Ben's Excellent Korean Adventure

New Blog!

2005-11-02T22:15:00.000+09:00

Hi Everyone. I have a new blog, chronicling my new adventures in Korea. It's called "Ben vs. Korea: Round 2!". Please go visit it! I will keep this blog for posterity, but my last post is starting to get somewhat cluttered by advertisement links. I'm sure this will too after a while. While you're at my new blog, please drop me a line and comment on something!

Cheers,
Ben

Rounding out the Year

2005-06-12T12:04:00.000+09:00

Well, it's been a great ride, but the Korean fun-train is finally coming to a stop. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and will be buying another ticket to ride soon enough, but for now, I need to get off for a while, rest, and then I'll be back in August.

I was thinking about the past year and wondering what my most memorable moments were. Here are just a few, in no particular order:

1. The mud festival in Boryeong
2. Cherry blossoms and kitchen party in Cheong-ju
3. Everland
4. Tasting Korean food for the first time
5. Weekend in Gyeong-ju to see the royal tombs, and watching the drummers in the park
6. Eating oysters on the beach in Anmyeon-do
7. All the lovely people I've met

This will be my last post for a while. However, I realize that not all the people reading my blog are situated in Saskatoon. Therefore, I will be also continuing a new blog while I'm in Canada - Ben's Excellent Canadian Respite. Look for it in theatres soon!
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Anyway, the following pictures are from the past few weeks. They are in reverse chronological order. Most recently, Jo, Erika, Joey, and I went to Everland - Korea's most famous amusement park. It was a blast. The only drawback was that we went late and didn't have enough time to really enjoy it all.

Prior to that, last weekend, Kay invited Jo and I to go to Pusan - the second largest city in Korea, located near the southernmost point of Korea. We stayed with her family on Saturday night, then drove all day on Sunday to get there. Kay's family were invited to a wedding which we missed by an hour or so. However, we made it in time for the wedding buffet, which was tasty. We had a brief time on the beach, then we returned home to Bundang. It was a loooooong trip. About 12 hours of driving and 4 hours of seeing Pusan. The pictures that follow are of her family's farm, and areas around there. We got up early and saw the rice fields and ginseng plants. Apparently, ginseng is a very very expensive plant, and takes between 3 and 7 years to grow. Roots can sell for as high as $500 per pound for high quality ginseng.

Lastly, I have some pictures of various things in and around Bundang. One night a long time ago, we went to Chung-Ang Gong-Won (Bundang's Central Park) and played badminton.

That's about all I have for now! For those of you who have followed my blog this year, thanks for reading! I hope you've enjoyed it! I've enjoyed your responses, and plan on continuing a new Korean blog next year, when I come back for Round 2!

Hanguk, Annyeonghi Kyeseyo! Chokum itabanayo!

2005-06-12T11:53:00.000+09:00

Jo and I taking a ride.

2005-06-12T11:50:00.003+09:00

Me, hanging with the dudes.

2005-06-12T11:50:00.002+09:00

Joey and I... and Elwood and Jake.

2005-06-12T11:50:00.001+09:00

The Double-Rock-Spin ride. Imagine a giant swing that rotates all the way around its supporting pole. Then add in the fact that the seat spins forwards and backwards so that you're rising and falling at the same time as doing forward and backward sommersaults. It was great.

2005-06-12T11:50:00.000+09:00

I'm the one waving. It was dark by that time, so the picture is grainy from me having to touch it up.

2005-06-12T11:44:00.000+09:00

Jo, quite obviously doing some sort of cool kung-fu or tae-kwon-do. This was on the bridge across to the Amazon Adventure ride - a water soaker tube ride.

2005-06-12T11:43:00.000+09:00

The restaurant area. All-American style food - burgers, hotdogs, etc. etc. It was neat.

2005-06-12T11:42:00.000+09:00

Joey and I getting arrested. Kinda blurry. Sorry about that...

2005-06-12T11:41:00.001+09:00

An old police car?

2005-06-12T11:41:00.000+09:00

This was an American Graffiti-esque area of Everland. It had old cars and rock and roll music blaring. It was interesting. It also had two of the best rides too. A really fast rollercoaster and a make-you-sick spinning ride called the Double Rock Spin. It was great!

2005-06-12T11:39:00.000+09:00

Jo and I.

2005-06-12T11:38:00.000+09:00

The giant rollercoaster we went on. It was kinda like the western theme area in Disneyland - is it called Smokey Mountain? I forget. Anyway, it was fast and fun. Next time, when I go back, I am going to take a video recording of my ride.

