Christmas Cheer

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 all we do in December is kiss each other every time we walk into a room. Hence, the third grade boys loudly exclaimed that they 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 exposure 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.

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. 

A Season of Blessings

Hi everyone! I hope this finds you well and recovering from your week of holiday eating and celebrating. Speaking of holidays, I've got two coming up for you - not to worry, even though I was missing home I was still able to celebrate.

My year has come to a good end, filled with lots of festivities and fun. When November hit, and the leaves exploded into a beautiful

array of fall colors, there was excitement in the air – namely for two end of the year November events. You know what one of them is – can you think of the other one? When I asked my students this, they all answered: School Festival! Then they racked their brains trying to think of the second one – but then all I needed to say was: “America. Turkey.” They got it.

But before we can begin to talk about the Thanksgiving festivities, it was time to get ready for the event of the year: the Changpyeong Middle School Sports Day and School Festival, which took place the day before Korean Thanksgiving. Same as last year, it was an all day event, with sports day in the morning, followed by an afternoon of performances.

Last year I really had no idea what was going on, and I had to awkwardly follow around my co-teachers, asking about what was happening and what was next. I still had fun though. This year, however, I could read the schedule, I had plenty of kids around who felt comfortable enough with me to chat, and I knew what to expect.

I came to school that day prepared for a morning of outdoor activity: two layers of pants, shirts, a sweatshirt, scarf, and a blanket. As I walked down the hall to the teacher’s office one of my kids told me: “You look like polar bear.” Well, polar bears are warm, right? Here is me in my polar bear motif with one of my students and my dear co-teacher, Mrs. Lee.

The day started off with some stretching, then team division, (blue vs white team – guess which team I rooted for) and we started off with some 100 meter dashes, which yielded some surprising results – I had no idea some of those kids were so fast! Then the groups split off into badminton, T-ball, and kickball, which I was free to wander and observe at any time. I bopped around, chatting to different groups of kids and taking lots of pictures. After the first round of games were finished, it was time for the boys to play soccer and the girls to play a Korean game involving throwing a ball and standing in a square like formation – with some running from one side to another in between. Obviously, I didn’t really understand it, and chose to watch most of the soccer game, which included all of my boys who always wished they were playing soccer instead of in my English class. This time I got to see them strut their stuff, and it was fun cheering them on. The morning concluded with team against team tug of war, and then finished off with an all grades, twelve person relay race. The blue team won!

After a hearty meal of bibimbap (just like last year) and some downtime, it was time for the afternoon of performances. Each class did a performance of various types – the first graders did a skit, three of them did a song and dance, one group did a gag skit, and the last group of third graders did a rap/song. In between individuals and groups performed. I was so impressed by some of my students, mostly because they are so shy in my classes, but when they performed they were amazing. The third grade boys did a K-Pop girl group dance to one of the hit songs of the year, complete with girl costumes. Four of my first grade girls, two of whom are horribly shy, rocked another K-Pop girl group song and dance, which you could tell they had rehearsed endlessly, as it was spot on. One of my favorite performances was when one of my third grade (ninth grade) boys performed a duet with one of his friends – this kid not only gets top grades, speaks English really well, is a superstar soccer player, had just won two running races that morning, but he has a phenomonal voice, unbeknowst to me – I started tearing up when I heard him. Of course, this kid is a hotshot, and tries to kick his soccer ball around during my unsupervised extra classes, resulting in my ‘angry face,’ but still, I had to admire him. What a talented group of kids I have the privilege to work with.

When the last performance came, I was sad to have the day end. One of the third grade classes was up, the rapping group, and when they were finished there was the usual round of applause. But they weren’t finished – to our surprise the song transitioned, and all of a sudden some of them ran off the stage and started grabbing the teachers to drag them onstage. Bewildered, we all stood on stage with them, not knowing what was going on, as they started holding up signs and giving us paper carnation pins. I’m sure the Korean teachers figured it out before I did, but it wasn’t until one of the kids (the hotshot kid, actually) came from backstage with a lighted cake and the students all started singing that I realized they were doing a thank you song to the teachers, as they were part of the graduating class and would be leaving the next month. It was so sweet of them! The signs spelled out “Teachers Thank You” and the carnation pins were to show respect and honor towards teachers (it’s a popular flower to give on Teacher’s Day and Parent’s Day.) And the cake? Obviously it was for the teachers to share, right? Well, that’s what I thought too, but the kids ended up having some fun with it instead. As soon as the song ended what did they do? On cue they all reached their fingers in the cake, scooped up some frosting, and wiped it on the teachers’ faces. Cake war: On.

