You Feelin' Swiny?

A whole new round of swine flu scare has hit SoKo. Some 3,000 people now have it here. Many schools are not allowing anyone (students and teachers) to return to school for a week after they have returned from an other country. Conveniently, our school is only applying that to our students. Couldn't have our new teachers quarantined for a week...they wouldn't get any training! We couldn't have that, now could we? Other precautions are extra hand washing sessions and temperatures being taken in the middle of class.

We even had our own little mini swine scare. One of our co-workers has had a cold since we returned from Indonesia, and then she found out one of her friends in Seoul has swine flu. She has since been tested and is certain she does NOT have it, but that was close to being our own little crisis. As much as I would love a few extra days off, I have a feeling it wouldn't be worth the school being closed down for awhile....

365 days later....

It has come to my attention that I have been away from US soil for one year officially. With the dawn of this anniversary I would like to renew my sense of wonder with my surroundings. I did "wondering observations" when I first got here. I'm going to try and do a better job of keeping it up this time.

My first theme is my favorite common images:
1. Bikes are everywhere. It is very common to see people of all ages in all kinds of dress going down the sidewalk. Most bikes have baskets and racks on the back which carry anything from groceries to babies to women in skirts riding sidesaddle. My favorite is to see two high school aged boys, both tall and lanky, one riding a severely undersized bike while the other stands on the rack behind him. It's even better when one is hold an umbrella as they ride by.

2. The Korean squat. Male, female, young and old utilize this position when out and about. It's basically a catcher's stance, but the feet are flat on the ground, knees are at your shoulders and your butt is hovering no more then an inch from the ground. It is particularly wonderful when you happen upon a business man in a sparkling pink tie out on a smoke break just chilling like this.

Haeundae

So apparently my student is a movie star. My elementary students came in one day and one girl said she saw Morgan at the movies yesterday. So I replied with "Oh, you saw each other at the movie yesterday." Morgan shook his head and Sarah said "No, he was in the movie". Oh, of course.

He is the son of the lead in this disaster movie. He got his tooth pulled out. It was hilarious. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Not so sure I was supposed to though....

Conquering the Night

This idea was put in our heads by our friend Warren, a Korean hiking enthusiast who enjoys organizing hikes with expats at least once a week. His latest installment was a midnight to sunrise hike. Even with fair warning, Megan and I only decided to go commit as of Friday morning, recognizing that we hadn't hiked in far too long.

One would probably think of quite and solitude when you think of a night hike, but sadly 33 other people felt the same way about a chance to hike while avoiding the current heat wave we are going through. Walking with a loud group of head lamps flashing in my eyes was not exactly what we were going for, so at the first chance to really lag behind we did, and the rest of the night was amazing. We sat a stared at the stars and city lights for hours while listening to music. Each time we got a little restless or cold or too bugy, we just picked up and walked to a new beautiful rock formation, which was inevitably 10 mins away. We let our eyes adjust and just walked through the woods on our own. We may have spooked ourselves walking in the absolute quiet and the dark, but for the most part were completely at peace. However, Megan jumped and ran back twice. Once when a stray cat (the only "wildlife" we saw out there) came a little too close for her taste. She then proceeded to throw her bag of tuna gimbap of the side of the cliff so as not to temp it to come back. I assure you she feels bad about the littering, but was genuinely in fear for her life. The second time was in day light on our way down, when she walked into a spider's web and thought it was on her. It was not. Both times I thought she was going to fall down and creak her skull open.

As always, the way down was an adventure. Even though it was much easier in daylight, we did not know where we were. We almost always just pick a path that seems to be heading down and go for it. Not sure why, but we were temped by a narrow "path less traveled" kind of trail because it looked like it went down faster then the one ahead of us. We pasted a few "don't go this way" signs and ended up trekking through the woods out onto a fenced in soccer field. We were not supposed to be there, but we made it. I needed a night like that. Amazing.

The only downer for the night was finding out that the breakfast place that we wanted to go doesn't open until 11. Nothing around here is open at 7:30 am. Not even Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. What's that all about?

