Snowfall and the future

After a false start, and a few flakes of snow slowly drifting past my window, the first real snowfall happened yesterday in my town of Gimcehon. When you combine that with the dropping temperatures and frozen droplets of water on my bedroom window, it is no longer a fact that is able to be hid, winter is here in Korea.

My hometown was only one hour from Chicago, and therefore only one hour from Lake Michigan, which in the winter would be responsible for some of the coldest winter and largest snow drifts you could imagine. I imagine it would be worse in other parts of the world, but to someone growing up with it every winter, the snow and cold was a permanent part of living in the Midwest.

Snow brings a new mood and a feeling freshness to any setting you’re in. Its clean white flakes drifting in the air and falling lightly on the ground always stood as a symbol of purity and fresh beginnings. I welcomed the first snowfall like I welcomed the first orange leaf or blossoming flower, with excitement and a sense of a new chapter beginning again.

I feel eager to start another year in Korea. I was recently asked if I wanted to re-sign my contract, and by choosing yes I am now able to pursue a second year with both the experience gained from my first and a selection of new ideas and lessons to present to the students. I have been told that as with many things in life, a second chance brings with it the opportunity to do even better if you embrace it.

Admittedly, I have been thinking about the future lately, and how I fit into the coming years. I had always had a solid plan of what I wanted to do and where I want to go next. While I still retain this plan and have an idea of what I want to do, the methods and the timing of achieving this have changed, a year in a different country has brought forward new possibilities and new options. Admittedly I don’t want to think of all of these options quite yet as I do not have a solid plan of what I’m doing next. All I know is what I want, how I get it is a plan in pending.

For now, thoughts of the future and what ifs are left to dwell at the back of my mind, my attention is now on my present situation.  While it may look like I’m putting off the inevitable, I would say that I am instead choosing to enjoy and experience on what is in front of me. The future will soon become the present and just like everything in my life, I will deal with it appropriately.

For now, I have a lot to focus on and a lot to enjoy. I have a lot to worry about and a lot to accomplish. I have a lot of things in my present, the future can wait.

For now I watch the snowfall, because just like the future, the snow will give away to a beautiful layer, then a dirty slush to be melted away by the rain, to give way for the spring and a new future.

In my life, snow has never lasted forever so I enjoy it while I can, for as long as I can.

“I never think of the future- it comes soon enough” – Albert Einstein. 

Taebeak Mountain 태백산 설경

Thoughts of home and holiday

I love the holidays, the big holidays. The ones that you see on greeting cards and the ones that have songs played on the radio about them. They may have become more material (or rather more blatantly so) than before, but all the commercial glam and glitz I could care less about. I have in essence always enjoyed Thanksgiving and Christmas because of the two things it brought with it: the copious amount of free time and time spent with my family.

My family was never very large. All of my holidays have always been spent with my immediate family; my mother and father, my siblings and occasionally my grandparents.  When I was young this used to bother me. I would always hear stories about my friends going off to different state to visit their large families packed with uncles, aunts and cousins in some warm and sunny state while my holidays were spent in my own home in the cold and grey Indiana winter. As with all young children with a limited grasp of the world, I always wanted more, I always wanted what I couldn't have.

As I grew older and wiser, I realized that the idea of going to a faraway place to see relatives that I didn't really know or care about didn't appeal to me. It was no secret that my family was separated by distance and personal differences. Why make an effort to be with people who didn't feel the same. As I grew older, I began to appreciate the people who were with me all the time, the people that I actually enjoyed spending time with, I eventually grew to loving the small family and simple holidays that I had. They looked unspectacular to the outsider looking in, but for me their simplicity meant comfort. I could be myself, not have to put on a face to please other people, I could joke around with my siblings, drink more than I probably should and pass out on the couch later on in the evening. It was pure, comfortable bliss.

In a way, I already celebrated Thanksgiving in my own way a few months ago by celebrating Chuseok in Korea. I traveled with friends, had a great meal and overall had a great time. However, the strong sentimentally of the holidays and the end of the year approaching, I have to admit, that the slight feeling of homesickness is beginning to creep over me.

