Teacher's Workshop & Christmas Week

I made it through the Christmas season! After feeling the homesickness on Thanksgiving, I was sure that Christmas time in Korea would be really tough. They hardly celebrate it here, you really only see decoration at department stores and hear really bad renditions of Christmas songs. But that actually helped because I didn't want to be reminded of what I was missing at home. But December went by so fast and Christmas turned out to be much better than I ever could have expected.

School ended on Monday the 22nd, and on the 23rd I went on an overnight teachers trip which was supposed to be a teaching reading workshop...turns out that's a complete coverup for a huge party. We left on Tuesday morning and made our first stop in the city of Gyongju to have some of the famous tofu soup and ginseng makaley. Makaley is a white korean rice wine which is home made, and this special type was infused with Ginseng root. I quickly realized that this trip would be an eating fest, so I asked my friend and coworker, Jolie, to teach me how to say, "No, Thank you, I'm full," and "I don't want to eat anymore." Koreans eat A LOT of food and they can't understand how I couldn't eat as much of them, so they insist on making me try things, even as I'm stuffed from the 5th course of the meal! After lunch in Gyongju, we made our way to the city of Pohang where we went to a famous temple. It was nice and we took a lot of group pictures with the teachers, including a "singles" pic of the 5 unmarried teachers, myself included. After an hour and a half at the temple, we hopped back on the bus and made our way through the mountains to get to the famous Jwangchung Mountain. On the way, our female vice principal provided entertainment by singing traditional korean songs and made us play some pretty funny games. I felt like I was on a teen tour for Korean adults! It was hilarious! When we finally made it through the mountain passes, we arrived at our motel the Dream Palace, which I can assure you is a misnomer. The "Dream Palace" was freezing cold and we got to sleep on the floor! We ate another huge meal and drank a bit more makaley (at least I did, many people drank A LOT of makaley) and then it was time for our workshop aka sports tournament.






The sports tournament was definitely the highlight of the trip. The female vice principal divided the teachers in to two teams and we each had to sign up for at least one round of the tournament, if not more. Since many of the games required Korean, I was entered into Crab Volleyball by default. First was the "acccent" game. The vice principal gave a word and each team had to have each of five players say the word emphasizing every syllable. For instance, one word was "mcDonalds" (of course this would be the one english word they chose) so they had to say Mcdonalds, mcDonalds, mcdoNalds, mcdonalDs or something like that. Anyway, it only got better from there. Next was the "kissing game." Each teacher playing was given a 3 inch long straw which they held in their mouth. Starting with the first player on line, they then had to pass a paper ring along the line using only the straw! This required very close mouth-to-mouth contact and the whole room was in hysterics watching! Notice my principal in the background of the picture, wishing he could get in on the action! Soooo funny. Finally, it was my turn to play crab volleyball, in which you play volleyball with a balloon and using only your feet and head. After three LONG sets, my team lost, but we put up a great effort! Finally, it was time for some karaoke and we called it a night by 1 a.m. The next day we went hiking at Jwungchung Mountain and then went for a feast of King Crab in the city of Yongda. I was finally home by 5 pm on Christmas eve.









The fun continued at a Christmas Eve party hosted by my good friends Heidi and Matt. One of the best parts was their suprise...a puppy they bought named Clancy! The toy poodle was soooo cute. We ate western food and drank red wine and then headed to a Noreabang (karaoke room) to meet our other friends and exchange our secret santa gifts. We sang Christmas eve night away, putting out of our minds the family we missed at home and instead enjoying the great friends we've all made here. It was truely a great night. On Christmas Day, I met my three best friends here for our own little gift exchange and then we cooked a western meal and spent the day watching Christmas movies. It certainly didn't make me wish I was home any less, but it was a far greater holiday than I expected to have here in Korea. I'm really lucky to have met such great people here. And now Christmas is over and I have New Years to look forward to! I'm heading off to Japan tomorrow with Kathryn, Natalie and Nisha where we'll spend 6 days in Tokyo and Kyoto, and party into 2009 in Tokyo. It's really cool to know that I've fullfilled my dream of being on the otherside of the world for New Years 2009! Hope you all had a great Christmas and have a wonderful New Year too. Love you all!

Korean Cuisine: First Edition

OK, I'm finally ready to take a stab at my first Korean food blog. Where to begin? I never could have imagined before I arrived here how much variety there is in the Korean culinary experience. I absolutely love Korean food because its delicious, healthy, and always nice to look at too. I live in Busan where there is a special focus on seafood, which makes me soooo happy! In this blog, I'll try to cover some of the basic dishes and then talk about the crazier side of Korean food. There is so much to say though, so I'll be back with a second edition within the next few months.

The first and most important dish in Korea (which I'm sure you've already read about in my blog) is Kimchi. Kimchi is probably the single most recognizable Korean dish and they are crazy about it here. Basically, kimchi is white cabbage and red pepper paste, which has been fermenting in a large clay pot for any where from several months to years. It is served like salad (on the side) with every meal, and sometimes it is actually incorporated into the dish. Kimchi cheegay is kimchi stew with pork or tuna and sometimes you'll see kimchi wrapped around meat or stuffed in dumplings. It's not for everyone, but for people who have a taste for spicy and savory food, you just might love it.

Kimchi



Lots of small side dishes

Koreans, like many asians, love rice. Rice is also incorporated into every meal, whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner. It is usually served plain with a meal, but it is also used in many types of dishes. Some of the most popular rice foods are bibimbap, gimbap, rice cakes, and bokimbap (bap means rice, fyi). Bibimbap is one of my favorites. It is basically a bowl of rice with tons of vegetables and meats or fishes mixed in, and topped with an egg and a delicious thick red sauce made from soy, I think. Gimbap is the korean version of a sushi roll, only they put vegetables, kimchi, and sometimes meat inside, instead of raw fish. Bokimbap is a very spicy version of chinese fried rice. THEN, there are all of the other rice products. You wouldn't believe the variety of things that can be made from rice! Just like we use flour to make bread, cookies, wraps, cakes, pasta, scones, etc. they use rice for all kinds of things. Songpyon is a delicious dessert rice ball with sweet sesame seed or red bean paste inside. The list goes on and on, so I'll try to describe some other rice dishes next time.

