Thursday was Pepero Day. This is a slimmed down version of Cadbury's Fingers, or a pencil shaped biscuit dipped 3/4 in chocolate. I started noticing big boxes in the stores made up like valentines candy. A normal sized box just smaller than a DVD is .75 cents and has about a dozen sticks. So in anticipation, a 'special announcement' was made at the school that there is to be 'no pepero' on pepero day or the school would be littered with empty wrappers. However, k...

Last weekend decided to visit the Haeinsa Temple about an hour outside Daegu. This is one of the three most important temples in korea and forms the 'golden triangle' of these three temples. The temple is important as it houses the 'Tripitaka Koreana' wooden scrolls with writings from the 11th century. The originals were destroyed when the Mongols raided so replacements were created in the 13th century. The wood was soaked in seawater for three years, then cut an...

I was watching The Simpsons late one night.. dubbed in korean!.. also got my gas, electricity, and cable bills for Sept.. Gas $7, Electricity $15, Cable $7... guess I'll be investing in those big flashing neon signs to leave on all night! Kids are still playing up so I made one group stay behind to clean up the classroom.. then I hear a chorus of 'teacher I love you', 'teacher you are handsome', but it was too late to use the charm offensive!Last weekend stayed i...

So the Baekje kingdom in the west was the rival to the Silla kingdom in the east (whose capital Gyeongju I went to last weekend). The Baekje had two capitals Buyeo and Gongju at different times. By the 7th centure the Silla kingdom in the east united with the Baekje beginning the unified Silla rule and ending the Baekje dynasty. There is now a month long festival in the two Baekje cities Buyeo and Gongju to celebrate the Baekje heritage in collaboration with Chin...

this week is exams again and classes are cancelled for two days. the teachers all went on a hiking trip to mount palgonson just outside chilgok. first we all had what could be described as a company christmas lunch. we all went to this chalet in the mountains and had bibimbab(rice). then they did presentations and awards. they used me in this charades game and i had to guess five words they were miming out. afterwards we went hiking in mount palgonsan. they forgo...