Small lobes

I'm always felt like I'm this very average American girl. Average height. Average weight. Average sized nose. Average strength. Average athleticism. Average musical ability. Average, average.

Because of this average-ness there have been few times in my life that I've felt like a freak, most of which have occurred overseas. The last memorable, "I'm a freak" moment happened last year in a Korean restroom. I was washing my hands, looked up in the mirror and quickly realized I was a whole head taller than all the other women in that restroom. This simply reaffirmed why I could never wear heels in Korea.

Yesterday I got my earlobes pierced for the first time. This probably surprises you, right? Yes, I've had my nose pierced. Yes, I've had my tragus on my ear pierced, but no, no I have never had my regular earlobes pierced. I cannot explain why. I guess I just never found it interesting enough to get pierced. When my mom offered to pay for my sister and I to go together to pierce our ears as a Christmas gift this year I had no good reason to object.

Come to find out, I HAVE FREAKISHLY SMALL EARLOBES! Why has nobody told me this before?! The poor piercing lady was concerned because she had so little space to work with. Ah! How did this happen? My mom has average earlobes. My sister has average earlobes. My whole family has average earlobes! But I don't! It doesn't make sense.

Now I'm obsessed. Now I can't help but look at the size of people's earlobes as they pass. Does that make me more of a freak? Oh jeez...

:)

Coming soon: The stories and pictures from the epic journey across Siberia.

i cried in st. petersburg today

I cried in St. Petersburg today.

Before I go into detail, the title of this blog requires a shout-out to a little boy named Henry. Henry is the cutest 6 year-old Korean boy EVER. One afternoon Matt and I were sitting in the flower shop of our building talking to our friend Young Joo when her friend came in with her son, Henry, who just happens to speak English better than my 6th graders (He attends an English Kindergarten). We chatted about animals, animal sounds, shapes, colors...the typical 6 year old conversation, then ordered pizza. Everyone sat quietly eating their pizza when Henry looks up and said (in Korean), "I cried at kindergarten today." The table erupted in unison, "Awwwwww, why?" as he explained that his friends sitting on either side of him where gone that day. So cute.

"I cried at kindergarten today" has since been a conversation transition between Matt and I.

So, I cried in St. Petersburg today. Twice actually.

After nearly a month of being on the road, I hate to admit this, but traveling has had it's toll on me. Each morning it takes me longer and longer to get ready for the day, put on my layers of warm clothes and go outside for a cold day of sightseeing which becomes less and less interesting. Each day I am becoming more and more sensitive to the glares from the cashiers when I don't have exact change (cashiers HATE to make change in Russia) or to Russian being shouted at me or when miscommunication occurs or when the subway is overcrowded.

When Markus rubbed my head and said, on the overcrowded subway, "You look really tired," I simply couldn't hide my exhaustion any longer and out the tears came. Feeling silly being that girl on the subway, I tried to cheer up and assure Markus I was ok.

We spent the afternoon walking around the Hermitage museum and the Church of our Savior on Spilled Blood (built on the very site where Alexander II was assassinated). Feeling a little better, I decided that all I wanted for dinner was a juicy hamburger from McDonald's. Some of you are thinking, "Terrible!" but if you've ever lived or traveled for a long time overseas you can relate. Sometimes when you are feeling worn out and a tad homesick, McDonald's is the only cure.

We started down the main road in downtown St. Petersburg to find a McDonald's when I caught out of the very corner of my eye someone walking closely behind me. I jumped and turned around to see three or four short, equally startled girls behind me. I pushed Markus to the side and let out a little yelp but immediately felt bad for reacting like that, explaining that I was just surprised to see those girls so close behind me. We keep walking a few meters then Markus said, "Oh, but Kelly, your bag is open!" I realized, to my horror, that the little pouch on the front of my bag which had been on my hip, was indeed open and my Ipod, that I had stupidly slipped in that pouch earlier that morning was also missing, and the 3 or 4 short, startled girls that had been behind me were no longer there.

"My Ipod is gone," I muttered with the tears brimming in my eyes for the 2nd time that day. Markus immediately spun around to find the girls while I dragged my feet after him, feeling not even angry, I was too tired for that, but feeling just...defeated. Strangely enough we see the short girls standing in a crowd at the nearest crosswalk. Without having to approach them (I wasn't even sure it was them, since I had just a glimpse of them before), one walked up to me with her head down and arm outstretched...holding my Ipod. Shaky from crying I took my Ipod back with a "Thank you."

I said "Thank you" to a girl who pick-pocketed my Ipod. Thank you for not running away with my Ipod? Thank you for feeling guilty? I don't know.

But never before has McD's tasted so good.

Iowa, I anxiously await you.

Unconventional Thanksgiving

mountains beyond mountains

I've been enjoying Korea's mountains and scenic views with my free time lately. Here's a snippet of my life these days....

Seoraksan National Park

Seoraksan Ulsan Rock

Jirisan

In front of the highest peak in mainland South Korea

Jirisan National Park

Anam Park, Busan

Taejongdae Park, Busan

unemployment

I must admit, it's nice not having to go to school in the morning. Having the whole day to do as I please, at the pace of my choice, but still being productive.

I've been able to explore parts of the city I've never been to like the UN Memorial Park and Taejongdae Park. I've learned the Cyrillic alphabet. I organized a hiking trip to Jirisan (amazing). I've had lots of coffee shop book reading time. And I've been slowly and properly planning the crazy Trans-Mongolian trip.

Beijing. Ulaanbataar. Irkutsk. Moscow. A taste of Siberian winter. Or a gulp?

It all starts November 23rd. The long journey back to Iowa....

가자! (Let's go!)

Happy Halloween/I'm not your teacher anymore!

Yesterday was my last afterschool class. These kids, as much as they have driven me crazy some days, are definitely my favorites. I see them 2 extra times a week, so I've come to know them very well; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

There's little 1st grader, Dan. Almost every class he cries, throws things, or starts a fight over something another students says to him. He's so sensitive. He gets so excited about knowing the answers during English games that he shouts out answers regardless if it's his teams turn or not. He gives the best hugs and immediately calms down when I rub my fingers through his hair.

