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.