So Thursday and Friday were amazing days here at ECC! It was the Pop Song Contest!!! :)
It was for the older kids that I teach. Over the last few months they have been practicing songs and dancing to perform for us and we got to vote on the best class.
I am proud to say that my Carnival 5 class came in 1st place for the 3-4:30 grouping show! :) I was a proud teacher!!! :) I am going to make them little cards that say "yay, you're the best" haha or something just as corny! :)
This is how the contest was organized. Thursday there was one showing of 4 or 5 songs for the classes of that time.. then on Friday it was the huge event.
From 3-4:30 we listened to 12 classes
from 4:30-6 we listened to 12 classes
and then from 6-7:30 we listened to 10 classes
it was a long day...
here were some of the highlights:
My class came in 1st at the first showing for "Superstar"
my other class came in second in the second showing for "Way Back into Love"
One class, who came in first during the second showing sang a song from Annie... they were so cute and the dance was perfect and they all wore little scarfs around their necks as they sang "tomorrow"
The language barrier was funny for a few things. A class sang the song "Itsy bitsy Teeny Weeny"... but accidentally wrote Itchy Bitchy on the contest form...
Another class sang a song with lyrics that read change the world, but Koreans have a hard time with that word and sang "Change the Word"... I know it is terrible, but Steph and I laughed because yes... they were changing the words!!! hahaah
This weekend was a pretty relax weekend. I got a few hilarious phone calls from home... I made travel plans for Jeju (my trip at the end of July) and wrote out sooo many of my monthly report cards!
Jeju is going to be a lot of fun. The trip is only going to cost me about $300!! And with that we have the boat, a car rented with a driver and a hotel for three nights, my spending money and money to feed myself!
These are a few places we want to visit
-The national park
-Sunrise peak (I only wish we could see this at the sunrise... but it is beautiful regardless) You take this hike and you see the land which is amazingly beautiful and if you get there early enough you can see the women divers swimming in the water (even when freezing cold) with no gear just catching the fish for their matriarchal community!
-a folk village
-a folk museam
-some statues made from lava rock
-and a hilarious museam called "loveland"
http://www.jejuloveland.com/
http://www.jejuloveland.com/html/eng.html
http://www.jejuloveland.com/html/intro04.html
I am pretty excited for my trip to say the least! It will be four foreign friends and two Korean friends as the Korean teachers write as we plan our trip! haha Our first night together they are cooking Korean BBQ, then the second night we are in charge of supper... ingredients are hard to find here.. so I think we have decided on spaghetti and garlic toast! haha
Well.. today is activity day for my classes who have not been tested already, so I better get started on the activities I have planned!
Toodles!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
forgot to mention
something I forgot to mention!
When the kiddies were eating cake they had to share this huge peice together... they all ate it with their little chopsticks and starter chopsticks... it was truly an amazingly cute sight!
annddd... so I didn't know anything about bathroom policies in Korea... and my friend was compalining about her drain.. she said it kept on clogging and she said someone must be flushing toliet tissue down the drain. I had NO IDEA that you couldn't do that here... so it was meee!! hahah
Now I have a trash can beside my toliet.. you have to discard all tissue waste there... in public bathrooms it really makes me sick! yuck!
Well.. I gotta get back to work!! I have another test to give today!
Stay tunned though.. tomorrow is the start of the pop song contest! I wish my camera was alive and well for me to show you videos!! hahaha This will be the best day ever!
When the kiddies were eating cake they had to share this huge peice together... they all ate it with their little chopsticks and starter chopsticks... it was truly an amazingly cute sight!
annddd... so I didn't know anything about bathroom policies in Korea... and my friend was compalining about her drain.. she said it kept on clogging and she said someone must be flushing toliet tissue down the drain. I had NO IDEA that you couldn't do that here... so it was meee!! hahah
Now I have a trash can beside my toliet.. you have to discard all tissue waste there... in public bathrooms it really makes me sick! yuck!
Well.. I gotta get back to work!! I have another test to give today!
Stay tunned though.. tomorrow is the start of the pop song contest! I wish my camera was alive and well for me to show you videos!! hahaha This will be the best day ever!
Today in the life of Sherry Teacher
Today in the life of Sherry Teacher!
Today was June birthday month!!! :)
It was seriously the cutest thing ever. All the kinder kids went into the play room and the teachers who had students with birthday's in June got to walk them to the stage while a room full of 80+ kindergarten kids sang happy birthday in Korean. They had party hats on and everything!
I got to walk up three students. One of the little ones names was Brian. He is one of the cutest kids I have ever seen! He has the cutest smile ever! (It is probably the biggest smile I have ever seen on a child!)
One all the kids were on the stage we sang in English with the piano and the kids blew out their candles! We had soooo many cakes, and then also every kid in the school got a little chocolate cracker box gift to take home and we had yogurt drink, fruit and this rice cake treat. This treat was sooooo good. The rice is kinda fused together with this sweet chocolate type filling. On the outside it looks a little like an uncooked perogie! (made me think of you Miss Ashley Gilbert! Perogie and chocolate... hahah)
Once the candles were blown out each class went to the front to perform the talent portion. My main group of kinders sang a song about family since we are learning about parts of the family. The sister part was the cutest part.. they sang.. this is my sister and flipped their hair like a vally girl! haha!! Allie the little drama queen did the best!
My favourite talent group was the class who had nothing prepared. Two kids just got up and started to dance without any music. One little boy who was a little heavier got up in front of all the kids and just shook his bottom! hahah I laughed until tears were almost down my face! The other little girl who was dancing did a belly dance! It was so cute! I wish I had a camera to make a video!!
Now some more things to remember to tell you:
It is common to see women with only their big toe nail painted... the other 4 toes are just normal.
When a store opens they have a stage set up with girls in skimpy cheerleading costumes singing and dancing to get people to go into the store.
My hair is a big hit here. Not many people here have curly hair. All the kids think it is a perm. Some like it.. some hate it and tell me! hahah My kindergarten kids called me not pretty teacher when the first half said pretty teacher! Today I went to school with straight hair and my bangs tied back. Rachel and Emily age 5 did not like it at all! hahah Oh kids!
I went with my friend Steph to get blankets for my bed. I got a thin blanket to act as my comfortor and a matress pad. The blanket was $43 and the matress pad was $20. And this blanket is pretty pathetic! hahah
Oh, Rebeccah. If you come visit.. converse shoes are REALLY cheap! I have seen them for $30.. and there is no tax here!! :)
ohhh I gave my first test today! The kids were so nervous. It was an oral test and I had to call them outside one by one to answer questions.. they have a lot to work on... but some really surprised me!
Anywho... I feel like I am forgetting a lot.. but I must get home to get ready for tomorrow and start my montly report cards!!!
P.S: Happy Belated Birthday Zane! And HAPPPYYYY BIIRTTHHDAAAYY Ashley Gilbert!
and Tania... I love you!
