(4) 90 in 90: Teaching During Summer Vacation

Like most other teachers in Korea, I have to teach students during their summer vacation. Now before anyone asks the question, the summer vacation period for Korean students isn't a summer vacation in the sense of the summer vacations from America. There is no three month period of doing nothing during the break rather, students still have to come to school and still have to attend class, just not as long or not as many classes as the normal school year. Most students go home at 12, but some still stay behind to either study or go to additional classes.

I'm the teacher who teachers the additional classes. While most foreign teachers here teach for a few hours during the morning period, I teach in the afternoon for only an hour and a half each day. Most other teacher use their summer classes to play games with students or for the most part, entertain them for the class period. Since I teach high school, entertaining is not really part of my plan, or rather not the goal the head of the English department wants me to teach.

I was specifically instructed to teach students the concepts and mechanics that cannot be taught in a classroom. I would be having a smaller class size this year, only three students. While at first this sounded daunting, being able to keep the attention of only three students for a longer than normal class time, I pleasantly found that this could not be further from the truth.

My summer classes only last a week. During this period I have taught the students advance speaking techniques. Techniques such as intonation, pacing, pronunciation and volume control. All important concepts when it comes to speaking another language but are almost impossible to teach effectively to a classroom of thirty students who would rather be anywhere else than a hot and stuffy classroom.

I feel very lucky that I can teach important concepts on a near one on one basis to other students. I feel like the progress we have made over the past few days is incredible and with just a little under a week of classes, the students are already showing remarkable improvements in their intonation and pronunciation.

After today, there are only two more days of classes before a three day break period and I'm looking forward to what we can accomplish. Last year, was a bit of a cluttered mess with a larger class and lack of clear ideas for what the class was supposed to teach. This year is tighter and more focused, making much better results in the end.

I'm looking forward to my mini three day break, but in the mean time I can't really complain about my summer classes. If only all classes could be this simple and effective.

(2) 90 in 90 days: My vacation in Osaka and the feeling of returning home

Working with the EPIK program usually means having a short period of time for vacation. Typically, there are eight vacation days in the summer and ten in the winter. While most of my summer vacation was spent last year exploring the southern coast of South Korea, my time this year was spent in Osaka, Japan.

I had visited Japan previously, once in the summer of 2009 and another during the summer of 2011. Both times had been spent in the Tokyo area looking for jobs and visiting friends who were already living there. Both times also served as my first and second times out of the country and in many ways, set me on the current course I currently am following currently.

Previously, I had only dreamed of visiting places outside the US, thinking it should be something better reserved for people with ample amounts of free time and money. While the trip wasn't cheap, it was well worth the effort and willingness to travel around the world as both times served plenty of happy memories and experiences that still remained to this day. I never thought I could fall in love with a culture or city, but two years in Tokyo taught me how attached one could become to a place. In its hectic and sometimes chaotic neon drenched atmosphere, beat a soul and a pulse that gave the city its life and atmosphere. Once I witnessed that pulse for myself, it became a seductive lure that always called back to me.

Oknomiyaki, an Osaka specialty 

Years later, I found myself in the position to visit some of the same friends I had previously met in Tokyo, this time in Osaka. Having never been to Osaka before, and being offered a full week to stay with friends during my vacation, I jumped at the opportunity to go and visit.

 At first, I thought it would be silly to have expectations of having the same exciting and fun experience that I previously had in Japan. I was a different person back then, less educated on the world outside my own country and naive to cultures different from my own. I knew that such a wildly eye opening experience would more likely than not be possible due to having a stronger sense and grasp on worlds and cultures outside my own.

However, I was very happily proven wrong as once again, my trip to Japan proved to be another incredible experience of meeting new people, seeing new places and falling in love with Japan all over again.

Osaka Castle

Osaka is a very different place from Tokyo. Gone is the crowded streets packed with people rushing to get from place and to place, replaced with a city a little more relaxed and laid back. Osaka, while still a large city, never felt like I was being rushed or pressured to make my way around there. The general atmosphere was one of calm which made visiting different places very fun and without massive amounts of pressure.

One thing I was able to do that I did not have time to do before, was visiting more historical sites. This time I was able to visit Osaka Castle and the riverside area of Osaka City. It was an incredible site to witness the sheer size of Osaka Castle, the despite being heavily modernized on the inside, still proved to be incredibly large on the outside. Even the park area that housed the palace was large and took a great deal of time to walk through. This was a great experience for me, as someone who was used to the cramped spaces of walking through Tokyo, being able to stretch my legs and have a wide open area was almost liberating in a sense.

Lanterns in Osaka

Exploring Osaka was also a joy and new experience for me to enjoy. Having a river running through the center made for a very festive experience. Lanterns lined the river area, and at night emitted a white glow which reflect off the water along with the other neon signs. Osaka also had more open area markets and arcade areas which hosted a variety of smaller random shops and restaurants. In many ways, it reminded me of Cheonggyecheon in Seoul, with is river running through the city and smaller places and shops to explore.

