Sports Day

When I think of “sports day”, I think of PE from back home. Things like relays, tug of war, dodge ball, waffle ball and maybe even a three legged race. When I found out that my school would be having a “sports day” where all of the teachers, first graders (freshmen) and second graders (sophomores) would be skipping classes for a day out on the “playground”, I figured these would be the types of games I would run into. I even got excited about the possibility of a game of soccer, baseball, volleyball or maybe basketball, but most definitely badminton, because that’s all they ever talk about here. But man was I wrong.

Yoomie (a nickname that means 'cute'), Mrs. Shin and Olivia (my handler)

The teachers let me know to wear “athletic clothes”. So I stroll in with my yoga pants and a Tshirt, only to find all the other female teachers in their normal, skinny teal jeans and cute tops. Go figure. Oh well, this was a day outside of the classroom, I was pumped. But the students definitely brought it. All of the girls classes had matching outfits (boys will be boys). They were lined up around the edge of the field with tents and chairs for each class. They had clappers, posters and full blown cheers. Awesomeness.

The day started with all of the students bringing carnations to the teachers because it was also “Teacher’s Day”. So cute.  After that, the fun began.

I wasn’t disappointed. I definitely got to witness a fair share of awesome PE-style games, just not the games I was used to. Yes, there were races and relays. My favorite was when 2-1 (second grade, class 1, boys) took their sweet time and let the student that is in a motorized wheelchair finish the last leg of the race, and the entire class joined him, carried a flag proudly, and just before the finish line, he stopped, turned the wheelchair around and finished going backwards. What an awesome morale.

There was also tug of war. But this was tug of war on steroids. There was not one, but THREE ropes. Two teams lined up at either end of the field then had to race to the three ropes. I’m not exactly clear on the rules, but you needed to have 2 ropes on your side to win. So if one rope was “lost” students would abandon the rope and then move to another rope in hope of winning it. It was craziness. I still don’t know how you know when to abandon your rope and how to choose which other rope to go to.

Then there was this game where the entire class would line up, 2 by 2, and two students had a rope in the front. They would drag the rope under the line of students while they had to jump over the rope, then the students with the rope had to round a cone at the other end of the field, then run back to the front, running while the rope was passing over the lined up students’ heads. Then they would pass the rope to the next pair of students and they had to repeat the process  until all pairs of students had been the one running with the rope. It might not sound that difficult, but this was just plain dangerous. I saw MANY students face-plant because they didn’t jump in time and their feet got caught in the rope. And several students got clothes lined from the back by the rope because they stood up too fast. If I never have to see another student get nearly decapitated again I’ll be happy (but it was a little funny sometimes).

And instead of 3 legged races, they had 10 legged races where 5 students were tied together at their ankles. They had to race across the field, go around a cone, then come back to the start, where they passed the relay stick off to the second half of the team. It was so cute to see some teams just try to run their hearts out (and promptly fall all over one another), while others had it together and were using rhythm and chants to keep pace.

Just before they all went tumbling to the ground

They also did jump rope, individual and team. Individual is pretty self explanatory, but the team jump rope was on a whole different level. They would have 2 people turning the rope while the rest of the students had to take a running leap into the rope and then jump out. They had this DOWN! They would make a large circle around the rope and just continually jump in and out. Talent and patience I tell you.

Then came the one teachers’ event. We (and I say WE because yes, I had to compete) had a “toy shoe relay”. We had large, foam, flip flop looking things you had to stand on and ropes that you held onto to lift the shoe when you walked. My team let me go first (not sure if this was a good thing, so I wouldn’t over think it too much, or a bad thing because I really didn’t know if I was doing it correctly), but it ended up being good in the end. I kicked ass. I ended up with a large lead from the rest of the teams, though my team didn’t end up winning in the end. Too bad. It was still fun.

My principal dancing 

Teachers, Principal and Vice Principal danced... students were excited

“Sports day” ended up going above and beyond my expectations. And while most of my pictures are gone from the event (my external broke), the memories will always be there. I can’t wait until next year!!!

Lotus Lantern Festival

This weekend I headed back to Seoul for a friend's birthday and for the Lotus Lantern Festival. This particular festival has actually been on my Korean Bucket List since before I got here, but I didn't actually know what it was until recently.

The Lotus Lantern Festival is in preparation and celebration of Buddha's Birthday. The weekend before his birthday, they light the lanterns and have all kinds of festivities, including cultural performances, crafts and a parade. It was extremely fun and I can't wait to go again next year!

