You Only Live Once

Time for a break

2011-11-12T19:08:00.001+09:00

Hey everyone. Since I'm back in the US for now, i'm once again going to suspend writing this until I go abroad again. After all, no one wants to read a travel blog about driving from one part of Dallas to .... another part of Dallas.

For those of you looking for information on Korea, please refer to the past year's posts for details. Bye for now!

Getting lost in Hong Kong

2011-11-08T16:43:00.001+09:00

At Victoria Harbor with Hong Kong Island in the background

When we last saw our hero he was charging boldly towards .... a lounge chair. Ok so vacationing isn't exactly heroic but it sure can be fun. Suffice it to say that most of the rest of my time on Bali was just like what I already described. Relaxed, hot, and slow paced.

Before returning to Dallas though, i had one more stopover to readjust to Western life. A stop in Hong Kong, a mix of the East and West. Since i'm still in HK, my thoughts will be brief (since i'd rather be outside exploring).

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is probably the most densely packed city i've ever been in. It has as many residents as New York but in 1/4 the space. The streets at rush hour are a sea of humanity. The buildings are tall, shiny and mostly new on Hong Kong Island. Across Victoria Harbor in Kowloon, it's even more packed and the buildings are a bit older. This is where Hong Kong starts to feel less like Singapore and more like Seoul or Bangkok. If nothing else, the city definitely feels alive and doesn't just feel like a soulless concrete jungle.

Overlooking Hong Kong from Victoria Peak

At Lions Point looking down

For my time, I've done a good bit of walking around. Visited Victoria Peak (picture above). Went and saw the Symphony of Lights show at the harbor at night. Took the Star Ferry a couple times. Wandered down the Walk of Stars (had to stop at the Bruce Lee statue of course). And today I'm off to go browse Hong Kong's famous shopping. Enjoy the pictures!

The Hong Kong skyline at night

Cool huh?

Bruce Lee statue

Preparing to fight in front of the Bruce Lee statue

Chilling in Bali

2011-11-01T22:00:00.000+09:00

Sometimes life is pretty good

Just some quick thoughts on Bali and Nusa Lembongan (a smaller, less touristy island off the coast of Bali).

Bali itself is definitely a beautiful island. There are beaches everywhere and gorgeous greenery galore. There is also however a lot of trash just thrown away anywhere, a glut of tourist traps and locals who can be friendly but can drive you nuts trying to get you to buy something.

Sanur Beach on Bali

Everything here is either dirt cheap or crazy expensive. Massages are $5 for an hour. Dinners almost never cost more than 10. Indonesian food rarely costs more than 3. Housing can be found for around 10-20 within 2 minutes of the beach. And some skill at negotiation can sometimes drop these prices even further.

But the resorts here charge crazy amounts. And any place that lists the cost in American dollars usually doubles the price. Booking ahead of time virtually guarantees you're overpaying and overpaying a lot.

After about 4-5 days on Bali, i moved over to my current location on Nusa Lembongan. It's much less touristy, has better swimming beaches, gorgeous sunsets and is beautifully quiet!

Can you guess how sunset beach got it's name?

lol it also has the power turned off for the entire island from 7-5 everyday while they change the generator system for the whole island (or something like that). Whatever the case, they will NOT finish while i'm here.

I will definitely say i'm thankful i speak English natively. I had dinner last night with 2 German women, a young Estonian couple and an Indonesian dive master. And everyone talked to each other in English. Thank you lord for being born in the US!

Mushroom Beach on Lembongan

For the next two days my plans are some snorkeling, laying on the beach, reading, reading while laying on the beach, eating while overlooking the beach, hiking around looking for more beaches, ..... noticing a trend? Partially this is because my room has no power during the day and therefore is too boring and too hot to stay in, so i MUST be outside. But mostly it's because i like being a beach bum on vacation :)

My lot in life is tough one huh?

Temples, castles and steak to rival Texas

2011-10-29T11:37:00.003+09:00

I last left you halfway through Japan. We'll pick up there. Friday I woke up feeling good and headed for another temple, the Temple of Pure Water. This one has been one of Japan's most revered for centuries. The two most distinguishing features are the 3 streams of water that you can drink from, each of which is supposed to confer a unique blessing on those who drink it. The other is the temple itself, including a large balcony, that was built without the use of a single nail.

Kiyomizudera Temple

As you can see, you collect the water in a cup on the end of a long pole before drinking from your hand.

After finishing up here, i caught a train and headed for Osaka to meet my friends Jason and Jeb for the rest of the weekend. After finding them at our hotel we set off for the main night area of Osaka, Namba. This was the craziness you expect when you come to Japan.

Namba Restaurants

Namba during a soft rain

The next morning, it was pouring rain so we decided on a different type of adventure. We took a train out to Kobe, home of the world-famous Kobe Beef. We stopped at one of their best restaurants and ordered Kobe beef for lunch. It was crazy expensive (this is Japan after all) but well worth it for the experience alone. A personal chef prepared our food just for us at our own private table. And the steak was outstanding! One of the 2 or 3 best i've ever eaten. Afterwards, we wandered around Kobe for the afternoon just taking in the sights before heading back to our hotel in Osaka.

Our table

Our personal chef preparing the Kobe steak

Sunday we got a break and the weather cleared up enough to allow us to visit Osaka Castle. Osaka Castle was originally build in the 15th century but it was burned down numerous times throughout it's history until it's final reconstruction in 1931. The Castle looks exactly as it did in glory period and was surrounded by an impressive array of moats and walls. We walked all around it, through it and up to the top for an especially nice view of Osaka.

Osaka Castle

One of several motes surrounding Osaka Castle

Looking down to one of the moats from the top of the castle

With this finished, we used up the rest of our Yen (not much) and headed for the airport for a flight back to Jeju. We all agreed, it was a weekend well spent!

Jason and Jeb in front of Osaka Castle

View of Osaka from the top of the castle

The Empire of the Rising Sun

2011-10-28T14:23:00.000+09:00

After my last update, you know that I left Korea. Right now I am currently in Indonesia on Bali. But since I just got here, i'll reserve judgement and writeups on it for another few days. For now, here is an update about my trip last week to Kyoto and Osaka, Japan.

With my contract ending Monday the 17th, i decided to use my newfound free time to visit Japan for 5 days. Given the prices there and the size of the country, it seemed about right. I arrived near Osaka wednesday afternoon and caught a train up to Kyoto from there. Kyoto is the ancient capital of Japan and has tons of interesting history. It is full of temples, historic districts and interesting shrines. My first night I set out to explore Gion, the Geisha District.

Entrance to a traditional Japanese Tea House

More of the Geisha district along the canal

A group of Geishas out walking

I found Gion charming, lovely and a wonderful spot for a night stroll. After walking around and trying some random food that my waiter suggested, i headed back for some shut-eye. The next morning I woke up to find a bright blue sky and I knew immediately what that meant. The best place to go on a clear day in Kyoto is unquestionably Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion. As you can see below, it is called the Golden Pavilion because the top 2 floors are completely gilded in thick, real gold.

Kinkakuji overlooking a serene lake

Kinkakuji was the retirement villa of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu

Good choice huh?

This was my favorite place in Japan. Simply breathtaking. After a quick trip back to my hostel to refresh, I headed for the outskirts of town to check out Fushimi Inari, the fox shrine. Inari is the Japanese god of rice and business. This is his main shrine and it is filled with over 10,000 vermilion gates donated by individuals and companies hoping to receive blessing from him. The pictures can be seen below. Fortunately I arrived just at dusk. This is what's known as perfect timing!

