A Teacher's Journey

Thanksgiving Abroad

2010-11-24T20:36:00.001-08:00

This is my third Thanksgiving spent here in Korea. The first I celebrated with a good friend and a turkey sub... then a few days later a "traditional" dinner with new friends. Last year I celebrated with 3 of my closest friends over here. It was probably the closest to home it's ever felt like here. Even if we were eating a fancy dinner at a hotel. This year I'm going to cook a turkey burger and a sweet potato and call it a night.

I've said before and I'll say it again this is the hardest day of the year for me to be away from home. I miss friends and family. I miss eating my Mom's sweet potato casserole. This year I was prepared for those feelings. Thankfully unlike the first year I was here lunch at school was something I really liked. The principal also remembered that this wasn't the easiest day for me so she stopped by to check on me and wish me a happy thanksgiving. Sometimes it's the little things. Even my co-teachers didn't remember that today was a holiday for me. Christmas and New Years we get the days off so it's not as rough. I can skype friends and family and get a feeling of closeness with the ones I love. Thanksgiving I have to work. Today I'm teaching 5 classes at 3 different levels. Which is good it's keeping me busy. I also worked out the schedule so I didn't have to talk about Thanksgiving with the students today. It's all about the planning with this sort of thing.

I took a challenge from an old friend this month. List one thing I'm thankful everyday. It hasn't been easy. It has however reminded me that I am truly lucky and blessed. Which is what Thanksgiving is about at the root. Not the food. Not the football. Not the Parade. Being Thankful for what you have been given.
So here is my partial list... still have a few days to go.

1: My family, that I have parents who love and support me no matter what crazy idea I come up with.

2: Danny D: She's been there for me through just about everything and continues to be. She's my longest relationship outside of my biological family and most likely the first person to hear any major news in my life.

3: My students both past and present, they make me want to be a better teacher and add joy to my life.

4: My job, even if I do complain about my current co teacher, I have to say I'm very thankful that I have a job and it's one that I love. Too many people I know currently are unable to find work much less work that they love. I'm grateful that I have both.

5: Today I am thankful for quiet Friday afternoons where I can both nap at my desk and plan for the next week.

6: Fast and cheap trains here in Korea... easiest way to get to Seoul for the weekend.

7. NMH even if I haven't been the best Alumni for a while. Somethings are the same whenever you get a group of us together regardless of class, culture or language.

8. Hot Cocco on a cold morning.

9. Adam for his ability to make me laugh at myself and get past all the polite stuff to the basics...( ie. you just want someone to help you stay warm in the cold months. )

10. A thermos full of hot tea on cold and windy mornings. Works to warm both the insides and the hands.

11. Former students who remind me that I am a good teacher.

12. Ash for being the best little sister I never had. (Your Mama raised you right! Even if she hasn't quite grasped that you love and support your child no matter what.)

13. Relaxing weekends where you can sleep in till noon if you want to.

14. Crayons, markers, and being not so serious.

15. Living some place where I don't need to own a car.

16. Having colleagues around the world who inspire me.

17. The little 3rd grader who comes up to me every morning and grabs my hand as we walk to school and she practices her English.

18. That my eldest cousin had a healthy baby boy.

19.That I have a family that keeps growing.

20. Red wine and good friends

21. Being able to take multiple naps in a single day.

22.That one of my former college roommates and sorority sisters had a healthy baby girl.

23. My nephew Dylan... I don't get to see him much but I am thankful every day that he is a healthy and happy little boy.

24. Not the best thing to be thankful for but... it's official my current co-teacher will be leaving the school at the end of the term!

25. Family who has learned to not worry too much about me traveling the world.

Happy Thanksgiving from the land of kimchi.

Don't Panic!

2010-11-23T20:07:00.000-08:00

Really, don't. I know I've been here too long when news that there has been shelling along the North Korea border results in a "hmm.. really? ok." and that's the end of my reaction. My first year here there were some missile tests and that resulted in major panic from home. I was a bit nervous. When I talked to the Koreans about it they were so used to it that they were amused by my fear. Last year when the Cheonan was sunk. There was the first bit of actual worry amongst the Koreans I'd seen. Though there was also some anger in that. Now if you mention it basically you get a shrug and well that's just North Korea acting up again.

This one reminds me of 9/11 in some ways. The weekend after 9/11 I had plans to go to Atlanta from Augusta to spend time with friends. It was going to be a birthday weekend with people I'd grown close to. Then 9/11 happened and my family panicked. Why would you want to go to a big city where there are lots of targets to hit?!? They asked. They thought it wasn't smart for me to go. My response was if I change my plans and stop living my life out of fear then they have already won.
Same here. If I change my plans to go to Seoul and spend time with friends because there was a little artillery fire then fear has won.

Part of this whole adventure of living and teaching overseas is the facing of fear. Pushing boundaries, stretching my comfort zones. So I can't let my fears win. I'll be on the KTX on Saturday heading to Seoul. I'll then spend time with people I love there and have a great time.
Will I be cautious about some things yes. But I'm not going to let fear rule my life.

Sassafrass

2010-09-15T21:16:00.001-07:00

A little over 13 years ago I had just gotten my first apartment and was attempting to not get a pet for it. I was a year from graduating Marietta College and didn't know where I was going to end up after that. I was doing a summer internship on campus so I had a little extra time and a car so I figured I could go volunteer at the local Humane Society. I went with a friend there to find out about opportunities to help out. They gave us a tour of the facility, I was tempted by some of the dogs they had there but, could stick to my guns. I'd help out and then not get a pet. Then I walked into the cat room where there was a serious over crowding problem going on. I looked at all the little faces and I could feel my resistance wavering. Then I was about to leave this little paw shot out of a cage and hooked my shirt. I turned and the sweetest face was staring at me challenging me to leave her behind. I unhooked myself and asked why there was a red tag on the cage. That cage was scheduled to have all of it's occupants put to sleep in two days. They had been there a month and the shelter had a massive over crowding problem. I couldn't walk away but didn't know if I could have pets in my new place. I got a hold put on the whole cage all three kittens. I went home and called my landlady. She was okay with 1 cat but no dogs, so long as I got her fixed as soon as I could.
The next day I went to the shelter again and picked up my child. Even as a kitten she had "Sass" which is where her name Sassafrass came from. Over the years she was the best judge of people. I should have known when she didn't like someone to get them out of my life quick. The ones she loved, well she really loved them. My best friend since high school doesn't really like cats, but she loves Sass. Which is pretty impressive since when she would come and visit Sass would sleep on her head. (only person she ever did that too.)
Now 13 years later I'm having to say goodbye to Sassafrass. She was a great cat. She helped me study through the end of one college degree and a whole second one. She was always there in her way just cuddled up right next to me. It didn't matter where I was living, when she was there it was home. When I moved to Korea, I knew that at age 11 she was a bit too old to make the flight. Though she was great on car rides for the first 4 years of her life. So thankfully my parents were willing to take her in and give her a good home and company in the form of their 2 cats.
This summer while I was home I noticed how much slower she was at walking around my parents house. She wasn't chasing after the other cats as she had previously. She also wasn't walking up the stairs if she could. She would be walking along and her hind legs would suddenly give out and she would end up laying down where ever she was. I talked to the vet about choices of things that could be done to help her. There were a couple of different medicines that we could try but the arthritis in her knees combined with her hips had gotten too bad. So I made sure I said my goodbyes and held her a little tighter the last few days I was with her. I knew that this year when I made it home again she probably wouldn't be there.
Last night, I made one of the hardest choices. She had always been a proud and independent cat. I wasn't going to make her suffer. When the pain and deterioration had gotten to the point where she wasn't able to make it to the litter box and she was also not herself anymore. It's time. So Thursday morning September 16th, my child will make her final car ride with my mom. I wish I could be there and hold her one last time. I know it's the right choice, when the quality of life gets to a certain point it's time.
So goodbye Sass, I love you and I'll miss you.

Goodbye's and Hellos

2010-04-04T23:32:00.000-07:00

In the middle of February before I headed off to Bali I had a sad task I had to undertake. I had to say goodbye to several of my co-teachers I'd worked with since I started in Taegu. It was very bitter sweet because I know I will stay in contact with several of them but it is not as easy as when I could teach with Sunny every day or see Mr. Kim at Lunch. I also lost Mrs. Ye and Mrs. Gwon. This is part of life in Korean schools at the end of every school year teachers get reshuffled. Not only in the school to different grades but also to different schools. I knew it was coming but the mass exodus from the school of English speakers was a bit of a shock. I handled the good byes better than many of the Koreans did there was lots of tears and heartfelt speeches at the farewell dinner. I managed to not tear up then in front of the whole school. There were many, many comments from people that I was going to really miss Sunny. Which is true.I was going to miss her. I didn't realize how much till I came back to school after Bali and didn't see her there. I've met up with her once since then due to both of our busy schedules. Hopefully that will be remedied with a dinner soon.

I got two new co teachers this semester. One is only there two days a week and she has a desk in my office. She's pretty good and she's growing more and more confident as a teacher every day. Her English is good and she feels pretty comfortable around me. I have a feeling we're going to end up being friends as well as colleagues.

The other new teacher is my main co teacher. She's the one who is supposed to be responsible for me and make sure all my paperwork is taken care of. She also is my liaison and translator with the principal. I've been trying to put off saying much about her because I kept hoping that she would relax and start to be a better teacher. I knew that since she had just graduated college I was going to have to mentor her and help her become a better teacher. Unlike Sunny who we both had been teaching awhile and we knew the basic concepts and that there is nothing wrong with borrowing other teachers lesson plans and just tweaking them. She wants to reinvent the wheel with every lesson. She also writes out scripts in English that she memorizes before teaching class. Ad-libbing or having a discussion with the students in class has been curtailed because she doesn't feel comfortable with them. I've also had to simplify my language so it's only short and simple sentences. I've gone from having 5 or 6 fluent English speakers around to maybe 2. It's a huge shift. I know the students can see the differences and I'm trying to help her but she's still scared of me. I'm trying to think up ways to make her feel more comfortable around me and let me work with the students. The problem is she, I think, feels intimidated when I step in and start talking with the students and taking care of any behavior problems that have come up because the students (like students anywhere) can smell the fear of a new teacher. I'm hopeful that things will get better I just know it's not going to be as easy as it was.
The good news is she is no longer shaking with fear when she talks to me. Unlike the first week where I think she was going to pass out from fear. She shook like a leaf whenever I talked to her the first couple of days.
The other new teachers at the school are obviously nervous around me. I don't have much interaction with them since I'm no longer teaching the teachers. A few of the young ones are fun and I may build up a relationship with them but it's going to take a real effort on my part. The new 6-3 teacher Mr. Seok is slowly getting over his fear of me, which is nice since his classroom is next door to mine. I know he get's teased by many of the young female teachers and he's shy but I have a feeling he will relax and start joining in the joking soon enough.
There is just a lot of things for everyone to get used to with the new semester and hopefully everyone will relax and start getting along soon enough.

Bali: Part 2

2010-04-04T23:31:00.000-07:00

In Ubud I stayed in a great little hotel that is run by an adorable little old woman, called Oka Wati. Every morning breakfast was delivered to my patio at whatever time I'd asked for the night before. I fell in love with the green pancakes wrapped around bananas and a little coconut.

I developed a routine of having breakfast around 7:30 a swim around 8 along with reading by the pool for a couple hours. After that I would take off exploring with my camera, either on foot or by bike. One day I got a car and driver for a couple of hours who took me to the Elephant cave and a couple of temples. In the late afternoon after exploring I'd have a massage or a foot rub, since they were ridiculously cheap (about $7.00 for 1.5 hours). Then a beer at a restaurant with wifi to check in and make sure all was ok and everyone knew I was alive. A nice dinner and then maybe one of the traditional dance shows and to bed around 10pm. It was a very mellow part of the trip but culturally rich.

From Bali

Eventually, it was time to depart Ubud and I headed east to Candi Dasa. I spent my last days there enjoying a quiet beach and doing a little snorkeling.

Bali: Febuary 2010 Part 1: Kuta

2010-03-13T23:57:00.000-08:00

I flew out for Bali on a cold, snowy Monday evening in February. I'd already spent 6 hours in Inchon Airport so I was ready to go. Due to weather and that it was Lunar New Year I hadn't been able to take a later bus or train to Seoul. I had a direct flight from Seoul to Denpensar, Bali, Indonesia. By the time I'd landed in Bali after a time change and 8 hour flight it was 1am Bali time.
The initial steps off the plane were wonderful as the hot and humid topical air assaulted my winter ravaged senses. I could smell incense and spices in the air and feel my dry lungs and skin trying to suck the water out of the air as fast as possible. I think most of the flights in and out of DPS are in the middle of the night because the lines to get your visa were backed up. I managed after learning how to deal with lines in Korea find the line that was hidden behind a cashier where you paid for your visa and move through the Visa and immigration lines fairly quickly after making friends with two Korean families who defended our place in line from several groups of Japanese tourist who were trying to cut in. Then finally I grabbed my bag and headed out to figure out how to get a taxi to my hotel around 2:30 in the morning.
The next morning dawned way too early and I decided that after 24 hours of traveling I was allowed to relax and not do much the first day. I did get moving in time to get the free breakfast at the hotel. I then spent the day taking a relaxing walk up the beach, a stroll through Kuta and ending up with reading a book by the pool.
I made plans to hire a car for the next day to go zip lining after I'd found out that the wind and surf reports weren't looking good for para-sailing or kite boarding.
My second full day in Kuta I spent with a really nice driver who took me all over and made sure I got to see more than what had been planned on the itinerary. Once he found out I was interested in taking pictures he made sure to stop some extra places so I could get good shots of the valleys with the rice terraces.

