definitive splits,

i've long been one to sequence time into segments; periods of being. months are separated neatly and divided by specific happenings. traveling is split into definitive parts, whether it be by bicycle, car, train, or subway. i recall my old bicycle ride to saint paul when working at the bean factory. a 26 minute ride split into four parts of varying time but equal mental weight. i attribute this as a byproduct of eight years of running and racing on the track, cross country course, and something in the nature of 15,000 miles in between. everything is broken down into time.

that said, i feel my korea stay reaches that split. whereas my first month was of excitement and exploration, the next two were of occasional excitement, though frequent minnesota nostalgia. this seems to be split number three, where i'm finally enjoying the country again and not longing to be home. i seem to be forming some semblance of community. while minnesota has a lot to miss, i have a lot to learn, see, and be in this land.

of recent days, many tales exist.
- to start, i booked my ticket to cambodia a few days ago for my christmas vacation. december 25 - january 2. phnom pehn, siem reap, angkor wat, siem reap, koh ker, battambang, bantam-chmmar. i'll do my best to fit it all in.
- i ran in the seoul marathon on november 1. despite a lot of worrying about my beleaguered calves, i managed to pull off a 2:54.12 for my marathon debut. i've always been pretty good about running even splits when i race. in typical fashion, unintended, racing as hard as i could the last half, the last 13.1 miles, i ran nearly perfect splits. 1:25.07 and 1:25.05. that was good for a laugh. one can plan out a strategy for a 5k, an 8k, a 1500, etc. I ran the first half and had no clue when my energy would run out. (it did at 19 miles). i'll probably end up running the marathon in march, though we'll see. i definitely want to run the twin cities marathon with the bethel guys during the fall of '10.
- other news. i am thankful halloween is over. my school went nuts over it starting october 1st. eight full kindergarten writing classes dedicated to writing scary stories.
- my kindergartners are beginning to wonder how i don't freeze when i take them to the bus. "only a light jacket? he crazy!"
- yes, autumn only lasted two weeks here. it's over. it's winter, or their peninsular version of winter.

for an evening's sleep. of tired eyes and sleep dreams,
for a minnesota morning to say hello to,

be in peace,

quotes / laughs

classroom life can perhaps best be described by those that make me laugh the most. a few examples shall suffice.

a few weeks ago,
me: “guys, it’s september!”
chris: “nooooo, we don’t like september because virus is stronger.”
everyone is super paranoid about the swine flu virus. my kids get their temperatures taken twice every day.

each morning we do the date and weather.
janice - “what is today’s date!”
henny - “today is fried egg day!"

during date and weather, the actual date is a little high on the wall and they need help. sometimes i throw the laminated velcroed numbers against the walls. the number falls or lands upside down. the kids laugh.
max - "Nooooo, be careful, the 17 is not a toy."

during the writing portion of our monthly test.
Q: What are some things that you have that would like to keep forever?
A portion of his essay, Jinseok, 2nd grade, describing his Nintendo Wii,
A: "You can do lots of sports on that you can do golf, baseball, boxing and almost all the sports. And you can do like kind of activities is like clean the toilet or bring the sheep to another place and farting race. If you get first on the finish line it shows you win or did not win. Also you could shoot the bad fat birds and like flush the toilet a billion times untill you are finish flushing all the toilet but it is really hard to let it flush down cause it can be a big poop and cant go in and that the toilet can be broken so you have to fo fix it. so thats why it is fun and I want to keepet for ever."

travel plots,

given the ridiculous nature of overconsumption and accessorization in this culture, i thought it proper to rename this writing section of my stay here. i've dived with excitement into a post-work routine of reading, writing, and thought stirring. i'm catching up on my booklist and making a serious dent in my journal. gabriel garcia marquez and gandhi both occupy my evening reading. recent travels to busan last weekend for a weekend entirely different than my first stay. similar culture,  but much more ocean gazing at various beaches.

i wake up mornings to window sunshine warmth, many times believing i am at the treehouse, minneapolis, realizing i am not. i look forward to travels during chusok, two weekends from now. there was a big fight over poly allowing us to travel, particularly at stake our nine day winter vacation, due to concerns over the swine flu. nearly the entire teaching staff secretly plotted to travel. if we were found out, our boss threatened to fire us. we had a meeting recently which pronounced we were legally entitled to travel. now that i can travel for chusok, i've two weeks to figure out a vacation. i need a $120 visa for china, which i'm not sure would be ready in time. japan, i'm debating. cambodia, vietnam, thailand are all too far for a weekend trip. the likeliest candidate is japan. i've got my cambodia winter vacation back without fear of retribution. we'll see if i can organize chusok in time.

