Apparently, I've lost weight. I don't know how, I had no intention of losing weight, but I have. People are starting to tell me how thin I look and not in that "Oh my gosh, you're so thin! You're so lucky!" kind-of way, but in that questioning, accusatory way. So now I will describe to you my daily routine and you can decide for yourself if I'm healthy or if I should do something different.

I'll start off with the fact that I live in Korea and in Korea one of their favorite expressions is "많이 드쎄요!" nicely translated as "Help yourself" but literally meaning "Eat a lot!". So I do. I eat constantly. I have breakfast every morning of bread, cereal, or oatmeal. I eat a snack with the teachers sometime in the mid-morning and then I eat a Korean style lunch of rice, soup, assorted vegetable dishes, and a meat-product. I eat an afternoon snack. I eat dinner. I usually have an evening snack of a brownie or a piece of chocolate. When you go to a restaurant (which I do 3-4 times a week) you can have FREE servings of side dishes, as many as you want. And when you dine with Koreans they always tell you, "eat more!" So what I'm summarizing here is that perhaps my metabolism has sped up. Many nutritional philosophies tell you to eat every 2-3 hours and I definitely do that. What I'm not eating very much of is fattening foods. I do eat tons of carbs, some sugar, plenty of island-fresh vegetables and fruit. I also think that food in general - save for packaged goodies - is less processed and contains less chemical and artificial products than back in the States. How am I doing so far?

My yoga practice has seriously picked up in the past 2 months. I teach 1-2 classes a week, I attend 2-3 classes a week, and I practice at home at least 3 times a week. Some of these practices are physically challenging, some are more restorative. Headstand, downward-facing dog and back-bends are the asanas I do most consistently. The last time I lost weight like this was when I became vegan, moved to Boston, and started practicing hot-yoga. Perhaps we are seeing a trend...

One of my favorite Korean customs are the saunas, or public baths. You soak in both hot and cold tubs and sweat in dry saunas and steam rooms. Since they only cost $5 and they feel so very nice, I go once a week. Many people use this kind of therapy for weight-loss. Here could be another connection.

So unless I have a terminal illness or a tapeworm, I think I'm pretty healthy. Most likely this has been quite slow and gradual but since I've been bundled and layered trying to keep warm these past 4 months, people are just starting to notice now. I'm happy, I'm positive, I enjoy my work, I'm not under very much stress, all in all things are good. Any questions?

I'm tired. I stayed home sick from school last Thursday and went to the foreigner clinic at Halla Hospital. My expectations were very, very low after hearing friends' stories of similar doctors visits, but with my only goal being to obtain a Rx for antibiotics I thought I had nothing to lose. The visit was quick, short, painless, and cheap, but met my expectations of being impersonal and lack-luster. Nonetheless, I left with a prescription for 5 medications. In Korea, you see, you can't walk into Walgreens and pick up a Sudafed (or Walafed) for your symptoms. Nor do they have Aleve or Tylenol for aches and fevers. So...if you want that full symptom relief while you're waiting out your illness you have to take a plethora of drugs. Pictured here are my fun pills...the bottom one is said antibiotic, the only one I'm actually taking, above that is a syrupy liquid for sore throat relief, and above that is a little pouch with 2 pills for the relief of nasal stuff and one for relief from the abdominal problems caused by one of the other pills. I find the whole thing hilarious. I do have to be grateful that there health care available to us foreigners in English and at a low cost. I'll admit it's been years since I've been to a doctors because of my lack of health insurance back in the good ol' USA. In case you're concerned, I am feeling better. But I'm tired.

Last week's conference went well! My co-teacher and I presented to about 30 Korean and Foreign elementary school teachers. The education office higher-ups were very impressed with both our model class and our presentation on Co-Teaching Tips. It was nice to have a project for a few weeks. Now it's back to killing time and lesson planning in the afternoons after my last class ends at 2pm. Maybe I'll invest in some 'head-down-on-the-desk' nap time this week. Oh yeah, and studying Korean of course.

