Here it is already summer, July 4th to be exact. On July 15th I will have been in Korea for a year. I can't believe this even as I'm typing. To say I love it in Korea would be an understatement. I wish that I was able to capture most of the highs and admittedly some of the lows of my experience here. The word that comes to mind for me is amazement. I am amazed by the close relationships I have formed with others, amazed at how easy those friendships have come, amazed at my progress and understanding, yet still having much to learn about the teaching profession, amazed by the beauty of Korea. Yesterday I was riding back with Sera and her family from Sokcho, where I had the privilege of spending the night with my dear Korean friend and her family in a first class resort and then experience the wonders of a Korean waterpark (waterpia), and experiencing the wonders of the many various smelling and types of spas while feeling the rain cool off my face, amazement at staring at their young boy and seeing the wonder and confusion in his eye of this woman who speaks a foreign language to him and yet still shares in the same wonders and excitements as himself, amazement at him rocking his korean dance moves in the car, amazement at my ability to adapt to new situations, including food, amazed that a food that was once so foreign to me, now I crave their palate. I am amazed with myself and how my heart has grown to love this country and its people. amazed that my homesickness isn't as strong as i had once imagined, and amazed that I still have yet to know what my future holds...each day is a new mystery that fills me with a refreshing awe.

Sharing the wonder...

It's gotten to the point where I have lost track of my time in Korea. My work days are busy with deciding how best to convey new knowledge to ESL learners, often times a struggle. It's so easy as a teacher to keep on talking and forget that there is a disconnect between languages. Even though it appears to you that you are speaking clearly and making sense, when those eyes look back at you, you are reminded that you are teaching students in a language that is foreign to themselves. I am reminded that even with teaching math, some students may not recognize the word "add," even though they are aware of the process and can complete the process with ease. Our trip to the aquarium was a nice break for the students and myself. We could connect with the ahhh's and ooohhh's and "look at that!" and share in the magnificence of these beautiful creatures floating above, below, and all around us.

Mt. Naejangsan Hike and Tea Making Trip

Korea....I cannot believe that I have been in Korea for almost four months. The sights here are just unlike any I have ever experienced. Here I am in a traditional tea making village at the top of an expansive tea field. The countryside seems to go on forever, it was a beautiful fall day and I'm meeting such incredible and interesting people with a similar desire to explore the world. I can still remember the fresh sweet smelling scent of a top notch tea I was able to sample. The aroma filled the air, and the flavor delightful. I was able to hike Naejangsan Mountain during this trip and climb on top of a wall that completely encircled a traditional korean village complete with straw houses (for the poor people) and houses with thatched roofs (for the aristocrats). The view on top of the wall overlooked the countryside that stretched on for miles. I am so thankful for this experience and am loving korea even more with each passing day.

Exploring Korea

Today I was able to experience a fall flower festival and also visit a paleolithic site in Korea. The flower festival was in Youngchun, and I'm not sure where they other place was. I went with a family that I have had the privilege of getting to know. The day was perfect. I met the family around 1 pm and then we drove about an hour to the place. I sat in the back with "Claudia" (English name) and her brother. During the ride, Claudia loved practicing her English on me and I was so excited to hear them play Mama Mia on the ride. We all enjoyed singing "dancing queen" and "honey, honey" while driving through the countryside. It was great! The flowers were absolutely beautiful and made a very sweet and delcious tea. The aroma was like stepping in a personal flower boutique. I tried to capture some of the beautiful colors in my pictures. After the flower festival we drove and visited a paleolithic museum site. There were many sculptures on the lawn mimicking people from that period and the activities that their day would consist of...i.e. hunting, fishing, working with rock tools, etc. I was amazed to discover that many of the stone artifacts were released from the earth in 1994....it makes me wonder what new treasures they will dig up in the future. a beautiful and very historical country, and I am eager to learn more about the history in the days to come.

