On Friday, the 16th, I arrived at school by 11:00am and had a lunchbox of kimbap (Korea's answer to sushi) waiting for me at my desk. We ate quickly and then divided ourselves among the 3 charter buses stationed in the parking lot. In total, a whopping 106 teachers signed up for the trip. Yup, I told you - my school's gigantic. From there, we headed straight south for 2.5 hours. I tried making small talk for a while and then, passed out, as I usually do on long car rides. I was about an hour into my beauty sleep when I was suddenly awoken to the sounds of high-pitched wailing coming from the back of the bus. Groggily, I opened my eyes and realized that the bus had turned into a 노래방 (norebang) on wheels.
Norebangs are little karaoke rooms where people can pick songs and sing/dance their little hearts out like their favorite K-pop idols. Being that it's Korea, people fully commit to their performances. I have yet to run into a native Korean who can't hold a tune. So midway through our drive, someone popped a norebang DVD into the television and we began drawing names out of a hat to see who would sing next. Midway through the entertainment, my name was, of course, chosen. Lucky me! I quickly looked through the big book of song titles and realized that nearly all the English songs available were from my parents' generation. Cue panic... Fortunately, I stumbled upon the Ricky Martin classic, "Livin' La Vida Loca" and decided on the spot that it'd haaaave to do.
I put on a brave face and managed to muster up a seemingly respectable performance. I'd do whatever it takes to win the approval and respect of my fellow teachers. For my efforts, I was rewarded with a lottery ticket. Talk about an all-around classy and memorable bus ride. Two and a half hours later, we arrived at our first stop, Baekryonsa, also known as the White Lotus Temple. Baekryonsa is a major temple that produced 8 National Teachers during the late Goryeo Dynasty and had 8 Great Masters as its main teachers during the Joseon Dynasty. Not sure what this means, but apparently it's a pretty big deal. Secluded and peaceful, the temple grounds were absolutely beautiful.
Located in the unassuming town of Gangjin, Baekryonsa is famous for its camellia tree forest. Within the 16 acres of temple grounds, one can see more than 3,000 camellia trees, which are about 300 years old. This forest, itself, is registered as another Korean national treasure. During the late Joseon Dynasty, a great scholar in practical science named Jeong Yagyong was exiled to Gangjin for his religious beliefs. Having formerly lived in a village named Dasan, he assumed the pen-name of his hometown. While he lived in this forest, Dasan wrote as many as 600 important works. The tour guide was super engaging and knowledgeable, but it was bitter cold and after 90 minutes of walking through the forest, I just wanted to get indoors.
Fortunately, dinner was next on the agenda. Jeollanamdo province, which is where Gangjin is located, is known for its delicious cuisine. My jaw dropped to the ground when I walked into the restaurant and saw dozens of the little plates of food waiting for us. Unlike America where everyone orders their own entree, Koreans treat eating as a communal event, in which small portions of food are shared with all adjacent diners. During a meal, it is not uncommon for people to just reach across you to grab a bite of some dish. There were many exquisite types of seafood served, which the other teachers seemed to thoroughly enjoy. But don't worry, there was plenty of other food options for me to eat.
Throughout dinner, the male teachers sat together and pounded back innumerable shots of traditional Korean liquor, soju. It seemed like harmless fun to me. But the older female teachers kept trying to keep it hidden from view and protect me, like I was a helpless baby gazelle being targeted by ravenous lions. Sometimes, the other teachers treat me like I'm a naive child. I know it's because they care about me. Yet, I wish there was some way to overcome the cultural barrier and express that I'm very much aware of the darker nuances of Korean culture and do not need to be sheltered from it.
Anyway, things got incredibly entertaining when one older female teacher took wayyyy too many shots of soju (I lost count after 12!) and began dancing around the room. She was hooting and hollering down the long aisle between the two tables. It was absolutely hilarious and we got a good laugh out of it. After everyone ate their fill (and then some), we all piled back onto the bus and made our way to the hotel, located in the small township of Gunseo, not too far from Mokpo, where I was only 1 day earlier. I was assigned to a room with 2 other teachers, whose desks are in the same office as mine at school. Everyone checked into their rooms, dropped off their bags and made their way to a conference room for nightly festivities.
