On the Mark

Chuseok

2008-09-16T05:07:00.000-07:00

Happy late Chuseok to all! For those of you who aren't familiar with Korean culture, Chuseok is the fall holiday that has been likened to an American Thanksgiving. Everything kind of shuts down for a few days and many travel back to their hometowns to spend time with their families. My school has Monday and Tuesday off, although some schools had Friday off, as well. Lucky jerks.

To prepare for the holiday, one of the teachers organized a dduk making class after school. On Thursday, one of my co-teachers and I went up to the 3rd floor to the home ec classroom. I hadn't even seen it before, although I'd had the suspicion that there was one (boys and girls occasionally roaming the hallways in adorable pink/yellow/baby blue cooking aprons). My school never had anything like home economics, so I was pretty curious. It basically looked like a school labratory but with stove tops instead of Bunsen burners and large mixing bowls rather than chemistry beakers. There were about forty students who had signed up. It was quite refreshing to hang out with them outside of the classroom. They immediately began pounding the dduk...mix. Sorry, I am not quite sure what to call it. It looked like white, soft clay. We then tore off small pieces and flattened them into circles. There were bowls of sugar/sesame seed and it was with this that we filled our dduk. The superstition goes that if you make a perfectly crescent moon shaped songpyeon (the name of this particular dduk), you'll have an especially beautiful baby girl.

I also had to become "mean teacher" last week, assigning several detentions. Two of the boys didn't come on Thursday (probably testing the waters to see if I would really follow through with my threats), however, so we alerted their homeroom teacher. She made sure the kids came the following day, when they had double the detention assignment. While all their little friends were racing home at 3 pm to enjoy their Chuseok holiday, they were in Englishee Teachuh's classroom, hurriedly trying to finish their assignment. Muahahahahahah.

Here are some pictures of the students making seongpyun:

2008-09-08T19:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry that I haven't been updating at all! I'm going to try to be more diligent in the future.

My classes of little 7th grade angels have transformed. I guess the second semester really does breed something different, because they're monsters now. I feel like it happened overnight. My voice has become sharper, my glares significantly colder, and actual homework is going to start to be given. The 9th graders remain pretty much intact, but those 7th graders... *shudder* little horrors.

On Saturday, I went bike riding along the Han River with Dean and two friends we met last semester. We met them on our trip to Geomundo and, since then, have only hung out with them in bars/clubs. It was really refreshing to do something with friends that didn't revolve around drinking, actually. But I hadn't been on a bike in a couple of years, so I was kind of apprehensive

So the four of us meet at Dangsan station, which is close to the river. We pay 3,000 won to rent the bikes for an hour. Dean chooses a speed bike and the rest of us opt for these vintage, pink and green bikes with small metal baskets in the front. As soon as we start going, I feel nervous. The bike isn't sturdy and makes unsatisfactory creaking sounds as I peddle. There are many Koreans and foreigners out, and let me tell you, the Koreans look hardcore. Other foreigners have made this comment before, but I'll repeat it here. If a Korean wants to take up a sport, they don't half-ass it in terms of equipment or appearances. I've gone walking on trails in Chucks and a peasant skirt and ran into Koreans looking as if they are ready to scale Mount Everest. And sure enough, a vast majority of the bikers are in full body spandex biking suits, special shoes, special helmets, and expensive bikes. There are a few people that look casual like us, in t-shirts, shorts, and tennis shoes, but most look ready for the Tour de France.

When we turn around to go back to the bike rental place, I get knocked over by one of these hardcore Korean bikers. I hear a quick warning of, "Heads up!" from Dean, and next thing I know, I'm toppling off my bike and onto the concrete. The guy rights his bike and stands over me, hands on his hips, lips pursed, and then proceeds to lecture me in Korean. No, "Sorry!" or, "Are you okay?" Just looks like he's trying to prevent himself from yelling at me and gestures a lot. My friends stand awkwardly by, and yes, it is another one of those fantastically awkward moments in Korea.

Random pictures from this week:

Some 2nd year boys were in a dispute whether they should kill a grasshopper or save it. It was a big deal. :)

Last semester, the 3rd years were all about soccer and the 2nd years just played basketball. Now, the 3rd years have taken over the bball courts leaving the 2nd years with soccer and badminton.

Weekend at the beach

2008-05-06T04:06:00.000-07:00

Since we had a 3 day weekend, all of us CUA kids signed up with Adventure Korea to visit Geomundo Island. It's small--most Koreans haven't even heard of it--but it was the perfect vacation. We weren't surrounded by crowds of Korean tourists--it was very low key. We left from Hongdae at 11:30 PM and drove through the night, reaching the ferry at 6:00 AM. We spent the weekend hiking, swimming, drinking cheap Korean beers by the shore, singing and sharing drinks with some old local islanders, etc.

Geomundo! It's really two islands connected by a bridge. It's halfway to Jeju, but yeah--not a huge tourist destination. Thus the PERFECT TRIP.

A picture of the lighthouse on Geomundo taken during our hike.

Pictures of the Baekdo Islands. There are about 100 small rock islands close to Geomundo. We got a ferry tour around them on our first day.

A boy on the beach. The water was really that pretty--very clear and aqua. Even though it was cold, some of us went all the way in.

Liz and Kirsten in the background.

During our hike, some of us did a detour and climbed up this rock mountain, nicknamed "Wizard Rock Mountain" or something like that. We saw all of these old men and women on it, so we figured, "how hard could it be?" Um...those are some tough elderly folk.

The wishing rock towers. You add your rock and make a wish.

A diva shot of Liz and Dean!

And finally, a picture from our drive home.

I kept forgetting to update!

2008-04-13T00:23:00.000-07:00

Sorry! I could have sworn I updated this thing recently, but apparently, I'm just going crazy.

Work has been busier do to the fact that I have extra classes from 3:30-5:00 on Monday and Wed-Fri. It's double the work but double the pay, so I can't really complain. The kids are getting more restless as the semester rolls on, but they're still quite cheerful.

Spring is finally coming in, so it's been in the mid-sixties! The cherry blossoms are gorgeous in the city and there are flowering trees everywhere. I'm so excited for this next month or so, since 1) I have 3 days off this week when my students go on a retreat 2) I have another 5 day weekend in early May due to Children's Day and we're all going on a tour of the Korean islands 3) and my parents are visiting!

Dean and I went to Boramae Park on Thursday. It's a bit over a mile from our apartment but it was a very pleasant walk. There was a big group of older men playing traditional board games by the lake.

The cherry blossom trees by Sindaebang station. Really beautiful.

The Sillim Market by Sillim Station. It's sooooo long but really cool. Tons of fresh fish, vegetables, fruits, ginseng, meat, etc.

Spring is finally here!

2008-03-19T03:20:00.001-07:00

It's been a great week at Munseong (they changed the official spelling this year from Munsung to Munseong)! I'm feeling better than ever in front of the classes and the kids have been complete sweethearts. I don't have one single "bad" class, either. The level of understanding is considerably lower this time around, but only because when I came here last semester, the 7th graders already had a full semester of middle school English under their belt. But I have them fresh out of elementary school now, so things are a little harder to communicate.

The weather has finally lifted and is hovering in the high 50s, low 60s in the daytime. I've loved walking back to the apartment in this weather, and the yellow dust hasn't really kicked in, either.

