A few pictures

Merry Christmas! This was a cute coffee shop in Itaewon (Seoul)

Rebecca & Phil enjoying my Thanksgiving pie

Homemade Apple, walnut, and pumpkin pie

My Christmas tree!

A popular advertisement in a smoothie shop in Seoul. Whitening cream and the concept of "being white" is very popular for Korean women.

Aussie meat pies & grog in Itaewon. I bought Tim-Tams, too! They're keeping in my freezer for a Tim Tam Slammer.

A Christmas tree shop in Seoul

Check out the sign..."doobee, doobee, doo"

The BEST hodeok in Korea. Pancake-like dough filled with either vegetables, honey, or cinnamon & sugar, we waited in line 30 minutes for these and it was well worth it.

There are a few cocktail carts that sell drinks in plastic bags on the streets of Seoul.

Winter fashion in Korea

5 1/2 days and counting

"It's December 17th," one shy 5th grader states.

"Right! And how many days until Christmas?" I ask.

"Uh...(counting on fingers in Korean)...eight!"

"eight...?"

"It's eight days!" she exclaims, knowing candy is close now.

"Good! Eight days until Christmas," I confirm, pulling out a mini candy cane. "This is for you. Thank you for your help today!"

"Thank you, Ms. Bryant," she quietly says over her classmates envious groans.

And that's the extent of my teaching the last two days. Then we turn on the Harry Potter and the kids are pretty happy with their end of the year English class. Here in Korea, religiously affiliated holidays are fair game to teach in school. Plus our winter vacation coincides with the date of Christmas so it makes sense to count down to winter vacation as well as Christmas. Last year I made an advent calendar and introduced the idea of counting down days with candy. I think it's a great way to start class with a reminder of how to say the date in English and doing a little counting. For a lot of my students, this is still very difficult. In fact, only my 6th graders are expected to know months and ordinal numbers in English. Today and tomorrow I'll teach a Christmas themed lesson to 150 adorable 3rd graders. Next week will be more movies & Christmas songs. The kids are so burned out this time of year with tests, open classes, and end of the year cleaning in their homeroom classes that they need a little rest in English class.

As of December 25th our school has a 5 week holiday. We come back February 1st for 2 weeks of cleaning, graduation, and evaluations, then another 2 weeks off before the 2010 school year starts around March 1st. I may or may not be placed at the same school next semester, that information will be given out Feb 27th or 28th. Yes, the day before school starts.

So the big news: I was chosen as one of the top 11 teachers in Jeju for 2009! Every foreign teacher had to submit a video evaluation in late spring of last year and ours was chosen as one of the best. So what does that mean? We get a letter of commendation from the Jeju Provincial Office of Education and if we re-sign our contract we'll get a raise. I don't plan to re-sign next fall, though, so unfortunately it doesn't affect my pay. Also, the video that my co-teacher and I made for the Korean National Education Office is on the EPIK (English Program in Korea) website. Only the first 3 minutes will play (there's some glitch in the player) but you can check it out at www.epik.go.kr. Go to "Teacher's Resources" at the top, then "VOD" on the left hand menu. We are "dong elementary school" from Jeju. Apparently my name is Bryant Kafissa Ann. Ah well. No one can pronounce it, anyway.

It's been snowing here for the past few days. Maybe we'll have a white Christmas in Jeju!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving passed in a blur this year with much feasting! I hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for a few close friends and Jason & I made duck a l'orange, mashed potatoes, and all the fixins. Cindy & I even baked 3 pies. Unfortunately, the canned pumpkin I hauled all the way from Seattle didn't turn out that well in my pumpkin pie. Many ingredients are hard to find here and my substitutions...well...it wasn't the best. But the rest of dinner was delish. We were so busy at school that I didn't have time to teach a Thanksgiving lesson this year, but most of the kids remembered what we learned last year.

