This past week we finally got internet! Hooray! Despite the fact that the world wide web is at our fingertips we have not had time to update our blog. A lot has happened in the past couple of weeks. We are still enjoying teaching and are beginning to settle into a bit more of a routine. This weekend we are tackling report cards and writing report card comments. Seoul is absolutely beautiful this weekend with crisp cool weather and beautiful blue skies. We spent Saturday in the park with friends having a picnic and trying out some traditional Korean games, including the ever popular badminton.
Today, which is Sunday, we joined our coworkers for a wonderful Canadian Thanksgiving meal. It was delicious! We did it potluck style with a main course of pork tenderloin cooked with apples and cranberries, pirogies (which we thought we wouldn't get to eat for a year!!), meatballs, and other tasty things. It is good to have a belly full of good western food. We ended with apple pie a la mode and pumpkin pie (both thanks to the chefs at Costco). We are now sitting back feeling very full, sleepy, and not wanting to look at the report cards that we left for tonight.
Last weekend we trekked down to Gyeongju, which is in southeast Korea. It was the capital of the Silla kingdom for a long time. It is full of historical Korean things and large grassy mounds where the Silla kings are buried. We had a good time but it was one of those experiences when you really feel the pressure of not knowing the language. In Seoul, while everything is still in Korean it just seems much easier to find what you need. We had Friday off so we spent two nights there. We saw a Korean craft village (and returned with souvenirs), one of the most well known Buddhist temples in Korea, mounds, a national museum and some other cool sites along the way. The last day we were there we rented a tandem bike. It was both of our first times on one and took a little bit to get the hang down. Our pictures are posted although we are still working on labeling them.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Busy Week in Korea
Even though we had Monday off, it still seemed to be a busy and full week. We are still staying late everyday and trying to fall into a routine, but we are really enjoying our school. This weekend we had to go to school on Saturday for professional development. It was an interesting day. We learned more about how to grade assignments and the importance of grading for the sake of aiding the student in the future and demonstrating to the parents that we are getting involved with every student. We also had breakout sessions about team building, the preschool and kindergarten programs, technology, and cultural differences. The cultural differences seminar was interesting as their are many small things that we didn't even know about. They started off talking about things Koreans do that we might find odd or offensive, but are just part of the culture here. Some we could relate too. On the subways, if you want to get off you have to push and make it known. Also, it is not odd here to bump into someone and just keep going. Personal space is not such a big deal. We learned that we should not point at our students (which we do all the time like when calling on them), write their names in red (as only people who are dead have their names written in red), toss or throw things to students, and few other little things. Korea is a very communal society and values that highly. It is also a highly competitive society. We know that our kids take a lot of tests, but we also learned that tests will continue throughout their lives. The college entrance test is about the biggest things ever. So big and important that planes are rerouted and traffic is redirected to make sure the students can concentrate. In their jobs, Koreans will often have to take a standardized test to get promoted or even before they will look at a resume.
After our workshop, the school took us all out to a big lunch/dinner at On the Border. It is an American restaurant chain with Mexican food. It was delicious!! We left very full and happy.
We are spending our Sunday at a local coffee shop, updating our blog, writing September report cards, and making some travel plans for this winter.
After our workshop, the school took us all out to a big lunch/dinner at On the Border. It is an American restaurant chain with Mexican food. It was delicious!! We left very full and happy.
We are spending our Sunday at a local coffee shop, updating our blog, writing September report cards, and making some travel plans for this winter.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Happy Chuseok!
Hello to all our friends and family. It seems to have been a couple of weeks since we last posted. We have been having difficulty with the internet as we still do not have our Alien Registration Cards and so cannot get our own. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will get it in the next week or so. We
Life has been good and busy. We started off our first week with a little bit of stress. It is always hard to learn a new routine and figure out all the ins and outs of a new system. Since all the classes in our school must make sure they stick to the same curriculum and be at the same place at the same time, it is a pretty structured school. This past week, or second of full time teaching, was a little bit less stressful. Matt was able to get a little bit ahead although with a lot of grading to do over the weekend and the next week. Eileen had a bit of a chaotic start as her schedule changed two times on Monday alone. We are enjoying the classes and students as we are beginning to get to know them better. It is interesting to teach second language learners as you are always having to find a new and different way to word or teach something so that it makes sense. It is also different having students from a different culture as they have a different set of background knowledge then kids would in the United States.
