Chudja

Last weekend I was asked by a friend to take his place for an outreach program run by the Foreign Language Center. It was going to the island of Chudja, a bit north from Jeju, but still part of Jeju. We took a cargo ship out there and it took about 3 hours before we arrived. It was myself and 5 other foreign teachers, going to the island to promote the center and English education. We left Sunday and came back on Monday.

We arrived at the port, beautiful place. Really really nice. It is a small chain of islands. The largest 2 are inhabited, and connected by a small bridge. It was a bit more than a fishing village, but not much more. The islands hold about 2500 people and there is a middle school and 2 elementary schools. Once out of middle school, the students either need to go to the mainland or Jeju to finish their education or get employment on one of the boats.

We checked into our hotel, which caused some problems as there was not enough room available. Apparently some people checked in and then decided to stay longer than expected. But we got that taken care of and decided to go for a little walk before dinner. We ended up sitting outside a store and drinking some beers before the dinner with the school people and high-ups in the town. The meal was of raw fish and some cooked fish. Not bad. There were the obligatory toast. A few more than usual. Koreans tend to toast and thank each other a lot for the things that they do. So a few shots of Soju were downed that night. Following the dinner we went back to the shop and continued to play cards and have a couple of beers. Something we kept noticing as the trip went along. All the women on the island are hot!!! Beautiful women everywhere. There is one lucky foreigner living on the island and he is loving it. They have taken him under their wings and have included him in the community. They are teaching him Scuba diving and taking him fishing. He seems to be enjoying it quite a bit.

Monday we get up and head to the Middle school to do our little lesson. I am paired up with Neil, an English fella. We have a simple lesson set up about clothing. We introduce it and then play some games with it. Next comes the t-shirts. The Center has brought in a bunch of t-shirts as souvenirs for the kids. They get to design and draw their own. They all have fun. Some are better than others and some are just plain bad. But they love them and that is all that counts.

Following the t-shirt making session, we take the kids outside for a little game of cricket. Our kids loved it. Most if not all were participating and enjoying the sport. It was new to me as I have also never played the game. Following the game, we had lunch before moving on the the Elementary school. The smaller school was bused in to the larger of the two. So combined classes. We took the older students, 6th grade and taught the same lessons. Our kids were not that talented at making the t-shirts, but oh well. There were a few in the class who did get a bit out of control. There was one kid who was a class clown and was rather disruptive, but smart and did participate. That was until it came to Cricket. We took them outside and showed them the game. These kids were more interested in pushing each other around and throwing rocks at each other. We had to stop the game for a minute, when several of them took the wicket and were running around with it, being followed by a kid with the bat, who proceeded to hit them with said bat. We stopped the game and had them sit down for a minute while we talked to them and got it back on track. The class clown decided to flick Neil off whilst returning to the game and was given a talking to by Neil and he sat in the dirt for the rest of the game. Our poor students didn't' get the prices the others did for playing the game. But they enjoyed themselves nonetheless.

Following Cricket it was time to head back home. This time by a fast boat. It took about 1:10 to get back to Jeju. The sea was a bit rougher, but we were outside and enjoying the waves and the fresh air. Moving around was a bit difficult, but sitting and having congratulatory beers was not. Good trip over all.

Mongolian Adventures

I was waiting to write this until I had some pictures to put up, but my camera is being stupid.

It was two weeks ago when I finally had my vacation and decided to head up to Mongolia. It has been a few years since I have been back and was missing the place. Before I left I called my old school director and asked him for a ride. The thing is when I called him we had some communication issues to begin with. Here is my recollection of the first part of the conversation.
Hello?
Hello?, Altanhoyig?
Yes it is, who is this?
It's Tim
I know, but who is this?
It's Tim,
Who?
Tim,
Who?
My name is Tim.
Yes, yes, who is this?
It's Tim, Tim teacher.
............Tim teacher!!!!!!!
The thing is my name is the same as yes and thus it is hard to figure out who is calling. It is a pain in the ass, but a little patience usually wins out and they figure out it is me.
I get to the airport on Friday before my flight. I check in and they say my flight might be delayed to Mongolia due to weather. Ok, it's Mongolia. They do this often. Not the best airport and not the best weather. It's often windy there. I'm waiting in the lounge when I get a text message and I ask someone what it means. My flight has been canceled. AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A short while later a man comes down and finds me walking around. He gives me a new ticket for the next day and asks me if I am going to stay in Jeju for the night or head up to Seoul. As I didn't have a place to stay in Jeju, I decided to go to Seoul.

The Friday I left, I had to be out of my apartment. Someone new was moving into it and I was getting a new apartment that is twice the size and closer to work. The thing is someone was still living there and would not be out of it until that Sunday. Everything I owned was packed into my car or on my back.

So I call up my friend Beney, who lives by the airport there and ask if I can crash. Of course it was ok. She was meeting up with some other people from training, and thus I went out to dinner and drinks with several people I didn't know or remember, and a couple that I did. We went to this dive bar in Incheon. I don't remember it's name, but it had a militaryesk theme to it. It had a bike on the roof, a wall made out of empty ammo crates, and a wall made out of TVs. Not a bad place, though it's smelled like wet basement.

