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 :)
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Cultural Notes
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
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
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Andong & Wonju
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
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
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Teaching Goal
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)!
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)!
Monday, October 1, 2007
"Front hair teacher!"
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!
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!
Monday, September 24, 2007
"That's okay!"
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!!)
"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!!)
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
A glimpse into the everyday...
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 :)
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 :)
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