New experiences, old connections, all out warfare

I don't like to waste time. I especially don't like to waste time when a abundance of options are in front of me. It was a promise I made to myself. A personal goal that I agreed to follow through with if I stayed one more year in Korea.

I told myself that I would explore more and take advantage of more travel opportunities. There's still so much to see in Korea. So many scenic spots and festivals to go to from all corners of Korea. I still haven't visited Jeju yet, as well as the DMZ. Just another place to add to the quickly growing list of locations to travel to.

I've looked ahead at my schedule and thanks to the increase of "red days" (days off) this year, I plan to try my hardest to get out of my town and travel. My goal isn't to hit every place I want to go, to serve some self completion attitude of crossing off places on my list like random tasks on a too do list.

My plan is to just go. Go to where I want, when I want and not worry about other events or places that I should be going to. If I don't make it to Jeju or the DMZ this year or before I leave Korea, I won't feel bad. Sure, they are places that I should go to, but its my trip and my planning. Everything will just be played by ear.

I also plan on meeting more people, holding on to old relationships and making more of an effort to spend time with them. Being here a year in Korea has formed some impressive relationships with people in my town and beyond.

I've come to met people that I truly enjoy their company and seek to try to find the spare time to be with.

I've meet people that I enjoy, and yet only see a few times out of the year. This also holds true to friends back at home. The amount of time I spend with is disproportionate to the people I see daily. Despite the shift, I still enjoy their time and our friendship has not diminished  If anything, I know that once we meet or speak to one another again, we can pick back where we left off without missing a beat. It's the closeness and understanding that make time and distance seem irrelevant.

I've met people who I can't stand being with more that a few minutes. It's not that they're bad people, its just that our personalities don't match. It's sometimes difficult to find topics to keep a conversation alive and in honesty, feels more like a chore than something that I want to do. I'm sure some people feel the same way about me and everyone. We are the same, yet different. We do not always fit or see eye to eye. This is not a bad thing.

No matter what, I have come to respect a great deal of people that I met here. Most are hard working, friendly and genuine people who have a desire to do good in the world. I can happily say that those "horrible waygooks" everyone keeps talking about have been mostly absent from my life. Maybe its because I live in a smaller city. Maybe its because I just got lucky in meeting good people. Either way, meeting people has been a highlight for me so far, something I want to keep doing.

My goals are simple and in no way strict. I want to see more and interact more. I want to come home everyday and say that I did something worthwhile and I can go to bed satisfied that the day was well spent. Improving my lessons and teaching method at school, making sure I stay healthy, having healthy interactions with people and just enjoying myself. I want to leave Korea with happy memories of people and places.

I plan on letting nothing hold me back. Even in the face of war from our neighbors from up North, I feel more eager and energetic than ever. It's the little reminders that danger can come at anytime and nothing last forever that makes me want to do more.

To end on an old scenario, if I were to die tomorrow , I would want to say that my life was awesome and I was at my happiest. Not decent and not content. Happy. Awesome and happy.

I'm not just going to have the cake and eat it too. I'm going to bake the damn thing myself and its going to be delicious. No one can ruin this recipe, not even you North Korea.

Delicious cake of opportunities

Helpful Information: Registering with your embassy in Korea

This was sent earlier today by my good friend Hannah through an email, detailing how to register with your embassy and options to have in case of an emergency. While I wouldn't say that things regarding North and South Korea are serious enough yet, having a back up plan for any kind of disaster or serious event is never a bad thing. Here is the original email, along with a listing of resources for foreigners living and working abroad can use.

Hey guys!!

This isn't to alarm any of you, but I've been reading up on things and since we're all living abroad, I figured this might be of interest to you guys too.  There are services available to UC citizens living abroad such as an alert system in the case of emergencies (war, natural disasters, epidemics, etc).  In certain cases, they'll coordinate an evacuation for us, but they'll only be able to let you know if you are listed on our US Embassy's list of Americans living/travelling abroad.  

They have an alert system where they send you a text message and also an email newsletter they send out when there is an alert out (they don't send it routinely, but only if there is an alert out).  Sign up if you guys want to!  It was fairly quick and easy for me.  I signed up for the notification and email  :]  So here are the links:

Overview & Info

http://seoul.usembassy.gov/acs_emergency_preparedness.html

STEP program (Smart Traveler Enrollment Program) - It's not just for travelers, but for citizens who live abroad too.  This enrollment is also how the Embassy communicates with you:

https://step.state.gov/step/

Email and text message service:

http://www.asktheconsul.org/

There are two US Embassies in Korea - one in Seoul and one in Busan, so if there ever is an emergency head for the nearest one to you.

