Happy Anniversary to me for being in Korea for 6 months! Feel free to send gifts to my LCI address. :)
I arrived on August 24th, but I don't think I leave until the end of August (around the 28th) so I'm counting this as my six months. I still can't really believe that it has been six months already.
February has been pretty busy. Graduation is tomorrow (the 29th) for all the kindergarten classes so the Korean staff has been pretty on edge most of the this week and last week. I did find out my new classes though last week and I'm super excited!
The new semester in Korea starts in March, so we'll start our new classes on March 5th. Since my kindergarten is graduating, I'm getting a new class. I'll have a 6-1 class, which means that they will be brand new six year olds, aka they know absolutely nothing... I'm really excited to have a new class but I'm pretty nervous too! In August, I started with a 7-1.5 class, meaning they were seven year olds, and they will have graduated with one and a half years of English (my first six months was my class's last six months, the .5). Like I said before (I think?) everyone goes to first grade when they turn 8 years old, regardless of how many years they've had at our school. We have kindergarten in the morning because they don't go to their Korean schools yet. So some parents put their kids into private English school starting at 5 years old, some wait until they're 6, and some wait until they're 7. Also remember that Koreans all become a year older at the New Year so they are all the same "age".
Anyways, moral of the story, I will have a 6-1 class which I'm nervous and excited about! I found out that my first grade is my kindergarten class. I'm so so excited about it. They usually like to switch up the teachers from kindergarten to their first grade but they told me my kids are "really attached" to me so I still get to be their teacher. First grade is usually everyday, but one of my kid's moms decided that was too much for her daughter and made them switch it for my class to only Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The best part about it is that this mom caused all this trouble and then decided her daughter would be going to a different school that had less work. Quite disrespectful if you ask me but I'm kind of happy this girl is no longer coming! So out of my six kindergartners, only four will be returning to LCI, my school, for first grade. Jessie and Angelina decided not to come back and yeah, I'm not too upset.
Tuesday and Thursday then during the first grade time I'll be teaching Reading Club which is story reading with the kindergartners from other classes. I'll have a 6-2 kindergarten class Tuesdays and a 7-3 class on Thursdays. These classes should be pretty smart, especially the 7-3 class. They are 7 years old, so they will go to first grade NEXT March, and they are starting their third year of English.
Second grade and third grade aren't too exciting. I'm teaching Storytown though now instead of Science which I think I will like better! I don't have a break in the middle of the day anymore which was really nice but I'll make more money and I think it'll make the days go by even faster!
We also had to switch our classrooms for the new semester because all the 7 year old rooms are on one wall, and then the 6 year old rooms are on the other wall. I have to leave my big classroom which is unfortunate but I get to move into a room that at least the other teacher kept pretty clean so it's not too bad! I only have 7 kindergartners which is really nice too because I don't know if I could handle teaching more than that without them knowing any English! The supervisors put me in one room, but then asked me to switch to the room that the parents see a lot more because they know I keep my room really clean and organized, so that was a nice compliment! :)
Well this has been pretty boring! I'm really excited to start this next 6 months though. Our new teachers arrived on Sunday to replace the 5 teachers that are leaving. I'm going to miss them all but the new teachers all seem really nice too. We went to the casino Saturday night since that's what some of the old teachers wanted to do before they left. Gambling is illegal for Koreans so it's really only there for foreigners and Koreans who have dual citizenship. It was a really nice casino, much less trashy than the one I went to in Minnesota once. I learned how to play roulette but didn't play too long after I lost my 20,000 won and told myself that was the equivalent of dinner and a movie or something haha.
Now I have to go prepare for our graduation, I also have to give a little speech about the class and all my students (eek). We have a staff party to celebrate everyone coming/leaving tomorrow so that is exciting! Then on Thursday Christine, Rachel, and I are leaving to go to Jeju island which is supposedly the "Hawaii" of Korea, not that it'll be that warm at all but it will still be nice to get away for a while! I'll write about it when I get back!
Love from Korea,
Meghan
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Beginning of February!
Hello,
As I'm writing this, it's currently 25 degrees. I'm getting quite sick of the weather and even more sick of hearing about how calm Minnesota's winter has been. Today is probably one of the coldest days we've had but still! Luckily next week it should be back in the 40s, so they say...
With the cold still around us, February hasn't been too exciting. A lot of the stuff I want to do requires being outside and this month I just have no motivation to do that. I did have two pretty eventful weekends the first two weekends of February though.