Bibimbap

Rice cake desserts

Then there are all of the different meat and seafood dishes. Bulgogi is a popular beef dish, Songyupsa is korean barbeque...my favorite! Korean barbeque is so fun. You sit around a grill and cook your meat yourself. You then take a delicious sesame leaf and wrap the meat with kimchi and yummy dipping sauces. So delicious. There are also a ton of different soups and stews. My favorite are pork bone soup (Gum Jae Tong) and Spicy Seafood Stew.

Korean barbecue

Seafood Galbi...spicy!

Pork bone soup

Spicy seafood stew

Now, for the weird and scary parts of Korean cuisine! In my time here I've enjoyed sooooo much good food, but have also tried some pretty scary things. Among them: silk worm larvae, jelly fish, pigs blood soup (GROSS!), and......wait for it.....wait for it....live octopus!!! Yes, I have eaten all of those things. Let's start with silk worm larvae, which you can find on the street at most street vendors and is sold in a paper cup with about 100 of the little critters. They smell very funky...a little bit like dirt and bugs! And when you bite into one it pops in your mouth. It was absolutely gross. But children love eating it for a snack...they pop it in there mouth like M&M's! Next, there's jellyfish, which is pretty delicious. I didn't even know thats what I was eating, but it was pretty good. The pigs blood soup was served to me unknowingly at school. I didn't know what I was eating and I didn't like it either, so I ate very little. It was just very gooey and bland tasting and dark purple in color, so I got bad vibes. Later when I found out, I was not happy! Finally we come to the live octopus, which is served on the plate still moving! It is cut up, yet somehow the tenacles continue wiggling around on the plate for over an hour. It was delicious. I can't really describe the experience other than it was so much fun, but you can watch below for yourself! Enjoy!

Jellyfish

Silk worm larvae

Don't try this at home...or anywhere!

Don't worry, be happy...

The holiday season is here and I am beginning to feel the homesickness kicking in, and starting to ask myself why I came here, so far away from the people I love. It doesn't help when the closest thing I have to remind me of home is Starbucks. But as much as I miss you all, I know this experience is worth it, so I'm just keeping my chin up and reminding myself of the things that make me smile in Korea. Here are a few...

Things in Korea that Make Me Smile:

*When my principle says to me everyday at lunch, "Oh, Laura, nice to meet you."
*Being 10 minutes away from a beautiful mountain.
*Stumbling upon random temples in the woods.
*When my students pet me and say "Oh teacha, so beauteeful."
*When my favorite student runs in the room, hugs me and says "I LOVE YOU LAURA!"
*When my coteachers says to a student "Take off your clothes!" because he's hot from playing outside.
*Singing 80's ballads at norebang (karaoke) while drinking beer and eating dried squid.
*How all of the boys at school are obsessed with saying, "Fire in the hole!"
* Kimchi!
*Random English signs (see pic)
*Giant hula hoops (see pic)
*Randomly being invited to a picnic by a group of older Korean folks while strolling through the park.
*Being fed by the older korean folks at their picnic and being forced to drink homemade korean whiskey.
*Korean babies...so freaking cute.
*Korean hikers, they get all dressed up and take it very seriously, hilarious.
*Sitting on my warm heated floor...until it burns my tooshie!
*An 8 year old who doesn't know that his shirt says, "Shit Happens When You Party Naked."
*The secretary at my school who doesn't know that her shirt says, "Add Vodka and Stir."
*Last minute weekend getaways, and a bus ride that only costs $7 round trip!
*Finding ways to remember korean words like delicious (masheeshayo)..."my-sister-yo"
*Getting beer for $3, a cab ride for $4, and a t-shirt for $5!
* Planning for my upcoming trips to Japan and Thailand!
*Having my own apartment, meeting new people, and having the freedom to travel to the places I've always dreamed.

Norebang!!!

Being fed at a Korean picnic

The "I love you, Laura" girls

I live by this beach :)


Weekend getaways...always an adventure!


They didn't even try to use English on this sign


Stumbled upon a temple in the woods


MJ, my co-worker, with a giant hula hoop


making new friends!


a contemplative moment


Hanging out with the hikers...I fit right in!

Another thing that makes me smile is this video called "Where the Hell is Matt?"...you may have already heard him because he's gotten a lot of press lately. Anyway, this video inspires me to travel and reminds me that no matter where you are in the world you can always find a way to be happy and spread the love. WATCH IT:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBZQ1G5RBA4

Korean Culture Top 10's!!

Since coming to Korea, I have experienced many strange and different customs from my own. As I've said before, many foreigners get frustrated living in Korea and dealing with the cultural differences. Some people look at American or western culture as right and other cultures as wrong, but I think that that attitude is the only thing thats wrong. With culture there is no right and wrong, it just depends on your perspective. Having this mindset has helped me to better understand Korean people and it has saved me from stressing out about things I cannot control.

Though I know that Korean culture is not any better or worse from my own, I have certainly come to see how different it is. There are things about Korea that I think are great and there are things that to me are out right bizarre. Now that I've been here for over 3 months, I wanted to do a Top 10 blog about Korean culture. Once again, this is not a judgement on the culture, it's just a fun way of pointing out the differences I've seen.

