I did a snowball fight with 2nd graders at my school. They must write down their name, 3 adjectives that describe them, and what they want to learn about the US. Here are some winners from 2nd grade boys:
I am..sexy, rich in mind, good guy, handsome guy, personal guy, I'm black man (skin), Ace.... (??)
This whole intro was just...
I am easy, crazy, dizzy. I want to learn about you. (Doesn't sound like a good combination...!)
And...
"I am lonely, friendly, sexy. I want to learn about women” (Of course.)
And of course, they all want to learn about American football.
Oh boys.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
more quick observations
- one teacher with a WICKED comb-over. No freaking joke. I will try to sneak a picture.
- I ate dinner with another english teacher. Met her husband and two CRAZY but adorable kids. We ate spaghetti, the first "American" meal i've had in Jeonju. It was DELICIOUS. She cooked it so well... I have no idea how.
- The cutest part? The little girl - maybe 5 or 6? Dancing in her pink underwear and undershirt... belly dancing no less, because apparently that's what she's learning right now?
- I spent 2 hours speaking with host family about David coming to visit. Seriously. Discussing days, when it's best. Before or after the holiday, Chuseok. What we'd do. How we'd get around. I'm pretty sure there was a serious look of concern when I said that we wanted to travel... and that David doesn't know any Korean. I'd be the sole source of Korean... HAHA.
- mosquitoes suck in Korea. Come prepared. That was clever! Suck. Haha. (Sorry, too much Twilight reading)
- I ate dinner with another english teacher. Met her husband and two CRAZY but adorable kids. We ate spaghetti, the first "American" meal i've had in Jeonju. It was DELICIOUS. She cooked it so well... I have no idea how.
- The cutest part? The little girl - maybe 5 or 6? Dancing in her pink underwear and undershirt... belly dancing no less, because apparently that's what she's learning right now?
- I spent 2 hours speaking with host family about David coming to visit. Seriously. Discussing days, when it's best. Before or after the holiday, Chuseok. What we'd do. How we'd get around. I'm pretty sure there was a serious look of concern when I said that we wanted to travel... and that David doesn't know any Korean. I'd be the sole source of Korean... HAHA.
- mosquitoes suck in Korea. Come prepared. That was clever! Suck. Haha. (Sorry, too much Twilight reading)
Monday, August 24, 2009
Corn.
So I was browsing around S-- Times website for some nice news from home and found a recipe about sauteed corn! Since there is corn here and a stove (sans oven) I thought, "Great!"
I start reading excitedly hoping that some cooking genius would inspire me to go to the kitchen and WOW my host family instead of mildly horrifying my host mom when i proposed to cook a western breakfast... someday....
I start reading about lemon sage and bell peppers, advice from a Trellis (YUM) chef and how-to's. The ingredients seemed a little daunting to find, but this author promised a good go-to recipe....
only to find out.... his recipe is KIMCHI SAUTEED CORN. No freaking joke. I couldn't believe it. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw/2009650480_pacificptaste23.html?cmpid=2628
I was thinking something a little further away from my current cuisine. haha. but maybe i'll try it and let you know if it's worth going out and buying that jar of kimchi or not. :)
I start reading excitedly hoping that some cooking genius would inspire me to go to the kitchen and WOW my host family instead of mildly horrifying my host mom when i proposed to cook a western breakfast... someday....
I start reading about lemon sage and bell peppers, advice from a Trellis (YUM) chef and how-to's. The ingredients seemed a little daunting to find, but this author promised a good go-to recipe....
only to find out.... his recipe is KIMCHI SAUTEED CORN. No freaking joke. I couldn't believe it. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw/2009650480_pacificptaste23.html?cmpid=2628
I was thinking something a little further away from my current cuisine. haha. but maybe i'll try it and let you know if it's worth going out and buying that jar of kimchi or not. :)
Oh High School
Just a quick update on teaching high school kids in Korea...
I teach about 18.33 hours a week, to be precise, but it rounds out to be 22 hours.
I teach 22 classes, 20 of them are under specific contract, 2 are extra discussion groups with talented students. I get paid extra from the school (^^ <-- korean :).
I easily opened up a bank account with the help of one of my English teachers in under an hour (take that American banks!) without social security or foreigner id card/number. Just a passport.