The festival was over, and the third graders proceeded to smear every last bit of the cake frosting on the teachers and mostly on each other – it was great. Lots of fun pictures, and lots of getting back at students. Okay, just a little getting back at them. More of them getting back at me…(Oh, and I promise the kid next to me does like me...he wasn't ready for the picture. Me and my third graders, post-cake cleanup.)

Prior to School Fest I was feeling a little burned out – I was homesick, the weather was getting colder, and I was dragging my heels a bit with the everyday routine of teaching. But throughout that day I was so revitalized by the energy and enthusiasm of my students – they were having a blast, and it was contagious. I got to hang out with some of my favorite students, I watched soccer sitting on the sidelines with them, we shared blankets to keep warm, and best of all, they enjoyed talking to me and explaining parts of the day. I was beaming – my job as an English conversation teacher had turned into so much more with these kids – I felt like their friend, and they had accepted me as such, even though they had to use English to communicate. I was excited but sad to have just a month left to spend with some of them. It sure gave me a lot to be thankful for. Transition into Thanksgiving…

The week of Thanksgiving I enjoyed enthusiastically teaching middle schoolers about turkey, pumpkin pie, Pilgrims, and stuffing. I received some creative responses such as “ Columbus!” or “Abraham Lincoln!” when I asked who the first people to live in America were, and I had to agree with their bewildered looks when I showed them a couple of YouTube clips about Black Friday. “Why, teacher, why so early?” “I really don’t know, kids.”

We also made some Thanksgiving hand turkeys, which garnered some creative responses. Here are some to give you an idea of what my Korean middle schoolers are especially thankful for:

Of course, talking about Thanksgiving all week was making me quite homesick, but I enjoyed Skyping at 6 AM with the family back home – at least this year Reed didn’t wave a piece of pumpkin pie at me in front of the computer. I happily reminded everyone that next year I will be home for Thanksgiving, and tried to transition my thoughts of homesickness to thoughts of excitement for my own Korean Thanksgiving coming up.

Similar to the year before, this year our gathering consisted of nearly twenty people in one apartment – one of the guys from my orientation last year graciously volunteered to host it this year. We dug into one of the more unique Thanksgiving dinners that I’ve had, complete with pumpkin curry soup, Thai pasta salad, cocktail meatballs, and chips and salsa. Though we lacked a turkey, we at least had some chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls, vegetables, and plenty of pie and sweets. As always, the most important part was the good company – I enjoyed chatting and catching up with my group from last year, as well as some of the newer teachers. We even had the downloaded football game from Thanksgiving playing on the big screen – it just about felt like Thanksgiving, even from 2,000 miles away.

I was especially thankful for: my safe, happy and healthy life in Korea, the opportunities and experiences I’ve had since living abroad, my students, my co-workers, my wonderful friends in Korea, and everyone I love back home and can’t wait to see again next year. So many blessings!

In Retrospect

Hello all!

So sorry I’ve been neglecting – after the GRE I thought I’d have some downtime but things just kept on going. I’ve been enjoying my past four days of ‘vacation,’ which will end when my two friends from Mankato arrive tomorrow – then it will be busy busy busy until school starts again in mid-August.

I’d like to say this is another one of those teach you about Korean culture and/or history kind of posts – but it’s not. It’s mostly just about me. Sorry. Tomorrow night my dear friends Emily and Lauren are arriving in Gwangju – we began planning this visit almost exactly a year ago, and I'm so glad it's actually happening. I’ve got loads of things planned for them to do – they’re even coming to work with me for a couple of days. The first semester ended July 15th, so last week and this week I’ve been teaching summer camp for four hours every morning with a wonderful little group of first graders (seventh graders.) They’re great kids and we’ve been having a lot of fun – we keep running out of time because our activities keep us busy. Last week we also had a three day field trip to English Town – I’ll tell you more about that later – so I was busy chaperoning and…speaking English. My gym and swimming memberships ended last week, so I really feel like I’m on vacation with no obligations – has been a good excuse to get myself out walking around and exploring the city again.

