my run is my drug.

Yes, yes, yes. My apologies for the oh-so-cheeZy Ke$ha reference. 
Inspired by a post-race conversation, it is true -  no matter how much it makes me roll my own eyes. 


As you may have already deduced, today was RACE DAY!
It was the first of the 2011 calendar year and took place in our little city of Busan.  We found out about the race from our lovely running friend, Kylene, to whom we are always indebted. 

Kylene prefers to remain annon.

home base. 

The 'KNN Green Marathon' was an event with 5km, 10km, and half marathon distances.  It started near a convention centre called BEXCO and, depending on the course, took a route through many of the most beautiful parts of Busan including  Dongbaek park, Haeundae beach, Suyeong river and Gwangali bridge.

just one of the many impressive buildings in Busan.

For me, this was meant to be a 'fun, relaxed run' just to tune up and check in with a little time trial before the 'BIG' race in Daegu on April 10th.  Like many other runners, my plan of running a 'relaxed' race was total BS.  I find it pretty near impossible to hold back under race conditions, especially if you're feeling good. 


However, lately I had been feeling pretty down about my training and was thisclose to throwing my goal of a sub 40:00 10km out the window. It seemed so far out of reach, and my times in training were nowhere near where I thought they should be. 
Honestly, I found myself in a little fight with 'running' and felt like I was not getting as much out of our relationship as I was putting into it.  


With a doubt-filled mind, and my new, negative-mass race flats, I resigned myself to an expectation of a 43 minute race or a pace of about 4:15. I thought it would be pretty difficult but I wasn't going to beat myself up. 


And so, the crowds gathered at the start line, we did our weird Korean stretching/jumping routine, repeated some Korean pre-race mantras, and the gun sent us off.
There were over 8,000 people registered in the race, and about 3,000 doing the 10km which led to several of the inevitable keeners at the beginning who bust out with a sprint, then die at the 200m mark.  It's an easy trap to get caught up in, but through experience I have mostly learned to stay relaxed and not kill myself before the first km has even passed. 


Thanks to my friend Mr Garmin (my trusty GPS watch that probably weighs a full pound - neutralizing the weightlessness of my shoes), I was able to know my exact times for each kilometre that passed. The first 1000m went by in 4:07 seconds, much faster than my target time, and without any discomfort, so I stayed where I was (pacewise) and continued to remind myself to stay relaxed.


The course was really great with enough uphills and downhills to keep it interesting, and only a slight wind in the middle of the course.  I wasn't sure where I was in the grand scheme of the race, but at the turn-around I noted at least 4 women quite far ahead of me and so decided it was not a podium kind of day. 


That was absolutely fine with me. I was having a lovely run, feeling relaxed, strong and happy with my km splits. I also had a little running companion who made the last 6km very pleasant...

It is now my belief that my pre-race ' make me be fast' prayers are always answered in the form of a Korean man in his late 30s who runs with me, blocks the wind, tries to feed me water, and won't let me slow down when I tell him to 'go go go!'.  This is at least the 3rd race that I have run with such a man. They are never the same person, but they always give me the same great feeling that I'm not in the race alone.  (It also helps that they are male, so there is absolutely no danger of them affecting my place). 


As we crossed the last bridge into the final mile of the race, I knew I wasn't going to place. I had not actually looked at my overall time, but only knew my times for each km, and hadn't taken the mental math energy to add them all up.


Imagine my surprise when I caught a glimpse of the finish clock and saw ' 39blahblahblah'. I could hardly believe it.  I kicked for the last 150m and, by my watch, came in at a big PB time of  40:21sec.  What elation. What a feeling! I actually did the fist pumps in the air and shed a couple of tears.  That is only the second time in my life I have felt so emotional after a race, and I did NOT expect to have that kind of race today.  


So, my 'relaxed, fun' race turned out to be a 1:30sec pb kind of race - and it wasn't even hard!  What an amazing, overwhelming feeling to finally see some of the work pay off. 

my athletic support.

In the sum-up, story conclusion, I did not place in the race. I came in 5th place for the women with a time of about 40:21. I'm indifferent about not placing, and ecstatic about my time. 


Outside of MY running bubble, there were PBs all around.  Every single one of our running friends ran a personal best race today whether they ran the 10km or the half, for their first or 5th time. It made for a really awesome vibe  that lasted all afternoon, and I'm sure has made everyone pumped for the next race and upcoming season.

Ian in the 10km.

Mr McCue's first half. 

and 3 more PBs from Matt, Kate and Tom.

After a few celebratory drinks, we made our way to the Wolfhound Irish pub for some burgers, stopped by the beach for a view, and then had a little more 'coffee' and conversation at the local Family Mart. 

and who should we run into....

