Bombed Lesson Plan

Sometimes lesson plans fail. Miserably. I thought this lesson plan I had for today was a FANTASTIC idea! Remember that game "quack-diddly-o-so"? Well I changed the words to our current 6th grade lesson and thought I could quickly teach how to play and it would be a great lesson! And...it sucked!! The kids didn't understand at all. Hand-slapping games are really different here and even when I tried to adapt it to a Korean style game, it bombed. Bummer. Fortunately I didn't persist in trying to teach it to all 7 of my 6th grade classes. Maybe I'll try it tomorrow with the really advanced class, or maybe I'll just let it go.

Foreigner Temple Stay '09

Over the weekend I was asked to write an article about our foreigner temple stay. Here it is...

Recently I attended my third Korean Buddhist temple stay since coming to Jeju Island last September. I have been blessed to meet many monks, experience temple services and meals, holidays, and much tea drinking. And as I enter each temple, I always feel the same compassion, open-heartedness, and kindness. For me, this experience was something I needed to share with others. Many foreigners I've met have shown great interest in taking part in a temple stay but didn't know how, specifically because of the language barrier. I decided to arrange this temple stay for native English teachers after I did a similar program myself. During my first temple stay at Yakchunsa, the Abbott, Seongwon sunim (sunim means monk in Korean), invited me for tea and we talked about his desire to arrange a temple stay for a group of foreign teachers. It was a pleasure to collaborate on creating this event with Seongwon sunim. I recruited guests and suggested programs that participants would be interested in, and the Abbott did the rest - including inviting his friend and colleague Sungahn sunim from the mainland to be our host for the weekend, leading us in our native language, English.

Twenty-five foreign English teachers and one Korean teacher residing on Jeju carpooled, bussed, and biked to Yakchunsa temple at 3pm on Saturday, May 9th. Of the mostly Canadian and American participants, a few had done temple stays before. Our program began with a demonstration of correct bowing and meditating. It also began with a plethora of video cameras, photographers, and interviews which distracted somewhat from the serenity of meditating in the grandiose main hall. After we met our hosts for the weekend we were escorted on a tour of Yakchunsa and then ate dinner with traditional Bal-U bowls. As we were introduced to the different traditions, starting with the Bal-U ceremony, we were treated kindly and graciously allowed to make honest mistakes, which was nice given our hasty introduction to this complex way of eating. Sungahn sunim stressed that most temple stay participants eat this way at all of their meals, not just one. Cynthia Loiselle commented, "I want to try eating from the bowls again. They don't need to treat us any differently just because we aren't Korean-the only different we need is language!"

As the sun began to set after dinner, a massive drum and temple bell accompanied our walk to the evening service. For some participants this was their first Buddhist service, their first chance to put into practice the bowing and meditation taught to us earlier in the day. For me, this is the best part of being at a temple, standing under the enormous Buddha statues, listening to the chanting, feeling the collective energy of those absorbed in quiet meditation and peace. Overlooking the southern coast of the island, Yakchunsa is the second largest temple on Jeju. Tourists pour in daily by the busload to see the 3 towering Buddha statues in the main hall, the hall of Buddha's 500 disciples, and the pristine ocean view. Because of its popularity as a tourist attraction, not many people besides the monks in residence get to see the calm, quiet nature of Yakchun temple after the visitors leave as we did that evening and into the next morning.

Our evening activity was to paint a likeness of "Dharma" guided by a well-known monk living at Yakchunsa. We watched as he skillfully painted the thin canvas, and then showed us step-by-step how to paint in the ancient style. This proved to be far more challenging than it looked, but it was a fun hour and a nice keepsake from our weekend. Before bed we had our first open session to ask Sungahn sunim any questions about his life or Buddhism. A nice discussion was had, but I think many participants were hoping more for a specific teaching about Buddhist philosophy or precepts. We were then sent to bed a little before 10pm in preparation for the early morning ahead.

