Anyway, I am getting some ideas by watching this lady. Someone is apparently going to come for a month. Two days a week. Thursdays and Fridays. We have class from 10am until 11:30. Three classes. Thirty minutes each. I haven’t counted but a round guess is there are about 60 kids. A few fewer than I was anticipating.

There are Montessori kindergartens around. I want to go talk with at least one of them to see if they teach English and if so, to see if anyone speaks English. And if so, then I’d like to talk and observe to see what I can learn.

Some kids start at 9am and finish at 2pm while others start at 10am and finish at 3pm. Many of them are around after this time and a few are around before this time. They love to play with me, saying “Hello” a lot, and saying a few words in English. Some of them really like to hang around and spend time with me. In a playful fashion, of course. They love to laugh and play, run and generally goof around.

I’ll get some pictures someday of some of them.

Enough.

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I have a hard time talking with people. Not only is my ability to speak very limited, but when others speak with me, I often get very little or nothing. So I’ve decided to write things and at opportune times I’ll flash the note to someone. Yesterday I felt like I had a good chance to talk with Sunim about the garbage and the recycling. So I showed him my note. I’d written a note saying that I know an old man who accepts recyclables. I’m sure there were mistakes in my use of the language, but Sunmi read it later and told me she can understand.

So I asked Sunim what he thought of my idea. Thumbs down. So I told him there are TVs outside. They’re rusted to hell. He said that I can give away the TVs. We didn’t talk about all the stuff laying around because I can’t communicate those things. Talking with Sunmi last night she said she could probably determine some things that can be gotten rid of. So so much stuff. So, I’ll ask her to follow up on this. If she does, then other people will have to get involved.

I also told him about burning trash. I told him we burn plastic here. Every day. I understand that he’s said we shouldn’t burn the plastic garbage. But people here do anyway. So I asked him how we can stop this. I am not so sure I understood his answer very well. Something like, “We won’t burn it.” But that doesn’t seem to be the sort of answer I want. Anyway, Sunmi and I talked about my conversation (?!) with Sunim and she’s behind me. She said she’d talk with them about it.

I wrote a note for people in the office saying that if they’ll separate the paper from the other garbage then I’ll recycle the paper. Why oh why do we burn paper here? Or plastic? With recycling so very convenient, and a recycling pick-up spot just a couple of minutes walk from here (really, maybe less than two minutes) why pollute the air? The smoke goes up, and the wind always blows it into the garden. That’s the usual wind direction. There is one reason for burning that I can see, and agree with. That’s taking local responsibility for trash. But, ideally, it would make a person generate less garbage, so they have less to burn. It would ideally instill a sense of environmental and local ecological responsibility in a person. I see nothing of the sort here. Plastic plastic plastic. But I do suppose Americans generally are still far more egregious consumers of plastics. The stuff is hideous. It gets into the air and into the soil, then into our food. Who wants to eat and drink stuff associated with petroleum anyway?

Sunmi, I think, is behind me on all these things. And something about my recycling efforts I think generated a little discussion between a couple of the temple supporters last night. So, we’ll see what happens with some people apparently agreeing with me and supporting me.

Enough.

Garbage, Recycling, and Burning remains copyright of the author TroySantos, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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I’ve been doing some work in the garden the past couple of weeks. Mostly watering! But also helped plant some tomatoes, some cabbage or kale, a few eggplants, and sowed lots of seeds. Everything is looking okay.

I’ve also been pulling weeds. Last time I pulled weeds it was in the spinach bed. I put the weeds onto bare spots on the bed. After finishing I pulled wild legume plants from the edge of the garden. I put those on the spinach bed too.

The old lady (again, her name is Kong Yang-ju, which means person who makes food for monks) was there in the garden, not too awfully far from me. I pulled the legume plants pretty close to where she was. I pulled them from one spot, and walked to the spinach bed with them. So I figured she must have some idea what I was doing.

When others pull weeds they toss them to the side. So soil on some parts of the bed is bare. Exposed to the sun. Not good. Dries out the soil, kills bacteria, insects find other places to hang out. Not good. I think I’ve read somewhere that people want to kill the bacteria. Figuring this might be the reason behind why others pull weeds then throw them off to the side, I decided to see what would happen if I covered the bare spots with dead weeds. It’s called mulching.

This is really such a good idea. I won’t go into it. I don’t know of any real difficulties that arise from mulching.

So I decided to do it on the one bed and see what might happen when someone finds out.

A few days later (a few days ago) Kong Yang-ju was pulling weeds in the potato patch. I saw her and offered to help. She looked at me and blurted and barked out something. I didn’t catch a word of it. But I got a look at the expression on her face and in her voice. That resonance and communication get through clearly enough sometimes. Not always, for sure. Oh, no, I did get one word. The Korean word for spinach!

