School trips

Every now and then, as epik recruits, we manage to go on a school fieldtrip. They are mostly boring trips to places that no one really wants to go. Every now and then, something stands out.

On my last trip we went further into the mountains to an area near a small town called Youngwal. This trip was made up of four visits to museums and lunch at a buddist temple. It sounds like an interesting trip but when you cannot read a word of Korean its a different story altogether.

In South Korea evryone is proud of a 'South Korean' island called Dokdo. The reason for this is because there is a waging battle between the Japs and the South Kopreans over this peice of land. If it were Japanese territory, it would extend their fishing rights among many other interesting things. I met a man by the name of Jai Ryong who wrote a book on this topic and made an effort using maps dating from the 16th century to prove the Dokdo is Korean. He gave all my children a lesson on, "Why Dokdo is Korean Territory".

He was so passionate about the topic and he came across very strong. When he was talking, I felt like a was getting a lecture from Hitler himself. He was talking in Korean but I knew axactly what he was saying. Every time he would say 'Dokdo', the kids would say, 'Korean', or, 'Nay' which is not the correct spelling but it means yes. Half way through the lecture, I got hold of his book and started reading it to really understand what he was saying. It is brilliant how he used geographical maps to determine that Dokdo is Korean teritory.

At the end of the lecture I told him that I was really enjoying his book and he gave me a free autographed copy. I will mail him to ask for permission to put a couple of pages on my blog in the future. Inside the book he wrote......

                      "To Marc Radloff, from Jai Ryong"
                       "Dokdo is the KOREA island"

I loved this and it really portrayed his belief and shows how passionate he is about his work.

Young Mi (my co-teacher) and I looking for South Africa on an ancient map

Some of my kids and co-workers

Young Mi and I with the kids acting a fool

Staying true to the jumping photo legacy and doing it in the lecture venue

My main man Jai Ryong and I

Jai Ryong's book

His awsoem autograph

Supper with the teachers at the end of the day

CRAZY HOW THINGS WORK OUT

Wow, this weekend was one that never went as planned at all due to many unforeseen and known circumstances. This being said, it turned out to rock! I wouldn’t have changed the outcome for the world. Friday was the best school day of my life. I was sick and had to go to Gangneung to the doctor and it just so happened that I had a friend from Seoul with me. Al Ward. We ended up playing nine games of ten pin bowling, buying a laptop, going to the doctor and meeting up with Giuli for supper.

We had an early night and planned to go to Jecheon for the cherry blossom festival on Saturday. It took us four hours on a bus to get there and on arrival; we were shoved onto a small bus with seventy people. It was an absolute nightmare. We could not believe that it was possible to do this (believe me it is). We started our approximately half an hour journey to the festival when Al states out of the blue, “guys, how funny would it be if we broke down now”. We were about one tenth of our way there when we were alarmed by a noxious smell of burnt oil.

Cherry blossom in town

Crowded bus (70 people)

After the bus broke down

Where the bus broke



Ok, so now we stuck in the middle of nowhere, we are frustrated, we don’t have a taxi and we do not know how to get hold of one either. Along comes a Korean couple, our saving grace! They ask, do you want to share a taxi? We scream out, YES!!! Another problem, there is five of us. Our new Korean friend makes a call and calmly says, “It’s all sorted”. The taxi arrives and once again, we are on our way to the cherry blossom festival. Only this time we were with new friends.

About five minutes after getting into the taxi, we see a traffic jam in the middle of nowhere. The taxi driver turns to us and says, “I’m not taking you through that, it will take another three hours”. WHAT!!! We had about enough of this stupid festival now!

 

Trying to find a place to eat

A place that sells you with pictures and surprizes you with the reality of the situation

We headed back and Al had been talking about drinking all day and I was ready to join him. When we arrived back in the city, we invited our new friends to lunch with us to get drunk and forget about our nightmare of a day. They had a similar experience as they travelled all the way from Seoul. They kindly accepted and joined us on our mission to forget about the day. It wasn’t even two Soju’s down and we were all on top of the world as if nothing bad had happened all day.

After lunch we said our goodbyes to our new friends and made our way to Wonju. When we arrived at Wonju we wanted to try and find a hubly bubbly/shisha/waterpipe for myself and Al. Back home we used to get together and smoke and just chat and hang out. It took a good while to find the place and convince the owner that he should sell one of his hublies, but we got it right and we were soon on our way home. We had a great night smoking hub in my bathroom and just chilling. The next day we said our goodbyes after lunch and I took Giuli to see her cherry blossoms which were a swear word to me at the moment.

