Springtime in Korea

*This is a long post (at least it took forever to write!) and probably has a lot of typos in it, so sorry in advance!

I know it's been a very long time, I'm sorry, but I'm finally updating my blog! Well I wish I could say that spring has arrived in Korea, but nope, it's a weird weather year and actually snowed last weekend, sleeted this morning, and then all afternoon we could hear the wind howling from inside the classrooms. But hopefully it will start becoming green around here soon, I'm ready to feel the sun again! I'm pretty sure you can see clear through my skin, that's how pale I am right now.

So obviously a lot has been happening since I last updated, but I'll try to summarize as best I can. In Korea, the school year ends at the end of February and the new one begins the first of March. The last Saturday in February was the graduation ceremony, where my  2 homeroom classes of 7 year olds graduated! They really went all out at it, the kids had 3 different costume changes and had song and dance numbers along with speeches.  Here's a little glimpse of it, I was backstage helping so I took this from the website:

In March we got new homerooms, but instead of teaching the 7 year olds again, I was switched to the new 3-4 year olds! When I found that out, pure panic set in! I've never really been a big fan of that age group, normally try to avoid them altogether, but I found out I would now be teaching two homerooms of them everyday! It's pretty much a swim or get out of the country kind of situation in Korea when it comes to teaching, so here we go, 3-4 year olds who barely speak Korean and definitely don't speak English, bring it on! Well, there was a lot of crying the first week, a lot of staring at each other because we couldn't communicate, and some temper tantrums. But it's been a month now teaching them, and it is crazy how much English they have picked up in this short amount of time, and I've picked up some more Korean too! Now that they've gotten used to the routine of going to school, we're having a lot of fun in the classroom and I understand their attention spans (or lack there of!) much better.

It's sometimes difficult because they always try to tell me stories in Korean and they get really excited, and I just uh-huh and nod along and smile at them, but I wish I knew what they were saying! Sometimes I can pick up on words like "Jungle Book" and "Power Rangers", random things. And because they don't understand most of what I say still, we sing in my classes, A LOT. I probably have one of the worst singing voices you have ever heard, I mean, I'm not being modest, I cannot carry even a slightly passable tune. No no, I can hear myself, and I know I am terribly off-tune, but no matter how hard I try, I cannot change my tone. Luckily these kids are too young to know better, so they love it! I have made up songs for almost every activity now, no matter if we're cleaning up or if I'm trying to get them to sit in their chairs, I've come up with a song for it! And for some reason if a song goes along with it, then they listen better!

Unfortunately these two classrooms are right next to the teachers room, and also have ceiling to floor window-walls facing the hallway, so everything I sing and do can be heard/seen by everyone. After a month, I have no problem acting and sounding like a complete fool in front of everyone as long as the kids are doing what I ask of them!
I've been talking a lot about them so it's time to show you some pictures of them! They are so short, everyday it still amazes me. They sneak attack hug me sometimes, but their face is at me knee so it's weird. And pretty funny.

The first photos are me teaching McGill and Columbia (my 2 homeroom classes) a Science class. We made jumping frogs:

Then here is McGill class in the computer lab:

Henry and Jason:

Jin playing at her computer:

They're growing on me now, I thought they were little devils when I first starting teaching them, cute little devils, but still. Now we have lots of fun and they listen a lot better as they pick up more and more English.

There were some times when I thought "I do not get paid enough for this!" haha like the time that Jin, the girl in the pic above, was just standing in the middle of class and just peed, right on the floor. We were actually playing with water that day, so at first I thought, maybe it's water? But nope, on closer inspection, it was definitely a puddle of pee. And they also like to hold their boogers out to me on their fingers, like it's some kind of treasure or something! They get really excited. It's better than eating them though, one of the boys definitely does that. Luckily when something gross happens, there are "helper teachers" that I call over and point out the messes to!

