"Behold, I am making all things new." - Jesus

January 26, 2006

New year...new directions...new challanges...new dreams.

The website has undergone a facelift of sorts but, rest assured, it’s still the same me.  I have returned (sort of) to Canada, from my year spent teaching English in South Korea, and am starting a new chapter of life and work with Youth With A Mission (YWAM).  YWAM is an international, interdenominational, Christian organization that operates in different realms of society and culture around the world.  In their own words, “We are people of all ages, from all 149 nations.  We are united in our common passion to know God and to make Him known”.

YWAM Toronto, the base I am working with, has been operational for just over a year and has already sent out two Discipleship Training Schools (DTS) to various corners of the globe: Switzerland, Holland, Egypt, and the Carribean.  My role as “downtown facilitator” will be to see Toronto come to its full potential.  I hope to update this site as my adventure with YWAM continues. 

Right now I am not in Toronto, however (“More’s the pity.”), but in the UK.  I will be traveling around England and Scotland over the next six weeks, researching other YWAM base, ministries and individuals in hopes of getting ideas for what we can do in Toronto.

Snagged from a lengthy email written to a friend of mine (thanks, Chantal, for letting me share the wealth!), here are the details of my European pilgrimage:

Amsterdam
I first flew into Amsterdam, last week, to spend six days meeting up with the Discipleship Training School students who left from our (Toronto’s) base a few months ago and are now on outreach.  I spent most of my time talking with my base director, Anderson, who came along on a pastoral visit, falling in love with Amsterdam (yes, it even beats Brighton and Edinburgh, after much deliberation), and meeting with a lot of the students – most of which are signing up to be staff when they’re finished their school, so we’ll all be co-workers!

• See Pictures page for photo album.

Brighton
Although I had originally planned on staying there for (well, four months ORIGINALLY, originally planned, but that plan was out the window while I was still in Korea) a week and a half, I found out that the entire base of staff and students were going on outreach to Germany the EXACT week and a half that I wanted to hang out.  So, instead, I spent the day on Saturday with the base director, a  cool guy named Joel, peppering him with questions and getting lots of info while we sat and ate at a café in Brighton...  *sigh*  I forgot how much I lurved that city.

• See Pictures page for photo album.
  

Holmsted Manor
The base where I originally did my DTS six years ago (eep!) feels more like a home-away-from-home than an exciting adventure.  I have my room, my bathroom, my wireless internet, my books, my music...  I rarely go outside because it’s SO COLD.  Although today I traipsed around the property and surveyed the gardens, ponds, football pitch, etc.  Things haven’t changed very much since I was here in 2000, which makes me feel as though I have changed a great deal.

• See Pictures page for photo album.

London
Next week, I will be bidding Holmsted adieu in favour of staying with a good friend of mine from DTS, Shay, in London.  She got married almost right after DTS (eep!), has a 2-year old (double eep!) and is pregnant with her second baby (triple eep!).  While at her place, I’ll be helping out with the babysitting, chatting with Shay and sipping tea, and using their place as a home base from which to explore London.  I hope to revisit the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square which is where I first spotted an amazing painting in the east wing, called “Memorial Service for Kaiser Friedrich at Kosen” by Max Liebermann (the last picture attached to this email), that made me start thinking about having a wedding in a forest.  I will also be meeting with two pastors (one from an organization called “Street Pastors in Kingston”...very cool) and a chick who is the 24/7 Prayer CLUBBING MINISTRY coordinator for the UK.  How cool is that?  I’ll let you know it goes.

• See Pictures page for photo album.
  

Warwick
Apparently, only an hour or so from London, and the location of another YWAM base called “King’s Lodge”.  Holmsted, King’s Lodge, and Harpenden are the three largest YWAM bases in the UK.  I happen to know the director for overseas missions there (nice title, eh?) from when I lived on a YWAM base in Cambridge, Ontario as a child.  I’ll be staying there (it’s a large mansion like Holmsted, so it should be nice) for about a week, and hopefully making a little trip to Oxford, if I can manage it, to see the pub that JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis hung out and chatted in.  *sigh*

• See Pictures page for photo album.
  

Merseyside
Located between Liverpool and Manchester, I’m told, and is where another friend of mine from Cambridge currently lives...although she used to live in London, which would have made things easier (although, this way, I get to see another part of England).  Three days, tops.

York
YWAM base number four on my adventure, and home to a guy named Carl who not only dreamed up some frontline youth ministries that have spread across the UK, but also happens to be an amazingly cool guy.  I met him while I was on DTS at Holmsted, but he and his wife were transferred to YWAM York a few years ago.  Another stunning base.  You should check out all these bases online – sometimes I really wonder how YWAM manages to acquire such incredible pieces of propery...  I guess it’s God.

• See Pictures page for photo album.
  

Ayrshire
Yes, finally, after six years, I will set my eyes upon the famous YWAM Seamill base: a castle nestled between mountains and the ocean.  This notorious base has been the stage for many a drama in my life, namely the cancellation of the School of Intercessory Prayer (SOIP) that I had my heart set on attending for SIX YEARS.  The good news, however, is that I know a couple at this base too (I’m well connected, eh?...I find it amusing...), originally from Holmsted as well, and have the opportunity to also meet with Mariette Louw.  This woman was a speaker on my DTS and spoke on spiritual warfare and intercession.  I can’t even explain to you now how much she influenced and intimidated me.  I just hope I can keep my bladder under control when I sit down to talk with her. 

St. Andrews
My outreach leader from DTS, Renata, from Canada, recently married a guy who is doing his masters in creative writing at St. Andrews.  This is an unabashed social visit.

Edinburgh
My final destination and the original thief of my heart: Edinburgh.  I will be staying IN LEITH, which is exactly the district of Edinburgh where I stayed in 2000 for the YWAM theater evangelism school after DTS.  I have many a memory stored up in the streets of Leith (a bit of trivia: the boys who wrote “500 Miles”, The Proclaimers, are from Leith).  I am here for a friend’s birthday (another ex-staff member of the YWAM base in Cambridge), which is extending throughout the ENTIRE WEEKEND.  Pub on Friday, dinner and dancing on Saturday, brunch on Sunday.  It’s her 40th, and should be quite a show-down.  I fly home from Gatwick on Monday, March 6th.

"I come to you now at the turn of the tide..."

December 25, 2005

As you may already know, by reading my home page, the Official Two-Year Plan (a la Sarah) has been replaced with a strangely sovereign Plan, a la Someone Else.  We'll see where this path leads me, as doors have definitely been closed and others have definitely been opened.  It gives me a great feeling of excitement and wonder to be aware that I am looked after...and that changes made to the Two-Year Plan will also mean changes to me and my lifestyle.  For the better.

Below is a mass email that I sent out to a few friends and relatives to update them on some of these changes.  I hope that your questions are answered by reading it and, as always, to contact me directly, you can do so by sending me an email at warriordancer@hotmail.com.
__________________________________________________________________________

It’s true. Although some (including myself) can’t believe it, a year has
already passed since I left Toronto for Korea.

Skipping around Pyongchon, teaching the little kiddies (one of whom has
written me since my departure to tell me: “I am sad now that you left my
bosom ”), shopping at stores that specialize in petite sizes, traveling the
country on weekends, and hanging out with some of the best people in the
world is how I spent most of 2005. Korea was good to me in many ways,
including emotionally and spiritually, and it will be a time in my life that
I will look fondly on in years to come.

After my contract was finished, and the good-bye parties had all run out, I
boarded a plane from Korea to Tokyo, then had a stop-over in Tokyo for eight
hours, was bumped from economy to business class from Tokyo to Honolulu
(“Champagne or orange juice, miss?” “Champagne, of course…”), then flew to
Maui where I spent six days with friends on the Youth With A Mission (YWAM)
base in Paia. The weather was scrumptious and I was able to see a lot of
the island, including a day of “surfing” (let’s just say, I’m better apt to
wax poetic than wax a surfboard…) at Launiopoko Beach, a drive up Haleakala
Mountain, and a motorbike tour of the East Maui Mountains on the way to
Lahina. If you haven’t had a chance or excuse to go to Hawaii yet, make
one. You won’t be disappointed.

