NOTE: I completely forgot I drafted this post and never finished it -_-...this was written sometime in December...obviously my goal of finishing the last few months before the new years came failed -_-
From now on I'll be updating by topics instead of chronologically because I'm obviously not very good at keeping up to date ^^; sorry~
I'll be updating again soon :) until then!
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Blogging right now in an attempt to stay awake O_O. Let's say staying up until 3:30 AM watching Korean dramas was not a good choice (but I can't help it...my coteacher did it before too!)
Since my attempt to get updated before the new month came failed...I'm going to try and at least recap on the last couple months before the new year comes...that's feasible...right??
Anywho, October!
Not much happened the first week in terms of school. It was a short week because of the upcoming Chuseok holiday (the Korean Thanksgiving). On Tuesday I went to Kangnam for the first time to meet up with Matty for dinner. The next day I brought my school these boxes of these walnut pastries filled with red bean to celebrate my first pay check. They seemed to like it so I was happy :). Later in the day my principal apparently went out and bought me this huge box of these traditional korean cookies (I'm really not used to getting all these kind of mini present/food presents but...it is very tasty and very kind ^^)
The Thursday before the Chuseok weekend (which my friend and I had planned a trip to go out of Seoul to Gyeongju the former capital during the Shilla period) my friend and I decided to go out for a night of fun before our trip. We started out in Sinchon for dinner but before that stopping by this place where she had gone to this language exchange bar years ago. Turns out it was still there so we talked to one of the people working with the company that hosted the events for it. After getting information on the language exchange bar we headed out for some dinner and drinks. And as expected afterwards we headed over to Hongdae to dive into the club scene there...we ended up staying there until past 4 am (keep in mind we had to depart early the next morning).
I'm suprised we were able to wake up in time the next morning!! After getting only a couple hours of sleep my friend and I met up again and taxi-ed over to seoul station to catch our bus. We grabbed some snacks for the bus but my stomach was not up for it. We both were knocked out for most of the 3 hour bus ride there, still feeling groggy from the night before.
When we finally arrived in Gyeongju we grabbed some info on city tours from the information desk and then made our way to our hostel. I've only stayed in a couple of hostels in my life ...but this hostel in Korea was by farrrr shadier and way dirtier! We decided since we already paid for the first night we would just stay there for one night and try to find another place the next day. We headed out to find some sambap for lunch which ended up taking us much longer to find than expected. After much wandering around we finally found a place which was family owned (so cute..their kids were playing in the restaurant and the baby kept crawling over close to our table <3). After lunch we headed back to the hostel for a nap (still exhausted from the night before). After some rest we got up and headed out by bus to Bomun Lake Resort which was suppose to put on a free cultural show. We watched some traditional instrument playing and some traditional dances. When the show finished we grabbed some dinner then made our way back to the hostel to turn in early (we had stopped by a hotel near the hostel and it turns out that the hotel [which was very cute and clean] costs only 4000 won more per person each night...definitely worth it for such an upgrade!).
The first night trying to find a place for dinner was when I really noticed how different of a city Seoul is compared to other cities in South Korea. Before we headed out we had asked the owner of the hostel where a good place to eat was and he had told us there would be lots of restaurants in that area. When we arrived there it was mostly dimmly lit streets with just a few eateries sprinkled around the street. Compare this to Seoul where everything is densely packed together with all the buildings having multiple floors all filled with different types of restaurants and stores. It was also much quieter here - the lake resort was a big tourist area yet it was pretty quiet aside from a few cars zooming down the streets. In Seoul it feels like there are people awake and about all the time - the city is always lit with people and LED lights.
The next morning we woke up early to go to the hotel to check in and shower. After getting ready we decided it would be easier to take the city tour so we hoped on the bus and went on our way. We visited many of the main sites (tombs, temples, the observatory, etc..look at my fb pictures for the exact locations!) and it took the majority of the day. A side story: So, we went on the tour on the actual day of Chuseok and on the tour a really kind lady with her family would share some of the traditional foods eaten on Chuseok with us (for example songpyeon). It was really sweet of her...I'm not sure if I've blogged about this already but if I have I'm going to talk about it again because it's something that I really love about Korea..this sense of community (I'm not really sure if community is the right word I'm looking for but I'll use it for now). The fact that others who may not know you well are concerned for your well-being and are just very giving. I'm not sure if I'm making sense but just simple gestures make me feel not so alone here (which I of course appreciate).
After getting back from our tour we explored downtown for a bit and then headed back to our hotel. We grabbed a late dinner of ramen and kimbap and then turned in for the night.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
September 2009
I realize I haven't updated in almost a month...even after saying I would update more. Thanks Brad for calling me a liar and making me feel bad ^^ just kidding!
So..where did I leave off?
Ah the next week was my first week of actual teaching! I helped create a simple lesson plan which included me giving an introduction of myself to each class. The lesson was relatively simple so the first few classes went smoothly (plus my novelty as a foreigner was still in play so most of the kids were well behaved).
On Wednesday I ventured into Hongdae to try and find a nice box of gift chocolates because it was my coteachers birthday the next day. You would think that something simple like that would be easy to find...but it's not!
Anywho, the next day after school was over we had a little party in my 5th grade coteachers room to celebrate. We have had many little parties..("Diana come, it's so-and-so's birthday..we're going to have a party" "Diana come, one of the teachers just got married/engaged so they bought everyone pizza" "Diana come, it's friday...we're going to have a party") which mostly consists of us eating food (we've had pizza, cupcakes, a cake made out of rice cakes, ddukbokki, mandu, juices...soda...oh so much eating) and talking (mostly the other teachers talking in Korean...until the coteachers start talking to me about Kdramas or Kstars haha)
That was pretty much the finish to my first week - schoolwise anyway. On Friday I headed out with my friend again to Hongdae area (I don't remember what we did exactly but most likely another night dancing until the wee hours of the morning).
Saturday my friends and I got together to check out Yonsei University's festival called Yongojon in Sinchon! It was really fun and exciting to be around the area because the students have sooo much pride and school spirit! Basically during the day time Yonsei University plays different sports games with their rival school Korea University (? I think that's their rival...I don't really remember exactly but their school color is red haha). At night the students put on their school color (Blue for Yonsei, Red for Korea University) and in large groups they plague the streets of Sinchon going to restaurants and bars demanding free food and drinks. They sing, dance and chant their school's songs in the streets and even have mocking chants for their rivals. It was cute watching how into it they all were and all the different chants and games they knew.
My group headed to a bar for some drinks - we ended up staying there for a while and then heading out to the Yonsei campus. There we watched a performance (by who? I have no idea.) and had some free beer. Once the crowd dispursed we mingled a bit with a group of study abroad students from Germany. Afterwards we left campus to go to this bar called Mike's Cabin? which we hung out with mostly NSET - we eventually left because it was getting too crowded and we were hungry so we grabbed some food and then called it a night
Sunday I had dinner with my orientation roommate in Myeongdong. Myeongdong is known for its great shopping so of course we had to do a little shopping before dinner! There are many different shops here, mostly Korean brand clothes like WhoAU (Korean abercrombie), Basic House or Korean make up stores like The Face Shop and Missha. There is also a huge Lotte department store that spans 3 buildings! Our first stop was the Forever 21! If you don't know...back in the states I pretty much buy all my clothes from Forever because thats the only place I can really afford. Unfortunately the clothes at the Forever21 here are really expensive! Well, not super super pricey but definitely more expensive than in the states - and they sell a lot of old clothes that were in stores in the states a couple months ago. Strange isn't it? In any case after some shopping we wandered around to find some food and ended up grabbing some jjimdduk (sp?) which is a dish with chopped chicken, spicy soy sauce and glass noodles mmm! one of my favorite korean dishes :)
The next couple of nights after school was over was spent going to various places near by to eat..Mr. Pizza (korean style pizza with sweet potato mousse filled crust! sounds strange but it's amazing! for those of you in California I hear there's one in LA..you should try it. ^^) and Baskin Robins! No ice cream here does not taste the same as the Baskin Robins back at home (even in these chain restraunts I find the food here is different, not in a bad way but just different. Mostly it has an artifically sweeter taste to it I think...but I kind of like it and have long gotten used to it by now ^^).
I did finally get my cell phone this week after almsot a month of being without one! I was so excited...you never realize how dependent you are on your cellphone to communicate with others until you're stripped of the privledge. It is a simple Cyon Ice cream phone (you can youtube it for the cute and catchy CF with Kim Tae Hee) in white!
My coteachers and I wandered around to the various cellphone stores around our school after lunch and finally decided to stay with LG's service. They gave me the phone for free and the standard 30,000 won sign up fee (to be paid in 3 monthly installments of 10,000 won). I pay a base fee of 13,000 won per month and then from then its about 100 won per minute of airtime use and 20 won per text. They also gave me a cute cell strap, extra battery, plastic cover and two different kind of battery chargers for free ^^ (or "service" as they refer to it in Korea)
I did however, have to sign up for another bank account because my Hana bank account (which I signed up for through orientation) was created with my passport number and I needed to use a bank with my ARC number. But it turned out to be a good thing because I use my second bank account as a savings account (as to not tempt myself to blow all of my salary on clothes and debaucherous nights out). Other than the hassle of trying to find another bank I had fun walking around with my teachers (we had ice cream together too ^^).
On Friday of this week I met up with some friends for dinner in Namdaemun (it is also known for it's shopping but more geared towards an older crowd. They have a lot of traditional items here as well). Part of Namdaemun is actually burned down - supposidely some drunk man tried to burn the whole place down and now they're rebuilding that area. Afterwards we headed over to Myeong-dong for some shopping and then headed home.
This was actually the first time I caught the last subway home! I was walking with my friend and it was getting close to midnight but I didn't really think much of it because I figured it wasn't too late and there are so many trains that always run (subways close here by midnight and a bit earlier on weekends). As we were walking we heard an overhead announcement in Korean and I jokingly told my friend 'that's the message saying we're screwed' and then...of course all of a sudden all the people around us started running because yes that was the call for the last train. So we ran too needless to say and caught the last train home ^^
The next day was...ASIA SONG FESTIVAL!!! Yes, I'm obsessed with Kpop. This concert had many stars from all across Asia including Korean pop stars...SNSD, 2NE1, Big Bang andddd my favorite...SUPER JUNIOR! Yes, I was very very very VERY excited. We ended up getting over to the Seoul world cup stadium much later than expected and headed all the way back to the end of the line. But, it was madness so we ended up just running and joining a crowd walking into the stadium. In the end it didn't matter much because if you were not in the standing area you could not really see any of the performers on stage very well, you had to watch the big screen. But all in all it was still really fun! My first Kpop concert in Korea so of course I had to buy a fan light stick (if you watch performances of kpop artist many of their fans will hold these light sticks matching the color of the group their supporting and they'll wave the stick in the beat to their songs).
