Hello everyone – a belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year to you all! Now that Christmas is over, my second round of Korean classes are over, and I’ve wrapped up my third semester of teaching, I have a little more time to relax.
Not too much time though, of course, as I start teaching winter camp tomorrow – at least I had a few days with no responsibilities. I’ve had to be at work the past three days, but just four hours a day, and then I had the rest of the day to do as I pleased. I started swimming again, now that I have the time, so I’ve enjoyed getting in longer afternoon workouts and then still having an evening of productivity when I’m done.
Unfortunately, I got hit with a cold this week, so I’m afraid that will limit my New Year’s plans – I was supposed to go hiking on New Year’s Eve, but I don’t think that will happen, due to the chilly winter weather. As of now I’m not sure what I'm doing for New Year’s, but a Korean tradition is to wake up early and see the sunrise on New Year’s Day – it sounds like a neat idea, and I have definitely never gotten up that early to see the sunrise in the past, so maybe I’ll give it a try this year.
Backing up a bit to the end of the semester, this year, since I had a bit more free reign with my lessons, as a result of actually knowing what I was doing this time around, I decided to do a few extra weeks of Christmas, as it is my favorite holiday, and there are so many fun Christmas activities and ideas for lessons. My extra classes had a day of Christmas decorations to spruce up the English room, which proved to be so popular that my other regular English classes wanted to make decorations too, which Mrs. Lee acquiesced to once their exams were finished. Between making Christmas cards and
decorations, playing Christmas trivia games, teaching Christmas vocabulary, and for their grand finale class (my last class of the semester with them) I treated them to mini candy canes (in order to teach them what ‘peppermint’ tastes like) and some Christmas cookies, while we watched a Mr. Bean Christmas episode during which I quizzed them on the vocabulary I’d dutifully been teaching them the past weeks, such as ‘ornament,’ ‘stuffing,’ and ‘reindeer,’ we all had a lot of fun. I especially enjoyed introducing the word and concept of ‘mistletoe’ to my kids, courtesy of the new Justin Bieber song. I found some fun YouTube clips (check out Kisseltoe on YouTube) that depicted exactly what I wanted to convey, but I’m afraid that despite my efforts, some of them may believe that a
ll we do in December is kiss each other every time we walk into a room. Hence, the third grade boys loudly exclaimed that the
y wanted to move to America for the month of December. At least now they understand the reference. The conclusion of the semester the day before Christmas Eve was fitting, and we ended the week with a fantastic teacher dinner at a seafood restaurant. It was sad saying goodbye to my third graders, however, as I likely won’t see them again except for random meetings in town or at the bus stop. I got pictures with each class and gave them my e-mail address – hopefully I can receive a surprise e-mail here and there in the future. It will be strange to not have them around next year, but I suppose that’s just part of being a teacher.
decorations, playing Christmas trivia games, teaching Christmas vocabulary, and for their grand finale class (my last class of the semester with them) I treated them to mini candy canes (in order to teach them what ‘peppermint’ tastes like) and some Christmas cookies, while we watched a Mr. Bean Christmas episode during which I quizzed them on the vocabulary I’d dutifully been teaching them the past weeks, such as ‘ornament,’ ‘stuffing,’ and ‘reindeer,’ we all had a lot of fun. I especially enjoyed introducing the word and concept of ‘mistletoe’ to my kids, courtesy of the new Justin Bieber song. I found some fun YouTube clips (check out Kisseltoe on YouTube) that depicted exactly what I wanted to convey, but I’m afraid that despite my efforts, some of them may believe that a
ll we do in December is kiss each other every time we walk into a room. Hence, the third grade boys loudly exclaimed that the
y wanted to move to America for the month of December. At least now they understand the reference. The conclusion of the semester the day before Christmas Eve was fitting, and we ended the week with a fantastic teacher dinner at a seafood restaurant. It was sad saying goodbye to my third graders, however, as I likely won’t see them again except for random meetings in town or at the bus stop. I got pictures with each class and gave them my e-mail address – hopefully I can receive a surprise e-mail here and there in the future. It will be strange to not have them around next year, but I suppose that’s just part of being a teacher.
