Small movements. Big world.: First one for Korea

Well I've been here for over a month now, and it only took me this long to figure out how to switch the language on blogspot.com to ENGLISH so I could understand it. This has been an adjustment period for me. Getting used to this whole new world of change will take some time. And teaching for the first time, not even having any prior student teaching experience, has been a major responsibility to get used to. I'm settling into a groove, a routine, and getting along fine with my co-teacher now. She was a bit difficult at first and I ended up in tears twice because of miscommunication during the first week of teaching. I'm making an effort to learn their language as they learn mine. It only seems fair to me. I can hardly carry a conversation yet, or rather, I just can't... yet. My students are some of the cutest little humans I've ever known in my life. I teach all 5 sections of 5th and 6th grade twice a week, one section of 3rd and 4th grade once a week, and I visit the kindergarten class every Tuesday and Thursday after lunch for about 15 minutes. The kindies make my day. I can't begin to tell you how cute they are. And because I'm a foreigner they think I'm this fantastic alien who has the power to mezmerize them and they repeat everything I say with epic enthusiasm. I'm teaching them the alphabet, one letter a day and greetings as well (good morning, noon, evening, night). There's a tape with the alphabet song that they listen to and at the end when it says "... now you've learned your ABCs..." normally the next line would be "... next time won't you sing with me..." but they think it's repeating "H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P..." and it's hilarious. "Now you've learned your ABCs, HIJKLMNOP." And then they get confused when they realize that what they're saying doesn't match what the tape is saying. I laugh so hard every time and they don't know why. The kindergarten teachers really appreciate me doing this for them. Since it's on a volunteer basis, they seem to think they have to reimburse me somehow. They've given me ice cream cake and juices and some other things to show their appreciation. I think, ultimately, they want to start teaching English in the primary levels of public school. So by me doing this, they're hoping that young students will really sincerely want to learn English, and not just because they have to. So I'm happy to do it. I'm also enjoying the other classes too. There's one section of the 6th grade class that I enjoy the most. There's a student who has started to call me "baby" and says "Oh, thank you Laura teacher baby..." when I call on him to answer a question. He's so funny and happy all the time. I enjoy being able to connect with these kids on a personal level. It makes the job that much more enjoyable. This student has also told me how to say "thank you baby" in Korean. He's a riot.

On another note, I'm at the beginning of a 5-day weekend. A much needed break. It's the Korean thanksgiving next week so I don't have classes until Thursday. I'm hoping to go to Pusan with some friends. But we've been informed that the entire, overly-populated country will be moving- every single person at the same time- this weekend. I'm never one to enjoy fighting crowds too much, and ESPECIALLY not in Korea. There's no order to moving, whether it's walking or driving. Drivers use traffic lights as more of a suggestion than a law to abide by. Taxi drivers are particularly scary to ride with some times. It's really crazy and people don't know how to walk in straight lines and move out of someone else's way when crossing paths on the sidewalk. My co-teacher suggested leaving on Sunday rather than today. It's nothing but a country-wide traffic jam. I'm more than happy to wait around for a day. The beach will be there regardless of what day we arrive.

Now, I'll leave you with some pictures of the scenery here. Enjoy :) I'll be back soon.

Buddhist temple in the mountains outside of Gwangju: