The Rushing Stream in the Morning Calm

The Year 2010

sylvarjedi — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 02:01:32 +0000

As the year 2010 comes to a close, I think it is best to look at some of the bigger milestones of my year.

During the year 2010 I….

1. Jan=Got to travel to China with my friends!
2. Feb=Parents came to visit Korea and I visited LMC for the first time in 3 years!
3. Mar=Lots of prepping for my 2nd degree blackbelt test
4. Apr=Took and passed said test
5. May=not much happened this month
6. June=celebrated worldcup happenings with friends in Korea!
7. July=bday, overall not too eventful otherwise
8. Aug=visited home for a short 2wks
9. Sep=started school again and 3rd year in Korea

Chuseok, Netbook, etc.

sylvarjedi — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 04:59:28 +0000

Over the Korean Thanksgiving Holiday, also known as Chuseok, I visited Daegu, Seoul, and Incheon. In Daegu, I hiked with Taeik and his friend InTaek. ‘Course they managed to get us lost on the way down, which in resulted in quite the adventure for the hike on Palgongsan. The meaning of the name of the mountain is about 8 warriors. I also spent sometime staying with my friend Michelle in Incheon. From there, we visited a few things in Seoul: COEX Mall–in order to evade the attack of Han River Jr. and its neverending rain, the War Memorial, and the Olympic Museum at Olympic Park. After that Michelle returned with me to Busan for a few days. We saw the movie, Dispicable Me with some of my Seagull friends and had dinner with them. Michelle and I also visited Songdo beach and walk around the coast.

All pics are posted on Facebook, under Chuseok 2010, II, and III.

Most of you know that I have recently acquired a HP 210 Mini Series netbook. What you may not know, is the interesting story that lies behind how I finally received it last week. It all started when I wanted a netbook for a lot of the same reasons that others purchase one-they are fast, light, mobile, have great battery power, and they are much cheaper than buying a new laptop-depending on what you buy. So my dad bought it (and I paid him back) at Target. If anybody is thinking of doing the same, you’d better hurry up bc it is a close-out kind of sale nd they are going fast! It was $299.99. Then he shipped it here to SK. It was guaranteed to reach its destination by last Friday (which it did). ‘Course life never occurs withoout a dull moment. So on Monday night at TKD I received a Korean text on my cell about the package. Evidently I had to apply for customs clearance. Being completely confused about how to go about this I asked my friends there and they said I would have to call the post office, etc. But luckily, my master saw my shock and confusion and generously offered to make the phone call. Afterwards, also known as Wednesday afternoon he gave me a long explanation in Korean–only part of which I understood. I did, however, manage to understand that the package should be somehow cleared and come in either Wed, Thurs, or Fri. Then the next day, I had lunch with my main co-teacher and some of the people from the administration office (they receive the mail for the school among other things). They told me in Korean, that I had received something about a package in the mail. I got excited and thought that it was the netbook. Instead, I came back from lunch to find an envelope on my desk. In the envelope, was an IRS-like document (3 pages of instructions for a one page app) that was all in Korean from the INTERNATIONAL POST OFFICE OF KOREA! The only things that were in English were my name, my dad’s and the country, USA! My main co-teacher helped me translate, and to make a long story short I paid $40 or so in “taxes” on the netbook. Then I finally received the ACTUAL package on Thurs and have been loving it ever since! :0)

This week is the week of midterms for my students. So I will happily have half days on at least Wed and Thurs. of this week. So, even though Chuseok was 2 weeks ago, I am still most definitely looking forward to having a relaxing way into the weekend. This is great because my Saturday is already looking quite busy, where I have to judge a student debate competition and then go to Seagull after a celebratory lunch for said competition.

Well that’s all I have to report for now! Hope everyone is well!

Happiness

sylvarjedi — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 07:11:26 +0000

Happiness
Could be anyone
Or anything at all
That’s loved by you?

Really?
Is it true?

How do we know?
What is happiness?
What does this word mean for you?

Is my meaning different from yours?
And if that is so
Is yours then less true.

But such conflict could cause an argument
Or worse, a war.
Wouldn’t this hurt the peace between me and you?