Having fun at the festival

Gambling, so addictive

Hanging out with the dreaded cherry blossom

Stoked with the great day

We not only got amazing cherry blossoms, we got a festival! It was such a great end to a strange weekend, where everything we planed never panned out but everything that panned out happened as if it were planned.

Our new friends



BUNGEE AND OLYMPICS WITH FRIENDS

Chuncheon was the destination choice for the weekend! We were invited to join beer Olympics which was an excuse to see friends, dress down, and have a few beers and loads of fun. This was the plan for the evening but what about the morning? I thought we should definitely do something exciting! I decided to see if anyone was keen to do a bungee jump before the Beer Olympics got underway. Turned out that there were a few people keen and we made plans to meet up the next day at the bus terminal.

The eager jumpers and I

All Harnessed up

When we arrived at the bus terminal we were met by thirteen eager jumpers. The excitement was mounting as we left for our jump destination. I still have no idea what the place is called but it’s near Nami Island. On arrival we realized that the bungee jump was in fact a body harness jump. This seemed to put a damper on the mood until we all realized it has to be done. We all bought our tickets, some of us wondering if it would be scary to jump off a 55m platform in a body harness. That being said I was one of those people who was pessimistic about the outcome.

The excitement grew as we put our harnesses on and I started getting excited too. The mood of the group was infectious. There were thirteen of us, ready to take the plunge!

As we arrived at the top, it became real to everyone that we are doing this, no matter what! It’s always awesome to see someone that is so S**T scared, do a jump that pushes their limits completely. To watch them make that decision to walk off the edge and fall toward the earth with nothing but a bungee cord attached. In our group we had one guy in particular that simply put, was terrified! His name is Jason Singh. He was one of two to turn around and try again. He was ready to give up until he made the decision to just do it! He walked to the edge for his second attempt and crept his toes over the edge. He jumped overcoming a massive challenge in his life. He inspired me to push myself more! I can’t wait to skydive and progressively get to my dream of wing-suit skydiving.

Taking the leap



Rushing like a champion



Stoked with life

 After the jump, we went to the Beer Olympics. Our team was called “soo caa free daaa”. It’s apparently a mix between Canada and South Africa as our team was made up of Canadians and South Africans (No S*** Sherlock). We went all out and continued the spirit we had almost left in South Africa. Although we didn’t do well at the Olympics, we won in effort and pride. Below are some pictures of the champions that took part in that which will be known as the greatest battle ever known to umpalooooooompas.

Keen to win (game face) On the right is Ferg who is always keen to push the limits

The awsome crew

It turned out to be a great weekend away and I feel like our ‘Gangwon’ group is definitely getting closer to one another.

Giuli and I buggid after a great weekend

IF YOU LOOK FOR SOMETHING YOU WILL FIND IT

I need excitement! I need to live!

I’ve been I South Korea for almost two months and I feel like everything I do is the same. Nothing is really getting me hyped, I feel like I’m travelling the straight and narrow.  I need to do something that gets the blood pumping, something that makes me feel alive again!

This was the mindset I had when going to a nearby city called Wonju. It seemed like an ordinary Saturday at first. We met up with friends at the bus terminal, helped an Irish friend called Fergus get a cell phone and went for lunch. It’s at the lunch that things started going pear shaped. I was invited to a jimjibang which is commonly known as a public bath. For those of you that know me, I have no problem being naked while body boarding, no problem streaking but for some reason bathing with a bunch of men scared the hell out of me.

After lunch we arrived at the jimjibang and collected our key for a locker that they issue you with, to put ALL your belongings into. I was in a flat PANIC! I looked at a friend and calmly said, “After you”. He dropped the pants and I followed. All five of us ran naked to the bathing area. The bathing area is like a huge bathroom with a Jacuzzi, pressure shower, sauna, scented sauna, and a cold pool. As soon as I got over the whole men all around me naked thing, I realized it was so awesome. I felt like a champion after. There are a few no no’s. The main no no is, DO NOT LIE ON THE BED IN THE BATHING AREA. If you do this, you will be cleaned by a naked old man. The cleaning involves every inch of your body, use your imagination.

