Happy Chuseok!: Life Gets Busy, I Get Happy

As my mentor once told me, life gets busy. It's an fact that will happen sooner or later and will become a continuing process for any normal adult life.

Life in Korea, and life as an ESL teacher is no different. My high school is in the process of testing, testing and more testing. The most important being the upcoming College Entrance Exam, a test that students often spend their entire high school career preparing for.

Along with that, the end of September and beginning of October contained one of the most important holidays for my school and for Korea. September 26th my school celebrated its Fonder's Day, celebrating the construction of my high school. From September 29th through October 1st was Chuseok, the Korean equal to Thanksgiving coinciding with the lunar calender. The following Wednesday was also another celebration celebration the independence and formation of Korea.

I spent this time taking a road trip with friends to Incheon, spending time driving around the city and eating a traditional Chuseok dinner. driving was the only option considering that train tickets quickly sold out in a matter of hours after going on sale. It took six hours to drive up when combined with traffic and only two and a half hours to drive back. While the holiday was simple, it was a great break and bonding experience with some fellow teachers in Korea.

That Monday I had a friend come and visit me in my hometown. Her schedule is constantly busy and living and working in Incheon rarely allowed her time to come and visit my town in the middle of Korea. For two days we spent time together, exploring Gimcheon and giving her a taste of the rural life that was missing form her busy city living. The two days passed by in a flash and I found myself yearning for a few more days of holiday, if only to enjoy the company for a little longer.

I have now been thrust back into school life, working to prepare and evaluate tests while also preparing students for a speaking and writing contest. I have also just been accepted as a writer for a travel website back in Chicago, making the number of publications that I currently write for at number four.

I have never been busier than I have ever been all all year, but I am also currently the happiest I have been in awhile. Things seem to be falling into place nicely and despite some setbacks, I seem to be back on my feet and ready to take on any challenges that I come across.

I am happy with my jobs, the people in my life and life in general. Happiness may not last forever but for now, its more than enough to make me stand in awe at some of the awesome things life can toss your way.

Things are great, and may be getting better soon.

I've never been busier, never been happier.

A view of Jikjisa Park, near my hometown and one of the many places I visited during Chuseok. 

Chapter 10: Small town living, big life lesson

I have always been drawn to the big cities. The bustling metropolises and the frantic city life was an exciting invitation to someone who spent a good portion of his life in the suburbs, reading about the concrete jungles from socialites who roamed the city like some predator traversing the jungle with ease. I had decided at an early age that the city life was for me, I liked the chaos. I liked the nonstop nature. I was going to live there one day. It was only a matter of time.

This love affair continued, as I grew older. I was lucky enough to spend two summers in Tokyo, Japan, one of the largest and busiest metropolises in the world. It was a city that never stopped moving and always had something to do. Tokyo solidified my love of the big city. I was convinced that I was going to live here for a very long time.

Events occurred and eventually the option of Tokyo was no longer a viable one. Like a love that was never meant to be, Tokyo was a city that I loved dearly, but knew in my heart at the time, was something that would just not work out.

I turned my sights to Korea, once again aiming to work in a big city, and immerse myself in the bustle and breakneck speed of daily city life. Again, it was not meant to be as, my location chosen for me was not the sprawling city that I had envisioned, but rather the town nestled in the center of Korea. A town called Gimcheon.

Gimcheon at one point had actually been the second largest city in the Gyeongbuk province of Korea. Eventually however, its industry and economy slowed down and the once bustling metropolis became a slow paced shell of its former self.

My initial reaction was one of slight disappointment. Despite being one of the largest districts in Korea, a majority of it was farm land. The actual city portion could be walked within an hour. It was a city in name only; to me it was a town, a town just like the one I grew up in my entire life. It seemed that no matter where 

I went, the small town life was set to follow me.

