Lotus Blossoms and Gourd Tunnel

Yesterday I biked downtown with my friend, Samantha, to go see the lotus blossoms. While I have been eating their roots for months now (delicious), I've never actually seen a real lotus flower. We both dressed in our most extreme heat appropriate clothes, slapped on some sunscreen, and ventured out into the extreme humidity for an adventure.

 First, on our way down, we passed some vine covered tunnels. I had seen the scaffolding of the tunnels in winter, and had assume they would plant flowering vines on them. But I was wrong! They planted amazing gourd vines! Photos really don't do these tunnels justice. I absolutely felt like I was on another planet. It was particularly amazing how these massive gourds were so strongly held up. I could hit them and swing them and they didn't fall. I even saw some little gourds that back home we use as decorations. It was totally awesome.

Magical gourd tunnel!

Anne and gourds

"I love you"

Decorative gourds!

Exterior view of the gourd tunnels.

Next, we continued on our way to the blossoms. Suddenly, we had to get off our bikes because a large group of women seemed to be having a picnic in the middle of the sidewalk. As we passed by, I peeked over to see what they were up to. They saw me and began frantically inviting me to sit! So Samantha and I saw, and these lovely ladies fed us lotus tea! The tea was a steeped blossom, which they poured into big lotus leaves, and then we drank through lotus stem straws. It was unbelievable. We comminucated a big through our tiny bit of Korean, and their limited English. They insisted on giving us cookies too. I even managed to spill a bunch of tea on myself and was instantly given a bunch of towels. Luckily, I was so insanely sweaty that dropping tea on myself didn't really make any difference to how wet I was.

The woman smiling behind me is a perfect example
of the amazing hospitality of Korea. 

Behind us you can see some Korean pedestrians also
being given lovely tea. Note the snazzy parasol.

Thank you ladies!

Next we walked through the lotus garden. Amazingly beautiful. I have been waiting to see them since I got here!

I'd love to learn about the biology of these crazy
water plants. Look how alien that stamen is! 

Not a lotus, but look how neat this flower looks
when closed?

Same flower as above. What is it, mom?

Amusingly decrepit bathroom. Two men and
one woman? What kind of crazy design
is that!

I tried to take a picture with my hand to show how
huge the leaves were. 

I don't think Buddhism could have picked
a more beautiful symbol.

I think this is the money shot. Gorgeous.

Teenage ducks hiding as we walked by.

This photo truly encaptures all that is Korea.
Mountains + historical buildings + hilarious cute-ness.

Finally, on our way back I took this set of pictures. I still find it interesting seeing relics of Korea's impoverished past mixed with their prosperous present. The photos are of two adjacent buildings.

All in all, it was an excellent day and a lovely impromptu adventure. I can't express how insanely sweaty and hot we were, but with the right mindset and knowing we were going home to showers, that isn't too bad. 

Teacher, your arm is white fur!

So today I had my very funniest "you are different" moment. Well, maybe tied for that time the girls combed my back looking for loose strands of hair to bounce... At lunch three girls happened to be in my classroom and came over to say hi. Suddenly, one started petting my arm and exclaimed 

"Teacher! Your arm is white fur!!"

This took me quite a bit by surprise. I laughed, told her I was not a polar bear, and that fur was for animals. She laughed when she realized her mistake and corrected herself.

"White hair! My arm is black hair, your arm is white hair!!"

Her friends proceeded to pet my arms as well.

I tried to explain the sun bleaches my hair, but they couldn't understand. I'm not blond by Western standards and I would consider my arm hair to be brown.. except in the summer when the sun bleaches it! She then discovered the hair on the side of my arm, out of the sun's power.

"Teacher! Here black hair! And here white hair!!!" It was amusing. 

I then had the brilliant idea that maybe if I showed them how my head hair was lighter on the tips they would understand the sun bleaching process. So I took my hair down from a bun (it's so insanely hot it is usually up these days) and tried to show them. Instead of understanding, they instantly began to pet my head. I really need to emphasize they weren't touching my hair, they were full on petting me. 

Their cute oohs and aahs made it hilarious and I was full out laughing, but I really could not have felt more like an animal! I soon brushed them off cause even cute hands will ruin my curls and then we chatted a little.  I told them in October my parents were coming and one said, very seriously: 

"Teacher. You must show me."

So there you have it mom and dad. Your first fans await!! 

PS The other foreigner teacher at my school is a man with a darker complexion and very persistent facial hair. When he heard the story he simply said "Just be thankful you don't have a beard!!" He hasn't worn shorts in this insanely hot weather because he knows how much he will get petted. Oh the wonders of the crazy foreigner beasts!

PPS I have one persistent letter writer. I was running out of small talk, so at my friend's suggestion I added a joke in my reply. I'm pretty proud of my artwork.

Tidbits

I often take photos on my phone when I see something I think is amusing. I then forget about the photos and, sometimes, I forget why I thought it was amusing! Anyways, here are a few totally unrelated tidbits of daily life.

Amusing stylin' backpack. Easily
snapped this photo by pretending
to take a selfie with a friend.

