I've been asked to give an interview on Arirang Radio, one of the English radio stations in Korea next week. The show is called "Travel Bug" and we'll be talking about teaching yoga and specifically, teaching yoga in Jeju. Tune into Arirang radio on the radio or internet to hear it.
Monday, Feb 22nd 10:20-10:50am (Seattle time: Sunday 5:20-5:50pm)
Arirang Radio on the Internet: http://www.arirang.co.kr/index.asp
Friday, February 19, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
A beautiful February hike
Jason, myself, and 2 friends got up extra early this past Saturday to hike the newly reopened Donnaeko trail on Mt. Halla. I did a little research before hand and, so, was expecting a 3.5km hike, maybe 1 1/2-2 hours. We found the trailhead easily - which was actually my biggest concern - but were surprised at the first visitor signs telling us that it was 7km up to the "South Fork Wall", another 2.1km to Witseoreum, where we had expected to go, then 2 or 3 km down the other side of the mountain on the Yeongsil or Eurimok trails. Well, having packed the normal 'Jason sandwiches', plenty of fresh fruit, snacks, chocolate, and hot coffee, we started up our trek and decided just to go to the South Fork Wall, then come back the same way. Jason & I have really good luck with climbing Mt. Halla, the weather always cooperates with warmth and sunshine and this time was no exception. With a rainy week behind us and another one in front of us we were a little worried about a wet day. Gray clouds and ever piling snow accompanied us up the quiet mountain. But just as we rounded a corner to view our final destination, the clouds parted to clear blue sky, a shining sun and the back side of Baeknokdam crater, the top of Mt. Halla. We all froze in wonder at this sight, then promptly kept walking as we had just ascended past the tree line and the wind had picked up, blowing snow and freezing temperatures into our faces. We briefly stopped for lunch, then headed back down the way we came. The sun stayed out well into our descent, melting the tiny icicle lined branches along the snow-packed trail. The other wonder of our trek: the trail was empty! We couldn't have seen more than 30 people the whole 7 hours of our hike which is a rarity in Korea. This weekend is a long weekend celebrating Lunar New Year, the real New Year celebration in Korea. Most people travel to be with their families so I guess that worked in our favor. Also, Donnaeko has only been reopened for about 2 months having been shut down for 15 years due to extensive damage to the trail and surrounding area. Unfortunately, my camera battery died 5 minutes into the hike, but Jason took plenty of shots and I'll post them next week. Happy Lunar New Year! Stay tuned for the 2010 Daeboerum Fire Festival in a few weeks...
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Dong Elementary in February
The general sentiment at school right now is BUSY!! My co-teacher just pulled out 3 stacks of documents two feet high to sort and purge. The 6th grade teachers, with whom I share a hallway, are literally running from classroom to classroom to office preparing for next week's 6th grade graduation ceremony. I'm on very friendly terms with the 6th grade teachers and when I asked how her vacation was, one teacher replied, "VERY busy! I came to school every day! No vacation!" That's 5 weeks of vacation spent here, in this building, preparing. Ugh. And I thought I had it bad.
So it's been the normal February week of minimal classes and inattentive students. We actually had to teach a lesson to my 5th graders today and they were none too receptive to being taught. Ah well, we do the best we can. I'm just teaching a silly song or handing out pen pal letters to the rest of my classes. On a surprisingly good note, I found out that our last day of school is next Tuesday! Hopefully I can slip quietly through the cracks and just pop in every now and again until the next school year starts on March 1st. I do have some things to prepare, however. This morning I was invited to give a presentation to the new "talk" teachers - a special branch of native English teachers - on classroom activities. Seems like an easy topic for an hour and a half lecture, brainstorm session, and sharing. The workshop will be held 2 from next Monday.
And...my principal has cordially - and rather assertively - asked me to teach after school classes next year. I was quite surprised when he called me into his office today to discuss the March schedule. In Korea, it's all too common to be told the day before a class starts or asked incredibly last minute to teach something. Four weeks notice?! That's fantastic. His motive, I soon found out, was to discourage me from agreeing to teach at any other schools in the new semester. I have been offered a position or two but I've agreed to wait until March to accept or decline. He asked me to teach into the evening every day and on weekends, but I declined much of this and said I'd give him a schedule next week of when I can stay at school after 5pm, maybe 1 or 2 days a week. Extra work and extra pay are very nice, but I don't I'll want to be stuck at school every evening when I have to many other things to do! Especially when the weather gets nice in a few months. Needless to say, I'll be plenty busy for my last semester in Korea.
So it's been the normal February week of minimal classes and inattentive students. We actually had to teach a lesson to my 5th graders today and they were none too receptive to being taught. Ah well, we do the best we can. I'm just teaching a silly song or handing out pen pal letters to the rest of my classes. On a surprisingly good note, I found out that our last day of school is next Tuesday! Hopefully I can slip quietly through the cracks and just pop in every now and again until the next school year starts on March 1st. I do have some things to prepare, however. This morning I was invited to give a presentation to the new "talk" teachers - a special branch of native English teachers - on classroom activities. Seems like an easy topic for an hour and a half lecture, brainstorm session, and sharing. The workshop will be held 2 from next Monday.
And...my principal has cordially - and rather assertively - asked me to teach after school classes next year. I was quite surprised when he called me into his office today to discuss the March schedule. In Korea, it's all too common to be told the day before a class starts or asked incredibly last minute to teach something. Four weeks notice?! That's fantastic. His motive, I soon found out, was to discourage me from agreeing to teach at any other schools in the new semester. I have been offered a position or two but I've agreed to wait until March to accept or decline. He asked me to teach into the evening every day and on weekends, but I declined much of this and said I'd give him a schedule next week of when I can stay at school after 5pm, maybe 1 or 2 days a week. Extra work and extra pay are very nice, but I don't I'll want to be stuck at school every evening when I have to many other things to do! Especially when the weather gets nice in a few months. Needless to say, I'll be plenty busy for my last semester in Korea.
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