That time I lived with Buddhist Monks...

On Wednesday, I finally made the last check off of my "Things to Do before Leaving Korea" list. I had the week off from school, but unfortunately all of my friends who are still in Busan were working, so instead of doing nothing I thought a temple stay would be the perfect solo getaway. When you hear "living with monks" what comes to mind? For me, I imagined a lot of meditating and prayer, some communal work and plenty of chanting. It turned out to be a really amazing experience, though in no way what I was expecting.

entrance gate to the temple

After a two and a half hour journey to Andong, a little village outside of Gyeongju, I arrived at Golgulsa Temple in the mid-afternoon. I checked in with the a westerner who lives at the temple, and he briefed me about the temple stay and handed me a schedule which looked something like this:

5:00- dinner
6:00- orientation
7:00- chanting time
7:30- Zen martial arts training
9:00- bedtime

4:00 am- wakeup
4:30- chanting
5:00- sitting meditation
6:00- walking meditation
6:30- breakfast
8:00- Zen martial arts training
10:00- 108 bows and meditation
11:00- tea time
11:30 lunch

The official temple stay wasn't starting until dinner so I had about two hours to wander around in at least 95 degree weather, and explore the site. What I found was that the martial arts center as well as my room in the guest quarters were at the bottom of a very steep mountain and the main temple and shrine were located about a thirty minute climb up the mountain. I tried not to think about it, but looking at the locations on the schedule, I had a feeling I was going to be getting a lot of exercise.

temple dog

Before dinner, I had a chance to meet the other westerners who would be doing the temple stay, one girl named Leslie from Switzerland was a student in Korea and a couple from the Netherlands who were backpacking around the country for three weeks. It was nice to meet them and chant a little, but all in all there wasn't much time for talking on this trip. We went to dinner together and ate in silence among the monks and the three resident foreigners. Dinner was a delicious and simple meal of vegetarian noodle soup, rice, kimchi and radish, and we were instructed that we must eat every speck of food, as monks do not waste.

afternoon prayers in a cave shrine

After dinner, we had orientation and then participated in the first chanting session. In front of an alter in the martial arts center we bowed three times and then tried to follow along as several monks did their nightly chants. After, it was time for zen martial arts and I think all of us foreigners were surprised to see that this too was a "follow along" kind of situation. It occurred to me that this temple stay would be about experiencing life with monks, not being taught by them. After struggling through an hour of intense martial arts kicks, punches and series of fighting movements, we settled down for moving meditation. This was my favorite part of the evening. As calming Buddhist music played, we stood in a circle and followed the monk as he lead us through a series of flowing motions. It felt very spiritual and though no one explained to us what it meant, I could feel that it was all about releasing positive energy. It's hard to explain, but it was a very powerful exercise and I did feel both energized and released afterward. When it was finished, we made our way back to the room and tried to get some sleep before the early morning to come.

Sunmundo- Korean zen martial arts

this guy was intense!

I didn't have much luck with sleep, but I must have managed a few hours, as I was awoken at 4am to the sound of a wooden block drum. This was our wake up call, and we hurried out of bed and got ready, so that we could make it up the mountain to the main shrine in time. I did not want to miss the morning, not only because I was excited to participate, but also because I thought I would probably die before I could complete the punishment of being late- 3,000 bows.
We arrived in the main shrine and witnessed all of the monks present. They stood in front of the alter, and the rest of us stood in rows behind. We all did our 3 bows- one for ourselves, one for everyone else, and one for Buddha- and then the thirty minutes of chanting began. After, we moved outside to a deck protruding off of the front of the temple, with a stunning view of the mountains and valleys below. It was dark when we sat down, but as we meditated for an hour to the sound of monks chanting and hitting the wooden block drum, the sun began to rise, coloring the sky pink and purple. It was definitely the highlight of my stay, and although I can't say I learned how to meditate any better, I was still happy just knowing I'd tried.

