Once while I was spending the night in a jjimjilbang (Korean bath house), a Korean guy tried to convince me to visit Gimhae. At the time, my Korean language skills were weak, but I was able to understand from him that Gimhae is important in Korea’s long history.

Gimhae was the seat of the Gaya kingdom, a loosely allied confederacy of city-states. The kingdom lasted from 42 - 532 CE, and its eventual end was the beginning of the Unified Silla Period. The Gaya Kingdom is often referred to as Iron’s Kingdom because it was a major producer of iron for this region of the world.

When one thinks of bull fighting, an image of a Spanish man in sequence tights holding a red blanket and staring at a bleeding and soon to be killed bull probably enters the mind. However, this is not the only kind of bull fighting the world has to offer. Korea has long had its own version of bull fighting, and this is what I will discuss here.

Browsing through Korea Tourism Organization's list of festivals, I came across one that promised a traditional tug-of-war contest.  That's all I needed to know about the Gimje Horizon Festival before deciding I would attend it.  However, I did learn one more interesting thing; I learned that there would be a Guinness World Record attempt for most kites being flown at once.  So, now I had two reasons to check out this festival.

Only 5 minutes until class starts and you still need to find an EFL/ESL game to play.

Teaching English abroad is a great way to experience living in a different culture, learn a foreign language, and even pay back your college loans. The international language of business is English and it has become the most widely taught foreign language in the world. In public schools, private academies, companies, universities, community centers, government offices, and online, English is taught and studied every day of the week in all corners of the globe. The world is obsessed with learning English and in no place is this more true than Asia.

Teaching English in Japan used to be a way for young Westerners just out of university to make $40,000 a year. The responsibilities were low, the people were friendly, and everything was new. The place, of course, was Japan and these times are now fondly referred to as 'the bubble years' after the country's once over-inflated economy.

The English Program in Korea (aka the EPIK Program, EPIK, or EPIK Korea) is a Korean Ministry of Education sponsored program that places native speakers of English in public schools throughout Korea to (theoretically) teach English alongside Korean English teachers.