"I'm Going on an Adventure!": How The Hobbit is related to all of us

This was a slightly unusual week for students (and many other foreign teachers) in Korea. I had a two day mini weekend during the Tuesday and Wednesday this week. My school is currently in the process of enrolling new students at our school along with the election of the new president on Wednesday. This meant two days spent doing anything but coming to work. I did the two most logical things I could think of: I visited my girlfriend and we saw The Hobbit.

I had previously read The Hobbit when I was younger. I was still just a middle school student, and the first part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was about to be released to theaters. I was curious about the source material, so naturally I tracked down all four books and began reading away.

The Hobbit at the time was a book that I found enjoyable but a bit simple. It wasn't until years later after taking a more in depth look at its narrative structure and characters that I realized that this seemingly simple tale was something so much more than that. It was a book that went beyond a simple journey to slay the dragon. It was a deeply personal journey about having the courage to leave your comfortable and familiar world behind. It was the call to adventure that we all harbor inside us, but sometimes lack the courage to find.

Watching The Hobbit reminded me of this, and given the current circumstances, was the perfect time to watch and be reminded of where I have gone and where I want to go.

As I finish up my first year in Korea and my first major job overseas I have watched many things change. 

Coming to Korea has changed me on many levels. In just one year I have learned more about myself than any other point in my life. I learned where I stand on issues and how I choose to interact with people. I discovered that the purest joys in life come from the little things and most importantly, I have discovered that my biggest areas of growth came from discover and exploration. I discovered that curiosity usually always equaled rewards and that failure didn't always mean the end.

There are several points during The Hobbit where Bilbo decides to go home or continue on his journey. Always afraid of the consequences of leaving his comfortable home and having several opportunities to turn back, he always decides to continue on. He knows that he can die any minute. He knows that if he returns, he will not be the same person he was before. He goes along willingly. He knows that opportunity for reward and adventure outweighed the fear of death and failure.

There are moments that like Bilbo, I miss my home. I miss the comfort of people and places that I saw daily. I miss the comfort of lying in my own bed in my own home. I miss the ease of simple tasks such as communication. The US is, and always will be my home. This will never change. There is not a doubt in my mind that I will return home one day. Perhaps for a little while, and perhaps indefinitely.

However, I can also say that I still have a little time left in me. I still have a yearning to explore and travel. I still have a yearning to see the world beyond the scope of my own home. While I can still afford to, while I can still manage too I will remain open and ready for the next big adventure, whatever it may be or whenever it may come.

I think The Hobbit is such a resonating work of fiction that still holds up decades later in both print and moving picture form is that we are all Bilbo. All of us like peace and comfort, knowing that it is around the corner whenever we need it, but at the same time, there is the yearning to break out beyond our walls and explore the bigger world. Humans are curious by nature. I believe that inside all of us, there is a burning need to indulge our knowledge and wanderlust. I believe that we all need the thrill of adventure once in awhile to make us feel alive. To show us that we are more than a biological drone that goes through the daily motions. Some just need a bigger push than others.

Korea was my unexpected journey, but now, I cannot even imagine my life if I never came here. I have had opportunities that I could only dream about back at home and have met people who have made a lasting impact on me. I've learned to be afraid and feel despair. I've also learned to find joy and happiness from life. I've fallen in love with the adventure and the people in it. Some of whom I love and cherish more that I thought I was capable of.

My adventure in teaching continues. One more year awaits and I cannot wait to see what else happens. As Bilbo said: “I’m going on an adventure!”

Vacation Wrap Up: Tongyeong, cable cars and the ocean

After the heart attack inducing night with the screaming old man, my friends and I set out for the city of Tonyeong. While I tried my hardest to uphold the illusion of a proper night’s rest, I could not maintain the illusion for long. As soon as we bought our bus tickets, we all ended up passing out on the bus. The two hour ride seemed like a blissful period to rest and recover precious hours of sleep rather than a burden of having to wait before heading to a location.  It was the most restful sleep I had ever gotten on a bus.

Once we arrived at the bus station it would be a ten minute taxi ride to our location destination, a cable car ride up to the mountains.  We quickly found a taxi and were able to get a good view of the town on the way. One of the travelers I was traveling with was near fluent in Korean and upon our driver discovering that, decided to have a conversation with her. Naturally I couldn’t completely understand what she was talking about but I could tell from her smiles and tone of voice that she was enjoying the banter she was having, or at the very least, pretending to.

After their conversation was over, she told us the details. She told us how this taxi driver was a representative of a historical figure during Tongyeong’s festival in the fall. He also told a story of the boys who lived in the town and how they conspired to date girls from the big city.

