Christmas Cheer 09

So, as expected this Christmas was a very different and emotionally challenging one for me. Its hard to experience something in a country where it doesn't exist. In Korea, Christmas really doesn't exist. even though out of the 54.5% of Koreans that declare religious affiliation, 29.3% of them are Christians. (the only thing coming close is Buddhism at 22.8% the other 2.4% are various alternative religions ). The way that Koreans celebrate Christmas seems to be the way that they do everything in this country, including getting married... most of it is for show. They have the trees and a few lights up on the main streets, some signs in the large department stores and the kids yelling "oh santa" when they see an image of good old st. nick. But the meaning of christmas is completely lost. the idea of getting together with family and/or loved ones is not something that they see as a necessity at this time of year. That is the thing im missing most this year. Its very challenging for me to be away from my family, in this place that doesn't feel, look or act like a holiday is coming up. Again, its a Confucius country, so i was aware that these things wouldn't be as prevalent as they were at home, but even the feeling you get. the warmth in your heart, the smile you get as you hear christmas carolers or see children running in the snow laughing... its just not as accessible here. luckily i have great family  and friends and i was bombarded thoughtful, loving notes, cards and gifts to help me get through, even though i ' actually able to be there to squeeze everyone with love... 

I had the privilege of attending a wedding on Christmas day in Busan. I did not know the couple getting married, but the idea of getting married Christmas day seemed a romantic notion to me and i was more than willing to witness a Korean wedding (which i had heard about. a lot of 'for show' production) and i was not disappointed. It seemed as though the man and woman had barely met. they walked stiffly down the isle, and then back up it and down it a third, and fourth time.. each time the photographer following them; hoping to get the perfect photograph. The whole room was packed with people. people standing, sitting, walking around, talking laughing, eating.... no one seemed to be paying any attention at all. Coming from a western world, where at a wedding we sit and watch the bride and groom say their vows and dedicate themselves to each other i found this quite strange. Where we see marriage as a thing of beauty, that is found in love, and commitment, it seems that often times in korea marriage is something out of necessity. Im not saying this is all bad. it is part of their culture, and in some cases love can be found with each other after the necessity is met; or through the necessity. The brides dress was beautiful, even though she looked like she was scared half to death of the stranger standing beside her at the alter. They then proceeded to take pictures with different groups of people. the male teachers students came up and sang him a song, laughing the whole way through, which i thought was really cute. The inclusion of ones students in a teachers wedding is very common in korea, and most would take offense if their class did not attend. 
In any case, it was a wonderful day. we ended off the afternoon with a lovely trip down to the fish yard (sounds romantic doesn't it) haha. but at the fish market on the first floor you can buy fish and on the second floor you can eat it, fresh. they have chefs that buy the fish right there and cut it up for sashimi for you!! so great!  it was the most delicious meal ever and a WONDERFUL christmas dinner!! 

But why....

So, i have been trying to keep this blog lighthearted and kind. however, i think the time has come when we need to lay out some truths about Korea. i have had enough inconsiderate mindless people ruining my day, and this is the time to air those grievances.

i have been given an amazing opportunity by coming here. i am truly blessed to be able to have experienced a different culture first hand not once, but three times in my life. These are invaluable experiences that i will cherish forever, and i am sure some of the people i meet here will be with me forever. i know my time spent in Holland changed the way that i did some things and am able to still keep those some important ideals and habits that i learned while i was there. 
however, there doesn't seem to be many ideals or behaviors that i would want or need to pick up from Koreans.
this past week i was victim to one of their many self serving behaviors that really don't compute to the average person. I have a hard time fitting in in my elementary school. its not for lack of trying. the teachers just dont seem to enjoy being around me. yes they are polite and will ask what my plans are for the weekend. the gr 6 teacher even smiles and waves at me when i enter the school. i thought i had made some headway when she started to try to speak a little english to me and ask me how she can get better so we can talk. however, all of this was dashed last week Friday. it was a regular day, no one pays attention to the white girl sitting in the English room. the room was getting a little stuffy and the sun was shining so i stood up to go and stand by the window that i had opened a crack and get some sunshine on my face. Much to my surprise i see the gr 6 class (that i was supposed to be teaching at that moment, but failed to show up) and all of the teachers standing outside getting their pictures taken. since its yearbook/graduation time i figured thats what it was for. I have to admit i was a bit surprised when i saw this, b.c. all of the teachers were involved, yet... no one had bothered to come and get me. am i not a teacher? do i not belong? so i walked downstairs only slightly bothered by this notion to get a coffee. as i passed by the door all of the teachers had lined up in front of it. one of the teachers turned around and offered a friendly "hi bryn" to me. i waved at her. it was then that another teacher turned around and said "teacher photo for yearbook, go away"  i stood there astonished for a moment. unsure if i should run away crying or lunge at the throat of said teacher. then all of them turned around and looked at me and shooed me away on me saying "you are in way" i retired to my room, completely forgetting about the coffee and allowed myself to give into the sorrow of this situation. 
It was s ad dark day for me and one i wont forget. how could they be so thoughtless? do they not realize that i am in a foreign country here, and if they were in my country i feel certain that i would do my best to include them in things even to the point of being annoying, not try to ignore them and make them feel unwanted. i wonder if they realize what its like being from somewhere else in this horrid little town; away from the people i know, away from my family, my friends... and i may need a little bit of kindness...  everyday i struggle with this thought. 
so. that being said. things here aren't always peachy, in fact sometimes they down right suck. but when you look at life, its not going to be the negative things to remember, it will be the positive experiences you gain from these emotional breakdowns. the positive people that enter your life and bring a huge change. I am excited everyday as well. excited for the new adventure that this country will bring me. and how the things that are happening now are really minute in the journey towards my superlative goals! 
So i will continue to tolerate this behavior, if not trying to teach them a more considerate way of living. sometimes i observe these people and understand the differences and sometimes its more difficult. today was one of these days....