There are three "grades" in high school. I only teach grades 1 and 2 because 3rd grade students are soo busy with everything else. All high school students go to school from 6/7 am to 11:30pm. No joke. The third graders don't get vacation or weekends. seriously. They eat and work all day.
Strange things about Korean schools, other than kids staying there all day?
- meals are around 2,000won i think, or just under $2
- there is a teachers' room called the kyomushil which is where they all have desks and computers. At the head of the room sits the vice principal
- kids and students invade the halls and bathrooms with foaming mouths - they brush their teeth after every meal
- students have one hour (or less?) of cleaning the school. They bring out mops, tissue, brooms and generally run all over the hallways. It's quite a ruckus!
- Even though I feel tired after every day of teaching, most teachers teach QUITE a bit more. They will stay until the students are on 8th, 9th, 10th period of the day.
- My last period of the school day is 7th and that ends at 4 pm.
The past few days, I have taught exactly the same lesson. I introduce class rules using a powerpoint, give a short introduction using powerpoint, and then have the students make questions for me in pairs. This seems to bore some classes, some classes completely don't understand, but in general, i have gotten a fair response.
Here are some of the best comments/questions i've received:
- Why are you so pretty?
- How long with boyfriend before marry?
- Who is student make best first impression?
- What is your blood type? (Although, apparently, this is very important in Korea. It's supposed to say something about your personality....)
- Who is most remarkable student?
- Do you like handsome men? ( I said I like my boyfriend ;)
- upon showing pictures of my family, my mom, dad, grandmother and boyfriend were all subject to great age interpretations... mom was sister, grandmother, aunt - dad was grandfather, brother - and the combinations continued. hehe. I hope no one at home is too offended. Their totally off-base guesses were made fun of and it helped me add some humor to my class!
After teaching this lesson... 6 times now? I think it is mostly successful, but I really need to think of more interesting lessons in the future. Students vary in level from very advanced to very unadvanced in the same class.
The 2nd grade boys are particularly hard to work with. They are rowdy and do not respond to my shushings as much. The past ETA had them do push-ups if they were rowdy. I don't know if I can adopt the same type of teaching... haha. Let me know if anyone has any ideas!
More on life in Korea soon. :)
I teach about 18.33 hours a week, to be precise, but it rounds out to be 22 hours.
I teach 22 classes, 20 of them are under specific contract, 2 are extra discussion groups with talented students. I get paid extra from the school (^^ <-- korean :).
I easily opened up a bank account with the help of one of my English teachers in under an hour (take that American banks!) without social security or foreigner id card/number. Just a passport.
There are three "grades" in high school. I only teach grades 1 and 2 because 3rd grade students are soo busy with everything else. All high school students go to school from 6/7 am to 11:30pm. No joke. The third graders don't get vacation or weekends. seriously. They eat and work all day.
Strange things about Korean schools, other than kids staying there all day?
- meals are around 2,000won i think, or just under $2
- there is a teachers' room called the kyomushil which is where they all have desks and computers. At the head of the room sits the vice principal
- kids and students invade the halls and bathrooms with foaming mouths - they brush their teeth after every meal
- students have one hour (or less?) of cleaning the school. They bring out mops, tissue, brooms and generally run all over the hallways. It's quite a ruckus!
- Even though I feel tired after every day of teaching, most teachers teach QUITE a bit more. They will stay until the students are on 8th, 9th, 10th period of the day.
- My last period of the school day is 7th and that ends at 4 pm.
The past few days, I have taught exactly the same lesson. I introduce class rules using a powerpoint, give a short introduction using powerpoint, and then have the students make questions for me in pairs. This seems to bore some classes, some classes completely don't understand, but in general, i have gotten a fair response.
Here are some of the best comments/questions i've received:
- Why are you so pretty?
- How long with boyfriend before marry?
- Who is student make best first impression?
- What is your blood type? (Although, apparently, this is very important in Korea. It's supposed to say something about your personality....)
- Who is most remarkable student?
- Do you like handsome men? ( I said I like my boyfriend ;)
- upon showing pictures of my family, my mom, dad, grandmother and boyfriend were all subject to great age interpretations... mom was sister, grandmother, aunt - dad was grandfather, brother - and the combinations continued. hehe. I hope no one at home is too offended. Their totally off-base guesses were made fun of and it helped me add some humor to my class!
