I’m also nominating the following blogs. These are some of the blogs I enjoy reading. I would like to mention more here, but I’m limited to 15 nominations.

The List:

Duke’s House

Neither Use or Ornament

Kojects

Richardradstoneblog

A Word In Your Ear

HoaiPhai

Traveldestinationbucketlist

2 Rivers Photos

Jugorum

Dave’s Photo Musings

Modern Seoul

The Task Eternal

Sillymonkeyphoto

1001 Scribbles

Living Life in Glorious Color

I’m also supposed to list 7 things you might not know about me: 

I used to sleep walk as a child.

I’m a HUGE Toronto Maple Leafs fan.

I used to deliver dry cleaning for a living.

I’m a published poet.

Cotton balls give me goosebumps.

I love politics.

I like eating raw potatoes.

Here are the rules for the Versatile Blogger Award:

• Make a post with a list of 15 nominated blogs.
• Inform the nominees that they have been nominated.
• Share seven things about yourself that your readers don’t already know.
• Thank the blogger who gave you this award.

6 years ago, my wife and I embarked on a journey from Canada to South Korea. We came to see the world, live overseas and pay off the debt of our undergraduate studies. Our plan was to come and teach for a couple of years and then move on. This plan was reworked, retooled, changed and revised over the years. Instead of staying for two, we stayed for six.

Teaching English has sustained us financially during our stay in Korea. That was until last week. After 6 years of teaching (5 years at the same school), we exited the school grounds for the last time. It was a bittersweet moment. Bitter because we both have enjoyed teaching the children. I’ll miss the classroom discussions, the hand made origami presents and seeing students progress in their studies.

The moment was also sweet too. We were leaving with our heads held high. We were confident in our decision to move on from the world of teaching English. We were and still are excited about what will happen next.

The picture above is of the rules of my classroom. These ten simple rules kept my grade two students from descending into anarchy. Well, that and a complex reward system that involved sweets, mechinal pencils for participation and yellow/red cards and a firm “talking to” for stepping out of line. I wonder if people the world over followed these simple rules (excluding rule 1), would our world be a different place? Could these basic principles keep our world from caving in on itself?

The end of our journey here is almost over after 6 years. Not 6 long years, but 6 great years. In 6 years, South Korea went from being the place I live to, well….Home.

At one time these fields contained an orchard and a Chinese graveyard, but during the regime, the fields were used for mass graves. Around 8,900 bodies were found here.

As the weather changes throughout the year and Cambodia is hit with monsoon rains, the rain causes the soil to wash away. Bones, teeth and clothing continue to surface during these times.

A large stupa stands in the middle of Choeung Ek. Inside its glass walls are the skulls of victims. Many of the skulls show fractures indicating how the the person met his or her death.

Most of your walking tour around Choeung Ek is done in silence as you listen to information through a portable audio device. This device also contains the stories from the survivors of the regime. Most, if not all tourists, listen to these stories as they walk around a peaceful pond.

A journey to Choeung Ek is necessary when visiting Cambodia. It is another glimpse into the genocide that occurred during the Khmer Rogue regime. It is a peephole into the sad history of this country, a look into what an evil ambition for power can accomplish.

I took this photo of this turtle at the Jade Emperor Pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City. This poor turtle looks like he’s trying to avoid a swim with the fish.

During a recent trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, I had the privilege (if you can say that) to visit Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. The museum is housed in a former high school that was used by the Pol Pot regime as a security prison during his 1975-1979 reign.

The genocide that he oversaw on the people of Cambodia was horrific and yet mostly unknown in the western world because of its overshadowing by the Vietnam war, which happened before it. In all, about 2 million people perished under Pol Pot’s iron and brutal fist. Many of them died at Tuol Sleng.

These people were murdered for being doctors, teachers, nurses, etc… Anyone who did not fit with Pol Pot’s plan to turn the country into a completely agricultural state met their demise.

One of the ladies who took us there was a teenager at the time of the dictatorship. She lost grandparents, parents, brothers and sisters. Basically her entire family. It was difficult to hear her story and see the freshness of that experience in her watery eyes.

I wouldn’t call it a privilege to visit this site of inhumane treatment. Though I do feel a trip to Cambodia isn’t complete without meeting its history head-on in Tuol Sleng. Without knowing Cambodia’s history its difficult to understand its current state. It will also make you appreciate the friendly Khmer people all the more.

One of the places to experience a couple of these traditional games is at Namsongol Hanok Village. Here you can try your hand at Tuho and Paeng-chigi.

(Photo courtesy of my father)

The object of Tuho is to throw arrows into a canister. Pretty simple concept, but not always as easy as it may seem.

Eventually you do get lucky or skillful and hit the money shot.

Paengi-chigi is a variation of something most of us have played with as children – spin tops. These spin tops are wound up with string and then let go. In order to keep the tops from falling over, they are then hit with a thin leather strap.

This game can become a two person game when one participant tries to knock over the other participant’s spin top with his own. That I haven’t seen in person, but it does sound like a fun activity.

Games can be found in all cultures and many have advanced throughout the years. In the end the main objective to playing any game is to have fun.

What games did you play as a child?

The changing of the Royal Palace Guards can be seen at Deoksu Palace in Seoul at 11:00,  14:00 and 15:30 everyday except Mondays.

Nothing says peaceful like watching a sunset from a tropical beach on a relaxing vacation. This photo was taken in February 2011 in Boracay, Philippines.

This photo might look like the opposite of peaceful, but on the divided Korean peninsula, it is. Though the two Koreas are still technically at war without a peace treaty, it is quite peaceful here. This photo shows how fragile peace can be. This photo was taken at Panmunjum in the Korean DMZ.

Related articles

• Weekly Photo Challenge – Peaceful (melonpops.wordpress.com)
• Weekly Photo Challenge: Peaceful (beijingcityphoto.wordpress.com)
• Weekly Photo Challenge: Peaceful (ilovemandaue.wordpress.com)

This photo was taken near the Ben Thanh Market in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I mostly like this shot because I managed to get only one motorbike in the shot which is a difficult thing to do in a city teeming with them.