Where in the world is Jenna after Korea?

New Delhi, India

2009-07-03T19:24:00.002-06:00

Hi all,

So it's been about a year since I returned and I haven't been blogging, which means a lot has happened. I'll have to come back and post a few highlights from the year. Currently, however, I am in New Delhi India on a Fulbright-Hays Teacher Study tour learning all about the different religions in India. I don't know if I'll be uploading pics to picassa- I'm already trying to update on facebook. There are just too many ways in which to make one's life public.

Well, this is going to be a slow work in progress because we have very little down time on this whole adventure and I need to make sure I'm sleeping!

-me

Back home!

2008-08-02T15:21:00.003-06:00

Hi everyone!

I arrived safely back from Korea about two weeks ago! I'm a bit late in my posting, but that's due to jetlag, the time difference, frantic job searching, etc.

I had a rather uneventful plane ride from Korea to Tokyo and from Tokyo to L.A. I actaully ran into a few Fulbright friends coming back, so I got to chat and travel with them which was nice. I got delayed in L.A. due to mechanical problems, but finally made it back to Denver.

I am still hunting for a job and will let people know when I find something! Thanks for all your support and encouragement!!!

One last thing, here is a link to the 2008 Fulbright Review. It is a compilation of articles, personal anecdotes, photographs, and poems reflecting upon our year in Korea. It is not only Fulbright ETAs, but also researchers and senior fellows. I contributed two photographs.

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:ddd7ItEJgP0J:www.fulbright.or.kr/en/fulbright/down/Fulbright_Review_2008.pdf+jenna+novaral&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us
Again, thanks for sticking with me during this year!

-Jenna

Final Post from Korea

2008-07-11T19:46:00.000-06:00

Hi,

Last week was good- pretty uneventful, just tying up loose ends. I had many "goodbye" lunches and took pictures with all my classes (many of my students were surprised that I'm leaving- although I've told them many times).

I've spent this weekend up in Chuncheon meeting the new ETAs and trying to impart some of my wisdom from this year. It's a nice way to end my time in Korea- seeing some friends for the last time and ending where I started. I head back to Daegu in about an hour.

AND

This is my penultimate blog post, for I will be retiring this space when I get back to the states. Once stateside, I will put up one entry, hopefully an uneventful post of my flight back to the states.

I know there will be many other exciting adventures in my life and I thank you all for reading and keeping up with me!

Right now, I do not know what I will be doing in the near future. This fact scares and disappoints me. Although, it does open up many possibilities.

However, once I am stateside I will keep in touch with everyone through e-mail, phone calls and personal visits (some of you won't be able to get rid of me ^^)!

Who knows, maybe I'll start blogging again sometime in the near future...who knows where I'll be?

-me

I WILL BE ON A PLANE NEXT WEEK AT THIS TIME! AHHH!!

----
Seasons of Love

Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes,
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Moments so dear.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights
In cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.

In five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes
How do you measure
A year in the life?

How about love?
How about love?
How about love? Measure in love

Seasons of love. Seasons of love

Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes!
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Journeys to plan.

Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes
How do you measure the life
Of a woman or a man?

In truths that she learned,
Or in times that he cried.
In bridges he burned,
Or the way that she died.

It's time now to sing out,
Tho' the story never ends
Let's celebrate
Remember a year in the life of friends
Remember the love!
Remember the love!
Seasons of love!

Oh you got to got to
Remember the love!
You know that love is a gift from up above
Share love, give love spread love
Measure measure your life in love.

"How do you measure a year?" (4)

2008-07-07T19:33:00.000-06:00

Okay- this last list is not a top ten, because I cannot think of ten things. (This might say something in itself ^^) I tried, I even thought about it for awhile.

Without further ado- my final list:

Top six areas I've grown personally:

6. Patience
You need a lot of it when you can't communicate!

5. Adaptable
Good skill to have when living in a very different culture for a year.

4. Spending time with myself
Not being utterly bored, embracing the introvert ^^ in myself (it's true James).

3. More relaxed
Not having to be constantly busy all the time.

2. Having a better idea of what I want in life
More grounded/realistic perspective of where I come from and an understanding of
how it affects who I am.

1. Faith
Trusting that God has a plan, seeing what He has given me already and enjoying it.

Really, like everyone, I am a "work in progress" and although I feel I have grown in these areas, I'm sure there is a lot more to be done. However, I am most interested in seeing where you all think I have grown and changed (hopefully for the better).

---

Okay- I got back from Vietnam on Friday morning. I hung out in Seoul (saying goodbye to people) and then came back to Daegu on Sat. afternoon. I had a lunch and dinner appointments and then Sunday morning I had a meeting with students. All in all, it was a very packed weekend with many goodbyes!

This is my last full week in the classroom and I think it will be mostly relaxed! Just tying up a few loose ends and saying "good luck" to my students. Our summer vacation ceremony is next week, so hpoefully I'll be able to say good bye to all the students. We'll see.

Oh, I'm a little late- there are pictures of Vietnam (click the link on the left!) My power cord (the third one, I think) died on my yesterday. So my computer is out of commission until my new power5 cord arrives.

And, no news on a job YET.

-me

"How do you measure a year?" (3)

2008-06-28T19:28:00.001-06:00

Top ten things I'll miss:

10. Being able to "pass" for Korean
9. Korean food
8. My 14 hour teaching week
7. My students
6. Time/opportunity to travel
5. Being a cultural ambassador and dispelling myths about America
4. Host family
3. Friends I've made here
2. International adoptee community
1. Learning something new about Korea/Koreans everyday

----

Ha, I'm right on time and I'm out of the country- well, out out of the country. For those of you who don't know, I'm in Vietnam right now.

I landed yesterday about 1:30pm, found a hotel, spent the day walking around- mild sightseeing- and then checked into the hotel. It was an early night, as I was exhausted from the late night/early morning bus I had to take to catch my plane from Seoul.

I woke up early this morning- had breakfast and then I was out exploring some more. I'm in Hanoi and walked all around the Old Quarter today. I even saw the National Theatre's water puppet show and had dinner on a floating restuarant on the West Lake.

It's really hot and humid, but I am enjoying all the new sights. I have a slight cold, which is frustrating, and is aggravated by all the pollution and smoking!!!

Tomorrow I leave for Halong Bay- I'll be able to see Ho Chi Minh on Wednesday or Thursday.

Hopefully next week I'll have pictures uploaded!

-me

"How do you measure a year?" (2)

2008-06-22T19:23:00.000-06:00

As promised...

Top ten things I won't miss:

10. Really spicy food for breakfast
9. Rude foreigners
8. Practicing English with my host bro
7. Being knocked/bumped into every time I go out
6. Sleeping on a cot
5. Having to shower at the gym
4. Blunt comments about my appearance
3. Constant personal questions
2. Having to explain my life story to every (slight exaggeration) random person I meet
1. Not being able to communicate 100% 24/7

----

This weekend I was in Seoul, well I still am. I'm headed back to Daegu this afternoon. It was my program's final dinner celebration (seems a little early, but it was nice). It was held on the American army base and it was catered by the hotel there- so pretty good (mostly American style) food. I got to say goodbye to most of the people in the program and hang out with them Saturday night and Sunday. In many ways it's easy to imagine I've been here for a year, but it's also difficult to believe also. It seems strange that I'll probably never see most of these people again and it's odd to say goodbye- "good luck, have a good life!"

I saw Kungfu Panda this weekend- it was suprisingly good, just 'cause I hadn't seen a previe for it. I really recommend it- the animation was great too.

Okay, nothing else really new- still trying to get a job.

OOOOOHHHHH! I alost forgot. Idina Menzel is coming to Denver as part of her summer tour and I'm SOOOO excited!!! I've never seen her perform live and I can't wait!!!

Okay, next time I post will be from Vietnam. Have a great week!

-me

AH!!!

2008-06-16T22:41:00.000-06:00

"How do you measure a year?" (1)

2008-06-15T18:21:00.002-06:00

My favorite musical Rent is closing this year after a 10+ year run. My blog title, is one of the questions posed in the musical.

Thus begins one of four lists (think Leno's Top Ten). Approximately one list for every week I have left. Although, fun stuff is still happening, so I'll have to recount what's been happening in these weeks too. I'll generally add this after my lists.

Things I'm looking forward to back in America:

10. Driving
9. Having my own shower
8. A bed
7. Food (American, Mexican, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, etc.)
6. Doing something different than this year- moving on
5. Personal space (at home, shopping, etc.)
4. Personal time (do my own thing: laundry, dishes, gym, etc.)
3. A job?! (we shall see)
2. Seeing friends, catching up, and knowing what's happening in their lives again!
1. Seeing my parents at the airport! ^^

Nothing much happened this week. I had two sets of plans for this weekend, but they both fell through- kinda disappointing and after finding out that I probably don't have that great of a chance getting a job from Korea, I was a little depressed.

I did see The Hulk on Friday night, which was really good. I've also spent most of the weekend making mini movies out of all the footage I've taken this year. (Also kinda made me a little sad/nostalgic.)

I really didn't break out my video camera until the end of my time here, which is probably a good thing, because it takes about 2 hours to actually make a movie. I'm going to need to detox from my computer when I get back home. Actually, I'm looking forward to reading a ton of books. I have a list in my head of books Id' like to read and hope to read at least 5 in the first week I'm back (no joke).

Funny story:

This week I saw my nice relaxing, quiet, personal trip to Vietnam slipping through my fingers. Nothing serious- I still have the trip booked, plane ticket, and as long as I get my passport back, I'm good to go. ^^

However, I decided to tell my host family this week that I was going to Vietnam at the end of the month. (It might seem a little late, but they tell me things last minute all the time- it was fine and actually worked in my favor.) My older host sister was around and I asked her if she could tell her parents I'm going to Vietnam. She couldn't understand my pronunciation of Vietnam and was very confused. Five minutes later, with lots of hand gestures and secondary references (can you believe I've lived here all year with this kind of communication? ^^) everyone understood that I am going to Vietnam. Then the questions started: Alone? Tour? How much? (Korean's don't have issue when talking about money.) Can Han-soong go with you?

And there was the snag. Could my 13 year old host brother go with me to Vietnam? If I wasn't so hell bent on going by myself, maybe. And, if I actually thought the kid would listen to me for 5 days straight, then yes. And, if he didn't act like the punk he's been acting*, then why not? However, I felt like I was treading in dangerous water. I didn't want to say "no" but I didn't want to say "yes" either. So, I said..."sure...but he would need a ticket, a passport, a visa, and a place in the tour and I leave in like three weeks, I think it's too late." I kept stressing the last part over and over again. However, he was really excited at the prospect of not going to school and his mother was trying to figure out where she could call for a ticket. Since the tour group was Australian, it was my job to see if he could join the tour.

Ah-ha! That was my in. I did actually call the company to see if it was still possible and there was the slightest chance (they'd need to contact the group in Vietnam and see if it was possible). However, I told a white lie to my host mom, "They can't add him to the tour- it's too late." I don't like telling lies, I don't like telling white lies, but this was clearly self preservation.

So, my trip is still a go. My host bro didn't seem bummed that he couldn't go which is a plus.

*Side note- my host brother has been really moody lately- I think his teen years have finally settled in. Actually, this weekend he was pretty good- the happy, outgoing kid he's been. I think all the school is finally getting to him- the studying and the pressure from home. He's also been getting in trouble at school and I know his friends aren't the best influence as well. He keeps telling me about one of his friends who smokes sometimes and steals things. About two weeks ago Hansoong and his friends pulled a prank at school (something pretty harmless), but he got in trouble and had to go back to school at night (I'm not sure what the punishment was). Then, last week he got into a fight at school. Supposedly another kid started it and he didn't get in trouble (from school or his mom). I just hope that next year he tests into a different middle school than his friends. He's a pretty bright kid, so I wouldn't be surprised.

-me

It's all about the protests

2008-06-12T06:03:00.010-06:00

In a rare mid-week post, I am going to attempt to upload the video I have spent creating tonight. It is a little repetitive. However, I need to justify spending about 2 hours creating this and another 2 hours uploading it.

It repeats a little; chanting, marching, singing, etc. The main thing I find interesting, besides the sheer number of people, are all the different types of people protesting. Young men in military uniforms, middle age business men (ajashi's), families, little children, students, etc. It is also interesting to see the police men (young young men)* and the barricades they've built.

*Military service for men is compulsory in Korea. It is a mandatory service of two years and there are only a few circumstances where you can "get out" of it. However, most of the time you cannot. If Korea has conscientious objectors, they are rare. By law if you do not want to complete your military service, you are sent to jail for two years (the same amount of time you would serve in the military).

There are a few options of when and what type of service you can serve. If you are a first son, of someone who was a war hero or someone high ranking, you are considered a "son of God" and get to complete an easy "military" assignment...like park services or something. If you are a good (amazing) athlete, you can complete your assignment as a team member for a national sports team (no joke). If you have good English skills, you can apply to be a translator and serve with the American army (few positions). You can also choose to complete your military service before, after, or during your university career. If you choose the first choice, most likely you end up as a police "man", which is why all the police officers in the pictures look so young. If you choose to complete your military service after university, you have the option to go into your branch as an officer. I think you need good grades to do this, but there are advantages to this. A slightly more interesting post and it looks good on job applications.

Hm, this post is longer than I expected. Enjoy!

-me

There is always more...

2008-06-09T08:38:00.003-06:00

I have just spent the past hour or so reading the blog of someone I have never met. Another Korean adoptee, raised in America, died last week from cancer- she was 25 years and 2 days old. Her name is Julia Ji Hye Mendelson and reading her writings from over the past two years reminded me that there is still so much to learn about myself.

I was ready to start reflecting upon my year here in Korea and I will get to this eventually, maybe even next week. Yet, just within this hour I have thought about and felt things I have never entertained before- simply because they never entered my consciousness.

This post seems to be very different than the majority of the others- it could be because it is a little late here in Korea and I'm tired from my weekend in Seoul, but also because I was moved so much by Ji Hye's story. It can be found here: juliasworld.wordpress.com/

Thursday evening I checked into the adoptee hostel up in Seoul and was informed about a memorial service to be held the following night for someone I never knew. I think it was expected of me to attend, even though at the time I felt no connection or obligation to go. However, after hearing a little about Ji Hye (albeit, some wrong info) I decided to go. After all, I figured I would appreciate it if people attended a memorial service for me.

It was a very nice service- attended in a small number due to the traffic problems (aka protesters). Many of the people attending and putting on the service never even met Ji Hye. Yet it touched everyone.

I got back to Daegu this evening and decided to search for her blog and glean what I could from her writing about her story. I am glad I did.

I made some preliminary lists reflecting some of my experiences over the past year, but one of the most important experiences has been meeting and connecting with other adoptees and finding within this similar, yet very different group of people a community that bands together and values one another above all.

-me

in memory of julia ji hye mendelson

Winding Down

2008-06-02T16:34:00.003-06:00

Good morning,

So, I seem to have spoken too soon, as I was downtown in Daegu this weekend and saw a medium-ish protest/march against US beef and the Korean President, Lee Myung-bak. This was held in response to beef imports from America being approved a few days ago. There's nothing that Korea can actually do about it, it's going to happen anyways.

Besides this, I spent most of my weekend downtown hanging out with friends who came in from out of town. It was nice to catch up and show people around Daegu.

I now have less than 50 days left in the country. I'll be going up to Seoul this weekend for help proctor a CFA exam (I get paid). Other than that, nothing really new- just trying to keep teaching.

However, as it is nearing the end of this year it is natural to reflect upon my experience here and many ETAs are asking these types of questions. So, future blogging will be geared toward looking back upon the year.

-me

P.S. Some pics from the bigbang concert last week can be seen under Daegu. Nothing from the concert, since you couldn't take your camera into the concert.

FTA, Busan and Bigbang

2008-05-25T17:44:00.002-06:00

Hi All,

Yes, I have been remiss in my blogging the past several weeks. It isn't because I have been terribly busy, rather it is the fact that there just isn't much happening. The year is winding down and I am taking it slow. I hope everyone is having a good Memorial Day weekend back in the states.

I'm not sure if it has made the news a lot, but for the past three weeks or so, American beef has been a huge issue in SoKo. Korean's don't want American beef. The reason is simple- mad cow disease. As I stated, the reason is simple- I didn't say it made sense or was justifiable. The media here- along with leftist politicians and celebrities have vilified American beef making the general Korean public scared out of their minds. Special reports on American beef have told horror stories about mad cow incidents in America, have presented irrefutable evidence that Koreans are genetically more susceptible to mad cow than any other "race", etc. This has led to many protests- national and local (see my picture from Daegu) against American beef and thus the FTA with America. Thankfully, it seems that the fervor this issue had about three weeks ago is beginning to cool. I haven't heard of any more candle light vigils or petitions.

Last weekend I was in Busan (see Around Korea) celebrating two of my friends' birthdays. I spent Friday and Saturday afternoon on the beach- it was great!

This weekend two other friends came into Daegu and we went to the Bigbang concert. Bigbang is a very popular boy band (think nsync). The concert was pretty good and it was an interesting cultural experience. To begin with, the concert was held in a convention center- on the fifth floor. Plastic patio furniture chairs were set up in the hall for seating. Security guards spent the majority of the concert trying to get screaming adolescents to sit in the chairs. Since there wasn't stadium seating they wanted to ensure everyone could see- even though they couldn't. Security checked everyone's bags before entering the hall- cameras had to be left outside (they were checking them in little plastic bags) and no, you couldn't take pictures with your cell phones. The whole evening was a bit ridiculous! Although, it was a good time.

I think some friends will be in town next weekend- I hope so. In two weeks I'm going to Seoul and then at the end of June I'm taking a vacation to Vietnam! Then, I fly home towards the end of July- difficult to believe!

I've been applying for jobs like crazy, but haven't heard anything. Please keep this in your thoughts!

-me ^^

24+ hours on a bus, 3 festivals, 5 days later

2008-05-07T16:37:00.002-06:00

Hi Everyone,

Hope all is well back home! I spent the past five days traveling around Gwangju, the only province I had yet to see. Like the title suggests, I spent over 24 hours in a bus during the five days and went to three festivals. I also got to spend time with friends and had a great time seeing everything I wanted to see. Here's a short summary of my trip (see pictures in Around Korea- I should have them up in a day or so):

Friday evening- left for Mokpo, via Gwangju (approx. 4.5 hours) Met up with friends.

Saturday- woke up, ate breakfast with friends' homestay family, then met up with friends at Dunkin Donuts (new to Mokpo and a big deal!) Walked down to the water (Mokpo's a harbor) and walked along the coast, it was pretty- nice weather and hot! Had lunch at a restaurant near the beach. Went to the Maritime and Natural History museum of Mokpo. Went to another part of the city and ate dinner watching the sun set. Then met up with another friend downtown Mokpo- walked around, had a cup of tea.

