i'm actually teaching

So I write on here all about my travels and life in Seoul and what I do in my free time, so it could seem to some that I don't even teach! Well, it is true.... for some reason I was given authority over several hundred middle school students. I get to subject them to an hour a week of my awesome teaching skills...

I teach first grade and third grade, which is for middle school age, so I don't know exactly how that translates to schools in the US, and I don't actually know how old they are.... I think my first graders are 13 (??) and my third graders are already little adults, so maybe 15 or 16 (??).

I have a much better time with the little ones. They don't fully understand at that age how to be manipulative and disrespectful... they still look up to their teachers a little bit. But those third graders... whew... I better be on their good side or they let me know. Class is so much more about keeping all 35 of them under control and keeping their attention fully focused than it is about hammering home grammar and vocabulary. Being super strict is essential in this line of work, which took me a couple months to really learn, but I have it down now.

I teach 22 classes per week, each about 45 minutes in length. I spend the rest of my hours planning lessons and copying worksheets, making powerpoint presentations, watching lots of boring videos on youtube to find that perfect one to show class, and well... some personal interneting as well.  Communication is at an all time low in this country so I usually keep my headphones in and work in solitude.

The first few weeks were so new, full of nervousness and insecurity as a teacher. Now it's easy. I am used to it, I am familiar with the students, and I know how to get through to them, so I don't stress too much anymore. This week I am testing my first graders with a one on one speaking test, they are so cute! And so damn nervous that I almost feel guilty for having them do this...

I love 4:30 in the afternoon like I have never loved it before, in fact it used to be the time I went to work, for so many years, and now I am off.... I leave school each afternoon with a skip in my step, and a good beat on my ipod. Leaving is freedom again for a half a day! And how I love that freedom. Josh and I have settled into a really nice routine with our evenings, which involves cooking and playing chess or go-stop (a rad korean card game), watching movies or reading, and to bed so early! This job is not done easily hung over or tired, unlike all those years slinging wings and drinks (I think it was easier hung over?).....

Aren't my students so cute?

Love, n

weekend adventures

Monday monday monday.... it is not a typical monday. This week is really easy for me, my students are gone camping, so I don't have to teach any classes! I still have to come to my office, for "planning", but really who can do that much planning! I could get a little bummed that I have to still come into work, as opposed to having the days off, but instead I focus on the fact that I am forced to be at school, so I can spend lots of time online, emailing and researching and reading new things, and get paid handsomely to do so. It gets me up early still, out walking in the morning chaos of my neighborhood, so it's not bad after all....

This past weekend was eventful, in a really relaxing way. Saturday we got up early to Ryan calling, he was outside our apartment, we'd overslept! We all pitched in and made a huge breakfast intended to fuel us up for our hike! We walked to the bus stop and headed out of town, south of Seoul to the Cheonggyesan mountain range. We had incredible bus luck all day, I love it when that happens. No waiting, our transfers just pulling up as soon as we get there, etc. Easy. 

When we got there we headed to the hills, passing a great little farmers market, which we hit up on the way back down, getting the freshest veggies for dinner. 

We hit the trails, and they were so crowded at first, must have been some hiking club or group, so us, not knowing where we were going, or having much preference, took a sudden turn off the main trail to a small, steep terraced trail, and suddenly it was peaceful! No hikers at all in fact, just the three of us. 

This was a great trail in fact, leading us up the mountain at such a kind pace. The day was cloudy, and rain seemed imminent, but that didn't bother any of us, we are from Oregon, we are used to the rain! The gray clouds overhead were pretty in contrast to the luscious green canopy above. It was warm and the air was wet and the forrest seemed to be alive with bugs and worms and insects, so we peered closely at the leaves to investigate an inch worm or some cool looking beetle... it is mating season, so it was highly entertaining! We continued up and around and through the trees, as the path changed several times, each change revealing a new beauty of the place. The rain came, but it wasn't a nuisance, the trees above caught most of the drops, the rest cooled us down nicely, although it made for some muddy and therefore slippery terrain, no falls though (just some close calls)! 

