It has been a while world….

Hello all,

I realized that I am seriously failing at keeping everyone in my life updated on the goings-ons in Korea…. but to be perfectly honest life has been pretty simple, almost boring, nothing really to report.

What you missed:

Winter – The Korean peninsula had it’s coldest winter in 90+ years, and Jeju was not excluded from the cold snap. On the south side of the island (where we live) it is common to get snow fall, but rare to get anything on the ground. We had snow on the ground several times, but one weekend that was the worst. Over New Years weekend, it snowed and snowed and snowed. The good part: we got to sled down the streets in Seogwipp. The bad part: our pipes were frozen for 4 days….

Our Sledding Hill

Sundance the snow puppy!

Spring – spring has sprung on Jeju, which has brought about beautiful flowers, cherry blossoms, and yellow dust. What is yellow dust you ask? Well (from what I have heard), when there are sand storms in China, the winds blow all the dust down here, on the way the dust picks up all the pollution from China, so we get this lovely yellow cloud that settles over Jeju (and all of Korea) and makes people sick. It’s great….

US – Matt and I are doing fine, we are almost at our 10-month mark, which means we only have two months left here in Korea (WOOHOO!)…. We have been working a lot lately, and with zero vacation time, it has made us both a little worn out. So July 3rd we will be leaving Korea, heading on a two month adventure through South East Asia. After South East Asia, we are going to try and find jobs at home and end out ESL adventure…. Unless we don’t find jobs that is =)

Having Fun

Sundance, Part 1

On Jeju, there is a large open air market that rotates from town to town and stops in Seogwipo every five days. It is called…. can you guess? “The Five Day Market”. At the five day, you can find just about anything from fruits and veggies, blankets, to hamsters and pet turtles.

On our first trip to the five day market, Matt and I were slightly overwhelmed. With such an assortment of stuff it is difficult to remember exactly what we had wanted to buy in the first place. After wondering around for a bit we ran in to a few friends and were told that at the five day market there were also venders with puppies. Having a soft spot for cute fuzzy animals I HAD to go see the puppies, little did I know just what we would find.

In a area outside the main market, near the parking lot and plant vendors, is the “puppy area”. Here you will find 3-5 venders with cages and cages of little puppies. That first day we went to the market there had to be at least 50 puppies crammed together in small areas, panting, crying, and breaking my heart. I pleaded with Matt, and even though they seemed to make him sad too, he pried me away from the puppies, and we headed home with only fruit in hand.

Ever since that first day at the market, I had been itching to go back and rescue a puppy. We had been warned that most of the dogs there were not well taken care of (which was obvious by their living conditions), and most were very very sick. But I didn’t care, in my mind, even if the puppy I got was going to die, at least it would have some time in a loving home, away from old ladies who threw it around like a toy.

The next time we went to the five day market was a Sunday. We had taken one of our new co-workers, Katrina, because swimming at the beaches was prohibited due to an incoming typhoon. Matt tried to distract me with food and random junk, but I desperately wanted to see the puppies again. Eventually we headed toward the “puppy area”. On this day there were far less puppies, so it was a little less depressing. But never the less, most of the puppies looked hot, tired, and sad sitting there in the pens together. I walked to the last cage and there was a tiny brown puppy (although bigger then all the others) who was lively and playful. The minute I started petting him his tale started to wag… I was in love. I pleaded and pleaded with Matt, and finally won him over by saying “we can name him Sundance” (after the Sundance Kid, not the festival). So about 15 minutes, and 15,000 Won (less then $15) later, we were walking away with a tiny brown puppy in a cardboard box.

The Sundance Kid

Our first afternoon home was a whirl wind. We tried to take him out for a walk, but the noise and crazyness of our neighborhood was way too much for our new addition. So, our first “outside” outings were up on our roof. Sundance quickly gained our trust, and was playful and fun from the minute we put him down in our apartment. He pranced around and chewed on just about everything.

The next day we took him to the vet for a check up. The vet pronounced him healthy, said he would be a medium sized dog, and said he was about two months old. We walked home happy and proud, little did we know what was to come…

Under The Sea

My love of water started at an early age. I was put in a swimming pool before I could walk, and swam my first lap in a pool (barely) by the age of three. My parents have a saying, to make me happy “just add water”. How true it is… I can go from being in the worst mood in the history of my life to happy as a clam by going for a quick swim. I swam competitively for nearly twenty years, starting at five and ending my senior year of college. And while I am by no means a speed demon, I love swimming in a race.

