I have been swamped in the recent two months.

The month of December flew by, and I still have yet to figure out where it went. I spent the first few weeks preparing for my trip back to the States. The week before I left was filled with dinners, meetings, and mini-parties for me form various coworkers, family here, and friends. It was almost like I wasn't coming back after going home.

December 19th, I departed from Incheon airport in Seoul to travel the long 17 hours to reach my destination: Chicago. Upon arrival in Chicago, friends picked me up and whisked me away to a day of fun, and laughter I haven't had in a long time. I left at 8am in Seoul on December 19th, traveled nearly 17 hours, and arrived at my destination at 8Am on December 19th. Needless to say, it was a tiresome journey, but one so worth it.

Mount Fuji as we flew past it on my way to Tokyo

The next few days were followed by meeting after meeting of many people I haven't seen since I left. I got to relax with the family and visit a lot which was my overall plan on this trip. I didn't want to have to think about Korea, or work at anytime while I was home. I just wanted to relax. Goal: achieved. Christmas Eve and Christmas came and went. It was a very nice time, but it just didn't feel like Christmas this year. I asked many people around me if they felt it was Christmas, and hardly anyone I talked to really felt as if it was Christmas. I'm not sure what was in the air...




After a few short days, I was on a plane again back to Korea. Upon arrival in Korea, I came immediately back to Pohang, where I relaxed for another few days. It's definitely difficult to travel that much in a short period of time with such a large time zone gap. I had major jet-lag, and I had classes to prepare for.

I spent much of the next week preparing for my club classes that started January 11-22nd. My first English class was going to be to children of the teachers in my high school. This puts the pressure on you. Not only did I need to keep their attention span, but I also needed to ensure that I was "good enough" so they didn't run home and tell their parents I'm a sucky teacher. Going from teaching high schoolers to teaching elementary students is a difficult transition, but luckily enough I survived the week, met some wonderful kids, wonderful parents, and had a blast doing it! It has been by far, one of the highlights of being here in Korea for me yet! =)

My second club class was for new arriving 1st grade high schoolers. They will start in March with me and the new school, so I was their "introduction to English." As soon as they entered the room, I smelled the fear and nervousness in them, and I knew that it was going to be a rough two weeks. It's so hard teaching students, when they just shut down on you. They are just too scared to use English. These students were with me 2 hours a day, everyday, for 2 weeks. They opened up pretty fast, but I know that come March when I start the new year, they will shut down once again on me. =(

In that period of time, I went with another Korean family to go Ice "sliding". It's another version of sledding, but you have a wooden sled in which you sit on, and you have posts that you stick into the ice and slide around on. It's quite fun, but absolutely exhausting. I had a wonderful time. Again with this family, we also went to see Avatar in 3D. I had seen it in 2D and had LOVED it, but seeing it in 3D really made me appreciate the movie even more. Even though the plot is completely predictable, I still fell in love with this mystical land. I also really appreciated the science behind what the researchers were doing there. I recommend this movie, even if you're not big into sci-fi or these types of movies (I'm not really a big fan either), but this sure grabbed my attention for the nearly 3 hour movie.

This brings me all back to where I am today. I'm resting today. I really would have liked to visit another country this week, but it just didn't play out well in the cards with traveling buddies, and places to go. On Sunday I will be traveling to Seoul, where I will be living for one month while I attend an internship at Severance International Hospital. Very cool, I know. I'm very excited to get this opportunity, yet I'm a little nervous. However, I hope once I'm back in it, my medical instinct will kick back in.

Since I have not had to teach a full load this month, and after numerous talks with family and friends back home, I have learned a little more about myself, and have changed my career path slightly. I'm looking for a little more stability, and freedom in my life, than what I was previously giving myself, and now I'm happy as can be.

Until then...take care, and stay warm wherever you are! =)

Hello all my fantastic blog readers. Or non-blog readers. Welcome to Ashley’s Blog of the Month. That’s what I really should rename this since I’m never too good at writing multiple times a month. Much has happened in the past month that has made me deter away from this for a while, but have no fear, I’m still here, still kicking, and heading home to visit in 17 days!

Last month I had a family emergency back home. It’s never easy being away from family when you are closer to them than anyone else, but it’s definitely never easy when you have a loved one back home in ill health. This was the greatest fear I had coming to Korea and I ran through all the various situations before I made my decision to come here. I have been learning to not stop my life for someone else, as much as I want to. I need to keep moving with my life, and quit thinking I can help everything at home when I’m not there. I’ve got my own life to live, and I’m living it. I’m doing so much more than I could ever imagine in my life thus far and I’m only 22. I really am grateful for all that I’ve been able to do so far in my life. My education has been amazing, my travels have been extremely adventurous, and I’ve got a great supportive group behind me every step of the way.

I’ve also been making some major decisions regarding the next chapter of my life. Even though it’s still a while before I leave here in July, I am a planner. I’ve always been a planner. This can be my greatest strength and at the same time it’s my biggest weakness. I’ve decided I’m going home for various reasons, but I’ll be home in July of next year, working, and getting medical school straightened out. I still have another 4 years of school left, and another 3-4 years of residency left. I have a LOT of school left, before I’m anything, so sooner, rather than later would be great. I’m not a spring chicken, but I’m not old either. However, when looking at the calendar and realizing I won’t be a full fledged physician out of residency when I am 32 scares me. I want to pay of loans, and have a family. It will all come together though in time. It always seems to work out the way it is suppose to.

As for teaching, I’m in my last month here before winter break. I cannot believe that on Saturday I will have been in Korea for 5 months. It definitely does not seem like it has been 5 months already. I’m looking back and wondering what I even taught my students and whether or not they learned anything. It really seems like time has just passed on by without me noticing. I enjoy my students very much, and although teaching is not my desired profession, I have the greatest respect for those who teach. I could very well see myself becoming a professor down the road, but for something I have a great passion in.

I went to Seoul last weekend to visit the United States Ambassador’s residence for Thanksgiving dinner. It was absolutely wonderful, and we all had a great meal. REAL turkey, and everything you could ever want on thanksgiving. It was great to have this because it seems like so many holidays have come and passed, and I don’t even feel like there was anything. It was sad around Halloween time. Even though I don’t particulary enjoy the holiday as much as some people, I enjoy scarecrows, and skeletons, and pumpkins, and there were no decorations here one bit. It really feels like a foreign country sometimes. =)

Also while in Seoul, a friend and I went to see Phantom of The Opera. This performance was done all in Korean. I am a large fan of the musical, and enjoy the movie. I haven’t seen the actual musical performance in the States, or in London, but this production in Korea had to be the best musical I’ve ever seen. It was absolutely fantastic. It sent shivers down my spine and made the hair on the back of my neck rise. It was incredible. I would gladly pay to see this again, and never tire of it. The performers were incredible and Christine not only could sing beautifully, but she was also a ballet dancer. All the dancers were singers and no one really had just one role. The Phantom was excellent. He really played the part well. The chandelier even came down and crashed into the stage and the Phantom came down on an angel right over the crowd. My favorite part was when the Phantom and Christine were in the boat going to his place. In the movie, there’s fog and candles, and on stage, it was an exact replica of this. It was astonishing to believe that they could create something so magnificent.

My friends and I went to Insa-Dong to do a little Christmas shopping. Insa-Dong is a famous area that has souvenirs for the foreigner. There were many foreigners there and it’s strange when I see them. I always mention “Oh there’s a foreigner,” when I am a foreigner as well. I guess I don’t consider myself a foreign tourist as much as I consider myself a foreign resident. The shops in Insa-Dong are filled with handcrafted fans, jewelry boxes, traditional masks, tea sets, and many chopsticks. It was very hard trying to shop for all my family and friends back home, and I still do not feel like I have enough gifts for everyone.

The first full weekend of November has come and gone. I had the best time I've had since I came to Korea. I owe it all to the wonderful friends I spent this time with. :) Friends always know how to put a smile on your face.

Friday Nov 6th I met two friends in Pohang. We had a wonderful Italian dinner, chatted about teaching and daily life, and then we saw a movie, "The Time Traveler's Wife." I recommend the movie. It's always nice to get together to talk about our teaching styles and lessons we have used that work and don't work. One of the lessons I did last week was Logic Puzzles and the kids ate them up. They were so into these puzzles that they used the entire hour to figure them out (6 puzzles), but they just couldn't get enough. The puzzles were in English, but they were allowed to talk in Korean to understand and solve the puzzles, but they had to write the answer and explanation in English and also had to explain the answers to me in English. It was a really great lesson because they had to use different vocabulary they don't normally use in class. The other lesson I used this week was a directions lesson where the students had to give directions to another student in the classroom and they really did enjoy this lesson also. :-) But these lesson plans would not have come about and really have worked if I hadn't been able to get together with others to chat about it. Many people have gone through this program before me, and they have definitely had many trial and error lessons, and I'm just happy they are willing to share.

Saturday Nov 7th I traveled to Busan to meet three other teachers. It was a really nice trip. I took the bus all by myself, and I even road the subway by myself. This is a really huge task actually. In Wisconsin, I don't take busses, and I surely don't take a subway (where are they?!). I don't feel as if I know that much Korean, but I feel much better about traveling by myself. If anything I can get somewhere, and if I get lost, I know how to ask to get there. While in Busan we went to Haeundae Beach, which is a very famous beach in a movie called "The Beach" (In Korean, of course) which tells a story of a Tsunami hitting Busan. Word was the people in Busan did not care so much for the movie, but it was the number one movie for a while here. We also went to Jaglaji fish market, which is a really neat place to visit. This is where you can buy fresh fish and all types of seafood here. Last time I was there I saw the fisherman gutting a shark.
It definitely is a neat place to visit.

Shark!!

We also ate lunch at a five star authentic Indian restaurant. It was wonderful. For a five star restaurant, we paid about $20 a person and had some absolutely wonderful food. If I am ever in Busan again I will go here again. I returned to Pohang saturday night after a wonderful day with great friends. :)

Wonderful Indian Cuisine

Sunday Nov 8th, I relaxed at home in Pohang. At about 3pm I was starving, so I met a friend at the bus station and we ventured to downtown Pohang. We had some great pizza (Pizza Hut), watched Bride Wars at a DVD bang (a place where you can go "rent" movies and watch it in a room with a big screen and these long couches.) All-in-all, it was a great day.

This week, I have two days off due to KSAT - the Korean entrance exam for Universities. I'm looking forward to having some days off from school. I enjoy teaching, but the weeks are very long, and very hard. This week should go well, and I'm looking forward to starting a new lesson this week.

October was an extremely stressful and busy month, and so I have some catching up to do about all the festivities which took place during this month.

On October 17th, my school had their annual school festival. This comes each year in which we also celebrate our school's anniversary. This year just happened to be the 30th anniversary. The students prepared long and hard for this. I even let the students practice their routines during our classtime because they were extremely stressed about their performance. I even had a performance. I played Josh Groban's "You Raise Me Up" on flute, while I was accompianied by a wonderful pianist and one of my 2nd grade students. One of the cutest girls I've ever met. The students skits, or "skits" was what I thought they'd be, turned out to be 10 minute mashes of the latest K-Pop along with some provocative dancing that at times made me question which country I was currently in. The modesty factor had been taken aback for these performances just a bit. Of course, there was also the "Miss Youngil" contest, in which my sweet first grade boys dressed in drag and strutted their stuff across the stage. I even played a part in this as one of their make-up artists. I had a blast getting to see all the talents from the students, and really was able to see many of the individual students shine in a way that I had never seen before. There are many many talented students and we just don't see their true personalities come out with all the studying that they do.


Principal, Wonderful student who played piano with me! ^^


My "Miss Youngils"


My weeks are completely filled with lesson after lesson, class after class, and I have felt like I haven't had time for much. I only teach 3-4 hours a day, but I put in so much energy during those three or four classes that I feel like I've ran a marathon after each day. On the way home, a 10 min car ride, I've even fallen asleep I've been so exhausted. During my nights at home, I try to catch up with my host family, or just relax. Lately, it's been me in bed by 9pm, feeling like an old lady and wondering where my youth went? I remember pulling near all nighters, or at least sleeping roughly 4 hours a night for 4-5 days straight in college, and having no problem at all getting everything done that I can. I can sleep 9 hours here, and I still feel as if I'm dragging behind everyone else. Koreans are some of the hardest working individuals, and they take the least amount of leisure time that I've known of any culture yet. It's remarkable how they do it and still are able to function. If I could train my body to do this, I'd be set for life, but there's no way. I value sleep too much.


