National Treasures Found at “Flying Horse” Tomb
Better known as the Flying Horse Tomb, the tombs in Cheonmachong are best known for the many artifacts, relics and Silla Dynasty treasures that were discovered when this tomb was excavated and then rebuilt. According to local historians: Cheonmachong (Heavenly Horse Tomb) was probably the tomb of a king of the Silla Dynasty. The tomb [...]
The Legend of Alyongjong
Another legend involves the birth of the wife of the first king of the Silla dynasty. It goes like this: Alyong, the wife of Silla Dynasty’s founder and king, was born in this place. When an old woman went to a well to draw water in B.C. 69, she was very surprised by a dragon [...]
Trekking to the Silla Tombs
After seeing the birthplace of the Silla Dynasty at Najeong, the Silla Tombs were the final resting places for at least five kings of the Silla Dynasty, including the first king, King Bakhyeokgeosewang, Queen Aryeong (his wife), King Namhae (the second Silla king), King Yuri (the third Silla king), and King Pasa (the fifth Silla [...]
Legend Pervades Najeong Historic Site
Najeong was not much to look at because of the archaeological dig that had recently been held here and irritated many descendants of the Silla family. Our professor said that family members were upset because the research caused them to tear up the site and “they never put things back to the way they found them,” [...]
Visiting Yang Dong Village
One of the highlights of our trip to Korea was visiting Yang Dong Village near Gyeonju, in the Gyeongsangbuk Province of South Korea. The village hails from the Joseon Dynasty, when the Son family and the Lee family came to this area nearly 500 years ago as a celebrated part of the Joseon dynasty. Many [...]
Rodman Makes Paper at Cheongju’s Early Printing Site
Today, we visited the city of Cheongju, in the province of Chungcheongbuk (just south of the Gyeonggi province where Seoul is located), for a lunch of Ginseng soup and broiled chicken (supposedly good for what ails you), along with kimchi, seaweed, buckchoi and other veggies. After lunch, we walked a bit around Cheonju and then [...]
King Sejong: Creator of the Korean Alphabet
If it hadn’t been for King Sejong, the Korean people would probably be using some form of Chinese or Japanese characters to write their language today. King Sejong, the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty in Korea, invented Hunminjeongeum (which means ‘proper sounds to instruct the people’), which is simply known as Hangeul. Fortunately, the [...]
Floods ravage South Korea
Many of you are probably wondering how we are faring with the floods in South Korea right now. The rain is STILL coming down, but luckily most of the damage has been south of the city of Seoul. Some parts of southern Seoul have been affected, like the subway tracks that are underground and many [...]
An evening with the Son’s
So how do you learn more about students, their families and their home life? You follow them home. Well, we don’t typically do this as a matter of course. But at Daeil Foreign Language High School, host students invite American teachers to come home with them for dinner, to meet their families, and to spend [...]
Learning about Dasol Son
I learned so much from my host student at Daeil Foreign Language High School. Her name is Dasol Son and she is a sophomore at the school. She applied for the privilege of becoming a host student to an American teacher and was paired with me as I was appointed to be teaching her class. [...]
Touring Daeil H.S. with Dasol Son, my host student
Upon arrival at the Daeil Foreign Language High School for our first day of class, we were greeted by our host students. Each host student was assigned an American teacher, who they escorted around the Daeil campus. They explained to us more about the school, the students, the faculty, the rigors of education at Daeil, [...]
Teaching entrepreneurship at Daeil HS
While I was told to expect as many as 50 students in my class (which of course, I was), I was pleasantly surprised to find my class had 37 wonderful students. Not only did they speak English with such fluency and fervor, but they were very interested in learning about entrepreneurship, factors of production, marketing [...]
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National Treasures Found at “Flying Horse” Tomb
Better known as the Flying Horse Tomb, the tombs in Cheonmachong are best known for the many artifacts, relics and Silla Dynasty treasures that were discovered when this tomb was excavated and then rebuilt. According to local historians: Cheonmachong (Heavenly Horse Tomb) was probably the tomb of a king of the Silla Dynasty. The tomb [...]
The Legend of Alyongjong
Another legend involves the birth of the wife of the first king of the Silla dynasty. It goes like this: Alyong, the wife of Silla Dynasty’s founder and king, was born in this place. When an old woman went to a well to draw water in B.C. 69, she was very surprised by a dragon [...]
