Shalom, Israel!

Two months ago, I took a couple weeks vacation from work and met my parents in Israel. It was an amazing break from teaching and a great time seeing my family again. It had been more than 7 months since I had seen my parents (and brother, who came out for part of the time I was there) and 3 years since I had seen the extended family.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't as hot as I had hoped for, but it was still enjoyable in comparison to the cold, Korean winter. This was my first time in Israel not during the summer. We spent most of our time in Herzeliya, some time in Tel Aviv, a couple days in Eilat and a day at the Dead Sea. Dale Chihuly (the man responsible for the blown glass ceiling at the Bellagio in Las Vegas) had an art gallery in Tel Aviv that we got to go to. His blown glass art is absolutely breathtaking. I hope one day I will be able to afford a simple paper weight. I also was able to soak up enough sun in Eilat to get a little sunburn and attempted to heal it in the miraculous minerals of the Dead Sea. I covered my whole body in the mineral mud, as I do upon every visit, and rinsed it off in the salty sea.

After a few days of bonding with my parents in southern Israel, I finished off the trip back in Herzeliya spending some time with my brother and the rest of the family. It was also my parents' 37th anniversary as well as a big birthday for my mom. I was happy to be there to spend it with them.

The food in Israel was spectacular... even better than I remembered: every kind of cheese imaginable, tzitziki, tabouli, hummus, falafel, Israeli salad, passionfruit, starfruit, etc! That probably has a lot to do with being in Korea for half a year. The produce and dairy products in Korea and very disappointing. They have such simple foods here and a very small variety of fruit and vegetables with little flavor. I've definitely been missing the food!

Before I knew it, I was back in Korea. It felt like I had been away for a long time, but it only felt like I had spent a short time in Israel. I returned to face the butt end of the Korean winter and the same group of Korean children I taught before I left. The twelve months I signed up for was then down to five and now just over three! Wild.

In five weeks, my sister will be visiting, and then a mere two months until I start my travels in Thailand. I can hardly wait!

We Are Trees - "Sunrise, Sunset"

Arrival in Daegu, South Korea!

The man in the speedo is Mr. Moon - he is the owner of Moon Kkang, the chain of private schools I work for - he pays my bills. The other picture is a bunch of Moon Kkang teachers watching a swimming race between some teachers and Mr. Moon.

I probably should have started this blog last week, but since I didn't, here's the first email update I sent out to my family:

Hi Everyone,
I made it to Daegu. The flights weren't too bad, although the Tylenol PM didn't knock me out as hard as I was hoping. I watched one movie and tried to sleep the rest of the time. The food was okay - lunch was something called Bibimbap - I am still not really sure what it was. I think it was ground beef and some veggies, but the "mushrooms" in mine were as hard as clam shells so I didn't really touch those. Then you scoop a bunch of rice over all of it and add some Korean chili paste - which tasted like Israeli s'chug and was pretty good actually. There was some seaweed soup that I didn't eat and some melon on the side also. Dinner was more American - pasta with steamed carrots and zucchini in a cream sauce - not delicious but definitely edible. Also had cabbage salad with no dressing or anything, this must be kimchi (but I thought that was pickled), and a carrot cake - so I faired pretty well with that meal.

One of the foreign managers picked me up in Daegu, bought me some bread, jelly, frosted flakes, milk, OJ (which I'm not supposed to drink because of my stomach) and water, and dropped me off at my temporary apartment. I'll be at this place until Monday while the person who's moving out of the other apartment is still there. Then I'll be in my permanent apartment that is close to my school branch and next to my friend, Charlie from SDSU. There is really nothing in this apartment, so good thing I brought a towel! There wasn't even any toilet paper and I had nothing of the sort either. I heard some Americans in the hallway of the apartment and rushed out and told them I just got here and would be here this week and was left me with no toilet paper - they gave me a roll. They work for Moon Kkang also, but a different branch - one that's close to these apartments, but I have no idea where I am.

In a few more hours, someone from MK is going to pick me up from the apartment and take me to the main branch where I will start some training and observation today. I'm writing this at the apartment so when I get to the school, where there's Internet, I can just send it out. I am supposed to have training at various different branches with different teachers today, tomorrow and Thursday, and I guess Friday I start my own classes. Saturday, MK is taking the teachers to Pohang to the beach for the day. I don't know how the weather is there, but Daegu is unbearably hot, humid, and now it's the rainy season. This apartment, and my new one also, has a small AC unit in the bedroom, but the one here hasn't been that amazing, I'll probably have to buy a fan. I feel so stuck without any connection to the outside world. I have no phone and no internet and no way of communicating with anyone. I just have to sit in this apartment until someone gets me.

I switched my USD's to Korean Won - I have about 575,000 Won, so I'll be a millionaire in no time. Anyway, I'll be in touch when I can.