And yes if you were wondering...when Super Junior came on I did go a little crazy. Probably screaming much more frantically than the elementary school girls there. OH which reminds me! I ran into my students at the concert haha it was so cute they recognized me and called to me because I probably wouldn't have recognized them at that time ^^;;.
The next day I went up to N Seoul Tower! We ended up accidently hiking up Namsan mountain for a bit because we went the wrong way but after a super steep hike up a hill we finally made it to the tower! We first went to the teddy bear museum (yes a museum of all teddy bears! telling the story of Seoul! how cute right?!) and I had a cute overload. Everything is so adorable in Korea. Afterwards we took the elevator up to the top of the tower. You actually can't go outside of the tower but the view from inside is still beautiful! You can see all the city lights and have a panoramic view of Seoul. At the bottom of the tower there is a light project going on but we didn't get to see it in action unfortunately (because we wanted to make sure we caught the subway home).
Phew...are you getting tired of reading without pictures? I apologize ^^;; I will try to add some pictures once I get caught up (I know I keep saying this...they're not empty promises I really do want to blog more! There are so many good moments I want to share with all of you! I'm mostly blogging about my adventures exploring Seoul rather than my school experiences because I wrote down what I did around the city but not in school)
Anywho! So finally the last week of September!! Monday I went to COEX mall to meet up with Matty (it is the stop between us). COEX mall is freaking huge. It has an aquarium, department stores, lots of eating places and even a kimchi museum! We wanted to check out the museum but it was closed that day :(. We ended up just shopping a bit and grabbing some dinner. Tuesday I went out to dinner again and Wednesday some friends and I headed to City Hall to sign up for some free Korean language classes.
Side bar!: English-Korean classes with 1st grade teachers
Some of the 1st grade teachers kindly offered to help teach me Korean to help me better acclimate to living in Korea. My coteacher bought me a self study book and the other teachers have given me a first graders text book and have been helping me learn useful phrases and practice pronucation. I'm also helping them with their English because they're interested in improving their speaking skills. They've been really kind and helpful - one of the teachers even bought me a bunch of stuff I wanted for my apartment! They really take care of me and it's so nice to have people to talk to and I can ask for help from :).
Sometimes we just do fun things too like talk about Korean men/their husbands and shopping~ or we'll have cooking days! They taught me how to make ddukbokki! I really enjoy my time with them...but I'm sad one of the teachers is leaving in January for a year in the states :(. If you can't tell I'm growing quite attached to the teachers here at my school. They make me feel like I'm not alone here. Like I said before I couldn't imagine being at another school.
Anywho! Back to City Hall and signing up for classes. It turns out that the class with absolutely no Korean background conflicts with my work schedule so I had to opt out of taking classes until I have studied enough to pass the first couple classes. We had dinner at Omurice (which is delicious!) and then headed back home.
Thursday I'm not sure why but my friend and I decided to grab some fried chicken and drinks so we ended up having delicious Hotsun (fried chicken made for women) and cocktail soju! It was a delicious and fun Thursday night to say the least haha
The next day some of the teachers took me out for dinner and drinking to celebrate my first month in Seoul! It was fun drinking around my place and after they left and I went back home I planned to go out but my friend and I ended up staying in because I didn't feel well (don't worry it wasn't from the drinking!)
The last weekend of September I spent mostly in Incheon where there was a global fair happening and the R-16 Bboy competition! We spent most of the time wandering and exploring the fair grounds rather than at the actual competition but we came for the last battle which was exciting. Afterwards we took pictures with the teams and wandered around for some fair food. On Sunday we came back to Incheon for the hiphop concert (with Drunken Tiger - korean hip hop legend! I used to listen to him when I was in middle school that's how old he is. and Epik High!) again another free concert! Well sort of, the previous day we got in for free to the fair but on Sunday we had to pay like 5,000 won or something? Still very cheap to be so close to them and to see the concert!
Phewwww! So that was my September in Seoul ^^ and seeing as I'm at school right now and about to head home soon I won't start on October yet...but it will come soon! For a preview lets just say October was filled with disease, drama and dates haha
Until the next post~ Hope you're all staying healthy, happy and warm ^^
So..where did I leave off?
Ah the next week was my first week of actual teaching! I helped create a simple lesson plan which included me giving an introduction of myself to each class. The lesson was relatively simple so the first few classes went smoothly (plus my novelty as a foreigner was still in play so most of the kids were well behaved).
On Wednesday I ventured into Hongdae to try and find a nice box of gift chocolates because it was my coteachers birthday the next day. You would think that something simple like that would be easy to find...but it's not!
Anywho, the next day after school was over we had a little party in my 5th grade coteachers room to celebrate. We have had many little parties..("Diana come, it's so-and-so's birthday..we're going to have a party" "Diana come, one of the teachers just got married/engaged so they bought everyone pizza" "Diana come, it's friday...we're going to have a party") which mostly consists of us eating food (we've had pizza, cupcakes, a cake made out of rice cakes, ddukbokki, mandu, juices...soda...oh so much eating) and talking (mostly the other teachers talking in Korean...until the coteachers start talking to me about Kdramas or Kstars haha)
That was pretty much the finish to my first week - schoolwise anyway. On Friday I headed out with my friend again to Hongdae area (I don't remember what we did exactly but most likely another night dancing until the wee hours of the morning).
Saturday my friends and I got together to check out Yonsei University's festival called Yongojon in Sinchon! It was really fun and exciting to be around the area because the students have sooo much pride and school spirit! Basically during the day time Yonsei University plays different sports games with their rival school Korea University (? I think that's their rival...I don't really remember exactly but their school color is red haha). At night the students put on their school color (Blue for Yonsei, Red for Korea University) and in large groups they plague the streets of Sinchon going to restaurants and bars demanding free food and drinks. They sing, dance and chant their school's songs in the streets and even have mocking chants for their rivals. It was cute watching how into it they all were and all the different chants and games they knew.
My group headed to a bar for some drinks - we ended up staying there for a while and then heading out to the Yonsei campus. There we watched a performance (by who? I have no idea.) and had some free beer. Once the crowd dispursed we mingled a bit with a group of study abroad students from Germany. Afterwards we left campus to go to this bar called Mike's Cabin? which we hung out with mostly NSET - we eventually left because it was getting too crowded and we were hungry so we grabbed some food and then called it a night
Sunday I had dinner with my orientation roommate in Myeongdong. Myeongdong is known for its great shopping so of course we had to do a little shopping before dinner! There are many different shops here, mostly Korean brand clothes like WhoAU (Korean abercrombie), Basic House or Korean make up stores like The Face Shop and Missha. There is also a huge Lotte department store that spans 3 buildings! Our first stop was the Forever 21! If you don't know...back in the states I pretty much buy all my clothes from Forever because thats the only place I can really afford. Unfortunately the clothes at the Forever21 here are really expensive! Well, not super super pricey but definitely more expensive than in the states - and they sell a lot of old clothes that were in stores in the states a couple months ago. Strange isn't it? In any case after some shopping we wandered around to find some food and ended up grabbing some jjimdduk (sp?) which is a dish with chopped chicken, spicy soy sauce and glass noodles mmm! one of my favorite korean dishes :)
The next couple of nights after school was over was spent going to various places near by to eat..Mr. Pizza (korean style pizza with sweet potato mousse filled crust! sounds strange but it's amazing! for those of you in California I hear there's one in LA..you should try it. ^^) and Baskin Robins! No ice cream here does not taste the same as the Baskin Robins back at home (even in these chain restraunts I find the food here is different, not in a bad way but just different. Mostly it has an artifically sweeter taste to it I think...but I kind of like it and have long gotten used to it by now ^^).
I did finally get my cell phone this week after almsot a month of being without one! I was so excited...you never realize how dependent you are on your cellphone to communicate with others until you're stripped of the privledge. It is a simple Cyon Ice cream phone (you can youtube it for the cute and catchy CF with Kim Tae Hee) in white!
My coteachers and I wandered around to the various cellphone stores around our school after lunch and finally decided to stay with LG's service. They gave me the phone for free and the standard 30,000 won sign up fee (to be paid in 3 monthly installments of 10,000 won). I pay a base fee of 13,000 won per month and then from then its about 100 won per minute of airtime use and 20 won per text. They also gave me a cute cell strap, extra battery, plastic cover and two different kind of battery chargers for free ^^ (or "service" as they refer to it in Korea)
I did however, have to sign up for another bank account because my Hana bank account (which I signed up for through orientation) was created with my passport number and I needed to use a bank with my ARC number. But it turned out to be a good thing because I use my second bank account as a savings account (as to not tempt myself to blow all of my salary on clothes and debaucherous nights out). Other than the hassle of trying to find another bank I had fun walking around with my teachers (we had ice cream together too ^^).
On Friday of this week I met up with some friends for dinner in Namdaemun (it is also known for it's shopping but more geared towards an older crowd. They have a lot of traditional items here as well). Part of Namdaemun is actually burned down - supposidely some drunk man tried to burn the whole place down and now they're rebuilding that area. Afterwards we headed over to Myeong-dong for some shopping and then headed home.
This was actually the first time I caught the last subway home! I was walking with my friend and it was getting close to midnight but I didn't really think much of it because I figured it wasn't too late and there are so many trains that always run (subways close here by midnight and a bit earlier on weekends). As we were walking we heard an overhead announcement in Korean and I jokingly told my friend 'that's the message saying we're screwed' and then...of course all of a sudden all the people around us started running because yes that was the call for the last train. So we ran too needless to say and caught the last train home ^^
The next day was...ASIA SONG FESTIVAL!!! Yes, I'm obsessed with Kpop. This concert had many stars from all across Asia including Korean pop stars...SNSD, 2NE1, Big Bang andddd my favorite...SUPER JUNIOR! Yes, I was very very very VERY excited. We ended up getting over to the Seoul world cup stadium much later than expected and headed all the way back to the end of the line. But, it was madness so we ended up just running and joining a crowd walking into the stadium. In the end it didn't matter much because if you were not in the standing area you could not really see any of the performers on stage very well, you had to watch the big screen. But all in all it was still really fun! My first Kpop concert in Korea so of course I had to buy a fan light stick (if you watch performances of kpop artist many of their fans will hold these light sticks matching the color of the group their supporting and they'll wave the stick in the beat to their songs).
And yes if you were wondering...when Super Junior came on I did go a little crazy. Probably screaming much more frantically than the elementary school girls there. OH which reminds me! I ran into my students at the concert haha it was so cute they recognized me and called to me because I probably wouldn't have recognized them at that time ^^;;.
