Hi, Buddha. It’s me, Kaley…

They’re finally checking me in.  My opportunities for speaking will be limited.  I will have no possessions of my own other than my toothbrush and towel.  I’ll be spending a lot of time alone.  They will feed me just three simple meals a day and make me get up at 3:30 in the morning, wearing a robe that they will provide for me.

No, I’m not being shipped off to the insane asylum (yet).  I’m participating in a Templestay program in northern Seoul, where I will experience Korean Buddhist culture first-hand and stay in the lovely Myogak Temple on Mt. Naksan.

I will participate in such Buddhist activities as prayer bead making, bell-striking, meditation, predawn services, dawn trekking, a tea ceremony and conversation with monks, lotus lantern making, sutra copying and more.

I look forward to coming back home richer at heart, more fully alive, more fully awake, more fully at peace.

May peace be with you this weekend as well.

Buddhist prayer before eating a meal
Now we take our meal that caused no harm to any sentient beings.
Let us consider whether our behavior deserves this meal.
Let us cultivate our minds away from greed, anger and foolishness.
We eat this meal to become enlightened.

Let’s Go Sledding!

Welcome to my world.

This is pretty much what I get paid to do every day.    Man, do I love these kids…

They’d get so exhausted trying to haul their tubes up the hill after every run.  Most treks up, I’d be juggling my maximum capacity of four tubes, and still students would tug on my leg and try to add theirs to the tumbling stack!  I looked like the Michelin Man.

There was just one other school there with us, so thankfully it wasn’t too terribly crowded.  Still though, I’d manage to confuse some random kids with my own.  At one point, one of the sweetest little girls was so tired, she asked me to carry up her tube.  And then, she asked me to carry her.  So, I had the girl in my left arm, our tubes on my right, and then I took a good, hard look at her when we got to the top. “Waaaait a minute…” I mumbled. “Yellow Ribbon?”  She looked up at me with her puppy dog eyes and cocked her head to the side.  She wasn’t even one of mine!  I was just a free ride.

During lunch, some of the kids didn’t want to eat their rice and curry, so they’d fling food under the table when we weren’t looking.  Acorn and Michael wound up picking it all up by hand once Teacher Liz found out.  ;-p  Busted!

Whenever One Door Closes…

Pit, pat, pit pat… I step as lightly as I can in my gray snow boots across the wooden deck.  The sun is shining, but I can still see my breath and barely feel my toes.  It’s cold.

I reach for the handle of the wooden door as it creaks open.  The students almost always forget to close it.  That, or Mr. Won runs thick, green extension cords outside to his power tools.  Either way, it’s often colder in the hagwon than it is outside, and today, it definitely is.  Just as I had expected it would be.

I slip out of my boots and into my slippers with the swiftness and ease of having done it for the past eleven months.  I never even put down the stack of books I’m carrying.

As I walk toward my classroom, I catch a preview of what’s going on behind each closed door along the way…

I hear Mr. Won in the soon-to-be marketplace, explaining to Pastor how to use a new wood saw he bought yesterday.  And then I hear a thick piece of wood getting showed who’s boss.

I hear Teachers Sunny and Amy in their studio, discussing one of the day’s lessons and how to make it better.

I hear Teacher John telling his students to open their books to page 84, and then I hear children singing a song about the weather.

From upstairs, I can hear some of the girls playing “Go Fish” with animal cards.  And one of them just did an excellent horse impression!  I’ve got to find out who that was…

I reach my classroom, open the door, and turn on the heat.  The desktop sends a chill up my spine when I plop down on top of it and just think for a minute.

All day long, this place is alive with the sound of learning. By students, by teachers, by Pastor, by myself…  I live in a school.  My world is a real-life School House Rock… and I have the opportunity to both teach and learn something new every day.  How wonderful is that?

“How are you, Teacher?” Johnny asks me, grinning at the doorway. 

“I’m fine, thank you.  How are you?” I respond instinctively without thinking.

I pause for a second.  Then, I finally put my books down. 

“Actually,” I tell him, “I’m really good.”

A Bit of Seoul and the Sort

Ever heard a Korean woman yodel?

Do you want to?

Heather and I went to see some of her students’ orchestra performance and this was part of the warm-up.

They’ve got three shows coming up next year in the States and now I know why.  I’ve never heard so many young musicians sound so good!

I was able to squeeze in just a bit of hiking on Saturday before the performance, trekking alongside ancient Seoul’s old fortress wall. It was quite an interesting contrast between the historic Seoul and the modern one, and made for a lovely winter afternoon outdoors.