Senbon Torii ("thousands of torii gates")

After this wonderful day I headed back, including a good long walk, and went to bed, ready for another great day tomorrow. But since this has gone on long enough, I'll finish my Japan trip in the next update. For now, enjoy the pictures.

It seems to go on forver

Sunset over Kyoto

Goodbye Jeju

2011-10-27T12:46:00.002+09:00

This update will be short and simple. This is my goodbye to Jeju and Korea. I'm going to miss my wonderfully located apartment (but not the 100s of mosquitoes I trapped or killed in it). I'm going to miss all the walking and healthy food that made staying in shape a breeze. I'm going to miss the yogio button. Yogio is the Korean way of saying "over here". It is perfectly polite to call this out in restaurants when you want service. Dang am I going to miss being able to do that.

I'm going to miss the summers that were never too hot. And the beaches and snorkeling that made for wonderful weekends or after work excursions. I'm going to miss having a lovely beach 5 minutes walk from one of my schools. I'm going to miss being a giant and being considered handsome and strong by nearly every Korean I met. I'm going to miss being a minor celebrity on the island, just by virtue of being white and tall.

Most of all, I'm going to miss my kids and my friends there. I made such great friends that I could have happily stayed another year, though I liked Prague as a city far better than Jeju. And my kids who were so sweet, made leaving so hard. Days after my final lesson I still got messages from them saying "I'm sad. Don't go."

But I must say goodbye for a new door to open. Right now that new door is the chance to come home and see family and friends. After that ..... I don't really know. But i know the future is bright!

Goodbye Korea

2011-10-15T18:14:00.000+09:00

Me with two of my Pyeongdae 6th graders, Min Goung (left) and Hyun Ji (right)

If you're wondering why there have been a dearth of updates lately, it's because i've been preparing to leave Korea and spending just about every free second with friends and girlfriend (talking). Monday is actually my last day and I've already said goodbye to the majority of my students. The goodbyes were bittersweet on both sides and i'm not planning to say much more on a public blog.

The only story i'll relate is about one of my favorite goodbyes that came from my smartest 4th grader, Jung Jin. He knows we are both Christians and we likely won't meet again. So as I was leaving Kujwa elementary school Friday for the last time, he stuck his head out one of the windows and called out "Goodbye teacher! See you in heaven!" Sad as i was to go, i couldn't help telling him "Yes we will" with a big smile on my face.

Jung Jin is the boy on the right in blue. And the crazy one on the left is Won Sok, a teachers kid and hilarious.

Since I don't plan to relate other, very personal goodbyes, you can just look at the pictures and see for yourself. I can safely say for my part i love my kids and i really hate to leave them. And judging by the many presents, cards and hugs i got the last few days, it appears they feel the same way :)

Note: Korean names, like US ones, have 3 parts but they don't function the same. All 3 names are one syllable each. The first name is the family name, the next two are the equivalent of a first name. So Pak Jung Jin is basically the same as Brazell Luke. The names are hard to adjust to at first but the one syllable thing really helps. (and remember, you can click on pictures to make them bigger if you want a better view)

Sun Ah, my smartest 1st grader and absurdly cute

The 3rd grade at Pyeongdae in the library. They're very affectionate and some of my favorites.

One of our games. They grab my arm, then i lift them up. Especially popular with the 2nd and 3rd grade.

A group of the girls at Pyeongdae, mostly 4th and 6th graders. All angels

The 5th and 6th grade boys at Pyeongdae, taking a break from playing Angry Birds for a picture. My favorite class to teach. Enthusiastic, outgoing and well behaved. I looked forward to this one every time.

The 4th grade girls at Kujwa. So sweet!

The 6th grade boys at Kujwa. When I didn't want to kill them (which was frequent), they were really fun.

ATVs and Udo Island. A winning combination!

2011-10-03T21:48:00.001+09:00

This weekend was a 3 day weekend in Korea. Since I only had 3 weekends left before I go, my friend Jeb and I decided to go visit nearby Udo Island (literally cow island) just off the east coast of Jeju. We did this A) because we wanted to explore a beautiful interesting island that was conveniently close and B) (and more importantly) because we could rent ATVs and go racing all over the island. And I do mean ALL OVER. We only stuck to the roads when we absolutely had to.

We started by working around the coast and stopping for cool photo-ops. See below.

Thinking man

Looks a lot like the Mediterranean huh?

Inner peace. Inner peace.

Then after spending half of our 3 hours exploring at a leisurely pace, we found paradise. After blowing by a sign we later learned meant "do not enter!", we wandered through a combination cow pasture/ancient cemetery. On the other side was a large, bumpy, wide open field. And when you're sitting on the back of a powerful 4wheeler, that is pretty much the definition of heaven! We spent the next half hour tearing around, bouncing every which way and taking the biggest jumps we could find. It. Was. Awesome!

Big field

Go fast!

When we finished we completed our circuit of the island and realizing we still had a little time, we then proceeded to race back to the other end of the island and then absolutely tore around the coast of Udo as though we were trying to break the island speed record. We got back with almost 2 minutes to spare and then headed for the ferry smiling from ear to ear. And I'd love to go back again. I'd forgotten just how much fun ATVs can be.

A little basketball, pizza and talking to my girlfriend completed a perfect day. Now it's time to spend the next two weeks concentrating on finishing teaching and getting ready to go :)

Sports Day in Korea

2011-09-28T12:01:00.000+09:00

A candid shot taken by one of my kids

Today we'll be covering what Sports Day in Korea is like (similar to Field Day where i grew up). We will tell this story through pictures. Enjoy.

Decorated and ready to go

Prizes for the day

When I came to school I found this in the normally clear field in front of the school. They had food trucks, new bikes as prizes and tents for parents and visiting officials everywhere.

Now it's time for the actual sports day to start. So our first sport is .... playing traditional korean percussion while marching in taekwondo uniforms?? Ok. Why not! It makes a good show for the parents. Note that by now parents for nearly every child in the school were here along with the Vice Principals of every school in the area and half the nearby village. This was becoming a serious event.

Ready?

Catch!

For a while i just watched with the other English teacher at my school, Duncan (pictured in red). Then we were called into action to ... catch shoes that where being kicked at us by our students?? Sure. What the heck!

Can you spot the foreigner among the parents?

And heave. Can you guess which team won? (hint: look at everyone else on my team in the previous picture)

Goal!!!

A few rounds of tug of war later (both parents vs parents and kids vs kids), and a game of pass the giant ball up and down lines. It was time for the main events the first of which was .... synchronized dancing?? Ok, a school full of kids dancing in front of the whole town it is!

Y .. M .. C .. A (not really but wouldn't it be awesome if it was)

After the dancing, lunch and a round of karyoke concluded (yes even singing is a part of sports day here) it was time for the relay race. First they had a parent race. When the moms ran, it was cute. When the dads ran, it was much more serious (and much funnier). Then it was time for the main event. A school wide relay race. Everyone in the whole school participated. Including me.

And I do mean everyone! Look at how cute the kindergartners are!

Here Duncan and I are having a laugh before the race.

Standing side by side, awaiting our turn to run.

And away he goes. Note the feet. It was slick and i was able to run better this way.

After the race (which my team won!), it was time for the closing ceremony (where a random raffle gave presents to nearly every child there, including 8 brand new bikes) and then cleanup. Being the big, strong guys that we are, Duncan and I were asked to do most of the heavily lifting. We were happy to oblige. We actually left school at the normal time. But as you can see, this day was anything but normal :)

Snorkeling on the south side of Jeju

2011-09-23T01:18:00.000+09:00

This last saturday was wonderfully sunny and pretty hot. For Jason, Tom, Jeb and I it was the perfect day to go snorkeling. We hopped on a bus in the early afternoon and headed for Wehdlgay on the south side of the island. When we arrived, we were delighted to find it even hotter and sunnier there.

