The End Has Come

*Disclaimer: This post will be mostly about my host family. Scroll down for pictures.

Today is my last day in Korea.
For a while there, it felt like I would never, ever get a chance to write the above sentence. At times, this past year seemed to crawl at a snail's pace. But then the end came and looking back this year has indeed past quickly.

It's been filled with so many fun adventures and challenging experiences that have helped me grow and prepare for the future. I feel better equipped to begin seminary in the fall, I feel confirmed in my long-term goal of teaching at a University level, and I discovered that I am ready to settle down somewhere for longer than a semester or two. I want to have a chance to have house plants and join a book club.

But despite my excitement for the next steps God has planned for me, the best word to sum up my emotion today is: nauseous. I feel nauseous, queasy at the thought of leaving tomorrow. Part of it is the usual anticipation of airport stress, part of it is the thought that I might never come back to Korea (at least not in the foreseeable future). But most of it is realizing that I have to say goodbye to my host family, and the life I have built with them.

When I first met my host family almost a year ago, I knew God had provided a good home for me. I just didn't know in what way yet. All five of them have helped me, often without realizing it, through the difficulties of adjusting to Korean life.

• My host dad has a great sense of humor, and is not afraid of joking with me, despite my lack of Korean skills. He also has a never ending supply of patience listening to me explain something in broken Korean, throwing in a few English words and deciphering my intended meaning. 
• My host mom is calm and steady, and easy to approach when I have questions about Korean culture. I do not have to be afraid of offending her with culturally insensitive questions. 
• My oldest host sister shares her love for piano with me by showing me what she is learning, and letting me teach her some of what I know. We go to piano lessons together, and it has been a highlight of my year. 
• My middle host sister has a passion for bugs and would rather build something with legos or paper, instead of drawing or playing make-belief. She combines these passions by constructing paper bugs. She let me help her build bugs from her construction set. (A great honor)
• My youngest host sister (only 4) loves to practice English songs she is learning in Kindergarden, and then correcting my English when I don't "say it right" ('cause she knows sooooo much more English than I do...). Yesterday she corrected my English while reading a children's book to her...I don't think she understand the concept of "native speaker".

Whenever I came home from a hard day I could count on my host sisters' constant chatter and cheerful dispositions to distract me from my stress. Granted, sometimes I would feel frustration at never being alone, or never having privacy. But looking back, I didn't really need alone time or privacy as much as I thought. Instead, the girls have taught me patience, how to relate to children, and to be more flexible in the little things.

I have come to the end of my blog post that ended up being more of a homage to my host family than anything else!^^ But, I don't feel nauseous anymore! I think a big part of the stress of today is that I want to show my host family my appreciation and thankfulness for everything they have done for me...but my Korean skills aren't sufficient for much more than a, "reallllllly, really thank you".  But maybe that is enough.

My middle host sister also likes to practice English with me. The get these vocab cards in Kindergarden.

My oldest host sister with our piano teacher, who was so sweet and patience with my Korean skills!

The two youngest. These poses somewhat describe their personalities!^^

The entire host fam+me getting a foot bath together.

My youngest host sister wanted me to take a picture of her drawing.

 My host family took me to a beach resort my last weekend in Korea.

My oldest host sis

My host mom and two youngest host sisters getting ready to go to the beach. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Travel sketches

Throughout the grant year I have been keeping up my travel sketchbook. have almost filled my journal with sketches of all the places I have visited. Mostly I have traveled in Korea, but I also included some sketches from my winter trip to Japan. Below you can find a sample of the kind of sketches I've done.

I travel sketch for several reasons:
1. It is entertaining. I am never bored if I have paper and pen.
2. It is a way to remember. When I sketch something, regardless of the quality of my sketch, I remember the place better than if I were to take a hundred selfies in front of it.
3. In our age of photography, I find that photos often loose meaning for me. Moreover, I am not a good photographer. My photos are always out of focus, have no objective and lack creativity. My sketches are different, and I like knowing that there is only one of them.

I started my journal with a self portrait, done in September at my desk in school.

This is an old fortress in my city, Cheongju.

This is Seongri-san, about one hour from my city. My host family took me here in October.

Reeds, Suncheon Bay. November 2016

I love going to coffee shops in Korea, and this one is walking distance from my house.

