tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82598732011-10-12T09:50:07.528+09:00This blog begins towards the end of my third week as an English teacher in Suncheon, South Korea; my ninth week in South Korea as a whole. I never had an online journal before, and I created this to put an end to my often rambling and self-conscious mass e-mails. It chronicles my experiences adjusting to South Korean culture, my attempts at writing, and my travels around Asia.TJFnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1041100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1125094692333215992005-08-26T15:17:00.000+09:002005-08-27T07:18:12.336+09:00

Well, I think it's time to put this thing to a rest (maybe obviously, since I haven't written in a while). There really isn't much to write about. I'm pretty much just waiting for my job, this AmeriCorps position as a resident services coordinator at a low income housing development, to start in a couple weeks. I had my first driving lesson a couple days ago (yes, it was scary). I've been

TJFnoreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1123656359882525002005-08-10T15:38:00.000+09:002005-08-10T15:45:59.890+09:00

I have a job, and a car, and I just went out for a big, tasty Korean dinner and then watched a movie with friends in my new apartment. Life is good.Now I just need to register my car, get car insurance, get a driver's license, officially apply to live in this apartment, and officially finish applying to this job by getting all the paperwork that AmeriCorps needs in. And stop sleeping 10 hours a

TJFnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1123183591642673222005-08-05T04:21:00.000+09:002005-08-05T04:26:31.643+09:00

I feel like I should post but I don't quite know what to say. People here keep asking me if I'm feeling culture shock, and the obvious answer seems to be both no and yes. Yes, I was actually surprised to get off the plane and see signs in English, to be able to understand idle conversations that I overhear. It's shocking how diverse the bay area is, people of all different shapes and colors

TJFnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1122781429008587142005-07-31T12:41:00.000+09:002005-07-31T12:43:49.016+09:00

Back in the States now. Worn out. Bye Korea. I don't know if my host family knows how much I appreciate them, but maybe they saw me crying as the bus to Seoul pulled away.Friends: get in touch with me. I want to see you now.

TJFnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1122432078683622132005-07-27T11:41:00.000+09:002005-07-27T11:41:18.690+09:00

Rachel Originally uploaded by TJF. This is my friend Rachel. She's in L.A. now, and I have to admit this small country feels a little emptier. Okay, I'm going to get off the computer and do something more productive with my third-to-last day in Korea.

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1122431802810596952005-07-27T11:36:00.000+09:002005-07-27T11:36:42.816+09:00

stem cell research Originally uploaded by TJF.

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1122430747536619792005-07-27T11:19:00.000+09:002005-07-27T11:19:07.596+09:00

Haeundae Originally uploaded by TJF. At the beach in Busan last weekend. Me, Seo Jin, Seo Young (my two youngest host sisters) and our friend Sae Gyung.

TJFnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1122344409611561352005-07-26T11:04:00.000+09:002005-07-26T11:20:09.620+09:00

Yesterday we went to the Busan Aquarium so that I can at least say I've seen something in Busan (the second largest city in Korea, about 2 and a half hours east of Suncheon). The aquarium resembled a much smaller version of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, with no cute sea otters. Another thing that struck me was that the animals seemed capable of seeing me through the glass. That shouldn't be that

TJFnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1122206957758962292005-07-24T20:55:00.000+09:002005-07-24T21:09:20.016+09:00

Just got back from my last weekend in Seoul, three full days split pretty evenly between time with my host mother and two younger host sisters at museums and sight-seeing, and hanging out with Fulbrighters for the last time ever. I'm pretty tired now, didn't sleep a whole lot this weekend. Rachel flew out today. Last night I had a lot of fun, a little drinking and a lot of good conversation

TJFnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1121909410539275822005-07-21T10:11:00.000+09:002005-07-21T10:30:10.563+09:00

I had weird, very complex, very vivid dreams last night, which I can't really recall completely or explain, but one part that was very vivid (and possibly the only part that was related to Korea) was when I decided to adopt these dogs. One of the dogs was a Burmese mountain dog, though for some reason it's alternate name was Lhasa Apso (spelling?) which is of course a completely different breed,

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1121828208464488622005-07-20T11:51:00.000+09:002005-07-20T11:56:48.470+09:00

I officially lost it, after the televised address to the students and the bouquet. I was doing okay on the way back to the teacher's room, but then two female teachers met me at the door and one, one who has been particularly sweet to me all year, sort of made "awww" sounds (something in Korean) and patted my back, and then I abruptly turned around and went into the bathroom. I think they knew

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1121760890703706872005-07-19T16:57:00.000+09:002005-07-19T17:14:50.710+09:00

I just finished cleaning out my desk, sorting through the files on this old, slow PC, writing a letter to the next native speaker (not a Fulbrighter---a woman from New Zealand who I actually met back in August and played ultimate frisbee with a couple times). I remember so vividly coming into this room for the first time, and sitting down at my new desk, and seeing the post-it on my monitor from

TJFnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1121299217779233052005-07-14T08:50:00.000+09:002005-07-14T09:00:17.786+09:00

This morning my host mother asked me if I'd read today's paper, and when I said no (I'd just gotten up, and anyway the English language newspaper is always about a day behind the Korean one) she told me that it had been discovered that the four men involved in the London bombings were Englishmen, from Pakistan. This was very shocking to her.Yesterday she spoke to a former student of hers who is

TJFnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1121002729712260092005-07-10T21:58:00.000+09:002005-07-12T00:02:02.550+09:00

So here I am in Seoul again, writing from a PC bang (internet cafe, though really it's a bunch of high school and university age boys smoking and playing Starcraft) near Insadong. I came to Seoul via a two-hour train ride from Chuncheon. It's Sunday night, but because of finals, I don't have to be at school until Wednesday, so I decided to come to Seoul and spend tomorrow shopping, picking up

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1120551772213701922005-07-05T17:07:00.000+09:002005-07-08T10:44:05.013+09:00

Seoul was good, didn't rain too much and I experienced a good amount of just relaxing with friends. The Fulbright dinner on Saturday was only slightly awkward (those huge group social situations) and I spent the evening with pals in Hongdae again, probably the last time I'll ever hang out there. Appropriately, we spent it in a very Hongdae-esque establishment, a hip bar that resembled a

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1120199704815337252005-07-01T15:34:00.000+09:002005-07-01T15:35:04.823+09:00

Tenderheart BearYou are thinker, organizer, peacekeeper, and leader all in one. You have a power to command attention and people listen to you. However, you are often so concerned about not hurting others' feelings that you don't tell them what they need to hear and this gets you both into trouble. But you always have loyal friends to help you out.Take the Which Care Bear Are You? Quiz!

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1120112880375189332005-06-30T15:18:00.000+09:002005-07-01T10:11:33.993+09:00

A month from today I'll be flying home.Today there was thunder and lightning. I like this weather. I hope for one good knock-down, drag-out monsoon thunderstorm before I leave, preferably at night.The job search is looking up again, but I'm not too hopeful.This is a lull time. Nothing interesting to write about. I went to Damyang, a town a little north of Gwangju, on Tuesday for the

TJFnoreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1119683474983394142005-06-25T16:07:00.000+09:002005-06-25T16:11:14.990+09:00

Me shooting an AK-47 at the Cuchi Tunnels in Vietnam.It's actually a little anti-climactic, but kind of funny (the gun isn't locked in, so watch the attendant guy regulate as I try to get a good sight down the rifle). Thanks to Matthias for taking the video and sending it to me. And thanks to ourmedia.org for giving me a place to put it.

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1119618745921332042005-06-24T21:55:00.000+09:002005-06-24T22:12:52.343+09:00

It's officially sweltering here. Though I spend all day indoors, I'm somehow finding myself sunburned on my arms and face when I get home in the evening. Which means that the sun is intense enough to redden my skin during the twenty minute drive to work at 7:30 or 8 am, or the twenty minute drive home at 6 or 7 pm, or I need to stay away from windows when I'm circulating in the classroom.Been

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1118907548498219682005-06-16T16:29:00.000+09:002005-06-16T16:39:08.746+09:00

I'm at school at the moment, which means I can't view my own blog and look at the archives, but I think I may have actually written a post on here griping about e-mail petitions, how they're sort of useless (I mean the ones where you add your name and address to the bottom of an evergrowing list that will supposedly be forwarded to someone at some point) and in particular the "Save NPR" e-mail

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1118844079226199362005-06-15T22:01:00.000+09:002005-06-15T23:01:19.266+09:00

Something that's occured to me recently in my conversations with Koreans, mostly with my host mother, is that I've picked up certain habits in speaking, of saying "unh" and "yeh" a lot during conversations. I think this is sort of a Korean habit, but I wonder if my host mother does it more than average Koreans. "Active listening" has sort of taken on a new meaning for me here---it seems like

TJFnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1118802384847220592005-06-15T11:26:00.000+09:002005-06-15T11:26:24.863+09:00

Interrogation Originally uploaded by TJF.

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1118653151490595142005-06-13T17:33:00.000+09:002005-06-13T17:59:11.516+09:00

Today I had my last Korean class over at the university. We reviewed how to say "since" by adding nikka (니까) to a verb. When I had to make up my own sentence, with my teacher's help I wrote:한국 사람은 작으니까 내가 커보의다.(hanguk sarameun jakeunikka naega keoboeuida).(Korean people small thus, I big seem).Since Korean people are small, I seem big.I got a certificate from Suncheon University stating that

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1118323352356949102005-06-09T21:13:00.000+09:002005-06-09T22:22:52.890+09:00

I just came from putting things in a box to mail home--came to the computer because I've been meaning to do an entry all week and finally I just felt like going and doing it now, even though I'm writing just to write, not to record the numerous things from last weekend that I've been meaning to record. I was putting things away in this box that will take six weeks to reach the States, things

TJFnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1117612209534883322005-06-01T16:38:00.000+09:002005-06-02T15:50:22.290+09:00

This week I'm doing a proverb lesson from the ETA Handbook, but I added an assignment. The students have to write a sentence describing a situation that would apply to the proverb. One girl came up with a sentence that, grammatical errors aside, ran something like, "My friend wants to die and one day my friend dies. I don't feel regret." The proverb: no use crying over spilt milk.It struck me

TJFnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1117184340716185022005-05-27T17:38:00.000+09:002005-05-27T17:59:00.723+09:00

I have about a half an hour left here at school and I just want to devote one post to food. I've been pretty good about adapting to Korean food, and I've taken a little pride in the fact that I haven't fallen back on McDonald's or KFC or anything like that (okay, except that one time at the airport with Burger King when I was in a hurry and a bad mood). I can count on one hand the number of

TJFnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1117111280018208962005-05-26T21:30:00.000+09:002005-05-26T21:41:49.340+09:00

Not too much is new. A few interesting tidbits...My host mother called the police up again to see how the case with the stalker guy who stole my wallet is going. I haven't seen the guy in over a month, when I strangely ran into him in Gwangju. The cops said that they can't really make any moves on him unless he starts bothering me again. Of course, fat chance of that happening since now he's

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1116553124903310882005-05-20T10:15:00.000+09:002005-05-20T10:38:44.930+09:00

We had the contest selection process yesterday, which was really interesting and I think a little nerve-wracking for everyone involved. None of the teachers or the students had ever participated in that kind of discussion format. It reminded me of being Chair of Appointments Committee at Reed, when we had to interview applicants for student government positions and you were trying to be tough

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1116461295370973772005-05-19T08:50:00.000+09:002005-05-19T09:08:15.396+09:00

Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising, a tragic event still very fresh in the minds of the Korean people. I think most Americans would find it surprising that a dictatorship existed so recently in South Korea. This is an interesting article that talks about the event as well as outlines some of the complaints a lot of Koreans still have about the U.S. government. Many cite

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1116318804217072892005-05-17T17:25:00.000+09:002005-05-17T17:33:24.293+09:00

I've been meaning to call up the local police to see what came of that background check they did on the phone number I gave them for my quasi-stalker, but my host mother has been so busy lately that I feel bad mentioning it again. On top of the sort of drama that has been normal at the school of late (things have suddenly gotten a whole lot less relaxed, which I attribute to the new principal),

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1116152041711822902005-05-15T18:46:00.000+09:002005-05-15T19:14:01.720+09:00

I wanted to put some pictures up with this post but I'm a bit too tired and lazy to deal with the uploading process at the moment. But Rachel and I got some good shots of the temple last night and this morning.We went up to Songwansa yesterday afternoon because we heard that there would be some kind of candle lighting ceremony. There didn't end up being much of a ceremony, but there were lots

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1116042983661614622005-05-14T12:34:00.000+09:002005-05-14T12:56:23.666+09:00

Tomorrow is the Buddha's birthday. Rachel is coming down this afternoon and should get here within the next couple hours. We're going to head to Songwangsa, which is the same temple where we met the nice monk who accompanied us on our hike to Seonamsa. I'm looking forward to seeing the temple again, because it's a uniquely beautiful one, and I'd like to see what it looks like in the springtime

TJFnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1115717501834501832005-05-10T18:11:00.000+09:002005-05-10T18:31:41.906+09:00

This afternoon I went to Suncheon University for my Korean class, but all the foreign students had some sort of event they were attending, so it was just me and the teacher. She invited me to go to a tea house with her and her good friend. They are both in their 60s, and have been studying English for about 10 years. They both speak quite well actually. It was interesting talking to them. We

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1114610196047950352005-04-27T22:35:00.000+09:002005-04-27T22:56:52.766+09:00

I've been getting snippets from my host mother and co-teacher about the new principal who started in March. I haven't gotten much of an impression of him directly since he speaks zero English, though I did have a nice attempted conversation with him once, while I sat in his office with a cup of green tea trying to make chit chat. He'd called me in to meet the foreigner who teaches over at

TJFnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1113892578710221732005-04-19T15:14:00.000+09:002005-04-19T15:36:18.713+09:00

Not too much is new here. The new week is getting underway and trucking along nicely. I'll have a little more breathing room this week because my Korean teacher at the University canceled our class today, and because final exams are looming I won't have an evening class on Thursday. I'm actually done with classes today already, but I'm hanging around because my co-teacher is taking me to the

TJFnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1113365256712755872005-04-13T12:46:00.000+09:002005-04-13T13:07:36.716+09:00

Though it's only Wednesday, today is my last work day of the week. On top of that, this morning I found that the various tests that had been scheduled for today corresponded exactly with the three periods of classes I usually have on Wednesday. Except for the fact that I have to be picked up from school at 5 pm for my volunteer session at SOS, I essentially have today off.I just got back from a

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1113187607232501852005-04-11T11:29:00.000+09:002005-04-11T11:46:47.233+09:00

