Thanksgiving Abroad

This is my third Thanksgiving spent here in Korea. The first I celebrated with a good friend and a turkey sub... then a few days later a "traditional" dinner with new friends. Last year I celebrated with 3 of my closest friends over here. It was probably the closest to home it's ever felt like here. Even if we were eating a fancy dinner at a hotel. This year I'm going to cook a turkey burger and a sweet potato and call it a night.

I've said before and I'll say it again this is the hardest day of the year for me to be away from home. I miss friends and family. I miss eating my Mom's sweet potato casserole. This year I was prepared for those feelings. Thankfully unlike the first year I was here lunch at school was something I really liked. The principal also remembered that this wasn't the easiest day for me so she stopped by to check on me and wish me a happy thanksgiving. Sometimes it's the little things. Even my co-teachers didn't remember that today was a holiday for me. Christmas and New Years we get the days off so it's not as rough. I can skype friends and family and get a feeling of closeness with the ones I love. Thanksgiving I have to work. Today I'm teaching 5 classes at 3 different levels. Which is good it's keeping me busy. I also worked out the schedule so I didn't have to talk about Thanksgiving with the students today. It's all about the planning with this sort of thing.

I took a challenge from an old friend this month. List one thing I'm thankful everyday. It hasn't been easy. It has however reminded me that I am truly lucky and blessed. Which is what Thanksgiving is about at the root. Not the food. Not the football. Not the Parade. Being Thankful for what you have been given.
So here is my partial list... still have a few days to go.

1: My family, that I have parents who love and support me no matter what crazy idea I come up with.

2: Danny D: She's been there for me through just about everything and continues to be. She's my longest relationship outside of my biological family and most likely the first person to hear any major news in my life.

3: My students both past and present, they make me want to be a better teacher and add joy to my life.

4: My job, even if I do complain about my current co teacher, I have to say I'm very thankful that I have a job and it's one that I love. Too many people I know currently are unable to find work much less work that they love. I'm grateful that I have both.

5: Today I am thankful for quiet Friday afternoons where I can both nap at my desk and plan for the next week.

6: Fast and cheap trains here in Korea... easiest way to get to Seoul for the weekend.

7. NMH even if I haven't been the best Alumni for a while. Somethings are the same whenever you get a group of us together regardless of class, culture or language.

8. Hot Cocco on a cold morning.

9. Adam for his ability to make me laugh at myself and get past all the polite stuff to the basics...( ie. you just want someone to help you stay warm in the cold months. )

10. A thermos full of hot tea on cold and windy mornings. Works to warm both the insides and the hands.

11. Former students who remind me that I am a good teacher.

12. Ash for being the best little sister I never had. (Your Mama raised you right! Even if she hasn't quite grasped that you love and support your child no matter what.)

13. Relaxing weekends where you can sleep in till noon if you want to.

14. Crayons, markers, and being not so serious.

15. Living some place where I don't need to own a car.

16. Having colleagues around the world who inspire me.

17. The little 3rd grader who comes up to me every morning and grabs my hand as we walk to school and she practices her English.

18. That my eldest cousin had a healthy baby boy.

19.That I have a family that keeps growing.

20. Red wine and good friends

21. Being able to take multiple naps in a single day.

22.That one of my former college roommates and sorority sisters had a healthy baby girl.

23. My nephew Dylan... I don't get to see him much but I am thankful every day that he is a healthy and happy little boy.

24. Not the best thing to be thankful for but... it's official my current co-teacher will be leaving the school at the end of the term!

25. Family who has learned to not worry too much about me traveling the world.

Happy Thanksgiving from the land of kimchi.

Don't Panic!

Really, don't. I know I've been here too long when news that there has been shelling along the North Korea border results in a "hmm.. really? ok." and that's the end of my reaction. My first year here there were some missile tests and that resulted in major panic from home. I was a bit nervous. When I talked to the Koreans about it they were so used to it that they were amused by my fear. Last year when the Cheonan was sunk. There was the first bit of actual worry amongst the Koreans I'd seen. Though there was also some anger in that. Now if you mention it basically you get a shrug and well that's just North Korea acting up again.

This one reminds me of 9/11 in some ways. The weekend after 9/11 I had plans to go to Atlanta from Augusta to spend time with friends. It was going to be a birthday weekend with people I'd grown close to. Then 9/11 happened and my family panicked. Why would you want to go to a big city where there are lots of targets to hit?!? They asked. They thought it wasn't smart for me to go. My response was if I change my plans and stop living my life out of fear then they have already won.
Same here. If I change my plans to go to Seoul and spend time with friends because there was a little artillery fire then fear has won.

