New Photos

So I still can't seem to get my Thailand photos up ... but here are some recent ones of a day-trip into Seoul to do some sight-seeing and tourism-type activities.  One thing is for sure ... so many more people in Seoul than in Daejeon!  

I went to the War Museum which oddly enough had the display of the Dead Sea Scrolls and some other artifacts from the region: it was pretty cool to see these really old documents and to learn more about the culture and history surrounding this unique find.  I still can't seem to understand why they were on display at the War Museum of all places, a paradox for sure ... or perhaps not and I just need to adjust my mind.

After the Scroll exhibit we went to a nice shopping district near our next destination which was one of many Palaces in Korea.  This place was named Insadong and had soooo many people, the street markets were packed yet it still held a nice atmosphere of enjoyment for all.  I was amazed at the Palace ground and History of the place.  I was reminded just how old this civilization was and is and how they have done an amazing job preserving their heritage.  In some of the pictures you can see the direct contrast between these ancient buildings surrounding by fantastic mountain ranges only to be met just across the street by a modern sky-scraper.  In this place I could really feel the vast gulf of difference between modernization and the ancient ways of the Korean culture.  

We also visited a Buddhist temple ... I think it was the biggest one in Seoul ... there were lots of people praying and offering various gifts and petitions to their ancestors.  The temple itself was quite beautiful and serene; it was once again another unique and enjoyable experience.  

Before we boarded our super-high-speed KTX train to come back to Daejeon we ate dinner at a place that served primarily chicken ... I don't know why but we opted for the super hot sauce that reminds me of the kind my dad used to make when I was visit.  Being fully exhausted at this point we boarded our train to make the journey home and thus concluded a great day in that massive and ancient city.    

choppys

a goofy photo ... 

something rather strange happened to me last night ... do not fret, nothing bad or anything of the sort.  I was getting dinner before my taekwondo class and I ordered a dish of pork-cutlet and of course they give you silverware to eat this: a fork and a knife.  As I began to cut into this delicious and juicy meal I realized how hard it was to eat with a fork and knife.  I know it sounds dumb to some extent ... then it occurred to me that I hadn't used a fork in six months.  I had been eating only with chop sticks and spoons.  So on some level and in some way my hand has learned and developed muscles that are accustomed to using chop sticks.  All that being said, I found it much easier to use the choppys rather than the fork.  The fork would slightly cut into my finger and it hurt a bit.  So I cut up the pork and picked up my sticks and proceeded to enjoy the meal.  I had to laugh a little inwardly as I was mildly in shock of this new revelation of my cultural experience.  Will I ever go back to using the stabbing way of eating with forks?  Probably one day ... but for a while I'll choose the extension of my fingers to eat my food as it seems easier and to me now.  

funny story (maybe)

so ... I've been here six months ... and only recently did I find out that I should NOT be drinking the tap water! ahhhhhhhh!  

All is well though ... do not fret ... I haven't gotten sick other than the normal common cold that I picked up from one of my kids coughing in my face or wiping their noses on me or something to that effect.  This simply sheds light on my seemingly unfailing daftness.  I seriously have to laugh at myself and at my Korean friends who are telling me this: half yelling-half laughing I said, "why didn't anyone tell me this when I arrived here 6 months ago?!?!"  But alas, I digress ... don't worry, nothing serious has befell my youthful and sculpted frame.  In fact I think I'm a bit more fit and healthy, riding my bike everyday and eating all kinds of ocean life and veggies ... can't go wrong with that.  

this is a funny picture I took while visiting some islands in Thailand ... this is my friend Chris, I don't know if it was cold or he stepped on something, it just looks as if he's in water and doesn't really want to be.  

I have no work for 5 days ... which is a gift from God.  It's the Lunar New Year so perhaps I'll howl at the moon ... cheers for random holidays!

John

six months ... still under construction

so I am at the six months mark in my journey here in Korea.  what have I learned ... what have I forgotten and must soon re-learn?  well ... the basics in life I'm sure.  

all is well.  work is good ... I rather enjoy teaching ... teaching English is good, but I really like teaching the kids more random things, like an idea to aide them in learning will come into my mind and it will end up being the most enjoyable thing we did that day.  I love days like that, they are moments that truly cannot be replaced.  back to the topic at hand ... what have I learned ...

I miss my home / I miss my family / I miss my friends / I love the new sights / I love learning the new culture, I truly cannot get enough of it / learning language is hard but it's enjoyable and most people who speak what you are learning are patient and so it works out almost every time I attempt to speak this Asian tongue and screw things up / I still have a strange back-of-my-mind desire to get a motorcycle / I really enjoy learning martial arts more so than what I did for all those years in the gym lugging weights around / I like that I can still talk to my friends and family over the internet or phone call, it makes me feel less far away / I like the food / I like how I came to teach little ones but they are teaching me more than I could ever teach them / I hate that I've missed out on my nephew's first few months of life / I hate that I have to miss the weddings of friends and families / I hate February / I enjoy cold weather - not a surprise! / I like that I don't have or need a car / I like that I can speak 3 languages, one well and the other two sparingly but still I can speak and function ... somewhat (english, spanish, korean) / I like that I make six figures in Won / I like being an outsider / I don't like being an outsider / I hate culture-shock / I like that I've realized how much I love and miss my family, I had to come to the other side of earth to realize that: I would like to say that proves the pure stubbornness of anyone with the last name Mitchell / and ... I'm sure there's more!  but another time!  

