out on a ledge: gyeongju

This past weekend, I met up with the other Fulbright ETAs in Gyeongju for a conference. It was incredible to see everyone after being away at our individual placements and to swap teaching stories. There were two main objectives for the conference: glean teaching information and rehearse The Fulbright Song for the 60th anniversary next weekend. I think both of those were obtained in the discussions and hours of choir rehearsal. Choir rehearsal was especially exciting. We had a group of 106 individuals, many of whom had never sung or never sung in a choir before. By day three, we actually had a decent sound.

On Sunday, those who wished could take the Gyeongju Tour. I was stoked to learn more about Korean tradition and culture. We began the tour by going to Seokguram, a cave that was carved out of the mountain with a twelve foot tall Buddha statue carved in as well. The carvings were beautiful. We then bussed to Bulguksa, a famous Buddhist temple that has been recreated after being destroyed. My favourite part of the day was the Gyeongju National Museum. We only had a few minutes to tour the museum and there was way too much to see. Some friends and I went to the Children's Museum (and got to make our own ink prints!!) and the Archeology museum. I was introduced to a new word, the chestlace, similar to a necklace, but for the whole torso. We took a short walk at Anapji, were some buildings used to stand and then took the bus over to the Cheomseongdae observatory. This is the oldest surviving original observatory in Korea and was used for both astrological and astronomical (okay, so at that time, they were virtually the same thing) observations. The stone structure dates to the seventh century. Near the observatory are the burial mound for the royalty during that time. These are the Cheonmachong tombs. The tombs are all above ground, so they look like giant hills covered in grass. Add a little snow, and king of the hill might not be a bad idea...One of the tombs has been excavated and we got to go inside as the conclusion of our great tour.

Sunday evening two friends and I had a persimmon adventure. Alanna is somewhat obsessed with persimmons and there were several trees near the hotel. I will not confirm or deny whether any trees were climbed by all members of the part and whether any persimmons were consumed...

On Monday morning, before heading back to the train station, Alanna and I decided to venture out onto the lake near the hotel in a donald duck paddle boat. For the mere sum of 10,000 won (less than $10) we got to rent a boat for half an hour. At first, that did not seem like a lot of time on the water; then we started pedaling. We floated around and took some pictures of birds on the water, laughing somewhat hysterically for much of the expedition.

The train ride back to hongseong was uneventful and it is great to know that I will see everyone again next weekend in Seoul.