A few black and whites from Gwangju:

Instead of typing out the description of Songgwang-sa Temple, I just took a picture of the board explaining it. Easy.

So here are the pictures....

This is a carving of a warrior. He, and three others, are guarding the entrance to the Temple area. There were also four giant mud sculptures of warriors guarding the main Temple. I wish this picture showed the size of them. I was blown away!! The little statue seen at the foot of the bigger one was about 3.5-4 ft tall. As you can see, he isn't much taller than the larger statue's lower leg.

The scenery to the Temple is absolutly amazing. So green and natural.

Songgwang-sa Temple.

Two Buddha statues are inside, along with other statues. This is one of the oldest Temples in Korea. And it holds many Korean treasures and relics.

This is a monk in one of the buildings. You can actually stay on the Songgwang-sa grounds. There is an area designated for visitors wanting to do a three day stay.

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Next we went to an ancient Korean village. The locals stayed in the original housing, seen in the photos. They were litterally mud and brick huts. They made all pottery and other items right there in stone ovens. The first picture is a couple taking water to their crops in a tractor. This

isn't a Cat D-8 either.

This was a building in the middle of the town. Much like the structure of the Songgwangsa Temple, but not as kept up.

What an exciting week this has been! Next week the kids are on Summer vacation (for a week, none of this two and a half month thing). They are super excited as well, and they are making it really fun to teach :) The good thing is their energy is up sky high, and we are doing lots of fun summer activities. I really do sound like a teacher now...

So what stories do I have for this week...

Well I'm finding my good old American food, such as hotdogs and white bread. The kids say that white bread is the reason "white people are fat." They're so cute. And so right. But it tastes so good, so I'll keep eating it. Anyway, the hotdogs. So I found a pack of 18 dogs or so, and Ben and I decide to cook em up one night. As they are cooking, I realize that they look really funny. Not like a normal hotdog cooking on the grill. I thought, "maybe the Korean hotdogs are a bit different." So I try to stab one to see what is going on. And my fork won't puncture the hotdog. Strange. Ben says, "just eat them anyway. It can't be bad for you." I almost ate them, but decided to check the uncooked ones to see what was going on. Come to find out, each individual hotdog is plastic wrapped. Bad news to eat. So we unwrapped a few more, threw the wrapped ones away and cooked some healthy, tasty, hotdogs up.

So as for the pictures, there is a park across the street and the rain was keeping the kids away, and gave me a good opportunity for pics. However, the next picture is a park right outside the school where I teach. Now that summer vacation is drawing near, the kids are staying out late to play. I leave work at about 9pm and they were all playing like it was noon. Beings that monsoon season is about done, the heat is setting in. So kids don't play outside too much during the day, so a late night play time is the better option.

When the rain was sporadic, people always carried an umbrella. People would have the umbrella up even when there was no rain. No big deal really. But again, more good pic opportunities. They have something about the rain hitting their heads. I haven't quite figured it out, but they don't like it.

So that might be about it for now. I'm getting ready for a nice summer vacation next week. I'll be getting out to take lots of pictures with all the spare time now. So I'll have another post after the week is done. Cheers.

My first week in Korea:

I started work on Monday, and thought that I would have a few days of training. I was wrong. My boss needed my help Monday morning in the kindergarten room. I didn't think that 5 year old's could be that intimidating. Again, I was wrong. I sat down with them at the table, and they just stared at me. I had no idea what to do. However, after I pushed through the awkward stares and uncomfortable silence, I learned their names, joked a bit, and everything turned around. We had a great time, and now they love me :) There's one girl, Kate, and now when I walk into the room, she gets this big smile, yells "teacher!" and runs over and gives me a big hug! That is probably my favorite part of the day. They are all super cute.

The next few days were about the same. Between other teachers needing to go home, or calling in sick, I actually taught a few more classes on my own. Overall, it was a fabulous experience and I learned a lot! There's quite a few kids in the school, and I am trying to learn all their names. But for the most part, I can just joke around with them and we all have tons of fun. I'm looking forward to this next week though. I start with my own class and kids!

As far as pictures go, I have a few from around the city I live in, Suncheon. And I am really excited to get out more and take more pics of the city and people. The hard part is that it's monsoon season right now, so going out when it's pouring down rain is not going to happen. Now, when I say "pouring down rain," unless you've experience heavy rain, I don't know how else to explain it. It's more like buckets of water falling from the sky, literally. I walked to the store the other day when it was "pouring" and was soaked after only 4 or 5 minutes.

So after a crazy week, the weekend came and it was time to hit the town. So last night, a few of us went to this rib place, and the food was amazing! All the food I've eaten so far has been great! With maybe the exception of the octopus kimchi soup I had on Friday. Not a big fan, but at least the octopus was dead and not squirming in the soup. What we had to drink at dinner was great too... Soju. Soju is like vodka, but better. A bottle, maybe 12 oz or so, is about $2. I shared the bottle with Amy and we were doing pretty good by the end of it. But at midnight, the night was still young, so we went to a karaoke place. Much different from the karaoke bars I'm used to in the states. We had our own private room, a bottle of whisky, and lots of food. Two girls, the waitresses, were also singing and having a good time with us. After a bit, maybe 2 or 3 am, we ordered some noodle soup, and one of the waitresses, Jolie, fed me my soup! I didn't know what to do! The soup showed up, she grabbed the chopsticks, and started feeding me! I felt like a king!

I'm looking forward to this next week. I hope to have more crazy stories and experiences. I'll talk to ya all later! Marcus // these are the pics from this week:

My Move to Korea:

Well, I am in Korea now!! It's such a weird feeling to wake up this morning, as it is 8:30 am for me right now, and be in a completely different country. A different part of the world. My plan today is to explore the city a bit. My friends have some plans, and I'll be joining them beings that I don't know anything/anybody else in this town, but I hope to just explore the city and start taking pictures... see what's out there.

I am so excited about the photography opportunities that will arise when I am over here! I hope that I can get things started as soon as possible. I will be starting work tomorrow, but as always, I make time for my photography :)

As far as the flight goes... I had a much worse image of what that was going to be like. The flight wasn't that bad at all. Yes, I was in a plane for 10+ hours, just to get on another one for 2, then a car ride home for 2 hours. But, time went by rather quickly and I made it without a scratch ;) I'm moving into my apartment today, and I am very excited about that! I have my own place, and possibly transportation already! I am getting settled in this new world of mine and loving it!

*side note* It is really weird to look down at the fan, or other appliances, and have all the instructions in Korean. I do not know much Korean at this point, and I see that I will need to learn very quickly in order to get around. And that is why I am excited for this venture! I get to experience a new and different culture, while adapting and learning about how to live in it.

I will have pictures posted as I get out more this week! See ya later!!