On a more wide-scale note, there has been some big controversy in Korea as of late. They just got a new president, Ee Myung Bak, who was a former mayor of Seoul. One of his greatest achievements was the restoration of the Chyeonggye stream that runs through Seoul. Now, he plans on building a giant canal/waterway from Seoul all the way to Busan (on the south eastern coast of the peninsula). There are many that favor this plan, for it aims to create thousands of new jobs, invigorate the more central/rural parts of the country, and bring in more tourists from China. However, there are plenty that are completely opposed to this idea. For it to work, they would have to widen and deepen parts of the rivers and environmentalists are extremely concerned. During monsoon season, this could have serious repercussions. Plus, the construction of such a canal would cost about $52 billion USD. I asked some of my students about the canal idea, and they responded with grimaces. One of my more English-fluent students proclaimed, "He's terrible. Ugh" and then made the finger cutting across the throat movement. Well, only...what, 4.10 more years?

Ok, here are at lot of pictures from this week! I took my DSLR to school so I could take some quality pics of the kiddies.
These are some 9th graders in one of my favorite classes

Here is a group of boys who are super excited about the game we played today. They were just turning around to call me over to check their answer when I took the picture. Very, very enthusiastic class!

Another one of my 9th grade classes. My co-teacher, Mrs. Ryu, is in the background. Compared to some other classes, these students are fairly serious. They do their work quietly, they don't ask many questions, but strangely enough, they participate well when I ask for volunteers. Usually, quiet classes are like pulling teeth--it's impossible to get them to share their answers with the class. But these kids are fairly stellar.

I love this class! These are 2 7th graders. The one on the right actually lived in Philly for a year and her English is fantastic. I asked if she'd lived there for a couple years, but she was like, "Nope, just a year!" She kind of intimidates the rest of the class (they are very embarrassed to speak sometimes, because they know she's so advanced).

So what's interesting about this picture? Maybe the fact that some military men are just chilling in the background. Since the military is so large and they don't have tons of room, they sometimes come to schools and have meetings/some sort of training. They came during the lunchtime and were discussing something in the back of the playground. Meanwhile, the kids were running around them, playing soccer and basketball.

Here are some of my 9th grade girls. They're usually so shy about other people taking their pictures (even though they take tons of self-taken pics) so I have to get them while they're working.

This was taken while walking home. The flood of students from Doksan High School has just begun--you can see them all in the background. It's kind of like walking the gauntlet--you get tons of shouts, waves, and enthusiastic statements of, "Oh, Miss Jen!!! Hello!!! Hello!!!" (Many of my students who graduated this Feb are now at Doksan)

Taken during lunchtime today. It was gorgeous and there were a million kids running around.

Finally, me and Blue!

Alright, I have tons more pictures I could post but this update is already very full. Check out my flickr.com site if you want to see the rest.

A Change WIll Do You Good

2008-03-12T06:28:00.000-07:00

I was not looking forward to this new semester, what with one of my co-teachers leaving and my other close one having her desk relocated, plus my favorite student transferring schools. However, this year has turned out so much better than I could have imagined. My kids are a lot better behaved at this point because it's the start of a new year. When I came to Munsung, it was at the start of their second semester and I just felt like I was trying to fill in the former English teacher's shoes. The kids knew I was new, I felt new, and I didn't feel nearly as at ease in the classroom.
This time around, things are easier and the kids are more ready to give their respect. I have all new students, so this past week, I've just been doing an introduction, a classroom vocab review, and a simple word game. I included lots of pictures from home and college, plus some of my photos and art. The kids were REALLY impressed that both of my parents are lawyers (this revelation drew consistent "WOOOOOOWWWWWWW"s from all the classes).
My students that were 1st years have now moved up to be 2nd years, whom I do not teach. But the kids drop by my classroom every day just to say, "HI!!!!!" or "Hair pretty!!!" I still see a lot of my kids that graduated and went to high school, too, since many of them went to the high school right down the road. When I walk home, I get a lot of bows, giggles, and excited waves.

When a new principal or vice principal comes to your school, it's tradition for the old school to send flowers and gift rice cakes (not like American ones, these are chewy, dense, slightly sweet treats that look kind of like candies). This is the VP's desk on Tuesday of last week--the number of flowers grew by about 5-6 a day and by Friday, even the Korean teachers were amused. A few brought in their cameras to snap pictures.

Ahhhhh, this is one of the best things about Korea: tons of pastry shops. Korea has really embraced French pastries, and thus dozens of chains and individual bakeries have sprung up in Seoul. Paris Baguette is the most famous, and there are about 4 or 5 within a mile of where we live. There are also other shops that are privately owned close by. Anyway, their pastries are *delicious* and cheap--a croissant will run you about .60, an apple pastry about $1.10, and a gorgeous fresh cream cake with fresh strawberries costs about $12. I stop at this Paris Baguette a couple times a week on my way back from work.

This is a Buddhist sanctuary/building. And no, that's not a Swastika--it's a Buddhist symbol (it is turning in a different direction). This is a block or two from my school in a normal neighborhood. They're quite common.

Here is a typical Korean house. I don't live in a rich area, either. Most houses around where I live have a gate in the front and is surrounded by a concrete or brick wall. The houses aren't small, either--most are two stories and fairly big. The traditional style gate is still much used.

Last, here are two pictures of my new hair. I dyed it last week and it's been pretty fun.

On the sly

2008-03-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

It's 2:55 pm and I'm quite pleased with myself. The school has certain websites blocked from being accessed (such as myspace, blogspot, livejournal, etc), but I found a way around it and now I can update my blog while I'm at work! This way, I'll probably update on a more frequent basis though not always with photos.

Today was my first day back in the saddle, although I didn't have to do any actual teaching. Since today was the first day of the school year, there was a ceremony in the classrooms to welcome the incoming 1st graders (7th graders) and then the students all left early. I can't say that I was particularly thrilled with today, though. I don't really know the person sitting next to me (many teachers changed desks) and I have two new co-teachers. They seem like nice women, but I'm definitely going to miss having Yunhee around. Her English was just top-notch.

So I've sat here at my desk all day. I made a lesson plan for tomorrow, which is just a simple introduction with a powerpoint presentation of WV, DC, family, etc. Then, I have a game for them to play using classroom vocabulary (notebook, eraser, blackboard, etc). I finished that plan around 10 AM, and have just been browsing the facebook and studying Korean ever since. The internet really is an amazing invention. I found this HUGE site with hundreds of flashcard sets for learning Korean--they were all taken from different Korean textbooks or made by the users of the site. So I can flip through standard verbs or nouns (ask = 질문하다, alone =혼자) or I could choose a more specific card set, such as one for astronomy (asteroid = 소행성), tree names (bamboo = 대나무) or even "the dark side" (paganism = 이교!!). It's a great way to kill time and beef up my vocab.

The office is covered in these beautiful flowers. Parents send in huge potted plants at the start of a new semester with colorful ribbons streaming down the front. I took a picture and will post it next time.

End of the very long vacation

2008-02-29T21:07:00.000-08:00

So...I start back to school on Monday. Am I upset? A little, yeah. It's been great having all this free time and I love staying up late to write/read, which I just can't do when I need to be up at 6 AM for work. Dean and I didn't do much, just traveled around the city, ate a lot of good food, etc. Last night, we all went out to celebrate two of our friends' last day of work in Korea. Because almost everyone ends up in Hongdae at some point in the night, I ended up running into a million people. Kirsten and Liz made us all go to this one place to meet up with their friend Coco who had they had met on their short trip to China. They went to introduce me to her and then we realized that we had met about 6 months before! She and I met at Lotte World (a big amusement park) and hung out for a few hours. Seoul is a smaller city than one would think.