Holiday Consumers

as the holidays encroach upon us i am stunned by the difference in commercial marketing that is present within the western world and Asia. i know that the holiday is not as present here as it is at home, or present at least in a different way. Although the large department stores still have a tree greeting you at the front door, and lights are strung along the doorways, there seems to be no apparent change in the way that things are displayed or marketed as they would be in Canada. This could be because it is common practice in stores for sales associates to come up to you as soon as you enter their department and follow you around until you leave, pulling things out of the rack and hovering over you. This is a deterrent for me, and one of the reasons i avoid shopping in Canada during the holidays. This practice seems foolish, it pushes the customers away, well at least it pushes me away! But then as i look around at all of the other busy shoppers, most of whom have a sales associate pinned to their side, carrying their loot, it seems as though they are not bothered by this. Which, makes sense, as it is the norm here. It then dawns on me that perhaps they think it impolite to be left on your own when you enter a store. Koreans are helpful people by nature, especially to foreigners (always a ready chance to practice their minimal English). As i look around i also wonder if this is why the Christmas decorations and marketing is present, but not so in your face. Christmas is typically a western holiday, adopted into many different cultures as a holiday during the year celebrated by Christians as the birth of Jesus. In Korea we are awarded one day off for this holiday December 25th.Although i am not surprised by this i do have concerns on how this holiday will be spent. However im sure it will be wonderful. It is a time to be spent with the people you love and cherish and gives us a little push to appreciate  the things that these people do for us in our daily lives.  I know that this year i will be missing my family and friends and thinking about them, as i often do, being so far away.


So, this year i will not have to battle the crowds in the mall, i will not have to put up with crazy holiday consumers in the games store and i will not have the mass marketed Christmas shoved down my throat. its a refreshing change, but i can only imagine what the already packed shopping centers with swarms of already careless pushing screaming Koreans will turn into when Christmas does come closer. i might just stay out of the way...haha

Failure and re building

I had decided to take the challenge of writing a novel in the month of November, this is however, proving more of a difficulty than i had anticipated. Although i love to write, i simply am.. and have always been... a procrastinator... if you knew me during my early student years (and sometimes the later ones) you knew that i would do literally ANYTHING not to study, or write a paper... seriously. one time i found myself cleaning grease out of the microwave vent... i mean anything. although these things are good to get done, and usually a 'no one wants to do it' kind of job... its not at all something that should be done when there is work at hand. having something with a goal to reach each day with a final product for the end hasn't been on the top of my list. 
However, i have regrouped and have today begun to write fervently. My characters are beginning to take a shape and it actually feels good. 
Last week was a really transitional time for me and i think that this may have contributed to my lack of enthusiasm for a craft of which i am very fond of.

 sometimes i long for the comfort of the library cubicles, the ease at which i can acquire a large cup of coffee and the hum of the florescent lights above my head... wait, i have that here... but you get the picture... haha. I've quickly learnt that the common experiences which we share with other native teachers are the things on which we should focus. although everyone says "oh its for the experience," i often wonder, is it really? could i not have an experience living my student life, is this not experience? perhaps a more mundane and less exotic sounding one, but nevertheless ...

being removed from the things that make us comfortable because they are within our realm of routine makes us readjust and find parts of ourselves that we may have never explored.. this is the kind of experience i suppose 'they' speak of. but then we find a new routine, a new way to critique the things around us, although non familial, the shared experiences with 'comfortable' people allow this to occur...

Temple Stay- Golgusa Temple

So, i went on a temple stay with my friend Dan. it was one of the most exhilarating, infuriating, tiring, contemplative and energizing experiences i have ever had. It was a great experience for me. It also kind of made me see a bit deeper into the daily lives of monks. Although we may think of monks as non descript males, off in the wilderness sweeping dirt floors and making rock statues, that was hardly the case. Im not sure if it was simply the temple we were in, but because it is a smaller one, i doubted it. I suppose as all things have been, their religion seems to have become a bit jaded by the introduction of technology. My first connection with one of the monks was actually through email. I don't mean to say that they are not bathed in ceremony and dedication to themselves and their faith; but the shining images of old time monks that rang through my head was changed, just slightly. But first ill talk about my experience there...

the journey there was not as perilous as i imagined, yet it was quite the journey, two trains two buses and an hour walk later we finally arrived. the last leg of the walk was an uphill battle, quite literally. we had to walk for about 45-an hour up hill to the top of the temple, nice little walk. when we got there we were sweaty and out of breath and immediately offered water by one of the fine women checking us in. she told us our sleeping quarters were half way back down the hill and we were expected to be at dinner in 45 minutes back up at the top. we opted to carry our bags until after dinner and go check out the stone carved Buddha and the caves the temple is known for. the temple is called Golgusa temple, which literally means stone carved Buddha (or so we were told) . the hike up there was pretty interesting, the steps are all made of stone, and since its carved into the side of a mountain face, there isnt much room to walk. they have put railings and ropes for you to guide your way along the rock face without facing certain death. so dinner was a fairly standard korean meal- only is vegetarian, which i was VERY thankful for! prison trays, rice, two kinds of veggies and soup. we were told before the meal that we must finish everything that we take because, obviously, we are not to be wasteful or gluttonous. after dinner we had an hour of free time to get ready for the evening meditation and sunmodo training. 

