On Teaching Kids in South Korea

On Teaching Kids in South Korea. I’m nearing a year of teaching in Seoul.

Billy the Strong

The end of my time is coming to my attention rather dramatically as winter is coming and the leaves of my favorite tree have officially fallen to the ground. I’ve reached most of my goals in coming to South Korea, the rest are winter weather dependent. Additionally, I’ve had a friend come visit and I’ve got two more on the way and these folks remind me of my life back home. This being said I’ve still got a month of teaching here, so focusing on that – here are the details.

Christopher and Leo

My hagwon really is different from any school I’ve ever worked at before. For starters the amount of time I spent “deskwarming” equates to an equal amount of time spent teaching the classroom, if not more during middle school test season (2 times a year). What this means is that for every 50 minutes of class I had 50 minutes of sitting at my computer or with a book.

My Desk

This time is allotted for prepping and correcting essays, of course, but this by no means fills up 4 of the 8 hours I’m not in class. On most days I would arrive and have an hour to two hours before my first class (perfect prep time!), 3 classes, then two and a half hours of “deskwarming” time and then my last class, then have more time to sit at my desk. Most of the time I found productive uses and ultimately this is not a real problem (#notarealproblem), just something to be aware of if looking to teach in South Korea (please note that this isn’t always the case with a hagwon, but quite often the case at a public school).

Amy

Since I teach kids ranging from elementary school (8 years old, western years, being the youngest) to middle school (16 years old, western years, being the oldest) the experience from class to class is quite different. I found that teaching the elementary kids was fun, teaching the older higher level middle school students was encouraging and teaching the elementary school kids who are about to go into middle school was hit or miss. This is quite a range of students with different needs and varying levels of interest. I think this would be different if I was only working with one age group.

Chloe and Olivia

Besides the amount of time spent studying I don’t think that teaching kids in Korea is any different from teaching kids in the States. They don’t show any more or less respect to teachers. They are still kids and they still act out when not challenged, interested or have other stuff going on in their lives that keeps them distracted. My kids cursed in Korean and English like its going out of style. When they curse in English it is difficult to express the severity of the words they are using as to them, they are just words without value.

Ultimately, it didn’t seem that different from teaching elementary or middle school kids back home.

Eric - Posing For the Camera. (Class hadn't started. Note the 공기 game in the back)

Regarding personalities – here is a list of situations or kids that stood out. Some are adorable, some are really unique and others just baffle me.

Danny

I teach a little boy who is obsessed with anything automobile related and somewhere along the way he decided that he hit a plateau in English that allows him to get by and chat about cars, but its a struggle to get him to go further than that. He is so passionate about cars though!

I’ve got a little boy who can’t stop talking. When I asked him once why he was talking in the middle of the lesson he responded, “because I’m happy, teacher”, with a genuine grin. What do you say to that? Nothing, you just encourage him to talk in English when he continues to talk though the lesson.

I’ve got a student who is in a lower class (too low for him, but the kids are his age) and I’ve heard him speak in English more than I’ve heard him speak in Korean. It actually surprises me when I hear him speak in Korean. This same boy and I always play a quick gave of travel chess before class. He wins every time.

I’ve got a child who always leaves a few of her chips/snacks on my desk in the interest of sharing and then educates me on Korean snacks.

Angela and Emily

I’ve got a child who when he learned I liked noodles wrote down the number of his parents noodle shop so that I could call and order sometime, but then wrote his cellphone number down because his “parents, English no”.

I’ve got a student who finally got what I meant when I say, “relax *student*, relax” when he would get frustrated and start cursing and now every time I say “Get out your books” he coolly says “relax teacher, relax” with a huge smile on his face. Previously this same student would walk into the classroom and say, “walking fiiiiish” because I showed him a picture of the walking fish I had seen in Dongdaemun one time and it stuck for a while.

I’ve got a little girl who wants to be an artist when she grows up and every English diary entry she writes is a comic strip. She is very talented.

Robert

I’ve got a student that apparently plays a lot of video games because his response to everything is, “fire in the hole!”. Meanwhile his English vocabulary is very high.