It comes in little unexpected ways. From little emails sent to remind me about Black Friday deals to tweets giving tips on who to stay healthy during the holidays, it’s the little clues that pop up the remind me that while my life in Korea, a new culture has been going along well, almost a new life, different from my old one, life and my family has been continuing without me, taking part in traditions and events that used to be a prevalent part of life still continue, minus one person.

I’m sure I’ll get over it and get back to my own life of working and living in Korea. It’s just funny how the littlest things can often remind us of home and the smallest hint of something can bring back happy memories from your past, making you long for the people and places of yesterday.

They say you can never go back, but as Korea has proven to me time and time again, this is not always the case.

To all back home and to all those around the world, Happy Holidays. Stay safe. Stay happy. Keep those you love in your minds and hearts.

The closest video I could find related to Thanksgiving. I must admit, I will miss the turkey and dressing. Also, Fresh Prince. 

November testing and beginning again

It’s that time of year for Korea high school students. It’s the time for testing and preparing to finish up their semesters. While the lower grades at my school face the three week onslaught of speaking and essay tests, grade three has recently finished what would most likely be the most difficult test for them so far, the college entrance exam.

Entrance exams are nothing new to me; I have had my fair share of them in my life before and during university. However, the ones in Korea are a bit different than any other exams I have taken before. Getting into a university is so important for students at my school and all over Korea, that a majority of the semester was spent with self study, simply taking a class period to prepare for the upcoming test for their university of choice.

During my little break, I was able to visit the beautiful autumn scenery of Jikjisa  Park

The US SAT has two general sections, English and Math. The Korean exam has five categories including Math, English, Korean, and Social Issues. The test is taken so seriously that the day before the exam is cut short and the other grades (and quite a few teachers) have the day off the day of the exam.  Even airlines are diverted and delayed during this time, to prevent any planes from flying over the school and causing a distraction to the students.

Education is given paramount importance in Korea. I can still clearly remember being told that education is more than a bright future and a good head on your shoulders, in Korea education is a resource.

“In Korea, we have no natural resources. We live on a rock, no minerals, no gasses or materials to export. The only thing we have, the only thing we can offer is educated and specialized individuals.”

Also, Hyejin came to visit. Here we are at a coffee shop in Gumi.

Besides the glut of exams and tests, November is full of events at my school, including the upcoming school festival and service day. It feels strange not actually teaching a class and making new lesson planning material, but just like the spring semester towards the end, the lack of new lessons stands as a sign of the times, a sign that it’s time to wrap up the semester and eventually prepare for a new one.

So now I use this newfound free time to help better and prepare myself for the new year ahead. Soon I will be having new students, teaching new lessons and hopefully spending another year in Korea.

Despite being busy, November has been very good to me. I’ve been doing a better job of keeping personal goals and writing more. I’ve had more time to get back in contact with friends from back home and reconnect with people I thought I would never hear from again. November has also been the month my writing has picked up substantially with articles, personal stories and the National Writer’s Month goal of writing a significant amount of words in a single month’s span.

The wedding of one of my friends, another happy event in November.

I’ve even managed to fall in love during all of this, and despite the distance, am very happy to be with a special someone and hopefully look forward to many more months ahead.

Lantern Festival in Seoul

I was once told that if you’re busy doing the things you love, you will not notice the time passing around you. This could not be closer to the truth, as it now is the middle of November, and I feel like some much has happened to me in a short span of time. As many things that have happened to me, I still feel eager and ready to discover more opportunities and jump into more adventure.

The year may be nearly over, but there are many more months ahead of me. I’ve come so far, and still feel the need to get started. This is a good thing. A busy thing. A happy thing. 

My thoughts on the future of Star Wars

This has nothing to do with Korea... pretty much at all, but its still something that I want to talk about as its as about as important to me as many things in life.

I'm going to talk about Star Wars.

Now for those who know me really well, this is nothing new. I talk about Star Wars all time to the point that I can subconsciously quote lines from the films with no afterthought. Ever since seeing them as a young boy, they have left a huge impact on my life and are responsible for opening the door to one of my biggest passions in life, watching, analyzing and enjoying the art of film.

