Friday, April 20, 2007
It took a while to sink in.
I live in Korea now, but my heart is back in Virginia. It wanders the Blue Ridge and stumbles along the country roads. It shivers in the shadow of something that seems so incredibly out of place, something that is out of range of even the darkest expectations. I read the news almost every day. I am constantly reading about death, starvation, the woes of the world, its lightest places and darkest deeds. I think of myself as informed. That did not prepare me for what happened at Virginia Tech. And if I am unprepared, and shocked, and saddened, I can only imagine what the feelings must be for everyone back in the states - especially those in Virginia, and especially those at Virginia Tech. I just wanted to throw my two cents of support in. I am practically a world away, but my thoughts and wishes are back in those roaming hills and mountains now, and on those beautiful campuses, and riding on the shoulders of the students, faculty, and staff who must bravely continue on. All those who have been touched by this week's events: look to hope and gather your courage. We're all with you.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Bits and pieces as the rain comes down
"Shall the day of parting be the day of gathering?
And shall it be said my eve was in truth my dawn?
And what shall I give unto him who has left his plough in midfurrow, or to him who has stopped the wheel of his winepress?
Shall my heart become a tree heavy-laden with fruit that I may gather and give unto them?
And shall my desires flow like a fountain that I may fill their cups?
Am I a harp that the hand of the mighty may touch me, or a flute that his breath may pass through me?
A seeker of silences am I, and what treasure have I found in silences that I may dispense with confidence?
If this is my day of harvest, in what fields have I sowed the seed, and in what unremembered seasons?
If this indeed be the hour in which I lift up my lantern, it is not my flame that shall burn therein."
That's a quote by Kahlil Gibran, from his 1923 book The Prophet.
And shall it be said my eve was in truth my dawn?
And what shall I give unto him who has left his plough in midfurrow, or to him who has stopped the wheel of his winepress?
Shall my heart become a tree heavy-laden with fruit that I may gather and give unto them?
And shall my desires flow like a fountain that I may fill their cups?
Am I a harp that the hand of the mighty may touch me, or a flute that his breath may pass through me?
A seeker of silences am I, and what treasure have I found in silences that I may dispense with confidence?
If this is my day of harvest, in what fields have I sowed the seed, and in what unremembered seasons?
If this indeed be the hour in which I lift up my lantern, it is not my flame that shall burn therein."
That's a quote by Kahlil Gibran, from his 1923 book The Prophet.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
I'm here and it's weird and I like it.
Korea! Wow. It took a couple weeks for the novelty to wear off. Many, many things are very, very different.
First off, apologies to all who thirsted for news/photos/assurance that Ryan and I are still alive. Our internet access was pretty spotty for a while there, but now we have incredibly fast access in our apartment, so staying in touch should be a lot easier. If anyone is so inclined, my Skype handle is "swiftestranger" - don't hate on my LOTR reference. Keep in mind that if you want to chat, you're going to have to pick a time that might be pretty weird for you. I think the time difference is about 11 hours.
Ryan and I made the trip in about 24 hours of travel time, start to finish. It was exhausting and it's taken us quite a while to get our bodies adjusted to the change of place. We're pretty well settled in now. Speaking of settled, I should mention that we're very happy with the apartment that our employer has set us up with. It's about a 5 minute walk from the school where we're teaching, and actually is much bigger than I suspected it might be. It's a two bedroom apartment, with one MASSIVE bedroom and one much smaller one. Rock paper scissors, best 2 out of 3, decided who would get the big'un: yours truly. You might think it's stange to decide that kind of thing this way, but it's how Korean kids decide EVERYTHING. The results are never argued about. Rock paper scissors is IT. Anyways, after figuring out the heating system by way of a helpful visit from our landlord, Mr. Yang, I have to say I quite enjoy the ondol setup. Ondol is the Korean style of heating. Pipes are laid out underneath the floor, and hot water is run through them, which means that the floor is radiating warmth at all times. It keeps the place pretty cozy.
Adjusting to the culture has been more or less easy, since American English teachers are fairly well respected. Americans in general are treated well here, though the US soldiers stationed at the Yongsan base enjoy a somewhat less savory reputation. Korean isn't really required to get along in Korea. Many people speak enough English to complete basic transactions, like buying things at the grocery store and ordering food at restaurants. Koreans are generally friendly in these kinds of situations and will work hard to please guests and customers. I'm trying to learn Korean anyways, but it's slow going, largely because I am easily distracted from spending my personal time in constructive ways. Now that we've gotten more settled in and my schedule is starting to solidify, I'm hoping to make some headway on the language. I feel like it'll give me that much more opportunity to enjoy my time here.
