thoughts for today.......

i had a beautiful walk along the river behind where i live and had a few random thoughts......

as i looked up in the sky, while i was walking, i noticed quite a bit of military activity. not an uncommon sight in a small country (especially a small country in a "cold" war with it's neighbour to the north). we especially always notice when there is more activity than usual. in light of the new gov't that came into power almost one year ago, there has been some unrest between north and south korea. the new president in south korea is being a bit hard nosed with the north and it is not going un noticed. with aheadline on the front page of the bbc news website saying," North Korea tears up agreements
North Korea says it is scrapping all military and political deals with the South over its "hostile intent", as ties worsen. " we can only hope it doesn't get much worse.

i kept walking, thinking about my next few months in korea. i still have a month left of my vacation (i am so blessed!), and teddy will be finishing his contract on the 22nd of next month. he wants to buy his apartment that the school he currently works for provided him with. they gave him the go ahead, so long as he sees to the paper work. he had applied for a position with the uni i am working at, which didn't work out. so he wants to have his own housing, leave the country when his working visa expires and re-enter the country as a tourist and look for a better job in march. he has a tough time in different ways than me, living in korea as a foreigner. all too often i think that because he's asian he blends in and life for him is much easier.......he doesn't have to deal with the staring and racism that i do as a caucasian. wrong! every so often i get reminded that simply not being korean is enough to cause racism---nothing to do with being asian and blending in. the people who interviewed teddy at my university couldn't get past his asian skin tone and asian eyes enough to believe that english is his first language. the 2 korean women in the interview (from the english department) argued with my 2 friends (foreign co-teachers of mine who know teddy) whether he was a native speaker or not! teddy often gets spoken to as though he is korean and when he doesn't understand he gets second glances from koreans trying to figure him out. at the school he is leaving they even asked him to fire a newly hired english teacher because they decided they didn't want to hire another asian!!! it's a mixed life of greatness and utter frustration living in korea. i only hope that teddy can have the chance to have a better job than at an academy, teaching bratty korean kids who don't want to be there, with bosses who care nothing about their employees or students so long as the money is rolling in. i have truly been blessed this past year with the job i have!

whew! now on to a much more positive note........as i kept walking i watched the ducks in the river and i was reminded of the beauty in the korean springtime, which is right round the corner (we're having an unusually warm day today and the ducks were loving it---as was i!). korea has one of the most beautiful springtimes i may have ever experienced. there are so many flowers and so many shades of "new" green. amongst the crowds and garbage you can see it if you look. i spent my first 5 years here in the country, so it may be easier for me to see then the foreigners who have only lived in metro areas. i love korean spring and i very much look forward to quitting the gym for the outdoors and watching everything turn from this dull gray-brown to rainbows of color. i will be more diligent about taking photos of it this year and will show you what i'm talking about.

새해 복 많이 받으세요!!!!!!!

for those of you who don't know korean, that says "sey-hey boke mhan-hee ba-de-say-yo" or happy new year. it is lunar new year in asia this weekend and my personal deadline for writing my new year post.

last year was a great and busy year for me. i'll start by telling you about my adventures beginning with early december 2007 and right through 'till now.....

i had been very frustrated with teaching in the academy school system here in korea, so under the advise of a great friend, heidi, i applied in early december 2007 to teach conversational english at the university where she works. the first response i got from the university was that they were thankful for my application but they had no interview slot for me (along with all of the "we'd love to hear from you in the future......blah, blah,blah). then (i assume after their first choices didn't want it) they miraculously had a opening for me to have an interview. i was so excited but beyond nervous. i made it through the interview and was told i'd know by thursday (a couple of days after my interview) whether i got the job or not. by monday i hadn't yet heard from them and wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not. tuesday i got a call that they couldn't offer me a job this year and they thanked me for coming to the interview and that i could re-apply next year.....blah, blah, blah. i was so down that i didn't get that job but looked forward to christmas week travels in malaysia anyway.

christmas 2007/2008 was spent with teddy and my good friend tobi. we had a great time and as always.....when you can't get home for christmas, the tropics are a great way to spend the week off. (you can look to the column on the right of this for past updates and read more about the malaysia trip and see a few photos.)

i wasn't back from malaysia for even a week when the university i had applied to called me back and offered me a position, but with quite low pay (which i already knew) and no housing. i said that they were crazy to think i could afford my own housing at that pay and told them (very reluctantly) that i couldn't accept those conditions. for the next 2 weeks i couldn't believe i had turned down the job i had wanted so badly. if you can believe it.....they called me back and asked if i'd reconsider taking the job. they were having trouble filling the positions and really wanted me to work for them. again i asked about the low pay and the housing and they said it hadn't changed. i asked what i should do if i took the job for low pay and no housing and they said that i should look for part-time work on the 2 days i have off. (this university fits their professor's class schedule into 3 days/week.) i told them i'd need a night to think about it and would call them back in the morning. i took the job but was very worried about my housing situation. after a few weeks the called me back and said that an apartment in the foreign professor's dormatory had become available! perfect! so by the end of february i was on my way to teaching at a university. my good friend tobi has a similar story and was also hired by the same university. so i was looking very forward to teaching at a university with 2 of my close friends in korea, heidi and tobi.

