Sunday, April 28, 2013

Mario and Jinju

Highlights of the week:
  • This week in school, I started to do a review lesson for the students to help them with their test and we are playing a Mario "Bomb" game (which is kinda like Jeopardy but with more points and twists).  It's pretty fun, but it turns out that only the 1st grade will actually have my questions on their exam.  I was told that it would be 2nd grade too and that's what I told my students, but there was a total miscommunication between teachers and now it isn't there.  Pretty annoying since this is the only grade that I really give them expect for the final.  It seems my class is already more just the "fun" class and the fact that they will not be tested over the material we learned just contributes to this idea.  Ugh.
  • Turns out that I will not join my students for Jeju which is also a big bummer.  It would have been great to been able to spend time with them outside of school and to go back to the Island, but alas the budget does not allow it.
  • I had an interview for a position back in the States this past Wednesday.  It went pretty well so we'll see what happens.  In the mean time, I have to keep applying and trucking away at these job applications!
  • Today (Sunday), I went to Jinju with some friends from my gym and we ran in the Jinju 10k!  It was really fun!  I got a fairly decent time considering I haven't really ran in ages and I met some new people that were pretty cool.  We also stopped by the Jinju Zoo which is this tiny little zoo with a small amount of animals (including deer?) but the kids of some of my fellow gym-mates sure had a blast!  Afterwards, we went out to eat some black bean noodles that were super tasty.
  • Homestay has been okay.  Living in a homestay definitely has it's pros and cons and right now it's getting a little harder to see more of the pros.  It is just annoying to not be independent and treated differently.  The grandmother in particular is a bit frustrating in how she'll tell me what to eat, how to eat it, not to do laundry, etc.  I can politely refuse some of these, but it is still annoying to deal with.
That's about it for now.  I'm going to try to do my laundry because I really just want it done and over with, but I'll have to wait until Grandma is in her room.  America is just around the corner!  Crazy to think about, but I'm looking forward to it!

Sunday, April 21, 2013

The Garden Expo and Korean Jeans

Hi!  So not too much has been going on that's brand new but here's the basics!
  • I've been starting an Emergency/Illness lesson to go along with my body part lesson at school.  Unfortunately, not all of the classes will able to experience this fanastical lesson (which I mostly stole/adapted from Sara over in Mokpo!) but that's okay.  This week's lesson will be a bunch of reviews and I might try to squeeze in a body image lesson with the one class that is super far ahead.
  • I recently obtained information that the 1st year students will all be going to Jeju on a field trip and I am going to do what I can to sneak on the boat and find myself back on the Island.  I told my co-teacher that I was interested and she talked to one of the 1st year teachers, but he said he wasn't sure if there'd be enough room in the budget because other teachers will want to go to.  However, I met another teacher over the weekend (technically ex-co teacher since she moved to a new school but that's okay!) and she encouraged me to speak directly to the principal himself to try to wiggle my way into the budget.  I think that would probably be the most likely way I will be able to go, especially since the principal likes me.  I'll see what I can do and I'll be sure to keep you all updated!
  • Yesterday (Saturday) I went to the Suncheon Garden Expo, which is this huge 6 month festival that just opened and has a ton of different gardens within it.  We saw the indoor gardens, water gardens, gardens from other countries (including the US which my co-teacher deemed as a "not beautiful" garden....but to America's defense most flowers aren't exactly in full bloom yet!).  It was pretty cool, but the weather wasn't all that great and most of the flowers are in bloom yet so I'll probably head back in May or June when it really starts to get going!
  • Today I had the day off since it was Saturday so I went out on the town a bit.  First I stopped at Lime, one of my fave sandwich shops in Suncheon to grab a BLT.  Then I was going to head back to the apartment, but it is such nice weather so I decided to take the bus to the other part of town instead.  I was going to go get some coffee and do some work on the computer but I got distracted by some ties hanging out the window of a shop.  
  • While I have done quite a bit of updating my wardrobe with pants and a few shirts here and there, I haven't had any luck with Korean ties.  They all tend to have loud patterns or glitter or sparkles, stuff like that and I like simple solid color ties or simple patterns.  I found one tie that met my standards but I didn't really have any shirts that it would go well with so I gave up on Korean ties once more.  However, I saw some reasonably priced jeans that were in my size so I tried them on.  I've had great luck with pants here in Korea, but jeans not so much.  The main reason for this being I have huge legs.  I have been blessed with the enormous Louis family calves and quads that 99% of Koreans seem to lack and therefore the jeans become more like leggings.  It's kind of annoying since the waist fits perfectly and the length is spot on.  It's just my legs are too big for the actual pant part.  Oh well!  I looked at some shirts but they were too expensive so I ended up buying a pair of Korean-style glasses (non-prescription) for 10,000 won.  I think they look good.  I'll probably post a pic on facebook when I get back.
  • And right now, I am sitting in a cafe that I am trying out for the first time and I actually really like.  It's called Mango (I don't know what's with all these fruit named cafes) and I had some great Mango/Strawberry juice.  And it has wifi!  There's a ton of coffee shops but it can be tricky to find some with wifi sometimes.  The drink was great, but a little pricey.  I'll definitely come back and probably try something different next time.
  • Next week I'm going to Jinju for the 10k.  I've ran basically nothing this past few weeks so I am completely unprepared other than doing the usual CrossFit.  Oh well.  I'll wing it haha.  I know I'm not going to win any running awards any day soon so I'm not going to fret about it too much.  
  • Since I've decided to return to the States, I'm still chugging away at job applications.  It's going okay.  I'm mostly hearing non-responses which isn't that good.  But I do have a job interview via Skype on Wednesday for a position at an all-boys boarding school so I'm super stoked about that!  I'm qualified for it and match what they are looking for pretty well so hopefully it will go well!
That's about it so I'll sign off for now.  Plus it's starting to get a little loud in here.  I'm going to try to find a pair of decently priced black shoes since I left mine in Busan.

