Keeping up the Lake City quotient in Daegu

Gwen recently left Daegu for a month-long vacation in the US... but, oddly enough, her absence has not reduced the number of people in Korea originally from Lake City to just me. There is at least one other former Lake Citian on the peninsula, my buddy Steve. He came down to Daegu from Pyongtaek yesterday to see what there was to see in this corner of the land of the morning calm. We had lunch downtown, then went up to Palgong Mountain to visit Donghwasa and do some hiking along the river, and then had dinner with my cousin. All in all, good times. The complete set of photos from my this and previous trips to Donghwasa can be seen here.

Steve contemplates some superfantastic bibimbap.

Water lily at Donghwasa


Water lily at Donghwasa

Buddha carved in stone, Donghwasa

Scary bug - I didn't edit this at all; this is how it really looked!


Steve


Cousin George

A hazy walk through one of my favorite places

Those of you who have followed my blog since my previous trip here to South Korea might remember that the Mangudang Park (also spelled Mangwoodang Park), located along Daegu's Geumho River (Geumhogang) is one of my favorite places in the city. (Previous posts about this area can be found here, here, here, and here.) I've been itching to go for a walk down there ever since I returned to Korea, and figured yesterday - the first dry day we'd had in a while - would be a good day to do it. Unfortunately, while yesterday was sunny and dry, it was also hazy: a pervasive kind of haze which makes one sweat profusely while turning one's potentially awesome photos into, well, crap. I returned home from my walk drenched in sweat, headachy, and without much in the way of decent photographs. And wouldn't you know that today - the day I'd set aside for such mundane tasks as grocery shopping, house cleaning, and laundry - is one of those days of clear blue skies and puffy white clouds. No haze in sight. Ahh well, c'est la vie. Anyway, below are the few shots I was able to salvage - and even that I was only able to do by turning them into black and white so that the nasty haze-colored sky is invisible.

Then and Now

Other than the arrival of that ridiculously large shopping center in what was once an empty field, not much has changed since I left Daegu in fall 2007... except for those former students of mine who are still at the school. Take a look at how two of my former students have changed over the past few years!

Judy, featured above, started studying English as a beginner in my class back in 2007 - as in learning the alphabet, folks. Well, she has definitely progressed far beyond that! Today was the last day of my summer intensive class (which means I will have more free time from now on!), and the final homework assignment I gave the class was to write a story about anything they wanted, as long as they wrote at least one page. This is Judy's story (you can see it larger by clicking on it if you need to):

And this is what the class drew on the board for me :-)

Minute Maid "With Pulpy"

A while back, I purchased some lemonade while out for a hot summer's day walk. It was Minute Maid brand, and bearing a rather amusing label:

Since that amusing discovery, I have also found Minute Maid's amusingly catchy corresponding TV ad campaign:

Historic Temples! And Kitties!

On August 2, 2010 I took a spur-of-the-moment trip up to Donghwa Temple (Donghwasa), located on Palgong Mountain, just outside of Daegu. It was a blisteringly hot day, and I arrived at the temple drenched in sweat, only to discover that I'd left my spare camera battery in the charger, and that the one in my camera was near death. Ooops. I took some pictures, but not as many as I normally would have. I went back to Donghwasa today with my cousin in tow - it was his first trip outside of Daegu (OK, so it's not like we went that far, but it still counts!), and his first visit to a Korean temple. He seemed pretty impressed. As you might expect, I took a ton of pictures, and not just of the temple.

Every single time I visit a Buddhist temple in Korea, it seems I see at least one cat. And not a terrified feral like the kitties I see scampering around my neighborhood late at night, but critters which while not friendly, aren't terrified either. I guess they realize they won't be mistreated in these places. (My mom suggests that they are a Korean Maneki Neko incarnation.) Today I saw not one, but four! One was a playful tomcat; the others were a mother and her three kittens. Sadly, none let me catch them - but they did let me take quite a few photographs! Additionally, it seems to be dragonfly season up in the mountains, and I found numerous dragonflies willing to pose for the camera. I've selected some of my favorite shots to post below. The complete set can be seen by clicking here. Enjoy!

Seriously? This is learning?

