I Know You Got Seoul, Part 2

Right...having had a rather significant amount to drink on Saturday night, I woke up bright and early on Sunday morning somewhat worse for wear. However, an interesting day was lined up so I got through a hearty breakfast and a few glasses of water and got back on track.

First off, we had the opening 'ceremony' for all of us for the orientation, which was headed up by a performance by a traditional Korean music group:

They were brilliant. The choreography and rhythm were spot on all the way through, as the video snippet shows. That was just a small part of the overall performance, though.

Once that was done and the usual thank-you-for-coming-you're-all-great-people speech from the programme head, we were divided into three 'classes' based on our teaching location. I volunteered to be class leader for Class 1 (obviously no one here really knows what I'm like in a position of leadership otherwise they would have knocked me out before I had the chance) and we were then asked to produce a sample elementary school lesson in small groups for presentation on Wednesday. My group managed to come up with a totally plaigarised decent plan, so we'll just have to see what the people in charge think of it come Wednesday.

So, once that rather tedious stuff was done, we got to go on a field trip to an ancient palace, Gyeongbokgung, in downtown Seoul. Constructed in 1394, it was gutted by invading Japanese forces when they occupied Korea in the early 20th Century, but once the Japanese withdrew plans were made to restore it. Restoration is still ongoing, but that doesn't stop it still looking pretty impressive, as the following pics will attest:

And a quick one of me:

These are just a few of the photos I managed to take, but as you can see from these the architecture and environment are pretty brilliant. I've always had an interest in Far Eastern ancient buildings, and these are amongst the best you can see in Korea. I hope to see more of them between now and when I leave.

After looking round the fortress for a bit, we got to go into the Korean folk museum and get an idea of how Korean families (both rich and poor) used to live. Turns out Korea employed a feudal system very much like the British one at the same time in history: basically, the big guy runs the show and the little guys try their best to enrich and justify their own lives while working for their lord 23 hours and 59 minutes of every day. What was uber-impressive, however, was the fact that the little guys actually had such an amazing work ethic that they were HAPPY to do this. Still, that's Confucianism in a bag for you - it gives a society very clear ideas about where everyone should be, and that still extends (by and large in the respect most Koreans show elders or superiors in the workplace) today. At least it's organised.

(Little shot of a typical Korean lords study.)

After that - no stopping, straight to a theatre for a production of a uniquely Far Eastern thing - a cooking musical comedy! Yep - I got to see Nanta, a Korean production that has played all around the world.

It was very good - 90 minutes of cooking utensils, flying food, massive drumbeats and slapstick humour. Basically, the story is very simple - a team of cooks has 90 minutes to prepare a big meal for a Korean wedding. The maitre'd puts his rather useless nephew alongside three other cooks and tells them to get on with it. Cue obvious and maniacal anarchy. All in all, it was very good fun.

After that - a brief evening meal, and then a rather more sedate evening out.

As for today - sadly far less interesting than yesterday, but informative - some lectures on teaching and working in Korea (including a really good one what to see in Korea which I'll definitely be taking hints from), and the beginning of some very useful Korean lessons, which I intend to continue in my own time once orientation is over. Staring at Hangol (Korean writing) characters for over two hours did, however, begin to make my brain dribble out of my ears in a fashion not seen since I finished Quantum Mechanics on my degree course. Especially given the subtle differences in inflection that come with- Aaarggghhh...brain running again.

But I'll get used to them in time. Learning Korean is something I really want to devote time to while I'm here.

Well - tomorrow is more lectures and a class meeting, so I'm sure I'll be able to update you with the events of the day (potentially tedious as they might be) same time tomorrow.

In the meantime, read and comment please! I want your feedback!