Wow, its been a while since I have blogged. I was inspired by my friend Jenny (who just recently blogged- www.thriftstoredress.blogspot.com) to write again. Life here has been busy. A lot has happened in the last few weeks. Let start with a church picnic. I attend an English service at a local church. They have outings once a month. We went to Incheon which a suburb of Seoul. It was gorgeous. We went to a recreation center of sorts. They small huts to drink coffee and relax in and a large picnic area. We were surrounded by the gorgeous mountains. We grilled out Korean style. Its different than our American style but the food is wonderful. We roasted pork and duck. We also ate kimchi, fruit, and rice. It was a nice relaxing day surrounded by new friends.
Another thing that has happened recently has been a family hiking day with the kindergarten. This past Saturday we went to Dobong Mountain and met the families there. The hiking is a bit different than in the States. There are large unpaved paths up the mountain. Lots of people hike here, so you join the crowd moving up and down the mountain. It is absolutely gorgeous!! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera but I hope to get pictures from Jenny. We even walked by a large Buddihst temple. It was large and ornate. You could go in and get pictures. It was amazing. The scenery was great. The leaves are changing here so it made for a great hike.
The hike was split into courses. The kids and their parents were split into teams. Each teams hiked a bit then stopped at each course. At some courses, they had to play a game, recite tongue twisters or sing a song to complete there "mission". Then they got a stamp on a card and continued up the mountain. Then after 5 courses we stoped for lunch, played more games in a big clearing area and took pictures. It was so fun. The teachers and parents had as much fun as the kids did. We also brought the kids class projects. We hung them along the hiking trail so everyone could see their work. It was a lot of work making them and then lugging the stuff up and down the mountain but it was worth it.
Overall, I am starting to adjust little by little to Korean life. Life here is starting to fall into a routine. I keep pretty busy with various projects and work from the school but I can't complain. Its hard to believe that I have been over a month. A new teacher arrived just last Saturday and moved in with me. I have been trying to help her out. We will be moving to our other bigger apartment this weekend. I am so excited!!!!! I will try to post pics as soon as I can. Well, its about time for me to head home so thats all for now.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
School of Thought
So I am here to teach. What is school like in South Korea? Well, kinda different than in the States. I teach in a Kindergarten/Hogwan. Children can enroll in Kindergarten at age 5 which is really like our 4 since they count ages differently. We have four levels that kids can be. They can be in our school four years. Each class is called something different. From youngest to oldest, the classes are Rainbow, Yellow, Red, and Ocean. There are both English teachers and Korean teachers. Usually every English teacher has a Korean counterpart. I teach Math, pictionary (vocab), listening, phone/situation English, and story. The kindergarten classes run from 10:00am to 3:00pm. They include a lot of other classes like phonics, gym, music etc but I'm not sure what all they are since I don't teach those.
I come in about 9:30 every day. Since I am not a morning person, this is great for me. Our classes are 35 minutes long for each session. The kids usually stay in one classroom and the teachers just rotate. We usually to three classes in the morning and lunch at 11:35. At lunch, the directors wife's mother cooks the food for us. Its great food. I think this is why I love Korean food so much. We get great homecooking every day. Each child brings a tin tray. It looks like a miniature cafeteria tray chopsticks. (Yes everybody eats with chopsticks! I am learning how to use them but it can be well... interesting at the best of times) We serve the food in the classroom. After lunch and playtime, we have what they called Mother Goose Time. This is just story time in each classroom. We read books to the students for about 10 minutes. Though recently, we have been practing English stories and speeches for a local English contest coming up.
In the afternoon, the kids have about 4 more classes before they leave at three. After three is what we call hogwan. Kids from different schools in the area come for English lessons. They are in a variety of different subjects and levels. There are a lot more teachers both English and Korean that work here. I would say there are about 10-13 or more teachers in the Hogwan. Where as in the Kindergarten there is only about 5 teachers and 20 kids. I teach several classes ranging from 2 first grade boys to a group of 6th grade boys to one private student who is a college student. These classes are 45 minutes long. We do everything from English diaries, read newspapers, phonics work, workbooks etc to learn English.