One of the many English language resources here in Korea for those interested in learning the language is The Learning Times. My cousin has been picking it up since he arrived, looking for things he might be able to use with his classes. So far, no such luck. Last week he discovered an amusing dialog which totally dropped the f-bomb:

Today he found something even more ridiculous:

Make Your Own Konglish: A Tutorial

Whenever I post pictures of "konglish" - Korean misinterpretations, mis-spellings, and misuses of the English language - I inevitably get questions like "Why didn't they use a dictionary?" "Why didn't they just ask a native speaker?" and "Do you think this was made by someone who knew it was wrong and thought it would be funny?" Well, folks, the answer is that "they" (whoever they are) probably just ran some text through an electronic translator. I ran the text of my July 31st post, Rails to Parks, through two different online translators, translate.ru (for Russian) and bablylon (for Korean). I translated my text first into Russian or Korean (respectively), then back into English. The results sound remarkably Konglishy. They also sound a bit like what lazy students turn in for homework! Check 'em out:

from translate.ru:

Back in 2007 I has found out old station Banyawol. As I have mentioned before, Banyawol - the neighbourhood of Taegu in which I live. The station (and traces which it has once served) sat left, simple five-minute walk from school where I worked. (A new line trains and station about ten-minute immersing on the southeast have prevailed a place.) now, I have something like attachment to all things a train - to especially all things an old train - and I completely loved an environment of old station.

However, advanced in years that I have left Korea, development has overtaken sleepy Banyawol. The unused railway has been torn to, make the way for complexes of apartment and the planned visiting of shop and business services. Absolutely new complex of apartment Gven is entered, passing that once was old station Banyawol.

However, the station has not been destroyed, simply moved. About 15-minute walk to the south from its previous site (about five-minute walk from Electronic salesroom Banyawol) the new park has been created along an old bed of a rail. Old station - the main central part of park though the building is locked difficult and closed for visitors. I am excited that the station has been rescued, though the park definitely lacks in an environment of old station.

And from Babylon:

I was again in 2007 found an old Banyawol train station. In front of me, Banyawol in Daegu, near the. The train station, tracking service once sat abandoned only five minutes from the school where I worked. new railway station, about 0 minutes to dive into south-east, the place of. Now I was a little bit of all of his affection for the Train, especially in all the work on old Train -- and I entirely up to the atmosphere.

However, for many years, I left South Korea, development is Banyawol overtaken sleepy. The train that do not use the Line been torn away apartments and to the shopping and business plan. The new Gwen to enter apartment brand, while driving through the old Banyawol train station.

In the station, however, is not destroyed the Will Be before. If it takes about 15 minutes before the location (about 5 minutes walk from the Banyawol E-mart) new park, along with the old railroad went to sleep. Old Station of the core, even if the building is locked tight to visitors, and closed the door. I stored in the station, but was the park is the atmosphere lack the Old Station.

Funny English Grammar Textbook Titles

The circle of life... in Korea

In August 2007, as my previous stint in Korea drew to a close, another English teacher named Diana arrived to serve as my replacement. I left her with a bunch of various items, including my COSTCO membership card, which identified me as Jane Leeler. Diana moves back to the US this Thursday. She stopped by the school this evening to say goodbye, and to leave me "her" Jane Leeler card :-)

A work in progress

It's really just too hot out there right now (Korean summers having a lot in common with the Southeastern United States in terms of heat and humidity) to spend much time outside... and as "going places" and "doing things" are phrases synonymous with "spending much time outside" - I figured I'd spend this weekend inside, enjoying the pleasures of high speed wireless internet and air conditioning. I've started working on re-designing janekeeler.com. I've only posted pictures on two sections (Korea and People), but it's a start. You can check it out by clicking here or by clicking the image below.

Oh, Kyrgyzstan. Not again.

Funniest. Konglish. Ever.

In the intervening time between my previous trip to South Korea and my most recent arrival on the peninsula, many of the laws regarding foreigners coming here to teach English have been updated. One such update is the requirement that all foreign teachers undergo a health screening - essentially a giant smokescreen which does little to mask the real purpose: testing our urine for illegal drugs and our blood for HIV. And where were my cousin and I taken for our health screening? The Medical Condemnation department!

Pictures from Donghwa Temple

Click here to see the full set of photos

Korean TV Commercials

Don't worry; You'll understand as much of this as I do.