I've had at least four dreams so far involving either finding my wallet or confronting the strange man who I am convinced took it. The most recent one was Saturday night. In the dream I saw the strange man hanging around outside my school. He was leaning against a railing outside the main entrance, grinning in an obnoxious way, and ignoring the teachers and adminstrators who were telling him

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1112949489593931582005-04-08T17:18:00.000+09:002005-04-08T17:38:09.596+09:00

It's Friday and I'm very happy.It's also the beginning of the second month of the semester. March went fast. I feel much more relaxed at the moment for some reason. Maybe because I just had a nice weekend in Jeju for the Fulbright conference, but also because I have less deadlines and worries at the moment. The first month was hectic and I had lots of little things to keep tabs on. Right now

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1112256853642388172005-03-31T17:00:00.000+09:002005-03-31T17:14:13.643+09:00

I feel like I've had things I wanted to write about this week, but Blogger has been down lately, so I wasn't able to post.I can't think of what I wanted to write about now. I'm sick at the moment, so I feel really tired and would rather be sleeping, but I have to stay at school for a class I have in a couple hours.I went on a trip with my host family last weekend. We went to Maisan Provincial

TJFnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1111749109402745172005-03-25T19:57:00.000+09:002005-03-25T20:11:49.406+09:00

So our stake-out was not meant to be (and I was looking forward to it, too). As I expected, actually, the culprit didn't appear at the Korean class he so usually stalks. That meant that I, my host mother, my co-teacher and a policeman friend of my host mother's brother weren't given the chance to swoop in on him. The good news is that I didn't have to miss my evening class with the exceptional

TJFnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1111486972124834072005-03-22T18:25:00.000+09:002005-03-22T19:24:56.786+09:00

My host mother says there's nothing we can really do except wait. If this Thursday the creepy stalker man doesn't show up at the Korean class for foreigners that he sometimes hangs around, there's really nothing else we can do. Though we've tried to learn more about him, no one seems to know more than his family name (pretty much useless in Korea) and that he claims to work for a very large

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1111227017651744352005-03-19T19:10:00.000+09:002005-03-19T19:10:17.650+09:00

Maewha Festival Market Originally uploaded by TJF. The sunlight was so bright today many of these photos look pretty washed out, but I like this picture because it shows something I see everyday in Korea--the old women sitting on the ground selling foodstuffs of all kinds.More about today: This morning, after my host mother finished her classes at school, she picked me up outside the

TJFnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1111225203417857592005-03-19T18:40:00.000+09:002005-03-19T18:40:03.416+09:00

Little Sisters Originally uploaded by TJF. This is Seo Young and Seo Jin, my two youngest host sisters. This picture was taken on the day of Seo Jin's graduation from elementary school. I went to the ceremony, but at about the time this picture was taken I was on my way to Seoul with my other host sister, Seo In.

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1111225184625427822005-03-19T18:39:00.003+09:002005-03-19T18:39:44.626+09:00

Seo Young and I Originally uploaded by TJF. While I'm at it, I thought I'd post a picture from back in October when Seo Young, Mr. O (from my school) and I visited the Boseung green tea fields. They were really quite beautiful that day.

TJFnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1111225181438298922005-03-19T18:39:00.001+09:002005-03-19T18:39:41.436+09:00

Maewha Festival Originally uploaded by TJF. A nice thing about festivals in Korea (besides the fact that there's so many and they're free) is that they often have traditional Korean entertainment, like the dancing behind me. The post below this one shows an old woman (grandmother) dancing in the middle of the drummers.

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1111224777615032392005-03-19T18:32:00.000+09:002005-03-19T18:32:57.616+09:00

Dancing Halmeoni Originally uploaded by TJF.

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1111224698062989212005-03-19T18:31:00.000+09:002005-03-19T18:31:38.063+09:00

Obligatory Tourist Photo #2 Originally uploaded by TJF. When I'm out with my host mother and the family's digital camera, I often hear "Pose there! Hold this!" Here I'm pounding rice cake. It's a nice variation from the me-standing-in-front-of-something-by-myself photos she usually takes.

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1111224555152748932005-03-19T18:29:00.001+09:002005-03-22T18:22:09.686+09:00

Pickling Pots Originally uploaded by TJF. From right to left: my host mother, Mrs. Lee, me, Saegyung's mother (a sweet woman with a sweet kid about Seo Young's age) and (they have a word for this in Korean) Saegyung's father's brother's brother-in-law's wife. This was taken in front of a large collection of clay pots used to pickle maesil (the plum that results from the maewha). These

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1111224298182993002005-03-19T18:24:00.000+09:002005-03-22T18:24:46.846+09:00

Maewha Blossoms Originally uploaded by TJF. Today I went to the Maewha Festival in Gwangyang. I was planning to go alone, but fortunate for me my host mother and a couple of her friends decided to come with me. I'll post a few nice pictures here.