One of my first grade boy's class

I've been trying to get out at least once every weekend and get away to do things rather than staying around Pohang all weekend long. Weekends can get boring extremely fast with nothing really to do. I have gone to Gyeongju once again to visit a friend, and had my first DVD bang experience. For all you who don't know, you choose a movie, and pay for a room with a big screen and watch the movie of your choosing. It's a little cheaper than going to a movie, and it's just something different to get out and enjoy. Last weekend, on Halloween, I traveled to Daegu to the Opera Festival. There, I saw my first Opera, Carmen. I must say, this was not the opera to see as a first timer because there wasn't much action, but it was remarkable. It was all in French, and I found myself understanding a great deal of what they were saying without looking at the translations provided. This prompted me to my conversation the next day with my best friend.

I did a lot of thinking back to high school and really realized how good I really did have it in high school. Even though I worked a lot at the Nursing Home, played tennis, was active in band, and *cough cough* studied (which Koreans completely put me to shame for), I had it easy. Life isn't easy, and it's not going to get much easier. I am enjoying every second of it, but it sure is full of its ups and down, twists and turns. I think of how I wouldn't be where I am if I hadn't chosen to go to Carthage College, and how if I didn't get the MCAT score that I did, I wouldn't be in this program, living in a different country. I am a person who full-heartedly believes that everything in life happens for a reason, and here I am. This was never in the cards. This is out of the box for me, but I'm enjoying it, and trying to learn as grow as much as possible while I'm here. I do wish others would have the opportunities that I have had, and if they don't, I do hope they don't let something pass them by that could really lead to something even greater.

As many of my closest friends know, October is probably the roughest month of the year for me. It's full of pain, and hardships of my past, and it's a month I'm so glad to be finished with. I go home in 46 days, and I am counting down every day! Who wouldn't? I miss home. I am closest to my family than I am with some of my friends. It's what I had growing up, and I wouldn't change it for the world. It's been a wild ride in this life, but I still have a smile on my face.

Today is my best friend Justin's birthday! :-) HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

I just returned back to my school after a week of travel and the Fall Conference in Gyeongju. First, I met another fellow teacher and took a trip to Busan for PIFF, the Pusan International Film Festival. It was a really interesting experience. At first when we got there, we were told that there were no tickets for the opening ceremony. However, some other friends were able to find the ticket line, and we stood in line, and yes, successfully got tickets to the Opening Ceremony and the movie "Good Morning Mr. President" for a whopping 10,000Won, which translates to about $8. From the line, we proceeded to the Red Carpet area and waited for another 2 and 1/2 hours, fought the crowd of screaming Korean girls, and watched all the famous Korean actors and actresses walk by us, and it even included Josh Hartnett, who was in a Korean film that was to be shown at PIFF. This was one of the craziest experiences I've ever had. I've gone to my fair share of rock concerts where I've even been on the sidelines of the mosh pit, but by far, this took the crown for absolute chaos and craziness. I had a blast though. The film was also very wonderful, and very funny. We froze throughout the film though, and we must have looked funny as the only people there with light shirts on when everyone else had their winter parkas and blankets with them. I guess we've learned our lesson for next time.


Red Carpet


Yes, that would be Josh Hartnett on screen


We also took a stroll through the UN Memorial Cemetery. This also included the Memorial Wall, where the names of the men and women who fell during the Korean war were listed. This gave me goosebumps as we walked through it because of the roughly 40,000 people who were killed during the war, approximately 36,000 of them were American. It was a gorgeous cemetery though, if a cemetery could be beautiful.


Plots for each country that fought in the Korean War.


Memorial Wall

After this, we traveled to Gyeongju for our Fall Teaching Workshop. Gyeongju is the old capital of the Silla dynasty and it was coined as the area that brought Korea together for the first time. Some of the sites and artifacts there are extremely old, such as the Buddha that was built in 751. It's amazing to see some of these national treasures of Korea. Korea really has a rich history, and Gyeongju really is the heart of it. It's very traditional, and an absolutely beautiful place to be.


Bulguksa, Gyeongju, South Korea

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone is doing well. I've realized, I'm not a good blogger in any sense. I continually forget that I have a blog, and when I do remember, I don't have time or cannot find a good internet connection to actually write a blog. Ahh, such is life. :) Forgive me.

As for myself, I am on Week 5 of teaching, and I would say things are going quite well. I am enjoying teaching very much. However, I am starting to get a little bored with the monotonous routine of teaching. Therefore, I do think I will be changing things up a bit, or as my students would say "Change-ee" things up a big. It's not very fun to repeat a lesson 16 times each week.

I've hit a slump in Korea. Living in Korea, you live on a continual learning curve. Slowly you start understanding what is going on, and you understand small conversations. This happened to me when my host brother (in Elementary school) called his friend. He said "Hello, it's Mingyu, is so-n-so home?" and he said "Where is he? and When will he be home?" Of course, this is all in Korean, but I understood it. My host mom looked at me and said "Chingoo" which means friend, and I told her I understood the entire conversation. This was a high point in being Korea. That however, was 2 weeks ago. Since then, I've fallen into a slump.

Sometimes life here is hard. It's hard being in a foreign country where you don't speak the language, or people look at you because you are different. It just takes some getting used to. But if you have all of this, and then add worries from home, it adds to an overwhelming situation that causes some distress. As for me, this was the case. I had some unsettling news from home, about a dear friend, and I can honestly say, I fell into pieces for a day. I didn't know where to turn to, I didn't know who to talk to. It's not easy when I don't have my friends or family constantly surrounding me, or try to explain to someone in broken English why you are crying. It's difficult. It's hard not being able to be there with them, and help them. Although, I wouldn't even be able to do anything if I was there, it wouldn't matter, I would just be there.

When I learned I was coming to Korea, I knew that I would be learning the language. I didn't know if I was going to continue taking structured classes or if I was going to try to get another person to teach me or learn on my own. There were so many variables. While at orientation, we had wonderful, structured classes where we learned Korean 4 hours a day. Now that I'm at my homestay though, I'm not learning Korean. I'm not studying. I have lost motivation for this. The reason being is that I don't need to speak it here. In my school, I speak English. When I tell my principal, See you Tomorrow, in Korean by the way, he says "See you Tomorrow." In English of course. He wants to learn English as well. Many of my coworkers know English or enough to talk to me. My family at home, all speak English except my host mom, and I can speak enough Korean to talk with her. If not, I just follow her around with my dictionary, and speak random Korean words to her, and we understand one another. It's not that I don't want to learn Korean, but I just don't use it here.