Today was June birthday month!!! :)
It was seriously the cutest thing ever. All the kinder kids went into the play room and the teachers who had students with birthday's in June got to walk them to the stage while a room full of 80+ kindergarten kids sang happy birthday in Korean. They had party hats on and everything!
I got to walk up three students. One of the little ones names was Brian. He is one of the cutest kids I have ever seen! He has the cutest smile ever! (It is probably the biggest smile I have ever seen on a child!)
One all the kids were on the stage we sang in English with the piano and the kids blew out their candles! We had soooo many cakes, and then also every kid in the school got a little chocolate cracker box gift to take home and we had yogurt drink, fruit and this rice cake treat. This treat was sooooo good. The rice is kinda fused together with this sweet chocolate type filling. On the outside it looks a little like an uncooked perogie! (made me think of you Miss Ashley Gilbert! Perogie and chocolate... hahah)
Once the candles were blown out each class went to the front to perform the talent portion. My main group of kinders sang a song about family since we are learning about parts of the family. The sister part was the cutest part.. they sang.. this is my sister and flipped their hair like a vally girl! haha!! Allie the little drama queen did the best!
My favourite talent group was the class who had nothing prepared. Two kids just got up and started to dance without any music. One little boy who was a little heavier got up in front of all the kids and just shook his bottom! hahah I laughed until tears were almost down my face! The other little girl who was dancing did a belly dance! It was so cute! I wish I had a camera to make a video!!
Now some more things to remember to tell you:
It is common to see women with only their big toe nail painted... the other 4 toes are just normal.
When a store opens they have a stage set up with girls in skimpy cheerleading costumes singing and dancing to get people to go into the store.
My hair is a big hit here. Not many people here have curly hair. All the kids think it is a perm. Some like it.. some hate it and tell me! hahah My kindergarten kids called me not pretty teacher when the first half said pretty teacher! Today I went to school with straight hair and my bangs tied back. Rachel and Emily age 5 did not like it at all! hahah Oh kids!
I went with my friend Steph to get blankets for my bed. I got a thin blanket to act as my comfortor and a matress pad. The blanket was $43 and the matress pad was $20. And this blanket is pretty pathetic! hahah
Oh, Rebeccah. If you come visit.. converse shoes are REALLY cheap! I have seen them for $30.. and there is no tax here!! :)
ohhh I gave my first test today! The kids were so nervous. It was an oral test and I had to call them outside one by one to answer questions.. they have a lot to work on... but some really surprised me!
Anywho... I feel like I am forgetting a lot.. but I must get home to get ready for tomorrow and start my montly report cards!!!
P.S: Happy Belated Birthday Zane! And HAPPPYYYY BIIRTTHHDAAAYY Ashley Gilbert!
and Tania... I love you!
Friday, June 20, 2008
random post
So today was an interesting day. I caught kids passing notes in class! I had to have a Korean teacher come in and read it and talk to them. After the teacher left I said I want this to be a fun class and have fun learning... when things like this happen it makes teacher Sherry sad. So they promised to be good. They like Fun Sherry!
Ok... there are a few things I keep forgetting to post:
my kinders are awesome.
I brought in a family photo when teaching this is a girl, this is a boy, this is a man, this is a woman, this is a sister, brother, father, mother... etc... just before I brought the picture they had learnt the term short. So prepared they had, Teacher Sherry is SHORT! hahah Even my 5 year olds know I am short!
They were also very excited to get to see my family. I also showed pictures that Johanna took of Newfoundland for me to my classes, and we very surprised it was in Canada, some thought maybe Europe.
Today I taught my kinders about snow, and brought in a picture of Exmouth Street House... if you ever came to visit me and my lovelies there you would know that we NEVER shovelled our driveway... the kids were laughing so hard when they saw all that snow!
We had fire drill day yesterday... I thought of you Kristin Izsak the WHOLE time... too bad they were old so no real hot ones for ya! Buttt.. the whole thing was in Korean, so I was LOST. However, through the power of body language I was able to decipher that they wanted a volunteer. They picked on my friend Stephanie and she was adamant about saying no. sooo... of course I was the next one picked. I said no at first, but all the kids loved me and yelled out yaaaayyy!! Sherry Teacher! (How can I say no to that??!!)
I went on stage and they dressed me like a fire fighter in front of 80 something kinder kidies. They laughed and laughed. I mean Korean's are short.. but I am still shorter.. the uniform was huge on me, and it was heavy and hot. He spoke only in Korean so I had no idea what was going on, and then he put a mask on my face to breathe in. I of course did it wrong since I had no clue what he was saying.. so he put it on his face, and so I was smushed right into him. He then called for little kinder volunteers to breathe using the second one attached to my gas tank on my back. The tube was very short so I was bent awkwardly the whole time. haha It was excellent. We all just had a great laugh.
Oh.. so the weather here does wonders for my hair. I get such frizzy poofy hair all the time. I am glad that my hair seems to be growing super fast here.. my finger nails too. I hope by the time Monsoon season comes I can tie my hair back. I decided to embrace my curls today.. and when I walked in my kinder class they laughed at me. Some said Pretty Teacher.. while the other half said nooo.. not pretty teacher. Allie informed me she liked my straight hair better!
Speaking of rain, we had a tiny typhoon the other night. On the way home from dinner the Korean teachers thought that Steph and I were crazy.. we danced and twirled the whole way home! It was a nice warm rain!
Now to end this random quickly written post. My next class is so fun. It used to be just three 13 year old girls, but now we have two more. One 15 year old girl and a boy. Well my students have to submit diaries every wednesday for me to read and mark. Giney's have been so cute! She told me all about this handsome boy that her public school teacher sat her beside! haha I tease her all the time about her "boyfriend!" It is great
ohh.. I also have some new names for you.
I have an Esther, Steph has a Gladys (spelling?), I have also have a Dino and a Brainy.
ohhh wait I lied.. one more!
I had a stressful day. A mother watched my WORST class.. so I was really stressed out! I decided that to let myself winde down after such a day.. I mean the class wasn't at its worst that because I ran myself off my feet, but they were not great either!
I pass by this restaurant everyday, and noticed something in the window that was drawn to look like ice cream. I decided to treat myself. I ordered it.. and this is what I got (it wasn't terrible... but definitely not what I was in the mood for!)
Ice with milk on top of it topped with red bean and pineapple.
hahah all I could do was laugh. If you know me and ice cream... it was saddening!
Ok... there are a few things I keep forgetting to post:
my kinders are awesome.
I brought in a family photo when teaching this is a girl, this is a boy, this is a man, this is a woman, this is a sister, brother, father, mother... etc... just before I brought the picture they had learnt the term short. So prepared they had, Teacher Sherry is SHORT! hahah Even my 5 year olds know I am short!
They were also very excited to get to see my family. I also showed pictures that Johanna took of Newfoundland for me to my classes, and we very surprised it was in Canada, some thought maybe Europe.
Today I taught my kinders about snow, and brought in a picture of Exmouth Street House... if you ever came to visit me and my lovelies there you would know that we NEVER shovelled our driveway... the kids were laughing so hard when they saw all that snow!
