Stuff I do

I know it seems like I talk mostly about what I do on weekends, but it's because I am starting to get into a routine at school and feel like it isn't as exciting to write about anymore. But, school is going well. 98% of the kids still find me a novelty and are eager to say hi to me, even when using the toilet, but there are those few who think I'm invisible and talk the entire time I am trying to teach. I don't teach really difficult things. For instance, in third grade I just finished a lesson called "Do you like apples?" It was basically teaching them some food vocab and how to say things they like. Grade 6, on the other end of the spectrum, is on the lesson called, "I'm stronger than you." It's about using things like: fast, faster, fastest. I do a lot of games, songs, and role playing. The book they have is pretty terrible, so I use it very rarely. To fill in time I like to do games like hang man, Simon says, letter Twister, and stuff like that. The teachers are cool still and everything is going good with them. Actually, today my principal came to me and in his broken English, asked me if I knew how to swim. My teacher started interpreting and the next question was, "Did you bring your swimsuit to Korea?" Then the next thing was, "The principal wants you to teach an after school class called "Learning to swim in English!" uhhhh. I'm not sure how this is going to work out, but I should know in the next week or so, so I will keep you updated on that one????



Anyways, these pictures are from last weekend. On Friday, after school, my friend Eddie and I went for a short hike up Mt. Gyeyang. It's the tallest mountain in Incheon, but not really that high at all. It took about an hour and a half to get up and back. There was great views of the city, though it was a bit hazy that day. It is only like a 30 minute walk from my house to get there too, so I'm sure I'll be back.










These other photos and video are from Sunday. I went to an FC Seoul soccer game in the 2002 World Cup stadium in Seoul. I went with my friend Lisa and some other new foreigners I met that day. It wasn't really a packed game, but I think it's because the stadium is so big. It was a lot of fun and cool to watch the die-hard fans cheer on their team. The video didn't turn out so well, but just imagine it being cool. They had fire works after each goal and they had really cool chants. FC Seoul won, woo hoo.

Changdoekgung

Over Chuseok break, (after the beach) I went for a day to Seoul to do some sightseeing with my friend Casey before having to go back to work. We went to one of the "5 grand palaces" of Seoul, Changdoekgung. It was used up until 1926, by the last Dynasty in Korea, the Joseon Dynasty. We took an English tour that lasted about an hour and a half. It was really hot, but super interesting. We took lots of pictures, and it was great to get out and see some sights. I spend a lot of my free time eating dinner or hanging out in pubs with friends, so I try to find adventure when I can. It takes only about an hour by subway to get to Seoul, so I can get there quite easily. These are pictures from the palace.

Last weekend and this one

Last Saturday I went to an English Festival in Incehon with my co-teacher Se-Jeong. We were in charge of the Beads! booth, but I didn't have to hand around that much and roamed more than made bracelets. It was basically a big carnival where everything was based around English. My friend Casey who is also an English teacher was there too, so we went around with our co-teachers and played all the games. We learned the cha-cha, had our Taro cards read, made buttons, got our faces painted, rode in go-carts, etc. It was fun just playing all day, though it was extremely hot out. I fell like I sweat all the time here. Not only that, but the school doesn't use the sir conditioning in the classrooms, so I am up there sweating like crazy while my teacher says, "you look a little hot." haha. I also met up with some friends on last weekend and we went to Bupyeong Underground Market. It is a crazy mobbed, maze of shops that sell anything and everything. It is all underground in the subway. I got a pair of sunglasses and a pair of shoes, each under $10.
This weekend I have a 6 day holiday!! I got Friday off and then I am off until Wednesday because of the Korean Thanksgiving called Chuseok. I didn't find out until Wednesday that I would have such a big break, but it was a pleasant surprise. So, on Saturday I went to an island off the coast of Incheon in the Yellow Sea. I went with Rebekah and our friend Mallory we met from orientation and a big group of people we met that we play ultimate frisbee with. We left Saturday morning and got back today (Monday). The island, Doekjoek-do, is apparently the unofficial Chusoek holiday place for foreigners to go. I didn't know this before I got there and was amazed by how un-Korean it felt. There were lots of foreigners, almost all of whom where English teachers. We camped on the beach with our group of about 20 that came and played frisbee, swam, hiked, and laid in the sand. It was really relaxing and it was really really beautiful. The first couple of pictures are me and Rebekah being goofy on the ferry to the island. The next one is of this lady who was selling crabs and she wold just pick them up with her hands. The second evening some of us went on a hike to the top of a little mountain where there were some amazing views. From the little gazebo we watched the sun set. The last few are of our camp site and such. The island was really beautiful and relaxing and I even got a little tanner!