From the 30 degree weather (that’s about 86 Fahrenheit for you others out
there) in Hawaii, I flew out of Honolulu to Minneapolis, from Minneapolis to
Detroit, and from Detroit to snow-covered Toronto. Once jetlag had subsided
and my equilibrium had returned to normal I was able to venture out and meet
up with friends that I had not seen in over a year. Much coffee was drunk.
Many hours were consumed with chatter. Traipsing around downtown helped me
to re-orient myself with the city that I love. Who knew that the Marché
changed its name? Why are there so many new condos along the Lakeshore?
Does H&M look out of place on Bloor to anyone else? And where DID all this
snow come from?

I was also able to visit the various places of ministry that I had worked
with prior to Korea and was interested to see that both the Toronto Airport
Christian Fellowship (TACF) and The Meeting House have started locations in
the downtown core. Tehillah is still up and running, as is Freedomize and
there seems to be a heightened desire to direct attention to the city of
Toronto proper as opposed to the suburbs – where many ministries have
benefited from tactical “beachheads”. This latest move towards the inner
city has not been overlooked by the fledgling YWAM Toronto base, which is
where I have recently begun as a staff member.

The YWAM base director, Anderson, and his wife, Cynthia, came over from
Barbados with their two kids and started the base out of a hotel in Port
Credit, Mississauga. When I went to meet with them last week they shared
with me their vision to have me working downtown; amusingly, I foresee
myself drawing on my knowledge and training in event coordinating (from the
year spent with the Television Bureau of Canada before I went to Korea) in
this new “downtown facilitator” role. Seems as if there has been precise
purpose in many of the choices I have made along the road…some of which I
have considered to be arbitrary until now. I heard it best said recently:
“God is magic.”

Mid-January I will be leaving for Amsterdam with Anderson and someone from
The Dam Youth Drop-In in Mississauga, to see how inner city projects are
carried out on the YWAM base there. From Amsterdam I plan to travel through
the U.K. to meet with various people and ministries – both YWAM affiliated
and not – as part of a “self-inflicted internship”. My desire is to pick
the brains of people who have been serving in missions for much longer than
I have, to learn of the pitfalls, to gain perspective, to glean wisdom, and
to humbly ask for prayer and advice. Starting from the south, I hope to
hit:
• the Brighton base (where they specialize in 24/7 Prayer, pubs/clubs
ministry, and outreaches to the homeless)
• Brighton & Hove, Christian Outreach Center (C.O.C.)
• Holmsted Manor base, Sussex (the YWAM base where I did my Discipleship
Training School in 2000)
• Higher Vibe ministries in London
• King’s Lodge base, Warwickshire
• York base, York
• Seamill base, Ayrshire
• Edinburgh, for a family friend’s 40th birthday (and also a visit to the
base in Leith where I did a theater evangelism course in the summer of 2000,
after my DTS)

I am expecting to be back in Toronto at the beginning of March and move into
the hotel base community in Port Credit. I’ll be serving wherever they need
me, gaining clarity about what needs to be done in Toronto, and enjoying
some much needed bonding time with the other YWAM Toronto staff members. My
memory of sleeping on the couch at the girl staff house in Paia, Maui and
hanging out with them is still so fresh and comforting in my mind that I am
looking forward to my time in Port Credit with a particular fervor. If God
opens doors that no man can open, I’ll be moving into the city core in the
fall of 2006 along with other YWAM staff members who have a particular
calling for the downtown area. Ongoing prayer concerning confirmation,
revelation, and provision will no doubt occupy my/our time until then.

If you’re still reading, then I commend you for your tenacity. Extra bonus
points will be given to anyone who can recite, my memory, the update in its
entirety.

• To those who find themselves living in Great Britain: Send me an email and
I’ll do my best to pay you a visit while I’m over.

• To those who find themselves (still) in Korea: I ROVE YOU GUYS. I miss
you all excruciatingly and can’t wait until we’re in closer proximity to
each other.

• To those in Maui: You have no idea how lucky living in paradise really is
until you’re suddenly…ankle-deep in snow. I am very fond of your island and
miss your relaxed way of life.

• To those in Toronto: Stay tuned for a local email regarding a new *gasp*
cell phone number for yours truly. Yes, it must be a mark of the
apocalypse. Until then, 416-698-8176 is my parents’ number where I will be
until January 12th.

• To those in various other locations around the globe: If you have a few
hours to kill (this took about one and a half), send me updates of your own
because I’m always curious to hear what you’re up to.

And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the
Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
(Romans 8:27)

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight.
Love,
Sarah

"September tries its best to have us forget summer." Bern Williams

September 17th, 2005

With a little more than two months before my feet hit home soil, I look back on a year spent in Korea.  It has been very good...and very long.  But I'm not home-free quite yet, so I'll indulge you all in a little retrospective glance at the past few weeks.

Thailand
On August 24th, a friend of mine, Ally, and I hopped aboard Thai Airlines and flew from Incheon Airport first to Hong Kong and then to Bangkok, Thailand.  We were met at the airport by a YWAM staff member who informed us that plans had changed, and we were taking yet another flight - this time southwards, near Phuket.  Unfortunately, the next flight south was six hours away so Ally and I amused ourselves at the domestic airport for...six hours.  Magazines and tea abounded.  As did conversation.  And if anyone needs a personal tour of the airport in Bangkok, let me know.  I know it intimately.

Once we had joined the rest of the team (of seven, in total - we were there to volunteer with the post-tsunami efforts), the adventure of Khao Lak began.  Only an hour north of Phuket proper, Khao Lak is dependant entirely on the tourist flow that it once enjoyed.  Since the tsunami, its resorts have been devestated and the entire community works 24/7 with rebuilding.  Economically, I still don't know how they have survived at all - the streets, shops, and beach is like a ghost town and the only foreigners seen are those there to volunteer, not to pour vacation money into cocktails by the shore.  Facts like these made it easy to visit a Thai massage place near where we were staying for full body massages...something that we would have done anyway, for fun, but most of us gave twice the price for the service to help the ladies out.

Our time in Khao Lak was spent digging latrines for a building project, picking up garbage at a refugee camp, and visiting a preschool where many of the local tsunami orphans were now being taken care of.  There was plenty of time for shopping and lounging on the beach as well, but the memory of what damage a giant wave can inflict on a country is what remains in my mind. 

We took a 12 hour bus from Khao Lak to Bangkok where the team flew out of Bangkok airport on the 29th.  I myself took a bus, another bus, a ferry, and a pickup truck to a place called Jep's Bungalows on the island of Koh Samet, about 4 hours from Bangkok.  I had always thought that movies and photographs of Thailand were exaggerating - somehow doctoring the images to make the sky clearer, the sand whiter, the sea bluer - but they're not.  I only stayed on the island for 24 hours, checking into a room one evening and out the next morning, but it stole my heart away.  I'd go back in a moment.

After an episode at the airport, which included a stand-by ticket switch (I had showed up 12 hours early for my flight and decided to wait around for an earlier flight with room to spare...which I got in just under 3 hours), an hour spent in an immigration line, a dash for the plane itself with various security personnel on radios asking me, "Ah you Salah Huntah?  They ah waiting for you....LUN!  LUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN!", I flew from Bangkok to Seoul in one easy trip.  Although squeezed between a British and a Korean business man, the flight was enjoyable.  I thoroughly recommend Thai Airlines to anyone. 

September
Now that my favourite season is on its way, I return to thoughts of home.  My friend from Toronto, whom I met at Muskoka Woods last summer, is arriving here in Pyongchon next Friday to start her year contract at the same school that I am teaching at.  It will be nice to see a familiar face around...chances are, we won't eat or sleep for the first 24 hours of her time here in favour of chatting each other's heads off with updates. 

For those of you wondering, the North Korea trip didn't pan out as expected.  The dates of the trip were changed due to the travel agency and the school that I work at only allowed us three of the four days as holiday.  Perhaps another time...

From The Classroom:

• "ramonade" - lemonade
• "mecaleranjelo" and "rafaelo" the famous Italian artists
• "fercect!" - perfect (as in, 10 out of 10 on a vocabulary quiz)
• I have two students in the same class named Ji-Hoon (boy) and He-Joon (girl).  They don't appreciate being confused, but it's natural for me to have difficulty.  They don't understand why.
• "Haily Poto" - yes, that's right: Harry Potter
• "leehuhseul" - rehearsal
• "lock and loll" - ROCK AND ROLL!
• "arpabit" - alphabet
• And, written as an answer to a homework assignment: "Because dog's excrements will pollute the air so he doesn't want them in his garden."
  

Drawn & Quartered

July 27, 2005

Before we begin, make sure to check out the photo albums I have recently posted which will update you visually, should you chose to skip the beauty of literature (shame on you.). Incidentally, I have divided this update up into bit-sized pieces, complete with titles for scanning purposes. You're welcome, Mr. Bulgin.