Saturday was the day of the parade, so our group split up and enjoyed different parts of the city during the daytime before meeting back up for the parade. Malia, Kaleena and I decided to shop a bit, then head to Vatos for some awesome Mexican food. We then went on the hunt for a great little brewery we had heard about to enjoy some GOOD beer. Magpie Brewery was started by 2 expats and they have great craft beers, something that is very hard to find in Korea. We then headed to another craft brewery, Craftworks, that is located just down the street, but is run by Koreans. They had a wonderful seasonal brew, as well as a great IPA. After having a relaxing day and enjoying some of the best beer I've come across in Korea, we headed to meet up with the rest of the group to enjoy the night parade.

Craftworks Brewery

I never would've imagined how many people were in this parade. It was insane! Other than the huge lit up lanterns (some with people on them), they also had groups doing performances, dancing and playing instruments, etc, as well as large groups of people lined up carrying lanterns. These large groups ranged from little kids to the elderly, people dressed in their normal clothes to costumes or hanbok. They were great to watch.... At one point, we noticed that there were foreigners that had decided to walk with the people in the parade... crazy how relaxed the security was... we could've just joined along for the walk!

  

 After the parade, we headed down to the end point where there was a stage set up for dances and singing. They had fireworks and confetti. It was such a blast... Hundreds of people gathered around watching at first, then we were drug into the middle to dance along with them... there were people in circles doing traditional dances, people trying to mimic the dances from the stages, and many people formed into "trains". So much fun, AND my friends and I ended up on the Korean news (you can see it here, around the 17:20 mark)!

The next day, Malia, Kaleena and I headed back to Iteawon to grab some breakfast... we stumbled upon this WONDERFUL restaurant called Suzi's, where they have great western-style food and a deli where you can order take out. We grabbed their home made spinach artichoke cream cheese spread and a jalapeno bagel for the road and headed out to the train station....

It was a wonderful weekend yet again!

More pictures here.

Run Run Run... JUMP!

I don't know what it is about this country, but it makes me want to do all kinds of crazy things... like jumping off mountains!

This past weekend, a group of friends and I signed up for a paragliding trip through an organization that takes the planning and craziness and deals with everything... all you have to do is give them money and show up! There are actually quite a few organizations like this in Korea... I think that people realize that there are a ton of waygooks that don't have any idea what to do or where to go or how to do anything (ie booking train tickets, bus tickets, hotels etc)... so they capitalize on our ignorance (but hey, I'll take it)... 

So my friends and I packed onto the bus and headed about 3 hours away from Daegu to the paragliding site on Saturday morning.... there were about 100 people total which were split onto 2 buses. Bus 1 (my bus) would go paragliding first, while the other group went to a castle nearby, then we would switch before making our way to a pension about an hour away. 

However, once we arrived at the paragliding site, there was a little confusion as to what we were supposed to be doing. Some people didn't realize that they shouldn't take the little vans up the mountain to the jump site, and most of us were instructed to take our lunches with us. Well, that just caused chaos. Also, we were given numbered tickets, so we assumed we would go by number. Me having #41 made me think I had time to get used to the idea of jumping off a mountain, but when we got up to the top and had finished the safety talk, a man walked over, asked for my ticket, and started handing me equipment. When I tried to tell him that I wasn't supposed to be going yet, he said it didn't matter and kept going. Welp, guess I'll be jumping off the mountain in the first wave... God help me please.

Before jumping... 

So there I was, being strapped and clipped in... I was trying my best to watch the few people that were going before me to help me figure out what the hell I was supposed to be doing... So it was my turn... OK are you ready for this.... RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN! It actually wasn't that hard... the wind caught our parachute just right and off we went... it was amazing feeling... so calm and quiet... however there was this beeping sound that made me nervous from time to time... It would've made things a lot better if my pilot had talked to me, but he was all jerky and grabbing the camera out of my hand all the time... I felt like I was always doing something wrong and that I was going to make us crash... but we didn't, and I lived...

Beautiful sites

Fun times!

Adrienne was right after me, so she got an amazing shot for me

We spend the next few hours watching people land in mud and water and dirt... it was actually quite comical and I'm glad that my landing went well (and that I got out dirt/mud/water free).... we did spend quite a bit of time trying to figure out how to get our lunches back down the mountain (we were misinformed about what to do with them in the beginning), but finally got our stuff and were able to eat...

After the first group was finished, we got back on the bus and went to the castle... only it wasn't a castle at all... it was a wall... and a boring one at that... seeing as we had 3 hours to spend at a wall, me and 8 other people decided to head out to find a restaurant to grab some food and drinks... We stumbled upon this little place and ordered chicken and beer and just hung out... It was really nice getting to chit chat with everyone, especially since we were the only ones in the restaurant (it was so small, there wouldn't have been room for anyone else)... so we wasted away a few hours then packed up and headed back to the bus....

