One Year Reflections

A few months ago, when I was making my decision to stay in Korea for another year, Ryan asked me something like, "What have you learned from Korea....What from Korea will you carry with you?" My answer went something like, "I've learned that I miss and appreciate my family and home." Maybe my reason behind this is because Korea seems to be such a family oriented culture, I miss having that part around me. Maybe also since its tough to be away for a full year.

I think I've grown as a person quite a lot. I've learned how to deal with people in ways I've never dealt with before....bosses, friends, students. I think the job of a teacher is a wonderful thing to teach anyone to become a better person. Kids are some of the harshest of all judges, but they can also be the most forgiving.

Living on the island can be a great life. Sometimes I feel like a king riding around on my motorcycle chariot. I can do anything or go anywhere I want. I can even do nothing if that's my fancy for the day or week. The work load is grumbled about, but in reality, its pretty posh....especially when you compare it to most Korean's.

Korean culture seems to be quite difficult to break into without a bit of a grasp of the language, which will be a focus of the next year. I'm inching my way into it little by little and its quite rewarding. I hope to say at the end of next year that I've learned something from Korea proper.

One Year

According to my blog, I've now been in Korea for one year. I can't believe it! Sometimes it seems as if time has gone by so slowly, and other times it feels like it's flown by. Here is my first picture of our new teacher, Danielle from Canada. She's standing on the front right side, next to Michelle. Heather and Rich (seated) are friends who teach at a different academy on the island. Next week, Ryan will be heading off on new adventures, Danielle will start teaching, and I'll be starting my new contract. Maybe this weekend I'll write about a few of the things I've learned from my year and what I hope to get out of the next year.

Sidewalk Sellers

Here's a lady that we ran across at the start of a hike in Gyeongju. She didn't want me to take a picture at first, but after a bit of bartering for some cucumbers, she let me. I think it was worth it for the smile.

Family Trip to Gyeongju and Andong

Here's a sampling of pictures from our trip to the mainland. It was a fantastic trip and great to get to see a bit of mainland Korea. Michelle spent a lot of work putting the trip together and we had a great time. First we went to Gyeongju. This city is the old capital of the Silla dynasty that united Korea into one country a thousand years ago. In Gyeongju, we stayed in the fancy resort hotels and toured the famous Buddist temples. There seemed to be quite the theme though that much was destroyed by Japanese invasions then rebuilt in the 1950's to 1970's. As old as Korean culture is, I guess I didn't expect to see such new looking buildings. After Gyeongju, we went to Andong. Here, we stayed at a Traditional Folk Village. It was great! We stayed with a family in a sort of bed and breakfast where they fed us and we slept on the floor in the huts with a straw roof. At night they fed us some home brewed rice wine and in the day we had a guy who drove our car around giving us a tour. The highlights for me were to make our own paper in a traditional paper making factory and to see the traditional mask dance. All in all, it was a great trip and I can't wait to go back to visit the mainland!

A Buddhist temple near Gyeongju


A Confucian University near Andong


Our Hut in the Folk Village in Andong


Fish Soup Breakfast on the Porch


Traditional Paper Making Factory in Andong


Traditional Mask Dance in Andong


Traditional Mask Dance in Andong


Lotus Flowers in Andong

Back Home again in Jeju

I Just got back from the trip to the mainland today. It turned out to be a fantastic trip. Here's a picture of the happy CDI family looking over the folk village in Andong that we stayed at. I'll post more pictures and stories tomorrow.

Vacation!

We're having a CDI family vacation! Due to Middle School exams, Michelle cancelled classes and all of the staff is going on a trip to the mainland! Me, Michelle, Ryan, Brad and his wife and their 1 year old baby are all going to Gyeongju and Andong for the next 4 days. Gyeongju is the ancient capital of the Silla dynasty (57 B.C.-A.D. 935) before the capital was moved to Seoul by the Joseon Dynasty (1392 - 1910). Andong is a place renowned for its traditional culture. The trip will be a bit of a history tour, and Michelle will give us a bit of a taste for the culture of Korea outside of the English Schools!

Rainy Season

It's officially the rainy season for the next few months. "Rainy Season" means the weather is overcast with extremely high humidity and always the chance of rain. Really, it means that the weather forecast is totally useless. You can pretty much count on the weather being completely unpredictable. It can be completely sunny, then a couple hours later, there will be a downpour. I guess there will just be a lot of rain and being lazy indoors.

Beach Part Deux

Well, here's a picture from the beach as promised. Don't they look like they're having fun? We got a whole crew together and met another whole crew down at Jungmun beach on the south side of the Jeju. Jungmun is by far the best beach on the island, with a nice empty hidden beach around the corner from it. The waves are often high there and we had our try at some boogyboarding! I'd love to give surfing a try there too if I can borrow someone's board!

