Saturday, February 26, 2011
As sad as I am about the change of semester, having to say goodbye to my very first kinder students (Gemini and Aries), I'm excited about the next six months with my new classes, Leo and Pisces. They are 7 year old, first year students, so they speak very little English, not much beyond the ABCs. I met them on Friday and fell in love already ! :) I guess I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to teaching adorible little kids every day! In Leo class there is one little boy named Lion. What a cute name! They are all so sweet and well-behaved (fingers crossed). There are only 7 students in Leo class and only 6 in Pisces! This is going to be a breeze compared to my last group of students in Aries and Gemini. I'm also glad that these students get to start the year with me so that I can set rules and boundaries my way rather than picking up halfway through the semester like I did with Gemini and Aries in September. I'm looking forward to this new change!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Lately I've been feeling really comfortable and very aquainted with Cheonan. It feels like home here, not like a year-long vacation. Not to say I don't love Cheonan. I love it more than I ever have. It's my six month mark here in Korea and I have six more left. I'm neither excited nor bummed that I'm halfway through my contract. It's almost as is this experience is starting to feel like less of an exotic getaway and more like my life. I don't feel like I have a time limit here (which realistically I do). It's as if I'm at home in Virginia living life one day at a time, which I think is why I haven't written in awhile.
This past month has been very busy because the change of semester happens in March, so all the teachers are tying loose ends and figuring out curriculum for new classes. My kinder classes graduated last weekend. I've never seen such a big ordeal for a kindergarten graduation. It was exhausting. All of the classes performed plays. Gemini class did Three Bill Goats. They pulled it off very well, though during practice in classtime they drove both me and my Korean co-teacher, June, insane. They recieved little diplomas and big yearbooks with a blown up 11x8 picture of me and each student. Insane. At the end, the parents rushed up and gave us flowers, took pictures with us and their kids, and thanked us. It was very rewarding. But over the top and weird.
The last few days of class, I taught the kids the expression "Let's keep in touch". They loved it and applied it to everything. When they wrote letters to their teachers, a lot of the kids wrote "Keep in touch" to me and my coteacher. Danny, however, wrote "Let's keep in hand". Cute!
I got to celebrate Valentine's Day with kinder the last week we had together. I got lucky in that I celebrated so many holidays with my very first kinder classes (Chuseok, Halloween, Christmas and Valentines). They loved the valentines and candy hearts my mom sent. On Valentines Day in Korea only the men receive candy from their women. On White Day, the men in return, celebrate the women only. And for all those lonely, miserable singles there is... drumroll please.... Black Day. How dreadful a name. I can't imagine how me and all my single Koreans will celebrate this dismal dark Black Day. I hope I'm not expected to buy myself chocolate.
Aside from the busy days at work, life is good. I am constantly meeting new people almost every weekend. I've been hanging out with a few new girls, Monica and Allison. It's so easy to make friends here because the foreigners all pick each other out because there are just a handful of us in Cheonan. And as far as making Korean friends goes, it's equally as easy. They are some of the kindest people I've ever met... very generous and appreciative. And a lot love practicing English, so why not be friends?
Speaking of Korean friends, my friend Daria is all torn up because her foreign boyfriend left to go back to California. She cried over a few beers with Jenny and I a couple weeks ago. It's a lot harder on her because her Korean friends and family don't take her relationship seriously because it's a foreigner. No one seems to understand why she is so upset over a "foreign fling" except for us. On top of that, the language barrier is so tough for them that a long distance communication is impossible.
Joe came to visit again to get off his airforce base during Seolnal (Lunar new year) vacation. We went to Seoul with my coworkers to get away from Cheonan and to give our coworker, Andy, a send-off back to the USA. It was nice seeing Joe again. It was a very spur of the moment visit... text Thursday night and done deal perfect timing by Friday for dinner with my friends.
It's hard to believe it's almost March...one more week. The weather is improving here. It feels like spring! I can't wait to see all the cherry blossoms in bloom. I'm so excited for the next six months. If I could struggle through Korea's cold weather in the best of spirits, it seems only natural I will do the same but with beautiful weather to look forward to!
This past month has been very busy because the change of semester happens in March, so all the teachers are tying loose ends and figuring out curriculum for new classes. My kinder classes graduated last weekend. I've never seen such a big ordeal for a kindergarten graduation. It was exhausting. All of the classes performed plays. Gemini class did Three Bill Goats. They pulled it off very well, though during practice in classtime they drove both me and my Korean co-teacher, June, insane. They recieved little diplomas and big yearbooks with a blown up 11x8 picture of me and each student. Insane. At the end, the parents rushed up and gave us flowers, took pictures with us and their kids, and thanked us. It was very rewarding. But over the top and weird.
The last few days of class, I taught the kids the expression "Let's keep in touch". They loved it and applied it to everything. When they wrote letters to their teachers, a lot of the kids wrote "Keep in touch" to me and my coteacher. Danny, however, wrote "Let's keep in hand". Cute!
I got to celebrate Valentine's Day with kinder the last week we had together. I got lucky in that I celebrated so many holidays with my very first kinder classes (Chuseok, Halloween, Christmas and Valentines). They loved the valentines and candy hearts my mom sent. On Valentines Day in Korea only the men receive candy from their women. On White Day, the men in return, celebrate the women only. And for all those lonely, miserable singles there is... drumroll please.... Black Day. How dreadful a name. I can't imagine how me and all my single Koreans will celebrate this dismal dark Black Day. I hope I'm not expected to buy myself chocolate.
Aside from the busy days at work, life is good. I am constantly meeting new people almost every weekend. I've been hanging out with a few new girls, Monica and Allison. It's so easy to make friends here because the foreigners all pick each other out because there are just a handful of us in Cheonan. And as far as making Korean friends goes, it's equally as easy. They are some of the kindest people I've ever met... very generous and appreciative. And a lot love practicing English, so why not be friends?
Speaking of Korean friends, my friend Daria is all torn up because her foreign boyfriend left to go back to California. She cried over a few beers with Jenny and I a couple weeks ago. It's a lot harder on her because her Korean friends and family don't take her relationship seriously because it's a foreigner. No one seems to understand why she is so upset over a "foreign fling" except for us. On top of that, the language barrier is so tough for them that a long distance communication is impossible.
Joe came to visit again to get off his airforce base during Seolnal (Lunar new year) vacation. We went to Seoul with my coworkers to get away from Cheonan and to give our coworker, Andy, a send-off back to the USA. It was nice seeing Joe again. It was a very spur of the moment visit... text Thursday night and done deal perfect timing by Friday for dinner with my friends.
It's hard to believe it's almost March...one more week. The weather is improving here. It feels like spring! I can't wait to see all the cherry blossoms in bloom. I'm so excited for the next six months. If I could struggle through Korea's cold weather in the best of spirits, it seems only natural I will do the same but with beautiful weather to look forward to!
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