Why haven’t you written a blog all week you selfish capitalist? Well, I’ve been astronomically busy with the first week of term. My workload has pretty much doubled this semester. I thought I’d write about the differences between last semester and this semester. Because, that's entertaining, right?
Well, my timetable used to be pretty evenly spread out over the week with Friday being the only day in which I had six classes; those six were evenly spread throughout the day as well, leaving gaps for any last minute planning in-between classes. This semester my classes are pretty much all in the last 3 days of the week. Monday, I have kindergarten and that’s it. A good day for planning the rest of the week.
Tangent alert. I’m about to go off on a tangent about my new kindergarten students. They are really young. One of them looks like he’s only just left the birth canal. Was that a little crass? I’m exaggerating of course but they have no English ability. They are fresh and new. In my first class I taught them the ABC song and went through some flashcards of some basic alphabet related words (Apple etc). They seemed to enjoy it, despite being so low level they are very well behaved, all eyes looking up at me from the floor. Which makes for successful classes. Songs, thats how I’m planning to win them over. Lots of songs. I wish I had some hand puppets as I feel like that would be another good way to engage them. Meh.
Back on track. So, Mondays is for planning and its pretty much the only opportunity all week that I’ll get for planning. Tuesdays used to be my favourite days as the specialist English teacher who was totally awesome but has now been drafted into the army used to teach with me. He was such a good teacher and so helpful. I didn’t ever need to plan anything myself for his classes (4 in total), now he’s gone and not being replaced I’m left with those classes myself. Which is both good and bad. They are my favourite classes (1 and a half hours of 5th grade and 1 and a half of 6th) they are the highest level students in the school and they enjoy my classes. This encourages me to always make them lots of worksheets and fun games and activities that don’t appear in the text book. I teach these classes solo without a co-teacher and they are my favourite classes of the week but they are no longer on Tuesdays, they are at 9am on Thursdays and Fridays, I’ll get to that later.
So, what happens on Tuesdays now? I have 3 normal classes (2 after school). I see Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 3. My three worst classes. Grade 2 being the best of the bunch. Grade 1 have just moved up from kindergarten and I have yet to have a co-teacher in the room with me during those classes. If there was a co-teacher there then I feel like the classes would be more successful, however, it’s really tough when I’m on my own. They run around, they jump around, and I really need to try hard to find activities that will engage them. I’m looking to really improve in these classes in the coming weeks and find some methods that can allow me to teach them more successfully.
Grade 2 are a joy, there are a lot of new students in the class and all of the first graders from last year. The new kids are all really sweet (nearly all girls) and their English ability is at the level it should be at this stage. We play basic parlour games and learn mostly nouns and some adjectives, usually using flashcards as prompts (I’m trying to steer away from heavy computer based classes this year). Basically I’m just trying to improve on their vocabulary and help them form basic sentences.
Grade 3 are my worst class. All the best students from last years grade 2 have left and all the troublesome ones have stayed making for a nightmare in after school class (yes, its sad to report that waistcoat boy has moved school). This is contrasted with great textbook classes. The reason for this is the new 3rd grade teacher is a middle aged man. He’s a nice guy, he seems very gentle, amenable and approachable. In Korean society, as far as the kids are concerned, he is to be heavily respected. So, during textbook classes when he is co-teaching with me the kids are great. They listen, they participate and I have no doubt that they learn. When he goes away they think they can get away with anything. Therefore in after school classes I’m spending more time on discipline than on educating them which is a trial and one I’m hoping to find solutions to soon. I just need to be patient with them and try and make those classes as entertaining as possible.
Wednesdays is when the fun begins. I have 6th grade and 5th grade first. Then 4th. Then 3rd. All textbook. Then I have 1st and 4th grade for afterschool classes after lunch. That’s six classes in a row with no breaks. This is the same on Thursdays with double period 6th grade, 3rd and then 2nd with 1st and 3rd after school. These days go by really quickly but I have to plan so much more than I did last semester.
Last semester I could plan 3 afterschool classes and I would deliver those classes to both 1st and 2nd grade, meaning 6 classes, 3 lesson plans. I can’t do that anymore because of the vast difference in level and ability. Last year I didn’t have to plan the double period 5th and 6th grade classes, which is a lot of work as I try really hard with these classes, this year I do have to plan those classes. Last year I could plan 3 afterschool classes and I would deliver those classes to both 3rd and 4th grade, meaning 6 classes, 3 lesson plans. This year they are using different books. Already, thats an extra ten lesson plans every week. Put making resources and activities on top of that and the sum of it is I’m a busy bunny.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. This week has just felt a lot busier in terms of workload than I am used too. I will continue to try my best and overcome some of the issues that have arisen in class. For the most part every class this week has been a success. Especially in 4th, 5th and 6th grades. I may be teaching on my own a little more and I may have extra classes to plan but it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it.
I’m looking forward to a weekend off and I’ll be ready Monday morning to come in and plan my week. I'm thinking of buying a whistle so I can blow it when things get out of hand. School is officially back in town. No more desk warming. I can’t believe its March.
Friday, 9 March 2012
Friday, 2 March 2012
Candlestick Rock
The weather has been a source of frustration here since December. The days have been short and cold; the nights have been long and freezing. The snow hasn’t fully left the ground since the first snowfall back in December and the ability to do any outdoor activities (apart from maybe skiing) have been very slim, especially in the small town I live in. There have been intermittent things to do (the ice festival for instance) but for the most part winter has been spent curled up inside. Nathanael and I decided that we were going to go hiking this weekend and that we wouldn’t let the weather beat us any longer. However, I had forgotten that March 1st is a public holiday here in Korea, and yesterday (Thursday) we had a day off, yesterday the sun shone brightly.
It was Independence Declaration Day in Korea, or in other words ‘Fuck You Japan Day’. It marks the day of the earliest resistance towards the Japanese colonialists when 33 nationalists who formed the core of a resistance group known as the ‘Samil Movement’ read the Declaration of Korean Independence at a restaurant in Seoul, this sparked an array of protests throughout Seoul and the rest of Korea that would eventually lead to Korean Independence on May 24th 1949, after years of torture and oppression by the Japanese.
So we had a day off that we didn’t know about and decided to move our hike to Thursday. I’m glad we did. The sun was shining brightly on Thursday and it was incredibly warm compared to the cold we’d been experiencing recently. We were heading out to ‘Candlestick Rock’ which is approximately 7km outside of town. Deanna accompanied us and we set out at about 9:30am after figuring out exactly where we needed to go. It turns out it’s a pretty easy route to follow, you basically take one winding road through the mountains until you get to the rock.
There were several interesting things we found along the way. There were many dogs either tied up or running freely out in the open which provided several stop offs. The way some dogs are treated here is truly awful; they’ll be chained to fences or bound up in cages with only a few feet to move around. Whilst other dogs are running around in the roads seemingly having the whole world as their kennel. I guess that’s how you can distinguish between the ones that are dinner and the ones that are pets. It’s sad.
The first major stop off point was an old gazebo on top a high rock in the middle of a river, presumably and old mediation retreat for a Buddhist monk the gazebo was incredibly well preserved, probably because you could only get up to it if you could navigate your way up the rock. Nathanael found this very easy; he flung his arms and feet up and pulled himself up to the top. I took some time to follow but eventually made it to the top and we sat and had a snack and took in the scenery for a while. It’s pleasant living so close to such tranquil places.
Just down the road from the gazebo was a beautiful temple complex with temples literally carved into the mountains. To get to the top we had to climb up a frozen waterfall, but fear not, there were steps. Although, half way up and on the slipperiest section a dog ran onto the cliff face which freaked Deanna and I out a little, he was harmless though and followed us up to the top. There were thousands of little Buddhist sculptures and ornaments and the buildings cascaded up the whole side of the mountain. We looked inside some of the buildings and spent some time looking around and getting a feel for the place, which isn’t hard as the monks play out this old spiritual drumming and chanting through loudspeakers across the whole mountain. This place was a really good find.
