Australia Trip: Finale

This post isn't very exciting, but I want to write about it for posterity. 

I left Australia with some great memories. It was absolutely wonderful to get to know the Sweeneys better and spend time with them--a real treat!

And then the drama started. 

First, I made it to the airport 5 minutes before the check-in counter closed. Second, Tullamarine airport is so incredibly confusing. It's like a giant rabbit trail. (I saw an airline employee scold another passenger because she was really holding up a flight) Then my flight was delayed.... At least I had a row to myself at the back of the plane. A nice treat on a 7 hour flight back to SE Asia, except that the headrest on my seat was broken, they didn't let you buy food with cash (what the??) and the pilot didn't make up for their lateness (do they not do that anymore?).

We landed. I had a few hours before my next flight, and I was able to have the best cup of coffee of my life!! As well, I happened to be in a country that sells milk tea.... :):):):):):):) de-stressed. 

Then the drama started up again.

The flight was delayed a little bit, but some passengers boarded really late, so we were really late, and then the runway was congested, so we ended up taking off an hour later than we were supposed to :( AND THE PILOT DIDN'T MAKE UP ANY OF IT

We stopped in Taiwan to pick up more people, so everybody had to get off, then get back on. Then we were delayed again, so I ended up getting to Korea after the last bus for Gwangju had left, and the subway had finished service. Ugh. Scoot Airlines has now cost me a night at the airport. 

Unfortunately, at Incheon, you can't access the terminal as an arriving passenger, so I couldn't go to a lounge or transit hotel. Luckily, there's a jimjilbang on the basement level with private rooms, so I was at least able to refresh. 

But yesterday a Taiwanese hacker tried to access my Google account, so I've been locked out of all my Google services until I get home and can use my cellphone to text-message verify my identity. 

I'm finally on a bus back to Gwangju, but the traffic is insane! It's not even a holiday, but we're already delayed by at least an hour :'(

Sorry for writing such a negative post...I'm just really frustrated.

Australia is really nice and so is the Sweeney family. I hope to be able to visit both again one day! :)

Australia Trip: Melbourne

I came from Sydney to the Melbs. Conor was really nice and picked me up from the airport and took me to their house. They live in a beautiful suburb with lots of trees and parks nearby. 

The first day the kids were pretty shy about having a visitor in the house, but soon they were showing me all the cool things in their backyard. After we had gone to mass, the kids went to sleep and I went into town to see some sights. First stop was a giant flea market where one may purchase practically anything under the sun. I was mostly interested in legitimate baked goods since they're so rare in Korea, and I wasn't disappointed. In downtown Melbourne, there is a free tram that runs around the city and stops at all the tourist attractions, so I took that to Federation Square where many Middle-Eastern people had gathered waving Turkish flags and protesting against violence in Egypt. 

The next day, I went on a tour of the Great Ocean Road, one of the top tourist attractions in Australia. An unmarked white van picked me up in the middle of downtown bright and early (sketchy!) and then collected the rest of the participants. The Great Ocean Road is a scenic byway on the coast, built by thousands of WWI-returned soldiers. It snakes through rainforest, beaches, small towns, and limestone cliffs. Very scenic. We, along with busloads of Chinese and Korean tourists, stopped at a turnout (pullout?) and fed some personal space-invading birds and looked at some laid-back Koalas. The climax of the tour brought us to a collection of limestone monoliths known as "The 12 Apostles". Aside from the pushy and noisy Asians, it was really quite beautiful! 

The next day, I went with the Sweeney family (minus at-work Conor) to the Melbourne Zoo! My Aunt Miriam wanted us to have a good time there, and we certainly did! The zoo is very well themed and there's lots of animals to learn about. Elle and Finn helped me spot all of them :) 

The rest of the family returned home for naps, and I went into the city for some more sightseeing, including the Australia Center for Moving Image, the stately war memorial, and the UNESCO-listed Victorian era great exhibition hall. I realized I had lost my phone, and remembered that I had it last at the ACMI. Thankfully, someone had turned it in. Not only are Australians nice, they're honest :)

The last day in Australia I went to the town of Ballarat, where I started the day with some toasted, buttered banana bread and a breakfast pie at Beechworth Bakery (this place is awesome! It could be the ABC or Tim Horton's of Australia). I spent the day at Sovereign Hill, a gold-rush themed village museum, watching redcoats fire their muskets, going on a gold mine tour, sampling boiled peanut taffy, having a ginger beer at a saloon, learning how wagon wheels are made, watching $160,000 worth of gold being poured into a bar, and panning for gold!