It wasn't until after the sitting and walking meditation that I realized how tired I was. The rest of the morning was a grueling test of endurance. After breakfast, we took part in another hour and a half zen martial arts class. It was really tough, but the instructor pushed us to continue kick after kick, and you can't exactly say no to an expert martial arts buddhist monk. When we were finally done, I was hoping for a break to relax, but as I looked at the scheduled I saw that I was far from finished.

It was time for the 108 bows. Now, when I say bow, I don't mean bend at your waste and lower half way. A Buddhist bow looks like this: Hands together in prayer, bow your head once, then lower down to your knees, bend forward until your forehead is touching the ground, pick up your hands to your ear level, then place them down again, then stand back up using only your knees, ankles and feet. I calculated that it takes about 25 seconds to do one bow, so how much time would it take to do 108? About 40 minutes.

The purpose of these bows are for self-purification and every bow has a purpose behind it. We were given the english translation, and here are a few:

1. I bow to wonder where I came from and where I'm going.
17. I bow to feel that love originates inside of me.
51. I bow to know that happiness does not come from others, it comes from myself.
92. I bow to hope for peace in everything around me.
108. I bow for myself, realizing that my own precious life is like the universe.

It was a painful, grueling forty minutes, but it was well worth it. Once again, I felt proud for my effort and ability to endure the daily routine of a monk. Just when I thought that all of the hard work was over, we were told we would once again be climbing up the mountain to hear a speech from the grand-master himself. It was the first day of the lunar month, so he gave a speech, and although it was in Korean, it was still cool to be in the presence of this holy man.

grand-master

Finally the morning came to an end. I had one last meal with my fellow temple stayers and the monks and then we all parted ways. As I headed home, I tried to reflect on the experience. It really wasn't what I had been expecting, thankfully it was more real than I had pictured it to be. The monks were not there to give us lessons on being a monk, they were just living their lives and we were graciously welcomed to be a part of it for one day. It was a lot more physical than I had expected too. The combination of climbing that hill, martial arts, 108 bows, and waking up at 4 am was more work than I would've thought. And although, I didn't walk away spiritually enlightened or anything, I do have a much greater appreciation for Buddhism in general, and also how important presence is in our everyday lives. Taking time to meditate, reflect, and work on your mind and body not only benefits yourself, but also those around you. I think that's what I really took away from it.




One more thing- I apologize if my photography is a little disappointing, but all I can say is this isn't the sort of thing where you take a lot of pictures. There have been too many experiences where I felt like I was doing something just for the sake of capturing it on camera, and I didn't want this to be one of them. I'll always remember this amazing experience, even if I don't have all of the pictures to prove it.

Strangee Korea

I feel like I'm running low on material these days, as the end is nearing and I'm spending my days planning for my journey once I leave Korea. The only news is that according to the Busan Ministry of Education, swine flu is "finished" or as they say "finishee." Sure it is. Anyway, with this new revelation, I had yet another adjustment in my summer schedule. First English camp, then skype, then office work, and now English camp is back on! It's only 5 days and I'm happy to be teaching, but I can't help but think they are a little ridiculous for not knowing when to just let it go. When we got word that camp was back on, my co-teachers were calling me from their vacation spots in Ireland and the Philippines to plan 5 days of class. Oh, Korea! Other than that, I'm just chilling at the beach and trying to keep myself entertained for 2 more weeks!

Speaking of entertainment, I thought I would dedicate this blog this to the weird and wonderous things I've found through out the year in Korea. From smelly bug snacks, to fish that suck your feet, to dogs with perms and hair dye, there's a lot of things in Korea that are different, to say the least. Perhaps my favorite thing is noticing all of the kooky English signs and t-shirts, with their typos and ridiculous names. I'll stop talking and just let you see for yourself.

pretty kitty..??

doggie dye

doggie eyebrows

somehow i doubt Kenny Rogers is aware of his singing rooms all over korea

a bakery called "Bland" !

standard baseball fan attire- plastic bag on your head

Next week, I'm on vacation (one week off and then one more week at school!) so I'm doing a temple stay in the mountains. That's right, I'll be living with monks and doing everything they do- even waking up to meditate at 4 a.m.- but only for a day and a night. It should be really interesting and different, so look forward to a blog on that at the end of next week. Hope you're all enjoying your summer!

