A day of ups and downs
Today was an interesting day that was full of good emotions as well as stomach throbbing realities in Korea. It started off amazing, I got to video chat with Ash and Ammo which was so incredible to talk to them and catch up! After that I talked to Kee and laughed and loved it. Then I talked to mom and dad and was able to talk while dad opened his birthday present. I was so happy that he liked it! It was a wonderful morning talking to the people that I love back home!
When I got to school, I felt good, I was getting my tests finished and ready to go for review games that the kids love. As I was heading to my first class one of my favorite students, who is so incredible smart was crying, balling actually as he started to walk up the stairs. I asked him what was wrong and if it was something that a student did. He didn’t answer and just kept crying and crying. It was especially heartbreaking because he never cries and is always so happy and enthusiastic. At the beginning of class he was upset and still crying a little bit. He would not tell me what happened so I left it for then. After we spilt up the teams he was excited to play and cheered up a lot. It was so funny because he was on a team with only 2 students and the team had 3 and I told them that I would give the team with 2 an extra point. One students said, that’s not fair because Jeffrey has 2 brains, he is as smart as 2 people. He really is so bright.
Later that day during Annie’s class he finally told her why he was crying and he said, mom hit me. This weekend I was in a bad mood because mom hit me and now I am mad because mom hit me. I could not believe it. I have heard about how mothers hit their kids because they don’t do their homework or if they don’t get a good grade but it has never been more real until today. I saw him crying and saw the hurt in his eyes. He is a first grader in a class with kids in 4th and 5th grade. I cannot even explain how upsetting this situation and harsh realization of a cultural norm this was. Also, my student Chris who is hilarious but he is leaving for a month, which was also sad news today, he told me that he went to bed at 1 and got up at 5 this morning. He said my mom gets mad at me when I go to bed early. I really am starting to put all of it together and it is such a hard reality. School, and being smart are so incredibly important that mothers hit their children in order to compete in this society. Getting one question wrong can lead to pain in the life of a Korean student at IHS. I am just trying to process it all but it is very hard.
Also, tomorrow is the elections in South Africa. I am watching BBC trying to get the update about the elections. I have also been teaching about South Africa and colonialism in Africa, which is also very upsetting. I am remembering my time in SA and just reflecting on that as well.
I am realizing how I am being able to process these cultural differences and learning from all of these harsh realizations. Learning is not always easy or happy. Quoting one of my student Chris who said to me their other day when I told him his story had to be somewhat happy because he loved to be negative, “not everything is always happy, teacher.”
Sunday: I woke up early and was tired but so excited to go to Suwon and experience more of Korea. The weather was so nice! We called the Korean help lady and she told us to get the 420 from Gaeop Dong to Gangnam so we walked almost all the way to IHS and then took that one. Then she told us to go to exit number 1 but it ended up being exit 3 so we walked for a while there so even before the long hike we had already walked a ton. We were waiting and waiting for the bus worried that it wasn’t the right stop but finally it came! It was only about a 35-40 minute bus ride, which took us right past Costco so we were like lets just stop there on our way back! We got there and luckily the stop for the fortress was in English. Suwon was so neat, it had a much smaller town feel than Seoul and so much more culture. The gate was literally in the middle of this huge intersection. The first part was strenuous but so worth it, the view was stunning! It was built in 1730’s which was so fascinating and now there was city built all around it. We kept joking that it was nothing compared to the Great Wall of China but the more I hiked and saw I actually really enjoyed it so much! They are both very amazing in their own ways! There were grandpa’s on little motorized wheelchairs it was so cute! It costed like 1,000 Won to get in! We stopped at this one stop to eat lunch which apparently was not an appropriate place to eat because some woman said “this is not a dining room, its Korean culture” so we felt awful and left. Of course we laughed about it first and continued to laugh about it but it was awful. It became a huge joke at us and to look out for the next thing we would do that would be offensive. At one point we saw these dragon car type things that were so cool! At the end we rode one back and it was so cool. People were so friendly; so many people randomly came up to starting speaking and us. I think they wanted to practice English but it was so interesting because that never happens in Seoul. There was so much history and culture in Suwon, I really enjoyed it a lot! I kept thinking I can’t wait to bring my family here! It is gunna be HOT but it will be awesome! It was such a wonderful day. We met Jody at Costco after having to ride it a little longer cause it was confusing but we figured it out! Oh ya there was a lot of chasing buses to make sure we got on it or at least figured out where the stop was! It was so fun!
Monday April 20, 2009
Test Week!
I cannot even tell you how much less stressful this week is than the last time that I had to write 10 tests from scratch! I am using a lot of the same tests this time and I am sooo thankful that I can because last time was so miserable. I literally spent some 25 hours working on them, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday! I am reminded of that this week and I am again so grateful that that work is done! I enjoyed reviewing today because it is fun to see the kids so excited about the material and seeing them absorb the information! We were all talking today about out one student names Jeffrey and how he is honestly a genius. He is in first grade and he completely understands all of the material in ENGLISH which is his second language. It is so incredible! I will be interested to see how they do on the test, I hope better than last time because that was very upsetting when they did so bad. I am hopeful that they will do well this time!