I kind of forget what it's like to teach. I'll have to be quite stern for my first week or two just so the kids know that they can't fool around in the classroom. I'm praying that these kids will be better than the last group. I don't know...

We also went back to Princess Diaries' Cafe last weekend! This time, we went with all of us girls (6 of us) and poor Dean was there to help take the pictures.

We all got crazy big white dresses but Aerim got a Korean style one.

Me with an elephant...

All of us girls

It was really, really funny.

It's finally getting warmer in Seoul. Some days, it's even been about 45 degrees! I should go shopping for a spring jacket, I suppose.

Ok, hope you all are doing well!! Love you all.

Spring Vacation?

2008-02-18T07:04:00.000-08:00

Alright, in college, we had our spring vacation at the very end of February. But I just started my Korean spring vacation on the 15th! A little strange, honestly. We came back for one week of school that consisted of half-days and no real teaching, and now we're on a two week break again. The kids all had their graduation ceremonies, and one of my favorite students told me that has to transfer schools for next semester! It was actually pretty sad, considering she was one of the girls in my extra class that I've come to really respect. It's going to be strange having English classes without her for the rest of the year. :( She and her friend (who is also in the extra class) made me a huge box of chocolates for Valentine's day! They made a huge chocolate heart and used white chocolate to write " love J & D" for me and Dean. There was also an assortment of homemade white chocolates. It was a really, really cute gift.

One of my co-teachers is leaving! She and I used to talk about things like Sex and the City and Friends in class when our students were watching a movie or doing worksheets. Apparently, the new teacher has been teaching for about 30 years, so that dashed my hopes of having another young co-teacher. Also, 7 other Munsung teachers are transferring to new schools. In Korea, you work in a public school for 5 years and then the education department moves you to a different school. They're also moving our English department desks to a corner near the door, which is a huge relief to me. My desk has been the most central desk in the whole staff room, so every time a parent or a package delivery person comes through, they always stop and ask me where things are. Awkward.

Oh! So things are really changing with the English policies in the public schools. According to one of my co-teachers, they all got memos during their winter holidays that they will now be required to teach all of their English lessons fully in English. While this may not seem too huge to many people, it should be known that most kids coming into middle school really can't speak English. They just don't have enough support and good programs in their elementary schools. So the idea of teaching things like English grammar *in* English sounds insane. But the government is pretty serious about this change and they're going to be sending in people to watch every English class taught by a Korean. If they can't teach the whole class in English, the teacher will be forced to teach another subject. It doesn't affect me, but it's definitely stressing many, many English teachers out.

On Friday, some TLBU people met up with us CUA people, and we ended up running into some fellow SMOE guys! A typical night in Hongdae.

Today, Dean and I spent hours out in the city, just walking around and window shopping.

We also ended up down by the Han River

This picture is a bit blurry, unfortunately.

This was from the Teenie Weenie store in Myeongdong. They had these guys in top hats standing at the door to open it for you. Earlier, when it was sunny, one of them was just posing by this really tall, 1900s style bicycle. He just stood there and smiled like a gentleman. It was weird.

Namdaemun destroyed

2008-02-11T03:41:00.000-08:00

On a really tragic note, one of Korea's most famous structures was destroyed yesterday. Due to arson, of all horrible things. Namdaemun, or the Great South Gate, was about 700 years old. It stood in the middle of traffic, making it a popular picture of tradition standing amidst modernity. The Korean people are, naturally, pretty devastated.

And this is what it looked like before

These pictures are not mine--borrowed from flickr.com

Going Home

2008-01-17T20:48:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it! By this time tomorrow, I will be on a plane coming home! I'm actually in a pretty bad mood--packing and last minute errands really frustrate me. Plus, just trying to get the airport is going to be an adventure. My room is totally wrecked and we need to drop Blue off at Erica's this evening. *sigh*

I'm too lazy for a real update. Sorry!

So this is the new year...

2008-01-07T20:14:00.000-08:00

Sorry that this entry is a tad overdue! I can't even use the excuse that I've been busy, because I honestly haven't. On Thursday, I started my 5 day winter camp, believing it would be 11 students (all 7th graders) for 4 hours each day. But when I showed up for class, only 6 students were there and I was told by all of them (including my most honest, trustworthy student) that their Korean teachers had told them that class was only 3 hours. Since only about five or six (out of about forty-five) teachers have to come in for a winter camp, there isn't exactly anyone to ask. So...*shrug* It has cut my planning down a lot and allowed for more flexibility in the schedule. I usually wait for about 10-15 minutes for the students to trickle in (at 9:30, there's usually only 1 or 2 students there), then we do speaking activities/games for about 40 minutes. They get a 5-7 minute break, then we start with writing. This includes grammar worksheets, vocab, and creative writing. Finally, after another short break, we play Scrabble for about 30 minutes and then round off the day by watching Pan's Labyrinth. I really wanted to show them a fun movie that would help them with listening skills, but I couldn't find ANY that were subtitled and my DVD player on my classroom computer is broken. So I checked out Pan's Labyrinth and the subtitles aren't too difficult, plus it helps them with speed reading. They've really enjoyed it so far, as dark as it is. I would *never* consider showing this to an American middle school class, but my Korean students are watching things like Saw 4 and 28 Days Later in their homeroom classes...so...Koreans don't really take the age ratings as seriously as Americans.

But really, I love my kids. I have two new boys in the class, but they're pretty sweet, even if their level is below that of the girls. And my girls...what can I say. I have such high hopes for them, especially Narae, the Korean version of Hermione from Harry Potter. When I first met her, she seemed so goody-goody and studious, but after having her every Wednesday and Friday in my afternoon class, I realize how sarcastic and silly she can be. She and her two friends, Jisu and Gyeonghye, are a bit like a three-headed hurricane in the class. Even though they listen well when they know they should be listening, as soon as we're playing a game or doing partner work, they turn spastic. With Narae as the sarcastic, witty one, Gyeonghye as the shameless and the mischevious one, and Jisu as relaxed, classic-rock lover, they make an interesting trio. I hope they stay friends even after they move into high school.

The CUA crew went out to dinner in Itaewon on Friday that finished around 11 pm. Dean and I parted ways with the rest of the gals and made it all the way back to Sadang (our second transfer station) before we realized that we didn't want to just go watch tv in the apartment. So on an impulse, we hopped back on the blue line and headed towards Dongdaemun, Seoul's most famous shopping district. It's comprised of about a dozen or so giant buildings, filled with boutiques and stores of jewelry, sunglasses, shoes, bags, women's clothes, men's clothes, fake purses, scarves, etc. The stores there stay open until 5 AM and re-open at 10:30 AM. There were tons of shoppers out and we didn't leave until 3 AM. It was a good, good time.

The Cheonggye Stream runs right beside Dongdaemun, so Dean and I strolled around the stream for a little bit. Here's Dean posing in his great new jacket on some of the stones.

I'm standing in front of the actual Dongdaemun--the East Gate.

Dean outside of Doota, one of the most popular buildings in Dongdaemun.

