I don't know how your April has been, but mine has been a whirlwind. I was just marveling this morning that May starts on Thursday. Since when has May been just around the corner? April was crazy busy for me, and May is promising to be no better. Here's what I've been up to this month:
1. School work- This includes normal lesson planning and grading; you know, all the normal stuff that teachers do all the time that takes up a lot of their time.
2. Prep for next year- About April, teachers start thinking about and planning for the next year. While this is normal for this time of year, it has been extra crazy this year because of all the changes we are making next year. We revised the parent/student handbook and the faculty handbook. We filled out technology and curriculum request forms. This past week was especially crazy as our new director for next year was in town visiting. We had many meetings as well as several promotional dinners.
3. E-book research- This technically falls under number 2, but since I've spent so much time on it, I decided to make it its own point. I have spent many hours this month researching e-textbooks. One of the changes for next year includes starting our school down the road of e-textbooks. The first subject to use e-textbooks? English. That's right; I get to be the first teacher at our school to have e-textbooks. All 9th-12th grade students will be required to have a tablet next year, which they will use to view their English books. I have spent a lot of time researching the different e-textbooks available (or not available) and the different platforms or apps they run on. I wish I could say this process was done, but it's not all figured out yet. We should be almost done with this process though, and it should result in e-textbooks for English next year. Yay! I'm excited about the possibility and the doors that it will open.
4. The play- Once again, I am directing our school's spring play. It is called The Butler Did It! and will be held on Friday, May 23rd. It is a murder mystery play, complete with lots of humor. When everything is said and done, it should be good, but we're still in process of getting it there. Right now we are working on finishing up memorization and acquiring props, costumes, and sets. April marked the beginning of the crazy season with directing the play, and May only gets worse. After school rehearsals start tomorrow, which means I lose more school prep time and some of my evening work time. However, it should be worth it in the end; I just have to keep reminding myself of that.
In the midst of all this craziness, God has really been stretching me and pushing me to rely on Him even more. I've been very stressed this month, and I know it will continue next month. However, when I get super stressed, I feel the Holy Spirit reminding me to rely on God and His strength and trust that He has everything under control. I do not do all of this by myself, but God himself helps me do it. In general, I'm very bad at this (I tend to think I need to and can do everything by myself), and God has really been showing me that such an attitude is sin. I'd like to say I've gotten better, and I have to a certain extent, but I still have a long way to go.
That being said, if you want to know how you can help me right now, the answer is to pray for me. Pray that I won't be stressed. Pray that I remember to do things when I need do them (my memory's not the most reliable thing right now). Pray that I will rely on God for His strength. Pray that I remember God is in control of everything. Pray that I will let God handle everything instead of trying to do it myself. Pray that I will be humble enough to accept help when it is offered and to seek it when I need it. And, above all, pray that God will be glorified through what I'm doing now (in school and with the play), even if that means things don't work out the way I think they should.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Spring Break in Japan
It's spring! I know those of you in the Midwest have been suffering through a long and difficult winter and are very thankful that spring has finally sprung. The coming of spring means the school year is winding down, even though my responsibilities significantly increase at the end of the school year. In addition to the normal end-of-the-year stuff teachers have to do (curriculum orders, planning, technology requests, graduation, etc.), I am directing the high school spring play again this year. We are doing a murder mystery play this year, and it should be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, that also means it's a lot of work. We are just about ready to start the final push for the play, which will be performed some time in May. But, before we can get to that final push, we have spring break!!!! Yay!
I spent my week of spring break relaxing and exploring Japan. The flight from Seoul to Tokyo is only about two and a half hours, so it would really be a shame if I lived this close for several years and never made it to Japan. I went with my roommate Kari, and, for the first time, we both made it out of the airport! We had both flown through Narita (Tokyo) airport several times before when flying between the U.S. and parts of Asia. However, until this past week, neither of us could say we had been to Japan, since we had never stepped foot out of the airport. Thankfully, that shortfall has now been remedied. We spent five days in Tokyo, the current capital of Japan, and two in Kyoto, the historical capital of Japan.
After successfully leaving the airport (yay!), we took a train to where our hotel was. However, before checking into the hotel, we stopped for dinner (it was about 8 p.m. at this point). We ended up finding a little hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurant. While that in and of itself would make it a unique first cultural experience, there was something else that set this restaurant apart from the rest: It was a vending machine restaurant. Now, I probably just confused most of you. Let me explain. You ordered and paid for your meal from a machine that looked just like a vending machine. For each option, there was a picture and the name in Japanese. No English. Thankfully, all of the restaurants in Japan have displays outside their restaurant of the dishes they sell. We looked at all our options, chose what looked good, and remembered its number for the vending machine. Once the meal is chosen and paid for, the machine spits out a ticket that we had to give to the chef so he knew what to make. I would say it was a once in a lifetime experience, but we did it twice while in Japan, so I guess I can't really say that.
For our first full day in Tokyo, we explored the area around our hotel, which ended up being a quiet, mostly residential area in Tokyo. We spent most of the morning at Ueno Park, which had lots of cherry trees. Unfortunately, only a few had started to bloom, but they were still beautiful. Later in the week we saw more cherry blossoms, so we still got our share of cherry blossoms. After spending some time in the park, we discovered more about Japanese history through the Tokyo National Museum. We saw lots of historical artifacts, archaeological discoveries, paintings, and sculptures. After getting our fill of the history of Japan, we went to one of the downtown areas of the city, Shinjuku, to see modern Japan. One of the buildings down there has a free observation deck, so we were able to get some awesome views of the city. Our timing was perfect, and we were able to see Tokyo in daylight, wait about 10 minutes, and see the city at night. Beautiful!
We spent the next day doing something that was not historical, modern, or even particularly cultural (at least not for Japan). We went to Disneyland. Yes, that's right, we, two grown women, went by ourselves and spent the day at Tokyo Disneyland. We had a blast! From what Kari tells me, the rides were a lot of the same ones they had in the States. They had many of the same rides in Hong Kong, but the park in Tokyo is bigger. Tokyo also has DisneySea, which is another Disney theme park that is sea-themed. We weren't able to go (not enough time), but it would be fun to check out some other time. Oh, and for those of you keeping track at home, this was my second Disney park in three months, both of them outside of the U.S. I have yet to go to any in the States. Alas, some other time! Family vacation, maybe???? However, I don't think any State-side parks will have the magnificent assortment of hats that the Asian parks seem to have. We're not just talking Mickey ears or baseball caps. No sir, we are talking full out hats of all of your favorite Disney characters, including (but not limited to) the traditional Disney characters (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, Goofy, etc.), Monsters Inc. characters (Mike, Sully), and Toy Story characters (Rex, Slinky Dog, and my favorite, Mr. Potato Head).
After spending an entire day at Disneyland, we needed a bit of a slower paced day with a little less walking. As a result, we hopped on a hop on/hop off bus tour of Tokyo. The bus had a stop in the same neighborhood as our hotel, so we were able to get on there instead of going to its starting point. The first stop we hopped off at was the Imperial Palace. Tokyo has been the capital of Japan since the mid-1800s (the capital was Kyoto before that). The Imperial Palace in Tokyo is still used today. Tourists are not allowed to go in the Imperial Palace without being on an escorted tour, and those tours are limited and must be applied for in advance (online). We did not apply for one of the tours, so we were only able to see the outside of the Imperial Palace and walk through the many gardens that surround the palace (the gardens are open to the public). It was a nice look at some traditional Japanese architecture as well as a nice glimpse of green in the city.
After the Imperial Palace, we traveled to the Asakusa area, which has beautiful parks for cherry blossom viewing (but again, still a bit early for most of the trees). Asakusa also has a famous shopping street, which is awesome for souvenirs. Kari and I spent several hours picking out what will hopefully be the perfect souvenirs for our family and friends. By this time, it was late afternoon, so we headed back to the starting point to hop on a different route of the bus tour. This route took us to a different part of Tokyo, and we got to see more of the port as well as the Fuji Television Headquarters. The building was purposefully designed to look like a widescreen television, and at night, it is lit up with multiple colors. Since we were fortunate, once again, to be doing this right as the sunset, we were able to see the Fuji Television building all lit up because it was getting darker but still get good pictures of it because it wasn't entirely nighttime yet either. Hooray for perfect timing!