As for what’s coming up next, I’ve got a trip to Busan this weekend planned with Emily and Lauren to show them the sights, and then after three days of deskwarming (sitting at my desk for four hours each morning for absolutely no reason at all other than showing up to fulfill my contract) next week we’ll head up to Seoul for a couple of days. Then, on Friday the 5th we’ll head to the airport together – back to the USA for them ( for Lauren, as Em is leaving a couple of days earlier) and onto Japan for me. I know I said I was going to go to China, but things ended up getting a little sticky with the time restraints for getting a Chinese visa – after my experience of not getting my Korean visa on time last year (which was no one’s fault but my own) I decided to sideline the stress and anxiety and changed my trip to Japan. I’ve been reading and researching as much as I can – I’ve got an East to West trip planned out. I’ve grown up hearing about Japan from my mom and grandparents – I’m so excited to finally go there and see it for myself. I’m also planning on visiting the school and area where Mom taught for two years, and even meet her old boss, who is still apparently the principal there.

So, what have I been up to? Well, I’ve been hot, for starters. It’s hot here. My introduction to a full blown Korean summer began in the end of May, when I started noticing that I would walk out the door and after ten minutes feel the need for another shower. Korean summers are composed of a hot, sticky, muggy couple of weeks, followed by a few more weeks of ‘rainy season’ which is even more hot, sticky, and muggy – but at least the mornings and evening were cool. Now we’ve progressed into what my co-teacher calls “hot summer.” (Perhaps due to the recent girl group K-Pop song entitled “Hot Summer” that has been playing on repeat all over the place: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-rftpZ7kCY) Luckily so far it hasn’t been as hot as I remember last summer was – when I arrived in August I thought I was going to melt, even in the evenings, but its definitely still hot. I’m really missing the lake and my various pools right about now. It’s strange to A: not have a tan, B: not run around in a swimsuit all day jumping form swim practice to coaching to teaching lessons to lifeguarding, and C: not spend a day lounging outside on my deck in the heat reading a book. Go figure my first year as a teacher gives me a winter vacation and not a summer vacation.

So, the last time I wrote I believe I was in the midst of studying for the GRE. I’m happy to report that it went well – I knew as soon as I finished that it was much better than last year. I received my scores this past weekend and am pleased to say I bumped all of my scores up – very encouraging for my future graduate school applications. I was a study machine – I don’t think I’ve ever studied so much for anything in my life. My poor kids were so confused when they saw me memorizing vocabulary words: “But teacher, you are from America! You know English!” Luckily two of my good friends were taking it also, so I had a lot of fellow encouragement…and partners to commiserate with. The day we took the GRE we went out for pizza and beer immediately after, then spent the afternoon hanging out with our friends who had come into town for an art show. A nice dinner and a fun night out with our friends was the perfect way to celebrate...even though I don't remember much of it.

I haven’t done much traveling lately because I’ve been busy and have come to appreciate quiet weekends (since my weekdays are jam packed,) but last month I did manage to take a quick trip to Jeonju, a litle city about an hour and a half north of Gwangju. Jeonju used to be the former capitals of one of the three kingdoms (Baekje) during the Three Kingdoms period. (Remember Gyeongju? That was the capital of one of the other kingdoms.) The best and most famous feature of Jeonju is its well preserved hanok village. Hanok village refers to a traditional Korean neighborhood, with traditional style housing and streets. Jeonju’s village was a charming little area just south of the city center – my friend Lisa and I stayed in a cheap little motel room and enjoyed two days of wandering around – exploring the village, walking along the river, checking out the modern downtown (pictured) eating at cute little cafes and coffee shops, and enjoying the change of scenery. It was the perfect little getaway weekend.

After the GRE, the next up on my calendar was my birthday. Though it was the first birthday I’ve spent away from home I couldn’t have asked for a better celebration. Since it was on a Thursday, I couldn’t get together with my friends from out of town until the following evening, so I just had a quiet (and delicious) barbecue dinner with two of my friends in town. After dinner we headed over to Cafe Bene, where our worker friends (pictured) had a special birthday treat prepared, (also pictured) complete with a birthday note written on a Cafe Bene napkin. Because we were the only ones there, they even took song requests and played our favorite K-Pop tunes. A Cafe Bene birthday to remember. The next night I traveled to Mokpo to meet up with my friends, and we joined the already planned Canada Day (I now know that Canada Day takes place every July 1st…) party that evening – it was great to see a lot of my orientation friends again, and we all had a lot of fun.