Another picture in front of Doota. Fashion is...exciting, passion, freedom, creativity, expression, ART.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot...

2007-12-31T22:51:00.000-08:00

Happy 2008, everyone! I had a great New Year's celebration with a somewhat random assortment of friends, acquaintances, and strangers. This week has been a blast thus far, since my classes officially finished on the 28th. Somehow, Dean and I ended up in Hongdae Friday, Saturday, and last night/this morning! We'd been paid, were happy to have friends close by, and just wanted to enjoy ourselves. Kirsten came back from her week at home two nights ago, so she was keen on getting together for dinner and then some festivities. So Dean, Kirsten, and I went to our favorite Korean grilling restaurant nearby our apartment, got 3 sets of beef, a bottle of soju, and had a great dinner.

Afterwards, Dean and went to Sinchon (close to Hongdae) to meet up with our friend Jongman and his Korean friends. Kirsten and I went to Hongdae together and ended up at Gab Bar. It was the first time Kirsten and I had been out together with no one else in a really, really long time--since like...college. So we enjoyed our cheap cocktails (a spectacular 3,500 won per drink!), the old school hip hop, and just talked. An hour or so later, we were joined by my friend Richard (from England, also working with SMOE) and his ladyfriend, then a while later, Dean showed up with a whole gaggle of Korean guys. We counted down the New Year in our small bar, then decided to hop to another place for some food. There, we also met up with Aerim! It was around 1:30 AM by that point, so we went to another grilling house and ordered a lot of pork. We were there for another two hours before we realized that the people probably wanted to close. As soon as we stepped outside, the owners turned all the lights off. Oops. Still wanting to stay out, we ended up at ANOTHER bar close by, which was comfy and warm.

By then, it was 4 AM, and many of us were faced with the same question: do we leave soon and try to find a taxi home? Taxis have been really difficult to get in Hongdae recently--even though hundreds of them flood the streets, many illegally ask for 3 times the normal rate (since they know it's cold and we have no other options), and many just shoo willing customers away as soon as they try to approach. OR...do we wait until 5 when the subway opens and take the train home? We all decided to stick it out, although one of our party fell dead asleep on the table. So at 5 AM, we walked to the subway, waited another 30 minutes before the first train actually left, and were back in our apartments around 6:15 AM.

It was a surreal experience, but it was a memorable night/morning in Korea. This city has such an electric energy and nothing really stops. If you go out in Seoul, you're pretty much guaranteed a good time--something spontaneous or random will happen and it will spark something even weirder or more amusing. Our circle of friends is a melting pot of native English speakers from England, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, while we have also been making some great Korean friends. It was a great way to end the old year and begin the new.

On Saturday, Dean's co-teacher, Mrs. Eom, invited us over for lunch at her apartment! It was our first time in a family's home and it was a great time--her whole family was sweet as can be. This is her with her youngest, but she has two older daughters, both of whom speak spectacular English.

"I remember back in the day." This is spray painted on a wall in the Hongdae underground.

Saturday night was spent in Hongdae with a lot of our TLBU mates who are back in Korea for the winter camp!! Here is me, Kevin (our boss), Tara (from Ireland--she was my teaching partner!), and Junior.

Jongman and Aerim at the pork place.

There was almost a really bad fight between two men in our group and it was pretty heated for about 30 minutes. Kirsten, Amber, and I were quite worried but Aerim shrugged it off saying, "This is just what Korean men do when they drink too much--don't worry about it."

My Christmas Eve

2007-12-25T03:28:00.000-08:00

It was the strangest Christmas Eve ever--for me, anyway. Dean and I had planned on going to the English midnight mass at the Myeongdong Cathedral. We finished work around 5, came back to our rooms, had some dinner (really yummy chicken), and watched The Two Towers on tv. We left around 9 PM, thinking that 3 hours is plenty of time to at least standing room at the cathedral. We were wrong.

Upon arriving in Myeongdong, we were shocked. Myeongdong is a famous shopping area in Seoul--streets with no cars and only shoppers, stands set up in the roads selling everything from scarves to fried eel, boutiques everywhere, big name brands with four story shops, multiple Starbucks and Coffee Beans, etc. I had heard that Korea doesn't really shut down for Christmas the way America does, but I was absolutely blown away last night. I had never seen Myeongdong so crowded--thousands of people clogged the narrow streets until we were literally at standstills. One car attempted to drive through the masses, much to the anger and annoyance of us pedestrians. I have never been in such a claustrophobic experience.

We finally made it up the hill to the cathedral, where we were met with another surprise. A huge line (about 7 people wide) was wrapped around the large cathedral--countless numbers of people were already waiting, and it was only 9:40. There was plenty of security, plus metal barriers and church staff. I was so surprised that so many people were there for the ENGLISH service at midnight! But we got at the back of a very depressing line and tried to wait it out.

Meanwhile, we were still receiving text messages from our friends, Aerim and Jongman. They're not Christians and Aerim is a self-proclaimed hater of Christmas. The entire subway ride to Myeongdong, we had been getting texts from both of them with messages like, "Come on, let's play!", "You DO realize that you're trying to get to the most famous church in Korea, right?", "It's like singles X-mas eve here with us--so depressing," and, "WE NEED YOU." They had told us that they were going to Hongdae, the infamous club/party area in Seoul. They us to come, but we said, "No, really, we need to go to church tonight." Well, we had been waiting in line for maybe 15 minutes when who should appear but Aerim and Jongman!! They had come all the way to the Myeongdong cathedral to find us. By that time, Dean and I realized that there was no way we'd be getting into that church--not even with standing room (people were jumping the line like nobody's business). So we relented and left with our two mischievous Koreans.

We ended up at a swanky bar not too far from the cathedral. After paying for our drinks (about $10 USD each, yeesh), we had a relaxing time just talking. We exchanged some incredibly amusing stories until abut 2 AM. Dean and I took a taxi back to Sillim--worst taxi ride ever. The driver was terrible. Dean and I opened our presents around noon today, then ate our cake that I had bought from Paris Baguette.

Here are our favorite evil elves, Jongman and Aerim

Dean's face is blurred out! Muahahaha

A scene from one of the streets in Myeongdong--sadly, this is even a side street, not even one of the main ones. Those were SO BAD.

Korean food always comes with "banchan", or side orders. These always include kimchi and usually some other kind of vegetable or fish. They come free and will get filled for free, too, but a lot of people waste it and at the end of the night, it all gets trashed.

Our lovely Christmas tree

Dean lit the candles on our cake

Blue loved the ribbon

Blue hopes for some Christmas kindness from Dean, but to no avail.

I took this today.

And here is a 2 minute video with scenes from the insanity in Myeongdong, plus the lines at the cathedral.

