MT

The restaurant we ate at...looks like a house.

near the top...with the kindergarten and 5th grade teachers

You can see the back of the principal (left) and the vice-principal (right)

In Korea there is something called MT (stands for membership training) that basically describes a group of people going out and doing something that they usually don’t do together. Well, my county decided for all the schools to have MT at Odaesan (a famous mountain in Korea). Ending school right after lunch, we all headed out to the mountain where everyone who works at a school in Pyeongchang County gathered. After 3 hours of hiking up and down the mountain, we were all pooped. Of course what followed was dinner. Before I go on, I noticed a funny thing while in the mountains. Since soju bottles are typically made of glass and can hurt people if thrown (especially down a mountain), soju companies created plastic soju bottles that look like 7-up bottles. Well, I saw many plastic bottles of soju as I hiked up the mountain and was afraid for those who were about to hike down an extremely narrow and slippery rock trail. Departing from the alcohol, we enjoyed a nice dinner in Jinbu where cognac was the drink of choice. Thankfully, before we entered the restaurant, the 2 young guy teachers who don’t drink agreed that we sit next to each other in order to be out of the sight of those who enjoy drinking among the teachers. Our strategy worked :)

Right now the floor of my room is extremely hot. I think the house owner forgot that I told him that I wake up at least 2 times every night sweating because of the hot temperature. Since I am a foreigner, he is afraid that I might be too cold and not adjust well to the weather (very considerate of him). I have no choice but to open the window a little because of obvious reasons. I’ll tell him again tomorrow morning to please not boil the water that flows underneath my floor. Anyways, it’s pretty late so time to sleep.

Visiting Heidi and UFC 104

UFC 104 ^_^

Heidi's beautiful town

Right after class on Friday, I rode a bus to Seoul to sleep over at my uncle’s home. Eating dinner with his family, we feasted on spring rolls and discussed topics that ranged from state ownership of banks, H1N1 vaccine availability, private health care, the education system in both Korea and the U.S.A, and much more. After great conversation I went to sleep and the next day took a bus to visit Heidi, my friend from California and teammate from my time in China. Surprisingly, for the first time during my stay in Korea, my bus was late to arrive in 함양, Heidi’s town. Due to the heavy traffic leaving Seoul, my 3 hour bus ride turned into a 4.5 hour ride. The reason is that people all over the country are heading towards the mountains and forests during the weekends because the scenery is beautiful (autumn leaves and crisp air). Once I met up with Heidi and some friends, we went to eat at a famous restaurant known for its lotus delicacies. From galbi-jjim to lotus nangmyun, I stuffed myself. After lunch, we all walked around a man-made forest and drank coffee at a cute café for over 4 hours. For dinner, a local jook restaurant was our preferred choice. After learning that some friends had missed their bus back home, we all decided to stay up late in a friend’s apartment playing mafia, silent football, and various games. I think we all missed speaking English comfortably to people who could comprehend all we were saying. After staying up very late playing games and solving riddles, Heidi, Jessica, and I walked back to Heidi’s apartment for another couple of hours talking and catching up. Finally at around 5 in the morning, we fell asleep. Waking up to Heidi playing praise music, a smile lit my face. Before taking my bus back, I decided to get a haircut in the town. Let’s just say I have never had anyone cut my hair the way it was cut. After 6.5 hours on the bus, I arrived back in Jangpyeong and collapsed on my bed.
Monday evening I turned on the television after a tiring day at school and found that UFC 104 was being shown for free! I love Korea! So, I watched the entire event, and am very impressed with Cain. When the much anticipated main event came on, I started clapping and jumping down on my bed. My favorite fighter Lyoto Machida vs. Shogun Rua. After watching a painful 5 rounds, I thought it was pretty evident that Shogun won the fight. His combinations and counters to Machida’s body were evident through Machida’s beat-up body and depressed demeanor. When the fight ended, Machida looked like he even knew he lost. However, the judges scored unanimously that Machida had won! Although Machida is my favorite fighter, he did not deserve to win that fight. Although the decision was not his to make, I feel very bad for the highly prepared Shogun.

