*As per request, I've taken down the pictures of my students. I hope you all had a chance to see them!
I figured out how to post pictures on this blog - took me a while didn't it.
These pictures are from my MWF classes. They're such great kids!
Whew!
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haha, I bet you're all wondering what happened to me for the last couple of weeks. well, I have been SWAMPED here with prepping for lessons making grammar tests, marking essays and then the joy of all joys in teaching - writing report cards.
BUT
The madness is almost all over - I have only 2 more classes to write report cards for and those aren't due until Monday at midnight. Booyah! I'll probably spend a good chunk of my weekend writing comments to get those out of the way. Plus we are about to start the second month of a 3 month term(?) her at yes Youngdo, so I want to get some outlines for the upcoming curriculum finished ahead of schedule. This last week I was working about 12-15 hours a day, so I'm feeling pretty tired from school stuff.
The weekend is almost upon us here in Korea, and I think I'm going to try to buy some more stuff for my apartment, so that it actually LOOKS like someone is living there. ;D
I'll write again (mostly likely tomorrow) about living in Korea and not just what my teaching schedule is like (although it feels like that is all I do - school stuff. I have no life XD).
OH, and I 'll have to find some time to post the pictures and videos I've taken so far. Uploading just takes such a darn long time!
BUT
The madness is almost all over - I have only 2 more classes to write report cards for and those aren't due until Monday at midnight. Booyah! I'll probably spend a good chunk of my weekend writing comments to get those out of the way. Plus we are about to start the second month of a 3 month term(?) her at yes Youngdo, so I want to get some outlines for the upcoming curriculum finished ahead of schedule. This last week I was working about 12-15 hours a day, so I'm feeling pretty tired from school stuff.
The weekend is almost upon us here in Korea, and I think I'm going to try to buy some more stuff for my apartment, so that it actually LOOKS like someone is living there. ;D
I'll write again (mostly likely tomorrow) about living in Korea and not just what my teaching schedule is like (although it feels like that is all I do - school stuff. I have no life XD).
OH, and I 'll have to find some time to post the pictures and videos I've taken so far. Uploading just takes such a darn long time!
March 12, 2009
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Once again, I have to say that my procrastination for planning my lessons is coming back to bite me in the behind. I have my 3 hr classes tonight (one of which is the evil one) and I have NO IDEA what I'm going to talk about with them for such a long time. The 4:00 class isn't too bad, because they are at the same level as one of my other classes, so I basically use the same lesson plan. But my middle school students, that's another story. These kids have to be "entertained" while learning in order for me to get them to focus.
This is the weekend I'm going to get ahead ;)
Thank you to everyone who has emailed me or called me on skype - it's so nice to come to work and read all about what's going on over on the other side of the world. Sarah, thank you so much for you video message and facebook posts - you have no idea how much I really needed that :D
I have a pretty bad head cold right now that I'm taking tons of medicine for - I hope that it will be gone by this weekend.
Anyways, back to my much needed planning...
This is the weekend I'm going to get ahead ;)
Thank you to everyone who has emailed me or called me on skype - it's so nice to come to work and read all about what's going on over on the other side of the world. Sarah, thank you so much for you video message and facebook posts - you have no idea how much I really needed that :D
I have a pretty bad head cold right now that I'm taking tons of medicine for - I hope that it will be gone by this weekend.
Anyways, back to my much needed planning...
March 9th
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Totally behind on my planning...
I had really set my mind on getting the lesson plans for ALL my classes this week finished on the weekend, but I forgot to bring the textbooks home with me. So I'm here 3 hours early (as usual) writing up what I'm going to talk about today.
I apologize to anyone who doesn't watch LOST, but I finally watched the most recent episode and I HAVE to comment about it.
Dad, Lauren; how freakin' excited were you when you saw "the statue" in the first ten minutes of the show?? I literally screamed when I watched it, I think my neighbours must have heard me yelling. It's a pity that it didn't really last for longer than a few minutes, and I hope that the producers will bring it back sometime soon.
I think I finally figured out the whole time travel thing and how Jin was in that DHARMA Initiative suit when he came across Jack, Kate and Hurley. If you have any insights, please share them with me :D
And Sawyer and Juliette?? Booyah, I totally like them better together than with Jack and Kate. Ahh I cannot wait to see what is going to happen next. What about when all the OCEANIC 6 are finally reunited with the other LOSTIES?
Ok, enough rambling.
