This month on the 15th we had our monthly Civilian Defence Drill with the sirens when all the cars pull over. This time I even got a flyer at my apartment about it given the recent north korea attack. Now this is a monthly routine practice and not a big deal to folks. Every six months they even do the big drill when people go into bomb shelters. However, CNN starts broadcasting people in Seoul running into subway stations making out we are all scared, in a state of high panic, which is not true, prompting more worried emails from home.

Saturday morning CNN claimed there could be 'all out war this weekend'. Yet here I am sitting peacefully on a sunday afternoon doing my laundry as usual. The CNN guy is the beijing correspondant and doesnt live here so this must all seem new to him and put him in a panic. Again, this is normal and people here are not even talking about north korea. To folks back home, ignore CNN. If there is anything to worry about I'll let you know. Again, Daegu is nowhere near the border and we have four US army bases here.

Saturday we had in impromptu trip to Donghwasa Temple with my English Buddy teacher. This is another important temple on mount palgonson, the northern border of daegu, along with the Gatbawi statue I had visited earlier. I had planned to goto Donghwasa with friends when the weather was better but took the opportunity to see it nonetheless. Out on the mountain, due to higher elevation, there was some snow and ice on the roads which made for some scenic shots.

Like Haeinsa, which I had also visited earlier, Donghwasa is one main temple with several smaller ones around. The main shrine is a giant buddha statue in the centre of a horseshoe. All around the wall of the horseshoe are stone carvings. However, it was closed off for the winter for renovations so we could only see the giant statue clearly. On the way back I stopped off at Chilseong Market as I keep hearing from a friend this is where you get dog meat and see dog pelts. I think someone was winding them up as all I saw was mostly pork.

There's this delicious, salty, spicy sauce you get at some of the restaurants that i've been trying to figure out since I got here, that really adds flavour to some dishes. People keep telling me I can buy it at homeplus but i've never seen it. One day at lunch they had it again so I asked one of the teachers to explain where I can get it. Unfortunately, like most korean food it doesnt come ready made and you have to make it yourself.

She explained there were five ingredients, soya sauce, roasted seasame seeds, green onions, garlic, and another I cant remember. So once I have these five ingredients I dont know in what quantities to mix them together and how long to let them ferment to get the right flavours. This was getting too complicated so I told her I'm just bringing a bottle and filling it up the next time they have it in the cafeteria! Another teacher said she has a hard time making it, and others have said the same, so how is a foreigner supposed to master this?? Luckily word got around and I found a surprise jar on my desk courtesy of the cafeteria head! :)

This weeks class was how to order a custom pizza. For the question 'what size pizza do you want?' everyone starts yelling 'largee' instead of reading the sentence! Later we roleplay people in a restaurant and I make the waiter wear a baseball cap, which makes theym feel embarassed so I pick a bad kid to get back at them. One girl who was the customer was having such a hysterical fit I had to ask her to 'leave the restaurant'! Another was having such food cravings and hyperventilating I thought she was going to pass out! One class turned into a discussion on where to get dog meat pizza but they said children were not allowed to eat dog, although you can get dog meat in korea.

Also, I was asked to judge a speech writing contest this week. The winners of this round will go on to the oral presentations judged by someone else. You can tell the students had their whole extended family and neighbourhood block coach them on this. For elementary students they were writing way more advanced then my middle schoolers, or myself at that age, ever could write. One student was describing the architecture of Daegu and comparing Romanesque and Gothic features of churches!! To the average Korean they wouldnt even be able to identify this type of european architecture, let alone do a narrative comparison and structure the arguement???

We had 10 minutes of snow flurries for one day and all you hear is screams all around you like girls at a rock concert and everyone was running out of the class and saying to open the window. I didnt have my camera but every window on all four floors was open with heads sticking out yelling in excitement at the snow.

This has to be the single most dumbest commercial I have seen in korea. Its in continual cycle and I laughed my head off the first time I saw it and still do. Its so ridiculous and un-politically correct! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS3SItyD _3w
This week I am doing my Christmas class and everyone has told me they want candy and presents.. oh fun!.. where's mine? :)