Colonialism, Education, and Hope: Reflections on MLK Day 2022

"We in the West must bear in mind that the poor countries are poor primarily because we have exploited them through political or economic colonialism." --Martin Luther King, Jr.

In my doctoral program, we're learning about the different theoretical lenses that researchers use in educational research. One of the reasons to consider theoretical lenses is to understand that what we believe about the creation of knowledge impacts what kinds of knowledge we can explore as researchers. Since my program is committed to social justice and equity, we include critical theories in our study--including Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, and Queer Studies. While these concepts have taken some heat from the right, they are really interesting to study. One of the concepts that I've encountered in my studies is the extent to which the lens of settler colonialism permeates the thinking, research, and structures of education.

Although I had a vague understanding of colonialism from my studies of history in school, my understanding was always that the bad parts of colonialism was something that happened a long time ago or in far away lands. Sure, it was reawakened by the Monroe doctrine and then rhetorically evoked in science fiction I loved as a child (THE FINAL FRONTIER!), but weren't some concepts of exploration and discovery the very foundations of science--exploring the unknown?

But settler colonialism asks: "Unknown to whom?" "Explore for what?" "Who benefits from this interaction?" So many of my questions for educational research are simple questions students already know the answers to, but the academy has not included their perspectives in "empirical studies," and so the knowledge they possess about education is not acknowledged. But if every student knows and understands that the system of testing we have right now is torture, then it's fairly presumptuous of us to have to "prove" the harms.

In the last year, between my graduate studies and increased reading of Native American writers (including Angeline Boulley, Tommy Orange, and--my new favorite--Louise Erdrich), I'm starting to see that the harms of colonialism are ongoing and continuous. That many of the ideals I value in American culture--self-reliance, individualism, creative use of resources, thirst for knowledge--are predicated on the fact that my European ancestors saw the world as theirs for the taking and exploring (and exploiting). That my husband's country was shaped first by the forcible colonization of Korea by Japan and then the de-facto Cold War colonization of the American army. That the "adventure" I loved about traveling to different countries and experiencing other cultures came at a cost to the people and lands I visited.

The trouble of course is, I'm not entirely sure what to do with this knowledge. I love to travel, but the more I learn about the carbon footprint of commercial flights, the more unethical it feels. I want to visit Hawaii and Puerto Rico, but the problematic ways twentieth century U.S. annexed these lands without the support of the indigenous populations, in part because they represent a kind of fantastical, exotic travel for Americans, gives me pause. I can't even think about my own time in Korea as an English teacher without understanding the complex ways that was another kind of colonization project, albeit ones Koreans themselves submit to in order to gain global power.

More troubling perhaps still is the colonial project of public education that continues in 2022. Again, Covid has us asking: "What are schools--warehouses for children so their parents can be participants in the economy or places of academic instruction or social welfare programs for reducing inequity?" (HINT: They are all of these things, none of these, and more.) "Who benefits from schools closing? From staying "open"?" And so on. Some of these questions are public health questions, sure, but they have revealed to me a troubling narrative I believe that public education is capable of (and should) "save" children by helping them navigate the norms of our society successfully. And what is that but a demand for assimilation by another name?

I'm thinking about this today, on a great day for reflecting about injustice, because the first writer who helped me understand the deep connections between all kinds of injustice and harms in this world was Dr. King.  His ability to see how the evils of capitalism, racism, and militarism were interconnected to exploit and suppress others allowed me to understand that there is no single injustice more important than others. What I am most inspired by is his ability to not only see the evils in the world, but to continue to believe it could get better. Sometimes, I really wonder if it can.

I don't have any answers here. I try to do what I can, where I can, but times like these, it can seem overwhelming and that there are no good choices. So instead, I will lean into Dr. King's hope and advice for persistence:

"For all of us today, the battle is in our hands. The road ahead is not altogether a smooth one. There are no broad highways to lead us easily and inevitably to quick solutions. We must keep going." --MLK

Attitude of Gratitude: My Sister in Law

 Originally Posted on April 16, 2018 in Free Fun Family

Living as an international family has some significant challenges.  The biggest challenge is that you are physically separated from very important parts of your family.  This time last year, we visited Korea for Spring Break and will visit even longer this summer.  When we visit, we stay with family.

Min has one younger brother who lives in Korea.  The brother is married to a woman who is not only an awesome wife and teacher, but a woman I consider a friend.  In-Shil is very popular with our children because she has a great sense of humor.  She likes to develop her hobbies–drawing, yoga, Crossfit (yes, they have that in Korea), English, technology, etc.–and I’m always impressed by how wonderfully welcoming and inviting she is when we visit her in her home.  She is frugal and a fine cook, but still enjoys herself and loves kids.  I think you can see why we get along so well!

Her English is a bit better than my Korean, so we often have conversations where she will speak in elementary Korean and I will respond in elementary English and we understand each other very well.  Our husbands think this is weird, but we like it.

I often wish we lived in the same city (or even the same country), because I would love to be closer with her.  I am very grateful for her patience, love, and support with my brother-in-law and mother-in-law (who lives near them), and with my husband, who doesn’t always realize how awesome she is (he does, I just think he should think she’s EVEN MORE AWESOME, because she is).   Our Korean family has had some significant challenges recently, and she has been the rock through the worst of it (and continues to be).

