Different Blog Address

For those of you who follow my blog, I have moved to http://johnrios.tumblr.com/

I have found the new blog interface to be more user-friendly and suitable to my needs.

Cheers!

~John

December and January

Winding Down

December as a whole proved to be a very busy month. To keep it short, from the start of the month up until the third week, on top of my regular teaching schedule, I taught two English camps, one for the county and one for the school, which demanded that I be at school from 9 to 6:30 every day (including Friday, which normally I have off). **On a side note, when I use the word "camp" I it is meant to be understood the way Koreans define it. In Korea, a camp can mean anything from two to three hours of instruction following the ring of the schools-out bell, to the more conventional camps that we are used to in the states.

You can find pictures of my classroom, and Yuchon students and staff here.

Japan

My teaching obligations for the semester ended on December 22, and soon after on the 23rd, I was on an airplane headed for Haneda airport in Japan. The entourage consisted of three total, all friends from Fulbright, who expressed an interest in traveling to Japan. All in all, we spent four nights in Tokyo, four nights in Kyoto, and we took a day trip to Nara, Japan's first capitol. Japan was fantastic, and of course, 9 days was not enough to explore this terrific country. My only complaint however, are the ridiculously inflated prices, on everything. I wouldn't mind high prices on merchandise, because to be honest I have no interest in shopping. I was truly disappointed with the prices for transportation and food. I am fortunate that the prices in Korea for these two things are very fair. It affords me the opportunity to travel all around Korea, which I have, and it enables to me to enjoy very delicious Korean cuisine, all the time.

You can find photographs of my adventures in Tokyo, Japan here. Photos from Kyoto are on the way. My camera's battery decided to die completely midway through our Japan trip, so I'm still waiting on the Kyoto photographs from a friend.

Korea Travel

After Japan, my friend from the states came to Korea and paid me a visit. I took him around Korea for a total of 16 days, and the itinerary included a wide range of activities. I made sure to expose him to my favorite part of Korea - the food. We enjoyed a lot of great food. One of the first activities I'd arranged was to do a temple stay at Golgulsa, located 20 km east of Gyeongju, one of Korea's most historically rich cities.

Temple Stay, Pohang, and Muse

The temple stay experience was unique in the sense that we were at the only temple in Korea where the Zen Martial Art of Saunmudo is practiced. We were also exposed to several Zen Buddhist rituals such as those of sitting, chanting, and walking meditation. Immediately after the temple stay, we traveled to Pohang to visit a good friend of mine, stayed there for a few nights exploring the city, and continued on to Seoul for the much awaited Muse concert. Seeing Muse perform live was great. They played all the classics, and many of the songs on their most recent album release. At one point, Matthew Bellamy, the lead singer/guitarist, was thrashing away on the keytar. Very epic indeed.

The Sancheoneo Ice Fishing Festival, Hwacheon, South Korea

On January 9th, we traveled up to Hwacheon for its esteemed annual Ice Festival, which attracts people from around the world, not to mention many Koreans. To set the premise, Hwacheon is a small town of a population of less than 25,000, so you can imagine, this is a very tiny place that used to be part of North Korea that doesn't get much attention for the remainder of the year. During the Sancheoneo Ice Fishing Festival, however, about 1,000,000 people from all over compete to catch as many sancheoneon, or rainbow trout, as they possibly can. This year alone the city of Hwacheon predicts they will make approximately $2,000,000 in revenue.

You can find some photographs from the Hwacheon Ice Fishing Festival here.

That's all for now. More to come soon!

Thanksgiving

Last Friday all the ETAs were invited to celebrate Thanksgiving at the residence of U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, Miss Kathleen Stevens. I volunteered to go in early and help with the preparations. Needless to say, by the time I'd arrived much of the work was finished, so a few other ETAs and I were left to marvel at the Ambassador's residence, a hybrid of eastern and western elements that combined, make for an architectural masterpiece.