I apologized and walked away. Found something else to do in the garden. She continued. We were both there until about lunchtime. She never said another word to me. I took that brief bark and the ensuing silence as a condemnation of what I’d done in the spinach bed. I’ve decided to not do the same thing again until I can explain why I did what I did. I should probably wait until I can understand her answer, but really, that day may never ever arrive.

I dislike a few methods of gardening that I see here. Hopefully something will change someday but I feel that little or nothing will change while I’m here.

Talked with Sunim a few days ago about organic gardening. Sunmi told me a while back that Sunim wants organic gardening here. But after talking with him, through Sunmi, it’s now clear to me that he himself has allowed some synthetic fertilizer use in the garden. Apparently we don’t use a lot. I don’t know how much we use and don’t know how much I myself would consider “a lot”.

Just yesterday I got permission from him to take a small piece of the garden to do some organic gardening myself. It’ll be fully organic. Except to say that I don’t know if the spot that I’ll use has “clean” soil or not.

I want to get some training first. There are some organic liquid fertilizer recipes that I had some exposure to in Thailand. I made some a couple of times and used them more than a few times. But I never did get good at making them. The method comes from right here, Korea. What I learned was a modified version, suited to Thailand. Now that I’m in Korea, I’d really like to learn Korean style. Plus, the climate here is temperate. Thailand was tropical or subtropical. More than likely I’ll live in a temperate climate after I return to the US. So, learning this style here makes sense. One because I’m not in a Thailand climate! And two, I’ll likely live in a climate more similar to this.

Just this morning Sunmi called the place that pioneered this liquid fertilizer. The name of the place is Korean Natural Farming Association (KNFA). (The head of this association has visited Thailand a number of times. He taught the Asoke people how to make these fertilizers.) There’s nobody there that can teach me in English how to make the fertilizers. I’d need an interpreter. So I asked Sunmi to call back and ask if they know of anyone here on Jeju island. The lady at KNFA told Sunmi to call back in the afternoon. In the meantime, the lady would look for someone here on Jeju. There’s gotta be someone here who makes and uses the fertilizers. If we can find someone, we can contact them and ask them to come here and show us how to make and how to use the fertilizers.

I don’t know why we do some of the things here we do in the garden but I want to try something different. I know I know, I’ve never been good at gardening in the past, why don’t I just quit? Never. Or, at least not now. I have no intention of giving up until I feel I should give up. I don’t know have that feeling. Just still lots of fire to do it.

It’s 3pm now. I’ll get off this computer soon. I suppose Sunmi will be here soon. And I hope she can call the KNFA for me.

This one’s longer than most of my entries, sorry.
Enough.

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Below I've copied the information from the phone service regarding my voicemail.

Your Account Information

Your Area775 Voice Number: 775-459-8990

Using Your Service
It's really easy...have friends, family, or coworkers reach you by dialing your new phone number. You'll receive incoming calls on your Gizmo project software! [Well, no. I will more than likely NOT have my computer on. So, if you call, and I don't pick up, please leave a voicemail.]

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Troy Santos
Jeju City
Hwa Buk 1 dong, 4684
KOREA 690-061

Pretty easy huh?

I thought it would be easy to get a voice mail service with my Gizmo Project phone service. Now I'm not so sure. I get tired of all this computer stuff. And I'm not on my own laptop now. I'll look into it again when I get more time. Might have some time on Saturday. Had lots of time last Saturday. But then again it rained all morning and was overcast the rest of the day so I just sat in the office using my laptop to do some personal things.

my address at the temple remains copyright of the author TroySantos, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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If I can get anything specific for anyone, please let me know. I'll do my best.

I haven't heard today from either Sunim or Sunmi and have decided to not go before the end of the month. It's 11:15 am here now. Thursday morning.

I expect to spend no more than two weeks in the US when I go. Mostly everything is up in the air right now. Except that I expect to go sometime after the 24th which is the last day of the festival.

I don't expect to change my mind about when I'll go. Even if Sunim were to ask me to go now, I suppose I'd say no. He might have some really compelling reason but I feel it's better to go after the 24th. I don't like rush visits, or rush anything for that matter.

I've checked the ticket prices for other airports. San Jose and Oakland airports. Also had Sunmi check the Korean website she looked at. They were more expensive.

Anyway, leaving later this month means I get more time to see about the cheapest possible ticket. Unless all prices go up!

I am thinking to stop using this blog and see about a different one. I think Google has something. If so, and if I can use their Skype-like service (if I'm even right that they do indeed have one), and if they have a blog thing and if I use it, then I'll have all these communication things with Google. All in one bag. Might be a better idea.