Retrospectively, the last two months in Korea are as follows:

BIRTHDAY BONANZA
My birthday weekend, as you know, was spent at Chuam Beach but the actual evening of June 2, 2005 was passed with eight of my closest teacher-friends. Quite unfortunately, I had been struck by the plague a few days prior and my birthday was the worst day of suffering (poor muffin!) but that didn't dampen the party spirit. I was escorted into my friend's apartment while Damien Rice's "The Blower's Daughter" (worth a listen, if you are unfamiliar) played on a computer flashing a slide show of pictures accumulated over the past eight months in Korea. I promptly burst into tears. I blame it on the cold. My friends also pitched in and purchased a new Mac mouse for the iBook that I still hadn't received at that point...

THE CHRISTENING OF "BABY"
...but it arrived on July 12th, 2005, weighing a healthy 5 pounds or so. It has been a delight to have, doesn't need changing, rarely makes a noise (unless the gentle cooing of a program opening or closing), sleeps through the night, and resembles its mother in many aspects: small, cute and white, to name a few. For more Mac hype, by way of PC bashing, check this out (but, as Nik would say, "Wow. Mac users are annoying. I'm happy that you're so enamoured with the BRAND of computer that you purchased.")

YOU WIN SOME...YOU LOSE SOME
Sadly, on the day that Baby came into my life, my bike and my SECOND wallet were stolen. The former by an unknown villain, and the latter by my very own student. Again. As pupil enrollment is paramount, no charges were made and the little darling is trotting around with about $150 of my money...somewhere. The bike, however, was replaced with a much more fun one (nicknamed a "grampa bike" as they make the rider sit in a very upright position, have small wheels, wide handlebars, and make it virtually impossible to look "cool" whilst riding them...they also fold in half, if desired, to make it easier to take on public transportation or pack into a car trunk...I have yet to see its equivalent in Canada). I'm almost grateful that the first one was nicked. In addition to this little perk, my new apartment has managed to be MUCH nicer than my old one...

FLAT SWEET FLAT
...although I swear it has less square footage, my belongings seem to fit extraordinarily well and with room to spare. I have also acquired a loveseat (an upgrade from my overstuffed chair), an old cherry-red bass guitar (a roadside find), a wicker lamp stand, a much classier dining room table (not that the other orange plastic, circa 1970, isn't cool...just not in line with the rest of my decor), and a large pile of things from friends of mine who are finished their contract and wanted to get rid of "extras" (in the mix: spices, Aveeno moisturizer, stand-up fan, rice cooker, blank CDs...reminds me of the Land of Forgotten Dreams from "Labyrinth"). I invited the posse over for a housewarming party which went quite well...

PAR-TAY IN ROOM 204
...the candles were lit, the food was prepared, the music was kicking, it was 8:30 p.m. (official starting time) and the only guests present were Hansi and Dusi, my two hamsters. One of the benefits of my move is that my two best friends, Matt and Andrew, live across the 3-foot landing from me in room 201 and 202. They complied with my whimperings and got the party started and we were shortly joined by Jessica (England), Jaime (Canada), Donna (Australia), and Richard (New Zealand). For those of you following my stories with particular zeal, these are the same characters who starred in the camping trip to Jirisan National Park a few weeks ago. The same group intends on traveling again in August for the (Korean) long weekend, although I'm not sure if I'll be able to attend this time...

CLEANSING STREAM
...due to the fact that it lands on the same weekend that a class I have been taking, Cleansing Stream, is having its retreat. The class is provided by the church that I attend here in Korea, Onnuri English Ministry (OEM) at the Yangae location of Seoul, and has been running for about six weeks now. The entire program is ten weeks long and focuses on topics such as discipleship, spiritual maturity and prayer. Quite to my surprise and, later, in accordance with what I feel that God has lead me towards, I was offered the chance to lead the next ten-week class, starting in September. Conveniently, it doesn't conflict with my late-August travel plan...

THAI THINGS UP
...which consists of a week-long trip to Thailand (southern tip) from August 24th-31st. The group of people that I will be going with are teaming up with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Thailand to help out with any post-tsunami work that needs to be done - whether it be rebuilding or filing papers. As much as I wanted to join the effort when the tsunami first hit around Christmastime, vacation time and finances didn't line up accordingly. Now that I have a chance to help out and see the country for myself, I feel doubly as blessed and excited to go...

UNINTENSIVE
...but I must first conquer my second "intensive" period at YES Youngdo, the school I teach at. "Intensives", for those of you who were present to experience the cranky and delirious Sarah that emerged in the wake of the January intensive period, won't be half as stressful this time due to the fact that I opted to take only two classes instead of three. This makes my work day last from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. instead of ending at 8:00 p.m. (that's right: almost 12 hours of academic bliss). My peace of mind was worth the price of the bonus that YES offers its teachers at the end of an intensive period. It's eversostrange to leave school while still its still daylight - our normal schedule ends at 10:00 p.m. and we rarely see the light of day.

FROM THE KIDDIES: 

• in an essay: "...the Star Wars 'light bayonet'..."
• in a journal: "...my abdomen is full..."
• instead of Friday: "Flyday"
• after a kareoke bar: "I'm tone deafness."
• a tale of woe: "My jean is be torn and my knee is peel off. WOUND IS OK but scene of fall down is very shame."
• a girl's report of a stay at her friend's house: "Sang's mother watched movie with us. When we watched movie very hard she broke wind. Sang was very shy but Sue and me were stifle one's laughter. But Sang's mother didn't shy. She was laught."

Anon,
Sarah

"All at Sea"

The pictures will speak for themselves, as will their captions, so this update is merely to direct you to my Pictures page, where you can browse the documentation of my three day vacation to Chuam Beach for my birthday weekend.  It was a "Personal Retreat", as a friend of mine calls them: time to get away and regroup, to spend time taking inventory, read, write, and talk with Jesus.  The experience left me feeling that I had taken a week off, instead of only a weekend, and was blessed in every way. 

I hope you enjoy the pictures.  Chuam is rumoured to have the most beautiful sunrise in Korea and although I can't back the claim up, I would have to agree.

 

Good Rock!

May 30th, 2005

Goodness.  Has it really been almost two months since I last posted?  Horrendous.

I suppose it's my own fault for not having posted in little installments along the way, but I now find myself quite swamped with information to divulge.  This update may read frenetically as a result, and for that I apologize.  Take two Advil, and call me in the morning.

A few weekends back, a group of friends and I experienced Korean culture at its...most bizarre.  On Saturday, we took the subway to Seoul to watch the annual bullfights.  As expected, two bulls were fighting, but it was more of a shoving-pushing-head-locking type of fight.  If you have ever watched a sumo wrestling match, this was quite similar.  After two hours of sitting in the sun (the only foreigners in the stands), Andrew, Matt and I decided that we had seen enough of bullshoving and left to explore the grounds.  We discovered a Korean wedding (possibly two or more...there seemed to be enough Koreans to adequately fill eight wedding halls) and considered crashing it, but didn't.  Matt's spring allergies began to act up, so we left soon after.

Our Saturday then continued with a brief visit to the Apple computer store at COEX Mall in Seoul where I was allowed to stroke and drool over the G4 iBook laptop model that I have since purchased for myself (please refer to later in this tale).  From there, the madness continued at a hotel/restaurant called “Gimme Five” where dinner and entertainment was ours for 30,000 won (about $30 Canadian) each.  Entertainment, oddly enough, consisted of Las Vegas-esque showgirls doing musical numbers (for half the evening) and professional, K1 wrestling (for the other half).  Really.  A regulation wrestling ring cleared the stage of feathers and sequins.  Being that I was so visually overwhelmed (you try eating seafood while watching two men beat each other up), I barely touched my buffet-laden plate.

Sunday consisted of church in the morning (we – and I use “we” in the general sense…ie: my friends Dan, Matt, Andrea, Rob and I – have started attending the Onurri branch at Yangae, instead of Seobinggo), a coffee shop for lunch, and then a park.  The massive, sprawling park was more like a forest, extending for what seemed like miles in any which direction.  We tested out the famous Korean footpaths (paths made out of strategically positioned bumps, pebbles, and logs, designed to massage your feet as you walk along them) which turned out to be more painful than expected.  Around dinner time, and after our park bench nap, we discovered that, in typical Korean fashion, delivery men on motorcycles were also capable of delivering food to no fixed address whatsoever – such as a park bench.  We hailed one, ordered three plates of Chinese, and took pictures with him and his bike when he came to deliver the food not more than 20 minutes later.

