Summer Vacation

Where did July go? It's hard for me to look at the calendar and see August 7th coming up in just one week. That's when I fly home. But for the past few days, I've been just chilling, meeting up with old friends, and generally not thinking about endings. This has been my summer vacation! Two weeks spent bumming around Seoul and northern parts of the country (followed soon by two weeks of lazing around California). Okay, get ready for a lot of selfies!

Lauren and me after reaching the "peak" of a local mountain in Sanbon!

After I left Cheonan last Thursday, I went to Sanbon (산본), one of Seoul's many suburbs in Gyeonggi-do, to stay with a friend from college, Lauren. I literally hadn't seen her since I graduated two years ago, so it was wonderful to spend so much time with her and her family. We went hiking, jammed together, and caught up on each other's lives. Lauren, who like me studied linguistics at Swat, also helped with translations for the Jeju dictionary.

With friends new and old in Seoul!

On Saturday, I went up to Seoul and spent the next few days meeting up with old friends, many of whom are soon leaving Korea (or have by now already left). It was bittersweet; I've grown so close to them over the past two years, and even though we're all headed back to the US, they'll be going to different parts of the country, and meeting up won't be as simple as a two- or three-hour bus ride anymore. Before Jake left, we got chicken and beer. Before Andrew M. left, we played tons of Settlers of Catan and mahjong. Before Hana left, we ate the best of food in the restaurants and cafes around Seoul's Garosugil.

Mahjong with Andrew and Monica, and also Monica's mom!

Despite goodbyes, I was also saying a lot of hellos by reconnecting with old friends who are in Seoul for the summer, like Terrance and Rachel, whom I met at church and haven't seen for two years, or Hae-in, a close college friend who first introduced me to the Korean language and who also visited my school in Changwon once! When I hung out with Terrance and Rachel in Hongdae, we had a haircut date, and all three of us went to Punk Shalom. The only problem was that it was closed, so we went to another salon down the street. I wanted to do something a little bit crazy (don't freak out, Mom and Dad!) so I decided to dye my hair silver! Well, gray. Well, first, yellow. In order for black hair to become "ash" color, it has to be bleached three times. And then dyed. Boy, my scalp was burning by the end! And this is what my head looks like now!

Newly silver-coiffed me in the middle, with Terrance and Rachel!

Other Seoul adventures included a trip to the French village and the War Memorial of Korea. I'll make separate posts about those shortly.

Right now I'm writing this from Jungwon University in Goesan, where Fulbright Orientation is held every year. Today, I gave a few workshops for the new BETAs ("Baby" English Teaching Assistants!) and also sat in to watch their Placement Ceremony. My own Placement Ceremony was two whole years ago... Good memories! This time around, it was fun to see the new ETAs find out where they are going to teach for one year. Some were stony-faced; others couldn't hide their happiness.

And, well, placement... you know what that means! I met the ETA who is going to my old school, Changwon Science High School. Her name is Courtney, and she's great! With a background in engineering and a ton of enthusiasm for the ways she can connect with her students, I'm already really confident that she'll be successful. Tomorrow we'll meet up again, and I'm looking forward to giving her the letters our students wrote for their new teacher!

The Best 밀면 in Busan: 할매가야밀면

A large bowl of 밀면 from 할매가야밀명 in Busan. Just five bucks!

Amy knows where all the best food in her part of town is; I trust her completely with recs for noms when I'm in Busan. There's a popular restaurant located down a side alley in Nampo-dong, one of the busy shopping areas, that specializes in 밀면 (milmyeon). Milmyeon is a kind of cold noodle soup; the noodles are made from flour and potato starch, and they are served in a tangy chilled broth -- it literally has ice in it -- along with chili sauce, vegetables, a boiled egg, and some pork. This version of traditional Korean 냉면 (naengmyeon) originates from Busan.

