Rewarding Return to Seoul

We spent the weekend in Seoul -- a long weekend, with a long plane ride back and forth. But it was so rewarding: we had wanted to visit such a great city again anyway, and see old friends and sites well-remembered. I specifically wanted to see a particular crop of my students graduating from high school. I had taught them English Literature in grades 9 and 10, and club-advised a number of them when starting up National Honor Society and the EcoSave club. And most of them -- unlike the case in most international schools -- continued all four years there. So it was such a treat to see them waiting in the lobby for the graduation ceremony.

When walking to the school, we bump into two of Barb's "room mothers" from last year -- they are so excited! They organize a luncheon the next day with their two kids and six others, all now in second grade. How rewarding for Barb to be remembered so lovingly. During that luncheon I walked around downtown, in wonderful weather. I marveled at the vibrant and demonstrative culture: five different groups demonstrating about something. The city provides them some space; they produce posters and sit or talk or wave flags; two groups have formed permanent campgrounds: the Sewol Ferry group, there for three years, and the more-recent pro-ParkGeunHye group.

We also visited with friends/colleagues Colleen and Paul Dwight, and Vicky and Sean Deetlefs. And we ate plenty of pork products and fresh brew. By an interesting coincidence, the Seoul Mosque was visible from our hotel window -- however, we never heard the call to prayer there. Rather, the hotel's nightclub was audible on the weekend nights, and the occasional car horn.
Pray we can return some day...'twas a perfect respite and reminder.

Comments

Where we are working now

ISG Jubail School is the Anglo-American school for this area: Jubail is one of two planned industrial cities in Saudi Arabia, given a special royal commission for development and planning. Our district, the seven schools of International Schools Group, runs the school in the other industrial city -- Yanbu -- as well. Jubail is on the east coast, between Dhahran and Kuwait. Our nearby "big city" is the tri-city metropolis of Dhahran-Khobar-Dammam, where all the big shopping malls and quaint old markets are, along with the central 3 schools of our district, where Coleman attends high school. ISG Jubail has 410 students -- an average of 2 homerooms for each grade, K-10. Class size varies, up to 22. I have 12 in my required course "Computers & Information Management"; Barb has 12 students in her first-grade class. Most of the teaching staff come from the U.S., some from the Commonwealth. Several teachers are wives of engineers an...

Riding the Bus often

From 201010 Saudi scenes It is ironic that this land of cheap gasoline has so much group transport -- buses. From 201010 Saudi scenes Our housing compound has a Toyota-Coaster bus that takes some to/from school (we usually go earlier and return later, on a similar bus that the school provides). Driver Yahya takes residents on the 90-minute trip down to the Big City shopping every Thursday morning. The above picture shows our group one Thursday, usually going to Ikea or the new Lulu's Hypermarket , or the Dhahran Mall. Coleman rides a different bus every day to and from school -- usually 100 minutes there, 80 minutes back. His bus is evidently an old tourist bus, usually comfortable but a bit dusty. The air-conditioning usually works too well. I've ridden it with him several times, to attend business meetings at the district office. From 201010 Saudi scenes There he is, at 5:45am every morning, at the start of the bus run. Fortunately only about 20 stu...

Reservoir of European Youth, Parliament

A few days ago I walked to the nearby Pasteleira Park, planning to visit the city museum at the Reservoir. Walking through the park I noticed a large group of young people gathered in a circle, engaged in team-building activities. My days in education attuned me to the spectacle and piqued my interest, so I sat on a nearby bench and watched as a succession of enthusiastic students ran to the center and started an activity, which all the others joined enthusiastically. What sort of group would this be? A typical high school class would include a portion of disinterested teens, and others only half-heartedly participating. This crowd was unanimous in their excitement. I also noted that the leaders were speaking in English, though the breeze muffled the words. I walked around, found a couple of older participants on the side, with official-looking lanyards, and asked: this was an activity of European Youth Parliament , simil...

Thomas journals

Search This Blog