Korea vs. France

So Korea is out of the World Cup. A draw with France set the stage and their loss to Switzerland sealed the deal. One of the goals by Switzerland was (apparently) scored offside, but they ended up losing 2 - 0 so it doesn't really matter. There's a great deal of discussion as to how the CEO (or whatever) of FIFA is Swiss, causing the officiating to become somewhat less than objective. Ah well, it's over now.

We went to watch the Korea vs. France game. We went to Chonnam University again with some friends and arrived at 1:30 AM in order to secure seats on the road for the 4:00 AM start. It was packed, though not as busy as for Korea vs. Togo.

They gave out sparklers for everyone to light at the opening kickoff. It was pretty neat but kinda creepy with all the sparks flying everywhere. We were sitting in a parking lot with a big screen set up and a projector showing the game. We were actually watching everything in reverse as we were sitting behind the screen.

People were sitting anywhere they could to see the screen. I'm not sure what this building is, but it was in the parking lot right beside where we were sitting. More and more people kept going up on the roof all night.

This is on top of a "That'll be $5, please" booth.

Us with our friends. If you go to a Korean soccer game, you have to wear red. Korea is called the Red Devils, which comes from a soccer game in Mexico (I guess) where Korea ran so fast that people said that they looked like red ghosts. The word "ghost" got changed and the Red Devils came to be.

Our Day of Mountains

Yesterday (Saturday) we went on a day trip with our friends, the Porters, and a teacher from the school, Brooke. We went to this little temple nestled up in the mountains that was over 1300 years old. We also stood on a mountain peak at the southernmost end of Korea. We also stood on a mountain that you could see the east & west coasts of Korea from.

It has to have been some of the most incredible natural and ancient beauty that I've seen. Here's some pictures, but they won't do justice to anything that we saw.

The mountain that you can see both coasts from.

This is the temple in the mountain. It's really only about 3 meters by 3 meters in size. It's really small but really beautiful and it has a great view.

Here is where we went.

Brooke, Emily and Ivory on a bridge at this other temple we went to.

This is at the same temple as the bridge picture. If you count three rows from the front and five back, that's Buddha. Four over and seven back is Buddha too. Nine over and six back? Buddha. And the one that's thirteen over and seventeen back is Buddha too. There's actually 979 Buddhas here. That's a lotta Buddha.

Shoes aren't as easy as they look

Everybody has their rough days. Today (Friday) was test day for me (Jon) at the school. Emily comes in every Friday to help out with the tests. I see the kids on an alternating weekly basis and so this was my last day with this set of kids. I really love teaching at this school and I really love the kids so it was a little sad for me. I also had yet to print off any of my tests which can make for a stressful time if there is a lineup at the photocopier at the school.

Anyway, we were a little rushed getting out of the door and I had to change my insoles in my shoes. I saw my grubby running shoes (we had gone to the gym previously) and decided I couldn't get away with wearing them so I took out the insole, put it in the other shoe and then put that shoe on. I put on my other shoe and went to school.

As I was sitting down during the speaking tests, I started to cross my legs when, lo and behold, I noticed my grubby running shoes. I was instantly confused as I had thought that I decided not to wear running shoes. I checked my other foot, and the truth became shockingly clear.

I had on two different shoes.

Who does that? People wear different socks, yes. Clashing shirt and tie? Okay. Different shoes, unintentionally? I haven't seen it. But my students did. And people on the bus did. And people at the supermarket did. I told my students it was for good luck for Korea as they play Switzerland this morning at 4:00 AM for the World Cup. They believed me, but I still felt stupid.

So next time you're in a rush and you can't decide which shoes to wear, double check on your way out the door that you actually made up your mind.

On a different note, here's a couple of pictures of my grade 5 class. It's an energetic class full of good kids and the pictures turned out really well, so I'm glad. Of all the things we've experienced here, I think that my students will remain among the best parts of Korea. (Most days.)

The girls. Sweeter than honey and some of the neatest kids you'll ever meet.

The boys. A rowdy bunch but really good kids that make you remember what it's like to find fun and energy in anything.

Nobel Peace Conference

We went to the Nobel Peace Laureates Conference yesterday and today. We were only planning on going to one session yesterday but it was so interesting that we decided to come back for a second helping. There was also a luncheon that you could have gone to but you had to have registered ahead of time and we, assuming it would be more boring than it was, did not.

Long story short, there was an uprising in Gwangju in 1980 where the citizens rebelled against an unjust government, took control of the city and then were crushed (killed, slaughtered, etc.) by the army 9 days later. It's called the May 18 uprising and really sparked a movement towards a truly democratic and free South Korea. The conference was to commemorate that and a conference that happened in 2000 between South & North Korea.