That's enough for now. There are other things I want to put onto the blog but I will do them another time.

Just to say that things are going well here. Really enjoying the little kids. Just adorable. Cute as hell. Lots of fun.

I get into the garden often. Almost every day to water the plants. And almost every day for vegetables. Had some this morning. There's a wild plant that I love to death. I can eat so much of it. I would like to have a name and some nutritional information. I have met only one other person who also knows that it's edible. And good tasting. I ate a bunch of it about 9 or 10 am this morning. Been getting more vegetables lately than I have had in a long time.

Also recently found out that this garden here is hardly organic. I don't know how extensively the synthetic fertilizers are used, but I've seen it more than a few times. I have also seen organic fertilizers used, so that's good. I've seen bottles of herbicide too.

Sunim wants organic but a lady has determined that we'll use the synthetic fertilizers. She doesn't do much in the garden though so I feel that she's got no business saying we shouldn't do organic farming. And that's what Sunim wants. He's the boss here, isn't he? And she doesn't even eat the food here every day. Why in hell should she be able to make the decision to have synthetic fertilizers applied? I'll see what changes I can make. But I know that trying to change certain things can really make for turbulence. I don't want to cause turbulence but I'm not afraid of a little bit either. The lady who does most of the work in the garden, Kong Yang-ju, apparently "doesn't know". Sunmi told me this. I don't know just what this means, but, well, I want to see what I can do to make a few changes. I've got some ideas up my sleeve that I feel could very well make for smooth changes. Or at least, make the changes happen without so much turbulence.

Enough,
Time for lunch.
Troy.

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She said that he said that if it takes too long then I can go to the US after the big ceremony on the 24th. That means that I'd fly sometime after the 24th.

So, nothing is sure just now.

I've been wanting to fly since yesterday. I had a physical exam Monday. I wanted to have that before going to the US. Didn't think to have it done before the US trip for any special reason. I just wanted to have it out of the way. Done. Everything turned out normal. Had a blood check, urine check, a chest x-ray, blood pressure check, and the doctor tapped me on the abdomen in a few places! I'm still a Hepatitis B carrier which is no surprise as I was told years ago when it was first noticed that I'd be a carrier forever.

I do want to have a colon cancer check because I would like to know if the way I've been eating and otherwise living for a few decades now has taken a biting toll on my colon. I don't have any symptoms that I know of though. Just want to be sure one way or the other.

I am about ready to go really. I've got just about everything packed that I want to bring.

I don't want to travel too close to the 22nd because that is the first day of the ceremony. Three days of this ceremony, finishing on the 24th. I'd hate to miss the biggest ceremony of the year by just a few days. And I don't want to have a rush visit in the US. 10 days already is a short time. So, it's better to put it off until later if I can have a more relaxing time.

I think this is low season for plane tickets so I don't want to put this off much longer.

I have a feeling that I won't fly until after the ceremony. I'll write more on this blog as things progress.

Troy.

well, let's hang on a bit remains copyright of the author TroySantos, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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At first, he said I'd need to commit for 3 or 5 years. I told him no straight away. I told him why. In the end, we agreed that I'd do the novice practice for a year. I can stay longer if I want. So we have an agreement.

The following Sunday he cut my hair. The next day I went into town to get a picture taken for my passport application. It expires in November of this year and I'll need to have a passport that will be valid longer than the one year religious visa that we'll start the application process for tomorrow.

I'm actually really pleased to do this. I don't know how the practice will differ from lay practice where I'd just live and work here at the temple. It may not differ much at all. I suppose it would if I were Korean. You know, language and all. But anyway, I'm looking forward to it.

I'll need to get some clothing which will be similar to monk's clothing. That'll cost a bit.

I'll just stop here. Want to get on to a couple of other things before I get ready for bed.

Oh, I'll be home in early May. I'll visit as many people as I can. But I suppose I'll only be home for about 10 days. Sunim wants me to get back as soon as possible. I'll start teaching after I get back.

I'll write about the kids in another entry. And about the gardening work.

Troy.

Hmm… seems I’ve written all this before. Have I?!

Looks like I'll be here another year remains copyright of the author TroySantos, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Anyway, this morning I was sweeping the leaves on the lawn when she came up to me holding a crate. I looked at her with curiosity, hoping to convey that I wondered what she was going to do with the crate, she put it down on the ground and gestured that she’d put the leaves in the crate. Expressionless communication. I understood immediately. So I swept the leaves in her direction. She gathered them by hand and scooped them up and put them into the crate. Cool.