Then there's Tiffany. The bubbly, always smiling 3rd grader who leaves her backpack, violin, or jacket in the classroom everyday only to come back 20 minutes later, giggling about being so forgetful. Every time she sees me she jumps with excitement and shouts, "Kelly teacher!"

Or Sara who tries to jump to my height every class. She likes to draw cute pictures of me on the chalk board or in her notebook more than she likes to focus on studying.

Two-thirds of them I want to adopt as my child or at least a little sibling. But now it's time to say goodbye...

Being as Halloween is on a Sunday this year, we had to celebrate on Friday with the students. They don't know a lot about Halloween (most have never even heard of it) but Korean kids will get in on anything that involves scary/gory things and receiving candy. Unfortunately, we had to combine Halloween with my farewell party making for a mixed emotions party.

We made bat crafts, feasted on snacks and candy (the hit: bloody eye ball gum I brought from the States), all while the students kept handing me gift after gift, letters, and tons of candy. We took final class pictures, group hugged, and off they went. They kept lingering at the door. "Bye, teacher.....bye....bye. See you next time?" with their sad faces. It broke my heart.

I hope to receive emails from students years down the road, in perfect English, telling me that they've just entered university or traveled abroad or got a good score on their final tests. Gaaah, I'll miss 'em, for sure.

I have NEVER been a crier but yesterday I was a blubbering fool. I've known in my head for a while now but now it's hitting me in my heart. I am officially closing the door on this chapter of my life, the Korea chapter. It feels right but at the same time, it doesn't change how extremely sad I am to say goodbye.

Ooooh Korea. What a long, strange, amazing trip it's been....

"We don't have your....."

This is now officially my 3rd day in a row without classes. I've cleaned my office, prepared lessons for my last week at school (did a whole year go by already?!), did some online shopping, and now am left with no excuses: it's time to blog. So much to share once again, my trip to Japan, my mom and sister's visit, and final countdown of my days left in Korea.

Not to disappoint, there was, of course, a classic-Kelly travels troubles with the trip to Japan. Months before Kat and I had booked ferry tickets knowing that the week-long Korean Thanksgiving holiday requires booking early as everyone is traveling at that time. We went through an English travel agency here in town to buy the ferry tickets, one we had used before and trusted. We bought our Japan rail passes and were all set to go....

We arrived at the ferry terminal at 6:30 am to depart for Japan at 7:30 am. Thinking we had plenty of time and proud that we made it so early, we hop in line to get our tickets. Markus was with us since that would be the last time I saw him in Korea. The ferry station would be our grand goodbye. We approach the counter to hear...the dreaded words..."There's no reservation under your names." What?! WHAT?! Panic. Anger. We cannot contact the travel agency. It's 6:30 am on a Saturday, the Saturday that begins the biggest Korean holiday of the year. No way, they are also on vacation.

But, we had to go to Japan. We'd been planning this for months. We had hostels booked. We had an expensive Japan rail pass that had to be used. It was our long awaited vacation. We HAD to go!

Fortunately, there were a few seats open we could purchase (again). Phew! Problem solved? Oh wait, but there were no seats coming back on the following Sunday like we wanted and needed (duh, school started again on Monday)! There were, however, tickets to return on Monday afternoon. That left us with 2 choices:

Originally planned trip to Japan + an extra day + a mess explaining to principals/co-teachers why we can't be at school on Monday+ mess dealing with travel agency

OR

No trip to Japan + mess dealing with travel agency.

JAPAN. We had to do it, had to go. We bought the tickets with 30 seconds to spare and we were off, skirting across the East Sea on our high speed ferry discussing the composition of our aggressive email to the travel agents. Sadly, the goodbye with Markus was tainted by the whole ordeal and left no time for a proper farewell...*sigh* It was the most emotionally exhausting morning I've ever had. YAY WE'RE GOING TO JAPAN! booooo, there is no reservation. YAY THERE ARE TICKETS AVAILABLE! booooo, we can't come back on Sunday. YAY WE'RE GOING TO JAPAN ANWAY! boooo, short, hurried goodbye to Markus.

We arrived 3 hours later in Fukuoka, the closest Japanese island to Korea. We found our lovely hostel easily and spent the day exploring the city. Our first stop in a 7/11 convenience store yielded the best discovery of the trip. The discovery of Hot Cake Candy....oh yes, little squares that taste like you've just eaten a pile of pancakes draped in butter and syrup. It's something Willy Wonka would have in his factory but it's REAL LIFE! Amazing.

We ate ramen for dinner along Ramen Street then went back to the hostel in anticipation of a relaxing night. But it was a Saturday night and our new, hostel friends convinced us to try out the nightlife in Japan, why not? A Japanese nightclub was definitely an experience.

The next day we boarded the high speed train to Hiroshima. It was a sad stop-over for sure, especially as an American. But Peace Park was absolutely inspiring, proof that complete destruction can be transformed into incredible beauty. As the sun went down we pressed on to Kyoto. We had no place reserved to stay thinking we could walk into a number of hostels and surely find a spot. The next day was a national holiday (oops, forgot about that) so no rooms in the inns for us! One kind man suggested that if we were really in a bind we could sleep in a Manga Cafe or Internet Cafe. After walking far too long with our heavy backpacks that's what we had to do. It was exactly what we needed, a great story and hilarious beyond that.

We spent one day in Nara, a more traditional town, not far outside of Kyoto and the other day on bike, riding endlessly around the city. Highlight of that day was the International Manga Musuem--where have mangas been my whole life? I have a lot of reading to catch up on. Kat's friend from Iowa State who is now teaching English in Kyoto met and hosted us for our final night there. We walked around geisha street (we saw one!), ate ice cream crepes, randomly ran into my Korean neighbor and friend Matt (it still blows my mind), and chilled along the river. It was a great, relaxing evening before we dove into the craziness of Tokyo the next day.

Tokyo was wild. Look up the metro or subway map for the city and you'll understand. Most of the time we were lost but we saw a bunch of fun stuff regardless. We met a great group of travelers at our hostel and explored the city together. We were quite the group, a few Americans (Kat and I), a few Germans, a Dane, and a Brazilian. Highlights were: betting at the sumo tournament, crossing the busiest pedestrian intersection in the world, and the all-nighter karaoke party with Holger and friends.

