The Last Day of Winter Break!

Today was the last day of the winter break class that I've been teaching for the last 8 days. We finished up with a party, which was fun. The students took the opportunity to fill me in on Korean pop culture, writing down all the names of Korean pop singers, soccer players, and actors who I have GOT to look up and find out more about. I really enjoyed a smaller class size (15 students) in this winter break class; it felt so much more personal. I will have these same students this semester in regular courses, so I am excited to know at least a few girls in every class. Today I filmed a short commercial for the science club (which will be shown at the freshman orientation, trying to get new kids to join the club called "Atoms") and I gave my cell phone number out to at least 10 students. I'm a little worried I might regret giving out my cell phone number, because it could easily spread like wildfire, but I'll take my chances; how could anyone say no to these girls...



After class I went out to eat abilone with my co-teacher. Today was my co-teacher's last day of school ever! He is retiring!

Abilone is eaten raw, and it's delicious! After you eat the raw pieces, the waitress brings out a sort of rice poridge made from abilone. Koreans believe that abilone is very nutritious and provides energy. When I was sick last semester, all my my mother gave me to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner was abilone poridge for FOUR days!

Happy Lunar New Year!

Today is the Lunar New Year holiday, which is celebrated widely among countries in Asia, including China's infamous "Chinese New Year." Today I found myself in a traditional Korean hanbock, visiting various houses that belong to relatives of my Korean family. It was funny how I seemed to be the only one wearing a hanbock. When my sister sent me a text message yesterday asking me if I would like to wear a hanbock on New year's Day, I sensed this might turn out to be the case... I responded to her with a text of my own: "Will you, your sister and mother wear hanbocks?" To which she replied: "I don't think so." In the end I am very glad that I wore a hanbock, but it certainly made for an interesting holiday. It's enough to be the only foreigner at these family functions, but try being the only foreigner and the only person wearing the traditional Korean dress. As my family and I traveled around the countryside, I couldn't help but laugh at what a funny little group we made. Four well dressed, trendy, urban Koreans and me, their token foreigner who they had dressed up in a traditional Korean hanbock for the holidays. To say that I was the ONLY person wearing a hanbock is not entirely true. There were two grandpas wearing traditional Korean outfits at my house in Jeju City (this is 2 people among 30, and both over the age of 70) and when we got to the countryside there were two children under 5 years old wearing hanbocks and two more grandparents sporting the traditional garb.

Here is a picture of me with two of the grandparents and one of the children who was also wearing a hanbock. The man and woman in regular clothes are my Korean parents.

All the men sat around a long table in the living room and both bedrooms were used for women and children...

We ate a variety of things including: octopus, kimchi (of course), rice cake soup, cucumbers, fried egg, fried meat, noodles, and fruit for dessert. Today was my 28th birthday in Korea, in fact it was everyone's birthday. This is the biggest, most important holiday in Korea, and instead of exchanging gifts everyone just gives the younger ones money. The traditional way to receive the money is to do a full bow, all the way to the ground and say "Happy New Year" in Korean. Then you get 10,000 won (the equivalent of $10 USD). Usually you stop receiving money when you're in college and are obligated to give it after college, but thanks to my host father, I received $30,000 won today. I can only imagine how much my sisters pocketed, but it must be somewhere between $80-100,000 won. All in all this holiday was great, and slightly more relaxed than Chuseok. I don't know if that's because Chuseok was my first holiday so they went out of their way to show me a good time or if it's always like that.

