Louise's Seoul: September 2006

Andy and Andrew

A month ago we tested all of our 6 year old Kindy kids (7 years old Korean age) for the 2006 Sogang Speech Contest. Every year students from all round country compete with each other by means of a speech spoken in English. There were two parts to the test: 1) an actual speech about " Silly Sally", a book that they have been practicing for a week, and 2) an interview where we throw random questions at them. I was put in charge of the interviewing for some of the contestants, thus I did not have opportunity to take some photos in the gym (where they performed their speeches). Mike took this instead; this is Andrew and Andy from Grape class, a class full of the next generation geniuses of Korea. Their over-enthusiastic mothers dressed them in drag ( I mean, er as "Silly Sally") for the test. Another boy was so upset about his costume that he could not perform his speech due to the threatening avalanche of tears. The boy on the right, Andy,plus a Cindy from Peach class will be put forward for the competition.

Mike, Me, suburn and Songsu

In the last weekend of August Songsu drove myself and Mike (from USA) to Caribbean Bay, which is part of Everland theme park. Caribbean Bay is a waterpark that my kindergarden students always bang on about. Their excitement over this place inspired me to see for myself what the fuss is about. I have been to waterparks in Spain, Wales, England, Grand Canaria and maybe France, and I have to say that this was by far the best. The place was chocka (or however you spell it) by 10am and I almost had a cat-fight with some young Korean woman over the ownership of a locker.

There they had a 'Lazy River', a health spa, a surfing, er, thing where you could try to stay on the surf board as long as possible, saunas, slides (of course), a wave machine, and an adventure area where a huge skull head tipped water when it got full.

This picture at the end of the day where I was feeling, sunburned, exhausted and generally spaced-out. Not a flattering picture, but the most flattering one out of the set.
Songsu
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.

Busan

This year I was really unlucky with planning what to do with my vacation. I had originally planned to spend a few days in and around Beijing, but unforeseen events meant that I could not go. Instead I went to Busan with my boyfriend, famed for its beaches and night-life. SLP scheduled the summer vacation at the begining of August; I cannot believe it has taken me almost 3 months to get round to post these photographs. Time really does fly when you are teaching, plus children always seem to suck the energy out of me.

Anyway the map on the left indicates where Busan is - on the south-east coast of South Korea, and a 3 hour express train-ride away from Seoul. During the summer the city and beaches are littered with tourists (mostly Korean), and we found it quite a challenge to find somewhere to sleep.

On the first day we were on the beach by 11am, but there was no comfortable spot to sit. All the parasols had already been rented, and the full length of the beach was heaving with sunbathers. Moreover I had never felt weather so hot and humid, not even in Gusan, Grand Canaria, Thailand or the Philippines. Despite multiple applications of Factor 30 sunblock, after only 2 hours on the beach I was more sunburned than I have ever been in my life. However those two hours were spent reading, floating around in a Songsu-pulled rubber ring like a princess (there was no room to swim), and people-watching. It was really funny to watch Daddy and Daughter teams building suncastles, and teenagers/university students burying each other from neck to toe in the sand. Unfortunately my two hours of fun meant that I had to hide indoors and wait for sun-down like a vampire, as my sunburn made it too painful to go outside. Despite this I was able to have some enjoyment at night, including drinking and a boat cruise of the coast.

On the second day following frying myself we made it to a park that gave a reasonable view of Busan, once we made it the top. Typical of hilly parks in Korea, the entire view was obscured by trees until we reached the peak, and even then it was only a small improvement in the size of the window though the trees. Theoretically it was not a difficult climb, but the heat even at 5pm made it so; we both sweated buckets on the way to the top.

Because of my sunburn this was all we managed to get done, but from what I saw of Busan there was little to do anyway except sunbathe and drink.

Haeundae Beach/해운대

Easy to tell how hot it was...
Haeundae Beach
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.

The apartments and the beach

...and how crowded it was. It is not hotels or resorts you see in the distance, they are normal apartment builidngs. Koreans build wherever they can, with little concept of zoning; perhaps because as they claim, they have too many people and not enough space.
The apartments and the beach
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.

The Pier

The Pier
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.

Taking a Photo on the Bridge

This was taken on the bridge at Annam Park (안남공원). I am attempting to take a photograph though the trees, but with very little success. Yes, I DID climb this hill in a skirt and trainers.
Take a Photo on the Bridge
Originally uploaded by Eleruen.