Chicken and Beer

But imagine our surprise when we arrived, and the bus was gone. Nowhere in sight. And no other waygooks around... so we were stranded... with half of our cellphones dead, and half of our wallets on the bus, completely stranded... so after using a friends phone to log into my Facebook page and message a friend asking for another friends phone number who was on the bus, we finally got a hold of someone and brought to their attention that they had left 9 of us behind... literally 20% of the people that were supposed to be on the bus...

We were finally picked up by the director in a small van (we were a little cramped) but we were having such a good time singing and having fun to care (or realize that he was going literally 90 mph around crazy curves on the side of a mountain)... We finally made it to the pension and unloaded our things in our room.

That night we had a bonfire and enjoyed the nice weather, but had a little too much fun because the next morning most of us weren't feeling up for the days festivities, so we opted to skip the Korean Folk Village we were meant to explore and grab an early train home.

Even though we did get left behind, and we weren't feeling 100% on Sunday, we had a really great weekend. It was an awesome feeling, jumping off a mountain, and only made me crave more adrenalin filled adventures....

For more pictures of Paragliding, click here.

Take me out to the ball game...

Take me out with the crowd!!!! You can't really buy peanuts OR crackerjacks.... But I still don't care if I never get back... Let me use thunder sticks and do organized cheers for the home team... if they don't win it's a shame! Ah, for it's ONE, TWO, THREE strikes your out, at the old ball game!

If you know me at all, you know I love sports. And even more so, I love BASEBALL. And Korea being a HUGE baseball loving country may or may not have played a deciding factor in where I decided to move. But MAN these Koreans know how to cheer on their home team! It is nothing like back home... in good (and some not so great) ways...

First of all, the Samsung Lions hold the title of the Korean Champions, equivalent of our World Series. They have won it 6 times... so this year they are going for 7... and their motto is "Yes, Keep Going!" So their following is pretty thick... but most Korean baseball teams have pretty loyal fans... Another thing, half of our stadium is for the home team, and half is for the away team... the 3rd baseline (home team side) always sells out. NEVER FAILS. And the 1st baseline (away team) usually gets close to selling out (but I think that this might be from the overflowing home team fans). Either way, it is tons of fun.

Another thing to note, our stadium is open air... something I'm not used to (I'm spoiled by Tampa's airconditioned Tropicana Field). This was definitely something I didn't know if I would enjoy, but it has been really nice out the last two games that we went to, so I didn't mind at all, and actually really enjoyed it.

Daegu's stadium

But the atmosphere at a Korean baseball game is amazing. There is a "cheering" section behind the home dugout... on top of the dugout, they have a cheerleader type guy that leads the crow in organized cheers.... ranging anywhere from claps to chants. He is actually really fun to watch... and they also have 4 cheerleaders that do dances and cheers on top of the dugout. All of whom are accompanied by instruments (maybe just drums? I can't really remember)... But it is definitely worth the extra few dollars to buy a cheering section ticket (BTW did I mention that ALL tickets are under $15 here?) but you have to act fast because they sell out quick! They also have the CUTEST 4 mascots that run around before the game acting adorable and entertaining the crowd and also make appearances throughout the game... they crack me up... But being in the thick of Korean's yelling at the top of their lungs, dancing, cheering, clapping and waving their thunder sticks and looking all cute with their Minnie Mouse ears (they wear these type of headbands EVERYWHERE in Korea) you can't get more pumped for the game.

Cheering section

Another great thing about the games is the chicken and beer. Yes, I keep complaining that they don't have good beer here, but whats good about the beer at the baseball games... it is the same price as if it were on the street corner. In fact, sometimes I think it is cheaper! So you don't have to worry about spending a TON of money. So you grab a box of chicken (without knowing what flavor it is), grab some beer (and soju for some people) and maybe a snack or two- like dried squid or kimbap (which is kind of like a sushi roll). No, I don't eat the dried squid, but it is extremely popular and you can smell it from a mile away. And, if dried squid isn't your thing, you can bring in any snacks you want. Bring a cooler, bring a pallet of beer (we saw it happen), bring a bang of goodies, they don't care! So yes, it is hard for me to go to a ballgame and NOT have a hot dog, a good beer, and a pretzel or nachos, but it is still a blast. Also, their memorabilia is pretty well priced. I bought my jersey for around $45... and thunder sticks are around $2 a pair... not bad if you ask me!

And because the tickets are so cheap and the atmosphere is so fun, it keeps those that don't really know whats going on interested... and it lets me do a little different type of teaching :)   We have successfully converted several people into baseball lovers in only 2 games, and I plan on making a lot more people love the game...

Which brings me to my next point... DID YOU KNOW... that baseball is non-existent in South Africa and Europe? I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT! How do people live without this wonderful sport in their lives?! I just can't imagine... which also makes me realize that I couldn't live in these areas for an extended period of time... I just love my baseball too much!

