Korea | GRRRL TRAVELER

Korean school goodbye parties

Filed under Teaching English by Christine Ka'aloa on February 27, 2011 at 12:44 am {no comments}

Video from our going away party, noraebang and of the trot style of music.
If you can’t see the video then click here

The Korean public school system regulates that it’s teachers and principals change schools every five years. This year, six of our teachers were leaving (as well as my principal, whom I really love). This past Wednesday, my school had a going away dinner for the teachers in our school.

We had a dinner at a banquet hall and a buffet with tons of foods I could eat. Then it came time for the formal “goodbyes”. All six teachers came to the front, were given a farewell envelope of money and had to give a goodbye speech. Seeing as the librarian and myself were also leaving but weren’t officially school staff, we were also called to the front and had to give speeches.

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Dec GRRR!: No Home for the Holidays and Vacation Plans

Filed under • EXPAT LIFE by Christine Ka'aloa on December 15, 2010 at 8:39 am {2 comments}

(Top; clockwise) My school with snow-covered playground; my 2nd grade student from Storytelling class; rooftop of neighborhood hanok houses with kimchi clay pots; streets on my way to work; my 2nd grade students attempt to snowfight.

Snow Hits Korea and No Home for the Holidays

Last week it snowed in Daegu and across Korea! My students were excited to play with the thin layer we got. Perhaps we’ll be settling into a White Christmas this holiday season.. If so, I’ll be air-mailing out wintry holiday kisses this season.

My annual trip home for the holidays? Nope, not happening. My mother just posted flight prices and offered to send me a gift ticket in a last effort to get me home for Christmas for four days, but woof. Maybe Obama would spend that much for a four-day holiday, but staring at those ceiling numbers gave me nosebleed. How many SEA trips that could equal?

To keep from bummed dissatisfaction, I search for a silver lining– it will be my first Christmas/New Year’s holidays abroad and maybe, there’ll be snow!

My winter V-word might enlist medical tourism

Yes… V-time swoops in quickly to offer us NETs travel relief! This January, my vacation lips spell T.H.A.I.L.A.N.D. and L.A.O.S !
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Photo Essay: Nature walk in Muju

Filed under Great Outdoors, Jeollanam/Jeollabuk by Christine Ka'aloa on November 27, 2010 at 6:47 pm {3 comments}

Muju, South Korea. Walking through a forest with the autumn leaves in fall and life transitions into hibernation, I walk in silence, with my camera. Life is tinged with a trails of abandon and death. From burial grounds to hunter’s markings, everywhere I turn, I’m reminded of how man continually exerts its boundaries within nature.

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Korea Loves Pepero Day!

Filed under Festivals, Korea by Christine Ka'aloa on November 11, 2010 at 9:24 pm {one comment}

How many special days do you know of named after a snack brand? In Korea, November 11 is Pepero Day. Sure, I remember eating it or something like it when I was a kid– it’s a thin chocolate dipped wafer stick! It’s a commercial type of day that the company initiated, but the young kids have turned it a bit into a Valentine’s Day, with one exception– you give out Pepero sticks! From (more…)

A Girlfriend Weekend Roadtrip to Mt. Seoraksan, Korea

Filed under Great Outdoors, Korea by Christine Ka'aloa on November 10, 2010 at 1:00 am {8 comments}

It’s officially fall! The autumn leaves in Korea are revamping with vibrant color and it’s exciting to see what materializes in the picturesque. Fiery reds, oranges, greens and yellows, wash the land with the crisp crunchiness of fall. As a result, this Halloween I opted to take a girl’s road trip out to Mt. Seoraksan.

Girlfriend road trips are fun when you’ve got a great group of yogi gals, some semi-decent K-pop songs and a handful of road trip games. Essentially, very little can go wrong.

… Unless you have a Korean GPS (click here about driving in Korea).

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Written by Christine Ka'aloa Daegu

Making a Pilgrimage : The Hike to Gatbawi

The saying is, you can take your wishes to Gatbawi Buddha (the Stone Hat Buddha) and pray for them to come true. But that’s if you can reach him! The trail to Gatbawi is a steep 3-hour hike up Palgongsan mountain and there are two ways to go about it 1) you can take the rock steps, an steep 75 degree incline climb or 2) take the mountaineer’s trekking path. Both are pretty intense but the stairway will probably give you the hardest and sweatiest workout, as it just keeps ascending while offering little to no rest points! It’s a rigorous workout, to say the least.

September 26, 2010 6

Written by Christine Ka'aloa World's Worst Toilets

World’s Worst Toilets: Vanity Squatter (Boseong Bus Terminal, South Korea)

Boseong Bus Terminal (South Korea) People say Koreans are vain culture, concerned with how they look. I won’t deny that accusation- Koreans, both men and women, dress very well and there’s mirrors in almost every public area to assure you look good. But how far will vanity go? Despite Boseong bus terminal is out in the more remote countryside of Jeollanam-do, the bus terminal has added a little something extra to it’s restroom bathroom stalls. As you see, there’s the toilet, the waste basket and then,… what’s on the wall right in front of you as you do your business but squat-level mirror? Now you can check yourself while taking a whizz.

September 20, 2010 8

Written by Christine Ka'aloa Just Show Me Pictures!

Just Show Me Pictures! When your Expat Honeymoon Fades (Hitting the 6-month mark)

Chuseok (추석), the Korean Thanksgiving is next week and EPIKers are abuzz with vacation plans… again. This is a six-day vacation for many NETs, so imagine the excitement! Though summer was only 4 weeks ago, the national holiday will give NETs a second wind for getting over the hump of months to come. Why? This will be our last…

September 16, 2010 9

Written by Christine Ka'aloa Korea

ESL Summer Camp: From the Superhero Factory (Pt II)

So the moment you’ve all been waiting for…. Showtime! Just how did my little Superheroes do?…. Last day at Joonang’s English Summer Camp and it has me wiped! Perhaps I’m just pre-menopausal or in need of a better multivitamin; these past 4 days have been fun, but draining. This could also have to do with the summer heat though. It’s hot. Daegu hot…. which is close to New York City 90′s hot, but still incrementally better