The next day I went up to N Seoul Tower! We ended up accidently hiking up Namsan mountain for a bit because we went the wrong way but after a super steep hike up a hill we finally made it to the tower! We first went to the teddy bear museum (yes a museum of all teddy bears! telling the story of Seoul! how cute right?!) and I had a cute overload. Everything is so adorable in Korea. Afterwards we took the elevator up to the top of the tower. You actually can't go outside of the tower but the view from inside is still beautiful! You can see all the city lights and have a panoramic view of Seoul. At the bottom of the tower there is a light project going on but we didn't get to see it in action unfortunately (because we wanted to make sure we caught the subway home).
Phew...are you getting tired of reading without pictures? I apologize ^^;; I will try to add some pictures once I get caught up (I know I keep saying this...they're not empty promises I really do want to blog more! There are so many good moments I want to share with all of you! I'm mostly blogging about my adventures exploring Seoul rather than my school experiences because I wrote down what I did around the city but not in school)
Anywho! So finally the last week of September!! Monday I went to COEX mall to meet up with Matty (it is the stop between us). COEX mall is freaking huge. It has an aquarium, department stores, lots of eating places and even a kimchi museum! We wanted to check out the museum but it was closed that day :(. We ended up just shopping a bit and grabbing some dinner. Tuesday I went out to dinner again and Wednesday some friends and I headed to City Hall to sign up for some free Korean language classes.
Side bar!: English-Korean classes with 1st grade teachers
Some of the 1st grade teachers kindly offered to help teach me Korean to help me better acclimate to living in Korea. My coteacher bought me a self study book and the other teachers have given me a first graders text book and have been helping me learn useful phrases and practice pronucation. I'm also helping them with their English because they're interested in improving their speaking skills. They've been really kind and helpful - one of the teachers even bought me a bunch of stuff I wanted for my apartment! They really take care of me and it's so nice to have people to talk to and I can ask for help from :).
Sometimes we just do fun things too like talk about Korean men/their husbands and shopping~ or we'll have cooking days! They taught me how to make ddukbokki! I really enjoy my time with them...but I'm sad one of the teachers is leaving in January for a year in the states :(. If you can't tell I'm growing quite attached to the teachers here at my school. They make me feel like I'm not alone here. Like I said before I couldn't imagine being at another school.
Anywho! Back to City Hall and signing up for classes. It turns out that the class with absolutely no Korean background conflicts with my work schedule so I had to opt out of taking classes until I have studied enough to pass the first couple classes. We had dinner at Omurice (which is delicious!) and then headed back home.
Thursday I'm not sure why but my friend and I decided to grab some fried chicken and drinks so we ended up having delicious Hotsun (fried chicken made for women) and cocktail soju! It was a delicious and fun Thursday night to say the least haha
The next day some of the teachers took me out for dinner and drinking to celebrate my first month in Seoul! It was fun drinking around my place and after they left and I went back home I planned to go out but my friend and I ended up staying in because I didn't feel well (don't worry it wasn't from the drinking!)
The last weekend of September I spent mostly in Incheon where there was a global fair happening and the R-16 Bboy competition! We spent most of the time wandering and exploring the fair grounds rather than at the actual competition but we came for the last battle which was exciting. Afterwards we took pictures with the teams and wandered around for some fair food. On Sunday we came back to Incheon for the hiphop concert (with Drunken Tiger - korean hip hop legend! I used to listen to him when I was in middle school that's how old he is. and Epik High!) again another free concert! Well sort of, the previous day we got in for free to the fair but on Sunday we had to pay like 5,000 won or something? Still very cheap to be so close to them and to see the concert!
Phewwww! So that was my September in Seoul ^^ and seeing as I'm at school right now and about to head home soon I won't start on October yet...but it will come soon! For a preview lets just say October was filled with disease, drama and dates haha
Until the next post~ Hope you're all staying healthy, happy and warm ^^
Monday, October 26, 2009
ALIVE.
The blog lives! I'm so sorry for the lack of updates the past....2 months
It's not because there hasn't been anything to update about (trust me, there has been SO much going on!!) just finding the time to sit down and just write especially when you're already behind.
Anyway! Today I'll try to get as caught up as I can so bear with me for a long post (which I will try to edit later to include pictures..we'll see how that goes.)
WEEK 1:
The Sunday before my first day I spent recovering from the night before as well as doing a little home shopping. I decided to buy a cake for my school as a welcoming present (mocha cake from one of the many Paris Baguette stores here)..it barely fit into my fun sized refrigerator (think of those college style mini fridge). I also spent some of the night contemplating my self-introduction to the school (I was told I'd have to give a 5 minute introduction of myself to be video broadcasted to the school).
My first day I was super nervous! I didn't even know where my school was because my other coteacher whom I hadn't met yet was going to walk me over. I remember waking up early to get ready and finish my speech (because of my typical procrastinating ways). I met my second coteacher outside my building and we walked over to the school. She seemed very timid but very sweet - something that I've noticed with most Koreans is despite having some level of knowledge about the English language they usually do not feel comfortable using it (especially in front of native speakers) and will also deny any sort of proficiency (even when they speak the language fairly well).
I personally really relate to their reluctance to use a foreign language because I myself am so uncomfortable practicing/using Spanish (despite studying it for 6 years) and Vietnamese (being able to understand it and having been raised with that language in the home). Something that I'm really challenging myself is to break away from the comfort of using English only - I am trying to learn Korean right now (self study and some of the teachers are helping me study as well).
I think it's so important to have confidence with language because if you don't try and you're always too afraid to make mistakes you'll never learn (which is what I tell all my students so...I'm trying to live by it too)
Anywho, tangent. SO we walked over to school and made a bit of small talk just beginning to get to know one another - randomly I ran into a friend I met at orientation on the way to school (turns out his school is on the way to mine! and he lives quite close to me although I still haven't visited his place yet)
Arrived at school to find half of the place under construction. I'll be honest as most of the teachers have expressed to me our school is obviously not in a well off area. Almost all the students families are middle to low class in terms of SES - this is also important because it is a reflection of their education level. Those students who do not have the money cannot afford to go to "hagwons" or at least more rigorous/challenging hagwons. Hagwons are like supplementary classes or courses that students take after school and usually in another place (they're usually referred to as academies). I see students wandering around so late at night on weekdays because they start school at 8-9am in the morning and once they finish at public school they continue at their hagwon until around 10pm at night. I remember at UCI I took a class about international education standards as well as study ethics - really got a firsthand contrast from the way people value education here in comparison to the states.
We also don't have much budget for extra materials (as far as I can see the school only pays for printer paper and ink for the printer - everything else the teachers supplement themselves...even colored construction paper and glue my coteacher buys for her class). There are many classrooms in Korea that are well equipped with touch screen TVs and lots of techy advancements but most of our classrooms just have a big screen TV and a microphone (which is more than enough to teach a class with so I can't complain)
Bottom line is that same as anywhere else lower SES usually means less education opportunities for students = but despite that they are generally really agreeable, cheerful and bright students (I dont think I would have been able to know the difference between the students who are very impoverish compared to the middle class students had my coteacher not pointed it out to me - at least in terms of their happiness and energy they bring to the class :) but I'll get into more of those stories later!)
Anyway back to the first day! So I was really nervous to have to give a speech in front of the school and for meeting all of the faculty, I didn't really know how I should go about introducing myself or what proper cultural protocol was...
My coteacher walked me into the administration office where I got to meet the principal and one of the vice principals (my school has a female principal and both a male and a female vice principal). They were very kind offering me coffee and asking me about myself (most of the conversation was translated through my coteacher). They were also very appreciative of the cake I brought :) yay!
After some time of being in the office they walked me over to where our video broadcast was going to be done. Looking back now I shouldn't have been as so nervous as I was considering most of the school would have not been able to understand me anyway. Basically the principal gave me an introduction (in Korean) and then I talked about myself (in English) and then my coteacher talked about me (in Korean). Oh! I forgot to mention that it was on my first day I found out that I am the first native English speaker the school has had (so a lot of the times administrative questions about my position aren't generally known right away which can be irritating at times but understandable).
After the announcement I was shown to my desk in the subject teacher's lounge..it was so cute because my coteacher had made little paper hearts with my name on it :) and placed them around my work area and on my books
I also had a ridiculous amount of food given to me the first day @_@. It started with my coteacher who walked me to school giving me a bottle of starbucks coffee, then the coffee from the vice principal in the morning..followed by my main coteacher giving me a sandwich and chocolate milk in case I hadn't had breakfast yet...to the cake i brought and some juice...along with a huge plate of grapes and apples @_@...keep in mind my day only lasted from 8:40 to about 12:40 x_x
Anyway after sitting at my desk for about 20 minutes the principal called us into her office (which is baller. if you watch Korean dramas think of when they're in like a boss/managers room and it has like the row of huge chairs that's what her office is like) to cut the cake and take pictures. It was a confusing time but a happy one haha they took wedding like poses with me cutting the cake and then after that gave me a plate of grapes and had me go back to the staff room.
That whole week I only had half days (because I was still on technical quarantine and wasn't allowed to teach classes...although I made no sense because if I were sick I could still contaminate the school by being there but sure haha I enjoyed the half days. H1N1 is a huge scare here and they're excessively precautious of it. To the extent that practically all public places will have a bottle of hand sanitizer, a good chunk of the population walk around with medical masks - many of these are even decorated with cute characters. Not going to lie, I have one too).
The kids were so adorable (and still are)! They don't do it as much now but for the first month or so kids would yell hello to me (even students who aren't my students haha)
But yes that was my first day (I have so much to write because I took notes on everything that happened :P)
The rest of the week was mostly exploring around my area when I got back and also little chores here and there (going to the bank to put money in my account, etc).
I did however have a random trip to Seodaemun that first Tuesday with a friend to go to the SMOE office to pick up paper work. We ended up not even needing to go but we decided to explore the area since we were already out. We found what we thought was a temple but it was actually a palace (closed). We wandered into an art exhibit/museum and then continued to the area outside the Seoul history museum. Because it wasn't free we walked over to this really nice bookstore and just browsed some of the books there (foreign books are sooo expensive here!). After that we grabbed some dinner and headed home :) it was a fun and adventurous night!
The other noteworthy event was on Friday I had my first Seoul shopping experience in Dongdaemun (huge shopping mall with floors packed with different sellers - this is a place where you can bargain with the seller) and then moved onto shopping/wandering in Edae in search of eyelash extensions which we ended up in Hongdae again for a night of dancing
Also that Sunday I had my first American chain food in Korea (burger king in sillim!) - it was...good but something was off about it? I think it was the bun. haha
Yep so that was my first week! Overall it was a very easy transition into the classroom (only half days the whole week so plenty of time to plan for the first lesson and then being able to observe classes on Friday to prep). It really helped that my coteacher and all the staff were very friendly and helpful - always making sure I was comfortable and had no problems (Most of the other NSET [Native Speaking English Teachers] had to go get their ARC [Alien Registration Card - like a state ID card] on their own but my coteacher did everything for me [took my picture, printed out the documents and even went to the immigration office on her own because she didnt want me to wait a long while]).
