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Our Experience at Korean Church

March 8th, 2010 Katy Doerksen Posted in EPIK, Korean Church, South Korea | Leave a comment »

Andrew and a random excited Korean who wouldn't let go of his hand.
Our group standing in front of Andong Church: Danny and I, a random Korean boy again, Jennifer, Paul, Helen, and Andrew
A random thing that we saw after church: this Korean flag was being put together out of post it notes in the center of downtown.
I have decided that the best way to deal with all the strange things that happen everyday is to laugh at them, and our first experience at a Korean church was no exception. Our new friend Andrew goes to a church here in Andong. He took us last Sunday and warned us about a few things, but left out some interesting facts that we found out after we had been there. There aren't any English speaking services in Andong, so obviously we wouldn't understand most of what was going on so sitting quietly and smiling was going to be our plan of attack. As soon as we got there though, we made quite a memory.
Everyone was very shocked as they saw 2 new foreigners walking through the door and they instantly began staring and coming up to us to share an eager "HI!" and then would run away. After some confusion, we finally got to our seats and the service began. We had to sign some sort of card for newcomers, but little did we know that in a few minutes they would make us stand up in front of everyone and they would proceed to sing a welcome song. As they called our names and we stood up, the whole crowd gasped in excitement to see two Americans at there church. That made us feel great, but then when the pastor anounced that Danny and I were married, another ever louder gasp was heard followed by cheering. Who knew that we were such famous people in Andong! (Why didn't we come here before?) They then sang the welcome song and all we understood was the part in English that said, "God bless you, God bless you," over and over but the rest sounded very friendly. ; ) The rest of the service was great even though I didn't know what the pastor was preaching on, but it was cool to be among other believers. We met a ton of other people after church and we think this will be where we go for the next year. (It doesn't hurt that the service is at 1:30 so we can sleep in either, wink.) A word for the day to help you in Korean church: hannah neem (God)

Katy and Danny

Danny and Katy Doerksen are from Colorado Springs, CO. They are music enthusiasts, foodies, and love playing board games. They love to travel and wanted to see the world before it passed them by, so they decided to teach English with EPIK in South Korea and are currently teaching on the beautiful island of JeJu! Yeah KIMCHI!

Read Danny and Katy's blog here.



with fresh eyes

March 7th, 2010 Kelly Posted in What I've Learned While Teaching | Leave a comment »

I went in search of a quote I read the other day on the www.facebook.com/teachaclipse page, and it was this:
"The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land."
~G.K. Chesterton
I have, no doubt, been driving others crazy, taking pictures of home. While the adjustment has been a challenge here and there, I am more agog at what I see. Portland is a wonder and a beauty to me. All the flowers against the backdrop of running water, steel bridges, and creativity. It makes for such a colorful world, it's no wonder I missed it so much!
And I realized, this is the first time I have played tourist in my own home. I have long bragged about it to my world of friends and family, afar. Here, I hope they can begin to see what I have tried so hard to capture in conversations.
While today's forecast calls for a return of rain, Saturday was full of sun, and my favorite things. A., allergies and all, was willingly dragged along for the ride.
Saturday Market started this weekend, and it was a sight to behold. Portlanders were out in full - enjoying the sun, the blooms, the art, crafts, food, music, and more!
Here are few pictures from my day.
My favorite flower. A white daffodil, with an orange center, in front of a NE Portland home.
My other favorite flower: Daphne. These flowers smell heavenly, and to me, they mean the beginning of spring! Each year, I push through long, cold winter runs, and the day always comes when I inhale the sweet scent of Daphne. It's as if it lifts me all the way home for the rest of the run, and encourages my miles into spring, for weeks afterwards!
The Max - Portland's public transportation system.
The gateway to our very own Chinatown, a reminder of my first summer in Portland, almost nine years ago.
Portland Saturday Market, which runs every Saturday (and Sunday), from March until Christmas Eve. Locals - look! Do you see Portland Elvis?
Waterfront Park and...
East Bank Esplanade - my old running ground!
And more cherry blossoms, because there are never enough to last the year when they have all rain down out of spring skies.

