A Thanksgiving Feast

Although this past Thursday, the last Thursday of every November, is the day that America celebrates Thanksgiving, I've learned that it is not always celebrated on the same day, like I once assumed. Canadians and Koreans both celebrate the holiday in October. Therefore, I felt like the holiday was already passed when it arrived. It was strange too, because since I live in the future now, I celebrated Thanksgiving the day BEFORE all my friends and family back in Chicago celebrated.

My students all "wowwwwwww"ed at the fact that while my family was eating their huge turkey and mashed potatoes Thanksgiving dinner at 4pm on Thursday last week, I was eating cereal for breakfast at 7am here in Korea and talking/seeing them through the internet. It was so nice to see my grandparents, brothers and parents! I miss them!

I had a great Thanksgiving lesson last week at school. It was the kind of lesson that you think will be a great idea, but you're just not sure if it will end up working with your ESL students. Well, I was very impressed with my students and proud of the success of the lesson, even after the 19th time of giving it once friday rolled around. For the lesson, I first had my students guess what day of the week the holiday was on. It is interesting to know (even for me) that, unlike many holidays celebrated in the US, it is not on a specific date on the calendar, but instead on the same day each year. Why is this?? Does anyone know?

Well, anyways, I then had a cute Thanksgiving cartoon on my title page of my powerpoint (I have it posted above so you can understand the meaning). I ended up using this as a introduction, since it brought in the idea of turkeys, what people eat on Thanksgiving, who are the pilgrims (which my co-teacher explained and summed up very quickly in Korean b/c some of them already learned about it in elementary school), and it brings up the idea of a "feast". So I had my students guess what we eat for Thanksgiving. All of them knew about turkeys and some knew about pumpkin pie, but then I had to explain mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, corn, etc. My kids are so funny...because of course, they guess that we eat rice...something they eat at every single meal! They even seemed sad that we don't eat that as part of the feast. When I explained that "feast" is a huge meal, usually referring to the big turkey we all divide up at Thanksgiving dinner, they understood the joke of the pilgrim and turkey switching roles and the turkey being smart b/c he was having a true "feast" or HUGE dinner of human, instead of a small turkey. Some of my kids laughed. :)

Next, I added in about the importance of being thankful on Thankgiving and explained that it is usually a tradition in America to go around the dinner table before eating the feast, and say something you personally are thankful for. I played a video clip that I found on youtube that shows in pictures and words the many things that people are thankful for. The students were given a worksheet that I made. It had all of the lines from the video of the things people appreicate. They were actually all very inspirational and touching and because of the sweet music, it made the video even more meaningful.

While they watched the video, the students had to pay close attention to the words from the video and fill in the blank. I gave them a word bank at the bottom of the sheet to help them. I also played the video twice since it went pretty fast and it is difficult for students to read on the screen and then read the same line on their paper. I loved this lesson because at first, the students acted a little frustrated because they think they cannot do the worksheet because of how fast the video goes. However, after watching it twice, helping one another, and using the words at the bottom, almost all the students had completed the worksheet. I then read the lines aloud and had the students as a class tell me the words that go in the blank. If my students could tell me all the words correctly, they receive 3 class points (which goes towards a free TV Show Day after their finals for good behavior, participation, etc.) Along with the class points, then my students can play a fun Typhoon game.

This game is so exciting for the students (and for me as well!). You pretty much can use any information that you teach your students and then it is just a big competition for them. They are in groups (we had 4 big groups) and the team has to answer the question correctly (all of my questions were quizzing them about filling in the blank with the lines they had just learned about things to be thankful for, plus you have to remember to tell them to put away their papers...I almost forgot this important part a few times...and this is just one reason I am so thankful for my co-teacher! :) ). If the team gets the answer right, then they can earn one, two, three, or four points, depending on what point comes up on the screen. However, if there is a typhoon (or a picture of a man holding onto a tree and being blown away, the team loses all of their points. If there is a picture of the tornado (and all of these pictures are animated which makes it even more exciting), then the team can tell another team that they lose all of their points. And if there is a picture of a man stealing money, then the team can steal another teams' points. I would recommend this lesson to any of you teachers out there, because it's a fun and exciting way to quiz your students plus they get so competitive and are more willing to participate. Along with the inspirational lines from the video, one quesion that teams could land on was to tell me 5 things they are thankful for. Students also liked this question and had to answer differently each time, so they ended up being very creative and sometimes very funny with their answers! For example, they are thankful for policemen, for the soil and their country, and for the air they breath, while some answers included that they are thankful for their computer games, pocketmoney, and for their beautiful face and makeup. hehe

I learned a lot about my students in this lesson. I learned to trust my instinct when challenging them, because it is a wonderful feeling both for the students and for the teacher when the students end up accomplishing something that first seemed impossible for them. I also learned what my students already knew about the US Thanksgiving holiday, the things they are thankful for, new vocabulary that they used that I did not know they had already learned, and I also learned that some of my boys know the exact time difference from Korea to USA. My co-teacher told me this was because some of the boys follow sports' games in America, so watch the baseball and soccer games at certain US times.




