망가지는 안경 Broken Glasses

어제 안경이 망가저서 새안경 160,000원 셨습니다.  한국에서 이안경은 아주 비싸지만 미국에서 똑같이 안경이 싸습니다.  나의 저번이 안경은 370,000원 들었습니다.  새 안경이 너무 좋아지만 랜스도 사고 해야 합니다.  저 저축하기때문에 많이 대학신용대부 있습니다.  많이도 출금하고 싶습니다. 나의 돈 조심한 되야 합니다.

*This isn't a direct translation and some extra information is provided*

Yesterday, I broke my glasses and bought a new pair for 160,000won from the 형님 that my friends and I hang out with.  Thank god he's an optometrist.  He even gave me the lenses for free!  Anyway, he showed me all the different kinds of frame styles but the most expensive pair really caught my eye.  The specks bent and seem indestructible and for less than half the price of my last glasses, 370,000 won, I was sold.  In the states I'm sure these glasses would go for 2-3x more than the price here.   Some frames were only selling for 20,000won.  I opted on investing in a pair that will last and look good.  I also have to buy contact lenses which are still cheaper here so buying glasses is sort of a set back.  I have to save money to pay off my ridiculously large student loans and I want to keep investing in stocks and bonds for my future home, business and retirement.   I have to keep an eye on my finances and be careful.

Not Sprinting but Lifting Kimchi

Now that my right leg radiates excruciating pain whenever I run, I've been out of the running game for a week.  Too bad, I haven't been living up to my blogs name, though I have been eating tons of kimchi.  To replace my running I've substituted weight training and lots of stationary biking into my routine.  Instead of sprinting for kimchi I've been lifting Kimchi.  Seriously, instead of lifting iron, which everybody works out with in the world, here in Korea they lift heavy bags of kimchi at the gym.  Actually, no they don't but that would be funny if there was such a gym in Korea that did replace iron weights with bags of Kimchi.  Ugh, just imagine the smell, gross.  I enjoy the smell of Kimchi but bags and bags of Kimchi in a hot sweaty gym?  Putrid.

While I'm on this Kimchi tangent, I'll tell you all how I get my Kimchi these days.  When I first arrived to Samcheok I would go to the super market and spend 7,000won on a 1kg bag of Kimchi.  It tastes pretty good but it's not cut and 7,000won is kinda expensive.  Well, one day my friend suggested to get it at the open market from one of the 할머니's (Grandmas) because the Kimchi is cheap and outta this world.  Now I've been wanting to befriend a Grandma here so she can cook me Korean food but my efforts have come short.  Now, I go to this one little old lady in the back of the market and get my Kimchi wares from her.  Let me tell you for 5,000won I get almost 1.5kg of the best Kimchi I've tasted.  I've been sold, this ladies my new Korean Grandma.

Anyway back to the exercising, I've forgot the rush that lifting gives me.  It's quite different from the rush that one achieves while running.  I could spend days comparing the two with a fine tooth comb but I'll spare everyone the pain.  To summarize lifting usually makes me feel warm and fuzzy like a warm blanket was rapped around me while running makes me feel as if all of the demons and negative thoughts have temporarily exited my body.  Both sure make me positive and chuggin' on all of my other endeavors.  Exercise fuels my body much like food does, or at least that's how I perceive it.

화이팅! (Fighting!)

This post, and the following short detailed posts, will describe my experience running a marathon here in South Korea because it has been different from my past running experiences.  Also, it's pretty entertaining.

Ok, don't worry, I haven't been getting into fights here.   "화이팅! (Fighting!)" was a phrase yelled at me hundreds of times during my marathon run and I'm sure I, or any foreigner, could have been confused.  My first experience with this Korean Konglish (Korean-English) expression was watching Korean dramas.  I was quite confused when the girl would smile, hold up her fist and yell what seemed to sound like the word fighting to her boyfriend.  As I heard the phrase more often I began to realize that it is a phrase of encouragement, like "You can do it!"

The cool thing was to see this expression in action during the marathon.  Many of the spectators would simultaneously hold up their fist, crouch down slightly and bellow out "화이팅! (Fighting!)" as if we were the soldiers running into North Korea to take over the capital Pyeong Yang.  It didn't stop there.  Many of the other runners also held up the signature fist and yelled "화이팅! (Fighting!) to the runners straggling or to the older gents running as a form of encouragement and praise for challenging themselves to a marathon.  I even got in on the action and responded to the encouragement from the crowd and other runners.  Many of the spectators would either chuckle or applaud my response to them.   Yes, I was maybe 1 of 5 runners who were foreign out of 1,000's.

Personally, "화이팅! (Fighting!) as an expression is a good form of encouragement.  The phrase embodies the challenge and the fight to finish, the endless drive to keep going and not give up.  In English we might have "You can do it!" where to me there seems to be a challenge but just accomplish it, don't fight for it.  It is also easier to say "화이팅! (Fighting!) than "You can do it!" while running and I was more inclined to yell it to the other runners, as it took less precious oxygen.

The next time someone I know needs some encouragement for a big interview, is down in the dumps, or just needs a little pick me up, don't be surprised if I hold up my fist and yell "FIGHTING!" in your face.

Day in Samcheok

This is mainly a post for my parents because I think they've been wondering how I spend much of my day and it gives everyone an idea what life is like in the Korean country side.

(This is usually my Tuesday and Wednesday schedule)

6 am- Wake up.  My breakfast is much different than back home (oats and milk) and it is either rice and veggies, a soup or left-overs from the night before.  I'll do some perusing on the internet while I eat then get around for school.

