Day 225 Namsangol Hanok Village, Seoul Tower

July 30 Thursday

Today I met up with the head teacher from my school. Her husband, 2 kids and her niece and nephew. Her niece and nephew speak good English. They have lived in Canada for a year. The head teacher doesn't speak much English so they translated for her.

 They wanted to show me some traditional Korean houses in Namsangol Hanok Village. We didn't see the whole village. We just looked at the recreation area where they had some games and we saw Queen Sunjeonghyo Yun's house.

Namsangal Hanok Village

Namsangol Hanok Village, also known as "A Village of Traditional Houses in the Namsan Valley", is a Korean village located in the area of Pil-dong neighborhood in Jung-gu, a central district of Seoul, South Korea where hanok (한옥) or Korean traditional houses have been restored to preserve the original atmosphere of the area.

The Namsangol Hanok Village offers one the opportunity to experience a wide cross-section of Joseon-era citizenry and activities, from royalty to commoners. A great effort has been made to accurately furnish each dwelling with appropriate era and social status appointments.

A traditional Korean style garden, complete with a flowing stream and pavilion was constructed on the site in order to revive the classical feel of the Joseon-era. Five traditional houses, including some of the residences of high government officials - some of the largest mansions in Seoul at the time, along with commoners houses were moved to the 7,934 sq Meters/9,489 sq Yards grounds containing the restored village.

Directions to Namsangol Hanok Village: Chungmuro Station (Line 3 or 4) Exit #3 or 4, walk for 5 minutes. (Behind Chungang Univ. Affiliated Hospital) 

Price: Free

Info: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264116

Seoul Tower

Then we went to Seoul Tower. We rode the cable car on the way up. Then rode an elevator up to the observation deck at the tower. Its a great view of Seoul! I took a lot of pictures. Then we walked down from the tower-1200 meters (3937 feet)(.75 mile)! It was a long way down! I'm so glad we rode the cable car up. I wouldn't have the strength to walk up 1200 meters up a mountain!

N Seoul Tower is a communication tower located in Seoul, South Korea. Built in 1969, and opened to the public in 1980, the tower measures 236.7 m (777 ft) in height (from the base) and tops out at 479.7 m (1,574 ft) above sea level. It has also been known as the Namsan Tower or Seoul Tower. After the tower's original owner merged with the CJ Corporation, it was renamed the N Seoul Tower (official name CJ Seoul Tower).

Most visitors ride the Namsan cable car up the mountain, and then walk to the tower. The tower features a gift shop and restaurants on the ground floor. Visitors may go up the tower for a fee. There are four observation decks (the 4th observation deck, which is the revolving restaurant, rotates at a rate of one revolution every 48 minutes), as well as gift shops and two restaurants. Most of the city of Seoul can be seen from the top.

Website: http://www.nseoultower.net/english/customer/faq.asp

Directions to Seoul Tower: yellow bus at Chungmuro station (Line 3 or 4) or at Dongguk University station (Line 3), which will take you to the parking lot of N Seoul Tower. Bus No. 2 will drop you off at the bus stop right below N Seoul Tower, and you can walk up to N 5 to Seoul Tower Plaza. After completing your tour, take the same bus at the bus stop where you got off.

Bus Fare: 550 won / Hours: 08:00~24:00 / Bus interval: 5~6 min.

Price of Seoul Tower Observation: Children (Ages 4-12): 3,000 won/ Teens and Adults (Ages 13-64): 7,000 won / Senior (Ages 65+): 5,000 won

Day 224

July 29 Wednesday

Today was my lazy day. I decided to stay in and do nothing. That's exactly what I did.

I did go to the gym tonight. I had only been once in the past week. Had a good workout-burned 280 calories in 35 mins on the treadmill at 5km/hr and 4.0 incline. Mr Lee was there again tonight. He said hello in English this time. I've never met an American celeb but I see this popular Korean celeb a lot. He's spoken to me at least 4 times. He only says hello. That would never happen in America. In America celebs can't go anywhere alone without being followed and watched and stalked.

Tomorrow: Seoul tower with the head teacher from my school. I have to get up early. She wants to meet me at my house at noon.

I watched "The Bachelorette" finale on youtube. Ed was always a frontrunner and she chose him. She was so excited when he proposed. This season has been the most dramatic so far. They have had so many people come back. Ed left and came back. Jake came back to rat out Wes. Reid came back to profess his love for Jillian. What was up with his outfit? He had on a suit with the shirt untucked and tennis shoes. And he pulled up in a minivan!haha.

She had a great opportunity. When does someone get to date a lot of guys and have their choice? On the flip side it causes a lot of heartbreak.

I can't even get one guy to fall in love with me. I'm about ready to give up anyway.

