Gyongju

My Weekend Getaway

As the season begins to change, I'm getting excited about travels again. I figure I had better get out and see more of this country while I'm here. So last weekend I met up with a friend from high school, her husband and a few others for a weekend together in the Korean countryside.

It was outstanding, rode bikes, got out of the city (Seoul) and just got to chill for a while in a place a little warmer than the northern part of this country, while also spending time with some great people.

So more than anything, I was able to breathe some fresh air. Here are the pics.

Kev

Downtown Gyongju

Downtown Gyongju
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

We are continuing to stick out like a sore thumb in this country. Particularily when were doing such unfashionable things such as riding bikes in large groups of white people!

Good times.

Back on the Bike

Back on the Bike
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

As it gets warmer out here, I have been looking forward to getting back on a bike, thinking it wouldn't happen until I got home. But here it is, riding around Gyongju.

PS - My full support of the color orange continues!

Riding and Shooting

Riding and Shooting
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

Trying to ride a bike and take a picure of myself.

I'm impressed..........with myself of course!

Maren and Jake

Maren and Jake
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

Kudos to these two. Braving the eratic and busy streets of small town Korea on a less agile tandem bike.

Maren (on the back) and I were friends from High School who I found out was teaching English in another city here in Korea and we were able to get together with her husband and a few of their friends. The hope is to get together again for some deep sea fishing...........stay tuned

Can I Please

Can I Please
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

A nice grassy hill isn't it.

Actually it's a tomb for some of the ancient kings, and it's quite large in a park that had about 20 of them.

Playing for Kings

Playing for Kings
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

This was the hotel owner. Playing a song for the guests on the recorder which is usually done only for kings. If you follow that logic, you know where that puts me!

Actually he was classic, the kinda guy that told us that tonight is all that matters in what appeared to be great wisdom and insight. But the 4th and 5th time we were reminded of this it appeared to be his beverages talking most of the time.

A Buddhist Tyktauyaktuk

A Buddhist Tyktauyaktuk
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

The Tyky (as I will refer to it from here on out) is not just an Inuit piece or the symbol of the 2010 olympics in Vancouver, but the buddists make use of it somehow as well.

That's actually a bit of an understatement!

For The Pottery Fans

For The Pottery Fans
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

Couldn't help but think of you when I saw this huge pottery urn, at least I think it's called an urn........you can correct me.

Actually Found This In Korea

Actually Found This In Korea
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

For those who have been here, I actually found a house, and it looked like a tranquil little place.

Can the World Really Get Much Smaller?

If you've been following the my blog since I've got here, first of all, I'm impressed and surprised, but second of all, you'd know that I have had some unforeseen "run in's" with people. I'm not referring to a "run in" as something some people have with the law, but simply a meeting of people both known and unknown to me. This afterall is how the great group of western friends I have out here has come together and been known to me.

These occurrences have been through people I know, but also being at the right place at the right time. Such as the case with Chad Graham. Had no idea he was in Korea until I ran into him on a subway platform. Simply, absolutely random things like that (if indeed these are "random" occurrences).

Well, I got two more.

The first has been known to me for a couple months now, and those of you with my Briercrest connection would know who I am reffering to. She is an older woman from New Zealand who was in our Korean language class. A class of about 10 people. She also attends the church that a few of our friends go to, and so after putting the pieces together it was discovered that this woman is...........................Dr. Richard Neville's mom! What a blessing her and her husband have been to us. She is a dear and precious woman who has been a great encouragement and source of wisdom to a young buck like myself, which has been void most of my time out here. She even had a few of us over for lunch Sunday after church and we all got to chat and share stories. She has truly been a blessing in the largest sense of the word.

The next occurrence goes back to my high school days, which are so far gone that I am not sure that anybody know's I'm in Korea, let alone reads my blog. I'll share it anyway. After conversing with my dad, who was chatting with others, it randomly came up (or so I suppose) that I was in Korea teaching English. When they heard this they piped up, this person is here too. I turns out that a friend of mine from high school is teaching in the Busan area (3 hours from Seoul by train) and after a few emails we are going to meet up in the town of Gyeoungju this weekend for a Korean rendezvous. It should be great.

Needless to say these are both occurrences that prove to me, just because I'm not home, doesn't mean home can't come with me.

Got just under 3 months to go, hopefully I can get a few more meetings with people like this before I go.

That's it
Kev

Korean Hero's

My Inherited Nation

Well, it has been a weekend of upsets; Northwestern State over Iowa, Wisconsin/Milwaukee over Oklahoma, Alabama over Marquette, Montana over Nevada, Korea over Japan, Korea over Japan again and Korea over the USA.

