good news bad news

Ryan will be in Korea on June 24th! I'd been feeling pretty homesick and found myself counting down already. But Ryan will be here in like four weeks! I love that I now have something involving home to look forward to that isn't seven months away. Needless to say, this is the best news ever!

But there's some (sort of) bad news, too. I picked a perfect time to be going to the DMZ. I've wanted to go since before I even got here, and now, as I finally get set to go this Saturday, North Korea decides to throw a fit. I'm still going to go, but I'll probably feel completely uneasy the whole time.

North Korea Threatens Military Strikes on South
By CHOE SANG-HUN
May 27, 2009

SEOUL, South Korea — The South Korean and American militaries on Thursday raised their level of alert on North Korea, a day after the Communist North threatened a military clash.

The militaries, which include 25,000 United States troops based in South Korea, raised the alert from Level 3 to Level 2, the Defense Ministry of South Korea said. The shift involves a significant increase in reconnaissance flights and spy satellite activities, as well as more vigorous gathering and analysis of electronic data from the North for signs of possible provocations, ministry officials said.

Level 2 is the second highest level of vigilance and it is invoked when military officials fear “a grave threat” from the North, the defense officials said.

On Wednesday North Korea escalated its vitriol against South Korea and the United States, warning of a “powerful military strike” if any North Korean ships were stopped or searched as part of an American-led operation to intercept vessels suspected of carrying unconventional weapons.

South Korea agreed to join the operation after North Korea tested a nuclear device on Monday, its second nuclear test in three years. The North had earlier warned the South not to participate in the operation, known as the Proliferation Security Initiative.

“We consider this a declaration of war against us,” North Korea said in a statement carried by its official news agency, KCNA. “Any hostile act against our peaceful vessels, including search and seizure, will be considered an unpardonable infringement on our sovereignty, and we will immediately respond with a powerful military strike.”

The North Koreans also said in the statement that they “no longer feel bound by the armistice” that ended the fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War. Technically, the two Koreas have remained at war for more than 50 years, because the 1953 armistice was never replaced with a final peace treaty. The North Koreans had previously called the armistice a “useless piece of paper” and declared that they no longer felt bound by it. But they have rarely used the threat of abandoning the armistice...

Click here to read the rest, if you're interested.

unstuck in time

I spent so much money on shoes this weekend. Alex brought me to a place in Itaewon that has imported plus-size clothes and shoes. Row upon row of shoes that actually fit my feet! It was glorious. I've never paid so much for shoes in my life, but it was worth it - I'd been wearing the same shoes for five months!

Itaewon is always interesting. I haven't been in that part of Seoul since my newbie days, back in blog entry two or three ;) It's right outside an Army base, so it's swarming with Americans and other foreigners. There was a small foreign goods store just like in Songtan, with groceries from home. But Itaewon is better than Songtan, because it has its own used (and new) English bookstore called What The Book, and it has tons of restaurants to choose from. I had Thai food that night for the first time since I got here - it had been way too long.

Everytime I stay for a while in one of the expat areas I always really enjoy the homecoming feeling I get. But at the same time, I'm always grateful I get to leave, because it reminds me of the negative aspects of home and the reasons I left in the first place. I was glad to have Dongtan and real Korean people to come home to. Seoul Koreans are a special brand, it's hard to describe.

Yesterday I went to the National Museum of Korea. I loved loved loved it. The building and grounds are gorgeous and dramatic. There were times I felt like I stepped back in Korean time, especially while wandering through the pagoda garden. We only had time to see a couple exhibits, it would take several trips to see every exhibit of the museum's three floors.

I already want to go back, and I wish I'd visited sooner. It would have given me a different appreciation for this country if I had known its history. As an American I don't know what it feels like to belong to such a sophisticated past. Korea has old roots, which are hard to see today outside the walls of the museum. Past Korea, so in touch with nature, and with its superstitions and traditions, must have been a magical time to be alive. Like a fairy tale, dragons and monsters were real.

All of my students know this history, it's in their blood like the fourth of July is in mine. But Koreans have had a place to call home for so much longer than us Americans. In general I've just always envied people who grew up in one place, only read the morning paper over one kitchen table, fallen asleep to the moon climbing across one bedroom window. I envy Koreans in the same way - to have something so constant, memories of home with a physical place to settle.

Every month my older students write three essays. I pick the topics and I try to make them something the kids will be interested to write about. But lately I pick topics more so I'll have fun reading them. Some of my favorite ideas are things like, "How would you survive at the end of the world?" and "What would you do on a deserted island?" The last essay this month was, "Where/when would you go if you had a time machine?" Those essays have been fun for them to write I think, and equally fun for me to read. And they've got me thinking, obviously. Maybe I don't really want to travel in trains and planes, maybe what I really want is a round-trip ticket for a time machine. Maybe I've been watching too many movies.

반갑습니다

Two weeks just disappeared. Not much new here in Dongtan. I started studying Korean. I figured I'm fast approaching the five month mark, I should probably get cracking on the books. It makes me so proud to learn even the most basic words. Also, being able to understand some Korean is a good way to gain street cred with my students.

I've been paying a lot of attention to the graduations on facebook. I think about what that time was like for me this time last year: the May heat, the happy agonizing walk through campus after my last lecture, my final final, how it felt to see my family with huge smiles, weaving through the crowd to pose with me in my cap and gown. I figure those memories will come back to me every year around this time. Yet this year will probably be the hardest, because as I watch the younger generation catch up to me, I can't help but feel they're also kind of lapping me.