Even though I've had my slump, I've found my way again. Before I left for Korea, a family friend gave me the book "The Shack." Inside, he wrote me a message. Finally this past weekend, I sat down and read the book, cover to cover, in less than a day. I couldn't put the book down. It really helped me understand and put life into perspective for me. It's a Christian book, and although I've been baptized, had my first communion, and been confirmed, I don't go to Church. The only time I've read part of the Bible was for a religion class at Carthage. This book was very different from any other books I would have read, but I'm very happy I did read the book, and I'm even giving it away as a present for another teacher here (in Korean, of course). I recommend this book to anyone, young, old, Christian, not Christian. It's a moving story and really has touched me.

This past weekend I also traveled to Daegu with a fellow teacher in the F******** program, and we had a great time. Whenever we get together, we always have a great time because we are able to connect and understand what each other is going through. It's good to have friends you can always talk to.

Finally, yesterday I received a message from a family I worked for during this past summer. It was a wonderful heart-felt message, that really made me believe I do have a purpose in this world. They were very grateful for the help I had given them over the summer, and they truly have touched my heart in a way no one else has. I am a Certified Nursing Assistant for a reason. When I was in America, I worked this job for this very reason, to help people. When people tell me what a good job I did, I truly am honored because it means the world to me to be able to help someone else, and to know that I helped them in a way that many others may not. Even so, I'm always just there to give a smile or make them laugh, and hopefully brighten their day. That is the reason why I want to be a doctor. I'm going to be a doctor, because I want to show compassion to my patients. I want to be the one they turn to when they have questions, and I will hope I can answer them or find them answers. I want to be there when they need someone to talk to, or someone to listen. I don't care about prestige or money. I care about people. Thank you to that family!! :-) You really are so special!

In closing, I hope all is well wherever you may be.

 In keeping with the spirit of my goal to be a doctor, the student's took part in an Anatomy lesson this week.  This very simple lesson involved 24 pieces of paper with English words written on them, and tape.  The students did the rest.  In groups of 6, the students chose one person to be their "model" and this person had 24 English words taped to various body parts.  Here is the list of body parts used:

Forehead
Chin
Elbow
Cheek
Spine
Nostrils
Palm
Index finger
Thumb
Butt
Waist
Love handle
Ankle
Eyebrow
Adam's apple
Armpit
Wrist
Thigh
Shin
Jaw
Shoulder blade
Calf
Knee
Belly Button

I must say the students had a fun time working through this activity.  Many asked for hints, of which I couldn't give any.  They also were not allowed to use their dictionaries.  The look on their faces when I told them "No dictionaries" was priceless.  Many didn't think they'd be able to accomplish this task, but they did, with very creative and hilarious responses.

The students were very good at getting the easy names: forehead, knee, thumb, index finger, elbow, chin, cheek.  However, there were quite a few that through them for a loop.  These included: Armpit, Butt, Love handle, shoulder blade, Spine.

I had a blast walking around the classroom and seeing the various names taped on body parts that I knew were not correct. Checking the placement of certain words...  Some of my favorites included:

Many students thought the spine was the top of the head.  I'm not sure where this comes from, but I saw many many students with this.
Love Handle: This was the funniest one to see.  Students saw the word love and put it on various parts of their body that pertained to love: the heart, their ring finger, and someone even cleverly placed it on their private parts! :) Way to go students!!
Obviously, all the body parts are clearly located around the chest area... Calf: When I would pronounce calf they would point to their neck, and say "scarf." This was very very common with almost all students 
Armpit: Many thought this was the inside of their elbow, but others got this correct.  

This activity got the students out of their seats and interacting in English. :) The students seemed to enjoy this activity a lot! Plus, if the student's team won, they got candy! All the more exciting to play along. 
One of my all girls class- They loved the activity just as much as the boys! They even hid their person behind blankets so others wouldn't cheat.

 Hello all! :) 
여러분:

I want to talk a little bit about the differences I've experienced in the educational system between the US and Korea. 

Students: 
Let's start with the students.  They study so hard.  They put Americans to shame with how much they study.  However, they study for very different reasons, and many of the students here study for a common goal.  Much of the student's studying efforts are to go to the best universities here in Korea, SKY universities.  These universities are Seoul University, Korea National University, and Yonsei University.  These are the top schools, and Koreans believe that by being able to get to these schools and graduate from these schools they will be able to secure their future.  They will always have a job, and always earn money, and live a good life.  That's the common idea behind their education.  They MUST go to University.  This is the way to a good life.  Unlike the US, these students don't know what they want to major in.  They'll figure it out once they get to their University.  In the US, many students know what they want to major in, and then find a school that is good in that field.  

The study habits are crazy here.  They are very diligent.  The students arrive at school around 8 am and have school until 10pm on Monday through Friday.  Yes, they stay here until 10pm.  It is required of them.  They also have classes on Saturdays.  They have 7 regular class periods, and after those class periods (that end at 4:30) they have supplemental classes.  They will study after that on their own: Self-study time until 10 pm.  Some students even stay until midnight.  

Needless to say, the students are exhausted.  They are so tired all of the time.  It's not uncommon for students to sleep in class.  We would never see this in the United States, and we would even consider it rude in the United States, but here, it's very common because they do study so hard.  My host sister sleeps 13 hours Saturday-Sunday because she goes to school from 8am -midnight everyday, and then on Saturday she's at school until at least 5pm.  Those hours are unbelievable!!!

Teachers:
The teachers here work harder than I've ever seen.  They teach their regular hours, but they also teach supplemental hours after 4:30.  The teachers also stay at school a few nights a week either until 8pm or 10pm to supervise the study hours.  Also, one night a month, they have a shift from 10-12pm to make sure anyone who is still studying is supervised.  It's unheard of to hear this in the United States.  I think of when my high school teachers went home, and it was not uncommon to walk to the parking lot with your teacher from class at 3:30, but it will not happen here like that. 