Besides being able to see my family on skype this week and having a successful teaching lesson at school, I also had a fantastic week because of great food and great people! On the actual Thanksgiving day, Keith and I went to this delicious Mexican restaurant, Zapatos, near our apartment in city hall (the downtown area about 20 minute walk from our apartment). We randomly saw 4 of our friends there so ended up all having dinner together. I also saw 5 English teachers from my school who were celebrating a birthday so they sent some delicious cake over to our table. Also, another 2 of our friends randomly came to the restaurant a little bit later. The whole restaurant was filled with people Keith and I knew...this is the great part about living on an island. You always bump into people you know; however, the island is also big enough that you are always meeting new people. The toasted shrimp/fajita burrito and maragarita that I ordered was like heaven.

Then on Saturday, Keith and I ate some more delicious food. We went with a group of about 8 friends to this new Indian restaurant, Rajmahall, in the next city over, ShinJeju. Another amazing meal....Chicken curry, spinach dip with lots of garlic nun, and Indian spice chai tea! :) We then all went to have chocolate cookies and this pure hot cocoa/chocolate drink at Chocolat Cafe (a coffee/chocolate shop). DELICIOUS. This is a cute little coffee house that has little displays of chocolate houses and village set up, along with colorful Christmas trees, and neat lighting and other decorations. After hanging out there for a while and having good conversation with these new amazing friends we've met here, we all met a a popular bar we go to in City Hall...Island Stone. This is the bar that has the fun bartenders who put on a show with tossing bottles into the air and lighting fires. We celebrated our friend's (Claire) going away party. She just got engaged and is going home to start an exciting life with him. The night was so much fun and the bar was filled with almost everyone that we knew. About 40-50 people all met up and it really felt like my old favorite bar at ISU, The Pub....where you go in and keep bumping into everyone that you know! Like the show, Cheers.

The next day, Keith and I got up pretty early to meet a few of our friends, Nate and Sean, to go to the final horseraces at the horsetracks. This was my very first time going to the tracks (haven't even been to them back in the states) so it was pretty exciting. Since we're foreigners, they make it a little special. We all were invited to sit inside this private room a few floors up to watch the races. There, we are served complimentary coffee and tea while we make our bets and relax with lots of room around us and in big, comfortable chairs. There is food and snacks that you can buy as well. We shared the room with many Japanese visitors...I learned they love to bet and are known to win big (because they put down a lot of money on their bets) Unfortunately, the Koreans also love to bet and since they are not allowed to gamble in Korea, they go crazy at the horseraces. They do not have a private room either, so on two different floors, and outside in the stands, so many Koreans are all squished together, shoulder-to-shoulder and yelling and watching the screen to find out the final results. Since it was my first time, I only bet a little bit and spent most of my time being entertained by the rules of betting and watching and hearing the excitment of the crowd and the noise getting louder and louder as the horses got closer to the end of the race. Keith ended up winning $40 (40,000 won), but with losing some too he ended up gaining only $10. Sean and Nate won and lost a little and so came out even. However, Nate was sooo close to winning $4,000!! He was off by one number! And Keith was so sad b/c we had all rushed on that last bet to go outside to watch the final race so Keith did not have time to bet on that horse, but it was such a high odd that he would and most definitely should have betted on it. Oh well, it was a fun experience and so funny to see the little Korean horses that they use in the races (they looked like tiny ponies and some looked like donkeys!).

After the races, we headed to our friend, Daphne's apartment, where about 40 people ended up meeting and squeezing together in this little room to eat our HUGE Thanksgiving feast. Everyone brought a dish so there was tons of food. Keith and I brought a few bottles of wine. There was one small turkey which we all shared (it cost $70!!! because they're so rare to find here!), and tons of mashed potatoes, salad, fruits, veggies, rolls, stuffing, cheese and crackers, cranberry sauce, and lots and lots of dessert....pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie (which looked very green b/c of the sweet potatoes here:), apple crisp (yum, my favorite!), cookies, pecan pie, etc.

SO MUCH FOOD THIS WEEKEND! lol It was a great Thanksgiving feast. And the best part was the amazing people we were able to spend it with. Although we've only been here on Jeju island for 3 months, the huge group of friends we've made has all become so close, like family. People from Seogwipo, which is an hour away from us,in the southern part of the island, were all troopers to make it up to the north where we celebrated the holiday (even after a LOOOOONg night out drinking...some stayed out til 5am). We are always making the effort to get together and spend time getting to know one another. It really makes you appreciate the friends you have, especially when you don't have your family and friends from home close.

This Thanksgiving, I am truly thankful for all the wonderful people we have met here in Korea that now live with us on Jeju. They are each so unique and bring so many qualities to our group of friends here. I feel like I still have so much to learn about them and to hear their stories and learn from their experiences. Life is great:)

Hope you all had an amazing week and Thanksgiving holiday as well! Keep in touch and cheers!

The start of the hoiday celebrations

Thursday was a big day for me, since I invited my co-teachers over for a huge dinner to show them how grateful I have been for all of their help this semester. I left school a little early since I wasn't teaching all day because the kids had tests. So I started the slicing and cooking and last minute cleaning.....all the great hostess work you have to think about when having guests over. Throughout all the planning, I had my mind on all the hard work my mom does at home each time we have company over and was thinking to myself how grateful I am for all those delicious meals she prepared for our family.