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1111145934730952422005-03-18T20:34:00.000+09:002005-03-18T20:38:54.733+09:00

Something I wanted to mention in the last post but forgot--in response to Japan, Korea decided to "open up" the islands, which previously had been a sort of nature preserve, to more development in order to better establish a Korean presence. This struck me as a further misfortune, that an area should lose its preserved status because of this political conflict.Today it was reported in the

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1111046569448306112005-03-17T16:19:00.000+09:002005-03-18T20:34:30.856+09:00

If you've been reading the international news lately, maybe you've heard a bit about the Tokdo dispute between Japan and South Korea. Not that the dispute is anything new, but today the Japanese Shimane Prefectural Assembly passed an ordinance declaring Feb. 22 "Takeshima Day." Takeshima is Japan's name for the Tokdo islands. According to Korean sources, Tokdo became Japan's in 1905 and

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1110601369251922862005-03-12T17:30:00.000+09:002005-03-12T17:30:36.930+09:00

Yesterday morning, on the way to school, my host mother admitted to me that she doesn't understand why I am so interested in going to Suncheon Bay (I've been there maybe three times already). "I just want to see the birds," I said. There is a rare breed of crane, the red hooded crane, that winters in Suncheon Bay. Then my host mother said she knew about the birds, but that most people in

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1110342324416253742005-03-09T13:15:00.000+09:002005-03-09T14:46:32.186+09:00

The verdict is in. Two of my classes have responded to my badly drawn continental U.S.A. with "Pikachu!" Even though you have to turn your head to one side to really see the animated creature, they saw it instantly. I guess it gives you an idea of how bad my drawing was, that Pikachu leapt to mind before "U.S.A."On a related note, my host sisters refer to "pocket money" as "pokemoney," which I

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1110284866136710062005-03-08T21:23:00.000+09:002005-03-12T17:51:30.660+09:00

I have to admit, today was pretty sweet--and not just because I recently made a decision that everyday that I'm left in Korea will be great.The weather was beautiful--I would say that it "felt like spring" except it didn't really, it just felt warm. Which I appreciated. Today was a bit boring because it was a test day, and since this is my second semester the teachers at my school have decided

TJFnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1109825813752175542005-03-07T15:27:00.000+09:002005-03-07T15:22:45.790+09:00

On March 3rd I had my first class of new students (aside from the first years I taught over break). We did the whole getting-to-know-you questions thing, and when I opened it up, I got all the standards: Do you like Korea? Do you like kimchi? They did surprise me with some sort of elaborate questions, like: Did you lose weight or gain weight after you came to Korea? And then pretty quickly

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1109772515055252362005-03-02T23:06:00.000+09:002005-03-02T23:08:35.060+09:00

After five fun-filled, utterly sleep-deprived days in Tokyo with Elliot, Vince and Elliot’s family (and family friends), I found myself back at school this morning. I’d just gotten back to Suncheon (via Osaka and Busan) the evening before. Needless to say it was strange to be back at school in earnest after two and half months of vacation (with four weeks of traveling scattered across it).

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1108875201280035582005-02-20T13:14:00.000+09:002005-02-20T14:00:38.590+09:00

Two days ago I took an express bus to Seoul with my eldest host sister Seo In; I was going to an art showing my friend and fellow ETA Billie was putting on in Hongdae, and Seo In was visiting her mother's cousin and investigating a couple universities in Seoul (Seo In will be starting her second-to-last year of high school in March). On the bus she told me that her cousin wanted to meet me; he

TJFnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1108359572097651102005-02-14T14:18:00.000+09:002005-02-14T15:10:52.310+09:00

My four days in Seoul were a lot of fun. As soon as I arrived in the bus terminal in Seoul I took the subway to the World Cup Stadium to meet a number of ETA friends and watch the Asia Qualifiers match between South Korea and Kuwait. I was pretty excited. Being able to see a World Cup qualifying match seems like an opportunity that doesn't arise too often. Even though it was the Lunar New

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1107908202827080482005-02-09T09:04:00.000+09:002005-02-09T09:16:42.826+09:00

Today's the Lunar New Year in Korea. Similar to Chuseok, everyone heads to the country to visit their extended family. Unlike Chuseok I decided this time to hit the road, because as much as I wish it were otherwise, I get pretty bored at Lee family gatherings. The food is really good, but it mostly involves conversation I can't participate in and the kids fighting over the television. The

TJFnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1107329646443573762005-02-02T16:23:00.000+09:002005-02-02T16:34:06.443+09:00

So looks like I won't be visiting the states until July. I didn't get the in-person second-round interview with Green Corps (for the best, I think, or thought almost immediately after I finished the first interview), so I won't be heading home this month. I just applied for another job, as a writer for PIRG in Boston. It'd be cool if I end up doing writing, working for a non-profit---two

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1106831312957147242005-01-27T21:51:00.000+09:002005-01-27T22:08:32.956+09:00