There were a ton of interesting speakers and they gave you a bunch of free stuff. I (Jon) was struck by how humble and "normal" looking the laureates all were. In the one session, there were reserved seats in front of where we were sitting. A bunch of people came and sat in them and I was wondering what made them so special. It was a lady that looked like a librarian, a business man type fellow, a lady that looked like she could have been a janitor and another lady that just looked like she was there for the heck of it. (One fellow actually took Emily's conference bag by accident. We thought it had our camera in it so I ran after him to get it back. He didn't have our camera but he did take her Kleenex.)

As it turns out, all of them had won Nobel Peace prizes. It's amazing how much of a difference one person really can make.

Anyway, here's some pictures!

Registration. If you look carefully, there are four lineups: Family names starting from A - J, then K, then L, then M - Z. I was confused until I remembered that nearly 50% of Koreans have the family name Lee, Kim or Park.

Here are some of the speakers. These are the people that have won the prizes as well as people representing organizations that have won peace prizes (eg. Amnesty International, International Red Cross, etc.) The fifth from the right is Mikhail Gorbachev. Sixth from the right is Kim Dae Jung, the former president of South Korea (the conference center where this was held is named after him).

Video of the reaction of the crowd when Korea scored!

Tae-Han-Min-Geuk!

Tae-Han-Min-Geuk, is the official name of South Korea and a popular cheer that we heard many times on Tuesday night at the soccer game, the story follows:

So we went to watch the soccer game at a local university on Tuesday night. It was crazy! I (Emily) arrived at about 7:30 to try and meet some friends. I found them but it was impossible to stay with them and wait for Jon at the same time, so they left and I got a spot to watch the action. The university had a giant stage set up with some local bands playing which were pretty good. The area kept getting more and more crowded with people, all wearing red shirts and many scarves, flags and devil horns. (The Korean cheering people are known as "red devils" - hence the horns)

Jon and his coworker Brooke arrived at about 10:45PM because it was impossible to get a taxi and the crowds were so large they couldn't get to where I was. Finally we all found each other and watched the game on a giant screen. The game was awesome and Korea won which was so cool! The fans were so enthusiastic, they all know these cheers that they would yell in unison. And when Korea scored they would all stand up and dance and shout. It was a crazy night! We will never forget it!

Here are some pictures of the excitement!

World Cup Fever

South Korea has got it bad. It's really fun to watch everyone getting ready for the World Cup. Korea's first game is tomorrow at 10:00 PM and my last class of the day is cancelled so that everyone (students and teachers alike) can get to a TV in time to see the game. Emily and I, along with some of the other teachers from our school, are planning on going to the World Cup Stadium (from 2002) to watch the game on a big screen along with several thousand other Koreans.

If it works out, we'll post pictures, of which there should be some good ones. It should be a grand ol' time.

Go Korea!

Our Anniversary

So tomorrow (our time) is our second anniversary. It's been two wonderful years that I've been married to my wonderful wife. Since both Emily & I are busy tomorrow, we decided to celebrate our anniversary tonight. Emily gave me a blender, which I was incredibly excited for. I've been dying for things to blend, so no fruit is safe.

We had strawberry-banana smoothies for breakfast (a great little blender it is!) and listened to the hockey game on the internet. Go Oilers! We then went to church (45 mintues late because of the hockey game) and then went to Dunkin' Donuts for a snack. We had to go back to the church for a prayer meeting thing and then we went to Burger King and then to a movie. After that, we went to a video arcade, came home (another smoothie, of course), played canasta and called it a night.

All in all, a most enjoyable and unorthodox anniversary.

Mikhail Gorbachev, The Dalai Lama & Jimmy Carter

What do these people have in common? Yes, the answer is obvious. They're all Nobel Peace Laureates! These people have done great works in our world toward the betterment of human existance across the globe.

And they're coming to Gwangju.

Yes, Emily and I received our tickets in the mail today. We are going to get to see some Nobel Laureates give speeches on different topics next week. It should be most interesting. We're not actually sure who is going to be there - hopefully all of the above people and then some, but perhaps not. There's been political problems with the Dalai Lama's visa. Apparently China would get upset if South Korea granted him a visa, so he may not be coming.

Regardless, it should be a good time. Whoever it ends up being there, we'll tell them you say hello.

A Great Picture

Emily and I went on a cultural tour this past weekend to a folk village in Nagan. There are 85 families that actually live in this village in a (relatively) traditional manner. We did see the occasional satellite dish, motorbike and air conditioning unit, but most other things were quite traditional.

This fellow here possesses one of Korea's "Intangible Cultural Assets" (everything is numbered and catalogued here) since he is really skilled at making things with straw. Notice also the skinship at work.

12

The number of garlic cloves that Emily and I ate with supper tonight. Each.