A Korean Funeral

I had never been to a funeral before. It’s not because I purposely avoided them, rather, I have been fortunate enough not to have lost a close friend or family member. Today marked the breaking of my “funeral-less” life.

I walked into school today to find everyone dressed in black and donning tiny ribbons. The founder of Bunam Middle School had passed away the night before, ending his lengthy battle with liver cancer. He was the founder of our school, and worked as the school Principal for many years before handing the position over to his son (our current Principal). Without him, I wouldn’t have been given the opportunity to work in this community and experience the unique culture of rural Korea.

After class, Mrs. Jeon and I drove to Cheongsong to attend the funeral. It was held in a small community hall directly beside the hospital where he had passed away. His position within the community meant that his funeral attracted more than just family and friends. People from all parts of the community, from the store-owners to laborers, were in attendance to pay their respects.

The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the food. I should’ve expected it now that I’m familiar with Korean customs, but it still took me by surprise. There were tables upon tables of food being waited upon by several busy workers. The funeral had a “revolving door” type feel to it, with people coming and going as they pleased. Across the dining area was a small room with his coffin placed against the wall under his picture. Groups of ten to fifteen people took turns entering the room, facing his coffin for a brief moment of silence, then bowing in unison. Two family members remained in the room at all times to exchange a few words with people before the next group entered. Immediately outside of the small room was our school administrator who was put in charge of handling the donations for the family. I donated 30 000 Won (~ $ 25.00 CAD), and was handed a small envelope containing a 10 000 Won bill (~ $8.00 CAD) as a token of thanks.

Following the prayers and the donations, Mrs. Jeon and I sat down at one of the tables for dinner, and she explained to me the sequence of events for the funeral. There had been a “wake” the night before, but only close friends and relatives were allowed to attend and help with the grieving process. Today was the community “banquet,” which is held for the purpose of celebrating his life. The celebration is to help uplift the spirits of the grieving family using the pleasantries of food, drinks, laughter, and friends. Tomorrow, his coffin will be driven to the gates of Bunam Middle school, and his picture will be carried around the playground in front of the school population. The staff and students will then say their final goodbyes, and the coffin will be driven to the site of his tomb (accompanied only by family members), down the street from the school.

All in all, the whole funeral process wasn’t as depressing as I thought to would be. The energy of the banquet was definitely uplifting, and aside from a few tearful family members, everyone who attended maintained very positive demeanors throughout the entire event. I really enjoyed the “celebrate life” mentality over the “mourn death” mentality, and I can only hope that my funeral will be as uplifting for my family and friends.

- Ken

Training for the Daegu Marathon

I’m setting no limits. I’m going to push myself until my knees give out.

That’s exactly what I’ve been thinking ever since my first run three days ago. Ten kilometers of running in a day, out of the blue, is taking a major toll on my body, which is exactly what I’m experiencing now. My knees lock every time I stand up from sitting down. It pains me to crouch down in order to put a plug into an outlet...but it’s all worth it, just to run into the middle of nowhere, and come sprinting back feeling alive.

Of course I wouldn’t have started running if it weren’t for the Daegu International Marathon. It’s quite a goal to have begun training for it, considering that I was walking from the living room into the kitchen everyday for three five months, and now I’ve progressed to run ten kilometers outdoors.

Ken was able to map out a 9.8-kilometer run through several of Andeok’s villages. Jogging along one stretch of open road, I could see the ivory and lavender cherry blossoms coming into bloom, smell the earthy tones from freshly cut logs, watch the farmers fertilizing their land, avoid the tiny countryside dogs nipping at my feet, and be weary of the larger dogs eyeing me, merely tied to a post by a simple rope.

Aside from the farmers burning their crops and garbage on my first run, it was incomparable to the splendid sun, melting into the horizon, and the refreshing wind, swooping down from the mountainside.

I can’t wait to go out for another run. I just have to wait for my body to heal…

…another week should do it.

- Jess

Bird in Hyeondong Middle School

Just minutes before my Grade 8 lesson was about to begin, I heard some commotion at the end of my classroom.

One of my Grade 8 students had caught a bird and brought it into class. He was delicately, but firmly cupping it in his hands and the other students were hesitantly petting it on its frightened little head. Suddenly the bird began to fiercely peck at the student’s hand and that’s when he decided to let it go…in the classroom.

The following two minutes were filled with a whirlwind of screams from the girls and students running amuck all over the classroom. I ran towards the sliding doors, just in time to shut them before the bird could enter the hallway. The boys were frantically trying to catch the bird, flitting about all over the ceiling, and the girls were shouting and covering their heads for fear that the tiny brown birdie would poop on their heads.

The student finally caught it again (I don’t know how he was so swift) and the rest of the students were swarming him, taking photos with their cell phones and probably giving the bird a major panic attack. I tried to take a photo with my camera, but the unwelcoming “Change Battery Pack” notification popped up on my screen.

I ordered the student to release the bird out the window, so I could get my lesson going.

Let’s just say that it took me a few minutes to get my frazzled students back into a calm, sensible state of mind.

As if this semester couldn’t get any more random…

- Jess

The “Business Trip” to the Cheongsong Office of Education

All English teachers of the Cheongsong region were in for a surprise today. We were all to go on a business trip to the Cheongsong Office of Education. The foreign English teachers and all Korean English teachers were to attend the unexpected meeting held by the Cheongsong English Department.

Upon arrival at the office, everyone was confused. No one knew exactly what was going on, so we all filed into the room where the meeting was to be held and waited. Finally, the head of the Cheongsong English Department greeted us with an exaggerated smile, and went on with the introductions in Korean. Then the meeting went on to the topic at hand, which had many of the Korean English teachers arguing. With all foreign English teachers confused and staring blankly into space, my high school co-teacher from Andeok School scurried over and began explaining the agenda of the meeting.

It turned out that the meeting had nothing to do with the foreign English teachers but was set for all of the Korean English teachers. We (the foreign teachers) were just invited along to have a chance to meet each other (but by that time, five out of the six of us had already met). After forty-five minutes into the meeting, the six of us were politely shooed out of the room (after everyone realized that we had no place in the meeting) and we waited in another room for forty-five minutes, discussing how ‘dynamic’ Korea was. We had plenty of stories to share…all of the ups and downs that we had had for the past seven months...and what we were looking forward to for the next five in our teaching contract.

At 5:30pm, the Korean English teachers concluded their meeting. What had taken an hour and a half to discuss was all about forming an unnecessary English teachers’ council, through which the English teachers could discuss and improve the English program. A valiant effort on the side of the Cheongsong English Department for trying to improve the English program, however, all of the Korean English teachers were spread out across more than an hour’s drive of schools, and none of them had the time to meet once a week due to supplementary classes after school. Unfortunately, this did not go well with the Cheongsong head, and the teachers had to nominate one person to organize such meetings. Mrs. Na, my main co-teacher last year, was in charge of the English teacher’s council last year, but since having circulated to another school due to their 5-year-limit policy, the spot was open. The teachers automatically chose Ken’s co-teacher who had the most teaching experience out of all teachers present. Now she has another ordeal to manage every week on top of her hectic schedule.

I think we should get paid overtime for those one and a half hours :).

- Jess

April Fool’s Day at Hyeondong School

A few days ago, I was completely unprepared for the special event that happens every year and is celebrated by the young and old. Thank goodness my students didn’t take that day seriously.

***

It was right before second period. I was about to have my Grade 8 class and was preparing my lessons for the day. A few minutes later, one of my Grade 7 students came running into the room with a huge grin spread from cheek to cheek. He said, breathlessly, “Teacher…umm…” He was trying to search for the right words in his head.

“…Do you know this day?...”

I shook my head. I thought this was going to be another special day, like Pepero day (when people give each other chocolate sticks because they look like 11/11, depicting November 11^th). However this time, I couldn’t stretch my imagination that far.

His face was scrunching up. He continued, “Lie…”

“Lie?” I asked, “You told a lie?”

“No, no, teacher…not me... It is…Lie…Day! Lie Day! Lie Day!”

My numb brain suddenly clicked and I realized that today was the dreaded ‘April Fool’s Day’. Oh no. I was the one most vulnerable to a prank attack. A teacher with 65 rambunctious energetic teenagers? I was a sitting duck. Were my students going to undo me this day? They had the entire morning and afternoon to do so. Why not?

I bless the heavens for having 65 angelic students at Hyeondong School. I didn’t receive one prank the entire day, although I still heard some shrill screams and mocking laughs outside my classroom window. The students must’ve turned on each other.

The next day, however, at Hyeonseo High School, I heard some interesting stories…drawings all over the white boards, entire classrooms of chairs gone missing, students mysteriously falling into deep slumbers during lessons…

I guess some students take that day a lot more seriously than others. Thank-goodness I wasn’t around to experience it…although it would’ve been nice to witness :).

- Jess

Joy Ride

A few weeks ago I heard about an accident that happened on campus. I held off writing about it until I knew all of the details…

As you may know, my high school is a technical school. The kids can choose one of two streams of study (cars or computers) and live on campus in school dorms throughout the year. This can have both positive and negative consequences.

On the plus side, they have the opportunity to work on their school projects around the clock. It’s not uncommon for groups of students to work on their engines or computers well into the night, so the school must grant them a certain degree of trust with their equipment.

This brings me to the negative side… How easily the trust can be abused.

Late at night a few weeks ago, one of the students thought it would be a fun idea to take the school’s “shop car” out for a test drive around the school. Without even a driver’s license, he “borrowed” the car and drove around the campus and surrounding area (probably to the cheers of his classmates). Needless to say, things didn’t end very well.

The details aren’t exactly clear, but somehow he managed to smash into the brick flower garden, flip the car over, and land in the teacher’s parking lot. Amazingly, he crawled out of the overturned car without any major injuries.

