Graduation Day!

It is hard to believe that it has already been a week since entering Korea. The time has gone unbelievably fast and yet I got to do sooo much. Granted I was in lecture for roughly nine hours a day I got to meet some amazing people from all around the world. I will miss them but especially my cool Canadian roommate. We will still hang out but it will be weird not hearing the parade of Irish and U.K. people parading down the halls to the elevator to hit up the pubs. It will be nice to not live out of a suitcase though. I have a lot to catch you up on and I have a feeling I will not have any internet for a while so I really need to make this count. Here we go... Flash back two days.

Here is me and my group (1/8) of all of the teachers that were here this week in front of a giant steel pipe. We are standing there because the organization thought it would be interesting for us to see POSCO which is the South Korean steel mill. Here is the only picture I can get of it since photos inside were not allowed.

It was much more impressive size wise inside but I can tell you I have never been more bored in my life. We drove 2 HOURS to get there and we got off the bus for a total of 10 minutes! That is right POSCO was a bus tour. So a total of five hours on a bus with very cranky (mostly hungover) teachers. The tour guide we had for POSCO only spoke Korean as well. We had a translator but many things got lost in translation. For example, when explaining what was used to make the steel our translator Jin said that steel is made of three parts iron, carbon and cooking oil. I think she meant chromium. But that is ok she was really cute when explaining that she was still "new at English" and was "trying her best". Super cute Koreans.

           After a nice two hour sleep headed back from the excitement that was steel making I woke up to that sight. We are not at the bay at in Busan. This is the East Sea or the Sea of Japan. It was just an unbelievable sight especially when two hours before you were surrounded by metal. We were there to eat lunch at a hotel that set up our meal for us. They fed 200 of us that day as the other 200 were now on their way to the steel factory...poor kids. Here is a look of the dining situation.

          I finished eating and it was time to go see a theatrical performance. The show was called Jump. Not too much of a plot but it is ultimately a martial arts comedy show. The things that they did in this show were unbelievable. Such as:

and:

oh yeah AND!

             Jump was an amazing show. It was super funny and charming in its style. It really summed up the culture really well in this show. Here are some more kicks...

OUCH!!!

           So we got back to the dorms and it was time to go out for some serious South Korean experiences (Noribong) Karaoke!!! Now in South Korea and most of the Eastern cultures Karaoke is done in a private room with your friends while drinks are served to you. The great part was that all of the t.v.'s are in Korean and we can't figure out how to turn the darn machine on. Finally the guy came in and showed us how to work. Back in the desert if you looked at the very back of the Karaoke book you can find the foreign music. Those pages are now reserved for the basic English Karaoke songs... We started off with some Journey and then worked are way through the classics. After each song the machine gives you a grade of your performance. Everyone was at a solid A all night. Good job people from all over the world. Here are some pics of what you might see when going to a noribong.

           A day went by and there was nothing productive and we presented our final lesson plans. It was now time for graduation! Here is a picture of the closing ceremonies with a lot of really interesting speakers. The Korean people are very humble in regards to invitations. They really appreciate the fact that we are there. I really appreciate that I am here too. I miss all of you guys at home but look at all of these new friends I made in a week.

               I just finished packing to go to my new home in  Daegu (Taegu) and will give you some updates as soon as I can. I have no idea where I will be living, how many classes I will be teaching or whether or not I will be eaten alive by a bunch of kids that probably wont understand what I am saying. But one thing I do know is that I wanted an adventure and I am getting it. I hope to talk to you all soon but who knows when I will have internet next. Kamsahamnida for reading. Peace out!