Of course, many people asked me about my knowledge of the Korean language, (or lack thereof), as it pertains to my job, which is teaching English to Korean kids. Well, I don't need it at work, because the way language is taught here differs from the high school spanish/french/whatever classes you might be familiar with. Rather than translating everything from Korean into English, the idea is to create an immersive environment wherein the kids are obligated to speak only English from the moment they step in the building, to the moment they leave. In the early levels, this is hard, but over time the kids really pick things up. In my higher level classes - 10 to 12 year olds - the speaking abilities of my students are high enough that I can just sit there and converse with them. Of course, in the lower level classes I'm frequently just having them repeat after me, but you've gotta start somewhere.
My school (or English hagwon, as these things are sometimes called,) is the Pyungchon branch of SLP, the Sogang University Language Program. Basically, a highly regarded university here in Korea, Sogang, decided to get into the hagwon market by creating curriculum materials and starting up franchises. I think the business arrangements might be more complicated than that, but that's the gist. I use the books they write to teach English to the kids. This is a great deal more structured than it is at many hagwons, many of which do not have any kind of structured curriculum whatsoever. Of course, it's not perfect, but it helps, and I still have a lot of latitude to cover what I think the kids need to know. You might think that only experienced teachers could make those kinds of decisions, but when you're dealing with basic English, it becomes obvious pretty quickly as to what the kids need to be working on.
The kids themselves are an interesting lot. Going to a hagwon, which is basically a private afterschool program, is expensive, so we get our share of what seem to be spoiled rich kids. We also have a bunch of really sweet kids, though not as many as I'd like. I teach preschool in the mornings and elementary school aged kids in the afternoons. My preschool class is a group of 9 hellions that can be pretty bad, but the older kids tend to be much easier to control. Control is the operative word here. If you can't keep them quiet, you can't get anything done, so I tend to rule my classes with an iron fist. I goof around a lot, and make a lot of jokes, to keep the kids interested, but they all know by now that I can turn on the mean teacher juice at the drop of a hat, so I don't have to exert myself as much to keep them in line. All that projection and vocal control that I practiced as a theatre major is paying off in big ways now - in these small classrooms, I can pretty much deafen whole groups of kids without even trying. All that aside, it's pretty rewarding to actually see the kids learn things. It seems so hopeless for some of them at first, but they really start to pick it up. I've only been teaching for a few weeks, but already I'm seeing improvement in many of the students. I cling to this thought when the preschoolers make me want to throw them out the window.
Outside of the office/school, life stays interesting. I haven't found a Taekwondo school I'd like to train in yet, but I have found a Hapkido master who I like a lot. Actually, two of my coworkers, Ashley and Selina, started studying at this dojang a little while ago, and that's how I found out about it. The master doesn't have a lot of English, so the language barrier can be tough here. However, my previous experience in Taekwondo has really helped me in the beginning stages at least. Not to brag, but I am much more comfortable with the things that I'm learning than the other white belts are in the class. It only makes sense though - practicing one martial art is going to make it easier to learn others. Hapkido is quite different from Taekwondo in many ways, and after the stress of my black belt test, it's nice to take a few weeks off from training TKD every day and try something new.
Basic living here is easy. Ryan and I have discovered places to watch movies, buy electronics, get food from just about anywhere in the world, play putt putt golf, you name it, it's probably around Seoul somewhere. People are nice and prices are generally very fair. I like my job, my apartment, and my roommate. It ain't perfect, but I feel good about where I am. Plus, Koreans celebrate St. Patrick's day! I'll have some pictures up Irish folks parading (literally) through downtown Seoul very soon...
First off, apologies to all who thirsted for news/photos/assurance that Ryan and I are still alive. Our internet access was pretty spotty for a while there, but now we have incredibly fast access in our apartment, so staying in touch should be a lot easier. If anyone is so inclined, my Skype handle is "swiftestranger" - don't hate on my LOTR reference. Keep in mind that if you want to chat, you're going to have to pick a time that might be pretty weird for you. I think the time difference is about 11 hours.
