Picture Perfect Moments

When I return home I will work on uploading some pictures on here from the last month!  I know I've been horrible at that, but I will post some soon! :) 

We Are Famiy... I've Got My Mom and My Sister With Me.

This has been an adventurous week that’s for sure!  My mom and sister have been in town and we’ve been exploring Korea.  I went into Seoul last Thursday to pick them up.  It was so great to see them!  It’s a bit different though; it’s like 2 worlds colliding!  I love having them here though!  I took them to “Kim Bop,” which is a restaurant I frequent often!  They weren’t huge fans.  I tried to explain that it’s like fast food… compare it to McDonald’s or something like that—cheap and convenient!  They got to meet my friends that I usually hang out with all of the time.  Now they know whom I’m talking about!  They were exhausted, so we called it an early night.

The next day they came to school with me.  We rode the bus like I do everyday.  They experienced a crowded bus that morning!  After lunch with my teachers I took them downtown to Yawoori.  They hit the wall at about 4pm and jetlag took over!  They fought through it and we decided to go to the salon.  I was told about this stuff called “Magic” that makes your hair straight.  So, Mendy and I decided to try it.  It was a process!  Most of the hairdressers didn’t want to help us b/c they get nervous b/c we’re foreigners.  We finally got a couple brave souls!  It’s awesome, they brought us snacks and drinks the whole time.  We also got to watch a movie and we received an amazing hand massage.  Mendy got very nervous—I was a bit worried for her!  It turned out great though and I love the magic!

We did a lot of hiking!  I’m not sure they quite believed me when I said we walked a lot here!  We went to see the big sitting Buddha and had to hike up the hill to see it.  We went to Independence Hall (the Korean Memorial of all the different independences they’ve experienced) and we had to walk over this long bridge to get there.  Then we hiked the Hwaseong fortress wall in Suwon and walked through the market afterwards.  We visited Seoul and traced all over different parts of the city.  Then we went to Busan and had some great beach time!  But of course we did a lot of walking there too!  They had some amazing parks you could walk through.  I think it was all worth it!  You might want to ask them though, they may have seen it differently!

One question they get asked a lot is if they like the food.  They both say they do, but I remind them that I have edited everything for them and have only taken them to places I know they’d like!  They haven’t truly experienced Korean food b/c they haven’t had to eat food they could barely stomach! J  They have enjoyed “Rotiboys” which are fabulous!  It’s this sweet bread with butter and sugar in it that all melts together… Fabulous!

We met my teacher friend one night for dinner, too.  She took us to this place with boiled chicken in soy sauce.  It also had these noodles that are a personal fave!  At the end they made us fried rice and put Kimchi in it.  This is the only way to eat Kimchi in my opinion! J  It was great for them to be able to meet my friend.  She’s one of my favorite Koreans!

They also were able to go to church with me.  They met more Koreans and more of the native speakers.  People were so open and welcoming to them!  After church we went to Norrebong (which is karaoke) this truly is an experience!  They didn’t join in, but they were entertained.  Then Mendy experienced “Dr. Fish.”  She did a lot better then I expected!  She enjoyed it!  I’m not a huge fan though.  Not something I do often.  I got a picture that was priceless though of her!

It’s been so comforting to have them here!  I think it’s good that m 2 worlds have collided.  Now I see them as 1 world and I think this is beneficial!  They are both my life here and now, together.  Having them here has made it a lot more real that I am in Korea though!!  I’ve definitely had a few more “I live in Korea” moments than normal!  It’s going to be tough when we part ways on Monday, (say an extra prayer for my mom’s sake!!) but I’m ready to see how my journey continues!

I’m learning so much while I’m over here.  One day I might just write a book about the things God is teaching me and how He’s stretching me!  Not anytime soon though! J  This adventure is exactly what I need right now in my life!  I’m always up for more visitors anytime!  I have an extra place to crash!  The invitation is officially extended!

**I’m heading to the Philippines for the next week.  I’ll fill you in on all the details when I return! J

That was one LONG week!

This week was “English Camp.”  All of the other Native Speaker Teachers had class for their students.  Oh, not me though, I had it for my teachers.  I had to come up with 15 hours worth of content to teach.  I asked them what they wanted and they gave me no direction.  Honestly, it was a bit stressful trying to get it all together.  I had no idea where to start.  So, of course I spent all day Sunday planning—nothing like waiting until the last minutes… what can I say, I love the pressure?!?  I decided to have a basic plan and then change the details everyday.