The week passed much faster than I would have liked, with every day filled with exploring during the day and eating delicious food with friends during the night. We never really had a set plan or criteria of what we wanted to do just doing what we felt like at a moment's whim. It made for a less structured time but at the same time, a more enjoyable and less limiting time.

It was nice to see old friends again. Despite being apart for several years and only talking through mediums like facebook, it was both a relief and reassurance that for the most part, my friends were still the same. Spending the nights drinking Japanese beer and eating delicious Japanese food with friends brought out lots of stories and experiences being accounted from the past, along with new jokes and stories from our time together.

Old and new friends

It was a great time in Osaka, the pictures and short bits and descriptions are not enough to show just how much fun I had there. For a time, I felt like I was back in college again, joking around, acting more immature than I should for my age and enjoying my time for a brief period without worry of student loans, lessons plans and monthly experiences, the things that had come to be a form of stress in my life.


Just me, my friends and happy memories set in the city of Osaka. Once again, I am assured that my friends are still the great people that I knew from years ago and that Japan is still the same country I fell in love with years ago, and even as I write this, I know in my heart that one day I will return again.

Living a second year in Korea: Love stories in Hongdae, North Korea and trips to Japan

I know quite a few teachers and other foreigners in Korea that go through a busy phase in the summer and fall time.It's that time when the weather starts changing and with it comes final exams and many, many events to go to and visit on the weekend.

Last year, I didn't take advantage of going to as many events as I wanted to. I was still new to this whole living in Korea thing and some days, having the energy to survive a day in school and make it home was more than a challenge. At the time, I was worried that the travel bug and the side of me that loved doing stuff was slowly dying or simply not interested in exploring what Korea had to offer. I thought I was in imminent danger of becoming  the hermit that lived to go home and spend his entire days playing video games and surfing the internet away from other people.

My new favorite tea shop in Seoul

A lot of teachers I know often spend their first year exploring and going on vacations to other countries nearby Korea. Every weekend is another adventure and every holiday is a chance of living it up in another place. By the time the second year comes by, most people are burnt out of traveling, having explored all their options. The desire to travel and explore dies. The honeymoon phase of seeing all the nooks and crannies of a country disappears.



"You don't live your second and third year," someone once told me. "Rather you coast them."

I wish I could find the guy who told me that and show him my schedule for the next couple of months, just to prove to him how wrong he was about this second year foreigner living in Korea.

Well, not really, since I don't like to gloat and want to be nice to everyone. Still though, the last few months have been incredible in terms of going places and seeing things. Every weekend since the beginning of June has been filled with some kind of interesting place to visit and cool thing to see. The only time I ever stayed at my home during the weekend was due to a lack of money or being simply too busy with something else to venture out.

I'm getting to know Seoul better. For all the hofs, clubs and restaurants that are always talked about, there's a charming underside to Seoul that I absolutely love. One of my favorite spots in Seoul is the Hongdae area, home to Hongik University and one of the most varied and interesting nightlife areas that I have visited in Korea.

Being near a famous university know for art, there are lots of coffee shops and cafes with interiors resembling  different artistic styles. Its not entirely uncommon to run into a coffee shop with an Andy Warhol esque interior to only go across the street to a cafe filled with art deco tables and chairs.

A wedding proposal in process with a guy in a bear suit. Only in Hongdae.

The nightlife in Hongdae is just as interesting. The streets are packed with people walking around and contributing the happy atmosphere. On every corner there's usually an outdoor show or public performance happening. There has never been a time that I went to Hongdae and wasn't entertained. I've seen everything from giant dogs to girls fist fighting in the streets. If I could, I would jump at the chance to live in Hongdae. Its that exciting, crazy city life atmosphere that would leave you with a million interesting stories to tell.

On the work side of things, this month has my school finishing their final exams towards the beginning of the month and their summer vacation beginning shortly afterwards. It's also the month I have two exciting events to look forward to: my trip to the DMZ and my summer vacation to Japan.

I've been wanting to go to the DMZ since last year, however time and money has always been a factor in turning down opportunities to visit. I never had a specific time to visit this year, but felt that it would be best to go when the opportunity best presented itself. A few weeks ago a friend offered the chance for me to visit both areas of the tour for a cheaper price than most travel packages. Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity. If there was ever an "this is it!" moment, well, this was it.

My first time watching live bands perform in Seoul.

Towards the end of the month I should also be making my way to Japan for a week to visit old friends and spend some time in sunny and beautiful Osaka. I've previously spent a great deal of time in Tokyo, so exploring somewhere new is a very exciting prospect for me. Japan was my country of many 'firsts' for me. The first time being abroad, the first time job hunting for a career job and the first time spending a significant amount of time on my own without help. I have a certain draw to Japan that I continue to hold near and dear to my heart. The USA will always be my home and Korea will always be special to me, but Japan is in a category all on its own, and I can't wait to reunite with her again.

My schedule is looking busy and expensive, but I honestly could not be more excited. My second year has been one exciting adventure after the other and I'm looking forward to many more.

Sophomore slump? Never heard of it.