We had fire drill day yesterday... I thought of you Kristin Izsak the WHOLE time... too bad they were old so no real hot ones for ya! Buttt.. the whole thing was in Korean, so I was LOST. However, through the power of body language I was able to decipher that they wanted a volunteer. They picked on my friend Stephanie and she was adamant about saying no. sooo... of course I was the next one picked. I said no at first, but all the kids loved me and yelled out yaaaayyy!! Sherry Teacher! (How can I say no to that??!!)
I went on stage and they dressed me like a fire fighter in front of 80 something kinder kidies. They laughed and laughed. I mean Korean's are short.. but I am still shorter.. the uniform was huge on me, and it was heavy and hot. He spoke only in Korean so I had no idea what was going on, and then he put a mask on my face to breathe in. I of course did it wrong since I had no clue what he was saying.. so he put it on his face, and so I was smushed right into him. He then called for little kinder volunteers to breathe using the second one attached to my gas tank on my back. The tube was very short so I was bent awkwardly the whole time. haha It was excellent. We all just had a great laugh.
Oh.. so the weather here does wonders for my hair. I get such frizzy poofy hair all the time. I am glad that my hair seems to be growing super fast here.. my finger nails too. I hope by the time Monsoon season comes I can tie my hair back. I decided to embrace my curls today.. and when I walked in my kinder class they laughed at me. Some said Pretty Teacher.. while the other half said nooo.. not pretty teacher. Allie informed me she liked my straight hair better!
Speaking of rain, we had a tiny typhoon the other night. On the way home from dinner the Korean teachers thought that Steph and I were crazy.. we danced and twirled the whole way home! It was a nice warm rain!
Now to end this random quickly written post. My next class is so fun. It used to be just three 13 year old girls, but now we have two more. One 15 year old girl and a boy. Well my students have to submit diaries every wednesday for me to read and mark. Giney's have been so cute! She told me all about this handsome boy that her public school teacher sat her beside! haha I tease her all the time about her "boyfriend!" It is great
ohh.. I also have some new names for you.
I have an Esther, Steph has a Gladys (spelling?), I have also have a Dino and a Brainy.
ohhh wait I lied.. one more!
I had a stressful day. A mother watched my WORST class.. so I was really stressed out! I decided that to let myself winde down after such a day.. I mean the class wasn't at its worst that because I ran myself off my feet, but they were not great either!
I pass by this restaurant everyday, and noticed something in the window that was drawn to look like ice cream. I decided to treat myself. I ordered it.. and this is what I got (it wasn't terrible... but definitely not what I was in the mood for!)
Ice with milk on top of it topped with red bean and pineapple.
hahah all I could do was laugh. If you know me and ice cream... it was saddening!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
beach day, hike, Seoul
Ok, I am going to start today and tell you how much I love living in the area I live in, and how much I love kindergarten kids!
We had beach day on Thursday! Oh my gosh it was the best day ever! We took the subway to haeundae beach and met up with the Korean teachers there and the kiddies. We had a sandcastle competition! I thought my class made the best castle, but my friend Rick's class won with their alligator! My class made a car. Seriously, once I can upload the pictures from the day I will show you our car! It looked just like a little beetle! So cute! The kids loved helping too, they would run to the water bucket and fill their little pails with water to help smooth out our creation.
The kids all wore their matching shorts and t-shirt uniform shorts set. We started the event by all lining up and singing and acting out songs. Just imagine this, 8 classes of 10 students all singing and dancing. Ohhhh I could teach these kids forever! They are so cute!
Lunch time was my favourite. One of my little kids, Allie, her mom made me and the Korean teacher lunch. Allie is a really cute smart kid, but her mom cries to the school all the time that Allie is not getting enough attention. My boss tells me that Allie is special and I have to give her a little extra attention... her mom is rich, and I guess that makes my school want to do what they can to please her.
Anyways! She made kimpab (google it!) It is sooooo good! I loved it. However she made two HUGE tupperware containers full and gave us two yello mellons and raspberries!! mmm!!! This was my favourite part of the day! haha The cutest was seeing all the little kiddies eat with their chopsticks and laugh at me because I'm not very good yet! They also LOVED that I didn't know a lot of their food yet and would say, "here Teacher Sherry, try this!!" They loved to see how I reacted to it!! :)
I had to teach a class when I got back from the beach and do my man to man class too. (That is a class where I tutor a university student) I loveeeee that class. It is right after my hardest class (that class is so hard, I don't know how to communicate to them, I have to try and simplify my vocabulary and use tons of visuals!) So going to my man to man right after that makes me so happy! I got to edit one of his university papers. I LOVEDDD it! He had to write an opinon essay on Capital Punishment, it was so interesting to read our differing views.
Today I went hiking with two teachers from my school. My friend Steph and George. Steph is from London Ontario, so super close to my home in Cambridge and George is from the UK. He has such a cute accent, but his family is from Spain.. it is cute to hear him speak Spanish with his English accent! Anyway, I also can't wait to post these pictures. We didn't do the whole mountain because we were all a little hungover, but we walked for a good 2 hours. It was a good workout, and the view is just breath taking! The coolest thing about this hike, other than the fact that it is minutes walk from my house, is they have rest stops all through out it that has gym equipment... neat eh? A free gym on a mountain right by my house? George and I have decided that this will be a weekly thing! :)
So I must get going now, poor Heather sprained her ankle and couldn't come on the hike, but she is on her way to my place now and we are going to go and play pool with some of my work friends and walk along the beach! :) yay!!! I will never tire of living beside the beach!
OHHH one more thing.. I went to Seoul for the day on Saturday. I had to go for training. It was really cool to be on the train and see what the land looks like. I didn't get to see Seoul since right after my training I had to run to the train station to get home.. however I am very proud of myself. I took the bus to the train station in Busan, then a subway in Seoul to my traning class. There are 15 lines of subway in Seoul. And this is MEEEE.. I am TERRIBLE with directions! I know... you're impressed! :)
Butt.... before I go..
Happy Belated Birthday to Kylie and Happy Birthday Jenny!
Happy Daddy's day to you Dad!
love you!
We had beach day on Thursday! Oh my gosh it was the best day ever! We took the subway to haeundae beach and met up with the Korean teachers there and the kiddies. We had a sandcastle competition! I thought my class made the best castle, but my friend Rick's class won with their alligator! My class made a car. Seriously, once I can upload the pictures from the day I will show you our car! It looked just like a little beetle! So cute! The kids loved helping too, they would run to the water bucket and fill their little pails with water to help smooth out our creation.
The kids all wore their matching shorts and t-shirt uniform shorts set. We started the event by all lining up and singing and acting out songs. Just imagine this, 8 classes of 10 students all singing and dancing. Ohhhh I could teach these kids forever! They are so cute!
Lunch time was my favourite. One of my little kids, Allie, her mom made me and the Korean teacher lunch. Allie is a really cute smart kid, but her mom cries to the school all the time that Allie is not getting enough attention. My boss tells me that Allie is special and I have to give her a little extra attention... her mom is rich, and I guess that makes my school want to do what they can to please her.