On Friday at school we had a good taste of Korean culture. This weekend, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday is Chuseok. This holiday is referred to as the Korean Thanksgiving. It is a time when families travel back to the hometown of their relatives, visit their ancestors' graves, offer food, play games, and do other traditional things that we are still finding out about. So, on Friday morning our preschool and kindergarten classes celebrated Chuseok. First, all of our classes made song peyong. (We are sure we not spelling any of the Korean words right as we am going off of pronunciation) This is a type of rice cake that is filled with sweet sesame seeds or red beans. When we say rice cakes, it is not the crisy cake like Quaker Oats makes in the US. These rice cakes are made from this rice dough called dok. The process is somewhat like making pirogies. The kids took the dough, rolled it into a ball and flattened it with their thumbs to make a little bowl like shape. Then they added a pinch of the filling (try getting preschoolers to add a pinch of anything) and then you close them up into a half moon shape. These are then taken and steamed. Check out our pictures to see what this process looks like when preschoolers attempt it. From Eileen's perspective: It was really fun but a total mess. There was dok every where and all over the place. Some of it was not wet enough and became really crumbly. They were probably also the saddest looking song peyong that I have ever seen. The kids were all adorable because they were wearing the traditional clothes called hanbok. They are very beautiful but also very hot and most hanbok is made out of silk. It was a fun morning.
This past weekend we decided to have an adventure for Chuseok. We packed a couple of bags and headed out on the subway to find a beach. Several hours later after multiple subway lines and bus ride, we ended up at Eulwangni Beach. We hung out on the beach for a while and when low tide suddenly started to take all the water away we decided to stay the night and look for a hotel. Because it is Chuseok, there were not many people at all there. The hotel gave us their "honeymoon" suite, which was very nice, for about half price. We then set off to find a restaurant to eat dinner at. There were tons along this road. They were all seafood and so we just picked one. We had a mollusk dinner which was very good. We ate something that was clear and looked like Jell-o french fries. Our best guess is that it was aloe. We also ate conch, clams, and scallops. The next morning we woke up and hung out at the beach all day while exploring the rocks around. We got a bit of sun but had a really good time. On the way back we decided to change subways and stop in Iteawon which is the foreign section of town. We treated ourselves to a very nice dinner and Eileen was super excited to eat salad for the first time since coming to Korea! After a bit of exploring around that area we also got ice cream from Baskin Robins. Real ice cream too! Korea seems to have a lot of what we call icy cream. It more like what you think a fudgesicle is made out of. It was a very fun and exciting weekend.
Life has been good and busy. We started off our first week with a little bit of stress. It is always hard to learn a new routine and figure out all the ins and outs of a new system. Since all the classes in our school must make sure they stick to the same curriculum and be at the same place at the same time, it is a pretty structured school. This past week, or second of full time teaching, was a little bit less stressful. Matt was able to get a little bit ahead although with a lot of grading to do over the weekend and the next week. Eileen had a bit of a chaotic start as her schedule changed two times on Monday alone. We are enjoying the classes and students as we are beginning to get to know them better. It is interesting to teach second language learners as you are always having to find a new and different way to word or teach something so that it makes sense. It is also different having students from a different culture as they have a different set of background knowledge then kids would in the United States.
On Friday at school we had a good taste of Korean culture. This weekend, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday is Chuseok. This holiday is referred to as the Korean Thanksgiving. It is a time when families travel back to the hometown of their relatives, visit their ancestors' graves, offer food, play games, and do other traditional things that we are still finding out about. So, on Friday morning our preschool and kindergarten classes celebrated Chuseok. First, all of our classes made song peyong. (We are sure we not spelling any of the Korean words right as we am going off of pronunciation) This is a type of rice cake that is filled with sweet sesame seeds or red beans. When we say rice cakes, it is not the crisy cake like Quaker Oats makes in the US. These rice cakes are made from this rice dough called dok. The process is somewhat like making pirogies. The kids took the dough, rolled it into a ball and flattened it with their thumbs to make a little bowl like shape. Then they added a pinch of the filling (try getting preschoolers to add a pinch of anything) and then you close them up into a half moon shape. These are then taken and steamed. Check out our pictures to see what this process looks like when preschoolers attempt it. From Eileen's perspective: It was really fun but a total mess. There was dok every where and all over the place. Some of it was not wet enough and became really crumbly. They were probably also the saddest looking song peyong that I have ever seen. The kids were all adorable because they were wearing the traditional clothes called hanbok. They are very beautiful but also very hot and most hanbok is made out of silk. It was a fun morning.