We could not have asked for a better day with better people ( or better times! ). 


Thank you running.

re-enacting and re-living the moment.

Half empty or half full?

September, October, November, December, January, February, Ma....well most of March. 
Suddenly Susan! We've been here over 6 months which means:  we are halfway through our job contract and on the way down the analogical hill of our journey. 


We have a 13 month contract with our school (just for good luck) so instead of leaving exactly a year after we arrived, Tim and I will be working at our school until the beginning of October of this year. Don't ask what happens after that, and if you know, please tell me.


In Busan, spring is really trying to push winter out of the way but keeps getting trampled on by cool weather through the weeks. Our weekends have been nice and balmy with the temperature this past Saturday reaching 18-19 degrees.  Cherry blossoms are on their way and I feel like all of the Korean women of Busan are ready to shed the tights they wear under their shorts all winter (credit - Busan Haps magazine). 


With no real holidays or events this month, school/work has been the focus of life.  We brought in a new group of Kindergarteners at the beginning of March and also had our work schedules switched around with some new classes and new elementary school kids.  One thing I can consistently say about my job is that I absolutely love 'my' kids.  It sounds extremely cliche, BUT, they bring a smile to my face in so many different ways and make every little annoying thing (things that happen at any job in any field) feel insignificant.  
I am already feeling sad at the thought of leaving them in the fall. 


The kindergarten kids are pretty special, partly because of their age, and partly because we spend the most time with them (they are at school each day from 9:30-2:00pm). 
I snuck my camera into one of my new classes with the 6 year old kids who are in their second year at our school. These kids are hilarious because they are smart enough to know a fair bit of English, and still care enough to use it.  They wouldn't DREAM of speaking Korean in class, and if they should happen to slip up, their classmates are quick to point it out (in English). 

On Friday, we had a 'cultural' event, which usually happens once a month for the Kindergarten classes in varying degrees of bigdeal-edness.  Chuseok, for example was an all morning party, as was Halloween.  St Patrick's Day is clearly not an important lesson for Korean kids, so we had to settle for a 40 minute 'party' of 'making a green hat' in the classroom.  What this really turned out to be was ' watch the teacher make green hats FOR you, and be quiet and don't move while you are waiting'.  

I was assigned to make the craft with some of my favorite kids, Banana class (7 years old). They all have personalities and are some of the brightest kids in the program.  David, who joined the class about a year late is probably my favorite in the class. His heftyness reminds me a bit of Ronny from Jersey Shore, and instead of walking through the hall with his hands on his hips (the RULE), he can't stop himself from shuffling sideways, making peace signs with both hands and closing his eyes, all the way from the class to the bathroom. Here he is in a rare silent moment (sideways). 

The older kids who come in the afternoon are just as important to me, and I often feel bad that a lot of my energy has been drained by the time I teach them.  

There are so many really really intelligent kids and genuinely good students that it makes the very few unmanageable ones manageable. 

One new class of kids that I have are about 9 years old, all went through the kindergarten program and are in their 3rd year in the afterschool program. I look forward to teaching these kids more than any other class.  Their level of English and their personalities is a combination for any teacher's dream class. They practically fight with each other to answer discussion questions and love to show off what they know. Like the kindergarteners, they are quick to call each other out for speaking the forbidden language (Korean) and have better reading, writing and vocabulary skills than a lot of CDN kids the same age that I have taught.  

It is really rewarding to be able to actually teach these kids because they are genuinely there to learn and work harder than I think I ever did in any of my years at school.  

These older kids have progressed to the level of English where they even insult each other  in a foreign language.  This leads to some funny classroom dialogue such as the following:

Max: Teacha!! Teacha!! Danny dirty! Danny DIRTY!

Me: No, Max, Danny is gross. Danny is gross.

Some other quotes, made especially hilarious when spoken by Korean kids:

" Teacha, is piano a sport?"

-Lucy

Me: " Kevin, cool hat. Where did you get it?"

Kevin: " In the closet."

And here I will end my little shout-out to my favorite part of my job, and I shall conclude with some more pictures of the little (and medium) guys. 

Max, Danny, James who are all in my favorite after school class. Anna, the school  genius is in a more advanced class now. 

Tony, in his gorgeous green sweater. 

Gordon and Paul, hard at coloring.

Gordon wondering 'WHAT COLOR?'

Paul considers whether he is finished (or finisheee).

Luckily David had a full green suit to match his new hat. 

the NEW Banana class: Alex, Dana, Joy, Monica, Nick, Sally and David. 

things i never thought i'd see tim do...

add it to the list. 

THIS is an update blog, one with a mishmash of things to be said and no real thread to tie all the topics together (aside from the me/Korea connection).  I hope to organize said topics into relevant paragraphs with clear subjects and details but... isn't that always the goal? Here's hoping.