Top 10 Strangest Customs & Beliefs
10. You should not go to a restaurant by yourself...ever.
9. Pregnant woman should not eat red beans. No explaination provided.
8. You cannot wear gloves until December 1st.
7. You should eat soup in the summer because it will make your body feel hot and the air feel cooler...eat soup in the winter because it will make your body feel hot and the air around feel warmer...??!
6. Drinking water during a meal slows digestion...hence, I'm always thirsty at meals.
5. You can only eat ice cream during summertime. :(
4. Rice for breakfast, rice for lunch, rice for dinner.
3. You cannot go to the beach after August 15...even though its hot through October! (seriously, no one goes!)
2. A dog can be your pet...or your dinner. :(

and the strangest belief I've encountered thus far in Korea...

1. Fan Death! This one is my favorite...Korean's believe that you can die if you have a fan on in a room with all the doors and windows closed. You can actually list it as the cause of death on the death certificate.


Top 10 Best Things About Korea
10. Koreans love fashion. They have great style and cheap clothes!
9. No urban sprawl. Koreans build up not out, so even though its a tiny country, there is so much natural beauty.
8. Chivalry is alive and well...need to find myself a Korean boy ;)
7. Heated floors! Koreans have used this efficient system for centuries and it really works...ever wonder why Asians sleep on the floor?
6. Koreans are so active. Their favorite activity is hiking and they are always on the move, hence one of the lowest obesity rates in the world.
5. Tokens of appreciation. Koreans always give random small tokens of appreciation to their friends, usually a bag of fruit or a pair of socks. It's great!
4. Hangul is easy! Hangul is the korean writing system. It was invented by a king who wanted a writing system for the commoner. There are only 24 characters so its easy to learn to read.
3. Konglish...Korean and English mixed together- its great for foreigners because there are so many words. ex: com-pu-ta, re-mon, chang-ee, hand-pone, note-a-book, lunch-ee, tak-shi...and on and on.
2. Norebang! This means singing room aka Karaoke. It's pretty much the national pasttime.

and the best thing about Korea...

1. Korean Food! It is delicious and so healthy (blog on food coming soon)!

Goofing around with my favorite 5th graders

Korean friends, and Gretchen on the right!

I was bored so I wrote an essay...

This week, I had a few days off while my sixth grade students went on a cultural trip (of which I was not invited!) so my co-teacher and I decided to spend our time writing for an essay contest. The contest is being sponsored by the Korean government and is a chance for foreign and korean teachers to talk about their experiences and offer suggestions to improve the English program in Korea. Specifically, foreign teachers were supposed to write about the challenges of adjusting to life and work in Korea and how they overcame them. The grand prize is $500 and there are 12 other prizes from $300 - $50... it was thrown together pretty last minute and is by no means great, but I'm hoping for a little dough!

Below is most of my essay; I cut a number of paragraphs about my co-teacher and the english education program because it would be kind of boring for you all to read. But I hope the rest will give you a better idea of my first three months of work. Enjoy...

You Get What You Give:
Lessons Learned about Becoming a Teacher in Korea

Last New Years Eve, standing in Central Park in New York City, I vowed to change my life and travel. I thought to myself, "On New Years 2009, I want to be on the other side of the world." I kept this thought in my mind for a couple of months, but I didn’t see anything abroad that looked feasible so I just let it be. Then one day, I stumbled upon an advertisement for teaching public school abroad in South Korea. The job with EPIK had everything I was looking for; living in an Asian country, an opportunity to gain teaching experience, good pay, housing, airfare, and an orientation where I could meet other foreigners. I decided to go for it. And though it was a long and sometimes tedious application process, I finally found myself stepping off of the plane in Seoul last August.

The orientation in Seoul was a great opportunity to meet many new people, adjust to life in Korea and develop skills and ideas for teaching in public school. Over the course of the week in Seoul, we took many classes about teaching and life in Korea, took a field trip to a Korean folk village, and had several different cultural lessons to help us better understand Korean history and tradition. It was a good time; yet, at the end of the week we felt like we had been in a safe bubble and had no idea what challenges lay ahead of us in the real world of Korea.

Arriving in Busan, I don’t think there was a single EPIK teacher that wasn’t nervous about what would happen when we arrived. Would we like our co-teacher? Would our school have an apartment ready? Would we be allowed to go see our apartment or would we have to go out and meet the principle of our school on the first night? The nervousness and anticipation seemed too much to handle, and then in a moment we arrived at the Busan Education Office and our questions were answered. In what seemed like some kind of organized chaos, our co-teachers found us in a sea of people, helped us grab our luggage and whisked us away, unsure of where we were going or when we would see our friends again. And for the next week, some of us had smooth transitions and some of us had it a little more rough, but we all faced some kind of challenges. In my case, my school had not found an apartment for me (which was very disappointing), but when I learned that they were concerned for my happiness and wanted me to choose where I would be living for the next year, I felt relieved and knew I was in good hands.

For a week, I stayed with my co-teacher, Jeongim, who graciously offered her home and anything she had. While I was thankful and happy to have such a nice co-teacher, I felt overwhelmed living in someone else’s home, which I had never prepared for. For 8 days, my luggage could not be unpacked and I felt like this wasn’t my life, just a quick vacation and I would soon be going home. We went looking for apartments on several occasions, but nothing was ever good enough for them (although I would have taken anything, my school did not want me to settle). The anxiety began to affect me and one day at school, I let the emotions get to me. I cried to Jeongim and told her that I was very thankful for her hospitality, but I didn’t feel comfortable living with her anymore, and I wanted to find an apartment soon. She immediately got to work calling real estate agents and within two days I was moved into a great little apartment down the street from my school. Although the first obstacle was out of my way, I still faced many more in the month to come. Getting my life sorted out was no simple task, and it felt like I had to rely on my co-teacher for everything. From getting my medical check to opening a bank account to learning how to purchase garbage bags, I felt completely helpless. But with a little patience and a lot of help from my co-teacher, I finally my life sorted out, seven weeks after arriving to Korea.