The trail then escalated and it was uphill for the remainder of the journey to candlestick rock. The rock soars up into the sky and is clearly a landmark, however, there was absolutely no trail to it so we had to scramble over another frozen river to get to it. The river may have been frozen but it was super hot by now. Nathanael managed to scale half of the rock but said that it was too dangerous to climb the rest so we preceded down and climbed some easier rocks. Bruised and battered I felt accomplished, and I was glad that we hiked out to the rocks. I even invented a new extreme sport, I’ve decided to call it mountain surfing and it’s where you find a really steep dirt cliff face and slide down it from the top.
We headed home after about an hour of messing about on the rocks and admiring the view. We made it back into Sachang-ri just in time for some pizza on the roof before it got too cold. A successful day off if there ever was one and much better than sitting around at home. I have missed hiking over the winter and I plan to a lot more of it over the coming weeks and months, I really want to explore some of this area which we haven’t had a chance too yet, it seems like there is a lot to see around here.
It’s the first day of school today for the kids and as usual I’m in the dark. I haven’t got a new schedule so am assuming for now my schedule is going to stay the same. I haven’t been told whether I have classes today or if there are new textbooks. This makes it very hard to plan any lessons. So, as usual, I’ll just go with the flow and hope for the best. We have our opening ceremony at 10:30am. The homeroom teachers have all changed hands and there are two new teachers taking over. The old 2nd grade teacher is now teaching 1st grade, my co-teacher (the old 4th grade teacher) is now teaching 2nd grade (a rather odd decision), the new teachers are taking 3rd and 4th and 5th and 6th are staying the same. Very strange indeed. Alas, no matter what may have changed it is good to have the kids back in school. It’s good to hear them running down the corridors. I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing of things here at school. I just hope I won’t be left in the dark for much longer...
It was Independence Declaration Day in Korea, or in other words ‘Fuck You Japan Day’. It marks the day of the earliest resistance towards the Japanese colonialists when 33 nationalists who formed the core of a resistance group known as the ‘Samil Movement’ read the Declaration of Korean Independence at a restaurant in Seoul, this sparked an array of protests throughout Seoul and the rest of Korea that would eventually lead to Korean Independence on May 24th 1949, after years of torture and oppression by the Japanese.
So we had a day off that we didn’t know about and decided to move our hike to Thursday. I’m glad we did. The sun was shining brightly on Thursday and it was incredibly warm compared to the cold we’d been experiencing recently. We were heading out to ‘Candlestick Rock’ which is approximately 7km outside of town. Deanna accompanied us and we set out at about 9:30am after figuring out exactly where we needed to go. It turns out it’s a pretty easy route to follow, you basically take one winding road through the mountains until you get to the rock.
There were several interesting things we found along the way. There were many dogs either tied up or running freely out in the open which provided several stop offs. The way some dogs are treated here is truly awful; they’ll be chained to fences or bound up in cages with only a few feet to move around. Whilst other dogs are running around in the roads seemingly having the whole world as their kennel. I guess that’s how you can distinguish between the ones that are dinner and the ones that are pets. It’s sad.
The first major stop off point was an old gazebo on top a high rock in the middle of a river, presumably and old mediation retreat for a Buddhist monk the gazebo was incredibly well preserved, probably because you could only get up to it if you could navigate your way up the rock. Nathanael found this very easy; he flung his arms and feet up and pulled himself up to the top. I took some time to follow but eventually made it to the top and we sat and had a snack and took in the scenery for a while. It’s pleasant living so close to such tranquil places.
Just down the road from the gazebo was a beautiful temple complex with temples literally carved into the mountains. To get to the top we had to climb up a frozen waterfall, but fear not, there were steps. Although, half way up and on the slipperiest section a dog ran onto the cliff face which freaked Deanna and I out a little, he was harmless though and followed us up to the top. There were thousands of little Buddhist sculptures and ornaments and the buildings cascaded up the whole side of the mountain. We looked inside some of the buildings and spent some time looking around and getting a feel for the place, which isn’t hard as the monks play out this old spiritual drumming and chanting through loudspeakers across the whole mountain. This place was a really good find.
The trail then escalated and it was uphill for the remainder of the journey to candlestick rock. The rock soars up into the sky and is clearly a landmark, however, there was absolutely no trail to it so we had to scramble over another frozen river to get to it. The river may have been frozen but it was super hot by now. Nathanael managed to scale half of the rock but said that it was too dangerous to climb the rest so we preceded down and climbed some easier rocks. Bruised and battered I felt accomplished, and I was glad that we hiked out to the rocks. I even invented a new extreme sport, I’ve decided to call it mountain surfing and it’s where you find a really steep dirt cliff face and slide down it from the top.
We headed home after about an hour of messing about on the rocks and admiring the view. We made it back into Sachang-ri just in time for some pizza on the roof before it got too cold. A successful day off if there ever was one and much better than sitting around at home. I have missed hiking over the winter and I plan to a lot more of it over the coming weeks and months, I really want to explore some of this area which we haven’t had a chance too yet, it seems like there is a lot to see around here.
It’s the first day of school today for the kids and as usual I’m in the dark. I haven’t got a new schedule so am assuming for now my schedule is going to stay the same. I haven’t been told whether I have classes today or if there are new textbooks. This makes it very hard to plan any lessons. So, as usual, I’ll just go with the flow and hope for the best. We have our opening ceremony at 10:30am. The homeroom teachers have all changed hands and there are two new teachers taking over. The old 2nd grade teacher is now teaching 1st grade, my co-teacher (the old 4th grade teacher) is now teaching 2nd grade (a rather odd decision), the new teachers are taking 3rd and 4th and 5th and 6th are staying the same. Very strange indeed. Alas, no matter what may have changed it is good to have the kids back in school. It’s good to hear them running down the corridors. I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing of things here at school. I just hope I won’t be left in the dark for much longer...
Monday, 27 February 2012
Down With The Sickness
Homesickness has been a rare occurrence recently, especially since Natalie has been around and I’ve been in Korea long enough to get accustomed to the way things work around here. However, there is something that can put a spanner in the works and that’s getting sick, as in physically sick. It hasn’t been a particularly pleasant week.
After eating a stupendous amount of seafood in Incheon last weekend (oysters, welchs, sea snails) I was relieved when the day after there were no signs of food poisoning. However, the day after that I woke up feeling like someone was building a house in my stomach. I even had to phone in sick on the Monday to try and recover. After a morning of kneeling over my toilet I decided enough was enough and I headed out to the pharmacy. Language barriers are tough at the best of times but when you want to do nothing but sit in a ball of your own self pity, scraping at the walls and dreaming of a time when you didn't feel like hell on Earth, you’re not in the mood for making outlandish hand gestures. I had no choice. I put on a performance in the pharmacy and got across what my condition was to the pharmacist. He gave me a box of pills and two little drinks (which were like milk of magnesia but tasted better). Medication is cheap but is dispensed rather liberally and I could have done with a lot more alas the medication got to work pretty quickly and come Tuesday I was back in the rat race.
The middle of the week swam by quite nicely, I certainly didn’t feel like my usual self but I didn’t feel terrible either. Friday was a different story though and for some reason I woke up feeling nearly as bad as I did on Monday. I guess I still hadn’t shaken it and had also ran out of drugs. I trekked on like a trooper but spent this weekend feeling rather sorry for myself. I’m feeling a little better right now but something is still definitely up.
In the UK when I get ill it’s an easy process, I go to the doctor, he tells me what’s wrong, and I get on with my life. Saying that, I can’t remember the last time I was ill in the UK. However, its a whole different ball of stress in Korea. It was hard to explain to my co-workers what was wrong with me. It was hard to explain why I didn’t want lunch. It was hard to build up the enthusiasm to do anything other than lounge about like a dog. It was hard to find food that didn't turn my stomach upside down. Alas, I hope I’m on the mend now and will hopefully have more exciting things to write about in the coming weeks.
Down with the sickness. Keep calm and carry on, right?