Because of the HIGHLY illegal nature of the event, and the fact that it happened on school property, the police were not involved. Instead, the Principal called in a crew (tow truck?) to flip the car back over to store it behind the school. The student could’ve easily been expelled for this, but the Principal decided against it for two reasons:

Firstly, the student has one of the highest grades in the school. Expelling him would’ve completely destroyed his career.

Secondly, the winter months were unforgiving on our dirt schoolyard and the entire thing needed to be leveled. Luckily for the Principal, he now had a new slave…

- Ken

Self-Control

There are some days when I’m pretty darn close to going insane. There are some times when I want ten minutes to breathe and not have teachers swarming me, left and right, asking me questions about almost nothing at all. Although I do like to encourage all of them in speaking English, every second now has become an opportune moment for them to get a chance to talk about their day.

There are some moments when I want to slow down and actually be able to chew my lunch. I like spicy foods, there is Korean food in Canada and I can use chopsticks like a master, but for some teachers, that hasn’t sunk in yet…even after the hundredth time, they still go on to say, “Too spicy?” They still marvel at my technique and stare while I eat. Never mind that I’m as clumsy as a fool while eating at home, and I fear everyday that I’ll accidently fling a piece of kimchi onto my co-teacher’s lap. Ask Ken…I’m really that clumsy.

There are those few times where I catch some teachers talking behind my back in Korean…Why can’t they just talk to me?? It’s always, ‘I think Jessica can do this’…or…’No, she doesn’t want to do that’. I’d sure like to be a part of the conversation when I’m the main topic!

Thank-goodness for my students. 98% of them are absolute darlings…ready to soak up the lesson of the day, and they – believe it or not – keep me sane on these kinds of days.

- Jess

The Fight

I walked out of my English classroom today to find two policemen waiting at the entrance of the building. Recognizing that I probably didn’t know a word of Korean, they waited for Mrs. Jeon to arrive before speaking. She answered a few of their questions, and they were promptly handed over to another teacher who was walking by. I’m very much used to “being in the dark” by now, but when I saw that police were involved I naturally wanted to know what happened.

As it turned out, one of the teachers caught a group of students smoking behind a building. He blew up at them, and began handing out his “discipline” (the stick). One of the students protested, saying that he hadn’t been smoking at all. He said he was just “hanging out” with his friends and therefore didn’t deserve to be punished for something he didn’t do. The teacher didn’t want to hear any of it, but the student didn’t back down. He stood up for what he had said and challenged the teacher’s authority (apparently he gave the teacher a “look”). Immediately, the teacher slapped the student and a short scuffle ensued. I don’t know if punches were thrown, but what I do know is that one of the other students called the police.

So what were the consequences for all of this? The police made the student “reflect” on why the teacher had to hit him, and the teacher continued on with his workday.

Hmmm.

- Ken

The Andeok First Moon Festival

Only a few weeks have passed since Ken and I returned from the ‘land of the rising sun’, and ever since then, I’ve been meaning to take note of what had happened that day…

***

Exhausted and in need of a 24-hour siesta, Ken and I finally arrived back in Andeok - our lovely, quaint little village which was night-and-day, compared to the fast-paced society of Tokyo, Japan.

We stumbled into our only convenience store, careful not to knock over any items with our red and blue, bulging packsacks. We were met with more than a hello from the store’s owners, who were beaming at the sight of us. They immediately informed us of a festival going on in just a couple hours, right in front of the police station. They told us that the festival was to celebrate the first new moon of the New Year (according to the moon calendar). “7:00pm!” they reminded us as we left their store.

As soon as we stepped into our house for the first time in two weeks, we soaked our dirt- and sweat-laden clothes in laundry detergent and settled back in.

A couple hours later, a massive explosion rocked our frail house…followed by another one, and an even louder one. Our house was almost reduced to ruins.

We found bursts of colour, setting ablaze the eerie black sky, and knew that this was the biggest event to hit our little town of Andeok thus far. The fireworks were magnificent and both Ken and I were in awe of the spectacular show the Andeok community was putting on tonight.

We grabbed what we could to shield ourselves from the freezing temperature (~ 0^oC). Ken wore a light spring jacket and I put on his only remaining sweater. All of our winter clothes were soaked in soapy water by the time we decided to go.

***

We ran into the night toward the mysterious cloud of smoke, looming in the distance. Feeding into it was a huge bonfire of 20 trees which had been cut from the mountain. Surrounding the hill of fire was a crowd of more than a few hundred people – some were happily (or drunkenly) chatting with each other, some were dancing wildly around each other, moving to the singer and his background music, and others were eating and drinking away at the free food and alcohol that was being offered under a tent. It was the time to celebrate – a fresh start to the New Year.

Here’s the festival in a whirlwind: Ken and I caught up with one of the convenience store owners and he introduced us to the Mayor of Andeok (who has memorized both my name and Ken’s), the organizer of the event, a bee house keeper, one of my student’s parents, Aunt Kimchi’s younger brother, and some of their children. We all ate, drank, and chatted merrily and watched the night come to a close with a final town lottery. Our local shopkeeper had been anxiously watching his tickets the entire night (he ended up winning a prize…but then gave it away to a pushy ajumma).

Oh…but the townsfolk weren’t finished with us yet. Ken and I were literally pulled to our village’s main bar by our local convenience store owner and my student’s father. Suffice to say, we consumed enough beer, soju, and food for over three families…and their relatives. With a full night of charades, the convenience store owner established that he was our father in Korea, and that we (his Western children) would be giving him the grand tour of Canada once his family could afford to go.

After drinking down one final beer in his store, we walked back to our home…completely inebriated…but happy :).

Oh dynamic Korea…how we missed you!

- Jess

A Visit From the Cheongsong Inspector

Today was a stressful day. It was one of those days that fully embodied the popular phrase ‘Dynamic Korea’.

When I arrived at Andeok School, I was immediately informed that I would have to have an English class with all of my Korean co-teachers. All five of them. Never mind that I already had 5 classes throughout the day with my normal students… I had to prepare a 3-hour lesson for my three middle school co-teachers and my two high school co-teachers…aaand the head of the Cheongsong Board of Education (the school board for our region) was going to be present for the class. This was the information I was told.

Everyone was so antsy preparing for the arrival of the Cheongsong “Inspector” – the title they dubbed him. I was just happy that I had managed to prepare my three-hour lesson, complete with videos, news articles, discussion questions, etc.

***

It was 4:00pm. It was time for the teachers to gather. As I waited at my desk in the teacher’s lounge, my co-teachers slowly collected into the room, one by one. The five of them were shaking hands, three of them never having met, quietly conversed to get familiar with each other. Then it was time for the class.

The “Inspector” and the head of the Cheongsong English Department had arrived and we all headed upstairs to the English Classroom. There was an eerie silence as my Andeok co-teachers poured some juice for the two guests of honour and for one long, grueling minute, it seemed like everyone in the room was eyeing each other.

The Cheongsong head finally stood up and gave an introduction – all in Korean, of course. Actually, all of the introductions from co-teacher to co-teacher were in Korean, except for mine.

I explained that my teacher’s classes mostly consisted of discussions, since my co-teachers were at the highest level of English. The Cheongsong head nodded and pleasantly smiled…and I was about to start my class. That’s when he and his partner stood up, thanked all of us for allowing them to observe my class.

My co-teachers ended up staying for 30 minutes after the departure of our main guests. We watched videos, and discussed one news article. 30 minutes. That’s all it took. Two and a half hours of lessons that I had planned suddenly ceased to exist. I was exhausted from the day, never taking a break, except to eat my lunch.

I wish Korea weren’t so dynamic. It’s going to finish me…

- Jess

Farming Land Behind Andeok Middle and High School

Two weeks ago, my Principal at Andeok School tacitly slinked his way into the teachers lounge and suddenly, without any notice, poked his head in between my computer, and my face. Thank-goodness I’m now used to his soundless entrances. Sometimes my eyes widen and bulge from his surprises, but I now only scream in my head.

That day, he was trying to ask me if Ken and I could farm some land behind the school. He said that we should think about it, and when I asked him what would happen to the crops, he said, “Just think about it...”

Ken and I agreed to do it…although I have my suspicions. I don’t want to find my tender cherry tomatoes handpicked one morning and see the Principal, out in the market the next day, making a lovely profit out of them…

With all the teachers working hard behind the school, the Principal could do very well selling vegetables at the Andeok market :).

- Jess

The Flea

As I sat on the bus minding my own business, an old woman walked by reeking of body odor and rotten kimchi. I had my head turned slightly to make use of the fresh(er) air beside me, when out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a tiny black speck fall onto my beige pants. I looked down, tried to poke it, and it immediately jumped to my other leg. It happily jumped from one limb to the next until I finally managed to grab it and get a closer look. As I suspected, it was a flea. The old woman behind me was covered in fleas. What a perfect start to the week…

Happy Monday everyone!

- Ken

Catching Up...

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve written something for the blog. When we returned from Japan, things were pretty hectic for a while, so the blog was bumped down my priority list. Then once it made its way back to the top, I had to work for weeks on end to finish and publish all of the videos. Now that those are all done, I can finally catch up on what happened since then…

Videos:

As you may have noticed, my videos have changed in format (several times) since my first one. There are a few reasons for the changes.

First of all, space. When we travel, it takes up a hell of a lot of memory to constantly record in HD. As much as I’d like to capture my life in HD, it’s just not feasible right now. And every time we return home from a trip, all of the videos get dumped onto Jess’ shrinking hard drive. We still have 5 months out here, so we’re starting to ration out our remaining memory…

Second of all, I’ve been experimenting quite a bit with the new Sanyo Xacti HD camera that Jess bought me to find the BEST way to show our videos on the blog. I spent a lot of time playing with different recording settings and rendering qualities to find the “sweet spot” of quality vs. performance.