Anyways! She made kimpab (google it!) It is sooooo good! I loved it. However she made two HUGE tupperware containers full and gave us two yello mellons and raspberries!! mmm!!! This was my favourite part of the day! haha The cutest was seeing all the little kiddies eat with their chopsticks and laugh at me because I'm not very good yet! They also LOVED that I didn't know a lot of their food yet and would say, "here Teacher Sherry, try this!!" They loved to see how I reacted to it!! :)
I had to teach a class when I got back from the beach and do my man to man class too. (That is a class where I tutor a university student) I loveeeee that class. It is right after my hardest class (that class is so hard, I don't know how to communicate to them, I have to try and simplify my vocabulary and use tons of visuals!) So going to my man to man right after that makes me so happy! I got to edit one of his university papers. I LOVEDDD it! He had to write an opinon essay on Capital Punishment, it was so interesting to read our differing views.
Today I went hiking with two teachers from my school. My friend Steph and George. Steph is from London Ontario, so super close to my home in Cambridge and George is from the UK. He has such a cute accent, but his family is from Spain.. it is cute to hear him speak Spanish with his English accent! Anyway, I also can't wait to post these pictures. We didn't do the whole mountain because we were all a little hungover, but we walked for a good 2 hours. It was a good workout, and the view is just breath taking! The coolest thing about this hike, other than the fact that it is minutes walk from my house, is they have rest stops all through out it that has gym equipment... neat eh? A free gym on a mountain right by my house? George and I have decided that this will be a weekly thing! :)
So I must get going now, poor Heather sprained her ankle and couldn't come on the hike, but she is on her way to my place now and we are going to go and play pool with some of my work friends and walk along the beach! :) yay!!! I will never tire of living beside the beach!
OHHH one more thing.. I went to Seoul for the day on Saturday. I had to go for training. It was really cool to be on the train and see what the land looks like. I didn't get to see Seoul since right after my training I had to run to the train station to get home.. however I am very proud of myself. I took the bus to the train station in Busan, then a subway in Seoul to my traning class. There are 15 lines of subway in Seoul. And this is MEEEE.. I am TERRIBLE with directions! I know... you're impressed! :)
Butt.... before I go..
Happy Belated Birthday to Kylie and Happy Birthday Jenny!
Happy Daddy's day to you Dad!
love you!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
friday friday...
I have about 10 minutes until my next class, and I think I just need to breathe. It is not hard to tell that today is friday. The kids are nuts. I didn't get any of my lessons done on time today with my kindergarten kids... they just wanted to run around the classroom and play with each others things.
However, one moment was very cute today. Allie called me mom, so I said no Allie, silly girl I am not your mom! I am Teacher Sherry! Then she told me matter of factly that I was mom for everyone in the class room, I was a mom for all ten students! hahaha :) It was actually really cute. :)
I want to save my blog about beach day for after school when I have time to really explain how great it was! So I will tell you one really funny thing about yesterday night instead before I run off to teach my grammar class!
Steph and I were talking and walking along the beach, as we do everynight, and we happened to see this little Korean man walking his two massive dogs. These dogs were BEAUTIFUL, but they were probably bigger than me! I am not joking, probably even bigger than him. As we got closer to this man we saw something sticking out of his manpurse... (everyone carries bags here)... Steph laughs and says what is that cat doing in his bag? Well it turns out that in his tiny little manpurse (like this bag was small!) He had his dog stuffed in it! hahah It was too cute... this dog was along for the ride between these two massive dogs stuffed in his purse... all you could see was his tiny little head and front paws sticking out as the bag bounced on the mans bum as he walked. It was a funny sight to see. Apparently he walks (or carries) his dogs often along the beach.. we will keep an eye out for photos! haha
Gotta run to class.. the bell rang!
However, one moment was very cute today. Allie called me mom, so I said no Allie, silly girl I am not your mom! I am Teacher Sherry! Then she told me matter of factly that I was mom for everyone in the class room, I was a mom for all ten students! hahaha :) It was actually really cute. :)
I want to save my blog about beach day for after school when I have time to really explain how great it was! So I will tell you one really funny thing about yesterday night instead before I run off to teach my grammar class!
Steph and I were talking and walking along the beach, as we do everynight, and we happened to see this little Korean man walking his two massive dogs. These dogs were BEAUTIFUL, but they were probably bigger than me! I am not joking, probably even bigger than him. As we got closer to this man we saw something sticking out of his manpurse... (everyone carries bags here)... Steph laughs and says what is that cat doing in his bag? Well it turns out that in his tiny little manpurse (like this bag was small!) He had his dog stuffed in it! hahah It was too cute... this dog was along for the ride between these two massive dogs stuffed in his purse... all you could see was his tiny little head and front paws sticking out as the bag bounced on the mans bum as he walked. It was a funny sight to see. Apparently he walks (or carries) his dogs often along the beach.. we will keep an eye out for photos! haha
Gotta run to class.. the bell rang!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
phone number
If you ever come to visit me here in Korea, NEVER DRIVE!
I am so nervous when I am in cabs here, the driving is crazy. Cars drive so fast, and make such sudden movements!
Also, cars have the right away over people here it seems! When you are waiting at the cross walk and the light flashes green telling you to proceed, ALWAYS use caution! Cars have no problem running those lights... A few friends and I had a close encounter the other night with a BMW coming pretty close to hitting us. Steph was so calm about it.. she just said I bet he wouldn't find his car so fancy with our blood all over it.
Now that I am on the subject of public transportation, I took the subway to the university area so we could see the movie "Sex and the City". It was just as good the second time around!! I even cried the second time I saw it! I loved it! Anywho... of course I got us lost, and we were only travelling 2 subway stops away! hahah But the point of me bringing up the subway is to tell you how clean it is! The subway is SOOO clean! You never see any dirt anywhere, and it is such a nice way to travel. There are only 4 lines, so it isn't hard to figure your way around.
The movie theater is also very clean. It was so comfortable to see the movie there. It was an interesting experience. You have to pick a number and wait for your number to be called before you purchase a ticket, and when you purchase your ticket you also pick your seat number then too!
But about all the cleanliness here, it is weird that it is so clean. There are NOOO trash cans anywhere on the street. You are supposed to just leave it, and people are employed to come around and pick it up. The disposal system is so complicated and I don't even understand it yet. But, everyday is a different type of trash day. They stopped having trash cans in the city because peolpe were using them for household disposal.
Well I have to get my things ready for class now... I have to teach in 9 min, and I am giving a test! DUN DUN! haha My first class did terrible... but this next group is much smarter and studies much harder so they should do much better! :) But it was our first test, so there is tons of room for improvement. Ohhh.. before I go I must tell you that I was stict Sherry today!! I had a student not listening, so he had to stand in the corner! I also made one whole class put their heads down for three minutes!! They won't misbehave next time! hahaha
If you want to call me.. this is how:
http://www.howtocallabroad.com/results.php?callfrom=Canada&callto=Korea%2C+South
If you are using a calling card I believe you drop the first zero in my number
This is my number: 010 8013 0509
I am so nervous when I am in cabs here, the driving is crazy. Cars drive so fast, and make such sudden movements!