At 4:00am we woke to the sound of temple postulants - monks in training - hitting a wooden traditional instrument (moktak) and chanting our wake-up call. Bleary eyed, we made our way up the steps accompanied again by the temple bell and drum to the morning service. Fortunately, the weather in Jungmun that weekend was perfect and the warm spring morning, chirping birds, and smell of Jeju citrus flowers cushioned our pre-dawn rising. It wasn't quite enough cushioning, however, to hold back the pain of 108 bows at 5:30am. After the first 20 or 30, my mind began to clear and the physical repetition of bowing before the great Buddha statue became a moving meditation. Will Wilkinson, an English teacher living in Seogwipo said, "I felt like the temple stay was worth trying once. It was interesting, often enjoyable, and hard on the knees. Meeting and interacting with a few of the monks on a more personal level was enough to correct some illusions about Buddhist monastic life. Overall, I think it's got to be one of the most hardcore ways to experience one part of Korean culture on Jeju."

Breakfast and lunch we ate buffet style with the temple staff and guests in the main dining hall. Our morning activities passed quickly with many breaks to sit or walk quietly on the sunny temple grounds or chat with Seongwon sunim or Sungahn sunim who were both happy to answer questions and talk of their personal experiences. We had another discussion session after breakfast with Sungahn sunim who talked openly of his travels abroad, his path to Buddhism, and his lifestyle as a monk. Another guest teacher then greeted us, a woman trained in Korean traditional tea service, who taught us how to serve and receive Korean green tea. The local Jeju green tea was delicious, and most of us wanted to stay and drink more! We closed our weekend with a ceremony in the main hall and, again, many photographs to commemorate our stay at Yakchunsa. Julia Addison, a Canadian temple stay participant, had this to say about her experience: "I really enjoyed the temple stay program. It was a great way to learn more about Buddhism and see first hand the different activities and traditions that Buddhists carry out. Yakchunsa is a gorgeous temple and provided an atmosphere that was relaxing and calming. Both Sungahn sunim and the head monk were very welcoming and open, making it easy to ask questions and feel comfortable."

For Yakchun Temple and our gracious hosts, there were many obstacles in hosting this particular temple stay, the most obvious being language. The English teachers who took part have lived in Korea anywhere from 1 month to 4 years and so the Korean language ability was quite varied. Therefore having a monk who could speak to us in English was integral to our experience. We were also assisted by a Korean English teacher who wanted to experience the temple stay and help translate and support our program. The size of the group created a lot of work for the temple staff and postulants who assisted in every aspect of our weekend. It also attracted media attention which added some excitement but overall took away from the authenticity of the program. Lastly, our temple stay was scheduled for an extremely busy time of year, right after Buddha's Birthday and Children's Day. Thank you to the monks, postulants, and staff at Yakchunsa who worked incredibly hard to provide this experience for 25 Westerners.

I think what we all took away from this experience was the graciousness and warmheartedness that the Buddha taught and that continues to live in the practice of Buddhism. Through this experience, participants were able to gain at least a little understanding of the monastic way of life in Korea. Specifically, we gained a physical knowledge of how to bow, meditate, and conduct ourselves in the temple, a chance to be beaten with a stick - the punishment for falling asleep during meditation - and the feeling of openness and kindness that always accompanies a temple visit. Buddhists open their hearts to people of all nationalities, races, and religious backgrounds. Anyone can participate in a temple stay or simply a discussion with a Buddhist monk about their way of life or their beliefs. I am grateful for this particular temple stay experience, specifically having shared it with other foreigners open to embracing a lifestyle completely different from their own.

