Japan's Tsunami

It is truly horrible what happened in Japan with the earthquake/ Tsunami. I just want to say that if anyone is concerned since we live so close (2 hours by plane!), you don't have to be. The radiation and waves hit in the opposite direction so we have not been affected at all. My co-teachers have made it clear to me that South Korea has been doing everything they can to check the air and make sure we are not at risk.

Thanks for everyone's concern and I hope that the small radiation that they found in Chicago will not be harmful at all. Please give me updates!

Goals for April

Wow, I can't believe it's already April. I am certainly happy that it's getting closer to summer. Jeju weather seems to be getting warmer and sunnier each day.

Last year, we had quite a surprising and special April... Keith proposed to me on Easter! This year, we will still be celebrating the special occasion. To go along with the April theme of "achieving our dreams", I will be working hard with my semester goals.

Some goals I will be focusing on are:

-training for the Jeju June marathon!!
-practicing and playing in the Jeju ultimate frisbee tourney
-practicing for the May Jeju beach v-ball tourney
-improving my Korean
-always improving my teaching
-continuing with yoga (I take a class each Sunday and also do sports yoga in our apt. a few times a week)


School

This month, I will be starting my after-school reading class and after-school basketball class. The b-ball class is part of my required teaching hours; however, I will get paid extra for doing my reading class. In the after-school classes, I usually only have about 12 students and they are usually all really well-behaved. So I really enjoy having this time to get to know my students, help them individually and see them succeed.
Also, teaching in my regular classes is going great. The students all seem to have fun in my class but also show a lot of respect for me. I always have students saying hi to me in the hall, stopping by my office to say hello and for the most part, behaving well in my class. Since our school is a "model" school, we will be starting a new writing program this semester. Therefore, in 2 weeks I will start teaching writing to my students. I am interested as to how the students take this since usually my class is fun (lots of games, ppts and visuals) and conversational. However, from some experience already with the grade 1 students, they seem to be better behaved and quiet with writing lessons! I will keep you updated, but I'm excited if it's true that all my students will be more quiet during class because they will be writing.


Running

So far, the marathon training is going great! I started March 1st, so I am now one month into my training. Sundays are my long days, and this Sunday I will be running 14 miles, which will take me about 2 hours. It feels great to be taking baby steps towards my goal and I cannot believe I am already halfway there.





Getting ready to go on a run!



















Korean

To improve my Korean, I am studying whenever I get the chance....on the bus (reading signs or studying my notes), in the taxi (great conversation practice), with my students (to impress them), at the office when I am not teaching (to keep me productive), with a grade 1 student who comes to visit me in my office after lunch, and also when I meet with my Korean friend, Eun Mi, once a week. We spend a few hours catching up in English and also working on my Korean. Right now, I am mostly focusing on writing and reading Hangul (the language), as well as learning some of the rules. Soon, I hope to learn more phrases/vocabulary to use in conversation. I have recently collected some "Korean Made Easy" books and a English-Korean dictionary so those are helping as well.



I hope to see improvements and I hope to achieve my goals this semester. Then, in June, after the marathon, I hope to alter my goals to new ones. I am thinking about taking a salsa dance class with Keith, and then in the fall start training for a possible tri-athlon. Therefore, I would be cycling, swimming and running for training. There is also a new Italian cooking school that just opened. It will be near our new home in September (in Seogwipo/ the south end of the island). So, maybe cooking classes will be a new hobby of ours. Guitar is also something that both Keith and I hope to learn sometime this year or next year. A friend of ours will be handing over one of his guitars to us. We cannot wait! I think life is all about trying new things, having new experiences and living life to its fullest. Why not keep life exciting by exploring all the options you have in life and seeing which ones truly make you the happiest?

New bikes/ new friends

This is the bike that I just bought last week. I'm extremely excited because I haven't had a bike since middle school. Our friend just left the island so she sold it to me for a great price. The bike will be perfect for our new location, since we will be very close to the beautiful Olle trails, nature (away from the city), and to many bike paths.

Since foreigners are always coming and going on this island, there are constant farewell parties and things for sale. We also just bought a toaster oven and Foreman style grill for really cheap (like $10 each). And these items seem to be specialties here. Our neighbors are also donating their Christmas tree and decorations to us when they leave next month.


But with the fun parties and for-sale items, comes the time that we have to say goodbye to good people. It can be difficult to constantly say bye to a new friend that we have only just started to get to know. Some people here try not to attach because of this. We just have to hope that our paths will meet again one day in the future. This is actually likely though, since everyone here loves to travel and is constantly living in new countries overseas. For example, we have a friend who will be living in Argentina, another friend in Australia, one in New Zealand, one in Peru and one in Spain! This will be wonderful for staying connected, for possible future jobs and for having someone to visit when we travel or live in a new country.

