tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29924552011-07-28T17:45:41.865-07:00KoreaThis is a journal about my stay in Jeonju, Korea.TGnoreply@blogger.comBlogger621100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-39480002001-06-06T02:27:00.000-07:002011-02-07T00:22:46.438-08:00the endI left Korea two days ago. Two great two months, and it leaves me with nothing to write about in the near future. I suppose people won`t be too interested in articles about reverse culture shock, rants and all that so I better improve my staggering Japanese instead of sitting in front of the laptop. I`m in Tokyo again, for six days, meeting my girl and enjoying the time as good as possibleTGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-39075952001-06-03T05:50:00.000-07:002001-06-03T05:50:40.563-07:00meeting friends My last day in Korea. I used the time to buy many souvenirs and meet with friends, namely Lee Jaeyon, Bak Hye Gyeong and Lee Jeeyoung. I`ve studied Japanese in Kyoto together with Jaeyon, with Hye Gyeong was my first regular Korean exchange partner two years ago, and Jeeyoung is a good friend of my girlfriend, we met in Seoul last year for the first time. And no, she didn`t make TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-38975342001-06-02T06:32:00.000-07:002001-06-02T06:32:28.416-07:00Seoul O.k., two more days. We signed in in a little hotel in Insadong, which is one of the touristic centers of Seoul. Insadong has a lot of attractions like little tea houses, traditional or modern, quiet restaurants with all varieties of foods and souvenirs street sellers. There's nothing that you can't find for your friends and family. If you look around, you'll find some restaurants with TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-38799032001-05-31T19:17:00.000-07:002001-05-31T19:17:28.420-07:00last day in Jeonju My, I was saying goodbye to a lot of new friends the last few days. Sad, but I'll meet new people somewhere else. It's just important that I don't loose contact to everybody here. In the next four days I'll be in Seoul, but I'll get back to the journal, if neccessary, in Germany. I planned to visit the border to North Korea, but I have to go to the airport on Monday afternoon,TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-38516272001-05-29T19:44:00.000-07:002001-05-29T19:44:25.513-07:00last professors meeting Lately, I have a certain feeling of urgency and time pressure - I think the time to do what I want to do in Korea doesn't fit into the half week thats left. There are many people who I met, who would like to see me again, who would like to do something together, but I'm afraid I can't fit all expectations. Tonight, the professors who practise English together gave a TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-38373802001-05-28T19:42:00.000-07:002001-05-28T19:42:17.996-07:00fortune teller I have an appointment with a real fortune teller tonight! Before you cry out of disbelief, let me explain: I'm not superstitious, not even a little bit. As an Atheist, I'm pretty much sure he's only going to do one or two estimated guesses and that's it. What can he read out of a person's birthdate and time? Not much, but this thing works with a lot of communication and reading ofTGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-38273002001-05-28T01:56:00.000-07:002001-05-28T01:56:07.503-07:00another meeting with students Today I had maybe my last meeting with a group of Korean students. They were not actually from the German department, but from education. Professor Park, who was yesterday inviting me to his house, was translating most of the explanations as the students' level didn't suffice for a discussion. Anyway, they had a few interesting questions, we covered right wingers asTGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-38109212001-05-26T20:42:00.000-07:002001-05-26T20:42:40.630-07:00invitation to dinner I missed the soccer game between Werder Bremen and the local soccer club in Jeonju, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors! Shit happens, but I'm not that much of a real soccer fan either. Well, nevertheless, the day had one highlight: Professor Park, who I met a few weeks ago, invited me and Ms. Choi to his home for dinner. His wife was cooking a real feast, I rarely eat so good - and so TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-38020272001-05-26T05:14:00.000-07:002001-05-26T05:14:10.883-07:00random rant It's not that I know many Korean laws. In fact, that might not even be neccessary, depending on money and status only, it looks to me like you can do everything in this country. As democracy has to be anchored in peoples' minds, especially after decades of dictatorship and before that, being under Japanese rule that developement needs some time - but beside that, there are laws who TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-37862412001-05-24T21:19:00.000-07:002001-05-24T21:19:09.200-07:00cab driver I had to teach today all four hours, one in the morning at nine, and one at two after lunch. I woke up as usual, but I wanted to do something before class, so I took the cab instead of a bus. The cab driver was really curious. After he found out that we could talk, he didn't stop anymore. His first question was Do you like Korean women? Who doesn't. ;-) Do you have a