I came to Korea with a desire to teach and had a lot of experience working with kids in a camp environment, but no real experience teaching in the classroom. I knew it would be tough, but no one could have prepared me for the difficulties of the first month of teaching. I arrived at school on the first day, feeling like a child on the first day of kindergarten; nervous and excited about the new life ahead of me and all of the lessons I was about to learn. Things went pretty smoothly at first. I met my co-workers and was greeted warmly by all of the faculty, students and parents. My first week of class was a breeze as I just introduced myself, showed pictures of my home and got to know my students and their English ability. And then I went to my second school, and it was a whole different ball game.

My second school is located at the top of Geumjeong Mountain. It is a very small, rural school somewhat secluded from the city, so they had never had a Guest English Teacher (GET) before. I was immediately thrown into teaching and was shocked to see that their style of co-teaching was very different from my first schools; it didn’t exist. The co-teacher just sat in the back of the room and watched me teach. On top of this, both the third and fourth grade had already finished the curriculum during summer English camp, so I would be responsible for lesson planning every week. There is nothing like the feeling of standing up in front of a class and realizing that you’ve finished your lesson but you still have 15 minutes left to teach. Having 20 sixth graders stare at you as if they are saying, “Now what, teacher?” is sure to produce anxiety in even the most easygoing person. At first, I was constantly worried about my two days a week at the mountain school and dreaded going to there. I did not come prepared for this kind of pressure. I tried explaining to the teachers why I was having such difficulty and asked them for help, but they were all busy with their own classes and they were very shy to speak English, so nothing ever got done.

After a few weeks, and many tearful hours at my desk, I came to the conclusion that the school wasn’t going to change, so I had to. I found an English text book that I liked called “Gogo Loves English” and I realized that I could use the book for both third and fourth grade, just by changing the difficulty of the activities. Soon, I began to gain confidence in the classroom as I put systems in place and used games, songs and activities that both excited and encouraged the children to speak English. Now, I am unfortunately no longer at the mountain school because the education office decided to place me in my first school full-time, but I have been given my own first grade class here which I teach four times a week. I no longer have any anxiety about teaching by myself; in fact I find that teaching my own class makes my job more exciting and worthwhile. Being in the classroom and constantly having to challenge myself to create a lesson or explain something difficult to my students has helped me to learn very quickly. For Halloween, I created an entire lesson plan for the sixth graders, which turned out very successful (I have provided a copy of the lesson below). I’m proud that over the past three months, I’ve become confident in my teaching skills and have become a leader and an equal partner with my co-teacher.

For any person teaching in Korea who is not happy with their job, my advice is to get up and do something about it. Sure, I am very lucky to have a great co-teacher, but my co-teacher is not the reason I’ve had a good experience, I am. If you feel like you’re not doing much in the classroom, ask to be given more responsibility. If your school doesn’t want to entrust you with your own first grade class, start small, and ask to teach 10 minutes of the class on your own. Then make sure those 10 minutes are fantastic. Whatever challenges you face at your school, there is always something you can do to make your situation better. It’s never going to be perfect, but with a positive, “go-get-em” attitude, you can be sure that you make your experience the best it can be.

Though I’ve been in Korea for just three short months, I’ve come a long way and have learned about myself and about teaching. I am grateful for the people that have helped me settle in, and so proud that I have achieved my goals. Life here is wonderful and if you come with a positive attitude and a little bit of patience, you can have the experience of a lifetime. This New Years Eve I will feel an incredible sense of accomplishment knowing how far I’ve come in just a year. I can only imagine what exciting things await in 2009.

Home sweet Home

This week has been full of reminders of home, beginning with Halloween last Friday, which is definitely not a holiday celebrated in Korea. I made a lesson on Halloween for my sixth graders which they loved. I taught them all about the holiday; how we dress up, trick or treat and of all of the characteristic things like witches, devils, ghosts and black cats. I taught them to sing "Trick or Treat, Trick or Treat, Give me something good to eat!" and told them I would give them candy if they sung it to me in the hallway. Big mistake! I ran out of candy in about an hour and they're still singing the song a week later. Now, I just tell them to sing it four times and when they're done I say "Halloween is over, silly!" It's pretty funny, but at least they're speaking English! At the end of the lesson, I posted pictures of my childhood halloweens, and they absolutely loved them. It was a really fun lesson and I really enjoyed sharing some of my culture... even if it is a silly, meaningless holiday, it's still great.

On Friday night, foreigners took over parts of the city, surely scaring Koreans with our ridiculous costumes everywhere we went. My friends and I went to a bar crawl in the Pusan National University (PNU) area, which also happens to be my neighborhood... and one of the coolest areas in the city! There were some ridiculous costumes, which was quite impressive seeing as there is nothing Halloween-themed sold in Korea. One guy went as Dokdo Island (the controversial island that Japan is trying to claim from Korea). One girl was an ipod Nano, and some of my friends went as Busan Pants Party 2008 (That's a reference to the pick up line "Would you like to come to the party...in my pants?" in case you hadn't heard of it...eh hem, Mom and Dad). I went as an 80's pop girl, which I know is not very creative, but I found the coolest, vintage 80's dress and leg warmers so I had a lot of fun. It was a blast and we were all so partied out after Friday that I think pretty much everyone sat around and watched movies for the rest of the weekend.