Live and Learn

After writing last week's entry, I immediately got a reality check, testing whether or not I could really live up to my words and my "rules" for happiness. In order explain what happened, I have to back up a bit.

It all started two weeks ago on the last day of school, right before I was getting a few days off, and then would be back to teach summer English camp. We received a call from the Busan Education Office saying that several schools in our area had swine flu cases and that summer camps were all cancelled. For a second, I wondered if I would be off the hook, but quickly realized that my co-teacher had somthing else up her sleeve.

While other schools did cancel everything, leaving all of the English teachers free for the month of August, my school wouldn't give up on the English program. They came up with the idea that I would run a class over Skype, with all of the English camp students (24 of them)! I immediately voiced my opinion that that was way too many students and that 4 hours of skyping a day was way too long. They told me to just try and we could always change it, and in the end they chose only 12 students for 3 hours of skyping a day. Still ridiculous in my opinion, but I agreed so as to show that I wanted to work hard and do my part.

I went along with it, and sure enough, on days 1-3 there were a ton of problems. Most of the students didn't have the technology to have a coherent conversation and many of them really couldn't understand me without the visual aid of facial expressions and body language. Two Korean English teachers were joining the class, and they would constantly have to interrupt to explain something in Korean. It was very frustrating. I was in a pretty bad mood all week. I kept thinking about my blog and trying to look on the bright side, but it was so tedious and frustrating and just plain not working. Not to mention, it was rainy all week, which didn't help! To make matters worse, the Korean English teachers were going to be on vacation on the 3rd and 4th week of the class and I'd be on my own.

I knew I had to make a change. I had tried to teach the class, but if I didn't do something soon, it would be too late to change anything and I would be stuck and alone. I voiced my opinion again, but they ignored me. On day 4, I spoke to my co-teacher about how frustrated I was and we need a better plan for while they were on vacation. She suggested that we have a meeting with the Vice Principal the next day, and I happily agreed.

I went to school and after calmly and kindly stating my feelings and opinions about the situation, they understood. They realized that I would have happily done English camp (it wasn't my fault it was cancelled!) but that Skype just wasn't working. In the end, they decided it would be better if the Korean English teachers took over the Skype class and I did their job of planning the curriculum for next semester. Although I felt a little guilty, I had to realize that I had stood up for myself and made my situation better without making anyone else's worse. So, here I am at work for 4 hours a day, planning, creating and having a hell of a lot less stress during my last month in Korea. Plus, my Vice Principal gave me extra vacation time, too. Not a bad trade.

So, this whole situation taught me a few things. First: Be sure you can practice what you preach, but also realize you can learn from your mistakes. Second (and I already knew this, but maybe had to be reminded): Being happy is a constant struggle of mind over matter, of which you are in control. But remember that it's far easier to be motivated when things are going well, then when they aren't, so go easy on yourself and others when that's the case. Third: The change rule is soooo important, but you must be willing to stand up for yourself and know what you want instead. So, in regards to my blog last week, I do think I can "practice what I preach" but obviously I'm young and am far from having everything "figured out" so I just need to keep working at it.

And that's about all I had to say about that. I made up for my less than stellar week with a wonderful weekend at the beach. Must have spent 24 hours there, just taking 8 hours off to go home and get some sleep. This week, I'm keeping it positive, back in the office in the mornings and running around like crazy trying to prepare for the big trip ...only 4 weeks to go until India!! Can't wait!!

My thoughts on happiness...

