Mr. Pan
All of my students had a sketch book that they would draw in when they were not on their toys day (they alternated). Some of them are fantastic artists; creative and skilled. I was surprised at how good some of them are. They are much better than I am yet they are only 6 (they just turned Korean age 8)! I should have taken pictures of more of their work, as I loved them all. Here are some of Jason's drawings.
Little characters before coloring:
A couple of close-ups:
Cute!
A couple of close-ups:
Smog?
"I AM PASSED FOR WIND THE RIDER GO AWAY"
The first outing (January 25th) was to Vivaldi Park, which is a couple of hours north east of Seoul. As we had someone driving, we left very early and returned the same day in the evening (though in hindsight, we should have made plans to just stay there for the night).
The resort was not very busy (due to it being the Lunar New Year long weekend), which was great since 3 of us were beginners. The hill has 12 slopes and the snow was great. It had been snowing so it was all fresh and it continued to snow on and off when we were there.
The menu at the cafeteria had us rolling on the floor - the item at the bottom of the menu says, "Squid three dual beam blows". Ummmm. What is that? The Korean says it is Osambulgogi, which is a pork and squid dish. I suppose the "three dual beam" refers to the samgyupsal, which is 3 layer pork belly (similar to bacon but cut thicker).
The evening time was great. With the lights on, it was easy to see and there were a lot less people. Quite peaceful, actually, though they do have Korean music playing all day from loud speakers on the lift posts.
The second boarding trip (February 8th) was to Bears Town for a morning of boarding. We got up really early and took a taxi to the hill (because of where we were at the time, it was much easier to do that than to go to one of the bus pick up points). Bears town is fairly close to Seoul, just to the northeast. Bears Town is a fairly popular place for day trips from Seoul.
It has 11 slopes and is fairly easy to get to. When we went, though, it wasn't so great. Pretty much the entire hill was ice covered in man made snow, which was pretty much tiny little balls of ice. If you fall, you hit hard, and keep sliding for quite a ways. It is hard to get up as there is nothing to grip. Several times I had to slide a ways down to find a spot to grip. It is much harder to board on ice, as there is no resistance and the board just wants to fly out from under you. My legs certainly got a good workout trying to keep me up!! I fell a lot more this trip than I did the trip to Vivaldi Park. My tailbone survived - when I fell I purposely landed more flat on my back rather than on my butt. I did manage to hurt my elbow, though. sort of hyper extended it. I was feeling that for the following week. It is okay now for the most part.In South Korea, vigilanti 'paparazzi' patrol the streets
Reporting from Seoul -- With his dapper red scarf and orange-tinted hair, Kim Rae-in is a card-carrying member of the "paparazzi" posse, cruising across Seoul on his beat-up motorcycle on the lookout for the next "gotcha" moment.
He's not stalking starlets or pop singers. He's after the real money-making snaps: the slouching salary man lighting up in a no-smoking area, the homeowner illegally dumping trash, the corner merchant selling stale candy to kids.
The former gas station attendant isn't choosy. Even small crime pays big time -- more than $3,000 last month alone, he says. "It's good money. I'll never go back to pumping gas. I feel free now."
The skinny 34-year-old is among a new breed of candid-camera bugs across South Korea -- referred to as paparazzi, though their subjects are not the rich and famous, but low-grade lawbreakers, whose actions are caught on film that is peddled as evidence to government officials.
In recent years, officials here have enacted more than 60 civilian "reporting" programs that offer rewards ranging from as little as 50,000 won, or about $36, for the smallest infractions to 2 billion won, or $1.4 million, for reporting a large-scale corruption case involving government officials. (That one has yet to be made.)
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[to read the rest of the article click here]
Only the day before, the leaves were still on the trees, but due to a couple of VERY windy days, all of a sudden the leaves were gone.
You can sure tell where the Gingko trees are by the yellow circle of leaves under them.
I love the trees here. My favorite is the Gingko tree. The leaves are so different, and they turn a bright yellow in the fall. Some of the trees have gigantic leaves and bark that looks like camouflage. We don't have them back home.
There are other trees with big leaves, too. I'm not sure what they are, either.
For some reason, no Korean I've asked knows what any of the trees are. You can see my school through the trees at this corner of the park. My desk overlooks the park from the 3rd floor.
I love parks. 
:)
[my table]
[Monica's table]
I think it might be the most expensive field trip of the year. The tables were set with white linens, silverware, and all.
The starter was some sort of shrimp salad. The food was brought out and then a speaker went up to the front to talk to the kids about what was on the table, which fork or spoon to use for what, which bread plate etc. belonged to whom. It was amusing to watch how all of the kids dealt with not being able to use their fingers, and not being allowed to use a spoon for everything (Koreans use chopsticks and spoons for everything). Some did very well. A few resorted to using their fingers (trying to be sneaky about it) every now and then.
Jane was trying her hardest not to use her fingers. She had no idea what the green vegetable was that was decorating her shrimp salad, and was determined to get it off. The main course was specifically made for the kids, and not a normal dish that would be served at a proper event. It was hamburger steak and omelrice (thinly fried egg around a ball of rice) with ketchup on top.
Ashley did so well using the knife and fork, even though she could barely reach over the edge of the table. She could actually comfortably rest her chin on the table (which she had done when we first arrived and sat down).
Alvin was so cute trying to do it exactly the way the presenter showed. Really, Alvin needed to wash his whole face (which applied to a quite a few of the students).
The desert was half of a banana with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, with whipped cream and chocolate syrup drizzled on top. Yum!! The kids enjoyed the fact that they were finally allowed to use the spoon that they had been eying since they started eating (though some did sneakily use it for the main dish).
At a country hof/restaurant with little cabins, each with a fireplace, filled with wooden tables and chairs and at least half a dozen large fire pits between cabins, around which the patrons can sit (though there is no service at these outside fires).
