My last few weeks at HBMHS were underwhelming to say the least. A heat wave hit central Korea and with temperatures in the 90's and the humidity close to 100% classes were cancelled for the first couple of days. The school was also under construction so the hallways were filled with dust, wood and power tools. By the time school resumed I had just a week left before I left the country and 2 or 3 days remaining at school.

By this point I was very ready to leave Korea. I hadn't taught my high school classes in over 6 weeks and on one of the last days of school in July a couple of middle schoolers thought it'd be hilarious to yell "Mindy, go home mother F@#$%r!" After reporting it to one of the English teachers she contacted me later that day to tell me that their homeroom teacher didn't think it was a serious infraction and he wouldn't punish them. My co-teacher made them apologize to me but by then I was over it - I was tired of the blase and frequently disrespectful attitudes of students and co-workers towards the native English teacher.

I left HBMHS with little acknowledgement  - I brought banana bread which I had baked to school for all the teachers and said goodbye to students as I saw them in the halls. However I saw very few of them since I was moved to separate building due to construction and they were confined to their classrooms to take yet another practice SAT. I doubt most students even realized I was gone until the new teacher showed up the following week. My co-teachers did give me a gift as I departed from school on Friday afternoon - a set of expensive Korean lotions which I thought was a kind gesture. I was disappointed though that I wasn't able to say goodbye to most of my students - especially those who I had gotten to know relatively well over the past year. Thankfully I am friends with most of them on Facebook and occasionally I'll chat briefly with one or two on our Facebook pages.

Looking back I'm still not sure what to make of my time in Korea. The experience gave me the opportunity to work with some great students, the ability to share my passion for learning about other cultures and of course the ability to travel a lot. However, after 2 years there I can confidently say Korea is not the country for me - while there were aspects of my life in Korea I liked, I wouldn't say I enjoyed living in Korea. Out of all the countries in which I've lived and traveled I would say that Korea is one of the worst fits for me but it was an experience from which I learned a lot.

Another destination during my trip to the southern part of the peninsula was Boseong, a small town on the south western side of Korea. This town, approximately 3 hours from  Busan, is famous for its rolling hills on which green tea plants are carefully managed and harvested. Boseong green tea offers up some of the highest quality tea on the peninsula (with prices to match that reputation).

I'm a big fan of green tea flavored food  so I was excited to visit the Green Tea Plantations where I was able to try a green tea smoothie, green tea bibimbap (below) and an assortment of green tea candies.

With my time in Korea quickly drawing to the end I realized it was time to start marking off the last of my items on my Korea bucket list. Visiting Busan, a city in the southern part of the peninsula, stood out on my list. The city boasts a couple of the most well-known beaches in Korea but I headed down there for a different reason - the opportunity to visit Haedong Yonggungsa (해동 용궁), a Buddhist temple which overlooks the Sea of Japan.

After returning from Bali I prepared for my final few classes in Korea. Most Korean schools are on vacation in late July and into August. However, that doesn't mean there aren't classes - students sign up for extra classes and camps. I taught a series of classes to a bunch of very unenthusiastic 1st year high school students (and who could blame them, I wouldn't want to take classes during my break either).

The following week I taught a class to a group of 8 middle school students. We spent the entire day studying food and below are a few photos from our class together -

If you know me personally or have read my blog before you probably know how much I love to try different cuisines and learn how to re-create them in my home. For me cooking is a great way to unwind after a long day at work, an enjoyable hobby and an artistic outlet. I've been fortunate to have taken cooking classes in Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Korea and so I decided to add Indonesia to the list. Finding a cooking class that is the right fit can be difficult - does the class balance cultural insight with the cooking instruction? Do you get your hands dirty or are you, the student, regulated to standing off to the side watching the instructor? And most importantly, for me, are there vegetarian dishes and if so are they popular foods adjusted for dietary restrictions or something that the locals might not recognize? The food I want to learn how to make is every day food - things people eat at home, though typically that needs a bit of tweaking so I can eat it.

I spent as much time researching cooking schools in Bali as I did hotels and guesthouses for my trip. There are a variety of cooking schools on the island, many of them located in or around the town of Ubud. Many of the guesthouses also offer cooking classes and I ended up signing up for one at the guesthouse where I stayed. Unfortunately that experience was highly disappointing so I was very thankful I also had a reservation with fellow travelers at the Green Kitchen Cooking Class.

I found Green Kitchen online when I was searching for cooking classes while still in Korea. I appreciated that they had an entire vegetarian menu in addition to a rural location outside of Ubud. The class cost 330,000 rupiah (~33USD) and included pick up and drop off in Ubud. The only catch was that you needed a minimum of 2 people and since I was traveling alone that created a conundrum. However, I was easily able to find fellow single travelers who were also interested in a cooking class on Couchsurfing and we all signed up.

So, early one morning with three other foreign tourists I hopped into an SUV and we headed away from Ubud for our cooking class.

