Overdue Update

I don't even know where to begin!

August is quickly coming to an end which is bringing about some changes. Two of my coworkers have their last day on Thursday. Which means on Friday we have a goodbye dinner, then on Saturday we are going out dancing as a last hurrah. I'm a bit jealous of their new adventures although I know it's going to be an emotional Thursday for them when they leave. They are headed to South East Asia to travel and then one of them will be going to Africa in the new year to do volunteering - very cool! I got a few things from them too - some clothes, a tennis racket, and hula hoop.

This also means that new teachers are arriving! Charles teacher arrived yesterday and had his first day at LCI today. I decided I should be social so I went out for both lunch and dinner today with him and other coworkers. For lunch we had Bibimbap and Mandu (dumplings - so delicious!) and for dinner we had Shabu-shabu (which is a spicy broth that you put veggies, noodles and beef in, then afterwards you get fried rice). It was so yummy! Then I later at night I went over to Jessica's to enjoy some honey dew and cantaloupe (which is green here when ripe) and we chatted about our Japan plans. Back to Charles Teacher - he goes by Chuck but Chuck in Korean means something similar to 'fake' or 'pretend' so they want him to go by Charles at school. A weird adjustment for him I'm sure! He is also from Minnesota and is friends with Nathan Teacher who has been here for maybe six months now?

The other new teacher, Hayley Teacher will not arrive until this weekend. I have been chatting with her on Facebook so it will be great to finally meet her in person! One of my classes will be changing in September since there are new teachers, things shuffle. I'm sad to say goodbye to my grade six class, but I will start teaching a grade four class instead.

I had a pretty low key weekend this past weekend. Friday night I stayed in and watched Mean Girls while painting my toe nails - which are already chipped. Then Saturday I spent the day trying to find an external disc drive without success. Sunday I went to my Korean class and tried pole dancing for the first time! I was a little bit discouraged with my Korean class because the textbook we use, also uses a CD and my laptop doesn't have a disc drive!! So I can't do a lot of the exercises until I find an external disc drive. So far I have taken two private classes with a guy named Jason. He has been here for 3 years already and has good knowledge of speaking Korean, but can't read or write very well. The classes have gone a bit faster for that reason than I'd like but it's nice to get started in the language. Unfortunately from this point on, we have to join a class and there are not enough people to start a beginner class so I have to wait to take more classes unless I pay for private classes which is more expensive. I will likely wait until October to start again (hopefully there will be enough people to start a class, Chuck seemed interested). I will be away for two weekends in September anyways so it's probably best to wait until October anyways. Plus I have the textbook so can study on my own in the mean time. I am learning the alphabet and am always practicing reading signs!

The pole dancing class was a lot of fun too! And wow, what a work out! The girl who organized the Mt. Gwanak hike, Jin, teaches the classes so I decided to go. I always thought it would be fun to try! Here is a picture: I was surprised at my strength! The days at the gym have paid off!

I met a girl named Emmalee there and we ended up going out for dinner afterwards together for Korean BBQ. It was so much fun and talked about getting together to play tennis and basketball sometime.

I have also made plans to go to Korea Burn! If you don't know what that is please look at this webpage http://kbfront.wordpress.com/ there is a YouTube clip on the front page that sums it up well. It's a regional event based on Burning Man that happens every year in Neveda. It's completely based on participation, those who come create the event and make it whatever it becomes. It is also based on ten principles: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, participation, immediacy, and leaving no trace. I think it's going to be an incredible experience. I am going to be going with a girl named Molly who I met when I did the day trip to Daebudo. And Emmalee has decided she is going to join us as well! Because one of the principles is gifting (there is no purchasing or sales the entire weekend, you have to bring your own food etc.), we have decided to make friendship bracelets to give out to people while we are there. People usually come up with costumes as well, so we are thinking bright hippies or something along those lines. I'm excited. It's from September 13-15th (the weekend before my Japan trip).

This past week, I also broke my camera :(. I dropped it at school and the screen was ruined. It would still take pictures but you could not see anything but white lines on the screen. I was absolutely devastated. Then I remembered that there is a Samsung store down the street from me so I went there (after Googling "fix" in Korean). They told me there is a repair shop above them that would be open the next day. So I went on my lunch and although they didn't speak English, a Korean customer helped explain to them what I wanted. They said they would have to keep my camera for two weeks. But I was willing to do anything to get it fixed. I got a call later that day to say it would cost 37,000 won (around $30) and that I could pick it up the next day! How amazing. It would have cost way more to get it fixed in Canada and taken way longer. Yet I paid $30 and they did it overnight. Just an amazing experience all around.

Here are some more pictures of my other students I haven't posted yet: This is one of my ILP (drama) classes.

 

My supervisor told met that she called all of my kindergartener's parents and have received nothing but good feedback about me. Because I have the oldest kindergarteners, they will be leaving to go to Korean school as they will start grade 1 in February (there school year starts in February here). But they will still come to LCI for the afternoon classes. Some of the parents have already requested that I be their kids grade 1 teacher come February. It's great to hear this.

I feel like I'm forgetting things, but I'm in need of sleep! Love and miss you all. Check out Facebook for additional pictures from my time in Daebudo! And lastly, I leave you with this cutie (Tyler) in her awesome hat that has wings:

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