SCH Fall Field Trip

I just got back from an awesome 36 hour trip with both the International and Korean students in the Global program. Every semester, SCH (Soonchunhyang) plans an overnight field trip somewhere in Korea for the students in the Global program. This semester, we went to the east coast of Korea.

The meeting time in front of the dorm was 6:00 am, so everyone was pretty tired. I managed to stay awake to see the sunrise while we were leaving before I fell asleep. We had lunch on the beach after a four hour bus ride from our school on the west coast to the east coast. I love the ocean so having a picnic lunch on the beach was awesome.

After lunch, we went to Seoraksan National Park. If you have ever seen any ancient paintings of the mountains of Korea, you would know what this park looks like. It is the most beautiful painting of mountains you have ever seen in real life. The pictures don't do this park justice because it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I went hiking with two of my suitemates and a few other Korean students up a small mountain to the Moving Rock. From what they told me, the Moving Rock is a holy place in Korean Buddhism. Near the rock were a few Buddhist temples. One of them was built into the mountain. It was so beautiful to see the mesh of nature and architecture. It was the most beautiful Buddhist temple I have seen because it was simple and allowed the beauty of nature to shine around it. From what my suitemates told me, the Moving Rock is a giant rock near these temples where people try to move it. They were not sure what the significance was of this rock, but it was fun to try to move it. I couldn't make it budge, but three of the international guys were able to make it slightly rock. There was also a Buddhist temple down the mountain. Down the path from the temple was a giant bronze Buddha. It was the first big Buddha I have seen here in Korea, however there are many all over the country. I'm sure it will not be the last giant Buddha I will get to see during my time in Korea.

After hiking in Seoraksan, we went to a resort a few miles from the park for the night. Each suite from the dorms got a suite room in the resort. In my suite was Jin Ju and her friend Anna, Jin Young, Carrie and her roomate Belle. We had a gorgeous view of the mountains from our room. We had a seafood soup for dinner, followed by preparing for the Halloween party. All of the girls started getting ready two hours before the party: doing their hair, putting on the right makeup, and perfecting their costumes for their first Halloween. It was so fun to see all of the creative costumes that the Koreans prepared. It was very difficult to find a Halloween store near school since Korea doesn't celebrate Halloween. I don't know where they got their costumes and accessories, but I felt like I was in America for a moment when I walked into the "haunted" ballroom. Maiday was the DJ, and even our Global program leaders dressed in costume for the party. After three hours of dancing and pictures, we went back to our suite. The girls in my room unwinded with some "Korean Idol" on TV. Korean Idol contestants are much more talented than their American counterparts because they are required to practice not only singing, but dancing, songwriting, and arranging other artist's songs. It was so fun to get to know some of my suitemates better along with many of the other Korean students in our program. During the week, they are always so busy, so it was nice to see them relax and have some fun after midterms.

Tomorrow, I'm planning to watch a scary movie with some of the international and Korean students for Halloween. The rest of the week is a typical school week, along with an exam in my North and South Korea class. I am leading a study session with some of the international and Korean students on Monday. In a few weeks, I am planning to go to the DMZ with a few of my friends. It looks like November will be pretty busy with lots of small trips. I'm so excited to see and learn more about Korea.

Global Day and a Cold

On Tuesday, Soonchunhyang celebrated all of the countries represented in our program with the Global Day. It is a festival where every country can share their culture and the Sister Universities (SEMO included) could advertise their study abroad program. I am the only student from SEMO, so I worked at the SEMO table, inviting Korean students to consider studying at SEMO. My friends from Thailand wore their traditional dress, which is a sleeveless silk dress. It was about 40 degrees outside, so they were freezing! It was nice though to see their traditional dress, so beautiful! Global Day reinforced the feelings I had about the program here at Soonchunhyang: It is beautiful that so many people from different countries can come together in this awesome country to study and grow as individuals together. I feel so blessed and honored to have this learning experience. I have learned that we have so much more in common in this world than our differences. A friendly smile, a comforting hug, and an infectous laugh are universal.

Oh, I have learned about another thing that is universal: A Cold. No matter where you are in the world, a virus can always find you. I realized that when I woke up Sunday morning completely congested. I am feeling better now and I hope this will be my only cold for the winter.