So the big thing in my life right now is fixing my back. I've had chronic back, shoulder, and neck pain for the past 5 or 6 years and now that I have the time and money and a great doctor, it seems to be the time to fix it. My Korean traditional doctor who has been treating me with acupuncture for the past 6 months asked me to take some X-rays so we can figure out the root of the problem. So I went to a little X-ray clinic where I paid 11,000 won (about $10) for 4 X-rays and a doctor consultation. As it turns out, I have a flat spine with reverse curve in my lumbar spine (lower back), a slight right curve in my thoracic spine (middle back), and a reverse curve in my cervical spine (neck). My doctor offered me a treatment that is a combination of massage (moving the facia to change the muscles to move the bones), acupuncture, joint release, a little chiropractic, and whatever else he feels like doing. The treatments are 2 times a week, 1 1/2-2 hours and I pay 40,000-50,000 won. It's not covered by my medical insurance, but I'm not complaining. Can you imagine any similar treatment in America? 2 hours of intense massage, acupuncture and chiropractic treatment for $40?? No, sir. I've had 6 treatments and my chronic pain is diminishing. There's noticeable change in my posture and my shoulder imbalance (one is quite a bit higher than the other). Hopefully by early Spring I'll be able to return to my yoga practice with the master which I've temporarily quit to undergo this treatment. About half of the session is very painful and I've been given express permission to yell or scream. Some of the acupuncture is quite painful, but part of each session is relaxing, too. My doctor gives me cranial-sacral massage (very, very slight movements at the base of my skull) and then I get hooked up to a mobile traction machine. I lay on a plastic pillow which inflates and deflates to specific pressure releasing points in my neck. This is usually accompanied by acupuncture down the front of my legs whilst laying on a heated bed for about 30 minutes. I think the experience is uniquely Korean and I will certainly never forget it.

Jason & I took a mini-break to Seoul this weekend to visit some friends and soak up the spreading commercialism of Christmas in the big city. Mission Accomplished. Lights, holiday shopping sales and Christmas Trees abound in South Korea's vast capital city. We went to a few distinctly foreign areas of Seoul - like Itaewon, home to the American army base - where coffee shops and restaurants decorated in tinsel and ornamental trees dotted the sunny, cold street. The best part of any trip to Seoul is the chance to dine on international cuisine. We hit an Aussie pie shop for meat pies & Aussie grog, had an Indian buffet dinner, went to a "living room" themed bar for imported beer and comfy couches, enjoyed brewed coffee & western hash browns over breakfast at a Canadian Tavern, drank Erdinger at a German Brewhaus, and drank mocktails and cocktails out of IV-style plastic bags from a street cart. And don't forget the Starbucks. Mmm...soy toffee nut latte! Jason & I have some very close friends in Seoul and we spent most of our weekend visiting with them...and Christmas shopping.

As for the holidays in Jeju, it's about the same as last year. We finish with school on Christmas Eve and I assume we'll get out early, although that has not been confirmed. Some friends are hosting Christmas Eve & Christmas dinner so Jason & I will spend our holidays with close friends enjoying home-cooked food. Maybe we'll get a little snow here, you never know. I was much colder in Seoul than it is in Jeju and I'm enjoying this sunny 8C degree (45F or so) Monday weather very much. Our building will host a Holiday potluck this upcoming weekend and there have been various cookie making, movie watching Christmas themed evenings.

So school's out from Dec. 24 - Feb 1st. What am I going to do, you ask? Well! I have about 2 1/2 weeks of teaching...and then off to Thailand! I've booked my flight for the 14th of January up to Seoul where I'll spend a cold, wintry night with friends then hop a quick 6 hour flight to Bangkok and take a short ferry to the lovely beaches of Ko Samet. As of now I'm going alone. Many Jeju friends are planning similar trips around the same time so I'll probably meet up with folks along the way, but what I want is a quiet, retreat vacation. I'm mimicking my friend Emma's trip up north to Chiang Mai and Pai for a massage course, personal yoga sessions, and a stay at a Thai Buddhist Forest Temple. Don't worry, I'll be safe. And warm.

Just a quick rant: One thing I still don't understand here is how little value is placed on classroom instruction time in Korea. My co-teacher constantly gets phone calls, emails, and emergency documents that she has to attend to during class time. She is called away to talk to other teachers and administrators while she is teaching. I just don't get it. Can't this stuff wait until after the 40 minute class period? These kids only get about an hour of English time a week and that is constantly diminishing because of teachers' meetings, administrative needs, and extra work. I'm sure I don't know the whole story and I'm trying to keep my personal judgements out, but sometimes it seems like teaching is the least important thing that a teacher does in Korea.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays wherever you are!

