Feeling like your six again! Everland!!!

Everland is one of those places that you have been dreaming of going to since you were a kid!!!

I can't explain the excitement of the group when we arrived at Everland! I remember Lauren repeating "this is the happiest day of my life" and I couldn't help but run and dart from one colourful thing to another. I literally had the concentration span of an adolescent goldfish and I loved every moment of it!

The day started out with one hell of a bang because we all ended up paying almost half price to get in. A full day ticket to Everland is usually 37,000Won but for some reason the Everland staff saw us and gave us a massive discount. I am not sure if this was because they were being super nice or if it was because we stood out in the crowd but either way we were super stoked. We ended up paying 22,000Won each and it was totally worth it, we spent almost 12 hours there.

It's no wonder why it is ranked the fourth best amusement park in the world!

There is no shortage of things to do at Everland (although I must admit, we all thought that there would be more hair-raising rides than there actually were). We started out the day with one or two small fun rides and we went inside a fun-house! My first ever! But our main mission was to head down to the T-Express a massive wooden rollercoaster which has the steepest drop in the world (on a wooden coaster). YIKES!

Luckily when we got to the rollercoaster we were issued with these cool things called Q-passes which means you take a ticket, you roam around for an hour and you come back at a specific time and Bob's-your-uncle you are at the front of the queue....revolutionary!

We saw some farm animals, strange bugs and did a water ride (we were wrapped like condoms in the latter, it was quite a site) and before we knew it, it was our turn on T-Express. Hearts pounding we climbed into the wooden coaster and BAM, we were off and then we were dropping into what felt like nothing but air. Up, down, sharp left, up again, down, UP, UP, Big down, Screeeeetch, hair in face! That is literally the only way I can explain one of the most hair raising roller-coasters I have ever been on. IT ROCKED!

We then decided it was time for lunch and beer...good choice! We then found ourselves wondering around a part of Everland called Animal Wonder World which was pretty much like a zoo. We looked at impressive birds, we saw polar bears, and we even saw skunks but the highlight of the Animal World was the monkey area....there were numerous species of monkeys and it was such fun watching them run around.

Many of these were Asian monkeys and I had never seen them before. But of course there were also chimps and other monkeys indigenous to Africa. The chimp enclosure had this weird contraption where you can stick your head into a bubble like thing...One monkey tried to kiss me and another tried to smack me! Weird experience. This old guy seemed to have some issues. He plucked his own hair and played with himself in the most inappropriate way but he did seem to have a soft spot for Oliver.

The one part of the park which I really did not like was the Safari. You hop on a bus and in lightning speed you are driven from enclosure to enclosure and you get to see lions, tigers, white tigers, ligers, bears, giraffes, elephants, etc.  The enclosures were all far too small and I couldn't help but think about how lucky the animals back home are!

After a couple of hours roaming animal workd we found another pocket of the park that had some thrilling rides...it was round about this time I lost my voice!

After that things started winding down, sort of. We walked through the four seasons garden which had an array of plants to support their Halloween theme...it was really something else. Next thing we knew, we were in a small Alpine type village with live music and good food. Like any sane person would do, we sat down, ordered some sausage and beer and got merry!

By this time it had started getting dark and the Horror village was open for business...we saw ghosts and vampires and other creepy crawlies!

Next thing we knew it was after 9 and we had to rush back to catch our bus!

Unfortunately, I didn't get to go to Space World, Mystery House or Rotating House but I guess that gives me a reason to go back again!!!

We spent almost 12 ours in the park and for a day of good fun and laughs I would recommend pulling together a group of mates and heading to Everland for a day where you get to feel like you are 6 all over again!

Post by Claudia

P.S. My little photos will have to do for a while! Oliver has photos coming out of his ears and it might be a while before we see some more of his masterpieces

Hanji Fest!

Not too long ago Oliver and I got to go to the Hanji festival right here in Wonju, and what a treat it was!

Hanji is traditional Korean paper which is a source of great pride for Koreans, especially Wonjunites because Wonju is the only place where there is a factory that still produces the traditional paper.

Hanji is not widely made, because to make the delicate but strong paper takes much time and effort. Therefore it is no longer practical in this day and age.

Hanji is made from paper mulberry (a tree indigenous to Korea). Fibres are stripped from the bark, then soaked and treated before going through another soaking process. The fibres are then gathered on a fine sieve-like instrument (which looks similar to a gold-panning instrument) and are compressed, coloured and decorated. So in essence, the whole process is complicated!

Despite being complicated the quality, beauty, and versatility of the paper is something else! And the best place to get an idea of how wondrous it is would be the Hanji Paper Festival!

We got to see a wide range of items made from Hanji

There were several statutues, models, and furniture that had been entirely created from paper.