However, to me, the best birthday presents I received, possibly ever, were at school. Little notes, drawings, and cards appeared on my desk throughout the day, the boa

rds were decorated each time I walked into the room to teach a class, (ah, please note: the very last name on the list of names on the right is my name in Korean, which I always add to the board at the beginning of class, but because it was my birthday my name was already listed AND I got extra stars, which I have to add them myself) and the many birthday greetings that I got throughout the day were so sweet. I got lots of cutesy little gift like hair accessories and even some fresh plums from my kids, and my co-teacher made me a cheesecake. I was so touched, saying that usually my mom makes my birthday cake for me, so I wasn’t expecting a cake, and she said “Well yes, I am your Korean mother so it is my job to make your cake while you are in Korea.” Well done Mrs. Lee. Well done. 

After my birthday I had a couple of down time weeks at school due to finals testing, which I spent reading a history book about China (I just changed my trip about two weeks ago) and planning out my trip, and then the last week of school we played games and watched movies in class. I don’t understand why there is school a week after finals, especially since the majority of classes don’t actually have class – it’s recreation, free time, or movies. (I was chatting to one of my kids in the office and asked him what class he has next. He pointed to the schedule board and said “Math. Movie. Then, history. Movie.” Then he pointed to every class and said “Movie, movie, movie, and movie." Fun.

The good news about movie week, (which I took the liberty of naming,) is that in all the other English classes that I didn’t teach, my co-teachers were showing movies – in English, of course – so I started checking the schedule, asking my co-teachers which movies they were showing in which classes, then popping in on random classes depending on what movie they were watching. Of course, in my extra class I showed a movie too, so I think I counted and ended up seeing clips of about eight different movies thoughout that week. Everyone deserves a movie week here and there, right? I was delighted to discover that now I’m able to read Korean fast enough to catch most of the subtitles.

The last day of the semester was also coupled with my friend Sara heading home for a month long visit (her sister is getting married as well, congrats Emily!) – so we got together and had a nice dinner and went to see the new Harry Potter movie, fulfilling our generational duty. A lot of my other friends are either on or starting their vacations now, and my friend Sokhom leaves tomorrow for Canada – it will be fun to reunite with everyone in August, as well as say goodbye to those who are completing their one year contract.

After finals, I had my two days of summer camp (All About You introduction day and Superhero day) and then me, seven other teachers, and most of the first and third graders (the second graders have to go in the winter vacation) all piled on the bus and headed about 30 minutes away from Changpyeong to the Gwangju English Village. Also termed ‘English Town,’ this ‘summer camp’ is basically supposed to be a simulation of what it is like to live in an English speaking town. All the buildings were labeled in English, and inside each little station (like Post Office, Airport, etc) there were props and scenery to make it look somewhat like the real place. The kids were divided into groups and then all followed a schedule which sent them to different ‘classes’ in each respective building. For example, in Post Office class they learned some vocabulary, learned about writing addresses in English, then wrote letters. In Hair Salon class, they learned accompanying vocabulary, then got to play around with nail polish and face paint. It was basically a mix of vocabulary lessons, hands on activities, worksheets, and games in each class.

I really enjoyed English Town because I was able to hang out with my students without actually teaching. I had a lot of freedom (the teacher’s room was boring because all the other teachers just spoke to each other in Korean…so I slipped out quite often) and had fun just checking out the schedule and making ‘visits’ to each class – I would make sure I hit each group an even amount of times, and made sure I went to each different station just to see what it was all about. Each class was taught by a native English teacher (I believe there were six total) and a Korean co-teacher. Once in the classroom, I would either help with classroom control, help the kids with the activities, sit and listen with the kids, or do the activity with the kids. It was like going to class without having to do any homework. I have some fun pictures – see if you can guess which 'classes' we were at.

We were fed breakfast, lunch, and dinner, which, sadly, were all awful. They tried to make Western food, to suit the ‘English camp’ theme, but personally I think camp food is bad enough in the states – imagine another country trying to replicate it. I told my teachers that now all the kids are going to think American food is awful. To compensate, the Korean teachers frequently ran little ‘errands’ off the campsite and came back bringing fruit and snacks for us and the kids. Aside from class time, I did get to bond with my fellow Korean teachers a bit – the camp was situated out in the countryside, and the ladies took me for walks in the mornings and evenings, pointing out various plants and flowers – so pretty. I saw my first lotus pond too – so very Korean.