Holy Crap! It's November?

Well, already starting off poorly on the "keep up with weekly blogs" goal. Ah well, just enjoying life, no time to talk about it. (See above glowing sunset for proof of life enjoyment.)

I took my co-teacher out for a great Italian dinner after our teaching video was finished. (Yes, there is a great Italian place in Jeju with a huge and expensive imported wine list!)

Excited kids learning about Halloween

You did what to that pumpkin? Can we still eat it??

3rd graders and their scary Halloween masks

Let's see...school's good. 7 1/2 weeks of school until Christmas. Yoga classes are going very well. Extra English classes are lots of work, but they're okay. My co-teacher and I produced a teaching video that will be used for the National English Teacher training next year (WAY more stress than it needed to be!) Halloween was pretty fun. More fun to teach than to celebrate, really. Nothing like the all out party of last year - fortunately, since I was a little under the weather. I'm really picking up Korean, feeling better about my communication skills every day. I have a new Korean "teacher" who doesn't speak English as well as my last teacher which makes the necessity of Korean communication greater.

A Korean friend's wedding by the beach in Hamdoek

Jason & I at the wedding

I went camping with Jason, Jay and Erin 2 weekends ago. I love that it's warm enough to camp in the forest in the middle of October. We considered going again, but the weather turned cold a few days ago. We'll see...Before that was the 2nd Beach Volleyball tournament. My team was comprised of folks who live in my apartment building and we called ourselves the "Way Go's" - an abbreviation of the Foreign Language High School (that's where we live) or Way-guk-oh Go-deung-hak-kyo in Korean. My team did not fare as well as last year but we had plenty of fun. Beach season is now officially over so it was great to have one last beach camping weekend.

The Way Go's
(check out the matching sweat bands)

In general I find myself exploring the island less and falling into a routine. Not that life here is boring, just that it's not quite as exciting once you've settled in and made some close friends. Is that what it's like living somewhere for more than 1 year? It's been a long time since I stayed in the same city this long.

Bijarim Nutmeg Forest

Jeju is still beautiful, though! Beaches, forests & mountains abound so there's always something to do outside. Next weekend I'll be hiking the Yeongshil trail of Mt. Halla with my friend Erin. It's the prettiest hike for viewing fall leaves. The Bijarim Nutmeg Forest was a beautiful place to camp with hundreds of old-growth Japanese Nutmeg trees, pine trees, and maples.

Just so you know...

My co-teacher & I on a school field trip to Mt. Halla.

"...and many women." Priceless.

Another quick week

Two weeks in and I find myself busy, busy, busy! Thanks to the stunning recommendations my over-zealous co-teacher gives of me, I've taken a few extra weekend teaching jobs with some advanced classes, I picked up an extra class for this Saturday at a friend's elementary school, I'm back to teaching yoga 2 days a week (soon to be 3 perhaps), and I'm teaching some of the soccer players at my school one evening a week. I'm still aiming to do a Korean language exchange once a week, go to my yoga master at least twice a week, and continue with acupuncture. So with all that, I decided to have a quiet evening in tonight for all those wonderful chores that get neglected when you don't come home before 9pm every night. A riveting Friday night of laundry and dishes.

Let's start with those goals for the year:
- Blog weekly & stay in touch with friends and family
- Be present and aware
- Continue learning Korean
- Make time for relaxation and self-reflection (sauna, hiking, reading and a home yoga practice)
- Work down the student loan debt and save $$
- Continue to improve my skills as an English teacher

The wonderful thing about posting these online is that I know I'll hold myself accountable for them since who knows how many people will read this post. At least one I hope.

I may have mentioned in the past semester the difficulty I've been having with our 4th grade students. My co-teacher and I persevered all Spring through shouting, fighting, little to no respect or quiet in the classroom, and very little English learning taking place. So for the past 2 months I've been quietly putting together a plan to change this. Thank you, thank you, thank you to those of you who supplied me with ideas or supported my moaning and crying. I'm happy to report that my co-teacher and I put together a system which, thus far, has totally worked!