A day in rural Korea at the orphanage. I woke up early, 8Am which I have not seen that time of day in sooo long but it was great because I was so excited for the day. Anna and I took the subway and met Ruby and then got a bus to Eumseoung. It was a 2 hour bus ride but it was great because we just talked and had a great conversation. We talked about how sometimes school cover up the horrible things that countries do and that is not a good thing. Ruby made such a good point and said it just makes people ignorant because when they go to that other country they wont know the real history. We also talked a lot about being free spirits and wanting to travel so much and how it difficult but amazing at the same time. We arrived at the bus station which was very different than the Seoul bus station, we had arrived in rural Korea. We got some stared for sure. We walked to there and it was about a 15 minute walk, it was a beautiful day! The shops were so small and it was so peaceful. It reminded me of what not being in a city felt like. People were just hanging out. We got there and joked how they would be like uhh what do you want because it was a place where you can just stop by whenever. But they were so nice and took us up to where the kids stayed and we played there for about 20 minutes. The facilities were actually very nice. No one spoke any English but luckily Ruby knows Korean pretty well and could translate for us. It was so interesting because they were climbing all over us but yet testing us to see what we would do. You could tell they had to defend themselves and be tough because they were. A few other Korean men arrived and then the woman said in Korean that we were going to go to the park. We drove in this guys car and one girl said play “g” and so we were all rocking out to the very popular song. The park was so beautiful. They automatically ran to the stream. They took off their shoes and got in.
It was so fun to watch them just love the water and be completely happy searching for snails and being in nature. They tried to get us to go all the way in with them one girl was saying in Korean lets go together, lets go together to me. Ruby told me she was saying that. They literally didn’t speak any English, and Lord knows I don’t speak any Korean so it was difficult but we were just playing and enjoying each others company. After a while we went to another part of the stream and then this guy who is from France came and they absolutely loved him! Apparently he had been coming there for 5 and an a half years and you could tell because they were so attached to him. He was so wonderful with them. It was so inspirational to see, it honestly made me so happy! He spoke Korean and could interact so well with them! I am so glad that I was able to experience this, even though I didn’t do anything extraordinary I was able to show them love and learn from them as well which is the most meaning part of volunteering.
The French man drove us to the bus station and we headed back to the big city. On the way home there were these two guys who stood the entire time on the bus we were so fascinated by that and could not believe they would do that. Straight after getting back I changed, got a cake for Steve’s birthday and headed to Itaewon for Greek food. I was exhausted but it was worth it. The food was very good, the cake was delicious and Steve appreciated it! We went to a bar and just talked and the “grandmas” left early after a bunch of laughs at the bar. We were popping vitamin C instead of drinking. I really had a great time and knew that I had to get up at 8 for Easter Mass the next morning.
Sunday April 12, 2009
Mass was very good. It was a little difficult to get up but it was very worth it.
After mass I came home took a quick nap and talked to mom and dad and then headed back to gangnam to meet Ruby, Anna and Michele. We ate this amazing Indian restaurant and literally sat and talked for so long. It felt like Sex and the City. It was so awesome, I really felt like these people I can relate to and trust and have so much fun with! We took the long subway ride to Yoeido and walked around to look at the cherry blossoms. It was a good day. There was a grandma livin her life in a tree and a carnival ride on the back of a truck. We had a little picnic and talked and laughed a ton more. It was a great day!
Today was such an amazing day! I really cannot explain how amazing it was and how it made me grateful for this experience and I know that I have been so negative lately so this was an incredible blessing. It started off by thinking on the bus how excited I am for my family to come visit. I saw these two cute grannies on the sidewalk and I was like ahhh I cannot even explain that to them so I am so glad that they get to see it. The same goes for my students. They are sooo adorable and there aren’t words to describe them. I was also STILL laughing about the concert and how Anna and I were joking about “what would happen if we knocked on the window.” HAHA I love it so much, we laugh so much and it is amazing!
Jelly school was a little rough because my little cutie who I love has cried the past two days and its hard because he will not calm down for me. I was thinking about it and speaking English to him and seeing me probly doesn’t help because he doesn’t understand and he just wants someone who looks like his mother to comfort him or at least speak to him in Korean. He says “oma”, “oma”, with tears on the brims and then just loses it. Anna and I were laughing so hard today because the head teacher who is the sweetest woman ever, ALWAYS either says in broken English, “Catch a cold” or like today she said to Anna, “your hair is change-ed.” Anna wears her hair curly or straight and every time one of our hair changes, she always comments on it. Today she told me that the little boy was crying because he “catch a cold.” AHH I love it, she is so sweet!
After Jelly I went back home and talked to dad about his students getting the letter and how excited they were, got me sooo excited! I could not wait to tell the students! It was so fun to laugh about them and hear their reaction to what the kids wrote. Chris, one student who is bitter about having to study so much, wrote how he wanted to live in the US because he wouldn’t study as much and I guess dad’s students asked about how much they study and dad told them. It is just so interesting and I am getting so excited about it. Then I headed to school and printed off these awards that we were giving to the students and it was kind of a lot of work getting them all organized and written on but it was sooo worth it! It was hard to choose them. I did not realize how excited they would get and how much it would mean to them. They were sooo excited about them and it was so great to award the students who work so hard and who are good/polite students!
The awards were amazing! Another incredible part of the day was in my 2A class I set up an election for a class leader and had them give speeches and vote and everything and they absolutely loved it! It was so amazing to see how excited they were! The speeches were hilarious and so short but they did a great job. Anna came in to give me the journals that she corrected because I somehow forgot about them and she saved my by correcting them. They were so excited about that too and I had Anna be the person to count the votes, which they loved. When Anna was counting the votes they pulled an April fools joke on me. They started screaming and said “ahhh you have a bug on your hair.” I totally fell for it and we all laughed so much! Then they tried to pull it on Anna and they screamed again, ahh it was so crazy but so fun!
After that I got to tell the next class who wrote the letter, and the ones who are the most excited about Pen Pals, that they got the letters! They again were so excited! In this class, they are very high levels and are so great at comprehending the material but they shocked me today and I was sooo excited! I was teaching about point of view which I absolutely love to teach about and I was explaining how their pen pals will have a different point of view about city life than they do because they live in a rural area. I used the example of if one of them wrote about riding the subway to school and how the students in Oregon might say “what how can you ride subway, I ate it for lunch yesterday.” And talking about how most of them probly have never seen or ridden a subway, they think of the restaurant. They laughed so hard and loved it! Then one student who is so amazing, she was like its like the story about “country mouse, and city mouse” and how when country mouse goes to visit they think the city dirty, nouisy and bad but it is just their point of view. Ahhh I was sooo excited! She totallllly got it and I loved it so much! After class she was leaving and said “thank you for the citizenship award.” My heart melted, she is so sweet and I said you deserved it because she is so sweet and treats everyone so nicely!