Emily

...and that makes a full 12. Emily spent the first 2 days in complete silence. On day three, she spoke her first word to me: "bathroom". Day 4 was silent again and then today she raised her hand to come up in front of the class to answer a question. Go figure. The whole time she has sat very quietly and not interacted with her classmates at all really, but I can see her starting to smile. She is getting more comfortable and I have a slight feeling that she is going to open up into a big trouble maker. Let's hope not. Her worksheets look excellent though.

As long as she dosen't turn Damian on me, I'm really hoping that I keep these same 12 kids for the next six months. It's just easier that way.

Welcome to my Paradise

Bali and the Gili Islands, Indonesia

A mere 7 hour flight took us to the tropical paradise of fresh food, reggae music, cheap everything and beautiful people on the inside and out. I could get used to being there. For a week’s worth of events I think it’s just easier to list the memorable things…all firsts.

The first time I ever:

*went on a purely tropical vacation

*went south of the equator

*was anywhere near the equator

*was in a country where they drive on the right side of the road

*set foot in the Indian Ocean

*got motion sickness and threw up on a boat ~since I’ve never been motion sick before, I thought it would be fine to read a little bit on our 2 hour fast boat ferry to the Gilis. I was sorely mistaken.

*was on an island that has no motorized vehicles

*was picked up by a horse drawn buggy to go to a hotel

* shared a room with 8 girls and was forced to sleep outside (ended up sleeping outside the rest of the nights there because I like it so much)

*stayed in a place with regular rolling black outs

*went snorkeling in the ocean

*saw a bright blue star fish

*danced in a reggae concert mosh pit

*witnesses the skillful and artful use of a pianica (piano harmonica)

*held a monkey

*had a monkey pee on me

*was attacked by a monkey

*held an iguana

*rode an elephant

*played in surfing waves

*made friends with our “tour guide” ~Dade was the best! We were so lucky to have randomly met him on our first night while wondering the streets looking for a place to stay. We would have been lost without him for sure.

Most important lesson: taught to us by Sara

Always make sure you have more then 6 months left on your passport when traveling. In some places, like Korea, it may only mean a slight delay and minor paper at check in, but in other places, like Indonesia, a “fee” of a couple hundred dollars may also be required.

Costco

I went 11 1/2 months without going to Costco. I went this whole time with very few cravings for the western food I've been missing (really only Mac N' Cheese and banana bread). I woke up with the biggest craving for Nutri grain bars I have ever had. I can't stop thinking about what I'm going to buy next time. Stupid Costco...

Also, I went to Mudfest last weekend. It was rainy and muddy. That's all I have to say about that.

Efficiency

Koreans are nothing, if not efficient. I told my employer about all the issues with my apartment and they've had a guy fixing things for two days now. Lights and water were up and running yesterday. He even had the forethought to check my washing machine too, which was broken by the way. Apparently that was fixed today along with my speakers, monitor and modem. Apparently the electric company is reimbursing everyone for all repairs needed. All the is left is the blender, but when put in perspective I'll go buy a new one. I got it for free from a friend here anyway. =) Score one point for the good old ROK.

Hots Dogs and Kimchi

Happy Birthday America!

I celebrated with a meet up group trip that included these firsts for me:

• white water rafting - it was tame
• walking along /in /swimming down/ being carried by the current through some tiny natural water slides in a river for about 5 hours
• jumping off a rock into a semi dangers whirlpool of water
  
• seeing tadpoles with legs
• eating asparagus, muenster cheese and hot dogs off the grill in Korea
• doing karaoke on a moving bus - all the tour buses here are equipt with it, just hadn't been on a trip that had broken it out yet
• gone on a trip without taking more then 10 pictures...it's not well documented, but I have hopes of stealing some

Meanwhile, back in Seoul, when I got home from work yesterday I had a light fixture explode over my head as I was taking off my shoes. I continued into the apartment to turn on more lights and they were much much brighter then before. Then, they too burnt out, just not quiet as dramatically. Within a few minutes my power was turned off completely. Apparently the was on purpose, in order to fix the problem. My whole block was out of power for about 2 hours. Once the power was back on I found that many of my appliances were blown from the power surge including:

1. three light fixtures: entrance, kitchen, bedroom
2. heat/ hot water control
3. blender
4. external computer speakers
5. TV screen size external computer monitor: good-bye movie and LOST parties
   
6. modem: no internet for me at home
   

Stupid Korea.