With the help of the 4th grade home room teachers, we have a new system of accountability for the students' behavior in English class, and they have laid down the law about the importance of their English education. In our classroom, we set up both a reward system (based on daily points and class rewards) and a discipline system (based on "yellow card", "red card", note to the teacher) that are clearly laid out and non-negotiable. The biggest problem last semester, in my opinion, was the expectations and discipline methods were not enough to hold the students accountable for their actions. We had classroom rules, just no set way to enforce them. This week was the first time I've taught 4th grade all year that I haven't been upset after every class, wondering why were wasting out time babysitting these kids. There is now a positive environment for learning in our classroom. I felt, again for the first time this year, that most of the kids learned a least a little something this week.

I don't always write about it, but teaching is the reason I'm here and it's extremely important to me. As a foreign teacher sometimes our job is a joke, classes are often canceled, teachers aren't always respected, and, frankly, sometimes you know you're just filling space as the Westerner in the classroom. In the past year I've learned to let things go when they aren't going well, how to modify a lesson mid-stream to go with the mood of the class, and not to take the other stuff personally. But I know that because I always come into the classroom 100% prepared and wholly committed to what I'm teaching, my students have a chance to learn something. In the past few months I've seen improvement in so many students' attitude about learning, their behavior, and their confidence in themselves, and it recommits me to teaching every time.

Of course, catch me after my next bad lesson and I might have a completely different story.

Check out some recent adventurous pictures on my facebook; I'll get them up here soon.

Year 2: Post #1

I'm back in Jeju after a crazy awesome month long vacation in the USA. I'll post a nice long blog and pictures about that soon. But here's a catch-up on the last 2 weeks in Jeju...

Quarantine! I was greeted at the Incheon International Airport in Seoul with an ear thermometer and a health questionnaire. (Did you know the normal temp in Celsius is 36.5? I did not.) Like a responsible teacher, I dropped into my school the following afternoon to check-in and was told to leave immediately and not come back for a week. All overseas travelers are quarantined for a week which means no work! So I had a surprise vacation in Jeju to recuperate from the jet-lag and unpack the ridiculous amount of stuff I brought back with me. Of course, I abided by the recommendation to stay in my home and not go in public places. (hehe) I got in a bit of beach time, ocean swimming, yoga classes, sauna visits, and I paid another visit to Baeknokdam, the crater at the top of Mt. Halla. Unfortunately it was an overcast day and the whole hike was in the clouds so the visibility was nill, but at least it wasn't too hot. I was still covered head to toe in sweat by the end of the 6 hour hike (my personal best) and my calves were sore for 4 or 5 days. Thanks be to cheap saunas!

On my trip to Seattle & NY I went to a number of yoga studios and reveled in the luxury of studying yoga with an English speaking teacher. The best studio was OM Yoga in NYC. I would strongly recommend it to anyone. It was interesting practicing some different styles of yoga and observing the changes in my own practice over the past year. Some things which used to be difficult were quite simple and some things I thought would be simple I met with great difficulty. For example: downward facing dog, a standard asana in an yoga class, especially the vinyasa, or flowing, kind. But we don't typically practice down dog in my class in Korea and if we do, its in the Iyengar style which is a completely different position for your chest, ribcage, and shoulder girdle. I left many American classes in pain because I just couldn't connect with that pose. On the other hand, the back-bending series in a hot yoga class, which I used to dread, was so easy! We spend 10-40 minutes every class (in Korea) doing back bends from every angle imaginable, so my body is quite accustomed to that movement. I really missed the big back-bends, head-stands, and challenging balancing poses which not a single American class attempted. So when I came back to Korea and went to that first class Tuesday morning I was surprised to experience a similar re-integration. Some asanas that have troubled me for the past 6 months I fell right into, I think because not doing them for a month gave me some space to allow them to exist. Instead of over thinking, I just did. What I'm trying to say is: The month-long change was really good for my practice and I now feel rejuvenated to practice and teach yoga.

I've been told that it's officially fall in Korea. The seasons change with the months, not the equinox/solstice changes in the west so September - November is the fall season. But you wouldn't know it from the weather! It's been sunny or partly cloudy and warm since my return. Not as hot & humid as last September, fortunately, but I was more prepared for hot weather this year so maybe I'm just more acclimated. I've swam in the ocean 3 times since my return and hope to do it many more. This weekend we're planning a camping trip to celebrate Julia's birthday.