1)  COREM graduation

On Friday we attended the graduation ceremony for the Kindergarten kids from all of the COREM schools in Busan.  It took place in a large auditorium over a period of about 2 hours.  Each child received their diploma in a very posh-looking, velours covered portfolio that also included their graduation pictures.  

kevin considers modelling after graduation.

The ceremony was fairly uneventful, and 90% of the time there was a high volume of conversation among the audience and students so whoever was on stage speaking was not really heard.  The highlight, of course, was the presentation by all of the foreign teachers ( about 50 in total) who sang a medley of 4 ABBA songs.  Apparently I am the only ABBA aficionado at our school (thanks Dad), which by default made me the representative singer for our song "Take a Chance".  There's something to put on the  ol' resume....

Tim teacher makes it through.

2)  Children's Grand Park

On Saturday, Tim and I took a trip to a place I'd heard of, but hadn't yet ventured to called: " CHILDREN'S GRAND PARK".  It sounded pretty grand, so I thought we'd check it out as a possible running location.  It was not too difficult to get there, via bus, subway, bus, but turned out to be a little too far to use as a running spot.  

However, it was a really impressive grounds with a few kilometres of walking trails and hiking trails up the mountain.  

There were also about 18 thousand spots to get soju, beer, or other convenient Korean treats, which gave me the idea for a running/Childrens Grand Park crawl... any takers?

Come to think of it, the park was a bit like all of Korea rolled into one:

-passed out men on benches

-badminton games in the middle of nowhere

-statues of obscure characters to pose with

-90% of people over 30 wearing puffy coats and hiking boots

-many opportunities to drink

Overall a really green and refreshing place which will be ten times more beautiful in the spring, I am sure. 

3) Our first First Birthday

This Sunday, our Korean co-teacher and friend, Tracy invited us to her twin nieces' first birthday party.  This invitation may seem a bit odd, given that we have never even met Tracy's family, but in Korea, first birthday parties are a pretty big deal. 

the entrance table

we placed this ballot in a box to predict the baby's future.

The reasoning (with the usual disclaimer that this is from what I understand), is that in the past, many babies died before their first birthdays from poor health, and the first birthday (or sometimes even the first 100 days) was really a feat to survive. 

I feel really privileged to have been part of this celebration because it really showed us the extent that which Korean families are really proud of each other and want to share good fortune with their friends and relatives.   

The party took place at a buffet-style restaurant, and was set up much like a wedding reception with pictures of the babies on display and tables set up for eating.  

might as well. 

The babies and their parents were all dressed in matching hanboks (the traditional Korean dress for special events) and they made sure to greet everyone who arrived. 

After having some food, there was a little show put on by a hired MC who did probably the most hilarious dance I have ever seen before. 

After a few of these dances, the babies were brought up to the front where they got them (with help) to pick small toys out of a box.  There were 6 toys, each representing something the baby would do in the future ( pencil for intelligence, stethoscope for a doctor, money for wealth, etc.). At the beginning of the evening, each guest made a guess as to what the baby would pick by putting a ballot in a container.  After the babies picked their toy, one of the guests who had predicted the choice got a prize.  

tracy and randi.

We were all singled out and stared at when the MC asked a question in Korean and we weren't sure why. It turned out that he had asked the crowd ' Which guest has come the furthest to be here tonight?"  and Randi, another foreign teacher and friend at our school won the prize!

WEINA!

There were many pictures taken and more food gobbled up to make for a very lavish and lovely evening - one that we will really cherish. 

one of the mini hostesses.

4) We can read!!

For the past few weeks we have been learning how to read hangul, the Korean alphabet.  We aren't experts in the language by ANY stretch of the imagination, but can make more sense of things like street signs, menus, and other random text.  You may see us standing together at a large sign outside a restaurant or store, tracing the letters with our hands and mouthing the syllables slowly. It's one way to learn. 

4 a) 

After telling one of my classes my full name (which blew their minds, because 4 syllables is a lot for a full Korean name), they have now started calling me:

Jill Captain Seymour teacher 

(unable to pronounce my middle name, Katherine)

5) Running paraphernalia. 

I finally got to use my new shoes! Since it had rained every day we went to the track, it was almost a month after I bought them, but they have finally met the track and all is well in the world.  As predicted they feel like paper slippers, but they definitely don't let you run 'lazy'. I'll just see how paper slippers do on 10k of asphalt....

That is all for now, along with a wish to our little co-worker Randi who is finished her contract and going back to Canada on Friday. She has been an amazing tour guide and support for us here in Korea and we wish her all the best at home  - we will miss her!! 

bye bye landi teacher!! :(