It was all in Korean! and the Heart Shaped Beach

So I haven't posted because I couldn't figure out why the Blogger page was all in Korean. It's good now though...easy fix.

Teaching, I think, is very slowly getting better. I'm starting to think of games and things on my own to do in class and am using more online resources. I think most of my students are starting to accept me also. Last night one of the Korean teachers told me that one of my students told his mom that he really liked my class and thought it was a lot of fun. Favorite student now? Haha. It definitely helped to hear that when I was still feeling pretty unsure of myself. I still have the bad class though, and this last class only one of them paid attention to what I was saying. I was about on the verge of tears, but if I cry, I'll never get them to respect me, even though it probably wouldn't make much of a difference anyway. They may be sitting in different seats next class. I'll just keep trying new things I guess.

Oh, I got my hair cut to just below my shoulders. It was getting way too long and it was always tangled and hot and I finally just did it. It was only 8000 won. I was so amazed at that price.

So, this weekend I went camping on a beach with 4 other girls from Avalon/Reading Star/Langcon. We were up at 5am Saturday to catch a bus to take us on a 2 hour ferry ride to an island off the coast of Korea. There was a group of Canadiens on the boat going to the same island and we talked to them a little bit. But when we got to the island we were going to different beaches. We were going to the heart shaped beach. I really need to make a picture page for people who don't have Facebook, it's really awesome how it looks like a heart...maybe this morning, I'm feeling ambitious. Anyway, we got to the beach and it was totally deserted and beautiful. It was the first time I've been to a beach without big waves, there were just small waves. Enough to make the pretty beach sound to fall asleep to. The water was REALLY cold though. I didn't go in much past my ankles. That didn't matter, we still got tanned/sunburnt. Also, there were little bugs everywhere! I don't like bugs, but I made it through :-) So we tanned and hiked around the rocks a little bit. Then we debated trying to walk to the closest village to look for food. We had to walk up this huge mountain and down the other side, probably at least 2 miles, maybe more, until we found a couple and we communicated that we were looking for a store. They called a taxi for us and our cab driver saved the day!! He spoke pretty good English. He took us to the store and waited for us to shop before taking us back. He also told us the ferry times for the next day since we had forgotten to look and we picked a time for him to come pick us up the next day. It was perfect. So we got back and knocked an entire tree off the hill for firewood and set up our fire. Then we watched the sunset from a little bluff over the water. It was so pretty. Then we ate and hung out around the fire before falling asleep. It was great. If anyone had ever told me that there were empty beaches that you could camp on without being bothered, I wouldn't have believed it!







There are so many more pictures...like I said, I'll work on that...

First Days of Teaching

So, I have started "teaching" this week. And the quotation marks are there because it's been mostly testing/orientation stuff. So I don't have a great routine yet, but I think it will come...


Yesterday, I thought my classes were testing, but it turns out they weren't, so I had to teach. I also made my syllabus using a workbook that they do not have, so I couldn't give them their syllabus, but told them I would have it for the next class. Apparently Korean mothers don't like it when you don't have a syllabus because the school got some calls about that...Anyway, I wasn't totally prepared to be honest and I wanted to get into some of the classes before deciding what I was going to do. So the first class was short and there was only one student...very easy. THEN...ugh...then...I walked into class and recognized a few of the students from observation...recognized as in trouble. The class was awful. They didn't listen to anything and talked the whole time, even after I yelled at them and was as strict as I could be without being totally horrible. So anyway, afterwards, I talked to their Korean homeroom teacher who told me they can be difficult. And today we talked about it and it's basically a class of disruptive students all put together. Fantastic. So I am really trying to come up with what to do when I see them again because this is going to be bad if I can't get them under control. We'll see...I'm sure I will mention it again...

Besides that, most of my other classes seem great. Some of these kids are so awesome and are going to be so much fun to teach. I only have one syllabus left, and it's pretty much been done by one of my co-workers so now I can focus on teaching :-)

I think I found a new favorite food at Kimbap Nara...Gogimandu...it has meat and soy sauce and it's a dumpling...who wouldnt like that?

I'm much more settled now. I have most necessities and it feels more like MY OWN apartment :-)

OK, I'm out of things to write for now...

First Weekend

So first I want to describe my school. It's like a corporation, they own a few schools in the city and are starting one in Seoul, and possibly somewhere else too? Anyway, there is the main campus in Bongsun-dong with Reading Star (elem.) and Avalon (middle). I thought I would be at that campus, but I am at Kuhmo-dong (which actually has a different spelling, but that's how it sounds) and the schools are Langcon (elem.) and Avalon (middle). I like the area we are in and the fact that most of us teach at both schools...I think I'll get so much more experience that way. Today will be the first day of classes for Avalon. We won't have to teach though because the students are taking tests and there won't be time. I think I'll just be handing out books and going over the syllabi that I made up. Hopefully they're good :-) I probably will give them too much homework...I guess we'll see.