Tomorrow is the field trip with the entire international program, including the Korean students in our dorm. We are going to the east coast of Korea and we will be hiking in one of the National Parks. We are also celebrating Halloween with a party. All of my suitemates have been preparing their Halloween costumes since this is their first Halloween. Korea doesn't celebrate Halloween, so they have been asking me about the holiday and what "Trick or Treat" means. I'm really excited because I haven't been to the eastern part of Korea.

A Weekend in Busan

I just got back from an awesome three days in Busan. Sarah joined me for an adventure to the coastal city of Busan. We left on Thursday morning and took a five hour train ride from Cheonan to Busan. It was great to see so much of the countryside on our way. When we got off the train we had to find our way through the Busan subway to our hostel.

When we were planning our weekend trip, Sarah found this hostel on the hostel website called Indy House. It was cheap and centrally located so we decided to make a reservation. The hostel was Indiana Jones themed (which was pretty sweet!) and was owned by these two knowledgable Koreans. They were very kind and made us feel at home. They also helped us find the places we wanted to see and gave us maps to our destinations. The hostel had two private rooms and one mass coed room that had about six bunk beds. Me and Sarah were the only girls in the coed room, which was definately a new experience. We met the guys in our room, and learned of their adventures. Mom, you were right, there are some really interesting people that you can meet at hostels. There were no Americans in the hostel besides me and Sarah, so it was great to meet so many people from around the world. In our room, there were four guys from Australia, one guy from Norway, and a guy from Italy. One of the Australians, Andrew, is here in Korea for five weeks to visit his Korean girlfriend. The guy from Norway, Allen, is on his way around the world. He started in Norway and is making his way based on what he wants to see next. He plans his next flight a few days before the flight. The guy from Italy, Matteo, is also on his way on a trip around the world. He took a trip from Alaska to Mexico a few years ago and after getting the approval of his girlfriend, he is on his way around the world. There were also two girls from Thailand on a break from school who were very funny. It was great to meet so many interesting people and to hear thier stories about their travels. It's nice to see that there are so many people that have the travel bug!

I have to admit, I'm hooked on hostels. They are very cheap and you meet so many people who share their travel experiences with you. They have so much more personality than a typical, closed in hotel. I love hotels, but hostels have so much character and they are so reasonable, it's hard to pass. Hopefully, this winter while I'm traveling around Asia, I will get the opportunity to stay in a few hostels to save some money and meet more people.

On Thursday afternoon, we went to the UN sculpture park. It is connected to the UN Korean War cemetery and memorial, but they were closed by the time we got there. The sculpture park has many different sculptures representing different emotions about the Korean War. What was really interesting was that there was one sculpture created by an artist from every country that fought for the UN in the Korean War. It was very fascinating to see so many different perspectives of feelings towards the war. After the sculpture park, we went to the beach for a pop concert. There was a free concert with up and coming Korean pop stars performing. The fact that it was on Haeundae beach in the middle of downtown Busan only made it more awesome!

On Friday, we got up in the morning to go hiking at Yigdae park. It is a protected area right next to the city. It is a penninsula that overlooks downtown Busan. We hiked to one of the peaks in the park and then walked along the coastline, overlooking the skyscrapers of Busan. It was absolutely beautiful. It was so much fun to explore the beaches and rocky coastline with the city as a backdrop. I was very surprised that there was such a beautiful untouched park so close to the downtown part of Busan. It really illustrates the importance that Koreans place on maintaining the old while progressing to become more modern. I think Korea really values its history and natural sites because they have been destroyed and taken away so many times by others. On our walk along the coastline, we met a group of Korean ladies who invited us to join them for their picnic. We visited and ate lots of homemade Korean food with them. Although they spoke very little English and we knew hardly any Korean, we were able to laugh and eat with them. I will never know why they were so welcoming and invited us to eat with them. My only solution is that they are like everyone else in Korea: warm and welcoming to anyone and everyone. I have never seen an entire country that is as kind and friendly as the people of Korea. They have shown me that even with such a tragic history, you can move on and refuse to allow that as an excuse to be bitter and angry.

On Friday night, we went to the International Fireworks Festival show. Every year, Busan hosts the International Fireworks Festival. It just so happened that this festival was this weekend. The show featured fireworks from all around the world. We went to Haeundae beach in downtown Busan to join over 1 million of our closest friends for the show. I think they have the Florissant fireworks show beat (but I still love the show at home). The fireworks were coordinated to music, creating an hour long music and light spectacular. The precision and coordination of the fireworks to the music was amazing. With the Busan bridge as a backdrop, I can't imagine a more perfect setting for such an awesome show.

