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Happy trekking!

~Caleigh 

Catholic in Korea: Part 1

     I've been wanting to write a post for Catholics in Korea for a while. Before coming to Korea, I knew that only around 10% of the population was Catholic. However, it didn't really sink in how hard it would be for me to find a church, and go to mass when I first arrived. I didn't even know the Korean word for church, and using my Korean-English dictionary with romanized Korean wasn't very helpful in this regard. After a few weeks I found a church near my apartment, but the mass was, of course, in Korean. So, I have compiled (what I hope is) a few useful resources for newly arrived Catholics in Korea.

Useful vocabulary:

mass: 미사 (mee-sah)
Catholic: 천주교의 (Chun-jew-kyo-we)
church:교회 (kyo-hweh)


In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: 성부와 성자와 성령의 이름으로 (sung-boo-wa, sung-ja-wa, sung-ryung-we, ee-room-oo-row)
Amen:아멘 (A-meh)
Peace be with you: 평화를 빕니다 (pyung-wa-rule beep-nee-da)
Thanks be to God: 하느님 감사합니다 (ha-new-neem kam-sahm-nee-da)

Finding a Catholic church:

• Ask about Catholic churches on your city's foreigner Facebook page.
• Look for statues of Mary outside of church buildings.
• Look for Catholic symbols or pictures on banners or signs, for example this picture from the Jubilee of Mercy:

• Look for your Diocese or Archdiocese on this website: http://english.cbck.or.kr/dioceses    Then see if your Diocese has its own website. For example, I live in Suncheon which is part of the Archdiocese of Gwangju. I click on the Archdiocese of Gwangju page and scroll to "Archdiocesan Office". This section lists a Korean website for the Archdiocese: (http://www.gjcatholic.or.kr)     I then use Google translate to try to translate this website, which is generally a poor translation. However, I'm able to find "Information Parish" which leads me to a map of the Archdiocese of Gwangju divided into regions. I click on a box that says "Suncheon District". This results in a list of all of the Catholic churches in Suncheon and their addresses and phone numbers. You can even click on individual churches to get more information and maps to that specific church. I can't verify that every Diocese or city will have a google translatable website, but it definitely saves you a headache if it does. 

     Hopefully this is useful in helping you find a church in your city. If you ask about English masses on your city's foreigner Facebook page, you should be able to get a response. Although very difficult to sit through at times, I prefer to experience mass in total Korean immersion so I can become better at the language and get out of my comfort zone. If you also would like to take this route, I highly, highly recommend investing in a subscription of Magnificat so you can at least understand the readings (also really nice for daily prayer). My mom bought me a subscription as a gift and it is shipped from France to my school address. If you are getting a subscription, be sure to have it sent to a reliable address as the small book may not fit into your apartment mail slot. 

More about Korean mass, and an entire translation of the Order of Mass in Part 2... coming soon! 

A last minute vacation in Korea: Jeju Island

Hello!
     As you probably already know, my husband and I have only lived in Korea about one month. After four weeks of work we have already had one of our two vacations for the year! This wasn't exactly ideal, but our school chooses our vacation days for us, so we had to do some quick planning to make our vacation time worthwhile.

     First of all, we decided that we wanted to do something that we wouldn't be able to do in just a weekend. Also, it had to be accessible enough for an English speaker as neither of us are very proficient in the Korean language yet. We decided to go to Jeju Island. It was far enough away that we couldn't just go on a weekend, it was touristy enough that we could get by on our minimal Korean knowledge, and it was the off season so we didn't have to make any reservations.

The Plan

     Our first order of business was figuring out how exactly to get to Jeju from Suncheon. There are six ferries to get to Jeju: Mokpo, Haenam, Wando, Jangheung, Goheung, and Yeosu (Check out this site for departure times and fees: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/TR/TR_EN_5_1_5_1.jsp). We decided to take the Yeosu ferry, because although it was a longer  boat ride, we didn't have to take any long bus rides. To get to Yeosu that early in the morning we had a Korean friend call a taxi and tell them where to pick us up ahead of time. She scheduled our taxi for 6 am, which was more than enough time to get to Yeosu and stand in line for a ticket. The taxi was pricey at 40,000 won, but worth it to us!  (A quick side note: There are two ports in Yeosu, make sure the taxi driver takes you to the ferry passenger terminal!!) 