Many weekends were spent outside of Gimcheon. I used the weekend opportunity to travel to the bigger cities around Korea as often as possible, not a difficult feat due to Korea’s excellent transportation system that could you get you from one side of the country to the other in a matter of minutes. Sprawling cities like Seoul, Incheon and Daegu were my homes away from home on the weekend. Sundays were always looked at with slight apprehension, the adventure of the city would have to wait until next weekend, and my small town needed me back again.

The past weekend was out of character for me. I had spent a majority of my weekends trying to get away from Gimcheon and explore but this weekend I had felt compelled to stay. Perhaps it was my mind telling me to take a break from exploring. Perhaps it was a need to become more accustomed with my own area of residence. Nevertheless I didn’t purchase tickets out of town like normal. I didn’t pack for the weekend Thursday night. I simply went home on Friday and stayed in.

I awoke Saturday morning feeling refreshed and optimistic. Saturday mornings were usually met with a few seconds of apprehension as traveling and working the night before would usually leave me exhausted. This was one of the first times I had slept in my own bed on a weekend. It felt good, it felt comfortable, it felt uncharacteristically inviting compared to the hard floors and stiff mattresses of hotels and jimjobangs I had become accustomed to.

That afternoon I received a call from some other foreign teachers in Gimcheon. They were planning on spending a night out in Gimcheon and I was invited along. These were people that I knew fairly well, but not as well as other people I traveled to visit. They were acquaintances in my town that I enjoyed being around, but never spent more than a few hours with.

I met up with the group of friends and after a nice dinner, we ended up walking around the middle of downtown. The sidewalks were filled with people and couples happily going about their business. The small shops were lit with bright lights and loud music. School children, free from the burden of school and studying ran in the street, some of them with ice cream in hands all of them laughing and seemingly happy to be free of the pressures of school if only for a day. As I continued to walk and observe the other people a sense of comfort and content begin to come over me. I was walking with good company, on a warm and breezy Saturday night. The sky was clear; the streets were brightly lit and bustling. It was an idyllic evening in my town of Gimcheon. Never before has a town looked more peaceful and happy. Never before did I feel more at home while being so far away.

I still love the big city. I love the busy lifestyle. I doubt that I will ever fall out of love with it. However, that night time stroll in my little town made me fall in love with a different kind of living, a life less frantic, but one more comfortable. Life doesn’t always need to move fast, and this is the town that told me that. 

A Week in Review: Life so Far

This week in review will be in an older, yet still effective format. The good old fashioned printed word.

The previous week had been even more first for me. While it seems like I have been living in Korea for a long time, in reality I had only been here less than a month. Time seems to be one continual paradox here. The days go by fast, the weekends even faster, but the weeks seem to last longer than they should. Looking back, one week can seem like an entire month. Perhaps it’s the time zone change or the fact that my days are much busier than they used to be. Either way, time seems to travel differently in Korea, something that I still feel like I have not gotten completely used to.

One of the most enjoyable experiences for me has been getting to know my teachers inside and outside the classroom. They have all been very helpful and very kind as I learn how to function and properly teach around the classroom. Most go out of their way to be friendly, some have even been as kind as to treat out for dinner and to invite me along for workout routines. It was certainly a kind gesture, and an appreciated one as well. I was still not entirely used to my hometown and with most of my friends living at least two hours away from me, it was nice to have some additional company, even if the language barrier provided a challenge at first.

Living on my own as not been as disastrous and as traumatic as I had once envisioned. Despite some initial hiccups, it’s been a smooth and easy going experience. It’s actually funny that the location of most importance for some people is the location that I seem to spend the least amount of time in. Most of the day I am gone and on the weekend I am usually traveling around Korea, staying and temporary lodgings far away from my tiny town. I like it that way. Always staying busy and always traveling.

The most difficult part has been slowly getting adjusted to the daily schedule of teaching. It has been said that Korea is a last minute society to its core and nothing seems to demonstrate this more than my schedule changes.