Next topic of conversation: yummy food. Thanks to hired catering - I feel so spoiled - I ate all the traditional Thanksgiving food, and more. To cap off the hearty meal, a group of talented ETAs volunteered their time to put on a concert for the rest of us. I was overly impressed - and a bit jealous, to be honest - by their tremendous talents. Of all the performances - which ranged from Bach to the Beatles - I can't decide which I enjoyed the most, Shosty, more formally known as Shostakovich, or the timeless classic "No Scrubs" by TLC. Needless to say, Thanksgiving dinner went extremely well, presumably for all the ETAs, but more importantly for my stomach.

Country Living

Now that four months have flown by, I've gotten well into the habit of things. By habit, however, in no way do I mean teaching M-F, 9-5, and then relaxing at home on the weekends. The structure of my weeks (and weekends) has become rather "fast-paced," ironically enough, given that I work in a town of less than ten-thousand people.

My students are magnificent, and it's great to be a teacher when the students are highly motivated to learn. Earlier this week I taught a lesson on economics to my third grade, which consisted of students having to use several phrases such as, "How much is that...", "What do you want?", to name but a few. One student in particular - who I'm sure will be a very successful financier in the future - was highly engaged in every sense of the word. The class ended with him bombarding me with questions regarding place values, which of course was due to his great interest in capital.

"What's after a hundred?" he would ask.

"Thousands."

"And after that?"

"Ten Thousands.

When I got to quadrillions I figured he would stop asking, but he was still curious! What a kid.

Aside from teaching I've been doing quite a bit of traveling. October was a busy month, hence the lack of blogging, which I feel terrible about. On October 9th I went all the way down to Gyeongju for the first of two Fulbright conferences. It was nice to get out of Hwacheon for a time and see my fellow ETAs, who all expressed similar concerns about their schools and homestay situations. To get to the bare bones, it's safe to say that once you get past the "mystique" of living and traveling in a foreign country, it sure can present itself as quite a challenge. In my case, because I am no exception, I've had to work past not speaking the language and not being able to communicate all that well with my homestay family, as well as the school staff. I consider myself rather lucky, however, that my homestay speaks even a dose of English.

The week following the conference, I went to Donghae and Samcheok, both located on the East Coast where I got to see the ocean once again. The original plan was to take a ferry to Ulleung-do, a tiny island territory from which you can see Dokdo, the pile of rocks that has been the reason for many disputes between Korean and Japan. Due to complications with our transportation, however, we ended up visiting a quaint little village in Donghae, and a sculpture park in Samcheok with a very interesting theme.

On Saturday the 24th, I attended the "Grand Mint Music Festival," an indie music festival in Seoul boasting an impressive lineup of Korean as well as international performers. Originally I had planned on going hiking at a nearby mountain, until a friend of mine informed me that the Korean "Radiohead" would be performing. In disbelief, I conducted a bit of research only to discover that they did in fact sound like the Korean Radiohead. The festival was great, but short, as is every weekend. The feeling of being in such a large city barely sinks in before I have to head back north to my small town.

Every week since the concert I've made my way down to Seoul, including to celebrate Halloween, which was a blahst!!!! A few of the ETAs and I got together and had a Halloween party, complete with pumpkin carving and creepy crawlers. Before I continue, I must introduce the concept of a DVD Room. A DVD Room can basically be called a movie theater large enough for 4 or 5 people. It can be compared to the average theater room in the US. Naturally, on Halloween night, I recommended that we watch "Drag Me to Hell" at a local DVD ROOM. In Sam Raimi's horror films, he has been known to successfully inject his viewers with heavy doses of fear through the use of terrifying story lines not to mention impeccable cinematic techniques.

This past weekend I traveled to Daegu for my friend's birthday. Daegu is Korea's third largest city, and notably so, as it boasts many similarities to that of Seoul and Busan. I took the KTX, Korea's famous speed-rail system, for the first time. Despite the speedy travel, the ride down to Daegu was surprisingly smooth. One of the things that I found in Daegu, which I also find in Seoul and Busan, were numerous underground shops that seem to last for miles. One could spend an entire day simply wandering underground, and find everything he or she needed.

That's all for now, but I will update soon!