I’ve got an eleven year old that has to leave early every class because he has to go to another academy, when I wasn’t sure about the validity once he turned to me straight-faced and said with authority, “teacher, I am a very busy man.”

I’ve got a student who is so attached to his smart phone that he will curses under his breath to himself for the full class period if I even mention him putting his phone in the cellphone box. On a good day however he will just repeat the lines from Korean commercials he has seen over and over.

I’ve got a nine-year old student who is always, always smiling and loves to give mini lectures on global warming using impressive scientific words.

Victoria and Julia Playing Hand Games

I teach a child who is incredibly blunt. “Teacher? Flowers? That’s a spring dress, it’s June” or “Teacher, why is your hair like that? It’s not cute” or “Korean kids don’t like that…” – her bluntness was entertaining at first…

I’ve got a little girl who hugs me every time she sees me and another little girl who says “thank you, teacher” anytime we have an interaction.

I’ve got another eleven year old that begs for Macaroni and Cheese at the beginning of every class because I made it once for a market day.

I’ve got a little girl who once saw that my hair was in braids and she took out her hair band and asked me to braid her hair too.

All in all I have really enjoyed teaching in South Korea. Although there were a few things about the way things are run that I was a little confused and sometimes frustrated about, I have not had a bad experience.

Leo and Me

On My Trip to Busan (부산)

On my trip to Busan (부산). After Boseong, we hopped on an express bus for a three hour ride to Busan. I’m still amazed at how easy and fast it is to get around Korea.

I was super excited as I have had intentions of visiting Busan since I stepped foot in Seoul. I love the ocean and I have noticed missing it when I stay in Seoul too long. It’s a thing. We arrived at the Busan Express Bus Terminal at around 11:00pm and then we hopped on the metro to Haeundae (해운대) and immediately crashed. The next morning we awoke very near the beach and we spent the morning wandered around the area looking for breakfast.

Skyscrapers Lining the Beach

Boardwalk

We got a tip from a kind employee at the tourist information center on the boardwalk and went searching for the restaurant he had recommend. We had a map with a circle behind a major hotel and his description of “hamburger restaurant” to go on. We were not interested in hamburgers for breakfast, but the guy had said they served breakfast food there. This could have meant a number of things, but we chanced it. After wandering in a small circles a few times and getting steered in the wrong direction by a “helpful” man with a bit too much enthusiasm and some confused information about a “British Thanksgiving”, we finally found Breeze Burns, a western restaurant with epic western breakfast plates. After justifiably throwing around the word “vacation” a few times epic western breakfast plates were proper.

Western Breakfast (has now replaced "Lumberjack breakfast" in my terminology)

After a slow and satisfying breakfast and a brief chat about the best brunch places that our hometown offers, we walked along the ridge to Dongbaek Park. The sky was amazingly clear and some time was spent climbing on the rocks around the fishermen and couples posing for pictures.

Walkway

Fisherman

Mermaid

After a spider-dwelling-pine-tree-lined walk up lots of steps, true to Korean hill/mountain form, we reached a small area with a statue of Choi Chi Won Haeundae’s namesake.

One of Many

Choi Chi Won Statue

Pagoda

Pagoda Colors

Gwangan Bridge

After this walk we caught a cab to go to the famous Jagalchi Fish Market and wandered through the very crowded market looking at all the seafood while being called to enter the various restaurants lining the market. This was the first time in South Korea where I feel that I’ve been called at to buy something.

After the market we caught the subway back to Haeundae and drank tall boys of Hite Dry and Max, respectively, staring at the Pacific Ocean while the sun was setting over Dongbaek island and the neon lights of the large hotels surrounding the beach came on around us.

Shoes and Sand

Max and Hite Dry

Light Reflecting Off of the Buildings

Dongbaek

Buildings Lighting Up

After the sun had set and the temperature dropped we headed to find food. We stopped at one the many soju tents behind the beach and ended up with makgeolli and tteokbokki.

