Chuseok 2010

It is hard to believe that it is already time to celebrate Chuseok. Chuseok is similar to American Thanksgiving day. The holiday actually falls on this upcoming Wednesday but we celebrated at LCI on Friday. Most of the students arrived at LCI wearing Hanboks. Hanboks are traditional Korean clothing items that are wore for special holidays and events such as Chuseok. We had a very brief morning lesson, about twenty minutes, then we made Songpyeon with our classes. Songpyeon is a traditional Korea rice cake treat filled with sugar, beans and/or sesame seeds. As the kids rolled the rice cake and fillings together I stood back and took pictures. Our Korea bus/lunch teachers were there to oversee this activity and teach the kids the proper Songpyeon form in Korea. After all of the rice cake was rolled, and the kids were covered in a sticky mess we cleaned up and started class. Our lessons for the day were very casual and laid-back. Once Kinder was over the students were not dressed in Hanboks. Last year this day was one of my favorites at LCI and this year celebrations were just as memorable.


My entire class


Fred's class




Audrey and I


Making Songpyeon

Our Apartment

After almost two weeks in Korea we are finally starting to feel at home. Our apartment is still missing some key pieces of furniture, like a couch, but are now getting settled in. This past weekend Fred bought a new TV which makes the apartment feel more like ours. Here is a video to give you the grand tour.

Back to Suji

On Saturday morning I headed back to South Korea. After 3 flights and many hours in airports I finally arrived in Korea. I was met by a driver at the airport who took me to my new apartment. Fred was waiting for me once I arrived around 11:30pm. After realizing that our apartment is missing a few essential things, such as towels and hangers, we gave up on unpacking all of our things. I had a very sleepless night, spending most of my time thinking about my time at home and my future year in Korea.

Fred and I headed to school around 9am. We were happily greeted by the Korean staff before we settled in to get organized. It turned into a very hectic morning but everything went off well. My Kinders were very excited to see me. I was greeted by smiles, hugs and a few shocked faces. My old Kinder student, Samuel, ran and leaped into my arms yelling, "I missed you!" That just about made me week. The afternoon moved at about the same speed. I am not teaching a first grade class to students who have only had a few months of English. There are ten students and they are all very sweet. Right now they are speaking a lot of Korean but I hope this will stop once they get more comfortable with me and their new books. I was happily surprised to find out that I will still be teaching my old second graders. My supervisor told me that they were upset to find out that once I got back I would not be teaching them. I guess they would not stand for this because I am now teaching them. I have been teaching them since I arrived in Korea, July 2009. I am so excited to be their teacher.

After school Fred and I headed out to go shopping. We went to two stores to stock up on apartment essentials and after many bags full of goods we are getting organized. We picked up two traditional Korean foods for dinner and relaxed in our new apartment.

Today we are heading to school to continue to organized our books and lesson plans. I have learned that I will still be teaching my VERY smart third grade class which is exciting. Their English is so good that we usually debate or just talk about things related to our lessons. I am no longer teaching a fourth grade class so on Tuesdays and Thursdays I will finish teaching an hour early, at 6pm.

I will post apartment pictures soon!

The end has arrived

It is hard to believe that I have been in Korea for over a year. When I first arrived I honestly did not think that I would last four months and now it has been over a year. Time really has flown by in a blink of an eye. I have had the most amazing twelve months in Korea, filled with hard times and great times. The new teachers arrived this week, which made it all the more final that my year is up.

I have spent the week cleaning, packing and just enjoying my final days. I know that I will be back in Korea in five weeks however it feels so strange to leave. Once I return I will have the same Kinder class but all of my elementary classes are going to change. Ann, one of the new teachers, will teach my class during August then start teaching a new class once I return. I wonder what it will be like to leave and return. How will things have changed? Will the students be the same and will they seem a lot older and wiser?

Today was my last day teaching three of my classes that only come to LCI on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It was hard to say goodbye to them yet it didn't seem real. It is even harder to believe that I will be home in three days! I know that my time in the states will fly by and soon I will be back in Korea!


My third grade class on my last day teaching them. I have been teaching this class for my entire time in Korea.


One of my third grade classes on my last day teaching them.


My first grade class on my last Thursday teaching them.

Middle of July

It is very hard to believe that it is already the middle of July. I was warned that my year here will go by quickly but I was not really ready for how fast it would past. In just a few days I will have been in Korea for one year!

This past few weekend I headed down to Pohang. Josh came with me. We left on Friday after work and headed to the train station. The weather was a little rainy on Saturday so we spent the afternoon at the movie theater. We then had some western food, sandwiches and fries, for dinner before heading to the beach to light off fireworks. On Sunday we relaxed, had lunch and packed up. I filled my hiking backpack with most of Fred's winter clothes and carried his huge winter jacket in my arms. We have been trying to move most of the stuff he will be keeping in Korea to my apartment. I will then pack it into boxes and carry it to Josh's place to store for a month. Overall it was a great trip and I cannot believe that I will only make the journey once more!

The previous weekends Fred had came to Suji. We spent a lot of our time, including the 4th of July, in Seoul buying a few gifts to take back with us. It didn't feel like the 4th since there were no American flags, red, white and blue, grill outs or fireworks. Last year we were in Maine counting down our final days in the US. It was hard to believe that a year has already passed! We also went to the COEX mall and visited the aquarium. We later found out that one for Fred's kinder moms had seen us at the aquarium but was too shy and unsure to approach us.

Today is the morning of my second to last Monday. This is my last Monday before the two new teachers show up. It is going to be a busy final two weeks!