If I record at full HD, I can’t edit it in full HD (Jess’ computer doesn’t have s strong enough graphics card). Since I can’t edit in HD, my videos become skewed (making us look really fat or really thin depending on which axis the video is skewed) during the editing process, so I’m forced to render the videos in a format that opposes the skewing process. For example: If the video is stretched vertically during editing, I have to render it in such a way to stretch it horizontally again to restore the “widescreen” look. It’s a little complicated, but sufficed to say, I’m trying really hard to make them look good for you guys…

School:

The new school year is well underway. My new kids at my main school are severely lacking in the discipline department, but it’s nothing that a nice bamboo stick can’t take care of (refer to my post: “Corporal Punishment”).

On a positive note, it’s nice to be tuned into the “groove” of things. I know how to make my lessons, I know how to run my classes, and I know how to efficiently use my school time. As a result, I now have a lot more free time on my hands to do whatever I want. In the beginning, this free time was wasted on unnecessary things (surfing the internet until my eyes glazed over), but now I’m finding it a lot more fun to use that extra time for the school. I recently decorated my classroom with useful worksheets (common greetings, expressing emotion, basic vocabulary etc.). I also spent quite a bit of time reading through the instructions for most of the board games that were ordered for my English Hub so that we could actually use them (rather than just letting them sit there and collect dust). Yup, life’s all good on the school front…

My Laptop:

Dead. Jessica killed it.

She tripped over the power cord and it took a flying leap off the table onto the floor.

And just like magic, I inherited Jessica’s HP Pavilion!

Jessica:

Sweet, beautiful, and perfect as ever.

...

Well, that’s about it. We have some big events coming up so be sure to keep checking back!

Signing off for now,

- Ken

New Pages Added!

New Pages Added:

- Adventure Maps

- Upcoming Adventures

KenandJess2go in Japan (Travel Map)

[caption id="attachment_811" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="KenandJess2go in Japan"][/caption]

Tokyo Red Light District!

Back in Tokyo

Trekking Around Yudanaka

Jigokudani Monkey Park

Goodbye Kyoto, Hello Yudanaka!

Kyoto Gion Walking Tour - The Hunt for Geikos and Meikos

Kyoto! (Part 2)

Kyoto!

Touring Fujisan National Park

On Our Way to Fujisan National Park

Our Hostel in Tokyo

Tsukiji Fish Market

Japan 2010 Winter Vacation

Japan 2010 Winter Vacation Pictures!

The "Japan 2010 Winter Vacation" pictures have been sorted/named/edited/ and uploaded onto Facebook!

You can view all of the photo albums through our Facebook links on the "About" tab.

Enjoy!

- Ken & Jess

New Andeok Neighbors!

So, our one and only other Native English Teacher in Andeok has left... Goodbye Casey! We didn't have the chance to bid you "Bon Voyage" in person, but we hope you're enjoying your time back at home with your family.

And like the circle of life, new foreigners have arrived...

Welcome Justin and Jin!

- Ken & Jess

We're Back!!!

Wow, what an incredible trek through Japan!

We have oodles and oodles of exciting updates to share with you over the next couple of weeks. It'll be quite the task to pick out all of the highlights from the thousands of pictures and hours upon hours of video footage, but we'll be working feverishly to get the job done.

We'll keep you posted!

- Ken & Jess

Welcome to Korea!

HELLO AND WELCOME TO ALL 2010 EPIK GUEST ENGLISH TEACHERS!!!

Jess and I would like to give a warm welcome to all of the new Guest English Teachers who will be arriving from all corners of the globe next week. Good luck with your orientation!

Remember, if you travel with an open mind, a positive attitude, and a little spontaneity, adventure will find you…

Now for the bad news…

A few weeks ago, Jess and I were asked by the Gyeongbuk EPIK Coordinator for the Provincial Office of Education to act as ambassadors. We were to help escort you from Jeonju University to the designated meeting point to be paired with your co-teachers. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to help out in this regard as we will be out of the country during that time.

Now back to good news…

Did I say out of the country? Oh ya, I forgot to tell you…

WE’RE GOING TO JAPAN!!!

Our trip is booked from February 14^th – 26^th, so please come back and visit for all of our exciting updates when we get back!

See you in a few weeks!

With lots and lots of love,

- Ken & Jess

Graduation!

I woke up this morning to the second snowstorm of the year. Memories of the last snowstorm (refer to “My Painful First Day of English Camp” on Jan 4^th 2010) flashed through my mind as a shiver rippled down my spine…

Mrs. Jeon called and told me that I didn’t have to come to school. She was well aware of the dangerous conditions in the mountains, potential bus cancellations (again), and severe cold.

I have to admit, the first thing that went through my mind was, “YESSSSSSS!!!”

I couldn’t remember the last time I had a snow day, and considering I had just survived five weeks of English camps, I deserved the break. But my excitement was short lived...

Somewhere in a tiny corner of my mind, I heard a voice tell me, “But Ken! It’s your students’ graduation today. You promised them you’d be there…”

Damn promises…

So I donned my long underwear, dress pants, dress shirt, and tie, and headed out into the white abyss.

The trip to school was slow, but safe (the first of its kind in six months). The ceremony itself lasted a mere thirty minutes, and almost all of my twenty-three middle school students received awards of some kind (the presentations were in Korean, so I wasn’t able to understand what they were for). Mrs. Jeon informed me that they had far surpassed the provincial academic average for English class (the average for Gyeongsangbuk was 80.5%, and my students scored an average of 96.7%!), and that the Principal was highly pleased with their performance. I beamed with pride as I stared at them lined up in the front of the auditorium, preparing for their next big adventure in life (the dreaded “HIGH SCHOOL”)…

Once the ceremony was done, I had the chance to meet their parents, take a few pictures, and shake some hands before they were all whisked away by their homeroom teachers. Everyone left the auditorium, jumped into their cars, and disappeared into the mountains…

- Ken

"About Page" Update...

The "About Page" has been updated with Facebook "badges" for contact information and access to our photo albums.

- Ken & Jess

Ulleungdo…Not Quite

FRIDAY

This weekend, Ken and I had planned a visit to the island of Ulleungdo, just off the east coast of Pohang city. Alongside Corey and Ilana (the Andong English teachers), we were going to spend Friday night meandering about on the beach, venturing out the next morning, to the infamous island.

***

After stuffing ourselves with a full seafood buffet (at our favourite restaurant beside the Pohang Bus Terminal), we headed straight for the coast, looking for a motel where we could waste the night away. Our taxi driver insisted that Pohang’s reasonably-priced, coast-side motels were the best in all of Korea. Having over twenty motels to choose from – lined up along the coast – we took a stab at the one closest to the water, presenting a glorious view of the morning sunrise.

Believe it or not, we couldn’t have picked a better motel. Spacious rooms, equipped with a glass-paneled indoor balcony, we found ourselves, minutes later, gazing out into the vast black darkness of the sea. We couldn’t wait to see Nature’s glowing sunrise the next morning.

***

SATURDAY

Waking up at seven-o’-clock in the morning (too early for the weekend), we all stood on our balconies, admiring Pohang’s magnificent sunrise spilling across its mountains and sea. It was the perfect start to our day…

Making sure to be at the ferry on time, we quickly split from our motel and set off towards the harbour.

***

We were antsy waiting in the main building to purchase our ferry tickets, but our excitement quickly waned after we saw what our wallets were in for. Regular class was a whopping $140 round trip – for one person. That meant that, for the four of us – Ken, Corey, Ilana, and I – we would be settling for a $560 boat ride to Ulleungdo (before having any actual fun on the island). It wasn’t the 24-hour trip we had imagined.

After a moment of careful deliberation, we kindly returned our tickets for a full refund and walked towards the inner city to settle our starved stomachs.

***

The highlight for this day turned out to be much more memorable than we had expected. After showing Ilana and Corey around the Jukdo Market and downtown area (shinae), we searched for more Pohang excursions on the internet in a PC bang (our first experience in one).

Without any luck, we taxied to the outskirts of Pohang and looked for a mountain to hike. We arrived at small hill riddled with thousands of bits of garbage. Unsatisfied, we took the driver’s suggestion to head back downtown to the Tapsan Mountain which was walking distance from the downtown district. We endured the driver’s abrupt-break-release-break-release-break-release driving for ten more minutes before arriving at our final destination.

At the base of the mountain, there was a small building, which we assumed was an information center. Going inside to investigate (well…to have a drink of water), we found that the building was actually a memorial museum dedicated to the 1950 Korean War. Pohang was the last stand against North Korean soldiers invading southwards into South Korea, where many brave high school students volunteered to fight alongside their South Korean brothers.

A quaint but historic gem in Pohang, we were amazed to be in the city that was once a battleground for Korean soldiers only sixty years ago. Photos and detailed models decorated the museum’s walls, as well as cases that held real samples of the monstrous guns that were used during the war.

As we were slowly exiting the exhibition, we were greeted by the museum’s curious curator. Clearly, many foreigners hadn’t stumbled upon this place, and he was quite excited that we had made a presence in his museum. He quickly ushered us into his office and began showing us prized photos of him with American and Korean generals. A tall, but weathered man, he still had an exuberant proud light emanating from his speech and stance.

After we signed and dated his guestbook, he gestured us towards the showroom’s main entrance. Along the main wall, there were large portrait photos of the volunteer male high school students who had fought North Korean soldiers atop of their own school’s soil. The curator pointed towards one particular photo and told us that it was his picture. He was one of the volunteers who had fought in Pohang and had even received a Purple Heart after taking a bullet through his pelvis during the fight. We were honoured to have met him. He was a walking and talking memory of the Korean War.