Kelly Winter

Kelly Winter is an irrepressibly optimistic professional and a very talented teacher. She was a substitute teacher for a year in the Portland public school system before embarking on her journey to Korea. Prior to that Kelly was a student teacher for one school year for the 4th and 1st grade in Beavertown, Oregon while she was earning her Master of Arts in Teaching. She has also worked as a math tutor, volunteered as a reading tutor and coached gymnastics. Kelly has six years of professional experience with an environmental development consulting firm before dedicating herself full time to a career in education. She’s busy having fun teaching overseas at Chung Dahm Learning in Incheon, South Korea!

Read Kelly's blog here.



Ain’t No Lie, Baby….

March 7th, 2010 Audrey Eagle Posted in culture, friends, kimchi, korea | Leave a comment »

In high school, our "graduation song" was the "Sunscreen Speech" (also called "Advice, Like Youth, is Wasted on the Young") set to background music. Later, the song was mocked by Chris Rock in a sketch called "There's No Sex in the Champagne Room" - both very sound pieces of advice. Since hearing both, I've been searching for my own piece of advice that I was 100% sure would always be effective and help out a large chunk of the population. Well, I found it... Noriban is not a cure for laryngitis. For those unfamiliar (i.e., my family at home - hi!!!), noriban is the Korean version of karaoke. Instead of singing in front of a large crowd, you and your friends rent this little room (not soundproof, of course - this is Korea, after all), and have at your disposal every pop song ever created in the American and Korean cultures (I'm sure there's also some J-Pop in there - I didn't get a chance to really look through the book). I like it better than our perception of karaoke because there's no crowd involved. Yes, I know that I <3 attention, but not when singing is involved. Before noriban, I thought that "I Believe I can Fly" was a syrupy sweet song that was too cavity-threatening to make it even onto my iTunes list (and for everyone who's seen that thing, you know that there's too much Miley and High School Musical for me to deny my love for pop). Tony, however, corrected that misbelief. Just like "Boyz in the Hood" can be turned into a soft alternative song, "I Believe I can Fly" can become a rough, screaming jam. Also, before noriban, I thought that I was _not_ a fan of Lady Gaga. I was also terribly wrong on that one, too. I also didn't know that I knew all of the lyrics to "Poker Face" (I was just as surprised as everyone else reading this..). After our assigned hour and a half, I had hopes of surviving the night with my vocal cords still intact....but then I guess the owner decided that he really liked us (the "half" previously mentioned was free), and gave us another free twenty minutes. Instead of being a good, logical person and thinking, "Okay, save the voice...need to be able to talk next week", my fun side kicked in and went, "Heck yes all of us singing 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' at the top of our lungs is a fantastic idea!!!" Probably still could've made it had we not also decided to do some Jimmy Eat World, No Doubt, Boyz II Men (don't ask - I never question the genius that is Jennifer..), and finished it all off with N'Sync's "Bye Bye Bye" (I will admit to knowing all of the lyrics to that song). For those who have heard the story, we saw the Scottish guy!! He was not at noriban, nor at Underground - he was with this elusive girlfriend that one of you mentioned and very not all-in-our-faces. Fortunately, Jen and I are such fantastic actors that Josh and Tony now understand exactly what our last encounter was like. I have more evidence supporting the theory that he lives in my building: he and his girlfriend walked up there (which caused me to run back to Jen and Kevin because although he's probably not that creeper of a guy, I'm having a hard time getting past that first awful impression). But since I did reference that awesome Chicago Trib article about the advice that I'm not all that qualified to give but am anyway (you know that whole month of experience really speaks volumes =p), here it goes.. Eat the kimchi. Okay, maybe it won't cure AIDS or male pattern baldness, but it's some good stuff. Eat the radishes, too. If your braver friends order intestines, take a bite - you don't have to join them in finishing all of it, but you look like less of a hoser American if you at least try some. Learn hangul. Knowing what your'e ordering in restaurants is much easier. Listen to what your friends say about Korean fashion advice, but pack your suitcase with *your* clothes. Seoul women do walk around like they're on a runway, but they won't deny your ARC if you show up in flare jeans or opt out of purchasing Uggs. Actually, if you do stray from the Ugg trend, drop me a line - I'm trying to start a non-ugly boot group. Stay away from buildings with barber poles. Embrace the cuteness. Just because Americans feel like everything has to Be Serious doesn't mean it always has to be in other parts of the world. Police officers who come out of a building with a cartoon on the front are just as respectable as the ones who come out of the white institutional buildings. Also, since we have to listen to PSA's, why not make them animated? This also applies when you purchase your first cell phone. Learn how to use metal chopsticks. Don't feel like a failure when you're told that it's okay to eat your rice with a spoon. I'm still working on that one. Don't eat alone. Meals are a community event and everything is set up to make it about sharing. It's so freaking cheap here that you don't really have an excuse, either. Children will stare. Old people will glare. Smile at both. "Thank you" is pronounced "kahm-sahm-nee-daa". Be sure to bow a lot, too. Even if you make the worst cultural mishaps (like throwing your trash away completely incorrectly right in front of the garbage men), bowing makes everything better. You may already know some of these. Others just may not work for you. But I'm serious about the laryngitis and noriban - not a good idea. I'm sure my nurse practitioner mom agrees..