Now, part of the reason we chose this temple was because of the sunmodo training. Dan is a martial artist and does taekwondo so we wanted to give it a try when we heard about them teaching martial arts as part of the practice. Sunmodo is about balance. balance of the whole body including within; your breathing, heart rate, muscles and nerves must all be in balance in order to practice this. when we started the training i could see why. First we had an hour meditation and chanting. this was to cleanse our mind and body from the days work and strengthen our minds to be in tune with the body. thankfully one of the monks spoke English and was able to guide us through the mediation without much problem. Then we started the sunmodo, which involved a lot of high kicking and balance poses. The monk instructing us was impressed by my kick and told me "good job" when we did the split stretching exercise (thanks to dance training for this!! haha) but the jumping bit i was less than great. you are supposed to be in complete control and come down and not move, and not have a change in breath... not so much...  haha. afterward we got to have a rest and watch a demonstration. they were having a master test the following week and needed to practice, which was lucky for us! these guys were amazing! one of them seemed as though he had no bones! so many contortions and high jumping. amazing! 

then it was time for bed. lights out is 10:00 and we were plenty thankful for it. our wake up call was to be at 4am. some of the girls and i chatted for a little bit before we went to bed. There were 4 others in the dorm style rooms (which also means you sleep on the floor). they were all teachers and 3/4 came from busan.
We awoke at 4am to the sound of the moktak, a wooden instrument played by monks every morning.. its a hollowed out wooden bell hit for meditation and to remind us to keep our lives open. at 4am that really the last thing i was thinking. but... we had until 430 to get to the meditation temple and be seated on our mats. we then had 35 minutes of chanting and 20 minutes of sitting meditation where we were quiet... i found it much more difficult to keep my mind quiet at this time of the day than i supposed would happen. But i eventually got there and was then able to be still, be quiet. The witnessing of the opening of the day is a Buddhist monk tradition. you must be thankful for each day that is brought to you, each moment. I allowed myself to shut off for a little while, and in that time, was able to hear and see things that i never thought i knew before.  after this we were slowly lead up to the top of the hill in a walking meditation. we were to keep 5 paces behind the person in front of us. This wasn't quite so pleasant, but the slow pace made the steep climb a bit less strenuous. We arrived at the dining shelter moments before our breakfast demonstration was to start. The monk leading us invited us to do some morning stretches as the sun rose into the sky and the other monks emerged from their meditative states and joined us in stretching out bodies to fit our minds. 

Then we had a traditional Buddhist breakfast, they do this ceremony every Sunday, so im sure if i do go to another temple stay i will be experiencing it again. The point of it is to be mindful. mindful of what we do and what we eat. We are supposed to think about how the food came to be on our plates (a lot of it is grown on the property and harvested by the monks- they know the labor of their own food) we are given a large bowl with three bowls inside of it and three pieces of cloth; one containing wooden chopsticks and a spoon. we are to place the bowls beside our right knee and take the first cloth and place it on the floor, this is our place mat. the place the bowls on the left corner of the mat remove the lid with the other two coths on it and put it back infront of your right knee. you have to use your thumbs only, and place them inside the bowls removing them one by one from inside the larger bowl and placing them clockwise on the mat so that you now have four differnt sized bowls. then take the chopsticks and spoon out and place then in the bowl on the top right corner. this is the 'clean water bowl.' then the jr monks come around and give us our clean water in our rice bowl (the largest of the four) we rince out all the bowls pouring the water into each bowl and ending by pouring them over the chopsticks and spoon and leaving the water there. The food is then served to us. The jr monks come around and give us each a scoop of rice. because this meal is less about eating and more about being mindful; the rice is literally the size of a small meatball. then we are given a scoop of soup in another bown and a tray with tofu, kimchi and spinach is passed around for you to take on your own.  you take one piece of kimichi and rinse it off on your soup and place the clean piece beside in your rice bowl *do not eat*  you then eat your meal. this is done QUICKLY. when the head monk slaps his stick you must be done everything (do not waste) and ready to start the cleanup. the jr monks then come around and pour hot water into your now empty (except for the clean piece of kimchi) bowl. you use the kimchi and your chopsticks to wash out the bowl and then pour it into the next bowl and so on until you have one bowl with your clean water and one with your dirty water. then you have to drink the water and eat the kimchi. at first, i thought this was kind of gross, but its actually just everything you just ate, with a little bit more water. so.. i drank the warm water and ate the sour kimchi. then you take your clean water and pour it into the first (noe supposedly clean) bowl. this water needs to remain clean at all times. if you did a good job on cleaning your bowls it will. and if it does then the monks come and take your water and pour it into a bucket for later use. Mine wasn't so clean, i could see a layer or something sitting on the top and i was made to drink the water. then you take the third cloth and wipe everything dry. put the bowls back together, fold the napkins and you are finally done. 

If it seems like a lot of work for a meal, it really is. haha. and its only 7am at this point mind you. so we went back for a little nap after it was done, my tummy still grumbling but my mind and heart full. 
after the break we had a ceremonial tea which was great! i loved it so much. the monk that poured our tea invited us to ask any questions we wanted of him. many people asked rather silly questions like "is there competition amoung religions" like, seriously. are you living under a rock. there is war based upon religion, even within certain religions there is competition. the monk answered in the way only a monk could. "i live within the walls of this temple and we keep to ourselves" it was awesome. (the guy had been getting on my nerves all weekend) after that we decided to take a walk around and head home, we were invited to stay for lunch a few hours later if we wanted, but decided against it since it would mean i wouldn't get back into my town until around 10 that night. and i was already exhausted. thus began the journey home, a much different one than the journey to the temple even though the same road was taken...



here is a look at the album of photos for your viewing pleasure

Changnyeong/PIFF

So its been a while since ive updated and quite a few things have happened, first ill start with a field trip i took to Changnyeong province, i had to write a little write up about it, and since i haven't updated in a while im going to steal what i wrote from there... sorry haha.