***

Climbing further up the mountain, we managed to make it to the top, where there was a tall stone marker engraved in Old Korean. The view was sensational, for we could see a 360-degree view of all of Pohang, its waters and the epic steel factory, Posco.

I think that we should just leave our trips unplanned. Who knows what we’ll encounter next weekend…

- Jess

Adventure Map for KenandJess2go (version 2)

*Added "Yeongdeok" and "Yeongyang"!

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Yeongdeok!

Today, I fell in love (again)... Her name is Yeongdeok, and her specialty is snow crab.

After my classes were over, Mr. Young offered to drive Jess and I out for lunch in a small coastal city we’ve heard of, but not yet had the chance to visit. We gladly accepted, and took off on a forty-five minute road trip to the coast. Were we in for a treat…

A lot of people ask me about my favourite places in Korea. Well, this one has earned its place at the top of my chart. Let me explain why.

1) Yeongdeok is in a prime location for travel in Korea. It’s connected to several major highways; therefore every corner of Korea is easily accessible from here.
2) It’s the perfect size. It’s definitely not a village like our own, but it’s also not a metropolis. It has a “small town” feel, with some of the comforts of a major city (grocery stores, bars, shopping, entertainment etc…).
3) It’s absolutely beautiful.
4) Their local specialty is crab. I love crab.

We arrived at a restaurant that Mr. Young has been to before with his wife (it’s apparently the best crab restaurant in the area). A very friendly old woman greeted us at the entrance and escorted us to our private dining room on the far end of the restaurant. My jaw almost hit the floor as I walked inside. I’m no Shakespeare, but I’ll try my best to do the scene justice…

The first thing that I noticed was the far wall (or lack there-of). In its place was a huge window, overlooking the East Sea as if it were an animated painting. Huge waves crashed into the rocks below, and in the distance, several fishing ships dotted the horizon. On one side of the restaurant was a small fishing port with old buoys, nets, and rusted barrels strewn all over the ground. On the other side was a picturesque wave barrier and a couple of fisherman braving the cold ocean spray at the end of a jetty. This was the first of two moments that day in which my breath was taken from me...

We sat down, and the waitress immediately entered the room with three giant snow crabs on a platter. She proceeded to cut them up for us (so that we could eat them without making a mess) as another waitress served us our many side dishes (seaweed, mussels, clams, salad, kimchi, sardines, peppers, radishes, and eggs) and a nice glass of pumpkin soup.

After we had finished with the crab legs, all of the shells were quickly whisked away, and in their place were three “bowls” of greenish-coloured mixed rice. The “bowls” were the giant crab heads, and the mixed rice contained a variety of spices, vegetables, and all of the crab innards (the “guts” as you may say). Needless to say, we feasted like royalty.

Mr. Young has extended his generosity to Jessica and I on countless occasions. He’s constantly trying to spark up conversations, he’s always in a happy mood, and he doesn’t hesitate to go out of his way to show Jessica and I something (or somewhere) new to expand our “repertoire” of Korean experiences. Clearly, lunch was on me. Well, this was the second moment that day in which my breath was taken from me…

At the cash register, I misunderstood the lady regarding the cost of our meal. I initially heard $46, which was quite the bargain considering what we had eaten.

Sadly, I was wrong. The total cost of our little lunch date: $146.

Ouch…

Mr. Young (and his son “Little Ben”) were very thankful for the meal, and decided that we should take a quick walk down to the crab museum to digest.

The museum was small, but like everything else in the town, still very pleasant. There were a lot of little models depicting fishing techniques, some historic pictures of what the town looked like before/after the Korean War, and some interactive displays (which Little Ben took a liking to).

After our museum tour, we walked along the coast to take some pictures as the sun set in the distance. At the end of our walk, we took a quick trip to the famous crab market for some “window shopping”.

I’ve never seen so many crabs in my life. There were hundreds of tanks filled with thousands of crabs from all over the world. The most popular were from South Korea, North Korea, Russia, and Japan, but if you wanted crab from somewhere else, this was certainly the best place to find it. We zigzagged our way through the market under constant assault from the stand-owners to buy their crabs (which were all deemed as “the best in South Korea”).

It didn’t take very long before the assault completely tired us out. We decided to call it a night, and headed back home.

- Ken

Winter English Camps

English Camps…do your worst.

Fortunately enough for me, there wasn’t anything that I had to face during my entire series of winter lessons.

With class sizes ranging from seven to fourteen students, for each level of middle school and high school, I didn’t have a single problem that arose in any of my classes.

Even though it was their winter vacation – their time to play computer games, sleep-in, and watch T.V., my students decided wake up in the wee hours of the morning, brave the cold weather, and take the early bus, heading towards the last place most students would want to be during their month-long break. My students wanted to come to class. They were excited for class, and I wasn’t going to let them down.

The greatest thing about my experience was that my classes were composed of some of the most intelligent English students that I taught this past semester. That fact simply expanded the possibilities for the activities I could do.

My main focus during my winter camps was speaking - dreaded by many of my Korean students, I made sure to give them plenty of opportunities to speak in English this month. I threw at them many projects: school tours, creating inventions, commercial productions, news reports, video-calls on Skype over the internet (with my family), etc. In giving them these tasks, I used their incredible competitiveness to my advantage.

I had to reward my students for their sheer determination in my classes. Aside from their projects, which only took up half of the lessons, I made sure to include a school-wide scavenger hunt (leaving clues all over the school grounds for the students to find), the Guess Who? Game, Jeopardy, Battleship (using English vocabulary), Snakes and Ladders (landing on a certain colour meant that an English sentence had to be spoken), logic riddles (for which the answers had to be presented in English), a brainstorming activity using flashcards, baking chocolate banana bread (my favourite), etc. Most of the prizes and supplies were funded out of my pocket initially, but by asking for some school funding a couple weeks beforehand, I was able to save myself from shopping for school supplies in the last weeks of camp.

Of course, I feel like I’m the lucky one. Even though I prepared myself with coffee and plenty of energy-consuming activities for my students, they were the ones who showed up in class everyday with their bubbly attitudes and high spirits. Some other teachers might not have been so fortunate.

Like this Korean experience and all others, fellow English teachers will, once again, have to keep an open mind and brace themselves for whatever happens to come their way.

- Jess

Skating in Yeongyang

Hyeonseo Middle School Winter English Camp

Andeok Middle School Winter English Camp

Andeok High School Winter English Camp

Hyeonseo High School Winter English Camp (Part 2)

Hyeonseo High School Winter English Camp (Part 1)

First Snow in Andeok

Adventure Map for KenandJess2go

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My First Week of “English Camp”

My first week of “English camp” is now complete. Since it was cancelled, my daily routine consisted of the following:

-          Wake up

-          Eat

-          Shower

-          Eat again

-          Play “Battlefield 1942”

-          Watch “Family Guy”

-          Eat again

-          Nap

-          Watch “Mythbusters”

-          Pick my nose

-          Quickly do the dishes, make the bed, and spread my lesson plans all over the table before Jess got home from her camp to make it seem like I had a productive day.

I love my job.

- Ken

Saved by the Snow!

After yesterday’s ordeal, I was really, really, really not looking forward to my second day of camp.

But alas, somebody up there is watching over me…

English camp has been cancelled for the week!

*Doing a little dance…

- Ken

My Painful First Day of English Camp

Today was my first day of English camp.

All Guest English Teachers are obligated to continue working throughout winter vacation; therefore “camps” are set up at various schools to attract keen students who want to spend their vacation studying as much as possible to ace their exams come the following semester.

Ok that last part was a lie…

English camps are set up so that the ­parents­ can get rid of their kids all week, and maybe, just maybe, learn a thing or two by the end of camp. Or at the very least, tire them out enough so that they’re quiet by the time they get home…

The following is my schedule for the next five weeks:

Week 1: Gucheon Middle School (all grades) from 9:00-12:00.

Week 2: Gucheon Middle School (all grades) from 9:00-12:00.

Week 3: Bunam High School (all grades) from 10:00-1:30

Week 4: Bunam Middle School (all grades) from 10:00-1:30

Week 5: Bunam Middle School (all grades) from 10:00-1:30

Easy eh? Ya, I thought so too…

…

Last night, we had our first snowstorm of the year. And by snowstorm, I mean we actually only had a quarter of an inch of snow (which is a colossal snowstorm in this area) that shut down most of the country. Of course, I didn’t realize the impact of the “storm” until it was too late.

With my lesson plans in hand, I waited patiently for the bus to arrive. Normally, the buses run like clockwork, rarely more than one or two minutes early or late. I knew that the snow would slow things down, but when the bus didn’t show up after thirty minutes of waiting, I started to wonder if it was going to come at all. I decided to wait another fifteen minutes, and if it didn’t show up by then, I’d head back home.

Just as I was about to head back, the bus appeared in the distance. I hopped on board, and settled in for my less-than-comfortable ride through the mountains. If I had known what I was about to go through, I would’ve stayed at home…

The bus driver was quite obviously terrified by the snow-covered roads, and refused to drive faster than five or ten kilometers per hour. Approximately ten kilometers into our trip, at the base of one of the larger mountains, the bus driver stopped the bus, stepped outside, and began shouting as he paced back-and-forth. Several people on the bus stood up and began yelling back at him, and he refused to get back into the bus until he had finished a cigarette. I just sat there and held onto my seat belt…

He finally calmed down, stepped back onto the bus, and with a little shake, prepared himself for the climb up the icy slope.

Needless to say, it wasn’t nearly as terrifying as it looked. The bus effortlessly climbed the hill, and the bus driver (with his newly-found confidence) quickened his pace for the rest of the trek through the mountains.