I'm grateful to be placed where I am and be working with the faculty and students that I have - I couldn't imagine being happier anywhere else or in any other situation :)
This is also taking much longer than anticipated so I'll continue to update about past events...(post most likely be this long because I won't have as many notes about what happened)
Again sorry for the lack of updates! THE BLOG IS A PRIORITY TO ME! I'll try to write more...yaksokay~ (i promise)
It's not because there hasn't been anything to update about (trust me, there has been SO much going on!!) just finding the time to sit down and just write especially when you're already behind.
Anyway! Today I'll try to get as caught up as I can so bear with me for a long post (which I will try to edit later to include pictures..we'll see how that goes.)
WEEK 1:
The Sunday before my first day I spent recovering from the night before as well as doing a little home shopping. I decided to buy a cake for my school as a welcoming present (mocha cake from one of the many Paris Baguette stores here)..it barely fit into my fun sized refrigerator (think of those college style mini fridge). I also spent some of the night contemplating my self-introduction to the school (I was told I'd have to give a 5 minute introduction of myself to be video broadcasted to the school).
My first day I was super nervous! I didn't even know where my school was because my other coteacher whom I hadn't met yet was going to walk me over. I remember waking up early to get ready and finish my speech (because of my typical procrastinating ways). I met my second coteacher outside my building and we walked over to the school. She seemed very timid but very sweet - something that I've noticed with most Koreans is despite having some level of knowledge about the English language they usually do not feel comfortable using it (especially in front of native speakers) and will also deny any sort of proficiency (even when they speak the language fairly well).
I personally really relate to their reluctance to use a foreign language because I myself am so uncomfortable practicing/using Spanish (despite studying it for 6 years) and Vietnamese (being able to understand it and having been raised with that language in the home). Something that I'm really challenging myself is to break away from the comfort of using English only - I am trying to learn Korean right now (self study and some of the teachers are helping me study as well).
I think it's so important to have confidence with language because if you don't try and you're always too afraid to make mistakes you'll never learn (which is what I tell all my students so...I'm trying to live by it too)
Anywho, tangent. SO we walked over to school and made a bit of small talk just beginning to get to know one another - randomly I ran into a friend I met at orientation on the way to school (turns out his school is on the way to mine! and he lives quite close to me although I still haven't visited his place yet)
Arrived at school to find half of the place under construction. I'll be honest as most of the teachers have expressed to me our school is obviously not in a well off area. Almost all the students families are middle to low class in terms of SES - this is also important because it is a reflection of their education level. Those students who do not have the money cannot afford to go to "hagwons" or at least more rigorous/challenging hagwons. Hagwons are like supplementary classes or courses that students take after school and usually in another place (they're usually referred to as academies). I see students wandering around so late at night on weekdays because they start school at 8-9am in the morning and once they finish at public school they continue at their hagwon until around 10pm at night. I remember at UCI I took a class about international education standards as well as study ethics - really got a firsthand contrast from the way people value education here in comparison to the states.
We also don't have much budget for extra materials (as far as I can see the school only pays for printer paper and ink for the printer - everything else the teachers supplement themselves...even colored construction paper and glue my coteacher buys for her class). There are many classrooms in Korea that are well equipped with touch screen TVs and lots of techy advancements but most of our classrooms just have a big screen TV and a microphone (which is more than enough to teach a class with so I can't complain)
Bottom line is that same as anywhere else lower SES usually means less education opportunities for students = but despite that they are generally really agreeable, cheerful and bright students (I dont think I would have been able to know the difference between the students who are very impoverish compared to the middle class students had my coteacher not pointed it out to me - at least in terms of their happiness and energy they bring to the class :) but I'll get into more of those stories later!)
Anyway back to the first day! So I was really nervous to have to give a speech in front of the school and for meeting all of the faculty, I didn't really know how I should go about introducing myself or what proper cultural protocol was...
My coteacher walked me into the administration office where I got to meet the principal and one of the vice principals (my school has a female principal and both a male and a female vice principal). They were very kind offering me coffee and asking me about myself (most of the conversation was translated through my coteacher). They were also very appreciative of the cake I brought :) yay!
After some time of being in the office they walked me over to where our video broadcast was going to be done. Looking back now I shouldn't have been as so nervous as I was considering most of the school would have not been able to understand me anyway. Basically the principal gave me an introduction (in Korean) and then I talked about myself (in English) and then my coteacher talked about me (in Korean). Oh! I forgot to mention that it was on my first day I found out that I am the first native English speaker the school has had (so a lot of the times administrative questions about my position aren't generally known right away which can be irritating at times but understandable).
After the announcement I was shown to my desk in the subject teacher's lounge..it was so cute because my coteacher had made little paper hearts with my name on it :) and placed them around my work area and on my books
I also had a ridiculous amount of food given to me the first day @_@. It started with my coteacher who walked me to school giving me a bottle of starbucks coffee, then the coffee from the vice principal in the morning..followed by my main coteacher giving me a sandwich and chocolate milk in case I hadn't had breakfast yet...to the cake i brought and some juice...along with a huge plate of grapes and apples @_@...keep in mind my day only lasted from 8:40 to about 12:40 x_x
Anyway after sitting at my desk for about 20 minutes the principal called us into her office (which is baller. if you watch Korean dramas think of when they're in like a boss/managers room and it has like the row of huge chairs that's what her office is like) to cut the cake and take pictures. It was a confusing time but a happy one haha they took wedding like poses with me cutting the cake and then after that gave me a plate of grapes and had me go back to the staff room.
That whole week I only had half days (because I was still on technical quarantine and wasn't allowed to teach classes...although I made no sense because if I were sick I could still contaminate the school by being there but sure haha I enjoyed the half days. H1N1 is a huge scare here and they're excessively precautious of it. To the extent that practically all public places will have a bottle of hand sanitizer, a good chunk of the population walk around with medical masks - many of these are even decorated with cute characters. Not going to lie, I have one too).
The kids were so adorable (and still are)! They don't do it as much now but for the first month or so kids would yell hello to me (even students who aren't my students haha)
But yes that was my first day (I have so much to write because I took notes on everything that happened :P)
The rest of the week was mostly exploring around my area when I got back and also little chores here and there (going to the bank to put money in my account, etc).
I did however have a random trip to Seodaemun that first Tuesday with a friend to go to the SMOE office to pick up paper work. We ended up not even needing to go but we decided to explore the area since we were already out. We found what we thought was a temple but it was actually a palace (closed). We wandered into an art exhibit/museum and then continued to the area outside the Seoul history museum. Because it wasn't free we walked over to this really nice bookstore and just browsed some of the books there (foreign books are sooo expensive here!). After that we grabbed some dinner and headed home :) it was a fun and adventurous night!
The other noteworthy event was on Friday I had my first Seoul shopping experience in Dongdaemun (huge shopping mall with floors packed with different sellers - this is a place where you can bargain with the seller) and then moved onto shopping/wandering in Edae in search of eyelash extensions which we ended up in Hongdae again for a night of dancing
Also that Sunday I had my first American chain food in Korea (burger king in sillim!) - it was...good but something was off about it? I think it was the bun. haha
Yep so that was my first week! Overall it was a very easy transition into the classroom (only half days the whole week so plenty of time to plan for the first lesson and then being able to observe classes on Friday to prep). It really helped that my coteacher and all the staff were very friendly and helpful - always making sure I was comfortable and had no problems (Most of the other NSET [Native Speaking English Teachers] had to go get their ARC [Alien Registration Card - like a state ID card] on their own but my coteacher did everything for me [took my picture, printed out the documents and even went to the immigration office on her own because she didnt want me to wait a long while]).
I'm grateful to be placed where I am and be working with the faculty and students that I have - I couldn't imagine being happier anywhere else or in any other situation :)
This is also taking much longer than anticipated so I'll continue to update about past events...(post most likely be this long because I won't have as many notes about what happened)
Again sorry for the lack of updates! THE BLOG IS A PRIORITY TO ME! I'll try to write more...yaksokay~ (i promise)
Monday, October 19, 2009
Coffee Culture
Another delayed update. This blog is so neglected because of the busy busy lifestyles of foreign English teachers. I either feel really behind or things are just moving so fast-paced here that you never really have a moment to just sit, take a breaher, and reflect. I feel like so much has happened since I have been in Korea. I've done a fair (although I feel like I need to do more) amount of sight seeing, ate an abundance of different Korean food, met people both native and foreign, as well immersed myself in the never ending night life. It's all been good fun.
One particular find is the unique coffee culture here in Korea. Coffee is pretty big in Korea and as the saying goes, "you know you are in Korea when you are willing to pay more for your coffee than your actual meal." While it's sometimes a bit pricey, I really enjoy going to them and relaxing there. It gives you that much needed slow down from the hustle and bustle of the city. I find most to be super duper cute and fun.
One unique place I went to very recently was a place in Gangnam. I forgot it's name already - but Diana and I went there with one purpose. To find the feet eating fish. Whaaat?? Well, at this coffee place, you can enjoy a cup of joe and unlimited fresh baked bread and, after paying an additional two dollars, you can soak your feet in warm water where little fishies play.
I guess you can think of it as a type of special exfoliator for your feet. The fishies come swim to your feet and you start feeling a ticklish little poke all over. That ticklish feeling is the fish are actually eating the dead skin off your feet. Kind of weird right? It was. But I guess it worked. 20 minutes later, my feet felt softer than usual. However, that may have been from the 20 minutes being soaked in water.
It was fun though and probably the most unique coffee shop adventure I have experienced. Now don't get me wrong, most coffee shops aren't as special as this place - most are pretty ordinary. But this one is one that really comes to mind.
Now if you are interested in this Dr. Fish therapy, my only advice is if you are ticklish ... don't do it!
COFFEE!
fishies that eat your feet!
it was really weird.
like really weird haha!
One particular find is the unique coffee culture here in Korea. Coffee is pretty big in Korea and as the saying goes, "you know you are in Korea when you are willing to pay more for your coffee than your actual meal." While it's sometimes a bit pricey, I really enjoy going to them and relaxing there. It gives you that much needed slow down from the hustle and bustle of the city. I find most to be super duper cute and fun.
One unique place I went to very recently was a place in Gangnam. I forgot it's name already - but Diana and I went there with one purpose. To find the feet eating fish. Whaaat?? Well, at this coffee place, you can enjoy a cup of joe and unlimited fresh baked bread and, after paying an additional two dollars, you can soak your feet in warm water where little fishies play.
I guess you can think of it as a type of special exfoliator for your feet. The fishies come swim to your feet and you start feeling a ticklish little poke all over. That ticklish feeling is the fish are actually eating the dead skin off your feet. Kind of weird right? It was. But I guess it worked. 20 minutes later, my feet felt softer than usual. However, that may have been from the 20 minutes being soaked in water.