The first Saturday in February Christine and I met up with some friends in the Gangnam area, which is part of Seoul. We went to two different bars but then proceeded to go to a Noraebong. This was my fist Noraebang experience and I was pretty excited because I had heard they were pretty fun. A Noraebong is Korean karaoke... BUT you rent out a whole room for yourself (the word "bang" means room...which makes "bang" about the 10th word I know in Korean! woo hoo). They had any song you can think of and after some pitchers of beer and some Makgeolli (Korean rice wine) one can only imagine the quality of singing going on in one of these rooms... The room was also complete with about 4 tambourines?? Because who doesn't want to play the tambourine while singing karaoke...
Last weekend, was another fun weekend. Friday night, most of us went to our co-worker Melinda's apartment to make homemade Mandu. Mandu are Korean dumplings... or I call them potsticker. See picture below! Of course ours didn't look as perfect (or anywhere near perfect in my case!)
Regardless of how they looked, they tasted delicious! We put tofu, green onions, white onions, cabbage, sprouts and rice noodles in them, and then you stir in an egg to the mixture also. We steamed ours and then fried some also. I will definitely have to try to make some when I get home!
Saturday was a really busy day. Christine, Rachel, and I made our third attempt at Costco. Note to self, DO NOT go on a weekend! Eeek so busy. We also chose a different way to go there, so the fourth time we go we will finally know the exact and quickest way to get there! I wanted to get some hamburger meat because I had been waiting to make chili but the meat is cheaper at Costco. Of course I had to get a huge bag of trail mix again, and also some granola, raisins, and cheese. It's so tempting not to buy everything in the place! Saturday night, we went out to a bar in Suwon to celebrate Melinda's birthday that day. It was pretty laid back and her boyfriend Tom who we work with also was playing at the bar so it was fun.
Sunday was the day I attempted my chili! It's actually super easy to make. who knew when your dad always makes it for you? :) I do have to say for a first time it actually tasted really good. I made a lot and put some in the freezer and also still have a lot of hamburger left so we'll see what I attempt with the rest of that! I bought some tortilla chips and put some of my cheddar cheese on the chili. It was like being in America! Yum!
Work continues to pass quickly! This is my last month with my classes and I'm getting pretty sad about not having my kindergartner's especially! They are still working super hard for their whole "graduation" but my kids are doing a really good job singing "ABC". I think Michael Jackson would have been proud. They look so cute! I will for sure tape their performance at the end of this month and put it on my photo site. My kids seem to think that this is for another "Song Contest" and I haven't told them that it isn't a contest because then their motivation will go down to actually practice... a little white lie can't hurt right!?
Hope everyone had a good Valentine's day! In Korea, the girl's are supposed to buy the boys presents, then on March 14th (which is known as White Day, I have no idea why) the boys buy the girls presents. I thought it was the other way around, so I was explaining to my kindergarten that the boys will buy the girls presents and Spencer (my only boy out of my 6 students) looks around at all the girls, puts his hands on his face and says, "Oh no!" haha it was so cute. I told him he didn't have to bring anything for us, but of course his mom sent him with little treat bags for the class, and a box of Lindt chocolate truffles for me! :)
Danny sent me a surprise package with 6 bags of M&Ms and 2 bags of reeses... which is quite possibly the best gift ever (except maybe my Kindle!). We'll see how long they last. Overall, it was a good holiday!
Let's see... other news, Christine, Heather and I signed up for a half marathon at the end of April! I've always wanted to run one and for 30,000 won, it seems like a pretty good time to do so. Next weekend is the last weekend of the 5 teachers whose contracts are finished at the end of February so we'll be pretty busy. The new teachers will also be coming around that time so that should be exciting. My friend and roommate Kayla from Gustavus left this weekend for Korea too! She'll be teaching in Daegu but still, we'll be on the same continent again which is exciting and I might be able to see in her in Seoul while she's training this week.
AND the most exciting news, Molly will be in Korea to go to Thailand with me for summer vacation!!! Molly will fly into Korea on July 26th and then we'll leave for Thailand on the 28th when my vacation starts and be there until August 4th or 5th! So, if anyone has any suggestions on what to see/do in Thailand, please speak up because it is already overwhelming looking at everything there is to do there. Ahhh so exciting though! Too bad it's 5 months away!
Tootles,
Meghan
As I'm writing this, it's currently 25 degrees. I'm getting quite sick of the weather and even more sick of hearing about how calm Minnesota's winter has been. Today is probably one of the coldest days we've had but still! Luckily next week it should be back in the 40s, so they say...