Tteokbokki and Makgeolli

After the makgeolli did what it does best we headed into the Wolfhound for the night was young. I’ve been to the Wolfhound in Seoul and it’s fine, but the real draw to western bars in Korea is simply that you don’t have to order food with your drink like you do in Korean bars (Hofs, or the Japanese version Izakayas). After a sangria and a whiskey drink (err something…respectively) I was ready to meet my goal of eating seafood in Busan so I did what made sense and impulsively followed a group of Koreans going into a busy restaurant. Having no clue as to what kind of seafood the restaurant was serving and not having socks on, which always feels shameful when you have to take off your shoes in a restaurant, I still sat down ready for an adventure. After asking the Chinese cashier a question in broken Korean and her turning to the Korean server for help, the server came over and I’m sure we looked helpless. She said the name of a dish claiming that it was delicious, in English, and we said “sure”. All the while looking over at the next table where a family sat, the daughter eating McDonalds and the parents with a red mass of something flopping around over a gas grill. Naturally it turned out that we had ordered the same flopping red mass. The irony lays in the fact that of all the seafood we had seen at the market, the eel looked the least appealing, but there we had gone and ordered it.

Jang Uh Gui (장어구이)

This is where the adventure ends really. We picked at it a bit, gave it our best shot, paid up and left, not disappointed, but not really interested.

The next morning we hopped on an early KTX train back to Seoul.

KTX

On My Second Trip to Boseong (보성) and the Green Tea Fields

On my second trip to Boseong (보성) and the green tea fields. I had gone to Boseong in summer right after the green tea fields had been harvest. This past weekend I revisited Boseong and with the fall colors, it was gorgeous.

A friend from out-of-town and I boarded KTX in Yongsan at 8:00am with some triangle kimbap and ojingeo for breakfast and headed down south arriving in Gwangju five hours later.

Breakfast

After an hour-long misadventure with the wrong bus, we eventually caught the right bus to the Gwanju bus terminal where we caught another bus to Boseong. Once in Boseong we split a Shin ramyun (신라면) and a soju (소주) box and caught yet another bus to the fields.

Soju Box

It was a cold day, but the couple of bus rides through the country in heated busses were really nice. The colors are still vibrant in the south and the leaves are holding on to the branches rather firmly.

Fall Colors

We skipped the tea museum and chose to hike up the mountain behind the museum before sunset. It was an easy hike; the scenery was lovely and the view from the top was really worth it.

Path

Sunshine Through the Mountains

The Sea in the Background

Green Tea and Houses

Sun and Mountains

After the hike it was very windy and much colder so we headed back to Boseong then back to Gwanju to caught a bus to Busan (부산).

On Seoraksan (설악산)

On Seoraksan (설악산). Fall is visually dramatic in Korea, the leaves change color, the sky is mostly clear and blue and the air is crisp. It is absolutely fantastic. One popular things for people to do when this season comes around is to head the to mountains to see the leaves change color and the most famous place for this is Seorak mountain. Seorak mountain is in Gangwong-do province in the east. There was a 1,708 meter elevation gain, but as far as how many kilometers I can’t tell it was a good thirteen hours with breaks.

I opted to do have this adventure with a hiking group that I had travelled with to see the cherry blossoms in spring. We loaded at bus at 11:00pm and drove over night to the mountain. I should mention that when I say “over night” I mean about three hours once everyone was on the bus and not counting traffic. We put on our headlamps and got in line at 3:30am to hike. The line was very, very long.

Standing in Line

I’ve never had to stand in line while hiking. It was one step at a time in the dark for a while. The sun started rising right as I reached a lookout spot! There were a few calls of joy as the sun started to come up.

Sun Rise

Still In The Line

When I reached the Daechongbong Peak I was wrecked. After no sleep and no food I was very tired, but in a great mood. The thing to do at the top is sit down with your friends and let the eating, drinking and resting commence. My hiking partner and I found a spot on a rock and stopped to split rations of almonds, oranges, kimbap and dried bananas. This was hardly weather appropriate food and our jolly neighbors started feeding us warm spicy squid and ramyeon noodles. They handed my hiking partner a generous cup of Korean brandy wine and handed me a beer.

