the devil in the details

when lisa and i first decided to teach english in korea, i spent a lot of time on dave's ESL cafe, a forum for english teachers worldwide. there is a large korea presence on the site, and a korea-specific forum, so it was a great source of information on just about everything. there is also a section for job postings, which are usually from individual hagwons - private schools - around seoul. i had heard from jefferson and read in a lot of forum posts that working for a hagwon is pretty much a giant crapshoot. many of them are shady organizations that just try to give you the run-around and stiff you here and there on your pay. some of them are OK, but there's no way to know until you've signed your contract and are already working for them. there are several hagwon blacklist sites that try to notify potential employees of the complaints against particular schools, with descriptions of their crimes, but there are so many hagwons to choose from. it would be impossible to vet all of them before choosing one.

in april or may, lisa came up from VA beach to attend a career workshop at the peace corps headquarters in DC (a quarterly workshop that i had attended back in january). the final evening of the workshop is reserved for a job fair, and RPCV-friendly employers attend. one of the employers was from a recruiting agency that placed teachers in korea, particularly with a large private franchised school called CDI. we talked for a while and he encouraged us to apply. neither of us wanted to leave the country right away (lisa wanted to stay stateside for the summer at least, and i had recently started work at the mobility agenda), so we took his card and told him we'd be in touch.

eventually lisa got a job at peace corps headquarters in DC and moved up here with me. she would be working for a political appointee - the director of one of peace corps' larger branches - and we figured that late january, as a new president is sworn in, would be a convenient time to depart. conveniently, in july, my boss informed me that she had taken another position in cincinnati and would be leaving in january as well. since she pretty much IS the organization, it was a sign that time would be ripe for a change.

so with our timeline fairly well set, we set about looking for a place to teach. CDI remained an attractive option to me - higher pay than most, evening classes, cookie cutter lesson plans, and good teacher supports - but we kept searching. posters on dave's ESL cafe ripped on CDI often, charging that they were extremely strict and offered practically no vacation time (one week of unpaid vacation per year, compared with almost a month of paid vacation at public schools), but i took the criticism with a grain of salt. most of the people who spend their days posting to forums like that are bitter and jaded and have little good to say in the first place. the teachers who enjoy their jobs and their lives tend to be outside living them.

in october we spent an awesome long weekend in denver with some fellow RPCVs from kenya. as it turned out, good friends of ours - another couple - had decided independently to teach in korea at the same time. they had already applied to EPIK (English Program in Korea), a government-run program to get native english teachers into public schools. i had heard of it, but had looked into it only briefly - the pay was much less, which was a sticking point for me at the time. i have student loans to pay off, and would rather get it done sooner than later.

but talking about it with them got us thinking, and i did more research into EPIK. the vacation and time off was much better than CDI (14 paid holidays, 14 paid sick days, and 21 days of paid vacation), which would give us more time to pursue other interests and to travel. the money thing was still an issue for me, though - CDI teachers, from what i gathered, had the potential to make $1000 more per month than their EPIK counterparts. but they would work their asses off for it.

this back-and-forth in my mind revealed a lot to me about what i wanted. much of my motivation to move to korea is the same as my original intent in going to kenya - to live simply, (relatively) free from the rampant materialism of the US and the overwhelming obsession with money. even in a year i have noticed ways in which my kenya mentality has been changing, thanks to TV, high speed internet, fast-paced advertising (and life in general), and the 24-hour political and financial news cycle. i want to get away from all of this.

i want to do more in korea than just worry about money. and i want to do more in korea besides just teach english - travel, eat, write, learn korean, travel, eat. plus, at EPIK i would have enough time off that i could tutor students outside of class if i decided the money was crucial. teachers get $25-40 per hour for tutoring. this may sound hypocritical after what i just said - but money is still necessary to live. i don't mind making money - i just don't want that to be my primary motivation to do anything.