Audrey Eagle

Audrey Eagle taught middle and high school language arts for five years in sunny Florida before moving to South Korea. She now teaches for Chungdahm Learning in Suji with the most fantastic coworkers imaginable!

Read Audrey's blog here.



Your favorite English blog by 10 Magazine

March 4th, 2010 ripcitytoseoul Posted in Blogging | Leave a comment »

Every month, 10 Magazine asks their readers to give their opinion on something related to Korea. The topic this month’s reader poll is English blogs in Korea. I woke up this morning to find Rip City to Seoul listed among the selections. Give it a look, there is a lot of good reading to be found among all the blogs given mention. Learn Korean with KoreanClass101.com

Dustin Wilshire

Dustin works for Chung Dahm Learning April English in Seoul, South Korea. Having lived abroad before, his passion is traveling and experiencing different cultures, so he jumped at the opportunity to teach in Korea. He thinks working with kids can be a lot of fun, and he's getting to travel in Korea and the rest of Asia. A life-long Portland Trail Blazers fan, the hardest part about being away from home is missing the NBA season, but thankfully he has found a way to watch with NBA Online...

Read Dustin's blog here.



Livin’ the Andong Life

March 4th, 2010 Katy Doerksen Posted in Andong, Attractions, Dining, South Korea, korea, teaching English | Leave a comment »

Our days have been full since we got here…mostly with trying to wrap our head around the fact that we live in Korea. Crazy. But, we have been more than lucky, though to end up where we are and let me tell you why… 1. There is a great group of people here, even a few Christians, who have gone out of there way to welcome us. One in particular, Andrew, has made us feel so welcome by taking us on a walking tour to get to know Andong and to his Korean church. We have been able to hang out with them a few nights already and it really has kept us from getting lonely. 2. We have both got good schools to go to…everyone seems really nice, even though we can’t understand anything.(haha) 3. We live about 20 minutes walking distance from downtown where there are…drumroll…a PIZZA HUT, DUNKIN DONUTS, a few coffee shops, a MOVIE THEATER, a bunch of shops, and so much more! (you can tell what I’m excited about right?) 4. We know where the hospital is, just in case…don’t freak out mom. 5. We live above a convenience store that is in fact very convenient. 6. Any I’m sure many other reasons…YEAH!Andong is a great city to be in so just keep that in mind when you think about coming to visit. (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) Another word for the day: Ohl my yeh yo? (How much is it?)
The awesome Andrew, another EPIK teacher from America, giving us newbies a walking tour of Andong.
Yes, you are seeing the delicious delicasies of Andong's market, dried fish in buckets as far as the eye can see! Another site at the market...maybe we'll have to try cooking a ridiculously large octopus sometime.
Right before we had the most awesome pizza EVER!! It was still Pizza Hut but somehow it just tastes so much better here ; )
Walking around Downtown Andong.