2005-06-12T11:36:00.000+09:00

Some sort of animated cutesy fountain thingy. It was rather in the spirit of an amusemnt park.

2005-06-12T11:34:00.001+09:00

The Crown Jewels? I wonder what's behind THIS door?

2005-06-12T11:34:00.000+09:00

A giant mural near the entrance to Everland. I would like to go back to Everland when I get a chance... probably soon after I get back in August.

2005-06-12T11:33:00.000+09:00

Everland's main entrance.

2005-06-12T11:32:00.000+09:00

Jo and I went to Insa-dong last weekend. It was a really nice time. Here is a beautiful sight... and a really big rose too!

2005-06-12T11:30:00.001+09:00

Jo and myself at the beach.

2005-06-12T11:30:00.000+09:00

The beach in Pusan.

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Mountains and ocean. Beautiful Korea.

2005-06-12T11:29:00.001+09:00

The beach and accompanying bridge. This bridge is really long, and very cool.

2005-06-12T11:29:00.000+09:00

The bridge near the beach.

2005-06-12T11:28:00.001+09:00

The beach.

2005-06-12T11:28:00.000+09:00

In the true "bali-bali" spirit of Korea (hurry-hurry), weddings are performed at wedding halls, where people line up in a conveyer-belt type fashion. Basically, the ceremony takes about 30 minutes to an hour, then you go for a buffet in the same area, while someone else uses the chapel you were just using. Your guests finish their buffet, file out, and the whole process repeats itself. Total time: 2 hours. As a bonus, the fitting for the wedding dress and suits is in the same hotel, as well as travel agent (for honeymoon?) and wedding planner. Heck, you could do it ALL in 4 hours.

2005-06-12T11:22:00.000+09:00

I caught this picture of a bee (or is it a wasp?) collecting nectar from this flower. Pretty lucky, if you ask me.

2005-06-12T11:21:00.001+09:00

Another shot.

2005-06-12T11:21:00.000+09:00

Miles and miles of tarps! Well, not really - more like 50 meters. ;-)

2005-06-12T11:20:00.001+09:00

Here is a partial view of some of the ginseng growing.

2005-06-12T11:20:00.000+09:00

Tarps covering the ginseng plants.

2005-06-12T11:19:00.000+09:00

A wide shot of the rice field. There is about 4 inches or so of water, but they grow in about a foot of mud.

2005-06-12T11:18:00.000+09:00

Rice growing.

2005-06-12T11:17:00.001+09:00

Roses above the entranceway to the apartment building by my school. Honestly, have you ever seen so many roses clumped together in your life?

2005-06-12T11:17:00.000+09:00

Here is a rose vine climbing the tennis courts near my school. Nice, huh?

2005-06-12T11:16:00.000+09:00

It wasn't a clear picture, but I wanted to show this group of guys playing street hockey. Yay Hockey!

2005-06-12T11:15:00.000+09:00

Jo, looking lovely as ever. There was an exhibit in central park on trees. Behind her was some sort of mural with trees.

2005-06-12T11:14:00.000+09:00

Before heading out to the park, we ate at a place called "California Roll" in Seohyeon. They make great Sushi. This was my supper - a "Rainbow" roll. Cool huh?

2005-05-23T21:34:00.000+09:00

Two weekends ago, Jo, Erika, Joey, and I went to Anmyeon-do on a day trip to the west coast of Korea. It was great. It took a while to get there, but it was quite nice. We checked out the seafood market they had, and ate live oysters on the beach. There was an old lady gathering them by hand. We ate them with soju and red chili sauce. It was great. Then, later, we went for supper where we had more grilled clams, scallops, oysters, and GIANT prawns than you could shake a fork at... I mean, a pair of chopsticks. The prawns were so incredibly delicious. You have no idea. They were steamed in salt water, which made them nice and salty. After we were finished, we roasted the prawn heads and ate them too. Well, I had one. They were too um... cartilagenous for me (although admittedly tasty). Erika loves the heads. Anyway, pictured here are two rocky monoliths that are nicknamed "Grandpa" (on the left) and "Grandma" (on the right)... in Korean of course (Haraboji and Halmoni). The tide was low and we walked out to check it out. I forgot my camera that day, so Jo was resourceful enough to take these pictures with her cell phone's camera (hence the lower resolution). Pretty good pictures though, if I may say so! Also, because Jo was taking pictures, alot of them are of me. Not-so-photogenic Me. *sigh* Enjoy!