The Hall of Buddha's 500 Disciples

Seongwon Sunim & I at my 1st temple stay with Emily

A very Korean morning

On this blustery, humid spring morning I awoke an hour early to a gray sky and sore body. Needless to say my mood wasn't tip-top. Yesterday was a particularly difficult day in the classroom with my 6th graders and I was feeling homesick from a nice Mother's Day chat with the fam. And I didn't give myself much time for my morning meditation and yoga which always sets me off a bit. So after dropping off Jason at school in Shin-Jeju at 7:20am, I had an hour to kill at one of the cafes who are barely open at that early hour. They would be appalled at my friend Debbie's start time at Starbucks. I was vacillating between Dunkin Donuts (the best coffee) or a great bakery (with not so good coffee) when a 70-something year old Korean man with perfect English and loose dentures came out of Dunkin Donuts and pulled me in to buy me coffee and feed me old-fashioned glazed donuts. This sweet man was born in North Korea in the late 1940's and thrust into the Korean war head-first. He told me stories from the fragile age of 5 watching soldiers kill innocent people and his family fleeing to Seoul. There he lived until 15 years ago when he and his family re-located to Jeju to escape the noise and pollution. Lee, as he introduced himself, served the military at the American army base in Itaewon for over 25 years and trained for a year in the USA with grand-scale explosives. He talked of his grown children living all over the world, his family's travels throughout South America in the hopes of emmigrating, and the irritating traditional ways of Jeju people. Not only did he bring me out of my slump of a morning, he reminded me of how grateful I should be for every blessing in my life. This man who talked of not being able to find employment because of Korean age cut-offs and the tight government pension refused to let me pay for my coffee or carry our tray to the counter. He seemed grateful for the company and the excuse to speak English, his native language on the military base for so long. I laughed as he disgustedly talked of Korean food and rice in favor of good ol' American cuisine and coffee. There are opportunities to experience beautiful moments every day, I'm just glad I was able to be led begrudgingly into this one. May it warm your day as it has mine.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Nice weather makes every thing better. I got to leave work a few minutes early on Monday before the Children's Day holiday Tuesday - also my birthday - and took the opportunity to get some beach and sauna time. Gwakji is one of my favorite white sand beaches on Jeju. It's not too far from my house and easy to get to one of my favorite saunas in Oedo (pronounced Way-do). In the last week I've been to the sauna 3 times and I feel super relaxed!! Yesterday there was no school and I celebrated my birthday with some morning yoga, a lazy pancake breakfast, a hike on our favorite oreum, and beers with the girls and the brew pub in town. At home in America I'm 28 now, but here in Korea I've already been 29 since New Year's.

Again with the delicious sandwiches. Thanks, Jason!

Pretty mountain flowers

I love Jeju cows.

This past weekend was Buddha's Birthday. It's celebrated on April 8th of the Lunar calendar, so that changes every year on our Romanized calendar. Some friends and I celebrated at a beautifully decorated temple called Nam-Guk-Seon-Won in the south-east of Jeju island. We attended the long morning service which consisted of chanting, more chanting, a very short meditation, bowing, chanting, more bowing, a sermon by the head monk, and more chanting and bowing. I'm pretty used to these sorts of things by now, but this one was longer and far more crowded than usual. Buddha's Birthday is like the Christmas of Buddhism. It's the one day everyone goes to temple and gives offerings. My bum was pretty close to the man's face behind me a few times! This service was the first time I could follow in the prayer book with our chanting. A very nice woman next to me helped me follow in the book and I read in Korean and chanted along with a few prayers. The prayer books are printed in Korean with Chinese translations, right to left, top to bottom in the traditional way. It was slightly confusing, though.

The main temple building decorated with lanterns for Buddha's Birthday

You give an offering and then pour water over Buddha's head for luck

Jason and I enjoyed the nice weather this weekend with a trip to Hamdeok beach and a walk up the oreum near the beach affording amazing views of the ocean and the island. We went to the fabulous sauna at the big resort in Hamdeok (remember that one, Emily?) and ended our day with fajitas, super nachos and margaritas at Jeff & Genny's house along with a mini Star Wars marathon. Sunday was brunch at Jessie's (where we had Christmas dinner) and then exploring the Sangumburi Crater. Having a car makes sight-seeing sooooooo much easier here! It's easy enough to get around in the city and immediate "suburbs" with taxis and buses, but I really love having a car. Car = freedom.

These dinners are a group effort! Jeff cutting tomatoes, Genny slicing onions and Jason cooking steak in their enormous kitchen.

Delicious!!

...and Genny made brownies with ice cream and whipped cream...

...and then I was full.

Sangumburi Crater (Sankumburi)