Welcome to Nepal

This is the first blog I'm typing on a handheld device so bear with. The ending cuts off and I'm having trouble going to the end to finish it, so you get to make up your own. Happy July!


I'm currently in a place that I never thought I would be both geographically and personally. Do you ever imagine your current self talking to a younger version of yourself telling them of things you will (are) do (doing)? In my high school yearbook from senior year my life plans were to "go to college, major in Elementary Education, get a teaching job, get married and have kids." I've been pondering over that for a while wondering why I wanted everything so clean and tidy (and safe) then, and when that changed. When did I decide to do other things in life before settling down into teaching and/or married life? While that's a fine and dandy option for many people, I thank my lucky stars, and more realistically the people I've known and experiences I've had, that my mindset changed.


For me, going overseas is both a selfish and giving thing. One of the biggest reasons I ever left America was so I could broaden my horizons, see the world, learn about different places, make money (in South Korea), and overall try and make myself a better person. While in Nepal I am doing all of that, except making money, so now I'm tapping into the giving part of the plan.


Let me get less abstract about all of this and get started on the concrete experiences. I arrived in Nepal just over 2 weeks ago, leaving behind South Korea and what she gave me; a well-paying job, housing, familiarity, friends and my lovely partner. I arrived in Kathmandu in the evening and was picked up and taken to my hotel a bit outside of the city in Bhaktapur, which is a wonderful and very old town. The next day I went into Kathmandu, which is a hot, large, loud, and bustling city full of crazy drivers, with farm animals everywhere. My eyes were big on the drive in. I meandered around braving some taxi cabs and exploring museums, Durbar Square, temples, and had the best lunch ever. In my limited experiences traveling around, I find that I like major cities much less than small towns. I'm glad to have seen Kathmandu but was equally glad to leave.


The next day I flew into Lumbini, which is about an hour drive from my school, Lumbini Boarding School. It is also the birthplace of Buddha and very close to India, so there is some contention about whether he was born in India or Nepal. Every Nepalese person has adamantly told me, "It's Nepal!" Personally I vote for Nepal though I'm quite partial to the country now.


The greeting I received there was unexpected - I thought my friend Tuk was just coming but along with him he brought five young girls dressed in traditional wear with lots of make-up bearing flower garlands and scaves. There were also school teachers present and many people snapping photos, including people that had nothing to do with the school. Tuk is the reason that I am in Nepal, well he and Marianne. The long and short of how I got here is that someone I went to high school with works for a non profit, which Marianne is the CEO of and Tuk is affiliated with.


After the drive I was put up in a nice hotel for the night and was fetched the next day, which was Friday and a half day of school here. The husband and wife who drove me to the school are just two of the many people here who either worked to get me here, aquired amenities to aid in my comfort, or who feel responsible for my safety and well-being. One of the many.


Once I arrived at school I was stunned and overwhelmed by the reception. The typical greeting in Nepal to people they respect or are thanking is to give them scarves and flowers. I stood outside of the gate of the school and saw the entire student body and staff lined up in a circular pattern in two lines with an aisle down the center, just for me. I had to wait a few minutes before entering the throng of people and I kept thinning, 'Holy moly' (perhaps a little.less PG) and 'This is certainly nothing I'll ever forget.' and like the little girl on the Magic School Bus, 'They never did this at my old school.'


Finally I got the go-ahead and walked down the aisle, first being presented with some garlands of flowers (like Hawaiian leis) and a few scarves, and was then walked down the aisle of excited, screaming Nepali children. A woman followed me with a tray because I was being presented with so many bouquets of flowers they just kept falling out of my hands. The children would look at me, nervously, shyly, excitedly, say Namaste (the traditional greting here) and hand me the flowers. The procession of children even went upper on the second floor balcony. I said Namaste so many times it started to sound weird. I stopped to look around at one point and was awestruck at all the people smiling, cheering and looking super psyched just because a foreign volunteer arrived. It was exciting yet daunting; would I live up to this seemingly high expectation they had set for me? The answer is of course what it always is, I can only do my best.

I was then led to the principal's office for a chat and a sit down with the important men (no women) of this school and some surrounding schools it's connected to. I was given a refreshing glass of Mountain Dew and then was brought to the room where I would spend the next month residing. It's a very basic room with a bed, desk, ceiling and extra fan, and a make shift couch in the corner. Perfect for my current needs.