It was fun though and probably the most unique coffee shop adventure I have experienced. Now don't get me wrong, most coffee shops aren't as special as this place - most are pretty ordinary. But this one is one that really comes to mind.
Now if you are interested in this Dr. Fish therapy, my only advice is if you are ticklish ... don't do it!
COFFEE!
fishies that eat your feet!
it was really weird.
like really weird haha!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
1 month in Korea
It's been about 1 month since I arrived in this country. I must say, it doesn't feel like that at all. I feel like I arrived yesterday. One thing I notice about this country is how global it is. It's so fascinating to see how many foreigners come here, to hear about their walks in life and why they are here now. I really like it. I've met handful of people from across the globe that I would have never met back home.
It's definitely refreshing to be able to find that one connection that makes communication here easier. That connection is English. My friend Ashley told me that it is luxury for Koreans to be able to speak English. In some ways, it's like a privilege I never realized. But even though it's a luxury for Koreans, there are some road blocks along the way for foreigners. Being in a country where your home language isn't the main language can be so difficult. During the week, I definitely notice how easy it is to be silenced from the communication pool if I'm not around Koreans who speak English or around other foreigners. I think because I'm Asian that some Koreans may mistake me for being able to know the language so they approach me and talk to me if they need help for directions or are looking for a particular place. This usually happens when I'm around the subway. I feel bad having to say "Oh I'm not Korean" in English and seeing their confused expressions as they walk away. It's moments like those where I really wish I knew the language. But with that, I've definitely taken an interest in trying to learn it. I'm in the beginning stages and who knows how much I'll be able to get. Currently, I'm learning how to read, which hasn't been too difficult - I just don't know what over 98% of what I read is haha.
This month has been a lot of learning and taken a lot of patience to adjust and go with the flow. I don't think you can really know what patience is until you've actually been here.
Another thing I wonder about is how my English speaking is going to change through the course of the year. Since I'm teaching English as a second language, the pace in which I speak to Koreans is much much much slower than how I would normally carry on a conversation. I enunciate more and find myself saying sentences I wouldn't really say to another native English speaker. While not normal, as a daily practice it's more and more becoming normalized for me to talk like that. To slow down, repeat myself, stutter through sentences is becoming a habit. I still think I talk too fast for most of the Korean teachers and students to really understand me.
But anyway, Korea has been absolutely amazing! I truly am glad that I am here right now soaking in every moment. Within this month, I've experienced the never ending night life, bartering at the shopping districts, seeing a fabulous Asia music concert (KPOP <3) for free, a global bboy competition, noraebang, and visiting local tourist spots around the area I live in. I definitely want to do more toursity things here. I plan to spend my Korean thanksgiving, Chuseok, going around the city and seeing what's around. If possible, I'd also like to travel to Busan - but that's very tentative due to time, travel, and money. I'm more than likely going to stay in Seoul for my 5 day weekend. Yep, 5 days!! So exciting! I shall post some pictures of things I've done soon!
It's definitely refreshing to be able to find that one connection that makes communication here easier. That connection is English. My friend Ashley told me that it is luxury for Koreans to be able to speak English. In some ways, it's like a privilege I never realized. But even though it's a luxury for Koreans, there are some road blocks along the way for foreigners. Being in a country where your home language isn't the main language can be so difficult. During the week, I definitely notice how easy it is to be silenced from the communication pool if I'm not around Koreans who speak English or around other foreigners. I think because I'm Asian that some Koreans may mistake me for being able to know the language so they approach me and talk to me if they need help for directions or are looking for a particular place. This usually happens when I'm around the subway. I feel bad having to say "Oh I'm not Korean" in English and seeing their confused expressions as they walk away. It's moments like those where I really wish I knew the language. But with that, I've definitely taken an interest in trying to learn it. I'm in the beginning stages and who knows how much I'll be able to get. Currently, I'm learning how to read, which hasn't been too difficult - I just don't know what over 98% of what I read is haha.
This month has been a lot of learning and taken a lot of patience to adjust and go with the flow. I don't think you can really know what patience is until you've actually been here.
Another thing I wonder about is how my English speaking is going to change through the course of the year. Since I'm teaching English as a second language, the pace in which I speak to Koreans is much much much slower than how I would normally carry on a conversation. I enunciate more and find myself saying sentences I wouldn't really say to another native English speaker. While not normal, as a daily practice it's more and more becoming normalized for me to talk like that. To slow down, repeat myself, stutter through sentences is becoming a habit. I still think I talk too fast for most of the Korean teachers and students to really understand me.
But anyway, Korea has been absolutely amazing! I truly am glad that I am here right now soaking in every moment. Within this month, I've experienced the never ending night life, bartering at the shopping districts, seeing a fabulous Asia music concert (KPOP <3) for free, a global bboy competition, noraebang, and visiting local tourist spots around the area I live in. I definitely want to do more toursity things here. I plan to spend my Korean thanksgiving, Chuseok, going around the city and seeing what's around. If possible, I'd also like to travel to Busan - but that's very tentative due to time, travel, and money. I'm more than likely going to stay in Seoul for my 5 day weekend. Yep, 5 days!! So exciting! I shall post some pictures of things I've done soon!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Oh, the things I miss
Maybe it's just one of those days. I think it is. There are certain things I'm starting to realize that I really miss. One of those things was living the life an RA in Mesa Court.
Don't get me wrong, I love being in Korea right now and I wouldn't want to change that at all. I've learned a lot in my short time here and I'm continuing to learn more as I go.
I think I just hit a point though where I knew I would eventually be. My RA experience was definitely a challenging and tough position. When it was over, I felt relieved, happy, and appreciative of a chance to be "stress" free. No more duty. No more paper work. No more proramming. But now, I realize how much I miss it. I miss those 66 beautiful faces I saw everyday. I miss being a walk away from those RAs who I knew I could lean on.
We are all on our separate paths now, doing our own thing - making the next chapter in our lives. I hope everyone is doing well and you all know that I truly miss you! Mesa love '08-'09 <3
P.S. A Korea update will come soon. Things have just been suuuper busy, but in a good way :)
Don't get me wrong, I love being in Korea right now and I wouldn't want to change that at all. I've learned a lot in my short time here and I'm continuing to learn more as I go.
I think I just hit a point though where I knew I would eventually be. My RA experience was definitely a challenging and tough position. When it was over, I felt relieved, happy, and appreciative of a chance to be "stress" free. No more duty. No more paper work. No more proramming. But now, I realize how much I miss it. I miss those 66 beautiful faces I saw everyday. I miss being a walk away from those RAs who I knew I could lean on.
We are all on our separate paths now, doing our own thing - making the next chapter in our lives. I hope everyone is doing well and you all know that I truly miss you! Mesa love '08-'09 <3
P.S. A Korea update will come soon. Things have just been suuuper busy, but in a good way :)
Friday, September 11, 2009
Whose boat is this? It's mine! It's mine!
Teaching. These past few days teaching have been quite the experience. It's easy on some level and very difficult on other levels, but it's genuinely been a good experience. During my first lessons, my co-teacher lead most of the activities, while I explained directions and helped with pronunciation. It was pretty easy and I was able to get comfortable doing this routine. I can see why other foreigners think that 5th/6th grade is difficult. Some of the students can get pretty rowdy and restless, especially during the after lunch hours. I truly feel that Korean public education is lacking in some sort of discipline practice, but I guess that's why they invite foreigners over.
I absolutely adore my 5th graders. They are incredibly cute. While they get rambunctious, they are willing to listen and be obedient when you tell them to be. They are also much more curious about foreigners than the 6th graders. Don't get me wrong, I like my 6th graders too. They are definitely in that puberty phase and transitioning from little kid to early tween and they start developing this sort of attitude toward school. I guess we all went through that at some point.
My co-teachers are really friendly. Honestly, I don't know most of their first names ... I'm not sure if it's because Korean names are so difficult to learn or if they just never told me. But my teachers are Ms. Jeun, Mrs. Ko, Ms. Jeung, and Ms. Choi. They are all really nice. I would Jeun and Ko have better English speaking abilities than the other two. However, two of them are embarrassed to speak English when the other teachers are in the subject room. It kind of sucks having to plan lessons after work with them, but if it makes them feel more confident then I figure why not.
It's funny being one of the new teachers on campus, especially a teacher who is not native to Korea. Honestly, it's sort of like a celebrity type atmosphere with children running around you saying "hi!" just so you can say "hi!" back. It's very cute. Every now and then, I will get a "You are handsome!" or a "handsome boy" from the girls and even some boys haha. I guess I should enjoy this type of fame while it lasts and the kids realize I'm just an average guy.
Overall, Korea has been treating me very well. Beyond the classroom, my adventures outside the school have been very entertaining. I was able to attend a free art show in Yeoksam the other night. It was pretty amazing because it was free and they had free snacks, free buffet dinner, and free drinks! It was glorious! I enjoyed that they had meat and cheese trays. I haven't had that food in so long!!! The following night, I went to Dongdaemun for dinner. Dongdaemun is an area in Seoul that is very popular for cheap shopping and finding brand name knock offs. I didn't do any shopping, but the food was delicious (and cheap!) and they had a TON of places to go and shop and places to sight see and take pictures. I really like Korea so far. Even though after work, I'm incredibly exhausted - I truly enjoy venturing out into the city and soaking up as much of this experience as I can.
Things I want to eventually do here: Go on a hike, Visit Everland/Lotte World (the ... Disneyland of Korea I guess), See a baseball game, shop shop shop, see a KPOP concert (OMG!), etc etc etc
I WANT TO DO EVERYTHING!!!
I absolutely adore my 5th graders. They are incredibly cute. While they get rambunctious, they are willing to listen and be obedient when you tell them to be. They are also much more curious about foreigners than the 6th graders. Don't get me wrong, I like my 6th graders too. They are definitely in that puberty phase and transitioning from little kid to early tween and they start developing this sort of attitude toward school. I guess we all went through that at some point.
My co-teachers are really friendly. Honestly, I don't know most of their first names ... I'm not sure if it's because Korean names are so difficult to learn or if they just never told me. But my teachers are Ms. Jeun, Mrs. Ko, Ms. Jeung, and Ms. Choi. They are all really nice. I would Jeun and Ko have better English speaking abilities than the other two. However, two of them are embarrassed to speak English when the other teachers are in the subject room. It kind of sucks having to plan lessons after work with them, but if it makes them feel more confident then I figure why not.
It's funny being one of the new teachers on campus, especially a teacher who is not native to Korea. Honestly, it's sort of like a celebrity type atmosphere with children running around you saying "hi!" just so you can say "hi!" back. It's very cute. Every now and then, I will get a "You are handsome!" or a "handsome boy" from the girls and even some boys haha. I guess I should enjoy this type of fame while it lasts and the kids realize I'm just an average guy.
