Praxis

New Beginnings ...again

2012-01-02T19:20:00.000+09:00

It is sort of surprising to me that I have been in Korea for almost a year and a half, it has gone so quickly and yet at the same time it feels like a lifetime. I am living a completely different life than I was two years ago. I guess I have always been one for dramatic changes. This year has been one of accomplishment, of setting goals and meeting them, of proving myself ~mostly to myself. I am happy to say I like who I am and I truly believe that I can accomplish most anything (as long as it does not include a spelling test).

The thing I have discovered that I love the most is getting other people excited about things, whether that is students, teachers, friends or co-workers. I often feel like a power converter, I can feel the energy filling up inside me just looking for a channel, a way out...and when I make that connection; be it a person or a situation, the free flow of energy is a powerful moment.

So for this new year I hope to continue on this path. To take risks, to try hard (come on, how often have we all taken the easy road) and to challenge myself to open more connections between and among people. I also want to remember to be joyful, yes I know how cheesy that sounds. But it is so much fun to be joyful, to smile, to see the bright side, to seek out the good...why on earth would you not want to be that way? Don't get me wrong I have had many unjoyful (I think that should be a word) moments ...but how many of those were of my own creation, or a response to some negative emotion that I was hanging onto? So this year I will continue, which can be harder that it seems...I will continue to treat myself well, to have high expectations and to enjoy all that crosses my path.

Here are some pictures from the Christmas Dinner in Seoul earlier in December.

recycle tree

Cuz why would choose anything less for your family

We had the whole restaurant for the dinner

And the boyz start to dance

Me and Santa at the pub!

Reindeer antlers

I have tinsel in my antlers!

Sometimes Seoul feels like a whole different country (like maybe England) but just for a moment.

My family didn't mean to raise a feminist

2011-12-08T22:53:00.001+09:00

So I just read an interesting article from the Huffington Post about the emotional manipulation that women often suffer from at the hands of the men in their lives.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yashar-hedayat/a-message-to-women-from-a_1_b_958859.html

I had just had a conversation this past weekend on the same subject. I had a hard time explaining my point because it hadn't really come to me yet. But so often I listen to 'men's' conversations and there is a distinct difference when women get involved. In my experience we are not given the same respect, there are some men who do, but the majority don't. I was not raised that way, luckily... even though I have 5 older brothers I was always able to hold my own in a conversation, I think they taught me that...they encouraged me to speak my mind, I had no idea it was a feminist thing until I got out in the 'real' world and realized others weren't so lucky. It is not like we had feminist household, I do distinctly remember my brothers saying to each other "don't be such a girl". As I got older I remember calling them on it, to little avail, but the universe got one of my brothers back he now has 5 girls of his own, HA!

But back to me, I didn't mean to be a feminist. If you went back and looked at my childhood or even university days I don't think I was the one who you would think might break the mold or stand strong behind the cause for women's lib. And yet here I am approaching 40 (shhhh...don't mention that again), single, traveling the world, owning my own home, and constantly advancing my career. I am not a man hater, or a relationship hater...I love them both. I just haven't met a man I couldn't live without. It's not through lack of trying ...although my family may question the quality of the ones I tried out. I would love to meet a man who listens to me, who respects me for who I am and what I want, what I love. But I will not fix another man, or hold his hand through his fear, or help him see his true potential. So until I meet my match I will happily be the leader of the feminist revolution. I am not crazy or overly sensitive...I am me, proud, strong, caring, and incredibly resilient.

Christmas time in Masan

2011-12-07T22:16:00.001+09:00

The Christmas season is here although it is hard to tell in Korea, or easy to ignore. Today was the last official day of classes only finals left and of course compiling of grades. I am happy to say I still love my job and am certain this was the right move at the right time. I am constantly inspired and motivate...okay when I am not exhausted. The thing I love about Korean students is their ability to get excited about something, the pure joy I see in their eyes and the eagerness to part of something. The students I met this semester have given me an insight into American (and western) culture and our cynicism. I have never seen bigger or more genuine smiles, or felt the honest and open appreciation that have witnessed from my Korean students. Cultural differences are great partly because of what they reveal about your own culture as much as they highlight another’s. These are some of my students from this semester, they will always be extra special because they are my first university students and the longer I stay in Korea the less I am aware of the cultural differences.

These guys are from my Business class: we had just done a video shoot for their project.

After the shoot they treated me to lunch in the fish market in Masan...this was AMAZING!


You have to love a Korean's love of the camera!

That cake was for me...a thank you for teaching us cake.

This was the last night of our evening institute or conversation class...we had a lot of fun.

HA!

The gentlest military science student I have ever met.

We had some interesting and lively discussions about marriage, feminism, war, the environment, unification and economic reform but most of all we got to know each other.

I have also has some pretty fun times on the weekends. I have not stopped moving since some time in June and I am just going to keep going till sleep catches me. Korea is an exciting country and I glad to be here now, when there are so many opportunities to be had. Last weekend I went to Busan to visit Spa Land, a giant and fancy Korean bathhouse. Naked bathing with hundreds of women...saunas, hot tubs, cold pools, outside heated pools...then you don your pj’s and head the unisex areas for more saunas, resting rooms, cafes, oxygen tanks and massage parlors. It is an experience everyone should have, very liberating. And yes you do end up with 50 ajuma’s (Korean old ladies) starring at you, wondering who let the white girl in, but then they smile and get back to giving each other a wash. It is all very communal, and I must say relaxing (not to mention cheap). After my relaxing day at the Spa and a fine Italian dinner, I headed to the bus station for the trip home (or so I thought). A message from a friend convinced me to meet up for drink and a visit, that turned into me missing the last bus back to Masan...what can you do when this happens? Apparently you go DANCING! There are dance clubs in Busan that never close, or when one closes another is opening…when I finally through in the towel and headed out the last door, it was daylight. Well that’s a good thing I thought, the buses should be running again.

October pictures

2011-11-13T14:06:00.001+09:00

The required gear

Seokie and Mick

Trouble in the making

Cooking the Abalone

Professional oyster shucker


Our food trying to escape...it was a bit bizarre

The boots that were not made for walking all night in the rain uphill backwards.

Beautiful Bridge behind Seokie...this would have been a great place to watch the fireworks, instead for right outside in the street without umbrellas in the rain. We had a good time anyway.


Later that night...I think I am dancing but my feet are two tired to actually get out of the chair!

Chrysanthemum Festival...a little wet

I love the bonsai trees

Trying to capture the storm clouds trapped by the mountains in the distance.

Random November thoughts

2011-11-13T14:00:00.001+09:00

Wow it’s already November 12th. I have meant to write more all semester but it has been one busy week after another. As you know by now, I love my job...it’s challenging, fun and full of potential. My job and my life right now are the result of the focus with which I lived this past year. I have been pushing myself to this point for years; I knew it was right around the corner, waiting to be lived but I just couldn’t quite let myself get there until now.

What I want now is to continue to live like this. To be in the moment. To be honest and genuine. To push myself beyond my own expectations. There is so much to do and see in life, I don’t want to be too afraid to take the risks and chances that will take me there.

My students constantly challenge me to be a better teacher, and to delve into what that really means. Teaching is such an interesting profession to be in. Especially since I don’t believe in teaching per say. I don’t see myself as the holder of the secret knowledge...but as the obstacle to be maneuvered around. I mean I give out grades that students need in order to collect credits that may or may not determine their future. Who am I to interrupt, or to even place a speed bump in that journey, and how much will my class and ‘our’ collective experience help that particular student? The nice thing in what I am teaching now is that speaking English is a skill that I am pretty confident I posses.

On another note I went to the movies last night and saw “The Help” it made me think and feel. I walked out of there with a renewed sense of doing something important with my life. It made me think about women and our role history, and the perspectives that are often untold. It also made me think about men and how culture is shifting around the world and that they have a lot of changing to do, and how that will be hard for them. It is hard when you have had the easy (easier) road to travel. You can either willing change your perspective or have it changed for you. If you wait it will be harder, maybe you can hope it will be the next generation that will do the changing...but really it’s past time. And women, we are not in the clear because these changes are not all rosy for us either. We are not competing to be men, or replace men but to have our voices, our suggestions, our demands, our views on the world equally shared and listened to. This means we bear equal responsibility when things go wrong, and when we are wrong.

Just a quicky

2011-10-25T23:59:00.001+09:00

So have I mentioned that I love my job? The change to University teaching has made a huge difference in my enjoyment of each day. The fact that I now also work in an office with people who also speak English has made an amazing impact on the quality of my days. I feel challenged, energized and stimulated by my work and personal life at the moment. Korea has been the right choice for my life at this moment. I was tired of waiting for my life to happen, so I took it by the rains and made a giant leap. There have also been some wonderful people who have come into my life over the past year and it has only solidified my view and belief that life is what we make of it. I am where I am because of the choices I have made, because I decided to to get off my ass and stopped making excuses for why things hadn't worked out the way I wanted.

My University students are inspiring, fun and motivate me constantly to be a better teacher, to connect the learning to them, and to make what we do meaningful and relevant.

Masan is also a great city, and I was definitely ready to leave small town Korea for a little more action. Don't get me wrong, Hapcheon was a great welcome to Korea town, and Masan is no 'big city' by Korean standards. I am close enough to the coast to get away for the day when I need, and connected by the KTX to Seoul, so everything is at my fingertips.

Fishing Village near Masan

Lindsey and I in Daegu

Smoked Salmon Benedict...sometimes food is a good enough reason to go to Seoul

wonderful lunch with wonderful ladies

Did I mention the food in Seoul?

Action on the streets of Seoul

My much more Jessica sized apartment...note the giant tower of toilet paper, you can't buy small packs and today was 1+1, even if you didn't want it to be. It will be next summer before I need it again!

Jeju-do Chuseok trip

2011-09-30T21:25:00.002+09:00

For the four day weekend over Chuseok Seokie, Summer and I headed to Jeju-do. It was quite the adventure just getting there, we waited too long to find flights so we had to take the ferry. Every single Korean in the country all travels that Friday so our bus ride to Gwangju (leg one) was an event in and of itself. It took an hour just to get out of Daegu!

The best thing about this trip was that nothing went according to plan. Typhoons tried to stop us, the entire island being closed for Chuseok, caves closed, restaurants without rice and no taxi's and yet we still had a fabulous time.

Making plans at the fish place across from the ferry terminal in Wando

My amazing food creation...I had the Koreans staring at my creativity (or maybe shocked at not doing it the RIGHT way)


The ferry!

All aboard


Waterfall shenanigans

This is Summer's I am gonna kill you if you keep talking face!

The after effects

Soju at the grave

No silly little Typhoon would keep us from Love Land

There were millions of these creepy critters

Summer Thyme and her faces! You crack me up.

Lovin Life in Masan

2011-09-28T22:13:00.000+09:00

I still need to post pictures from my trip to Jeju over Chusoek but that will have to wait for another day. I have been teaching at Kyungnam University for a month now and I can say with confidence that this was the right move for me at the right moment in my life. It is not that it is easy or stress free but I am almost bubbling over with a sense of joy these days. I think this is what happens when you find yourself doing something you really enjoy that is meaningful, helpful and contributes to your own personal growth. I have left a few of my classes almost vibrating, leaving with the feeling that I really connected with my students and that they might have actually gotten something useful out of my class. I have felt the shift in my life from one of waiting and planning to one of being and doing. I was tired of always thinking about the future ...when things would be better, or when my life would look the way I wanted it to. This move to Korea, the travel, the exercise, and the meditation have all contributed to my understanding...that my life is now, and these moments are here to be enjoyed, shared, relished and then there are more!

