Boryeong Mud Festival 2011

Way back, on a humid weekend in late July, I travelled with some of my old mates from Gwangju-si to the Boryeong Mud Festival. The 14th Boryeong Mud Festival was held at Daecheon Beach in Boryeong city in Chungcheongnam-do, a province on the Western coast of Korea. 

English Summer Camp 2011

Way back, in the last 2 weeks of July, it was hot and humid and raining lots which meant: 

a) that it was another sticky Korean summer 

b) I was spending all my free time researching what we would do on our holiday

c) it was time for another English "Camp".

Yes, it was English Summer Camp 2011 and my first camp at my new middle school in Hanam. In fact, this was our third English camp in South Korea and we were starting to feel like old hands at it by then I think. (To read about our previous English camps or to have a look at our old materials, click here for Summer 2010 and Winter 2010). In common with "camps" at both my previous school and Rowan's school and in fact most (if not all schools) in Korea, there wasn't a scrap of canvas in sight and certainly no camp fire as camps here just mean an extra curricular program which the kids attend during the holidays. 

It's the end of the road for canvas fans.

White Water Rafting

Did you know that July 1 is Canada Day? No, me neither. But living and working in Korea has taught me many things about other cultures and not just Korean culture. Our Canadian friends enlightened us about this day that commemorates the birth of their fine nation and it was decided that we should do something fun to celebrate.

I'm so ignorant of Canadian culture. Look, even these young kids knew when Canada Day was.

Leaving on a Bongo Truck

Following the end of Sophie's job in Gwangju-si, we had to leave behind our lovely apartment and move to our new place in Hanam. Despite having come to Korea with only two suitcases full of stuff we managed to collect a whole lot of stuff. Two of my co-teachers, the head of the English department and the boss of my office came along to help us move in their cars. After looking at our massive piles of stuff they quickly decided that there wasn't enough room in their cars so called for a man with a small "Bongo" truck to come and help move our stuff. It was quite an ordeal getting everything into the lift and loaded on to the truck, what with our new neighbors' pesky son trying to steal the stuff he took a shine to whenever we weren't looking and other neighbors just standing around having a stare at the foreigners and blocking the hallway in the process. 

For the uninitiated, this is the ubiquitous Kia Bongo truck, a small 1 ton truck that you see everywhere in South Korea, often piled high with garlic or melons or some other fresh produce and driven round by an ajjoshi (Korean older man) with a recorded sales message blaring out of the onboard PA system.