On a side note, after talking to the girls in the photo I learned that they both know one of the counselors (Blaize) that I worked with at Camp Voyageur in Minnesota! What a coincidence! They knew him from working at a camp in Utah! Wow!

Back to the Beach

I don't have any pictures today, maybe I'll edit one in later... but I went to swim in the ocean today for the first time this summer! Am I crazy! It's almost July, I live on an island, and I haven't been to the beach yet! Well, it was fantastic. The water was a bit chilly, but great once you get used to it.

The Koreans still haven't been going to the beaches on Jeju yet this summer either. Well, a few people go, but the beaches have been far from crowded. The official opening date for Iho beach is July 1st. Its been getting really hot and humid these last couple weeks, I can't imagine that they aren't opening up just a little early. Hopefully I'll spend some more time going to the beach...Its one of the best parts of living here in the summer!

Gasoline

Its not exactly the prettiest picture I've taken but, well, neither are the gas prices. I keep reading in the US news about how expensive gas is...and I'll be the first to admit that $3.oo a gallon is really expensive. Well, here's what gas prices are like in Korea. I read in the Korea Herald last week that Korea has the 6th highest gas prices in the World. The price on the top is for the gas they put into my tank per liter. At the current exchange rate, that's well over $6.00 a gallon! Its a good thing my motorcycle gets great mileage!

This being said, one of my favorite things about coming to gas stations in Korea is how fast it goes. All of the stations are Full Service. Right when you pull in, someone happily comes running up to serve you. I just tell them to put 10,000 won in, they fill it up and take the money. I'm out in less than 2 minutes!

Circumnavigation

Ryan, Driving near Sanbangsan

7hrs, 220km.

That's how long it took us to ride our motorcycles all the way around Jeju Island. Ryan and I don't have to work until 7pm on Wednesdays so we decided to go for the ride! John and Jin joined us for the first half and Ryan and I finished the second half. Josh and Luke slept in....

It was a fantastic ride. The coast road is a little spotty; sometimes, you're on it and sometimes you have to go back to the highway. We decided that The NW and SW are the best for scenic views and the NE is the best for turny roads. The SE coast is the only part of the drive Ryan and I have never seen and was a little sub-par.

It was a gorgeous drive and a beautiful day for it. We took our lazy time. We stopped for a quick lunch and then a nice barbecue pork rib dinner. I'll definitely do it again!

Rainy Week

Its been an ultra lazy week this week. One of the troubles with working in the evenings is that most days I sleep in later than I like to. This rainy week however, I had no problems with sleeping in until noon on Thursday!

Consequently, I haven't been out taking pictures either, so here's one from climbing at Musucheon last weekend. I'm getting excited about the climbing trip to China I'll take in September, so I'm trying to find motivation to climb more!

Another Year

Well, I'm about to sign my new contract to stay in Korea for another year! I was able to work out a good contract with less hours and a nice month-long vacation in September. I'm pretty excited and nervous at the same time.

I decided to stay for a few reasons. Most importantly, I'm enjoying life in Jeju. Work is good and I've made some good friends who should still be here for a good chunk of the next year. Granted, its not as exciting as working at Alta (ski area), canoeing in the boundary waters, or traveling somewhere new. However, the island living is nice, especially in the summer. My Korean language study is also coming along well....I can actually understand a word or two now!!! Of course the money is good too and I'm saving a boatload (by my standards) which is nice. I guess I just feel like the second year will be even better than the first.

Kite Runners

Yesterday, I met my friends John and Alaska Sam for some kite flying. I met them in a horse pasture just behind the city. What a beautiful setting with Halla Mountain in the background!

Squid

Want some squid?

Jeju Marathon

It was a busy week for visitors! Over the weekend another friend who I met in Thailand, Jessica, and three other lovely ladies from the mainland came to Jeju to run in the Jeju Marathon! Well, she actually ran in the 10k, but that's okay! I couldn't even run at all! I just slept in, came late, and met her at the finish line. Doh! Well anyway, it was good to see Jessica, albeit briefly. It's always good to see another Hoosier! It was also especially good that Jessica came down because it got Michelle running outside of the gym for the first time! She ran in the 10k in record time for herself! Maybe she'll do the half-marathon next year!?

Here's Jessica's blog at http://worldinherhands.blogspot.com/

Power of the Web!

All of my blogging has paid off in many ways. I write mostly for my family and friends to be able to see how life is halfway across the world. That's good enough in itself, but a fortunate by-product happened; I got an email from Massimo, an Italian who came to Jeju for a conference on magnetic materials! He's a climber, so he was able to take some time away from the conference and we had a fantastic morning of climbing! Thanks Massimo!

