Weekend Hike

I went for a great hike this past weekend. It was so nice to get out of the city for a bit and go up into the mountains. We started by visiting Seodaemun Prison which was used by the Japanese during the Japanese occupation in the early 1900's. It was a horribly depressing and an awful place but I learned a lot. The Japanese basically used the prison to imprison, interrogate, torture, and execute Korean independence fighters. And of course they don't just tell and explain about the torture used...they had mannequins and wax figures displaying the horrible torture techniques and living conditions of the prisoners. It was awful...but a very effective way to tell this part of their history I guess.

(Picture #1 - Prison grounds)

After the prison we headed over to a little whole-in-the-wall restaurant for some traditional bulgolgi which was very yummy. From there we wound our way through a bunch of streets and alleys and found ourselves at the base of In Wang Sun mountain. In true Korean style most of the way up was stone steps...so I basically climbed hundreds of uneven stone stairs to the top of the mountain. On the way up there was exercise equipment so in case you didn't have enough exercise you can stop along the way and work out your legs, abs, or arms :) Once at the top there were beautiful views of the city on three sides and the mountains to the North.

(Picture #2 - First mountain we hiked and the trail)

(Picture #3 - Overlooking Seoul)

From there we hiked down slightly and then to the official military entrance to the second mountain, Buk Ak San. The mountain is behind the Blue House, the President's house, so security was very tight. We had to register at the base of the mountain and wear a little ID badge while we hiked and then turn in again at the end of the hike. All along the trail/stairs were little guard post and tons of guards. There was also a double barbed wire fence running along most of the trail. Nevertheless it was beautiful as well. We don't have a ton of pictures from that part of the hike because we were very limited as to where we could take pictures.

(Picture #4 - On top of the Mountain)

We ended the hike by hiking down into Insadong which was very cute and touristy (Korean tourists, not foreigners which was nice). We ate at this great restaurant which was also very very yummy. All in all it was a great day and and a very fun hike!!

My Weekend

Well this weekend I managed to be officially lost for the first time. I was suppose to meets some people at the Bonpo Bridge light show but I somehow got the directions wrong and wandered for awhile...I managed to make it to another metro station and then tried again but there was no exit #9...so I gave up and headed home. It was pretty fun :)








Today I went to the National Museum and loved it!! I spent over two hours there and only got through the first floor...so I guess I will be taking a few more trips. Like Ian said..the building is amazing...huge and made completely of marble on the inside. Today I spent the day exploring ALL of Korea's history. It is amazing that they can track their entire history in detail from the paleolithic era (cavemen) up to present day. Being that I love anthropology I had a great time looking at all the artifacts and following the history up to the Joseon dynasty. My favorite part was that in all the rooms they had these videos running on these huge plasma tv's except the shows were all made specifically for the museum depicting important events that happened in that time or explaining how the artifacts were used. However, these videos were all in animae style! It was pretty funny...yet informative (they had English subtitles)








My favorite part of the museum was the outside gardens in front of the building. They were beautiful and filled with actual artifacts from temples, tombs, etc. They had different paths that led to different artifacts...like a temple bell, lanterns from temples, and a garden of Buddhist pagodas, and my favorite...a little waterfall and pond area that was beautiful. Outside of the gardens led to a public park. It was very typical Korean with an "exercise area" included. It had a huge area with all sorts of different equipment to exercise with...very funny.








All in all it was a fun weekend!!

Settling In

Well I have been here for almost a month now and it is starting to feel like home. I have been teaching for two weeks and love it. It is so much fun!! The kids are adorable and really well behaved. I teach three groups of kids on Monday and Wednesdays and another three groups on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I can't believe how smart they are...they are reading all these books and writing papers on them and it is their second language!! It is pretty amazing.
My school is in this nice area and takes me about a half hour-maybe a little less to get to school each day. It is only a couple of metro stops away. My school is located on the second and third floors of the building in the picture. I have my own little classroom where I teach my classes...only 6 kids maximum in the classes so the small classroom works just fine. I have all my curriculum already made up and even all the copies made already. All I have to do is make sure the I understand the grammar lessons and have read the stories...it is pretty nice!!
I also have figured out things such as getting a cell phone...which was actually kind of complicated, got a gym membership, have a pretty regular routine each day, found most of the groceries I need, and even found people who play Catan!!! Well that is about it...After this weekend I will try and post some more pictures!!