The teachers care so much about the students here.  I'm not saying they don't care about them in the US, but you see a different kind of care here.  The teachers here look after their students in a way as if they were their own children.  There is a great bond between them here, that is very uncommon in the United States.  I was discussing this with a fellow English teacher here yesterday.  There are many lines between students and teachers in the United States, but in Korea, there really are no big lines.  Teachers give rides to students all the time.  They meet them on the weekend to go to the movies.  They will go out to dinner with them fairly often.  It's very common to see this practice.  

Once again, I give all teachers so much credit for what they do.  I'm literally exhausted already, and it's only my second week of teaching.  It's going to be a long year if I tire this early.  To have the students be excited about what I'm going to teach them, I have to have at least three times as much energy as I want from them.  It's very very hard some days.

I teach 16 classes, of which I see each class once a week.  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday I have 3 classes and then on Thursday I have 4 classes.  I teach Co-Ed High school, grades 1 and 2, but my classes are sometimes split by gender.  I have all girl classes, all boy classes, and co-ed classes.  Each class has their own personality, and they have class together all day.  The professors come to their classroom and so they all have this unique bond between them. 

My role here is very simple: Have the students talk English.  It's not an easy job in the least.  It's one of the hardest jobs I've ever had.  It requires you to be on your toes everyday, and be aware of everything.  The students here are so focused on going to a SKY university, that they study English very hard for the KSAT- Korean SAT.  They practice and study grammar and writing and reading, but they do not practice speaking English very much.  That's my job.  it's hard, but it's so very rewarding, and I'm having a fantastic time doing it.  I can't imagine being anywhere else! ^__^  It's so nice to be able to walk down the hall and have them say Hi to you and hear them speaking in English.  Granted, they don't speak full sentences in English, but just a few words is exciting to hear! 

There are many different behaviors in the classroom that you would also not see in the United States.  I brought a Troll to classes this week because I showed them pictures of them last week.  A student tried to flick his nose and knock him over yesterday.  When I told him not to do this, he proceeded to pull out his box cutter and told me he was going to kill him.  Yes, my troll almost got stabbed.  Would you ever see a student in the US with a box cutter? I think not, but here, sure..everyone has one.  I even have one in my desk (hidden away tho, so I don't stab myself with it when I'm searching my drawers!)

It is very different from the U.S, but it's their educational system.  It has it's pros and it has it's cons, just like any educational system.  By stating this, I'm not giving any opinions about whether one is better than the other, but I want everyone to read this to realize that there are so many differences in them.  I want people to be culturally aware of these things! ^_^

Good day!

Well, as I sat here and wrote a blog for 30 mins, I tried to post it and lost the entire thing. :-( Not fun.

Here is a quick update.

Teaching is going well. Teaching is very very difficult. I give credit to all teachers who do this day in and day out. It takes a lot of energy, and you really have to be committed to it. But I do believe it's one of the most rewarding jobs you can have because you can really see the students excel. It's really neat to see my students in the hallway talking in English. They do not speak entire sentences, but even a few words here and there is good enough for me! :-)

This last week I taught them Greetings. If you ask the students "How are you?" you will 99.9% of the time get the same Robotic response of "I'm fine thanks and you?" 99.9% of the time this is what they will say. The students do not know how to say "I'm tired." or "I'm so-so." This was the goal of my lesson: to have them speaking different greetings. How did I accomplish this? I showed the students the Budweiser "Wassup?' commercial. It really was a big hit! The students seem to really find this commercial funny, and they get to learn new ways to greet their friends like "Yo" and "Wassup?"

There are many differences between the educational systems, and I'd like to go into further detail about those. I will do that in my next update tonight.

As for now, I have to run to class once again. 3 more classes left for the day today! :-)

^__^

Hello All!

I must apologize for once again not writing. These past few weeks have been very very busy but yet very very exciting.

August 5th - Placement Day! This was the big day. We all got dressed up extremely nice, and some were nervous and some were scared. It was the day we would find out where we were going to spend the remaining 11 months in Korea. As we stood there, starring at a large map of Korea, I was very nervous to know where I'd be placed. My name was called, some Korean was spoken to me, and then I heard co-ed High School. I was going to be a Co-Ed High School teacher! Wow. As I placed my name on the map, I realized I was living in Pohang, right on the eastern most part of South Korea!! :) I had gotten the placement I asked for. I wanted to be near the water!!

On August 8th, we took a trip to the DMZ in Hwacheon. It was really neat to stand up at the top of a mountain, look to the North, and go "Wow, that's North Korea!" In my head, I had this image of the DMZ being this big long fence with people on each side of it yelling at one another. (I have no idea why I thought this). But when I was there, I realized it was one of the more beautiful places. The DMZ is often referred to as a nature preserve because the land is not touched. It really was a remarkable sight. I even looked through the telescope and saw the North Korean guard houses. No pictures though, sorry. They were forbidden.

On August 13th, I successfully GRADUATED from my Korean Language Class. There was a large ceremony, and we even received diplomas from Korea National University (Which is one of the 3 Top schools in Korea). Yep, so I can now say I have a diploma from another country! Very cool!

Accepting my Diploma - Notice the correct 2 handed gift receive and the bow...



My Korean Language Teachers

On August 15th, we traveled to Seoul, where we met the American Ambassador to Korea, along with Congressman Mike Honda. He was in Chuncheon as well receiving an honorary diploma, and he came to the bbq at the Ambassador's residence. American food never tasted so good as it did that night!! :)

While in Seoul, I saw a performance by the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra as well as the Korean National Ballet. It was really wonderful, and I even have some videos of it. I did some shopping around the area and in the underground shopping centers of Myeong-dong and also went to North Seoul Tower. From the top of the tower, you can see all of Seoul. It is a spectacular sight, because as far as you can see, it is all city. It is astonishing how large the city is.

Seoul in the background

On Monday August 17th, we traveled to Yonsei University where we met our principals and coteachers to start our journey to our new homes. As we stood around numerous people once again, we were all having very different feelings. Many were nervous about the upcoming lunch with our principals and coteachers. When someone's name was called, they would stand out, bow, and wave to their faculty. Some were given flowers by their schools or school supplies. There were usually 2 representatives from the school. As my name was called, I stood out, and 4 people stood up and cheered!! 4 people yelled Welcome at me! I had an entire cheering section in my honor!

