Guess what we bought and our trip to shrine!

 

 

 

So, I am attaching to this a review that I did for the local international center about this trip that we went on, so I can remember where we went and what we learned!

On September 22, the GIC headed out to Yeongam.  The group included both Koreans and foreigners, and was led by GIC tour guide Warren.  It was a great day for hiking, learning, and enjoying the beauty of Korea.

We began the tour by traveling to Wulchulsan, or Moon Rising Mountain.  At the base of the mountain lies the Historic Site of Dr. Wangin, a famous Korean scholar who is known for bringing Korean culture and Chinese lettering to Japan during the 3^rd or 4^th century.  The current site in Yeongam dedicated to him is important for two reasons; it provides Koreans with a sense of pride in their history, and also helps in fostering and nurturing the relationship between Korea and Japan.  At Dr. Wangin’s Historic Site, we saw two exhibit rooms detailing Dr. Wangin’s life, and then walked the beautiful grounds, where we saw the shrine to Dr. Wangin and the site where tradition says his childhood home was located.  We also walked to a nearby spring; legend says that Dr. Wangin’s mother drank from this spring when she was pregnant, and the waters endowed Dr. Wangin with his intellect.  Everyone took turns drinking from the spring, in hopes that we would inherit some intellectual prowess or perhaps will pass it on to our children. My husband and I both drank from the spring, so look for a Nobel Laureate with the last name Levinson in about 30 years. J

Climbing higher into the mountain, we followed a trail to reach a cave; legend has it that Dr. Wangin would study here before he left to Japan.  Due to this legend, hundreds of years ago many students would come to study in this cave, and at the entrance is a large, 1,000 year old carving of Dr. Wangin.  After exploring the cave we climbed a bit higher to reach the summit, and take in the beautiful view of Yeongam.

After climbing down the mountain, we travelled to a local restaurant where we enjoyed a delicious meal of farm raised local chicken.  The first course included a local delicacy; raw chicken breast chopped with vegetables and served in a sauce.  While the idea of eating raw chicken made me somewhat wary, we were assured of the health benefits and it actually was quite good!  The remaining courses included a chicken stir fry, and delicious rice and chicken porridge.

After rejuvenating ourselves with the meal, we headed to Dogapsa Temple.  This temple is famous for its large stone Buddha carved entirely of one piece of stone, and the temple entrance is an original dating back to the 1400s.  The temple grounds were peaceful and quiet, and all of the participants had some free time to explore on our own.

On our way home to Gwangju, we made a final stop at a local fig stand.  Yeongam is famous for its figs, and they did not disappoint; they were sweet and delicious.  Many participants purchased a box of figs to take home and enjoy.

 

Look at the satellite on the old building. 

This is a statue of Dr. Wangin, a famous Korean scholar who lived in the 4^th century and brought the Chinese lettering system to Japan.  This statue is at a shrine created in his honor.

Just a pretty picture of our trip to Dr. Wangin shrine.

This is a painting of Dr. Wangin.  To show respect to his spirit, visitors can light incense at the shrine.  Sometimes they have special ceremonies to honor Dr. Wangin.  In many traditional religions, a spirit needs a vessel to rest in during ceremonies.  The tablet in front of the picture is the spirit vessel for Dr. Wangin when they hold ceremonies in his honor.

This is where tradition says Dr. Wangin’s childhood home stood. 

This is a carving of Dr. Wangin that is 1000 years old.  You had to hike up the mountain to see it J

We also visited a Buddhist temple.  This is some of the beautiful architecture on many traditional Korean Buddhist temple buildings. 

These steps to the temple entrance were built in the 1400s.  

More beautiful architecture.

Some more beautiful architecture from the main building at the temple.

This statue was made from one piece of stone. 

An awesome bridge. 

 

Almost a month!