I hope you are all enjoying the cold weather in Canada; it has gotten a lot warmer here over the last couple of days. Right now I'm just preparing myself for the "DUST STORMS" of April. Oh what fun that will be.
I had really set my mind on getting the lesson plans for ALL my classes this week finished on the weekend, but I forgot to bring the textbooks home with me. So I'm here 3 hours early (as usual) writing up what I'm going to talk about today.
I apologize to anyone who doesn't watch LOST, but I finally watched the most recent episode and I HAVE to comment about it.
Dad, Lauren; how freakin' excited were you when you saw "the statue" in the first ten minutes of the show?? I literally screamed when I watched it, I think my neighbours must have heard me yelling. It's a pity that it didn't really last for longer than a few minutes, and I hope that the producers will bring it back sometime soon.
I think I finally figured out the whole time travel thing and how Jin was in that DHARMA Initiative suit when he came across Jack, Kate and Hurley. If you have any insights, please share them with me :D
And Sawyer and Juliette?? Booyah, I totally like them better together than with Jack and Kate. Ahh I cannot wait to see what is going to happen next. What about when all the OCEANIC 6 are finally reunited with the other LOSTIES?
Ok, enough rambling.
I hope you are all enjoying the cold weather in Canada; it has gotten a lot warmer here over the last couple of days. Right now I'm just preparing myself for the "DUST STORMS" of April. Oh what fun that will be.
Weekly Overview
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I realize that this post is a late one - honestly it really sucks not having internet at home. I probably won't have an internet connection at my house until the end of NEXT week at the earliest, so my posts on this blog until that time will be few and far between. But I still like hearing from you and reading your comments, so make sure you keep writing!
I'm really enjoying my M/W/F classes, and my T/TH class at 4 oclock are really set too, but I have to say that my class of middle school students on Tuesday and Thursday night from 7-10 is giving me a hard time keeping them interested. I have some great students in that class, and if it wasn't for them I would probably have given up hehe. There are about 3 or 4 students that act like they are too cool for school or something. They constantly speak in Korean, which is against the rules of the school, even though I REPEATEDLY tell them not to, and when I give them punishments, like writing lines or going to see the Korean teachers in the office - most students are terrified of them because they will actually yell at the kids if they aren't doing they're work or misbehaving (it's a Korean culture thing I think) - they always say no or try to make up for what they did. but then 30 seconds later they're acting up again.
ERGG I will have to get creative, and a few teachers have given me some suggestions to try out. Ultimately, they've told me to teach to the kids that want to learn and that are doing the work, and when the parents of those misbehaving kids wonder why their kid doesn't know English, its their own fault. Aish the hormones of 13-14 year olds are sooooo frustrating....
YEsterday I went with some teachers to a Suwon Bluewings soccer game and took my camera along. The pictures I took may not have been the best, but I think they captured the feeling of being in an outside stadium watching a sports match. The fans on our side - we were cheering for Suwon too - were soooo loud and enthusiastic; I had to videotape some of their singing to show Mum. Afterwards we went out to a galbi restaurant for some good ol' beef grilled right in front of us.
mmmm lots of deliciousness.
Today, I'm pretty much taking it easy - althoguh tonight I want to organize and prepare my lesson plans for the whole week so I won't be as stressed as I was last week. I can't wait to get to the point where I can wing it most of the time.
I'll try to update again soon, and maybe even include some pictures :D
I'm really enjoying my M/W/F classes, and my T/TH class at 4 oclock are really set too, but I have to say that my class of middle school students on Tuesday and Thursday night from 7-10 is giving me a hard time keeping them interested. I have some great students in that class, and if it wasn't for them I would probably have given up hehe. There are about 3 or 4 students that act like they are too cool for school or something. They constantly speak in Korean, which is against the rules of the school, even though I REPEATEDLY tell them not to, and when I give them punishments, like writing lines or going to see the Korean teachers in the office - most students are terrified of them because they will actually yell at the kids if they aren't doing they're work or misbehaving (it's a Korean culture thing I think) - they always say no or try to make up for what they did. but then 30 seconds later they're acting up again.
ERGG I will have to get creative, and a few teachers have given me some suggestions to try out. Ultimately, they've told me to teach to the kids that want to learn and that are doing the work, and when the parents of those misbehaving kids wonder why their kid doesn't know English, its their own fault. Aish the hormones of 13-14 year olds are sooooo frustrating....
