A Year in Review

After 4 hours of sitting on the runway at O'Hare and 13 hours in the air, I have completed my 11th trip across the Pacific Ocean and am back in Korea. I had intended just to take a short nap so I could go into Seoul tonight. My short nap turned into an 8-hour nap, and I woke up at 11 PM, having slept right through my alarm clock. It looks like I'll welcome 2008 from my cozy little apartment.

2007 Year in Review

January--I returned to Korea on my 7th trip across the Pacific Ocean. Complications from a root canal sent me to the endodontist, my new hero. I experienced my first earthquake. I got my own classroom at the school.

February--I celebrated Lunar New Year with Catherine and her family. My pants split in class one day. I started teaching full time.

March--I traveled to Jeju Island for a 4-day vacation and climbed Mt. Halla, Korea's highest peak. I started working at the preschool in addition to my regular school. I stopped working at the church.

April--I watched the sunrise from the east coast of Korea and almost watched the sunset from the west coast on Easter. I helped coach Miss Korea. The staff of my school spent a weekend in the mountains.

May--Adorned with lanterns and spring flowers, May was Korea's prettiest month this year. I was the English-speaking MC for the inaugural ceremony of Educators without Borders. I watched the Lotus Lantern parade and visited two big temples in Seoul for Buddha's Birthday.

June--I walked through a big public market that got creepier the deeper I got into it. I moved to a bigger apartment that has a full-sized refrigerator and washing machine. I went to Chicago on my 8th trip across the Pacific Ocean.

July--I spent the whole month of July in the U.S. with my family. We celebrated Mom and Dad's 30th wedding anniversary by going to The Color Purple in Chicago. We drove around Lake Michigan on a family vacation.

August--On my 9th trip across the Pacific Ocean, I returned to Korea. It was a very hectic month at school.

September--The month for traveling. I visited the DMZ, North Korea, and China. The highlight was spending a day hiking on the Great Wall.

October--Beautiful weather meant October was the month to be outside. I went hiking at Songnisan and Gyeryongsan National Parks and took field trips with most of my students. I ended the month in Samsung Medical Center's emergency room with pneumonia and a kidney infection.

November--I joined the gym with Catherine and was very dedicated--for about a week. Everyone came to my apartment to celebrate Thanksgiving.

December--I helped clean up the oil spill at Mallipo in Taean County and was misquoted in a major Korean newspaper. I made my 10th trip across the Pacific to spend Christmas in Chicago. I made my 11th trip across the Pacific Ocean and am back in Korea.

While having lunch with friends in Galena last week, I broke a tooth, which means that the year has come full circle. I'll begin 2008 in much the same way I began 2007--I have an appointment with the endodontist on January 2nd.

Lunch

What: lunch
When: Thursday, December 27, 11 AM
Where: Happy Joe's, Galena
Questions: Call me at Grandma Shirley's Thursday morning. If you don't know her phone number, call Jane N. ;)

Pass it on! I'd love to see anyone who can make it.

Merry Christmas

I'm wishing all my friends and family a very merry Christmas and a healthy, happy, holy New Year!

It's been wonderful to be home in the Chicago area with my family this week. Last night, Mom, Dad, Sal, Grandma, and I went to church. This morning we opened presents. Later, the extended family came for Christmas dinner and more presents. It's a blessing to have such a loving, supportive family.

Christmas EveChristmas Day

Back to the Land of Lincoln

I flew to Chicago yesterday (Korea time), today (Chicago time). It was my 10th trip across the Pacific Ocean, not counting flying to Hawaii in 1990 and back in 1993. It was a thankfully-uneventful 14-hour nonstop flight. I had a window seat, and no one sat in the middle seat, so I had a little more room than I usually have on these long flights. Since I left Seoul in the evening, it was dark outside during the first half of the flight. However, just as we were flying over Alaska, the sun started to peek over the horizon. The light was perfect as we made our way over the Alaska Mountain Range. I looked out the window for over an hour, transfixed by the rugged, snow-covered mountains changing from dark blue to white to pink to orange as the sun came over the horizon. This is why I ask for a window seat. Interior Alaska in winter is not something I'm likely ever to see from the ground.Now I'm in Chicago. It's a very short trip this time, but I'm happy to be able to spend Christmas with my family.

I didn't say that

The father of one of my students called the school this afternoon to tell us that he read about me in an article about the oil spill clean-up in one of Korea's national newspapers. H-k found the article on the internet by searching google with my name in Korean. They got some facts right--my name, where I live, my age, and where I'm from--but the quote is completely wrong.

I was asked why I volunteered and what I thought about the clean-up effort. I said I was there for three reasons: 1) I use oil, so I have some responsibility for what happened. 2) I enjoy being outdoors and am concerned about the environment. 3) Though I'm not a Korean citizen, I am a resident of this country and have as much of a responsibility to help this country while I live here, as I do to help my home country when I live there.

I also said that I thought it was encouraging to see so many people working together to assist with the clean-up effort, and although it felt like slow progress and could be discouraging, we have to start somewhere, so I was glad to join everyone and help out.

That's what I said. H-k interpreted for me, and I have no doubt that she's a trustworthy interpreter.

