June 12, 2011 강남 Ward

Juni wanted to go to the 강남 Kangnam ward because his grandparents attend that ward so we all went to church there.  We had to take the subway and then walk a bit.  It was not fun walking in heels and I got lots of blisters on the way there.  Haha we couldn't help but laugh at me because I was wearing a black pencil skirt with a white shirt and I was walking really fast.  They said that I looked like an angry business woman (probably that the shoes gave me blisters after a while). 

When we got to church, we saw a couple recognizable people.  We saw some people from BYU, students that went on the study abroad 2 years ago, and a couple BYU students' parents.  If you're LDS and Korean, it's a SMALL world.  We even saw the Korean sister missionary that was in the Ensign.  We met Junil's grandparents and part of his family.  His family invited us over for dinner.  After dinner, we took pictures at the temple and relaxed. 

갈비탕 kalbitang/Korean beef rib soup.  :-)

June 11, 2011 종묘, 절두산, 양화진/합정동, 동대문시장

Our first stop was the 종묘 Jongmyo which is a Confucian shrine dedicated to the memorial for the deceased kings and queens of the 조선 Joseon dynasty. 

Our next stop was 절두산 Jeoldusan, which means "beheading mountain."  It serves as a public memorial shrine.  During the late 1860s, it was used to execute Roman Catholics.  Catholicism wasn't warmly accepted in Korea for a time.  We couldn't take lots of photos just because it's religious and it was built for martyrs.  But they had cool statues outside.  They had a museum where they would show torture methods for those who were killed.  We had lots of fun trying them out (is that appropriate?)  Dr. Peterson was trying this one method where they would tie the victim down on a bench and then use a big paddle to beat them to death.  Dr. Peterson tried it on Junil and accidentally when he was bringing the paddle up, it hit a lady's camera.  He felt really bad but she acted like nothing was wrong. 

Right next to the martyr's shrine was 양화진/합정동 Yanghwajin/Hapjeongdong which is the foreigners' cemetary.  Many missionaries but also many people who are not Korean are buried here.

Dr. Peterson said this man's statement was really funny because it was a bit ironic.  I can't remember the irony in it though.

It was so hot today.  Ugh.  But after that, we split up to have some free time.  Dr. Peterson, Joy, Michelle, Rachael, and I went to 동대문시장 Dongdaemun shopping market because Dr. Peterson was looking for some fabric for his niece.  He wasn't successful in getting the price he wanted so he left but the rest of us girls stayed around for eye shopping.  I think we had bad luck because we didn't see anything appealing.  We ran into a lot of old lady clothing.  But it was great to look around and say that we've been there.



We all met up for dinner and decided to get some 돈까스 Japanese pork cutlet in 이대앞 around Ewha campus.  They heard of this good place where you can get it for cheap and they sell a spicy 돈까스.  I thought it was a bit too hot but it was good.  We saw this good looking pie shop in the area and we got slices to share.  Joy and I got this rich chocolate pie.  Absolutely amazing.  We sat down in an area that had stone seats and ate.  It was really funny because we looked like homeless people devouring a single piece of pie.

Man this was good but hot.

So excited to eat our pie!

Homeless bums eating a pie

We were so tired because we visited a few sites, did more sightseeing, and the study abroad is winding down so we got our day's worth today.  The doors at 이화대학교 Ewha University are weird!  I was leaving as it was closing down and the doors closed on me!  They didn't even retract noticing that something was in the middle!  It even took my skin off and I had to wiggle my way out.  We saw some crazy shops.  Take for instance the following:

Haha does that make any sense??

Intense fingernails

June 10, 2011 High School, Duck, Asian Photo Booths

Today was a free day for us to work on our projects.  Since I'm doing my project on education, I went to a high school to do an observation.  I attended an English, mathematics, Korean, and ethics class.  I went to 이화금란고등학교 Ewha High School.  It was the first co-educational high school in Korea.  I got to meet the principal 유승복 Yoo Seung Bohk.  He gave me a list of the school's schedule and classes that are offered.  Holy cow...they have to take so many classes.  They take chemistry, biology, physics, Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese, mathematics, ethics, history, just to name a few.  Did I mention, those classes and a few others are REQUIRED.  They're at school from 7-5 and then study after.  They don't return home until 11 or later.  Typical if you know Korean culture, super different if you're not. 

Stephen came with me because I didn't feel comfortable with my speaking ability yet.  All the students were surprised to see Americans there.  More so with Stephen, not so much with me.  I visited an English, mathematics, Korean, and ethics class.  The classes are just like any other school you see but English is different.  They have a Korean and American teacher.  In my honest opinion from observing, they should just get rid of the American teachers.  Or I felt that this one at the high school wasn't really needed.  Here's why:  the Korean teacher can speak Korean and English.  Her American accent and English speaking ability is VERY good.  Her Korean accent was gone when she spoke English.  So the American teacher is useless because the other teacher is more capable. 

This has been my opinion with language learning from what I and others have experienced; and this is lately.  Most people learn best when the teacher knows both languages well.  Those who only know one and try to teach it, it's difficult and frustrating for both parties.  Students have mentioned to me that they have had a harder time learning the language because their teacher can only speak one language.  When they want to ask a question, it's too hard for them to convey it to the teacher or the teacher doesn't understand or sometimes doesn't try to understand. 

But, that is just my opinion from what I've seen.  The other classes were a little interesting to watch because I've only seen schools and classes like theirs in the movies or from what I've heard from my mother and other Koreans. 

We got back to the temple house and the girls decided to spend time together and the guys spent time together except for Kentoria.  But we all went out for dinner together.  We went to this member couple's restaurant down the street.  Dr. Peterson is a huge fan of the duck they cook here.  I've always wanted to try duck.  Most people don't like it because it has a gamey taste but we all loved it.  It tasted more like baked ham.  It was incredible.  They had this great mustard sauce to go with it.

Duck :-)

The girls thought it would be fun to go to a photo booth and take pictures.  They have Asian photo booths which are so hilarious.  You take a couple photos and then you decorate them.  You can even change your appearance on them!  At first, we couldn't figure out how to work it because there was some Korean we couldn't figure out but we got it to work.  The downside is that you have to choose the photos and size quickly or it will choose it for you.  But we got some good ones taken.

How can you not dig Asian photo booths?  They are the best and so much fun.