From Bali

He also made sure I got to see one of three monkey forests on Bali. The one he took me to had bats also. These weren't your run of the mill little fruit bats either they were about a meter across when they had their wings extended. I had fun taking pictures of the macaques. The only problem that I seemed to develop while there was that I got overwhelmed with how many monkeys were there and trying to cut down the 600+ pictures of monkeys to a reasonable size has been a bit of a task.

From Bali

My last afternoon in Kuta I rented a boogie board and attempted a little surfing. Then I headed off about mid morning day 3 to Ubud up in the Central part of Bali. (I'll cover Udud and Candi Dasa in the next post about Bali.)

Three days in Beijing... plus the snowfall of the decade.

2010-01-10T21:47:00.001-08:00

The dawn of New Year's Day found me sitting at Inchon airport waiting for a flight to Beijing. By lunch time I had landed met my tour companions and tour guide. We then headed off to a restaurant to have Beijing duck. If the first meal was indicative of the rest of the trip, it was going to be good Chinese food the whole way. After lunch we headed off to Tienanmen Square to walk off the lunch. After seeing it on the news for years, I had never really grasped the size of it. It's HUGE! The wind was brisk but not too bad yet since we took a quick walk through and then headed for the Forbidden city that is right behind that famous picture of Mao.

From China

I quickly figured out that after my first introduction to travel in Israel included soldiers with sub machine guns, seeing military presences in foreign countries doesn't really surprise or scare me. There were plenty of guards and soldiers all over both Tienanmen and the Forbidden City.

From China

I could have easily spent days wandering through but I only got a couple of hours. It was really interesting how the emperors thought. They had to be near gods. So they had the largest houses, most concubines (3,000) and many, many gates to protect them from commoners.

From China

After that we headed for a tea house to warm up.

From China

One thing my time there taught me is while I may not like sweet tea I do enjoy many types of good hot tea.

From China

Then it was dinner time and then on to an Amazing Chinese Acrobatic show. By the time we finally landed at our hotel we were exhausted.

We started the second day with a nice breakfast while we watched a few flakes of snow fall outside our hotel. Then it was off to the Great Wall. No words for it either.

From China

Then on to the Ming Tombs.

From China

We wraped up the day with a wonderful dinner, a beer and then massages back at our hotel. Since we had one more long day on the schedule.

Day 3 started with watching very large flakes of snow accumulate. We loaded up our van with our luggage and then headed for the Temple of Heaven. Which was wonderful, we got to see some native Beijingers hanging out, dancing, playing and enjoying life.

From China

We also tried very hard not to slip and fall and the accumulating drifts.

From China

Then to a silk factory and later on to the Summer Palace. When it was built it was 30km outside the city where it was on a man made lake and much cooler than in the Forbidden city. Of course the irony of this was that it was covered in over a foot of snow that had been falling steadily all day.

From China

Later on we headed for the airport so we could catch our flight home to Korea. There was a slight catch in those plans. All of the flights out of China were canceled due to snow. Thankfully our super tour guide took great care of us. She got our flight rescheduled for the next morning. She also took care of getting us re booked into our hotel and a ride back there and back to the airport in the morning. By the time she was done taking care of us, we had dinner on the tour company and breakfast to go with us to the airport.
The short version of the final leg of the trip home was 20 hours and a plane, bus, train and finally taxi.

Typical Monday

2009-11-10T02:28:00.001-08:00

Mondays are usually my long day I'm at school by 8:05 because I have to be on the school English broadcast by 8:25am. Honestly I am usually typing out my book to read right before I go downstairs for it. This week I'd gotten everything done the week before so I was ready when I ran to the broadcast room at 8:20. I got there and the four students who usually run things were trying to set up. They'd had a few mistakes the last couple of weeks so I was going over things with them that might need to get checked. Then I started to read. The announcer was next to me and asking for a pen so while I was reading I quickly handed it to her. Then one of the 6th grade boys who is the president of the student body was acting silly on the other side of the camera trying to make me laugh. About the time the Third Billy Goat Gruff went across the bridge I had the two announcers both petting my hair cause they liked the curls. I somehow managed to get through the rest of the broadcast without losing it. There was one swift kick under the desk at one of the students petting my hair.
After the broadcast I come back to the English Center where I planed my lessons for the day with Miss. Kim. It was an easy lesson for the sixth grade so not much to worry about. We taught the three classes and nothing to strange happened, just the usual student antics. One of the classes got punished because they think they are the worst class. They are going to be better this month we hope because if they aren't they get to do a whole period of squats and chanting that they are the best class.
Lunch was the usual collection of young students really excited to see me and talk and older students trying to be cool.
Back in my office once more I was visited by three 6th grade girls who practice their English by helping me practice my Korean. They went over my homework for Korean class and then talked with me in English about Pepero day which is Wednesday.
I then had 2 periods to plan a lesson for the teachers. I used the books the school has assigned and came up with a short lesson that should have been relatively straight forward and easy. Of course nothing goes as planned. The class was to start at 3:30 and go for 20 minutes. My part got started around 4:00 and lasted till 4:20. My regular Miss Kim was out at a training so I got my old Miss Kim to translate for me. This lesson is done in front of the principal, Vice principal, head teachers and basically the whole faculty of the school.
The first round of giggles started when I made the comment that I really liked the next saying. It was "Are there any tickets available on the Monday morning flight to Atlanta?" I swear it was in the book and I didn't change it at all. Miss Kim turned and looked at me with wide eyes going Why?!? Do you like that! All the other teachers were partially confused because they don't all remember I'm from Atlanta. I said don't worry I'm not going to go home right now. I just like the idea of it. She then had to fill in everyone. Who started laughing at the idea that I was going to take off for home.
The next dialog I was teaching talked about wanting to take a trip to swim at the beach. I'd spent 30 minutes one day after school helping my translator for the day practice the right way to say "Bitch" (she'd been watching too much gossip girl.) So when we got to the line and all the teachers and principal said Beach as Bitch... there was laughter. Miss Kim then had to explain that this was one of those words where one letter mispronounced could make a HUGE difference. Of course in the middle of this one of the older female teachers who I really respect busted out with "OH! Son of a BITCH! Asah!" She had made the connection very loudly... and anyone who wasn't laughing before was then. I had to have them practice saying both words so they could hear and feel the difference in saying both of them. By the time I headed home at 4:30 I was exhausted. Having a cold, teaching, and trying to keep both students and teachers interested in English all day can be exhausting.

Love Motels

2009-11-08T21:25:00.001-08:00

From Busan with Desi

If you travel enough in Korea you will eventually stay in a "Love Motel" I just hadn't had the guts to do it yet. Mainly due to the stereotypes I had about them. I guess I should give a little background here. Koreans live with their families till they get married, unless they get into one of the SKY colleges (Big universities in Seoul.) So if they want to have sex outside of marriage or just before they get married they have devised many places to have a little privacy to do so. They have DVD bangs, which are rooms with huge padded sofas and big movie screens so you can either a) watch a movie or b) cuddle in private with your special someone. Then they have Love motels where pretty much all pretense of doing anything other than having sex is given up. They are designed for anonymity. Garages and parking lots have curtains or barriers up so that you can't recognize the cars that might be parked there. You check in and pay in cash through a small window so your face can't really be seen. There is a light up board with pictures of the rooms available and you choose your number pay the money and they hand you a key and toothbrushes.

From Busan with Desi

The rooms are pretty nice but you know they are designed with one thing in mind. Huge beds, nice tvs, large spa tubs and showers, and a selection of condoms and porn on the tv.
Desi and I stayed in one in Busan this weekend right near the beach, it was cheap, clean, and thankfully fairly sound proof once we closed the second set of doors. Since we were only going down for one night and most of the hotels in the area where we were spending most of our time cost over 200,000\ a night. A love motel at 120,000\ was a pretty good deal since it was less than a block from the beach. I may crash at a few more of them in the future, purely to save money and they are fairly nice so long as they have good sound proofing so you don't hear your neighbors all night.

ooops! this one too.

2009-11-05T14:38:00.000-08:00

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Diffrences between teaching in the US and South Korea.

Today has been one of those surreal sort of days. I was giving the practice golden bell quiz to the 5th grade. The schedule had been changed cause the 5th grade also was getting their yearly sex talk. I taught two periods of 5th then my one period of first graders. We were working on parts of the body because they are starting the clinic zone. The plan called for the students to label a cut out of a little boy and say the parts of the body. So I had kids coming up and sticking the labels on. This one little girl got up and stuck the label on for Arm. Then proudly turned around and shouted ARSE! The whole class responded "ARSE!" I somehow managed not to start giggling and then said arM! and the class after 2 more rounds of listen and repeat figured out it was an arM not and arse.
The next period it was back to the 5th grade. One of the boys, who actually is rather smart and good at English, decided while Sunny was out wrangling other students to draw an anatomically correct penis and testicles and label them. After he drew them he then turned his white board to me and asked if it was right.
I think the second he saw my face he knew he was in trouble... I told him to erase it and we'd talk about it after class. I sat down with him and explained that he was in trouble and that for a change I was going to punish him US style not Korean style. (Koreans still use corporal punishment.) He has to over night copy a poem in English 4 times. I gave him "A Picture Puzzle Piece" by shel silverstien to copy. Hopefully that will keep the drawings at bay. He actually came back after school to get the poem cause of course I don't keep things like that ready.

It's been a long day of having to really tighten down on the students. Hopefully the 6th grade boys being kicked out of the English Center except for class for 2 weeks will get them back in line.

Cheusock can not get here fast enough. I'm ready for a long weekend of travel with friends.

I'd forgotten to cross post these.

2009-11-05T14:34:00.000-08:00

Thursday, October 15, 2009

I'm a Conservative?

I get some interesting information some days by just sitting around forcing the Korean teachers to speak in English. Yesterday afternoon I was eating cake and talking to Sunny. We were talking about Halloween coming up and what I was going to do for it this year. I said as much as I love Halloween in the states, really wasn't planning on joining in on any of the craziness this year here. I knew there are things planned here, but after last year I realized that it probably wasn't the best idea. She asked me why I said that. I explained that I'd realized it really didn't help the cause of foreign teachers here to dress up and act foolish. That it just gives people a bad idea about us.

She then quickly looked up a word in Korean online and then said that I must be really conservative. I almost snorted my coffee out my nose. I explained that no I really wasn't conservative but I realized that I had to act more conservative here so that I could be respected. She said I was well liked by all the other teachers because I acted respectful of their culture.

I started thinking last night about how much I hide here. I don't just hide the big things but there are little things I change. I don't do it to be deceitful but I know that if they knew everything about me their opinion of me would change drastically. I know I'm not conservative but I know I act like one in someways here just so that I can be respected. Its one of the prices I pay to make sure that I'm seen as a real teacher not just a dancing monkey that most foreigners are seen as.

ok time to go teach... will work on this more later

Thursday, October 8, 2009

The Best Job in the World
My favorite co teacher is taking an English discussion course this fall. So of course I offered to help her with her homework and anything else I could do to make it a little easier on her. Yesterday's topic was the Best job in the world. I quickly threw out that I knew I had it. She was like "WHa?!?" I said I know I did... but then again it might just be the best job for me. This then followed with a mixture of discussion about why I loved it.
I started listing the reasons. 1. I get to travel and live in another country while getting paid for it. 2. I get to work with children which means I get to act like a kid about 75% of the time. 3. I have all the respect and perks of being a teacher with about a third of the paperwork I would have in the US. 4. I have a good schedule and a decent amount of time off.

About half way through she was agreeing with me. I do have the best job in the world. I told her my theory that if you don't like your job either you're in the wrong job or you're working in the wrong place. I'm wondering how the class went. I'm sure we'll talk about it a bit this morning as we get ready for to teach the 5th graders.

I blame this one on National Geograpic and my Parents

2009-11-04T22:43:00.000-08:00

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth but I have been very busy recently. Along with my regular teaching and trying to make sure I see my friends here in Daegu, I've been planning. Well, really planning, plotting, saving, reading, researching, and trying to make some general plans for this coming winter break. So where am I headed?
I leave New Years day for Beijing, China. It's a short 3 day 2 night tour but it covers the highlights. I'm going with a good friend here who will probably head home next fall, we wanted to do a big trip together before then. I've wanted to go to the Great Wall since I was in Elementary school. I would sit and read and look at the pictures in my parents National Geographics and think that I'd really like to see that but probably never would. Heck, I didn't really like the stir-fry when Mom made it so how would I survive traveling in a country where that was like most of what they ate. UGH! YUCK!! Not for me. Of course I grew up and I've discovered they eat a lot of different things and stir- fry is not the only thing. Of course when I was in seventh or eight grade... I can't remember which I just remember it was Social Studies with Mrs. Grierson. We talked about China and the riots in Tienanmen Square. I still had that hang up about the food but, kept thinking that would be so amazing to see. So now it's twenty years later and I just paid for my trip to Beijing. I'm actually going to see those things I sat and dreamed about when I was about 10 years old. Some of the people I've talked to about this have been going... um it's two months out... if you're this excited now you're going to be bouncing off the inside of the plane when the time gets here. I know... I'm working on trying to stay focused on work and not build it up too much... but the inner 10 year old is winning some days.

I'm also taking a second trip in mid or late January not sure which thanks to having to wait on my winter camp assignments from the DMOE. This one is more my Mom's fault. Around the time I started getting really burned out teaching in Atlanta, she handed me a book "Eat, Pray, Love" told me she thought I'd like it. What came from it is another little kernel of a dream to travel to Bali. Add in a couple of years of cold weather and craving a beach and warmth in the middle of winter and you have my second destination this winter. I'll be there for around a week and try to see a good chunk of the island and relax and get ready for the new school year with a new co-teacher.

