Gyeryongsan in Daejeon

Stream

Trails 

Beautiful view

Going homeee

The temple entrance

Another day of hiking! The leaves were all gone but the hike was still very nice. We didn't get to the top since we had to leave early..in order to catch the bus home. My bus trip was 3 hours each way :(

at the Temple

It was a one day trip and my muscles were hurting the next day.

Like vampires?

"Try to be happy!"

First water pond!

Haven't seen them in a while :)

Glowing

The Beautiful Gyeongju

The guards for the traditional funeral

King's Tomb 

Beautiful Fall Leaves

Pho Hai Noi in Korea!

I finally got a chance to see the beautiful city of Gyeongju. Whenever you mention Gyeongju, people always say it's a nice and a pretty city. My school is actually in Gyeongju but more on the outskirt so there aren't much to see. I met up with my co-teacher at the bus station in Gyeongju. Since she lives there, she offered to show me around the city.

While we waited for my friend, we had coffee. My co-teacher also took her younger sister with her. It was nice to finally meet the last member of her family. (I met her parents and younger sister at the Gyeongju marathon). We then went to eat Pho at an actual Vietnamese-owned restaurant. I was really excited because I knew they were Vietnamese; I could finally speak Vietnamese!!! The pho tasted pretty authentic but it was not the best. There were a lot of noodle and not much meat (I am a spoiled American)

Want some alcohol? I can read it!!

We then went to visit the Kings' Tombs (Park). Gyeongju was the capital of the Shilla's Dynasty so there are lots of history. After that we went to visit the lake (actually we just drove by because it was getting late). Our final destination was Anapij Pond. It's pretty famous and nice. When we got there, we were freezing! It was really really cold. We walked around a bit, took some pictures, and decided we were too cold to go further. We got dropped off by my co-teacher near downtown and my friend and I decided to eat KBBQ for dinner. We walked around downtown after dinner then headed back to Pohang at around 8pm.

It was a well-spent day.

Pho Bo (Beef)

Beautiful Leaves; with co-teacher's sister and Aaron

With the Kim sisters

One of the oldest observatory; freezing cold

That's two joint tombs. 

Traditional Funeral ceremony; walking around the neighborhood with the coffin of the dead

Anapij Pond

More of autumn beauty

It's a Korean thing...

Here are some of the things I've noticed about Korea or Koreans...

1. Everything is fast and everyone is in a hurry. I experience this everyday when I take the bus to school. The bus would come and people would be running toward the bus. There's a reason for it though; if you are just a bit late, the bus is gone. I guess this is also a good thing because everything is on scheduled. I am almost always the last one on the bus because everyone else would be cuttin'. (There's actually no such thing as cutting in Korea... you snooze, you lose) Also, there's this unspoken rule that you don't speak English on the bus. People get super annoyed. 

2. Beef is extremely expensive. It's quite sad because I love beef especially steak. It's expensive because Korea has to import beef from another country. There aren't much cows around in this tiny country. 

I got already my North Face jackets from home; so I got get this to fit in with the crowd.

3. Conformity. As a sociology major, Korea to me is the best case study for conformity. Everyone wears the same brand shoes, clothes, backpacks, hairstyle...etc. Name brands like New Balance, Nike, Adidas  Converse, North Face are extremely popular in Korea. Almost all HS students own something from North Face (it's usually just one thing because it's really expensive) 

4. Lots of money goes into education. Even the schools in the countryside are equipped with great technologies..flat screen TV, computer rooms, nice libraries, books...you name it, if it's educational, the Korean govt will give it to you. (They needed English teachers..so that's how I got here). Even still, I think the students do not see what they have is a blessing. It's quite sad that they only see what's in front of them and not what other kids in the world have to go through for education. It's quite conflicting when later on, you see HS students stressing so much over exams...as if the world's going to end if they do not get good marks. Always so extreme.

This is "my" classroom. It's a science room. Most schools have an English room.

This is the front of my classroom. 

5. Even if you're sick, you still go to work. You feel bad for taking days off here. They make you feel bad...not sure who "they" are... but you just know, you feel bad. 

Apple Festival in Cheongsong

I took the bus at 6:40am with another teacher to Andeok to meet a few other teachers to go to the Apple Festival. Festivals are really common in Korea; each festival has a theme and it's usually what they grow or make (peaches, apples, parsimon, lanterns, steel...)

We left for the festival at 9:10am and got there after 30mins. It was probably one of the bigger festivals in Korea. I got so much free and good food. The apples were delicious!!

Jim duk; the one thing I love in Korea. 

We had plans to hike after the festival but it got really cold and we were afraid it will be too late to get back so we called it off. Plus, we got free apples so our backpacks were heavy by then. We left the festival around 2pm and had jim duk and fried chicken for lunch. I love love jim duk!!! It's my most most favoritest food in Korea! Did I say I love jim duk because I love it!! We left and waited for the bus in the cold for about 30 mins and finally got on the bus back to Pohang. 

I had a good day because mainly because of the teachers I met. They were very funny and we had many random laughters. It's too bad they live a bit far from Pohang. It would be nice to see them again. 

It was made out of flowers. 