I also hung out with the other native teachers in between classes – it turns out one of them

just joined my book club. I think English Town was definitely a good way to start off the summer vacation - I ended the semester on a really good note with my students, and though I'm excited for the break (I definitely feel like I need one) I'm also excited to get back to school and have fun with them again. Picture on the right:

English Camp Teacher to me: "Hey, have you seen two kids running around in costumes? I had them for theater class and then when class ended they ran away still wearing them." She seemed alarmed.

Me: "Yup, they went that way." Unfazed.

After English camp I was finally able to relax and enjoy my summer vacation, which actually doesn’t officially start until next week. As I said, I visited some museums, did some walking around and exploring, cleaned my place, and even got some movie watching time in. I’m eagerly anticipating the arrival of my friends tomorrow night, so tonight I’m going to enjoy my last night off by watching a movie and going to bed early. After that it’s go go go until after Japan. 

As I’m nearing my year-long anniversary of arriving in Korea, I have to do some reminiscing about how much has changed since then. When I arrived, I was dead set on seeing and traveling as much as I could – I was going to take off for teaching in Russia about now, as I recall. I was planning on living frugally and not developing long relationships due to having to leave within a year, and basically living detached from everything so that I could think ahead for the future. Now, I can’t imagine leaving my kids and my friends here for anything so soon – I’ve slowed things down and realized how happy I am here with my job and my life – why would I want to leave so soon in pursuit of traveling a world that will still be there in the years to come? I’ve sort of started my life over here in Korea - this was my first September that I didn’t start swim season since the age of seven - I’ve had to adjust to living ‘normally.’ Luckily I’ve realized that I can’t just sit and do nothing after work – my gym and swimming pool memberships have helped center me, especially after sitting at a desk for most of the day.

However, I think the best things I’ve experienced and realized is how important close friends and relationships are. I’m so lucky to have two really close friends that I would never have thought I could grow so close to in just one year, and of course, I’ve developed a wonderful and trusting relationship with my students, co-teachers, and co-workers. The kindness and compassion of the Korean people is truly touching, and I feel so lucky that I’ve been embraced and accepted by Korean society, from my kids to my co-workers and even to the celebrity moms and coffee shop workers who give me free stuff. The Korean language employs the same word for heart and mind, a beautiful concept which is clearly manifested through most Koreans' everyday actions and behavior. I don’t know what I would do without Mrs. Lee, my Korean mom, or Miss Yoo, my sweet little co-teacher who always helps me with everything. (L -R Mrs. Jo, the Korean teacher, Mrs. Lee, and Miss Yoo at the lotus pond.)

So, after nearly a year of ‘living the dream,’ I’m still doing exactly that: I’ve traveled to countries I’ve always dreamt of going to, I’m reading whatever books I want to for fun, I’m settled in an active and exciting community, I’m learning a new language and culture, and most importantly, I’m learning about myself and shaping the person who I want to become. I’m continually trying to live my life according to Mr. Henry David Thoreau, who boldly dares everyone to: “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve always imagined.” So far my dream has taken me further than I could have ever imagined, and I can’t wait to see what life has in store for me next.

Enjoy the rest of your summer everyone! Take care.

Bring on the Birds

Hello everyone! So I just spoke to my brother on G-chat and discovered that Minnesota is apparently expecting some winter weather this week? All I can say to that is a big I'm sorry to hear that, as well as an apology in advance for what I'm about to talk about: the wonderful spring weather in Korea.

I hope you've all had a good week despite the snow, as you're hopefully entering your post-hibernation phase of the year. I can't believe Easter is right around the corner - sadly Korea hasn't jumped on the Easter bandwagon like they have the Christmas one - there are no fake plastic or chocolate bunnies lining the store windows, there isn't a surplus of jellybeans or pastel wrapped chocolate in the grocery stores, nor are there Cadbury eggs for purchase near the registers - it's a sad reality that I'm trying my hardest to accept. Luckily my mom brought me a little caramel chocolate treat for Easter (the Easter bunny doesn't really do transcontintental treks) so at least I have a little piece of home waiting for me this coming Sunday. I'm not sure what my plans are yet for Easter, but they will definitely involve church and chocolate, in no particular order.

