A delayed blog entry, by a week. In the last month and one week, I came back to Korea again; enjoyed some good family time; met more people helping refugees, along with people from NK; taught a winter camp at Pyeongchang High School; visited Hong Kong to see Solomon; traveled to Indonesia with fellow EATs, Emily and Sarah; and finally, attended Gakri Middle School’s graduation.
With more than half the grant year passed, who knows what will come next. I’m mentally preparing myself for another semester at Gakri Middle School, and the myriad activities I’ll engage in, including the NK School, and a Basketball Diplomacy Program at my middle school. I’m re-ordering my priorities so that I can have some routine language studies, and prepare for grad school (and entrance exams). What’s bigger than this coming semester, is the end of the grant year, and what 2010 – 2011 will bring, but I’ll save my thoughts on that for a future post.
Family Time
Having family in Korea has pros and cons. It’s comforting to have people to lean on for emotional support, and a place where you don’t have to have your “on” face on all the time. On the down side, with a host-family that we EATs live with, it’s wearisome to balance quality time between host-family and real-family. My host-family understands that when it comes to holidays, I opt to spend time with my real-family. What further complicates matters is that I have several aunts/uncles on both sides of the family. So there’s the added decision of whether I hang out with the dad’s or mom’s side of the family. It’s really not that big of a deal, until I realize that I schedule both Chuseok and Seolnal with my mom’s side. That’s where the imbalance comes in. ^^ In the end, it’s really a privilege to be forced to decide which loved ones you want to spend time with.
Dealing with family issues brings up my equation of formulating priorities for face time in general. There are so many cool EATs, and I find myself rushing through conversations and meetings. Time is so valuable – relationships are so precious. I wish I had more of both! I’m glad that the good friendships I have here in Korea understand how I balance my time, so there’s no need for explanation when we get together and hang out.
I met such great people within the last month, and continued relationships made in the past half-year. First, there was teaching at the NK School; then meeting friends from the USA who work with semi-public organizations that help in the settlement of refugees once they arrive in SK; and the deep conversation with someone who’s been here for a while, having left loved ones behind.
I taught a group of about 10 North Korean refugees one Saturday about telling time in English. Everything was going well until I started explaining the phrase “10 til 12” or “10 after 2”, etc. I turned the whole thing into an algebra class, replacing numbers with variables. It went something like this:
“A” past “B”, where “A” is the minutes, and “B” is the hours.
It gets really confusing in my attempt to explain “10 til 12”
“A” til “B”, same variables…
but that doesn’t work. So Instead I tried:
“C” til “D”; where C = 60 – A, and D = B + 1; A = minute hand, B = hour hand.
If your head is hurting, you can see why I was not meant to be an English teacher… or a math teacher. It was the first time that people abruptly got up and walked straight out of my class. They never returned. Who knows if they’ll ever come back?
I joke. But really, people got up and left. Maybe they needed a bathroom break. My co-teacher Kelly had a very hearty laugh, and was trying to hide her face the whole time.
On another occasion, I met someone from NK. They had lived in the South for several years attending college and shooting for the dream. It’s a nice story.
When we started talking in more depth, they told me how they communicated from time to time with their family back home. Back home, as in NK. The family members have to hike up a mountain for kilometers before they can safely talk. This person became a Christian in the South, and now their family is concerned that they are spying. They regularly send medical supplies and other goods. It’s been a long time since they’ve seen face to face.
Winter Camp at Pyeongchang High School
What they say about students from the countryside is true – they are the sweetest kids on earth. Emily and I led a 4-day, 20 hour, camp at her high school, taking the students on a virtual road-trip from Los Angeles; through Minneapolis; through Chicago; finally to the Big Apple, New York. We made PPT presentations of the google maps, showed them our route and sights along the way, and experienced various tastes of the USA. Emily’s school has a kitchen, so we made sacked lunches with PBJ/PBB sandwiches, pizza, French toast & scrambled eggs, etc. They loved it. We ended the camp in New York, with the students presenting comparisons of US and Korean culture at NYU. The students rocked. When it was over – people sort of lingered in the classroom because they did not want to leave!