This week, all of us Americans eagerly awaited the elections, which didn't take place until Wednesday for us! When I woke up on Wednesday morning, I immediately checked the news, but the polls were just beginning to close and nothing had been counted yet. So, at school I found myself sneaking over to my laptop every 10 minutes during class to refresh the NYTimes homepage, which I don't think my co-teacher appreciated too much (but I know she understood how important it was for me). By 1 p.m. it was getting very close and I was at the edge of my seat waiting in anticipation...but I had to teach my first grade class! I turned off my computer and decided not to check again until all of my students had left the classroom. Finally, at 2 o'clock the classroom emptied and I frantically pulled up the news. "OBAMA" popped up on to the screen and I let out an excited scream of happiness and relief.

Yesterday, I was overwhelmed with emotion thinking about home and the pride I feel for our country. I know not all of you reading this may have voted for him or voted at all, but I think we can all agree that change was desperately needed and that we have found an honest, capable man to do the job. I don't think anyone put it better than Barack himself when he said, "Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope."

It's been an interesting week, and I'm reminded of how great it is to live abroad, but at the same time how lucky I am to have such a great home to return to.

The Korean School System...the good, the bad, the crazy

So, I had a request from my friend Ali to devote one blog to the Korean education system and how it is different from America. Sounds great! It's been pretty routine here this month, so I was struggling to think of a topic and that is a good one because the Korean school system is SOOOOO different.

Where to begin? I guess I can talk about the relationship between teachers and students and how much less defined it is in Korea. Students are extremely respectful of their teachers for the most part. Traditionally, being a teacher was one of the most highly regarded professions and a child was to give a teacher as much (if not more) repect as they would give their parents. Although teachers are not treated as well as they were many years ago, they are still very highly regarded.

Teachers in Korea can cross a line with students that would never ever be acceptable in America. Many times I will see male teachers playfully wrestling with their male students, but to the point where they are lifting them over their shoulders and dropping them on the ground. Its actually quite nice to see that they can take more of a role model position outside of the classroom with out having to worry about getting too close or making students uncomfortable. They just don't have those issues here. Then, there is another side to the teacher-student relationship, which is punishment and discipline. Until a few years ago it was perfectly acceptable to physically punish a student by hitting or whipping. Today, it is more likely to make a bad student stand with their hands over their head or against the wall for an extended period of time. But, physical discipline still happens! As much as I think my co-teacher is a wonderful woman, I was shocked and sickened on one occasion to see her wail a kid on the head and throw him to the ground. Granted, he was a very, very bad student, but I believe that it is not ever acceptable to hit a child.

In general, school is much more intense in Korea, too. From the 3rd grade students take national standardized tests, and they have a lot of pressure from their parents and their teachers to do well. They take studying very seriously, so anyone who can afford to goes to a private academy after school to do Math, Music, English, etc. Many students miss out on doing kid things because they are constantly studying. Overall, I would say that Korean students are well-behaved, happy and respectful, but unfortunately they have a lot of pressure from a young age. Add to that they have to go to school on Saturday! That's right, school is open 2 Saturdays of the month. Lucky for me, they know that western cultures don't do that, so our contracts stipulate that we don't have to go in on Saturday.

Maybe I sound negative about the Korean school system, but I actually feel that there are so many ways that its better than the American school system. In Korea, teachers have a respectable career, are paid well, and don't worry about crossing the line with their students. They also don't have to worry about verbal or physical violence from their students because that is rare. Being a teacher here is great. Especially as a foreign English teacher, its a wonderful job and I'm so happy going to work everyday. Occasionally things happen that are not the way I would like them to be, but thats when I just have to remember that phrase..."Welcome to Korea!"

P.S. Last weekend I went to the Busan Fireworks Festival and it was unbelievable!!! There were 1 million people and the fireworks were probably the best in the world...check out this youtube video, which is awesome, but doesn't even do it justice!

Busan Fireworks Festival: http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=9yA7C1t8BUc&feature=related

one million people waiting on Gwangalli Beach

Fireworks over Gwangalli Bridge

First trip out of Busan...

Last weekend we had three days off due to Korean Foundation Day, so my girlfriends and I decided it was finally time to get out of Busan and start seeing this country we live in. We wanted to choose a place that wouldn't be difficult to get to, as it was our first experience with public transit, so we took a 50-minute bus ride north to the city of Gyeongju. Gyeongju is known as the most historical city in Korea, as it was the capital of Korea during the ancient Silla dynasty, and when I saw pictures of it, I knew I had to go. The city is strewn with tombs of ancient kings, in the form of gigantic grass humps popping out of the ground. It looked unlike anything I'd ever seen, so I was really eager to check it out.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and easily found the Hanjin Hostel, which had been recommended in all of the travel guides due to its nice accomodations, great location, and crazy/eccentric owner, Mr. Kwon. When we got there, we were happily suprised. The hostel felt more like the home of some Korean grandparents...in a good way. They showed us to our large room with three queen-sized beds, which was through a back courtyard where we were told we could hang out or "have party" at night. The room was very uniquely decorated; a quilt of the last supper hung on one wall, while a massive painting (at least 5 feet long) of deer was on the other side, along with other asian decor through out. We decided to venture off right away, so Mr. Kwon gave us maps and brochures and pointed us off in the direction of the recommended sites. The first was Tumili Park which is regarded as an outdoor museum because of the many tombs, one of which we were able to go inside of. We then walked south to an ancient observatory, then to a beautiful temple in the middle of the city that is lit up at night. When we finally finished four hours later, we stumbled upon a little Korean restaurant where we were served pork and cabbage stew, which ended up being the best meal I've had in Korea yet. We went back to the hostel and made friends with some German PhD students, but called it a pretty early night so we would be ready for day two.