that reminds me of a guy i met in kenya as extras on the set of a german miniseries. justin was a brit who was on the final leg of a five-year bike trip around the world. he loved biking; for him the trip was more for the joy of riding than for a love of travel, as if traveling were just a necessary afterthought of riding his bike. he said he biked until he ran out of money; then he would stop for a few months and save up until he could hit the road again. it cost him around $2,000 per year to live this lifestyle. i asked him once why he didn't just bike for a living - get sponsored or try out for a racing team or at least work in a bike shop. he said he didn't want to taint his love of biking with a pursuit of money. he said if he relied on biking for his income, he wouldn't love it as much anymore. he would be required to "work" even on days when he didn't feel like it, and would come to resent biking as though it were forced upon him rather than his own personal choice.

while i don't necessarily agree that it has to be that way, i understood his point. i don't want the need for money to overwhelm my desire to do something i love - to be forced into it, i suppose. that is perhaps even more true for something like teaching english, which i've never done before and which i don't know yet whether i'll love or hate. but for now, i decided, i'd rather not take that chance.

so that's how lisa and i reached the decision to go with EPIK. it took about 8 months to get to this point, but i'm not complaining. the timing will be convenient for us, and we've had a good time in DC to date. it will be nice to be in the area for obama's inauguration as well, though i'm sure the swarm of 4 million in the city will quickly convince me that it's about time to go again...

on the road again...

you know, before i left for kenya i fully expected it to be something of a break, a two-year stint to learn something about myself and god and the world before i came back to sell out or join the rat race or get a real job, whatever you want to call it. i wanted to be in the US - it's where my family is, where my friends are. it's where i feel comfortable most of the time. it's where i call "home".

but while i was there i met a lot of volunteers who didn't look back, who, for different reasons, didn't plan on returning stateside after their peace corps contract was through. some just wanted to get out of america, away from narrow-mindedness and elitism and ethnocentrism and, let's face it, bush. others liked the romanticism of life as an expat (and rightly so - it can be damn cool). but most still thought of america as home, as a place they would end up eventually, and they just wanted to get a few good stories out of their time abroad for their friends back home. (if you think this is some kind of self-analysis and confession...well, you may be right.) the ones i admired most were of the rare breed who live in every moment as if none other mattered or existed. they embraced kenya and the peace corps without a second thought, because that was a fact and there was much to be learned and loved besides.

my point is that they really got me thinking. i didn't really know WHY i wanted to come back to the US, aside from the fact that my friends and family, etc. are here. don't get me wrong, that's a huge factor, but i'll (hopefully) have my friends and family wherever i go. it's so easy to communicate with people now that the people who mean the most to me will never be that far away - emotionally, at least. i tried to change my focus to live like this for the remainder of my time in kenya, and i think i succeeded. i finally came to think of my house and village in kenya as home.

and i came to think eventually that it didn't really matter where i was - home is a state of mind.

with that said, for at least the next year, my home will be in south korea.

lisa and i will be leaving in mid-february to teach english in public schools with EPIK for at least one year. we requested to be placed in Gyeongnam-do (also called Gyeongsangnam-do - see highlighted area on the map), a southern region of the country, and were told by both our recruiter and our interviewer lastnight that we should get a placement somewhere in that area.

several months after i was sworn into peace corps, i remember talking to my friend jefferson, who was teaching english in a private school (hagwon) outside of Seoul at the time. he encouraged me to come over (i was considering leaving PC for various reasons), and i seriously considered it. in the end, clearly, i stayed in kenya (luckily, or else i never would have met lisa), but visions of working and living in south korea were etched into my mind.

when i left kenya, i left lisa there - she had 9 months left in peace corps. when she came back early (thanks, post-election violence!) she moved up to DC with me, on the condition that we leave for south korea at the end of our 6-month lease. well, our lease is up at the end of january, so this works out just about perfectly.

i'm really stoked. i've started taking korean lessons from the rosetta stone software (thanks julia) and pawing through as many guidebooks as i can find. lisa and i also bought our plane tickets, so we know our actual departure date - february 16th! i wasn't planning on buying our tickets this early, but i found a deal i couldn't pass up - $650 from BWI to Seoul, including taxes & fees (www.cheapoair.com)!