Then a bit later she came up close to me and uttered a few things. I don’t know what language she speaks to me. (She doesn’t often say anything to me. A few days ago I understood one word out of one sentence. “Eat” in Korean. But I don’t know what she wanted to say with that sentence.) Anyhow, this morning when she came up close to me, she said something that I understood much more. I heard the Korean for “sweep” and “don’t”. But nothing else. A little while later Sunmi and her mother arrived. I told her that the old lady had said something to me, I didn’t understand, and asked if she’d go ask the old lady what she’d said. Sunmi came back a bit later and said that the old lady had told me that if I wanted to stop I could stop and rest! That’s all. Well, no, I wasn’t tired or anything. I kept on. But it was a heartwarming little encounter with this lady. There’s something about old country folk, those really laid back sort of people …. This lady’s got a quality that appeals to me.

Enough for now. Better short than long, I feel.

Troy.

Other People Here at the temple #3 remains copyright of the author TroySantos, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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About 10pm, after the 2 hours of meditation, in the Dharma Hall, I was still on the cushion, while she had stood up and was getting ready to leave. I said her name, then paused. She closed her eyes and smiled. She seemed to me somewhat reluctant to smile, but, it seemed a genuine enough smile just the same. I stuck out my tongue for some reason and bit it gently when I saw her smile. I just wanted to tell her that there was some work I wanted to do in the garden. I felt like it would be a good idea to pass the idea through her. But I couldn’t say everything I wanted to say so I had Sunmi help. Yeah, no problem.

So I did some of what I wanted to do yesterday. Worked all day in the garden. Sunmi told me this morning that Kong Yang Ju was pleased!!  Yes! Right on. She said that she was pleased with something I’d done.

I was straightening out a mess, a real mess that garden is, when she came into the garden. She started digging up the ground. I didn’t pay that much attention. Then a bit later she called me over. I went, giving up my work for the time being. Making a tomato bed. Boy, so many rocks in the ground on this island. So so many. I want to look into a Korean farming association that does not till the ground. Seems so incredibly appropriate to the situation on this island. And, my understanding is that the farmers who use the techniques of this association have fabulously rich soil. I got some experience with some of the techniques while living with Asoke in Thailand.

And, a few days ago, Kong Yang Ju helped me learn to work with a weeding tool. She put the tool in my hand, then took my hand into hers to show me how to use the tool. Wow. That was the first big breakthrough, I felt, in my relationship with her. So we worked pretty much side by side for a couple of hours weeding the spinach bed. Boy did my back ever hurt. And my knees to because I was kneeling for so many hours.

Ah, the tomato bed. After digging the ground we put down a black plastic sheet with holes for the plants. I’d never ever used one of these things before and I sure as hell wouldn’t now if I were on my own. Plastic. There’s so much plastic trash all over. That’s something I’ve been doing quite a bit of lately – picking up trash. The garden is no less trashed than any other place at the temple. Despicable in my opinion.

It was about 11:30 when we finished with the sheeting. Then I went for lunch. After lunch I went back into the garden to continue the work I’d started in the morning. When I arrived I saw her there and that she’d already planted all the tomato plants. This was after 1:30. The plants of course were lifeless looking, flat on the hot black plastic, but their roots in the ground. She’d put the stakes in and was tying the limp plants to the stakes. I helped. We finished before 2:00. The she watered thoroughly. About 5:00 I looked at the plants again and astonishingly all but one or two had recovered remarkably. Amazing. I’ve read that plants should not be watered in the heat of the day because the heat of the sun will burn the leaves. I noticed no such burning. And today I went and they all looked much stronger. Wow. I still don’t like plastic but I do realize these plastic sheets are good for some things.

Enough, I’m off to the garden to do an hour or so of watering. Then dinner. A banana – pineapple smoothie if my friend shows up. He and his girlfriend will share it with me.

Troy.

The Lady Who Makes Food for the Monks remains copyright of the author TroySantos, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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There are three monks here. There are two besides Dae-hyo Sunim and they are both sick at the moment! They’re both pretty good humored guys. I talk occasionally with one but rarely with the other. I think he’s been keeping to himself because of a sickness. He’s in the hospital now. The monk in the hospital comes back to help with ceremonies sometimes. I like his singing voice for the chanting. There’s a quality to his voice that is just right. When he doesn’t come for ceremonies the chanting / singing is just not quite as enjoyable! (Piyanuch, you’re probably saying, “Troy, how could you?! They’re singing the chants, and you’re enjoying it? Didn’t you learn anything with Asoke?!” I always enjoyed the singing chanting in Thailand. Yeah, I still enjoy it. ;-))

I really couldn’t tell you much about what they do all day. Even the head monk, I don’t know much about what he does all day. I do know that he’s having another temple built somewhere in the northern part of the country and so he goes there nearly every Tuesday morning and comes back Saturday afternoon. So we don’t see him here all that much. He’s busy with kindergarten administration, coordinating the building of the new temple, and who knows what.