Looking back, my year in Korea has been one of the happiest in my life. Sure it's been exciting to be in a new country, with a new job and new friends, but I'm convinced those are not the reasons that it's been so happy. I mean there are tons of foreigners who come here with the same opportunities and circumstances as me and are absolutely miserable. I don't think it's the environment I'm in, rather the attitude and action I've taken. And though, I will look back on it so fondly, it wasn't always so good. The second and third months were really rough. The combination of missing my friends and family, not being there for the holidays, and the crappy weather, as well as the initial excitement wearing off, had me down. But, I decided to commit myself to happiness and have now definitely achieved it.

Now that I’m about to leave Korea, I’ve started thinking a lot about how I need to take these attitudes and practices back to the "real world" with me. Actually, I don't think it's going to be too hard. While I’ve been here, I’ve thought a lot about personal development and happiness; I’ve read about it, listened to pod casts, read books and blogs about the subject and in doing so I’ve learned a lot about myself and how to live a happier life. There have been five strategies I’ve used to make the most out of my year and I will continue to use them to always strive towards happiness and fulfillment. I’ll dub them my “5 Basic Steps to Being Happy.”


My 5 Basic Rules for Happiness:

1. STOP- Stop trying to compete with other people or fulfill other people’s expectations of you.

2. CHANGE- If you’re not happy with something in your life, change your course. It may be scary or it may take a lot of effort at first, but your ultimate happiness will be the greatest reward.

3. COMMIT- Happiness is 100% a state of mind, and you must commit to thinking positively and always working towards happiness.

4. DO- Do what you love. Period. Life’s too short to waste it on things we despise.

5. SIMPLIFY- A wise person once said, “It is better to want what you have than to have what you want.” If you always need more material things, you will never be satisfied. Keep your life simple and surround yourself with the simple things in life that bring you joy.


Now, I’ll go into a little bit more detail on each rule. Sometime after moving to New York and working at Columbia, I realized that I was living my life out of concern of what other’s thought of me. The move and the job seemed like a natural progression after college; All of my peers were getting high-paying finance jobs and I felt like a failure compared to them if I did anything but live and work in New York and try to become some important person, too. In the back of my mind (and in my heart), I always knew that what I really wanted to do was travel and help other people in a real, direct way, but I didn‘t want to be seen as a failure. Even once I got to Korea and had been here for 7 months, I was STILL considering going back to what I had been doing before, just so I didn’t “fall behind” any further. Then one day, I was listening to my favorite pod cast, “The Daily Boost” and the host, Scott Smith, was talking about following your passion. He basically said, “stop trying to keep up with the Jones’s. Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing and what other people’s expectations of you are. You already naturally do what makes you happy, now just do that for a living.” It really hit me hard. I realized that the thing I was already doing was teaching and traveling, and it had been the happiest year of my life, thus far. That was when I started to really consider becoming a teacher. And having the weight of comparing myself to everyone else off my shoulders as been so liberating.

My next rule is “change.” Right around time I had learned about Korea, and knew I wanted to go, but was SOOO scared, my friend Ashley told me an amazing quote. She said her mom had always told her “feel the fear, and do it anyway.” I’ve lived by that quote ever since. Basically it means, dare to chase your wildest dreams. Let yourself go after them, and accept the fear. The results will be so much sweeter when you accomplish something that took that much courage. The other part of this rule is just to know when you need to change. Know when you’re doing things that aren’t satisfying you, and figure out a way to change for the better. And never say never.

"Feel the fear...and do it anyway."

Since being in Korea, I’ve realized that to be happy, your mind has to be committed. For some people, that’s completely effortless, but other’s of us have to work at it. The thing people don’t always realize is that happiness has NOTHING to do with your environment, and EVERYTHING to do with your conscious decision to think and feel positively despite outside forces. You can think yourself into happiness, or at least out of misery, in almost any situation. In general, if you think negatively or expect bad things to happen, you will be unhappy and bad things will happen. If you are positive and let bad things roll off of you or you are able to see the good in them, then you are controlling your feelings and actively deciding to be happy. And you know what they say; if you think positively, you will attract positive things.

