Home Did you know... Family Favorites Funky Food Megan China 2003-2005 School Where I've Traveled
For almost one year I lived in Cheonan, South Korea. I accepted a teaching position at a hakwon (English institute) there, and it was an experience that I will never forget. I definitely feel it was great preparation for my current teaching job in China. You can read more about my teaching assignment in Korea on my School page.
One of the last big things I did in Korea was visit the 'truce village' of Panmunjeom, the only place in the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) where visitors are permitted. Korea is the only divided country on earth, and the DMZ is the most heavily fortified border on the planet. A sense of tension fills the air - along with, from time to time, the sounds of martial music and propaganda blasted out from giant speakers installed along the North Korean side. It's surrounded with watchtowers, razor wire, landmines, tank-traps and heavy weaponry. Although the Korean War ended in 1953, on either side of the 151-mile (248 km) length of the DMZ is almost two million troops face each other off ready to go to war at a moment's notice. Here at Panmunjeom you can learn about the history of the DMZ, go down 300 meters below the surface of the earth in a tunnel dug out by the North Koreans (Third Tunnel of Aggression), and come face to face with the stern-looking North Korean soldiers. There's nowhere else in South Korea where you can get quite so close to North Korea without being arrested or shot. I was actually in North Korea for a couple of minutes in a joint building where peace discussions continue. Visiting Panmunjeom was something I will never forget, and I hope one day that these two nations will become one again.
Megan made her last trip to South Korea in May of 2003. Needless to say, it was absolutely wonderful to spend so much more time with her during the year. Mr. & Mrs. Downs also paid us a visit during this last trip. We had tons of fun. We rode on the Seoul City Tour Bus and some of our stops included the Namsangol Traditional Korean Village, Itaewon, and Daehangno - all areas I had never been to. The picture above on the right was taken at Namsangol. Itaewon is full of western restaurants and stores, and Daehangno is known as Seoul's 'art and culture district'.
During Megan's first visit (in late September and early October of 2002), we ate a Bulgogi burger and Shrimp burger at McDs, purchased some traditional Korean crafts in Seoul (Insadong), and walked along the waterfront in Incheon (Wolmido). In January we watched some movies in DVD rooms, looked at paintings at an art musuem in Seoul, and did a little TaeBo on a few occasions. Watch out Billy Blanks! Something exciting we did in February was seeing the Nanta Theater production. It consisted of singing, dancing, comedy, martial arts, juggling, and even some magic. It was definitely an enjoyable night.
I went to the Korean Folk Village with a few teachers and twenty of our students in April. The Folk Village is a tasteful reconstruction of a traditional Korean village. There are various sorts of performances such as a farmers' dance - to the sounds of gongs and drums as well an acrobatics show. I also had the chance to observe a traditional wedding ceremony.
From February to April I coached soccer (girls of course) at an international school in a nearby city. The league they play in is divided into two divisions consisting of large schools and small schools. They belong to the small school division. There were 14 young ladies on the team, and most of them were middle schoolers. Middle schoolers make a large number of the athletic teams at this school, and we often faced schools with much bigger players. In our first game we pulled off a come from behind victory (2-1) that was so sweet. We scored our first goal against a team from Seoul with less than ten minutes left in the game, and the game winning goal was scored in the closing seconds. One of our victories came against a team from the large school division, and one of our losses was against a team we later beat during a doubleheader. I feel so fortunate to have been able to coach soccer again. Eagles rule!
My mother and brother were in Korea in December. It was great to have them visit. They were really surprised to see how modern Korea is, the many similarities to Japan, and how inexpensive a lot of things are. They were also amazed at the size of Seoul. Something new I did with them was go up the Seoul Tower. The view is spectacular at night. I went to the Seoul Tower a second time w/ Megan and her parents during their recent trip to Korea.
