Opening New Doors

Adventure [ad-ven-cher]  noun

participation in exciting undertakings or enterprises: the spirit of adventure.

When deciding to come to Korea, adventure was the underlying reason.  For the most part I told people (including myself) that I was doing it to find out who I was.  Korea was my path to self discovery, or at 23 maybe it’s rediscovery.  Deep down though, adventure was the intangible object dangling in front of me, enticing enough to force the leap.  Too often in American society we’re told once college is over, that’s it for the adventure department.  Get your fun in now because adulthood awaits.  I wasn’t ready to throw in the towel on exploration so this was going to be my last hurrah.  But to discover adventure you must search for it.

This week we had three days off school.  Tuesday through Thursday I had all to myself to enjoy Chuseok; a Korean holiday centered on time with family, honoring the dead and of course food.  Having no money to travel, and no family to celebrate with I was left to my own devices.  This allowed me to seek out some adventure, albeit on a very small stage.

I have a pretty good sense of direction (thank you mom) so I have no problem just setting out for a stroll with no map or idea of where I’m going.  I ventured into Jeonju during the week, just to see the place.  To take some pictures and to get an idea of where things were.  What I found out was that if you look hard enough, this is a pretty interesting place filled with opportunity.

Party in the city where the heat is on

One of the best things about South Korea is how small the country is and, as a result, accessible most of the cities are.  One such city is Pusan, the second largest metro area of Korea and their beautiful equivalent to Miami.  The only thing more expansive than the sprawling mountains here are the gorgeous beaches and I got to see both this weekend.

Heather, the other English teacher at my school, was headed to Pusan this weekend with some other westerners and asked if I wanted to tag along.  It would be a great way to meet a few more English speakers and also a fun escape from Jeonju.  Despite my tight budget I knew an important part of this trip was to see the country in all its glory, so I accepted.  Saturday morning we loaded up and took the three hour bus drive to Pusan.

The group turned out to be mostly from the UK but they were all great people.  Very accepting of the “new guy” and willing to let me into the group without a second thought.  They had all been there before so I was the puppy following their every step.  We hit a great Mexican restaurant (very hard to find in Korea) and an Indian place that was EXCELLENT!  We spent time at the beaches before diving into the nightlife which, for those of you who know me well, is not my scene.  I am the anti-fun when it comes to drinking, smoking, bar hopping and club going…it just isn’t me.  I am however very aware of its popularity and was all the happier to go where the night took me.

It was a packed day of travel, beaches, shopping and food with a crescendo to a night on the town punctuated with an hour of lying on the beach in complete darkness at 2:00 in the morning.  As I laid in the sand, listening to the calming rhythm of the waves crash, I knew I was in this 100%.  I made the right choice coming here.  I’m putting everything into this trip but that doesn’t mean my heart isn’t half a world away in Athens, Ohio.

A Buckeye born and bred

Those of you who know me well know that I love my shuteye.  When I don’t count enough sheep, well let’s just say I’m less than accommodating.  So why then did I SPRING out of bed at 4:00 A.M. this morning?  I did it for the one thing that will always put me in a good mood…Ohio State football.  For a homesick kid 7,000 miles away from everything I love, football is a welcomed dose of ordinary.

Even though I had to trade in my wings for chopsticks and my uncontrollable screaming for silent fist pumps it felt like home.  The glaring differences between South Korea and the United States seem to be slightly muted this morning hearing the echoes of O-H-I-O and seeing the embarrassingly hilarious Snuggie commercials.  My post game celebration will be a bit different but the facts remain the same, I bleed Scarlet and Gray.  I’m going to turn in for a few hours, let’s hope I don’t have nightmares about Ohio State’s special teams.

There is no education like adversity

After being in South Korea for two days, being sick and unable to really do much I was (let’s go with)  unprepared for my first day in the classroom. A trip like this seemed important for me in my growth as a person and the teaching was really my mechanism to getting over here. I didn’t put a lot of thought into what the job would be like. After a couple days with these kids I can tell THEY will be what gets me through the tough times. Their smiles are infectious, their reaction to meeting a new American is hilarious and my ego can never hear enough of “teacher teacher you are so handsome!”

Some of the classes are more advanced than others, which is to be expected. I enjoy getting through to the younger students but the older ones in my advanced classes are so fun because they want to talk about anything and everything. Interacting with them is rejuvenating AND exhausting. I got zero training and was just thrown into all my classes, and though six hours doesn’t seem like a lot of time to work…it is a lot to teach. I have a new found respect for teachers back in America. Toward the end of my second day when I wasn’t sure if I could go another period, a little boy named Ben (they all pick English names to go by, which they love) came up to me and said “Teacher I make you some food” and handed me a bag of Korean cookies he had made. Melted my heart in a way only a child can.  They're picking up quickly too...look what I already tought them

I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more

Culture shock comes in waves. You get hit with it when you walk off the plane and have no idea what luggage carousel to go to because everything is in another language. Another frustrating dose when you can’t plug anything into the outlets. Buying food, hailing a taxi, just saying hi…all impossible. But it comes with the territory.

South Korea reminds me more of Las Vegas than anywhere else with all the halogen signs and flashing banners. Everyone stares because, well let’s face it, I look different. I was wondering if I’d make it another minute without contact back home but I finally got my computer to work and I was able to Skype with a few people. Seems like something small but it made all the difference. I thought coming into this I had an iron clad stomach and an adventurous spirit that could conquer homesickness in a single bound. Turns out that isn’t the case. I miss my friends, my family, the small comforts of the States…all the things I thought I could do without. This year will test me, but if I come out on the other side alive it’ll be a better me. And I guess that’s the point of taking on an endeavourer like this.

Arrivals and Departures

Port Columbus gate B30 flight 5895, O'Hare gate C11 flight 101, LAX gate 102 flight 201.  18 hours in the air and 4 more on a bus and I'm in Jeonju, South Korea.  Glad it's all done and over with.  This place is so different than America.  I mean duh, yea I knew that but it's so interesting.  The huge buildings with flashing lights all over them with all the commercial splendor of a major city.  Somehow though it feels intimate with the picturesque mountains as a backdrop.  Yet the same question keeps racing through my mind.  WHAT AM I DOING HERE!?  I must have spent every minute of that 13 hour flight from Los Angeles to Seoul trying to convince myself that I'm not crazy for doing this.  Pretty sure I didn't do the job.

I'm staying in a hotel tonight becasue the apartment I will be living in is still occupied with the teacher I'm replacing.  This lovely establishment is a "love hotel" which confused me at first, but it became much clearer when I found all the switches for the colored lights above the bed.  Spenser Miller, welcome to the red light district.

Bildunsroman

- a type of novel concerned with the education, development, and maturing of a young protagonist –


On the eve of my year long trip to South Korea I have a mixed bag of feelings. I’m nervous yes, excited sure, but most of all I’m curious. This will be like nothing I’ve ever done before. A side of the globe I’ve only ever dreamed about. The expectations for a journey like this are high but reasonable. Over 12 months I’d love to become proficient in Korean, see the beaches, ski the mountains, taste the cuisine and learn the culture. Most of all, this trip is about finding who I am. Thanks for coming aboard for the ride.