We actually spent our last day in Tokyo outside of Tokyo--we went to see Mount Fuji! Mount Fuji is the tallest mountain in Japan, and it is a dormant volcano that last erupted in 1707. It is only open for climbing two months out of the year, July and August, because it is too harsh to do it any other time. It is snow-capped for most of the year, except for the summer months. We went to Mt. Fuji through a bus tour company, so we started the morning in Tokyo and rode on the bus to Mt. Fuji, which is about two hours outside of Tokyo. We first stopped at the Visitors Center and learned more about Mt. Fuji, as well as saw some of our first views of the mountain. Unfortunately, our trip to Fuji corresponded with the first cloudy and rainy day of the trip, so we weren't able to see the top. However, it was clear enough in the morning for us to see some of the snow that was still on the mountain. Because of the snow, our bus was only able to go a little ways up the mountain, which was our next destination. At the highest point we could reach, we got off the bus, took our pictures, and had a snowball fight. Yep, that's right, a snowball fight. We had a snowball fight on Mt. Hallasan (South Korea's tallest mountain) in November, and now a snowball fight on Mt. Fuji (Japan's tallest mountain). Basically, at this point it is tradition for Kari and I to have a snowball fight whenever we are on a mountain. After our snowball fight (which I pretty much won, by the way), we got back on the bus, headed for our lunch stop, and then onto our afternoon plans. We were scheduled to do a gondola ride and a lake cruise, both of which were supposed to have fantastic views of Japan's scenery and mountains. However, the clouds and mist really moved in, so that we could not see where we were going on the gondola and it looked like were simply ascending into the clouds. No view whatsoever (except of mist and clouds). Oh well, that's what you get sometimes.
The next day we left Tokyo and headed for Kyoto. We traveled to Kyoto by the Shinkansen (which means "Super Express" in English). If you guessed that it is the Japanese bullet train, then you are right! We took the bullet train, going over 300 km/hr, to Kyoto. The entire trip took us about 2 and a half hours. Now, if it takes that long on a bullet train, imagine how long it would take in a car of a bus. No thank you! I'll stick with the train, thank you very much! If you've never ridden a bullet train before, you should put it on your bucket list. The ride is incredibly smooth (not jerky), and it is quite fun to see the scenery whiz by, but you're not quite going fast enough where it is all a blur. It was a great way to see more of Japan.
Once in Kyoto, we saw Nijo Castle, which was used as one of the residences for the shogun and his guests when the capital was in Kyoto. The grounds of Nijo Castle were gorgeous and included the Ninomaru Palace. We were able to tour Ninomaru Palace, which is one of the only remaining palaces from the Edo period (1603-1867). What surprised me the most about the palace was that its architecture differed greatly from traditional Chinese and Korean architecture. I expected it to be very similar, which the Imperial Palace in Tokyo was. However, the gates and other architectural features were very different. Inside the palace, the rooms had beautifully painted sliding doors and walls, intricately carved details and decorations, ornate ceilings, and nightingale floors. The floors were designed to purposefully squeak when someone walked on them. The purpose was so that no one could sneak around the palace. I don't fully understand how it works, but the way it was designed was that when you put the pressure on the floor it moved down and created the creaking sound. It actually sort of sounded like nightingales. There were lots of people touring the palace, so we had plenty of opportunities to hear the floors with every step they (and we) took.
Our second day in Kyoto was filled with more history and culture (why else do you come to the historical capital of a country, right?). We first stopped at the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, which you once again needed to apply to get a tour of. We did not get on the tour, but we did walk around the outside and enjoy the beautiful gardens. This time we got to see plenty of cherry blossoms. More were blooming in Kyoto than in Tokyo because Kyoto is farther south (and therefore warmer) and it was later in the week. Regardless of the reason, though, they were beautiful! After the Imperial Palace, we went to Kinkaku Temple, also known as the Golden Pavilion because the second and third floors are entirely covered with gold leaf. While Kari and I don't often visit temples or shrines as part of our sightseeing, this was unique and famous enough that we didn't want to miss it. The Golden Pavilion is situated on a little pond, so it is reflected in the water. The entire scene was breathtaking.
After the Golden Pavilion, we spent our afternoon doing a walking tour of the Gion area of Kyoto. This area has many other temples and shrines that we passed as we were walking. We admired the architecture and kept right on walking. The Gion area is also known as the traditional home of Kyoto's geishas. We were able to see a couple women dressed as geishas walking around. After capped off our afternoon by going to a performance at Gion Corner, which highlighted many traditional Japanese art forms, including a tea ceremony, flower arranging, harp playing, several dances, a little comedy play, and a puppet play. The performance lasted only an hour but allowed us to see a nice glimpse of some of the intangible history and culture of Japan. It was probably one of my favorite experiences of the trip.
Our last hurrah in Japan was dinner our last night in Kyoto. After the performance, we went to one of the sushi conveyor belt restaurants. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, let me explain. All the seats in the restaurant are around a conveyor belt. On this conveyor belt, different plates of sushi come around. When you see one you like, you grab it off the conveyor belt and eat it. When you have eaten all the sushi you want, the waiter will come around, count your plates, and figure out your bill. Thankfully, the restaurant we went to had all the dishes labeled as to what they were. A picture of the dish, along with the Japanese and English names, usually preceded each different kind of sushi. It was very handy. I tried four different kinds of sushi, including tuna, yellow tail, and shrimp (I don't remember the 4th one). I've had sushi before and was not a fan, but I wanted to do it because it was Japan and you can't get any more Japanese than sushi. Besides, I figured Japan ought to have pretty good sushi, so I wanted to give it a try. It was okay. I didn't like the tuna one I had (it also had a lot of wasabi), but the others were pretty good. The shrimp was my favorite. No matter what, though, it was a great last experience in Japan.
One of our biggest concerns in traveling to Japan was that Japan is supposed to be a very expensive country. Based on our experience, that is not entirely true. The price of most things was fairly comparable to South Korea, which is very comparable to the U.S. Some items were slightly more expensive but not outrageously so (for the most part). As long as you are smart, you can do Japan on a budget. Choose your hotel wisely and use public transportation. The most outrageously priced thing we could find was the taxis. In Tokyo, the base rate was 700 yen (about $7). Yikes! However, the public transportation system is so well-developed, especially in Tokyo, that we didn't need to use a taxi. Also, eating at smaller Japanese restaurants instead of more expensive Western restaurants will save you money as well. Kari and I had a lot of Japanese noodles (udon) and tempura on our trip. Oh well. Japanese food is good, though not terribly varied in flavor profiles. Also, we found that Kyoto was, surprisingly enough, more expensive than Tokyo. Since it is a smaller city, we expected it to be less expensive, but pretty much everything was more expensive (hotel, food, public transportation, etc.). The only things that was cheaper in Kyoto than in Tokyo was the base taxi rate, at 580 yen ($5.80) instead of 700 yen ($7). So, if you're planning to go to Japan, plan to spend a little bit of money, but be smart in what you buy and how much you pay for it. Know what you're willing to pay a little bit more money for (like a bus tour of Mt. Fuji or a cultural performance) and what you're not willing to pay for (taxis).
I spent my week of spring break relaxing and exploring Japan. The flight from Seoul to Tokyo is only about two and a half hours, so it would really be a shame if I lived this close for several years and never made it to Japan. I went with my roommate Kari, and, for the first time, we both made it out of the airport! We had both flown through Narita (Tokyo) airport several times before when flying between the U.S. and parts of Asia. However, until this past week, neither of us could say we had been to Japan, since we had never stepped foot out of the airport. Thankfully, that shortfall has now been remedied. We spent five days in Tokyo, the current capital of Japan, and two in Kyoto, the historical capital of Japan.
After successfully leaving the airport (yay!), we took a train to where our hotel was. However, before checking into the hotel, we stopped for dinner (it was about 8 p.m. at this point). We ended up finding a little hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurant. While that in and of itself would make it a unique first cultural experience, there was something else that set this restaurant apart from the rest: It was a vending machine restaurant. Now, I probably just confused most of you. Let me explain. You ordered and paid for your meal from a machine that looked just like a vending machine. For each option, there was a picture and the name in Japanese. No English. Thankfully, all of the restaurants in Japan have displays outside their restaurant of the dishes they sell. We looked at all our options, chose what looked good, and remembered its number for the vending machine. Once the meal is chosen and paid for, the machine spits out a ticket that we had to give to the chef so he knew what to make. I would say it was a once in a lifetime experience, but we did it twice while in Japan, so I guess I can't really say that.
