why you should go to Gapado

Two weeks ago I wrote about my unexpected food outing on Gapa Island, and I mentioned how due to the sudden change of events, I would have to go back to really see the island.  Today was that day.

It was sunnier than the ferry ride last time!  BRB Jeju.

Gapado is a small island and honestly there is not much there in the sense of "touristy" attractions. Both times that I went, I really stood out being the only foreigner. There are no museums, no huge famous monuments, no amusement park. If you were to walk around the edge of the island, you would walk a total distance of 4.2 km (according to a giant map standing at the harbour gate).  Small, eh?

So why should you go?

Gapado is the world's first carbon free island (according to a different display in the harbour).  All vehicles on the island run on electricity.  As well, the island is mainly farm fields.  There are little "hamlets" on each side of the island but everything in between is green.  It's so calming to walk through.

View from the middle of the island back toward Jeju.  The tall "mountain" on the right is San Bang San.

There are some cute little restaurants to visit on the island and you can get freshly caught sea food--some caught by the Haenyeo.  It's a wonderful cultural experience.

Another reason?  Do you like hiking?  There are a series of trails called the Olle Trails that go around Jeju's edge.  Each trail is numbered with specific start and end points and a different difficulty rating.  This in itself is a huge attraction in Jeju and many people frequent the trails.  I recently got an Olle Trail Passport that allows me to collect stamps from a number of the trails upon completion.  One of these trails is on Gapado.  It's an easy trail and only 5k, but it's beautiful and relaxing--especially when the weather is clear (like today), and you can see San Bang San and Mount Halla from the coast.

The faint mountain in the background is Hallasan.  Today was clear, sometimes the clouds are so thick you see nothing.

The coast was so lovely to walk along!

Are you still not sold?  I have one more reason, and I personally think that it's the best one:  I have come to love meeting Korean tourists.  Just like last time, I was "adopted" by a group and despite the language barrier and our jilted conversations, we had a blast.  Seriously.  A couple of men saw me with my Olle Passport as I boarded the ferry and attempted conversation first.  They were doing the trail, too, and wanted to know how many I had done before.  When they found out it was my first one, they got excited with me.  A couple of others were walking the trail, too, and we soon were a group of 6.  What was really cool was that everyone was a stranger--except two of the men who were vacation buddies, I think.  But everyone was coming from different cities and age ranges, and yet we all walked the trail together.  It was so much fun.

Shortly after starting the walk, we documented it with a picture.

At the end, we were proud to have finished.

This is why I want to travel--to meet other people who, like me, want to share life together, even if only briefly. Maybe I'll run into them again, which would be a treat, but even if we don't meet again, it was fun for the moment.

This is also why I recommend Gapado.  Both times I met lovely people who were willing to share their time with me, even though we couldn't easily communicate.  That in itself makes the trip so much more than what it would have been.

If you get the chance, just get out and go.

Love and Hugs.

Spot the Differences - Canadian vs British Schools

I knew coming over to England that the school system would be different, but I wasn't really sure what to expect.  In what ways would it be different?  My prior schema was based on snippets from TV shows/movies and books and those three don't really go into the nitty-gritty.  They show classrooms with desks, pupils and teachers.  Well, that's the same as Canada.

These last few days, I have in some ways been overwhelmed by the contrasts between the two systems.

The most noticeable difference, I think, is the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) exams which are national exams that all students have to take at the end of year 11 (equivalent to Canadian grade 10).  These exams cover all material that students covered in respective subject areas from years 9 through years 11 (grades 8-10).  That's three years of material on one exam!  I remember complaining with friends about having full-year university courses and having to study all of that material.

Because of these exams, there is a lot more pressure in the earlier grades and even from years 7 and 8 (grades 6 and 7), everything is pointed and directed toward the coming GCSEs.  Students are frequently told to study and to ensure that they grasp certain concepts/methodologies because they will need them for the exams.  As a result, I would say that the students seem a lot more serious.  The grade 10s I taught back in Canada are not under the same pressure as the year 11s and that is very clear in the differences of behaviour.  The sections of years 12 and 13 (grades 11 and 12) that I have seen also seem very more driven.  Their classes seem comparable to university seminars.

