June 4, 2011 Jinx, 과일 & 바나나 초코 빙수, 드라마, If George W. Bush Spoke Korean, Dancing Worms

Today was a free day.  I'm still sick.  My throat is killing me.  I took some 유자차 yujacha/citron tea (yoo-ja-cha).  That stuff is so good and it feels good but it didn't help my throat and cough out that much.  Haha in fact, as Dr. Peterson was going out to drop off the laundry, I tried to call to him to wait but he didn't hear me.  I screamed with all that I had that it frightened a little boy.  Probably, one - doesn't English super well, two - some girl is screaming and her voice sounds super weird.  He ran and got Dr. Peterson.  I'm grateful for the little boy and Dr. Peterson just laughed when he heard my voice.

Kenwood and Victoria (who we have given the name Kentoria to refer to both of them.  Everyone even at the university calls them that who knows us.  It's funny) went off and did stuff together.  Juni, Benjamin, and Rachael went to the observatory.  I had no idea what Stephen was doing.  Michelle and I went to the university to look around what was near by. 

This was inside the elevator at the university library.  Does this make sense to you?

As Michelle and I were walking down the street, I get a phone call.  It's 박현준 Hyun Joon!  He asked what we were doing and where we were.  We asked about him too.  He said to turn around.  Turned out he was behind us the whole time calling our names but we didn't hear him so he called us.  Since we're leaving in 2 days we decided to hang out for a little bit. 

So guess what?  I jinxed myself.  I always do!  Do you remember 오효섭 Oh Hyo Seob?  The guy that sent me a text that he would like to do some "filming/hang out"?  As I was talking to Michelle, I said, "Wouldn't it be a weird and awkward if we ran into that guy again?"  Then 5 minutes later, someone came walking down from the university.  Yup, you're right.  Haha can this story get any more funnier?  He asked "me" if we could do some filming.  I told him that we're leaving soon and have some other plans but if we have time to contact him.  I was being honest at least that we were busy.  We walked around the campus with 박현준 Hyun Joon and we ran into this guy from Brisbane, Australia that actually Dr. Peterson has been trying to find for a while.  He served his mission in Japan and is taking Korean classes here at the university.  We talked to him for a little bit.  As we were talking, we saw some boys coming up the hill.  We thought they were 박현준 Hyun Joon's friends because he was leaving tonight to go meet some friends.  No, it was the filming guy and his crew!  I went up to 박현준 Hyun Joon and asked him how did he know we were here.  박현준 Hyun Joon said he told him.  Michelle and I were freaking out.  What should we do???  We all did the filming which was wasn't long either, like 5 minutes.  They talked to us for a little and then left.  But, geez really awkward.

Back row: Film crew, Film crew, Michelle, and Australian guy,.  Middle:  박현준 Hyun Joon.  Front row: 오효섭 Oh Hyo Seob, me.

박현준 Hyun Joon and the Australian guy had to leave and by then it was dinner time.  We caught up with Kentoria and Stephen.  We looked around for places to eat nearby.  Nothing sounded appealing or was a bit expensive.  As we were walking, we smelled this incredible smell.  As we got closer, we noticed it was an Italian restaurant.  Our eyes got huge.  "Let's go there!!"  The place was called Sicilia and the food was so good.  All of us missed Italian food.  The dish both Stephen and I wanted was a bit big so we split the cost and got one.  I/we ordered seafood spaghetti and it was incredible.  I think it was better than Kentoria and Michelle's because they said ours looked and tasted better than theirs. 

Stephen and I were sitting across from Kentoria and Michelle and noticed something funny about the drinks.  Can you guess?  Stephen said, "Your drinsk represent who you are!"  We couldn't help but laugh.  So Victoria is representing the Latins (Cola), Kenwood is representing the Asians (some type of soda), and Michelle is representing the Caucasians (Sprite).

Since Stephen and I got water, we've decided to represent the United Nations.

Seafood spaghetti.  :-)

Kentoria told us of a good 밭빙수 shaved ice (baht-bing-su/paht-bing-soo) place that was also really fun to just sit in.  They also gave free bread with each purchase.  Canmore is pretty popular.  Just inside looks so darling; it looks like dating haven.  The chairs are swinging benches and there's flowers everywhere.  They have fake lights and cute decorations.  We got chocolate banana shaved ice and fruit shaved ice.