Not saying there is any immediate threat, but it's always nice to know we have an emergency backup plan  :]

So there you have it. Quick, easy and covered by the government. Better safe than sorry folks. Thanks Hannah!

Little Things to Love About Korea

The things I seem to enjoy the most about Korea are the little moments. The unplanned events that begin as random excursions and become nostalgic filled memories later on in life serve as a reminder that our lives, no matter how routine or drab always hold surprises for us when we least expect them. If we keep that positive attitude, if we gravitate towards the interesting and adventurous rather than the pedestrian and routine, we find out selves making new relationships and going to new places where yesterday, you would never think you would end up.

Korea has more than its share of those random adventures that make for entertaining tales to be retold later on. The differences in culture along with the different mentality we adopt when living and working abroad makes for some off beat and varied encounters with people and places. A cynical view may make my amusement at the little things seem like a childish and naive fascination with the world, an optimistic and simplified view on the world at large, but I prefer to look at it in a different way. Where other see frustration  I see a new opportunity for understanding and perspective. Where some claim they will never understand I claim to try my best to understand.

I think to work in Korea, or anywhere not counting your own home turf, you need that sense of wonderment and that attraction to adventure and the what ifs. Working overseas is not for those who wish to have a safe and predictable life. For me and most likely many other foreigners living in Korea, running towards something new will more likely than not garner more rewards than walking.

While there are more than I can possibly list in one tidy post, some of my favorite little/big adventures are things I see or participate in everyday.

I love that the city I live in is small. I know there are days where I would prefer the excitement and relentless pacing of the big city, but living in a smaller, more rural location has its benefits. It's laid back and relaxing, with an area big enough to have distinct areas that differ from one another, but are still easy enough to get to. This is best during the warm summer nights when walking from place to place with only the distant rumble of cars and chirping insects can be heard against a faintly lit city street.

I love that my co teachers this year are young and friendly. I didn't spend a lot of time last year getting to know my co teachers and didn't form any strong or lasting relationships. This year, after only a few days into the semester, I feel like I have a more friendly relationship with my co workers. They are a lot like me, young, needing a job and all together in this little job we call teaching. While still acting professional, I feel like I'm more at ease around them. I can act like a professional young man, one who wishes to break out of his shell every now and then.

I love that there are a lot of new foreign teachers in Gimcheon. Last year I had gotten to know some people pretty well and developed a group of people that I spent time with. This year, there is a larger selection of people from all over the world, each of them bringing with them interesting back stories and reasons for being in Korea. It's always a refreshing way to start a new year by meeting new people. While I can't say with complete conviction the strength of our relationships with one another, I can say they are new and friendly, making each new person met an exciting new encounter.

I love that I finally feel comfortable with teaching. Last year was my first year teaching and while I did a decent job, there were many areas that needed improvement and many time where I didn't always feel confident in what I was doing. Now that I have been here a year, and feel familiar with the way the school operates, I feel like my lessons have really taken a turn for the better. I anxiously look forward to each new class and look forward to how I can build a lesson around new material. While its is still challenging and demanding at time, feeling more comfortable and confident goes a long way to making me a better teacher, and therefore benefiting the students even more than before.

Perhaps its the change in temperature, perhaps its a renewed interest in exploring everything and everyone Korea has to offer, but I can't help but feel excited about every new day. Every day is filled with a new unexpected adventure or inspired conversation waiting to happen. I'm doing the Feris Bueller, and slowing down to pay attention to the finer details and things around me.

So far, I really like what I see.

Photos of some great people from my town

Korea: Year 2

It's time to start again. Time to break out my lesson plans, brush up on my power points and wake up when the normal people do to head to work. After spending a month back home in the states visiting friends and family, my rest period and vacation is over. It's time to come back to Korea. It's time to teach again.

In a way I am excited to be back. The overwhelming sense of dullness and monotony than can come with any job had been replaced with new expectations and hopes for a better year. A new year is essentially a reboot to toss out the awkwardness and rookie mistakes of the first year and the opportunity to improve and make an even better impression on the youth of Korea and their impressionable minds.

I am entirely optimistic in regards to the new additions and changes to our selection of teachers. This year, our school added 11 new teachers, four of which are English teachers. While last year's group of teachers have either moved on to teach in other schools or retire, two of the English teachers were promoted to heads of the English department. Having worked with them for year and seeing where their stand in both their work ethic and stance on education, this is a good choice. 

The new teachers are all young and friendly. After spending only a few hours getting to know them, they all seemed very happy, enthusiastic about teaching and very willing to get to know this foreign teacher a little better. They left a very good first impression and I cannot wait to get to know them more as the year continues on.