John

the cold ...

so I realized just how adjusted to the colder weather I am when I work up and check the weather and see that the hi today will be in the upper 30s ... oh, that's not bad at all, in fact that's kind of mild ... what ... has ... happened ... to ... me ... I still fully don't know ... but it's in the 30s and 20s most of the time, sometimes less ... and it's really not that bad.  I think perhaps it's easier to adjust to the cold, you put on warm clothes but the heat, you are always hot, no matter how little clothing you wear, unless you are in cool water of course.  At any rate, I found this interesting ... my left foot is larger than my right ... I'm finding out all this stuff about my limbs this year, my arms, now my feet ... perhaps next I'll find out I have super human strength ... oh wait, I already knew that one.  

hope this finds you well!

John

public nudity

yes I said "public nudity."  Feel free to squirm a little, I'll wait.  

First, here are more pics of Thailand ... I though you would enjoy the perspectives of different views in the world and these are among the most interesting and beautiful.  Now to my thoughts ... 

For the last few weeks I've been able to frequent a public sauna and bath house near my school.  This is a new and interesting thing to me.  They have these huge rooms, saunas really, where Koreans, and a few Westerners, cram into and sweat out the sweat.  It's all quite nice and relaxing and the end of the outing is finished by washing off in the public bath house.  Personally I have no problems with showering in public places ... I have been used to this from my summer camp of my youth at Camp Sea Gull in North Carolina.  But this is not just some row of shower heads ... they have everything, and I mean everything.  In my mind I will simply enter in and shower and head out ... but this is not the complete way of doing things.  There are several hot spas, there is a sleeping area and little "caves" for one person to take a nap, they have steam rooms, cold baths, and really, really hot baths all coming from some underground upward welling spring source.  There is a level of, "man this is weird" but I realized hell everyone else here is naked why do I care.  I think perhaps I stand out a bit with my different physical features that are not normal to Korean men such as hair on my chest, the color of my hair, and being the only naked Westerner in there.  As I'm writing this I'm wondering why exactly I'm sharing this with you ... I don't fully know so forgive me if this is odd for you.  There is one thing though ... aside from the strange display of public nudity that my western mind is simply not used to I rather enjoy it and always leave feeling refreshed and renewed a bit.  So who knows, perhaps soon there will be public bath houses in the US ... I would say to try it ... it's weird and different but it's a unique thing to experience a way, however strange and odd to us, how a different culture relaxes on the weekends.  

Also this weekend I picked up the Planet Earth DVD series fro BBC.  It's quite amazing and I highly recommend it ... the visual aspect and the landscapes are quite breathtaking and there is so, so very much about this world that I had no idea about.  Especially if you have the HD thing on your TV, apparently that's what it is made for.  

Ok, all is well!  Enjoy yourself!

John  

just words ...

Above are more photos of my trip to Thailand ... as you can see, we saw many things ... including a Muay Thai fight where the first bouts were between children no more than 10 years old.  Yes, I was disturbed by then until I looked near the ring and saw one of the young fighters mothers yelling at him in much the way a soccer-mom in the west would yell at her kid.  It was a truly universal moment ... and a unique view into this culture.  The country side is also beautiful, this area at the foot of some mountains on the island of Phuket, was, I believe, somewhat new.  After arriving back in Korea I read an article stating that Phuket received 30% of all Thailand's' tourists.  This is a huge amount ... something like 1.5 billion dollars.

I have been trying to post all of my photos from my trip but have been having a bit of trouble with uploading them ... so hopefully soon I will be able to get more loaded to share with you all.  

Now for the update on me ... I am doing well.  I believe, and hope really, that I have somewhat passed through the difficult stages of the whole culture shock cycle.  It did, however, coincide with the holidays so with that it was especially hard this season.  It's a peculiar thing to be so far away from family during the holidays with all that has happened this past year ... I can remember enjoying time with family but also wanting to be elsewhere doing something other than what we had always done ... but this year wanting, more than I thought I would, to be doing the very thing I had done for the past 20 years of my life or so with my family.  The question seems to linger at all times ... what will I do after my contract is up?  I will be the first to inform you, I have no idea.  I find that my mind changes as much as the weather ... two months ago I would have told you I'm going to stay ... now at this point I would say I'll probably leave.  All this talk and thoughts of "what's next" can be very consuming but it seems to come back to the fact that truly I still do not know what I would like to do.  I may want to finish out the school year with my kids in the end or may feel that moving west is the best course.  I do question the longevity of it all being here ... perhaps a bit more schooling for a different part of the world ... perhaps something in the humanitarian field ... perhaps teaching in the States.  The options seem to be endless.  

As for school right now.  The school year is coming to a close soon when we will get new classes and new schedules.  I'm trying to make the most of it and give my students all that I have and to, more importantly, teach them the best and most effective ways that I know how.  

So that updates you as of now and what I am thinking and other things.  Email if you get a chance!

John