Keith took off kickboxing after school to help me and be there with my teachers to socialize. We made fruit/vegetable plates for appetizers (apples and carrots placed decoratively on the table with my parents "fall leaves" that they had sent from Chicago (another decoration). I had to borrow a table, some chairs and some silverware from my neighbors because there were 4 Koreans teachers coming over, as well as Keith and I. Keith served the teachers tea while I was finishing cooking the pasta meal. The meal consisted of spaghetti with olive oil, garlic, brocolli, onions, mushrooms, crabmeat, and red, yellow and green peppers with mozzerella cheese melted over the top. I also made homemade garlic bread with whole wheat bread (which is rare to find here!!). This is my favorite dish, and luckily my guests all really enjoyed it as well. Although it was sooo funny because we never eat spaghetti at lunch, but for the first time ever, we had it that same day at lunch at school.....I couldn't believe it!!! I was laughing the whole time but it was ok because the spaghetti was just with marinara sauce, so very different than the dish I made. For dessert, I made banana, chocolate, pb smoothies (with our new blender we just bought) with a chocolate pepperostick dipped into each glass. YUMMMMMMMMM It was delicious!

Although my teachers arrived at 5pm, they stayed until 9pm! I was so happy though because this meant a lot that we all had so much to talk about and were laughing and sharing stories the entire time. The time flew by without us knowing! My co-teachers shared with us a lot of things from the culture that take place in everyday life. For example, they showed up at the door with a 30 pack of toilet paper as a gift… It was really hard not to laugh when they gave this to us, but they explained that it symbolizes the unwinding/unraveling of life’s problems and is often given as a generous gift for those that have achieved something great. The best students in school receive toilet paper for finishing top in their class. So… I know I will be considered an awesome teacher once I get my first 30 pack! Even though I understand the meaning more, it is still hilarious to me. They also brought lots of fruit as a gift for welcoming them into our home and we truly appreciated these gifts along with the TP. They also explained there fear of fan death, which is basically where if a fan is left running in a room and the windows are not open, it sucks the oxygen out of the room and the individual dies from suffocation. I think this is more a belief with the older generations however, because the two younger teachers seemed to snicker when the two eldest teachers brought this up. This fear of the building or home being ventilated also explains why they refuse to close the windows in my school during the winter, and why all of the fans have protective covers on the switches and fans themselves. The fans will kill us! :)

When the evening was over, I felt very accomplished with my cooking and my hostess ability, and excited that I had a chance to really get to know my co-teachers outside of work. I feel very close to them and am so thankful to have them during my first year of teaching and being in a new country.

This weekend I had a girl's night with some of my friends here who live in the next city over, called Shinjeju. My neighbor, Kristin, and I took a bus over and met two other friends of ours, Shaeley and Kelly, at a Tom and Tom's coffee house where he sat and drank Bubble Tea (I love this stuff and finally found it at this coffeehouse/ it is a juice drink with huge balls of tapioca in it), and shared a few things to eat (apple french toast and a mini veggie pizza). Then we shopped around the city (this is the new city in the area so has more western restaurants and newer clothing stores and nightlife). I found some comfy boots that I have been searching for. I was super excited to find my size because it's very difficult to find a woman's 10 shoe size...it's about a 145 in their size here. I chilled with them for the rest of the night.

Then the next morning I did my long run while Keith was teaching his Saturday school class (for extra $). When he got back, we spent the afternoon shopping for some winter clothes he needed, checking out the outdoor market, and planning our winter trips on our laptops at a coffeehouse. Keith was able to buy all his winter running clothes (3 hats, 2 hoodies, 2 pairs of gloves, 4 pairs of pants) all for 100 dollars! Korea is awesome for shopping, because although some places are super expensive if you buy from brand names, you can almost always also find amazing prices if you look in the right places.

We also went through the meat market for the first time by accident, and it was awesome. Literally tons of animals: fish being chopped up, tossed, dismembered, crushed, pulverized, and put on display. Actually, it wasn’t awesome, I kept running from corner to corner laughing and trying to escape the slaughter around me. It was pretty disturbing and sad to think about. I am just not used to this kind of open marekt! We made it out eventually, but it definitely opens your eyes to how raw some of these traditional markets are. We also saw tons of skinned pig heads and faces on display in front of many of the markets. It is a symbol of good luck to put them on display and to serve the brains as an offering of luck. If you’re queasy at all, do not go to the market on a Saturday afternoon.
After shopping and surviving the meat market, we went to Tom and Tom’s coffee(again this weekend, I know!) to plan our upcoming trips to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. We were there for 5 hours! The best part however, is that internet is free and you don’t even need to buy anything to use the facilities. We still bought coffee and pretzels (we are not that cheap) and enjoyed our time planning the trip there. We are really excited! We are going to be able to see nearly all of Cambodia/Laos and will cover the main things to see in Vietnam. However, Thailand is too long, so we are only going to see the northern half of the country this winter, and see the beaches and bottom half next winter. After that, we just went home, did some chores, made a huge pasta dinner at 10 P.M. and went to bed early. It was nice to get in bed before 3 A.M. on a Saturday.