The extra day in Fukuoka turned out to be nice. I needed a day to recover from the Tokyo madness. We rented bikes again, cruised around the city for a bit, then read books in a great city park. We made it back to Busan the next day and things were worked out with our schools and the travel agency. Plus I missed all my 5th grade classes (the only classes I dislike). It was an all around WIN-WIN situation.

My overall thoughts on Japan: it's hip, it's surprisingly quiet, it's clean, it's EXPENSIVE. But, I love it. You can check out my photos on Facebook for some visuals.

This is long so the next post will have to be about the Fam Korean Adventure 2010....

:)

Vacation in Japan in 2 days. Count 'em. 1.........2! I'm PUMPED. Japanese Goal: Be-friend a Yakuza (the funny Japanese mafia) member. More challenging but still do-able Japanese goal: Befriend a Korean Yakuza member.

Wikipedia:

While Koreans in Japan comprise only 0.5% of the population, they are a prominent part of Yakuza, despite or perhaps because Koreans suffer severe discrimination in Japanese society along with burakumin.^[14][15] In the early 1990s, 18 of 90 top bosses of Inagawa-kai were ethnic Koreans. National Police Agency (Japan) suggested Koreans comprised 10% along with 70% of burakumin in Yamaguchi-gumi.^[14] Some of the representatives of the designated Bōryokudan are also.^[16] The Korean significance had been an untouchable taboo in Japan and one of the reasons that the Japanese version of Kaplan and Dubro's Yakuza (1986) had not been published until 1991 with deletion of Korean-related description such as the component of Yamaguchi-gumi.^[17]

Although Japanese-born people of Korean ancestry are a significant segment of the Japanese population, they are still considered resident aliens because of their nationality. But Koreans, who are often shunned in legitimate trades, are embraced by the Japanese yakuza precisely because they fit the group's "outsider" image.

Can I do it? We shall see........stories to come!

Exhausted

I'm exhausted. The system exhausts me. This school exhausts me. And more particularly, my co-teachers exhaust me.

Most of the year I have been reluctant to share the dirty details about my co-teaching experiences in my blogs to avoid sounding whiny, unappreciative, or unhappy. I hate reading blogs like that. Instead I choose to blog about my weekend activities and other travels around Asia. But at some point I need to be honest and stop painting this rosy picture of life in Korea for you and for me. When I read back over this blog in years to come, I want it to truly reflect the events that happened. So here's a little peak into the thorns, I hope you don't mind.

The return to school also brought the return of Mr. Adjussi (see posts from last November), one of my original co-teachers. He had been on hiatus since December to participate in a 6-month English training program, 1 of the 6 months spent in the USA observing schools there. Lucky for me a young, female teacher, fresh out of university replaced him during that time. She was a great teacher and co-teacher (note: good teachers don't always make good co-teachers). We made fun, creative lessons that, I feel, the students truly enjoyed. Teaching with her always lifted my spirits.

It was a sharp contrast from my previous experiences with Mr. Adjussi and his repetitive regime of lessons, that the students found terribly boring (I was right there with them) in which my opinion/advice was never asked for or valued. I was, in fact, never a "real" teacher in the States and couldn't speak Korean. Two things he constantly reminded me of those first few months. I quickly realized I must first change his heart towards foreign teachers before I could ever even think to change his lesson plans. By the end of December last year he had warmed up to me. He complimented my teaching a few times, invited me to after school hikes, asked my advice about doing the training program, then accepted upon my encouragement.

Now he's back. The optimist in me was sure this 6-month training would magically change him. He would find a new zeal for teaching, learn about more effective and interesting methods to teach English, improve his English skills and remove some of his many prejudices against Westerners and/or Americans. Well....

It didn't. Quite the opposite. After 6 months surrounded by other teachers and away from young students, he finds the students to be even more "noisy" and "rude" then he did before, he printed out and offered me the same structure of lesson plans as before, his English skill has decline while being surrounded by Koreans the whole training program (even in the States), and now he feels he has America all figured out, making a mental list of how Korea is better.

Sidenote: That list is now shared every day at lunch with the principal, vice principal, and other teachers. After an explanation in Korea he'll turn to me:

"Kelly, don't you think life in Korea is better than America?"

"Korean pears are better than American pears. Don't you agree?"

"All stores close early in America. Isn't that inconvenient?"

It made me feel good to hear he was happy to see me again and ask questions about my vacation and semester without him. That good feeling lasted only until our first planning time together. Even now with my good standing with him (as compared to November) it's exhausting to work with him on lessons, to get just one interesting activity in each lesson. I know the levels to which the students rose last semester while doing fun activities together. I want that for the students again and it breaks my heart to see their once curious about English spirits crushed with boredom and silence.

But I'm not giving up. I can't.

Then there's my other co-teacher. A man who is depressed about his life, clearly affecting his teaching and work ethic. He's always "too busy" to spend more than 5 minutes discussing lessons with me, leaving me to design the whole thing, then he watches TV all afternoon in his office, or sleeps off his still banging hangover. I have freedom for creativity in lessons but with zero help or input beyond "I will do these two listen and repeats from the book."

He prepares absolutely nothing for our classes. He never digs up flashcards, puts together powerpoints, makes worksheets, finds activities, or even erases the board after a day of classes. The days when he teaches alone he spends the entire 40 minutes disciplining the students and speaking at them entirely in Korean (students and homeroom teachers have told me). The poor students. To me and during co-teaching he is very cordial and polite, a facade I have learned not to trust. The laziness of this man continually amazes me, the stories I will keep to myself.

In the last few weeks I have been ask over and over again if I will re-contract at this school. I politely say no, saying I want to see more of the world, try something new, blah blah. Pulling the whole "It's not you, it's me" line. And that's true, I do want to see more of the world and try something new. But that's only a meager part of it. Mostly I don't want to work around these people anymore. "Aww, Kellyyyy, whyyyy?" They cannot understand why I won't stay another year. As much as I am flattered that they want me to stay, so much so that they are constantly listing the pros of re-contracting, they are again exhausting me. It's at the point now that I might just scream, "NOOOO!" at the top of my lungs the next time I am asked.