Our first stop on the way to the cooking class was a local market (pictured above). Most people in south east Asia don't shop at grocery stores like in the United States and other Western countries. Instead they shop at small stands that are part of a larger indoor/outdoor market. Local farmers bring in products they grow on their land and people visit the market daily to pick up fresh meat and produce for their meals.

Our guide led us through the market and pointed out various points of interest, describing some items while explaining the significance of others. He also picked up a few items from the market, produce that they do not grow on their own farm.

The market was similar to those that I have been in other countries throughout South East Asia so the experience was not necessarily new to me. However, we happened upon one stall which will forever make it memorable. A man there sold handmade shadow puppets that are used to tell the Ramayana, a popular Hindu epic. These carefully carved puppets are made out of cow hide and then painted with bright colors. The price of these beautiful pieces of art? A mere $15 USD (I suspect he might have upped the price because we were foreign tourists but the price was still incredibly low). After I happily bought 3 of the puppets we made our way back to the car to the cooking school.

After arriving at the main house we were given a quick tour of the grounds and the family temple before heading out to gather fresh produce for our lunch. This involved a trek through the rice paddies that bordered the small town. If you've never seen a rice paddy up close you might be surprised to know that rice grows in water. The paddies of Bali are typically terraced with water running from the paddy at the highest elevation into those below. Naturally this means that our walk was a bit muddy and so it was not surprisingly that by the end of it were had mud caked on our shoes, up our legs and in my case on my dress (I slipped and fell).

After we made our way through the rice paddies we walked up the road to a secluded out door traditional Balinese kitchen. We sat down and enjoyed a cup of tea before our guide described the typical ingredients of Balinese food including rice, fresh vegetables, garlic, ginger, peanuts and so much more. After we had rested a bit the cooking aspect of the adventure began, we reviewed the recipes for the day and were introduced to various cooking techniques including how rice is steamed in a bamboo basket over a pot of boiling water. We also learned how to break up a coconut and grate it in order to make coconut milk and oil. During our entire lesson we could hear a religious ceremony being conducted at a Hindu temple below in the valley. The chanting offered a soothing background noise to the entire event.

Rather than bore you with the details I'll just post the photos of the cooking lesson below because I believe they speak for themselves.

My final international adventure while living in Korea was also one to which I was truly looking forward. As so many people do I have a "bucket list" of sorts, a series of things I'd like to do during my lifetime. Bali has always ranked pretty high on that list. Photos of the Indonesian island drew me in with lush green rice paddies, shimmering blue waters and Hindu culture. When I pondered where to go during my summer vacation naturally I thought of Bali and quickly booked a plane ticket and started planning out my trip.

Though I spent a significant amount of planning out this final adventure I almost missed out on it. Preoccupied with  making arrangements for this "last hurrah" I incorrectly remembered the departure time of my flight. By the time I realized what I had done I had approximately 3 hours to get to Incheon Airport, a journey that easily takes 2+ hours from Jeomchon, on a good day. This particular day was a Sunday which typically boasts more traffic in/out of Seoul in addition the weather not cooperating with sporadic rain showers. Fortunately Marize, a fellow waygookin in the area agreed to take me. I will forever be grateful to her  - it was truly one of the kindest things anyone has every done for me. We arrived at the airport with just 30 minutes to spare and I was able to check in and get through security and make my plane.

My goals for the trip were to relax, try a variety of Indonesian dishes and explore the Hindu culture of Bali. Overall I was able to achieve those goals and I think it was a successful trip but for some reason I didn't love Bali. Perhaps it was because I felt like a walking dollar sign throughout the trip - I had an especially bad experience at the Mother Temple of Besakih where a government employee harassed me continuously to hire him as a guide and I ended up leaving. I suspect that some of my disappointment also stems from the fact that Bali was one of my ideal vacation locations and it just didn't live up to the hype - it was overly touristy and catered to a type of traveler with which I do not encompass. Another factor was that I was truly looking forward to the familiarity of its Hindu rituals only to discover that the Hinduism of Bali was far removed from those of the Indian subcontinent - I honestly don't know if Indians would recognize the rites and rituals as Hindu. 

However, there were highlights during the trip like the colorful Barong performance, an incredible cooking class, the lush green scenery, gentle warm breeze and an extended day at a spa. And of course I ended up with a variety of handmade good which now decorate my apartment.

Imagine my surprise today when I logged onto my blog to write an entry and I realized I haven't updated my blog in 5 months! Where's Mindy? Well, I've been a bit busy .... but now I've got some free time so I'm committed to catching you up on everything that's been happening in my life starting with a tropical adventure way back in July!

It's been a long time since I posted a proper entry on this blog and unfortunately this won't be one. Recently my contract ended in Korea and I repatriated to the United States - so I'm home and busy with spending time with family and friends, applying for jobs and also just re-adjusting - I'm finally back on a proper sleeping schedule!

But I'll be back soon, I promise. I've cleared my inbox of jobs for me to apply to so now I've got a bit more time and can start updating my blog. So, starting this week or next I'll finally upload photos from my trip to Bali, my last couple of weekends in Korea and then photos from home.

I ran into a student at the bus stop and look below to see what he pulled out of his pocket!