A New Year and New Adventures

Happy 2010 one and all (a little late of course).

Aaron and I have been busy with winter English camps, time with friends, adventuring around Korea, and traveling abroad. Our winter break began on Christmas Eve and continues until March 4. We feel so lucky to have this time to relax, read, adventure, and spend time with old and new friends!

We spent New Years Eve in Seoul with Charity, Aaron’s good friend from high school. She was our first official visitor to Korea! After showing her around Busan, we explored Seoul’s neighborhoods, celebrated the New Year downtown, and learned an incredible amount about Korea’s history at the Korean War Museum.

Then, from January 12-24 we visited Japan. “We only live once” or “what other time will we be in Japan” were commonly heard phrases on our trip as Japan turned out to be much more expensive than we thought (especially when our currency is the Korean won). But as we met traveler after traveler at hostels, restaurants, and coffee shops, these phrases became more sincere. We made friends from Canada, Belgium, France, Finland, Australia, and the USA who, after a few beers and incredible conversation, reminded us that the world really is a small place and discovering this for ourselves was worth every bit of yen spent.

Tokyo

First, we spent 4 days in Tokyo admiring its architecture and culture. We stayed with our friend Charity who has lived there 2.5 years and was a fantastic host. Immaculate streets, hybrid cars, innovative technology, and high-heeled mothers riding bicycles carrying 3 kids make Tokyo the city of the future, but one of our greatest memories was seeing a full day of traditional Sumo wrestling in all its glory. The sport is much more ritualistic than we ever thought and has quite a large following. Each “bout” or match included singing, slapping, leg lifts, fan flailing, salt throwing, and finally, wrestling. Then, after the tournament, we had our first Japanese sushi on a conveyor belt. Other than the fish eggs, we enjoyed every bite!

Takayama

This quaint town tucked in the Japanese Alps was probably our favorite part of the entire trip. It’s traditional, snow covered streets, Sake breweries, and nearby Shirakawa village (a World Heritage site) made it a worthwhile visit.

But one of our greatest memories from this town was sitting in the hostel with a couple from Belgium, a gal from Canada, another from Australia, and a man from Australia (who had been to 117 countries!). We sat around chatting about anything and everything for hours one evening. At one moment, the guy from Belgium turned to Aaron and asked, “Can I ask you something as an American?” Now, given the context of previous conversation, we were expecting a serious political or cultural inquisition. So, Aaron responded, “Sure” in a tone showing he was ready for anything! Then, with a humorless face, the guy asked, “How do you feel about rootbeer?” Needless to say, we got a great laugh out of it and it turns out the guy hated rootbeer when he tried it in America and was just curious if anyone really liked the stuff.

Kyoto/Nara

Temples, shrines, and amazing food characterize Kyoto. Our days were full and rainy, but we enjoyed every minute. One of our favorite places in Kyoto was the Zen Buddhist Temple as it reminded me of Anderson Gardens in Rockford. The temple itself was simple yet refined and the surrounding grounds were beautiful gardens and bamboo forests—if only it wasn’t winter time!

Hiroshima

After absorbing Japan’s beautiful landscapes and culture, we found it slightly disturbing yet fitting to end our trip in Hiroshima. From the time we arrived at the Peace Memorial Park until we exited the Peace Museum, Aaron and I did not say one word to each other. The entire place was eerily quiet except for the footsteps of other tourists and the sounds of a few survivors praying at the peace flame. Although I was not even born when the bomb hit, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of responsibility and guilt as an American. The sheer thought of anyone thinking it’s okay to kill innocent beings makes me hurt for humanity. I’ve been to all the memorials in Washington, D.C., but I have never been as moved as I was in Hiroshima.

However, once inside the museum, I was brought back to reality a bit. As we followed the long timeline of the war reading paragraph after paragraph, there was but one line about Pearl Harbor. Now this did not make the dropping of the a-bomb on Hiroshima seem acceptable in my mind but it did remind me that Japan was not innocent (a bitter reality indeed). It was a poignant way to end our trip to this country full of beauty, preserved tradition, and innovative technology—truly a country of the future.