Some people have challenging relationships with their in-laws, but our family is blessed with a SUPERSTAR jakkun ohmma (aunt).  I cannot wait to visit her this summer!

Last Photos from the August 2010 Jeju Trip

Well over a year ago, Min Gi and I took a second honeymoon to Jeju Island in Korea to bid goodbye to the country and because we wouldn't see each other for about a month after I went back to the U.S.  Back when I was still a good blogger (not dealing with job stress, depression, or pregnancy), I blogged about one piece of the trip.  I am just now getting around to putting up some pictures from the rest of our adventures on our 4.5 days on the island.

We had a fantastic time.  We made new friends, visited some ones we knew from before, and fell in love with a place.  We have decided that when we return to Korea to settle there, we want to live here.  For now, enjoy the photos!

Dragon Rock in Jeju

Manjanggul Cave (Lava Tube) in Jeju

Folk Village in Jeju

Other Jeju Photos

Flashback Travel: Haeinsa Temple, July 2010

Temple art detail.  I would love to know which Buddhist story this comes from...

During the rainy season in Korea last year, I ventured to Haeinsa Temple with my friend Paul. The miserable rainy weather here reminded me of this trip. Despite the cloudy skies and constant, unpleasant drizzle, it was a pleasant trip to one of my favorite temples.

The Tripitaka Koreana and the reason for this temple's fame.  It's the print panels for a really old and awesome Buddhist text, preserved in traditional wood structures.

I had an epiphany walking this maze back in March 2008 when I came here with another friend.

Check out the full album with lots of cool temple art details:

Haeinsa, 2010

Korean Life Memories

My Korean Aboji and the feast my Korean Ohmoni prepared to say goodbye

Part of the reason for my last post about missing Korea is that I've been going through all the photos I never got around to uploading in the last year (wow... have I really been neglecting my blog that badly?). I found some photos from cooking adventures and goodbye trips in the last few weeks of my final summer in Korea. 

An old Korean War helipad at Waryong-san in Daegu.

Some of these were taken by Min Gi on his camera phone.

With my good friend Jina at Donghwasa on a rainy afternoon.

You can check out the full album at Picasa, as usual linked below:

Life in Korea.

 

Missing...

... I realized today that when I say I miss Korea, I don't only mean the country itself or even the cultural peculiarities of the land of kimchi, mountains, and fan death.  I don't mean that I miss my job at TFLHS, which I missed sharply this year.  Of course, I also miss the people I associate with my life in Korea, even though many of them no longer actually live there (or live in another city), but that's not even entirely what I mean.
I think sometimes that when I say I miss Korea, I really miss who I was while I was living in Korea.

I'm not saying I'm a dramatically different person in America--I'm largely the same.  However, I behave differently and respond to my environment differently.  I even think differently sometimes.  In Korea, I felt like I was more adventurous, more interesting, and more inspired.  I felt shiny.  Powerful.

Living in another country has a certain freedom to it.  There is the freedom of not belonging, and it being just fine and dandy to not fully belong.  Here, when I feel like I don't belong, it's more painful and lonely.  There is the freedom from conventions.  Adhering to neither Korean culture nor American culture fully was expected of me, and therefore I could pick and choose quite comfortably.

Also, I was challenged most days in a way that excited and inspired me.  I always had something I wanted to write about.  I saw lots of things I wanted to photograph.  I experimented with foods and local travel more than I'm inclined to do in the area I grew up.  I tried new classes and sports and hobbies for the heck of it.

I know, I know.  I could do those things here, too.  After all, these qualities are not in Korea, but in me.  I just feel like I'd have to work harder to be inspired in that way.  I have to look for the exotic and interesting in the mundane and everyday grind.

The depression I was in for much of this last year has colored my impression of my ability to explore and be inspired in America.  Now that I'm out of it, past the culture shock, and happy with my life again, I'm starting to feel like I want to do the work I know is necessary to live this way.  Living in my home country just feels a bit encumbered sometimes is all.

Korea isn't the only country screwing foreign teachers...

When I worked in Korea, one of the "hot topics" that Korean bloggers who were English teachers enjoyed (endlessly) blogging (and complaining) about was how some disreputable and shady hagwons liked to exploit their foreign English teachers and screw them out of money, time, and benefits promised them in contracts or guaranteed by Korean labor law.

Newsflash, children:  Korea isn't the only offender in the screw-the-foreign-teacher game.

My very own employer in the U.S., Prince George's County Public Schools in Maryland, is in hot water for failing to comply with U.S. labor laws regarding paying the visa fees for foreign employees.  In today's Washington Post article by Robert Samuels, "Federal investigation: Pr. George’s owes foreign teachers millions," PGCPS was sanctioned by the Department of Labor on behalf of mostly Filipino teachers recruited for math and science positions.  They were called a "willful violator" of labor law:

School officials recruited the foreign instructors for classes such as math and science that were hard to fill but then required that the teachers cover thousands of dollars in expenses related to getting temporary work visas — expenses that, Labor Department officials said, should have been covered by the system. That violated laws requiring that U.S. and foreign teachers be compensated equally.