After eating a stupendous amount of seafood in Incheon last weekend (oysters, welchs, sea snails) I was relieved when the day after there were no signs of food poisoning. However, the day after that I woke up feeling like someone was building a house in my stomach. I even had to phone in sick on the Monday to try and recover. After a morning of kneeling over my toilet I decided enough was enough and I headed out to the pharmacy. Language barriers are tough at the best of times but when you want to do nothing but sit in a ball of your own self pity, scraping at the walls and dreaming of a time when you didn't feel like hell on Earth, you’re not in the mood for making outlandish hand gestures. I had no choice. I put on a performance in the pharmacy and got across what my condition was to the pharmacist. He gave me a box of pills and two little drinks (which were like milk of magnesia but tasted better). Medication is cheap but is dispensed rather liberally and I could have done with a lot more alas the medication got to work pretty quickly and come Tuesday I was back in the rat race.
The middle of the week swam by quite nicely, I certainly didn’t feel like my usual self but I didn’t feel terrible either. Friday was a different story though and for some reason I woke up feeling nearly as bad as I did on Monday. I guess I still hadn’t shaken it and had also ran out of drugs. I trekked on like a trooper but spent this weekend feeling rather sorry for myself. I’m feeling a little better right now but something is still definitely up.
In the UK when I get ill it’s an easy process, I go to the doctor, he tells me what’s wrong, and I get on with my life. Saying that, I can’t remember the last time I was ill in the UK. However, its a whole different ball of stress in Korea. It was hard to explain to my co-workers what was wrong with me. It was hard to explain why I didn’t want lunch. It was hard to build up the enthusiasm to do anything other than lounge about like a dog. It was hard to find food that didn't turn my stomach upside down. Alas, I hope I’m on the mend now and will hopefully have more exciting things to write about in the coming weeks.
Down with the sickness. Keep calm and carry on, right?
Thursday, 23 February 2012
On Indie Travel
Planning a big trip can get stressful. If planning a simple vacation creates stress then planning a round the world trip that will take you through many countries over many continents with many visas is bound to be confusing. However, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Let me tell you my story. Every traveller has a reason as to why they want to travel, specifically for why they want to travel the world as a vagabond, moving freely from destination to destination without boundaries or limitations. Mine started rather embarrassingly, basically I was on my first vagabonding adventure living on Cape Cod in the summer of 2009 when I saw this for the first time: http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/ it’s a popular video and I bet most of you have seen it before. It flipped my world upside down. I loved living and working on Cape Cod and was looking forward to my Kerouacesque adventure through the states. I guess I had never experienced freedom like I had in those four or five months, in my entire life. Then it clicked, watching that video taught me that it never had to end, that there are more places and more destinations and that most importantly you don’t need a lot of money to experience those places.
I started planning immediately. I’ve been planning ever since really. I moved here to South Korea in August of last year to begin what I had been dreaming about ever since I left the USA. I’m living as frugally as I can here (despite a brief spending spree on an amazing trip through Japan with Natalie) and leave for the adventure three years in the making in August. I wanted to talk a little about my preparation for that trip and what I’ve done so far.
My original plan included a stupid amount of countries. It looked something like this: Korea – Thailand – Laos – Cambodia – Vietnam – Kuala Lumpa – Singapore – Borneo – Papua New Guinea – Australia – New Zealand – Fiji – China – Mongolia – Russia – Poland – Romania – Serbia – Germany – France – Home. I had my reasons for wanting to visit all of those places and I romanticised this dream trip all out of proportion. What I began to realize as I planned was not only that this trip would take years if I was to do it right, but that it would cost upwards of my target budget. Those things aren’t a big deal right? If the trip takes years then so be it? If it costs more than the budget allows then I could stay in Korea for another few years and save the money I need. Whilst those things are true what is integral to the success of the trip is that time is taken over it. That to be truly happy about my trip I would have to set out to do exactly what I planned to do: Live freely for an extended period of time travelling through different cultures and learning about different ways of life.
If I’m rushing through countries and ticking them off just to satisfy some country count goal in my head then I’m sacrificing that freedom. Moral of the story is: the countries have been cut down. Whilst I still want to visit the countries that have been cut I want to keep within my budget, and I want to experience each country to its fullest without worrying about that budget. Essentially the amount of countries visited isn’t what is important. What’s important is the way I experience the countries I visit, to be able to say I spent enough time in a place to get to know it a little without rushing on to the next place.
So, now, it looks like this: Korea – Thailand – Laos – Cambodia – Vietnam – China – Mongolia – Russia – Poland – Germany – France – Home (UK). Much tighter. Whilst I still want to visit the hill tribes of Papua New Guinea or bask in the sun on the beaches of Fiji, I understand that all will come in good time. The trip I have set out in my head now is well paced, well researched and well budgeted and although I’m trying to cut back a little on the extortionate costs of Europe it’s pretty much there in terms of planning.
So, you have a country list. Now what? Well, I suppose it’s also important to not over plan the minute details of your itinerary and instead to go with the flow and let your trip take you wherever it’s going to take you. So I have a few places I’d like to see written down, I have my budget for each place written down, but outside of that, let whatever comes, come. I think that’s a pretty good philosophy and I think that’s the polar opposite of the kind of travel I want to avoid. Essentially, I want to avoid the package holiday. I just don’t’ see how that is exciting, or even relaxing. It feels contrived and out of sync with my idealistic view of travel. I opt for chance over choice, I suppose.
One final note before I stop babbling about my idiosyncrasies. I was around another teacher’s apartment the other night and very briefly the subject of marketable travel came up. Somebody said, “no matter how small or how independent the traveller, they are essentially a market, to be sold too.” I took instant disliking to this and I’ve been trying to figure out why. It instantly reminded me of that Bill Hicks “marketing is evil” routine. “Now Bill is trying to appeal to a market outside of the market, that’s smart, that’s real clever Bill. NO, I’M NOT TRYING TO DO THAT!” It goes something like that. Look it up, you don’t need me to find the link for you. The reason I don’t think the indie traveller is susceptible to tourism markets was put rather eloquently recently in the Indie traveller manifesto and it reads something like this: Indie Travel is about defining your own values, exploring your beliefs, and crafting your own meaning for life.
The core of indie travel is unmarketable because it essentially has nothing to do with travelling anywhere. It is a state of mind. It is about being open, it is about replacing expectations with realities, seeing yourself in a new light, ridding yourself of possession, discovering yourself rather than escaping yourself, an indie traveller doesn’t really have to travel anywhere. How can a tourism market, market to that? How was Henry David Thoreau marketed to when he gave up material possessions and moved into a cabin on Walden Pond? How was Christopher Johnson McCandless marketed to when he moved out into the Alaskan wilderness? How was Marco Polo marketed to when he sailed to Asia? I’m being idealistic, sure, but I like to think that when I set off on my adventures in August, that I will make my own choices, discover my own path and craft my own destiny.
Yes, I like that, I like that very much.
Let me tell you my story. Every traveller has a reason as to why they want to travel, specifically for why they want to travel the world as a vagabond, moving freely from destination to destination without boundaries or limitations. Mine started rather embarrassingly, basically I was on my first vagabonding adventure living on Cape Cod in the summer of 2009 when I saw this for the first time: http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/ it’s a popular video and I bet most of you have seen it before. It flipped my world upside down. I loved living and working on Cape Cod and was looking forward to my Kerouacesque adventure through the states. I guess I had never experienced freedom like I had in those four or five months, in my entire life. Then it clicked, watching that video taught me that it never had to end, that there are more places and more destinations and that most importantly you don’t need a lot of money to experience those places.
I started planning immediately. I’ve been planning ever since really. I moved here to South Korea in August of last year to begin what I had been dreaming about ever since I left the USA. I’m living as frugally as I can here (despite a brief spending spree on an amazing trip through Japan with Natalie) and leave for the adventure three years in the making in August. I wanted to talk a little about my preparation for that trip and what I’ve done so far.
My original plan included a stupid amount of countries. It looked something like this: Korea – Thailand – Laos – Cambodia – Vietnam – Kuala Lumpa – Singapore – Borneo – Papua New Guinea – Australia – New Zealand – Fiji – China – Mongolia – Russia – Poland – Romania – Serbia – Germany – France – Home. I had my reasons for wanting to visit all of those places and I romanticised this dream trip all out of proportion. What I began to realize as I planned was not only that this trip would take years if I was to do it right, but that it would cost upwards of my target budget. Those things aren’t a big deal right? If the trip takes years then so be it? If it costs more than the budget allows then I could stay in Korea for another few years and save the money I need. Whilst those things are true what is integral to the success of the trip is that time is taken over it. That to be truly happy about my trip I would have to set out to do exactly what I planned to do: Live freely for an extended period of time travelling through different cultures and learning about different ways of life.