It took nearly two hours for the thirty-kilometer trip, but we had made it safe and sound.

I approached the ticket lady and asked about the next bus time to Gucheon. She just stared at me with a puzzled expression and mumbled that there were no more. Because of the snow, all public transportation had been shut down. The bus that I had taken through the mountains was the last one of the day…

I pulled out my phone, called my co-teacher, and told her that I was trapped at the Bunam bus terminal. I expected her to tell me to try and head back home, but instead, she told me that she had an idea to still get me to Gucheon school. She needed to make a phone call, but she promised to call right back.

A couple of minutes later, she called back and told me to walk to the Chinese restaurant to be “delivered” to school.

Apparently, the delivery guy had snow tires, and was willing to “deliver” me to school if the teachers ordered food (which they gladly did).

I waited in the lobby of the restaurant until the food was ready, and hopped into the taxi waiting out front (yes, the delivery guy was also a taxi driver). I was squeezed into the back seat in between boxes of food and an old woman (I have no idea who she was or why she was there. Maybe she was being “delivered” too…).

He sped his way toward school, grumbling at all of the cars that had pulled off to the side of the road. Two and a half hours after I left home, I finally arrived at school.

I walked into class, and was shocked to find that every single one of my students were there. All thirteen of them. I began my lesson with some warm-up activities, a few icebreakers, and a short Pixar clip. Barely fifteen minutes into my main lesson, six of my students stood up, looked at the clock, and told me that they had to go. They explained that since there were no more buses, one of parents was going to come and pick them up. I continued my lesson with the remaining seven students. Twenty minutes later, one of the teachers came into class and said that he had to drive some more of the students home, so I watched as another five of my students left. With only two students remaining, I decided to drop my lesson, and teach them how to play scrabble instead…

At the end of the day, one of the teachers offered to drive me to the bus terminal. Since there were no more buses running back through the mountains, he proceeded to try and hunt down a taxi driver who was willing to do the dangerous trek.

The first taxi driver that arrived offered to drive me through the mountains for fifty dollars. The teacher negotiated him down to forty, but grabbed me at the last second before I was about to hop in the car. He noticed that the taxi didn’t have snow tires, so he refused to let me go with him. After a brief argument, the taxi driver drove away, and almost immediately another taxi pulled up. This taxi had snow tires, and the driver offered to drive me through the mountains for twenty dollars. It sounded too good to be true, but with a nod of approval from the teacher, I hopped into the taxi and headed home.

That was one hell of a first day of school. I don’t know how I am going to survive the week…

- Ken

Casey to the Rescue

Well, we thought that the weekend had ended smoothly until we arrived at the Andong bus terminal on the way home.

To our horror, we had missed the last bus back to Andeok. As a result, we were now trapped an hour away with no means of getting home in time to run our English camps the following day.

In a state of panic, we called up Casey (the other English teacher in Andeok), and pleaded for some assistance. He pulled himself out of his nice cozy room, got into his freezing car, and drove all the way up to Andong to save us from our dilemma.

Casey, if you’re reading this, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

- Ken

New Year’s 2010!

THURSDAY

We could see the Bosingak bell from the middle of the bus – on the bus’ T.V., that is.

Ken and I were headed up to Seoul City, the capital of South Korea, for this decade’s big New Year’s blast. It was one of the places to be on New Year’s Eve, but we hadn’t taken into account Seoul’s 25 million population that night.

Never mind it being -16^oC, or the fact that snow and ice were now covering the busy city’s streets…nothing was going to stop us from being at that bell when the clock struck midnight.

Setting down our things at the lovely Alps Motel, right in the heart of Seoul’s City Hall, we padded ourselves with layers and layers of long underwear and sweaters, double-checked our cameras, and bolted for the hotspot that was Bosingak.

***

On our way, we saw many food stands lined up on the sidewalks, eagerly taking advantage of the thousands and thousands of people that were standing and freezing outside for the holiday.

One of the stands was dedicated towards a charity, and was selling helium-inflated balloons for 1,000 won ($1). If purchased, something was supposed to be written on them – a wish, a New Year’s resolution, etc…to be released at midnight.

We were about to reach the corner of the street, when we were caught. A girl stopped us in our tracks, and yelled to her partner, “Wak-guk! (Westerner!)”. A cheery fellow rushed over and started telling us, in English, that the charity was to help buy kerosene to heat retirement homes.

Well, his speech impressed Ken, and in the spirit of the New Year, he donated 1,000 won to the charity…and I got a deep-blue, big, bobbing balloon. What did we write on it? To the first of many…

The famous bell was only minutes away, and as we got closer and closer, we noticed many police riot buses, lined up on every street and corner, blocks away from Bosingak.

Little did we know that there were thousands of riot police, outfitted in shiny, light-reflecting gear, inter-locking arms around the site. Creating a border with a radius of over 100 feet, most people couldn’t even see the bell past the hundreds of swaying heads in front of them. Performances were being held on a stage set up in front of Bosingak, and singers and dancers were putting on a show for the countless number of people surrounding them.

It must’ve been about thirty minutes before midnight. My breathable running shoes weren’t doing me justice, and my feet were slowly freezing to the point where I was gruelingly trying to move my toes for some blood circulation. It was to no avail.

Then, the worst possible thing that could happen, happened. The riot police let up their guard, and everyone jetted towards the bell. Helpless and unable to stay in the same spot, Ken and I were shuffled forward by the crowd, my ice-blocks-for-feet stinging with each step. The police soon reformed their lines and the crowd was divided, once again, by the lines and lines of linked arms. I was face-to-face with one of the riot police – not the view I had wanted, half an hour before the arrival of the new year…

(One minute before midnight…)

I was about to reach my limit. It was so cold that my eyes had glazed over and my feet were ready to shatter from the icy temperatures.

“Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…three…two…one…”

Colourful balloons were released into the air, and the many hopes and dreams that people had set for 2010 drifted up towards the heavens. What followed was a light show of epic proportions. People had brought roman candles and were firing them up into the sky. The fireworks marked the celebration that was the start of the new decade, innocent and unscathed from the rest of the world. Energetic dancers, in traditional Korean wear (hanboks) twirled around the lit stage to the main theme of the movie Mission Impossible. You could hear the bell ringing in the background. Thirty-three hits, by thirty-three different people, to bring forward new blessings for the year.

Feeling like meat popsicles, Ken and I attempted to get out of the crowd. I turned left, left, and left again. There was no ‘out’. This was a claustrophobic’s nightmare. It was terribly difficult to move an inch any which way, with thousands and thousands of people groping you without meaning to do so. Everyone was pressed into a human sandwich, being eaten alive by the crowd that was rapidly growing in size.

Forty-five minutes. That’s how long it took to get out of the mass of people. Individuals were still pushing their way inwards towards the bell. No matter how many times I said, “We want to get out!” they still pushed their way in.

Once we were on the outside of the swarm, we headed straight back to our cozy motel. Curling up with bowls of hot, instant ramen, Ken and I spent our first moments of 2010 warming up to the glow of the T.V., completely rested and relaxed…I think it was a good way to start the new year :).

***

FRIDAY

Our goal set for New Year’s Day was to find a pair of winter boots. My breathable, walking shoes hadn’t done me justice the night before, and Ken knew I wouldn’t last the weekend if I didn’t find suitable footwear.

Luckily, his travel companion Lonely Planet’s Guide to Korea listed a store just for me. Apparently ABC Mart in the area Myeongdong, was the best place to purchase cheap shoes.

The day was bright and oddly sunny for the chilly weather that was looming about. Ken and I took an unplanned one-and-a-half hour walk around the many districts of Seoul, looking for this ABC Mart. We even reached the point where the buildings we were seeing were crumbling from age. Turning back, we stumbled upon Insadong, an area dedicated to traditional artsy trinkets, hand-pressed paper, and ggultarae candy.

As we were browsing through the many stands of handbags, key chains, and paintings, two men called to us from their stand. One of them, wearing a stuffed, panda hat on his head, attracted us to him like bees to a flower. He began his show. In English, he started explaining how the honey candy he was making used to be given only to royalty.

He exclaimed that he could make tens of thousands of honey threads from one block of golden fermented honey. Poking a hole into his honey ball, he stretched it out until it was like a saggy rubber band, and dipped it in cornstarch. He then wrapped it around his hands once, and stretched it out again, dipping it in the same powdery substance. He finally made it to the point where he was holding out thousands and thousands of fine strands of honey, separated by cornstarch powder. It was a beautiful sight.

The strands were then bunched and torn into sections into which a 21-spiced mix of peanuts or almonds was added. Wrapping the strands around the spiced concoction, they set their newly made candy into boxes, ready to sell.

Although I enjoyed the show, my feet were getting frostbitten pretty fast. Ken and I continued to walk around the streets, until we came across another outdoor market. It was New Year’s Day, and the streets were packed with people our own age. I guess this was the place to be. Only a minute later did we find that this wondrous place was Insadong – exactly where we could find the ABC Mart.

Entering the store, we did find several different kinds of shoes, but none into which I wanted to invest. I just wanted a pair of snuggly boots that I could tear up for about eight months (the remainder of our teaching contract).

Returning back to the cold, we browsed around some stands, hoping to find a bargain. Then, I saw them – snuggly UGG-like boots that were sitting on a stand, waiting for me to buy them. I didn’t even have to bargain. I was sold just by looking at them. Fortunately, the price was only 20,000 won ($20), for a pair of the warmest and most comfortable boots I have ever worn.

Now we could do what we planned to do today: a photo tour of downtown Seoul. The Christmas decorations we saw the night before had completely mesmerized us, and drawn us into our activity for this day. We shot photos soon after dark, when the holiday lights began to illuminate the blackness of the night. There was not one corner of the downtown area which was unlit by magnificent displays of lights.

