Mmm, there's nothing like sipping on Earl Grey tea in the morning. I've been a bit sluggish to post the past couple of weeks, because I've been so busy. As a result, I've got several noteworthy events to write about all at once: the kinder English Concert, a skiing trip to Yongpyong, acupuncture, kicking my vegetarian habit, and a poetry reading.
English Concert
I'll start with the English Concert first. Each kinder class performed a little play in English complete with singing and dancing. Among the choices were 'The Wizard of Oz', 'Peter Pan', 'Ali Baba Jr. and the Four Theives', and 'Three Billy Goats Gruff'. The only problem with the concert is that all of the foreign teachers had to perform in the plays. Oh yes, we had to sing and dance with kinders in a big auditorium in front of an army of Korean parents armed with cameras and camcorders. Add to that the costumes, and we felt like monkeys on display at a zoo for our school's profit.
Erik played the troll in 'Three Billy Goats Gruff', and I played the wicked witch of the west in 'The Wizard of Oz'. I asked to play that part. I figured if I had to do it, I might as well have a fun part. :) I made a few fumbles. When I turned on my pen mike, I got massive feedback from the speakers for a moment. Then when I got on the stage, I realized I had forgotten to bring my magic wand with me. Oh well, it was no big deal, we just mimed it thanks to the quick thinking of a kinder. Of course, there were many more little fumbles like that throughout the show. It's expected when working with kids....or goofy foreign teachers.
I was also informed that the foreign teachers were expect to have their own performance, so I thought to myself, "What is the easiest, shortest, and most child appropriate English song that I can work with?" I came up with Yellow Submarine by The Beatles. I decided that I would make props of the submarine and different sea animals to parade around on the stage with, so that most of the focus would be on them, not us. Here's the basic run down. A 'teacher' comes out on stage with some 'students' to have story time. When the teacher opens a big book called 'The Yellow Submarine', the song starts. The 'teacher and students' look confused and try to find the source of the song. Then a big yellow submarine makes it's way slowly on stage. After that the captain comes out and proclaims his search for 'the whale'. One by one sea animals come out and parade around the submarine, and the captain is disappointed each time that it's not a whale. Finally the whale comes out and the captain harpoons it, only to have all of the other sea animals attack him as he runs away in defeat. This came out pretty bungled and hilarious. I can't wait to see it on DVD and laugh. Those sea animals (cut out of colored foam) were such a chore to make! I'm glad they were recorded permanently on film for posterity.
Skiing
Thankfully, a week later we got a four day weekend to recover, courtesy of Lunar New Year. Erik and I went on a ski trip with some coworkers to Yongpyong ski resort near the northeast coast of South Korea. The area was beautiful, and luckily had just gotten a lot of fresh powder the day we arrived. The resort was at a lot lower of an elevation than I'm used to, but there were still plenty of trails, thankfully. They also had lots of good night skiing. You could ski well after midnight at this resort. I'd say about half of the mountain was open at night. I've never encountered anything like that back in the States. Korea is definitely a late night culture. We got there at about five o'clock on Saturday, but thanks to the night skiing, we got in a full 'day' on the slopes. It was a great opportunity to teach Erik how to ski, even if it was a little nippy to ski at night. I was proud of Erik, he caught on pretty quickly. His biggest problem was that he's so tall he couldn't push himself up once he fell. That means he had to take off one ski to get up...and then put it on again on a steep snow covered mountain. Not easy when you're a beginner. I think he got it all figured out in the end. :)
I really enjoyed the slopes. They didn't have snow blades for me to rent, which are easier on my knees (and more fun in general). But for once skis didn't hurt my knees, and I actually enjoyed using skis this time out. I thought about snowboarding, but after seeing my coworker tumble head over heel again and again, I'm glad I stuck with skis. That also made it easier to teach Erik.
It was nice to get out of the city for a while and see some pristine nature. However, sleeping on the floor Korean style after a long day of skiing left us all pretty exhausted by the end of the trip. Erik also had a hard time finding things to eat. Pretty much everything had either wheat or meat, so he lived of junk food for a few days. On our stopover at Seoul, he ended up eating some tainted kimbop which gave him gastroenteritis. He's on antibiotics for it now; thankfully it seems to be a mild case.