Once I was settled in, there was an official welcoming ceremony for me with all those important men (just men) making speeches where I believed they welcomed me but I was unsure due to them being in Nepali. At one point while I was scanning the room I looked behind me and saw a huge banner with my large face on it stating, "We heartly welcome Miss Katie Kearney!" I try not to be too outwardly vain, but woof to that picture. Its not my favorite and quite frankly startled me quite a bit to see myself that big that close.

Well this is all just the beginning and I will write more later. I get a lot of time here to do a lot of things I missed doing on Seoul, namely reading and writing. To wrap it up I will say this about the whole experience. It's wonderful, hard, confusing, thrilling and b

Loved My Time Here, Didn’t Know ‘Til I Was Gone

The end of my time in Korea is leaving me with all sorts of mixed emotions; a roller coaster of emotions if you will.  Have you ever been somewhere that you liked but you also wanted to leave, and then when it came time you suddenly realized everything that you would miss?  Sometimes I feel like experiences I am in will never end, and I get surprised when they do and suddenly feel nostalgic.  I blame time.  When I put a time stamp on something, it seems SO LONG or SO SHORT, but if I can just focus on the moment all the time spent doing that thing is quite jolly.

Now that I am leaving Korea in a month and a half (!!!) I’m appreciating Korea in the same way as when I first got here; full of awe and wonder.  I also get nostalgic for my ‘beginning times’ when it gets warm here because I first arrived in the hot summer, which was full of smells, and there is nothing quite like a smell to activate a memory.  The warmth of spring hits me, the smell of flowers assault my senses, and all of the sudden I’m walking to school for the first time on my own feeling very different feelings compared to now.  It all makes me quite reflective.  Seoul to me then was HUGE and unknown, as was the culture and the people.  I was amazed that all of the colors of the cars were white, black, or gray (conform!); I couldn’t believe how often they used toilet tissue for napkins; squatter toilets were something new and made me giggle; the smell of dried squid made my stomach turn (and is now oddly comforting); cars that drove around yelling out of  loudspeakers what they were selling seemed like a North Korean attack; sitting on the floor eating galbi (Korean BBQ) was confusing; the crowds on the subway made me giggle then have a mini panic attack; the sight of the ‘new’ generation with high heels and mini-skirts walking by the ‘old’ generation dressed in old simple clothing, bent over picking up the gingko tree fruit off the sidewalk astounded me.  Everything was new, exciting, confusing, and scary.  Sometimes things are still new, exciting, confusing, and scary but not as often.

This is my first and probably last time living abroad for a significant amount of time.  I’m not exactly sure why Korea lost its vim and vigor in my eyes; perhaps it’s because the society is so materialistic/consumeristic/environmentally unfriendly, which is frustrating; or because I teach BOOKS all day to kids while I believe that kids should be outside learning and using books only as a resource; or because of the transience here – once I get close with a person they tend to go back home; maybe it’s because Korea is a small ocean locked place so you can only fly to get to other locations;  or maybe because the country of Korea seems so similar no matter where you are – nothing like America; perhaps it’s because it’s not America – no common language, food, or grocery store contents; or perhaps it’s because I never had a desire to go to Korea before – what mainly drew me here was money.  So all in all, here I am at 28, with the lesson learned that money sure as hell does not make one happy, and never will I ever do a job that I dislike just because I can make some cash doing so.  

However, I have become a better-rounded person (or so I’d like to think, otherwise what the hell was I doing for two years??)  I can cope in most any situation with pantomimes if necessary.  I’ve learned what it’s like to have someone be racist against me, and it does not feel good.  I know not to take things personally when someone pushes me out of the way, steals a seat from me on the subway, or won’t sit next to me on the subway.  I know how to travel better and smarter, and how people of all walks of life live in some Southeast Asian places.  I know how to teach better, how to incorporate music into the classroom, how to make boring lessons more fun, what is unmotivating for me as a teacher, and how to speak up so I can get some help.  I know how to work with a variety of different co-workers, and an (often) infuriating owner/principal.  I understand that cultures differ, but we’re all humans and have the same basic needs and desires.  I am slowly learning how to be a good partner in a relationship and therefore how to be a better person in the world.  I know that while I didn’t always have the best time here, I wouldn’t trade in this experience for anything.  All the clichés are right – you learn and grow from the hard stuff.  At least, that’s what I’m hoping for.

