A little Egyptian music...

Amr Diab is my favorite Egyptian singer. I love every song of his that I have heard. He is 44 years old, with at least 22 albums, the first of which was released in 1983.

Cyrine Abd Al-Nour - Law Bass Fi Aini

I'm not sure what the meaning of the song is, but I like it. Cyrine Abd Al-Nour is , I think, Lebanese.

Last Sunday... the Shark Dive

Last Sunday started out fairly early... being that we had been up very late the night before. I was up by about 8:30 or so in order to get ready and have some breakfast. Our hostel had a decent breakfast for 7000 won. We had to be at the aquarium by 10:30. We tried to find some underwater cameras before going, but were out of luck. Oh well. Maybe next time. There were 10 people diving Sunday, and we were split into 2 groups. Those in the first group were the ones that had to catch an earlier train. Before being split off, we all had a bit of classroom training to start off the day. There were also many forms to be filled out, so that if the sharks decided they were hungry, we couldn't sue for damages. After the classroom time, those of us in the second group were free to go for a couple of hours. Nialls and I just stuck around the aquarium. The others, an older woman that none of us knew, and a couple that I hadn't really met before, but were friends of the group, went out to do their own things... eat?
The aquarium is quite nice, but it is just a small aquarium. No whales or dolphins or anything like that. Not even a sea lion! Their biggest exhibit is the huge shark tank, with 2 plexi tunnels going along/under it and windows on almost all sides. We watched the first group's pre dive training, done on a little ledge just over one of the tunnels. The training includes breathing, emptying water from the mask, clearing/de-pressurizing the ears, emptying the regulator (mouthpiece), and using the secondary regulator (a second one on the instructor, Michael's tank). While they were doing their training, one of the giant green sea turtles was hanging around, and ended up biting 3 of the guys on the ankle, one of them twice!!! They were laughing... We were laughing so hard. It looked so funny from below. They guys doing the training were supposed to be paying attention to Michael, but were also trying to keep a close eye on the turtle. Michael had to push the turtle away several times before it finally got the hint.
When they finished their turn in the tank, it was our turn. We got our suits on and then all of the gear. It is all SO heavy!!! One would think that the weight belt (~12 kg?) and the tank would keep you weighted to the bottom, but it does not. Even with all of that weight on, it felt like I was going to float away. Anyway, the training went without any problems. The turtle, thankfully, left us alone. After the bit of training it was time to descend into the tank. I had some trouble going down though, as my left ear would not pop, and was getting painful. I had to go back up before even reaching the bottom, to wait until the others were down before trying again. The second time down, it was okay. Michael said that he often has trouble and has to go up and down. It is such a cool feeling to be underwater walking around. It was not scary at all, even with the sharks and giant groupers swimming around us. After some photos (Michael had an underwater camera... and yes it is a very strange photo of me... I look a bit demented), we had a nice tour of the tank. All the while, people on the outside were waving and taking pictures. I think they were more interested in watching us than the fish and sharks that were in the tank. A bunch of waygooks (foreigners) in scuba gear... underwater! What a sight!!!
I wish we could have stayed down there longer. The time went by way too quickly.
Anyway... the sharks...
There are several kinds of sharks in the tank. The first link is pics of the actual ones in the tank. The biggest ones (and the most numerous) are the sand tiger sharks (also known as gray nurse sharks). They are very big and mean looking, but are fairly harmless. They are interesting in that they give birth to 2 babies, from 2 separate uterine chambers. It starts out with several eggs in each chamber, but the first to hatch, or the strongest in each, eats the others [more info]. Then there is the lemon shark [info]. There are 2 VERY COOL looking leopard sharks (also known as zebra sharks). When they are young, they have stripes, so although a leopard cannot change its spots, apparently, a zebra can change it stripes [more info]. There are a few white-tipped reef sharks, as well [info].
The other fish in the tank include 3 HUGE groupers [info]. We were told that the groupers (or one of them) ate several of the smaller sharks that were in the tank. We were told that one of the groupers, which just happens to be the biggest one, is quite stubborn, and if it is in your way, find another way, as it won't move. Apparently, in Australia, a giant grouper was caught, and when it was cut open, they found a human head. The green sea turtles, I've already mentioned. There are two of them in the tank. There are also dart fish, rays (the ones that haven't been eaten by the lemon shark), snappers, and plenty of other fish that I won't mention. There is a school of tuna swimming around, that were meant to be food for the lemon shark (it likes to have live fish to eat, not pre-killed) but are, obviously still there. The lemon shark decided to be picky and only wanted live rays and such, and so kept feasting on the other fish that were meant to be in the tank. As a result, they have a hard time keeping any rays or smaller sharks for people to see.
More photos; some of what is in the shark tank, some of creatures that are in other parts of the aquarium. And more photos of the shark tank fish (some of which I've used as links), and the other people diving that weekend.

