Sep 2006

HIYA!

Wow, this is really a nice area. I like it here a lot. My boss saw on the news last night that we're supposed to get a typhoon this weekend. But when I woke up this morning it was overcast but no rain. So I decided to take a walk. Walked up the road where I've never walked before. Away from the beach. Found three temples. Zen / Seon (Seon is Korean while Zen is Japanese) temples. Beautiful. My boss actually drove me to them last week. But I didn't realize until this morning that they're so close to home. Great. The one that I'll go to tomorrow for a 10:30 Dhamma Talk is not one of these, however. Walked around the temple compounds and they're quite peaceful and beautiful. Small and unpretentious.

I've been to the beach but only once! It's only a few minutes away but I've spent more time getting settled in that going out to see things. The one time I did go out it was cold and windy. No fun. The beach is quite pretty though with rich black sand. It's said to be good for your health.

There are no high rise apartment buildings in the immediate area. There are a couple in distance. There are lots of houses and small apartment buildings here. So I don't get the big city feel. Plus with so many small garden plots all over the place, it feels pretty rural. Walking around the neighborhood where the temples are the road is real narrow. Very rural feel.

One of the nice things about Korea is that there is so much green around. In the countryside anyway. People planting gardens and other things everywhere. Theres's some unused land which has it's own weeds and brush.

It's the weeds that I'm most interested in. There's mugwort or is it wormwood. Or is it the same plant with different names? My boss told me this plant is very good for health. He said it's the first plant to grow after the atomic blasts in Japan. So, he says, it's very strong. Interesting, at the very least.

I'm going to do some gardening somewhere. I'll write about that in my next entry in a few minutes.

Troy.

HIYA!

Friday morning of my second week. So far, so good. My boss asked me last night what I hate most about being here on Jeju Island. I thought for a moment and told him the kids going wild and being inattentive in class. He understands. Before that he asked what I liked most. I told him that there is some quality to many older people that I like a lot. That mellow, slow, patient quality to country people. Americans as well. I remember my Grandpa and how he had that quality. I always liked that a lot. I sense it here in many of the older people here. Nice.

As for the kids, well. I've determined to not get angry. I did get angry a couple of days ago but have vowed to come away from that. I don't want kids to be afraid of me. I don't want to be angry. That day I felt irritable already so to go into classrooms with rowdy kids, uncooperative kids, inattentive kids, that was hard. All day. But yesterday went much better because I was in a better mood and frame of mind. I'd also determined to be okay in midst of the chaos. But the real test will come today. Monday Wednesday and Friday I have pretty much the same schedule, while Tuesday and Thursday are pretty much the same. The real challenge will be later this afternoon.

I can see understand why we generally avoid things in life that we don't like, but I can also see good reason to go into things that we don't like. It is possible to change. Possible to get over that dislike, that hatred, that aversion. I'll do it. I've got one year and I'm committed. I feel like I can do it too.

I'll write more another time. There are lots of things to write about. A Zen / Seon temple that my boss took me to. Gardening on the rooftop or on a piece of land right below my apartment. My apartment itself. The area where I live. Money.

Troy.

HIYA!

I got internet installed today at the apt. My boss has also arranged for a telephone hook up. Both supposed to be done today by the same guy. Well, no. The guy who came only hooked up the internet connection.

I have a telephone number, just no hook up yet. My number is

82-64-900-8877

82 is South Korea's country code. 64 is the area code for Jeju, where I live.

I have an address. I have my apt address but my boss, Mr. Mun, asked me to have all mail sent to the school. I don't care .... Tell, ya what. I'll ask him about this. Maybe I'll give you my apt address. Seems the better option. But if he has some good reason why he asked me to have mail sent to the school, then I want to know. But right now, so far as I can tell, it would be better to have mail sent to the apt.

I need to leave for school in about ten minutes so I'll stop here.

Dad, I'll call you as soon as I've got a phone connection. But if I can't get one real real soon, I'll find a place to make an international phone call. Actually, somebody was supposed to come yesterday to do both connections. I told Mr. Mun that nobody came so he did something, and this internet guy came today. I'll see if I can get a phone hook up tomorrow.

My feeling is that I'd rather have a home phone than a cell phone. It's cheap. And I don't want to have a cell phone with me all the time. They're super convenient and everything, but, well ....

This internet connection is also really cheap. About US$22 per month. Set fee. High speed connection.

Troy.

HIYA!

Although I'm sending this out to you dad, most especially, this is for others as well. I know I haven't had any contact with you in quite a while. I've been really busy the past couple of weeks, and have had little money. I arrived in Korea with next to nothing. Just enough.

I don't yet have a telephone at the apartment, nor do I know where or how to make an international telephone call. I intend to get a telephone connection at the apartment. My employer gave me a phone last night but I don't yet have a hook up or a phone number. I'll call you when I've got one.

Aside from that, well, yesterday was my first day of class. It went well enough but I was surprised at how rambunctious the kids were. I thought the classroom environment wouldn't be much like the classroom at the English camps I've done. But was I ever wrong. Most kids pay very little attention to me or to their studies. I sympathize though because they have such a long hard day of study study study, and practice practice practice. Study this and practice that. The kids are aged from roughly 7 to 17 and so don't know much English at all. There's no real conversation with any of them. I can see how teachers get burned out after a year unless they really really like what they're doing. I had a headache yesterday because I drank so little water all day. So since I had a headache,and there wasn't much learning happening (= class didn't go as I would like) in the classroom, I didn't enjoy the day so well. I've already drank a bunch of water today and so feel good. I'm at the school now using the school computer, have already met and talked with and had some fun with a few of the kids, so I feel today will go well.

Time to go prepare for class. I'll write more when I get a chance. Hopefully, I'll get internet hooked up at the apartment soon.

Troy.