My Korean Summer 2013: Day 20 - Doosan Bears VS LG Twins Baseball Game

[Baseball]
I have been to a number of baseball games in the USA and frankly, I can't remember any of them being as exciting as the game I saw here in Korea. Sogang university arranged for us to attend a Friday night game at Jamsil baseball stadium. It actually acts as the home stadium for both the Doosan Bears and the LG Twins. This game had the Bears as the home team.

After arriving, we grabbed a quick bit to eat outside the stadium. The prices were very reasonable...they even had a small convenience store to buy all sorts of beverages and snacks. All the food we bought we were able to bring into the stadium, all bags we had were allowed into the stadium...there was no real bag check that I saw. Also, no one asked up to lift up our shirts and our pants cuffs to check for weapons. I don't think it's that they had a lack of security; I think it is that they don't really have to worry too much about violence at these large public venues.

Our seats were very close to what I will call 'the stage'. The stage area was for cheerleaders and now I need to explain how cheerleading works in Korea because it's completely different from what I have experienced in the USA.

[Cheerleading]
There was a team of 6 female cheerleaders that had choreographed dances to many songs. They included pop songs and the fan chant songs. Almost every player had a fan chant. I'm still bad at Korean but I imagine they mention hitting home runs and winning.

BUT the thing that seemed drastically different was the one male cheerleader that was dressed in full baseball garb. Besides the female team of cheerleaders, he would get up and coordinate all the cheers, fan chants, applause, etc. He had an amazing amount of energy and enthusiasm. It was also in the 80s in regards to temperature so I don't know how he didn't have a heart attack during the game. (He even did small golf-claps if the batter got a strike like saying "No worries, you'll hit next time").

[The Game]
When your team is at bat, you are on your feet fan chanting at the top of your lungs while the pitcher warms up and then as he winds up we all get quite to (hopefully) watch a hit. While the team is fielding it's not quite as crazy but there was still huge cheers for ever out. In general, it was nuts, and the crowd when completely bananas if there was a home run.

The teams' battering averages ranged from abysmal to actually quite good. The game we saw was almost all offense with the final score being 15-12. The field had the measurements in meters but it looked about the same size as an American baseball stadium...save for the amount of seats. I'm sure American stadiums cram more boxes and seats in (there were only two club boxes at Jamsil).

[Food/Drink]
Again, like the movie theater, all prices were reasonable. One of the best things I saw in the stadium was the vendor with the beer backpack (price for a glass was only KRW 3000!):

All the rest of the food and drink seemed like a much better deal than any American baseball stadium.

[Conclusion]
If you can, go to a baseball game in Korea. I was with a lot of other people from countries that don't really have baseball and they still had a fun time. The stadium is accessible by the Jamsil subway stop (at least I'm pretty sure ^^).

If I think of anything else I'll update.
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My Korean Summer 2013: Day 18 - Korean Buddhist Temple Visit

[Over the River and Through the Woods]

This past Wednesday, my culture class visited a Buddhist temple romanized as "Geumseonsa". We met on campus and then headed to the subway for a somewhat long ride to the northern edge of Seoul. Upon arrival, we had a bus ride up the hillside and then a hike up the side of the mountain on a road/stone incline. Check out this house on the walk up:

While the weather had cleared up for us, it was still fairly hot and humid. I was sweating bullets by the time we reached the main gate, but the smell of fresh air was nice.

[The Temple]

The temple had a variety of buildings, the tour guide led us to only a few but we got to walk around most of the other ones. We were shown how to properly bow to the Buddha in one of the halls containing the main Buddha statue. (I apologize as I'm not very well read regarding Buddhism). We also saw another hall where the monks also gather to pray, meditate, and worship. The center entrance is reserved for the monks of the temple while non-monks enter through the sides.

Near the entrance to the temple are some very large instruments. These all have significance when played; see the picture below:

[Chatting with the monk]

We had tea set up for us in one of the buildings and a monk greeted us and let us ask whatever questions we wanted. They said every time someone asks how to become enlightened...we were no stranger to that question either. The monk said you will just "know". Through our teacher who did a lot of translating from Korean, it sounded like once you are enlightened, you see reality as it is - not through your physical eyes, not through any type of filter, just as it exists. 

Others asked about life at the temple and how monks interact with the "real world". The response to that question was one of needing to balance wisdom with practice. The way I took it was needing to balance gaining wisdom from life in the temple to practicing a good life with others. The monk said it was a constant...not struggle but maybe challenge for the monks.

We took a few pictures afterwards with the monk and then said our thank yous and goodbyes before heading down the mountain. It was quite a relaxing and serene experience. This may have been because of the streams and small waterfalls and nature all around us but I definitely felt somewhat at peace up at the temple.

[Post-temple]

After returning to Seoul I met up with my friend at the "팔색 삼겹살" restaurant in Sinchon. Their special is 8 different types of pork belly. In addition to all the pork, we got a big seafood soup/stew.

Maybe some of you have met my friend before here (TTMIK). 

