18 months

This month's update comes a few days early because I'll be away on vacation on the actual date. 

During month 18... I attended the Seoul Music Awards. This was my second time attending due to the generosity of the KTO and organizers of the Korea Grand Sale. Nobody from YG attended this time, so I was a little sad not to see Big Bang like the previous year, but it was still being around all the other different fan groups made me excited when groups like EXO and B.A.P. took the stage, even though I wasn't familiar with their music prior to this event. Pictures from this event are on my personal computer, and as I'm writing this from my work PC I don't have access to them, maybe I'll add them in from home later.

During month 18 I also attended a Big Bang concert. I've gone to two of GDragon's solo concerts, and seen Big Bang perform as a whole unit a couple of times before, but only for one or two songs at different events, but this concert was the first time I'd gone to an official performance in which they were all together on stage for a long time. Big Bang doesn't have fancy choreography, or stage designs but regardless of all that they still manage to put on a great show. They interact very well with each other on stage, and engage the fans in a way that makes you feel like you're very close to them and you're not competing with hundreds of others in the same room. They haven't come out with new songs as a whole in a year or so, so they did a lot of their early stuff and their big smash songs like Fantastic Baby and Bad Boy. All five members also had their time to shine on their own and presented the solo stages they'd been working on throughout 2013.

Aside from those two big events, this month was mostly spent trying to spend as much time as possible with friends who will be finishing their teaching contracts and leaving Korea soon. I've been visiting tourist places that I've procrastinated on, and been preparing for my upcoming vacation.

The official end of the school year is coming up in a couple of days so my sixth graders are running around practicing for their graduation ceremony, and cleaning out their homerooms. Today I got a lovely visit from three of my girls from last year's sixth grade class. They were the very first bunch of students I ever taught, and definitely one of the hardest groups to manage. It made me very happy to see them, and of course to chat with them and see how far they've come after their first year in middle school. Sometimes I wonder if I'm making any kind of impact on the kids I teach, but today has definitely livened up my spirits and made me feel like yeah, these kids care! and even though they can't fully communicate with me, and they haven't seen me in a year, they still remembered me and wanted to spend time together.

My favorites this month were:

Movie- Brokedown Palace-This was recommended to me by a friend since it takes place in Bangkok, Thailand and that's my first stop on my trip. It is an older movie and has the regular cliches but it was still really interesting and gave me some safety tips for my trip.

song- Lonely by B1A4, I've pretty much been listening to this since the MV was released some weeks back. I've never really listened to B1A4's songs, but this one seems to be different and more mature even though I don't actually really understand what they're saying.

book- unfortunately none :( I had started on "the book thief" since it came greatly recommended, but I just couldn't get into it like I hoped. I don't know exactly if it was the book, or just me who wasn't in the mood to read that kind of book, so I might give it another try later on. I've recently started reading The House Girl by Tara Conklin, so hopefully I'm able to finish it during my vacation.

17 months

During month 17 of my time in Korea I...

finally made it out to one of Korea's most popular amusement parks, Lotte World. It was kind of cheesy to be honest, but it was still a good time spent with good people.

I hiked to the top of Baegundae, which is said to be the highest mountain peak in Seoul. Baegundae is part of Bukhansan National Park which I can see easily from my window, so now my view is a little more special. During this hike I also met two of the kindest people I've come across with in Korea so far. My friend and I were totally unprepared for the icy/snowy trek, and would have struggled a lot more had these nice Koreans not lent us their special cramp on shoes, and then treated us to a delicious meal afterwards. My only disappointment about this hike was that on the day I went it was really smoggy so the view wasn't as good as I'm sure it normally is. I will definitely have to go back, perhaps in spring and give it another go. 

This month I also had more home cooked meals than I probably had in the past year combined. I've always loved baking, but actually preparing a meal has always been scary for me, but I've decided to give it a go and it has been going really well. I'm still far from cooking the same delicious meals my mom prepares, but I think by the time I get married, I will have it figured out. Most recently, I invited a friend over to my house and with with my mom's help (via skype) we managed to make some pretty tasty homemade tortillas, and fajitas. 

My favorites this month were:

movie- The Hobbit 2- The desolation of smaug. I've seen it in theaters twice already, and will probably watch it again before the final one is released next year. I'm not actually a big fan of these kinds of movies, and found the first Hobit to be  a little meh, but this second one is really terrific.

song- I see fire by Ed Sheeran, I first heard it during the ending credits of the Hobbit 2 and felt in love. It's so relaxing, and easy to listen to several times on repeat.

book- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I was an avid reader throughout high school and college,  but got pretty lazy after graduation and have struggled with reading a book in it's entirety. But I bought an e-reader recently, and in order not to let it be a waste of money, I quickly filled it up with books and got started. The first book I read cover to cover on my new e-reader was The Kite Runner. The story itself is heart wrenching, and at times I had to take breaks to get my emotions in check, but the way it was written is so well done, and holds a strong message about loyalty, survival, and friendship. 

