Jungmun School

Here is the last school I worked at in South Korea.  While I resided in Korea, I lived in the city of Busan (mainland S. Korea), Seogwipo (south-side, Jeju Island), & Jungmun, (20 minutes west of Seogwipo, Jeju Island).  I worked in Jungmun for about eight months, then left for a new adventure in Japan. 

My teaching basket that I brought to each class.  It contained everything I needed, minus the textbooks.  Dry erase markers, pens, pencils, erasers (board & pencil erasers), translation dictionary & a remote control for the heater/air conditioner (A/C) where all packed in this basket.  "Air-Con" is frequently used in Korea & Japan to refer to an A/C unit that cools as well as heats.  Perhaps this term is used in other countries as well.  

My desk was on the left with the green Nalgene bottle I brought from Colorado.  The teacher to my right was in the process of cleaning out her teaching basket. 

The teachers' office was originally downstairs, in the school.  Yet, as the school grew (I'd love to think it was from my superior teaching skills), the owners bought this mobile office to place on the roof top.  I loved going outside in between classes!  Even in this picture, you can see the ocean in the background!  They later applied a small walkway rain cover that helped keep us dry during the monsoon season.  It stretched from the stairwell door on the roof, to this outdoor office. 

The view from the top of the office building, looking north towards Mt. Halla.  

Panning east towards Seogwipo.

Southeast

South

Southwest with the next door apartment in view.

Standing in front of the office door, looking west. 

An outside break area next to the office. 

I carried this stamp with me from school to school.  If you recall from an earlier post, I asked a student if she would make me a name stamp like she did for many of her friends.  She kindly agreed & spent a lot of time doing it, so I ending up giving her some money for her time.  She was very happy with my token of appreciation. 

The kindergarten class!

They had some fun energy, but they took all of mine. 

A friendly game of English bingo.

A peace sign given by Nana.  This was the English name she chose.

The boys set up for a pretty good pose. 

Some students pretending to work. 

Much better, the boys were hard at work on a writing assignment. 

This class worked fairly hard.  An upside down "A" sign shown on the right.  Once again, I think it basically means, "Not cool."  Hmmm...

Same class on a different day. 

Peace, peace, peace!

Check out the little guy in back trying to see what's going on in the big kids' room.

The guy on the right was the only boy in the class.  I don't think he cared for that.

This was a smaller class of about five students.  I enjoyed the smaller classes. 

This too was a small class at first.  I might add that this class had a fairly high level of English for their age.

A junior high class.  I could never keep track of who was cheating off of whom.  

These guys were great fun in class!  When playing some English games, they were VERY competitive! 

The most advanced class consisted of two junior high students.  We could have full conversions, so I really enjoyed talking to them & hearing their opinions! 

Two of the students from my adult class.  All the adult students were great fun!

Halloween time!

Face painting was provided by some of the teachers.  The owner, holding the camera, took many pictures of the students.  She later sorted them & gave them to the students. 

He looked so innocent with his Dracula/devil/axeman/joker face costume.

Witches were to be expected at the Halloween party.

Everyone had fun at Halloween.

The Batman movie was popular this year.  However, the face painter told me she was making me into a panda with black spots on my face.  After she colored the second eye, & then broke out the lipstick... I wondered what exactly she was making me out to be?  Hah!  The joker!  She tricked me!

As mentioned in a previous post, tangerines are given out by the boxes.  All for free!

Another eraser puzzle!  These puzzles were fun for the students as well!

This was the last Korean private school I worked at.   


Time to go...
 

Jungmun-Just outside of Seowipo, South Korea

After living in Seogwipo, I moved to a neighboring beach town called, Jungmun. Jungmun has the largest resort area in Korea! In the summers, this place is packed with tourists. Shilla, Lotte & the Hyatt hotel are located in this area. In the winter, it's very quiet. The town normally has a population of about 9,000 people.

This is the apartment complex I lived in.  

Looking upstairs, heading to my room.

A quick glimpse back down the stairs. 

The second set of stairs goes to the second floor. 

Looking back down at the landing I was just on. 

Outside the stairwell window.

My door & shower window in the upper left-hand corner.

My apartment entrance.

This apartment was considered a studio, but it was rather large for one.  This is it, shall we have a tour?

My closet, with extra storage boxes below.  This place didn't come with a dresser.  Knowing my next move was to Japan, I didn't want to buy one.  So, cardboard boxes sufficed for my eighth month duration.  Over a matter of time, one can get used to living like this.  The simplicities of life...   

My living room.

My dining room & kitchen.

