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Published: September 13th 2009
So we’re back, another awesome vacation abroad finished, and we had a pleasant surprise waiting on our phone when we arrived at the airport… more vacation! Yes, while we were gone, the Korean ministry of education issued a mandatory one week quarantine for any teachers that traveled out of the country, a precaution for the H1N1 flu virus. Since we arrived the night before we were to go back to school, (and are totally healthy) that means we had one more week vacation… yippee!
What we didn’t realize, was that we weren’t the only ones on quarantine, the majority of the teachers in town were in the same boat! Without giving us any direction, or further instructions regarding how to behave on quarantine (other than don’t go to school) we all used the time to do a bit of celebrating (in fact some people went to Everland and Lotte amusement parks… our little secret). I'm also right in the swing of things as the contributing editor of
theexpeditioner.com . It's super fun finding and sharing different and random travel news I find. Go check it out if you haven't already, I've been posting for two weeks-ish alread... boy time really does
4 NonBlondes
literally... singing the 4 non-blondes song "What's up?" anyone remember that one? It's a noraebang classic herefly, doesn't it?
While we were gone, both our schools totally remodeled the English rooms, almost to a point of excess. They are totally gorgeous, don’t get me wrong, but all of my nearly ten years in and around teaching (including studying in college) screams, “what’s the point?” The drastic improvements, and large investment, in both of our rooms really won’t have an equal outcome in terms of academic gains. It’s nice to project my computer onto a touch board versus having it displayed on a 50 inch flat screen (that’s exactly what happened) and it’s nice to have a brighter, cleaner room with actual desks, but the teacher in me would like useful resources and supplements that will add to the curriculum and overall quality of education. Yikes, that was a bit of a rant, sorry, but this seems to be a lopsided dilemma we’ve seen on numerous occasions in the Korean education system- style over substance.
We only have roughly one more month in Korea, and from here on out, we will be sporadically saying goodbye to the good friends we’ve made while over here. The first round consisted of Jason/Rachel… then John/Sarah… and most recently
Hail to the King
Steve "This is the Dream" Mortimer honoring Elvis with all he has Tom. It is never easy saying goodbye when you don’t know when the next time you will be able to see these people, but I like to focus on the good fortune that we’ve had in having our paths cross with these wonderful people. There is also a sense, with almost everyone, that these goodbyes are not really final, more a see you later. At least we can hope.
Something a little crazy happened yesterday... Cass and I were wandering around the blog, as we do a lot, and found one of our first entries exactly a year ago. I wrote that we were waiting to get our visas and were excited about the prospects of heading off to Korea. It took me aback a little... so, so much can happen in one short year. Where I sat, as a person, one year ago, and where I am today is staggering. I suppose you could do this at any point in your life, it's just easier looking back at the blog and our documentation of this amazing experience. One year... truly mindblowing, if you think of it.
With things winding down, and all this free time on my
hands of late, I was struck with the idea of having the next few blogs celebrating the best/interesting/memorable of what we’ve experienced in Korea, hence the “Blog-abration” title. These will also be cool reflection of our time here, perhaps a bit of cultural reflection and lessons, and a great way to sift through our zillions of pictures to share and help the celebration reach it’s fullest. So, these next few updates will not only consist of informing you of our ongoings, we will be showing you everything that makes Korea as beautiful as we’ve found it to be.
Introducing…
Blog-abration Pt.1: No Rae Bang (Karaoke Rooms)
To break it down for you, it’s a bedroom sized room, two to four mics, a few tv screens, disco lights, and hundreds of songs to choose from (billions if you know Korean). It’s a great concept. There are degrees of quality of Noraebangs also, from shady (remember that one in GyeongPo Beach?), to luxury, where we went in Seoul last weekend. Some serve drinks, while others we have learned to smuggle in, some have better selections than others. Everyone is there for a good time, dancing like a fool,
Cass and Tom
On Tom's one of Tom's last nights in Korea, he requested a Noraebang- awesome singing your heart out to songs you either barely know (In Da Club), Classics (Sherry… Sherry, baby) or ones that send your mind reeling back into the good ol’ days (Informer). It’s poetry in motion… poetry, with some disco lights involved.
One must always beware of the dreaded tambourine finger. Much like tennis elbow, this happens when the user gets a bit out of sorts using the tambourine inside the noraebang. First, it’s a little uncomfortable, then a blister, progressing to a scab, then finally bleeding… perhaps all in the course of one song, if you’re lucky.
The comeraderie, the singing, the dancing, the goofiness, the good times... this is one aspect that Cass and I know for a fact we will miss terribly once we return home… I’m sure you’ve already figured that out! Enjoy the pics and the videos!
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Jon Wick
Pop Quiz!
on the panorama picture on the top of the blog... *** Name that song title and artist!