girlfriend? TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-37756142001-05-24T06:56:00.000-07:002001-05-24T06:56:39.610-07:00natsukashii I'm back at Rits! Music on the campus... In Japan, I first experienced what speakers can do on campus. It's noisy, pounding like crazy on your little sensitive ears and the program isn't that good either. In Korea, I saw a few of those speakers on light poles at Chonbuk and Paichai university but until know I never heard them at Chonbuk. The Paichai university used those speakers toTGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-37541052001-05-22T18:29:00.000-07:002001-05-22T18:29:02.510-07:00Eurasians Lately I enjoy reading english magazins like Time or the Economist. In Time Asia, I read an interesting article about Eurasians in Asia. Once despised, they now have the media in their hands. Veejays, singers, news anchors, their international looking faces are what the masses want to see. To look more western is fashion, so it's no wonder that Eurasians fit into the picture. They TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-37441352001-05-22T06:53:00.000-07:002001-05-22T06:53:07.776-07:00Nunchi Everybody knows the saying, different cultures, different people. Now, there's one trait of Korean culture that I want to write about. It's Nunchi, the ability of a person to guess or foresee what somebody else wants, needs or excepts. It also stands for the abilty to understand without verbal communication. Those things exist in other cultures as well, but Koreans put an emphasis on thisTGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-37250802001-05-21T00:51:00.000-07:002001-05-21T00:51:00.693-07:00interview with a North Korean A rare chance: A North Korean came to the university and talked with students about the situation in North Korea. I don't speak Korean, but my room mate translated the main points for me. She was a doctor, whose uncle, a newspaper journalist in Pyongjang, has been punished because of his critical views about the government. Her parents, once wealthy, have been sent TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-37110112001-05-19T22:17:00.000-07:002001-05-19T22:17:12.736-07:00last day in Pusan Four days are just not enough to get acquainted with a city like Pusan. Especially, if you have a hang-over and a blackout. After a long morning, I felt better, but not well, Jae Hyun father came with us to the Hoshimchong hot spring. The place is well known for it's rich water and the hot springs have a history way back to the 19th century. The place reminded me a lot of TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-36885712001-05-18T07:31:00.000-07:002001-05-18T07:31:43.080-07:00friday What a day! Instead of doing some sightseeing in the city, Jae Hyuns father was so kind to join us on this day - we drove all the way to Keongju, the former capital of ancient Shilla. One of South Korea's most popular temples, Paegup is located in the very same city. The temple actually is sourrounded by a wide garden, including a beautiful pond with turtles and fish. The entrance to the TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-36573652001-05-16T08:59:00.000-07:002001-05-16T08:59:01.803-07:00Pusan Weekend, at last. It's only thursday, but this week Chonbuk university organizes some kind of a students' festival, so there's no class today and tomorrow. Good for me, one of the students, Jae Hyun Ko, who has a great site in Korean about German literature and authors, offered to show me his hometown, Pusan. It's four hours from Jeonju, and to be honest, the ride was killing my back. I TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-36554402001-05-16T06:24:00.000-07:002001-05-16T06:24:26.573-07:00hierarchies Korean students, although they are as young as I am, have a strong hierarchical feeling founded on age. One year difference, in one case even only three months are enough to give a reason for a older-younger relationship. There's a saying that only people of the same age can become real friends. What a pity. When talking in English or German, the difference in status doesn't apply, TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-36355262001-05-15T00:09:00.000-07:002001-05-15T00:09:30.366-07:00teaching One more hour with students. I'm prepared, I know what to do and how, everything is fine. But! Half of the class didn't bother showing up at all. The weather is too hot, so everybody is sleeping. To speed up, I push through the excercises, play the clown to entertain etc. but in the end, they just say, it's too fast. pffff On some days you can turn yourself upside down and it still TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-36228072001-05-14T06:38:00.000-07:002001-05-14T06:38:52.200-07:00alternative school Highschools in this country ae hell on earth for the students. They have an extremely tight scedule, too many hours until late, there's no room for creativity or anything else then the curriculum - the aim is to pass the entrance exam for a good university. It's basically the same problem as in Japan, where students use the four years during colleague mainly to have fun and TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-36105352001-05-13T01:57:00.000-07:002001-05-13T01:57:33.330-07:00another wedding The son of the oldest professor at Chonbuk's German