So last weekend we had a girl's (Becca, Chelsey, Lily, Megan, Me) weekend in Daegu and the guys went to Masan. We left Saturday afternoon, went shopping at some second hand shops, walked around, checked into our love motel and then went to dinner. We ate at a restaurant called 2nd which was ... well, strange, as most things in Korea are. We walked down an empty wine bottle lined staircase to get into the restaurant. It was barely lit and had a neat little fountain in the center, surrounded by more empty wine bottles. There were low tables and regular tables, most with curtains to make them more private. We got a regular table along a wall and, after receiving our food, closed the curtains because we thought it would be more fun
. So the ambiance was cool but for one thing: the music. They had the horrible Korea pop playing. It definitely did not fit the mood the restaurant was going for. But, we mostly ignored it and enjoyed our meals. They served western style food, so it was a nice change. Plus they had some decent beers which was a marvelous change. I got a Pilsner Urquell as did Lily, Megan had a Hoegaarden and Becca and Chelsey shared a bottle of wine.
So we ordered our food and shortly after we got these...
We were amazed. You are seeing correctly. Those are little tiny glasses holding Cheese Puff Balls, Maraschino cherries and a few little pretzels. There were exactly 6 cheese balls. We asked for seconds- we just couldn't resist. After eating we went to another bar, had a few (very few) beers and called it a night around 12. All in all, a good day. And then on Sunday, we were walking past some more second hand shops when I saw this:
Those are some chickens in a cage. Right outside a second hand shop. Why, I ask? I'm sure we will never know.
So on to the students. They are from an all girls school, they are about 13, I have the most advanced students, they are annoying. All of them are constantly taking pictures of us with there cell phones. Some of my students were filming me on their phones this morning while I was talking to them. They really don't listen to me at all. They shout all the time. They ask questions constantly. And they say hi
everytime they see you. We just walk past them now with out
acknowledging them. I'm pretty sure that isn't mean. It's just a way to preserve our sanity. My students groan
everytime I try to teach them something. I want elementary kids back!
This was the best poster from this week. Actually, from any week. The girl in the middle, Squirrel, is kind of annoying and shouts a lot, but she knows a lot of English. I guess last year she went to L.A. for a speaking competition.
I'm not sure why they want to take pictures so much but never show their faces, alas, it's what they do.
This group used pastels to color their poster and were covered with green and black by the end of the class. One of the girls has some green on her face. Special.
Today we took a field trip to the Bakjin War Museum. It was established at the southern most point the North Korean Army advanced during the Korean War.
The area depicted by the '1' shows the land that was not taken by the North. There are basically two cities there- Busan and Masan. Namji, the town where the museum is located (about 30 minutes from here) is located roughly at the bend on that line. The war started early on June 25 and by August 4, the Northern army made it that far. It's pretty impressive. The museum was interesting to me, but the students didn't care. Most of the information was written in Hangul, but some was in English so I learned a bit. I knew pretty much nothing about the Korean War. It was cool to see the museum, even if the girls were annoying, as usual.
Here is a picture of my favorite sign in the museum:
It says "The Korean war, After the war (It Has Not Ended.) It was written many different places. Of course, it is a true statement, just the way it is written is humorous to me.
This is a U.S. tank that was outside the museum. It's an M-47 tank developed in 1952.
This is an 8: Howitzer developed in 1953:
And here is a M557 USA Landing Vehicle:
It that the way they are supposed to be painted? I don't know. It wouldn't surprise me if the Koreans did that cause they liked the way it looks...
Here are all my little monsters. Again, with the peace signs.
P.S.- This week I told my students that Hangul is not an important language. Oops! Haha, they did not like that. Oh well, they were pissing me off.