While I am having a newfound appreciation for Korea, I am also having a hard time staying in the moment at work.  I’m making a lot of plans for after Korea, which makes me feel checked out, so staying focused and ‘in it’ at school every day is a difficult task.  Also the method and content I have to teach is very much against my basic teaching principles.  I have five books to teach five-year-olds with, while most of them don’t understand what I say, and half of them don’t know how to turn pages yet.  My daily tasks include things that I know are not right for children, yet it’s what the parents want so it’s what I have to do.  I get frustrated when my students can’t do what I ask them to, yet I know deep down that they are not mentally/physically/emotionally ready for it yet.  It’s a lot of confusing emotions for me, but I am glad to see this way of teaching.  I don’t agree with how Korea teaches their children or the insane pressure they place on them, but kids really step up to the task when you set high expectations on them.  I know that there can be a balance between Korea’s education system and America’s.  Quite honestly, this is all fitting in with my plan of observing as many different educational models as possible before I delve into changing public education in the United States.  A naïve pipedream for sure, but per my plan of not becoming a burnt out teacher plugging it out until retirement, I would like to get into educational policy in my later years.

Once Korea is finished, I am very excited for my next adventure – going to Nepal to volunteer for a month.  More on that later.

It’s been a long time since I’ve written – it feels nice to be back at it.  I hope all are well back at home, and come mid-August, I’ll be seeing you!  Holy Moly!

Nothing Short of Thankful

It always amazes me how quickly American holidays can pass here if you yourself do not make any effort to celebrate them.  Thanksgiving once again happened this year, as it seems to do every year, and once again no Korea wished me a ‘Happy Thanksgiving!’  I bought a coffee that morning on my walk to school from a young Korean who spoke pretty good English, and as I sat there in the empty coffee shop waiting for him to hand over the caffeine, I half expected him to look at me and wish me a happy holiday.  Granted, before coming here I celebrated twenty-six Thanksgivings in America and got used to the ‘ol routine, but how many Americans remember holidays that are not pertinent to us?  There are so many double edged swords when one is American.

Despite the fact that only Americans wished me a happy Thanksgiving, I think I had more Thanksgiving meals this year than ever before.  Round one occurred about two hours south of Seoul near where my boyfriend Mike lives, in a town called Asan.  His college and neighboring private and public elementary schools were hosting a fundraiser for a school in Cambodia, which included music and a big Thanksgiving meal.  The event was held at the ‘Helicopter Bar’, which was an actual helicopter; one of those big green ones that I want to say is from Vietnam times.  It was quite neat, the food was delicious (I had ham for the first time while in Korea and it was AWESOME), the people were nice, and the music was great.  I may be biased about the music because Mike played a set chock full of songs I am now very familiar with, but I enjoyed the others playing, too.  It was also nice to be somewhere new in rural Korea surrounded by a bunch of foreigners from all over the world: America, Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Australia.  Now that I typed that out, I realize it was basically a whole bunch of white people.  Hmmmm.

Round two happened that same weekend when I returned from Mike’s, and this round was held in my apartment, and my neighbor Alicia’s who is my co-worker.  I took my first trip to Costco that day to get a few last minute supplies, namely roast chickens since none of us have real-live ovens, and it was like I was transported right back into America.  Except I was surrounded by Asian people.  The trip reminded me that I am becoming more of a grown-up because I was able to contain my excitement and get in and out quickly.  Upon the return from that trip we got all our ducks in a row, had all of our co-workers over, and had quite a nice meal.  It was almost like being at home, except instead of eating at a table we sat on the floor or on my bed, and none of us were related.  There was also nowhere to sneak away to if you didn’t want to clean up, which was a choice move my brother used to make that I soon copied.  I also had kimchi with the meal, which was a first and as much as I love kimchi, it just didn’t quite go. 

The next day was Monday so we brought the leftovers to school to again share with everyone.  Round two with leftovers is always delightful, especially when the bus drivers/maintenance men/two men who do everything shared it with us.  During lunch they so often tell us about their food and how to eat it, sometimes even yelling at us if we do it wrong (though kimchi in their bland soups is quite delicious, even if they make that deep throated Korean ‘kaaak’ sound when I do it) so it was fun to have the tables turned.  I wanted to yell at them for eating stuffing incorrectly, but there really is no wrong way to do that.  They were super psyched about it all, and even did some research so they could understand what the hell we were talking about when we said Thanksgiving.  “Oh!  Harvest!  Yes, yes!”

It was another successful round of celebrating a holiday in a foreign land, and it made me very thankful for the friends that I have here. 

Now as I get back to writing this, it’s only ten days away from Christmas.  I am starting to appreciate how Koreans celebrate their harvest (Cheuseuk) in September or October so the holidays are a little more spread out.  I enjoy the Christmas season here more than America in that I don’t watch any TV (and even if I did I wouldn’t understand it) so am not inundated with commercials of consumerism.   The most Christmas stuff that is shoved in my face is the decorations each subway station has, my favorite of which is my own station, which has an upside-down Christmas tree.

