Weekend Adventures!

      My time in Korea has not been "all work and no play." Every weekend has been filled with new adventures, old and new friends and quiet moments to recoup before a new week. Thus far I have explored an "Organic Life Festival," climbed Gyeryoengsan and Songnisan Mountains, been to "Fashion Week in Seoul," and joined a local church community.

      The first weekend after my arrival I spent recovering from jet-leg and becoming acquainted with my surroundings. It felt good to just stay at home, arrange my apartment and absorb everything that had happened. Taking in a new culture and beginning a new job was a lot to handle in a four day period! Not only was I beginning to teach on Monday, I was also had my first visitor. On Monday evening my friend Greg, who I met at Camp Manito wish, came to spend a few days. He is currently living in China and was visiting a friend in Seoul for the week. I was thankful to have a familiar face however, I was the worst tour guide since I had only been in the country a day longer than he had been! We enjoyed two evenings of conversations, dinner and exploring the city. At that point Greg was more familiar with Korea than I was.

Organic Life Festival

      After Greg left and my first week of work had commenced I settled into another weekend in Cheongju. This weekend I  journeyed to the out skirts of town to the "Organic Life Festival." Seeing that I spend the majority of my days at Wonderland and the evenings preparing for the next day, cooking, or reading this was one of my first times "out and about." I fell in love with Korea during the afternoon. It only took a short bus ride to be in the hillsides with mountains off in the distance. My co-worker John, his girlfriend and myself spent the afternoon immersing ourselves in the farming culture of Korea. I was so happy to be out of the city and walking around the countryside. 

      As that weekend came to a close and I dove into week two at Wonderland I was invited by my manager, Mr. Lee, to climb the "second best" mountain in Korea. With the call of the wilderness being so strong I nearly jumped with joy at the offer. Before I knew it, it was six am and I was getting in the car to climb my first mountain. The day was splendid. We arrived at Gyeryoengsan by seven and had climbed/hiked to the top in approx. two hours. Along the way we shared storied, saw the changing leaves, and climbed many steps. It is interesting that they choose to use stairs rather than switch backs, or other methods to reach the top. The view from the top was breath taking and help deepen my appreciation for God's natural beauties. Sometime during my outdoor excursions I realized that as long as I have access to our natural surroundings and a community I can be happy anywhere.

Seoul Fashion Show

      Before I knew it another week of work had flown by and I was ready to leave the countryside to explore the bustling metropolitan city of Seoul with a friend from high school, Kathy. Saturday morning I began my first solo trip out of the city. I made my way to the bus station, purchased a ticket for Seoul and an hour and half later I arrived. Kathy, Margaret, her sister, and husband Russell, along with some more friends met up to experience "Fashion Week." We dressed in our best and attended a real Fashion Show. It was a surreal experience. I don't believe I will go to another but it was fun to see a few Korean celebrities (not that I know who they are) and a top male fashion line. After the evening I thought perhaps I should pick up my style a bit :). The weekend just began with the Fashion Show. Afterwards we indulged in some Mexican food and headed to our Traditional Korean style housing for a good nights rest. We slept on the floor, ate a hot Korean breakfast, and began our day exploring the city. We spent most of the day in Itewan. Itewan is the "foreigner" district in Seoul and it is exactly that an area that caters to foreigners. We had to remind ourselves that we were not in New York's Chinatown for the afternoon. It was hard to return home after spending the weekend with such close friends. However, with a good nights sleep the next at school reminded me of how much I enjoy teaching. Time passes in a flash when work is fulfilling.   

      Lastly, I spent Halloween weekend with another wonderful friend from Camp Manito wish. My friend Tim was spending two weeks traveling in Korea. He took the weekend to come and see me! It was fun having another friend visit. I felt a lot more comfortable as a host the second time around. I still have much to learn about Korea, but I had the basics down. We spent Friday evening at NoriBong (Korean Karaoke) and retired early in the evening to prepare ourselves for a big day hiking on Saturday. Saturday morning we packed up our day pack, bought some fresh bread and apples and began our trek. We arrived at Songnisan National Park and choose to challenge ourselves with a +10K hike to a rocky peak. With perfect weather and trees at there prime we enjoyed a nice slow afternoon making our way to the top. We reached the top in

 

View from the top

 the early evening and had to fly down the mountain arriving just as dusk broke into evening. The day was more than I could have asked for. I was able to share some of my favorite food, spaces, and friends with Tim. I have been blessed to have had many visitors in my first month. It has made the transition easier.