You can always keep people entertained with puppets! We use these to demonstrate dialogues.

Thanks for these shots, Dave!

~My inviting teacher smile~

Hosting a discussion on how to support your co-teacher in the classroom

Other than that, its just been the usual goings-on here in Jeju. We hosted a successful spring potluck in our building this weekend and met all the new folks who moved in in the past 2 months. Sorry, I didn't take any pictures. I went to a few beautiful temples 2 weeks ago with Colleen, Julia, Marcie and Young Ja, one of which we'll visit again next weekend to celebrate Buddha's Birthday which is a national holiday in Korea!

Nam-Gug-Seon-Won - A Korean Buddhist Center in the southeast of JejuSeon-deok Temple decorated with pink lanterns for Buddha's Birthday

We did have Picnic Day a few weeks ago and the weather cooperated beautifully! We accompanied the 6th grade to Pyeolto Bong, a short walk from our school. The kids all bring these cute little plastic mats to sit on and take off their shoes while they sit and eat lunch. Most students bring homemade kimbap (Korean style sushi), fruit, and packaged junk-food cookies or pies. The teachers buy assorted kimbap and all eat together on their own big plastic mat while begging good looking food off the kids. It's a pretty funny day and a nice change of pace!


I've been making new friends with all the new folks lately. Many people I know are leaving soon which does make me sad. But as to be expected in this lifestyle. All the more reason to enjoy the moment as it happens.

Catching up

At the "Rape Seed Flower Festival" (Canola Flower)

It's already April! We're 7 weeks into the new school year and I haven't hardly blogged at all. I apologize sincerely. The cherry blossoms have come and gone, and spring is in full swing. The weather went from snowy to hot literally overnight. Fortunately, the humidity is still a few weeks off. I've been quite busy enjoying the beautiful weather, going to yoga, and spending time with friends. My Korean studying has taken a back burner as of late, but I will resume meetings with my friend and teacher Shin Nae this week.

Cherry Blossom Road

Chinese Performers in front of my school

I'm at a funny dichotomy with this yoga class I've been taking. The yoga master is an incredible teacher and the people who take the class are really inspiring. Most of them go every day, some people twice a day every day. Sometimes I think "I've been doing yoga for 5 years! I'm so great at yoga!", which, of course, is not the point of yoga at all, nor am I any more adept than anyone who's practiced regularly for 5 years. We do a lot of asanas (yoga postures) in class that I've never seen and never tried before and the class is all in Korean except the occasional word or two of English that he offers to help me. I find myself getting confused and frustrated with things that everyone else can do quite easily and poses that are obviously more natural for Korean bodies than my lanky Western body. Two weeks ago I pushed myself too hard and went to 7 yoga classes on top of the 2 that I teach every week. I ended up exhausting myself and getting sick, plus making myself feel guilty for not getting up at 4:30am to go to the morning class and not going to yoga after school every day. There is a balance that I'm trying to find between doing everything I want to do and not pushing myself too hard. That's always been a struggle for me - most people in my life can attest to that - and it continues to plague me here in Jeju. I am learning so much both about yoga and about myself in this class (like just how many back bends are possible at 5:30am) and I am determined to go as much as my body and my sanity can handle.

This weather does make one want to go outside, though! I've had some fun adventures with Jason the past few weekends. We went for a hike to a dry river gorge(above) last weekend and this past weekend we camped on a beach with some friends. The weather was the best it's been in months making it a truly beautiful 3 days.

Sunny Jeju beaches!

Jason & I

Lounging on the beach

The view from the tent

The Public Education Office picked my co-teacher Kee Jeong and I to present at a conference for the new foreign teachers in Jeju next week. We've been busy preparing materials and submissions for our presentation on just how this "co-teaching" thing works. We'll be doing a mock lesson and discussion on co-teaching to about 40 Korean and foreign elementary school English teachers. It should be fun!