I'm torn between being completely honest with them about my year at this school and my reasons for not re-contracting or just leaving in peace and white lies.

Thorns, oh thorns. These are my thorns.

Now I must add that 99% of the time all these thorns are bearable thanks to the lovely students I see each day: the smiles, the hugs, the letters, the gifts, the excitement in their voices, and even the naughty rascals. All the students challenge and encourage me to be a better teacher and for this I am grateful and happy.

*sigh* Thanks for letting me vent.

The end. :)

Vacation

Regular school classes started up again this week. Waaah waaa. Back to full days at school, full classes of 30 students each (the small summer camp classes were wonderful!), and the full 28 hours a week teaching schedule. If you can't tell from the previous waah waaa, I wasn't exactly thrilled about it. The two week vacation came and went too quickly! But I suppose I would have said that even if my vacation was 4 weeks long.

Since the 6th grade lesson just happened to be, "How was your summer vacation?", I spent the whole Thursday telling and showing pictures of my vacation to my students. As bummed as I felt about vacation being over, sharing about it made me realize how wonderful it was regardless. And how thankful I should be to get any, remembering back to my 1st year in Korea and the 2 days plus weekend summer vacation. Ha!

Here's all the wonderfulness in summary:

-Songeun Summer English Camp! It was a lot of hard work to organize and plan but teaching was such a joy. Plus I was only working mornings so I had free time in the afternoon to....(#2)

-North Korean YWCA volunteering! This was a beautiful experience for me and the others who participated. Not only were the kids the cutest, sweetest, funniest, spunkiest things EVER but also the fellow Korean volunteers were amazing! One had just returned from IOWA, studying aboard there for the past year! Too crazy! Saying goodbye was sad but we will keep in contact and hopefully have an event with the students again this fall. :)

- Anne and Greg's wedding! Weddings are always fun. But weddings are even more fun when you are friends with and love both bride and groom. CONGRATS to them!

-Four days with the WHOLE Keegan crew together. Dan was able to fly up from North Carolina for a bit while I was back home. The last time I can remember us all being together was at my UNI graduation in May of '08. So it had been awhile. We spent one day in Fulton riding around on bikes, walked along the Mississippi then went back to the hotel and created a whirlpool in the small swimming pool there. Good times.

-Relaxing days at home and Peter's 15th birthday!

-Flowers and delicious spaghetti dinner from Markus upon my return. :)

-3 day trip to Namhae island with Markus and Kat. Outside our minbak (room) was a cornfield (yay!) and down the street was a beautiful beach. We laid on the beach, swam, got stung by mini jellyfish, kayaked out to a small island and climbed around on the rocks there. It was a fantastic way to end summer vacation.

September will be fun-packed month. From the 18th to the 26th Kat and I will venture off to Japan for the Chuseok holiday. Then on the 28th Mom and Molly will arrive and stay for two weeks. Exciting! That leaves only a few weeks of hum-drum before my contract is finished on October 29th. Wahoo! :)

More on my thoughts with leaving in the next blog....

Round 2 finisheee

Round 2 of summer camp finished today. I really enjoyed my 5 days with those 3rd and 4th grade students and was sad to see them go. One student gave me a nice note today taped to her old Korean elementary school textbook. She gave me the book so I could practice my Korean. So cute!

North Korean YWCA camp has been a blast. What spunky kids! Kids will be kids no matter what their background. We're having lots of fun together and practicing English, yipee!

Favorite moments from the week:

-Sandwich making: I let them put together whatever kind of sandwich they wanted with the available materials. Most ended up with some kind of peanut butter, lettuce, ham combination despite my warnings. Sound gross? I thought so but the students had big smiles, "Teacher, delicious!" Koreans have a unique sense of taste...haha.

-Kickball: To close out sports day I organized the students for a rousing game of English kickball (they have to answer a question in English before they can kick). Everyone had a blast! I had forgotten how much I LOVE kickball. Anyone want to start a kickball league?

-Ray Mysterio and Undertaker: best self-appointed English names ever. These are two boys in our YWCA N.K. camp. Ray Mysterio is a riot. On introduction day when answering "I want ________." finishes the sentence with "special powers." Specifically to be invisible. Love this kid.

-Adjuma shirt: Yesterday while riding the bus I saw the BEST shirt EVER. In glitter and sequins (appealing to the older Korean women) reads: I (heart) CRAP. I couldn't stop laughing! Finally one point for the foreigners--take that adjumas! I wish I could have snapped a picture. Then I could submit it for a learn English advertisement.

-Spaland: As an early celebration for Kate's birthday we all went to Spaland to lounge in the saunas and relaxing hot tubs. To quote Kate, "You know you've had a successful birthday when you've spent most of it in your birthday suit." True dat.

Tomorrow in come the stinky, non-appreciative 5th and 6th graders. I've worked hard to find activities that they will enjoy or find interesting but you just never know with them.....

Either way I'm leaving on a jet plane in exactly one week! Woohoo!

Summer, sweet summer

Since it's summer vacation and most teachers are on break I cannot take the carpool to school each day. This means I must wake up 40 minutes earlier and take public transportation; the subway for 10 minutes then bus for 45-50 minutes. It's been a long time since I've had to do this....since my first weeks here. And I've re-learned something about myself--

As much as I hate getting up at the crack of dawn, I LOVE taking public transportation to work. There's just something about standing in the subway station with loads of businessmen and women holding briefcases, people reading the morning metro newspaper and smelling the brewing coffee from the little station cafe, that makes me feel like a real grownup.

I get a lot of thinking and reading done during this time. I like that my mind has an hour to transition into "work" mode. On the walk from the bus stop to my school I must pass though the market/business district in the village. Few people are moving at 8:15, most businesses are closed, and the market is empty. It's a real peaceful walk. By the time I reach school I feel alert, focused and ready to start classes.

At the end of the day I have another hour on public transportation where my mind can transition back to "play" mode, pushing school thoughts out of my head and making plans for the evening.

