Summer 2012: June

Hey everyone,

My time in Korea is coming to an end quickly! I can’t believe how fast two years have gone by, and that in a month I’ll be gone, just like that. Last week began the goodbye process for a few people and one of my schools, and from here on out it’s only going to get worse. Luckily I won’t have to say goodbye to my main school and most of my closest friends until right before I leave, so my plan is to just leave that to future Gina to deal with next month.

So for now, as much as I’d like to dig deep, philosophize, and tell you how much my experience in Korea has changed me, as it is definitely necessary for some rumination and reflection, I’m going to save that for another day. Instead, I’ll keep things light and simple by taking you through the summer with me, as I’ve been lucky enough to continue to travel and explore new parts of this wonderful country in the little time I have left. My weekends were filled up at the beginning of summer, in an effort to jam pack as much as possible with the people who matter most to me, and so far the summer has been a whirlwind of fun - so much so that it seems to all blur together in one big wave.

But I’ll sort through that and try to be a bit more comprehensive for you here, as we start with the first of many birthday events this summer: celebrating Johnny’s birthday with a beach camping weekend. We headed to a new beach, not too far away on the east coast. It was quiet, remote, and peaceful....until we came along, of course.

What’s a birthday without a birthday pinata?

Or birthday watermelon?

Or everyone wearing pink shorts in honor of the birthday boy?

Obviously it’s not a birthday without all of the above components. But one of the best parts about this birthday was...that it was smack dab on the beach, in the sand, with tents, a campfire, sunsets, grilling, live music, and fantastic company. Can’t ask for much more than that.

Next up: Yeosu World Expo 2012

This year Korea had the honor of hosting the 2012 World Expo in Yeosu, a cute little city on the southeastern coast, which has been building and preparing for years in anticipation for the millions of expected visitors from May to August. I was lucky enough to get to take not one, but two trips to the Expo with my school. Why did we go twice? Because we had to miss the night time light show the first time, so after exams the school decided to treat the students and take them back for the show - which was definitely worth the hour and a half drive back.

The Expo’s theme this year is “The Living Ocean and Coast,” which aims to “shed light on humankind’s knowledge and advancement of technology concerning the ocean and coast and identify ways to resolve challenges facing the ocean.” (Wikipedia)

I had no idea what to expect from a World Expo, which made it fun to explore and enjoy. You can picture it as a sort of small amusement park, . My favorite area was the International Pavilion venue, which is where each country who chose to participate set up their pavilion. A pavilion was usually a large room, designed as a sort of self-tour, with displays not only about the country and its connection with water but also ideas for preservation, conservation, and innovation in terms of water supply.

So basically, my two favorite things in the world, foreign countries and water motifs, were fused together and put on display, complete with lots of the color blue. I was happy as a clam walking around, reading the exhibits, enjoying the displays, taking pictures and of course, sampling some of the national food at nearly every pavilion. I was incredibly impressed with all of the technology used at the displays, which made the visual appeal stunning. In addition, there were live music performances, street performances, lots of mascots and characters roaming around, and of course, hundreds of people.

One area that deserves an honorable mention was the Expo Digital Gallery (seen in the above left picture, and also in the first picture behind the little cartoony things), which was a huge LED panel display screen that showed different scenes related to the ocean and coast.

Overall it was a really fun day, running into my students here and there, meeting up with the teachers for a meal, and enjoying the world event. The second time around we came in the late afternoon, so I only had time for a few more pavilions before the highly impressive Yeosu Big O Show, which you can find on YouTube if you’re curious. I told my students later that “my mouth became the big O,” because I was so amazed.

The next special event that came up was...my birthday! I had a double celebration this year, as my kids and fellow teachers helped me celebrate on Friday at school, and then my actual birthday was the next day. All those years of being deprived of celebrating my birthday during the school year have now been justified by my past two Korean birthday celebrations at school.

The first class of the day was a wonderful surprise, as some of my third grade girls surprised me with a mini-birthday party, complete with presents, cards, a book they made for me, a cake, and decorations in the English room! Sweethearts.

In the afternoon I was surprised yet again with a little party in the teacher’s office, where the staff and I proceeded to take out an entire watermelon, a pan of brownies, and half a cake within about ten minutes. It was impressive.

Mankato!

Not creepy at all, Jason.

Sara came up for the weekend, along with two of my friends from Mankato, who are now teaching elsewhere in Korea. We showed them around Gwangju for a little bit in the afternoon, then got ready for the evening. The night was so much fun, as many of my Gwangju and orientation friends came to help celebrate - after a great dinner we headed downtown for a night out, complete with karaoke and dancing. 

That's it for June, folks, take care until next time. Enjoy the rest of your summer!