Weekend

We have had a pretty relaxed, boring weekend. Last night South Korea played Uruguay and Krista and I walked to the soccer stadium in this city to watch the game on the big screen with all of the locals, but since it rained they didn't show the game there. We ended up just watching it back at our apartment with our host family.

Tomorrow (Monday) since we don't teach, one of the students in my adults class is having the whole class plus Krista and me over for dinner! She asked what we liked to eat and I told her beef so I'm crossin my fingers for no fish! Should be a good time getting to know my students even better!

Good News!

Today after lunch, we were drinking iced coffee and cooling off before we had to walk all the way back to our apartment and the secretary of the church came in and asked if we had any money. Of course we told her no because we are broke and she said she talked to the pastor about getting us money! About 5 min later she came back with 50,000 Wan for each of us! (about $50) She said it was not salary but spending money! It was good to hear that we will get a salary! :) She said they are also trying to get us a Korean cell phone so they can get a hold of us!

Another week begins!

Monday Krista and I were tired of not doing anything so we decided to go to the beach, overcast or not! When we got there it looked like it was foggy, but it was really smog. Yuck. But we layed on the beach and went in the water for a couple hours anyway. It was nice to see the sun! All of the walking to and from the church is getting me a pretty nice farmers tan that I hope to even out!!

Today we were back to the same old routine: lunch at the church and teaching from 6-10. Today my elementary class had more book work than games, they didn't like that too much. But those days happen. And my middle school class learned about "Places Around the Town" and we played picture BINGO in that class. They loved it and at the end of the class the person with the most BINGO's got an NNU hat! They really loved that!

I just got back to my homestay and waiting on the bed was a large care package from my family! Filled with familiar snacks and candy! I love them! It was a great surprise to see it so soon! I let my host family try some of the Mike and Ikes and Hot Tomales, I don't know if they actually liked them or not but they tried it! haha

Krista and I are gettin sad because Pastor Cho is moving back to Seoul on Monday so he wont be around to help us out all the time! He did, however, promise us a personal tour of Seoul when we go back up there for our flight home. So we are planning to spend the last 3-4 days in Seoul with Jangmi, our NNU friend, and get a tour from Pastor Cho! I am excited!

And after a long day, Krista and I are going to end the night with the latest episode of The Bachelorette! :) and then wake up at 3:30am for South Korean World Cup game! Life is good! :)

Saturday with our family!

Today Krista and I were hoping to go to the beach but the weather online said it was on 75 and foggy. We wanted to go lay in the sun. So, we asked our family what there was to do in Yangsan/Busan and after much confusion our host family decided to come with us to a Korean Temple! It was about a 20 min drive from our homestay. It was beautiful and there is a place called Temple Stay where, I believe, people can live in? There is a lot that is lost in translation. People were praying and bowing in the tamples so it was really cool to see people actually using them! It was also fun being out with our host mom, dad and brother. Hannah, our sister, had to study on her Saturday :( and our afternoon at the temple was short because David, our brother, had to get back to Academy school. But it was a fun afternoon!

My difficult class!

Tonight I had my 2-3 grade class. One of my students is incredibly difficult, especially with the language barrier and I cannot understand what he is saying about me that makes the class giggle! Oh well.. I think I have found a way to beat his little games though. Every class I try to end with a creative game and tonight was picture BINGO. They loved it! But at the beginning of the class I wrote everyone's names on the board and said if they talked or were bad then I would put a check mark by their names, three checks and they couldn't play the game. So after this boy got to two checks today, he started to see I was serious and followed direction!

My adults class right after is so much fun. We just talk the whole time and follow our simple but practical textbook. Today was learning how to talk about hobbies and sports and with the World Cup this was a very lively and interesting class. One of the women in my class is having the whole class plus Krista and me over for dinner in a couple weeks. She said her husband is very excited to talk to me and ask me questions :)

Just another Thursday..and Friday

Yesterday, Thursday, we walked to the church like we do everyday except it was incredibly hot! There were no clouds in the sky to shade us from the sun. And on Thursdays at the church is Senior day. So there are aerobic/dance classes for the older church members, a hair salon and the cafeteria serves a big lunch. I am not a big fan of Thursday lunch and neither is Pastor Cho, he says the food is terrible! So I stick to a small portion of rice. Last night, I had my 1-2 grade class. They are so cute and quiet. I was teaching them about school supplies so we played picture BINGO. Once they understood it, they loved it! After my Elementary A class, I have a Middle School class and only one girl showed up (because the World Cup Korea vs Argentina) so I attempted to talk with her for about a half hour and sent her home. When Krista and I got back to our homestay we all gathered around the computer and watched the World Cup game! There is a stadium a few blocks from our apartment that plays the game so every time there was a goal we could hear the cheering before we saw it on out computer. It was fun!! Too bad Korea lost :/

Today, Friday, it is overcast and rainy so our walk was not bad at all! When we turned the corner to the church, Pastor Cho drove past us and told us to get it. All of the other pastors were already at a Chineese restaurant for Ja Jung Meon (Korean black noodles) this is the second time this week Krista and I have had this week. I get a lot of compliments on my chopstick skills! I have gotten very good at using them :) Ja Jung Meon is kind of a bland dish with one flavor but I didn't mind! At least it wasn't fish! :) Tonight I have my 2-3 grade class, with a very misbehaved boy. So it is always a challenge. We are playing BINGO tonight too. And after that class is my adults class, I love the this class!

Humidity!