A few weekends ago marked the celebration of Buddha’s birthday.  The festivities centered around Insadong, my favourite part of Seoul due to its history and Montreal-like streets and shops, where Koreans and foreigners mulled around outdoor stations.  There were lotus-flower-lantern-making classes, games, mini concerts, bags, jewelry, and clothing for sale, and booths set up for every type of Buddhism: Indian, Nepalese, Tibetan, Chinese…  The day ended in a huge lantern parade along one of the main streets in Seoul and, feeling adventurous, we watched the procession from atop an concession kiosk (mounting the beast is quite another story altogether…as was dismounting…at one point we feared that the roof would surely collapse under the weight of the five of us, but it didn’t) which was an excellent vantage point.  Many times, people in the parade would be pointing and shouting at us as much as we were of them – five “wayguks” (foreigners) perched eight feet above the rest of the crowd.

In keeping with the vertical theme, we had a rooftop party at one of the teachers’ apartments three weekends ago.  Access to the rooftop had been discovered and discussed in excited tones in the staff room for months, and a few teachers had finally decided to organize an evening out of it.  Little lanterns were set up around the peripheral, as were chairs for everyone, a coffee table, food to feed a small army, a Hibachi stove (for the chicken and steak, of course), and a laptop attached to a speaker system, to provide background music.  Over a dozen teachers attended the soir­ee and it lasted well into the night (I, not surprisingly, being one of the last to leave…well, somebody had to help take all the party paraphernalia back down to the apartments from which they came!).  A sequel is already in the making.

The computer used for the party, incidentally, belongs to friends of mine, Jessica and Jaime.  They purchased their computer, a G4 iBook laptop…only 2” different than my own, two weeks after I had ordered mine from apple.com and yet, because Jessica’s mom and step dad were arriving from Hong Kong that weekend for a visit, they enjoyed instant gratification.  For any of you who have been following my complicated birth into the world of technology (and an Mac world at that…Simeon would have it no other way), I purchased my iBook online and had it delivered to the American address of a friend of a friend of a friend.  Not joking.  This “agent” (as Sim refers to him) was originally planning on visiting his friend (yes, that would be the friend of my friend), here in Korea, at the end of May.  End of May became beginning of June became maybe in June became, well…maybe you should look into getting your computer to Korea by other methods.  This friend of mine, thankfully, has another friend (is this confusing for anyone else) who is coming to visit Korea at the beginning of July and will bring the iBook at that time…  So, I own a computer.  But it’s not anywhere near me.  Yet. 

Two weekends ago the Pyongchong Gang (Jessica, Jaime, Andrew, Matt, Donna, Richard and myself) embarked on our first Korean roadtrip.  We rented a van (which we deemed “The Party Van”) and headed off to Jirisan National Park, about 5 hours south of where we live, after work on Friday night.  We arrived, quite crazy with sleep deprivation, at 6 a.m. the following morning (Jaime and Matt being the driving troopers – both with international licenses and the ability to drive a stick shift) and set up our 8-man tent just fast enough to pass out and sleep until 1 or 2 p.m. that afternoon.  We then rose to eat.  The weekend progressed mostly along those lines – eat, sleep, eat, sleep, eat – until, on Sunday, packed up and ready to head home, we discovered that we hadn’t exactly explored (or even noticed) the acclaimed national park that we were in.  To right the wrong, we parked The Party Van by a giant valley, en route home, and spent most of Sunday scrambling along rocks, trekking forest paths, diving in cold, clear mountain pools, and running under cold, clear waterfalls.  The scenery was incredible, and the afternoon won’t adequately be represented by the pictures that I post on this site or show you in person.  Let your imagination fill in the blanks.

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for (“Bullfights, computers, mountains, yeah, Sarah, whatever…”): it’s Engrish Time! 

l       I asked a class where a particular character in a book was, and one student answered, “In a polest.”  “A polest?” I repeated.  “Polest.  Po-lest.  PO-LEST!” he confirmed.  What he meant was “forest” I later discovered.  Another victim of the “r” and “l” mixup, partnered with the “p” and “f” mixup.

l       While playing Scrabble in my senior class, I have realized that most kids guess at the more complex words they use, hoping that they’ll luck out and happen upon a 5- or 6-letter English word that they didn’t know existed.  I’ve been presented “BESTER”, “GOLFMAP”, and “PAMTO” (it’s a mix between a tomato and a potato, they explained).

l       In a Junior 6’s journal, a student lamented her weight: “I doing diet, but my fleshes are not fall!!!  so SAD.”

l       Another student, in her journal, gave her electronic Korean-English dictionary use away by using the phrase, “my filial piety…”.

l       A student stated, in a project about Britney Spears, that she was from “Lueijieina” and her favourite car was the “Car Rexus”. 

l       A student professed to have “a black tie” in Taekwondo.

l       Another wrote, “Good rock, Amy!” to herself in her journal, to boost her confidence about an upcoming test.

l       Disturbingly, one wrote, “Me and my friends play kicking a tin” in his journal, which makes me wonder about the scarcity of toys or games.

l       If students say something cheesy (which they call “butter” instead), or overly-emotional, they often use the term “chicken skin” instead of goosebumps.  One student wrote me a card for Teacher’s Day which said, “You are very good teacher and I love you.  Oh!  Chicken skin!”

l       Paradoxically to all this jumbled grammar, pronunciation, and spelling, a student from my Senior 4 class, in a very distinguished voice, asked me, “Teacher, what does ‘transfiguration’ mean?”

l       The one English expression that the kids do seem to pick up on, and at quite a young age, is “Oh my God,” from movies and television.  So much so that they use it in their writing to mark excitement, shock, or fury…but they generally write, “Oh my got” instead.

l       Koreans in general, I have noticed recently, use the words “OK” and “yes” in the opposite situations to what we would usually.  For example: “Is there a bank nearby?” “OK.”  Or:  “Get out your homework books.” “Yes.”  Emphatic agreement is marked with the exclamation “OK, OK, OK!”

l       I was greeted one morning by a white board which my Basic 5 students had used permanent marker on, instead of the dry-erase markers.  A janitor, a quart of foul-smelling chemical cleanser, and 20 minutes later, it was good as new.

Serves me right for not having updated in almost two months – this latest novel has taken me over three days in the office to complete.  I hope to be more prompt next time. 

From the other end of the sphere, this is Sarah Hunter, signing off.

 

 

Spring has sprung

April 8, 2005

I'm not sure when living in such a foreign country, millions of miles away from anything familiar or comfortable or known, became the "norm" but at some point it did.  I suppose that, given enough time, life grows the moss of mundaneness (yes, it's a word...I just checked) no matter where you are.  Not that I have minded, I merely work harder at finding little adventures along the way.

Korea's Independence Day, on March 1st, marked a four-day weekend vacation for us teachers.  Dan, Jade (a friend of ours from church) and I decided to pack our bags and set off for Jeju Island off southern tip of Korea.  The island is a popular spot for honeymooning couples (and, in this country, they are easy to spot as they have a habit of dressing in matching outfits: shirts, trousers, shoes, even watches...I saw one couple that had their sweaters over their shoulders and tied in the exact same knot) but March doesn't seem to be their predominant spawning season.  Still, one could imagine how busy the island and its landmarks would be if visited in the middle of the summer.  As it was, the weather was about 10 degrees every day (about 5-10 degrees warmer than we were used to in Seoul) and the tropical landscape - complete with orange groves, palm trees, and white beaches - was at least psychologically warming. 

We woke up at some ridiculous hour in the morning and rushed to the airport via city bus to realize that the journey that we had allotted two hours for was, in reality, thirty minutes.  There was a Starbucks at Gimpo Airport, thankfully, so the complaints were muted with hot chocolate and mochaccinos.  The flight to Jeju was only an hour which isn't enough time to properly survey the aircraft, as I am wont to do (push all the buttons, check out the little bathroom, try to push my way into business class for a peak, etc.) so instead I wrote a letter to Nik on air-motion-sickness-bag and slept.  We arrived at our hotel after taking a luxurious bus tour which first visited all the grand hotels that we would not be staying at...a bittersweet experience.  Our hotel was tucked away from the main road and enshrouded in a tangle of orange trees, with a beautiful view of Mount Halla (if not the sea coast), so, again, Dan escaped his death at the hands of two outspoken girls (it was Dan who planned the two hour "just-to-be-safe" departure time from Seoul, Dan who booked our hotel, and Dan who was moderately unsure of where said hotel actually was...still, he organized, which is a big step for Dan).