I very clearly remember the first time I ever had 냉면 -- two years ago at a run-of-the-mill restaurant in Goesan. I was rather unpleasantly surprised by the fact that there was ice in my bowl. But I soon grew to really love naengmyeon, especially in the hot summer months. Milmyeon is just as good. As Amy would put it, "It's SOOOOO GOOOODDDD!!!!!!!" And my friends can attest to how much I liked it: despite having eaten a large lunch, I still downed my bowl -- the one you see in the photo above -- in five minutes flat. I mean, I finished before my two friends, who were sharing the same bowl, had even gotten halfway through theirs.

The restaurant, called 할매가야밀면 (Halmae Gaya Milmyeon, or Grandma's Gaya Milmyeon), also serves enormous 왕만두 (wangmandu, or King Dumplings), which I love. Another perk is that instead of water, patrons get complimentary warm soup, in order to balance the overwhelming chill from your noodles. The service was quick and the place was very busy, so you know it's got to be good. I'm going to share a Fulbright Infusion restaurant review with you in a bit, so you know where to eat lunch or dinner the next time you're in Busan on a hot summer day!

Outdoor Class

This is educational, I promise.

Ah, after a rainy weekend, we've finally hit some legitimate summer weather. I can actually feel the humidity in the air, and at night, I can walk around in a t-shirt and shorts. It won't be long before we start turning on the fans at my taekgyeon dojang. The change is welcome, although spring didn't seem quite long enough.

A pity that I can't take advantage of these fine sunny days to hold classes outdoors again! I did it once this semester, back in April. I took my third years outside to play some fun games that required communciation skills (in English, of course), including the always-successful Human Knot (above) and group charades (below). They really enjoyed the class, but we're nearing the end of the semester, and it's time to prepare for speech tests, so I can't do it again anytime soon. I've got all 180 of my students writing drafts of their speeches this week and next. This means I won't be able to enjoy a spare minute outside, either, as I'll be inside at my desk correcting a thousand grammar and spelling mistakes from now until mid-June.

But I'll keep these hliarious snapshots in mind, because as soon as the tests are over, it'll be time to have fun -- as much of it as possible before I leave.

I think they were supposed to make a tree?

Year 2 시작하자!

Let's start year two of this Fulbright thing! Woohoo!

Some updates: I have not been blogging regularly for the past month because I have been on vacation. I spent four weeks in the US, attended two weddings, did some grad school research, caught up with old friends and made some new ones, and didn't think about Korea at all. (Well, that's not strictly true. I kept up with Korean news and wrote regularly in my Korean blog. But I didn't study Korean or watch any K-dramas, as I had planned to. I also didn't eat any Korean food, plentiful as it is in the Bay Area.)

About three days ago, I packed my bags and hopped on a plane from San Francisco to Seoul. A nice old 아줌마 sitting next to me decided that I would be her conversation partner for the final two hours of the flight. She thought that I was a Korean-American and first asked me where in Korea my parents were from. Later, she talked to me about her life. A Korean teacher in Osh, Kyrgyzstan who hails from Gwangju, she rambled about her experiences during the Gwangju Democratization Movement and the Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010, and I understood about 50% of what she was saying. I've gotten good at nodding and smiling at the right times when someone is speaking to me in Korean on the assumption that I know what they are saying. That said, it was an interesting conversation.

From the airport in Incheon, I took a bus to Cheongju and then another bus to Goesan, where the forty second- or third-year Fulbright ETAs joined this academic year's new crop of teachers (numbering eighty, for a total of 120) at the tail end of their six-week Orientation. I got to know a handful of them, although between their packed schedule and my travel fatigue, not much socialization was to be had. However, I did spend a lot of time catching up with ETAs from my year, and we played lots of Bananagrams and Contact. (All of the new ETAs now know me as the guy who loves word games, since I was the answer to one of the questions -- "This second-year ETA loves word games such as Bananagrams and Contact" -- during Quiz Night. I am okay with this.)