The wetlands that we visited were beautiful, and showed a different side of the mountainous rural are and i would have enjoyed a little bit more time to walk around this area and explore. The park was really interesting as was the delicious meal. . I really appreciated and enjoyed the bibimbap that was provided to me (as a vegetarian I couldn’t stomach the barbecue)

When we left the interior of the museum and ventured outside to the sites where the nobles were buried the artifacts became a little clearer but still not very relevant. Hearing about the ancient gravesites and how they were shrouded and buried in large graves as respect was really interesting and really gave some history and culture background about the area and the prevalence of these people and the traditions they hold. It was really interesting to be able to walk amoung the mounds and get meaning from them. Before they could have just been large mounds on the side of a hill that I could have mistakenly climbed for a better view of the city. I now feel more informed of the historical nature of this site
If you want to see pictures you can view them here: Changnyeong field trip  this might help to explain a little bit more of what we saw there! 

after the field trip i went to the film festival for the weekend (which was actually with one work day in between) the (P)Busan International  Film Festival (PIFF) is an international festival held every year. its one of the biggest film fests in all of the world. it was absolutly amazing! i had a fanstastic time walking along the beach. The famous beach there is Haeundae beach. the weather wasnt too hot, but i still had the opporutunity to stick my toes in the sand and feet in the water! it was so nice! the ocean views were fantastic. I spent most of the time in Busan alone. Which was fine with me. i got to walk along the beach and enjoy the sights and meet some people. There were celebraties everywhere that weekend, as many of the films were premiering for the first time ever at the film festival. most of them were korean, and i didnt know who they were, but  a few were American, including Josh Hartnett! which the koreans LOVE. i love him also and had a breif brush with him. even though i didnt know it at the time.hahah. i was walking towards the end of the stands set up on haeundae beach, each of these displaying small parts of the film festival, from photographers, to big film set ups, to 'make your own movie' tents  to sponser companies to autograph signing booths to places displaying traditional korean dishes to show some more korean culture. At the end was a stage and there were hundreds of screaming girls, as i approached a man in a black suit came and sort of pushed me out of the way to allow someone to walk by, i simply thought it was another korean celebrity that i wouldnt recognise; but lo and behold.. there was josh harnett, mere inches from my fingertips...
i realized this too late and was washed up among the throngs of screaming hyperventilating girls...  here is a picture just moments after his departure i believe that one of them is crying. hahaha. anyways, it was really interesting.








After this i headed down the boardwalk past the madness of PIFF to see if i could make it out onto the pier before my film at 6pm. as i was walking i happened upon some buskers... "buskers??" i thought "in korea, how strange." i found this strange because as i researched for an article i wrote about busking last year i found that not many countries outside of western world have busking. its popular in the US canada and some places in Europe, but rarely outside of it. I quickly grabbed my camera and snapped a picture of them as they set up. I tried to do so sneakily, but was caught red handed and called over to have a chat with the musicians. there were three of them, two Korean's from Seoul and one American... from.... well he didn't really know. anyways, they chatted with me while they set up and the American man told me he was "bringing music to the streets of Korea, one festival at a time!" I thought this was a fantastic idea. I ended up spending the rest of the afternoon with them. i played a bit of guitar, sang, played hand drum and some other percussion instruments they had on hand. we played until the sun set and the people were headed inside for dinner... after the american man left to meet some people i frolicked in the ocean with the koreans who were busking. I cant remember their names, and sadly i didnt get their phone number bu i had an awesome evening with them and hope that one day the world with bring us together again... :)
after that i headed back to meet my friend Amy and we went to see Three sisters, a french film about a family who is estranged from their father and the things they go through as sisters with him coming by and their mother still being in love with him, but him being dangerous for the family. it was a great film! we watched it in the outdoor theatre so i was wearing every single article of clothing i had, but it was really neat to see a film with over a 1000 people; including a talk by the director beforehand.

Random thoughts of the afternoon...

i really want to make pumpkin bread and macaroni and cheese... 

just thought i would share.. 

also.. 

November is National Novel Writing Month- so i have signed up for this challenge and will need as much support as i can get, its going to be hard!!!  (mostly for me to stay focused for 4 hours + per night.

This is the official statement of what its all about: (you can find more info here)

What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month's time.

Who: You! We can't do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let's write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.

Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era's most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.

When: You can sign up anytime to add your name to the roster and browse the forums. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.

So this should be quite the exercise in prolixity and writing endurance for me. It will also give me something to look forward to each night, and something to accomplish by months end. i really hope i can do it. As they rules say, you aren't supposed to edit or anything. just write quick prose that will hopefully in the end bear some sort of thematic plot line. im trying to draw up an idea before the month begins..i have a  few ideas... but im not sure if there is enough material for a 50,000 word novel. we will see...   its about 200 pages. im going to try and get chapter ideas out before the beginning of the month. yikes! prelim work! haha. okay that is all for the second post of the day.

Chuncheon- Chuseok weekend!!!

So this weekend was a holiday here in Korea. Its a holiday akin to our thanksgiving, only instead of turkey they have bulgogi and syomepeon. which is some kind of beef dish and pink/green/white rice cakes filled with sweet honey and sesame paste. The traditions that go along with this holiday are not unlike our own thanksgiving traditions. They gather to gather for one day as a family. some even traveling across the country. Most people travel south, rather than north. This tradition comes from the ceremony that they have to thank and remember their ancestors. As most of them are buried in the south amoung the many mountains, the roads leading south during this time are packed with card filled to the brim with Koreans and pounds and pounds of kimichi for the dinner they are about to enjoy. 