Overall, Korea has been treating me very well. Beyond the classroom, my adventures outside the school have been very entertaining. I was able to attend a free art show in Yeoksam the other night. It was pretty amazing because it was free and they had free snacks, free buffet dinner, and free drinks! It was glorious! I enjoyed that they had meat and cheese trays. I haven't had that food in so long!!! The following night, I went to Dongdaemun for dinner. Dongdaemun is an area in Seoul that is very popular for cheap shopping and finding brand name knock offs. I didn't do any shopping, but the food was delicious (and cheap!) and they had a TON of places to go and shop and places to sight see and take pictures. I really like Korea so far. Even though after work, I'm incredibly exhausted - I truly enjoy venturing out into the city and soaking up as much of this experience as I can.
Things I want to eventually do here: Go on a hike, Visit Everland/Lotte World (the ... Disneyland of Korea I guess), See a baseball game, shop shop shop, see a KPOP concert (OMG!), etc etc etc
I WANT TO DO EVERYTHING!!!
Friday, September 4, 2009
The City
So I have just finished my first week of full time teaching. Although, I would have to say it was more a week of adjustment and waiting. I still have not taught a class or prepared a lesson with my coteacher, but I guess that is for next week. It's been very interesting adapting myself to Korean culture. On Saturday evening, I was bussed off to Kangdong-gu where I met my manager teacher and main co-teacher. They were very nice and welcoming to me, but they were nervous to meet me. I think they were suprised at how young I am - I'm probably the youngest in the whole school. All in all, I have 4 Korean co-teachers that I will be working with. It's very difficult for me to try and remember all their names. I never expected Korean names would be sooo difficult.
Life in my new place was definitely challenging. I never realized how hard it was going to be all by myself with no cell phone or internet to get in touch with people. Plus, it was scary to start to realize that you are running very very low on money. It was super scary and intimidating for me to venture out into the city because of the language, the culture, and realizing my dependence on others. However, I was able to get through it and I eventually got to see my friends. I live in Amsadong and I really like it so far. There is a good number of shopping marts, grocery stores, food stands, a gym, a shopping mall, etc that are all within walking
distance from me. There is even a Burger King open 24 hours if I ever crave Western food.
This week has been a whole lot of learning for myself. Adapting to Korean culture and really trying to present myself as best I can has made me very stressed, but everyone I work with is so kind and caring towards me. It's very family-like in Korea where they want to ensure that you are healthy and happy. The vice principal, Mr. Chun, has also been pushing me toward being more independent by making me venture to the other side of Seoul and back for all the immigration paper work. It was actually a fun experience to go about by myself and see different areas of the city and learn the ropes of the subway.
I'm currently teaching at Cheondong Elementary school. It's about a 20 minute subway commute and walk from where I live. Overall, I really like the school. While not everyone is well versed in English (in fact, no one really is), all the teachers are very welcoming and want to talk to me - they are just shy about using English because it takes time and can be difficult for them. Everyone seems so curious about me and what life is like from a Western perspective.
The children here are so unbelievably adorable. While the discipline structure may be lacking in Korean education, their spunk and energy is so refreshing. I've observed a 3rd and 6th grade class and it was all very cute. The curriculum does not seem to be difficult to teach at all so I'm excited about that. Many of the students are so fascinated that I'm a foreigner. They like to stare at me and every now and then one will say "Hi". A lot of girls also go crazy when I walk around the school. They shout and scream and it is all very awkward for me. I guess I should enjoy the mini-celebrity status before it all ends and I just become a normal teacher.
Anyway, I feel like I've learned a lot already and it's only been two weeks so far. I'm so antsy to go out and explore/travel around the city and really soak up as much as I can from this whole experience.
Dongdaemun!
Dongdaemun stream!
Ashley! my RA friend!
Fun art in Hongdae!
Fun art in Itaewon!
Life in my new place was definitely challenging. I never realized how hard it was going to be all by myself with no cell phone or internet to get in touch with people. Plus, it was scary to start to realize that you are running very very low on money. It was super scary and intimidating for me to venture out into the city because of the language, the culture, and realizing my dependence on others. However, I was able to get through it and I eventually got to see my friends. I live in Amsadong and I really like it so far. There is a good number of shopping marts, grocery stores, food stands, a gym, a shopping mall, etc that are all within walking
distance from me. There is even a Burger King open 24 hours if I ever crave Western food.
This week has been a whole lot of learning for myself. Adapting to Korean culture and really trying to present myself as best I can has made me very stressed, but everyone I work with is so kind and caring towards me. It's very family-like in Korea where they want to ensure that you are healthy and happy. The vice principal, Mr. Chun, has also been pushing me toward being more independent by making me venture to the other side of Seoul and back for all the immigration paper work. It was actually a fun experience to go about by myself and see different areas of the city and learn the ropes of the subway.
I'm currently teaching at Cheondong Elementary school. It's about a 20 minute subway commute and walk from where I live. Overall, I really like the school. While not everyone is well versed in English (in fact, no one really is), all the teachers are very welcoming and want to talk to me - they are just shy about using English because it takes time and can be difficult for them. Everyone seems so curious about me and what life is like from a Western perspective.
The children here are so unbelievably adorable. While the discipline structure may be lacking in Korean education, their spunk and energy is so refreshing. I've observed a 3rd and 6th grade class and it was all very cute. The curriculum does not seem to be difficult to teach at all so I'm excited about that. Many of the students are so fascinated that I'm a foreigner. They like to stare at me and every now and then one will say "Hi". A lot of girls also go crazy when I walk around the school. They shout and scream and it is all very awkward for me. I guess I should enjoy the mini-celebrity status before it all ends and I just become a normal teacher.
Anyway, I feel like I've learned a lot already and it's only been two weeks so far. I'm so antsy to go out and explore/travel around the city and really soak up as much as I can from this whole experience.
Dongdaemun!
Dongdaemun stream!
Ashley! my RA friend!
Fun art in Hongdae!
Fun art in Itaewon!
Friday, August 28, 2009
humbled
I'm a bundle of emotions right now..I'm really excited to be finally moving into my place, to finally find out who my co-teacher is and what my school looks like.
At the same time I'm sad that all the other SMOE teachers I just started getting to know better and getting close to here will be spread out all over Seoul.
I feel like right now I'm not too worried because I feel like whatever will happen will happen, I just want to make the most of things right now and keep a positive mindset
I also have been feeling pretty selfish lately because I've been so caught up with where I'm going to live, what the area is going to be like...when in the end (as one of the guest speakers said to us) I'm here to teach. It's not about my experience, it's about what I'm going to do in the classroom (not that those other concerns aren't valid, I just don't think they should be in the forefront?).
Anywho those are just some thoughts for right now...I will try to update about orientation once I get a chance (don't worry there are lots of pictures to be posted!). I don't know exactly when that will be considering I have no idea when I'll have secure internet again but...we'll see! :) Dongjak-gu...here I come!
At the same time I'm sad that all the other SMOE teachers I just started getting to know better and getting close to here will be spread out all over Seoul.
I feel like right now I'm not too worried because I feel like whatever will happen will happen, I just want to make the most of things right now and keep a positive mindset
I also have been feeling pretty selfish lately because I've been so caught up with where I'm going to live, what the area is going to be like...when in the end (as one of the guest speakers said to us) I'm here to teach. It's not about my experience, it's about what I'm going to do in the classroom (not that those other concerns aren't valid, I just don't think they should be in the forefront?).
Anywho those are just some thoughts for right now...I will try to update about orientation once I get a chance (don't worry there are lots of pictures to be posted!). I don't know exactly when that will be considering I have no idea when I'll have secure internet again but...we'll see! :) Dongjak-gu...here I come!
Moving to Kangdong-gu
Orientation is fast approaching its end. It seems like I just arrived here yesterday and I was starting to finally feel more settled and comfortable. Now, I have to move again. Even though I hate the packing and the idea of meeting my co-teacher (the Korean teacher I work with) scares me, I'm very excited to finally go out and about in Seoul and truly begin this adventure.
Although I'm bummed that I'm not in the same district as Diana, I am about one hour to one and a half hours away from her. It'll be interesting to see how we can meet up with all the other teachers we met since everyone is pretty spread out through Seoul.
So many things are on my mind about what to do ... money, teaching, impressions, favorable working relationships, language barriers, being able to survive, and feeling alone. I think anyone going through this experience must feel the same way at some point. Luckily, I do have a support system of people around me and a good network of friends (both Korean and foreign) who can help me during my time here.
This is definitely going to be a wild and crazy ride. Chun Dong Cho Deng Elementary - here i come!
P.S. I want to buy a cute, cheap puppy from Korea. In particular ... the one below:
Although I'm bummed that I'm not in the same district as Diana, I am about one hour to one and a half hours away from her. It'll be interesting to see how we can meet up with all the other teachers we met since everyone is pretty spread out through Seoul.
So many things are on my mind about what to do ... money, teaching, impressions, favorable working relationships, language barriers, being able to survive, and feeling alone. I think anyone going through this experience must feel the same way at some point. Luckily, I do have a support system of people around me and a good network of friends (both Korean and foreign) who can help me during my time here.
This is definitely going to be a wild and crazy ride. Chun Dong Cho Deng Elementary - here i come!
P.S. I want to buy a cute, cheap puppy from Korea. In particular ... the one below:
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Swine Flu
Koreans are so scared about foreigners and the swine flu. We are on "quarantine" here at Orientation. Kinda crazy. It sucks because they cancelled all our adventures into the city :(
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
SMOE Orientation at Sung Kyun Kwan University
SOOO sorry the pictures I uploaded on the "arrival" post were all cut off...oops! I thought it'd be easier to upload it to photobucket but then I guess blogspot doesn't automatically shrink the pictures...soo I went back in photobucket to edit all the pictures -_-..
I also editted a couple of them with some of the fun features in photobucket! :]
Anywho I'll edit this post more after classes, until then <3
[EDIT]
FINALLY! This shall be updated. :) My apologies for lagging..
Day 1
My dorm room!
The view from my window :)
After moving into my dorm room late the previous night (and especially after not getting any sleep for 2 days) I decided to get as much sleep as I possibly could. Luckily no set event/program started until 2pm for this first day because people were were still moving in. I ended up waking up around 10/11ish..got ready and headed down for lunch.
Lunchtime! I think this was my favorite meal served during the time we were there :) Oh and that's Matt my first lunch buddy!
It was a weird feeling being at orientation, I think it's because I was just so comfortable at UCI after settling in for 4 years to now be thrown into another new situation. It was fun at the same time though - I loved meeting new people here because they were literally from all over the world!
Anywho, after lunch we had some free time so we wandered around a bit and took some fun pictures (you can see most of them in Matty's picture post)
I wanted to take this picture because no one could remember what the university was called :P
Just graduated a couple months ago and I'm right back in a lecture room again..:P can't keep me away!