YEsterday I went with some teachers to a Suwon Bluewings soccer game and took my camera along. The pictures I took may not have been the best, but I think they captured the feeling of being in an outside stadium watching a sports match. The fans on our side - we were cheering for Suwon too - were soooo loud and enthusiastic; I had to videotape some of their singing to show Mum. Afterwards we went out to a galbi restaurant for some good ol' beef grilled right in front of us.
mmmm lots of deliciousness.
Today, I'm pretty much taking it easy - althoguh tonight I want to organize and prepare my lesson plans for the whole week so I won't be as stressed as I was last week. I can't wait to get to the point where I can wing it most of the time.
I'll try to update again soon, and maybe even include some pictures :D
MWF Classes - First Day!
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So I had my first day of teaching yesterday. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I have 3 classes; one from 4-5:50, one from 6-7:50, and one from 8:05-9:50. My first and last class went pretty well (I think) largely because I had such a big class with 14 students in each so they would talk and volunteer answers. My middle class has only 7 and they are SUPER quiet. I hope that as they get used to me I'll be able to get them talking!
The first class is a group of kids that are in Grade 4 in Korean school, but are reading English at a Grade 2 level. They are a great group of kids, so adorable and alot of fun to joke around with. I have a kid named Dustin in that class, so I was telling him about the Dustin I know from Empire. ah sigh. There's another kid David who s SOO CUTE and he likes to volunteer A LOT of answers.
My second class is in Grade 5 but they are reading at about a grade 1 level in English, so it's a little harder to get them talking and thinking about learning new vocabulary and following along with our stories.
My last class is a mix of students ranging from grade 7-9, reading at a Grade 3 level of English. They seem a little quieter than my first class, but they still offer some answers with a little coaxing. I've learned that it's better to be really animated and maybe a little bit silly in order for the kids to get interested in what you're saying. hehehe there is no shame in my classroom as I used to say to my mom.
I've got to plan a demo lesson for my Tuesday and Thursday classes - which I've been told will likely be a little more challenging. I have some "troublemakers" in one of the classes, so I'm hoping I'll be able to figure out a way to get them to pay attention and behave for me!
The first class is a group of kids that are in Grade 4 in Korean school, but are reading English at a Grade 2 level. They are a great group of kids, so adorable and alot of fun to joke around with. I have a kid named Dustin in that class, so I was telling him about the Dustin I know from Empire. ah sigh. There's another kid David who s SOO CUTE and he likes to volunteer A LOT of answers.
My second class is in Grade 5 but they are reading at about a grade 1 level in English, so it's a little harder to get them talking and thinking about learning new vocabulary and following along with our stories.
My last class is a mix of students ranging from grade 7-9, reading at a Grade 3 level of English. They seem a little quieter than my first class, but they still offer some answers with a little coaxing. I've learned that it's better to be really animated and maybe a little bit silly in order for the kids to get interested in what you're saying. hehehe there is no shame in my classroom as I used to say to my mom.
I've got to plan a demo lesson for my Tuesday and Thursday classes - which I've been told will likely be a little more challenging. I have some "troublemakers" in one of the classes, so I'm hoping I'll be able to figure out a way to get them to pay attention and behave for me!
*Skippable*
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^Is that even a word?
Anyways, you can skip this entry if you don't want to hear me gush about my obsession with the Korean drama Boys Before Flowers.
I'm so in love with this episode it's not even funny anymore. The superb acting from Lee Minho (and even the other F4 characters) leaves me craving more screen time for his character. Plus he's not bad to look at ;D
aish, even though it is airing right now, the subs won't be out for another couple of days. I hate the waiting game...
Anyways, you can skip this entry if you don't want to hear me gush about my obsession with the Korean drama Boys Before Flowers.
I'm so in love with this episode it's not even funny anymore. The superb acting from Lee Minho (and even the other F4 characters) leaves me craving more screen time for his character. Plus he's not bad to look at ;D
aish, even though it is airing right now, the subs won't be out for another couple of days. I hate the waiting game...
First Day
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Hey!!
Wow it's certainly been a while since I last posted on this blog, but things here have been super busy. I'm trying to learn as much as I can from my teachers so that I know where to catch the bus - I now know how to get to Gangnam in Seoul - and the best places to eat :D
I did write a bit when I first arrived here so I wouldn't forget my first impressions of Seoul.
The first day is as follows...
Feb 24/25 2009 (First is Canadian time, second is Korean time)
My best friend Hannah decided to join my parents on our trip to the Toronto Pearson International airport on Monday afternoon. In the car we took a TON of random pictures to make a remembrance of this day. They were all great though.