See you soon America.  Less than 3 months now!

Monday, April 15, 2013

Jeju & Survivor Game

Here's a quick summary of the Jeju conference!
  • I flew in from Yeosu and actually ended up getting there a little late (but I only missed the ice breaker bingo activity so that's not too bad).  I couldn't really help it though since it was pretty tough to get flights.  But we stayed at a super hotel.  It was really nice!!  We stayed in a suite-like room too!  It had a living room area with another bedroom and a couple of small balconies.  It was pretty fly! haha.  Anyways, I took a few pics of it on my phone so maybe I'll upload those.
  • We just had a bunch of small workshops with some of the ETAs.  I went to a few good ones.  There was Liam's about lower level classes, but I was the only one there so we just swapped teaching stories and shot the breeze for a bit.  Also went to a renewee panel where some renewees talked about their second year (or third) here.  We also got to hear from the researchers and what they have been up to.  It was super interesting and I wish I could've heard more!  There were some about the whole Chaebol issue, cosmetic surgery, North Korean defectors, obesity, and more.  A great variety which always makes it more interesting.
  • On Sunday, a bunch of us took a tour of the major sites of the Island.  We went to a traditional village, we saw some cliffs, we went to a waterfall, and of course, Sunrise Peak, probably the most famous attraction of Jeju (along with Halla Mt.)  Here's a great pic of it that I stole from Google Images!
    My pictures didn't look nearly this good.
So that was Jeju-do!  Pretty cool.  So back to last week:
  • At school I am trying to get all of the classes on the same page, but it's pretty tricky.  There's one class I literally have only seen twice!  But I started yet another new lesson this week, this time about body parts.  I did an appearance lesson last semester and this is kind of building off of this, but making it more detailed with more body parts (like forehead, elbow, calf, spine, etc.).  Then we do a race type game where they make labels for the body parts and stick them on each other.  It's a lesson I stole from another ETA but it works well!
  • We are still prepping for the debate conference in Gwangju and it's going okay.  Some of the students aren't quite as ready as we had hoped they would be so I don't know how that'll go in June when we have the conference.  I'd be shocked if we won, but I think we can still do fairly well nevertheless.
  • CrossFit has been great of course.  We had a lot of variety this past week with lifting and running and jumping and all sorts of stuff.  On Friday, I did a bunch of pull-ups so my arms were dead all weekend but they feel better now!  A bunch of us are gonig to Jinju, a city about 90 min east to go run a 10k in two weeks.
  • This weekend, a few Fulbrighters and I got together and we played "Survivor Game!" aka Paintball!!  It was super fun!!  Most haven't gone before so we were all amateurs for the most part, but it was still awesome!  There was my team, Team Chocopie and Team DD (Destroy Di, the capt of our team).  It was a nice little woodsy area and it was nice to just hang out and do something different!  I even got a few people!  I normally have horrific aim, but I got closer and was more agressive than normal so I was able to tag some people!  The operator said that games with foreginers always go faster than those with Koreans because I guess they are more trigger happy/agressive haha.  We did have a Korean on our team though (an ex-military one at that!) and he was amazing at shooting the other team.
That's about it!  It's been a good week.  It's hard to believe I only have three months left here!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

