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