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Thank you everyone for your cards and gifts! Even though last night was a bit strange, it did feel like Christmas this morning. I love you all and hope your Christmas day is beautiful.

so this is christmas

2007-12-17T05:53:00.000-08:00

well, my punctuation is going to look a bit funny for the next post or so because the cat spilled water on my keyboard, thus ruining my shift, caps lock, and number nine keys. i can't do any exclamation points, question marks, or capitalize anything, which is killing the grammar nut inside of me.

my 7th graders went into testing last week, so i only taught a grand total of three classes for the whole week. the 9th graders have been going on numerous field trips, so i haven't had much to do with them lately. this week, i already have four of my classes canceled, plus wednesday is the presidential election--all public schools get the day off. aaaaand next thursday, all the grades are going to the movie theater, so i get to go with them. i'm actually fairly excited.

it really doesn't feel as if christmas is only a week away. even though there are christmas lights everywhere, this city actually doesn't have christmas spririt at all. it's not a major holiday, despite all the stunning light displays and so called 'christmas sales'--they really don't qualify as sales. most of my students said that they'll just hang out with their friends or go to the movies. when i asked if they had any special traditions for the holiday, they stared blankly back. also, i tried to explain hanukkah to them, but they were pretty lost on it. none of my co-teachers had ever heard of hanukkah, either, and were really intrigued. i taught them a dozen christmas holiday words, and added in 'menorah' and 'dreidel', even though i'm still not really sure they understand judaism.

aerim, junior, dean and i went to hongdae on friday night. it was snowing--so exciting.

last night, the cua crew met up at city hall to view the christmas lights and to exchange our secret santa gifts. the lights were gorgeous.

my students playing scrabble in my extra class.

the lights at city hall video--tons of cute kids.

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Here comes the bride

2007-12-07T17:17:00.000-08:00

Korea has a love for pictures--they're inescapable. This is a country that is always snapping photos--of people, places, food, flowers, etc. It never really stops. So in a lot of ways, it suits me perfectly. Such is the case with what I'm going to talk about next.

A few days ago, I heard of something called "dress" cafes, the most popular being a chain of its kind called "Princess Diary Cafe." At these cafes, you have to pay for a drink (usually a coffee that is about $6) and a wedding dress rental ($5-$20). There are really girlie couches, divans, tables, and seats, plus professional lighting and props (veils, flowers, stuffed animals, hats, fans, crowns, etc). You get an hour in the dresses and you just take pictures of each other. This seemed so ridiculous and amusing that Dean, Andrea, and I checked it out last night. And...WOW. It was so much fun! We got our coffee and watched some other ladies posing and taking pictures with the giant teddy bears and pink bouquets. Then, we were taken behind the curtain and shown the dresses. There was a fairly large selection. The ladies then help you change and then fasten the dress really tightly to your body with pins in the back, since they get larger dresses to ensure that everyone will be able to wear them. We were given enormous platform shoes to wear, and I was also give a big hoop skirt for under my dress. The final touches were little tiaras, and then we were camera ready.

Needless to say, Dean found the whole thing extremely amusing and we saw him shaking his head with a small smile multiple times. But we had such a good time that we're planning on bringing the rest of the CUA girls plus our friend, Aerim, back soon.

My first photo while Andrea was still getting dressed. Click on the photos to see a larger version.

Sad princess

Mullen and me show off our threads

Catching the bouquet

Some great hats, eh?

Fun accessories

The bear!!!!

Dean took 100 photos and you can see them all here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/caligalux/sets/72157603395992248/

Aaaaand a video from the Princess Diary Cafe!

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Get me through December

2007-12-06T03:32:00.000-08:00

I've been really tired this week, and I'm not sure that I have a valid reason for it. My classes have been easy--too easy, maybe. The 7th graders are preparing for their final exams next week, so I have just been doing Lesson 12 from the book and then a short game of Taboo afterwards. Since the 9th graders are finished with EVERYTHING until Dec 29, they have a lot of movie days. I show up for class not knowing if any of *them* will come crashing through the door, and it's a 50/50 chance. I was supposed to teach 5 classes today, but only taught 2 and 1/2. Very simple.

In my extra class, we decorated the English classroom. It took yesterday and today, and only one side of the classroom has decorations. But the room is just too big! So while one side is festooned in red and green, the other remains stoically beige and boring. At least it's something. During the winter break, I plan on making some decorations for my classroom that I can use all year.

Kirsten, Liz, Andrea, Dean, Erica, and I met up in Gangnam last night to draw names for our Secret Santa. It's always a nice pick-me-up to see them on the weekdays. Oh! And I bought a new winter jacket. It's long, casual, down-filled, and soooo very Korean-style.

And here is a video of the blind artist game.

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Ho Yeon, Ju Yeon, and Na Rae watching the artist at work. Can you tell what kind of jacket is popular in Korea right now?

Half of the extra class in front of the decorations.

Welcome, Blue!

2007-11-28T04:34:00.000-08:00

I got a cat! He's 8 months old and I named him Blue. A woman in Itaewon runs a cat shelter, and I adopted him from there. Dean and I picked him up last night. He's playful and very affectionate. I felt so bad going to work today and leaving him alone in the tiny apartment.

So I started my new session of my extra class began today...and it's the same students, plus two boys! I was really, really happy when a teacher gave me the new list. Honestly, I expected only two or three of the girls to definitely re-sign, so I couldn't stop smiling as I ran down the list of almost all familiar names. The school is trying to cram the 10 classes in before December 29, so next week, we have FOUR extra classes. It's going to be intense. I didn't notice until my girls showed me the schedule and were like, "Oh, teacher...so much! Oh! So tiring!" So I told them that we would be decorating the English classroom for Christmas and that we could watch a Christmas film, as long as they were willing to do worksheets on it. They happily obliged, so that will make next week go by a lot faster.

Dean and I ordered our plane tickets today! We'll be flying to Dulles in D.C. on Jan 19 (Dean finishes work on Jan 18, I finish work Dec 29), and then we'll be flying back to Korea on Feb 3. It'll be a nice, nice break, and I'm really looking forward to it. I feel like it will be hard to come back...even though I love Korea, I'm going to feel nervous. The Korean school year starts in Feb/March, so I'm going to have 820 new students. It's a lot of pressure, so the idea of flying back to all new students is not exactly something I relish. Even though some of my students are quite the handful right now, I'm going to miss them when they graduate.

Two of my students during lunch. The camera did something crazy just as they were walking away, but I like this picture. The boy on the right is quite the enthusiastic participant, despite his tough demeanor outside of class. He enjoys rap, soccer, and--apparently--learning English.

Some of my 7th grade girls. Whenever I turn the camera on them, they just flee!! This caught them right before they flat out ran away from me. :(

This is Blue! I'm not sure on his middle name. Blue Rochester Murphy? Blue Diablo Murphy? Noooot sure yet.

Another picture of my special Blue.

Our first Thanksgiving abroad

2007-11-23T06:56:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, we celebrated our first Thanksgiving abroad. The day felt like any other. I tried to tell my last period class that it was Thanksgiving in America, but after three half-hearted tries, I gave up (it was the end of the day and they were restless).

Dean and I met up with the rest of the CUA gang at Gecko's in Itaewon, where we celebrated Thanksgiving with other Americans. Gecko's set up a really nice buffet with turkey, beef, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, etc. It was pretty awesome! We had a chill time just talking and eating until 11 pm.

Overall, this week was really chill. My 9th graders were still taking their final exams during the early part of the week, so I had some days where I was only teaching one or two classes. The classes I *did* have were stellar! Dean and I made a Powerpoint presentation and a quiz game about middle/high school life in America. I did that for half of my classes, then did a tongue twister game with the others. I divided them into four teams, taught them a tongue twister, gave them three minutes to practice, then they had to stand up and recite the tongue twister as fast as they could. The team who could recite it the fastest (without anyone skipping a word) won.