Speaking of weekends, let me begin by telling you about last Friday, as it was full of surprises and new experiences. I had about eight million teacher moments on Friday, beginning with my second period class where the second (eighth) graders had to write poems about their feelings in relation to someone or something close to them. My very creative students had a range of subjects they decided to write about, from the odd random food item (one wrote about kimchi: "I feel happy when you are on the table. I feel sad when you are gone") to a pet to an American pop singer (one of them wrote about Flo-Rida: "I feel happy when I listen to your music. I feel sad when you don't sing.) One of them wrote some very sweet things about me ("I feel happy when Gina is in English class. I feel sad when Gina isn't in English class) and yet another one wrote about himself ("I feel happy when you are happy. I feel sad when you are sad.") They were funny to listen to, but the best part was being able to see the kids show off their creativity and (in most cases) wit by using English - something I don't get to see as often since I'm responsible for teaching straight up dialogues and phrases. It was great to see them applying English without following the book or answering my questions.

My next teacher moment came after lunch, when all of a sudden five of my former students walked into the teacher's office. I only got to spend a semester with last year's third (ninth) graders, before they graduated in December and began high school this past February. Apparently on Friday they got back from a field trip early so they had some free time to walk down the road and visit us at school - it was so fun to see them again! They all looked a little taller, most had different hairstyles, and they looked sharp in their new uniforms. I asked them about their new teacher (who happens to be a friend of mine) and got lots of compliments to pass along to her. I thought about how strange it must be for those who have been teaching for a long time to see their former students all grown up and how much I always enjoyed visiting some of my old teachers. Now I know how it feels to be on the flip side.

Aside from my teaching duties on Friday, I also found some time to slip away and walk down the path a little ways to take pictures of the beautiful cherry blossom trees that line the walkway to the school. The trees are so pretty, and they make such a nice addition to the spring weather. I've seen my school in all seasons now, and I think spring and fall are definitely the two prettiest. I've included some pictures for you to drool over. Just a few more weeks until you can enjoy spring too, don't worry. Oh, fun fact for you. I've always associated birds with springtime...but in Korea there appears to be a lack of chirps announcing the coming spring. It didn't seem odd to me until I thought about it the other day - I don't ever see or hear birds. I don't remember the last time I saw a squirrel or a chipmunk. Where are all the animals? I must have been spoiled growing up in the Midwest, or else Korea has a strange animal hibernation rotation.

The last teacher moment I'll tell you about was when I was leaving school on Friday (after I received an impromptu Korean lesson from the art teacher...and realized I had been saying the informal version of a verb to people older than me, which is a no no....oops.) I was walking down the street to the bus stop, when I was suddenly stopped by a woman who had just gotten out of her car. To my surprise, she asked "Are you Gina?" When I said yes, she introduced herself as the mother of two of my students (whom I had just discovered were brother and sister the day before, actually.) I remembered that the same student (her daughter) had told me her mom was an English teacher a few weeks ago. My next surprise came when the mom said she had been wanting to meet me and she wanted to apologize to me because she thought her daughter was rude to me last year. In truth, her daugher, Sun Yeong, had actually been a bit of a troublemaker for me (not terrible) as an eighth grader last year, but this year I've noticed a great difference in her behavior, such as her newfound participation in class, and her willingness to speak to me outside of class. She has quickly become one of my favorite students, and I was so happy to be able to tell her mother so. I explained that I understand middle school is a difficult time, (hence the bad behavior) and that since last year I've noticed a positive change. I also told her that I really enjoy teaching her daughter, as well as her seventh grade son (both true!) We chatted for a little while longer, then said goodbye as I had to run to the bus.

As I thought back on my first parent-teacher conversation I was once again so thankful to be at the school I'm at, as it is small enough that I'm able to get to know my students (and learn their names) on a personal level. I was also pretty glad that Sun Yeong's mother is an English teacher. But back to the students: though their names are still such a challenge for me, I've just about gotten all of them down, and I love seeing the look of delight on their face when I remember their names. (This accomplished feat is actually due to many hours spent 'studying' students, and I hope to goodness that no one ever reads the Post-It notes I have stuck to my clipboard, as I have all the student's names written in tiny print with little memory triggers such as 'chipmunk face' next to the names. Good thing I have messy handwriting.)

Those were my three big teacher moments last Friday - I left work that week feeling so lucky about my students and my school - I know other teachers have had problems or issues with theirs, but mine seems to be the best combination of every factor. I'm excited that I have an extra year to spend with them still.

After school that day, I headed to the pool for my usual workout...but there was a twist. I know you're on the edges of your seats right now. When I was at lap swim the night before, I was approached by a woman who had introduced herself to me earlier that week. Her English was okay, so she was somehow able to communicate to me that she was part of a 'club' at the pool, and that this club wants me to join them. She said they meet Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for an hour. I realized that was what I had observed Monday evening when I saw a group of people in the far lane wearing matching caps, swimming in circles. I said I can't come Wednesdays, but that I could give it a try on Friday. I planned to swim a bit on my own first, and then give the 'club' a try.