department got married at noon time. The first wedding I attended to in Korea was a Korean-American one, but although this one is "purely" Korean, it is not traditional at all. The wedding ceremony took place at one of the oldest churches in Korea. A roman catholic church. The ceremony was almost identical to the ones I know TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-35698282001-05-09T16:45:00.000-07:002001-05-09T16:42:42.826-07:00dinner and children @ work Today I have been invited to a restaurant for dinner with a professor and his family. Professor Park came with his wife and thirteen years old daughter, who looked a little bit tired that evening, but I have been told that is a permanent condition. A few years ago, they lived in Germany for some time, so their daughter learned some German and struggled with the two TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-35617232001-05-09T06:52:00.000-07:002001-05-10T03:33:54.296-07:00Goethe institute On my second day in Daejon, I didn't have much time to do some sightseeing or even just attend class at Paejae university. I only met Prof. Cho, a lecturer at the local Goethe instutute and the only one with a permanent contract. We had a nice walk through the nearby woods, talking about how to motivate students in class, the lecturers' view of teaching among other topics. TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-35473332001-05-08T04:38:00.000-07:002001-05-10T03:23:15.190-07:00Daejon Today I traveled to Paejae university in Daejon to get an idea how other teachers handle lessons... and big classes. There's no one and only teaching method, but experience can change the view on certain ways how to behave in class, how to present new grammar or explain new words and other problems. Katrin Park-Mensing has an experience of five years, and I think you can observe that in TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-35258822001-05-06T19:20:00.000-07:002001-05-06T19:31:23.460-07:00traditional tea houseIf you ever plan to visit Korea, try out those tea houses. In Seoul, Inchadong (spelling might be wrong) is the best place for such things, but basically, tea houses are everywhere. Most of those places are quiet and have a nice atmosphere. The collection of teas is unbelievable! The best thing of all: Let's say you bought a cake in a bakery, then you can go to a tea house TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-35159272001-05-06T00:45:00.000-07:002001-05-06T20:33:39.916-07:00last day of the stadium festival I don't know what it was about, but there were tents and a lot of events taking place in the area around the old Jeonju Stadium. My host and me loitered around for a few hours, watching some kind of theatrical performance and all those tents. Some of those tents belonged to local vendors. One of them sold beds. Well, not really beds, or not beds in the western TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-34654272001-05-02T09:23:00.000-07:002001-05-06T23:04:46.510-07:00The end of the Film FestivalTonight the film festival was at it's end. The ceremony started with Sabulnori, but even more impressive than it was at the opening ceremony. Some were dancing, keeping formation and playing their instruments at the same time. During the break, a Korean who sat next to me, asked me where I came from. I replied, I'm from Germany. Then he said something like Oh, are youTGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-34493902001-05-01T09:12:00.000-07:002001-05-06T22:54:50.376-07:00Seasons of Blood and HopeI know, I know, I'm stupid. Since I'm rushing from one meeting to the other, I'm even forgetting which day it is. This morning I missed the German movie K.aF.Ka-Fragment, but the friends I wanted to go with said later today it was boring, hard to understand and all in all horrible. So I guess I didn't miss too much, but I would have liked to watch it anyway. Seasons of TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-34353292001-04-30T11:43:00.000-07:002001-05-02T07:54:22.340-07:00Buddhas birthdayI overslept. Great. It's Buddhas 2545th birthday and I sleep until noon. Actually, I wanted to go to the Kapsa temple in Yusong at Daejon, but I missed the express bus and the friends I wanted to go with. I could stay at home and die from boredom or I could explore Korea alone. I decided for the latter, took my tourist handbook, camera and salty cookies, heading to the Jeonju TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-34253712001-04-29T18:50:00.000-07:002001-05-02T02:45:30.446-07:00back to school IIIThis was my last day at the highschool. I thought the first class again. As expected, nobody did the homework. Well, nobody but one. This time I learned how important it is to prepare more than probably neccessary. We hadn't enough time to get through everything I prepared, but the first part, the review of the homework was suddenly very short, and the last two tasks turned out TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-34133552001-04-28T19:23:00.000-07:002001-05-02T00:55:58.446-07:00GendernautsThe first movie that blew me away. It was about time, after all those experiments yesterday. A documentary film from Germany about the life and being of Transsexuals in the San Francisco Bay Area. I don't have any connections to that group of people, so it was an