Last Saturday was the 2008 Hyundai Heavy Industries Group; international Supervisors spring festival. It was supposed to start by 10.00am but as usual we went late because we have to wait for my husband to get back from work. The shuttle bus arrived in front of our house before 9.30 am but there was no way I could go with children 3 of which are under 5 years it was just impossible. We missed the opening performance by Seongnam high school marching band .We also missed the aerobics warm-up this was a warm up for every participant, okay this one is not something to mourn about. Did I mention that we trekked to the venue because my husband assumed that there will be no parking space left at that time. By time we arrived we were already tired at least I know I was. Joel had slept off and sun was so hot that I got tanned.
Everyone was grouped into the red, yellow, blue and green teams; everyone wore a T-shirt to match your team colour. We were in the blue team; there were a lot of activities and of course food. Snacks,popcorn, dun kin donuts, cotton candy, hot dog, ice cream, face painting, beer& beverages and the magic balloons shops. How can I forget that we had a garden buffet that was the main action of the day.
For the activities there was obstacle course for children, centipede race, and a football match, beanbag toss for children, cannon shooter, three legged race, team contest, and obstacle relay. The last event was a raffle draw. I took loads of photos, then we came home and kachi slept in that funny position, we slept for hours. It was a fun filled day.
I always wanted to go back home to settle down and to take proper care of my business. Many people will wish to me in my shoes, travelling around the world meeting new people and learning new cultures. I have imagined how I was going to feel when the time comes; I have acquired knowledge in the line of business I dreamt of owning. Plans are written, contacts have been made, and equipments have been bought. Without notice the time approached like a raging wild fire in the dry season .For the fact that I have always anticipated this period one would expect me to receive the sudden news with joy was not the case. My first reaction was; why are they driving us away, panic! That fear of the unknown, am I ready for a change now? We all react to change in our own different ways, the fear of uprooting my kids from their schools and friends. I feel this way more because am not going back to where I used to know but to a completely new state. Everything is going to be on a clean slate, I ponder will they welcome the change that am bringing with me? Can I trust anyone there to share the same burning passion that I have for my work, in order to achieve my life long dreams? How long are we going to be there, will it be long enough for my business to start up? Will my in-laws be coming to my house unannounced? Will relations start stressing my husband out? I am just happy that I wouldn’t have much to pack this time,because I didn’t buy much which very unsual.
How do you handle change in your life?
I have always been a lover of Korean dramas and movies. I started watching Korean movies about 3 years ago while in Paris France. I can’t remember watching any French TV movie from beginning to the end; they were always boring to me, this lead to my quest for something decent to watch. The discovery of the Arirang TV channel, a Korean English Channel, because it was new in France then so there were a lot of Korean dramas with English subtitles. Later on Kbsworld was airing too. From these dramas I was able to learn some of Korean history, am going to write about these dramas in no particular orders. Am not going to narrate the story in the movies but what I learnt from them. This is going to be in series.
The king Dae Joyong
The T’ang dynasty of China attacked the ancient Korean kingdom of Goguryeo; this was in the mid 7th century. The Koreans fought several wars both internal and external, when the Chinese could not defeat them, the Chinese tried many unsuccessful times to destroy
Goguryeo. The Tang china used Shilla also an ancient kingdom of Korea to defeat the other
two kingdoms Goguryeo and Baekche.Shilla were not able to control the whole territory of Gogurgeo which was very large.
Tang China drove away the Goguryeo’s last king, his officials and about 200,000 thousand citizens of Gogurgeo were taken captive to China.
Tang China also removed Baekche royals and assigned a Tang general to govern them. China also appointed Tang generals to rule Gogurgeo.China also instigated the people of Goguryeo and Baekche to rebel against Shilla.These made Shilla to start fighting against China’s control, they later occupied all Baekche territory by taking over the Tang’s administrative headquarters.
The Koreans brought the invasion of the Chinese upon themselves because these three ancient kingdoms were competing with each other and engaged each other in wars in pursuit of territorial expansion. The irony of the whole gist is that the Chinese Emperor at that time was a woman, the first and only female emperor in China.
This epic drama is about a young guy who was born during that era; who dreamt about reviving Goguryeo, how he overcame difficulties in politics, military and diplomacy. The movie was an effort in recognising the contributions of Dae Joyoung who was the founder of Balhe kingdom, which played a great role in the continuation of the Korean lineage in Asia.
This is just to show you where the kids in my block,keep their bikes after a ride in the park. I couldn’t resist taking a photo when I saw the beautiful colours from the different bicycles.If we could take a little time each day to look around ,we will begin to appreciate the beautiful things that are around us.Little children playing in the playground,some learning to ride their tricycles for the first time.I still remember the first time I took my twins to the playground.The joy of seeing them running around on their unsteady thiny feet,the falling and the crying were all fun.Spring is here ,this is the time to go out more often especially after the long winter season.Have fun, do whatever it takes to make your day wonderful.
We were coming back from Seoul today at about 10.24pm,I saw some high school students coming back still in their school uniform.They were coming back from school,these kids leave their parents houses by 9.00am in the morning to school.They spend about 13 hours in school everyday except on Saturdays when they finish by 12noon,yes they go to school on Saturdays too.If i am to be in a position to change anything in south Korea it will be their educational system.I don’t really understand why the teachers don’t teach them in English,fine we all agree that they are trying so hard to preserve their language but why spend all that money going to an academy to learn English after school? The English academy taught by foreigners,who didn’t qualify as English teachers.The hours spent in learning in this country is very alarming these kids need some rest too,i don’t think they are ready for the English language yet.There was a time that I was tutoring some kids,i did it for free i noticed that even their parents want to dictate when an assignment should be given to them.They only like to read a book without practicing it,you need to hear a korean child read an English book.A child might have 100% in an English examination in school but can not discuss in basic English.The new president has announced that the English language is going to be compulsory in the year 2010. All the housewives have started going to their libarary for free English lessons,my baby sitter is one of them.She annoys me with her piece of paper that she carries about in the name of studing English,you need to see her every morning holding that paper believe me she is quite a sight.There is no way you can succeed in something that you don’t have fun doing.
Posted By tyna 
May 20, 2008 