On Tuesday and Thursdays, I do one Kindergarten class at another school. Its about a 25 minute walk to the schoool. Its a beautiful walk through back streets and a tree covered park and pathway. The school its huge. I've never seen a elementary school/middle complex so big. I teach a small afterschool English class to kindergarten. They are adorable but unfortunatly don't speak a lot of English. So they mostly repeat what I say or just stare at me. But they love to sing. So we sing lots in English.
My day ends at 6:00. Its a busy day but fulfilling. I love teaching the kids. They are energetic but very loveable. The kindergarten kids are the best. The stuff they come up with sometimes can be funny sometimes. For example, I was drawing stick figures of the class to teach the kids the word "most". I drew a stick figure of myself along with them. One child said very innocently "Teacher, why did you draw yourself small like that. You are very wide." and then spread his hands out to show me. I just had to laugh. Kids are still kids no matter what side of the world your on. Well, thats all for now folks.
I come in about 9:30 every day. Since I am not a morning person, this is great for me. Our classes are 35 minutes long for each session. The kids usually stay in one classroom and the teachers just rotate. We usually to three classes in the morning and lunch at 11:35. At lunch, the directors wife's mother cooks the food for us. Its great food. I think this is why I love Korean food so much. We get great homecooking every day. Each child brings a tin tray. It looks like a miniature cafeteria tray chopsticks. (Yes everybody eats with chopsticks! I am learning how to use them but it can be well... interesting at the best of times) We serve the food in the classroom. After lunch and playtime, we have what they called Mother Goose Time. This is just story time in each classroom. We read books to the students for about 10 minutes. Though recently, we have been practing English stories and speeches for a local English contest coming up.
In the afternoon, the kids have about 4 more classes before they leave at three. After three is what we call hogwan. Kids from different schools in the area come for English lessons. They are in a variety of different subjects and levels. There are a lot more teachers both English and Korean that work here. I would say there are about 10-13 or more teachers in the Hogwan. Where as in the Kindergarten there is only about 5 teachers and 20 kids. I teach several classes ranging from 2 first grade boys to a group of 6th grade boys to one private student who is a college student. These classes are 45 minutes long. We do everything from English diaries, read newspapers, phonics work, workbooks etc to learn English.
On Tuesday and Thursdays, I do one Kindergarten class at another school. Its about a 25 minute walk to the schoool. Its a beautiful walk through back streets and a tree covered park and pathway. The school its huge. I've never seen a elementary school/middle complex so big. I teach a small afterschool English class to kindergarten. They are adorable but unfortunatly don't speak a lot of English. So they mostly repeat what I say or just stare at me. But they love to sing. So we sing lots in English.
My day ends at 6:00. Its a busy day but fulfilling. I love teaching the kids. They are energetic but very loveable. The kindergarten kids are the best. The stuff they come up with sometimes can be funny sometimes. For example, I was drawing stick figures of the class to teach the kids the word "most". I drew a stick figure of myself along with them. One child said very innocently "Teacher, why did you draw yourself small like that. You are very wide." and then spread his hands out to show me. I just had to laugh. Kids are still kids no matter what side of the world your on. Well, thats all for now folks.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Being a "Way-Gook-En"
Living here means waking up everyday to a new adventure. It can be exciting, frustrating, overwhelming, and then just plain ordinary. I really think I am very lucky to be living here and getting to experience Korea. Here, foreigners are considered "Way-Gook-En". Foreigners tend to stick out like a sore thumb especially where I live. There are not many foreigners living in northern part of Seoul where I am teaching. People here don't stare at you directly but you can feel them looking at you. If you look at them, they will be looking in another direction. But turn back around and you can feel them looking at you again. Sometimes I try to catch somone looking at me. Childish, I know but but amusing. There will be people who stare openly at you but those are few and far between. This is a very polite society.
