School Field Trip

Nintendo DS
The other night I went over to the kindergarten teacher’s home and played a Nintendo DS game with her 6th grade daughter. From navigating through a man’s nostril to tickling a woman’s armpit, this game was quite memorable. As I watched in disgust, Patty (the 6th grade student) was laughing hysterically throughout the time we were playing the video game. This was such a unique experience that I had to share about it. Later that evening we were on the computer playing a design game in which you put clothes on a half-naked woman. At first, I turned away, but Patty told me that girls on the beach with bikinis look exactly like the half-naked woman so it’s ok to look. My image of innocent Korean elementary students shattered as I realized while playing the game, skimpy clothing is pretty common in popular Korea (media, etc)…and this includes guys.

School Field Trip
I had two options. First, go with grades 4-6 to a nuclear energy plant 4 hours away. Second, go with grades K-3 to a fire station, the grave of a banished Korean prince, and a planetarium high in the mountains (all within a 2 hour bus ride). Of course I chose the multi-faceted trip. At the fire station we learned about what to do in a crisis (remember to call 119…not 911) and watched firemen model what they do (the fire station and ambulance were combined into one station). The thing I began to wonder is why we had to drive 1.5 hours to get to the closest major fire station. That’s pretty far. Next, we had a picnic in the parking lot of the grave memorial site and enjoyed kimbab, fruit, and chocolate bars. Walked around the memorial site and then headed to the planetarium where I slept through every star show and lecture. By the time we made it back to school, I was wiped out. However, in an hour I’m going to go back to school to order chicken and watch Transformers 2 with the 5th grade teacher as we prepare for a long weekend ahead (tomorrow we have school and Friday-Monday is off for Chusok).

Update: This morning as I was walking up the mountain from a trip to the bank, my neighbor stopped by as I was walking and picked me up in his car to drive me home. Once we got back he then gave me permission to use his bike anytime I needed it to go to the market or anywhere down the mountain. I don’t think he even knows that I’m American because he continued to speak to me in Korean and I think I successfully convinced him that I was 100% Korean hahha. Man, so blessed by this man.

Lazy Update-Weekend

Seoul

Herb Garden - Pyeongchang (no pictures)

There are quite peculiar things that I have now accepted. Slippers are worn at school so no need for fancy shoes. Slippers are worn in the bathroom because everything gets wet in the bathroom. My floor is heated in my room through extremely hot water flowing underneath the floor (I think). Many of the classroom doors slide open. The students all bow to the teachers. Free coffee and other things in the office are abused quite regularly. Throwing away things here is such a hassle because everything has its own trash bag (bottles, newspapers, food waste, plastic, etc etc).

Teaching elementary students takes a lot of energy and can be very draining. The students are full of energy and will abuse you if you try to be their friend in class. First, strict teacher. Then perhaps you can be a friend. That is how I am able to control the class (in my experience...it could be different for others). Today is the start of a new class schedule that I will use; including a new seating chart, sticker system, phonics emphasis, word families, and less games. We'll see how it goes.

:)

School Activities

So, what has gone on in the past couple of days?

Monday, went home after school and watched random Korean TV shows and cooked up some 라면.

Tuesday, went to the kindergarten teacher’s house and went to the river with my 6th grade student to look for fish. As we waded in the river (truly the countryside), a frog jumped onto my foot, a fish swam between my toes, and my 6th grade student laughed as I almost slipped on the rocks multiple times. For dinner, the 6th grade teacher and her son came over, so we talked together and ate 미역국. O yeah, for appetizers the kindergarten teacher made toast with butter and gave me yogurt to suit my American taste buds hahaha. She also prepared some delicious fried 떡, which I demolished after noticing I was in a competition with my 6th grade student for the pieces. After eating dinner, I went over a couple of English pronunciation drills with the hosts while they helped me with my Korean pronunciation. Overall, it was a splendid evening and I am really enjoying going over to the kindergarten teacher’s home and seeing Sam (the little dog) and their rooster.

Wednesday I took the 5th grade teacher out to dinner. Class that day has been a little rough with some of the students getting mad at each other over the games and I really was unprepared for class. For dinner, we ordered 막국수, boiled pork (very delicious), and some 막어리 (a sort of rice alcohol). Dinner conversation included the Korean stock market, the presidential term, characteristics of the Korean people, and both of our future plans. After dinner we went to 장평마트 for some ice cream (which happens to belong to the parents of one of our 5th graders) and then went back to school to try to watch a movie in the library. Something was wrong with my external hard drive so we cancelled the plan and just went home.