Federal officials have labeled the Prince George’s County Public School System a “willful violator’’ of labor laws and could forbid it to get any more temporary work visas, the majority of which were given to educators from the Philippines.

Our defense?  "We didn't know."  It is so like PGCPS to plead incompetence in order to wriggle out of what amounts to a criminal finding.  They are now open to civil lawsuits on the matter.  As if we didn't have enough budget problems.

Now, I will admit that I do not work for the most reputable of counties.  They do not have a history of treating teachers well and frequently have "scandals" at all levels of administration (most recently our County Executive was indicted for corruption and removed from office in February of this year).   There's a reason I'm leaving at the end of this school year and never, ever looking back.

However, it will be hard now for the screwed over EFL worker in Korea to now claim that it would "never" happen back in America.  It just did.

Settled?

We unpacked the final box we'd shipped from Korea last week and attended an American Halloween party.  Min Gi got his social security card and his driver's license.  Tuesday, I have a doctor's appointment.

It feels like something's shifting.  Like maybe I can start to relax just a little and move on with life goals--the ones I put on hold to accomplish this nightmare relocation.  This move has been so all-consuming that I'd almost forgot I even had them.  NaNoWriMo is helping a bit.  As is the Couch-to-5K running program I restarted this week.

I marvel at how different life was six months ago--when we didn't yet have our visa or even tickets for the U.S. and I had no idea how I was going to find a job and get everything done I needed to do to wind us up on the other side of the world with our cats and without being completely broke.

Well... we did it.

I'm still not completely happy here in America.  I don't know if that's the adjustment, reverse culture shock, or the shortening days (winter is never easy for me), but I do know that I'm starting to feel settled.  That this house and this job are starting to feel like "mine" instead of just the place I live and the place I teach.  It helps to have found places for everything; it helps that I've been able to plan out the quarter, rather than going day by day/week by week with my lessons.

As I enter the first American "holiday season" I've had in almost four years, I feel unwound.  Like I've been a tight coil for a year and half of short-term, high-pressure goals--all achieved, all stressful, many fun (to name a few:  completing grad school, planning a wedding and honeymoon, getting Min Gi's visa, moving to America and repatriating, dealing with a new chronic illness)--and now I have no bounce.  But maybe I can use this flexibility and rest to my advantage.  Use it to sift through my new identity as wife.  As American-in-America.  As high school English teacher (maybe, in the near future, drama teacher).  Use it to work on my health, my career, and my writing.

Let's hope.  I need some inspiration!

Just a Taste...

I'm at 3419 words.  Apparently, the word counter doesn't like it when you write ahead, so even though I'm on track for the month, it says I didn't meet today's goal.  Odd.

In case you're curious about what I'm writing for NaNoWriMo, it's a young adult novel, currently titled Calling It In.  Here's the description I posted:

Katie's senior year of high school was supposed to be the best... but then her older sister announces that she's moving to Korea, her boyfriend for the last two years dumps her as he enters college, and talking to people with problems at the youth crisis hotline where she volunteers starts to feel a little too personal.

A short, unedited excerpt from what I wrote today for NaNoWriMo:

Every night for the year after It had happened, Katie had the same nightmare. She was in a strange Asian-looking temple that was like a maze with walls that stretched on forever. Her mother's voice echoed from just around the next corner, "I'm here, Katie. Come find me! Help! I need your help!" But when Katie rounded the corner, there would just be more of the maze and the bright colored scenes of the Buddha and tigers and wise old fat men and dragons with fish in their mouths.

"I'm coming, Mom! Just hold on for a moment. I can't find you." She'd run and run and run until she was out of breath, but still there was more maze.

Right when she was about to give up, her mother's voice would say, "There, there Katie. You could never find me here. I don't belong here."

And then Katie's mocha skin and straight black hair would start to glow and burn.

"It hurts, Mommy," she would cry out.

But her mother was gone. And the pictures seemed to be smiling at her burning skin. Mocking her with some secret zen knowledge that was forever denied to her.

Even when she was awake that year, she stopped looking in mirrors. If she didn't look in the mirrors, she could pretend that she looked like Deena and her mother. She could belong. 

I'm getting all "guh"

I miss having free time.  Teaching high school English in the U.S. is a very, very demanding job.

Something I've noticed... the culture here in PG county/suburban DC, that I was pretty "in touch" with three years ago, is now something almost completely foreign to me.  Part of it is getting older, but part of it is missing all those subtle cultural shifts that happen imperceptibly and rapidly without anyone who is a participant noticing.  Three years ago, almost no one but political bloggers referred to the Supreme Court as SCOTUS.  I still can't pick Katy Perry (yes, I had to look up how to spell her name) or Justin Bieber out of a lineup of similarly prepified tweens (frankly, who the heck cares?).  And now my students say things like "Mrs. S, you be getting me all guh," and I feel like I did when I was first learning about Korea and didn't know what "service" was (Good lord, I miss "service-uh").