Tonight I went to see a German orchestra play. My youngest host sister Seo Jin accompanied me (my vice-principal had given me two free tickets) and a number of my students, including my eldest host sister Seo In, were there. It was a good show, a lot of Strauss and Brahms. By the end of it the audience was clapping along to the livelier numbers, something which at first struck me as a little

TJFnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1106546345328442042005-01-24T14:48:00.000+09:002005-01-24T14:59:05.330+09:00

I'm back at school today to teach my winter break complementary class. It's sort of a different experience from my usual teaching; the students are brand-new first graders, the periods are forty-minutes long (I'm teaching two period back to back) and I guess they haven't been issued their uniforms yet because they're all wearing normal clothes. It's also sort of different in that I've taken

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1105756287010010312005-01-15T11:20:00.000+09:002005-01-15T11:31:27.010+09:00

I finished up my first roll of film today, so now I have twenty-some photos of Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Penang. Mostly pictures of architecture--in all the cities I found the juxtaposition of modern looking sky-scrapers with really old and sometimes dilapidated buildings left over from the time that the British ruled this area really interesting. Despite my camera difficulties, I think I'll

TJFnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1105608618402269652005-01-13T18:07:00.000+09:002005-01-13T18:30:18.403+09:00

I have about three hours until my sleeper train to Penang leaves, but I'm too exhausted at the moment to do anything but sit in this internet cafe (finally, I found one!). I got into Kuala Lumpur at 6 am this morning--I took a sleeper train from Johor Bahru which is right over the border from Singapore. I didn't sleep too well on the train, so I was tired, but I wanted to get moving right away.

TJFnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1105068344138068172005-01-07T11:58:00.000+09:002005-01-07T12:25:44.136+09:00

Last night I realized that I was feeling unusually cheerful (stimulated?), and I attributed it to the fact that the night before I'd read a good book cover to cover (Mystic River, by Dennis Lehane, which I'd just received in a Christmas package from my mom and sister) and that morning, I'd crafted a brief essay for an environmental fellowship I'm applying for. I think I miss essay-writing. I

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1104375722555102242004-12-30T11:33:00.000+09:002004-12-30T12:02:02.556+09:00

I'm at school now, after eight days in Thailand and a night in Seoul. Today is the last day of classes (I'm not teaching though, I finished up before my trip) and in about half an hour I'm going on a trip to Pohang with the teachers. I guess this is something they do every semester. Pohang is near Gyeongju, where all the ancient Shilla sights are, which I already saw during the fall ETA

TJFnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1102817386250989162004-12-12T10:08:00.000+09:002004-12-12T11:09:46.250+09:00

As Rachel so astutely put it later, we seem to have good luck whenever we visit temples, just the two of us, and always end up encountering interesting companions. When we hiked in Songnisan back during Orientation, and decided to just hike to a nearby hermitage instead of trying to do the peak late into the night, we were invited to dinner there by a student. When we hiked Soraebang during the

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1102585087291533422004-12-09T17:59:00.000+09:002004-12-09T18:38:07.293+09:00

A couple days ago was the 5 month anniversary of my arrival in Korea (I left Portland on July 5th and, losing a day to the time change, arrived in Seoul on July 7th). In light of this, and in cognizance of my overall psychological and emotional mindset lately, I made a list of things that I will likely regret not doing seven months (or more) from now. It's pretty to the point. 1) Learning

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1102058164200143442004-12-03T15:55:00.000+09:002004-12-03T16:24:46.123+09:00

I'm finishing up my second to last week of classes right now; next week I'll be giving the classes a short performance test, and then the week after that is finals week, and I have no classes. Because of a schedule change, I have no classes a week from today, so I had to give the performance test to a couple classes today. The performance test is basically a brief quiz which covers some of the

TJFnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1101985179765418102004-12-02T19:56:00.000+09:002004-12-02T19:59:39.766+09:00

A few days ago my host mother tried a joke out on me as we were driving home from work. When Korean school-children are asked what the colors on the traffic signal mean, they say that red means 'stop,' green means 'pass,' and yellow means-- Here my host mother stopped to see if I could anticipate the punchline, but with the slight language barrier I was a little slow on the uptake. 'accelerate

TJFnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1101814083937471242004-11-30T20:28:00.000+09:002004-11-30T20:28:03.936+09:00

The Massacre in Korea by Picasso, 1951 Originally uploaded by TJF. "Apparently the painting was considered Anti-American and was bannedfrom public display in South Korea until the 90s."

TJFnoreply@blogger.com54tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1101813634352146432004-11-30T19:40:00.000+09:002004-11-30T20:20:34.353+09:00

Today was my 22nd birthday (though sort of technically not, since Korea is about a day ahead of the U.S., but today was Nov. 30th and that is my birthday). You always ask yourself if you feel older when that year creeps up on you, but I think I'll still be wavering back and forth until tomorrow morning when it feels true. But it was a good birthday, certainly as good as could be expected if not

TJFnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1101210956812500032004-11-23T20:55:00.000+09:002004-11-23T20:55:56.813+09:00

At the Aura Originally uploaded by TJF. It's times like these when I think, "Yeah, I am really lucky to be where I am doing what I'm doing."

