A different kind of discipline

For those of you keeping up with me, I’m sure by now that you realized I’ve been having a great time and trying to experience as much as I can while I’m in the land of the morning calm. My posts are typically lighthearted and express exactly what I’ve been seeing and doing all around town. This one has been a work in progress for some time now, as it’s a more delicate topic but something I must share as it weighs heavier and heavier as each day passes.


Before I took off on this venture, I knew that I was headed into a Confucius country and was wholeheartedly open to culture learning. Coming from a Western country where physical discipline practices are frowned upon and illegal- it was to be seen how I would handle witnessing the punishment methods in Korea.

For the first few months, I witness physical discipline from teachers ( I told them I refused to use any sort of physical punishment in my classroom) in the form of pinching ear lobes, hitting their palms, putting them on their knees with their arms in the air and maybe a small whack to the back of the head. These practices were used for small offences such as fighting in class, and other misbehaviors, such as the length of students hair. Larger “offences” were treated by having the students engage in extra cleaning duties, homework and playing teacher’s gofers for the day. All in all, what I was seeing was as acceptable as it could be for me. Often, I would leave the teachers lounge if as student was being punished, as this upset me through the core. Despite the discipline being used, here in Korea as a Foreign teacher you do not stand up or say anything, as it is the teacher’s right to physically discipline their students. Heck, parents do it at home as well, my kids show up for school with marks and bruising which are atypical of playground bustle.

With the start of the new semester in March, came a new Physical Education teacher at my school. Within days, I could tell he and I were not going to see eye to eye. He implemented serious practices, including measuring girl’s skirt lengths, hair and just about every disciplinary action required. He soon became in charge of handing out the punishments.

Witnessing this tyrant’s actions against my students has been very emotional for me. It’s been trying to sit down and watch him exercise these severe disciplinary actions against children who are 14 and 15 years old. His behaviors have finally broke me, and this is why I need to rant about it now. His methods are harsh. Last month he punched a student so hard in the face that I saw the bruise welt within seconds, he then kicked the student in the leg. His offence: fighting another boy. I stood up, but was quickly told to sit back down. Two weeks ago he placed a boy in plank position, with his feet up on the window sill for 15 minutes. He then intermittently cracked his backside with a stick. His offence: Chronic tardiness. Girls are whacked across the face for the length of the hair and skirts. I could go on and on, but the thought turns my stomach. I've often sat at my desk and dreamed of cracking him back with his own stick- but I would probably be deported for standing up to a male teacher. .

In my own, classes, when I get close to the students, I see many of them flinch if I come down to their level in a swift movement.  It kills me every time.  It pains me to know what stresses these children go through with school alone, and now have to deal with harsh physical discipline on top of it. Korea is advanced in so many things, but they are still stuck in the 50s when physical discipline was widely accepted. I pray for my students every day that these practices will become illegal soon enough. In the meantime, I can only educate them to the best of my ability- and give them a small break when it comes to English class. It’s a hard enough life as it is.

Touring Daegu

With a mere three months to go, it's all about cramming in the things I want to do!  Last week-end, the Deagu City Hall graciously invited foreigners to tag along on an -all day excursion to see the sites around Daegu.  The trip was totally worth it, and if you have a chance you should get to these hot spots for a day of fun on your own!

Our first stop was at the Guam Farm. The Farm is nestled between mountains and has some beautiful scenery. You feel like you are settled in a an old time rural country village.  

Guam Farm Tour

We experienced some hands on- seasonal activities, laughing the whole time. We got to see how egg baskets were made back in the day, using weaving. 

Basket Weaving

I thought mine was way better... but now that I look at them... 

I think Amy's a natural basket weaver!!

Harvest Time

Next we were off to experience  harvesting crops.  I was very much relieved that tending to the rice fields was not on the agenda but instead we were headed to pick tomatoes.  After being loaded up on a huge tractor, we made our way down to the greenhouses.

We were carefully instructed on how to perfectly pick tomatoes and now have a new found respect for the farmers who must do this harvesting, because the temperature inside the greenhouse was about 45 degrees! I don't think I've ever picked so fast!! 