Katy and Danny

Danny and Katy Doerksen are from Colorado Springs, CO. They are music enthusiasts, foodies, and love playing board games. They love to travel and wanted to see the world before it passed them by, so they decided to teach English with EPIK in South Korea and are currently teaching on the beautiful island of JeJu! Yeah KIMCHI!

Read Danny and Katy's blog here.



The Truth About Teaching English in Korea

March 4th, 2010 sjuniperj Posted in What I've Learned While Teaching, korea | Leave a comment »

The truth is, I live a pretty charmed life. Looking out the window of my high rise, high rent apartment, I have trouble feeling sorry for myself. The lights of the Hyperion helicopter pads flicker quietly in the distance; below them the traffic moving steadily in and out of Seoul creates a visual stream that by some trick of fancy manages to mimic vestiges of the real thing. The sound of trickling water and ticking clocks sputters for spasmodically from my radiator, adding to the complete illusion of my castle in the air. We come here as English teachers for different reasons, some of us arriving fresh out of college with nothing but a B.A. and a lack of direction. Some of us come waiting to pontificate on the joys of the written word, others come to escape it. We enter South Korea like Kings. We’re here as instant members of the elite; as in demand as our services are, Korea forgives us our ignorance of her language, culture and history. We live here paying little in taxes and often nothing in rent, at salaries well higher than our Korean coworkers. Sometimes we come here only to discover that in the end, we are pale faced, occasionally overpaid babysitters dancing our way into the working world. Such is life. Hagwans (private schools) tend to be slightly chaotic, disorganized places forced to cater to the whims of the paying customers or the corporation bodies that govern us. For all of this, we’re teachers. Sitting at my desk today in my classroom mulling over the trails of the new semester, I realized that my hair was in complete disarray after my walk to work, and that I really ought to buy a brush to keep at my desk. At my desk. As in, I have one. No significant special degree earned (TEFL is not necessary, nor is teaching experience, really), no real battles fought (if you pass training, you’re golden) and no terrible scars to show for my effort. In less than three months after arriving, I have 115 young minds waiting to be awakened. America was once the land of opportunity, but here the torch has been passed.

The Monastery in Mokdong


Sarah Juniper

As her college career in Michigan came to a close and the world outside started looking hungrier, the threat of a life of predictability of began to settle around Sarah Julian's shoulders...Until she realized that the apocalyptic economy at home was the greatest graduation gift she could have hoped for! Now, here she is teaching upper Elementary and Middle School English for CDL in the southwest side of Seoul, where daily life is a kaleidoscope of motion, kimchi comes with everything and opportunities to expand ones horizons abound. Check out her blog to read about Sarah's daily adventures in Korea!

Read Sarah's blog here.



Yi Sun-sin

March 3rd, 2010 ripcitytoseoul Posted in Attractions, korea | Leave a comment »

My favorite landmark in Seoul is the statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin. It’s located in Jongnogu, Gwanghamun area, close to City Hall. Because it’s such a centrally located part of town, I see him all the time. He rests high above motor and pedestrian traffic, with Gyeongbokgung Palace and Mount Bukhansan in the background. His pose suggests… bring it on dude, I will dominate you. My girlfriend says that his broad shoulders remind her of me. The little replica statue she gave me sits on my book shelve, keeping an eye on my every move. According to Wikipedia, Admiral Yi was a Korean naval commander noted for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Japanese invasions of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty (1592-1598). He is reputed to be one of the few admirals to have been victorious in every naval battle in which he commanded, at least 23 of them, and remains as a venerated hero among Koreans (and red bearded, broad shouldered foreigners) today. I’ve also seen his name spelled Lee Soon-shin Learn Korean with KoreanClass101.com

Dustin Wilshire

Dustin works for Chung Dahm Learning April English in Seoul, South Korea. Having lived abroad before, his passion is traveling and experiencing different cultures, so he jumped at the opportunity to teach in Korea. He thinks working with kids can be a lot of fun, and he's getting to travel in Korea and the rest of Asia. A life-long Portland Trail Blazers fan, the hardest part about being away from home is missing the NBA season, but thankfully he has found a way to watch with NBA Online...

Read Dustin's blog here.