Sunday we did some urban exploring, Josh found for us some info about a lecture, or talk of some kind to be held (in english) at a temple in the very north of the city, and on the topic of zen buddhism. So another early start on the day this time we took the subway across town, to the base of the Bukhansan mountain range, to the Hwagyesa (temple). Situated at the top of a hill, above a humble looking residential area, towers another of Koreas beautiful Buddhist temples. 

The grounds were lush and green and had lots of things to look at and trails to ramble upon. So we wandered freely and took it all in.

The place seemed free of tourists, which was a nice treat, there were lots of people milling around, busy doing their days work. Monks on cellphones, men setting up huge tents, a woman selling trinkets from a tent, and a small crew on construction workers moving a giant glass buddha, a goofy sight really, but not that surprising either.

The temple grounds covered a large area, maybe a dozen or so buildings, surrounding one massive five story temple in the center of it all. There were lanterns up, leftover from all the celebrations this past month, such a beautiful addition to the already incredible and colorful buildings, with the ornate wood structures and paintings on nearly every surface! We had time to kill before the talk was to begin so we wandered around for a few hours, and even stumbled upon a service that was in session, and stopped at a nice shady bench to enjoy our tasty snack, courtesy of Josh!

a Korean woman explaining to her kid the scene in the painting

people can write a wish or a prayer and attach them to the lanterns

A service being held at one of the dozens of temple rooms adorned with golden Buddhas

The dharma talk we went there for was held on the top floor of the main building, in an attic room with wood floor, low vaulted ceilings and a big gold buddha in the center. There were about twenty people there to listen, we all sat on small mats on the floor, legs crossed for over and hour! Whew.... I'm glad for all my years of yoga training, but I was still quite antsy to stretch my legs, being as they are sore from the hike on the previous day! Two monks led the talk, a woman from Poland and a man from the US, he the zen master and she the student, I think. Those of us listening hailed from probably fifteen nationalities, but all had the same desire to gain some knowledge from this talk. 

The head monk, the zen master as he called himself, talked a lot, and much of it was simple and common sense, as with many buddhist philosophies. He presented an interesting metaphor of a piece of fruit that has become so ripe that is has fallen from the tree and is now beginning to rot, in this fruit however is a seed, and the rotting fruit is creating an optimal fertilization for the growth of a new tree. He thinks of the world we live in that way. It has become rotten, people are fascinated and almost obsessed with the end of the world, why? He thinks because people are really unhappy, but it is best to not be only saddened by this, but to realize that there is potential fruit, seeds of a greater thing. We can work to find what these seeds are and learn how to cultivate them. I like this thought. It was a good talk, and it was a good relief when it ended as well. 

We ended the day, and the weekend with a quick stop at our buddy Kevin's house (with a great view, and a porch for enjoying it) for a BBQ to honor the great Dan Mckay (yeah, he's got those awesome pink shorts on), of Portland, Oregon  on his 32nd birthday. We had burgers, potatoes, and lots of watermelon, along with a killer home brewed IPA (yesssss!!!). Another good weekend, and many more to come... 

love love love

cooking, couches, and other considerations....

Today is a good day. It's Wednesday at work and all my classes were canceled (not very uncommon), tomorrow starts a six day stretch with no work, followed by another three day week. I need this break! Lots of fun things are on the docket, I will dutifully report on those next week..... For now I will fill you in on the many ways Josh and I spend our time and fill our thoughts! 

We have been very explorative and adventurous in the kitchen these days, embarking upon new recipes and revamping old ones. It is quite an escapade to go to a Korean grocery store seeking many basic, easy-to-find ingredients, to realize everything is in Korean (duh), and they don't use the same stuff to cook here. Buying flour was a guessing game.... we might end up with pancake mix or dried and powdered squid for all we knew... Success! With a bag of flour and a bunch of potatoes in hand we set out to make homemade gnocchi, a first for both of us. 