So far I have not managed to actually spend the weekend in Masan (my new hometown) because there is always something happening. Going away parties, BBQs, trips to tropical islands, and this weekend the Andong Mask Festival have all filled my weekends and kept me so busy that I feel this semester is whizzing by. I am teaching five different university classes and two institute (conversation based classes) and these keep me busy during the week. The first few weeks I did feel a little as if I were running behind the cart but I think I am catching up now, and the classes are getting easier to stay on top of. I love the connection I am making with students, I feel revitalized after class (okay most classes...I did have a few duds) and I am excited to see where this new chapter of my life takes me.

I feel lucky, but I also know that this comes from my own choices and the willingness to trust myself that if I take big bold leaps into the future life will continue to amaze me! So for any of you that have worried, cared or wondered why I had to move to the other side of the planet, it was to find this feeling. It is something I hope to carry with me where ever I go from here, be that Arkansas, Korea, Spain, England or who knows.

Long awaited Malaysia Part 2

2011-09-06T22:21:00.001+09:00

This will be short but sweet...mainly pictures, as I have been home for a while and have more exciting things to talk about (when I make the time to catch you up).

Heading to Langkawi

Loved the no hassle amble toward the terminal from the plane who needs to hurry or any kind of direction...it reflected the whole vibe of the island.

The beach outside my cabin...it was a beautiful and quiet stretch.

Treated myself to a sunset dinner cruise. It was me and 4 other couples, so I hung out with the crew which turned out to be lots of fun. The trip included a natural jacuzzi (being drug along beside the boat in a giant net...I was the first one in!)

After the swim

Sunset

Eagle feeding on the Mangrove sea tour, also saw monkeys (of course), a snake, a giant lizard, stingray, horseshoe crab and all kinds of fish.

I have a ridiculous number of monkey pictures

Wow

It really was that beautiful

So the food was not AS amazing as the Thailand trip...but I did succeed in finding this spicy Thai coconut curry soup. Most places I ate were the touristy, more expensive type but usually still delicious.

This was sushi night

Such naughty monkeys, they stole food from the breakfast area everyday...and naughty people who encouraged them, feeing them muffins, bread and all kinds of "not good for monkeys" food.

Awwww

That monkey totally took a seat at the table!

Tea in Shanghai with some people I met while wondering around...Shanghai my 25 hour visit to China.

Monkeys, Malaysia, EPIK and My new job

2011-08-20T13:31:00.001+09:00

It has been a busy few months, what with summer classes, my trip to Malaysia and now lecturing at the EPIK orientation. I am not even sure where to start. My students were great for my summer classes it was a great way to end my teaching with them, well almost I have to go in for one day next week and teach 3 classes on the last day of my contract.

My trip to Malaysia really felt like two separate trips. The first with a friend in Genting and the second off by my myself on the island of Langkawi. I flew out of Busan which is much easier to get to than Seoul with a 6 hour layover in Shanghai, China. Typhoon Muifa was approaching the coast and flights were being cancelled the later it got in the day. Luckily a friend was on the same flight to Shanghai so we were able to wait together. It took us a while to figure out what was actually going on, and why they were not letting us through to the departure lounge. Eventually both our flights got off okay and on time but it added a little drama and excitement to the wait. Shanghai airport is not that impressive, as airports go. There is not much shopping, or many stores to look at. The restaurants were all the same and it was rather lacking in comfortable chairs.

Tea in Shaghai

When I arrived in Kuala Lumpur it was 1 a.m. and the airport and most transportation was shut down for the night. I had made reservations for a hotel near the airport, which was a good thing because I don't think I could have thought clearly enough at that point to figure anything out.

Early the next day I made my way to Genting, about 50km north of KL and up in the mountains. It is actually a gambling resort and major shopping complex. I met up with my friend at the resort, which was quite a swanky holiday and golf retreat which was situated down the mountain from the main casino and shopping complex. To reach the main center you could either take a windy bus ride up the mountain or ride in the cable cars, which were amazing. It was quite a long ride, maybe 15-20 minutes and the view was spectacular. The complex itself is a series of 10 or so hotels all set at the top of the mountains and connected by covered escalators and walkways, sort of a labyrinth of stores, restaurants and casinos. On our first outing we shopped, ate, and oogled at all the chocolate and fancy clothes.

Cable Car

Crazy shopping center

The next morning we ventured into Kuala Lumpur, or KL as the locals call it. There we walked and shopped, mainly in Chinatown. We also spent a significantly long time shopping in Watson's, a drug store sort of like Walgreen's. I did find a swanky red dress in Chinatown that I will need an occasion to wear. We were pretty tuckered by the afternoon and abandoned our search for a Chinese palm reader. We had seen one in Genting, but there was always someone waiting to be next ...and we were not entirley sure he spoke English. There were many parts of the city we never made it too, like Little India that seem like they would be worth a visit.

In Chinatown...don't steal my wine!

We did the Dr Fish feet cleaning in KL too!

At the casino complex there was an outdoor theme park so we decided to give that a try the next morning. I thought we might be there all day so we arrive at 10 am when the gates opened. I think we were done by 11:30...okay it might have been a little later than that but not much. The rides were good, there just weren't that many, two were closed for 'routine inspection' and one you had to pay extra to ride (it was that special). They had a mini Dinosaur Land, its got nothing on Eureka's, with a boat ride around the small island. Since we finished to early we decided to go back to the Chinese Palm reader and wait for a session. He was really nice, spoke great English...I can't tell you what he said because it is a secret.

Posing in Dinosaur Land

Spinning Tea Cups

At the bottom of the hill bellow our hotel there is a small town, we spent the next day exploring. That is were we found the chocolate outlet shop for the Malaysian chocolate, I spent a good amount of time and money in there. We then headed to the strawberry farm for some lovely fresh strawberries. The hunt was then on for the Orchid farm, we got all kinds of conflicting directions...wandered down a long and windy road and found some monkeys...we finally gave up and got a cab who (after talking with the other drivers) took us the short distance to the orchid farm. It turns out there are no signs, so not many people actually visit. It is actually and orchid farm, they sell and ship most of the orchids around the country.

At the Strawberry Farm

We ate Dim Sum

Contemplating the tomato

The orchids were absolutely amazing!

Okay that is all I can type for today, so stay tuned for part 2 of My Malaysian adventure!

I'm melting

2011-07-08T18:56:00.000+09:00

Summer is here in its full sweatiness. I have to turn on the air in my apartment just to dry things out a little. Apparently Koreans turn their heat on during the rainy season to dry out the mold (for short periods of time) but I can’t bring myself to add any more heat to the situation.

I have visited Kyungnam University a few times now and I am getting really excited about the position, the people and the bigger city. I have only a week left of ‘regular’ classes at my schools; then three weeks of summer school. I am doing my best to stay focused and give my students the attention they deserve. It is challenging on some days, as my Middle school now no longer seems to care if they keep me happy. The Principle has changed from a smiling, welcoming lady to a scowling and stern taskmaster. I will take a 11 day vacation to Malaysia and then attend the EPIK orientation as a lecturer for the final days of my contract. I was called into the office while the principle and my co-teacher look at the calendar, repeatedly counting days and shaking heads. Finally telling me that they have not received any official paperwork for the EPIK orientation, and that is required for me to attend. This is the same conference I taught at last semester; maybe they think I am just hanging out in Seoul for 5 days! Also two of my schools want me to teacher summer school at the same time and are fighting over the schedule…this is apparently my fault too. I just smiled and nodded, said yes to everything…quietly repeating to myself ‘don’t react, breath deeply, it’s almost over’. I almost lost it when the Principle then proceeded to tell me not use videos, clips or internet sources for the summer class, “the students need to listen to you talk…it is your voice I want them to hear.” Ummm, I do talk. We have to have something to talk about, and as I have no text or materials, and your students do not simply listen when I speak…uuurrgh it’s not even worth it. I smiled and said just said yes. I think she was expecting some kind of explanation or elaboration, but I have no response to that sort of insult. And yes it was an insult, I do actually know what I am doing, I do have an actual plan and I am not sure how much you have actually observed from passing the classroom door a few times during the year, not to mention you don’t speak a lick of English yourself. Okay enough venting, and that was after a day to cool off, if I had written yesterday it would have been a much longer story. Let’s just say that part of my excitement for the university job is that my boss will speak English, that I might actually know what is expected of me and when there is a problem it can be articulated and understood by both parties.

Well that sounded very negative. I feel much better now. I will miss my students and a lot of the teachers, I am sure I will even miss my little town but it is time for the next step, the next adventure.

I had a great birthday week. My 5th grade students threw me a surprise party, some of the girls even made me cookies. That evening I went out with the Hapcheon crowd for some 회 (Hoe...but it sounds like wae) or raw fish, mmm my favorite. That weekend I headed to Daegu and finally met up with a Garreth who has been here the whole time I have. It was great to see him, I almost felt like I was back in Eureka for weekend.

Gifts from the kids

Awww they are so cute.

The girls that made me cookies

Billy and Alex...oooh and all that fish!!

That 'tube' was sliding up my chopsticks!

Can you tell how excited I am?

Garreth and I enjoying drinks in a bag, why is that so much fun?

I don't think he was standing on a chair to take that picture; is this how I look to taller people? (Everyone else)

A few weeks back we had a BBQ party at the beach in Hapcheon, lots of foreign teachers, I think we might have put the town into shock.

Santa was in charge, no one gets in the cooler!


I didn't think I was in the picture, good job Billy

My lovely beach mat from Thailand finally being put to use

Our favorite fish place...and I am very excited about the still moving Octopus!

Oh maybe I should include some pictures of me actually teaching, well sort of teaching. It was my open class. Which is sort of like a performance, and my Korean co-teacher did all the preparing for it, I just showed up and read my lines.

My class of four students

Look at the TV

That must be my "you're crazy" look

me?

Right I'm crazy

OK, so the title of this lesson is "How's your sister?" But the whole lesson is about descriptions, like she is tall...it only confuses the kids. And me apparently.

You are so NOT tall, but I guess next to me, you can call yourself that.

I must have been board, so I started dancing...and I was confused by our game.

I love this picture because WooJin is looking were I am pointing, as if there is something really there.

And I'm board...or daydreaming.

Just a few pictures from last month...aww Spring, why did you have to be so short?

2011-06-11T08:23:00.000+09:00

Have some ice cream!


Escapee: I snapped this picture on my way to the bus stop. He was making a break for his freedom, and the lady selling him was not too impressed with my picture taking.

Singing contest: Just The Way You Are

Girls trying to hide behind their papers.

Success everyone stayed awake!

The following pictures are from Sports Day at Chogye Elementary School. It was a beautiful sunny spring day. In the grab an adult from the crowd relay race one of the boys grabbed me and I about killed myself running, almost passed out before the finish line...had one of those wobbly legs moments, I thought they were going to just rebel and stop working all together.

Synchronized group calisthenics

Posers

There were races

And it was serious business

And crazy group games: which were also races

The sieve bucket fill

Run faster!!!

The little kids had some of the best races

Through the ladder with the pointy hat

This is one of the boys dressed in traditional Hanbok

It was hilarious

May have been the most fun, giant ball roll

...you can call me professor

2011-06-09T22:38:00.000+09:00

So my focus this last month has been on finding and deciding my next step. My contract with EPIK (English Program in Korea) ends August 25^th, and although it has been enlightening, challenging and an excellent opportunity I knew I didn’t want to sign up for another year. Don’t get me wrong; I am not through with Korea…not yet anyway. From the get go my plan was to move into a University position, so it was that or move on to another country. I am happy to say that after three interviews I have been offered a teaching position at Kyungnam University in Masan. I will be teaching English to university sophomores and possibly teacher training and other special programs.