Chusok gift giving

Chusok is sort of like Christmas in terms of the gift giving. Every store here now has displays of gift packs and such. Everything from cosmetics and soaps to SPAM and olive oil. Yes, they love SPAM here. I'll try to get a picture of one of the SPAM gift sets.
The kindy school gave each of the teachers a gift set. In the gift set, there are:
*3 kinds of toothpaste: Original, Green Tea, and Multi-Vitamin.
*4 kinds of soap: Blue Chip anti-bacterial soap, Moisturizing Milk Bar, and Fruit Essence Soap in Peach and Apple.
*2 bottles of shampoo
*1 bottle of rince
*2 boxes of hair treatment samples.
My boss at LCC says she will talk to the boss at Wooil, as the set isn't exactly suitable for me. I don't really need 6 tubes of toothpaste (not to mention the fact that I only use Sensodyne due to having super sensitive gums), 6 bars of soap or more shampoo (I already have more than a year's supply of shampoo from a set that I got when I arrived here). It's a great set if you have a family to share it with. I think most of the gift sets are more for families rather than single people living alone. I'm not sure what I will get instead, or if I will just keep this gift set.

"teacher, teacher, 'reach for the sky'"

The Min-dal-lei or Dandelion class is one of my Korean 7 year old classes (6 year olds). The teachers of the Dandelion class are more relaxed and easy-going than some of the other teachers. Don't get me wrong... they are great teachers and really care about the students, but they sometimes just let the kids be kids. Some of the other teachers are very controlling, even when I am trying to have to children do activities and such. At times, the Dandelion class children get away with a lot more than those in other classes. As a result, certain activities are more fun, and definitely more active. Some of the songs we sing, such as 'Head and shoulders' and the 'Hokey Pokey' are very different in that class than in others. Another action song, called 'Clap Your Hands' is EXTREMELY different. I only do it for that class as a treat if they are being good, as they absolutely go nuts for it. They call it the 'reach for the sky' song and beg for me to play it every day. The song goes:

Clap your hands;
Touch your toes;
Turn around and put your finger on your nose.
Flap your arms;
Jump up high;
Wiggle your fingers and reach for the sky.

The lyrics seem pretty simple. The thing with the Dandelion class, though, is that at one point, while singing the song, one student got the bright idea of standing on his chair to be able to reach higher. They all love that I can touch the ceiling of their classroom, and try to reach as high as they possibly can. Then they all started jumping on their chairs for the end of the song, and then up onto the tables.

So now, they think it is the greatest song ever, because they are allowed to jump up onto the tables for it. The teachers keep a close eye on the students, but let them have their fun.

Today they started jumping on the tables for the 'Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed' song. Every time they jump up onto the tables, I worry that one is actually going to fall off and really bump his head.

Chusok activities...