So this is why I don't mind and actually much prefer taking public transportation each morning. Plus the woman who normally drives me to school is a Terrible, with a capital "T", driver. Seriously bad. Stories upon request. I have some good (or scary?) ones....

In addition to our own summer camps next week Kate, Chaz, Kat and I have the unique opportunity to teach English to young North Korean defectors a few afternoons as a part of a summer camp put on by the Busan YWCA (yeah, it's in Korea too!) and the government's Ministry of Unification. As you may or may not know, in North Korean schools the students are taught at a very young age that America is their enemy. We have a chance to change their opinions and show them how kind Westerners (specifically Americans) can be as we will probably be the first foreigners they have ever met. I'm really excited for this and will post another blog about the experience afterwards, stay tuned!

Week 1 of summer camp is finished. It went fast. Now 1 and 1/2 more weeks and I will be packing my bags for the whirlwind trip to Iowa, it's hard to believe!

Newsies

Here's the link to my latest, sailing experience article in Busan Haps, the English publication here in town. Busan Haps/Sailing. Read it and weep? Or something like that. :)

June in pictures

This month has been packed full of activities. Here it is in pictures:

Each Wednesday a few teachers and I leave school a few hours early (early out day) to hike from school (the trail literally starts right outside the school doors) over the mountain ending in Daechon park which is a pleasant 10 minute walk from my apartment. The hike is tough and one super fit 6th grade teacher keeps me moving at a fast clip. To give you some perspective, it takes an hour to take a bus from my home to school, forced to go around the large mountain. The hike over the mountain takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes from start to finish. Nice, eh? The views are gorgeous. I will never get sick of it.

In case you haven't caught the fever, it's World Cup season. And it's a blast here in Korea. In the States I've never paid attention to soccer but the rest of the world cares deeply about this sport and the World Cup in particular. Korea qualified for the Cup and as of yesterday made the cut to advance to the next round (16 teams)! EVERYONE flocks to restaurants, bars, the beach, stadiums, etc. in their red Korea gear to cheer. There's special cheers, songs and dances that everyone does together. It's wild! This picture was taken at Haeundae beach where thousands watched on screen TVs set up on the beach. I've never watched so much soccer in my life! I'm loving it!

To kickoff the World Cup, Busan held a sports festival in the city's World Cup (Korea hosted in 2002) stadium. The festival was amazing, reminding me of an opening ceremony to the Olympics. I have gotten into the whole soccer thing this year but that's not why Kat and I went to the sports festival. Bi Rain was performing. For free! It has been my dream to see him perform in Korea and now my dream has been fulfilled. We had fun acting like lovesick 13 year old girls for the evening.

One Sunday afternoon Kat, Matthew (my neighbor) and I tried out paragliding. The sky was a bit hazy but still the view was ridiculous. There was a lot of waiting. Waiting to jump, waiting for others to land, etc but it was worth it. I saw a few crashes (no one was hurt) so felt satisfied at the end of the day.

Once again Busan held the annual Haeundae Sand Festival. The weather was nice and sunny that day so friends and I soaked up the sun, took a brief (a bit chilly) dip in the sea, and walked around looking at all the fancy sand sculptures. My favorite one is pictured here. It's the little prince!

Don't be fooled....none of us actually know how to surf. We saw some surfers out at the beach and thought we'd give it a shot. Epic fail with the surfing but we had a great time floating around in the sea for the afternoon.

School has been busy this past month with lots of open classes where the principal, other teachers and parents are invited to watch the lessons, offering feedback/evaluations. I did very well on my evaluations so will move on to level 2 evaluations as a part of this "Best teacher in Busan" contest. It's silly but feels good to get such positive feedback from my school. My second article for Busan Haps has been released. It made the cover story! And for the special anniversary edition too. Exciting to see my name in the byline again. No new assignments for the next issue yet but I hope something will come up. I've purchased the tickets for my trip home in August and have started x-ing out the days on my calendar. It'll be here before I know it, assa!

Three cheers for democracy!

I love democracy. But I've never found democracy to be, in the least bit, entertaining or hysterical until I moved to Korea. Koreans have the limited span of about three weeks to campaign for public office. It's illegal to campaign any earlier. Only three weeks to prove you are worthy, trustworthy, and intelligent enough to represent a city or district. Only three weeks to make your name known to citizens. Only THREE WEEKS! One must draw the most attention as possible. What results from this limited campaign period is what I find so entertaining. One:

Trucks covered in a candidate's poster parked along main intersections or at frequented businesses blaring chants or songs with inserted candidate's name or number. My favorite (only because the tune was recognizable) was to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It." I can only imagine what it is actually saying. One guess from Matt, "If you want lower taxes, clap your hands (*clap clap*)!" At times you can catch the candidate having a few words into the microphone but it's a rare occurrence.

Sidenote: Each candidate also has a single digit number given to make voting more simple.

Two: With the blaring trucks comes a string of dancers. Oh yes. From sunrise to sunset (or later) these loyal (for a fee of around $70 a day) citizens will sing, chant, dance, and bow their little hearts out all around town. All will wear sashes, some Mickey Mouse ears, some giant fingers, some mascot costumes and if you're lucky, some will dress as clowns.

Three: Huge tarps with a candidate's face hung from tall office and apartment buildings.

Here's an accurate Youtube video that captures the spirit of elections to foreigners.

Yesterday was Election Day. A public holiday so everyone has an opportunity to vote. That meant no school! Did I mention I love democracy? But today the music has stopped, the dancers are now looking for new part-time jobs, the tarps have been taken down, and I have returned to teaching classes. 'Tis sad.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR MOOOOOOOLLY!

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사랑하는 Molly

Saranghaneun Molly

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Start studying Mol-Bal~~cuz you're coming to Korea! Whoot, whoot! I can't wait for you to visit me here. I hope you have a great birthday. LOVE YOU!

So much to do, so much to see

So much to do, so much to see during these lovely spring days! And certainly not enough hours in the day left to blog. My apologies. A lot has happened so I'll just briefly hit on each exciting event.

