ChungDahm April

Working hard!

I think it is high time for a full classroom update. What does the school look like? How many classes do you have? How old are your students? What are they like? Stay tuned!

What did I tell you?

My first week, I observed classes for about two days. The way things are done is a little different than how we learned in training, so I needed to change the way I thought about the class structure. Basically, every class has three sections: reading, writing and speaking. In training, we learned how to teach every one of these sections because there are some branches where the native teachers do teach all three. However, at most branches, mine included, the native teachers teach some combination of the reading and speaking section, and bilingual teachers do a combination of reading and writing (depending on the level). So, the first couple of days at school I was trying to make sense of the classes that I would be teaching and how they combined with the lessons of the bilingual teachers.

As for my actual classes, they run on a Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday, and Tuesday/ Thursday schedule. I have the same kids on MWF and another set of kids on TTh. ChungDahm is an umbrella institute that covers loads of different class types, ages and subjects. I was hired by ChungDahm April, which is the name of the English institute that serves the younger students. We go from preschool age through about sixth grade equivalent. I have at least one class in every age level except for the youngest ones. All in all, my students are pretty well behaved. Admittedly, an icy glare or threat is sometimes needed for the more rambunctious boys, but they usually respond pretty quickly to it.

Characters.

All in all, I have really been enjoying my time in the classroom so far. I have been thinking back to what I learned in training, and deciding what works for me and what doesn’t. And, of course, getting to know all of my students has been great. Some of these kids are such characters- it is hilarious to hear what they come up with. Someday soon I will do a post consisting of solely student quotes. So, like, get psyched for that.

Tourist Saturday

The Grand Entrance

So as things at work and home become a bit more normal- I decided to start what I hope will be a weekly event: Tourist Saturday! Please, please- withhold your excitement for just a moment while I explain.

You see, my schedule here is Korea is not what I would call taxing. I don’t have to be at work until 1:30 pm on most days, which leaves plenty of time for sight seeing in the morning, right?! Wrong. It leaves plenty of time for me to explore just how lazy one person can be: verdict? Pretty darn lazy.

SO- I instituted tourist Saturday as a way to get myself out to see just what this country has to show me. Up first?

Gyeongbokgung Palace

Changing of the guard

The biggest palace of the Joseon Dynasty, this palace burnt down during the Japanese invasion, and was rebuilt in the late 1800s. And let me just say…WOW. I have never seen anything like it. Every detail down to the adornments on the banisters and the chimneys looks thought out and extremely well executed.

As I was exiting the train station, I could hear drum beats and scurried out to see what was going on. It just so happens that I arrived just as a changing of the guard ceremony was concluding, so I caught the very end of it. Lucky me!

The ceiling of the Throne Room with a dragon- the symbol of the King

Also quite coincidentally, when I arrived there was a free English language tour starting, so I jumped on that and got a much more in depth look at the palace than I would have otherwise. It was mostly outside, and it was COLD (Ballet flats and cropped jeans were a bad idea…), but still incredibly enjoyable. We walked all around the grounds and looked at all of the different buildings, the King’s throne room, his bedroom, the Queen’s bedroom, the King’s Mother’s suite, the concubines quarters, and even the gardens- to which my tour guide said, ‘In the spring this garden is very beautiful with flowers and blossoms, but right now you will have to use your imagination and come back in the spring.’ Thank you tour guide- SEE YOU THEN.

A closer look at the stunning paintwork

Tourist Saturday Part Deux

After I was finished at the palace, I experienced my only fail of the day.  I wanted to go to a place called Insadong, which is a pretty large market place of antiques, souvenirs and street food, a very touristy thing to do- however I couldn’t find it. I went to the right metro stop, and got out at the right exit, but no luck. I concluded that it was either to cold or too late in the day for anyone to be out, but one of my coworkers told me today that you have to find one specific street in the area, which I obviously failed at finding. Another time! I have a year to figure it out!

Tourist Saturday Part Tres

I was feeling a little bit of that ‘everyone at home is heading home for the holidays for family and good food and I am alone in a foreign country’ ache, so I decided to get out there and see what kind of holiday cheer I could scare up. I was more successful than I ever could have imagined- for on the very day that I wanted to be out and about in Seoul, a local international choir was having their annual ‘Handel’s Messiah’ concert with a special pre concert from the children of the Seoul International School. Lucky! I didn’t get any great pictures of the performance, but it was excellent. A great choir with a great orchestra. I got chills during ‘For unto us a child is born’ and, of course, the ‘Hallelujah chorus.’

All in all it was a great day. I got out, I saw things, and got a little more acquainted with this new country I call home.

Parade O' Police

PS : While I was walking around Seoul, I kept seeing huge numbers of police officers in full on riot gear marching around the city. At the time I thought it very strange as there were no protests going on, but in retrospect, I wonder if they had gotten news of Kim Jong Il's passing. The South Korean government has been put on alert, and I hope no future Tourist Saturday plans get ruined...