With the cold still around us, February hasn't been too exciting. A lot of the stuff I want to do requires being outside and this month I just have no motivation to do that. I did have two pretty eventful weekends the first two weekends of February though.
The first Saturday in February Christine and I met up with some friends in the Gangnam area, which is part of Seoul. We went to two different bars but then proceeded to go to a Noraebong. This was my fist Noraebang experience and I was pretty excited because I had heard they were pretty fun. A Noraebong is Korean karaoke... BUT you rent out a whole room for yourself (the word "bang" means room...which makes "bang" about the 10th word I know in Korean! woo hoo). They had any song you can think of and after some pitchers of beer and some Makgeolli (Korean rice wine) one can only imagine the quality of singing going on in one of these rooms... The room was also complete with about 4 tambourines?? Because who doesn't want to play the tambourine while singing karaoke...
Last weekend, was another fun weekend. Friday night, most of us went to our co-worker Melinda's apartment to make homemade Mandu. Mandu are Korean dumplings... or I call them potsticker. See picture below! Of course ours didn't look as perfect (or anywhere near perfect in my case!)
Regardless of how they looked, they tasted delicious! We put tofu, green onions, white onions, cabbage, sprouts and rice noodles in them, and then you stir in an egg to the mixture also. We steamed ours and then fried some also. I will definitely have to try to make some when I get home!
Saturday was a really busy day. Christine, Rachel, and I made our third attempt at Costco. Note to self, DO NOT go on a weekend! Eeek so busy. We also chose a different way to go there, so the fourth time we go we will finally know the exact and quickest way to get there! I wanted to get some hamburger meat because I had been waiting to make chili but the meat is cheaper at Costco. Of course I had to get a huge bag of trail mix again, and also some granola, raisins, and cheese. It's so tempting not to buy everything in the place! Saturday night, we went out to a bar in Suwon to celebrate Melinda's birthday that day. It was pretty laid back and her boyfriend Tom who we work with also was playing at the bar so it was fun.
Sunday was the day I attempted my chili! It's actually super easy to make. who knew when your dad always makes it for you? :) I do have to say for a first time it actually tasted really good. I made a lot and put some in the freezer and also still have a lot of hamburger left so we'll see what I attempt with the rest of that! I bought some tortilla chips and put some of my cheddar cheese on the chili. It was like being in America! Yum!
Work continues to pass quickly! This is my last month with my classes and I'm getting pretty sad about not having my kindergartner's especially! They are still working super hard for their whole "graduation" but my kids are doing a really good job singing "ABC". I think Michael Jackson would have been proud. They look so cute! I will for sure tape their performance at the end of this month and put it on my photo site. My kids seem to think that this is for another "Song Contest" and I haven't told them that it isn't a contest because then their motivation will go down to actually practice... a little white lie can't hurt right!?
Hope everyone had a good Valentine's day! In Korea, the girl's are supposed to buy the boys presents, then on March 14th (which is known as White Day, I have no idea why) the boys buy the girls presents. I thought it was the other way around, so I was explaining to my kindergarten that the boys will buy the girls presents and Spencer (my only boy out of my 6 students) looks around at all the girls, puts his hands on his face and says, "Oh no!" haha it was so cute. I told him he didn't have to bring anything for us, but of course his mom sent him with little treat bags for the class, and a box of Lindt chocolate truffles for me! :)
Danny sent me a surprise package with 6 bags of M&Ms and 2 bags of reeses... which is quite possibly the best gift ever (except maybe my Kindle!). We'll see how long they last. Overall, it was a good holiday!
Let's see... other news, Christine, Heather and I signed up for a half marathon at the end of April! I've always wanted to run one and for 30,000 won, it seems like a pretty good time to do so. Next weekend is the last weekend of the 5 teachers whose contracts are finished at the end of February so we'll be pretty busy. The new teachers will also be coming around that time so that should be exciting. My friend and roommate Kayla from Gustavus left this weekend for Korea too! She'll be teaching in Daegu but still, we'll be on the same continent again which is exciting and I might be able to see in her in Seoul while she's training this week.
AND the most exciting news, Molly will be in Korea to go to Thailand with me for summer vacation!!! Molly will fly into Korea on July 26th and then we'll leave for Thailand on the 28th when my vacation starts and be there until August 4th or 5th! So, if anyone has any suggestions on what to see/do in Thailand, please speak up because it is already overwhelming looking at everything there is to do there. Ahhh so exciting though! Too bad it's 5 months away!
Tootles,
Meghan
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