Hong Kong with Sol o’ Mon
I really don’t what to say about Hong Kong. It’s a great town. Hong Kong and many people there showed great hospitality. The food was wonderful. It is definitely an ‘East meets West’ type of place. I ate boiled chicken feet. I hiked up Vitoria’s peak by myself. I met Dr. Charles Kraft, who led seminars on inner healing at Solomon’s Porch, an evangelical church in HK. I visited a mosque for my first time. I received two foot massages. I rode the ferry and the MTR, using my octopus card. I shopped. A fun place, Hong Kong is. The only place in China with religious freedom.
Indonesia – Bali, Lombok, and Gili – with E Kessel and S Walker
Indonesia is an interesting and culturally diverse place. Bali is like 95% Hindu, 10% Muslim, and 10% Christian (don’t ask how that adds up, our taxi driver told us this). Lombok is mainly Muslim based on my observations. Gili on the other hand is mostly partygoers, with a small population of Muslims. According to our taxi driver, the average annual salary of a Balinese national is 5,000,000 rupiah, which is about $450. I think I spent about that much in my week touring the country.
The invisible hand is very much present in the Bali market places. The price of a necklace will go from 50,000 rupiah (~$5) to about 10,000 rupiah (~$1) in about 1 minute, without any words from the potential buyer. The average Balinese person uses about 20,000 rupiah a day, and the average tourist about 1,000,000 rupiah a day. It’s an art to negotiate a balanced price, where the seller makes a reasonable profit, and the buyer gets a good price.
We met some good people out in Indonesia. It’s a place where Emily, Sarah, and I knew nobody, but left feeling like we could return and be well taken care of. Thank you Made, Gusti, Nare, and Guki.
Now, no trip abroad is complete until I visit a local church. In Indonesia, Christian churches are probably scarce. Not to mention, I was at the rim of Mt. Rinjanni when most 11am church services start. So it didn’t happen, but we did meet a missionary couple at the airport going back to Bali from Lombok. Our plane was delayed and we struck up a conversation with them, in which they laid out the demographics of Indonesia, specifically Lombok island, and the number of “followers of Christ” among specific indigenous populations.
Mission work is something I never did, and strikes an interesting chord in my heart. If you’d like to talk about it, let me know.
Return to Ochang and Gakri’s Graduation
I came back to Ochang with sore legs, rather than stay in Seoul, mainly so I could attend Gakri Middle School’s graduation ceremony. It took place in the gymnasium, which had plastic seats lined up for all of the graduating 3rd graders, and a crowd of parents and other loved ones around the periphery of the gym.
These were students that I taught for a semester… I taught every single one of them. There was a whirlwind of emotions and reflections in my heart. How did I do as a teacher? Did I really care for these young ones? Did I open up doors that weren’t there before? What will I do differently next semester to become a better teacher? Can I humble myself to able to see through their eyes? Can I make my class a more enjoyable experience?
After what seemed like an hour of students receiving scholarships from organizations represented in the neighborhood, the class president, He-won, one of my best students, stood in front to deliver a speech about her experiences. She addressed the crowd, saying that the friendships and memories would always be dear. She addressed the teachers, telling them that their efforts were not in vain, that she appreciated what each one of them (us) did. Lastly, she talked to the underclassmen, saying that expected bigger and better things from them, though the current graduates did not serve as the best examples.
I was moved. This little girl was telling me that the effort that I put into my classroom matters. She was telling me not to be afraid to invest in the next generation.
We shall see what happens.
I’m off to the countryside to spend time with my aunt (mom’s side) for Seolnal!
This is a strange verse to end with, but good reflection.
“Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.” But the disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.”
its rewarding to hear that the patience we had while attempting to teach was not done in vain.
ReplyDeletekudos dp!