Training and Beyond

Something happened. Somehow, I blinked my eyes and November became December. When November went, it took the States, Thanksgiving, and my week of training with it.

Training was not nearly as ghastly as I feared. Before I left, I tried to do a little bit of research on the training itself, and received shocking results. There is one story in particular published online where a man recounts his story of being that 'tricked' into training for the wrong section, failed due to lack of preparation and was forced to return home. Now that I have experienced training and know a little more about the company, I can say that this story is complete poppycock. The fact is, this is a business, and it costs a lot to train new recruits. It ends up costing the company a lot of money if they pay to put someone through training who doesn’t end up in a classroom the next week. LOGIC! However, the ‘me’ that was reading this before I left was not being logical. I was worried sick.

However, once I met my roommate, some of the other trainees and all the trainers, my fears immediately subsided. Actually, I found training pretty enjoyable for the most part.  Of course it was difficult, as we had a lot of material to master in just one week, but I found that I really enjoyed learning effective teaching methods and how to manage a classroom (who has two thumbs and it a total nerd- this guy).

The market inside a subway car 

(Side note: One of the best parts of training was having to take the subway to and from it everyday. I love taking public transportation in a new city- actually, in any city. The subway stations in Seoul actually look more like malls. There are mazes of shops and fast food places. There is even a station with a food market inside a stationary train. Neat!)

Once training was over, I made my way 30 minutes outside of Seoul, to Bucheon, where I will be living for the year. First, I arrived at the school where I met some of the other teachers and sat in on some classes. I felt like the shiny new toy on Christmas day because almost as soon as I stepped foot in the school, I was surrounded by a mob of kids smiling and waving and marveling at my humongous, red, polka dotted luggage.

The night lights of Bucheon

So far, there is a lot to remember- like which class is on which lesson, when to collect and hand back workbooks and homework, and when to grade the homework that is done online. It is hard trying to decide if your kids actually understand you or are just nodding and smiling at you because they know they should. But, like any other job I have ever had, it is just tough learning it all at the beginning. In a month or so, I will be a pro.

And so, after all of the struggle of filling out paperwork and getting a visa and working through training, I have made it. I will henceforth be known as 'Elizabeth Teacher.'

New Place, New Purse

Before I left Seoul, I did some thing a little bit silly. I bought a purse that I certainly do not need. But it is beautiful, classic, and has the added bonus of a hidden little detail just for me.

Sometimes, when one comes to a new place, it is important to find things that make you smile, and this purse certainly does that. It is something that I can, of course, use and enjoy while I am here. But, it is also something I will take home and remember as the first thing I bought during my time in Asia. I am a sucker for that kind of thing. I want to be able to look around my future home and see breadcrumbs from the places I have been. I want to display my life and travels on my walls, in the food I make, and, of course, in my closet.

And the little detail just for me? Open the inside, and there is a little patch that says:

                        “Wherever you go, I will follow”

That sold me. It is a little bit of poetry for me to carry around, and that makes me smile. 

That Old, Familiar Feeling

The first thing I have noticed is just how silly I feel! I spent so much time worrying about so many things, and really, I should have just known that it would be great. Of course it is great! How could it not have been great?!  

On the streets of Seoul (Financial District)

My training roommate is an absolute peach. I mean, literally she is a peach- she is from Georgia. There is a group of about 20 of us all getting trained this week. Mostly, we are from the states, but there are a few from the great UK and one girl from Canada. So far, everyone seems very nice.

By far the most amusing part of today was the medical exam that we all had to undergo. In a way, it acted as one big huge icebreaker. We were all taken to a medical center, and made to wear very silly looking tops, and then basically went through a medical obstacle course at warp speed. The eye test was done while the woman administering it was walking away from me, and I had to trot behind her to take the exam. Then, in rapid succession they took xrays, did a hearing test, a urine test, and a blood test. Not ready to have a needle in your arm? Too bad! Never have I ever seen a more efficient phlebotomist. We chatted, we laughed, we peed in a cup. I think it was a good time for all involved.

There are two native Koreans in my training group and one darling lady took a few of us under her wing for the afternoon, which was great. She found us an excellent restaurant for lunch (and only cost 10,000 won/ 10 dollars per person). I had my very first kimchi, and I hate to say-I am not sold on it yet. I wanted to love it so badly, so I am not giving up on it. Kimchi and I are in an 'it's complicated' relationship, but I am sure we will reconcile.

Don't know what it was called except DELICIOUS
 (someday the kimchi will be delicious too...)

Finally, I am excited to report that I am feeling that 'being abroad thrill' once more. You know, when you are doing something seemingly rudimentary, like walking down the street, and then you look up and remember where you are. On the other side of the world. I am in a place that is so, so different from any that I have ever seen before, and I think I forgot how amazing that is. For months I was so nervous about making this jump, but after just two days I am so glad to be here.