After the ceremony we met our representatives to go to lunch. It was then that I was even introduced to my homestay father, who is an English teacher at the school. I also met my coteacher, and my other "voluntary" coteacher. I also met another professor from the school. My principal had not traveled the long way to meet me but I would meet him on Tuesday. They were all very nice and at 4:30 we stepped on the KTX (high speed train) and made our way to Daegu and then drove the final hour to Pohang.

Once in Pohang I met my family, who were extremely welcoming. My homestay mother does not speak English, but the two girls and boy and my homestay father speak English. They had a sign on their door that read "Welcome to our house Ashley" and they gave me a bouquet of roses. How sweet!! They also had a big bowl of watermelon for us to eat, and they made popcorn! :)


On Tuesday August 18th, I went to my high school and met the principal. He is a wonderful man, and I even shared an awkward hug with him. Ever since then, I've been meeting him each morning and having "tea time" with him where I speak awkward English sentences with thrown in Korean words every now and then.
My High School

On Wednesday August 19th, I was whisked away with my homestay parents to Homigot which is the most eastern part of Korea. If you look at Pohang, you see famous pictures of a large stone hand coming out of the water...yep, I took picture in front of it. haha. It's fantastic here though. Right on the Sea of Japan, it's beautiful. We ate lunch by the waterfront, and had raw fish. I ate a lot of it too. It's called Sashimi. It was really really good. :)


One of the famous landmarks of Pohang

The next day I went to visit a temple nearby and swim in the water. It was really refreshing, and absolutely beautiful! :)

Swimming near the temple

Finally, this past weekend, I went to meet the parents of my homestay father. It was quite an interesting experience. It was very traditional in that they do not have furniture at all, and we sat, ate, and slept on the floor. Also, it was his birthday, so we went out to eat on Sunday and they sure do up birthday's big here. I think it seems sooo big to me because there is so much food. But yet again, there is so much food all the time. The average amount of food consumed by one person at one meal is what I would eat in an entire day. They sure know how to eat, but I can't blame them. The food is AMAZING here.
Paternal Grandfather's Birthday

I start teaching Monday, and my nerves are definitely kicking in. However, this past week I've been visiting the classes and I feel very comfortable in front of them and so I believe that teaching truly is a part of me.

Today we moved into a bigger apartment. I always wondered how people move into high rise apartments with all of their things. There's no way a couch or bed is going to fit into an elevator. Well, today I witnessed it first hand. First, a truck resembling a firetruck pulled up outside of our window. And then, the mysterious ladder was raised to the 14th floor. Attached to this pulley system is a platform. Wait, let me mention, a platform without any guard rails, hence, a platform. As our stuff started to arrive on the back of trucks, I finally realized what was going to happen. Our stuff was loaded onto this platform, and then sent up this "ladder-pulley system" to our porch door. It was quite a sight to see!
Looking down 14 floors to the truck below

All of our things on a platform, hanging 14 stories up...

More updates to come...

 Hi everyone.  It was my hopes I'd see the inside of a clinic or a hospital while doing an internship or job shadowing while in Korea.  However, I just returned from my very first trip to the clinic with a very sore Sprained Ankle.  In Taekwondo on Monday, I must have twisted wrong on it and have had pain in it ever since.  First when we arrived, I signed my name in, and in less than 5 minutes, I was taken straight to X-Rays, which was just a room right off from the clinic area.  Then within 10 minutes, I saw the Doctor, and he touched my ankle just a few times, and told me it was swollen.  It was my tibiofibular ligament that he pointed to in a book. I walked away with a prescription for some pain medication and was out of the clinic within 20 minutes.  I paid 18000Won for the Doctor visit, that's including the X-Rays, and I paid 17,000Won for my prescription.  There are three pills which I'm assuming are a pain reliever, anti-inflammatory, and a muscle relaxant (the three commonly put together).  My instructions were to stay off my foot and no exercise for 3 weeks.  It's hard to stay off of it here, and so it may take a little longer than I had hoped to recover, but I'm hoping now that I know what it is I can manage it better! 

I hope I have much better news once I update, but it was quite a neat experience! Let's hope I do not have to go back! :)

 Hello again everyone! My apologizes for not writing within the past 3 weeks.  Life has been crazy here, but I'm loving every minute of it. 

On July 13th, I started Taekwondo class.  It is extremely fun and very intense.  It's been a pleasure getting to know and understand some of the traditions and customs that come along with the actual sport of Taekwondo.  I unfortunately have to stop TKD for the time being due to a flare up of a previous back injury, but I hope to continue with TKD once I am in my homestay.  

Also on July 13th, I started the first of three Calligraphy classes.  The sansangneem (Teacher) is wonderful, and it is a really calming practice.  It's also really neat to see how you can actually make the beautiful writing you see on almost everything.  Our teacher bought us each a fan, and we were told to write a phrase or word on it in Korean, and I wrote "Enjoy Life" in Korean on it (Seen nah keh sahl ja).  If I could figure out how to type in Korean on the computer, I would write them out for you, but I still haven't figured it out yet.  For our last lesson which was this past Monday (July 27th) we had all chosen a Korean Proverb and were to write it.  It turned out really nice! I'm very glad I took this class because not only was I able to participate in a beautiful tradition here, I also have ink, a brush, and a paper weight that I can take with me to my homestay and continue this!

On July 17-19th, we were invited to Songnisan by the staff and director of the program here.  Songnisan means "away from mundane life" and the trip was for us to relax, refresh, and gain a new perspective so when we came back to Chuncheon and started Camp, we were ready to teach.  Songnisan was absolutely beautiful.  A friend, Marie, and I hiked about halfway up one of the mountains.  We took our time and enjoyed the wonderful scenery.  Many were there to just hike, but as a biologist, I could not pass up all the extrordiary things that were staring at me in the face.  We saw some really neat catipillars, trees, flowers, and mushrooms.  Also, as we walked, the path wound around next to a stream which turned into rapids as we got farther up, and eventually a waterfall.  It was spectacular.  Songnisan is one of Korea's top 8 most beautiful places to visit, and that is truly is!  I had my first real cultural experience here.  While shopping, there was a store owner who was a bigger woman like myself.  She came up to me, and grabbed my butt.  She then chuckled to herself, and grabbed her own butt, and then grabbed mine again.  She then said something to me in Korean, and I just turned to her and smiled and laughed a little. She just smiled and laughed.  I have no idea what happened in our exchange.  Although, I'm pretty sure she was comparing or saying how I am like her.  The ladies here are very tiny, and it is rare to see larger women. 