The bus ride home was very entertaining when Jody told us about how she discovered one kid has a lazy eye and oh man she was talking about how the kids were telling her about Kent and the crazy things that he did in class. It was such a great day all around. After teaching the lesson about point of view and then the students talking about the “country mouse and city mouse,” I really realized how I need to try even harder to think about it everyday and how this culture and other people have different points of view but that is ok. I am thinking about a lot of different things even about how when Cezanne came to visit and how hard that was but it makes more sense when I can think of it in those terms. I really was inspired today and was thinking about how this experience has been hard but I have learned so much. I have been able to develop such an amazing friendship with Anna and we agree that even though we don’t have any other friends, we are so grateful for all of the time we have been able to spend together! I have learned how to dedicate myself to one thing, my JOB! In college I did a million and a half things and here I have not been as nearly involved as I could have been but I believe it was a lesson and practice to dedicate myself to one thing! Now I am about to go eat some ice cream with my best friends and research a month trip in Southeast Asia with my sister and best friend, I am so blessed! I am so grateful for such an amazing DAY!
I am on the plane to one of the most historical and wildly known places in the world and I need to continually remind myself about how insane and incredible that is. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I am so incredibly excited about. We were talking and it seems so normal to us since are living in Korea BUT I need to remember that this is China, an up and coming super power, a country to wealth and poverty, sweatshops where a majority of good in the world are made. The 2008 summer Olympics were just here this summer, ahh I am so excited! I will be able to walk on the Great Wall of China. Who would have ever thought, not me that’s for sure. As I am sitting here on the plane I am reading Eat, Pray, Love and I think about all the lessons it has taught me.
To do list in Beijing:
1) Great Wall of China
2) Forbidden City
3) Temple of Heaven
4) Olympic Stadium
5) Eat peaking duck
Sunday January 25, 2009
We arrived in Beijing and headed out to find a way to the hostel. The man at the hostel told me that a taxi should be 90 Wean total, IF we could all fit in one taxi so we tried to find one. BUT we ended up having to go in a van, which we stupidly did not think it would be THAT, much for the same distance. We all decided to give it a try but this was our first mistake in China haha. It ended up being 100 Wean a person ahhh I was so frustrated. The guy was trying to tell me but I was not accepting it because that was so much money, it was about 15 US dollars a person. He even called the woman at the hostel but he would not budge so finally we just paid it and drug our bags to the hostel. The woman was so nice, she lead us down the alley way to the hostel, which was VERY different than we expected. She showed us to our “mixed” dorm room with two other roommates who were men. One man was watching a movie and asked where we were from and he told us he was from Iran. We were all feeling a little bit uncomfortable and freezing because it was sooo cold in this room so we asked to switch and they were so accommodating and helpful they moved us to a three person room at the other house and added a cot so we could all be in there together, JUST the four of us haha. We had to carry our luggage to the other house and one girl put two of the huge suitcases on a bike and biked them there, it was so nice. We got a little “houtong”, which is what they call the little neighborhoods in Beijing, tour on the way to our new place. Both houses were mainly outdoors which we just laughed about because there was nothing else we could do but it was sooo cold. It would be AMAZING in the summer we kept saying. We all were wearing literally like 10 layers of clothes, even when we slept. Hats, coats and all to bed haha.
Bobby, the hostel owner, invited us to dumpling making with his wife and other guests for Chinese New Year. We were very excited about it so we went a crossed the street and got some snacks which is where the CRAZY, crazy is a total understatement, there is NO WAY to describe the fireworks. In the alleyways, on the street, they were literally everywhere and soooo incredible loud. Everything in the store was so cheap. We stocked up on almonds and the things we don’t really get here in Korea because either they are too expensive or they just don’t have them here. People were letting off fireworks right under telephone poles, next to buildings and cars, I am telling you it was insane. It was like nothing I have ever experienced.
Bobby walked us to the other house, their newest one which was not finished yet. It was so beautiful decorated like a temple sort of and had just amazing painting. Although it was inside, it did not feel like it. I was soooo cold the entire time. They invited us to help make the dumplings and I didn’t want to talk off my gloves because it was so cold but I did because it was so cool to help make the dumplings. We all sucked at it haha but they were so nice and just said “keep trying.” There was this elderly retired couple from Canada who were teaching there and I totally thought of mom and dad because they were so cute and just wanted to travel and do something useful. At the table next to us there was a group of four boys with accents haha who we actually didn’t end up meeting or talking to until later in the night.
Each table was suppose to come up with a “performance” so we tried and tried and tried to think of what the heck we would do but couldn’t come up with anything. Michele is an incredible singing so she volunteered to sing a gospel song to represent our table. It was amazing! The boys with accents table haha, had a Scottish guy sing opera which was very impressive haha. He was wearing a kilt, which he wore all night. Bobby’s wife sang a beautiful song in Chinese that was apparently a very famous Chinese New Year song. We drank a little bit of Chinese beer and ate some amazing dumplings that started my craving for dumplings throughout the whole trip. After that we all went right outside, I say right because it was literally soo close to the house and directly under a power line that they let off tons of fireworks. We were so freaked out, and it was so loud but so fun! We were debating about what to do because we were all a little tired and freaked by the fireworks but all of a sudden the boys with accents, invited us to come out on the town with them. So of course we accepted and headed down the street back into all the insane fireworks. They asked if we wanted to go back and change and we were like “no we are fine” cause we were so cold that we were not about to put anything cute on haha.