The Tired and Hungry at Daechongbong Peak

Ramyeon at the Top

Picnic

Shelter

The weather was not great, so there were no views at the top. I am told that usually you are able to see the East Sea. When our bellies were satisfied and it was too cold to keep sitting there we went on our way to descend into the valley.

Path

Rocks

Directions

Taebaek Mountain Range

Rather quickly we reached a point at which it was clear enough to see the gorgeous mountains straight ahead.

Winter is Coming

In the Valley

Vibrant Colors

After we reached the valley, there was a waterfall whose water we followed for the rest of the hike.

Pool

Rocky Mountains

Hikers at Another Rest Point

Cheonbuldong Valley

Clear Water

This last part of the hike was breathtaking. Although there were still many other people there wasn’t a line anymore. The surroundings were beautiful and the hardest park of the hike was finished. The rocky trails had much milder inclines and declines.

The End

I reached the parking lot right as rain began to come down.

On Baseball in Incheon

On Baseball in Incheon. What’s summer without baseball? Because of the extreme weather this year I didn’t have time to go to a game until it was just Fall, but I am pleased that I did make it to at least one game.

I would call myself a Doosan fan, because I live in Seoul and all, but this post is about the SK Wyverns vs. Hanwha Eagles game at the Munhak Stadium in Incheon (a suburb of Seoul that hosts the international airport). I went this a new friend and some of his friends. One of them knew someone who knew someone and we got rad seats (with tables) right behind home. The reason these seats were great was because I was literally in the middle of the two team’s fans and got to watch both sides chant and cheer. The game itself wasn’t super exciting, but the fans were great! Baseball is very popular in South Korea.

Munhak Stadium

Warming Up

SK Fans

Hanwha Fans

SK Cheerleaders

Jumbotron

Beer

Combination 피자

Tteokbokki (떡볶이)

Umpire Down

The 8th Inning

I opted to root for the home team, SK, but the people I was with did a 180 mid game and started to root and cheer for the Eagles. I left the stadium bitterly at the top of the 8th. At Jamsil Stadium at the same time the more exciting Doosan game was going on. We watched the end of the game on someone’s iPhone while we were pulling out the studium. Doosan won.

On the Golgusa (골굴사) Temple Stay

On Golgusa (골굴사) Temple Stay. Being that last weekend was Chuseok, I had a four-day weekend. Saturday I went to Everland and Sunday I headed to Gyeongju to do a temple stay at the Golgusa (골굴사) temple.

Stone

Temple Stay Building and Walkway

I had been warned that transportation would be a nightmare during the holiday weekend. I didn’t find it to be bad at all. I made the reservations for the temple a week in advance, but on Sunday morning I found myself at Seoul Station while transferring subway lines and I decided to walk up to the KTX counter and bought two tickets to Gyeongju for that afternoon, very easy (maybe slightly more expensive than normal, but still cheap). I met with my friend, we had lunch around the corner from the station and then took off. It was approximately two hours to get to Gyeongju (KTX being the express train). We got there as the sun was setting thinking we had enough time to get to the temple well before lights out. However, once at the train station we had to take a city bus (all of them go to the terminal from the train station).We went to the bus terminal and “terminal” is “terminal” in Korean, but it was dark and the terminal isn’t much to look at so we missed it at first and had to backtrack. Then we took the 100 which was a 45 minute ride through the city and passes quite a few intersections (sagoris) until we arrived at the Andong sagori. Once at Andong sagori we started walking the kilometer up the hill in the dark. At one point a small SUV drives past and then stops, I was thinking it was a little late to hitch, but after a quick conversation it turns out that the men in the car lived at the temple, so we took the ride.

Once we were checked in and given our pants and vest (optional) we had about an hour before lights out. The room that we stayed in was very large and there were maybe about 18 other women there. I found a blanket and a pillow and made my bed for the night on the heated floor. Right as lights out happened it started to lightly rain and there was a bit of thunder. It was the perfect setting for a night in a temple.

Bed

The next morning at 4am the monk came around and chatted his song to wake us up. We went to a hall not far from our room and morning meditation begun. After morning meditation there was a very slow meditation walk to the arches that define the entrance of the grounds. After this we had a bit of free time.

