Parting is Such Sorrow

As teachers coming to Korea it's to be expected that we all teach for a year and then part ways to new, exciting adventures. However, when coming here I never thought that I would have met so many amazing people that would make such an impact in my life. If there is anything that I have learned while being here, it is that the good times go by too fast. In the picture below I have had to say farewell to 7 people within the last 5 months. That's a lot of tears in such a short amount of time.


Christmas Party in Seoul


This week I will be saying farewell to two more people, Sarah and Erin. These people have been part of my experience in Korea from the very beginning. As many other people plan to do, they will be traveling the world and have big plans for their future. I'm so excited for them and I feel so blessed to have met them during my travels.



Erin <3

Sarah!!

One a lighter note, I started the countdown for my return home. Only about 12 weeks!! Ahhh I can't even believe it. What do I want to do first? What shall I eat first? What am I going to wear when I get off the plane?? These are a few of many questions that have been running through my mind lately. I miss you all more and more everyday. I'm ready to come home!!

-Jenn xoxo

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

One week from today will mark my 8th month anniversary of being in Korea. The time just seems to slip past me weekly. As Monday approaches, I blink and it's Friday. I feel blessed everyday to have been given this opportunity to live a year in such a beautiful country.

Before coming to Korea I had no goals, ideas, or plans as to what I wanted to do after. I had just planned to pack up my bags, move here, and start a new chapter in my life while leaving all the negative things behind. Well now it's time I begin to make some plans and decisions on my future. I've decided that I want to get back into doing what I love, event planning. Not only have I made this decision, but I'm also planning on FINALLY making that move to New York City. It's been long overdue! 

NYC <3

As most of you know, I came here on a year contract. I arrived July 31, 2011 and was expected to leave in August 2012. On Thursday, my director asked if I could extend longer and stay until March 2013. That's another year from now!!! I've been weighing the pros and cons all weekend and I'm not 100% sure that this would be the best for myself and career. I miss my family, friends, and the simple things about America that it would be hard to stay away another year.

sibling love <3

Mom and Pops 

It's definitely nice knowing how much I am valued in a workplace and that I am doing a great job. My director has been nothing but a great, fair, and honest person to work for. Some of my past work places have failed to acknowledge their hardworking employees.


SO after much consideration, I have offered to extend my contract until October and make the move to New York City around March. This pushes my return date back 3ish months. No Biggie! I feel this would be a good opportunity to save a little extra money and allow me to do more traveling. With the extremely cheap airfare around Asia, I'm hoping to make stops in Bali, Malaysia, and Hong Kong before returning home. 

View Full Size Travel Map at Travellerspoint

On another note, in one month I'll be reunited with two lovely ladies from home. I can't even begin to tell you just how excited I am to see Lauren and Tania and share my experiences of SoKo first hand with them. Ahhh watch out Korea!!! :)

I think of you all daily and miss you all so much!!! See you in October! :)


~Jenn xoxo

Meh New Babies!

The school year in Korea is divided into two semesters. The first begins in the beginning of March and ends in mid-July; the second begins in late August and ends in mid-February. This being said, our school began a new semester of classes which means...I get new students.

I was really excited for changes because let's be honest, we all need a little bit of change from our normal routine at work now and then. I'm sad to report that I am now longer in charge of teaching my Elmo babies. Ahhh I adore them! Nadine, aka Maybine Teachaaa, now gets the pleasure of teaching them :(

Ethan, Isaac, and Sevin <3

Before the semester began, I was given word that two of the worst behaving classes would be combined together as one AND I would get the pleasure of teaching this very class. HELP ME was my very thought!!  These students have been with ILS for a year and are 7 years old. I'm only one week in with Nemo class and so far so good. I constantly have to ask them if they want me to be a fun teachaaa or mean teachaa. You can guess what they pick...

Chloe & Soo

Joshua

Matthew + Justin + Robin = big trobs

Matthew <3

My next class is Snoopy class. They are new to ILS this year and are 6 years old. They each have HUGE personalities. I love them already!!

sweet little Sean

Allllbert

On the first day of school I was asked to name my first unborn child. The girl below was not happy with her English name, so I was asked to "name" her. She settled on Sally. Unfortunately she was too shy for the camera.

shy Sally

In the 7 months that I have been teaching I have never had a student be scared of me until now. I received a note from Judy's mom today telling me that Judy she is afraid of me. haha! She thinks it's because Judy doesn't understand what I'm saying to her. She'll warm up to me soon!!

Judy

The girl below, Reina, has the most sass I have ever seen. I swear she could be my child. The first day she was crossing her legs while doing arts & crafts and sharing her hand cream with me. Today while taking pictures, she asked me to retake her pictureFIVE TIMES!! I <3 her!

