Jingle Bells

Christmas time is looming, it has been in the air for the past couple of weeks for me. The difficult part for me is that I will be spending Christmas day and New Years day with the absence of my family. So I decided to buy a ticket for warmer climates. I will be spending some time in the Philippines with family. It has been a very long time since I spent Christmas and New Years in the Philippines, and that really makes me super excited. It will also be my first time going to the Philippines alone. As much as I like being with my parents and what not, I will be getting some good time alone in the Philippines.

I also cannot fight the urge to really get into the mood of it all as well. It has been snowing for the past few days, and I like it to be a white Christmas. Sitting in my room drinking hot coco and watching he snow fall; it makes me feel like a kid again. So I think this will be the last post before I fly out. I will be going on Wednesday and I have many things to do and prepare before I leave. I hope that this vacation will also clear some cob webs away from my head. I have been fighting some writers block for some time and has stopped my progress with my book.


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The End


Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.


-Cezar-

Jingle Bells

Bitter sweet

Last night it started to snow. I was extremely excited. It had been a very long time since I have seen some good fresh powder. I decided to go a little old school and make myself some hot coco. I sat on my floor with my window open and watched the snow come. For some reason I started to have a couple flash backs of my childhood. I started to laugh and giggle to myself. After a good amount of time I went to bed satisfied.


the mountain outside my appartment


my street

The next morning I woke up and looked outside my window to see the aftermath, it was great. It had snowed all night and it didn't stop. The snowflakes were huge and it really made my town look like a winter wonderland. So I prepared for the day with excitement of being able to play in the snow for a while. I also was heading out the door somewhat sad. It was my last day with my favorite school. I realized, as I made some childlike markings in the snow, that I would really never see these kids again. Over the months I have become fond with them. They are a funny and spirited group of kids.

I step into my school. I had decided to buy some chocolates for my co-teachers as a going away present. So I gave it out to them saying thank you and good-bye. I waited for my first class to begin. My last classes with my kids, I decided to just have fun with them. One of my co-teachers suggested for me to get the kids to write Christmas cards to me. I instantly thought that it was a great idea. It would give me something to do to kill some time and they would like the activity. I didn't expect it to be so touching. They spent so much time and effort creating some thoughtful cards. They also said many great things. I fancy myself as a tough guy kinda hard to keep my emotions down. I found that in Korea emotions are not shown too much on the outside. The kids, even the boys, were all very sad and many of them hugged me good-bye. I found it very touching.


Some of my boys


Some of my girls

One of the nicest things that really put the topping on the situation; was the scenery. The snow really did a number on the surrounding mountains. the snow covered trees actually glistened in the sun. There were little pockets of trees that didn't have snow in the mountains that brought out the color of the snow. As the snow was falling and I stared out the window, I could not help myself but sing songs.


My view from one of the classrooms

During lunch time several of my children came up to me and asked if I wanted to play in the snow with them. I said yes. I quickly ran to my office put my gloves on and played. I really haven't had that much fun in Korea in a while. Throwing snowballs, laughing, and playing with my kids. They seemed to have fun and they were actually practicing their English while we played.

All together it was a great day. As I left the school, I could hear most to all of my kids yelling my name and saying goodbye. A few of them actually started walking with me and talking while I left. I could tell that they really didn't want me to leave. I told them good bye one last time and gave each one of them a hug.


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The End


Parting is such sweet sorrow.


-Cezar-

Bitter sweet

Curveball

I didn't plan on writing today, but life has given me a little bit of a pick me up. By all means it was a normal day; I taught my classes and I went through my day. I enjoyed hot coco that I made to counter the cold day. I sat and played my video games on my computer while I was in my classes. On all accounts, I had a very boring day.

I came home thinking to myself that I did not want to cook dinner. I cook about 85% of the time for my dinners. Tonight I felt really lazy to do anything. So I strolled into the local Chinese Restaurant. I go there so often that they know what I like to order. So I walk into the place and the owner greets me with a smile and a small laugh. He says the food item that I usually order and I say yes. He sits down with me at my table and in broken English we have a conversation. He and I spoke about where I was from and how long I have been in South Korea. I ask him in tern about his history. He serves me a cup of green tea. While I waited for the food, he walks up and hands me a bottle of soda and says it's free. He pours me a cup and I return the favor. The food is served very quickly and I eat it just as fast. He then walks over again and hands me a cup of coffee. I thank him over and over again.

I walked over to the counter to pay for the meal. His wife discounts my meal from the regular price. She says in Korean "because you are a teacher in Gyeokpo." I thank her abundantly. I felt humbled by the show of care and friendship they showed. So I ran back into my room and grab a couple bars of Hersey's Chocolate. I walk into the place again and give her a small token of my appreciation. She smiles from ear to ear and says "thank you very much."