We spent Sunday afternoon/evening, Monday, and most of Tuesday visiting various waterfalls, beaches, and caves.  The waterfalls and caves were "pay as you go" (an odd concept, considering that they're natural wonders but Korea has worked out a system by which they can charge for pretty much anything they want to) which was only $1 or so per site.  I would often meander away from Jade and Dan (sometimes for hours at a time...which is why I'm grateful that they're so patient with me) to snap a few choice photographs, using my new manual camera.  The ratio of really awful pictures to almost good pictures is steadily increasing so, hopefully, be the time I return, I'll have a series of shots that I'm actually happy with.  Jeju Island is a volcanic island, formed by the (now extinct) volcano, Mount Halla.  The beaches were made of porous, black rock and the caves that we visited were actually "lava tubes" where the lava had been suddenly and starkly cooled by either water or air or both.  For those of us who were raised in the Hunter household, we will recall a treasured National Geographic video (I can still hear the "Hot, Hot, Hot!" soundtrack in my mind) that was viewed and reviewed throughout our childhood.  There was something very mysterious about the ancient volcanic rock that I stood on, and photographed, and although I couldn't properly articulate myself I loved standing where once liquid rock flowed. 

Since Jeju, I have also managed a visit to Gyongbokung Palace in Seoul and a partial hike up Gwatcheon Mountain.  The latter voyage occurred just this past Tuesday, as we received the day off in celebration of "Arbor Day" - a day for...trees.  Nature-loving Koreans are expected to plant a tree on this day but we decided to hike amongst them instead.  Unfortunately, and typically, several million Koreans had thought of the same idea.  The labourious hike ended abruptly when we realized that the original five hour summit would take us at least seven hours to reach due to the amount of stopping and getting-out-of-the-way of the torrent of people ascending and descending the mountain.  We cut our losses and rock-hopped back down, via a stream, which was considerably less crowded and more picturesque.  At one point, my friend Andrew pointed out that we could almost not hear any people at all besides ourselves.  Almost.  The main delight lay in the fact that I was seeing trees, hopping on rocks, splashing in water, soaking in sunlight and feeling actual ground - sand, grass, rock, pine needles - under my feet.  It was a first since coming to Korea, and something that I didn't realize how much I had missed until I was participating in it again.  A Muskokaless summer might be one of the most arduous tasks to fulfill...

In less epic news, my friend Matt was walking in Seoul in a crowded market with some friends of his.  One of them noticed that a car was slowly advancing behind them, so she kindly nudged Matt out of the way.  It was at this point that Matt gave out a shriek (he claims that it was a manly war cry, she swears that it was as shrill as a school girl's...I was not present myself, or I would be able to settle the matter), and calmly stated, "I always wondered what it would be like to have my foot run over by a car.  And now I know."  He revealed the tire tracks along his shoe and the story has been spreading across the globe ever since.  He reports that the sensation was excruciating at the moment, mildly uncomfortable for the next ten minutes, and then forgotten soon after.  He also believes that it should never be repeated.

As any English hogwan (Korean for "academy") teacher will tell you, the year spent abroad is often over before you know it.  I still can't believe that I have been here for four months already.  Our language often takes on the tone reserved for criminals' jail terms ("How long are you in for?", "How many more months left for you?", "What will you do when you're out?") as most of us are here as a means to an end.  The interim is laced with incredible memories, but it is difficult to conjure a stable, social utopia when your friends' reach the end of their contract before you do.  Over the past month, three teachers have finished their time at Youngdo, and two were good friends of mine (residents of Room 5 and Room 7...I being Room 6...we were a tight-knit clan).  More teachers are added to the mix in their stead, but it's never quite the same.  My only consolation (and a selfish one at that) is that the friends that I have become close to recently signed their contracts after I did so I will leave first.   One would assume that I would grow impervious to all this goodbye business, after so much travel, but I sure haven't.  And I suppose I never really will.

To conclude, tales from the classroom:

• Apologies for those who are squeamish about such things, but it is a well-known fact that Koreans (especially children) are fascinated with toilet humour.  One of the teachers here, Tyler, earned the nickname "Toilet" by my students and hasn't been able to make them stop.  The other day, my students informed me that my hair looked like "dong" (poo) because it was fixed in a bun.  In this particular case, I was able to quell the insanity by sending a few students into the hall after I began to tire of the "Dong head!  Dong head!" chorus.
• One day, while teaching a basic class about adjectives, I wrote a noun on the board and then the class brainstormed adjectives that related to that noun.  I wrote "Sarah Teacher" as the noun as a joke and, of course, the class had no shortage of adjectives ("Pretty!" from the girls, "Ugly!" from the boys, "Loud." was unanimous, as was "Crazy.", and there was a brief discrepency regarding whether I was "Short." or "Tall." which I found amusing...).  One child offered, "Not married." but I told them that it wasn't an adjective.  They tried "No boyfriend." but that was also disgarded.  I taught them the word "Single." to satisfy them and thought that the issue was finished until Matt visited the class and a student's first words to him were, "Are you single, Matt Teacher?" 
• We had been discussing pets in class when I asked if any of my students had pets at home.  A few cats and dogs were reported, but one student began to list "a dog, a cat, three fish, a hamster, an iguana..." until another interrupted him with, "Oh, I have a dinosaur."  End of competition.

 

 

Sponsors

No snow in Pyongchon

From South East Asia, another rivetting tale from Sarah Teacher...

The "Intensive" period of January is over (relief overwhelms me) and with it the 12-14 hour shifts at work.  February brought a regular teaching schedule and six new batches of students into each teacher's room.  So far, I love all of my classes (including a basic class - with children about 7 years old - that I was worried about...I think I speak far too quickly for the poor babies...they just stare at me, shocked, mesmorized, thouroughly entertained, but understanding nothing). 

To ease the pain of Intensives, I purchased two hamsters.  This may sound like a random connection, but anyone who has lived with a soft, warm animal of any kind can testify to the hours of therapy they provide.  Hansi and Dulsi (in Korean, their names mean One O'Clock and Two O'Clock - christened with the intention of naming later hamsters Three O'Clock, Four O'Clock, and so on, if the first two met an untimely death) spend most of their time squeaking at each other in anger and frustration.  I am under the impression that Dulsi (the larger one) is actually attemting to murder Hansi.  Luckily, Hansi is a fast runner.  If even on the wheel, accomplishing nothing.  When they're not killing each other, they have managed to work out a seperate eating/sleeping/wheel-running schedule that keeps the peace.

A week after Intensives, we were graciously given six days of holidays for the Chinese Lunar New Year - a welcome treat after working so much all month.  With the extra pay that accompanied the extra work, Dan and I skipped off to Yongsang (the nearby electronics market) and I purchased two cameras with the help of Dan's bartering skills.  In the end, we managed to walk away with the cameras, memory cards, cases, neck straps, and whatever else Dan could think of to sweeten the deal.  One camera (the one I nickname "my baby") is a strictly manual one because I prefer to be tactile with my creativity.  Manual lenses, real film...  The other one Dan calls my "party camera" - a small, digital camera that I will be using to put shots on my site.  As soon as I figure out how exactly to do that.  The Eve of Camera Purchasing Day was marked by a telephone call to my brother, Sim (at a ridiculous hour in the morning...sorry, Sim) to tell him of the good news.  I knew he would appreciate it.

The rest of the holiday was spent shopping (Korean fashion leaves much to be desired...the 80's are alive and well...) and sightseeing, including a trip I made by myself to the famous COEX Mall Aquarium in Seoul.  A friend (Jess) of a friend (Amy) of a friend (Josh) came to stay for 24 hours as her flight from Canada to New Zealand had a stopover in Seoul.  Never having met her before, we got along famously (a fellow YWAMer, so the affinity was evident), skipping around town - eating Korean food, visiting Suwon Fortress, and attending a traditional, Korean New Year's meal at a friend's house.  I informed Jess that she was getting more of a taste of Korea in 24 hours than I have had in two months!  Thouroughly Korea-fied, we bid her farewell at the Express Bus Terminal in Seoul and she has sent me an email reporting that she has arrived safely back home, in N.Z.

