Well the first semester is over and winter camps are coming to a close!
Sara's last day is today and as over 5pm she is officially on vacation for 25 days. We are heading to Malaysia on the 12th (which happens to be Taylor's birthday) so we decided to celebrate her birthday by going on vacation.
We will be spending very little time in the capital Kuala Lumpur and spending most of our time on an island called Langkawi. Hopefully then hoping on ferries and hitting up some islands that we have heard are some of most naturally beautiful islands in the world. The islands are part of Malaysia and Thailand so knocking out two countries in one relatively cheap vacation. We are planning on laying on the beach and doing some hiking through the rain forests and hopefully getting up to Thailand to ride elephants.
We get back into Seoul on the 23rd and then a few days later we are scheduled to do a small camp with Sara's school which we will make back what we spent on vacation which will give us a chance to then hopefully go to Japan in the spring or Australia in the summer before we take our long journey back to the States.
Talking about our long journey back to the States (which we can not be more excited for a nice cheeseburger and fries) we are planning on a 2 week backpacking trip through Europe. Our tentative plan right now is to spend a few days in Poland, Germany and France but we are still looking at adding Denmark, Norway, Ireland, Scotland, and/or London.We are hoping to either do this trip through Northern Europe or do the Southern part of Europe but either way we will do both of them in our lifetime.
Christmas was great. Christmas season as a whole feels a whole bunch different here in Korea. Its just not a big deal when i talked about it with students they just didn't care as much as people back home do. It has a feeling like every other day. But Sara and I had a nice Christmas dinner with two of our closest friends Anna and Tim and then Christmas morning got up and open presents from our parents and each other.
New Years on the other hand had the feeling of way more excitement every person i talked to kept telling me Happy New Years. We had plans of going to Seoul to join the huge crowds up there. I went to bed thinking that and I even woke up planning on that. But at the last minute we decided to go hang out with our friends in Suncheon which ended up being awesome.
I remember last New Years spending it with Sara in Honolulu watching the fireworks go off and thinking how crazy life really is. I had no idea that is where i was going to be last year and i remember thinking i wonder where i will be for 2012. I some how ended up in South Korea with an amazing girlfriend, amazing friends and a pretty great job that i have been extremely blessed with especially when you hear about the horror stories over here i have it pretty easy.
I sit back and think ahead to the next year wondering where I will go, what i will see, and most of all who i will meet. Few things i know but that is probably the best part the excitement that comes with every New Year. Hope is restored and a brand new outlook. I for one am very excited about the possibilities of this year.
Hopefully we will get better at this posting thing but Sara and I love you all very much and can't wait to see you in 8 months!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
A little late
Well, when Sara and I left the states we thought we would blog every week or every couple weeks at the least. Every week or so the same topic of conversation comes up that we should really start writing our blog to at least give people that we haven't really been able to talk with a update on our life here.
Both of us have actually start writing to only get distracted with something else and then forget about it.
But here it is a brief overview of our first 2 1/2 months in the land of symbols and kimchi.
I teach in the middle school system. I have four different schools that i teach at. Each of the schools has a way different feel to it. My main school is Sapyeong which i go to Monday and Tuesday each week. The classes are small. My biggest class has 12 students but its fun. My 9th graders are to cool for everything so its a struggle to teach to them. I guess its a reminder to who i was when i was in school. Talking when the teacher was trying to teach.
I play ping pong with other teachers every day at lunch while i am at the school. On rare days when we don't play; the school also has a driver range with very nice golf clubs.
The school that i go to on Wednesday is called Bukmyeon but is pronounced Bugmyeon. Another very small school that takes 45 mins to get to by car and almost 2 hours by bus. My coteacher has laid down the law with them and they are a little bit more well behaved. One thing about Koreans is that they are for the most part very competitive. I do not need to bribe them with candy to get them involved in any games. Again for the most part that is true for all my schools.
On Thursdays i go to my biggest schools that has 70 students in 3 grades. My biggest class is my 8th graders that has 25 students. This may actually be my favorite school to come to. The students are great and the coteacher teaches me Korean when she gets a chance. Then thursday nights i go with my coteacher to another school called the Gifted Center and teacher another few classes for extra pay.
Fridays i go to a place called Dongbok which may be my least favorite but i have started to play soccer with the students during lunch time on their dirt field. Again very competitive and actually real fun even though i am out there with dress pants and shoes and these kids are lacing up soccer shoes.
Sara and I luckily got different apartments in the same building she is actually only one floor above me. Makes life a ton easier.
On the weekends Sara and i have tried to travel as much as we can but also save money. We have met some great people while we have been here. We got close with a few other couples while we were staying at the hotel during orientation and they became like family. One of the couples lives a few blocks away.