Once everyone gathered together, we were split into 3 different teams and adorned with little colored stickers on our cheeks to indicate our respective teams. For the next few hours, we played a bunch of fun games. The highlight of the night was one of the last games, 윷노리 (Yut-nori, called Yut, for short), which I've played many times before with my family. In this game, players throw sticks in the air and move around the game board, depending on how many upturned sticks they get. It gets really exciting when you land on the same spot as another team because you get to "eat" their game piece and roll again.
Not to brag, but I have a natural talent for Yut. During this specific game, I seemed to roll the exact numbers that my team was hoping for. The other teachers were both amazed and frustrated that I kept getting so lucky. This was especially true for the aforementioned drunk teacher, who coincidentally was sitting right next to me. Every time I rolled a good number, she proceeded to smack my arm out of sheer frustration. It got so bad that one of the larger male teachers had to intervene and separate us. The other teachers were horrified, but I found the whole situation enormously amusing. In the end, my team won by a landslide and I, as the MVP, was awarded with a prize of nourishing facial masks, body wash, bath salts, and a big package of dried seaweed.
Throughout the night, there was no shortage of beer and soju. Yet much to my surprise, it was a tame and mild evening. Having heard some crazy stories about other teachers' retreats, I was expecting a night of utter debauchery. But aside from that one out-of-control teacher, it was a pretty classy affair. After a few more games, we all retreated to our rooms, as we had an early morning ahead of us.
The next day, we had to wake-up at the crack of dawn to make it to breakfast, which was served promptly at 7am. It took every ounce of will-power for me to put a smile on her face and not be cranky. Following breakfast, we hopped on the buses again and began heading north back to Daejeon. Along the way, we stopped at 2 neat tourist spots; the first being Daeheungsa temple.
Located on the slopes of the Duryun mountains in Haenam, Daeheungsa was the main temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. This temple received little attention in Korea until 1592, when legendary warrior monk Seosan Daesa organized and trained a guerrilla army of 5000 monks at the temple, to help protect the Korean people from the Imjin invasions (1592—1598). Although Buddhism was violently oppressed by the government, Seosan Daesa decided that he could turn his back on the countless sentient beings who needed help.
Along with General Yi Sun Shin, the monks of Daeheungsa played an important role in ending the fighting and invasions. Long before the invasions, Seosan Daesa was a respected teacher, who traveled around the country, teaching in monasteries. He had over 1000 disciples, many of whom became prominent monks in their lifetimes. While studying scriptures remained an important part of his practice, he considered meditation to be the primary path to enlightenment. This sense of tranquility and peace is still evident at Daeheungsa today.
Next, we headed around to the other side of the mountains. There, we took a cable car (formerly Korea's longest) up to Mt. Duryun. The night before, it had snowed a bit. This unexpected surprise made for an even more beautiful cable car ride, as all the trees were lighted coated with flurries.
The cable car brought us maybe two-thirds of the way up the mountain. To get to the top, we then had to climb approximately 500 steps. The snow looked beautiful but it made for a very slippery and treacherous climb. Slowly but surely, we started the trek up the icy stairs. As we were climbing, I frequently looked back to admire the incredible view. Here are some shots that I took along the way.
Despite the bitter cold, everyone eventually made it to the top of Mt. Duryun. From there, we had the most spectacular 360 degree view of the entire mountain range and neighboring towns in Jeollanamdo province. It was a sight that I surely won't ever forget. After everyone had a chance to admire the view and snap a couple hundred photos, we took the cable car back down and ate lunch a nearby restaurant. Then, we hopped on the bus one last time for the 3-hour trek back to Daejeon.
We arrived back at our school around dinnertime on Saturday. I was exhausted from all the traveling, but really happy that I went on the trip. Up until this point, I had struggled to form relationships with the other teachers at my school (mostly because they're super busy and much older than I am). From 638m above sea-level, we began to find common ground and I learned to relate to them on a deeper level.
It hasn't been a drastic change, but since the trip, I can tell that some of the other teachers are reaching out to me and trying to get to know me better. I appreciate the effort and I'm looking forward to fostering these relationships next semester. With every day that passes, I feel like I'm no longer being viewed as a "guest teacher," but rather an integral member of the school community.
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