School life has been more stressful for me than any other job I have held, but also full of joyous times.  It’s odd how one place can make me so stressed my body starts to feel it, but so happy I shed tears of joy (thanks for that gene, mom.)  The stressfulness stems from our owner who doesn’t always make the best decisions, and the fact that one of our teachers did the ‘midnight run’, or called from the airport one morning to say he wasn’t coming back.  We have been short staffed for a long time, leaving us no prep time but with the same amount of work.  We also just had conferences, which entails longer hours of preparing things.  This mainly consists of many, many overviews of what was learned and what will be learned to give to parents who don’t read English well or at all. 

Working at a hagwon (private school) for this long has taught me many things about the way in which they work.  The main focus is to make the parents happy and we all have to bust our butts to make that happen, even if the work we do is seemingly unappreciated or unnecessary.  It’s a good test for me though; to balance boundaries.  I work on sticking up for myself, but also letting things slide and not getting too angry over things I have no control over.  Sometimes it feels like I came to Korea at exactly the right time as it makes me face up to the things about myself that need the most work.

While I may be stressed out a lot, I know that I am growing both as a person and a teacher.  The children that I teach are just precious and I love them more and more each passing day.  They are American aged five and astound me with the level that they are at.  They can write a story that’s a whole page; memorize a speech that’s 5 -6 sentences long; sit for long periods and listen (kind of); do addition and subtraction easily; remember the life cycle of a butterfly; know what synonyms, homophones, homonyms, compound words, and contractions are; and so much more.  They love to sing songs and will often burst out into one when they are walking around the classroom (I am unsure where they learned this.)  Their excitement spreads to me and I get excited, which makes learning a lot more fun.  I speak to them in a silly voice with my glasses low on my nose and they think it’s the funniest thing they have ever seen, or I sing a song fast and then slow and then fast again and they can't stop laughing.  I wish I could capture all those little moments when they leave me in awe, and have a video reel going when I hit those stressed out times.  They are wonderful little creatures full of wonder and I feel lucky to be their teacher.

This next week of school will be fun as the excitement of Christmas and a break will be in the air.  On Friday we are having a big Christmas party full of hot chocolate, candy canes, crafts, stories, bingo, and Mike as Santa with me as his helper elf.  Needless to say, I am excited about that.  While this week will be fun, I cannot wait to have some time off for both relaxation time and an adventure.  I am going to Malaysia with two friends and I am super excited about this adventure.  I’ll be sure to write it out when I come home.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

Philippines. Time.

Korea has been my home long enough now that it feels just like that; home.  You seem to reach a point in overseas adventures where you are where you’re at, and you don’t pine away as much for home.  In my first year here I thought I would never make it to July and never get back to a semblance of normal life…whatever that is.  Staying longer makes it apparent that I will eventually go home, as the first end date did come around.  You also make more friends, are more familiar with the city and its transportation, crowds, smells, and different Korean ways.  You still miss home and the people there, but it’s almost like a lock on those emotions, or you get so used to missing people you start to feel like you’re missing them less.  You build up a tolerance to missing people, places, and sights of home as deep down you know that soon, you’ll be back there.

It all goes back to this concept of time.  I feel like I was home so long ago; that I arrived in Korea so long ago; that the trip I took to the Philippines never really happened; that the last parent teacher conferences were years ago; that the last time our principal or owner complimented the teachers on their hard work was decades ago.  Uh-oh cynicism!  Sometimes I think that there are aliens out there messing with a dial that is linked with human time/our brains and they twist it around and around when they’re bored to see our reaction, and how our small brains react to it.  Then they laugh, and laugh, and laugh.

Speaking of the Philippines; I went there.  It still amazes me how in Korea your five day weekend trip can be to an island in Southeast Asia.  “Where are you going for summer break, small nosed Korean child?”  “To China; Guam; Cebu; Taiwan…” 

I was excited to be able to travel as last year I was either too broke, unaware of the breaks, or had my mama visiting (with the latter being a most excellent reason to stay in Korea.)  My friend Vicki and I decided that we would enter in the dates we could travel somewhere and see where the cheapest ticket would be to.  Manila, Philippines!  It was almost like playing the Price is Right, a show I hope to win big on someday ($1, Drew!!)  We flew in on a Saturday and left on a Tuesday, with Wednesday to re-coop before heading into the front lines of teaching again.