It's got me thinking about cultural observations as an outsider in Korea and reflecting on how much I did or didn't understand.  Like if I hadn't grown up in the DC area, I might think some of these things were unique to this area, when really, they're new to the culture, not just regional.  Many things about Korean youth culture changed so rapidly that my students taught me things about Korean culture that older people, or even the venerable Korean of Ask a Korean wouldn't know.

How does culture change?  How permanent are the changes (or are they short term trends, like the Macarena)?  When we're living in it, we can't really know.  It's only over time that the depth of the change is revealed.

I think some things are easier to see from the outside (like the consequences of American consumerism) and others impossible to fully grasp except from within (like age-based hierarchy in Korean society, which I understand academically and linguistically but just don't get at all).  Living in a foreign land and marrying a non-American has made me a bit of an outsider of the culture once again.  And the first thing I've been truly excited about since coming back is trying to make sense of it all.  I've got my puzzle back.

Min Gi Arrived! New Job and Townhouse...

On Thursday, my lovely and wonderful husband arrived in America to begin the U.S. chapter of our life together.  He is now an official permanent resident of the United States, on his way to citizenship in a few years (if all goes according to plan, which it rarely does).

I have to say that for the last month, I've been in a major funk.  Most of this is attributable to my job struggle and stress (which I absolutely must blog about, but felt very uncomfortable doing as it unfolded for a variety of reasons--not the least of which was what might happen if potential employers discovered my blog) and not having my own place for the first time in my adult life without a definite plan for obtaining (and affording) one soon.  With Min Gi here again, I realize that a big part of it was also missing him.  He calms me down from my often irrational and uptight self and brings me back to reality. So, it's good to have him back.  He has also promised to start blogging (mostly in Korean, some in English perhaps), so I will be linking that blog soon.

As I mentioned, I have been offered and accepted a full time English teaching position at a small high school in the same county where I worked before going to Korea.  The position is for ninth grade regular level and an inclusion (half special education students) class, but my schedule is not completely definite at this point because the long term sub who I will be taking over from has been teaching a history elective that will be moved back to the social studies department, leaving me one class short.  It's A-day, B-day style block scheduling, but the ninth and tenth grade classes that are not honors level meet every day to prepare for the Maryland High School Assessment (HSA) which occurs at the end of English 10.  This is good for both the students, who get extra practice, and for me, who will have a smaller overall student load.

I took this job for many, many reasons beyond the fact that it was the first full time, contracted teaching position offered to me (though it was that, too).  In fact, before accepting, I had been very excited by a long term sub position in another county with an offer to move me into contracted as soon as a spot opened up--a county with a much better reputation for both education and for teacher support than the one I'm working for (again).  However, this school impressed me.  First off, I ran into the woman who trained me in the Resident Teacher Program I took to become certified six years ago while waiting for my interview.  We caught up, and since she works there as an Instructional Coordinator, she was, as always, very straight with me about the good and bad things about the school.  In the interview itself, one of the Assistant Principals (about five minutes in) said, "I'm not supposed to say this at this point, but I'm going to:  I like you.  I want you to work here."  It's flattering, but more importantly, being desired as a teacher at a school goes a long way towards winning administrators over to your side, which is absolutely necessary as a teacher new to a school.  Finally, they all but promised me Advanced Placement classes next year (which I LOVE teaching) and that they would support me in establishing a school theater program (this school has none).  I was sold.

The school is a bit out in the country, but I like that.  Yesterday (with the great assistance of my brother and good friend Michelle), Min Gi and I have moved to Waldorf, which is in Southern Maryland, a five minute commute from my new job and about 30 minutes from DC.  We took a two bedroom townhouse for us and the cats, ensuring plenty of space for any family members or friends from Korea who would like to visit.  Fortunately for me, Waldorf is also an area where I have a number of friends, thanks to my previous work with a community theater in neighboring La Plata, the Port Tobacco Players.  (As a welcome home present for Min Gi, I got us tickets to their production of Arsenic and Old Lace, which was fantastic, although it closed this weekend.)

So now, other than the insomnia from drinking too much caffeine to help with moving yesterday and the fact that the cats and a few boxes are still at my parents' house (hopefully this will be resolved today), we have accomplished my major goal for the year, which was to move us all here and find a good job.  I start teaching Monday, and while I'll do some prep work this week and attend back to school night this evening, I don't intend to stress any more about jobs until after I've begun working!

And that's what's been going on.

Q & A: Non-white women; Internet hook-up; long flight tips; Marine base in Vietnam; Korean Tuesdays

It's been a long time since I've answered my formspring questions. Sorry to those of you who'd been waiting on an answer.

Do you see colored girls in Korea? Like blacks, Hispanics or mixed girls? I mean I often here stories of Caucasians dating up there but...I'm curious.

I'm not exactly sure what perspective you are coming from (are you a man who wants to hook up with "colored girls" or what?), but I will answer. There are many non-white, non-Korean girls living in Korea. The largest groups I've encountered are Chinese and Filipina students and African-American and Hispanic soldiers. In the English teaching community, they are about proportional to what you would find among college grads from the seven countries eligible for E-2 visas, except that there is about a 70/30 male/female ratio and a much higher percentage of people with any Korean blood within that teacher community compared to a normal population. I come from a very, very diverse part of America, so I tend to think the foreign English teacher community is not very diverse (mostly white, middle class). However, people from less diverse areas think that the expat teaching community is very diverse. So I guess it depends on your perspective. If you actively seek out non-white women, you will find them, but I seriously doubt you will be impressed by the number of them you find (except in certain areas of very large cities). I will say that in Korea, more of my non-Korean friends were white than anywhere else I've lived/worked in my life except during college.