If I’m rushing through countries and ticking them off just to satisfy some country count goal in my head then I’m sacrificing that freedom. Moral of the story is: the countries have been cut down. Whilst I still want to visit the countries that have been cut I want to keep within my budget, and I want to experience each country to its fullest without worrying about that budget. Essentially the amount of countries visited isn’t what is important. What’s important is the way I experience the countries I visit, to be able to say I spent enough time in a place to get to know it a little without rushing on to the next place.
So, now, it looks like this: Korea – Thailand – Laos – Cambodia – Vietnam – China – Mongolia – Russia – Poland – Germany – France – Home (UK). Much tighter. Whilst I still want to visit the hill tribes of Papua New Guinea or bask in the sun on the beaches of Fiji, I understand that all will come in good time. The trip I have set out in my head now is well paced, well researched and well budgeted and although I’m trying to cut back a little on the extortionate costs of Europe it’s pretty much there in terms of planning.
So, you have a country list. Now what? Well, I suppose it’s also important to not over plan the minute details of your itinerary and instead to go with the flow and let your trip take you wherever it’s going to take you. So I have a few places I’d like to see written down, I have my budget for each place written down, but outside of that, let whatever comes, come. I think that’s a pretty good philosophy and I think that’s the polar opposite of the kind of travel I want to avoid. Essentially, I want to avoid the package holiday. I just don’t’ see how that is exciting, or even relaxing. It feels contrived and out of sync with my idealistic view of travel. I opt for chance over choice, I suppose.
One final note before I stop babbling about my idiosyncrasies. I was around another teacher’s apartment the other night and very briefly the subject of marketable travel came up. Somebody said, “no matter how small or how independent the traveller, they are essentially a market, to be sold too.” I took instant disliking to this and I’ve been trying to figure out why. It instantly reminded me of that Bill Hicks “marketing is evil” routine. “Now Bill is trying to appeal to a market outside of the market, that’s smart, that’s real clever Bill. NO, I’M NOT TRYING TO DO THAT!” It goes something like that. Look it up, you don’t need me to find the link for you. The reason I don’t think the indie traveller is susceptible to tourism markets was put rather eloquently recently in the Indie traveller manifesto and it reads something like this: Indie Travel is about defining your own values, exploring your beliefs, and crafting your own meaning for life.
The core of indie travel is unmarketable because it essentially has nothing to do with travelling anywhere. It is a state of mind. It is about being open, it is about replacing expectations with realities, seeing yourself in a new light, ridding yourself of possession, discovering yourself rather than escaping yourself, an indie traveller doesn’t really have to travel anywhere. How can a tourism market, market to that? How was Henry David Thoreau marketed to when he gave up material possessions and moved into a cabin on Walden Pond? How was Christopher Johnson McCandless marketed to when he moved out into the Alaskan wilderness? How was Marco Polo marketed to when he sailed to Asia? I’m being idealistic, sure, but I like to think that when I set off on my adventures in August, that I will make my own choices, discover my own path and craft my own destiny.
Yes, I like that, I like that very much.
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
A Day in the Life of an ESL Public School Teacher in Rural Korea
I was originally writing this in order to submit it to several professional travel blogs in a vein attempt to get it published in an e-zine somewhere. However, I decided that it didn't have the zest that I wanted. So, I decided I'd just post it here instead and work on a more exciting piece to submit somewhere at some point in the future. So, enjoy...
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The alarm sounds at 6:45am. I wake up with a taut stretch and press the snooze button on my iPhone. I don’t have to leave my apartment until 7:45am so I can allow myself another fifteen minutes of lethargy before I set out into the world. I toss and turn and can’t get back to sleep so I lay awake and think about the day ahead. Time goes by quickly and before I realise it I’ve drifted back to sleep. The snooze alarm echoes through my eardrums and I reluctantly roll out of bed. It’s 7:40am. I rush into the bathroom, scrub my teeth, run a brush through my hair and have a quick wash. I throw yesterdays clothes back on, double check I have my USB drive full of all my lesson plans and I’m out the door on time and on schedule.
On a daily basis I’m reminded that it’s still winter as I step outside and feel the chill attack my nostril hairs. My hands find warmth in my pockets as I scurry down to the bus terminal to catch my 8’o clock bus to school. I live in a small rural farming town two hours north east of Seoul in Gangwon-do. At 7:45am there isn’t much going on. The smell of fish wafts up from the vents outside the fish restaurant. Dogs are chained to posts and cling to the walls of their kennels for a little extra warmth. Korean soldiers clasping designer bags are running to catch the 7:50am bus to Seoul. I walk steadily through the ice and past the myriad of convenience stores to the bus terminal.
I’m greeted every morning by an elderly man sitting cross legged behind the counter of a haggard plush white bus terminal. The man is rarely smiling, always has a cigarette drooping out the side of his mouth and speaks in a raspy voice. “Anneyeong Haseyo,” I say politely to try and get his attention, which is often elsewhere. He looks up at me from below his cotton winter hat. He realises it’s me and proceeds to issue me with my ticket. I hand over my money, say goodbye and stride onto my bus. The inter-city buses across the whole of Korea are quite comfortable. I nestle into my leather seat and use the bus stations wi-fi to catch up with my friends from home before the bus leaves.
The bus journey is a pleasant one and takes roughly ten minutes. The bus driver will occasionally swerve out into the opposite lane to overtake army convoys, slow drivers or tractors that might be blocking his way. He’ll speed around corners; run traffic lights and barley miss any cyclists that might be caught by the side of the road. The bus is never late.
I get dropped off in the small town that my school is in at 8:15am. I take a casual stroll down the hill to my school, breathing in the cold mountain air. I work at a preferably small school, (we have roughly 45 students total). It sits beneath the peak of a small mountain and as it is the height of winter the school is covered in a sprinkling of fresh white snow. I open the glass door and slide my outdoor shoes off and replace them with my indoor shoes kindly provided by my school. I’m usually the second or third person to arrive so I walk through the quiet corridor to my office; I throw my jacket over my chair and turn my computer on.
At 8:30am the third grade teacher arrives and offers me a coffee. I sip it down as I check my emails and go over the day’s schedule. It’s a Wednesday; I have four classes on Wednesday’s. 3 are what I call textbook classes. These are classes that get taught out of government supported text books and therefore require minimal planning. On Wednesdays I have Grade 4, Grade 3 and Grade 5 for textbook classes. Then I have my favourite Grade 4 after school class.
My co-teacher strolls in with a lot of the other teachers at around 8:45am. They all car pool together as they live in Chuncheon (a city roughly an hour from my school).Today is my lucky day as my co-teacher informs me that my Grade 4 text book class is cancelled. It’s not my lucky day because it’s cancelled. It’s my lucky day because I’ve been told in advance. Sometimes, it will be fifteen minutes into class before my co-teacher wanders in to let me know my class is cancelled, other days I won’t get told at all. I graciously thank her for letting me know and proceed to read the daily news from my favourite news sites before knuckling down and going over my other lesson plans for the day.
I’m ignored by most of the other teachers in the school this morning. Not in a bitter way. They just seem busy getting on with other things, or shouting across the room to one another, as I don’t speak Korean I tend to stay out of it and just sit at my desk and keep myself busy. 10am rolls around and I pick up my books, pull out my USB stick and head to my first class.
The kids are especially excitable this morning; they are running around the classroom chasing each other. My co-teacher for this class is nowhere to be seen so I settle myself down at the front of the classroom and set up the computer. My English classroom has a smart board linked up to the computer and textbook classes are taught interactively with a CD-ROM played through the smart board. (This is common practice across most of the public school system.) My kids are still running riot so I decide to join them. I play rock, paper, scissors and lose, I call a few of my students crazy much to the delight of the other students in the class, and I make silly faces and noises with them. Once I’ve let them have a little fun they are usually quite quick to settle down once I shout “ready”?
I ask them all individually “how are you this morning?”