One of the games that we played at the New Year's party was a Korean game called Yootnori.  Difficult to explain on screen, but I intend on purchasing a set from Insadong to bring home so that I can promote it in Canada.  We perfected our skills on New Year's day and then my friend, Jade, and I went on to be on the winning team during a championship game at Korean class.  We won two bars of soap.

Korean class has been amazing, and I've graduated from the really, really pathetic class to the moderately pathetic class.  We're reviewing things like the Korean alphabet and simple formation of words.  I can read anything in Korean...but the process of actually knowing what I'm reading is quite another question.  Our teacher, Jong Moon, spent the majority of one class pointing to each of us at a time to hear us pronounce Korean vowel sounds.  A Korean himself, Jong Moon makes the typical mistake of pronouncing the English "v" sound as "b".  It was difficult to keep a straight face as he asked each of us, in turn, "Can I hear your bowel sounds?  Good!  And now your bowel sounds?  Excellent!"

I have also started taekwondo classes.  Well, my first class was only just this morning.  I'm incredibly...stiff.  My training in dance has put me ahead of the game, increasing my flexibility and ability to kick high and hard (just think "Cabaret"...with clenched fists), but the poor teacher is appalled at my pointed toes.  I guess pointing one's toes does not lend itself to the stature of intimidation that one is attempting to acheive when one is perfecting a martial art.  That, and I keep turning my feet out.  Like an awkward mix of Swan Lake and Kung Fu.  Tonight, a few of us girls are going to a local women's sauna (like a spa back home) to melt the pain away.  Quite another story altogether, the sauna experience.  Let's just say...I thought that I was stared at by Koreans when I was clothed...

A new teacher has joined our posse in Pyongchon, a Christian from Vancouver who knows Dan's girlfriend, Allison.  We visited him on his second day, made sure he knew where the nearest restaurant was, and otherwise tried to make his transition as smooth as possible.  As opposed to jumping into an Intensive schedule in the second month of teaching, like SOMEONE I know.

Before I sign off with some Funny Class Moments (I keep receiving emails that say you enjoy them, so I'll keep sending them), keep in mind that my schedule is now 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. (Korean time) in case you want to phone.  Still no answering machine (sorry!), so you either catch me or you don't.  I appreciate all your emails and phonecalls (and visits, Jess!) more than you know, even if it has been taking me a little longer to respond to the contents of my inbox.  Love you all.  Very much.

• Four giggling girls informed me, one day, that I had a "small head".  Reviving the memory of insults made to me during grade school and high school (my nick name was "95 Pounds of Fury"...in grade 12...not to mention "Polly Pocket", "Smurf" and "Munchkin"), I closed the staff room door.  Forcefully.  I was later informed that to be told that you have a "small head" (as opposed to the comparibly "rounder head" of the Koreans) is the highest compliment.  I apologized.  Profusely.
• I did a quick Jean Chretien impression for my J6 class and they loved it.  They also loved the fact that any Canadian teacher in the building, if asked, would do the exact same impression.  There are now a dozen 12 year old Korean students that twist their mouth to the side and recite, "Allo.  Welcome to Ca-na-da."
• There are now two Korean students, about 7 years old, with the names "Simeon" and "Seth" after my two brothers.  Stay tuned.  I'm getting to each of you in turn.
• One of my students, Ben, a hilarious little kid, coined the term "O-Sarah Ben Laden" and then laughed for about 10 minutes straight.
• One one assignment: "I'am waring grasses."
• On another: "My neck name is monkey."

Duckie and Bushie

January 12, 2005

Salutations.

Seems to be time for an update.  I judge the “timing” of these updates based on the little scrap of paper on which I jot things to update you about…when I run out of room on the paper it’s time to write an update.  At this point, I have a little piece of paper and two Stick-It Notes.

Let's start with the holiday vacation.  Christmas Eve, after the last class finished at 10:00 p.m., was spent at the candlelight Christmas Eve service at Onurri Church in Seoul.  Beautiful, but all the yuletide memories and feelings that I had been successfully repressing (or had been able to ignore, due to the fact that I had been teaching until the last possible minute) washed over me and I was momentarily lost in a puddle of tears.  Only momentarily.  I woke up Christmas morning and Dan came over to my apartment to open the Christmas stockings that Nik and Thea had sent with me when I left Toronto.  Undies, socks (festive, embroidered socks, nonetheless), candy, chocolate (slightly smushed), Red Rose tea (my undying gratitude!), etc.  Phone calls were made to families, and then we departed for a Christmas day brunch with the rest of the English teachers from our school.  Following the brunch, Dan and I celebrated the season by eating fried chicken and watching my extended edition of the "Return of the King" DVD. 

Although we had a fell week off for Christmas, and had many activities planned (I swear we did!), the prospect of sleeping in late, going to bed late, watching movies and staying warm was much more appealing.  In fact, in only "outing" we managed was to visit Insadong (the oldest part of Seoul) one bitterly cold afternoon.  The remainder of the week tiptoed silently by...allowing me time to process my new surroundings, my new apartment, and my new thoughts.  To quote Anne Shirley:

"I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string."

On New Year’s eve, we ate at a swanky Thai restaurant in Itaewon (the “foreigner” area of Seoul), eating TONS of food and loving every minute of it – the group of us consisted of Dan, Dan Joo (another friend from U of T), Joo’s girlfriend, Yoongee and many of their friends and then we went to the Onurri New Year’s eve service that night and counted down the seconds to the New Year together.

On the way home from the New Year's eve service, we shoved on to an overly crowded, midnight subway heading for Pyongchon.  As I was pushed on to the train by my fellow passengers I ended up bumping into the chest of a rather large (by Korean standards) young Korean man who immediately questioned me, "Where are you from?"  Half catching my balance, half supressing my shock, I answered, "Canada.  I'm Canadian."  Thus triggered a 45 minute chat with John, an incredibly intelligent, multilingual, possibly autistic 18-year-old.  John, apparently, loves Canada and everything to do with Canada.  Everything.  He has been there many times ("To Calgary when I was nine, to Ed-e-monton when I was twelve, to Oh-ttawa, to Toronto..." he recited, as he counted the cities on his fingers) and stated with complete conviction that "Canada is the best country" and that it is a "peaceful, clean and quiet country".  He also happened to know, off the top of his head, the perfect history of the Canadian hosting of the Commonwealth Games, the Olympics, and the Special Olympics (including year and hosting city), our year of Confederation, historical prime ministers (and on which bill each were posted: $5, $10, $20, $50, and$100...he had a $10 bill in his pocket, ready for confirmation), and the capital of each province.  I was also educated about his family (his brothers and sisters, all at universities in Canada, what they were studying, and for what degree they were studying for) as well as his own studies, which included learning Mandarin, French, German, English, Japanese, "and so on" (his quote).  At the end of his journey, John turned quite suddenly towards the doors of the subway, which I assumed was to signal the end of the conversation, and began counting quietly to himself, "10...9...8...7..."  Then, just as suddenly, he turned towards us again and announced, "FOURTEEN!  Fourteen hours' time difference between Seoul and Toronto.  It will be New Year's there tomorrow.  It is New Year's already in Australia.  Good-bye."  He exited the train and continued to shout "Happy New Year!" and wave to us long after the doors of the subway train closed and even as the train was pulling out of the station.  And so began the first hour of 2005...

The tradition of naming Korean students after friends back home is continuing – I now have a student named Nik and a student named Chantal.  Don’t worry, I’m here for a year.  I’m sure you will all get your turn.  Dan named one of his students “Pippin” from The Lord of the Rings, and the poor child couldn’t spell it for a week or two.

On the evening of January 8th, Youngdo had its annual New Yera's dinner for all of the Youngdo English teachers and counselors from branches all over South Korea.  On the eveing of, I bundled my dressed-up self (it's been fre-ezing here in Pyongchon recently...and a strapless, knee-length dress isn't much to keep warm in) and stepped ot of my apartment to see - SNOW!  Big, fluffly flakes of snow falling all over the streets of Pyongchon...so silent...so pretty.  I loved it.  All of the teachers from our branch piled into a bus (circa 1970, with window curtains and a kareoke microphone at the front) and drove to Seoul.  We arrived at the Continental Hotel at Coex Mall, downtown, and walked into the huge ballroom, decorated and set for over 400 Youngdo teachers and councellors.  Some of you may be aware that I was an event coordinator in my past life...and this event beat all the ones that I had previously worked on.  Beautiful lilies and white roses on ever table, the place settings were amazing, and every table was covered with gorgeous linen.  They had an ice sculpture in the lobby.  An ice sculpture.   It was fabulous.  They also hired clowns (scary) and had balloon palm trees (tacky) and face painting (precious) for the kiddies.  The food was to die for.  I piled my plate up with the contents of two long tables of catered food, only to realize that there were THREE MORE TABLES that I couldn't get to because my plate was too full already.  Sushi and shrimp and roast beef and noodles...it was heavenly.  Pictures (collected from my friends' digital cameras and cell phone cameras) should be added to this site soon...as soon as I retrieve them all.