They stopped at their place and grabbed some stuff and then we headed to the bus stop. We found out that two of them, Mic from England and a guy from Scotland had lived here last year so they knew the place well. The other two they had just met at the hostel but Grant, who I loved, was from Australia and Tom, who Anna and Annie loved, was from England as well. He was traveling for 6 months and had been so many places so we were asking him all about it and he was telling us some amazing stories which got me so excited to travel in Southeast Asia. Grant recommended Laos very highly and told us about it! The bus ride was cool, they had a person sitting on the bus taking money and yelling the stops which was different from Korea. We were all a little awkward at first but then we got to the bar and it started getting A LOT less awkward haha.
At the bar we all started talking and they asked us the funniest things, like “do all of you go to Cancun for Spring Break?” We all laughed sooo hard about that because they were so serious and thought that we did. They asked about Team America and if we had seen it. The Scottish guy was so interested about the drunk driving tests he said “is it true that the police make you say the alphabet backwards?” He said “because that is stupid people can just memorize it, like I have.” And he literally said the entire English alphabet backwards and he was by no means sober haha. It was hilarious. Grant was so interesting he was half Australian and half Thai. He was an engineer and saying he was just taking a break before he started his job in Australia. Michele was talking to this hilarious Chinese guy who was putting his coat on her and his hat and then he put on my hat. It was such a great night, being able to meet and talk to people from all over the world. It was an incredible first night it CHINA and a great way to spend Chinese New Years Eve!! We got back to the hostel at about 4:00 AM and all of us literally slept in our coats and hats and ten lays of clothing haha. We laughed and laughed forever when we got back about the situation and had so much fun. Luckily for us, the next night we actually figured out the heat but that night was so freakin cold but hilarious!
JOHN LEGEND IN SEOUL! I just went to the John Legend concert and it was amazing!! We decided last night to actually go and I am soooo happy that we did! We stayed at Ruby’s and then got up and went to this amazing Indian restaurant in Bundang which was again AMAZING! There were like 6 courses and they gave us “service” curry. HAHA it was sooo amazing, we laughed so much about John Legend and how we want him to be our husband and just laughing soo much! After being completely satisfied by Indian food we took the subway and then a cab to Olympic Hall, hoping and wishing that there would still be tickets to the concert. We got there and freaked out when they said that there were! We bought them and headed back to Daecheong to shower and get ready for the BIG night! The whole time we were laughing about meeting him and talking to him!
At 5 we hopped in a cab and were soo excited! There were quite a few people there, which was so exciting! The first very big difference from the states was that there was a GS25 which is a little convent store in the concert hall. People were buying food and beer and drinks to take in with them. It was so amazing! Ruby got some chocolate and we ate that before the show! Tons of people had these glow stick things and were swaying, its hard to explain but it was so funny.
The opener for him was pretty good! He sang this really good song called “in your shoes,” and I really liked it a lot. He was entertaining. We were talking about what songs we wished he would sing and “if you’re out there” was the one I was hoping and then we talked about the one about not complaining and I was like I wish he would sing that and Anna reminded me that was only a one time thing for Opera. Then she was like we should yell “what is your favorite church song” hahaha and we laughed so much about that! John came through the crowd in the center of the place. He said “Annyonghsaeo” and everyone laughed and screamed it was amazing! Ahhh it was soo amazing! He is such an amazing piano player and singer! He would make the funniest and hottest facial expressions, all the women in the crowd were going CRAZY! Ahhh it was so amazing! This one song he said he didn’t want to slow dance alone on stage so he chose someone to come up and it was this older Korean woman and it was pretty much the funniest thing ever. She was so stiff and doing the Korean bob dance which was hilarious! Everyone was freakin out wishing it was them! He gave her two kisses on the cheeks and a rose…uhhhh if only it had been me…haha actually I would have been sooo embarrassed I would have known what to do haha! He left the stage and came back and started singing ordinary people which is a very famous song. I was sooo sad because I thought he wasn’t going to sing “if you’re out there” BUT he did! It was the last song and it was soooo amazing! I almost started crying because it is such a powerful song about encouraging people to make a difference in the world and ahhh I absolutely loved it! Ahhhh sooo incredible! I was so happy! I could not believe that I was listening and watching John Legend perform in KOREA. It was unreal! So after he left we went outside and people were hanging out and laughing and we talked to these girls about how amazing and beautiful he is! It was so fun! After that we were walking back to the subway and there were tons of people. The band members were out there talking to people and chilling. We were searching for a poster desperately. Ruby called us over and the security guard had told her to look through the window and there he was eating KFC. HAHA so we were watching him, sounds a little stockerish but it wasn’t haha, it was so neat he was just chilling in there! Then we put on his coat and we realized he was going to leave so we went over and Anna tried to push in there but he left right away. BUT we did get posters because we ripped like 6 of them off door and got one! It was such an incredible day! I am so grateful to have been able to do this and ya it was just a great day! Being with friends and laughing and just having such an incredible is one of the best feelings in the world!
Tomorrow is going to be a little rough because I have Jelly School and then tons of report cards to write and teaching allll day but it will be ok! My attitude is changing and I am being more positive! I have nothing to complain about and I need to focus on the amazing things that I do have and not the things that I do not have. I am so blessed and incredible grateful for those blessings!