As soon as we began to get closer and closer to the airport, my stomach began to get a bad case of the butterflies, and there were a few moments where I seriously doubted whether or not I could really do this on my own. But I also realized that this was a goal I had worked towards for about 2 and a half years, and that putting this off was not the right thing to do. It was hard saying goodbye to my friends and family, especially my mom at the airport. Even right now I don’t feel like I’ve experienced any significant feelings of homesickness, although I am constantly preparing myself for those times when they DO come. I love the letters and warm sentiments that they wrote to me.
While we were waiting to board our flight to Chicago, I and a few other travelers heard our names being called out on the PA for a last boarding call at a completely different gate. None of us had even heard any earlier announcements that such a change had been made, and we had to book it down the hall to make our flight.
On the flight to Chicago I pretty much just read my book, The Alchemist, for the hour long journey. I kept finding myself distracted from the story however, because I was so nervous about finding my next check in location at an airport I had never visited. When the plane landed, I successfully navigated myself across the Chicago Odhare International Airport (asking the right questions and hopping aboard a train) to the International Terminal 5, serving Asiana airlines on their flight to Korea.
The waiting to board for this flight was the worst. By the time I had reached the boarding waiting area it was 11:00, and I had been up and running around for hours that day. Trying to keep my eyes open so I wouldn’t miss the boarding call was torture, and when we were finally allowed to board the plane at 12:30, I silently thanked God for this merciful turn of events. Although I had hoped I would get a window seat for this long 16 hour flight, I wasn’t as lucky as I thought. I was seated in an aisle seat next to an elderly Chinese couple who must have loved the sounds of their own voices, by the way they were talking so loud. They were very polite and quite friendly – we tried to talk as best we could in the limited English that they knew – but on such a long flight, nobody wants to hear constant loud chatter as if they were the only ones in the area. To make matters worse, they were constantly waking me up so that they could excuse themselves to the bathroom, so I didn’t get nearly as much sleep as I would have liked. By the end of the flight I felt a little bad for the stewardesses that served our aisle, because despite the outward politeness, these elders were quite pushy and demanding for service.
As we finally descended into Seoul Incheon Airport, I began to feel a little anxious because I wasn’t exactly sure of the next step I was supposed to take. Luckily, I met with some other foreigners who were also in Korea to teach ESL, so we stuck together getting our baggage and finding our pick up drivers to take us to our new jobs. Fortunately, we were all picked up at the same time, so nobody was left all alone wondering what they should do. I managed to take a few pictures of the airport outside before I was hurriedly ushered into a van to take me into Suwon.
This is where the real fun began. Driving through the Incheon was actually pretty nice, especially since there were small mountains on either side of the van, and the sun rising up in the east. (haha random DBSK recollection)
And OMG I FINALLY GOT TO PRACTICE MY KOREAN WITH A NATIVE KOREAN PERSON. It was awesome; since I didn’t know the exact way to put together a sentence in Korean, I just used the words I did know in order to explain what I was saying, and for the most part we were able to understand one another. There were some instances where he or I would saying something, but the other person didn’t real understand what they were talking about, but I still feel a little proud at this accomplishment. He asked me things like how I learned to speak Korean, my age, why I was in Korea, etc. Sometimes I would do my best to ask a question about a particular landmark I saw, and he too would try to explain it to me in Korean and English (Konglish!). I tried to rely on things that my Korean friends had told me about Korean culture in order to conduct myself appropriately (aniyo,aniyo,aniyo haha, thank you Hannah).
Funnily enough when he was dropping me off, he kept complimenting my eye colour and saying that I had very beautiful eyes. That was a little awkward haha. After waiting for about 15 minutes, the YES representative – Cloud (yes, that is his actual name) – came to meet me and showed me around my apartment before taking me over to the school. I was quite impressed with the facilities they have, and was relived to learn that they had free wireless internet I could use while waiting for my own to be installed – I need an ARC. After dropping me off at my apartment to get unpacked and settled into my new home for the next year, I was told to be ready for Orientation training later that evening at 6pm. And so now here I sit, detailing my adventure thus far.
Waiting to start my teaching is hard, but I know that this training will help me to prepare myself for next week. Let's hope the kids like me!
Wow it's certainly been a while since I last posted on this blog, but things here have been super busy. I'm trying to learn as much as I can from my teachers so that I know where to catch the bus - I now know how to get to Gangnam in Seoul - and the best places to eat :D
I did write a bit when I first arrived here so I wouldn't forget my first impressions of Seoul.