We stayed at a hostel where the front desk people were very helpful and very giggly.  I never know how to take this giggle that I often get in Asia; I know Koreans do it when they’re nervous and as I make a lot of people nervous, a lot of people giggle around me.  I wasn’t sure if it was the same in the Philippines, but as I was so tired when I was trying to intake their advice, I giggled quite a bit right along with them.  We had some basic plans when we got there, but figured out the rest when we were there. 

Our first Jeepney

Our first day was spent exploring the historical part of the city, the Intramuras, and experiencing local transportation, my favorite of which was the jeepney.  The front is a jeep, the back is an open area to sit in that can fit about 20 people if you really squish.  It cost 8 pesos (19 cents) to ride, which was passed up to the front of the jeepney where there was a money collector person next to the driver.  It was quite an amazing system and felt like it took real cooperation among the people of Manila.  It was a wild and bumpy ride, one where you can get off and on anywhere you please.  (Driver to the white girls 'GET OFF HERE!!')  The Intramuras was a neat, old part of the city with a lot of interesting flora and fauna, which delighted me and frustrated me as I couldn’t identify what everything was, and a lot of historical information was garnered there on our part.

White Beach

The next day we headed to White Beach, which entailed more interesting transportation in the form of buses.  We tried to find the bus stop and after a taxi taking us to the wrong place, a random bus picked us up.  On buses in Manila, they have a simple sign on the front advertising where they are going, and a man who stands next to/hangs out the door trying to get people in.  We finally got on the proper bus and headed down to the Batangas, about a two hour ride from the city.  The bus stopped quite a bit on the way down, and whenever they did peddlers hopped on trying to sell snacks and got all up in your business to try and get you to buy something.  This was often the case for two white women in the Philippines.

We finally made it to the port to get on a boat, and were again accosted by Philippine men trying to ‘help’ us.  Once on the boat we made the decision to stay overnight at White Beach, which proved to be a most excellent decision.  We were able to swim, get massages on the beach, explore different sides of the island, get a room for very cheap (though hot water and a working sink was lacking), and met some fellow foreigners who were teaching in China.  The restaurants turned into drag show bars at night, which was extremely entertaining, and a nice change from Seoul where that kind of freedom is strictly looked down upon and discouraged.

Side car view

The next day we again traveled a lot and by nightfall made it to Tagatay City where we would hike Taal Volcano.  We took another bus to Tagatay and once there, a motorcycle with a side car to our hotel.  The latter ride sure made me giggle a lot.  Since we arrived at night we took a good rest before we took another motorcycle/sidecar to Taal Lake Yacht Club.  It was that ride that I finally started to try and bargain for a cheaper ride and felt a great indignation when the men were seeing us as easy prey.  The hike was grand, rainy, and beautiful.  Seeing a lake in a volcano was unreal, especially sticking your feet in and feeling HOT water.

Top of the Volcano to you

Another bus ride, complete with more hawkers and a fun addition of a Jack Black comedy, took us back to Manila.  We were unceremoniously told to get off!  Now!  And hoped that we were in Manila and not in a sketchy part where we should be wary.  We walked around a bit, tried to find a non-chain/non-sketchy place to have dinner and asked the locals for help to no avail.  We ended up heading to the airport early because it was getting dark, we had all of our stuff, and we had no idea what part of town we were in though judging by the pawn shops it was not a great part.

I learned a lot on this trip.  Being a foreigner is both a help and a hindrance depending on the circumstance.  When we were on buses or jeepneys, folks were always watching out for us to make sure we got off at the correct spot.  Being white in Asia assures you stick out and people are more apt to help (or stare.)  In the Philippines they were also more apt to try and push you around in terms of selling you things, be it food, rides, or their other wares.  There were many cases where it was MANY Philippine men shouting in our faces telling us what to do.

Unknown and Beautiful Flora

At times I felt angry that this occurred, but I realized it’s their culture and what they know.  A young white girl is easy prey and someone who is bound to have some money to throw around.  I felt guilty at times for going to a country that was so obviously in need of some assistance, and I was just there as a ‘rich’ white tourist.  It was the first time I had experienced anything like that and it dragged my spirit(s) down more than once.  I was also petrified of dying or getting sick from eating something bad, a bed bugs infestation, pesticides, or poor planning.  Proper Planning Prevents Dying.  I finally calmed down towards the end, even drinking (sipping) Tang with ice, and much of that is due to my travel partner Vicki.  She had a good, rational head on her shoulders and helped me calm the F down. It was a great trip and I look forward to going to Malaysia during Christmas break.