This past weekend we decided to have an adventure for Chuseok. We packed a couple of bags and headed out on the subway to find a beach. Several hours later after multiple subway lines and bus ride, we ended up at Eulwangni Beach. We hung out on the beach for a while and when low tide suddenly started to take all the water away we decided to stay the night and look for a hotel. Because it is Chuseok, there were not many people at all there. The hotel gave us their "honeymoon" suite, which was very nice, for about half price. We then set off to find a restaurant to eat dinner at. There were tons along this road. They were all seafood and so we just picked one. We had a mollusk dinner which was very good. We ate something that was clear and looked like Jell-o french fries. Our best guess is that it was aloe. We also ate conch, clams, and scallops. The next morning we woke up and hung out at the beach all day while exploring the rocks around. We got a bit of sun but had a really good time. On the way back we decided to change subways and stop in Iteawon which is the foreign section of town. We treated ourselves to a very nice dinner and Eileen was super excited to eat salad for the first time since coming to Korea! After a bit of exploring around that area we also got ice cream from Baskin Robins. Real ice cream too! Korea seems to have a lot of what we call icy cream. It more like what you think a fudgesicle is made out of. It was a very fun and exciting weekend.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Settling In
This post is being written from our rooftop as it seems to be the best place to get a wireless signal. It is a beautiful night, perfect temperature, and a little bit of a breeze. We can look out over the rooftops and red neon crosses of Seoul towards the mountains in the background.
This week we are beginning to settle into our lives here in Seoul. We are both getting comfortable using a little more Korean, well Matt is probably the most comfortable. We spent time substituting and getting ready for the start of the new semester this week. We received a list of our classes that we will be teaching. As mentioned before, Matt will be teaching kindergarten in the mornings and Eileen will be teaching preschool. In the afternoon, while we both have a range of classes, Matt ended up with much more of a range. We teach classes like writing, reading, vocabulary, phonics, listening, speaking, science and a few others. Monday, tomorrow, is the start of the new semester. We have a feeling that it is going to be a very busy week.
We had the experiences this week of trying out a few new Korean restaurants in the area. Some of this was done with our co-workers, and some was with our friends Justin and Joy. While Matt worked with Justin one summer in Cleveland, we now found out that we live about 10 minutes apart. It is a very small world.
On Saturday, we had a very adventurous and tiring day. First, we got up early and took a subway to downtown Seoul to get a health check so that we can get our Alien Registration cards. It was interesting. Everybody changes into these little robes and you get sandals to wear around. There were 4 of us that went together, and we were the only foreigners. Matt looked great in a robe that was much too short and sandals that could have been a couple of inches longer. It was almost like visiting a luxury hotel. We kept expecting them to take us to the spa. You waited around on these comfy little couches and benches while they sent up and down between two floors to little stations. They drew blood, checked our eyes, took an EKG, did a chest X-ray, and a few other tests. The only one that we really couldn't figure out was that they took a chest measurement. None of us could figure out what this could possibly tell them or how they could deport someone for having a chest that was not the right size.
Afterwards we explored an area called Insadong. This is an area full of great traditional shops and teahouses. We ate lunch in a little out of the way place and enjoyed some tea at a cute little shop. There is also a temple and palace in the area, but we were all pretty exhausted and decided that we would have to come back another day. Eileen was on the look out for good souvenirs, and made note of where to return to. We spent an hour getting back home on the subway and then took a much needed nap. In the afternoon we experienced Korean baseball. You get off the subway to be greeted by numerous vendors selling squid jerky, bibimbap (Korean sushi), beer and water. Then you get your tickets, ours cost $4, and find a seat anywhere you like. It is held in what we think was an old Olympic stadium. The fans cheer constantly for the whole game. When their team is up to bat, they cheer the loudest. There is a cheer master leading all of these cheers that everyone knows, and cheerleaders to help as well. I hardly watched the game, and mostly watched the crowd. It also made it interesting that this game's theme was Christmas. It was quite the experience.