Once 2pm finally rolled around we headed into the auditorium for opening cermony. The sessions that followed the opening cermony were not very noteworthy to be honest. Some parts were helpful but for the most part it was a snoozefest. After sitting through 3 hours about Korea and living in Seoul we headed back for dinner. Since it was the first night we decided to try out one of the optional classes offered after dinner; however, this also turned out to be not very informative and we ended up leaving halfway through during a break. I believe it was this day that we found out what level we were teaching..I was very happy to get elementary (which is what I preferenced)! As much as I can remember that was pretty much the end of the first night :)
Day 2
For the second day of orientation my group I was divided into had to do a medical check up for our Alien Registration Card for the first part of the day. It ended up being a lot of walking back and forth for me...I left my room late because I thought the medical check would begin in the coordination office in our dorm but then they told us to go to the paper craft workshop first. So I walked all the way over to the chemistry building to sit down for 15 minutes and then be called to go do the medical check back in the dorms -_-
It was a fast medical check though. They handed out our sheets of paper and we went through a medical assembly line. It started with getting our temperature taken (which I forgot to mention in the posts that SMOE gave us each thermometers which we were suppose to use to take our temperatures everyday and use to sign in daily) and then getting a paper cup filled with tubes. The next stop was getting weighed and measured and then a quick eye check. They then herded us to get our blood pressure taken and then draw 3 vials of blood (really? 3 vials? do you really need that much??) - side story apparently the next day there was a girl who fainted while her blood was being drawn...scary! but supposidely she said it happens everytime she gets blood drawn. after the blood was taken you got to sit down with a doctor who asked how you were feeling and then sent you to pee in a cup. After peeing in a cup (mind you they wouldn't let us drink any liquids or eat anything starting 9pm the night before AND THEN told us we had to fill the paper cup over halfway full which was NOT true...-_-) they gave the girls some medical shirt to wear because we had to be xrayed. After the x-ray they gave us small cartons of flavored milk and sent us back to do paper crafting...
It's a good thing I like strawberry milk...
trauma inspired paper crafting art :P my clouds are in the shape of hearts <3
Once everyone finished with their medical check we were able to go have lunch and then proceed to our next session about co-teaching. This session was more informative and helpful in terms of prepping us for the kind of experience the students go through and ways to interact and engage with your coteacher. After that we had dinner and decided against going to another optional class. Instead we decided to wander the town a bit so we walked around the streets of Suwon for a bit
We ended up running into more SMOE people and just sat talking outside a convenient store with them. Nothing crazy but it was nice to just hear other people's stories :)
After we headed back in and I went to Matty's room. We ended up talking with his roommate until pretty late into the night :) that was the end of Tuesday night
Day 3
Morning rolled around and I finally had breakfast for my first time on campus! It was simple, just rice and soup with some banchan but it was still enjoyable. We had sessions on education and technology but it was mostly a seminar about different activites and games we could do in our classrooms. After it was time for lunch and then time to go back again for the last session on cooperative learning. I think these sessions were good in sparking ideas that we could use later on so thumbs up to that :). We ended early so my group and I decided to grab some coffee and work on our teaching practice project
Cute coffee shop in the student center
My group and me!
That night we got a notice that our Seoul city tour had been cancelled because of increased cases of swine flu in the country...so instead we were getting our tempertures checked by nurses :( and they also switched the schedule all around which confused my roommate and me but once everything worked out in the end! :)
Day 4
Our first session today was a co-teaching demonstration..I felt like the first one was very helpful and the second was helpful in a sense of what not to do with your coteacher. After lunch we had a Q&A session with the SMOE program coordinator which was informaive and then after that we had our temperature checked..and then we were pretty much free for the rest of the day. After dinner we decided to go into the city for some fun :). We stopped into a bar and had some very spicy chicken and flavored soju (yogurt, strawberry and kiwi) and then headed to the convenience store to take the fun back to SKKU. Somewhere during all this I also tried a sweet corn popsicle...It was a good night! :)
Day 5
Today was our last full day of orientation. We presented our lesson plan for teaching practice and then we're pretty much done for the day. I decided after I finished to wander around the campus and take some pictures. I couldn't find anyone to wander with because most people wanted to start packing or take a nap but I'm glad I went around..it was really relaxing and energizing! Here are some of my favorite shots
Love is everywhere you look :)
My favorite leaf shape..I love these trees!
After all the exploring it was time for dinner and then we went to see the Taekwando performance! It was really good..and cute :) they danced to gee!
After we headed into the city again to wander a bit but we didnt do too much...bought some street food and then headed back to pack. We found out our schools that night and it was a mad house trying to see the list!It was bittersweet to look at the list and see some people being joined together but everyone else being split apart. That night I packed most of my stuff up and went to sleep...ready to be shipped out to "Dongjak-gu" the next day!
Day 6
Woke up bright and early to check out by 7am...moved all our luggage to the appropriate bus and turned in our dorm keys. We had some free time before closing ceremony so I spent most of it on the computer (which is when I wrote the "Humbled" post). Had a delicious and very eclectic lunch and then boarded the bus to Dongjak-gu!
An hour ride later we were in Seoul..in our new home gu! One by one we were picked up by our coteachers/faculty members and taken to our homes/schools. I was one of the last to be picked up which made me even more nervous. I was first greeted by the male teacher (I was kind of surprised because everyone had said most likely everyone will have a female coteacher) and his son (sooo cute!!). I thought the woman with him was his wife (because other teachers brought their families)...I just kept thinking to myself she's so adorable! Turns out she was my coteacher! The other teacher who had greeted me first was a head teacher.
They're so cute! I love them :)
They helped me move my things into my apartment (which is a pleasant box, I'll post pictures of it after I decorate but the state it's in now you can check out on my facebook pictures). They got me situated with all the essentials (bed, new sheets, fan, AC, vacuum, some kitchen appliances, etc) and even internet and cable tv (both which i was very very thankful for). After that they showed me around the area (where the subway was, etc) and went with me to get a T-money card. I was also introduced to the superintendent and landlady - both are very kind when i see them around the building :).
I can't say that I'm living in luxury (my place is literally in an alley surrounded by bars and street marts..my door has a simple lock [unlike the fancy keypads i've been seeing around seoul]..and the bathroom has been really difficult to get used to seeing as the shower is between the sink and toliet haha) but I'm really enjoying it here and I've been enjoying the area.
I like Bongcheon-dong (I'm actually in Gwanak-gu instead of Dongjak-gu), it's nothing fancy but it has it's own little charm to it. I'm just really thankful for all the amenities I've been given to start with (because I know what it's like having to come into a place and start pretty much from scratch in terms of apartment stuff).
Anywho getting off topic (I'm sure I'll talk more about my apartment in later posts as I'm in the process of cute-ifying it!)~
After getting all settled in, I rested for a bit and then headed out again! Some of the people I had met on the bus decided to meet up in Hongdae to have dinner and go out so I headed over there. The subway was pretty easy to figure out - at least getting on and off! When I got to Hongdae station I totally forgot my friend had said exit 1 so I ended up wandering around aimlessly for an hour :(
Luckily enough I ran into another friend who I had invited so we went to go eat some dinner! Afterwards we headed back to the subway station in hopes to run into the group because they were going to come back around 9pm to gather more people. And again by luck we ran into them! :) We all headed out to a bar for some drinks and snacks...after that we rolled on over to a club that was free for foreigners..yay free! We also got a bunch of free drinks from the really cute bartender there <3 :D After dancing the night away we headed over to noraebong (karaoke) ...it was quite a day to say the least!
And so ends my SMOE orientation! All in all it was a positive experience because I took away some much needed info and was able to network with some really awesome people :)
I also editted a couple of them with some of the fun features in photobucket! :]
Anywho I'll edit this post more after classes, until then <3
[EDIT]
FINALLY! This shall be updated. :) My apologies for lagging..
Day 1
My dorm room!
The view from my window :)
After moving into my dorm room late the previous night (and especially after not getting any sleep for 2 days) I decided to get as much sleep as I possibly could. Luckily no set event/program started until 2pm for this first day because people were were still moving in. I ended up waking up around 10/11ish..got ready and headed down for lunch.
Lunchtime! I think this was my favorite meal served during the time we were there :) Oh and that's Matt my first lunch buddy!
It was a weird feeling being at orientation, I think it's because I was just so comfortable at UCI after settling in for 4 years to now be thrown into another new situation. It was fun at the same time though - I loved meeting new people here because they were literally from all over the world!
Anywho, after lunch we had some free time so we wandered around a bit and took some fun pictures (you can see most of them in Matty's picture post)
I wanted to take this picture because no one could remember what the university was called :P
Just graduated a couple months ago and I'm right back in a lecture room again..:P can't keep me away!
Once 2pm finally rolled around we headed into the auditorium for opening cermony. The sessions that followed the opening cermony were not very noteworthy to be honest. Some parts were helpful but for the most part it was a snoozefest. After sitting through 3 hours about Korea and living in Seoul we headed back for dinner. Since it was the first night we decided to try out one of the optional classes offered after dinner; however, this also turned out to be not very informative and we ended up leaving halfway through during a break. I believe it was this day that we found out what level we were teaching..I was very happy to get elementary (which is what I preferenced)! As much as I can remember that was pretty much the end of the first night :)
Day 2
For the second day of orientation my group I was divided into had to do a medical check up for our Alien Registration Card for the first part of the day. It ended up being a lot of walking back and forth for me...I left my room late because I thought the medical check would begin in the coordination office in our dorm but then they told us to go to the paper craft workshop first. So I walked all the way over to the chemistry building to sit down for 15 minutes and then be called to go do the medical check back in the dorms -_-
It was a fast medical check though. They handed out our sheets of paper and we went through a medical assembly line. It started with getting our temperature taken (which I forgot to mention in the posts that SMOE gave us each thermometers which we were suppose to use to take our temperatures everyday and use to sign in daily) and then getting a paper cup filled with tubes. The next stop was getting weighed and measured and then a quick eye check. They then herded us to get our blood pressure taken and then draw 3 vials of blood (really? 3 vials? do you really need that much??) - side story apparently the next day there was a girl who fainted while her blood was being drawn...scary! but supposidely she said it happens everytime she gets blood drawn. after the blood was taken you got to sit down with a doctor who asked how you were feeling and then sent you to pee in a cup. After peeing in a cup (mind you they wouldn't let us drink any liquids or eat anything starting 9pm the night before AND THEN told us we had to fill the paper cup over halfway full which was NOT true...-_-) they gave the girls some medical shirt to wear because we had to be xrayed. After the x-ray they gave us small cartons of flavored milk and sent us back to do paper crafting...