But my Grammy once told me she never found her niche and that I should do whatever it takes to find mine. So I'll let myself get lapped for a few years - it's worth it.

I realized that this year is like my gap year, a luxury usually only afforded to rich European kids. I sometimes feel ridiculously spoiled in this lifestyle, and like it can't last forever. But then I tell myself I'll only live once so why not stay abroad as long as I want, even if it makes me so happy I actually feel guilty?

Still, despite all this, traveling is the great true love of my life. I have always felt, ever since I was sixteen years old and first went to Russia with my saved-up babysitting money, that to travel is worth any cost or sacrifice. I am loyal and constant in my love for travel, as I have not always been loyal and constant in my other loves. I feel about travel the way a happy new mother feels about her impossible, colicky, restless newborn baby - I just don't care what it puts me through. Because I adore it. Because it's mine. Because it looks exactly like me. It can barf all over me if it wants to - I just don't care.

-Liz Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

Friday was Teachers' Day in Korea. I got a couple flowers from students. My fellow teachers got some interesting, random gifts: candy, gift certificates, powder, sunscreen. The best gifts are the notes that students take the time to write. The extent of broken English directly correlates to the student's age, of course, but as you can probably imagine, the more broken the English the cuter the note. Younger students are more likely to give gifts because they have less teachers. As I've mentioned before, older kids have crazy busy schedules. They go to regular school, math academy, Korean academy, music lessons, Taekwondo, and then my class.

Today I went back to the Hwaseong Fortress with a large group of expats and one soldier stationed in Camp Casey (by the border). It was much better this time around. The last time I was sick, so all the exercise made the walk seem longer than it actually should. I'm making plans to go to the DMZ two weeks from now. Hopefully all the plans will work out and I'll have an exciting blog to share soon.

my backyard

It's May, so that means I've been here four months. (It also means I graduated about a year ago, which is really hard to believe.) Let's see, what's new? The class terms are four months long at my school, so last week I said goodbye to my first group of kids and met my new students. It was bittersweet. I'll miss my old kids, but it was time for a change. This term should be easier than last term, because I have two lesson plans to make instead of five. Last time I had five classes, each a different level. This time I still have five classes but three are level 6 and two are level 13. Blah, blah, boring work update, I know.

The past few days I've just been relaxing and enjoying my five day weekend due to Buddha's birthday and Childrens' Day. Thank you Buddha, thank you Korean children. I didn't have to teach Friday, today (a Monday), and I'm also off tomorrow.

I went to Songtan with Alex on Friday. She showed me where the shops are with (pretty overpriced) merch from home. I bought real gum, dill relish and flavored tootsie rolls, all of which are impossible to find here. Songtan is right outside a military base, so I guess it makes sense you can find stuff from America there. We ate Mexican and watched all the soldiers and military families walking by from the restaurant window, which was wide open due to the perfect weather. It was strangely comforting to see so many foreigners. Songtan is a weird place. It's like America Land, a little piece of home halfway around the world. Why does it exist?! I like to think it's there just for me, to help me feel closer to home.

But then, shall I never get any older than I am now? That'll be a comfort, one way -- never to be an old woman--but then--always to have lessons to learn!

Yesterday I had three goals: buy some new clothes, eat at On The Border, and see a movie. To kill three birds with one stone, I decided to go to COEX Mall, a ginormous shopping and entertainment complex in Seoul.

Okay, so as for goal one, I found some new clothes, which is a miracle because nothing fits me here. It goes without saying that Korean women are sticks. Now I know how overweight people at home feel when shopping. Goal one, check.

On to goal two. (Yes, I'm aware of its adverse relationship to goal one). Obviously I've staked out all Mexican restaurants within a 50 mile radius. I know there are two On The Borders in Seoul, and have been meaning to check one out. The food was exactly the same as at home. They even had sopapillas! Best Mexican I've had in Korea. Goal two, check.

Goal three was a miss. I found the giant Megaplex and was so anxious to sit in a movie theater for the first time in four months. That's a new record for me, people! I so wanted to see 스타트렉 (Star Trek), but turns out it doesn't come out here until next week. There was nothing else worth seeing. It'll have to wait till next weekend.

I discovered another—and possibly bigger—foreign book store, called Bundi and Lund. I now know where to find so many creature comforts, I'm starting think there's no reason to ever leave this country! Anyway, I found a sale copy of Pendragon, book nine. And get this: with the sale price and exchange rate, I paid less for an imported, hardback copy than I would have for the paperback at home.

Today I stayed in town and did a little exploring, just me and my bike. My allergies are killing me, but I couldn't resist the beautiful weather and all the stupid gorgeous flowers. I brought a small picnic, a blanket and some books and headed out to the park. I got restless after a while and wandered around taking tons of pictures. The park is amazing. I just relaxed in the shade right off a park trail, ran into a couple of students (bowing ensued, naturally), and really felt like I belong in this town. Just chose to ignore the young mothers pointing and proclaiming "Waeguk" to their babies every time I passed on my bike.

As a nice bonus, there was even a free show in the middle of the park. All in all today was great because I discovered some awesome things right in my own backyard. Literally right behind my building! I have a feeling I'll love springtime in Korea.