A New School Year

At the end of February we had graduation for all of the seven year old kindergarten classes. I was asked to MC the ceremony which was okay, but that meant that I didn't get to be part of the backstage excitement as I otherwise would have been. My students did an excellent job though and saying goodbye to them was tough. It was definitely harder to say goodbye to them than my first kindergarten class the year before. I tried my best not to cry but as we lined up at the end of the day for the last time, knowing I would not see them again, I told them that I would really miss them and the tears flowed to their surprise - "Teacher, really crying?" Yes. Really. I love those kids to bits. 

Monday morning brought a whole new set of children and changes (mostly in my opinion, for the worse). I now have a class of six year olds who arrived without knowing any English. I walked in on the first morning, stood in front of them and my supervisor, threw my hands up and said "I don't know what to do with these children." I ended up taking them to the play gym to break the ice. That first week has to have been the most challenging teaching week I've ever had. I wanted to quit everyday and sometimes I was fighting back tears as I taught.  

A whole month has gone by now and while there are definitely still challenges, things are starting to get more routine ... sort of. The kids are cute, but it's not a level that I really enjoy teaching. (Note that the last two kindergarten classes I had were students who already had 1-2 years of English learning already.) 

One thing that is a bit adorable, and awful at the same time - I was told before I met my students that one of them is particular about what their teacher looks like but that he approved of me (he saw me at the orientation). Since, this boy, Tommy, continues to tell me everyday that I am soo pretty. His mom wrote me to tell me that Tommy told her that his heart beats faster when he sees me, and that he checks his hair before he comes to school. 

Here are some photos of the new kiddos and my new classroom:

Lily

Sunny (who recently changed her name to Rosa)

Micky and Daniel 

Tommy

Eunice

March also meant saying goodbye to my best friend! I spent as much time as I could with Chris and her amazing Mom but was still super sad to see them go home. We both did so well, but on the last final goodbye we were both a mess. I miss her being in Korea so much!!

<3 <3

Chris and her Mom, Cindy - 3 years in Korea creates a lot of luggage

Things have been pretty uneventful aside from these things, when I am not in Paju doing diving stuff, I am usually at a cafe playing board games, reading books or simply relaxing. 

Coffee Prince (a famous Korean drama) Cafe 

A cozy cafe near my place where you get to take off your shoes and curl up with pillows and blankets!

Mel and I have booked tickets to Vietnam for summer vacation. The day before it starts is my last teaching day, so I've booked a one way ticket. I still have no idea what I'm doing, I have no plan, but that is where adventure begins! 

<3

Quarter of a Century

Celebrating my birthday in Korea this year felt different despite it being the second birthday in a row spent abroad. Growing up it seems everyone always thought twenty-five was something special to celebrate, so it was strange to not celebrate with family and old friends. Regardless, my friends made it amazing.

Reservations were made at Ashley (an American style all you can eat buffet) with the help of my Korean teacher, Won. As a result of my birthday also being the last day of the school year, I stayed behind at work for a bit to organize some things for Monday, the new school year. Because of this, I was running late to my own dinner. Thankfully many of my friends were on time ... but to all of our disappointment, I learned while still on the way that they did not have unlimited wine! A big part of going to Ashley is that they have the equivalent of $3 unlimited wine, which is amazing, so I was quite devastated. Won called Ashley again to confirm about the wine, I guess when they said they had wine they failed to mention they had bottles of wine to purchase, not the usual unlimited wine. So at this point, there is a group of us in the subway station and a group at Ashley already and some stragglers throughout Bundang (my area). We were going to change locations, to another nearby Ashley with unlimited wine but learned that some had already started to eat at the original planned location. At this point I took a step back in the plans for the rest of the night.

I was led to Ashley, the originally planned location and the rest is still unknown magic to me. I walked in to James telling me that everything had been sorted regarding wine. Later on, Won showed up with a box of bottles of red wine for all to share. When does that happen in real life? Restaurants never allow you to bring in your own drinks!! Seriously still blown away at how amazing my friends are.

Part of the magic was also the wonderful cake and birthday hat!! So fun. This also truly surprised me.

                                           

Not to mention how many of my friends were able to come out and celebrate with me! The rest of the night was spent at a place called The Big Chill for drinks, darts and pool!

THANK YOU <3

To finish out my birthday weekend, Liisa and I went up Namsan. It's still quite cool in Korea, so the top was quite cold. I had been wanting to do this for so long now as I had only been there once before, during my first week in Korea and at night so I wanted to check it out during the day.