At the end of the day, I came back for a sound and light show where they told the story of how the miners fought against the police and courts for liberty. There were some school groups that had come for the show, but there was an older Aussie couple on their way to Adelaide who had stopped by to see the show. We visited for a while, and they gave me a lift back to the train station after the show. 

Australia Trip: Sydney

Using my precious time off, I've taken a trip to Australia. Leaving plenty of jealous Korean friends behind, I flew to Kuala Lumpur and then on to Sydney. 

I spent three days there, so I'll give you some highlights in case you were thinking about coming down here and didn't know what to see. 

First off, find a good location to stay in. My hotel was one station away from the main train station and it was absolutely wonderful. It's super easy to get connections that way.

The first day I went to the National Maritime Museum, which tells visitors about Australia's inseparable connection to water. You can buy a ticket just for the museum or a combo ticket to board the ships they have outside (worth it). You can climb aboard a destroyer, submarine, and a replica of captain Cook's ship (galleon? Barque?). There were some children on a field trip to the museum--they wear red sun hats. Delightful. A highlight here is seeing the patrol boat they used as HMAS Hammersley in season 1 of Sea Patrol! (it rolls like crazy though--I'm sure plenty of sailors got sick on it)

I went to the botanical gardens and walked to the end of a peninsula to get a good view of the harbour. One thing about downtown Sydney--everybody is jogging! Seriously, one or two joggers every 10 seconds. 

The next day I slept through my alarm and woke up 3 hours late! I caught a train to the Blue Mountains (2:00 away) to do a hike to a valley. When I left Sydney it was sunny and nice. When I arrived in Katoomba it was 5•C and WINDY! I was not dressed for it at all, lol. I talked to a visitor guide and she said in the valley it would be protected by the trees. Okay. It was a great hike! Totally worth it. I took 900 steps down into the valley, did a gorgeous hike, and took a steep incline train out. 

That evening, back in Sydney, I went to a performance at the Sydney Opera House, conducted by my favourite conductor/composer John Adams! It was so nice to hear him live. The architecture is very interesting and the music was challenging and thought provoking. 

The next day I went to Bondi ("bon-die") Beach and did a walk along the coast to Bronte Beach and Waverly Cemetery, the most scenic cemetery in the world. 

Afterwards, I went to an area called The Rocks, near where the cuise ships dock. Had some great Parisian baking and a delicious coffee, then a look around at the old sandstone buildings.

I boarded a plane to visit Melbourne and my cousins Jackie and Conor and their family. Really excited to see some family and spend time with them!!j

English Camp: Waterpark

Today we're going to the water park in Hwasun (Kumho Aquana). 

First of all, there was soooo much traffic on the road this morning on my way to school. Then, when I got to school they were taking forever to let us on the buses. Then Jong Hyeon was late too...

Anyway, we're on the buses now, headed for wet adventure. I hope I don't blind anyone with my ghostlike skin!

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So our day at the Waterpark went really well. I had a great time and so did the students. I guess I haven't gone swimming with kids in a long time, but they're fun to have in the pool. Not a lot of Koreans can swim, so most people at the Waterpark wore life jackets. Also, it's mandatory that you wear a swim cap, ugh. 

Here's a cultural observance: In Korea, you can go swimming fully clothed! (baseball caps, hoodies, skirts, etc.) Interesting experience. I've heard it's because they don't want to get tanned, or because they don't like the way their body looks. Of course, this level of modesty doesn't apply to the change room. Again, another interesting experience. 

Regardless, it was a really fun time. I enjoyed swimming with the kids, holding their hands when it was too deep, showing them how to kick, and picking them up and spinning them around in the water. Fun!

Now English camp is over--Jong Hyeon is done teaching with me, and I'm on a plane to Australia at the moment. I'm going to visit Jackie's family in Melbourne. I'm reeeeally looking forward to it! So far, the plane is 30 minutes delayed, so I hope I can make my connection in Kuala Lumpur. 