Sunday- woke up really early and went to the bus station. Took a bus to Gwangju (1.5 hours). Had breakfast in the terminal and then took a bus to Damyang for the bamboo festival (2 hours round trip). The festival was cool and there was even a bamboo park which was neat. I just hung out and relaxed. In the afternoon I met up with a friend and we went downtown in Gwangju for dinner and a movie, Ironman. It was really good!

Monday- we woke up and then headed out for Jindo and the "Mysterious Sea Parting Festival", yes, I hope you're thinking Moses here (8 hours bus round trip). Every year at a particular time, the tides recede in this one place from Jindo (the mainland) to an island close by. The point is that this creates a land bridge and you can walk across it to the island. It's a pretty neat thing and a ton of people come every year. I did not walk across because I did not have boots, but it was still neat to see. I also was able to get the footage of a special dish, live octopus, here. See below. If you're squeamish I'd advise not watching. ^^ Later that night we had dinner at TGIF's.

Tuesday- woke up and went to Boseong, to see green tea fields/plantation (3 hours round trip). It was a beautiful day and it was cool to see all the bushes. I also had green tea noddle soup, a pot of green tea, and green tea ice cream- yum! In the evening we went to try and see the national cemetery of Gwangju/memorial to the May 18th Independence movement, but we got on the wrong bus and went to a different memorial park (1.5 hours round trip). It was okay.

Wednesday- woke up and went to the national cemetery of Gwangju/memorial (1.5 hours round trip). I was really happy we found it. It was really interesting to see. Pretty much in 1980 the government in Korea was a dictatorship and many people wanted democracy. Over a series of days in May the people in Gwangju protested- then the government came in and brutally suppressed the movement. Those who died are buried in this memorial. There is also a small museum about the event. Gwangju is famous for this in Korean history and it's super recent, which is really interesting. After this, I hopped on a bus bound for Daegu (3 hours).

Overall I had a really great trip, even if I did spend an inordinate amount of time on a bus! I got to see some great things and took some cool pics.

Have fun with the videos and pics!

me ^^

Updated pictures

2008-05-01T21:12:00.003-06:00

The pictures links are all updated. I took off the old pictures to make room for the new ones. This should also help with the loading time for the website.

also be sure to check the new post below & the video I added from the relay.

^^

Protests, mid-terms, and travel

2008-04-29T21:07:00.005-06:00

Hi everyone,

I was gone for the weekend again! Actually I spent Friday and Saturday in Daegu seeing friends and hiking a small-ish mountain with a teacher from my school. I wasn't all that excited to go with the teacher, but I did want to hike. However, it did turn out to be a nice day and I had a good hike.

Saurday night I left for Seoul and met up with friends at a jimjilbang- one of the public bath/sauna places. It was a really nice one and there was a nice place to sleep as well. It was 11,000 won (11 bucks)- much cheaper than trying to find a hotel/motel. It was relaxing and we hung out and woke up the next morning in search of the Olympic torch.

It didn't take us too long to find where the relay started. As we were sitting on the subway a bunch of Chinese students boarded our car. You might ask how I knew they were Chinese (and not Korea) but I knew because these individuals were decked out in red. They were carrying Chinese flags, wearing Chinese flags, and wearing the shirts for the Olympics as well. We pretty much just followed the crowd to get to the relay starting point.

The torch lighting ceremony was held at Olympic Park in Seoul- the Olympics were held here in 1988. There were lots of Chinese waiting to support their country. I thought there would be more foreigners or Koreans, but 98% of the crowd was Chinese. Some were holding sings that said "Tibet IS part of CHINA", "China wants peace", etc.

Now, at breakfast that morning, unbeknownst to me, my friend made herself a "Free Tibet" poster to bring to the relay. I was a little surprised, but didn't think much of it. It was only one sign and my friend was an activist in the states- she had done things like this many times. She kept saying things like, "In the states I have a gasmask to wear at protests" (so she doesn't get tear gased). "You're supposed to write the phone number of a lawyer on your arm so you can make your one phone call if you are arrested by the police." "They tell you to carry nail clippers in your pockets because sometimes the police will run out of handcuffs and use plastic ties- nail clippers will cut through it" and "If you don't have a gasmask you can use a towell/hankercheif soaked in apple cider vinegar to use if there is tear gas."

On the way to the starting point a few Chinese people made comments to her such as, "Tibet is FREE". She was also flipped off at least once and was called "a son of a bitch". However, as the torch lighting ceremony got closer and closer a small group of Chinese (most likely students) spotted my friend and her sign. They came over and started shouting "ONE CHINA!" and proceeded to try and cover up my friends' sign with their huge Chinese flag (by standing infront of her). Several people were taking pictures, video, and a few policeman on duty came over and stood by us (I'm not sure if they would have done anything if things had gotten out of hand...maybe) Soon one of the men taking video stopped to the small crowd. I commented that he wasn't tyring to disperse the bunch, he was telling them what he wanted so he could capture it on video. Sure enough a few seconds later the group was screaming "ONE CHINA" again. This time more people heard and decided to come over. I never felt all that threatened, but it was a bit disconcerting having about 30 people or so yelling at you. Some of my other friends were a bit uncomfortable and rather than having us leave, my friend with the sign moved. The crowd was very happy and cheered when she did.

Now, I have several problems about groups of people screaming at one person who did nothing, but hold up a sign. Hm, things like free speach come to mind. Or respecting/tolerating someone else's belief. And even, blindly following what your government tells you. Clearly Tibet is not free- otherwise you would not have the government cracking down the way it did and does everytime monks and others protest. I understand that although China does have relative free speech, young people my age still don't know about Tienamen Square (and yes I know this from experience).

Later during the relay more people were protesting and a few small fights broke out. Nothing too major though- although Korean newspapers reported North Korean defectors trying to immolate themselves. Not only were Koreans and some foreigners protesting about Tibet, but North Koreans who have defected were protesting because China sends the North Koreans that illegally come into their country back to North Korea where they are subsequently killed or put into work camps. China is continuing to do this while preparing for the Olympics.

I was debating whether or not to go up to Seoul this weekend solely for the torch relay, and am very glad I decided to go. It was a good experience all around and I got to see some friends I have not seen in awhile. I also was able to attend a Fulbright Forum in Seoul and listen to two Senior Fulbright Scholars present about teaching American history in Korean Universities- also very interesting to a history teacher at heart. :)

One last thing- over the weekend in the NYtimes and the International Herald Tribune an article was printed about Korean students getting into Ivy League Universities. It was an intersting article and fairly accurate about high school student life. If you are interested check it out: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/world/asia/27seoul.html?th&emc=th While up in Seoul I visited the Embassy and the people I worked with over winter break. It turns out that my office was one of the sources for the writer of the article. Also, a former Fulbright ETA taught at Minjok and he now lives and works in Korea you should check out his response to the article itself here: http://metropolitician.blogs.com/scribblings_of_the_metrop/2008/04/korean-foreign.html He talks about how the students are able to get into these Universities, but then struggle in the American educational system.

I'm headed to Pohang to see a friend tomorrow and will be away this weekend and early next week. I'm going to the southwest area of Korea- the last place in Korea I haven't seen. I'm super excited!

-me ^^

p.s. I'll be putting up pictures and some video of the Olympic relay and some pictures from the school's 5th year anniversary celebration today (that was a surprise for me!)

A new look

2008-04-17T15:48:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone,

I haven't posted in about two weeks because life became very busy. I've been up to a lot, so I'll highlight what I've been doing. I'm in the process of putting up the pictures and they can be found in a few different folders around Korea, Seoul, Daegu, and wedding.

About a month ago, I went to the east coast with my host family and got to see a cave. That was pretty neat. I like caves a lot and it was really beautiful. It wasn't that long, so it was a pretty quick visit. However, on the way back home we stopped by the sea, after picking up lunch (a freshly chopped fish). We had lunch by the water and ate our fresh sushi (sashimi Korean style), with some rice, vegetables and fresh hand-picked seaweed from the sea. It was pretty good, thankfully I'm not all that picky about what I eat! However, my host father proceeded to pick little seasnail/shell things from the rocks that made their way into our dinner that night. That was a little more difficult to eat! (Pics in Around Korea)

I also went to an apricot blossom festival with some friends- the flowers were really pretty and I got some great pictures! (lots of festivals are happening all over Korea- it seems like there is always a festival.) (Pics in Around Korea)

After that trip, I went to visit some friends on the west coast the following week. It was neat to see another town and see some of my friends and I got to stay with one friend and meet her host family and school. She teaches elementary, so it was neat to see a different school. Along with that visit, I got to see a friend who lives in Taean- where the big oil spill happened. There is still some clean-up from the spill that happened last fall, but not a whole lot. (Pics in Around Korea)

Two weekends ago I went to Jeju, an island off the Southern coast of Korea. It is known as the honeymoon island. We had a conference on the island for Fulbright, it wasn't much of a conference, but it was nice to relax, see friends, and go sightseeing. Unfortunately the weather wasn't all that great over the weekend, but it was at least mild enough to go sightseeing. I went to see the longest lava tube caves in the world (I like caves), the teddy bear museum (pretty strange, but cute), waterfalls, a cherry blossom festival, and I got to stay with another friend and visit her middle school. (Pics in Around Korea)

Last week there were some friends from America in Seoul. I got to go up and meet them have dinner and hangout with them. It was really fun to see them and to share what I know about Korea. Lindsey got her hair cut. (Pics in Seoul)

Lastly, I was in America last weekend for my best friend's wedding. :) I didn't tell most people I would be there, because literally I left Korea on Thursday (my time) and arrived Thursday (US time). I then left the U.S. Monday and arrived Tuesday (Korea time). The wedding was on Sunday and I spent Friday and Saturday helping my friend get ready for the wedding. Her father flew me out with his frequent flyer miles and I was so fortunate and happy that I was able to be a part of her special day! Needless to day, I am still recovering from jetlag, but am doing a pretty good job of it. :) The wedding was great!

And last but not least, I was accepted to graduate school at CU Boulder! This is good, but now I need to get a teaching job so I can do the program that partners me with the district. I'll keep you posted!

-me ^^

p.s. there are a few new pics under Daegu

"...a good climbing mind..."

2008-03-30T17:43:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone,

How's it going? I'm okay. Nothing too new to report from the week, but I'll share a few stories of what's been happening recently.

At the beginning of the month I found a bouldering gym in Daegu. There are supposedly a few in Daegu, but after walking back and forth past the actual gym for twenty minutes it was a miracle that I actually found this one. I didn't see the place at first, because it is in the basement of a building. The first time I went, I just wanted to find the place, see how much it cost, etc. The people were generally friendly and the place looked fine. I started going once a week- mainly because it takes about 30 minutes to get there with two bus transfers.

Now, I've never bouldered before (in a gym) and the experience was quite new. One of my fellow Fulbrighter's assured me that Korean climbers were friendly and they would help me. I quickly learned that this "help" comes in the form of the owner of the gym with a bamboo stick directing where I should place my "right hand, left hand, right foot, left foot," this is just a sampling of his limited English speaking ability. Of course, his English gets a lot better when he informs me, "No! No! No! Wrong, everything wrong!" He then proceeds to show me the correct way. This has happened every week since I began going to the gym. Now, I profess it is true, I'm not doing things the "correct" way, but I really am trying. I'm convinced that I only need more practice, not someone yelling at me in broken English that I'm doing everything wrong.

Now, last week was the icing on the cake when after a rather frustrating time he proceeded to tell me that I needed to lose weight to be better at bouldering and that I should jog to lose weight. Now, I've come to expect the blunt statements and assessments Korean's make about outward appearances, but like most American's, I'm not exactly thrilled when someone tells me I'm fat. I was pretty frustrated, but was more determined to show them that I could do it, despite being what they consider fat.

The chance to prove my ability came on Saturday when I went rock climbing with the man who owns the gym and several people that frequent the gym. I was invited on Thursday, but never received a call about going, so I craftily tracked down a phone number and made sure I was going on Sat. I was concerned that after Thursday they would try to ditch me on Sat!

I hadn't been rock climbing in almost nine months and it felt so good to be outside! Even if it was freezing outside! (Spring is slowly coming, one day it's gorgeous, the next it's rainy and cold.) We didn't go to a mountain to climb, rather a rock formation that has about a dozen or so routes. The place was pretty busy on Saturday, it was interesting to see so many people (mostly men, but some women) in all their fancy gear. I think most of the routes are pretty easy- mostly varying degrees of 10's.

I got to climb first and impressed them with my knot tying ability (thanks Matt) and a relatively good first climb. They were pretty impressed with my ability since I suck so much at the gym. Mr. Park's statement, "Rock climbing good! Bouldering bad!" After a few more runs over the course of a few hours (there were some other people climbing with us, we took turns) Mr. Park determined that I did not have a lot of power, but I had a good climbing mind- a reference to my stubbornness and refusal to give up. :) Overall, I was very happy that I went and had a good time. I can't wait for the next trip!

One more thing impressed some of the Koreans I went climbing with and that was my gear. I only say this, because, for the most part, Koreans tend to care about brand names and such. It's true and made me stress about what clothes I should wear climbing at the gym. I spent about a week searching for pants and a shirt I could wear climbing. However, this wasn't a thought when they saw the name of my shoes and harness!

I'll be traveling for the next two weekends and won't be able to make it into the gym because of my schedule, but I'll post more exciting stories later!

-me ^^

...a rare midweek post...

2008-03-27T02:58:00.001-06:00

I received this e-mail from another Fulbright English Teacher living in Korea:

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200803/200803270009.html

This truly is a sad story, but found the article very interesting. I wanted to know why I hadn't heard of this until it found it's way into my inbox today, so I did some searching.

Here is what the NYTimes had to say:

www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Iowa-City-Slayings.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=iowa&st=ny

And the International Herald Tribune:

http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/03/25/america/OUKWD-UK-IOWA-SLAYINGS.php

Obviously Korea has a national interest in the story, but the slant of the article is undeniable. As far as know, the Chosun-Ilbo is a conservative newspaper.

-me

I'm a slacker...

2008-03-23T05:00:00.000-06:00

...Hi!

Sorry, no post last week. It's not like I've been super busy or anything lately, but I just didn't end up blogging last week.

Teaching is still going well. I'm on week four of class, this week, but I've only taught about two weeks. This is because my students went on their class trip last week (for three days) and I didn't have to teach. I wanted to travel with my students, but wasn't invited- kinda sucks, but I got some time off- always a plus.

Last weekend I went with two friends to see the apricot blossom festival a town about 2 hours south of here. It was really beautiful! It's like an orchard field, so there are many trees. There were tents set up with different things you could buy, typical festival foods, etc. I've added some new pics (finally) of the festival.

After the festival Alison and I went to a basketball game (pics included too) in Daegu. We have our own professional team. It was an interesting game- our team is not very good. We played the Pusan team- they were a lot better than us, but at least we ended up winning. It was funny because it seemed like the teams here passed the ball way more than American teams do. For example, before anyone ever made a shot, it seemed like the entire team passed the ball around- like everyone had to touch it or something. It was a good experience and I'm glad we went. I also ran into some foreigner friends at the game I hadn't seen in awhile, so that was nice- we ended up going out for dinner.

This week- with all my spare time, I went to visit some friends on the west coast. It was nice, I got to visit a friend who teaches at an elementary school and help/watch her teach. It was neat visiting another family and school. I also went to visit a friend in Taean- where the oil spill happened last fall. We went to a beach and there was still some clean up happening (pics included).

I can't believe it's the end of March already. I know the rest of my time is going to fly by- I want to come back, but I know I'll miss Korea and my time here. These are a few things I plan on doing before I leave Korea: attend a concert (Big Bang is huge among high schooler's here, I just bought my tickets tonight!), see a baseball game (let's hope it's better than the basketball), see a soccer game, travel to a few more cities in Korea (Gwangju, Mokpo, maybe Daejon), and take an international trip with all my free time.

I feel like I should be volunteering this semester, but I didn't feel much of a connection last semester and I don't want to do something out of obligation. I think this semester is just going to be a time of rest (traveling and being active). I'm taking a yoga class every day and then going to a rock climbing gym once a week. I also hope to go climbing or hiking on the weekends when I'm in town.

Please leave a note or write an e-mail to let me know how things are going with you! I really do want to know!!!

As soon as I find out info about grad school/a job I'll post it!

-me ^^ (<- Korean smiley face)

First Week

2008-03-10T22:25:00.001-06:00

Hi everyone,

Last week was the first week of school and thankfully it got a lot better from my last post. I finally got a schedule- a pretty good one that allows me Mondays off and classes pretty much back to back, so not too many breaks in between. Between all the national holidays and test days I have a few long vacations and I'm excited to be able to travel and get around this Spring.

My new kids are great. I don't think they'll be lots of problems and I am just tweaking and fine tuning lessons from last semester- so not a lot of prep. I'll prob need to create a few new lessons, but nothing major.

In my free time, I started a yoga class, which I really enjoy. I also found the bouldering gym yesterday and will go once a week and maybe on a weekend sometime. I've been trying to study some Korean on my own and have been meeting with different people to practice my conversation.

So, all in all things are going well.

me ^^

Would it be any less frustrating if I could understand?

2008-03-02T17:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, for once I will make my Sunday deadline because I have absolutely nothing to do at school today. It is the first day of school and all of the teachers I am used to seeing in the office have moved to different grade levels, transfered schools, or are on a sabbatical. It's a little sad because I really liked the teachers in the office last year. I'm sure I'll like the new ones too- but to keep in touch with the other teachers, I now need to canvas the building trying to find them.

The odd thing about it being the first day of school is the lack of students. Well, first year students anyways. Although, I think they are beginning to trickle in. I believe there is a welcome ceremony for them in about an hour. I'm going to try and follow everyone for that (no one seems to know where it will be and if I have to attend).

I haven't really been too frustrated with my lack of understanding, however it's a bit different when I'm expected to teach and I still don't know when and who I'm teaching. Supposedly my schedule is being made as I type this out. My two requests: most of the classes in the morning and no classes on Fridays. I've been crossing my fingers and holding my breath for my schedule ever since it was mentioned a week ago. I do understand that my requests are a bit hopeful, but whatevs.

I might even have to teach second year students, which will be a huge surprise and a drag (although I miss my students from last year- so that will be good). Mainly because I wasn't prepared for that and don't have any lessons prepared to teach second year students!!! Actually I think I have an idea of what I could do, but it is a bit inconvenient.

One good thing is the fact that I don't have to change offices. This is good, because I don't want to move all my stuff around. I feel like if I was in an office with others I might be a bit more productive this semester, but I'll just have to buckle down and use my free time a little more wisely.