Sunday we woke up early and went to church in the morning. After church, we headed over to Shin Jeju for breakfast at one of our favorite restaurants called “The Plate.” They have a brunch on the weekends so we headed over there for some traditional toast, eggs, omelets and breakfast meats. From there, we went to the traditional 5 day market (which is only held every five days) near the restaurant we were at. It is a huge open market under a covered tent and you can find ridiculous deals on what would normally be expensive items. Keith and I finished our Christmas shopping there and we checked out all the market had to offer. It featured everything from foods, to pets, plants, clothes, furniture, sweets, toys and anything else you can imagine. It’s awesome, and truly the place to shop for bargains. It was really cool to see some of the unique traditional items at the market as well. I can’t really put into words what a beautifully organized madhouse this was. After the market we went over to our friend Mike and Kayla’s for an early Christmas celebration to make Christmas cards. There were lots of snacks and finger foods, along with hot chocolate and other holiday sweets. There were about 15 people there for the celebration. By the rest of the evening, it became even more evident of how unique the people were on this venture. Talking with everyone, you realize that every person that is around you is from a different part of the U.S. or another country. The closest people at the party in proximity of our hometown is Columbus Ohio. It is incredibly empowering, insightful, and life changing just to be around these individuals and here what there lives have been like up to this point and also there philosophies. One friend talked to us about limo rides to Napa valley for 5 dollar wine tastings with her friends, another discussed living on Vancouver island and going kayaking with a bunch of beers on a lake to take in the nature, another person discussed there summers of tree planting in Canada and roughing it for 3 months with the moose and bears and needing a helicopter to escape the area they were in. Others are from the U.K. and talk about soccer and football riots on the streets. One lost his wife and is trying to move on in life without her for a new start, another turned thirty and calls it the new 20 as he drinks/parties religiously, another is surfing junkie who is here to meet Korean women with his friends, while another dreams of becoming a writer around the world. Some are in there 30’s and are trying to escape the real world while others are seeking of how to find themselves and climb back into it. Some were college athletes, some have been here for years and a few have taught Keith and I how to grow a fungus/bacteria called Kombucha that can cure cancer and aid in your energy and digestion (It’s a living organism that you drink, and when it has a baby, you use the baby to make more drinks). Not really sure if I'm actually gonna drink this yet though. In 4 hours, we learned about cultures, philosophies, the meaning of life, the journey we all go through, who we are, who we want to become, and how we can help others reach the same goals. Most importantly, we learned there is so much more to experience/see/create/venture to find and be a life long learner from these experiences.

Keith told me that it is these moments you realize you are in a unique situation that gathers thought and inspiration from around the world in 1 place to unite for a common purpose…Live life, find ourselves and learn from each other and the journey ahead of us. The possibilities are infinite, and he said he could not describe that feeling/atmosphere until he arrived here around these people in this environment. He is forever changed and will forever be changed by this experience alone the rest of his life. I love when Keith thinks this way and realizes, as I often do too, the positive impact that others bring to you each day and how everything happens for a reason....we must be traveling and meeting all these people for a specific purpose. Maybe to learn more about life and the meaning of it. :)

Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate!!

This friday we spent a night out with our friend, Paul, in the downtown area of Sin Jeju. It was his 30th birthday and his girlfriend threw him a surprise party (after dinner) at "The Bar", a foreigner bar downtown. One of his friend's own the bar so it consistents of mostly all westerners. It was a fun night and keith and I were happy to finally be able to sleep in very late on Saturday.

After getting lots of rest, we woke up and took a little adventure to the Chocolate Museum on Jeju Island. It's on the far southern west side of the island. We found it a challenge to get to since it is pretty seclusive. There was a bus that we took, but the bus driver dropped us off and tried to help explain how to catch a different bus closer to the museum but it just didn't work out...the next bus driver told us it wasn't the right bus to take. So we tried our hardest to look for a cab in the area. We weren't having any luck and it was pretty chilly and windy out, so I was very appreciative when these sweet Korean men who were watching us from a business down the street came to our rescue. They gave us some hot delicious coffee and called a cab for us. We cabbed it to the choco museum and were then on our way to deliciousness.

The museum had this funny shape and look to the building. It looked like a secretive factory made of chocolate brick. They served us coffee when we bought our tickets and then we went inside to explore. There were many display cases and posters set up introducing the process of making chocolate, showing us real cocoa beans, the tools and machines that have been used, the many different kinds of chocolate, various molds, etc. We also learned about myths and the truths of the nutrition of chocolate. Chocolate, as long as it is pure cocoa, or regular chocolate, actually has many benefits. It doesn't have much sugar so it does not give you cavities (like rock hard candy can), it is not high in caffeine, and actually is high in stearic acid...a unique saturated fat found in milk chocolate that doesn't raise cholesterol levels the same way that other types do, but has been shown to increase HDL (the good cholesterol levels). Chocolate is also a good source of magnesium, copper, iron, zinc, and also has polyphenols...an antioxidant also found in tea and red wine, which can help lower the risk of coronary disease. Dark chocolate, as you probably know, is also very high in antioxidants and probably the most healthy chocolate you can eat. It can help lower blood pressure and improve insulin resistance. I also learned that chocolate does not cause acne or headaches, or even cause weight gain. THIS IS A MYTH! As long as you take care of your health by eating a well-balanced diet and continue to exercise, chocolate can be great for you!! (just don't be a piggy and eat too much like we did when we were there!) :) After learning about chocolate, we went and saw many Koreans working hard in the chocolate factory. They were making all types of chocolate and it reminded me of the chocolate factory and Willy Wonka. :) They made our mouths water and it was conveniently right next to the gift shop where all the chocolate was sold...how ironic?? Keith and I were able to try a free sample of real cocoa chocolate fudge. It didn't have any sugar in it but was still soo rich and delicious.

