Merry Christmas to all of you! I hope it is blessed with time spent with family and friends.
This will be my last post before the holidays, and the last post before my family arrives in Korea! It still seems surreal that they will be here in three days!
Last week, Hwacheon county took us on a "cultural experience". In truth, it was more like vacation! First, we drove to Hongcheon to a ski resort. Although the resort was kind of small (they had a total of 6 slopes), it was still a lot of fun. It was also man-made snow, so it reminded me a lot of going skiing in Weston. In the afternoon, we headed to an indoor waterpark. It was all part of the same resort. This was an interesting experience. First, we all had to wear the swim caps (like pro swimmers wear)- I guess they didn't want any foriegn hair in their pools :) Second, the water park was also part jimjilbang. So, much to our surprise, when we went to the shower/locker room, there were many naked Koreans walking around. This is okay if you are expecting it, but a whole different story if it just happens to you! Anyways, the water park was fun- there were a couple of slides, and jet pools. They also had hot tubs- which were located outside, so picture a full on sprint between the doors and the water (temperatures were around 24 degrees Farhenheit).
That night we drove almost an hour to eat. However, in Korea, they don't want you to get bored with driving (hence, it is ok to have mini t.v.'s in the front half of the car), so on the bus back to the hotel, we all sang karaoke (called noraebang in Korean). That night, we stayed in a pretty nice hotel. In it, there was bumper cars, bowling, ping pong, billiards, and a carousel. We (19 foriegn teachers) played bumper cars and bowling- lots of fun!
The next day, we learned taekwondo in the morning, and salmunori in the afternoon. Taekwondo was cool because we had middle and high school students helping us (they are black belts). Salmunori is Korea's traditional drumming. It was interesting, but not really my thing. When we went to learn salmunori, we went to a middle/high school. This school is a missionary school for "maladjusted students." The cool thing was they had so many "alternative" classes. So they have classes of band, rock band, salmunori, cooking, art, and gardening. These classes are very rare in Korean schools, and it was great that a school for "maladjusted" students sees the value in these classes.
The last week of school has been very stressful for me. I have been trying to finish our book project (which we finished today!), keep pen pals going over my lunch hour, finalize plans for winter break for my family and myself, and work on plans for my winter English camp (which no students want to go to b/c it is during their break- who can blame them?).
I have prepared gifts for my host family and for the teachers at school. We were told at orientation that gift giving is a huge culture here. However, I have not seen this. When I give gifts, it makes an awkward situation, because then the receiver feels like they should have gotten me something, but they didn't, so now everything is weird. This has happened for birthdays and for Christmas both.
Today was my last day at school for the semester! I really can't believe that my grant year is basically half over. Reflecting on the semester, it has really gone fast (although while I was living it, I thought time was crawling by!).
In three days my family and Darrell will be here- YAY! They will stay until January 5. Then from Jan. 11-22, I am teaching an English Camp at my school. Then from Jan. 27-Feb. 22 I will be traveling with friends to Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam!
I will start back teaching on March 2nd, and only have 4 1/2 months left. I know it will go so fast.
Please have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Love you
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Counting down....
This week, I have been counting down to many things.
First and foremost I'm counting down to winter break. I am burned out teaching English- out of ideas of what to teach and out of patience with both my co-teachers and students. I am SO looking forward to seeing my family and traveling over winter break.
Second, I'm counting down the the end of my after school program. While this program has been great (I've really enjoyed working with the students), it's has made for really long days. I get to school at 8:15 and don't leave until after 7:15. Although I did the same thing when I student taught at Centre, it was very different because I enjoyed what I was teaching.
Third, waiting patiently for ag. ed. jobs to start opening up in Kansas. I think about where I was at this time last year- I was getting ready to start student teaching- and job searching was the last thing on my mind. Now, I am already starting to get antsy. It doesn't help that educational funding in Kansas was cut big time this month. I know that usually the first things to go are the "extra" classes, therefore the "extra" teachers.
Last weekend, I spent the weekend in Seoul. My friend and I saw the New York Harlem singers at the Seoul Arts Center. They were very good! The first half was traditional soulful songs. The second half of their show was Christmas music. It was so great to hear both kinds of songs. My friend and I also got a lot of Christmas shopping done! We even found a Costco (finally, on our second try!), so that was awesome.
I had no school on Monday, so I went to the Vietnam Embasssy to get a visa. I am planning on visiting Vietnam over winter break. The worker at the embassy was a jerk, and got me to tears. It was a really bad experience (I'll spare you the details), and if I hadn't already bought my plane tickets I wouldn't be going to Vietnam. They had to keep my passport, and I got it in the mail on Friday.... along with a receipt. The worker that I dealt with ripped me off 60,000 won (about $55). Because I didn't get a receipt of how much I paid when I was at the embassy (and of course it was in cash), there is no way to prove that he ripped me off. I am still upset by it- the ambassador will be receiving a letter from me, and I will be paying this particular worker a visit. The only good thing is that I received my passport back.
Teaching this week was very strange. The first and second graders were testing. So Monday, no school. Tuesday, I was supposed to teach 3rd graders (they aren't testing), but I ended up only having a half day. Wednesday, I was supposed to come in for the afternoon classes. When I got to school, the English teachers were like, "Why are you here?" so I told them that I had a class and they were like "No, all of the classes have been cancelled for the afternoon." I replied, "Oh, no one told me. No one called or texted me." I still don't know why they didn't think to call me- it would have been really considerate of them. Thursday and Friday were regular days for me. The English department at our school just bought 20 new movies (English movies with Korean subtitles), to use in class. So, I had planned to use one of these. However, I got told that I could not show movies in my class, and that I needed to come up with something else. I don't understand why the English department bought all of these DVD's, if no one gets to use them.
My students wrote their first pen pal letters this week. They are so incredibly excited to be making friends in the U.S. It makes it a lot of fun for me :) I even had to convince one boy NOT to write "I love you" at the end of his letter- haha. It is such a great thing for these students to be able to "experience" a new culture.
Tomorrow, Hwacheon County is again taking us on a cultural experience of Korea. All of the foreign teachers in Hwacheon County will go. First, we will go to a ski resort and go skiing- YAY! Then, at the same resort, they have an indoor water park, so we will go swimming for the afternoon. On Tuesday, we will learn taekwondo (martial art) and salmunori (traditional drumming). I am really looking forward to these- it should be a lot of fun. When I get back, I only have 5 days of teaching left!!!
I hope you are doing well. Much love.
First and foremost I'm counting down to winter break. I am burned out teaching English- out of ideas of what to teach and out of patience with both my co-teachers and students. I am SO looking forward to seeing my family and traveling over winter break.
Second, I'm counting down the the end of my after school program. While this program has been great (I've really enjoyed working with the students), it's has made for really long days. I get to school at 8:15 and don't leave until after 7:15. Although I did the same thing when I student taught at Centre, it was very different because I enjoyed what I was teaching.
Third, waiting patiently for ag. ed. jobs to start opening up in Kansas. I think about where I was at this time last year- I was getting ready to start student teaching- and job searching was the last thing on my mind. Now, I am already starting to get antsy. It doesn't help that educational funding in Kansas was cut big time this month. I know that usually the first things to go are the "extra" classes, therefore the "extra" teachers.
Last weekend, I spent the weekend in Seoul. My friend and I saw the New York Harlem singers at the Seoul Arts Center. They were very good! The first half was traditional soulful songs. The second half of their show was Christmas music. It was so great to hear both kinds of songs. My friend and I also got a lot of Christmas shopping done! We even found a Costco (finally, on our second try!), so that was awesome.
I had no school on Monday, so I went to the Vietnam Embasssy to get a visa. I am planning on visiting Vietnam over winter break. The worker at the embassy was a jerk, and got me to tears. It was a really bad experience (I'll spare you the details), and if I hadn't already bought my plane tickets I wouldn't be going to Vietnam. They had to keep my passport, and I got it in the mail on Friday.... along with a receipt. The worker that I dealt with ripped me off 60,000 won (about $55). Because I didn't get a receipt of how much I paid when I was at the embassy (and of course it was in cash), there is no way to prove that he ripped me off. I am still upset by it- the ambassador will be receiving a letter from me, and I will be paying this particular worker a visit. The only good thing is that I received my passport back.
Teaching this week was very strange. The first and second graders were testing. So Monday, no school. Tuesday, I was supposed to teach 3rd graders (they aren't testing), but I ended up only having a half day. Wednesday, I was supposed to come in for the afternoon classes. When I got to school, the English teachers were like, "Why are you here?" so I told them that I had a class and they were like "No, all of the classes have been cancelled for the afternoon." I replied, "Oh, no one told me. No one called or texted me." I still don't know why they didn't think to call me- it would have been really considerate of them. Thursday and Friday were regular days for me. The English department at our school just bought 20 new movies (English movies with Korean subtitles), to use in class. So, I had planned to use one of these. However, I got told that I could not show movies in my class, and that I needed to come up with something else. I don't understand why the English department bought all of these DVD's, if no one gets to use them.
My students wrote their first pen pal letters this week. They are so incredibly excited to be making friends in the U.S. It makes it a lot of fun for me :) I even had to convince one boy NOT to write "I love you" at the end of his letter- haha. It is such a great thing for these students to be able to "experience" a new culture.
Tomorrow, Hwacheon County is again taking us on a cultural experience of Korea. All of the foreign teachers in Hwacheon County will go. First, we will go to a ski resort and go skiing- YAY! Then, at the same resort, they have an indoor water park, so we will go swimming for the afternoon. On Tuesday, we will learn taekwondo (martial art) and salmunori (traditional drumming). I am really looking forward to these- it should be a lot of fun. When I get back, I only have 5 days of teaching left!!!
I hope you are doing well. Much love.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Thanksgiving!
Hello everyone!
I hope that this blog finds you STILL recovering from an AMAZING Thanksgiving, filled with lots of family, friends, and of course food!
I had never thought about NOT being able to spend Thanksgiving or holidays with family, and it has made me that much more thankful for what I have.
In school, I taught Thanksgiving to my students. We watched a Simpson's episode, watched a clip of football, and a video clip of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The parade and football were/are so foriegn to my students. They really enjoyed seeing how other cultures celebrate a holiday. Then, we made turkeys. They wrote four things that they were thankful for on the feathers, cut them out, colored them, and pasted them to the turkey. Although they thought that this was kind of silly, they enjoyed getting to do an art project. Because of their curriculum, students very rarely get to take an art class in school.