Foggy Morning

Slug

Trees and Fog

Because of the holiday and the amount of people staying at the temple they had a special program. The 4am to 10pm schedule seemed pretty busy, but nothing was back to back. There was always a break in between (this made a difference). The food at lunch was especially festive and delicious, while still simple and vegan of course. In the late afternoon we headed to temple for the Chuseok ceremony and Jesa. The whole experience was incredibly inclusive.

Chuseok Ceremony

Tea

Main Temple

Inside the Main Temple

Figures

In the evening after evening chanting we played yut nori (윷놀이) and ate songpyeon (송편) with some of the kids living and studying at the temple.

Gamers

Game Board

Songpyeon

Fruit

The next morning the schedule went back to normal. Golgusa is significant as it the place to study sunmudo (선무도). Sunmudo is a special form of martial arts. So the next day was an opportunity to try sunmudo.

Sunmudo

After lunch we had to try to get back like the rest of Korea in order to work the next day. At the bus terminal we had purchased tickets back to Seoul for Wednesday morning, but with traffic it was projected that it would take a lot longer to get back, so we tried to trade in the tickets for something that same day and it was completely sold out. We over heard a gentleman buying tickets for Suwon and we traded in our tickets right then and there. Before we left we bought some gyeongjuppang (경주빵) to take back to our coworker.

The food at the temple was simple, vegan and very tasty.

Rice and Vegetables

Rice, Tofu, Vegetables, Soup

Rice, Vegetables, Kimchi

On My Trip to Vietnam

On My Trip to Vietnam. While Seoul has not been empty or dead by any means the it’s-summer-and-everyone-is-on-vacation vibe is seriously strong. Working at a hagwon usually means that vacations are no more than a week or two weeks long depending on your contract. My contract permits a specific numbers of days which I was able to manipulate into two weeks (taken at separate times, with the help of national holidays). This past week I had my first week. I’ve done a fair share of traveling around SoKo so far, but a week-long vacation is the chance take advantage of my current geographical location. This time around I choose a trip to Vietnam.

I traveled alone, which proved to be easier on many fronts. For a few examples of how this worked in my favor; I called up Asiana to make the flight reservation and they found a relatively inexpensive seat on an already packed plane for me. Then, when my old, non-RDIF chip’d passport didn’t allow for me to self check-in and the line for international flights was ridiculous (even after arriving the appropriate 2 hours before departure) resulted in my missing my flight, I was put on another one that evening, no problem. Traveling solo also provided me with questionable, but good alternatives for sleeping, transportation and, of course, new adventures.

Vietnam is approximately a 5 hour flight from Seoul with a 2 hour time change. In total my trip covered three cities. The commercial capital – Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon), the cultural capital – Hoi An, and the political capital – Hanoi. I had read and read in preparation for my trip, but I hadn’t booked anything in advance. I arrived with in Saigon with a Lonely Planet and a few papers with maps and hostel names. Vietnam requires U.S. citizens to go through a visa process in order to enter the country. A few weeks before my trip I contacted on online agency in order to get my visa. I paid a small fee and within a few days I was sent three pages of names and countries of origin of other travelers, stamps and a few signatures on it. I took care of the needed passport photos at Incheon airport and then when I arrived to the airport in Vietnam I filled out another form with Immigration, handed over my documents and paid $25 US and that was it. Bureaucratic, but simple. At Incheon I had also exchanged won to US dollars and then at Tan Son Nhat airport I exchanged some of those dollars to dong. I had read that in Vietnam it is good to carry both dollars and dong.

My first stop was Saigon. As I left the airport I was bombarded with taxi cab drivers offering me rides into the city. I eventually went with one out of shear overwhelm. I was super confused by the three currencies in my wallet and the value of goods and services and did end up being really overcharged. Aside from the bit about being overcharged, the ride was a good. It took 30 minutes to the city centre. The cab driver was very friendly and entertaining. He took me to the hostel I had pointed out on the map and gave me additional directions through the damp sketchy alley that the hostel is located down. That particular hostel didn’t have any beds available. The smiley man working assured me that there were many places around that would have beds and he offered that if I couldn’t find anything I could come back to rest in the lobby of his place. Well right next door I found a room at the Nga Hoang Hotel. I got there at midnight and the man working at the time was also super smiley and friendly. I spent two nights in this hostel. The rooms were clean, it was cheap, the location was ideal, there was wifi and there was breakfast included, but the woman who ran the place and operated the front desk during the day was really unpleasant.