Along with those two big trips I've been doing short trips to Busan and Seoul, trying to soak up as much as I can in short periods of time. This weekend I'm going to Busan on a "Girls Weekend" with Desi, since she'll be heading back to Atlanta for good in February. Hopefully the weather holds and we get sun and maybe something warmer than the 55 degrees it's been averaging most of this week.

New year, New Apartment. (also known as no more showering with the washing machine.)

2009-09-03T23:48:00.001-07:00

Here is a short Photo tour of my new place... staying on a second year does have it's perks.

I now have an electric lock on my door. I just have to remember the combination when it's time to get in.

Inside the door I now have a shoe closet so it doesn't look like a centipede lives in my place. I'm really enjoying these and might want them in whatever place I land next.

I have a much nicer Kitchen. The big black box over the sink is a dish drier/ sanitizer. Hopefully I'll figure out how to use it properly soon.

View from the doorway through the kitchen, through the bedroom, to the porch/ laundry area. The bathroom is on the left hand side.

My very blue bathroom, I like it except it's so dark that I have to be very careful if the lights aren't on.

View from my window. It's nice and in the evening I can here the call to meditation from the temple. The tree below my window is a persimmon tree. I'm hopeful I'm not allergic to it.

Counting Down

2009-07-22T02:08:00.001-07:00

I've been trying to keep it to a minimum but with tomorrow making it one week till I take off on a plane to the US, it's not easy. A week from today I will finish my last English camp and hop on a train to Seoul, then take the subway to Incheon, crash for the night in a hotel, and then grab a plane to Tokoyo and then on to Atlanta. To say I'm excited is an understatement. I'm ready to see my friends and family. It's been 11 months. Have things changed in the last 11 months, yes. But it will be good to see everyone.
I was thinking last night as I was eating a yummy bowl of bibimbap and some gu mandu that, I've come a long way. When I got here I had no clue how to order food in Korean. Much less what anything was. Now I can order food and know what I'm ordering. I also have made new friends, done some things I never would have thought about doing before, and generally had a good year.

I no longer feel like beating my head against the wall when I get told things that would have seemed totally asinine if I was in the US. For example, last week I was chatting with my co-teacher Sunny and we were talking about what needed to get done when I get back from the US. She said, she had bad news from the VP. I have to be in quarantine in my apartment when I get back. I can't go to school on that Wednesday like planned. Why? you ask. Because they are afraid I will be bringing Swine flu back with me. Now I might have been offended, if it was just me, but anyone, teachers or students, who go overseas during the vacation can't come back to school till they have been in Korea for at least 4 days. That gives me plenty of time to get over my jet lag. The nice and sweet part of this is that Sunny was mad cause she said she's going to miss me and want to see me after my vacation, she doesn't want to have to wait for the quarantine period.

I'm sure some of my vocabulary has changed. I have a bad feeling I'm going to answer someone in Korean when I first get home. I've just gotten in the habit when it's easy questions of just using Korean to make things easier and clear for the Koreans I'm around. I'm fairly sure I will answer some question I've been asked with a "Nay!" not a "Yes." My newest muttering of "I-go" will get some strange looks where as it is normal here. My "oye!" has slowly been changing. They are little things that I have noticed I picked up but they don't surprise me here. But the strangeness of them in Atlanta will be a bit of a shock.

I'm sure I will be having reverse culture shock. I'll probably bow at someone, yell out Anyoung haseo as I walk into a store. Things that are normal and expected here, but never done at home.

I also know, but I'm not sure how it will feel, that people and things at home have changed also. There has been a year of events, relationships, growth, etc. That has happened while I've been gone. It's tough to think about how my relationships with my friends are going to be different, I'm just visiting this trip. I no longer live there. My home, is in Daegu.

There will be questions about how many more years are you going to be in Korea? Answer: I don't know. Do I have my future planned out right now... nope. I just know that I've signed a contract saying that I will be teaching for the DMOE for the next year. I'm fine with that plan. But I know others will be interested in answers I don't have yet.

Is it time to worry yet?

2009-07-06T00:59:00.000-07:00

I've been jokingly asking Sunny since the first rumblings with North Korea started and she said don't worry about it. It's not a big deal. So every time something happens I ask her "Is it time to worry yet?" She always says "No, don't worry." Today at lunch I was eating with the 6th grade teachers and Sunny and I said ok I'm asking with everyone here. I then prefaced the question with there is a lot of coverage in the US papers and International news about North Korea doing things. After the missiles this weekend "Am I allowed to worry yet? I know my mom is worried and I'm going to have 3 weeks at home dealing with my mom worried about it." They all said nope. We'll tell you when it's time to worry. So then it was follow up question time. So if everyone else is worried how come you aren't worried? We're not worried cause we have the US Army here. Why would any one attack us when we have your army here? I was like... hold it. All of your men have to do military service and yet you are counting on the US Army? Yup.
Then they changed the topic. It was interesting. But as I've said before to people it's not time to worry. The South Koreans don't think it's a big deal so, all of us over here really aren't worrying.

Food thoughts

2009-06-28T03:11:00.000-07:00

After being here almost a year I've discovered a few things. Firstly my taste in food has expanded and changed. Over the last week I've tried a few new things and eaten somethings that I've learned I love. I"m sure my mother will have a small heart attack reading this next bit but. When I was at the Organic, Vegetarian, Korean buffet with some of the other teachers and the principal and VP I found and dug into one of the traditional foods I've developed a taste for. They are a type of mushroom that are cooked in a tempura batter and then covered with a sort of sweet and sour sauce. I also ate quite a few other mushroom dishes. There are so many different types of mushrooms here that I'm learning to like them. `I'm still not a fan of the plain old mushrooms that are slimy and everywhere in the US.

I've also developed a taste for this soybean and red pepper paste that is a main stay of Korean cooking. I've been really lucky. In recent weeks thanks to the cafetria being under construction I've been bringing my lunch. I've also been invited out to lunch or invited to have lunch with a couple of different grades. 6th grade took me out for noodles one rainy afternoon. They were wonderful but burnt the heck out of my mouth they were so hot. This past week one of the 1st grade teachers made Sunny and I lunch. It was wonderful. It was 2 different types of rice, the soybean/pepper paste, chicken, lettuce wraps, and homemade Kimchi, a cucumber and some red spice salad. It was wonderful. There has been a lot of talk around the school about how "Korean" I am. I was given a great complement by the Vice Principal she said I must have been Korean in the past because I have done so well at picking up customs and taking to the food.

I should probably talk a little about the soybean/ red pepper paste. When I first got here I could only tolerate a very little bit of it. Now I love the stuff. I slather it on when I have BBQ. I also have bought some to have a home to make a meal of it's wonderful.

This was dinner tonight, lettuce, rice and the paste. It's all that's needed. I'm wondering how my new taste buds are going to react to eating food back in the US. Are things that used to be too spicy be bland now? Is my body going to react well to the switch back to American food for 3 weeks? Just things I'm thinking about right now.

Shoes and Socks1

2009-06-16T20:40:00.001-07:00

Guess it's time for a cultural interlude. In Korea, like may Asian countries. You take your shoes off when you go inside many places. At school every morning my first stop is the shoe cabinet for teachers. Inside sit in nice neat rows the slippers or shoes for all the teachers at the school. I pull off my tennis shoes and slip on a pair of slippers and then head up stairs. Meanwhile the students go in two side doors where they take their school slippers out of the shoe bags they carry every day and put them on. Then they put their tennis shoes or whatever they are wearing in the bag. When they get outside the classroom there are rows of shelves where they line up their shoe bags. They wear their slippers all day with the exceptions of in a few classrooms. The English Center is one of those exceptions. Because the students sit on the floor they take off their slippers at the door. They then are supposed to line them up against the wall. They don't always get them perfect but since it has been part of the class score in the English center, they are getting better at it.
I've talked to a couple of students and they were telling me that if they wear their shoes inside at home their parents get really angry at them. They were asking me why we don't take our shoes off in the US. I said I think the difference is that our floors aren't heated.
One by product of all this time spent in slippers or without shoes on is that the socks here are really fancy. I have acquired a few pairs of fun socks while I've been here. I have a pair of Mickey Mouse ones that even have little ears that stick out. I also have a pair of Starbucks socks (copyrights aren't really respected here). The best pair I have so far are a pair I don't wear at school. I found some Obama socks the other day that I've been debating picking up and bringing home with me. You can find anything on socks. Most socks for kids are band members, cartoons, sports people, or just whatever current trend is going on. Adults tend towards simple patterns or plain. I figure I can always play the crazy American card and go for a mix of fun and plain socks at work most of the time.

Kidnapping at my school

2009-05-21T18:13:00.000-07:00

I waited to write about this till things have finally settled down about this here. About two weeks ago now I started hearing strange announcements during the school day. Sunny told me that one of the 3rd graders hadn't made it to school and the principal wanted to know if anyone knew anything about it. At the end of the class day the students all went home but the teachers walked around the area trying to find him. Around 4:30 when I go home I was walking down wondering what was going on and I found out that the student had escaped from where his hands, feet, mouth and eyes had been tapped and he'd been put in an abandoned house in another part of Daegu. The boy's father had been called for a ransom but the student had escaped and been heard by a neighbor and they got him to the police. He was back in school two days later but they still hadn't found the kidnapper. So for about a week I walked to school past crowds of police both in uniform and out. It was a little crazy. I know that the only reason I wasn't stared at harder was that every morning I'd walk with some students and they always came running at me and yelling my name.. so it filtered through the police ranks that I was the English teacher at the school so I wasn't a threat to the kids.
I heard yesterday that they finally caught the guy in Busan. I guess he'd run to a family members house. Through the whole thing I was thinking that I really hadn't appreciated amber alerts and such much till now. Cause there are no systems like that in place here in Korea.
I'm just glad the kid is back safe and sound with no major injuries. (though that is a relative statement cause I've got 3 students with casts on right now.) But he's actually really good no injuries and back happy and talkative in class.

Been Slammed

2009-05-21T17:59:00.001-07:00

Not sure where to start. There has been a lot going on over here. I've been grappling with getting to know the kids better and running head long into some of the same things I found in Atlanta. Kids learn what they see around them so if all they see are negative images of people other than Koreans they are going to pick them up. I had a child tell me that she likes Africans cause they are made of chocolate. I'm not sure if that is just the color she knows their skin is or if someone unthinking said that and it stuck with her. I showed her some pictures of my old students and she was trying told me they were all chocolate. It was then followed by a conversation about why their hair was in braids. I've been talking to a friend here who has it worse. His students pull on his skin and say "Yo, Man!" in greeting because that's what they see.

Then I have the joy of listening to and judging speech contests. I really hate that I feel like some of the kids got an unfair advantage because their homeroom teachers came to me and asked me to edit their speeches. Which I did happily. The ones who didn't had potential but the English was so bad it took away from their over all scores. I'm taking time these days to work with the students more on finding a rhythm and tone in how they speak. It's interesting to see the kids realize without fully understanding my words that you don't yell when you are asking someone for directions so it makes sense to speak in a normal voice while practicing. Some days teaching here is easy and fun others it's painful. Overall I love my students and I really enjoy working with them. The current class of 6th graders are really getting comfortable with me so they come in to my office and hang out and talk with me. The only downside of this is I'm picking up more and more Kpop references. I now can throw out singer and band references at them and cut them off before they start singing things like Super Junior at me.
I thought American kids were good little consumers but these Korean kids have them beat. They can rattle off cellphone ads, chicken ads, you name it. They also can do all the dances that go with the songs on command (I just had 3 girls doing the dance to that video in my office when they heard it playing.)

Time to get back to teaching... I'm staying in Daegu this weekend to go to a festival downtown and catch up on sleep. Next weekend I'm headed to Seoul. I'm going to really miss being able to hop on a train anytime I want to get anywhere when I go back to the States.

Korean questions

2009-04-23T23:16:00.000-07:00

There are certian questions Koreans always ask. They know that they aren't proper questions in other places but here they are. So as I was sitting at the accupuncturists on thursday afternoon. He was examining my ankle and heel and making small talk. He asked "I know you must get asked this all the time but, are you married?" My standard reply no, I'm not. A little while later after he'd put 6 needles in my ankle he started asking me about what exercise I do and did I know fleps? huh? Phelpsa? Ah... yes Micheal Phelps. Typical Korean pronunciation with an added vowel. It comes from how Hangul is written and spoken. It makes much more sense to me now that I've been studying Korean.
Then after twisting the needles and checking them. Every time he'd go out turn the lights off in the room, I'd hear him talking to the other doctor and nurse in Korean. He'd come back in with another set of questions. I started getting the feeling that even though his English is good he was going out and discussing my answers with the other doctor and looking up words to ask me another set of questions.
The last time he came in for my foot he took out the needles and asked if he could give me a treatment for my shape as service. For those of you who don't know service here is when you get something for free. So he wanted to stick me with another set of needles for free. I was like ok why not. Then he asks so what shape is your sister? I was like...um.. I don't have one. I have a brother. He's tall and thin like my father. He was then like what shape is your mother. Oh.. my mom... she's short and round. He palpitates my stomach and then pulls out the longest needle I've seen yet it was probably 5 inches long but as thin as fishing line. I got 4 of those in my stomach. Two on each side. I really find it funny. The doctor says I'm fat and gives me a free treatment to try and fix that. The school lunch ladies say I'm getting to skinny and need to eat more. Not sure which it is... but hey if the needles work I'm willing to go with it.
Anyway you put it my heel is feeling a bit better and the doctor is nice and it's not too expensive to go in and see him I'll go back on Monday for another round on my foot.

When in Korea....