This entire experience in Korea has been a lesson in patience and trust. Patience to let things work out without my constant worry or pre-guessing. Trust in myself, in others and in the universe…knowing that everything is okay and I don’t have to know right now what will happen tomorrow. After my first interview I was waiting on pins and needles, and a roller coaster ride of hope verses certainty that I didn’t really want that particular job. And then shear panic and the knowledge that I would take whatever they offered me…even if it wasn’t what I really wanted. Luckily for me, that first position didn’t materialize as the department cut a program thus negating the job I was applying for. The interviewer was kind enough to inform me that the position would have been mine had it actually existed and he forwarded my resume with a strong recommendation on to their sister University. I was only able to participate in a phone interview…and again I knew the schedule and position was not quite what I was looking for. But the location of this place was a tourist fishing town and site of the upcoming Worlds Fair. While waiting for a response Kyungnam University emailed me, asking if I was still looking for a University position and would I like to come in for an interview. I had attended a 10 day training on co-teaching back in February, and inquired about teaching positions…and they remembered me! The interview itself was fabulous, stimulating and affirmed that it was in fact the right choice for my next step. While waiting for an official offer I was filled with a sense of calm, that even if the job was not offered to me there was no need to worry, stress or wonder. And it was in this calm that I realized I had found something new. After jumping through crazy hoops, filling out impossibly long forms full of personal and sometimes seemingly insane questions, packing up my life in to boxes, saying goodbye to friends and moving to a country where I don’t speak the language or understand their culture…I can see that almost anything is possible. I thought I already knew this, but now I really know it…I can feel it.

There has been a solitude that I knew I wanted and it has given me the opportunity to reflect and meditate on my life. I see now how powerful your thoughts are, how they can influence your life and the people and places you bring into it. So now I will embark on a new adventure and who knows what will happen, I certainly don’t…and I am happy about that.

Malaysia and no more hairy legs

2011-05-28T20:20:00.000+09:00

So I booked my holiday ticket to Malaysia for Aug 6-17. I had quite a fight with the computer at school and Orbitz, the computer was so slow that every time I went to purchase the ticket it was no longer available at that price. The prices went up $250 dollars over the course of a day. I kept trying to order in between my classes. I had a momentary philosophical breakdown as I wondered if the universe was trying to tell me something...in the end the fear of tomorrows ticket prices forced me to endure. Finally I found a ticket for the original price and managed to get it booked...only to realize later that night as I was oogling my purchase that I have a 25 hour layover in Shanghai! After a brief panic attack that I was going to have to buy a VISA for China I discovered that Shanghai has a 48 hour 'allowance' for passengers with tickets continuing on. Now I just have to figure out what to do in Shanghai for 25 hours. Sounds like an all night adventure to me.

I got up super early to go to Daegu this morning on the first bus of the day. I met my friend Grace and she escorted me to the Laser Hair Removal Clinic. Yes you read that right. So Jessica of the too lazy to shave, so often has hairy legs and armpits brigade has decided to try out Korea's finest industry, artificial beauty. Students in my middle school classes show up with bandaged faces because of various 'plastic' or cosmetic procedures they are having done (surgeries). Korea is the land of presentation and appearance. It is a very vain country, or maybe it was originally about always presenting your best self but some how has morphed into this plastic people industry. Woman are always dressed to the nines, especially in the bigger cities. And I thought I felt unkempt when I went to Fayetteville in my Eureka clothes. So how did this adventure begin, well as the warmer weather approached I thought it was maybe time to shave my legs before scaring the children...or listening to my co-teachers make comments like..."Jessica your legs are hairy, you look dirty, it does not look good!" Yes, really they can be that direct. I have had many a morning shattered by a casual comment first thing, "Jessica Teacher, you look terrible, you did not get enough sleep." Just a statement, and not on a day when I was particularly tired, run down or under the weather. No one was impressed with my suntan (okay slight lobster color) when I returned from Thailand. "Ooooh Jessica Teacher, your skin...it looks bad...like a disease." I digress. As it turned out that I had the hardest time finding shaving equipment for women, I thought maybe I kept missing the section in the store. I found the men's razors and various shaving creams, but not the women's. I went to all the grocery/beauty stores in Hapcheon ...in one I found what I thought was shaving cream and a pink razor only to discover when I got home that the razor had no blade and the cream was in fact some version of Nair (magic hair dissolver). So this is what led me to laser removal, after applying the Nair and realizing it was also bleaching my skin...how much worse could laser hair removal be, right? I am not sure how I feel about the fact that I have committed to this, or if I will be able to come to terms with being so artificially girly but I will say the first session was painless. I thought they were doing some kind of pre-treatment, but all it entails is this laser gun...uhhhh more like a hairdryer with what looks like a glues stick gun end. Okay so I was a little freaked out my the chattering, giggling and pointing that the 'doctor' and assistant were engaged in during my procedure. Do I have mutant hair or something? I have to go back once a month for the next 5 months (oooh I better get a new job here, or I might have to leave before my treatments are finished!) and then supposedly I might never have to shave again...well at least not for a very long time.

On a side note, Heather and I tried to have our legs waxed in Thailand and the lady ended up pulling out hairs one at a time, not something I recommend to anyone.

Now I have stuck my foot in it.

2011-05-03T11:20:00.002+09:00

So last night I posted this statement on my Facebook page…

“I hope that today's news of Osama Bin Laden's death can bring healing and closure to those that need it. I think we ought to be careful not to celebrate someone’s death no matter how malevolent they may have been, it is part of what separates us from "those" people. Sometimes I worry about us, all of us. Humans that is.”

It was not intended to offend those who felt happy or got swept up in the moment of celebrating what appeared to be a victory for America in its’ war on terror. It was my gut response to seeing and reading posts about the killing of Bin Laden. I was also surprised (pleasantly) by the number of posts and articles expressing a feeling similar to mine. Eckhart Tolle may be right we are in fact entering a new era of mankind, a spiritual enlightenment. As media and the internet makes communication immediate, the world shrinks and cultural differences and beliefs are shared and understood. I remember as a child wondering how we know we are right when other people also think they are right. I was unaware of how spot on this thought was. I think living in four different countries has given me a different perspective of the world and my place in it.

So what is this new enlightened age all about? What does it mean for how we live and interact with each other? To me it means I must always attempt to see through someone else’s eyes, to realize that my beliefs are a consequence of my upbringing and experience; and not always right. To acknowledge that when I get angry or highly emotional about a situation that it is often a defense mechanism and that this is the most important time to reflect on my core beliefs and values, why do I feel threatened? It is my hope that this self-reflection is part of what is happening around the world. I know that traditional religions have encouraged and offered this in the past, but I think this new ‘enlightened’ age means we can move beyond our own religion and truly understand the truth that exists in others’ spiritual beliefs.

It is important to move away from the thought that one religion is right and the others are wrong, or misguided. I remember Daddy telling me it was dangerous to ‘get off the bus’ of Catholicism when I stopped going to church. That the church was a guide and if we mere humans are left to make all those choices by ourselves it can lead to trouble, difficulty and serious mistakes. I was having a hard time consoling the differences between the church in actuality and the theology I studied at university. I also felt that I did not agree 100% with Christian doctrine, specifically the existence of evil. In my mind and heart evil is not a force in the world, merely the lack of good or love. That does not mean that evil acts do not exist, or horribly bad things don’t happen. I also have my doubts about God with a capital G. What if we have mislabeled God? In our wee human brains we have made God like us, instead of us like God. We are not the only ones like God; plants, animals, bacteria even viruses are like God, they are animated with life. To me existence is the plan, not some humanistic idea that we are the paramount creation of God. That, to me, sounds vain and childish. We are merely part of existence, part of the energy and force in the universe. As scientists delve deeper into quantum physics they discover more about the nature of the universe and some of their discoveries sound more like spirituality than science. All things are connected. Energy in neither created nor destroyed merely transformed. Electrons can be in two places at one time. The act of observing something may alter the thing observed. I think there have been many spiritual people who have tapped into the energy that flows inside us all, Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Mohammed and even modern day figures like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. have all understood and expressed some of the truth hidden within us all.

When I reflect on my life since university, my Dad may have been right…it would have been safer on the bus. As a human without a church to tell me right from wrong I have had to make those decisions myself and I have not always made the right ones. I have not always treated myself or those around me with love and respect…but that is what I attempt to do now. Wow, how did this post turn into a religious catharsis? I think my point is that is easy to stand on our high horses and pontificate, or justify our beliefs and actions. We use our religion or defense of democracy to validate the right that we are willing to fight to defend, when the act of fighting to defend it may in fact be the thing that destroys it.

This quote has floated around facebook today and I think it is highly appropriate.

‎"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." - Martin Luther King, Jr

Korea: the land of the skinny pants

2011-04-26T19:05:00.000+09:00

So another week begins in my adventures in Korea. Spring is really here and the weather is perfect for walks in the park and along the river. I have found a new TV show to suck up my hours in the evening, and its all about gymnastics. The up side to the show is that is helping me in my quest to be fit and loose weight. I have been doing Yoga daily for the past 2 weeks and have finally started running again. On my run on Saturday I discovered the Yoga center behind my apartment building. I plan on stopping in this evening to find out about classes.

Korea is full of randomly placed exercise equipment, so on my runs I usually come across a fitness station. This weekend when Ashli and Soekie came for a visit we took a walk along the riverside and found some cool machines to play on. I was completely ashamed by my inability to pull myself up onto the bars, hanging upside down was also a challenge! I have discovered I no longer have stomach muscles, so now I have some new goals.

Parallel bars: you should have seen what it took to get up there!

The hang upside-down machine

Posers

Look I am tall!

The Temple by the river

Goofballs

On my last visit to the Dr I was shocked by the communication difficulties and insensitivity that can result from a language barrier. The ringing in my left ear has not abated (Tinnitus) and the Dr was trying to ask me questions about treatments and causes. He stated that stress may be a cause and asked what my current job was. I told him I was a teacher…and he just laughed (no stress there). We then started to talk about other health issues and I said I was trying to loose some weight, he said, “yes, you need some obese pills!” Okay, when you put it that way I feel great. “You must exercise, run or swim everyday.” Korea is the land if the skinny people and it is no fun to go shopping when the stores don’t carry your BIG size. When you are greeted at the door to a shop with, “ahh, you need BIG size” you kind of just want to turn tail and run. So Korea, you have shamed me into my health regiment. I will be able to walk into any clothing store and buy a pair of pants off the rack before my contract is up!

My rockin Granny trolly

2011-04-21T21:50:00.000+09:00

Fully loaded

So I managed to roll to the store where I picked up a flat of eggs and some sprouts, on the walk back I stopped at the fruit store and picked up some tomatoes (they are considered fruit here), mandarin oranges and apples. I then walked down produce ally where the little old ladies sit and sell there freshly picked produce. They were very impressed with my trolly skills...or maybe just amused by me. I bought a giant bag of washed green leaf lettuce, a bag of green onions and a massive bowl of strawberries. I do love the produce stands...it's like a farmers market everyday (actually that is exactly what it is).

Oooops its been almost a month!

2011-04-20T00:35:00.000+09:00

So yes, it has been a while since I have updated my adventures. Still here in Korea, attempting to teach some English and appreciate the world that is Korea. There have been no real effects from the tsunami and nuclear plant fiasco in Japan. Although I have noticed that Koreans like to worry about death from bizarre sources. After a German news reporter announced the winds and ocean currents had changed and that the polluted (and radioactive) waters would rain down upon Korea many Koreans decided it was unsafe to venture outside. The two days of rain we had terrified the population. A few schools closed for those days and children were warned to stay out of the nuclear rain. It turned out the German weather forecast was wrong, but this has not stopped the Koreans and their paranoia of the rain. People either stared or tried to offer me umbrellas on the afternoon I walked back from the bus station without one. I hated to mention that the offending rain was also falling in all their crops that we were about to ingest.

