Gwangju: The Settling

Julian Raethel

Final Week of April 2010

WEEK 5 COMPLETE. OH YEAH.

Hello people. A lot has happened since we last spoke. I have been spending most of my internet time reading into the Melbourne Storm debacle. Loving it. Just loving it.

Anyway, I was horrified at my first Korean "experience" to the bathroom. I didn't know what the hell to do, I was looking at this thing scratching my head going "Well, this is going to be a challenge." I still don't know if I'm doing it right. Trial and error. Trial and error.

Soju has become a wonderful friend, and a powerful enemy, of mine. It is a love/hate relationship that will last our entire time together in this beautiful country. For those who don't know, Soju is a traditional Korean spirit made from potatoes. It tastes like Vodka and is dangerously cheap and accessible.

We went on an amazing 4.5 hour hike on Sunday up Mt. Mudeungsan (the highest mountain in the city). The views were incredible. See below for snapshots. Mountain goats aint' got shit on me! Good old Darren Mead dropped down from Seoul for the weekend so was good times.

May should be a great month with lots of "holidays", I had our school anniversary last week and my co-teacher was kind enough to take me to the Bamboo Forest. Mind-blowing picturesque surroundings. See below for snapshots.

Peace to all. Watch this space

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PHOTO 1:

Amazing Bamboo Forest in Damyang, an hour outside of Gwangju

PHOTO 2:

A nice couples shot of myself and Helen on Mt. Mudeungsan

PHOTO 3:

Leatherface Lives!

PHOTO 4:

Massive statue at the Memorial Park of the Gwangju Massacre. Very impressive.

Helens belated post-sorry

Hey people! My turn to hog the spotlight. Righteo... we have been here for nearly a month, so much has happened but I wont write every single thing down- only what has been interesting to me so far in Gwang-ju.

First night I arrived I actually had food poisoning and battling fresher flu from the night before, so the bumpy bus ride (from Seoul to Gwangju - 5 hours) was rather sickening..all I did was sleep if I had stayed awake I would of made a mess of the bus. When I arrived at the university to be picked up by my Co-teacher Mrs Cho she said I looked in a bad way, so she insisted I go see her cousin who was a oriential doctor. She drove me there in peak hour traffic (took about 40 mins) as soon as I got to the doctors surgery I nearly passed out. When I went to see him the first thing he did was stick a small accupture needle in my hand and said it would make me feel better-and it did! That needle however had to stay lodged in my hand for the next 24 hours..ouch. then he performed a treatment called 'Moxa' on me where 3 pods of herbs where placed on my stomach and lit on fire. It wasn't sore but i sure was getting kinda spacey from smelling the herbs. It was definitely an experience to remember-quite different from western doctors. They dont believe in prescribing Antibiotics..but to treat things from Natural sources. The next day we all had to get a medical examination-more needles and pee in a cup.. yay fun!!

We all started school the next day. Im very fortunate, I live only 5 mins downhill from my school Sang-il Middle School. There are 900 students at my school (co-ed). This year I am teaching only 3rd grade (16 year olds- korean age). The students are super friendly, curious, polite at the first sight of me. I felt like royalty as I walked through the hallways as every student would bow to me- sign of respect. I have my own wee office (that I share with 5 other teachers). On my first day i witnessed a student getting caned in front of me. The sight and sound make me sick to my stomach and i wanted to cry. Then I got told the student was being smart in class. It is a very common sight to see the teachers all carry sticks (some big broom stick handles) to class. Physical discipline is very much alive at my school. My first week I had to introduce myself (using powerpoint) to all my classes ( I see 12 different classes a week, so I had to talk about myself 12 times in a week!!!) during my presentation I showed a photo of Julian and the classes just went out the door..I had some crazy questions asked about him "are you going to marry him, where did you meet him, he is handsome, he is cute, what does he do, where did u meet, how many children will you have, do you think your boyfriend is handsome? ..."etc..and some crazy questions I got asked about me was "you have nice eyes..have u had eyelid surgery (apparently its common to do that here), what is your bloodtype? if you can fly where would you fly to? Do you like korean toliets? do you think I am handsome? and even a few marriage proposals. Everyday in class you don't know what to expect. The other day I had a shoe thrown at my head at 100km an hour..everyday is different. You have to think fast!