Ryan and I made the trip in about 24 hours of travel time, start to finish. It was exhausting and it's taken us quite a while to get our bodies adjusted to the change of place. We're pretty well settled in now. Speaking of settled, I should mention that we're very happy with the apartment that our employer has set us up with. It's about a 5 minute walk from the school where we're teaching, and actually is much bigger than I suspected it might be. It's a two bedroom apartment, with one MASSIVE bedroom and one much smaller one. Rock paper scissors, best 2 out of 3, decided who would get the big'un: yours truly. You might think it's stange to decide that kind of thing this way, but it's how Korean kids decide EVERYTHING. The results are never argued about. Rock paper scissors is IT. Anyways, after figuring out the heating system by way of a helpful visit from our landlord, Mr. Yang, I have to say I quite enjoy the ondol setup. Ondol is the Korean style of heating. Pipes are laid out underneath the floor, and hot water is run through them, which means that the floor is radiating warmth at all times. It keeps the place pretty cozy.
Adjusting to the culture has been more or less easy, since American English teachers are fairly well respected. Americans in general are treated well here, though the US soldiers stationed at the Yongsan base enjoy a somewhat less savory reputation. Korean isn't really required to get along in Korea. Many people speak enough English to complete basic transactions, like buying things at the grocery store and ordering food at restaurants. Koreans are generally friendly in these kinds of situations and will work hard to please guests and customers. I'm trying to learn Korean anyways, but it's slow going, largely because I am easily distracted from spending my personal time in constructive ways. Now that we've gotten more settled in and my schedule is starting to solidify, I'm hoping to make some headway on the language. I feel like it'll give me that much more opportunity to enjoy my time here.
Of course, many people asked me about my knowledge of the Korean language, (or lack thereof), as it pertains to my job, which is teaching English to Korean kids. Well, I don't need it at work, because the way language is taught here differs from the high school spanish/french/whatever classes you might be familiar with. Rather than translating everything from Korean into English, the idea is to create an immersive environment wherein the kids are obligated to speak only English from the moment they step in the building, to the moment they leave. In the early levels, this is hard, but over time the kids really pick things up. In my higher level classes - 10 to 12 year olds - the speaking abilities of my students are high enough that I can just sit there and converse with them. Of course, in the lower level classes I'm frequently just having them repeat after me, but you've gotta start somewhere.
My school (or English hagwon, as these things are sometimes called,) is the Pyungchon branch of SLP, the Sogang University Language Program. Basically, a highly regarded university here in Korea, Sogang, decided to get into the hagwon market by creating curriculum materials and starting up franchises. I think the business arrangements might be more complicated than that, but that's the gist. I use the books they write to teach English to the kids. This is a great deal more structured than it is at many hagwons, many of which do not have any kind of structured curriculum whatsoever. Of course, it's not perfect, but it helps, and I still have a lot of latitude to cover what I think the kids need to know. You might think that only experienced teachers could make those kinds of decisions, but when you're dealing with basic English, it becomes obvious pretty quickly as to what the kids need to be working on.
The kids themselves are an interesting lot. Going to a hagwon, which is basically a private afterschool program, is expensive, so we get our share of what seem to be spoiled rich kids. We also have a bunch of really sweet kids, though not as many as I'd like. I teach preschool in the mornings and elementary school aged kids in the afternoons. My preschool class is a group of 9 hellions that can be pretty bad, but the older kids tend to be much easier to control. Control is the operative word here. If you can't keep them quiet, you can't get anything done, so I tend to rule my classes with an iron fist. I goof around a lot, and make a lot of jokes, to keep the kids interested, but they all know by now that I can turn on the mean teacher juice at the drop of a hat, so I don't have to exert myself as much to keep them in line. All that projection and vocal control that I practiced as a theatre major is paying off in big ways now - in these small classrooms, I can pretty much deafen whole groups of kids without even trying. All that aside, it's pretty rewarding to actually see the kids learn things. It seems so hopeless for some of them at first, but they really start to pick it up. I've only been teaching for a few weeks, but already I'm seeing improvement in many of the students. I cling to this thought when the preschoolers make me want to throw them out the window.
Outside of the office/school, life stays interesting. I haven't found a Taekwondo school I'd like to train in yet, but I have found a Hapkido master who I like a lot. Actually, two of my coworkers, Ashley and Selina, started studying at this dojang a little while ago, and that's how I found out about it. The master doesn't have a lot of English, so the language barrier can be tough here. However, my previous experience in Taekwondo has really helped me in the beginning stages at least. Not to brag, but I am much more comfortable with the things that I'm learning than the other white belts are in the class. It only makes sense though - practicing one martial art is going to make it easier to learn others. Hapkido is quite different from Taekwondo in many ways, and after the stress of my black belt test, it's nice to take a few weeks off from training TKD every day and try something new.