Alley

Tradition

Religion

The first day I wandered about the streets of the city centre and went to the Ben Thanh market, the History Museum, Cong Vien Van Park and walked along the Ben Nghe Channel. It rained for a period in the afternoon, but I found a spot for a cà phê sữa đá under an umbrella at a rotary (roundabout) and eventually the rain ran its course. Between crossing the street through all the motorbikes and watching the older woman on bicycles peddling fruit, the streets of Ho Chi Minh are easily a day’s worth of entertainment, without having to enter a museum or take a tour. In the evening I went to the busy street around the corner from the hostel for a beer and a bánh mì on the lively Phạm Ngũ Lão street and did more observing.

Modern Life

Motor Bikes During Rush Hour

More Bikes

A Woman with her Bicycle

Another Woman and her Bicycle

Park Entrance

History Museum

Inside the Museum

Scultures

Temple

Dragon

Phạm Ngũ Lão

Sandwich Stand

The second day I went on a day tour of the Mekong Delta. When I returned to the city I went back to the Ben Thanh market and then went to the Reunification building, before catching an 11pm train to Da Nang. The Reunification Palace was this incredibly grand and decadent building on the top, but underneath were the office used by the military.

Auditorium at the Reunification Building

Signage

Basement Office

I had a rough time finding the train station and ended up catching a cab. The man was again, very friendly, but did not speak any English at all. Finding the word “train” in Vietnamese using my guidebook saved me as we were already headed in the opposite direction.

Worship

The train ride was 16 hours along the coastal country side. It was really nice. I shared a cabin/room with a Vietnamese family who had pulled out a bunch of electronics an started working away. I slept through the night portion of the trip but was able to watch the passing landscape for a good chunk of the daylight hours. The people I shared the cabin with didn’t speak much English, but were very kind and helpful when communication worked out. They even went out of their way to find me in the dining car when they were leaving and told me to be careful with my pack since they were no longer going to be around to keep an eye on it.

Train

A Guest in My Cabin on the Train

After arriving in Da Nang I met a British couple and a German man and we split a cab for the hour-long ride to Hoi An. He dropped us off right outside the Old Quarter. I immediately found a bed at the Hoa My Hotel. This was a point where traveling solo worked out, as they were technically full, but the smiling woman working at the front desk showed me that there was a corner under the stairs that had a bed and a flimsy plastic door/wall and that served me just fine. That afternoon and evening I walked along the roads of the Old Quarter and the Thu Bon River. The central city of Hoi An is really special as it wasn’t visually effected by war and the old French and Chinese structures stand strong, colorful and beautiful. This is a place that many people go to have clothes made and tailors here are inexpensive and talented (although I did not get anything made).

Along the River

Busy Market

Tailors Everywhere

Old Quarter Corner

Buildings and Bikes

Chinese Architecture

The Japanese Bridge

Temple

Field

Temple

The following day I went on a day tour to Mỹ Sơn. This was about half a day and once I returned to Hoi An I walked the streets of the Old Quarter and visited the Central Market and caught the Mexico vs. Brazil game.

Mexico vs. Brazil

The Japanese Bridge at Night

Lanterns

The next day I took off on the Open Bus tour to Hanoi. This again was a 16 hour trip. The Open Bus wasn’t bad at all. It was very different from taking the train as it is marketed toward budget backpackers, but there was still a mix of Vietnamese and foreigners and it was comfortable. This is definitely the best budget option when traveling in Vietnam.

I arrived in Hanoi early the next morning and was dropped off right in the central part of the city. I took the day to stroll around Hoan Kiem lake and the Old Quarter, but then hopped on the Vietnam Air shuttle (for $2 US) and went straight to Noi Bai airport to catch my 11pm flight back to Seoul.