My schedule had also been updated as well. Last year, my biggest hurdles came from messages lost in translation and trying to teach material to classes that were not intended to be taught. There were often many time that certain classes were missed or my presence was not necessary due to the messages getting to me too late or in some cases, not at all. My grade three students were entirely focused on preparing for their college entrance exams, and not interested or finding the necessity to learn new material that would not be featured on the exam. This led to mixed messages and sometimes wasted time and resources where they could have been applied in other areas.

My new schedule seems to eliminate the grade three students entirely, instead focusing on the more impressionable students: grades one and two. This would allow me to focus all of my time and energy on students who are constantly learning new material that will eventually be relevant to future testing.

This year also brings forward the new criteria for high school students called NEAT. NEAT is designed to teach students the necessary skills primarily used in speaking, writing and reading. The eventual goal of NEAT is to provide Korean English teachers the requirements and materials needed to teach students necessary English skills with confidence and if necessary, without the need of an English language speaker.

For me, and I suspect other high school teachers taking this seriously, this allows us to cut away the fat and uncertainty of what to teach and instead gives a clear and concise map of what is deemed necessary to teach students in order for them to do well on future testing and university opportunities. It streamlines the necessaries while still allowing flexibility and creative breathing room to teach each class how I see fit. It seems like a comfortable median of compromise between the two and I could not be happier about that.

If there are any warning flags so far, its the lack of teaching or a personal schedule that worries me more than anything. It is the second day of school, the first official day of teaching and I sit here writing this instead of teaching a class. I have yet to receive a schedule of any kind nor any idea of how many classes I will have and when I will have them. While this may seem like a BEST FIRST WORK DAY EVER, this has me slightly worried. 

With the addition of new English teachers at our school bringing the new total to seven including myself and the greater focus on having Korean teachers teach English without assistance, the need for a native English teacher seems limited and at times, unnecessary. Combined with rumors of the major language programs closing up shop in increasingly more cities, the paranoid side of me feels like this year may be my last at my school and whether I want to stay or not may not be left up to my own choices.

However, no matter what happens in the end, it still stands that it is indeed the 'end'. The last part and the last thing I should even be thinking of now. I have a whole year ahead of me and as long as I go forward with the right people and willingness to do well, I think I will be ok. 

It's a brave new world, but its my world. It's a fresh lump of clay, but my hands yearn to get dirty.

I want this year to be great, I want it to be memorable. I want to make this to a great year.

So, I think I'll go do that. 

An epic photo of my school's front door. Actual epicness of school may differ from photo. 

The Comeback (Vacation Time and Thanks to Korea)

I like how I look here, despite the beer in hand. 

Tomorrow I fly back to the US to spend a month revisiting family and friends before starting the new semester in March. It’s become a cliché statement for people to casually throw around thoughts and surprise on how fast the year has passed by. It always seems to come crawling to back to people, as they look back fondly at the year that has quickly passed them by, so many happy memories like the chapters from a book read long ago.

I can’t speak for those who had a rough year, for those who endured a year of grueling cultural differences and hardships that didn’t equal the long venture from their country of origin. I know quite a few people like this and for them, I feel sorry. Life has a tendency to be a real bastard sometimes and giving someone a difficult time in a foreign country is a cruel fate to subject a person for a year.

Luckily, my experiences have been incredibly positive in Korea. Sometimes it seems that your attitude is instrumental in determining how you will respond to differences and challenges, and that a positive attitude triumphs over all eventually. If anything, a year working overseas has helped to change my attitude towards many things in life, gaining new perspectives and depth on all aspects of life. A year working overseas has made me realize that in the end, no matter where we come from, we all want the same thing.

We all want to be happy and healthy. We want success for our family and friends. We want to wake up every day with a sense of purpose, asking ourselves “What are going to do today?” rather than “Why am I waking up today?”

We all want fulfilling experiences. People always have a way to fall into the trap of becoming set on a routine, choosing the ordinary and safe route to achieve goals and make their way through life.  Many of us yearn to break out of our daily grind, to do something different and exciting, to prove to themselves that their life is more than a factory assembly line.

I understand that for some, the daily grind can be difficult to stop or alter, especially when others depend on their routine for survival and support. That is why I appreciate the opportunities constantly presented to me. For I have an advantage others do not: I have age and time on my side to branch out and explore. To truly take chances in my life and test just what I can and cannot do.

I’ve meet wonderful people I can’t imagine being without. I’ve traveled to places I previously only read about, never once thinking that I would be able to witness their intricate beauty and majesty, putting even the most high resolution photos to shame. 

There are times to act silly and times to be serious. This was a  hybrid of both. 

