April First

Today, I got a call from my school's vice principal at my desk. The conversation went as follows:

Vice Principal: Kayleigh, you must go to the principal's office right away.

Kayleigh: Should I bring a co-teacher?

VP: No, just you, you must go now.

K: He doesn't speak any English, though. Are you sure I shouldn't bring a co-teacher?

VP: Yes, just go now. Please hurry.

I rushed downstairs, thinking I was in some sort of trouble. I recently asked a very large favor of the principal, and I was starting to worry that he would rescind it. I also worried that maybe I was in trouble for something having to do with the new after-school English program we started this school year.

I reach his office on the first floor, only to find that the lights were off and the door was locked. I stood confused for a minute, before going up to the vice-principal's office.

K: The principal wasn't there.

VP: Yes, he is on a business trip.

K: But you just called me and told me to go to his office. (Cue me standing in stunned silence, totally confused at what was happening.)

VP: Kayleigh, today in the U.S.A. it is April Fool's Day. Very interesting.

Happy April Fool's Day, all!

Jeju-do

Hello all,

Last week was the last vacation time before the new school year started. Andrew and I had already gone to Australia and Japan this winter, so we decided to stay local on this last trip and took off for Jeju-do, an island off to the southwest of the main peninsula.

Getting to Jeju is incredibly simple, due to the fact that it is the number one tourist destination for almost every Korean. It's known as the Honeymoon Island and there are a handful of attractions on the island that qualify as life goals for many Koreans.

Andrew and I took off for Jeju on a Sunday. We only had to take a quick 50 minute flight from Busan before landing at Jeju International Airport. We took off for our hostel, which was on the south-center of the island. Immediately after landing, we could tell that springtime had already hit- our airport limousine ride to our hostel had us driving past palm trees, open fields and tons of beautiful greenery. (Something that, I'm sad to say, is sorely lacking on the peninsula- at least in Ulsan.)

We arrived at our hostel (really more of a hotel) and were greeted by the the two friendliest proprietors ever. Over the course of our stay with them, they drove us to attractions, walked Andrew to the bus stop at 6 a.m. to go hiking, gave us tons of free tangerines that they had growing in the back yard of the hostel, recommended restaurants, and treated us to countless other little acts of selfless hospitality.

But anyways, we arrived at the hostel and received a quick recommendation to go check out Oeldolgae. Oeldolgae is a beautiful set of small cliffs overlooking the southernmost sea occupied by Korea. We stayed there through the sunset (which was amazing) and then headed off for some dinner. Our hostel owners recommended some black pork to us, which is essentially thicker, fattier samgyeopsal. Unfortunately, samgyeopsal isn't one of my favorite Korean delicacies, however, I enjoyed it as much as I could and dug into all of the side dishes, which were great. (Awesome kimchi chigae was had.)

The next day, Andrew and I took off to see one of Jeju's best attractions, Geomunoreum, the Jeju Lava Tubes. These lava tubes are the longest in the world and actually registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These tubes are far underground and were formed due to a series of volcanic eruptions. They were cold, wet, and totally frickin' cool.

After the lava tubes, we walked a little bit down the road to check out a hedge maze that has been built by a retired expat who used to teach at the University of Seoul. He created the hedge maze in the shape of Jeju, and included lots of symbolism about Jeju's history and culture. That's all well and good, but what is really important to know is that this thing was a flippin' mind bender! Andrew and I got lost several times and found ourselves seeing familiar faces all over the darn maze! When we finally made it to the end, though, we were able to ring a bell and look out over the whole maze, seeing where we had gone wrong. It was super fun!

That night, we ate dinner at an old Chinese restaurant that was really good. Chinese food in Korea is surprisingly not super different from Chinese food in the states. There are a few key dishes that you don't see in the states, and in general, I'd say that things can run a bit spicier and have more tofu. But, you can still find stuff like sweet and sour chicken, potstickers, and beef and broccoli type stuff. There are two Chinese dishes in Korea (and I had them in Beijing for that matter), that you don't ever see in the states. These are Jajangmyeon and Mapo Doufu (Tofu). Wikipedia states that as of March 2009, 6 million servings of jajangmyeon were served every day in South Korea... and who can blame them? It's totally delicious.

But, back to Jeju...

