6 Months Down... 6 Months to Go

I’m back! 

Sorry for the lag-time, but things have been surprisingly busy since Christmas break. I taught and “accelerated” Winter class during January, which killed my nice break on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The class was far from accelerated, but some of my favorite kids were there to ease the pain.

 

In addition to the Winter class, the school has kept me busy over the last few weekends with training (5 months into the job… ) and our annual English Concert. The training was totally worth the 3-hour trip into Seoul. Okay, not really, BUT afterwards we visited the Olympic Park and some Neolithic huts that were pretty cool.

 

 

We even spotted some suspiciously-American looking natives…

 

The English Concert was also a lot of fun! I was responsible for New York (the same class from my Halloween posting). 

We were able to pick any song, but management strongly encouraged selecting something that is older and well known. The Beatles, ABBA and cheesy pop ballots, like the one from that movie with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore, are extremely popular here. With that in mind, I decided to turn back the clock with The Beach Boys, Surfin’ USA. The kids forgot to sing once they were on stage, but at least they looked cute in their outfits!

 

Honestly, the costumes were ridiculous… here are some other classes and their outrageous ensembles.

 

 

I think this was that story about a troll that lives under the bridge...

Snow White, obviously.

 

Dancing Queen... A BIG crown pleaser.

Other than that, I have been staying busy with a group of foreigners from other schools that I found that living in Gyoha. Last weekend we went snowboarding. It was only my second time EVER, the first time was six years ago. I was not surprised when I came home with a bruise the size of a cantaloupe on my hip. Although I had fun, I’ve decided that snow sports are not my thing. I couldn’t even make it off the lift successfully until my third try… I’d take surfing or rock climbing over falling down an icy mountain any day, but we did look cute.

 

If you’re thinking, “where did Dore get that super cute, totally authentic, snowboarding jacket that makes here look like a professional BAD ASS?” The answer would be CHINA. That’s right, I took a break from all of the fun in South Korea to celebrate the Lunar New Year (also known as the Chinese New Year) in Beijing, China. It was a quick 4-day trip, but I had a blast. Obviously there is plenty to write about just on those 4-days, so please be patient. I finally downloaded the pics and am working on it whenever I can... here is a BRIEF preview of things to come:

 

Some other places I’ve visited over the last month have included the War Museum, Seoul Tower and the 63 Building. The War Museum was interesting because you could climb up into the planes and tanks. It was also crazy to find out how close North Korea was to taking over the whole peninsula. 

Anyways, the tower was also fun to see, or not see in my case. There was so much fog that we couldn’t go up or even see the top. I’ll just have to make a second trip there- maybe when my mom comes in MAY! 

The 63 Building is the tallest building in Korea, but pretty short compared to other tall buildings around the world. Heather and I went just to visit the Sea World Aquarium. It was your basic aquarium, but they did have some otters that were really amusing. We probably sat and watched them for a good 30 minutes .

(Broken Camera = No Pictures to commemorate the moment, SORRY!)

Apart from all of the sightseeing and working, I have just been enjoying myself! 

 

Okay, I think that sums up my extracurricular activities to give you an idea of what I’ve been up to. I have also started planning the next leg of my great adventure. I am considering getting my yoga-teaching certificate in India when I am done here. Instead of touring the country for a month, I would be at a school learning about yoga… but I am indecisive and am just toying with the idea. I would love to hear what you guys think I should do! 

Within the Walls

Manila is rich in faith and culture, much like Zach (if you can consider Texan a culture…). One of Zach’s missions while in the city was to scope out Intramuros, the former center of religious power during the Spanish colonial period. When the Spaniards arrived in Manila, they declared the area the new capital and surrounded it with 8 feet thick and 22 feet high walls; hence, the name that literally translates to “within the walls”.

 

Behind the walls there were a few beautiful churches and lots of weddings going on. The first church we stopped at was the Manila Cathedral, the largest Catholic church in the Philippines. They had just finished one wedding and another one was about to start. As far as I could tell, it was your typical Catholic wedding with large families, about 14 bridesmaids and a long train.

  v

Down the street were some shops and another Catholic church, San Agustin. I liked this one a little more than the first because it was smaller and more intimate (it had also been through hell and was rebuilt countless times, which is why there were two buildings). 