However, I was quoted saying that I was amazed by Koreans' ability to come together to overcome this crisis, just like Koreans came together following the IMF crisis and while hosting the 2002 World Cup.

Huh? I've never in my life talked about the IMF crisis or the World Cup. So, Chosun Ilbo, thanks for thinking of me, but at least get my words close to right.

They published an interesting photo along with the article. It shows a section of beach near where we worked to show the progress that's being made to clean things up, mostly by hand. The first photo was taken on Dec. 9th and the second on Dec. 16th.Here's a link to the article, but it's all in Korean: 해변이 다시 숨쉬기 시작했다

Oil Clean-up

Today H-k and I joined nearly 32,000 other people from around Korea to help clean up the oil that has covered nearly 170 kilometers of Korea's west coast since a Hong Kong oil tanker and a Korean barge collided 8 kilometers from shore last Thursday, dumping 10,500 tons of crude oil into the West Sea (known outside Korea as the Yellow Sea).

We left our town at 7:30 AM and traveled by bus with an environmental group to Taean County where we spent four hours mopping up oil from the rocky beach with absorbant cloths and scooping mounds of oil-covered oyster shells into burlap sacks for safe disposal. It was cold and windy, and the sky occasionally spat snow and sleet on us, so we had to wear bulky layers of clothing under our protective suits, giving us an amazing resemblance to the Marshmallow Man. They don't let you work for more than four hours at a time because the exposure to the fumes and chemicals is unhealthy and potentially dangerous.

I felt fine while I was working, but on the bus on the way home, both H-k and I had a headache and felt dizzy and a little nauseous. That passed once I got off the bus, ate some dinner, and took a shower. Now my arms hurt from scrubbing rocks and bagging shells, and my legs hurt from squating on the rocks. The beach we worked on was not the hardest hit among the beaches on Korea's west coast yet the progress was just so slow, even with all the people working. We'd clean one section of beach and look down and see more oil. This spill is devasting to the natural environment, which consists significantly of coastal mudflats and is an important habitat for migratory birds, and also the local fishing, marine farming, and tourist industries. It felt hopeless, but as H-k said, we have to start somewhere.

I'm no dummy either

Today I overheard this conversation, in Korean, between two of my five-year-olds.

Laura: Ms EMH can speak Korean.
Aaron: No, she can't.
Laura: Yes, she can. She understands it, too.
Aaron: No, she doesn't. Watch this. (yelling) MS EMH IS A DUMMY!
Ms EMH: AARON! Don't say that!
Aaron: (whispering to Laura) Wow, she does understand Korean.

I was so pleased to have understood it all that I didn't mind being called a dummy so much.

More Christmas Tree Love

We've been taking class pictures in front of the Christmas tree this week.Finally, here's the Christmas tree in the center of town.Merry Christmas!

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum

Joy put the Christmas tree up while the rest of us were teaching last night. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to help, but at least there were still a few Christmas ornaments left to be hung when my last class of the day was over. I love having the Christmas tree up at school. It's immediately in the entry way (and right in front of Joy's desk), so it's a cheerful welcome to the school. It makes the kids happy, too. Catherine, Grace, Joy, and I took some pictures in front of the tree tonight after all the kids had gone home.I'm not sure why we're doing this with our hands. It was Joy's idea. I told her I thought it was funny and that I would tell everyone I know that this is how Koreans smile for photos. That made everyone laugh.I love having the Christmas tree up at school. I know there are a gazillion versions and verses to the song, but this is the one that's stuck in my head these days:

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum!
Du kannst mir sehr gefallen!
Wie oft hat nicht zur Weihnachtszeit
Ein Baum von dir mich hoch erfreut!
O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum!
Du kannst mir sehr gefallen!

I think one of the reasons I'm so happy to have the Christmas tree up is that it's a visible reminder that very soon I'll be in Chicago celebrating Christmas with my family. I bought my plane ticket a month ago, but Joy just helped me make my seat assignments today. I'm flying nonstop and have a window seat. Oh yeah.

And for a slight aside that only my family will understand, I also have Uncle Tuney's choir singing "Hurry home for Christmas. Don't stop (stop) until you get there. Yeah." stuck in my head.

Hwaseong Fortress, Suwon City

I met Jackie in Suwon this afternoon to take a walk around the Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon City. I was there barely over a year ago with one of the teachers from my previous school, but we only saw a very small portion of the fortress on that visit. Today Jackie and I were about halfway around the 5-kilometer fortress when someone from behind us called, "Hey, waeguks (foreigners)!" We turned around, and much to our surprise, there was Scott, a hiking friend who lives in the far southwestern part of Korea. The three of us continued around the fortress together. Then Scott caught the bus back to his city, and Jackie and I checked out a store and then talked over ice cream in the train station before heading our separate ways home. Some photos from the trip.

Jackie, Scott, and EMH:Traditional Korean archery--I sure wouldn't want that guy's job.Hwaseong Fortress and Suwon: Some displays in the windows of a Chinese medicine shop:It was a good day. I always enjoy the opportunity to see more of Korea, chat with friends, and eat ice cream. Throw some exercise and fresh air in there, and it's a great combination. It's a good start to my week.