Yesterday and today at the kindy, the classes are doing Chusok activities and games. Half of the classes had their turn yesterday, the rest of them today. As a result, I only have half classes. Yay!!! Too bad they weren't all in a row. All of the classes that had their turn today were dressed up in their traditional clothes, teachers included. I think almost all Koreans own a Hanbok.

There were traditional Korean games and activities set up outside.

[A little relay race of collecting 'chestnuts' in little baskets.][Throwing arrows into a barrel.][A traditional Korean see-saw, done standing, rather than sitting. The participants jump to make it move, trying to go as high as possible.][A Korean version of the hackey sack... basically a bunch or ribbons or string tied together. For the kids, it is attached to a string.][Korean style wrestling.]

The children also did a couple of little performances.

[Traditional Korean drums.][Sangmo- a hat with a twirly thingy attached to the top. The wearer moves his head in a certain way to make the ribbon move around the head and body.]

Professional sangmo performers have very long ribbons on their hats. It is very interesting to watch. Professional performers also do flips and such while twirling the ribbon. The kids had trouble even getting the ribbon to go around, but they had fun, although some of their hats would not stay on top of their heads.

Many of the parents were around to watch the games and performances, and of course, take pictures.

Hanbok

Saturday

I did finally make it to Busan. The train ride went fairly quickly, though I was half asleep for most of it. The KTX is really fast. I think it averaged around 295 for most of the trip.
Once in Busan, I made my way to the hostel to meet my friends. We all then went for some much needed coffee. They hadn't slept much, either, although for different reasons. Most of them had started drinking on the train ride down there and hadn't stopped once they arrived. They were up until the wee hours of the morning, I think. Thank goodness for Starbucks. It was a nice walk to get there. After we had our fix, we headed for the subway.
Only some of the group were diving Saturday, so the rest of us that were there that morning went to see Beomunsa Temple. It was a very nice hike up to the temple, but my body is still feeling it. The temple was very busy due to Chusok coming up in a couple of weeks. There were lanterns hung up everywhere and craft tables for people to make mini lotus flowers and such. There were also displays of Korean art and photography. After wandering around for a while up there, we made our way back down and then went for a visit to sauna.
The sauna we went to claims to be the largest sauna in Asia. I had never really been to a sauna here before. I had only been to a jimjilbang, which is a co-ed sauna, where you are given a tshirt and shorts to wear. The other saunas are segregated. Basically public baths. Yianni was the only guy with us at the time, so he was on his own. The rest of us (only 4 at the time) had a great time jumping from bath to bath. It is like hot tubs all over the place of varying temperature, size, aroma or feature. We tried out the pepper aroma bath (looked kinda like tea, didn't smell like anything, comfortable hot), the jasmine bath (purplish water, no smell, warm but not hot), a salt bath (salty, very hot), a cold water bath next to the salt water bath (kinda icy cold, good for circulation?), a yellow mud bath, a few other baths inside as well as a couple of the open air baths (outside with shades all the way around): we tried the VERY HOT, and comfortable hot pools, but avoided the VERY cold one. We then had a nice scrub down. A body scrub, face massage and hair shampoo was I think 20000 won(? I forget). It was a bit strange at first, since you are completely naked. Not to mention the fact that the little old ladies that are doing the scrubbing were also naked. They are quite rough, too. They give you a good scrubbing to get all of the dead skin off. It rolls off, actually, in what some of my Korean friends refer to as skin noodles.
When we were finished at the sauna, we felt so relaxed. It would be nice to do that before going to bed.
We met up with the rest of the group, those that had gone diving that day and those that had arrived that day or were doing other things for the day. We all went to a nice little dwaeji kalbi (marinated pork) restaurant that overlooked Haeundae beach. Sorry... no pics of the meal.
We finished off our day down on beach doing some good old drinking.

an interesting take on things

I found this article, about Muslim reactions to the pope's speech and other things, very interesting.

Ramadan Kareem

For all of my Muslim friends... Happy Ramadan!!
For those of you that aren't, and didn't know, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan started this weekend.