The same old responses:
“Happy”
“Sleepy”
“Tired”
“Angry”
Everyone laughs at the student who says he is angry.
“Angry Bird” the next student replies. Koreans love Angry Birds!
“Angry Bird, Angry Bird!” and so it goes for every student there after.
“So, everyone feels like an angry bird today?”
“Yes,” they reply.
Crazy indeed.
I kick off the lesson and review the things that they learnt last class. I then introduce the new words and sentences, run a listen and repeat session and play the CD-ROM videos. The kids go crazy when I repeatedly click the play button causing the characters in the video to stutter, “I, I, I can swim.”
I walk around the class asking the students the key questions from today’s videos.
“Can you swim?”
“Yes”
“Can you run?”
“Yes.”
“Can you fly?”
“Yes”
“WOW!” I say. “Soo Kim can fly!” The class all laugh. They’re so easy to entertain its silly.
We then wrap up the ‘learning’ part of the lesson and proceed to play a game. The co-teacher arrives in the nick of time and explains the game in Korean for the kids, we play the game until the lesson is over, do a quick review and I’m left in a silent classroom once more.
I have a huge break between now and my next class. I plan a lesson for the next day and waste some time reading travel articles online. My principle strolls into the teacher’s office at 11:30am and we all stand up and sit back down again. He talks to the vice principle for a while, makes himself a tea and leaves. Lunch time rolls around at 12:30am and I walk down the corridor to meet my fourth grade kids. Since my first day at school I’ve always had my lunch with the fourth grade. This is mainly due to the fact that my main co-teacher is the fourth grade homeroom teacher. We head for the lunch room. Today we have, kimchi (what a surprise), a tofu and kimchi soup (not bad), rice (obviously), the main dish looks like it’s some kind of grilled fish with seaweed and sesame seeds, then we have a spring onion, cucumber and sesame seed concoction, with some banana for dessert. An average school lunch. I swear since day one, no school lunch has been the same.
My next class is fifth grade, they’re much better at English than third grade, but today we are just having a writing test and reviewing some things they’ve already learnt. They do pretty well on my writing test so I reward them by playing the angry birds game with them (it’s essentially an English bomb game in which students must answer questions to get prizes). The class goes swimmingly and I return to my desk for an hour before my after school class. I check my emails once more and make sure I have enough tricks up my sleeve for my after school class.
After school with fourth grade is always a lot of fun, they have a pretty good level of English and respond well to most activities I do with them. Today we learn about jobs, I teach them the words and then we play a hot seat game in which students sit in front of a picture while the other students use English to try and describe the picture so that the student in the hot seat can guess what the picture is. A simple, fun game that lasts until the bell rings. There’s not really a bell.
I have an hour left before I go home so I do some writing. I usually use this time to wind down at the end of my day. I’ll talk to friends from home, watch youtube videos or like today try and write something. During National Novel Writing Month I frantically bashed away at the keyboard during the last hour of my day.
At 5pm I pack my things up and say “Anneyeong Gaseyo” to whoever is left in the office. I head for the bus terminal and buy my ticket from a man with a less raspy voice than the man in the town I live. I sit in the bus stop and watch the world go by until my bus arrives at 5:20pm. This bus ride always goes much slower than the morning ride and today we get stuck behind a giant army convoy. I get back into town at 5:35pm, a little later than usual.
I haven’t got any groceries in so I head straight for Kim’s Mart, a local market. I decide I don’t want to cook tonight so pop next door to a tiny take away kitchen where I order two rolls of Tuna Kimbop (Korean sushi without the raw fish). Kim's Mart has always appeared a little dirty to me but really it's the best the town has to offer, and I can't complain. I know of some English teachers who don't have markets in their towns at all and have to head out on weekends to stock up. I pick up a few bits in Kim’s Mart whilst my kimbop is being made and finally head home. The town is much more alive at this time of day. There are high school students walking past the convenience store. They wave at me and say hello and I respond accordingly. I stroll up the hill and past the church to my apartment. I enter my door code, throw my bag down and collapse onto my bed for five minutes.
Once I've regained composure I get up and eat my dinner whilst catching up on some American TV. I go and see if one of the other teachers is home and we talk for an hour about teaching and travel and other trivialities. I head back to my room at around 8pm and decide to catch up on some more writing. I settle in for an early night at around 10:30pm and get ready to do it all again tomorrow.
Tomorrow will be very different. Tomorrow will be very much the same.
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The alarm sounds at 6:45am. I wake up with a taut stretch and press the snooze button on my iPhone. I don’t have to leave my apartment until 7:45am so I can allow myself another fifteen minutes of lethargy before I set out into the world. I toss and turn and can’t get back to sleep so I lay awake and think about the day ahead. Time goes by quickly and before I realise it I’ve drifted back to sleep. The snooze alarm echoes through my eardrums and I reluctantly roll out of bed. It’s 7:40am. I rush into the bathroom, scrub my teeth, run a brush through my hair and have a quick wash. I throw yesterdays clothes back on, double check I have my USB drive full of all my lesson plans and I’m out the door on time and on schedule.
On a daily basis I’m reminded that it’s still winter as I step outside and feel the chill attack my nostril hairs. My hands find warmth in my pockets as I scurry down to the bus terminal to catch my 8’o clock bus to school. I live in a small rural farming town two hours north east of Seoul in Gangwon-do. At 7:45am there isn’t much going on. The smell of fish wafts up from the vents outside the fish restaurant. Dogs are chained to posts and cling to the walls of their kennels for a little extra warmth. Korean soldiers clasping designer bags are running to catch the 7:50am bus to Seoul. I walk steadily through the ice and past the myriad of convenience stores to the bus terminal.
I’m greeted every morning by an elderly man sitting cross legged behind the counter of a haggard plush white bus terminal. The man is rarely smiling, always has a cigarette drooping out the side of his mouth and speaks in a raspy voice. “Anneyeong Haseyo,” I say politely to try and get his attention, which is often elsewhere. He looks up at me from below his cotton winter hat. He realises it’s me and proceeds to issue me with my ticket. I hand over my money, say goodbye and stride onto my bus. The inter-city buses across the whole of Korea are quite comfortable. I nestle into my leather seat and use the bus stations wi-fi to catch up with my friends from home before the bus leaves.
The bus journey is a pleasant one and takes roughly ten minutes. The bus driver will occasionally swerve out into the opposite lane to overtake army convoys, slow drivers or tractors that might be blocking his way. He’ll speed around corners; run traffic lights and barley miss any cyclists that might be caught by the side of the road. The bus is never late.
I get dropped off in the small town that my school is in at 8:15am. I take a casual stroll down the hill to my school, breathing in the cold mountain air. I work at a preferably small school, (we have roughly 45 students total). It sits beneath the peak of a small mountain and as it is the height of winter the school is covered in a sprinkling of fresh white snow. I open the glass door and slide my outdoor shoes off and replace them with my indoor shoes kindly provided by my school. I’m usually the second or third person to arrive so I walk through the quiet corridor to my office; I throw my jacket over my chair and turn my computer on.
At 8:30am the third grade teacher arrives and offers me a coffee. I sip it down as I check my emails and go over the day’s schedule. It’s a Wednesday; I have four classes on Wednesday’s. 3 are what I call textbook classes. These are classes that get taught out of government supported text books and therefore require minimal planning. On Wednesdays I have Grade 4, Grade 3 and Grade 5 for textbook classes. Then I have my favourite Grade 4 after school class.
My co-teacher strolls in with a lot of the other teachers at around 8:45am. They all car pool together as they live in Chuncheon (a city roughly an hour from my school).Today is my lucky day as my co-teacher informs me that my Grade 4 text book class is cancelled. It’s not my lucky day because it’s cancelled. It’s my lucky day because I’ve been told in advance. Sometimes, it will be fifteen minutes into class before my co-teacher wanders in to let me know my class is cancelled, other days I won’t get told at all. I graciously thank her for letting me know and proceed to read the daily news from my favourite news sites before knuckling down and going over my other lesson plans for the day.