This pressure and drive is a benefit of the GCSE system, although it has its drawbacks as well.  The main drawback, I think, is in the choice of courses.  Because the GCSE are nation wide exams, students are limited in what areas they study.  In my course of interest, that's history.  So, in year 9 they look at the American West, in year 10 it is the history of Crime and Punishment and in year 11 it is protests and revision/study for the exams.  In the Canadian system, after the generic history of Canada in grade 10, students can choose to take Ancient Civilizations, American History, Medieval, etc. (depending on the school and resources).  I like that freedom of choice. Although, it might be nice to not have to write nor mark the final exam...

One of the students, upon learning that I come from Canada, asked me which system was better: the English or the Canadian.  I smiled slightly and said that it's not the right question to ask.  Both are different and each has it's own benefits and drawbacks.  "Which is better," I asked him, "chocolate or butterscotch?  Chocolate and butterscotch are two separate things.  Both are sweets, but different kinds.  It's hard to say one is better than the other.  They are both good and desirable in their own way."

The group of boys nodded thoughtfully and the youth smiled and replied, "I like how you said butterscotch."

Things I've learned in North Somerset

Well, it's not Canada, but I suppose that was a given.

I arrived at Heathrow airport in one piece last Friday and proceeded onward via bus to Bristol.  The first thing I noticed as we travelled along--and one of the main things I noticed when I went down to the states last April--was that I didn't recognize most of the stores or restaurants.  I never realize how much I rely on store brands/restaurants when creating my inner maps and coordinating myself in a city.  It's a lot harder when the "place-markers" are unfamiliar and hard to grasp.

One of the wider roads--though I suppose without a car you
don't have perspective comparison...

Second, after getting into a car and seeing the world from the front seat, I realized how much narrower the roads are.  Narrower AND twistier!  As a car comes toward us on the other side of the road, I wonder if we'll both fit abreast.  At times, it's scarily tight and in other places, you have to wait for the oncoming traffic to clear because you both don't fit.  And as my uncle says, Canadian cities are boring laid out on a grid, but here the roads and towns have character.  Curvaceous character.

Them winding roads definitely make for lovely landscapes.  Especially as North Somerset has lovely hills that pass like a rolling wave between the villages.  I was lucky enough to hike to the top of one of these hills to survey the countryside.  It was really windy that day, but so worth it.  My camera does not do it justice.

View from near the top of Crook Peak in the Mendips.
If only the weather had been sunny...

I've learned that it's a weird feeling to stand out because of your accent. At first, I pass for normal, and then I say something and people look at me and really see me. There are moments where I have the strongest desire to camouflage myself so that I don't stand out. But I think it would be weirder if I tried to feign an accent. And, I would most likely fail which would lead to embarrassment.

Living near Toronto, I feel like different accents were very common and you met people from all over the world fairly often, but where I'm currently staying, everyone is from somewhere else in the UK making my accent truly different. The Canadian who probably sounds American to them, but oh well. It's definitely a new (and interesting) experience.

 And the adventure will continue...

Talking Circles

Tuesday, we had a guest presenter in my History Curriculum class and she led us in a talking circle.  In case you don't know what a talking circle is, it's pretty simple: everyone sits in a circle and an object is passed around.  Whoever has the object is the only one who can speak.

Talking circles are used in First Nation (and other) cultures.  I don't know if all First Nations in Canada have a version of a talking circle and am not trying to generalize.  I do know that the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe both use them.  Our instructor, Lindsay, told us that the big difference between the two is that one passes the talking stick clockwise and the other counter-clockwise.  (I don't remember which is which).

Lindsay also explained some other important rules:

Guidelines of talking circles on the chalkboard.

In the left column of the image are what we were to say when we introduced ourselves.  We said our names, our band (if we had one) and where we're from.  So I would say, "Rae ndeshnikaaz, Ontario ndoongiibaa."  The Objibwe sounds were foreign on our tongues and many of us had trouble pronouncing the words properly, but Lindsay encouraged us to try our best.  In the right side of the image are the guidelines. 

