Transitioning to K-Dan

This last two weeks have been what I would call my ‘settling in’ phase since my time here in Korea began. I’m able to order food to a certain extent, I say to  a certain extent because I ordered one pizza, got a different pizza, but it’s okay because at least I got a pizza. I think that the students and staff are happy to have me around too, maybe too much so - I found myself balancing on one leg the other day after I was attacked by a group of first and second graders, who each took a limb. 

 

We left off last time just before I was going to visit the traditional Korean hanok village with one of the teachers at my school. Joining us was his wife and two children, another family of four and three friends of his children from their school in Jeonju.  It was a busy day of different tastes and different experiences, from a quick hike up a hill to relaxing in a gaeksa (rest spot) with a patbingsu, a kind of ice/milk/redbean/sauce ice cream kind of thingy (yes I know I did a grand job of explaining that). It was a really good day and I think that they must have liked me because they invited me to Jiri Mountain with them next month!

Since then, I’ve been to a bamboo forest, a beef and apple festival (the obvious combination DUH!) and sports day with my school. I finished off sports day playing football with a couple of teachers, one student and his dad. I told them before ‘I’m not good at football’ and I was pretty hesitant to make myself look silly. I’d already displayed my physical prowess in the tug o’ war, shoe kicking competition and ‘hit the rugby ball with a paddle’ earlier on in the day. One teacher told me to be more confident with the football after sensing this hesitation. I say sensing but he just saw the way I was playing.

Okay. Confidence, Daniel, confidence. Kick the ball. It’s okay. What’s the worst that can happen?

Five minutes later I was lying on the floor sprawled over a combination of concrete, metal grid and sand. My football career hasn’t quite taken off yet, I’ll admit.

This weekend is Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) which means I have quite a bit of free time to do some travelling. Later on today I’m heading to Daegu for the night before making my way to Andong in the morning for the Mask Dance Festival and to rendezvous with people I haven’t seen since orientation. After that, I’m not sure of my direction. At some point I will be going to the Jinju Lantern Festival, which I’m very excited for and next Thursday I’m going on a school trip to an exhibition in Gwangju, a city not too far from (Less) Sunny (by the day) Sunchang. You will read about my cross-Korean cultural trip in the next entry!

Gamsahapnida for reading!

Winner of the tri-school sports day adult shoe kicking competition.

P.S. K-POP:

Sunny Sunchang

Welcome to the big one.

On Wednesday the 24th, my mentor teacher Kim Su Young picked me up and took me for some tasty beef stew. It was very tasty. Then I registered for my Alien Registration Card. Once we'd done this, we had a nice little drive to the apartment I'll be living in for the rest of my time in Korea. Here's some pictures:

Welcome to my one room... my one room that has three rooms... and A HEATED FLOOR. As you can see I have some fashionable glow in the dark, pink in the light curtains. Try and see if you can spot me amongst the camouflage in the next picture...

 Can ya see me can ya?

 Say hello to my kitchen. The cupboards are amazingly noisy.

Say hello to the other side of my kitchen. You might be wondering, 'Daniel, is it really wise to keep your laundry in a rubbish bag considering that the last time you did that you ended up throwing your clothes away and had to go and root through a bin at 5AM before the bin men arrived?' 

My answer to that would be no, it is not wise in the slightest, and that's the end of that.

 My bathroom - with the added luxury of a sunken shower and shower curtain! 

Next up is a daily (sometimes double daily if I'm doubly dirty) terror of mine. For those of you not living in Korea, you might be surprised to find out that the sink taps and the shower can only survive if the other dies (temporarily). By this I mean I have to remember to turn the little nob off shower and on to tap, and vice versa. I also have to remember to turn the shower head away from the ideal standing place to wash ones hands. Do I remember to do either of these?

 Non. 

Has this piece of evil got the better of me? 

Not yet.

Since my encounter with Evil Toilet Tube, I'm a little more wary in soak-prone situations. As soon as I hear that pre-shower buzz, I firstly almost poo myself (I say almost, but...) and then I manage to quickly turn the tap off, feel pretty proud of my cat-like reflexes and then wonder why I can't seem to turn the bloody nob onto tap. 

The longer I avoid it, the closer I'm getting to it happening and this really, really worries me.

 And this is my mug. Yes, it has a shovel on it. Yes, a ship's wheel and a life ring too. Oh Korea.

Enough of that! After I arrived and settled in I went for dinner with the teachers from my school, who were really welcoming and I was asked to give a speech. The speech went down fairly well I'm pleased to announce. Arriving home, I got to properly meet my new neighbours Amy, Ekta and Eric. I don't have any photos of them except a picture of Amy's leg and arm that I took accidentally while I was messing around on my new phone. A couple of days later I climbed a mountain and on top of it found a pagoda, a lovely view and an outside gym. I wondered how many people get to the top and think 'This is just not enough, I must exercise.'

Also, here in Sunchang they like to dry peppers in the middle of the pavement. But I suppose they've gotta get that REALLY GOOD red pepper paste made somehow!

 

That's a whole lotta peppers.

Last weekend I went to Jeonju and Buan. In Buan we went to the beach. It was really nice and we got to see another great view from another of Korea's many pagodas! We also visited the cliffs you see below. They're very famous because of a poet who found them so beautiful that he jumped off them. Make of that what you will.

 THEN I SAW A PUPPY! A REALLY CUTE WHITE AND PURPLE PUPPY!

Next weekend I'm heading to Jeonju Hanok Village after being invited to go with one of the teachers from my school. A hanok is a traditional Korean house, and apparently the hanok village is one of the best places to visit in Jeollabuk-do (my province) so I'm looking forward to it!

Gamsahapnida for reading!

Nautical themed mug enthusiast.

 P.S. K-POP