The past few weeks have been relatively quiet for me. I am in the process of applying for University positions for next semester. I had one interview, which seemed promising but nothing concrete has resulted so far. I am not 100% sure that I want to stay in Korea for 2-3 more years. I like it here, but maybe my town is just a bit too small. A few more colleagues at work who speak the same language might make a huge difference.

I went back to Soemun Market in Daegu this past weekend and purchased my very own ajuma cart. This is a granny cart with big wheels and a huge basket/bag for your groceries…it will enable me to walk home from the store with all the groceries I can buy.

I have been eating mostly raw food again, with just a little added protein here and there. I feel great and have been shedding pounds. Since my return from Thailand I have been meditating morning and night and now have added yoga into the mix. I was feeling run down, and that I was squandering this opportunity to reflect and make a fresh start. So what will this fresh start entail? I have no idea; I haven’t gotten that far yet.

Ringing in my ears

2011-03-22T20:18:00.001+09:00

So for the past few days I have had an annoying ringing in my ears...it was making it difficult to meditate. I stopped in at the Dr office on the way home from school, and he had one of those fancy TV microscopes. He took one look in my ear and said "ahhhh, foreign object!" He held my head down and inserted a pair of needle noise scissors and removed a lump the size and color of a dark roast coffee bean. I asked what it was, and he said "No idea, but its out now." He gave me a prescription for three days of medication and instructions to return on Friday. Also, I must dry my ears with a hair dryer after bathing!

I am sorry I didn't take a picture of the ball of goo, although it was kind of gross...but I do have a picture of the mysterious pills I must take for 3 days.

Oh and the trip to the Dr. cost $3.90...and $4.50 for the pills!

Pictures from Thailand

2011-03-20T23:17:00.000+09:00

Royal Elephant ride

Pose for the camera Ellie

Ready for the next rider

The cutest baby, got himself stuck!

Soo yummy we had to order two more...crepe stuffed with seafood.

Roti, delicious snack...green crepe filled with spun sugar.

Reclining Buddha

Temple dogs

Cooling off waiting for the next train

This monkey is going for a ride

I wanted to take him home

I am in the cage...he is try to reach me!

I had to include all these monkey pictures...my favorite part of the trip

The monkey was getting firendly

Look at those cute little fingers

He really want to hold my hand

Having a banana

The little ones are cute

Monkey attack

Having some juice

Living Gargoyles

The Watt where the monkeys hang out

Watt with the cool hair doo

Market in Lop Buri

Having a beat with the Tiger

My Korean pose

Heading to the waterfall

Don't fall in

Heather and her wonderful Thailand skirt

Elephant in the river

River cruise

Kitty Dash in the back, the one armed one eyed captain of the boat

Lunch stop at the river

Children in the riverside village

Village woman

Lunch near the Burma boarder

Naughty monkeys again

This is us getting sunburned on the ferry

Ship island

Our paradise home

Sea Kayaking cave

This is where I spent the last week of my vacation

Moonwalk: our home away from home

Awww can I go back?

My sunburned legs

The fresh fish we ate every night

The last night and the sky was finally clear for a beautiful sunset

The boys who took care of us and twirled with fire and night

Our last meal

What was left of our spicy noodle seafood salad

I can't believe its all over

The end of Thailand...well almost

2011-03-03T15:42:00.001+09:00

Since I have a few hours to plan for lessons that I don't have books or information for I figured to should tell you the end of the Thailand adventure.

So I think I left off in Ayutthaya. Heather and I decided to do the tourist thing and ride the Elephants around the Watt ruins. Our hot pink Tuk Tuk driver showed up in the morning to drive us to the Elephant coral, she was visibly upset when we asked her to just drop us off, and that we did not a guide for the afternoon. She ushered us toward the ticket booth and left us with a look that could kill. We where hurried up the wooden stairs and stepped, okay fell awkwardly onto the bench seat on top of the Elephant...and we were off. It was a slow and plodding pace were you rock from side to side feeling with each step that the Elephant may decide it has had enough and throw you crashing to the ground. Our Elephant had a driver (?) who got to sit on its head and steer. I wanted to sit there! The slow plodding pace and the umbrellard bench seating did add an air of royalty to the experience. We stopped and posed for pictures, handing our camera over to the driver who had the name of the Elephant on his back. Ours turned into a comedian and pretended to run us off the road and into a near by moat. He grabbed my ankle and laughed as we swayed and bobbled at the precipice. Upon our elegant dismount I pointed out to Heather the large sign that said "DO NOT GIVE YOU CAMERA TO THE GUIDE"...whoops. We spent the next two hours watching the "parked" Elephants and the baby ones that were putting on a show for the tourists. We stood off to the side and watched, so we were not actually the audience for the show. You could also buy vegetable to feed them and it was great fun to watch the Elephants steal entire basketfuls from timid people. I am not really sure if I enjoyed riding the Elephant but I definitely enjoyed just watching them for a few hours.

Finally it was our hunger that drove us away from the coral and we found a roadside roti stand (which often just means flat bread, in this case it was more like a stuffed crape). It was so good we had to order more! We walked back to our guest house, the long way, almost halfway round the "island"...the town is entirely surrounded by a large mote and used to have an extensive canal system, the relics of which you can still see throughout the city.

That evening we asked the guesthouse to recommend a restaurant on the mote, preferably with a nice view. Ahhhh...they said they knew the perfect place. It was indeed a floating restaurant and we had a great view of the mote and a happening place across the water. I kept commenting to Heather that we needed to figure out how to get over there, she reminded me of the adage it's always livelier on the other side of the mote. After super, it was not that impressive, we moved down the road for an after dinner drink. We were joined at out table by a lovely older couple from Germany, who were traveling around East Asia for a few months. We stumbled up several of these "older" travelers along our journey...it was quite inspiring.

The next morning we jumped back on the train and headed a little further north to the town of Lopburi. It was late morning when we arrived and we left our baggage at the train depot and headed out in search of monkeys. We apparently took the long way into town but our hunger for lunch drove us into a small café. We had fabulous spicy coconut soup and glass noodle seafood salad. There were only two other customers in the joint and they happened to be an older Italian couple, with a guide book! We ask them where we might find the monkeys, they gave us some simple directions saying, you really can’t miss them but watch out they are naughty! (the monkeys not the Italian couple)

Now come my favorite part of the entire trip, which I will relate mostly in pictures. The monkeys were indeed everywhere, and very naughty. We saw one munching away on a cell phone and many others removing any food or anything that might be food from passing people. The monks had quite a job keeping the monkeys from stealing the food offering in the temple. At the Watt the monkeys roamed freely but were kept out of the building, so you had to enter it like a cage and then stare out the bars at the monkeys…I felt like the animal at the zoo. They have soft delicate hands with a powerful grip, it was a bizarre feeling to have them climb up your leg and sit on top of your head, I had one going for my hair clip!

We finally tore ourselves away from the monkey madness and found a market street to wonder through and finally had super from some street stall and watched the full moon as we waited for our night train.

Oh the night train. It sounded like such a romantic idea, traveling across Thailand in a sleeper car, the gentle rock of the car moving over the tracks, the rhythmic sound that only a train can make. The biggest hick-up in our plan, the sleeper car was full, so we had to settle with seats, but they came with a blanket and sort of reclined. Our mistake was quickly realized as the train bounced along, taking some excruciatingly long stops. At each of the stops I would just pray for the train to start gong again if only to get closer to our destination. I slept little if at all, but could not even read as the lights were suddenly turned out at 9pm and we were plunged into darkness. I was tired and grouchy when we finally arrived in Chaing Mai and we still had a three hour bus ride to reach Chaing Rai. We wasted a few hours downtown, finding an internet café and updating our facebook status’s and decompressing for a bit. The bus ride was long and windy but the seats more comfortable than the train. R was there to greet us at the bus terminal and very excited to receive his goodies. (passport/money/license etc) He had borrowed a car, but since we had his truck keys he wanted to pick that up on the way home. Do you see the impending problem? In order to return with the car and the truck we needed a second driver. Heather happily volunteered me, I had the international driver’s license and it was my uncle after all. I sat in the driver side (right side, well actually wrong side if you ask me) and stared at the gear shift, thought about the peddles and the fact that I had not driven any kind of car in 5 months and promptly stalled out. “I can’t do it.” Sweat in the palms of my hands, fear building inside…impeding doom lurking. Heather hopped up and said “No problem I’ll drive, just thought you might want to.” Heather handily navigated the roads avoiding on coming traffic and did not drive us into any ditches, an amazing feat on our level of exhaustion.

When we reached R and M’s home it was like arriving in paradise. They have a beautiful home that looks like it came straight out of a magazine, which I think it practically did.

We spent the next several days lounging, reading, cooking, eating, sleeping, watching movies and generally recuperating from the train ride. We did make it back into Chaing Rai a few times for some night market shopping. R even took us up to the Myanmar boarder and then over to the Golden Triangle where Laos, Thailand and Burma (Myanmar) meet and you can by t-shirts. We spend a day on the river with R and his captain Kitty-dash oh a teak long tail boat. On our way down river we stopped and visited a small village, I think Kitty-dash need to refresh his opium supply…ahh that put us at ease.

That’s all I can write for today but I promise to add pictures when I get home this evening. I have just been informed there is a teacher dinner after work, although it is at a pork restaurant… “so, you can eat some rice and soup”. Yay!

First day of the new semester

2011-03-02T11:44:00.001+09:00

So here I am sitting at my desk waiting to find out my schedule for the new semester. As is usual I have no idea what is expected of me today but I hear there is a dinner after school followed by Karaoke. We have new English text books in all four grades and I have been given three of them. There is a CD that goes with each but I have yet to see that, so at the moment I can only stare at the pretty pictures and try to guess at the lessons.

The past two months of not teaching, except for that weird week in February, were by far the most enjoyable here in Korea. Ooops, I spent three of those weeks in Thailand that may have been a mistake because I really liked it there. I also attended a training in Masan on co-teaching and really enjoyed working with other teachers and being on a university campus. I then headed off to lecture for the incoming English teachers, and although that was exhausting is was a great experience and I would do it again.

So it is time to start thinking about next year and trying to figure out were to go and what to do. Do I stay in Korea and pursue a university position or do I look to other countries for a different challenge and experience? I do like Korea, especially the pay, and could see myself staying a bit longer. I definitely would like to live in a slightly larger city and teach university level students.

The most disgusting thing ever...

2011-02-15T21:19:00.000+09:00

I have to interupt my Thailand story to inform you of my dinner tonight. While at a training session for Korean and Native English teachers I was convinced to try a Korean delicacy called Hongeo (홍어). It's flavor can best be described as stinky pee rotted fish, it is basically fermented skate or ray and it is like an ammonia explosion in your mouth.

Thailand continued...