After admiring the many boxes of assorted (and very expensive) home-made real chocolate, we chose two to share. We bought the fudge that we had sampled and also a box of white chocolate mixed with the popular jeju cactus that we love so much here on the island. We snacked on both types of chocolate and relaxed on some benches then continued throughout the museum. They had a poster that showed the amount of chocolate production in each country, as well as the amount sold each year in each country. The US actually sold the most by far, with some European countries, like Belgium and Germany, and also Argentina and Brazil following. Asia was fairly low, but produced the most of all the countries, along with some islands that grow the cocoa bean. It was funny because as we were looking at this information and concentrating on reading, Koreans kept walking by us and jumping and laughing because we startled them. They kept thinking we were mannequins because we were standing far back against this wall! hehehe :) There was also a chocolate theater that had a movie playing with the history and other interesting things about chocolate.

Then everything else in the museum was very random. There were all these cases with miniature toys, animals, Disney characters, stuffed animals, etc. There was also a Christmas room with a Christmas tree, a piano, a fireplace, and a place to sit and probably drink hot chocolate (but didn't seem like the bar in there was open). Keith and I sat down and played heart and soul for the Koreans that were passing by. :) This was the end of the tour, which was in good timing, since it was almost 5 and would be closing soon. We then headed out and tried to find a bus or cab. However, we could not so the manager of the chocolate museum (literally this is what he told us his name was since in korea this is their title and appropriate to say since we do not know eachother)drove us in his fancy car down the street where he dropped us off and told us to point our hand down and out towards the street when the bus passes by in a few minutes. Well, lucky enough for us, this worked and the bus came in only about 5 minutes and took us all the way back to Sin Jeju's bus terminal.

After getting back we went to the movie theatre (first time! ya!), ate some sandwiches and talked before seeing the movie 2012...great movie by the way!! Loved it! (It's about the prediction of the world coming to an end because of the planets lining up with the earth during this year, causing destruction and shifting of Earth). While we were waiting Keith saw a student he has at school (this seems to happen all the time!) who came up excitedly to say hi, which led to a long conversation between Keith and his student' mother. It's always nice to meet the parents of your students. However, my students are older and usually don't tell me until class that they saw me out. I think they are more shy and usually not with their parents either.

This Sunday we went to a Christian church for the first time. Keith's co-teacher, who played cello in the orchestra there, invited us. It was a great experience...we were given a gift as we walked in (some type of grape oil that was wrapped up in a bag for us), the minister had us stand, along with the other newcomers, to welcome us, and the service and music were great and similar to back at home. They even gave us headphones for a korean to translate everything for us in English! It was so thoughtful of them. After the service, Keith's co-teacher, along with another person in charge at the church, who was very funny and kind, showed us all around and sat and ate a free lunch and coffee with us. There is a cute little coffee house (which keith and I plan on having coffee and chatting each week now after church), and also a small museum room in the church. The museum room displays all these room decorations (lamps, tables, tea set, jewelry boxes, paintings, photography, etc.) that are all made out of the popular jeju paper they have here. It was a great time! The rest of the weekend consisted of grocery shopping and last minute preparing for the week/ relaxing at the apartment.

SATs in South Korea

Today was an interesting day at my school. First, I learned that they have a special day each year on November 11th. It is a day similar to Valentine's Day, where kids and adults will receive "pepperosticks" from their loved ones or crushes. When holding up the sticks you can see the number 11 for the date. Pepperosticks are a type of chocolate or vanilla covered prezle/cracker with chocolate sprinkles or nuts on it. Teachers will also get these from their students sometimes (especially in elementary school) and teachers will bring them to share with their office:) I was given one by someone in my office and it was delicious! YUM:) Supposedly it is also a hallmark holiday, except that instead of cards, the company who makes the pepperosticks uses this holiday for their business to advertise.

Another reason today was special was because it was the day before the big SAT for the high-school students. During their final year (3rd yr) in high-school, students must take the SAT in order to find out which university they will be placed at. Unlike the SAT or ACT in America, Korean students can only take this test once. It is a HUGE deal and I think a lot of pressure for the students. The airports even close on this day all throughout Korea!!! Can you believe that??! WOW. Since parents care deeply for their students' education here in Korea, parents, especially mothers, are very very nervous for their child the day before the test. For this reason, Koreans will give gifts of candy/chocolate and money to the parents of the child who is about to take the test the day before (today). Parents will also give chocolate and money...sometimes $100 (100,000 won) to their child in order to motivate them to do well. Lucky kids! Mothers will also go to church and do 108 bows the entire week or sometimes the entire month of the test date if their religion is Buddhism. Mrs. Hyun even told me that some mothers will go to church the entire day and bow 108 times each hr! Again WOW! Parents really care for their kids' education here. Mrs. Hyun, an English teacher in my department, received a bunch of treats today from other teachers because her daughter will be taking the SAT tomorrow. Mrs. Hyun also told me she has been going to church to do the 108 bows meditation each day for the past month. Her daughter who stays in the dorms at the high school will be coming home tonight where she will receive the gifts and go to bed early. Her test will be all day tomorrow...from 8:30 am to 7pm!!! OMG Poor girl! Well, I wished Mrs. Hyun luck to her daughter and hope both of them can relax after the test!