The next morning we woke up at 10 and found a restaurant that served western breakfast, yum! We decided to rent bicycles because Gyeongju is supposedly the only city in Korea where you can safely ride bikes (Busan is definitely not safe to ride in anyway). We headed off to Mt. Namsan Park because my travel guide said "riding bikes in Namsam park is the perfect way to spend a day in Gyeongju." We arrived in about 30 minutes and stopped to check out some ancient thing in the ground that was once to be used to play drinking games (I don't know how else to descibe it). Anyway, we decided to purchase rice farmers hats while there, so that we could "truly expience the history of Korea." Haha, no, actually we just thought it was funny. We then decided to continue our bike ride around the park, but soon discovered that its called Mt. Namsan Park because its on a mountain! It was full on mountain biking up steep, rocky terrain. So, we parked the bikes, and went for a little hike and then got back on our bikes and headed back towards Gyeongju to explore. It was a hilarious afternoon, but also very tiring. We went back to the hotel around 4 pm to take a nap, and then hopped on the bus and took a 30 minute ride out to a famous temple, called Bulguksa. At the temple, we wandered around until dark and then found a traditional Korean restaurant nearby. We went home exhausted, but happy at how great our first adventure in Korea turned out.

After our long weekend, I thought this week would be so slow, but its actually gone by so fast! I am really enjoying teaching and although I'm tired sometimes, I never dread going to work or teaching a class. I'm having a lot of fun with the kids, and my confidence in creating and giving lessons has really increased. I now teach first grade by myself four times a week, and I really like it. I have a good system down, and I've found games that are fun and exciting for the kids, but very easy for me to plan and do in class. This weekend, I don't have any definite plans, but there are a bunch of festivals going on in Busan, so I'm sure I will check some of them out. The Pusan International Film Festival will be ending, there is a global culture gathering downtown, and the Jagalchi Fish Market will have a festival. Should be fun! Well, that's all I can think to say for now... annyonghe keysayo!!

Dynamic Busan in Sparkling Korea

A lot foreigners like to poke fun at all of the ridiculous English slogans in Korea such as "Sparkling Korea" and "Beautiful Korea, Wonderful Immigration," which is what the sign at the Busan immigration office reads. But truthfully, Busan really is a dynamic city. So many people have been asking me what its like, so I thought I would write about it this week.

I am so happy that I chose to come here over anywhere else. Korea is a strange yet exciting country, and the people are so much nicer than I expected. A lot of foreigners get caught up over Koreans being pushy on the subway or cutting in line, but if you can just realize that its their culture and to them its not rude, then you can really enjoy yourself here. Busan is a city on the south eastern coast of Korea, only 5 hours from Seoul and a 3 hour ferry ride to Japan. It has five great beaches, and is surrounded by large, lush mountains. From my apartment, which is in the Pusan National University neighborhood (the coolest place to live in the city!), I can walk to a cable car and go hiking to a temple in the mountains, or hop on a subway and I'm on the beach in 30 minutes. There is so much to do here; walk the Teajonde Cliffs, take a ferry to any of the near by islands, hit the beach (after August its empty because Koreans believe its too cold!), go to an amusement park, hike to a temple, swim with sharks at the Busan Aquarium (yea right!), check out the movies at the Pusan International Film Festival, go to one of the many museums, or take a train/bus to any of the near by towns for a quick getaway. Of course, the nightlife is pretty good too. There are a number of different neighborhoods with live music, clubs, and bars and you can find plenty of places to meet up with foreigners or mingle with young Koreans.

It's so easy to live here, too. A lot of people have been asking me if its difficult not knowing the language and is it expensive, things like that. It's not difficult at all. Although everything is written in Korean and everyone speaks Korean, the country still uses a lot English and everything is very westernized. All public transportation has English, so its never hard to get around. The only time it has been frustrating is in taxis because the drivers don't recognize our way of pronunciating words. If I say I want to go to Gwanalli beach, they only understand if I say "gwanAllI BEAchY" as if I'm trying to sound Korean. There have been a few times I've been taken to the complete opposite side of town due to miscommunication. Another thing is that although Koreans don't speak English or are too embarrassed to do so, they understand a lot. And if they don't, simple miming always does the trick! It's dirt cheap here too. A 10 minute cab will run you $3-4 and a 30 minute cab will be about $11 or $12. You can easily buy trendy clothes for under $20 (most shirts go for $5) and a big mug of beer is usually $3. As teachers, we don't get paid nearly as much as we would back home, but most of us can still send back at least $400 a month after traveling and spending all the money we need here.

So that's all I can think to say about Busan right now. It's a great, cheap city and I highly recommend anyone to come check it out. In other news, I have a three day weekend on Friday and some girlfriends and I are going to Gyeongju, a historic city about an hour away. It was the capital city of Korea during the Shilla Dynasty and is packed with temples, shrines, tombs and other cool ancient asian stuff. Definitely looking forward to it. Also, I FINALLY got internet in my apartment today! So exciting! I put all of my pictures up on picasa, so check them out: http://picasaweb.google.com/lcurrie711 ...enjoy!

Korean schools, oriental medicine and more...

Hmmm, what to say this week??? I can't think of a specific topic for today, so I'll just talk about a few of the things that happened in my week. Overall, my job is going very well and I'm definitely in a routine. I'm still a little stressed about creating lessons for my second school (where I teach on my own) because they always tell me to do one thing and then change it in the middle of class! I think it's just something I have to get used to about Korea...they don't usually stick to any sort of schedule or plan!