In Memoriam

Another one bites the dust. Claire's last day at Kid's College was June 30th, the day before open house. Sure she was a little stinker, but I like to think we had developed a bond by the end. I was really starting to enjoy her. This just leaves another open spot for some new kid to come in and mess with the whole dynamic again. I swear it's like starting over ever month around here.

In other new, open house went well. I went to Outback Steakhouse that night to celebrate it and Canada Day. Good times and good ribs were had. We even told the restaurant it was Suzie's birthday because she was dressed in red and white (purposely trying to look like the flag) and they brought her a dinner roll with hot fudge on it. We all sang (we American's attempted) the Canadian national anthem instead of Happy Birthday.

Update: local and global

You know how they say "If you don't like the weather, just what five minutes." Well same applies here. Sunny is back! Apparently, he is too young to study English in the Philippines with his sister, so he's back. Less then one week later. Go figure.

In other news, we all woke up to the new of Michael Jackson's death at the age of 50. Farrah Fawcett died at 62. North Korea still threatens to bomb the U.S. You know, same old, same old.

We Came, We Saw, We Scooted

Jeju Do (Jeju Island) - the Hawaii of Korea

I'm finding that I really enjoy going places with little to know previous knowledge of the sights and sounds in store for me. I'm lucky that I'm usually with someone who was motivated enough to figure some things out ahead of time or a local who can get me to the path less traveled. It's sad to say, but I really like it when people tell me what to do (as long as I don't already have my own opinion.) =)

Jeju was lovely. By no means did we see all this small island has to offer in the less then 48 hours that we were there, but we fully embraced what we did manage to get to. A perfect balance of ambition and relaxation if you ask me. Friday evening we met up with Megan's local friend Matt, settled into a love motel in Jeju City, ate some Mexican food and found our way to the ocean/sea/straight...whatever you want to call it. Saturday took us to the east side of the island. Oddly enough, we seemed to have the same cloud from two weekends ago follow us to the island, but luckily there was no rain this time. We did a small hike up Songsan (Sunrise Peak), not at sunrise, but it was still an impressive sight to see. Our protective cloud was just rolling across the top of this green crater at the peak. It was incredibly windy up there and Maranda's skirt was falling all over the place. So much that she refused to walk around up there for awhile. Good times. Again, some might have been disappointed with the cloudy view, but we all found it beautiful. We then headed over to U-do, an even smaller island on the just across from Songsan where we were able to fulfill our goal of renting scooters and hanging out on a beach. We even got some swimming done in there. It was freezing and exhilarating at the same time. I had forgotten how intimidating it is to swim in a huge body of salt water. My heart was racing the whole time, in a good way.

List of firsts:
drive a scooter
walk on volcanic rock (it was everywhere)
stand on a white rocky beach with clear blue water

We did not even come close to conquering the island. We didn't even see Mt. Halla (the tallest mountain in Korea) the whole time we were there because of the clouds. We also missed out on all the sweet tourist traps such as Loveland, numerous waterfalls and lava tubes. (Lava tubes sound sweet, don't they!?! Turns out they are just caves...no one want to check them out but me...wah wah) Needless to say we are itching to go back. Talk of moving there to get a new teaching contract has even been mentioned by a few.

And now a brief history lesson: the Haenyo (sea women)

Haenyo are skilled divers who are known to be able to hold their breath for more than two minutes and dive to depths of 20 meters.

Until the 19th century, diving was mostly done by men. The job became unprofitable for men since they had to pay heavy taxes, unlike women who did not. Women took over the diving and, because of the great dependence on sea products in most places on Jeju, became the main breadwinners. Gender roles were entirely reversed. Often men would look after the children and go shopping while the women would bring in money for the family.

