Winter Break!

I just am concluding the final evening of a wonderful week off from school. I had planned on going snowboarding up in the mountains, but it fell through because of a blown eardrum by my friend who was my ride out there. This is apparently extremely painful. I told him to suck it up, but something to do with the high altitude of the mountains kept him from wanting to go. He is from England though, so I guess that is kind of an excuse?
So I spent the week relaxing and checking out some more of the city. One of the darker experiences of the week was when my friend Derek, who recruited me to come here and and whom I spent two years with in Samoa, and I went to explore a former political prison and center of torture. It was a wild place. During the Japanese occupation of Korea for the majority of the first fifty years of the 20th century, the resistance fighters who were captured were sent to this 5oo person maximum security prison and house of torture. The English rhetoric, or lack there of, describing the prison was minimal, but the exhibits were intense and left a scar on one's mind. I cannot imagine performing or going through these methods of torture. They showed several different scenes, but the worst was a room where the viewer stared through a small hole in the wall at two mannequins, one of which was performing "nail" torture on the other. Nail torture is where a small piece of metal is slid underneath a person's fingernail until it hits the bone in the finger. Also, there were speakers mounted on the inside of the viewing spot where a ear piercing scream from the victim could be heard. So it was interesting to learn about the Japanese occupation and provided me a bit more insight into the resilience of Koreans and their culture. It explains a great deal about why Koreans feel the way they do about the Japanese. The occupation ended at the end of WWII, which is another of the infinite reasons to be thankful the Allies won.
The other big activity for the week was a trip to the Korean version of Disney Land which is called "Everland" (not to be confused with the molestation camp "Neverland" where Michael Jackson is housed. I thought there was some sort of association between the two but made an ass of myself when I asked). Everland was quite a magical place with several strange looking characters that resemble Mickey Mouse on acid. It is pretty much your typical themepark with a Korean twist on it. The rides were a lot of fun and included three rollercoasters and several other rides that made me really dizzy. It was a cool experience, and I would like to go back when the temprature is above zero.
So all is well in Korea. I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday season. I have attached a few pics from Everland and other events during the past weeks. Notice the horrible Xmas sweater, including the scarf, that I am rocking during the party with the students. I earned a lot of street credit with the kindergarteners for that one.