 The freshly picked tomatoes were delicious!

Rice Cakes 

Next stop was learning how traditional rice cakes were made. My friend Dave was chosen to beat down the rice using a large mallet! 

 Dave was having quite a lot of fun with this!!

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The cake is then dusted in powder, and cut into pieces

Herb Hillz

There is so much to do at Herb Hillz and if you're keeping track, check my earlier post where a bunch of us Zip Lined here!  This tour included seeing the herb Garden, making natural herb soap and candles. 

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My friend Lia carefully mixing her candle. 

 Candle Expert!!

Yangnyeongsi Oriental Medicine Center.

The rest of the day was spent at the Yangnyeongsi Oriental Medecine Center. We learned how to cut and package herbs and this place has all kinds of interesting exhibitions (which are foreigner friendly).  This place is perfect for a rainy day activity if you're looking for something to do in Daegu. 

 

All in all, it was a great day, filled with all kinds of memories and laughter. If you're looking for some fun things to do in Daegu- you should check out these hot spots!

An Eco Adventure at Herb Hillz

This place was a pretty cool find for something to do in Daegu! In just  30 minutes from the city center, you'll find yourself  at the beautiful Herb Hillz park (at Daegu Station, hop on bus 704 heading towards the downtown area). There's loads of things to do, and  if you bring some extra cash, you can even make your own herb soaps, plant herbs and browse the many boutiques nestled around the park. 

There's a petting zoo, some rides and artistic grass sculptures scattered throughout the hills.

But the best part of all is that the park holds 5 eco adventure zip lining courses. For a mere 15,000 won you have access the park and the fee includes one zip line adventure course.  If you're totally game, you can pay an additional 7,000 won to do another course, after you've completed the first one. We were pretty bagged and opted for a few cold beers rather than another course.

First things first, and you get all decked out in your gear. Including a very silly helmet that wobbles all over the place.

There's my friend Lisa tryingt o figure out what goes where!

Then you move on with an introductory lesson- where they give a pretty basic demo, ensuring you know what you're doing with the beanies. It's a condensed version of the real thing.

The guide (slightly annoyed with our group's lack of attention) gave us the go ahead for the toughest course out there- the Tarzan. Despite the temptation, we made an executive group decision, and decided on the King Kong Course, which was  not the most difficult, but was the longest and most fun! Then off we went - we were on our own!

Geared up and ready to go, as I climbed to the top of the first station, I panicked a bit! Never knew I was scared of heights, but I think the fear was actually knowing that I was only connected by two beanies and a wire.

The Guide warned us that if we didn't catch the rope off our 60 -70 m zip line, we would naturally be carried back and would have to pull ourselves back just a few meters to the landing post. Obviously, my first go of the zip line ended in an adventure. Midway through the zip, my body turned and I scrambled to try and get my body aligned again to better land against the tree (by the way the tree at the end of the zip line has a measly mat attached to it) but failed to turn in time, and slammed into the mat/tree at high velocity, winding myself and getting zipped right back to the middle of the line. It didn't go much further than that!! So, I had to pull myslef backwards to make it to the landing-- and it was WAY more than a few meters!!

The course itself had some tough areas and some even scarier ones! We climbed, pulled, swung and even skateboarded across thin wires.

That's called real fear!

The course took the lot of us about an hour and 45 minutes and  despite the bruises the next day, it was totally worth it! I'm still searching for my left leg and shoulder though.... and I suspect I may have left them back on the zip line course.

A view from the top: Apsan Mountain

Last week Korea celebrated a national holiday: Children's Day (also happens to be Cinqo de Mayo in Mexico).  Children's Day is a day where children are free from school and get a chance to hang out with their parents for a little family time. As English teachers, we too of course a school free day!  Having been in Daegu for eight months now- it amazes me just how much there is still to do in this city that we call home. One of the things on our Daegu to-do list was spend an afternoon at Apsan Mountain. Apsan means Front Mountain: a fitting name for the giant mountain. It's essentially the largest wilderness park in Daegu filled with peaks and valleys that once at the top has an expansive view of the whole city. Nestled in the valleys are museums and Buddhist temples.