This weekend coming up I'm heading about five hours south of Seoul to do a temple stay at a Buddhist Temple. I'll basically be living the life of a monk for two days. I'm so excited, but a little nervous! I can't wait to get more cultured in the lifestyle. I'll post updates and pics as soon as I get back!

Love and miss you all more than you know!!

-Jenn xoxo

A Month Has Come and Gone

In three days is my one month anniversary in South Korea. I can't believe it's been that long. It feels like I was just saying goodbye to everyone and boarding the plane a week ago. As many of you may know or have read, I'm having a really great time here.

My job is going well. I'm really enjoying it and having fun with the kids. I finally don't a have a desk job and I find that I'm trying to challenge myself with new, fun ways to teach. The kids are starting to warm up to me. It's so comforting to have one of your students walk up to you and hug you for no reason. I can never get enough hugs :)


Let me give you a rundown on what it's been like for me at school these past few weeks. To begin, I survived my first week of lunch duty. Amen! Once every two-ish  months each teacher has to cover lunch duty for their classes. This past week was my first. I don't know if a lot of people know this, but I have never babysat in my life. So feeding nine kids all under the age of 8 made me really nervous. All I could think was, "please don't throw food at me". Come to find out, when kids are hungry, they will listen to you haha.


Also, this past week was Body Check Up for our kinder classes. So on Thursday, we had a mock physical. My job was to measure their chest. Many of them didn't want to put their arms up for me, because they thought I was going to tickle them. To begin the day, I had to go through the booklet and teach my Elmo class (ages 5) parts of the body. Good luck on that! They couldn't remember their Birthday and all they wanted to do was sing "head, shoulders, knees and toes".

Here's a few pictures of my Elmo and Tweety classes

My Elementary classes seem to be going well, too. I have one class that is only in their fourth month of learning English. It's a little frustrating only because the communication is harder. I also have a class with all boys. Man, is it hard to discipline boys especially when they think it's funny that "Billy" farted. I'm not sure if it's weird that I get really excited about teaching grammar to kids. I hope not, because I love it! My biggest pet peeve is when people don't use conjunctions properly. Well if god is my witness these kids will know when to use "your and you're".


A lot of people have been asking what the students call me. Well to answer this question, it really depends on the day. Some days it's "Jenn Teacher" and other days it's "pig" or "eskimo". Also, some of the students have found my tattoo on my wrist. I always cover it with a watch, but sometimes it slips. I get a lot of "oh no Teacher what happened". I just tell them I drew on myself.


Aside from teaching, I've been enjoying getting out and seeing a bit of Korea. This past weekend I went to the Sipripo Beach Festival in Incheon. It's an island right outside of Seoul. It was a fun time with good people. It almost was like the Spring Break, I never had. There were lots of foreigners which kind of made me feel uncomfortable. You get so used to only being around Koreans, that when you around a lot of people that resemble you, it's a little weird ha. Also, being around that many foreigners just made me realize just how impatient and rude us Americans are. 


On Tuesday, I will be going on my first field trip with the kids. We're going to a kids cafe which, from what I hear, is basically like a Chuck E. Cheese without games and pizza. I'll have to post pictures and update you all on that. Wish me luck!

Things That Make You Go, Hmm!

Wow! I can't believe I have only been in S. Korea for three weeks. It feels like I have been here longer because I have experienced so much already. I have become a celebrity in my own right with people staring at me and taking pictures. It's pretty funny! Since being here, there's a lot of little things that I have picked up on that I find interesting. 

First, looks and appearance play a huge role in Korean society. How you look is very important! Men's fashion here surprises me a little more than women's fashion. Women's fashion seems pretty expected, being that Asian women are known for their high heels and short length dresses/skirts. Men's fashion consists of a very tailored look and would be comparable to that of the "metro" style in the States. Oh and ladies, the popped collar is still very popular here. I'm still not sure how that was ever an acceptable fashion statement, but I'll try to look over it :)

Another thing that has caught my eye is seeing that the men carry their girlfriend's purses. At first I laughed, but the more I think about it, I wish I had someone to carry my over-sized bag so I didn't have to break my shoulder. It almost seems like the men are rocking out the purses more than the women. They enjoy showing off their Gucci, Prada and Coach purses. To add to this so called oddness, it's very common to see couples in matching outfits. I'm not sure what this symbolizes, but it could possibly be that because public displays of affection remain a taboo here. Matching outfits are a kind of a substitute.

Korean's are also very affectionate.  It's not unusual to see a man putting an arm around a male friend, or seeing two friends walking down the street holding hands. Koreans are more generally touchier than Americans in a same-sex friendship situation. I haven't quite adapted to this yet.