From the left: Jeb, Tom, Jason, island

We started by checking out the area from the rocks. From there we decided to do some low level cliff jumping to enter the water. Naturally we took pictures while doing this. First i took shots as the other guys jumped in. Mine looked like this.

Pretty cool right?

Then i gave the camera to Tom to take a picture of me while i jumped in. His looked like this.

Try #1: ok that's a failure but at least it's close. Surely he'll get it right on the next one.

Try #2: And fail again! But just look at that butt haha

He sort of got it on try number 3 but i'll spare you any more pictures like the last two for now. After that we snorkeled around in the pool for a bit before moving out into the more open ocean. The waves were choppy enough and the water murky enough that we didn't see all that much but it was still a great time. Got a few more great pictures while sitting on the rocks, waiting for the sun to dry us off.

Jeb and Tom enjoying the view

Tom and Jason shortly after arrival

Chuckling about something

Being guys we then rounded out the day with pizza and a couple hours of basketball down at the public courts. And we're considering doing it again this weekend and starting early. Cause 3 hours of snorkeling and 2 more of basketball clearly is not active enough a day!

To that end, tomorrow at my school is Sports Day. Much like field day where i grew up, sports day is filled with races, tug of war and other fun games. I'm even being asked to participate in the relay race. Unlike my field day though, sports day includes marching drum performances and entire school dance numbers. Only in Korea :)

The view from our drying off seats

Chuseok: Korea's Thanksgiving

2011-09-14T10:35:00.000+09:00

Ran out of new pics so I'm going to use a few old ones you haven't seen.

This week we celebrated Chusoek in Korea. It is very much like the American Thanksgiving. The celebration occurs over 3 days, with the middle one being the main day. It is a time for getting together with family and friends for dinner. The main difference is that watching football is replaced with drinking massive quantities of Soju (Korean liquor). For me it meant a 4 day weekend :)

With just over a month left, my students continue to do a wonderful job amusing me. Thursday, some of the 6th graders and I were playing games between classes when one of them punched my stomach. Didn't hurt of course but the follow up comment almost did. He got this surprised look, started poking my stomach and said "Oh Teacher, chocolate belly?" For a moment I was almost offended, thinking to myself "I've been in the gym 3 times a week every week for the past few months and I do tons of walking. I do not have a fat stomach!". Seeing my confused expression another student translated.

Chocolate belly refers to the way a chocolate bar is divided. Koreans use it to mean 6-pack. Only in Korea would "chocolate belly" be a compliment!

Here is Hamdeok beach at night from the restaurant overlooking it

And a random flower picture for Mom and Granny

Summer break flies by for teachers too

2011-09-07T15:07:00.000+09:00

Jungmun Beach on a beautifully clear day. Note the wave just breaking over the sand

As the title here implies, summer vacation is over for Korean schools and i'm back to full time teaching. It feels like the summer has blown by in one pleasant whirlwind of beaches, gyms and friends. It seems I have a talent for choose countries with great summers (and crappy winters).

King Sejong the Great, the ruler of Korea's ancient golden age in front of his main palace, Gyeongbokgung.

And now i look up to find I have a month left. Naturally this is bittersweet. I'm definitely going to miss my kids and my friends here. But the thought of another dull winter plus all the great things about travel and home definitely have me excited. For the rest of the year i'll enjoy living in the moment.

King Sejong the Great is considered the best of Korea's kings and is viewed in much the same way as King Wenceslas is in the Czech Republic or King Arthur in Britain.

As an added bonus, this weekend is a 4 day weekend thanks to Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving. Can't say I have any big plans for it but long weekends are always welcome. And since pretty much every Korean who can find an open flight comes down to Jeju for Chuseok anyway, i'd say i'm in the right place. Beaches, snorkeling and hiking are all possibly on the agenda. For now enjoy these shots of the picturesque Jungmun and my recent trip to Seoul.

Admiral Yi Sun-Shin. During the reign of King Sejong he defeated a Japanese naval force that outnumbered him 333 to 13 (yes you read those numbers correctly), thus saving Seoul from conquest.

As a final note, we have another weekly winner of the "I have no idea what my shirt means" contest. This time it was one of my 2nd grade girls who's shirt read "Girl friends are fun. Men friends are funner." I swear someone has to making these things on purpose to amuse themselves.

Because of this tremendous accomplishment and other brilliant victories that led to the Japanese being expelled, Admiral Yi Sun-Shin now has a statue in the plaza with King Sejong leading to Gyeongbokgung. (you can see both the palace the golden statue in the background)

The DMZ

2011-08-31T00:58:00.000+09:00

The DMZ Tour went well, as explained by what I did and didn't do:

1) Didn't get shot

2) Didn't start a war

3) Did see a North Korean officer spying on the capitalist, tourist pigs. And being good tourists, we all took pictures of him!

By the way, I'm standing in North Korea in the first picture. Despite our casual smiles in these pictures, you could definitely feel the tension in the air. As you would expect, the soliders in the DMZ were very serious. They reminded me of a couple Army guys I know who've been in Iraq and Afghanistan. Clearly these were guys you don't want to mess with.

That big white building in the background .... that's North Korea.

And those blue buildings behind Erik .... they're shared territory. The Demarcation Line (the line that splits the 2 Koreas) runs right through the middle of them.

A quick history lesson on the DMZ. At the end of WWII, Korea was taken from under Japanese control and was divided between America and Russia. After a short time, both superpowers agreed to pull out. About this time, the North decided to speed the reunification process by conquering the South. And they almost did. But the South called for help and the US and a dozen other countries answered and pushed the NK back to the border with China.

Then the North called for help. And a million Chinese troupes came pouring over the border. They pushed pushed the US-SK army back to the current boundary, where the lines stabilized. A cease fire was then signed (NOT a peace treaty). This is why the two Koreas are still technically at war. They agreed to create an area 2k from each side of the dividing line, called the Demarcation Line, as a demilitarized zone. And thus we come to the present and the tragedy it has produced.

Barbed wire, mines by the millions and the most heavily armed border in the world

60 years of seperation

The Bridge of No Return. So named because at the cease fire, prisoners of war were given one chance to choose which Korea to live in. And once they chose to cross or stay, there was no return.

A whole mess of traveling updates

2011-08-18T23:15:00.000+09:00

Fairly big news this time. I'll list in it in chronological order (mostly for suspense purposes).

This week:

I've been having an excellent time playing tourist on my own island with some friends visiting from the mainland. Went to a couple waterfalls, an awesome bridge (pictured above), loveland and a nice beach or two.

This weekend:

Flying up to Seoul to do a DMZ tour with Erik on Tuesday and then getting my passport renewed Wednesday :) And yes on the DMZ tour I will be right on the border with North Korea. Well within eyesight of NK soldiers. I'll try to not make fun of them while there.

Oct 17:

My last day

Part of our waterfall tour

Oct 19:

Fly to Japan. Visit Osaka and Kyoto for 4 days. See Himeji Castle. Eat the famous Osaka food. Spend WAY too much money (this is harder to avoid than a Godzilla attack). Fly back to Jeju on the 23rd.

Oct 26:

Fly to Bali. Stay 11 days. Hike. Lay on the beach. Swim. Lay on the beach. Do a little shopping. Lay on the beach. (noticing a pattern?)

Nov 6:

Fly to Hong Kong. Stay 3 1/2 days. Explore. Visit Macau. Take the Star Ferry. See the harbor light show.