Okay, I just edited a bunch. Still probably nothing very interesting for any of you. Sorry!

I’m typing this in my room on my laptop and will save it onto a “data stick” and send it later, in the office.

There are three young kindergarten teachers. All women. None of them, apparently speaks much English. One of them might speak a bit more than the others but probably not all that much more. They seem like nice people. We talk a little bit.

I’ve gone into their classes on occasion. The kids are great fun. They hang all over me, they are so incredibly cute. They are doing their little activities or playing, running around and just being kids. Makes me think back to my kindergarten years. I don’t remember much really. Wonder if I had as good a time as most of the kids that I notice here. Surely there are kids not having such a good time, and I just don’t notice them. Because they’re not the ones running all around me, jumping up and down, poking their finger in my butt!

I tell them not to do that. Doesn’t seem to be working though. Yesterday a kid did it and I got a little irritated. So I told him to not do that. I let it be known. I’m sure he got the message. But he didn’t really get it. You know what I mean, yeah? I got a bit more irritated after I saw that he didn’t get it. In the next moment, I calmed down realizing that it takes time. We all take time to really understand something. How could I expect a child to learn anything immediately?

I did start to learn this lesson at the English school. But changing our attitudes isn’t usually a quick process, is it? So it’s good to be patient, with ourselves and with others. Especially with kids. I look forward to spending more time with these kids.

They’re all 5 to 7 years old, Korean age. When a Korean child is born, it is one year old. Then on the first of each year everybody ages one more year. They celebrate birthdays it’s just that they don’t add another year to their ages on their birthdays. So these kids are between 3 and 5 in our system of counting age.

By traveling you encounter these different ways of looking at life, and in doing life. It’s pretty neat. But I do understand, to some degree, that it’s nothing to get too interested in. Not long ago I heard a Dharma Talk (Buddhist teaching) where the guy said that someone else once said, “If you can’t meditate, travel.”!! I love that. To me, it means that meditation is the best way to learn about the world. Traveling is the second best way!

Other People at the Temple #2. remains copyright of the author TroySantos, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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He seems to be a good guy. Congenial. Good humored. Helpful. Sincere.

I’m studying Korean pretty intensively in order, in large part, to be able to understand his teachings.

One difference in being around these two monks is that I get much much more exposure to Da-hye Sunim. Good. Great. One thing I think about monks from a long time ago is that they stayed in one temple for a long time. They knew their disciples. Now it seems like the people who are regarded as “masters” are traveling a lot. So those who don’t travel along don’t see so much of these masters.

Another person I see a lot is the lady “who makes food for the monks”. She’s a fairly old woman but still plenty strong and feisty! Her name is Kong Yang-ju. Actually, that’s probably more of a title. It means person “who makes food for the monks”. She’s never ever nice to me. There was one time, I’d say, that she was almost a bit nice. Saturday at noon. A bunch of us took a break from work to have lunch. I asked for one of those fruit skin peelers. She handed me a knife telling me, I guess to use it to peel the melons I brought in to eat. Well, I took the knife but had no intention of using it. But she was a bit playful in telling me. I don’t know where that came from. The rest of the time she is curt or downright harsh. Like last night, I had picked a bunch of vegetables for my dinner. But I wanted a bit more. So I went into the kitchen where she was washing dishes. On the table just behind her was a plate with some vegetables on it. I think nobody was going to eat them. So I asked if I could have them. She turned around, then barked out a few words which came across to me as very harsh. I don’t know the words she said, I’m not even sure she speaks to me in standard Korean. Sunmi has told me she speaks her native dialect to me!! Clear communication will never come in this way.

A few days ago at lunch I asked for two of the four bananas that were in the kitchen. She heard me plainly. But she was silent. I took the bananas, sat down at the same table as her where she could plainly see me, and ate the bananas. She was silent the whole time.

In the mornings when I go into the kitchen, she’s usually there and I usually greet her. She’ll usually respond with a word of acknowledgement.

She’s curt and harsh to everyone. But I do hear her talking decently and even joking with others. Like I said, she’s never kind to me. Unless you call that one time that I mentioned above kindness. I have no problem with her rudeness really. It’d be nice if we had a better relationship but I am fine with her the way she is. It would be better for work too if we had a better relationship. I would love to help with some of the work but there’s no way that we can communicate with her the way she is.

I’ve never been upset with her. Who knows. as I learn more Korean, maybe she’ll start talking with me. Who knows, maybe then I’ll start having problems with her!!