pretending to understand,

there's a trick to living here without knowledge of the language. i slowly learn, bits and pieces, though my proficiency is anything but. in need, i'll ask a question. grocery stores, directions, etc. i follow as best i can, though sometimes it's better to nod and pretend understanding exists. the more you don't understand, the more they try to explain. ooooh, nay, i understand! facial expressions are important, especially in the eyes. eastern culture reads facial expressions through eyes, not so much the western full-face scan. see the difference between the :) [western] and the o.o [eastern].

take a side alleyway, the one you completely did not expect it to be at, follow the rode. remember, you followed six other roads with bad directions previously, so this probably isn't it. okay, well, now you find the seoul museum of art. it's significantly smaller than one would expect. The MIA and walker art are both larger, probably two or three times the size. The Met and MoMa are probably 20 times as large. remember to be disappointed. comfort yourself because you are at the renoir exhibit. the largest single renoir exhibit compiled in 30 years.
60 pieces of the prolific artist you respect so much. be surprised that those 60 pieces fill 6 rooms and that's the entire museum. nothing else. fall in love with renoir all over again, especially his work during the mid-1880s to the mid 1910s. his work of the previous years is all phenomenal, but his brushwork during those later years is remarkable. the thing i found myself most enraptured by was how he paints backgrounds and clothing. i was greatly impressed by the show, but pissed off throughout by the curator. every respectable museum has what is commonly referred as museum lighting. cue extra lights on the art. i was frustrated because the curator cut out museum lighting. i could see the paintings just fine, but was distracted otherwise by the darkness. but to renoir, if the exhibit comes to a city near you, do travel. it's worth it.

of the two images attached:
- juenes filles au piano. brushwork, rich and vivid colors, joy of life, beauty of discovery. there are a few versions of this painting of same name. note the background as the main difference.
- portrait de julie manet. a haunting richness to his color choice. the complete opposite his normal portraiture.
- magnify these thoughts by a factor of ten as you are standing in front of them.

raddish town

Greetings from raddish town,

Some days, I love Korea and the opportunity of teaching. Other days, not so much. Occasionally, I wonder where the wind would carry me if I had not crossed such a strong ocean current. Whether I love it or hate it, I'm in Korea and am amazed at how fast time is going by. I peaced outta the USA nearly six weeks ago. In that time, I have taught long hours, been confused and frustrated by language barriers, and been upset at my present predicament. Where I wouldn't be in the U.S. these days is hiking foreign mountains, visiting ancient buddhist temples, visiting massive fish markets, nor enjoying the solitude of writing and reading. I dream of rooftop memories, though I admit, I did not have a mountain out my bedroom window in Minneapolis. By day, I stay put with a classroom of curious minds. By evening, I travel wherever the moon guides.

I've been dreaming anxiously of the coming weeks. I head back to the Pacific Ocean in two weeks time for a weekend excursion. The plan is to take a slow train to Busan on Friday night and arrive early in the morning on Saturday. Imagine beach gazing at 5 a.m. with not a soul in sight. Similar sights were gazed upon during my last trip, but this one is a little more planned out. Five weeks time, where would I be in Minnesota. In Asia, in five weeks time, I'll be in China visiting on Chuseok (a Korean holiday).

I teach of environmental values every opportunity I get. This country is built on materialism and accessories, I have to take my opportunities where I get them. "Macadamia, where do you think your food comes from!" "Grocery store, Mr. Jordan!" Kindergarten and pre-k classes at school all have a name system for each class, which I thoroughly enjoy. Perhaps it's not all in vain. I share one day an environmental truth, "don't cut down trees, etc." No wonder she's my favorite student (in any class, in any grade). Jenny writes in an assignment, "where would all the tanagers live and sing if the trees were cut down." She's a kindergartner...... I mentioned tanagers once. I don't prefer that all (or nearly all) my students have English names. Part of me feels like it is a Western trait for parents (or kids) to pick out an English name to pick out an English name to assimilate better. While the U.S. wasn't particularly colonial or imperial of Korea, I still become weary of declaring that are naming system is better than their Korean birth names.

I've settled well into Korean culture. Or, perhaps a better expression would be to say, I've settled well into learning how to avoid Korean culture. Pick one or the other; it all depends on the day. I bought a bicycle two weeks ago and ride to work every day. I greatly enjoy it, as I have consistently always loved anything related to such an economically-friendly, environmentally-friendly, health-and-exercise-friendly, city-congestion-friendly, and stress-friendly mode of transportation. Previously, my commute to work consisted of a thirty minutes of bus waiting, bus riding, subway waiting, subway riding. I typically make it to school in eight minutes, which will add an extra forty-five minutes of free time to each day. Forty-five minutes happens to each a lot more sleep or book reading time.