Airport Musings

Well, I made it! I am sitting comfortably in a surprisingly nice hotel room (complete with a kitchenette, washing machine, and small smoking porch). While I venture off to dream land, here are some musings from JFK.

1.     Packing was a somewhat stressful experience. For a while, I did the age old dance of adding some things to my bags, and weighing them, and taking stuff out, rearranging, reweighing, and deciding which items were really superfluous (I am an English teacher, remember?!). I could not come up with an arrangement where my bags were both full of everything that I wanted, and underweight. So, to the Internet I turned to check out the fee situation. Only a lump fee of $50 whether your bag is 1 pound over or 20 pounds over? I can do that. So, the plan was to over pack one bag, and have that be overweight, and another that was underweight. Such a good plan! However, my efforts were bested by the weight of my stuff, and both bags ended up being overweight. I knew it, and the woman checking me in knew it. I held my breath for a moment, she handed over my boarding pass, and I was on my way! I did not get charged one penny. “You should have packed more stuff!” said my mom as my already bursting bags rolled away on the conveyor belt. Something tells me that I have enough stuff. Who am I kidding? You can never have enough stuff.

2.     Security. Yikes! I went through a terminal that must deal with the majority of the Asia bound flights, so most of the passengers around me were Asian. Like, I was the only blonde person in sight and I hadn’t even stepped off of the continent yet. So, with that came a majority of people with imperfect English, who were making the TSA agents, to say it gently, frustrated. (Some might call them RACIST, but that is an ugly word, right? No, they were definitely racist.) Apparently there are a lot of idiot passengers out today because no one was listening to the TSA orders. (They were not idiots, they did not speak English. But as we all know, speaking louder and slower to someone who does not speak your language should solve the problem RIGHT?!) But for me, the best part was when one particular TSA man kept trying out his limited Spanish to see if that helped. He was trying to tell one woman to take off her jacket, and when she didn’t get it, he just started shouting “CHAQUETA” at her. One guy didn’t put his laptop in its own tray, and he tried “LAPTOP SOLO.” When will people learn?

3.     There is a kinder chocolate store in the airport. Fresh Bueno Bars will really go a long in easing my nerves. But really, at this point, who is nervous? Not me! That is what I keep telling myself anyway…

4.     I see a cute Korean kid sitting across the way. MAYBE HE WILL BE IN MY CLASS.

5.     The airline keeps making announcements in Korean, which I do not speak…YET. They are probably not that important…

GOOGLE THIS

Wow- for a little bit there I was just teeming with information and the urge to start blogging, and then it seems as though the urge was quieted for a time. Maybe because I got busy, maybe because I realized that Im not quite that interesting yet. BUT I WILL SAY THIS:

Google should not be allowed for people who are about to take a leap of faith. Every disgruntled employee that ever existed used to just slink into the darkness after an unhappy experience in the workplace. But now, every one of them has a new medium to express their unhappiness. Be it YouTube, the Blogosphere, or any small time newspaper willing to print their story, all the bad experiences are out there for innocent people to find by accident. Cut to: Liz harmlessly searching for people who have taught abroad, and finding at least three or four bad experiences tied to South Korea and teaching, and one tied to my organization specifically. Let me just say, it has made for more than one sleepless night.

However, when the light of day dawns once more, I realize that I am nothing like those disgruntled employees. I do not enjoy standing under dark clouds. I am quite sure that my experience abroad will be great. It probably won’t be great everyday, but overall, it will be great. I will find the greatness in it. I found the greatness in London (like that was hard), in Boston, and in Madrid, and I am sure I can find it in Seoul and beyond.

SO TAKE THAT GOOGLE.

A Leap of Faith

I fancy myself a well seasoned traveller. I have lived abroad more than once, I have immersed myself in a different language, I have explored the cobblestone alleyways of many of Europe's most famous gems- and I have loved every minute of it. Each time I set my sights on a place just a little farther away than I ventured before, and each time, I fancied those trips a Leap of Faith. But now I see that those previous excursions, while fulfilling and meaningful in more ways than I can possibly count, were nothing compared to the leap I am planning now. For, come November's end, I will be boarding a plane (with a one- way ticket!!) bound for Seoul, South Korea, to teach english to darling Korean children.

Clearly, in the next year I will use no part of what I learned in my major classes, so "How does a Hispanic Language and Literature make the choice to move to Asia?" is a question I get a lot, along with quizzical looks mixed with shock and awe. It is kind of funny how "I am never really going to go to Asia, I am just filling out this application to make myself feel like I have a plan" turned into "I really need to get ahold of this travel agent so I can make sure my flights correspond to the dates on my visa."

I can't decide how to end this gracefully while still convincing you that what I have to say is interesting, so just....like....trust me. It'll be good.