A Mysterious Korean Message

The morning of April 31 has arrived and I'm patiently waiting for "workers" to come and unclog our bathroom drain. The email message sent yesterday said, "tomorrow between 9:00 and 12:00". At 10:45 our phone rang and the message, delivered of course in Korean, remains a mystery to me. Said message could have been related to our clogged drain, or maybe the "crop dusting" that was scheduled for last Monday, is taking place today, maybe we're being evicted... I guess time will tell. Until then, I wait and write.

For today, it's odds and ends, strung together here because they didn't necessarily fit elsewhere.
Our Thursday night English class has proven to be a goldmine of incidental information.
A boy in Korea has few, if any, rules as he grows up. A daughter, on the other hand, does.

It's customary in Korea, for a girl's bedroom to be positioned furthest from the front door.

Unless both parents work, children have few responsibilities. Their job is to study.

 Many children take some type of music lessons in grade school. When they enter middle school, however,
 those lessons stop. Now their time is devoted to school and study.

When they enter high school, their school day runs from 8:00 to 10:00. The hours from 8 to 6 are spent in
what we would call "regular" school. Classes from 6 to 10 are offered and attended to help students get     
ready for their college entrance test - the test that will determine which institution a student will attend, as
well as what they will study.

Then, when asked, "When did you go to bed when you were in high school?" The answer was almost unanimous, "Two oclock!"  According to my calculations, most are getting about 4 hours of sleep - some less. No one seemed to be phased by this. Our students all remarked, however,on the amount of
pressure they felt to do well.

Meanwhile, we had several students who talked about the long hours their fathers (and in some cases)           mothers worked. In one case, his dad left for work at 5:00 and returned around midnight. His mom
worked with him - left a little later, came home a little earlier - so he and his sister were resposible for
meals, cleaning, and other housework.

No wonder most look fit and trim!

Last night, Doug and I attended a concert by CNU's symphany orchestra. Very classical. We're guessing  students in the orchestra are all music majors and were selected as promising musicians at an early age. There were four pieces that featured soloists - a vocalist (tenor), two violinists, two flautists, and a pianist - all excellent.

Not having eaten since lunch, we caved in at 9:00 and ate pizza at "DUM DUMS" - a pizza place located right by our dorm. We've been there before - often enough that the manager knows us by sight. Last night we decided to venture out and try "Hawaiian. As it turns out, (and not unexpectedly, I might add) Hawaiian at DUM DUMs doesn't have quite the same ingredients we might  be familiar with. It  does have pineapple as well as other fruits - we spotted a cherry, (actually a half a cherry) and something clear in color that reminded me of the candied fruit that gets thrown into Christmas fruitcake. There was no ham but it was edible. ( I'm sure we've mentioned this before - when it comes to food...it's all relative!)  We'll probably stick with their pepperoni.

Well, it's almost 1:00. I missed lunch, no workers have arrived, Doug has no idea what's happening here, and our drain is still clogged. My stomach is growling so I think I'll see what I find inside one of those packages. Tomorrow morning we head for Seoul for a few days to spend time with the Engstroms, borrow books, and hopefully see the new Rodin exhibit that opens this weekend.

Attention: Crop-dusting Monday From 9:00 to 18:00

So far, this is my all time favorite. This notice appeared in Korean and English on dorm doors and elevators last Friday.

1.Residents who live on lower floor of building should close your window before you go out for crop-dusting!

2.Please excuse our visit as we disinfect your room even in your absence.

3. Also please remove some foods or put in refrigerator.

Translation (we think) - they're fumigating.

Nine o'clock Monday morning has come and gone. At 9:00 a message was played over the loudspeaker in our room, unfortuneately, said message was in Korean. Doug went off to the office and I obediently vacated the room for the day, but suspect the rain may have kept our "crop-dusters" away. I guess we won't know until workers come knocking on our door. We'll keep you informed.

Shorts and Sandals Make Their Apearance

Tuesday, April the 20th - the sky is a light blue - cherry blossoms flutter through the air - bees are buzzing - bushes and trees are sporting a green fuzz - pink, red, purple and white azaleas are everywhere,  and it is finally too warm for jeans and a sweater! Shorts and sandals have popped up all over campus.

Petals on the walkways. Workers daily sweep petals off campus streets and sidewalks.

Apple tree

Pink magnolia

Back in the ag lunchroom, our cooks are aiming to please. They have their work cut out for them. Monday our main tray held the following: Left side - chopped squid. Middle - a fish. Right side - anchovies with hot green peppers and red pepper paste. Tuesday, we had something we hadn't been served before and inquired of one of Doug's co-workers what we had eaten at lunch that day. Wednesday, the entire menu for the week appeared IN ENGLISH on the lunch room bulletin board! Friday, the cooks made sure we had extra portions of everything on our shared tray! Example - our "spring soup" bowl held more than two QUARTS! Then, for the first time, one of the cooks came out of the kitchen to see if we needed anything else. We are so thrilled...

Menu printed in Korean and English (for us).

Doug finished and submitted the paper he'll be presenting in May, so hopefully his schedule will ease up a littlle. Monday afternoon, we headed out of Daejeon to Gyeryongsan National Park, up the mountain to hike and visit one of several Buddhist temples there.

Entrance doors at Donghaksa temple

Donghaksa temple

Ancient Buddhist symbol

Steps to temple

Budda alters

Elaborate building painting

Monks harvesting greens for meal

 Sunday, we hopped on bus 108 and headed in yet another direction to Sikjangsan Mt.,another park to visit yet another temple  - one that was originally built in 846 AD.
Not many visitors to contend with here - we suspect the grade of the road leading up to the temples, a probable deterrent - consequently, lovely and peaceful.

Budda lanterns line the way to Buddhist temples. This walk for 800 meter was at a 45 degree incline. Mary is wondering if I am getting older.

Valley view from temple

Gosansa temple

There are 4 key sound objects at each temple - an iron sound board (unpan or gong) used to call/awaken creatures of the air (people in heaven or air to worship), the Buddhist bell (beomjong) to call/awaken creatures in the earth to worship, the beopgo (big drum) calls/awaken the creatures (people) of the temporal world to worship, and the mogeo (wooden fish) used to call/awaken creatures in the water (people in the sea) to worship. 

Iron cloud-shaped metal gong (unpan) used to call creatures/people of air or heaven to worship.

Fish (mogeo) used to call creatures/people in the sea.

Buddhist bell (beomjong) to call people/creatures in earth and drum (beopgo) used to call temporal creatures/people on Earth to worship.

Slippers left outside temple when monks enter to worship.

Detailed painting inside as well as outside of temples.

Do you see the nest in the roof parts?

Lotus lanterns in temple ceilings.

Temple roof lines.