Home Sweet Home

Well I'm back in Jeju City, and I must say that it feels good to be home. I was immediately struck by the fact that I am no longer a stranger in my surroundings. I saw two of my students on the bus from the airport into Jeju City; of course I knew they were my students by the way they stared, giggled and waved at me. I was looking pretty grim at that moment; my clothes had not been washed, my hair was a mess, and I was carrying a big backpack. I looked like a traveler, but these girls reminded me that I am home, as if nothing had changed, almost as if I'd never left. I walked into my home at 8:30pm, and the living room was full of older Koreans and my Korean father. They were sitting on the floor in the living room around a small table that held "dok", traditional Korean rice cake and slices of fruit. In Korea most people practice the shaman tradition of holiding a ceremony for your ancestors on the day that they died. These ceremonies take place at night, because they believe that the spirit will visit at night. Thursday night was the night that my great grandfather (my father's grandfather) died, so we had all of the family coming over to our house for the ceremony. Everyone waits around, sometimes napping, with the television on, talking, and the children play games until it is time to perform the ceremony. The ceremony consists of setting up an offering on a small table and bowing three times to the ancestor. This is the type of bow where you get all the way down on your knees and your forehead touches the floor. Anyways, I walked into the house and there were at least ten family members sitting in the living room staring back at me with more to arrive later on. My Korean sister was very happy to see me, but it was my Korean mother's face as she dropped what she was doing in the kitchen and came over to me quickly, smiling and reaching out to give me a big hug that made me really feel like I was home. I unpacked the presents I had brought them from America... a Camelback for my host father (he loves to run and hike), a NM t-shirt and some fragrant lotion for my host mother, Boggle and the complete set of Roald Dahl books for my sisters... my mother had been cooking and she immediately set down a bowl of rice and numerous side dishes for me to eat. I was starving, and I was struck by the familiarity of the food. I was surprised at how much I had missed the flavors! I sat around on the floor chatting with my Korean relatives. In reality, they were really talking about me, and I struggled to catch what they were saying and respond in broken Korean or have my host sister translate my English. When I first sat down they stared at me, sizing me up, and said something in Korean. My host sister blushed and said to me: "They say that they thought all Americans were fat, but you're not fat." This is such a typical Korean statement, and in many ways it represents why I'm here: to educate and dispel some of the misconceptions that Koreans have about the USA. I went to school the following morning and saw my co-teacher and my principal. I was a little worried, because I've been gone for such a long time, so long. I felt my absence would be viewed as an extended vacation that ONLY I got to have. (This is actually what it was, but it was part of my contract.) On the contrary, I feel so welcomed and genuinely missed. I missed all of my Korean family and friends, and I am struck by the fact that I have very little time left here. Four months suddenly feels like too little time; my time away has helped me realize how much I will miss Jeju City. I finally feel like this is my home.

5 days in Hong Kong

I spent 5 days and 6 nights in Hong Kong. It was a great time to be there; the city looked beautiful, as they were preparing for the Chinese New Year (March 17, 18, and 19th). Hong Kong was an amazing city; expensive, but amazing...I have uploaded some photos to give you a taste of what I saw there:

The view from Kowloon was amazing; a nice Chinese man took this picture for me, but didn't quite know how to focus the camera...

The Man Mo Temple was right on the corner near the apartment where I was staying. I walked by it every time I was coming or going. The incense coils at the top of the picture are lit 24 hours a day, and the smoke is supposed to carry a person's prayers to the spirits (it was either the spirits or God, but the main point that I'm trying to make is that the incense makes your prayers more likely to be answered or at least speeds up the process.)

Compared to Saigon, Hanoi, Phnom Penh and Manila, Hong Kong's streets were no people in the streest and there were no motor scooters on the sidewalks. The streets themselves were very clean (I was told that they've made a huge effort to be sanitary since the SARS epidemic). Stores open at about 10:30 am and are open late, as well as most outdoor markets.

My Fulbright friend, Sara, was in Hong Kong for one night. We found this amazing dim sum restaurant by accident and ate breakfast there. We were the only foreigners in the place, and it was packed with people. It reminded me of a really busy local diner at about 8 am in the USA. The dim sum and the tea were AMAZING; we sat at a table with 5 locals, including one senior citizen who just watched us intently while we tried different dim sum plates. There were two other couples at our table and one of them translated and helped us figure out how everything worked. We kept saying how amazing the food was, and they kept saying that it was just "typical Chinese dim sum". This was the best meal I had in Hong Kong, and it cost $13 USD for both of us (very cheap for Hong Kong.)

This large Tian Tan Buddha statue on Lantau island was quite a sight. It is the world's largest, outdoor, seated, bronze statue (don't ask me where the largest indoor or gold one is; however, I believe the world's largest standing, outdoor, bronze buddha statue is in Korea.)

