On August 22, I returned to my home in CA.  Just 4 days later, it feels like the entire adventure was a dream.   Did I really travel to Korea, Thailand, Japan, China, and Vietnam?  Did I really stay at a temple and bow 108 times at the crack of dawn?  Raw Oysters?  Snow slides? Rainy Busan?  Seoul Adventures?  Smoke bombs at the school fire drills?  Making green tea?  Cherry blossoms?  Bathing in a room full of nude Korean ladies?  Traditional markets? Students studying until 10:00pm?  Rock, paper, scissors?  Playing  Badminton?  Having chicken and beer during class?  Karaoke at the staff New Year's party?  Was Korea really my home for a year?

Yes, yes it was.  I met some amazing people, saw some amazing things, and experienced an amazing culture.  Do I have any regrets...NO.    Would I do it again...I don't know.  One thing I do know...

The best adventures of my life are those where I leave what is "normal" and enter a new world. A world full of obstacles that, at times, seem impossible to overcome. And yet, I make it through these challenges and emerge as a stronger, wiser, and more humble person. Many lessons were learned this year and I have confirmed that change is good. Take a risk my friends ---> Change...IS...Good! 

Throughout my year in Korea, I have had many experiences that have left me scratching my head in confusion.  I thought I'd share a few examples from the last couple days.

Hospital patients wandering around outside.  Any time you pass a hospital in Korea, there will be patients hanging around outside in their hospital gowns.  Just seeing them outside seemed strange when I first got here.  Now, I'm used to seeing them out for a walk while pulling along their IV, going for coffee, or just having a cigarette.  I even had a friend tell me that she saw a guy with crutches hobble down to the beach, remove his hospital gown, go for a swim in his underwear, then get back in the gown and hobble back to the hospital.   Really??   Doesn't it seem strange for a person to be staying in the hospital if they're well enough to go for walks, go out for coffee or go swimming?  I don't get it.  Most of the time I'm not able to catch this on film, but I did see these guys at a coffee shop last week.

Menu Items.  Reading a menu can be a challenge.  Whether it's written in Korean or translated to English, some things are never quite clear.  In the same coffee shop mentioned above,  there was an interesting menu item.   I'm hoping that "dog pretzel" means a hot-dog wrapped in a pretzel and not Fido.  Needless to say, I stuck with the original pretzel.

Medical Treatment for Trees.  Tonight I took an evening walk around the Ulsan Sports Complex.  The complex is just down the street and has a nice walking/biking path along the perimeter.  Though I'm there just about every week, something unusual caught my attention today.  After doing a double-take, I saw that there were a few trees that had IV bags hanging from them.  At first I thought that one of the hospital people must have dumped it there, but upon further examination, I saw that the needles were actually inserted into the trees.  Why would a tree need an IV bag?  They look healthy, and they shouldn't need water as it IS the rainy season right now.  Why would only  a few of the trees need these?  Is this some kind of science experiment or something?  I may never know.

Once again I must apply Rule #1:  Never question anything that happens in Korea...there are some things we will never understand.

Delicious sandwiches, Beomeosa Temple, walking by the creek, watermelon from strangers, margaritas and people watching, good conversation on an incredibly crowded beach-ee at night, umbrellas galore, swimming in the ocean, pictures with weirdos, Spaland, and a fabulous massage-ee. Bye-bye Busan! 

Another nice weekend: visited a residential facility for persons with disabilities, game night, swan-shaped peddle boat ride, ice cream, and an evening walk. Good people, good laughs, good times. 

Last weekend I went to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone).  The DMZ is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea and runs along the 38th parallel north.  Tours are offered that take us into the war zone.

We started at the USO office at Camp Kim, in Seoul, then went to the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel.  This is one of 4 tunnels that was dug under the DMZ by the North Koreans and was discovered on October 17, 1978.  We were able to walk into the tunnel, but no photos were allowed.  In the same area, there was a small DMZ museum.

Next was the Dora Observatory and the Dorasan Station.  From the observatory, we were able to look into North Korea.  Photos were allowed, but they could only be taken from a certain place.  Dorasan Station is a train station which once connected North and South Korea.  Though not in use, it has been restored and there is hope that it may be used again in the future.

The final stop was the Joint Security Area (JSA), located in Panmunjeom and is the only connection between North and South Korea.  While there, I was able to set foot in North Korea while I was in one of the United Nations buildings that crosses the border.  There were several military people standing guard while we were there.  And, when we looked across to North Korea, there was also a guard watching us.