Thursday was Sports Day for the children so no class for me. Went to school and watched the students participate in festival-like activities with the student body split into the blue and white teams. Tug-of-war, balloon throwing, dancing, sprint relays, and more were among some of the activities. After lunch the students went home (the parents weren’t allowed to come because of the H1N1 scare) and I stayed in my classroom preparing for future classes. At around 3 the teachers all went outside and we grilled up some sangyupsal to eat and poured soju for one another. It’s pretty cool how we have these informal gatherings to eat food. Just the other day, the school distributed hamburgers, snacks, and Korean drinks to the students, and there were plenty of leftovers. Thus, I had my fill of bulgogi burgers and other Korean goodies.
Well, tomorrow is Friday and I hope to have a successful review session with my students. After that, it’s off to Seoul for the Fireworks Festival!

Random note: In order not to forget all the economic theories in my mind, I plan to teach different finance mechanisms to the 5th grade teacher and to one of my 6th grade students (the daughter of my 6th grade teacher). Hopefully, I will be able to retain and deliver all the most relevant formulas and ideas I have learned over the years to them.

오대산 and other things

Transportation
Public transportation in Korea is affordable, punctual, and convenient. Since Korea is s small country (a trip from Seoul to Busan takes around 4 hours), it is expected to utilize the amazing public transportation. The other week I took a 3 hour bus ride to get to the southern part of South Korea and I only paid $14 dollars. This is for a pretty nice charter bus that was very comfortable. The thing about the buses that I really am surprised about is the punctuality of the drivers. If the bus schedule says the bus is going to leave at 8:30, the bus will leave exactly at 8:30. Buses arrive on time and leave on time. This is kind of shocking to me since I am used to buses coming to bus stations at unpredictable times and being on time is far from the norm. Cheers to the Korean bus system.

Air quality
Living in my city, I have heard numerous stories of people’s skin problems becoming cured here because of the amazing air quality. Here in the mountains, trees are more common than people, and cars are so few that you actually turn to look when you hear a car coming. I’m a little sad that I will soon return to the air quality of Los Angeles after having been exposed to the fresh and crisp air of Gangwon-do.

Service
The customer service that I have been exposed to in Korea has been incredible. When I order 짜장면, the delivery person comes to my room, sets the food on the table, and 2 hours later, comes back to my room and takes the dishes and trash. In restaurants, waitresses and waiters receive no tip from customers; regardless, they still attentively attend to all the customers’ needs. My friend told me that Koreans are very quick to complain and cause a lot of ruckus if things go wrong or they are treated badly, so that’s why the service is so good. I’m just going to pretend that it’s because of the good intentions of the people.

오대산
On Saturday took a trip to Odaesan with my friend Jae. It’s a close 30 minutes away and is one of the most beautiful mountains in Korea. With temples and pathways galore, I enjoyed eating fried potato pancakes, drinking from the mountain spring water well, and trekking through the mountain. Afterwards, we went back to Jae’s apartment and he taught me how to play a popular Korean card game called 하트. For dinner, we ordered up some 짜장면 and watched 1 박 2 일.

Church
On Sunday morning I went to the church of one of my students down the path from the mountain. It was very interesting because some of the songs were Karaoke style with the song coming onto the projector screen and everyone singing along (there were no people who could play instruments…the church was very small). Even with my limited Korean knowledge I was able to understand the sermon which was about being a light to the community and encouraging all the church members to be examples and witnesses in their businesses (which I know very well because Jangpyeong is pretty small) and lives. After service, we had lunch and I found out a lot of my students went to the church. The pastor (a grandfather figure who told me that he had studied at Emory University a long time ago) had me sit next to him at lunch and basically told me to teach Sunday School for the church in English so that I could help the youth group members learn how to pronounce English words. At first I was a bit shocked because of his frankness and his immediate trust in me to know doctrine and teach the children despite this being the first time meeting me. I told him I would need to check my schedule and would get back to him, while also informing him that I would be attending the Kindergarten teacher’s church the following Sunday. He told me to go to the church but to make sure I come back after visiting the other church because I was an answer to one of his prayers and to serve out of love. Wow, talk about being forward. I replied that I would consider what he said. After our discussion there was another service and the pastor would talk to me directly during the sermon (I was sitting in the back) intermittently. One of the high school girls and one of the high school boys then talked to me for a while after service, and then we all left the church for the afternoon. I’m still processing everything that happened, so I’ll post what happens another day.
Dinner Sunday Night
Went to dinner with my neighbor and the owner of the property I am residing in while in Korea. The owner of the house has lived in Jangpyeong for his entire life (60 years) and actually donated a lot of land for the elementary school. My neighbor is a cheerful and respectful man who does construction work in the county. Sharing a dinner of bulgogi, lots of side dishes, and two bottles of soju, I learned about the history of Jangpyeong, the popular alcohol choices in Korea (Makoli is getting popular, wine is more popular among women), places to visit, the extremely diligent work ethic of Koreans, and offers of help whenever I need to receive assistance (medical or whatever). They are considerate of all our differences and accepting of me as a person. I am so thankful for everyone around me.