     Next, we had to figure out what exactly we wanted to do in Jeju the entire week. We talked with two friends who had been there before who told us about the New Years Eve night hike up Hallasan, as well as the Jeju Olle trails (http://www.jejuolle.org/?mid=109&EN) that circle the island.  We were intrigued by the idea of hiking up an old volcano at midnight, so we put that at the top of our list, and after checking out some of the Jeju Olle trails, we decided we wanted to hike a few of those as well.  We left a few 'relax' days in our plan, so we could do whatever we felt like doing on some of the days. As far as the rest of it, I spent a little time looking at guide books and google to figure out what popular sights would be fun to see and made a small list of potential things to see. Beyond that, there was really no other planning involved. We packed a few clothes, some food to start out with, and our passports and we were on our way.

Hey look, Jack's flying!

The Trip

     The ferry ride from Yeosu to Jeju is five hours long. Therefore, I strongly advise that you bring some food with you. There is a cafeteria serving some Korean food, and also a small snacks area and overpriced coffee shop on the ferry, but you are really better off bringing your own supply. Also, if you have the space, a small blanket is nice for when you are relaxing in the sleeping area. There are some small square cushions which are used for pillows, but I found myself wanting a blanket to nap under. I used my jacket.

     Upon landing in Jeju, it is important to note that virtually no restaurants were open at 2:00 in the afternoon. Apparently most places open at 3:00, so we found ourselves wandering up and down streets searching for some small morsel of food for our empty stomachs. Not a nice way to start out vacation.

     If you are planning to head out of Jeju city on the first day, catch a taxi to the Jeju Intercity Bus Terminal as it is a far walk from the port to the terminal. At the bus terminal it is quite easy to figure out what bus you need to take as the stops are also in English. Here is what the map looks like:

     I would also advise finding a tourist information office where you can pick up brochures about Jeju,  maps of the cities, as well as a very useful bus routes brochure in English. We found ours at the Seogwipo bus terminal information desk the second day of our trip. 

New Years

     If you happen to find yourself on Jeju during New Years, you may hear about the night hike up Hallasan or one of the other mountains on Jeju.  Be forewarned: these are VERY popular and you will find it crowded, no matter which mountain you choose to hike up. 

     We chose to hike up Hallasan with little to no knowledge of what it would actually be like. How it works is you catch the last (or close to the last) bus to Seongpanak trailhead (성판악) and follow anyone who gets off at that stop to the park office building where you will wait in a lobby/ waiting room area until the trail opens at midnight. We took the 9:00 bus, arrived around 10:00, and then napped on the conveniently heated benches until midnight. At first, we thought there were maybe less than 50 people going on the hike, but when we went outside we found people numbering in the hundreds all preparing for the ascent. 

     There were some announcements made on a loudspeaker, which appeared to be a motivational speech, stretches, and maybe warnings about the trail conditions. Then, we were off! Seongpanak trail is broken up into three sections: first, a very rocky, mostly flat section; second a steeper section with some stairs and boardwalks; and lastly, a steep final ascent with many stairs to the very top. These sections are broken up by two buildings: one with western style bathrooms and potable water; the second with more primitive conditions, but steaming bowls of ramyeon for 1,000 won. 

     This hike is not for the faint of heart, as trail conditions were about -7 celsius at the trailhead, and very snowy. Crampons are a must, as well as several layers, and of course, head lamps. I would also recommend trekking poles, water bottle insulators (our water froze halfway up!), and plenty of snacks! 

                   

Enjoying sunrise for a moment before descending Hallasan

Seogwipo-si

     After our hike up Hallasan, we caught the bus to Seogwipo instead of back to Jeju city. Seogwipo is a very picturesque city with many things to see and do.  We stayed at the Nammi Motel, recommended by the tourist information desk at the Seogwipo bus terminal. As far as motels in Korea go, this was actually a really nice choice for us. It was cheap at a whopping 40,000 won and the staff there were nice. Our room was clean and we had a nice view of the docks.

                    

Our room at the Nammi Motel

 Also it was very close to many of the tourist attractions such as Cheonjiyeon Falls, Chilsimni Poetry Park, and Lee Joong Seop Street. 

     Another tourist attraction is the Seogwipo submarine tour! We happened to see an ad for it in a brochure and checked it out. Since it was the off-season, we were able to show up early in the morning and get tickets for the first dive.

                 

View from the front of the submarine

I highly recommend this fun activity if you have the time. When else do you get to go in a submarine? 

     We stayed in Seogwipo a total of two and a half days and managed to see Cheonjiyeon Falls, Jeongbang Falls, Chilsimni Poetry Park, Lee Joong Seop Street, Oedolgae Rock, Jaguri Culture and Arts Park, Saeseom Island, and we did a submarine tour! I would recommend all of these places, if you have the time to see them! We probably could have stayed another day just for the shopping, but we wanted to see some other things on Jeju. 