You'd think being the largest park in Daegu it would be quite easy to get to. But this is of course is Korea! My friend and I attempted to hike it in the fall, with scratchy handwritten directions from one of her colleuges. After making a 45  min trek to find the park- we gave up.

Determined to find it again, this time around I got explicit directions to get there. The easiest way of course is to hop in a taxi and get dropped off at the base of the mountain. But we were eager to find it again by foot. Once again, a "5 or 10 minute walk" from the subway, turned out to be a 30 minute hike around the steep roads. After asking  gesturing and attempting several pronunciations of Apsan later, we finally arrived at the entrance to the park. Exhausted from the hike to the base of the mountain we took a little breather before starting the uphill battle.

The trail eventually evened out for  about a few kilometers, allowing both our breath and heart rate to catch up. The park is surrounded by trees,  babbling brooks and of course the sounds of nature. It was a beautiful change from the bustling noises of the city below.  We also had the rare pleasure of spotting a chipmunk! (Wildlife is not very commonly seen in Daegu and I think this was the first "wild" animal I've seen in eight months-- slightly different that the abundance back home in Canada).

If you weren't already exhausted from the trail hike up to the midway point,  we spotted an outdoor gym where you could do cardio, lift weights and even hoola hoop! Only in Korea would you find a complete outdoor gym for free. We stopped to do a few power sets and moved on.

The glorious thing about Apsan Park is that you can cheat a little. Half way up the mountain there are  a few restaurants and a sitting area, where you can put your feet up before doing the next leg.

Even better, was the gondola that takes you right up to the top. We of course, took the easier route and hopped on the gondola. For 5,500 won you get a round trip ticket. Pretty steep for Korea, but totally worth the view from the top. The gondola connects from a point 300 m above sea level to the top 600m above sea level.

At the summit is is the observation platform. Although it was a bit smoggy, the view of the city was spectacular. You are literally standing there, surrounded by wind and the elements.  At the summit, you can even find the remnants of a fortress that once stood there hundreds of years ago.

As we made our way back down the mountain, we decided to reward ourselves for a day of hard hiking- we headed downtown (by the way we found a bus that drops you off right at the entrance of the park) and indulged in some delicious Mexican food to celebrate the other holiday. Nothing beats a reward of  margarita's after a day of hiking!

Take me out to the Ball Game!

Baseball is recognized as the all American sport. Turns out that this bat-and-ball sport is also heavily loved by Koreans. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) is South Korea's professional baseball league. The teams are usually named after huge Korean companies that own them. Here in Daegu- it's the Samsung Lions that capture the fans.

I've never really been a huge fan of baseball, but for something to do I agreed to go to a Samsung Lions game a couple of weeks ago.

Standing amongst the large crowds gathered at the ticket gate, I was shocked to see the ticket price for the game. For a mere 6,000 won (that's approx $5.50 USD) you are given a ticket and the opportunity to pick a seat anywhere around the stadium. Back home, a ticket to any MLB game is roughly $50.00!  Having come with plenty of extra money, I was eager to get in and hit the snack stands selling typical baseball fare: beer and hot dogs.

Turns out, here in Korea the snack stands flank the outskirts of the stadium. There are no beer guys hollering out to the stands! Instead, vendors line the streets with their make shift coolers filled with ice, where you can choose soda, water, beer and of course, the Korean drink of choice: Soju.  You can purchase beer for about 2,000 won (that's $1.50).

As you walk the line, fried chicken fumes waft in the air. Food vendors sell fried chicken, ramen, roasted potatoes, chips, roasted larvae, fish sticks and fried squid. Yup, you read that correctly- the typical all American baseball staple is absent among the rows of vendors. Who goes to a ball game and chows down on fried squid?? Oh, right- the Koreans do!  As we settled on some fried chicken and Soju we made our way into the park to catch the game.

