Take Cover! How South Korea Does the Beach

First, I know what you must be thinking...two blogs in one week?! What is happening?! But now that summer is coming to an end, I thought it would be a good time to talk about how South Korea does the beach because, by western standards, it is far from normal.

It's hard to put into words the hilarity that takes over the Gwangalli and Haeundae Beaches when beach season hits. I think the biggest difference, and the most bizarre to me as a beach loving American, is that most Korean's will not be in swimsuits at the beach. If they are swimming in the water, they are usually swimming while fully dressed in the clothes they came to the beach in; pretty much the polar opposite of spring break last year in Miami Beach, FL. In China, the "face-kini" is gaining popularity and even though this craze hasn't made it's way here (or least not that I've seen), I wouldn't be surprised if it soon took South Korea by storm. Check it out!

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-08-24/news/33371840_1_kini-summer-accessory-yuan


In other efforts to keep themselves as white as possible, you will rarely find a Korean lounging in the sun; something we westerns soak up as if it may not come back after winter. Once it has been declared "beach season" (and Korean's really only go to the beach during beach season) the beach is suddenly taken over by red umbrella's, stuck up in the sand as close together as they can possibly be. The small amount of beach left untouched is usually taken over by tents. That's right, tents, full on "let's go camping in the woods" tents. I've even seen them full of pillows and blankets with a whole family packed in there. Generally speaking, Korean's avoid the sun like it's the plague. Even though they venture to the beach from time to time, they expose their skin as little as possible to the sun. This can be attributed to the Korean idea of beauty, the lighter the skin, the better. This also makes it difficult to find sunscreen under SPF 50.

Enjoying vacation with Alex and Laura

We found that getting to the beach around mid-day you can still find a good spot, far enough away from the umbrella's and general chaos that surrounds them. However, it's also not uncommon for a Korean family to come park their tent almost on top of you, even if there is a completely wide open stretch of beach. I've found that the idea of personal space doesn't seem to faze most Korean's.

I caught a little fishy!

But for me, the real kicker that takes the fun out of beach season, are the lifeguards and buoy's that suddenly appeared in July. Depending on the tide, the buoy's keep you in water that is waist to shoulder length deep, well for me at least. But rarely have I not been able to stand where the buoy's are. Should you come anywhere close, or god forbid, go beyond the buoy's during "beach season", you get whistle blast's your way from the lifeguard and usually two more "water rescue" guys on jet ski's that come tell you to go back in. Being a swimmer most of my life and having a group of friends largely from California, this really got on our nerves. I get that this is their way of regulating the beach and water safety, but now that "beach season" has ended, there is no regard for that safety any more. The guard stands have been taken down and the "water rescue" guys have stored their jet ski's until next year. So I guess for about another month, we are free to tempt our fate in the water until it gets too cold to swim.

Summer Vacation Busan Style

Well it's my second week back at school after summer vacation and I'm desperately missing the shortened school days and time off. With the end of the spring semester in July, I began 2 weeks of English vacation camps and then had 2 weeks of vacation.

English camps were by far the best teaching experience I've had here so far. Basically, these camps consisted of three, forty minute periods each morning with the basic level students for the first week and the intermediate level students for the second the week. I was responsible for the whole second and third period; 80 minutes of English with Becca teacher. Given that I usually don't get more then 15-20 minutes of teaching time per class during regular school days, I was really excited to take advantage of the time I was given during camps.

Me and Dom in Haeundae

I taught with a great co-teacher who hardly ever jumped into my parts of the lesson unless I really wasn't able to communicate something to the kids. Even though I was required to teach a story every day recommended by the office of Education here, I tried to have as much fun with the kids as possible. I incorporated in a games day/ scavenger hunt, superhero day, cooking class and ice breakers over the two weeks. Each week I could see a visible difference in the kid's confidence and speaking abilities from the start of the week when they were more hesitant, to the end of the week where everyone in class was participating. These two weeks of teaching have really been the only time when I've felt very accomplished in my ability to interact with and teach the kids. And on top of that, my school was kind enough to let me leave early some days to go enjoy the day.

Eating Ice Noodles

Gangnam Style!

Following camps, I had two weeks of vacation time to soak up the sun and enjoy Busan. Lucky for me I also had a visitor from the states; Dom came all the way to Busan from the 'burgh! We had a great 10 days seeing the city, hitting the beach, trying lots of different Korean food, visiting Seoul and the DMZ, and just enjoying our time together.

The DMZ has by far been the best cultural experience I've had here in South Korea. We did the USO tour which took all afternoon and went well into the evening, getting a full tour of the actual DMZ and surrounding area. The tour was so informational and interesting, there was never a dull moment. From the sad and slightly eerie Dorason Station- the pristine and hardly used train station that will connect the North and South upon reunification- to Camp Bonifas- the actual DMZ where we got to cross the line into the North- we listened in awe as we learned about each site and heard stories from previous tours.

A view of North Korea's Propaganda Village

South Korean Soldiers guarding our tour

North Korean Soldiers came to take pictures

But now I'm back in school and already counting the days until my next vacation. Until then I'll keep myself entertained with one video in particular, maybe you've seen or heard about it back at home as it's gone viral. If you haven't seen or heard of the Korean K-Pop song Gangnam Style by Psy you need to watch it now! RIGHT NOW! It'll make you want join in dance and pretty much sums up everything you need to know about K-Pop music and Korean dancing.