Day 223 Coex Aquarium

July 28 Tuesday

(click on album to view)

Coex Aquarium

Today I went to the Coex Aquarium.
The subway was crowded. I didn't get a seat on the way there or the way back. There were people in almost all of the seats and people standing up in the aisles. A seat would open up here and there but I don't really like being sandwiched between people so I just stood for the whole trip.

The mall was crowded. Lots of people shopping on a weekday.

I ate supper at Burger King and finally went to the Aquarium around 6:40pm. 7pm was the last entrance and it closed at 8pm.

It costed 15,500 won to enter (@$15,000). Thats a decent price for an aquarium.

There were a good number of people at the aquarium. There were a few kids who were running around taking pics with their cell phones. I was the only person who was there solo. There were families and couples.

I enjoyed seeing all the fish. I took a lot of pictures. Some of them weren't that great because the fish kept moving! I still got some good ones though. I took my time going through the aquarium and I was done around 7:40pm. Then I headed home.

The COEX Aquarium is the only theme-oriented aquarium in Korea. There are 90 exhibition water tanks and 140 tanks used for breeding. There are about 600 species and 40,000 oceanic fish altogether. The tanks are divided into six different sections and are viewed in a tunnel like atmosphere. The first exhibit is the 'The Inca Empire'. This exhibit displays the origins and relics from the Incan Empire. At the end of the Incan Empire, the 'Amazonian World' awaits. In this exhibit tropical fish and cute otters can be seen. In the seashore section of the 'Amazonian World’, sharks and stingrays can be viewed. The end of the 'Amazonian World’ leads to 'Seven Seas'. In romantic settings, fishes from the Mediterranean to the North and South Poles can be seen. After that, you can experience the ‘Ocean Kingdom’ in which displays dozens of sharks, polar bears, and numerous fish. You can see different types of fish swimming above you in the ceiling. The next exhibit 'Marine Touch' allows visitors to pet and play with baby sharks.

How to get to Coex Aquariam: Line 2-Green-Samseong-Exit 6--Its inside the Coex Mall.

Cost: Adults 15,500 won (its cheaper for children and senior citizens and groups of 20 or more)

Hours:10:00-20:00 (Weekdays, Sunday) / 10:00-21:00 (Saturday) / Allowed to enter until 1 hour prior to the closing time

Whats on the agenda for tomorrow: nothing!
Thursday:Namsan Tower(Seoul Tower)
Friday:Seoul Zoo
Saturday:2 palaces and Dongnimmun

Day 222 Yeouido Park, 63 Building

July 27 Monday (click on the albums to be telported to my picasa site to view the album!)

Well its my first day of spending a week being a tourist. Today I decided to go out to Yeouido.

It was a nice day out. No rain! It was very hot though. It was in the 80s but it felt a lot hotter. I don't think its gotten out of the 80's this summer, but its really humid so it feels a lot hotter. The monsoon season hasn't been as bad as I was expecting. There have only been 2 really heavy rains in the past month. The rest were just normal. And the forecast keeps changing everyday. I looked yesterday and it said it was suppose to be raining on Tuesday. I looked again today and now its suppose to be partly cloudy on Tuesday.

Yeouido is a large island next to the Han River in Seoul, South Korea. It is Seoul's main business and investment banking district. Its 8.4 square kilometers are home to some 30,988 people

My first stop was Yeouido Park. Its a lovely place. I took lots of pictures.

Yeouido Park (Summer 09)

Yeouido Park was formed in 1999 through the reclamation of a patch of land, known as Yeouido Square or 5/16 square, which had lain under asphalt for 27 years and was used for various large public gatherings

How to get to Yeoido Park: Yeouinaru Subway station (Line 5-Purple) Exit 1 walk straight for about 5 minutes

I also walked around and got some pictures of the Han River.

Han River (Seoul)

Then I went to the 63 building. There are 63 floors. 3 are below ground and 60 are above ground. I walked around for a little while and ate at Lotteria. The 63 building has tons of stuff to do. I was only there to go all the way to the top to see the view. There is a seaworld (aquarium), wax museum, IMAX, art museum on the top floor and other stores and restuarants. I chose to go to Skyart which is an art museum on the 60th floor. It costed $12,000 to go to the top. I didn't really want to go to the museum but I just wanted to get pictures of Seoul from the 60th floor. I think it was a waste of money. You have to take pictures behind the window and there is always a glare from so many lights that are there to illuminate the artwork. I didnt get many good pictures. It would be great if they had a place where you could take pictures where there weren't so many lights that cause a glare.