Watching the game proved to be more of a social gathering for the handful of foreigners nestled in our seats at right center field. As the Lions dominated the game, we cheered and clapped with the entire crowd. The cheers sounded vaguely familiar, although, they too of course were in enthusiasticaklly sung in Korean! It took awhile for us to catch the tune, but we mumbled along with the lot of them!

As the  fans cheered on we watched with enthusiasm and took some time outs to run back to the vendors to get a few more beers. The highlights of the game included watching the cheerleaders 4 Korean women dancing in skanky outfits (which they change every inning it seems) and holding our breath for a few of the home runs heading overhead.

From what I've heard it's become quite a tradition in America for people to head out to the ball game with their own glove, in hopes of catching themselves a souvenir.


The home run hits here in Korea appear to be few and far between, but nevertheless they do happen and as I was about to find out people go a little mad in an attempt to catch a ball off the bat of a pro.

Heading back up to the stands from the washroom, I caught a glimpse of the home run hit over my head. The ball landed with a thud about a meter away from me. Not being a huge baseball fan, it took a few moments to register that this was a game ball, and that I should really really want to pick this up, because that's what people do.

As I quickly snapped into action, my hands curled around the ball to pick it up. As I grasped the ball, a Korean man, lunged over me from behind and hip-checked me out of the way. He triumphantly grinned at me and sauntered off  showcasing the ball "he" just caught to the crowds. As I glared at him while he took his seat again, I did not move. I instead, decided to stand there with narrowed eyes and stared at him. I may have shouted some obscenities, but in the heat of the moment I do not recall my actions that followed.  In the end, I think my death stares worked, because he looked from me to the rest of my foreigner friends looking appalled in their seats (most of whom were of course men).  Instead of tossing the ball back to me, still planted where I "caught" the ball, he threw it over to one one of my male friends in the stands. Slightly annoyed, I didn't truly care that much- let's face it- even if he had thrown it back to me (it's rightful owner) I would have probably given it up to the highest bidder.  Either way, I took a photo opportunity to capture the moment of "catching" a ball off the bat of a Samsung Lions pro!

Headbands and High Heels

When in Rome do as the Romans do. This age old saying has its applications for just about any traveler anywhere in the world. I've succumbed to the chopsticks, the bowing and the soju, but there's just two things that I haven't been able to do is sport  headbands and heels.

On Headbands: Korean women have an obsession with both being cute and sexy at the same time. This is all fine and dandy, most women want to appeal to the opposite sex in both a girlish and womanly manner- but when it means wearing mickey mouse ears at the ripe age of 25, in my opinion it just doesn't work.

When attending any amusement park in Korea, girls, teens and yes, adults  wear ears. It's really big here. Headbands with bows and pointed prints can be spotted on just about every female. I've even witnessed a few adult males wearing them.

For picture purposes only, I tried on a pair. I was complimented beyond measure.  Trust me, its the last time I'll be putting those on.

On High Heels: Every woman loves a fabulous pair of heels. As my girlfriend pointed out, here in Korea, the minute your foot slips in to the heel, the countdown begins.  In Korea, you have to walk just about everywhere you go. The streets are uneven and there are times when you're walking for several miles- putting on heels just isn't an option. However, Korean women are all gussied up for just about any occasion and wearing heels it seems is their only option for footwear.  They wear heels hiking, touring and even at amusement parks. It's ridiculous to me, but I guess when all these women are vying for couple-hood they have to put their best assets forward. Most of my ex-pat (male) friends love Korea for this sole purpose.  The women here choose sex appeal over comfort every day of the week.

Yesterday, we attended a local amusement park here in Daegu. A total of 23 schools arrived with students in elementary, middle and high school levels. Some of the outfits I saw were, well, outrageous. They were at an amusement park for crying out loud. Mini skirts, false eyelashes and heels. I'm not sure about everyone else out there, but when getting ready for a day on the roller-coasters; heels and frilly dresses are not the first items to be pulled out of my wardrobe.  But this is Korea, after all.  Below are some high school students waiting at the park.

I guess the point is that when you are in Korea, try not to stare at the Koreans.