After about a day and a half of this bite-sized Orientation, it was time for Departure Day. Everything ran exactly the same as last year's D-Day, only this year it was blazing hot instead of raining buckets. Also, this year I didn't even bother to say too many goodbyes, knowing that it isn't really goodbye, because it's so easy to visit my friends in other cities. I guess the real farewells were for some members of this year's Orientation Committee who are not renewing their contracts. Leslie, Ashlee, and Anthony are going back to the US, and I'll miss them a lot! But for everyone else, it was just, "Hope your apartment's nice, and see you soon!"

Speaking of which, my apartment is really nice! It's small, to be sure, but has basically everything I need. I've got a fridge, a two-burner stove, a desk, a bed, a closet, and a kitchen table in two rooms, plus a bathroom and a laundry room with my own washing machine. Also, my school provided me with a lot of appliances and living essentials, so I don't have to buy very much! I already have utensils, cookware, a rice cooker, hangers, and more toilet paper than I think I'll ever need. They even got me a freaking convection oven! It's so big it takes up more than half of the kitchen table. I know those cookies I baked for everyone last semester had something to do with this exorbitant investment...

I'm really, really thankful that my school has taken such good care of me. They definitely didn't need to buy me an oven! But they do have money, and they apparently like me enough to spend it on me. Rent is 500,000KRW a month, which is about $450. It's a bit above average for a place like this, but I'm not complaining -- my school is taking care of the rent. I'm responsible for utilities -- gas, water, and electricity. There's no Internet, so I'm using my phone as a WiFi hotspot and tethering my laptop to it. I'll have to check to make sure this doesn't cause me to go over my monthly data plan. And lastly, the apartment building is a mere five minutes' walk away from my school.

Good deal all around. I'm fortunate and happy.

So, what's next? I will spend the weekend preparing for my first classes on Monday and catching up with some friends in the city. I also haven't quite finished unpacking, and there are some household items I still have to buy, like a fan and a laundry hamper. And food. Food would be nice. In fact, it's 2:30pm and I haven't even eaten lunch yet. I think I'll do that now. Bye!

Summer Vacation

안녕하세요? 오랜만입니다. Hello readers, it's been a while, at least by my own standards. Going from posting every other day to a two-week silence might have been odd, but hey -- 지금 여름 방학인다. It's summer vacation now.

My Taiwanese students and me! We're Team 5, the "Butter-fives".

I spent four days in Taiwan TA-ing at a summer camp that I also did two years ago. Teaching at this camp was actually not so different from the games and lectures I've grown accustomed to doing this past year in Korea. The students were tons of fun, too. I wish I had gotten to stay for the entire week! Although I was sad to have to leave early, I truly enjoyed seeing old friends, meeting new ones, and making the most of my now-habitual yearly stint in Taiwan (including eating lots of delicious fruits and fried things). I've really left a part of my heart in that country.

Mount Rushmore in South Dakota

The reason I left the camp early was to attend the wedding of two of my best friends from college, Wes and Hana. I flew from Taipei to San Francisco, and then in less than twelve hours, I went back to SFO to fly to Rapid City, South Dakota, home of Mount Rushmore and acres of random Native American culture tourist traps. (It was at the Denver airport, where I transferred, that I got my first and only case of reverse culture shock: seeing tons and tons of white and/or overweight people as I walked through the terminal. Just... not something I was used to seeing after a year in Korea.)

The newlyweds and some groomsmen. (photo by Christina Vivit)

The wedding was fantastic, spiritually and emotionally rejuvenating. I fell in love with the gorgeousness of the Black Hills, not to mention the beauty of the bride and groom themselves! Seriously, they are two of the most beautiful people I've met, both inside and out. I am so, so happy and excited about the new life they are starting together. The wedding was also a really great opportunity to catch up with old college friends, most of whom I hadn't seen in over a year. It only dawns on me during reunions like these how much I miss by being on the other side of the world while everyone else is getting on with their adult lives.

My cousins, grandparents, and me.

Since the wedding, I've been back in Fremont, being a bum. Every day I visit my 92-year-old grandfather and help with preparations for my cousin's wedding (yup, second one this summer). Then, I fill up the rest of the hours playing board games, hiking, catching up with FB and blogs, and, in general, making a real vacation out of this vacation. This is almost exactly what I had hoped for, and I'm thankful to God for the blessings of a loving family, friends with free time, and this amazing Californian weather.