For our first full day in Tokyo, we explored the area around our hotel, which ended up being a quiet, mostly residential area in Tokyo. We spent most of the morning at Ueno Park, which had lots of cherry trees. Unfortunately, only a few had started to bloom, but they were still beautiful. Later in the week we saw more cherry blossoms, so we still got our share of cherry blossoms. After spending some time in the park, we discovered more about Japanese history through the Tokyo National Museum. We saw lots of historical artifacts, archaeological discoveries, paintings, and sculptures. After getting our fill of the history of Japan, we went to one of the downtown areas of the city, Shinjuku, to see modern Japan. One of the buildings down there has a free observation deck, so we were able to get some awesome views of the city. Our timing was perfect, and we were able to see Tokyo in daylight, wait about 10 minutes, and see the city at night. Beautiful!
We spent the next day doing something that was not historical, modern, or even particularly cultural (at least not for Japan). We went to Disneyland. Yes, that's right, we, two grown women, went by ourselves and spent the day at Tokyo Disneyland. We had a blast! From what Kari tells me, the rides were a lot of the same ones they had in the States. They had many of the same rides in Hong Kong, but the park in Tokyo is bigger. Tokyo also has DisneySea, which is another Disney theme park that is sea-themed. We weren't able to go (not enough time), but it would be fun to check out some other time. Oh, and for those of you keeping track at home, this was my second Disney park in three months, both of them outside of the U.S. I have yet to go to any in the States. Alas, some other time! Family vacation, maybe???? However, I don't think any State-side parks will have the magnificent assortment of hats that the Asian parks seem to have. We're not just talking Mickey ears or baseball caps. No sir, we are talking full out hats of all of your favorite Disney characters, including (but not limited to) the traditional Disney characters (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, Goofy, etc.), Monsters Inc. characters (Mike, Sully), and Toy Story characters (Rex, Slinky Dog, and my favorite, Mr. Potato Head).
After spending an entire day at Disneyland, we needed a bit of a slower paced day with a little less walking. As a result, we hopped on a hop on/hop off bus tour of Tokyo. The bus had a stop in the same neighborhood as our hotel, so we were able to get on there instead of going to its starting point. The first stop we hopped off at was the Imperial Palace. Tokyo has been the capital of Japan since the mid-1800s (the capital was Kyoto before that). The Imperial Palace in Tokyo is still used today. Tourists are not allowed to go in the Imperial Palace without being on an escorted tour, and those tours are limited and must be applied for in advance (online). We did not apply for one of the tours, so we were only able to see the outside of the Imperial Palace and walk through the many gardens that surround the palace (the gardens are open to the public). It was a nice look at some traditional Japanese architecture as well as a nice glimpse of green in the city.
After the Imperial Palace, we traveled to the Asakusa area, which has beautiful parks for cherry blossom viewing (but again, still a bit early for most of the trees). Asakusa also has a famous shopping street, which is awesome for souvenirs. Kari and I spent several hours picking out what will hopefully be the perfect souvenirs for our family and friends. By this time, it was late afternoon, so we headed back to the starting point to hop on a different route of the bus tour. This route took us to a different part of Tokyo, and we got to see more of the port as well as the Fuji Television Headquarters. The building was purposefully designed to look like a widescreen television, and at night, it is lit up with multiple colors. Since we were fortunate, once again, to be doing this right as the sunset, we were able to see the Fuji Television building all lit up because it was getting darker but still get good pictures of it because it wasn't entirely nighttime yet either. Hooray for perfect timing!
We actually spent our last day in Tokyo outside of Tokyo--we went to see Mount Fuji! Mount Fuji is the tallest mountain in Japan, and it is a dormant volcano that last erupted in 1707. It is only open for climbing two months out of the year, July and August, because it is too harsh to do it any other time. It is snow-capped for most of the year, except for the summer months. We went to Mt. Fuji through a bus tour company, so we started the morning in Tokyo and rode on the bus to Mt. Fuji, which is about two hours outside of Tokyo. We first stopped at the Visitors Center and learned more about Mt. Fuji, as well as saw some of our first views of the mountain. Unfortunately, our trip to Fuji corresponded with the first cloudy and rainy day of the trip, so we weren't able to see the top. However, it was clear enough in the morning for us to see some of the snow that was still on the mountain. Because of the snow, our bus was only able to go a little ways up the mountain, which was our next destination. At the highest point we could reach, we got off the bus, took our pictures, and had a snowball fight. Yep, that's right, a snowball fight. We had a snowball fight on Mt. Hallasan (South Korea's tallest mountain) in November, and now a snowball fight on Mt. Fuji (Japan's tallest mountain). Basically, at this point it is tradition for Kari and I to have a snowball fight whenever we are on a mountain. After our snowball fight (which I pretty much won, by the way), we got back on the bus, headed for our lunch stop, and then onto our afternoon plans. We were scheduled to do a gondola ride and a lake cruise, both of which were supposed to have fantastic views of Japan's scenery and mountains. However, the clouds and mist really moved in, so that we could not see where we were going on the gondola and it looked like were simply ascending into the clouds. No view whatsoever (except of mist and clouds). Oh well, that's what you get sometimes.
The next day we left Tokyo and headed for Kyoto. We traveled to Kyoto by the Shinkansen (which means "Super Express" in English). If you guessed that it is the Japanese bullet train, then you are right! We took the bullet train, going over 300 km/hr, to Kyoto. The entire trip took us about 2 and a half hours. Now, if it takes that long on a bullet train, imagine how long it would take in a car of a bus. No thank you! I'll stick with the train, thank you very much! If you've never ridden a bullet train before, you should put it on your bucket list. The ride is incredibly smooth (not jerky), and it is quite fun to see the scenery whiz by, but you're not quite going fast enough where it is all a blur. It was a great way to see more of Japan.
Once in Kyoto, we saw Nijo Castle, which was used as one of the residences for the shogun and his guests when the capital was in Kyoto. The grounds of Nijo Castle were gorgeous and included the Ninomaru Palace. We were able to tour Ninomaru Palace, which is one of the only remaining palaces from the Edo period (1603-1867). What surprised me the most about the palace was that its architecture differed greatly from traditional Chinese and Korean architecture. I expected it to be very similar, which the Imperial Palace in Tokyo was. However, the gates and other architectural features were very different. Inside the palace, the rooms had beautifully painted sliding doors and walls, intricately carved details and decorations, ornate ceilings, and nightingale floors. The floors were designed to purposefully squeak when someone walked on them. The purpose was so that no one could sneak around the palace. I don't fully understand how it works, but the way it was designed was that when you put the pressure on the floor it moved down and created the creaking sound. It actually sort of sounded like nightingales. There were lots of people touring the palace, so we had plenty of opportunities to hear the floors with every step they (and we) took.
Our second day in Kyoto was filled with more history and culture (why else do you come to the historical capital of a country, right?). We first stopped at the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, which you once again needed to apply to get a tour of. We did not get on the tour, but we did walk around the outside and enjoy the beautiful gardens. This time we got to see plenty of cherry blossoms. More were blooming in Kyoto than in Tokyo because Kyoto is farther south (and therefore warmer) and it was later in the week. Regardless of the reason, though, they were beautiful! After the Imperial Palace, we went to Kinkaku Temple, also known as the Golden Pavilion because the second and third floors are entirely covered with gold leaf. While Kari and I don't often visit temples or shrines as part of our sightseeing, this was unique and famous enough that we didn't want to miss it. The Golden Pavilion is situated on a little pond, so it is reflected in the water. The entire scene was breathtaking.
After the Golden Pavilion, we spent our afternoon doing a walking tour of the Gion area of Kyoto. This area has many other temples and shrines that we passed as we were walking. We admired the architecture and kept right on walking. The Gion area is also known as the traditional home of Kyoto's geishas. We were able to see a couple women dressed as geishas walking around. After capped off our afternoon by going to a performance at Gion Corner, which highlighted many traditional Japanese art forms, including a tea ceremony, flower arranging, harp playing, several dances, a little comedy play, and a puppet play. The performance lasted only an hour but allowed us to see a nice glimpse of some of the intangible history and culture of Japan. It was probably one of my favorite experiences of the trip.