Thanksgiving Day was very difficult for me. I was in school, teaching about the holiday, and missing my family and friends very much. The most difficult was when I was showing pictures of my family eating, and knowing what I was missing out on. However, I know how extremely lucky I am to be in Korea, and that in the long run of things, missing one Thanksgiving isn't that big of a deal.
On Friday, all of the ETA's in Korea, were invited to the U.S. embassy for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. How many times in your life do you get the chance to spend a holiday at a U.S. embass, with the U.S. ambassador and the head of your program? Additionally, all of my friends were there. We ate an amazing meal! Turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes w/ gravy (the first gravy I've had since being in Korea), salad, fruit, two kinds of cheesecake, pumpkin pie. The whole experience was really great.
I spent the rest of the weekend in Seoul. It was so good to catch up with friends that I hadn't seen in over a month! Additionally, I checked out the National Museum of Korea. It was HUGE!!! There were so many cool artifacts from throughout Korea, as well as Japan, China, and even Vietnam. Soon, they are going to have a travelling exhibit about the Incan Indians from Peru. I hope to be able to check this out!
This weekend, I again traveling to Seoul. I am meeting a friend and we are going Christmas shopping. We might even try to go ice skating!
This week I received a box from home and a letter from Darrell. I have enjoyed wearing the boots that my family sent me- they are so warm!
Our after school program started on November 23. I have really enjoyed working with these students. We are making a book about Korean culture and history. Additionally, they are going to enter a photography contest with pictures taken from their cell phones. I feel like having the students use English to write a book, is far more useful, than having the students sit and memorize grammar structures. However, their parents don't think so. We started out with a group of 20, and are now down to 11 students on a regular basis. The parents are pulling out the students to go to hagwon instead. It is very disappointing to see this. I know that this will also be ab obstacle I face with my agriculture students when I return to the U.S.
This has been a relatively good week. I hope you are all doing well.
Love and miss you
I hope that this blog finds you STILL recovering from an AMAZING Thanksgiving, filled with lots of family, friends, and of course food!
I had never thought about NOT being able to spend Thanksgiving or holidays with family, and it has made me that much more thankful for what I have.
In school, I taught Thanksgiving to my students. We watched a Simpson's episode, watched a clip of football, and a video clip of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The parade and football were/are so foriegn to my students. They really enjoyed seeing how other cultures celebrate a holiday. Then, we made turkeys. They wrote four things that they were thankful for on the feathers, cut them out, colored them, and pasted them to the turkey. Although they thought that this was kind of silly, they enjoyed getting to do an art project. Because of their curriculum, students very rarely get to take an art class in school.
Thanksgiving Day was very difficult for me. I was in school, teaching about the holiday, and missing my family and friends very much. The most difficult was when I was showing pictures of my family eating, and knowing what I was missing out on. However, I know how extremely lucky I am to be in Korea, and that in the long run of things, missing one Thanksgiving isn't that big of a deal.
On Friday, all of the ETA's in Korea, were invited to the U.S. embassy for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. How many times in your life do you get the chance to spend a holiday at a U.S. embass, with the U.S. ambassador and the head of your program? Additionally, all of my friends were there. We ate an amazing meal! Turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes w/ gravy (the first gravy I've had since being in Korea), salad, fruit, two kinds of cheesecake, pumpkin pie. The whole experience was really great.
I spent the rest of the weekend in Seoul. It was so good to catch up with friends that I hadn't seen in over a month! Additionally, I checked out the National Museum of Korea. It was HUGE!!! There were so many cool artifacts from throughout Korea, as well as Japan, China, and even Vietnam. Soon, they are going to have a travelling exhibit about the Incan Indians from Peru. I hope to be able to check this out!
This weekend, I again traveling to Seoul. I am meeting a friend and we are going Christmas shopping. We might even try to go ice skating!
This week I received a box from home and a letter from Darrell. I have enjoyed wearing the boots that my family sent me- they are so warm!
Our after school program started on November 23. I have really enjoyed working with these students. We are making a book about Korean culture and history. Additionally, they are going to enter a photography contest with pictures taken from their cell phones. I feel like having the students use English to write a book, is far more useful, than having the students sit and memorize grammar structures. However, their parents don't think so. We started out with a group of 20, and are now down to 11 students on a regular basis. The parents are pulling out the students to go to hagwon instead. It is very disappointing to see this. I know that this will also be ab obstacle I face with my agriculture students when I return to the U.S.
This has been a relatively good week. I hope you are all doing well.
Love and miss you
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Kimchi
This is me making kimchi- Korea's national dish. It is made of cabbage, lathered with spices, then fermented. It is eaten at every meal in Korea.
I was very slow at doing this- in between every layer of cabbage, you had to put the spice mix- but the ladies were very kind and gave me the smallest cabbages!
Learning to be assertive!
This past week, we have tried to set up our after school program. It has been a HUGE headache! There are three other teachers involved (besides me), trying to organize it- which would normally be a good thing. However, the communication here SUCKS, and as a group we don't all sit down to talk about how to run the program, so it is very difficult. My teaching schedule for the program changed five times this week, three of them being on Friday.
We finally figured out that I will teach after school from 4:30-6:30 four days a week, for 12 days. This is good and I even have snacks for tomorrows group!
Here were some of the other proposals: M-Th 730-830 am & 5:30-6:30 pm; M-Th 5:30-6:30 & work on some Fridays and Saturdays until we reach 25 hours; Save all 25 hours until winter break, when I am already teaching 40 hours (max. in contract for winter break is 40 hours); M-Th 5:30-6:30 for 15 days before winter break, then 10 hours during winter break.
I finally got frustrated and angry on Friday. My co-teacher says, "We have it figured out. You will teach your 25 hours during winter break. You will still teach the 40 hours for the school, but then you will come back in the afternoon and teach for 2 1/2 more hours." So I had an 45 minute conversation with her about why that was never going to happen, and that my contract said so (to which she replied, "The contract is only for the people who don't WANT to work over the 40 hours." and I replied that that was in fact me!). Then since all of the teachers involved can't sit down and have a meeting at one time, I had to explain this whole process to the other teachers and have the SAME arguments with them.
I hope that this newfound assertiveness will serve me well in the future. If nothing else, I have experienced why it is SO important for people to communicate well with each other. At Centre, I got to see great communication between two teachers in a two teacher ag. program. I now know why it is so important, especially if you want to have a great program. Definitely something to remember in my next job.
Anyways, Friday finally ended and I headed to Seoul. I had lost my voice on Tuesday, and wanted to go to an English speaking doctor. The schools here don't have substitute teachers, so I couldn't leave in the middle of the week to go. I got some medicine and am feeling much better already.
In Seoul, I did some touristy things. I went to Namdaemun Market- which is the largest outdoor market in Korea. It was HUGE and so cool! Within this market, I found an area with imported goods. They had things that I haven't seen for four months: McCormick's seasoning, toritilla chips, gummi worms and bears, cheetos, doritos, sprinkles for cakes/cookies, country time lemonade, cake frosting, ritz..... I just stood there and stared! I couldn't believe it!!! There were also Christmas stores which kind of makes you miss home. Then, I went to the War Memorial of Korea. It was very interesting. I didn't actually go inside to the museum, but just looked around outside. They had tanks, and planes, and missiles, and army trucks all from different wars and in different styles.
Cait and I ate at On The Border (again) Friday night, I had Krispy Kreme Saturday morning (and even got a free donut because the light was on), and Burger King for lunch Saturday. It is so nice to have a meal without rice once in awhile.
This week we also had "teacher's sports day." This is where all of the schools in the county get together and the teachers compete in different activities. So we played tug-of-war, had a three legged race, and other kinds of races. We also grilled pork. It was a lot of fun- the only downside was that it was on the coldest day of the year (so far).
This week, I am also closer to getting our pen pal email project started. I now have collected my students' emails (21 of them), and have emailed them to my home middle school. I am very excited to get this started!
Quotes of the week:
Co-teacher to me: "You should not eat too much food outside." "Why?" I replied. "Because it will give you diahrrea." You should remember this advice when you start to grill next spring!
A student wrote this to me in an email, "Teacher you are beautiful." What a compliment coming from a middle school student (but I'll take it!) :)
A student talking about her future pen pal, "Teacher, I want a tall, handsome boy." I replied, "So do I." She laughed and said, "But I am serious." (Because I guess I wasn't being serious)
This one is actually really sad/upsetting, just remember it is from a totally different point of view than we are used to.
1st grade co-teacher to me: "I will visit my mother this weekend." Me: "Where does she live?" Co-teacher, "She is my neighbor." Me: "Oh, so you get to see her a lot then." Co-teacher, "No, I only see her three times a year usually." Me: "Why?" Co-teacher, "Because I should be closer to my husband." Me: "But you could visit her more often if she is your neighbor." Co-teacher, "We don't do that in South Korea."
Don't worry mom, even if we are not neighbors, I will still visit you more than three times a year (except maybe when I am in Korea).
We do not get Thanksgiving off (apparently since the pilgrims didn't land here, they don't celebrate it), but I am still going to be able to celebrate the holiday. The U.S. Ambassador to South Korea has invited the Fulbright grantees to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal (i.e. turkey, potatoes and gravy, stuffing, pumpkin pie, etc!)! I am so excited about this, and to be able to see my friends. This will be on Friday evening, and I will spend the rest of the weekend in Seoul.
Have a great Thanksgiving.... eat some turkey for me!
Love and miss you
We finally figured out that I will teach after school from 4:30-6:30 four days a week, for 12 days. This is good and I even have snacks for tomorrows group!
Here were some of the other proposals: M-Th 730-830 am & 5:30-6:30 pm; M-Th 5:30-6:30 & work on some Fridays and Saturdays until we reach 25 hours; Save all 25 hours until winter break, when I am already teaching 40 hours (max. in contract for winter break is 40 hours); M-Th 5:30-6:30 for 15 days before winter break, then 10 hours during winter break.
I finally got frustrated and angry on Friday. My co-teacher says, "We have it figured out. You will teach your 25 hours during winter break. You will still teach the 40 hours for the school, but then you will come back in the afternoon and teach for 2 1/2 more hours." So I had an 45 minute conversation with her about why that was never going to happen, and that my contract said so (to which she replied, "The contract is only for the people who don't WANT to work over the 40 hours." and I replied that that was in fact me!). Then since all of the teachers involved can't sit down and have a meeting at one time, I had to explain this whole process to the other teachers and have the SAME arguments with them.