I’m ignored by most of the other teachers in the school this morning. Not in a bitter way. They just seem busy getting on with other things, or shouting across the room to one another, as I don’t speak Korean I tend to stay out of it and just sit at my desk and keep myself busy. 10am rolls around and I pick up my books, pull out my USB stick and head to my first class.
The kids are especially excitable this morning; they are running around the classroom chasing each other. My co-teacher for this class is nowhere to be seen so I settle myself down at the front of the classroom and set up the computer. My English classroom has a smart board linked up to the computer and textbook classes are taught interactively with a CD-ROM played through the smart board. (This is common practice across most of the public school system.) My kids are still running riot so I decide to join them. I play rock, paper, scissors and lose, I call a few of my students crazy much to the delight of the other students in the class, and I make silly faces and noises with them. Once I’ve let them have a little fun they are usually quite quick to settle down once I shout “ready”?
I ask them all individually “how are you this morning?”
The same old responses:
“Happy”
“Sleepy”
“Tired”
“Angry”
Everyone laughs at the student who says he is angry.
“Angry Bird” the next student replies. Koreans love Angry Birds!
“Angry Bird, Angry Bird!” and so it goes for every student there after.
“So, everyone feels like an angry bird today?”
“Yes,” they reply.
Crazy indeed.
I kick off the lesson and review the things that they learnt last class. I then introduce the new words and sentences, run a listen and repeat session and play the CD-ROM videos. The kids go crazy when I repeatedly click the play button causing the characters in the video to stutter, “I, I, I can swim.”
I walk around the class asking the students the key questions from today’s videos.
“Can you swim?”
“Yes”
“Can you run?”
“Yes.”
“Can you fly?”
“Yes”
“WOW!” I say. “Soo Kim can fly!” The class all laugh. They’re so easy to entertain its silly.
We then wrap up the ‘learning’ part of the lesson and proceed to play a game. The co-teacher arrives in the nick of time and explains the game in Korean for the kids, we play the game until the lesson is over, do a quick review and I’m left in a silent classroom once more.
I have a huge break between now and my next class. I plan a lesson for the next day and waste some time reading travel articles online. My principle strolls into the teacher’s office at 11:30am and we all stand up and sit back down again. He talks to the vice principle for a while, makes himself a tea and leaves. Lunch time rolls around at 12:30am and I walk down the corridor to meet my fourth grade kids. Since my first day at school I’ve always had my lunch with the fourth grade. This is mainly due to the fact that my main co-teacher is the fourth grade homeroom teacher. We head for the lunch room. Today we have, kimchi (what a surprise), a tofu and kimchi soup (not bad), rice (obviously), the main dish looks like it’s some kind of grilled fish with seaweed and sesame seeds, then we have a spring onion, cucumber and sesame seed concoction, with some banana for dessert. An average school lunch. I swear since day one, no school lunch has been the same.
My next class is fifth grade, they’re much better at English than third grade, but today we are just having a writing test and reviewing some things they’ve already learnt. They do pretty well on my writing test so I reward them by playing the angry birds game with them (it’s essentially an English bomb game in which students must answer questions to get prizes). The class goes swimmingly and I return to my desk for an hour before my after school class. I check my emails once more and make sure I have enough tricks up my sleeve for my after school class.
After school with fourth grade is always a lot of fun, they have a pretty good level of English and respond well to most activities I do with them. Today we learn about jobs, I teach them the words and then we play a hot seat game in which students sit in front of a picture while the other students use English to try and describe the picture so that the student in the hot seat can guess what the picture is. A simple, fun game that lasts until the bell rings. There’s not really a bell.
I have an hour left before I go home so I do some writing. I usually use this time to wind down at the end of my day. I’ll talk to friends from home, watch youtube videos or like today try and write something. During National Novel Writing Month I frantically bashed away at the keyboard during the last hour of my day.
At 5pm I pack my things up and say “Anneyeong Gaseyo” to whoever is left in the office. I head for the bus terminal and buy my ticket from a man with a less raspy voice than the man in the town I live. I sit in the bus stop and watch the world go by until my bus arrives at 5:20pm. This bus ride always goes much slower than the morning ride and today we get stuck behind a giant army convoy. I get back into town at 5:35pm, a little later than usual.
I haven’t got any groceries in so I head straight for Kim’s Mart, a local market. I decide I don’t want to cook tonight so pop next door to a tiny take away kitchen where I order two rolls of Tuna Kimbop (Korean sushi without the raw fish). Kim's Mart has always appeared a little dirty to me but really it's the best the town has to offer, and I can't complain. I know of some English teachers who don't have markets in their towns at all and have to head out on weekends to stock up. I pick up a few bits in Kim’s Mart whilst my kimbop is being made and finally head home. The town is much more alive at this time of day. There are high school students walking past the convenience store. They wave at me and say hello and I respond accordingly. I stroll up the hill and past the church to my apartment. I enter my door code, throw my bag down and collapse onto my bed for five minutes.
Once I've regained composure I get up and eat my dinner whilst catching up on some American TV. I go and see if one of the other teachers is home and we talk for an hour about teaching and travel and other trivialities. I head back to my room at around 8pm and decide to catch up on some more writing. I settle in for an early night at around 10:30pm and get ready to do it all again tomorrow.
Tomorrow will be very different. Tomorrow will be very much the same.
Thursday, 9 February 2012
Watch The World
The Korean school year goes something like this:
Term 1 runs from the start of March until mid-July, then the students have summer vacation until late August (summer camps will run in this time in which select students will attend specialist programmes during the vacation period). Term 2 will resume in late August and run until late December, then the students will break for winter vacation (and have more camps). Here’s the weird bit. Students will then return to school for 2 weeks at the beginning of February and then there is a two week spring vacation at the end of February before school starts again in March. Currently I’m in the two week period where students are back in school but let’s be honest, they ain’t doing much.
I’ve been informed that my English classes are cancelled this week; however, yesterday I did give one impromptu third grade role play class in which I had students pretending to act like various types of birds. You never know what is going to happen. That’s the thing about being an ESL teacher in Korea, at school you have to fend for yourself and be prepared for every eventuality. Anything could happen at the blink of an eye.
The point of these two weeks in February is vague. I’ve heard several explanations for it, all speculative. Some say it’s for tying up loose ends before the new term starts, others say its so that the students can clean the school ready for the new term. As far as I’m concerned, nobody knows what the real reason is. I think it’s been like this for so long that people have forgotten why and the older generation are too stubborn to change anything. That’s my two cents.
It’s best, in my experience at least, not to ask too many questions about these sorts of matters. When I first got here I was full of questions for my co-teachers but I quickly learnt that it’s best not to ask them, and to just go with the flow. Simple rule of thumb, if you have a question about what you need to do, ask it, if you have a question about how you need to do it, don’t bother. If they want a lesson that takes longer than five minutes to plan then they’ll give you longer than five minutes to plan it. I have a folder on my USB called ‘Mission Impossible’, this is for those days when I have to turn up for a class with five minutes’ notice, and I have to be Ethan Hunt for 40 minutes, I have to think fast, act quickly, watch my back. It’s all fun and games.
So, here I am back at school and it’s kind of good to be back. Ok, of course I’d rather still be on vacation, I’m not going to lie to you. I had an amazing time and am very much looking forward to my big trip in the summer (don’t talk to me about visas), but it’s nice to be getting back into a routine. It’s great to see the kids again; they seemed genuinely excited to see me, which felt good. I’m half way now; this week marks the exact half way mark in my contract. So, what will be next? What will the new term bring?
For now, I sit at my desk and listen to my co-workers nattering away. For now, I scour the web looking for new games and activities I can bring into the classroom next term. For now, I sit at my desk and start writing my second novel. For now, I sit at my desk and watch the world go by...
Term 1 runs from the start of March until mid-July, then the students have summer vacation until late August (summer camps will run in this time in which select students will attend specialist programmes during the vacation period). Term 2 will resume in late August and run until late December, then the students will break for winter vacation (and have more camps). Here’s the weird bit. Students will then return to school for 2 weeks at the beginning of February and then there is a two week spring vacation at the end of February before school starts again in March. Currently I’m in the two week period where students are back in school but let’s be honest, they ain’t doing much.