Trekking to the Silla Tombs
After seeing the birthplace of the Silla Dynasty at Najeong, the Silla Tombs were the final resting places for at least five kings of the Silla Dynasty, including the first king, King Bakhyeokgeosewang, Queen Aryeong (his wife), King Namhae (the second Silla king), King Yuri (the third Silla king), and King Pasa (the fifth Silla [...]
Legend Pervades Najeong Historic Site
Najeong was not much to look at because of the archaeological dig that had recently been held here and irritated many descendants of the Silla family. Our professor said that family members were upset because the research caused them to tear up the site and “they never put things back to the way they found them,” [...]
Visiting Yang Dong Village
One of the highlights of our trip to Korea was visiting Yang Dong Village near Gyeonju, in the Gyeongsangbuk Province of South Korea. The village hails from the Joseon Dynasty, when the Son family and the Lee family came to this area nearly 500 years ago as a celebrated part of the Joseon dynasty. Many [...]
Rodman Makes Paper at Cheongju’s Early Printing Site
Today, we visited the city of Cheongju, in the province of Chungcheongbuk (just south of the Gyeonggi province where Seoul is located), for a lunch of Ginseng soup and broiled chicken (supposedly good for what ails you), along with kimchi, seaweed, buckchoi and other veggies. After lunch, we walked a bit around Cheonju and then [...]
King Sejong: Creator of the Korean Alphabet
If it hadn’t been for King Sejong, the Korean people would probably be using some form of Chinese or Japanese characters to write their language today. King Sejong, the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty in Korea, invented Hunminjeongeum (which means ‘proper sounds to instruct the people’), which is simply known as Hangeul. Fortunately, the [...]
Floods ravage South Korea
Many of you are probably wondering how we are faring with the floods in South Korea right now. The rain is STILL coming down, but luckily most of the damage has been south of the city of Seoul. Some parts of southern Seoul have been affected, like the subway tracks that are underground and many [...]
An evening with the Son’s
So how do you learn more about students, their families and their home life? You follow them home. Well, we don’t typically do this as a matter of course. But at Daeil Foreign Language High School, host students invite American teachers to come home with them for dinner, to meet their families, and to spend [...]
Learning about Dasol Son
I learned so much from my host student at Daeil Foreign Language High School. Her name is Dasol Son and she is a sophomore at the school. She applied for the privilege of becoming a host student to an American teacher and was paired with me as I was appointed to be teaching her class. [...]
Touring Daeil H.S. with Dasol Son, my host student
Upon arrival at the Daeil Foreign Language High School for our first day of class, we were greeted by our host students. Each host student was assigned an American teacher, who they escorted around the Daeil campus. They explained to us more about the school, the students, the faculty, the rigors of education at Daeil, [...]
Teaching entrepreneurship at Daeil HS
While I was told to expect as many as 50 students in my class (which of course, I was), I was pleasantly surprised to find my class had 37 wonderful students. Not only did they speak English with such fluency and fervor, but they were very interested in learning about entrepreneurship, factors of production, marketing [...]
Teaching at Daeil Foreign Language High School in Seoul
The primary interest I had in this Korean Studies Program and traveling to South Korea was the opportunity to visit and teach students in South Korea about economics concepts from my classroom in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. So I was very excited when the day arrived for us to visit Daeil Foreign Language High School, [...]
Economics of South Korea
One of the highlights of our trip to South Korea is the opportunity to hear from guest lecturers at Korea University, the premier university of thought leaders in Seoul and southeast Asia. We had the privilege of speaking with Professor Keuk-Je Sung, a professor of economics at Kyung Hee University’s Graduate School of Pan-Pacific International [...]
Korean War Memorial Museum – Part II
The Korean War Memorial Museum was such a great museum that I had to take one more opportunity to post more details on what I found here. The significance of the flags flying outside the museum demonstrate those allies who supported the Republic of Korea (South Korea) during the war. Most significant is the placement [...]
Experiencing the Korean War Memorial Museum
I will let most of the pictures speak for themselves, but I want to point out the sheer power of this museum. To see the names of all of the thousands of Americans lost to this war is such a gripping and powerful reminder of our significant role in helping South Korea maintain their independence [...]