     After Seogwipo we decided to stay in Seongsan so we could catch an early bus to Manjanggul Cave.  I would not recommend this city, as it was difficult to find any restaurants serving food other than the very traditional stuff, our Minbok was not very good, and there really isn't much to see, unless you want to climb the very crowded Ichulbong Peak. We ate at a mediocre Chinese restaurant and headed out early the next day. 

     Manjanggul was very cool on the other hand! Tickets were maybe 2,000 won and it was a self-guided tour in a minimally lit lava tube. You can walk in about one km before you have to turn around. It was so much better than some of the super-lame cave tours back in the US. 

                        

In the largest and most brightly lit part of Manjanggul

Manjanggul is a little hard to get to, as you will need to take a bus to the entrance and then a taxi into the park. There are no accommodations, but there is a small Korean restaurant and a little store where you can buy snacks there.  If you can swing it, check out Manjanggul Cave one of your mornings. 

     Overall, we had a wonderful trip in Jeju! Our trip didn't go exactly as planned, but since we had left so much room on our itinerary we were able to be flexible and change plans at a moment's notice. If you are new to Korea, this is a wonderful place to practice your language skills and still enjoy a vacation!

If you have any particular questions about activities, or places on Jeju send me a message!

Korea: Facts and Myths

Upon deciding to move to Korea to teach English, my husband and I immediately went to great lengths to look up as much information as we could about our new country of residence. We read many blogs and forums to find out what kinds of things would be available in Korea, various customs, Korean manners, language tips, and most of all what to pack. After much reading we thought we had a pretty good idea of what food items or daily living items would not be available to us, namely:

• full-size towels
• mint flavored toothpaste
• cumin
• bakeries 
• cheese
• soft sheets
• black tea
• flour
• large shoe sizes

However, after living here a mere one week, we have been able to find everything on this list. In fact, Korea turned out to be not at all what we had imagined. Some people in Korea do in fact have ovens- heck, there are bakeries on every street! Full size towels and soft sheets (only fitted) are available at the local Home Plus or Emart. There was mint flavored toothpaste in our hotel. Cumin was available in the spices and seasonings aisle at the grocery. Cheese, although very expensive, is also available. Black tea is everywhere- whoever said black tea isn't available in Korea is just flat out wrong. And so far, we have been able to find some shoes in larger sizes- not a ton, but they exist.

As far as what we were expecting to find and haven't, we are coming to realize that Korea is much more expensive than we had originally thought. What no one told us is that the price of butter (and yes I mean butter, not margarine) is outrageous at $8 a box. Cheese is also expensive- around $6 for an 8 oz block. A variety of herbal tea is harder to find and a bit pricey as well.

So, suffice it to say, if you are looking to move to Korea, take our advice and read blogs with a major grain of salt. If the blog is not recent as of one or two years, then they are probably wrong.

A Leap of Faith

Greetings from South Korea!

Last year around the month of May, I was thinking to myself "Self, why aren't you doing the things you actually want to be doing, like traveling?" to which my reply was, "Oh yeah, I have student loans."
But then, I thought some more and realized, my student loans won't be paid off until I'm somewhere in my late thirties or early forties, and by that time I won't really be that free to travel anymore. I'll probably have kids, or be worrying about putting money in a retirement account, or have health issues to spend money on. It was then that I decided I couldn't wait around for the 'perfect time' to travel. I needed to take action.

I took a cue from one of our college friends who had moved abroad to teach English. I read his blog, looked up other blogs, researched qualifications to teach abroad, and came to the conclusion that this could really be a plausible thing. One blog post in particular struck a chord with me. It was a post about not being satisfied with the status quo:
(check it out here: http://nathanvandermost.com/reflections-observations-rants/)

I approached my husband about the idea of moving abroad to teach English, and he immediately thought I was nuts! But slowly after the course of a month, the idea started to seem not so crazy after all. Neither of us were particularly happy in staying at our jobs, and we didn't really have anything to lose. Our motivation to wake up every day had waned to almost nothing.

Why South Korea?

"Why South Korea?" you may ask. Well, it was quite shallow at first. I had read somewhere that Korea pays the most to foreign teachers, and since we would still be making loan payments abroad, this seemed like a logical choice. Then some time later, we were talking with an old family friend who just happens to be from Korea. She told us a bit about the country, and most importantly put us in touch with her brother who still lives in Korea. We started to Skype with him and practice the language. More and more, we could feel the pull to Korea.
We knew someone there, I had always had a strange obsession with all things Asian, and it paid the most, what could be better?

We decided to give it a try. We had nothing to lose!

We prioritized our to do list, and found the best TEFL class we could find that was in close proximity, and within a decent price range. We decided on I-to-I TEFL, and began our online courses right away. They say the online portion is 120 hours, but we sped things up a bit, and made it into a competition of sorts as to who was further along. We were certified by July, and started looking for opportunities.