Also, cars have the right away over people here it seems! When you are waiting at the cross walk and the light flashes green telling you to proceed, ALWAYS use caution! Cars have no problem running those lights... A few friends and I had a close encounter the other night with a BMW coming pretty close to hitting us. Steph was so calm about it.. she just said I bet he wouldn't find his car so fancy with our blood all over it.
Now that I am on the subject of public transportation, I took the subway to the university area so we could see the movie "Sex and the City". It was just as good the second time around!! I even cried the second time I saw it! I loved it! Anywho... of course I got us lost, and we were only travelling 2 subway stops away! hahah But the point of me bringing up the subway is to tell you how clean it is! The subway is SOOO clean! You never see any dirt anywhere, and it is such a nice way to travel. There are only 4 lines, so it isn't hard to figure your way around.
The movie theater is also very clean. It was so comfortable to see the movie there. It was an interesting experience. You have to pick a number and wait for your number to be called before you purchase a ticket, and when you purchase your ticket you also pick your seat number then too!
But about all the cleanliness here, it is weird that it is so clean. There are NOOO trash cans anywhere on the street. You are supposed to just leave it, and people are employed to come around and pick it up. The disposal system is so complicated and I don't even understand it yet. But, everyday is a different type of trash day. They stopped having trash cans in the city because peolpe were using them for household disposal.
Well I have to get my things ready for class now... I have to teach in 9 min, and I am giving a test! DUN DUN! haha My first class did terrible... but this next group is much smarter and studies much harder so they should do much better! :) But it was our first test, so there is tons of room for improvement. Ohhh.. before I go I must tell you that I was stict Sherry today!! I had a student not listening, so he had to stand in the corner! I also made one whole class put their heads down for three minutes!! They won't misbehave next time! hahaha
If you want to call me.. this is how:
http://www.howtocallabroad.com/results.php?callfrom=Canada&callto=Korea%2C+South
If you are using a calling card I believe you drop the first zero in my number
This is my number: 010 8013 0509
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Today at ECC
Today in school we had ECC episode day. It was seriously the cutest thing I ever saw!! Those kids are so cute!!! Each kindergarten class had to act out a scene from shows like powderpuff girls, dexter, Johnny something... well you get the point.. it was so cute.
I love kids. They had to introduce themselves and then perform infront of all the other kindergarten classes... there are about 6 of them. The teachers had to judge each class and score them, and also pick the best student out of each class and give that student an award. Oh my I wish you could have seen their cute little faces and voices! Next time I will have my camera!!
Also, I found this amazing sandwich spot just minutes away from my house and school. ANDDD I ate a ham toasted sandwich that had egg on it, annddd I never got sick. I guess my taste buds are changing, and my tummy too.. I usually get sick when I eat egg... But at this amazing find I ate this sandwhich and a strawberry smoothie for only 2800 won. (Remember, 1000 won= about one dollar Canadian!) What a steal! I will frequent this place much more!! :)
Anywho.. I have had a long day, and must get ready for my long day tomorrow. I have a class that just doesn't understand me. They are supposed to have a working knowledge of English, but they didn't even understand me when I said sit in your seats. It will be an interesting year with them. Any suggestions? hahah My day gets better after that class only because it is my Man to Man class and I get to tutor a university student. It is a nice break from screaming kids! hahaha
Well I must prep a little before leaving the school.. some of us teachers the Korean teachers and English teachers are going to see the "Sex and the City Movie!"
P.s: I love living near a beach. I ate my lunch beside the water today! :) Ohhhhhhh I also booked a ferry ride to Jegu Island!!! Google this place... going to be great!!! The ferry we booked as the cheapest seats possible! We will get mats and be put into a empty space with 200 other travellers haha... should be an expereince! (This is an 11 hour ferry ride.. and guess who gets sea sick) hahaha (Maybe my sea sickness will go away like my feelings towards egg!)
I love kids. They had to introduce themselves and then perform infront of all the other kindergarten classes... there are about 6 of them. The teachers had to judge each class and score them, and also pick the best student out of each class and give that student an award. Oh my I wish you could have seen their cute little faces and voices! Next time I will have my camera!!
Also, I found this amazing sandwich spot just minutes away from my house and school. ANDDD I ate a ham toasted sandwich that had egg on it, annddd I never got sick. I guess my taste buds are changing, and my tummy too.. I usually get sick when I eat egg... But at this amazing find I ate this sandwhich and a strawberry smoothie for only 2800 won. (Remember, 1000 won= about one dollar Canadian!) What a steal! I will frequent this place much more!! :)
Anywho.. I have had a long day, and must get ready for my long day tomorrow. I have a class that just doesn't understand me. They are supposed to have a working knowledge of English, but they didn't even understand me when I said sit in your seats. It will be an interesting year with them. Any suggestions? hahah My day gets better after that class only because it is my Man to Man class and I get to tutor a university student. It is a nice break from screaming kids! hahaha
Well I must prep a little before leaving the school.. some of us teachers the Korean teachers and English teachers are going to see the "Sex and the City Movie!"
P.s: I love living near a beach. I ate my lunch beside the water today! :) Ohhhhhhh I also booked a ferry ride to Jegu Island!!! Google this place... going to be great!!! The ferry we booked as the cheapest seats possible! We will get mats and be put into a empty space with 200 other travellers haha... should be an expereince! (This is an 11 hour ferry ride.. and guess who gets sea sick) hahaha (Maybe my sea sickness will go away like my feelings towards egg!)
Sunday, June 8, 2008
a cultural experience
Hello everyone!
This is a quicky since I must be getting to my prep work!
I went to my friends house yesterday for a pot luck.. mmmm good food!! We had a stew, some chicken, salad and snacks! It was great!
However, while we were playing some card games I recieved a phone call from one of my friends who lives in another city. She was close to me and experiencing a bit of problems. She went to a hair place and got them to dye her hair blonde. (She has hair the same colour as me.) She was crying when I got there... she said.. why did I think that in Korea, where everyones hair is black did I think they could dye mine blonde?! They dyed it three times (her poor hair!) It went from orange, to bright yellow, to grey! The best part was they didn't speak any english at all.. she was trying to tell them she needed toner.. they had no idea what she was saying. The Korean/English dictionary did not help.
Also.. on the subway I saw a t-shirt I think many of you would love, it said something along the lines of "the wonderful bowie, sexy, glamorous"
Now to get some prep work done!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22189&l=6738b&id=500613710
There is a link to some of my photos! :)
This is a quicky since I must be getting to my prep work!
I went to my friends house yesterday for a pot luck.. mmmm good food!! We had a stew, some chicken, salad and snacks! It was great!
