http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2014850&l=01f38&id=100300061 - Dreams do come true
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2014851&l=d3ce7&id=100300061 - connect the dots
Friday, June 20, 2008
cool days
so last monday my coworker vivi invited me to meet her friend who is a photographer. he actually needs some lip models for some pictures and vivi thought of me. so i got to meet this guy who has an exhibition in insadong next month. we ended up in a japanese pub in hyewa and had a great night of talking (Q and Vivi translating) and eating and just being people together. it was so much fun! the owner came and spoke to us (seeing i was the only foreigner in the little artsy pub) for awhile and he also gave us some free food! whoo hooo but we did end up staying out till 3am which hurts on monday morning - but totally worth it. he also gave me a set of his photos from his first exhibition which i think are sooo cool. he doesn't like them as much but i think they are pretty sweet, and they are awesome pay to model for.
...now when are we going to take those pictures?...
and just a note if you didn't check out the pictures, last weekend i got to go to a USA women's national soccer team game versus the Australian Women's team. we payed like $10 for 2 tickets for the game and we could have stayed to watch the second game of Brazil versus Italy. it was amazing, though there were only like 100 people there...pretty much unbelievable to me. but we got free tshirts and had a great day of sitting outside in the beautiful weather!
then if that wasn't good enough we went to Hwasong which is a Korean castle, or fortress. it was so beautiful because the sun was setting and it was breezey, and you could see the whole city! it was unbelievable...though my camera died before we got to the top. i was quite sad about that. butit wsa beautiful and wonderful and just a great day which ended with $12 sushi buffet at suwon station. it was dellllllllllllllllicioussssssssssssss. and cool.
so that is quite a summary of a wonderful time. but hopefully the pictures give you a peek...
...now when are we going to take those pictures?...
and just a note if you didn't check out the pictures, last weekend i got to go to a USA women's national soccer team game versus the Australian Women's team. we payed like $10 for 2 tickets for the game and we could have stayed to watch the second game of Brazil versus Italy. it was amazing, though there were only like 100 people there...pretty much unbelievable to me. but we got free tshirts and had a great day of sitting outside in the beautiful weather!
then if that wasn't good enough we went to Hwasong which is a Korean castle, or fortress. it was so beautiful because the sun was setting and it was breezey, and you could see the whole city! it was unbelievable...though my camera died before we got to the top. i was quite sad about that. butit wsa beautiful and wonderful and just a great day which ended with $12 sushi buffet at suwon station. it was dellllllllllllllllicioussssssssssssss. and cool.
so that is quite a summary of a wonderful time. but hopefully the pictures give you a peek...
friday night
so once again its friday night and i find myself so happy to be in my apartment watching tv, surfing around the internet and not doing anything. ahhhhh its so nice! this week and the next two weeks are going to be some of the busiest i think thus far. and the reason : open class! oh yes mommies and daddies come and observe english class!
i have to watch my attitude with open class because i kind of feel, hey, this is me, i do my best every class, so i pull out some of my best games and go forth to the intimidating open class. but my amazing coteacher yanny is freaking amazing and makes like the sweetest crafts ever. so she gives me ideas....so i make the ideas but i have no idea how i am going to use them. slightly frustrating...ok, really frustrating. and every night being up till 2 am....then next week we will have "practice" for open class. and we will have monthly tests and evaluations for the afternoon classes. and then june 30th we start the week of open classes. then each day that week will be open class. oh the joys of teaching. haha...luckily for me im the foreign teacher.
i actually went running monday night. amazing, eh? i really would like to start running again but i dont like walking 20 mins down to the river, so there is an elementary school with a track. but it is packed pretty much all day. and i was up at 1am so i decided to go and there were still like 4 people just hanging out there. but you know, sometimes you just have to put your earbuds in your ears and embrace the foreigner-ness. i dont really like to do that, but i feel like its kind of necessary at times.