First and foremost, I'm now a master sailor! Sounds impressive, eh? It is! Hmm, do you think I can I add that to my resume? Anyway, I signed up for sailing lessons so I could properly research for the next article in Busan Haps (the English magazine I wrote the book review for). I was asked to write about Busan's expat sailing club and was offered free lessons in the taking. Duuuuh, of course I'd do it. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was a blast! So much so that I decided to sign up for the Master's sailing class as well. On the last day of the Master's class we sailed to a nearby beach, coasted right up to shore, "parked" the boats, enjoyed lunch together then sailed back to the marina. It was so lovely! Minus the part when my boat accidently came in contact with some old Korean man's fishing line resulting in much angry yelling directed at me. I felt a little bad but seriously, who fishes right on the beach?! Crazy man.

Another weekend was spent out of Busan when a group of us went to Boseong to see Korea's green tea plantations. Boseong is in the Southern most province of Korea and is mostly all countryside...aka beautiful. It was so refreshing to see houses and farms! And to walk through "downtown" and only see a few other people. Yulpo beach was nearby as well. We enjoyed a walk on the beach a dusk, it was stunning! It reminded me of Thailand as the beach area was fairly undeveloped and peaceful. We almost spent the night in an adjuma's house but decided against it for fear of being too noisy and making her mad. If I've learned one thing here in Korea it's this: you don't want to make an adjuma mad. So we stayed in a room above some restaurant, Korean style, meaning all of us snuggled up on the floor for the night.

May 4th was Sports Day at my school. It was hysterical. All the students (1st through 6th grade) out on the playground doing various competitions at the same time. Parents came to watch, the sun was shining brightly and all I did was put up a few flags when I was told to keep track of points. The next day was Children's Day. That equaled a day off school. The weather was gorgeous again so that warranted a hike around Beomosa temple, Busan's most famous temple. It was my first time there which is pathetic for having lived in Busan for nearly 6 months. But in my defense the majority of those months were spent hibernating during winter. Kate, Chaz, Kat, Markus and I hiked to a fortress, along the Great Wall of Korea and over to a cable car to take us back down the mountain. The views of the city below were spectacular. We did it up Korean style packing gimbop and machali to enjoy along the hike...delicious! Lots of families were out because of the holiday, it was great to see but the trails were a bit crowded. I'll have to go back some weekend to do it again.

Last week I went to my first Lotte Giants baseball game. Lotte is Busan's baseball team and everyone looooves them. I went with the cultural exchange group (ICEA) so I got the full experience--bringing in tons of food and beer, learning the cheers, watching the dancers, wearing the bag on my head, shaking a newspaper pompom, etc. Sound ridiculous? It is. But tons of fun. I can't wait to go back again soon. Also last week there was Busan's International Short Film Festival. I love living in a big city like Busan because there's all kinds of festivals like this going on. I went to one showing that included short films from Korea, Singapore, Austria, France, and Romania. A few of the directors were there so after the showing we were allowed to ask questions to them....it was so interesting!

This past weekend there was a German festival at a university nearby. German beer, German sausages, German music, German clothes, German dancing all put together by Korean students. It was hilarious to go there with Markus and his friends (fellow German exchange students) to see their perspective on it. I enjoyed seeing Korean students in lederhosen dancing in a very Korean style to German music.....ahhhaha many laughs that afternoon.

Friday is Buddha's birthday in Korea which means a three day weekend! I will spend it island hopping. More on that when I return! Annnnd next week is my birthday! Holla, hollaaaaa

LIES

An update from my chipper cherry blossom post:

"I have joined the teacher's volleyball team at school....I'd forgotten how much I love the game of volleyball. Every week I leave wanting to play longer. It's fun, active and it allows me to interact with some of the other teachers at school (even though most are still too shy to speak English with me)..."

LIES. All lies.

How could this be?

According to a new regulation passed by the Ministry of Education...let's just call it Article "We feel intimidated by foreign teachers' volleyball skills", foreign teachers are no longer allowed to play volleyball with their school teams. According to the formal letter put out by the MOE it's because foreigner teachers are not "official" teachers; therefore they can not participate with the "official" Korean teachers. According to all the honest Korean teachers, it's because some schools are complaining that other certain schools are at an unfair advantage with tall and athletic foreigners at their school. Laaaaaaaaaaaame. Super lame.

Seeing my heartbroken face at lunch, my principal vowed to find a way around this rule. I have yet to hear any word on it. So for now...no more volleyball for this girl.

*tear*

Oh cherry blossoms!

*Oh Christmas Tree tune*

Oh cherry blossom tree (gotta sing it fast), oh cherry blossom tree!

How lovely are your blossoms!

Oh cherry blossom tree, oh cherry blossom tree!

How lovely are your blossoms!

So full and white when spring is here.

You fill my heart with love and cheer.

Oh cherry blossom tree, oh cherry blossom tree!

How lovely are your blossomssssss!

It's that time of year again, cherry blossom time! And thank goodness for it! Nothing gets me more excited about spring than the beautiful cherry blossoms. With cherry blossoms being the favored flower of the Japanese (but not officially declared as the national flower), the abundance of these trees in Korea may have something to do with their past Japanese occupation. If that is indeed the case then I can declare one positive thing coming out of Korea's rotten history with Japan...and most Koreans would agree. Everyone is out and about traveling to various cities known for their excellent cherry blossoms, in their new spring skirts and heels, boyfriend in arm, getting their annual photo shoot amongst the blossoms. Me too...minus the skirt and heels.

The last two weekends I've traveled out of Busan to enjoy the cherry blossoms. First was to Jinhae, a smaller coastal city to the south of Busan. South Korea's naval academy is located there and they are known for putting together a great festival during cherry blossom season. This year the festival was much smaller due to the recent navy ship sinking tragedy. Follow this link for the full story if you aren't familiar with what I am referring to. But despite the smaller size than usual there was still the array of horrifying street food and strange sights that signify a festival in Korea. One hill in the center of the city had a lookout tower with great views of the city and coast line.