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1101208933147876142004-11-23T19:31:00.000+09:002004-12-02T19:54:50.470+09:00

I actually started composing a post yesterday about visiting Rachel for her birthday a week ago and about last weekend, when I went to Seoul for a Thanksgiving dinner, and I finished up the post tonight, but somehow everything I wrote today was lost, so I'm putting that off for now and moving on to stuff that's a bit more fresh in my mind, since this school week so far has been pretty eventful

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1100408151173752802004-11-14T13:26:00.000+09:002004-11-14T13:55:51.173+09:00

Decided to spend this weekend in Suncheon instead of traveling around, and I'm glad I did. Weekends when the whole family is more or less together have a different feel to them than the usual day to day, and usually we have fun. Friday night we watched a movie together on my computer, despite some techinical difficulties (my computer is apparently more sensitive to scratches on a DVD than your

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1100351207590582472004-11-13T22:06:00.000+09:002004-11-13T22:06:47.590+09:00

On an afternoon walk Originally uploaded by TJF.

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Last weekend was really nice. Rachel and Joanne came down from Jeollabuk province (Jeongup and Jeonju, respectively) to stay with me, and on Saturday we went to Seonamsa temple to see some of the fall foliage. It was, as I think either Duncan (Jeonju ETA) or Jairus (fellow Suncheon ETA) described it, "riotous color." It really was beautiful, some really bright reds that I don't think I've ever

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1099392762381847192004-11-02T19:37:00.000+09:002004-11-09T14:05:01.146+09:00

So I spent last weekend in Seoul, hanging out with Billie, Matthias and Bonnie. We wandered around Seoul, went to an art gallery, tasted a Korean microbrew, and on Saturday night checked out some Halloween parties. It was a great weekend, even though I ended up with a pretty bad cold by the end of it. It was the first time I'd visited Seoul since my teaching placement, and it was refreshing.

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1098882966666818942004-10-27T21:24:00.000+09:002004-10-27T22:16:06.666+09:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, Mr. O, a third-year teacher at my high school who had a good friendship with the previous ETA and has been making a lot of efforts to befriend me as well, took me along to a Korean wedding last weekend. I was struck by the experience and wanted to write about it, and since this week I also experienced a Korean memorial service for the first time, it seemed

TJFnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1098682250091536802004-10-25T13:55:00.000+09:002004-10-25T14:30:50.090+09:00

I wanted to follow up my last post by saying that last night at dinner my host mother brought up our conversation again. She was very curious why I asked her if she thought I was an adult or not. I didn't quite know how to phrase it to her, since a lot of my feelings lately about being treated like a child aren't exactly rational or easily expressed. I told her that I'd suspected that she

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1098539168609035502004-10-23T22:35:00.000+09:002004-10-23T23:53:13.346+09:00

I discussed it with my host mother, and realized my sneaking suspicion was true: she doesn't see me as an adult. I think living in a homestay after four years of college is something like being forced to revisit your teenage years, except perhaps you're wise enough to realize the stage you're passing through and thus properly meditate on it. I'm not claiming that I am an adult, even though by

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1098494622199488132004-10-23T10:11:00.000+09:002004-10-23T10:23:42.200+09:00

This morning is the first time since I've gotten to my homestay that I've wanted very strongly not to eat a Korean breakfast. Maybe it's just because over the last couple days the meals have consisted mostly of just kimchi, various different forms of it, and bean sprout or fish soup, and rice. We even ran out of my beloved kim, dried seasoned seaweed. I think my host mother hasn't had the time

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1098358566186225542004-10-21T20:20:00.000+09:002004-10-21T20:38:34.346+09:00

I took a bus to Busan from Suncheon this morning at 8:20. It was about three hours, and it took me about twenty minutes by Busan subway to reach the area of town where the Thai Airways office is located. My host mother had coached me on how to ask people how to get to the appropriate building, but after wandering a little around the neighborhood and asking one convience store clerk who didn't

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1098257536037942222004-10-20T16:08:00.000+09:002004-10-20T16:32:16.036+09:00

Turns out that, thanks to the generosity of the vice principal, I get to leave for winter break a few days earlier than my contract stipulates--I finish on Friday instead of the following Tuesday--which means I get to spend eight days instead of just five in Thailand, where I'm going to meet Amanda. So I'm excited about that. And I got to finally purchase my plane ticket, not a moment to soon

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1098183716876818012004-10-19T19:46:00.000+09:002004-10-19T20:01:56.876+09:00

As you can see, I've figured out how to post photos on my blog. None of these photos are actually mine, though, they were all taken by other ETAs. At some point I may scan some of my photos and post them here, but I'll at least try to post any interesting photos that other ETAs send me. All of the photos I posted today were taken during the six week Orientation we had. Had a pretty chill week

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1098182715074856032004-10-19T19:45:00.000+09:002004-10-19T19:45:15.073+09:00

DMZ Originally uploaded by TJF.