How would you like always meeting new people, but also always saying bye to people? It's an interesting concept. Some positives but also negatives to the situation.


Below is a picture of Jeju friends at our friend, Sarah's b-day dinner. We met new people here and also were saying bye to friends that night who are leaving the island. For example, the other picture shows our friend Sachin, who is also from Chicago. He just left and had a big farewell celebration at the popular bar, Island Stone. He made sure to take a picture with everyone who came so that he'll always remember them.

Korean/Japan relationship

One interesting thing I learned from my Korean friend last week is about the Jeju dialect. The younger generation all learn the Korean language; therefore, when they travel to the mainland they all speak the same language. However, the older generation (students' grandparents) seem to speak their own language at times, which the younger kids don't always understand. It's funny to hear this, but I think I can relate this to western culture. The older generation in the US sometimes also speak words or phrases that younger kids don't especially know or use these days. And likewise. The even more interesting thing that I learned is that the reason behind this secret Jeju dialect is because the grandparents lived at a time when some Japanese lived in Jeju. This was the period that Japanese tried to take control of Korea. While they were in this process, many Koreans picked up some Japanese phrases, thus, combining Korean and Japanese into their Jeju dialect.

My Korean friend also taught me about the history of the relationship between Japan and Korea. The first big event was actually in 1885, when Japanese gangsters killed the Korean Queen. They burned her so that there would be no body; therefore, no memory of her existence. Then, in 1910, there was the Japanese Ruling Era which was the time that the Japanese took control of the Korean government. During this period, the Japanese tormented the Koreans. She gave me detailed examples like piercing the Korean's fingernails, making them faint by intense pain, raping women, having a room with spikes and pushing them into the wall, pushing their noses into spicy water, cutting off body parts. I was shocked that she could explain this to me and felt sick to my stomach after hearing all of this.

The Korean people were also used for Japanese medical experiments. For example, Korean and Chinese people were put into a gas room or cold room to see how long a human body could last in this extreme environment. The Japanese also inserted bacteria to see the results. Basically, they were used as animals in order to improve the Japanese medical studies. Thus, that is one reason why they have become a country with such an advanced medical field.

In 1945, after the atomic bomb in Hiroshima occurred during WWII, there was the Independent Movement in Korea. Since Japan lost the war to the US, Japan finally declared Korea's independence. Therefore, Aug. 15th, 1945 is Korea's important Independence Day. Last year, Keith and I were gone for the holiday because of our wedding so it will be interesting to see this August how they celebrate this special day.

Because of this horrible past with Japan, many Koreans (mostly the older generation who lived during this era) despise Japan. And by do not like, I mean they really really do not like the country. However, the younger generation is very different. Children and those in their 20s/30s study Japanese in school, travel to Japan, listen to Japanese music, read their comic books, and basically are really interested in their culture. So I think it is more the country as a whole that Koreans frown upon. But when it comes to the culture and people, Koreans are interested and accepting.

It's so great to have Korean friends here. Not only are they helping me improve my Korean each week, but also teaching me about the history and culture. I am also returning the favor, by teaching my Korean friends the US history and culture.

Since I will be the new ESL teacher at the international school, one of my goals this semester is to improve my Korean so that I can be very helpful in my class and fully understand my students. Knowing how to read and write, along with some basic Korean phrases and words really go a long way in the classroom. I somewhat understand what the students are asking or I can teach them how to spell Korean words in English. By practicing the language in my class, my students are also helping me improve my Korean.

Language exchange is a wonderful thing. I would highly recommend it for anyone living overseas. It's the best way to learn firsthand about the language, culture and country's history.

Times a flyin!

I cannot believe how fast this semester has already taken off! We are four weeks into the new semester, which is already one month of four finished. In August, we will be leaving EPIK and beginning training at the new international school, KIS. It has been exciting to start learning more about the school and to begin meeting more of the staff. KIS created a website that includes all the staff members (teachers, dean of students, board specialists, curriculum planner, directors, etc). The website is intended for everyone to meet one another before arriving to Jeju in August for the training. The website is also a great place for us to start learning about the curriculum they are creating, the philosophy and goals of the school, details about our specific department, a place to share ideas and documents, etc.

During the first week of April, the director (who interviewed and hired us), curriculum planner and dean of students will visit my middle school in order to observe how a Korean school is run. I will show them around, have them see the cafeteria, PE, Korean classes and my class in action, meet the principal and teachers, etc. Wish me luck when they observe my class!