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My Korean Summer 2013: Day 15 - Korean movie theater (MEGABOX)

[Korean Movie Theater]
Last Sunday I went to MEGATRONBOX in Sinchon with one of my classmates. This movie complex is literally a humongous box attached to the former Sinchon train station. The building also houses some shopping venues but at the hour we went, only the theater was open.

[TICKETING]
We hopped into the elevator and took it to the lobby floor. Upon exiting, we found the ticketing area. Now, you may think:

"Nathan, movie theaters are movie theaters, they are all alike regardless of where you see a movie."

        "DENG! (Korean onomatopoeia for a wrong answer)"
        "Korean movie theaters, in my opinion, are the system to mimic"

Ticketing is done using a number queuing system. Instead of waiting in line (as in many USA theaters) for who knows how long, you just take a number and wait for an attendant to ticket you. You say the movie title and how many people you have in your party. Then you...choose your seats! No more getting to the movie theater mega early to get the best seats, just pick the ones you want out of the available ones! Better yet, many times people reserve tickets and seats via mobile apps! EVEN BETTER! Plus our tickets were less than $9.00 each...on a weekend night.

[CONCESSIONS]
"But Nathan, the concession prices must be just as high right?"

       "DENG!"
       "They were quite reasonable."

I bought a soda (~20oz) and paid...KRW 2000 or less than $2.00! In the states I know I've paid almost $4.00 for the same size. Not only this but the group in front of me got 3 of the same drink size and a small (medium maybe?) popcorn for...KRW 10,500 or less than $10.00.

[THEATER]
The theater was actually very similar to the USA. Although, there were no seats on the floor level. They only had stadium seats (besides, who wants to crane their neck for 2.5 hours). Also, there were no movie trailers shown (maybe a few but not in the style of the USA). Regular TV style commercials played before the film. I can't remember any specifics but it was basically like watching a commercial break, then the film kind of abruptly started after a notice about emergency exits.

[SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER]
The movie we saw was Pacific Rim, which unfortunately, I can't recommend it. It was just painful listening to the dialogue. Even the fight scenes were sometimes too dark to really see all the cool looking monster and robot details.

[WRAP UP]
Anyway, if you are in Korea and have a night with not much to do, why not see a movie? Most American movies are left with English audio and Korean subtitles. Animated movies are sometimes dubbed so just be careful or ask before you buy the ticket.

~

My Korean Summer 2013: Day 14 - Hongdae Free Market and another Cat Cafe

[Day 14]
My friend wanted to check out the Hongdae Free Market (no the items are not free of charge) today so we decided to meet up for lunch and then head over. The market venue is the "Hongdae Playground" right across from the university. It runs from 1PM-6PM every Saturday (March to November). After a quick meal of Galbi Tang we walked over to the market area. I didn't take many pictures there because a lot of the artists had signs prohibiting photography of their work...

The above stalls are not actually part of the free market but this street is representative of the area.

Many of the items for sale are handmade goods, or at least goods that appear handmade. Another popular item for sale are caricatures. My friend wanted to get one but the line for the artist she wanted was actually quite long :(

[Cat Cafe #2]

The next stop of the day was another cat cafe. We went to Toms cat cafe which frankly was not as nice as Cat Attic in my opinion. There was a noticeable smell of cat in the cafe. One thing that made me nervous was they had you put any purse/bag/pack you brought in with you inside a plastic drawstring bag. This was just in case the cats decided your bag was their new litter box. 

This cafe had more cats than Cat Attic but I don't think this was necessarily a good thing. They had over 30 cats on their roster including a few kittens...it was all a bit overwhelming for the cats and humans...

It was still a decent time but I would recommend Cat Attic.

[Anyang]

I spent the evening in Anyang visiting my friend who used to work in the USA but has since returned to Korea. We ate shabu-shabu which is delicious. I recommend trying it! You may have had the Chinese version before...I'm not sure what really differentiates the two but below are a few pictures of the Korean version!

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My Korean Summer 2013: Day 13, Overview of Language Class, Sogang Korean Immersion Program

[안녕하세요!]
Class! Four hours every weekday of nothing but Korean.

After getting placed into a level (1-5), Tuesday, July 9 was our first day in class. We were allowed to buy our books after class that day, just in case we were in the wrong level to begin with. The class sizes are actually quite small. I believe there are currently 13 people in my level. I was placed into an advanced 1A class which basically means we do some content of both 1A and 1B. 

Even though the level I was placed in is a beginner course, they expect you to know a fair amount of Korean. There is actually a course below my level for those that cannot read/pronounce Korean at all. That level eventually dips into true level 1A materials. Anyway, more about my class...

The teachers (Korean: 선생님) only talk in Korean to the students. The only real exception is if we are completely clueless about what they are saying but this is very rare. Most of the time the whole class can comprehend the directions and instructions the teachers give. 

My class has 3 different 선생님. They are all very kind and helpful and make class engaging. In fact, the university I am attending has a focus on speaking and verbal communication. Every class includes speaking with each other and the teacher. Many activities include getting up out of our seats to talk with everyone in the room about the day's topic (the 선생님 will also participate sometimes).