Now thanksgiving is one of my favourite holidays of the year. i love the feeling of gathering just to have a meal together with your famile, and enjoy each others company, under no other pre-tense than that.. i miss the sunset jeep rides out into the vineyards, the laughter that ensues as we run along the vines to gather the sweet pinkened grapes; our bellies still busting from the delicious meal. The coolness that takes the air at this time of year and makes us wrap our arms around each other or snuggle in a nice warm flannel blanket.. this is something i am truely going to miss out here....


    The idea of celebrating their ancestors also requires them to go and do the yearly maintenance of the graves. This may seem a little bit strange to only do once a year, but because there isn't much space in Korea, people are generally buried deep within the mountains and it is a little bit of a journey to get there. This task falls to the eldest son of the family. (the desire to have a son in your family really runs deep. i met a family with 4 girls.. the mother told me how much they wanted a boy; she was very pregnant, but she really thought it would be another girl- this is also not a traditional practice in korea- usually one or two children is the maximum; and this is mostly because schooling is VERY expensive.) I have been told that the maintenance usually takes about a day and is done at least a week in advance of Cheusok. This involves clipping, mowing, and gardening duties. I cant imagine how this would occur on a mountain side, but sure enough as i traveled in the bus towards the north, away from all the crazy traffic, there were little bald spots littering the mountain range. 


So as i mentioned i headed north the Chuncheon to visit my friend Rose from University. It was an amazing weekend filled with fun and laughter and relaxation. I arrived on Friday morning after a long morning of travel. My bus left at 7am from Daegu. I had spent the night at my friends house, but was required to be there 30 minutes early. since i had NO idea where the bus station was, i left his house around 5am. i arrived at the subway stop where i was told to go, and headed out to find the bus station. as i left the terminal i was surrounded by about 4 or 5 buildings with large express buses parked in the lots. so.. i just picked one with people in it and went in. she informed me the one i was looking for was across the street. so i cross the street, to be informed that i need to go around the corner, where i am then informed i need to walk about 5 minutes up the road. At 5am, walking around the city carrying my belongings for 4 days, is not the most enjoyable experience, but i was just happy i had found friendly, minimal English speaking Koreans to help me! (the benefit of being in a larger city) So i arrived at my destination and sat down amoung the throngs of people escaping to the south for the holiday. 

The bus ride was, uneventful except that i was frozen most of the time and so i curled in a ball, wrapped my scarf around my head and went to sleep for most of the ride. i felt very Korean. its both strange and impressive how quickly they fall asleep. every time i get on a bus they are all sitting there with closed eyes immediately. So when i arrived in Chuncheon we spent the day chatting and shopping, we went for Vietnamese food which was fantastic, and walked around the underground mall. We went to a place called VIPS for dinner to celebrate her friend Shinee's birthday! It was a surprise for her, which i was a part of... we had to use me to get her to the resturant haha..  VIPS  is a western buffet and where gorged myself on guacamole, melted cheese and  smoked salmon and capers... oh man... i was craving that for sooo long! then we went to a place called Sherrifs and played darts and talked, danced and laughed late into the evening. 

The next day we went to this place called everland. Its a HUGE amusement park with one of the largest wooden roller coasters in the world its called the /T-Express... it was intense. so intense that i couldn't even scream, i tried to.. but nothing came out, i had lost my breath... some serious adrenaline after that ride caused us to run around the park for another couple of hours and ride the gut busting head splitting amusement park rides that you typically find.. only sometimes you felt like you were going to die... we headed up in the ferris wheel to see if we could catch an overhead glimpse of the park. it was a pretty nice ride, but the shaky pod we were in caused for a little bit of anxiety near to the top. but it was a nice ride with Rosie and her man Andrew. So after a long day of bad food and stomach sloshing rides we departed with the beautiful full moon in sight back to chuncheon. 

That night we went to a place called Tombstone (another western bar) and shared some laughs and played darts. we were exhausted from the long day but still found ourselves wandering home around 3am to share a bottle of wine and chat. the next day... well.. we relaxed and watched some movies, ate some delicious breakfast and talked... a perfect Sunday afternoon. followed by a great dinner of dakgalbi- which is traditionally a chicken based dish, but i found my way around that and ate the cabbage, noodles, sweet potatoes, and rice cakes that this spicy dish entails... it was soooo good! 


Then it was time to go home and back to the reality of my life here in Bugok. My time away this weekend really rejuvenated me and made me feel sort of comfortable again. it was so nice to be able to just fall back into place with someone that i haven't seen in so long.. and know that it will always be like that. I cherish the friends that i have and miss them everyday. I just wish that i had someone a bit closer to make this adventure that much more bearable. Im putting in a request to be transferred... who knows if they can even do this. but I just know that my experience here will not be all it can be if im cooped up in this little town. but i just have to take what i have and make the best of it. :) TIK

teachers class

so i just finished another wonderful teachers class and found out all sorts of interesting things. like... school is out for winter break on December 30th, but they dont celebrate the regular new year, just the lunar one.. so apparently i don't get that time off unless requested... but, it does mean that i CAN get this time off... just an FYI to those interested. 
my teachers class is kind of strange and interesting, it satisfies my hours of teaching, yet... i sit in the break room and drink coffee and mostly listen to my co workers speak Korean. none of them want to participate in the class either, its like pulling teeth and bribing people to join the class with promises of sunshine and basketball....

