It has been another busy day and a half since my last post. Yesterday afternoon our professor (on Korean life) was a New Zealander, named Polina Lipina, that has been living in Korea for the past 7 years. She is somewhat of a celebrity and after the lecture everyone wanted their picture taken with her.
After class I felt totally wiped out from a lack of sleep wince my trip began so I was in bed sleeping at 6 PM and only up for 2 hours all night when I took the opportunity to work on some basic Korean.
Today was a cultural activity day and Canada Day! In the morning we tried our hand at Hanji craft, which is the art of making things such as bowls, lamps and other things out of Hanji paper. The hand mirror and bowl I made actually turned out loo
king pretty good. In the afternoon we went to the Onggi museum. Onggi is the traditional Korean pottery and as you might know, Korea is famous for the pottery that is made here. We all had our turn at the pottery wheel and hand making some pottery. Mine definitely did not look like a professional made it and the piece I attempted to make on the wheel was a complete failure. Fun still though. Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pictures of what I did create but we will have it sent to us near the end of the program after it is fired. The place we were at had several large earthen kilns and there were several spots where you could buy the traditional Korean pots. I didn't buy anythi
ng but if I can figure out how much it will cost me to send it home I may do that.
king pretty good. In the afternoon we went to the Onggi museum. Onggi is the traditional Korean pottery and as you might know, Korea is famous for the pottery that is made here. We all had our turn at the pottery wheel and hand making some pottery. Mine definitely did not look like a professional made it and the piece I attempted to make on the wheel was a complete failure. Fun still though. Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pictures of what I did create but we will have it sent to us near the end of the program after it is fired. The place we were at had several large earthen kilns and there were several spots where you could buy the traditional Korean pots. I didn't buy anythi
ng but if I can figure out how much it will cost me to send it home I may do that.After getting back to the school a group of us Canadian students organized a Canada Day party. In total there were 20 of us that went out for supper at a restaurant not too far from the school. We supplied everyone who was interested with a variety of Canada themed things such as temporary tattoos, flags, banners, stickers, and tape (like caution tape). the group was made up of 5 Canadians and people from Thailand, China, Japan, Korea, US, Romania, and Czech Republic. We made a pretty loud and celebratory group. At the restaurant we had a small room to ourselves and 10,000 won (about $10) per person gave us a fabulous spread of food plus several huge pictures of beer, mango juice and quite a few bottles of soju. The restaurant was even able to find a version of O Canada which they played a couple of times for us. Since all of the Canadians in the program are from Saskatchewan, we tried to find "The Last Saskatchewan Pirate" but were not successful (although from what I here they were able to find it at a bar we went to later). After eating the party spilled out into the main restaurant with dancing. Another group of 10+ students from the program joined us and even the 62 year old woman who owns the bar was out dancing. 
She told us that she remembers when she was a little girl during the war and the Canadian troops were there to help them. A fitting story, I think, for Canada Day. By the time we left the restaurant had several Canadian flags hanging in it.
She told us that she remembers when she was a little girl during the war and the Canadian troops were there to help them. A fitting story, I think, for Canada Day. By the time we left the restaurant had several Canadian flags hanging in it. As we were leaving, the owner chased us out into the stairway as we were leaving yelling in Korean. We were not sure if we had done something wrong but it turns out she had taken a shine to one of the girls in our group and would not let us leave until the girl accepted a shawl that the lady had made. Such is Korea, the people are incredibly friendly and generous.
Afterwards, we went to a bar that was only a couple of 
blocks away that served imported beer and had a pool table and a dance floor. On the way, the girls from Canada sang a very enthusiastic version of O Canada as we walked through the maze of alleyway-like roads that make up the business district near the University. We stopped in front of the bar for a photo opp before going in and had people all over waving to us with big smiles on their faces. We definitely made a good impression on everyone we came across.
blocks away that served imported beer and had a pool table and a dance floor. On the way, the girls from Canada sang a very enthusiastic version of O Canada as we walked through the maze of alleyway-like roads that make up the business district near the University. We stopped in front of the bar for a photo opp before going in and had people all over waving to us with big smiles on their faces. We definitely made a good impression on everyone we came across.The bar was loud and smoky (there are no public smoking laws here evidently) and the one bottle of Guinness that I bought cost me 8,000 won ($8) so after that, I left the younger people to their partying and walked through the neon lit streets back to the University and was back in my room by 10. The rest of the group (including my roommate) rolled in just before 12 (curfew time during the week). The next day there were some pretty tired people but I think it is safe to say that everyone had a great Canada Day.
I want to thank Paula and Laura whose idea it was t
o bring all of the Canada things and organized the party and Aimee who helped ensure the great turnout. Happy Canada Day to everyone!
o bring all of the Canada things and organized the party and Aimee who helped ensure the great turnout. Happy Canada Day to everyone!
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