[Daily Schedule]

Most days start with the 1st 선생님 doing an introduction to the day's grammar concept. For example, present tense or past tense. We usually do a couple of verbal exercises with the teacher and a few written exercises. The 2nd 선생님 focuses on dialogue and speaking practice. She knows exactly what we went over with our 1st 선생님 and she continues the lesson with added vocabulary and role play situations. Our 3rd 선생님 focuses on listening comprehension as well as reading comprehension from time to time. Out of the three, the 3rd speaks the fastest and uses the most varied vocabulary for instruction. This may be by design but it could also just be the way she decides to interact with us.  

The hours from 9AM-1PM are broken up roughly as follows: 2 hours writing/speaking, 1 hour speaking, 1 hour listening/reading/speaking. We have a 10 minute break every hour however sometimes these are cut short depending on the schedule of the day.

Each day we have been covering one unit which makes the pace quite brisk. We can get anywhere from 30-40 "new" words. Some aren't so new to some of my classmates. This past unit was particularly challenging because of all the vocabulary and new grammar concepts.

[On Difficulty]

Honestly, if you come to class, participate, and do the workbook exercises you should have no problem keeping up. The only thing I have to do regularly is review vocabulary. There is way to much to simply look at it once and remember everything. I'm going to have to do a decent amount of studying some time this weekend in order not to forget everything for next week's quiz.

This kind of goes without saying but you have to be willing to speak and practice talking in Korean. The grammar is completely different from English and I have a hard time just assembling sentences in my head. The listening comprehension for me isn't too bad but I'm still challenged when it comes to speaking.

[Extra Information]

We get a lot of worksheets each class, I could probably start my own forest with all the paper I've gotten (just kidding ^^). This helps set the pace for the day and also gives up ample opportunity to practice in class and to review outside of class. They do not let us keep our quizzes however. We are able to check our score but we have to hand back the quizzes to the 선생님. 

The view from my classroom is above. We look out to the Gonzaga Plaza area which holds the campus bookstore and various restaurants/cafes.

The view down the hallway...

More to come later!

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My Korean Summer 2013: Day 7, Field Trip Day 2

[DAY 7]

After sleeping in an uber comfortable bed, we had to wake up very early to pack up, check out, and enjoy a Korean breakfast. We had rice, banchan, and a spicy soup that had kimchi, beef, and maybe some fish? I'm not exactly sure what all was it in but it cleared my sinuses quite nicely.

We also finally got to see the spectacular view we were promised upon arrival. The clouds had cleared (at least temporarily).

Next on the itinerary was Mt. Seorak. And of course a torrential downpour started as we pulled up to the cable car station. However, this did not dampen (haha) our spirits! We took the cable car up to the top and proceeded to hike the trail to the peak. It really did have some great views but unfortunately some were obscured by the clouds and fog.

Next stop was Naksansa Temple, we really enjoyed mother nature's continued down pour at this stop. After parking, we walked up a semi-paved dirt path to the entrance of the temple. A monk was there to greet us at the main gate.

Lunch was a dried fish specialty for this region. One of my teaching assistants bought a ton of the stuff at the store next to the restaurant.

Now, we were supposed to go white water rafting after lunch but the river water level had gotten too high from all the rain and the rapids were a little dangerous...so...we settled on zip-lining instead. I personally did not partake in the activity but many of my peers did. They said it was enjoyable. Some other friends and I set up camp at a picnic table with some snacks and beverages. It was fun just to kick back and relax not on the stuffy tour bus.

Dinner was at a rest stop and I must say Korea has the greatest rest stops ever. There are massage chairs, food everywhere, really big bathrooms, convenience stores, other little shops...it's great.

We got back to school early and I went to bed early because I was exhausted!

~

My Korean Summer 2013: Day 6, Field Trip Day 1

[DAY 6]

I still want to write about my class but since my field trip is still fresh in my mind I'll pen this down before I forget! It is still monsoon season here in Korea and the rain had no mercy on us the entire trip. I don't think I've seen the sun properly since arriving in the motherland. Anyway, we all met up bright (not really) and early at 7:30AM to depart from school. Three large tour buses gaudily decorated with lace and pinkish curtains greeted us. I'm not sure why all the tour busses in Korea are seemingly decorated by the same person.

It wasn't long before we were off to our first stop on our itinerary: Samyang Ranch and Wind Plant. Apparently a decent number of Korean dramas and movies have been filmed here. We did not have ideal weather for seeing the views on the ranch (windy, cold, wet) but I did get to snap a couple of pictures in our very brief time there (maybe 10 minutes max at the view point).

After getting cold and wet we hopped back into the humid bus to go lunch.

With full stomachs we were off to Ojukheon and Gyeongopdae Pavilion. Unfortunately my pictures and memory have a hard time remembering which is which but here are some pictures of both (?) stops. Again, it was damp and windy. 

The hotel for the night was a brand new building of hotel suites at the DEL PINO resort. We had the option of using the water park/pool facilities or just enjoying the hotel amenities. A friend and I retired to the billiard room for a bit and stopped by the convenience store for ice cream. We later found the arcade and played a few games before having to return to our building for dinner.

Our tasty dinner at our fancy resort accommodations, romanized it is called "Bulgogi Jeongol". It is basically beef in a broth with a bunch of different vegetables. I enjoyed it!

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