Gonggi a Game from South Korea

On Thursday Miyoung taught us how to play Gonggi an ancient Korean children’s game. It is played with five grape-sized pebbles. Gonggi can be played alone or with other people. When you play Gonggi, you throw a pebble up in the air, and then you pick up another pebble and catch the pebble that’s in the air. In Gonggi there are five levels. Inside the pebbles are tiny balls of led. We dropped one and all the tiny balls of led fell on the floor. We played it for about 20 minutes and really enjoyed ourselves.

A Glimpse of South Korea

Miyoung's portrait by Jennifer O'Hara Doyle

This is Miyoung a teacher from South Korea who has been working with our class all week. She taught a lesson on South Korea and showed us many interesting pictures of life in her country.We enjoyed comparing our lives with the life  in her country almost nine thousand kilometers  miles away.

Korean pictures by Miyoung

I was interested to hear about the ancient observatory at Chumsungdae. The tower is cylindrical in shape and was built in 600 A.D. It  is the oldest surviving observatory in East Asia.

I was intrigued by this roof that is made of wood. These roofs are usually found on temples or on the homes of wealthy people.

We were fascinated to hear that Miyoung has a pet hedgehog at home. In Ireland hedgehogs are wild animals and don't usually live in captivity. Miyoung assured us that this is a genetically modified hedgehog. He looks cute and tiny and is ten months old.

Images of South Korea