I think it would be a little less frustrating if I could understand what was going on, but I'll try to be patient and wait for my schedule and a myriad of other details that are important for teaching this week and tomorrow.

I have turned in all the info for the grad application and now I just have to wait. However, I keep trying to contact the school of education and they are unhelpful at best, just like I remember. I want to make sure my application is complete- that they received everything, since I had to submit my app via internet, domestic and international mail. *sigh* oh well.

-me

Thoughts from Korea

2008-02-27T04:44:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Just thought I'd share some more personal happenings here in Korea- no I don't have a boyfriend. :) (sorry mom and dad) ^^ It's more along the lines of why I wanted to come here in the first place- learn about the culture, because I was born here.

Last week I went and visited my adoption agency. I had contacted them about a month earlier wanting to visit the orphanage where I was when I was born. It took them forever to get back to me- I actually went through another center before they contacted me. I made an appointment and spoke with a social worker who said really quickly on the phone that the orphanage had been closed for the past 15 years, but that we could visit the place where it used to be if I wanted. I was a bit hurried, but I set up an appointment.

I arrived at the office and she was ready to whisk me away, but I wanted to take things a little bit more slowly. I inquired about my file and got to see all the original documents surrounding the first 3 months of my life. It was neat. The social work spoke English very well and was able to point out some of the things written in Korean for me. Such as my name, which I already knew.

There was only one piece of new information in my file in Korea than in the records I already knew, my birth mother's name and date of birth. The social worker clearly had done her work, because she informed me that she had already tried to contact a few different places to track this woman down. I was taken by surprise, because this was not my intention when I had called to visit the orphanage. I told her that if she found anything not to contact her before she spoke to me.

We then got in a van and drove (about an hour) to the site where the orphanage used to be. It wasn't all that exciting- the space is now filled with apartment buildings, but it was good to go- I'd never have been able to find it myself and she had taken notes with what the orphanage looked like, what buildings were here and there. Then we got back in the van- got caught in a lot of traffic and went back to the office.

That was the end of the end of the trip and I'm glad I went. At the beginning of my time in Korea I never had any intention to go, but after volunteering at the center and meeting so many other adoptees and hearing their stories I wanted to go and see the orphanage (or what was left of it). There's no news about my birth mother, so far she hasn't been able to find any information. There's really only one other place she can look and I'm still waiting to hear from her. I'm actually relieved that there isn't any information because I wouldn't know what to do if there was.

I start teaching next week and still don't know my school schedule. * sigh * Oh well. I've sent in some documents for the grad program and almost have it completed. I've also finished the online application for a school district and just have to send in some paperwork, and I'm nearly done with the online app for another district- then I'll have to send in some paperwork, but it's coming along and I'm still excited for the possibility of teaching and living back in CO. :)

-me

Okay, I'm really back...

2008-02-19T01:39:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Sorry, I haven't been very timely with the updates recently. However, I am back from Seoul (I'm in Daegu), so that should put me on a regular schedule once again. I still have about two weeks of freedom before school and I actually decided the other day that I am going to apply to a graduate school program. Which means I have a lot of work to do in these next two weeks.

I am applying for the Partners in Education program through CU Boulder (same as my undergrad). The program is good because I will be earning my masters and teaching (they partner me with a local school district). I hope that I can get accepted into the program because I am very excited to go back to teaching in the states.

The decision to apply is really because I miss teaching social studies and figure that if I'm going to go back and teach eventually, why shouldn't I just do it next year? I still really like Korea, but do want to do something new next year. I feel like if I stay here another year, it will just be more of the same. I'm also excited to get back into a classroom and learn. :)

I'll post more next week,

me ^^

안영!

2008-01-31T05:25:00.000-07:00

Hello!

I'm back with internet! I even forgot certain command keys on my computer I didn't use it for so long. I know it's pretty sad, but it's true. Actually, I can live without the internet, but it does make communication and a myriad of other things very convenient. One of the very first things I did was upload a bunch of pictures! Please check it out-> I created two more albums the first is labeled "Internship" and the second is labeled "Winterbreak". Internship pictures are mostly of me teaching when I traveled to Busan and Daegu to do four presentations about various topics concerning America. There are also some very bad pictures of me on my last day receiving a certificate of appreciation. Speaking of which, my last day was coincidently today. The "Winterbreak" album contains a few pictures from New Year's, the ice festival, a few pictures of Incheon, and AYPP pictures (some of North Korea). I also have uploaded some pictures in the folder "Around Korea" when I volunteered at the orphanage in Gumi.

Hope all is well with everyone in the states (and even for those outside the states)!

My internship was interesting- a good learning experience. It was boring at times- sitting in a cubicle making PowerPoint presentations about aspects of America. However, sometimes it was interesting- getting to travel and present programs myself. I worked with some very nice people and learned what an embassy actually does. I'm not sure if I could actually work in that capacity- but it was good to have the experience.

the AYPP program was great for my students! I think they really enjoyed it and despite getting frustrated at some of them at times, it was a good experience. I learned about some Korean history and relations with the U.S., like the FTA negotiations, etc. We got to travel to interesting places like the DMZ and the JSA (Pan mun jon). I stayed up late with the kids working on our group project and by the end of the week I was exhausted!

My trip to Japan got canceled because my friend had/has a bad case of mono. However, I'm happy just to chill and relax in Korea. I'll spend the next three weeks in Seoul hanging out, seeing friends, etc. Then I teach a winter camp (pick up a few extra bucks) and then head back to Daegu and start teaching on March 3.

I'll keep trying to update every Sunday!

-me :)

Happy New Year's! (slightly different from the e-mail I sent...with a shameless plug for my b-day)

2008-01-08T21:04:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

It has been ages since I've updated my blog, but I wanted to say hi! How is everything at home? I hope all is well and that 2008 is starting off to be a good year!

It's been a busy start for me, I'm sure you're not all that surprised! I was able to spend a relaxing Christmas in Korea, hanging out with some new American friends I made the night before. However, New Year's was a blast as I got to spend it with some other American teachers on my program. We went for a nice dinner and then spent most of the night out ringing in the New Year. A lot of Koreans were out celebrating too, although they spend more time celebrating the Lunar New Year (February 6-8 this year).

After my New Year's adventures I began my internship at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. I am living on the U.S. military base, in Embassy housing, and take the shuttle to work every day. Embassy housing is super nice- like living in a little America. The houses are set up in neighborhoods, there are sidewalks, electrical poles above ground, etc. The houses are even wired with American outlets. We have access to the Commissary on base, which was a big deal, since I hadn't seen a lot of American food- or a grocery store- in 6 months!!!

The internship is going well and they are keeping me really busy. I am working in the Regional Program Office, which puts on programs and presentations about America to anywhere in Korea outside of Seoul. I actually get to travel next week to Daegu (where I live) and Busan to give presentations on America. I've been creating the different presentations I will be giving and am excited as I am presenting to different types of audiences. One presentation is about teaching listening comprehension to English teachers using NPR's This I Believe (something I have experience with from student teaching and working for Teaching East Asia), another presentation is about Dr. Seuss for a elementary students, another presentation is a film screening and talk using the movie Catch Me If You Can, the last is a film presentation to children using Peter Pan.

In two weeks the AYPP program takes place, so I'll be out of the office to take students around Seoul to learn about Korean and American politics, economics, etc. It should be fun. I was able to meet with my Korean partner last night and am excited for the program. My birthday also falls during the program, so it will be nice to be doing something then. As per Cara's comment, I don't actually want anything for my birthday- a card would be nice :)

Also, if you would like to send something you can send it to this address:

Jenna Novaral
US Embassy Seoul
PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE
Unit 15550
APO AP 96205-5550

However, whatever you send MUST ARRIVE BEFORE JAN 31 as I will be leaving Seoul that date and the address will not longer be valid. APO address are cheaper than sending something to Korea- it costs the same as mailing something to the states.

I have limited access to the Internet this month, which is a pain. I can send e-mails from work, but I don't want to send too many. Therefore I don't think I will be updating my blog anytime soon. I am headed to Japan the first week in February, so check back for updates on that adventure!

Please let me know how things are going with you!!!

-me :)

P.S. I've been here for 6 months!!! It's difficult to believe that. I'm still enjoying my time here and am excited to see what the next few months bring me!

Merry Christmas Eve Day!

2007-12-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

It's Monday here, which is Christmas Eve Day. :) Nothing really to post, except Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's!

In anticipation for Christmas I've gone through several cycles where it feels like Christmas and then it doesn't.

However, in anticipation of this holiday I downloaded a bunch of Christmas songs about a week ago and have been playing them on loop. This helps make it feel like Christmas. Also, about two days ago I began wearing my Santa hat around the apartment, which made my homestay family laugh. I also mailed out some Christmas cards, and have received some gifts and cards myself. :)

Thank you all for reminding me that I am loved this Christmas!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

-me :)

P.S. I have dinner/lunch dates with different teachers throughout the week, which is nice. I think it's good to relax in Daegu, even if I had hoped for other plans.

Christmas right around the corner

2007-12-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Another late post! I have been really busy trying to wrap everything up before I leave tomorrow on winter break. I get out a week earlier than the Korean teachers which makes me feel a little guilty, but I am thankful for the break.

This past weekend I was in Gumi- volunteering at an orphanage and then went to Busan with a friend. I had a great time in both places. I'll post pictures soon!

A former ETA, started a non-profit organization to help out the orphanage where she volunteered when she was an ETA. There are several former ETAs that helped create this non-profit and this weekend was the kick-off event for the organization, called KKOM. KKOOM or "koom" means dream in Korean. Here is the link http://www.kkoom.org/
There were events planned for the kids- arts and crafts, singing, video games, picture with Santa, etc. The kids really seemed to have a good time. I spent most of Sat. cooking dinner with a few other ETAs for everyone. It was a lot of work, but fun and totally worth it. The best part was that every kid received a Christmas package (from donors in the states). The kids were so excited- it really felt like Christmas. We ended up spending the night and had breakfast with the kids the next morning and going to church with them. The ages in kids range from toddler to high school (some college kids come back too- it really is a family).

Unlike some orphanages in Korea, none of the kids were available for adoption. The kids live at the orphanage in houses with each other and form a family unit with one woman (mother/aunt) taking care of the kids. The older ones really look out for the younger ones as well. None of the parents have given up their parental rights, and some parents will even visit their children at the orphanage. This is a place where kids come when their parents cannot afford to take care of them. It is like a version of foster care in America. If you want to know more, let me know.

After Gumi I went to Busan with Alison. It was a quick bus ride (2 hours) and the weather was super nice. The first thing we went to do was go to the beach! Apparently it's pretty famous in Busan (Busan is the 2nd largest city in Korea and is the 5 largest port/trading city in the world). The city is really spread out- so the beach is nice and doesn't feel like a "city". We had Indian food (yum) and then went to Busan tower- which took a while to find! But we managed to check into a cheap hotel which was good. The view at night from Busan tower was cool- all the lights and such. It was an early night, which was nice. Then Monday morning we went shopping and to the fish market- ick! All in all a relaxing little trip.

Early Merry Christmas!!! I miss everyone lots and wish I could spend the holidays with all of you. My Christmas plans got moved around- I'm skiing for New Year's, not Christmas. I'm pretty bummed that I don't have any plans for Christmas. Hopefully something will come through.

Catch you all soon!

-me

crosses fingers

2007-12-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I'm late in posting, mainly because I was away yet again this weekend in Seoul for another meeting. It was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. The meeting was finished sooner than expected, although lasted longer than it needed to. However, we went out for Mexican food and margaritas after!!! Woot. Then Alison and I went to a jimjilbang to relax, which was super nice. Although, I still managed to get sick, yet again. But I'm beginning to feel much better now that I have medicine to help relieve all my head congestion.

Other than that, nothing else is really new. I'm pretty sure anyone who reads this log received my e-mail about my students podcasts. If not, please go to www.dong-moonhs.blogspot.com and listen to them! They're really great!

Hope all is well at home!

-me

P.S. Oh I forgot, my host mom failed a breatalizer about two weekends ago and isn't supposed to drive for three months- even though she is. If I got the interpretation right, I think she and my host father spent a night in jail? And had to pay a fine. This was coming home from my host grandmother's 70th birthday.

P.P.S. AND yesterday driving to lunch the car I was in got into a minor car accident as we were about 50 meters from the restuarant. But everyone was fine- the only damage was done to the car. The entire front bumper popped off...yikes.

5 months and counting...

2007-12-03T04:29:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I hope winter is treating everyone well- wherever you may be. I am really looking forward to a winter where there isn't snow fall where I live. I like snow a lot, but was definitely sick of it last year when my car got stuck in it twice. It does snow in Korea, just not as far south as Daegu. I'm sure I'll get to enjoy lots of it when I'm in Seoul for January. Which brings me to my first piece of news, I was selected as an intern at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. I will be working in the Regional Program Office, which puts on programs about America to different regions in Korea. I'm excited to have this new experience and live in Seoul/on base for a short while. The internship is a little shorter than usual because I was also selected (I don't remember if I mentioned it) to take 5 students from my high school to Seoul for 6 days in January to learn about Korean and American politics, economy, etc. I am excited about that as well, because we will learn a lot, go on field trips, and I'll get to know some of my students better.

I really cannot believe it is December- 5 months into my 13 months here. I am really enjoying my time. The beginning part of November/end of October was a little hard for me, but I seem to have gotten over that. Although I spoke with a lot of the people from our program this weekend and a lot of them are ready to go home for the holidays. They are generally missing America more than they are liking Korea. Which is understandable. I think/hope I'm going skiing for Christmas! My family is Buddhist and I don't particularly want to stick around on Christmas since they won't be doing anything.

Nothing else is really new. I have a final for my Korean class next week and am worried because I am definitely not studying as hard as I was for the midterm. I will be happy when class ends and I have my evenings free again. I am not sure if I will take Korean class in the Spring- it really depends on the time the classes are offered, where they are offered, and what my school schedule looks like.

One great thing is that I only have 8 more days of class to teach from now until I go on winter vacation (December 22)!!! It's because my kids have finals, there is a national day off, and I don't teach on Fridays. It's pretty crazy, but nice. I still don't know if I'll be teaching the same kids again, when I think about how I might not- I get a little sad. Even though I don't know their names (there are about 500 of them) I really like them.

My podcast project started today and I will e-mail everyone when I start to upload the recordings to the website- www.dong-moonhs.blogspot.com I haven't had a chance to listen to all of them, but overall I'm pretty proud of what my students accomplished!

Please write and let me know how everything is going!!!

-me

Early Thanksgiving in Seoul

2007-11-22T18:43:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I know I’ve missed the Sunday deadline again, but I was super busy on Monday catching up. First, thanks for sending me postcards and cards! They made me smile! It also makes me look bad since I still haven’t been to a post office in Korea- I know I’m totally lame. However, I do have high hopes for sending out Christmas cards from Korea- we’ll see if it happens :)
I was super busy in Monday because I spent 4 days in Seoul (a long weekend) on a mini-vacation of sorts. I had Wednesday and Thursday off because of the national testing in Korea. The KSAT happened on Thursday, our school was a designated testing site, so I could not even be in the building on Thursday. I had Wednesday off because of some meeting being held about the testing. Wednesday I spent in Daegu just relaxing and trying to do some work. I took off for Seoul on Thursday morning.
Just an FYI- on the national test day, the military grounds all flights (so the noise won’t disturb the test taking students), ambulances, police cars, and fire trucks are on standby to transport tardy students to the test, and some other crazy things happen. Wednesday I dropped by the school to do some grading and saw students from other schools just coming by the school to look at the building where they would be testing (and taking pictures with their cell phones of course). If you think about it, it has to be the single most important day in most Korean students’ lives. It is the first and most important factor in where they will go to university. A good university means a good job and in most cases even a good significant other. No wonder most high schoolers spend 12 hours a day studying.
Back to my travels in Seoul- I successfully bought a KTX (fast) ticket up to Seoul and made it to Seoul in a little under 2 hours. I got there sooner than I intended to check in, but decided to head to where I was staying anyways. I booked three nights at a guesthouse of sorts in Seoul called Koroot. I didn’t know what to expect, but it is super cool. It’s a place where Korean adoptees can stay and it’s super cheap. It’s designed so people can stay for extended periods of time to learn about Korea, learn Korean, or even do a birth family search. I met two Norwegians, a guy from Denmark, two women from France, a woman from Australia, a guy from Sweden, and another woman from America. It was really interesting listening to their stories and getting to meet people from all over the world. Plus, Koroot is a cool place- there’s a kitchen so you can cook, they provide breakfast and will even make you lunch. There’s a t.v., laundry room, and computer. It’s a really great idea and I’m glad it’s around.
So after checking in and getting lunch (which was great!) I left to go site see. I went to a palace near Koroot- it was super pretty. Then I went to see a prison that was used during Japanese occupation- not the most uplifting thing, but really interesting historically speaking. I had lots of time so I decided to have dinner in Itaewon (the foreigner district) and got REAL Indian food!!! Following my fabulous dinner I went to a famous shopping area- they were putting up Christmas displays!!! (See the video below!) It was early, but I decided to head back and ended up talking to some people staying in Koroot for awhile.
Friday morning I woke up and made myself toast with CHUNKY peanut butter *cough* it really was exciting. I got ready and then went out and visited Seoul tower and walked around Namsan park and the Korean Contemporary Art Museum. The park was gorgeous- a lot of the leaves are still on trees and there was really beautiful foliage. Friday night there was a Fulbright forum- a place where researchers get to present a little about what they are doing. It was a great place to meet other people and there was dinner! (Seriously, why do all my comments revolve around food?!) The forum was presented by a woman who is a dancer and has created her own 10 steps to strengthen a particular muscle in dancers (and consequently singers). It was a little odd- but interesting nonetheless. If you’re interested check out Maureen Flemming.
Saturday I woke up and met some friends in Insadong and then we walked to the U.S. Ambassador’s residence for our Thanksgiving lunch! The residence is really nice and built in a traditional Korean style, not American style. We got to meet the ambassador and his wife, along with other people who work at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. Apparently it was the third year they hosted ETAs- it was a really nice gathering and the food was good- catered by some place on the American base. I had turkey, stuffing and yams!!!
Afterwards I had the meeting for the program where I am taking 5 high school students up to Seoul. It turns out that there isn’t much planning at all, which is cool. Really I feel like I’m along for the ride. We’re going to visit some cool places and get to hear a lot about international affairs. I think my students are really going to enjoy it. Saturday night I bummed around seeing different people which was a lot of fun.
Sunday I ended up going to church- an English speaking service in Seoul- which was okay. It was a larger service than the one in Daegu, which was cool, and the music was good.
I left Seoul on Sunday night and when I got home my host parents seemed really happy to see me- which was nice.