School and Sports Day

My first week of school was mostly just observing. I met a lot of the teachers and walked around smiling while everyone pointed at me and said, "Hi teacher." The kids are so so cute. I also did a powerpoint in each of the classes about myself with some pictures and stuff. I talked to some of the teachers that knew English, but even the ones that don't they always smile and say hello to me in Korean. The first photo is the outside of my school from my bus stop. The second is one of the 2 classrooms I work in and the third is the office Se-Jeong and I share. This past week was the first week I actually made the lesson plans and really taught. I teach 3rd-6th grade. One week I teach 3rd and 5th grade and then the next week I teach 4th and 6th grade. There are so many students and so many classes, I can only see each class every other week. I have two co-teachers that always are in the room with me and helping me. I have a main co-teacher that I mentioned before named Park, Se-Jeong and then my other teacher is Oh, Min-Sook. Both of whom are really nice and help me out a lot. So, this past week I had to make lessons for grade 3 and 5. On Monday during my first class with the 3rd graders I totally froze. The kids just stared at me with confused looks and didn't understand me at all. I was trying to teach them "I like..." phrases but, thank goodness Se-Jeong took over for me as I panicked a bit. After that first lesson, things went much smoother though and the rest of the week went well. I still have to practice on speaking slowly, clear, and as loud as possible.
Anyways, on Wednesday of this past week the school (Young Sun) had their sports day. It was much different then the sports days that I had as a kid. All the grandparents and moms and dads came with their blankets spread out in the halls of the school and ate the lunches they packed. It was an all day event and the entire community came to watch. Each grade had a special performance and then there was also races, tug-o-war, sack race, and relays. I added a few videos from some of the performances because I thought it was really cool. The first picture is me at sports day with my blue shirt they made all the teachers wear. The second is of my co-teacher Se-Jeong (glasses) and the school nurse. I can't remember her name but she is really nice and speaks English really well. The rest are pictures from the sports day.

My Apartment!

So, yesterday was not only my first day of "work" technically, but I also moved into my apartment. I stayed with the family for the one night and then Rebekah was able to move into her apartment on Saturday. So, I stayed at her apartment Saturday and Sunday night. Those are the pictures on the right. On Sunday Rebekah and I went into Seoul and played Ultimate Frisbee for like 6 hours and then went out to a traditional Korean restaurant with the people we met. Most of the people were foreigners, but there was quite a few Korean there as well which was cool. The weather was really nice too and I even got a little bit of a sunburn on my face. So, Monday I went into my first real day of work. I had gone in Saturday to watch my co-teacher Se-Jeoung teach (they have school every other Saturday) but I didn't really do much. I met lots of the teachers and had as much conversation as I could with them. This week I am doing a powerpoint about me for each of the classes. 3rd and 4th graders have English once a week and 5th and 6th graders have English twice a week. There are 5-7 classes per grade with about 35 students in each class. That means there are like 850 kids or so that I see. The school also has Kindergarten- 2nd grade. The school is HUGE! Anyways, Below I attached a little tour of my apartment! I have a before-tour and an after-I-unpacked-tour.