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1098182645847721602004-10-19T19:44:00.000+09:002004-10-19T19:44:05.846+09:00

Ms. Park and I Originally uploaded by TJF.

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1098182593657021352004-10-19T19:43:00.000+09:002004-10-19T19:43:13.656+09:00

Hanbok Originally uploaded by TJF.

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1098182537602632782004-10-19T19:42:00.000+09:002004-10-19T19:42:17.603+09:00

Class Originally uploaded by TJF.

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1098182462980455952004-10-19T19:41:00.000+09:002004-10-19T19:41:02.980+09:00

Lee and I Originally uploaded by TJF.

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I found myself oddly comfortable here in Suncheon after coming back from the ETA conference in Gyeongju. I was expecting to be more unhappy I guess. As my bus pulled into Suncheon, after hours of travel, I tested myself: Does this feel like coming home? Like when I'm coming off the freeway and driving up Buchanan into Albany, passing the old middle school/newer elementary school and onto San

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1097120205718374792004-10-07T13:26:00.000+09:002004-10-08T09:10:07.796+09:00

Even after it's been shown that Iraq has lacked the capability to produce weapons of mass destruction since 1990s (!!), Bush is still trying to claim that the war in Iraq, which has resulted in the deaths of thousands, has 'made the world a safer place.' Please, please, please vote in November, and think hard about it. Forget about partisanship; it's just an issue of conscience now. P.S. My

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1096976770510189362004-10-05T21:07:00.000+09:002004-10-05T21:24:42.593+09:00

Today was a pretty full one. This morning was my turn to lead the morning worship service at my school. This is something all the teachers are expected to do, whether they are Christian or not. This means selecting and announcing a hymn, reading a scripture of choice, and then offering a prayer. I actually found myself not being that nervous about it, until my host mother kept asking me if I

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1096607899425495952004-10-01T13:57:00.000+09:002004-10-07T19:56:54.003+09:00

After almost a week of little internet and none of my usual newspaper reading, I came to school to find that the first presidential debate was today. Since I didn't have class first or second period, I got to watch about an hour of Bush and Kerry going at it, as well as some of the pre-debate coverage. I found myself gritting my teeth a few times, as Bush kept beating a dead horse over Kerry's

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1096525693199192822004-09-30T15:07:00.000+09:002004-10-01T13:57:03.970+09:00

I'm in the Gwanju Bus Terminal right now, at one of the pay-by-the minute computers they have here. I should be meeting Bonnie, an ETA friend, in about an hour. She's coming into town for the Gwanju Biennial, a large modern art exhibit that I just saw today with my host mother and her aunt. Some of my students were also there, as today is a 'picnic day' for the high school, so the students are

TJFnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1096343347616402042004-09-28T22:56:00.000+09:002004-09-28T23:04:20.346+09:00

On Friday afternoon, after my classes finished, I got on a bus to Gwanju and from there, with only minimal confusion, traveled another hour to Jeongyup, the town where Rachel lives. She met me in the small bus terminal, and her host father (whom she calls by the Korean name for brother-in-law) came and drove us to the apartment. There her host mother (whom she calls onni, or sister in Korean)

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1095938560633307292004-09-23T20:20:00.000+09:002004-09-23T20:22:40.633+09:00

Lunch with the English teachers was fun. Even though I told them Korean food was fine, they took me to a Western restaurant. It's the third Western style restaurant I've been taken to in Korea, and it seems like they are all pretty similar. This one was called Renaissance and had a sort of faux-decadent interior, with chandeliers and dark wood, but the brick arches around the windows were

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1095909914497740692004-09-23T13:11:00.000+09:002004-09-23T19:20:19.890+09:00

It was cool enough this morning that I actually wore a sweater to work, but now, this afternoon, it's pretty sunny. All the English teachers are going out to lunch in about twenty minutes. It will be nice to have an excuse to walk around outside. Today was supposed to be my first Korean lesson with Mrs. Lee, the English teacher that is my co-teacher (not my host mother, Mrs. Lee). But then a

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1095726904110824242004-09-21T09:11:00.000+09:002004-09-21T19:01:32.073+09:00

I'm writing from my desk in the teacher's room, though I'll be posting this to the site probably later tonight. I found that I can't view my blog, or any other blogs for that matter, from the school. I heard something during orientation about it. The rumor is that the government blocked a lot of access to American blogs from schools, because that was where images of the Korean executed in Iraq

TJFnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8259873.post-1095512756804229972004-09-18T21:03:00.000+09:002004-09-23T20:32:40.836+09:00

Friday afternoon Rachel arrived in Suncheon just as my last class finished. I jumped on a bus to go and retrieve her, only to find that she was at the Suncheon Bus Terminal, not Suncheon Station. Since I didn't know how to get there by bus, I gave her directions to my apartment over the phone, and she got in a cab and met me there. We hung around the apartment, "catching up" as they say, and then

TJFnoreply@blogger.com2