Our last hurrah in Japan was dinner our last night in Kyoto. After the performance, we went to one of the sushi conveyor belt restaurants. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, let me explain. All the seats in the restaurant are around a conveyor belt. On this conveyor belt, different plates of sushi come around. When you see one you like, you grab it off the conveyor belt and eat it. When you have eaten all the sushi you want, the waiter will come around, count your plates, and figure out your bill. Thankfully, the restaurant we went to had all the dishes labeled as to what they were. A picture of the dish, along with the Japanese and English names, usually preceded each different kind of sushi. It was very handy. I tried four different kinds of sushi, including tuna, yellow tail, and shrimp (I don't remember the 4th one). I've had sushi before and was not a fan, but I wanted to do it because it was Japan and you can't get any more Japanese than sushi. Besides, I figured Japan ought to have pretty good sushi, so I wanted to give it a try. It was okay. I didn't like the tuna one I had (it also had a lot of wasabi), but the others were pretty good. The shrimp was my favorite. No matter what, though, it was a great last experience in Japan.
One of our biggest concerns in traveling to Japan was that Japan is supposed to be a very expensive country. Based on our experience, that is not entirely true. The price of most things was fairly comparable to South Korea, which is very comparable to the U.S. Some items were slightly more expensive but not outrageously so (for the most part). As long as you are smart, you can do Japan on a budget. Choose your hotel wisely and use public transportation. The most outrageously priced thing we could find was the taxis. In Tokyo, the base rate was 700 yen (about $7). Yikes! However, the public transportation system is so well-developed, especially in Tokyo, that we didn't need to use a taxi. Also, eating at smaller Japanese restaurants instead of more expensive Western restaurants will save you money as well. Kari and I had a lot of Japanese noodles (udon) and tempura on our trip. Oh well. Japanese food is good, though not terribly varied in flavor profiles. Also, we found that Kyoto was, surprisingly enough, more expensive than Tokyo. Since it is a smaller city, we expected it to be less expensive, but pretty much everything was more expensive (hotel, food, public transportation, etc.). The only things that was cheaper in Kyoto than in Tokyo was the base taxi rate, at 580 yen ($5.80) instead of 700 yen ($7). So, if you're planning to go to Japan, plan to spend a little bit of money, but be smart in what you buy and how much you pay for it. Know what you're willing to pay a little bit more money for (like a bus tour of Mt. Fuji or a cultural performance) and what you're not willing to pay for (taxis).
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Hidden Treasures
When I started this blog two years ago before moving to Korea, I wanted it to be about more than just my experiences in Korea. Yes, Korea is the focus of most of my posts. However, I also wanted it to be a space to reflect on the many blessings that God had given me, especially the little pearls hidden in everyday life. For example, my roommate and I were trying to book our plane tickets to China for spring break, but the website was being uncooperative with our credit cards, forcing us to go to a travel agent. There we discovered additional rules for getting a Chinese visa while in Korea that made it impossible for us to go to China this year. If we had been able to book our flight online, we would have lost money. Instead, we didn't lose any money and instead successfully booked a trip to Japan.
Another blessing I have been very thankful for recently is the blessing of a healed wrist. Last year was a horrible year with carpal tunnel, ending with surgery in June. Since then, it has been doing very well. Yes, it still has some issues and still gets a bit tired at times, but it is doing SO much better than it was. The following is a list of "hidden treasures," things I could not do eight months ago before I had surgery that I can do now:
1. Hold things for more than 30 seconds.
2. Write for more than 30 seconds.
3. Type for more than 30 seconds.
4. Carry grocery bags.
5. Push a shopping cart.
6. Drive.
7. Open things (bottles, containers, jars, etc.).
8. Wash dishes.
9. Cook.
10. Pull my own suitcase.
11. Lift my own suitcase.
12. Grade papers by hand.
13. Use chopsticks. (a big deal when you live in Asia)
14. Cut my own food.
15. Hold multiple objects in my hand a time.
16. Tell when my hand is cold (as opposed to numb).
17. Eat using my right hand.
18. Text easily.
19. Use a pair of scissors.
20. Hold my own plate at potluck or in a food line.
21. Basically do anything that requires fine motor skills.
22. Go places and do things without having to evaluate how much it will hurt to do it.
23. Stir things.
24. Grade papers without sitting at a table or desk.
25. Staple things to my classroom walls.
26. Use a stapler.
27. Carry anything in my right hand.
28. Use a computer mouse with my right hand.
29. Hold an actual book.
30. Hold my Kindle in my right hand.
31. Go bowling.
32. Shuffle a deck of cards.
While there are many others I could name, these are just some of the small things in my daily life for which I am thankful. Many of these are seemingly small things that may not appear to be a big deal, but when you've been in too much pain to do them for yourself, you are very thankful to be able to do them again. Do I think about it every time I do them? No, but whenever I do, I say a little prayer of thanksgiving for the healing that God had brought me.
Another blessing I have been very thankful for recently is the blessing of a healed wrist. Last year was a horrible year with carpal tunnel, ending with surgery in June. Since then, it has been doing very well. Yes, it still has some issues and still gets a bit tired at times, but it is doing SO much better than it was. The following is a list of "hidden treasures," things I could not do eight months ago before I had surgery that I can do now:
1. Hold things for more than 30 seconds.
2. Write for more than 30 seconds.
3. Type for more than 30 seconds.
4. Carry grocery bags.
5. Push a shopping cart.
6. Drive.
7. Open things (bottles, containers, jars, etc.).
8. Wash dishes.
9. Cook.
10. Pull my own suitcase.
11. Lift my own suitcase.
12. Grade papers by hand.
13. Use chopsticks. (a big deal when you live in Asia)
14. Cut my own food.
15. Hold multiple objects in my hand a time.
16. Tell when my hand is cold (as opposed to numb).
17. Eat using my right hand.
18. Text easily.
19. Use a pair of scissors.
20. Hold my own plate at potluck or in a food line.
21. Basically do anything that requires fine motor skills.
22. Go places and do things without having to evaluate how much it will hurt to do it.
23. Stir things.
24. Grade papers without sitting at a table or desk.
25. Staple things to my classroom walls.
26. Use a stapler.
27. Carry anything in my right hand.
28. Use a computer mouse with my right hand.
29. Hold an actual book.
30. Hold my Kindle in my right hand.
31. Go bowling.
32. Shuffle a deck of cards.
While there are many others I could name, these are just some of the small things in my daily life for which I am thankful. Many of these are seemingly small things that may not appear to be a big deal, but when you've been in too much pain to do them for yourself, you are very thankful to be able to do them again. Do I think about it every time I do them? No, but whenever I do, I say a little prayer of thanksgiving for the healing that God had brought me.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Hong Kong
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season and is settling back well into a regular schedule (assuming you haven't frozen yet). I stayed in Korea for Christmas break this year, and, so that I would have something to do during my three week break, I took a trip to Hong Kong. I was there for about a week, and I did a mix of relaxing and sightseeing. It was fun to play the tourist for a few days. It was also nice to enjoy some warmer weather, only occasionally needing a sweatshirt.
But first, a little history and geography lesson to get started. The territory of Hong Kong is located in southeast China in what is known as the Pearl River Delta. It has a tropical climate, including a hot and humid summer. It has four distinct seasons, and the temperature when I was there was mainly in the 60s. It doesn't really get any colder than that there. What is now Hong Kong consists of Hong Kong island, the tip of a nearby peninsula with areas named Kowloon and the New Territories, and many outlying islands. Hong Kong became a British colony in the 1840s after winning it from China in the First Opium War. Britain returned Hong Kong to China in 1997, meaning it is a blend of Britain and China. Tourists don't need to apply for a Chinese visa; they simply get a small slip of paper in their passports upon entry. Because it was a British colony, English is one of the official languages. Cantonese is the primary language spoken in Hong Kong; Mandarin is a minority language. It was during its days as a British colony that Hong Kong emerged as an important port. Now, it is a bustling metropolis and popular tourist destination.
While in Hong Kong, I stayed at Bethany Ministries, which is a missionary guest house on Cheung Chau, one of the outlying islands in Hong Kong. It was nice because it was outside the city and therefore a bit quieter. It can only be reached by ferry. Cheung Chau is a quaint little island with fishing as the main industry. There are no cars on the island, only a few motorized carts that can only be operated on certain days. You get around by walking or riding a bike, adding to the peace. Also adding to the peace is the fact that Bethany is on top of a big hill, complete with steep winding paths you have to climb to get to the top. While the hike up wasn't nice (especially pulling a suitcase), the lack of cars means that not many people hike up to the top. Breakfast and supper were provided, along with the chance to meet other people ministering in this area of the world. I enjoyed the opportunity to talk to other missionaries while I was there and hear about the kind of work they do. I mostly met people who work in mainland China, although many of them used to live in Korea or had other connections to Korea.