And the best news yet...I got to stay at my school! Most people are re-assigned schools every semester or every year. I consider myself very lucky to get to stay with my awesome co-teachers and students for another semester. (Of course I say this amid a lecture my co-teacher is currently giving to a 6th grade class for running, fighting, and flipping the bird in our classroom). I also was offered a few extra classes this semester to some advanced students on Saturdays, so I have a bunch of extra lesson planning to do this week before those classes start. I'm looking forward to teaching in a very different circumstance, small classes of advanced students for 3 hours instead of huge classes of very mixed level kids for 40 minutes.

And on that note, time to get back to planning. Ciao!

Let me sum up

Tomorrow is my last day of teaching! I've finished my 1 year of teaching in Jeju. Already. This week I'm trying to fit all the beach time, acupuncture*, and yoga classes I can before my month trip to the states. (*A note on the Acupuncture: it's really helping my neck. I've been going about 3x a week and I get needles in my hips, neck and spine. The doctor is also trying to fix my spinal alignment and whatever else he finds in there. I think I'll keep going to the doctor after my vacation.) And as a fitting ending, I'm teaching all about America tomorrow in my last day of English camp. I've still got tons to do before I hop on a plane next weekend, but I'm sure it'll fly. 7 short days!

So it seems an appropriate time to evaluate this years goals. From my very first Korea blog:

"-Learn to speak and read Korean (Yikes!)
-Improve my classroom teaching skills
-Teach community Yoga
-Take any adventure that comes my way"

I'd say check, check, check and check! My Korean is ever improving and I'm pretty happy with what I've learned in the past 11 months. I've learned immeasurable amounts of new teaching skills. I've been teaching community yoga for 10 months, and there's hardly an adventure I've passed up! I'm already planning a trip to Japan after I get back in September and trying to finagle my winter break so I can go back to S.E. Asia and do some sort of yoga training in February. This year has been all about trying new things on a tremendous learning curve. Next year will be the first time I've lived in the same place for more than a year since college. I don't really know what to expect, but I'm sure it will be good. I'll set some new goals when I come back to Jeju and settle in again.

See you this summer!
Namaste

The acupuncturist

This morning I had my first acupuncture experience. I went in a few days ago and got an adjustment, but this morning I swallowed my fear and let someone put needles in my neck. And it didn't hurt that bad. The needles don't really hurt, but once they get into the muscles there's this pressure and release that feels really weird. My doctor is extremely nice, really knowledgable, and his English is great. Hopefully this will help my chronic, but worse lately, neck and shoulder problems. Oh, and it cost...$5.40. Today is one of those days that I love Korea.

Almost a year already?

4 weeks and counting! To my vacation in the USA that is. I eventually managed to buy my plane ticket from Seoul to Seattle and I was officially approved for rehire by Jeju EPIK. I sign my new contract on July 16th (yes, everything here is that last minute), the last day of school is July 17th, I'll get a new Visa, and I'll be in Seattle on August 1st. Woohoo! So now every one's asking, "What do you want to do at home?" "What do you miss the most?" There are definitely foods and experiences that I miss from America and especially Seattle, but what I'm really looking forward to is being at my mom's house with my family. This is the longest I've gone with out seeing my family and it's now beginning to creep up on me. I think being home a month will be enough time to see everyone, enjoy American life, and be ready to come back to my little Korean island. Jeju is my home for the moment and I look forward to another year here.

That said, I won't miss the humidity! The rainy season is upon us and thankfully it's brought cooler temperatures and cloudier days. Rain in the summer doesn't bother me a bit, being from the ultimate rainy city, and the heat was starting to creep up there for a few weeks. Once the rain lets up it'll be hot and muggy until October.

A recap of the past few weeks...

The sun comes out here and the foreigners go to the beach! You can tell they're foreigners because you can see their skin. Koreans tend to wear t-shirts and shorts at least, or some people cover every inch of skin on their bodies. Last weekend there was a big festival on Jungmun beach with a surfing contest, live music all night, and hundreds of people. I celebrated the 4th of July with foreigners and Koreans alike dancing to Reggae on the beach, swimming, and lighting roman candles. Good 'nuff for me.