More fun moments in class:

• I give new classes a chance to get to know me ("Teacher Sarah" is what they call me) by handing out pieces of paper that they can write a question on.  I then write the answers to the questions on the board.  Some questions have been: "Are you a gagwoman?" (the translation of which, I have been told, is "a funny person"), "How many teeth do you have?" (a question to which I didn't have the answer to right away), and "Are you vain?" (to which I replied, "How do you know that word?" - another teacher taught it to them...she informed them that she was, in fact, very vain).
• Asking my students what the babies of each animal were called, we went through cow (calf), dog (puppy), cat (kitten), bird (chick), and bear (cub).  I asked what the baby of a duck was called, and one student answered "duckie".
• As we were talking about world leaders in class, one student mentioned Bush.  I asked him if he knew who Bush was.  He replied, "Bush is a crazy guy."
• For about 10 minutes I was attempting to figure out who "Pushie" was.  My students wanted to know "what Pushie's job is".  "Pushie!  PUSHIE!!  From America!"  Ah, Bush.  Known in Korea as "Bushie".  President - they wanted the word "president".
• One day, as I was handing out essay topics, all of my male students began to compliment me at the same time.  "Teacher is so pretty!"  "Teacher is funny!"  "We love teacher!"  Catching on, I asked if this tactic worked for their last teacher (the one who claimed that she was vain) - if they began to flatter their teacher, she wouldn't give them an essay that day.  They replied that it did work.  I replied that it wouldn't work any longer.

I now find myself quite on the other side of a relaxing holiday, and smack in the middle of what Youngdo fondly refers to as their "intensive" schedule.  Which consists of us teachers being at school for 11 hours a day (8:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.) and working for 9 of those 11 hours.  But the extra $800 at the end of the month just might be worth it.

And thus ends our little tale.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...!

December 24, 2004

My loving readers.  What news I have.

Firstly, there are two girls in one class that are absolutely in love with Simeon.  In.  Love.  With.  They gaze at his picture on my desk and ask questions about him constantly: “How tall is he?  What does he like to do?  Is he popular?”  When I tell them that he is tall (well…taller than most Koreans), thin, is a skateboarder, snowboarder, is in university for engineering, is funny, and has many friends, they squeal and giggle.  “Does he have a girlfriend?”  “No,” I say.  “Why?!” they shriek.  He’s perfect!!”  So, thanks, Sim, you’re helping me teach my class more English words.  Like “handsome” and “perfect”.

A few weeks ago I was shopping in the little shops around Beomgye station when a large group of Korean school children, carrying signs and posters, spotted me.  “No smoking!  No smoking!” they were shouting in almost perfect English.  I smiled at them and then dove into a shop – their shouting and pointing, rather embarrassing (not to mention a little annoying), was attracting stares.  When I came out of the shop 10 minutes later, they were still where they had been, pointing and shouting at me again, “No smoking!”  I assumed that “no smoking” was the only English these kids knew.  Before I walked 20 steps, the entire crowd of kids (about 30 or 40 of them) had surrounded me and were asking much more in English: “Are you famous?  What is your name?  Where are you from?” etc.  Not to mention more than a few “You are very beautiful!” comments (Korea is great for self-esteem…but it might be getting to my head…).  Then all of them started asking me to autograph the palms of their hands, and I a dozen small hands were presented to my face.  Each kid tried to put their hand above the last one, so the swarming mass of hands didn’t stop moving for a few minutes.  That, and I was laughing so hard I could barely write my name.  After signing “Sarah” on most of their hands, I asked them what the posters and signs were for.  “NO SMOKING!” they all shouted, and pointed to the posters – they were canvassing for a no smoking campaign for their school.

Dan and Jared and I went out for what they refer to as “meat sweats” (the name turned me off at first too) which, in Korean, is called “bulgolgi” meat.  They take three giant slabs of beef (?...we assume it’s beef) and cook it on a grill right at your table.  After pieces are cut from the slabs, they are wrapped in a romaine lettuce leaf with other vegetables, a red hot sauce, and 1/4 clove of roasted garlic (we stunk).  SO much fun.  The waitresses were at our table almost all the time, practically feeding us, because we’re “wayguk” (foreigners) and clearly couldn’t take care of ourselves.

Ah, Christmas in the classroom.  This has been the most fun I’ve had since being mistaken for a movie star.  On the last day of classes most teachers order pizza from a local pizza shop and the class has a pizza and pop party.  After my students were adequately stuffed with junk food, I brought out the Twister board (yes, I brought Twister with me).  Oh, the blessed chaos.  Kids sprawled all over the floor, laughing their heads off, trying to remember what the difference between “left” and “right” (or, to them, “reft” and “light”).  One boy, Peter, said that this was his “best class”, meaning favourite.  Some kids brought me presents – cards, candies, little figurines, a hair clip (just one…in an envelope).  Kids that didn’t bring me anything sometimes felt bad, so they’d give me their own pencil or pen and say, “Merry Christmas”.  Dan just told me that he was given two pieces of chicken, wrapped in tinfoil.  ‘Tis the season.

Other than these tales, I’ve been spending most of my time either in my apartment, reading and writing, or shopping at Etawon with Dan and Jared (I miss my girlfriends…and my mom…boys just don’t appreciate or celebrate the joy of finding a great piece of clothing properly…or at all, really), hanging out at game shops (open almost all night – you pay to play board games, by the hour, and order snacks and drinks), and teaching my classes.  For the holidays, we have managed to borrow a DVD player for a week, Dan just purchased two huge speakers, and I bought The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the extended edition.  *sigh of complete bliss*

I miss you all a lot, and Christmas just isn’t the same in Asia – or maybe it’s not the location so much as the people that are missing from it.  I hope that you are being blessed by the holidays no matter where you are, or who you’re with, and I look forward to keeping you updated in the New Year.

God bless us, every one.

"I write the daily."

December 8, 2004

Anyang hasayo!  *check Contact page for Korean phone number update!*

Jetlag has subsided, I’m beginning to learn (and recognize) my way around Pyongchon, my students seem to like me, and the weather is beginning to feel very…Canadian.

Last week, I was introduced to the tradition of “Quiz Night” with the English teachers of YES Youngdo School.  We all went to a restaurant, drew names out of a hat for partners, and answer randomly created questions on a variety of subjects (ours were “The Simpsons”, “Beverly Hills 90210”, “Saved By The Bell”, world leaders, and Christmas).  My partner, Ryan, and I happened to win (beginner’s luck?)…some answers that put us over the top were to questions, “What is Apu’s last name?” (thanks, Sim!) and “What country did Santa originate from?” (thanks, childhood storybook!).  We won a plethora of prizes, including a cointainer of hot chocolate, a Toblerone bar, a Santa hat, and tinsel.  Unfortunately, I know have to organize the next Quiz Night by myself, such is the plight of the “winners”, as Ryan’s teaching contract is finished and he’s leaving Korea before the end of the month.

Come January, I plan on taking a few courses – a free Korean language course is being offered by a local church (Dan attends, as do many other Canadian teachers that attend the church), and I figure that I might as well struggle through their language as much as my students are struggling with English.  I’m also considering taking taekwondo lessons three times a week.  Word is, during the year that you teach, you can achieve a black belt.  That’s right: black belt.  Anyone who ever threw me into a body of water, be it a lake, pond, or fountain (and you know who you are…), beware. 

The English-speaking church that I attend here is called Onnuri and it’s in Seoul, which is about a 45 minute subway ride from Pyongchon.  Many other international teachers and visitors attend (mostly Canadian, actually, as Korea seems to prefer us to Americans…as one Korean explained, Canadians are “less uptight”…his words, not mine) so there’s a good community of people my age there.  Church services are held on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, and they’re usually either preceded or concluded with a meal out with friends. 

