Suncheon City, May 25 - 28

We began our Friday, May 25 in Suncheon city. We met with our new Rotarian hosts at the Korean Broadcasting System’s (KBS) office. There we met the Head man in charge and toured the station. We saw the control room and the news broadcasting room, where the local news takes place. Justin got a feel of what it’s like under all those lighting by sitting in the “hot” seat, and pretended to be broadcasting. We saw a live Radio talk show being broadcast at the station.

From the studio, we left to Jukdobong Park. At the park, we went up and down many stairs to find this beautiful view of a place where the sport archery was being played. Archery is a sport using a bow to shoot arrows. We met the group playing the sport and saw them performed their magic. From the look of it, it seems as if the shooting range is as far as a football field. Since I don’t know much about football or Archery, my guess could be off but I’m guessing anyway. NJ took a jab at the sport to see what it’s really like.

Our next stop was to Sucheon Rotary meeting. During the meeting, I noticed an older gentleman sitting across from us doodling something on his pad. Well, come to find out he was drawing pictures of us during the meeting. He presented our individual portraits to us at some point during the meeting and we thanked him for his generosity. The literature program that the club has put together for the meeting has pictures of us and next to each of our pictures; our names in English were written. I was used to seeing “Beetrice” on many of the past club’s programs, but this time I was amused to find out that my name was “Chito Lapena” and Chito was “Sarah Ward”.

The afternoon after lunch was spent at the Nagan Eupseong Folk Village. It was deja vu because as soon as we got there, we realized that we’ve already been there with our former hosts from Goheung County. This was okay because we were introduced to different things than our former hosts. We had tea at the VIP lounge where we were told is designated for VIP guests. We visited a variety of different places, but the most memorable was the old man in the “Straw art” room. This old man looked to be in his 80’s and was weaving while swinging a lighted cigarette in his mouth and talking to a crowd around him. From the laughter of the crowd, one can determine that this old man has many stories to tell. And indeed he told them when we got there. He called us over when he saw us and began his tales. Of course, we didn’t understand a word of it but it was comical in the same way. He gave us each a lucky charm on a straw necklace for good luck.

The rest of the day was spent walking around downtown Suncheon while window shopping. Might I say that we found the clothes, shoes, accessories and everything in between to be very expensive. After we window shopped until we dropped, we were asked what we wanted to eat for dinner and being that we ate a delicious Korean lunch called; “bolgogi”, we decided we wanted something different. We were given our options and we decided on an Italian Restaurant. Lee’s Restaurant as it’s called, was a nice establishment that has a variety of different Italian/Korean mixture of food. It doesn’t matter the ethnic make of a restaurant because you will always find kimchi on the menu, along with many Korean side-dishes. Except one nameless person’s “Chicken Run” meal, the majority of us chose different spaghetti meals. The food was very good and we noticed that we’re not the only people that love other types of food. The restaurant was packed with Koreans, mostly High-school aged through twenties.

After dinner, we met back at Mr. Yooon’s clothing store (where our luggage were stored) to wait on our stay home hosts. My host is a Rotarian of one of the local Rotary clubs in Suncheon. Mr. Chung owns a copying business and his wife is a middle school teacher. They have two girls (thirteen and twelve year olds). I met the family when I was got to their house. The family lives on the 10th floor of a high-rise apartment. Many of the families we’ve stayed with live in high-rises, regardless of their status. We were told that land is scarce in S. Korea, so many families live in apartments. 30% are rented and 70% are owned. The family spoke very little English. I was asked about my hubbies and when I told them I like to walk, the Dad said; “tomorrow morning, together, we ran, 6 o’clock”. Well that was that. The following morning, as he promised together (Dad, daughters and Bea) at 6 o’clock ran for a good 45 minutes.

The morning of May 26 was spent at the Rotary Club Conference. The agenda reads a full day, from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., but luckily we were scooted out around 10:45 after we were introduced to the massive crowd. The agenda was tight so we didn’t get a chance to present our program. We were driven to a huge department store, where again the prices were to be admired from afar. We spent the rest of the afternoon after lunch window shopping looking for the perfect blazer for NJ. We had an entire entourage of seven Korean women searching everywhere for this blazer. He did find it and after that we were picked up by our hosts and shuttled off to our perspective homes. That evening, I was invited by my home-stay/host Dad to his Rotary Club dinner. I met a friend of his that spoke English so I wasn’t totally sitting in silence. I actually had a great conversation with him. I found out that he also participated in GSE in the late 90’s to Michigan. We ended the evening at the golf shooting range, where my host mom and two daughters were playing golf. I putted a few balls around, as they laughed. I was their entertainment for a few minutes.