Basic living here is easy. Ryan and I have discovered places to watch movies, buy electronics, get food from just about anywhere in the world, play putt putt golf, you name it, it's probably around Seoul somewhere. People are nice and prices are generally very fair. I like my job, my apartment, and my roommate. It ain't perfect, but I feel good about where I am. Plus, Koreans celebrate St. Patrick's day! I'll have some pictures up Irish folks parading (literally) through downtown Seoul very soon...
Friday, February 23, 2007
New Beginnings, Also, Other Cheesy Titles
Well, it's all very official now. I'm flying to Korea on Monday, February 26th. With me will be my good friend Ryan Ellis. We're fixin' to learn them there Korean children some of that there English.
It still doesn't quite feel real. When doing serious traveling, it usually doesn't feel real to me until I do something normal like eat, or sleep. Then the reality of it all comes rushing in, like when your ears pop after hours of dim hearing. I'm definitely excited, though I know I'm going to miss some people very much. Some people I ALREADY miss a lot. You know who you are. But hey, that's the way it happens. People come and go - these days I do more of the latter, but traveling the world has been a dream of mine since I was a child. Only thing that's changed is that I figured out how to get paid for it.
In other news, I've earned my 1st degree black belt in Taekwondo. After years of on and off study, due to injury, college, etc., Master Yang gave me the chance to test for black belt before leaving for Korea, and I jumped on it. Having spent a good deal of my time over the last couple months training, it was still one of the hardest hours of my entire life. As it should be, I think. It feels really good to make that step before moving on to my next big thing. Taekwondo is something that'll always be with me, but it's nice to feel like I at least finished my current assignment before skipping town. Of course, I'll continue to train in TKD while I'm in Korea, as well as other martial arts. Also, immediately after my time in Korea, I'm planning on spending some time in Thailand training in Muay Thai... but that's a whole other story.
My next post will be from the other side of the ocean. Wish me luck!
It still doesn't quite feel real. When doing serious traveling, it usually doesn't feel real to me until I do something normal like eat, or sleep. Then the reality of it all comes rushing in, like when your ears pop after hours of dim hearing. I'm definitely excited, though I know I'm going to miss some people very much. Some people I ALREADY miss a lot. You know who you are. But hey, that's the way it happens. People come and go - these days I do more of the latter, but traveling the world has been a dream of mine since I was a child. Only thing that's changed is that I figured out how to get paid for it.
In other news, I've earned my 1st degree black belt in Taekwondo. After years of on and off study, due to injury, college, etc., Master Yang gave me the chance to test for black belt before leaving for Korea, and I jumped on it. Having spent a good deal of my time over the last couple months training, it was still one of the hardest hours of my entire life. As it should be, I think. It feels really good to make that step before moving on to my next big thing. Taekwondo is something that'll always be with me, but it's nice to feel like I at least finished my current assignment before skipping town. Of course, I'll continue to train in TKD while I'm in Korea, as well as other martial arts. Also, immediately after my time in Korea, I'm planning on spending some time in Thailand training in Muay Thai... but that's a whole other story.
My next post will be from the other side of the ocean. Wish me luck!
Monday, February 5, 2007
Off and running... to another country.
I'm finally going to Asia, which I've wanted to do for most of my life. How, when, why, blah blah blah?, you may or may not be asking yourself. Here's the deal:
English is the language that business is done in, worldwide. Korea is a country that does a lot of business and has a thriving economy, so learning English is really big there. Not only is it taught in regular public schools, but the country is full of smaller, private programs that utilize native speakers of English in furthering the language skills of the Korean children. I was just poking around the education section of job listings on craigslist, when I came across a recruiter whose job it is to find college educated native English speakers to send off to these schools in Korea.
It works like this: you don't have to have formal teaching experience or an education degree, but due to Korean immigration requirements, you do have to have a 4 year degree, and due to the school's requirements, you must be a native speaker of English. You also have to be willing to sign a 12 month contract, but it's a pretty sweet deal. The average pay is a little over 2 grand a month, an apartment is provided to you with free rent, and your plane tickets - there and back - are paid for. I thought, well, I need money to move to Chicago or NYC, and this has got to be better than waiting tables. I was tired enough of that grind to try any job that pays as well, really. So I applied, and even got my friend from JMU, Ryan Ellis, to apply.