The DLI (Daehan Life Insurance) 63 Building is a skyscraper on Yeouido Island, overlooking the Han River in Seoul, South Korea. At 249 meters (817 ft) high, it is the 3rd tallest building in South Korea and the 135th tallest building worldwide. 63 refers to the building's 63 official stories, of which 60 are above ground level and 3 are basement floors. Construction was completed in 1985. At that time, the 63 Building was the tallest building in Asia; it lost this title to the OUB Centre one year later, but remained the tallest building in South Korea until Mok-dong Hyperion Towers, Tower A surpassed it in 2003.

The lower floors house a large shopping area with approximately 90 stores, an Imax Theater, and an aquarium. A convention center and banquet hall are also housed within the building. The observation deck (known as 63 Golden Tower) on the top floor is a popular place to go to see a good view of Seoul. Special observation elevators are also available; they are equipped with windows to enable their passengers to view the city as they ride up to (or down from) the observation deck.


**63 Golden Tower wasn't on the guide map that I was given. I guess they transformed it in to an art gallery. And I read that it only costed 5,000 won to go to the observation deck. I asked information about the observation deck and they said I had to go to SkyArt.

63 Building

How to get to 63 building: Subway line 1, Daebang Station, then use the free shuttle at the stop 40 meters from the exit towards Yeouido or you can take Yeouinaru (Line 5) Exit 4 and walk about 10 or so minutes.

Tomorrow's Agenda: Coex Mall-aquarium

Day 221

Sunday July 26

I didn't do anything of note. I went to bed at 6am and woke up at 5pm. I left the house once to go to E-mart.

It was my lazy day.

Day 220...first official day of vacation!

July 25 Saturday

I'm finally to the halfway mark! I have an app on facebook that counts down my days. I put in March 1st as my coming home date. (it could possibly be a day or two earlier). Our sessions go from March to end of August and then September to end of Feb. My last official day of teaching is February 27. My countdown says that I have 218 days left!

I am a serious nightowl. I went to bed at 6am. I finally got up at 5pm.

I don't have anything on the agenda for today. I wanted to get out and do something, but I decided to sleep in. I have to have at least one day where I can just sleep in and do nothing all day.

I still haven't decided what attractions I want to see on what days and if I want to see more than one thing in a day. I need to plan that out.

The only thing that is planned so far is Thursday. Namsan Tower (Seoul Tower). You can ride up the tower and see a view of Seoul. I'll take a lot of pictures.

I'll do my indoor activities in the beginning of the week since the forecast is calling for rain(but a lot of times it says it will rain but it doesnt). The end of the week is suppose to be nice so I'll save it for things like the zoo and palaces.

Indoor: Aquarium, 63 building,

Outdoor: Zoo, beach, palaces, maybe Everland or LotteWorld(theme parks), royal tomb, prehistoric site

So this week I'm playing the part of a Seoul tourist. There are so many things to see here. Staying here will save me a lot of money. No hotels or airline fees. I just have to pay the subway fares to get from place to place and the admission fees.

day 219...way too busy!

July 24 Friday

I didn't get much sleep! It was almost 2am when I finally got all my things moved over from one computer to the other. Then I wanted to check my email. I think I finally layed down around 3am. And I couldnt get to sleep.I was still awake at 4am and I had to get up at 7:30am! I made it through the day though. I was wide awake all day long and I had less than 3 hours of sleep. I finally got tired around 11:40pm. So I took a series of naps that lasted about 40 minutes or so. I'd take a nap for 20 mins. then set it for 10 more mins. Then 10 more.

I don't think I want to go on vacation again! Its a heck of a lot of work. I had to make all of my monthly tests to leave with the sub. Plus I had to write lesson plans for all 10 of my classes.

We started our new schedule today. I had to be at work at 9am. I had 40 mins to prepare for my classes. I had to make weekly tests for all my classes. I was done with all of my classes at 1:15 because they were all back to back. It seemed like the day went by much faster.

My first class was good. It started at 9:40am. 1 student was absent. I also had a new student. We took our test and they all made a perfect score. Then we started the new material. I let them read the story twice. They all love to tell me what parts they want to read. My other classes arent that enthusiastic. We had a good class. I wish all of my classes would be as good as this class.

My 2nd class was good. 1 student was absent and I had a new student. We covered a few pages of material. We had a lot of class interaction today. In our book we are talking about 'what's in your backpack?'. They have a list of vocab words like jump rope, ruler, notebook, comic book, and soccer ball. Then they have to draw some of those items in a backpack and talk about whats in the back pack. 'i have a soccer ball, a ruler, and a notebook'. Then I get them to ask their friend 'what's in your backpack'. Then they tell me what is in their friend's backpack.