Today was another interesting and good day! When I got to school the secretaries were in the “library” watching the tv which is usually where the mothers watch our classes. They were watching the world baseball championship game between Korea and Japan, which is the biggest game in the world to them because of the competition with Japan and deep rivalry/hatred of Japan. They were so into it. Mr. Kang was watching it and then we all came in and started watching it. Japan was leading by one in the ninth. Then Korea scored and we all freaked out. Right before that I had asked Mr. Kang if I could get the paper for the recommendation and he said and pointed to the TV “of course, but right after this is over.” HAHA I was laughing so much because that showed how incredibly important this game. The whole city was watching this game, some students told me later that they watched some at school and heard about it. In the tenth inning Japan scored 2 runs, which were headed by Ichiro, which was so, interesting cause he played for Seattle. Annie and I were commenting on how attractive the Japanese pitcher was but we had to keep it on the real down low because Grace and our other co-workers would have gotten mad haha. It was sooo fun to watch it and see how excited people were. The game was in LA, where there is a HUGE Korean population. LA has one of the largest Koreatowns in the States. It was so classic that Mr. Kang said, after the game ill get you that paper haha! The kids were very upset that Japan won. All day they were saying “uhhh I hate Japan”, and I tried to ease it but its so deeply rooted because of their invasion of Korea in the past that they will not let it go. Today it wasn’t just about baseball.
We were all laughing soo much tonight about how Chris one of our students who we have one-on-one at night, always says “teacher.” After practically every sentence he says, “teacher wait” and continues on with his information. He is so funny and makes all of our nights with his comments and random hatred with everything. He told Annie not to write anything about him not doing his book reports because his mom will kill him. He was also making laugh because he is so excited about the pen pals with dad’s school. He was asking all about how it works and how Brandon, his pen pal, would get the letter and where he lived and everything it was so cute. Tonight I also asked Mr. Kang if he could take me to the doctors this week and he said “yes, yes of course, as soon as possible.” He is so sweet. So I will be doing that tomorrow at 12:10 after Jelly School, so I am sure I will have some kind of story about it haha!
Today was such an interesting day with a lot going on. I woke up early and talked to Kee, which was amazing! She really is my rock and helps me through everything! I am still feeling a little under the weather but starting to get there. Went to Jelly School, which was fun/frustrating/amazing all at the same time haha as it always is but the kids are so freakin cute. One little boy can say in perfect English the introduction to the company. He says “JY BOOKS” haha oh my gosh it is the cutest thing ever. He can say that and THOMAS THE TRAIN. He is obsessed with Thomas the train it is so cute.
After that we did the usual and skipped out on Jelly school lunch, which I still feel a little guilty about but it is what it is. We went to Paris Baguette, my saving grace here in Korea, and I had a bagel. It was an especially interesting day at Paris for a few reasons. The first was we were watching this boy and his mother who were sitting outside and all of a sudden the mom walked away and left the kid there eating his muffin and drinking his chocolate milk. He was sitting there by himself and we were like there is no way that would happen in the States, a kid left alone at a coffee shop. We were also laughing because he had a perm, which is not unusual for boys here to have. So many of my students have come to school with their hair permed. After the boy had left to find his mother, a man walked in who looked a little grubby which you DO NOT usually see here because it is very looked down upon. He smiled at us and came over and tapped Anna on the shoulder and asked how long we had been here. She told him 8 months and he was so excited. After that he said something like “ill bring you something” but in very broken English and we weren’t sure what was going on so we told him we were leaving. He then went to the counter to order and we just sat here a little confused. All of the sudden he comes over and gives us two beautiful, yummy pastries and said goodbye. It was so amazing! He was just being nice and showed such an amazing act of kindness to two complete strangers. Ahhh it was such a wonderful gesture and it made me think how I cannot judge anyone by the way they look, it was another reminder and lesson you never know the amazingness of people. It really made my day and also broke my heart because I realized that I jumped to conclusions much like this culture does for people who do not look “put together” like everyone else. I am really taking this to heart and embracing it and learning how important it is to keep an open mind.
We were so excited by this mans kindness and smiled as we walked down the street to school. I had a few minutes before the meeting so I got online and Lydia was online and we chatted, which was so amazing. She is in Thailand and really loving it and we were just saying how much we miss the SA crew and it was just really refreshing to talk to her! Then, Mr. Kang called us to the meeting and he tried to tell me that my cold was related to “this week sickness coming from the North” haha we got such a laugh about that. Yup, im sick because of the North haha. We talked about a few other things then called it good. It was a good day of teaching. One of my class, the last one of the day til 10PM is awesome. They are amazing students, literally LOVE everything about learning and truly are so amazing, it was so fun.
Another very interesting thing happened today which is very prevalent in this culture is my boss asked me to write a letter of recommendation for one student to go to the United States for a semester to study English. He asked me to be very positive about it and talk about his English skills and how he will do in the States. I have having some issues with it because I personally feel that this student is “how do I say” ummm kind of a brat and doesn’t try and rude and now I am just putting everything that I couldn’t on the paper. He is a good student and his English skills are strong but it was hard because there was so much pressure from my boss to write all of these amazing things about him. It’s a tough spot. Sooo many people send their families and children to the States or Australia just to learn English. It still blows my mind how these young, young kids can be sent away for a year from their families, just to learn English. It makes me count my blessings once again being from a country where I grew up speaking English. I am so thankful for so many things, and my appreciation for the Untied States continues to grow! I am excited to get back and see it in a whole new way! Well, time for bed I am exhausted and still trying to shake off this cold.
“Teacher Joey doesn’t know what you are saying” –One of Anna’s students
“Kelly my favorite color is red”, “Kelly my favorite food is hamburger” –Sam, one of my favorites to Anna on the first day of her teaching him.
“How do you say” –Mr. Kang during every conversation
The YE JI bow
David’s spastic movements and yelling in class hahaha!
The bus drive who waved me down from half way down the street because he knew that I needed the bus. This driver is sooo sweet! He is an old mad who is adorable. He literally told me to run in the road and opened the door for me, which never happens they usually make us wait! It made my day!
The grandpa on my way to Ansan who helped the drunk man, basically pushed him off the subway at his stop…Then he was chattin it up with three other grandpa’s laughing and just havin a good old time! Then they got off and he was talking to 2 older ladies who told me to sit down in the elderly section and were insisting but I said no…Then when I took out my map, they asked me where I was going and the grandpa said “ohh ansan, me too” haha. Then he tried to ask where I was from and I said USA but he didn’t understand and some random kid turns around and said “migouk” which means American haha! They were all trying to help me know where I was going and pointing to the map even though I knew I was just counting the stops haha! Then I got off earlier than the stop I had told him and I bowed to him and thanked him and he yelled “ANYO” which means NO…and I was getting off and said its ok its ok haha ohhh man it was sooo funny! I loved that interaction so much!