7 am- Shower and iron my work clothes and head out for the 7:40 am bus.  The bus stop is 10 steps away from my apartment which is very very convenient.

8 am- Arrive at school before most teachers and students and prepare for my 9:20 class and the other classes for that day.

8:30 am- Kids start to arrive in droves, albeit small ones, and most will knock on my door and yell Hello!  Hello happens to be the only word all the students are comfortable using when they see me.

9:20 am- Usually my 3rd grade class (7 students) arrives and I great the kids.  After going over my dandy reward system for the 100th time we start class.  There are a few wise guys in my class but they are all pretty good.  All classes get stickers to raising their hands, being quiet, not speaking Korean, participating and winning games.  Individual rewards are given: such as candy, american coins, etc, and group awards like pizza, a movie and me playing my guitar.  All of the classes are about half way to getting a movie day and most of the kids use the individual stickers on candy.  It's great because it keeps them in line much better than yelling.

After a warm-up and review I'll teach them some new topic followed by an activity and game.  The kids always get into the games and it's fun to see them get so competitive using their English.

10 am- I'll have a break and get ready for the next class, peruse the internet or study a little.

11 am- Teach a normal class with the 5th graders.  I have "after school" classes which consist of me coming up with my own material and normal English classes which follow a curriculum through a textbook and CDROM.  This class I'll just follow the book which is slightly more boring but I try to put some life into it. 

11:40 am- Class is done and something random usually happens before I go to lunch.  Today my mentor teacher brought a lady into my classroom and set me up with my health insurance.  She was talking a mile a minute in Korean with very complex health insurance talk so I understood 2% if that.  Mainly I just have to pay an 8,000 won ($8)  deductible for most doctor visits and 3,000won ($3) for medicine.  If I get bed ridden in the hospital my deductible shoots up a large ($2).  That's about all I understood.  Anyway, the lady handed me a gift at the end of the meeting with handmade Korean soaps.  Wasn't expecting that.  

12:10 pm- I head over to the cafeteria where I get a nice meal.  The cafeteria here is hands down 150% better than the crap I use to eat when I was in elementary school.  Most meals consist of rice, a soup, kimchi, some combination of veggies, meat and a small dessert.  The amazing thing is the meal is never the same.  I remember in school we had fries, some mystery meat and some random food with milk, often repeating the same meal in the month.  I've eaten at my elementary's cafeteria more than a month and have had a different meal each day.  It's pretty amazing how many different combinations of food these cooks can come up with, how fresh it is and to top it off on the lunch menu they have the nutrition facts!   Each that fat American schools.  

Since my Wednesday is finished, I'll say good bye to the head teachers, principle and vice-principle then head to the bus.  Today was an exception as I got a ride from the computer tech.  We had a long conversation on the difficulty of Korean and English language all in Korean, which I was pretty proud of.

1:30 pm- Headed out for a run to the track to do a speed workout.  The hill to the university doesn't seem as bad as it first was.

2:30 pm- 4 miles and a nice long speed workout I head home to shower, play guitar and eat.

5:00 pm- Either go to the gym or hang out with one of my neighbors walking around town.  Tonight my friend and I headed to the cafe and ran into a uni student in the English program and talked for a little bit.  

7:00 pm- Normally I head to the library at this time and study for a couple of hours. 

11:00 pm- Sleep.

"Which way should I go?"

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream." Mark Twain It's a good time to start asking myself...  what should I do in the next couple of months. Coming to Korea I've had a generous amount of time to enjoy all of my hobbies, teach and think about my life.  Here I sit at a crossroads.  I'm finished with school and my obligations back home are few outside of family and friends.  My job is simple and extremely enjoyable, while the people I've met here have made a large impact on my life.   Before my arrival, I felt that I had my life all lined up in a polished organized line ready to be taken one by one, but my eyes have opened to the many different paths.  The path that I once had chosen was one of safety and comfort but I'm trying to sail away from that "safe harbour."  If there is one thing that I learned from my Music Therapy education is to take social and emotional risks because your ability to grow as a person is stunted by always staying safe.  I'm scared to choose a path because I don't know where I will end up or how "happy" I will be, but I know I have to bite the bullet and take a risky path. "Which direction should I take?" flies through my mind more often than not, these days.   Some paths look extrodinarily rocky while some others look smooth and shiney.  I guess I need to stop looking at the beginning of the path and focus on the end and put all of my heart into whatever path I choose.   Currently, I can extend in the program that I am in now to stay in Samcheok and continue teaching at my current school.  My two other options are to stay in Korea and teach in Seoul where I have a long list of contacts or go back home and get a job in financial planning job in some large city.  Staying in Samcheok is my safe option because I'm very well familiar with my school, students, area, etc,.  but my opportunities for advancement are miniscule.  Next, Seoul is  a riskier position where one of my connections has offered to help me get a job near them.  In Seoul my opportunities for advancement are huge and I already have a large network of people to help me along the way.  The draw backs are that I will have to work longer hours, give up time for some of my hobbies and my working condition are currently un-known.  Lastly, going back home to start a job in a totally different city will be a huge challenge and I don't see many of the postives of making that move unless I have a job lined up, enough money to live comfortably, etc,.  I guess staying in Seoul would give me more time to save up lots of money and finish my financial planning courses that will set me up for a successful return to the states. Twenty years from now, I'm sure I'll be able to look back at these past couple of years and be happy with the course that I've taken.  From now on, it's not the safe course but the riskier one.