“Boys who live in the country often try to date girls from the city. However, most girls from the city are vain and not interested in dating country boys. So what the boys do is have the girls they are interested in come down to Tonyeong and catch fish for them. They catch the fish, clean them and prepare them as a meal. The fish are so delicious and the girls are so impressed that they end up coming to the town and dating the country boys. So I think, if you want to get a city girl to like you, learn how to fish for her.”

The secrets of love, life and fishing all in a single cab ride.

As we approached the cable car station, the driver told us one last piece of advice before leaving.

“When you go up and down the mountain, be sure to sit on the left side of the car. You can get a good view of the mountains and when you come back it looks like you’re going into the sea. Also, be sure to make a wish once you make it up to the top of the mountain. Be sure it’s only one wish through. Anymore than one would leave the mountain god confused and unable to grant the one you wanted.”

Once we arrived at the cable car station we began our trip up the mountain. The car slowly crawled its way up the mountain. We shared a car with another family, a father, mother and teenage son. As we slowly climbed up the mountain and the trees and building began to become smaller, the car began to slowly rock from side to side. The father in front of us began to close his eyes and bury his head in the palm of his hands. I could hear him mumbling to himself as the mother rubbed his back for encouragement. As we were getting higher, the father was slowly beginning to lose his nerve.  I however was enjoying the sights and the distant view of little buildings and cars nestled close to the coast. It was a view like a postcard, one that I tried to soak into my memories and burn into my brain.

Once we had reached the top, of the mountain we were greeted with a slew of people standing around, taking pictures and enjoying the view. There was an option to go even higher and have a better view of the ocean and surrounding mountains, the same spot where centuries ago famous Korean generals and strategists stood observing the sea battles taking place below them.  We stood silent staring out at the ocean below. I had seen the ocean a total of two times during this trip and it still had not gotten old. Its vastness and relative calm made me feel comfortable.  By being surrounded by the mountains and tress made everything seem at ease. That everything was right with the world and that standing here was a safe place, a place to reflect and marvel at the natural beauty all around you.

Soon it was time to leave. I made a silent wish before leaving for the downward cable car. I made it simple, but poignant. It was personal, but unselfish. It was the best wish I had made in years and it felt completely satisfying, even coming from someone who never really believed in wishes.

After leaving the cable car and heading back to the bus station to hit our next destination, we were lucky enough to have another talkative taxi driver on the way to the bus station. That was one thing I noticed about the taxi drivers and other people living near the coast. Everyone was very welcoming and easy to talk to. Even a foreigner with a limited grasp in Korea could still engage in a short, but friendly conversation. There was a sense of closeness and community that was rare in my town and completely nonexistent in the bigger cities.

The next bus ride took us to a small town not too far from Tonyeong. This small town was where our ferry ride awaited us. I had not yet ventured to a town smaller than my own, so seeing sights like a bus station the size of a small room and ferry station about the size of my apartment was novel and reminded me that no matter where you go, there is always somewhere smaller.
We did not need to wait long for our ferry to board. We had just enough time to grab a quick bite to eat, local seafood specialty before heading on the boat.

Not since being in Japan had I been able to ride on a boat in the middle of the ocean. The overcast sky reflected off of the dull water. Ships floated lazily out in the distance and besides the gentle hum of the motor, only the waves could be heard.

Our host on the ferry ride was a funny guy. His snarky and sarcastic humor went over well with the audience as he chided us for not being more interested in what we had to say and wondered why we sounded so unenthused.
“You picked the right boat today, but I picked the wrong audience,” he said.

The ferry ran close to rock formations, huge jagged rocks hutting out of the water, forming a small valley that could barely fit a single person. One other formations fisherman could be seen casting off, using only a small area for standing as they stood straight as a pole against the crashing waves determined to obtain their next catch.

Our ship came to a rest at a small island in the ocean, where we had an hour to explore and rest. We decided to simply sit out the exploring part and take a rest while we ate our meal and looked off at the ocean below us. The island was owned by a couple who had originally fled from North Korea and ended up building a area to explore and observe. It was a beautiful and almost eerily isolated place of peace and beauty so far from civilization.

As we looked off into the distance, I noticed a collection of small towns and buildings on individual islands. There were no roads, nor bridges. These people were living their own lives out away from the small town, away from the constantly in motion society of Korea. They had escaped the lifestyle that grips every Korean from birth until death and were living their lives and making a living on their own island, in their own world.

I thought about where we had traveled so far and how far we had come. Being so close to the coast had allowed me to see sights not common to someone living in the middle of mountains. It was so refreshing down here, the smell of sea air all around you, the freshness of food and the friendly demeanor of the people made traveling and transportation a pleasant adventure, more than a nuisance. Maybe the people living by the ocean would have thought the same way if they came to my town. Maybe they would have enjoyed the slightly busier atmosphere and mountains around them. Maybe they would have enjoyed the big city with all of its sights and sounds. Maybe they found this simple life too boring and predictable.