Part of this whole adventure of living and teaching overseas is the facing of fear. Pushing boundaries, stretching my comfort zones. So I can't let my fears win. I'll be on the KTX on Saturday heading to Seoul. I'll then spend time with people I love there and have a great time.
Will I be cautious about some things yes. But I'm not going to let fear rule my life.

Sassafrass

A little over 13 years ago I had just gotten my first apartment and was attempting to not get a pet for it. I was a year from graduating Marietta College and didn't know where I was going to end up after that. I was doing a summer internship on campus so I had a little extra time and a car so I figured I could go volunteer at the local Humane Society. I went with a friend there to find out about opportunities to help out. They gave us a tour of the facility, I was tempted by some of the dogs they had there but, could stick to my guns. I'd help out and then not get a pet. Then I walked into the cat room where there was a serious over crowding problem going on. I looked at all the little faces and I could feel my resistance wavering. Then I was about to leave this little paw shot out of a cage and hooked my shirt. I turned and the sweetest face was staring at me challenging me to leave her behind. I unhooked myself and asked why there was a red tag on the cage. That cage was scheduled to have all of it's occupants put to sleep in two days. They had been there a month and the shelter had a massive over crowding problem. I couldn't walk away but didn't know if I could have pets in my new place. I got a hold put on the whole cage all three kittens. I went home and called my landlady. She was okay with 1 cat but no dogs, so long as I got her fixed as soon as I could.
The next day I went to the shelter again and picked up my child. Even as a kitten she had "Sass" which is where her name Sassafrass came from. Over the years she was the best judge of people. I should have known when she didn't like someone to get them out of my life quick. The ones she loved, well she really loved them. My best friend since high school doesn't really like cats, but she loves Sass. Which is pretty impressive since when she would come and visit Sass would sleep on her head. (only person she ever did that too.)
Now 13 years later I'm having to say goodbye to Sassafrass. She was a great cat. She helped me study through the end of one college degree and a whole second one. She was always there in her way just cuddled up right next to me. It didn't matter where I was living, when she was there it was home. When I moved to Korea, I knew that at age 11 she was a bit too old to make the flight. Though she was great on car rides for the first 4 years of her life. So thankfully my parents were willing to take her in and give her a good home and company in the form of their 2 cats.
This summer while I was home I noticed how much slower she was at walking around my parents house. She wasn't chasing after the other cats as she had previously. She also wasn't walking up the stairs if she could. She would be walking along and her hind legs would suddenly give out and she would end up laying down where ever she was. I talked to the vet about choices of things that could be done to help her. There were a couple of different medicines that we could try but the arthritis in her knees combined with her hips had gotten too bad. So I made sure I said my goodbyes and held her a little tighter the last few days I was with her. I knew that this year when I made it home again she probably wouldn't be there.
Last night, I made one of the hardest choices. She had always been a proud and independent cat. I wasn't going to make her suffer. When the pain and deterioration had gotten to the point where she wasn't able to make it to the litter box and she was also not herself anymore. It's time. So Thursday morning September 16th, my child will make her final car ride with my mom. I wish I could be there and hold her one last time. I know it's the right choice, when the quality of life gets to a certain point it's time.
So goodbye Sass, I love you and I'll miss you.

Korea's kids just like ours, 100 years ago

BY MITCH ALBOM
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

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• SEOUL, South Korea -- "If they can do that in South Korea, we can do it right here in the United States of America."

President Barack Obama said that last year. He was talking about school. He was talking about hours. He was talking about how hard South Korean kids work, how long they study, how much time they put in -- more than a month longer per school year than their American counterparts.

I am writing this from South Korea, where I have spent a week, much of it speaking to high school kids. And I can tell President Obama pretty confidently that we can't do what they're doing here.

Because we don't believe in it.

South Koreans treat school like a full-time job plus a full-time marriage. They put in day hours and night hours, followed by weekend hours. It is not uncommon to see children in school uniforms walking home late at night. It is not uncommon to see them studying through weekends. There is private English education on top of the public education. Families split apart to improve a child's training. You hear stories about schooling that runs from sunrise past sunset, with breakfast, lunch and dinner being served in the building.

What you don't hear is cheerleading squads. What you don't hear is spring break trips to Cancún. What you don't hear is classes to boost self-esteem, to celebrate an ethnic group, to explore the arts. What you don't hear is "Glee" or "High School Musical" or other coolness-driven entertainment fantasies about high school fashion, sex, talent or jockdom.

How are our kids supposed to mimic these kids when this place doesn't look anything like the American school system?

It's funny, because most of the kids here want to be American.

Battling to get ahead in life

Not in the citizenship sense. They don't want to join our army. They want to be American in speaking English, in gaining wealth and status, in rising to the top. One of the questions I was asked by media here was, "What do our children have to do to become global leaders?" That's not a common question in the U.S. -- not to a visiting writer, anyhow.

