It's 8pm on Saturday night and back stateside everyone is asleep as we get ready for the biggest holiday of the year... Solnal or Lunar New Year. I am extremely grateful to have so much time to relax with the 4 day holiday. This is my kind of national holiday, 4 days off, although that doesn't mean I won't be working at the bar tonight. We have a band coming in to play some indie music to kick off our 3 day party to celebrate.
The last few days have been very nice with tests finishing up for the month at school and calling my mommacita with angela to wish her a happy birthday. It was great seeing the grandparents as well. I just wanted to write a quick note to everyone before I head off to get some more pictures for everyone. All my love. Talk to you all too soon.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Musings on a Winter Night
So I've been deep in thought lately, some know why and some don't, but nonetheless I have been exceptionally busy. So tonight the bar is rather quiet, which is quite fine by me. Angela is sleeping in one of the booths and Sophie is playing games on her phone. Personally, I think the cold combined with the ugly wind is keeping everyone indoors tonight. A nice quiet night is due after the hectic week with school and with the bar. Argh too much to do in so many ways that I feel like my brain is splitting apart trying to solve every problem posed me.
However much stress I feel from writing 17 different tests in the past week for my classes (daily tests for my intensive students is really tiring) I still think about strange things that just make me smile about Korea. Take for instance, superstition and the fact that while I live on the 5th floor of my apartment building, its technically the 4th floor. Koreans and I believe Chinese as well have a superstition regarding the number 4, or sa, and many buildings are without a 4th floor, similar to Western buildings often not having a 13th floor. There superstition is based on the word for four and the word for death being very similar in sound. A similar superstition is based on the color red, and its meaning relating to blood, death and war. As such you very rarely see red in clothing, it is there, just as the number four is there, but on a much diminished scale.
On a bright note, for all who know where my mind has been at lately, the initial work in my business venture has been completed and hopefully the rest will shortly hereafter be concluded in the infamous words of the beatles, with a little help from my friends.
Sanmal is coming up quickly and I'm excited to see how much more excited the Koreans are about Lunar New Year because despite the hordes of people thronging the beach, it was a relatively quiet New Years. I will update you soon because I believe its on January 25. It's a 4 day holiday so it should be a good time. Love and miss you all and I hope everyone's year had come off to a good start despite the freezing cold and the current state of the union over there. Can't wait to talk to you again. Spokoiny nochy druzya is semya.
However much stress I feel from writing 17 different tests in the past week for my classes (daily tests for my intensive students is really tiring) I still think about strange things that just make me smile about Korea. Take for instance, superstition and the fact that while I live on the 5th floor of my apartment building, its technically the 4th floor. Koreans and I believe Chinese as well have a superstition regarding the number 4, or sa, and many buildings are without a 4th floor, similar to Western buildings often not having a 13th floor. There superstition is based on the word for four and the word for death being very similar in sound. A similar superstition is based on the color red, and its meaning relating to blood, death and war. As such you very rarely see red in clothing, it is there, just as the number four is there, but on a much diminished scale.
On a bright note, for all who know where my mind has been at lately, the initial work in my business venture has been completed and hopefully the rest will shortly hereafter be concluded in the infamous words of the beatles, with a little help from my friends.
Sanmal is coming up quickly and I'm excited to see how much more excited the Koreans are about Lunar New Year because despite the hordes of people thronging the beach, it was a relatively quiet New Years. I will update you soon because I believe its on January 25. It's a 4 day holiday so it should be a good time. Love and miss you all and I hope everyone's year had come off to a good start despite the freezing cold and the current state of the union over there. Can't wait to talk to you again. Spokoiny nochy druzya is semya.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Welcome to 2009
We have entered a year of change. Alot has gone on since I last wrote, Christmas and New Years in another country, the beginning of intensives. I have been working at a new school in Busan and it has been a great experience. Coming from Daegu where I was working myself to the bone with 9 or 10 classes every day of the week and joining a school where I have no more than 5 classes a day has been a godsend. Now, for the next month, my schedule is very different with my classes being spread out over the whole day starting at 9 am and ending at 6pm. Intensives are extra classes that the school offers while the students are on their holiday vacation and they are just that, very intense, with daily tests and massive amounts of homework. Its difficult to write a new test every single day of the week. Apart from the massive prep time I have to put into creating a good curriculum for my students, I am really enjoying working with students who truly want to learn the english language, well most of them do anyway. It is a drastic change from a few random students that choose to study wholeheartedly to whole classes full of eager haksaeng (students).
Christmas and New Years in Korea were entirely different over here. Christmas was very beautiful with many wonderful lights everywhere. The Koreans truly enjoy the holiday season decorating everything they can throw lights or garland on. We had a small tree and the Arizona tree ummm, saguaro really tied everything together. Angela and I spent a quiet holiday apart from the Christmas party we threw at the bar. It was a great time and despite being thousands of miles from my family, it really felt like Christmas. I got a new set of darts from Ang and she got a new robe from me. Quiet times for a quiet life. New Years on the other hand was a lot different than what I was expecting. I thought that being in Asia would make the New Year a big deal, and I was somewhat correct. New Years is a big event, but not the same type of holiday as Lunar New Year which is a 4 day holiday starting on January 25. New Years Eve was very quiet, the night truly culminated with the morning of New Years Day, Haeundae Beach was crowded at dawn for the first sunrise of the year. Thousands of people crowded the beach to see the new light of the year. It was truly a magical experience, but sadly my camera died earlier in the night so I was unable to get any pictures. I wish everyone could have seen how wonderful it was. So that's all I've got for now, I'll keep everyone posted on the happenings in the amazing land of Korea. Later.
Christmas and New Years in Korea were entirely different over here. Christmas was very beautiful with many wonderful lights everywhere. The Koreans truly enjoy the holiday season decorating everything they can throw lights or garland on. We had a small tree and the Arizona tree ummm, saguaro really tied everything together. Angela and I spent a quiet holiday apart from the Christmas party we threw at the bar. It was a great time and despite being thousands of miles from my family, it really felt like Christmas. I got a new set of darts from Ang and she got a new robe from me. Quiet times for a quiet life. New Years on the other hand was a lot different than what I was expecting. I thought that being in Asia would make the New Year a big deal, and I was somewhat correct. New Years is a big event, but not the same type of holiday as Lunar New Year which is a 4 day holiday starting on January 25. New Years Eve was very quiet, the night truly culminated with the morning of New Years Day, Haeundae Beach was crowded at dawn for the first sunrise of the year. Thousands of people crowded the beach to see the new light of the year. It was truly a magical experience, but sadly my camera died earlier in the night so I was unable to get any pictures. I wish everyone could have seen how wonderful it was. So that's all I've got for now, I'll keep everyone posted on the happenings in the amazing land of Korea. Later.
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