So, earlier in the week I was feeling pretty sick. I could barely sleep for three nights and my stomach was not doing well. I'm pretty sure it was some spicy bibimbap I ate or just all of the chilli flakes that are in kimchi, but regardless, it was not good! I told my co-teacher at my first school because she is really into oriental medicine and seems to have a cure for everything. For instance, when I get bug bites, she puts tiny little bandages with aluminum points in them to make the bites stop itching. It works! So I told her about my lack of sleep and stomach problems. She explained how the two are related and she also suggested I turn my head around to face south when I sleep, "to be better in tune with the magnetism of the earth." So, I thought she would just give me some friendly advice, maybe stick a bandaid on me, but instead she told me to follow her to the nurses office. When we got there she laid me down, and asked if I'd ever had accupuncture before! I said no, and she proceeded to take out her accupunture kit! Now, I know you're probably thinking I'm crazy if I let her do it, but I completely trust this woman and I know she has done it on many people ( and yes, the needles were new and sterile!) So, she did accupunture on my hands, in the pressure points for the stomach and liver. I probably had 50 needs in my hands! And then she told me to just lay there in the bed, where any student could have walked in and seen! It was a little uncomfortable, but I stayed for twenty minutes and then she tooked them out and we went to class. Three days later I am feeling better, but I'm not sure that the accupuncture did anything. The foreigners here have a little saying that sums up that experience..."welcome to Korea!"

Well other than that, my first school had sports day which is the same as American field day, only a lot crazier. Not only do they do something like 30 different races, they also perform traditional korean dances and music for the entire day. It's quite a sight. I was only there for the rehearsal day (another full day off from school to practice for the actual thing), but it was still great to be there. I'll post some pictures soon!

This should be another great weekend. There is a block party right down the street from my apartment where all of the bars will have live music and free food. It's only$15 for 6 drinks and a pass for the whole night. I'm really looking forward to meeting a bunch of foreigners AND koreans. Should be a blast! On Sunday, we are hiking up to the oldest temple in the city called Beomsa Temple. It's over 1,000 years old. Looking forward to it. Next weekend is another holiday, so I'll be traveling somewhere, not sure yet! I'll keep you posted :)

Happy Chuseok

Last weekend was Chuseok, the Korean thanksgiving, so public schools had five days off. Since we all just arrived three weeks ago, there wasn't enough time to plan major trips (plus traffic getting out of Busan was horrendous), so most of us stayed here and explored the city. There is sooo much to see here, I feel like it will take months to cover it all.

Friday was our first day off and most of us just slept in and then headed to the beach to relax after a long week of school and a night of partying on Thursday. Haeundae beach is so beautiful, I never thought I would find something like that here in Korea. The water is warm and clear and the beach is so clean. Lucky for us, Koreans believe that after August 15th they should not go to the beach, so it is practically empty in the end of August and September. In fact, it is against the law to swim after August 15th because it is supposedly dangerous. I think they think that the water is too cold and they could have a heart attack. In reality, its warm and beautiful and all of the foreigners go swimming anyway. No one stops us...they just stare at us like we are crazy.

On Saturday, Daryl and I went to the Changyu waterfalls, which are about a 30 minute bus ride out of the city. After getting lost for a good two hours we finally found our way to the town of Changyu and caught a taxi up to the falls to meet up with a bunch of Daryl's "footie lads." The waterfalls were freezing cold, but beautiful so we took a dip anyway. Unfortunately, the water comes from a dam at the top of the mountain which is opened in the morning and closed around noon, so by the time we got there at 3:30, there wasn't much water flowing anymore. Non the less, it was a great day of swimming, bbq-ing and relaxing. When we were about to leave, I asked the guys how we get back to the bus terminal and they said "Oh, you have to hitchhike." I laughed. They said, "No seriously, and you have to get right in the middle of the road or no one will stop for you." Obviously, I was thrilled, and decided I rather walk. Luckily, as soon as we came out of the falls we found a little restaurant and asked a woman there to call us a taxi. So all ended well, and I successfully avoided hitchhiking for the first and hopefully last time.

On Sunday, a bunch of us went to the top of Guemjungsun Mountain to the old fortress. We hiked for about two hours and saw some stunning views of the city of Busan. There are boulders at all of the peaks, so we climbed up to take pictures. My favorite part was stumbling upon a little pagoda (an old little temple like structure) and climbing onto the boulders around it. It was really amazing. The best part is that we probably only covered one-fifth of the fortress, so we'll be going back many more times to explore. On Monday and Tuesday, we shopped, went to restaurants and relaxed back at Haeundae beach. I took a walk through the cliffs on the side of the beach, and up to a cute little light house. The views of the islands were incredible. It's hard to go somewhere in Busan and not find beautiful scenery!

My mini vacation was great, and now its back to school. I'm really getting into a nice routine and lesson planning is becoming much easier. I love my apartment, and finally have all of my furniture! After 8 days of sleeping and eating on the floor, it felt great to feel like I now have a home. Anyway, I'm at school so I can't post any pictures, but I will as soon as I can! Bye for now!

Hello, Teacher Laura...

So I have been teaching for a week now, and although it is very challenging at times, I am loving it. I teach at two schools- Gumjung Elementary Monday-Wednesday and Gumsung Elementary on Thursday and Friday. The first school is very big and right in the city, so the students are very smart, but also pretty crazy. I teach mostly sixth grade with my co-teacher whose name is Basa. She is such a great person and a wonderful teacher, so it is nice to teach with her for the first three days of the week to prepare myself for teaching alone. The second school is up in the mountains, so to get there I have to take the subway and then hop on a bus, which takes me up a steep, winding road to the top of the mountain into a rural farming town. The school is small with just 10 teachers and 100 students and I am the first English teacher they have ever had. So, its nice that I am able to co-teach at the first school before I go to the other school to do the lessons on my own.

I am finding it very challenging to make lesson plans that properly suit each grade level. I find the higher grade levels are the easiest because they follow a curriculum and the students can all read and write in English at least at a basic level. First, third and fourth grade on the other hand are difficult! Last week, I prepared my first lesson for 3rd grade on the family, only to find out that they already knew all of the vocabulary about family, but the games I had planned to play were too difficult! Now I think I am going to structure classes around one topic such as food and one questions, such as "What's your favorite?"and then make sure to have plenty of extra games and songs up my sleeve in case anything goes wrong.