Chuseok Vacation

I just came back from spending an amazing couple of days in Busan, South Korea. My only complaint was that it wasn't longer. My group departed Friday night around 10:30 PM (We were hoping to defeat the holiday traffic by leaving later at night time). Needless to say, even with the later departure time we didn't arrive in Busan til 6 the next morning. Luckily, I was able to sleep a little bit on the bus. My friend Stef and I roomed with two other girls whom happened to also being teaching in South Korea. They both work for a hagwon around the Seoul area. We stayed in a hotel literally across from the beach. The hotel was interesting to say the least. We found out that a double bed actually meant a circular bed that could maybe hold two people. It looked more like a love motel than anything! Being the gracious people that we are, we took turns on who got to sleep on the bed. The first day in Busan I took a boat ride and wandered around to a world famous fish market. I couldn't believe how many different kinds of seafood there was in the market, and many of the items (i.e. sea slugs) didn't exactly appeal to me. A brave gentleman in our group ate a raw oyster that was literally squirming around seconds before he ate it! The nightlife of Busan certainly is a different environment from the daytime. Stef and I walked along the beach, had a few long islands and then hung out on the beach and watched many Koreans lighting off fireworks. It was a very pretty sight to see, although a few times they looked they were a lil intoxicated and when they were lighting the fireworks, they seemed to have been pointing them right at us!! We survived however, and were able to visit a beautiful temple set in the mountainside the next day. We spent the whole next day in a spa seeing that it was raining but I certainly wasn't complaining. After already experiencing a jimjil spa, I was less timid about walking around in my birthday suit in front of a lot of other Korean woman...my new friends however, well guess we got to know each other kind of fast, haha. The spa was beautiful and my favorite memory is sitting in a spa with a room size glass window. The window overlooked the city and beaches of Busan and was located on the fourth floor, an amazing view and the neat thing about it is that I took it all in with my birthday suit. I could see out, but they couldn't see in ;) Simply breathtaking....and alas back to work on Monday.

Friday before the Chuseok break

I can officially say that I have now been in Korea for two months. Yesterday was my last day of work before the Chuseok Holiday (similar to Korean's Thanksgiving). Needless to say, I was in my weekly meeting with my coworkers on a Friday
afternoon, when the principal started to carry in bags
and bags of presents for all of the teachers. I felt like it was Christmas. Among some of my presents, ah yes, as you can see a huge supply of SPAM, haha I thought that was sooooo funny. I also got a huge supply of seaweed, grapes, and some really nice homemeade soap and pretty bathtowels. To top it off, when I came back to my apartment carrying all of my "presents", I also received a box in the mail from a good friend friend from home, complete with books, candy! (Korean candy isn't as sweet as candy back home I have noticed), and various personal items...It was a great day. To top it off to celebrate the beginning of the holiday, I met my friend for dinner and then we walked around Uijeongbu eating icecream and looking at all the sites. It's a terrific start to my Chuseok Holiday. I know you're all jealous of my huge supply of SPAM!!!

Jirisian Weekend Hiking Trip

I can officially say that I have spent a month in Korea as of this date! I had an eventful weekend as I joined a meetup group and took the initiative to meet some new people while participating in an activity that I love. Jirisian Mountain is located in the Southern part of Korea so ten of us drove down to the park friday night, and slept at the bottom of the mountain. We awoke early Sat, and began our trek up the 1, 915 meter mountain (the second highest in Korea). The trail was difficult from the beginning, but lazy rests by various waterfalls and the sensation of accomplishing such a difficult feat gave me the motivation to keep persevering. The climb consisted of staircase rocks, ropes attached to rops to help pull yourself up the mountain, some patches or rain and dirt to wander through, and finally parts of the mountain that felt more like mountain climbing then hiking I am generally used to. There were times during the hike when I felt like my legs just wouldn't move anymore, but alas I made it to the first shelter! Upon first glance of the shelter, I saw some of my fellow comrades (the expert hikers in the group, haha) who had already changed their clothes and were chilling with the koreans. We made some
Ramen noodles right away using a little burner and I can honestly say that Ramen never tasted so good to me. There was a mist in the air that turned a purplish color as nightfall approached. As I looked around, I noticed that many Koreans were indeed having a "feast" at the top of the mountain complete with grilled pork, kimchi, and also neverending bottles of the ever popular soju. I was surprised at how cold and windy it became at the top as the nighttime started approaching especially as it has been really really humid at my apartmet in Uijeongbu. We finally made our way to our sleeping quarters for the night which my space consisted of just enough room to roll out my sleeping mat and sleeping bag. Directly to my right and left, two other sleeping bags were rolled out similar to my own. The lights went out, and I fell into a deep slumber. I awoke the next morning to a Korean man blasting K-Pop on his ipod and noticed that my group was one of the last ones still sleeping. We got dressed, had some Ramen for breakfast and began our trek down the mountain. I thought that going down would be easier, however we were hit with a downpour of rain and were soaked when we reached the bottom. Not to mention, my knee began giving me trouble 1/3 down the mountain, so it was a challenge to reach the bottom. Alas, when I finally made it, it was such a relief to sit down, have some snacks including the ever popular bibimbop dish. I went to take a cold shower...when upon opening my backpack, I just found a pile of my once clean, dry clothes soaked to the limit! So, I opted out of the shower and just dried off in the sun and joined in on eating some more food and enjoying some dong dong (haha, it's a drink in Korea, special kind of makli). An enjoyable hiking trip, and pleased to have met some really cool people who I hope to see again soon.