More about people in another entry. It’s 6:30 now and so it’s time to get to the Dharma Hall for a 3 ½ hour ceremony!

Troy.

Other People Here at Won Myeon Seon Won. remains copyright of the author TroySantos, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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I moved in Saturday afternoon, April 7th. A lady who works at the temple, Cha Bee-heng and Sunmi picked me and my things up at my old apartment in the temple vehicle. Didn’t take long to settle in. A few hours the next morning was all it took.

I’ve got a small room. Cleaning didn’t take long either. This is the same room I used when I stayed here for two days in December during a fast. It was cleaned before I moved it then and it didn’t get very dirty in between then and now. There’s plenty of space to put away my things. I don’t have an awful lot anyway. Books, clothes, food and kitchen things, and a bunch of miscellaneous things.

There is one window in the room and it faces west so I don’t get any sun until the afternoon. It’s 4pm now and if it weren’t overcast the sun would be shining right on me. I can see it through the haze. The room is about 3 meters x 4 meters I guess, or about 3 yards x 4 yards. Rough guesses. I’ll see if I can take a few pictures and put them up so you can take a look.

There’s a boiler (heater I guess we say in the US. Koreans call it a boiler) just outside the door to my room. It’s on now because it’s chilly outside so the room would be even colder if the boiler weren’t on. It’s heated with water, not oil. It warms the floor directly and so the air gets warm from the warm air rising. I don’t turn the heat up very high so it’s actually a bit chilly inside too. With the boiler on it can be a little bit annoying. The silence when it turns off, as it just did a moment ago, is really pleasing. Everyone knows how your shoulders and tension just drop when the refrigerator or the A/C turns off. Same thing. Wonderful! I keep it on during the night because I was told it’s okay. I don’t pay for utilities here so I am glad for that. If I did, I’d want to be a bit more frugal with the boiler. But, really, this room is on the cold side even with the boiler on much of the time.

Sunmi said that Cha Bee-heng had talked about putting up some wallpaper. I said no there’s no reason at all for that. I can understand though why she might have wanted to. The paper on the cement walls is white. Not like “wallpaper” that I know of in the US. This is thin stuff, and it’s coming off in many places. Nothing attractive about these walls at all. But it doesn’t matter.

There are two cabinets mostly full of bedding. But there’s enough empty space and then some for my things.

The temple is in a quiet location so even though my room is a few seconds walk from the road, there’s not much noise from traffic. There’s no telephone line so I don’t have an internet connection.

Enough for this entry, huh?
Troy.

First Week at the Temple. remains copyright of the author TroySantos, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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So, at the meeting last night, I was asked to stay on until the end of the school term, and as long after the first term as I can. I asked when the end of the term is and the monk said it ends in February. I said I'd stay. I told him the main reason I want to go home, to be closer to aging parents. He understands. He said he'd quit the English program after I leave. I told him that I don't think it'd be hard to find someone to continue after me. I told him I'd be happy to find someone. So we'll see if he asks me to find someone. So, it looks like I'll be here until February next year.

Sorry to extend my stay here. I really really had intended to be home for the holidays. But I understand the monk's situation. And I thought, "Well, just a few more months won't be that much longer before I can get home to family." So, again, I apologize for delaying my return, but I didn't want to say no. Plus I see this as a really good opportunity to learn Seon and to make some more money.

The thought of another winter here isn't a warming one by any means! But winters here are probably warmer here than in the S.F. Bay Area!

Went to look for some teaching material today. Borrowed a few books (!) from a book store, at my ex-boss' guarantee (Thank you Mr. Mun). Took them back to the temple. Looked them over with a teacher and my friend Sunmi. We won't use them. So tomorrow I'll return them. We'll use some other books that some company brought over for us to use. They'll be good.

There was a teacher's meeting a little while ago. I won't start tomorrow. One teacher wants to start the English program next Monday. So tomorrow, I'll return the books and go to the dentist again. Yeah, this is another blog entry I could write. My dentist visits!

Well, I guess that's enough for now. It's about time to get into the main hall for a some chanting and some meditation.

The chanting and the wooden knocker thing are another blog entry. Someday. I've got my laptop hooked up in the office right now. I bring it in here when I want to use the internet. So I expect to have frequent internet access.

I welcome any comments. Especially from anyone who doesn't dare call! I hope to get my Skype connection working again soon. Real soon.

Love,
Troy.

Guess I'll be here until Feb 2008! remains copyright of the author TroySantos, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Bad news first. I got fired from the school I work at. Today's my last day.

The good news. I got a job at the temple I go to regularly.