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Okay, so I made my connection in Kuala Lumpur. Now I'm waiting in the low cost carrier terminal (read: human warehouse). I'm really surprised though, there's security checks around every corner! One to get in the transfer hall, one to get in the waiting area for the gate, and one before they let you sit down. They stole my water too :(

Oh well--see you "Daun Undah!"

English Camp: R-Rated Hweshik

Hey folks,

Today is sports day. If we're allowed to use the air-conditioner, then we'll do indoor games. If not, we'll play some water games outside. 

Wednesday night we had planned to go to karaoke and have dinner as teachers, but HyeongAh wasn't feeling up to it because she was supposed to take it easy. So, Mimi, Jong Hyeon (my co-teacher), and myself went instead. Mimi and I had dinner and Jong Hyeon met us at the theatre after he got off work (hagwon--cram school). We went to go see the Korean-directed English language film Seolgukyeolcha--Snowpiercer. It's a science fiction movie about the last remaining humans on Earth (accidental ice age) who are travelling around the world on an advanced ark-like train. People had to pay to get on, and those who could afford better tickets live freely at the front, in luxury, sufficiency, and care, while those who couldn't afford much are forcibly kept in the back, in poverty, squalor, and desperation. The movie is about the "tail section's" struggle for control of the train. 

Personally I found it to be really gory and violent (I guess I didn't check the rating, but it was probably R (or at least it should have been--Koreans like gory movies that make you squirm--gross!)) but I thought the movie raised interesting points about class, power, destiny, and humanity as a system. It made for some of the best conversations I've ever had with Korean people afterwards (over patbingsu (shaved ice with sweet toppings) no less--yummy!)

Anyway, that's our mini-Hweshik :)

English Camp: Midpoint

It's about halfway through English camp. These kids are doing fine but some of them really aren't "going for gold" if you know what I mean. I suppose that's normal though, not everyone wants to put in a ton of effort in a mandatory language class. 

There's probably some environmental factors that come into play, but they are beyond my control. Get this: Korea (lol, maybe it doesn't matter which one I'm talking about) is in an energy crisis because of their reactive thinking. There's no more electricity! Basically, since those reactors were taken offline because of corrupt government officials, we've had a lower maximum usage threshold. Now, since it's again one of the hottest summers ever, everybody's using energy to try and stay cool. Basically the government gave a press conference and was like "if one of our generator fails, we'll have a massive blackout." 

How does that affect me? It means all schools may no longer use their air conditioning until further notice. In 35 degree weather and 80% humidity. 

No wonder these kids can't concentrate. They're melting. 

English Camp: Grade 3/4 Version

Hi Folks,

This week of English camp is for the grade 3/4 students (with a ratio of like 3:1 lol). 

Yesterday was science day and I made a big mistake and didn't remember to halve the recipe I was using. (Also Koreans don't know Imperial measurements at all...) so I almost didn't have enough glue for the second class!! Luckily I was able to salvage enough for it to work out. Phew. Now I have a ton of Borax that I don't know what to do with... Maybe the science teacher could use it. 

Tomorrow evening Mimi, HyeongAh, myself and my co-teacher, JeongHyeon will go to a karaoke place lol. We've talked about it for a long time, but we finally set a date. However, HyeongAh went to the hospital on Saturday because something was up with her baby, so maybe she won't be able to come because she's supposed to play it safe. If you could say a quick prayer for both of their safety, I'd appreciate it. 

I had a really interesting chat/catchup with Johnny on Sunday; we went out for dinner after I preached. We talked about my observations that tourists on the Oregon coast (read: representative of Americans in general) are super polite and courteous. Now that I think about it, I wonder if they're not more polite, but I'm more rude after being in me-first-me-only-me-now Korea. 

Anyway, to make a long conversation short, we both appreciate that Canadians and Americans are open, friendly, accepting, and treat others with equality. We like that people realize they aren't the only ones in the universe. It's nice. 