Starting from the late 1970s, exports of sea products to Japan such as abalone and conch have made the sea women richer than ever, allowing them to fix their houses, build new ones in Jeju City and send their daughters to college. However, there is a threat to the haenyo's continued success: with their daughters choosing to work in the island's tourism industry or in the big cities, the haenyo will most likely disappear. While in 1950 there were as many as 30,000 haenyo on the island, in 2003 there were only 5,650 sea women registered as divers, of whom 85% were over 50 years old. - Wikipedia

These women are incredible. The very definition of tough as nails. They are such an icon of the island, with statues and monuments all over the place, not to mention all the actual woman out in the water. It's hard to imagine that something so fundamental to this culture's history and still so prevalent today is estimated to die out completely in the next couple decades. The most interesting thing about it is that it's not dying out because technology is replacing the need for the position, it's just not appealing to this most recent generation of woman. They want something better for themselves now that they have an education. Fun how that works....

And thus concludes yet another wonderful traveling experience with the M sandwich of the office. A special thanks to our side of fries Matt, the best tour guide any girls could ask for.

In Memory of Sunny

My favorite little break dancing cherry left for the Philippines today for 3 months with no warning. Not sure if he'll be coming back to Kid's College when they get back. I didn't even get to say good-bye. Wah wah.

Elementary Homework

How would you be kind to someone?

I want to have friendly relations with everyone.

A Chicago Style Weekend

I am a lucky girl to have so many wonderful people to help my celebrate an other year older and another year wiser, but here and back at home. I felt the love via mail from in the form of homemade banana bread, chocolate and butterscotch chip oatmeal cookies, mac n' cheese packets, socks and a note redeemable for a tickets to see a show when I'm home in November from the rents. Madge sent me some Mike and Ikes, colored flame birthday candles and a pot with seeds to grow my own flowers. And last, but not least I got a huge banner birthday card from the Johnson side which will hang in my apartment until I leave. Thanks guys!

As for the amazing people here...they rock. We had quite the crowd eating at the picnic tables outside of UNO pizzeria. We sampled from a large variety of pizza toppings including a regular supreme, cheese burger, sweet potato deep dish and Gorgonzola garlic thin crust. It was a spectacular spread. Suzie even baked a cake! A very pleasant surprise. We then enjoyed some adult beverages down by the lake on a beautiful night and hit up a norebong. Perfect.

Saturday evening was a joint celebration for Liz and I, since Liz's B-day is the 14th. A typical evening out in Hongdae, a college neighborhood, where we spent most of the evening trying to find a well hidden bar called Freebird. We finally made it, but lost many people along the way.

Sunday was great because Megan and Maranda took me to "Chicago". We spent a lot of time debating if it would be in English or Korean. It was all in Korean, except they said the names and "all that jazz" in English. Also, cellophane is cellopong in Korean, which made the song "Mr. Cellophane" very entertaining to listen to.

Thanks for the sweet brithday weekend everyone!!!

Things I missed at home this weekend:
Mom and Dad's 32nd Wedding Anniversary
Ross' 21st birthday
Cousin Micheal and Lindsay's Wedding

Sorry guys!

Crazy and/or Gorgeous

The discovery of MeetUp.com is going to drastically change the shape of the next nine months. I've joined the Seoul Sports and Hiking Group and Hiking in Korea along with the Facebook hiking group I did Bukansan with two weeks ago. Between all of these I've got notification of hiking trips with other expats every weekend. It's possible that my updates and pictures are going to start sounding very similar (if you don't think they have already...)