2009-04-20T02:58:00.000-07:00

I hurt my heel probably a month ago. It didn't hurt except when I stood on it for long periods of time or walked a lot. I finally figured that it was time to do something about it. I talked to my Dad and he said western medicine the best I could hope for was a shot or cortisone or some pain medicine. I was like I've been popping Advil for weeks. That's not going to cut it. I'd heard a few teachers over here talk about going to get acupuncture. Why not I figured... how bad could it really be. A few needles in my foot or something. Eh, I could take it. So I walked into school and asked Miss Kim to help me find a Chinese Doctor to try it for my heel. We found a place after school today. The doctor actually spoke pretty good English. He did an ultrasound on my heel and there was nothing wrong with the bone. He checked a few things out. Then he said I needed to get a little acupuncture. I was like ok.
I was lead into another room where he stuck a bunch of needles in my heel. Then he played with them and it was like HOLY CRAP!!!! THat HURTS! About 15 minutes later he pulled them out and handed me something to drink. The first sip wasn't bad. Tasted sort of like molasses. Then as I continued to drink the liquid. It went from not bad to oh my lord that's nasty. Then he told me I had to take more of it after the next two meals.
We'll see how it goes I figure give it 24 hours and if I feel better. I'm supposed to go back on Thursday for another treatment.

No I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth

2009-04-19T22:57:00.000-07:00

I figure I should give a quick update as to why I've been MIA recently. It's called I have many better things to do in the nice weather than sit at my new computer and type up blogs. It's a beautiful spring here and I can't seem to get focused to write.

I also had my computer die so I had to replace that and figure out enough Korean to understand a Korean OS. I will hopefully get it switched to an English one soon.

Over all things are good here I just forget to blog. Hopefully I'll try to remember more often now that I have a new little netbook and there are plenty of fun things coming up.

Spring has Sprung!

2009-04-19T22:55:00.000-07:00

I've been busy the last few weeks with traveling to Suwon and keeping up with things down here in Daegu. My school is full of fun moments the current amusement is the students and teachers all practicing for Sports day on May first. From what I've seen of the rehearsals on the field at school I will be dying with laughter before it is over. The whole school does a group exercise that looks like a mix of Tai chi, stretches and tae kwon do.
On Friday I got a Flat Stanley from Kristy who I used to teach with at Benteen. She does the project yearly so I was excited to get to participate finally and be able to share with a few students in the US my experiences over here. I took Stan with me to meet up with Jamari for dinner. He got to see a bit of Downtown Daegu and enjoy a Kraze Burger. I'm going to be taking him around with me for a couple of weeks then I will send him back to Kristi's class with a few things from Korea.
Saturday was Korean class. I'm plodding along in it. I can do somethings pretty well but others I'm having troubles with. I don't really mind that. I've never been great with languages so I'm trying to be forgiving to myself, rather than the usual beating myself but with frustration. After class I took a wander around Daegu to take pictures of some of the spring flowers, and lanterns that are out for the festivals that are coming up.

I should probably mention that I did my renewal application last week. It was fairly easy. I really hope I get to stay here at Boykmyung Elementary. I've really grown to love the students and I enjoy the faculty. They are all trying hard to learn English and I know my struggles with Korean make them feel like I'm really making an effort to understand them better.

Korean Bullfights

2009-04-01T22:22:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I got together with a mixed group of Expats and Koreans. The group had arranged for 2 buses to go to Cheongdo, where there is a bullfighting festival. I got downtown and found the group and hopped a seat on the bus not sure what I was going to see but knowing that it was important for me to try something new. It's been one of the pieces of advice I got before I left home that I've found to be incredibly valuable. It was just to be open to everything. So even though I had heard lots of people going off about how cruel it would be and that it was wrong. I went with open eyes and an open mind.
There were many things that were typical to Korean festivals as I've learned. There are crowds that shove, food stalls, exhibits, bad singers and dancers. I wasn't there for those I wanted to see the action. We walked around before we went into the stadium and I saw where they were keeping the bulls before hand. It looked like a typical barn. Stalls with roofs, animals tied up so they didn't wander too far and lots of handlers making sure the bulls were ready for the fights. I watched for a minute and saw bulls being lead by ropes, and generally it looked like they were well cared for.
Then we walked into the stadium which was packed. We found some seats near the top with good sight lines to the ring.

Then the bulls were lead out and lined up with each other. Usually they weren't too happy about being near another bull so there was some pawing of the ground and snorting. Then the test of wills would start. It wasn't like they were charging each other they just butted heads and pushed against each other till one gave up and walked away. The one who stood their ground won.

It was interesting to see and hear the crowds cheering for bulls and the trainers were in the ring yelling at them like a corner coach would in a human fight. The ref was there to make sure the animals didn't get hurt and declare the winner.
After that the bulls were checked as they left the ring and another pair was lead in. It seemed fairly harmless... like too big jocks trying to get a cheerleader by showing who was stronger.
After we left the festival we went to a wine tunnel that had previously been a Japanese rail tunnel. It was pretty cool. I liked the persimmon wine and then we got to go back in the storage area where people normally aren't allowed. It's a nice sweet but dry white wine.

I picked up a couple of bottles for my apartment... I figure if I ever get visitors over here it'd be nice to have something other than soju to offer them.

Keeping in Touch while in Korea

2009-03-14T20:07:00.001-07:00

I had a couple of fun experiences in the last couple of days that show how easy it is if you want to to stay connected while overseas.

First yesterday on the bus I got the urge to write what was happening as I was riding. Then I was like crap I'm just going to have to retype this to get it from my itouch to my computer where I could post it or do something with it. Then I realized I could email from it to my home account. There is enough free wifi if you look for it to do that easily here. So here is a short bit of a typical bus ride for me.
Making friends on the bus.
It's good to let the little bent over old ladies on first. Then get smiles from the nuns as I stand so they can sit. This street is fun Buddhist shops on the right pet shops on the left. Everyone on the bus wondering what I'm doing typing on my itouch just observing the world. Its funny how normal this ride has become used to be in awe the whole way now it's normal to see everyone and the shops. I look out the window and try to practice what I just learned in Korean class and pick out characters from the signs. Still have a long way to go to get to the point where I can read a whole sign.

I also got to see my nephew the other morning as he was climbing and walking around. A web cam and skype makes keeping up with my family pretty easy. I talk to my parents weekly usually and I can call and see my friends back home, so long as I and they both remember that it's a 13 hour time difference.

Then this morning I got up and uploaded pictures and twitterd about my night. I replied to a friends tweet and got a reply to my gmail chat from a text message. I could text her back thanks to gchat being able to chat to cell phones in the US. If I really wanted to I could have then Skyped her and gotten to talk to her directly.

Between Twitter, Skype, Facebook, and my blogs I can keep everyone at home and they in return can keep me up to date with what is going on, with in reason... not everyone needs to know about that night in the norebang with the soju and the crowd of Expats.
Though they happen to all of us over here.

We also have nice nights like this one.

Happy Birthday Jamari!!!!

Someone thought this was a good idea.... why?

2009-03-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

It's a new semester her at BM (yes those are the initials of my school) Elementary. With it I got a new schedule, new co teachers and new students. As much as I respect and like my principal her latest idea is a bit of a train wreck at the moment. I have sixteen (yeah, you read that right SIXTEEN) co teachers now. That's the main English teacher, plus three 3rd grade teachers, three 5th grade teachers, two 4th grade teachers, two 1st grade teachers, two 2nd grade teachers, and three 6th grade teachers. I respect that every teacher has a different style of teaching, a different level of comfortableness with English, and every class is different. But to juggle that many different styles of teaching is a bit insane. This is the first full week of trying this schedule out. I'm thinking it needs to get a little work done on it. Like can we get one contact person for each grade... so I can do some co teaching and get some sort of plans set up?
So far I've had teachers sit with the students and take the class, hide in another part of my classroom, walk out of the room, attempt to co teach, and actually co teach. The last two are my favorite groups of teachers... well that and the ones who sit with the class and try to learn too. I can handle a class if I know they will at least help out with a few translations and the management.
Old Miss Kim and I had a heart to heart this morning about how I'd really like a contact person on each team... someone who is willing to meet with me once a week to go over plans and talk about how the class is going to run. I'm willing to meet with people after school and practice English with them so they feel more comfortable. Who knows if any of this will happen. I have a feeling that if the principal figures out how unhappy I am things will change a little. I don't want to kill her idea... just let me tweak it a little to make it work. I'm going to give it another week then I have a bad feeling I'm going to have to sit down and talk with my main co teachers Sunny and Miss Kim and maybe the principal about how we can make this work for everyone.
So far my ideas are one contact person per grade.. trying to track down 6 or maybe 7 teachers is a lot easier than 16. After school small group (each grade level even) short English lessons for the teachers. Focus these on whatever dialog is coming up and plans for the next class so we are all on the same page and they feel more confident with what we are doing.
I'm not sure what else I can do but I figure if I give it a real try they can't get too mad at me when I make my decisions about next year in May.

Road Trip to Seoul

2009-03-05T17:28:00.001-08:00

Last Saturday, Jamari had to go to Seoul to meet his friend Drew who was coming in from ATL for a visit. We decided to make it into a mini roadtrip with a visit to Seoul Grand park. I admittedly was playing Julie cruise director. I had wanted to go to an Art Museum for awhile and I'd heard the Korean Museum of Contemporary Art was pretty good. The park also has a Korean version of Disney World (Seoul Land) and a Zoo there. Plus it was only a half hour by subway from Seoul Station.
Jamari decided that he'd had enough teasing from me about being late that he showed up for the train 45 minutes early. I got there about 35 minutes early and had grabbed breakfast at the station when we ran into each other. Then it was a 2 hour KTX ride north to a station I've gotten to know very well recently. I really need to find out if there is a frequent rider program for the KTX since I've been on it so much recently.
On the way Desi started calling about joining us. We said we weren't waiting for her she could come and meet us at the park. (yes, we have both learned about waiting around and wasting time here.) So we hopped the subway (thank god it was one of the nicer lines and we had no transfers) and landed at the park. We then walked up to the place where you can get tickets for the tram, chairlift and, zoo.
I don't think I've said much about lines in Korea. If you let there be any space(like 4 inches even) between you and the person in front of you, it's a big enough space someone will slide in front of you. I made it through the line and with my limited Konglish got a set of tickets. Jamari got cut off by an ajshossi. We cleared out a whole section on the tram over to the museum. As much as Seoul is bigger and people there are more used to seeing foreigners it still is a reason for them to stare when you have a big black guy running around with a white girl.

I really enjoyed the museum... I wish I'd been able to take some pictures. There were several levels and we started at the top and worked our way down. The first gallery we went into was of Korean works from the 1920's through the 1970's (I think). Thanks to my recent trip to the DMZ and some of my studying of Korean history to understand that I got some of the pieces that were in there. They did a good job showing how the fracturing of the country and the wars had changed the people during that period. There was a beautiful landscape done by No Soo Hyeon that could have been done in the last few years even in the countryside. I've seen that same scene still playing out as I've traveled around. Then there were pictures of refuge life by Lim Eungsik from the 1950's that were amazing in how they framed the life of the refuges from the North as things were still happening during the Korean War (I think).
As we worked down the levels I got sucked into an exhibit done by a Korean who had fled to South America. His works were an interesting mix of typical Asian styles mixed with Aztec looking symbols.

The last exhibit we went through was current works done by young Korean artists... some were very brutal and I was like, ok I can only take about 2 minutes of that, and moved on. Others were much more peaceful and I could have stood infront of them studying them for much longer. There was one that was titled "Buddha and Jesus Enter the city of Seoul" by Lee Heung Duk that I would have loved to talk to some Koreans about cause I'm sure there are things I missed because I don't have a huge background in Korean pop culture but there was enough that I did get that was an interesting representation of the mix of cultures that are happening in Korea currently.

After we left the museum I took a few shots in the sculpture garden and we headed to the Zoo to meet up with Desi. I'm not sure who was on display at the zoo the animals or us foreigners. It was like we were the exhibit with out cages. I'm sure it is a beautiful zoo in the warmer weather. But the plant life was still a bit dead and some of the exhibits were closed due to construction.
It was a fun afternoon though cause all three of us got to be a bit silly and have fun. We eventually took the chairlift back down the hillside. Jamari is a bit scared of heights of it was fun for Desi and I to tease him since we both had recently rode chairlifts for skiing.
Eventually we met up with Drew after he found his way from the airport and we all hopped the KTX back down to Daegu where I went home and crashed and from the sounds of things they went out and had a rowdy night on the town.

I do have pictures I just need to upload them. So I'll add them in soon... hopefully.

The DMZ Trip

2009-02-22T21:53:00.001-08:00

I could talk about what I saw, and did. But really it's a place that means different things for different people. It's a place that shows how one people can be divided for over 50 years. The ribbons hanging near the Freedom Bridge are obviously new so it's not something that is going away. Growing up during the cold war, and remembering when Germany unified... it's strange to me that there are still places in the world where this isn't history... it's current events. They discovered a 4th tunnel to the South as recently as the 1990's. There is a modern train station that gets service from Seoul just waiting for a chance to be used. We drove past mine fields, and barbed wire dividing two groups that at one point were one country.
It was a really long day for me leaving my apartment in Daegu at 5am and not getting back till after 10pm. I figure the pictures will have to speak for themselves at this point.

Good explination about Korean Education

2009-02-15T15:59:00.001-08:00

I found this link through another blog but the video does a decent job of showing some of what goes on in English education here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwjt7zRiWOw

There are better and worse than what they showed... I kind of wish they would show a bit of what goes on from the Native teacher perspective... they all but ignored the idea that there are huge numbers of us over here working along side the Korean teachers to help with the English education in Korea.

