Gyeongju - a memory within a memory

When I posted about my very special iron last time, I was really just choosing a simple topic to blog about because I wanted to give a quick update. Now, I still want to give a quick update because my days are getting shorter and shorter it seems... but I have nothing short of a million things to share!

I will start with what I didn't share in my previous blog.

Our AWESOME 3-day field trip to Gyeongju!

Above is Sangsu Elementary, grades 3-6, at Bulguksa Temple, the first stop on our voyage through the old capital of Korea--Gyeongju--when it was ruled by the Silla dynasty more than a thousand years ago. Hence my title for this post: for me, Gyeongju holds a grand memory of Korea's past in which I formed some of my own wonderful memories as well!

The above and following pics were taken at the site of what used to be a large palace complex during the Silla period... the pictures were taken in succession as you might notice. I was not expecting this to happen...

 Or this...

 Or this!

 Above and right, the kids are listening intently to our tour guide who stayed with us throughout the 3-day trip giving us tours and explanations of all the sites we visited. She worked for the youth hostel that we stayed at, so it was very convenient. Apparently there are many youth hostels in Gyeongju with similar programs because all elementary students--and I think even middle school students--get to take at least one trip to the city to see their country's heritage. You can see Mr. 우 (pronounced kind of like the "oo" in "food"), the 6th grade teacher, who I got to know pretty well during this trip.

OH! And, guess what? I was on TV!
There happened to be a talk show from the Busan area filming at one of the monuments that we visited and since I was the most out-of-place-looking person among their onlookers, they came up to me and immediately started asking me how I liked Korea. They asked me how old I was and when I told them, the two women asked if I would marry them LOL.

It was a comedy show of course for a local audience, but still... I was on TV in Korea! hahaha
I haven't received any calls for further interviews... yet.

Left is Bulguksa once again.

This is Miss. 김 (Kim--the Smith of Korean last names, only even more common). She is the 5th grade teacher and also the person who has helped me in adjusting to life in this country more than any other individual over the past month and a half! She also just graduated college and we are the same age--so we can be friends! If you're not the same age as someone in Korea, it is significantly more difficult to become close friends with him or her because of the way their social hierarchy works... but I find this to be different for foreigners like myself thankfully!

Above: The youth hostel where we stayed in Gyeongju. Some 3rd and 4th grade girls are still trying to wake up at 8 in the morning... 

Above and below are all from the Gyeongju National Museum (국립경주박물관)

There were about 3 million of these tombs just laying about all across the Gyeongju landscape and we probably visited 20 of them!  They are, at least on the outside, somewhat similar to some of the Indian mounds you can see in Ohio and other places in the States.




Here is one of the most famous ones below...

And this is the largest bell I have ever laid eyes on... sadly it has not been "ringable" since about 2005 if I remember correctly.... at the Gyeongju National Museum.

These two little girls, Seo Yoon and Min Kyeong, are best friends as you can see... they almost never let go of each other! No joke.
They are also two of my best students!

Mr. 우 taught me an interesting expression (while we were visiting this beautiful park full of burial mounds) that lots of Korean men like to quote when autumn comes around:

"Autumn is the season for men" ("가을은 남자의 계절")

It means that men are at their peak for finding a relationship during autumn or something to that effect... I quoted it to Miss. Kim and she got a kick out of it.

There is a really cool story that goes along with this little artificial stone stream, but it was lost in translation... for me at least.

We also visited the Pacific Ocean! (in Korean: 태평양 "tae pyeong yang") 
It was chilly and the waves were huge... therefore, a lot of fun!