I arrived Thursday just in time to get settled into my room before heading to dinner. I spent the evening relaxing and talking to others. I met one couple, Gary and Peggy, who teach English in China. They were in Hong Kong to get their Chinese visa renewed (they had to leave the mainland). On Friday, I went into the city with Gary and Peggy. We didn't leave until the afternoon, so we only had a few hours to sight see. After we picked up their visas, we went to The Peak, a lookout point on top of Victoria Peak. From there, you can see the whole city. We got up there in the late afternoon, so we stuck around to see the lights of the city. Once we saw them, we headed to Victoria Harbor (between Hong Kong and Kowloon) so that we could see the nightly light show. All of the buildings on the waterfront are lit up, some with different designs. Then, they add some lasers and other lights, making it a spectacular sight. We took the legendary Star Ferry to cross the harbor to get a better view of all the lights.
On Saturday I stayed on Cheung Chau and explored the town and spent time at the beach. I read, prayed, journaled, and wrote poetry. It was a nice relaxing day.
On Sunday I went to Hong Kong Disneyland! My first Disney experience! I had a great time riding the rides, even though I was by myself. The single rider line is amazing! It allows you to get on the roller coasters much faster than standing in the regular line. They pair you up with others who don't have someone to ride with (either other single riders or groups of three) so that the ride is full. I wouldn't have had to wait very long to get on the rides anyway; the longest the lines ever got were about 40 minutes, and that was only in the middle of the day when the park was the busiest. Funny, but January isn't a popular time to go to Disneyland. So much the better for me!
On Monday I went back into the city and got a chance to really explore Hong Kong. I was finally able to get on street level and really get a feel for the city. I started by having an early lunch on the waterfront and then I went to the Ladies' Market to do some souvenir shopping. The market has clothing, handbags, toys, and souvenirs. I could tell you what I bought, but that would spoil the surprise for my family. They'll have to wait until summer to find out what they got. ;)
After finishing my souvenir shopping, I went to the Hong Kong History Museum. I always like to find out about the history and culture of a place when I visit a place. The history museum traces Hong Kong history throughout geographic history through the Chinese dynasties to the British colonial period to the present. There were a lot of good displays and excellent information throughout the museum. I learned a lot about the history of Hong Kong and a little about Chinese history as well. Definitely a worthwhile stop if you're ever in Hong Kong (assuming you like history museums).
I spent my last day in Hong Kong (Tuesday) relaxing at Bethany. I read for a lot of the day and then packed so that I could leave the next day. I read a total of 6 books while I was gone, and it was very nice. Unfortunately, school starts in just a few days (Jan. 13), so that means an end of most recreational reading.
Overall, I really enjoyed my trip to Hong Kong. However, I discovered something. While I am an introvert and like doing some stuff alone, I prefer traveling with other people. It's more fun to do all the sightseeing excursions with others. My trip to Hong Kong did not go exactly as I had planned (I was planning on doing a bus tour), but I adjusted my schedule and kept it flexible so I could at least do some things with others. And I'm glad I did. It's a good thing the next trip I have planned will be with my roommates. Hooray for good friends!
But first, a little history and geography lesson to get started. The territory of Hong Kong is located in southeast China in what is known as the Pearl River Delta. It has a tropical climate, including a hot and humid summer. It has four distinct seasons, and the temperature when I was there was mainly in the 60s. It doesn't really get any colder than that there. What is now Hong Kong consists of Hong Kong island, the tip of a nearby peninsula with areas named Kowloon and the New Territories, and many outlying islands. Hong Kong became a British colony in the 1840s after winning it from China in the First Opium War. Britain returned Hong Kong to China in 1997, meaning it is a blend of Britain and China. Tourists don't need to apply for a Chinese visa; they simply get a small slip of paper in their passports upon entry. Because it was a British colony, English is one of the official languages. Cantonese is the primary language spoken in Hong Kong; Mandarin is a minority language. It was during its days as a British colony that Hong Kong emerged as an important port. Now, it is a bustling metropolis and popular tourist destination.
While in Hong Kong, I stayed at Bethany Ministries, which is a missionary guest house on Cheung Chau, one of the outlying islands in Hong Kong. It was nice because it was outside the city and therefore a bit quieter. It can only be reached by ferry. Cheung Chau is a quaint little island with fishing as the main industry. There are no cars on the island, only a few motorized carts that can only be operated on certain days. You get around by walking or riding a bike, adding to the peace. Also adding to the peace is the fact that Bethany is on top of a big hill, complete with steep winding paths you have to climb to get to the top. While the hike up wasn't nice (especially pulling a suitcase), the lack of cars means that not many people hike up to the top. Breakfast and supper were provided, along with the chance to meet other people ministering in this area of the world. I enjoyed the opportunity to talk to other missionaries while I was there and hear about the kind of work they do. I mostly met people who work in mainland China, although many of them used to live in Korea or had other connections to Korea.
I arrived Thursday just in time to get settled into my room before heading to dinner. I spent the evening relaxing and talking to others. I met one couple, Gary and Peggy, who teach English in China. They were in Hong Kong to get their Chinese visa renewed (they had to leave the mainland). On Friday, I went into the city with Gary and Peggy. We didn't leave until the afternoon, so we only had a few hours to sight see. After we picked up their visas, we went to The Peak, a lookout point on top of Victoria Peak. From there, you can see the whole city. We got up there in the late afternoon, so we stuck around to see the lights of the city. Once we saw them, we headed to Victoria Harbor (between Hong Kong and Kowloon) so that we could see the nightly light show. All of the buildings on the waterfront are lit up, some with different designs. Then, they add some lasers and other lights, making it a spectacular sight. We took the legendary Star Ferry to cross the harbor to get a better view of all the lights.
On Saturday I stayed on Cheung Chau and explored the town and spent time at the beach. I read, prayed, journaled, and wrote poetry. It was a nice relaxing day.
On Sunday I went to Hong Kong Disneyland! My first Disney experience! I had a great time riding the rides, even though I was by myself. The single rider line is amazing! It allows you to get on the roller coasters much faster than standing in the regular line. They pair you up with others who don't have someone to ride with (either other single riders or groups of three) so that the ride is full. I wouldn't have had to wait very long to get on the rides anyway; the longest the lines ever got were about 40 minutes, and that was only in the middle of the day when the park was the busiest. Funny, but January isn't a popular time to go to Disneyland. So much the better for me!
On Monday I went back into the city and got a chance to really explore Hong Kong. I was finally able to get on street level and really get a feel for the city. I started by having an early lunch on the waterfront and then I went to the Ladies' Market to do some souvenir shopping. The market has clothing, handbags, toys, and souvenirs. I could tell you what I bought, but that would spoil the surprise for my family. They'll have to wait until summer to find out what they got. ;)
After finishing my souvenir shopping, I went to the Hong Kong History Museum. I always like to find out about the history and culture of a place when I visit a place. The history museum traces Hong Kong history throughout geographic history through the Chinese dynasties to the British colonial period to the present. There were a lot of good displays and excellent information throughout the museum. I learned a lot about the history of Hong Kong and a little about Chinese history as well. Definitely a worthwhile stop if you're ever in Hong Kong (assuming you like history museums).
I spent my last day in Hong Kong (Tuesday) relaxing at Bethany. I read for a lot of the day and then packed so that I could leave the next day. I read a total of 6 books while I was gone, and it was very nice. Unfortunately, school starts in just a few days (Jan. 13), so that means an end of most recreational reading.
Overall, I really enjoyed my trip to Hong Kong. However, I discovered something. While I am an introvert and like doing some stuff alone, I prefer traveling with other people. It's more fun to do all the sightseeing excursions with others. My trip to Hong Kong did not go exactly as I had planned (I was planning on doing a bus tour), but I adjusted my schedule and kept it flexible so I could at least do some things with others. And I'm glad I did. It's a good thing the next trip I have planned will be with my roommates. Hooray for good friends!
Monday, December 2, 2013
Thanksgiving in Jeju-do
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had as good of a weekend as I did. It was a nice few days off before tackling the hectic schedule of December and the Christmas season. (P.S.- Now it is officially Christmas music season. Yay!)