Busan Recap

2009-02-05T17:00:00.001-08:00

I took the KTX down to Busan around the middle of the day cause I'd had to wait for my laundry to dry... yes one of the many issues with laundry here is it's air dry only. I got there figured out how to get to the subway and got a nice little charm for my cellphone that would also double as a fare card for the subway. I took the subway over to Haundae Beach and found my hotel, checked in and relaxed for a minute. Then grabbed my backpack and headed out to see what I could see around where I was staying and find a tourist information center. I've gotten pretty good at finding them and got an English map of Busan and while talking to the nice woman there found out about a city tour bus that would take me around the city stopping at many of the places I wanted to see for only 10,000 won a day. I then figured I'd wander through the aquarium. Honestly after the Georgia Aquarium which was done very well anything was probably going to be a let down... even more so for 16,000won. It was pretty good, just my personal bar for aquariums is very high. However there was a fun and cute exhibit of famous art work redone with fish as the main characters including Lady Liberty as a Penguine.

I wandered and had some street food for dinner and then took a long hot bath at my hotel. I also did my usual plan out the next day. After compareing the list of places I wanted to see from Lonely Planet and the route of the city tour bus I figured it would be a pretty good deal. I then set my alarm and crashed while watching some CNN (which is a perk for me since I don't have it at home.) The next morning I found a Dunkin Donuts grabbed some breakfast and went to the bus stop where the city tour bus would pick up and joined the crowd of young koreans standing around... it was kinda fun cause I've been here long enough I'm not always polite anymore about getting shoved from bus doors by ajumas and cut in lines. I fight back now. I grabbed my place in line and made sure I gave up my personal space like a good Korean and managed to cut off a pushy Ajuma who was obviously younger than me, as she tried to get on the bus infront of me. Sorry I'm not some just off the plane Meigook who can get run over. The bus driver smiled at it and was very kind to me as I gave him my money and got a card that allowed me to ride the bus all day. He also grabbed an English brochure and marked off the loops that were canceled and not running that day. I then watched the city fly by as I rode to the Olympic Sculpture garden. I got lost coming off the bus but eventually found it. I had a wonderful time freezing and taking pictures there. I will probably go back again with friends when it's warmer.

I then hopped the bus and rode downtown were I transfered to the other loop and stopped at the coast at some place called 75. I took a long time there hiking down to the ocean and taking pictures. It was a beautiful jagged coast with fishermen working lines and having fires on the coast. I also had a nice chat with a teacher from Seoul who was on vacation with her mother. She wanted to practice her English and since we were both waiting for the bus it wasn't a big deal. I took the last bus to my hotel eventually seeing a large chunck of the city. I also found mexican at a place called Fuzzy Navels.

That evening I was online at my hotel and got a message from the person I was supposed to crash with in Seoul that basicly sounded like she didn't really want me to stay there. I started replanning and decided to stay an extra day in Busan and just make it a day trip up to Seoul. (That also ment that I could stay up all night and watch Obama's innauguration.) So I called the front deask changed my plans and stayed up all night.
I then with my later start hopped the subway to the Jigalchi Fish market. I admittedly was a scaredly cat and didn't make it into the main market but saw somethings on the outside stalls that had me going what the heck is that. I also wandered through a traditional market north of there where I bought a spurlge and got a new leather coat. It was a rainy day so I didn't do a lot of outdoor things but had fun just wandering the city. Eventually I made it back to the hotel and crashed.
The next morning I got up checked out and grabbed the train back to Daegu.

Tour De Korea (Leg 1 Day 3)

2009-01-29T03:05:00.000-08:00

My final full day in Jeju I rented a car. Originally I'd planned on renting a scooter but the freezing temps made that idea rather fool hardy. I managed to talk to the front desk and they did the translating for me with the Avis guy. Due to the nature of multiple translators and such... it meant a late start for the day. I finally got out of the hotel parking lot around 11:30 with a car that ran on LPG (liquid propane gas) and had a Korean only navigation system that also told speed and where the radar traps were. In Korea they don't have cops sitting around with radar guns. They have specific places where they patrol by video camera. So these are all well documented. The little navigation system would start to beep and put a little circle up with the speed I needed to be at in it and when I made that speed going through the zone it would do a fun little ringing sound like getting points on a video game. It would also talk to me in Korean. I really did have fun back behind the wheel of a car again. Thankfully the signs on Jeju are in Korean, English and Japanesse. I was trying to just stay on the road that had the right number so I could go around the eastern side of the Island. I wanted to go to the haenyseo museum and see the women divers that have become very famous for free diving for more than 2 minutes at a time. I eventually found where I was headed and had a nice wander through the exhibits. Most of the gear they use looked like antiques from when diving was starting. I also had one of two really fun conversations there. I was looking at an exhibit and an slightly older gentleman approached me. "Roussian?" I looked at him like really? You serious? and responded "Anio, Meigook" (No, American) He then babbled something that was like oh really where? Why are you here?" I managed "Georgia, Sosingnym, Taegu" There were a few laughs... a big smile "Younglro Sosingnym?" "Nay" (English teacher? Yes) I understood he then wanted to know how many days I was there and I said 3. He turned around and walked off to his friends where I could tell he was recounting what he'd found out. 1. I wasn't a Russian hooker. 2. I was an English teacher in Taegu. 3. I liked Korea. I over heard the conversation replay and realized I was getting pretty good at understanding some Korean even if I can't really speak it yet or read it.

After that I drove a little further up the coast to an area that had lava tubes. I found the entrance and paid my fee to go in. As I walked down I saw the signs that crushed my hopes... no pictures. Crap! Ok... lets see what this is like. All of those geology classes in college had developed a decent interest in this sort of thing any way topped off by teaching earth science for a few years. I noticed that there wasn't much light down in the tube and they had signs saying they keep it dark for the protection of the tube. (Not sure if that was a bad translation or what.) I got to the bottom and started walking and realized this is one of those times when having a traveling companion would have been nice. Not a minute later I hear someone slip a little right behind me. I quickly turned around to see if I could help. I asked a woman if she was ok, as I reached a hand out to steady her. She nodded yes. Then asked if I was alone too. This was done in rather broken English and Korean. I was like yeah. She then using hand gestures asked if it was ok if we walked through together. Of course sure. She looked to be maybe 45 not Korean but some sort of Asian decent. (remember low lighting) As we walked (it was a mile long trip) we chatted in a mix of Korean, English, and Japanese. I knew a little Korean, and English. She knew a little Korean, a even less English, and Japanese. So with lots of hand gestures we covered that I was American living in Taegu, and a teacher. She was on vacation from Japan. We talked about geology and how neither of us had seen anything like that before. Now lava tunnels have very uneven floors with cracks and bumps and this one was damp and slick in some places. I did a good deal of walking across choosing paths then reaching a hand back to help her along. When we came out of the tunnel we said good bye and waved and smiled. It's those sorts of encounters that make traveling alone fun. I learned a little more about myself and communication.

I made it to Jeju city and had a nice dinner of bibimbap before heading to Loveland and the mysterious road. I'm not going to describe Loveland. It was fun and went along with Jeju being a place for honeymoons.

As it was getting dark I pulled out the map and figured out the quickest way back to the hotel was across the island. I miscalculated where the road went in comparison to Mt. Halla. I ended up driving over it, with snow, wind and curvy roads.
I got back to the side of the island the hotel was on and realized I needed to add propane to the tank. In Korea it's all full service, it's just a matter of finding a propane not a gas station. I found one managed to explain that I needed a fill up and for 8,000 won or so I refilled the propane tank in the trunk. It was pretty cool. I'll drive in Korea again, but not in the cities where driving is a competitive sport that makes Atlanta look like a leisurely stroll with Sunday drivers who are polite. Here driving is allowed on sidewalks, turn signals are used, but so are Hazards as you cut in front of a car with inches to spare. I've learned to just relax and ignore the taxi drivers' driving. I just watch the tv in the cab or try to not think about how close we were to just becoming part of that bus.
That wraps up Jeju, the next day I caught a plane back to Taegu and did laundry in preparation for my trip to Busan.

Tour De Korea (Leg 1)

2009-01-27T23:34:00.001-08:00

Unlike most of the EPIK teachers I decided not to take off for Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines. I stayed right here in Korea. I figured if I was going to save up the cash for a big trip later... stick it out here avoid the potential coups that were going on in various places and see what I could see here.
My first leg which was billed by all my co teachers as the "Hawaii of Korea" and I was told it would be warm and sunny and perfect to relax. Someone missed that it's still winter...
I landed at Jeju Airport around noon, where I was greeted as I stepped off the plane by snow. Yeah, let's just say... it wasn't very warm. I then took the limo bus over the the Hyatt and promptly took a hot shower... for the first time in months it felt like I was really warm all the way to my bones. (my bathroom in Daegu is an whole post of it's own.) Then I headed out. I'd gotten an English map of Jeju from the information booth in the airport which was handy. I just figured I'd wander up the street see a couple of the museums and then find a waterfall. My first stop was the Teddy Bear Museum. Anyone who has known me most of my life would know that I love teddy bears. I had a collection of over 60 diffrent ones at one point in my childhood. So as overwellmingly cute as it was it was also perfect for me.
I walked through the exhibits inside and stumbled upon a whole display case of Santa Bears! I had quite a few of these from Hudsons as I was growing up. I still have a few in storage back in Atlanta. Then I made it outside where it was bears gone wild. There were life size bears doing alsorts of crazy things. I spent probably a good two hours wandering and taking pictures.
Finally I left there and headed in the direction I figured I could find one of the many waterfalls that Jeju is famous for. I found it... and at probably one of the nicer times of day to find it. There were several ways you could aproach the waterfalls and I saw it from several angles.
Then I hiked back to my hotel and crashed after uploading a few pictures to flickr.

Day two dawned with a little more sun and a lot less wind. I consulted my trusty rusty map and figured that I could taxi it out to the far waterfall then hike to the closer one. After that cab it to E-mart where I could then see a few museums and the World cup stadium. I know not many people think hiking around an island getting lost is fun but I had fun doing it. I got a nice driver who spoke some english and between my lonely planet and the english map we made it to the first waterfall, jeongbang.
I then took a wandering hike following the coastline. I took some time to shoot some pictures along the harbor of the fishing boats. Eventually I found the other waterfall I was looking for.
Then it was off to emart... cause the taxi drivers didn't get world cup stadium.. but eh-martah they get.
The 3rd day I had a car... driving in korea will get it's own post and everything.. maybe tomorrow.
But for now I need to take a break and relax after a hecktic first day back.

I've been remiss

2009-01-27T22:59:00.000-08:00

or at least that's what my mom keeps telling me. She keeps hearing from my Aunt that I haven't updated my blog... what's wrong? How come I haven't written?

Um... I've been busy and the writing bug hasn't bitten.

Yeah.. that's what's been going on. I've been traveling and teaching winter camps and traveling more. Learning things, seeing cool things, and trying not to get too lost while wandering around Korea. I do have stories to tell from my travels to Jeju, Busan and Seoul. However I also have to teach classes, plan, try to edit some pictures (I only took around 1,000 while I was traveling) upload said pictures and then write captions and then blog about what all I did.
Have I mentioned I like to sleep. Yeah.. so I'm a little behind but fear not I will attempt to start catching up on my blogging and such in the next week or so. If I don't... I'm fine just busy.

I was right... and I was wrong.