North Korea and The Decision

Hello!

  • So a few people back in the States have expressed concern about the situation with North Korea.  I want to assure everyone back home that I am indeed safe and I would say 99% of South Koreans are not at all worried about this situation for a few different reasons.  One is that if North Korea actually does launch a missile, everyone already knows so it will easily be shot down by the South, Japan, etc.  Also, if it were to engage in fighting, South Korea is extremely well prepared with more technology, American soldiers, and a ton of Korean soldiers (there's a draft here for men) and it would basically sever any remaining relationships it has with other countries.  And the North actually is fairly dependent upon the South for a good part of it's economy as well.  So essentially no one here is worried about it, but safety precautions are in place (and here at Fulbright we have an emergency warden in the Seoul office).
  • So the Decision (and not LeBron style haha).  So during the Jeju Conference I decided that I will not be renewing my grant.  While I love Korea and I love teaching at the all boys school, I think it's time for me to return to the States and start my social studies teaching career.  When I really thought about it more, the primary reason why I was looking to teach here for another year was simply the job security of knowing I will be teaching another year, but I think I can get a job in the States so that shouldn't be my main reason.
Okay I should tell you all about Jeju, but that'll take too long so I'll do it next time!  I guess all the new Fulbrighters for next year were told if they were accepted or not!  If you're reading it and made it, congratulations! :) Maybe I'll see you at Orientation in July.  I'll probably try to lead a small workshop or something. 

Anyways, hope things are good at the States and please don't concern yourself too much with North Korea!

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Konglish and Pre-Jeju Conference

Hey!  It's been a great week.  Super fast!
  • I'm mostly sticking to the cursive and playing catch up from vacation days missed, exams, etc.  I don't know how some classes are behind!  It's nothing really in my control though so not much I can do except catch them up.  I did start a filler type Konglish lesson for a few classes that I have seen every week.  It was a fun little game lesson where they learned different English words and how they related to Korean words.  It was fun.
  • The debate club has been pretty good too.  My co-teacher is a bit worried about how they will do, but I think they can do well!  They wrote some essays in the standard 5 paragraph persuasive style and they were pretty good for their first time.  It's kind of funny because they all have the elements of a good essay but they are all missing certain things.  Like the one is actually a great writer, but his artgument is the weakest while another had nice points but he didn't have the 5 paragraph structure at all.  But I'm having them read and critique each others so hopefully that will help a bit.
  • I'm going to Jeju tomorrow!!  I'm really stoked!  I'm heading out on a plane from Yeosu to go to Jeju for the annual spring Fulbright conference!  Yay!!!!  I've been wanting to go to Jeju basically since I landed in Korea haha.  I will finally be able to go!  It's going to be great to see everyone again too.  I am going to be leading a small workshop where we can critique each others cover letters and resumes and about post-Fulbright jobs and stuff.  Hope it'll be great!
That's the news for this week.  When I get back from conference on Tuesday, I'll be teaching a new lesson that I almost forgot about until just this very second.  And then I'll be going paintballing with some of the Fulbright peeps from Jelloa (my state).  Whoo!