All in all, a great weekend! I hope all is well back in the states and everyone has a great Thanksgiving! Eat extra stuffing for me…it’s my favorite!!!

Love you and miss you all!

-me :)

P.S. Sorry you have to tilt your head to see this video! And I posted all the pictures in the album labeled Seoul. I tried to be artsy with some of the pics and I even took a series of doors.

Some more cultural experiences in my travels...

2007-11-12T16:33:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

I feel like I've forgotten to blog about a lot of things that have happened. Mostly surrounding different cultural experiences within the last month or so. I'm going to correct that now.

This Sunday my host parents took me to two weddings. I did not know about these until Sat. night around 11:00pm when we were drinking beer and I was eating fish/squid jerky (ick). But my host parents invited me and excited about a new opportunity I said, "yes". So, I woke up on Sunday and my host parents told me to get ready- I didn't know what to wear so I pointed to a suit and my host om shook her head "yes". And off we go- we walk to a nearby subway stop and take the subway across Daegu to the wedding site also known as, "Wedding Castle". Which is a huge tacky wedding hall. Think of happily ever after and such- a Disney wedding essentially. Now, Korean wedding halls are interesting because there are literally weddings booked back to back- which means the place is crowded with tons of people- plus most wedding halls have more than one wedding going on at one time (in different rooms). We literally stayed at the wedding less than 5 minutes. Enough to watch the bride and groom walk down the isle- after they made their entrance on a carriage apartatus that was on tracks suspended on the ceiling! I'm not too sure why we didn't stay longer- I don't htink my host parents knew them all that well. Almost like they were boliged to go an show their faces and give a gift. But, we did manage to eat at the buffet- which is a really interesting experience. Instead of a nice reception hall- there is a buffet area for the whole wedding venue, which means you eat at a cafeteria like place with evryone else who there for the other weddings. Very informal and interesting- the food wasn't all that good either. Now, as I mentioned before, there were two weddings- I only thought we were goign to one, but at lunch my host parents announced that there was "another wedding". So, we hoped into a cab and went to another wedding. We didn't even stay to watch any of the ceremony, but dropped off ou gift, said heloo to a few people and came back home. I have a feeling that if my host parents actually knew these people well we would have stayed longer. Oh, the second wedding hall was a lot more understated and nicer than the first one. Much more traditional. I wish I had pictures, but I think my host mom deleted them off her camera. :(

Another cultural experience I forgot to blog about is a funeral I went to. One of the first year teachers at my school had her father pass away. I think it's tradition for the co-workers to pay their respects- so I went with my co-teacher and other teachers to the funeral home. I'm pretty sure the funeral home was attached to the hospital- like in another wing or something. As we were driving my co-teacher was explaining how it is tradition to bow twice to the person who died and once to their family members. This isn't just a bow, but a full bow to the floor. He explained that Christians usually do not participate in this, but bow their heads instead. Since he's a Christian, he said he'd just do a head bow and tht I should do the same- because I am a Christian and because he didn't want me to offend anyone with a sloppy bow. So we went into the building and went into a room that was reserved for this family. We took off our shoes and went in and bowed to the father- there was a picture- I didn't see a casket or anything. Then the family members (sons) came in and we bowed to them. Then we we went to another little room where we ate some food and talked to the teacher from our school. All in all, it was a somber event, like in the states. The women were dressed in blakc honbok (the Korean traditional dress) and the men were in black suits. Everyone also gave 3,000 won ($3.00) in an envelope to the family. I'm not sure what the money goes toward, but I'm guessing the ceremony.

The third cultural event I forgot to mention was the fact that my host brother had his black belt testing. I kept asking him when it was, but he didn't know until the night before. He tol dme the testing was at 9:30- so I made sure I was up and left the houe with him. I thought it was strange that his parents didn't come, but clearly something was lost in translation. The testing wasn't at 9:30, he had to be at his gym at 9:30 to get ready! I had to hang around for like an hour and a half waiting for kids to get ready. Then, the testing wasn't at my host bros' gym, it was at an elementary school like 20 minutes away. Which means, I got to sit in the very back of a tae kwon do van with like 9 little kids! Note: Tae kwon do vans can be seen all over Korea. Generally each tae kwon do gym has a van that they drive kids around with. I never want to be in one again! The testing went well- it turns out that they test all the kids at one time from many different schools- there must have been like 50 schools- no joke!!! The test wasn't that difficult, but my host bro did well. We're still waiting for his belt.

Okay- a quick update on things that happened this week. Nothing new really happened. Although I did get to go to Pohang this Saturday and see my friend Alison, which was great! I'll post pictures soon. I also have some funny pictures, video of Korean teachers singing the Carpenter's song, "top of the world" for the singing contest at our school! SOOOO funny! I'm heading up to Seoul this weekend for some sightseeing and a Thanksgiving dinner athte Embassy. I'm super excited for turkey and some time by myself.

One more exciting piece of news, I/my school was selected for the Alumni Youth Partnership Program in January, which means I finally have some solid winter break plans! AYPP is going to let me take 5 students from my high school to Seoul for 6 days where they will learn about domestic and international affairs (mainly Korea-US realtions). It's super exciting for the students because a. they get out of class and b. the entire program is in English. I have to interview students today for the program, since I can only take 5 :( Still trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my break- I'm still hoping for the Embassy internship!!!

AH! One MORE thing- please check out www.dong-moonhs.blogspot.com This is where my students will be posting their blogs! Actually- I think I might have to do most of the left work, but we'll see! Exciting stuff all around! I'll let you all know when you can hear them!

-me :)

4 months!

2007-11-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I really had a nice relaxing weekend- which is what I needed since I'm
trying to get over bronchitis- ick! I went to the hospital twice last
week and got antibiotics...I just hope it works, because I only got
the antibiotics for three days each time- so I had a day in between
when I wasn't taking them. But I think I'm finally beginning to
actually feel better. Friday at the hospital (which really means
doctors) I had my sinuses cleaned out- which is gross, but I'm gonna
explain anyways. They take this long (6-8 inches), metal, thin suction thing and
stick it down your nose and suck up all the stuff. I didn't
understand at first, but then I realized what she was going to do and
I was horrified. There wasn't much I could do to stop her at that
point, thankfully it didn't hurt. But it was one of the weirdest
things I've ever experienced.

Friday night was fun- I went to a movie with one of the Korean
teachers at my school. I really like this particular teacher because
she's really with it and speaks English almost fluently- she studied
in the states. We went and saw Once- an Irish rock musical. It is an
Indie film- and I honestly can't say I'd recommend you see it. The
music is really good- I liked the music a lot, but the movie itself
was a bit painful to watch. At first the film was shaky and the story
drawn out and not very good- but if you have a chance to listen to
the soundtrack, you should.

Saturday I hung around and then went to a girl's spa night- one of the
women from church was hosting it. She actually teaches for the
Department of Defense Schools here, which is interesting. She has the
sweetest apartment ever!!! I'm not even joking- it's a 5 bedroom
apartment on the top (27th) floor of the building (she lives by
herself). It has a spectacular view- she was able to buy a whole
bunch of American snacks from the base- which was a treat. I ate a
bunch and felt really icky. But we also had chili- which was kinda
crazy, with real sour cream and cheese! (Clearly, I'm in another
country.) We watched Rent, there are some musical fans, and Step Up.
We had manicures and just hung out- it was really nice, because it was
the first time I've gotten to hang out with these women from church.
Of course I'm the youngest, but there is one girl who's 23- most women
are around 30. Some are even married- which is cool. I ended up
spending the night- sleeping on a real mattress. And then had eggs
and pancakes for breakfast!!! The first time since I've been here!
(Notice how all my news revolves around food.)

Then I went to church yesterday and after had dinner and gelato with some
of the people and women's Bible study. I really like the women, which
is exciting because I've been looking for fellowship for awhile. I
don't necessarily like the sermons at church. However, I do like the worship at
church- so that's cool- fellowship and worship I guess isn't a bad
reason to go to church.

So, four months have gone by and although I am missing family, friends, and familiar things- like Boulder and driving my car, I am having a good time. Everytime a new month begins it makes me reflect and evaluate how I'm spending my time in Korea and how I feel about it. Last month I reflected upon how I hadn't made any Korean friends, Korean language study was really hard, that I didn't have any fellowship, and I wasn't sure where to apply for jobs and such next year.

This month things have changed. I have made one Korean friend, another aspiring English teacher in Korea and I have started to do things with teachers at school- I think some of them count as friends. I passed my Korean test (80%!) and I really like some of the people at church, which equals fellowship. Hopefully it also means friends, as some of the foreigners will be here the entire time I'm here. I still don't have clear direction for where I'll apply for jobs and such next year, but realize that I don't have to think about that immediately- which is comforting.

Hope everyone is dong well at home, please let me know what's happening!

-me :)

Cha-cha-cha-changes...

2007-10-26T20:01:00.000-06:00

Hi All,

I'm not exactly sure who can read this anymore, but I hope most of you all are still able to read my blog. I apologize for changing the format of how to read my blog. The program I am on in Korea wanted to make all blogs private for security reasons (for our home stay families, schools, etc). So, if I forgot to send evites to anyone who regularly reads this (and you know about them) please send me their e-mail address and I will invite them. The other option is for me to send out mass e-mails every now and then to those who cannot log in to see my blog. Let me know what works for you.

I didn't update this last week because I was away in Gyeongju for the Fall conference. It was mainly a time to catch up with everyone in the program and make sure everyone was okay. The goal of the actual conference was to swap teaching techniques and stories from the trenches to make us better teachers. The conference aspect of the trip was ok- not all that helpful, but it was nice to be in a pretty place (by a lake) and see friends. We did a tour of the city on Sunday- we saw sooo many places, I was exhausted! Gyeongju is really cool and probably has the most historical sites in all of Korea. It's about an hour away from Daegu and was once the capitol of a Korean dynasty. I've posted many pics on the website for all to see. We saw historical sites, went to an amusement park, and even rode mini bikes around the lake! P.S. I'm sporting some new cute Korean clothes.

There are also some pictures up under teaching. Last week I taught about scrabble and let the kids play the game. It turned out to be a pretty good lesson and really quite easy for me. I was surprised how into it all the kids were. There were only a few that I had to remind to participate. I actually made the scrabble boards for the kids to play on- each board took about an hour. So not that bad in terms of lesson planning and now I have the boards- which is uber helpful.

Life is pretty good here- I am sick- which sucks. I'm trying to get over it myself, otherwise I have to go to the doctor's next week. Ick. Next week is Halloween and I'm going to bring in candy for my students- woot! I haven't decided what I'll teach on yet, but it'll involve candy.

Today I got to sleep in until 10am, which is a huge treat! I'm meeting a Korean language partner (hopefully friend) later today and then going to Costco with an American friend! Tomorrow is my host brother's testing for his black belt- I'm totally going. I'll try to post pics and video of that too.

Thanks again to everyone who sent me something- check out the pics of my office under teaching. If you've sent a card I've put it on the bulletin board. O! and I have a spiffy official sign for my office "English Lounge".

Hope everyone is doing well!

-Me :)

Firebreathing Peacocks and English speech contests, oh my!

2007-10-13T19:23:00.000-06:00

Hi all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIGI JENSEN!!! :)

This weekend is very relaxing and enjoyable. Rather last minute, I decided to visit Jinju with the girls from Daegu. We went to visit another friend on our program who is teaching there for the Jinju light festival. It was really pretty! there are lanterns on the riverbank and floating on the river. There are small lanterns, but also huge floats! It was really neat to see. Apparently all the floats are made of paper and painted. Some of them are very elaborate and range from traditional Korean things to more modern other things- such as the Statue of Liberty. We crossed one of the makeshift bridges and got to see some of the larger animated lanterns- hence the fire-breathing peacocks!

We actually ran into two other people from our program, which was unexpected and cool. After walking around we managed to find a "live-cafe" and had dinner. The place was pretty ridiculous, think karoeke, but it was dinner.

Saturday afternoon I met up with a teacher from school and a student for the speech contest. This teacher and I had listened to a few students give speeches two weeks ago and then we chose the best one. Then I helped this girl prep a little this past week and the contest was yesterday. She was very good and I had no doubt that she would win something. The contest took forever because there were middle school contestants and high school contestants. The panel were 3 native/4 native speakers of English and two Koreans. I think all of them were from Daegu University and were professors of English- I'm not sure if they were really professors or just teachers of English at the university. But all the judges were pretty harsh on the students. Way too negative. Some of the feedback was good, but generally they were a pretty intimidating bunch. The whole speech contest seemed pretty political to me. It was sponsored by a specific district of Daegu and for the beginning introductions two American soldiers were there to welcome everyone. Even the Korean teacher I was with from my high school said, "English is such an industry here, I hate it." Which I thought was pretty interesting. Anyways, you're probably wondering how our student did- 2nd place! Her speech was about how she likes to watch soap operas and movies- it was pretty funny. I meant to record it, but forgot! I think the teacher I was with recorded it, hopefully I can get it from her!

Nothing much to do today, except I slept in and will go to church in a little bit. Maybe a Bible study tonight- I'm not sure.

Here's one more video clip from the mask festival two weeks ago- it is the lion dance! I also updated pictures "Around Korea" and "Daegu"

-me :)

Cultural Notes

2007-10-10T20:09:00.000-06:00

Hi all,

Oooo- yes, it's an extra update this week and it's extra long! I am talking to Victoria online and got inspired to blog about some Korean culture, some funny anecdotes, etc. I finished planning my teacher classes for next week, but I still have to plan for regular classes next week. I'll do that later. Right now I have some down time- it's Thursday here which means I taught two classes this morning and will teach three classes after lunch. I was supposed to study some Korean with a teacher today, but I have to help a girl with an English speech she will be giving at a contest this Saturday.

Next week there aren't any Korean language classes and that is really really nice. I just get very tired with teaching and then going to class (which takes an hour), class (which takes an hour), and then coming back home (another hour)! The break in class is because te university has midterms- so all extra classes are cancelled. It will be nice to have the time off. However, the week after that we have a test for class. AND I am certian I will fail it. So, I need to study a lot next week. I'm not too concerned about the test, it doesn't mean much. If I pass I get a little certificate saying I passed and am allowed to move to the next level. Although, if I pass, I'll probably have a heart attack and won't be able to move up. If I fail, I'll just take the same level again. Since the class is over my head anyway in vocabulay and content, I feel like I don't have much to lose.

Hm, before I venture into any comments/analysis of Korean culture, I want to say thank you for everyone who is reading this, writes comments, e-mails and sends me things! I know I have a lot of support from home and it means a lot. The past three weeks I've been tired and out of it. I've missed everyone a lot, but everyone's support has been uber helpful and I am feeling much better.

Okay- some things I've noticed about Korean culture from a Western (biased) stance.

A. Koreans are very honest (blunt) and usually pretty accurate in their conclusions.
1. Today everyone keeps telling me, "You look tired." And since I did not get enough sleep last night I believe this is true.
2. My host siblings kept telling me how my host brother's English teacher has a husky voice and mimicking what it sounded like. I finally met the woman and they were 100% correct.
3. You look fat/thin today. Well, sometimes this might be true- or not. Generally Koreans do not have a problem talking about weight. It isn't unusual to be asked how much do you weigh?

An anecdote for when this is not true:
Scene: High School cafeteria, waiting in line for food. My co-teacher talking to gym teacher behind me.
Co-teacher: "This is the P.T. (Physical Training) teacher. He wants to attend your English class."
Me: "Oh! Great! Please come!"
Co-teacher: * smiling * "Uh, he says your pronunciation is not good."
Me: "My Korean pronunciation?" * confused since I didn't speak Korean... *
Co-teacher: "Uh...no, your English pronunciation."
Me: "Really? What?"
Co-teacher: "He says it sounds like konglish"
Me: "Oh, well, I don't know enough Korean for it to be konglish!"

** note ** konglish is a mix of Korean and English. Think Spanglish.

So, the gym teacher did some to my English class, where he proceeded to say I have bad pronunciation. Where the other teachers did an unussual thing- they lied to me and told me he said I had good pronunciation. (I only knew what he said, because of the say before.) But they also spent the next 5 minutes explaining to him that I had only lived in Korea for 3 months and grew up in America. I think he seemed satisfied- I'm not sure. Pretty rude, but I didn't let it get to me. Mostly I thought the whole situation was pretty interesting.

B. Koreans are very concerened about their appearance.
1. Clothes- always in good condition, designer if they can be, newest styles.
2. Hair- always done (even men)
3. Make-up- almost always. Someone asked me the other day if American don't wear make-up (because I don't). But I said that most did, I just didn't.
4. Body image- this does not just mean weight.
a. Double-eye lid surgey- very big here. Asians typically don't have the double eye-lid that Westerners do, and for some reason they
want it.
b. Calf surgery- this removes part of the calf muscle to make your legs look more slender. I think maybe making you "appear" taller.
c. Nose surgery- I think to make more of a bridge or something.

C. English education is EXTREMELY important
1. Private tutors- Korean parents pay through the roof for this.
2. Hagwons/academies- Ditto, private study places for kids
3. Some parents are able to send their children overseas
4. Some parents move overseas for this
5. English camps, etc.
6. Surgery- yes, it's true. Some children have the piece of skin under their
tongue cut/sliced, so they can pronunce the r and l sounds in English.
a. This is a very painful surgery as you can imagine, but it "works". Now, there are plenty of Asian children that live overseas (ahem, I'm an example) and I can pronunce the r and l sounds fine, without ever having my tongue detached from the lower part of my mouth (sorry Emily, I don't know the medical terms!). Yet, somehow this logic doesn't transfer over. Like any language, past a certian point, there is no way to master it completely and I think these sounds are an example of this. It's because these children grow up speaking a langauge that does not have these sounds, not the fact that their mouths cannot reproduce the sound.

Okay, I don't mean to "rag" on the culture here, but these are just some things I've noticed. And my history degree would not be any good, if I didn't recognize that I have a huge bias coming from a Western background. Generally I don't think these things are bad or wrong, but just a different perspective. Although, I'm not keen on on the surgery for children.

Please leave comments, I'd love to hear your responses! Plus, comments make me feel good! :)

-me

Andong & Wonju

2007-10-09T05:19:00.000-06:00

Hi all,

Sorry for the late update! Just wanted to write a few things about my two latest trips. The first one was to Andong for the International Mask Festival with two teachers from my school and their daughters. The festival was pretty big- apparently it's the twelfth year it's happened. They have large mask dance performances every two hours or so from different countries around the world. We saw a Thai dance and a Korean traditional dance. The Thai dance was okay- it wasn't necessarily a professional troupe. However, the Korean traditional dance was really cool! There are pictures up of the dances. There were lots of tents set up where people could buy food, gifts, and do arts and crafts. It was cool to see- a little boring, but I am glad I was able to I got to go.