My entertainment room.

My bedroom & yes, I did all the decorations.  As simple as they may be... 

A view from the sliding glass doors, with a small wardrobe on the left.  

The camping chairs & surfboard fit perfectly on my deck!

The view from my deck, was directed at a purple church.  If I looked to the right, I could see the ocean on a clear day.  I could hear it too, when the typhoons were near.  I was a three minute scooter ride from the ocean!  I felt very lucky!  Jogging to the ocean was a weekly activity of mine. 

If I needed to do laundry, I had to head downstairs.  A different set of stairs led to the back of the apartment.   

This was the laundry room, alongside the garbage. Everyone shared this free laundry machine.  It was rarely busy, so it ended up working out just fine.   

This was the recycle burner for the paper waste. 

Back upstairs, my fan blew apart!  There is something called fan death in Korea, which I HIGHLY recommend reading about.  Yet, this isn't quite what they're referring to.  Bits & pieces of this fan flew everywhere!  I am lucky to have lived to share this story with you.

This little creature looked so soft. 

Jusang Jeollidae is popular because of its rectangular & hexagonal shaped rocks below.  In the distance, lava rocks proved fascinating to explore. 

The thatched roof hotel below, Seaes Hotel & Resort, was a relaxing place to visit. 

A bridge in the Jungmun Resort area allows all to view the stream. 

There's a small hike that one can walk from the Seas Hotel & Resort, to Cheonjeyeon Falls.  Not to be confused with Cheonjiyeon Falls, 20 minutes away in Seogwipo. 

Below you can see a nice park along the riverside.

A temple on the way to Cheonjeyeon Falls. 

Just prior to the Cheonjeyeon Falls entrance bridge, the fountain of five blessings bestows upon you.  You can throw a coin at one of the five different creatures, each representing a different blessing if you hit one. The turtle represents longevity, while the boar denotes wealth.  The dragon symbolizes honor, & the duck hints towards romance.  Lastly, the carp stands for children. Aim accordingly to your feed your desire. 

The pedestrian bridge to Cheonjeyeon Falls.

Cheonjeyeon Falls consists of three areas.  This is the first, & while never really a waterfall, this pool is crystal clear & has beautiful rock formations. 

This is the most grand of the waterfalls in this area.  The last waterfall I have posted in a previous blog, or perhaps I'll post one again in a future blog.

This Cheonjeyeon entrance bridge is known as, Chilseonyeogyo or Seven Nymphs Bridge. The nymphs, as sculpted on this bridge, symbolize the Korean legend of the seven beautiful maidens.

Pathway located at the five star Shilla Hotel.

Looking towards the sea & over the pool at the five star Lotte Hotel.

Pool level view at the Lotte Hotel.

I borrowed this & the next picture from the Hyatt Hotel's website.  It was one of my favorite hotels to visit.  Yes, it too was a five star hotel... Two beaches surround the cliff its perched upon.  The island of Jeju has now deemed it illegal for any future structures to be built this close to the ocean. It has been said that the Hyatt has the only rooms that can hear the ocean.  Sometimes, I would camp on the beach to the left of the hotel.  Although when the weather was rough, this beach was easily consumed by the waves.  Once again, this area was only a three minute scooter ride from my house!  

Waterfalls, palm trees, pool bar...  Such is life...

On the other side of the hotel, the Hyatt allowed me to park my scooter here.  Well, they didn't really say that I could park here, but I saw a few tourists' scooters park here.  I should mention that it's popular to rent a scooter & circle the island for a 2-3 day tour. Many of them stop here for the beautiful view I show in the pictures below. 

This is how I brought my surfboard to the beach!  Yes, I sat on it! 

A bokbunjaju bottle full of Jungmun Beach sand.  

Boat rides for the tourists.  

The summer months brought a lot of tourists to the island.  Yet this shot of Jungmun Beach was not at the height of the tourist season. 

Directly after mid-September, when the Koreans declare that the summer is over, the beaches become quiet.  The foreigners below still manage to get a game of volleyball in.  This photo was taken from a very popular viewpoint at the Hyatt Hotel.  

On the opposite side of Jungmun Beach, you can watch the sun call it a day. 

At this time, the beaches are quiet. 

On the beach to the left of the Hyatt, I tend to the camp fire.  Surprisingly as it is, this beach was not known to many of the locals, but slowly, word is getting out.  As of now, it's the perfect quiet beach to camp on!  As long as the tide, wind & currents don't push the waves too far up the small beach. 

Do palm trees like snow? 



 

Someone's birthday at the new local bar called, Geckos.