On our last full day in Jeju, Andrew and I went our separate ways. Andrew is an avid hiker/walker and since Jeju-do is one gigantic volcanic island, there is a stellar extinct volcano that is perfect for climbing. So, Andrew took off to beat his record for height climbed (his previous highest had been in New Zealand), and I took off to have some geeky fun. You see, on the south coast of Jeju-do, there are a ton of teeny little random museums. Options range from The Haenyeo Museum, a green tea museum, a chocolate museum, a folk village museum, and two (count 'em... TWO) teddy bear museums. So, on my day alone, I decided to rent a scooter and see just how many museums I could cram into one day.

I succeeded in making it to the African Art museum, the Foreign Automobiles museum, the Sex and Health museum, and the Miniatures Theme Park. The African Art museum was quite well done, except I had a few cringy moments when Koreans were posing with life-sized mannequins of various African tribes. The Foreign Automobiles museum was actually one man's impressive private collection housed in a museum setting. The Sex and Health museum was sort of like experiencing a saucier version of high school sex-ed (apparently this is a popular destination for honeymooning couples since there isn't very in-depth sex-ed in Korean public schools). And finally, the Miniatures Park, which featured miniature world-famous sites such as the Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall of China, Mount Rushmore and oh-so-much more.

That evening, I returned to the hostel to find a tuckered-out Andrew who took a nap while I went out and got pizza to bring back for dinner.

The following day was our last in Jeju. We left a note for our hostel owners which you can see here. The owners leave all of the notes they get up on the walls of the lobby. We then caught the airport limo back to the airport side of the island. Our flight didn't leave until about 5:00, so we had a bit of lunch in Jeju city, and had a wander around an underground shopping center for a bit. We had the distinct pleasure of watching Kim Yu-Na's short program in the hallway of the shopping center with a group of shoppers who were spellbound by the performance and all looked like proud parents when she finished with the flourish of her fake James Bond gun. (And who all, in turn, muttered when the Japanese finalist came close to Yu-Na in points ;) ) We also found a music store that carried western CDs, and I was able to pick up Jason Mraz's newest live album/DVD and the Swell Season's newest album.

A quick flight back to Busan, and before we knew it, our bus was coming into Ulsan. It was a great vacation, and I can now safely say that a lot (but not all) of the Korean hyperbole surrounding Jeju is totally true. It's beautiful, clean, friendly, and unlike anywhere I'd ever been before.

Love you all!

kb

Learnin' and Stuff

Have you heard about iTunes U? If not, find it... it's amazing. I'm currently doing a course from Stanford called The History of the International System.

Isn't the internet great?

Caaaaaaamp

Hello all,

Camp is all finished (whew!) and I will head back to school tomorrow! I taught at a camp for the Ulsan Metropolitan Office of Education for three weeks and at my school for just one week. The MOE camp was all 3rd and 4th graders, and at my school is was 3rd-6th.

The MOE camp was actually a ton of fun. We had 6 foreign teachers (myself included) and co-teachers to match. The students at that camp were a lot of fun, and the lessons went really well. One downside was that on the second day, I had some money stolen from my purse by a student, however, 4 days later, I came into the classroom after lunch and there was more than twice the amount that was stolen sitting under some of my lesson plan sheets. My guess is that someone's parents caught wind of the theft and made them give more money back.

Also, at that camp, we had a homeroom where we were supposed to teach the kids some kind of performance- either a song, dance, skit, or something similar. The performances were held on the last day and it was an absolute riot! Andrew's class did We Will Rock You, we also had the Macarena, The Three Little Pigs in a skit, and for mine, I taught them "Hello, Goodbye" by the Beatles, along with a little dance of sorts! It can be seen here. And in case you were wondering, the kids at the end are shouting, "Encore!"... yes, it rocked.

The winter camp at my school also went very well. It was a bit more relaxed since all of the kids knew me and also because it was only a week. The teachers that I worked with had a pretty relaxed attitude about the whole thing which made it really nice!

Now, at this point in the game, I will be heading back to school tomorrow to finish off this school year. We will have one more long weekend over the Lunar New Year (Valentine's Day weekend), and then finish up at the end of February.

The new school year will start in March (I believe...) and at that point, I will have a new co-teacher and be really facing the end of my time in Korea. And at this point, I have no idea what that will bring!

Take care, everyone, and stay snug- winter is almost over!

kb

I was right...

...Sydney rocked. I am in love with that city and I'll shout it just as a fake rockstar once shouted "I am a golden god!" from a rooftop.

But seriously, it was an amazing vacation and an amazing city. Totally wonderful.