I previously wrote of phone contact in Korea. Again, you can call the Minnesota telephone number (612) 424-3774. Assuming I'm at my computer, it will connect your cell phone / landline to my computer. I picked up a cell phone a few weeks ago. Let me say that Koreans love their technology. When I first moved here, I said to myself, "hmmmm. cell phone use in the subway system, underground." Then, I noticed everyone watching satellite tv on their cell phones... in the subway. I got a kick-butt cell phone, which happens to be way better than my previous U.S. phone. It was the cheapest one I could find. Anyway, I set up call forwarding on my Korean cell phone. You call my that Minnesota phone number, if I'm not connected to my computer, the call will be forwarded to my Korean phone. It's awesome, because I have free incoming phone calls on it. Call me anytime, except when I'm at work (+14 to Central time).

i have mixed opinions of my korea stay. the people are imaginary, they pass along. most exist in my life only a moment. maybe one day i'll understand the language, but for now, i enjoy my books. my stride is quick in a never-ending city. the more individuals in sight, the faster i walk. i'm surprised by how much i enjoy teaching. i leave with a tired voice each evening. you have be excited every moment you are teaching. i primarily teach kindergartners, though i also have 1st, 2nd, and 4th graders. the days are very long, but not particularly stressful. i generally have enough time to prep for class, though sometimes i feel rushed. the curriculum is laid out, i only have to figure out what pages to teach and decide what is the best way to teach it. group, partner, solo, activity, game, youtube bill nye, etc. i have a computer in the classroom connected to a 30 monitor. anytime there is a vocab word they don't know and it's too hard to describe, i have google images at my disposal. similar to the past eight years of my life, running is my opportunity to unwind for a busy and stressful day. i work a long day, run as soon as i get home, eat dinner, and then do whatever i need to. i'll either read, write, skype, or hang out with friends.

my trip to busan really helped to adjust me to the country. i was able to learn many things about the culture without the craziness of work. swimming in the ocean, walking for miles along the beach, and sailing in the pacific. it's ironic that i live in seoul, but wherever i live, i need a large body of water. the han river is only a few miles away. so far, i've only been able to gaze on it on the subway. however, i intend to soon figure out good locations to gaze on the water. the solitude of water is comforting. back to busan. hiking high up in the clouds, visiting buddhist temples carved into the rock, and eating watermelon with the ajumma's (older korean women) behind beomosa temple; these memories will be with me long into my life. the hike to seokbulsa (the temple carved into the rock) was an intense one. very steep paths, a very strenuous hike. needless to say, because it is such a difficult hike, only 5 people were there for the entire hour i explored the temple grounds. i mostly don't feel at home here. i'm not sure i will, but perhaps it is good to travel away for a time.

if you wish to write, send to the address below: mailboxes are rather insecure, so most teachers have mail sent to the school.

j.groh, c/o korea poly school.

5th floor, 907-13 Gwang Jang 2 Building, Mok 5 dong,

Yang Chun Gu, Seoul 158-050, South Korea

arrivals

Yeogie Naeryeo Juseyo,

If you hadn't heard by now, I just moved to one of the largest cities in the world. Gauging the size of a city is a complex statistic, due to suburbs and metropolitan areas, but let us suffice it to say that Seoul ranks anywhere between 2nd and 10th in its respective categories.

I start to realize that the world is bigger than my language of choice. It is a surreal experience to teach children English all day long, only to exit the school and be bombarded by a language you don't know. Korean culture is much different than I expected, but how can your expectations be spot on when you move to a city of 11 million souls. I wanderlust for miles meandering through the city. Gamsa Hamnida, I bow my head in thanks. I can't eat the food, that much is for certain. It's either heavily dependent on meat or fish. The entirety of Seoul conflicts with vegetarianism. I buy a dozen eggs, marvel at the price, and curse when I discover they are hard boiled. I had a panic attack as I moved into my apartment and saw its size.

"Teachaaaaaaa! buh!", yell my children. I have kindergartners in the morning and 1st, 2nd, and 4th graders in the afternoon. The intensity of the day is mind boggling, but it's what I signed myself up for. I work from 9-7:30, with 2 hours of prep and 30 minutes for lunch. It's an interesting work environment, to say the least. I didn't plan it this way, and it's both amusing and annoying, but I'm on vacation this week. The school is closed for a week during the summer and winter, aka my paid vacation. It's annoying because I'd rather save money and travel to Kuala Lumpur and Cambodia. Instead, I laugh and help myself further adjust to this city. I leave tomorrow for Busan for five days exploring through the national forest and gazing at the ocean.

You can reach me by telephone at (612) 424-3774 or on my skype name: jordangroh. The phone number is a U.S. number and, assuming I'm at my computer, you can call it on your cell phone or landline for free.

Below is the view out of my apartment window. Click it for a bigger view. Those mountains are my sanctuary.