Anyways, booked my plane ticket home today and am very excited to head back. As much as I love Korea, home will always be home. There is so much I miss, but I am going to try hard not to dwell on it so that I don’t become too homesick. This Wednesday the teachers from my county are all meeting up to hike, so I will probably update again soon.

Until then, toodles! (my sister always use to write this so I think it rubbed off on me)

School Viewing and Dinner

4th star member of the TV series "IRIS"

춘천 jazz festival

Driving to the school in 강릉

The 5th grade teacher and the intern teacher in front of the sushi restaurant we ate at. Both are very good hyungs (older brothers).

Wednesday afternoon I travelled to 강릉 with my fellow teachers to visit an elementary school and see what programs and activities they have planned. I guess it is part of the Korean education system to have schools visit one another in order to facilitate partnerships and innovation with regards to educational activities. In this case, we explored a school library which had various programs set up that included parents coming in to encourage the students to read as well as a self-checkout for the books. After the uneventful school visit, we headed to eat sushi at the beach. For some reason I cannot eat sushi in Korea without having major digestion problems, so I stuck by the tempura options. 3 hours and many bottles of soju later, we went out of the restaurant for a second round at a local 노래방. During this time I witnessed interesting events. For example, one of the school bus drivers basically dancing on the principal, the principal hugging me very tightly for prolonged periods, the first grade teacher singing and dancing to Son Dam Bi’s Saturday Night song, and more. Despite it being a school night, we all stayed out until 11pm with some of the teachers having a 2 hour commute. It was quite an enjoyable evening and I had a very good talk with the 5th grade teacher about future stock and business plans and agreed to help the event coordinator’s son with exploring viable college options in the United States. I forgot to mention that I sang A Whole New World, and it was very interesting to see the teachers who are mothers and some grandmothers treating me like a pop star and pretend fainting when I pointed at them during the song. Quite entertaining J
Well, after school today I am going to my town’s church to host an English learning session for the youth group. In exchange, the pastor is going to prepare dinner for me. We’ll see how it goes.

Jogging in 장평

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings I jog around my town. There are 2 reasons why I am jogging. First, to see explore the outskirts of my town. Second, fellow teachers and myself are noticing that I am gaining weight (my larger waist line and hips point to this).

Enjoy the picture tour of my morning jog.

You won't see this too often in Los Angeles. A van parked in the middle of the street trying to hide behind a sign.

Going to the Movie Theater ^__^

Entrance to the theater...

Dinner at home...yummy

Negative externalities and the highway problem

When we decide to drive on the highway we simply think a faster or more efficient way to get from one place to another. However, negative externalities result from our decision to take the highway such as making others’ bear the cost of us taking space on the highway. Many economists recommend a way to separate those who must take the highway from those who are simply free riding on those who bear the costs (anyone but the driver). Obviously this is not a very popular idea in California where we love to drive our cars everywhere for no reason at all. However, in Korea I have found a different situation. Paying for your costs on others by your presence on the highway is a reality. Drivers must pay fees depending on how much they use the highway and this is detected through booths as you exit and enter different cities. This makes drivers think twice when deciding to travel far, and force more often than not, efficient driving decisions. As a result, there is a very noticeable lack of traffic in Korea unless you’re in Seoul (where 1/4 of the Korean population in Korea lives).

Going to the Movie Theater

As I have made apparent, I am living in the countryside. This will be obvious by my account of the evening. After school, the Kindergarten teacher, her daughter, and I decided to go to a movie theater to watch a movie. This decision was no simple one because the nearest movie theater is one hour away. Imagine driving one hour just for the simple, common act of watching a movie at the cinema hahaha. Anyways, it made me appreciate the movie very very much.