This weekend I left to visit my friends in Wonju. I was told it would take 4 hours to get there on the bus, however it only took 2.5 hours! I was very surprised and unsure if where I ended up was the correct place! I had to take a taxi, subway, taxi and a bus to get to Wonju. Thankfully I had enough sense to get off the bus when I did, otherwise I would have ended up in a different town! I got to see my friend Lauren and we spent the day eating, going to a coffee shop and catching up on what's been happening in our lives. It was a really nice time. Sunday I went to church with her and then went to her choir concert that evening. It was really good! I also met up with some friends to see the concert- and that was cool too. I came back to Daegu on Monday (my students had midterms) and did some shopping, went to Korean language class, and the gym.

Hope all is well back in the states, please keep me posted! I'm still a little tired and am wondering if I'm going through another bout of culture shock- I had KFC tonight! Also, if you could please pray for my friend Laura's recovery after brain surgery. She's recovering well, but really needs prayer to heal quickly (her speech and movement of the left side of her body) so she can get back to her normal routine!

Miss you all!

-Me

Teaching Goal

2007-10-03T22:18:00.000-06:00

Hi All,

I am back at school (yesterday was a National holiday) and although I was supposed to teach today I managed to get out of actually teaching. This is because a. I wasn't very happy with the lesson I created for this week (it was boring and not fun) b. I am tired from yesterday and c. the students have midterms tomorrow, sat. and Monday. All this adds up to my students having my class as a self-study time. I thought this would be like a study hall, where I would be in the room and watch them, but it turns out that most of the Korean teachers went to watch the classes instead of me! Which was super nice of them. I only had to attend 2/5 classes today. This has given me lots of time which I have used in very productive ways (surprisingly). Instead of just gchatting or watching t.v. online I managed to study some Korean, lesson plan a little for next week, and get excited/interested in teaching again.

I enjoy teaching and am fairly good at it, but sometimes I am not all that interested in it. I felt like that was happening the past two weeks. However, I have a goal for my students to reach at the end of this semester- make their own podcast. I had this idea when I came to Korea, but thought it would depend on my student's English ability, resources, etc. When I began planning my lessons I threw the idea out because I thought it would be too difficult. My student's English level is decent, I would say most of them fall into the intermediate range- with a few outliers (in both directions) here and there. I really want my lessons to be productive and my classes to have a product showing their English ability at the end of my time here in Korea. I really think that a podcast is the way to go. We have a language lab downstairs and I think if I structure the assignment correctly (step by step), my students will be able to surpass my expectations (like the Green Eggs and Ham lesson).

All the lessons I have taught thus far either teach or review a skill my students can use to make a podcast. Such as reviewing introductions, having confidence when speaking, and reviewing contractions (speaking like a native English speaker!). Next week I am going to do a lesson on syllables, again this will help with pronunciation. I am fairly certian I can continue in this theme to prepare them for creating a podcast.

I will create a rubric with all the requirements. Something like: a written script of what will be said, making sure everyone speaks, some parts of speech, etc. I want to have students work in groups of 3-4 and create a podcast around a topic they are intested in- something surrounding Korean or American culture- I'll make a list later.

Now that I have some of my logistics settled I need to check with the school to see if this is possible. Mainly that they'll let me download the two programs on every computer in the language lab I need to make the podcasts. I think I'll also need to make sure it's okay if I put the podcasts online- to protect my students' privacy, etc. So, we'll see...I guess I could still do the assigment even if we cannot record them. But I'm super excited about this possibility. Note: it would also be difficult to navigate all my students through these programs!

Okay- back to planning class for next week- so I can leave for this weekend without worrying about anything!

-me :)

P.S. I uploaded pictures of my friend David teaching (I went to visit him two weeks ago) and pictures around my apartment/Daegu, and most notably (sorry David) pictures from the Andong Mask Festival! I went there yesterday and I'll post more pics and maybe even some vids on here soon. This post was originally supposed to be about the festival, but I got excited about the podcast idea! I'll post more about the festival (probably tomorrow)!

"Front hair teacher!"

2007-10-01T19:00:00.000-06:00

So, I missed the Sunday update by one or two days, depending on how you look at it. Here's a brief update on what I've been up to and what's happening in the future.

Chuseok was nice- I met more of the family and even if I didn't talk to 99 percent of them, it was nice to see how they all get along. They do seem to be a pretty well funtioning group and it was nice to go to the countryside- really pretty. I did not want to go at first, because I thought I would be bored out of my mind. But I enjoyed the time. It really was the country and I think one of the only places in Korea where I didn't have cell phone reception! I told some of my students that yesterday and they looked horrified. :)

I got to see some friends the end of last week and that was nice. I missed going to Andong to the mask festival with them because I had to give a test for my program. I made some cash, but generally was disappointed that I had to miss out on the fun. Although, I am going to Andong tomorrow with three/four teachers from my school. I think it will be nice to go with them, since I like them and I think it will be an interesting perspective going with Koreans. Plus, two of the teachers are bringing their daughters and I love little kids!

Sunday was relaxing and I got to check out an English service- which was great. It turns out I knew the gu y that was speaking. He works at Yeungam University where I am taking Korean language class. I met some other foreigners and hopefully it will be a place where I can make Korean friends too. I met another American who teaches at a DOD school- which is pretty interesting, so I can't wait to talk to her more.

I also baked a cake with my host sister Sunday night for her mom's birthday, which is really Wednesday, but we celebrated last night. I bought flowers and it was my job to finish decorating the cake. I'll put a picture up here soon. It turned out really pretty- but did not taste very good at all! It was way too dense!

Tomorrow is the trip to Andong and this Friday is lunch with teh English teachers and then a trip somewhere. I'm not sure where. But they're excited because the students have midterms, so they get out early and all the first year English teachers are doing something special. Then Saturday I am going to head up to Wonju to hang out with some friends and I think I'll come back Sunday or Monday- I'm not sure which. I might have a chance to see another friend, but we'll see. Then in two weeks I have the Fall conferene for our program! I feel really busy, but am excited to see friends and some more of Korea.

Okay a few funny conversations I've had surrounding the fact that I got my haircut last night and now have bangs!!! (Don't worry, I didn't get anything else done.) I've wanted bangs for a while since I've been in Korea. I think it looks super cute and was really excited!

My older host sister, "Jenna! Bangs, look better with not having bangs."
Me, "What? You like the bangs?"
Older host sister, "Yes, look better with bangs than without."
(And I trust her opinion, since she's the one that called me fat last time!)

Teacher, "You look different today- you're wearing glasses!"
Me, "Uh...I wear glasses everyday..."
Teacher, "But you look different..."
Me, "Bangs?"
Teacher, "Oh! They look good!"

Another teacher, "I was wondering what looked different, but it's bangs, right?"
Me, "Yes"
Another teacher, "cute"

Students, "Front hair!!"
Me, "Bangs"
Students, "Looks good!" "Very pretty" "Teacher, beautiful!" "Look younger!"

-me :)

P.S. I'll post a picture of the new look as soon as I get one!

"That's okay!"

2007-09-24T03:35:00.000-06:00

Because of my "J" personality- something Jamie would say- I have spent an obscenely large amount of time updating my pictures. I even added a new link to the picture section on this page. I have added an album labeled "Around Korea" and updated the albums "Daegu" and "Kangwon dae Hakyo". It dawned on me that most of the pictures labeled "Daegu" were not actually pictures of Daegu itself. So, I moved them to the album "Around Korea". Here is a brief synopsis of the new pictures under the three albums:

"Around Korea"- the first group of pictures are of the 9/12 hour hike my host mother, father, and brother went on this weekend. We left at 7:00am and got back around 6:45 pm. Although we took a break for breakfast, lunch and some snacks. All said and done, I estimate that it as a 9 hour hike up Seoraksan, or Seorak Mountain. It was gorgeous- too green, in the fall it's supposed to be AMAZINGLY beautiful. I'm not sure why my host family decided to go this past weekend- except for the fact that I think my host father had some time. Either way it's beautiful and I am happy that I had the chance to go. Although, I was not so happy coming down from the mountain. I don't think I've ever been in so much pain- my feet killed me, my knees hurt, my back, shoulders, etc. Typically, I've heard to hike Seoraksan, to the highest peak, it usually takes two days. I guess we were originally supposed to spend the night at a Buddhist temple, but my host mother decided she didn't want to, so around 2pm or so, we started back down the mountain. I was glad to be going home, but it turns out that we stayed in a motel on Saturday night and to my horror, on Sunday morning, I was told we were going hiking again. At first I thought- what?! But it ended up being okay, because what was meant by hike, really meant ride up the small peak in a cable car and walk a little ways to the really pretty view. I also got to boulder some, which was neat. Seoraksan is about 4/5 hours away from Daegu.
Also in "Around Korea" are pictures from K/Gumo mountain in Gumi (about 45 minutes away from Daegu). I met up with Ray and we hiked/walked up the mountain (it wasn't too difficult) and got to see the pretty waterfall and the cave. Again- amazing views! Oooo- there are also two pictures of dinner, blowfish soup and blowfish tempura! It was surprisingly tasty! It's actually a white fish. I couldn't keep from thinking of seeing the mini-pufferfish with Quinn. "Puff up!, Puff UP!"
Lastly, there are some older pictures from Heinsa and Bulguksa Temple- they're pictures I got from my host father. There's even a picture of my youngest host sister and I.

I updated the album "Daegu", it has fewer pictures (I moved most of them to the "Around Korea" album, but it has some pictures of the World Cup Stadium at night for those of you who love football. There's also a picture of my cell phone, finally- it's not all that spiffy, but some of my friends have very spiffy phones and the cell phone technology in Korea is about 50xs better than in the states. Koreans also don't go anywhere without their phone- I'm not even joking. The fitness center (while working out), the bathroom (in the stall), at the jimjilbang (while naked)- you get the idea.
There are also two pictures of me helping with the cooking preparations for Chuseok! My host mother and her sisters (2 of them, shown in the pictures), along with my host grandma have been cooking since this morning. We have made so much food in preparation for all the relatives (about 20 or so) that will be coming to our house tomorrow for Chuseok (akin to Thanksgiving in the states- but not really like it). It is a huge three day holiday where families travel back to their father's homes. Some will visit graves and honor their ancestors in a ceremony (I'm pretty sure it's a Buddhist ceremony). It really is a big deal, comparable to Christmas in the states. People bring presents, there are gift sets galore at shops (very expensive) and everything is busy as people are traveling (especially roads). It's been really neat to see and experience, hopefully more pictures will follow. I'm not too comfortable taking a whole bunch of pictures as I don't want my family to feel like they're in a fishbowl. Here's the picture of me:

Lastly, I added about 4 pictures to the album "Kangwon dae Hakyo". They are pictures of friends and I from Yonsei Day, when we met our principals and co-teachers, effectively the last day of orientation.

One more interesting story before I have to get back to my host family: Friday night I lost my business card holder, which was a graduation gift and I felt really sad about it. However, I thought I knew where I dropped it (back at my high school). I was going to walk to the high school, it was nearly 10pm, it would have taken about 20 minutes, but my host mother insisted on driving me. That was really nice. I found the business card holder- yea!- but on the way back, my host mother clipped a teenager in the arm with her car! It was really scary- because I was sitting in the passenger's seat and the kid was hit with the passenger's side mirror. She stopped, got out and made sure he was okay- and then came back into the car (where I was waiting- what else could I have done?) and said "That's okay!"

By the way, if you missed the earlier post about teaching- it's pretty good. It also features two video clips of my teaching/student's learning. I'm going to end this blog with one more video clip of me teaching. My students have a fit whenever I speak in Korean- it's pretty fun!

-Jenna :)

P.S. I just showed my host family this video and my oldest host sister told me I looked fat! (I love Korea! Thankfully I have thick skin!!)

A glimpse into the everyday...

2007-09-18T18:30:00.001-06:00

Hi Everyone,

I was lucky enough to have a good friend visit me yesterday and observe and help me teach. This means I have a lot of footage from this week's lesson- which I think is pretty niffty. So, I've changed the picture on the right to a picture of my students and added a new album, cleaverly labeled- "teaching". I am also trying to upload a video or two of me teaching, so please enjoy! It might take a few days to upload the videos and pictures- I'm still trying to wrestle with technology! This should be a picture of me looking silly- I was trying to get the students to guess what what was in the envelope!

As you can see by looking at the pictures, I write an agenda on the chalk board (yes, chalk board) everyday. I also write a daily phrase. This helps the students get into a routine and helps them practice and learn some English classroom vocabulary. I try to keep the phrases and agenda as simpe as possible so the students can read and understand what is happening. This week's phrase was "May I go to the bathroom?" Which was inspired after a few students did not know what to ask when they had to use the bathroom- my bad! Th first three weeks were phrases to help the students understand things I will say in class on a daily basis: May I have your attention please? (ala Kent, it works in Korea too!) Do you have any questions? Please pass your papers forward.

The lesson I taught this week was about Green Eggs and Ham. Actually- that is the story I used to get the students speaking. The real goal/objective every week is just to make the students speak English. There is no curriculum I have to follow and the textbook they use seems very disjointed to me. Besides they use the textbook with other teachers- I'm not supposed to use that. So, as much as I would like a unit/curriculum map my essential goal is to have the students speaking English. They know the vocabulary, the grammar, etc- it's all stored in their minds after years and years of rote memorization. My job is to tap these resources and get them to use what they know. I have begun this task by using American music (last week's lesson) and books (this week's lesson) to get the students hooked into the lesson and from there to get them speaking.

Green Egs and Ham worked really well because it was something the students could read- and felt confident in reading. Yes, the actual words themselves are easy for freshman English Foreign Languge students to read and speak, but I added a rather difficult twist to the task: put the story together before we read it. I literally cut up and laminated the story into 41 parts (41 students being my largest class) so every student would have a piece of the story. I grouped the pieces by page number (divided the actual story into just 5 pages) and then coded each piece of paper with a letter- my secret answer key. [This really didn't take too long.]

In class I gave a quick intro. to popular kids books in America, some of my favorites! Then I told the students we would read a story in class, but bfore we read it, I needed their help. I explained very thoroughly about how each of them would get a part of the story, but they would be putting the story together in groups and I would be there to help and support them. I passed out the pieces of paper and watched the students get to work. Now, after 13 years or so of rote teaching methods, my students were very eager to work in groups to complete a hands-on task. It was relaly neat to see! The only hesitation students had were if they did not understand what I was saying in English. Once a stuent helped translate into Korean they were off. I walked around to each group and checked in to make sure they were on the right page. I helped with giving hints "read the pieces of paper out loud- it will help!" "look for similar words on the pieces of paper". For some classes/students this activity was above their heads, but most students could complete the task, and other students flew through the activity. After I had the students read thir passage together before they were finished so they could hear how the story flowed (Dr. Suess is great for this).

Then I had the students sit back in their original seats. I showed them the full text of the story- explaining how each page I showed was a page of the story each group put together. It helped them understand what they just did. Putting the story together with no real prior knowledge of the story was very difficult for them. Debriefing the activity helped a ton- I even asked the students "was this difficult? Why?". I would even pull out a few sentences and read them aloud to the students. Instead of me reading the whole story to them, I found the cartoon version of Green Eggs and Ham on YouTube. This was much more of a visual for the students and a lot more interesting than Miss N reading through the story. Watching the cartoon really helped with their comprehension.

Class ended with one more debrief of the story itself. "Was the story easy or difficult to read (speak)?" My students- "Easy!" Me- "Why?" After waiting a few minutes a few students will throw out answers, "same words (repetition), same sounds/like song (rhythm), for kids (short/small words and simple sentences)" Last question, "The story was written for children, so it has a message or a lesson to teach them- what do you think the message of the story is? What it is trying to teach kids?" After a few moments- "Encourage, try" Me- "Great! Exactly, we should try new things! The man in the story would not eat green eggs and ham, but once he did, it turned out (he ended up) he liked them!" One boy in class even said the message was "Don't judge a book by its cover" I nearly fell over I was so happy! So, I tell the students that message too. I think it's a great lesson for them when they learn English too. All my lessons have similar components- speaking and an extra lesson like confidence, or to try new things.

As you can probably tell, I am really excited about how well this lesson went. I was a little nervous at first, but am glad that I stuck with my instincts because my students surpassed my expectations. I alwyas have high expectations of them, but am continually amazed at their abilities nonetheless.

-me :)

"The belly button is bigger than the belly." -Korean Proverb

2007-09-16T03:23:00.000-06:00

I've generally been feeling a little down this weekend. I think it has to do with the weather (it's been rainy and cloudy all weekend and the fact that I was exhausted from the week). Nothing too serious, but this weekend was relaxing and in about a week I will have ten days off from school. I am looking forward to this a lot. I will write a bit about this weekend and then recount the rollercoaster that is Korean language class and the inspiration for this blog title.

Friday I was able to sleep in a little, but I got up to have breakfast with my host fam. because I feel bad if I don't eat with them. Usually the mother or grandmother leaves food out for me and then heats other food for me. I try to avoid this and ate with the fam. and then went back to sleep- a little. I walked to school and met my co-teacher who was kind enough to contact and drive me to a place where I will start volunteering every Friday. I really wanted to volunteer at an orphanage, but it turned out that places did not need anyone on Fridays. I did not understand this until he told me in the car- I would have worked on the weekends to work in an orphanage, but am excited to be where I am- I think I might be needed more. It's an after school center for children who have lost one parent and/or are having financial problems. I think there are only 22 children who come to the center and they are all elementary age. The range is pretty sweeping and there is a good mix between girls and boys. Apparently there are a few orphans who live above the center and might come and attend my class. I think I am teaching the children English- which isn't all that interesting, but hopefully I can make it fun for them. I am excited to meet the kids, I start this week. The woman at the center who met us told me that some of the kids are rude and might not treat me that well, but it is because of their situations. I told them it was the same as in the states.

After I went to language class and then got together with two classmates for dinner- at a Mexican restaurant!! I had a lime daquari and a taco with real sour cream and guacamole! It was super exciting. I haven't been craving anything really, but it sure tasted really good. It was also really nice to talk with other native English speakers and got to meet new people. One of the women I went out with is from Canada and the other from Florida. They are both really nice and are English instructors at the university. Sara, the Canadian, has been in Korea on and off for four years teaching and loves it. She also has a cat! Which I got to hold and pet! I really miss kitties- they don't like them in Korea and no one really ever has them as pets. They're are like rats in America. Chris has been here for three weeks and she's pretty cool too. It was my suggestion that we go and get a drink and I had a nice relaxing time.