On Sunday, May 27, 2007, we had the whole day to rest with our host families. No Rotary activities were planned. Though we didn’t plan to go walking (as no arrangements were made), we went anyway at 6 o’clock a.m. The four of us walked for one hour and then the girls went to play golf (they practice playing golf everyday, they said) while Dad and I ran for another hour. When we got home, mom had prepared breakfast. Dad, mom and I spent the afternoon (from what I can gather) at his High School Sport barbecue gathering. The rest of the afternoon was spent writing most of this blog and resting; well mostly resting. That evening, all of us (GSE team members) went to a Musical Recital that our interpreter from Suncheon was in. We went to show our support of her as she played the cello.

On Monday morning, May 28 we met up with an all women Rotary Group at the home/photographic studio of Mr. and Mrs. Hong. Mr. Hong is a Master Photographer. Their beautiful studio overlooks the hills and their residence is on the top fourth floor of the studio. The studio is equipped with state-of-the-art photographic equipments and accessories. Like Cyndi Lauper said, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”; and these Rotary women made sure we had fun. We spent the early morning and afternoon at Suncheon Bay, where we walked along the pier and went on a speedy boat ride. We had a picnic lunch, prepared by our Rotary hosts under a pavilion. After our bellies were full with delicious variety of dishes, we went to the public library.

The name of the library is called, Miracle Library. This is a city government funded library that is designed for children and their adult parents/caregivers only. The library was built in 2003 and the entire 2 floor library building was built for children. All collection housed in this library is for children. Here are some of the highlights.
Infant/Toddler room designated for kids birth to 3 years old, with a separate baby room.
One Book Suncheon (similar to “Savannah Read” one book).
Sunken reading area that looks like a pool.
Kid friendly bathroom for easy access.
Auditorium for big performances and shows.
A room designated for Dad and child to encourage fathers to read to their children.
Wall with framed autographs of children’s authors/illustrators.
Computer Room with NO INTERNET access. Computers are for stories and educational type of activities only.
Spaceship built inside the library that kids can go into to read and let their imaginations take the best of them.

Outdoor "secret garden" area for play.
A break/eating room.

Film Village: The film village is a replica town of Suncheon in the 1960’s and Seoul in the 1980’s. The replica is used in movies to create the look during those eras. The set is created like a town with many stores; coffee shop, electric store, clothes and shoe making stores, hospital, health food/herbal shop, bakery, restaurant, police station, etc. We also saw the neighborhood homes as it was back then. Homes sat up on hills.

Dinner was outdoor barbecue at the photographic mansion. We met many more people and had a great time. We ended the evening kareokeing. Boy, did we have fun. Americans aren’t the only ones that love to karaoke. We sang some American songs and the Koreans sang Korean songs and we shared in a few American songs we all knew together. Pictures of our experience in Suncheon will posted soon, so stay tuned.

Dhammakaya

above the cat and the mouse
is the hearth of man and the sun of steel
Wang, the king, fidgets over his language skills
while feeding the peacock
This morning, as a matter of fact,
Mrs. Wang took one of his shoes
for amusement
and chipped a few golf balls on the lawn
until he emerged in rage
throwing the other shoe
in a gentle arc that landed before her
mismatched feet

the rice paddies
stroked lovingly with hands buried
in the same hills they worked
are growing silent with age
and death
On the vector to Incheon airport
I was looking for the familiar lights
and concrete jungle,
like that which lives
in the hearth of man,
glowing like a thousand pretentious suns
while goading wild fires
instead there was the moon
peeking back through the rice paddies
at the edge of Seoul

(...)

-dcl
in Gurye

Our ongoing stay in Gurye County: In pictures...

Here is our day in pictures from our ongoing stay in Gurye county (May 23rd):

http://picasaweb.google.com/Neerajj999/GSE

more pictures to come soon...

Gurye County, May 23th- 24th

Today we moved to Gurye, a county with a population of about 32000 people, which is surrounded by magnificent valleys and rocky mountains. Famous for its wild flowers, this county is the only cultivator and supplier of some 300 kinds of specialty wild flowers within Korea and abroad. These wild flowers are known for their beauty, with some having medicinal applications. Here at Gurye, our home for 23rd and 24th of May, thus far we have experienced many places such as the national park, a famous Buddha temple etc.