-Callie

즐거운 크리쓰마쓰 (Joyful Christmas!)

Quirky Korea: Purchase of the month--a blanket with our Special K! J

Last Saturday Aaron and I held a Christmas party at our apartment. We had 18 friends and teachers nestled in our apartment with homemade sangria, mulled wine, and cookie decorating. It’s always a treat when we have food that reminds us of home and this party was a true treat. People brought anything from twice baked potatoes, meatballs, shrimp, deviled eggs, salsa, and even a homemade cheeseball! It was a good time! We also had a white elephant gift exchange. Aaron ended up with a pair of Obama socks, a bowl made out of gourd (which looks more like a "nut" cup but is pretty cool), and a book titled Shopoholic and Baby (he’s just biting at the bit to read it). I actually ended up with 5 beers...GOOD imported beers which is a rare/expensive find in Korea. You could tell that many of us were from the mid-west as Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup was a hot commodity during the exchange! We feel lucky to have great friends and colleagues!

Today was my last day at school for the official school year. I can’t express enough gratitude for my fellow teachers and students. Their incessant kindness has made me feel more than welcome. Today I had students wishing me a Merry Christmas and giving me Christmas cards although they do not celebrate it themselves. I would like to share one such card from one of my students to give you an idea. It had me smiling for the rest of the day:

Hello Kelly teacher~

I’m Lee Seung-yeon. 12.25 is happy Christmas! This year is funny because we made English newspaper so I’m proud of my newspaper and Kelly teacher come to daechonli middle school ^.^ My friends said, “Kelly teacher looks like Emma Watson.” “Kelly teacher is very cute!” Hahahahaha ^^ But I think that Kelly teacher is very kind and funny ^.^ And you teach christmas song. The song is very wonderful! So sometimes I sing a song. Thank you Kelly teacher and Merry Christmas!

Aaron and I are watching some Christmas films tonight with friends, hot chocolate, and homemade popcorn (saturated in butter of course). On Christmas we’ll make homemade cinnamon rolls, open gifts, and then head to a friends for a potluck and music. It’s difficult to think of family and friends back home, but, ironically, the distance seems to make them feel closer than ever.

Merry Christmas to all near and far!

-Callie

Friends, Food, and Michael Jackson

I suppose it’s about time we (I) update this thing! Here’s a bit of what we’ve been up to!

We celebrated Thanksgiving Day with close friends at TGI Fridays here in Busan—French fries never tasted so good! A few days later we had an authentic Thanksgiving potluck dinner with more friends and all the fixings! By the way, if you’re looking for a good stuffing recipe, this is it! Both of us are finding that family feels the furthest away on holidays, but we’re blessed to have each other and the wonderful people we’ve met here during the times when we miss our families most.

School continues to go well for me. During the past week I’ve had the chance to dip back into my newspaper skills from high school and finish up the first English newspaper at my school. It felt good to teach writing and editing—something enjoy and feel comfortable teaching. The students did a fantastic job, and I really liked getting to know them on a more personal level.

This past week I taught a lesson on “Changing the World” to my second graders. Their books discussed people who had changed the world. I admit, one frustration with teaching English grammar and conversation is being unable to have discussions with my students. I want nothing more than to discover what’s really going on in their minds in regards to themselves and the world. I looked at this as an opportunity to do just that. So, what better way to get those minds rolling than through Michael Jackson! I taught them “Heal the World” and, surprisingly, most of them already knew the lyrics! With some translation help from my co-teacher, we managed to brainstorm world problems, identify solutions and learn some English grammar along the way. It was one of the moments that teachers live for— discovering your students know and critically think about the world more than you ever imagined! My students rambled off problems such as global warming, the North/South Korean conflict, orphans, generational poverty, overpopulation, and even the Bermuda Triangle!

And, at the end of the lesson, as we all sang “Heal the World” together again, I got a warm fuzzy feeling like we were all one big family. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a bit cheesy, but it reassured why I was standing in that classroom and teaching those students. We are one big family. We worry about the same issues, we desire the same securities, and we fear the same consequences. My job as their teacher is to help them understand what it means to be a part of this world family. If I am willing to come all the way across the globe to teach them, then I must care about them as part of this larger family. And their job as my students is to help me learn more about their role in this global family. My hope for us all is that we can strive to have the same attitude towards the world and seek community rather than conflict with each other. I couldn’t agree more with Nelson Mandela when he said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” We are all each other’s educators.