There is an obsession with getting ahead here that begins with the classroom and permeates the adult workplace, where rigid hours and meager vacation days are the norm. The attitude mimics one you heard among American immigrants in the early 20th Century: "If you don't do well in school, you won't get to college, if you don't get to college you won't get a god job, and if you don't get a good job, you'll be a loser."

There is no shame in that lecture here. It is not viewed as corny or clichéd. It is part of the national pride, if not the national obsession.

How are American kids going to copy that? We're not disciplined enough, we're not hungry enough, and, most importantly, either parents don't say it enough, or if they do, kids ignore them.

That also doesn't happen in Korea. Respect for elders is paramount in Korean society. There are actually different words used to reflect deference to age -- a much older person is addressed one way, a slightly older person another.

They don't make comedies here where the 10-year-old is the brilliant family member and Mom and Dad are bumbling knuckleheads -- and divorced. The family dynamic is different. And as most educators will tell you, family is where future school performance begins.

Struggling to find meaning

Which, by the way, doesn't mean Korean kids are happier. It may be quite the opposite. Everywhere I went, I encountered teenagers in love with my book "Tuesdays With Morrie," because the teacher in it showed compassion and encouraged humanity, not just grades. Many kids told me, "I wish in my life I would meet a Morrie."

Many older kids wondered how you find meaning in your life if you are studying and working almost every spare hour.

And studies show that while Korean kids do amazingly well on certain standardized tests, those who come to America for college often drop out, unaccustomed the approach we take.

All of which suggests that Obama was a bit naive to think an extra month in school is going to put our kids on par with the high-scoring South Koreans. Their success runs much deeper than that. Their issues do, too.

Our kids laugh more, play more sports, express themselves more openly. The kids here are serious beyond compare, and they are driven to succeed. I'm not sure which system I'd prefer, but I know they are apples and oranges, and the length of a school year is only a tiny difference. It may take a village to raise a child. But it takes a country to educate one.

Contact MITCH ALBOM: 313-223-4581 or malbom@freepress.com. Catch "The Mitch Albom Show" 5-7 p.m. weekdays on WJR-AM (760).

There is a ghost in the English room

Well, that's what my 6th grade girls told me Monday morning. They were at school on Saturday and walked by my class and knocked on the door even though they know I'm not there usually. But they claim to have heard someone in English tell them to come in... but the door was locked. So they walked around to the other door and broke in to my room. Where they heard someone talking in English but no one was there.
So I had several different groups of students tell me this on Monday. Then late Wednesday I got a text from one of them telling me that I had to be careful cause there was a ghost in my room.
I was telling this to the part time co teacher I have two days a week and she was surprised.. and then started to joke around like she was talking to the ghost in English.

What makes this even more interesting are a couple of things. Koreans are really superstitious about spirits, etc. So that a bunch of kids say there is a ghost in my room folks take it a bit serious. Though they worry that it's a "foreign ghost" if it's speaking English. I said no it was Korean, just had paid attention in my classes. Which got a few laughs.. but I'm sure the next Saturday there is classes they will be keeping an eye on my classroom.

Soul Mates

"People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet because they tear down your walls and smack you awake."--- Eat Pray Love


I've been lucky in my life I've met and fallen in love with two soul mates in my life. One taught me about honor and being a better person. The second helped me to be true to myself. She still does. I got to spend the day with her today. I'm glad that we're still close even though I live on the other side of the world. Considering all that we've been though we should probably not be still talking to each other. I should hate her and walk away. However, I have never been able to truly walk away from her and not be there for her when she comes to me honestly and just needs a friend.
It's funny she was all busy hugging me and telling me to be safe this year and take care of myself in the big bad world I was heading out into. I had to turn it around on her, this year she's embarking on something much more dangerous. She's got to for the first time in her life at 38 actually figure out what makes her happy. She is free of everything that she used to use as excuses to go and figure out what would truly make her happy and go for it. I think that's alot more scary than me heading off to do the same thing I have for the last two years.

I'm sure that once she gets out of her own way and actually lets herself dream BIG and unfettered she will find her happiness. All I can ever hope and wish for her is that she can figure out what makes her happy. I think that's a mark of a deeper love. She and I have long ago moved past "romantic" love and we now are at a point where all we want in the world is for the other person to be happy. We know that we aren't going to be the one to do that for each other at this point but we are going to be standing on the side lines cheering the other one on.

As for the reflecting part... well seeing as how I can read her like a book, and call her out on things she would try to hide, I do certainly make her think about things she would like to escape from. There is a trick to my mirror though. I try to temper it with love and kindness. It's one thing to call someone out on their nervousness at seeing your parents again. It would be a whole different thing for me to read her and call her out on her bigger issues.