Just learned some more interesting information. One Friday every other month the students will be served a piece of cake (it was vanilla with vanilla frosting) to celebrate all of the students' birthdays. Neat idea!

I have some depressing news as well. Keith and I had a favorite tea place that served this amazing dish....thick green tea pasta in this very hearty seaweed soup (with tons of secret ingredients/ spices). The dish is one of a kind and probably my favorite dish here, plus the lil shop has so many unique teas. But our third time going, we invited a bunch of friends and there probably ended up being maybe around 15 of us in this little tea place. We thought the two ladies that worked there would love the business. However, they must not have liked all of us there (I don't think they like or need business maybe?) because ever since, we have tried going back and ordering the soup and there is always confusion and we never are able to get it. It's so confusing and frusterating to us that at least 3 times we have gone there trying to order the soup again and for some reason it is out, they are confused and give us something else, or they tell us it isn't on the menu anymore. Most of this information is through hand gestures, by the way. Well, I wrote the name of the soup in my little notebook the first time we went there, so we knew what it was called, plus there is only one other food item on the menu...a spicy bibimbop so it really shouldn't be that confusing! Then just last week I heard that our two friends have been there a few times since our last bad experience and was able to order the soup! So it has been the mystery of the green tea soup for me and Keith. I have been craving the delicious soup though, so our plan was to go with our friends and have them order before entering! ha well, we just went in with them and we were able to get the soup; however, I think that will be the last time Keith and I go to our old favorite tea place because they always change the prices on us and overcharge us and the lady we order from is always just so confused which makes us confused why it has to be so confsusing to order the same dish every single time! ahh just thought that was a funny story. Besides that restaurant, everyone else at different restaurants have been super friendly to us foreigners. So we will just have to look for a new favorite tea place.

Yesterday, as I entered my first class of all-boys, my co-teacher and I found there to be no students in the classroom which was very out of the ordinary. While I was asking my co-teacher where the boys were, I saw her peeking out the window then having a very upset look on her face. So I also looked out the window and there they were...my entire 1-10 (the name of their class) 40 boys outside with the gym teacher all being punished. They were all in the pushup position while being yelled at and would probably spend the rest of the day, maybe even week, cleaning the school. Later I found out that two of the students were fighting in the classroom and the rest of the class locked them in and stood right outside watching the fight through the windows. My oh my! So I was thinking bad boys...but I was also thinking..now I dont have a class to teach. hmmm But I only had to wait 2 minutes to hear my co-teacher tell me we were in the wrong classroom. She had forgotten that there was a schedule change (which happens A LOT, but I don't mind) so we had to rush on to a different boys' class to teach. This is common to have kids fighting, but I always just hear about it and see them getting punished. I never actually see the fights. My friend who teaches elementary school also tells me about fights amongst the boys all the time and how they have even punched a hole in the wall! I guess wherever you are in the world, you always have those kids that misbehave and are troublemakers! Don't get me wrong though, many students are very very studious, well-behaved and polite....boys and girls. And I find that my boys tend to like more interactive lessons and competitive games, while my girls usually love crafts and studying from the book, as well as following directions (they are very very shy sometimes when playing the games I prepare which can make it difficult).

One more random note (which I may have already mentioned in an early blog)...while number 13 is unlucky in the western countries (today is friday the 13th by the way and Koreans know this day as unlucky too because of us foreigners), but the number 4 is very very unlucky in Korea and is known as "death". Therefore, there is never a number 4 in elevators, for apartment numbers/ floors, etc. Instead, they will have a F for the 4th floor in the elevator and different numbers or symbols to represent that number. Koreans take the unlucky number to a new level! :) But my co-teacher told me on airplanes they do not have the seat number, 13, because it is a western custom....is this true?? If so, I never knew it!

Temple Stay

Hi there! So Keith and I were invited in a few weeks ago to join the 2009 Yakchunsa Temple Stay in Seogwipo (south end of Jeju island) for this past weekend. Usually when tourists go on temple stays, there is a fee; however, our wonderful EPIK leader, Ria Kim, along with the Jeju Tourism group, made it an all-accommodated weekend at the temple for us EPIK teachers. Only 40 teachers could participate, so we quickly filled out our form to be a part of this experience. I arrived with a few EPIK friends in my building- Magda, Kyla and Mike, and got to the free bus that took us down to Seogwipo. Keith was teaching all morning for his extra-paid Saturday class...so he met us at the temple around 2:30pm.