The thought amused me for a bit more before we had to make our way back to the ferry. Daylight was quickly slipping away and after a short discussion, decided that our best option was to go straight to Busan and spend the night there.  Our time spent away from the big city was coming to an end, along with our vacation. We were on our way back to the rush of modern society, we were on our way back to our more familiar lives.

A wish is only a cable car away

Vacation Plans: And Now for Something Different

One of the highlights for many foreign teachers in Korea is vacation time. Besides the public holidays that everyone gets off, most foreign teachers get an extended vacation in both the summer and winter period. EPIK is no different, with up to 8 days off in the summer and 10 days in the winter.

For most, this is an exciting time to explore other parts of Asia for a relatively cheap price tag. Locations like Thailand, Manila and Vietnam are some of the most popular vacations, and this year it seemed like nearly all the teachers in my program would be spending their vacation days overseas.

Originally, I was planning to make a vacation for myself on Jeju Island, located a few miles away from the Korean mainland. It sounded perfect at the time, in the summer Jeju was home to sandy beaches, the beautiful ocean and a tropical atmosphere that is unlike anything else in Korea. At the time, I thought that this would be a perfect vacation spot: close to Korea and yet still different enough to seem like I went somewhere different, it was the perfect spot to forget about life's little problems.

This plan soon fizzled out of existence when I looked at the price tag of the trip. When combined with the cost of tickets to fly over, lodging and transportation across the island, the final cost was well outside my price range, something that I was simply not able or wanting to spend. Maybe a few years earlier I wouldn't have cared, but with a job and bills to pay, it s amazing how much my mindset has changed.

Slightly distressed, I now had no plans for what would be my longest vacation until next year. It was obvious that I would be staying in Korea, a situation that didn't appeal to me. This was my chance to do something different, see somewhere new before I came to that point in my life where I no longer could see the things I wanted to, or go where I wanted to. I felt like I was setting myself up for time that would just be wasted in the end.

It gradually came to me that staying in Korea maybe wouldn't be as bad as I thought. I visited many places in Korea and saw many different things, but I have never seen Korea in a natural state. Whenever I had visited a city, or small village or festival, it was always under the pretense of a specific event or meeting someone. I had never seen Korea, nor its back alleys and off the path locations. I had never seen Korea just to observe, to soak in the culture, to travel with no destination in mind.

It occurred to me that I had been everywhere in Korea, and yet in the end I'd barely scratched the surface of what Korea was really like. I had seen the tourist Korea, the true Korea was still hidden.

My vacation was suddenly clear; I had to see Korea, as much as I could, as far off the path as possible. If I was going to be living here for a significant amount of time, I wanted to know the country better. I wanted to be participant in immersion, not just another tourist.

My vacation plan was simple and yet I was giddy with excitement to get started. My vacation consisted of one long journey, from one end of Korea to another, by train and bus, along oceans and highways. I planed on making my way through the country of Korea taking in as much as I could. There was no specific location, there was no specific plan. Get on a train and simply see where it took me.

Traveling like this, with no map or plans is one of the most satisfying ways to travel. Too much structure and rigid planning makes a trip seem too scripted and planned. You weren't really blessed with the freedom of exploration, you were simply following a list of locations with one more check mark to be made.

Maybe I'll come across an amazing temple, a bustling city. Maybe I'll find nothing but barren fields and mountains. Maybe I'll find a place to rest, maybe I'll be on the trail for days, lost without any idea where I am, or where I'm going.

Where I go and what happens, doesn't matter to me as long as the journey is mine, the decisions are mine, I can be satisfied. The joy of discovery, discovering someplace new is one of the most thrilling aspects to me, the need to explore and discover on my own pace is something that will probably never be scratched.

The journey is mine, along with the twists and turns.

"I am the master of my fate, the captain of my soul".

Chapter 7: The Problem Process

When a problem or conflict erupts in Korea, the process to resolving the situation is done in a much more structured way than I am used to. We are taught in America to go through a chain of command, to take our complaints to the appropriate party and allow them to contact their appropriate party until the problem reaches the right channels. This practice is taken to new levels in Korea and it is a method that at first tried my patience.

I never realized how impatient I can be about certain issues until having to take an extended amount of time dealing with them. One of the most eye opening lessons here so far is that while problems are unavoidable, the process to fix them takes time. Sometimes days and in the case of large problems, weeks.

While this was a major thorn in my side at first, the time it took to deal with the issues actually helped me to appreciate the situation from a new perspective. It gave me time to think about how I looked at my problems and how I looked at the process I used to deal with different issues.