I’ve been informed that my English classes are cancelled this week; however, yesterday I did give one impromptu third grade role play class in which I had students pretending to act like various types of birds. You never know what is going to happen. That’s the thing about being an ESL teacher in Korea, at school you have to fend for yourself and be prepared for every eventuality. Anything could happen at the blink of an eye.
The point of these two weeks in February is vague. I’ve heard several explanations for it, all speculative. Some say it’s for tying up loose ends before the new term starts, others say its so that the students can clean the school ready for the new term. As far as I’m concerned, nobody knows what the real reason is. I think it’s been like this for so long that people have forgotten why and the older generation are too stubborn to change anything. That’s my two cents.
It’s best, in my experience at least, not to ask too many questions about these sorts of matters. When I first got here I was full of questions for my co-teachers but I quickly learnt that it’s best not to ask them, and to just go with the flow. Simple rule of thumb, if you have a question about what you need to do, ask it, if you have a question about how you need to do it, don’t bother. If they want a lesson that takes longer than five minutes to plan then they’ll give you longer than five minutes to plan it. I have a folder on my USB called ‘Mission Impossible’, this is for those days when I have to turn up for a class with five minutes’ notice, and I have to be Ethan Hunt for 40 minutes, I have to think fast, act quickly, watch my back. It’s all fun and games.
So, here I am back at school and it’s kind of good to be back. Ok, of course I’d rather still be on vacation, I’m not going to lie to you. I had an amazing time and am very much looking forward to my big trip in the summer (don’t talk to me about visas), but it’s nice to be getting back into a routine. It’s great to see the kids again; they seemed genuinely excited to see me, which felt good. I’m half way now; this week marks the exact half way mark in my contract. So, what will be next? What will the new term bring?
For now, I sit at my desk and listen to my co-workers nattering away. For now, I scour the web looking for new games and activities I can bring into the classroom next term. For now, I sit at my desk and start writing my second novel. For now, I sit at my desk and watch the world go by...
Monday, 6 February 2012
Japan
The Koreans can only dislike the Japanese for one reason (besides the years of torture and hardship that the Japanese put the Koreans through) the real reason Koreans hate Japan must be jealousy. Japan is amazing. It truly is a country where the past collides head on with the future in a cornucopia of electric, eccentric and eclectic. From the hustle and bustle of the neon lit Shibuya district of Tokyo to the tranquil forests of Nikko or the sweepingly awe-some lakes beneath Mt. Fuji. Japan is a nation of contrast.
We flew to Tokyo at 8:00am on a very cold Wednesday morning. The previous night we had stayed in the Incheon Airport Guesthouse a gargantuanly tall building just outside of the airport, the staff were kind enough to offer us a free shuttle ride to the airport in the ungodly early hours of Wednesday morning. We checked in at the Eastar Jet counter smoothly and we strolled through customs, had a donut (banana shaped) and a coffee and proceeded to our gate. There were no hiccups which was much appreciated. I’ve never been a coffee connoisseur but something about living abroad has turned me onto the brown murky addict ridden substance.
We landed in Tokyo’s Narita airport at around 11am and cleared immigration just as smoothly as we had done on the Korean side. The first hiccup was just around the river bend, or, should I say just along the railway tracks. We hopped on what we thought was a local bound train (70 minutes) to Ueno (close to our hostel), however we jumped on the Narita Sky Express (36 minute all reserved seats) train bound for Ueno. Whilst it would still get us to the same place we had not reserved a seat and we had not paid the premium. However, apparently in Japan they never check your tickets so we got a very cheap express trip into Tokyo, hopped off and passed through the gate with no problem. Perfect, right?
Our hostel was clean, friendly and conveniently located one stop away from Akihabara (Electric Town), after a brief trip to Meiji Shrine and a walk around a hip shopping district recommended by our friend we headed to Akihabara for some dinner, may I add, it was the best duck I have ever tasted! Akihabara is a frightfully busy district of electric supply shops bordering the strangest scantily clad anime school girl comic shops I’ve ever come across and is a delight to walk through at 11pm.
After an early night (11pm is early) we hit Tokyo hard. The next day we crammed so much in that my knee was aching from all of the walking we did. We visited many beautiful shrines dotted around the urban landscape. It’s really fascinating seeing how such contrasting architecture works together across the city. There are more temples and shrines in Japan than I’ve seen anywhere, ever, and they are all uniquely different. We visited the Pokemon Centre for much geekiness and nostalgia of wasted youths spent watching the anime or capturing Pokemon on the Nintendo. Money was spent. We had a Mos Burger for lunch and saw Tokyo Tower, Ueno Park and Ueno Zoo, and then we headed to Shibuya in the evening to take the classic photograph amongst the hustle and bustle of Shibuya crossing and have some dinner. We visited the anime centre and some other choice locations as well and we had an amazing time in Tokyo. It’s a vibrant city, a clean city, a friendly city and a city that is surprisingly tranquil and quiet.
We headed out the next morning to catch the train to Nikko. The Japan Rail Pass made travel around Japan easy and convenient. It doesn’t’ take long to get your head around the system and once we did we nestled into our comfy reserved seats on the shinkansen and off we set. We arrived in a Nikko submerged in snow. The snow was beating down fast. It wasn’t bitterly cold but it wasn’t warm either and we had a 20 minute walk up a hill and through a forest to our mountain lodge accommodation. As we entered the wooden lodge, fireplace roaring, couches centred around an old antique table, candles flicking, the smell of asphalt rising, there was nobody there so we placed our bags down and took a walk through town after eating some choice ramen with wild mountain plants. We checked out the shrines which all looked magnificent underneath the white of the snow and when we decided it was too cold to carry on we headed back to the mountain lodge. We waited around for another hour before a friendly Japanese woman eventually turned up and checked us in. At time of arrival we were the only people staying in the lodge so we were upgraded to a double room. The joy of travelling off-season. We were cooked an amazing dinner (the z on my keyboard is on its way out) and we settled down for the night. Nikko is a beautiful place.
The next morning we caught the bus early and headed out to see some of the waterfalls at the edge of town, these too were magnificent and the snow hadn’t stopped. I’ve never seen so much snow in my life. We couldn’t hang around and had to catch our train for Mt. Fuji at lunch time. We picked up our bags from the station and headed out. When we arrived in Mt. Fuji that night we were convinced we wouldn’t get a chance to see it. It was dark, it was misty, and it had been snowing there as well. We went for some Indian food because that’s what you do when you’re in Japan and we headed in for another early night. Our roommate John from Australia came in early that morning to tell us that he’d just been for a stroll and there was no sign of the mountain. He decided to catch an early train to Kyoto, we thought it might be best to follow suit. Luckily we traveled light enough to be able to comfortably keep all of our stuff with us at all times so we headed to check it out ourselves.
By the time we had walked around the picturesque lake to the main stretch of town we found the mist to be clearing so we checked onto the boat that goes out into the lake and we were awe-struck by the magnificent Mt. Fuji, covered in a thick layer of the white stuff it stood soaring above the lake like a God. It’s an indescribable site of beauty. It’s impressionable, inspiring and insatiable. It’s something you have to see for yourself. If I have enough money on my summer vacation I’m tempted to head back during climbing season and conquer the thing. Japan was winning us over one site at a time. We had some cheesecake and we headed out.
We were in Kyoto that night and checked into our 1000 year old traditional hostel. The walls were all doors and there were little cosy compartments everywhere. The bathroom was outside, something that was quite an annoyance in the middle of the night when you couldn’t hold it in, but it was worth it for the chance to stay in such a pretty little hostel with such friendly people. There were two Koreans crashing at the hostel mundo and they offered us some Soju that night. “No!” we responded, we wanted as far away from soju as we could get. We went for some conveyer belt sushi and went silently to sleep.
Kyoto is a tranquil metropolis, I mean yeah, it’s a city, but it doesn’t feel like one. It’s just so calm. We caught the train out to the bamboo grove early in the morning and strolled around some beautiful gardens that somehow managed to incorporate the surrounding mountains into the pools of carp and lanes of flowers. Back to Kyoto for some lunch and up to the Golden Pavilion for more awe-inspiring sights and great food. Truly Japan has to be one of the greatest countries I’ve ever visited. It’s just so damn nice. So damn cute. We went to the Geisha district that evening and saw some young Maiko’s on their way to their appointments before heading for more sushi and sake at the conveyor sushi bar. I was starting to really get into the swing of Japanese traveler life, and could have stayed for much longer had the country not been so darned expensive.