2011-02-14T23:14:00.001+09:00

January 16^th

Sunday morning I woke to find Heather had already headed off to breakfast, she was still battling the time shift. I found her at the bar, okay well that is where our breakfast was served buffet style. It was made up of your traditional western breakfast options plus some curry, rice and meats along with strong coffee. Many Asian cultures don’t eat much differently at breakfast; Koreans are like that, usually its rice and kimchi for breakfast and maybe some soup. We leisurely discussed our vacation options. We did not have much of a plan; some time with my Aunt and Uncle in Chiang Rai and a good chunk of time at the beach. The day before leaving I received an email from Pa informing me that M and R (Aunt and Uncle) had a fight and that she had left with his passport, money and truck. As I had not heard directly from either of them, Heather and I discussed our options. The original plan was for me to call M on our arrival in Bangkok but now we were not sure if we wanted to be involved or if anyone would actually answer our calls. My first reaction was to just not call anyone and feign busyness as an excuse for not making contact but our curiosity got the better of us. We had to find out the real story. That morning I called M on her cell, she was in fact in Bangkok and would love to meet up for a late lunch. That gave me and Heather some time to wonder around the streets of Bangkok, shop for some clothes and generally get lost in the smells and visual delights of the city. We met M at the bar outside our hotel that afternoon. Over cocktails she recounted the story of her exodus from Chiang Rai, the details of which I will leave to your imagination but it did involve much alcohol and broken furniture. She said she left in fear of her life…but would we mind returning a few things. M was obviously distraught and angry over the situation but eager to maintain contact, and apparently not fearful for us to still go up for a visit. We moved across the street for a late lunch and a bottle of wine. We had the most amazing mushroom appetizer (spicy and absolutely delicious baked in oil and garlic in some kind of cast iron pan) accompanied by deep fried calamari with sweet chili sauce. She insisted that we go and enjoy her wonderful home, she gave me R’s passport, CC, Driver’s license, some cash and the keys to the truck to return. I was a bit worried that our vacation was turning into some kind of family drama, I certainly did not drag Heather half way round the world to deal with someone else’s mess. Heather on the other hand was worried about me, that I might be uncomfortable being the courier for such important documents and other people’s money. I told Heather it did not really bother me, and that if it was too weird when we got up to Chiang Rai we could just head off on our own adventure from there. We talked to R on the phone (M’s phone by the way, as they were still talking everyday) and told him we would make our way up north over the next couple of days.

Wonderful food stalls

Kitty with broken paw and cast

Fish in boiling oil of some kind....hmmm

hot dog anyone?

January 17^th

Monday

Heather was up and gone again before I drug myself out of bed at 8am. I headed down to the bar, I mean breakfast, and found Heather at a table with a young man who was gently stroking her hand and having what seemed like an intimate conversation. I plonked myself down at the table with inquisitive eyes to discover the said gentleman had in fact been at the bar all night. He was informing Heather of his need to spread joy and happiness in the world, and how his mission is life was to bring more smiles to people’s faces. He immediately turned to me and grabbed my hand, oh boy…one of those drunken fools. He turned out to be harmless and actually somewhat interesting; he was himself an English teacher just arrived in Bangkok for a new position.

We decided that before leaving Bangkok we needed to make a bigger dent in the shopping sector and headed straight for the markets where we had found the best deals the day before while mostly pricing items and getting the lay of the land. To our dismay none of the shops were open, I guess most tourists don’t start shopping before 9am, but we were ready to head out of the city and see a little more of Thailand. Finally we found a shop that was just opening its doors, and were able to spend quite a bit of time and money in there.

We packed up our luggage and hailed a taxi from in front of our hotel and headed to the train station. We wanted to start the journey north and stop in the ancient capital of Ayutthaya. Our cab driver convinced us to stop at the TAT (Tourist Authority of Thailand) and get our train tickets there. Oh my goodness, what a colossal waist of time. And the guy took forever (a Canadian mind you) vaguely asking what our plans were, hinting and half answering questions, booking and re-booking train tickets...unsuccessfully mind you. When we finally walked out of there , all we had were train tickets to the Ayutthaya (which we could have gotten for half the price 20 yards down the road at the train depot and two nights accommodation at a guest house. What we had wanted were over night sleeping car tickets to Chiang Mai. The TAT office sent us across the street through the back gate of the train yard. A non English speaking guard pointed us in the direction of a track indicating what we thought was our train. We had a good 45 minutes to waist before our train left, so we snacked on mandarin oranges and joked about the emptiness of the train platform. It got a little eerie and 15 minutes before our train was set to depart we got a little antsy. Should there be people getting on the train, or at least waiting to get on the train. We got on the train, thinking we might as well pick our seats. Finally I looked at Heather and said, "I really don't think this is our train." Heather jumped off to ask one of the few people we had seen near our train and sure enough we were 5 tracks away from our platform and out train was due to leave in 3 minutes. We high tailed it across the tracks. You can walk across the tracks in Thailand, there are no rules. The train guard saw us running and flagged us on, Heather hopped on first and as my foot hit the step the train pulled out of the station. Pppphhheww, stupid foreigners...at least that was the mental message I swear I could hear from the other passengers.

our deserted platform

Uummm Heather, somethings wrong...

When we arrived in Ayutthaya there was a pearly pink tuk-tuk waiting to take us to Baan Eve, our guest house. Upon arrival we were greeted by a giant dog, asked if we were hungry, fed and told to wait...for what? Apparently the room we were supposed to stay in was having problems with the toilet and they were waiting for the mechanic to fix the problem, (hey that's what they said!). We were taken down the road to her sisters place, which turned out to be a rather nice hostel. What a day, we were whiped out and it wasn't even time for bed. We walked to the other side of town, which was sort of an island, they had put a mote all the way around town. We found a place for a light super and walked on down to the night market. I think we were both in such a daze it was hard to take it all in, we sat across from a temple and listened to the temple dogs argue with each other. I managed to eat some frogs, (not just the legs mind you) and we split a large beer (or two).

Dogs that greeted us at Baan Eve

Waiting...just cuz that's what you do in Thailand

Were we ended up

Temple across from the night market.

Thailand

2011-02-08T19:38:00.000+09:00

All right I am going to post this in installments, so as to not exhaust you the reader and because it will take me that long to write about the entire trip. So this is just the departure Korea and arrival in Bangkok.

January 14^th

The adventure began on a Friday. I had my last conversation class, which I desperately tried to stay mentally present through. Luckily I had invited the students to my apartment for pizza, chicken and movies. We had a great time, they happily played card games, helped me order the food and watched most of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The last students left my apartment around noon leaving me all afternoon to pack and finish my “homework” before catching the last bus to Daegu. The plan was to get he midnight “slow” train from Daegu to Seoul arriving around 4:30am, wait an hour and then ride the new subway line into the airport. The were many waiting periods in this journey, I had three hours to hang about Daegu (luckily Lindsey met me for a coffee). There were no real hitches in the plan, other than I was unable to fall asleep on the train (probably the coffee) and so arrived at the airport in that surreal state of haziness. I managed to check in and make my way through customs without too much of a hassle. My first stop was a quick layover in Beijing, China, and maybe it was the knowledge that I could not leave the airport, or the security cameras lurking around every corner, or the fact that I could not make comments on my facebook page but it was a bit creepy. Security was tight to say the least and I found it hard to get the guards to smile at me, although I did have a chuckle with one after I went through the rescan your bag check, even tough I hadn’t been anywhere but there airplane since the last check. I went to reach for my bag the same moment he did, it turned out he was just trying to hand it to me, but since I spoke no Chinese and he no English we sort of danced back and forth for a moment. I was glad to board my last flight be on the final leg of the journey, soon to meet up with Heather and start the adventure for real.

Student party!

January 15^th

We had arranged to meet at a hotel in downtown Bangkok. Heather had arrived the night before, and I theoretically knew how to get to the hotel from the airport. I decided to take the easiest and probably most expensive way, taxi. I thought at least this way I will get dropped off at the hotel. Little did I know that our hotel was in the middle of tourist central, and that the street was blocked from traffic. My taxi driver dropped me at the end of the road poured me out and pointed in a general direction. As I wondered in a sleep-deprived state, street venders, tourist and sundry others past me, I scarcely avoided running into and over people. Knowing I was not at my best, I hoped I would magically wonder into the Buddy Hotel. After what seemed like an endless street of lights, food and clothing I did navigate my way into the hotel and found myself stuck behind some strangers who where trying to check in, or find rooms. I was saved when Heather appeared and whisked me away to our room. The excitement of seeing Heather must have woken me right up because after dropping off my luggage (and a quick shower) we headed out into the madness. We wanted to eat some genuine street food. I had suffered shots just to be able to eat food from street vendors, non of that fancy-smancy tourist food for us. The biggest problem was the choices were too many. Every 10 ft a new food cart filled with different selections, I finally told Heather I was in no mental state to make a decision…being that she had been in the country a whole 20 hours more than me, she was in charge. She wisely chose to start with a traditional Pad Thai, I added seafood and egg to mine…and it was delicious, I had to add a little more heat to it (I guess we looked like foreigners). We wondered around Khao San Road (the tourist trap area) and took in the sights and smells of the city.


Welcome to our room

Heather in the back of a Tuk Tuk

Home

2011-02-04T17:24:00.000+09:00

I am home from Thailand and once I decompress I will tell you all about it. I will say it was amazing, beautiful and a much needed warm up. I have the weekend to re-acclimate and then back to school Monday for a week of students and then a week of training for me followed by a week of me training others!

Winter Ramblings

2011-01-09T18:54:00.005+09:00

I feel like I have been hibernating for winter. It is cold here now and it has been consistently cold for at least a month. Several people warned me that Korea was cold and although I am not about to call them liars I have seen colder weather, I just don’t usually spend so much time out in it. Not to mention the Korean obsession with airing things out, doors and windows are constantly left open, releasing any stored up heat. It is the official winter break at school although I am still trying to grasp what that means. Some schools are open, some children come everyday…although I am not sure what they are doing…and some schools are empty with only a teacher present to watch the building, in case some student comes in to study? I had one sort of disastrous week of camp, and one amusing week.

The disastrous week started with snow. I walk to the bus station to discover the buses were not running, my co-teacher told me “you better stay home”. Day two, still snow on the ground and no buses…but I could hear the panic in my co-teacher’s voice. Jessica teacher, you come with me. I told her, if the buses were not running then I was not comfortable going by taxi or another teacher’s car. She said me neither, but follow me. We ended up riding with another teacher, and it bothered me all day that I did not put my foot down, wishy-washy behavior only leads to trouble. Half way through the day 2/3 of the students that had arrived for the day went back home and we had lunch early so most of the teachers could go home, except me and my teaching assistant. Let’s just say I was feeling my nunchi had failed me and I was generally irked. I tried to shake the feeling all morning, trying to convince myself it didn’t matter, but I couldn’t help but feel like I was being treated unfairly…and it bothered me. After lunch the teachers were all sat drinking “coppee” and I kept hearing my name, accompanied by side glances, nods and much conversation. Finally I had enough and all shame and couth left me, I blurted out, “I know you are talking about me, what are you discussing?” The head teacher, who treats me like the dirt under her shoe (okay a little exaggeration but that morning it is how I felt), tells me they are deciding how I will get to school tomorrow if the buses do not run, and she tells me I will need to take a taxi. If there is snow the other teachers wont be able to make it and you will need to get here. I ask if the school will reimburse me for the ride, and after a brief discussion, she tells me no. The taxi ride is $20 (one way) so both ways that is more than ½ my pay for the day. She could tell I was upset and to add insult to injury she added, "...by the way we will not be paying you for Monday…since you did not come." Luckily for all of us there was no more snow that week and we limped along through camp with about ½ the number of kids expected. The kids and I had fun, we played some games, watched some movies and talked about music but it was a real battle for me to maintain a positive attitude toward the camp…and I am sad that I could not let go of the feeling of being used rather than wanted.


cute camp kid

teacher it's snowing

The kids took my camera and ran around taking pictures

The amusing week could have been disastrous too but the biggest difference is that I feel wanted and respected at this school. They still forget to tell me things or wait until the last minute to inform me of days off or changes in schedules but it is just easier for me to roll with the punches at this school. I have two weeks of conversation class in the mornings, and originally it was going to be 4 hours with about 22 students, I asked if we could have smaller groups and they split the class into two groups. (See an example of the school listening to me and meeting my needs) I showed up for class Monday morning to find the school under construction, the classrooms gutted and the room I thought we were having class in blocked off by desks. I found the make shift office in the cafeteria and the office workers provided me with “coppee” and looked very surprised to see me. I thought maybe class was canceled and someone had forgotten to tell me. Some students showed up and the key to the science room was found and off we went through the maze of construction, ripped up floors, burning chemicals and confused looking construction workers. I kept expecting them to shoe us out of the school, it all looked like a dangerous place to be. But we had class amidst the construction zone, and I just had to chuckle. I mean talk about distractions and the basics of classroom management, if they expected me to do anything really productive they had to be kidding…and really they don’t. I just had to let go of any expectations of what we might accomplish in these two weeks and just try to engage the students in conversation and fun activities. If it were a little warmer outside I think I would just stay out with students all day. We did go to eat at a local street stall one afternoon, and I took a small group on a trip to Hapcheon, about 20 minutes by bus. I videoed the students telling me things about food and Korea, we even visited the local grocery store and went back to my house for hot chocolate.