My husband is thinking of going to South Korea to be a teacher, I was wondering how long it took you to get internet hooked up in your apartment?

Your husband wants to go to South Korea, and the only question you have is about length of time for internet hookup? You have some restraint, m'dear. Depending on which service you choose and how well supported you are at your school by the teachers who take care of these things, it could take between 3 days and 2 weeks from the time people start asking around. However, in my first apartment, internet was already set up. In my second apartment, Min Gi shopped around for good deals for about a week and then found one and a week later, I had internet. In the last apartment, we transferred the contract from the second apartment, and I think I was without internet for only a day or two. South Korea prides itself on being the most wired country in the world. It's not for nothing.

How did you deal with the long flight over there? I want to travel but I hate to fly. Any tips for getting through it?

I like to deprive myself of sleep and fatty foods for the 36 hours prior to takeoff. I sleep better on the plane that way, and sleep so well the first night that I usually only experience mild jet lag after. On the plane itself, I read, listen to music, doze off, get up and walk around/stretch, play with the in-flight entertainment center, and always ask for at least 2 cups of water when they come around and offer. Sometimes I find the free red wine helps me zonk out even more quickly, but be careful about hydration. Planes are nastily drying environments.

Are there any remains of the Marine base at Marble Mountain???

I was not specifically looking for the Marine base at the Marble Mountains in Vietnam. However, I recall there was a marker for the lookout point the Americans used and the platform was there and my motorcycle taxi driver mentioned the base (he was a South Vietnamese soldier during that time). The effects of war there struck me more in the extreme shell damage to the temple sites and ancient carvings.

I remember reading how you and your husband speak English at home and every Tuesday it is Korean language day. So now that you are coming back to America, will you do a language swich-a-roo to keep in practice? I would think speaking Korean back in the US [would be helpful].

As you recall correctly, we usually speak English at home and for awhile we were doing Korean on Tuesdays. Right before I left Korea, Min Gi was in hardcore English study mode because he hopes to be able to work and function comfortably in his new country, so my Korean studies were sadly neglected. Currently, we are in separate countries, so I am not speaking much Korean at all these days, with him or anyone else. We will probably speak English at first in America because we are going to stay with my parents, and it is a little rude to speak another language around people who don't understand it when everyone is perfectly capable of communicating in the host's language. I would like to re-start the Korean Tuesdays when we are set up in our own house and then perhaps increase it to 2-3 days a week, as my Korean studies pick up more and I grow my skills.

That's all the formspring for now, but feel free to ask me a question anytime. I'm less crazy stressed now that the move to the U.S. is about 50% complete, so I should get to answering them faster.

Wednesday Review--We Married Koreans: Personal Stories of American Women with Korean Husbands

I know I haven't done a book review in a long time; rest assured that it is not because I have gone the last few months without reading. Quite the contrary. In the last few months, I've been in a mad reading frenzy in an attempt to rid myself of all the books I had accumulated in Korea that I did not wish to bring back with me to the U.S. Fortunately, I discovered Bookmooch and an English used book cafe called Buy the Book (Downtown Daegu, above the Mr. Pizza on the main street with Communes and Billibow and the like), so all of my books went to loving homes.

One of the books I did want to keep with me, however, was We Married Koreans, a collection of 12 true stories of interracial, intercultural marriages between American women and Korean men in the 1960s. The collection is edited by Gloria Goodwin Hurh, whose own story appears in Chapter 5.

If you have any interest in American or Korean cultures during the last 50 years or in intercultural marriages in general, you should read this book. Do not be put off by the fact that it is self-published and therefore contains some errors in grammar and usage that (hopefully) would have been caught by a professional editor or that the women are not professional writers. It tells a fascinating history, both personal and cultural, of Korea as it struggled towards democracy (one woman's husband was imprisoned for anti-government demonstrations in Korea) and America as it struggled towards racial equality (many of the women speak frankly about some of the racial epithets hurled at their children). The couples mostly met, married, and lived in America, but most lived for at least a short time in Korea and one missionary couple spent most of their marriage in the Korean expat community in Brazil. I feel like I just sat down and read 12 very good personal blogs about Korea.

Each woman speaks positively of marriage and praises intercultural marriage, despite the challenges they have faced. None of them have divorced and most stories are accompanied by a picture of the couple from within the last five years, graying and wrinkled, but still together. I was particularly moved by the stories of Faye Moon, Dixie Whong, and Sharon Shin, but I got something new and interesting from each story. Many of the women were Christian missionaries or united to their husband by a strong faith, which did not speak to me as much as it might have to someone from their era, but I still enjoyed reading the book very much.

I can only hope that Min Gi and I will be as happy together in our future as these couples seem to be.