So Happiness is anyone and anything at all
That is loved by you.
But is that really true.
Is it truly happiness?

Faith, Love and Happiness

sylvarjedi — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 01:33:25 +0000

Note: This is also the title of a Thousand Foot Krutch song, which has inspired the below poem that I wrote.

Faith, Love and Happiness
Life was once full of such things
But now it all just falls away
With the setting sun
Each memory fades out of recollection

Faith, Love and Happiness
Life was once full of such things
Overpowering in abundance
A true corn of copia

But now that’s all gone
All of the food has been eaten
And thoroughly enjoyed.
So now such times of happiness
Have all come to pass.

Maybe someday the sun will rise again
And bring back the Faith, Love and Happiness.
Bring it back into the light.
But for now it is all simply a memory and nothing more.

My NEW Weekly Tea Spot

sylvarjedi — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:24:22 +0000

I now have a new spot that I go to here in PNU that is NOT Starbucks! It’s the Charlie Brown Cafe. The walk from home is only a tad bit longer, but I definitely think the place is worth it! The cafe is completely decked out in Peanuts characters! I feel much more like I am at home here! I feel like it is because I am enjoying things that are reflective of an innocent and happy time that occurred for childhood. Peanuts has always been based on such a time in one’s life. This is why so many have fallen in love with these lovable characters and their creator, Charles Schulz. Plus, to have a place here that actually RESPECTS the true value of Charlie Brown and his fellow friends, is quite awesome! Normally, anything from the Peanuts only features Snoopy by name. So if a Korean sees anyone from the Peanuts comics (which I try to use in class sometimes because there’s lots of good classroom material), they call him/it/her, “Snoopy.” I don’t expect them to know anything at all really, it’s just that there is actually a lot of Peanuts merchandise available in Korea, but nobody has any real idea about it’s origin. So when Americans get excited about it, Koreans look at the wildly excited people that start to do the Snoopy dance and go, hunh? But here, in this cafe, which can be found at an alley in the PNU area near Starbucks, I feel very much at home. I think it’s also because I am from the generation that grew up during Charles Schulz’s prime. During my childhood, the comic strip really took off and resulted in tv shows, movies, books, clothing and becoming a trademark of American culture. Plus, while I was in high school, a time when my childhood was fully at its end, Charles Schulz passed away. I’m sure many of you remember reading the news about this. I can remember the good night that we had at youth group immediately following his death. Charles Schulz, through his creation of Peanuts, had truly touched the hearts of everyone! I will be sure to post pics of the cafe soon!

Korea Fighting!

sylvarjedi — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 05:33:43 +0000

The most recent and awesome happenings as of late have all revolved around the World Cup in South Africa. Although South Africa is thousands of miles away, Koreans are quite…well, passionate about their team, the red devils. In fact Koreans are so passionate that they have many places across Korea that broadcast the game on big screens. These venues also have their own mini concerts and cheerleaders, with the biggest celebration of course being located in Seoul. Oh, and EVERYONE is required to wear a red shirt and/or as much red as possible. Korea has had 2 games so far.-one win vs. Greece and one loss vs. Argentina. During the win against Greece, people were estatic and celebrating everywhere. Everyone was joyous and optimistic. Last night, however, being Korea’s devestating loss against Argentina was quite the downer. Even several of my students had sad faces when I walked into class this morning. I too want Korea or the US or both to win. But in general, I just couldn’t feel more fortunate to be here in Korea in the midst of this World Cup fever. It is truly indescribable to be given the oppurtunity to totally immerse yourself in the craziness along with my Korean friends, and cheer on the Korean team. They just have so much fun with it all and the feelings that this gives are truly hard to put into words. It’s that awesome feeling to know that you were given the chance to be a part of something, that only comes once in a lifetime. And even then to a certain few. I hope to upload my pics and videos onto Facebook this afternoon (Friday)!

