Blogs from Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, Asia - page 12

Welcome back to the Blog-abration Celebration (you didn’t forget about this did you?) of our year in Korea and of everything Korean. Cass and I returned to Montana, safe and sound, an are getting some semblance of normalcy back to our lives- more on that will come. I have a plan for two more final Blog-abration posts after this, and I’m sure the anticipation is killing you all (yeah, right). You probably already figured this theme was on its way. We’ve been fortunate to have met some amazing people in Yeoju (and the greater Korea) that we are sure will be lifelong friends. It’s a funny phenomenon, this ESL teaching thing, and if you read my article 7 Truths You Won't Hear About Teaching ESL Abroad , you’ll understand what I mean. This experience really helps ... read more

Hi family, friends and neighbors, Life continues to be a blast. I've been very busy at work, teaching and helping other teachers pilot a new program here at English village. It is a new experience using different skills and I am enjoying that part of it. It has added up to doing work related activities over 50 hours a week which I am not enjoying. On the bright side, there are some Korean teachers taking the Harvard teaching course I am taking and we have become friends. Today they invited me for tea at the neighboring art village. Then one of the teachers offered to take me and Richard grocery shopping tomorrow. Yeah! Not having a car, that was a really blessing. A couple of times when talking to teachers, the subject of drinking came up. ... read more

Hello everyone, I thought I only had a few takers on this blog, but I have a few more than I thought and I thank you for reading it. I have gradually become quite busy. As part of my work, I am taking a course out of Harvard call "Teaching for Understanding." That meets on 2 Saturdays a month, plus two nights a week. We also go to church on Sat. (the English service is on Sat.) or go with the boys on a field trip. I have started to teach a class twice a week, I am planning lessons and help guiding teachers--so I have a lot on my plate. I'm glad that there is a bit of a routine developing. It is a refreshing change from working in American public schools. Oct. 3rd was ... read more

Before coming to Korea, we couldn’t find any information on the designated town we were to call home for the next year. Literally, the only two solid bits of information, if you can call them that, in which we knew for sure was that Yeoju is the home for some kind of world ceramic festival and there is a premium outlet shopping mall in town. You could say we were going in pretty blind, but in the end, it was an absolute blessing. Before I get into Yeoju a little, we’re currently enroute to Japan, the final leg of our Asian experience. Those blogs are coming right up, sorry I’m a little behind on the writing- been a little busy. We officially have left Korea, Yeoju, our jobs, and friends which was all quite sad. As ... read more

It’s no secret, Korean food is a love/hate relationship. It never really allows any room for indifference; definitely one or the other… or both… or neither. For Cass and I, it’s both, but more along the lines of love, and I’m not too proud to say so. We’ve actually evolved to be somewhat of connoisseurs of the cuisine this last year, and it has been a wild ride. Anyone interested, I invite you to read an article I got published for more insight into our forays into the realm of Korean food, here’s the url=http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/09-06/eating-in-korea-a-laymans-guide-to-dishes-you-must-try.html link, or head over to TheExpeditioner and the post I put up about the nastiness people eat all over the world. It’s all kind of amusing, I think. Since this is the blog-abration of all ... read more