Taekwondo Black Belt Test 25/6/2011

Saturday morning was the big day after training hard for a month on Poomsae 1,2,3,4,5 & 8 it was time to test our skill.

Amanda and I were the 2 foreigners testing with 6 other Koreans.

You have a picture and number tagged to your uniform and stamped by the officials before starting and waiting anxiously while the grades before you perform in front of the judges.

Then it was our turn. First up it is the general test of punching and kicking skill with a straight punch technique, front down or ax kick, front kick and I couldn't hear what the last kick was but I guess it was a side high kick... I cant spell the Korean names for these kicks... :/

Then it was Poomsae 3 and 8... 3 is my worst as well as 2 but I made it through.

Finally its the sparring 1 minute or so "exhibition" to demonstrate skill. However it never really turns out to be an exhibition as everyone tries to kick a hole in each other.

I managed to launch a kicking attach and be kicked in the head at the same time causing me to fall. So if you would enjoy watching me get kicked in the head then I have a video of that for you to see :) The sparring went well I guess as I landed a few more kicks but it still looks messy and scrappy but I guess you cant expect much more than that for a 1 minute show of skill rather than an actual fight.

So at the end of it all I was just so relieved as this has been such a hectic month (still a little more to go) and I am taking a day to do nothing and relax.

Here are some photos and video's of the event:

Me and Amanda from Dong In branch.

Me and my best friend :)

Here are the videos:

And some sparring fights that took place after mine:

I am going to be fairly busy next weekend and I will post about that (if it is possible... I may not have internet next weekend)... So I may be posting or not but I will have something to tell you about when I can :)

Have a great week and I will see you soon!

Lotte World All Night Hip Hop Party & Insadong Redux

Wow I am a busy bee this week! Why does Korea demand so much out of every hour of the day? I don't have enough hours in my day anymore so here is a delayed posting due to many other demands on my time (so much so that I am running a 19 hour day today and probably tomorrow as well!)

Insadong revisited finally... I took a stroll down the busy street of Insadong with pedestrians and cars / trucks!? I still cannot figure out why the street is not closed to traffic...

So if you are not familiar with Insadong it is a hot spot for foreigners looking for artwork, crafts, designer clothing, traditional dining and cafe's and just a general collecting or souvenir hunters haven.

Here are a handful of images that illustrate what I mean:

Also get a doughnut fried thingie from this stall... it will be the best 1,000 won you will spend. It is very unusual but deliciously sweet and I think I want to go back just to get another one... hmmm :)

The show:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64219328@N07/sets/72157626996633916/show/

Directions: Anguk Station Line 3 exit 6... follow the crowd. Turn left where you see the obvious :) If you cant turn left without being run over by the traffic on the street you are going the wrong way :)

Saturday night was a spontaneous trip out to Lotte World for a look at the Hip Hop All Night Party! Which started around 11.30 and was supposed to go until 5.30am. The coolest part was that Lotte World was also open as well as having the concert you could go on the rides! And compared to normal days lines there was barely anyone there so you could jump on anything you wanted without waiting... and the food stores were open too so it was like a charlie and the chocolate factory moment running around playing on all the rides and eating hot dogs! So this was really fun!

Here is a quick video of what the first 2 acts were like after that it was a rampage around Lotte World :)

Next week should be a posting which has personal significance for me :) So until than have a great week!

Paju (Odusanseong, English Village...) Doosan Bears Baseball Game

This weekend was a trip up to Paju.

We visited Odusanseong unification observation point where you can see North Korea just across the river. There is also an interesting gallery downstairs there where you can see daily items of food, clothing, reading materials etc.

Here are the official details :)

http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=823020

Looks like marmite back there doesn't it :)... if you dont know what marmite is....

From there we took a quick trip to the various Paju village areas starting with the English Village which appears to be an almost totally self contained English teaching village with streets and building of various European design. Ironically we didn't see to many native English speakers and I was enough of a celebrity there to be asked for a photograph with some Korean students :)

An interesting place none the less and worth a trip out just for an adventure.

http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=495607

Across the street is an art village which is a series of streets not unlike any modern urban area in the United States, Australia or New Zealand (I can't speak for England or Canada as I have not visited there...) with large modern designed buildings that house art such as pottery, cakes, museum's or wall art and so on, next to this village is another of a similar look with a cinema museum, toy museum, currency museum, pottery museum... and lots of others. I took a few photo's so you can see what the place looked like. It was a little confusing as it appeared to be like a developing residential area but with museums inside the buildings....(?) strange but good.

From there I got a text from one of my taekwondo friends who invited us to the Doosan Bears v SK Wyverns game. My first Baseball game ever. Its was nice and cool up in the stands. There was a noticeable difference between Korean fans and "foreign" fans. The Koreans are very polite and cheer their favorites but you never hear and jeers or bad language used toward the opposing team which makes a nice atmosphere to just relax and enjoy an evening with good company.

So here is a photo slideshow and a quick video of the baseball:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63270044@N06/sets/72157626816695271/show/

Until next time have a great week! :)

Seodaemun Prison History Hall

Ok late posting due to it being a holiday here in Korea yesterday and a trip to prison was on the cards!

What a fantastic place Seodaemun Prison is! Of course if you like that kind of thing :)

The tourism link:

http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=268143

Dongnimmun Station Line 3 exit 5 1,500 won for admission.

Taking a walk around the yard you definitely feel like you are in a prison. There are large open spaces surrounded by large intimidating building that look down upon you in a menacing way. This prison was used by the Japanese at one stage and it shows the different methods of torture that was used there at the time. There are a few pictures of torture and testimonies from people who were in the prison.

There is an execution building with a hanging room but no photos were allowed to be taken there. You can go into some cells however and put yourself in a closet if you feel the need :)

Quite a few places to take good photos as well. So check it out and here are a few snaps as well as a slideshow:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63270044@N06/sets/72157626781873687/show/

Also this week it was a quick night trip out to The Deokso Boulevard Car Theatre to see Pirates of the Caribbean. It was a small car park with about 30 - 50 or so cars but really different and exciting!

Also on another unrelated note I got a Kindle from Craigslist Seoul:

In fact craigslist Seoul is a great place to get a lot of thing here second hand for good prices from other foreigners who are just downsizing or leaving Korea. Also Dave's Cafe is good for this also. Here are the links:

http://seoul.craigslist.co.kr/

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewforum.php?f=6&sid=a0e95ee03641aea13be8b4e52ddf9b12

*Also a coin update* If you are looking for coins online or physical stores here are some links. One of these stores is close to Myeong Dong:

http://www.sujipbank.com/shop/main/html.php?htmid=service/map.htm

http://www.hwadong.com/

Here is the Taekwondo team!

And finally I got the Children's Grand Park Fountain video uploaded with an audio swap so you can see the water but can't hear it... oh well

Until next week have a great time!