Class in the science room

Outside the school

Inside: there are nails sticking straight out of the ground

Hot coco at my house, and yes my tree is till up!

I have one more week of class and then it is off to Thailand for nearly three weeks. I am excited to get warm and recharge my batteries for the next semester. I feel like it is going to busy, and I will have to start thinking about the next step. Stay in Korea and try to get a university job, move to a new country and teach English, go back to Arkansas, or go to England…hmmm? I keep thinking of going back to school, again…but I am not entirely sure what for, or if I even need to, it would be some sort of international program (social justice, education, policy, even world economics/politics). Just sort of rolling things around in my head…I have a sudden desire to live in as many different countries as possible.

Oh I forgot to mention the science room flooded on Wednesday...did they send us home and cancel class, no way? We were sent to the teacher's office and sort of had class there. The students were sat at the teacher's desks loaded to the brim with distractions and barely able to see me over the computers and piles of stuff stacked on the desks.

크리스마스 in 합천

2011-01-02T23:09:00.000+09:00

It was a merry and jolly Christmas followed by a crazy week of snow, canceled buses and my first winter camp. The Koreans didn't seem to pay much attention to Christmas except for trees in store windows and a Santa delivering fried chicken Christmas morning. I managed to roast 3 chickens and a trey of potatoes for the 12 guests that stayed at my place to celebrate the day. I even managed to put up a tree, star and all.


Pre-star and blue ornaments


Light display


Summer being bossed around by our Korean waitress/cook


Dinner Christmas Eve


Billy, Ashli and Summer


Small green bottles are soju...a national sport in Korea, they are serious about drinking


Christmas morning


Christmas night


You can see the star I made on the top of the tree!


Sweeping the snow off the roads

The buses that didn't go

Nunchi 눈치

2010-12-27T22:42:00.001+09:00

To me it is the art of knowing. Reading a situation and just knowing what to do without being told. It allows you to act without direction, and it is what out Korean coworkers do not understand that we lack. I received a great compliment from a friend the other day, who said "Jessica you have Nunchi." After reading about it, I had a revelation. It explains a lot about the trouble some westerners have over here. I have always had "nunchi" now I live in a culture that requires it to function successfully.

Existential Crisis (but not really)

2010-12-19T18:27:00.000+09:00

So my life has be full tilt since my arrival in Korea four months ago. The speed of things did not allow much time for reflecting on the consequence or motive behind moving to the other side of the planet. Some small, yet very persuasive voice inside my head was adamant this was the right move for me at this point in my life. The funny part is that I had really just achieved or reached the place in my life where I felt I was doing really well, my class was amazing, the school year a great success and I could have coasted from there...for at least a few years. I think it was that potential for coasting that scared and motivated me, now that I had really started to move in the right direction...I wanted to move further and faster. My life time-line sped up in front of my eyes and there was almost a panic to get things done. What had I spent the last ten years doing? It was tempting to make excuses and start in with the "I should have's..." I dove into the change and next chapter of my life and now that I have surfaced I find myself in South Korea standing on the bank of the river watching the ducks swim across. It made me wax philosophical watching them head for the bank on the side, only to enter the rivers current and be pushed downstream. Sometimes I get so stuck on thinking that what I see on the bank on the other side of the river is what I want, only to realize as I am half way out that is not what awaits me on the other side. There is no turning back and no point in panicking, the ducks seemed perfectly calm and at ease with their journey across the river. So here I am crossing the river, and I kind of like the fact that I am not sure when I will reach the bank or what I will find there.

I have had a some deep and meaningful conversations about education and world politics. I have met people who have been living this traveling life for a while and they have had some amazing experiences. I have been asked to present at the next EPIK orientation, and this is very exciting and quite frighting. I feel the weight of responsibility of presenting something of value and meaning. So things are moving, and I am moving along with them. New and exciting opportunities constantly arise and I am taking as many of them as possible.

Christmas is less than a week away, and for the first time in years I am excited (about Christmas, I am often excited about other things). Friends are traveling from around Korea to spend the weekend at my house, we will cook, eat, drink, play silly games and enjoy the company of each other. I found my Christmas spirit, all it took was being far away from people I love to realize how important they are to me. So although there are many people that I am missing this holiday season, when I do see you I will have so much to share, so many stories to tell, and we will really enjoy and cherish the time we have.


Some of my pink sweatered boys

Festival Performance

They choreographed the dances themselves!

Summer and I went to Myongdong in Seoul, the shopping district

From the Christmas dinner in Seoul

Joel peaking over Santa's shoulder


Dinner

Rachel digging in

Smile

2010-12-09T23:37:00.000+09:00

A universal truth...people like other people who smile. I think one of the reasons my schools like me so much is that when I am in doubt I smile, it makes most everything better. (I usually giggle too, especially when nervous)

Finding the good life in Korea

2010-12-07T09:54:00.001+09:00

Life is too short to not take the opportunities that present themselves in your life. When are you going to do all those things you put off? Those of you that know me well might be surprised that I struggle with this concept, being that I have taken my life in a new and exciting direction with seeming complete abandon. We worry, we plan, we sometimes focus on the things that we are missing rather than see that which is staring us in the face. Life is a daily experience. I feel grateful for my life and experiences and I am excited about the possibilities of tomorrow. I have no idea what direction or even country I may be in this time next year but I hope I continue to embrace each day and experience with open eyes and a warm heart.

Being here in Korea has done wonders for my adventurous spirit, each weekend is a new adventure and a new challenge. The teaching itself is a lesson in the universal truths of people and their similarities rather than differences. The students I teach are inquisitive, hopeful, funny and as is traditional in all middle school students totally uninterested in being in school. I have learned to communicate through subtleties and body language, and been surprised how easy it is communicate without verbal language. I even look at streets and transportation differently, sometimes having to navigate public transportation without being entirely sure that I am going the right way. I have learned to trust myself and my intuition to a greater extent. It is also important to go with the flow and let go of preconceived ideas of how things ought to be. Mostly I feel that I am living more rather than waiting for things to happen or reacting to them after the fact.

Life is good.

Still here

2010-11-28T21:05:00.001+09:00

Although I know there is much discussion on the news life is still moving along at the same pace here in Hapcheon. Nobody around me seems particularly concerned about North Korea and the impending invasion, maybe we are all suffering from a mild case of denial. Also Hapcheon is a small town far away from anything worth blowing up...although there is a pretty nifty little movie park that I visited today. They actually use it to film Korean films and TV shows, it is fun to walk down different streets that change decades around every corner. It was eerily quiet today but fun to walk around on a beautiful Sunday morning.

This weekend I had a Thanksgiving feast at my apartment, good food and good friends. Next weekend off to Seoul for a Christmas party, if it is still there.

Photos from Leticia's fabulous camera

2010-11-21T12:28:00.002+09:00

Meditation walk

Shopping in the Hapcheon market

This lady was sooo happy to see us, did she know me???

Dinner at Ori Ori

Just some photos that I took from Leticia Facebook page!

This weeks pictures

2010-11-21T12:12:00.000+09:00

See my new couch! Alana and Soekie hanging out in my apartment.

Leticia, computing

Lindsey in purple!

Here we come!

Giant replica of the wooden blocks that are stored here at Haeinsa

The last of the fall colours where still hanging on, a beautiful day.

Posers

It's a wishing tree, so leave a rock.

Meditational Labyrinth

Beautiful Ladies at Haeinsa temple.

Wishing rocks

The view

I love the tourists flying in formation bellow us!

...just hold this...and then press the button (camera lessons)

Finally the trail

So I decided not to hike all the way up the mountain and went back to wonder around the temple grounds, this modern sculpture was entitled infinity.

Saturday was performance day for Ssangchaek my Friday school, and my favorite students, probably because the classes are so small and I can get to know them all, the school reminds me a little of Clear Spring too.

Jin Su in the purple tie, one of my favorite co-teachers, he is not just handsome but also an amazing teacher and his love for teaching and his students is clear in everything he does!

Sooo cute

My 3rd graders, Karen this one is for you...they played four different bells songs, NO music it was beautiful.

The school band, 4th -6th grade.

Big dance number

4th Grade class, did I mention I love these students!

The cutest skit ever, and perfect for these girls, the 5th grade class.

I think it was about playing together and not fighting, it was all in Korean.

Big finale guitar number.

Did I mention I love these kids, I only get to see them on Fridays...but what a great way to end the week.

I am sad that I forgot to take pictures at the dinner party I had last night. It was great fun and a good mix of people, a few Korean families and a chance for us Native teachers to hang out together. I think we are going to try to make in a monthly thing.

Brrr

2010-11-17T16:10:00.000+09:00

It is not so much that it is colder here in Korea than it was back in Arkansas, it is that buildings are not kept warm. The school doors are left wide open and rooms are "aired out" every couple of hours. Oh Korea you embrace technology in such fickle ways!

At the moment I am avoiding real work because all the teachers are off playing volleyball again. I had a lovely weekend at home this past week. A few of my EPIK friends made it to Hapcheon to visit me. They were jealous of my small town life and large apartment, while I envy their big city stores and restaurants. Didn't I just teach my student's the lesson 'the grass is always greener on the other side'? It was great to entertain at home, my oven had just arrived in the mail that afternoon...so we made cookies that evening! Sunday we ventured off the local Temple and joined thousands (at least that is what it felt like) of Koreans hiking Mt. Gaya. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful weekend. I am now opening Jessica's guest house, so come and visit.

Tonight I am headed to Jinju to shop and eat with one of my co-teachers. I know it is a Wednesday night! But she is giving me a ride and I will get to stay in Jinju at her house and have a ride in to school the next day! This weekend will be spent at home again, Saturday I am hosting a party for the local English teachers and the following weekend a Thanksgiving Dinner at my house. Tis the holiday season and I have never been so eager to celebrate. Moving to Korea brought out the Christmas spirit in me!

I have officially been in Korea for three months now, it is no longer a vacation...ask any passport office, 90 days Visa's are pretty standard.

Seoraksan

2010-11-09T22:22:00.002+09:00

It was a fabulous weekend, the scenery was breathtaking and the company great. I made it up the "easy" trail, hmmm nothing easy about it, took a cable car up the side of a mountain, strolled through the autumn leaves in an exceptionally beautiful valley and experienced for the first time the traditional Korean bath house. What a weekend.

Arriving at Seoul Station

G20 Summit Art Walls Hongik University area

Dinner!

...hmmm I thought Korea was conservative?

Bibimbap...lunch

Many of the Fall colors had hung around for our trip: did you know Korea has FOUR seasons!