We are very fortunate we came with about 20 other foreign teachers (they are from America, Canada, South Africa, England etc..) so it has been a blast getting to know them and hang with them in the weekends. Things we do in weekend is go to Nori bong (karoke), Drink Soju, Go to the markets, shop, drink more soju. Koreans love their soju.
One thing I will point out before I end my post is...I cant believe how incredibly cheap things are over here. You can get a bus ride and subway ride for 1000won ($1-2 aus dollars) to go anywhere you want. The food is cheap as! Julian and I discovered Kimbap restaurant is the place to go eat for 3000won you get a big plate of food that could feed 2 people and its super delicious!
I will put some photos on soon..so watch this space....

Phase One: Seoul and the Gwangju Arrival

Julian’s Korean Blog

First Entry
Sunday 4 April

Okay people, these entries will be as brief as possible. I know some blogs can go on forever but I will attempt to make these strong and fast; like a punch in the mouth. Please refer to Miss Helen Chin’s blog page also, as we will be alternating from week-to-week.

Orientation: Seoul
Bang, we arrive. Fresh and inspired after our 20-hour stay in Taipei airport. Customs is so relaxed it is ridiculous. We walk out with our luggage and are aware of the long bus ride ahead. 10,000 WON (AUS$10) each it will cost. A man in his forties approaches and offers to take us to the University in his “taxi” for around 80,000 WON. We haggle and then decide to leave it. He is very persuasive but we still refuse. Two men in uniform then approach us. They take us to the ticket office to buy our tickets. One of the men is filming us. I’m not one to say no to appearing on camera but I prefer my money to be paid to me first! I ask the other what the hell is going on and he hands me a card. It says: “The man who just offered you a ride wasn’t a taxi driver…we have removed him from the premises…”
Not a bad welcoming committee, eh?

Very grateful, we get on the bus. One hour later we are off it with all our gear. It is 9pm Friday night and we are meant to catch a cab for less than 5 minutes to the University where everyone already is. I’m already regretting failing to take some true Korean language classes as Helen and I get in the taxi. We make it and meet our coordinators and roommates. My roommates’ name is Mike, he is a Filipino Canadian who I swear looks and sounds Mexican. You know what I mean, Essay?

Okay so orientation is awesome. 5 days of classes, field trips and Seoul nightlife. Saw this live show called Nanta! It is like Stomp but in a restaurant kitchen with Korean chefs and humour. Very funny and talented stuff. We are in the honeymoon phase people.
PS – Check out my mug and drawing. They rule.

PHOTO 1: MY AWESOME CUP I'M MAKING IN THE CERAMIC VILLAGE

PHOTO 2: GANDOLF!! YOU SON OF A GUN!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!!??

Gwangju: It begins
For those of you who don’t know. Gwangju is a small city (1.5 million people) in the south-west of Korea. We arrive after a 4-hour bus trip from Seoul and meet our co-teachers. Mine are really cool, two ladies, one is our age (27 in Korean years) and the other is in her late-thirties. We all disembark. No phone. No means of contact. Thankfully Helen and I live not 3 minutes walk from each other in the area of Sangmu and our middle schools (11-13 year-olds in English years) are just down the road from one another.

Day One of School: Unbelievable. I got told the students were excited about my arrival. But nothing like this. I’m David Beckham. No bullshit. I can’t walk down the corridor without being swarmed. It’s cool to have all this attention. I hope the students will ride this positivity all year.

To be continued……

Andy (the man from Alabama) and me in The Wa Bar, Seoul

Behold!! The Almighty Singing Tree!




Helen and I in the woods




Me with Sonny (one of the Epik Coordinators). She and the others were so fun and awesome to be around. Thanks for everything!!