Miscellaneous: I'm on week two of a three week winter camp, and as much as I like the more relaxed atmosphere, I'm very ready for it to be over. I'm currently teaching third graders, and I'm finding them to be much harder to teach and manage than my older students. They don't study with a native teacher during the regular semester so this kind of learning experience is different for them, and in the amount of time that we have together, I don't think it's enough for them to grasp what is going on. 

Coming up in month 18:

Seoul Music Awards

Big Bang Concert

Reading another book cover to cover, currently working on The Book Thief

Vacation, vacation, vacation! :D 

16 month update

jingle bells jingle bells jingle all the wayyyy!!!

I absolutely cannot believe Christmas is already only one week away. I am definitely not in the Christmas spirit at all this year.This is my second Christmas away from family, but last year I spent it in Malaysia with my friend and her family so I had that to look forwards to, this year my vacation dates are kind of strange so rather than having two full weeks off, I only have one so I've decided to spend it in Seoul with whatever friends aren't leaving town to spend it with their families.
Last week we had quite a bit of snowfall and I felt very grinch like watching it fall from my office while all the kids where playing in it and being happy. Unless I can stay home nicely bundled up, and not have to ever walk on the snow, it's okay. My problem starts when it stops being fresh white, and becomes ice and makes it nearly impossible for me to take two steps before falling and embarrassing myself.

Things at school are going slow, but okay. This is the last full week of teaching before the Christmas holiday and because the kids (and myself) can't really concentrate on anything, we've stopped using the textbook and instead spend the first 15-20 minutes of class chatting or going over an interesting topic (today's was Konglish) and the last half of the class we watch a movie.

Since I'm not traveling anywhere for Christmas, I decided to treat myself and go away during the two weeks I'll have off in February instead. I've decided to hit up two places from my SE Asia travel wishlist, I'll be spending time with old friends from university in Bangok, and escaping the harsh Korean winter on some Thai Islands, and then finish off in Cambodia where I'll get to see Ankor Wat in all it's glory. Once I bought my tickets I drove myself a  little crazy because I started researching all sorts of touristy things that I thought I just HAD to do, but then I came to my senses and realized that I really just want to have a chill time and enjoy a new culture. So hopefully I'll be able to leave the control freak side of myself behind, and just enjoy the trip for what it is, not for all the photo ops i could have/should have taken.

I can't remember if I've mentioned this before, but when the new school year starts in March, two of my current three co teachers will be replaced. In Korea there's this rule where teachers can only teach at one particular school for five years and then rotate to a different school. Not only will my co teachers change, but some of the homeroom teachers whom I've grown close to will also have to leave, so I'm rather sad by that. In particular one of my co teachers who is leaving, actually one of my really good friends in Korea, so while we'll still see each other on weekends, I'll really miss working with her and having her so close by. She's not actually my main CT (the one who is in charge of my papaerwork, housing, life in general) but she's the one I usually go to for help or questions.

I'm really anxious to find out who my new co teachers will be, as the kind of CT I have will set the mood for how my classes go. I strongly believe that if two co teachers don't really mesh well, even if they keep it professional, it will still come across to the students and it will affect the quality of classes we have together. Also, the kind of CTs I have will affect whether I choose to renew a third year or not. Just out of curiosity (and back up security) I've been researching teaching jobs in other places, and I've found a few that seem promising. There is one program for teaching adults (university students) in Tokyo that lasts somewhere between 3-5 months with options of extending. I'm interested in it because I THINK that I might like to one day pursue a masters degree and become a university professor, so before spending all my time and money on that degree I think it would be a good idea to try it out first, specially since the contract length isn't very long. If I hate it, or I'm really terrible at it, I think I could stick it out for 3-5 months. I've also looked into teaching in Latin America, just because I really miss being around Latin culture, but unfortunately the pay level for most jobs in Latin America are rather low, and while the cost of living there is cheap, being a slave to my student loans puts a damper on things.

What else is new this month?? .. hmm.. I've been cooking a lot more! and by a lot more, I mean once a week which is a huge change from before when I cooked at home maybe once a month. It makes me excited to open up my fridge and see it stocked full of goodies. The number one reason why I never cooked before was simply because I'm lazy. I'm specially lazy in Korea because my kitchen is so tiny and somewhat hard to maneuver. The second reason was because I don't know how to cook, or so I thought. And the last reason being that I hated cooking for one person and then having to eat the same thing for a week straight so that it wouldn't go bad. My solution for that has been to look up the easiest recipes I can find online, absolutely nothing fancy, and nothing that calls for ingredients I can't pronounce, or 10 different types of seasoning. And my solution for only cooking for one is to have friends over and share with them. It's also a good way to avoid leaving my house now that it's cold, people complain a lot less about making the long journey up north to where I live once I offer up a nice home cooked meal.

