Settling Back In

Good morning folks (or goodnight to you, depending on which hemisphere you are in, I suppose)

Just a quick post this week, a little out of order. I'll get back to my weekly posting schedule next week, but I wanted to say hi and let you know how things are going back on the home front. In short, things are going well. Really well, in fact. I have a definite second wave of love for all things Korea, and this time I know what I'm doing as opposed to when I first arrived last August.

The realization that I have less than six months left here has really hit home - there are so many things left that I want to do here, and so many more places I want to visit - how will there possibly time for everything? Well, there probably won't be, but I would rather leave Korea with a desire to return than a feeling of satisfaction that I've experienced everything. For now, I plan to keep appreciating and trying to make the most of every day I have left here, but not going overboard and stretching myself too thin.

By now I've settled back into my school schedule, though the first few days of staying at my desk all day until 5 were kind of rough. We had an opening ceremony, which took place in the gym, where all the students gathered together and the new first graders (seventh graders) were 'inducted' into the school. Parents attended, there were some speeches I couldn't understand, and there was a lot of clapping. Also a really cute little toddler who tried to steal the show by climbing up the stairs onto the stage during the middle of the principal's speech - to her credit, she maintained her stage presence and kept right on speaking...which made it even funnier. There was also a teacher introduction, where we all had to stand in a line, then step out and bow, first to the students and then to the parents section. I had no idea this was coming, so it was good thing I wasn't first in line. I think I managed a graceful set of bows though, if I do say so myself. At least my kids cheered for me.

Speaking of the kids, after the first two days of just hanging out in the teacher's office due to diagnostic and orientation classes, I finally taught my first class last Friday and had a ton of fun. I was so much more comfortable with the kids this time, as they were with me. We talked about vacations for a little bit ("How was your vacation?" "Good" "What did you do?" "Played computer games, watched tv, and slept." Thrilling.) and then got started with Chapter 1. True to my procrastinating self, I didn't finish the PowerPoint for my first lesson until about 20 minutes before it started...but it still went well. We also had a teacher's dinner to welcome the new teachers (lots of raw fish...) where I had fun just observing the excited chatter among the teachers, and was able to pick up a few words and names here and there. Again, this time I knew what I was doing - such a contrast from my first teacher dinner when I was still trying to remember how to eat with chopsticks.

This week has been back to business - I've taught every day, and I went to my second school yesterday to meet the new principal, co-teacher, other teachers, meet the new first graders, and get started with the second and third graders. It was so good to see everyone again, and I'm glad to be back with my same schools. I feel like I'm one of the luckier teachers in Korea, as I have been blessed with two small schools - this makes classes much easier to control and gives me a great opportunity to really get to know the students, as opposed to some teachers who have huge city schools and can barely recognize all of their students.

Aside from school, book club started up again last night, I'm continuing to edit and proofread for the monthly Gwangju News magazineand my weekly orphanage volunteering sessions (pictured: a rare occasion when all the girls were working quietly last Saturday) are still going strong, so now I feel like I'm back in full swing of things. Also, I signed up for a gym membership again, this time for six months. I was against signing up for the gym in the spring at first, because I wanted to focus on running outside again, but I found myself really enjoying weight lifting and the pilates and yoga classes my gym offers. If I want to run outside I still can, but the gym is a nice alternative if I miss a day or don't have time in the morning. My friend and I see the gym almost as a nightly social activity now, as we've gotten to know the trainers, and enjoy trying to speak half English-half Korean with them...our communication usually involves a lot of hand gestures. We've decided that between the cultural experience and language practice going to the gym gives us, it's well worth the money.

Oh, one more activity to add to my list: I started swimming again! I found a pool that is really close by bus (only 10 mins away,) not crowded, and good locker room facilities. As it's 5 dollars each session (I don't have enough time nor want to spend the money for a monthly membership) I'm planning to go once or twice a week. When I first got back into the water (it's been a year since I've properly trained) I was worried I would feel awful, but I have to credit my daily weightlifting last fall for keeping my muscles pretty intact - not only did I feel like I remembered how to swim, I also felt smooth and relaxed. It was familiar and enjoyable, especially when I could make up my own workouts and go at whatever pace I wanted. I also made some new friends...the little old ladies who come for lap swim. They caught me while I was kicking, and stopped me, talking to me excitedly in Korean. I smiled and told them I don't speak Korean, (in Korean...I know that much) a little annoyed that they interrupted my workout, but that didn't deter them one bit. These ladies were on a mission: to find out if I was married or not. It took me a while to figure this out, as the miming and gesturing went from pointing to my finger (I thought they were remarking on how big my hands were) to motioning to an invisible person next to me, then back to me (I didn't really know how to take that one) to mimicking eating with someone (were they inviting me to dinner?) to finally saying, really slowly, "m-isss-esss, missesss." At this point, I wasn't sure if they were speaking English or Korean, so I spit out what I could tell them: my name is Gina, I teach at Changpyeong, and I live near HomePlus. Nope, not good enough. It wasn't until one of the old ladies grabbed her friend and started hugging her and making lovey-dovey noises that I finally got it - 'OH, MRS. = Misses!" Laughing, I told them in Korean that no, I don't have a boyfriend, (you have to learn this phrase pretty quickly in Korean when you come to Korea) therefore I'm not married (that part they were supposed to infer, but all the same I made a mental note to learn what 'married' is in Korean.) That satisfied them, so then they gave me a thumbs up for my swimming ability, and sent me on my way. I stopped kicking at the other end and went back underwater to avoid further communication, as I had a time constraint that day. It was nice to see them again when I went back the next week though.

So, that's been my past couple of weeks of returning to Korea - I'm remembering to speak and practice my Korean, remembering how much fun teaching is, and realizing how much I missed kimchi. Tomorrow (Friday) we all have the day off, due to the school's birthday, so I'm taking advantage of my three day weekend and heading to Gyeongju, the 'history town' I tried to go to last fall.

Ah, one more thing. I'd like to proudly display my most recent baking adventure: strawberry cake. Strawberries are in season right now in Korea, and these past two weeks I've been spoiled rotten at work with fresh plates of huge, ripe strawberries in the teacher's office. Since the school had some extra money in their English teacher's apartment budget this spring, I recently acquired a new bedspread, bookshelf, and baking pans, so I wanted to put the pans to use to show my appreciation. What better occasion to bake for than a birthday? That's right, to show my appreciation for my school, my wonderful and friendly coworkers, and for Korea's strawberries, I baked my school a birthday cake. The Korean writing says "Happy Birthday Changpyeong Middle School!"  Don't worry, I'll enjoy a piece for you.

Until next time, take care, stay warm, and think warm, spring thoughts!