However, while we were playing some card games I recieved a phone call from one of my friends who lives in another city. She was close to me and experiencing a bit of problems. She went to a hair place and got them to dye her hair blonde. (She has hair the same colour as me.) She was crying when I got there... she said.. why did I think that in Korea, where everyones hair is black did I think they could dye mine blonde?! They dyed it three times (her poor hair!) It went from orange, to bright yellow, to grey! The best part was they didn't speak any english at all.. she was trying to tell them she needed toner.. they had no idea what she was saying. The Korean/English dictionary did not help.
Also.. on the subway I saw a t-shirt I think many of you would love, it said something along the lines of "the wonderful bowie, sexy, glamorous"
Now to get some prep work done!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22189&l=6738b&id=500613710
There is a link to some of my photos! :)
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Beaches
Right now I am writing my blog from a PC zone. It is an internet Cafe here in Korea. There is one right by my house. They are HUGE here... lots of people come here for hours and hours and play their video games here. You will honestly see these things on just about every corner.
So this last few days have been eventful! There was a holiday on Friday. It is a memorial day here, so I got to sleep in!!! That made me very happy, since I never had time to let my body really adjust.
So... my Friday started on the beach (oh I loveeeeeee living near the beach!) We all met at this American bar on the beach for everyone, and drank pitchers of beer while we waited.. well why not right? It is a holiday, why not celebrate. Once we got everyone together we went to the beach and sat outside with a beer just taking in the scene. There is a beautiful bridge that has neon lights attachted to it over the water on the beach. Once we got out thoughts together and the weather was cooling down a little more we went to a bar in another area of town that had a live band. This was my favourite place! We stayed for a while and enjoyed the music, however the people playing were from the West. I would really like to see some Korean live music (well at the beach they have a band that plays! Last night they played jingle bells!)
After the live band we went to a Keroke bar. That is HUGE here. The looked somewhat like a hotel. You book time and they take you to your room. The rooms are filled with flashing lights and sofas with a huge tv. I guess my body hadn't adjusted to the time difference and I fell asleep admits the loud music! As soon as I woke up everyone was like well hello sleepy head! They didn't want to wake me since they knew that I was really tired still from my trip!
Saturday was a fun day too, when we were on the beach the previous night we met up with a friend of ours who told us about a sand and surf at the haeundae beach which is only a 20 min subway ride away... (BEAUTIFUL BEACH! GOOGLE IT!) So I wake up and head over with my friends Rick and Chris to the event. It was the first day, so all I see is some of the sand sculptures, which are BEAUTIFUL! One made me really homesick because I swear they must have met my roomie Laura before! The sculpture in the sand was of a woman playing the violin! It even looked like a sand Laura! haha :)
Later that night we went to the beach in our area, the one that is 5 min away from my house (jealous?) and just hung out since it was my friend Chris's last day (I am going to miss him.. he is a great teacher and a great mentor!) I got tired around 10 and it was cold so I walked home with my friend and her beautiful dog to meet my friend Heather. We looked through Busan books for a little while and made a list of sights to see. I can't wait to do it all!!
Today (Saturday) we went back to the festival to see our friend, who is going to teach us surfing.. and we missed the event, but got there just in time for the awards! She won first place! We saw her as she was doing this sand wrestling thing and said oh! There is our friend, and a Korean guy was like she is your friend? She is a celebrity! haha She won last year too and was defending her title, so I think he was just impressed that our friend was the girl who won!
Well.. I also went to the mini mart today and bought a card reader... so I have that until I get my camera cord. I will try to upload some photos soon. However I need a cord soon before my camera dies. My area is beautiful and all the markets are wonderful!
Ohhh.. lastly, the night on the beach where I was just talking with friends and saying teary goodbyes to my mentor.. that night for supper I tried pig intestine, and then also some kind of bug. I think it was silk worm. They have them along the beach kinda like street meat!
I love it here.. and still waiting for culture shock to set in.. it hasn't yet. Coming here has been oddly smooth!
So this last few days have been eventful! There was a holiday on Friday. It is a memorial day here, so I got to sleep in!!! That made me very happy, since I never had time to let my body really adjust.
So... my Friday started on the beach (oh I loveeeeeee living near the beach!) We all met at this American bar on the beach for everyone, and drank pitchers of beer while we waited.. well why not right? It is a holiday, why not celebrate. Once we got everyone together we went to the beach and sat outside with a beer just taking in the scene. There is a beautiful bridge that has neon lights attachted to it over the water on the beach. Once we got out thoughts together and the weather was cooling down a little more we went to a bar in another area of town that had a live band. This was my favourite place! We stayed for a while and enjoyed the music, however the people playing were from the West. I would really like to see some Korean live music (well at the beach they have a band that plays! Last night they played jingle bells!)
After the live band we went to a Keroke bar. That is HUGE here. The looked somewhat like a hotel. You book time and they take you to your room. The rooms are filled with flashing lights and sofas with a huge tv. I guess my body hadn't adjusted to the time difference and I fell asleep admits the loud music! As soon as I woke up everyone was like well hello sleepy head! They didn't want to wake me since they knew that I was really tired still from my trip!
Saturday was a fun day too, when we were on the beach the previous night we met up with a friend of ours who told us about a sand and surf at the haeundae beach which is only a 20 min subway ride away... (BEAUTIFUL BEACH! GOOGLE IT!) So I wake up and head over with my friends Rick and Chris to the event. It was the first day, so all I see is some of the sand sculptures, which are BEAUTIFUL! One made me really homesick because I swear they must have met my roomie Laura before! The sculpture in the sand was of a woman playing the violin! It even looked like a sand Laura! haha :)
Later that night we went to the beach in our area, the one that is 5 min away from my house (jealous?) and just hung out since it was my friend Chris's last day (I am going to miss him.. he is a great teacher and a great mentor!) I got tired around 10 and it was cold so I walked home with my friend and her beautiful dog to meet my friend Heather. We looked through Busan books for a little while and made a list of sights to see. I can't wait to do it all!!
Today (Saturday) we went back to the festival to see our friend, who is going to teach us surfing.. and we missed the event, but got there just in time for the awards! She won first place! We saw her as she was doing this sand wrestling thing and said oh! There is our friend, and a Korean guy was like she is your friend? She is a celebrity! haha She won last year too and was defending her title, so I think he was just impressed that our friend was the girl who won!
Well.. I also went to the mini mart today and bought a card reader... so I have that until I get my camera cord. I will try to upload some photos soon. However I need a cord soon before my camera dies. My area is beautiful and all the markets are wonderful!
Ohhh.. lastly, the night on the beach where I was just talking with friends and saying teary goodbyes to my mentor.. that night for supper I tried pig intestine, and then also some kind of bug. I think it was silk worm. They have them along the beach kinda like street meat!
I love it here.. and still waiting for culture shock to set in.. it hasn't yet. Coming here has been oddly smooth!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
address
2F, Sambo Bld., 55-22 Namcheon-dong, Sooyoung-gu, Busan 613-815
This is my school address, but send any mail to here. Apparently if I gave you my own address I may never see it!