     

Wonderland

Front Desk       

      Wonderland is the English Academy where I teach. I arrived in Cheongju on a Tuesday and was thrown into the classroom after three short days of orientation. It is a good thing that I have practice in "teaching" through Camp Manito wish and religious education. These previous experiences equipped me for my first few weeks teaching. There has been a sharp learning curve in the classroom but from the first day I started I felt as though I was answering a calling. Being in a classroom feels spectacular. I enjoy the challenge of engaging all of the students, the stories/energy they offer, and the ability to inspire them with new ideas. 

      Every day I have a similar class schedule with changing content. In the morning Wonderland is a kindergarden with four, five and six year olds. I teach the oldest students for five, forty minute periods. Throughout the morning and early afternoon the students and I explore science, art, craft, reading for success, reading for vocabulary, creative talking, and phonics. The mix of subjects allows me to have fun as well as teach core comprehension and vocabulary. The students may be young but they are very wise, with good English. They never speak Korean! After the first five periods the school becomes an "Academy" where public school children come to have specialized English lessons. For my remaining four classes I teach a range of elementary school students. I am thankful for the older students at the end of the day. They enable me to switch my teaching style with a bit less structure in the classroom.     

      The teaching days are jammed packed with learning but the extra activities and my co-workers make the days exciting. Throughout any given month we have special events, field trips, and cooking days. October was especially busy with a field trip to a Presidential Palace, open house, a cooking day, birthday parties, and a Halloween party. The special days mix up the week and help us have some additional fun with the students. The staff at Wonderland help make these events and every day exciting. There are approx. thirteen teachers in the school; five foreign teachers and seven Korean teachers. We work well together in the office and enjoy sharing meals and shopping trips in the evening. Wonderland has been a fun, supportive and exciting school community to begin a potential career as a teacher. 

Welcome to Cheongju

I cannot believe a month has passed since I landed at Incheon International Airport. It is great that time has flown by but beginning a blog after a month leaves me at a loss of where to begin. 

      Cheongju-si is a cozy town of 700,000 people located in the heart of South Korea. Although densely populated, the city is easy to navigate with many areas to explore. My house and school, Wonderland, are located on the western edge of the city. It is a great location where I am able to run in the country, walk to work, and jump on a bus which takes me into the action.

The "main drag" of my life.
 The small signs (right side) reads, "Wonderland."

       Since my arrival I have become comfortable with my neighborhood trying out the many restaurants, grocery stores, french bakeries and convenience stores. All of them have something unique to offer. I must admit that I have indulged in every new sweet treat available to me. Although many of the treats are the same, they are a different type of a sweet. Different from western culture sweet treats often come in the form of "bready/butter" snacks, salty treats, or bean pastes. In addition to the sweet treats, Korean food is fantastic. For anyone not familiar with it there are a few staple dishes that are served in a variety of manners. Every meal comes with a varied set of fermented side-dishes, a meal in Korea is never complete without a healthy dose of Kimchi (fermented cabbage in a chili sauce). These are accompanied by a main meal of rice, soup/stew, ramyen, or highly favored barbecued meat. If I had to pick one favorite it would be DoSot Bibimbop, a sizzling stone pot filled with rice, vegetables, an egg and a hot chili paste. Mmmm....

      When I am not running errands close to home I venture to the two main districts in Cheongju, downtown and the college area. These areas of filled with bright lights marking various restaurants, PC/DVD/Nori (Karaoke) Bongs (rooms), cafes and stores. It is astonishing how developed and convenient everything is. There is more than anyone could need right at my finger tips. It often feels like being in New York, fashion is everyone and people are dressed to impress. My favorite evenings in the city have been spent at "And the Twelve." It is a coffee shop that my co-worker and her husband recently opened. The coffee shop (pictured below) has a serene atmosphere that offers respite to the chilly weather, brights lights, and fast past tempo of every day life. I am not only thankful for the space but the people I am able to share it with. I have been blessed with co-workers/friends that are so much to be around.

A night at "And the Twelve"