Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Winter Vacation
Greetings followers (so basically hi mom!). My apologies for being a bit of a lazy blogger lately. School and camp finished and I found myself napping and watching Criminal minds versus doing something productive with my time. I just want to let you know that Eric and I will be away from the blog for the next 17 days as we will be Central Europe for our winter vacation. For the next two and half weeks we'll be running around Prague, Bratislava, and Vienna. I promise a multitude of pictures and posts when we return. Furthermore, we'll be sans internet for this time so if you email us and we don't write back that's why. See you in a couple of weeks!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Finished: 2 textbooks and 2 camps later
Well it’s official. After semester’s end on December 30th and two additional weeks of English camp, I have finally fulfilled all of my teaching obligations for the year. In a lot of ways the school year passed quickly, but when I look at the stack of lesson plans, materials, and rosters on my desk I can feel the full weight of the past 10 months. When I first came to Dae-Sung Middle School my students were painfully quiet and were hooked on the two phrases of “I’m fine thanks, and you?” and “Nice to meet you.” On my first day these two phrases made me feel welcome and content. However, as time passed on and my students were still saying “nice to meet you” each time they saw me, I knew the upcoming year would be very interesting.
Weeks soon turned into months. As the months passes “I’m fine” slowly became substituted with “I’m _____ because _____.” Now many of you back home might find this progress painfully slow (and at times I did as well), but for my students to deviate from the repetition which was ingrained in them since third grade was a big deal. Each day different adjectives would be used, not all correct, but I always appreciated the effort. My girls tend to have a flare for the dramatic so the adjectives: fantastic, horrible, and I’m dying were in high rotation.
As second semester started we became more open with each other. I’d have students find me during lunch to talk about their weekends and evenings at home. While not all of this could be communicated 100% in English, we were able to understand each other through exaggerated gesturing and acting. My favorite days were Fridays because I would meet with J.S. and H.R., whose English ability was quite high, and we’d discuss the differences between life in Korea and life in America. We’d also talk about their future goals and the like. Friday’s were also my favorite day because I taught class 2-6. Sure, as a teacher I shouldn’t pick or play favorites, but everyone has a favorite class; the one class where students are outgoing, kind, and excited to see you. Regardless if we were learning about descriptions or compliments we always managed to start and end laughing.
As the second term came to an end, I had to explain to students I wouldn’t be returning to Dae-Sung next year. This was hard to do because they kept misunderstanding what I was saying. They thought I was going on a vacation, not moving back to America. As the term ended and goodbyes were said, I had 18 students voluntarily sign up and attend my winter camp (a good handful of these students came from 2-6). Together we learned to critique movies and music, we learned the difference between formal and informal conversations in English, and we played many speaking games. In addition to this, I had five students bring in a new English word to share with the class each day. I would provide definitions for these words and I would use the word in a sentence. Once day, a student brought in ‘sweet tooth’. I explained this meant someone likes to eat candy, chocolate, and cake. However, my students could not get past the literal word. They wanted to know which specific tooth in the mouth was the sweet tooth and why did this tooth like candy so much. It’s safe to say they didn’t walk away with a full understanding of the word.
Initially I was dreading having to work the two extra weeks after term’s end. However, once my camp got started and ultimately was completed I could be happier that I did it. I was able to spend time getting to know my students a tad better and I was really impressed at their initiative to take my class, especially since all of these students middle to lower end of the English ability spectrum at my school. On the last day I rewarded students’ hard work with snacks and a movie. Winter camp proved to be the best possible way to end my teaching in Korea.
Weeks soon turned into months. As the months passes “I’m fine” slowly became substituted with “I’m _____ because _____.” Now many of you back home might find this progress painfully slow (and at times I did as well), but for my students to deviate from the repetition which was ingrained in them since third grade was a big deal. Each day different adjectives would be used, not all correct, but I always appreciated the effort. My girls tend to have a flare for the dramatic so the adjectives: fantastic, horrible, and I’m dying were in high rotation.
