Adria Daejeon

... detention… I’m proud that they haven’t done any homework. That is quite a feat.
The greatest moment of my teaching career happened today- the kids are not allowed to speak any Korean in the English teachers’ classes or else some teachers give detention. I don’t give detention, but I do frown upon it. Normally it just results in a red mark on the board (meaning it is ...

... the first time since we arrived, we got to eat something that didn't come out of a package and we had a great time touring the city. That evening we were inducted into Korean culture with heavy soju drinking and noribang (Karaoke). Sometime that night we were informed that we would be heading to Seoul in the morning for training. No rest for the weary.

... Eines der bedeutendsten Kloester Koreas und auch (noch?) nicht restauriert mit einem der aeltesten noch erhaltenen Holzgebaeude Koreas. Da der Buddhismus ab und zu in Ungnade fiel, sind die meisten Kloester weit von Staedten entfernt gebaut worden (aus dem Auge aus dem Sinn...), daher sieht man in den Staedten wenig Tempel (dafuer Kathedralen und Kirchen, recht viele Koreaner sind Christen). Gruss Ralf

... which these days doubles as breakfast. But first lets finish this time around with... ... a few numbers 18 - days since we got here 1 - days we've had off in that time (Christmas Day) 2 - days it has snowed (it hasn't snowed since December 30th) 16 - average hours a day we're working 5 - average hours we're sleeping a night 0 - amount of times we've made it to the on-site gym 16 - amount of times I used the word we're in this entry

... been waiting months to get to (no joke...... remember my 'Arnolds' comment in my 'The First Week. The Week of Firsts' entry?). Where are we going to find the time to rest our looking-at-computer-screens-for-12-hour s-a-day eyes? And where am I going to find time to tend to my Tpod? That is the crux of the issue. Maybe I'll try the short & sweet (way shorter and oh so sweeter) approach to my entries. Like this entry, typed in ...

... a pool of 46 teachers and have to assign them, based on their contract length, teaching preferences and experience, to classes within those camps, making sure all classes in all camps are sufficiently staffed. Most, but not all, of the camps are running concurrently and there is always some detail that is overlooked, a detail that, just when you think you have it all sorted out, throws the proverbial spanner in the works. Oh, and we also have to assign two ...

... main features of a country's culture, politics and people, by driving on the roads for 30 minutes. So for example if I

were to drive to the Korean version of Meijer's called Emart, this is what I would see.

First thing that is noticeable about driving on Korean roads is that a large majority of the cars are new and Korean-made. ************e, except for me, drives pieces of junk older than 5 years old. Plus they are all shiny and well taken care of. This ...

The day has finally come. I finished my contract in Korea, met my family and said goodbye. It was a lot harder to say goodbye to Korea than I ever thought it would be. I complained a lot, but it holds a special place in my heart. To sum up my take on Korea and its people I will use an example of a typical day driving in Korea. I did not think of this idea all on my own. I was inspired by an author named Michael Breen. His theory goes that any observer can ...

... to see that all the agonies in life are impermanent and let them flow over themselves, thus reaching a permanent state of happiness called Nirvana. But of course I didn't reach Nirvana I couldn't clear my thoughts away because not moving in the cross legged position for 30 plus minutes caused both of my legs fell asleep. I was still thinking about my physical presence...sigh...guess there is always next time to reach Nirvana. The morning ceremonies and ...

... special food was being made, people were making plans with their families and children were extraordinarily excited for one special day. In Korean I didn't find the Christmas spirit in the streets, I didn't find it in the stores and I didn't find it in the food. Most notably I didn't find it in the faces of the children. I found it inside of myself and other people. I hadn't ever questioned what the Christmas spirit was when I was in the United States as ...