I randomly bumped into two other Fulbright ETA's at an outdoor market. From left: Me, Katy and Cara. We ended up meeting up the following day for dinner and some walking around. (They loaned me the sunglasses for this picture.)

The view from the top of Victoria Peak. I took a tram up the hill and then hiked around. It was a little bit foggy and smoggy this time of year, but I think you get the picture...

Goodbye Hanoi; Hello Hong Kong

I left Vietnam three days ago after traveling up most of the country ,from Saigon to Hanoi, over the course of two weeks. People have asked me what the differences were between the Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam. Like most countries, what sets them apart are separate histories. The Philippines is much more latin than one would expect in Asia, because it was colonized by the Spanish. The language incorporates Spanish and English words, so that you often pick up a bit of what is being said(when I say a big, I mean a tiny bit). What made traveling in the Philippines really great was that such a high percentage of people spoke very good English, and it wasn't just limited to the well educated. This made it easy to converse with teh locals, which in turn made it a more complete experience (like adding a third dimension to the trip; whereas, it was much more difficult in Cambodia and Vietnam.) The Philippines was also very, very poor and I saw far fewer tourists. Most of the tourists that go to the Philippines must go to large resorts, and probably don't use public transportation to get there. I was never on a bus with another foreigner in the Philippines; however, in Vietnam there are separate buses for backpackers like myself, so foreigners take up the majority of the seating on the buses that take you from town to town. This also means that once you arrive there are far more tourists around, because they are not as spread out as they might be in the Philippines or a country where you buy your own bus tickets. Something that struck me about the Vietnamese was how clever they were. They were clever in the way they defended themselves against the Americans and they are still clever in the way they approach tourism. It was common to be ripped off in Vietnam, and I constantly had to be on guard up or I'd end up spending 5 times what something was worth. (I don't mind a 25% tax on what I buy, because it feels reasonable and seems fair, but %500 is another story.) Haggling and bargaining are exhausting, and for that reason alone, I was ready to go after a couple of weeks. I really think the way I felt was common among the travelers in Vietnam (I spoke to many who shared my opinion that it was time to move on), but it seemed to be a side effect of the dense tourist areas that have been created through the way tourists are "managed" in Vietnam. At first southeast Asia seemed so un-Asian to me, compared to Korea and Japan (I have not visited mainland China); however, it's really just a different kind of Asia. The cultural rules and traditions that I have encountered in Korea seem much more relaxed. The cities are densely populated, but chaotic and inefficient, which is totally unlike Seoul, Osaka, or Hong Kong. Now that I am in Hong Kong I feel as though I'm back in the modern world. I might as well be in New York City; whereas, Manila, Phnom Penh, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Hanoi were still far from modern. Hong Kong is totally cosmopolitan, and an amazing place; I'm exciting to be here. It seems like the perfect place to end such an amazing trip.

Halong Bay, Vietnam

After flying from Hue to Hanoi; I met two people from Mexico City, Alejandro and Coral, on the shuttle from the airport. We immediately became good friends, and they invited me to joing them on a tour that they were doing to Halong Bay. We met up with two girls from Argentina, friends of Alejandro and Coral, and together the five of us left on a tour of the famous and beautiful Halong Bay.

From the right: Coral, Alejandro, Vicki and her sister Clara. The five of us got along really well, and it was great to be able to speak Spanish with them, as it has been awhile since I've spoken Spanish for days on end.In Halong Bay people live on these floating houses. Women would approach our bigger boat in little row boats, selling food and beverages among other things.

This was our boat, and I'm not sure what the name means. There were about 20 people in our tour group, but not everyone slept on the boat. About sixteen of us slept on the boat, and I shared a room with a girl named Pooja from India. Pooja and I get along really well, so we decided to share a room in Hanoi when we returned from Halong Bay. Pooja is a lawyer in Bombay, India.

In the late afternoon as the sun was setting, we sat on the top of the boat, floating between these amazing rock formations that seemed to have grown out of the ocean. We drank some beer and stopped briefly to kayak, which was really fun! It was a great tour; I've returned to Hanoi and I will leave on a flight this evening for Kuala Lumpur, then Manil, then Hong Kong and back to Korea.