) featured from some of my other videos. There must be at least 20 native English teachers in this photo, but nobody noticed that they misspelled the sign.
By far, this was the best halloween costume I saw. Koreans believe in something called "fan death." In short, if you fall asleep with a fan circulating you may die suddenly. Look it up on wikipedia; it's hilarious.
The rocks at Gangneung beach in one of the northern provinces. I travelled here with my friend Braam to help him celebrate his birthday.
The base of the mountain at the High1 Ski Resort in Gangwondo.
This is something called "lock promise." Korean young lovers buy padlocks and put them in random places to serve as symbols of their love. People complained alot, so the government started to build more appropriate reeptacle for the locks.
The next several photos come from the world famous Andong mask festival.
I went with some friends to Seoul for the Chuseok holiday. I will be getting the photo's here to you soon. In the meantime, please enjoy this video I put together from my vacation to the U.S. during August 2012. It's a bit long (I realize) but mostly amusing (I hope). A special thanks to my younger brother, Hank, for allowing me to upload things on his YouTube account. For whatever reason, YouTube doesn't allow people outside the continental U.S. to post videos longer than 15 minutes. Anyways, lots of love from the land fast wifi and Gangnam Style. -David-
Warm greetings to the folks who read my blog. Many of my blog posts start with an apology for my having neglected to keep the audience updated on my life. This one is no different. I'm sorry to have gone dark for so long, but believe me when I say that my days are busy...and there is rarely a dull moment. I have made the decision to renew my teaching contract, so I will remain in Daegu for at least another year. I was given a lovely three-week vacation, during which I returned to the U.S.A. to spend time with friends and family. As I am still sorting through the photosand videos from my trip to the states, I hope you will be patient and anticipate a full debriefing in a later post. This post is a hodgepodge of Korean summer time, and I hope you enjoy it.
My good friend YongSung Park let me crash at his house in Seoul on my way back home to the U.S.A. He's a righteous dude studying to get his CPA, and he knows his way around Seoul quite well.
I asked my students to create some simple newspaper headlines. One of my young boys seems to be asking the question, "Did all of the beautiful women perhaps leave the earth on phallic rocket ships?"
In Korea I experienced a typhoon (in Korean 태풍 = 'Tay-Poong') for the first time. Typhoon Bolaven. As it approached from the East Sea, all of the major news networks were making it seem as though doomsday had arrived. Some of the southern cities were even instructed to board up the windows and turn of electrical appliances. While the storm did strike with a force (25 deaths in the southern island provinces) it was nothing more than wind and rain in my city, Daegu. I enjoyed watching the storm blow through...I would liken it to a junior-varsity hurricane.
The two photos above are from the international bodypainting festival (featured a year ago in the blog). Because I know how speak a bit of Korean these days, I was able to gain access to the photo area. It was a swiveling white backdrop thing that the girls 'handlers' would orient such that the shadows improved the photos.
This photo comes from Jecheon at ChungPoong Land. It is a lake/adventure park where I went bunjee jumping with my friends BK and Kamili. You can rent small watercraft, and night concerts are sometimes held on that big pier accompanied by laserlight shows and sometimes fireworks. We did not stick around for the night show, but be sure to check out the video below!
A 65 meter bunjee cord was the only thing that separated me from my maker. I didn't scream though. (I couldn't even breathe much less squeal) I would totally do it again though and I have plans to make that happen.
More baseball games at Daegu Citizen Stadium. We root, root, root for the home team (Daegu Samsung Lions) and if they don't win... 안돼군요 'ahn-dwey-goon-yo' = it's a shame
Hiking in the summer heat is not for the faint of heart, but here's a view worth having.
This is a video compilation I made. (MOM click the box above these words) As the title suggests, it is my summer in South Korea. It includes bunjee jumping, white water rafting, spelunking, relaxing with friends, Korean calligraphy class, and some of my summer English camp activities. I hope you'll watch, it took me a long time putting it together.
In my city, the Daegu subway has a lovely jingle that plays when you arrive at the station. It only plays the full tune when you reach the end of the line; however, I've heard the song almost every day for the past 300 days. I've finally taken then time to figure out what the words mean (with some help from my good friend Louisa and my Korean coworkers etc). I thought I'd share it with you. Daegu Subways: Happy DTRO!
"밝은 세상 함께 만들어요 해피디트로 Let's build a bright world together, Happy DTRO (Daegu Metro) 희망의 길 힘차게 달려요 해피디트로 Hope to ride quickly, Happy DTRO
아름다운 꿈을 모아 행복을 키워요 Beautiful dreams of growing up happy
건강하고 여유로운 우리 누리 가꿔요 Let's cultivate happiness and relaxation
다정한 이웃처럼 변함없는 친구처럼 Kind neighbors become friends forever
우리 곁엔 웃음 가득한 대구도시철도 Daegu railway is full of smiles and laughter
밝은 세상 함께 만들어요 해피디트로 Let's build a bright world together, Happy DTRO
희망의 길 힘차게 달려요 해피디트로 Hope to ride quickly, Happy DTRO"
THIS IS A VIDEO I MADE
In Korea, people believe that an oscillating fan has the ability to kill you while you sleep. All of the fans come with a sleep timer. Check out "fan death" on wikipedia. The DUI checkpoint in Korea is quite interesting. Police funnel cars into a corridor of cones. At the entrance to the corridor, the driver sticks his or her head out the window. Without actually stopping the car, he/she blows into something that looks like a walkie talkie. In the time that it takes you to drive through the cone corridor at maybe 5mph, the results from the breathalyzer walkie talkie device have emerged, and the police officer at the other end either allows you to proceed or he cuffs-and-stuffs you. I thought it was interesting because they (the police) don't ever speak to you or ask questions, they don't ask that you stop your car, and a Korean breathalyzer looks like something from Star Trek. Live long and prosper.
I am coming home in August for a visit. These photo's are representative of my excitement to see friends and family.
These were river lanterns (pictured above) were set up for Buddha's birthday celebration. They looked really spectacular at night when they were lit, but I never had the camera handy. Below are the photo's I took from my visit to Busan for the Hyundae Beach Sand Festival. The photo's were mostly of the parade and the sand castles (I put my camera away for fear that it might get sand in it or possibly get wet). It was a fantastic time.
If you haven't already, please watch the video located at the top of this post. I spent time on it and I think you might enjoy it.