Nov 10:

Fly to Dallas. Connect through Seoul. Leave Seoul at 11am. Arrive in Dallas at 8am. (timezones are fun!)

So 3 major vacation destinations plus a DMZ tour. Was I exaggerating when I said I had a mess of updates? For now, enjoy the rest of these pictures. And thanks to everyone who's given me great travel tips for all these places!!

Birthday in the past, Japan in the future

2011-08-09T12:19:00.000+09:00

Erik and I at Woljeong Beach on my birthday

First, thanks for the various birthday wishes I got last week. After about age 12, birthdays aren't a big deal anymore but it's still nice to be remembered :) And for those who are curious, yes it was a good day. A little time at school, then Erik and I met up at the beach for a while, then a big dinner and hanging out after.

Now that my friend Jason has returned, we have agreed to go to Japan the 2nd weekend in September for 4 days (I know it's not enough time but we don't have choice). We'll be visiting Osaka and Kyoto, following the advice of Erik who lived there for 4 years. A little expensive but should be fun and definitely worth it (since Japan will never again be a mere 2 hour flight away)

On a random note, we had a typhoon hit us Sunday. Christian, Erik and I thought about trying to go bodysurfing ... until we looked outside and our sanity kicked in. But the sad/good part was, it was still no worse than a strong Texas thunderstorm (howling wind, rain pouring sideways, less lightning actually). Other than that, I continue to love working in a public school in summer. Having your hours significantly reduced for a month is certainly a nice perk. For now i'll enjoy it while it lasts.

I have no idea what he's doing but it makes me laugh

Clearly this beach isn't on the tourist maps

What traveling abroad teaches me

2011-08-03T10:47:00.000+09:00

Today I thought I'd pass along a story that happened to me recently. Please note, there is not an actual update on me here. So if that doesn't interest you, feel free to skip this.

A few days ago I visit Gimyoung beach for the first time. It was the definition of kid friendly. I walked 200 yards out into the water and was still able to sit on my heels and let the gentle waves wash over me. Good place for relaxing. I actually ended up in a long conversation with a couple of the lifeguards there (why they had lifeguards on a beach like this, none of us knew).

They were young men, who were lucky enough to be doing their mandatory 2 year army term on Jeju. In this case, their job as soldiers was to lifeguard. They were very friendly and had lots of questions, which I was happy to answer. They were surprised I was at the beach alone (this would be unthinkable for Koreans) and even more surprised that I had no definite plans for when I would leave or what i would do next. "So you will follow your heart today" was the unexpectedly eloquent response from the older of the two, Jim (his English name).

After a little more mutual Q&A, Jim asked where I had traveled to. As I answered him, his eyes got bigger and bigger. He then asked a surprisingly insightful question. He has many friends who have traveled outside Korea and wondered, what do you learn from living and visiting abroad?

For me there are several answers to this. First, it helps you to understand your own country, both the good and bad parts, much more clearly. This can be perfectly illustrated by the current troubles raising the debt ceiling in congress. I can clearly see fault on both sides (The Democrats uncontrolled spending and fear of touching Social Security or Medicare. The Republicans and especially the Tea Party's willingness to risk inducing a global recession just because they don't want any kind of tax increases). But i'm proud that the public has the power to bring issues like this, that no one used to care about, to the forefront with their votes.

Second, it helps remove the latent us against the world mentality that far too many people have. The more you travel, the more you realize that the average person is very similar no matter where you go. Most people have friends, take pride in a job well done, are opposed to violence and crime and are willing to help you when they can. When you get right down to it, people aren't so different after all.

That said, the third thing traveling does is allow you to see and appreciate the differences in people and cultures. For example, in America who you know can help you get a job. However, in Korea not only is that true but in most cases, your relationships with your co-workers and boss are the main factor in determining who gets promoted. It's why after work social events in Korea are functionally mandatory. Because it is your friendships, not your job performance that often determines your future. Of course this does happen in the US too but we rail against it and do our best to prevent it. Not so here. Here it is seen as a good thing.

Another quick example would be timeliness. Americans, Swiss and Germans are always expected to be on-time or early for business meetings. Not so in Korea, Brazil or the Middle East. And both of these are ok. Both approaches fit the cultures of the respective countries.

As we continued to talk about things like this, they eventually invited me back to the lifeguard shack for snacks and drinks. I even helped one of them pick his English name. He wanted something that sounded tough and manly. After a few suggestions, I offered Dom and he loved it. First time I helped with that. It was fun.

After swapping numbers, I headed out but with excellent memories of my new friends. (sappy enough an ending?)

Summer hours

2011-07-29T14:23:00.001+09:00

Hamdeok Beach

This week's update is succinct. With start of the week came the beginning of summer break for schools in Korea. Of course summer break doesn't mean quite the same thing here as it does back home. For one thing, I'm still teaching a few classes and over half the students are still at school at least part of the day. What it amounts to for me is a normal working morning but I get to leave at lunchtime. Home by 2pm. Not a bad gig.

And it gives me more chances to stop by here on the way home

As an added bonus, i've got 2 weeks of vacation in August. I'm not actually going anywhere for them. I'm just going to explore Jeju and hang out with friends from orientation who will be down to visit throughout that time. I'm also trying to setup my next destination and my October trips before coming home. I'll send out updates when I have solid answers to either of these questions. Till next time.

By the way, this is how Koreans usually dress when they go to the beach to go swimming

Seems crazy right but remember, they like their skin as white as possible

Jungmun Beach (and other things that make me happy)

2011-07-20T13:34:00.000+09:00

This is Jungmun Beach. More on it in a minute.

Some weeks are better than others. This last week was one of those better ones. It started with the realization that my small school has a ping-pong table upstairs and quite a few teachers ready and willing to play with me. This has helped instantly improve my relationship with almost all the teachers at my school and has provided the kids with some quality entertainment at lunch.

This is not related to the current topic at all but look at this crazy, ubiquitous tractor they use here.

This led into a bright sunny weekend where my friend Jason and I joined a gym. He wants to learn how to lift weights and i'm more than happy to teach him. Besides it's a good excuse for me to get back into shape too :) To top it off, a Quiznos just opened here. Our post workout meal there was a delight few can comprehend who have not been without their native food for at least a year. Even though it's 30 minutes away from my home, it's safe to say I'll be visiting there frequently.

Now good as the week had been up til then, Sunday was the pièce de résistance, a visit to Jungmun Beach. Jungmun is the best surfing beach on Jeju. It comes complete with soft sand, green hills, scenic views and huge waves. A group of us went down at the peak of their power to try our hands at bodysurfing.

I thought i'd bodysurfed before. I was wrong. The difference between riding normal waves and these, was like the difference between a waterpistol and a shotgun. Many times I was standing in water less than a foot deep when suddenly an incoming wave would break 4 feet ABOVE my head. When that happens you get thrown around completely beyond your control and you just hope A) I don't hit anyone B) I don't swallow/breath too much water.

Here are 6 of us (plus a very brave kid) waiting for the wave to break

And here we are literally 4 seconds later

When the waves were slightly smaller, say only breaking around head/shoulder height, we would jump into them and ride them to shore. My personal record for the day was around 40 ft off a single wave. 30ft I hit routinely. (Note: my personal preference is to ride in on my butt with my legs out. Anything else resulted in me getting badly scraped up and bruised). 3 hours, a multitude of bumps, contusions, injuries and a nice sunburn later, we headed home. And I can't wait to go back :)

For now here are some more pictures and a video of one of the smaller waves we encountered. If you are reading this by email, you might have to go to my actual blog to see the video. For everyone else, enjoy!