I started with a warm-up everyday.  I felt like an Elementary School Teacher (I know I am one, but this was supposed to be for adults!)  We started with a “morning circle” where I taught them a new greeting.  My first rule was every answers had to be different.  This is sometimes difficult for them.  My second rule was “fine thank you and you?” is not an okay answer.  That is the only answer they know and it drives me crazy!  I have this one guy who goes on and on and gives this long explanation every time.  It’s so cute b/c he knows how to ramble in English… who would’ve thought?  I also teach them 5 idioms a day.  This can get very interesting.  Have you ever tried to explain,  “a blessing in disguise” or “a gut feeling” in simple English words or phrases?  Not as easy as it looks!  You get some interesting answers when you try to ask what they mean!  There were a few times I had to hold my chuckle in!

The second part of class was always the content.  The first day I tried to play this game called “Guilty,” where they had to write an alibi with a partner.  Yeah, FAIL!!  They didn’t quite get the concept, but they enjoyed their version!  I had a song day where I had them practice listening.  This was fun. I played “Somewhere Over the Rainbow, What a Wonderful World” and “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz.  As they were listening, they automatically started moving their bodies to the beat.  One day we cooked.  I read them the directions from the recipe and they and they had to listen.  This turned out better then I thought.  One of them said during the ‘morning circle’ that she was so excited to cook that she couldn’t sleep the night before!  Talk about pressure to perform!  One of the guys in my class said he knew today was going to be a great day b/c the night before he dreamt in English.  He said there was a girl who was talking to him but he couldn’t see her face.  Then he said, “It might have been Becky,” and then gave me this big smile.  He’s the flirt in class!

I thought it would be fun and a good idea to watch an episode of “Friends.”  That was interesting.  First, you have to find an episode that is appropriate!  Yeah, good luck with that one!  I found the one where Rachel and Monica challenge Chandler and Joey to a game to see who knows each other better.  Innocent enough, I thought!  Yeah, it’s also the one where Phoebe becomes a surrogate mother for Frank and Alice.  Try explaining that one to Koreans!  Then they asked me what ‘sperm’ was.  I felt like I was having a Sex Ed Class instead of an English Class.  That story line wasn’t even the major one either!  Oh that was an interesting class.  I now understand how parents must feel when their kids pick out the smallest detail from a show that is the most inappropriate and ask all of these questions!  I asked them how much they understood and they said, oh about 15%.  Wow, I think I missed the mark on that one too!  It’s okay though they enjoyed it!

We always ended the day with a game.  Who doesn’t like games, right?  I started off with ‘Catch Phrase.’  I had to make adjustments very quickly!  We just took turn trying to describe a word and everyone guessed.  There would be times that the word would be too hard, so they they’d just put it back in the box and choose another.  They decided to make their own rules!  We played the ‘Name Game’ and they loved it…  again with a variation though.  They got to write down any word they wanted.  They also said part of the word and thought that was okay.  Like one of the words was ‘homework’ and he said, “it’s something you do at home.”  They still didn’t get it! J  ‘Apples to Apples’ was very interesting.  It took awhile, but they caught on.  They eventually started to try to sell their answers by saying, “Oh yeah, that one is ‘famous’ (or whatever adjective we were on).”  It was quite comical.  We played ‘Upset the Fruit Basket, (and I totally thought of you Brady)!  They had no shame in stealing someone’s seat either.  They’d push the other teachers (including me) out of the seat so they could get there.  My favorite day though, was the ‘Music Day.’  I had them karaoke and it was amazing!  My favorite little old guy (the one who rambles in English) picked out his own song, not one of mine on the list.  He said, “Do you know ‘You Raise Me Up’?”  I asked him if it was the one by Josh Grobin and he said yeah.  I told him I could get it and he said he could sing it right then.  I asked him if he wanted me to get the words and said, “Okay, okay,” which means yes.  (They say this a lot!)  I asked who wanted to go first and he said that he wanted to.  Oh my, I was not prepared for the next thing that happened!  He came up to my desk, which is right in front of the TV.  When the song started, he belted out at the top of his lungs “You raise me up to more then I can be.”  I wasn’t quite sure if he was being serious or not.  At first I started to chuckle a little but then I realized he was singing from deep with in.  He was about a beat or two ahead of Josh though, so all his words were right before they were supposed to be.  When he finished, the class erupted with applause!  It was so great… it made my heart happy!

Let’s see, a few other random things about the week.  We were talking about where we would be in 5 years.  It was a question I asked them for a warm-up question.  One of the guys started telling me about this girl from America.  She came to Korea to teach and she loved this place so much, she eventually came back as a US Ambassador.  He told me he thinks I will do this some day.  He thinks I should stay in Korea.  I’m not sure how to put my feelings into words from that moment.  I’m not planning on being here in 5 years, but for a split moment I thought, “What if…?”  Let’s just say that’s a bit overwhelming!  Only the Lord knows!  (Don’t worry though!!)  They did ask me where I think I’d be though.  I said hmm and had to think for a moment.  I said I hope that I’m teaching and maybe going back to school.  I also said I hope that I’m married and this opened a can of worms!  They started asking me tons of questions!  They asked if I had anyone at home and if I was open to a Korean?  I said he had to speak English and they said I could teach him!  Ha… Oh Koreans!!  So that was a fun conversation!