It went great, and more importantly was so much fun and very messy; flour every where. It began with boiling potatoes, add egg, flour, and spices to make a dough, roll them out and cut them to size before cooking. Josh made a killer white sauce with tons of veggies and I made big bowls of spinach salad to go with it.... mmm, I think this one will be repeated. Here are some pictures of the process: 

other recent cooking thrills have included Josh's homemade bbq sauce with lots of mustard in it and some toaster oven baked chicken nuggets from my side of the kitchen. Its fun and allows us to have some tastes from home for when the kimchi and rice get old. 

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Well after a few months here our apartment is finally feeling homey and put together. Thanks to our *ahem* street score from a few weeks ago. We were out again for one of our epic walks when in a front parking lot area of some businesses we saw two couches.... which we've been on the market for for some time now. One of those would be perfect we thought, but we didn't know what exactly they were doing out there. Were they to be cleaned? Airing out from being inside a bar? Or were they one man's trash, and our found treasure? We literally walked away three times and went back, so unsure what to do. We were only about ten blocks from home, so we could carry it if need be, but we didn't want to pick it up only to be chased down by some business owner, for stealing his couch! Josh went in to inquire, down several flights of stairs, into an unknown business where he played a ridiculous game of charades with the man there, returning with no new information. We decided to go for it, noticing a layer of dust on the leather couch, making it seem that it had been outside for a few days. We moved quickly, awkwardly carrying the couch home a new way, so as to avoid the main line of sight from the businesses. The couch is perfect, fits in our tiny place just wonderfully, and after a quick cleaning it's good as new! 

I am coming to love our view, and all the ways I have seen it. I am trying to take a photo a day of it, to make some kind of stop animation video down the road a ways. Here are some recent ones:

This storm was so incredible. the thunder went on through the whole night, echoing off all the buildings, shaking the whole city a little. Waking up to the loud kaboom's were sometimes really startling, and it took a moment to remember that it was just the effect of lightening in the sky. It is a strange phenomenon living in South Korea, so close to the dangerous border with the North. While tensions have certainly eased up, it is still a reality that there is a rouge nation just a few miles away. About 99% of the time I don't think of this, life is normal, I feel safe, I have all the comforts I need to live an easy life, but there are those moments... Being so foreign to this city, or a big city in general I am not used to the sounds, nor can I understand the language.  These fearful moments come unexpectedly, perhaps there will be shouting from all directions on loud speakers, and people scurrying everywhere, this can be alarming! But it might just be the farmers in from the outskirts selling their produce and a lot of people late for work, it's the not knowing that sometimes stirs me. One night I woke up to the sound of a car accident outside, wow, that was the worst! I thought it was a bomb, or some explosion, it was so loud and people started making such commotion afterwards. Every subway station is equipped with cases filled with gas masks and flashlights and emergency rations of food and water, such a good idea (But lets my imagination run wild sometimes)! The emergency drills at our schools have a loud siren that sounds like and air raid or something, while it is clear that everything is okay, it still is an eerie experience to be rushing outside to crouch down and hide behind the tennis courts. Okay... well Josh and I joked about playing paintball near the DMZ, wearing camouflage (yeah right!). Making light of a potentially awful situation is the best tactic, because in reality, no matter where in the world one is there are dangers and threats if you choose to see it that way.... So we keep our ears and eyes open, but remember always to laugh! 

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We have been really busy helping Nathan and Irina plan the wedding, seeing new and old friends, and exploring our giant city. But this has not interfered with our trip planning! We are planning to spend a few days next week in Chuncheon, a city NE of Seoul, and famous for Dakgalbi (my favorite Korean food, more on that later). Japan in early June and ten days in Veitnam in August! I'll surely keep you abreast of our journeys....

Love Love Love!