for example (my foreignerness) i now wear these "samdidas" sandals - mock adidas flops for some of you - i love them, they are my style and so i wear them all the time. some of my korean friends like to give me crap for it because they are house slippers. people don't really wear them out in public - and especially to go out with friends! but yanny told me, it doesn't matter. you can wear them if you like. hmmm, i can wear them if i like. it doesn't matter. and i realized with that statement that i try so hard to learn about the culture and fit in that i never say, it doesn't matter...i always ask, can i wear this, should i wear that, can i do this, should i do that. and i think that is a great attitude to have - but as yanny said (sometimes) it doesn't matter. and so sometimes i pop my ipod on, put my head down and i embrace the fact that i am a foreigner and probably a little weird. thats ok.
side story: i told my friend Amy that i wore the samdidas sandals to gangnam and she just about died. You wore them to GANGNAM? thats like the biggest fashion area!!! and you wore those!!!! and you went to a club!!!!!...yes. they didn't want to let me in, but they did, after they asked me how much i spent on them. only 3,000 won....ok, you can go in. hahaha i dont know.
as my friend Q said, "Amber, you are like one of the 4400." Unbelievable but true. :)
i have to watch my attitude with open class because i kind of feel, hey, this is me, i do my best every class, so i pull out some of my best games and go forth to the intimidating open class. but my amazing coteacher yanny is freaking amazing and makes like the sweetest crafts ever. so she gives me ideas....so i make the ideas but i have no idea how i am going to use them. slightly frustrating...ok, really frustrating. and every night being up till 2 am....then next week we will have "practice" for open class. and we will have monthly tests and evaluations for the afternoon classes. and then june 30th we start the week of open classes. then each day that week will be open class. oh the joys of teaching. haha...luckily for me im the foreign teacher.
i actually went running monday night. amazing, eh? i really would like to start running again but i dont like walking 20 mins down to the river, so there is an elementary school with a track. but it is packed pretty much all day. and i was up at 1am so i decided to go and there were still like 4 people just hanging out there. but you know, sometimes you just have to put your earbuds in your ears and embrace the foreigner-ness. i dont really like to do that, but i feel like its kind of necessary at times.
for example (my foreignerness) i now wear these "samdidas" sandals - mock adidas flops for some of you - i love them, they are my style and so i wear them all the time. some of my korean friends like to give me crap for it because they are house slippers. people don't really wear them out in public - and especially to go out with friends! but yanny told me, it doesn't matter. you can wear them if you like. hmmm, i can wear them if i like. it doesn't matter. and i realized with that statement that i try so hard to learn about the culture and fit in that i never say, it doesn't matter...i always ask, can i wear this, should i wear that, can i do this, should i do that. and i think that is a great attitude to have - but as yanny said (sometimes) it doesn't matter. and so sometimes i pop my ipod on, put my head down and i embrace the fact that i am a foreigner and probably a little weird. thats ok.
side story: i told my friend Amy that i wore the samdidas sandals to gangnam and she just about died. You wore them to GANGNAM? thats like the biggest fashion area!!! and you wore those!!!! and you went to a club!!!!!...yes. they didn't want to let me in, but they did, after they asked me how much i spent on them. only 3,000 won....ok, you can go in. hahaha i dont know.
as my friend Q said, "Amber, you are like one of the 4400." Unbelievable but true. :)
Friday, June 13, 2008
just a day
so today was friday..is friday...friday the 13th. kkk..
anyways, so its my "Hell" day because every other friday in the afternoon i have 3 back to back classes of me with over 20 kids - and its just me and the kids. its tough stuff. but my attack is to play big games that instead of stiffling the kids personalities, rather lets them just be and try their hand at english at the same time.
so the week of those fridays i usually freak out because i need a really good game, or the kids will eat me alive. so this week i was thinking battleship but i couldn't quite get the logistics right. soooo instead, i found this sweet game online called "disaster" - i appropriately named it "Tornado." there are like 20 to 30 vocabulary words attached to the board and 2 teams. i call one student from a team and they can pick a word and they have to read it to me. then on the back of the vocabulary card is either point value or a TORNADO!!!!! if its a tornado i scream tornado (and i mean i scream tornado) and then i start spinning around like a crazy person. then i taught all the students what to do in a tornado drill - and so they all hide under their desks. if they don't get under and i get them, they lose their next turn. oh and the team that picks the card with the tornado loses all of their points. the kids LOOOOOVED it! they were screaming and yelling. when the other team had to pick a card, the other team would start chanting "tor-na-do! tor-na-do!" and their little faces of anticipation! and some of them were even praying! i have to admit, it was pretty intense because i didn't really know where the tornados were.