Jeju Island Adventures: Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Rock)

Getting started hiking up the peak, visible behind me.
Our first full day on Jeju Island, we planned to hike Korea's largest mountain, the volcanic mount Halla in the center of Jeju that pretty much makes up the island. However, our plans were thwarted by gathering storms around the peak (though the rest of Jeju was clear and beautiful, Halla was surrounded by storms--apparently the summit is only visible about one day in 10, so this is not terribly uncommon). Instead, we hopped in our trusty rental Kia, Fred, and drove out to the eastern side of the mountain to another famous lava crater peak, Seongsan Ilchulbong, known as "Sunrise Peak" because of it's eastern location. Although we were now several hours after sunrise (at about 8 a.m.), we were still happy to explore and climb this beautiful area.


The views of the sea and surrounding fields as we climbed were spectacular.
Ilchulbong was formed by fairly recent (meaning only 100,000 years old) volcanic eruptions. It rises dramatically out of the sea and connects to the main part of Jeju by a narrow strip of land on which sits the fishing village of Seongsan.


Min Gi at the top of the crater's edge.
At the top of the peak, there is a huge bowl-shaped crater, grown over with many various plants unique to these crater ecosystems of Jeju. The ecosystem in Jeju's Hallasan crater is carefully protected. Also, it is very, VERY windy at the peak.


The crater at the top of Ilchulbong, flooded with the morning light.
After climbing down from the small mountain, we rested in a cove with a haenyo, or the famous Jeju women divers (more to come about them), restaurant and launching site. There were no haenyo to be found, but we enjoyed the peaceful scenery and clear water.


Side of Ilchulbong, from Haenyo Jip area.

With a great start to our first full day on the island, we'd already decided that when we return to Korea, we should seriously consider making this place our home. See the rest of the photos from Ilchulbong:

Ilchulbong -- Jeju Island

First Five Days in America

Wowee...  America is just overwhelming.  On my last day in Korea, Min Gi and I went to the Dongdaegu bus station at 3 a.m. to catch the bus with two cats, two huge bags, and my carry on oversize "purse."  On the five hour ride to Incheon, the kitties mewled the whole time, I'm sure to the chagrin of nearby passengers.  At the airport, we had to take them through Incheon's "quarantine" check station and then check Princess into the baggage compartment, while Saja got to accompany me in the cabin under the seat in front of me.  I said goodbye to my husband just outside the security gate.  The kitties and I made it on the 13.5 hour plane ride in a daze.  My love for Korean Air is vast and bottomless.

Mom and Brian picked me up from the airport.  They proceeded to talk about babies for the next hour.  Mom claims that she only wants to talk about Brian's friend Elizabeth's baby, and that she won't pressure me at all for five years.  She keeps reminding me how she's not pressuring me...  Like every few minutes the first couple days, now more like once every few hours.

The rest of this first day is a little blurry.  I ate pizza and burritos and unpacked in the temporary room with the fold out couch (the basement is unfinished) and played with the shell-shocked cats in the basement and slept at odd hours.

Friday, my first full day in America, took me to an Ethiopian food cafe in Gaithersburg where I met Anne's family for a delightful lunch.  Then Anne and I hung out in the afternoon, doing some shopping and walking around a park, lamenting the absence of young children on the perfectly beautiful summer day.  Why don't kids play outside anymore?  What happened to that?

Then, her friend called to cancel, giving me the chance to attend my first EVER professional football game in America--the pre-season game between the Washington Redskins and the Buffalo Bills!  It was overwhelming (especially understanding everything that the other fans were saying all around me) and exciting (especially watching dancing girls--I mean "cheerleaders"--with actual booties to shake).  The Redskins were winning so overwhelmingly that, by the end of the third quarter, we decided to escape to beat a bit of the traffic.  I forgot how into football Americans are.  It was fun to walk through the "tailgaters"--people who showed up hours before the game to park in the lot and have cookouts out of the back of their vehicles, and to see the painted-up, jersey-wearing hardcore fans.  The whole thing reminded me of World Cup in Korea, but more intense because we were actually in the stadium.

Sadly, because I didn't know we were going to do anything super cool and because my brain was (and still kind of is) total mush, I forgot my camera.

Saturday, I was lazy and tired and our internet blew out.  I hung around the house.  Helped Elizabeth's husband, Mike, to mud (fill in the cracks with putty) the dry wall in the room in the basement where Min Gi and I will live temporarily (when it's finished).  Cooked dinner (corn on the cob, mac 'n cheese, bread, fruit salad).  Just tired and lazy and super jet lagged.

Sunday, I was still exhausted, but I was supposed to go to the fair with Anne and Sam.  This did not happen. But I did kidnap Sam from Baltimore in the afternoon and then cooked pizza for everyone at home (including Mike and Elizabeth) and then had a complete breakdown after dropping Sam off at home because when I got back to the house (8:30 pm), I was dead tired, operating on patchy and limited sleep, dealing with the fact that our guests were sitting just outside my "bedroom" so I couldn't go to bed (and all the other beds were currently occupied), and I hadn't talked to Min Gi in two days because of the internet problems.  I just sort of fell apart and started crying and felt really bad and embarrassed about the whole thing.  Jet lag is very evil.