The entire time we were in the bus in the DMZ area, I felt like I was in a MASH episode.  So glad there wasn't a chicken on the bus.

This week I had the opportunity to visit a few new places...a public elementary school, a traditional market and a very unique cafe.

Since I work at the Foreign Language Institute, all students come  to our facility after school hours.  I have never actually seen a public school during my time in Korea.  On Monday, my former supervisor picked up a couple of us and took us to see her school.  This school is a large one, I believe she said there were 6 or 7 classes at each grade level.  I was most impressed by the variety of classrooms.  There was an entire wing dedicated to English education.  In addition, there were 2 science labs, a gym, a swimming pool, a parents room, and a variety of other spaces.  When students are not using the pool, the public can pay a fee to use the facility.   Also interesting, the school library is open for the community to use as well.   Here are a few pictures from the school...

On Tuesday the 10th, we got to take a cultural outing with work.  We went to the 5 day traditional market.  This market is only in the area on days that are in multiples of 5.  There was tons of produce, fish, meat, snacks, and a variety of clothing items as well.  It was a great experience.

Sunday took us to the Penis Cafe.  Yes, you read that correctly.  The entire cafe is decorated with genitalia...from the napkin holders, to the bathroom door handles, to the lights, to the clock.  It was certainly an interesting experience.   Sorry folks, no pictures will be posted as this is a G-rated blog.  If you're really curious, send me an email.

This weekend took my friends and I to Haeinsa Temple.  This is one of  16 temples  that offer a cultural program to experience the life of Buddhist practitioners in a traditional temple.  The program started at 4:00pm on Saturday and was finished by 10:00am on Sunday.  Though less than 24 hours, the experience was amazing.

Day 1
Getting to the temple was a bit of a chore...train to Daegu, 90 minute bus ride up the mountain, then a bit of a walk up to the temple.  Upon arrival, we were promptly given our temple attire and lead to our room so we could change.   Once we donned our temple outfit, it was time to learn the ropes.  We learned the proper greeting, the proper bow, the proper way to hold our hands and the proper way to meditate.  We were told that we were supposed to remain as silent as possible throughout the entire event, especially while eating.

Now that we were properly trained, it was time to head out into the temple.  First stop was dinner.  We had a traditional Buddhist meal which was eaten in silence.  After dinner we watched the drum ceremony and then went into the main temple.  While in the temple, the monks performed their evening ceremony with chanting, bell ringing and lots of bowing.  We were instructed to bow as the monks did.  After the ceremony, we had a Q & A session with one of the monks.  We enjoyed some lotus tea as he answered our questions.  Finally, it was time for bed.  Our room slept about 10 people on the floor with traditional Korean sleeping mats.

A short clip of the drum ceremony...

Day 2
Our wake-up call was at 3:00am.  At 3:20, we were lined up to watch the morning drum ceremony.  It was basically the same as we had observed last night, but it felt different being in the dark with the stars above.  We then moved to the main temple for the morning ceremony.  This one was also similar to the previous nights, but the chanting seemed to go on longer and it felt like we did a lot more bowing.  After the ceremony, we moved to another room to do our bowing and meditation.  A monk came to lead us through the events.  The bowing turned out to be quite a workout.  For the bow, we start in the standing position, then drop to our knees, put our hands down in front of us, then put our forehead on the mat.  Next, we turn our hands over so the palms face up, then turn the palms back over, sit up, and finally we return to a standing position.  We did this 108 times...and boy did I feel it  later!  After bowing, we did two 20-minute sessions of meditation then went to breakfast.

After breakfast, it was time to do our community work.  My friends and I swept some of the common areas.  Other people cleaned up the rooms.  The morning ended with a tour of the temple.  We saw several areas including the Tripitaka Koreana.  These are wooden blocks that are carved with Buddhist scriptures that date back to the 13th century.  There are 81,258 wood blocks with 52,382,960 characters.  In 1995, these blocks (as well as the building that houses them) were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

After the tour, our templestay officially ended, but we could still explore the grounds on our own.  We took a few more pictures then headed to the bus for the journey back home.  All in all, it was an amazing experience!