Saturday morning I met up with a friend for coffee and that was really nice. We walked around Daegu and found this really interesting outdoor market. Lunch wasn't the best, but it was edible. 국밥 not my favorite thing! Then I came home and just hung out with my host family. I really don't think I did too much of anything really- it was nice. Today I woke up and had a delicious breakfast! It was a fried rice omelette!! Man it was tasty- I can't wait to try and make it myself. My host family invited me to go hiking with them today, but were cool that I wanted to go to church instead. Church was pretty good- this time, the pastor's wife helped translate. I missed a lot, but the service was pretty good and I liked the worship music again. We sang, "God is good all the time, all the time God is good"! It was exciting. Then I went to Bible study and that was good- I still feel bad for disturbing everyone and making them translate things for me. But everyone was excited to see me again and one girl in particular really wants to be my friend- which is really exciting. Then I came home. I was going to go to the gym, but forgot that my host sister wanted to make brownies. So I helped her instead. Dinner was interesting- sushi and a hotdog. :)

Korean language class is difficult. But I am glad I am taking it. Really I think I could just hit myself over the head with a baseball bat over and over again and I would feel the same. Monday night I started in the beginner 1 class, but it was really really easy. I somehow convinced my teacher to let me try beginner 2- but the beginner 2 teacher was less than happy to let me in. Mainly because she thought I wouldn't understand anything. It was really frustrating, I brought my little certificate from Korea University and everything too, but she didn't even read it. Wednesday night she asked me a question in class (part of the grammar we were learning) "how long have you been studying Korean?" I answered correctly "2 months" my teacher nearly had a heart attack and exclaimed "what?!" but really rude. It made me really mad! If I had a different personality I think I would have gone home and cried and changed classes. Instead I was really mad and am now determined to do really well in class- which means I need to study a lot. I left class on Wednesday night and got on the bus angry and then five minutes later my bus broke down. I got off and followed the other Koreans and hoped another bus would come because I had no idea where I was or how to get back home. As bad as this sounds, I am happy I am in class and that it is challenging. Teaching has been pretty easy and it is nice to be challenged. My co-teacher told me the Korean proverb to describe Korean language class. It is because my class is only 50 minutes, but I have to ride the bus for about 2 hours (one hour each way). So, I think the proverb translates to something like "a wash" in English. The bus ride isn't all that bad- except for the fact that Korean bus drivers and driving in general is really scary. I like the time to myself.

I have to go study Korean now! I think I might post again before Sunday as there are a few things about Korean culture and such I want to blog about.

Stay tuned!

-me

2007-09-09T17:40:00.000-06:00

Hi all,

I am going to try and get back to the schedule where I post every Sunday. Hm, this is longer than I expected... :)

Last week my schedule was changed. I had to teach on Friday. It wasn't that big of a deal, I just figured I would be uber tired on Friday because I had to teach all the classes I normally teach on Thursday. I teach 5 classes on Thursday and then had to teach another 5 on Friday. Which really meant that I had to plan a lot on Wednesday. But I made a really fun lesson about contractions and pop songs. How do they relate you might ask? Well, I reviewed what a contraction is with the students and explained how native speakers use cotractions all the time when speaking. We did a few activities with that and then I played two pop songs. I printed out the lyrics and then had the students find teh contractions in the lyrics. They really seemed to like it. It was fun and I had a good time. I even tried to make them sing! I get to teach the lesson 7 more times and then I have to plan a lesson for Thursday's class. I am thinking about a lesson around articles. Many Korean tend to leave out articles of speech when they speak. I have to figure out a way to make it fun.

Friday a really nice teacher took me to sign up for language class! Thankfully it looks like everything will work out and I will go to class every day (sort of a bummer, but I want to learn!). So, I will leave straight from school- hopefully get on a bus in a timely manner, go to class, and then come back home. I should be home around 8:30 every night. I need to remember to take a snack with me.

Friday night was fun as I met up with Ray, Ariah, Amber, David, and Amelia. We went out for dinner and just got to hang around. Then I met up with Alison on Saturday and that was a lot of fun! I showed her around downtown, we had a "picnic" in a park with kimbap and mandu. Then we walked to the traditional market and then to Daseong Park- which has a zoo. The park is really pretty, but the zoo is really depressing. The animals do not have any toys in their cages and generally do not look very happy. Some looked a little underweight as well. The most astonishing thing to see was the fact that people kept trying to throw food to the animials- completely unheard of in America. The moneky cage had a whole bunch of trash at the bottom of the cage from people throwing food in bags. Some of the monkeys were even gnawing and trying to eat the plastic bags and such. It was pretty ridiculous.

Anyways, later Alison and I went to a resturant that had an outdoor area. We ordered a bottle of white wine and a cheese plate!!! It was soooo good, even if I did get bit by 20 mosquitos. We hung out there for a while until Ray, David, and Luke met up with us. Then Amber, Ariah, and Amelia found us and we all hung out at a bar. Ariah, Amber and I stayed at a jimjilbang Saturday night and woke up for Dunkin' Donuts Sunday morning. :) I then went back home to drop stuff off before going to church. I forgot that Sunday was a "holiday" of sorts and when I got home my host mother's sister was there. I was told to eat food- so I sat around and tried to hang out. Then I left for church and when I came back home there were moe relatives. In fact, there must have been about 10 relatives or so who came for this holiday. It's really an observance of the ancestors. It's a mini-observence compared to Chusok, which will happen in two weeks. It was interesting to meet the family- no one spoke english, so I just sat around trying to smile. But the family did the whole thing where they set out food and drink for the ancetors and bow and such. It was interesting.

Church was interesting on Sunday- but good too. I met up with the young adult pastor who speaks really good English. Again, he reiterated the fact that there is no English service, so he was not sure how the church could serve me. But while we were meeting the worship band was practicing for service and they were practicing songs I recognized! I was really excited. The songs were in Korean, so I could try and sing the Korean or sing the English I knew. It was cool. The pastor sat with me during church and tried to write down parts of the message, but it was hard for me to understand everything. Apparently the head pastor really wants me to come to the church. I feel bad because everyone has to bend over backwards to translate for me. So, after service I went up and introduced myself (not as scary as it sounds, there aren't a whole bunch of people at the young adult service and I only said about 2 short sentences in Korean). I was about to sit down, but they were no! wait! We are going to sing a song for you. So, that was nice, I did not know what it was about and if they sing songs to visitors or what- but I felt very welcome. :) Afterwards I got invited to a Bible study and got a book. They are going through the Purpose Driven Life group series. But the book is in Korean. There really wasn't a Bible study yesterday because the group had me introduce myself and they introduced themselves. Everyone is older than me, but very nice and helpful. Some were very eager to speak English and others were very shy. I am going to try and go back next week. After Bible study we went to get food and I got to talk some more about myself and Colorado. Then I went home- turns out a few of my new church friends (hopefully they'll be friends) live in the same apartment complex as me. So, that's cool.

Okay, I have to go and teach! Hope all is well with everyone! If you want some more to read check out my friends' blog- he ate dogmeat soup the other day. I haven't had it yet! http://koreanexperience.blogspot.com/

-me :)

"Come and I will make you fishers of men"

2007-09-04T04:04:00.000-06:00

Hm, after attempting to fish this weekend, it appears that I should not give up everything and become a fisherman- or woman for that matter! My host family took me to Kampo (Gampo) on Sunday afternoon to fish. Kampo or Gampo is located on the South East coast of Korea. We fished in the sea- the water was pretty gross and polluted. I did not manage to catch anything. However, Han Soong caught a few fish and my host father caught many. Na Kyung even caught one. I was worried we were going to have sushi from the fish we caught, but instead my host mother cooked a few of the fish into a soup we had for breakfast on Monday (I did not eat much of it!). Before the great fishing adventure we had sushi at a restaurant near the sea. Apparently the family eats there every time they go fishing. I was a little worried about the fish and decided to drink lots of soju to try and kill anything on the fish! I'm feeling fine- so do not worry!

Before all this we went to Bulguksa Temple, a famous Buddhist temple, another UNESCO World Heritage site, and to see a famous statue of Buddha, another UNESCO site. They were very nice. Sometimes I think all Buddhist temples look the same, but it was really pretty and a little different than the last Buddhist temple I visited. The statue of the Buddha was pretty cool. It was huge (I forget how tall) and carved out of granite. The sign said it is the best Buddhist artwork in the world. I am not sure how much stock I put into UNESCO site designations, but it was still nice to see.

Saturday night I went out to dinner with a teacher from my school. She invited me out to meet a friend of hers, another native English speaker. Linden turned out to be a Kiwi; he's from New Zealand! He was very nice and it was really interesting to talk to him about the cultural differences between America, New Zealand, and Korea (he's been here four years)! We went to an Indian restaurant- it was Korean-Indian, but still yummy. I even had naan! Afterwards we went and played pool- that was fun too.

Teaching this week had been good so far. The students are speaking a lot better than I initially thought- which is great. Next week I am going to make class a little more difficult. My dad gave me a great idea for a lesson and I am going to try and somehow work it in for next week's class. The idea is around the t.v. show American Idol. I never watched the show and actually do not like it at all, but a lot of my students are interested in learning American pop songs and like to sing, so maybe I can create something around this idea.

Some things that are coming together this week- an orphanage in which to volunteer, a university in which to take Korean language classes, and a church to attend! I am very happy and excited that these things are coming together. I have been trying to be patient and not too pushy and they all seemed to happen at once. My plan was just to work on a place to volunteer this week.

Check out the pictures, I've updated them! I updated Kangwon de Hakyo too! One of my favorite pictures is on the right hand side of this page. I have been teaching my host siblings how to pop snacks up in the air and catch them in their mouths! Hahaha, I'm such a good cultural ambassador!

-Jenna :)

You're not good at chopsticks until...

2007-08-28T19:41:00.000-06:00

-You can eat buffalo wings with them (substitute buffalo wings for any meat on the bone)
-You can de-shell a shrimp with them (substitute shrimp for any shell fish)
-You can pick the seeds out of watermelons with them
-You can transfer food from one set of chopsticks someone is holding to your own set of chopsticks

Interesting things I have heard this week:

"You are the smartest foreigner I have ever met." In regards to the fact that I memorized my cell phone number. Apparently everyone else has just handed the phone with the number showing to this teacher.
"Teacher you are very beautiful." A student, or multiple students.
"Because you look like us, you should wear a name tag so people know you are the English teacher." My principal being concerned that people might not treat me right because I look Korean.
"Teacher, you and my brother are predestined. He's 26!" Student trying to tell me that her brother and I are "meant to be together" aka married.
"The students are behaving very well because you are a beautiful stranger." A teacher at the school explaining why the students are well behaved in my classes.
"You are very smart, because you can understand my English." The gym trainer guy talking to me about how poor his English is. It's actually not that bad.

Interesting things I have seen written this week:

"I love you teacher!" Written by a student.
"I want to learn about sexy girls bodies." In response to my question- what do you want to learn about in this English class?
"Teacher you and my brother should meet!" Same student trying to get me to date her brother.
"Jenna could make friends with a brick wall." A friend's mother's comment about how easily I can make friends.

Nicest thing I have read this week:

Jenna, like I said, you did a great job!
I think they'll learn a lot from you.
I was writing about how I "enjoyed" watching your class but the bell rang~ I'll talk about it more later~ OK?
Have a good day and see you tomorrow~

From the teacher who sat in on my class today. I didn't notice the quotes around enjoyed until I was posting it here. Oh well- I'm sure it's okay. This is from the teacher who made me feel self-conscious about my lesson plans last week. So, I'm a step ahead.

Now, into the long blog. I haven't written in a week- I missed the Sunday deadline because I posted later in the week.

I had a great time this past weekend. The weekend starts for my on Thursday night- I know, everyone already hates me. But regardless I met up with the friends here for dinner and Ray came down from Gumi. We had a nice time. Then I met up with two other friends to get our nails done on Friday morning (I got a French tip manicure and I actually really like it! Who knew!) Then I hung out with Amber and Ray the rest of the day. Saturday I lazed around and went to my co-teacher, Mr. Choi, daughter's one year birthday party. It's a huge celebration here. They rented out a room in a seafood buffet restaurant. They had an album of professionally taken pictures and party favors for the guests. I bought the little girl a cute dress. I was very happy to be invited to such an event. After the party I went and saw D War with Ray and his host brothers. It was a horrible movie! Aw man- it was terrible. I went to church with Jess and Ray in Gumi on Sunday- that was cool.

Monday was the first day of teaching- I had three classes. I was a little nervous at first, but it went really well. Most of the students are really excited to see me and I think it is the reason why they are well behaved. I had the students ask me questions to see how comfortable they felt speaking English and to hear their pronunciation. It went pretty well and then I went through the rules with the students. Pretty much the same as in the states- no cell phones, no mp3 players, no talking and no sleeping. The sleeping rule has to do with the fact that most students study until 12am every night and are way over worked. I promised that I would try my best to make lessons interesting for them so they won't want to sleep.

It's Wednesday and that means I've taught seven classes this week- I have five classes to teach tomorrow! I am happy that my biggest class load falls on Thursday- since I've taught seven of the same classes thus far, I feel comfortable with the lesson- they should go really well. I am also treating teachers to lunch tomorrow. I'm excited because they all kept buying me lunch last week. So Korean-Chinese food it is! Woot- it's also because I got payed yesterday!

I am excited to finally start teaching. :) It's really been neat to be here, because I am constantly talking about teaching strategies with other people. It's been great to be in that mindset again. I really enjoy it. I am also thankful that my classes will be "easy" for my students, compared to the Korean classes they take. I made it very clear to my students that they can come and speak to me whenever they want about English- whether it's just to talk or if they have questions. I had one girl come in today and talk to me about what I thought about Condeleza Rice and Hilary Clinton. :) Students here have it much harder than in the states. They study extremely hard- long hours too. Their academy teachers can hit them (as a form of punishment) and schools can use all sorts of punishments not allowed in the states (corporal punishment was outlawed here a few years ago- but it still happens sometimes). One of my host sisters told me the other night that her teacher at academy hit her hand because of a low test score and how her hand was still hurting her. I couldn't believe it!

I don't have any plans for this Friday or Saturday. A friend of mine was going to come visit on Saturday, but plans were changed last minute- which is cool. I'm sure I'll think of something. My host family is going to take me to a Buddhist Temple, some other thing, and then fishing. Very full Sunday. Mr. Choi found a church that has English services- I'm going to try and start going to church in two weeks. We'll see. Mr. Choi thought it was ironic that my family was taking me to a temple on Sunday- even though I'm trying to start going to church. I thought it was an astute observation and that it showed he had a good command over the language if he can identify things that are ironic.

I'm still setting into Daegu- but am feeling pretty good still. There are a few more things I would like to know about while I'm here, but we'll see. I want to take language classes and I also want to volunteer in an orphanage. I have been trying to bring it up here and there to Mr. Choi and he tells me that he's looking into it. There's also a teacher at my school who is a Christian and volunteers at an orphanage. Hopefully I can go with him one time and then start going on my own. :)

Thanks again to everyone who is supporting me while I'm here!

-Jenna

P.S. I've updated my pictures. There's a new album called Daegu, but I also updated pictures in Kangwang University- check 'em out!

"For the Jenna!"

2007-08-21T08:43:00.000-06:00

Hm, well it is sort of late, but I do not need to go into school tomorrow until the afternoon. So, I will write about my random-interesting day.

I got up a little before 7- around 6 (I went to bed early last night) and was officially awaked with a knock at my door at 7am. I think the family thought I had to be up that early, since I had to be at school at 8:10 am on Monday. However, I did not have to be at school until 10am. Regardless I ate breakfast with the family and then hung around until my host mother drove me to school.

I arrived at school, entered the teacher's office and awkwardly said hello to all the teachers and waited for Mr. Choi to tell me what to do (I was supposed to get my bank account- that's why I went to school this morning). Turns out he had a class then, so I went to my office and did some work (mostly chatted on g-mail and tried to figure out where I actually am). And, even though it might be a suprise, I finally figured out where I am! There are two subway lines that run through the city and I am about a 20 minute walk from the nearest stop. It is a huge relief to finally know where I am. It's such a humbling experience not to know anything about where you are and what is going on. This is also helpful since I am supposed to meet friends in Daegu for dinner on Thursday night.

Mr. Choi came back and we left for the bank- where I signed my life away on about 20 different documents. But I have a bank account and I even deposited money! Supposedly I will get paid soon- although I am unsure how much and why. Typically we don't get paid until we actually start to teach. Since I haven't started I am not sure why they are paying me. Maybe it is an advance? Some of us started teaching this week and their pay will be adjusted for the time they teach this month. But, I am happy I have a bank account- I am slowly beginning to feel like an actual member of society again. Nevertheless, the simple act of opening an account led to an interesting foray into Korean culture. It went like this:

Mr. Choi: "Jenna have you heard about the Korean custom for when a person receives their first salary?"
Jenna: "No" (shakes head)
Mr. Choi: "It is customary to give underwear to one's parents. I think, it would be a very good thing for you to do- especially for the grandma of your homestay."
Jenna: "Really?" (Tries to play it cool- although is trying not to laugh and wondering if this is a joke.)
Mr. Choi: "Yes. Traditionally the underwear is red."
Jenna: "Red? Where do I get it?" (still in disbelief)
Mr. Choi: "Hm, a store like EMart- nothing expensive" (similar to Target)
Jenna: "Okay, thanks" (Makes a mental note to ask her Korean friends about this later.)

And before this interesting conversation...was lunch! Where I proceeded to sniffle and tried not to blow my nose. We had chee-gae, which is a spicey soup with ramen, hot dog pieces, ham (spam), rice cake, cabbage- etc. It wasn't all that spicey- but you know my nose. I felt really bad, because the teachers I went with were all very sad that they had picked the restuarant. I do really like it and it wasn't all that spicey- but my nose couldn't handle it. I swear it will be the death of me in this country. It is REALLY rude to blow your nose in public (anywhere outside a bathroom- pretty much) and I just can't do it sometimes. My host family thinks I'm sick and since I have to sniffle all the time I cough too. It's an intersting situation.

So, back at school Mr. Choi and I try to set up my internet banking and it doesn't work. It looks like it will take awhile to figure it out and we decide to work on it another day. Around 3:00 I am inundated by a whole bunch of students who are curious about me. Some are brave enough to enter the office and others wait outside in the hallway. I think I get some new students because I made a few signs that say "Welcome, Please Come in! and English Zone" I also have a group of five boys that come in with Mr. Choi. They are here to clean my office. Apparently 3:00-3:20 is cleaning time and I have five boys assigned to sweep, mop, wash my windows, etc. in the office. Students in Korea, like some other Asian countries, are required to clean their classrooms, the hallways, offices, take out the trash, etc. It's a good idea that American public schools should pick up. I think it helps build pride in the school- plus it cuts down on maintence costs.