It's funny that 8 years in we still match. When we hug there is still a moment of peace for both of us. There is something there that says this is right. But it's not the same fire passion that almost consumed me years ago. It's not a warm hearth that makes me want to curl up and sleep near it. It's safer.

The end result is the same as it's been for a few years. I love her, but I am no longer in love with her. I only want the best and for her to take every chance at happiness she's given. I guess that's how it should be with soul mates post earth shattering shake ups and walls being torn down. Best part about all of this....



... I know she feels the same.

Things to look forward too

Sitting here in my office realizing that in about two weeks I will be getting off planes where there will be people who I love there to meet me, has me grinning stupidly. It's not just that I haven't seen my parents in three months. It's also that I haven't seen my best friend in a year! I still talk/ text/ face book with her daily. But actually having a weekend to just be with her and her dogs is something to really look forward too.
I do a lot of traveling here in Korea. I ride the KTX at least once a month going someplace. I fly out to other countries and fly back to Korea a few times a year. Many of those trips I get off the train/ plane and then have to grab a bus, the subway or a taxi to meet up with people or go back to my apartment. I get to see people being met by people they love and the reunions that happen. But I'm doing it on my own, no one is there to meet me at the end of my travels. I know this is by my choice in many cases. Though there are other times when all I'd really like is to have a friendly face there when I get back.
When I have visitors come to Daegu to meet up for the weekend I always make sure I go to the train station to meet them. I know they could find their way to my apartment or to meet me on their own but I like being there for them. It makes a trip nicer when you have someone there to meet you at the end.

It's the same when leaving someplace. It's nicer to have someone there to see you off. When I leave Korea early in the morning of the 26th I'll be heading out on my own again. No one to see me off at the bus station or the airport. Luckily after three long flights I will be greeted on the other side of the world by my parents. Then when I fly to see D I will be seen off at the airport by my mom and meet by D... makes all the difference in the world. It's the little things really that make all the difference in the world.

Short update

• I go home in 2 weeks for my renewal vacation.
• Baseball in Korea is way more fun than going to games in the US.
  
• 5 hours on a wooden bench type seat talking to someone certainly should mean something.
  
• I may be a dragon but she's a scorpion.
  
• I'm too old/ too much of a morning person to stay out or up till 3 am two nights in a row and still get up and function both days, with out there being consequences later.
• Re-reading "Bridge Across Forever"
• Visa renewal is tomorrow... which means an afternoon at Immigration asking if I can stay.
  
• Koreans should be poker players.
  
• I'm missing a chapter from my handbook... either it was never written or I'm supposed to learn this one on my own.
  
• Slow as molasses is good.
• Saying goodbye to my crew sucks.
  
• I really need a nap.

Oh and I know you're reading this... give it up. Cause it's creepy.

Point of View shift

Up till sometime in the last 6 months I was always just looking for someone to have a good time with. I wasn't even thinking long term. Why should I? I've become a bit of a wanderer. I love not knowing more than a year ahead where I'm going to be or what I'm going to be doing. Underneath that I've started to realize that this life would be nicer if I had someone to share it with. Not a need to be completed, but more of looking for someone who would complement me. That leads to bigger challenges. I'm not looking I said I was going to take a year from last August to get my head straight, no women, no relationships, just doing what makes me happy and enjoying this life I've been given. Of course best laid plans always....

So I met a Korean who has confused the heck out of me. We spent an afternoon together and she started asking me questions that go along more with a long term something. Like retirement plans? What is my career plan? Would I move to Seoul? Busan? Other countries? Back to the USA? Talk about a switch from the usual banter I'd gotten to know in flirting and getting to know Americans. Some of those questions I don't know the answers to. I know what I'm thinking about doing in the next 5 years but I've learned that planning much further out is a good reason for God to laugh.

I admittedly tried to ask her for a second outing and got a very friendly brush off. Now I'm getting texts from her about Pride. Really don't understand it at all. However at some point I've learned to not rush things. I'm willing to take my time, she seems worth my patience. Someone who's life might actually complement mine and not make me feel reigned in, while adding companionship to my adventures.

Feels strange to actually be calm about all of this but, it's nice to not be freaking out of my skin about something.

I'm sure I'll write about the whole World Cup phenomena here later... but tonight I'm going to go observe it. There is a big street party and viewing of the first Korea game downtown. Considering the amount of red that has been popping up everywhere it should be a good time.

Brain purge

Two years ago I left a perfectly good life behind. I was burnt out and didn't feel like I was giving what my students deserved from me in the classroom anymore. I didn't get to that point over night. I haven't recovered from it overnight either. Last weekend, one of my friends here got me to drop my walls for the first time in a long time I let them all down. She saw a glimpse of my passion for working with under privileged youth. She saw that in me there is still a calling to work with students and connect with them on a human level. Not just as a student and a teacher.