I miss my students, though. Is that strange? It's been only two weeks, but it seems like I have not seen them in a very long time. We parted ways in July on an abrupt and tragic note, and I think that that influenced the strange disconnect I feel right now. In all honesty, I'm yearning to go back, not even to begin teaching again, but just to see everyone and make sure they're doing all right. Just two and a half weeks more!

Heat

It's hot today, there's no denying that. But is it hot enough to warrant advising the general populace not to annoy anyone for fear that it might result in violent crime?

The 불쾌 지수 (bulkwe jisoo), or Discomfort Index, will tell you just that. During the Korean summer, when the temperature and humidity level both reach a certain unbearable point, the Discomfort Index indicates that it's just too hot to risk doing anything rash. Then, weathermen will not only tell you that it's 85°F (29°C) with 85% humidity, but they will also tell you not to give anyone grief, because the heat can literally drive someone crazy and cause them to hurt you. They also caution against going outside or drinking anything caffeinated.

When it comes to heat-addled brains, some may find it odd that Koreans have a unique expression for symptoms of illness directly caused by heat. 도위 먹다 (dowee meokda) translates to "eat heat". It refers to the manifestations of nausea, fatigue, and various bodily aches which are claimed to be brought on by uncomfortably high temperatures. I'm not aware of anything comparable in the US. I mean, we have heatstroke, but that is a legitimate medical condition, whereas 도위 먹다 sounds to me like crankiness. Perhaps those who eat too much heat are the ones to watch out for when the Discomfort Index is too high!

Today, I received a text message that appeared to come from a national or regional alert system (소방방재청): 폭염경보 (pogyeom gyeongbo), or "heat wave warning". It read: 11일 11시부로 폭염경보, 물을 자주 마시고 카페인음료 삼가, 잦은 환기, 한 낮 외출은 자제 하. My rough translation: "July 11th, from 11am onward, a heat wave warning. Drink lots of water and avoid caffeinated drinks, stay in a ventilated area, and refrain from going outdoors for the day."

Korea takes its weather seriously. Not that I wouldn't expect the same sort of thing in the US, especially in perennially scorched California, but I just find the Discomfort Index so... I don't know, endearing? Quaint? Fitting for Korea? I can't think of the right word at the moment. Probably because it's too hot.

On the other hand, I'm also mentally preparing for even worse weather. I am planning to fly to Taiwan this weekend (God-willing, as long as Typhoon Soulik doesn't wreak complete havoc on the island), where the temperature and humidity are both considerably higher than in Korea. After this week and next, I'll be quite relieved when I'm finally back in California, land of sunshine and a super-dry atmosphere. And cheap fruits, and Chipotle, and my family, etc.

온도와 습도가 높으면 불쾌지수도 높아요.
When the temperature and humidity level are high, the Discomfort Index is also high.

더워 죽겠네!
It's so hot I'm dying!

"Teacher, I was wondering..."

HG is one of my quietest second-year students, and it's not just because of the language barrier. My co-teachers have remarked that he rarely speaks up in any other classes, too. He has an unusually low and slow voice and mumbles, and it's clear he's not exactly a shining star in my class.

But it only took one conversation for my appraisal of him as a student to come crumbling down.

He stayed after class following what I remember was a fairly boring lesson. While I was gathering my stuff and preparing to leave, HG came up to me and asked, straight up, "Teacher, I was wondering... what is your dream? Why did you come to Korea?"

I just stared at him, speechless.

"Good question," I finally replied. "Um, well, I came to Korea in order to find out if I can be a teacher. I don't know if I am a good teacher, but I am getting experience now."

I continued to ramble on in this manner, talking about education, graduate school, and my enthusiasm for Korean culture. I didn't check myself to make sure I was speaking slowly and in short sentences. I didn't even check to make sure I was making any sense. You know why? Because as I talked, I was silently panicking: "Holy cow, I have no freaking clue how to answer your question, kid! Where did you even come from?"