After teaching this lesson... 6 times now? I think it is mostly successful, but I really need to think of more interesting lessons in the future. Students vary in level from very advanced to very unadvanced in the same class.
The 2nd grade boys are particularly hard to work with. They are rowdy and do not respond to my shushings as much. The past ETA had them do push-ups if they were rowdy. I don't know if I can adopt the same type of teaching... haha. Let me know if anyone has any ideas!
More on life in Korea soon. :)
Friday, August 21, 2009
Jeonju.... first days
This is a short blip about my time in Jeonju so far.....
I am teaching 20 50min periods, + 2 extra smaller discussion groups. Total, this is 18.3 - 22 hours. They said they would pay me extra for teaching the 2 smaller classes.
I have taught two days so far. The first day was a bit of a disaster. After giving a speech (about 2 min in hangukoh that I really didn't know what I was saying and 3 minutes in English) to all the teachers and principals, and once again to all the students over their school-wide tv system, I taught two classes of 2nd grade boys. They were so rowdy and completely uninterested in my 20 questions/index card introduction. I had no control over the classroom, even though co-teachers were present in both classes. I felt really discouraged, even though i had a very nice bulgogi lunch with all the English teachers. Then, that afternoon, I had my small discussion class. It was 15 students that were advanced level. They were incredible and restored my faith. It was like the classrooms that I grew up learning in.
Friday,. I taught two sections of 1st grade boys and 1 section of 1st grade girls. I prepared a better/new lesson the night before in hopes of reigning in the rowdiness. They were much better. This new lesson was much better received. The students were less rowdy in general, I think. I feel more confident now, but I am still anxious about teaching 2nd grade boys. I know they are nice students, but they just seemed like SUCH a challenge to teach.
luckily, I have several teachers willing to help me a lot. My co-teacher Yuta is incredible. She's very helpful and sweet. She will send me texts saying she misses seeing me. The other young female English teacher, Ahn, is also amazing. we went to the traditional village in Jeonju together one day. She also helped me set up my bank account. Also, another older man English teacher, Mun, has offered me private hangukoh lessons twice a week during free periods. We also grabbed beers together last night.
The host family is very comfortable. The parents do not speak English really. We have to do some charades or rely on the eldest sister (1st grade hs) to translate. The younger two sisters (elem 5th and 6th grades) can speak english, but not as well. I think that as i study korean more, things will get less awkward.
I am teaching 20 50min periods, + 2 extra smaller discussion groups. Total, this is 18.3 - 22 hours. They said they would pay me extra for teaching the 2 smaller classes.
I have taught two days so far. The first day was a bit of a disaster. After giving a speech (about 2 min in hangukoh that I really didn't know what I was saying and 3 minutes in English) to all the teachers and principals, and once again to all the students over their school-wide tv system, I taught two classes of 2nd grade boys. They were so rowdy and completely uninterested in my 20 questions/index card introduction. I had no control over the classroom, even though co-teachers were present in both classes. I felt really discouraged, even though i had a very nice bulgogi lunch with all the English teachers. Then, that afternoon, I had my small discussion class. It was 15 students that were advanced level. They were incredible and restored my faith. It was like the classrooms that I grew up learning in.
Friday,. I taught two sections of 1st grade boys and 1 section of 1st grade girls. I prepared a better/new lesson the night before in hopes of reigning in the rowdiness. They were much better. This new lesson was much better received. The students were less rowdy in general, I think. I feel more confident now, but I am still anxious about teaching 2nd grade boys. I know they are nice students, but they just seemed like SUCH a challenge to teach.
luckily, I have several teachers willing to help me a lot. My co-teacher Yuta is incredible. She's very helpful and sweet. She will send me texts saying she misses seeing me. The other young female English teacher, Ahn, is also amazing. we went to the traditional village in Jeonju together one day. She also helped me set up my bank account. Also, another older man English teacher, Mun, has offered me private hangukoh lessons twice a week during free periods. We also grabbed beers together last night.
The host family is very comfortable. The parents do not speak English really. We have to do some charades or rely on the eldest sister (1st grade hs) to translate. The younger two sisters (elem 5th and 6th grades) can speak english, but not as well. I think that as i study korean more, things will get less awkward.