On another note, Aaron and I have had some fun “dates” over the past few weeks. We’ve done some more hiking around Busan, explored one of the most famous Buddhist temples in Korea, and relaxed on the beach of the Pacific (I suppose the only plus to having no snow!). Aaron volunteered at a local orphanage this past weekend while I went on a retreat with my fellow teachers. We’ve also spent some time decorating our apartment for Christmas (Aaron is the KING at cutting out snowflakes--see top photo), writing Christmas cards, and listening to Christmas music entirely too much. We’re looking forward to holding a holiday party at our apartment and planning our trip to Japan this January!

Love to all!

-Callie

Quirky Korea--Konglish

Konglish: the use of English words in a Korean context

Konglish could almost be considered an artform in Korea. You see it on t-shirts, restaurant signs, coffee cups, candy, and even on the man/woman matching underwear seen everywhere. As a result of the strong structural differences between the Korean language and English, there is lots of room for grammar and vocabulary mishaps (and chuckles for us native English speakers). The one on the left here is one of my favorite Konglish examples from this past weekend while walking through a mountain village near our home known for serving goat and duck.

-Callie

Just us and our backpacks

Okay, so I suppose that it is time I contribute to this thing.

As many of you probably know, it was my 25th birthday on the eighteenth of October. Holy crap! I know a quarter century old, right? It is scary for me to think about everything that I have done in that time and also to think about how much more I want to do and accomplish in my life. To be honest I really didn’t even think about my birthday till the Monday before. So the epic day / week starts like this…

I came home from school and Callie was at home already and for some reason she really wanted me to go and look at myself in the mirror. A little strange, I know, but as usual I did what she asked. I am glad too because there taped to the mirror was a sweet little note explaining that for the next week I would receive a gift every day till my birthday. Along with the note was a riddle that Callie herself conjured up to describe where my gift was hidden.

Cheese, new underwear, a wool outdoor jacket, a hiking shirt, and a trip to Jirisan National Park to hike the second highest peak in Korea were just the physical things that she gave me, along with copious amounts of love, happiness and the best company anyone could ever ask for. Yep, if you didn’t guess, she is amazing!

With all that being said, the thing I really want to talk about in this blog is the trip to Jirisan. Not only was it one of the single hardest days of hiking that Callie or I have ever experienced, it was also one of the most beautiful and inspirational days I have had in my quarter century of life. So here we go...only 1,915m to go.

On Friday Oct. 23^rd I took all of my camping gear for the weekend with me to school because I was going to meet Callie at the bus station after. It was hilarious how the students could care less that I was carrying a large backpack to school but were fixated on the idea that it was a North Face backpack. I had my backpack in my office all day and countless students walked in to go to class stopping and pointing, “oh teacher…The North Face, Good! How muchie?” My co-teacher was the only person all day to ask if I was going hiking, only after she commented on The North Face brand.

After school I met Callie in Sasang to catch our bus to Jong San Ri, the base of our hike to the summit of 천왕봉Chon Wong Bong. Everything went fairly smoothly. We had to transfer busses once and thanks to our first bus driver we got on the right one. After about 3 hours of winding through mountain roads we got to our first destination, Jong San Ri. That night we were planning to hike into the national park and camp, however Korea is dynamic. We asked a shop owner for directions and he informed us that the park was closed and we could not go that night. After a short deliberation, we decided to stay at the inn above his shop and leave early the next morning for the mountain.

5:30am…alarm rings, here we go. We packed our bags, laced up our boots and headed up the mountain. The first stretch was along the side of a road that wound up a beautiful hill and through a small mountain village. Many people told us that this is the best time of year to visit the park because of the amazing fall colors. None of them were wrong. The early morning sun coming through the trees and revealing the beauty that we drove through the night before was breathtaking. As we hiked up, more and more of the mountainous valleys were revealed in all of their color. When we got to the park about 45 min. later, we looked around and found the campsite. With no one around to pay or talk to, we set up our lonely tent. We would be the only ones camping that night. After we set camp and boiled water for oatmeal we set out for the summit.