That’s right, March Madness isn’t the only place to find a great game this time of year, but the World Baseball Classic (www.worldbaseballclassic.com) is hot stuff here in Korea. The unheralded Koreans have not only knocked off the powerhouse Americans in the tournament, but have also beat the “evil” Japanese, twice!

Here is the nice little touch to this one, which is particular to Japan (if you didn’t know yet, Korea and Japan aren’t closest of friends). After Korea beat the Japanese in Japan a few weeks back, Ichiro (Japanese) promised that Korea wouldn’t beat Japan for the next 30 years. So guess what happens when they play each other again the next week, Korea beats them again. Victory is so sweet for this country. It’s hard not to get excited watching these guys play, as the Korean’s weren’t expected to be this good. Here is the real bonus for these players, they may be able to avoid their mandatory military service, that is if they do well enough.

So if they win the whole tournament, they may be celebrating more than just a victory.

Do your best to get excited for these guys, get some kimchi, bipembop or kimbap and and watch them go.

I only hope this is a sign of things to come for the World Cup in June/July!

Then this place would truly go nuts!

How Did Happen?

I suppose the real question is how the heck do I not edit what I write? I was reading over my last entry and all it really was was me mumbling to myself as I updated the blog, afterall, how many times and ways can I say, "I hope it works."

Here's the real kicker, I had a non-native English speaker ask me to edit my student evaluations a few weeks back! That's how bad it has been! That was a bit of a kick in the butt. Yeah, it's funny, but it was embarrassing coming from a Korean woman. Who wouldn't usually say anything..........................dang it Dueck!

Other things.......

Mom and Dad are making there way out here in May, that'll be excellent! Meeting them in Beijing and will then get to show them around Seoul for a few days. I'll have my first guests as a resident of Korea.

One of my favorite new things is seeing my old students around the school and not having to teach them, as our new semester started a few weeks ago. My former 5 year olds, now 6, are some of my favorite little ones ever! They were the ones who were in the video. As difficult as they were to teach, there is definitely a feeling of satisfaction knowing that I put in the time and effort with them and am now able to sit back and see the results. I wish I could give a story, but just seeing them bounce around the halls yelling your name when they see you is enough for me. I heart them and will miss them when I'm done here!

That's all

Kindergarten Video

Welp, I've said enough about these kids. Complained, sharred good times, great stories and essentially miss them already. So as opposed to talking about it, I've put it in video format, hopefully it works.

The video is 3 minutes with pictures and video clips of a special group of kindergarteners and it is in Quicktime format. I hope it works. If it doesn't, I'm sorry and I don't know how to fix it. I hope your able to make it work.

Here's the link. You'll have to cut and paste it into your browser.

http://ourmedia.org/ia/details/KevinDueckKindysinKorea_0

Kev

*This has been updated and should work, as of Saturday night in Seoul*

You Ready for Some Dirty Laundry?

You Ready for Some Dirty Laundry?
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

Rob did Laundry before he left. Good on him.

Here's Mine

Here's Mine
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

Actually it's clean. Everything out here gets air dried, after the machine takes it's toll on my clothes.

Last Walk to Rob and Andrea's Place

Last Walk to Rob and Andrea's Place
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

Gonna miss the walk from the subway to Rob and Andrea's.

It's a nice breath of "fresh" air in this chaotic city.

World Cup Friendly

World Cup Friendly
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

Korea welcomed a small country in Africa to play a soccer game and prety much dominated them. Although the score was only 1-0 (nil) Korea, cleaned them up.

Welcome to Korea Angola!

Warm-Ups at World Cup Stadium

Warm-Ups at World Cup Stadium
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

Players getting ready to play.

While The Fans Go Nuts

While The Fans Go Nuts
Originally uploaded by kevdu.

Korean's love their soccer. The only thing you don't see/hear in the picture is the constant chant, sometimes even to a hymm.

The people go crazy for soccer, and they love their country too!

As Columbus Was To America............

...............so Rob and Andrea have been to Korea. To me, they were the pioneers, who when I heard about what they were doing, peaked my interest in doing the same. Of course, not quite "Columbus-esque," but you get the point. It would be through them and a few other things (The Lord) that I would actually find myself out here with them. As I look back, I don't know what I would have done my first few weeks without them, and even a few things after that What a blessing! It was a strange and scary thought to them a year ago (as it was for me 9 months ago), but they have made it. They have finished their time here and are out and about in other places.

It was great to have them out here, and they will be missed, particularly as they were the social center of the "whities in Nowon" here in Seoul. I suppose we will be able to slug it out here without them, but it just won't be the same.