2008-12-28T01:01:00.001-08:00

Let's start with the easy one. I was right Christmas was easier to get through than Thanksgiving. I guess cause all of us expats were working overtime to find some Christmas cheer and my school made sure I never slowed down long enough to really miss home. Last week was super busy with school stuff and then multiple expat things for Christmas. Monday I had a meeting with one of the schools I'm working a winter camp with. It should be interesting. They seemed really friendly and ready to try anything so we'll see how that goes. Tuesday I was invited out to dinner with my school so I made sure to go. We had traditional Korean food, I got lucky and was seated at the end of the table with lots of the younger English teachers so we joked around a bit and they got to practice their English in a less stressful way. Wednesday I taught all day then threw a small party for my after school classes. Chocolate cake and soda.
Christmas Eve evening I went to the EPIK party thrown by the DMOE for all of us Native teachers in Daegu. It was a nice dinner and I know the folks I was with certainly had at it with the red wine that was provided at a very reasonable cost. After that we went to the Forest Cafe a group of us had picked names and done a secret santa. Some how my name got overlooked yet I'd gotten a name to give a gift too. ::shrug:: The person I gave a gift to was someone I would have gotten a Christmas present for anyway.
Christmas Day I spent online talking to my family and friends back in the states. Later I headed downtown to the Holy Grill where we had Christmas dinner. After dinner since we were the last seating we had Christmas trivia. My team came in second thanks to getting confused on which Bond movie had the Bond Girl named Dr. Christmas Jones in it.
Eventually we all headed out into the cold night to get some sleep. Those of us who work for the DMOE had to go back to work in the morning while some of the Uni professors are off for quite a while right now.
Friday was a regular work day except there was a shortened schedule and as soon as the kids were out of the building we all piled in a bus and headed off on retreat to Pohang. On the way we stopped at a temple and took a hike up a mountain.
Then we headed the rest of the way to pohang the principal meet up with us at dinner. She had left instructions with the teacher in charge to order me mandu and something Korean without fish to eat since she's found out I don't eat fish. The rest of the faculty dug into lots of raw fish and I got japche and mandu. I've realized that the principal really wants to make sure I'm happy. I guess I remind her of one of her daughters so she mothers me a lot. I have a feeling that my short 5 minute English lessons at lunch are helping out with the relationships in the school. At dinner, my willingness to be formal and follow the drinking traditions and culture, very quickly won me points with some of the male teachers. Afterwards it was off to the norebang. Everybody had to get up and sing. There was lots of dancing and clapping along that went with it. Eventually we made it to the training center where I'd done my orientation. We got assigned our rooms and had about 10 minutes to relax and I started to think I was done for the evening and the other teacher were also changing into more comfortable pants so I pulled on my flannel pj bottoms. The next thing I knew we were all back down the hall to one of the rooms for late night snacks of dried fish, rice cookies, peanuts, chestnuts, gul, and a rice wine. There was lots of joking around as we all ate and drank more. I was commended on my ability to hold my drink. There were lots of smiling happy faces all around as I took very well to some good natured joking. I also got put on the spot as to which of the make teachers was the most handsome. Thank god I got a few hints from my co teachers as to the right form for answering that question (always say the oldest man present.) I then had to rank the others and I managed to do that with only a little misstep but it was all good when I said that one of the advantages two of the male teachers had was that I interacted with them more so personality and interpersonal knowledge came into play. Eventually we all headed off to our rooms again. I ended up for a while longer talking to the Miss Kims. One of them had found Gone with the Wind on tv and so we talked about how it was set partially in my hometown.
The next morning came way to early. Breakfast was in the cafeteria. I don't think anyone knows that feeling of being on the spot till you have about 80 Koreans stare at you as you try to eat your breakfast with chopsticks, and you're the only foreigner in the place. As we walked out Miss Kim was wondering why everyone was staring at them. I said it wasn't y'all it was me. She has gotten so used to me that she didn't notice I was the only foreigner in the place. That felt really good that I've gotten so accepted.
After a few speeches we piled in the bus and headed north. My co teacher and I had set it up so I got to sit with the 6-3 Miss Kim on the way back to Daegu. So she got to practice her English on the bus with me. She was fine with the joke after I said I was doing it so she would look good to the principal. I'd heard her teased about not speaking enough English and that she should practice with me more. She realized I wasn't being mean I just wanted to help her out. So we chatted up the coast. There were some good laughs the first time she told me we were going to eat gae for lunch. I had kind of looked at her confused... gae? Then she realized she'd told me the Korean word and really we were going to eat crab for lunch. I then got a mini Korean lesson on types of crab. We took a few stops on the way up the coast one at the light house at yeoungdock.
Then at the wind power plant a little further up.
As you can see it was cold and windy up there. Then about 1/2 hour further up we stopped for lunch. I somehow got seated in the room without the English speaking teachers but as always I was well taken care of by all the Korean moms in the room. The principal was impressed when I managed to crack a few joints on the crabs and pull out all the meat from the legs in one piece. It was a good lunch and I was informed I didn't eat enough when I ate 3 1/2 crabs... I was supposed to eat 4 or 5.
After lunch we headed back to Daegu. Where I promptly crashed and slept for 12+ hours.

Merry Christmas from Korea

2008-12-22T13:08:00.001-08:00

This week is lots of lessons on Christmas and quite a bit of singing. So here are my 4th graders showing off what they learned in class... they are little hams.. I'm sure next year they are going to be a fun group of 5th graders.

http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=B6CPAWM-rZY

The Little Things

2008-12-10T03:31:00.000-08:00

I learned a while ago not to sweat the little stuff. I learned not to stress over things that in the long run don't mean much.
But that's not what this is about. This is about the little things people do that end up meaning a lot more. I've always been pretty good about trying to make those little gestures for friends and loved ones. I short email to tell someone I miss them. A joke when I know someone just needs a smile. A phone call to someone just to listen to their voice, when they need someone to listen. I don't know if I really appreciated those things in return as much as I should have before. This week little things have been giving me huge smiles. I'm truly grateful for them. From a voice mail, to a doughnut, or even just a song dedicated on facebook. They have given me just a little moment of connectedness to those around me and far away.
In a few hours this afternoon I was given so much in ways that I don't know if the people who gave them to me even know what the gifts meant. This morning I got a great laugh from one of my co teachers as she was looking at my calendar and saw where I'd put TT down as Teachers training she thought it was the emoticon for crying about the training. We laughed at how the same thing could mean two completely different things. She's one of the teachers I really like I feel bad that she's so nervous but yet she's getting pushed hard by the administration to learn English and practice with me.
At lunch the Principal came by she wanted to practice her English but she wanted Miss Kim around to translate. She had a little trouble with the verbs in the question but I got the meaning and after lunch we went and sat in her office for a few minutes and practiced. That she's really interested in learning English so she can communicate with me really means a lot to me. I know it has to take a good deal for her to make the effort but I really admire her. She's leading by example. I know she got up and lectured the faculty the other week about how they should take advantage of having me there and just try to talk to me. Sometimes I worry I'm not doing a good job, but then things like that happen and I know that I must be doing something right.
After my first open class I was talking to Miss Kim about a couple of things and one of the students Shawn had left me a Krispy Kreme doughnut. They had been having some sort of celebration with pizza and soda while I'd had the open class the students had wanted me to stay. They understood I had to go teach. I had a short conversation about how Krispy Kreme's are like home. Miss Kim joked they were the devil's doughnuts cause they were so good yet so bad for you. I'm going to have to find Shawn in the morning and thank him.
After school I was walking out and the 6-3 teacher stopped me to talk for a second. She was wondering who Stitch was. Yes my big stuffed Stitch had a place in my open lesson. She thought he was cute and we laughed at the lesson and all. It was a start. I'll take any starts. I made it downstairs. Worried I was going to get caught being the crazy American again. I did get stopped by the shoe closet by the number 3 in the school. She really doesn't speak much English but she has a great personality and is a great teacher. We said hello and then she was headed up the stairs, then she stopped came back and handed me two tangerines. It's those sort of gestures, no English involved that say some thing good is there.
I got home took my cold meds and was about to nap and saw JP online so I stopped to talk to him. I really miss him. I know he's missing me too. We didn't say anything especially poignant. It was just the time. A few minutes out of the day to just be there for each other and let one another know we're there even from opposite sides of the world. Then he left me a song dedication. It's a song that makes me think of him. But it meant a lot, He knows what music means to me.
I am very grateful for the little things. They make my world a much nicer place daily.

Now I get the facemasks

2008-12-04T20:24:00.001-08:00

So I've noticed since the weather got cold there has been a proliferation of face masks. What back in the states was only worn by Surgeons. Here they come in cute little animals and with comic book characters. I was walking home from school today. Like everyday it involves a certain amount of ritual as I run into people in the neighborhood. Anyone who could possibly be older than me or the mother of one of my students gets a bow. Not a problem any more. I'm sure by the time I move back to the states I'll be bowing all over there and it will be humorous. But today as my cold meds were wearing off my nose was running a bit. I bowed once to an older gentlman as I rounded the first corner past school. I came around the next one and three older women. Bow, Bow, booooooowwwwwwwww. My siniuses were screaming about all the movement. I was almost home less than 25 yrds to my door and I could blow my nose and take some medicine. Shoot. There is my landlord. So one more bow and as I do it my nose leaks. Yup right no the street. I had bowed far enought that my nose just ran out. Didn't hit me just the sidewalk. I don't think he noticed it but I was admitedly going EEEEWWWW. Ran in the door, blew my nose and then it came to me... if I was Korean enough to wear a mask... I wouldn't have leaked on the street.

Snow!!!!!

2008-12-04T20:23:00.001-08:00

My inner child is going nuts today. I walked to school in a gentle snowfall. After I got to my classroom the playground became blanketed in white fluffy stuff. I had to contain myself and not get too distracted from teaching all morning while laughing at second graders who were equally wishing to be outside the classroom playing in the snow.
Now I'm trying to get plans done so I can teach the teachers and I can hear the students outside playing and yelling. The snow is melting because it's not cold enough for it to stick around with all the kids out there.
Tonight I'm going to dinner with the sixth grade team, vice principal, principal and Miss Kim. I'm hopeful it's not a fish place. If it's over early enough I'm then going to head downtown and meet up with some other expats to play video games. Tomorrow I'm going to meet a GI for lunch downtown, and show them around. It's interesting how little interaction there is between the expats and the GI's here. I'm not completely sure why but I'm going to think about it a bit and maybe figure it out a little.
Ok enough procrastinating time to get back to my plans.

Credit where it is due.

2008-11-26T13:03:00.000-08:00

So sometimes you just have to suck it up and give credit where it is due. I like to think sometimes that American teachers are as good as Korean ones and can do anything they can do. But today I know I would never have seen what I saw in an American school. The school was packed with parents and somehow between the time I left yesterday and when I got to school at 8am this moring the school had been transformed. It was decorated and the students art work was displayed through the hallways. Then the classrooms had been cleared of most of the desks so there was room for the talent preformances. I saw every student in every classroom was preforming. I spent the morning running up and down the halls taking pictures of my students and watching them show off. Unlike Talent shows and such in the US this was every single room at the same time so I had to keep moving to see alot of my students. (one drawback to teaching all students in grades 1-6).

By 11:20 things were winding down. There were songpeyon or rice cakes and yourgurt drinks and tangerines for everyone. The kids also were given boquets of suckers and flowers and pens with little clown heads on them. The kids then took those apart and were sharing them with their friends. As I was going around taking pictures with my students and of the teachers I work with, I was amazed.

I also kept getting suckers and such handed to me. One parent gave me a whole Dove chocolate bar with Almonds. By the time Miss Kim and I left the English center again to go downstairs for lunch the school had been transformed back to its usual state. Desks had been placed back in classrooms, decorations were taken down, students were getting organized for lunch and to then go home. So in less than an hour they had the whole school cleaned up.
As much as I respect and love the teachers and schools I've worked with before this was honestly amazing. I think it has something to do with the culture here. Students work hard and play hard. They also both love and fear their teachers. It's not unusual to see students hanging off teachers here and staying late working on things if they are not going to an academy (or Hagwon). I get the same treatment now. My students come in and hang out. They just want to talk and practice English. They also know when I give them a look in class they have to listen and they know how to behave.
I watched three boys get disicplined today... by a teacher for playing on the stairwell. Less than 10 minutes later they were telling how beautiful she is. It's typical here. I'm getting used to my students telling me they love me, and I'm very beautiful... I've had to let my cynicism go and not think they are just doing it to get candy or stickers from me. It's that's what they know as how to express how they feel about me in English. It's pretty cool.
I've got to wrap this up... my after school students will be here in a minute and I want to have things ready for them. I'll try to post pictures up on flickr in the next day or so (but I did take 200 pictures this morning.)

Dr. Fish Daegu... or I'd never thought I'd do that.

2008-11-26T13:02:00.000-08:00

Last week I got dragged downtown for dinner on Thursday night. My plans of a quiet night in with an early bedtime after a busy week at school were spoiled by a friend saying the magic words... Papa Johns.... pizza, real cheese... no pickles on the pizza. Yes... it takes very little somedays. So off I headed in the freezing cold with hat, scarf, polarfleece buff, winter coat, wool socks... the layered look is very in with the expats right now cause it's cold. Not like a chilly ATL morning where an extra sweater will make the trip to school ok cold. But a it's below freezing the wind is blowing I'm walking between bus stops and subways cold. I got downtown had my pizza warmed up and started to feel more human and decided to make Jamari go with me to find the Doctor Fish place I'd seen once before. After wandering all over we found it and in doing so I've found a place I'd love to hang out much much more. It reminded me in some ways of the feel of Java monkey, just with no wine and music, but tubs of fish who will eat the dead skin off your feet.

I've been back once already will probably bring my co teacher down sometime... pictures will be posted soon. But now I have to go see the Art/ Talent show going on in the school today.

Billy Joel in Seoul

2008-11-17T13:59:00.001-08:00

Saturday evening after doing the sardine can thing of riding the subway in Seoul and trying to figure out where in the spaghetti pile of lines we were trying to head. Lesley and I arrived at Olympic Park. If you ever wonder what happens to all of those buildings post Olympics I got a little peak this weekend. They become venues for concerts, showcases and big halls that people have to fill to pay the upkeep. Lesley went and got the tickets I perused the merch cause how many times in your life are you going to go see someone play over seas where when you're back home someone can go hey nice t-shirt, and your answer can be yeah saw him in Seoul, was a good show.
After that was all taken care of and I grabbed some photos of the skylights and a few funny signs we walked into Gymnasium 1. Thank god for all the English being taught here we had a very nice teenager look at our tickets and point us in the right direction. I took some time studying it and figured out what was probably section, seat, etc. After one snafu we found our correct seats and settled in for some people watching, well I did Lesley decided to chatter away incessantly about how this was her first concert ever (um... WTF! 24 never been to a concert?) [side note: Any interest I had in her is now gone and I will be trying to avoid her in the future. Just don't feel like having to babysit someone all the time.]
I realized that the crowd was two main groups Korean business men trying to impress Western business men and GI's who had leave from the bases. It made people watching fun. Billy played for about 2 hours no opener. At one point people rushed the stage and a few songs later when the Korean security tried to get them to sit down Billy stopped playing in the middle of the song and got up asked "What the fuck is going on here, Let them stay, let them stay!" The crowd got to stay near the stage. He then just started up in right where he'd left off.
I also saw a probably between 40-50 yr old Korean woman in a leopard coat just having the time of her life in stilettos dancing against the railing at one point.
Overall the show was fun. My trip to Seoul was ok. I will go up there again, but by myself without others that I end up taking care of cause that was the downer part of the trip.

Interesting Saturday Evening

2008-11-10T02:10:00.001-08:00

I knew that I had to have some sort of fun plans waiting for me on Saturday if I wanted to not go crazy with wishing I was other places. So I emailed a few of the "No Drama" club and asked if they were up for some 007 goodness at the CGV Imax in the Lotte Department store. I managed to gather Monique, Micheal and Jamari. I spent part of the day going to Emart and getting a few things I needed. I've now got a humidifier and I looked at video cameras. I also got some Americanish food, notably chicken and rice soup.