Notice how powerful both the initial wave and the undertow are. I saw retreating waves drag people 30 ft out (until the next surge hit)

sandy wave

racing back out to catch the next big wave

INCOMING!!!

This is right before they made us get out of the water because the waves were getting too big

Visiting Seoul again (including an outsiders perspective on the American Military Base)

2011-07-12T19:23:00.000+09:00

(Optional additional title - "Ch. 5: Where is Gyeongbokgung?")

Jason, Erik and I at Gyeongbokgung Palace

First, let me start off by saying I enjoyed my weekend in Seoul. Getting western food again was great. Jason's friend Matt was a great host and was kind enough to let the three of us crash at his place. We got to visit the main palace in the city, Gyeongbokgung, do some outdoor shopping and enjoy a couple fun evenings out.

We stayed on the American Military Base in the heart of Seoul. Being there felt disconnected from reality. On the one hand, almost everything was either similar or exactly the same as it was in the US. There were houses with yards, people drove everywhere, everyone spoke English and the restaurants were all familiar. But on the flip side, there were just enough differences to make it all feel unnerving. This doesn't normally occur when traveling because everything is so different that unusual feels normal. Despite far nicer than my accommodations, I don't think i'd want to live there. I prefer a more authentic experience. If I wanted to live somewhere just like America, I'd go back! But it sure was nice to visit.

I also saw a bit of why many South Koreans quietly resent Americans. By staying on the base, I saw a place where the only outsiders are usually politicians and attractive young women (given the base is populated by diplomats and soldiers, it shouldn't be hard to figure out how either group gets in). If more Koreans saw it, I doubt i'd get as warm a reception as I have.

To understand why, think about how Americans would feel if the French took over Central Park in New York City. Then they built a huge wall around it, erected houses complete with yards all over it (and remember NO ONE has a house in either NYC or Seoul), consumed tons of resources and left only long enough to pick up women and start fights. Now reduce America to just New York state. So the most valuable real-estate in the heart of your most important city is being occupied by foreigners who are generally perceived as wasteful, obnoxious and are only there as symbolic protection. This is roughly how Koreans feel.

I also noticed people were noticably colder towards me there than they are here. I suspect that is partially due to the real and imagined bad-behavior of the soldiers there and partially due to big city indifference. I suspect a bit more of the latter since their demeanor radically shifted when I mentioned I was a teacher on Jeju. Again despite the drastically improved level of English and improved supply of attractive women in Seoul, I'm still happy I live on Jeju. The open, curious and friendly approach people take to foreigners here is quite endearing.

For now I've got 2 more weeks until the summer session and a seriously reduced workload begins (note: I will be spending the same amount of time at school, just with less to do). I don't know if this is necessarily a good thing but me being me, I'll find a way to enjoy it. For now i've got a couple kids that need a demonstration of ninja skills followed by a serious scare.

PS. I also found a little something I haven't seen overseas until now. It's currently bringing me great joy!

Rule #32 once again put into practice! (if you can't remember what rule #32 is, refer to my previous posts)

Even the morning commute can be hazardous

2011-07-08T11:39:00.000+09:00

Just a quick story. This morning I was riding to work with my Korean friend Dong He, the taekwondo instructor at my school. He was driving in his usual manner, ie) skillfully and faster than his sad car was actually capable of moving. While zipping down the road, a driver pulled out in front of him and did not accelerate properly. Dong He proceeded to blow by him on our 2 lane road, narrowly avoiding a head on collision with a driver going the other way.

When they reached a light. The passed car pulled up next to us and started making rude gestures. Dong He replied in kind. The other driver then accelerated and twice cut us off so sharply that I think he was trying to hit us. The two enraged wheel-men proceeded to have a high speed chase (read 2x the speed limit) in traffic for the next 10 miles. In fact we blew right past the school just so Dong He could continue trying to chase the guy and do lord knows what to him if he caught him (remember this is a 3rd degree taekwondo blackbelt).

Fortunately for the guy's life and my timeliness, the he lost us at a stoplight. We were forced to turn back. The funny thing is, Dong He is a very skilled driver. Aggressive and a little crazy but a skilled driver. The fact that i'm here to write this is proof.

Drawings and beaches and Seoul

2011-07-06T13:54:00.000+09:00

Ordinarily I would write what I want to say here. For this first item, I'll just show you.

I couldn't stop smiling after finding a couple of my girls drawing this.

Aside from my wonderful students, my news lately has centered around finding a great new beach and my trip this weekend to Seoul. I'm leaving Friday and going with my two best friends on Jeju, Jason and Erik. And because Jason has a friend at the embassy, we are staying for free with him on the American military base. We'll use the weekend to eat great food, explore the city and possibly do a little shopping. I definitely can't wait!

The Spring semester ends in just over two weeks and I'm definitely looking forward to it. Unlike winter, I will have to come to school during this break but the work will mostly be limited to desk-warming, movie-watching and time-killing. Any suggestions for books, tv shows or movies I could use to pass the time would be greatly appreciated.

Since I'm going to have more time, including 2 weeks off with no solid plans, I've been looking at all the beaches I can. In the town of Woljeong right behind my bigger school, i discovered this beach. I can't wait to explore it further :)

Woljeong

Advantage/Disadvantage

2011-06-29T08:50:00.000+09:00

Lately i've been noticing the Pros and Cons of Jeju.

Con: It's been hazy or raining nearly every day for the past 2 months.
Pro: Laying on a beach in hazy weather is still laying on a beach.

Con: It's about 30 minutes to the nearest good beach.
Pro: I pass 3 of them on my way home from work every day.

Con: At times (like yesterday) parents and seemingly half the staff come in to evaluate my teaching.
Pro: After work that day I took advantage of the information in Pro #2.

Another plus, rain and haze can produce cool sunsets

Con: Having disposable income here doesn't really improve the quality of life that much.
Pro: Thanks to the Korean government, teachers actually HAVE disposable income here.

Con: There is very little diversity on this island.
Pro: I get to work here in order to help correct that problem.

Con: I stand out like a lion in a prairie dog town.
Pro: People remember my food orders, my name and go out of their way to be friendly and helpful to me.

Con: Jeju is NOT the Hawaii of Korea as some of it's marketing claims!
Pro: It's still a nice place to live with relatively moderate seasons.

Con: The kids I teach can be obnoxious and a pain.
Pro: They're adorable and absolute sweethearts 95% of the time.

Cute right?

Con: Living abroad makes you miss home.
Pro: Living abroad makes you appreciate home more than you ever can if you never leave it.

Con: Flying out of Korea is fairly expensive.
Pro: Flying inside Korea isn't.

Con: The variety of food here is fairly limited.
Pro: This is not a problem in Seoul.

Con: I'm going to Seoul for the weekend next week.
Pro: Wait that was the pro! Where's the con???

Con: You had to read this.
Pro: I got to write a really easy update!

Time flies when no one is prepared

2011-06-23T19:48:00.001+09:00

My small school 3rd graders

It's amazing how time can fly. I looked up yesterday and realized I'm a month away from summer break. Lately everything has been blending into a fun blur of teaching during the week and relaxing, research heavy weekends.