This morning, we went to the UN cemetery and memorial. After the Korean War, the troops that were killed in the war, but did not have a grave in their homeland were buried here. There are about 2,000 men that are buried at this memorial cemetery. Most of them were from the UK or Turkey. I was surprised that there were not as many American troops buried here because of the large number of US casualties. One of the Korean men at the memorial said that the reason for this is that the US government made sure that the families received their loved one's body after the war. It was an emotional experience walking through that cemetery and seeing all of the men from around the world who fought to keep South Korea free.

One of the memorials at the cemetery was a Wall of Rememberence. It was two marble walls with the names of every man killed in the Korean war apart from the troops from South Korea. In the Korean War, over 40,000 men from over 40 different countries were killed. This does not include the South Korean casualties, which is higher than that number. Of the 40,000 international troops killed in the war, over 36,000 of them were from the USA. It was overwhelming seeing all those names. When you see a number, it does not have the same meaning as reading every single name. What was even more crushing was the point when it hit me that behind each of these names was a man who had hopes, dreams, families, frustrations, memories, and lives that were destroyed in this war. Many people call the Korean War the "Forgotten War," we must never forget this war that cost so much to maintain the freedom of South Korea. Without the sacrifice of these men, Asia would look very different, and I'm sure the rest of the world would not be the same as well.

I absolutely loved Busan. It was so beautiful with urban and natural splendor. I would love to go back because there is still so much to see.

Midterms are over!

Today was my last midterm test! Both my Korean speaking and writing midterms went very well. I will not know my grade until next week, but I feel that I did the best I could, which is all I can ask for. For my speaking test, I had to introduce myself in Korean and answer questions from my teacher in Korean. For my writing test I had to write sentences and answer questions about grammer/spelling. In the past, I have struggled with language exams, but Korean is very logical. It was created by the most intelligent minds of Korea at that time.

Hangul (Korean writing) is one of the few writing systems that was artificially created. In 1443, King Sejong the Great requested his scholars to form a written system for the Korean language. Before Hangul was created, Koreans used Chinese characters as their writing system. The problem with using Chinese letters was that they did not have the same meaning as the Korean words. Only the well educated who could learn Chinese could understand the characters and read. King Sejong decided that the Korean language needed a writing system for common Korean people to understand. He wanted it to be simple enough for anyone to learn. It has been called one of the easiest languages to read because all of the letters make one sound and one sound alone. Once you learn the sound that each letter represents, you can read anything in Hangul.

This weekend, I'm going to Busan with Sarah for a few days. We are going to a few of the beaches. I am hoping that we can see the UN memorial from the Korean War. There is a large cemetary in Busan from the Korean War. Most of the soldiers that fought in the Korean War were Korean or American. I feel like I need to pay my respects to the brave men who fought so that South Korea could be free. It is one of those places in Korea that I feel like it is my duty to visit out of respect for the brave men who gave their lives for freedom.

Midterms!

It's hard to believe, but midterms are next week! I can't believe that the semester is halfway through, it seems like I just got here. I guess that's the way life is: Time can suddenly move very rapid or drag along. I definately feel like time is trying to dash faster than Usain Bolt or something.

On Sunday, I went hiking in Gyeryongsan National Park with two of my Chinese friends: Yun Yue and Hong. They attend a school in Beijing, although Yun Yue is originally from Nanjing. Hong is in my Korean drumming class, and we have been talking about touring somewhere together since the beginning of the semester. It was quite an adventure trying to navigate the bus system in the town of Daejon, which is the closest town to the park. We took a bus from our town to Daejon and then tried to find the right city bus that would take us to Gyeryongsan. We got lost a few times, but we made it to the park. In Korea, many people are hard core hikers. We walked by several hiking supplies stores as we got closer to the park entrance. When we began our hike, I was surprised by the amount of hikers in the park. Not only that, but all of the hikers were dressed like they just left an LL Bean magazine: The hiking clothes, hiking stick, and the boots made for mountain climbing. I felt so underdressed in my jeans and T shirt. The park was so peaceful and beautiful. We hiked to a temple and a small waterfall. There is a trail up the mountain that we are planning to hike in a few weeks (now that we know how to get to the park).

After a great weekend filled with two great trips, I have to focus on studying for midterms. I have two Korean language tests next week, along with two papers due in two other classes. In Korea, midterm tests are as important as the final exam. Many of my suitemates have been busy studying for midterms, one of my suitemates has eight tests next week, so stressful! I have been making vocabulary flashcards for my language tests today, hoping that studying with flashcards might help me remember the 75+ words I need to know for my midterms. I will be spending the weekend studying Korean style: study from morning until night.