I've asked three friends back home who I would consider family to do one thing for me since October. Not one of them has come through. Adding that to a few other things that have happened and you get me sitting on the far side of the world feeling like I've lost my family that I thought would be there for me through anything.

Two people have asked me today if I'm excited to go home in August. Honestly, I'm home now. The people and places that I would have been excited to see a year ago I have no desire to see this year. I'll be in the US at my parents new home. But honestly my home is here in Korea now. Home is not so much a place as where the people you love and who love you are. The ones I trust to be there for me and love at this point are all here.

Things have been changing subtly for me over the last year. Now that I look back on it I'm seeing a much bigger picture of change. It shows how it's all different. My past still is part of the building blocks that form me but the reality is that I'm reforming in a new land that I didn't get the instruction manual for. I've had to use all the tools I learned to use and gathered in my past to try and survive. It's not easy and I'm still baffled by things on a daily basis. However I love it. The challenge to keep going and growing makes me feel alive.

Busy time of the year here

• Monday was Sports day, which means no teaching, lots of fun and sun. Probably one of my favorite days of the school year here.
  
• Last week I agreed to one more year at my school here in Daegu. Wasn't as easy of a decision as last year when I didn't even have to think about it but I'm good with it.
  
• My Parents arrive in Korea in 14 days. I'm going to try to go easy on them but I'm sure that culture shock is going to hit hard at some point in their trip.
  
• Today is Children's day so no school today.
  
• It's finally warmed up, but not sure how long the sun is going to last.
  
• 9 years and I'm still all good. But every year on this day I still feel a deep need to reflect on how one moment can change everything.
  
• Many possibilities are sitting in front of me... I'm just not sure about any of them.
  

Restless feelings

I haven't felt this restless and unsettled in a long time if ever. My roots have shifted and aren't where they used to be and I'm not even sure if some of them are still living.
Living on the other side of the world for an extended period of time does change you at your core. I've always been grounded to wherever I am but right now I'm not feeling it or a pull to anywhere.
Last time I started to feel this sort of shift I ended up in Korea. I'm having the feeling that a new major move is coming in the next year or so. It's always a little strange to feel them coming. Hopefully I'll slow down enough to find where I'm headed soon.

Just Venting.

I think I've gotten pretty good at dealing with stressed out Koreans over the last year and a half. I've learned when to just retreat and meditate and let stuff go. Unfortunately Miss Bahn chose the wrong day to say the wrong thing. She compared her teaching in English (after 17 years of classes and lessons) to me teaching in Korean with all of 30 hours of class.


Yeah. No comparison. I feel a little bad about basically saying you should be better at English. but not really. The truth is she is an English teacher now. She should be comfortable speaking in English and not freak out.

I remember the fear of my first teacher observation. It was scary and rightfully so. I didn't know when it was coming, never had done one before. But I knew my material and I knew my students. I survived it. Just like she will survive this.
Open classes here in Korea I think are better and yet worse than teacher observations in Atlanta. They know when they are coming. They can plan the lesson, do the whole dog and pony show. The kids know because their parents are there they have to behave. Oh yeah did I mention the parents and other teachers and the principal observe the open classes and evaluate the teachers based on them. I've gotten used to this and I know the parents, students and principal love me here. They know I've worked hard with their students and am friendly outside of school. I have an advantage because I am a known factor now. The first few were for everyone from parents to teachers and administrators through out the whole city. Those were nerve wracking. I also refuse to let the kids get away with right answers for everything. Sorry I'll try to make you look good but you should know your stuff too. I'm not going to make the class so easy that the parents who've seen my classes before think wonder what happened to make this one so easy.

I guess all of those years of hearing and seeing that students will rise and fall to a level of expectations have stuck. I'm not going to dumb down my class because the co teacher can't handle the harder classes.

I feel a little calmer now. Maybe I can go explain things better and try to relax her but I am not going to back down on my level of expectations for the students. Our school is known for it's English program... because I have always challenged the students.

Spring is coming..... I hope.