After this we went for supper and a relaxed beer or five at the pub. Well that was not meant to be. We were on our third pitcher of beer when we got a free one from a guy in a wheelchair and a HUGE guy in a suite. We said thank you and carried on with our night. Next thing another pitcher arrived together with one order of big suite guy and wheelchair guy. Fergus was chatting about boxing to the wheelchair guy and next thing we knew he said he was in the Korean Mafia and things started to make sense, guy in a wheelchair, big suite “protection”. Oh SHIT, we were all thinking it. The big guy broke a mop and started swaying it in his drunken state and hit the guys at a table next to us about three times before the whole table stood up and confronted him.

This being said it was the wrong move. The boxer in the wheelchair rolled toward the argument and laid his first punch. This led the others to think that it is a good idea to push him over. Mid push over the big guy went wild and laid into everyone (like four guys). They barely fought back and all took a beating. The guy in the wheelchair was throwing punches, never mind just slapping. We quietly paid our money and made our exit while they were busy. It was pretty intense watching all this going down.

If this was not enough excitement, I encouraged friends to bungee jump with me the next day in Cheongpung land. Talk about taking advantage of the hype. The next day things actually went as planned. The friends I encouraged to jump with me stuck by their word and pulled through. The jumpers were me, Fergus Butler and Jennifer Charboneau. When we arrived we were all still pretty calm although I could feel the excitement brewing inside me. When we were paying we saw that we could do an ejection seat and a massive swing as well for an extra 20 000won which is nothing in Rand. So we did it, we paid for all three. We needed a fourth to pull through for the ejection seat and Evelyne Laurin helped us out even though she was feeling real sick.

The full crew, Nick, Me, Ferg, Giuli, Lilli, Ev and Jen

The tension was now peaking. We had to set up for the first activity, the big swing. I could see that reality had set in for all three of us. At the time we didn’t even know what the big swing was. We went with it and it turned out to be the three of us together being pulled up by a crane and then released to do a massive swing through the air. It was so much fun and I would consider it to be more fun than scary. The craziest part was that they made me pull the release mechanism at the top of the crane. I counted down and I couldn’t pull the mechanism, mid complaining it went!

Me and the crew that joined us to the jump. from left to right its, Ev, Jen, Ferg, Lilli, Nick and then me

The crew making a fool, good times!

flying through the air, spectacular feeling

The tower we were pulled to the top of

We now knew that we were in for all the activities. It was such a good ice breaker for what was to come. Up next was the ejection seat which is a chair for two strapped to two bungee cords which get tensioned. This was such a rush and really got the blood flowing! After this we were all pumped to do what we set out to do, the bungee jump. This one was about 60m high and on a crane. We all got into the lift and we then realized that this was real and it was time to grow a pair. I was up first followed by Fergie and Jen.

Ferg and I getting ready to get our worlds rocked

Jen and Ev getting ready to fly

I was terrified! I loved it! The feeling of being in that position is incredible and gets you feeling SO ALIVE. Needless to say we all took the plunge and we had never felt more alive! It was like no other feeling! I knew that my dream of base jumping with a wingsuit was one step closer! I’m jumping again next weekend and I’m doing my sky diving license soon! Things are finally coming together. I found sports that really make me happy. I can’t wait to see what I’m capable of doing! I can’t wait to find my limit and then push it.   

The feeling of being free makes me feel alive, it makes me who I am.

FIRST MONTH OF TRAVEL

My spelling is horrible, I know so no need to comment on it!!!! :)

In a month I feel that so much can be done in terms of travelling in Korea while teaching english. I had my head screwed on straight for the first time, my mind was set on making the most of my stay. The end of my first week ended up being amazing! I got to rock the slopes of Yongpeong Resort for free with my school and they even paid for Giuli to join us on the Satarday session. Its the Olympic resort for the PeongChang 2018 bid.
                                                                                                                  

               

The first Satarday after a morning of snowboarding Giuli and I met up with friends that we had made at EPIK orientation. Sally and Craig. They are both from the UK and have that accent that no person can hate! Craig was also "placed in the sticks" and had to commute into Gangneung to see Sally who he is dating. Needless to say the city was the place we wanted to be and we arranged to stay with Sally and go out for the night.

When we arrived we were told by Sally, "we meeting the others later, they just busy pre drinking". HA HA HA HA Rhodes is never that far away, even when you on the other side of the planet. So we did a bit of pre drinking ourselves where I was able to smash quail egg for the first time.