I hope that this newfound assertiveness will serve me well in the future. If nothing else, I have experienced why it is SO important for people to communicate well with each other. At Centre, I got to see great communication between two teachers in a two teacher ag. program. I now know why it is so important, especially if you want to have a great program. Definitely something to remember in my next job.
Anyways, Friday finally ended and I headed to Seoul. I had lost my voice on Tuesday, and wanted to go to an English speaking doctor. The schools here don't have substitute teachers, so I couldn't leave in the middle of the week to go. I got some medicine and am feeling much better already.
In Seoul, I did some touristy things. I went to Namdaemun Market- which is the largest outdoor market in Korea. It was HUGE and so cool! Within this market, I found an area with imported goods. They had things that I haven't seen for four months: McCormick's seasoning, toritilla chips, gummi worms and bears, cheetos, doritos, sprinkles for cakes/cookies, country time lemonade, cake frosting, ritz..... I just stood there and stared! I couldn't believe it!!! There were also Christmas stores which kind of makes you miss home. Then, I went to the War Memorial of Korea. It was very interesting. I didn't actually go inside to the museum, but just looked around outside. They had tanks, and planes, and missiles, and army trucks all from different wars and in different styles.
Cait and I ate at On The Border (again) Friday night, I had Krispy Kreme Saturday morning (and even got a free donut because the light was on), and Burger King for lunch Saturday. It is so nice to have a meal without rice once in awhile.
This week we also had "teacher's sports day." This is where all of the schools in the county get together and the teachers compete in different activities. So we played tug-of-war, had a three legged race, and other kinds of races. We also grilled pork. It was a lot of fun- the only downside was that it was on the coldest day of the year (so far).
This week, I am also closer to getting our pen pal email project started. I now have collected my students' emails (21 of them), and have emailed them to my home middle school. I am very excited to get this started!
Quotes of the week:
Co-teacher to me: "You should not eat too much food outside." "Why?" I replied. "Because it will give you diahrrea." You should remember this advice when you start to grill next spring!
A student wrote this to me in an email, "Teacher you are beautiful." What a compliment coming from a middle school student (but I'll take it!) :)
A student talking about her future pen pal, "Teacher, I want a tall, handsome boy." I replied, "So do I." She laughed and said, "But I am serious." (Because I guess I wasn't being serious)
This one is actually really sad/upsetting, just remember it is from a totally different point of view than we are used to.
1st grade co-teacher to me: "I will visit my mother this weekend." Me: "Where does she live?" Co-teacher, "She is my neighbor." Me: "Oh, so you get to see her a lot then." Co-teacher, "No, I only see her three times a year usually." Me: "Why?" Co-teacher, "Because I should be closer to my husband." Me: "But you could visit her more often if she is your neighbor." Co-teacher, "We don't do that in South Korea."
Don't worry mom, even if we are not neighbors, I will still visit you more than three times a year (except maybe when I am in Korea).
We do not get Thanksgiving off (apparently since the pilgrims didn't land here, they don't celebrate it), but I am still going to be able to celebrate the holiday. The U.S. Ambassador to South Korea has invited the Fulbright grantees to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal (i.e. turkey, potatoes and gravy, stuffing, pumpkin pie, etc!)! I am so excited about this, and to be able to see my friends. This will be on Friday evening, and I will spend the rest of the weekend in Seoul.
Have a great Thanksgiving.... eat some turkey for me!
Love and miss you
Saturday, November 14, 2009
The most fun week EVER!!!
As a whole, for teaching, this past week has been the "most fun" so far.
With first grade, we are working on appearance and how to describe people (no her hair is not yellow, it is in fact blonde). So, we played Guess Who! What a great way to not only work on appearance, but also to work on asking questions, and comprehending answers.
With second grade, we made comics! Probably one of the best lessons I have done, because ALL of the students got involved. In Korea, special education basically doesn't exist, so all students are mainstreamed. So in the traditional Korean classroom, the students with special needs just sit at the back of the classroom and teachers ignore them. With this lesson however, they could participate (I let them write in Korean). Many students here read comic books, so being able to first fill in the bubbles, then make their own comic strip was great for them. They didn't even realize they were "learning" English.
I didn't think that I was going to teach third grade this week. However, the day before, the teacher told me that my schedule was changed and I would in fact be teaching them. At that point, it was too late to send stuff to copy (I can't use the copy machine here because, "you might break something"). Sooooo, we played boggle. We had prizes for the longest list of words, as well as words with the most letters in it.
This week, our county told us they had some grant money left over, and wants us to use it. So, I will begin teaching an after school program for students with the "best English ability" in our school. We will meet after school for two hours a day, for 12 or 13 days. It has to be project based, and we will end up with a product. I think that our project will be two-fold. First, the students will write a book. "The culture and history of Korea: From the perspective of Korean Middle School students" (this idea came from a teacher last year). I hope that they will really get into this, and take ownership in it.
Additionally, there are other ETA's who regularly teach an after school program. They have put together a photography contest. Students will take pictures on their cell phones, upload the pics to a computer, and add a story (in English) to describe their pictures. They will compete against other Korean middle school students. What a cool idea?!
Wish me luck, as I embark on these projects!
It is cold here now, most mornings it is right at or below freezing. It has only snowed once, and it didn't stick..... yet.
I hope you are all doing well!
Love,
Jacque
With first grade, we are working on appearance and how to describe people (no her hair is not yellow, it is in fact blonde). So, we played Guess Who! What a great way to not only work on appearance, but also to work on asking questions, and comprehending answers.
With second grade, we made comics! Probably one of the best lessons I have done, because ALL of the students got involved. In Korea, special education basically doesn't exist, so all students are mainstreamed. So in the traditional Korean classroom, the students with special needs just sit at the back of the classroom and teachers ignore them. With this lesson however, they could participate (I let them write in Korean). Many students here read comic books, so being able to first fill in the bubbles, then make their own comic strip was great for them. They didn't even realize they were "learning" English.
I didn't think that I was going to teach third grade this week. However, the day before, the teacher told me that my schedule was changed and I would in fact be teaching them. At that point, it was too late to send stuff to copy (I can't use the copy machine here because, "you might break something"). Sooooo, we played boggle. We had prizes for the longest list of words, as well as words with the most letters in it.
This week, our county told us they had some grant money left over, and wants us to use it. So, I will begin teaching an after school program for students with the "best English ability" in our school. We will meet after school for two hours a day, for 12 or 13 days. It has to be project based, and we will end up with a product. I think that our project will be two-fold. First, the students will write a book. "The culture and history of Korea: From the perspective of Korean Middle School students" (this idea came from a teacher last year). I hope that they will really get into this, and take ownership in it.
Additionally, there are other ETA's who regularly teach an after school program. They have put together a photography contest. Students will take pictures on their cell phones, upload the pics to a computer, and add a story (in English) to describe their pictures. They will compete against other Korean middle school students. What a cool idea?!
Wish me luck, as I embark on these projects!
It is cold here now, most mornings it is right at or below freezing. It has only snowed once, and it didn't stick..... yet.
I hope you are all doing well!
Love,
Jacque
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Quotes of the Week
The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy (it seems like I am always saying this!).
Last week I taught Halloween to all of my classes. This was a lot of fun, because they do not celebrate this holiday here. We watched a clip of The Simpson's Halloween (it had Korean subtitles!), then made Halloween costumes out of newspaper. We had so much fun! Halloween weekend I went to Seoul for Halloween- met some friends there and even found a bar that was decorated for Halloween!
Here are some funny quotes from the week:
I went to school one morning, and I was feeling sick/nauseus. I told my co-teacher. Her response: "I think you need acupuncture."
A p.e. teacher at our school told me this today. "You walk on the track very powerfully and strong." I'm not exactly sure what he meant, but I know that at some point he was watching me walk...... kind of weird and creepy!
I was doing a lesson on agree/disagree. The phrase was "Students should have to wear uniforms to school" then students had to agree or disagree and say why. Student response, "I disagree because I ugly." :)
This weekend I am again traveling to Seoul. There is a march and rally in support of human rights in North Korea. There are some North Korean escapees (if that is the right word) that will be speaking. Everything will be translated into English. It is so interesting to me that I just happen to be in South Korea while the tension is building for 6 party talks and such. I feel like I have so much to learn about the issue. I don't know if this march/rally will change anything, but what if it does?
I hope you are all doing well. I miss you and love you.
Last week I taught Halloween to all of my classes. This was a lot of fun, because they do not celebrate this holiday here. We watched a clip of The Simpson's Halloween (it had Korean subtitles!), then made Halloween costumes out of newspaper. We had so much fun! Halloween weekend I went to Seoul for Halloween- met some friends there and even found a bar that was decorated for Halloween!
Here are some funny quotes from the week:
I went to school one morning, and I was feeling sick/nauseus. I told my co-teacher. Her response: "I think you need acupuncture."
A p.e. teacher at our school told me this today. "You walk on the track very powerfully and strong." I'm not exactly sure what he meant, but I know that at some point he was watching me walk...... kind of weird and creepy!
I was doing a lesson on agree/disagree. The phrase was "Students should have to wear uniforms to school" then students had to agree or disagree and say why. Student response, "I disagree because I ugly." :)
This weekend I am again traveling to Seoul. There is a march and rally in support of human rights in North Korea. There are some North Korean escapees (if that is the right word) that will be speaking. Everything will be translated into English. It is so interesting to me that I just happen to be in South Korea while the tension is building for 6 party talks and such. I feel like I have so much to learn about the issue. I don't know if this march/rally will change anything, but what if it does?
I hope you are all doing well. I miss you and love you.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
A few funny stories
I love my students. The give me the motivation to get up and go to school everyday. They also make me laugh everyday. Here are a few stories about them, and other things that have happened over the past couple of weeks.
"Teacher you are beautiful!" exclaims one student as he knows he is about to get in trouble for disrupting class.
"Teacher, you are really good at English". Well it's a sliding scale.
Some of the other teachers at school:
"Jacque, you have an s-curve." Which I find out later is what the outline of your body looks like, and an s-curve is much better than a d-curve.
Same teacher, a couple of hours later:
"Jacque, you are too skinny, you should eat more. Are you sick?"
My co-teacher about another taecher:
"She is wearing a muffler around her neck." I find out later that a muffler can be both on a car, and a type of fur.