Visiting my friend, Elsa, in Japan. December-January

Mount Fuji was visible from the mountain we climbed to see the first sunrise of the year. January 1st, 2017

The architecture museum in Tokyo

Mixing old with new, in Seoul. Feb. 2017

A visit to Gyeongbukgung (palace) in Seoul, with my mom. March 2017

Fulbright conference in Jeju, April 2017

Jeju

The Bamboo forest in Damyang, May 2017

Beoseong Green Tea Festival, May 2017

Green tea fields, Boseong, May 2017

Update: Teaching, Volunteering and Gyeongju

These past few weeks have been filled with new experiences teaching, a weekend trip to Gyeongju and my first time volunteering with the North Korean defector program, where Fulbright ETAs can teach English. Let me dive right in to updating you all on my life:

Mid October I finished my first round of teaching 4th grade, and started teaching 6th grade. The difference between the children is so marked. In just two years they turn from adorable little kids to teenagers who are tired of the system and don't mind telling you and showing you that they don't really care. The first week teaching 6th was a struggle, but I have since adjusted and am really starting to enjoy this grade as well. It is more challenging, because I have to work extra hard at engaging them, and I also have to discipline them more, something I don't like to do, but is necessary.
One of my 6th grade students gets up in the middle of class and starts hitting other students. This is unacceptable, so I had to keep him after class one day, to address this. Another of my students will start tearing out pages of his textbook in the middle of class...

Teaching one of my fourth grade classes 

Mid-October, Fulbright held its annual Fall Conference in Gyeongju, South Korea. All ETAs are required to attend various workshops on teaching, and other aspects of our grant year. The conference was a great reminder that I am here to teach, and offered new ideas and insights into our daily life as ETAs.

On Sunday the 16th, we toured Gyeongju and visited several sites, one of my favorites was Bulguksa Temple, which is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. Two reasons  this temple is so special is 1: Its size, and 2: It survived Japanese vandalism during the colonial period.  

Bulguksa Temple, Gyeongju

 My other favorite site was Daereungwon, where twenty-three ancient tombs of kings and noblemen of the Silla Dynasty can be seen. The tombs look like rounded hobbit hills, much simpler than the Egyptian tombs, but serving the same purpose. In one tomb over 12,000 artifacts including golden crowns, and jewels weapons, pottery and paintings were discovered.

Daereungwon, Gyeongju

Monday, the day of departure, a friend and I went to Wolji pond to spend a few hours journaling and sketching. Wolji pond used to serve as a "vacation" get-a-way for the royalty, and features beautiful buildings and landscape.

Wolji pond, Gyeongju 

 It was easy to imagine big gatherings of noblemen enjoying the finer things of life, while they gazed out across the water.

Wolji pond, Gyeongju

This past Wednesday, a friend and I took the bus to Cheonan, (about an hour away) where we volunteered with a North Korean defector program that offers English lessons to North Korean refugees for free. They are always looking for more teachers, and both of us have decided to commit our Wednesdays to volunteering. This means that immediately after work (4:40pm) we hop on a bus to travel the total 1 hour and a half to the language center. Then we teach one hour, and journey back to Cheongju. This means that we only come back around 10pm. So in other words, on Wednesdays I leave my house at 8:30am, and don't come back until 10pm. It's a long day, but definitely worth it! 

That is all for now! More updates to follow...

Yeouido Ecological Park

Two weeks ago, while feeling the usual bout of restlessness that overcomes me ever so often, I decided to do some more exploring of Seoul.

Armed with my camera, and sketchbook I took the subway and got off at a station close to the Han River, thinking I would walk along its shore. However, the best days are the ones not planned. On my way to the river I stumbled across this little piece of nature in midst a city of development, and decided to spend the afternoon there instead.

What I love about this city is that you can find little havens like this, in the middle of a busy city!

Skyline of Seoul in the distance, creation of God in the forefront!^^

I thought this bridge looked so cool! I might paint this one day.

There were tons of weeping willows. My favorite tree!

Afternoon sun

I am so thankful I stumbled across this little part of nature. It was refreshing to spend the afternoon here sketching, reading the Word, and listening to music. Although I love the city life, for there is always much to do and much to see, I still love nature best. It is wonderful when you can find a way to have the best of both worlds, as I was that day.

DMZ

Sadly, my camera batteries gave out after the first stop of the DMZ tour, so that explains the lack of photos for this post...

Two weeks ago, I joined a tour around the DMZ. The tour lasted from morning to evening, and we visited several locations along the DMZ. We did not have permission to INSIDE the DMZ, but we received permission to stay close to the outside of the fence. (DMZ is a 4 km zone stretching 2 km north and 2 km south of the Military line ACTUALLY separating north and south, I suppose one could call DMZ a type of "no man's land")

The two locations we visited that stuck in my mind most, were the 3rd infiltration tunnel, and Dora Observatory. I will explain why here:

The 3rd Infiltration tunnel was created by North Koreans in the 1970s to try and infiltrate the South (hence the name). In total there are 4 known infiltration tunnels, but more are suspected to exist.
The 3rd one is approx. 75 meters underground (25 story building) that we had to walk down to reach. All of us were told to wear helmets, for the height of the tunnel is probably know more than 1.5 meters or less at certain points, and I did end up bumping my head frequently.