  

One great thing about not having a car is being forced to walk everywhere. Having worked in the transportation industry, I was really excited to ditch my car and put public transit to work. The subway system here is extremely nice. There's really no comparison between Seoul Metro and NYCT when it comes to cleanliness. 

Transportation is also really cheap here. A taxi ride that would normally cost me $35-$40 in the States, is only about $15 here. Also, I travel by bus a lot since the subway is a bit away. Here in Korea, I can transfer from a bus to the subway all by using the same fare. So depending on the distance I am going, if I board the bus and make another transfer within 30 minutes I may not have to pay an extra fare.

I will forewarn anyone that is coming here that Korean's are CRAZY drivers!!! The buses have the right away so usually they will cut in front of a big line of cars just to get to the front of the stoplight. Also, it's not out of the ordinary to have both cars and buses run red lights. So crossing the street can be a bit dangerous, haha. 

Speaking of running red lights, you're probably thinking "well, where are the police?". Well, they aren't really around. Unlike in the States where you see cops patrolling the streets and writing tickets left and right, the cops are almost non-existent. What is also surprising is that the cops do not carry guns with them. There really is no crime here so they don't have a need for them.

Another thing I have learned is that Koreans loves them some coffee. On every street corner you can guarantee to find if not one then two coffee shops here. It's a little absurd but I guess we all need that caffeine fix. Also, I stated in an earlier post about me being able to get my carb fix. Well all the breads here are really sweet. I haven't quite been able to figure out what the strange taste is they put in it yet. For example, if you were to go and buy garlic bread, they put sugar on top of it. It's a little weird, but good!

These are just a few things I wanted to point out that I found pretty interesting while being in S. Korea so far. I'm really enjoying my time here, but I miss everyone a lot. I have a lot of fun things planned for the next few weeks. Can't wait to get out and enjoy more Korea!

Oh and The Stories Begin...

It's been a full week here in Soko and I already have so many stories. My first week of teaching went by extremely fast. The kids are adorable and definitely a handful. It helps to be working with a variety of ages. It seems that most of the kids adapted well to me being the new teacher, but of course there are the few that will take some time to warm up.

Two times a week, one of my Elementary classes have to write a journal entry. On Thursday, the students were to write a letter to somebody of their choice. One of the students wrote a letter to me that read, 

"Dear Jenn Teacher,

I love you. Thank you for teaching me.

Your Friend,

Sara"

After reading this letter, I knew I made the right decision to come here. I felt so good about myself in knowing that I'm helping children learn a language that will hopefully help them in their future.

Of course, not everything can be peachy keen all the time. Probably one the most memorable events that I will ever experience happened to me on Thursday. As I was in the bathroom and washing my hands, I heard a voice scream out "TEACHER I'M DOOONE." Knowing what she was screaming about I stood still hoping it was a mistake and just wanted to run. Next thing I know, the door flies open and I get to to wipe a student's butt. Oh the joys, oh the joys! haha 

A side from the teaching, I've been able to go out and experience some nightlife. Not so much Korean,but still a nightlife. There's a really cool bar about 40 minutes from my place called "Travelers". It's a bar where lots of foreigners hang out. It reminds me a lot of some of the bars back home, which is really nice to have. They have pretty much any kind of American food you think of to eat. And props to them for having my favorite beer, Stella Artois.

I also went to my first baseball game in Korea. I went to see the LG Twins vs Doosan Bears last night, which was really exciting. They are professional league teams. What's really cool about the stadium is that you're allowed to bring in anything you wish. They sold KFC, Burger King and had lots of vendors. Also, you're allowed to bring your own booze. They make it even more convenient by having  a small store in and outside of the stadium to buy cheap beer to bring in. The games are really exciting and there's lots and lot of cheering. Each player has their own cheer. Every time a player would come up to bat, the fans would chant. Not to mention there are cheerleaders at the game. Not sure if that's because there isn't football, but it was cool nonetheless.

On top of everything, last night as I was walking back to my apartment after coming home from the bus stop. I witnessed my first Korean streaking. Yup, that's what I said. There were a group of kids and all of a sudden a young guy goes running up and down the street, nude. It was pretty comical. Ohhh Korea :)

I have a 3-day weekend to look forward to, because Monday is a Holiday. I'm not 100% sure of what I'll do, but I'm hoping to get some sightseeing in and possibly window shopping. Considering I live extremely close to Coach, Prada and Gucci, I might as well make the most of it.

