One of the worst parts about teaching

There are many enjoyments to teaching, however, there are some things about teaching that are not so welcoming. If you are a teacher then you know how I feel when I say the germs that the students bring to class is one of the worst parts about teaching!!!

Imperial Guards

While I was at the Royal Palace there just happened to be an imperial guard demonstration. What Luck!

Zoo games

My first castle visit, cool!

I came, I saw, I conquered! The Fukuoka castle ruins was an awesome site to see, indeed. The craftmanship was authentic and it was built on top of a hill for military purposes, which gave me the opportunity to see the entire city from the military post outlook. I can only imagine how long it would have taken to construct such an enormous castle base.

Melinche and Mocuana

While I was in Japan I met a man from San Diego, and we helped each other getting around, site seeing, finding the Korean consultant. His name was Issac and he was an American, but his family orginated from Nicaragua. After talking with him for awhile I asked him if the phrase 'Melinche' was still used in latin america. For those of you who don't know who Melinche is, she was a Mayan indian who betrayed the native inhabitants of Central America by helping the Spanish conquistidors. Her name today means one who betrays, betrayer. When I asked Issac he refered to a Nicaraguan story of a woman called Mocuana. The people of Nicaragua, the Mayans, had a large treasure hidden away from the Spanish and refused to tell or even suggest that there was a treasure to the Spanish. After awhile Mocuana fell in love with a handsome young Spaniard. Once the Spaniard had gained enough trust through time, energy, love and passion, she told him where the treasure was. He went and collected the treasure then left central america for Spain with the treasure never to return. Mocuana went mad and forever was unstable. She was hated by her people for unveiling the where abouts of the treasure and she endured much anguish from a broken heart that never healed. After she passed away supposedly she haunted the land unable to pass on to the afterlife, haunting those who had not endured the anguish that she did.

come and get it

These dishes were either sweet or spicy. Far right top is a beef stew then in the middle is a tofu soup that happens to be a very traditional korea cuisine. In the tin cans are rice and on the bottom left there is some fish that looked and felt like soggy crackers, but tasted ok. Next in the top left corner are some vegetables with the exception of the pineapple, which is next to my friend's hand. The vegetables had some spices on them that gave them a kick. As for the pineapple, that was sweet.

Party time

Friday night lights in Central Park

Welcome to the throne room where none may enter except for the king himself.

Oh the places you will go...

A walk in down the sidewalks of Pyeongchon are quite pleasant as well as a walk through the parks of Seoul and Pyeongchon.

Stone carvings in the royal gardens

On the weekends here in Pyeongchon the citizens relax amid the water fountains of central park, which just happens to be across the street from where I live. At night the fountains are lite up with an array of colors. While the waters rush, elders nap or read, lovers cherish the moment or playfully quarrel, the adolescents battle it out on the courts of basketball, badminton and tennis; children ride their bikes or run and scream through the water displays. Resting, relaxing and enjoying a day of rest before the work bell rings once again.

Un regalo de Dios

The King's corridor

Closed off to the public otherwise that climb was mine.

Me and my zodiac

The island garden of the king.

Really!?

Tomorrow I'm going to attempt to take the Seoul subway system from Pyeongchon to Seoul and go visit the cultural art museum, the US embassy, and the castle from the last Korean dynasty. Legend has it that those who served the king and queen in the castle had to be virgins and how to swear an oath never to leave the castle but be bound inside its walls until their death. The only exception was some place of retirement where they could go to in their old age. Sounds to me like being exiled. The only male in the castle who was not castrated was the king. The men who guarded the castle were usually hired on before their puberty and they would castrate themselves. From what I've gathered they practiced this so that nobody would disrupt the bloodline of the king. Now since the men were not a hinderance to the king one has to wonder what about the female workers? Well, the king had his first wife who was the first queen, but if he found favor in another woman he would take her as his concubine and she would become second queen. There's no information to really trace how many queens there were, but the main goal of having so many was to produce boys. If the first queen could not produce a boy but the second queen could then that boy would be in line as the next king. From what I've heard this process led to a number of conspiracies within the castle walls in which certain queens would try to assassinate or plan an unfortunate ending for a young boy or man who was ahead of their son for throne.

Distrubing was the way the boys were castrated. After they castrated themselves the tip of a bird's feather was put into the tip of the boys' private part. Then a string was wraped around the end. Finally, they were put in an underground room and given no water so that they would not die from bleeding (or other medical stuff I know little about). Afterwards they would emerge and begin preparation to protect the king.

Previously, I mentioned the last queen has some dying last words to the Japanese. Supposedly, they wanted her and her people to bow down to not only Japan, but Japanese culture and way of life. She said something like, "I will never submit, I am the mother of Korea." She said this to indicate that as the leader of Korea how could she ever acknowledge another culture over her own and that Korean culture will always remain in the land that the Japanese would never submit her or her people to their ways.

More to come...