Sunday Afternoon at the Tombs

It is no secret that I am a lover of history, regardless of country or era. When my friend Hyong asked whether I was interested in visiting tombs in Gongju last Sunday afternoon, I hesitated a bit because I thought we would have to travel great distances. I didn't realize that Gongju is a neighboring city, a perfect impromptu Sunday afternoon trip only 30 minutes by car.

Hyong told me there are two parts to this historic Songsan-ri Burial Mounds site: outdoor exhibition grounds showing the locations of seven tombs and the Gongju National Museum holding the artifacts found in these tombs. How fascinating to walk among the actual tomb sites of Kings and Queens, observing relics of the Baekje period (one of three dynasties in Korean history when Gongju was its capital).




The tomb of King Muryeong (reign 462-523) is of particular interest because this is one of the few tombs with an inscription, providing us an accurate account of the person entombed and date of burial. Apparently this tomb (number 7) was discovered accidentally when installing pipes to prevent other tombs (numbers 5 and 6) from being flooded.

The tomb of King Muryeong is unusual in its brick structure and that it contained 108 kinds of artifacts inside. As the picture shows, the tomb is shaped like a long tunnel with dome ceiling and pictures of fire-breathing dragons, white tiger, red peacock and black turtle on the walls. The wall paintings are considered an impressive discovery and attraction at Songsan-ri Burial Mounds because this type of art work, that uses brick in its design, is the only art of its kind in the world.




On a personal note, I felt quite honored that two employees with their limited English gave me a personally guided tour around the museum, most likely because I was a rare foreigner on the premises. Another example of the friendly Korean people and their consideration to foreigners; typical here in Korea except maybe on the highway =)



Some of the artifacts found in the tombs (and now in the museum) include the crowns worn by the King and the Queen, gold decorations for the crowns, gold earrings, necklaces, bronze mirrors, head and foot pillows, pottery and even a Queen's tooth! It was from this tooth that they were able to verify the time period of the tombs. Let's not forget the stone pig that stood inside the entryway of King Muryeong's tomb and was debilitated with an inoperative hind leg so it would not venture off leaving the tomb unguarded.

Dorm Dad

Without a doubt, one of the highlights for me this year at TCIS is the opportunity to spend weekends looking after a bunch of high school guys, ages 14-16, so the dorm parents can get a needed break (Blanchard dorm parents and kids in picture). Working in the Tech Department is great because I get to spend time with teachers and staff but not so much time with students... hence my jumping at the opportunity to play Dorm Dad on weekends.

Not all the guys stay on the weekend so it's a different group from one weekend to another. It's a good way to get to know the guys because there are fewer of them than during the week and weekends are really quite relaxed from the normal school schedule.

I wish you could meet these guys because they really are great! As a group, they have such interesting and varied backgrounds.  For example, one comes from living in Yemen, another from India, another playing the cello like a professional, while another taking a year off school to travel the world at age 15.  Even though their backgrounds are quite varied, they do share some things in common: they are all of Korean descent and love their computer games =)

Our latest dorm night activity consisted of going on a scavenger hunt, having a Christmas dinner hosted by a few of the moms, a White Elephant gift exchange and then a trip to the bowling alley. I learned that one boy's mother owns a restaurant and, sure enough, the dinner was incredible. We had to introduce the guys to the concepts of 'scavenger hunt' and 'White Elephant gift exchange' but it didn't take them long to figure out the game plan and they soon got into the swing of things.








Bowling as a dorm was an absolute riot. I'm not sure how long bowling alleys have been here in Korea but it was evident these guys didn't grow up with the sport. I must say they learned fast -- from 'lofting' balls down the alley to actually making some good scores by the end of the evening. I tried to get pictures but, as is typical, they were always on the move and never sat still long enough for me to get decent shots =)




So what have I learned as Dorm Dad this past semester?
a) it's a good thing I am familiar with the cell phone and text messaging because that is a huge component of the job as I try to keep track of up to a dozen guys between meals
b) these guys constantly eat and I'm not sure where they put it; no sooner have they finished dinner and they're in the dorm store looking for something else to eat... oh to be 15 again
c) kids are kids, whether they live in North America or Korea and it's a good thing I have a creative mind so I can keep up with them!

Admittedly, because they enjoy their computer games so much, it's a little bit of a challenge to get the guys out of the dorm to go hiking or to a movie, etc. But I am proud to say that mission was accomplished last October! A friend of mine and I took them to Kyejocksan (Chicken Foot Mountain) which is just on the outskirts of Daejon. There was great apprehension in the troops before we went on this mission, but it seemed like the guys enjoyed their time outdoors once we were there. Of course, they might have been a distance from the dorm but they weren't away from their technology. I cracked up when I saw them pull out their cell phones as we took a break from hiking. I guess satellite connections work on the hiking trail as they do in the dorm.