i'll post more later, with more info about EPIK and the work that we'll be doing. but for now, i've got a bit more work here - at home - in DC to finish up.

ernie the plumber

our sink has been stopped up for about a week. i took it apart, ruled out a clog in the disposal, and figured it to be clogged further down the line. apparently you can't buy a plumber's snake at harris teeter or target - they want to push chemicals down your throat (quite literally, actually). so a local plumber came out this morning and cleared it up in 15 mins...to the tune of $75!

seems joe (or ernie) the plumber ain't doin' so bad for hisself.

juice, fast!

since the marathon a month ago, i haven't been feeling 100%. i was sick for a week straight (sore throat, headache), and since then i've had a general, but desultory, sense of fatigue and malaise. i've gotta admit, my food and drink choices over the last several weeks haven't been laudatory, and i haven't actually run since crossing the finish line at the iwo jima memorial four weeks ago. so i decided something has to change - it's not going to change by itself, either. the earth will not spontaneously begin to move under my feet. i would have to change something. so this is a start.

i am going on a 14-day detox program, to clear my body of any residual toxins and negative energy, and just to see what happens. yesterday evening i started a 36-hour juice fast. i'll be drinking fruit and vegetable juices over this period, in addition to a concoction of vitamins, minerals, and fiber for cleansing, and a lot of water. tomorrow afternoon i'll start on a diet of raw foods - basically fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and sprouted grains, kept under 115 degrees. heat kills enzymes and other nutrients found naturally in raw foods, so raw foods are easier for the digestive system to handle.

i don't know how long i'll keep the raw food diet up. i'll give it a good go, and see how i feel. the slower my transition back to my regular diet, the easier it will be to gauge the effect of particular foods on my body, so i'll try adding new foods (cooked foods, dairy, meat) slowly and in small quantities.

my last, and really only, fasting experience was in kenya, when i limited my dietary intake to hot lemon water for two days. it wasn't very pleasant, and afterward i probably undid all of the benefits of fasting by gorging on deep-fried samosas. they say that the worse you feel, the more purging your body is doing, so if that's the case then right now (about 16 hours into it) my body hasn't lifted a finger towards cleaning house. i feel kind of high and happy. though i could damn sure go for a mike's burger.

a citizen's unrest

ever since i saw it, i've been leery of chop't, a trendy takeout place in NY & DC that specializes in salads. the only reason i went for lunch a couple of weeks ago is because lisa had a gift certificate. i tend to look down upon salad eaters as either anorexic or unimaginative.

chop't actually surprised me. they had an impressive array of salad options, toppings, and "homemade" dressings. they throw all of your chosen toppings into a bowl and mix it up, then dump it out onto a cutting board, add dressing and chop it all up with a large curved bi-handle knife. then they dump it back into a gigantic plastic bowl. it works out so that the dressing covers everything and every bite you take has a little bit of everything in it. it's pretty miraculous.

they make a point of being very health- and environmentally-conscious, serving fresh, often organic fruits and veggies, so i was surprised to find that they don't recycle the plastic bowls! they even have a recycling bin in their store, but the opening is just small enough that the bowls don't fit in. everyone had thrown their bowls into the adjacent trash can, which was overflowing. in my bemused anger, i pulled the recycling bin out from under the counter and put my bowl in it anyway. then i ranted about it to lisa, who agreed.

when i got back to work i sent a website message to chop't:

Message sent on 11/17/2008 1:48:01 PM
customer - JF

I am amazed that this location (and likely, all of your
locations) has no recycling bin for the plastic containers in which your
salads are served. The recycling bin for "bottles and cans" has too small of
an opening for the salad containers, so everyone just throws them in the
garbage.

Please, either widen the opening for the recycling bin or create a new one
altogether for the plastic containers. It is such a waste to see so much
avoidable garbage.