Then was a trip to Gyeongju, Korea's cultural city. A group of friends and I had gone to Gyeongju last year for the cherry blossom festival so this year we were prepared. Rule number 1: Traffic will be horrible so by all means possible avoid taking a bus. So, A) we took the train

into the city and B) we rented a scooter to get us around! Best decisions ever as we were able to enjoy the city to it's fullest! We rode around Namsan mountain, found a palace, went to the famous temple, and enjoyed a stroll around the beautiful Bomun lake all in our 6 hour rental time limit. The traffic was bad, of course, but I weaved (with guidance from Kat on the back) around all the 4 wheeled suckers, even taking the sidewalks like a true Korean at one point in the day. A scooter is pure joy!

In non-cherry blossom news: I have joined the teacher's volleyball team at school. Every Wednesday afternoon we practice or have a match against another school. I have impressed my co-workers (middle school and high school volleyball has finally paid off!) enough that I am allowed to play with the men. This is a serious testament to their faith in my abilities. Some things are different. For example, they play with 9 on the court here as opposed to 6. This I am still getting used to. I'd forgotten how much I love the game of volleyball. Every week I leave wanting to play longer. It's fun, active and it allows me to interact with some of the other teachers at school (even though most are still too shy to speak English with me).

It's hard to believe but I've been here almost 6 months again. With only 6 more months left to go it's time to make plans about what's to come next. A.k.a the post-Korea days. I'm doing my research and brainstorming/dreaming in my free time...more on that in a later post...

Stories Behind North Korea’s “Ronery” Leaders

This one's for you, Mom...a sneak peek at the book review I wrote for Busan Haps, an English publication in my city. It will be in print and on the web in a few weeks:

Thanks to parodies in Team America and South Park, one could most likely identify our neighbor to the north’s leader, Kim Jong-il, as the short, “ronery” looking guy with the oversized glasses and jumpsuit. But with all Kim Jong-il jokes aside, the average person probably doesn’t know much else about the past or present situation in North Korea. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, by award-winning journalist Barbara Demick, recounts the lives of six North Koreans from Kim Il-sung’s reign to the present day living as defectors in South Korea. Each story is as captivating and heartbreaking as it is educational, a telling analysis of their closed-off motherland, a country of constant mystery to any outsider.

We meet Mir-ran first, the daughter of a South Korean prisoner of war (POW) turned mine worker. South Korean POW’s are naturally politically suspect to the North Korean government and therefore lumped together at the bottom of the social classes, right next to female entertainers, fortune-tellers, and pro-Japan people. Through Mi-ran and her father’s story we gain insight on the harsh classification system imposed on North Korean citizens that never allowed for advancement, and limits every opportunity in life for generations.

Then there’s Mrs. Song, a factory worker, mother of four and most devout citizen of the “Great Leader.” She believed with all her heart the red propaganda signs reading, “WE HAVE NOTHING TO ENVY IN THIS WORLD (당이 결심하면 우리는 한다)!” When news of Kim Il-sung’s death in July 1994 reached her, she felt more grief than when her own mother had died. “She rushed down the staircase… many of her neighbors had done the same. They were on their knees, banging their heads on the pavement. Their wails cut through the air like sirens.”

When a grave famine hit in the mid 1990’s the government pushed a “one bowl of rice per day” campaign. The famine which killed anywhere from 600,000 to 2 million citizens left even the most devoted feeling disillusioned. Many had no choice but to participate in some sort of black market capitalism to come out alive. People became numb to all the suffering surrounding them. “In order to get through the 1990’s alive, one had to suppress any impulse to share food…She (Miran) could pass a five-year-old on the verge of death without feeling obliged to help.”

Jun-sang’s story represents the experience of one with the opportunity to attend a top university in Pyongyang. Sheltered from the terrible famine, Jun-sang began having doubts about his great leaders and country as well when he was able to secretly pick up a TV signal from South Korea. But these thoughts could never be discussed, not even with his best friend and childhood love.

Oak-hee’s hard life at home sent her on a dangerous flight across the Tumen River into China. Like Jun-sang’s exposure to South Korean television, Oak-hee discovered the truth about her motherland when she crossed the border. “Our whole lives we have been told lies. Our lives are lies. The whole system is a lie.”

Demick spent years in Seoul as a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, covering both Koreas. Experiencing the same set itinerary and rehearsed, foreigner friendly show put on in North Korea every time she was allowed to visit, she turned to North Korean defectors living in South Korea or China to gather the stories and information for her articles. A compilation of those eventually led to Nothing to Envy.

Although Demick is a trained journalist, her book does not read like a series of extended reports on the topic of North Korea. She gracefully and smoothly weaves together each subject’s uniquely touching story including necessary reporting on the history and political context as a backdrop. Too many times to count you will notice unnerving parallels to George Orwell’s infamous fiction book, 1984. Unfortunately, this is reality for North Koreans. By the end of Demick’s book you’ll feel deeply invested in the well being of each person, springing all kinds of intense emotions. You’ll want to discuss this book with foreigner and Korean friends alike as it is sure to spark engaging conversations. You can find Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea at:http://www.whatthebook.com

It's what I do...

Today I rescued a 1st grade student. Strolling down the hallway on the way to the office to make copies for class, I hear wailing coming from the girl's bathroom. Expecting to find a few students pulling each others hair out, I was surprised to see no one wrestling around. Instead I find the sliding door to the toilet (one of the few in the whole school...they like the squatties here) closed and being shaken with obvious panic. The poor girl, who I guess was confused on how to work a sliding door, had been "trapped" in the stall for who knows how long! I quickly slid the door open and greeted the tear-stained little face now looking shocked and relieved to be free.

After 3rd grade class one quiet girl loitered around her desk when all the other students had filed out the door. "Teacher, teacher!" She calls me over it seems to whisper something in my ear. I bend down and *smack* I get a big kiss on the cheek! Then running off she chimes, "Bye teacher! See you next time!" and scurries to catch up with her classmates.

Just a normal day in the life of an elementary school teacher, I s'pose.

You know you want to....

Come on people...you know you want to. You know you want to come visit me this spring/summer. I will entice you with my recent pictures and current pop culture events...

Haeundae Beach--just a 15 minute walk from my apartment with great views from the coastal hiking trails on either side of the beach.

My rockin' apartment--Indeed it's small, but cozy. And clean (most of the time). Added bonus: snuggling with me if you so choose.