SERVICE-when people give us something for free they say “service” haha we get a kick out of it all the time. Now we always tell each other when it happens, it has become a classic thing!
Mickey mouse on everything…Micky mouse is pretty much on every piece of clothing and jewelry and so many random things…
A man with a nose trimmer on the subway…all the sudden we heard a buzzzzzing on the subway and a guy had a nose trimmer and was trimmin away!
Soju face picture-That has brought some GREAT and much needed laughs!
I had such a great day today! It started off with Jelly School and the new kids are so cute! There were a few criers because it was their first school experience but overall they are wonderful. I have two little 4 year olds in my first class and 6, five year olds in my second class. I didn’t have much to do with them because we are in the process of getting new books so I read/sang Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?? And it was pretty funny! Annie, Jody and I started planning the class challenges and competitions for the semester and that went very well. I was very busy and a little stressed BUT it was a good change from last month that was very slow. It was so fun to see who was coming back and in which class. I loved talking to Anna about getting my little PG4 students who I LOVE! She has one of my absolute favorites and apparently the whole time he kept calling her Kelly and would yell things like “Kelly my favorite food is hamburgers”, “Kelly my favorite color is red” haha thought that was sooo funny, especially because he is one of the only student who actually calls me Kelly and not teacher. She really liked him so that made me happy cause he is sooo funny and cute ahh I am so glad that she gets to teach him! I also get to teach some of the students that she had which is so fun cause they are all like, I know who your best friend is and they know we are friends it so great! Oh man some of them so so cute! Simba is now in my class! I know it is probly partly the honeymoon stage but I am just grateful for this change and I am very excited about social studies again! It was so fun to teach about communities and making a difference! I had to explain the star student and everything so that took a while but they were still excited. It was some of their first time in 1A so they were so cute, I had to explain the difference between a textbook and activity book and journal. I also started using the teacher book during class, which is helping a TON! Overall, it was just a really good day. I enjoyed it very much and am very grateful because I have been pretty down lately and it was such a great change that really made me feel like I am actually doing something and helping them. Hopefully, tomorrow will be just as good!
I have been very frustrated lately and I am remembering when someone told me that living/teaching abroad will have great days and bad days and I have had a few bad ones lately. This month has been preparing for presentations and a lot of our classes have only had one student, which is a very different dynamic than having 6 or 10 students. I have really felt like I am not doing anything and it has been really difficult because I need to feel like I am making a difference or helping someone and this month it has not at all. Also, not being able to communicate simple things has been extremely frustrating lately. I have been waiting for a package and there is no way to communicate the situation and its just very hard. The simplest things become so difficult. I am going to be able to sympathize so much with people in the States who do not speak English and in that way I am grateful for this experience haha but it is very difficult. Even communicating with people. It has been very hard to meet people and because of the language barrier and when I do, it is very basic things we talk about. I have felt like I don’t have much of a purpose here, which for me, is one of the most frustrating feelings. But I am hopeful that it will get better and in the mean time I am trying to learn from it all!
I am also really realizing how much of a individualist culture this is which is very different than my personality which becomes frustrating at times...
This has been an interesting week at school, I have been having some very interesting conversations with my co-workers and students. I am trying to wrap my head around this super drive to learn English. My co-worker Grace who is the sweetest lady ever, was telling me about how she went to Australia for 5 years when she was growing up. She went by herself at age 15 and had to come home at age 19 because of the financial crisis in Korea. She said she was sooo lonely and it was so difficult. She would call her mother and cry and cry and her mother would tell her she had to stay there and tough it out. I guess her host family partied a lot and were very loud so she was not very comfortable there. She said it was so hard to meet other people because she didn’t speak English very well. This was so shocking to me. So many of my students so to the States or Canada for a year to learn English, kids who are 9 and 10 years old. One student told me today, that she loved that she could play in Canada. I asked what she missed the most and she told me all about this water park that she was able to go to. Another student said today, out of the blue, “I wish I lived in the States.” And I said why? He answered, “ Korea is so small so I have to study to get a job but the States is so big that it is ok to play.” I was appalled by this statement. He is one that last week, he told me about the 6 academies that he goes to, Everyday he wakes up at 8 AM and does not go to bed before 12 or 1 every night. The more I ask my students their schedules and about their lives, the most intense they get. Tonight I asked my second grade student who was in class until 10PM tonight, when she usually goes to sleep and she said around 12:30 PM and wakes up at 7:30. I have decided to shift my efforts from trying to learn Korean which I am sorry to say is a lost cause haha, to learning about the system and culture that creates this drive and craze to learn English and push their children so much. On the bus ride home tonight I was thinking about how I wonder if 50 years ago the education system was like this, or if it is a new thing due to the desire to learn English?? I am also really interested in visiting a public school and hopefully learning about that as well. My students tell me about it, but I would like to see it first hand. I am learning a lot and beginning to process a lot of this culture and the influence of the US. When Chris said that randomly tonight, about wanting to live in the US, it really made me reassure my decision to come back to the States to teach, because kids do not realize how lucky they are to be where they are.
On a lighter note, I was laughing so much about this mornings bus experience, where I realized how much the grannies here do what they want. HAHA, the bus was out in the street and this elderly woman walked about there waiting for the driver to open the door and he shook his head and she stood their in the middle of the road with her hands on her hips. Finally, he opened it. I was laughing sooo hard when I saw her do that! Oh man, I love the grannies here, they do the craziest things!