(this post is 3 days early because i honestly couldn't remember the exact date i arrived/left home, and i didn't wan't to risk forgetting it when the actual date came ^^)

Rival

 After a short hiatus, the KTO came back with tickets to attend a live performance. This time it was a show called Rival.
On Saturday,  November 23 I met my friend at Exit 7 of Chungmurro Station (lines 4 & 3) and we headed to the show. The hall in which it took place was a 5 minute walk from the station and easy to find. Once we arrived, we picked up our tickets and took our seats. We were towards the middle in the first three rows, but the venue is rather small so I don't think there's a bad seat in the house. I quickly noticed that there were many kids in the audience, and for the most part I think the show is geared more towards a younger audience than adults. It was silly with a bit of martial arts blended in.  The show lasted approximately an hour and a half without an intermission. Overall, I really enjoyed this performance but I wouldn't go watch it again, unless I had children to take along with me.

15 month update

It's cold..oooh soo terribly terribly cold.
I was starting to wonder how I would ever make it through this winter since the first flurries of snow have started falling already this week, but luckily somebody heard my calls for help and the heating has been turned on at school! granted, it doesn't get turned on all day everyday, but the highlight of my day now is when I hear the little ring that the system makes when It's turned on :)

My main co teacher is back now and things so far seem smoothly, we've only taught one day together so far but hopefully everything continues to stay calm. She is really good at class management, so hopefully she can reel the sixth grade students back in, since they're going a little mental with winter vacation and graduation approaching soon. Now that my main CT it's time to get serious about winter camp planning, so now I'll be more busy with that. I want to do a very good job since my summer camp didn't go that well. In teaching I've found that my weak point is teaching younger/lower level students. I really struggle with finding material that is fun, educational, but not too difficult for them, this winter camp we will have third and fourth grade students so my material needs to be the lowest possible and that will be a challenge -___-;.

Anyways, nowadays I'm keeping busy doing a lot of things and nothing at the same time. I don't know how to explain it, but I feel like I have very little time to myself, but when people ask me what I've been up to I feel like I haven't been doing anything.
I need to finalize where I will travel to for my winter/spring vacation, and soon.. yes, very soon I need to start thinking about what I will do when my contract is over. Stay for a third year? move onto a different country or go back to the States?
I'm so happy now with my life, that thinking that things have to change soon is scary. I've finally settled into my own space, made cuts and additions in order to better work towards improving myself, I think I need more time before making any drastic decisions. Even if I do stay in Korea a third year it doesn't mean I can keep the same lifestyle I have now. Most of my friends here are expats/transient so they'll be moving on, and even my co-workers will change next year. Staying a third year doesn't guarantee the same smooth sailing I've had this year, but it also leaves room for things to be better. decisions, decisions!

Halloween at school

 Korea doesn't really celebrate Halloween on the same scale as we do in the States, so I wanted to share a little bit of that tradition with my students and thus, all of last week was Halloween week at school. My substitute grade six co teacher is the sweetest lady ever, and she went out and bought all sorts of neat decorations for the classroom, and during class I showed a few scary videos that made some students jump, then so that they wouldn't hate me completely, I followed that up with some funny haunted house videos, and gave them a brief history of Halloween. At the end of the Halloween lesson there was a quiz to see who was paying attention, the team who answered the most questions got to stick their hand in my "mystery box" and fish for candy. My mystery box contained mashed up bananas, peanut butter and jelly so since students didn't really know what was inside they were apprehensive and a bit disgusted by the texture, but I think they really enjoyed it.

On the actual Halloween day I told my 6th & 5th grade students that if they came to my office wearing a costume and said "trick or treat" I would give them a candy. I expected most of them to forget, or not wear a costume, but I was really surprised when I saw how many showed up, and specially surprised when I saw how creative some students got with their costumes! It was a really fun time, and even though by the end of the week I was more tired than usual, I'm really glad I did this with them.

Enjoying snacks & watching a video

Class 6-5

This is a costume they said ;) fifth graders

Two of my funniest sixth graders

She dabbed sunscreen on her face and called it a costume, grade 6

Hulk hands, grade 5 

Pretty witches, grade 5 

I'm not sure, Frankenstein, and a Zombie with an arrow, grade 5

Some fifth graders

Happy Halloween!

Travel Videos

Below are two short videos from my most recent travels. First is a compilation of shots taken during my trip to Beijing in September, and second is from my trip to Jeju Island in October.