Outside of the classroom, I attended my second round of Korean class this winter every Saturday morning, which was a lot easier than my first time around, even though I was a level ahead. All the practice and listening expo
sure I get at school has paid off over the past year – I’m really enjoying learning and using the language, and hope to continue taking classes after vacation. During the week, I kept up with my usual routine of swimming, going to the gym, going to book club, and studying at the local coffee shop. Once the cold weather started though, I started staying home more often, taking advantage of my cosy warm floor and floor mat, where I worked on Christmas presents and cards while catching up on American TV shows and movies on my computer.
sure I get at school has paid off over the past year – I’m really enjoying learning and using the language, and hope to continue taking classes after vacation. During the week, I kept up with my usual routine of swimming, going to the gym, going to book club, and studying at the local coffee shop. Once the cold weather started though, I started staying home more often, taking advantage of my cosy warm floor and floor mat, where I worked on Christmas presents and cards while catching up on American TV shows and movies on my computer.
This past weekend all of us expats gathered in Jangheung for Round 2 of Korean Christmas. Like Thanksgiving, we had a good crowd of about sixteen people, all who brought obscene amounts of food, along with a White Elephant gift which we used for a fun gift exchange. We played games, ate lots of food, chatted, played football, and had an all around good time enjoying the festivities. It was great to have so many good friends in my adopted home country to share Christmas with.
If you’re wondering what Koreans do for Christmas, it’s go on a date. Christmas = date day. They treat it like a couple’s holiday, so basically if you’re young and single, you don’t get to celebrate Christmas. The young children might receive presents from ‘Santa,’ and most Christians will go to church on Christmas Eve, but for the most part, it
’s shopping, going to the movies, and going out to eat for Korean Christmas. Some families will have a tree, some families will make cookies, and it’s popular to buy a ‘Christmas cake’ from a local bakery and eat that with your friends and family for Christmas – kind of like a glorified Valentine’s Day. If you think about it, there weren’t even Christians in Korea until the late 1800s, and during the Japanese occupation (until 1945) most Christian activity was underground or secret, so the concept of Christmas has really only been around since the 1950s. Since then, it’s been commercialized, largely by the USA, but also Canada and Europe, so that these days it’s mostly a holiday for show. But hey, most of the kids have a basic understanding of what it is, and it makes me as a Westerner realize how deep the roots of our culture run, which is all the way down to knowing Christmas stories, movies, and origins.
’s shopping, going to the movies, and going out to eat for Korean Christmas. Some families will have a tree, some families will make cookies, and it’s popular to buy a ‘Christmas cake’ from a local bakery and eat that with your friends and family for Christmas – kind of like a glorified Valentine’s Day. If you think about it, there weren’t even Christians in Korea until the late 1800s, and during the Japanese occupation (until 1945) most Christian activity was underground or secret, so the concept of Christmas has really only been around since the 1950s. Since then, it’s been commercialized, largely by the USA, but also Canada and Europe, so that these days it’s mostly a holiday for show. But hey, most of the kids have a basic understanding of what it is, and it makes me as a Westerner realize how deep the roots of our culture run, which is all the way down to knowing Christmas stories, movies, and origins. 
That about covers what I’ve been up to this past month. I have about three weeks of winter camp – four hours a day, about 12 kids each day – to teach, and then I’m off to Seoul to start my vacation. I’ll be flying around Malaysia and Indonesia, concluding in Bali where I’ll be meeting up with my best friend from college. More on that later – I’ll try to update again before I leave for vacation, but if not you’ll be hearing from me when I get back. In the meantime, you all stay safe and warm, and have a fantastic new year! Miss you all!
Above - a snowy Christmas Eve morning, downtown on my way to Korean class.
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