It has been too long, way to long since I have written anything down. SOOO much has happened, it has been a whirlwind of fun haha! I have been on two incredible trips which I will type up this week. This weekend we went Skiing at SungWoo resort and it was kinda crazy haha! There were 18 of us in two vans heading to the mountain. Apparently most of the snow was artificial snow which I have never seen before and on the mountain there were just lines of snow for the slopes. At first I couldn’t believe it and was shocked by it but it ended up being great! We all had to rent the stuff so it took forever to get everything together and all get our stuff but then we got there. It was so interesting because they had afternoon skiing from 12-4:30 and then we had to turn in our stuff and come back at 6:30 which we were all a little confused about why in the world they would have us turn in all of our stuff but it was ok. We went back to the cabin and had ramyan, very Korean, and rested for a bit and then headed out again at like 7. It had cooled off a lot and the snow was a little icy but it was still awesome! I was having some trouble with my skis staying on so that was frustrating at one point we went up to the black diamond. We took a cable car type thing to get up there and it was intense we took off our skis and got in. It was so steep. My skis literally kept falling off so at one point I literally slide down half the hill. Bruce helped me switch them to try to make it better but they fell off again haha, so then I just said im goin for it and get straight down and I raced past annie and goohaghn and later we discussed that they knew that I wasn’t able to stop cause I really couldn’t haha. Then apparently Sangryul broke something on this lift last year but thank goodness he didn’t tell us that before we went or I would have killed him. It was so insane, there was a HUGE screen TV in the middle of the slopes. There was cheesy Korean pop music playing all down the slopes and since it was Valentines Day, they even had a concert and fireworks. It was a great experience because all of my students talk about how they go to ski camp and go skiing so I got to experience it. It is very different than Oregon skiing but it was still amazing, it just made me really appreciate Mt,Hood/ Bachelor.
After we turned in all of our “ski tools” as Sangryul calls them haha, we headed back to the cabin and made Korean BBQ which was sooo delicious! We had so much food, it was amazing! We just hung out and it was sooo fun to be outside and out of the big city. I LOVED being able to just chill in my sweats haha! Overall, it was a great weekend!
Seoul really is an amazing place! I cannot explain how lucky I am to be and be doing what I am. There are so many things that I am grateful for and love about this place. I really wish I had more time to write about everything because there are so many funny things that happen. I have started a list from the past few weeks since I’ve written but there are too many to count.
Last weekend with a huge group of people we went out, I met a guy from South Africa who made me smile so much talking to him, hearing the accent. Laughed so hard at another bar with all the hilarious people we were with and ending up at a singing room until 5 in the morning just having the best time ever! Then we got up the next morning and shopped at this huge shopping area and had the most uncomfortable but funniest subway ride ever. An hour there and back, cramped pack with people, stifling hot, with grannies chatting it up and hanging on to Anna. It was so entertaining. A Korean friend has been showing us around and he is sooo amazing! He takes us to all these amazing places and is helping all of us American haha learn Korean. He started a facebook group called Survival Korean and has a word of the day! This weekend I really got motivated to start learning Korean. I am also trying to learn the alphabet, which is very hard but I think I can do it! I am determined! After another long night of laughter and hanging out Sunday Anna and I laid by the river all day and people watched and rested it was incredible. At the river we saw a grandma riding a bike with a huge case of beer of the back and could not stop laughing about that. There were random announcements to the park on a loud speaker. Dogs dressed up with hair ties just so many things. This city really is so amazing. Things to do are unlimited and it makes every weekend an adventure. I am also trying harder with the food and that’s getting a lot better. I feel better about that.
School is going very well! There are so many days when I think “wow I love my job.” Especially last week, when I was teaching about character traits and leaders for peace. I was teaching about having compassion, courage, and honesty. Telling them about Mother Teresa, Desmond Tutu, Gandhi, all these amazing people who are so inspirational and I get to teach about them. One kid actually said in very broken English haha, something like you really like this don’t you. I think they could tell I am a little bit passionate about that! Things are going very well. A little more stress this week with tests coming up and having 10 to write but its all good. Its getting easier with practice. Last week there were so many things, I had two kids, two days in a row, pee their pants in class. One was at IHS the other was at the pre-school. Its so hard to know especially when they cannot comminute. At the Jelly school, I had just let someone go so I was going to wait for him to come back but apparently it wasn’t long enough, all over the room. Working at that school also has really inspired me to learn Korean because it is so difficult to teach them. Yesterday straight after I looked in the phrase book for the “sit down” haha! I wish I could have had a video camera there yesterday with the language barrier because they were trying to tell me to turn on the air-conditioning but I kept saying oh wow what a nice mural you guys made and pointing to that and saying that’s so beautiful and they were nodding their heads in agreement so I thought that is what they were trying to tell me but then finally one kid said “air con.” HAHA so I just started laughing and turned it on.
Back to IHS, we are learning about elections and the process of voting leaders into power and I thought about it but wasn’t sure how it would work to have a class election. But one class said can we please have an election so I was like sure why not haha! And it was awesome!! I loved it so much, they were so involved and enjoying it! I made them give speeches in front of the class, which is a really big deal for them because speaking is the thing most of them struggle with the most. Especially pubic speaking but they did great! They were laughing at me because I was getting so into it when introducing the candidates and making ballots. As they were leaving the class they said when can we do that again. It was sooo cute, it made me really happy to know they enjoyed it and to see them get so into it! This week one class had to write about poor children in North Korea for their journals, which was very interesting. I really enjoyed hearing and reading their responses. A number of students said they want to help them and really wish that Korea could be one country. Extremely interesting responses. I have really loved being able to learn from them as well. As someone who loves learning about culture and people, it has been extremely interesting to teach student from a different culture. There are many times when I say “how do you do this or what is that like in Korea.” It is a challenge but I really enjoy being able to relate things back to Korean culture and the rest of the world.