So I'm extremely glad that I have an amazing team (who actually aren't doing the best right now, but our season just started) to cheer on... and LOVE the fact that it is such an awesome time!

>>> I'm trying something new... instead of loading a ton of pictures on the post, I'm posting pictures on my Photos page. Click here for more pictures from the baseball games!<<<

I absolutely love my school- and my students!

I really have to say, in reflection of the past few months and from hearing others' stories, I think I have it good.

I really have begun to LOVE my students. I have a few in each class that just make my day when I see them. And it is even better when THEY light up when they see me. There are a few students that just have the biggest smiles on their faces when they walk in my door.... or when I pass them in the hallway they stop to say hello and make a mini-conversation... Then there is the boy who, when asked if they wanted self study time the week before finals, he said he wanted to have class because he enjoys it that much... And the other boy that comes in early EVERY Tuesday morning to talk to me... and last week, when he didn't have my class because of mid-terms, he came in Thursday during lunch (with 2 friends as backup who left mid-conversation) just to chat... I feel bad because I sometimes am really busy Tuesday mornings, so I need to remember to get there early, get set up, and be free to talk to him...

My girls working

My boys

Love these guys

Girls working again

Making mind maps

Got caught taking a few pictures :)

Students doing self study during the week before mid-terms (and Miss Jane watching over the boys)

My girls enjoying Princess Diaries during their reward day after mid-terms

And then there are my lovely Newspaper students... some of my favorites are in there as well... and I recently learned that they are the smartest (not just the highest level of English) in the school. That would make sense. I'm really looking forward to taking a field trip with them in a few days... Hopefully have some casual time with them to hang out...

On a field trip

Some of these girls are my newspaper students (on a field trip)

I've decided that I would really like to see the students in a non-classroom setting more often... So I am going to try my best to leave my room as often as possible in between classes, during their lunch and such... I think it will be good for them to see me around... It will make me look more approachable... and hopefully make them feel more comfortable with me and speaking in English...

Then there is my school itself... and the teachers I teach with...

After talking to other teachers, I really feel like my school is very well organized (compared to the others in Korea, maybe not the ones in America)... AND I feel like I am at a school that has a higher level of English than most.... I also get the feeling that my students are a little more well-behaved than other schools... which I am immensely grateful for...

My co-teachers (the ones that I ACTUALLY teach with) are absolutely wonderful.... one really helps with brainstorming about how to make lessons more effective, things I can change, what works, what doesn't, time management, etc... she is great.... There is another that controls the students so well that he turned my most difficult class into my favorite (that includes one of my angel students that loves talking to me and is always smiling)... The others are great too, always helping me when needed, making sure that I know what is going on and sometimes bring me little treats....

One of my treats from a co

THEN there is Miss Jane... I absolutely love this woman... I think I can truly say that she is a FRIEND... she not only always helps me at school, but had devoted a lot of time to help me learn about Korea- its language, its food, its culture and its people. Wednesdays we study Korean for 1 hour... if we miss, then she always tries to reschedule... Then some weeks we go out for dinner and coffee after school... She has introduced me to several great places to eat, one of which is between my school and my house and is my favorite restaurant I've been to... which I've introduced to my friends and we have returned, and will continue to do so.

Some of the food Miss Jane has introduced me to:

Shabu Shabu... you cook the vegetables and meat in a broth... 

Then you dip the wrappers (the paper looking things in the orange holder) in hot water...

The hot water makes them soft, and then you wrap your food in it like a little egg roll type thing

After the meat and veggies are finished, they use the broth to cook noodles....

Then after the noodles they do a rice dish... all this for $11 per person

Then there is Bulgolgi... cooked beef with noodles... this is my favorite restaurant... it is SO GOOD

Another thing I'm extremely grateful for is Olivia (my handler) and her group of friends. I don't co-teach with any of them, but I have lunch with them 4 days out of the week (the other day I eat with Miss Jane) and sometimes after lunch we go on a short walk around our school. These ladies (whose names I'm still trying to learn... I know 4 of the 6) are so nice... they really try to talk to me in English as much as possible (only 1 or 2 have enough English to have a full on conversation with me, but the others try really hard).... They really have accepted me into their circle, and that makes me feel so welcome...

And then there are all the other teachers in my school that speak English... it is quite a high percentage too! I was so surprised! I met Miss Carie the other day in the "Lady Teacher's Lounge" and she offered to take me to lunch at one of the surrounding mountains one day during mid-terms. We had a great weekend and I look forward to spending more time with her!

Miss Carie

Lunch with Miss Carie

Buddhist temple on the mountain

Overall, I just can't believe how blessed I am... like the title of this post suggests, I really do love my school and my students and can't imagine being in a better situation!