I know this is a little early to say, but I have a feeling that I am going to be coming back to Gangwon-do in the future. There is a lot of need here for education, economic development, and the gospel. Being right below North Korea, Gangwon-do is also an ideal entry point for serving North Korea and being in the middle of a possible reunification of Korea. Lord, let your will be done.

My Town's Carnival

My cell phone here in Korea is pretty darn amazing. First, it has something called DMB (digital media broadcasting) which is basically the ability to watch television on my phone. It also has video phone capability, so when I talk to my cousins I actually get to video chat with them. All cell phones in Korea are also on the 3g network, which makes sense because the patent gridlock problem in the states is not as big an issue here (poor Verizon). As you can see by the picture, the phone cover lights up and show me the time as well as a short cartoon that follows after the time. Pretty fancy huh? I'm pretty darn impressed. BTW, nobody responds to cell phone around here, so I've become accustomed to calling it my handphone :)

Went to my town’s carnival yesterday after school with the kindergarten teacher and her daughter (my 6th grade student). Snacking on grilled silk worms, fish cakes, and teriyaki chicken, I looked around the carnival grounds (basically a small soccer field). All my young students came running up to me and started showing me all their prizes while even giving me some of their goodies. I came away with a skeleton robot necklace and three ping pong paddle thingies. I love it out here in the country where the children are so welcoming and the town is small enough where everyone knows where I live (the white house in the mountain where the school is ). After the carnival I wanted to head home, but the kindergarten teacher insisted on taking me to dinner. We ended up going to Bongpyeong (where I went for the Buckwheat Festival) and met up with the 6th grade teacher and her 3 year old son for Dol-suht Bibimbap. The restaurant owners knew the teachers so they included some kimchi dumplings and fried buckwheat dough for free. It was all delicious. Following dinner, we ended up going to a small café to eat Patbingsoo. At first it was strange because I was sharing a Patbingsoo with my 6th grade student (the daughter of the kindergarten teacher), but I soon got over it after realizing that I am supposed to treat them as if they are my family (not teacher-student). The 3 year old son was so incredibly adorable, clinging to my hand and wanting me to carry him through the streets. What made dessert even more interesting was that the 6th grade teacher told me that she told her husband last night that if she was 10 years younger she would probably be dating me. In the states that would be incredibly awkward to hear, but for some reason, in Korea, it seemed very complimentary and pleasing. By the way, she is very cute J. Don’t worry, I’m not implying anything hahah.
I actually want to have the next post dedicated to today's dinner at the 3rd grade teacher’s home (I really need to start treating the other teachers out to dinner) and the school cafeteria.
Until then, cheers!

Lalalala

Pictures:

Corn Cho! -For Cho-

Pictures of my student's name papers that they made

Dinner #2 at Kindergarten Teacher’s home

Today was the second time going to the kindergarten teacher’s home (I promise to take pictures next time). I biked around the neighborhood with Patty (one of my 6th grade students) and then returned to the home to discover that one of my 3rd grade students and his sister (also in 6th grade) were waiting. After playing jump-rope, Korean version, we went inside to find that the 6th grade teacher and one of the librarians were helping the kindergarten teacher make dinner. The 6th grade teacher’s son was a young boy who at the age of 4 could speak articulately and think clearly. I was quite impressed because at the age of 4 (actually 3 in the states) I could not say anything, let alone sentences (that’s another story I will share if you ask). We all sat down to eat a wonderful meal of bulgogi and a ton of different side dishes. Man, what a small world. All the teachers know each other, the students eat meals with the teachers, and everyone knows where everyone lives. We arranged that I will be going to the kindergarten teacher’s church in a couple of weeks, since I still need to complete my promise to a 4th grade student that I would go to her church (One of the teachers told me that she has a crush on me). By the end of dinner, it had been arranged that I am going to learn calligraphy from the kindergarten teacher, the 6th grade teacher will teach me how to cook, and we are all going to go to Lotte World in the winter. I am so thankful for the fellowship I have found despite my limited ability to communicate in Korean. Since I am in Korea for only a limited amount of time, I am going to try my best to impact the students and help them as much as possible in their pursuit of learning my native language, English. It’s pretty strange how my identity has become centered upon my English speaking ability. At home, English is the norm and I am identified through other means other than my language, which is what I never really pursued. Tomorrow is a festival in my small town and I think school is going to be let out early for the festivities.
Just got a text message from the kindergarten teacher telling me for the short time I am in Korea to treat her family as my own. Wow, I do not deserve the love I am receiving here.

Teacher Dinners

Brotherhood of Korea
The other night I was discussing how to order some 짜장면when the 5th grade teacher invited me out to dinner with some of his dongsengs who were visiting him from Wonju. So, why would he invite me, a complete stranger to his friends who were visiting? He didn’t want me to eat alone. Wow, the love I felt immediately as we they ordered tons of meat (very expensive…the bill came out to over $200 for a group of 4 because meat is expensive in Korea) and through the conversation was totally unexpected. From ordering bus tickets to inviting me to stay for free at a resort near Busan, I was overwhelmed at the concern they had for me. Basically in their mind, their friend’s friend was also their friend. Afterwards they bought me ice cream and we played ping pong and shot some hoops. I am so utterly thankful for the family like atmosphere that was immediately shown to me.

Dinner at the Kindergarten Teacher’s House
I found out after going to the kindergarten teacher’s house that I was actually going to do homestay at their house. The only hindrance was that I was going to teach after school and the ride situation to school would be too difficult. I talked to the daughter, Patty, and it looks like I’m going to be coming over quite a bit to help her out with English writing and grammar. We talked about how important it is how babies learn a language and to know situational expressions. Her mother is an expert in calligraphy so I’m going to ask her to teach me in exchange for some English lessons for her daughter.

Dinner at 1st grade teacher’s house:
Where to begin…
After school went to the first grade teacher’s home in the mountain as you can see through the pictures. The company we were in included the 5th grade, 3rd grade, both 1st grade teachers along with the 3rd grade teacher’s husband and two of our school’s bus drivers. The house is situated in the mountains surrounding Jangpyeong and I was told that in a couple of months the mountain will turn orange from the trees’ leaves changing colors. Shortly following that, I will get to experience my first true winter. Deciding to have a barbeque outside, the food was delicious. The sanggapsal we had was the best tasting sanggapsal I have ever had. The sweet squash side dish was extremely tasty as well. Actually, everything was good. Topics of conversation ran from fishing (I was invited to go fishing on Saturday on the driver’s boat) to prices of land in the area (someone told me that the house I was at is 1/10 the price of an apartment in Seoul, which is pretty ridiculous because the mountains are so beautiful). Anyways, as the night passed, some of the bus drivers began drinking a little too much. One actually started grabbing my hair and pulling me towards him every time he had something to say. Understanding that he was drunk, I didn’t react. However, the younger teachers knew that I was not used to this (this being the endless drinks and accepting them, the lectures from the older men, and the older men grabbing my hair and calling me “yah”). So, I was escorted outside to take a walk with some of the guys through the neighborhood. I learned that the amount of alcohol you can consume defines your manliness (apparently becoming quite intrepid or should I say obnoxious and rude is manly). If anyone really looked at it…becoming completely intoxicated is completely inconsiderate of those around you (as I have often been the one who has had to take care of those who have taken that course of action and have heard and seen my father begin threatened and hit by drunk people). Patiently and considerately, I take into account that many of the older men around me have difficult lives and use alcohol as a peace substitute, so I only want to show them care. However, I have had my share of difficulties and it is no excuse to burden those around me. We can always complain or find a means to complain, but little fruit comes from that.
I love the respect and concern for one another that exists in Korean culture. However, the alcohol consumption is a definite and very noticeable problem. All in all, I had a great dinner.