im starting to plan my lessons for the next month. i think next week, being the week between their thanksgiving and ours, im going to talk about the difference in traditional thanksgiving things. perhaps have them make a menu... learn some thanksgiving vocabulary, make paper turkeys with different words on the wings.. haha who knows. anyways, will be interesting to see if i can come up with something. hopefully i can. 
i need to come up with something for the reast of the month though, i have two weeks where i have no ideas.... this is one of the very frustrating things for me here, coming up with ideas for lesson plans that are going to be interesting for the class... 

reason # 36 why korea sucks: buses

So i have been attempting for days to decide what i was going to do for the upcoming holiday cheosuk. so i finally decided that i was going to go and visit my friend rose up north in chuncheon. its a nice city north of Seoul that will provide me with a much needed break and a nice reunion with a great lady after 2 1/2 years!! so i decide that the bus is faster (takes about 4 hours) as opposed to the train (which takes about 5 1/2 hours) because of all the stops. i go onto the bus website all armed with my Korean phrasebook and Google translator, optimistic that it will be easy and ill be able to figure out how to book a ticket.
 I arrive on the site and figure out how to input the information for what i want; continue and pick the earliest/cheapest bus at 7am and put my bank info in and my Alien Registration Card (ARC) number. when i finish all of this i click 'ok' and come to a page that Google translator translates into a page with cancellation policy... so how do i know if my ticket is booked?! i go back and see that the seat i selected is still available, which means that either it take s little while for the server to update (Which would cause a lot of problems in my opinion) or it didn't work. through clever deduction (i.e. calling friends and getting their co's to call/calling the KTF- Korean people who help English speakers in korea) we find out it isn't, and i cant book it b.c. my bank card is not linked to my ARC # as i got the card before the ARC...
in other words, i cant book the ticket.

so now. i am stuck in a deliema. I ask my co-teacher if she can help and and she decides that she doesn't want to use her bank card to book for me... which also means... i cant get a ticket. so i ask her to call the bus station and see if i can have someone pick up a ticket there... (since im going from Daegu, i asked one of my friends there to go to the station and get it for me) no dice on this either.. apparently for this weekend the only way you can buy tickets is online....
does this make ANY sense?? seriously.
so now i am sitting at my desk. not sure what i'm going to do this weekend. watching the number of available seats on the bus slowly decrease as the day approaches to leave.
what will i do...
i have a teachers class this afternoon, and i'm hoping to try to discuss the subject of traveling for the holiday with them and possibly express my frustration with the Korean systems... i thought they were supposed to be more tech savvy over here, not more complicated....

later that day.... so the talk worked. and my co teacher who is my age and has thus been dubbed my friend used her card to buy my tickets. she even gave me her ARC card to pick up the tickets. which is kind of awesome. i hope i don't have any problems.  we will see.. im getting them to write down as much as possible for me. so here is where i am going... though im not going to Seoul im going a bit north east of it.. couldn't find a picture of a map with it on it.
im going to visit rose.
im really excited by this prospect because hopefully it will help me feel a bit of normalcy again. ive recently lost a little bit of something here... and im not quite sure what it is... a little quiet contemplation (which i have lots and lots of time for) will hopefully bring about more conclusions.
i think i just really miss home. and im starting to loose the whole brand new place feel of this place. even though it sucked. it was still new... now the daunting task of spending a year in this place that is all new is sort of.... hitting me smack in the face. i was told to cheer up today... haha. i try to smile for the students, but sometimes its hard when i don't feel like i'm doing anything for them. i really want them to learn, and to e excited about learning... but when they are running around screaming or completely ignoring me... it doesn't seem like i'm doing my job well... hopefully with time i will master some skills and the children will learn a little bit more respect for me.

Weekend in Seoul

So last weekend i took a trip to Seoul to see a show called global gathering. Lots of great Drum nd Bass and DJS and lots of fun! I had to ask to leave school early because of an 'apointment' so that i could catch my bus at 430.. which is when im supposed to finish school anyways. i dont feel so bad doing this because i come in on mondays an extra half hour early, so i figure since my contract states im only supposed to work 830-430 i can cut out a few minutes early every once in a while on a friday to go travel. The show was awesome. Lots of dancing and jumping around. we literally made it there the second crystal method was finishing and prodigy was starting. After the show i took a cab ride with my friend Amy to her friend nicole's house in Sujigu. This is in the north east corner of seoul. When we went looking for cabs we found a long line of them and we talking to nicole trying to get the exact place to go, giving the phone to the driver and having her friend who speaks korean translate where we were going. all seemed fine until he started waving his hands at us and rubbing his fingers together... it seemed he wanted money. BUT the meter wasnt running, and we hadnt agreed on a price. So we call the korean speaking person back and he tolld her he wants us to pay 70,000 Won. which... its about the equivelent of 70$. this... seemed quite rediculous to me, since the distance was about the same as from notl to downtown niagara falls,which would cost about 30$ at the most. Anyways, since we were already in the cab we didnt have much of a choice in the matter. so we payed the gradeous amount of money... the cab driver felt that we wanted to still party or something, even though we were falling asleep in the back watching the sun come up, and switched on some strobe lights and dance music... i thought i was being punked, or on that cab game show... but no... so.. being me, put my face into his face and started talking very loudly in english asking him to please stop... i may have thrown in a few choice words, considering the situation he put us in. he turned off the music and lights. its lucky neither of us had epilepsy...