At 3:30 I have to call my host mother and the fun really begins. To begin with the call last all of 2 seconds in which she answers her phone, says "Jenna" and a few other things in Korea. I quickly gather all my things and am out the door to meet her in front of the school. From what I garnered earlier this morning I am being taken to a nearby university where my host brother takes English class. It turns out that she is trying to sign my up for Korean classes- which is great. Although there are no Korean classes available this month. I have to wait until next month and even then it is sketchy- the times might conflict with my teaching schedule. I really hope they do not, because I really do want to learn.

After that my host mother looks disappointed in not being able to help me get what I want. However, she says a few other things and the only word I pick up is "Costco" and I get the gist that we are going there. Now, Costco is a huge thing in Korea for Americans. Not that I have been missing much American food, but for most American's it's a huge treat to be able to go. It turns out that my family has a Costco card- and not only that, but my host mother is a VIP member (which I'm pretty sure just means she buys a lot- it makes sense since the family is so large). Costco is the same as it is in America- save for the different types of Korean food you can get here- although it does carry a lot of the American brands, which is why Americans love it. Now, this (seemingly) was not an ordinary Costco trip- who knows. But it turned out that we met up with a friend of my host mother, who was also doing her shopping. We shared a cart with her and I helped push- about the only useful thing I could do, inbetween being forced the sample food (not all that bad). I thought of Dad and going to Sam's club. I even took a picture with my camera phone. If I figure out how to transfer pictures onto my computer I'll post it. Now, after completing shopping (I did find one American thing I have missed- Nature Vally granola bars- the ones in the green wrappers- I was going to buy them, but my host mother bought them for me!) we went to a VIP event. Which is why we were there in the first place (I think). It was pretty much a small area of the store sectioned off where there were select items on sale and free food. Neither of the women bought anything, I really think we went just for the free food. :)

My host mother and I then picked up my host brother from English academy and drove to pick up my host father from work. I think he owns two tire factories (one in Daegu and another one somewhere else). This took awhile, but we finally got home and I go to taekwondo with my host bro. I had promised to go with him the day before- so I followed him to practice because I wanted to see him and his teacher wanted to meet me. Well, it turned out that I ended up working out! And I'm supposed to go back every Tuesday for class. I didn't pack my uniform, but now I wish I had- the school is pretty informal. Actually- it is a lot different from my old school and I don't like it all that much- but it might be another way for me to stay active. Besides it is good hang out time with Han Soong. We'll see what happens!

Ah- after taekwondo we went home- I had ten minutes to relax and then we were off again with his parents to get beer. We waited for a long time at the table and I was wondering what was wrong- why we didn't just order. However, it turns out we were meeting friends at the bar. The same woman who I met at Costco and her husband (who is a Korean doctor- I'm not sure what that means). They were very nice and the husband kept trying to speak in English- he was okay...he didn't know a whole lot, but his pronuciation was okay. This is where the subject of the post comes from- everyone was trying to figure out how people toast in America. I taught them "cheers" and they started saying "For Jenna!", which devolved into "For the Jenna!" and finally evolved into "to Jenna!" I could not stop laughing. Thankfully my host bro was there and helped translate. I was able to talk a little more about myself, America, and other people on our program with the family in a relaxed atmopshere- it was nice.

After that we went to norebang (singing room/kareoke). Where everyone sang- and I had to sing songs in English- which was a big hit. I sang "Bye, Bye, Bye, Hotel California, Yesterday, Build Me Up Buttercup, and Dancing Queen" Not my top picksm but I tried to pick songs and everyone helped me that they knew. Most host mom and dad are pretty good singers and everyone had a good time. Finally after an hour of that we came home. I played some cards with Han Soong and now I am blogging. It was an increadibly long day! I had no idea that so many random things would happen!

Overall I felt like today was pretty good. I'm getting to know the family a little better. Shopping helped today with getting to know my host mother a bit more. Taekwondo- although unprepared as I was for it, helped me get to know my host bro more, and going out for beer and singing helped be get some face time in with my host father. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

-Jenna

P.S. I have a cell phone and a bank account. I have friends' cell phone numbers and I know where I am. The only thing left I really need is internet- which hopefully will be set up tomorrow at 5:00pm. Then, I will be a full-fledged member of society again!

:)

2007-08-20T01:36:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'm trying to leave school, but just had to post a quick message about my first day hanging out at school! It's 4:38 and classes offically ended at 4:20pm- although it sounds like some teachers stick around to teach a supplemantary class- probably for an extra hour.

I got here this morning (my host mom drove me and my host sister to school). I got into my office, which was a feat snce I could not remember the combination to my office! It's my office until a Japanese teacher comes and then I will have to share it with them. It's a bit unusual since most teachers all share one office. Then I had to give my address (introduction) to the entire school staff at the meeting this morning- it went surprisingly well- even if it was only 6 sentances! I also gave the principal, vice prinicipal, and my co-teacher (Mr. Choi) their gifts. Mr. Choi really liked it!

I decided to sick around school because there was a lunch with all the English teachers from the school. I sat around and tried to lesson plan and such- it went pretty well. Every now and then students would pop into my office or stand outside and yell "HI TEACHER!" from the hallway. When I would say anything they would laugh and run away. Some of the braver students actually talked to me. I can't wait to get into the classroom- I'm sure their energy will mellow out!

While I was here this morning Mr. Choi tried to register my cell phone (one that I had been given by a previous participant). However, it would not work so he bought me a phone! This is increadibly generous! I cannot even imagine how must it must have cost. All of the Korean people I have met so far are extremely generous! His daughter's one year birthday is later this month, I will be sure to bring something very nice!

And lastly, this is what Mr. Choi sent me earlier today on messenger:

Hi! Jenna...

Do you know who I am?

Yes, Mr. Choi...

You can use this messenger from now on...

When you have something to tell me(all of the staffs in this school), use this messenger freely. You can visit me also whenever you need...

You may feel tired, I think. But as time goes by and as you are getting familiar with this rather strange and unfamiliar situation, you will feel better soon.

Cheer up, Jenna^^....

Though you sometimes may feel hard to understand me due to my poor English, I'll do my best to help you....
If there is anything that you can not understand, don't hesitate to let me know about that....

Well, I hope you first day in this school would be great...^^

I am still having a wonderful time and am so thankful for everything! Now I will walk home in the stiffling heat!

-Jenna

Daegu!

2007-08-17T23:41:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone!

I arrived safely last night around 8 o'clock. My host family is very nice! My cooperating teacher is also very nice and he stayed to talk and eat fruit with the family when I arrived. The family really wants me to feel like this is my home, which is great. I was told I could eat anything in the fridge and even cook my own food (which seems to be pretty unique). They cut up fresh fruit when I came and showed me around the apartment. It is really nice, pretty spacious. I actually am kicking out the youngest sister from her room- she will live with her grandmother while I am here. The girls seem nice, but weren't all that interested in me. The boy however is very good in english and is a huge help already. He also seems very excited to teach me things- which is great. Last night the girls left at 9 to go to an academy to study! They won't come back until 12! The boy is on vacation now, so I think I'll spend more time with him. However, as the girls were leaving they said a few things to me. As soon as my cooperating teacher left, my host mom took me to get a gym membership (which she paid for) and to show me where the closest grocery store is. Both are very close- in the apartment complex.

When I got in last night they showed me my room and there was a stone bed (a slab of marble) for me to sleep on! My co-teacher was very concerned for me and the mother, father, sister, and my co-teacher dragged the thing out of my room and put it into the master bedroom. I will sleep on the floor for about a week until a bed arrives (the host mom ordered it last night!). It is really generous of them and even though I explained I could sleep on the floor they insisted on getting me a bed. I slept pretty well last night.

I woke up this morning and met my co-teacher and he showed me his office and introuced me to a lot of teachers in the school. I also got to see my office, which is really nice- I have it all to myself- kind of unusual. I also got to meet the principal and met some students. The school is only 4 years old- it has 6 floors. My office is on the third floor and the majority of the classrooms I will teach in are on the third floor. The other classrooms are on the second floor (teachers move from class to class, rather than the students). The school is a little further away than originally thought- about 15-20 minute walk from the apt. I think my daily schedule will look like this (at least for now): health club (work out) in the morning myabe around 7, then eat breakfast and walk to school. Come home from school and hopefullly take language classes and/or volunteer.

My school schedule looks like this ( I think it could change, but hopefully it will stay like this):
Monday I teach class number 4 from 9:30-10:20, class number 7 from 10:30-11:20, class number 3 from 1:20-2:10, and class nunber 2 from 3:30-4:20. There is an hour break for lunch (12:20-1:20) and apparently teachers eat in the cafeteria with students.
Tuesday I teach class number 5 from 10:30-11:20 and class number 8 from 1:20-2:10. Wednesday I teach class number 11 from 3:30-4:20.
Thursday I teach class number 12 from 8:30-9:20, class number 1 from 9:30-10:20, class number 6 from 1:20-2:10, class number 10 from 2:20-3:10, and class number 9 from 3:30-4:20! Thursday is my busiest day!
Friday- no class!

My schedule is amazing! Technically I will only be teaching 12 hours a week! There are only 12 classes for the freshman (first grade class) and I will teach the entire first grade class (40 students per class)! I am so happy that I have Fridays off- I cannot believe it. I have already agreed to teach an additional language class (two times a week) since they were so great about my schedule. It also looks like I will be teaching a teachers class too- but that could change.

I have to go to the teachers staff meeting this monday at 8:10, but I do not start teaching for a week! I am so thankful, because I feel like I have a lot to prepare. But I am confident that a week will, be plenty. It's also nice to be able to settle in. There is still a lot I need to learn (like how to do my laundry!). Also, I think I will get my cell phone set up this monday and a bank account. I still have to unpack and work on an introduction (in Korean) for the staff meeting. As soon as I can take pictuers of the apartment and my school I will let you know and post them!

Thank you so much for all your support and prayers! I really felt comfortable during the move and feel very comfortable at my homestay- even though I don't know what is happening 99% of the time. I really cannot imagine a better homestay or school- God is so faithful!

Love,

Jenna

P.S. Please excuse my deteriorating English. I fear that the longer I stay in Korea and the less exposure I have to native speakers the faster my English will disappear! I have heard from past program participants that this happens, also that they tend to speak very slowly (especially when they have to explain things) and that they use a lot more body lanaguge when communicating!

Dams, the Army, and Otters- Oh My!

2007-08-14T10:30:00.000-06:00

Hi All,

I am feeling a lot better than last week- both physically and mentally. I'm not 100% better- I still have a small cough, but I am leaving for Seoul/Daegu feeling pretty good. The transition is a bit funny from orientation (which feels like summer camp) to actually working again. I may even have to start as early as next Monday! However, before I leave I wanted to write about a very interesting experience I had yesterday. I cannot promise the next time I will post because of the move. I am not sure when i will have access to the internet.

My surreal foray into a small aspect Korea's foreign policy:

Our group was privileged enough to be invited, through the personal contact of an orientation coordinator, to visit a part of the DMZ. It was not the typical place most tourists/nationals see when they visit the DMZ, which is north of Seoul. This was an area north of Chuncheon (which is north east of Seoul, by about two hours). Not only were we invited to visit this part of the DMZ, but we were also invited to see the Peace Dam (who knew) and an otter research facility. Stay tuned (keep reading) to see how otters factor into South Korea's foreign diplomacy.

We began our trip by visiting the Peace Dam. We took a quick pit stop at the town hall and we were greeted by the mayor of the town. It turns out that the Peace Dam was constructed in response to a dam that was built in North Korea. If the dam in North Korea broke or was opened, the water from the dam would flow into Seoul and flood the city. The water level would be as high as the 33rd floor of a high rise. The dam was built beginning in 1987 and completed about a year after. However, there was a lot of suspicion about political corruption and South Koreans lost interest in the dam. In 2002, I think, the Peace dam was expanded due to concern that the dam in North Korea might be structurally unsound and break open, thus releasing the water into South Korea (and Seoul).

Following the Peace dam we went to the DMZ where we were told that we could not take any pictures in the general direction of North Korea. We had a brief talk by a military man(Sargent?) about the area they guarded. The military area they guarded was about 10 kilometers. The area has barbed wire dividing South and North Korea and there are a few kilometers of open land between the two countries with barbed wire on the other side. From our vantage point we could see across the DMZ and into North Korea. They had those binoculars you see at tourist sites (like the Empire State Building or something). Through the binoculars we could see two men standing on a bridge in North Korea. The area of the DMZ looks really pretty- however the environment around the DMZ and other places in Korea are littered with land mines. The environment is completely damaged- almost irreversibly so. I'll post some of the pictures of the area (South Korea only) soon. Actually, as we were walking back to the buses we saw some barbed wire with a sign on it labeled MINE.

Next we went to the otter research facility. Before we left on our trip we heard that otters were the only mammals/animals that safely travel between South and North Korea on one of the main rivers between the two countries. However, when we got there it seemed that the otter that was sent to North Korea with a GPS tracking device in its stomach may not have actually made it to North Korea. Besides that interesting information, the otters were super cute. The research lab may not have successfully traveled to North Korea, but it does provide researchers from both countries to work together and make contact.

As a whole the trip was very interesting. From a foreign perspective the places we got to see and experience seem very strange. I feel that a lot was lost in translation and due to the cultural differences. Korea has a long history after the Korean war and the DMZ is an integral part in the history. We had tour guides on the trip and our guide told us we were visiting one of the most dangerous places in the world. However, and he seemed quite serious, I did not feel like that before our visit or after.

The Peace Dam was also pretty interesting and something I do not feel most people know about. It is actually an internationally recognized site and there has been a "world peace park" with a bell and everything. Nobel Peace Prize laureates have endorsed the effort and have even sent letters and bells of their own for the museum. I was looking through the material and I was surprised to see I had met two of the laureates who have supported this project. I was able to meet Adolfo Perez Esquivel and Rigoberta Menchú through PeaceJam in high school.

Uh...it's late and I'm going to continue this at a later date...

Was that Culture Shock?

2007-08-12T11:04:00.000-06:00

Hi All,

This is a very late night posting for me. However, I am still awake and this week is going to be extremely busy. So, I decided to post something short (haha).

Well, I graduated Korean language classes on Friday and got Bs in reading, writing, speaking, and a B+ in listening. Woo-hoo. Now, these grades are not bad, but by Korean standards I feel like I should have done better. Yet, I tried my best and am still planning on learning the language- so I'm not giving up. Which is probably a good thing, seeing as how I leave orientation Wednesday.

I managed to get myself sick last week and generally just had a post nasal drip and head congestion. I proceeded to self medicate and got rid of the head congestion only to force the congestion the other way (into my chest). This made me nervous. However, I am finally beginning to feel better (and am praying that staying up really late tonight will have no effect on my health). But besides feeling sick, I've generally been in a funk (the past 3-4 days). Which I was very surprised to find might in fact have been culture shock. (I was reflecting about my general mood over the past few days, today.)

Yet, I think this may have passed. We found a Vietnamese place for lunch today and I was so excited because all I wanted was some soup (the original plan was to get cheesy rice). However, I was very excited at the prospect of Pho- a food I consume quite often in the states. And since we could not find the cheesy rice place, we settled on Vietnamese. Granted it was Korean Vietnamese, but it was pretty good. Actually, it has to be the best meal I've had since I've been here (first clue to culture shock/home sickness). AND we went to E-Mart today (like Target/K-mart in the states) and I bought a caramel frappacino at Starbucks. It was expensive, but I didn't mind. I was craving it and the first sip was amazing (second clue to culture shock/home sickness). For dinner I had pizza and coke. It was Nicki's birthday today and she wanted to go out for pizza. I had a slice of veggie, pepperoni, and Hawaiian (third clue to culture shock/home sickness). AND the amazing conclusion to this day was the fact that my stomach did not object to this crazy concoction of foods. This is quite a feat considering it rejected the majority of the Korean food I've eaten in the past week. In conclusion, although I did not mentally feel like I had culture shock/home sickness- on a visceral level my body knew and was craving familiar food.

All in all, I am feeling better and think I am out of the funk. However, I could really use prayer for this week, especially Friday when I leave Seoul for Daegu and most likely have to start teaching on Monday. The transition is stressing a lot of people out and I think I'm being affected by their stress. Please pray for safety, health, strength, and reliance on God to get me through everything that will happen in the next week.

Thank you so much,

Jenna

Late posting...

2007-08-08T18:42:00.000-06:00

Hi All,

I apologize for the late posting, but this week has been very busy! A few highlights from last week: cooking class! We made bulgolgi (marinated meat) and mandu (dumplings). It was yummy and fun. Highlights from this week is the fact we finished language classes yesterday! Woo hoo! Although we took a three hour final- ick. I studied lots when I got back from Seoul and our teacher told us that we did pretty well on the final. We have our "graduation" from class tomorrow!

The main highlight from last week was the fact that I went to Seoul on Friday night. Be warned, this is lengthy!

I left on Friday evening with Amber to meet up with Amelia and Ray (who was already in Seoul). This past week was the IKAA (International Korean Adoptee Association) 2007 Gathering. They host gatherings every three years, in Seoul, and I think this was either the third or second time it happened. It's a pretty big deal and I guess the last time they had it there was a lot of media and press coverage. I heard there was supposed to be a lot this year, but the main thing in the news here are the hostages in Afghanistan. There weren't any workshops happening this weekend- the plan was just to head to Seoul to meet people and hang out- which happened, so it was a pretty cool weekend. There were over 500 people from Europe and the US for the gathering.

Friday night we went to dinner and then out to a bar where we hung out and got to meet some people. It was hard to get to know people right off the bat because everyone already knows one another, but it was still pretty chill.

Saturday we slept in a little- had lunch and then went to two shopping districts in Seoul. We didn't see much of Seoul, but we're heading back there this coming weekend or the next and I figure I'll have a whole year to go back and site see. There was a gala dinner for the conference and I was able to find a dress and shoes and attend the dinner- which was really nice. I'll post pictures soon. I wasn't going to go, but I figured I might as well since I didn't know if I'd be able to go to the next gathering. The dinner was really nice- at one of the nicest hotels in Seoul (the Shilla). Good food salad, steak, soup, and a mouse desert. They also had a few performances which were really neat- a drumming thing, traditional instruments and a modern bboy group (beat boxing and break dancing). After that we went back to the hotel- changed and went out for the night. Went to a bar with a whole bunch of people and then out to a club. We didn't get back to the hotel until the morning and we slept most of Sunday! I've never stayed out so late, but it was a lot of fun.