The first day is as follows...
Feb 24/25 2009 (First is Canadian time, second is Korean time)
My best friend Hannah decided to join my parents on our trip to the Toronto Pearson International airport on Monday afternoon. In the car we took a TON of random pictures to make a remembrance of this day. They were all great though.
As soon as we began to get closer and closer to the airport, my stomach began to get a bad case of the butterflies, and there were a few moments where I seriously doubted whether or not I could really do this on my own. But I also realized that this was a goal I had worked towards for about 2 and a half years, and that putting this off was not the right thing to do. It was hard saying goodbye to my friends and family, especially my mom at the airport. Even right now I don’t feel like I’ve experienced any significant feelings of homesickness, although I am constantly preparing myself for those times when they DO come. I love the letters and warm sentiments that they wrote to me.
While we were waiting to board our flight to Chicago, I and a few other travelers heard our names being called out on the PA for a last boarding call at a completely different gate. None of us had even heard any earlier announcements that such a change had been made, and we had to book it down the hall to make our flight.
On the flight to Chicago I pretty much just read my book, The Alchemist, for the hour long journey. I kept finding myself distracted from the story however, because I was so nervous about finding my next check in location at an airport I had never visited. When the plane landed, I successfully navigated myself across the Chicago Odhare International Airport (asking the right questions and hopping aboard a train) to the International Terminal 5, serving Asiana airlines on their flight to Korea.
The waiting to board for this flight was the worst. By the time I had reached the boarding waiting area it was 11:00, and I had been up and running around for hours that day. Trying to keep my eyes open so I wouldn’t miss the boarding call was torture, and when we were finally allowed to board the plane at 12:30, I silently thanked God for this merciful turn of events. Although I had hoped I would get a window seat for this long 16 hour flight, I wasn’t as lucky as I thought. I was seated in an aisle seat next to an elderly Chinese couple who must have loved the sounds of their own voices, by the way they were talking so loud. They were very polite and quite friendly – we tried to talk as best we could in the limited English that they knew – but on such a long flight, nobody wants to hear constant loud chatter as if they were the only ones in the area. To make matters worse, they were constantly waking me up so that they could excuse themselves to the bathroom, so I didn’t get nearly as much sleep as I would have liked. By the end of the flight I felt a little bad for the stewardesses that served our aisle, because despite the outward politeness, these elders were quite pushy and demanding for service.
As we finally descended into Seoul Incheon Airport, I began to feel a little anxious because I wasn’t exactly sure of the next step I was supposed to take. Luckily, I met with some other foreigners who were also in Korea to teach ESL, so we stuck together getting our baggage and finding our pick up drivers to take us to our new jobs. Fortunately, we were all picked up at the same time, so nobody was left all alone wondering what they should do. I managed to take a few pictures of the airport outside before I was hurriedly ushered into a van to take me into Suwon.
This is where the real fun began. Driving through the Incheon was actually pretty nice, especially since there were small mountains on either side of the van, and the sun rising up in the east. (haha random DBSK recollection)
And OMG I FINALLY GOT TO PRACTICE MY KOREAN WITH A NATIVE KOREAN PERSON. It was awesome; since I didn’t know the exact way to put together a sentence in Korean, I just used the words I did know in order to explain what I was saying, and for the most part we were able to understand one another. There were some instances where he or I would saying something, but the other person didn’t real understand what they were talking about, but I still feel a little proud at this accomplishment. He asked me things like how I learned to speak Korean, my age, why I was in Korea, etc. Sometimes I would do my best to ask a question about a particular landmark I saw, and he too would try to explain it to me in Korean and English (Konglish!). I tried to rely on things that my Korean friends had told me about Korean culture in order to conduct myself appropriately (aniyo,aniyo,aniyo haha, thank you Hannah).
Funnily enough when he was dropping me off, he kept complimenting my eye colour and saying that I had very beautiful eyes. That was a little awkward haha. After waiting for about 15 minutes, the YES representative – Cloud (yes, that is his actual name) – came to meet me and showed me around my apartment before taking me over to the school. I was quite impressed with the facilities they have, and was relived to learn that they had free wireless internet I could use while waiting for my own to be installed – I need an ARC. After dropping me off at my apartment to get unpacked and settled into my new home for the next year, I was told to be ready for Orientation training later that evening at 6pm. And so now here I sit, detailing my adventure thus far.
Waiting to start my teaching is hard, but I know that this training will help me to prepare myself for next week. Let's hope the kids like me!
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