We walked along the Cheonggyecheon stream, which was like a peaceful dream. With architecturally beautiful walkways, and a small waterfall illuminated at the end, we took photos of the large Christmas tree and hanging skeletons of lit presents, marking the end of Seoul’s lover’s lane.

***

SATURDAY

The highlight for today was to meet some members of my mother’s side of the family. Due to the unforseen consequences (uncontrollable vomiting) from eating the san-nak-ji (live octopus) the last time we were in Seoul, we made it our mission to avoid street food at all costs. We made a rule: no overindulging on anything.

We met my relatives at the bus station and drove to Incheon for some dinner. Stuffing ourselves with smoked duck, pork ribs, and yukgaejang (spicy beef soup that is served boiling hot), the evening meeting was quite successful, especially with my uncle constantly cracking jokes and making over-the-top gestures to communicate with Ken.

The night finished off tasting international beers at a sports bar, with my uncles and Ken. The night ended with Ken and one of my uncles linking arms to drink out of their glasses (my uncle called it a ‘love shot’).

***

SUNDAY

Our last stop of for the weekend was in the infamous Dongdaemun Market. Known as the shopping district in Korea, there was city block after city block of clothing stands, fashion malls, and underground shopping centers. Dongdaemun, in its entirety, was a haven for impulsive shopaholics (unlike me) and a must-see for incoming travelers.

***

So that’s it. A new decade has begun, with amazing new memories, about to be born. To whatever wild adventures arising this year, I say, “Bring it on…”.

Happy New Year!

- Jess

Ggultarae Candy in Insadong

Seoul on New Years Day

New Years Eve in Seoul

Cleaning Sewage

It was the morning after Christmas, and merely seven hours after midnight, we were awoken by a ‘bang-bang-bang!’ on our front door.

After only one holiday, our village of Myungdang-ri was up and running again.

In our pyjamas, we quickly changed our clothes and answered the door. A man was solidly standing in front of me, with a full getup of dirty work clothes. From what I could make of his words, it was time for the annual cleaning of our house’s sewage tank.

Since our town doesn’t have a sewage system set up, all of our, ahem, ‘wastes’, collect in a tank, right underground, in front of our house.

This is how I imagined the whole process to be carried out: a tube would be lowered into the tank, everything contained in it would be sucked up into a truck, and that would be that.

But no…

The inefficient process turned out to take hours upon hours. The workers made a small bonfire on our neighbour’s property using some of her small trees to keep themselves warm. After a ramen break, they started to drill… The sounds rang through our living room for longer than we expected.

The workers drilled over ten meters of our concrete lawn, leaving behind a wake of mashed-up, poorly laid out concrete.

Instead of using one of the few manholes scattered on our lawn, they just happily and carelessly tore up our lawn, making a foot-and-a-half-wide path from the base of our home to the edge of our property. After pumping up the sewage, they decided to fill the gash on our property with one foot of crumbly concrete that we could easily kick up. How inefficient.

With the rough translation, ‘We’ll bill you later’, the workers were gone, and although we were left with an empty sewage tank, the ugliness that the process left behind wasn’t worth the trouble.

Aunt Kimchi’ll have something to say about this.

- Jess

First Christmas

Christmas Eve, we had spent the entire day watching movies in the spirit of Christmas, ranging from the ever-so-endearing Miracle on 34^th Street to the not-so-innocent Elf.

For this 2009 holiday season, Ken and I decided to give back to our humble community. Despite living in one of the smallest towns in Korea, we made up our minds to bring a little Christmas spirit to our tiny village of Andeok. The retirement community, hardworking shop owners, and innocent children were deserving of a little Christmas cheer.

Donning a stunning Santa suit, trimmed in feathery white cotton and completed with a complementary hat and beard, Ken stuffed the belly of his costume with the largest pillow he could find, held together merely by a simple red ribbon. With wrapped chocolate bars and assorted candies, both of us headed out to our village’s only main road – Ken carrying the bag of sugary goodies, and me videotaping the entire episode.

First, we stopped to visit the retirement recreation center. Its members were competitively playing against each other in Korean cricket, even though the temperature was a chilly –5^oC. They gratefully accepted some candy and were receptive in our effort to cast happiness to everyone around.

The busy construction workers were next. Even though it was the 25^th, they would never take a breath to rest, as was shown by the mountain of coffee cans that had collected at the base of their site. Even when offered gifts of sugary sweets, they never came down from their scaffold, and thanked us from up above.

The local convenience store, the owners, now our cherished friends, kept up their bubbly attitude as we stopped by to say hello and give chocolaty treats.

The bus station was the most eventful. Its passengers were in the frigid cold waiting room, and were more than curious about the costumed stranger handing out candy. One ajumma was very confused and probably a little scared…it took a few extra attempts before other passengers convinced her to accept Santa.

Our next stop was my home school, Andeok Middle and High School. Some of the school’s students sprinted towards us to meet the strange jolly man. Of course, their ‘hellos’ were replaced with ‘Santa, give me candy! Candy, candy!’

We didn’t forget to reach our town’s grumpy pharmacist, the town’s many generous restaurant owners, and many of the other residents, who were curiously peering out of their windows to take a gander at the ‘HO HO HO!’ commotion. We were well-received by many of the townsfolk who asked us to ‘Come back again!’

Our last stop was our loving landlord’s home. Sadly, when we came upon her land, all we could see were the remains of her once lush apple orchard, which was now in smoldering ruins. It was Christmas Day, and Aunt Kimchi was spending the day setting fire to her trees. We hustled over to where she was and surprisingly, she had a widespread smile on her face. We found out that she was planning on replanting her orchard with younger trees. What a satisfying Christmas gift to the self! Aunt Kimchi warmly invited us inside for some apple cider and cookies, completing our holiday escapade.

With festive shouts of ‘Merry Christmas!’ to all around, we turned in, satisfied that we had spread a little Christmas joy throughout our quiet Korean community.

- Jess

Santa Comes to Andeok

The Night Before Christmas

It was the night before Christmas...

Well, not really. It was actually 2:00 in the morning.

I was sleeping peacefully, dreaming of squishy gumdrops and glittery sugarplums dancing about in my head…when I suddenly awoke.

Ken was madly shaking me. He was sitting upright in fight-or-flight mode and was staring into the living room.

A faint glow appeared through our curtains, its light, splashing onto our wooden floor, eerily moving from side to side…

It looked like a mob had come to our home.

As we peered out of our windows, listening carefully, we realized that the haunting chants and flashing lights were actually something quite different.

It turns out that the “mob” was just a small group of members from our local church, holding candles and caroling in Korean right outside of our bedroom window.

After deciphering the mysterious sounds outside of our home, we slowly drifted back into a slumber as our heart rates slowed and the caroling faded away into a faint, but final “Merry Christmas…”.

- Jess

Gyeongbuk EPIK Get-Together in Daegu

The get-together or “business trip” that Gyeongbuk EPIK (English Program In Korea) held turned out to be quite the pre-holidays party.

With accommodations at the New Young Nam Hotel in Daegu, all English teachers met in the hotel’s swanky, tinseled-up restaurant, carrying wrapped boxes of gifts from the Gyeongbuk EPIK managers.

We had a glorious feast prepared for us – buffet style – where you could find fresh, handmade sushi, pork ribs, sticky in a lush, red sauce, buttery pastas, spiced sausages, delectable desserts, and more…

Listening to some quality music from two exceptionally paired vocalists, all of the teachers happily ate to their satisfaction, drank as much beer as they could (the restaurant’s home-brewed beer was free and unlimited until 9:00pm), and opened their presents. Our lovely holiday gifts from our managers turned out to be a solid black EPIK organizer, a smashing black bag for our books and groceries, and the traditional Korean game yoonori – a typical ‘get-to-the-finish-line’ game played on New Year’s Day (sometimes involving money :)).

Taking in some holiday caroling from the Andong teachers (including Corey and Ilana), and cheering on or sometimes sympathizing with some of the other English teachers’ experiences, the night finally came to a close, and most of the teachers left for their homes…

MOST of the teachers.

The unlimited, home-brewed beer was quite tempting. Especially since that beer had a slight caramel-like accent, a rich aftertaste, and was served in rustic, two-and-a-half-litre glass bottles. Suffice to say, we had our fill of it.

With the few teachers that were left, Ken and I took out our newly-received yoonori game, and we all started to play, throwing 1,000 won ($1) bills into our betting pot.

I won the game, of course, having years of experience throwing the four yoonori sticks with a personalized technique. The boys were certain that I was cheating. My prize – 3,000 Korean won. I left the remaining 1,000 won in the pot to keep the game going.

Minutes after the following dialogue, Ken and I decided to call it quits.

“Jess, it’s your turn,” Ken would say.

I would reply back, “Ken, I’ve already won (showing him my three 1,000 won bills).”

(circling around one round of players…)

“Jess, come on, it’s your turn,” Ken would say, again.

“Ken,” I would stress back, “I’ve already won.”

After a couple more cycles of this, I decided to retire Ken. We, and two others, were the last ones left in the entire restaurant.

Thank-you for another wonderful experience, EPIK. We’re so fortunate to have you.

- Jess

Skype Lesson

Behind the Scenes at the Busan Aquarium

Under the Sea at the Busan Aquarium

Diving with Sharks in Busan

For two months, we were waiting for this trip. We were waiting to look death straight in the eyes.

FRIDAY

Our first evening in Busan City began with a REAL chicken burger meal from Burger King (Ken and I don’t have these kinds of luxuries in Andeok), ending in a satisfying slumber on a round, prettily pink bed in the motel room. At 30,000 won a night, the motel was unbeatable, just a few minutes’ stroll away from the exquisite Haeundae Beach.