As you can tell- Korea is a very judgemental/notices how you look, everyday.
Every year, our county sends nine students to Canada and America. The students take a written test, and then go through an interview. A week and a half ago, my co-teacher told me that I would be the judge of the interview portion of this. So I asked her when is the contest. She say, "Tonight". So, I judge the interviews. I really don't feel qualified to "pick" who gets to go to America/Canada, because it is such a great opportunity for the students. As in most of their school lives, the written test was weighted more than the interview. Two of the students with the best interviews will not go, because their test score wasn't high enough. I feel like their speaking skills will benefit them far more than their test taking skills. My host sister's interview was one of the best, but her test score was too low, so she will not get to go :(
I also had the chance to skype with the Intro. to Ag. Ed. students at K-State. I had so much fun doing this, and it was great to connect with these students. I remember being in that class only three years ago- how cool! I told them that I was a little nervous, because I hadn't spoken to that many Americans together in over 3 months- lol! I really enjoyed being able to do this.
Yesterday, I went to Chuncheon. On the way back, there were so many people on the bus, that over 15 people (inluding myself) were standing. I couldn't believe that they would let that many people on the bus, and not make them wait for the next bus. It is a 50 minute ride to Hwacheon, and the roads are typical mountain roads (i.e. curvy/hilly). So, it was an interesting ride.
This afternoon, my host family and I are going to carve pumpkins. They have never done this before, so it should be a good time! The pumpkins here are a little different though- they are the same diameter, but half the height of "regular" pumpkins. They are "squatty" as my grandma would say :) I am also going to cook an American dinner for them tonight. It should be a good day.
Next weekend, I am going to Seoul to watch the Michael Jackson documentary "This Is It". My friends and I are then going to try to go out for Halloween.
I hope this blog finds you all well. I miss you and love you.
"Teacher you are beautiful!" exclaims one student as he knows he is about to get in trouble for disrupting class.
"Teacher, you are really good at English". Well it's a sliding scale.
Some of the other teachers at school:
"Jacque, you have an s-curve." Which I find out later is what the outline of your body looks like, and an s-curve is much better than a d-curve.
Same teacher, a couple of hours later:
"Jacque, you are too skinny, you should eat more. Are you sick?"
My co-teacher about another taecher:
"She is wearing a muffler around her neck." I find out later that a muffler can be both on a car, and a type of fur.
As you can tell- Korea is a very judgemental/notices how you look, everyday.
Every year, our county sends nine students to Canada and America. The students take a written test, and then go through an interview. A week and a half ago, my co-teacher told me that I would be the judge of the interview portion of this. So I asked her when is the contest. She say, "Tonight". So, I judge the interviews. I really don't feel qualified to "pick" who gets to go to America/Canada, because it is such a great opportunity for the students. As in most of their school lives, the written test was weighted more than the interview. Two of the students with the best interviews will not go, because their test score wasn't high enough. I feel like their speaking skills will benefit them far more than their test taking skills. My host sister's interview was one of the best, but her test score was too low, so she will not get to go :(
I also had the chance to skype with the Intro. to Ag. Ed. students at K-State. I had so much fun doing this, and it was great to connect with these students. I remember being in that class only three years ago- how cool! I told them that I was a little nervous, because I hadn't spoken to that many Americans together in over 3 months- lol! I really enjoyed being able to do this.
Yesterday, I went to Chuncheon. On the way back, there were so many people on the bus, that over 15 people (inluding myself) were standing. I couldn't believe that they would let that many people on the bus, and not make them wait for the next bus. It is a 50 minute ride to Hwacheon, and the roads are typical mountain roads (i.e. curvy/hilly). So, it was an interesting ride.
This afternoon, my host family and I are going to carve pumpkins. They have never done this before, so it should be a good time! The pumpkins here are a little different though- they are the same diameter, but half the height of "regular" pumpkins. They are "squatty" as my grandma would say :) I am also going to cook an American dinner for them tonight. It should be a good day.
Next weekend, I am going to Seoul to watch the Michael Jackson documentary "This Is It". My friends and I are then going to try to go out for Halloween.
I hope this blog finds you all well. I miss you and love you.
Monday, October 12, 2009
1st part of October!
The first weekend of October was a National Holiday for Koreans. They call it Chuseok. It is their harvest holiday, and they honor their ancestors. If you wanted to compare it to an American holiday, I think it would be a mix of Memorial Day and Thanksgiving. Koreans visit their ancestors tombs (I went to two different mountains with my family, where their ancestors had been buried), then eat together with their family. For this weekend, I went to Cheonan and visited friends. We made fried chicken, mashed potatoes, ranch dipping sauce, macaroni and cheese, and brownies. It was so awesome to have American food!
This past weekend, I traveled to Gyeongju to our annual fall conference. All of the teachers who are teaching through the same program as me, got together from Friday through Monday. We had sessions on Friday and Saturday- we talked about the challenges of teaching and tried to troubleshoot, shared lesson plans, talked about our host families, winter break opportunities, etc. It was so great to see all of my friend from orientation again! We even rode 4-wheelers, geese boats, and had a couple of drinks at a bar called "Oops" :) On Sunday, six of us traveled to Busan for the 14th annual Pusan International Film Festival. We saw Haeundae Beach, a film at the festival, and just took in the city. I really like Busan, and hope to go back.
Tomorrow morning, I am skypeing with one of my professor's Intro. to Ag. Ed. classes. I am so excited to talk to these students who are Ag. Ed. majors. I definitely remember being in their shoes a couple of years ago. I am also a little nervous, because I haven't spoken to a large group of Americans for a long time.
Next weekend, I am meeting some friends in Seoul. One of the girls is going to the doctor, then we are going shopping. It is getting pretty cold in Hwacheon, and I didn't bring a coat with me, so hopefully, I will be able to find one. Then on Sunday, one of the girls and I are going to look at prospective hotels that are families can stay in when they come to visit Seoul.
I hope you are all doing well. I miss you and love you.
This past weekend, I traveled to Gyeongju to our annual fall conference. All of the teachers who are teaching through the same program as me, got together from Friday through Monday. We had sessions on Friday and Saturday- we talked about the challenges of teaching and tried to troubleshoot, shared lesson plans, talked about our host families, winter break opportunities, etc. It was so great to see all of my friend from orientation again! We even rode 4-wheelers, geese boats, and had a couple of drinks at a bar called "Oops" :) On Sunday, six of us traveled to Busan for the 14th annual Pusan International Film Festival. We saw Haeundae Beach, a film at the festival, and just took in the city. I really like Busan, and hope to go back.
Tomorrow morning, I am skypeing with one of my professor's Intro. to Ag. Ed. classes. I am so excited to talk to these students who are Ag. Ed. majors. I definitely remember being in their shoes a couple of years ago. I am also a little nervous, because I haven't spoken to a large group of Americans for a long time.
Next weekend, I am meeting some friends in Seoul. One of the girls is going to the doctor, then we are going shopping. It is getting pretty cold in Hwacheon, and I didn't bring a coat with me, so hopefully, I will be able to find one. Then on Sunday, one of the girls and I are going to look at prospective hotels that are families can stay in when they come to visit Seoul.
I hope you are all doing well. I miss you and love you.
Can't believe it's been a month!
So, my last post was over a month ago! I honestly can't believe that- I knew I had been busy, but didn't realize I hadn't written for so long. For this post I am pasting part of my September email that I sent out to friends and family.
The first weekend of September, I traveled to Seoul. I met my friend Carolyn there, and we celebrated her birthday by exploring and shopping in Itaewon (this is the foreigner’s district in Seoul). We ate real hamburgers and French fries, and even had ranch dressing to dip the fries in! We also went to Olympic Park, where Seoul held the 1988 Olympics. We saw the “Peace Gate” and the flag plaza. I hope to go back to see the museum (we ran out of time). We also went to Techno Mart. This is a 10 story building, filled with electronics (boys, you would be in heaven). They have the “newest and best” electronics on display and for sale. It was very interesting.
The next weekend, my host family took me to where my host mom grew up- on a farm. I got to experience a South Korean farm that grows rice (on a large scale), hot peppers, onions, soybeans, sweet corn, and sesame (on a small scale). They even own their own combine- although it is a lot different than combines in the US. We also tended their ancestor’s graves. Cemeteries in South Korea are a new trend, so most people’s ancestors are buried in mountains. Therefore, there are no grounds keepers as in a cemetery. We took weedeaters, machetes, and rakes and cleaned up the grave sites. We did this because in a few weeks they will have Chuseok (their version of Memorial Day and Thanksgiving combined). They also took me to the Peace Dam. This dam was built in response to North Korea. The North had a built a dam that could hold enough water, that if released would flood Seoul. So, the Peace Dam was built to catch this water, if the North ever attempted this. (It is a different river/dam that the North actually did let water out of a couple of weeks ago). There was also a Peace Bell that was built out of ammunition shells from the Korean War.
The weekend of the 19th, all of the foreign teachers in Hwacheon went to Gyeongju on a cultural/historical tour. We saw two Buddhist Temples, royal tombs, royal palaces (rebuilt because the originals were destroyed during wars), and a museum. The best part was definitely getting to go inside of a royal tomb. These tombs look like huge mounds that stand over 20 meters high. It is very similar to the Egyptians (although not to the scale), and the inside I imagine looks similar. My friends Cait and Carolyn also came to Hwacheon for my birthday. It was great to see them again. We ate in Chuncheon with some of our Korean friends.
On my birthday, by host family took me out to eat (I had the Korean equivalent of spaghetti alfredo), and we had a birthday cake. My friends John and Nikki (they also teach in Hwacheon county), ate with us.
This past weekend John, Nikki, and I went mountain climbing with my co-teacher and her husband. The mountain was 947 meters high, and we could supposedly see North Korea from the top of it. We also went to a memorial site of one of the bloodiest battles that took place during the Korean War.
As we drove, there were huge areas of mountains that were sectioned off, because mines and bombs from the war are still there. After the war, people could come to this area to farm- the land was cheap because it was laden with mines that had never went off. Many farmers lost legs/lives because of these.
This month I have taken up learning how to play guitar. Nikki’s host dad is teaching me. It is really difficult, but a lot of fun. My host family has a piano, and I have re-started playing this instrument as well. I am also trying to jog most everyday. These are all great stress relievers for me.