Acupuncture
I've been struggling to fight a sinus infection the past week, and my coworker swears by acupuncture. So, I decided to give it a try. I went first for my sinuses. When I arrived they took a sample of my hair, and stuck me on an EKG machine to monitor my heart rate for five minutes. After that they put me on some massage machines while I waited to see the doctor. Then they took me back to the acupuncture room and laid me down on a medical bed. They put balloon-like pants on me that inflated in different places at different times to stimulate circulation (I assume). After about fifteen minutes the doc showed up and stuck about ten needles at various places in my face and left me to sit for another fifteen minutes. The needles stung a little bit, but really didn't hurt too much. At this point I was thankful for the balloon pants because they took my focus off of the needles. A nurse came and took out the needles and removed the balloon pants, and laid me face down on another table. She then put six big suction cups on my back (this is called fire cupping...I'm not sure what it's supposed to do), and two electrodes on my shoulders to administer muscle shock therapy. After about ten minutes they removed all of the stuff, gave me a quick vibration massage and told me to come back tomorrow. All of this cost me a whopping six bucks.
I went back the following day for treatment for my back, shoulder, and neck pain. This time they stuck needles in my back, did fire cupping, and the electric shock stuff all at the same time. The doctor also brought out these little tape squares that came with a tiny little needle sticking out of the center of each square. She put about eight of them on my right hand (ouch!) and told me not to take them out until tomorrow. Then they stuck me in a massage chair for about ten minutes and sent me on my way. At first the needles in my hand (which are supposed to increase circulation) didn't bother me too much, except for one at the knuckle of my pinky finger. It hurt to move that finger so much that a coworker told me I should probably take it out because it might be in wrong. I took it out, but later I started to feel really spacey and I developed a headache. The same coworker advised me to take the needles out if they were making me feel strange, so I did. It hurt to take them out, but I felt a lot better very quickly. I really haven't felt any improvement from the treatments, so I think that's the end of my acupuncture journey. Hey, I gave it a shot, but it's just not for me.
Vegetarianism
Lately I've been reading a lot about nutrition, our food system, and vegetarianism. My readings made me think about how I've felt all this time that I've been vegetarian. I examined my health, and I found it to be lacking. My hair has been getting thinner and thinner, my fingernails are more brittle than they've ever been, I have absolutely no energy, and I'm hungry all the time. I decided that I need to face up to the fact that vegetarianism isn't working out for me nutrition-wise here in Korea, and maybe not even at home. I feel that I need to look after my own health first. I also admitted to myself that I think it's hypocritical to eat eggs and dairy when egg laying hens and milk cows are treated even worse than animals raised for meat. I came to the conclusion that the best way to slow the consumption of factory farmed meat might not be to skip the meat entirely, but to instead buy free range, organic meat from reputable companies. If I support those companies, maybe they can grow enough to replace the horrible factory farms out there.
I also learned recently that almost all soy produced for consumption is GMO soy. They have modified the soy so that it produces its own insecticide. That means when we eat the soy, we are eating food laden with pesticides. Of course, the big food companies don't want studies done that show this might be harmful to humans, but a few doctors have probed the stomachs of patients. What they found in the tissue samples was that this insecticide is in the soy, and is being digested by the people who are eating it. This obviously isn't good for our bodies and digestive systems, but it's all being kept quiet for the sake of profit. This whole thing really makes me want to avoid eating soy products, so that pretty much nixes all tofu and fake meat out there for me.
Because of all of the above things I've talked about, I decided to put my own health first for now, and go back to eating meat. I have to say that since I've been eating meat, I feel a lot better. I have more energy, and I finally feel full. I even recovered from an oncoming cold very suddenly the day after I started eating meat. My only regret is that I don't have access to organic, free range meat here in Korea. Once I get back to the States, I plan on buying it exclusively. That way I can have the nutritional benefits while avoiding the chemicals pumped into the meat and the cruelty that stems from the factory farms.
Poetry Reading
Last night Erik and I went to a poetry and fiction reading in Kyungsung with our new friend, Jennifer. The venu, Radio Cafe, was like a little slice of home. It was nice to be surrounded by artsy people, and the poetry/fiction was pretty good too. It was inspiring to hear all of those creative voices; maybe I'll get back into writing...if I can find the time. :) What I really need to do is finish my online courses for my teaching certification....maybe I should go do that now.
No comments:
Post a Comment