i was very very nervous about teaching university students, but i have some of the best co-workers ever. they were all so helpful and continue to be even after a year into the job. can't believe it went that fast. it feels like i am still learning the ropes somedays but having a 3day/week schedule and 2 months off for summer break and 2 1/2 months off for the winter break has shaped up to be a very good thing for me!

march and april weren't very exciting and in may teddy and i went on a weekend road trip to the west coast of korea. i have not spent any time on the west coast---having lived most of my korean years on the east coast, so i was looking forward to seeing a new part of korea. it was beautiful and again there is a previous post here about that road trip, with some photos. look to the right for an update on may 11th/08. after, that road trip i had two wisdom teeth taken out wich was traumatic---but i survived.

june meant the end if my first semester at seokyeong university and it was a busy semester-end (as it always is). but directly after that i flew home for a month in nova scotia. i spent some days at the beach, went camping in new brunswick and nova scotia and just enjoyed being home. the update about that trip was on august 13th/08 if you want to have a look.

i came back to korea at the end of july just in time to go on a week long trip to taiwan with teddy. i never did get around to posting about that trip or putting up some photos......hopefully someday i'll share some of the photos with you here. i was only in korea for something like a day and a half before i was on a plane again! we had planned to spend most of the week in the beautiful south of taiwan, but a string of typhoons ruined that plan. instead we spent the whole week with teddy's family and it was a wonderful time. they were very generous and took great care of us. we spent most of our time teddy's paternal family who he has met before and know's well. teddy was born in their hometown and it was neat to have been in teddy's birth town with him. teddy's aunt mary was so great......she even contacted teddy's maternal grandparents (who he doesn't remember) and we got to meet them. that meant a lot to teddy and it was nice to be there with him for that meeting. in common asian style, teddy's mother was almost adopted by teddy's dad's family when they married and they don't see her family nearly as much as they see teddy's dad's family, who have been to america a number of times to visit. all in all it was a great trip and a good time for both of us.

we came back to korea after our trip and i relaxed for a couple of weeks and then the second semester started in the last week of august. the fall passed so quickly as i was working extra jobs on my two days off. it was very busy. the most exciting thing was booking our flight home for christmastime. this was the most expensive airticket i hope i ever have to buy. teddy's line of work only gives one week off at christmastime, but this is his second contract with this school so he asked for and got an extra week off. so, basically, we had 2 weeks to see both families and get back here in time for teddy to start teaching again. luckily his brother and sister-in-law live in boston so this was possible. we booked a flight that took us from seoul to halifax, then after a week with my family we flew to boston and after a week there with teddy's family we flew back to korea, making one big circle! after $2800 EACH!!! our tickets were booked and we had a great time. the week in nova scotia was very busy with my family and friends. everyone was at mom and dad's for christmas, which was very nice. then we went to boston on the 27th for the week with teddy's family. we met teddy's 6 1/2 month old nephew for the first time and his parents were in boston for 4 of our 7 days. they flew up from mississippi so we could all be together. it was a great, but very busy trip for us and we are now enjoying our time back here.

wintertime in korea is ugly and most times boring. there is lots to do in the summer and it's much more beautiful. it did snow this weekend which helps make it beautiful. i have joined the gym and go 4-5 times/week and i am still tutoring 2 days a week. my university job starts march 2nd and it will be good to see my coworkers again, meet the new teachers and meet my new students.

teddy is looking to change jobs in the next little bit. his current contract is up at the end of february. i hope he can find a job that he is happy at and that offers him a more attractive deal than what the academy schools are offering. i have been so blessed to have the job i have now. i have been in korea a long time and feel like i somewhat earned the right to have this job. teddy has also been in korea a long time and i want him to have the opportunity to have a good job, as well. keep your fingers crossed for him!

congrats!! you made it to the end!!! i hope everyone is well and has a wonderful 2009! i hope to be writing here more often this year, so you can check back and hopefully have more to read about or some photos to look at.

write to me when you have a moment. hearing from friends at home is always nice. 'till next time........keep warm and have a good week!

this is a photo of teddy and i at a historical place in seoul yesterday. it was freezing cold! we had a good day walking around this place, eating some delicious indian food and a little bit of shopping.