현지학습1 - 오전 일정

Aug 7 2008, Thursday, we had our first field trip (현지학습). We were instructed to assemble at the road in front of the Central Library at 8:30am. Or buses only started to depart KHU at 8:50am. There were four buses deployed to transport 150-plus students around. In the bus, we were issued the following schedule by our teacher.

Although it was a 70mins journey to the Icheon Pottery Village, it didn't seem that long when I was chit-chatting away with the person sitting beside me. Once we arrived at the Pottery Village, the first thing we did was to take group picture. After that, we made our way to the pottery workshop where there were rows of tables and benches for visitors like us to sit at.

Teacher forming up the group for photo-taking.

Students listening to the brief given by the pottery master.

The pottery master started off by introducing the types of Korean pottery. He spoke in Korean but kept his brief short. Soon, we were given our first task of the day which was to paint a pre-molded mug. We were only given about half an hour to complete our painting, so there wasn't much time to think about what to paint on the mug. I just painted whatever came to my mind. When time was running short, we were hurried to complete our painting and go for refreshment outside the workshop. The water melon served for the refreshment was so sweet and juicy. My Australian classmate commented that he has never eaten such a sweet water melon before. I just love eating water melon in summer, it is so refreshing. (To be continued)

Pottery master giving a short brief on the types of Korean pottery.

The one-of-its-kind mugs hand-painted by the students.

The water melon was mouth-watering sweet, juicy and refreshing.

Our second task of the day was to make a 접시 or dish from clay. The pottery master gave a short brief again on the right method to mold the clay. We literally had to get our hands dirty to complete this task. However, making a dish was still a more satisfying experience than painting a mug.

Back at the workshop waiting for instruction.

Pottery-making and chit-chatting in progress at the same time.

The end products of our pottery-making lesson. Cute-looking dishes.

For students who completed their work early, the pottery master allowed them to experience first-hand making pottery the professional way. The pottery master also gave a live demonstration later. He changed the shape of the clay at will and within a few minutes a pot was done with aplomb.

Students experienced first-hand the difficulty of pottery-making.

The pottery master makes pottery-making looks so easy.

Time always seems not enough during field trip. After spending about 2 hours in the pottery village, we had to be hurried to board the bus to go for our lunch. When we on the way, our bus driver ajeosshi played the video taken of us during our pottery workshop. That is how fast thing was. Something worth a mention. The bus, we travelled on, comes complete with an entertainment system. Passengers can choose to listen to music, watch TV programme or movie or sing karaoke.

The video of us making pottery was shown in the bus on our way to lunch.

Our lunch was at Go Jumong Restaurant. There was a very popular MBC Korean drama by the name of "Jumong" and the restaurant didn't fail to capitalise on its popularity. Posters of the drama were pasted around the restaurant to identify themselves with the drama. Anyway, we had BBQ pork for our lunch. Four persons shared a table that came with a pot of burning charcoal. The marinated pork when barbequed with charcoal smelled and tasted very good.

We have our BBQ pork for lunch at Go Jumong restaurant.

Students enjoying their lunch. The lunch was scrumptious.

Our next destination after lunch was the Korean Folk Village.

이번 여름

Our teacher said that this summer is not as hot as the last. Also, there is no "mogi" (mosquitoes). The reason being that it doesn't rain continuously for days this summer. "Mogi" are finding it difficult to breed because pools of water formed after rain dried up quickly.

In comparison, my life is just as "hard" as the "mogi". Not only I do not have aircon in my room, the aircon in our classroom is often switched off because one of our Japanese classmates is sensitive to cold. The situation has become like I would switch on the aircon and then she would switch it off. Then someone came along and told me, "Hey, do you know I survive the last summer without even a fan?"

So what am I complaining about? At least I still have a fan that I can make to work very hard everyday. During our field trip to Icheon today, I had the opportunity to see fields and fields of green agricultural crops growing under the sun. It suddenly struck me that the crops "enjoy" and grow well under abundant sunlight and heat. I think I should stop complaining and start learning to enjoy summer as well.