English Camp: Second Impressions

Hi again folks,

English camp is going swimmingly. Today is cooking day, so I'm going to be making some Rollkuchen and watermelon with my kids (when I showed Mimi a picture of Rollkuchen she said, "Oh! That's Korean" lol). Mmm can't wait. I looked at the weather for this week and it's supposed to get really hot (humidex makes it 46 degrees) tomorrow and the day after. Yeesh. A good day to go to the movies or play video games in my opinion. The heat really takes it out of you....yesterday I went to bed at 7:30pm! Maybe it's the jetlag too... Not sure. 

Yesterday was sports day, so I came up with a bunch of games and relay races to do, like ski lift, the human knot, and seeing how many people we could fit onto a piece of newspaper. In the afternoon we played some wet games outside, that was a blast and I think the kids had fun. The teachers don't want to do it again next week though, lol. They were too hot and worried about the kids overheating. 

My students keep calling me handsome. No wonder I like this job. One of them said I look like Chris Evans haha. 

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Okay, so I wasn't sure if I should make another post or not, but I've decided to just add on to the one I wrote this morning. 

Today was cooking day and I figured it would be easy enough to make Rollkuchen with my students. After all, it's just mix, roll, cut, fry. 

Turns out I overestimated the entire thing. 

Let's just say there were several environmental and human factors that influenced the final product away from being successful and authentic Rollkuchen. I wasn't happy. 

English Camp: First Impressions

Hey folks, once again I write to you as the bus bound for the bamboo forest barrels along the road, honking impatiently at the scooters, j-walkers, and fruit sellers.You'd better find a seat quickly or you'll fall over! It's a friendly purple bus though; the old men laugh and flash a squinty-eyed smile when they see one of their friends as they board. The women behind me are chatting excitedly. One of them cackles. More people are getting on. Soon we'll stop in the middle of the highway to pick up some weathered farmer ladies (farmesses?) on their way to Damyang town to barter for radish and do some yelling. It's a nice morning, albeit hot and humid; I can smell the perfumed passengers and the air conditioning is blowing on my head--just like normal. 

As I crossed the busy street this morning, I saw some young people waiting with big placards on the opposite corner. When they were allowed to, they entered the intersection and did the wave with their giant signs. I'll ask what the message was (I wrote it down) and let you know. 

English camp is going swimmingly so far. I'm allowed to wear shorts, which is absolutely terrific! My kids are nice, but instead of being loud and distracted, they sort of just stared at me while I spoke. A little unnerving...not sure which one I prefer. 

Yesterday was Science Day, so we practiced making predictions ("What will happen?" "I think..."). Mimi didn't order my dry ice, but it turned out okay since I realized it might have sublimated (disappeared) by the time I needed to use it! We did some experiments ("Waaaaaa!"), and then we made "goop" which is sort of like silly putty. It was real effective. A pretty good lesson in my opinion. 

I really like camp because the spirit is different. It feels more adventurous, more risk-taking (at least from an aspiring educator's perspective). 

I'll let you know how Culture Day goes. 

Visiting America

Hey Folks,

Real sorry about the lack of updates. Here's the scoop in brief (I guess you could call it a kid's scoop or something). 

I came to America two weeks ago and went on vacation with the rest of my family to the Oregon coast. We went to the Cannon Beach Christian Camp and Conference Center and listened to some great Biblical teaching while also being able to enjoy the relaxing surroundings of beautiful, natural Oregon. We were fortunate enough to reunite with a family (the Yeagers) we met a few years at this place, and we thoroughly enjoyed their company. 

After Oregon, I came back to Canada with my family, and I was fortunate enough to be able to work with my parents for the rest of my time here. In the evenings, I spent time with family and friends, and we even went to see the movie "The Lone Ranger" on Tuesday. 

Basically, I had a great time. I'm really lucky that God worked it out so that I could leave earlier in July. 

Now, I've returned to South Korea. I was a little nervous the buses to Gwangju would be sold out like last time, but they weren't. I just have to wait an hour for the next one :(

Not gonna lie, I'm depressed because I'm tired of traveling and it's hot and I had to leave my family and a lot of my friends have left Korea for good and just like last year I'm wasting my birthday on a plane. However, Johnny is still here, which I'm so very grateful for, and I can look forward to crashing at my apartment when I get home, and it's only a 6 month contract which isn't that long after all. 

Count your blessings!