Kudos to Korean Transportation

March 2nd, 2010 Kelly Posted in Buses, Seoul, Subway, Transportation | Leave a comment »


As I re-adjust to life in a rural Oregon town, outside of Portland - I am struck by two big things: lack of density in people, and lack of public transportation. It's okay. I have missed my space and car and it is fun to heavily indulge in both, for a bit.

But I wanted to post a blog giving Korea props on transportation. Mind you, they are a small country, so it should be easy for them - but they go
above and beyond. It is a phenomenon here, and they do public transportation well!

Buses are color-coded and numbered to help.
Red buses move between major city areas, and I regularly found myself on one of these to get from Incheon to the Gangnam neighborhood of Seoul, without the complications of transfers, necessary on the subways.

Green buses move between bordering/near bordering neighborhoods within cities. I would take these too! They are fast and pretty easy, and the more internationally populated areas announce stops in Korean and English, which was SO helpful the first time to an area.
Blue buses move between...well, to be honest, I'm not sure - I never rode a blue bus.

But enough about buses. What I want to talk about are the subways!

Last September, I posted a blog touching on this (Subway Heaven), but here is a more in-depth, kudos to Korea!

Half the country's population lives in Seoul and the surrounding metros, and this means about 25-30 million in an area that this only about 2 to 3-hours squared, traveling! It is hard to explain the population density until the skyscrapers have encroached on you with shadows, first hand - but perhaps a subway explanation will help.

Here is an English version of the Seoul Subway system:
I learned to navigate this, giving me the feeling that if I can succeed here, I can make it anywhere!

It is important to state that Korea has further, big plans, with several new lines under construction. There are times, where, if you fathom the layers upon layers of subways that hole their way through the underworld of Seoul - you hope no disaster shall ever strike!

While color coding is nice, and numbered lines are even nicer, the stops on each line are also numbered, with directional arrows helping you get where you need to go. Even when you are on a car, you will see lit up signs showing you where you are and where you are headed.

Announcements on most lines are made in Korean and English, and when you are at a transfer point, they are preempted by music. At first, it all seems foreign, and at each stop the panic of, "Where am I? Did I miss my stop?!" will kick in. But wait for it...Music, wait for it, Korean, wait for it, AND English - whew!

'So, how big are these subway trains?' you ask. They are big! They are so big that if you stand at one end of a stop, the other disappears into a blur.
They are so large, that if you stand at the end where they first approach, they have not yet begun to slow, and lives blur by at top speed!
They are so big, because they need to accommodate people - lots and lots of them.

And they just keep on coming. In all my time in Korea, I don't think I have ever waited more than about 8 or 10 minutes for a train, which can't be said about my commute time in traffic since arriving home.
But while in Korea, you have to fight for your right to a seat, it is a pleasure to sit in my own car, with my own music, in my own space, no matter how long my commute!

Kelly Winter

Kelly Winter is an irrepressibly optimistic professional and a very talented teacher. She was a substitute teacher for a year in the Portland public school system before embarking on her journey to Korea. Prior to that Kelly was a student teacher for one school year for the 4th and 1st grade in Beavertown, Oregon while she was earning her Master of Arts in Teaching. She has also worked as a math tutor, volunteered as a reading tutor and coached gymnastics. Kelly has six years of professional experience with an environmental development consulting firm before dedicating herself full time to a career in education. She’s busy having fun teaching overseas at Chung Dahm Learning in Incheon, South Korea!

Read Kelly's blog here.



Right now, I am…home.

March 1st, 2010 Kelly Posted in Oregon | Leave a comment »

Now that I'm home, what of my blog? Well, I am going to continue it. I named it 'right now, i am...' with the belief that I could then maintain it beyond my days in Korea. So, look out - here begins a new chapter!

Settling back into life in Oregon will take some time and there will probably be more blogs about Korea, as I still have some fun photos and stories to share.

As much as I missed living in Oregon, it cannot be said that I did not enjoy my time in Korea. It is a wonderful and busy country and I hope to get back for a visit in the next couple of years, to see all the things I missed, and revisit those things and people, who I will miss in my time away!