The picture above was my home in Korea. I lived at the end of the third floor on the other side of the building. I was living on a college campus in a city with more than 500,000 people. Not exactly like my old home in Indiana where I could sometimes run outside in my undies to get something from my truck or shed. Living in Cheonan was very different. I didn't own American conveniences such as a microwave, toaster, garbage disposal, or dishwasher. I didn't even own an electric can opener. Life was tough. :) Although I could have purchased some of these items, I decided to live a little simpler. I even gave up tv - not exactly by choice though. I received two channels that had horrible reception. Satellite was available, but I could watch news clips or music videos on the Internet. Technology is amazing. I shared a laundry facility with about 15 other teachers. The school did provide me w/ my very own rice cooker. Yeah! The picture on the far right is a taekwondo demonstration held there on campus. Read more about life in Cheonan at the bottom of this page.
Several times I went to the markets in Cheonan. Talk about a different world. It isn't remotely like the area I live in. At the market I have seen people eating pig intestines, I've walked past buckets of live eels, crabs, and fish for sale (these aren't for the aquarium), and I've made a few Koreans smile when I said hello (in English). Do you like the pictures of the sting rays and spinal cords? The pig tail is still attached to the spines - awesome!
I went to Gyeryongsan National Park with many of the teachers I worked with during my first semester here. The park is an hour southwest of Cheonan. The park's unusual name means 'Rooster Dragon Mountain', apparently because some locals thought the mountain resembled a dragon with a rooster's head. This area of forested mountains and crystal-clear streams is a popular hiking spot. I have also been hiking a couple of times at a mountain that was just ten minutes from my home. The Korean mountains are absolutely beautiful.
I went to Seoul, the capital of South Korea, many times (and often with Megan). It's one of the largest cities in the world (top five), and it hosted the 88 Olympics and 2002 World Cup. One of the highlights of Seoul is seeing the changing of the guard ceremony at Daehanmun - one of the city's great gates. It is the entrance to Deoksugung which was built in the mid-15th century and has twice served temporarily as the royal abode. Check out the guard above on the left. He needs to take a chill pill and smile more often. The center picture was taken at the first Korean restaurant Mr. and Mrs. Downs had been to. We had a spicy Korean dish consisting of chicken and vegetables cooked right in front of us. Of course, kimchi was a part of our meal. I have a high amount of respect for Mr. and Mrs. Downs, but after seeing them chomp on all the unique Korean food, the respect factor has increased tremendously. Real troopers! The picture on the right was taken in Namdaemun which is the biggest market in Korea. It's pretty old too - 600 years old. Wowsers! You can buy basically anything there. Seoul is a city of incredible contrasts, and I certainly recommend visiting it.
When I first arrived in Korea I went to Taejon to get my Alien Registration Card. Daejeon hosted the World Expo in 1993 and is the second largest city in Korea in terms of land size. We ate at Lotteria, a popular fast-food chain, where I ordered a crab burger. It tasted pretty mediocre, but I like ordering it. The way the Koreans say crab sounds like crap. "Yeah, I'll take some fries, a coke, and a crap burger." :) A few months ago Megan and I ate at Lotteria, and she ordered a Kimchi burger. Kimchi is fermented cabbage. Beef was mixed w/ it. It had spicy rice patties as buns. Although it was ok, I'll stick to hamburgers.
I moved to Cheonan, South Korea in August of 2002. As you can see from the pictures above, outside my apartment you could see tons of bright signs, lots of cars and trucks zipping by, and several tall buildings. The building on the far right was the newest campus building when I left in June of 2003. Lots of shopping, Korean and American restaurants (McDs, Dominos, Baskin Robbins, etc.), arcades & PC rooms, karoke bars, pool halls, DVD/VHS rentals, and athletic opportunities (tennis and basketball courts, soccer fields, taekwondo centers, etc.) were w/in walking distance. Taxis and buses are really cheap if I ever wanted to go to a movie theater, but I rode my mountain bike to most places. The picture below includes some of the teachers I worked with - The people here were really great, and I learned a great deal in Korea.