Other things going on... Well, what's not going on??! Let me show you an example of how busy our weekends are-

This weekend:
Friday- Language exchange (I'm helping a student with English and they help me with Korean), then housewarming party for our friend
Saturday- AM workout, zorbing (can't wait! this is where you are in a big ball and you roll down a hill) and dinner for Angela's b-day, salsa dance performance for our friend Abby, then meeting up with a few friends to say bye since they're leaving the island
Sunday-early 8am skype with friends from home, 12 mile run (about 1 hr. 45 mins!), then clean apt, then yoga class and weightlifting at gym, then dinner and finally grocery shopping at E-mart

Yes, that's how busy we are right now. It's always a mix of fun things and errands but having a completely packed schedule can be exhausting!


Something else new is my schedule. After finally receiving a set class schedule after 2 weeks of school, a new teacher (our friend Simon from England actually) just got moved to my school on Fridays. I have always had one other foreign teacher come once a week however this semester they were not going to do this. Well, like things always do here, this was changed and now I have no classes on Friday! This is great because now I have time to work on lessons, catch up with e-mails, and also with my blog each Friday! Plus, the week seems a lot shorter. Only 4 days of teaching...thank you:) On the other hand, my Mondays through Thursdays are very busy. In April, on top of my 18 hours of classes, I will have an after-school reading class and an after-school basketball class. These times occur during my office hours (3:30-4:30, so it's nice that I can still leave at the same time. However, this means that I will have 5 or 6 classes each day M>R. I'll see how I like this schedule. So far though, I like being busy throughout the week. It makes the day go by faster and I am more productive when I do have free time.

I will try my best to begin writing a little bit about Jeju life, Korean culture, and updates on Keith and I each Friday, so that I'm not only writing about our trips.








A group of friends going zorbing for Angela's b-day!!








The zorbing balls














The path that you roll down for zorbing









Dune Buggy!! So much fun~



















The b-day girl Angela, with a beer and barbie. Very appropriate:)













Keith and I zorbing together. Too bad his hand came out of the wrist band and smacked me in the head! Ouch!! ha but good times!

































Our beautiful friend (and neighbor!) Abby at her salsa dance recital! Keith and I hope to join in June. Looks like so much fun.

Cameron Highlands/ Malaysia

Cameron Highlands

Our four hr. bus ride to the mountains of Cameron Highlands was actually very comfortable. We were able to sleep most of the time because the seats were comfy and there were not many people on the bus so it was quiet. When we began to get closer to our destination, we were woken up because there were many quick turns after turns. We looked out the window and it was already a beautiful view looking out into the mountains and jungle.

We arrived around 1ish and then checked into our guesthouse. It was called Father’s Guesthouse and was given great reviews on its website. Our room was pretty simple; however, there were pretty gardens filled with colorful flowers surrounding our room and guesthouse. There was also a nice restaurant (all affordable prices and delicious home-made meals). Next to the restaurant, you could hang out and watch a movie with the other visitors. In their office, they had helpful staff that showed us information for several tours that we could book through them. They also had many types of tea in the office for us to try for a very low cost. I also loved the location of our guesthouse. It was on a hill so we see the little town below us, pretty white buildings off in the distance, as well as many trees and gardens. We were also told it was walking distance to one of the tea plantations. This made us happy since it was already too late to book a tour for the day.

So, we started our first lil adventure by taking about a 40 minute walk to the Cameron Bharat Tea Plantation. It was drizzling so we made sure to bring our umbrella. The walk there was peaceful and we passed many flowers, plants and forests. There were also many hills with steep steps going to the top. We weren’t sure why these were here though. By the time we reached the plantations, the tea shop right near it was closed. We were disappointed but still enjoyed the view of the plantation. We also saw three backpackers walking through the slippery fields, which looked like a big maze. When they reached back to the top, we met them and spoke with them for a while. They were all originally from Sweden; however, two of them are working in Norway at the moment. It was great chatting with them and hearing about Europe, since we plan on living there too one day in the future. We all agreed that we were surprised and a little disappointed how cool and rainy it was. They had been planning on staying several days but were thinking of leaving early because of the weather. We also did not bring much clothes for the cold and rainy weather since we were only in this area for 2 days.

That night, we ate chicken/veggie curries at Father’s Guesthouse (delicious!) and watched a movie that was playing. We met one nice traveler from Austria, who we played Scrabble with that night. We also met a couple from Australia, who we ate breakfast with and then watched another movie with the next night.

The second day there, despite the rainy and cool weather, we took a great day tour. We were picked up at 9am by our tour guide in a jeep. There were horns on the front of the jeep which gave it a jungle look. Taking the jeep made me feel better knowing the jungle would be all muddy and hard to drive in. We were with a group of about 8 other travelers. Most were from Europe. We especially enjoyed talking to three girls from Sweden (there were so many visitors from Sweden!). They were doing a 3 month backpacking trip around SouthEast Asia before they headed off to college. It was interesting to hear that most people in Sweden do their big traveling after high-school before college in order to give them time to think about what they want to study. In the states, it seems like most students travel after they graduate from college. But I think Sweden may be up to something…it’s a good idea! Most college students don’t know what they want to study until junior year anyways.