Would have bought this shirt if I'd liked the fit
a bit better. It had odd sleeves. But
WHAT an awesome owl.

Had a lovely friend date with my buddy Samantha.
That tiny tiramisu was divine, but also
torturous as it was so small!

Said friend date revolved around Samantha having
free tickets to this concert. It was pretty hilarious
and ridiculous. Some guy fake playing the guitar
and singing tunes to a sea of middle aged women
clapping along while the light show
raged on. We had fun, but left after the fifth
identical sounding song.

Origami gifts from a little grade 4 girl.
They were crowding up my desk so
I decided to tape them to the wall. 

There are NO sausage dogs allowed here.
Nor hitting party hats with baseballs.
Nor alcohol and pots and pans.

This is the trail I run on. Isn't it lovely!
Check out the guy in the background. That's
pretty standard anti-sun wear.

Really cute shoes at the entrance of a
restaurant.

Really cool bug that flew into our classroom
one day!! See that triangle on it's back?
That's how you can identify it as a
"true bug," or member of the
hemiptera order of insects.
Boo ya A+ in entomology! 

Also I WISH I had my phone when paying utilities just now. I saw a poster of The Lord's Prayer that had been translated into Korean AND had the most amazing anime depiction of Jesus, Adam and Eve ever. 

Coony became a BUTTERFLY!

My grade 4 kids have a pretty awful textbook. You may  recall a while ago I posted about the horrible/insanely hilarious video in it. Anyway, each chapter has a little 3D "story" the kids watch to hear target sentences. The videos are simple, and a little odd since the 2D versions and 3D versions of the characters look so different. Maru, the main character, has a pet robot. All along, every chapter, it was incorporated that Coony, the robot, was tired.

"Good morning mom, good morning dad! Hi Conny"
"Oooh. Goodnight..." (says sleeping Coony)

"Let's play soccer."
"Sorry I can't. I'm sleepy."

"Let's go outside!|"
"Sorry, I'm very sleepy."

Anyways, I really did not know what the deal was with this useless robot. But then TODAY when watching the story (unsurprisingly I do not watch them before hand so this was while teaching) Coony became A BUTTERFLY.

I was a little bit too excited. THAT'S WHY HE'S BEEN SO TIRED!!

All the kids said he was cute before, but ugly now. I, personally, am excited for the riveting new direction the textbook plot line will TAKE. I had to share my excitement.

The Hand of Pohang aka The Pohand

Near Gyeongju is another city called Pohang. Pohang is the largest city in the province of Gyeongsanbuk. It is famous for having an enormous steel factory called Posco. Also, it has a statue of a hand in the ocean, at a point called Homigot.

This weekend we went to the hand. While with a car the journey would take an hour, this took much longer. Unlike Gyeongju, Pohang's main income is not tourism, so things are a little harder to reach. After an eventual day of buses, transfers, and possibly running into the street like maniacs, Adri and I made it to the Pohand.

It was pretty neat. It's amazing how Koreans really flock to these monuments. There were tons of people taking photos. I feel like back home, we rarely go look at local statues or monuments unless on a school trip. We walked along the coast a bit and saw little restaurants selling seafood. While some pajeon is always nice, we knew we had an even longer journey back to Ulsan so we decided to skip out on snacking. Also not all the food was all that appealing looking.

I liked this very old style broom a lot. After what felt
like a long journey, we wanted to photograph everything
at Homigot.

There were actually two hands.
This is the Land Hand.

If you look carfully,
this tiger is the shape of Korea.
Neat. (North and South)

And voila! The Pohand in all its glory!

Anne's hand and the Pohand.

Adri, Anne, and the Hand!

Just to give you an idea of how Korean photo hotspots
always look. People taking turns to pose in front of it.

Walk out on this boardwalk for an even grander
view of the hand.

Check out that side view.

I was sad when I realized what this was. Nasty old
whale baleen.

Cute little pinic tables.

These are not severed parts of men.
They are "spoon worms" and
are eaten. Raw. My coteacher
assures me it's delicious...

Hehehe. The bathroom is a boat. It was a snazzy
bathroom too, included toilet paper IN the stalls
AND throne style seats. No soap, but I mean
you can't have it all.

Amazing burger from Toolbox in Ulsan. I love it.

I'm cranky.

Warning: Purely whiny post ahead.

I haven't felt this cranky in a while. It is SO hot. I find it really quite unbearable. I wore my lightest dress today and was so sweaty, I can't imagine what I will do for the rest of the week. I woke up this morning cranky and therefore all day things have bothered me. First, the truck selling goods speaking into a speakerphone. No longer am I amused by how it sounds like a raid in a dystopia film, I just want to shout "Shut up! And get some noise pollution laws already!" Next I had a very misbehaved class. I think next class they will have a very boring worksheet to fill out instead of a game. Also the weather network says it currently feels like 38 degrees.

Really though, everything is fine, I'm just so incredibly and unbearably hot. We really are spoiled with climate control back home. Four seasons are much less romantic when I have to actually feel them.

Grrrr.