There's a monk in that there cave!

Me and Buddha

If your going to push your friends off the cliff make sure no one is watching.

This friendly group helped us order some fish and then insisted we try some of their Korean rice wine.

Shopping and Eating

2010-11-01T21:20:00.001+09:00

Apparently that is what I do here in Korea, shop and eat! So lets get down to business.

Ori, Ori...delicious duck cooked at your table and you eat it wrapped in lettuce and topped with your choice of Korean nibbley bits, such as garlic, onion, Kimchi (of course), and hot peppers.

The cold weather has arrived and I did not bring nearly enough winter stuff so I had to go on a shopping spree. I headed off to Daegu for an afternoon that turned into and evening and then an overnight trip. I discovered the joys of the traditional Korean marketplace. The weekly market here in Hapcheon is nothing compared to permanent one in Daegu. There is an entire street called Sock street!

The fancy hotel I treated myself too!

On my way to shop

Well the Korean ladies love me and my money...they were so funny, trying to sell me their wears and so happy and smily. I must have been a real sucker. I managed to buy most of the things I needed, including a comforter, jacket, warm pants, sweaters, skirts and a hiking backpack. I even managed to cart it all home on the bus.

Socks!

Would you like some meat?

This butcher was on the side of the road and that table is literally sticking out into the side walk. Food is definitely treated differently here, people spread out their produce on a tarp and sell it to you off the side of the road. Much more like a farmers market and I like to think it is all fresher...no shipping or second or third markets (hands) to go through. Although it can be a little disconcerting as you watch people randomly spitting on the street and cars whizzing by...not to mention all the foot traffic, surely it is a little "dirty" but again Koreans are people who suffer from very few allergies. So maybe it is the random dirt that is missing form our American diet making us susceptible to weird allergies and intolerances.

The Holy Grail of Shopping

...a little Kitty crazy!

fish

scary fish

dried fish

...and the difference in price??...eyeball size!

Not dry fish!

I know, I know that is a lot of pictures of fish...but man they were all over the place. This was just a small selection of the fish for sale. Entire stores were dedicated to different types of dried fish...of all shapes and sizes. There were other stores for tuber-wear lids, entire streets or avenues where dedicated to particular kinds of things.

Chicken and innards

I could not bring myself to take pictures of the live animal section, I just walked away quickly pretending I did not see that street...but I could hear all the cute animals calling to me (yes I imagined them all as cute), I did not give into the temptation, they do still eat dog I just couldn't face that reality.

This woman grabbed me after I cruzed her food stand and sat me down...

Mmmm this is what she fed me, some kind of noodle soup.

I will definitely be making a return trip to the traditional market. Oooh I even bought really cute silverware, and I had a personal assistant who followed me around his house-wears store informing me of the origin of all his products and making funny noises when I obviously wondered into someone else's section...kind of like the hotter and colder game.

Monday

2010-10-25T16:00:00.002+09:00

It is the beginning of a new week. I woke in kind of a dream state, my alarm went off but I was dreaming about waking up, not really doing it. I did manage to actually get up and get myself out of the apartment in time to catch the 8am bus. I have decided to use Aesops Fables in class, they are short, can make you think and are universal. Today I used Androcles and the Lion. I actually had fun in class today, although many of the students still just sit like lumps in their chairs there are a few, more than before who actually try and participate with the lesson. I just have to wrap my head around more games that use little to no materials and get everyone to participate. They did actually seem like they were trying today. Every afternoon they have a cleaning period for about 20 minutes, today I stood in the hall and watched them mill around, happy and chatting while actually getting their jobs done. I didn't see any of the teachers having to coerse or repremand students, and they all seemed to be doing something. There were the obvious ones taking more time to walk across the school yard, or kicking the trash they were collecting...but it all got done. I really like these students!

I was able to video chat with some friends from home, it was nice and reassuring to see that things are still there and mostly the same. Although it did make me a little sad, and wonder when will I go home, or will it reach a point when this feels like home. I think the lack of autonomy in my job has been the hardest to deal with, but in some ways I have more freedom in what I actually do just little freedom in when I do it.

The camcorder I purchased in Seoul has turned out to be a great idea, hopefully I can get better at video editing but it is easy to get the students to perform in front of a camera.

Adventures in Seoul

2010-10-20T17:32:00.003+09:00

It is official I want to move to the "big" city. Seoul is great, clean, safe and fun.

I went for the 2010 PAC-KOTESOL Pan-Asia International Conference. Meaning ESL/EFL teachers both native English speakers and "multi-lingual" speakers. The conference itself was great, there were many amazing lectures and workshops and of course a few duds. Overall the impression I got was that people like me, are a drain on the system and ought to be replaced with better trained Korean teachers. I agree. Admittedly I do actually have teaching experience and so they are not getting such a bad deal there, but it would be better if I spoke Korean. Many of the guest English teachers are not trained in teaching and may or may not be an asset to their schools. Of course all the teachers who came in my group were amazing and are of course doing an incredible job. I just have to wonder if the Korean government is spending it's money wisely. The Korean students are by no means fluent by the end of their high school education, and compared to other asian countries a lot of money is invested for little product or outcome. The big question is why? There are many factors it seems (look I am an expert already) the mono-culture that is Korea, that lack of places where English is used in country and the basic fear Koreans have of not sounding "perfect" in their English. A large portion of the conference was dedicated to the importance of respecting cultures and not replacing them with western values, all very interesting.

They let me leave my school early on Friday so that I could travel to Seoul. It is a four hour bus ride from Hapcheon, but being an adventurer I decided to take the bus to Daegu and the express KTX train from there to Seoul. It took about the same time including changing stations, and the train is a much more pleasant ride. I had no problem getting to my hotel from the train depot and had enough time to explore Itaewon, the touristy and western part of Seoul. I had a lovely seafood alfredo pasta and a glass of wine. There were so many restaurants to choose from I almost couldn't decide. At the conference I met quite a few teachers who inspired and motivated me, hopefully we will keep in touch. I have got to get my act together and get a university job. As much as I like Hapcheon and I am really enjoying my students I would really like to be in a bigger city. I got plenty of small town in Eureka, I am ready for some city living. One of the nicest things about Korea is the safety factor, can you imagine being able to stroll around downtown New York, Chicago or London by yourself (as a woman) and feel totally safe even late at night!

View from Kaya Hotel Seoul

Just in case!

Dinner in Itaewon

I little reminder of home

fancy wet wipes!

My dinner is looking at me

Mushroom soup-divine

Japanese fusion restaurant...yum

I thought I was getting a chocolate brownie, but no...it was this huge bread thing!

My afterschool class

Look I'm teaching...one student is listening

Mr personality, he really is a blast

Ummm....what am I teaching???

I notice that most of my pictures revolve around food.

I promise!

2010-10-20T15:33:00.000+09:00

I will write about my weekend in Seoul and this weeks adventures. I bought a video camera so I may be able to upload some clips if I can figure it all out. I have to make a run to the post office, then I promise to update you on my week.

This week in photos

2010-10-10T15:43:00.001+09:00

I found chips I actually like. They have an amazing selection of chips/crisps, but most of them seem to be different types of spicy; hot, firey, super dooper hot, so hot your tongue will fall off...etc.

These are a few photos from our "hiking" trip and picnic by the dam. The other teachers really enjoyed laughing at me and them plied me with makgeolli (sounds like broccoli with an m), the Korean rice wine.

Some sort of fruit offering??

Group before: Math teacher green shirt right side!

Mr Good morning, that is all he says to me everyday, no matter the time!

Serious about the hike, she passed us going up and coming down!

Wow this is kinda steep.

Oh my now this is steep, and it got steeper!

The spread, look at that meat!

Makgeolli

They are serious about this meal.

Then today at the festival in Hapcheon I met up with the kids from Ssangcheck Elementary and their fourth grade teacher. It was the big day for the jump rope contest, they had been practicing for weeks. They only managed 3 jumps and were heartbroken. Chogye Elementary, one of my other schools did very well...I think they came in first or second and did maybe 80 jumps, in practice they had done about 170 in one go!

Chogye Elementary

Foot Volleyball!

Practice

Ready

Dancing Hapcheon Ladies

Food

Yes they eat whale

A Gentle Hike?

2010-10-08T14:35:00.001+09:00

I was invited this week to go hiking with the teachers at my middle school. The students were having their mid-term exams early in the week and I was told I could go home after lunch or join the teachers on a hike. Koreans are a little obsessed about hiking, or at least the gear that goes along with it, there are at least four outdoor stores in my little town alone. One of my fellow EPIK teachers remarked it would probably be a short walk on a prefab trail, not real hiking. Oh contraire, we drove out to the dam near Hapcheon and parked beside a small yet beautiful temple and proceeded directly up the mountain behind it. The trail was steep but well marked...at first. Then came the rock climbing, well sort of. About half way up it turned into a vertical scramble up the rocks. I had brought my camera and had to stop often to take "scenic" photos. My main co-teacher kept asking "are you okay, do you want to go back down?" She kept suggesting we stop for a rest, and secretly hoping the others would start there descent down...I got the distinct impression she did not really like hiking. When we did start our descent my leg muscle did that thing were they go all shaking and you feel at any moment they might stop working all together.

We all headed to an outdoor restaurant where they light a fire "in" your table and brought great hunks of bacon out to cook, real Korean barbeque. The male teachers decided that is was time to initiate the foreign teacher and brought me a bowl of moccali (sounds like broccoli) which is rice wine. It was a nice and relaxing evening, they all seemed to get along and truly enjoy each others company for the evening. At some point it was decided time to leave and then the game of who gives the foreigner a ride. I just have to trust others at moments like this, that they will remember I have no idea how to get home and can't communicate with the general public. There is often discussion that is quite obviously about me and then some decision is made and I am ushered off with a group of people...and I am not always certain if we are off home or on some other adventure.

Tonight I am off to Jinju to stay with the high school English teacher, we are going to a conference tomorrow for ESL teachers and it also happens to be Lantern Festival in Jinju, so I am excited about that.

Weekends!

2010-10-04T00:48:00.001+09:00

Just back from Daegu and another fun weekend of friends, adventures and shopping. As each week passes I get a little more confident and a little more settled. It is beginning to feel like my life and not just some temporary state between lives. This weekend I stayed in a Love Motel, bought Doc Martens and saw Eat, Pray, Love. The movie made me reflective, the boots made me smile and well the love motel made me laugh. So many of us EPIK teachers left our lives behind to embark on this adventure. In Eureka I had so many good things surrounding me, a house that I own, a close family and wonderful friends; so what was it that was missing? Why did I feel that I needed to challenge myself and force some deep internal change? I think I am glad that I am here, I know this experience is good for me on so many levels. I keep pushing myself closer to something, I just hope I find out what that is soon.

Leticia

Konglish

The Boots

"Love" Motel

The End of Another Week

2010-10-01T16:33:00.004+09:00

Well it's Friday again, and that puts a little spring in my step. I don't really want to live for Friday's, ideally I would enjoy the entire week. My week is full of manic moments going from feeling like the best English teacher in the world ever, to a complete and utter failure.

This week most of my classes were canceled on Thursday. I had just one 3rd grade class and my after school "club/class" at the middle school. So I had all morning to find fun games and powerpoints that went with the ooh so bland lesson in the book. I thought the class went well, the students were responsive...did some TPR (total physical response) activities, some interactive powerpoints...yell out the saying suggested by the picture, reviewed the lesson and played two games. Phew makes me tired just thinking about it. The teacher and students were happy and smiling as they left.