This last weekend was particularly hardcore, but spectacular. Our group of 44 met at midnight to board a bus and sleep on our way to Samchoek City on the east coast. We arrived as the sun was raising and the drizzle was falling just before 5 am. Each of us slowly departed the warm bus to eat breakfast in the cold rain. We started the hike at 5:25 on the dot. The entire way we were walking in drizzle or mist. No down pours, but we were all soaked in the end none the less. The constant moisture keep my camera in it's bag most of the way, but I did manage a few pictures. The first peek we hit was spectacular. Amazing rock formations with small pools everywhere. Felt like we were in the movie "Into the Mist". It almost made up for the fact that when you went to the edge all you could see was fog. The next peek was not as enjoyable. It was raining a bit harder and we stopped so long the we all started to get very cold. The way down was a long and muddy trail, not without it's fair share of slips and falls. At times it was painful, but oh so worth it. We finally got a chance at a real view of the mountain along with following a river of waterfalls the whole way. All in all, I wouldn't have trading the weather for anything else. It was like walking through the rain forest the whole time. We arrived at the base a good 9.5 hours later excited to get on a warm dry bus and head to the beach.

Sadly, it was not really beach weather, but my companions and I didn't mind. We got ourselves some hot and spicy soup and went to bed. We spent the morning on the beach instead. The next point of the itinerary needs some explaining.

The Legend of Penis Park:
Once upon a time, in a coastal village there lived a beautiful girl who used to gather seaweed. In the distance there was a rock called Aebawi where plenty of seaweed grew. One day, this young girl was taken out to the rock by a man in a boat. The man, who had a pact to marry her, promised to return to the rock to pick her up after she had collected seaweed there and he went back to the village. At dusk, she waited for him the man to come and take her home, but he was unable to come and fetch her due to wild waves. That very night a terrible storm arose and a large wave struck the rock, drowning the ill-fate girl. From the time of her death, the fishing catches turned bad for the village and so a rumor started circulating among the villagers that is was due to the dead girl's bitter soul. Finally, the people of the village decided to offer carved wooden phallics as a sacrifice inside Haesindang to console the bitter soul of the unmarried girl.
Mysteriously, after that, the village again enjoyed a good catch. The ceremony where wooden phallics are offered is still held even today on the first full moon of the lunar year.

And so explains the penis status.

Next, on to Hwanseongul, the largest limestone cave in Korea. 3 km of open space. It was spectacular to say the least.

I left the weekend exhausted, but refreshed after falling in love with mountains all over again. It's funny, but it seems to happen every time I go to one.

June is busting out all over...

and changes are springing up. Nothing unusual of course.

four new teachers, three new kids, two broken teeth, one kid gone and a signed renewal contract

4 new teachers: don't really have the skinny on the newbies yet, but I do know that I will be missing Emily, Joceyln, Denielle and Ari (my Chicago buddy)

3 new kids: Alex started a few weeks ago and Alex Kim and Jack started this week...three new boys brings me up to 12 kids

2 teeth lost: the first new Alex was running during a break time on Tuesday and fell down. I came back to a class room with a screaming, bleeding child. The helper teachers had it relatively under control, but it certainly broke up the day a bi t. Turns out he had to have oral surgery that afternoon. I also had to speak with his father after school. Thank goodness he was a level headed guy.

1 kid lost: Olivia is not coming back. Apparently she was always stressed out about school. It's tough being 4.

A renewed contract: The beginning of June marks my official half way point. 9 months in with 9 months to go. With my contract I also get a plane ticket to come home for Thanksgiving. I'll arrive in Chicago on November 14 at 3:48 pm and leaving from Minneapolis on November 29 at 1:00 pm. I am already really looking forward to those two weeks.

Healthy Food

Last week's Show and Tell was bring in a healthy food. Thomas' mom sent in a juice pouch for everyone in class. Literally a small plastic bag with a straw. It looked like apple juice and it had what seemed to be a fall motif on the front of it. Upon closer inspection it had apples, oranges, grapes, pumpkin and onion on it. Yes, each of those things were part of the flavor. No, it did not taste very good. Yes, the kids seemed to like it.