After the cold and dark of the winter here in Korea everyone is waiting for spring. I know many of us are trying to rush the seasons. I started my spring travels by heading down to Busan in late March to meet up with the gang down there. We played a couple of rounds of screen golf which is popular here in Korea though I'd never played before. Then there was the usual dinner, laughter and drinking. I managed to not stay out too late and get to my motel in time to get about 6 hours of sleep before I hopped a train back to Daegu. These little weekend trips are sanity savers here in Korea because we get a chance to be ourselves with out having to hold back on anything.
The following weekend several of the of us got together again back in Busan to see the Kite festival. Even in a small group of 8 we still can scare Koreans and laugh enough to make us forget that we're thousands of miles from home and our families. There were kite flying competitions and a pot luck picnic on the beach. I took a couple of pounds of trail mix which were inhaled quickly... let one never question the international appeal of trail mix for lesbians. Sometime that afternoon I started to lose my voice most likely due to the yellow dust from China. By the time I got back to Daegu that evening I was sure that it was going to be gone for a few days.
Teaching without a voice is rough when you're teaching in your native language and culture. When you're working with language barriers and cultural issues it gets even more crazy. Thankfully by Thursday my voice was mostly back.

Tomorrow I'm heading to Jinhae to see the Cherry Blossoms which I missed last year. After that I'm in Daegu for a while. Which is good since I've been getting teased about my road warrior ways again.
Otherwise no big news from here I've completed the 1A level of Korean classes and I'll start 1B in a week. It's even more important now that I get a good grasp on Korean since my co teachers English isn't as good.

Goodbyes and Hello's

In the middle of February before I headed off to Bali I had a sad task I had to undertake. I had to say goodbye to several of my co-teachers I'd worked with since I started in Taegu. It was very bitter sweet because I know I will stay in contact with several of them but it is not as easy as when I could teach with Sunny every day or see Mr. Kim at Lunch. I also lost Mrs. Ye and Mrs. Gwon. This is part of life in Korean schools at the end of every school year teachers get reshuffled. Not only in the school to different grades but also to different schools. I knew it was coming but the mass exodus from the school of English speakers was a bit of a shock. I handled the good byes better than many of the Koreans did there was lots of tears and heartfelt speeches at the farewell dinner. I managed to not tear up then in front of the whole school. There were many, many comments from people that I was going to really miss Sunny. Which is true.I was going to miss her. I didn't realize how much till I came back to school after Bali and didn't see her there. I've met up with her once since then due to both of our busy schedules. Hopefully that will be remedied with a dinner soon.

I got two new co teachers this semester. One is only there two days a week and she has a desk in my office. She's pretty good and she's growing more and more confident as a teacher every day. Her English is good and she feels pretty comfortable around me. I have a feeling we're going to end up being friends as well as colleagues.

The other new teacher is my main co teacher. She's the one who is supposed to be responsible for me and make sure all my paperwork is taken care of. She also is my liaison and translator with the principal. I've been trying to put off saying much about her because I kept hoping that she would relax and start to be a better teacher. I knew that since she had just graduated college I was going to have to mentor her and help her become a better teacher. Unlike Sunny who we both had been teaching awhile and we knew the basic concepts and that there is nothing wrong with borrowing other teachers lesson plans and just tweaking them. She wants to reinvent the wheel with every lesson. She also writes out scripts in English that she memorizes before teaching class. Ad-libbing or having a discussion with the students in class has been curtailed because she doesn't feel comfortable with them. I've also had to simplify my language so it's only short and simple sentences. I've gone from having 5 or 6 fluent English speakers around to maybe 2. It's a huge shift. I know the students can see the differences and I'm trying to help her but she's still scared of me. I'm trying to think up ways to make her feel more comfortable around me and let me work with the students. The problem is she, I think, feels intimidated when I step in and start talking with the students and taking care of any behavior problems that have come up because the students (like students anywhere) can smell the fear of a new teacher. I'm hopeful that things will get better I just know it's not going to be as easy as it was.
The good news is she is no longer shaking with fear when she talks to me. Unlike the first week where I think she was going to pass out from fear. She shook like a leaf whenever I talked to her the first couple of days.
The other new teachers at the school are obviously nervous around me. I don't have much interaction with them since I'm no longer teaching the teachers. A few of the young ones are fun and I may build up a relationship with them but it's going to take a real effort on my part. The new 6-3 teacher Mr. Seok is slowly getting over his fear of me, which is nice since his classroom is next door to mine. I know he get's teased by many of the young female teachers and he's shy but I have a feeling he will relax and start joining in the joking soon enough.
There is just a lot of things for everyone to get used to with the new semester and hopefully everyone will relax and start getting along soon enough.

Bali: Part 2: Ubud

In Ubud I stayed in a great little hotel that is run by an adorable little old woman, called Oka Wati. Every morning breakfast was delivered to my patio at whatever time I'd asked for the night before. I fell in love with the green pancakes wrapped around bananas and a little coconut.

I developed a routine of having breakfast around 7:30 a swim around 8 along with reading by the pool for a couple hours. After that I would take off exploring with my camera, either on foot or by bike. One day I got a car and driver for a couple of hours who took me to the Elephant cave and a couple of temples. In the late afternoon after exploring I'd have a massage or a foot rub, since they were ridiculously cheap (about $7.00 for 1.5 hours). Then a beer at a restaurant with wifi to check in and make sure all was ok and everyone knew I was alive. A nice dinner and then maybe one of the traditional dance shows and to bed around 10pm. It was a very mellow part of the trip but culturally rich.