Sounds interesting, right? Well, interesting is a good word but fun might be a better one. The club has a 'leader' (whom I wasn't allowed to swim in front of, even though I could have gone ahead of him, and I was really careful to not get too close to his feet) and about 10 other adult swimmers who all get together. We did about 1800 meters, including a warmup swim, a few small sets, and some drills. Though I didn't feel very challenged, I liked the opportunity to try some different drills and sets that I wouldn't normally do on my own, and though the English level was pretty minimal all around, the people were all very nice to me. I had fun.

But. I haven't told you the best part yet, the part which my friends probably won't ever let me live down as long as I'm in Korea. What is the club's name, you might ask? Well, I read the Korean name on everyone's matching caps, and though I was pretty sure I had translated correctly, after double checking with one of the other English speaking swimmers, it was confirmed that the club's name is indeed called...WaterBird (물새) Club. I am a WaterBird. After all my years of swimming I've been a Splash, (I swear, that was our name - check the sweatshirt) a Marlin, a Scarlet, a Manta, and a Phoenix. Now, in the next chapter of my swimming life destiny had called me to be: a WaterBird. And WaterBird I shall be. (I might add that this name generated a variety of jokes among my friends last weekend, the most popular one being 'when are you going to swim with your flock again?')

Unfortunately, Monday I didn't fly south (Sokhom's joke) with the birds due to not feeling that well - the change in the seasons as well as 'yellow dust' from China (true story - the wind blows from the west) tends to create sinus pressure and congestion, so I'm taking it easy this week. I'll flap my wings again tomorrow night.

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend and that you get to enjoy some time at home with your families and friends. I'll be missing mine but at least this year will beat last year's Easter, when I stayed in Green Bay and spent the entire weekend writing a final paper on the 20th century Japanese invasion of Korea. Actually, the year before I did the same thing on Easter weekend...except the paper was about the ancient Roman occupation in Spain. Somehow I associate Easter with history these days - maybe I'll have to go to a museum or something on Sunday just to keep the tradition going. Happy Easter weekend everyone, and remember to think warm spring thoughts to melt all that snow!

P.S. I bet you thought my title was about spring.

School Festival

Hello all! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! My weekend turned out much differently than expected, but in a good way.

First of all, I ended up not going to 'history town,' because when I went up to the counter to buy my ticket, I was informed that the morning bus tickets were all sold out. Considering it is a 3 hour bus ride, I decided not to take the afternoon bus, as that would give me less than 24 hours to sightsee. I was disappointed, but as my mother said, the city has been there for over 1000 years; it'll probably still hang on for a few more months or so until I get to visit. How is it that moms always know everything?

So, I decided to view my new homebound weekend as a blessing in disguise, as I had plenty of things I wanted to get done around my apartment. I also figured that now I would have more time to read up on the history and learn more about the place before I visit. So, undeterred by my sudden change of plans, I began enjoying my weekend at home right there in the bus terminal before heading back to my apartment to do some cleaning and some errands. I ended up getting quite a bit of cleaning, organizing, and reading done, and then I met some friends downtown for dinner, viewing a photography exhibition by one of the area teachers, followed by some drinks (yes Will, you and your group get an honorable mention as a nice unexpected surprise for being in town) My Sunday was spent sleeping in, baking cookies for my teachers and book club ladies, (I am the proud new owner of an oven in my apartment as of last Wednesday) getting together with one of my friends, stocking up on Halloween candy for the kids this week, and then doing some more organizing around here. It ended up to be an enjoyable and productive weekend. However, you probably don't want to read about how I spent my weekend at home. Lucky for you, I have tons to tell you about how I spent my past Friday at school during our school festival instead. Here we go:

The school festival celebrates the end of the school year, as Korea's school year actually begins in March. The festival comprised of 'sports day' in the morning (comparable to our track and field days) and performances in the afternoon (very similar to our school talent shows.) Of course, this meant no teaching for me, so I showed up on Friday in jeans and my tennies, ready to enjoy a day of fun.