the reason i am sharing this story is because this week has been a little rough at the start and reveiw days are not my favorite. and even this morning was really slow and not so good...but this week ended on a GREAT note! though i dont konw if the other teachers appreciated how loud i was. i mean im like my own cheerleading squad. and they kids start screaming - it was awesome.
and today we were doing this computer program in the morning...and its so cheesey i am shocked the kids like it. so there is one little dance part and so we watched it and then the kids, in their usually fashion, "ONE MORE TIME!" and i looked at them, "really? one more time?"
Then Walter, one of my favorites, "Yes REALLY, Amber Teacher!" hahahahhahha these kids are too smart.
the other day i took some time and made a cool little wheel thing to use in class. well i was a little bit proud of it. so in tiger class, i pulled out my little contraption to review with the kids and harry (potter) yells out "wowwww" hahahahha...do you understand why i love this job? im like famous or something....the kids are great! frustrating at times, but i love 'em! and i think they deal with me pretty well!
a few weeks ago i was starting the tiger class with songs as usual and Vivi teacher left - so it was me and the 20 kids. so we were singing and then the song ended then they started chantin "one more time" but not just that. there is a very famous korean song "Baby One More Time" so the kids start chanting "baby one more time!" "baby one more time!" standing on their chairs and doing the dance move. it was kind of scary. i knew i couldn't fight them...so after i stopped laughin i played the song "baby one more time" kkkkk
anyways, so its my "Hell" day because every other friday in the afternoon i have 3 back to back classes of me with over 20 kids - and its just me and the kids. its tough stuff. but my attack is to play big games that instead of stiffling the kids personalities, rather lets them just be and try their hand at english at the same time.
so the week of those fridays i usually freak out because i need a really good game, or the kids will eat me alive. so this week i was thinking battleship but i couldn't quite get the logistics right. soooo instead, i found this sweet game online called "disaster" - i appropriately named it "Tornado." there are like 20 to 30 vocabulary words attached to the board and 2 teams. i call one student from a team and they can pick a word and they have to read it to me. then on the back of the vocabulary card is either point value or a TORNADO!!!!! if its a tornado i scream tornado (and i mean i scream tornado) and then i start spinning around like a crazy person. then i taught all the students what to do in a tornado drill - and so they all hide under their desks. if they don't get under and i get them, they lose their next turn. oh and the team that picks the card with the tornado loses all of their points. the kids LOOOOOVED it! they were screaming and yelling. when the other team had to pick a card, the other team would start chanting "tor-na-do! tor-na-do!" and their little faces of anticipation! and some of them were even praying! i have to admit, it was pretty intense because i didn't really know where the tornados were.
the reason i am sharing this story is because this week has been a little rough at the start and reveiw days are not my favorite. and even this morning was really slow and not so good...but this week ended on a GREAT note! though i dont konw if the other teachers appreciated how loud i was. i mean im like my own cheerleading squad. and they kids start screaming - it was awesome.
and today we were doing this computer program in the morning...and its so cheesey i am shocked the kids like it. so there is one little dance part and so we watched it and then the kids, in their usually fashion, "ONE MORE TIME!" and i looked at them, "really? one more time?"
Then Walter, one of my favorites, "Yes REALLY, Amber Teacher!" hahahahhahha these kids are too smart.
the other day i took some time and made a cool little wheel thing to use in class. well i was a little bit proud of it. so in tiger class, i pulled out my little contraption to review with the kids and harry (potter) yells out "wowwww" hahahahha...do you understand why i love this job? im like famous or something....the kids are great! frustrating at times, but i love 'em! and i think they deal with me pretty well!
a few weeks ago i was starting the tiger class with songs as usual and Vivi teacher left - so it was me and the 20 kids. so we were singing and then the song ended then they started chantin "one more time" but not just that. there is a very famous korean song "Baby One More Time" so the kids start chanting "baby one more time!" "baby one more time!" standing on their chairs and doing the dance move. it was kind of scary. i knew i couldn't fight them...so after i stopped laughin i played the song "baby one more time" kkkkk
Sunday, June 8, 2008
birthdays are awesome!
