5 Weeks Later...

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. I have been super busy the past month for various reasons!


A little sea of yellow - it is their school color at Lila.

I'm in full swing now at both Lila Elementary School and the Hagwon. My schedule is extremely busy. Monday and Friday I leave my house at 8:15am and don't get home until about 6pm (poor Brodey, I know!) I wasn't suppose to have this schedule, but things changed for some bizarre reasons. On Monday I teach the 3rd grade Math in English in their homerooms, so I teach four classes of thirty kids the same thing. It's very routine and I have a lot of fun with them. They are attentive and the Korean children that are good at English love to volunteer to read, so it makes my life easy. Then I have an hour and a half break before teaching 2nd grade afterschool. The classes are small but their English is extremely limited, so it's a tough group. For some reason they have also put all of the problem children in my classes, so I have one girl that is incapable of being social or speaking in any way. I'm not sure if she is scared or has some sort of disorder, but she is quite a handful. In the second group I have a little boy who is out of control, he was switched to my class the second week and as the Korean teacher dragged him into the classroom she told me "he is the worst 2nd grader, so feel to bring him to me at any point during the lesson"; warning taken. He is a pill, but I try my best to make a connection with him, and some days it works and the other days he sits in my class and makes up songs, riddles and whatnot in Korean to distract the other children. His English is probably better than any of the other 2nd graders though, and he likes to sit in my lap, so although he can create some chaos I find him endearing. Needless to say, even with my high tolerance for obnoxious children, some days I leave with a monsterous headache rushing to get to the hagwon in fourty minutes because I have two more hours of teaching there. My Tuesdays are amazingly short, I only have an hour and a half where I assist Peter in teaching 3rd grade Science in English. Then I work at the Hagwon for 3 hours in the late afternoon. So no planning for Tuesdays! Wednesdays I teach 3 block periods, they are 1 hour and 20 minutes with a 10 minute break in the middle. I teach math to 4th, 5th and 6th graders Math in English. My 6th and 4th grade classes are small, only 3-4 kids, but my 5th grade class has 9 kids in it, so it's a bit trickier because the kids are all at different levels of English learning. The bonus is that they always understand the math! This day is my longest planning day, it takes me about an hour or more to prepare for the three classes, but no complaining - I love teaching these groups! I only teach an hour at the Hagwon and I'm done at 5pm, which is great! Thursday I teach 1st grade Math in English, the same style as the 3rd grade math, in the four homerooms with 30 kids in each class. They are a little harder to control and I usually have a hoarse voice by noon, luckily the Korean homeroom teachers are in there to help me otherwise I don't know what I would do since they don't really listen to English as well as Korean, for good reason. Friday I teach 6th grade English class in the morning, I have the 2nd grade afterschool and I teach 2 hours at the Hagwon. When 6pm rolls around on Friday I am exhausted! I usually need a nap if I am planning on hanging out with friends, or I just wait to see people until Saturday.

The Lila Art High School Mascot - this school is right next to Lila Elementary School, so I get to see him Monday-Friday. 

His name is Kobe and he a huge golden retriever.

Teaching the children is tiring, but nothing beats having them scream your name across the playground, so excited that you think they might wet themselves. Some of them bring me candy, welcome me with hugs, grab my hand when I walk onto the bus in the morning - they are endearing in every meaning of the word. They carry adorable pencil cases, have cute phone trinkets and some of the girls wear large bows in their hair. One of my 6th grade boys, he is in both my Math in English class and my English class on Friday, has come up with a few cutsy nick names for me, they include: Lala, Lolly, Lolly Pop, and Lolo. He will use any of the various names repeatedly until he gets my attention.