But if I have to live away, living in the Portland area is a happy circumstance, because I will never be too far away from Korea. I was told by a Korean Pastor and Korean teacher, before I left, that there are about 30,000 Koreans in the Portland area. Right now, I am looking out a coffee shop window at two signs:
How cool is that?! I still don't know what the translation means, but it is fun to look at it and know how to pronounce the Korean script, as well as know I can pop in anytime I need a "kimchi" fix or an "annyeong haseyo".

Kelly Winter

Kelly Winter is an irrepressibly optimistic professional and a very talented teacher. She was a substitute teacher for a year in the Portland public school system before embarking on her journey to Korea. Prior to that Kelly was a student teacher for one school year for the 4th and 1st grade in Beavertown, Oregon while she was earning her Master of Arts in Teaching. She has also worked as a math tutor, volunteered as a reading tutor and coached gymnastics. Kelly has six years of professional experience with an environmental development consulting firm before dedicating herself full time to a career in education. She’s busy having fun teaching overseas at Chung Dahm Learning in Incheon, South Korea!

Read Kelly's blog here.



You are the Constant

March 1st, 2010 Tiffany R Cagle Posted in Randomness | Leave a comment »

In math, there's this thing called a 'constant'. It doesn't go any where. It stays where it's supposed to stay. It is what it always is. A more formal definition goes something like this "It is a number that comes up in math and is independent of the physical measurement." Some examples that are well know are e and pi. As the name implies, the numbers do not change---they are constant.

I actually like working with constants. I mean, who doesn't, right? It's usually some fun looking symbol that you place in your equation making it much easier to deal with since it's not some long string of numbers. Especially if you end up doing some rock star math maneuver, you are gonna want that constant because it turns your spastic equation into a short sweet and to the point answer. That constant makes your life immensely easier!!

I look back over the past 15 years of my life. I've moved a lot, met a lot of people (I have met pretty much all of my 600 Facebook friends, because your number of Facebook friends TOTALLY determines how cool you are!!! NOT), some how managed to get two really expensive degrees, moved across the US twice, and moved to the other side of the world.

And of course the most important factor in all that stuff is the people. I joke that my drug of choice is people because they are. For some people, you miss them but you know your paths will cross again, and you will see them so the "missing them" part is not so foreboding. But with experiences like this one, you may meet a person, have a great day, weekend, trip or a few months with them and that's it. And you come to this ultra weird realization that you will most likely never see this person again.

It's been interesting as of late as people start to make their way back "home" or move to the next phase of life. Because Korea, for most people, is a one year gig. For every day this week, I know at least one person leaving, and in case you were wondering Thursday will be my least favorite day this week. Since people are my drug of choice, I get attached. It's much easier for me to leave people than it is for people to leave me. "Yes, thank you for your concern. I'm fully aware that I need therapy."

But the coming and the going has me a little worried as the inconsistency can be a struggle. It's like trying to build a house without a foundation. There's only so far up you can build before your investment collapses at your feet. At some point, you just kind of want something to be constant, for something to stick around for a while.

In the midst of that struggle, where my mind is a battlefield that will open fire at any given moment, I was having one of those "Come to Jesus" meetings except the only person who bothered to show up for it was me. It's one of those meetings where you force yourself to walk in the bathroom and take a hard look in the mirror, and it's then you realize your biggest enemy is yourself.

And it's then that you realize the common variable in all these equations is you.....You are the constant. And it's then that you realize being your own best friend and loving you for you some how just got really important.



Tiffany Cagle

Tiffany grew up in small town Mississippi, and she has always been up for an adventure! She found her way to the Lone Star State where she graduated with a BS in Human Development and Family Sciences from The University of Texas at Austin. She continues to be an avid Longhorns fan and catches a game whenever she has the opportunity. Traveling and living abroad has been a long time desire that seemed to never go away. After completing her Masters in May 2009, thankfully, she found an opportunity through Aclipse to live and work abroad in South Korea. She is currently enjoying her time exploring Asia and teaching children English for Chung Dahm Learning in WonJu, South Korea. She hopes many people will choose to pursue such a challenging endeavor as this. It's a once in a life time opportunity!

Read Tiffany's blog here.