While setting up our tent, there were literally droves of people heading up the trail. Until we set out for ourselves, we were unaware of the challenging nature of the trail to the top. The length of the hike for the day was only 5.5 miles but with over 6,000 feet of elevation change made for quite a hike. The number of people on this hike was truly amazing. All different ages from pre-school age children to grandmothers

and grandfathers were making the trek to the top. The beauty of the day and our surroundings were one thing, but I was continually inspired to keep pushing myself by the people around me.

Mangbawi Rock was the first place we reached that gave us an open view of our surroundings. At 1,068m we had already hiked to a higher elevation than we had previously done in Korea. To give you perspective, the tallest mountain in Busan is only 801.5 m. With roughly 3km to the peak and 900m of elevation change we had a lot of stairs to climb. Oh my goodness stairs! I am fairly sure that we climbed up and then back down more stairs, whether made of rock, wood or metal, than we have climbed in the past 5 years total. It was, however, incredible to think that the majority of the trail was virtually paved in stone that had been gathered from the surrounding area. Much of the steeper sections had been lined with stone steps that were very carefully placed. And then areas which were too steep for stone, had giant metal staircases built. (I just want to take this time to throw a shout out to all those people who do trail maintenance. Thank you for all your incredibly hard work).

About 2km from the top there was an incredibly beautiful Buddhist temple. We stopped there to have a snack, along with about 200 other hikers. We walked around the temple trying to soak up the serenity and simplicity found in that place. There, near the peak of a mountain, Buddhist monks have been living and practicing for nearly 1,500 years. To me, going back to nature to find peace makes so much sense. As we walked around, a monk was singing his prayers adding just that much more of a surreal feel. I could have sat and listened to him all day, but we had to get to the top.

As we approached the summit the number of people seemed to continually grow. At first it kind of bothered me that there were this many people on the mountain, almost as if it were ruining my experience. But then I began to think that every single one of these people, young and old have walked up the exact same trail that Callie and I just struggled up. This realization just made me smile. Thinking about back home and how we may have seen 100 people total all day and here we are hiking with literally thousands, all enjoying our surroundings and sharing the experience.

Finally, we made it to the top!! The final 200 meters was crazy, but the final push over the last hump revealed a complete panorama as far as you could see. Breathtaking! At the summit Callie and I found a nice quiet spot and ate lunch. The number of people at the summit was incredible. Once we finished our lunch it was time to take our picture at the summit. In Korea, all the major peaks have a marker with the mountain name and elevation. There were so many people gathered around the rock that it took us twenty minutes to make our way to the marker. Then with hand gestures and a kind smile we convinced a nice Korean man to take our picture.

As we were trying to mentally prepare ourselves for the trek back down, I noticed a Korean man with a billboard around his body standing out on a rock. It made us both really sad to learn he was protesting a gondola, which is planned to be built right to where we were standing. It is difficult to describe how learning this made me feel. Let’s just say that it would be a similar feeling if I found out that they were going to build a highway through the BWCAW and let motorboats on all the lakes. Those of you who know me, know what I was thinking.

So the hike down, um … ouch! As we came down there were continually people going up. I know I said it a lot but it was truly amazing how many people we saw hiking that day. So we finally made it back to our site and, man, it felt really good to sit. We changed our clothes and hiked down into the park office to see about camping that night. Oh, I should tell you that during the day we put 5000 won on our tent in case a park official came to check if we had a permit, well when we got back to our site, there it was, right where we left it, even with all those people passing by (this reaffirmed why we feel so safe in this country). Anyway, we found the park office and registered--they charged us something like $3.50 to camp for the night. We got some soju (Korean rice liquor) and snacks and headed back to camp for dinner and rest. Ramen with tuna over a camp stove never tasted so good.