Our day initially started in Gwangyang County with a nice breakfast at the local rotary office, from where we proceeded for Gurye County. After about an hour of travel we arrived at the Agricultural center to meet with Gurye county Vice-Governor. Here we gave a presentation on our rotary district 6920 and exchanged facts and information about both of our city’s growth, agriculture, economy and cultures. Because of its growing market in wild flowers business, the local government here takes special interest in promoting agriculture and encourages more and more locals to participate. There we were given a tour of a greenhouse showcasing a wide variety of wild flowers as well as harvesting tools and techniques from past and present. Since most wild plants have rapid rate of growth and are therefore presently grown in the open, the county also had a research center which focused on the possible ways to reduce the growth - for controlled growth of these plants, with a possible extension to a low volume indoor cultivation. Adjacent to it was a museum called “Jami”, dedicated to dragonflies. The musium's name is derived from the Korean word for dragonfly. Here we learned interesting facts about local dragonfly farms and other general information about the insect. Thereafter, we all proceeded to see another outdoor research and development farm that studies the growth factors of indigenous vegetables and wild flowers with medicinal applications. It was definitely an informative and enriching tour. Because of the uniqueness of this place, it is also a fast growing tourist attraction.

During the tour, we also visited one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen. It was covered with a bed of countless lotuses with colorful fishes swimming underneath. As we walked across the pond on the bridge we took a few pictures.

Then we visited an art gallery showcasing art that uses the “press flower” technique. This special technique involves hand-picking the flowers, leaves and fruits first and then dehydrating them by subjecting them to a series of controlled processes. These two steps alone can take anywhere from a fornight up to a year, depending on the variety of flowers wanted to be used in the art piece. The final step involves arranging them together to create art. This was the first time I had seen such intricate and magnificent work of art. Each and every piece was three dimensional and so vivid that one could easily get lost in the details. There we were given a special tour of the room where artists turn flowers into a timeless art pieces. It was truly amazing!

Our host rotary club then took us to show the local market and then to a shopping plaza with shops of traditional goods such as green tea, handloom, and cloths dyed in yellow-sand. There we took a quick break and tried dandelion tea, which is supposed to improve the blood circulation. It wasn’t much different in taste and we all really enjoyed it.

Then it was time to hit the road to climb up the mountains to visit Korean National Park. Located at the altitude of 1500 meters above the sea level, this park is a major tourist attraction of this region. Once we were at the top, the view was truly breathtaking. We tried to capture the view with our camera so check out the pictures to get an idea of what I mean.

By this time we were ready for the famous “hot spring” bath – a variation of a typical Korean communal shower. It was very relaxing after days of hectic schedule. Rejuvenated, we then had a nice dinner. Lastly, as today is the eve of Buddha birthday, we visited a huge Buddha temple while it was getting ready for tomorrows celebrations. Don’t forget to click on the picture link(s) above to see what we saw there. More on the second day in Gurye County is coming up. So stay tuned...

Gwangyang City, May 21-22, 2007

On May 21, we arrived at Gwangyang City. Gwang stands for sun and Yang stands for light. So Gwangyang is said to be the "Sunshine" city. The name derives from the fact that Gwangyang winter months are mild and sunny most of the time.

We visited Gwangyang Municipal Library. There are two libraries in the city, the Municipal library being the main library. The library has a cultural center attached to it. The library building has three floors. The first floor is the Children's area. The Children’s area has three separate areas. The main area is where the collection is housed, then there is an area designated to Toddlers where the board books are located. Right next to this room, there is a corner room that has a changing bed and an area for parent and baby. I thought this was pretty cool. Children’s programming is held on Saturday’s and authors/illustrators visit the library for special type programs. The library gets the children involved in NIE (Newspaper in Education), drama and has the children create a neat area called the “Tree House”. This area is designated for reports of books kids have read that they’ve written on a cut-out leaf that has been posted on a cut-out tree. The main children’s area has a catalog computer and two self check-out machines. The staff there demonstrated how it works and it’s pretty much the same as the self check out we have in LOPL system.

The second floor has the adult collection and the Acquisition’s department and the third floor is the audio/visual and computer room. There is another room that houses computers that is designated to training. There is an area designated for break and food. Items can be checked out for a period of (14 days) two weeks. There is a limit of five items per checkout period. The library is a funded by the government. There is a bookmobile that travels to areas where the community doesn’t have access to library. Oh and the library is Wi-Fi. The most significant thing about this library system is that one can get a library card anywhere in the Country of S. Korea and be able to use any library in the entire country.

After lunch we went to Baegunsan Natural Resort Forest where we took a short nap in a log cabin and took a walk afterwards on a yellow soiled path. The yellow path is a red clay pathway that is laid out with bricks that pricks the feet when you walk on it. We walked on these bricks barefooted. The rest of the path was hard clay, mixed with small pebbles here and there. The thirty minute walk was said to refresh us and make us feel healthier the following day.

That evening we went separately to our host families homes. My host mom, Mrs. Kang, though spoke no English, made me feel so much at home. She made the traditional Korean tea for us, in which we enjoyed and shared together. The following morning we went walking and shared in yet another time together.