Today we went on a field trip to a children's museum, it was one of those hands on science places, and I think I might of been just as excited as my kids! I took a bunch of pictures of them:

Here are some of them lined up to listen:

Playing with traditional Korean instruments:

Anna playing with what looks like a rain stick to me

Yumnya playing with the rain stick

Hera playing with a harp

Matthew making music

Nicole and Chanel

Michelle having a fun time

Hera playing the drum

Not sure if you noticed, but two of the kids I teach aren't Korean. I have two twins (a boy and a girl) who are from Saudi Arabia in my Columbia class. These kids are only 4 years old and are on their way to speaking 3 languages. I'm jealous

Next they tried on a bunch of different masks:

Sophie looking mischievous in hers:

Daniel in a Batman mask

Both classes sitting at traditional Korean school desks:

Jason, Yumnya, and Matthew

My co-teacher Ann with the kids:

Jin talking on a video phone:

Sophie answering her back:

Matthew talking to himself (haha, the first few weeks he would just sit there and whisper his own name for most of the class, Matthew, Matthew....)

Preparing to battle the weather:

So that's a little bit of what I've been up to, it's been an entertaining and exhausting month at work, but we've managed to get out and see and do stuff still. For St Patrick's Day we went out to O'Malleys to celebrate:

Sam and I pointing at there really cool lights you can't actually see since it's blurry:

Cassy and I, wearing our green:

Sam trying to finish her Irish Car Bomb, we were handed free ones when we walked in the door:

Cassy and I also went to see Jayu Park, Chinatown, and Wolmido Island last weekend, which are 3 popular places in the area we live in. Jayu Park, or Freedom Park, is where a memorial honoring General MacArthur for his invasion during the Korean War stands. It is a really nice memorial honoring the US soldiers who fought in the Korean, and is at the top of a hilltop overlooking the harbor. Here are some pictures:

They have these outdoor exercise machines in all the parks here, even memorial parks apparently!:

After Jayu Park we went to Chinatown, which is where the largest settlement of Chinese immigrants live in Korea:

 Me and some Pandas:

 Cassy sharing a snack with some Pandas:

 Giant Chopsticks!!

There were very small hobbit-sized doors there:

And then we headed to Wolmido Island after that, which is your basic (but very large) ocean side boardwalk with all kinds of shops, food stands, and a huge Carnival/fair grounds. On the boardwalk, they had a Dog Cafe. Your first thought from the name might be, oh, a place where people can bring their dogs. But no, it's a cafe where there are about 8-10 dogs just running around loose inside. They live at the cafe. And they had all sizes: from a Chihuahua and Pomeranian to a Husky and a Great Pyrenees. It was weird. Oh Korea. Apparently there's a cat cafe somewhere in Seoul just like it, one of my co-workers told me.
Anyways, it wasn't the best day to be by the ocean (it snowed on us for a little while) but it was a really fun area nonetheless:

We also hiked up to the observatory (all uphill, very sore the next day!):

View from the top of Incheon Harbor (it was actually an impressive view and you could see the long Songdo Bridge stretching across, but didn't turn out in the pictures):

Well, it's not everything I've been up to since I last updates, still never made a post about Japan or Malaysia, but it gives yall an idea at least. Happy Easter to everyone back home, I got a package today from my Mom, so I'm about to break it open and see what kind of goodies she sent me!!!

Pet Dog: Yummy?

I know that I haven't written about Malaysia or Japan yet (sorry!) but I had to write about a comment one of my kids said today.
I was sitting and chatting with my class of seven year olds and we were talking about pet dogs. Daniel was saying how much he really wanted a pet dog and so did his dad, but his mom and brother don't like dogs. So I mentioned that I have a giant dog that looks like a bear at home. There was silence for about five seconds and then Daniel says: "It sounds yummy. I want to eat your dog."
Haha I was shocked and laughing really hard at the same time. He then goes on to tell me that him and his dad want a pet dog so they can cook it and eat it! He also gives me the tip that Chihuahuas taste gross, so don't eat that kind of dog.
Ah so weird. I shouldn't be surprised though, there is a dog meat stew restaurant next to our school. Oh Korea. Here's a pic of Daniel so you can put a face with the person who wants to eat my pet dog (He's trying to be a zombie in this picture by the way):

Christmas in Korea

I know it's nearly a month later (sorry!) but here's my post on Christmas finally!

At school we had an all day christmas party. In the morning the kids made origami christmas cards (they were definitely expert level origami, and I probably should of practiced with one before I stood up in front of the class and tried to teach them how to do it!). But the cards were really cute and I was jealous I didn't get to make one! So this all took place on Friday December 23rd:

Then each class performed a christmas song with full on choreography, so here are harvard and stanford class practicing theirs:

And then all the classes went down to the gym, performed their songs, and then Santa came to see them! One of the other teachers from a school class by dressed up in a Santa suit and gave the kids presents. They loved it!