SATURDAY

Waking up at a time I cannot remember (it was the weekend, right?), Ken and I walked down to Haeundae Beach to catch the blazing morning sun. The sparkling sand and glistening crystalline water brought many visitors to Haeundae’s sapphire coast. After taking in as much as we could of the salty breeze and icy air, we bought an affordable breakfast of sandwiches and coffee at the nearest 7 Eleven convenience store.

Next, Ken, Casey (the Andeok Elementary School teacher), and I went to experience the delights of the Haeundae Market. Much like the ones we saw in Seoul, Pohang, Daegu, and Andong, the potent essence of fish wafted throughout the market’s corridors.

(A few hours later…)

Surprise, surprise! Guess who showed up smack dab, right in the middle of the downtown area – our great friends, the Andong English teachers! We made sure to given them a proper tour of the area…the fabulous beach, market, and department store (all that we had learned of downtown Busan in the past four hours…).

Filling up on sugared cinnamon doughnut sticks and hoeddeok (mouthwatering syrup-filled pancakes), we moseyed down along the Haeundae coast to the famous green, oxidized mermaid statue of Princess Hwang-Ok (a human by day and a mermaid by night), sitting solitarily upon her rock, waiting for absolutely no one at all.

As the ocean-blue blanket threw itself upon us, we made our way back along the coastline’s luminescent path, which was budded with pastel coloured lights, changing evanescently from one hue to the next.

The last item on our agenda for the day was to watch the awe-inspiring movie Avatar. The sheer imagination and exceptional vividness pouring out from the movie screen made it relatively easy for caramel buttered popcorn to fall straight from our gawking mouths, straight into our hungry laps.

Alas, the night ended early. Ken and I wanted to be prepared for our appointment at Death’s door early the next morning.

***

After eating a light brunch of heavenly hot chocolate and toasted onion bagels, we marched forward toward the Busan Aquarium, ready to take on a tank full of hungry…ravenous…sharks.

Scuba diving with the sharks was no joke. We were in no way allowed to touch the sharks (although my hair brushed the tail of one of them), and we were advised to keep our fingers and arms close to our bodies, just in case. Of course, we were assured that no one had been attacked or eaten…yet. We went through a briefing with the instructor, learning how to equalize the pressure building up inside our heads when we lowered into the tank, when to inflate our BCDs, when to signal that we were out of air…

The next step was to gear up and practice breathing out of the mouthpieces connected to our air tanks (believe me, it takes some muscle to carry all of that equipment). We learned how to communicate underwater via simple hand signals, purge water out of our rubber mouthpieces, and clear water out of our facemasks (I was complimented by the instructor on my water-clearing technique, which he deemed to be worthy of an instructor :)).

Aside from the comments the instructor had told us – the sharks eating other sharks, one of the enormous fish eating one of the sharks…oh, and a couple of the sharks being on a diet – we happily (and ever-so cautiously) entered the tank swarming with almost ten sharks, ranging from beautifully spotted leopard sharks to pasty-grey sand-tiger sharks.

Our keen audience was composed of the Busan Aquarium visitors, of whom, many of them were holding their cell phone cameras to the chilled glass. The peace signs I shot out at many of the children left them stunned, and only widened eyes and slow-moving waves were returned back to me. Our eerie waltz around the aquarium filled with killer beings must’ve been bewildering. Luckily, Ken’s “waterproof” case, sealed with vegetable margarine (my suggestion in the place of petroleum jelly) and bound with layers and layers of red duct tape made for one heck of a water resistant camera.

With only the sound of air bubbles escaping our mouthpieces after every exhaled breath, we admired the striped fishies that were curiously swirling at our feet, the gigantic, ten-foot monstrous fish that could’ve fed all of Korea, and the bug-eyed nurse sharks with teeth going every which way (they kept opening their mouths when swimming by us… ). We were at one with the water. We effortlessly glided around the massive tank with some of nature’s wildest creatures.

Even with the tank’s icy water, chilling my very soul…even with my air tank’s regulator slowly leaking my life support (as Ken pointed out to me in his video), I wouldn’t have traded those thirty extraordinary minutes for anything.

Not getting eaten was a success. Being in the presence of toothy, bug-eyed, grinning sharks was a success. Capturing every moment of our shark adventure…was definitely a success.

That’s one more check off of the bucket list :).

- Jess

Shark Dive at the Busan Aquarium

Weekend In Busan

The English Hub

Making Maple Taffy with Gucheon Middle School

Christmas Goodies for the Majors

Bunam Middle School (Lesson Demonstration)

Bunam Middle School (Lesson Demonstration) from Kenneth Major on Vimeo.

Hyeonseo School Newspaper

Today, I was heading out the back doors of Hyeonseo School, when I heard a little giggle behind me. I stopped and slowly turned around. There was no one there. I thought nothing of it and continued across the parking lot.

Then I heard some shuffling. Not the shuffling-in-the-bush kind of noise, but the sound of shoes, brushing against the pavement.

I turned myself around, again.

Nothing.

I wasn’t scared. I was on school grounds for goodness sake.

I continued walking. There was more shuffling and giggling, and it was getting closer…

Two dark shadows inched up beside mine.

I looked left and right. The shadows belonged to my Grade 2 Middle School students. Shyly, they stretched themselves from hunched positions, while one held onto a large piece of torn paper.

“Here, teacher,” one said. “Do you have time?”

“Of course,” I said. “What do you need?” I was always willing to help out my students.

Their response was, “Oh!!! (giggle, giggle, giggle). Thank-you teacher, thank-you!”

The sheet of white paper was then held out in front of me, crumpled by the nervous grip the student’s hand had made.

On the sheet was a set of five questions, the first being, ‘What is your most favourite thing about Korea?’ and my answer being, ‘I absolutely love the food. All I do is eat, eat, teach, and eat some more, everyday.’

The last question undoubtedly had to be asked, ‘What is your favourite thing about Hyeonseo?’ I automatically wrote down, ‘The students of course! I love their energy and how much they participate in class!’ It’s true. These students really know how to keep a teacher attentive in class :).

After I completed their interview questionnaire, I received many thanks and more giggles from my students. As I headed to the bus station, they shuffled back into the school.

- Jess

Our Genetic Algorithm A-Fuzzy Washing Machine

Aunt Kimchi’s Best Friend

I was walking back home from the bus station with a full set of groceries. My backpack was bursting out of its newly-repaired seams, and I had two more heavyweight bags in each hand. Plus, I was wearing high-heeled boots. All I wanted to do was to get home.

On the same road that I had met Aunt Kimchi (ref. Aunt Kimchi’s Kimchi), I bumped into our 150-year old neighbour (Aunt Kimchi’s best friend), who was pushing her walker at a slow, turtle-like pace. I went on to say hello, and she smiled back and bowed.

I was nearing the end of my driveway, so close to home, when I sensed our neighbour slowing in her steps, and shuffling around towards my direction.

“Agashee!” she yelled.

“Neh?” I answered back.

“Where do you live?” she asked.

I pointed toward my house.

“Do you live there alone? You shouldn’t live there alone. Why are you living in such a big house? What are you doing here? Where do you work? Do you have a husband? Do you and your husband have a child? Where do you live? Do you live there alone?…”

Her questions were cycling over and over, and all I wanted to reply was “There…no…no I don’t…I don’t…I’m an English teacher…no…no…over there…no…” I sighed. I had too many groceries. I was too tired. I couldn’t take very much more of this.

“…I’m sorry, but I have to catch the bus,” I lied.

“Where?” she demanded.

“…to Hyeonseo.”

“You know, I’m your neighbour and I haven’t seen your house yet,” she stated.

Oh no. This was a forced invitation. She wanted to see my house.

“I really have to go…to catch the bus…to Hyeonseo.” I repeated.

“You have to drop off those bags, don’t you?” she questioned.

I’m such a horrible liar. I couldn’t think of anything to say back to her.

So, she shooed me along with her hand towards the house. Once at the front door, I looked back at her, almost sulking with a puppy-dog like face. In my mind I pleaded to be alone, but she persisted.

She entered right into our home, took off her foot-warmers, and walked around every inch of the house.

“Why is this house so empty?” she asked.

“I’m only in Korea for one year.” I answered.

“Are you living alone?”

“No, I’m living with someone else.”

“Do you have a baby?”

Jeez, this was getting ridiculous. I repeated, “I have to catch the bus” and she simply pulled up one of the table’s chairs and went on talking and talking…and talking…I couldn’t understand parts of her dialect, and she was getting frustrated at me for not understanding her. My words “I’m a Gyopo (a second generation Korean)” didn’t mean anything to her. I’ll admit, I was playing dumb half the time I was with her.

Finally, she seemed satisfied that I had shown her the place, but looked suspicious when I took my time to put down my bags (the groceries had been hanging off of my hands and back the entire time she’d been in the house). “Aren’t you going to Hyeonseo?” she asked once again.

“I…I have to take a shower.” I replied, hesitantly.

She left with a look on her face that bore down into my soul. She probably knew that I was lying.

I wouldn’t be surprised if she waited all day for me to head out to the bus stop.

- Jess

Making Korean Hoeddok

Andeok Teachers' Trip to Namhae-gun

This was going to be my first excursion with the Andeok School teachers. The Principal (whom I probably drew out to be somewhat of a bad guy) happily agreed to have Ken join us on the trip.

After a speedy run through the students’ examination period, all teachers were ready to set forth on the two day, one night trip to Namhae-gun, one of the southernmost islands off of the mainland of South Korea.

Everyone walked out to the blue Cheongsong bus (with an apple smack-dab on the center of it), a bus rented out just for us Andeok teachers.

The inside of our carriage to the south was decorated with royal purple trim, and sparkling-gold garlands. This was a party bus, with enough room to seat forty-six people, but instead, seating only sixteen teachers. We were gonna have some fun.

