February 28th, Home Sweet Home

We moved into our apartments today- I thought the one I was getting was a bit nicer, it's just very small!!! It's okay, it will be a test for me not to accumulate a whole bunch of stuff! I will post pictures as soon as I get all of my belongings put away.

I would like to say my first weekend was a success, there are a TON of foreigners here- from the US, Canada, the UK- it's just crazy how many people are out. There are many foreign bars where all of these people go to! It is kind of nice, because during the week you are just surrounded by Koreans (obviously).

I hope the weekend was fabulous at home- I'm not sure if my vonage is going to work- I might have to cancel that and find a new alternative.

I'm loving it here so far- I think this will be a great year, full of growth and adventure!!

Miss you all.

xo

February 25th, Week one is complete!

Today we got our books for our classes- it's getting better knowing the stuff we will actually be teaching- much better than usess lesson plans. And then we had to learn some really, really stupid dances to sing and do for the kids to break the ice for the first week- you would laugh, they are ridiculous! I'm a little tea pot- There was a farmer who had a dog- put your right arm out, and shake it all about- omg, just to name a few!! Speaking of songs, we have a theme song, Helen Doron, if you have sound you should click on the link below or copy and paste it and you can hear it- it's cute, but they play it EVERY morning- it might get old!

http://hdee.co.kr/

There was graduation on Thursday so we had the whole school to ourselves, with 3 other new Korean teachers- they are all really nice! I'm excited to be working with them. We worked on our lesson plans, and preparing materials.

Friday, we had another preparation day, but all of the teachers were there. It was a crazy day, there was a lot to do. Bascially, we get a Korean co-teacher and we have to make our lesson plans somewhat similar, so we always have to work together. I got everything ready, and I'm super excited to start on Tuesday. We have a holiday weekend, so no school on Monday!! YAY!

I think we're going on on Saturday evening for a going away party for all of the girls who are leaving- some are going home, and some on cool trips! I'm a little jealous of that part!

Hope everything at home is well.

xoxo.

February 23rd- Meeting the students

Today I had an orientation- I got 6 year olds, and I met my classes!! They are so cute, but really shy! They need some work, but it should be fun and challenging!! For lunch all I had was a small amount of rice and an orange :( I hate the food at the school- today they had some gross fish things and a spicy green thing, that I couldn't eat due to the spice in it. Dang. So I was starving and had Subway for dinner I think the food and I are not going to get along here, that's all there is to it! I will try again though....

After school we went to our future apartments again and hung out with some of the current teachers- we had some beer and some rice wine. It was really good (the wine), it was almost a bit milky or something like that, but I enjoyed it!!

I made my lesson plan and then I'm going to bed. I don't think my sleep has fully caught up with me yet. Hopefully it will soon! I have been so tired in the evenings!!

G'Night World! Or Good Morning, where you may be!

February 22nd- A glance at Helen Doron

Today was my first day at the school- It was really nice. We observed several different teachers- the 5 year olds were super cute, but everything was very repetitive. The 6 year olds amazed me- they were such a huge jump up from the 5 year olds. And then the 7 year olds even more, it makes me wonder why we don't do things like this in America. These kids know 2 languages very well by the age of 7! Obviously their vocabulary isn't the best, but as far as sentence structure and whatnot, they've got it down!!

Today, after observing, we had to present a lesson plan to the other Korean teachers, the director and assistant director. I think it went pretty well- they had just a little bit of advice for us, but it was all really positive. I think/hope I end up with the 6 year olds. All of the kids are so pleasant, there were a few that I think had learning disabilities, ADD/maybe some autism, but hard to say for sure! I will find out tomorrow which level I have- it is crazy that they do their birthday in Korean, so really they don't have birthday's, it just goes by the Korean new year- and they are the same age all year- I think I'm 25 or 26, haven't quite figured it out yet! After I get my level tomorrow, they have an orientation for parents/kids, new and returning to meet us (the new teachers for "next year"... aka next Tuesday!). We start a new year on Tuesday- the kids have graduation on Thursday and then we have a vacation day on Monday- followed by me starting teaching fulltime on Tuesday. It is really interesting- sometimes a waste of time at the school- I don't think I will have an afterschool class, not sure yet though. I would like one, because it's extra $$.

Everyone at the school is really nice- it seems like a great place to work. They have this thing called CCTV- which is basically a camera in every room, and the parents of the kids come in and watch us teach- it's kind of nerve racking, but I think it would be best if I just didn't know they were watching- but some of the moms come in and watch during the day for the fun of it- I don't think they work!

Today for lunch we had some nasty stuff- I'm going to start to bring my lunches next week as soon as I can go to the grocery store! It was rice, and then a pork thing with sauce, curry, and a whole bunch of fish- it was disgusting! :( For dinner tonight, we found a department store with a food court- it's so hard/difficult/frustrating not being able to communicate. Brandy and I found little signs, with pictures/English and brought it up to the ladies to order food- I got a burger w/fries I just needed something solid though, my stomach has been getting queezy with all of their food- it's just not filling or something, hence why they are all so tiny I think! I figure I have plenty of time to eat their food, at least for now I need to make my stomach feel okay... at least that's my reasoning for now.

Until next time!

February 21st- a first look at Korea!

Sunday, February 21- After a long flight/day of traveling, we made it to a hotel and crashed- Sunday, we were picked up by the assistant director Ellie. She brought us to see the school for the first time, the school is beautiful! It really is awesome- we have a play area in the backyard- a huge deck/patio, and crops as you saw before in the pics! :) Ellie is so nice and funny- she really seems great! We got some "homework"- I have to make a lesson plan for tomorrow to present to Ellie, so I just did that- we'll see how it goes! After that, we went to meet 2 of the girls who will continue at the school, Hayley for 1 more year and Diane until July. The food at lunch was okay- better than I thought it was going to be. I tried Kimche, it was too spicy for me though. We had some 3 layer fat bacon type meat which was really good- and then some seasoned pork which I really liked called gaube. We ate them in a lettuce taco sort of manner. There was also rice, eggs, onions (they love onion!!), some peppers (also too spicy for me) and then some special red sauce! :) We cannot pronounce anything! I'm working on- "on-nyong or on-nyong ahn-se-oh" hello and formal hello and "kam-som-ni-da" thank you!

Still having a hard time remembering those words!

We saw our future apartments today- they are really great- and in a nice area. Lots of stuff around us. We saw a lofted apartment, but there are 5 of us, and only 4 apartments in the one building, and the other 1 is across the street; The girls that I will be working with seem great, there is Katie and Jackie from Minnesota, Brandy from Texas and Nicole from Chicago. After we saw the apartments, we went downtown Seoul to a shopping area with Hayley and Diane- they had so many American clothing stores, and the streets were just packed!!! But it was nice to get out and see the city!

More to come! :)

Farewell America, land of the great!

Well I finally got this site set up in order to keep track with what is going on in Korea! I am finalizing everything in order to leave- I'm trying to finish packing, cleaning, and visiting as many friends/family as I can!! I had a great friend party last Saturday, and a really nice family party on Sunday. It was great to see everyone one last time!

It hasn't hit me yet that I will be gone for such a long time, I think it will on Friday morning when I leave. It is a bittersweet feeling- I will have such a great experience and see the world, but I will be away from my home, family and friends for such a long time!

It has been a long haul getting everything ready for the trip- there were many steps that I had to complete, including trips to the BCA, St. Thomas, and Chicago!!

Until next time...

~L