This weekend I went to watch a friend take her Taekwondo black belt test.  When we got to the gym, I was surprised to see so many people.  It was certainly a bigger event than I had anticipated.   It was mostly children testing, but there was a fair share of adults too.  Many families and friends came to watch.  The event started at 9:00 with the kids.  First the participants said some type of pledge, then it was followed by their forms, and lastly a sparring session.  This continued for a couple hours as different groups of participants took the test.  At 11:00 or so, the adults got to take their tests.  We cheered for our friend and then it was over.  Well, at least this session was...there would be another big group of people after lunch.  Here are some pictures from the event.

A short clip showing some of the forms.

Talking with 8th graders about school in Korea always gets me down. Studying 10+ subjects, most subjects are taught as lecture and memorize, staying at school until 5 then going to academies, national tests in all subjects 4-6 times per year, 26 days of summer vacation during which they have to print out and complete work packets, etc. I tried to point out a positive by saying that their hard work shows as they score higher in math/science than our kids do in the US; but sadly, their response was "we also have more suicides". 

This is what I hear from my gifted students who I teach from 7-10pm.  I've heard it before and I'm sure I'll hear it again.  They often ask many questions about education in the States, so today I decided to show them the yearbook from my school.  At first they were excited to see all the photos; but by the end, I think it just depressed them to see all of our fun activities...academic and otherwise.  So sad.

I know I can't do anything in regards to their educational system, but it has shifted the way I view testing in CA.  I still don't like the high stakes testing, but I am  thankful that we only have one round of it.  Can you imagine going through that 4-6 times a year?   And that includes everyone...from science & English to PE & music.  No one is excluded.

Since I will be teaching courses for teachers during the summer, I was able to take my break a bit early.  This time I set out for Vietnam.  It was absolutely amazing and was a great vacation to end on!

My first day was spent on a city tour of  Hanoi.   Before lunch,   I  made it to the Temple of Literature (Vietnam's first university) and the Ethnology Museum.  After my traditional Vietnamese lunch, I visited the Ho Chi Minh complex which included the Mausoleum, his house, and a replica of his house on stilts.  Nearby, there was also a pagoda to visit.  I then had time to take a cyclo-tour of the city and see a traditional water puppet show.  After dinner, I got on a night train to Lao Cai then went to Sapa.

I was most amazed by the traffic in Hanoi.  Zillions of motorbikes buzzing through the streets.  It appears as though there are very few traffic laws.  As a pedestrian, they don't stop for you.  Instead, you literally step out into the traffic and they all go around you.  It's the strangest feeling.  Also interesting was the cyclo-tour...intersections have never looked so frightening.

Days 2 & 3 were spent in Sapa.  This is  a traditional farming area in the northernmost part of Vietnam...very close to China.  There are many villages with different tribes.  My tour guide took me to see 4of these villages while we trekked through the rice paddies. 

This was a pretty amazing place.  The people plow their fields with the help of buffalo, they plant their crops and harvest by hand, they make their own clothes, and they live in very simple homes.  It's like taking a step back in time.  Many of the ladies make hand crafts and try to sell them to you on the streets.  I wish they hadn't been so pushy, but it still added to the overall experience.

Days 3 & 4 were at Halong Bay.  Here, I boarded a junk boat and we sailed through the limestone monoliths and karst topography.  I had an opportunity to explore a cave, kayak, hike and swim.  In the evening, the crew on the boat gave us a short Vietnamese cooking demonstration.  The cabins on the boat were extremely nice and it had the best bed that I've slept on in months!  The next morning, we cruised through more of the bay, then had lunch before heading back to Hanoi.

Day 6 took me to the Ninh Binh Province, about 2 hours from Hanoi.  My first stop was Hoa Lu, the first capital of Vietnam, and we visited 2 temples.  (In Vietnam, temples are dedicated to certain people, whereas pagodas are dedicated to Buddha.)  These temples were for the kings that ruled in the 10th century and chose Hoa Lu as the capital...King Dinh and King Le.  After seeing the temples, I went to Tam Coc where I took a boat ride down the Ngo Dong River.  Tam Coc means "three caves" and I was able to go through all 3 of them during the 2 hour boat ride in the rain.  This was my favorite part of the trip.  The last stop was the Bich Dong Pagoda.  There was a wonderful view from the top.

Here's a video from the river ride.  So awesome!

Days 7 & 8 were spent in Hanoi and  I used the time to wander around the city and relax.  After 6 full days of tours, I needed a little R&R before heading back to Korea.   Great trip!  ...and the free upgrade to 1st class on the flight home was the icing on the cake!