interesting insight into a completely different world for me. The persons interviewed hade all their own special history of TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-34030372001-04-27T20:58:00.000-07:002001-05-06T22:58:22.483-07:00Digital FilmTonight it wasn't only Digitopia which I went to see, but three movies, and Digitopia was just the second one. One of the surprises was that people wich (digital) film cameras could enter the theater, but before the movie an announcer said that picture taking during the movie is forbidden. Hard to tell if there's a video camera running. That's the way how black copies hit the internetTGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-33864402001-04-26T18:06:00.000-07:002001-05-06T23:00:26.406-07:00The Jeonju International Film FestivalIt starts tonight! The masses are preparing for the opening ceremony, curiosity, impatience, anticipations, expectations are in the air! The show is about to begin...I didn't know what to expect first, except maybe a lot of people and a great show before the movie. What actually was going on was interesting to observe. The organizators ostensibly did TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-33625332001-04-25T08:02:00.000-07:002001-04-28T05:26:46.050-07:00back to school IIThis morning I had my second lesson at the highschool. The class was smaller, and the people were also more active than the first class. This time I avoided all mistakes I did the first time. I watched out that we had enough time for the last excercise and even the homework. I pushed the pupils in the first twenty minutes - again that "ask me, ask me what ever you want to know TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-33572412001-04-24T21:25:00.000-07:002001-05-06T00:51:57.026-07:00back to schoolToday I had my first lesson at the highschool. The pupils were quite surprised when I walked in. Mr Kim didn't tell them anything about this lesson, and at the beginning he only told them that I'm doing an internship and conducting that lesson. I think the first shock came when I only talked in German to them. To easen up the situation, I asked them to ask me anything they wanted toTGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-33421652001-04-23T22:54:00.000-07:002001-04-27T21:19:40.633-07:00exam weekThe two beginner's classes had exam in German language. I didn't do much today except of watching the students during the exam. The questions were not too difficult, but I think listening was by far the hardest part. I tried to imagine how difficult for the students that task must have been. A few years ago I had the same level in Japanese, and I thought I could never learn so much to TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-33266752001-04-22T23:32:00.000-07:002001-04-26T18:41:55.250-07:00Am I a number?This morning I went to the bank with Matin to change my last Japanese money. It was hard to give it out of my hands as it is everything that's left from Japan. Except my Kanjibook, maybe. Instead of using my name for the money exchange, Matin used his - and his ID, a long, maybe eight or ten digit number. We hadn't time yet to talk about it, but that surprised me. I don't know TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-33137832001-04-22T00:05:00.000-07:002001-04-23T03:23:46.680-07:00staying at the dormLast evening I met again with Ko, a student from the 3rd year at the German department. We planned to watch Matrix at the dorm, but the projector is broken so we had to do something else. In the end, we went to the entertainment area in front of the university. That was the first time that I was there during evening hours - over the day there are many people, but on Saturday TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-32994952001-04-20T20:08:00.000-07:002001-05-06T00:49:01.023-07:00toiletsAre you over 1.80 m? In that case, you might have some difficulty using toilets in this country. As I wrote in the last posting, technology is imported from the west, but that's not enough. In Korea, you find traditional toilets as well as western toilets. Now, as in Japan, the funny thing is how some of those western toilets are built. Instead of turning the front of the toilet towards TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-32852832001-04-19T21:44:00.000-07:002001-04-22T00:31:41.003-07:00fitness clubSince I'm in Korea, I started to practise again. Working out in the main hall is not too different from walking on the street, everybody is looking at me - although not openly. The place where I really feel like I'm under some kind of test tube is the showers. The men never saw a naked foreigner you might think. I don't want even think about what they were comparing under the shower..TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-32671702001-04-18T19:09:00.000-07:002001-04-21T22:05:56.166-07:00visit at a highschoolToday Ms. Choi and me went to a highschool to meet with a German language teacher who offered me a few hours of his German classes. So, perhaps I might get the chance to teach at a real highschool. It was funny to walk through the school, because most of the pupils were so surprised when I walked by. During our talk outside with the teacher, Mr. Kim, dozens of pupils were TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-32530092001-04-17T21:42:00.000-07:002001-04-18T00:39:16.660-07:00culture