It goes without saying that Star Wars has gone a little stale over the years with the dilution of the prequel trilogy and woeful expanded universe spin offs that were generally, not very good. There were a few bright spots, but for the most part Star Wars had become the definition of an over-milked franchise long past its due date. It's not that the core story was bad, it just needed a fresh start that took everything that the original movies stood for and presented them in new and exciting way.

This morning was the announcement of the creator of Star Wars, George Lucas selling the Star Wars franchise (along with Indiana Jones, ILM and Lucasarts) to Disney for $4.05 billion. While he would still retain creative consultation, the direction of these movies would be handed off to a new series of directors.

Honestly, this news comes as nothing more as pure exciting expectation The announcement of a new Star Wars trilogy starting in 2015 with a new entry coming out every two to three years. While this may sound like overkill, this is in fact quite possibly the best thing to happen to the series since The Empire Strikes Back.

The thing that held back the prequel trilogy was Lucas himself. While his creative visions were spectacular and inspiring, his writing in the movies was horrible. Stiff acting, nonsensical links to the original films and some of the most unlikable characters in cinematic history took Star Wars off a pedestal and into laughing stock territory and garnered enough fanboy rage to last several lifetimes.

Now with other fresh interpretations being brought on board, my mind boggles at the possibilities are. The fact that we are moving away from the prequels era that have been beaten into the ground and into the post Return of the Jedi era that fans have been asking for since 1983 leave me one very excited fan.

The list of directors that could very well craft a masterpiece of a Star Wars film is huge. The wonderful thing about the Star Wars series is the universal appeal and huge rang of its own universe, Literally any kind of story would fit in, a perfect medium for directors to play around in and the reason that the two to three year time period between each movie doesn't bother me. There's enough galaxy and stories for a hundred films if done properly.

Some worry that Disney buying the brand would only dilute the Star Wars we all know and love and that Star Wars has become a corporate entity and not a universe that we all know and love. To them I ask them two questions:

1. Where the hell have you been since 1977? Star Wars suddenly becoming a brand? It's been a brand since 1977.

2. Disney has proven that it cares for its franchises created through other sources. Many moaned that their purchase of Marvel would lead it to a downward spiral. Then The Avengers and The Cinematic Universe happened. Total dilution of quality right?


Some may be cynical, but I could not be more excited. While I don't think we will be seeing a gritty and violent crime drama set in Star Wars' underworld, the new possibilities are exciting and the chance to expand  the universe in a new direction is something that I cannot wait to see.

In 2015, Avengers 2, Justice League and Episode VII will be unleashed in theaters for film fans around the world to watch and enjoy. I haven't been this excited for anything Star Wars since being a child. Bring em on. Bring em all on.

* Finally, because I obsess over stuff like this, here's a list of directors I would love to see make a Star Wars movie. My God, my fanboy mode is going insane..

James Cameron (Titanic, Aliens, Avatar)

Duncan Jones (Moon)

Neil Blomkamp (Distirct 9)

Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs, the World, Hot Fuzz)

Christopher Nolan (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises)

Joe Johnson (Captain America: The First Avenger) *note: He was on record for saying he would like to do a Boba Fett movie so who knows?

Brad Bird (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, The Incredibles)

Ridley Scott (Prometheus, Alien, Blade Runner)

Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) 

Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit)

Joss Whedon (Firefly, The Avengers)

I really can't wait. Where I once saw Star Wars as a soulless husk I now see a glimmer of hope. May the Force be with us, all of us.

Goofy doesn't seem right as Darth Vader...

Fall time in Korea

When I was younger, I used to be relatively unbiased when it came to having a favorite season. To me, each season brought a new and refreshing take to the world outside and would always seem to come at a time when things were beginning to become stale. Just when I was becoming tired of the heat, the cool autumn breeze would come to greet me every morning. When I was beginning to tire of the cold and slush that hit me like thousands of needles, the spring would begin to appear and the once grey and cold landscape would begin to show signs of green and the promise of another year.

To an extent I still do appreciate the seasons, they all bring some variety and change that we all need. As I have become older though, and especially since coming to Korea, I have come to appreciate the fall season, my fondness for it increasing every day.