The morning of May 22 was spent at the Knife Museum. We saw many Jandos (traditional knives of Korea). Some replicas of those used in film such as Braveheart. We saw beautiful knife cases shaped in trees and others made from gold, silver, bamboo and paper. We saw some stone knives and some that is used by Kings. The walking stick that is also a knife when it’s opened was interesting. There were some knives that we saw that are used by women for self-defense and knives for all other occasions.

We met with the Vice Mayor and met Chairman (equivalent to City Manager) of the City and told them about our city and area. We went to Pizza Hut for lunch and stuffed ourselves silly (well, I did anyway). After lunch we made our way to the Gwangyang Container Terminal Authority Port. It’s said to become the Northeast Asian logistics Hub port for the 21st century in International trade. After the port, we went to POSCOS Steelworks. Now this was the most impressive. POSCOS has the up-to-date facilities and cutting-edge steel technologies in everything you can think of that’s made from steel. It is one of the largest area attractions in Korea. Most of what used to be handled by people is now being done with computers. The steel making process is amazing. We watched but since we couldn’t take pictures, we’re not able to share them with you. More stories to come…

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Goheung County, May 19 – May 20, 2007

We arrived in Goheung County and were greeted by the Rotary Group members. The formalities were exchanged and we met our translators; sisters Seo and Jody, and Michelle. We were taken to the Folk Village. At the entrance of the village, our Korean Rotarians bought us all straw sunhats for protection from the sun. We took many pictures and proceeded inside the village. The Folk Village is a tourist attraction area where traditional Korean wedding ceremonies are shown. It is also a place where history of the Korean judicial system is displayed for viewing. We saw many traditional homes with straw rooftops. The homes are constructed with large bricks. Beautiful trees, said to be between 100 to 400 years old, surrounded the homes. The homes are called “Chokajib”. Chokajib is said to be a Korean traditional village home.

From there we visited a Vietnamese restaurant. The name of the restaurant is “Sydney”. Its name came from Sydney, Australia where the Korean family that owns the restaurant once lived. There we met Jimmy, a Korean young man who spoke very good English. His family owns the restaurant. We were served wrapped vegetable dish, with noodle soup and rice on the side. The food was excellent. After we ate, we were taken to our hotel, the Sky Motel. There we rested for a couple of hours and settled in.

We were picked up later on and taken to the Goheung Festival. We toured the fish market there (Goheung County is a fishing community) and later sat down to watch a few performances by the local Rotary Group. We had dinner at a nearby restaurant. So far my favorite Korean dish, grilled meat with lettuce leaf, garlic and green peppers, was the dinner for the night.

On Sunday, May 20 we took a tour on a private Island called; Sorok. This island is where Japanese colonists chose in 1916 as a place for quarantining people with Hansen's disease (Leprosy). During this period in Korea, infected people were rounded up and forced to live isolated from the world because of their disease. The disease was not well known and people were afraid that it may be contagious, so those with the disease were isolated from their families. During this time, patients were also forced to work and build the island by the Japanese.

We saw the stone where Poet, Han Ha Un who developed Leprosy and was forced to live on the Island, wrote a poem of his existence which is engraved on a stone on the Island. We visited the operating room where the Japanese doctors performed experimental autopsies. Vasectomies were forced on men patients with Leprosy to stop the growth of the population.

The Island now is run by the government and allows new patients with Leprosy to live on it. The patients are accepted on voluntary basis. Average age of patients living on the Island is said to be 75. There are homes on the island that are independent living for the patients. To insure that the privacy of the patients is respected, half of the island is off-limits to visitors.

We ended our evening by watching performances of Korean star singers. We were special guests of the mayor at the Festival. Again, we were treated like royalties and felt very welcomed and at home.

The Walnut Museum in Jenhang County

The Walnut Museum is a striking example of Asian veneration of the natural world. Here works of nature are displayed as masterpieces from famous therapeutic walnuts (turned in the hand for accupressure massage) to various rocks and bansai trees. The value of these items is based on certain patterns found in them or other qualities that have been deemed auspicious, usually based on the rareness of their occurrence and quality of the pattern.







Other things that happened in summary:

• We attend a Rotary meeting in Jenhung
• The Boseungong green tea plantation
• A well-kept school in Jenhung
• River walk park civic project in Jenhung
  
• Visiting the "Saturday Market" on Thursday
• Visiting the Suncheon folk village
  

see
http://picasaweb.google.com/chito.lapena/pics051807
also see
http://picasaweb.google.com/chito.lapena/pics0518a07
and
http://picasaweb.google.com/chito.lapena/pics051907
for more pictures from the last few days

What we have been up to.....