and languageToday's second class was interesting. Not just because Ms. Choi tried something new to get away from the books, but because on some point one of the students gave a good example of how culture influences language so that it might be difficult for western foreigners to understand. The question was something like "What do you do, when...". The student answered in German "I play TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-32399772001-04-17T05:29:00.000-07:002001-04-21T23:49:13.486-07:00logosAfter class, I went to the meeting of a university club, organized by students. Logos is a club in the german department, for students who want to learn outside of the classroom in groups. I attended to the meeting of the beginners, on other days, a few guys from the advanced class meet. The difference to the normal lessons were quite ostentatious. The lesson has been held by a Korean, and TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-32244902001-04-16T07:56:00.000-07:002001-04-21T22:00:49.473-07:00the Jeonju International Film Festival!I got lucky. There's a film festival in town, and just because I'm a foreigner I got a VIP invitation for the opening ceremony, which I heard is hard to attend to for Koreans. "Positive" rascism, in this case. I wonder what the Koreans in Jeonju would say to that, but this time, well, I don't mind this kind of treatment. How hypocritical, eh?I went to the TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-32075302001-04-14T21:29:00.000-07:002001-04-22T00:16:07.840-07:00Trivial Pursuit, birthdays and a bandOn some Friday's nights, the foreigners gather at the Natural Map and play a few rounds of Trivial Pursuit with self-researched questions. Pay 2000 Won, and you're in for a race for the 1st prize, the collected money of all groups. It is fun, but the questions are usually hard and I wonder how some people could gather so much information in their lives. TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-31886932001-04-13T09:56:00.000-07:002001-04-21T22:19:47.630-07:00 no weapons on the table, pleaseIn Japan and before, I got used to eat Asian foods with chopsticks. Wooden chopsticks. In Korea, in contrast, the chopsticks are made of metal, which makes them slippery and harder to use for eating. Somebody told me that in former times chopsticks could also have been used as waepons in emergencies, so that would explain why. In contrast to Japan, spoons are also TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-31806732001-04-12T18:36:00.000-07:002001-04-15T03:35:05.006-07:00barsTonight I've been to several bars frequented by foreigners. The first one was the "Deep In", where for the first time since the J-pop year in Japan I heard decent music! Be prepared to get a noisy load techno music music when you go out to eat in Korea, especially in places for young people. I like the "Deep In" in the first place because I met a lot of different people with interesting TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-31577622001-04-11T08:13:00.000-07:002001-04-15T03:29:59.660-07:00rulesToday something funny happened on our way to school. We were waiting at the bus station when suddenly one of those long-distance busses stopped next to us and the driver shouted something over to us. It was a relative of my host brother, apparently offering us to take us to the unversity. We drove to the next bus terminal, where he stopped and lead us to another bus. Then he asked that otherTGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-31509162001-04-10T19:28:00.000-07:002005-01-23T02:16:40.140-08:00double standards and gender inequalities As in every society, there are double standard in moral questions. Usually, men are allowed more things than women, and that's not different in Korea. Take smoking, for example. I didn't notice it until somebody pointed it out, but you won't see any women smoking in public, not one! They are also supposed to swear less then men. In matters of sex, women TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-31333122001-04-09T17:00:00.000-07:002001-04-09T18:28:30.110-07:00contrastsAfter merely ten days in Korea, I observed several living conditions, which reminded me of Japan at first, but I think it is much more extreme here. Take the class rooms at Chonbuk University, for example. Many rooms are so old, there are foot prints all over the wall, the windows are, although not broken, not providing any warmth protection at all. The chairs are left-overs from the TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-31247352001-04-09T03:49:00.000-07:002001-04-09T08:58:44.916-07:00healthUh. Tell me about food poisoning. Out of mere stupidity I ate a dish of vegetarian Chapche, which didn't smell too fresh, so I spend the night with barfing into the toilet and trying to lower my temperature. Now, the KFDA warns only about meat poisoning, I guess being a vegetarian didn't help much in this case.TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-31128882001-04-08T05:34:00.000-07:002001-04-13T01:54:48.866-07:00a weddingI have been invited to attend to a cross-cultural wedding, an American man and a Korean woman decided to marry and become Mr and Mrs Faust. As it was not a traditional wedding ceremony, this is not a description of the