The exciting news is that after my midterm exams, I have a four day break! A few of my teachers cancelled Friday classes because our exam is earlier in the week. I am hoping to go to Pusan to see the ocean. But first, I need to focus on these exams. Argh!

Field Trip!

Today was the first of several highly anticipated field trips that the school plans for the international students. A large part of the study abroad program at Soonchunhyang (or SCH) is to provide international students with the ability to see as much of Korea as possible. They provide several trips for all of the international students to see parts of Korea as a group.

Today we went to the southern part of our province (Chungcheongnam-Do) to see the Baekje festival. The Baekje dynasty was a kingdom in Chungcheongnam-Do from 18 BC to AD 660. It is an ancient kingdom that many people in Chungcheongnam-Do take pride in. For the entire month of October, there are many festivals and celebrations to commemorate this dynasty. We went to the town of Buyeo, which is about an hour by bus from school. In Buyeo, we went to a replica of the palace that was in Buyeo. Many of the palaces and temples in Korea were destroyed when Japan occupied Korea. Japan claimed that they were modernizing Korea, but they destroyed the majority of the historical and cultural buildings, which to me looks like an attempt to remove two thousand years of Korean history. They built the replica with the tools that they would have used when the original was built. It was nice to see that Korea is restoring the historical sites that are still standing and building replicas of the buildings that were destroyed. I have been amazed by the Korean peoples ability to bounce back. It is hard to imagine that only about sixty years ago, Korea was in poverty because of the Korean war. Today it is a powerful force in the world because of the determination of the Korean people to move past their struggles.

For lunch, we went to eat Samgyetamng, which is a whole young chicken stuffed with an assortment of vegetables and rice. It was really good. One of the vegetables that is in the soup is the healthy but bitter tasting ginseng. It is a root that is used in energy drinks and it is said in Korea if you eat ginseng, you will live a long life. I hadn't tried ginseng whole here in Korea, so it was my chance to try it. When I picked up the root, everyone at my table stared in shock because they told me that it is the most disgusting thing I will ever eat in my life. Having already tried squid head, I thought that a root wouldn't be too bad. I took a bite...it wasn't too bad. It tasted like an unsweetened carrot. I finished my ginseng to everyone's amazement. two of the guys I was sitting with, Malik (from California) and Shauqi(from Indonesia) decided they would try is as well. They could only take one bite, it tasted too horrible. Malik told me that he has never tasted something so disgusting in his life. It had a strong bitter taste, but I didn't think it was too bad.

After lunch, we went to a festival that celebrates the Baekje dynasty. It is a month long festival with traditional music, food, and crafts. I got to see several performances: traditional Korean music, break dancing, and part of a Korean opera. It was great to see so much history and culture in one place.

Tomorrow, I am planning to go to Daejon with a few of my Chinese friends. We are going to try to navigate the buses, so it should be quite an adventure! We are planning to go hiking at a nearby national park and possibly visit a temple.

A week in October

I can't believe it's already October. I can see the signs of the season: going outside wearing a jacket, the leaves falling, and Korean students already talking about midterm tests. The amount of pressure on the students to do well is astounding. One of my suitemates will study for at least four or five hours everyday outside of her classes. I think studying is a good thing, but I worry about the Korean students when I learned that the suicide rate in Korea is increasing because of academic expectations. I had noticed that all of the apartments in Korea did not have balconies. When I asked one of my Korean friends, she explained that because of the high suicide rate, the apartment owners do not build balconies.

This weekend, I went to Cheonan to see a movie with two of my friends. The theater was in a four story shopping center. In this kind of center, there are many individual salespeople all sharing the space. It is like a mall without the individual shops. We had time before the movie to walk around this center. We also went shopping in one of the nearby markets after the movie.

Today, I had two exchanges in the morning. I then had a two hour break before my afternoon class. I had the chance during this time to meet two Korean students. I taught them how to play "Go Fish" and "BS" (aka "Chicken"). After a while a few of the international students joined in, making the game very exciting. We had about six or seven people playing, which was a ton of fun.

This weekend, all of the international students will be going to a nearby town for a festival celebrating the Baekje dynasty, a kingdom that was located in this provence. I am very excited to see all of the cultural festivities and to learn more about this dynasty.