2005-05-23T21:26:00.000+09:00

I'm looking happy, aren't I?

2005-05-23T21:25:00.000+09:00

Myself, Joey, and Monkey-Girl... er... I mean Erika. (Sorry Erika, I couldn't resist).

2005-05-23T21:24:00.002+09:00

Low tide...

2005-05-23T21:24:00.001+09:00

Shuckin' clam shuckers.

2005-05-23T21:24:00.000+09:00

Me an' Grandpa.

2005-05-23T21:23:00.000+09:00

There were tiny crabs that would crawl out of holes in the ground if you stood still for long enough. Then, they would gather sand together with their claws and spit on it to make these tiny sand balls. It was weird. What is so funny is that the tide comes in and washes away all their work every day... yet they continue to do it

2005-05-23T21:21:00.000+09:00

I have no idea what was so interesting. Maybe I broke a nail... heh. I think it was some small shell I was examining.

2005-05-23T21:20:00.000+09:00

People were on the shore collecting clams. I guess they were "shucking". Shucking clams. Shucks.

2005-05-23T21:19:00.000+09:00

Dum-dee-dum-dum

2005-05-23T21:18:00.000+09:00

"Sepia, you say? Ha! We were using sepia back when you were just a pup! So don't think you got something on THIS sepia."

2005-05-23T21:16:00.000+09:00

I sized up Grandpa. He sized me up. We sized each other up... Grandpa was bigger.

2005-05-23T21:15:00.001+09:00

Look Ma! I have a rocky monolith growing out of my head!

2005-05-23T21:15:00.000+09:00

I'm distracted with some rock or something I'm looking at.

2005-05-23T21:14:00.000+09:00

Live sea anemones are really cool. They have a primitive nervous system (a nerve net, if you will), that responds to touch. When you touch them (with a pink seashell perhaps), their arms all reach out and stick to whatever is poking them. And they can really cling too!

2005-05-23T21:12:00.000+09:00

At the dead center of this picture is a sea-urchin-y thing. Around it are green sea anemones. There's some red stuff too there, off to the lefthand side. And some white, um, rocks...Y'know. Yes, you may call me Biologist Ben.

2005-05-23T21:10:00.000+09:00

I actually kinda like this picture, which is rare when it comes to pictures of myself.

2005-05-23T21:09:00.000+09:00

A picture of a shallow pool of water along the shore where small living things...er... live.

2005-05-23T21:08:00.000+09:00

Jo and I.

2005-05-23T21:07:00.000+09:00

Me, on a bunch of rocks.

2005-05-23T21:06:00.000+09:00

Me... with the wind blowing mischeviously... to give all the viewers at home the impression that I suddenly had a change of heart and decided that "comb-over" is now "En Vogue".

2005-05-23T21:04:00.001+09:00

Here are the clams and scallops. The scallop shells are really kinda cool. They don't look all that appetizing, but these fellas taste pretty good!

2005-05-23T21:04:00.000+09:00

I think here I was thinking "What the heck do they PUT in that stuff???" Soju can be pretty nasty stuff - it tastes like battery acid... yet at the same time, has a smooth, unimposing aftertaste. Heh...

2005-05-23T21:02:00.001+09:00

Now if I could only... get... that... darn... clam... GAH!

2005-05-23T21:02:00.000+09:00

Here we are at supper. Notice the oh-so-fashionable Michael Jackson glove they provide for everyone. Grilled clam shells are HOT.

2005-05-23T21:01:00.000+09:00

"The hills are alive... with the sound of soju!"

2005-05-23T21:00:00.002+09:00

Sunset on the harbour.

2005-05-23T21:00:00.001+09:00

Sunset.

2005-05-23T21:00:00.000+09:00

Just before we were about to leave, the sunset over the Yellow Sea.

2005-05-23T20:59:00.001+09:00

Open Wiiiiiide!

2005-05-23T20:59:00.000+09:00

I like to call this picture "ERK!!"

2005-05-02T19:54:00.000+09:00

The flowers bloom in waves. First the magnolias, then the cherry blossoms, now these pink, purple and red flowers. Then, white of the same species.

2005-05-02T19:53:00.001+09:00

Purpley flowers.

2005-05-02T19:53:00.000+09:00

Red flowers.