common type, but more about an exception. The ceremony and the reception took place at the Hotel Riviera - unfortunately, their homepage is accessible in Korean only. The TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-31013442001-04-07T00:42:00.000-07:002001-04-07T00:51:27.786-07:00datingHow does a young (and modern) Korean find a girlfriend? Very quick, fast and straightforward: Your friends set up a blind date for you. You meet with the girl and your friends or without them in a cafe and chat a little. Because both know what is all about, questions are exchanged directly, about age, heritage, etc. Such a date can take half an hour, then everything is over and both can go TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-30905722001-04-06T07:34:00.000-07:002001-04-21T23:04:03.296-07:00first classToday I had the first teaching lesson in my life in German class at Chonbuk university. Well, not completely the first real one, but the first one that counts officially in some way. The students don't expect much they said, so o.k., no pressure there, but I was nervous all by myself. Korean students of course differ from European ones, for example there no direct criticism in class, TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-30586002001-04-04T03:38:00.000-07:002001-04-09T18:57:45.890-07:00trafficGetting from one place to the other in Korea is quite inexpensive. Busses in Jeonju cost only 600 Won, the orange, more comfortable ones cost 1000 Won. I know teachers who always use taxis because it's so cheap. I need about 30 minutes from my home to the university, if I take a taxi, I would cost about 3200 Won. Compared to Germany, this is cheap, so in Japan, where I might pay for the TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-30436402001-04-03T03:31:00.000-07:002001-04-09T19:29:40.966-07:00religionIf you associated a red cross with the organisation bearing the same name red cross then you will be suprised when you travel through Korea. As a country in proximity of China, in history it has been strongly influenced by Shamanism, Confucianism and Buddhism. However, since a few decades a new religion has entered Korean society and increased it's popularity much more then the TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-30319662001-04-02T10:15:00.000-07:002001-04-21T23:25:57.183-07:00D.D.R.Today and yesterday evening I saw how young people spend their Won: D.D.R. This unusual way of playing involves feet, feeling for rhythm, a healthy heart and sometimes the hands, too, depending on the D.D.R. box. It's like a huge Jukebox with pads in front of it, the screen shows when to step on the pads, and you jump. Some people dance for real on it, some have a more mechanical style, TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-30152362001-04-01T18:45:00.000-07:002001-04-02T10:01:04.743-07:00children and handsome foreignersWhen I walked through the streets of Kyoto, I had the same feeling as I have it in Jeonju right know: People watch me. They watch me closely, sometimes from the corner of the eye, curious, trying to hide it. Children are the big exception! Everytime I walk through a group of children (if a child is alone it is looking openly, but usually they don't say much), they TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-30057352001-03-31T08:55:00.000-08:002001-04-04T18:18:11.033-07:00HomestayStaying two months, I was so lucky to get the opportunity to live with a Korean family and do a homestay. One of the students, Chae Chol "Ma(r)tin" Chong was so nice to offer me a place in his home, so I'm staying with him and his family. It is a fortunate coincidence that he is interested in computers and the internet, just like myself. He is the webmaster of the biggest EMiNEM fan page TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-30056552001-03-31T08:45:00.000-08:002001-04-02T09:00:27.793-07:00the fair sexEye-catcher: All those beautiful girls here, I don't know where they all come from, it's unbelievable. Last summer I already noticed it, when I was around for sightseeing, but already on the airport I saw so many angels (stewardesses, guys, forget British Airways!), my eyeballs were hurting after a few minutes. To get my point across better, I'll try to take a walk through the TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-30055822001-03-31T08:37:00.000-08:002001-04-02T08:58:51.943-07:00ArrivalThe airport is huge, following the explanations in the welcome movie in the airplane it's the 4th largest on the world and the second one in South Korea. In contrast to my expectations, I didn't any workers around, everything was clean, neat, partly pure luxury: The huge hall for reclaiming the luggage is covered with marble, there's even a 6 meter high waterfall on the left wall. One TGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2992455.post-29998122001-03-30T19:02:00.000-08:002010-11-19T03:02:16.295-08:00Welcome to my journal. I'm a German student of Modern Japan, English and German. Perhaps you read my journal about my stay in Japan. Unfortunately, my year in Japan is over, but before returning to Germany I decided to do an internship at Chonbuk University in Chonju as a part of my studies in Germany. I am going to learn how to teach German to three groups of Korean students in the following twoTGnoreply@blogger.com