Well anyways, back to the tour. Our first stop was slightly in the jungle to meet one of the tribes. There were a few men right outside their little hut and many children running around giggling. There they showed us the blowpipe.
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Blow pipes are the weapon that the tribes use to go hunting. Our tour guide showed us the correct way to blow the blowpipe. He used a dartboard as the target. It was neat to touch the bullet (sharp arrow) and to try blowing the weapon. Keith even bought one from the tribe, which made for a great souvenir. Later he found that he couldn’t bring the bullet (arrow) through check-in back into Korea and since he had to check the weapon as a check-on bag, when we arrived in Jeju, he saw that it was slightly broken. What a bummer! Well, he at least still has it to have as a memory or to put up as a decoration on the wall one day.

After leaving the tribes, we were then off for our 3 hr trekking in the jungle. It was a challenging course, since the mud was very slippery and since it was mostly hiking uphill. Our main goal for the hike was to reach the Raflesia flower. The Raflesia flower is the biggest flower in the world! Although it is considered a flower and is a pretty red/orange color, it actually belongs to the mushroom group. Another special thing about this beautiful flower is that it only lives for about 3-5 days of the entire year! We were SO LUCKY to be there at just the right time. And also, another tour company wouldn’t book the Raflesia tour for us because they heard that it was already dead and didn’t want us to be disappointed. Well, after 1 ½ hours of trekking, we made it to the flower and there was one big one alive, and then one that was dead right next to it (the dead one was a dark color/ blackish maroon). It was so neat to see and I got a really good close-up picture of it with my camera. It was definitely worth the hike. Keith and I felt so accomplished to have found it! It was funny though because the flower was really stinky! This was probably because it was actually a mushroom! In the area of the flower, we also saw a huge red centipede. The tour guide let us hold it on our hands. It felt so strange since the centipede has so many legs that brushed against our skin.

Right as we started our 1 ½ hour hike back to the jeep, it started pouring! Keith and I didn’t have a rain jacket. Luckily, my camera was safe in a plastic bag in my backpack. I had one small umbrella, but since we were using a hiking stick, it was difficult to hold the umbrella. So, Keith and I basically just put our hoodies on and hiked/ ran as fast as we could, ahead of everyone else (who did have rain jackets) back to the jeep! We were SOAKED and cold. And the unfortunate thing was that we would be cold and wet for the rest of the tour. It was only 12:30pm and the tour didn't end until around 5 or 6ish! However, it was a great hike in the jungle (and you kind of have to expect rain in a jungle, right?) and the next stop was to the Boh Tea plantation, where I knew we would be able to get some nice hot tea to warm us up.

When we arrived at the Boh Tea plantation, we couldn’t believe the view! The restaurant had an outdoor seating area that looked out into the plantations! It was so beautiful. Check out the photos. We were really impressed. We ordered some black tea (the most famous kind here) and I also had some soup and bread. We sat by our Swedish friends and talked about our past and future travels, while enjoying the amazing viewpoint. After eating and drinking a whole pot of tea, the tour guide then brought us over to the factory into where they use the machines to make the tea. There’s a whole process. The have to dry it a special way, have it go through fermentation, then sort it. The natural tea leaf is then black tea. However, they have to go through an additional process if they want to make green or another flavor. For this reason, black tea is supposed to have some of the most beneficial health benefits (along with green tea). On our way out of the area, we stopped into one of the tea fields, where we walked in the plantation and were able to see the leaves close-up.

The next stop was to the mossy forest and Gunung Brichang (highest viewpoint in the mountains). We climbed some stairs to reach the Gunung Brinchang Lookout Tower; however, it was so windy and cloudy at the very top that our photos turned out all white! All you'll be able to see is a cloud! Sorry!

We then moved on to the green mossy forest and it was still drizzling a little bit, but this added to the mystical affect of the area. The mist along with the fog, made the scenery seem as if we were in a fantasy movie! The forest is supposedly 200,00 years old! It also has the “pitcher” plants, or “Nephentes”. They have a liquid filled area called a “pitfall trap” which attracts small insects and then drowns them. There are also poisonous plants and medicinal herbs found in some parts of the mossy forest. Hiking in this beautiful area was one of our favorite stops for the tour! It was just like nothing we had ever seen before.

The last part of the day’s tour was stopping at a strawberry farm. Keith ordered a strawberry cheesecake for us, along with strawberry coffee. Solid choice babe! It was a delicious way to end the tour.

Right when we got back to our guesthouse, we made sure to take a hot shower and put all the dry clothes on that we could! We also had to wash our shoes because they were so soaked in mud! That night we had another great meal at Father’s guesthouse, watched a movie with our Australian friends and made sure to get lots of rest since we had another long bus ride the next morning back to KL.