It's Almost Like I Never Left Home

Having been in South Korea for only five days, I can happily say that I'm really enjoying it. My neighborhood is very nice. I feel very safe walking home at wee hours of the night alone, if needed. There are many Western amenities here which makes it feel like I never left the States. Just within a 15 minute walk, I'm near Papa Johns, Dominos,  Baskin Robbins and a Dunkin Donuts. Also, directly across the street from my work is a freakin' Popeyes. I mean you can't get more Western than some fried chicken and biscuits :) 

My work is very accessible which makes it nice to be able to walk if I don't feel like taking the bus. There are a lot of really cool places to go around here. There's even an Aveda hair salon that I will most likely be visiting. Sorry Raymond if you're reading this! You are still my #1 hair stylist.

I visited my first Korean BBQ the first night I was here. For those of you who don't know what a Korean BBQ is, it is basically when your group sits either on chairs or the floor in front of a grill. You choose your meat/s and grill them. Along with the meat, you are given different sides. We were given garlic, kimchi, salt/pepper and some other things I don't remember the names of. Then you are given lettuce wraps to wrap around your meats and sides. It's amazing!

 

I had my first Soju experience last night with two of my co-workers. Soju is a very popular liquor here in Korea. It's comparable to vodka. It comes in a beer bottle form and is sold in almost all convenience store.You don't want to drink it straight from the bottle because it's about 20% proof. Also in Korea, they sell liquor in all stores and there are no open container laws.

With my days seeming to fly by, I can't believe it's already the weekend. Tonight I will celebrate Friday eve and join my co-workers for baked chicken and beverages. This weekend I have to go to the hospital to get a physical so I can get my alien registration card. Without my card, I can't open a bank account which in turns mean I don't get paid.

I'll post my address below for anyone who may want to send me a care package :) It's my school's address because I don't have one at my apartment. P.S. - 10 bucks if you can pronounce it ;)

ILS
Dong-chang Plaza 8th Floor
Jung-dong 84-1
Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do
Seoul 446-911 Republic of Korea

"Jenn Teacher, You are the Best Teacher EVER!"

Ok ok so maybe that's not exactly how my first day of teaching went, but it was worth a try ;)

I walked in having somewhat of an idea as to what to expect thanks to Lauren Teacher emailing me very thorough notes on each class the night before. Of course having no experience or training, I was very nervous and scared only because I'm more of a visual learner. I am very lucky to have such amazing co-teachers. They helped me all throughout the day and eased a lot of my worries. 

Let me give you a run down on what my everyday schedule will mostly consist of . My work day begins around 10ish. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday my last class is finished at 7:10 pm. Yes, that's what I said! I think on Tuesdays and Thursday I'll be leaving around 4:30. That I'm not 100% sure yet. Children in Korea are very well advanced and sometimes will go to school until 9 pm. I've noticed in the last few days that the parents keep their children out a lot later than American children. 

I have a total of seven classes. The morning time is when I get to work with two Kinder classes. These are basically the babies. They are so adorable!  The classes are called Elmo class and Tweety class.  During these classes we emphasis a lot on reading and coloring. Sounds like my kind of work! I also have one class, Clifford class, for about 30 minutes on Monday to teach Math.

At around 2:30 pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday is when Elementary classes start. Each class is around 45 minutes long and the oldest grade I will be teaching is fourth grade. During these classes we also emphasis on reading, but the reading is more advanced and we discuss the reading with more complex questions.

The children in Elementary classes were very helpful to me today. During one of my classes, one of the girls began to scream and point at my chest as I began to write my name on the blackboard. Of course I thought I had a bug on me, so I started to freak out.  haha Come to find out the children were screaming out because I was using a permanent marker on the blackboard. Oopsie! No worries, I got it off :)

So in a nut shell, that's what I learned on my first day of teaching. I'm sure I'll have a lot more stories to come.

Wait! What am I doing?

And the final countdown as of today is...1 day!! Guess you could say I'm freakin' out. I have a pretty good idea as to what to expect, but my biggest worry is starting a new job. It's always a little nerve-wracking starting a new job, especially when you don't have a whole lot of experience teaching English to children.

I began packing my two HUGE 29" suitcases yesterday. Of course after all the packing, I forgot they need to be under 50 lbs. All things considered, I weighed my bags and they were 10 lbs over. Oopsie! According the Asiana Airlines I'm allowed two 50 lbs suitcases free. If I go over, it's $200/per suticase. No thank you! My parents are going to send the rest of my winter stuff to me. I had to forgo my boots :( ~sniff sniff~

Tomorrow at 5:37am begins my big adventure. I, again, want to thank all of my friends and family for supporting me with this decision! It wasn't the easiest decision to make considering I left a life in Norfolk that I had made after 5 years. Now I'm going to a new country where no one knows me, and starting a whole new life. Thank you all for the positive and motivational thoughts.

Love y'all <3