Also, I find that having siblings for the first time is exciting and challenging. I woke up this morning to very LOUD, INSISTENT knocks on my door. It was 8 am on a Saturday morning. when I got out of bed to answer (after yelling... Ne...Ne.....??), I found the two younger girls sitting in the living room studying. I poked my head out and asked what was happening. They didn't respond at first. Then they haltingly told me there was breakfast... then shower.... then something... mumble, mumble..... ok..... I am sooo not a morning person and this was testing my patience. Finally, the youngest sister was uncomfortable and said.... SHOWER. As in, a command, Go Shower. Ok. Then I tried to ask as nicely as possible, "After I'm done with my shower, explain to me why?" Then the older sister said... there would be no water after 9 am... Hm.....
Anyway, i need to get ready to go to Suncheon right now, about a 3 hour drive south to the ocean. We will play on the beach ....
Sunday, August 9, 2009
My roomie
I love my roommate, Chelsey.
She just EEPed from her top bunk bed. It was her hiccup.
She made cat day for her students. We will now instate Cat Day every month. This day will consist of all our friends meeting up in some city. I feel like we are going to be seeing lots of different cities.
She leaves me moonpie like chocolate pies of love and nice notes when i'm having a bad day.
She goes with me to Patpingsu even when it's too late and we already feel doong-doong-hae-yo (fat, also, the best word in korean so far)
She makes the best pneumonic devices i've ever heard (meet sue on wednesday, drink mochas on thursday, and on friday....)
I'm sad we will be living far apart.
I want to be love-shooting waffle ice cream with her. (this one was with Dara and Chelsey. Chelsey in on the right).
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Jeonju
Placement ceremony. All dressed and clean and nervous.
Then placed! I'm in Jeonju which is a city in the southwest part of Korea. Apparently, it's a bigger city than where we are currently. I'm with three other ETA girls who all seem cool, but that I don't know that well (yet!). It's a city that's famous for bibimbap (which was one of my fav korean foods). It even has a museum dedicated to it! It's famous for a traditional village. Apparently a lot of koreans come to visit the village. It's also known for being an educational hub of korea since there is a teacher university there.
Apparently, it's a great city. There have been many ETAs there in the past. So I am excited to find out which ones were there and what they thought of it.
My school is a co-ed high school with just over 1000 students. (I really hope that I don't have to teach that many?!?). So it's time to get used to big classes.
Many of my close friends are located on Jeju Island. I am excited to visit them and for them to visit me. I think overall, I am very pleased with my placement!!! It's just scary to think that I will be so far from my closest friends I've made so far.
Also, here is my school's website, although it's all in Korean. My suggestion? Just start clicking on things and you might find some pictures : www.hanilgo.hs.kr
Love to everyone and I think this is a new beginning I'm looking forward to.
I'm eating ice cream waffles tonight. Me and my girls need to bond.
Love to everyone at home and abroad.
Then placed! I'm in Jeonju which is a city in the southwest part of Korea. Apparently, it's a bigger city than where we are currently. I'm with three other ETA girls who all seem cool, but that I don't know that well (yet!). It's a city that's famous for bibimbap (which was one of my fav korean foods). It even has a museum dedicated to it! It's famous for a traditional village. Apparently a lot of koreans come to visit the village. It's also known for being an educational hub of korea since there is a teacher university there.
Apparently, it's a great city. There have been many ETAs there in the past. So I am excited to find out which ones were there and what they thought of it.
My school is a co-ed high school with just over 1000 students. (I really hope that I don't have to teach that many?!?). So it's time to get used to big classes.
Many of my close friends are located on Jeju Island. I am excited to visit them and for them to visit me. I think overall, I am very pleased with my placement!!! It's just scary to think that I will be so far from my closest friends I've made so far.
Also, here is my school's website, although it's all in Korean. My suggestion? Just start clicking on things and you might find some pictures : www.hanilgo.hs.kr
Love to everyone and I think this is a new beginning I'm looking forward to.
I'm eating ice cream waffles tonight. Me and my girls need to bond.
Love to everyone at home and abroad.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Placements
Placements are happening tomorrow...
I'll finally know where I'll be working, living, teaching, breathing for a year.... tomorrow.
Can you tell I'm nervous?
I'll finally know where I'll be working, living, teaching, breathing for a year.... tomorrow.
Can you tell I'm nervous?
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