now in my experience of travelling throughout europe, i rarely took a taxi, my feet were there to carry me through the night every single time, no matter how far of a walk it might have been.  but, i was always warned about taxi drivers ripping foreigners off when they least expect it. this was my firest experiece with it actually happening. and it kind of took me off guard.
the rest of the weeked faired pretty well.. the next day we slept in and ate pizza and watched amovies. a nice relaxing saturday afternoon. in the evening we headed into the city (a 2,000 won bus ride might i add... thats about 1.50) and went to the 'western district' known as itaewon. walked arounf there for al ittle bit and relished in all of the non korean's. then i went to another busy area, the name escapes me rightnow to meet up with some friends there and headed to a hookah bar. it was pretty neat! they had like tree houses all overthe place, we ended up in a place that was 'underneath' a tree house. but it was pretty awesome. a nice little meditation space filled with lots of pillows and blankets. it was a litel cozy with 10+ people under there, but still really great.
i stayed at a friends house so that i could stay for free and i slept on the floor, the bruises on my hips are still evidence of the wonderful sleep that i got. haha. we got up around 10 and decided to go into the city again and get some food and go to the folk flea market. the most amazing place in the world. im serious. i love this place...so many interesting things to find and look at. i bought myself a guitar, after much deliberation; i decided the 35$ was worth it. ill post a pic soon!

then i got on the bus, almost didnt make it... grabbed some kim bop (korean sushi) and read the rest of my book... home is always nice when you are exhauseted.

Shopping adventure/Bodypainting and a Bus driver

So, this week was an interesting one. On Tuesday i went to Home Plus with my co-teacher. Home Plus is like the korean version of the UK's tesco... it even says tesco on the side of the building.anyways its 4 floors of glorious goodness and i sincerly wish with all my heart that there was one nearby. its a one-stop shop for everyhting you would ever need, and it would make my life so much easier. Alas, the things that we went there for were basic necessities for my 'apartment' and there seemed to be room for little else. We went in with my co-teachers daughter, who is super cute, and left her sitting at the lotteria... like a mcd's only asian. i thought it a little nerve racking as the child is only 7 years old, but it seemed to be okay, and the attendant said her would look out for her, from what i could gather. so we ran around the store and i am now the proud owner of.. a rice cooker (its lavender on insistence of my co- she didn't like the less expensive orange one), a portable gas stove, a toaster, three pairs of chopsticks and two spoons, a large cutting knife and a small parang knife, some really lovely dishware (pictures to follow) a pot, two frying pans (b.c. the tiny one was free with it), two mugs, a mixing bowl, a cutting board, one tray, and a hotplate. :)
all of these things are wonderful amenities to have when paired with the proper groceries.. but those were not acquired and... there are no stores near me... so i had the tools just not the ingredients.  after we finished out shopping spree it was around 8:00 at night and was already pitch black outside... its strange how quickly it gets dark here.. one minute its daylight and the next its night.
so she told me she did not want to drive me home in the dark (its about an hour drive) because she is too tired and i should just stay at her house for the night. well, this was not the most appealing idea to me, but i really had no choice in the matter. it was a strange experience. When i arrived at her house she took me into the bathroom and produced a bag full of toiletries that she had just bought.... somehow... she placed a toothbrush, cup and bath puff on the counter. and told me i was to "shower now" and then she left the room closing the bathroom door behind her.  i stood there a little bit confused b.c... in the first place i have nothing to change into once i shower, i showered that morning, and it was just plain strange being told i had to shower at that moment. This is one thing about koreans that i have found quite interesting. haha. they all do things the same way. eveyone conforms to this mould of the way you should live and doesnt question it. Now i may be a little biased since i have only been here for a limited time, but my observations thus far have lead me to this mock-conculsion, which seems to be a pertty accurate depiction of their lives.
Speaking with my co-teacher later that night, (after i turned on the water of the shower for like 5 minutes and brushed my teeth... haha) i found out that a lot of the older generation feels pressure to maintain a certain way of life. a pure-blood existence in which stability and conformity are the normal ways of life. she expressed to me her disinterest in this type of thinking, even though it is part of her generation. she also expressed how her belief that was in Canada there is no discrimination between races and race mixing is a very popular thing to do. (her words) i tried to think about this for a little bit and wondered how to answer this statement. true, Canada is a place where many cultures co-exist, but does anyone live in a place where discrimination does truly not exist? if there is such a place i would love to know about it. discrimination can come in the smallest form and doesn't always have to do with race. look at a school, where kids who do not have a certain haircut, or listen to a certain type of music, or wear a certain brand name.. regardless of race they are discriminated against; perhaps not the most astute observation, but one nonetheless. do i think that people are more likely to be married to someone that is not on their exact background in Canada... well yes, Canada is a place that is filled with people from all different backgrounds and cultures and so this would be kind of an insane notion to think of. Korea on the other hand.. well... mainly full of Koreans. the other foreigners you do see are usually stared at as they pass by and not regarded as a part of their society, even though they could have been living there for more than 10 years.
anyways, that was my rant about that. and im tired now so i guess i will have to finish the story of the bodypainting and bus driver another time.
happy reading everyone.

My Address

for those of you paitently waiting...
her is my addres so you can send me mail..
 its backwards.. so i think to avoid confustion at the korean post i think its best to write it this way??im having mail sent to my school since most places wont know how to read english... including the motel i live at and then the package/letter will not get to me! so here ya go:

South Korea
635-893
Gyeong-nam, Chang-nyeong
Bugok-Myeon
Bugok Middle School
Bryn Lepp