Now some details. I have had a hard time with the kids since the beginning. The littler ones aren't quite as hard for me. It's the older little kids. Around 13 to 16 years old. Some are shy and disinterested, some are rowdy and rambunctious and disinterested. A few are interested and studious. I have three hours a day with the littler ones and two to three hours a day with the older ones. And three days a week I've been teaching adults. So most of the day goes pretty well.

But the class I call the class from hell had one girl who was just never really there. I have thought of ways to discipline such kids. One day I decided to threaten kids with a Wet Willie. Where you stick your pinky in your mouth, get it pretty good and wet, then put it in someone's ear. This is a Wet Willie, no? I tried it with some of the littler ones and they had fun running away from me. The one girl in this class from hell (these kids are little ones too, around 10 years old) just wasn't paying any attention and rarely does. So I went over to her and put my finger in my ear and .... She put her jacket hood over her head and stayed there. A few seconds later I noticed she was crying so I walked away. She put her face in her hands for the next 40 minutes or so until the end of class.

I had thought this might be a fun way to get and to keep their attention during class. Not for this one girl that's for sure.

After my last class of the evening, my boss wanted to talk with me. He said the girl's mom called and was furious. She said that this Wet Willie is a sign of affection in Korea. I didn't know this. My boss didn't know this. So I wonder if she just made this up.

My boss asked if I'd rather go to a different school, one on the mainland, owned by a person he knows, where the working conditions would be less stressful. I told him I'd go if he wanted me to go. He said let's wait.

That Wet Willie incident happened last Wednesday. Friday night he asked if I'd rather take the job on the mainland. That's when I said I'd go if he wanted me to go and he asked me to wait. Monday afternoon, before my first class, he asked me to leave.

So I guess I got fired. I haven't asked if this is the case. Anyway, it doesn't matter much. I'm out of this school. Today, Thursday the 5th is my last day.

More in the next post. I'd rather keep things pretty short. Feels better.
Troy.

to the temple I go remains copyright of the author TroySantos, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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If this ain't crazy enough (!) try this. I've recently started teaching a few adults at the school where I teach. It's a private English language school which was set up strictly for kids. But somehow my boss signed a deal with a local exporting association to teach some of the members. I teach them three nights a week and it's by far my favorite class. Even more enjoyable than the little little kids who are so adorable.

Well, yesterday my boss told me that they're going to have a seminar today. And that they've invited my boss and me "to participate". My boss couldn't go but he said I'm free to go. He wanted me to go. And I was more than happy to get out of class, and, to go to the seminar.

He told me that I should quit my 4 pm class at 4:40 and get to the seminar about 5 pm. There'd be a dinner at 6. I couldn't see why I should go to a seminar that I'm not going to understand but I was happy enough at the thought of getting out of class, and, of being at this thing, just for the hell of it.

Then today I went in to work and my boss told me to go after the 3 pm class. The seminar started at 4. Why and how would I participate?! Well, I was thinking it'd be rows of seats and that I could sit in back and read my Korean language textbook. (I've been studying quite a bit lately.) No such luck.

I looked inside the room where we'd be and saw that there were half a dozen or so tables. Chairs all around. Damn.

The president of the association wanted me to sit at the front table. But I chose to sit at a back table with one or two of the students who come to class.

So for nearly two hours, I just sat there, looked around, meditated a little, went out for the bathroom and something to drink once, and, well, just sort of absorbed things.

The president explained to me that I'm really important to the goals of the association. That's why he invited me. I suppose that's the case. He's a nice guy.

The students who come to class know I eat only vegetarian. And that I eat mostly raw foods. So they weren't so surprised to see me eat all the salad stuff.

Thing that happens sometimes when you are in a new country is that you eat something you don't expect. I saw a plate with some shredded cucumber that had obviously been prepared in some way. I grabbed a bunch of it. Then seconds. It was on the second helping that I realized a fishy taste. I asked what it was. Jellyfish. I didn't go for anymore.

One lady told me it's okay. It's vegetarian food! Yeah yeah yeah.

During dinner, we sat at the table and had a nice meal and some good chit chat.

Though it seemed a bizarre thing, it actually makes lots of sense.

My boss wanted me to go and represent the school. I guess I made a positive enough impression on the 30 or so people who attended. I introduced myself very briefly and talked very briefly about the class.

And, since this is an exporting association, it makes sense that the more English these people know the better for them. There are I'd say at least 50 members of this association but only 4 or 5 attend class regularly. So, promote the English language class by having the teacher attend your seminar even though he's sitting there like a guy who is obviously a fish out of water. But even fish on dry land can have a good time.

We've talked about going out for dinner soon. As a class. As a classroom lesson. At a local restaurant that I mentioned. They have some Korean food that I'm interested in trying out. And it'll be a good way for them to apply restaurant language in a real life situation.