In Hanoi

Hoan Kiem

The trip was very, very fast, but good. It gave me a good introduction for the trip I have planned around South East Asia in Winter. While traveling I started and finished The Tunnels of Cu Chi, which is a place I did not visit this time around, but a book that certainly encouraged my interest in Vietnam.

On Mudfest 2011

On Mudfest 2011. A friend and I headed to Boryeong a few weeks ago to attend the famous Mudfest. I had known about Mudfest prior to coming out to Korea and it was on a list of things to do while here. Upon further research I started to fear that it might be a Spring Break kind of thing. Which it is, but it actually wasn’t bad. I had a lot of fun. This was impart because my travelling friend is a lot of fun.

That Saturday morning we met to the Express Bus Terminal and had to wait almost 5 hours for the next available bus. Luckily for us this bus terminal is also a bit of a tourist attraction with a huge mall attached. Luckily for me my friend tells stories that are straight out of a David Sedaris book and luckily for her I know how to make a mean kalimotxo. When we finally did get on our bus the journey was fairly short.

Express Bus Terminal

The bus dropped us off right at the beach, where we hung out for a while.

Daecheon Beach

More Beach

A Little Muddy

In the evening watched a bit of the show consisting of a number of Korean singers and rappers, with chicken and beer.

: Chicken. Beer.

The Show

We had a rough time trying to find a place to sleep that night, but after many a misunderstanding in both Korean and English, but we figured it out. *Word to the wise, go to Mudfest in a big group, a place to sleep is cheaper and there is no jimjilbang in the beach area.

The next day we joined the festivities. It is said that the mud is good for your skin, for me (and I don’t think I’m alone here) this is just an opportunity to get dirty and be silly, which was just fine.

Mud Pit

Really Muddy

Clean Again

We were able to buy return KTX tickets at the beach and we headed out that same day.

On the Noryangjin Fish Market (노량진수산시장)

On the Noryangjin Fish Market (노량진수산시장). Recently I went to the Noryangjin Fish Market with some friends.

Noryangjin Fish Market

The market is located off of line 1, the Noryangjin stop. You take exit 1, cross over the bridge and go downstairs and you are there. Very easy. I was instantly amazed by the market, it’s very big and there is almost any kind of seafood you could imagine.

Market View From Upstairs

Market View From Ground Level

We walked around the market for quite some time just amazed by the huge selection.

Mussels (홍합)

Spoon Worms (개불) and Sea Squirts (멍게)

Octopus (문어)

I will save you in case you aren’t interested in looking at the pictures of soon to be seafood, but if you are interested you can see the rest of my photos here.

After we made our seafood selection, we went with some 5 prawn for 5 chon won and an Olive Flounder (also known as a Bastard Halibut or 광어) for around 20 chon won. I didn’t get any photos of our fish because there was a situation involving an escapee and everything happened very fast, the next thing I knew the man was saying “sashimi?” and then we had a styrofoam plate with cellophane noodles and a beautiful array of sashimi.

Sashimi

We were guided to a restaurant upstairs that would prepare our prawn and they made us jjigae out of the remaining bits of the fish.

Prawn (왕새우)

Jjigae

Wrap

The whole experience was really interesting.

On Dr. Fish in Gangnam

On Dr. Fish in Gangnam. Dr. Fish are fish that eat the dead skin off of your feet. Lovely, right? It was a very interesting experience, but one that I would highly recommend.

Dr. Fish

It was a rainy day and I wanted some adventuring, so I decided it was about time to try out the famed Dr. Fish so I looked it up and found that there are two locations. One in Sinchon and one in Gangnam. Both off of the line 2. To get to the one in Gangnam, you go to Gangnam station take exit 6 and walk straight until you see BSX – a clothing store – on your left. It is right above that on the second floor. It is called “Books and Coffee Cafe.”

Han-chan Coppee Juseyo

First you order a coffee or tea and the cashier will ask you if you also want “fish” to which, of course, you reply, “huh?”, then you say “oh, right…neh.”