During this month, Hwacheon has hosted many sporting events. I have watched a badminton tournament, a rowing tournament, an archery tournament and a women’s soccer tournament. All have been very interesting!
Teaching is going well. I love my students, they are hilarious. The teachers at school are very nice. I am slowly adjusting to being an ESL teacher instead of an agricultural teacher. (I have a newfound appreciation and respect for ALL ESL teachers!) I have already picked up a few new teaching techniques that I can’t wait to try on students in the U.S. The atmosphere in school is very different than that of a U.S. school, as students are always stressed out about testing and achieving.
I hope you are all doing well, and I will get better at keeping up with the blog! I love you.
The first weekend of September, I traveled to Seoul. I met my friend Carolyn there, and we celebrated her birthday by exploring and shopping in Itaewon (this is the foreigner’s district in Seoul). We ate real hamburgers and French fries, and even had ranch dressing to dip the fries in! We also went to Olympic Park, where Seoul held the 1988 Olympics. We saw the “Peace Gate” and the flag plaza. I hope to go back to see the museum (we ran out of time). We also went to Techno Mart. This is a 10 story building, filled with electronics (boys, you would be in heaven). They have the “newest and best” electronics on display and for sale. It was very interesting.
The next weekend, my host family took me to where my host mom grew up- on a farm. I got to experience a South Korean farm that grows rice (on a large scale), hot peppers, onions, soybeans, sweet corn, and sesame (on a small scale). They even own their own combine- although it is a lot different than combines in the US. We also tended their ancestor’s graves. Cemeteries in South Korea are a new trend, so most people’s ancestors are buried in mountains. Therefore, there are no grounds keepers as in a cemetery. We took weedeaters, machetes, and rakes and cleaned up the grave sites. We did this because in a few weeks they will have Chuseok (their version of Memorial Day and Thanksgiving combined). They also took me to the Peace Dam. This dam was built in response to North Korea. The North had a built a dam that could hold enough water, that if released would flood Seoul. So, the Peace Dam was built to catch this water, if the North ever attempted this. (It is a different river/dam that the North actually did let water out of a couple of weeks ago). There was also a Peace Bell that was built out of ammunition shells from the Korean War.
The weekend of the 19th, all of the foreign teachers in Hwacheon went to Gyeongju on a cultural/historical tour. We saw two Buddhist Temples, royal tombs, royal palaces (rebuilt because the originals were destroyed during wars), and a museum. The best part was definitely getting to go inside of a royal tomb. These tombs look like huge mounds that stand over 20 meters high. It is very similar to the Egyptians (although not to the scale), and the inside I imagine looks similar. My friends Cait and Carolyn also came to Hwacheon for my birthday. It was great to see them again. We ate in Chuncheon with some of our Korean friends.
On my birthday, by host family took me out to eat (I had the Korean equivalent of spaghetti alfredo), and we had a birthday cake. My friends John and Nikki (they also teach in Hwacheon county), ate with us.
This past weekend John, Nikki, and I went mountain climbing with my co-teacher and her husband. The mountain was 947 meters high, and we could supposedly see North Korea from the top of it. We also went to a memorial site of one of the bloodiest battles that took place during the Korean War.
As we drove, there were huge areas of mountains that were sectioned off, because mines and bombs from the war are still there. After the war, people could come to this area to farm- the land was cheap because it was laden with mines that had never went off. Many farmers lost legs/lives because of these.
This month I have taken up learning how to play guitar. Nikki’s host dad is teaching me. It is really difficult, but a lot of fun. My host family has a piano, and I have re-started playing this instrument as well. I am also trying to jog most everyday. These are all great stress relievers for me.
During this month, Hwacheon has hosted many sporting events. I have watched a badminton tournament, a rowing tournament, an archery tournament and a women’s soccer tournament. All have been very interesting!
Teaching is going well. I love my students, they are hilarious. The teachers at school are very nice. I am slowly adjusting to being an ESL teacher instead of an agricultural teacher. (I have a newfound appreciation and respect for ALL ESL teachers!) I have already picked up a few new teaching techniques that I can’t wait to try on students in the U.S. The atmosphere in school is very different than that of a U.S. school, as students are always stressed out about testing and achieving.
I hope you are all doing well, and I will get better at keeping up with the blog! I love you.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Busy week
It has been one busy week- here's the update!
Sunday- I walked the 35 minutes to church. After church, an older man (~65 years old) approached me and started talking to me in prety good English. It turns out that he retired to Hwacheon 3 years ago. He used to live in Seoul, and has been to America (and actually knew some towns in Kansas)! He invited me to dinner at his house sometime- very cool! As I was walking back to our apartment, a lady shop owner motioned me to follow her into her store. I did this, and she proceeded to dial the phone (as I was thinking "this is going to be a short conversation as I know very little Korean). She then handed the phone to me, and I had a 3-4 minute conversation with her SON! Just a little awkward- the son was embarrassed, as was I. In the afternoon, our whole family drove to my host mom's family's farm. It is about 1 1/2 hours away. They grow rice, soybeans, hot peppers (in large amounts) onions, green perrillas, cucumbers, squash, and pumpkins (in small amounts). They also had 4 cows, a calf, a truck, and a combine for rice (although not what we think of as a combine, and it was manufactured by LG). I think that for Korea, it was a pretty good sized farm. It was really interesting, and I am so glad that I got to go!
Monday night I had guitar lessons with Nikki's host dad. I am now the proud owner of a guitar!!! I have been practicing a lot this week, and definitely working on the callusses on my fingers. :)
This week there has been a badmitton tournament in town. I went to watch on Tuesday evening. I remember playing badmitton in PE class, and thinking this is a crappy sport. But, after watching the tournament, I have definitely changed my view. These kids (middle and high school aged), are so intense and competitive. It was so much fun to watch!!!
Thursday I met John and Nikki for our weekly "English time". We walked to Borgeo Island (there is a bridge), and explored the "sports" island, then we ate dakgalbi in town. I definitely look forward to meeting them every week.
This weekend there is an archery tournament, and a rowing competition in town. I am hoping to check both of these out. Also, I am planning on going to Nikki's house and hopefully watching a Rockies baseball game on the internet. On Sunday, my host family is planning on "going to the mountain" to tend their family graves. This is in preparation of a holiday similar to our Memorial Day. This will be an interesting cultural experience!
Teaching was okay this week. I have three different co-teachers and I am learning that they can make a huge difference in the class. This difference can be bad or good. For example, one of my co-teachers is really good about letting me teach, but translating when I ask her too (when it is obvious that the students don't understand). I think that having the kids TRY to understand English is better than translating every single thing that I say. On the other hand, I have a co-teacher that likes to translate everything to the students. I feel like this is hindering the students' ability to think on their own, and to understand English. I now realize how lucky I was during student teaching to have such great co-teachers at Centre.
I really enjoy teaching my first year students. The co-teacher is really good to work with and the students are full of energy. I also get to see these students twice a week, so I feel like I connect with and know them a lot better.
I miss everyone at home- I hope you are all doing well and staying busy! Love ya.
Sunday- I walked the 35 minutes to church. After church, an older man (~65 years old) approached me and started talking to me in prety good English. It turns out that he retired to Hwacheon 3 years ago. He used to live in Seoul, and has been to America (and actually knew some towns in Kansas)! He invited me to dinner at his house sometime- very cool! As I was walking back to our apartment, a lady shop owner motioned me to follow her into her store. I did this, and she proceeded to dial the phone (as I was thinking "this is going to be a short conversation as I know very little Korean). She then handed the phone to me, and I had a 3-4 minute conversation with her SON! Just a little awkward- the son was embarrassed, as was I. In the afternoon, our whole family drove to my host mom's family's farm. It is about 1 1/2 hours away. They grow rice, soybeans, hot peppers (in large amounts) onions, green perrillas, cucumbers, squash, and pumpkins (in small amounts). They also had 4 cows, a calf, a truck, and a combine for rice (although not what we think of as a combine, and it was manufactured by LG). I think that for Korea, it was a pretty good sized farm. It was really interesting, and I am so glad that I got to go!
Monday night I had guitar lessons with Nikki's host dad. I am now the proud owner of a guitar!!! I have been practicing a lot this week, and definitely working on the callusses on my fingers. :)
This week there has been a badmitton tournament in town. I went to watch on Tuesday evening. I remember playing badmitton in PE class, and thinking this is a crappy sport. But, after watching the tournament, I have definitely changed my view. These kids (middle and high school aged), are so intense and competitive. It was so much fun to watch!!!
Thursday I met John and Nikki for our weekly "English time". We walked to Borgeo Island (there is a bridge), and explored the "sports" island, then we ate dakgalbi in town. I definitely look forward to meeting them every week.
This weekend there is an archery tournament, and a rowing competition in town. I am hoping to check both of these out. Also, I am planning on going to Nikki's house and hopefully watching a Rockies baseball game on the internet. On Sunday, my host family is planning on "going to the mountain" to tend their family graves. This is in preparation of a holiday similar to our Memorial Day. This will be an interesting cultural experience!
Teaching was okay this week. I have three different co-teachers and I am learning that they can make a huge difference in the class. This difference can be bad or good. For example, one of my co-teachers is really good about letting me teach, but translating when I ask her too (when it is obvious that the students don't understand). I think that having the kids TRY to understand English is better than translating every single thing that I say. On the other hand, I have a co-teacher that likes to translate everything to the students. I feel like this is hindering the students' ability to think on their own, and to understand English. I now realize how lucky I was during student teaching to have such great co-teachers at Centre.
I really enjoy teaching my first year students. The co-teacher is really good to work with and the students are full of energy. I also get to see these students twice a week, so I feel like I connect with and know them a lot better.
