Miryang 57th Multimedia Festival

 

Changwon Teacher's Workshop

In April, we had a workshop called Gyeongsangnam-do guest English teacher held in Changwon. We were split into two large groups. The first 187 GET had there workshops on April 9th and 10th from 9am to 5pm. The first group consisted of 8 cities: Changwon, Yangsan, Ui-ryeong, Ham-an, Chang-nyeong, Miryang, Geoje and Goseong. The second group consisted the remaining cities in Gyeongsangnam-do and there workshop is going to be held in October 15 and 16.

The workshop's objective is to help teachers improve, gain knowledge, understand the Korean culture and adapting to our schools, sharing techniques & ideas to provide the students the best English education they can receive from the GET.

All the lectures were held in the Gyeongsangnam-do Educational Training Institute. The chairs were not as comfortable and there was barely any leg room for the tall peeps. The auditorium was overflowed by GET and Korean teachers. Each lecture was about 50 minutes long, here is how the schedule looks like:

From what I have heard from other GET, there are workshops that would pop-up here and there. So far I went to a workshop for each school semester. The two workshops that I have been to were very informative, but for the other experienced GET that has been here for several years found it useless. It was a great way of meeting more colleagues and friends at these sort of workshops.

I had taken many pictures but it seems that I have misplaced the pictures somewhere..O.o But honestly there wasn't anything to look at besides the the auditorium building were the lectures were taking place. (It's just like a college lecture auditorium.)  But expect to be going to workshops while teaching here in Korea.

Maneosa Temple in Sannamjin

(The rocks were supposedly to be fish at one point but now are rocks. 10,000 Rock Fish)

This weekend one of my co-teacher's friend asked me to participate in a volleyball tournament both women's and men's team. I didn't mind at all. I enjoyed it very much. I love playing volleyball and it bring backs many great memories that I have with my friends back home in America. Afterwards, she took me to see the Maneosa Temple in Sannamjin. 

The ride up to this temple was up a curvy hill going in swivels, not even lying. It felt like a never-ending roller coaster with large plots holes to give the ride a thrill. There was one part were it was scary when my co-teacher's friend was driving. 

We were on a narrow dirt road stuck in a large plot hole and hence that there were no guard rails so if your car falls off the cliff into the big rocks nothing will catch it. And it doesn't help that her car is a old. 

As my co-teacher's friend accelerated the car, the car was slightly going towards the edge of the cliff and that is when I screamed. She was laughing at me because I screamed. It was scary to be honest. After 3 times, I was scared for my life but we were able to surpass the plot hole. After that ordeal, I was praying and hoping that we will make it to the temple safe and sound. 

The temple was beautiful it was on the edge of the mountain were you were able to see the entire town of Sannamjin. The air was so pristine and fresh it rejuvenated my body. That is why I love going hiking and visiting temples in the mountain see the nature and breathing fresh crisp air.  

While I was there, I prayed for my family, friends and myself. My co-teacher's friend took me to the 10,000 rocks piled along side the mountain and told me to look for a rock that dinged inside. I wasn't quite sure what she was trying to tell me until she found one and showed me. 

Basically, you would climb over these large boulder of rocks and take a pebble and cling it against the large rocks. If there was a bell sound in the rock, it suppose to give you luck. (Pretty much a hollow rock) I was able to find one with her help and I carved my initials on it. It is quite amazing experience. I would love to go back again and try to find more. I have to say it's a bit dangerous, so being very cautious is a must. 

So far I have been to almost 5 temples in Korea. I'm hoping to go to many more during my stay. Here is more information about the temple by Korean Temples. 

"The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed." -Buddha

Holi Hai!

Holi Hai is a popular Hindu Spring festival celebrated around the world. Holi is consider a time when humans and nature shimmy off the gloomy winter days and celebrate the upcoming colors of spring. 

There was a Holi Hai event held in Busan. It was one crazy color fight in a massive crowd on the beach. In the beginning of the fight the color powder fight was really cool until I was choking on the dust of color that polluted the air. There were a lot of strangers coming up to me smearing paint all over my face. This was my first time going to a Holi Hai Festival and it was interesting. I have to say the powder color stains your clothes when it gets wet. My embossed white flower shirt was stained and it look pretty unique and I think I will still wear that shirt with the amazing art work. ( I'm in the middle of the picture by the way. The other two are my friends I have meet in Korea.)