I managed to purchase a bike off of a departing teacher, so I can bike to and from school while the weather is tolerable, and also bought a CD player at Walmart (yes, Pyongchon has a Walmart…and a McDonald’s) so I’m living quite comfortably.  You know, minus the whole language barrier thing.  But refer to second last paragraph for my response to this minor setback…

And what would an update be without some Engrish?  It’s one of my favourite parts of teaching – the kids are so earnest in their desire to learn…so I have to try to keep a straight face when they’re speaking or I’m marking their papers in front of them.

l        It is a well-known fact that Asians often have difficulty with the “r” and “l” sounds in English, often confusing the two.  One girl, in writing about her weekly routine, wrote, “I write the daily.”  I couldn’t figure out what she meant for the life of me (the girl being too young to be a news reporter), until I realized that she meant “diary”.  Another student, by the English name of Connor, wrote “Connol” on his test paper.

l        Students often join my class with only a Korean name, and it’s our job to give them an English one.  So far, I’ve named two girls after friends back home: Kate and Thea.  Stay tuned for a Korean child named after you.

l        In an assigned essay about himself, one student wrote, “I’m forty years old.”  I assume he meant “fourteen”.  Another student used the opportunity to flatter me: “I am a middle school student, and I have one brother.  I like my teacher because, she is so kind and funny. (indebtedness)  I can spend a good time for english class.  I much better than before techer’s grammar for explanation.  I am thank you for my teacher.” [spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes are original]  I, of course, gave her a good mark.

'Tis all from my side of the globe, for now.  Hope you are enjoying the holiday season wherever you are.

Engrish!

December 2, 2004

I have decided to post my journal entries from the top down...less scrolling for you all...

Sent out in an email recently, but worthy of posting here:

I just had my favourite class - a class of 13 year olds.  They're hilarious.  Some funny Engrish-isms for you, first hand...

I showed them a picture of my brother, Simeon.  I asked them how old they thought he was.  They guessed 27.  I yelled, "27?!  No!  Too old!"  So they guessed 22.

I was listing off different items, and one kid said, "ee tee cee".  I asked him what he meant.  "EE TEE CEE!" the whole class starts yelling.  So I asked him to write the word on the board.  He wrote "E T C".  As in, etcetera. 

I asked the class what activities they like to do in the winter.  One kid said "I rike to build snow farts".  I informed them that what they meant was a fort, not a fart.  Then I made the mistake of explaining what a "fart" was.  The rest of the class was shot.

A student was ranting, "Gramma is awful.  Gramma is horrible.  I hate gramma."  I was horrified, and tried to get him to explain, when I realized that he meant "grammer" and not, as I had assumed, his grandmother.

Sponsors

Joyland

November 25, 2004    *check Contact page for Korean mailing address update!*

My darlings.  The tale.

After my father accidentally slept in on the morning of my flight (love you, dad!), we rushed to the airport and I caught my flight to Vancouver.  In-flight movie: The Bourne Supremacy.  Landed in Vancouver.  Had 36 minutes to switch flights.  Incidentally, I asked to be "bumped up" on both flights (to Vancouver and to Incheon).  The first time they said no because first class was full.  The second time they just laughed.  So...no divine favour there.

I was asked to give up my seat (which was a window seat...and I had been rather looking forward to it...) by a Korean business man who wanted to sit with his Korean business man friend.  I, too nice and too flustered, agreed.  I sat in the middle section of the plane, an older Korean woman sat to my right and there was an empty seat beside us.  Convenient, until she decided to stretch out along all three seats while I was at the washroom.  I was left with half a seat...and an older Korean woman's feet under my bum.  In-flight movies: Two Brothers, Dodgeball, and The Day After Tomorrow.  Long flight.  Especially with the Korean foot/bum thing going on.

Landed in Incheon, delirious, where a porter was waiting to pick me up.  Yes, he had my name on a sign.  He didn't speak a word of English, so the hour long drive to Pyongchon was quite silent.  When I arrived at the school it was assumed that I would want tea, food, a shopping experience, a bank, something, something, something, when all I desperately wanted was a bed.  I found Dan and there was a moment of great rejoicing (hurrah!  another blond!) as we reunited. 

I was driven to my apartment (I am in love with my apartment) by Kevin, one of the Korean school employees, and left to settle in.  Local time: 9:00 p.m.   My body felt like it was 7:00 a.m. and, by this time, I had been awake for almost 30 hours.  Bed felt good.

Rudely awakened at 10:30 p.m. by a knock on the door.  Roused self to find Dan at my door.  Torn between wanting to catch up and wanting to pass out, we talked for about a half an hour and then he went back to his apartment.

First day at work and I turned left out of my apartment, rather than right, and spent the majority of the morning/afternoon (missing the arranged 9:00 a.m. meeting time at the school)  meandering the streets of Pyongchon, completely lost.  Four hours of meandering, to be precise.  Instead of the school, however, I happened upon a local fruit market, a bank, a subway station, a few parks, a grocery store and a library.  Exhausted, I retraced my steps with great concentration and managed to find my way back to my apartment.  Made some lunch and watched Payback on TV with Korean subtitles until Kevin came to my apartment to find me at about 2:30 p.m.  Evidentally, Dan's friend, Dan Joo, who works at head office (an acquaintance of mine through U of T), called the Pyongchon branch when it was discovered that I didn't show up and yelled at poor Kevin for an hour or so, demanding that I be found.  I was found.  And driven to Seoul to catch the end of the training session.

Another new teacher, Angelika, and I went out for dinner that night to recap the morning's training that I had missed.  Again, early bedtime.  Again, a visit from Dan.

Today I walked all the way to work, by my very own self, and didn't get lost.  Go me!  Drove into Seoul again for the second day of training.  Lunch.  More training.  Traversed Seoul.  Found largest mall in Asia (score).  Mastered Seoul subway system.  Returned to Pyongchon.  Am now on internet, updating you.

A typical day here is a 2:00 p.m. start time, two hours of preperation for class, and teaching class from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.  Some teachers go out after class, but usually that happens on Fridays or the weekends, when we can sleep in.  Mornings are spent however we want (Dan takes Taekwondo lessons and Korean lessons on Saturday).  We get weekends off.

Points of interest:

• my pillow has "Joyland" embroidered on it...reason unknown
• Korean food is about $2.50 for a lunch, $5.00 for a dinner
• Koreans don't tip - I left a tip for our waitress last night and she came running out of the restaurant after we had left, caught up with us, and gave me my money back
• Korean soap operas run only 6 to 8 weeks and then are finished (you can always tell what is happening, because everyone's always crying and very distraught)
• "meum" means "hot" or "spicy" - we use this word and then make the "thumbs down" sign at restaurants
• it's about 13-15 degrees here
• if you've seen Lost In Translation you'll have an idea of the night sights - big buildings, tons of advertising, hundreds of watts of electicity and lights
• the shower is a showerhead attached to the wall of your bathroom...therefore, bathroom = shower

Well, kids, for now that is all I have to report.  I'll keep updating as things progress.  Send emails.  And try to get on MSN at, like, 8:00 p.m.

Toronto to Incheon...

November 24, 2004

I'M ALIVE! 

I don't have tons of time to write an update worthy of the chaos I have already endured since landing, but wanted to let you all know that I am, indeed, alive and well (albeit terribly jetlagged...).  To those of you that know him, Dan says hello. 

Stay tuned...when I have more time on my hands I will write an update worthy of my reader's viewing.

Prepare for Takeoff

Flight ticket has arrived: departure date is Monday, November 22nd.  A little trying...considering I'm still at work until the 19th.  Still, it doesn't give me much time to sit around and mope either, which is preferable.

Found some quotes on travel today...and wrote out my favourites:

"Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep an permanent, in the ideas of living."
– Miriam Beard

"Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers, that the mind can never break off from the journey."
– Pat Conroy

"Travel is only glamerous in retrospect."
– Paul Theroux

"When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable."
– Clifton Fadiman

"He who would travel happily must travel light."
– Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Little by little, on travels far."
– J.R.R. Tolkien

"The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast and you miss all you are traveling for."
– Louis L’Amour

 

Lady in Red

October 28, 2004

Latest purchase: 6-piece SwissGear luggage. 
Colour: red.
No mistaking my luggage while at the pick-up conveyor belt!

 

Busy Bee

October 21, 2004

Here I go...off to Korea. At present, the excitement of flying across the globe is being slightly dampened by the daunting list of things I have yet to do before I leave.

FYI:
Sarah's Going-Away Party
Still Lounge and Café
458 Queen St. W. (Queen & Augusta)
Friday, November 12th
8:00 p.m.
RSVP by November 1st