On Sunday, Luke and I walked along Cheonggye Stream, a restoration project that cost $313 million to construct!  It goes straight through Seoul’s downtown core and serves as a rather nice, quiet escape while still in the city.

We also stopped by Gwanghwamun near City Hall to check out the temporary ice skating rinks and usual weekend hustle and bustle.

A Quick Hello

Hey, all…  It’s late Sunday night here and I just returned home from a wonderful weekend in Seoul.

Will definitely pop some pictures up tomorrow, but am too tired for now.

Until then, good night and hope you’re enjoying your weekend as well!

Kaley

Won for All and All for Won

Korea’s extremely community-oriented.  Too much for me at times.

Meals out are usually served family-style.  All the dishes are shared, including the single bowl of spicy kimchi soup in the middle of the table.

"Oh, sorry... I thought these were mine."

A “communal cup” is left at the drinking fountain for everyone to use.

And your slippers are almost never where you left ‘em because some school visitor ends up using them.  This last one is especially aggravating…

Well, Teacher Sunny went and ordered herself some fancy slippers on the Internet.  I don’t think she’ll be having this problem anymore.

These buggers would be hard to steal!  You go, girl.

The Wheels on the Bus Go…

Korea's version of a "slip 'n slide"

We had a surprise snowfall today that caught the bus drivers off guard here at school.  One of the buses got stuck next to the trampoline at the top of our hill.

Mr. Won had to throw some dirt over the fresh powder so the bus had something to semi-grip onto.

The wheels weren’t turning at all.  It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a school bus full of screaming kids literally slide down a hill.

And all I got was this lousy picture.  Next time, the video camera will be rolling, even if the wheels aren’t!

Avatarded

Q:  What’s white and black and glassy all over?

A:  A movie theater full of Koreans wearing 3D glasses.

Some friends and I saw Avatar this weekend and it was well worth waking up early to reserve the tickets.  Even nine hours before the movie, we had to separate our group of five in order to get enough seats.  I mean, it was only the fifth week it’s been playing here.

As if the movie wasn’t awesome enough, Korea’s famed “servicee” showed up as we were handed gifts of noodle dinners on our way out of the theater.

Who said $11 couldn’t buy you dinner and a show these days?

Nice-uh.  I love you, Korea.

Don't forget your Avatoodles!

Hooked on a Feeling

People often ask me, “What’s your favorite country you’ve been to so far?”

And I always struggle to give a straight answer because… well, because I don’t have one.

Travel is so rewarding in the sense that you’re able to experience new foods, new cultures; you look at old architecture and visit places you only dreamt about while staring off through pictures in your 5th grade social studies text-book.  I often find myself so enthralled by the history of these places that I become giddy as a schoolgirl.  Shivers sometimes even run up and down my spine- something that only standing right there where it happened 2,000 years ago can exude.

I’ve adapted the saying “Seeing is believing” to “Seeing is feeling,” because I believe history is something that must be felt in order to truly understand its weight and importance.

And although historical sites, architecture and artifacts are routinely what draw me to a certain country, it’s the people I met while there that I reminisce about first when reviewing past trips.

It makes sense, really.  After all, what would the Colosseum be without its gladiators?  What would the Sistine Chapel look like without Michelangelo?

It’s great people that make great places and I’ve met a lot of great people in a lot of great places.  They are what’s made my travel experiences so enjoyable.  They are what keeps me coming back for more- somewhere different, someone new.  Always something amazing.

I’ve met a lot of people like that here in South Korea and my heart is bigger for having met them; my mind is wiser for having known them.

I had a taxi driver that spoke a bit of English last night- a rare occasion outside of Seoul.  He asked me, “Where is your home?”

“Up the mountain,” I told him, “next to Yak su chon, the duck restaurant.”

My home.  In South Korea.

That’s right.  My home.  For awhile longer at least…

Hi Ho, Hi Ho

It’s off to work we go!

I finally got back to work today after 3 long weeks and MAN, did it feel good.

My classes went well, the students were awesome, my lessons were interesting… it’s days like today that remind me how much fun teaching can be.  I even had enough energy to finish strong.

I’ve already hooked Yellow Ribbon up with 2 of my friends that will be replacing me in March.  The more we talk about it, the sadder I get.  This is the longest I’ve ever lived somewhere other than Phoenix and Namyangju has really grown to be my second home.

It’s going to be tough leaving this place, leaving these people…