After Korea, I took off to Fukuoka, Japan for just a couple days, which was really nice. They had a really good downtown area that was nice to walk around, and my new favorite store, Muji. (Basically a Japanese Ikea... I subsequently nicknamed it 'Jaikea'.) This place is wonderful and I found some good, cheap stuff there like Thai curry cooking bases, Earl Grey flavored marshmallows (they rock- don't knock it), and a new dayplanner for 2010. (Speaking of which, HAPPY NEW YEAR!)

I'm now back in Korea, having celebrated New Years Eve by making Shepherd's Pie, Green Bean Casserole and Kahlua Brownies for Andrew and I and then celebrating New Year's Day by making Chocolate Chip Pancakes this morning. I'm also busy trying to wring all of the relaxation out of this weekend that I can before I am back to teaching on Monday. I'll be teaching at a winter English camp, which are usually fun because the lessons are more free-form and silly, but the kids can get a bit loopy by the end of it!

And during my extra-curricular time at camp, I'll be focusing on working on the afghan I'm making (I'm about a foot and a half into the length of it, and it's about as wide as a queen sized bed- a big undertaking), learning a board game called 바둑 (Baduk). Andrew and I bought the game and are going to try to teach each other the basics during camp time. I mostly wanted to learn this game because there's an entire TV channel in Korea dedicated to teaching the intricacies of it and you always see old men at parks playing it. (Old Korean guys playing it makes it seem like something really wise, so I guess that makes it cool?)

But now, if you'll allow me a regress back to a previous topic- the New Year. (Typing this while listening to New Year by Death Cab for Cutie.) I'm really excited about 2010. There's been a lot of change for me in the last few years- particulary 2008 (what with graduating college, turning down a job offer, accepting a very different job offer on the spur of the moment in South Korea and building a life there, and meeting a kind, intelligent and silly person who has become a huge part of my life).

This year feels very different, however. I think in 2008, I didn't think about the change that would be coming up- I was totally living in the moment (as one should do in their last year of college), and I wasn't really thinking about the change that would be occurring. In 2010, though, I am really looking forward. It's different because this time I know for sure that huge change will be coming my way. I know that in August, I will be leaving Korea. I know that I will be moving to a new location, almost certainly with the person mentioned previously, and I know that I will be starting a new job.

Where I go, what I will do, and how I will live is all a mystery though. But that mystery will be solved in 2010, and I'm so excited to see how. It's all really quite humbling, knowing that at this point, I have no control or idea of how those mysteries will reveal themselves.

I hope that this New Year brings a sense of wonder and anticipation to you as well. To those at home, I miss you dearly.

Love, Kayleigh

Just a quick blurb to let you all know: I LEAVE FOR SYDNEY IN TWO DAYS!

I'm so excited, for a number of reasons... I can't wait to get out of the winter that officially set in this week, I can't wait to eat some great food, I can't wait to go to the Sydney Opera House and hear their choir/orchestra, I can't wait to stay at a frickin' cool hotel, I can't wait to see the vineyards in Hunter Valley, and I can't wait to travel with my amazing partner again!

All in all, I have a strong feeling that it's gonna rock!

Have a great Christmas, everyone!

Love, Kayleigh

Christmas season

Hello all,

Happy Thanksgiving week! I have spent the last few days making jokes with my students about how I wish I could eat turkey on Thursday and showing them clips of Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving special.

I have been researching how I could possibly pull together a Thanksgiving dinner, and I think I'm getting close. I've been able to find ingredients for mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, and maybe even pumpkin pie (if I can find a pie tin that will fit in my toaster oven). Sure the green beans may be canned, the gravy from powder, and instead of turkey there will be a rotisserie chicken... but I'm not complaining!

The spirit of the season was furthered today by the fact that I received my first Christmas present! It was even wrapped! My parents mailed me a package that included- among other things- the movie Bad Santa and some Christmas Tree-shaped pretzels dipped in white chocolate and green & red sprinkles. Talk about holiday spirit!

Christmas isn't a very big deal in Korea... the only places that ever look Christmassy are the department stores, and even then, it isn't that Christmassy. Christmas is seen as sort of a couples holiday, not a family holiday, and no one really talks about it or has any traditions for it. Yet, all of these little things- the chance of a half-way decent Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas presents in the mail, and the clock ticking down until I escape to Australia, is just enough to get me in the mood to start the Christmas music.