So Monday we ventured into the wonderful city of Daejeon, about 2 hours away from Goesan. Daejeon is the fifth largest city in all of Korea so it was great to be able to see a big city. There are about 12 ETAs placed in Daejeon (a few of them being renewees) so there is a possibility that I could be in there. I journeyed with nine other ETAs and we had the pleasure of visiting one of the top schools in city. It was an all-girls high school and has sent several students to the SKY universities. These consist of three universities (Seoul National, Korea, and Yonsei Universities) and they are essentially the Ivy Leauges of Korea. Every Korean student and parent aspires for the student to go there so it is a really big deal that this school sent 14 students to these universities. It's the equivalent to sending 14 American students to Harvard and Yale and all from one school.
We got in and met the ETA, co-teacher, principal, and vice principals. All of them were great and very welcoming. Then the students saw us. Wow. Some of the OC's warned us about a rockstar effect but I really didn't think much of it. Until they saw us. It was probably similar to Beatlemania in the 60's. Girls screaming, giggling, waving, running towards and away, pounding on classroom windows and doors, shouting "You're so handsome!" and similar things. If you are a Western looking guy and ever need an ego boost, I now know where you should go. It was the most bizarre thing that has probably ever happened to me.
Despite all of that, we were able to see a lesson so that was really great. She has all of the first year students and they are split into three levels of English knowledge. Korean high schools generally have three grades, equivalent to American sophomores, juniors, and seniors. ETAs generally teach 1st and 2nd grade since 3rd graders must study for the high pressure national exam. This exam determines where they can go for school and what they can major in. The 3rd year students spend most of their school day studying for this exam, especially at a school as prestigious as the one I was visiting. The exam is intense, especially if you want to go to a SKY university. For example, to be accepted into the medical program at Korea University, you must get a perfect score on the test. According to Wikipedia, only 1.84% of the students who applied to the med school at Korea University received offers of admission. Anyways, the lessons were great and the ETA did an amazing job and made me and all of the others who visited really excited about teaching.
Today we started Korean classes. It went pretty well overall. The program is actually ran through Korea University so it is one of the best out there. The instructors are both very nice. We have four hours of class and one instructor for the 1st half and a different for the next. Today we just went over the alphabet so it wasn't bad. I can recognize all of the letters and know what sound they make but it just takes me a while to read them out loud when put together into words. I'm definitely not going to be fluent by the end of orientation or my grant year(and realistically ever) but it is still going to be a decent amount of progress. At least enough to hopefully make my way around.
The last big piece of news is that Mrs. Shim is coming tomorrow! Mrs. Shim is the head of the Korean American Education Commission, which makes her the head of Fulbright Korea. She is a very important and influential woman. We have to get all dressed up and look nice for her and we have to give her insa. Insa is a full 90 degree bow, saved only for the most respected and important people.
That is about it as far as updates go. I finally set up Skype and I think I know how everything works. My name is benjamin.m.louis on there if you want to add me! I am loving it here so far and cannot believe I have only been here less than a week. It seems like I have known a lot of my new pals for so much longer and have been in this country for a while.
So far it's been great and I'm looking forward to see what else is in store.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Saturday, July 7, 2012
I'm Here!!!
Well I officially made it! After a very long series of flights taking me from Cleveland to Chicago to Los Angeles to Incheon/Seoul, I am in Korea. I am staying on the lovely campus of Jungwon University on the top floor of the dorms. The city I am currently living in is the "rural" Goesan. I hesitate to officially declare it as rural since rural by Korean standards is a city of 50,000. But nevertheless, it is a beautiful city with many mountains and grassy scenes scattered throughout. Also, they are known for their peppers apparently. In Korea, many cities have a little claim to fame as the best fruit or vegetable or product of some sort in the country and Goesan boasts the best peppers in Korea. Or at least that is what I gandered from the 20 foot statues of Korean men and women hugging red peppers. I'll post a photo of it once I wander around town a bit more.
Everything has been pretty cool so far, minus the crazy long flights. Food is good so far. I have been trying to use chopsticks for my meal and have been semi-successful. I am generally able to eat most of my food with them, but it takes a few attempts to successfully grab something. Also, the chopsticks are metal which makes it a bit trickier as well. Most of the meals I have had are a rice based dish where you add certain things to it to make it taste nice (fish, beef, pork, etc.). There is also a soup and kimchi with every meal. Kimchi is basically pickled cabbage. It tastes as good as it sounds. I am usually able to have a few bites but have yet to eat all of it yet. Hopefully I will get used to it soon!