I also was talking to one of the guys about golfing.  He asked if I golfed and I told him yes and I really liked driving ranges.  Those are interesting over here, too!  They don’t have enough room to have a vide open field for you to drive the ball, so they have these platforms stacked like 5 levels high!  Then you hit at a big green net.  The net is only about 75 feet in front of you… I’d do well on these! J  I told him I liked to go to the driving range when I was frustrated, b/c it helped me relieve stress.  He didn’t know what frustrated meant.  This was yet another great ‘learning moment.’  I have those a lot when I’m talking! J

On the last day of English Camp, my mom and my sister, Mendy were in town.  It was so neat to have them meet my teachers.  One of the teachers said she was so excited to meet them, she couldn’t sleep the night before!  (I decided I needed to stop telling them things so they can sleep!)  They brought each of us a gift!  It was so sweet of them.  They got my mom 2 figurines of Koreans and they said it was a bride and groom.  Then they got my sister and I make-up bags that were made in Korea.  They made us this special Korean drink too.  It had rice at the bottom and it was very sweet.  My teacher gave it to me first to see if I’d like it.  She said if I did, then she’d give it to them to try, but if I didn’t then she wouldn’t give it to them.  It was okay, but I wanted them to taste it so I said okay they could try it.  They liked it more than me!  They loved talking to them.  They asked Mendy all about schools in America.  And on of the guys thought it was okay to flirt with my mom.  He told her she was sing in Korea and he was single in Cheonan.  I told him no!  It was comedy!  They also took us to lunch.  My favorite meal—Kalbi!  Mmm, mmm good!  They experienced a true Korean meal by taking off their shoes and sitting on the ground.  It’s also very popular to toast a drink at a meal.  They wanted to serve us Soju, which is their version of Vodka in a shot form.  I told them no Soju for us, so my teacher got us ‘Cider’ (which is Sprite).  We all toasted drinks.  Such a fun experience! 

Overall, the week went well.  I’m glad it’s over but I have one more left, though.  I think I bonded a lot more with my teachers and they are more open to speaking English with me.  They understand my humor a bit more now, I think!

Oh and I forgot to share with you about my experience last week.  We have this board that meets about once a month.  I’m not sure exactly who they are or what they do (b/c no one can explain it to me in English), but I do know they are important!  On Tuesday afternoon one of my English teachers came in and asked if I was going to play volleyball today?  (We play on Wednesdays usually, never Tuesdays.)  I told her I didn’t have my clothes and I was really busy getting ready for English Camp.  She said, “Oh, the teachers wanted to play volleyball with Becky.”  So of course that meant I had to!  I decided to go down and check it out.  I was wearing jeans with a linen jacket and a tank top on under it.  (Remember I can’t wear a tank top by itself here b/c it’s scandalous!)  I also just had on flats, not really athletic footwear.  I sat down at first and my principal was like come on, you play.  So, I went out there and played.  The people who were playing were the “important people,” not just my usual teachers.  Then ire ally felt like I had to play!  They were all in their sporty little outfits.  I decided to laugh and roll with it… I’m in Korea!  My jacket button got caught in the net once and I almost bit it b/c my shoe stuck to the ground, but other then that, all good!  I went back to serve towards the end and my principal (who doesn’t speak any English remember) made the motion for me to take off my jacket.  I shook my head no and showed him my shoulders.  I didn’t know what else to do!  It was an experience!

Then I found out at 4:55pm, as I was packing up to go home, that all the teachers were going to dinner and I was going with them!  I had plans, but I had to cancel them.  We rented out this restaurant and all ate together.  There are 3 days a year that are the ‘hottest days’ and on these days you eat this special dish.  It’s a whole chicken in broth and it’s stuffed with rice.  That’s what we ate.  It was good.  Then one of the important guys stopped me and tried asking me a question.  I’m not exactly sure what he was trying to ask, but my best guess was 1 of 2 things.  He was either trying to get me to write a poem for him or write a famous poem out for him!  I played the ignorant card for a while and then I had to sit down… so I dodged that bullet!  J  That evening was quite an experience!

And now I’m out of school for 4 weeks.  This week my mom and Mendy are here and we are traveling throughout Korea.  Next week I’m heading to the Philippine and then I have 2 weeks of TESOL training… 2 weeks of classes, no bueno!  Then I teach English Camp for 1 more week and then it’s September and I start my normal schedule again.  The first week in October is Chu Sok, which is their Thanksgiving and we have a 4-day weekend.  Four of us are heading to Tokyo for the weekend!  I have a feeling the next couple of months will fly by!  I’m trying to hang on and enjoy the ride!