This weekend was my first chance to get out and see things. Friday we went for dinner and then went out. Apparently we missed dinner with our coworkers though which I'm sad about...but it will happen again this Friday! Anyway, one of my coworkers and I went downtown and ran into Danielle and then saw Megan!! It was so exciting. Also, I don't know what time bars close here, but you can definitely be out until the sun comes up...

Saturday one of the girls from another class was moving out and my coworker Ashley was getting some stuff from her place so I went along to help carry stuff. I ended up getting a hairdryer and some other stuff from Rupsha (who was moving out) so I was VERY excited. And yesterday Ashley and I went shopping and I got a few other little things, like an orange teapot for $5 :-) And she had an extra comforter that I asked if I could use because my school supplied one is really ugly. So I feel much more settled now that I have more comfortable stuff.

Saturday we went out to celebrate a birthday and to say goodbye to the girls who were leaving. A lot of the people I work with were there, so it was a lot of fun.

So, now you're updated a little bit more. There are pictures on Facebook, and probably at some point I will start a new picture page thing...somehow...anyone have recommendations?

Realllllly quick...

Soo some people have asked what Kimbap is...it's a LITTLE bit similar to sushi without the raw fish. The basic Kimbap is rice and vegetables and maybe ham wrapped in seaweed...yummy...and only about $1. You can also get it with other things in it though too, like tuna.

I plan on taking and posting lots of pictures as soon as I can get out and around to explore some, which probably won't be until this weekend. I will also update more then too, I hope.

So now I need to go prepare for my mock classes tomorrow...

The Journey to Korea and First Day Adventures

So, as some of you know, I was pretty worried about flying by myself...3 separate flights with stops in Chicago and Japan...my stomach was in knots waiting to board the first flight, but once we got in the air and an episode of The Office was the in-flight entertainment, I felt much better.

The second flight was a 12 hour flight. Wow, I did not think it would be anything like it was. I was hoping to sleep through most of it, but I was way too uncomfortable, even after 2 Benadryl. I was also worried about the landing in Japan because I wasn't sure how easy it would be to understand what was going on. Luckily, I was sitting next to a guy who has traveled to Thailand multiple times and various other places, who was willing to answer my many questions and put me more at ease. The food on this flight was kind of good...they fed us like 3 times.

So, the layover in Japan was uneventful, lucky again, Trey(said traveler from 12 hour flight) also had 3 hours before his flight so the time passed quickly. The flight into Seoul was also uneventful because I did fall asleep and this time, it was a better sleep that I did NOT want to wake up from. Immigration and customs and baggage claim were easy, so that leaves the bus ride.

I had a paper to show the lady selling tickets where I was going because there are 2 bus terminals apparently and I wanted to get the right one. So I got on the bus and the driver didn't speak any English. He made a stop, I'm assuming so everyone could go to the bathroom and get snacks, but I didn't know what he said or how long he said he would have, so I stayed safely on the bus. There was some miscommunication about picking me up at the bus station so I nervously waited longer than I should have, but finally I found the 2 guys who were sent to pick me up.

So they took me to the school and introduced me to another co-worker and showed me how to get to my apt. Then they talked to me about what I was doing that day and where other teachers live in the building. Oh, by the way, this is about 2am...

So today I woke up and unpacked and got ready to be at the school by 1:15, but it turns out it was supposed to be 1:50...oh well...I knocked on 3 doors until finally a coworker answered who came to pick me up when it got closer and showed me the way to school and showed me around the 2 schools. Oh, and also showed me how to turn on the hot water after my cold shower experience. Oh yeah, and he bought me my first Kimbap...yummy :-) Then I took a bus to main campus to meet with my director and observe a class. She told me about the high standards they set for their students and teachers...then I came back to Langcon and observed some more classes and another co-worker showed me around the area where we live and took me to get toilet paper because there was only a little bit when I got here. So pretty much uneventful, but I learned a lot.

So tomorrow I will be going to the hospital and observing more classes.

I bought some pizza looking stuff on my way home...it looked like a pastry with pizza toppings on it...beneath all the pizza toppings was a hot dog...haha...surprise! This food is going to be interesting.

I'm still scared but in a really good way because I think this is going to be a very interesting year.

I promise to hopefully not make all my posts so long...I'll keep it simple from now on.

I'll probably think of more I want to say and maybe post later.

Until then...