At 9:00 AM the opening ceremony began, with a speech from the principal (sorry, I have no idea what she said,) the student captain address to the principal and to the students, the singing of the Korean national anthem, and finally ended with a student wide stretching session. Each grade was divided in half to collectively form the schoolwide blue and the white teams, and each event contributed to the team scores. The events included: 100m dash, 4 x 100m relay, the 3 legged race, (teachers participated in this one - my third grader and I were sadly beaten by the science teacher and one of her students, but we were good sports about it ) soccer, kickball, baseball, ssireum, (a traditional Korean wrestling sport) badminton, a sport similar to hackeysack, a sport similar to dodgeball, team jump rope, and tug of war. After everybody watched the track races, each grade and gender split off into their respective sports, so many of them were going on simultaneously. When one group was finished, they would swap events.

It was a beautiful sunny day out, the mountains provided a gorgeous backdrop, and I can't tell you how much fun I had wandering around the school grounds, watching the kids I have gotten to know over the past two months enjoying themselves. I was amazed at some of their athletic talents, and it was so neat to see them outside of the English classroom. In between events I would sit under the shaded benches and chat with the teachers (well, the English speaking ones) or students who were waiting for the next event. My favorite event to watch was soccer (mostly because I understood the rules) but they were all fun. When the kids weren't participating in an event, they became devoted team cheerers, usually by yelling and banging on drums and cowbells with sticks (you can imagine how much they enjoyed that.)

After a delicious lunch of bibimbap (a spicy rice/veggie dish - one of my favorite Korean foods) it was time for the afternoon session to begin. Prior to the performances, I walked through the school hallway and enjoyed looking at all of the student artwork and finished projects on display - I was amazed at their talent.

The performances took place in the school gym, where there were chairs set up for parents, refreshments, and a decorated stage. Each homeroom class was responsible for a number, and then I believe it was open to any other students who wished to participate. There were about twenty acts in all, with a variety of songs, dances, skits, and ensembles. Most of the students went all out for their costumes on some of the pieces, ranging from traditional Korean dress to James Bond attire (complete with toy guns.) I don't think I stopped smiling the whole afternoon - it was so much fun to watch them perform. The best part was seeing some of the shy kids or lower level English kids perform, as I got a chance to see them in a different light. When one of the quiet kids busted out a breakdance in the middle of his class performance I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped open at that. They were incredibly entertaining, and I think the best part was just to see how much fun they were having. I wish I could show you all of the pictures, but here are some of my favorites: (the video is of one of the first grade (again, equivalent to seventh grade) class performance - how cute is that?)

The day ended with a last minute (at least, they told me about it at the last minute) teacher dinner at a raw seafood restaurant. Yes, I said raw seafood. Some of it was cooked, but most of it was au natural - we started off the night with a plate of snails, (those were boiled, don't worry) mussel soup, and raw eel as an appetizer, followed by raw fish slices (like sashimi), some other fish dishes, seasoned jellyfish, and some vegetable dishes.

Are you ready for the highlight of the meal? Nothing prepared me for what came next: a plate of fresh, raw octopus tentacles - still wiggling. It's considered a delicacy over here to have them that fresh and, well, alive. Again, I am usually pretty adventurous when it comes to food, but even I had to take about five minutes to muster up the courage to take a bite - I let them settle down a bit on the plate first. I picked the smallest one, dipped it in some sort of soy sauce, and took the plunge. Honestly, it really wasn't that bad - I've definitely had worse. I didn't try it again though, once was enough. I ended up eating about an aquarium's worth of seafood that night, for after the octopus there were still more dishes to come, including more fish, shrimp, crab, and finally, fish soup. Good thing I really like seafood.

Despite some of the culinary challenges at dinner, as I reflected upon the day later that evening, I realized how much I enjoyed spending the day with the kids. I now understand why some people say teaching is one of the most rewarding jobs one can ever have - I feel so lucky just being able to play a small role in these kids' lives. In just two short months I feel incredibly attached to the kids, and I look forward to every class to see what they are going to surprise me with next. I've learned that teaching is about so much more than lesson plans and lectures and worksheets - it is about being a role model and setting a good example, shining some light into their day that they otherwise may not have, and most importantly, providing them with support and encouragement. I realized that my time spent with the kids has been the best part of my experience here in Korea, and I feel so blessed to be able to be a part of their lives.

With that, I am back at my desk now, bright and early on Monday morning, ready to begin my last week of teaching in October. I can hardly believe it's Halloween this weekend - I am well armed with candy, a pumpkin trick or treat bowl, and my witch's hat, which I will unveil on Friday. I'm looking forward to a good week - I hope you all are as well.