So orientation basically consists of us waking up, eating breakfast, going to some meetings/ceremonies, lunch, more meetings/workshops, some free time, dinner, an evening extra-curricular, and then more free time. Except next week, the morning will be language classes and the meetings in the morning will be moved to the free time before dinner. I'll be busy but in a very good way.
I signed up for a few extra curriculars and I am pretty excited about them. I am going to be taking Taekwondo four nights a week as well as a Korean cooking class, a traditional tea ceremony, and GLEE club. Glee club is not the singy type club but rather a global language exchange education club, which is good since we all know that I am not the most skilled singer.
We are going to go into a school next week and I am very excited to do that. We are going to get the chance to observe a current Fulbright ETA and get a better idea of what it is we are going to be doing while we are here. People keep asking what my preferences are for placements is but I am not really sure yet. I think I want to be on the coast because it's somewhere I've never really been before and I would like to be further south to hopefully avoid snowy winters. But really I am open to most any place.
Alrighty well I think that is about it for now. I am hoping today that I will be able to walk around and get some good pictures and stuff since it is finally sunny out. It is currently the rainy season in Korea and the past couple of days have been nothing but rain so I am really hoping that this sunshine will last a while. Next time I will be sure to try and post some photos!
Everything has been pretty cool so far, minus the crazy long flights. Food is good so far. I have been trying to use chopsticks for my meal and have been semi-successful. I am generally able to eat most of my food with them, but it takes a few attempts to successfully grab something. Also, the chopsticks are metal which makes it a bit trickier as well. Most of the meals I have had are a rice based dish where you add certain things to it to make it taste nice (fish, beef, pork, etc.). There is also a soup and kimchi with every meal. Kimchi is basically pickled cabbage. It tastes as good as it sounds. I am usually able to have a few bites but have yet to eat all of it yet. Hopefully I will get used to it soon!
So orientation basically consists of us waking up, eating breakfast, going to some meetings/ceremonies, lunch, more meetings/workshops, some free time, dinner, an evening extra-curricular, and then more free time. Except next week, the morning will be language classes and the meetings in the morning will be moved to the free time before dinner. I'll be busy but in a very good way.
I signed up for a few extra curriculars and I am pretty excited about them. I am going to be taking Taekwondo four nights a week as well as a Korean cooking class, a traditional tea ceremony, and GLEE club. Glee club is not the singy type club but rather a global language exchange education club, which is good since we all know that I am not the most skilled singer.
We are going to go into a school next week and I am very excited to do that. We are going to get the chance to observe a current Fulbright ETA and get a better idea of what it is we are going to be doing while we are here. People keep asking what my preferences are for placements is but I am not really sure yet. I think I want to be on the coast because it's somewhere I've never really been before and I would like to be further south to hopefully avoid snowy winters. But really I am open to most any place.
Alrighty well I think that is about it for now. I am hoping today that I will be able to walk around and get some good pictures and stuff since it is finally sunny out. It is currently the rainy season in Korea and the past couple of days have been nothing but rain so I am really hoping that this sunshine will last a while. Next time I will be sure to try and post some photos!
Friday, June 22, 2012
The List
So here is the official list of the things that I would like to do during my Fulbright year. I will probably be adding and crossing things off as they are completed. So in no particular order...
- Become a better teacher. This is one of the most important goals that I have for this experience. Ultimately, I would like to become a teacher here in the States and anything that will hone my skills as a teacher will be greatly welcomed. I would love to be able to observe several teachers at my school and see the different styles and techniques that they use and then, of course, implement the styles that seemed successful. If I am feeling really ambitious and inspired, I might try to do some actual research and maaaaybe try to write up an article or something but no promises.
- Learn the Korean language. This is kind of a given, but I still want to put it down. I am not really expecting to be fluent by the end of the year but I expect that I will be able to at least carry a semi-intelligent conversation and be able to get around on my own.
- Learn to cook Korean food. Anyone who knows me, knows that I love food. Eating it, cooking it, whatever. I love (almost) all of it. One of the most important parts of any culture is their food and being the good little cultural ambassador I am, I have to eat basically as much Korean food as possible. Also, when I eventually return to the States, I would like to give everyone back home a nice authentic Korean meal. I also might try to do something like offer American cooking community classes in the city I am in, but we'll see about that when I get there.
- Practice/Regain long lost photography skills. So in high school, I was very interested in photography and took three classes of it. Theresa, my older sister, kindly lent her digital camera and, in addition to that, I recently discovered that film is common in Korea and therefore I will be able to bring my long-neglected 35mm camera.
