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.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
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.
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