Sunday has been spent recuperating, grocery shopping, cleaning, and doing some much needed things around the house. Please check out the link on the right hand side of this page to look at all our new photos. Every time we take more, we will do our best to get them up.
This week we are beginning to settle into our lives here in Seoul. We are both getting comfortable using a little more Korean, well Matt is probably the most comfortable. We spent time substituting and getting ready for the start of the new semester this week. We received a list of our classes that we will be teaching. As mentioned before, Matt will be teaching kindergarten in the mornings and Eileen will be teaching preschool. In the afternoon, while we both have a range of classes, Matt ended up with much more of a range. We teach classes like writing, reading, vocabulary, phonics, listening, speaking, science and a few others. Monday, tomorrow, is the start of the new semester. We have a feeling that it is going to be a very busy week.
We had the experiences this week of trying out a few new Korean restaurants in the area. Some of this was done with our co-workers, and some was with our friends Justin and Joy. While Matt worked with Justin one summer in Cleveland, we now found out that we live about 10 minutes apart. It is a very small world.
On Saturday, we had a very adventurous and tiring day. First, we got up early and took a subway to downtown Seoul to get a health check so that we can get our Alien Registration cards. It was interesting. Everybody changes into these little robes and you get sandals to wear around. There were 4 of us that went together, and we were the only foreigners. Matt looked great in a robe that was much too short and sandals that could have been a couple of inches longer. It was almost like visiting a luxury hotel. We kept expecting them to take us to the spa. You waited around on these comfy little couches and benches while they sent up and down between two floors to little stations. They drew blood, checked our eyes, took an EKG, did a chest X-ray, and a few other tests. The only one that we really couldn't figure out was that they took a chest measurement. None of us could figure out what this could possibly tell them or how they could deport someone for having a chest that was not the right size.
Afterwards we explored an area called Insadong. This is an area full of great traditional shops and teahouses. We ate lunch in a little out of the way place and enjoyed some tea at a cute little shop. There is also a temple and palace in the area, but we were all pretty exhausted and decided that we would have to come back another day. Eileen was on the look out for good souvenirs, and made note of where to return to. We spent an hour getting back home on the subway and then took a much needed nap. In the afternoon we experienced Korean baseball. You get off the subway to be greeted by numerous vendors selling squid jerky, bibimbap (Korean sushi), beer and water. Then you get your tickets, ours cost $4, and find a seat anywhere you like. It is held in what we think was an old Olympic stadium. The fans cheer constantly for the whole game. When their team is up to bat, they cheer the loudest. There is a cheer master leading all of these cheers that everyone knows, and cheerleaders to help as well. I hardly watched the game, and mostly watched the crowd. It also made it interesting that this game's theme was Christmas. It was quite the experience.
Sunday has been spent recuperating, grocery shopping, cleaning, and doing some much needed things around the house. Please check out the link on the right hand side of this page to look at all our new photos. Every time we take more, we will do our best to get them up.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
A guided tour
Here is a movie of our apartment. We have been trying for days to get it up and this is the best we have found so far. You have to copy and paste the URL into address bar. Enjoy!
http://www.facebook.com/inbox/readmessage.php?t=1026070815104
http://www.facebook.com/inbox/readmessage.php?t=1026070815104
Saturday, August 23, 2008
After 1 Week
We have officially been here one week. On Monday we started our training. We have been meeting with some of our supervisors during parts of the day and observing other teachers the rest of the time. We still don't know what classes we will be teaching, but we should find out this week. We do know that in the morning Eileen will be teaching preschoolers and Matt will be teaching kindergarteners. As far as our school goes, we feel blessed to be where we are. It is a great school that is very professional and high quality. We use North American curriculum and textbooks, as well as, many books that the school has published themselves. Over 1000 students from the surrounding area, a very nice area of Seoul, attend our school, or hagwon, throughout the week. In the mornings there are preschool and kindergarten classes done in English only from 9:30 - 1:30, including lunch. The evening school program, for elementary to middle school age students, runs from 3:00 until 10:00. We only teach until 7:30 and kids only go for up to 3 of those hours. Students in Korea go to public school for what we would think of as "regular" school hours, then they attend a multitude of academies throughout the week. We are an English language academy which is important as English is needed to get into the best middle schools, high schools, and universities.