I spent Thanksgiving Day hanging out and celebrating with friends. In the morning, I celebrated with my roommate Jennifer on her engagement. I knew for a few weeks that it was coming, so I was very excited for her when it actually happened. That afternoon, I had Thanksgiving dinner at the Hospitality House, which is a ministry to the military (though they welcome others too). I ate lots of yummy turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, green bean casserole, and delicious pumpkin bread. It was a full American Thanksgiving meal, just on the other side of the world.
Friday morning I left for a two day trip with my roommates Kari and Jennifer, along with Jennifer's fiance Kyle. We traveled to Jeju-do, the largest island in Korea ("do" means island in Korean), and a very popular tourist destination. Jeju is known as the Hawaii of Korea, not so much for the temperature (though it is milder than the weather in Pyeongtaek), but for how the island was formed. Jeju was formed by volcanic eruptions from Mt. Hallasan, which just happens to be the tallest mountain in South Korea. The mountain stands in the center of the island, so we had a lot of fun getting different views as we drove around it. Anyway, the island today has a lot of volcanic rock and soil, making it very different from mainland Korea. It even has palm trees! The weather is a little milder than on the mainland, although we were pleasantly surprised by snow on the top of Hallasan. The flight from Seoul to Jeju is just about an hour, so it's a really short flight.
On our short flight to Jeju, we had a very Korean experience. I'm sitting there, just reading my book, when the flight attendants start talking in Korean over the loudspeaker. Now, since I don't speak Korean, I decided to ignore it. If there's really something I need to know, they will translate it into English. If not, I'll eventually figure it out when I need to respond. Then, all of a sudden, everyone starts raising their hand. Now this I notice. However, since I still don't speak Korean, I have no idea what's going on, until I hear the flight attendant say, "Kai, bai, bo!" Now, anyone who has lived in Korea for any length of time knows what kai, bai, bo means--rock, paper, scissors. That's right, the entire plane was playing rock, paper, scissors. Now I'm curious, but not because of the rock, paper, scissors game. You see, Koreans play rock, paper, scissors all the time. They play it when they're bored to pass the time. They play it to make decisions (like who is going first, etc.). My students play it to figure out who gets to clean up the lunch table. I was curious as to why these people were playing it. Was it a massively orchestrated game to keep the passengers from being bored during the flight? This was my first assumption, but it was wrong. Instead, they were playing kai, bai, bo to figure out who would win free tickets to Jeju. That's right: the entire plane played rock, paper, scissors to decide who won a set of free tickets to Jeju. Kari almost won, coming in 2nd place. (In case you were wondering how an entire plane full of people plays rock, paper, scissors at the same time, everyone initially plays against the flight attendant until it gets down to the last two people.)
Once we got to Jeju, we rented a car so we could have full access to all of our destinations. We started at the Manjanggul Cave. Manjanggul is the world's largest lava tube, or a cave created by the flow of lava. Visitors are only allowed in a 1 km section of the cave in order to preserve the entire lava tube system. However, the part we were able to explore was really cool. You could see the patterns of where the lava had flowed and cooled on the floor. You could see the flow lines on the walls of the cave that showed how high the lava once flowed. The cave also had a bunch of different lava formations, including lava shelves, lava columns, lava rafts, and lava toes. And yes, we had a lot of fun making fun of the names of the different formations.
After checking out the lava tube, we explored a hedge maze. After getting turned around a few times, we finally found our way out. It was a lot of fun! And, it was nice to be in a maze for once that was not made out of corn (blasphemous, I know). We also grabbed our chance to get our picture taken with the local Jeju celebrity, a little statue guy. They are found all over the island and are found on basically every product that comes out of Jeju.
Saturday contained even more adventures. We started by picking some of Jeju's famous oranges at our hotel. We stayed in a beautiful little, out of the way place that was surrounded by woods and farmland. The hotel even had a garden with an orange grove. Right now, the tangerines are in season, and we were able to pick as many as we wanted from the hotel's grove. They were delicious! Definitely some of the best I've ever had. After picking our oranges, we drove partway up Hallasan so that we could do some hiking. It wasn't far on our way up before we saw the snow. We went from picking oranges to seeing snow a half an hour later. Crazy! We hiked about 3.2 km in the snow before turning around and heading back down. We may also have had a snowball fight on the way down.
After our hike, we went to the Jeju Folk Village to see the different kinds of traditional housing on Jeju. They had samples of houses from different parts of Jeju, including the mountains, the farmlands, and fishing villages. It was really neat to see the different examples of how Koreans traditionally lived.
Our final stop in the Jeju sightseeing tour was the beach. Since the temperature was only in the 50s, we just walked around a bit, but it was still fun to do a little exploring of the coastline. Once again, the contrast between the snow and the orange and palm trees, all within just a few miles of each other, was amusing. But, that's just part of what made Jeju delightful.
I really enjoyed our trip to Jeju. Everyone agrees--Jeju is a wonderful place to visit, and we would love to go back sometime and explore even more, this time in the summer so that we could enjoy more of the benefits of the beach and the ocean.
I spent Thanksgiving Day hanging out and celebrating with friends. In the morning, I celebrated with my roommate Jennifer on her engagement. I knew for a few weeks that it was coming, so I was very excited for her when it actually happened. That afternoon, I had Thanksgiving dinner at the Hospitality House, which is a ministry to the military (though they welcome others too). I ate lots of yummy turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, green bean casserole, and delicious pumpkin bread. It was a full American Thanksgiving meal, just on the other side of the world.
Friday morning I left for a two day trip with my roommates Kari and Jennifer, along with Jennifer's fiance Kyle. We traveled to Jeju-do, the largest island in Korea ("do" means island in Korean), and a very popular tourist destination. Jeju is known as the Hawaii of Korea, not so much for the temperature (though it is milder than the weather in Pyeongtaek), but for how the island was formed. Jeju was formed by volcanic eruptions from Mt. Hallasan, which just happens to be the tallest mountain in South Korea. The mountain stands in the center of the island, so we had a lot of fun getting different views as we drove around it. Anyway, the island today has a lot of volcanic rock and soil, making it very different from mainland Korea. It even has palm trees! The weather is a little milder than on the mainland, although we were pleasantly surprised by snow on the top of Hallasan. The flight from Seoul to Jeju is just about an hour, so it's a really short flight.
On our short flight to Jeju, we had a very Korean experience. I'm sitting there, just reading my book, when the flight attendants start talking in Korean over the loudspeaker. Now, since I don't speak Korean, I decided to ignore it. If there's really something I need to know, they will translate it into English. If not, I'll eventually figure it out when I need to respond. Then, all of a sudden, everyone starts raising their hand. Now this I notice. However, since I still don't speak Korean, I have no idea what's going on, until I hear the flight attendant say, "Kai, bai, bo!" Now, anyone who has lived in Korea for any length of time knows what kai, bai, bo means--rock, paper, scissors. That's right, the entire plane was playing rock, paper, scissors. Now I'm curious, but not because of the rock, paper, scissors game. You see, Koreans play rock, paper, scissors all the time. They play it when they're bored to pass the time. They play it to make decisions (like who is going first, etc.). My students play it to figure out who gets to clean up the lunch table. I was curious as to why these people were playing it. Was it a massively orchestrated game to keep the passengers from being bored during the flight? This was my first assumption, but it was wrong. Instead, they were playing kai, bai, bo to figure out who would win free tickets to Jeju. That's right: the entire plane played rock, paper, scissors to decide who won a set of free tickets to Jeju. Kari almost won, coming in 2nd place. (In case you were wondering how an entire plane full of people plays rock, paper, scissors at the same time, everyone initially plays against the flight attendant until it gets down to the last two people.)
Once we got to Jeju, we rented a car so we could have full access to all of our destinations. We started at the Manjanggul Cave. Manjanggul is the world's largest lava tube, or a cave created by the flow of lava. Visitors are only allowed in a 1 km section of the cave in order to preserve the entire lava tube system. However, the part we were able to explore was really cool. You could see the patterns of where the lava had flowed and cooled on the floor. You could see the flow lines on the walls of the cave that showed how high the lava once flowed. The cave also had a bunch of different lava formations, including lava shelves, lava columns, lava rafts, and lava toes. And yes, we had a lot of fun making fun of the names of the different formations.
After checking out the lava tube, we explored a hedge maze. After getting turned around a few times, we finally found our way out. It was a lot of fun! And, it was nice to be in a maze for once that was not made out of corn (blasphemous, I know). We also grabbed our chance to get our picture taken with the local Jeju celebrity, a little statue guy. They are found all over the island and are found on basically every product that comes out of Jeju.