It was interesting as soon as we got there...we walked up to this huge gorgeous temple with a few small temples and ponds, forest, and other buildings around it. We were then given a set of Korean clothing, Hanbok, which looked like pinkish peach pj clothing but stiff material and very big at the waist and short in the legs on me! Not quite the fashion statement. I actually felt like I was in jail because of the clothing....but don't worry, not from the experience! The whole experience was great! We then went into our rooms to change into the clothing. The girls were separated into two rooms, while the boys had another two rooms across from us. There were maybe around 8 people to a room, with everyone sleeping on the floor on blankets (and we were able to later grab some little pillows...the ones that you worship on).

Everyone then met in the temple...where of course, you take off your shoes before entering. I have never taken my shoes off so many times in 2 days!!! :) In the amazingly beautiful temple (with breathless architecture and 3 huge gold buddhas in the center), we all took a seat on the floor on top of red shiny bowing pillows. Ria Kim, along with a monk and another Jeju Tourism host had a welcoming ceremony and introduced to us about the temple we were staying at and our schedule for the weekend. We first listened to the commentary on Buddhism architecture style and listened about the commentary on applance and furniture within the Buddhist temple. We were then taught the correct way to bow. You first take a bow to the buddha, then kneel on the pillow with your head to the ground, your right hand goes down on the floor first, than your left hand. Next, you move your hands the opposite way so they are facing the ceiling. You then raise to your feet (without the help of your hands) and you keep your hands in the praying position in front. You then kneel again and repeat the steps three times. On the third time, you raise your head a little above the floor along with your hands in the praying position, then move your head down to the floor again with your hands facing upwards towards the ceiling. You then raise to your feet and give one last bow to the Buddhas.

We were only practicing the correct form, but the following morning at 4:30am, we did one type of bow, where you give 108 bows (each set of three are for different reasons, such as bowing for yourself, bowing for the buddhas, and bowing for the earth, etc....they were all shown to us on the video we watched as we did the bowing the next morning). It was interesting trying the bowing and meditation; however, made it a little less cultural when there were so many cameras taking pictures of us the entire time, as well as tv stations recording us. There were banners all over the temple area presenting the EPIK program temple stay, so it must have been a huge deal in Jeju. We also had many toursits asking for us to be in their picture because we had the Hanbok clothing on. A lot of us EPIK teachers have this idea that we are all on a reality Korean tv show that we don't know about, because we feel like they're all taping us and taking pictures at every big event EPIK has. LOL It would be hilarious if Koreans were always watching us and knew all of us as TV characters. Just a thought....

At the opening ceremony, we were also told more about the Buddha religion and Korean culture, but I will have to look some of it up again to share it with you. Ria Kim, who was translating for the monk into English, had a hard time translating, and her English isn't very clear so I didn't catch a lot of what they were saying.

After the ceremony and some time to chat with your EPIK friends as well as check out the temple, we were then given a tour of the temple area. We took a path and walked around to a few small temples. One was actually in a cave and there we watched as the monk and a few EPIK teachers lit the incents, waved out the flame, placed the unburnt area on their forehead, and then placed the incent down. It ended being a pretty hot day and we were all wearing the hanbok clothingalong with some clothing underneath , so the cave felt very nice and cool. We were all told it would be pretty cold in the temple and where we were staying since we were up in the mountains. However, the temperature was very warm and we were not up too high.

Near the cave there was a fountain that you could use scoops to drink from. We were told that the water would cure you from any illness. I actually felt very healthy all weekend...no wonder! It's like magic! While we were on the tour, Keith arrived...yaaa! We were then taken into a building that had about 100 little minituare buddha statues. Only one was a gift from Korea. It wore a crown and you can see it in the picture above. All the rest of the buddha statues were given from many different asian countries.

It was then time for rice cake making! Everyone had the chance to pound the rice that was mixed with sugar, flour and a little bit of water with these huge wooden mallets. This reminded Keith of his donkey kong videogame playing days. After everyone had a chance to pound the rice, including the monks, some ojammas then cut up the rice into little pieces and rolled them into a red bean flour (Injulmi). Then a few EPIK teachers served them to everyone. We all hung out on the grass field area and ate rice cake and oranges, and played some card games. It was fun and the experience made the rice cakes even more worthwhile to eat since we worked hard to make them.

After pounding the rice cakes, we had an hour break. Keith and I took a nap in one of the temples...I mean we mediated:) and then I showed him around on the parts of the tour that he missed (the temple in the cave and the wishing well). We also looked at the gift shop which had lots of jewelry, including karma beads and bead necklaces. These are actually used for worshipping. One can count the beads and keep track of how many bows they are on. There were also lots of worshipping music, windchimes, and other souvenoirs.

After our break, we met in a room that was in the building we were sleeping in. All the EPIK teachers sat in a long row on each side of the room, facing one another, while the main monk sat at one end and guided us through the dinner ceremony. We spent about an hour being taught the Buddhist manners for a meal and ways to go about cleaning all the bowls you are given before and after a meal. There is a special way of serving also, where the people on the end serve the water to wash your bowls (pouring one bowl of hot water into another), and then they serve the rice, the plate of side dishes (all veggies and kimchi), and the soup. The server asks how much you would like and we were supposed to choose the exact amount that we would eat. You could not ask for more later (which may have been difficult for keith:) and you had to eat all your food and not leave even a single grain of rice (which was difficult for me! :) We also had to eat while holding the bowl to your mouth but place it back down when chewing. Watching Keith do this was a funny site because he has gotten used to eating very quickly here with his chopsticks, so he kept picking up a bowl and placing it back down and then quickly picking another one up. Although Koreans eat very fast, we were supposed to be thinking of how thankful we are for each grain of rice and each piece of food we were eating by giving thanks to the Buddha. We also had to say a certain thanks for the meal in korean and bow before and after eating. It was the longest and most complicated process of dinner I have ever experienced!