- Go climbing or bouldering on real rocks. At camp, I have climbed pretty much everything that I can and it has been awesome. I would love to be able to try and go climbing on a non man-made structure.
- Be as open to as many adventures and opportunities as I can! In this upcoming year, I know that I am going to do all sorts of new and exciting things. However, I want to basically cram as many adventures into this year as I can. As most everyone knows (especially my London peers), I loathe just sitting around in a hotel or similar place when I could be outside exploring new areas and having adventures. In college, I was intensely focused on my academics and oftentimes neglected the social and fun part of college. In Korea, I would like to find a better balance of work and free time.
- Live a healthier and more active lifestyle. This shouldn't be too terribly difficult (I'm hoping) as food in Korea tends to be significantly healthier from what I have heard. Mostly a diet consisting of vegetables, fruit, seafood, and rice with very little dairy, sweets, and fats. It's going to be hard going without cheese on a regular basis, but I'll try to survive. Also, I am hoping to be more active and continuing to run even while school is in session (which usually causes me to lose my summer habit of running) and find other physical activities that I enjoy.
- Be more neat and tidy. Honestly, this is probably the most ambitious goal of them all. Anyone who has seen my room at home or has had the misfortune of driving with me in my car knows that I have troubles keeping things tidy. Since I am going to be staying in the home of another family for the whole year, I urgently need to develop a habit of keeping things proper and in order. Organization of my room or whatever isn't really the problem as I know exactly where everything is all the time, but it would be nice to not have it look like a bomb went off.
Okay I think that's it for now. I'll probably think of more things I would like to accomplish later on but this is definitely a good start. Oh by the way, I'm leaving in 12 days. Yikes! I still have to finish mastering the language (about half of the alphabet is pretty good but still have a bit to go on the other half) and I am finishing up getting money converted and all of that.
Next time I post, I am going to be heading to Korea so until then, 안녕
- Become a better teacher. This is one of the most important goals that I have for this experience. Ultimately, I would like to become a teacher here in the States and anything that will hone my skills as a teacher will be greatly welcomed. I would love to be able to observe several teachers at my school and see the different styles and techniques that they use and then, of course, implement the styles that seemed successful. If I am feeling really ambitious and inspired, I might try to do some actual research and maaaaybe try to write up an article or something but no promises.
- Learn the Korean language. This is kind of a given, but I still want to put it down. I am not really expecting to be fluent by the end of the year but I expect that I will be able to at least carry a semi-intelligent conversation and be able to get around on my own.
- Learn to cook Korean food. Anyone who knows me, knows that I love food. Eating it, cooking it, whatever. I love (almost) all of it. One of the most important parts of any culture is their food and being the good little cultural ambassador I am, I have to eat basically as much Korean food as possible. Also, when I eventually return to the States, I would like to give everyone back home a nice authentic Korean meal. I also might try to do something like offer American cooking community classes in the city I am in, but we'll see about that when I get there.
- Practice/Regain long lost photography skills. So in high school, I was very interested in photography and took three classes of it. Theresa, my older sister, kindly lent her digital camera and, in addition to that, I recently discovered that film is common in Korea and therefore I will be able to bring my long-neglected 35mm camera.
- Go climbing or bouldering on real rocks. At camp, I have climbed pretty much everything that I can and it has been awesome. I would love to be able to try and go climbing on a non man-made structure.
- Be as open to as many adventures and opportunities as I can! In this upcoming year, I know that I am going to do all sorts of new and exciting things. However, I want to basically cram as many adventures into this year as I can. As most everyone knows (especially my London peers), I loathe just sitting around in a hotel or similar place when I could be outside exploring new areas and having adventures. In college, I was intensely focused on my academics and oftentimes neglected the social and fun part of college. In Korea, I would like to find a better balance of work and free time.
- Live a healthier and more active lifestyle. This shouldn't be too terribly difficult (I'm hoping) as food in Korea tends to be significantly healthier from what I have heard. Mostly a diet consisting of vegetables, fruit, seafood, and rice with very little dairy, sweets, and fats. It's going to be hard going without cheese on a regular basis, but I'll try to survive. Also, I am hoping to be more active and continuing to run even while school is in session (which usually causes me to lose my summer habit of running) and find other physical activities that I enjoy.
- Be more neat and tidy. Honestly, this is probably the most ambitious goal of them all. Anyone who has seen my room at home or has had the misfortune of driving with me in my car knows that I have troubles keeping things tidy. Since I am going to be staying in the home of another family for the whole year, I urgently need to develop a habit of keeping things proper and in order. Organization of my room or whatever isn't really the problem as I know exactly where everything is all the time, but it would be nice to not have it look like a bomb went off.