Cruisin'

One of my favorite things about living on Jeju is cruising on the motorcycle, and today was another day that proved it. Wednesday is my late start day, so I went out for a cruise with Luke, Josh and Ryan (in picture order). It was such and awesome day for it too. The weather was perfect and we took the most perfect path out past the oreums and back along the coast. What makes Jeju great for cruising on bikes is that it only takes about 5 minutes to get out of the city. You then have your choice of turny mountain roads, beautiful horse pastures, or the cool coastal road. It also seems to be a great way to get a little taste of rural life in Korea. The farmers are out working in the fields and even the Haenyos (Jeju's famous women free divers) were out in full force today.

Sea Cliff Climbing at Oedolgae

This weekend, I had some friends, Mary and Adam from Seoul, come to Jeju for a long weekend. I met Mary in Thailand. She climbed very well there, but unfortunately got 2nd degree sunburns on her shins!

On Sunday, Juin and I took them climbing at Musucheon. After climbing, they wanted to get down south to Seogwipo so we decided to also climb on the sea cliffs at Oedolgae! Mary and Adam decided not to try the climbing, but Juin and I got down for one climb. It was pretty fun, but a little scary too. I'm not used to climbing at a place where your only escape is UP! It is certainly a beautiful setting for climbing though and proved to be an awesome afternoon.

Buddha's Birthday

Thursday was a national holiday in Korea for Buddha's Birthday, so on our half day on Wednesday we went down south to a temple and had a nice seafood meal in Seogwipo.

I think most of the literature on Korea that I read before I came here said that nowadays the majority of Koreans are Christians, but Michelle insisted that the majority are Buddhist. I can't tell you exactly, but there's certainly plenty of both.

Horseback Riding

Horses are one of the many things that Jeju is famous for. Our friend Jen really wanted to go horseback riding, so she took Ryan and I along to find some stallions. After a bit of driving around on the bikes, we finally found a place that had some decent looking horses and went for a half hour ride. I've said that I want to try new things while I'm here, so...this was my first time on a horse!!! I rode it like a pro! Just like I'm posing like a pro-jockey for this photo!

Blue Agave

Last weekend I went to the Blue Agave to see a band. The Blue Agave is one of the bars where the foreigners in Jeju City go to drink. To be honest, I try to steer clear of the place because I usually don't feel so good the next day. However, I went the other day to see this punk band and to try to take some photos. I didn't get as many photos as I would've liked to, but here's what I got.

Training

I've been ultra busy lately. I'm training for a new class, so I have to come into work 3 hours early for a few days this week. It might sound bad, but I'm actually quite grateful. I think it's a great advantage of my job that I have co-workers and a company that places a sincere value on education. I love that they make the effort to make me the best teacher possible.

From my end, I'm glad to be able to teach the new class. For one thing, it will get me out of the monotony of teaching the same classes over and over again. Also, it's a higher level class which will keep me on my toes. The training is exposing a lot of weaknesses in my teaching and its good to help polish those.

Korean Language Dictionary

Check out this awesome interactive Korean Dictionary! Its from IU!

http://www.indiana.edu/~koreanrs/kordic.html

Teacher's Day

Today was Teacher's Day in Korea. It's a little informal holiday where people show appreciation for their teachers. Some parents sent rice cakes, some sent pound cakes. Ryan even got a gift certificate to E-Mart! (Korean version of Wal-Mart). Best of all, Michelle took us out to dinner at the local Mexican Restaurant. I was pleasantly surprised that the food was pretty good. The fajitas were especially delicious. I guess I was most excited since I haven't had sour cream or guacamole since I've been here! MMMmmmm....!

Romance Cruiser

I took my bike into the shop, Mr. Lee's. He had to keep it for the evening so he let me borrow this totally awesome (not!) scooter. Josh told me it's called a "Romance Cruiser." Hah! I'll tell ya, this thing would be really nice for just commuting around town, but it really makes me appreciate my motorcycle more. It is nice though to have a replacement while the bike is gone.

Mr. Lee is an all around great guy for foreigners owning bikes. He's super friendly and speaks English really well. It makes owning a bike an enjoyable experience since I seem to go to the shop every couple of weeks. Its not too bad to go the shop because of how cheap it is. It seems the shops barely charge for labor! 5 bucks here or 10 bucks there. It's really nice. I'll say that owning the bike is probably my favorite part about living on the island. I love going for cruises... especially now that the weather is warm!

Climbing Video!

I officially posted my first video to YouTube and now have my first video on the blog! Darren took this video of me at the climbing competition from his hi-tech camera. Here's a little play by play: First, I stutter and duck down as I'm walking out because I forgot to lace up my shoes! I do pretty well at the beginning since it was quite easy, but I botched up the middle. I couldn't see the crutial bright pink hold that was just above my head. Finally, I make a nice move to my last hold, but make a dramatic fall because I accidentally heel hooked my pinky finger!