Traveling! We have a change of plans for Christmas as of this week. Sung a girl from work who is so awesome suggested going to Hong Kong and the Philippines. She use to live in the Philippines so she knows it very well and knows what to do there! She is also planning everything and is so organized which is such a blessing because there are a lot of us going and it was stressing me out thinking about trying to organize everyone! She wants Anna and I to plan Hong Kong but she will plan Philippines. I am very excited! Last night I was up thinking about next year and where I will be and could not stop thinking about traveling. Also tonight Anna and I talked about our plan for traveling home and its gunna be pretty amazing! It is incredible to be here, teaching, living in another country and culture and being able to travel. It is like South Africa all over again, being able to travel to other countries.
Overall, things are going very well! I am really enjoying Seoul, the opportunity it is providing, the pure entertainment that people provide, and the teaching! I feel very very lucky to be here and am extremely grateful! I will have more stories very soon!
It has been a great weekend and end of the week! Tuesday we went out for Jinah’s birthday. We went to this cocktail bar which is famous for a show that they do while making the cocktails and it was very cool. It was pretty much all of our co-workers and my bosses sister. It was a good time! Then woke up early for Jelly School and had a long day but good day. Thursday morning Mr.Kang told me that we had to go to the hospital again to do more tests because they didn’t get enough the last time we went. He said to meet downstairs at 8:30AM and it would be 50,000 Won more so I was not the happiest camper but I got over it.
Friday: I woke up super early because I was scared I would be late so he picked us up and we headed to the other school to pick up the 3 other teachers. It was really fun seeing them again and just joking around. This time we had to get x-rays, more blood, eyes, height, weight checked. The x-ray was the only thing that I was confused about because he said something like hold your breath and then pushed me against the thing and I have no idea I did the right thing but I guess its alright haha! Talk about a language barrier. They whipped us through all the tests and we headed back to Bondong to go to lunch. He took us to this Chinese place which was very good and he paid for everything which was SWEET! We were almost late for school because we were at the restaurant so that was pretty funny but then we said well we are will the boss so we can’ t get into too much trouble. That night Sung and Ms. Kang took all of us to the Hyatt Hotel. It was amazing! There was a 30,000 Won cover charge which came with a free drink but Ms. Kang paid for it. Pretty much amazing! That would never happen in the States. I was loving it. The place was decorated with leaves and all these fall decorations it was very fun! We started dancing for a while and then got a VIP table and listened to the live band who were very entertaining. Then this girl from the other school named Michelle went and danced to the band it was so much fun. We were laughing so much about how these people got here to Korea, in a band and ya it was a blast! It was sooo great to get to know that other teachers better and talk with our co-workers more. Overall, a great night.
Saturday:
I was exhausted from a LONG week so I slept in and didn’t do a whole lot in the morning. Then Anna, Annie and I went to Gangnam to have curry, which was amazing! We then went shopping at Express Bus Terminal which has soooo many clothes, shoes, jewelry, it was awesome! I got a nice wool jacket for 15,000 WON, that’s 15 dollars! I was stocked! We called it an early night and got some great sleep!
Sunday:
In the morningish, ventured to E-mart to get some groceries for the week and then headed to meet Bruce for dinner. We ended up going to a Mexican restaurant in Itewon, which was cool, then went to this Reggae Bar. I loved it, it was very fun! Its so fun having Bruce here and be able to see him and just do things because there is so much to do in this city. It was such a great weekend! I appreciated having two days so much and an very grateful for the weekends. I was pretty stocked that the Beavers beat USC so that was a highlight of the week too! Love and miss everyone very much!
It has been a long time since I last wrote and A LOT has happened! I really should be doing work right now but after a 12 hour day I decided to journal instead. Today was long, I worked at the Jelly School, which is the pre-school in the morning and then worked all day at IHS. It was a good but long day. The next few days are going to be crazy busy because yesterday I got next months lesson plans, journals to grade and today Mr. Kang told us we have to have all of our report cards done by Tuesday and they are very time consuming but it will get done. Enough about work, there has been a lot of playing in the past two weeks.
Woke up early for the Jelly School which was a struggle. I am working on eating more Korean food, at the pre-school I tried Octopus soup and honestly I didn’t not like it but I tried it. It tasted like sea water. Its funny because I eat with the kids and I am like if they can eat it, I can too haha. The Korean teacher usually serves me so I try so hard to eat it all but sometimes I just cant. Today (Wednesday) was good I ate all the Kimchi and everything else besides this stuff that was honestly so gross, I tried it and shoved rice into my mouth because I had some issues with it. But I am getting better. For Dan’s last night we watched Black Sheep because we were all so exhausted and needed to chill which was perfect. It was so great having Dan here!
This was the ultimate tourist day. We slept in and Jinah picked us up and took us to this traditional market it is called Insadong cultural street. It was amazing. There were so many shops with traditional Korean crafts and things. Jinah use to work there so she knew a ton about it and it was so fun. I loved seeing all the colors and pretty crafts. After that we went to the Han River to do the river cruise, which took us down the Han river at night which was beautiful. It was highly entertaining because of the funny people on the boat. After that we went to Seoul Tower, which is like the Space Needle and it was the most amazing view ever. I honestly cannot explain how BIG this city is. The view from the tower shows the whole city and it was unbelievable. It was late and I was pretty tired so I wasn’t able to fully enjoy it but I loved it so much. The view was breathtaking. Seoul is sooo big, I kept thinking about the Empire State Building and looking at NYC and how huge that city is and then looking at Seoul and realizing how insanely HUGE it is. It was an exhausting but GREAT day!
Since we didn’t have work on Monday, we worked on Saturday which was a little depressing realizing that it was Saturday and working until 10 PM but I made it through. The kids were telling me that they had been at school all morning also because on the first and third Saturdays of the month they got to school on Saturday. After work Bruce came out here and we all headed to Gangnam again. We were all pretty exhausted but had a great time.
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