I headed downtown a little early which ment I missed calls from JP on skype (darn it!) but I got to look at more cameras at the pixdix in the basement and sniff at the wafting smells of Krispy Kreme. I took the escalator up to the floor the theater is on. I had about 15 more minutes till we were to meet so I walked over to the arcade and had some fun playing Pirates of the Caribbean pinball. Jamari thinks I play pinball a little too well. I pretty much had cleared the machine on Thursday when we'd met to play video games. I wasn't as good with my first 500won coin. By my second I was kicking butt and taking names.
After that I grabbed coffee at one of the many coffee shops on my way to the theater where I figured out I was on time and everyone else was running about 20 minutes late.
We managed to get tickets for the 4 of us to see 007 Quantum of Solace in the typical Korean way of assigned seating and then wait for your turn to file into the theater. It was a good Bond movie... I think Casino Royale's opening was better but that's just me. Afterward we were all craving pizza so we went to the Papa johns in town. Pizza, cheese sticks, chicken strips, and a pitcher of soda for the 4 of us was 32,000 won (so about $25).
Monique and Micheal and Jamari started a Krispy Kreme craving so we had to go there. While we were there Jamari blabbed that I hadn't been to a norebang yet so... have donuts will travel. 2 hours in the Norebang my cherry was fully popped and I scored two 100's and a 96. Yes the computer scores your singing.

After I went and found Jody and hung out at That for a little while. I was home by 3am or so.

Halloween in Korea

2008-11-03T00:46:00.001-08:00

Vlog 2 Korean Medicine

2008-10-27T03:42:00.000-07:00

Temple Stay... the short version

2008-10-19T14:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday after a few stops and starts I got on the road to Haiensa (yes we ended up someplace different than where I thought we were going... but hey this was a more important temple anyways). After taxi, subway, and then bus, we made it up to the start of the hike up to the temple. There were 7 of us 6 expats and 1 Korean English teacher at the Uni where Jody works. We stopped at one of the little resturants at the bottom for a quick lunch of Korean pizza, potato pancake, and I can't remember what the Korean name for it is but Acorn tofu.
Then we hiked up while trying not to take too long since we were a little late to the temple. We got there signed in, paid our 30,000won and were handed our outfits for the weekend. Then off we went to change and get ready for whatever it was to come. So we headed into one of the smaller temples and were instructed for about 3 hours on how to eat with the Baru and how to sit, bow, walk, etc. All of this was in Korean. We'd been told it was going to be in English... but no such luck. So most of whatever wisdom the Monk was passing on passed over my head. Dinner was pretty good and yet again I don't know what I ate, just that it was veggitarian. I'm thinking roots, mushrooms, and cabbage for the most part along with bean sprout soup. Then we had 15 minuntes to clean up and get back for evening prayers. I gave up most of that time to watch the evening drumming... which was facinating and I shot a little video of it before we had to go.
This was probably one of the highlights of the first night for me... because we did them in the main temple. So while it was more Stand, sit , Kneel. It was in a beautiful setting with incense wafteing around and the monks chanting. Afterward we did a walking mediation around a pagoda for awhile... admitedly my main thought was "Holy crap! There are stars in Korea!" Living in the city I can't see them most of the time so it was nice to have a couple minutes to look at them while walking. Then it was honestly 2 hours of boring hell. We got to have a "chat" with the monk... still no translator so... 2 hours of Korean plus we could tell there were some jokes pointed at us since we couldn't understand them.
Finally 9pm and lights out. But sleeping on mats on a really hot floor, with people snoring, and all was not the best nights sleep. Plus morning was coming way too early.
2:30am Lights ON! The gongs were ringing and it was time to get up and be ready for morning prayers at 3am. So up again and back up some scary stairs in the dark and time for the 108 bows. (sounds easier than it is) Then a 1/2 hour meditation in a little temple, where I got fussed at cause Jody and I put our prayer mats down too loud.
Afterwards we had a half hour to chill so since dawn was breaking I took a few pictures and a 10minute nap. Then off to breakfast, dried sweet seaweed, rice, potato noodle, and carrot soup, and I think some more cabbage. Then another 15 to brush teeth and such then back to the meeting spot. Where we got a great surprise!!! AN ENGLISH SPEAKING MONK!!!! Yeah! He made the whole weekend. He had gone to school in the US for High School and college. The tour he gave us of Haiensa was neat, he basicly had us argue and talk about buddist thought and told us a few things about why Haiensa is so famous.
After that we kind of decided to take off... we were tired and couldn't see 2 hours of the other monk again touring us though the museum, (which we had heard from people was all in Korean and not that good.) The plan was to sneak off, but we got caught. So yet another scolding by the monk. This one I managed to doge most of cause I was just going along with the group since otherwise I didn't know how to get back to Daegu. When we finally managed to get out of the temple, we took some nice pictures on the way downhill. Caught the bus and made it back to Daegu, where I faced a new challange... saying NO to my co-teacher... we'll see how that plays out today at work now.

Workin on the photo story idea... more will come I'm sure.

2008-10-17T17:32:00.000-07:00

Just part of a typical Friday here in Daegu... Work with the kids and then out with the teachers...

Students practicing for a English play contest.

I've been practicing with this kid for his speech contest for the last two months...he's a sweet kid and usually so serious, so him with a smile is great.

I love my red Korean Chucks.

Monique was a bit annoyed at the camera and we were having a conversation about some previous pictures that were not the most flattering.

Not the best picture, but we'd moved on to Ice bar where the beer is served in ice. This is Beth and her boy, it was her b-day we were out celebrating.

Once you drink the beer you throw the ice at this target... I hit it on the first one and won a free beer.

While we were walking from Ice bar to Communes for Trivia (which I left before cause I was tired and wanted to avoid the drama) Christy found some new friends with this group of Korean Bikers.
I'm now ready after some sleep to go off to the temple for the night and try to find a little peace and quiet.

Things that would never happen at home

2008-10-08T02:58:00.001-07:00

I was invited at the last minute on Tuesday to go on a field trip... actually it was and I quote because this is just one example of how things sometimes get lost in translation, it's not to be mean or anything it's just lost. " Do you want to go to camp with the 4th grade?" I'm of course like sure... why not... I spent a couple summers as a working at camps as a lifeguard I can do that. Um.. it wasn't really camp. We went to Gyeongju which I guess from what I managed to read on signs was the ancient Silla capital. It was interesting becasue I got to see some of my after school students in a diffrent way and I got to talk to several diffrent teachers who I normally don't get to talk to at all.
It was fun in many ways cause I got to see yet again how kids are kids everywhere. I watched them play with thier cell phones on the bus, listen and sing along with music.
The trip took us to two famous temples. One I think was famous because it was in a grotto. The other I think mainly because it was originally built in 523 AD. I also got to wander though an acheology exhibit at a national museum.

Now before we got to the museum we had lunch at the second temple. The teachers had their lunch prepared for them by the class leaders. As in the students had prepared lunch for the teachers... Think about that for a second... I don't know if it would have ever been possible for any of my classes to prepare lunch for teachers. Much less the feast that was prepared for these teachers. Fresh fruit, gimbap, seaweed soup, tea, sushi, kimchi, fried shrimp, and a few things I couldn't identify but they were good. (yes, Mom I am becoming much less picky about what I eat here, EXCEPT for fish!). The students also policed themselves so the teachers could eat with out worry. No parent chaperones. Just 4 teachers and 3 busses of students. The students were fun to watch because they would come running up to me and go teacher, teacher you come, me. And grab my hand and drag me running after them to see something and then they would try to find the english words for whatever it was they were showing me. The best was when they wanted to show me a golden pig. They missed the word gold for a while so I was trying to figure out where a live pig was. Then we got it figured out there was a gold pig infront of one of the temples and one hidden in the rafters.
They would also use me as a beacon to find their teacher. You know a blonde white person really stands out better than a short black haired Korean woman in the middle of a crowd. :) They also kept saying I was a rock star because all the other students were asking them about me. It's fun but strange most days.
Ok time to find some dinner.

Andong Mask Dance Festival

2008-10-05T00:25:00.001-07:00

Friday was a national holiday here so I took my day off and headed for the inter-city bus depot with a few other teachers. We had heard that the place to go if you were going to see just one festival while you were here was to the Andong Mask festival. So we paid our 6500 won and hopped on a crowded bus. After we got there we found some street vendors for lunch and then grabbed taxis over to the historical village. Took in a few dances and saw some masks and the mask museum.
Here are a few pictures from it.

Few things in List form

2008-09-30T15:03:00.001-07:00

School lunch today was great. The usual kimchi, rice, and soup (fish broth, tofu, scallions, egg and something), then spicy green leafy something, and sweet and sour chicken. The lunch ladies I think have taken a liking to me, since I try everything. They came out and cut up the chicken so I didn't make a mess with my chopsticks and the big pieces. I feel like a little kid at meals learning to eat again, but it's fun.
Still waiting on my travel reimbursment... need that to pay bills at home.
Got my regular pay haven't seen my extra classes pay yet... going to ask about that soon.
Attempting to go to Costco again tonight.
I've now learned that Koreans don't belive in switchbacks when the make hiking trails. The go straight up the mountian. I'm not sure I'm in good enough shape to do 3km at about a 60 degree grade uphill. I did however get some interesting pictures.
It's suddenly cold here. It went from frying hot to cold enough to want a jacket in one day. But I feel better now that it's cold.

Admin Note

2008-09-25T00:07:00.001-07:00

I unlocked commenting so you can comment with out an open id.

I just have to read and moderate them before they post.

In other words... if you have something to say about a post go ahead and say it. I'd love to hear from everyone.

Teaching the Teachers and Misc. Stuff

2008-09-24T23:59:00.000-07:00

I have to admit the thing that scares me the most is teaching my colleagues. Usually because I respect them so much that it's like I have to do an even better job than normally. If there is anyone who can see through a BS lesson it's another teacher. So today I taught my first lesson to the staff here. I was nervous and I think over prepared a little. It went well though. I gave them some game ideas and went over some more advanced vocabulary for the clinic lessons. There really is nothing funnier than watching a group of adults all do the hokey pokey. Seriously... I was laughing, they were laughing, but everyone knew right, left, hand, arm, elbow, foot, hip, by the time we were done. I guess that's part of my teaching here. I just had to get over myself and have fun.
It was fun to watch them get over the whole propriety thing and just have fun and learn. It makes me feel like I might just make it.

After the lesson we were sitting and I was talking to my 5th grade co teacher. He translated for the VP a few questions then he translated a huge compliment for me about how everyone really likes me as a teacher that I'm an asset to the school since I really prepare for lessons and I am a huge improvement over the previous teacher. They also said I must be great because my after school classes are growing. Students are telling other students to sign up and teachers are telling parents the same thing. It's good to hear that. I also had him translate that the number 3 at the school is a great teacher. I can tell because her class is fun to work with and you can see that her students love her. There are several teachers like that here. I just know that when you can tell even without understanding half of what is said in a class that they are having fun and they love to be there. It's a good teacher.
I'm hopeful that I got paid today... I didn't get a pay stub or anything. I figure I'll ask Miss. K about that tomorrow. She had a meeting this afternoon so I was on my own. Now it's almost time to go home and I'm hiding in my office listening to my ipod writing. Most of my work for next week is done, just a few things left to prep.

Things are looking up even after my butt kicking from Atlanta I received via Skype earlier this week. It was well deserved. It's all good now. I still miss home, but I really am starting to look forward to things here. Pusan in a couple of weeks, and Seoul in November, I'm thinking either Thailand or Vietnam for the February break.

Things that make me cringe

2008-09-20T17:09:00.000-07:00

Last night I wandered down to a chicken place in my neighborhood to find some dinner before grabbing a taxi to go bowling... while I was sitting there what would come on the radio blaring through the store but... Public Affair by Jessica Simpson. Really? Of all the pop music in America? That? Eww. That's not the only recent moment of ewww...
The night before we headed over to Old Skool to dance only to have Christmas music blaring... I know it's after Thanksgiving here but it's a little early, right? Oh and the choice of Christmas tunes... Mirah Carey... all I want for Christmas. Let me let you ponder that for a minute... September 19th and Christmas tunes.

yeah.

So I've gotten used to hearing poppy music every where (except my apartment where I have a steady diet of Atlanta Singer Songwritters playing). When it's in Korean I can appreciate the whole it's got a beat and sounds like fun. But the choices of Americans that get picked up are just wrong some days.

I admit that a couple of weeks ago on the bus I did get a big grin about Kelly Clarkston's "Because of you" only cause it brought back a nice memory of a couple of guys I know having fun with it.
A few people asked me how I was going to survive with out live music... um.. still not sure. But my bus rides are accopanied by my ipod on shuffle, and I've found out there is an open mic night at a local bar on Wednesdays so I may have to go down and check it out soon. I did manage to see one decent Korean band my first weekend here at Club That... so I know every once in awhile I will get to see some live music but it's not going to be the same.

Oh and as a side note... I didn't make it to bowling, something got the better of me and I ended up at home a sleep by 9pm praying what ever got me would be over soon. Somedays being adventurous foodwise isn't the best choice.

Gratitude

2008-09-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a birthday. I haven't exactly figured out how old I am... I just know that I'm older than I was. But the interesting side effect of this was I got Happy Birthday messages from all over the world. I had them from family, friends, colleagues, folks from the EPIK program. Most people who know me say I'm pretty laid back, not much phases me. Some how last night after getting home from a nice dinner with an old friend who happens to also be here... it hit me. I am damn lucky to have the life I do. I really never thought about how I impact the people around me much, I've always just tried to live my life and not hurt others.
So now that I'm so far away from my home. I'm really realizing how lucky I am to have the friends I do. I know that some of them will still be there for me when I get back after this adventure. I am incredibly grateful for the out pouring of love and friendship that accompanied my departure from Atlanta. I miss those people everyday. When I hear that someone is going to see a musician play, or that they ran into others at a restaurant. I have a little twinge that I wish I'd been there. Then I look around at where I am and what I'm doing and go... yeah that would be good too, but look where I am.
I know that if people had really started to question me I might not have been able to do this. But they knew somehow on some level that this is what I needed to do. I needed to pick up and go. I needed and still do need to stretch myself and see what I can really do. I know you don't get the strength to do these things alone. It comes from others and from inside.