Over the course of last 9 days of our trip...we have had many wonderful experiences. As the old proverb goes- "A picture is worth a thousand words", what's better way to share our cultural group study exchange experience than the snaps we took. Below is the link to a compilation of some pictures which we hope you'll enjoy.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Neerajj999/InternationalGSEGeorgiaToKorea

Another day of our adventure

Today, May 17th, marks the beginning of our second week of GSE exchange experience, learning Korean cultural elements and adapting to our ever changing surroundings. So far, irrespective of the place, we all have been greatly impressed by gracious hospitality of our host rotary clubs and host families who have been trying their best, despite the language barrier, to accommodate our smallest needs and to make us feel at home. I can easily list many instances which would be a testimonial of their kindness and great hospitality. One particular instance that strikes out the most, as bea also mentions it in her blog entry, is when our present host, having discovered our need for internet access to connect with our families and friends, upgraded his single internet connection to a four port connection (for the four of us) in his living room by moving some of his beautifully set furniture. This is on top of the fact that they had already given up their master bedroom for our convenience by choosing to sleep on the floor. And although doing stuff on the floor seems to be popular in Korean culture, their gesture was moving.

Since we have been here we have always had one or more people (sometimes up to 10) escort us to every place we go....even to the baths. Wait! Before you get any ideas…I am talking about communal baths which apparently are a common place here. Although this is a topic that deserves an entry of its own, for right now I’d just say it is a normal practice to use communal bathhouse in S. Korea. It’s partially because it saves people money on electricity (which is very expensive here) but it’s also because they believe that such baths in (salt) water pools with varied water temperatures (cold to lukewarm to hot ) have health benefits and healing effects. By the way, these baths are separated by gender. One Rotarian mentioned that it also keeps their wives happy as they don’t have to worry about cleaning the house bathroom.

Although Bea’s entry already mentions the sequence of today’s activities, there are some other details and perspectives which I just can’t help but share with you all. This morning Bea, Justin and I went for a walk/jog. Going on the morning walk/jog, whenever we can, has worked as tremendous energy booster for me. As always we were escorted by our host. Justin took a walk on a road along beautiful rice fields and our host guided the two of us on a hike on a hilly walking trail with some steep slopes that weaved though a fairly dense growth of bamboo trees. In about 10 minutes we came out the other end to the steps of an old traditional house where we could see how family members used to live traditionally and how the male, his wife and kids each had their designated structures in the compound to live. More on that later. Bea and I also jogged along the rice fields and up to towards the summit of another open hill, where the panoramic view below was so amazing that I wished I had my canvas to capture all that beauty. By the time we were back our shoes where covered with red mud and we were ready for breakfast. No wonder no one ever takes shoes in their house or main sections of any other kind of building for that matter. After a long time, especially after a week of eating kimchi and the like in breakfast, we all were looking forward to American style breakfast. At 8am, our host handed over the kitchen to us along with supplies and helped and watched us prepare and eat French toast with orange juice and mini cream buns. What a breakfast it was! Our taste buds were in heaven.

By 9am we were all set to start another day of adventure. Dressed casual with our rotary polo shirts- off we went to the Saturday market. Named after the day it originally used to be, it acquired and kept this name permanently. There we visited several stores owned by present Rotarians and past club presidents who welcomed us graciously, treated us with green-tea and presented us with gifts such as wrapping cloth, chop-sticks, cloth-map of the area etc. It was a pleasure taking a rather leisure walk down this market. The road then led us out to a wide river with water level low enough for us to hop our way across the river over big stones with water flowing through between them. On the other side was a pebble walkway designed to provide foot acupressure therapy. We all took our shoes off and enjoyed wonders of acupressure. It actually did feel good! Then it was lunch time. For a change they took us to the restaurant with chairs as opposed to eating-on-the-floor restaurant. After eating meals on the floor for past week, we all can tell you how much more we now appreciate chairs. We were 12 people in all. Afterwards we visited a local public library followed by a trip to the "poetry road" which is dedicated to a a poet and his poems on display. I’ll not repeat the details of these places as Bea’s entry below already mentions them. That poetry road led us to the sea calm processing plant owned by the current rotary club president. As interesting it was to listen to the processing process, watching them prepare a raw sea clam snack for us was just as appetizing (except for me)....as we saw our rotary friends enjoy the delicacy. At 3pm we took a tea break at "Water Park" which hardly had any water and no park at all. It was on the 11th floor of a beautiful tower with nice wide view of the sea. It seemed quite fancy with its elegant interior decoration and a glass walled elevator to the top. We all couldn't stop smiling when we visited the walnut museum of what we thought as going to be wallet museum. Although we didn't find any wallets there, we all ended up a pair of walnuts to play with, which, by the way, are said to have therapeutic affect when used as prescribed.

Guess what? Then it was time for dinner again....squid with live octopus.....no just kidding! Actually it wasn't bad at all as our hosts once again made sure accomodate our dinner preferences to the best they could. Afterwards at the rotary club meeting we went to we all were pleasently surprized seening our pictures on a welcome banner and getting big welcome by about 50 rotarians. It was by far the most formally organized meetings we attended thus far. It was very impressive. By now we were all tired enough to hit the sacks....and ready to recharge our batteries for another round for adventure and group exchange experience.