We have been able to swim in the East sea, see a traditional Korean village, do some awesome hikes, visit a few buddhist temples, go to Korean's version of MLS soccer game, go to a lantern festival, go to the Kimchi festival and met diplomats and overall see and experience Korea.
The experiences inside the classroom are interesting to say the least. Students love us just because we are white and they always want to play games. I let them come up with English team names which usual leads to some unusual names. My favorite was at my gifted school one of my best students walks up to the boards write F*** and walks down when i tell her that can't be her team name. She looks at me with puppy eyes and ask why.
Korea has stopped with corporal punishment and students have the attitude especially with native english teachers that we will not punish them but my teachers have let me have open reign on what i can do for punishments. It allows me to be creative. Pushup position is my favorite. Just watching kids get into pushup position and hold it is pretty funny and the teachers usually get a kick out of it.
Sara is teaching at an elementary school and she goes to 3 different schools. I know that she is planning on updating soon on her experiences. She can give a better take on what is happening then i can.
This first 2 1/2 months have been an interesting experience that we have loved and at times looked at each other wondering what we are doing. We can't wait till we are back in the states and understanding things that are going on around us but at the same time we really enjoy everything that we have. We have no regrets coming out here and i know that i want to continue teaching. It is what i want to do with the rest of my life.
We will hopefully blog a lot more about our experiences so we can give you more in depth stories instead of brief over views.
We love you and cant wait to see all of you
Congrats to my former soccer team NCU men on finally beating Prov in the regional tournament and heading down to Florida
Both of us have actually start writing to only get distracted with something else and then forget about it.
But here it is a brief overview of our first 2 1/2 months in the land of symbols and kimchi.
I teach in the middle school system. I have four different schools that i teach at. Each of the schools has a way different feel to it. My main school is Sapyeong which i go to Monday and Tuesday each week. The classes are small. My biggest class has 12 students but its fun. My 9th graders are to cool for everything so its a struggle to teach to them. I guess its a reminder to who i was when i was in school. Talking when the teacher was trying to teach.
I play ping pong with other teachers every day at lunch while i am at the school. On rare days when we don't play; the school also has a driver range with very nice golf clubs.
The school that i go to on Wednesday is called Bukmyeon but is pronounced Bugmyeon. Another very small school that takes 45 mins to get to by car and almost 2 hours by bus. My coteacher has laid down the law with them and they are a little bit more well behaved. One thing about Koreans is that they are for the most part very competitive. I do not need to bribe them with candy to get them involved in any games. Again for the most part that is true for all my schools.
On Thursdays i go to my biggest schools that has 70 students in 3 grades. My biggest class is my 8th graders that has 25 students. This may actually be my favorite school to come to. The students are great and the coteacher teaches me Korean when she gets a chance. Then thursday nights i go with my coteacher to another school called the Gifted Center and teacher another few classes for extra pay.
Fridays i go to a place called Dongbok which may be my least favorite but i have started to play soccer with the students during lunch time on their dirt field. Again very competitive and actually real fun even though i am out there with dress pants and shoes and these kids are lacing up soccer shoes.
Sara and I luckily got different apartments in the same building she is actually only one floor above me. Makes life a ton easier.
On the weekends Sara and i have tried to travel as much as we can but also save money. We have met some great people while we have been here. We got close with a few other couples while we were staying at the hotel during orientation and they became like family. One of the couples lives a few blocks away.
We have been able to swim in the East sea, see a traditional Korean village, do some awesome hikes, visit a few buddhist temples, go to Korean's version of MLS soccer game, go to a lantern festival, go to the Kimchi festival and met diplomats and overall see and experience Korea.
The experiences inside the classroom are interesting to say the least. Students love us just because we are white and they always want to play games. I let them come up with English team names which usual leads to some unusual names. My favorite was at my gifted school one of my best students walks up to the boards write F*** and walks down when i tell her that can't be her team name. She looks at me with puppy eyes and ask why.
Korea has stopped with corporal punishment and students have the attitude especially with native english teachers that we will not punish them but my teachers have let me have open reign on what i can do for punishments. It allows me to be creative. Pushup position is my favorite. Just watching kids get into pushup position and hold it is pretty funny and the teachers usually get a kick out of it.
Sara is teaching at an elementary school and she goes to 3 different schools. I know that she is planning on updating soon on her experiences. She can give a better take on what is happening then i can.
This first 2 1/2 months have been an interesting experience that we have loved and at times looked at each other wondering what we are doing. We can't wait till we are back in the states and understanding things that are going on around us but at the same time we really enjoy everything that we have. We have no regrets coming out here and i know that i want to continue teaching. It is what i want to do with the rest of my life.
We will hopefully blog a lot more about our experiences so we can give you more in depth stories instead of brief over views.
We love you and cant wait to see all of you
Congrats to my former soccer team NCU men on finally beating Prov in the regional tournament and heading down to Florida
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