Life in Korea continues to be a grand adventure with more learning happening on my part every day.  I’ll be sure to write again sooner than last time.  To all those back home, I hope you’re well.  Love to you.

The End and Beginning

It’s Quiet.  I sit here in a chair in my living room of the house in which I have lived from 5^th grade on, listening to the noises:  a fan blowing, a cricket chirping, Oliver the dog licking his paw, and that’s it.  This silence, open spaces, nature and lack of tall buildings everywhere has been the biggest thing for me to get used to since I’ve been back in America.  As my brother was driving along route 6 & 11 on Sunday when I got back I couldn’t help but wonder if it was always this open, always this ‘empty.’  At night I can’t get over how wonderful it is to lie in bed and listen to crickets sing me to sleep.  I feel as though I am in a poem.  It’s a vast difference from Korea where I live on the 5^th floor of a big apartment building, surrounded by many other buildings and people and NOISE.  A walk down the street has me assaulted with noises of people, cars, and music; sights of flashing lights, tall buildings, many Korean people; and smells of roasting squid, hot asphalt, and fresh fruit/veggies/fish from the market.

While I love the nature, love the quiet, love being able to walk out the side door barefoot to look at the full moon with no one else around, I still miss being in a city.  This yearning for city living eases my mind as I know I will be in Seoul for another year.  City life is easy with public transportation and large amounts of things to do.  I think when I come back to America for ‘good’ I will want to try my hand at living in another city closer to home so when I want to visit friends and family it doesn’t require 23 hours on a plane.

My goodness I haven’t written anything in a long time.  Warm months get busier with birthdays, people heading back to their homelands, and just having more things to do with more sunlight to do them in.  I also attribute the lack of writing time to a new relationship that I am in, which is pretty amazing.  I met Mike one night at the end of May when I went to the foreigner area of town to see some live music I could understand and get into.  I went to a few places, saw some okay people, then went to another place with some friends and saw a handsome bearded man playing guitar on stage.  Mike ended up playing a song by John Prine, which excited me to the point of yelling, then he and I chatted all night after he was finished playing.  I’m thankful for our serendipitous meeting, and of course, for John Prine.

And now on to the ‘most excellent adventures’ portion of this blog post, brought to you by my friends Bill and Ted.  I’ll try and sum up some of the more interesting things I have been spending my time on since April.  Jeez Louise. 

Korea is infamous for having seasonal festivals, as they are a very seasonally inspired country in general.  The markets around town consistently showcase fruits and vegetables that are in season, and when out, tend to disappear.  In the middle of April some friends and I went to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Southern Korea, and it was amazing.  I had pictured a small street lined with sidewalks and cherry trees as cherry blossoms fell and engulfed me while I rode my bike down the road, flailing my arms to catch the blossoms.  This is one of the few times in my life that I have set a high expectation that was actually met.  It was magical, beautiful and took my breath away. 

Towards the end of April we took another trip outside of the city and went on a ‘DMZ/Bungee Jumping’ trip.  There is an organization here called ‘Adventure Korea’ that arranges trips for foreigners that takes the stress out of trying to book a big weekend outing in a foreign land.  This trip took us (and a bus full of other foreigners) to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea.  The high point was
donning a hard hat and going underground into the 2^nd infiltration tunnel, and getting 100 meters away from North Korea.  The ‘line’ between the two countries was well blockaded and North Korea had a camera on their side, trained on the South Korea side.  It was an interesting trip that helped me learn a lot about the history between the two countries and understand more of what the conflict entails.

The following day on this trip entailed bungee jumping.  Even as I type this my palms are beginning to sweat, my heart race is increasing and my breathing is becoming shallow.  It was the most terrifying thing I have ever done; looking down from a high bridge into a shallow river below, knowing that you have to jump.  I’m glad that I did it, and I will never do it again.

Once April was over, a good friend left and then some birthday celebration times started.  My friend Ada had a birthday later on in May and it was fun to celebrate it with good friends in a foreign land.  It’s a different mentality from other birthdays I celebrated with people in America – overseas you almost feel a deeper sense of comradeship so you go above and beyond for friends’ birthdays.  For Ada’s we had a North American breakfast, a boat ride/river hang time, and then went to a Lantern Festival, which was right in downtown Seoul.  The festival was a parade on
Saturday night with lots of delightful lanterns lit, monks carrying them, big floats with beautiful
Korean women adorning them, and even some fellow foreigners we met on the DMZ trip.  The following day we went to another part of the festival that had lots of tents, crafts to make and or buy, dance performances (including some stellar break-dancing Korean men), art to purchase, food, and monks.  Living in a big foreign city that has differing customs proves to almost always be entertaining in some sort of fashion.