Being patient and going slow was more beneficial than I initially thought. By the time the issue had come to resolve itself, the outcome was well thought of and was something all parties could have agreed on in the end.

One of the biggest changes in Korea is being patient during times of need and times of stress. Getting mad over many issues in Korea seems like a logical and natural choice in times of stress, but when looked at from another view I came to this conclusion.

I am a visitor in their country. Whatever preconceived or familiar notions I had in the way tasks were completed would have to take a backseat to the way tasks were actually completed. This is Korea. This was their country. I am a visitor and in many ways, a guest being entrusted with the education of their children and their future. I need to think differently. I need to play by new rules.

Some people learn Korean while spending their year in Korea. Some experience new foods, travel to new places or meet new people. We fall in love and we fall out of love with places, people and things. We leave with a slew of photographs and memories of a year in a new country.

The people will not be here forever. The pictures can become lost overtime. Even our memories can become distorted and clouded as the years go on. The lessons learned here, the ones that change your perspective and change your views on living your life will always remain. They become a part of you, ingrained in your being. These are matter the most, and will follow you everywhere.

I am lucky to take these lessons and add to them everyday. I live in a country and with a job that requires one to learn from their mistakes and realize the importance of becoming a wiser person.

Even during times of stress and worry. When I am angry and not willing to do a task due to exhaustion or apathy, I stop and think about why I am here, how lucky I am to be in such a giving and dynamic country and wanting to not waste a moment on negativity.

In the end, you tend to remember good times and the lessons that came with them. The bad times tend to fade much easier and become much harder to remember.

So I don’t waste my time on them, I go and live. Learning something new everyday, becoming a little wiser and a little more like the person I aspire to become.

Chapter 4: Sending Off

The morning the EPIK teachers were supposed to leave was not the large heartfelt send off that I envisioned the night before. The time that we were supposed to check out of the dormitory was in the early hours of the morning. After going to bed later the night before, 6 Am came much sooner than I expected. Time has a funny effect on you need more of it, and the four hours of sleep seemed insignificant in combating my fatigue.

I made my way to the cafeteria, the cafeteria where for the last week would be one of the few places we could all be together at the same time. Most of the people I had gotten to know were already there, dressed in their best dress clothes and unusually quiet. Today would be the day we were finally separating, going on our own to unfamiliar locations in an unfamiliar country. Our only contact and form of assistance would come from our co-teacher’s. Some of who were teaching for the first time and just as inexperienced as us. Like anywhere in the world, first impressions were the important impressions, and with us having to rely on our co-workers to help us out, making the best impression was our goal.

While meal time was usually spent with discussion and laughter everyone was unusually quiet today. The mood was far from somber but the active discussions were far less frequent than normal. Everyone knew what was happening, where we going and how we would be separated. We wanted to soak in the moment, to enjoy what time we had left.

After breakfast we began to pack the last of our things, to prepare for the trip that lied ahead of us. The lobby was packed with luggage and people gathering in designated areas that would lead them to busses that would take us all over Korea. Some people excitedly chatted with one another about their new cities and new lives. Some just stood alone, waiting for the announcement to board their bus.

I walked outside with Moise and Hannah. We were all talking about how we would see each other again and how we could never truly be separated. A large group of our friends was already leaving to head to Incheon, a city that would be at the very least four hours away from us. As we walked to the parking lot to wave goodbye at the departing bus we saw our friends smile and wave back at us. It lasted less than a moment but it was a powerful and fitting way to bid farewell. Happy, excited and eager to see one another again.

“I feel like we’re sending them off to war,” I joked as the bus disappeared off in the distance.

Moise laughed. “Goodbye. See you later. We’ll remember you even in death.”

“Gosh guys, we’ve only been here a week and it feels like we’ve been here much longer,” said Hannah.

“I feel like I’ve known you guys forever. It’s hard for me to explain why. I don’t even think I have a real reason,” I said.

Soon it was time for our bus to depart. The region where I was assigned was large enough to need several busses to take us to our individual destinations. I left Moise and Hannah, hoping that our bus would take a rest stop or break before heading to our co teachers and getting one last chance to say goodbye.

“See you in a few hours,” I told Moise as I boarded my bus. Not sure if it was the truth or not.

The bus left with a lurch and as I sat alone on the bus staring out at the passing landscape, I thought back to all of the experiences I have had so far, the people I have met and the strange thought that only two weeks before I was still in my home, in my own bed thinking about the adventure that was surely going to await me once setting down in Korea.

The bus traveled on. I closed my eyes. For a moment I was in another place of restful bliss.

A moment of peace before the real adventure was to begin.