The children in Korea work very hard at their education in various areas and talents. They go from school, to a Hagwon, to Math Academy, to Science Academy, to Art Academy, to violin lessons, piano lessons, flute lessons, taekwondo, figure skating, speed skating, etc. They start school anywhere between
8 or 9am and go until 2 or 3pm, they they are whisked off to multiple afterschools sessions including many I have listed above. They return home anywhere between 7-10pm, eat dinner, study for hours and then go to bed between midnight and 2am, yes this includes the 8 year olds. I have come to the conclusion that this is why I see Koreans young and old passed out on the Subway at all hours of the day. Children in Korea, despite their busy schedules, are happy, funny, creative and dramatic, just like American children, it's incredible!

Brodey, Snow Festival and teaching

Well it's been about two weeks since my last update and a lot has changed already!

I went to the Snow Festival at Taebaek Mountain which is in the Gangwon Province about 4 hours (driving) SE of Seoul. There were about 45 people, both Koreans and expats, on the trip. I mainly hung out with Mr. Kim, the organizer, two Korean girls and three other Americans. We were greeted by the Mayor's wife at the BBQ tent and she proceeded to feed us whatever we wanted, including BBQ'd pork, grilled sweet potatoes, kimchi and a popular low-alcohol content drink that is a little creamy and tastes a bit sweet, it's called Makkeolli. You would have to drink at least 5-10 bottles of it before you started to feel the alcoholic effects, so you would most likely end up sick first!

With the Mayor's Wife next to our grill master :)

After a glorious feast with the Mayor's wife, we walked around the various parts of the event. It included sledding on innertubes and plastic bags, enormous ice sculptures that were larger than my apartment, but that's not saying much, visited a temple and hiked the mountain. It was a beautiful day, and although most of the real snow had melted they definitely made up for it with snow machines!

Sledding!!!

There was a stage where they had a dance competition - for kids. I couldn't believe the things these kids were doing! I mean I knew kids in the US would be making gestures far beyond what they can comprehend, but it is pretty much the same here, which I found extremely surprising, but it didn't stop me from enjoying and experiencing the Korean culture a little bit more.

These reminded me of a Japanese game show that has segments on YouTube: Human Tetris

I have done a bit more teaching at Lila Elementary School, where I will be working in the mornings. Their school year just ended this past Wednesday though, so I wont be a regular teacher there until March 2nd. I will be taking over Megan's classes, which don't include what the typical English teachers are doing. All English teachers at Lila have 5-10 kids in a classroom and they are strictly learning the English language so they can speak, write and listen more fluently. I, on the other hand, will be teaching Math in English to 1st-3rd graders and then Wednesdays I will have a Math elective class for the older kids (4th-6th grade). I have never worked with kids this young in a classroom setting, so I will have to learn a different teaching style which involves being an entertainer and a teacher. It will be an experience, oh, and I think I forgot to mention that I will have 30 of them in a classroom... another challenge especially since their English is limited!


In other news, I got a puppy last weekend. This photo was taken with my webcam and I will post some more from my camera soon :)

Brodey & Me, 2/7/10

His name is Brodey. He is 10 weeks old now, and weighs just over 1.5 kgs, he is the man of my life. I'm not sure what kind of dog he is because his litter, 3 boys, were picked up from a kill shelter by Kathy, who fostered Brodey for about two weeks until he came home with me last Sunday. Although I have scratches all over my hands, legs and face he is a sweetheart. He loves to play, he can already fetch and is pretty well potty trained. My favorite thing about him is the mini mohawk on his nose. I couldn't be happier!

This weekend is the Korean New Year (yes, it is the same as the Chinese New Year that we all know so well in the US). I will be going to a party on Sunday, which also happens to be Valentines Day - so it should be a lot of fun!

Happy New Year!

Jjimjilbang, Korean BBQ and my apartment.

It is now Tuesday and I arrived in Seoul last Thursday afternoon. Most of my time was spent catching up on jet lag, but I needed to eat occasionally and one of the best places to relax in Korea is at a Jjimjilbang. More on that later though.

My apartment is about 14' by 9' with a small wet bathroom attached to the end. So there isn't much to say about the apartment other than the wallpaper is peeling where mold use to grow, the dust-bunnies were the size of my foot, the floor is the source of the heating, my bike fits nicely underneath my clothing rack, my bed is the only place to sit (other than the luxurious heated floors) and there are enough dishes for one person. It's perfect!