Korean's love Iowa!--check out this link to see the new hit pop song in Korea sung by Korea's most popular girl's group, Girl's Generation or So-Nyeo-Si-Dae (소녀 시 대).

김 연 아 (Kim Yuna) This year's Olympics GOLD medalist in figure skating! She's cute and amazingly talented. There's a great possibility you would run into her on the street...Korea is a small country after all.

And if that's not reason enough.....

ME! You get to see me!

Hello spring....

Winter makes me feel stifled, dull, and ugly.  

But today, today spring has made me feel alive once again.  It was the recipe of perfection--

Ingredients:

-alone

-no work

-no jacket

-bright sun

-beautiful, blue sea

-birds chirping 

-good book

-art museum

-easy hike

Yields:

-a skip in my step

-a smile across my face

-a clear mind

-a thankful heart

Thailand '10 Part Two: I Gotta Feeling...

Back in Bangkok once again, Kate and I bought tickets to the southeastern island of Koh Chang for the next day, making the executive decision (sorry Chaz) not to spend an extra day in Bangkok. Beach time was much more appealing. We cleverly maneuvered our way back to the hostel from our first night in Thailand by public transportation (Metro and Sky Train) feeling like pro’s having done it all before. They recognized us at the hostel and welcomed us back. We dropped off our bags, showered then headed to the airport to meet Chaz.

Chaz arrived all in one piece and without much flight grogginess so we made a full day of it. Our first stop: lunch at a street vendor. We pointed at what some Thai lady was eating nearby and said, “That, please!” It was delicious. And spicy. And around a dollar! Awesome. Next, having already scoped out Khao Shan Road we decided to go there again to take care of some souvenir shopping and check out the surround palaces, temples, etc. The main goal of the day was to be in a public place surrounded by lots of people at 6:00 pm. Why? Because Kate and I wanted Chaz to experience a rather shocking daily ritual of the Thai people. But we failed at this goal. You see, at 6:00 pm each day Thailand’s national anthem is blared over loudspeakers in the city (supposively 8am as well, but I didn’t experience this). What’s funny about this, and what we wanted Chaz to experience, is every Thai person freezes the few minutes while the anthem is played…much like those flash mob videos you can watch on Youtube…then carries on with their evening as if nothing happened. Our first day in Bangkok Kate and I were warned about this ritual by the Frenchmen but still were not prepared when we first experienced it.

We were in the subway station about to exit when suddenly a song began to play, everyone stopped in their tracks, leaving Kate and I scared and confused. What was going on?! Then we realized it was 6 o’clock…phew. Another day we were in the train station and suddenly the guards blew their whistles loudly, everyone stood at attention from their seats in the lobby while the song played. It was hilarious to watch the faces of all the tourists go from scared, confused, then amused as they realized what time it was.

That evening we wandered to the river and found the public water bus to take us down the river. The ride down the river held a spectacular view of the Grand Palace, temples, and 5 star hotels we didn’t even know existed. After having a random mix of market food for dinner we go back to the hostel with intentions of sleeping early after enjoying a few beers. We found ourselves having such a great time swapping travel stories with some hostelmates (1 from Ireland, the other from America), armwrestling each other and introducing them to K-pop (vvvvery popular in Thailand!), that little sleep occurred before we had to be up for our commute to Koh Chang the following morning. Nights like that are what I enjoy most about traveling…being able to meet new friends and share life stories.

The bus combined with ferry ride to Koh Chang was brutal…nearly 6 hours. We booked a bungalow on the beach (named Lonely Beach) and arrived to find it a bit more trashy then we anticipated. The place was cheap so we couldn’t be too surprised or upset by it. It didn’t take long to get settled into our one room plus bathroom bungalow and soon we were able to joke about our dump of a “resort” with fellow bungalow stayers. Speaking of fellow bungalow stayers….our neighbor to the left was from none other than BOONE, IOWA! What are the chances? She went to UNI and dated one of Chaz’s close friends. Our heads exploded…tis too small of a world my friends.

The time on the island all seems to have blurred together into one gloriously sunny and perfect memory. Let’s see…we lounged on the beach, rented mopeds to cruise around on, went on a kayaking trip with our new buddies Jen and Ciaran (where Ciaran almost drifted out to sea forever from kayaking exhaustion…hahaha!), ate fabulous food, hit up all the FREE BBQ’s and drink specials, danced to a lot of techno/electronica, and made friends from Ireland, Scotland, France, England, Canada, Korea, Sweden, Norway and Finland. Oh! I almost forgot to tell you about our surprise roommate! A huge and most UGLY lizard that lived in our bathroom. It would be on the wall hanging out every time we came home and would often be peaking through the crack in the wall at us while we were showering. Creepy….and all part of the Thailand experience!

Since all of us booked different flights, our departure times were all different as well. I said goodbye first on Saturday morning (the 30^th) and began the loooong trip back my to my own bed. I was lucky to have met a friend from Sweden on the island whose flight was leaving around the same time so….travel buddy until departure in Bangkok! And a handsome one at that. J First a bus ride back to Bangkok, a few hours on Khao Shan Road, a taxi ride to the airport, layover in Shanghai, arrival in Seoul, subway to the Seoul Train Station, KTX train to Busan, subway from the Busan train station and FINALLY 30+ hours later in my own bed. Waaaaah, it was exhausting...but so worth it! Thankfully I had a few days to recover before I was back to school.

Thus ends my vacation.

Overcoming the post vacation slump/longing for Thailand each second of the day took a solid week to get over. Now I feel back into the swing of things….but just in time for another vacation! Yep, next week is “spring break” for the students. All students will be “graduating” on Saturday to a new grade which begins the 2^nd of March. Yes, you are calculating correct…the students came back to school after winter break for 2 weeks in February. The students are finished with their lessons in most subjects, their exams are long finished so what’s the point?!

I have no idea. I have come to accept that I will never understand the system, I just follow it, repeating over and over in my head, “It’s not messed up, it’s just different! It’s not messed up, it’s just different!”

No plans for spring break as of now because I may have to go in to lesson plan...no solid word on that yet. But stay tuned….as proved now, it only takes a few hours to plan a great vacation...bahahaha…..I love my life. J