Janghueng County/ May 16 – May 18

On Wednesday, May 16 we were transferred to Jangheung County. We met again a group of Rotarians who greeted us with the utmost respect and dignity. They were dressed up in their suits and shook each of our hands as we introduced ourselves to them. We exchanged business cards and began taking pictures with the big welcome banner sign. This is the beginning of more photo ops with this banner. We met a few of the Rotarians for the area and met our translator. There we began our adventure in Jangheung County. The van took us to our host family homes, traditional Korean style. Though traditional in style it had many of the modern essentials like running water, electricity, and guess what? a four-port hub. Yeah, you heard me right. KT (Korean Telephone) came and hooked us up with four lines so each of us can hook up our laptops and get connected to the Internet. We had our own computer lab. It was surreal. So the reason why we’re able to get pictures and update our blog is because of our hosts families generosity and kindness to our “American” society needs.

On Thursday, May 17, we visited an eel farm. This farm is owned and operated by one of the local Rotarians. The farm breeds and exports eels to different countries. As our Group Leader, Justin put it, ‘we’re all in the wrong business. We should be in the eel breeding business". The owner has generously donated $35,000 to scholarship programs through the Rotary. Oh and by the way, a very important information you might want to know before investing in this is that the eels get full grown in a year’s time. So it takes one year before the eels can be sold.

We visited an information village. This was very intriguing. Jangheung is a predominantly farming community. We visited this information village, which is a community computer center fully equipped with up-to-date computers for community training. This is a government funded program that provides training to the community. There are ten computers in the lab. We were told that the village consisted of 70 homes, which includes 200 people. Each of the 70 households received free computers and is wired with Internet access so that each family can get connected to the Internet.

We visited the Folk Village museum where we saw traditional Korean objects from weaving machine, traditional Korean home, food, clothing and more.

We visited the "Saturday Market". There we were escorted around and shown a variety of things unique to Korea and more. We met more past Presidents of the Rotary. We were treated to Green Tea in one of the Rotarian’s shops.

After the market, we visited one of my favorite places; the local library. The “Jangheung Public Library” is a small community library that consists of three floors. The first floor is where the collection is housed. Though small, the collection consists of adult and children. There is a designated area for New Books, CD’s, and Videos. The books were all in Korean except for a small section where books written in English were housed. The books are classified in Dewey Decimal. The library provides reading programs for the children. Items can be borrowed for one week time. There is a computer lab on the top floor in which one has to have a library card to sign on to use.


After the library we visited the “Poetry Road”. This is a road designated to famous Korean poet; “Han Seung Weon”. We went from there to a break at the “Water Park” by the river where we had some cold drinks. We proceeded to the “Walnut Museum” and saw many different types of walnuts. Before we got to the museum, we thought we were going to the “wallet” museum because that’s what our interpreter said. Well, we found out what we thought was a “wallet” was actually a “walnut”. This experience taught me that slow communication is truly the key to breaking the language barrier.

After we were dropped off and given an hour to rest, we were again picked up for dinner. After a huge dinner, we left for the Rotary meeting. When we got there, we were surprised to see another huge banner with our pictures blown up and names welcoming us to the area. When the meeting began, we were introduced and welcomed in a warm way. We sat through the meeting, showed our program and questions were asked of us, of which Justin answered beautifully. After the meeting, pictures were taken and we were driven to the local supermarket to pick up a few items for breakfast.

My View of Our First Week in S. Korea

I think I know what if feels like to be famous. Because we look different than the rest, everywhere we go we're being stared at. The S. Korean kids come to us to try out their English by saying hi and then giggle a lot when we speak back. So far there are some things that I've noticed about the S. Korean culture. Here is my list.

1. According to the S. Korean women the men are always in a hurry and on time. This is so opposite from the South, where we're laid back and always late.

2. The food situation is another. Though Koreans eat a lot, they don't eat sweets or too much fat. Korean meals consist of a lot of side dishes of vegetables and desserts are usually soup and rice at the end of the meal.

3. Public bath is the thing here in S. Korea. Keep reading the blog and you'll find out more.

4. Koreans are a very proud culture and want you to know everything about their culture, so the time that we're with them has been well used.

5. Most of the family we meet seems to be a family of 4 (dad, mom and two kids). We were told that S. Koreans don't want a big family and so the family size is mostly 4.

6. Korean traditional meals are eaten while sitting on the floor. Most of our sleeping arrangements have been on the floor (very comfortable though). Some families have given up their comfortable beds for us, in which we're so forever grateful.