It's a good thing I like strawberry milk...
trauma inspired paper crafting art :P my clouds are in the shape of hearts <3
Once everyone finished with their medical check we were able to go have lunch and then proceed to our next session about co-teaching. This session was more informative and helpful in terms of prepping us for the kind of experience the students go through and ways to interact and engage with your coteacher. After that we had dinner and decided against going to another optional class. Instead we decided to wander the town a bit so we walked around the streets of Suwon for a bit
We ended up running into more SMOE people and just sat talking outside a convenient store with them. Nothing crazy but it was nice to just hear other people's stories :)
After we headed back in and I went to Matty's room. We ended up talking with his roommate until pretty late into the night :) that was the end of Tuesday night
Day 3
Morning rolled around and I finally had breakfast for my first time on campus! It was simple, just rice and soup with some banchan but it was still enjoyable. We had sessions on education and technology but it was mostly a seminar about different activites and games we could do in our classrooms. After it was time for lunch and then time to go back again for the last session on cooperative learning. I think these sessions were good in sparking ideas that we could use later on so thumbs up to that :). We ended early so my group and I decided to grab some coffee and work on our teaching practice project
Cute coffee shop in the student center
My group and me!
That night we got a notice that our Seoul city tour had been cancelled because of increased cases of swine flu in the country...so instead we were getting our tempertures checked by nurses :( and they also switched the schedule all around which confused my roommate and me but once everything worked out in the end! :)
Day 4
Our first session today was a co-teaching demonstration..I felt like the first one was very helpful and the second was helpful in a sense of what not to do with your coteacher. After lunch we had a Q&A session with the SMOE program coordinator which was informaive and then after that we had our temperature checked..and then we were pretty much free for the rest of the day. After dinner we decided to go into the city for some fun :). We stopped into a bar and had some very spicy chicken and flavored soju (yogurt, strawberry and kiwi) and then headed to the convenience store to take the fun back to SKKU. Somewhere during all this I also tried a sweet corn popsicle...It was a good night! :)
Day 5
Today was our last full day of orientation. We presented our lesson plan for teaching practice and then we're pretty much done for the day. I decided after I finished to wander around the campus and take some pictures. I couldn't find anyone to wander with because most people wanted to start packing or take a nap but I'm glad I went around..it was really relaxing and energizing! Here are some of my favorite shots
Love is everywhere you look :)
My favorite leaf shape..I love these trees!
After all the exploring it was time for dinner and then we went to see the Taekwando performance! It was really good..and cute :) they danced to gee!
After we headed into the city again to wander a bit but we didnt do too much...bought some street food and then headed back to pack. We found out our schools that night and it was a mad house trying to see the list!It was bittersweet to look at the list and see some people being joined together but everyone else being split apart. That night I packed most of my stuff up and went to sleep...ready to be shipped out to "Dongjak-gu" the next day!
Day 6
Woke up bright and early to check out by 7am...moved all our luggage to the appropriate bus and turned in our dorm keys. We had some free time before closing ceremony so I spent most of it on the computer (which is when I wrote the "Humbled" post). Had a delicious and very eclectic lunch and then boarded the bus to Dongjak-gu!
An hour ride later we were in Seoul..in our new home gu! One by one we were picked up by our coteachers/faculty members and taken to our homes/schools. I was one of the last to be picked up which made me even more nervous. I was first greeted by the male teacher (I was kind of surprised because everyone had said most likely everyone will have a female coteacher) and his son (sooo cute!!). I thought the woman with him was his wife (because other teachers brought their families)...I just kept thinking to myself she's so adorable! Turns out she was my coteacher! The other teacher who had greeted me first was a head teacher.
They're so cute! I love them :)
They helped me move my things into my apartment (which is a pleasant box, I'll post pictures of it after I decorate but the state it's in now you can check out on my facebook pictures). They got me situated with all the essentials (bed, new sheets, fan, AC, vacuum, some kitchen appliances, etc) and even internet and cable tv (both which i was very very thankful for). After that they showed me around the area (where the subway was, etc) and went with me to get a T-money card. I was also introduced to the superintendent and landlady - both are very kind when i see them around the building :).
I can't say that I'm living in luxury (my place is literally in an alley surrounded by bars and street marts..my door has a simple lock [unlike the fancy keypads i've been seeing around seoul]..and the bathroom has been really difficult to get used to seeing as the shower is between the sink and toliet haha) but I'm really enjoying it here and I've been enjoying the area.
I like Bongcheon-dong (I'm actually in Gwanak-gu instead of Dongjak-gu), it's nothing fancy but it has it's own little charm to it. I'm just really thankful for all the amenities I've been given to start with (because I know what it's like having to come into a place and start pretty much from scratch in terms of apartment stuff).
Anywho getting off topic (I'm sure I'll talk more about my apartment in later posts as I'm in the process of cute-ifying it!)~
After getting all settled in, I rested for a bit and then headed out again! Some of the people I had met on the bus decided to meet up in Hongdae to have dinner and go out so I headed over there. The subway was pretty easy to figure out - at least getting on and off! When I got to Hongdae station I totally forgot my friend had said exit 1 so I ended up wandering around aimlessly for an hour :(
Luckily enough I ran into another friend who I had invited so we went to go eat some dinner! Afterwards we headed back to the subway station in hopes to run into the group because they were going to come back around 9pm to gather more people. And again by luck we ran into them! :) We all headed out to a bar for some drinks and snacks...after that we rolled on over to a club that was free for foreigners..yay free! We also got a bunch of free drinks from the really cute bartender there <3 :D After dancing the night away we headed over to noraebong (karaoke) ...it was quite a day to say the least!
And so ends my SMOE orientation! All in all it was a positive experience because I took away some much needed info and was able to network with some really awesome people :)
Monday, August 24, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Arrival!
I'm super tired from staying up all night to pack and then staying up for the majority of the 12 hour plane ride here...So I just wanted to say we made it here safe and sound :) I'll update this post later when I'm not so tired and I can upload pictures
[EDIT]
The morning was a little hectic because I just finished packing and on top of that doing super last minute errands (calling credit card companies so they wont think someone stole my identity, cashing checks, etc)
I left san diego around 9:30 am...had lunch in westminster and then finally made it to LAX around 12:30
I was really worried because I'm prettttty sure my check in bags were going to be heavier than the airline allowed..but luckily the guy who was checking in before me was still getting his luggage weighed/remeasured? and so I guess to speed things up the woman checking me in just weighed one of my bags (the lighter one) and then just gave me luggage tags for both :)
Then I was also worried because my carry on bag was huge and stuffed...but basically everything went smoothly at the airport...boarded the plane and had a smooth flight over to korea
Matty and me on the plane (I look like a mess)
So I brought some things (books, movies, etc) to keep myself entertained for the 12 hour flight..one of those things was my laptop BUT I was betting on the plane having power outlets (as many forms of public transportation usually do). However, after looking around we could not find any outlets! While looking through some of the magazines about the plane I saw that there was suppose to be an outlet every 2 seats so matty and I kept searching...I finally felt this bump underneath and between the seats but really couldn't tell if it was an outlet or not. So like a couple of creepers we put the camera underneath the chair and took a picture of it :P
yeah...we ended up not even using the laptop because the inflight entertainment was so...entertaining :)
This one's for Lina
Finally made it through all the airport check points and met our recruiters..then made my first purchase in korea! Water and pocari sweat :)
Too much luggage..
Craziness! Ran into another anteater :) which by the way, there are so many people from UCI here..it's kind of amazing :)
Some neat light thingy outside of the airport
Party bussss...it's not a party without lights and tassles.
After we loaded up all our stuff we made it to the university..pretty much just got my keys..tried to unpack..showered and fell asleep.
I'll update later about day one with more details about where we're staying
time to sleep more!
Oh! Matty is now also updating this blog as well :) I think I'll ask other people to post about their experience too if they want..but yeah for now theres the two of us (it says at the bottom of each post who the poster is) :]
[EDIT]
The morning was a little hectic because I just finished packing and on top of that doing super last minute errands (calling credit card companies so they wont think someone stole my identity, cashing checks, etc)
I left san diego around 9:30 am...had lunch in westminster and then finally made it to LAX around 12:30
I was really worried because I'm prettttty sure my check in bags were going to be heavier than the airline allowed..but luckily the guy who was checking in before me was still getting his luggage weighed/remeasured? and so I guess to speed things up the woman checking me in just weighed one of my bags (the lighter one) and then just gave me luggage tags for both :)
Then I was also worried because my carry on bag was huge and stuffed...but basically everything went smoothly at the airport...boarded the plane and had a smooth flight over to korea
Matty and me on the plane (I look like a mess)
So I brought some things (books, movies, etc) to keep myself entertained for the 12 hour flight..one of those things was my laptop BUT I was betting on the plane having power outlets (as many forms of public transportation usually do). However, after looking around we could not find any outlets! While looking through some of the magazines about the plane I saw that there was suppose to be an outlet every 2 seats so matty and I kept searching...I finally felt this bump underneath and between the seats but really couldn't tell if it was an outlet or not. So like a couple of creepers we put the camera underneath the chair and took a picture of it :P
yeah...we ended up not even using the laptop because the inflight entertainment was so...entertaining :)
This one's for Lina
Finally made it through all the airport check points and met our recruiters..then made my first purchase in korea! Water and pocari sweat :)
Too much luggage..
Craziness! Ran into another anteater :) which by the way, there are so many people from UCI here..it's kind of amazing :)
Some neat light thingy outside of the airport
Party bussss...it's not a party without lights and tassles.
After we loaded up all our stuff we made it to the university..pretty much just got my keys..tried to unpack..showered and fell asleep.
I'll update later about day one with more details about where we're staying
time to sleep more!
Oh! Matty is now also updating this blog as well :) I think I'll ask other people to post about their experience too if they want..but yeah for now theres the two of us (it says at the bottom of each post who the poster is) :]
Friday, August 21, 2009
Packing up and moving out
Hello new journal!
This will be my online blog about my experience teaching abroad in Korea through the SMOE program.
I want to try and update as much as possible but we'll see how much time I'll have to do that once I get over there..
I leave the US tomorrow at 2pm :( I know I should be feeling excited and part of me is but right now I feel like my heart is breaking
SPOP royal year has honestly been one of the highest points in my life - I don't want to talk too much about this right now because it will make me cry. Anddd I need to pull it together right now and finish packing!
Well the next time I post I'll be in korea :), until then ♥
This will be my online blog about my experience teaching abroad in Korea through the SMOE program.
I want to try and update as much as possible but we'll see how much time I'll have to do that once I get over there..
I leave the US tomorrow at 2pm :( I know I should be feeling excited and part of me is but right now I feel like my heart is breaking
SPOP royal year has honestly been one of the highest points in my life - I don't want to talk too much about this right now because it will make me cry. Anddd I need to pull it together right now and finish packing!
Well the next time I post I'll be in korea :), until then ♥
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