I miss everyone at home- I hope you are all doing well and staying busy! Love ya.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
A couple of things learned
On Friday, I didn't have to teach or go to school because our students were taking standardized tests. So, I made plans to meet my friend Carolyn in Seoul! I left Friday morning from Hwacheon at 840, and arrived in Seoul at 11 am. I transfered buses in Chuncheon- no problems! My firsts success at using public transportation on my own :). Since Carolyn wasn't going to be able to meet until after 12, I decided to check out Olympic Park. I only saw a little bit of it, but it was pretty cool- definitely want to go to the museum when I have more time. Then, I met Carolyn and we headed to the Itaewon district. This is supposed to be the "foriegn" district within Seoul (we were hoping to find some shoes, since our feet are too big for Korean shoes). We ate at a restauarant named "Gecko's"- and it was the best hamburger and fries I have had in awhile (they even had ranch to dip the fries in- a first in Korea!)! We also went to Techno Mart, which is a 10 story building crammed full of the newest electronics- it was a little overwhelming. I knew that I had to leave Seoul by 730 pm so that I would make the last bus in Chuncheon that was going to Hwacheon. So, I went to buy my ticket about 630 pm for Chuncheon. There were 10 buses that left within that hour..... however, they were ALL sold out! The earliest I could get a bus to Chuncheon was at 830 pm. This would do me no good however, because even if I took that bus to Chuncheon, I would have already missed the last bus from Chuncheon to Hwacheon. Lesson number 1: Apparently, you can buy your tickets ahead of time. I should have bought my evening ticket, when I arrived in Seoul that morning. Additionally, you should never shoot for the last bus of the day! I ended up going with my friend Carolyn, and staying with her host family for the night. It was really nice of her family to accommodate me on such short notice! On Saturday morning, I got a bus from Cheonan to Chuncheon, and from Chuncheon to Hwacheon with no problems- it was just a very long bus ride (over 4 hours).
On my long bus ride, I had some time to think. When I came Korea, I had read many different articles saying "this is the most homogenous country left on Earth...", and things to this effect, and I know that this is true. Now what I realize, is that racism and the difference between rich and poor is VERY apparent in their culture. (1)The socioeconomic status is evident every day in school. The students whose family has money is able to send their kid to hagwon, and therefore their English ability is far more advanced than their less wealthy counterpart. The school definitely caters to the "smarter" students, as I have had a co-teacher tell me, don't worry about speaking English to him, he is stupid and it wastes your time. They have no desire to try to "catch up" these students. (2) The racism here is very blatant. It can be good "You are so beautiful", said only because I have white skin and light hair, or bad- being refused service at a nail salon because we are white, but it is everywhere. I now realize (although I don't know how they feel) how some people feel in America everyday. Although the racism may not be as blatant, it is always there. I can't imagine having to face that everyday of my life (I'm only dealing with it here for a year). It is amazing to see how far we have come in America, but also to realize how far we still have to go for actual "equality".
Any thoughts you'd like to leave concerning this topic I would definitely be interested in reading. My friends and I have been talking about this subject a lot lately.
I hope you are doing well. Love ya
On my long bus ride, I had some time to think. When I came Korea, I had read many different articles saying "this is the most homogenous country left on Earth...", and things to this effect, and I know that this is true. Now what I realize, is that racism and the difference between rich and poor is VERY apparent in their culture. (1)The socioeconomic status is evident every day in school. The students whose family has money is able to send their kid to hagwon, and therefore their English ability is far more advanced than their less wealthy counterpart. The school definitely caters to the "smarter" students, as I have had a co-teacher tell me, don't worry about speaking English to him, he is stupid and it wastes your time. They have no desire to try to "catch up" these students. (2) The racism here is very blatant. It can be good "You are so beautiful", said only because I have white skin and light hair, or bad- being refused service at a nail salon because we are white, but it is everywhere. I now realize (although I don't know how they feel) how some people feel in America everyday. Although the racism may not be as blatant, it is always there. I can't imagine having to face that everyday of my life (I'm only dealing with it here for a year). It is amazing to see how far we have come in America, but also to realize how far we still have to go for actual "equality".
Any thoughts you'd like to leave concerning this topic I would definitely be interested in reading. My friends and I have been talking about this subject a lot lately.
I hope you are doing well. Love ya
Friday, August 28, 2009
An emotional week.
This week has definitely been the most challenging so far, and definitely an emotional roller coaster. I started teaching on Tuesday. In my school there are three grades of middle school students (1st grade, 2nd grade, and 3rd grade middle school). There are four sections in each grade. Each week I will teach the 2nd and 3rd graders once and the 1st graders twice. Each group has it's own challenge. 1st grade is very excited to be in English class, and has so much energy, and actually still want to learn English. However, their English ability if very low. 2nd grade still has a lot of energy, but don't necessarily want to use it to learn English. 3rd grade is a very low energy level age. They are so tired and want to sleep all of the time (I will talk more about why this is later). For the most part, teaching was good this week. I'm still new, and the students still want to talk to the foreigner, which is a definite plus. With each grade I also have a different co-teacher, which is also a challenge. The 3rd grade co-teacher wants me to teach directly out of the book (which is boring for students, as well as myself and isn't really how American's talk). The 2nd grade teacher wants me to teach the material that is in the book, but I can teach it however I want. This is pretty cool, as I can use games for learning. The 1st grade teacher wants me to teacher wants me to use the book part of the time, then make lessons over whatever I want for part of the time. It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out.
Before I came to Korea, I had read about their educational system, and about how serious Koreans are about education. However, until I started living with a host family, I didn't realize how true it was. My sister and brother leave for school at 8 am like me. I get done teaching at 2:30, but they still go to school until 4:30. At 4:30 they go directly to "hagwon" (it is the equivalent of school/academy). They finally get done with this at 7 p.m. Then on Tuesday and Friday, they have an English tutor come to their apartment from 8-1030 pm. Between all of this, they also have their homework. Every other Saturday the students have school from 8-11 am. My host siblings also have "hagwon" for two hours on both Sat. and Sun.! It is no wonder that the students are tired during school! There is so much stress and pressure put on the students here to be high achievers. They have to do well on the tests to get into the "right" high school, so that they can get into the "right" college.
The emotional rollercoaster was really prevalent this week. My family, co-teachers, and students are all great. I really like spending time with them. However, my family is gone A LOT and so then I start to get lonely/homesick. It is weird, because one I'll be great and loving it here, and the next I will be so lonely and ready to go home. To help solve these feelings, I am trying to stay busy. I am jogging every evening, as well as playing piano. I am also looking into archery and kayaking. Right now, I feel like I'm on the up, and am learning how to deal. I know that this year will be full of these roller coaster feelings. Overall, I know that I am lucky to be here, and want to enjoy and make the most of my year in Korea!
Before I came to Korea, I had read about their educational system, and about how serious Koreans are about education. However, until I started living with a host family, I didn't realize how true it was. My sister and brother leave for school at 8 am like me. I get done teaching at 2:30, but they still go to school until 4:30. At 4:30 they go directly to "hagwon" (it is the equivalent of school/academy). They finally get done with this at 7 p.m. Then on Tuesday and Friday, they have an English tutor come to their apartment from 8-1030 pm. Between all of this, they also have their homework. Every other Saturday the students have school from 8-11 am. My host siblings also have "hagwon" for two hours on both Sat. and Sun.! It is no wonder that the students are tired during school! There is so much stress and pressure put on the students here to be high achievers. They have to do well on the tests to get into the "right" high school, so that they can get into the "right" college.
The emotional rollercoaster was really prevalent this week. My family, co-teachers, and students are all great. I really like spending time with them. However, my family is gone A LOT and so then I start to get lonely/homesick. It is weird, because one I'll be great and loving it here, and the next I will be so lonely and ready to go home. To help solve these feelings, I am trying to stay busy. I am jogging every evening, as well as playing piano. I am also looking into archery and kayaking. Right now, I feel like I'm on the up, and am learning how to deal. I know that this year will be full of these roller coaster feelings. Overall, I know that I am lucky to be here, and want to enjoy and make the most of my year in Korea!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
A visit to Seoul and my new home in Hwacheon.
I am now living in an apartment building in Hwacheon, South Korea. I will give you a little history on the events leading up to now.
Last Friday, we loaded to buses and left from Chuncheon for Seoul. On Friday, we had a couple of meetings (one with an English speaking doctor!). That evening, we were invited to the U.S. Embassy for a pool party and cook out with the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, Kathleen Stevens. Getting to meet and talk to the ambassador was pretty cool- she was a peace corp volunteer here in the 70's, has worked in Yugoslavia, Northern Ireland, China, and Japan- and has some pretty amazing stories to tell. We also got a real American dinner- hamburgers cooked on the grill, potato chips (not octopus flavored!), cheese (which is very expensive here), sour cream dip, smores, cookies, AND Dr. Pepper! It was amazing. After brushing elbows with the big-wigs, we found out that the Seoul Philharmonic was playing for free in Seoul City Square. We went and listened to the beautiful music, and the Korean National Ballet performed, as well as some opera singers.
On Saturday, Dongmi showed me around Seoul. We went to Deok-su-gung Palace (which is located in the center of Seoul- they built modern Seoul around this palace), shopping at Myeong-dung (very modern and CROWDED), shopping at Insa-dong (traditional Korean crafts), and went to the top of Namsan Tower (N. Seoul Tower). It was great getting to spend time with Dongmi, as I had only been able to see her once during orientation.
On Sunday we slept in, then went shopping in an area near a women's college. We found some great deals AND got to eat at Quiznos. We also got our nails done for Yonsei Day. The first place we went into, wouldn't work on our nails because we were white! But we found a place, and our nails looked great :) Then it was back to the hotel for packing and preparing to leave our friends for a couple of weeks at least.
Monday was Yonsei Day. This is the day where our co-teachers and principals come to Yonsei University (the equivalent to Harvard in the U.S.), we have a ceremony where Fulbright announces which ETA goes to which school, then a really awkward lunch with your new school officials, then you drive back to your school with them. This was also slightly embarrassing when you realize exactly how much luggage you have and how small the cars are here. After our 3 hour ride back to Hwacheon (we stopped and ate dak-gal-bi in Chuncheon) I met my host family. The parents own a hotel, however they live in a really modern apartment. My siblings are a girl in 7th grade and a boy in 6th grade. The family is great, although the only one that speaks English is the 7th grade girl.
School started on Wednesday, however I don't start teaching for another week. It has been very challenging/interesting being in a place where you can communicate with very few people. I hope that this post finds you all doing well!
Last Friday, we loaded to buses and left from Chuncheon for Seoul. On Friday, we had a couple of meetings (one with an English speaking doctor!). That evening, we were invited to the U.S. Embassy for a pool party and cook out with the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, Kathleen Stevens. Getting to meet and talk to the ambassador was pretty cool- she was a peace corp volunteer here in the 70's, has worked in Yugoslavia, Northern Ireland, China, and Japan- and has some pretty amazing stories to tell. We also got a real American dinner- hamburgers cooked on the grill, potato chips (not octopus flavored!), cheese (which is very expensive here), sour cream dip, smores, cookies, AND Dr. Pepper! It was amazing. After brushing elbows with the big-wigs, we found out that the Seoul Philharmonic was playing for free in Seoul City Square. We went and listened to the beautiful music, and the Korean National Ballet performed, as well as some opera singers.