I'm really thankful for those people in my life who tell me they are proud of me, or that I've inspired them, or who just show up to support me in little ways. Those are the people that make me realize that I am really lucky to have the life I do.
Someone asked me once would I rather write my suicide note or an obituary. I said instantaneously I'm writing my obituary every day... and it's going to be a good one. I may not have lots of fancy degrees, or big prizes with titles, but I do have something much more valuable to me. I have friends and family who I hope can say they are proud of how I've lived my life and I took every chance I was given to really live this life.

I'm taking those chances and opportunities every day. Do they cost me? Yeah... they do. I've got friendships that I'm missing. Chances for love that I've had to pass up. Possible advancement in my career which has been put on hold. But then I sit here and think about where I was standing on Monday and think that if I'd let those costs and worries keep me at home... the cost would have been greater. Not many people get the chance to live overseas for a year, hike up mountains on a late summer day, and stand in a courtyard and just be in awe of the world around them. I likened my response when I got to the top of the stairs and turned and saw the courtyard with it's huge stone Buddha and carvings to my response when I saw the Grand Canyon in person for the first time. It was just awe and wonder... and knowing here is where I am supposed to be right now. Take it all in and savor it. Those moments don't come often, but when they do... you just have to hold on tight.

I'm lucky and thankful these days... and I know it. It's a great place to be

Oh what happens to ones vocabulary

2008-09-15T04:03:00.000-07:00

I've been getting used to using the most simple words to communicate with my co workers and people in my neighborhood. They are all trying to understand English and I really don't speak much Korean. So... it's simple phrases said slowly most of the time for me.
But the side affect is when I'm out with some other expats and I was trying to explain I'm not on the subway line, but I'm right near one of the bus depots... it came out as something along the lines of you know... where the buses sleep at nights. Yeah... it was bad... but it was also funny. Every one I was with teaches ESL and has had at least one of those sorts of brain farts.

But yeah my apartment is near Beomul-dong where the buses sleep at night.

Walk to School

2008-09-06T23:07:00.000-07:00

Conversation foibles.

2008-09-03T20:12:00.000-07:00

I keep feeling like I might be screwing up... but yet I know I'm not. Monday night I was sitting at home, having just gotten home from a walk. *bang, bang* on my door so I went and answered it. A large Korean man was standing there and started talking to me in rapid fire Korean... I'm like... um... I don't speak Korean. Then it was do you speak English... no answer... more Korean then he shut my door on me and walked off. I came back in shook my head and chalked it up to part of the experience.
Tuesday night I was on Skype with Beth and the same thing started. This time I had the fore thought to hand him paper and a pen and tell him if he wrote it down I could get it translated at school. He came in and we had a friendly game of charades about the mold and the wallpaper. The end result, I think I'm getting purple wallpaper on Saturday morning.

Yesterday while I was sitting at the computer in the language lab also known as my office a little woman came by trying to see the lab. I bowed and greeted her. (that's about the limit of my Korean so far.) She took notes in Korean then today came back with a Linguistics professor who translated that they are parents of students and they wanted to see the lab. I answered some questions, thankfully in English. Miss K. my co-teacher was teaching in the other room and I think could see and was amused at my panic. I think it's all good I made sure I bowed really low to both parents as they were leaving. I also got out a thank you in Korean.

Today I'm going to try again to get a cellphone. There is one place I found that speaks English so I'm headed back there today. I'm also going to make sure to get them to draw me a map of where the other store I'm going to have to go to to get it turned on is. I'm getting pretty good at wandering my neighborhood and finding things. If I get my cellphone on I'm treating myself to Baskin Robins. Which is a good 20 minute walk from my apartment near a KFC and across from the Donga A department store. As I've said before it's a steep learning curve but I'm enjoying it.

Typical Day so Far

2008-09-02T17:40:00.001-07:00

I'm sitting here reading lesson plans trying to come up with games and thinking about how similar schools and children are all over the world. Students here are excited, and animated. They do their work and try to understand the teacher speaking in rapid fire English. Back home the kids were excited and ran down the halls just like they do here. Main difference the kids here are in sock feet or slippers.
So far a typical day for me involves coming in getting my slippers from the cabinet and putting my shoes up. Then I go by and say good morning to the principal and vice principal. I run up the stairs to the 4th floor and unlock my classroom, open the windows, turn on the fans and crank up the computer. (Not much different than in APS.) Most days I have first period off so I chill and go over lesson plans for the teachers so that the English in them is proper. Then I co-teach at least 3 classes with one of the other teachers. Today I'm teaching 3 classes of 6th graders... I met the students the other day with Miss K. my co teacher.
After 4th period we go down to lunch where I get laughed at about my ability to use chopsticks and I try to get a decent idea about what I'm eating. Yesterday was sweet and sour pork and the ever present kimchi and rice which I'm growing to love. Then there was these little dried green things with a sauce and peanuts. Well I thought they were pretty good just a little salty. They were anchovies I learned later... good for calcium. I will probably eat them again. There is a sports competition this afternoon so I'm going to watch it and take pictures. Yesterday we ran errands and go my bank account opened and turned in my paperwork for my Alien Registration Card or (ARC) which I can't really do anything with out it.
I'm going to have to talk about finding a way to keep my internet at home on without it. Otherwise I'll be MIA for a little while and just able to check emails at school. I may try to go find a cell phone after school today.

First Day of Teaching

2008-09-01T04:44:00.001-07:00

I'm sure it will get easier. I'm learning to talk very slowly and clearly. The kids are good for the most part, just a bit chatty. Well actually really chatty. A few of the sixth graders today surprised me with how well they spoke English. Some things are the same no matter where in the world you are. Faculty meetings are one of those things. I seriously was trying not to laugh as I was getting part of one translated for me today. They have a lot of work and they need to do it well for the students. They also need to be mindful of the accreditation process this year. It means money for the school. It was also a special meeting because there were four new teachers including me. I'm the only English one but it meant we got fruit and rice cakes. The rice cakes we're like the Styrofoam at home... these were gooey balls filled with sweet paste. They were pretty good actually. The principal said it was a special meeting so not to get used to it.
I'm feeling pretty lucky with my school, lunch was good and I've got friendly administrators. I also have a great co teacher looking out for me. Tomorrow we're going to go work on getting my ARC so I can get a cell phone and a few other things taken care of.

Off to the first day of school

2008-08-31T15:57:00.000-07:00

Got my apartment and everything set up. I'm going to be speaking to the whole school this morning. Hopefully my 2 minutes will be enough. I'm teaching at least 3 if not 6 (40 minute) classes today. Sixth graders and possibly the fourth graders. I made a power point game for them to learn more about me. I'm getting used to the 13 hour time difference from here to Atlanta. After my first day of teaching I'll try to write more about the school. From what I saw it's pretty similar to Bethune.
The learning curve about getting around and not knowing what people are saying near me is pretty steep but I'm enjoying the challenge.

In Pohang

2008-08-26T04:23:00.001-07:00

I've made it to Korea. After a long trip. I'm already trying new things, sea urchin was part of lunch. Not sure I'm going to do that twice... but I've learned I can try anything once if I don't know what it is first. Been riding through the Korean country side all day. First 4 hours from Seoul to Daegu then sat around there for a while then late this afternoon hopped a second bus and came down to Pohang... tomorrow starts the real orientation. Hopefully I'll be awake and alive by then. Sleep has been lacking. Didn't get a shower till after dinner today... but it's all good. I'm enjoying it so far... I've got pictures. Will work on all of that later when I've got access to a place to upload them.

Leaving Tomorrow

2008-08-23T09:21:00.000-07:00

I fly out of Atlanta tomorrow, I make a late night stop in Los Angeles then on to Seoul, South Korea. By the time I get there I will have been traveling for over 24 hours including the drive from Augusta. After Seoul, I head south to Dageu where I then drop some of my luggage and head off to the coast to Pohang for orientation. I think I'll be traveling for almost 48 hours when I land there. I then get to be polite, professional and make a great first impression.
I can handle long flights, I've learned how to sleep on them, and as soon as I start my trip I reset my watch to the time where I'm ending my trip and that helps me reset my body for the time there.
I love this Calvin and Hobbes strip. I cut it out of a newspaper sometime either in High School or College and found it when I was sorting things for the move. I guess I've always had the adventurous streak. I like the idea of trying new things and going off on adventures. While I miss my old life and colleagues and students in Atlanta, this whole moving 7,000 miles away and seeing new places thing is keeping me on my toes.
I'll probably not be checking email or blogging for the first week while I'm traveling and doing orientation. I plan to make sure I have a new blog up every Monday morning so there will be some consistency to my posting.
Good thoughts, prayers and well wishes are encouraged and I'm grateful for them at this point.
Hopefully my next blog will be from South Korea.

T-11 days and recap of the last week or so...

2008-08-13T15:23:00.001-07:00

Finally home from the trip to Florida. I was ready to be back at my parents place here in Evans. It's been a long week on the road but it was good to see Family before I leave, even if it wasn't the original reason we planned for. I also got to see my nephew Dylan again... he is getting bigger and cuter every day.
I also got to spend some time with Mary which was nice. It's always good to see her and know that she's doing well. She gave me some assigned reading. I guess once a teacher always a teacher.
I've got pictures from Kennedy Space Center.... which handy hint for Teachers from Georgia and Florida, it's free if you have your teaching license with you. It was neat to finally see what I'd taught about and studied for years close up and it really does take more than 4 hours to see it all.

I've now seen where my parents are going to build their retirement home... it looks like a nice little coastal town so they should be happy there once it's built.
I'm wondering how the new school year is starting for all my old colleagues since they were back with students on Monday and I don't have to start teaching again till September.
Now I'm home and have around 11 days to pack and make sure everything is ready for Korea. I had my E2 Visa waiting for me when I got here, along with my Will and other legal documents my wonderful Lawyer said I should have in place before leaving.

2008-08-05T20:05:00.000-07:00

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. ---Mark Twain

Contracts are in hand. Visas are applied for. Looks like I'm headed off on the 25th of August for this adventure. It feels good to have some things set as I've been watching and listening to people getting ready to start teaching a week or less. I miss it but the thrill of getting ready to go is putting up a good fight with the melancholy.

WOO HOOO

2008-07-19T15:14:00.001-07:00

Got an email today that everything is good and I should be getting a contract from Daegu soon. That means everything is no longer up in the air. It's about time since a week from today I've got people coming to help me load all of my stuff into a storage pod. Then my farewell party is next Sunday.
I will write more when I know exact date for departure amongst other things.

Guess I'm not the only one...

2008-06-26T05:42:00.000-07:00

I read a good number of blogs daily. I've been reading Ex-pat blogs for over a year as my idea for leaving here and going to teach in Korea was forming. There are probably about 6 or 7 blogs I check daily and then there are a few I check in with weekly. One of them linked to a new blog of a person who is about to take off to live in Spain. She's on leave this week doing some last minute traveling and had a guest blogger yesterday who honestly listed out some of the steps I've been taking the last couple of months and am still working on to properly close this chapter of my life. http://almostfearless.com/2008/06/25/good-bye-in-the-citygood-bye-in-the-city/

I've been working on my list of places I've ever wanted to see in Atlanta. This week is The Center for Puppetry Arts. I've always loved the Muppets and there are several exhibits of them there. I'm also planning a trip over to see the MLK jr Historical Area and Sweet Auburn District. I've gotten just about everything checked off of that list.
I'm now working on my goodbyes. I'm working on saying goodbye to places and people. I've been collecting emails and making sure all the contact information I have for people is up to date. I'm probably sending out a new blog link to everyone in the next few days.

My paperwork has all been mailed out. As I've been telling people I'm sitting in purgatory now. I've done what I can and I'm just waiting a departure date and a final contract. I should have it in my hands in the next week or so.

The Fun of Paperwork

2008-06-03T06:09:00.001-07:00

Today is a paperwork day for me. I'm going to go visit the Georgia State Superior court Clerks office. I have to get some of my documents apostilled or otherwise known as a really fancy notarization. I'm hoping it's as easy as my criminal background check was, and getting that notarized.
I'm also sorting through the stack of documents I've been collecting to make sure I have all of them before I send them off to Canada and my recruiter. I have copies of transcripts, health checks, criminal backgrounds, copies of my passport pages, forms verifying that I've got the teaching experience I say I have. Let's just say that the red tape is quite lengthy but it will be worth it when I get on a plane in August and take off on this adventure.
Things are getting more and more concrete with the end of the school year, turning in notice on my apartment and starting to sort and pack and sell things. There isn't really any turning back now. I'm excited but scared. This is a huge step but I know I can't let a chance like this pass me by.
Hopefully by this time next week I will have all of my documents and I will be able to send them off and get back a firm date for departure. This uncertainly is not sitting well but I know it will all work out in the end.

2 weeks left

2008-05-09T02:26:00.000-07:00

Only two more weeks left teaching here in ATL. Hopefully they will pass peacefully.

First Post

2008-04-30T17:07:00.000-07:00

Just my first post of my new blog so my former students and colleagues can keep up with my journey and travels. I'm looking forward to many new adventures and experiences as I leave my former job and move on to a new job and life in Daegu, South Korea.