Cultural Adventures!

So this past week has been filled with exciting new cultural experiences.  On Thursday, August 4th, I participated in a traditional Korean tea ceremony.  Instructors, dressed in beautiful hanboks, taught us how to prepare green tea and serve it properly.  It was quite the procedure, but every gesture has relevance and an underlying purpose.  Aside from the fact that my feet fell asleep from sitting crossed-legged too long, I really enjoyed learning about the subtle nuances of Korean culture.  It also made me reminiscent of Smith's tradition of weekly Sunday afternoon teas.  Drinking tea is such a wonderful way to wind down with close friends.  Even though wasn't my usual combo of peppermint and Earl Grey, this is definitely something that I can get used to.

 

On Saturday afternoon, I headed to a 3-hour archery class.  The range was within walking distance of Jungwon University and it's used as a training site for the Korean National Olympic Team.  I still don't understand why they choose to train in the middle-of-nowhere Goesan, but I suppose it limits distractions.  Anyway, it was such a fun afternoon.  Following a brief lesson, we took turns shooting arrows at targets.  Nearly all of my arrows hit the target and I even got a couple bull's eyes!  Afterwards, we watched a demonstration by four archery masters, who used traditional bows made of entirely natural materials.  They were aiming at a targets over 150 meters away, so far that we couldn't even see the targets; but a light would go off to indicate a successful hit.  It was one of the most impressive things I have ever seen. 

On Monday, I took the yellow belt test for Taekwondo.  For the test, we had to perform a form pattern, demonstrate mastery of 4 kinds of kicks, and then break a board.  Our instructor is a 5th degree black belt, the son of an 8th degree black belt, and a total bad ass.  We were really lucky to learn from such a highly qualified instructor.  Here's me beating up the Taekwondo master and my brand new yellow belt!

This week also marked the end of Korean language classes.  On Wednesday, I had a 4 hour final exam - 1 hour of reading comprehension, 1 hour of writing, 1 hour for partner speaking role-play, and 1 hour for a one-on-one interview with the teacher.  Studying for it was brutal, to say the least.  But it was rewarding look back and realize how much Korean I've learned in the past six weeks.  The language classes were, at times, quite challenging and demanding.  However, my 2 teachers 이선생님 (male) and 류선생님 (female) were incredibly giving and patient throughout the entire process. 

Today was the last day of class and it was definitely more emotional than I anticipated it would be.  We spent the class time taking photos, singing a Korean song, and learning some K-pop dance steps from our male teacher (who is a bona fide B-Boy^^).  As a token of our appreciation, our class took them out to dinner earlier in the week and presented them with a photo scrapbook to remember us by.  The teachers were evidently touched by our gift and the guy teacher had to excuse himself from the room when things got too sad.  I will really miss seeing their smiling faces every morning.  Fortunately, we got their contact info and may meet up this weekend in Seoul!

 

Speaking of which, I'm leaving for Seoul in less than 4 hours.  The entire Fulbright class is heading to the nation's capital on the KAEC's dime for 4 days.  On Friday, we'll be visiting the DMZ and attending a barbeque/pool party at the residence of the U.S. Ambassador to Korea.  Saturday and Sunday will be free days for us to explore the city.  And on Monday, we will graduate from the language program, visit Korea University and the Fulbright Building in Seoul, and return home in the evening.  This weekend is, in many ways, our last hoorah.  In exactly a week from today, we'll be leaving Orientation and parting ways for our respective placements.  It is somewhat sad to think that our days are limited.  But I'm so pumped for this weekend and hope that it'll be one to remember.