Canmore

How darling!  And yeah, you can swing in those.  We had lots of fun swinging.

빙수와 무료 빵 Shaved ice with complimentary bread.

과일 빙수 Fruit shaved ice (gwa-il-baht-bing-su/gwa-il-paht-bing-soo)

초코 바나나 빙수 Chocolate Banana shaved ice

As we were chatting at Canmore, we thought it would be fun to film our own Korean drama.  Let me tell you, people are creative in the evening. We did a typical plot line.  Girl gets dumped by loser boyfriend.  Girl becomes friends with the unlikely.  Gets drunk because of sadness.  We couldn't film more than that because it was getting late.  Victoria was the director and we filmed it on her iPhone.  Kenwood was the lame boyfriend.  I was the main girl.  Michelle was the bad girl.  Stephen was the waiter and unlikely friend.  The most memorable part of filming was the drunk part.  We did lots of takes because we couldn't stop laughing.  But one problem:  how do you act drunk when you've never drank alcohol?  It was tricky but did it!  Just watching the raw footage was hilarious.  We showed the others back home and we couldn't stop laughing.  Tonight was another night where we couldn't stop laughing at everything.  We started talking about how Americans sound super funny learning Korean and then we got on the topic what if George W. Bush learned Korean?  What would he sound like?  It turned into this:

Forgive me of my voice.  I'm sick so I sound extremely weird.  This video gets me everytime just like many of the videos I've posted.

A couple of us found these worms that if you poke them they freak out/dance!

We're leaving 김해 Gimahe soon!  In two days!  :-(  We have grown to love this place and the south.  We love the people we have met and learned from. 

June 3, 2011 Sick, 용담정, 정몽주, 임고서원, 옥산서원, 양동

Alright, whoever got me sick, 너 죽었어 you're so dead (neo jugeosseo/noh-choo-goh-soh)!!  I hate getting sick.  A couple of us have gotten the cold (I think I know who started it.  :-(  But I'll leave that confidential).  Right now my throat hurts and I keep coughing.  I was doing so well here in Korea.  I've eaten better here and we're walking everywhere.  So many of us think that we caught from someone.

Our first stop was 용담정 Yongdamjeong meaning Dragon Pool Pavillion in 경주 Kyeongju.  This place is special because it is a sacred place to Cheondoism.  It is dedicated to 최제우 Choi Je Woo.  He formed the religion 동학 Donghak meaning "Eastern Learning".  What's interesting about 동학 Donghak is that it was a foil to Catholicism but it picked up some traits of Catholicism, the religion that he was trying to counter.  동학 Donghak is a mixture of Confucianism, Buddhism, shamanism, Taosim, and magic.

The government who was orthodox Confucian saw 동학 Donghak threatening social stability and that it was political.  The government saw 동학 Donghak very similar to Catholicism because they met in buildings similar to chapels for church service once a week.  The government was already known for persecuting the Catholics and so they saw this religion no different than Catholicism.  What was even more interesting he was executed for being a Catholic.  He wasn't even Catholic! 

최제우 Choi Je Woo

용담정 Dragon Pool Pavillion

병풍 Byeongpung (byungpoong) is a screen for special occasions or for use as a decorative piece in a room.  They use them to celebrate birthdays, especially 돌 dol (child's first birthday), 환갑/회갑 hwan gap/hwe gap (one's sixtieth birthday), and marriage ceremonies.  It's used to cover or hide space when unfolded.  They date back to the 신라 Silla dynasty (aka long time ago!).  They were originally used against the cold wind coming in throught the chinks in a door or a window and then gradually their use was for decoration. 

After 용담정 Dragon Pool Pavillion, we had 삼계탕 Chicken soup with ginseng (samgyetang) for lunch.  What's really interesting is that they say that this is the best to eat during summer because it's hot.  Say what??  At first, I thought, "Why on earth would you eat hot soup in the summer?"  They say it's healthy to eat during the summer; it flushes out bad things.  I still prefer to eat it in the winter.  I think it's ok but not "oh my gosh this stuff is amazing!"  But if I was sick, I would eat this.  :-)

The next place we went to was 임고서원 Imgo Seowon.  서원 Seowon (sowon) are private academies.  They were established to enshrine a noteworthy scholar.  서원 Seowons had two main buildings:  a lecture hall in the center of the courtyard and a shrine toward the rear or innermost part of the complex.  In front of the lecture hall, to each side of the main courtyard were dormitories.  The shrine building contained the "spirit tablet," a wooden plaque about a foot tall with the name of the person honored as a sage inscribed thereon. 

