Fall 2025 Gatherings for Reflection, Resistance, and Reimagining

๐Ÿ KoreaMaria Tea Time Soft Launch: Fall 2025 Mini Series ๐Ÿซ– 

“Gatherings for Reflection, Resistance, and Reimagining”
A quiet professional development series for educators and wanderers

This fall, I’m hosting a soft launch of Threshold Sessions—a gentle, three-part rhythm for reflection and renewal. Each month we gather around a theme, balancing Gwangju in-person practice, online conversation, and quiet written reflection.

No performance. No pressure. Just warm conversation, quiet creativity, and collective care.

๐Ÿ—“️ Schedule Overview

In-person, with optional online and written reflection circles.

๐ŸŽด Session Format

Each session follows a simple rhythm of Receive, Gather, Reflect:

1. ✨ Receive

  • Short reading or reflection prompt (shared here in this blog in advance)

  • Embodiment suggestion (e.g., sip tea, walk under ginkgo trees, light incense)

2. ๐Ÿงถ Gather

  • Gwangju Gathering: Saturday, 2–4pm

  • Google Meet: Wednesday, 8–9pm

  • Check-in, gentle grounding, shared reflections

  • Casual, cozy, no lecture, no slides—just conversation

3. ๐ŸŒฟ Reflect

  • Share your reflection on Padlet (writing, photo, sketch, voice note, collage)

  • Gently respond to others if/when you feel moved

๐Ÿ“… Fall 2025 Dates & Themes

September – Listening to the Margins

  • Sat, Sept 20 — Gwangju Gathering in Yanglimdong's 10yGround (Cafe 1890)

  • Wed, Sept 24 — Online Meet (Google Meet)

  • Sun, Sept 28 — Padlet Share

Seed Ideas:

  • Audre Lorde on silence and difference

  • Kevin Kumashiro on unlearning and discomfort

  • Shin Kyung-sook’s The Place Where the Harmonium Was

Reflection Prompt:
“What silence are you ready to name or explore in your teaching, learning, or living?”

November – Poetics of Pedagogy

  • Sat, Nov 1 — Gwangju Gathering (calligraphy + reflection)

  • Wed, Nov 5 — Online Meet (Google Meet)

  • Sun, Nov 9 — Padlet Share

Seed Ideas:

  • bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress

  • Poetry by Kim So-wol or Ko Un

  • Korean calligraphy as embodied reflection

Reflection Prompt:
“What is your teaching voice shaped by? What gives it rhythm, texture, or edge?”

December – Graceful Endings, Gentle Futures

  • Sat, Dec 6 — Gwangju Gathering (ritual & letter writing)

  • Wed, Dec 10 — Online Meet (Google Meet)

  • Sun, Dec 14 — Padlet Share

Seed Ideas:

  • The Korean philosophy of ์—ฌ๋ฐฑ (yeobaek) – negative space as possibility

  • A blog post Graceful Exits

  • Letters to our future teacher-selves

Reflection Prompt:
“What are you ready to lay down? What will you carry forward?”

๐Ÿซฑ๐Ÿฝ‍๐Ÿซฒ๐Ÿผ Community Agreement

  • We welcome honesty, imperfection, and questions

  • No centering of gurus, experts, or performative knowledge

  • No creeping, fixing, or correcting

  • Korean language is welcomed; interpretation is collective

  • We listen with care, speak with consent, and rest when needed

This soft launch will serve as the seed archive for a fuller 2026 program—organic, seasonal, and participant-shaped.



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