Mini-adventures are a quick fix... what could be funnier than fish sucking on your feet?

Next is to do what you love. Life is to short to make it anything but great, so try to do what you love and not to do what you don’t love. I really didn’t like my job in New York. I really wanted to teach and travel. I stopped working in New York and I started teaching and traveling. Simple really. Even if it’s not always possible in your career, especially with the current economic situation, you can still fill your life with things you love in your free time. Just get out there and do something.

I'd say I look pretty happy here :)

My last rule is to simplify. It’s been an important contributor to my happiness this year. Work hard, play hard, de-clutter your life, and stop worrying. Planning is great, but worrying and creating drama is a waste of time. Another part of simplification is to stop being such a consumer. I’ve lived with a lot less this year in Korea; no television, a lot less clothes and shoes, no fancy phone, no couch, etc. I mean it’s not like I’m living in a hut or anything, it’s still very comfortable, just a lot more simple. And I keep a list of simple things that make me happy. Whenever, I’m having a bad day, I just refer to the list and think about or do something on it to feel happier. My list includes- reading a good book, dancing, hiking, my family, exercise, my favorite music, nature, and more. Yesterday, it was pouring rain, but I had to get out of my apartment and out of my head, so I went for a hike in the rain. Went all the way to the peak of the mountain, got soaked, and was smiling the entire time. I also bookmark all of the Youtube videos, blogs and articles that instantly help boost my mood (I’ll list a few at the bottom).

Miss you guys!

Well there is SO much more I could say on this subject, but I‘ll leave it there…for now. In case you haven’t noticed, I really enjoy talking and writing about happiness, positivity and motivation, so expect to hear more about it in the future. If for no other reason, it helps me so much to write about it, but I also hope it can help you a little bit, too.




A few things from the internet that make me happy:

I LOVE this blog, definitely my inspiration: http://happiness-project.com/

Probably the best/most hilarious wedding procession in the history of the world. Watch the WHOLE thing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0&feature=related

Where the hell is, Matt? Again…because I love it so much. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY

PS22 Chorus, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5vrtZKvxWM

Last week of school...annyong, Gumjeong Elementary!

Last week, classes finished for the semester at my school, and I had to say goodbye to my 420 students. So, we had a party in all 14 classes, with snacks, games and songs and it was a great end to a great school year. I forced each class (with the exception of one) to smile for a picture, just to prove to you all that I do in fact teach over 400 Korean children every week!

During my goodbye party week, I received an overwhelming amount of presents and letters from my students. One student built me a model of my classroom, another student gave me a korean flag, and I got a lot of tacky but cute jewelery. Also got a lot of interesting food including chicken, cake, starbuck's latte's, aloe juice, dried squid, and more. But the most touching things I received were the letters, telling me how much I will be missed and how I have helped improve my students English. That is the ultimate pay-off I was hoping for with all of my hard work this semester.





Although I didn't always realize it, looking back I think that having my own classes was the best thing to happen to me in Korea. Though it was hard, as well as above and beyond the call of duty of a native english teacher, I know that it was the greatest experience I could have had. It really was invaluable. If I had continued co-teaching all year, I never would have formed the relationships I have with my students that have caused them to be so sad over my leaving. I never would have known how good it feels to succeed in motivating and teaching students. I never would have realized that teaching is the most rewarding job in the world if you go at it with passion and honest effort. So, as much as I want to say how unfair it was and how my school took advantage of me, the truth is that they KNEW I could do it and it was really a gift.

An unforgettable birthday...

It's been an amazing year in Korea and last week, I had an amazing birthday to top it off. I'm not one to make a big deal about my birthday, usually just happy to spend the day with a few really good friends, but I have to say, this year was truly special.