In other news...I think I'm going to adopt 2 cats/kittens! There is a Korean woman in Itaewon who runs a shelter with two other people. She speaks English and Korean fluently (she lived in NYC for 7 years)--I found her number on the internet and called her about adopting a cat. Dean and I are going to go look at them tomorrow afternoon!! I'm excited but slightly nervous.

Me with my Thanksgiving plate. This was the first taste of homestyle cooking I've had since July, so it tasted *amazing*.

It was the last day of my extra class for this session! To celebrate, I bought a cream cake from Paris Baguette, plus some other snacks. We had an English Only Party--so fun.

One of my favorite students. She's quite the little artist who also loves playing soccer (a HUGE rarity in Korea) and wants to be the lead singer of a rock band. I think she and her crazy (but lovable) friend are signing up for my extra class next session.

Our group picture! We all gave each other nicknames, so from left to right they are....The Queen, Magical Princess Seiri, The Princess, Kim Yoo Jin, Rice Boy, Sleeping Pig Bear, Raccoon, Hwang Jini, Moth, and they nicknamed me simply "The King", since I rule all. MUAHAHAHA.

The video of my students practicing "Larry sent the latter a letter later."
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Liz's birthday

2007-11-18T00:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Liz's 23rd birthday, so we had a big evening planned. First, we went to Seoul Tower, then we went to nearby Myeongdong for dinner and a birthday cake from Paris Baguette. We ended the evening in Hongdae, of course, meeting up with Junior and Kevin. It was a great night and everyone seemed to have a really, really fun time. By the time we went home, the subways and buses were running again, and shops were beginning to open. It was a bit crazy, but that's the way Seoulites roll--they work hard and play hard.

Speaking of work, I actually didn't have much this week. My 9th graders had their final exams on Wednesday and Friday, and we had school canceled on Thursday due to college entrance exam day. On this day, the high school students take a really, really important test relating to the types of colleges they can apply to, and since my middle school is quite close to Doksan High, they needed teachers to come proctor the exam. They took fifteen of the teachers, so the principal shut the school down for the day. On Friday, I only taught one class (my first period), but had to stick around all day to participate in "Teachers' Sports Day", which was a 45 minute game of kickball. It was quite amusing, actually, and the utter girlishness of my female colleagues somehow made me appear really athletic in comparison. Our team lost 5-4, but our consolation prize was a box of toothpaste. So...yay for toothpaste?

It's been getting colder and colder in Seoul--last night was absolutely freezing. And yet the young Korean ladies are still strutting around in tiny, tiny shorts and miniskirts! I don't understand how they do it! A winter jacket is on my list of things to buy once I get my next paycheck, since the heat hasn't been turned on in my school yet, and the classrooms are frigid. The teacher's office is heated, but my classroom is just...wow. My kids enter the room and go, "Ahhhhh!! Chu ah! Chu ah!", which is cold/very cold. The big talk at the school was that I dyed my hair this week. The students (and the teachers) were really shocked and kept coming up to me all week to give compliments. Although two students did express that "old hair better tee-chuh. Old hair better."

Yongseo, my tutor, and I have been quite neglectful of each other! Today was the first lesson we'd had in almost a month! I'd been studying on my own at work on my down time, so I've been trying to stay on my toes. But it's good to have the pressure of someone so you KNOW you have to constantly review. I've learned some basic verbs so I can put together some simple sentences, and I learned 3 of the main verb tenses. According to Yongseo, my pronunciation has improved a lot, as well! Being completely immersed in Korean in my workplace is a great advantage.

The teachers warming up for the "big game"--the main teachers' office vs. the 4th floor teachers' office.

Yunhee got this of me kicking the ball! Oh, so exciting.

Dean, Erica, me, Andrea, Liz, Kirsten, and Amber at the top of Seoul Tower.
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Myeongdong at night. It's a really sprawling area packed with food, bars, a some clubs, and amazing shopping.

Lighting the candles for Liz's 23rd birthday cake.

Then, we went to OI for some drinks.

We went to Hooper's and then...of course...Tinpan.

Junior, Dean, and I ended our evening/morning at the huge fish restaurant that is always packed. At 5:30 AM, the place was still packed. We got a big thing of spicy chicken and rice cakes.

Check out my flickr site for the rest of the photos! There are a lot.

Finally feeling like fall in Seoul

2007-11-09T08:30:00.000-08:00

It's been a beautiful week in Seoul. Dean and I were discussing how the weeks have been flying by lately. My job isn't a chore like it was in my first two weeks--I thought I was going to be miserable with this job. But now that I don't have to teach the book for 90% of the my classes (it depends on the co-teacher), I can plan my own lessons. Most of the teachers prefer me to play ESL games with the kids, and I have a great time with it. On a Sunday night, I am extremely nervous--what if the kids hate it? Will they understand it? Is it going to engage all the students or only the ones participating? How can I get them all interested? What is the goal of the lesson? Is it too easy for them? Too advanced? I honestly have nightmares about my classroom games going wrong. With 40 kids per class, when things go wrong, they go very, very wrong.

But I've been lucky in choosing games that can be adapted well for my classes. This week, I played a sort of ESL Pictionary. I split them into 3 teams and one person from each team had to come to the chalkboard. I would give a sentence (the sillier = the better) like, "There is a monster under my bed", "I am cooking dinner but there are problems", or "My friend does not like my cat." They had to draw a picture (5 points), write the sentence correctly (10 points), and the team with the most creative drawing received an extra 5 points. The kids made some really, really amusing drawings and I had a great time with them (for the most part).

Yesterday, my co-teacher with the best English, Yunhee, and I had a class canceled so we sat outside on the benches and talked. She said she was really pleased to see how well I have adjusted and how I'm really comfortable in the classroom now. She also said that the kids love the games, which made me feel *so relieved*. Middle school kids can be brutal.

This is one of my favorite classes--they make my Thursdays awesome. The boy in the front told me I looked like Tinkerbell yesterday. It was strange.

Playing Pictionary...didner? Dindner? Ding...DINNER! Fourth time's the charm.

The three teams competing.

Munsung in the fall. This was taken from where I sit after I finish my lunch. There are some nice benches in front of the school. It's amusing to watch the kids play soccer, although NO females join in...at all. It's ONLY boys. According to my co-teachers, the girls in Korea are not encouraged to play sports as an extracurricular activity at all. I spied the three girls on the left with a soccer ball and was really happy for a moment, then I realized they were just throwing it up into the nearby tree to see how many leaves they could get to fall.

Gyeonghye, one of my best students in my extra class. We were playing 20 questions with Post-Its--she was Ban Ki Moon (the current Secretary General of the UN).

One of my best students--one of the few that actually is really interested in having conversations when I'm not teaching. It's nice to talk to students who don't look like they are constantly in pain listening to you speak! I think he's going to a high school next year that specializes in the study of foreign languages. In Korea, the students apply to high schools the way Americans apply for college. Most of the kids from my area are going to the high school very close to Munsung, but some are going to high schools to study traditional arts, technical science, and foreign language. The third year middle schoolers have their SATs 14th-19th and they are pretty strung out.

This video is of my extra class playing 20 Questions.
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Check out the rest of my Korean videos at http://www.veoh.com/userVideos.html?username=caligalux I also updated my flickr page, so you can check out the rest of my Munsung pictures there.