I just got back from lunch. It was great! :) I am lovvvving the food here! :)
Oh, one more interesting thing, everymorning I wake up to a pick up truck driving up and down my street selling fruit and annoucing it from the speakers... it is so weird to wake up to talking that I can't understand not even a little bit!
I tried to learn how to say hello, but I forget the prouncation all the time! Heather is trying to teach me. I think we may just start taking flash cards for a little while until things become easier!
I had to take a cab from Heather's house since the subway was closed, and I didn't know how to tell him where I lived, so I pointed to the closest subway station on the map. He spoke a little broken English, and asked me about music. He said he liked Metallica, I said my friend Gavin would be happy to hear that! :) However, he also played me songs that came from the Wedding Singer soundtrack.
Ohhhh.. one funny thing I saw at the subway. Apparently plastic suugery is common here, and small faces are seen as beautiful. A sign at the subway read: Small face, beautiful breasts!
Well, back to work!
Send me mail! :)
This is my school address, but send any mail to here. Apparently if I gave you my own address I may never see it!
I just got back from lunch. It was great! :) I am lovvvving the food here! :)
Oh, one more interesting thing, everymorning I wake up to a pick up truck driving up and down my street selling fruit and annoucing it from the speakers... it is so weird to wake up to talking that I can't understand not even a little bit!
I tried to learn how to say hello, but I forget the prouncation all the time! Heather is trying to teach me. I think we may just start taking flash cards for a little while until things become easier!
I had to take a cab from Heather's house since the subway was closed, and I didn't know how to tell him where I lived, so I pointed to the closest subway station on the map. He spoke a little broken English, and asked me about music. He said he liked Metallica, I said my friend Gavin would be happy to hear that! :) However, he also played me songs that came from the Wedding Singer soundtrack.
Ohhhh.. one funny thing I saw at the subway. Apparently plastic suugery is common here, and small faces are seen as beautiful. A sign at the subway read: Small face, beautiful breasts!
Well, back to work!
Send me mail! :)
I now have an appartment!
I am all moved into my place! It is bigger than I expected, but still really small. The shower is connected to the sink in my bathroom, so I have to shower beside the toliet, and before I shower I have to turn the hot water on in my studio area. I have a bed that a little bigger than a double, a stand up closet... what are those things called again? I have a fridge, three chairs and a table on the way. I also have a second closet which is currently holding my towels, iron and shoes! :)
On the veranda area I have a gas stove, a sink and well.. that is about it! haha :) I woke up this morning so happy! I woke up to the feeling... wow, this place is mine. Just mine. It is a good feeling!
So now to just quickly tell you things I have noticed before I run out of time to do the things I need to have done for my first kindergarten class of the morning :)
My subway pass is a cell phone charm that I scan to get in and off of the subway.
The number 4 is very bad luck (in the Motel I was staying at it went from floor 3 to floor 5), my house number is 401, again, if I was supersitious than maybe I would take it as a sign?
ummm.. my school is above a GM car dealership? haha and next door to a pizza hut. The pizza's are very interesting from the pictues, it looks like they have no sauce and sweet potatoe with some sort of mayo looking stuff drizzled on top.
There is also a McDonalds across the road, the menu has some interesting things on it.
They are also very strict about garbage. You can only compost what animals can eat, so no tea bags, and the rest I am finding out slowly but surely. The most I have gotten is I have to buy the garbage bags from the convience store.
Well.. now to prep for my kiddies! :) Today they are learing the difference between a man and a boy.
ALSOOO.. I have a phone now so if you are inclined to call then that would be great! :) However, my number failed to work for a friend back home, so I will get that number once I know how to really use it! :) My phone is also mostly in Korean, and those who know me know I am technology stupid as it is.. so this has been fun!
Well I am having a great time! I will post as much as I can, or whenever anything interesting seems to come up :)
On the veranda area I have a gas stove, a sink and well.. that is about it! haha :) I woke up this morning so happy! I woke up to the feeling... wow, this place is mine. Just mine. It is a good feeling!
So now to just quickly tell you things I have noticed before I run out of time to do the things I need to have done for my first kindergarten class of the morning :)
My subway pass is a cell phone charm that I scan to get in and off of the subway.
The number 4 is very bad luck (in the Motel I was staying at it went from floor 3 to floor 5), my house number is 401, again, if I was supersitious than maybe I would take it as a sign?
ummm.. my school is above a GM car dealership? haha and next door to a pizza hut. The pizza's are very interesting from the pictues, it looks like they have no sauce and sweet potatoe with some sort of mayo looking stuff drizzled on top.
There is also a McDonalds across the road, the menu has some interesting things on it.
They are also very strict about garbage. You can only compost what animals can eat, so no tea bags, and the rest I am finding out slowly but surely. The most I have gotten is I have to buy the garbage bags from the convience store.
Well.. now to prep for my kiddies! :) Today they are learing the difference between a man and a boy.
ALSOOO.. I have a phone now so if you are inclined to call then that would be great! :) However, my number failed to work for a friend back home, so I will get that number once I know how to really use it! :) My phone is also mostly in Korean, and those who know me know I am technology stupid as it is.. so this has been fun!
Well I am having a great time! I will post as much as I can, or whenever anything interesting seems to come up :)
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
I'm here!
So it has been an interesting start to my stay here in Korea! On my way to the Toronto airport we got a flat tire just 50 meters from my house! I almost missed the plane!!! Thankfully, Heather's mom (Heather is here with me in Korea, and I am currently at her house using her computer) called her dad and he drove me to the airport. I guess if I was superstitious I would have taken that as a sign?
Well, I get to the airport to find out that I should have really read into International travel and learned that I am only allowed to have one carry on. For some reason my thoughts told me I was allowed TWO! Soooo... I get to the line, and the lady gets mad at me, and I am all alone so I get worried that my stuff will have to be left at the airport and get teary eyed, so she let me take it. I guess my sensitivity helps sometimes? Well, I go through security and because I am already teary I start crying... I think it was mostly nerves and knowing that this is a for sure thing now. I try to talk myself out of it, I mean, hello, I have always wanted to do this and I am 24 years old! Grow up right... well my conscience did not want to hear that! The man working at security saw my tears and asked if anything happened. All I could say between my tears was I was sad because I was moving away.... to make me feel better he took me to a fast line in security and then asked me on a date... oh gosh.
Well, I finally start to regain myself and sit waiting for my plane. I make friends with a girl from Manchester and she clams me a little. We talk about travel, work, and about flying (have I mentioned that I hate flying?!) She is great! When we land in New York at JFK she helps me to find my connecting flight. I have to travel by this air subway thing from Terminal 8 to terminal 1. This airport is HUGE! So once I find it I get my ticket stamped and soon realize that means I get to be chosen for a random search. I get taken to a side room with other people who are experiencing the same things. I have to load all my bags and let security open them all and swab them all looking for possible explosives, I also have to walk through this structure that blows air at me to ensure I have no explosives on me. It was an interesting experience to say the least!
