One Year in Korea

Since it is January 1st, I thought I would try and recap the past year. (I will try to keep it short.)

I began my new adventure living in a new country. (Technically, I moved here in November of 2008, but who's counting?)

I met my first friend in Korea, 정길. (Jeonggil) He introduced me to many others.

I participated in my first "big bow" with 정길의 엄마. (Jeonggil's mom.) This is done at New Year's. You stand in front of your elder and bow all the way to the ground. (They usually give you "pocket money."

I went to 거제도(Geoje Island) with 정길, Amy, and my 선생님 배소영(Teacher Bae So-young.) It was a beautiful place. If you ever get a chance, visit.

I worked and met many more friends. (Sorry, not too sure what I did between 거재도 and Japan.)

Well, I guess that brings me to Japan. It was my second country to visit outside of Korea. I would like to go back and experience more of it. My goal is to visit an onsen, but because I have tattoos, most will not let me enter. **Background Info** Korea and Japan both have ideas of people with tattoos being yakuza(Japan) or 깡패, 조폭(kkangpae, jopok, Korea) which are gangsters or mafia. Therefore, in Japan, if you have tattoos, you aren't allowed into their onsen. What is an onsen? It is a natural bathhouse. Because Japan has so much volcanic activity, its springs are naturally heated. These are used in bathhouses. Just something I would like to try one of these days. If you are Japanese and reading this, maybe you can help me!

I got back from Japan and met some more friends. I met these cool kids who are part of an English study group. They are a lot of fun and we have traveled around together. They say they enjoy my cooking, haha.

I got to enjoy my first ever mud festival. I went with a few friends to Korea's annual mud festival and got well, muddy. I had to walk around all day without my glasses which is partly the reason I ended up buying contacts a little bit later. I can't stand not being able to see clearly.

Around September, I had to start deciding what I wanted to do at the end of my contract. I didn't feel, I was done with Korea so I had to figure out what to do. I knew I wanted to really dive into Korean since I had only been studying it here and there with my private teacher. I applied to Seoul National University for their language program. Then, I actually got accepted. A friend introduced me to a kindergarten school that would allow me to work in the mornings and go to school in the afternoon. I guess you could say it worked out perfectly.

I went to move into the dorms, but found them completely disgusting. I don't think I would have been clean even if I showered. Luckily, my friend 정우(Jeong-woo's) family said I could live with them for the semester!!

Now, I am working with Kinder Schule and love "my" children and going to school in the afternoon. I have a midterm next week and will hopefully do well on it. So far, I haven't done too bad. Currently, I am looking for a new place to live and trying to listen to God for where to go to next.

Well, I guess that will be all down memory lane. Hopefully I didn't forget anything too important.

2009/12/26

What's new? Well, I had my third speaking test in 3 weeks. So far, I have made a perfect score on each. Hopefully, I can keep this up. I think if I am at the top of my class I can get some scholarship money!! I guess you can say school is going well. I enjoy my teachers and classmates.

Christmas was Friday. On Christmas eve, my friends and I met up at a hotel room for our party. It was a good way to celebrate Christmas. Other than the fact I was extremely tired from work and school all day, I had fun. I cooked chicken and hotteok. I am pretty sure I have explained it before, but I will do so again. It is basically a pancake with cinnamon sugar and crushed nuts inside. Oh so good!! After the party, I went home.

On Christmas, I met with my friend 정길 and had lunch. Afterwards, we went to 교보, but it was so crowded, we decided to leave. We both went home and I rested for a bit. I met with my 선생님 and had dinner. We ate some sushi, then went to a bar and played darts. Apparently, last night wasn't my night. I ended up losing 2 out of the 3 games. I'm not saying that I am good at darts, but I am better than how I played last night, haha. Afterwards, we went home.

Today, I will meet with a friend and watch Sherlock Holmes. I'm hoping it is good since it has been a movie I have been looking forward to all year. Maybe in my next post, I will let you know what I think.

This week has been a week of thought. It seems as if I hit a brick wall and couldn't figure a way around it. Today, I was able to talk to a good friend, David Miller, and we had a good conversation. I think through the conversation, some things were made clear. I know I need to find some time for myself and that is my goal for this week. To find a place where there are no expectations of me. A place where I am alone and can think. A place where God and I can have a conversation like we use to. I want to come back to that.

Christmas. Would Jesus celebrate it?

It would be hard for anyone to go anywhere and not relate December 25th with Christmas, the day to celebrate Jesus' birth. However, this day has not always been a day to celebrate Jesus. If you look up the history of Christmas, you will find many reasons why people chose this day. Some say it was to hide the fact they were celebrating a Christian God while others say it was because some people thought Jesus was born on the same day as the rebirth of the sun.

Now, in this blog, I do not want to you to walk away with the idea that I hate Christmas. I merely hope for all of us (including myself) to look at why we really celebrate Christmas and why it is we think we should "up the ante" for loving Jesus.

Growing up I have learned about Christmas and Chanukah. As a child, I experienced both and to some, had it made. I got Christmas and 8 other days of gifts. In all reality, as a child, I only cared about the gifts. I didn't give much thought about what the days meant. To me, it meant the newest Lego set. As I got older, I began to realize the importance of the celebration. Then, as I got a little older, I noticed I wasn't as happy around this time of the year as I was when I was a child. Why?