From Bali

Eventually, it was time to depart Ubud and I headed east to Candi Dasa. I spent my last days there enjoying a quiet beach and doing a little snorkeling.

From Bali

Bali: Febuary 2010 Part 1: Kuta

I flew out for Bali on a cold, snowy Monday evening in February. I'd already spent 6 hours in Inchon Airport so I was ready to go. Due to weather and that it was Lunar New Year I hadn't been able to take a later bus or train to Seoul. I had a direct flight from Seoul to Denpensar, Bali, Indonesia. By the time I'd landed in Bali after a time change and 8 hour flight it was 1am Bali time.
The initial steps off the plane were wonderful as the hot and humid topical air assaulted my winter ravaged senses. I could smell incense and spices in the air and feel my dry lungs and skin trying to suck the water out of the air as fast as possible. I think most of the flights in and out of DPS are in the middle of the night because the lines to get your visa were backed up. I managed after learning how to deal with lines in Korea find the line that was hidden behind a cashier where you paid for your visa and move through the Visa and immigration lines fairly quickly after making friends with two Korean families who defended our place in line from several groups of Japanese tourist who were trying to cut in. Then finally I grabbed my bag and headed out to figure out how to get a taxi to my hotel around 2:30 in the morning.
The next morning dawned way too early and I decided that after 24 hours of traveling I was allowed to relax and not do much the first day. I did get moving in time to get the free breakfast at the hotel. I then spent the day taking a relaxing walk up the beach, a stroll through Kuta and ending up with reading a book by the pool.
I made plans to hire a car for the next day to go zip lining after I'd found out that the wind and surf reports weren't looking good for para-sailing or kite boarding.
My second full day in Kuta I spent with a really nice driver who took me all over and made sure I got to see more than what had been planned on the itinerary. Once he found out I was interested in taking pictures he made sure to stop some extra places so I could get good shots of the valleys with the rice terraces.

From Bali

He also made sure I got to see one of three monkey forests on Bali. The one he took me to had bats also. These weren't your run of the mill little fruit bats either they were about a meter across when they had their wings extended. I had fun taking pictures of the macaques. The only problem that I seemed to develop while there was that I got overwhelmed with how many monkeys were there and trying to cut down the 600+ pictures of monkeys to a reasonable size has been a bit of a task.

From Bali

From Bali

From Bali

From Bali

My last afternoon in Kuta I rented a boogie board and attempted a little surfing. Then I headed off about mid morning day 3 to Ubud up in the Central part of Bali. (I'll cover Udud and Candi Dasa in the next post about Bali.)

Three days in Beijing... plus the snowfall of the decade.

The dawn of New Year's Day found me sitting at Inchon airport waiting for a flight to Beijing. By lunch time I had landed met my tour companions and tour guide. We then headed off to a restaurant to have Beijing duck. If the first meal was indicative of the rest of the trip, it was going to be good Chinese food the whole way. After lunch we headed off to Tienanmen Square to walk off the lunch. After seeing it on the news for years, I had never really grasped the size of it. It's HUGE! The wind was brisk but not too bad yet since we took a quick walk through and then headed for the Forbidden city that is right behind that famous picture of Mao.

From China

I quickly figured out that after my first introduction to travel in Israel included soldiers with sub machine guns, seeing military presences in foreign countries doesn't really surprise or scare me. There were plenty of guards and soldiers all over both Tienanmen and the Forbidden City.

From China

I could have easily spent days wandering through but I only got a couple of hours. It was really interesting how the emperors thought. They had to be near gods. So they had the largest houses, most concubines (3,000) and many, many gates to protect them from commoners.

From China

From China

After that we headed for a tea house to warm up.

From China

One thing my time there taught me is while I may not like sweet tea I do enjoy many types of good hot tea.

From China

Then it was dinner time and then on to an Amazing Chinese Acrobatic show. By the time we finally landed at our hotel we were exhausted.


We started the second day with a nice breakfast while we watched a few flakes of snow fall outside our hotel. Then it was off to the Great Wall. No words for it either.

From China

From China

From China

Then on to the Ming Tombs.

From China

From China

We wraped up the day with a wonderful dinner, a beer and then massages back at our hotel. Since we had one more long day on the schedule.

Day 3 started with watching very large flakes of snow accumulate. We loaded up our van with our luggage and then headed for the Temple of Heaven. Which was wonderful, we got to see some native Beijingers hanging out, dancing, playing and enjoying life.

From China

From China

We also tried very hard not to slip and fall and the accumulating drifts.