Johnson and I


Jacob and I


Young and I


Fred and I shooting off fireworks on the beach this past weekend

Kinder Video

Here is a video that I took one morning. We were about to start "Show and Tell" which Young had this morning. Toward the end of the video the kids start touching his dinosaurs so he begins screaming, "no touching!" Enjoy!

Suji goes to Pohang

This past weekend I headed down to Pohang to visit Fred again. Some of my co-workers have chosen to come with me for the past few trips. Last weekend was no different. After work on Friday Christine, Shauna, Britney and I headed to the train station. The girls got to experience my usual travel itinerary as we had to take two trains and a bus to reach Pohang around 12:30am. We met Fred at his apartment and the girls checked into a love motel right across the street. We were all wide awake and ready to see the ocean. We decided to take a quick walk along the beach. We walked to the beach, about a three minute walk, and enjoyed the night lights from the steel mill. We then walked to a food tent and had some stuffed squid. Britney and Shauna enjoyed it however Fred and I had much better on our two trips to Sokcho. We all then headed to bed.

On Saturday we woke up to sunshine. This was a very welcome surprise as the forecast had called for a rainy weekend. We had a fast lunch before heading to the beach. We enjoyed the day as we talked, read and made numerous coffee/smoothie runs. After a few hours, and sunburned body parts, we all left to shower before dinner. Fred and I took the girls to our favorite restaurant in Pohang (and possibly in Korea) which is a clam place right on the beach. Christine does not enjoy seafood so she had a different meal before joining us. We had two orders of clams as we relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful weather. After dinner we walked on the beach and shot fireworks. This is how I really love spending my Saturday nights in Korea! We then decided to head to the local foreign bar, Tilt. We met up with a few of Fred's friends for a while before going home.


Enjoying our clam dinner


Fred and I with our fireworks on the beach


All of us after shooting fireworks on the beach

On Sunday we woke up to more sun. After lunch the girls headed to the beach and Fred and I went to get our bus tickets home. We then shopped around for a while in order to avoid the beach and worsening our sunburns. In the afternoon we met up with the girls and then sadly we had to leave. We took a 5:10pm bus back to our area. The bus takes about four and half hours with a little break at a rest stop about halfway through. I had a fantastic weekend and I hope the girls did as well. I can't wait to get to Pohang again!


Enjoying the beach on Sunday before coming back to Suji

Cheering on South Korea

Here are my students cheering on Korea the day they played Argentina. Too bad Korea got smashed, 4-1.

Tay-hahn-meen-guk

Tay-hahn-meen-guk! This roughly translates to Fighting Korea! We heard this a lot this past weekend as we prepared for Korea's first game in the World Cup. The entire country was decked out in Korea gear and covered in red from head to toe. Everyone was wearing red horns in support of the Fighting Red Devils. It is so exciting to be in a country that actually cares about soccer during the World Cup.

This past Friday, Steve, Josh and I headed down to Pohang to visit Fred and enjoy the game there. When we woke up on Saturday we headed straight to the beach. Most of the foreigners in Pohang came out to play beach softball. After hanging out on the beach for a while we headed back to Fred's apartment. On our way we stocked up on our Korean gear for the game. We got t-shirts, bandannas, red devil horns and tattoo stickers. We then headed to the favorite foreign bar called Tilt. As we walked cars and taxis were literally slowing down as we passed to shout Tay-hahn-meen-guk. We got numerous shouts and fist pumps for other street walkers as well. Tilt is owned by a Korean-American from WI who went to St. Cloud State. He had bought some American hot dogs and brats and made home-made potato salad for a grill out. The game was being shown on a jumbo screen on the beach but we thought that it might rain so we stayed at Tilt for the game. The bar was packed with foreigners and Koreans. Korea ended up beating Greece 2-0. It was so much fun!

We ended up staying for the middle game as well. We filled our time with the soccer game and our own card games as we waited until the 3:30am start time of the USA-England game. Finally, after hours of waiting, the game started. I didn't think that it was possible but more people had squeezed into Tilt. There were a handful of teachers from England thrown into the mix as well. This made it very fun. It turned out to be England and Canada vs. US, Ireland and Scotland. (There are foreigners from many more places in Pohang then in Suji. There are also many South Africans.) Our 'team' was elated with the tie and the English team was upset and shocked. Around 6am we finally went to bed! We woke for lunch then took a 3:30 bus back to Suji. Overall it was a great weekend and I cannot wait for the next Korea game on Thursday. I hate to say it, but I officially cheering for the Fighting Red Devils! Tay-hahn-meen-guk!!


Outside of Tilt during our BBQ before the Korea game


Fred and I waiting for the game to start


Fred and Steve

Johnson's Birthday

On June 10th we celebrated Johnson's birthday. He turned Korean 6 which is US 5. It is crazy to think that I still have a few students who are US age 4. I still remind myself that even though they are in their second year of English they are still so young. Soon they will all have turned five. Johnson's mom showed up to LCI with a chocolate cake, candies, watermelon, Capri-Suns, bananas and cookies. We all sang happy birthday and took the usual pictures. After the students stuffed themselves with sugar we opened presents. Johnson's mom stayed for the entire party. They had lived in Texas for a few years so her English is very good. She would yell at the kids to speak in English and even answer their Korean questions in English. Usually during birthday parties the kids can speak Korean with the moms but not at this party. It was so funny to see the kids reactions when she spoke in English. I think they were very surprised!

The weekend before a bunch of us went into Seoul to celebrate Josh's birthday. We had Mexican for dinner then went to a few bars before coming back to Suji.