I say research heavy because I'm currently deciding where to go on vacation in August (in Korea), where to go for the Korean Thanksgiving (Japan), where do go after my contract ends (possibly Nepal, China and/or other places) and where to live next (Australia unless i find a job somewhere like Bali or Fiji). Looking into all this, plus guessing where my finances will be though out, checking airline prices, etc takes a lot of time. Hopefully here in a couple weeks I can jump up to Seoul for a weekend. Get away and get a taste of home at the same time :D

A normal picture for children (ie no two doing the same thing)

Now to continue my series about Korea, I'll address two things. One good and one not so good. First the not so good. The whole school system from the top down seems to be completely unorganized. Part of this is that they forget to tell me things until the last minute. But they make this same mistake so consistently and across so many schools that it is clearly a systemic error. Absolutely everything feels rushed or thrown together at the last minute at my schools. Events seem to appear out of nowhere. Teachers sometimes stay in the classroom with me and sometimes go off to talk with their friends. Plans get changed at the last minute and I usually find out when I show up to start the original ones.

Oops

This induces the occasional complaint from me (What do you mean I have to teach the 3rd grade now?!? I don't teach them again until next week!). But overall I mostly just find it funny and roll with it. Besides, at least half of these "by the way" moments are good things like "today we have a field-trip and you don't have to teach" or "all your classes are canceled for testing today".

The plus side to this loosely controlled chaos is the amount of freedom i'm given to teach what and how I want to. I'm largely free from oversight and can thus focus on really improving the student's English, instead of follow the exact plan the book lays out. It gives me more ownership of the classroom, makes me work harder and makes me prouder when my students succeed.

Of course the ultimate lesson from both of these situations is to just relax and go with it. As the Bible says "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

Clearly these two got the message

PS. Yes I know the pictures are all non-sequiturs

Some weeks are easier than others

2011-06-09T23:30:00.001+09:00

Can you find the waygook among the tired children?

Last week I promised to post pictures of the area I was exploring. However, I discovered an important fact while there. It was boring (the area, not the people). So rather than waste your time, i'll just post one picture from a rose garden there and move on.

The rose garden

Ok I lied. Here's one picture of Wonju. See what I mean.

The rest of the week so far has been fantastic. Temps are in the lower 70s. Monday was a national holiday. Tuesday my entire school went on a field trip to a place called Eco-land. I wish I could make up a name that great but once again Korea goes above and beyond to amuse me. It consisted of (and I am not making this up) riding a train through a forest, walking on a bridge over a big pond, looking at terrible animal sculptures possibly made from grass, taking a walk in an overgrown semi-jungle and then spending 2 hours running around a big field with half a dozen small wooden sheds/playhouses. Why on earth people would pay for this experience I can not fathom. Fortunately I was saved from ennui by my students who kept the day interesting and fun. I even taught a group of them to sing Zip-a-dee-doo-da during the hike.

This group to be specific

Cheesoo

Wednesday continued my no-teaching streak with both of my classes for the day getting canceled. This allowed me to do something far more important. Watch the Mavericks win game 4 of the NBA Finals. Thursday also proved to be a classless day thanks to a field trip at my other school. If you know anything about the level of coordination and planning consistently exercised by the schools here, you'll know what came next. I was told about my field trip by text message wednesday evening, was not told where we were going or when to arrive. So the next morning I found myself on the bus destined for, you guessed it, Eco-land again!! Be still my beating heart. Still it beats actually working for my money.

I could hardly contain my excitement

Clearly, neither could they

So now I move into friday, fully prepared to earn a weeks salary for teaching 4 classes (instead of my usual 28). Sometimes life can be pretty good.

Fashion in Korea - round 2

2011-05-28T14:35:00.013+09:00

This week I took my camera to school with me and let my kids play with it. Some of the resulting pictures will be scattered throughout this post. Right now i'm in a fantastic mood. It's beautiful outside. The Mavs won game 2 of the NBA finals with an epic comeback (I yelled so loud I scared the kids in next classroom when they won). I'm done with classes for the week. And even better, this Monday is the Korean Memorial day. I'm going to use the 3 days off to explore a bit more of peninsula. Pictures will follow.

Now i'm going to fulfill a request I got last week and write a little more about fashion here. Clothing choices here are an odd mix of conservative and risqué but always stylish. People dress well here. Men rarely wear shorts and almost always wear suits to work. A button down shirt, slacks, a vest and a tie is a casual dress day for a Korean man. Even after work, button down shirts and nicer shoes are the rule rather than the exception. Women are a bit the opposite. While men never show their legs, women wear micro skirts and tiny shorts all the time. High heels are standard. And though women aren't bother by leaving their legs completely uncovered, to reveal any shoulders or cleavage is downright scandalous. This results in the odd site of a man in business semi-formal attire walking arm in arm with a woman in an expensive dress with very high heels and full jewelry. This might not sound out of the ordinary until you saw them turn into Burger King for dinner.

This also means that i nearly always wear a polo when going out. Though my inner athlete and my love of comfort still have me in t-shirts and basketball shorts every now and again.

Haircuts here are also somewhat more interesting than expected. Since nearly everyone has the same basic black, straight hair variety is achieved with hairgel and dyes. Men opt for one of four haircuts most commonly. The bowl, the random parts sticking up, the military or the longer shaggy look. Examples of each are provided.

The bowl

The military

The Shaggy

The random parts sticking up

Women tend towards either the bob or the classic long and straight. The interesting part is when they decide to dye it. Almost the only color i've seen used is a cross between blonde and orange. It's ..... interesting. Brown, red and normal blonde are rarely seen. See below.

The bob

The long

The strange color

School in Korea (or why I forgive a lot of my kids bad behavior)

2011-05-28T09:51:00.000+09:00

For post number 100 (which seems crazy to me) I'll start with an update. Life is going well right now. The weather is in the high 60s-low 70s (19-23C). Remember when you live on an island where virtually everything to do is outdoors, weather is big. Next weekend is the Korean Memorial Day weekend. I will be using the time to visit some friends on the mainland and explore a bit.

When you combine those plans with my Mavs continuing to win in the NBA playoffs, it makes me a happy man. Funny story, for those of you not from Dallas, the Mavs pulled off a huge come from behind win Monday night. The game ended regulation tied at 101 each, just as my last class of the day was coming in. So it was time to close the game and teach. Except that didn't happen. The first part of that 5th grade class was spent watching the Mavs beat the Thunder in overtime. It was still an educational experience. They learned phrases like "Go Mavs!!" and "That's a foul!!" and "YYEEEEEAAAAAAA!!!!". The students quickly figured out to root for the blue team since it made the teacher happy (and a happy teacher means a fun and easy class). So by the end of the game, I had a whole room full of kids cheering every shots Dallas made. I was so proud :)

Now for more about my current home country, let's learn about the school system here. Like most countries, school begins around 8-8:30am and ends in the early afternoon. The children are taught all the basic subjects (science, math, korean, music, PE, etc) plus English. After school elementary classes cover a variety of topics from traditional drumming (very cool) to soccer to English to piano and even harmonica.

Sounds normal so far right. Where it gets crazy is with hagwons. Hagwons are very expensive private schools that run from early afternoon until late evening. Even my 1st graders go from school to hagwons and often don't get to go home until 6 or 7. For older students it gets worse. High school students are usually at at school from 8am-9 or 10pm every day. And every other Saturday is a full school day. So very often the only off day in a week will be Sunday.

The reason for this is that the best middle and high schools in Korea are extremely competitive. Students must score very highly on test to even be admitted. And getting into the best schools is the only path to the best jobs. Getting into University is even tougher. High school students literally spend months doing nothing but studying for the entrance exam so they can go to the university of their choosing. And when I say they do nothing but study, I mean they study almost none stop 16 hours a day, 7 days a week for months and months.

As a foreigner, this method of schooling strikes me overzealous in the extreme. It teaches children how to memorize a great deal of information and get better test scores but it stifles creativity and problem solving. American secondary schools are sadly lacking in many ways but they remember an important thing. Children need to be children some of the time. So when my children are bouncing off the walls in class and can't sit still, I at least understand why. In their position, I would be doing much the same thing. I try to work with this by anticipating when this buildup will be the strongest and putting kinesthetic learning into those lessons.