Rollercoaster Weekend

sylvarjedi — Mon, 31 May 2010 10:00:08 +0000

So my rollercoaster weekend to end the month of May, started off with a rough Friday. In school, there was a meeting about my observation class. In America, we give both positive and negative feedback. In Korea, HOWEVER AND EVIDENTLY, they only give mostly negative feedback, even if the claims are somewhat unfounded or just hard to believe. Then, I found out the cultural difference only AFTER the meeting (hence my evidently), but this was only because it looked like I was crying. Now, granted, I was upset, but in fact my eyes were just overly irritated, and of course I had left my contact solution at home. So my face totally looked like I was crying and it was very difficult to get everyone else to realize the true reason behind my tears. Later at Tae Kwon Do, we had a mini-test. It went well, except that I couldn’t understand a few of the commands, which was very frustrating, but at least my master helped me for one of them.

The next morning, my mom and I were talking over skype and she had some unfortunate news: one of my close friends and mentors, a man that I had always admired since we first worked together at the library when I was a senior in highschool, passed away. His first name was Gene. Gene was a person that always had a smile, made an effort to keep himself quite healthy for his age, and also was one of the most selfless people I ever knew. The most crushing part of any long-distance death, is that you are so far away, and it for me, it just seems to emphasize the loneliness that can set in from time to time from being so far away from home. This loneliness was also present in me, because I really wish I could’ve been home for my cousin’s college graduation. The whole family was there, well everyone except me…

The rest of Saturday afternoon went well though. I went to English club, and did the “Debate” presentation. My topic actually went pretty well. Basically, I decided that I would have us debate on the following pretense: Suppose Kim Jongil has been arrested and tried for his several crimes against humanity. He’s been convicted and now we must decide how to sentence him-death penalty or life in prison. The main reason for its success was that it was a debate about the death penalty but it gave a stronger foundation, and face. I did this because in general most debate activities about the death penalty can be very broad and sometimes not be very effective. But I was happy to find that this way made a more effective and stronger debate.

After the meeting, we went to dinner and did some bowling. I love bowling here because it is SO much cheaper, and I’ve done pretty well (my score is usually between 75 and 111) Also it’s jsut loads of fun to go bowling with that group of friends.

On Sunday, I met up with my friend Alysha from LMC. It just so happened that she too was in Korea, but only for a short visit. So anyway, we spent the day together, seeing Haedongyounggung temple (aka: younggung temple) which has a beautiful view of the Sea of Japan, and we also went to a traditional tea house in Seomyeon. It was awesome to see her again and show her around. After seeing her off to her fellow traveling friends, I spent the remainder of the evening with Sungjune.

Overall, there were both dips and peaks on this rollercoaster of a weekend. As I continue to think nervously about the meeting (I am still waiting on my scores to see if I can stay again), cope on a death (I’ll be ok, don’t worry!) I hope this week will be much better! Oh well…here’s to a less emotional weekend!

May Showers

sylvarjedi — Tue, 18 May 2010 06:14:04 +0000

Yes, I know that in the saying, “April showers spring May flowers,” April comes first AND goes with showers. But it has been pouring showers all day today so I figured this would be a semi-suitable title.

Last Saturday was teacher’s day, but my school celebrated it on last Friday. I walked into school that morning to find a history teacher that I’m kind of friendly with place some letters on my desk. She then said to me in broken English “Happy Teacher’s Day, Marissa!”(actually she probably said “Maelissa,” but my first name is difficult for Koreans in general so I’m kind of used to it) But anyways I looked at her confusedly and asked in Korean to confirm that the holiday is on Saturday. She confirmed my question but left me with no explanation, probably thinking that I wouldn’t understand it. Anyway, so I received 6 letters from students in her 9th grade homeroom, and one from another random 9th grader. This particular teacher actually had her students sit down and choose some teachers to whom they would write their letters. I’m just overly appreciative and touched by my students since they tried (those 7 I mean) and they wrote the letters in ENGLISH! Normally for presents, if you’re not a homeroom teacher you receive nothing on the holidays because the students don’t spend as much time with you. So, this is also why I was so overly greatful for the 7 beautiful letters that I had received. Last Friday was also the day of my open/observation class. The material was mainly from the textbook and we ended with a game that I created on my own, with the childhood game battleship in mind. Things went pretty well. But our feedback meeting is not until the 28th because no one in my huge department has matching schedules till then.