Going home and marking my one year anniversary of working abroad stands for much more than a relaxing vacation and reuniting with friends. It stands as a timestamp on my memories for a point in my life that served to create an incredible year. It stands as a place in time where I was able to shrug away the restrictions and routines that we can so quickly become accustomed to.

That’s not to say this isn’t possible anywhere but Korea. Whether you go to a town just outside your own or the deserts of the Mojave, a new location with new faces always helps to invigorate your life again. A cleansing of the soul and chance to start over, to forget the vices and missteps of the past and strive to become a better person. To achieve the person we all dream of being, but some never seem to make. It could have happened anywhere, but Korea just happens to be the country I ended up in, and therefore making it a place that will never be forgotten in my mind.

There are too many people to thank, and not enough gratitude to express in these short paragraphs. I hope a simple thank you will suffice.

Thank you Korea for providing me with the life experiences I will never forget. Thank you to the people who have entered and stuck around in my life. Thank you to my co workers and those willing to help me with my first awkward steps.

I didn’t do things perfectly, and made plenty of mistakes. I didn’t get to say my goodbyes to all the people I wanted to. I didn’t get to travel to all the places I wished to, nor did I always take advantage of situations presented to me. However, that’s the great thing about vacations with old friends and family, time to think and process. Time to improve for the future.

I will enjoy seeing old friends and family, but I am always anxiously looking forward to the future, for even better days than those I have had and preparing for the times where it can possibly get worse.

I dream of tomorrow, an even better year. An even happier year.

Ended the last night of the old year singing and being merry. Bring on 2013!

Parties are a reminder to have fun

I rarely stay out all night with people. I usually become bored or tired by the time the 1 AM mark comes around, wanting more than anything to go home to my quiet apartment rather than spend another minute in some smokey bar where obnoxious, loud music would be my only lullaby for the night. I'm picky like that with my socialization, it has to be the right people and the right place in order for me to feel comfortable and able to forget the hours passing rather than count them down until the first train back home. Maybe it's because I'm getting older. Maybe it's because I'm selfish and a bad friend. Maybe I just hate partying. The answers and their solutions could be endless, more than I have the time to investigate or care about.

Last Saturday was a special day, the birthday celebration of one of my friends, one of the first English teachers I met last year, and fellow film enthusiast. From the very beginning it was clear that her party was not intended to be an ordinary gathering of friends, booze and headaches in the morning. There would be plenty of that, but she wanted the party to be something special. Something that not only celebrated her day of entrance into our world, but also her favorite past time as well: the celebration of film and the moving picture.

Together with a few other friends, we planned her party and the details behind it. She wanted it to be a costume party, a party where guests came to dinner in costume, character or both and enjoyed each other's personalities come alive. After having her friends vote on each person and their respective character, we had time to assemble our costumes and characters before the party. Out of all the people, I was picked to be Christopher Walken. Personally, I would have loved to have been Harold Raimas from Ghostbusters, but if people wanted me to be The Walken, than damn it, I was Walken for a night.

Once the day came, we gathered at a restaurant large enough to fit a sizable group of people and not too long after the final guest showed up, the rediculousness began. I sat next to Aaron Johnson from Kick Ass, a shy introverted young man who dreamed of becoming a super hero. Across from me sat The Dude from the Big Lebowski, calm and laid back as in the movie, not quite understanding why Erin Brockovich was getting so upset next to him.

Velma from Scooby Doo was there and not too far from her was Michael Cera from Superbad looking as awkward and personality-less as ever. His girlfriend, Rosemary from Rosemary's Baby looked to be in good spirits despite having a (fake) demon baby growing inside of her. At the head of the table, sat the birthday girl herself: Penelope Cruz from the film Vicky, Christina Barcelona. Full of spite about her failed relationships and her apparent lack of not existing, her bitter and spiteful personality was on full display, taking any opportunity to insult and belittle guests who dared to speak to her. As for myself, I acted as cool as I could because, Walken, as we all know, is always cool.

After the weird rogue's gallery of assorted movie characters finished their meal, we made our way from the restaurant to go from club to club until we found a suitable spot. Luckily, the weather was not too cold, making the trek from place to place pleasant and all the more jovial since we were in good company. 

The city of Daegu was one of my favorite metropolitan cities in Korea for its clean streets and the close proximity of small shops and restaurants. It was often difficult to navigate around the city due to the building's close proximity and lack of decipherable landmarks, however this just added to its charm. It was a small maze of bright lights and little coffee shops filled with people walking everywhere. In Seoul, you could often feel trapped by the massive concrete pillars looming over you. Here, It felt like a leisurely downtown stroll.