These past two weeks we have had a camp here for children from all over Korea who want to learn English.  This English immersion camp is not only for them to learn English, but it also is a time for us to practice teaching.  I have already taught two classes so far, and they went really well.  The students are extremely shy.  I'm not sure if it's their personalities, but I know they are just shy to talk in English.  In their English classes in their schools, they are focused on grammar and writing, but not so much conversation.  Therefore, when we have class and it's solely based upon participation and speaking, many clam up.  I had a great time.  My first lesson was on Luck and Superstition in the New Year, and my second lesson was on Food for 4th of July and their favorite holiday.  For an activity, I had them write me what their favorite holiday was, who they spend it with, what food they eat, when it is, and what ingredients are in some of their food.  One student wrote me "My favorite holiday is valentine's day.  I am alone.  It is on February 14th.  I eat chocolate candy and ice cream.  There is sugar and chocolate in the candy."  Then he drew a picture.  There were two hearts, and in the two hearts were two different couples.  One was a stick figure couple with puckered lips and hearts as eyes, and the 2nd couple had a girl giving a boy a gift, and he looked shocked!  Then on the bottom, he drew himself as a stick figure in black, on a chair, eating candy and ice cream.  What an imagination huh?!  These kids are extremely smart, but just not confident with their skills.  That's what I'm here for! To help them with their confidence!! :)

This past weekend we were given free time, and I used it to my advantage.  For the first time in a week, I slept more than 5 hours one night! It felt like a miracle.  I look back on College and wonder how I survived when I had to write two lab reports one night, and it was 10pm and I hadn't started.  I know I did it, and they turned out well.  I need to find that part of me again.  I have not given in to coffee yet and will not!

A week from tomorrow we get our placements.  We will find out the location of our school, and what type of school it is (Co-ed, boys, girls) and level (ms, hs, low, high).  I'm extremely nervous.  For this, our director comes and it's a huge ceremony.  They have a large map of Korea, and we have little flags with our names on them.  We will come up to the map and our flag will be placed on a part in Korea, where we have been placed.  There is no changing what we get, and I'm extremely excited to find out where I will be.  I will not know anything yet about my actual home-stay.  I will not know that until very close to August 17th, when we leave for our home-stay.  :-) 

To everyone who wonders about food here - We went out for Dakgahlbi the other night and it's a very spicy fried chicken with cabbage and rice cakes.  It is amazing, and Chuncheon is famous for it.  However, you better be prepared for the spiciness.  It was so hot. My throat was burning, my tongue was burning, and I thought my lips were on fire.  Even though it was hot, it is still amazing.  After that we had some papingsu - which is a shaved ice/ice cream/fruit/cereal desert.  Just mix all those together and you can imagine how wonderful it tastes!  A friend and I went to the GS Mart the other day (like a Wal-mart) and I saw a McDonalds! Yes everyone, there is a McDonalds.  The prices are pretty comparable to what we pay in the states. Maybe a dollar cheaper.  For a BigMac Value Meal it was 4900Won, which is roughly $4. No, I did not have any! I'm enjoying the Korean food!

I hope you enjoy the update! 

 It's been quite a trip so far.  Thanks to everyone who sends their messages and love from home! I appreciate hearing from everyone.  It makes the transition a lot easier.  :)  I've gotten the same questions from quite a few people, so I'm going to do a mass Q & A for everyone who is curious what it's like to be in Korea! 

What is the food like? 
Everyone wants to know what I'm eating here.  The food here is SPICY.  :)  If you like spicy food, this is your place!  They eat a lot of vegetables such as cucumbers and cabbage.  We also have various concoctions of meat products...yes..it's a mixture of them.  I'm not really sure at some point in time what they actually put on our plates. There was soup the other day with lungs and intestine in it. We have rice at every meal (Reminds me of Nicaragua and Costa Rica).  The chopsticks are metal, and I can eat noodles with them (Yes, DC, I can eat noodles with them!) They also use a spoon, and I even saw forks the other day, but didn't use them.  The food overall isn't bad, you just have to be brave enough to try everything at least once!  The fruit here though is spectacular, especially the watermelon.  Although, I do crave apples, which they sell at E-mart, but they are nearly $8 for a little bag that we would pay $2 for at home.  

Shopping/Expenses
Things aren't too expensive here, depending on what you buy.  Electronics are much more expensive here than in the states.  We did have a girl in the group who bought a camera here the other day for $170 though, but she could have found it in the states for much less.  They sell 320GB External Harddrives for about $100, which is pricy compared other places.  This country is filled with stationary.  They love their cute little stationary, and there are cute little sayings on EVERYTHING you buy.  My notecards have a saying about friendship on, my planner is themed with a little girl and hearts saying So Happy.  They also love socks, especially ones with K-Pop stars on them.  It's neat to see all the different clothing styles and fads they have here.  I bought a pair of tennis shoes today for 33000Won, or about $25, which isn't too bad.  They said it may not be possible to get shoes any bigger than 8's, but I was lucky and found a pair that fit! :)

Language
The language is hard.  I'm not going to say it's easy and fool myself.  It's ridiculously hard to learn.  I think the problem I have is that I've never tried a language that is all characters.  Although it's phonetic, it's still not easy at all.  Our language classes are 4 hours each day, and they are intensive, just as they told us they would be.  Last night I studied for 7 hours to memorize 25 words, and I'm sure that I didn't have all of them correct on the quiz we had.  I'm very glad the program has this course for us, otherwise I would feel even more isolated.  Even though it's hard, and I'm struggling as I've never had before, I'm going to be grateful when I can actually have a conversation in Hangul. 

Orientation
Orientation has been going well.  I am living at Kangwon National University in Chuncheon right now.  The dorms are super tiny.  The size of the dorm for 2 of us is roughly the size of my single dorm room at Carthage.  The orientation leaders are keeping us extremely busy and we are learning lots.  I feel as if I'm going to be prepared when I leave on Yonsei Day!  In a week time we start teaching students.  We are holding a Camp here where we will be able to get some experience teaching/observing/making lesson plans/etc.  This will help us feel better acquainted with Korean students and how a class may run.  So far, I've hailed my own taxi, told him where I need to go, have shopped, gone out for Bibimbap and Papingsu, and am loving it. 