Saturday was English Club followed by bowling. Everyone is very excited about our upcoming MT(Membership Training~I like to call it a sort of ‘secular retreat’) on Friday. I just hope the weather clears up soon.

Next weekend starts on Friday because of the holiday for Buddha’s coming..err birthday. (the literal Korean means ‘coming’ but we call it ‘birthday’ in English) So I’m leaving for MT with my friends early that Friday afternoon. We’re headed to Yangsan, which is about an hour away from Busan.

~Alright I really nothing else to report at the moment so peace! Hope all my readers are doing well! Miss you all!~

May Flowers

sylvarjedi — Wed, 12 May 2010 13:44:57 +0000

So I have now approached May in the second year of my Korean adventure…

Since I visited LMC during my February break, I have found myself to continue to be more nostalgic than usual this year. I guess I never realized how much I truly miss the wonderful hills of East Syracuse. I know I def miss all the friends that I visited those awesome 4 days, and also the new ones that I made. I also wish I could see my friends graduate next Sunday! I guess the nostalgia has also hit me hard because 3 years ago next Sunday, I graduated from college. It really hits me and makes me wonder…Seriously! Where DID the time go?

I went to my co-teacher’s wedding on May 1st. It was quite a different experience. The first major difference is that everyone gives the same gift-$30 in a special envelope with Chinese characters on it. You give this as soon as you get into the church, so it’s almost like your admissions fee. I did not have one such envelope, and I wanted to give her a gift too. So I printed one of my cherry blossom pics and also bought her a small frame. It was really a nice gift. But everyone was so confused as to why would give something diffferent. I was like umm I’m not Korean, and did I mention that she’s leaving for the US? I wanted to give something of Korea that she could bring there with her and keep! But in Korea doing anything that is different is weir, whatever I had the right feelings in mind. Anyways after “admissions are paid” they give you a ticket for food and you are led by others to this banquet area in the basement of the cathedral. There, they have every kind of food imaginable. This smorgasbord of food and eating it carries on independently of the festivities upstairs. That fact in particular really shocked me, because one would think that the main idea to be there is for the wedding, but if you indulge in the food like my co-teachers did you could miss the wedding! Luckily, though, we only missed the entrance procession. The last 2 differences were the facts that they make formal bows to the parents of both the bride and groom, and that there is no kissing-bowing totally replaces that. Overall, it was quite beautiful, and I hope to hear from her again soon!

On the following day, Sungjune and I joined some of his friends for a hike in Busan at Hwamyeongsan. It was an awesome spring day that was filled with lots of laughter and loads of fun. I hope that we do it together again sometime soon.

During the weekend of May 8th, Michelle, who come down from Incheon and I went to Sorimsa temple near the train station. It is a small temple, which only seemed to house a few Buddhist nuns. We got lucky on a temple that was easy to find, and also on a beautifully sunny day. I’ve uploaded the pics into my spring album on Facebook. Here are some of my favorites:

Current Happenings in Busan

sylvarjedi — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:45:01 +0000

School has been relentlessly busy with its 27 class hour work week. But I am enjoying it. My afterschool class is going very well. The students are all very interested, and they seem to enjoy the various lessons. I usually have 5-6 classes normal time thruout the week, then I have afterschool classes Monday thru Thursday. Today is the last day of midterms, and then tomorrow is a sketch day. This means that each grade goes to certain park in Busan, and us teachers chaperone, and judge the drawing contest. Well the homeroom teachers do more of the judging anyway. I just hope we have good weather tomorrow!

In other news, I’m still going strong with TKD. I go 4 times a week now, for 2 hours each time. It’s been great to be able to have such a wonderful community there. I’m working on the next form which is Keumkang. My master also wants me to learn Taebaek soon. Everyone’s trying to overly reward me, when I’m just enjoying a hobby that I love!

Seagull or the English club continues to go well and be one of my sources of enjoyment during the weekend. Those saturday afternoons are seriously quite enjoyable!

Well I don’t have much else to report right now. I am headed to a Lotte Giants baseball game tonight. So I’m excited about that! Hope all is well on your side of the world!