One thing that surprised Eileen about the schools was the amount of tracking. By tracking we mean, kids are labeled from the best to the worst and placed in classes accordingly. Every child is tracked down to the very class. No two classes are labeled the same. Giving out homework is very important to parents and they will complain if there is not enough. We were told that if we do not give out enough homework, even if we feel bad, we are really doing a dishonor to the students as they need that to keep up with their peers. We have been very surprised by the abilities of our students. Preschoolers, who enter in March not knowing any English, are by now reading out of a first grade text book. Almost all students seem to be advanced compared to their American peers, and this is their second language! Preschoolers are not just ordering the months of the year, but are also spelling them correctly! We enjoy the staff and the students at Kangnam Poly.
We also had other adventures this week that included going to get a pizza (which apparently Koreans love) that had the only toppings we could make out, pepperoni. We are learning that it is probably a good idea here not to order something unless you know what is in it. We are very fortunate to be able to eat both lunch and a light dinner at school. This has allowed us to try a lot of different Korean foods. The staple, kimchee, takes some getting used to. Matt is trying to like it and Eileen is wondering whether she should even keep trying. It usually consists of pickled cabbage in a spicy bean sauce. In fact a lot of things have cabbage. And if they don't have cabbage there's a good chance they have squid. But we have found some things we do enjoy. On our first full day in Seoul, Mark, a director at the school, took us out for a type of spicy grilled pork called Galbi. You really only order a main dish in Korea, but you are served 7 or 8 side dishes. Later in the week on Thursday, we even got to try some yummy Korean lamb kabobs at one teacher's going away dinner. It is pretty cool that at a lot of restaurants the food finishes cooking right in front of you at your table.
We have posted pictures so that you can follow our adventures! The link is on the right hand side of this page under our picture. We will try and update more often so that the posts will not be as long, but we only have internet every once in a while. That will hopefully change in the future.
We made a list because there are so many cool things that we see all the time and wonder, "why don't we do that?":
Cool things that we see in Korea that we don't have in America
1. Side mirrors that fold in on cars (to make for close parking and maneuvering while driving)
2. Mirrors on the backs of all vans and SUV's for easier backing up
3. Lights all around parking garages to tell you where there are spaces so you don't have to drive around for an hour looking for a spot.
4. Escalators in grocery and department stores that are magnetized to hold onto the magnetized wheels of the shopping cart so that it doesn't move as you go up and down a floor.
5. Sidewalks and even subway floors that are designed with the visually impaired in mind.
6. McDonald's delivery
7. Lots of stuff that saves energy.
8. Driving ranges that fit in between city buildings
9. These plastic accordion things on all the hinges of the doors in our school to stop fingers from being smashed, and foamy stuff on the other side for the same purpose.
10. Korean "crayons" that are in a plastic pencil like case and you just turn to push up the crayon. It saves crayons from breaking and kids from complaining that they need to sharpen their colored pencils.
Stuff that we haven't seen that we miss from America
1. Separate showers and bathrooms
2. Dryers
3. "Normal" pillow cases
4. "Normal" fitted sheets and top sheets
5. Mattresses that don't only come in super extra firm
6. Skim milk
7. Deodorant
Monday, August 18, 2008
We're Here!
While we only have a short while to update, we will let you all know that we are here and arrived safely. We luckily had a weekend to get over jet lag and get somewhat accomadated to our new home. It has rained every day, we got here right at the end of the rainy season but luckily the guy who owned our apartment left like seven umbrellas so we are staying dry. We will have to update more later when we get another break. We are keeping a list of all the cool things we have seen so far in Korea that we are suprised are not being used in America.
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