The four-hour bus ride started off with the trip’s coordinator handing out snacks and cans of Hite beer – probably not a good idea for an extensive trip around many of Korea’s scenic mountains.

Three long pit stops and four hours later, the bus arrived safely in Namhae and all of the teachers were ready to begin the itinerary for the evening.

First, we stopped to hike in the Geumsan Mountains, best known for its watchtower, one of five across South Korea. If lit, the remaining four would be signaled to light in succession, all the way to Seoul (about an eight-hour drive from Namhae). Our second stop was the famous Boriam Temple, built atop one of the highest points of the Geumsan Mountains. We had to take a shuttle bus, halfway up the mountain, and the driver had no problem pushing the bus’ engine to move us forward on the one-lane road. The view from the top of the mountain did not disappoint, as we could take in the 360-degree view of Namhae and the Jinjuman Bay that the island contained.

After some complaints from the female teachers about the laborious walk in the freezing weather, all of us started downwards towards the shuttle, and then to our blue apple-plastered bus, ready to take on a fresh meal of san (live) and cooked nakjee (octopus). Ken was definitely looking forward to that (ref. First Trip to Seoul – Saturday).

We stopped by our hotel to drop off our things, and I took note of the Escape Rope that was contained in a red box on the hotel room’s wall. No fire extinguisher…just an escape rope, in a ruby-enameled, red box. Next time, I’ll have to review my rope-knotting techniques before heading out on a trip like this one.

***

The restaurant was exquisite, with a main room that was bordered by three large panels of windows. The room would’ve given us a stunning view if it had just been morning. We started off our supper with the spicy octopus (half squirming, and half cooked and gummy…mmm…) and proceeded to end our meal with soju and coke bombs (shots of soju in beer). Of course, the men wanted to drink with Ken, so he had his fair share of alcohol with each man at the table before the evening was out.

What would be a normal teachers’ outing without hours and hours of Karaoke? Arriving back at the hotel, all of us immediately went downstairs to their luxurious Karaoke center, and the Andeok teachers proceeded to sing hundreds of their favourite Korean classics, pushing Ken and I to sing along. Too bad Ken and I hadn’t chosen our No. 18 song beforehand (No. 1 song being the No. 18 song in Korea). We spent the entire night, looking for tunes we could sing with the Korean teachers and ended up choosing Dancing Queen by ABBA (a song I had practiced over and over with my dad’s Karaoke machine), My Heart Will Go On (from Titanic), and Last Christmas. However, it was no match to the Korean teachers. They drank, they ate, and they sang. Bottles of soju and Hite were filling up every table. Ken and I weren’t allowed to have empty hands, and if we did, someone would come up to us and gladly offer us a drink (by offer, I mean that they would push glasses into our hands and overflow them with the vile liquids. Handshakes became arms around the shoulder, and even those persisted to become rubs on our backs and legs. From 9:00pm to 2:00 in the morning, there was no inhibition. Just Hite, soju, and karaoke. Would the teachers feel it the next morning?

They did. What a sight to see. From my point of view, the older ladies completely passed out during the night and the room was silent. From Ken’s point of view, the male teachers took a couple of hours to talk, argue, smoke, etc., and finally went to sleep, orchestrating an masterpiece overture of high- and low-pitched snores, a wide range of nighttime toots, and some overly strange sounds that Ken tried to mimic for me the next morning. He got a sight for sore eyes, when the male teachers freely took their showers and walked around naked (sometimes stationing themselves inches away from Ken), preparing for the trip back home. He was closer to them than I’ll ever be :).

***

Next on our agenda was a cruise around the Namhae region. Being little larger than a tug boat, the massively hung-over teachers tried to hold themselves together as the boat rocked from side to side, swaying back and forth, and giving the teachers the thrill-ride of a lifetime.

Before we set out for Andeok, everyone got the chance to pickup a souvenir from the area. We stopped at the finest souvenir shop that Namhae had to offer. It was stocked full of dried shrimp, anchovies, raw, spiced squid, seaweed, etc. Despite the shop leaving a distinct fishy odour in my hair and clothes, Ken and I gratefully received two stuffed-to-the-brim boxes of dried anchovies – a specialty of the Namhae region.

This trip has earned its place in my memory. The succulent meals, the mind-numbing alcohol, the deafening karaoke, X-rated nudity…it will never be forgotten.

- Jess

Image-Making

I first noticed the ladies coming into the teacher’s lounge at Andeok School a couple of days ago. Prim and proper, they sat upright and waited until second period was over.

Today, at Hyeonseo school, there were two more ladies, sitting like the ones who came to Andeok, finely dressed, hair neatly done, and in, if-I-may-say-so, very fashionable and high-end clothing.

So far, at both Andeok and Hyeoseo Schools, there have been different ladies coming in from Daegu City to give speeches on “image-making”. At first, I thought that this was some computer-imaging lecture or that the ladies had come into the school to take graduation portraits of the students. No matter how much the Andeok teachers tried to explain the purpose of the ladies, I was definitely getting the wrong impression.

So, today, I asked the Hyeonseo teachers what this was all about. After much gesturing and playing of words, I finally got it. The ladies were here to give an etiquette lecture. Apparently there was a stewardess-trainer-turned-etiquette-expert who had set her sights upon the children of middle and high schools. Her main advice: SMILE. The women would teach students how to sit, eat, drink, greet, stand, converse, etc. (much like obedience school for dogs… “Sit! Stand! Lay down! Roll over! Good girl!…). They saw it as an important part of a child’s future occupation.

All I am reminded of is etiquette school for young girls…princesses in the making.

- Jess

Boys Will Be Boys

Boys will be boys. This phrase has a certain meaning back in Canada, but here, it means something completely different.

My male students are really close with each other. And when I say close, I mean really close. One of their favourite things to do is cuddle while watching movies. They sit in each other’s laps, gently brush their fingers through each other’s hair, rub the back of each other’s necks, lightly stroke each other’s earlobes, and playfully slap each other’s bums. Outside of the classroom, they always walk hand-in-hand or arm-in-arm, and it’s not uncommon to see a student give another student a piggyback from one classroom to the next. I’m told it’s not like this everywhere in Korea, but it’s extremely common in more rural communities where the students have known each other for their entire lives. They aren’t homosexual, but they’re also not in any way embarrassed to express homosexual tendencies with one another. This type of behavior can make a lot of foreign English teachers uncomfortable, but for me, it was interesting to see how these kids defined an intimate friendship.

- Ken

Andeok School Festival

Today, the Andeok students had the opportunity to showcase their talents. Much like the talent shows that I used to have when I was young, the students spent every bit of their free time planning and practicing their performances for today’s talent show (they called it their ‘School Festival’). For one month, each grade prepared a comedy, dance, or was extra creative and thought out-of-the-box for the show. The students also had the chance to put their individual talents on display.

As I entered the bustling gymnasium, I saw display after display of student artwork, informational posters, and classroom projects. The room was alive with raw talent, exceptional skill, and vibrant, rich colours.

The afternoon began with a video containing a slideshow of photos, video clips, and teacher interviews. The teacher interviews dealt with the votes that the students had made, labeling the teachers as ‘the teacher who was the most sensitive’, ‘the teacher who had the most polite etiquette’, ‘the teacher who was spoiled the most when she was young’, ‘the teacher whom the male students wanted to date the most’, and so on.

Then the performances began.

Middle School Grade 2

Wow. One of most original performances I’ve seen yet. The students were dressed in all black, except for the pristine white gloves on their hands. Each holding a poster painted with neon paint, letters, words, and pictures were depicted on the stage. With the use of a black light, the students moved their hands and posters along to the words of an English song, followed by a Korean one. With their hands, they presented scenes of birds flying up and away, a face, tearing up, people walking in a park… It must’ve been resourceful to have the art teacher as their supervisor. Towards the end of the song, they held up sentences, pleading for the teachers’ panel (which I was on) to choose them for 1^st place. How charming :).

***

High School Grade 1

The second act was a comedy. The students, fully dressed in traditional Korean wear of the opposite sex, performed a well-known Korean play about an elderly husband and wife, of whom, the husband leaves with a younger woman. It was hilarious…

***

Middle School Grade 3

Using a common improvisation technique, four students wore red, blue, yellow, and white, full bodysuits and oriented themselves to become pieces of furniture and everyday household items. The act showed a husband teaching his wife (a male student dressed in a apron) about how to clean properly. Some of the scenes were so intense, that they had the audience of parents laughing for minutes on end, especially one where the wife opened up a window, split the legs of the blue body-suited student open, and ran her hand an inch within the student’s groin (she was cleaning dust off of a window sill). It was very imaginative. I even got to dance up on the stage as part of the end of the act (Shark-Dragon, one of my students, pulled me up onstage).

***

Middle School Grade 1

By far, the cutest performance I’ve seen. First, the girls came out in baby pink short shorts and spandex t-shirts, dancing to a song by Girls Generation. Minutes later, some boys stepped in, dressed in green suits and top hats, punching the air with their arms, and shaking their little booties. The audience’s gasps only came about when the boys turned around, showing skin-coloured, rubber buttocks that had been sewn onto their pants. Another shriek came from the audience when the remaining boys sauntered onto the stage, wearing the same pink outfits the girls were wearing. They were absolutely adorable.

***

High School Grade 2

A very intricate and superior play, the students portrayed a story about two detectives, following clues to catch a sly, ink-selling conman. It was a nice way to end the class performances.

***

Individual Performances

With dancing skills like no other, and singing voices like professionals, the students outdid themselves, showing off their talents alone, onstage. I didn’t know that they had that in them.

I am so proud to teach such skilled and talented students.

Bravo! I want an encore!

- Jess