A package came for me at school the other week from my mom, and everyone was so curious about what it was. I opened the box and inside there were a few presents and a ton of cards (thanks to everyone who sent me something!), so my school immediately asked, "When is your birthday?!" I told them, but didn't think much of it until my students started talking about it. I realized that everyone in the school knew. On Friday, the day before my birthday, everyone was saying "Happy Birp-day!" and one class even sang to me. I had my afterschool class with my wonderful sixth grade girls and I knew they had something planned because they'd been giggling around me all day. Sure enough, they came into my classroom singing and holding a birthday cake. It actually wasn't a cake, but about 15 choco-pies (like Little Debbie's) piled up with chocolate sticks stuck in them to look like candles. It was adorable! They also presented me with a box of notes, which I almost cried reading. They all said happy birthday and thanked me for teaching them, it was so sweet. At the end of class, the other 5th grade English teacher, MJ, came to my classroom with one more suprise. She presented me with a book from our students, full of birthday letters and pictures. It was so amazing, and probably the best keepsake I'll have from Korea.










On Friday, we were all getting ready for a big celebration- the Boryong Mud Festival! We were leaving Saturday morning, so a few friends got together for a low-key birthday dinner at the best Indian food restaurant in Busan. We ate a ton, had some hookah, and then headed home to get ready for the main event.




Lucky for me, the most ridiculously amazing event of the year in Korea happened to be on MY birthday! Thanks to Alexis, I had a hat to wear to the festivities so everyone knew that it was my birthday. It was probably the best present I received because I got so much attention from everyone ...mostly from dirty, muddy, strangers but at mudfest that's ok! Oh and there were Korean photographers everywhere snapping pictures of us crazy foreigners and they LOVED me and my birthday hat, haha. The "paparazzi" took so many pictures of me, we were joking that I'll probably be seen on a banner or brochure next year, so if you're in Korea then, keep your eyes peeled! We had a blast, covering ourselves in mud with 10,000 other people, and spent the day going down fun slides, mud wrestling, and just partaking in all of the muddy shenanigans. At night, we showered off and the party continued at bars and restaurants with the thousands of other foreigners and Koreans alike.

At the end of the weekend, I was absolutely exhausted but it was worth every bit of suffering I experienced at school on Monday. It was a birthday that I am SURE I will never forget!

Laura Teach-uh!

So for those of you who haven't heard yet, I've decided that I want to become a teacher when I go home. Although I didn't think much of it the first half of the year and then had really tough second semester, which made me question it even more, a number of things made me change my mind.

The first thing was that throughout my time in Korea, I have really loved teaching and felt more right about it than any other job I've had. Though I talked about a lot of the problems I was having, I realized that they all had to do with the language barrier and subsequent miscommunication, which was aggrevated further by the lack of support from my school. Now that I have solved all the miscommunication problems, I feel that I am truly teaching, rather than standing up and putting on a show. And I love it! I have found ways to excite and motivate my students, and I think I have genuinely made a difference to them, and it feels so great.

Thinking about my values and goals in life, I've finally come to terms with a lot of things about who I am and who I'm not; I've realized I'm not competitive (in the business sense), don't care about making millions of dollars, don't want to work for a corporation, and I can't stand cubicles and staring at computers for 8 hours at a time. But I DO love being active, taking on challenges, working with young people, inspiring them, and making a real difference in lives daily. Teaching is a no brainer for me then, right? Although I resisted teaching for a long time (for the wrong reasons), I really think now that it's what I need to do with my life. So my plan next year is to apply to a number of different fellowship and graduate school programs to get my Masters in Education.

Now, on the note of inspiration and making a difference... you've probably already heard of the incredible Mr. B and his PS22 Chorus, because if you haven't then you must be living under a rock! Just kidding. But seriously, Mr. B is a music teacher in Staten Island who has done wonders with his students, the PS22 Chorus, inspiring them through music and making them famous on youtube for their amazing musical talent. It just goes to show how a passionate, inspiring teacher can truly make a profound difference. If I can make 1/100th of the difference that he has made, I'll feel successful.

PS22 Chorus, singing "Landslide":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2p5augniQA

And check out the Mr. B's blog: http://ps22chorus.blogspot.com/