In the Land of a Time Warp

Updating my blog as often as I should, is a lost dream. I'm living in a world where there is always something to see, people to talk to, and events going on. I feel like Summer flew by without even a blink and my time in Korea will come to an end faster than I can anticipate. I am getting extremely nervous about the next step in my life because I fear that no matter what I do, it will never compare to this experience. Living in a foreign country is initially about the culture and adapting to a completely new life. Then, you become settled in this life and start building friendships and a social life that are hard to compare to relationships back home. Please don't misunderstand because I have great friendships and life-long bonds with my friends back home. However, in Korea I have been lucky enough to meet people that have become my family. We vacation, spend holidays, laugh, drink, cry, complain, and work together. I'm not sure if I will find this anywhere else. As it has been said, it is better to have loved and lost. I know that one day, I will move on and go on to another adventure and make new friends. But, the people I have met here will always be special and remain as a huge part of this experience for me. With that said, I have been very busy living and experiencing adventures that other people may only read about. Since my last post, I have celebrated Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving), had my two friends from home visit, gone to Boracay, saw a Korean Baseball game, went on a Buddhist Temple Stay, and much more. BORACAY: My two co-workers and I planned a vacation for our summer break to Boracay, Phillipines. I was extremely nervous to go because everyone told me how dangerous the Phillipines were. We were three girls traveling by ourselves to a dangerous land, so naturally I was cautious. When we arrived in Manila, we took a small plane to Caticlan, then took a ferry boat to Boracay. When we arrived on the island, a worker from the hotel picked us up and we were put into mini tricycle cabs to take us to the resort. As we were driving through the small town I became very depressed. The town was dirty, run-down, shacks for houses, children in dirty clothes and no shoes, and people cooking food on an open fire pit. I was very sad and a little concerned about how much better it was going to get. We arrived at our resort and it was very touristy and right off the beach. However, the road behind the hotel was exactly like what we had just driven through. It disgusted me to think that I was staying in a resort and eating hot meals multiple times a day, when people right across the road weren't wearing shoes. I tried to enjoy myself however, and was fortunate enough to meet many foreign teachers from Korea staying around us. We ended up having a quiet and calm vacation. However, I would never go back to the Phillipines. I never fully felt relaxed or comfortable. It was a nice time, but I wouldn't suggest going there. CHUSEOK: This holiday is a Korean holiday that celebrates family and the harvest. We had three days off from work and my two friends from home came to visit. I was so unbelievably happy to see them and show them Korea. It's very hard to try to explain Korea and the experience accurately. So, I was happy to show my friends my life and have them see for themselves. We had a great time together and saw many things. We went to museums, palaces, temples, and the fish market. They wanted to try live octopus so we went to a restaurant in the fish market and bought an octopus. They chopped him up and we ate away! It was horrible! However, it was definitely an experience that they will never forgert. Other than the touristy things, my friends also got to experience my everyday life. They came to school with me, met my students, saw my work, met my co-workers, drank outside the convienence store, and explored my little city of Ilsan. I didn't realize how happy I was that they were here until I dropped them off at the airport. I started to cry when saying goodbye. It was so great to have a little piece of home for a week because Korea may be busy with people and activities, but home is home and it's nice to have that reminder. TEMPLE STAY: I spent a weekend living in a Buddhist Temple in the mountains for Korea. We learned many Buddhist traditions and participated in the daily ceremonies. We made a lotus lantern and prayer beads to keep as well. The most interesting part was the food at a Buddhist temple. It is common Korean food, such as rice, kimchi, soup, and vegetables. However, you must eat everything that is placed infront of you because wasting food is not acceptable in Buddhism. Also, after we finished eating we had to clean the bowls with water and then drink the water! It wasn't as horrible as it sounds, but definitely not my first choice of beverage. The other difficult thing was doing 108 standing to floor bows at 5:30am. By bow number 50 I was feeling weak in my legs and in my head. However, I finished and felt accomplished. KOREAN BASEBALL: Towards the end of September, I went to a Korean Baseball game at the Olympic Park Complex outside Seoul. This is a professional baseball game and the tickets were only $10! We had great seats close to the field, but far enough away to watch the people and fans at the game. What amazed me most, is that people do not just sit, watch the game, and cheer when a good play happens. Oh no, they stand the entire time and have multiple choreographed cheers. There is a couple of cheerleaders and a hype-man that dances around with a microphone on top of the dugout. He will call out something in Korean, and then everyone in the stands starts moving their arms together and singing a chant. I discovered later that every team has these cheers on their websites and you can learn the dances and moves before the games. It was an experience unlike any sporting event I have ever been to and I am so glad I went. Now it is time to wrap up this blog. It is late, on a Sunday night and Mallory Teacher needs her sleep or the monsters will destroy her tomorrow :) I say it everytime I write a post, I can't believe how fast the time has flown. I have been in Korea, this time, for over 8 months and I still remember walking into my apartment for the first time. I still recall cleaning and setting up my new home, the first time I met my current family, and the joy of meeting my students for the first time. Here I am now, with less than 4 months to go and I wish I could slow time down in order to enjoy and appreciate it more. Until next time....