7. Green tea is the official drink of the S. Koreans. It can be served hot or cold. Kimchi and rice are dishes served for breakfast, lunch and dinner regardless of the menu. And watermelons and tomatoes are fruits for any occasion.

8. Always bow when you are greeting someone by saying; "An-nyung Ha-se-yo" meaning, Good Morning, afternoon or evening.

We've been to tea plantations, museums, and cultural centers, facilities where dogs, eels, fish and other type of things are being breeded for exporting or researching. We've been on top of mountains and seen beautiful views. The greenery space and the flowers and the mountains are all so beautiful and breathtaking. We've met mayors of cities and presented programs at local rotary clubs. From the school visits we found that Koreans are a very discipline society and they strive to achieve and be the best. The Koreans have been so hospitable and so accommodating. There are more places to visit, so stay tuned.

Thursday, May 10

Seeing how beautiful the hilltops looked, the curiosity got the best of us and we went exploring further. We walked up hills around homes that were stationed on the hills. Each home had its own unique character. From the look of the homes, one can determined that many income level families surround each other.

Once the exploration ended, we went back to our hotel and changed for dinner. Dinner consisted of any Korean dish imaginable and it was a Korean style affair. What I mean was we all sat on the floor like the Koreans do and had a feast. There were about 10 or so of us, but the food was enough to feed 50.

The day ended with a tour to the Lotto Mart, a mall that has a variety of things going on. The mart included a grocery store, a book store, clothing store, accessories stand, etc. What a day!

Pictures from Haenem
We have recently posted a photo album of our pictures from Haenam yesterday. More comments to come. See
http://picasaweb.google.com/chito.lapena/Haenem

Why Korean public baths and Koreans who use them are clean

When I saw the entry about public bath and sauna on the schedule I began scheming ways of getting out of it.. Hmm extreme jet lag, uhh stomach problems..easy. But our hosts had their gentle ways of coming down from the mountains, evolved through centuries of properly seeing the day's or the week's end. After tracing dinosaur tracks, seeing the ancient poet's home and climbing stairs to the peak of Mt --- our hosts brought us to a small traditional restaurant at the foot of the mountain for some kim chee and rice wine. After that we headed for the baths.

The only thing worse than not knowing what to do in a situation is to not know what to do in a situation while one is naked. As a nerd who had always managed to dodge gym class and public showers, the thought of bathing with a room full of men was not exactly something I longed for. Conversation was not exactly an alternative at this point. We followed whatever our host did and secured all clothing and items in our locker. Any kind of clothing is expressly forbidden in the baths. The only thing you can wear is the key to your locker, which you attached to your wrist or ankle with a coiled cord.

The men and women's baths are separate.

It is expressly forbidden to enter the bath area without first going to the toilet so we were sent on the detour before going in. Soaps, scrubbing cloth, towels, toothbrush and toothpaste were supplied and were to be used.

The first area of the bath was an open shower area where one had to shower and brush one's teeth. This assured that folks didn't dirty up the water in the baths. Then it was a few minute's dip in a pool that was heated to about 38 degrees C. After some time in the pool, we headed to another, slightly cooler pool. After that pool we headed for the dry sauna. This room was incredibly heated by what appeared to be large quartz stones with dessicant stones in the ceiling. Our host turned an hour glass over and pointed to it, as we were to sweat and suffer until the pink sand in the glass was done with us.

After the dry sauna was the steam sauna, which was even hotter. After a few minutes steaming we headed back out to the pools. First we dipped back into the cool pool then back into the warmer pool then back to the cool pool. After that was another shower and then to dry off. The bath was quite refreshing. Conclusion: I think we worry too much about nakedness in our culture.

How to eat an octopus

During this time we have been fed relentlessly with huge feasts involving seafood, much of which is served sashimi. Typically there would be delicious conch, mackerel, at least 2 flavors of kimchi (of course), shrimp, oysters and other shellfish and this evening, live octopus. This guide will help you with eating a live octopus, should you encounter this wonderful opportunity.

Step 1 make sure it is fresh

Whether it's on the open market or on the restaurant floor, Koreans are very careful to assure that their octopus is clean and well-aired. These creatures do not live long outside of the water so eating it live is the most reliable way to assure its freshness.

Step 2 cut it up into a thousand pieces that continue to wriggle

The octopus is a product of millions of years of evolution. Regardless of how small you cut the pieces they will continue to survive and act on their own. Perhaps the octopus's brain is distributed among its parts as a lesson in efficiency and higher advancement of living things. It would be kindof cool, for instance, if my hands could continue to work on this story while the rest of me slept.

Step 3 hot sauce

Dab just enough to add that spicy edge without overtaking the flavor. This is done precisely by dipping one's chopsticks into the sauce and using the drops it has picked up on your octopus. Hot sauce is optional but might help provide you or your octopus with courage.