After work that night a few of us teachers went out for drinks. I went home for maybe 30 minutes, and by the time I left my apartment again the ground was completely covered in snow! It fell so quickly! Luckily we could walk to some of the bars, but our plans for going to a Festivus party at a foreign bar across town was cancelled!

Here's Sam standing in the blizzard:

View from my apartment the morning after (Christmas Eve):

Sam and I at WA Bar:

 Me in the blizzard (I didn't even have any gloves!):

And Cassy (who later under the influence of a few beers made snow angels all the way home):

And then here's my christmas tree that was filled because of all the wonderful people back home who sent me presents:

And I have to say, Christmas is just not Christmas unless you're home with your family doing all the weird traditions that you do year after year. It was still pretty wonderful though so thank you to everyone who took the time and effort to send me all those wonderful things, it was very thoughtful and I really appreciated it. I never expected to receive so many things being half-way around the world! I was also able to skype with my family and friends back home so that was special too. Alright so that's my Christmas Holiday, next up is New Years in Malaysia!

Quick Run Through of December!

I know I've been terrible about this blog over the Holidays, so here are a few quick bullets on what's been going on over here:

* I'm sure this all over the news over there too, but North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il died this past weekend. It's been all over the news here, with the South Korean government telling it's citizens to remain calm and go about business as usual. South Korea is slightly tense as a whole because no one knows much about his son, Kim Jong Un. So we'll see what happens! The kids were really happy about it on Monday though!


* We're having a Christmas party for the kids all day on Friday! One of the foreign male teachers from our school switch with a teacher from another ECC and dress up as Santa for the kids! Zach and Brandon, two of the teachers at my school, tried to convince me that this year they were going to do a female Santa. They were fairly convincing for awhile (Brandon always cracks and he wasn't this time!) so I was pretty worried for awhile there that I would have a ton of strange kids climbing into my lap on Friday, but luckily that's not true!


* We have a staff Christmas party Friday night and are doing Secret Santa! I have no idea what I'm going to get the person I drew... Also, normally our Christmas party is at a nice restaurant/bar, but this year with the new director she wants to cut back on the budget, so we get PIZZA in the GYM! Haha, ya, we're planning on going right to a bar afterward and celebrating right!


* I teach arts & crafts once a week so last week the activity was making Christmas cards for our families, but one of the little kids, Tommy, made one for me instead! Now I love this but he also gives me hell almost every class, but it was so sweet that he made it for me! He's 6 years old and English is not his first language, but it's pretty good without any help from me! Here it is:

Haha ya the art might not be the best I've ever seen, but it made my day!


* I haven't shown you my christmas tree in my apartment yet! I have a tree and stockings, but didn't feel like splurging on any other decorations, they're expensive here! ANd I got the biggest tree they sell (unless you go to Costco in Seoul, but carrying that back on a subway was not an option!)

My tree now also has presents under it all the way from Texas and I also have another stocking filled with stuff my family sent me! They are the best!


* I also bought an advent calendar in the store, they don't have a lot of christmas stuff here since it's not a big holiday like it is back home, but they did have an advent calendar from Germany, and the chocolate is so good!

* Last Friday night after work all of the foreign teachers went out to this new bar, O'Malleys, that is only a few subway stops away from us (so much closer than Seoul!). It was an Irish bar, as you can tell by the name, and was mostly packed with foreigners! So now we have another option besides the places here in Songdo, where we are mostly the only foreigners. Besides an odd older businessman or two. The bars here also don't have official closing times, so we were there until 4 am, and then they shut off the heat so people would start to leave haha. And it worked, because it's been -1 degrees Fahrenheit here at night, last night I think it was 3 degrees. SO COLD. So needless to say we left pretty quick after that!


* Ok last bit, it snowed here last Saturday! it was so pretty! It only stayed for the day since it wasn't a really heavy snowfall. I have a hill right outside my window, so it was fun watching all the families sled down it. I looked to see if I had anything at all that I could use as a sled, but no luck! If it snows more, I'll have to invest in something large and plastic!

I'll try to post all my Christmas photos next week before I leave for Malaysia for New Years! Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season so far! Merry Christmas from Korea!