What would you do if you couldn't fail?

I was reading this blog and had one of those ah ha moments. You know the ones, where something hits you smack in the face and you can't go back from the moment something inside you has forever been changed.

I answered the question they asked "What would you do if you couldn't fail?" The answer took me completely off guard. Then I started crying realizing that one of the things I was searching for I'd found. I'm doing exactly what I would do if I couldn't fail. I've always loved teaching and travel. So teaching overseas is the perfect mix. I get to travel, and teach, and really live in another culture and explore it.

I hadn't remembered till I finally got my internet back this morning that everyone back home was off at Sugarland right now. But it did explain a few things when I was reminded of it. Does it change that I am happy being here? nope. I miss those things but overall it doesn't change that I'm happy right where I am. I'm where I belong in the world right now. I ran into one of my students last night walking home. He had the typical reaction OH! O--- teacher! Hello. We talked for a couple of minutes and he told me he was excited for Monday. He's ready for the new school year to start. I am too. Though my internal yearly clock is all screwed up with the sights of new school supplies and stacks of new books are all around. I keep thinking it should be fall, and what happened to summer? That's not how it is here it goes with the seasons and I can understand that. New things start in the Spring like the rebirth of the Earth, Fall and Winter are the closing and ending seasons.
Years of conditioning are getting reworked... and it's fun to watch and experience them. At the same time I wonder how it will feel in reverse.

The DMZ Trip

I could talk about what I saw, and did. But really it's a place that means different things for different people. It's a place that shows how one people can be divided for over 50 years. The ribbons hanging near the Freedom Bridge are obviously new so it's not something that is going away. Growing up during the cold war, and remembering when Germany unified... it's strange to me that there are still places in the world where this isn't history... it's current events. They discovered a 4th tunnel to the South as recently as the 1990's. There is a modern train station that gets service from Seoul just waiting for a chance to be used. We drove past mine fields, and barbed wire dividing two groups that at one point were one country.
It was a really long day for me leaving my apartment in Daegu at 5am and not getting back till after 10pm. I figure the pictures will have to speak for themselves at this point.

Wandering

This afternoon I had one thing I promised myself I would do. I would sit down someplace outside my apartment and write a stack of postcards to folks back home. Why? Because I've been here almost six months and I finally yesterday found some decent postcards at the Taegu National Museum. I also have a strange family who I knew would all feel loved to get something (slightly illegible) from me from halfway around the world.
I headed downtown and started wandering I wanted to find a coffee shop... instead I landed myself in a market I hadn't been in before and felt the energy I'd felt when I first landed here of exploring and discovering new things. After doing a big loop I found a nice coffee shop grabbed a mocha and sat down to write. Ten postcards later I let myself have a break to come home. Tomorrow I'm going to one of the two traditional markets with my camera to try and take some pictures. Before I get to go there I have to go and sit someplace again and write probably another 10 postcards.
I love wandering and discovering new places in Taegu. Does it take a bit of a leap to do so? yeah, but it's worth it. It's a bit of a leap to trust ones self that you can always find something you recognize so you're not completely lost. I kept seeing Taegu Station over the buildings so I knew that I could find a subway if I needed it. Would I have known that six months ago... nope. Now it's easy. I guess that's why the learning curve is getting easier. I have some basics and I've gotten better about trusting my instincts about which alleys to go down to find cool little shops. I know I would drive most people crazy with my rambling ways but it's fun... if I ever manage to find people who can put up with it I'll know I've found a travel partner.
Now back to my relaxing evening.

Good explination about Korean Education

I found this link through another blog but the video does a decent job of showing some of what goes on in English education here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwjt7zRiWOw

There are better and worse than what they showed... I kind of wish they would show a bit of what goes on from the Native teacher perspective... they all but ignored the idea that there are huge numbers of us over here working along side the Korean teachers to help with the English education in Korea.

Busan recap

I took the KTX down to Busan around the middle of the day cause I'd had to wait for my laundry to dry... yes one of the many issues with laundry here is it's air dry only. I got there figured out how to get to the subway and got a nice little charm for my cellphone that would also double as a fare card for the subway. I took the subway over to Haundae Beach and found my hotel, checked in and relaxed for a minute. Then grabbed my backpack and headed out to see what I could see around where I was staying and find a tourist information center. I've gotten pretty good at finding them and got an English map of Busan and while talking to the nice woman there found out about a city tour bus that would take me around the city stopping at many of the places I wanted to see for only 10,000 won a day. I then figured I'd wander through the aquarium. Honestly after the Georgia Aquarium which was done very well anything was probably going to be a let down... even more so for 16,000won. It was pretty good, just my personal bar for aquariums is very high. However there was a fun and cute exhibit of famous art work redone with fish as the main characters including Lady Liberty as a Penguine.


I wandered and had some street food for dinner and then took a long hot bath at my hotel. I also did my usual plan out the next day. After compareing the list of places I wanted to see from Lonely Planet and the route of the city tour bus I figured it would be a pretty good deal. I then set my alarm and crashed while watching some CNN (which is a perk for me since I don't have it at home.) The next morning I found a Dunkin Donuts grabbed some breakfast and went to the bus stop where the city tour bus would pick up and joined the crowd of young koreans standing around... it was kinda fun cause I've been here long enough I'm not always polite anymore about getting shoved from bus doors by ajumas and cut in lines. I fight back now. I grabbed my place in line and made sure I gave up my personal space like a good Korean and managed to cut off a pushy Ajuma who was obviously younger than me, as she tried to get on the bus infront of me. Sorry I'm not some just off the plane Meigook who can get run over. The bus driver smiled at it and was very kind to me as I gave him my money and got a card that allowed me to ride the bus all day. He also grabbed an English brochure and marked off the loops that were canceled and not running that day. I then watched the city fly by as I rode to the Olympic Sculpture garden. I got lost coming off the bus but eventually found it. I had a wonderful time freezing and taking pictures there. I will probably go back again with friends when it's warmer.

I then hopped the bus and rode downtown were I transfered to the other loop and stopped at the coast at some place called 75. I took a long time there hiking down to the ocean and taking pictures. It was a beautiful jagged coast with fishermen working lines and having fires on the coast. I also had a nice chat with a teacher from Seoul who was on vacation with her mother. She wanted to practice her English and since we were both waiting for the bus it wasn't a big deal. I took the last bus to my hotel eventually seeing a large chunck of the city. I also found mexican at a place called Fuzzy Navels.


That evening I was online at my hotel and got a message from the person I was supposed to crash with in Seoul that basicly sounded like she didn't really want me to stay there. I started replanning and decided to stay an extra day in Busan and just make it a day trip up to Seoul. (That also ment that I could stay up all night and watch Obama's innauguration.) So I called the front deask changed my plans and stayed up all night.
I then with my later start hopped the subway to the Jigalchi Fish market. I admittedly was a scaredly cat and didn't make it into the main market but saw somethings on the outside stalls that had me going what the heck is that. I also wandered through a traditional market north of there where I bought a spurlge and got a new leather coat. It was a rainy day so I didn't do a lot of outdoor things but had fun just wandering the city. Eventually I made it back to the hotel and crashed.
The next morning I got up checked out and grabbed the train back to Daegu.