Complaining

It’s been over a month and a half since I started teaching, and I have become very apparent of the complainers in my class. Just like many adults, they make it their job to find something to complain about. Whether it’s about me somehow conspiring to make their team lose at games, not playing their favorite movie clips, giving them jelly candies instead of chocolates, not choosing them when it’s apparent that others need a chance to participate, and much more, the famous complainers desire, or perhaps require, something to complain about. Instead of looking at the bigger picture of the class, the game, or the lesson, they focus on anything that seems not to meet their own desires. I say that a test of character is what you do with what you have, not what you start with. Sometimes, I just want to take the complainers aside and tell them to stop being so selfish to even think that I would take the time to make their teams lose or devoid them of happiness. Ok, my venting (or can be seen as complaining hahah) session is over.

불쌍해

phoneix park - a ski resort 10 minutes away from me

dinner time!

불쌍해=translation
This is the most common description I hear from the Korean people I meet who find out that I am teaching at Jangpyeong Elementary School. That description is meant to apply to my own situation that many see as a young man isolated in a tiny, boring town of Jangpyeong. The description is also directed towards the children who are devoid of many educational opportunities that city students have and that many of the children come from broken homes.
불쌍해? Certainly not the students here in Jangpyeong. While private academies, private tutors, fast food restaurants, singing rooms, movie theaters, and other common urban opportunities are missing, in its place I have found loving people, a close knit community, children who are tested by their surroundings, and less obsession over academia. I came here with a savior mentality, thinking I would single handedly inspire and motivate all my students to catch up to and even surpass the educational aptitude and career goals of many students in urban areas. Instead, I’ve discovered a community who has supported and cared for me, not based on what I want to do, but who I am. English word families, vocabulary, phonics, and phrases may all be forgotten by my students, but it’s ok as long as they remember that they are loved even by a young foreigner who was raised and lives over 6,000 miles away. When consumed by frustration and apathy towards my students I must remember my own situation and how I have been blessed by their community and that I am here to love those who are neglected by so many.

Over the weekend I slept over the home of one of my teacher’s friends, and found out that they are the owners of the city bus system of one of the largest cities in Gangwon-do. So, they are able to provide all sorts of private tutoring for their children, and it showed as I interacted with their 6th grade daughter. Hanging out with them reminded me even more of my students and how their situations are so different from students in urban areas.

Burger King and Calligraphy

This past long weekend consisted of the Chusok holidays and taking a break from teaching at school. Took a bus to Suwon, played baseball and basketball with my younger cousins, ate with relatives, spent Sunday in Seoul, and relaxed at home. Spending time with my father's brothers and sisters, I could clearly see how much they miss him through the way they lovingly treat me. Quite ironic, that my father left Korea to the United States for opportunities, yet I return to Korea for an opportunity.

Burger King
About to leave Suwon, my grandmother wanted me to eat lunch with her and her younger sister before I went on the subway. So, I decided to take us to eat a quick lunch at Burger King. It was their first time at Burger King, so they were excited and thrilled to watch a line of customers wait for a meal of a hamburger, fries, and a coke. They kept mentioning how convenient this is for single people and how they can understand how modern day Koreans gain weight so quickly. Just the simple act of eating a meal at Burger King turned into quite the entertaining experience for me as well as my grandmother and auntie grandmother (Though I think for different reasons.)

Calligraphy
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am having a go at learning calligraphy while in Korea. At first I thought it was a simple act of copying letters down on fancy paper. Little did I know that people spend countless year studying brush strokes, character development, brushes, and an endless numer of other things I would have never considered. This morning I was invited to eat breakfast with my landlord and his family. I learned that my landlord is a specialist in calligraphy and he gave me one of his brushes along with an offer to assist me in my quest to learn calligraphy. Proudly I started, humbled I became, and amazed I am at the complexity of this ancient art. Respectfully, I will attempt to undertake calligraphy (primarily Hanja).

There are many occasions I miss home for its comforts and problems, but then I realize how much I would beat myself up for not being here. As much as I can't wait to get back, I want to stay here and remain inundated in God's love and blessings that I have experienced here. Undeserving and a sinful man, I shall remain satisfied only in him who sustains me.