The next morning I woke up at exactly 4:03am by what sounded like a herd of elephants hiking up the mountain. I then remembered that the store owner on our first night told us the park opens at 4:00am. The sunrise at the top is supposed to be magnificent, and I am sure that most of those hikers were going to push for the top in less than 2 hours for the sunrise. That morning we got up early…not 4am early but early enough, and hiked back to Jong Son Ri to catch our bus home. We ended up eating oatmeal in the parking lot while waiting for our bus. A most excellent way to end an amazing trip.

All in all this was one of the greatest day trips I have ever been on, and I have Callie to thank. She gave me an excellent birthday, and I am so happy that I have her with me on this journey called life.

-Aaron

The Universal Language

On certain Saturdays of the month, the students participate in clubs. Some clubs are for certain sports while others for academics and art. On Saturday morning I had the opportunity to go to a pottery making class with my co-teacher and some of my students. The class took place in a little village just up the mountain from our school.

The class itself was entertaining. As many of you may know my artistic experience ended in middle school and, well, actually, I don’t think it ever began. But I had a wonderful time being with my students and they encouraged me with “you do it, teacher!” and rolling the clay for me. I ended up with a pretty good looking bowl and can’t wait to finish it next month.

But perhaps the most fascinating part of my pottery experience came when the students left. I soon found out that the class was held at the home of a famous Korean ceramicist. Apparently he primarily does painting now, but his sons continue his work and make pottery. My teacher showed me their gallery. Walking into the gallery was almost magical. After struggling to make a bowl that could actually be useful, seeing shelf after shelf of intricate, colorful bowls, tea sets, and vases was invigorating in a way. Their pottery is unique because it is not usually painted. Instead, they adjust the kiln temperatures and use the wind to create different colors and patterns. Each raw, handmade piece revealed a more simplistic and authentic side of Korean culture that I had not experienced before.

Then, a woman entered the gallery and greeted my co-teacher. Apparently she was an old friend and the wife of one of the sons who makes the pottery. She invited us to have tea with her, so we sat on the floor at a little table in the middle of the gallery. Soon I realized this would be a very special experience. Oh how I wished I could understand Korean!

This woman teaches classes about tea and shared all her knowledge with my co-teacher and me. Through translation, I learned that I tasted a 70 year old black tea (apparently black tea should be fermented for many years in order for it to be good—nowadays they use chemicals to speed up the process which is not a good thing), red tea made from leaves 100 years old, and a powdered green tea. The teas were delicious but the woman’s demeanor really captured my attention. She prepared the tea so delicately and spiritually. We learned that one tea was supposed to improve our spirits while another improved our complexion. Then, with such humility, she intertwined her passion for tea with her husband’s pottery talents by explaining piece after piece of pottery. For example, she had us look into the bottom of a bowl and asked us if we could see the galaxy as the bowl’s colors and speckles represented our connection to the universe. And, while we drank hot water from one of the bowls, she asked if we could feel our bodies absorbing the minerals from the clay.

Finally, before leaving, she gave me nearly 200,000 won ($200) worth of pottery. I was in awe, but she graciously explained how she had met many foreigners and none were so respectful and interested in Korean culture as myself. She could see kindness in my eyes, she said. I was flattered. My teacher later explained that this was her way to show not only how proud she was of her culture, but her gratitude for my presence. “Just enjoy this kindness” my teacher continued to say as I was trying to think of something I could do in return for the woman. As my co-teacher explained this in English, I yearned for the chance to say a word or phrase the woman could understand. However, I suppose this universal language called “kindness” communicates more than any spoken word ever could.

-Callie

Quirky Korea

Yesterday Aaron went to the store to buy cereal. However, he did not come back with simply cereal--oh no, not in Korea. "Service" is everywhere. It's the belief that you should get more than what you desire. At a restaurant, it may be a free appetizer. At a clothing store, it could be a free headband or sometimes even some fish jerky. This time, it was a pair of silky, comfy socks attached to the cereal box. Aaron was kind enough to choose the last box with the socks as he knew I would enjoy them more then the cereal bowls and shovels attached to the other boxes. It certainly makes shopping a bit more exciting when you get to the checkout!

-Callie