By September we had signed a contract with a hagwon and prepared for our move abroad.

So, if you're thinking that you aren't satisfied with your life and need to find a way to travel while still making money, let me assure you that teaching abroad is in fact a viable choice. It's a lot of work to get started, and you will feel immensely stressed at times, but you can do it! What's the worst that could happen? Sometimes, you have to take that leap of faith.

 Stay tuned for more about what you need to do to get started in this process!

The Studio

Hello everyone!
Since I apparently haven't published any of my posts since July last year, I thought I should write a post that I know won't sit in draft stage- I want to show you my studio!!! This past week I had three days off in a row! Monday was a holiday followed by two days of snow. This afforded me the time I desperately needed to tidy and go through some of the things cluttering up my studio. Although, it is not entirely finished, it is so much better than it was and now I feel like I can create more freely.

(Above) This is the main area where I work on art. 

The larger dollhouse is one I built, while the small yellow one was built by my mum when I was a kid. I recently repainted it and repapered the inside. Miniatures is one of my older passions which I very occasionally dabble in.

A closer look at the bookshelf behind my desk. It houses all of my scrapbooking paper, embellishments, recycled items, jewelry-making supplies, and reference books. I bought this shelf from a friend for five dollars when they moved. 

Next to my desk is this little corner shelf that I bought on clearance at a craft store. It houses my writing implements, markers, some paints, and some stencils. 

Above my desk is a shelf I made out of an old drawer. It holds my adhesives and glitter! I definitely recommend keeping your adhesives within arms reach of your desk. 

A view of my desk with my 'pet' octopus on the wall and a recent mixed media painting.
















Here is my printer, card stock paper file and more books. Oh and my baby spruce tree too! Always good to have a green item in your art room. (Those crates were found on the side of the road!)

My sewing space is on the other side of the room. I alternate between keeping my computer atop my sewing table and my sewing machine atop the table.

I picked up this awesome wall shelf at the local thrift store for a dollar. It holds my threads and other small items that don't really belong anywhere else.

A Chinese kite from a friend watches over my husbands corner of the studio.

And that is basically it! You really don't need to spend big bucks to have a well-functioning studio. Almost all of the furniture was given to me or bought very cheaply at thrift stores or garage sales. And if you don't have an entire room to dedicate to being an art studio that's okay too! You can keep your art supplies in a closet and commandeer your dining table when necessary, or keep supplies under your bed and craft on your bedroom floor. But whatever it is you do, try to dedicate some small particle of space to art making, even if it's a temporary one. Perhaps light a candle to signify the transition from regular everyday space to art 'studio'. Make the occasion special! 

Happy Arting Friends!

Spontaneous Picnics

There is something utterly refreshing about going on a picnic.
     After looking out the window at work all day and noticing the gorgeous summer weather, I knew I had to take advantage of it the moment I finished work. Also, feeling somewhat lazy and not wanting to waste time cooking dinner, I decided that a picnic in the park was just the remedy we needed for a midweek slump.
     We quickly hopped in the car and picked up a rotisserie chicken, pita bread, some precut veggies, a bag of grapes, and some sushi! Then we headed for a park we had been wanting to visit but hadn't gotten around to yet this summer. After parking, we jumped out and setup our mini camp in the grass overlooking a nice view, and out of the way of passing pedestrians with their furry friends.
   

After setting up, we ate a most leisurely dinner and just enjoyed the air. My favorite part: looking at the sky!

Is there anything more mesmerizing than big fluffy clouds? 

Having brought along my travel watercolors and my watercolor moleskine notebook, I decided to do a little sketching while we were there. 

My husband kindly scoured the woods for an interesting tidbit of nature to draw and this is what he came up with...

A walnut shell and an ailanthus seedling

I spent about 15 minutes painting before I got too chilled to continue.

     Definitely still working on my watercolor technique, since I really don't have any. Also, the ailanthus was a little hard to draw as the wind kept moving it around. Note to self- make a blockade for your sketching subjects before you begin. 

     A note to all beginner artists or artists of any kind: always take a sketchbook along on outings to the park. You never know when you might want to make a quick sketch. 

     I recommend YOU go on a picnic outing too. Go by yourself for some relaxation time, or bring a friend! Just be sure to bring some old sheets or blankets for a tablecloth (I like cotton because it's easy to wash), some eating utensils, a knife, some water bottles, a break-resistent plate or two, some hand sanitizer or wipes, a frisbee or ball (if you have a friend), some food and a positive attitude!

Most of all have fun!