Saturday contained even more adventures. We started by picking some of Jeju's famous oranges at our hotel. We stayed in a beautiful little, out of the way place that was surrounded by woods and farmland. The hotel even had a garden with an orange grove. Right now, the tangerines are in season, and we were able to pick as many as we wanted from the hotel's grove. They were delicious! Definitely some of the best I've ever had. After picking our oranges, we drove partway up Hallasan so that we could do some hiking. It wasn't far on our way up before we saw the snow. We went from picking oranges to seeing snow a half an hour later. Crazy! We hiked about 3.2 km in the snow before turning around and heading back down. We may also have had a snowball fight on the way down.
After our hike, we went to the Jeju Folk Village to see the different kinds of traditional housing on Jeju. They had samples of houses from different parts of Jeju, including the mountains, the farmlands, and fishing villages. It was really neat to see the different examples of how Koreans traditionally lived.
Our final stop in the Jeju sightseeing tour was the beach. Since the temperature was only in the 50s, we just walked around a bit, but it was still fun to do a little exploring of the coastline. Once again, the contrast between the snow and the orange and palm trees, all within just a few miles of each other, was amusing. But, that's just part of what made Jeju delightful.
I really enjoyed our trip to Jeju. Everyone agrees--Jeju is a wonderful place to visit, and we would love to go back sometime and explore even more, this time in the summer so that we could enjoy more of the benefits of the beach and the ocean.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Fall Catch Up
Hey! Long time no see! Or should I say, long time no blog! Sorry for the long hiatus from the blog, but it has been a very busy fall. Now, it's time to get caught up.
This school year is off to a good start. I am really enjoying being in my second year at PICS. Things are always so much easier the second year around--you are familiar with the school, the students, the curriculum, and the area. One of the biggest challenges that we have is that we do not have an administrator this year. We have no director and no principal. As you can imagine, that makes some things very interesting. All the teachers have had to take on extra roles to make sure the school still runs smoothly. We have an elementary and a high school lead teacher that are part of an administrative team. This team is the administration for the current school year. Thankfully, we are part of a larger network of schools that allows us to get support from the home office during this time. There is some good news in all of this, however. We have hired a director for next year! He can't start until next school year because he is currently the director at one of the other schools in the network, but he has already been so supportive of our school and teachers. He may not be physically in Korea right now, but he's been great already. He should be really good for the school. But, in the meantime, pray for the endurance and strength of the teachers this year, especially as the school year goes on. It's a lot of extra work not having a director, and I know that by the time June rolls around we will be absolutely exhausted.
In September we had Chusok break, which is Korean Thanksgiving. We had three days off, and I spent the time relaxing and taking a break, as well as visiting one of the palaces in Seoul. I went with some friends to see Changgyeonggung Palace, also known as the Queen's Palace. It is called the Queen's Palace because it is the palace where the queens traditionally lived. It is one of the smaller palaces in Seoul, but it is still very beautiful. Because it doesn't have anything really "special" about it, it is not as big of a tourist attraction as some of the other palaces. However, that meant that it was not crowded, which made it even more enjoyable to visit. My favorite part was the pond in the back that was surrounded by trees. It was a really beautiful area.
September also brought the return of Kids Quest, the children's church program at the church I attend. I have been heading up the program since last spring. Right now we're trying out some different curriculum options that other churches have posted online. They have different videos and some skits or dialogue as part of the lesson to keep the kids interested. We've had just a couple weeks of trying one curriculum, and the kids seem to really like it so far.
October brought the end of the 1st quarter and parent teacher conferences. It also brought the beginning (or should I say return) of another ministry--Awana! That's right, I have started helping with Awana again. If you know my family and our involvement in Awana at all, you're probably not surprised that I would find a way to help with Awana even in another country. The Awana program I have started helping with is through the chapel on Osan Air Base. It is held at the elementary school on base on Wednesday nights. Because it is on base and I don't have base access, I have to get someone to sign me on every week. It's a little bit of a hassle, but it's been working out so far. Because it is sponsored by the chapel on base, they have to be really careful about the ratio of kids to adults. Sometimes they have to turn kids away because they don't have enough adults working with that particular age group. If you want to guarantee that your kids have a spot in Awana, as a parent, you volunteer to help with their group. Because of ratios and the number of parent volunteers, they are always looking for volunteers, especially ones that have previous experience with Awana. Everyone was really excited when I started helping. First of all, I am not a parent with children attending Awana; I'm just an extra volunteer. Second of all, I have Awana experience, especially with T&T, the age group I am helping with (3rd-6th grade). The T&T director even asks me questions to make sure that they are doing things correctly. I am really enjoying helping with Awana again. It's nice to put on the uniform on Wednesday nights and listen to verses and have a child explain yet again "why God gave us the Bible."
I have also been busy studying for and taking two different GRE tests. At the end of September I took the GRE subject test in Literature in English. While this test is not necessarily required for all grad schools, some require it for admission, and it may help me get into others, even if they don't require it. I had to do a lot of studying for that test because it could test anything in English or American literature, as well as some topics in world or European literature. The scope for the test was just massive! The most challenging thing about the test was that it would give you a passage to read and, just by reading this paragraph or two, you were supposed to be able to identify the author and approximately when it was written and even sometimes what work it was. All by reading this one random excerpt from one random work of the authors. And the test makers were not big on giving hints in the excerpts, like names or something like that. It was one of those tests where you're not expected to know everything. At the end of the day, I walked away from the test feeling comfortable with what I did not know. I did not know everything, but I was comfortable with the amount of material I did know. And, it paid off. I got a good score that should help me get into grad school. At the end of October I took the general GRE test, the one that everyone has to take if they want to pursue grad school. Again, the test went well, and I walked away with some really good scores that should help me get into grad school.
All of that leads up to a couple weeks ago when we received our invitations to come back next year. These aren't contracts (we sign those in the spring) but an opportunity to communicate to administration what are plans are for next year and whether we want to stay at the school in our current position, stay at the school in a new position, leave the school but transfer to another NICS school, or just leave the school and the network all together. We have to respond with our intentions for next year by the end of November. This year, they are due the day before Thanksgiving. I can almost guarantee that the decision of what to do next year (and what others are doing) is not far from the front of all the teachers' minds right now.
But, it is something I have been thinking less about recently because I have made my decision. (insert drumroll here) I have decided to stay in Korea at PICS for another year. I am very excited about this decision and how God is going to work through me while I'm here for another year. This does not mean grad school is out of the question; it just means that for now, God is calling me to remain in Pyeongtaek. He still has things He wants me to do here, and I can't wait to find out what that is. Grad school is still an option for the future, and something that I will probably revisit again next year. But, for now, I'm staying in Korea!
This school year is off to a good start. I am really enjoying being in my second year at PICS. Things are always so much easier the second year around--you are familiar with the school, the students, the curriculum, and the area. One of the biggest challenges that we have is that we do not have an administrator this year. We have no director and no principal. As you can imagine, that makes some things very interesting. All the teachers have had to take on extra roles to make sure the school still runs smoothly. We have an elementary and a high school lead teacher that are part of an administrative team. This team is the administration for the current school year. Thankfully, we are part of a larger network of schools that allows us to get support from the home office during this time. There is some good news in all of this, however. We have hired a director for next year! He can't start until next school year because he is currently the director at one of the other schools in the network, but he has already been so supportive of our school and teachers. He may not be physically in Korea right now, but he's been great already. He should be really good for the school. But, in the meantime, pray for the endurance and strength of the teachers this year, especially as the school year goes on. It's a lot of extra work not having a director, and I know that by the time June rolls around we will be absolutely exhausted.
In September we had Chusok break, which is Korean Thanksgiving. We had three days off, and I spent the time relaxing and taking a break, as well as visiting one of the palaces in Seoul. I went with some friends to see Changgyeonggung Palace, also known as the Queen's Palace. It is called the Queen's Palace because it is the palace where the queens traditionally lived. It is one of the smaller palaces in Seoul, but it is still very beautiful. Because it doesn't have anything really "special" about it, it is not as big of a tourist attraction as some of the other palaces. However, that meant that it was not crowded, which made it even more enjoyable to visit. My favorite part was the pond in the back that was surrounded by trees. It was a really beautiful area.