There were also several 'paintings' where the paper had been used to give them texture and an element of reality! This tree 'painting' was my favourite but there was an entire gallery full that would leave your mouth wide open. You can't help but think about the skill and patience it must take to make such a masterpiece!

There were even lamps and lanterns that were made of the paper and gave a wonderful soft light! There were tons of paper crafts to do at the festival including making your own paper, making a paper doll, make ornaments and making lamps. Oliver and I got to make our own Hanji lamp and it looks awesome (how we are going to get it back to SA is a mystery to me). The lamps below, however, were made by professionals!



And just when you thought the paper couldn't get any more versatile you realise that they have an entre Hanji fashion collection! There was a runway at the festival (which we missed...booo) which showed the awesomeness of Hanji clothing! Apparently the Hanji fashion line has now been exported to both the USA and Italy. Impressive! The dresses below give a glimpse of Hanji wear.

All in all it was a great festival and we were able to spend a good few hours there shopping, doing crafts and just wondering around!

Post by Claudia

Wonju Tattoo: Photos and Videos

As promised in a previous entry we said we would give you some photos and videos of the Wonju Tattoo Festival.

The local Korean Marching Band

Ladies from New Zealand dancing while the beautiful sound of bagpipes filled the stadium

A packed stadium

The presenter of the show



Now for the videos, all the music you hear is from the people marching so keep in mind they are rocking their instruments while also making awesome formations....It takes incredible coordination. The sound on these videos isn't ideal but it should give you a taste of what we saw:

The local Korean band starts off the show



The Philippines were by far the stars of the show:

The Mexicans were also good fun!

Unfortunately my battery ran out so I wasn't able to record the USA and the Korean Army which were phenomenal. All in all the Wonju Tattoo Festival is just good old fun and I really hope that they decide to keep to keep the festival going because it would be a pity to loose such a wholesome and fun festival!

Post by Claudia



Autumn - A time of endless activities

It feels like we have so much to tell and you and simply not enough time to do it in. In the past two weeks we have had several adventures that we are dying to tell you about and there are even more adventures on the Horizon.

You see last weekend we went to the Tattoo Festival and the Hanji (traditional paper) festival which were right here in Wonju. Yesterday we  got to go to Everland (rated the 4th best amusement park in the world) and the next two months are jammed packed with other festivals and events.

This week is Chusoek (Korean thanksgiving) and we are getting to spend this special time with a Korean family which should be a great learning and cultural experience.

So from now until mid-November we promise to be busy busy busy....here are some of our plans:

• Chusoek (21/09 -23/09)
• Andong Masked Dance Festival (26/09 - 05/10)
• Jingu Namgang Yudeung Festival (01/10 - 12/10)
• Gimje Horizon Festival (06/10 - 10/10)
• Jarasum International Jazz Festival (15/10 - 17/10)
• Korean Grand Prix (22/10 - 24/10)
• Gwanju Kimchi festival (23/10 - 31/10)
• Nami Island (05/11 - 07/11)
• DMZ (20/11 - 21/11)

 We will do our best to keep you up to date with our adventures even if it means we have to use some of my snapshots while Oliver works through his photos.

Korea is truly a place where there is always something happening which makes it a great place to live in and an awesome time to visit at anytime of the year because you are bound to find something happening somewhere in the country. I guess what makes Autumn even more special is the pleasant weather and changing leaves (it is my favourite season).

Post by Claudia

Medical Mystery

When we first came to Korea, we were advised by many people to get Health Insurance. It was 'totally worth it', we were told. So we figured, OK, might as well get it, it's only 50 000 Won a month (about ZAR 300, or US$ 50), so really not much. OK. So we got the insurance. Nice one. Now what? Well, we were told that should we have any sort of ailments or illness, to go to a doctor. Coming from South Africa, the first thing we thought is, yeah right. Like I'm gonna go to a doctor for a simple flu or headache...that's just gonna be too expensive, I'll just ride it out....


So here we are a few months later, and we have both seemed to develop some minor medical issues that we thought needed some clearing up. Claudia has been getting migraine type headaches, and I have a rash on my back that won't go away. Persistent bugger! So I got on to Facebook, and asked if anyone knew a doctor in Wonju (our city) that speaks English. One was recommended immediately. Awesome we thought, let's go. Let me just clarify here, that this being Korea, it's not as easy as just going to a doctor whenever you want; there are certain issues, certain language barriers. But with this recommended doctor that won't be an issue.

So this morning we headed off to the Wonju Medical Centre, and paid Dr. Soohan Kim a visit. After giving the receptionist our Alien Registration Cards (our IDs basically), and a short wait, we were in the doctors rooms. Wow. What an awesome doctor. Dr Kim is a guy in his late 20s (maybe early 30s, Koreans seem to age better than us westerners), with excellent English. So he sat us down, and talked us through our issues, and finally gave us some prescription medication. Easy enough.