My schedule has changed a total of eight times during the two weeks I have been teaching. Classes would become cancelled, switch without notice, change periods and move to another day all at a moment’s notice. Trying to keep track of all the initial changes has been very challenging and at times overwhelming.

The classes are also all at different levels of comprehension and understanding as well. While one grade may easily be able to read a paragraph and write a paragraph some students hardly have the comprehension to speak a simple sentence. Trying to find the right mix of engaging activities and keep them relevant for the students is always a great challenge that usually ends up with mixed results.

With all that being said, despite the initial hangups and daily schedule changes, Korea and the job have been great. There’s a certain satisfaction you get when the students pay attention to your lectures, become engaged by your activities and thank you for teaching them something new. There’s an incredible sense of freedom that is felt when your weekends are spent exploring on your own and meeting up with friends in locations all over the country. There’s exhilaration when riding a speeding train across the countryside, eagerly awaiting your next destination.

In only a short period of time, Korea has been a daily source of adventure and learning. I feel lucky to live in a country that can offer this to me, the call of adventure, for only a few hours of my time.

Chapter 5: Last Stop in a Little Town

I was jolted awake by the sudden lurch and stop of the bus. As I opened my eyes and looked out my window I could see that the bus had come to a stop and was parked next to the other busses traveling in the region. We had come to a rest stop.

I stepped off the bus to see a mass of other teachers standing in groups. Soon the leader of bus made an announcement that we had two hours of resting and lunch before heading back on the bus and finally going our separate ways. A majority of the group walked towards a small restaurant. It was close to noon. It was lunch time.

I entered the restaurant, a building not much larger than a dorm room that somehow was able to accommodate the nearly 80 teachers wanting a quick bite to eat. I found Moise already ready to sit down and eat. He was right; we did find each other again.

We ate our lunch mostly in silence. I had little to say at this point. When there was little to say or comment on I was known to go silent and not say a word. A trait most commonly mistaken for apathy or anger but instead was neither. It was appreciation. It was absorbing the moment and burning it into my brain. It was moments like these, the quiet little moment that I appreciated most and was something that I never wanted to loose that memory of.

After finishing my meal, I headed outside along with Moise. With a little over an hour to spare, walking around the little town was the best option and time killer.

The town was quaint and kitschy with souvenir shops, small convenience stores and cheap looking motels making up most of the landscape. In the backgrounds loomed massive mountains stretching into the cloud lined sky. It was beautiful, a small but perfect looking little town taken from a time long ago, the quiet nature and sounds of nature a departure from the hustle and noise of the city. This was a place that progress and time had forgotten, with  people seeming content with it.

During our short walk around, we ran into Hannah and another person we met during orientation, Jessica. As we continued to walk around the town we poked fun at the residents, went exploring in the nooks and crannies and talked about how small it was. I wondered if my town would look like this, small and isolated from the modern world. I wasn’t sure if I liked that idea. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to live so far removed from everyone else.

The hour passed and we were instructed to get back on the bus. The ride to meet out co teachers would only be a few minutes away.

We left the small town behind and only five minutes later, reached the parking lot where our co teacher waited for us. Once the bus stopped it was a rush and mass of people as we all gathered around trying to find our teachers and our bags.

My teacher found me quickly, the hastily drawn sign containing my name in black magic marker letting me know who I needed to be with and where I needed to go.

Not wanting to keep him waiting, I found Moise and Hannah in the crowd to give them a quick goodbye.

“Stay safe, see you around one day,” said Moise as he gave me a hug.

“See you around, talk to you on Facebook. Don’t be a stranger,” I said.

I gave Hannah a hug and told her I would see her soon.

“We’ll see each other again, in Jeju or somewhere nice,” she said with a smile on her face.

I walked towards my co teacher and took one look back as everyone scrambled to gather their belongings and find their partner. I was finally ready to head out on my own. This was the moment over a year in the making.

Dragging my bags behind me I headed back towards my co teacher.