On Saturday, Dongmi showed me around Seoul. We went to Deok-su-gung Palace (which is located in the center of Seoul- they built modern Seoul around this palace), shopping at Myeong-dung (very modern and CROWDED), shopping at Insa-dong (traditional Korean crafts), and went to the top of Namsan Tower (N. Seoul Tower). It was great getting to spend time with Dongmi, as I had only been able to see her once during orientation.
On Sunday we slept in, then went shopping in an area near a women's college. We found some great deals AND got to eat at Quiznos. We also got our nails done for Yonsei Day. The first place we went into, wouldn't work on our nails because we were white! But we found a place, and our nails looked great :) Then it was back to the hotel for packing and preparing to leave our friends for a couple of weeks at least.
Monday was Yonsei Day. This is the day where our co-teachers and principals come to Yonsei University (the equivalent to Harvard in the U.S.), we have a ceremony where Fulbright announces which ETA goes to which school, then a really awkward lunch with your new school officials, then you drive back to your school with them. This was also slightly embarrassing when you realize exactly how much luggage you have and how small the cars are here. After our 3 hour ride back to Hwacheon (we stopped and ate dak-gal-bi in Chuncheon) I met my host family. The parents own a hotel, however they live in a really modern apartment. My siblings are a girl in 7th grade and a boy in 6th grade. The family is great, although the only one that speaks English is the 7th grade girl.
School started on Wednesday, however I don't start teaching for another week. It has been very challenging/interesting being in a place where you can communicate with very few people. I hope that this post finds you all doing well!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Leaving Chuncheon
So, tonight is my night in Chuncheon, and I am a little sad to leave "mini America". For our last night out, a group of us ate Patpingsu (the best is supposed to be here in Chuncheon), and then went to noraebang (karaoke). It was so much fun.... then we ad McDonald's delivered to the dorm as we were packing! This started my thinking process about the differences of Korea and America and the many "improvements" that I have made. So here is my list:
Top 5 things that I love about Korea/ orientation:
5. Couples that wear matching t-shirts a.k.a. couple tees
4. Getting any type of food delivered without a delivery charge!
3. Beautiful scenery
2. Trying new foods
1. Meeting great people and making new friends!
Top 10 improvements/ new experiences since I've been in Korea:
10. Realizing that foods that I don't like in the U.S. aren't that bad when compared to foods that I have eaten here.... it is definitely a sliding scale!
9. Eating a baby octopus- yes it was a gross as it sounds.
8. Being gwaked at everywhere I go.
7. Going to a jimjilbang. This is a spa type place, but you sit in hot pools naked. Very different.
6. Teaching at Camp Fulbright!
5. Learning how to hold/use chopsticks. Since Koreans use these at every meal, this was definitely a good skill to acquire.
4. Climbing to the top of a mountain.
3. Singing in a noraebang with fun people.
2. Learning taekwondo and becoming a yellow belt.
1. Partially learning a new language, and graduating from Korea University.
This weekend we will be in Seoul. Friday we will meet the U.S. ambassador to South Korea and have a cook out at her house. Saturday I am meeting up with Dongmi and she is going to show me around Seoul. Sunday, some of the girls and I are going to get our nails done and maybe a haircut. On Monday, we meet our school officials, and they take us to our schools and homestays. This will be a big day, as I will be moving away from 70 other Americans, and moving into a Korean family. I know I will miss the friends that I have made during orientation, but am so excited to meet my family and start teaching.
Top 5 things that I love about Korea/ orientation:
5. Couples that wear matching t-shirts a.k.a. couple tees
4. Getting any type of food delivered without a delivery charge!
3. Beautiful scenery
2. Trying new foods
1. Meeting great people and making new friends!
Top 10 improvements/ new experiences since I've been in Korea:
10. Realizing that foods that I don't like in the U.S. aren't that bad when compared to foods that I have eaten here.... it is definitely a sliding scale!
9. Eating a baby octopus- yes it was a gross as it sounds.
8. Being gwaked at everywhere I go.
7. Going to a jimjilbang. This is a spa type place, but you sit in hot pools naked. Very different.
6. Teaching at Camp Fulbright!
5. Learning how to hold/use chopsticks. Since Koreans use these at every meal, this was definitely a good skill to acquire.
4. Climbing to the top of a mountain.
3. Singing in a noraebang with fun people.
2. Learning taekwondo and becoming a yellow belt.
1. Partially learning a new language, and graduating from Korea University.
This weekend we will be in Seoul. Friday we will meet the U.S. ambassador to South Korea and have a cook out at her house. Saturday I am meeting up with Dongmi and she is going to show me around Seoul. Sunday, some of the girls and I are going to get our nails done and maybe a haircut. On Monday, we meet our school officials, and they take us to our schools and homestays. This will be a big day, as I will be moving away from 70 other Americans, and moving into a Korean family. I know I will miss the friends that I have made during orientation, but am so excited to meet my family and start teaching.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
So much news, so little time
So it has been a crazy couple of weeks, and I have had very little free time until now. I am going to try and sum up the last two weeks.
I taught on "Thanksgiving Day" in an intermediate class. These students were really great. Their English wasn't as good as the first group of students I taught, but there were very smart, and the activities that I had planned went really well. A great piece of advice that my clinical instructor told me was this, "They may have trouble putting into words what they are thinking. However, this doesn't make them dumb. It just makes it more challenging as a teacher to plan advanced lessons, but having to use simple instructions and wording, so that the students can understand what they are supposed to do." This is so true, and I will definitely reflect on it as I teach throughout the year.
Yesterday was our last official day of Korean language classes! I can't believe that we have been here 5 weeks, and how much that I have learned within that time. I can now hold a basic conversation, and be able to get around the city on my own. I even had an outing to E-mart where I told the taxi driver where to go! (Small but important steps!) We have our Korea language final on Monday, and I will be spending most of the weekend studying. There are four parts on the final- reading, writing, role playing with a partner (acting out a certain situation, such as navigating, asking for, and pricing things in the grocery store, or asking about the weather- I guess it is universal to talk about the weather- haha), and an individual interview in Korean. Please wish me luck with this!
This past week I also received my placement school. I will be teaching in the city of Hwacheon, South Korea. Hwacheon is a very agriculturally rooted city of about 8,000 people. It is north of where we are now, and pretty close to North Korea. I will be teaching at a co-ed middle school, and will have about 350 students. I feel really lucky with this placement, as some of my peers will be teaching over 1000 students per week! There are also two other ETA's in Hwacheon- they will both be teaching elementary students. Later this week, we will know more about our host family- I am so excited to learn who I will be living with for the next year!
Today, our group of ETA's visited the DMZ. We actually drove through Hwacheon to get to the DMZ. It was really cool to able to see my town before I actually move there. It is a very beautifully situated city- surrounded by mountains and a river. At the DMZ, a soldier talked to us, about their job. We went to a very remote portion of the DMZ, so there was no "visitor center" or anything like that. From where we were at (the soldier's observation point), we could see the fences and North Korea. We could also see where the North Korean military grows their own food (even the military is hungry- they only eat 3 times per week :( The area was strangely quiet and peaceful (very abandoned). We could not take pictures looking into the North, but I know that it is something I will never forget.
Assuming that the Korean final goes well, we will have a graduation ceremony on August 13! On Friday, we leave for Seoul, and get to spend the weekend in Seoul together. The U.S. ambassador to South Korea, is having us all over for a pool party and barbeque on Friday evening!!! I can't wait- maybe we'll get grilled hamburgers :) Saturday and Sunday are free days and I am hoping to meet up with Dongmi! On Monday, we will meet our school officials, and they will take us from Seoul to our respective schools and homestays. This will be a very emotional day, as we will be "moving on" to the next phase here in Korea. I know that I will miss the good friends that I have made (most of them are 4 hours away), but am lucky that there are other ETA's in my town. It will be exciting to start our "job" and the reason that I came here for- to teach!
Here are some links for the city and county of Hwacheon!
http://www.ihc.go.kr/foreign/eng/page/sub01/sub01_01.html
http://www.narafestival.com/global/content_view.asp?bc=F001&bo__idx=11961
http://www.invil.org/english/village/gangwon/contents.jsp?con_no=604594&page_no=1
I love you all and hope to talk to you soon!
I taught on "Thanksgiving Day" in an intermediate class. These students were really great. Their English wasn't as good as the first group of students I taught, but there were very smart, and the activities that I had planned went really well. A great piece of advice that my clinical instructor told me was this, "They may have trouble putting into words what they are thinking. However, this doesn't make them dumb. It just makes it more challenging as a teacher to plan advanced lessons, but having to use simple instructions and wording, so that the students can understand what they are supposed to do." This is so true, and I will definitely reflect on it as I teach throughout the year.
Yesterday was our last official day of Korean language classes! I can't believe that we have been here 5 weeks, and how much that I have learned within that time. I can now hold a basic conversation, and be able to get around the city on my own. I even had an outing to E-mart where I told the taxi driver where to go! (Small but important steps!) We have our Korea language final on Monday, and I will be spending most of the weekend studying. There are four parts on the final- reading, writing, role playing with a partner (acting out a certain situation, such as navigating, asking for, and pricing things in the grocery store, or asking about the weather- I guess it is universal to talk about the weather- haha), and an individual interview in Korean. Please wish me luck with this!
This past week I also received my placement school. I will be teaching in the city of Hwacheon, South Korea. Hwacheon is a very agriculturally rooted city of about 8,000 people. It is north of where we are now, and pretty close to North Korea. I will be teaching at a co-ed middle school, and will have about 350 students. I feel really lucky with this placement, as some of my peers will be teaching over 1000 students per week! There are also two other ETA's in Hwacheon- they will both be teaching elementary students. Later this week, we will know more about our host family- I am so excited to learn who I will be living with for the next year!
Today, our group of ETA's visited the DMZ. We actually drove through Hwacheon to get to the DMZ. It was really cool to able to see my town before I actually move there. It is a very beautifully situated city- surrounded by mountains and a river. At the DMZ, a soldier talked to us, about their job. We went to a very remote portion of the DMZ, so there was no "visitor center" or anything like that. From where we were at (the soldier's observation point), we could see the fences and North Korea. We could also see where the North Korean military grows their own food (even the military is hungry- they only eat 3 times per week :( The area was strangely quiet and peaceful (very abandoned). We could not take pictures looking into the North, but I know that it is something I will never forget.