For one thing, I appreciate the cooler weather even more than I did back home. Summers in Indiana could be hot, but in Korea it’s not enough to just be hot, oh no, it’s the blazing sun and the stifling humidity combined that made the simple act of walking to and from school a miserable  experience. Before I had the sense to take a taxi or bus to school, a simple fifteen minute walk early in the morning often left me drenched with sweat and barely able to breathe without taking in a full breath of dry air.  Spending time in Korea had taught me to hate the heat and hate the humidity even more.

With the arrival of autumn the heat and humidity have slowly begun to vanish, making the walks to school much more pleasant and the morning chill in the air a welcome and refreshing wake up call. As much as I dreaded walking outside during the summer, I welcomed the opportunity to spend as much time as possible outside during the fall.

Fall also seems to have the largest amount of holidays and free days in Korea. Chuseok, Korea’s own Thanksgiving takes place during the beginning of October. Since I teach in a high school, a vast majority of time is spent preparing for exams and final projects, making the situation very stressful for teachers and students. I really do not mind as much as it offers a break from teaching classes all through the day and week after week.

I’m spending time having closer and more interactive lessons and conversations. It takes longer to prepare for lessons and sometimes provides a more difficult challenge of delivering higher concept lessons, but the results are much more satisfying. A majority of time for these students is spent studying and preparing for exams. The number of lessons that contribute towards that are much lower than the Korean teachers at my school simply due to the language barrier and the impossible task of being able to explain everything perfectly to them in a language they do not fully understand.

However, I discovered that my efforts are not a waste of time, but rather another series of lessons and things for them to learn. I have striven to teach my students to think critically and think for themselves. I’ve taught them there’s more to learning English than doing well on exams. I have taught them that learning a language is not an ends to a means, but rather a gateway to more opportunity. I tell how I have traveled, the wonderful experiences and people I have met and how my life has changed for the better since I began my journey overseas. I try to teach them that happiness is not always achieved in life through success, but personal goals. I try to teach them that it is sometimes appropriate and necessary to fail.

I seem to enjoy everything more in the fall. I enjoy going out a night more. I enjoy spending time with people more and I seem to be in a better mood on a more consistent basis.

It may not have the Halloween costumes, apple cider or drives down a leaf strewn road like back home, but I’m still finding ways to enjoy the season in my own unique way.

Happy Fall everyone. May it last until the winter season. 

The perks of having a school nestled in the mountains: beautiful scenery

This week in being busy and excuses

You hear it all the time. You hear it as an excuse and you hear it tossed around by people who really are not, but rest assured everyone, that when I say this week, no this month is incredibly, it is not an understatement in the least.

Of course, I'm not complaining, my school is keeping my busy but with actual work that will have an actual impact on the students and staff. Despite the language barrier, I have become a almost full-functioning member of my school staff. I make the tests, decide the criteria and am even in charge of giving them a final grade along with my usual responsibilities teaching classes. It's a lot to juggle and I partially blame the fact that I am in a high school where exams, exams and more exams are right around the corner. I also blame the fact that my school is a private school where high test scores take a high priority over everything else.

Again, I don't mind. It's nice to feel like I'm a part of the school and my input is important enough to be considered valid. I hear stories of many teachers being little more than glorified Mp3 players and simply regurgitate information from the book given to them. Here's a tip to some new teachers interested in teaching in Korea, if you're sent to a high school, prepare to work hard.

My other life, my writing life has also recently gotten a shot in the arm with another publication for me to write and submit to. My plan of continuing to build and supplement of writing resume while overseas continues to go over very well and continues to provide my life with a sort of counter balance and time management both during and after school.

Despite all of this, I find myself still managing to have time for personal enjoyment on the weekend. I usually find myself with more options and things to do than I have time to do them. It is possible to have a normal life along with a busy one, its slightly tiring but always worth it.

Back to work for me now, I'm booked for the rest of the week preparing for exams and helping to prep my school's first digital lesson plans (the future!) This might be the shortest and most self indulgent post I have ever done on here, but as of right now... I really don't have anything else to say. Sorry about that! Life can't be terribly exciting all the time I suppose.

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.