So the next day I get on my flight to Ulaanbaatar. I arrive around 10 at night and wait for my bag and wait for my bag and wait for my bag. It was the last one off of the plane. I hate that. But get out and am met by John Hannibal. It was the only time I saw him, he was there to meet someone else and then I see Chris, Darren and Khaliunaa. I am fed a beer at the airport and then drive into town, to Chris's place. We are Chris's just long enough to drop off my bags and off to a bar we went. We stayed out drinking for a while and then headed back to his place and had a little after bar party.

The next day I woke up and went to a little sandwich shop that I used to like. I went in and they remembered me and I saw their son. Damn he got a lot bigger. But that will happen. It has been over 2 years since I have been back. I then called my director and he said there was a car leaving and to wait for a phone call. I get the call and am told to meet them at the usual place at 6. I go there and am looking for the car and I see one of my old friends. He tells me that we are going to his family's place for a little while, while they pick up people and repack the jeep. So that lead to drinking and eating.

We finally get on the road about 9 at night and start the long drive down to Sukhbaatar. Around 1:30 in the morning we pull over, the bearings on the trailer broke. It happens. It happens a lot. The cars usually have a spare. This one didn't. We are in the middle of nowhere and the driver and his friend head off to the nearest town to pick up a spare. So sleeping in the jeep. Not the easiest thing to do. I didn't get much sleep the night before and this night, I am not going to get much. 10 in the morning rolls around and still no driver. We decide to unhook the trailer and go and look for them. We start down the road and see him coming. Turn around fix the trailer and head off again. Finally around 11:30 at night we roll into Uulbayan. It is good to be back. It looks the same but different. They are building new buildings and there are street lights. Well a couple of them anyway. Big change. There were no lights when I was there.

I walk into my director's house and am meet by him in his underwear. He gets up and gives me a big hug and kisses my cheeks. He is unbelievably happy to see me. They all have cell phones now and he precedes to call up a bunch of people and we have a little party. Well a big party. 5 in the morning rolls around and everyone is tired and decide to crash.

I was awoken at 9 in the morning to people walking over me and I decided to get up. Another night with little sleep. I walk over to the school and see that it is finished. The school wasn't finished after the Russians left. They didn't have the money to finish it. They now have a gym and a lunchroom and a few more class rooms. I walk around and see all of the old teachers and students. Most of my old students have since left and gone to Baruun-Urt to finish up their high school and some have entered Uni.

My director wanted to know what I wanted to eat and I told him Horhug, goat that has been cooked with hot rocks. He said it might be a bit difficult as there hasn't been much rain in Sukhbaatar and most of the animals are far away. He ended up getting on and the teachers through a little party that night to celebrate my coming down. I wish I could have made it for a weekend because this was the second night in a row that the teachers were up late. They cooked me all the food that I have been missing and we ate, drank and danced the night away. Things turned a little strange during the party with teachers pulling up other teachers' shirts for me to take pictures of. It was pretty funny and we all had a laugh about it. Ah the vodka.

In the middle of the party, my director stopped the party to give me some gifts. They gave me a silver bowl, a gift basket of vodka, aruul and tea, and 300 dollars in cash. It was a bit much, but I was thankful for it. When I got back to the city, I used the money to buy myself a nice cashmere blanket. Something I would never have done without the free money. Oh and the blanket is fantastic!!!

The following morning, I was off again to the city. First we stopped by Baruun-Urt so I could pick up a ride and develop all the pictures I took. I figured they gave me all this money I could at least give them some pictures. We stopped by the museum there, which I never went to see and still didn't get to see because it was closed for repairs. Bummer. We also climbed to a new statue on a hill overlooking the city. Not a bad view. More construction going on. There is a theater there now. Place is getting bigger. My ride finally left around 6 that evening. Another night with little sleep. They gave me the front seat, but I had a child in my lap that was dead weight and was either moving or sleeping and falling off of me. We arrived in the morning and I dropped my stuff of at Chris's and went shopping and called up Meg and hung out with her for a little while. That night I went out with Chris and Adrian and then decided to crash at Meg's for the night. The next day I was off to the airport to catch my flight. But I fucked up.......My flight was not for another day!!!! So I was able to see all the things that I didn't get a chance to do.
I went to Sukhbaatar Square and checked out the government center. It was fantastic. They did a better job than I would have imagined they would have. It is stupendous. I also checked out the site of the riots and the MAXN building that was burned. I tried to get closer, but they wouldn't let me. Following all of that, it was time to go back to Jeju. It was a short night flight and thus I could not sleep for very long.

So when I finally arrived home in Jeju at 8 am I was in great need of some sleep. I went to my car and looked for my keys. My co-worker got my new apt. keys for me and said she put them in my glove box. They were not there. I called my co-worked and let the phone ring for a while, before she picked up. She had them. She is now my neighbor and she and Doug, unloaded a bunch of my stuff and put it in my apt. for me. So I got into my apt. and slept the remainder of the day asleep. Getting up only for a short time to get some grub, and watch a movie and then back asleep. A very good trip. I miss Mongolia already. Going there felt like home. It was good to be back.