Other than some minor lesson planning struggles, I really do enjoy teaching. Not only is it fun, but it is so rewarding when you see the light turn on in a students head. They all like me very much and seem genuinely excited to attend my class (I hope I can keep the interest up!). For now, I am definitely a celebrity. This week, I signed my signature for many students, had my picture taken with camera phones by all of the 5th grade girls, and even had a little girl ask me if she could have some of my hair! What do I say to that?? Sure? She ended up finding some stuck to the back of my shirt, so she was very happy.

When I'm not teaching, I have been thoroughly enjoying the city of Busan. I moved into my apartment last Thursday and I love it! It's so nice and has plenty of space (which not all of the EPIK teachers can say). I have a door seperating my bedroom and kitchen, which is a pretty big deal, and I have two tiny little porches. I think my favorite part though are the rice paper window shades, they're so asian! Last weekend, we went out to a few different bars and hung out at gwangalli beach one night, just drinking, chatting and getting bit by misquitos. On Sunday, I went to Haeundae Beach which is the most popular of the 5 beaches in Busan. It was definitely better than I expected. The water was clear blue and warm...hopefully we'll be on the beach and swimming well into October!

Well, I still don't have internet in my apartment, but as soon as I do, I'll post more pictures of school, Busan and my apartment. It's Chuseok this weekend which is the Korean Thanksgiving, so teachers have 5 days off. So far my plans include a day trip to a beautiful water fall with Daryl and some of his football lads, a day trip to the Kings tombs in Gwangju, a rooftop beerbq, and beaching it as much as possible...life is so hard!

Busan or Bust!

We made it through 8 days of orientation and were so anxious on Friday to finally get down to Busan. After loading our luggage into a truck and receiving our training certificates, we got on the bus and made the six hour drive across the entire country of Korea. I have to say, I was very impressed with EPIK during the orientation week- they kept us well fed, gave us great accomodations, and gave us a lot of useful information about teaching and what to expect in the year ahead. The only downside was that they treated it a little too much like camp and tried to make activities at night so we couldn't go out...of course that didn't work.

Anyway, we finally arrived in Busan on Friday evening to the Busan Department of Education. I was excited and nervous, but my one and only fear was that my apartment wouldn't be ready and I would have to go live with my Korean co-teacher. Sure enough, when I met my co-teacher, she said "You come to live with me for few days!" She later explained that she wanted me to choose my own place so that I would be happy, which I greatly appreciate, BUT 5 days later and I'm still living with her! She has a really nice big place and I have my own room, but I'm ready to have my own place like all of my friends here. Its in my contract that I receive an apartment, and we haven't even looked at any yet! She is sooo nice though, and is responsible for everything having to do with me, so I know if I complain, she'll get in trouble and I don't want that. So, I'm waiting it out a little longer. I've learned quickly that patience and being positive are the keys to having a good time in Korea.

On a brighter note, I started teaching today at Gumseung Elementary and it was amazing! I had four sixth grade classes and they all went so well. I started by introducing myself and having the kids find Connecticut on a map of the world, and then find all of the other places that I've traveled. I then put pictures of my friends and family on a projector screen and had them asking me questions. They were so enthusiastic! Then we did an exercise about vacation, which is the first unit I'm teaching. Also, my school administration seem to really like me. Everyone calls me "beautiful Laura" (they love the "western" look) and they seem very supportive. Yesterday, I had to go on the morning broadcast and say hi to the whole school, that was hilarious.

I have another elementary school which I'll be going to on Thursdays and Fridays. It is up the mountain in a rural village, so it should be a really interesting and hopefully rewarding experience.

OK, I'm off, I have pictures of my first weekend in Busan, which I will put up as soon as I can! It's difficult not having wireless yet. Miss you all!

Seoul nice to meet you!

After a long and sleepless fourteen hour flight, I finally arrived in Seoul, Korea on Thursday evening. I was nervous and excited, and very relieved to see many people from my teaching program waiting with EPIK signs and smiles on their faces. I got on line with the other teachers to sign in and get on the shuttle bus to take us to Kankuk University, and immediately began making friends and meeting other people who will be going to Busan with me. It was quite a process to get from the airport to our dorm rooms, but finally, twenty hours after leaving New York, I was all checked in and took my first (unsuccessful) try at sleeping through a night in the opposite time zone...so far I still haven't had any luck with a full nights sleep.

Even with the lack of shut eye, it's been a crazy, exhilarating three days. On Day 1, we had our first opportunity to gather with everyone in our city, and luckily for me there are 90 teachers going to Busan! Most are from the US (many Minnesotans, who woulda thought?!) and Canada, and then a fe Brits and Kiwis. We attended a welcome ceremony, in which the head of the national education institute for Korea gave an address about the importance of our role as foreign teachers and made us feel all warm and bubbly inside. We also watched a hilarious video called "Korea Sparkling" about Korean culture which, of course, illustrated just how fascinating it is. On Day 2 we began classes, which were surprisingly interesting and very well-planned. The subjects covered were Teaching Writing, Elementary Curriculum, Korean Culture and Music, and Classroom Management, all taught by local professionals such as teachers and professors. Only 4 more days and 16 classes to go!

Today, we finally had the opportunity to get off campus and see some of Seoul! We drove through the city and saw the Olympic park and then made our way to a traditional Korean Folk Village, which my friend Alexis and I decided was basically the Korean version of colonial Williamsburg. We had a great time seeing the old farm villages and Buddhist temples, and watching traditional Korean dances.

There is soooo much more to say about orientation, the people I've been meeting, and my experience thus far in Korea. We are all so anxious to finish this week and move to our cities so that we can really begin what is sure to be a spectacular year. Anyway, I miss you all and will post more soon...now I'm off to Noribang- Korean karaoke!!!