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

School Lunch

I've decided it's time to write a blog on Korean school lunch. I may have mentioned it before, but I think it deserves its own blog entry. Korean School Lunch is unique. Okay, maybe it's the same as other parts in Asia, I don't know, but to me it is unique. When I think of school lunch, images of soggy pineapple pizza, frozen iceberg lettuce drenched in ranch dressing, and fruit cocktail come to mind. Mmmm, not only appetizing but also so nutritious! Well Korean school lunch is in a whole other league.

I know it doesn't look that good, but I swear it is!

Students - all students that is, no "bringing or buying" questions here - line up to take their metal chopsticks, spoons, and trays before mothers serve the portioned Korean food. This always begins with white rice, usually fortified with a grain or legume. Next comes a vegetable dish or two. This week we've had spinach, seaweed, bean sprouts, green salad (today it was bok choy, sesame leaves, onions and pepper paste), and always kimchi for the kids. The third lunch lady dishes the meat portion, pork, chicken, fish or beef which goes in a SMALL portion of the tray, and often comes with a sauce like denjang paste (similar to miso), mustard sauce, or sweet&sour. And serving last is the soup lady, sometimes kimchi jigae, sometimes tofu/pork soup, sometimes denjang/beansprout soup, sometimes shellfish delight. After that is the teachers' tray with a big container of dish-yourself kimchi and another vegetable like mushrooms or sesame leaves. This is the normal Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday affair.

But what about Wednesday? Well Wednesday is special "one-dish" day as I call it. Wednesday we get our meal in 1 bowl and we also get a special treat! Today's 1 bowl meal was "curry rice" a Korean adaptation of the Indian classic with yellow curry, potatoes, beef chunks, corn, zucchini, and rice. Sometimes we get bibimbap, sometimes guk-su, sometimes jopjae with rice. And for our special treat, Jeju mandarin juice is quite popular, but today was got tomato juice, which is sweetened in Korea, and last week we had drinkable yogurt. Yesterday, as an extra special treat, we got fresh watermelon and tempura mushrooms. Wednesday treats can also be cookies, donuts, or yellow cake.

And for all this luxury I pay...2,000 won a day. If you ask me, it's well worth it. Unfortunately I have yet to take pictures of my school lunch but its on my to-do list. Expect a lot of pictures...soon.

bibimbap (courtesy of the internet)

guk-su - noodle soup with dried seaweed

Wow, it's June

You've probably heard about some unfortunate events in Korea in the past 2 weeks or so. I won't go into detail, but my friend Cindy posted a great blog about the sentiments here if you want to catch up. I know things sounds scary from what you get in the media, but people here aren't too worried about North Korea. They're more concerned with the Governer of Jeju who's trying to change and modernize the island in a big way and Lee Myeong Bak, the S Korean President who is none too popular.

This past week, 4 of my Jeju friends left for their home countries including Marcie, my fellow traveler from Seattle last fall, and Jason who I've been dating for a while. And this weekend my friends who work at the Africa Museum are having their goodbye party. These things happen, quite frequently in this lifestyle, but that doesn't make them any less sad. I wish everyone the best as they continue on their path.

On Sunday my co-teacher and I went to the opera "Baekrokdam" at the Jeju Art & Culture Center. Alexa, a fellow EPIK teacher who lives in my building, arranged free tickets for anyone who wanted to go. It was a sensational production. Baekrokdam crater sits atop Mt. Halla on Jeju Island. The opera was written 7 years ago and based on stories and folklore about Jeju and Mt. Halla. The singers were wonderful, the chorale and orchestra (from Jeju) were fantastic, the dancing in traditional Korean & Jeju style was mesmerizing, and the costumes were authentic and beautiful. Korean is a beautiful language for singing and so far I've only been impressed with Korean classical singers. If you have a chance to see this opera as - I hope - it starts to be internationally acclaimed, do it!

Lately I've started to feel the love/relationship with Korea that most foreigners eventually experience. This could also be because my long summer vacation is quickly approaching and I'm greatly looking forward to being back in the US for a month. One minute I'm swearing at Korean drivers as they veer into my lane completely unaware, and the next I'm laughing and thoroughly engrossed in a conversation with a 20year old gas station attendant who's using his best high school English to ask me where I'm from, tell me I'm beautiful and how South Korea and America are friends. On the love end are the beaches on Jeju. The weather in May was warm and sunny for the most part and last weekend I went to the beach 5 times, 4 different beaches. But constantly getting stared at and still not being able to communicate very well are getting on my nerves. I'm trying to re-commit to my daily mantra of "surrender", very important when you're swimming in a sea of Koreans.

Six weeks of school left! Hooray! And that means 3 weeks of teaching, 2 weeks of testing, and then the last week which is anybody's guess. Our summer English camp will be the week after school's out, then I'll have to be at school for 1 more week and then VACATION! Assuming I'm rehired for next year, I'll be coming home to Seattle for the month of August minus a week in NY. I'm starting to fantasize about hummus, Thai food, brunch, Q'doba burritos, and BBQ's. It's the little things you miss.

Sorry about the lack of photos, I'll put some up next week. Happy June!