I find my gate for Seoul, and just flake out. At this point I had fallen asleep at 2am, woke up at 6, and looking forward to a 14 hour flight. Once on the plane I make friends with the girl sitting beside me. Her name is Young Ju, and she told me her "English" name was Yohanna. We pick the same movie on the flight to watch and talk about it as we watch it! It was a Korean movie, and VERY good! I can't remember the name, but it had Love in he title. One it was meal time I pick the Korean option over the Western one, and she teaches me how to prepare it. It was called Bibibimbap. It had rice, veggies, and beef with sesame oil and red pepper paste, it usually has an egg on top... however, I don't egg... Here in Korea I give my egg to my teacher friends. Anywho... my new found friend gives me her phone number and tells me she is in Seoul for two months and if I am ever there she will take me out, or once I get a phone here and I have any questions to just text her! I have been VERY lucky with making friends thus far! :)
The next flight I need is Seoul to Busan, and with Yong Ju's help I make it to my gate! She asked many people questions in Korean to help speed up the process. Our luggage took a long time to load in Seoul and I had to re-check my luggage!
Once I land in Busan my boss is there to pick me up and takes me to the Motel I am staying at and I learn that I have to stay there until Wednesday and start work the NEXT day. Apparently time difference changes shouldn't affect me! (This is a 13.5 hour time difference from Ontario I think?)
It wasn't actually that bad. I love my school, and all the teachers. It is going to be a bit of an adjustment, but not a hard one. The kids in my school are also VERY cute and love my attention and call me Teacher Sherry. It is very honourable to have the title teacher. My classes range from 15 min to 45 min. This school is a private after-school academy. It is very common for rich children to be put in these programs. Korea is a small country with a HUGE population, so jobs are not always available, and schools are also very competitive. In one of my older classes (13 years old), one of my kids was involved in 4 of these academy's. One for English, one for science, one for all subjects and one for piano. All of these academy's also give out homework. I can't imagine such a work load.
The food here is very good, and also very cheap. When I eat out it is usually $4 per meal. I went out for Korean BBQ last night and Soju (a very common drink here). The BBQ was soooo good. We enter the restaurant and take off our shoes, it is very disrespectful if you don't, then get seated on the floor. There is a grill in the middle of the table and a woman comes over and puts meat on it with full garlic cloves and mushrooms. Then gives you tons of side plates and oil. Once the meat is cooked you take sesame leaves and put the meat you cover in oil and then add some of the sides to it, as well as the garlic and mushrooms, wrap it and eat it. Try it sometime, you will like it!
There is so much more I want to post, but it is getting late and I must be ready to teach Kindergarten in the morning!
Oh, one more thing... here all the students pick their own English names. I have a "Cherry" and when she is being disruptive in class we call her Strawberry hahaha. In Heather's school she has a "Cheese" and "Mysterio".
Well, I get to the airport to find out that I should have really read into International travel and learned that I am only allowed to have one carry on. For some reason my thoughts told me I was allowed TWO! Soooo... I get to the line, and the lady gets mad at me, and I am all alone so I get worried that my stuff will have to be left at the airport and get teary eyed, so she let me take it. I guess my sensitivity helps sometimes? Well, I go through security and because I am already teary I start crying... I think it was mostly nerves and knowing that this is a for sure thing now. I try to talk myself out of it, I mean, hello, I have always wanted to do this and I am 24 years old! Grow up right... well my conscience did not want to hear that! The man working at security saw my tears and asked if anything happened. All I could say between my tears was I was sad because I was moving away.... to make me feel better he took me to a fast line in security and then asked me on a date... oh gosh.
Well, I finally start to regain myself and sit waiting for my plane. I make friends with a girl from Manchester and she clams me a little. We talk about travel, work, and about flying (have I mentioned that I hate flying?!) She is great! When we land in New York at JFK she helps me to find my connecting flight. I have to travel by this air subway thing from Terminal 8 to terminal 1. This airport is HUGE! So once I find it I get my ticket stamped and soon realize that means I get to be chosen for a random search. I get taken to a side room with other people who are experiencing the same things. I have to load all my bags and let security open them all and swab them all looking for possible explosives, I also have to walk through this structure that blows air at me to ensure I have no explosives on me. It was an interesting experience to say the least!
I find my gate for Seoul, and just flake out. At this point I had fallen asleep at 2am, woke up at 6, and looking forward to a 14 hour flight. Once on the plane I make friends with the girl sitting beside me. Her name is Young Ju, and she told me her "English" name was Yohanna. We pick the same movie on the flight to watch and talk about it as we watch it! It was a Korean movie, and VERY good! I can't remember the name, but it had Love in he title. One it was meal time I pick the Korean option over the Western one, and she teaches me how to prepare it. It was called Bibibimbap. It had rice, veggies, and beef with sesame oil and red pepper paste, it usually has an egg on top... however, I don't egg... Here in Korea I give my egg to my teacher friends. Anywho... my new found friend gives me her phone number and tells me she is in Seoul for two months and if I am ever there she will take me out, or once I get a phone here and I have any questions to just text her! I have been VERY lucky with making friends thus far! :)
The next flight I need is Seoul to Busan, and with Yong Ju's help I make it to my gate! She asked many people questions in Korean to help speed up the process. Our luggage took a long time to load in Seoul and I had to re-check my luggage!
Once I land in Busan my boss is there to pick me up and takes me to the Motel I am staying at and I learn that I have to stay there until Wednesday and start work the NEXT day. Apparently time difference changes shouldn't affect me! (This is a 13.5 hour time difference from Ontario I think?)
It wasn't actually that bad. I love my school, and all the teachers. It is going to be a bit of an adjustment, but not a hard one. The kids in my school are also VERY cute and love my attention and call me Teacher Sherry. It is very honourable to have the title teacher. My classes range from 15 min to 45 min. This school is a private after-school academy. It is very common for rich children to be put in these programs. Korea is a small country with a HUGE population, so jobs are not always available, and schools are also very competitive. In one of my older classes (13 years old), one of my kids was involved in 4 of these academy's. One for English, one for science, one for all subjects and one for piano. All of these academy's also give out homework. I can't imagine such a work load.
The food here is very good, and also very cheap. When I eat out it is usually $4 per meal. I went out for Korean BBQ last night and Soju (a very common drink here). The BBQ was soooo good. We enter the restaurant and take off our shoes, it is very disrespectful if you don't, then get seated on the floor. There is a grill in the middle of the table and a woman comes over and puts meat on it with full garlic cloves and mushrooms. Then gives you tons of side plates and oil. Once the meat is cooked you take sesame leaves and put the meat you cover in oil and then add some of the sides to it, as well as the garlic and mushrooms, wrap it and eat it. Try it sometime, you will like it!
There is so much more I want to post, but it is getting late and I must be ready to teach Kindergarten in the morning!
Oh, one more thing... here all the students pick their own English names. I have a "Cherry" and when she is being disruptive in class we call her Strawberry hahaha. In Heather's school she has a "Cheese" and "Mysterio".
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