Jonny

to my surprise, 30 minutes later i got a response from "boat", the area director:

Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 2:16 PM

Jonny,
We at Chop't could not agree more with your thoughts on recycling our salad
containers. We like to consider ourselves very environmentally conscious and
are working on more initiatives to be even more Green.
However, the DC government does not permit the recycling of plastic
containers that have been used for food service. We have tried several times
to challenge their policy to no avail.
Seems as though restaurants are held to a different regulation than private
citizens who are assumed to have washed their plastic containers prior to
placing in recycling bins.

Thank you for your comments and shared concern for the environment.
Regards,

R. Boatright
Area Director

well, doesn't that just beat all? what a nice guy. realizing that i could no longer focus my frustration on dhop't, i sent a message to mayor fenty's office about their irresponsible recycling policies:

Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 4:45 PM

Mayor Fenty,

I am writing with a question about the District's recycling
policy. I appreciate your forward-mindedness in embracing
environmental programs of all types, including the recent
expansion of recycling items.

I visited the restaurant Chop't for the first time today, at
their location on 19th & L. They happen to serve all of their
salads in sizeable plastic containers. Yet when I went to
toss mine into the recycling bin, I found that the bin
opening was too small to accomodate it.

When I complained to management, they informed me that
"the DC government does not permit the recycling of
plastic containers that have been used for food service. We
have tried several times to challenge their policy to no
avail."

Why are restaurants prevented from recycling the same
products that private residents are allowed? Why, when a
business shows energy and interest in improving District
policy, are no steps taken?

Regards,
JF

i figured like any good government office, the bureaucracy would overwhelm them and my email would be lost forever in the annals of the mayor's email trash bin.

again - surprise! the bureaucracy only delayed a response by 2 weeks!

Mon, Dec 1, 2008 at 2:48 PM

Mr. F;

This e-mail is in response to your e-mail expressing concern about the
recycling program of the District of Columbia. It is because of
residents like you that recycling has become a priority in our city.

The Department of Public Works (DPW) provides the opportunity for all
District residents that receive city trash collection with three or
fewer units to recycle. This is approximately 110,000 households. This
accounts for twenty five percent of the waste stream. Every other type
of establishment under District law is considered a commercial property
which accounts for seventy-five percent of the waste stream.

DC law requires recycling in all commercial establishments. These
include office buildings, churches, retailers, warehouses, apartment
buildings (with four or more units), cooperatives, condominiums, bars
and restaurants, as well as museums, associations, non-profit
organizations, schools, and universities. The following items are
required by law to be recycled:

* Paper
* Aluminum, steel, and tin cans
* Brown, green, and clear glass bottles and jars
* Plastic food containers and beverage are optional but we
encourage you to recycle them.

...(abbrevated)...

The Office of Recycling always encourages businesses to recycle as much as
they can beyond the basic requirements of District law. Whether or not
to recycle the plastics in question was a choice made by the business
itself.

Sincerely,
William E.
Recycling Program Officer

now things were getting interesting - everyone's denying culpability! it's no one's fault! it's everyone's fault! i feel like i'm taking crazy pills!

i didn't know who to believe - either one of them could have been lying, or neither. perhaps it was a case of poor communication mixed with governmental inefficiencies. but it wasn't important. i wasn't going to sleep until chop't recycled its bowls.

so i forwarded the above email back to "boat" and stated, in my least accusatory tone, that i hoped it was all a matter of miscommunication and could be corrected.

it took "boat" all of 0.3 seconds to reply:

Mon, Dec 1, 2008 at 4:10 PM

Wow Jonny that's awesome!
I will bring this up at team mtg tmr and it may kickstart a store retrofit with for rubbish.
Will keep in touch.
Thanks for following up for us!

and there you have it, concerned citizen action gets results. well, promised results aren't so bad. or, promise to bring it up at a team mtg at least. and as we all know, anyone who uses txtspk is not only hip but focused, and doesn't have time to waste time bringing up superfluous suggestions at team mtgs. if i can be forgiven for allegorizing, this is one boat headed for shore.