My Job
My job as an ETA is to have a classroom for conversational english.  I will not be teaching English as we think in America.  We think that an English class will be grammar, punctuation, etc.  My job is to get the students to use the language that they know as well as be a cultural ambassador in the classroom.  Education is extremely strict here.  Many students go to school from 7-10pm-midnight.  Therefore, they do not really have much social interaction with one another.  Many have dreams of going to a SKY school, which is like our IVY league schools, but in Korea.  They will study, study, study, but only to know what they need to for the test and to get into a SKY school.  They do not use their English outside of the classroom, or use it in a way to make friends and learn about one another.  This is where I will come in.  I have a few goals for my classroom this year.  I hope to be able to get the students comfortable talking with one another and to a native English speaker.  Many are not confident about their abilities at all.  I also want them to have fun, experience creativity, and to also gain a sense of individuality.  Since everything is so standardized, there isn't much individuality at all. 

Scenery
Korea looks as though I would have imagined it.  If you can picture a really crammed city, with buildings going up instead of expanding on acres of land, then you're starting to imagine what it looks like.  The scenery from my room is incredible.  There are some absolutely gorgeous mountains right outside of our window.  Everything is built on a hill.  As we drove from Seoul to Chuncheon, it was neat to see all the mountains and to go through the various tunnels through them.  Also, as we would round a corner, you would see a city nestled inside of a valley.  It's a really beautiful thing to see.

So far, all is going well, and I just cannot wait to get out and teach! :) I will know my placement by August 6! :)
Anneyonghaseyo

S. Korea is worried about the swine flu.  To enter the country we had to go through a medical checkpoint and have our temperature taken.  This was to ensure we were not carrying it.  All was well, and we arrived at Kangwon National University in Chuncheon at about 9 am yesterday.  The countryside is beautiful.  We were not able to see much of Seoul, but from what I saw, I'm very excited to explore it soon in August.  The country really looks like it does in travel brochures.  As we left the airport, we could see the lush hillsides, with the sun high in the sky.  There was a haze over everything and as we would round the corner on the road we would see another village or city located in between another hillside.  The neatest part I thought was when we would go through a city, and in the middle of it or on a side of a hill, there was a little farm.  The corn here is definitely "Knee High" by the 4th of July! :)  

Our first day of orientation went well.  They are keeping us extremely busy so we can get adjusted to the difference in time.  Needless to say, I went to bed at 7pm last night and was up at 5 am this morning.  We took our language placement test today.  "Introduce yourself in Korean," was the promp.  I wrote the letters of the alphabet down, and I'm pretty sure I missed a few letters.  I will more than likely be a beginner and I'm excited to learn as much Korean as I can.  We have class fro 9-1pm each day for Korean, and even have tutor or supplemental sessions in which I will be participating in.  I'm excited to learn! :) 

The food here is good.  It's definitely Korean.  There is nothing like Rice and Kimchi for every meal, but it's good.  For breakfast this morning, they plopped a piece of fish, scales, bones and everything on my plate.  No cheerios or toaster strudels for us! 

Back to the subject of this blog: Quarantine.  As I woke up this morning, I heard people talking in the hall of someone not feeling well.  This individual more than likely was just jet-lagged and feeling sick from the food, water, etc.  He was taken to the hospital, and in the meantime, the KNU officials got involved.  We are now quarantined for 24 hours.  We cannot talk to other Korean students or even walk around the campus.  They do take Swine Flu very seriously, and although the individual does not have any symptoms anymore, they are still vigilant and monitoring his every move, as well as ours.  We will be bussed to our classroom, and will have to eat by ourselves in the cafeteria.  It's quite interesting to see how situations are handled in different countries.  A simple stomach bug or indigestion, which means "just get rest" in America has others seriously concerned in Korea.  I don't blame them at all, I would be looking out for anything suspicious and for something that could turn into a serious situation. 

I am having a fantastic time so far.  I'm a little tired yet, and am ready to explore, but that will have to wait just one more day.  As we go to E-Mart (Kind of like Walmart in America) I will be taking some pictures.  It will be my first Taxi ride here in Korea! What an adventure! :)

Hope all is well in America and everyone had a great Fourth of July!  Leave me a message if you've got time! 

 10 days left.  10 days does not seem like a very long time.  In fact, it's not.  I keep thinking, maybe the time will go by slowly and I will be able to get everything accomplished yet, but in reality, time has sped up.  My to do list has grown to a mile long.  Even when I delete, I add, so I'm just going in one big circle.  The biggest issue is packing.  How do you pack for one year in three suitcases?  Let me rephrase that, how does a GIRL pack for a year in 3 suitcases?  I'm sure it will all manage to fit into my suitcases, but for now, the piles of "Oh, that's going to Korea with me!" are just that, piles.  They only get bigger each day.  I've booked myself to work until June 30th, which means I really only have 2 days to actually focus on just packing.  The task will be accomplished. 

I need to focus on one issue for a minute here-Safety.  My safety.  I get at least an email or a message a day from someone worried about my safety while I am in South Korea.  Please do not be worried about me.  I will be just fine over there as I would be going anywhere else.  I have a good head on my shoulders too, so I will not be doing anything "stupid" as one of my relatives puts it. :)  

I believe everything happens for a reason.  Therefore, I do believe in there being a higher reasoning of why I'm headed to South Korea with the  ******** Scholarship.  I was chosen to teach English.  It was a long wait to hear the news that I was accepted for the scholarship, and I still remember that phone call from my mother.  I even remember running down to Straz at Carthage, passing a million people I wanted to tell, and went straight to Heg's office to tell him.  I have never felt so accomplished in my life than at that moment in time.  

I'm excited for the next chapter of my life.  The journey has only just begun.  South Korea is definitely going to be different than what I could ever imagine it.  I'm not used to their customs and lifestyle, but I do believe I will be able to fit in as time goes on.  With all the traveling I've done before and everything I've learned, I feel prepared to take the giant leap and hop on the plane that will whisk me away to my new home-away-from-home for the next year!  

Wish me luck!!