The weekend before was another Open Mic night. A friend of mine has organized these every few months for a couple of years. Now we have a venue right on the water with comfy couches, a really big stage, keyboard, drum kit, and amps. I'm tempted to perform in the fall if I find the time to prepare a few pieces. It's been way too long since I sang in public. The turn-out at this Open Mic was huge as it was also a good-bye party for a few people and turned into an engagement celebration, too! The foreigner community here on Jeju is really fantastic, people are open, friendly, easy-going, and fun loving. I have absolutely nothing to compare it to, but I think Jeju has one of the best ex-pat communities out there.

School is wrapping up...7 days of classes and 5 days of camp left. If you live in Seattle or NYC, I'll see you soon! We finished our end of semester English testing last week, this week I'm teaching an Independence Day lesson and next week will be board games and movies. I'll be celebrating the end of the school year at Gimnyeong Beach with "Jejustock", a benefit festival with live music, booze, and beach activities.

On a not so good note, I hurt my neck a few weeks ago and it doesn't seem to be getting better. I finally went to the Korean traditional doctor across the street and got an adjustment today and he really wants me to do acupuncture. From what I hear, Korean acupuncture - called chim - is very painful. I'm totally a pain wuss when it comes to needles so I'm more than a little hesitant. The needles are much bigger than Chinese or Japanese style and they just go in your hand. We'll see...

Sorry about the lack of writing. I'll try to post again before I head home. Hope everyone had a safe & fun 4th of July, Canada Day or whatever your last national holiday was!

A not so good day

Yesterday was one of those days where things just don't go right. After my 5 5th grade classes - which were tough but not excruciating - I spent a good 2 hours trying to buy my Seoul/Seattle plane ticket online. My co-teacher did everything she could to help me, but in the end it turns out I can't buy my ticket from the Korean website with a foreign credit card. Bummer! So I went to KEB and opened an international account with a check card that will *hopefully* will work online. Fingers crossed. After all that, I found I had locked my keys in my car and was already late to meet someone. Woops! Of course, I don't carry my car insurance information on me so I had to have my co-teacher call someone to come unlock it for $10. I made it to my yoga class at exactly the start time. And then when I got home there was a traffic ticket in my mailbox! Jeju has just installed all these cameras to catch traffic violaters. It seems I ran a red light going 52 km/hr and have to pay a $60 fine. It's still waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cheaper than a similar violation in the States. Lastly, the virus on my home computer is going to require a new operating system because my current one is d*e*a*d. Ah, well. Today is a new day.

Jeju Furey Beach Volleyball Tournament

This weekend was the first annual Jeju Beach Volleyball tournament. Sixteen teams of foreign and Korean players competed for fame & glory over 2 days of competitive volleying. Together with Cindy, Mike, Cynthia and 2 of her Korean co-workers, our team "Bling, Bling!" played roughly 16 hours of sweaty, sandy volleyball and, man, was it fun!!

"Bling, Bling" warming up before a match

Game faces: ON



But still time for some spectating

We camped Friday night amidst strong winds and a big chance of showers. It was still iffy Saturday morning as the games kicked off at 8am in heavy fog and mist, but the sun broke through and we were complaining of the heat by mid-morning. Fortunately, the ocean was 10 feet from the courts and after a sweaty game we cooled off with a dip in the sea and a cold beer. After 6 matches on Saturday - 2 games each - our team narrowly finished 3rd of 4 in our pool (almost 2nd, not almost 4th). But pizza, cupcakes and a dazzling sunset cheered our spirits. We camped out again Saturday night and woke up early Sunday to do it all over again.

Saturday morning, a little foggy?

Starting to clear up...let's play!

Mike & I on a break


A magnificent sunset at Iho beach

Sunday started with two losses, but we quickly recovered by winning the next 6 in a row. We came all the way back up, beat the team we lost to in the morning and finished 2nd place in the tournament! We were the underdog story of the year. I escaped with only a little sunburn, some bumps and bruises, but so many great memories. There's talk of another tourney in October and I can't wait to play beach volleyball again. It was more fun than I thought possible.

Tent city Sunday morning, sunny & warm!

Glad Mike was on our team! (That's him 2 feet off the ground)

Some random pictures

Jason's farewell party @ the Baghdad Cafe

Some people have a hard time saying goodbye...

A first birthday party with mom in Hanbok - traditional Korean clothing.

Hee Jeung (mom) taught 4th grade at my school last year.

Just another day in paradise ~ some great times on Jeju