Ryan has been living in Richmond since graduation, working some decent jobs and living on the cheap in a group house. He has a real interest in teaching, though, as well as an interest in adventure, so it was more or less easy to get him on board. We got our applications considered together, and as of this writing, we've been hired by a school in Anyang (1 hour south of Seoul) to teach English to elementary school age children. We'll also be sharing a two bedroom apartment.
Sounds great, right? Only thing is we don't speak Korean.
Of course, you don't have to, since many people in South Korea speak some English, and the children aren't allowed to use much Korean in the classes at all. However, I'd like to be able to find my way around a little when we get there, so I've got some Korean language software and a book of "Survival Korean." I figure I'll just sort of have to roll with it.
We'll be leaving before the end of February, so anybody who wants to see myself or Ryan before a year goes by better hop to it.
In other news, my Taekwondo teachers, Master Yang and Master Kwon, after some initial misgivings, have supported my trip to Korea. The big deal here is that Master Yang is offering to let me take my black belt test before I leave the country - which basically means allowing me to skip a belt to do so. Of course, I have been training longer than many of the black belts in my dojang, the difference between us being that I've missed more belt tests than anyone else. Still, it shows a lot of confidence on the part of my teachers, which is an honor. It's also going to make my life a lot more convenient as far as Taekwondo training in Korea is concerned, since the 1st degree black belt is technically the first belt that actually transfers from school to school. Without a black belt, I would be faced with the prospect of starting all over again at the bottom of the ranking system in a new school. Let's hope that I pass my black belt test here in the states! As usual, I'm confident that I'll be successful.
Well, that's it for now. Stay tuned for more travel details - exact date of departure, etc - as well as more pictures being put up. I'd like to get all those Europe photos up before I start getting all snap-happy in Korea...
English is the language that business is done in, worldwide. Korea is a country that does a lot of business and has a thriving economy, so learning English is really big there. Not only is it taught in regular public schools, but the country is full of smaller, private programs that utilize native speakers of English in furthering the language skills of the Korean children. I was just poking around the education section of job listings on craigslist, when I came across a recruiter whose job it is to find college educated native English speakers to send off to these schools in Korea.
It works like this: you don't have to have formal teaching experience or an education degree, but due to Korean immigration requirements, you do have to have a 4 year degree, and due to the school's requirements, you must be a native speaker of English. You also have to be willing to sign a 12 month contract, but it's a pretty sweet deal. The average pay is a little over 2 grand a month, an apartment is provided to you with free rent, and your plane tickets - there and back - are paid for. I thought, well, I need money to move to Chicago or NYC, and this has got to be better than waiting tables. I was tired enough of that grind to try any job that pays as well, really. So I applied, and even got my friend from JMU, Ryan Ellis, to apply.
Ryan has been living in Richmond since graduation, working some decent jobs and living on the cheap in a group house. He has a real interest in teaching, though, as well as an interest in adventure, so it was more or less easy to get him on board. We got our applications considered together, and as of this writing, we've been hired by a school in Anyang (1 hour south of Seoul) to teach English to elementary school age children. We'll also be sharing a two bedroom apartment.
Sounds great, right? Only thing is we don't speak Korean.
Of course, you don't have to, since many people in South Korea speak some English, and the children aren't allowed to use much Korean in the classes at all. However, I'd like to be able to find my way around a little when we get there, so I've got some Korean language software and a book of "Survival Korean." I figure I'll just sort of have to roll with it.
We'll be leaving before the end of February, so anybody who wants to see myself or Ryan before a year goes by better hop to it.
In other news, my Taekwondo teachers, Master Yang and Master Kwon, after some initial misgivings, have supported my trip to Korea. The big deal here is that Master Yang is offering to let me take my black belt test before I leave the country - which basically means allowing me to skip a belt to do so. Of course, I have been training longer than many of the black belts in my dojang, the difference between us being that I've missed more belt tests than anyone else. Still, it shows a lot of confidence on the part of my teachers, which is an honor. It's also going to make my life a lot more convenient as far as Taekwondo training in Korea is concerned, since the 1st degree black belt is technically the first belt that actually transfers from school to school. Without a black belt, I would be faced with the prospect of starting all over again at the bottom of the ranking system in a new school. Let's hope that I pass my black belt test here in the states! As usual, I'm confident that I'll be successful.
Well, that's it for now. Stay tuned for more travel details - exact date of departure, etc - as well as more pictures being put up. I'd like to get all those Europe photos up before I start getting all snap-happy in Korea...
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