This love (ok maybe addiction) extends outside the swimming pool into the ocean as well. Growing up in Southern California helped me develop a great love and respect for the sea. In 2000, at age 14, I took this love to even greater lengths when I decided to become a certified open water SCUBA diver. I was lucky to grow up with parents who love to travel, especially to places with amazing underwater landscapes. Since then I have been lucky enough to dive all over the Caribbean, Bahamas, Hawaii and Mexico. I find scuba diving to be so peaceful and relaxing. Under the water everything seems to move a little slower. I have always toyed with the idea of becoming a dive master, or instructor, so that I could live on some island spending my days showing people fish and coral.

Matt on the boat getting ready for his first day in the ocean

On researching Jeju, before we moved here, I found out that the island is some what of a dive destination. The underwater landscape has many tropical fish and soft coral of every color, shape, and size. When we arrived on the island we found out that our school vacation would be scheduled for the second week of August (only about a month after we arrived). Matt decided (I was delighted to find out), that he wanted to get certified during our vacation. Of course I didn’t want to be left out of the diving fun, so I decided to go for my advanced certification (one step closer to becoming a professional dive bum). Our vacation started on a Wednesday, that Tuesday a small typhoon (typhoon = hurricane) hit Jeju, churning up the ocean a quiet a bit. All night Tuesday I hoped that our dive plans would not be ruined, and they were not. While the conditions were not ideal (I still have two more dives to do…) Matt was able to complete his course (yay!) in the five days we had for vacation. I am very excited for our future dives together… where ever they may be.

Our dive instructors Suun and Jerry (with his back to the camera)

I was sitting around thinking about why I love scuba diving so much. Besides my love of water and getting to see cool fish, I think what I love most is that no matter where you go in the world, when you meet a fellow diver, you share a bond over the ocean and how truly amazing, beautiful, and gigantic it is.

My first experience with Island diving - put all your gear on a rock and hope it does not get washed away

Tags: jeju, ocean, scuba diving, south korea

Kuk Sool Won

Kuk Sool Won

Last night, Matt and I started our first (of hopefully many) Kuk Sool Won practices. Kuk Sool Won stands for “National Martial Arts.” According to wikipedia, the founder wanted to combine all aspects of Korean Martial Arts, everything from graceful techniques to using weapons (yes we may get to learn how to use swords).

Here is what I have observed so far: Last week, we went to a practice to watch some of our fellow teachers and friends to see what Kuk Sool was all about. Master Oh, our Kuk Sool instructor, had everyone show off for us…. I saw A LOT of kicking, falling (it is important to learn how to fall), punching, and tumbling. I sat in my seat thinking, “there is NO way that I will EVER be able to do THAT.” Especially since I am the most un-graceful person you will ever see in your life.

But a week later I found myself getting measured by Master Oh for a uniform, learning how to tie my white belt, and getting etiquette instructions for entering and exiting our practice area. One of our co-teachers, Kim, got the awesome task (thanks Kim!) of teaching us our three basic stances, our gi-ups (Gi is the same as Chi for you at home), and how to FALL forward, backwards, and on our sides. Matt was a natural at falling, something I will say he learned in football, while I am doing the weenie falling from my knees. All in all I left last night feeling like a little kid…. All I really wanted to do was bring my uniform home, practice tying my belt, and take lots of pictures. Even though I refrained last night, there will probably be some pictures posted tonight after practice # 2.

Everyone says that if you go four times a week you can get your black belt in a year. So who knows? Maybe I will be coming home a black belt in Kuk Sool Won.

Tags: jeju, kook sul won, martial arts, south korea

Island Life

We have reached our two week mark here in Jeju-do. I absolutely LOVE teaching children. I also have one adult class that is also fantastic. But I would have to say the best part so far is… well the fact that we are living on a beautiful Island… and the mornings and weekends provide the perfect opportunity to explore!

The Hagwon (private school) teaching schedule leaves most of our mornings free to do what we want…. Since we don’t typically start teaching until 3pm, as one teacher put it, there is enough time in the morning to swim, shower, nap, and eat lunch before work. Since Matt and I don’t have a car yet, and monsoon season seemed to be in full force this past week, we have not done much swimming on the weekdays. However, when it has been dry enough I have had time to go on a run around town, get breakfast, shower, and take a nap… not bad.

Having weekends free is also refreshing. In Turkey we ALWAYS taught on weekends. It actually was not uncommon to teach seven days a week, leaving me too exhausted most of the time to do any exploring.