I have been back in my room ever since then. I have not stopped smiling. I had forgotten the simple pleasure of giving. I liked the fact that they gave me some free stuff, but something about giving them something as small as that kinda blew my mind. This all comes at a time where Christmas is just around the corner. I have been teaching my children Christmas Carols. I have been singing all my favorite song with them. This night almost just puts a bow on top of it all.

The weekend is coming and I will be spending it with some very close friends. I think it will really put me in the mood for Christmas. If I had the real verbal capacity to express my feelings right now I would, but sadly I cannot. I think one word can really express it all. Joy.


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The End


Tis better to give than receive.


-Cezar-

Curveball

Lost in Transportation

The weekend was pretty interesting. I went down to Mokpo for another trail. The whole week I had been feeling a little down because of the recent departure of my friend, so going away seemed like a good idea. My friends in Mokpo invited the hashers to come and do a trail so I decided to go. The event wasn't going to happen until Saturday; so I decided to stay home on Friday and go in the morning. I had forgotten how boring it was in my town on a Friday night. I have been so used to going to Jeonju or Iksan on a Friday nights. So I sat around waiting until I was tired enough to go to sleep.

Saturday morning I had to wake up extremely early so that I could catch the morning bus down to Mokpo. It was easy enough, I had no real problems with it at all. I arrived in Mokpo about 2 hours later. I helped finish laying trail with my friends and what not. We grabbed a little lunch and waited for other people to show up. I thought that Gyeokpo was cold, but let me tell you Mokpo was freezing. It was actually snowing during trail. So I was happy that I had the smarts to wear several layers at a time, but that didn't stop me from being cold. So we finish up the trail. Then we proceed to go out into the town for some fun. It was nice being in a new town and just getting away from it all.

Sunday morning rolls around. I decided to sleep in. I knew that my trip shouldn't take too long so I had the luxury to sleep in that day. I started to move around and travel around 11am. So I take one bus to the big city Gwangju and into the terminal. I buy my ticket for Buan. I was told that the bus wasn't coming until 2pm; it was 1pm at the time. So I grabbed some lunch and waited for the bus. I see the bus pull in. As per my usual routine I ask the ticket receiver if the bus was going to Buan. She replies yes. I then proceed to ask the bus driver if the bus was going to Buan. He says yes. So I sit down and wait until I get to go home. I knew the ride was supposed to be an hour and a half. So I wasn't too worried. As we drove along, I started not to recognize anything. It had been already an hour into the bus ride, and there was nothing that I recognized. I thought to myself that he might be taking a different route. So I lay back and waited. As it approached the 2 hour mark; I knew that something was wrong. So I waited til the next stop. I walked up to the driver and asked the driver where he was going in Koren. He replied MUAN. I kindly tried to explain to him what had happened. He laughed a little bit and told the ticket officer what happened at the town he dropped me off at. So I had to get on another bus to go back to Gwangju. The bus driver and I had a conversation about what happened and he laughed too. So there I was in a town where I had no idea where it was. I had to wait. Then another 2 hour bus ride back to Gwangju. As I got off the bus, the bus driver was kind enough to help me get the right ticket. He literally held my hand the whole way. It was 5:45pm at the time. The very last bus to Buan didn't leave til 6:25. So I had some time to kill. So I waited some more. Then my bus finally came. I asked the ticket officer, the bus driver and several of the passengers if the bus was going to Buan. They all answered yes. So I lied back and waited some more.

I also had the issue of trying to make it to Buan in time. I live about 45min away from Buan. The last bus to my town leaves at 8pm sharp every night. Leaving Gwangju at 6:25 with a hour and forty minute ride; I feared the worse. I did not want to have to take a taxi home. So all I could do is sit patiently and wait. Luckily the bus pulled into the terminal at 7:45 leaving me with plenty of time to get on the bus. So again I waited. The bus pulls in at 7:59 and I jump in. I sit and relax cause I was on my way home. I got home and I was so relieved. All I did was go to my room and get into bed. I had been traveling for 9 hours for that one day. That was no fun at all.

I just wanted to touch on the feeling of being lost. It wasn't cool at all. That was the first time EVER in South Korea that I felt not only alone but lonely. I had no one to call or talk too. I had no one that spoke my language to tell me it was going to be alright. I found it to be a very weird experience all together. Once I realized that I was lost; I got that sinking feeling. I really wanted to panic and what not. I'm usually okay with not being in control, but that wasn't cool at all. Getting lost in that area really made me feel, for a lack of a better word, lost. I'm glad that I had the patience to get back and do what I needed to do. I contacted a couple of my friends. They were nice enough to laugh at me and help me through the situation. That made me feel a little better.


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The End


Patience is a virtue.


-Cezar-

Lost in Transportation