Amber and I ended up staying with Ray and one of his friends at the hotel. We got extra blankets and slept on the floor. It turned out to be the best since everyone with the conference was staying there. It turns out Ray's friend went to CU and graduated in 2004. It was fun to talk about Boulder. Then later on Saturday I sat next to someone at lunch who went to Dennison and we talked about Columbus- it was pretty neat. There were so many different types of people all with different and really interesting stories. Most of the participants were older than I (late twenties, 30s, etc.) but it was still a good time. Actually on Sunday we met a woman (an adoptee) and her husband at lunch. She was 55- it was the first time I've met someone who was one of the first waves of adoptees in America- it was pretty neat.

A lot of people had done birth searches, were in the process of it, or recently did them- and of course, like everything else, people had many different situations (some good, some not so good). Amelia met her biological brother on Sunday and so far her experience was positive. They met with a social worker who translated and then he took her out afterwards. He lives in Pusan which is about an hour away from Daegu- so he plans on seeing her and keeping in touch.

Next week orientation ends. We head to Seoul for Yonsei Day. This is when we meet our principal, vice principal, and maybe co-teacher too. They will take us to our placements and our home stays. Please pray for safety and a good school and home stay!

Thanks everyone!

-Jenna

Namisan Island & Haircut

2007-07-28T08:32:00.000-06:00

Hi all,

I am posting about 15 minutes early this week- woot. Most people went out to drink soju or to a dvd bang (private movie room) tonight, but I was up too late last night and decided to stay in. I even studied earlier this evening- mainly because our quizzes on Monday are going to kick my butt. Since I posted on Wednesday, not too much to report.

Thursday afternoon I went and got my hair cut! Nothing drastic, just a trim and some layers. It came out way better than I thought it would, especially in this humidity. They actually used a hair straightener on my hair and I might go out and get one, because it made my hair look really shinny and not frizzy.

Friday evening- went to a jimjilbang (spa/bathhouse) with friends (Stacey, Lauren, Lindsey, Amber, Hui Kyun, and Ray). There are separate areas for men and women because you have to be naked...you shower first (really well) and then soak in hot/cold tubs and sit in saunas. Then you can meet in a common room (once you've put clothes on) with the opposite gender and hang out or sit in more saunas. It really was one of the most relaxing things I have done since arriving. It is an interesting experience, but I am glad I experienced it- I'll definitely go back. You get over the naked-ness thing really quickly. Then we went out for cocktail soju (flavored rice wine). It is really yummy. We came back to the dorm to watch a movie, but we were definitely all really tired!

Today I went to Namisan island with Amber, Diane, Jen, and Ray. It was a lot of fun! The island is really pretty and known because a popular Korean drama (k-drama) was filmed on the island. There's a photo of Ray and I recreating one of the bronze sculptures from the movie. There are also wild ostriches on the island and we got to feed them and take a few pictures. We got back in the afternoon and I took a nap, had dinner and studied- woot.

I have lots more to study- that's the plan for tomorrow after church and the fun activity I have to teach tomorrow morning.

I have uploaded the pictures I am talking about on Picasa. If you do not have the link, it is on the right hand side of the page. Have fun!

-Jenna

Songnisan & PLACEMENT!

2007-07-25T05:59:00.000-06:00

Hi All,

I am sorry that I was not able to post until mid-week.

We got back from our weekend retreat to Songnisan on Sunday evening. I would have written then, but we had a quiz on Monday and I had to teach one of my lessons for camp on Monday as well. I spent Sunday evening getting materials to teach and studying. I also had to teach our club activity on Tuesday, I did not get a break until today!

This past weekend was really nice and relaxing. We left Friday morning for Songnisan, which is a mountain, and got into town around lunch time. We had this lunch with all the local foods (veggies, roots, pickled/preserved, and kimcheed things). It was good and there was certainly food left over. After that, we checked into the hotel, we had to roll out our beds on the floor. They were pretty comfortable though. Friday afternoon we had some workshop sessions and then a talk about Buddhism. It was given by this monk, who's American, but has lived in Korea for the past 20 some years. It was pretty boring. After this, we visited the Buddhist temple in the area and then we had dinner- this soup thing with all the little side dishes of local foods- it was really good.

We had Friday night free, so a bunch of people went to norebang (kareoke). I didn't stay out too late, because I went hiking on Saturday up the mountain. I left with three other girls Saturday morning at 8:30 and we went on an 8 hour hike! It was really pretty, but by about hour 6 I was ready to be finished. We came down and I had dinner with some people and then went back to the hotel and just hung out with some friends (I went to sleep pretty early). Sunday morning I studied a bit by a river with some friends and ended up playing in it with some Korean kids (water fight). We had lunch on Sunday- some beef noodle soup with side dishes- it was really good. I've posted pictures on the website- there should be a link on this page now.

Teaching went well this week. I taught a lesson about the importance of sequence and directions by having the students write a recipe for PB&J and then made each student a sandwhich based off their recipe. They had a good time and although they are extremely quiet (unlike American students) I was able to get some of them to talk and laugh. We also taught our club activity lesson this week (yoga) and since I know nothing about yoga I did a warm up of simon says (reviewing body parts). It was fun.

Today we were placed in towns and schools. I am in the city of Daegu and it really is a city- it turns out to be the capitol of the province of Gyeonsangbuk-do, which is located south east on the peninsula. Lonely planet (2004) says, "...pop 2.53 million...and [it] covers a larger area than Seoul..." At the time it was the third largest city in Korea, now it is the fourth. I am sort of surprised I was placed in a city (mainly because there are not many placements in cities). Although, I suppose I do not exactly know where my school and homestay will be located (maybe on the outskirts of the the city?). Some of the best things about the placement is that there are orphanages there where I can volunteer, I'm in a city where I can pursue Korean language at a university, and I was placed there with four other great ETAs (two of which are adopted like me). Also, three friends are about 30 minutes away in Gumi. I guess there is always the slight possibility that my placement could change, but I really would love to be settled!

Nothing else really new- I don't really have any exciting weekend plans, we have to help out with camp Fulbright this weekend and Sunday is my day (so, I'm thinking I'll just stick around). Hope all is well with everyone!

-Jenna

P.S. I definitely stayed up all night last night to read Harry Potter the 7th book! Woot...I'm going to go crash now.

O di aeso wass-io?

2007-07-15T05:23:00.000-06:00

Me guk aeso wass-io. I'm trying to study for my quiz, but as you can see I am taking a slight break. I fear that any entry I make on this blog will be fairly lengthy, as many things are constantly happening and to blog about an entire week is a daunting task (especially since my memory is so poor). So I am going to try a new format, see below:

New foods I've tried: job chae (which is what I am eating in the picture on this page), panja (scallion pancake), papingsu (korean ice cream: shaved ice, chopped fruit, ice cream on top, mix, eat), dak kalbi (I can't remember if I've mentioned this- it's spicy chicken), and korean bacon (I can't remember the name of this). Really, most of the food I'm eating here is new, but these are the most memorable. Papingsu, although it might sound icky, is fantastic! I actually ate it 3 times the other day. I actually signed up for a Korean cooking class, which is how I ended up eating job chae and panja, because we made it. I love taking cooking classes when I travel because it's fun to learn part of that culture. The woman who taught us didn't speak any english and one of the women in our group translated for us, it was really nice.

Special things that happened: The executive director for our program in Korea came and visited us on Wednesday. She's a really nice Korean woman who has worked for our program for 30 years. She gave a short talk about her job, our job/responsibility here, and a run down about the program itself. It was a nice talk and a pep talk for when we leave orientation for our respective cities.

I went and saw Harry Potter with a Amelia the other night and that was pretty cool. The movie theatre itself was smaller than in the states and the movie had korean subtitles. Other than that, no other differences.

Weekend plans:

Friday night a lot of people went out to drink and hung out with korean students from the university. The big drink in korea is called soju (it's an alcohol distilled from rice- no surprise there). There's this whole culture about it, so it's kinda fun to hang out, but it doesn't taste all that great (think vodka) so I don't drink a lot of it. After that a whole bunch of us went our to norebang, which was a blast! It's kareoke and you rent your own room with a whole bunch of people. Highlights of the night- dancing to songs like mmmbop (takes me back to middle school- yikes), spicegirls, abba, etc. It was pretty fun.

Saturday a bunch pf people were going to a juljingba, sauna/bath house, I opted out this weekend, but I do want to go sometime. Instead I went out with a few friends around town and got to see the main shopping area, which was kinda neat. Then a friend and I went paddle boating on a river nearby and spent the afternoon hanging out there and walking around the park. It was nice and relaxing. Last night I went out to dinner and had another famous dish here- korean bacon- it was tasty and I smelled like it when I came back, I had to take a shower!

Today we (a small group of about 6 of us) went to church and it was really cool. We went to a korean service early (9:00) and it was neat, I couldn't understand anything, but they had some music on a projector (like at cornerstone) so I got to practice some korean at church. We came back and I studied and then we went back to the church for an English service. I got to meet some koreans and hopefully I'll get a language partner while I'm here. The coolest part was the fact that I now know some Christians here and we want to start up a bible study/prayer group. It feels really good to be connected to other people who have the same beliefs. God is really faithful and answered my prayers; thanks for all those who prayed for fellowship here!

Praises: church and meeting others for fellowship, beginning to make deeper relationships with people, not getting bitten by so many mosquitoes, my eye infection clearing up and my eye being fine.

Prayer Requests: That I would stay healthy, continue to be responsible in studying korean (or supernatural abilities to pick up the language), continue developing relationships and that the Bible study would actually happen.

Thank you all so much for your support! I love the comments on the blog and the e-mails. Please keep me posted on how everything is going back home! There are two new ways in which to keep track of me here. First off is a place where I am posting my pictures- http://picasaweb.google.com/Jenna.Insook/KangwonUniversity

The second is the fact that I have a skype account ask me if you want it. Now, I can screen calls, so if there's some sketchy person who stumbled upon this blog and I don't know you (assuming I know sketchy people) I won't answer- simple. However, this is a great resource! I just tried it with a friend here and it works really well, even though I don't have a headset. So, if you have skype, give me a call sometime.

-Jenna

Chuncheon, South Korea

2007-07-09T15:47:00.001-06:00

Hi All,

I've decided I will try and update this thing every Sunday. It's pretty difficult, just because there is so much I've done, but I'm trying to get it updated!

I arrived in Incheon/Seoul International Airport on Saturday morning with the rest of the the people on the program. Thankfully I did not experience any setbacks and most of our group was able to collect their luggage. We boarded buses for Chuncheon, a 2.5 hour ride, where we will be staying for the next six weeks. We are at Kangwon National University learning Korean, culture, and how to teach English as a foreign language. The rest of Saturday was spent getting to know each other and informational meetings about the program. There will be lots of meetings over the next few weeks to help us acclimate to our new environment!

I really like the food! The cafeteria food really is just like all cafeteria food and therefore it's just so-so. However, I ventured out to eat with a few people at some local and very inexpensive restaurants yesterday and today and they were great! Kimchee really does come with everything- whether it's the traditional cabbage kimchee or radish or whatever other kind of kimchee. In general the food is very hot and very spicy. We had a spicy chicken dish tonight with some former people from our program and it was amazing. Apparently Chuncheon is known for this specific dish.

I am finding it a little difficult to adjust to the schedule. It's 6:19am and I think I woke up earlier than that, but tried to go back to sleep. Last night I was exhausted and went to bed around 9:00pm, after taking a three hour nap in the evening.

I haven't been outside the campus very much and it still makes me feel like I'm in a little bubble, it's hard to believe I'm in Korea. Sunday we had more of the welcome weekend meetings and such. We signed up for extra curricular activities we want to participate in. I signed up for cooking class. We have a cooking class tonight and then one in about two weeks, I'm not sure who is teaching it, but it sounds fun. There was a Korean musical instrument class, a tkd class, a calligraphy class, and a paper folding/cutting class too. The tkd class only goes from white to yellow belt, so I opted not to spend the $100 on it. I might still want to sign up for the calligraphy class, but we'll see.

We also had to sign up for a time to teach during camp (about two weeks from now). We had to sign up to teach two lessons, an extra activity, and a weekend activity. I signed up to teach an advanced class and a lower level class, just to see the difference in kids. We also had a presentation that day by two former program participants about their experience in Korea and it was pretty informative.

Yesterday was the first language class and man it was tiring! It's four hours of rote instruction- which means we repeat the same things over and over again. We had a lot of homework too, which was writing the same thing over and over again. I'm in the beginner class, no surprise there, but I do enjoy the class. We have 14 people in our class which is nice. I know the vowels and the consonants and how to say hello, how are you (two different ways), nice to meet you, what is your name, my name is, where are you from, what country are you from, I am from America, and I am American. We'll have a midterm and a final for the class, along with quizes every monday! I also heard that our scores are printed on the diploma we receive after finishing the course!

We have workshops/meetings every afternoon- about cultural life in korea, how to teach etc. Yesterday's was okay, but it was hard to sit for two more hours, I was really antsy to leave. We have little assignments every week too- just to check in with the orientation coordinators, I have to write mine up a little later. I also have a 1 on 1 meeting with a coordinator this morning- just a check in to see how the weekend went and how we are adjusting. I like how much time fulbright spends making sure people are adjusting well.

I found out quickly that I am not immune to Korean mosquitoes. In fact, I have about four bites on my upper left thigh, which is kinda strange, since I wear clothes every where I go (I think they bite at night in my rooms, I need to get a bug killer thing in the room). The bites got really big and warm to the touch- fun stuff. But, I was able to get hydrocortizone cream from one of the coordinators and it's reduced a lot of the swelling. I'm fine, just a bit itchy and uncomfortable. The other day I had my contacts in and my eyes were really dry and my right eye got really red (the one that I scratched). I haven't been wearing my contacts, but have been monitoring my eye- it seems to be okay, but the redness hasn't fully gone away. I am thinking of going to a doctor today to get it checked out. It doesn't hurt, but I'd feel better if I knew it was okay.

This is long, but a lot has happened in just three days! I'll try to be a bit more discriminating in future posts! Please, e-mail me and let me know how you all are doing. I certainly do want to hear what is happening with my friends at home!

-Jenna

Estimated Time of Arrival)\

2007-06-24T20:37:00.000-06:00

This is my last full week in the states for the next year. That statement alone leaves me in disbelief. It also makes me sad when I realize I will be leaving family and friends for a whole year. However, there are some good things that come with this statement. The most prominent is the fact that this is my LAST week at Old Navy- EVER. I am so excited I could cry. My store has been good for me, but it is certainly time for me to move on.

I guess I am on top of things, however I still feel a little behind. There are a few more things I need to buy, a few things I need to do, etc. However I think it is coming along nicely. I just made arrangements to borrow a friend's truck to move out my bed and I will hopefully be all moved out by next Monday.

I feel like I spent a lot of time preparing for my trip to Korea this weekend in a different way by attending Korean Heritage Camp. This is my second year as a counselor at the YMCA Snow Mountain Ranch camp in Colorado. I really enjoy seeing all the children and their families- it really is touching to see how many people's lives are enriched and thrive because of the wonderful opportunity to adopt. I spent the weekend with third graders, seeing a lot of the same kids as last year when I worked with second graders. My goal is to return each year with the same set of kids. It really is neat to see them grow up (even if it is just for a weekend).

The other great aspect of camp is the fact that I get to spend time with other counselors and listen to their stories. We all have this common link- adoption, but we are all so different. I think it touches me so much, because it is a huge part of my identity. For some reason, it always blows my mind away when I meet adoptees that are older than me. I know it shouldn't, but growing up I never knew of any adoptees that were older than me. The counselors I got to work with this year were amazing- all of them. I do not know too many people who would volunteer their time to let 18 kids use them as a jungle gym for two days straight.

I really felt like I was preparing for Korea because I got to talk with counselors who have been to Korea, who know Korean, etc. I learned a few more Korean words and met some great people I hope to see at camp next year.

The most amazing story to come out of camp this year: a brother and sister, Rob and Ashley, came up to camp this year as counselors. Ashley had been a counselor years ago and was coming back, but was Rob's first time (they are in their thirties). The first night the campers are all hanging out talking and Rob and Ashley are talking to two twins, Krystal and Sheryl (adopted when they were five), who are helping organize and run part of the camp. Rob mentions to Ashley that he remembers twins in the orphanage where they were in Korea. Rob and Ashley were adopted when they were older (8 and 10). Rob asks Ashley and she slowly beings to remember a few details about the twins in the orphanage. She asks one of the twins if she had a really bad ear infection when she was in the orphanage. The answer yes. The other question- did you and your sister have your heads shaved because of lice? The answer- yes. I get chills just writing this now. The four of them were reunited for the first time this year at camp. The Rob and Ashley remember them well, especially the sister because as older children they helped take care of the younger children in the orphanage. It is the first time that Ashley has met anyone she helped care for in the orphanage. As I listened to this story and as I retell it, I am struck by how much I believe that everything in life is orchestrated by God. What other kind of proof does one need?

-Jenna

Checklist After Checklist

2007-06-09T07:41:00.000-06:00

Hi All,

I have been creating many checklists the past few weeks and seem to be getting a few things accomplished before I go. I was really fortunate to meet another person going to Korea on the same program as me. She lives nearby and just graduated from Arizona State University. She's really nice and it is great to know someone, even a little, before I leave. We are going to try and go to the Korean grocery store out in Aurora next week so she can try some Korean food and I can buy some supplies for camp (Korean Heritage Camp).

So, I just received my plane tickets this week and my visa last week- I was a little nervous waiting for both to arrive, but believe I have everything to leave on the 5th (which is rapidly approaching). I'm still packing to move and trying to set aside things to pack for Korea, while trying to buy gifts for people in Korea and find educational materials (maps, etc) to bring with me. It's definitely crazy.

I ask for continued prayer as I make this journey, not only for myself but for my family as well.

-Jenna

An...tici...pation

2007-05-23T19:53:00.000-06:00

Dear Family, Friends, and others who may have stumbled upon this little blog,

This is a brief introduction to my blog- a space where I will be able to share my adventures this upcoming year in South Korea.

I leave July 5 for South Korea to begin orientation. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. I am waiting on pins and needles for my visa and plane ticket, hopefully both will come through this week.

It might seem a little early to set this up, but my roommates are gone and I am finding that I have lots of time on my hand. I was very excited that I was able to find the time/date in Korea, as well as the weather.

I hope to update this blog regularly when I arrive and would love some accountability to do this. The best way to keep me honest will be to post responses on this blog and/or e-mail me.

I am very thankful that I have been given this opportunity to teach English in Korea on a Fulbright and realize that I would not be able to go without God's blessing and the support from my family and friends.

Thank you all,

Jenna