We finally settled on a small night club called Jeep. It was tiny, dark and smelled like a ash tray that should have been thrown out years ago. The music they played ranged from bad pop to enjoyable beats. The song choices and atmosphere mattered little as we started to dance not long after settling in. Good and bad songs. Hip hop and hits from yesterday. We danced and danced until the early dawn and the first train prepared to leave the city. It was exhausting. It filled out lungs with smoke and our bodies with alcohol, but we didn't mind. Everyone was laughing and dancing. They didn't care about any of this. We were with each other, the ones we spent the most time with, the ones we came to when we were in trouble and the ones we relied on whether we wanted to admit it or not.

As I rode the long train home, I talked to one of my friends sitting next to me about a topic that I had no real knowledge in, nor anything useful to contribute. I simply wanted to keep talking, to enjoy the positive energy and make the party last a little longer.

I was reminded about a lot that night. I remembered how the right people can always make an event fun, and sometimes even more fun than it initially seems. I reminded myself to enjoy these moments and remember them, for like all things in life they pass along too quickly. I also reconfirmed that I was a horrible dancer. I don't know how to dance at clubs. I will probably never learn and don't really want to. My friends danced like they didn't care who was watching and despite some curious onlookers who eventually joined us, they weren't there to show off or look good in front of a crowd, they wanted to dance.

So they danced.  

No one uploaded pictures from the party yet, so here is a birthday cake. Yep. Delicious birthday cake. 

2013 Will Be Awesome

It's been too long. It's been too long since I've updated this. It feels awful. There's that weird balance of not knowing what you want to write, and therefore not writing anything and feeling bad that you haven't written in so long, that you have to write something, anything to make sure you completely don't loose your sensation of writing.

It's hard to tell where I'm at now, a lot has happened to me, a lot of good things during the last few days of the old year and the early beginning of the new one. In less than a few months I will be going home for a month to see friends and family again. I have re-signed my contract and agreed to stay on for another year. I've officially survived one year, and it feels pretty great.

My thinking and priorities have changed during the past few months. Things like living on your own and the expenses that come with them take on a bigger significance in your life. Not to say that the living expenses in Korea are terrible, far, far from it in fact. Rather its the knowledge that the amount of money I will have to spend when returning back to the states that has my concern. Suddenly the things that English teachers in Korea take for granted like apartment rent, auto insurance and gas prices become a very real prospect. Living on your own is expensive.

As someone once told me: "Kyle,  you have to pay for water."

For most people having high paying job with little expenses is usually an excuse to forget about this, for me however, it is only a reminder of what one day will come.

Another thing that has changed is my own view of living and companionship. I used to not mind being alone. In fact, I enjoyed being alone more than I would have probably liked to admit. I didn't use these feelings to be a recluse however, I often would take the time to socialize and engage with the outside world, but in the end enjoyed the peaceful serenity of an empty apartment at the end of the day. I liked the empty silence and cold emptiness to be a soothing reminder that my thoughts and my worries were my own, hidden away from the outside world separated by only my door and a reassuring smile. 

Things changed drastically once I started dating in Korea. Where I had once appreciated solitary living, a few visits and weekend stays have changed my mind. I still appreciate the silence, but I notice the unpleasantries of being alone more than before. The nights seem a little colder. The echos of my walls a little too loud and quiet drip of water from my sink a little too monotonous. I was missing her more than before despite now only being a few hours away. We were talking more about our lives and dreams. We were sharing things about ourselves that we very rarely told anyone. It's a connection that I never felt before, but hoping will last forever. It's a good feeling to be with someone, to know that you're not doing things alone and that at the end of the day, can have someone to come back to to share all of the triumphs and help you forget the defeats.

Even my work schedule has changed from its normal 9 to 5 work day, now only lasting from 2 PM to 5 PM. It's a weird change to get used to. The day always feels incomplete, like my priorities shift to the middle for a few hours, with the rest of the day spent with ample amounts of time and me not being sure what I want to do with them. Until my schedule goes back to normal, I need to make sure that this newly acquired free time does not go to waste. Things like Korean class and writing need to be the main objectives.

For 2013 a lot has changed, more than I have written here and more than I currently have the ability to adequately express. In time they, like all thoughts, will be met with solutions or disappear to the back of my mind like so many other random thoughts lost to obscurity.

Like every year before it, and like every year ahead, I hope 2013 will be a great year. I am eternally optimistic that every year will be a good one, even if its incrementally. Inch by inch and day by day. 

*I visited Jikjisa Temple early in the year and saw it was populated by tons of snow people> Like this cold chap here, I'm approaching the new year with a smile.