This is where the weird politics of Korean culture come in to play, add to that third party translation of issues and well you have the makings of total miscommunication. I have ready many blogs and postings in the last month from foreign English teachers, some whining and some preaching about being overworked or the general lack of communication in the workplace and the total lack of direction or job description. I consider myself a reasonable person with an excellent (most of the time) work ethic. I pride myself on a job well done, I enjoy being successful at the task put before me, so I am not a slacker…in fact I resent the possible implication. Are there times when I sit at my computer and cruse facebook? Do I spend part of my day searching out cool and exciting trips in Korea? Yes, I do. I do these things because it is better than putting my head on my desk and sleeping as many Korean teachers do, I have found as many powerpoints, games and activities as I could possibly use for the week. I do these things because I have been given no help or instruction as to what more I could be doing. I tried to plan lessons myself, but for three out of five days this in unwanted. Jessica teacher, please follow the book. Anyway back to the point, my assistant in the English Center at the middle school came to tell me I could not leave 15 minutes early on Wednesdays, oh and by the way the head teacher said could you please study the book some more. So the leaving early issue, I had been instructed to take the 8am bus to Chogye, it gets me to school at 8:20am. I was informed my working day was 8:30-4:30, the only issue being there is a 4:20 and a 4:50pm bus home. There is also a later bus in the morning at 8:20 but that gets me to school at 8:40am. Ten minutes here and there at the end of the day, not a really a big deal. I usually sit at the bus stop and people watch. Well this Wednesday my afternoon class was canceled so I worked on lessons all afternoon, and then began to fantasize about taking the 4:20 bus home. All the regular teachers had gone to the gym to play volleyball and so I asked my assistant if she thought I could catch the earlier bus. You would think I asked to take an entire day off, I mean we are talking about 15 minutes, she shook her head… "oh no, no, no head teacher to ask, I think you stay.” Well fine I didn’t want to upset anyone, its only 15 minutes, well plus the 20 minutes to wait for the next bus. On Thursday there was apparently a discussion between the assistant and head teacher about my leaving early and hence the “reprimand” (at least that is what it felt like to me) and the “you should study the book more” comment. Well I was crushed, and mostly frustrated. I was not going to take it, I marched myself up to the head teachers classroom to have it out with her. I mean if you are going to complain about the job I am doing, at least have the decency to tell me what you expect of me, and tell me to my face. She was busy with class, so I tried to ask if we could talk later, oh no Jessica teacher talk now, no time later. It turned in to the usual comedy routine, “Jessica teacher, other teachers they stay till 5pm” I could feel my dander rising, you are not about to tell me I have to stay later now, it is not my fault that Korean teachers have different contract hours to me. Then she launched into "you get here too early." What? “You here at 8:20, too early.” Apparently my early arrival has been bothering people. I was only here that bloody early because that is when I was told me to arrive. So now I am supposed to take the later bus in the morning and still take the 4:50 bus home. Problem solved, well sort of. The book she wants me study, is in Korean…as in all the instructions. It is an English text book, but it is written for Korean teachers. I have in fact spent many hours searching for lesson translation so I can at least understand the instructions to the activities. I was told to ask my assistant for the lesson translation. After an hour she came back to tell me there were no translations for those lessons. I already knew that!

Busan Part 2

2010-09-29T15:26:00.001+09:00

So my early night in the hotel was a little more exciting than planed. I sat out on the balcony with a giant ice-cream napoleon and a bottle of wine (they did not sell it by the glass and I assumed I could take whatever was left in the bottle to my room). Inside some older Korean men were thoroughly enjoying the live music. There is just something amusing about watching professional types make fools of themselves with complete abandon. They were the only ones in the restaurant and yet they stood two feet in front of the stage singing along at the top of their lungs. They spied me through the glass and my fait was sealed. They insisted I join them, and although I had been enjoying the solitude and in the interest if inter-cultural exchange I thought I would at least try to converse with them for a while. Well it was all quite hilarious, they spoke enough English between them to ask why I was in

Korea

and what I thought. They were jovial and friendly without being too pushy or drunk.

I don't know if it was the seafood or the wine, or maybe the ocean but I woke up in the middle of the night and could not get back to sleep, I felt awful...like, is this what it feels like to die? And then the mental panic, I don't have my health card yet, how do I get to the hospital, I can't even find any over the counter medicine that I recognize...I willed myself back to sleep and survived till morning. When I did finally wake I had a stuffed up noise, a sore throat and a general under the weather feeling, good thing it was Saturday and I had all day to make it home. I took my time packing and getting dressed. I decided to try taking the train from Busan to Daegu to avoid some of the windy roads. I was truly impressed with my ability to get to the train station, procure a ticket, find the platform and board the correct train without a hitch. It is amazing what you start paying attention to when the language on signs means very little. You look to see what people are doing, who or what are they waiting for? The train was the KTX and it was much more pleasant than the bus, I would still have to ride the bus but the trip to Hapcheon from Daegu is a little less than an hour and not too hilly. I easily transferred by metro to the correct bus terminal and purchased my ticket home, the bus was in its stall and I boarded and relaxed into my seat happy to be close to "home". The bus departed the station about 10 minutes early and it began to occur to me that that was a little odd. I mean how did they know everyone was on the bus? Then the creeping suspicion that I was on the wrong bus. What to do? My bag was under the bus neatly stowed, even if I got the bus driver to stop I doubted I could explain about my luggage. Maybe it was the right bus, I was afraid to find out...I decided to sit back and see where I ended up. I mean it was Saturday and I didn't have to be back till Sunday, worst case scenario I would have to spend the night in some other town and head back to Daegu in the morning. It was early enough that I could wait for a return bus that evening, but where is the adventure in that? After a full hour is was clear I was not going to Hapcheon, but I was still in the right province so I couldn't be that far away. When we began to pull into town I realized we were in Jinju, about another 45 minutes south of Hapcheon, and I have been here before. I knew there would be several buses directly to Hapcheon, so it would be no problem getting home. If I had felt better I might have explored some more of the city, but as it was my head was getting stuffier and all I could think about was a hot bath and bed. I had to wait about an hour for the next bus which got me into Hapcheon just after dark. Oh I was so happy to reach home, relieved my vacation had not been extended and a little wiser about double checking bus names!

My Busan Adventure Part 1

2010-09-28T11:16:00.001+09:00

It was definitely time to get out of the small town and explore a "big" city. My town Hapcheon is great, in an experience the real Korea way. It is hard to avoid with the lack of western comforts and such. The trip itself to Busan was easy. I showed up around 11:30 hoping for a spot on the noon bus. My co-teacher's had warned me the buses may be full and traffic could be awful, the 2 hour bus ride has been known to take up to 5 hours. There was a giant sign over the bus timetable (in Korean of course) but the ticket lady happily sold me a ticket and ushered me out the door. I sat near what I hoped was the loading zone for Busan and looked around for the waiting hoards of people. Vacant, quiet...eerily so. Then two of the other Englsih teachers showed, also headed out for the long weekend. We sort of deciphered that the schedule merely said buses will run as they show up...not on there normal hourly schedule. This was either a really good sign or a terribly bad one. Had we just missed the last bus, and that is why it was so quiet? At almost exactly noon the bus with 부산 (Busan) on it pulled up and five other people appeared and boarded the bus. We were off, the bus was practically empty, although we did pick up a few extras along the way. The traffic, non-existent, in fact we made it to the bus terninal in well less than two hours. The drive was windy and slow most of the trip, lessoning the enjoyment factor...so a little bus sick but with plenty of time to spare I arrived in Busan around 2pm. Luckily I had a Santa with me who could get me to the metro with a plan to meet later for dinner.

The metro in Korea is great, once you have figured how to get a ticket and through the turnstyle it is quick, clean and cheap. Once I emerged from the metro station I hailed a cab and gave him the directions to my hotel, which I had thought to print out ahead of time and in Korean. Unfortunately the hotel had recently changed names, I could tell he was a little confused and thought to mention the old name and presto the light went on and off we went. The hotel Illua was fancy and the people in reception spoke English. My room was heavenly, clean, plush, and with a real bed with a big soft comforter. It was definitely worth the slurge. I needed a little pampering after my survival month.

After a wonderful hot shower and a short nap I wondered on down to Haeundae Beach. It was a mere 5 minute stroll downhill from my hotel, and the main or most popular tourist beach in Busan. I met up with my friend from Hapcheon at Gecko's an American style bistro. The prices were high but the food was good and the meal even came with a real knife and fork! I had fish and chips, probably should have gone with a salad but I could not resist the temptation. We decided to venture into the downtown area for some real nightlife. Santa introduced me to the Old Record, a true Blues/Jazz bar in the midst of the clubbing and restaurant district. The bar was lined with vinyl and the bartender would play anthing he could find for you. It was a long night and I had to take a cab back to the hotel because the metro stops running at midnight.

I met up with some of the other EPIK teachers the next day and we spent three days laying on the sany beach, swimming in the ocean and exploring different parts of Busan. We had planned to go to SpaLand, the biggest Spa in Korea but unfortunately the day we went it was closed. Most Koreans were hidden at home with family enjoying Chusoek. The first day in the sun, I was so exhausted that I just lay there in the heat, feeling the sun fry my skin to a crispy red. In fact we all lay around until the sun disappeared and we realized how cold it was...this was also when I realized it was all uphill to my hotel.

On that Friday I abandoned my friends in the afternoon in search or some good sushi, I mean I am in the biggest fishing town in Korea I have to find some really good fish. Well the problem here is that you can not eat alone in Korea, it is just not done. All meals start as servings for two. After about an hour of walking I went in to a nice looking place overlooking the ocean and said Sushi please, they looked at me funny, tried to usher me out, explaining not for one, and I just insisted...yes just me, its okay I'll pay whatever I have to. So I sat by myself in a large room while they brought me cartloads of sushi, salad, chicken, potatoes, soup, kimchi...it seemed like it would never end. At about the third round, as I was slowing down, she brought me a cooked fish, and simply said "Korean fish" and left...it was the most delicious fish I have ever eaten. I left some much uneaten it was sad, but worth the experience. Full and happy I wondered back up the hill to my hotel ready to call it an early night, maybe dessert later in the hotel restaurant.

Planning

2010-09-26T22:05:00.000+09:00

I am putting together a presentation on famous people, putting up quotes and having the students guess who said it. I came cross this one and it made me laugh out loud.

"I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much."
Mother Teresa

I had a good week off in Busan, it was nice to get away. Now I am back in my apartment and preparing for the week. Things are definitely getting easier, doesn't mean I understand why I thought this was such a good idea, I know why I thought this would be good just not sure why I went through with it, surely I could have carried on in my safe world and made some changes there. I really hope it is worth it, that I can realize something amazing...or find a truly amazing job that makes my journey here worth the struggle.

Busan is a great beach town, and with enough western touches to remind me of home and give a little comfort. Now I am back to the country town and my lesson planning. It is challenging to get my mind around what will work best. I can't "talk" to the students. It is a 45 minute burst of activity based on simple expressions and games entertaining enough to involve the entire class. At the end of the day I want to feel like they have gained some English, or come confidence in using it. Tomorrow is the beginning of the real thing. No more excuses of learning the ropes and it is down to work for a solid three months.

Busan Photos

2010-09-26T16:53:00.001+09:00

I will try to summarize the trip later but for now photos will have to tell the story. It was a great adventure, I am glad to be home...I am a little sunburned, stuffy and under the weather at the moment but I did manage to make guacamole this afternoon so that made me happy.


Sundown


My hotel with the green roof left of center


View from Gecko's

Old Record


Beach


Matt and Joel


Caitlin


Sandy feet

Out on the town

Table changed colors

View from my room

Meet your dinner


Fish market

Best fish I have ever eaten!

Fish peer Haeundae Beach