After the event was over we were covered with the color powder and acrylic paint. One of my friends was staying in a hotel, so we were able to wash up before heading out for a late lunch. I think we might of stained the white towels. Oops! The paint was a pain in the butt to remove, so we had patches of different colors on our skin. While we were walking around, we could tell who was at the Holi Hai event by looking at the people who were still covered with paint on their clothes and body...lol 

It was definitely a fun day! 

Year of the Sheep

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    @^_^@@@@@@
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       !!  !!

The Lunar New's Year is widely celebrated in Southeast Asia. In Korea, school was closed from February 18 to the 20 to celebrate the year of the sheep. I was invited over my Korean friend's house for Lunar New's Year. I was happy that I didn't have to stay in my one room apartment that mini vacation. I was excited to see how Lunar New Years was celebrated in a Korean's household. 

My family at home was also celebrating Lunar New Years. We are also Buddhist and the way the Korean's were celebrating Lunar New Years is very similar to our culture. During my stay I was able to see the majority of my her family members on her father's side first. Pray to the deceased family members for respect and praying to the Buddhas for the families to prosper, for happiness, for longevity and for wealth. After respectfully praying the young members of the family would greet the living elders for good fortune, longevity, and health and do three full Korean bows. After each one of the family members would get money from the elders. 

It's just a little different from my culture. We would also do the same wishing are elders for longevity, wealth, happiness and for the family to prosper. After we would give are elders a hug or kiss instead of bowing and we would get a red envelope with an anonymous amount of money. This could also be that we are a bit Americanized.

After the incense sticks burned all the way down, it was time to remove the food from the table and be served for lunch. My mother once told me that while the incense were burning down it gave time for the Buddhas and deceased to enjoy the food freely. 

The next day we went to her Grandmother's house to see her mother side of the family and do the same process over again. From there we had a nice traditional lunch made by her grandma and I have to say her grandmother can cook. It was so delicious. I thought we would go to a temple but we didn't that is also another thing that was different. My family would go to the temple and pray to Buddha on Lunar New Years. I had a great time spending the Lunar New Years with her family. It was a great experience and memories to be cherished. 

About Chuiee

Life is a journey, with problems to solve, lessons to learn, but most of all, experiences to enjoy.

 

Kang's Dental Clinic

(Picture taken from google so it's blurry)

This month has been full of visits to the doctor's office. My dentist check up was due for another visit to the dentist. A good rule of thumb, every 6 months, it is best to check up with the dentist for potential cavities and good oral hygienes. 

I had a cleaning done with Kang's Dental Clinic in Seomyeon. It cost about 18,500 won (about $17 USD or less) with my insurance provided by my school. I have to say the cleaning is not comparable to the states. I had an x-ray and it took about 3 tries because they had some sort of malfunction with the machine. I was getting worried because of the radiation from the x-rays but it finally worked on the 4th try. I was than proceeded to the dentist rooms, which are divided with screens. When I had my teeth cleaned, they were polishing my teeth without any teeth polish (red/green paste). My teeth were grinding against metal, it was a disturbing sound. There is no flossing, mouth rinse, or any sort of tingling minty freshness...which I was looking forward too. After the cleaning, the dentist assistant poked around my teeth for potential pain from cavities. I had two cavities..yikes..I also had two crowns done from my previous root canals done in the states. It took about 4-5 visits to finish up my two root canals but I have to say it was way quicker than the states. 

Here is the break down for the root canal and the crown included:

Porcelain- 600,000 won (about $550 USD)
Gold- 500,000 won (about $450 USD)
Porcelain with metal- 400,000 won (about $350 USD)

My experience at the Kang's Dental Clinic has been great and I'm sure I will go back for any other problems with my teeth. He is very throughly with the procedures and he doesn't rush which I found reassuring and that I was in good hands. I also took pictures but I can't seem to find them. I will take pictures of the place when I go back to Kang's. Here is some info about Kang's (for more pictures google kang's dental clinic): 

http://busanhaps.com/dir/kangs-dental-clinic/
Dental Thread: http://www.waygook.org/index.php?topic=879.200