Only 300 meters of the 1.6 km tunnel are open to the public, and we went down to view it. At the end of the long, cold, wet stone corridor you reach a door, through which you can glimpse the Military Line (I forget the exact name) marking North and South Korea.

The reason this tour stop sticks in my mind, is because of the vibe it gives off. The 3rd Infiltration tunnel is not a joke. It was truly, and actually made by North Koreans, in an attempt at future infiltration. It's almost like a bad movie. And now, hordes of tourists view it. Different languages can be heard drifting through the tunnel, as well as laughter and shouts. Now, this is not wrong, however I think the stark contrast between the actuality of the meaning behind the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel, and the lightness with which it is treated by some tourists is striking.

The entrance and parking lot in front of the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel is surrounded by wire fencing and soldiers stationed periodically. These are not for show, they are actually there for control and protection.
Going to the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel was interesting for me, because it was a coming to terms with the fact that the North-South issues seem distant for us tourists, but they are a stark reality for the country of South Korea.

The Dora Observatory was breathtaking. Praise the Lord, we had a gorgeous day!! We could look across the DMZ, towards the mountains of North Korea. And it was beautiful.
Similar to the tunnel, I was confronted by two facts: North Korea seemed beautiful, and idyllic, and utterly paint-worthy, but the reality of the North Korean people's situation is anything but beautiful and idyllic.

Through the observation lenses (whatever they're called) I was able to see one of the propaganda villages, as well as the tall flag pole of North Korea (third tallest flag pole in the world). The buildings looked a little outdated, but clean, and peace full. This, coupled with the hazy mountains in the distance, the rolling woods in the front, and green fields in the back created a picture perfect world, that does not exist.

I have no real words for all the thoughts streaming through my mind, while gazing upon North Korea. I just know that I would love to speak to North Korean refugees one day, and hear their story personally; first hand facts of the true situation in North Korea.

Chart of the division of North Korea and South Korea

Freedom Bridge, outside of the DMZ where War Prisoners were exchanged after the truce

South Korean flags at the gate to the train tracks leading towards the
freedom bridge.

Me infront of the Freedom Bridge. I was unsure if I should smile or not, since this
is a serious subject, thus we have....Tessa's weird half smile! ;)

Insadong

A side street in Insadong

My friend and I set out this morning to find Bukchon Hanok village, where you can see traditional Korean architecture. After getting off at the correct subway stop, we decided to walk around Insadong first, which is a souvenir shopping area. Well...we never did make it to Bukchon! Maybe next time!

Street artists

The film shoot 

Along the way, we ran into a film crew. I'm not sure whether this was for a drama, commercial, or what not, but it was fascinating to watch the director talk to the actors, etc. After stopping in numerous shops, and after spending more money than I had meant to... (hehe..yeah...) we stumbled upon the Insadong-cultural center. Here you pay 3000 won (equivalent to 3 dollars) and get to play dress up in traditional Korean clothing! (Hanbok)

Below: The pictures

Traditional umbrella hat?

Beautiful!! ^^

Deoksugung (Palace)

Thursday, two friends and I went to Deoksugung (gung means palace). It is the smallest one of several palaces in Seoul, and simply stunning!

We ate dinner at a delicious Korean 식당 (restaurant), where an kindly Korean grandfather served us and talked to us in Korean, whilst we nodded our heads and smiled politely, pretending we understood more than we actually did. We then entered the palace. Entry fee is only 1000 Won, equivalent to less than a dollar.

Entrance to the courtyard leading to throne room

Although it was dark by now, the palace was well lit, we walked around the grounds, and entered the throne room. I say throne room, but Korean palaces are very different from any of the numerous castles and palaces in Europe. Instead of one building, with many different rooms and hall, Korean palaces are a construction of several buildings, each serving its own purpose. The buildings are intricately decorated in colors symbolizing various things.

Courtyard infront of the throne room

It was a wonderful feeling to walk where centuries ago people lived and served their king. Because it was dark, and rather cold, we were almost alone on the grounds. It was a little island of calm amidst the rising skyscrapers and traffic choir of Seoul. It was peaceful.

The throne room 

Later in the evening we joined a small audience to watch a Korean traditional performance. It was unlike anything I've ever seen. The dancing and music was more rhythmic than melodic, and several of the older spectators joined the dancing, enjoying the performance very much.

Dancing and drumming

My favorite part of the performance was seeing the expressions of the musicians. They breathed the music. When artists believe in what they are doing, it makes the audience believe. Through the vivid expressions of the musicians, I began to understand a little bit of the great history and love these people have for their country. 

 A short clip of part of the performance. Sorry for the bad quality, my camera does not do well at night! But hopefully you get the idea of what it was like!