Enough,
Love at ya,
Troy.

crazy Troy remains copyright of the author TroySantos, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Well, the dentist did some things without getting my approval. I couldn't floss between some teeth because of something he did. So I went back. Turns out he put some amalgam between some teeth! I have no idea why he did this.

So I went to another dentist. One recommended by another foreigner. This guy trained at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee so he speaks real good English. He told me what the other dentist did.

I got a check up with this new guy. I knew I have amalgam fillings but didn't know how many. 12. The dentist can replace them with what he calls resin. I've decided to have him replace two tomorrow. I'll have him do more if I feel he's doing a good job.

He wants about US$70 per tooth. That includes everything from drilling ouit the old amalgam to putting in the new stuff. It'd cost far far far more in the US so I'd like to get it done here and now while I am making money and can get it done so much cheaper than in the US.

Thing is, I've been reading about amalgam. I've read that the procedure itself is dangerous. If the mercury in the amalgam filling gets into your body ... well, that's very dangerous. They say that mercury isn't something you want at high concentrations in your blood. They say the dentist should use a "rubber dam" and take other precautions. But this dentist told me he doesn't use rubber dams anymore. He told me that the way he does it is very safe. I'm skeptical but I'll try it. Tomorrow.

I'll add that I've also read that many people don't see any improvement in their health after amalgam replacement. Many do, but many don't. So I'm not expecting anything incredibly to happen.

amalgam fillings remains copyright of the author TroySantos, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Just yesterday I loosened the soil in another garden. It's also here at the apt but I haven't planted anything in it yet. Well, okay, I have. Just yesterday I uprooted six mugwort plants from the forest near my home. I brought them to the garden that I'd already loosened, made a hole for each plant, put them in deep enough to cover the roots, proped them upright, then watered. I looked at them earlier today and they all look fine. One is drooping over a bit but I'm sure it'll be fine.

Mugwort grows all over the place. I've been seeing it since I arrived. It grows all year round, apparently. My boss told me that Mugwort is the first plant to grow in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the bombings. He says it's considered to be an incredibly hardy plant and very good for your health. I see lots of foods around here in Korea made with the stuff.

I eat it occasionally and it tastes okay. Not great, but not bad. In a green smoothie (fruits and vegetables blended together to taste more fruity than vegetably - delic ;-)) it's fine.

I've got some seeds that friends gave me last year. I'll plant them tomorrow or the next day. They gave me seeds for a kind of mallow, giant radish, chinese cabbage, and snap peas. I'll put probably all of them into the new garden even though this apparently really isn't the season for them.

I also want to grow some lettuces and maybe some spinach too but everyone else planted their spinach long ago and the plants are getting near time to harvest. But maybe it's not too late. I really don't know. I'd like to plant some other vegetables. Probably plant a few tomatoes. We'll see. I've never been crazy about them.

gardening remains copyright of the author TroySantos, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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I suppose this is global warming.

Global Warming? remains copyright of the author TroySantos, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Sometimes it seems pretty easy to justify quitting the study of Korean. I'll be here only six months then have no intention of coming back. But I tell myself that at least the six months I have left will be more enjoyable if I can communicate more with people. That was one of the things I enjoyed most in Thailand, talking with people. Both the Asoke people that I lived and worked with, and just people in general. I won't be able to do much conversing with people here, but, well, as much as I can anyway will be worth it. Plus, I enjoy language study. In addition, if I decide to live at a Korean temple when I return to the US, well ....

Korean language remains copyright of the author TroySantos, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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I haven't written anything for quite a long time. So I've got some things to say. I've been busy.

I still go to the temple. But just today I decided that I'll slack off the temple. I've been sitting at least 3 times a week, more often five or six days a week for nearly six months now. I see no benefit. In fact, I've been meditating on and off for many years now but have never felt any benefit from it.

Just a couple of hours ago, I talked with my friend at the temple, Sunmi about my meditation practice. She told me, as she has told me before, that she thinks I haven't been meditating seriously. She's right. I don't feel the spark. I feel that meditation is really important but just don't feel the burning desire to get into it.

I have not joined the evening ceremonies for a long time. I don't know when they have them until I get to the temple and hear the sounds of the ceremony. Every time I get close to the temple and hear the sound, I feel relief that I'm not going to go! Considering that I feel this way, and have felt this way for a while now, I'll stop meditating at the temple at least for now. I may sit at home for a few minutes. We'll see. Honestly I don't feel the desire to sit. I do have conviction that meditation is important, but apparently it's not strong enough to yank me in.

I'm still happy to go on Sundays and socialize a little. Be with the group. I always feel good when I'm there, and when I'm with those people.

meditating at the temple remains copyright of the author TroySantos, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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