I had to go to the teacher's room to get a new book for the student. While I was out 2 students were in the hall. They said "anyeonghasayo" (hello) to me and I replied back in Korean. The students in my class heard me speaking to the boys. When I came back in class they said "say it again". They get so excited when I speak just a little Korean. Then they asked me to repeat some words they said. They never tell me what I'm saying though.haha.

Then I had to go to my level 10 class which I don't normally teach on Fridays but they switched the schedule to Monday and Friday instead of Monday and Wednesday so I had to teach them 3 times this week. I didn't know which book they would bring to class. Both of the boys brought their writing books so we covered another writing unit. We usually do writing on Monday so I told them to bring their speaking book on Monday.

Then I had my 4th and last class for the day. 3 of my students were absent. We took a test and we covered a part of a writing unit. It was a very quiet class without the 3 boys. One of my students lost his writing book so I had to make copies for him.

After class I had to finish making monthly tests and I typed out all of my lesson plans. I also took time to eat lunch. We ordered from kimbab heaven and had it delivered.

I could have left at 4 but I wasn't finished with my lesson plans. The sub came in to meet me and I had to meet with him to tell him about my classes. I showed him all my materials and went over what he should cover in every class. I wrote out detailed lesson plans. (thats why it takes so long--I'm very detailed).My sub is a Korean guy who speaks good English. He may be a Korean American. I didn't ask. I gave him my number just in case there was anything I didn't cover with him.

The Korean teacher is always commenting on how detailed I am. I can't help it. I have to include all the details. That's why my blogs are so long! So when I'm looking for a job and I tell the interviewer that I'm 'detail oriented' its the truth!

After I got finished meeting with the sub I had to print out all of my monthly tests and organize them by classes. I finally left at 5:45pm. The korean teachers were still there doing work.

On Thursday I'm going to Namsam tower with the head teacher from my school. She's bringing along her neice and nephew. They live in Canada and can speak English well.

Then I went to the gym. I skipped the past 2 days. I walked on the treadmill for 40 minutes while watching the UK's next top model. After I was done I stopped to talk to the personal trainer. He wanted to know why I was there early. (Im usually there at 10pm but I was leaving the gym around 7:30pm) I told him I was working days instead of nights for a few weeks. I told him I was on vacation and he asked where I was going. I told him I was staying here. He asked if I was going to the beach. I told him I might go to the beach. Then he goes into his 'you should lose the weight.'I know he means well, but I just hate hearing that so much.

Day 218..

July 23 Thursday

Well its nearly 2am(on Friday) and I'm still up and I have to be at work at 9am!

I got my new computer! It took two hours to transfer everything over from my old one. I used a program called "PC Mover". The program was $46 on Amazon and the license only lets you use it one time, but its worth it because I had a lot of files to move over! While it was going I couldnt use my computer so I just wrote out my lesson plans on paper.

1st and 2nd class was good.

I gave my 3rd class a test and they all made a perfect score. One of the students asked if they could play a game since they all made a perfect score. I told them that we could play after covering our lesson. We covered a few pages. They were playing a game and the student who is always late came in. It was 7:15 and my class would be over at 7:20. His dad was with him. He speaks some English. He told me that the student was late because of a job. ok. He asked me if class was finished. I told him yeah. (there was only 5 minutes left).

My 4th class usually gives me problems. Before class the korean teacher told them "no speaking in korean". They don't listen. They do it anyway. I keep reminding them not to speak in korean. They were also doing other work in my class. They were filling in questions in their listening book. One of the boys was telling me that he was sick. He showed me his leg. he had a bump on his leg similar to a mosquito bite. It wasn't bleeding but he begged to go to "information". and the other boy wanted to go with him. so i let them go. he came back with a bandaid on his leg. The boys won't write in complete sentences in their writing book. How can they improve their writing if they wont write? I keep begging them to write the answers but they wont. No one had their homework today. So I had to take time in class to go over the homework just like it was a regular lesson. I let the Korean teacher know about all my problems with the class. I'll let her handle disciplining them.

I only had one student in my last class. The other student was absent. We went over a writing unit. The student didnt bring her book so I had to make a copy for her. The class goes by too fast when you only have one student. We covered a lot of material and still had free time left over.

When I was packing up my things everyone reminded me that I have to be at school on Friday at 9am. We are changing our schedule since the students are on summer vacation. That really sucks for them! They are on summer break but they still have to come to the academy at 9:30am. I always slept late during my summer vacation. If my mom told me I had to get up early to go to school I'd tell her she was crazy! But English education in Korea is a huge deal so the kids just have to put up with it. At least they get 2 days off from the academy on Thursday and Friday of next week because all the teachers are on vacation at the same time. I'm just wondering how many absences I'll have during summer break.

I skipped the gym since I had to be at work early. I went home and started setting up my new computer and making more lesson plans.