What a lovely Weekend

Friday: K-pop concert

Saturday: a great girls movie night

Sunday: Seoul Hiking Group
A Korean guy by the name of Warren organizes hikes for expats. I had been meaning to do another hike like this for a long long time..... a great cap to a wonderful weekend.

side note: at the end of the hike we stopped for dinner and by the time we were heading home the sun was down and we were feeling very damp and cold. Megan and I bought matching wind breakers so we wouldn't freeze on the subway. As I tried mine on, the Korean salesman with good English helped me. As he zipped it up for me I said "Oh, perfect" and he said "perfect body." Hilarious.

Rainism

Oh my.....yesterday was awesome!

Titania has the best hook ups in Korea. She had a friend of a friend call her yesterday and ask if she wanted to go to a free concert with her at her university. They have been meaning to meet up for awhile, so this girl thought Titania might want to come to the school's 60th anniversary party. She wasn't really feeling it until she told us that Rain was going to be there and we freaked out!

Back story on Rain:
Born Jeong Ji-hoon in 1982. Know as 비(Bi) or Rain in English. Hit the stage in 2002 with his debut album. He has also stared in some very popular Korean TV dramas. In 2007, Rain topped Time's open online poll. He beat Stephen Colbert by 100,000 votes; Colbert jokingly retaliated by producing a parody of Rain's music video for "Ways to Avoid the Sun" called "He's Singin' In Korean". Stephen Colbert has since challenged Rain to a dance-off "or a cuddle-off, or a spoon-off". On May 5, 2008, Rain appeared in a "surprise" guest segment at the end of The Colbert Report and proceeded to engage Stephen in a dance-off. It was hilarious. Also, I have a calendar with two years worth of pictures of him on my desk at school.

So, at first we didn't really believe what she was saying. How is it possible that 4 white girls are being welcomed to a free concert with arguably the biggest pop star in Korea? We were intrigued, excited and ready for disappointment at the same time. We ran out after school to try to get to this concert having no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

A 50 min train/bus ride got us to a really college campus, with tree lined streets and everything. It made me very nostalgic....the girl (crap, now I can't remember her name...) met up with us and said that her friends had saved us seats. We battled the crowd to an outdoor stadium where we sat on stone benches. The whole time we were walking there we were all debating if it was really crowded enough to be a Rain concert or not. I looked at the crowd and felt like it was just a typical Korean even crowd....I think that might be a sign that I've been here too long, because it was packed.

We were in our seats around 6:15 and there was plenty of entertainment for the rest of the night. The first act was the school's own dance students. They were doing a lot of ballroom dancing type things. It was like watching a very bad version of the show "So You Think You Can Dance", where people try their best to dance a style they just aren't meant to.... A band with a student singing. A countertenor sang and Italian art song, which sang along to at the time, but now I can't remember what it was... and some other singing acts that did a lot of what I call "ajama" (grandma) music. It sounds like Korean polka ballads. And then there was the pop music.

It turns out they had quite a few pop acts that I had heard, but I just didn't know what I was listening to before. It made it that much more exciting, because the crowd would go crazy, we would ask our hostess who it was, we wouldn't recognize the name but when the song started we got excited because we knew it. Four major groups preformed: After School, Son Dam Bi, Lee Hyori and Rain. They only did about two songs each, but it was AMAZING!!!! I have a really bad video footage here. I also highly recommend youtubing these wonderful k-pop entertainers. It was a totally surreal experience. Can you imagine ever having a completely free concert with Justine Timberlake, Beyonce and the Pussycat Dolls that just anyone could walk into? This would have never happened back home. When I asked why they had this concert and how they got these famous people to come she just said that since its the 60th anniversary of the school, so the school put it on. Beyond that, she did seem to think it was all that crazy that Rain and Lee Hyori just performed.

Sadly, our hosts had to go do something afterward, but since it was only 9 pm at the end of the concert we stopped to get a drink and some food in this fun new area we had to explore. We went to Dorthey's Diary, which had a Wizard of Oz theme. Each page of the menu had a title such as "Run Scared Lion" and "Tin Lumberjack". Yes.

And now I leave you with a quote from the T-shirt I bought walking back to the subway:
I am a great person in the world. Love myslef... Some on who loves you will love the others about sojunghame...

True story.