The Haps

Two weekends ago, we had another 3 day weekend due to a Korean holiday (I believe it was some kind of flag holiday as there were some flags out). We had friday off, so four of us, Adina, Chelsea, Nathan and myself took the bus down to Jinju for the Jinju Flowing Lantern Festival. Jinju, which is thought by some to be the most beautiful Korean city, has a large ancient castle on the Namgang River near the center of the city. It was attacked a few times by the Japanese some time ago and held it's ground at least once, so there is some Korean nationalism attached to this spot. The Korean forces used lanterns which they floated down the river to signal the arrival of the Japanese to forces outside the castle as well as to signal to the well-being of individual soldiers to their families. This festival is a stylish commemoration to these Japanese invasions and the lives lost. We reached the city in the late afternoon, scrambled to get a place to stay for the night (it was insanely crowded), and headed to the castle for the free bi-bim-bap dinner courtesy of the city of Jinju. It was the largest dinner party I have ever been to. We waited in line for over a half hour to be served a heaping handful of bi-bim-bap which is a rice and veggies mixed together dish. It's kind of good. It was just a spectacle to see something over 1,000 people be served (by their government) in about an hour. Oh also the bi-bim-bap is a regional delicacy in Jinju and was served of course with kimchi and some pepper soup. After that, there was a phenomenal firework show and some unimpressive women's choirs. We spent a few hours being pushed by the mob up and down the river, occasionally catching glimpses of lanterns floating on the river. I don't know what to say about the lanterns except that they were big and colorful and kind of strange (see ET).



I also don't know that I mentioned the Korean language class that I am taking at the YMCA in downtown Daegu. Well, now you know. The class is two hours every saturday until Christmas and starts at the very beginning. The Korean language is called Hangul and was created by a King from way back in the day that wanted to take all these crazy Chinese and native words and symbols and turn them into a coherent language to increase literacy in Korea. Thus, the language is largely adapted from Chinese, with its own alphabet. At first glance, Hangul is pretty overwhelming (though not as much as Chinese is). It looks like a series of wingdings, however there are letters that are not that difficult to learn, but can be difficult to pronounce. The vowels are shaped to represent the three components of the universe - man, earth and the heavens. Syllables must be written with both a consonant and a vowel to maintain balance and harmony (even if only the vowel is pronounced). Also, the consonants are shaped like the body parts and the shapes they have to make to pronounce them. For example, the consonant sound 'ng' is written as the letter 'o' or the shape of the throat - where the sound is made. The letters are grouped together to form syllables that become easy to read with practice. I am currently at that stage. Reading is becoming easier for me, I am learning a few words at a time and am putting together the simplest of sentences.

This next weekend, the city of Daegu is sponsoring a trip for foreigners to experience Buddhist culture through a templestay at a nearby Buddhist temple west of Daegu. A group of us from the YMCA are attending the all expenses paid for trip, which leaves Saturday morning from city hall and returns Sunday evening. We stay overnight at the temple (there are 100 of us visitors in all), and we practice the Buddhist martial art of self-defense, wake up at 3 am to do the 108 bows with the monks and have the breakfast ceremony, there is also a tea ceremony and Q&A with the grandmaster - the enlightened one. This whole operation can be arranged anytime, though at a cost of about $50, so cheers to the Daegu government! Unfortunately, I am missing my soccer team's big match down in Busan against league leaders Inter Busan.

I have been playing with the Daegu Devils for about a month now. It is a team of almost 20 foreigners who play in a tight five team league (two teams in Daegu and three down on the shore in Busan). There is also a 16 team tournament in Ulsan that we will be playing in mid-November. Anyway, the team is pretty competitive and tight knit, so it is a little difficult to break into the rotation, but things have been going well. I have been to two practices (which are 5 v 5 futsal matches) and one game which we won 6-2. Most of the guys are Eastern Canadians and late 20's - early 30's. They are kind of like an image of what I might become should I decide to make Korea home for a few years. Several are married to Korean women. They all love it here and are pretty decent at speaking Korean. After spending over 5 years in Korea, they also know the best jobs here and are able to make great livings while having 4 months of vacation a year! Back to the league: there are only two teams with a shot at winning the league, those being us and Inter Busan, so it is a little disappointing to be missing the game this weekend. I am, however, really looking forward to staying with the monks for a night and picking the brain of the enlightened one, so it should be a great experience.

It has been great getting your comments, keep em coming. Sounds like things have been exciting?! back home. Looking forward to the start of the NBA season. Chelsea sits atop the Premiership table and the Phillies are looking good for the world series!! We'll just stick with the positives for now...

Looking down on my corner of Daegu.  Looks kind of polluted?