경희 빵집

The Kyung Hee Bakery and Cafe is located at the College of Hotel and Tourism Management. It is a building by itself and anyone who are walking up the slope towards IIE will probably notice it. The big red lamp shades inside the building are quite conspicuous from afar. While it is called a bakery, no breads are actually made there. They are probably made elsewhere by the college students. The interior decor is very classy. Books and magazines on bread and pastry are placed around the cafe for the reading pleasure of the customers. It would have been perfect if some light music could be played while I sip my coffee and read one of those magazines that has beautiful pictures of pastry. Perhaps it is summer vacation now, the place looks empty even at lunch time. I think I have found a good place to do my homework. Whee~

다시 삼청동에 간다

I was back in Samcheongdong again to take more pictures of it and to find a nice restaurant to have dinner. If I have to draw an equivalent, Samcheongdong is the equivalent of Singapore's Dempsey Road.

다시 시작하다

The first day of school began at 10 am on Monday with a course introduction conducted in English in one of the classrooms in the Institute of International Education (IIE). Our short-term summer 3-weeks course programme is as shown:

1. Korean Language Class (9:00am - 1:00pm)
Every day from Monday to Friday except Aug 7 and Aug 14 (field trip) and Aug 15 (public holiday).

2. Korean Culture Class (2:00pm - 4:00pm)
Subjects which include Taekwondo, Korean movie, song and game will be conducted on Aug 8 (Fri), Aug 11 (Mon), Aug 13 (Wed) and Aug 18 (Mon).

3. Field Trip (9:00am - 6:00pm)
Field trip on Aug 7 (Thu) is to Icheon Ceramic Village, Korean Folk Village and Global Campus of Kyung Hee University. The following week on Aug 14 (Thu), the trip is to Weongol Village in Gongju and the Independence Hall.

4. Nanta Performance (3:00pm - 5:00pm)
The school will sponsor students to watch Nanta performance on Aug 15. Optional.

At 10 minutes to 11am, we were made to assembled at IIE 210 which is the institute's auditorium. We were first shown the corporate video of Kyunghee University. Once that ended, as a formality, the director of IIE, Prof Kim Jung Sup, was invited to the stage to give his opening address. This time round, I was able to understand all that he had said - a little consolation for my last one year of study. Attending this summer course are 156 students from 20 countries over five continents. The countries include Australia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Egypt, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Malaysia, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, USA, UK, Ukraine and Vietnam. There are 5 Singapore students and not surprisingly, the Japaneses form the bulk of cohort.

At the opening ceremony. Not surprising, majority are Japanese students.

Opening address by Director IIE. I can finally understand all that he said.

The opening ceremony was short and sharp. Everything was probably wrapped up within half an hour. After that, we made a beeline for the welcoming lunch at Mi Seong (미성) restaurant, located outside the campus.

Welcoming lunch at Mi Seong restaurant which serves fish soup.

Before we could digest our lunch, we were back at IIE 210 for the placement test. The test comprises three parts. The first part is a paper with 50 multiple-choice questions. The questions get more and more difficult towards the end. The last 10 questions are probably advanced level questions. The second part is essay writing. There are three topics to choose from. The first topic is meant to be a 100-words essay for the elementary students. The second topic is a 200-300 words essay for the intermediate students. The last topic is a 400-500 words essay for the advanced students. I wouldn't say that there are choices because elementary students can't probably write on topics meant for the intermediate or advanced students. The third part is the oral test. Teacher will ask very simple questions and the student is expected to reply appropriately and fluently in simple sentence... Just to end the day, there was an optional campus tour after the placement test.

It is quite rare to see the fountain working. Hence, this picture was taken.

Walking up the slope to the Grand Auditorium in summer is madness.