Suffice it to say I have a great deal of admiration for the Korean zeal to learn. It's the implementation of that desire that i might question. In plain speak, parents here are willing to sacrifice much of the happiness of childhood (and huge amounts of money) in exchange for better test scores. To me that trade simply isn't worth it. What would be ideal would be a mix of Korean and American educational systems. Take the respect and fair pay teachers get in Korea, the focus on education here and add in the American ability to relax and encouragement of the creative arts and problem solving (maybe play the video game Portal in school to encourage this). All this together would make a near perfect educational system.

And since i'm already dreaming, I'd like a Ferrari.

Everything is fine

2011-05-15T19:17:00.007+09:00

One of the roads at Jeju National University

"I make it a point to the thank the Lord, when I got him on the line. I'm feeling good and everything is fine."

- Josh Turner "Everything is Fine"

This update will be short and sweet. School is going well. Had a couple national holidays here during the last two weeks which produced some wonderful R&R. I'm consistently playing basketball and ping pong at least once a week at the university along with various other forms of exercise (like doing pushups while a first grader sits on my back. their idea but a great workout). I even found some other people who play golf and will give that a shot when it warms up a little more.

My students preforming a drum show. It was surprisingly entertain for elementary school. Wish they'd taught us stuff like this when I was a kid!

I also decided to give in to the common Korean practice of teachers giving their cell phone numbers to students and gave it to my small school 6th grade class only. With proper discipline, this hasn't caused any problems. In fact it has provided me with a way to improve the children's English even more outside of school. Plus I get messages like the following one.

"I LOVE YOU! I'm pig :) "

On a random note, I made a friend who lives in Beijing. This of course increases the odds i'll try to get over there despite the steep Visa prices. For now though i'll stick to exploring Jeju and other parts of Korea.

PS. The last picture was the result of me being bored at school and having a little fun with photoshop.

Orientation part 2 (or why no I haven't heard of this thing you call "sleep")

2011-05-04T19:49:00.000+09:00

Changdeok Palace

Following the exquisite reunion with the food of my homeland, I proceeded with the usual meet friends for a drink and head back at midnight thing. Two things made this night more interesting. One is I found out one of the girls at orientation was in Prague at the same time I was. We compared notes and found mutual friends, similar experiences and a wealth of joy in reminiscing. Two was that I got to witness a handsome but drunk Irishmen trying to hit on her while we were talking. I have rarely been so well entertained! His initial line was "You're gorgeous. Would you like to come back to my room." They got worse (or better depending on your point of view) from there. I won't repeat them here. I'll just say they had both she and I rolling.

I'll pause here for an amusing anecdote. While in one of our classes, we were asked to name the three most significant inventions in history. Ignoring discoveries like fire and electricity, two choices were obvious. 1 the wheel. 2 the print press. Number 3 produced some arguing though. Within my group I settled it by proposing the horseshoe and then explaining why. After I finished they agreed, which i assumed was the end of the matter. But moments later when the teacher at the front was asking for ideas, one of the girls in our group stood up, said the horseshoe was number 3 (and pointing at me) said "and he's going to explain why." Finding myself the unexpected center of attention, I proceeded to explain very briefly that the horseshoe was the main invention that moved Europe out of the dark ages (explanation below). When I finished, the teacher without a word wrote horseshoe by the third invention slot and in the area devoted to why it was, he simply wrote "because he said so!"

(for those of you who don't know: horses feet are too tender to work in fields as drought animals and oxen consume too much grain to be kept by peasants. women used to be harnessed to plows. a family's animals would all die from starvation every winter. without animals to assist farming, there was nowhere near enough food being grown to support anything. the invention of the horseshoe allowed horses, who ate less, to work in the fields. thus producing more grain. thus allowing animals to survive the winter and families to not starve to death. before you know it, they had enough food to sell and expansion and commerce quickly followed, etc)

The front gate to Changdeokgung

The next day (Tuesday) was our culture day. After presenting a morning lesson, we were taken to Changdeokgung (Changdeok Palace) which is one of the 2 most important palaces in Seoul and probably the prettiest. Our guide was a volunteer who provided fascinating history throughout and kept the experience good even as it lightly rained on us the whole way.

The "secret" garden behind the palace

From there we went to see an extremely popular variety show called Nanta. It's a show based around drumming, dancing, juggling and other impressive skills set in a kitchen and using only kitchen utensils as instruments. They even did a little cooking. I can't really do it justice except to say that it was a fantastic experience with 5 charismatic performers and I would happily go see it again.

One interesting note on the Nanta show. The audience was extremely diverse (which you would think would reduce communication) but the actors still communicated perfectly to everyone by using a mix of English, Korean and gibberish. I was really impressed.

The usual late evening in-dorm entertainment followed and my lack of sleep continued (4-5 hours average for the week). Fortunately Wednesday was our checkout day. Upon finishing, I and group of 4 of the girls headed for a bookstore (them to buy books, me to look for ideas) and then on to lunch at, you guessed it, On The Border. The 2 South Africans in the group were almost as eager as I was. Apparently their diet is extremely similar to Texans, so even though they had no real experience with Mexican food, OTB was still an instant hit. After another round of unspeakable food joy, we broke up and headed for our various rides home.

By the time I got home I was so tired I could barely think. Thankfully I called and got the next day off to catchup on my sleep and take care of a ton of errands that needed to be done. A fun weekend with friends followed and now I'm back to work with the joyful caveat that this Thursday and next Tuesday are holidays in Korea. Unfortunately Friday and Monday aren't and vacation time can't be used to make them become holidays but I'll take any time off I can get.

cool looking stone

After my first visit to Seoul I've concluded it's a great city to visit (especially if you live anywhere in Korea) but I'm happy I chose Jeju. I met several new Jeju teachers at the orientation and have been staying busy making friends with them. Life here is starting to round into the picture I had in my head when I first arrived. And that's something well worth smiling about.

More of the secret garden

Dorm life with a divine moment

2011-05-02T19:00:00.008+09:00

Facing toward Jeju inside Namsan Tower (though admittedly it was hard to see since it was a couple hundred miles away)

Last time I left you with a teaser for my first trip to Seoul for an orientation. Well I'm hear to report that despite coming 6 months into my contract, the orientation was surprisingly useful and a fantastic experience. Of course the fantastic experience part only had little to do with the classes I attended and a lot to do with the people I attended them with.

I started by flying up a half day early on Thursday night so I could do some sightseeing. Naturally it rained the whole day Friday. Fortunately I still managed to wonder around, find the American district called Itaewon where the military base is located and even buy a can of Wolf Brand Chili. That was good for an amazed but joyful smile.

A pagoda overlooking Seoul from a park I meandered through during lunch one day

When I arrived at orientation I learned there were about 80 teachers, that we would be sharing dorm rooms and that my roommate canceled last minute. I was the only guy with a room to myself. Life is good. I could post a picture of the room here if it weren't a normal boring dorm (but it was). The first few days flew by with some good teaching tips and interesting classroom activities but I'll just hit the highlights

Namsan Tower at night

The first night I went with a mixed group to a local mexican food place. Not bad but unknown to me, better things were in store. After that we walked by a cool outdoor concert and then the group split and I went with my friend Steven to Namsan Tower (pictured above, also called Seoul Tower). Great night views of the city. An excellent first site.

Mexican food attempt number 1. Score compared to average Mexican food abroad 8/10

Of course. Who wouldn't expect to find a Korean with an Afro tap dancing to live music in a park?