Okay I think that's it for now. I'll probably think of more things I would like to accomplish later on but this is definitely a good start. Oh by the way, I'm leaving in 12 days. Yikes! I still have to finish mastering the language (about half of the alphabet is pretty good but still have a bit to go on the other half) and I am finishing up getting money converted and all of that.
Next time I post, I am going to be heading to Korea so until then, 안녕
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
2 Weeks to Go
I can't believe that I only have two weeks left in the states. As I am preparing and just going about doing everything I do, I cannot help but think things like 'this is going to be the last time that I do this for a year' and stuff like that. It is now kind of hitting me that I really will be leaving soon and I will be missing a lot of things about home, especially family and friends. However, this is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and is going to be incredibly rewarding and educational. Who knows, maybe I'll like it so much I'll stay for an extra year or two! I'm definitely open to it...
In other news, I received my official e-tickets last week. I am flying from Cleveland to Chicago to L.A. to Incheon/Seoul for a grand total of 18 hours and 25 minutes in the air. Definitely going to be a couple of days but it's a good time to catch up on my Korean! I know about half of the alphabet thus far and a couple of basic phrases so it could definitely use some polishing. It's actually going along much better than I thought it would. I am mostly using Youtube vidoes and the site www.talktomeinkorean.com and they seem to be working pretty well.
Some of my peers have been making lists of things that they want to do in Korea and I think I might just have to do the same. Over the next few days, I am going to be making a little list and then I'll post it eventually, but I really have to think of what all it is that I want to do while I am in Korea and what I am truly trying to gain out of this experience. I'll be sure to let you all know.
Until next time.
In other news, I received my official e-tickets last week. I am flying from Cleveland to Chicago to L.A. to Incheon/Seoul for a grand total of 18 hours and 25 minutes in the air. Definitely going to be a couple of days but it's a good time to catch up on my Korean! I know about half of the alphabet thus far and a couple of basic phrases so it could definitely use some polishing. It's actually going along much better than I thought it would. I am mostly using Youtube vidoes and the site www.talktomeinkorean.com and they seem to be working pretty well.
Some of my peers have been making lists of things that they want to do in Korea and I think I might just have to do the same. Over the next few days, I am going to be making a little list and then I'll post it eventually, but I really have to think of what all it is that I want to do while I am in Korea and what I am truly trying to gain out of this experience. I'll be sure to let you all know.
Until next time.
Monday, June 4, 2012
One Month to Go!
Well I leave the United States for South Korea in exactly one month today! I still can hardly believe it. I feel a bit unprepared still but I'm going to go out and get things this week for it and I am going to force myself to study the Korean language at least 1 hour per day in order to prepare for the intensive lessons when I get there. Apparently they are cramming about 100 hours of instruction into a measly six weeks! But I guess by the end of it, we have enough vocab to survive so I'm glad we get it. It's just a bit tricky as the alphabet is completely different from our traditional Roman one and it's not like anything I've studied before. I take solace in knowing that I am not alone in my lack of Korean skills as many of my colleagues are in the same position!
I have all of my paperwork and things underway so I am excited about that. I just have to send in my final transcripts whenever Walsh gets them finalized, which is hopefully soon, and then I'll have my tickets for my flight and then I will be heading out. I still can't believe that I am going. It kind of finally hit home that I going to be gone for a whole year as one of my good friends from camp is leaving for a month and will not be back until I leave. Good thing we have facebook, email, Skype (well as soon as I get a webcam), and other ways I can communicate back home!
Also, if anyone has any good ideas for gifts for my host family, co-teacher, principal, etc., let me know! Right now, I'm thinking of a board game or mobile sport equipment (frisbee, hacky-sack, etc.) for the family and I'm still contemplating what I would like to get them, especially the school officials. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Just one more short month and the adventure begins. I can't wait!
I have all of my paperwork and things underway so I am excited about that. I just have to send in my final transcripts whenever Walsh gets them finalized, which is hopefully soon, and then I'll have my tickets for my flight and then I will be heading out. I still can't believe that I am going. It kind of finally hit home that I going to be gone for a whole year as one of my good friends from camp is leaving for a month and will not be back until I leave. Good thing we have facebook, email, Skype (well as soon as I get a webcam), and other ways I can communicate back home!
Also, if anyone has any good ideas for gifts for my host family, co-teacher, principal, etc., let me know! Right now, I'm thinking of a board game or mobile sport equipment (frisbee, hacky-sack, etc.) for the family and I'm still contemplating what I would like to get them, especially the school officials. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Just one more short month and the adventure begins. I can't wait!
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