Podunk - beginnings

so yesterday was my first day at my new school. It was quite the experience.i didn't sleep at all the night before due to the trepidation that i felt. what had i gotten myself into. me? educate children? are you sure that's wise...>_<>well i started this post last week on my second day of school, and i hope to finish it today on my first day of my second week of school. i haven't had a class yet, and its almost noon, i should start my first class at 1:30pm. i have Monday mornings off, but have to arrive at school at 830. it looks like next week i will be starting an 'after school class' at 8am.
things have been really interesting here so far. i have gone through such a range of emotions its really hard for me to explain how i feel about whats going on.
First of all, teaching children is... really hard. there is so much to think about and to do. if you really care about what you are teaching that is. its really easy to fall into the whole, "lets watch a video and answer questions about it" method of teaching, but that isn't really interacting with the class at all.
My students are pretty cute. some of them are really well behaved and you can tell they are studious and want to learn. there are others in my class (mostly boys) who are misbehaved and end up kneeling at the front of the room for the whole class on the insistence of my co-teacher. One of the biggest things i have difficulty with is the punishment system. they are a bit behind here and still hit the children. I was warned about this before i began my trip to korea (thanks Ash) but it still surprised me. In my school there is a 'discipline' teacher. one man, who, in the office marks himself as a comedian, carries around a wooden bamboo stick and goes whacks children who misbehave or get out of line. This upsets me a little bit but outside of my classroom i don't feel as though it is my place to say anything. One of my co-teachers also has her own stick but has refrained from using it in my class.. she uses an open fist instead. haha. which still really surprises me.
the kids dont seem to think it out of the ordinary or anything though, and this method seems to only be reserved for the older more misbehaved and disrespectful children.
My daily life is fairly boring as i live in a really small town that is basically a very visitor centered town, that at one time may have been very popular tourist destination but is now resembles somewhat of an abandoned city. Walking down the 'main street' there are many many restaurants tables low to the ground that look as though they were made to fit large groups. As you walk by the women that work there rush to the door in their slippered feet making nary a noise and greet you as though you were a familiar face. A tactic to entice you to get into their barren restaurant. Each table is a reminder of what used to be, their smiles reek of the desperation and thin strings they are on.
As you continue walking you start to notice that every once in a while is a blackened doorway that still carries the sign and all of its insides. the tables covered in dust, a stove pushed up against the front of the window to deter thieves from entering the once popular establishment.
it fills me with a kind of sadness looking at the run down businesses owned by local shopkeepers who moved here to try and take advantage of the booming tourism, just a minute too late...
My housing holds much of this sentiment. I am living in a motel that overlooks this quiet street. I just moved into a bigger room on Saturday that has a sink, and hopefully tomorrow night i will be going to get some cooking utensils and a gas hotplate (its what everyone uses here), and FOOD!!! i am in desperate need of some sheets. i didn't bring any/ or a blanket from home. so i'm suffering with this matress cover/synthetic sheet that they have provided me with. its really not pleasant and i hope a trip to the city with quicKly remedy that; but im not so sure. I will post a pic of it when i take one... i haven't yet.. i need some pictures to put on the walls to make it feel more homey.. right now i still feel like i'm living in a motel.



so my classes are kind of stressful im teaching gr 1-9 as well as teachers classes and afterschool mixed classes. the afterschool classes shouldnt be too difficult, i think im just going to try to review things with them, see if they had any questions... do a bit more of conversational learning, since there will only be about 5-7 students in each class.. i would like to make it a bit more like a study hall kind of program that they are able to ask questions and get help with their english work from me. im preparing lessons on pop culture and music that it hink they will like. i may even include a sitcom program for a few weeks, or at the beginning of each class we can watch 10 minutes of a show we choose; i want to do friends or like, America's next top model or gossip girl.. something that i like. haha.
anyways, my class is about to start but ill update this post later with some pictures and a bit more about school and friends.

We are driving through the countryside of South korea in a place that still seems vaugly familiar, the mountains loom ominous over my head as I sit, a.c. still buzzing over my head, an American film playing on the screen, the difference, the blue roofed houses littering the landscape, each one a rememberance of a place that kept the villages safe from intruders. The deep valleys house some of the largest vities in all of korea.

WE have just left orientation and I am faced with moving forward and creating my life here. I thought I would have a lot more creativity running through my veins at this moment, the moment when everything is finally coming to fruition but it seems that my mind and body have become numb, I will not face what is a head of me until I am put right in front of it and told that there is no other way but forward.

Each of the mountains are covered in coniferous vegetation. Its not the rockies but the swells do remind me of home. I breathe in and wish to escape the confines of my chair in order to become a part of this little world within the mountains.

I miss home. A lot.

But at the same time, it is something that I am okay with not having. The consistency, the ability to know people

Danny Schmidt whispers in my ear

{Self interest is divine

Don’t ask god Just hollar at the sky cos she'll tell it to you gently in the clouds that whisper by.

There were words around the band that said just know this too shall pass… )

The indecision that haunts my mind, I know, will somehow bring peace. And calm my unquiet heart from the yearning that it feels so deeply.

the beginning of something new

I am sitting in a dorm room on the 13th floor of Jeonju University in Jeonju city, South Korea. as i stare at the blank walls of my shared dorm room i am hit with a sense of recognition. i recognize this place. i have been here before. why is it so familiar? did i ever intend to return?
the air conditioner hums above my head as i contemplate these things in silence and look at my barely dressed desk covered in loose leaf papers, binders filled with notes and text books bearing titles like " Experience and Suggestions" "Co-operative learning/a student centered approach" and "The theory and practice of listening learning." i am displaced into a scenario i have lived once or twice before. My experiences have brought me here with a different mind set, something to wonder as to how, and why i got here. i am meloncholy thinking these things, my mind wanders and i surf the web.
i wasnt sure i came here to get away, or what exactly i was getting away from. i have come for an adventure, a place to learn, and allow my heart, mind and soul to be quiet for just a little bit... then why, have i never felt more unquiet in all of my life.
Each lecture brings forth new information and with the wealth of information being shared with us by experienced teachers/and professional learners