Back to the River

A few folks went to Musucheon on Saturday. I got a little impatient on waiting for them, so I went out on a bike ride. They did finally go, so I was a little bummed that I missed it. However, I was able to come a little later to take some pictures and get one climb in. It was a fun day for pictures since it was super foggy. I didn't get many good ones, but it is helping me learn a little more about the camera!

Shoe Man

Now that its warm out, I've been spending more time outside taking photos and getting used to my camera. Hopefully I'll post some more pictures on a regular basis.

This shoe repairman always sits in this box outside my apartment. He always looks so lonely.

Level-Up Test!

The time has come for our students to take their level-up test. We give them a test once every 3 months that is very similar to the TOFEL English proficiency test that will be quite an important test later in their lives. Sometimes its painful to give them this test since it's quite difficult, but they get through it alright. My favorite part (other than the fact that it's easy work to administer a test) is the speaking section. The kids give the funniest answers! One of Ryan's students once had this classic answer:

Ryan: What's your favorite holiday? Give reasons and examples to support your answer. You have 45 seconds.

Student: My favorite holiday is........Frankenstein........because........it's............DIRTY!

Final Route, 2nd go

I went back to the outdoor climbing wall to have another go at the competition routes. It was another beautiful day today. I got 2 more moves on the final route, but no more! It's so hard! Here's a picture of Il Gon trying to give me a wink! Isn't he a cutie!

Ultimate Frisbee

Michelle and I drove down to the southern part of the island to watch some frisbee. This weekend was the Jeju International Ultimate Frisbee Tournament. Saturday was the most perfect weather for frisbee. Clear blue skies and no wind. Many different teams from all around Korea and even China and Japan came to play. There were some good teams and some "social" teams. I've been surprised with the Jeju frisbee turnout. Ryan says that there are nearly 3o people on Jeju's team so they entered 3 teams in the tournament! It was a good time and good to see Ryan play some hardcore frisbee!

Climbing Festival!!!

The Climbing Festival finally came and it was a great time! It was a bit of a drizzly and cool day but it never rained too hard and the routes stayed dry. It was a whole day affair and the first time in many many months that I was awake before 8:00. There were competitions in speed and difficulty. I ended up tied for 5th/6th place in difficulty out of 20. Needless to say I was quite happy!

The Jeju Sportclimbing Center Club (pic from http://cafe.daum.net/sansoo1214)

Me on the Qualifier Route (pic from http://cafe.daum.net/sansoo1214)

Darren Meditating in the Isolation Room

Women's Qualifier Route

Speed Climbing

Me on the Final Route

Magic Fingers

Darren wanted to go scouting, so we looked for some new boulder problems in one of the closer rivers (5 min drive away rather than 10). Surprisingly, we found some good stuff, so we came back today. I arrived late, so I missed the good climbing, but it was fun to get back outside again!

Beautiful View

You can see so much more from 8ft off the ground!

Christine's Wedding

This weekend we went to Christine's wedding. She was the one who subbed for me when I went to Thailand and also has been doing a little more part time work at our academy. She already had a wedding ceremony in America over Christmas, but she had to have another ceremony here in Korea. It was a little different than any wedding I've been to. First of all, it was in a hotel, not a church. Then after the wedding, Christine had some traditional bowing to do that we couldn't be a part of. The reception also wasn't until 5 or 6 hours after the ceremony. The reception was at a slightly seedy little karaoke place so it proved to be a fun time! I forgot my camera, so here's some pictures courtesy of Ryan's camera.

Christine and Joe's Family

Friends of the Bride

Ryan and I singing Neil Diamond at the Reception

Upcoming Climbing Comp

The Jeju Island climbing competition is coming up in less than two weeks. I'm not really into climbing competitions....or any competitions for that matter, but for some reason I'm getting pretty excited. I've been trying to use it as an excuse to get to the gym more. However, I haven't been to the gym as much since climbing has taken a bit of a passenger seat to the guitar and baduk during my weekdays. Its starting to get a little boring to go by myself. Either way, it hasn't taken that much of a side seat and I can't wait!

Mang-Ho (맹호)'s last day

It was Mang-Ho's farewell dinner this weekend. He's the best climber at the gym and all-around great guy. Due to popular demand, I'll put up a couple of photos.

The Mighty Mang

The turnout to the drinks after the dinner

We finished off the evening with a trip to the Noraebang (private singing room)

Vivian's First Birthday

Brad's Daughter had her first birthday, so we had a buffet party at the Crown Plaza Hotel. Don't they look great in their traditional clothes!

Ryan and I wore our traditional clothes too