Finally Spring Comes to Daejeon - At Least for a Weekend.

Here they are - scenes from spring's arrival at CNU. Lovely pink and white cherry blossoms, elegant white magnolias, and bright yellow forsythia have braved the inconsistant weather to show their colors. Doug will tell you, walking to work is like walking through a painting.

Magnolia blossoms

Forsythia

Cherry Trees

And coming soon, the azaleas.

A Trip to Independence Hall

Doug's class met earlier last week, so Friday we hopped on an express bus and headed for Cheonan, a city of about 200,000, and then on to Independence Hall, located about 30 minutes outside of the city. Built in 1987, it was built to "help people reflect on Korea's sad history and the importance of nationhood." Comprised of seven large exhibition halls, a 4-dimentional theater, 93 monuments and memorials, and situated on 4 million squae meters, it takes a good day to explore. We had a beautiful day (the nicest Korean weather-day so far) and a wonderful time meandering through the grounds and in and out of the various halls.
After spending the day here, one fact remains very clear. Their loss of sovereignty from 1910 to 1945, has left Korea with a fierce sense of pride and the importance of maintaining their independence. I'm guessing China and Japan would take issue with some interpretations of what happened during Korea's 5ooo  year history. However, whatever side you way in on, the facility itself is most impressive and informative. We had a delightful day.

Korean Flag

From this point we are already halfway from the entrance. In the background is Monument to the Nation. This monument, resembling praying hands stands 19 stories high.

This monument along with the Reunification Monument portray the desire for peaceful reunification of Korea.

The size and beauty of this structure is inspiring.

Reunification Monument (points look like they almost touch, representing the two Koreas so close yet not one country).

Beneath the points is the reunification bell.

Grand Hall of the Nation (15 stories tall and as large as a soccer field)

Schools of Koi. Many over 2 feet long.

 

Korea's Declaration of Independence. Take note of title: Title is in English everything else is in Korean.

Two more examples shown below.

This notice was posted last week on the door to the foreign staff residence. No one knew who it pertained to. We assumed it was not us.

Above is CNU's Spring Arts Calendar. When you open it everything is in Korean.

Informational Odds and Ends

Here are some interesting odds and ends we've learned or observed.
Knowing that English is taught here from KNDG on, we've wondered why our CNU students seem so ill prepared. Easter Sunday, a young woman from the states sat behind us. A math teacher in the US, she arrived  in Korea and was given two weeks of ESL training. Now she has 19 classes a week - 35 students in each 40 minute class - and each of those classes meets only once a week. She was told she could expect to make good progress with 50 of her, by my calculation,  665 students! This may not be how it's done in every school, but it does offer possible insight..
We've already mentioned how neat and "clean" everything looks. The explanation - workers! We see people everywhere, picking up litter, sweeping the walkways, trimming trees, reparing loose pavers.... Saturday morning I came out of our dorm, and there she was - a worker - cleaning our granite entryway and sidewalk with a broom and a water bucket. I headed for the steps going down the side of the "hill we're on" - another worker, bucket and broom in hand, cleaning the steps and the pavers below. "Workers" and that's what they're called, are numerous and are what we would call "unskilled labor".

A Korean Swifter

Cardboard collector (You see them all over town!)

That being said, we already mentioned how impressed we've been with how conscientious CNU students are about recycling, picking up their trash, etc. Well,with the onset of warmer weather, groups of students have been gathering on the lawn to talk, study, and, at night, party. Friday was our warmest day so far. Below is a snapshot of what we saw as we walked around campus Sat. morning.

Friday night remains. At least some put their garbage in a pile.

Not Your Traditional Wedding

On Saturday, April 3, we attended the wedding of the son of one of Doug's CNU colleagues. He (Dr. Lee) paid to take two bus loads of staff and students from Daejeon to Seoul by express bus. We left at 11:30 am for 3 pm wedding. We were served a meal on the bus and  arrived in Seoul with 14 lanes of traffic and lots of people. Seoul has 23 million people and is the 2nd largest city in the world. One-half of the South Korean population lives here. The wedding was held in the banquet room of a 5-star Korean Hotel. The room itself was incredibly elegant - huge bouquets on every table - tables that had been set for 300 guests. In Korea anyone can perform the wedding vows and the groom had a professor perform the marriage ceremony. The bride and groom wore western style clothing while the mothers of the bride and groom wore traditional Korean dresses. "Korean appetizers" ( translation - rice cakes), and beverages were on the table and we ate those during the ceremony. Meanwhile, three professional photographers took pictures - walking in and out with the couple, going up on the platform during the ceremony, walking around the couple and snapping pictures while standing 3 to 5 feet from the couple throughout the entire ceremony. We noticed a number of people came and sat down during and even after the ceremony was over. The main meal was served after the ceremony and it was served incredibly fast. Three hundred invited guests and all were seved within five minutes of each other. (Servers everywhere!) We were served rolls, a seafood salad, soup, fillet mignon, salmon, noodles, vegetables, kimchee, and cheesecake for dessert. (Fairly "western", with noodles and kimchee thrown in for the asian palette.) It's worth noting that no one needs to respond to the invitation to say whether or not they'll be coming.Consequently,you plan and pay for the number of guests you initially invite, NOT the number that actually attend. Obviously a potential problem ,especially if the meal is an expensive one.We were told  the cost of the meal for this wedding would probably run $60 to $100/person. With a guest list of 300...Mmmmm. This was a costly affair!

We had a good time

Mother of the groom

Wedding banquet - very elegent setting

Groom's family (Dr. Lee on left)

Bride and groom and table settings

Meals on the bus

And to Temp Our Taste Buds

A week's worth of noon meals

Every meal has spring soup surprise with new hillside greens.

Are you hungry yet?

Korean bread tastes and looks a little like foam rubber.

Mmmmmmm! Squid parts and red pepper.

We really like rice.

What can we say?

Sometimes we have a reprieve. We go out to lunch with colleagues.

Lots of choices.

Seafood and Seaweed

Take a guess.

Everything cooked in a pot at the table.