Sure, you can travel cheaply, you can do that anywhere in the world but Japan makes it difficult for you, even budget accommodation is a little steep and food can be a pricy endeavour too, but it’s all worth it. The people are accommodating, welcoming and friendly. The nature is marvellous, tranquil, and peaceful. The cities are sprawling, encapsulating and full of life. The food is full of zest, spice and flavour.
We headed back to Tokyo from Kyoto via shinkansen to catch one final glimpse of Mt. Fuji before we headed home. The trip reminded me of why I moved away in the first place. As much as I love teaching that’s not the real reason I came to Korea. That’s not why I came to Asia. That’s not why I do anything. It’s to experience what things are like on the flip side. I hope we got to experience a slice of the real Japan, if we didn’t then whatever we tasted it was sweet.
There's this saying: 'in an all-blue world, colour doesn't exist.' If something seems strange, you question it; but if the outside world is too distant to use as a comparison then nothing seems strange.
We flew to Tokyo at 8:00am on a very cold Wednesday morning. The previous night we had stayed in the Incheon Airport Guesthouse a gargantuanly tall building just outside of the airport, the staff were kind enough to offer us a free shuttle ride to the airport in the ungodly early hours of Wednesday morning. We checked in at the Eastar Jet counter smoothly and we strolled through customs, had a donut (banana shaped) and a coffee and proceeded to our gate. There were no hiccups which was much appreciated. I’ve never been a coffee connoisseur but something about living abroad has turned me onto the brown murky addict ridden substance.
We landed in Tokyo’s Narita airport at around 11am and cleared immigration just as smoothly as we had done on the Korean side. The first hiccup was just around the river bend, or, should I say just along the railway tracks. We hopped on what we thought was a local bound train (70 minutes) to Ueno (close to our hostel), however we jumped on the Narita Sky Express (36 minute all reserved seats) train bound for Ueno. Whilst it would still get us to the same place we had not reserved a seat and we had not paid the premium. However, apparently in Japan they never check your tickets so we got a very cheap express trip into Tokyo, hopped off and passed through the gate with no problem. Perfect, right?
Our hostel was clean, friendly and conveniently located one stop away from Akihabara (Electric Town), after a brief trip to Meiji Shrine and a walk around a hip shopping district recommended by our friend we headed to Akihabara for some dinner, may I add, it was the best duck I have ever tasted! Akihabara is a frightfully busy district of electric supply shops bordering the strangest scantily clad anime school girl comic shops I’ve ever come across and is a delight to walk through at 11pm.
After an early night (11pm is early) we hit Tokyo hard. The next day we crammed so much in that my knee was aching from all of the walking we did. We visited many beautiful shrines dotted around the urban landscape. It’s really fascinating seeing how such contrasting architecture works together across the city. There are more temples and shrines in Japan than I’ve seen anywhere, ever, and they are all uniquely different. We visited the Pokemon Centre for much geekiness and nostalgia of wasted youths spent watching the anime or capturing Pokemon on the Nintendo. Money was spent. We had a Mos Burger for lunch and saw Tokyo Tower, Ueno Park and Ueno Zoo, and then we headed to Shibuya in the evening to take the classic photograph amongst the hustle and bustle of Shibuya crossing and have some dinner. We visited the anime centre and some other choice locations as well and we had an amazing time in Tokyo. It’s a vibrant city, a clean city, a friendly city and a city that is surprisingly tranquil and quiet.
We headed out the next morning to catch the train to Nikko. The Japan Rail Pass made travel around Japan easy and convenient. It doesn’t’ take long to get your head around the system and once we did we nestled into our comfy reserved seats on the shinkansen and off we set. We arrived in a Nikko submerged in snow. The snow was beating down fast. It wasn’t bitterly cold but it wasn’t warm either and we had a 20 minute walk up a hill and through a forest to our mountain lodge accommodation. As we entered the wooden lodge, fireplace roaring, couches centred around an old antique table, candles flicking, the smell of asphalt rising, there was nobody there so we placed our bags down and took a walk through town after eating some choice ramen with wild mountain plants. We checked out the shrines which all looked magnificent underneath the white of the snow and when we decided it was too cold to carry on we headed back to the mountain lodge. We waited around for another hour before a friendly Japanese woman eventually turned up and checked us in. At time of arrival we were the only people staying in the lodge so we were upgraded to a double room. The joy of travelling off-season. We were cooked an amazing dinner (the z on my keyboard is on its way out) and we settled down for the night. Nikko is a beautiful place.
The next morning we caught the bus early and headed out to see some of the waterfalls at the edge of town, these too were magnificent and the snow hadn’t stopped. I’ve never seen so much snow in my life. We couldn’t hang around and had to catch our train for Mt. Fuji at lunch time. We picked up our bags from the station and headed out. When we arrived in Mt. Fuji that night we were convinced we wouldn’t get a chance to see it. It was dark, it was misty, and it had been snowing there as well. We went for some Indian food because that’s what you do when you’re in Japan and we headed in for another early night. Our roommate John from Australia came in early that morning to tell us that he’d just been for a stroll and there was no sign of the mountain. He decided to catch an early train to Kyoto, we thought it might be best to follow suit. Luckily we traveled light enough to be able to comfortably keep all of our stuff with us at all times so we headed to check it out ourselves.
By the time we had walked around the picturesque lake to the main stretch of town we found the mist to be clearing so we checked onto the boat that goes out into the lake and we were awe-struck by the magnificent Mt. Fuji, covered in a thick layer of the white stuff it stood soaring above the lake like a God. It’s an indescribable site of beauty. It’s impressionable, inspiring and insatiable. It’s something you have to see for yourself. If I have enough money on my summer vacation I’m tempted to head back during climbing season and conquer the thing. Japan was winning us over one site at a time. We had some cheesecake and we headed out.
We were in Kyoto that night and checked into our 1000 year old traditional hostel. The walls were all doors and there were little cosy compartments everywhere. The bathroom was outside, something that was quite an annoyance in the middle of the night when you couldn’t hold it in, but it was worth it for the chance to stay in such a pretty little hostel with such friendly people. There were two Koreans crashing at the hostel mundo and they offered us some Soju that night. “No!” we responded, we wanted as far away from soju as we could get. We went for some conveyer belt sushi and went silently to sleep.
Kyoto is a tranquil metropolis, I mean yeah, it’s a city, but it doesn’t feel like one. It’s just so calm. We caught the train out to the bamboo grove early in the morning and strolled around some beautiful gardens that somehow managed to incorporate the surrounding mountains into the pools of carp and lanes of flowers. Back to Kyoto for some lunch and up to the Golden Pavilion for more awe-inspiring sights and great food. Truly Japan has to be one of the greatest countries I’ve ever visited. It’s just so damn nice. So damn cute. We went to the Geisha district that evening and saw some young Maiko’s on their way to their appointments before heading for more sushi and sake at the conveyor sushi bar. I was starting to really get into the swing of Japanese traveler life, and could have stayed for much longer had the country not been so darned expensive.
Sure, you can travel cheaply, you can do that anywhere in the world but Japan makes it difficult for you, even budget accommodation is a little steep and food can be a pricy endeavour too, but it’s all worth it. The people are accommodating, welcoming and friendly. The nature is marvellous, tranquil, and peaceful. The cities are sprawling, encapsulating and full of life. The food is full of zest, spice and flavour.
We headed back to Tokyo from Kyoto via shinkansen to catch one final glimpse of Mt. Fuji before we headed home. The trip reminded me of why I moved away in the first place. As much as I love teaching that’s not the real reason I came to Korea. That’s not why I came to Asia. That’s not why I do anything. It’s to experience what things are like on the flip side. I hope we got to experience a slice of the real Japan, if we didn’t then whatever we tasted it was sweet.
There's this saying: 'in an all-blue world, colour doesn't exist.' If something seems strange, you question it; but if the outside world is too distant to use as a comparison then nothing seems strange.
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