Korea, 2006

Here are some scenes from my visit to Korea in October 2006:

NEW additions October 23:

I spent four days in Seoul and visited many places:
Kookmin University: Site of the conference honoring their 60th anniversary; I went with the faculty, graduate students, and other presenters from China, Maylasia, and Japan to many sites around Seoul.
English Village: This is like a theme park where Korean's come to participate in many English language activities
DMZ and Peace Bridge: South and North Korea border where a train runs between the two countries symbolizing engagement in peace
Scenes of Seoul: various street scenes and signing karaoke
Joeson Dynasty Palace: this palace was the last Korean king and queen's palace.
Korean Folk Village: this village is a historical reproduction of folk living and activity
Sweon: this town is where Kiwan lives and it has a fortress wall from the 1700's that surrounded the city
Some movies from various locations

Daejon -- scenes from the city. Daejon is the most common spelling of the city that is home of Woosong University. It is also spelled Taejon and Daejeon at times.

My apartment in Daejon just a few blocks from the Language building where the department of TESOL-MALL is directed by Dr. Rodney Pederson. Dr. Rod is also in a band at the local Cool Bar, one of the favorites of the Westerners living in Daejon. They play most Friday nights and here are a few scenes of the band.

Hongik University, Seoul. This is Dr. Kiwan Sung's undergraduate university. My lecture there was to undergraduate students preparing to be middle school and high school English teachers.

Kyung Hee University, Seoul. This is Dr. Kiwan Sung's university at which I lecturedon Critical Intercultural Literacy to students studying English language and literature . The lecture may become available on the web at some future time.

Pohang city is home of Dr. Sangmin Lee. Dr. Lee's parents hosted us for dinner and tours of POSTECH university and POSCO Steel Company. POSCO began operations around 1970 as the first Korean steel mill. It now has the world's largest two steel plants and produces 30 billion tons of steel each year, ranking 3rd I believe in world wide steel production. The founder of POSCO spent time in Pittsburgh, PA visiting steel mills to develop the plans for POSCO. POSTECH is a research oriented university with the only linear light accelerator in ASIA and one of 12 world wide accelerators. The light is accelerated at such high speeds that it can be used to measure very small particles for various physical science research. Mr. Lee is the chairman of the POSCO Education Foundation.

Gyeongju is a city that was founded over two thousand years ago as the center of the Silla Kingdom. The Silla Kings and people practiced Buddahism, thus built many temples throughout Korea. During the early Silla period (57 BC to 654 AD), the kingdom was small and one of three main kingdoms in Korea. From 654 to 935 the Silla Kingdom unified these three Korean kingdoms under one royal family. Just before 935, the kingdom fragmented, was then defeated, and became part of the Goryeo Kingdom that stretched into current day Mongolia and China. Goryeo dynasty lasted from 918 to 1392 and was succeded by the Joseon Dynasty that lasted until the Japanese invasion around 1895. Most of the palaces in Seoul were built by the Joseon Kings and white and green celedon pottery became famous during this dynasty. After the Japanese defeat inWorld War II, Korea no longer operated as a monarchy. You can read more about Gyeongu at their city website and more about the Silla dynasty on wikipedia.