Halloween in Korea

2007-10-31T04:15:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, all the foreigners flooded Hongdae and Itaewon as usual, but this time, we were all in our Halloween costumes. Many of the natives stopped and stared--I even got my picture taken by some. If we were a bit more self-conscious, we would have felt strange on the subway in our bright wigs as everyone openly stared. But luckily, we just thought it was all pretty amusing. On Saturday afternoon, Kirsten, Liz, Dean, Andrea, Erica, and I took a bus out into the mountains (north of Seoul) to go to a pig roast. Some of Kirsten's co-workers had suggested it so we all went in a big group. We were there from 3 pm-8 pm, eating tons of delicious pork, having some beers, enjoying the bonfire, and just talking. We took the bus back to the subway station at 8 and ended up in Itaewon, then Hongdae. (Itaewon is the notorious foreigners district where almost everything is in English. On the weekends, it has some ignorant drunks and a lot of guys from the US army. Hongdae is Seoul's art university, and a really intense mix of bars, restaurants, dance clubs, and artsy boutiques draws an enormous crowd every weekend.) We had a great night, meeting up with Aerim, Chungsoo (part of TLBU's ISI staff, met him at the summer camp), Kevin (my boss from TLBU), Junior (friend from TLBU), and a lot of my SMOE friends.

Yesterday, I had to go do a dinner at this formal Korean fusion restaurant. I'd been there before about a month ago before Grace, one of my co-teachers, went to Canada for a training session, and just assumed it would be the same teachers. BUT it was big---there were maybe fifteen teachers there, including the principal and the vice principal, who sat across from me. The seats were on the floor and women in traditional Hanboks served us in our private room. It was beautiful but I couldn't help feeling out of the loop. Yunhee sat on one side of me and translated a lot for me. The principal is an elderly man who has been really great--he keeps asking (through Yunhee) if there is anything else I need for my apartment, my classroom, and how I'm adjusting. My vice principal is a very formal woman--the kind that wears a big emerald cocktail ring and pearls everyday. She's forever in tweed dress suits and heels, as well. But she speaks English fairly well (and so elegantly! This breed of woman--slightly cold, intelligent, old-fashioned, and conservative--is such a dying breed. She's probably in her 60s) and has also come to me to make sure that I have everything I need. Since so many foreign English teachers have complained of their schools being unsupportive or rude, I feel so grateful for the people at Munsung Middle School.

Since today is Halloween, some of us (that are relatively the same size as we were when we were high/middle school students) decided to borrow uniforms and dress up as our students. My co-teachers were so excited about the idea that they took me to the extra students' wardrobe and helped me pick a uniform a few days ago. So I walked to school this morning feeling INCREDIBLY awkward. Students were flat out staring as were adults. It was probably because students in Korea are not allowed to have dyed hair (many still do, but not as light as mine) or wear makeup to class. When I came to school, the teachers thought it was hysterical and the students FLIPPED out. They crowded around my desk continually, laughing and going, "Cutie cutie! So cute! Teacher is student!" Kids were doing double takes in the hallway all day, especially those that I don't have class with.

Me with my JA, taken after our extra class. (you can click on the pictures to see a bigger size.

Dean pulling the cork

Aerim, me (in a wig), and Chungsoo

Jason, Dean, and Colin at our pig roast.

For my pictures, as always, check out my flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/caligalux/collections/72157600864748555/

Here is a 26 second video of my kids with the blindfold. Oh, Jisu--you're the best.

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Munsung's fall festival

2007-10-26T01:37:00.000-07:00

This Wednesday was Munsung's annual fall festival. It was a pretty big deal--the children were planning for weeks. Each class (there are 10 classes in each grade) had to plan activities for their classroom, so that meant cooking, designing games, decorating the room, creating fliers and posters, etc. Two or three of the 9th grade classes did movie viewings--you paid 500 won (about 50 cents) and you got to watch a movie (they were showing American horror films) with popcorn and a drink. Many classes had games like darts or other throwing games. Some classes were turned into cafes where they were making healthy shakes, spaghetti, dumplings, cotton candy, and so on. The class to make the most amount of money won some sort of prize. Since I am pretty much the only teacher not to have a homeroom class, I got to walk around from 9:30-12:00, checking out all the classes. The kids were DESPERATE to make money, resorting to physically pulling me in a classroom so I could play a game.
At 1:00, we moved locations to a high school about a block away, since Munsung doesn't have its own auditorium. From 1:30-5:00, we watched performances by the kids. There were many singing and dancing acts, plus some skits and a traditional drumming performance. In the last hour, the head PE teacher had to basically bar the doors to prevent students from leaving--they were all queuing up, trying to get home. It was fun, but after a while, it was so tiring and we just wanted to leave. Kids kept lying, saying they needed to use the bathroom, and would jump ship.

The kids lounging in a classroom before the festivities began. Just liked the lighting here.

Some of the 9th graders in front of a colorful fruit tree...? I don't exactly know what the object of their activity was.

Making carrot health drinks--was too afraid to try.

Here is a reason why I have less pictures of my female students--whenever I put the camera on them, they tend to run.

And I'll end this post with a 45 second video of some of my students in their dance performance. GOLDEN.
How are they so awkward in class and like this on stage?

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Crazy students

2007-10-20T22:46:00.001-07:00

Here is a video to accompany the post below.

Celebrity Skin

2007-10-20T22:14:00.000-07:00

Every other Saturday, the students have to come to school and study/participate in activities. Earlier this week, one of my co-teachers informed me that all of Munsung will go to Olympic Park and do a big walk for two hours or so, instead of coming to school. I'm never required to come in for these special Saturdays, even though all of the other teachers are. Anyway, I had wanted to visit Olympic Park and I stated that I would go, too. My co-teachers were pleasantly surprised and very excited, especially when I said that Dean would come with me. "Sally", my head co-teacher, had met Dean at a teacher's workshop for the district a few weeks before, and had told all the other teachers that he was very handsome and friendly.

Let me just say that Dean has a LOT of the desired traits for Korean males--tall, clear skin, low voice, nice eyes, and a sharp nose. I can't take him anywhere without people asking if he's a model.

Anyway, we stayed out with our friends very late the evening before, so we got started a lot later than we had planned. The subway ride took about an hour and by the time we got there, most of the students were finishing up the walk. So we decided to go to Lotteria (a Korean-style burger joint), which was close to the meeting point for the kids. As the students finished up, many began migrating towards Lotteria to grab something to eat, and it was then that the madness began. At a public school, a foreign teacher is often treated as a celebrity figure. Being the youngest teacher by about a decade has also fueled this for me--I'm closer in age to my kids than I am to my co-workers. So I always have the students that come up to my desk just to say, "Pretty!" or "You think I handsome? I smart and handsome!" and occasionally take a picture with their cellphone camera when they think I'm not looking. But the incident at Olympic Park was INSANE. Students, hearing that Dean and I were at Lotteria, began arriving in huge groups just to stare through the windows and basically freak out the students from another middle school that was also visiting. When we left, we were basically followed everywhere. Cameras and phones with cameras were appeared in the hands of hundreds of students (there were 1,000 students from my school there), we were trapped, the kids were giggling and screaming, shaking our hands, and basically being insane.

Dean teaches at a middle school fairly close to mine, and many of my students have friends at his school. So somehow, they got wind that I had a boyfriend at Seil Middle School, and the students there told my students that Dean was really handsome. The students had been pestering me about my "boy-pu-ren-du" (boyfriend) all semester, and so they were really, really excited. The other teachers didn't come up and talk to me, except for Yunhee and Sally. The rest hung back and looked extremely amused as Dean and I tried to break through a circle of snapping photos only to become trapped in another. It was a crazy morning.