From China

Then to a silk factory and later on to the Summer Palace. When it was built it was 30km outside the city where it was on a man made lake and much cooler than in the Forbidden city. Of course the irony of this was that it was covered in over a foot of snow that had been falling steadily all day.

From China

From China

Later on we headed for the airport so we could catch our flight home to Korea. There was a slight catch in those plans. All of the flights out of China were canceled due to snow. Thankfully our super tour guide took great care of us. She got our flight rescheduled for the next morning. She also took care of getting us re booked into our hotel and a ride back there and back to the airport in the morning. By the time she was done taking care of us, we had dinner on the tour company and breakfast to go with us to the airport.
The short version of the final leg of the trip home was 20 hours and a plane, bus, train and finally taxi.

Beijing Day 1 <1/1/2010>

First day in Beijing was busy. Our guide Wendy met us at the airport and we headed off to have Peking duck for lunch. After a year of Korean food Chinese seems like normal in some ways. We ate too much at lunch and then headed to walk it off at Tienanmen square. It is huge! We didn't stop by Mao's tomb but we did see his picture over the gate. Then we continued on to the Forbidden city. We only got a taste of what was once a huge complex. It was fairly cold yesterday and when we weren't protected by walls the wind was biting.
We also made a visit to a tea house and learned about different types of tea and how to prepare it properly. Then another huge meal and off to an acrobatics show. Think the opening to the Beijing Olympics small scale and up close. Finally we headed to our hotel and crashed.
Today it's the Great Wall, Ming tombs and I think our guide said a jade factory and a pearl shop.

Just a typical Monday

Mondays are usually my long day I'm at school by 8:05 because I have to be on the school English broadcast by 8:25am. Honestly I am usually typing out my book to read right before I go downstairs for it. This week I'd gotten everything done the week before so I was ready when I ran to the broadcast room at 8:20. I got there and the four students who usually run things were trying to set up. They'd had a few mistakes the last couple of weeks so I was going over things with them that might need to get checked. Then I started to read. The announcer was next to me and asking for a pen so while I was reading I quickly handed it to her. Then one of the 6th grade boys who is the president of the student body was acting silly on the other side of the camera trying to make me laugh. About the time the Third Billy Goat Gruff went across the bridge I had the two announcers both petting my hair cause they liked the curls. I somehow managed to get through the rest of the broadcast without losing it. There was one swift kick under the desk at one of the students petting my hair.
After the broadcast I come back to the English Center where I planed my lessons for the day with Miss. Kim. It was an easy lesson for the sixth grade so not much to worry about. We taught the three classes and nothing to strange happened, just the usual student antics. One of the classes got punished because they think they are the worst class. They are going to be better this month we hope because if they aren't they get to do a whole period of squats and chanting that they are the best class.
Lunch was the usual collection of young students really excited to see me and talk and older students trying to be cool.
Back in my office once more I was visited by three 6th grade girls who practice their English by helping me practice my Korean. They went over my homework for Korean class and then talked with me in English about Pepero day which is Wednesday.
I then had 2 periods to plan a lesson for the teachers. I used the books the school has assigned and came up with a short lesson that should have been relatively straight forward and easy. Of course nothing goes as planned. The class was to start at 3:30 and go for 20 minutes. My part got started around 4:00 and lasted till 4:20. My regular Miss Kim was out at a training so I got my old Miss Kim to translate for me. This lesson is done in front of the principal, Vice principal, head teachers and basically the whole faculty of the school.
The first round of giggles started when I made the comment that I really liked the next saying. It was "Are there any tickets available on the Monday morning flight to Atlanta?" I swear it was in the book and I didn't change it at all. Miss Kim turned and looked at me with wide eyes going Why?!? Do you like that! All the other teachers were partially confused because they don't all remember I'm from Atlanta. I said don't worry I'm not going to go home right now. I just like the idea of it. She then had to fill in everyone. Who started laughing at the idea that I was going to take off for home.
The next dialog I was teaching talked about wanting to take a trip to swim at the beach. I'd spent 30 minutes one day after school helping my translator for the day practice the right way to say "Bitch" (she'd been watching too much gossip girl.) So when we got to the line and all the teachers and principal said Beach as Bitch... there was laughter. Miss Kim then had to explain that this was one of those words where one letter mispronounced could make a HUGE difference. Of course in the middle of this one of the older female teachers who I really respect busted out with "OH! Son of a BITCH! Asah!" She had made the connection very loudly... and anyone who wasn't laughing before was then. I had to have them practice saying both words so they could hear and feel the difference in saying both of them. By the time I headed home at 4:30 I was exhausted. Having a cold, teaching, and trying to keep both students and teachers interested in English all day can be exhausting.