<3

Lunar New Year

Koreans follow the lunar calendar and it's still an integral part of determining your age in Korea. I still don't fully understand it, but when you are born you are already considered to be one year old. Then during Lunar New Year, you turn a year older. I realize that's an awful explanation but put simply your Korean age is always 1-2 years older than your international age depending on when you are born. Complicated. 

So, somehow this makes Mel 30 Korean age even though she is only really 28. Alison decided that it would be funny to throw Mel a 30th birthday party so that's exactly what we did with her help all the way from Scotland! Thankfully she was going with a friend to an appointment so we didn't have to try and get her away for a bit. Noelia, Liisa and I met up and went shopping for all of Mel's favourite Korean foods then cooked as our friends showed up. Not long after we finished cooking Mel was back and soo surprised! We enjoyed a great night together which really helped kick start our five day weekend! 

Unfortunately Mel can't eat dairy or wheat so we made her a "cake" of her favourite Haribos and macrons. 

Kimbap, Mandu, Tteokboki, beans and raddish! 

30!

Wednesday was all about relaxation. Tea in the morning with everyone, a late lunch. That afternoon Mel, Liisa and I went and saw Big Hero 6 (my second time watching it in theatres). If you haven't seen it yet, watch it! It will make you laugh and cry. It's perfect. Then we spent the night at the Harp as it was Trivia night. Chris is leaving soon and her mom has come to Korea to spend her last few weeks with her, so both of them joined us which was awesome. Chris' mom is super cool. 

Thursday our friend Iain had a bunch of friends gather to watch him and others do fire spinning down by the Han River. This was the actual holiday day of Lunar New Year, so nothing was open that day but a few of us managed to find a small Korean restaurant to eat at. Along the way we walked along the Wish Bridge and checked out the CNN cafe briefly. The view was super pretty by the Han River but it's still just to cold to be outside like that at night! 

Myself, Liisa, Sara and Scott

Words cannot describe how much I love city lights at night

Friday was another relaxed day. I spent the majority of my morning skyping then caught up with Mel and Liisa in Apgujeong (another shopping area) for food. Afterwards we headed to Gangnam so Liisa could check out the Gangam Style sign. 

We spent a few hours at a dog cafe there as well. Dog cafes are fun as it's nice to be around animals for a change, but at the same time, I don't necessarily agree with how they are run. You are able to buy dog treats there to give to the dogs but the dogs because so accustomed to getting treats. Also, the amount they must eat on a daily basis cannot be good for them. Regardless we all cuddled with a few pups and drank tea. 

Saturday, Mel's friends from home, Sophie and Chris arrived in Seoul. Liisa and I met up with them as well as Iain and Johan in the afternoon for tea at a traditional spot in Insadong. I tried their Harmony Tea which had a ton of ginseng in it which was good but did taste a bit medicinal. Unfortunately it rained the entire day. 

While we were in the area, we also checked out a tea museum and then tried to make our way to the Buchon Hanok Village. That part of the day was a bit of a fail, we didn't really find the hanok village but we did find a great spot for dinner. I tried 토총삼게팅 which is a Korean ginseng chicken soup. Quite good for when you are sick apparently but terrifying for me as it came as a whole chicken in a pot. Luckily for me, I was sharing with Liisa who picked all the chicken off and dealt with the skin and bones. 

Chris, Mel and Sophie

Chicken in a pot. It's a whole chicken. In a pot. 

Finally, the last day of the holiday was spent in it's usual Sunday way - boardgames. I am still in awe at how much our board game group is growing and how eager people are to play on a weekly basis. It's always a fun afternoon and an awesome way to meet new people. Despite it being a holiday there was a great turnout, we had three games going at the same time, the entire time. Oh, and Alan brought us girl guide cookies!! 

We are now at the start of the final week in February. This week we have our graduation ceremony at school which is exciting but sad at the same time. I am really going to miss my kindergarten students. I should find out Friday who my new students will be and a new school year will start in a week's time. Here are some pictures of the cuties from our last field trip to the Pangyo Eco-Centre (where we had about 40 minutes to rush our kids throughout all of the different displays and activities) and from Sungmin's birthday party. 

Jenny and Isla

These kids make my heart so happy!!

Roy, Jae-Hun & Sungmin

 

Jaden, Joe & Isla

 

Jenny

Happy Birthday Sungmin!!

<3