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this old and very cute (strict?) Korean couple. They are linking arms. 

I was freezing but look at those apples!!!

I think they are from Peru...Singing in Spanish!

I thought it was really cool! 

He doesn't look too happy. 

Not sure why they were burning the masks. 

Good day and good company. 

Gym-ing in Korea

I decided to join a gym today because Winter is coming up and it's too cold to run outside. I think I am just mentally and physically healthier if I get some exercise, so I joined a  Korean gym even though it's not that cheap here.

I was able to find one near -ish to my house with the help from another English teacher. I went and wrote down my name, phone, and signature...pay and that was it. I paid 220,000 won (about $220) for 3 months of gym + classes (yoga/dance/aerobic). Yea, that's expensive for a gym with no courts or pool but then again it's Korea.

After I paid, the desk clerk gave me a pair of shorts, t-shirt, and a towel. I changed into the clothes and went to the yoga class at 7pm. You don't have to wear their clothes but you can if you want to. you just return it at the end. Yoga... um, it was more like Pilates. In the US, the yoga instructor usually have a really soft tone. In my case, she had a really demanding voice (like we were at boot camp for something). Anyway, I was waiting for downward facing dog for like 30mins because it's not yoga if we didn't downward facing dog. We finally did it 30mins into the class. I wasn't expect much so I wasn't super disappointed. The class was ok; the room was heated and there were enough room to stretch my whole body. After yoga, I went on the treadmill for a run. There were mostly males on the treadmill and they were just walking. I was thinking, don't you do a lot of walking already?... You should be running... It was probably a good thing because it made me feel good to be the only girl running. I ran for about 15 minutes, changed back into my clothes, and took the bus home in the "freezing" cold. (It's freezing for someone who's from Southern California).

I guess I will be going to the gym more often because I did pay a lot for it.

My gym is on the 3rd floor; it's there somewhere in picture. 

Namsan Mtn in Gyeongju

Yay for another day of hiking. I absolutely love hiking in Korea. First of all, there are many green trees and little streams along the way. Right now, the leaves are starting to change colors so it is especially nice! Second, the trails are sometimes challenging so it doesn't get boring. This time, there was even a part where we had to use the rope to climb down. (See pictures) And lastly, you just meet great people along the way.

I took the bus at 9:30am from Pohang to Gyeongju with one of my friends. We then met up with another friend in Gyeongju. We decided to eat at local restaurant then take the bus to Namsan Mtn. On the way, we met a foreigner from Germany. He's in Korea for a badminton tournament in Gwanju. He's the head delegate for the German Badminton Team. He hiked with us along the way and even had dinner with us. It's really nice to mee people from all over the world...especially someone who's really good at badminton. He no longer plays and just coaches at the universities now.

The view was awesome!!!!! (see pictures) Fall is a great time to hike is Korea. There were a lot of people hiking today.

The leaves are changing their colors. 

At one of the peaks. 

On the left is our German badminton player. 

The view is awesome!

Actual rope provided

Let's do that again! 

I did say the view was awesome!! 

The three adventurous teachers! 

Beautiful leaves! 

Life as a TaLK Scholar

Name: Nikki Nhi Dinh

POE: Gyeongju

Country: United States of America

School Name: Oksan Elementary

Life as a TaLK Scholar

           

My life as a TaLK Scholar is definitely not what I expected. I will now name 3 things that I find unexpected. First, I did not think I would fall in love with teaching. Second, the independence of living on my own is sometimes what I want but sometimes not really. And lastly, I didn’t think I would be able to make any deep connections with anyone here.

            In high school, I was a teacher assistant at my church for Sunday schools. Back in college, I worked at a tutor for a private tutoring company near campus. Now I am teaching English in Korea. Even though the patterns are pretty obvious, I never really considered a career as a teacher. That thought comes up here and there but I would just brush it away. I came to Korea thinking that I should give it a chance and I think I fell in love with teaching; and trust me, it’s not because teaching is easy and fun. I just realized that I simply put so much passion into teaching; even back in high school and college. I am glad that this opportunity through TaLK helped me to see that I should pursue a career in education.

            I did not live at home for college. I was in the dorm for my first 2 years and then lived off-campus my last 2 years. When I decided to go to Korea, I thought it wouldn’t be too bad because I was away from home most of the year anyway. Well, I was wrong; I felt pretty bad being on my own. I never had my own room; at home, I shared my room with my sisters. In college, I always had roommates. Now, I have my own apartment! There’s no one to come home to and the worst thing is cooking for myself. I always have to portion just enough so that I won’t throw way food. I was so used to cooking for other people and sharing food that I was really homesick the first few weeks. The independence here is great; I can do anything I want but sometimes I want to be responsible for something or someone.

            During my freshmen year of college, I was pretty open to meeting new people and making new friends. When I came to Korea, I was 4 years older and felt as if I already established my group of close friends. I didn’t think that I would make any friends here but again I was wrong. I guess the people who become your friends are the people you really don’t have to try to be friends with; they just become your friends. I am glad that I can consider some people here my friends. I am grateful that I can count on them and they can count on me.

At Korea International Circuit; Formula 1

Halloween Masks with 6th Grade