Just before we left, he asked us about medical insurance in South Africa, and we told him that it's all private and really expensive. We broke it down as follows: If you want any sort of decent medical treatment, you have to fork out a decent amount of cash. Simple. And off we went.

Outside we had to walk over to another counter to pick up our scripts and to pay for the consultation. OK...let's see how 'worth it' this medical insurance is. Any guesses as to how much we paid for both of us, for about 30 minutes of the doctors time (yes, it was a long consultation)...? Any guesses....? Yes....? No....? OK, I'll tell you. 500. Yes, we paid 500 each for half an hour. Now you're wondering...500 what. Again, I'll tell you. 500 Won!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I meant to put that many exclamation marks there. 500Won!!!!! If my high school maths serves me correctly, that means we jointly paid 1000 Won together. And if my online currency converter is not lying, that breaks down to ZAR 6.14 each. Yes, 6 Rand and 14 Cents, or 84 US Cents. Holy Wowy.

It truly blew my mind. We had just paid 500 Won each for our consultation. Insane. OK fine, we do pay our monthly premium for the medical insurance, but if you were to pay that much in SA for medical insurance, it wouldn't even cover doctors appointments, let alone any medication. For R300 of medical insurance in South Africa you might as well not have it, it's that bad, and you have to pay that much on top every time you visit a doctor.

This just opened my eyes to a proper 1st world health care system that really takes care of its patients. It's no wonder then that Koreans feel the need to run to a doctor for every minor bump, scrape, bruise or ailment! For R 6.14 a pop I might also do the same!

Post by Oliver

Wonju Tattoo 2010

Here is a quote from the official Wonju website:

"Wonju Tattoo is a global military band festival that was created as part of the New Millennium Project in 2000. Through the “World Peace Fanfare” of 2000 and 2002, the uniqueness and importance as a cultural project of military brands were recognized. Thus, in June 2003, it was officially approved as an international event by the government and became the nation’s only military band festival."

And that's what it is. It's a military maraching band festival. I'll be quite honest, when I first heard the term marching band festival, I thought...OMG....how boring...man was I proved wrong!

We attended the festival on the closing night, and what an awesome event it was. We were lucky to get there a little early, as the tickets were selling out fast for the relatively small Tattoo Stadium. We didn't get the tickets we wanted, so we had to settle for tickets one 'class' down, which were still fantastic. And the price...ridiculous....ridiculously cheap. We paid 3000Won for our tickets, which is about $3 or R20.
We got inside the stadium, found our seats with the help of a super friendly usher, and got comfy.

I'm not going to bore you by trying to tell you what these bands did, and how great their performances were, because I just won't be able to do them justice. I will tell you that the show was incredibly varied, with performances from bands from the Phillipines, Russia and New Zealand, to name a few. And all of them were excellent, although it must be said that some were more excellent than others!

We do have many photos of the event and Claudia also made some videos, and we will put them up on the blog in the near future, so keep checking for the update!

Unfortunately we have heard a rumour that due to lack of support this years Tattoo Festival might be the last. We can only hope that this isn't true!

Watch this space...

Not just another myth!

So, we have established that South Korea has a series of strange and unique myths like fan death and the unlucky fear of the number 4 but as you would expect (like in any country) there are an array of myths that are surprising! And today, I think I have one that might tickle your fancy!

This may be particularly useful to you if are teaching or are planning to teach in South Korea.

Writing names in red is a big NO NO!!!

Yip, it is believed that if you write a person's name in red, they will die!

Why?

Well, Buddhist monks used to use red ink to document persons who were fatally ill or had already died. This practice/theory trickled down and soon it just became common practice in society. Now red ink is used to record a dead family member's name in the family register and on funeral banners. The red is believed to banish evil spirits.

So, red is closely related to death. I had heard of this myth before and have had to make a conscious effort not to write "Good work, Kelly" or "Excellent, Steve". I have slipped up once or twice but luckily realised my mistake before giving the marked work back. I then scratch the name out and put a sticker on-top (stickers you life-savers you!).

I only realised how entrenched this belief was/is when students were busy writing their names on the cover of new books. I gave them some special markers and let them have some fun with putting their names on. One little girl, obviously oblivious to the myth, picked up red and started writing her name. The almost instant and shocked response from the rest of the students caught the girl (and myself) off guard.

The class was exasperated by her actions and went on to explain to her that SHE WILL DIE if she writes her name in red. She quickly picked up brown and did her best to fix the problem. I'm sure she felt a little apprehensive in the week that followed. However, months later she is still doing just fine.

So, I think writing in red is not a death sentence (myth) as much as it is a behaviour that is meant to be respectful for those who have passed away!

Also, if you write a person's name in red it is the same as wishing bad luck on the person, so just to be safe keep blue and black pens instead!