To get places there a few modes of transportation but mostly you walk. I walk everywhere I go except if its really really far. The school where I work is about 5 minutes walk. The grocery store, and open marker about the same. To get some of the bggere stores like Home Plus, Lotte, or Cosco (which are like a JC Penny, a K-Mart and Wal-mart) can take anywhere from 20-30 minutes. We can also take a taxi or a bus. The bus costs about 900 Won (.90 cents) and a taxi starts around 2,400 Won ($2.40). For the transportation, you can either pay in cash or you can get a T-money card. Its a card that you fill up with cash and you can use it to pay for tranportation. You swipe the card in the cab or bus and it takes off what you use. I thought that was so cool.
I hope to you be able to use the transportation soon but I'm still a little scared too. I don't know any Korean yet. You have to be able to understand the stops or tell the cabbie where to go. I don't feel very confortable doing this yet. But Jen told me that it was very easy to learn and very safe. I'm not very confortable trying it yet. I really don't want to end up at the other end of Seoul quite yet.
One of things I have been learning here is how to get around. This neigborhood has lots of high riser apartment neighbors. It also has street after street crowded with neon lights, restaurants, salons, stores etc. To me, everything looks the same. So I get lost a lot and I do mean a ton. The probably is the street signs are in Korean, everything looks the same, and its very easy to get on a wrong street and get turned around. Robert keeps assuring me that I will eventually get a grid in my head and be able to find things but I'm not so sure.
When you do get lost, you can't always find someone to help you. People here, especially the older people, don't speak much English. Somtimes you can find a place or a word that helps them to understand and help you. Many times communication is pointing, sign language and body language to get understood. A couple of days ago, I was going to Home Plus (a large store) and I got terribly lost. I just went up to people and startings saying "Home Plus?" They would point me in the right direction. But one guy started waxing eloquent in Korean. He must have been giving me detailed directions but I didn't understand a word. I just nodded and smiled, then nodded and smiled some more. At the end, smiled and thanked him. I had no idea what he told me but I understand he pointed straight ahead. I guess that part of adjusting to life here. Ahh the joys of being a "Way-Gook-En"
To get places there a few modes of transportation but mostly you walk. I walk everywhere I go except if its really really far. The school where I work is about 5 minutes walk. The grocery store, and open marker about the same. To get some of the bggere stores like Home Plus, Lotte, or Cosco (which are like a JC Penny, a K-Mart and Wal-mart) can take anywhere from 20-30 minutes. We can also take a taxi or a bus. The bus costs about 900 Won (.90 cents) and a taxi starts around 2,400 Won ($2.40). For the transportation, you can either pay in cash or you can get a T-money card. Its a card that you fill up with cash and you can use it to pay for tranportation. You swipe the card in the cab or bus and it takes off what you use. I thought that was so cool.
I hope to you be able to use the transportation soon but I'm still a little scared too. I don't know any Korean yet. You have to be able to understand the stops or tell the cabbie where to go. I don't feel very confortable doing this yet. But Jen told me that it was very easy to learn and very safe. I'm not very confortable trying it yet. I really don't want to end up at the other end of Seoul quite yet.
One of things I have been learning here is how to get around. This neigborhood has lots of high riser apartment neighbors. It also has street after street crowded with neon lights, restaurants, salons, stores etc. To me, everything looks the same. So I get lost a lot and I do mean a ton. The probably is the street signs are in Korean, everything looks the same, and its very easy to get on a wrong street and get turned around. Robert keeps assuring me that I will eventually get a grid in my head and be able to find things but I'm not so sure.
When you do get lost, you can't always find someone to help you. People here, especially the older people, don't speak much English. Somtimes you can find a place or a word that helps them to understand and help you. Many times communication is pointing, sign language and body language to get understood. A couple of days ago, I was going to Home Plus (a large store) and I got terribly lost. I just went up to people and startings saying "Home Plus?" They would point me in the right direction. But one guy started waxing eloquent in Korean. He must have been giving me detailed directions but I didn't understand a word. I just nodded and smiled, then nodded and smiled some more. At the end, smiled and thanked him. I had no idea what he told me but I understand he pointed straight ahead. I guess that part of adjusting to life here. Ahh the joys of being a "Way-Gook-En"
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