   

The most interesting detail I found at this church were the floor tiles that appeared to be headstones... spooky!

Further down the street we happened upon a random parade. Welcome to Manila!

    

The next morning Zach went off to church and I had a chance to explore the city alone. One thing I’ve realized about myself is that I can be very happy when I am on my own and following my own agenda (only-child syndrome, perhaps?). I strolled all along the main street, down to the aquarium that wasn’t open yet and to Rizal Park.

 

Prior to the trip, I had no idea who Jose Rizal was. After stumbling across a somewhat morbid memorial, I did a little homework and found out that he is considered the Philippine's national hero. The monument depicts some of the final moments of his life, much like the Stations of the Cross.

 

The Stations of Rizal were as follows:

 

 

In the middle of the Stations is his actual execution. Rows of larger than life bronze men are lined up with guns pointed. There are two firing squads; the first squad is Filipino native infantry, backed by Spanish troops to shoot both Rizal and the first row of men if they failed. Rizal is center stage with his hands tied and two bullet holes in his back.

  

If you are intrigued enough to do homework, read up on Rizal and what he did to deserve such a tribute.

Manila - Markets & Mausoleums

Despite being dirty and a little seedy, Manila had some interesting places to see. We spent two full days roaming the city and the highlight for me was the Divisoria Flea Market.

 

Most people are turned off by sprawling crowds of people that are pushing and yelling. Personally, the experience of shopping in South East Asia is defined by chaotic markets like this. When we first arrived there were hundreds of umbrella covered stands and stalls packing the narrow streets. Everything from knockoff glasses to textiles and fruit. Abueng and Zach couldn’t handle the masses, so they cut out early. 

Evania and I had found our shopping Mecca and offered to meet up later. With so many deals to be found and haggled, I could have easily spent the whole day roaming the streets. The downsides to people-packed markets are the pick pockets and purse snatchers. With that in mind, whipping out the new camera (that‘s right, I upgraded to a new Nikon Coolpix S550) to capture the moment didn’t seem like the best idea. I managed to snap a few quick ones, so this will have to do.

   

Three hours flew by and by the time we needed to leave, Evania and I were completely submerged in the masses and there was no end in sight. We decided to best plan of action was to pick a direction and stay the course. This ended up taking us through the “produce” department in the market. Pineapples, coconuts and lettuce heads were piled up from the floor. Eventually, we came to a clearing and hailed a cab to take up to our rendezvous with Zach and Abueng. Most importantly, I had acquired two new dresses, a shirt, swim shorts and a cute purse to carry my spoils, all for less than $20 USD.

 

Another Manila highlight was a visit to the Chinese Cemetery. Like any big city, there is a substantial Chinese community and in Manila there is enough to constituted and entire city for their dead.

We took the elevated train there; a fun experience and eye opening to see that women and children have their own designated car. Not sure why exactly, but I like to think they are just being chivalrous since it was the first car. From the train it was a short walk past strange food stalls, caged roosters (no doubt some promotions for the evening cock fights) and dozens of barefoot children playing with fireworks.

 

At the cemetery gate we paid a guy to give us a quick tour of some of the more notable mausoleums. I forget the guide’s name, but his dog’s name was Justin. Together, they were the caretakers for a handful of graves. Justin was a little spooky and reminded me of some animal out of a Steve King novel (actually, they whole place reminded me of The Langoliers, or one of those creepy books). The weirdest thing he did was growl and become aggressive towards anyone not on the tour.

    

Some memorable and things I learned from the guide is that the men were always buried to the right of their wives. If the husband had a mistress, he would be buried between them (obviously, because otherwise it would be weird). On the outside of the mausoleums there were usually two lions. The right lion’s pay was always resting on a ball, to represent the man. If the spouse were not deceased yet, there would be a red sign reserving their spot.

   

      

Most of the mausoleums were over the top with ornate decorations and some even had toilets and air conditioners. The caretaker said this is because the families visit weekly or monthly (usually) to spend time honoring their loved ones and ancestors. One of the air-conditioned graves even had a Mahjong table set up on the second floor for the family to play during their visits. Walking through all of the graves was eerie. An empty city for the dead just seems wasteful and frivolous to me, but you can’t take it with you, right? At least there were many beautiful statues and strangely picturesque images to capture.