The scholar recognized here is 정몽주 Jeong Mong Ju (Jung Mong Joo).  He was a Neo-Confucian scholar.  정몽주 Jeong Mong Ju is pretty significant in Korea.  Everyone in Korea knows him.  He's an example of loyalty to Koreans.  It was the last days of the Koryo dynasty and Korea was transitioning into the Joseon dynasty.  정몽주 Jeong Mong Ju didn't think there was a need for a new dynasty.  He supported the current king and refused to support 이성계 Yi Songgye who becomes 태조왕 King Taejo, the first king of the 조선 Joseon dynasty.  Yi Seonggye's son 이방원 Bangwon who later becomes 태종왕 King Taejong, the third king of the 조선 dynasty, asked 정몽주 Jeong Mong Ju to join who refused.  이방원 Bangwon kills him at a stong bridge in 개송 Kaesong (which is in North Korea currently) called the "Good Bamboo Bridge".  Many people believe that 정몽주 Jeong Mong Ju's blood can still be seen here and when it rains it's bright red.  But most are starting to believe that it's just iron and rust. 

시조 Sijo is a form of Korean poetry.  It's been said that it's replacing the simple Japanese haiku.  정몽주 Jeong Mong Ju's 시조 sijo is famous.  Every Korean knows his poem.  Literally.  Everyone that we have asked here in Korea could recite it.  This poem was recited by 정몽주 Jeong Mong Ju to 이방원 Bangwon right before 이방원 Bangwon killed him.  The poem is called "One Red Heart" or sometimes "Song of Loyalty".

이몸이 죽고죽어 일백번 고처죽어

백골이 진토되어 넋이라도 있고없고

임 향한 일편단심이야 가실줄이 있으랴

-정몽주

Though I die, and die again, though I die a hundred times,

Long after my bones have turned to dust; whether my soul exists or not,

How can the loyalty, to my Lord, of this one red heart, ever fade away?

-Jeong Mong Ju.  Translation by Mark Peterson.

He's pretty much saying that I'm a dead man; you can never remove my loyalty to my king.  All of us have memorized this poem for the past couple of days.  It's pretty cool when we asked some Koreans to recite it for us.  When we would say it with them, their eyes almost fell off haha.  They thought it was so cool that we knew the poem.  I have to mention that the translation done by none other than our study abroad director has been used by various people on the internet.  How cool is that?

Because we knew the history and significance of 정몽주 Jeong Mong Ju, it was really cool to see the 서원 seowon.  When we got to the 서원 seowon they had his poem engraved in stone next to a poem his mother wrote about him.  I don't have her poem memorized but when we found out the meaning of the poem, it made everything ironic.  Her poem talked about that he shouldn't get involved in politics because he's too good and people will take advantage of him.  Knowing the meaning of her poem and seeing his poem next to hers just made everything ironic. 

임고서원 Imgo Seoweon

정몽주 Jeong Mong Ju's poem engraved in stone.

정몽주 Jeong Mong Ju

Books of 정몽주 Jeong Mong Ju

Shrine where 정몽주 Jeong Mong Ju's spirit tablets are located.  There's no entry to view them.  This was the closest we could get to it (zooming in on a camera).

We went to 옥산서원 Oksan seowon, another 서원 seowon.  It's located in 경주 Gyeongju as well.  It was built in memory of 언적 Eonjeok (uhn-juck) also known as 회재 Hoejae (hwe-jae) and to educate the young in 1572.

We spotted some poisonous frogs nearby.



We went to 양동 Yangdong again since it wasn't raining today!  The villages are beautiful, rain or shine.  It's just more convenient to walk and drive when it's not raining here.  Pictures do not do this place justice.  This place is so beautiful to look at and walk around.  We saw a 서원 seowon which is the picture below and view the villages.

Seeing old Korea and seeing how much they have preserved from centuries ago is so cool to look at.  I mean to keep whole villages in tact is incredible.  It's neat to me that they want to preserve everything they can from their history.  Just going out and walking around Korea, what you seen and have read come to life; literally, everything you have read.