Assuming that the Korean final goes well, we will have a graduation ceremony on August 13! On Friday, we leave for Seoul, and get to spend the weekend in Seoul together. The U.S. ambassador to South Korea, is having us all over for a pool party and barbeque on Friday evening!!! I can't wait- maybe we'll get grilled hamburgers :) Saturday and Sunday are free days and I am hoping to meet up with Dongmi! On Monday, we will meet our school officials, and they will take us from Seoul to our respective schools and homestays. This will be a very emotional day, as we will be "moving on" to the next phase here in Korea. I know that I will miss the good friends that I have made (most of them are 4 hours away), but am lucky that there are other ETA's in my town. It will be exciting to start our "job" and the reason that I came here for- to teach!
Here are some links for the city and county of Hwacheon!
http://www.ihc.go.kr/foreign/eng/page/sub01/sub01_01.html
http://www.narafestival.com/global/content_view.asp?bc=F001&bo__idx=11961
http://www.invil.org/english/village/gangwon/contents.jsp?con_no=604594&page_no=1
I love you all and hope to talk to you soon!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Teaching conversational English
Right now, Fulbright is hosting an English immersion camp for grade school through high school students. The theme for camp is holidays. I had the chance to teach two conversational English classes this past week. Both classes were with advanced students. This means that they can read and write really well. The can also mostly speak in complete sentences.
My first lesson was on "New Years Day" a mostly cultural lesson. We watched the ball drop in NYC. I taught students about travel vocabulary, i.e. destination, vacation, attraction. I showed them an example of a flier, and introduced the concept of what a flier does. They then had to make their own flier for an attraction in NYC. Students were engaged (and so great!), but I had a lot to improve on- such as speaking slower.
The second lesson was to the same group of students, and was on Independence Day. I taught about the importance of flags in a society. I used a lot of questions in this lesson, and the students really responded! We played a game, where students were in teams and had to decide if the fact given was for the American flag or for the Korean flag. We talked about symbols. Students then had to make their own flag, with symbols and colors. They also had to write sentences about why they chose those particular symbols or colors. Then, they had to share with the class. We hung up the flags in the room and they looked great! This lesson went a lot better, my questioning was better, as well as my pace and repetition of terms.
During this lesson, the director of Fulbright South Korea, came in and watched me teach for about 15 minutes. I feel honored for her to observe me teach, and I hope I did a good job representing our group. It is very cool that she is so interested in what we are doing!
I will teach again on Wednesday. It is Thanksgiving. I will be teaching an intermediate class. When I observed, they are not as comfortable using sentences. First, we will talk about emotions and emoticons. We will define thankful. Then, we will be writing and speaking sentences using "I am thankful for_______ because ______". They will write these on feathers for a turkey, and eventually make a turkey. They will be reading these out loud for speaking practice. This group may be more challenging, as they are not as comfortable using English. I hope it goes as well as the second lesson.
I hope to have more pictures added to photobucket soon, and will post a link when I do. I hope you are all doing well. I think about you often!
My first lesson was on "New Years Day" a mostly cultural lesson. We watched the ball drop in NYC. I taught students about travel vocabulary, i.e. destination, vacation, attraction. I showed them an example of a flier, and introduced the concept of what a flier does. They then had to make their own flier for an attraction in NYC. Students were engaged (and so great!), but I had a lot to improve on- such as speaking slower.
The second lesson was to the same group of students, and was on Independence Day. I taught about the importance of flags in a society. I used a lot of questions in this lesson, and the students really responded! We played a game, where students were in teams and had to decide if the fact given was for the American flag or for the Korean flag. We talked about symbols. Students then had to make their own flag, with symbols and colors. They also had to write sentences about why they chose those particular symbols or colors. Then, they had to share with the class. We hung up the flags in the room and they looked great! This lesson went a lot better, my questioning was better, as well as my pace and repetition of terms.
During this lesson, the director of Fulbright South Korea, came in and watched me teach for about 15 minutes. I feel honored for her to observe me teach, and I hope I did a good job representing our group. It is very cool that she is so interested in what we are doing!
I will teach again on Wednesday. It is Thanksgiving. I will be teaching an intermediate class. When I observed, they are not as comfortable using sentences. First, we will talk about emotions and emoticons. We will define thankful. Then, we will be writing and speaking sentences using "I am thankful for_______ because ______". They will write these on feathers for a turkey, and eventually make a turkey. They will be reading these out loud for speaking practice. This group may be more challenging, as they are not as comfortable using English. I hope it goes as well as the second lesson.
I hope to have more pictures added to photobucket soon, and will post a link when I do. I hope you are all doing well. I think about you often!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Week 2!
Week two in Korea has been very busy for me. We have Korean language class every morning for four hours. Then in the afternoon we have a teaching workshop or a cultural workshop. After that it is off to taekwondo, dinner, and studying. This past weekend, we took a trip to Songnisan. It is a very mountainous region in the middle of South Korea. It was so much fun to get away from the stress here at Chuncheon. We took a six hour hike to the top of a mountain- and the view was so worth it! Additionally, we got to eat as traditional Koreans eat, i.e. on the floor with no shoes on! As a group, we went out and had a blast at norebang (i.e. a karaoke bar), and yes they do have songs in English, such as songs by Journey and Elvis! We are now back at Chuncheon. The University that we are at is hosting an English immersion camp for students. As part of this, we are having the chance to teach three conversational English lessons. I taught my first one on Monday about travel vocabulary and New York City. I will teach again on Thursday about the American flag, and why flags are important in a culture. Tonight, a group is going to see Harry Potter (in Korean, BUT with English subtitles)! Hopefully, this weekend I will be able to go to Seoul and meet with Dongmi- I haven't got to see her yet!!! I hope to have time to post more pictures soon. I hope everyone is doing well- and I miss you a bunch!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Cultural Adjustment #1
Our first assignment for orientation was to pick and answer two questions. These will be weekly assignments and are called cultural adjustment checks. Our responses had to be 500 words. Here is my assignment.
4. What are your top three goals for this Orientation? You might consider professional, personal and cross-cultural development.
My top three goals for orientation are as follows:
1. To learn as much of the language as possible.
2. To develop new relationships and friendships with other ETA’s.
3. To learn as much about the Korean culture as I can.
1. I am challenging myself to learn the language, first off because I have never done anything like that before. I want to learn enough to be able to get by in
2. I have already had the opportunity to meet a lot of cool, interesting, and intriguing people during the first couple of days. By sharing many of the same experiences, I think we will bond. I want to continue to grow these relationships, and maintain them not only for our time here in
3. To accomplish this goal I have been trying many new things. This includes the food (I have tried all of the foods at each meal) and the extra-curricular activities. I am psyched to learn taekwondo and how to cook Korean style! Additionally, I would love to attend new festivals throughout the year, hike a few mountains, and go shopping in an underground shopping mall, as well as in
5. What is your greatest motivation for coming to
My greatest motivation for coming to
As an agricultural educator, we have a lot of opportunities to share time outside of school with our students. We coach our students to help prepare them for contests, we help them with applications and record books, and we have the opportunity to travel with them. I am hoping to get involved in some way to give these opportunities to my students here in
P.S. We had ham this morning for breakfast!!! I have never been so excited to see ham in my life :-)
Sunday, July 5, 2009
First day in Korea
We arrived at Incheon airport at about 4:30 a.m. local time. We loaded the buses and headed to Kangwon University in Chuncheon. We had the morning to meet our roommate, move into the dorms, and unpack. We at lunch at the cafeteria. Lunch consisted of kimchi, a macaroni salad, curry and rice, and soup- a great introduction to Korean cuisine. This afternoon we had business meetings and a tour of the university- it is really big and they even have an ag. department! Dinner consisted of some cooked eggplant-like stuff, spicy soup with squid/octupus in it, kimchi, fried fish pieces (I think). I hope to find some American food later this week. We then walked around outside of the university a little bit- there is a Baskin Robbins and Dunkin' Donuts close by. I signed up to start taking Taekwondo for next Monday. We will have classes four days a week for an hour each. My roommate's name is Christine and she is pretty cool. Tomorrow we have our language placement test and workshops. Although I did sleep some on our 12 hour flight, I am now exhausted and will talk to you all soon. Much love.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Top 5
Tomorrow I am leaving for Korea. My flight leaves KCI at 6:45 p.m. I arrive in LAX at 8 p.m. Once there, I will meet up with other Fulbrighters to board our plane to Seoul at 12 a.m.! So, I have made a mental list of the things I will probably miss the most. This list is open to change once I'm actually in Korea.
5. No language barrier.
4. My own bed
3. The farm
2. Food, especially potatoes and steak
1. My family and friends
My phone number is 1-620-433-5031. You can call me (if I am on the computer I will answer, if not I have voicemail). Remeber, that I will be 13 hours ahead!
I love you all and the next time I blog I will be in Korea!!!
5. No language barrier.
4. My own bed
3. The farm
2. Food, especially potatoes and steak
1. My family and friends
My phone number is 1-620-433-5031. You can call me (if I am on the computer I will answer, if not I have voicemail). Remeber, that I will be 13 hours ahead!
I love you all and the next time I blog I will be in Korea!!!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
15 Days and counting
I am approximately 15 days away from leaving Kansas for South Korea. A few things that are bothering me.
1. I still know very little of the language....the alphabet, hello, milk, and sandwich may or may not get me very far.
2. Two bags of 50 pounds each is a challenge to pack for an entire year.
3. The "Kansas" gifts that I ordered came in today. These included wheat weaving, barb wire weaving, sunflower seeds, honey stix, jellies, etc. .... What if they are entirely wrong for my host family?
4. What are the other ETA's like? Will we get along?
If you have any ideas for other gifts or ideas about packing, leave a message!!!
1. I still know very little of the language....the alphabet, hello, milk, and sandwich may or may not get me very far.
2. Two bags of 50 pounds each is a challenge to pack for an entire year.
3. The "Kansas" gifts that I ordered came in today. These included wheat weaving, barb wire weaving, sunflower seeds, honey stix, jellies, etc. .... What if they are entirely wrong for my host family?
4. What are the other ETA's like? Will we get along?
If you have any ideas for other gifts or ideas about packing, leave a message!!!
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