After dinner, we heard the loud bang of the bell, which meant it was time for worshipping. We then all went into the temple where we had our night worship, which included bowing and meditation. After an hour, we were given a long break and then headed back into the same room that we had dinner, where we began carving our caligraphy pieces. We were given a little block of wood with an image on it (of a monk?) and some Korean writing. Keith and I sat at a little table next to one another and began carving with our tools. One tool held the piece tightly in place on the table, while the other one was a sharp carving knife. We were sitting on the floor by the way, on the little kneeling pillow in each room that we did an activity with a table that was little and close to the floor.

The carving took about 45 minutes and Keith and I both added some unique carving of our own on our pieces. I carved my name in Korean and Keith wrote "Wojack", along with some other shapes and messages. When we were done, we turned in our pieces, which we would paint tomorrow after the tracer paper was taken off. Since dinner was early and a little small, Ria Kim suprised us all (I mean really surprised us) by ordering pizza for all of us. It was a little odd to me that we were staying in the temple and was there for the cultural experience and now we were all eating pizza and drinking pop like true American! haha Oh well! I was hungry so dived in for a few pieces too. The rest of the night was ours to get some sleep before our 4:30 am morning worship before the sunrise. Although I probably should have gone right to sleep, a bunch of us stayed up til about midnight playing some card games...Speed and mini-gold.

The next morning was not as bad as I had planned. We woke up to the banging of the bell and everyone met in the temple at 4:30am. We did some bows and worshipping, then the 108 bows meditation for 30 minutes, followed by 30 minutes of Zen-Buddhist meditation. This was nice and relaxing and helped me wake up for the day. Everyone then did a walking meditation around the inside of the temple and ended it with singing some songs and a few more bows. If we looked tired or out of position, the monk (who was very nice and laughing out of happiness throughout the entire weekend) was sure to wake us up by hitting us with a wooden stick he had on our shoulders (he hit mine and it didn't really hurt but actually felt like a massage where it feels very good afterwards and it did wake me up!). He also focused on how we were sitting. We had to sit up high with our backs straight and sit in Indian style with one foot over the other. Our hands were then held in a certain position in front of our stomachs.

After the morning service, we were served breakfast (bibimbop, another meal with rice!) at 6am. We were supposed to then do a 2 hr. olleh hike (a walking course) but it was raining all morning so we had time to nap instead. Keith and I grabbed some delicious coffee from the vending machines and took a nap in the office nearby. We then talked about our goals for the year and future plans and then played some more card games with the other teachers. We had lost some of the EPIK teachers who left the night before. So instead of the 37 we had started with, we now only had about 24 teachers participating. This made it a little frustrating that so many people left without letting Ria Kim know and they spent so much time and effort providing us this wonderful opportunity. Ria Kim and the other volunteered staff members kept giving us little treats and even had a wonderful gift for us at the end. It was a mug with the grandfather stone on it all wrapped up in a little gift box. In addition, we finished our caligraphy pieces by painting them and were given a package to bring them home in to use for decoration for our apartments. They turned out great!

Next, we had a tea ceremony where we were taught the art of ceremonial tea-making. We learned the way to prepare the green tea, serve our guests and then clean all the dishes afterwards by using the hot water. We also were taught a Shuttlecock game (Jaegichagi) and the winners were given prizes of special vitamins on the island. The game was similar to hackey sack, but with a hard piece with a bell that had feathers on the top. We had to see how many times we could hit the shuttlecok with our feet (and practiced by hitting it to others in a circle). We then ate more rice and veggies at lunch and then were told to change back into our clothes and head to the temple where there was a closing ceremony. At the closing ceremony, we were told that we were no longer monks and entering the real world again. We were given a bead necklace with 108 beads on it as a souvenoir and as a gift from the monks in appreciation for taking the time to experience the Buddha religion and their culture. All the EPIK teachers than thanked everyone there and we took a bus back to our apartments and got back around 3:00 sunday.

It was a great weekend and although there were people taking pictures of us and recording us on TV all weekend which made it very touristy, it was a great experience in learning more about the Korean culture and about Buddhism. It was also fun hanging out with all our EPIK friends and being able to bring home some souvenoirs. I have to admit though, today my knees and thighs are very sore from all the bowing! I guess that's just part of the experience! :)

So I just found out from a friend that the reason the cameras were following us around all weekend at the temple stay was because we were on the Jeju news (and I'm actually in the video eating rice cake! :/) Check out the video. Once you get to the page click on the D on Saturday the 7th. The part about the Temple Stay is towards the beginning and middle. We were also in the newpaper and I'm in the picture on the front page and I think we were on other channels.

http://www.jejumbc.com/news/news_calendar.asp