so my birthday was pretty great. my birthday fell on thursday but friday was a holiday! whoo hoo! work was hard this week too as the end of the month involves report cards and evaluations. so all week i spent trying to clean and scrub my house and fill it with food and stuff so my teachers could come to my house and party! so in my mothers style all week i stayed up till 2 or 3am working in the house and trying to prepare.
on thursday each class was a surprise as the students made me letters and sang happy birthday to me before i tried to teach them more english. it was so wonderful! they made posters, letters, cards and some of the teachers gave me gifts as well. yanny teacher gave me a moon heejun cd which is awesome! and janie teacher gave me some sweet bracelets - we have similar jewerly style. so it was a wonderful day and we all shared cake after work!
so after we all finished working we went to the grocery store and then to my flat! they made all seaweed soup which is traditional for bdays, then some cold soups and kimchi jjang...which is one of my favorite foods! they were amazing! they did the cooking and i learned a few things. then we just sat around and talked and watched tv and had a great time together! there were 7 teachers total plus me. then we all decided to go out dancing at a local club...which is a different type of club.
you pay like $30 and you get a table and food comes with it automatically. there is a dance floor which is small and the tables take up most of the space. then....waiters sporatically come around and try and get women to go and sit with other men. this is called booking and its a way to help people meet other people. yanny and michelle teacher both got dragged to another table but quickly returned! so it was a great "girls night out" and i had a blast!
so then on friday morning i woke up early...6am because i was supposed to be going to nami island with my friend sanghoon. but sadly enough we were unable to get sitting train tickets - there was only standing seats. so we decided we were both tired and we didnt' really want to go...plus i was having a birthday party at my house and was meeting my friend soon at 4pm.
so instead we went to the movies and we saw "kung fu panda" - awesome! so good. i could only think of lindsay as i listened to jack blacks voice! then we had lunch and went to my favorite tea shop in insadong! we even got to see a protest and went to a bookstore. it was a lot of fun!
then i met up with my friend soon to go shopping for food for the party! soon is pretty amazing because when i told him about my party he offered to take me shopping (driving his car) and also to cook food! i was just going to get some pizzas and ice cream! hahaha, so soon, sienna and i went shopping and i learned alot. hahahaha.
they made ddeokpokkee and kimchi fried rice which were great. and it was so funny because soon kept having to leave so some other korean would step in and start cooking. i didnt even feel like the hostess. i just supplied the food and place and everyone did everything else. it was a good combo of the koreans i know through different venues. it was awesome.
also, tristan bought a cake and 2 chickens. soon made soju fusion drinks (cocktails) with watermelon. no one really liked them but it was cool! i had about 12 people total throughout the course of the night. it was a lot of fun. and they even brought me birthday gifts! it was crazy! but so much fun and a great birthday!
then on saturday night i went to my directors house and dinner with Baejee, Sylvia teacher and Mr. Bae. they live pretty close and on the 20th floor! their flat is awesome! we had dinner and loooked at pictures and enjoyed being with each other.
so i had a great birthday weekend filled with love from new friends in korea and shout outs from my friends in america. i love you and miss you all so much and i can never forget you! :) dont worry!
on thursday each class was a surprise as the students made me letters and sang happy birthday to me before i tried to teach them more english. it was so wonderful! they made posters, letters, cards and some of the teachers gave me gifts as well. yanny teacher gave me a moon heejun cd which is awesome! and janie teacher gave me some sweet bracelets - we have similar jewerly style. so it was a wonderful day and we all shared cake after work!
so after we all finished working we went to the grocery store and then to my flat! they made all seaweed soup which is traditional for bdays, then some cold soups and kimchi jjang...which is one of my favorite foods! they were amazing! they did the cooking and i learned a few things. then we just sat around and talked and watched tv and had a great time together! there were 7 teachers total plus me. then we all decided to go out dancing at a local club...which is a different type of club.
you pay like $30 and you get a table and food comes with it automatically. there is a dance floor which is small and the tables take up most of the space. then....waiters sporatically come around and try and get women to go and sit with other men. this is called booking and its a way to help people meet other people. yanny and michelle teacher both got dragged to another table but quickly returned! so it was a great "girls night out" and i had a blast!