Bed/Desk/Closet/Bike

        

Wet Bath - it's not that bad!

  

Kitchen - yes it is still the same room!

On Saturday I taught my first class. It was two businessmen in their 40's and their English is conversational, but in the early stages of conversation. We started by reading from their language book, which gives us topics to discuss, this week it was 'computers and the internet'. We had some interesting discussions on what it would be like if we didn't have computers, we talked about how we would have to rely on books at the library for research, which might put a damper on the rapid learning process that the internet allows in modern society. I thought about how hard it would be to stay in touch with friends all over the world... I wouldn't even be able to share my thoughts on this blog. The class went well and then I went out to lunch with the two students and Mr. Lee, my boss. They were interested in learning about my travels, which is something I love to share with people!

On Sunday I spent the day with Megan, a fellow teacher at the Hagwon that has been here for 11 months. She took me to a Jjimjilbang, which is a Korean spa. They hand you two small towels, shorts and a t-shirt. Your shoes go in lockers near the entrance, because just like most Asian cultures, you do not wear your shoes inside. You walk upstairs and put on the designated clothes. The women's changing area is full of naked women of all ages, in the gender-specific area nudity is required.

Meg and I went to the coed area first, where they have saunas of all temperatures and smells. We started in the salt room, Meg's favorite. It was about 38 degrees celsius, so pretty moderate, and a good place to begin. We spent hours going from sauna to cold room to sauna. The cold room is 12 degrees celsius and they recommend going in there before heading into another sauna. We tried the jade room, which is a pyramid and the inside is lined with jade tiles. The room smells wonderful and was 48 degrees celsius. We also tried the coal room, another hot room. It was relaxing, but remember to stay hydrated (especially if you sweat easily)!

After spending hours in the sauna area we decided to go to the spa. We dressed down to the nude and headed to the women only area. There were women bathing themselves and each other at showers and tubs that filled the main area. Surrounding this there were baths, massage tables, and an outdoor spa area and more saunas similar to the ones upstairs but hotter. We started in a moderate tub inside then took a dip in the cold tub and moved on to the outside tubs.

Back inside I decided to get a full body scrub. The woman giving me the scrub shows up in black underwear and bra. This is what they give all their spa services in - massages, scrubs, etc - black lingerie. Well needless to say for about $16 they scrubbed a good layer of my skin off and it feels wonderful!

After the scrub we sat in a sauna, that was a mere 85 degrees celsius, for about 10 minutes. I don't think I could have lasted much longer without overheating or boiling!

Meg then took me out for Korean BBQ at her favorite place in our neighborhood. They serve a fresh vegetable platter, sweet bean paste, kimchi and an assortment of other fermented vegetables, oils and spices. The pork is brought to the table raw and cooked on the personal BBQ that is the center of each table. It's the ultimate family style meal and I will definitely be returning (I will now be their regular American guest since Meg leaves in a month!)

That's all for now. An-nyeong-hi kye-se-yo!

Departure.

I will be boarding a plane to Seoul on January 20th, arriving late afternoon on the 21st.

I am extremely excited to experience a new culture, get back to teaching, learn what it is like to live alone, reside in a completely different culture, make new friends and find happiness in all of my travels during my time abroad.

I'm sad to be leaving behind family, friends and Portland. I know they will all be here when I get back and that I will be staying in touch with those that are close to me, so leaving is still positive.

I find myself thinking about where I want to study Education when I get back... why would I question something so big when it is most likely a year and a half from now? My mind wanders sometimes, and the future is something it likes to focus on.

I bought a book on basic Korea phrases, hopefully it will come in handy while I struggle to learn the language! I figure that it will be most helpful when I am shopping for groceries, especially fresh produce... but who knows finding a pub is just as important.

Packing is easy. Leaving everything behind is hard. Knowing that I am going to have a great time abroad is something that has always and will always excite me.

Let the adventures begin!