This weekend, the rain decided to let up, letting us experience a true summer day on the Island. Saturday morning Matt took off to the North side of the island to play ultimate frisbee, and I was able to organize our new apartment a little bit more. The clouds broke up later in the afternoon, allowing Kim, one of the other teachers at our school, and I to venture down to Jungmun beach for a quick swim and beach nap. Jungmun beach is located in a resort area about 15 minutes from downtown Seogwipo (where we live). The cliffs remind me a bit of the beaches in Laguna and Dana point in California, but much more lush and green. Since the rain decided to stay away that evening as well, Kim, Matt and myself hosted a rooftop BBQ on the roof of our building, which is located above Seogwipo’s Olle Market (think large stalls of fish, veggies, and kimchi).

Sunday morning welcomed us with patches of sunshine again, so Matt and I set out to explore on foot. We ventured down to Seogwipo harbor, and explored a small island connected to the harbor by bridge. That afternoon we squished six people into a car (with three scooters trailing behind) and ventured to Hwasun beach, a little further west then Jungmun. This beach featured less crowds and waves then Jungmun, and all of us spent most of the day just floating in the water. Near the end of our beach day a group of us ventured to another cove the had a cliff which we could jump off of. The high spot was a little too high for me, but Matt and Alex braved the jump into the ocean. I found a lower spot, which after some cheering from the water below, I even got the courage to jump from. Needless to say, I will try this again. After our day at the beach the group of us headed to Gecko’s, the “western” bar/restaurant. Not a bad way to end the day.

Hwasun Beach

To my delight this is a pretty typical weekend during the summer months. It seems that every day there is something I experience that makes me say “I could get used to this”.

Rainy…. I Mean Monsoon Season

Matt and I arrived on Jeju-do July 4, 2010. I knew that we were arriving on the island during rainy season… and also when the temperature is the hottest. Little did I know what “rainy” meant.

Yesterday the rain was blowing sideways most of the day, leaving Matt and I drenched on our walk to and from work. At work I was commenting to another teacher that this was a pretty intense rainy season…. she said (and I quote) “oh… it is not rainy season, it is monsoon season”, well now the flooding and crazy wind makes sense!

I am looking forward to August when it is just hot and humid and we no longer have monsoons.

Tags: jeju, weather

Catching up – Part two

An overview, and some thoughts on our first week:

Dol Hareubang

We have officially been on the island now for a week. Our first week at school was a blur for me. On Monday, our assistant director had us observe a full schedule of classes, six in total. We shadowed another couple that is working at the school, Michelle and Ben. I followed Michelle around for her classes. The schedule basically works like this: The first three hours we have the younger kids, anywhere from kindergarden to sixth grade. After that it is usually seventh to ninth grade students.

It is crazy how much time these kids spend on education. Once students here reach middle school age (seventh and eighth grade) they are in some sort of schooling (public school, english lessons, music lessons, etc.) from about 7:30 in the morning until 10:00 or 11:00 at night… Also, most students (all ages) go to school either every saturday or every other saturday for a half day of school. I was talking to our co-director’s daughter about school because she was studying for finals. She said she had twelve different subjects to study for, including: Chinese, Japanese, English, Korean, and Ethics…. could you imagine any American kid taking three languages AND ethics? I don’t think so…..

On Wednesday, the school had us start a mini schedule of classes for the rest of the week. I only taught three classes each day, while Matt taught four Wednesday and Friday, and five on Thursday. My classes went well for the most part. My youngest class has first and second graders, and my oldest (for this first week) were in sixth grade. I have one class of fifth graders that has six boys and six girls that is pretty chaotic, so I need to figure out some creative ways to discipline them (ideas?).

Thursday night we were invited out but some of the other teachers at school to the “western” bar on the island. There are a number of people taking off so it was sort of a good-bye gathering. It seems like people really like living here (and Korea in general) a lot. All three of the people leaving this weekend have been here for two years (or more). I can see how the life style is attractive. You are in a part of the world that allows you to travel to some pretty exotic places. Living expenses are pretty low… and we live on an island! Does it get any better?

Saturday night, one of the other teachers at our school, Kim (yes snaps there is ANOTHER kim), invited us out for Korean BBQ. A warning for my veggie friends, if you feel the need to visit, it is not an easy place to find food without meat in it. For those of you unfamiliar with Korean BBQ, you get a plate-o-meat and there is a grill in the middle of the table where you cook it yourself. It is very fun, social, and delicious.

After dinner, Kim showed us her apartment because Matt and I should be moving in there within the next week or so. I was slightly shocked at how huge and nice this place was. It has three bed rooms, a huge living room and kitchen, a storage area, and a large bathroom. So for anyone that wants to come visit, we have PLENTY of room (hint hint)! Matt and I are both pretty excited about moving in there and finally getting to unpack our things and get settled.

Kimchi

I would say the first week has been a success. I am still getting used to the food, and the insane language barrier, but I think with time I will be very comfortable calling this place home.