Step 4 important: chew until it stops suckering the insides of your cheeks

When it comes to fight or flight, the octopus tentacle remains in your mouth are quite aware that they have nowhere to run or they may simply be curious about the warm, smushy space they have just entered. This is why the suckers will attempt to attach to the insides of your cheeks. Don't panic. It's actually quite an endearing and unique feeling to have your food continue to express its concerns while it is in your mouth. Simply chew until the suckers can no longer attach to your cheeks then swallow.

Step 5-10 Soju

Mr Kim is not shy when it comes to treating his guests right. Today he has taught us incredibly important non-verbal communication skills when it comes to drinking rice wine and soju. First, never let a friend drink a glass he has poured himself. Second, turn respectfully away from your elders as you drink when there has not yet been enough drinking for people to lose track of directions. Third drink. Fourth, and this is most important, express with enthusiasm, a loud, extended fricative at the back of your throat. This clears you out for the next round or unsticks the tentacles from your throat.

Our arrival in Seoul and Yeosu

Los Angeles was literally on fire when we landed. An enormous wildfire had swallowed the horizon near the Hollywood hills. The man sitting next to me, who was at the beginning of the flight nervous about the plane and the flight was now instead anxious that his home was part of the crazy inferno. There is no movie screen big enough to show the scale of the fire as it crawled to the hopelessly brilliant ocean of concrete and lights that is Los Angeles at 11:30 PM.

We stumbled into Seoul's Incheon Airport at around 5 AM this morning (Seoul time) after 21 hours of airport and flying, exhausted but energized by the fact that we have arrived...or it may have been that special green tea they served on the flight-- the one that has been bred and used for 5 thousand of years as a cure for jet lag. After recklessly bumping about we found our way into the bus to Gimpo airport. This was the view out of the bus window just a few minutes after dawn on the way to Gimpo.

After a 4 hour layover at Gimbo airport, we arrived at Yeosu, where we were warmly greeted and photographed by the Rotary Jeollanmando host group. They had a big banner out for us and it was great to finally meet our hosts.

After a very short break and checking into the hotel, we made our first presentation at a Rotary luncheon. The presentation went smoothly but even better was the terrific food -- seafood soup as the main course with many sides.

GSE presentation video

This is our presentation video to be used in meetings in Korea.

Savannah GSE overview

Location
Savannah is located on the coast of Georgia North of Florida in the Southeastern United States. Our city was developed 23 km up the Savannah River from the Atlantic Ocean at the first high ground.

History
Savannah was the first city in Georgia and the capital of the 13th colony founded in 1733 by James Edward Oglethorpe, an English general. He laid out the city in a plan of squares, public parks and green spaces. Much of this planning has been preserved today with 21 of the original squares surviving or restored. The city is known for its natural beauty, architecture and cultural diversity.

	Korea	Georgia
Population	48 million	9 million
Area	221,607 sq km	69,700 sq km
Population Density	216/Sq Km	130/Sq Km
Currency	won (1 US$ = $920)	dollar
Per Capita Income	$20,000	$21,154

Today's Savannah is home to the 4th busiest container seaport in the United States. It is also the location of Hunter Army Airfield and Fort Stewart. Major industries include Gulfstream, manufacturers of custom executive jets, International Paper and Memorial Health Center, a teaching hospital compound that employs thousands. Savannah is also home to the Savannah College of Art and Design, which was recently recognized as the best art college in the United States. Other colleges include Armstrong Atlantic State University and Savannah State University, both of which are public universities in the University system of Georgia. The city also thrives from a robust tourism industry.

Because of the wide variety of American history, lifestyles and scenery it encompasses, Savannah is often used as a setting for motion pictures and books. Listed here are some movies that were filmed in Savannah.

Savannah is located on the state of Georgia's coast line. Buffered by barrier islands and marsh lands, the Georgia coast is one of the most beautiful areas of the United States. Because we consider our coast line and barrier islands rare natural resources, development on the coast is very limited. Many of the barrier islands remain as state and federally protected nature reserves.

The team from Korea at Wright Square Cafe a couple of days before we left for their home town.

About Yeosu City and Exchange

The for our exchange is Yeosu-si (여수시) in South Korea. Yeosu has a similar population to Savannah with about half the land area. It is a port city located on a peninsula on the southern, middle coast of South Korea.

Take a web tour of Yeosu-si


Take a web tour of Savannah

Savannah Meets Yeosu City

Today we met the Yeosu City inbound team from Korea at the Wright Square Cafe. We had drinks while getting to know them. The inbound team had arrived on the 25th of April and had been staying in Macon until now. They will be in Savannah for the next 5 days, taking in the sites and living on Tybee.