September also brought the return of Kids Quest, the children's church program at the church I attend. I have been heading up the program since last spring. Right now we're trying out some different curriculum options that other churches have posted online. They have different videos and some skits or dialogue as part of the lesson to keep the kids interested. We've had just a couple weeks of trying one curriculum, and the kids seem to really like it so far.
October brought the end of the 1st quarter and parent teacher conferences. It also brought the beginning (or should I say return) of another ministry--Awana! That's right, I have started helping with Awana again. If you know my family and our involvement in Awana at all, you're probably not surprised that I would find a way to help with Awana even in another country. The Awana program I have started helping with is through the chapel on Osan Air Base. It is held at the elementary school on base on Wednesday nights. Because it is on base and I don't have base access, I have to get someone to sign me on every week. It's a little bit of a hassle, but it's been working out so far. Because it is sponsored by the chapel on base, they have to be really careful about the ratio of kids to adults. Sometimes they have to turn kids away because they don't have enough adults working with that particular age group. If you want to guarantee that your kids have a spot in Awana, as a parent, you volunteer to help with their group. Because of ratios and the number of parent volunteers, they are always looking for volunteers, especially ones that have previous experience with Awana. Everyone was really excited when I started helping. First of all, I am not a parent with children attending Awana; I'm just an extra volunteer. Second of all, I have Awana experience, especially with T&T, the age group I am helping with (3rd-6th grade). The T&T director even asks me questions to make sure that they are doing things correctly. I am really enjoying helping with Awana again. It's nice to put on the uniform on Wednesday nights and listen to verses and have a child explain yet again "why God gave us the Bible."
I have also been busy studying for and taking two different GRE tests. At the end of September I took the GRE subject test in Literature in English. While this test is not necessarily required for all grad schools, some require it for admission, and it may help me get into others, even if they don't require it. I had to do a lot of studying for that test because it could test anything in English or American literature, as well as some topics in world or European literature. The scope for the test was just massive! The most challenging thing about the test was that it would give you a passage to read and, just by reading this paragraph or two, you were supposed to be able to identify the author and approximately when it was written and even sometimes what work it was. All by reading this one random excerpt from one random work of the authors. And the test makers were not big on giving hints in the excerpts, like names or something like that. It was one of those tests where you're not expected to know everything. At the end of the day, I walked away from the test feeling comfortable with what I did not know. I did not know everything, but I was comfortable with the amount of material I did know. And, it paid off. I got a good score that should help me get into grad school. At the end of October I took the general GRE test, the one that everyone has to take if they want to pursue grad school. Again, the test went well, and I walked away with some really good scores that should help me get into grad school.
All of that leads up to a couple weeks ago when we received our invitations to come back next year. These aren't contracts (we sign those in the spring) but an opportunity to communicate to administration what are plans are for next year and whether we want to stay at the school in our current position, stay at the school in a new position, leave the school but transfer to another NICS school, or just leave the school and the network all together. We have to respond with our intentions for next year by the end of November. This year, they are due the day before Thanksgiving. I can almost guarantee that the decision of what to do next year (and what others are doing) is not far from the front of all the teachers' minds right now.
But, it is something I have been thinking less about recently because I have made my decision. (insert drumroll here) I have decided to stay in Korea at PICS for another year. I am very excited about this decision and how God is going to work through me while I'm here for another year. This does not mean grad school is out of the question; it just means that for now, God is calling me to remain in Pyeongtaek. He still has things He wants me to do here, and I can't wait to find out what that is. Grad school is still an option for the future, and something that I will probably revisit again next year. But, for now, I'm staying in Korea!
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
And So It Begins...
It's that time of year again! Back to school! This has always been one of my favorite times of the year, and this year is no exception. I am now starting my fourth year of teaching, and my second year here in Korea. Today was our first day of school, and I will be teaching five different classes this year—American Literature, British Literature, World Literature, 9th Literature and Composition, and Speech/Drama—as well as directing the spring play. But before all the new adventures of the school year happen, I wanted to make sure I caught everyone up on what I did this summer.
I spent about six weeks back in Iowa this summer. It was a great chance to catch up with family and friends. I got to spend a lot of quality time with my family, which was really good since it will be a while until I see them again.
Three days after I arrived in Iowa, I was able to have carpal tunnel release surgery on my right hand. Surgery went fine, as has recovery. My arm was in a brace for the first two weeks after surgery, which meant I had to pretty much everything with my left hand. That wasn't fun, but since the brace has come off, I haven't had any problems with my left hand. I'm still having some pain, especially when I write or type for too long. However, the pain doesn't linger, which makes it a whole lot better than it was before. The pain should continue to lessen as my wrist heals more.
I also had a travel with my family to the Northeast for a week on vacation. We were only able to hit the highlights, spending a day or two in Philadelphia, New York City, Maine, and Boston before returning to the Midwest. It was a great opportunity to be together as a family since we've all been in about a thousand different directions over the past year.
I've been back in Korea for about two weeks now, and I've settled back in quite comfortably. After spending so long in the States it has taken me a little while to adjust back to Korea, but I am doing better each day. It once again feels like home.
As the new school year starts, I would ask for your prayers in the following things:
1. I would be an effective and engaging teacher
2. I can clearly articulate the Gospel to my students
3. Students would have a desire to learn and work hard
4. Students would be open to God's Word and grow in their knowledge of God, including finding salvation
5. Wisdom for what to do next year
If #5 sounds like a strange prayer request for the beginning of the school year, let me explain. I have to decide by the end of November if I want to return for next year. If I decided to return, it would be a one year contract as opposed to a two year contract. But, it is still a lot to consider. At this point, I have no idea what I am going to do. I am considering going to graduate school sometime in the future, with an eye towards getting my Ph.D. in English to then teach at the college level. But I still love Korea and teaching at PICS, and it would be really hard to step away. If you ask me on any given day which way I am leaning, I will probably give you a different answer than the day before. The only thing I do know right now is that if I want to even consider applying to grad schools this fall, I have to take the GRE General Test and the GRE Subject Test in English within the next couple months. It's a lot to take in and consider, which is why I would greatly appreciate your prayers, even at this early stage in the school year.
I'm so glad I have people all over the world supporting me and praying for me. Thanks for partnering in my ministry in South Korea!
I spent about six weeks back in Iowa this summer. It was a great chance to catch up with family and friends. I got to spend a lot of quality time with my family, which was really good since it will be a while until I see them again.
Three days after I arrived in Iowa, I was able to have carpal tunnel release surgery on my right hand. Surgery went fine, as has recovery. My arm was in a brace for the first two weeks after surgery, which meant I had to pretty much everything with my left hand. That wasn't fun, but since the brace has come off, I haven't had any problems with my left hand. I'm still having some pain, especially when I write or type for too long. However, the pain doesn't linger, which makes it a whole lot better than it was before. The pain should continue to lessen as my wrist heals more.
I also had a travel with my family to the Northeast for a week on vacation. We were only able to hit the highlights, spending a day or two in Philadelphia, New York City, Maine, and Boston before returning to the Midwest. It was a great opportunity to be together as a family since we've all been in about a thousand different directions over the past year.
I've been back in Korea for about two weeks now, and I've settled back in quite comfortably. After spending so long in the States it has taken me a little while to adjust back to Korea, but I am doing better each day. It once again feels like home.
As the new school year starts, I would ask for your prayers in the following things:
1. I would be an effective and engaging teacher
2. I can clearly articulate the Gospel to my students
3. Students would have a desire to learn and work hard
4. Students would be open to God's Word and grow in their knowledge of God, including finding salvation
5. Wisdom for what to do next year
If #5 sounds like a strange prayer request for the beginning of the school year, let me explain. I have to decide by the end of November if I want to return for next year. If I decided to return, it would be a one year contract as opposed to a two year contract. But, it is still a lot to consider. At this point, I have no idea what I am going to do. I am considering going to graduate school sometime in the future, with an eye towards getting my Ph.D. in English to then teach at the college level. But I still love Korea and teaching at PICS, and it would be really hard to step away. If you ask me on any given day which way I am leaning, I will probably give you a different answer than the day before. The only thing I do know right now is that if I want to even consider applying to grad schools this fall, I have to take the GRE General Test and the GRE Subject Test in English within the next couple months. It's a lot to take in and consider, which is why I would greatly appreciate your prayers, even at this early stage in the school year.
I'm so glad I have people all over the world supporting me and praying for me. Thanks for partnering in my ministry in South Korea!
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