2005-05-02T19:52:00.000+09:00

The walk to school. Tons of blooming flowers nowadays.

2005-05-02T19:51:00.000+09:00

Man! I thought for the longest time I had been teaching it RIGHT, when in fact the 5th letter of the alphabet is actually "Ed". As I explain later in this edition of my blog, incorrect spellings, words, and materials run rampant. The strange and very frustrating thing is that when we offer to correct it, many people don't want the correct way. I had a friend ask me to read a manuscript for an English listening contest they were putting on. The manuscript was riddled with errors, and was really awkward to read properly. I offered to proofread and correct the entire thing, and was told that wasn't necessary - just read it. Ridiculous, really. So many things are all concerned with saving face and never being proven wrong - especially and above all else, your superior. Anyway...ED

2005-05-02T19:41:00.000+09:00

Jo and I went to visit one of her old friends' bar in Cheongju. Cheongju is in the central province of Chungcheong-do. This is her friend's bar, JS Modern Bar. I have a thing for the blues brothers... here I am with Jake. He's the man.

2005-05-02T19:38:00.001+09:00

A picture of Sok-ri mountain area.

2005-05-02T19:38:00.000+09:00

I like this picture myself. Cherry blossoms and Buddha lanterns.

2005-05-02T19:36:00.000+09:00

This flower is called "chin-da-le", and grows in mountainous regions. It is sweet smelling and you can actually eat the blossoms, which Jo and her friend demonstrated to me by shoving a flower in my mouth. It was tasty - very subtle, somewhat perfumed and somewhat like orange rind.

2005-05-02T19:34:00.001+09:00

This has to be the oddest tree trunk I've seen.

2005-05-02T19:34:00.000+09:00

This dead tree was doing a Matrix move, bending over backwards and twisting.

2005-05-02T19:33:00.000+09:00

This tree was growing out of the rock. My guess is that the tree actually split the rock in two with its roots. The forces of nature are astounding - how a plant that sprouts from a tiny seed can do that to a huge stone boulder.

2005-05-02T19:32:00.000+09:00

The colour on this didn't turn out quite right. It was a nice limey green from water residue.

2005-05-02T19:30:00.001+09:00

A stone relief of Buddha carved into the natural rock.

2005-05-02T19:30:00.000+09:00

Here is a giant natural rock formation. There are chinese characters carved into the rock face.

2005-05-02T19:29:00.000+09:00

Here's Jo and I. I guess if you hadn't already guessed from my previous posts, Jo and I are going out. She's wonderful, and has kept me sane over the past few months.

2005-05-02T19:28:00.001+09:00

Me. Hi!

2005-05-02T19:28:00.000+09:00

Me, on the stairs of the pagoda.

2005-05-02T19:27:00.000+09:00

The paint on this pagoda has not been restored, so it is a bit faded. I like the original look of the temple.

2005-05-02T19:26:00.000+09:00

An artsy tree-and-pagoda picture.

2005-05-02T19:25:00.001+09:00

A picture of the giant Buddha next to the mountain to give a sense of scale.

2005-05-02T19:25:00.000+09:00

A giant brass statue of Buddha at the Sok-ri temple. It was enormous. Literally half the size of the mountain behind it.

2005-05-02T19:24:00.000+09:00

Normally, you're not supposed to take pictures of buddha statues when they are indoors. However, this one was an exception. You were allowed to take pictures of this one. I think it was dedicated to the people, and that's why. Hanging from the ceiling are the names of people to keep in their prayers, or specific intentions, I believe.

2005-05-02T19:23:00.000+09:00

A very old pagoda at the Sok-ri temple site. This one was not restored on the outside or inside, and the colours are a bit more dull. I prefered it that way.

2005-05-02T19:22:00.001+09:00

Blossoms.

2005-05-02T19:22:00.000+09:00

Temple and blossoms.

2005-05-02T19:21:00.000+09:00

A large painted drum. Dragons aren't *hugely* popular in Korean traditional art. It's more of a chinese thing, I think.

2005-05-02T19:20:00.001+09:00

A dragon bell hammer... er gong-thingy. On the right is a large drum.

2005-05-02T19:20:00.000+09:00

The giant bell at Sok-ri temple.

2005-05-02T19:19:00.001+09:00

Here I am in front of Buddha. For some reason, I have no arms below the elbow.

2005-05-02T19:19:00.000+09:00

A giant golden (brass) buddha. Take a look at the scale! Standing at the base, near the upper railing is a person standing.