Well, I began to look around me. I saw people who would rush to the store at 5 am to buy the newest toy for their child. I saw people standing in long lines so they wouldn't run out of that doll they forgot to buy their daughter. I saw people standing outside in the freezing cold to pick a tree, chop it down, and decorate it. Is there anything wrong with any of this? No. If nothing else, it shows that you at least care enough about your children or friends to do some of these "crazy" things.

Along with this, I would go to church and would listen to a pastor preach about how we should show God our love, especially during this time of the year. Now, I fully agree that we (those who claim to be a Christian) should indeed show God and those around us our love. The problem I have with this statement is the, "especially during this time of the year." Now, what does that mean? We should show God's love, but during Christmas, we should give extra effort? Then, I can "really" show God's love in December and slack off during the rest of the year? This seems like pretty good news to those who like to slack off on this.

However, I believe that there is no certain time of the year that we should "especially" show Christ's love. I believe we should strive to show it with the utmost effort everyday of the year. God's love doesn't revolve around a certain day and neither should ours. His love is constant and never changing. We shouldn't think about the homeless or that old lady down the street who simply wants you to listen to her stories just on Christmas, but year round.

I guess it all comes back to your heart. Does a pastor really mean to show more love on Christmas when he says something similar to the statement above? I don't think so. I merely wanted to share my thoughts on some of the things I have seen and heard.

This morning while I was attending a church service, I heard a very similar phrase and it just made me slightly indifferent to the idea of what Christmas is all about. Is it really about Jesus who we(Christians) say it is about or is it more about personal desires? Since I have been in Korea, this question keeps coming up. Not just about Christmas, but about my every day life. Is this, what I am doing now, about Christ, or is it about my own desire?

Tired

At the moment, I am pretty tired. I need to learn how to stay at home and relax. However, that is a little hard when you don't exactly feel completely comfortable living where you are. Don't get me wrong. The people I live with are extremely nice and have done what they can to make me feel at home, but it's still hard to get completely comfortable living in someone else's home. Maybe this will pass with time. I mean, I have only lived here for a little more than 2 weeks. We will see.

On other news, I aced my first speaking test. I had my second one on Friday and will find out the score next week sometime. I guess you can say that so far, school is going well. The classmates are nice and we are talking to each other more and more.

Tonight, I helped out with an English study group. That was interesting. All the people were really nice, but teaching English is quite tiring. It's funny how the language I have used every day for the past 25 years (Korean age) can at times be hard to explain. There are parts of speech and phrases that through using the language, you just know what they mean or how they are used. However, when it comes time to explain them, it seems impossible. Nonetheless, I had fun. It's always great to meet new people.

I'm not sure if it is just me being tired or what, but I don't really have much to say for this week. I went to work... which reminds me. This past week, a student who is about 4 years old asked if I was a father. I said, "No! I'm too young!" Then the Korean teacher began to laugh. I also went to school and repeated this every day. Its life. I enjoy it!

Week 1 of School

Okay, I am going to try something new with my blog. I will try really hard to post at least once a week. This way, you guys can know how school is going and what not. By you guys, I mean my mother and the 5 others who actually take the time to read my babbling.

Anyway, I just began my life as a 한국어 학생. (Korean Student) Right now, it is kind of easy since I have already learned how to read and write Korean. The teachers are pretty nice. I somewhat have a crush on one. Well, her character anyway. She has a lot of energy and makes the class fun.

The students are pretty cool as well. One other student is from America(Boston) and the rest are from Canada, China, Japan, Mongolia, Singapore, Germany, and Australia. A lot of them can speak English, but there are a few who just know a few words.

Side-note: China actually just says, "hi" and "bye-bye" when they greet. Apparently, movies are not the best source to find out what people say when they see each other. Thanks 25 years of watching Chinese movies and being lied to.

It has been fun talking to some of the students and to hear their stories. Oh yeah, about half of the class has studied some form of psychology and 3 of them are lawyers.

To make money, I am a kindergarten teacher now. I teach for a few hours every morning working with children who are between the ages of 4 and 7. They are extremely cute. I will try to get pictures of them soon. I think you will agree when you see them. Work is good. The teachers are all really nice. It should be a good, tiring year, haha.

In other news, I had a 소캐팅 (blind date) and must say that it was a complete disaster. My friends and I had a lot of laughs about it afterwards. When we met, it was like pulling teeth to get the girl to speak. In fact, I am not even sure what her name was. (I know, I'm a terrible person.) Anyway, after about 15 minutes of this torture, I wanted out of there fast. My friend showed up and pretty much rescued me. I slid over and let him sit in front of the girl. Then I mentioned that I needed to go to 교보 (It's a bookstore here in Korea.) in hopes of getting away. However, they all went. My friend 바우 and I walked around without the date while I was shopping. We talked about how terrible it was going and then left. We all ate some ice cream and then the girl went home. When the person who set up the date came back we all began joking about what just happened. I told her she should never set anyone up on a date again. It was a complete bust.

Now, I just finished my homework for class and have to study for my test on Monday. That's right, only a week of school and we have a speaking test. I will let you know how I do.