힘이 없어

I am feeling weak. It seems like the summer heat is zapping away my energy. I just don't feel like going out or doing anything at all. The sun is definitely more benign in Singapore. To avoid the poisonous sun in Seoul, I am trying to keep my day activity to absolute minimum. I rented a room that has no air-con. Though staying in it, makes me feels like I am slowly being "cooked", it is still so much better than exposing myself to the raging sun walking outside. Throughout last Sunday, I left my room only to have lunch with my friends and then I was back in it until dinner was served at my boarding house.

My lunch - Cheese Donkatsu. Didn't taste as good as its look.

The dinner prepared by my boarding house's ajumma exceeded my expectation. Perhaps my expectation is very low to begin with. Afterall, the dinner comes free with the rental fee and usually for thing that is free, I don't really expect much. Worthy of a mention, the sidedishes served were simply delicious. The main course may be curry rice but I enjoyed eating the sidedishes more. For fruits, I had juicy cut tomatoes which were quite refreshing.

The dinner served at my boarding house. It comes free with the rental fee.

After dinner, I was off to Cheonggyecheon for an evening stroll by the stream. Cheonggyecheon was crowded with weekend crowd trying to find some reprieve from the summer heat. It definitely felt cooler to be walking by a stream than staying in my room. An evening stroll by the stream was not only cooling to the body, it was also cooling to the mind. Sunday night, I slept quite well. I think I have already gotten used to the heat.

The famous landmark of Dongdaemun - The Doota building (left block).

Cheonggyecheon with weekend crowd seeking reprieve from summer heat.

Evening stroll by the stream is good for cooling down both body and mind.

견딜 수 없는 더위

Thick rain clouds hanged lowly in the sky. It rained from time to time throughout the day. Some was heavy and some was light. The weather should be kinda cooling right? Wrong! Neither the rain clouds nor the rain are bringing the much-needed reprieve from the midsummer heat. The air is constantly warm and wind or no wind, doesn't really matter much. 삼복더위 is not coined for nothing. It is the hottest month of summer that starts in mid Jul and ends in mid August. 삼복더위 comprises 초복, 중복 and 말복. It is 중복 now and there are only two words to describe it: "So Hot!"

The heat is the only minus, the rest are pluses. For the first time, I ate the most famous dish of Andong, the 안동찜닭 or Andong Stewed Chicken. The restaurant which I had 안동찜닭 is located somewhere in Jongno district. The 찜닭 came with a handsome serving of chicken meats in a very large plate. The rest of the ingredients include potato, cucumber and glass noodles. The glass noodles were as chewy as gum but very flavourful and spicy. They were lip-smacking good except that the tongue-burning spiciness prevented me from eating too much. A medium-plate 찜닭 costs 24,000won (~S$30). It's serving is large enough for four Singaporeans but two Koreans can probably polish it up together with another bowl of rice. Sometimes I just wonder where do Koreans find their stomach?

안동찜닭 - chicken meats in savoury and spicy sauce stewed to perfection.

A slow walk from Jongno to Gyeongbok Palace was very helpful in reducing my bloated stomach. But walking in the open when the summer heat is at its peak is definitely not a good idea. It was fortunate that the admission into the National Palace Museum of Korea (located beside the exit of Gyeongbokgung station) is free until December 2008. What that meant was I didn't have to pay to enjoy free aircon inside the museum.

The National Palace Museum has just completed its renovation not too long ago. Everything looks spanking new except the artifacts on display. I had this deja-vu feeling when I saw the imperial vehicles on display. I thought I saw them previously in Deoksu Palace or somewhere else. Anyway, I need to mention that the museum cafe, Gogungddurak (고궁뜨락), looks neat and inviting. A very nice place to spend a quiet and inspired Saturday afternoon in.

The National Palace Museum of Korea. Admission is free until Dec 08.

The cafe museum - Gogungddurak looks neat and inviting.

When I left the museum, it was raining heavily. It stopped when I was walking back from Hoegi station to my accommodation. In the evening, it rained again but yet the heat stubbornly lingered on in the air. The fan in my room was made to spin at its max and all windows and door were opened to fight the heat. I know it is going to be a losing battle. I guess when I cannot beat it or eat it, I just have to live with it.