Spring is here!

The cherry blossoms are out and I'm not wearing my winter coat in the classroom every day, so it must be spring! Hope you're feeling the sun and warm breezes wherever you are, too.

It's been a busy month. Emily's visit has been really fun filled with yoga, temples and sight-seeing. We're definitely making the most of my new car. We decided to go to Seoul this Friday so she can see it for a day before her flight home to Seattle Saturday afternoon. I plan to take it easy the next few weeks, just school, yoga and sleeping! And getting back to my Korean lessons since those have been put on the back burner lately.

Emily's taken bunches of pictures with my camera so I'll get to posting those in the next week. For now, check out her blog at www.emilypassic.blogspot.com.

A visitor has arrived

My cousin Emily came to visit! She'll be here for another 2 1/2 weeks so I make no guarantees I'll be blogging regularly this month. However, you can go to her blog at www.emilypassic.blogspot.com and follow her experiences on Jeju Island. It's interesting seeing her go through the same things I went through over 6 months ago. It makes me remember how it felt to be new here. Now things feel so normal and comfortable and I'm pretty set in my every day life.

Highlights of the past few weeks include:

• Yoga Master Class: On Monday, Jason took Emily and I to a yoga class he used to go to right next to my school. The teacher is an older Korean man who teaches Iyengar style yoga. The class was amazing (and I don't often say that about yoga classes!) It was all in Korean, but he said a few English pose names to help us out. The energy of the class and his teaching was really incredible, relaxed but still very challenging. I'd like to start going 2 times a week which will mean some re-arranging of other activities, but I think I found this class for a reason and I will make it a priority to go.
  

• Driving my Car! Yes, I bought a car. It wouldn't have been possible without my wonderful friend Sin Nae who employed her contacts at a few used car lots in Hwabuk, just east of my school. She took me car shopping 3 times and finally we found the perfect little '96 Hyundai Accent in Korean white - the most popular color - with dents and dimples aplenty. It was the cheapest and the nicest of the 3 cars I test drove and after 5 days I can say I'm quite happy with my purchase! Em and I spent the weekend driving around the island breaking in my wheels and wasting gas.

• Yeongsil Hermitage Temple Visit: We went back to the Hermitage Temple on Yeongsil at Mt. Halla last weekend with the usual troupe of folks and their visiting families (Colleen's sister Allison, Alex's brother Ian and my cousin Emily). The monk in residence invited us in for Chinese and Korean tea and we sat on his heated floor admiring the beautiful Spring day for 2 1/2 hours. Unfortunately our Korean friend Young Ja, who usually acts as translator, couldn't make it so I translated most of the afternoon. There's a good chance I got most of it wrong, but I tried my best!

The monk giving Emily a massage

• Tea Farms: One of our many stops whilst exploring the island was Jeju Green Tea Farm. It's situated a little ways up the mountain and has a beautiful view of Seogwipo and the ocean. The grounds are covered with Korean totems. A wonderfully nice woman was manning the tea shop and she served us delicious local green tea and talked about everything they sold in the shop. Again, I did my best to understand and translate to Emily...I definately didn't catch all of it, though.

• New School Year: The new year is underway and I've almost taught every class in the 3rd-6th grade. My schedule is a bit different from last year but I'm still teaching 5th & 6th grade every week, 3rd & 4th grade every other week, and the teachers once a week. Coming into this semester my perspective was much different knowing most of the kids and teachers already and understanding their English abilities. We're trying some new, fun things, playing with new material and technology, and starting early enforcing some classroom rules. I now have 2 classrooms and the brand new one is GORGEOUS! My biggest challenge is changing the things I can, accepting that which I cannot, and knowing the difference. Isn't it always!

And now, back to school

Today is the first day of school! Excitement abounds here at Jeju-dong Elementary School. The teachers have been shuffled and adjusted, the astroturf is being laid, and kids are running around cleaning out classrooms. I consider myself one of the luckiest foreign teachers on Jeju. Why? Because...I have 2 wonderful young, positive Korean co-teachers who are as excited to teach with me as I am with them (and they both speak fantastic English - woopee!). Because the 4th grade teachers in my wing of the building are some of the best teachers in the school. Because I get a brand-spanking new classroom in a matter of weeks. Because decisions that impact me at school are actually run by me and my opinion counts. Because it's a beautiful sunny day and spring is coming! Because this week I intend to purchase a car which will make my morning sleep time considerably longer. And because my cousin Emily arrived safe and sound in Jeju last night and I get to spend the next month with her as we explore Jeju, practice yoga, play with the kids at my school, and eat delicious Korean food. Yes, this semester looks even more promising than last if that's possible. To quote Koreans everywhere, "I am happy."