This morning, I've had nearly a full 8 hours (first time in days), took a long walk/jog (I have got to remember how much better I feel after exercise), met a new man in our neighborhood who complimented me on my appearance post-workout (haha), and have internet on my very own computer (so I FINALLY know that Lauren won SYTYCD Season 7).  Finally, things are looking up.

Now... if only I can get hired!

Ok, Korea... what do you want from me?

With about 24 hours to go before I hop on the plane to DC (which explains the lack of updates, btw), Korea's trying to send me a message about my leaving, but I can't figure out what it is, yet. Here are the news events from the last few days that are just... bizarre:

1. My school was hit with a major round of food poisoning, cancelling all my classes on Monday. The cafeteria is now out of commission until further notice.

2. The day after we leave Jeju (yes, tons of pictures and blogging from that to come) to return to Daegu, it's hit by typhoon Dianmu. A major one (and the rains from it have made it up to the mainland now, too) that closed down all the airports. Hopefully it will have passed through Korea by tomorrow and not be affecting Incheon... Sheesh.

3. A bus exploded in Seoul Monday, injuring 17 people. It's so crazy because nothing like that had happened to these buses before and now everyone's worried about the safety of these buses that run on natural gas.

4. North Korea. I really don't know if I need to say more since the situation is so charged up right now that it's actually making the headlines in the U.S. again.

So... is 우리나라 telling me to go or to stay or to do a silly dance? Dunno. I'm just trying to go about my business of getting everything done and packed and saying goodbye to as many people as possible without weeping hysterically (Ohmma almost broke me down last night when she started crying and agreed to visit the U.S. for the first time) before we hop the 3 am bus to Incheon with two cats.

Thankfully, my wonderful husband is willing to do the round trip with me to Incheon (five hours in a bus each way) to ease the process of checking in the cats and to say goodbye melodramatically as we separate for the next month.

But for now, I have to go meet Se Jin for coffee. On about 4 hours of sleep with the rain pelting down... Korea... I'll miss you, though you seem to be pouting like a spoiled child at my departure.

Place your bets here...

Well... I'm starting to think that my reverse culture shock (yes, this actually happens when people re-integrate into their home culture) is going to be pretty bad. Why?

I keep thinking stuff like:

"Korea and America aren't that different. When I was home on vacation last summer it was all basically the same."

"I can get by without a car. Did without a car for three years here. No problem!"

"America's boring. Nothing new or surprising."

"Korean kids and American kids are pretty much the same. I'll be fine in an inner city Title One school (or conversely, a high pressure academic IB or AP filled school). No sweat."

"I can keep up my hiking very easily in America!" (especially funny in combination with my second thought)

"I'm sure I can save a lot of money. It can't cost THAT much to live in the U.S. There've got to be non roach-infested apartments in the greater DC area for less than $1200/month, right?"

At least these are the thoughts I can CATCH myself making that I know are blatantly false. I probably have hundreds of other thoughts setting me up for major reverse culture shock that I'm not even aware of how wrong they are.

Fact is, I've lived here three years and adapted to life pretty damn well. I'm dandy with the ketchup and mustard in bag-like "bottles." With the sharp, metal chopsticks for salad (heck--it's EASIER now than using a fork). With only understanding about 50% of what's going on around me (and then only if I choose to listen to it... it's easier to tune out here). With kids staring and pointing and shouting "hi" without there being something freakishly wrong with my appearance. With the smell of kimchi and food trash in the summer. With being taller and bigger than the majority of women and about 60% of men. With concrete block apartments where you can smell your neighbor's cooking. With people drying their clothes and linens and red peppers on the rooftops. With exercise parks at the tops of mountains. With assigned theater movie seating. With parking people in and leaving a cell phone contact number on your car. With calling cell phones "hand phones." With the limited selection of Western groceries. With super-futuristic interior design and lots of high-tech gadgetry. With "maybe" meaning "probably," and "I think you should..." from your boss as an order. With the different logic of the traffic. With people bumping into you and the lack of personal space. With casual nudity in shower rooms. With OTC drugs not sold at convenience stores and snacks/hygiene products not sold at pharmacies.

At some point all of these things were annoyances or surprises. I don't even think about them these days (I mean, I did just now... for this post... but well, you know what I mean). There are other things I'm sure I'm so used to at this point I've probably forgotten that they're different.

I know (KNOW) that I'm going to have to work really hard not to always say "Well in Korea they BLAH BLAH BLAH," more than 3-4 times a day. It's ok for Min Gi to say it--he's from Korea--but my co-workers, friends, family members, and students are going to get mighty sick of it pretty darn fast.

So, blog readers, I guess what I'm saying is that returning to America's going to be a pretty big adventure, too, now that I'm three years out. I don't know who this Justin Bieber character is and care more (right now) about the sinking of the Cheonan and nuclear threats from the North than the protesting of BP or the "tea party" nonsense. It's going to be a little rough...

Now's the time to place your bets on how long it will take me to have my first major culture shock meltdown in America... Get while the getting is good! (My bet would be that it's a good month or two before my husband has any signs of culture shock... haha.)

Goodbye Lunch with the Kwons...