No freaking clue. Mostly because I was caught by surprise by this student, who hadn't spoken to me all year beyond asking me to correct his rough drafts.

What is my dream? I teach my students every semester to follow their dreams, to make bucket lists, to have grand aspirations to work toward. I have not often stopped to think about these things for myself.

As my first grant year draws to a close, I now have to think about what is coming next. Yes, in the short-term, a second grant year in Korea will follow. But I mean after that. Am I ready to apply to graduate programs in linguistics, as I've planned? Should I just look for a job instead? Will I end up wanting to stay in Korea for another year? Will I go to a different country, or many different countries, to learn languages? Or teach them? Or document them? My dream seems to be just as vague as ever.

I also have to think about calling. Last night I received a phone call from a friend that caused me to take a closer look at what I know and believe about the religious notion that one can receive directives from God. To that end, I'm looking forward to going home so that I can have a few heart-to-hearts with my close friends about how my faith should shape my future.

So I've got to thank HG, not just for pleasantly surprising me with his moment of insightfulness, but also for helping nudge me toward these necessary mental and spiritual preparations. This past week has been surprisingly busy, and next week will be even more hectic, but when the dust finally settles, I'll have a nice summer vacation with plenty of time to think, talk, pray, and plan.

"Just don't get hurt, okay?"

Yesterday, during taekgyeon training, 관장님 pulled me aside to go over some logistics.

"Do you have health insurance?" he asked. I replied that I did, though hesitatingly, because I'm not actually sure how much it covers. I haven't gone to the hospital for any treatment in nine years, so I've kind of forgotten how health insurance actually works. (I should probably look into it...)

In any case, 관장님 was concerned that whatever coverage I had might not be enough or not convenient to use -- he mentioned something about phoning the United States, although he was speaking quickly in Korean, so I couldn't catch it all -- so in the end, he just looked at me and said, "Just make sure you don't get hurt, okay?"

I grinned. Sure, that'll be easy enough. Tomorrow, I'm going to spar against a taekkyeon black belt and the only surefire way I can avoid getting hurt is to run out of the ring as soon as our match begins.

Yes, the taekgyeon competition that I've mentioned before, is finally here. Tomorrow, I will travel to Chungju (충주) with both kids and adult trainees from my dojang, and we will all participate in the 11th National Taekgyeon Hanmadang (제11회 송암배 전국택견한마당). I'm not sure what a "hanmadang" is, but it appears to be the name for a national or international martial arts meet.

Am I nervous? Not really. This isn't because I'm confident in my ability. The exact opposite is true, in fact: because I already know how outmatched I am, I know that it'll be over quick and that I will successfully not fall short of my non-existent expectations.

Here's what I think is going to happen tomorrow: I will wake up at 5am, be out the door by 5:30. The bus leaves for Chungju at 6am. After a three-and-a-half-hour nap, I'll arrive at the competition site. Kids will be running around everywhere, and I will be lost and confused and tail my dojang masters, hoping they tell me where to go and what to do. After about an hour of wandering, I will have my one and only sparring match. My opponent will be some third- or fourth-degree blackbelt who is shorter than me but possesses twice as much muscle. We'll start our match. Within thirty seconds, he will kick me in the face, and I'll be out. I will still win a silver medal, however, because there are only three competitors in our weight class. Lunch will be served at noon, and for the rest of the day, I will alternate between watching the black belts from my dojang compete and baby-sitting the flock of kids from my dojang.

Sounds like fun, right? I think I only signed up for this because I'm intrigued by the opportunity to participate in an event like this (I'll probably be the only foreigner). The last time I went to a taekgyeon competition, I was only observing. This time, I'll have my own thirty seconds of... firsthand experience.

Well, at the very least, I'll make sure I don't get hurt.

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P.S. Happy summer solstice, everyone! In Korean, the longest day of the year is called 하지 (haji).