That night we met up with the others for supper. We had duck which was another first for me. In Korea they have this method of cooking where they put a braai on the middle of the table and make you cook the food. Its so smart actually, reduces the amount of kitchen staff you have to pay.

This is a picture of Lilli and Craig

This is Sally and Giuli

This is the rest of the duck smashing crew

We managed to drink alot at this stage of the night and things seemed to go pear shapd from here. We ended up at a bar where it was all english teachers and not one person that I remember was in much of a good state. I even met up with Rudyard Yee, the guy I was replacing at Hoenggye. I always said that when I travel, I dont want to be the guy spending all his money on booze and not travelling, I loved my weekend but I was feeling a bit giulty about wasting so much money on booze. That being said, it was an awsome weekend with everyone and I wouldent change it for the world.

The next weekend we decided to go to Seoul and meet up with Tracy, Al and Ryan (Belgium). These are friends of ours from South Africa. We got there super late and I was determined to smoke a hubly bubly and eat good food! Seoul is not for the faint hearted, it is confusing and busy! We ended up going into town and having sangiepsal for supper which is the whole braai method with pork. You cook the meat and wrap it in lettuce  with all sorts of other goodies. Its really NICE and is one of my favourites in Korea.

After the supper, we had already piled into soju, the liquid of death and we went in search of a hubly bar. We ended up finding one and it was called RIAANS pub which sounds so South African it was scary! We then decided to go and see K-pop bands which is all the rage in Korea. I must say that I can definately appreciate the dancing and the music but its no Jack Johnson or Donovan.

The next morning I was hungry again believe it or not and I decided to try something completely different and new. I had exactly what I had the night before because its what I knew and loved and why change a good thing.

We went shopping for the day and im not going to dwell on that. We went for dinner at a Korean fast food place and had a pork cutlet and like a sushi thing which is actually good too. By this time we were joined by Tracy. 

We went from supper to a pub, from a pub to bowling and from bowling to a noribang. This is the typic weekend in the city. It was great fun catching up with old friends. We stayed at Als place and the conversations in the morning were always amazing!

The thing with the city is that there is not much to do desides party. Giuli and I decided that we definately needed to get out a bit more and see nature. So over the next two weekends, thats exactly what we did. We went to Odaesan and Soracsan National Park.

For our trip to Odaesan National Park Ryan joined us. We visited three temples, besides being surrounded by the natural beauty of the area. The first temple was called Woljeongsa Temple which is very touristy but still amazing. I ended up being so in the moment that I spent so much money on insence! Talk about spiritual!

We decided to go further into the mountains and visit Sangwonsa temple which was actually so far away. It was here that I decided to make an offering of insence (actually I just thaught it would be cool to light insence in the temple). The old lady who looked after the temple decided to give us food for no reason, this was such a  strange and new experience. It was here that we came across a bell that was made in 800. WOW that is so old!!

We decided to go on a hike which took us much further up the mountain. We came across Jeongmyeolbogoong shrine. This was truly a place of absolute silence and even I felt so taken aback by its absolute beauty. It was so incredible to be in such a spiritual place and to be so alone in the mountains.

The next weekend we went to Soracsan National Park which is close to the city of Sokcho. The park was expensive due to all the tourists but it was worth every cent. We first took a cable car up a nearby mountain and once at the stop, we hiked to the very top of the mountain. This was not a tiring hike but, even if it was, it would have been worth it! it was so beautiful! Ill let the pictures do the talking.

Next up for the day was a hike to a rock that we had to try and push over. We had no idea how far it was but we just did it anyway. It ended up being about a 10km hike and was super tiring. Im keen to hike all the way up the mountain the next time I go there. From the boulder you can hike to the top of a mountain that is capped by a giant granite dome. This was really amazing to look at and the closer we got, the more I wanted to hike to the top. The photo of Giuli is infront of a shrine that is built under a massive rocky outcrop at the end of our hike.

This was the first weekend away trip that Giuli and I stayed in a hotel. The hotel was convniently located close to a hole in one pub which is basically a place where the ladies of the night hang out. I wonder what our hotel is used for?? We stayed in Sokcho where we wondered around the next day as well. We came across an Italian restuarant which had Giuli and I (more Giuli) so happy! The scenary at the harbour was amazing and it was great just wondering around and not knowing where to go or what to do.