Hello everyone, Carrie here.  We had a good week, though nothing new to report.  Kids are still good, school is still great.  Each week we get more used to our schedule and now it seems pretty easy to handle.  I am typing this from our apartment, even though it is Monday at noon, because school was cancelled due to another typhoon.  Can't say I was sad about that . . . :) 

This past weekend we went on another hike at Mudeungsan mountain, this time a different trail, and we had a beautiful view from the top of the whole city.  Unfortunately, we don't have a camera yet, but we got paid today so we will be buying one tomorrow and will soon have pictures to post of our beautiful city.  We went on the hike with several people who worked with our recruiter, so it was nice to meet some new friends and we look forward to more fun with them!

In a couple weeks we will have a five day weekend for the Korean holiday of Chuseok.  I have been told it is like Thanksgiving, a time to get together with family, remember ancestors, and have a big meal.  We plan on heading to Seoul and will visit some palaces where the city is hosting Chuseok activities.

I can't believe we have been here almost a month already.  Everyday it feels a little bit more like "home;" we are definitely better at navigating the bus system, getting groceries, telling the taxi driver the directions to our apartment, all those little things that you do daily that suddenly seem much more difficult in a different country.  Everything is an adventure here!

Next post I will hopefully have some photos to show you!

xoxoxo Carrie

Weekend events

We had a good first week of school.  Bradley and I both did introductory/getting to know you games for each class, so it was pretty simple (and even a bit boring after the 20th time introducing myself).  We are ready to teach out of the books next week, lesson plans are in place and we are excited to see how the students do.

This weekend we decided to check out some sites around our city.  On Saturday, we went to Mudeung Mountain, which is a very popular hiking area and easy to get to from the city.  Our 4 mile round-trip trail led us past a Buddhist temple in the mountains.  It had beautiful buildings and shrines, and when we arrived there was a service going on. We stayed and listened to the monks chanting for awhile, then continued on the trail up the mountain.

One of the first things we noticed while hiking was the attire that all the Koreans wore while hiking.  They all have very expensive-seeming hiking boots, jackets, pants, hats, backpacks, and those walking sticks that look like ski poles.  At first we felt out of place and thought the walking sticks were a bit over the top, but by the time we were half-way through the trail we were wishing we had the walking sticks.  It was uphill the whole way and very tiring!  On our way up, a Korean man stopped to talk to us in English and told us how he walked the trail every morning at 4 am, then got to work by 8, for the last 36 years, and he was 64 years old.  We definitely felt out of shape then!  However, we kept going and the view from the top made it all worth it.

Today, Sunday, we went to another local site, the 5/18 Democratic Uprising National Cemetery.  In May, 1980, there was a protest by students here in the university who were rallying agains the corrupt military regime that had seized control of South Korea.  In response to the peaceful rally, the Korean government sent in thousands or troops and massacred hundreds of demonstrators.  The demonstrators then armed themselves, and held control of the city for 5 days.  During those five days the city was cut off from all surrounding cities.  However, there was no looting, grocery stores gave away food for free, and thousands of people donated blood at the local hospital in order to aid those who had been injured in the massacre.  Unfortunately, the military eventually surpressed the uprising and many civilians were tortured, put to death, or imprisoned for treason.  While the students' revolt did not lead to immediate democracy in Korea, it influenced uprisings over the next few years that eventually paved the way to democracy in South Korea.  Eventually in 1997 the national cemetery was built, and a museum was created on the grounds to educate people about this important event.  The museum was absolutely amazing, and had lots of video and photographs of the uprising.  It was so inspirational to see how the citizens of this city rallied together and fought, even though the odds were stacked against them.  You can really tell that the residents of Gwangju have a lot of pride in their history and the bravery of the students and civilians.

As we left the cemetery, an older Korean man began talking to us in English about what we thought of the site.  He told us that he did not live in Gwangju at the time of the revolt, but heard about it on the radio as it happened.  He said for a long time many cities did not even know about how many hundreds of people had been killed, because the government controlled media reported that there were only military casualties and that the rioters were all communists.  He also told us about how he served in the Korean War and was sent to America to train before returning to Korea.  It was very interesting hearing his story.

We had a great weekend.  This Tuesday we start Korean language lessons.  I am looking forward to this and hopefully I will be able to read signs soon! 

Having fun here in Korea!

xoxoxo Carrie