An interesting tradition at the base of the tower. Lovers come here and attach locks to the trees and rails with custom messages of devotion written on them and then throw away the key to symbolize their unbreakable love

The Han River, which bisects Seoul, as seen from Namsan Tower

The next day (Saturday) was spent attending classes and making friends from 9am-9:30pm. A couple drinks afterwards and some very entertaining conversation in the dorm's common area rounded out the day (and would become a staple of days to come). Sunday was more of the same. It may have been Easter but we still had class all the live-long day. Still, the other teachers were a superb group, so the experience was still good.

But Monday is when the sublime struck. After another fun day of classes, we were released at 6 to work on a lesson we had to present the next day. Me being me, my partner and I had already finished earlier that afternoon. We decided to go out for dinner. And then someone told me there was an On The Border in Seoul. Of course I had to go. And to my complete and utter shock, it was exactly the same as the one near my house in Dallas. The salsa was spicy. The queso was fantastic. The enchiladas were perfect. The margaritas were strong. It was divine. Ambrosia mixed with Manna from heaven couldn't have tasted better. I could barely speak I was so happy. I just ate and ate until I couldn't take it anymore. That meal was probably the single happiest moment I've had since I moved to Korea.

Real, unfiltered, unaltered Mexican. Score compared to average Mexican food abroad 6,000,000,000/10

For future reference of anyone traveling with me, I will be eating here EVERY SINGLE TIME I am in Seoul from now on.

But wait there's more! Part 2 coming soon

Someone needs to teach the Office of Education what the word "orientation" means

2011-04-16T00:55:00.001+09:00

The entrance to Jeju National University

Interesting week. Went out a couple evenings, got some unexpected news and spent my lunches teaching a couple of the 1st graders how to throw (a universally important skill for young boys). Teaching the boys how to throw was probably the most fun since they sought me out. And watching their quick progress, I can't help feeling a little proud.

The unexpected news came Wednesday. I learned I will be getting my first look at the 2nd most populous city in the world next Thursday. I have a 6 day orientation (which makes perfect sense since I've been here 6 months) from Friday 22nd until Wednesday the 27th in Seoul. I even convinced them to let me fly in early and leave late so i'll have a little more time to explore. I'm definitely excited for the change of scenery. The only sad part is that they have us busy from 9am-8:30pm each day. Not that this will stop my sightseeing but it will definitely slow me down. Hopefully i'll have some interesting stories from it in my next update.

The gardens of the Jeju Culture and Arts Center

My week definitely ended on a high note friday with 4 of my 5 classes getting canceled for an unannounced (to me anyway) field trip which i was not expected/allowed to attend. This gave me time to lesson plan, research Seoul, catch up on my favorite websites and even take a short nap. I've said it many times before and i'll say it again, you have to enjoy the little things in life.

part of the university campus

And finally, in the
"I have no idea what my shirt means"
category, my skinniest 5th grade boy won today by wearing a shirt that said "My guns are nothing compared to my rocket" with an arrow pointing down. It took me a couple minutes to regain my composure after seeing that. Gotta love Asia.

Beautiful pictures, festivals and unfair competitive practices

2011-04-10T21:10:00.009+09:00

This was a good weekend. Despite losing my voice friday night and still not having it back as of sunday night, I had a wonderful time. Jason and I went and checked out the Jeju Cherry Blossom Festival and found it strangely familiar. If you think about it, festivals are pretty much the same anywhere you go. They have a purpose or theme, they have some carnival games, some singing and performances and loads of interesting (read scary) foods. Here the flowers were lovely, the performances lively and the food plentiful. Definitely a fun experience.

Me in a sea of (I am not making this up. This is their actual name) rape flowers. Two weeks ago we had the rape flower festival (music provided by Nirvana)

Jason looking ... thoughtful?? (maybe)

However, my favorite part of the weekend hands down was getting to play basketball for the first time since i've arrived. In fact I got to play both days in games with Korean and Chinese students from the university here. It was exhilarating to get back to playing one of my favorite sports. And yes it's probably unfair for me to be playing basketball in Asia given my height but too bad. I've always loved Shaq and now I feel like him every time I play.

I went for a walk in the woods after the game Sunday

As you would expect, everyone in the games was very polite. I was invited into 2 games saturday and another on Sunday. In all of them it was call your own fouls (after apologizing for them) and competitiveness was fairly low. Most of the guys weren't bad but playing against a skilled big man is not something they're used to (big shock). Maybe that will change if I get to play with them more throughout the summer. For now i'm heading to bed so i'll have plenty of energy (and hopefully a voice) to teach the kids tomorrow. For now enjoy more of the pictures from the festival and around the island.

Whiter skin, k-pop and and cherry blossoms

2011-04-06T21:55:00.002+09:00

The first blooms of Spring

We'll start with a quick update. I'm in a wonderful mood because, seemingly overnight, Spring has arrived. Suddenly everything is blooming around me and Jeju is coming to life. The best part is the cherry blossoms. The trees are absolutely everywhere and are simply stunning right now. And they'll only get prettier over the next week or two. As if to reinforce this, Jeju's annual Cherry Blossom Festival is this weekend within walking distance of my apartment. It's safe to say i plan on attending :)

And while the natural beauty of the island is increasing exponentially every day, the temperature is rising and the sun is returning. To truly appreciate what an impact this has, you must have lived somewhere where the only things to do were in nature. The closest parallel I can think of is the end of winter in 7 Brides for 7 Brothers (obscure reference). All you really need to know is that I feel like my energy has doubled and my smile rarely leaves my face because of the weather.

Now to continue my "about Korea" series with the focus this time on: Music and Beauty. Having already discussed Korean hospitality and food, we move on to these interesting topics.

Koreans have very definite standards of beauty in both genders. First, you must be thin. The average person on the street in America would be considered fat in Korea. (Of course depending on where you are, that might be true regardless). As an example, I am not really considered thin here. I'm about normal, if unusually tall. Once you're thin, you need white skin. The whiter the better. Women often wear veils while driving to keep the sun off of their faces. Instead of tanning lotion, you find whitening cream everywhere here. This incidentally results in thin, white foreigners nearly always being considered attractive.

Ok if you're thin and white, you're doing good so far. If you're a woman, you need small delicate features. Big, round eyes are the lone desirable exception to this generalization. If you're a man, taller is better but facial hair is not common. Many Korean men are incapable of growing any kind of facial hair and those that can are often restricted to a weak mustache. Trimmed facial hair is not looked down upon but the scruffy look is (my students hate it if i go more than a couple days without shaving). So if you're got all that covered, congratulations; you might have a Korean love interest in your future.

an attractive woman in Korea

The Korean concept of beauty of course carries great weight in selecting their musicians (as it does in America). This is especially true because by far the most popular type of music here is Korean Pop (K-pop). K-pop is like bubblegum pop of the late 90s (NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, etc) on steroids. The average K-pop group is composed of 5-10 attractive teenagers of which 1-2 are good singers, 3-4 are good dancers and the rest are there to be pretty. K-pop songs have an extremely short shelf life, often lasting only 1-3 months before disappearing. Thus there's always something new to hear. On the plus side, K-pop songs tend to be catchy and fun. And even better, they don't seem to have discovered autotune yet (thank god). All in all, it's not that different than pop radio in the states (and often it's more comprehensible).

If you'd like to see an example of both Korean standards of beauty and K-pop (not that you probably care but if you do), click here.

After watching or skipping the above link, enjoy these pictures of my school and the early cherry blossom blooms. More will be forthcoming I assure you.

The picnic area behind my smaller school

And the view it affords visitors