First, NEVER repeat what you hear without permission.  Our instructor explained that in First Nations culture, your words and your stories are your property.  If you were to retell a story that you heard without the owners permission, that would be extremely disrespectful and a break of trust. Also, a talking circle is a safe space and people are welcome to feel safe and comfortable sharing.  If people are compromising the information, that could lead to a breach in private information.

Second, as previously mentioned, Only the person holding the talking stick talks.   Lindsay's talking stick was an elk horn decorated with a string of beads and an eagle feather.  (Elk horns are cool because elk drop their horns naturally and you don't hurt the animal to get them.  They are also really cool to look at.).  There was a meaning to the eagle feather, but I don't remember anymore.  She told us that the object didn't overall matter and it was up to us to find our own talking stick for when we choose to use talking circles in our classes.

And third, You do not have to speak.  There is no pressure whatsoever to say something during the talking circle.  It is your prerogative.

It was a really cool activity to do as a class, and even though it might seem really simple and more fit for the primary grades, as adults, we enjoyed it.  The circle really changes the dynamics of the class as well as brings in another cultural element.  In the conventional lesson, the students and teacher create a sort of dialogue as the teacher instructs and the students raise their hands in participation.  In a talking circle, that dialogue is not there.  The stick does not go backward but always moves forward around the circle.  It's not really an activity for commenting on other people's words and ideas but for sharing your own thoughts, feelings and opinions.  It's also about listening to others for the sake of listening and not for the sake of building on their ideas/opinions.  The entire pace of the activity is more relaxed and peaceful which was a pleasant change from the rush that can be the classroom.

In case you missed it, I liked partaking in the talking circle and I hope to use it in the future when I have my own classroom.

To Make a Jack-o'-lantern

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to carve a pumpkin at a school event.  I was helping man the "pumpkin patch" while students cycled through two different hour-long sessions.

It's been a few years since I've last carved a pumpkin and as I surveyed the room, I was struck by how silly it might seem for someone who does not celebrate Halloween or even know much about it.  Why do we make Jack-o'-lanterns?  At the moment, I could go look up the history and explain it all succinctly, but that defeats the purpose of my question here.  I just want to rest for a moment on the questions and the absurdity I see in this strange behaviour.  (In all honesty, this line of thinking most likely stems from one of my classes where we have been talking about different cultures and their norms.)

From the outside looking in,  pumpkin carving seems a little strange.  Putting faces (and other images) into the flesh of a pumpkin and then later lighting a candle to illuminate the design as the fruit sits for one night by your front door... Why?  Why pumpkins?  Why are they called Jack-o'-lanterns?

Things to think about... maybe for another time. =P

For me, pumpkin carving has a strong link to childhood and Halloween.  A few days before all Hallows' Eve, my mum sister and I would sit in our kitchen (sometimes on the floor) and pull the gooey intestines from within the fruit's thick orange walls.  After getting all we could with just our fingers, we'd draw on the power of spoons to scrape down the insides until smooth.  It never took long for our hands to become tinted orange and flecked with goop.  The smell of pumpkin hung throughout our main floor.  We would be in the clear upstairs in our rooms, but then one too many steps down the stairs and it was like stepping into a dense fog of scent with no escape.

Every year, it was always a challenge to see what faces we could make.  I always wanted to do something different than before and if possible, something more challenging.  Pumpkin art is pretty cool and you can go to Google to find pages of carved pumpkins in any number of subjects.  Usually, my sister and I would have some sort of base idea, and then we'd head to Google to see what images inspired us. I must admit that drawing actual faces on a pumpkin no longer appeals to me and neither do the stereotypical Halloween images like bats, cats and witches.  I'd much rather carve something related to current pop culture like movies or books.  Which leads to this year's pumpkin.  For a brief moment in time, I considered doing a face, but then someone mentioned Despicable Me.  Naturally, I did Minions instead.  Considering the tools I had to use, I think they came out fairly well.

Happy Halloween!