I am going to end this now so I can actually post it.  I’ll work on the rest during some more of this free time I have while at home on vacation.  It’s amazing.

Hope everyone is well.  If I don’t get to see you this time that I’m home, I’m pretty sure that when I come home next it will be in a more permanent state of mind.  Happy August.

Spring Time Reflections

On Monday morning I walked into my classroom, sat down at my desk, got myself together and then was bombarded by five little five-year-olds ‘talking’ (when they get excited they yell) to me and telling me things about their weekend. “Miss Kearney!! Look at my skirt! Look at my dress! Miss Kearney! I got new shoes! I have a ring at my house and it’s berry BEEEERRRRYY beauuuutiful! Miss Kearney! Look at my chin! I have a cut! I need a band-aid! Miss Kearney! I showed my brother what an ‘O’ is! I’m done unpacking first, do I get a smiley face??” (Can you tell that these children come from rich families?) Monday mornings are hard to always be excited about, especially when you just took a trip away for the weekend, your train tickets home got messed up and hard to change because you’re foreign, and you don’t get home until well after midnight only to find yourself locked out of your apartment because your building ‘super’ just installed new cable boxes and accidently locked your upper lock to which you have no key. But hearing those shouts of joyful exclamations into my ear make it all worthwhile and remind why it is I do what I do.

The picture above is the class I had for two months; just five little five-year-olds who have picked up on my silly-ness. They love hiding under my desk as they had a big moment there a few weeks back. I can't help my 'just kidding' nature that I have and kids are even better targets than adults because they're so darn gullible. I chalk up this trait to being raised by my father. Anyway, one day I walked into class after lunch when all the girls should have been there, yet not a soul was in sight. I was confused as I just saw them walk up the stairs a few moments before. I walked over to my desk, put my coat on my chair and then heard five little voices shout 'BOOOOO!!!' from under my desk. I screamed. Then laughed really hard (yuk status for those of you who know the level my laugh can attain) for about ten minutes along with my girls. I don't know if they were prouder of themselves or if I was.

This past weekend, or Easter weekend as it’s referred to at home since I have not found one Korean who observes this holiday, was spent with two friends in Busan, a port city on the southeastern side of South Korea. It was so nice to be able to get out of Seoul, see some new sights, try some new things, and reflect upon my life thus far. It’s ironic to me that I got to Busan and thought, it’s nice to be out of the big city, when Busan itself is a huge city compared to anything I have ever lived in or near before. There’s still a subway there, tons of buses, tons of people, and tons of things to do and see, with the beach being at the top of the list for the warmer months of the year.

As it is a port city, Busan is famous for its seafood, which was plentiful both in quantity and selection. Saturday was a beautiful day and we got out early to visit some places around the city, with the fish market being the first stop. We stumbled upon an outdoor one first with tons of adjumas (old ladies) sitting on their haunches over big bowls of ice, water, and sea creatures. Many of them shelled shellfish as they sat there awaiting hungry or curious customers, and it amazed me to realize that this was their everyday life. Fish. Octopus. Sea slugs. Scallops. Mussels. And many other unnamable items.

Right next to the seemingly renegade fish market was an indoor one with actual fish tanks to hold the sea creatures in, and many adjumas and adjushes (old men) selling their fish. After taking copious amounts of pictures, we ran into a ‘stall’ owner who spoke English, showed us many of his products and invited us to pick some out to eat upstairs. He told us that most of them were delicious as sashimi (uncooked) and we should be adventurous and try some. He also enticed us with holding out said items to buy, most interestingly an octopus and a sea slug. I was enthralled by these two items and got

to hold a live octopus (which I later ate – still alive and squirming in my mouth) and the sea slug. Now, the sea slug looked very much like a specific part of the male anatomy and my two girlfriends and I had giggled previously over this thinking we were quite clever. When I asked our En

glish speaking seller what it was he said ‘sheep penis.’ I responded with a confused ‘Whaaa??’, which then made him do a very Korean thing of repeating something in English until he knew I understood. “Sheep penis! SHEep penis. Sheeeep PEEENis. SheeP PeNIS!.....” Finally I yelled “Okay, okay!” to which his response was to put said ‘sheep penis’ into my hand and told me to squeeze it. The result is much like you are probably picturing in your head and made me giggle quite a bit. I later ate that raw also (quite tasty actually), and found out the proper name was a sea slug.

