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!