Gardening Update

The deer got it!

Gardening

The watermelon plant in the garden has been growing like crazy. We have already picked two watermelons that were over 35 pounds! The vine recently started climbing the fence and now there is a watermelon growing there too. We're going to leave it in there just to see what happens.

Spring Semester: Free Day

It's been my goal over the last few months to find a day when I could simply rest. It's been a very busy semester, and I've fallen behind on many things. I haven't picked up either of the books I am reading in over a month, and this blog has been gathering dust for almost two months. Saturdays inevitably fill up with activities, and Sunday is always a big day at church. However, today is a holiday (election day) and I managed to keep my schedule clear.

Speaking of election day, politicians have been busy campaigning for local political posts. I'm told that the official campaign period is only 2 weeks long, and campaigning has been intense in that short time. There are large banners all over. One banner on the side of the tower at the bottom of hill is so large that I can read from way up at the university. In Nampo-dong last weekend, I came across one candidate who had parked a campaign truck at the side of the road. The truck was covered with slogans, and blaring his theme song, while his supporters danced to the music and waved signs.

Well, back to my free day. I spent part of the afternoon hiking the mountain that dominates the middle of our island. It is not very big, (less than 400m high) but I realized that it still holds many secrets. Curiosity took me down a different trail today and I found a cave, an abandoned squatters house, and some well-maintained graves along a path I had never traveled. My friends also tell me that there is a helicopter landing pad on the mountain, but I've never seen it myself. I've been up the mountain probably more than 20 times, but each time I followed roughly the same path to the vantage point at the top, and never realized how much more was up there.

Next week is exam week and it will be another busy one, full of grading exams and attending farewell parties. I'm simply grateful for some time to rest today.

Spring Semester: New Discoveries

While spending an evening recently with Jonathan, one of my South African friends from church, we came across this strange structure between Nampo-dong and Chinatown:

You've probably seen spiral ramps for cars, perhaps attached to a parking garage. But, have you ever seen one built for...scooters?

Spring Semester: Life as Usual

Greetings readers,

It has been a few months since I last posted, but I recently checked Google Analytics and discovered that I still have some faithful readers, so here is a quick summary of the past few months.

I spent a good part of January and February traveling in Cambodia and Vietnam. You can see some pictures here and here. My favorite experiences were meeting some missionaries and meeting the family of a student at the university here.

We are now three weeks into the spring semester, and I have been teaching four different classes. I like them all so far and here's a little description of what happens in each one:
1. Advanced English Conversation - My students in this class are all really good. We spend a lot of time talking in groups and then sharing the results of the discussions with the class.
2. Basic English Conversation - This class is open to any student in the university. I have three sections with a total of 96 students. Their levels vary widely, but they all signed up for the class on their own accord and are eager to practice speaking. We use model conversations and pictures as a launching point for conversation practice.
3. English Listening Practice - We use a listening textbook in this class, and it can get a little tedious. The part I like most about this class is when I bring in my own listening materials every few weeks. We just finished listening to a 6 minute lecture on whether Christians should seek to change cultures when they do missions. The level was really difficult, but we worked through it together. I just hope I didn't scare anyone too much.
4. English Composition - The goal of this yearlong course is for students to be able to put together a well-written paragraph in English. I love the lectures in this course because many of the students really get into it and ask a lot of questions. However, when it comes time to grade paragraphs, my enthusiasm for the course wanes quickly.

Also, I went out with my friend Noy this past Thursday evening. He just returned to Korea after spending a year working with a Korean missionary in his home country of Thailand. We enjoyed some galbi for dinner, and then he treated me to a delicious street snack called Bungeobbang (붕어빵). It is dough fried into the shape of a fish with bean paste or cream in the center. I've seen people selling them before, but I never got around to trying them. They were very delicious--probably my second favorite street food after hoddeok (호떡).

Winter Break: Korean Dramas

I meant to resume studying in my Korean textbook during the winter break, but instead, I am watching Korean movies and Dramas. It's a lot more interesting than studying out of books. I am currently watching episodes of the popular Korean drama 'Boys over Flowers' (꽃보다 남자). In one of the episodes, the main character goes fishing in the South Sea, and I noticed that the area looked quite familiar. It was filmed in the Busan harbor. I was seeing some of the same views in the episode that I see every day out my window. Crazy.

Fall Semester: November Snow

From what I've been told, this was the first snow here in about 5 years.