Birthday, Busan, Buseoksa, Bulgeoksa

Birthday. Busan (Second only to Seoul, the second largest city in S. Korea). Buseoksa (a temple with interesting legends), Bulgeoksa (Korea's most famous temple), Seokgurahm (One of Asia's most elaborate and beautifully crafted Buddhas), among other sites. These are but a few of the adventures I've taken in recent weeks.

I have many more pictures that you can find posted on my Picasa Web Albums at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jrios2009

On my birthday, my school bought me a delicious cake that I very much enjoyed. The weekend of, my host-family also threw me a birthday bash. It was truly an unforgettable series of events, and I will never forget this past birthday in Asia. Several friends and fellow ETAs attended, and the food was more than satisfying.

The following weekend, I accompanied the family on a road trip to Busan, a port city, and South Korea's second largest, next to Seoul. The purpose of the trip was my host-mother's niece's first year anniversary celebration, which in Korea, as is in other countries, is quite a big deal. To start off, there was a delicious buffet, which I, my stomach, and my host-family, thoroughly enjoyed. Shortly after, there was a performance by the restaurant party entertainer, who was very talented. She performed many stunts and engaged the crowd with jokes and songs. The host-family's relatives in Busan were very kind, and they asked me to give them a ring the next time I'm in town.

Below are some images from my most recent adventure to the southern part of South Korea, namely the towns of Youngju, Ahndong and Gyeongju. The trip was organized by our local Education Office, in an effort to provide foreign English teachers with exposure to historical Korea. Most of the trip, for me at least, was spent marveling at the sight of various temples, Buddhas, and most of all, the rich Korean culture embodied in all these historical monuments. Even after having visited several temples in my time here, I am still fascinated at the fact some of these structures are over one-thousand years old!

Above: Buseoksa Temple

Bulgeoksa Temple

Bulgeoksa Temple Main Entrance

This is me at a traditional Korean village, tying a slip of paper - noting my life dreams - onto a rope surrounding an ancient, mystical tree. I'm not sure what legend holds, but let's hope it has something to do with making dreams come true.

The First Two Weeks

I am living in Cangchok, but am teaching in Yuchon, a neighboring town. My first few weeks of teaching were mainly spent getting to know my colleagues and students, as well as setting the foundation for a healthy classroom climate. I focused mainly on getting used to my schedule, and also on figuring out the most effective and efficient strategies for approaching lesson planning and implementation. In short, the past few weeks consisted of me getting adjusted to the school, and the school - it's staff and students - getting adjusted to me.

Yuchon is terrific. With the exception of a few teachers, the majority of the staff at Yuchon Elementary School speak little to no English. This has made for many awkward conversations, things getting lost in translation, etc. I never know whether my bows are appropriate or whether I am bowing too much, or whether I am supposed to say something, or say nothing at all. However, they have accepted me with open arms, and the kindness that I've received overshadows the difficulties in communication. Still, I will strive to learn Korean so that I am able to further develop my relationship with the school staff and students.

The structure of the Korean workplace is very different than that of America's. While both are largely hierarchically based, positions and titles in Korea are of much more importance in a uniquely different way. For example, in the mornings as I step inside the Gyomushil - a "teacher's office" of sorts - I must "insa"(bow and greet) the staff in the following order: the Vice Principal, Teacher department head, the Office Assistant...etc. The higher in power one is, the greater the level of respect they demand. If this ritual were to be incorrectly staged, it would be offensive and detrimental to one's relationship with that person.

At Yuchon Elementary School I teach grades 1-6, adding to a total of 78 students. The students have been a true pleasure to teach so far. The town I work in is largely agricultural, and therefore many of my students come from a farming background. In conducting a diagnostic to measure the students' English ability level, one of the questions was, "What does your mother do?". The top responses were: Farmer, Teacher, and Business Woman. My students bring such a high energy-level and excitement to learn into the classroom, which has largely added to the wonderful experience I've had here so far.

Placement: Hwacheon, Yuchon...Cangchok?

My host family, is on the left and my Co-teacher and her husband are on the right.

This lovely home, built by my host father's uncle, is where I will be staying for the remainder of the year. The inside is just as nice as the outside.

My living quarters

Dolgone, the family dog, is very lively and to my astonishment feeds on people food!