I did get to introduce Dean to some of my favorite students--I have some boys and a big group of girls that speak very well and that are genuinely fun teens. It was great conversing to them outside of the school environment. Many were dressed fantastically, and the teachers explained that--since they wear uniforms all the time--this is one of their few times to show off in front of each other. I saw some girls in 3-inch heels and skirts--apparently, they walked the entire 1-2 hour course in them. Even many of my boys were decked out in their snazziest dressy-casual wear, making them all seem so different from when they are in their wrinkled and stained uniforms.

Oh, and Olympic Park is really pretty. After the kids had finally said their goodbyes, Dean and I planned on walking around the area but it was SO COLD and windy that we had to leave.

Dean shaking his head in amusement at the crazy fandom that is Munsung Middle School.

Some of my first year students. The girl in the pink and the two on her right are in my "JA" after-school class--they are fantastic.

Me with some more of my first year students. The girl in the red-tangerine jacket is also one of my students from the "JA."

Stalker camera phone students. The boy in the background is also one of my favorite students. He goes to an English-language academy after school, so his English is quite advanced. He hopes to get into one of Seoul's prestigious foreign language high schools next year.

The mob.

Late Update!!

2007-10-13T03:13:00.000-07:00

So I realize that this entry is long overdue--my apologies. I would update at work on my off-periods, but blogger.com is a blocked site at my school.

There is always so much to report! Last weekend, Dean and I were invited down to the Pusan International Film Festival by Jong-Man, one of the friends I made at TLBU. Jong-Man was part of the temporary camp staff and was the head camera man. He works at a film company in Daejon, which is about 45 minutes from Seoul, and we've kept in touch fairly well since camp ended. Since he goes down to Pusan (a port city in south-east Seoul, second largest city in Korea) for the festival every year, he wanted us to come along. So Dean and I took the KTX (a high-speed train) down to Pusan and spent the weekend there with Jong-Man and his fellow filmmakers. Pusan has a really different feel from Seoul--the subway system is a LOT smaller and the city feels less rushed and claustrophobic. But honestly, I was a bit relieved to come back to Seoul on Sunday evening. We've all become pretty Seoul-savvy in the past few months, so it was a great to know where we were going (Pusan is really, really spread out).

My students had their midterm exams Monday-Wednesday, so I had to come into work but I was allowed to leave at noon and I didn't teach anything! Basically, I just sat at my desk in the teacher's office and went on thefacebook or my gmail account. Very chill. One of my co-teachers, "Grace", went to Canada for a month to attend special English-teaching seminars and so I have a new one. Grace's desk is practically attached to mine, so I had a good relationship with her. But the substitute, Sunhee, or "Sunny", is fantastic! She's only two years older than me and she just graduated. Her English is great and it's just makes things a lot more fun and interesting having someone my age working with me.

Oh, I started Korean lessons! Aerim (part of temporary camp staff at TLBU, goes to university in Seoul) helped me find someone. She's a law student at Kongguk University and one of her fellow students offered to teach me for free. His name is Young-San and he speaks English quite well--he spent his obligatory two years of military service with the American GI's. He left the military a year ago and is a junior at Kongguk (but he's a year older than us). We have lessons only once a week this month because he has his midterms coming up. At our first meeting, we bought a textbook for me and I've been studying on my own. I can already read/write in Korean, so he was immensely relieved. Right now, we're just trying to build up my vocabulary and help me with some simple grammer and sentence forming. In the past two weeks, I've boosted my Korean vocabulary by about forty words, so that's encouraging! It's also just great to have Korean friends.

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks!

Me at Haeundae beach.

Dean and Jong-Man (on the phone--he was the coordinator for his group so his cell was ringing non-stop). We were high up by some tower and a really old bell??

During Chuseok holiday, a huge group of us from SMOE went to Lotte World, an amusement park in Seoul. Here's James (from Britain), Dean, me, and Rory (also from Britain) with some classy accessories.

Dean, Andrea, Liz, Kirsten, Erica, and I went to a big palace in downtown Seoul and took some great photos.

Aerim, me, and Liz out in Hongdae with a bunch of friends.

It's about time

2007-09-26T06:40:00.001-07:00

It took me a while to sit down and write in this blog. Almost 2 and 1/2 months have gone by since I arrived in Korea, and it seems like a lifetime ago. This week, Korea celebrated its Chuseok holiday--basically, Thanksgiving. Classes were canceled from Monday-Thursday, so I work on Friday and then it's the weekend again!

Ok, here's the quick recap. I spent almost 6 weeks at TLBU in Goyang City outside of Seoul, teaching English at an immersion camp. There were 18 of of us, including Kirsten and Liz (roommate and friend from college). We probably put in close to 300 hours of work during the 5 week camp, so it was really a crash course in teaching Korean children. I had Daffodil class, which was the middle/upper intermediate level. The kids ranged from monstrous to absolutely lovely and amazing. Kirsten, Liz, and I made some fantastic friends amongst our co-workers, including our boss. TLBU is an English-language graduate law and business school for Asian students. They take a couple from each country--Malaysia, Japan, China, Vietnam, Singapore, etc--and they are all scholarship based. It was a really intriguing and unique program. The kids came from all over Korea and they stay in the dorms, so we were involved with them practically 24/7. There are so many things I could say about TLBU but I don't have enough time to write about it.

Me with my Session 1 kids--I knew them the best because I was with them for 3 weeks.

Three of my favorite boys from Session 1. Check out the bandaids on Sung-bong on the left--he had so many mosquito bites.

My girls of Session 2. Really, really cute.

Aaaaand 3 of my Session 2 boys.

So now I'm at Munsung Middle School in the south-west of Seoul. It's a fairly low economic area, so the majority of the kids speak *terrible* English. I teach extra classes from 3:30-5:00 on Wednesdays and Fridays, and those classes are a blast--those kids actually are paying to attend. There are 10 kids and they all speak fantastic English. They are motivated, funny, intelligent, quirky, and truly interested in learning. I only really teach 22 hours a week, so I usually teach 4 45 minute classes a day. I only teach the 1st and 3rd graders (7th and 9th in the US) and I only see each class once a week. Basically, I teach the same lesson ten times. It's a fairly low stress job and my Korean co-teachers (I work with 4 of them--one for each class) are fantastic. They translate a lot of what I say and they are so nurturing. The school as a whole has been overwhelming warm--they're always inviting me to dinner, offering to take me to the bank or a clinic (when I had a cold), etc. A lot of the teachers speak English pretty well, interestingly enough.

Munsung Middle School. It's a bad picture, but there are 2 wings. It's a big school! Over 1,000 kids.

Half of my classroom. The kids are practicing dialogues.

I have a million pictures so far, not only of my kids from TLBU and Munsung, but of all of us in the city doing tourist-y things and of our nights out on the town. Seoul is a city that never sleeps--there is ALWAYS something to do. An "early night" is coming back home around 2:30 AM--staying out until 5:30 or until the sunrises is not at all uncommon. So check out my flickr website for the rest of my photos--I update them every few days. Jen's Korean photo page. I also have a Veoh video page and I'll post that link as soon as I have a handful of videos up.

Leave comments if you please!

Love from Korea,

Jen