so then on friday morning i woke up early...6am because i was supposed to be going to nami island with my friend sanghoon. but sadly enough we were unable to get sitting train tickets - there was only standing seats. so we decided we were both tired and we didnt' really want to go...plus i was having a birthday party at my house and was meeting my friend soon at 4pm.
so instead we went to the movies and we saw "kung fu panda" - awesome! so good. i could only think of lindsay as i listened to jack blacks voice! then we had lunch and went to my favorite tea shop in insadong! we even got to see a protest and went to a bookstore. it was a lot of fun!
then i met up with my friend soon to go shopping for food for the party! soon is pretty amazing because when i told him about my party he offered to take me shopping (driving his car) and also to cook food! i was just going to get some pizzas and ice cream! hahaha, so soon, sienna and i went shopping and i learned alot. hahahaha.
they made ddeokpokkee and kimchi fried rice which were great. and it was so funny because soon kept having to leave so some other korean would step in and start cooking. i didnt even feel like the hostess. i just supplied the food and place and everyone did everything else. it was a good combo of the koreans i know through different venues. it was awesome.
also, tristan bought a cake and 2 chickens. soon made soju fusion drinks (cocktails) with watermelon. no one really liked them but it was cool! i had about 12 people total throughout the course of the night. it was a lot of fun. and they even brought me birthday gifts! it was crazy! but so much fun and a great birthday!
then on saturday night i went to my directors house and dinner with Baejee, Sylvia teacher and Mr. Bae. they live pretty close and on the 20th floor! their flat is awesome! we had dinner and loooked at pictures and enjoyed being with each other.
so i had a great birthday weekend filled with love from new friends in korea and shout outs from my friends in america. i love you and miss you all so much and i can never forget you! :) dont worry!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
WHOOOOOAAAAAA!!!!!
so i have an AMAZING set of friends who i thank God for constantly!!
Sarah Nesbitt and Andrea Schriefer - Thank you sooooooooooooo much for the AMAZING packages! they are amazing and i love you both soooooooooooo much!
You really really really really made my days so much happier!
thank you! kamsamnida!
Sarah Nesbitt and Andrea Schriefer - Thank you sooooooooooooo much for the AMAZING packages! they are amazing and i love you both soooooooooooo much!
You really really really really made my days so much happier!
thank you! kamsamnida!
june 1st? already?
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2014566&l=cc1b6&id=100300061 - im reaching
hello folks!
well this weekend was an interesting mix of different events that i really enjoyed! the main event being : RUGBY!!!!! oh yes! Seoul has a women's rugby team that plays real games and really practices! oh how i love international cities! so my body and spirit is in need of some of some competitiveness as well as some good old fashioned exercise.
so the team is made up of mainly australians, canadians, kiwis, brits and some american girls. the coaches are i think aussies. not quite sure at this point. but very cool set of people. and there is also a korean team but they didn't come out. i have never played rugby before and my only experience with it is a game i went to in australia. and i didnt do any research before i went either. hehehe. so easy enough to follow the drills which are just like soccer except you hold the ball and throw it.
the fun part came when we split up into forwards and backs. well appearantly the backs need to be fast and forwards are for the slower players. so of course i went there. so i ended up spending the rest of the practice hoisting a girl up into the air so she could catch the ball and begin the play. pretty much just like the picture, except that we didn't look as goofy. or so i think.
but the point of this, is i felt so alive! the weather was fantastic, it felt so good to run around and play. i feel like i found a piece of my life that has been missing! so i think this is something that i will keep in my schedule...but that will include running during the week and some kind of workout because i am soooo sore right now. and some other girl broke her collarbone a few weeks ago, so i have to protect myself.
then i signed up to take a korean language class which should be a great combination with my korean language partners. this class is 1 on 1 but the teacher is certified to teach korean and has textbook. so this i think will be a good start for me! :)
saturday night i spent hanging out with my korean friends in gangnam and just enjoying being in a big noisy group of people. so i think it was a good day.
this week is only 4 days as friday is a national holiday. this week has big promises...but i will reveal those later!
until next time!
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