With one of my nieces (third sister's daughter) and the "baby" teddy bear I brought her as a goodbye.
I have not been able to see my Korean family much this year. Between my 언니 sister (aka best Korean gal-pal), Se Jin, being extremely busy with her responsibilities at work, buying her first apartment, and a sort-of friend of the male variety in Seoul and my illness, wedding, and impending move, making time to hang out with her, let alone her wonderful and accepting family that made my first impressions of Korea and Koreans so positive, was nearly impossible. I think we've hung out only five or six times since September, and I have not seen any of her extended family at all.



Amazing spread of food with my Korean father. I can only look at the prowess of my Korean mom's cooking skills in awe. Perhaps one day, my ajumma skills will begin to approach this level, but I seriously doubt it.
However, I was very lucky to attend a goodbye and good luck lunch celebration at her new (fabulous apartment), prepared by her (my) Korean mother (entirely vegetarian--wow!) in my honor. Se Hoon (the brother) prayed for my safe return and for my father's health. Mother and Father hoped I would return to Daegu soon and always come to visit them.



Korean Mama, me (their fifth daughter, 권다인), and Korean Papa Kwon.
This family has taught me the depths of hospitality and kindness--not just for Koreans, but for any humans. I cannot imagine my Korean life without them. After the parents left for their country home in Yeongcheon and the brother's and sister's families cleared out for the rest of their Sunday afternoon activities, Se Jin and I gossiped in the rain, and I cried a little at not seeing them again for so long. But then Se Jin reminded me that we are family--and her house is always open to Min Gi and I when we come to visit Korea, just as my house in America would always be open to her or any members of her family who wished to visit.

Saying I'll miss them is the biggest understatement I can imagine. Being away from them will almost be like being away from my own family has been over the last three years. My heart already aches with the thought. And I have nothing but inadequate words for my gratitude. All I can hope is that I will remember always to be as accepting and open with strangers and travelers as they have been to me.

Crossing Off To-Do Lists

I tried to write about saying goodbye to my students at Taegu Foreign Language High School. But I was unable to do so at this time. It's been very emotional. Even just mentioning my goodbye meals with my co-workers at TFLHS is getting me a little choked up. Some of these men and women (especially the women) are the smartest, hardest-working teachers I know. Even when I disagree with them (or they with me), I thoroughly respect their point of view and their professionalism. Although it's not like saying goodbye to Roosevelt, which was my first teaching job and first professional career post college, it's still tough.


At the goodbye luncheon with the English Department; My present is a Korean cookbook in English.

I've been here two years. In that time I've learned a lot about negotiation, bureaucracy, cultural nuances, testing, and assumptions. (Yes, I learned some of that at Oedae, but honestly, the hagwons are run like businesses more than schools, and I was lucky enough to work for an American director which insulated me from a lot of the workplace cultural differences). These things were always a part of teaching in the U.S., but experiencing them in another country has made them more transparent to me. A lot of foreign teachers come to Korea without having taught before, so perhaps their perspective is a little different, but I have to say that even if I never return to an international position, the things I've learned here will change how I approach teaching forever.

Rather than deal with emotional enormity of leaving my students and my position, I've chosen to focus today on the necessary tasks I must complete before I board the plane out of here in 23 (really? REALLY?) days and return "home" (or rather, repatriate). I would say that it's amazing how entrenched I've become in Korea and my life here, but those of you who know me know that it's hardly surprising that I dug right in and made myself at home. For the last year, I've been slowly moving towards minimalism and so I'm not really surprised by the amount of things I've collected here (as I've been increasing my awareness of and trying to let go my connection with stuff), but organizing, packing, and preparing it does rekindle memories of Korean classes and taekwondo belts gone by.

And so, my nose is to the grindstone (as it were), and my heart is in nostalgia-ville (visiting its cousins, the tear ducts, from sentimental-town). It's a process. Ever circular, but ever forward. Especially circular as the woman whose job I took when I first arrived in Korea three years ago, Jane, landed in Korea yesterday to return to her old position. I believe I may return some of the things she gave me to their original owner (who'd have thunk it?).

I started this journey alone, with my cat and vague hopes for the future. I'm returning with a husband, another cat, a black belt in taekwondo, thousands of pictures, many more memories, and a lot of love and respect for a country that will now always be another "home." Life can change a lot in three years, or not at all. In the end, it's not what happens to you--it's who you are.

Enjoy some pictures of the students I can't write about or I'll start crying:

English Theater Festival at 외고 2010

Contributing Writer to Joongang Daily

Well, this has been a very emotional week for me, and I want to write about it all. However, I've also come down with the flu. So I will give you a few highlights:

--We held the second English Play Festival at our school (I mentioned last year's festival in brief). I wrote an article for the Joongang Daily that ran on Friday about our schools English Play Festival. You can read "Students learn English through acting in Daegu," which is my attempt to keep some things foreign teachers do in Korea in a positive light. William wrote a much more detailed and emotional view of our brainchild over at his blog. I will put up my own thoughts and feelings about this later when I can do so without being reduced to an emotional puddle of goo.

--Saja likes to chase her tail. She does this daily for about 10 minutes. It's very entertaining, so I will share my 30 second clip of it with you:




I will fill you in on more happenings (of which there are many) in short order. For now, back to bed with more medicine.