As second semester started we became more open with each other. I’d have students find me during lunch to talk about their weekends and evenings at home. While not all of this could be communicated 100% in English, we were able to understand each other through exaggerated gesturing and acting. My favorite days were Fridays because I would meet with J.S. and H.R., whose English ability was quite high, and we’d discuss the differences between life in Korea and life in America. We’d also talk about their future goals and the like. Friday’s were also my favorite day because I taught class 2-6. Sure, as a teacher I shouldn’t pick or play favorites, but everyone has a favorite class; the one class where students are outgoing, kind, and excited to see you. Regardless if we were learning about descriptions or compliments we always managed to start and end laughing.
As the second term came to an end, I had to explain to students I wouldn’t be returning to Dae-Sung next year. This was hard to do because they kept misunderstanding what I was saying. They thought I was going on a vacation, not moving back to America. As the term ended and goodbyes were said, I had 18 students voluntarily sign up and attend my winter camp (a good handful of these students came from 2-6). Together we learned to critique movies and music, we learned the difference between formal and informal conversations in English, and we played many speaking games. In addition to this, I had five students bring in a new English word to share with the class each day. I would provide definitions for these words and I would use the word in a sentence. Once day, a student brought in ‘sweet tooth’. I explained this meant someone likes to eat candy, chocolate, and cake. However, my students could not get past the literal word. They wanted to know which specific tooth in the mouth was the sweet tooth and why did this tooth like candy so much. It’s safe to say they didn’t walk away with a full understanding of the word.
Initially I was dreading having to work the two extra weeks after term’s end. However, once my camp got started and ultimately was completed I could be happier that I did it. I was able to spend time getting to know my students a tad better and I was really impressed at their initiative to take my class, especially since all of these students middle to lower end of the English ability spectrum at my school. On the last day I rewarded students’ hard work with snacks and a movie. Winter camp proved to be the best possible way to end my teaching in Korea.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Muju Mountain
Two hours outside of Gwangju lies Muju Mountain; a popular ski resort in Korea. Since we finished school on the 30th of December, a group of us thought it would be a good idea to rent out a cabin for the New Year’s weekend. While Muju looks like only a large hill when compared to Mt. Hood, there is something cozy and beautiful about it. Maybe I think of it in this way because the mountain and surrounding town don’t resemble your typical Korean city or maybe it has something to do with the fact it was covered in snow. Regardless, I found myself intrigued by this small mountain community.
We spent our weekend in a small, two story suite equipped with a kitchen. However, true to typical Korean accommodations, there were no beds; just blankets and pillows. The compact lodgings combined with the large amounts of snow made for quite the cozy weekend. On Saturday afternoon Eric and I explored our small corner of town. We walked along back allies and winding roads to take in the nature around us. It sounds weird, but I’ve really come to miss being surrounded by trees. Gwangju, like most Korean cities, are just landscapes of bright lights and tall concrete high rises. Not especially appealing. So to be in the mountains, surrounded by snow and trees was a real treat for both Eric and I. After our walk, Eric and his friend Matt took it upon themselves to “break ice”. This activity involved them throwing large chunks of ice into the frozen river below, trying to break the frozen top layer. Somehow they managed to kill a couple hours doing this activity. As fascinating as it was, I found my time better spent reading my book and watching Gone With the Wind indoors.
On Sunday, we made our way to the main street of town. There we would ultimately catch our bus home, but we decided to head in early to see what it had to offer. There, the trees are lined with lights and Timberline-esque wooden shops. If I knew any better, I would have thought I was in some American ski town. Since we didn’t have any need for ski gear, we decided to plop down in one of the coffee shops. There I indulged in my first bagel with cream cheese since I’ve moved here. Let me just say, a bagel has never tasted so good. I found myself licking the little container my cream cheese came in. Can you tell I’m cheese deprived?!
However, all good things must come to an end and we soon found ourselves on a bus back to Gwangju. Even though we didn’t get to spend as much time as I would have liked in the great outdoors, I’m thankful for the few short days I had.
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