Finding English speaking Koreans here in Korea often results in a most excellent encounter, which proved to be true throughout the rest of the trip. On Sunday we took a journey to a Buddhist temple called Beomeosa, which means Temple of the Nirvana fish. It was MAGICAL. Beomeosa is located at the top of a high mountain in Busan and it is a huge Temple compound, if compound is any sort of word to describe a sprawling temple. There were lots of people there as tourists, but also a lot of people on temple stays who were there to hang out and pray a lot. Many hikers were there also as there is a huge mountain/river right beside the temple with big boulders everywhere. On our short walk back down a group of Korean hikers, decked to the nines in gear, asked us some questions and, as per usual, were very excited with our answers. “English teachers! American! Here in Korea! Learning about temples! Hurray!” They asked us to come close to the river to dip our hands in and splash around a bit, then pushed us into a group picture shouting “We are the world!!” and alternated holding our hands and making hearts over their heads with two hands.

I was lucky to go with two friends, Amber and Vicky, who are also quite spiritual people because they also just got it about the place. As it was Easter, we were already talking about how the day contained some spiritual connections for all of us, so it was a serendipitous event to find a little praying platform in front of a small building off the beaten path that had a few Buddha statues inside. There were mats there to sit on so we all grabbed one and sat down to have a few moments. It was thrilling and made me reflect on the life I have in Seoul and think about what kinds of things I want to do when my time is done here.

Once we had our time finding (!) God again on Easter instead of him/she/it being handed to us on a crispy little wafer, we sat by a stream for a long time thinking some more. As a huge city, Seoul actually does have a lot of mountains and places to hike, but there are always SO many people everywhere. It was nice to be able to sit next to a nice stream and be more alone, with the sound of the flowing water drowning out any noise from others around. I had my Kindle in my bag, the bible downloaded, and the Old School Catholic in me it felt like it was a good time to pull it up and read a few verses fitting to the situation. Then to balance it out I sung some songs that are much more open and in tune with nature, I do believe all of which I learned at Journey’s End Farm Camp. We all felt such a strong presence of something more than us sharing that moment and it made me realize how much I miss nature and its calming/spiritual effect on me.

It was a grand trip indeed, and it made me appreciate Seoul a bit more as I got to get out of the bubble and realized I missed some things about it. City life is becoming routine to me and something that I quite enjoy what with so many things to do, places to see and new experiences to have. However, the trek over the weekend has reminded me of things that I highly value in my life that I am missing living here.

With all that being said, I am excited to enjoy the rest of my time here in Seoul as it’s made a big impact upon my life. One thing I absolutely love about this place is all of the museums; one for robots, locks (and keys), wars, kimchi (I haven’t been yet, but I sure do hope they serve free kimchi samples), Science, art, art, art, and everything traditional/cultural about Korea. A few weekends ago some friends and I took a trip to the War Museum of Korea and it was as informative as it was sad. Korea has a terrible history with most of the surrounding countries trying to take them over because they are so small. One thing I really admire about Korea is how much of a fight they put up to remain their own country. It also amazes me how much different North and Korea are, and how there was a whole three-year Korean year war that is still technically going on between them.

Seoul just had the pleasure of holding a Conference on Nuclear Weapons with people from 50 different countries. I have to admit, when I read about it the weekend before it happened, I got quite nervous. North Korea had just been telling the world that they were going to launch a long-range rocket for their ‘space program’ while the rest of the world, even China, was against it. Then alllll of these world leaders come on over the Seoul, just a couple hours drive from North Korea to discuss matters to which North Korea was fervently opposed. However, other than the INTENSE increased security in the subways and around town, nothing bad happened. Recently they just launched their ‘space rocket’, which cost $850 million dollars to make and exploded within a minute. I just don’t understand it all.

Oh my, oh my I have so much information to pass on but as so much time has passed, the volume of words becomes overwhelming. I’ll put this up now and write more later. It is now the Monday morning following the Monday morning I wrote about in the beginning, and I have just taken a trip over the weekend to a Cherry Blossom Festival, which was beautiful with perfect flippin’ weather. I am leaving for school in about ten minutes and look forward to the greeting I will get from my girls, especially since I am getting two old students back and one new one. Should be an interesting day.

Farewell for now, friends and family. I hope everyone is doing well and your spirits are being raised by the warm weather and blooming plants coming our way.

Until next time.