It has been SO hot the past couple days. Walking to and from the church is pretty killer at the heat of the day. I have started wearing tank tops and bringing a sweater to put over once we get to the church. We are still dying by the time we get there though. And we are sticky all day from the very high humidity. Today it is about 85 degrees!

Yesterday I taught my 2-3 grade class and my adults. The 2-3 grade are the most challenging! It is hard to discipline them with the language barrier. I hope it gets better! I really enjoy my adults class, their English is pretty good and they are all so sweet. We are trying to coordinate schedules to go out to lunch or dinner and get to know each other outside class time. They are quite a blessing! And every class someone brings some kind of treat for everyone. I am enjoying trying new and different Korean snacks! Though some of them are quite interesting!

Monday!

Mondays at the church are what they call holiday, or day off. So, yesterday, Pastor Cho wanted to take us to a movie! We went and saw Prince of Persia. It was in English and Koreans have to read subtitles, doesn't seem fair. But if they want to see it as soon as it comes out in the US subtitles are quicker than voice overs. It was a great movie!! After the movie he took us to pizza at Mr. Pizza. We had a really flat but good chicken pizza. There were some pieces with bbq chicken, some with alfredo, some with garlic and the rest had spicy chicken. The salad bar is family style so Pastor Cho got us bowls of fruit and whenever you order a pizza here you get free hot wings too! So after that very very late lunch we went and walked 250some stairs up to a temple and a war memorial. It was very fun! And as soon as we got back to our home stay our host mom had dinner almost ready. We were SO stuffed but I ate my bowl of rice anyway! It was a miserable feeling being that full!

Thursday Classes

Tonight I taught middle school and 1-2 second grade again. So, on Tue/Thurs I teach 1-2 grade (6:30-8) and middle school (8:30-10). And Wed/Fri 2-3 grade and then adults after. The half hour break is much needed in between these classes. I am not called to be a teacher! But this is a wonderful experience. It is exhausting not having a language in common! But we make it through each class laughing and smiling.

My 1-2 graders were learning colors tonight so we played "I Spy" for a portion if the class. Then we were learning body parts so I taught them "Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." I have also found that the LOVE word finds so I make sure to bring at least two for them to work on. I try to stick with the theme for each unit in the work book I am using, Tuesdays class is all about Farm animals! I am excited to teach them "Old McDonald"!

Krista and I are hoping that will be getting paid (like Josh and Justin did last summer) to help with the cost of the trip and hopefully end up with a little extra. We are unsure if this is the case this summer. In this culture it would be rude and impolite of us to ask about it. Another difference in cultures :)

영어 수업 일 2

We just got back to our apartment after our second day teaching! I had a 2-3 grade class and an adult class tonight. Both were an hour and a half long tonight! I'm tired! My 2-3 graders had a ton of energy! I taught them the colors and then we played "I spy" for like 20 minutes at the end, they loved it! But I got a headache from them running and screaming out items. It was pretty fun. Then in my adults class we just talked for the whole class. Which was quite exhausting because their English is not the best. They were all at a higher level than I expected though. It is fun talking and getting to know them. A few of the mothers in the class volunteered the class to bring snacks because they said I look too thin. So now we get snacks twice a week! Hope they are yummy! They also want to take us out to meet their friends. I love the mothers in my class! Krista and I are teaching this one together because she didn't have a class on Monday/Fridays at 8:30 and I do. It is easier to talk to the adults when there are two of us.

When we got back our host brother said I look tired and my host mom just made us banana milk. I don't like milk, but this was good! She just blended bananas with milk, 맛있은 (delicious)!

20th BDAY and 1st day teaching!

Today was my 20th birthday!

After our daily traditional Korean lunch at the church Krista and I went to a coffee shop, that we found yesterday, to work on our online classes and our lesson plans! We were there for only a few minutes when a middle aged Korean man and his assistant came up and started talking to us. He is a contractor or an inspector, from what we could understand, and he asked us what we were doing this summer in Yangsan (not many foreigners come here). After a few minutes he said good bye and left to go back to work. We were at the coffee shop for an hour or so and Krista decided to go back to the apartment where it was quieter. I get more work done in a noisy coffee shop, sipping a mocha :) When I was walking back I walked by and office and the contracting inspector came out and asked me to come in his office and talk more. He was really nice and we talked for a little bit. I explained that we are only teaching at night and hoping to find private students to teach during the day for extra money. He asked how much I charge and I had no idea what is fair here. He said he would ask around and see if he could find any students for me. I gave him my email and he continuted to tell me about his connections with Cuckoo, the worlds largest rice cooker manufacturer (located in Yangsan) and how the company does business internationally and would maybe like some private lessons in English! I hope to hear back from him soon about this, the extra students would help fill the time during the day and the extra money would be nice.

Tonight at my first class sessions, I taught 1-2 graders from 6:30-7:30 and middle schoolers from 8:30-9:30. Usually the classes will be an hour and a half, but not on the first night. My 1-2 grade class was where I expected. I spent the whole lesson today on ABC's and counting. I also taught them to write their letters and numbers. In my middle school class, we listened to the book cd and they were better at English than I thought. So I will have to prepare more activities for them on Thursday.

When we got home from teaching my host mom had a Baskin Robbins cake and some cookies for us and my host brother, sister, Krista and I enjoyed it! I thought no one here knew, but I guess my host mom remembered! It was definitely a birthday I will never forget!

Tomorrow, I will prepare for my 2-3 grade class and my adults class! Hope those go well too! And I hope to hear back from the contractor/building inspector!

Another Sunday

Today Krista and I went to church with our family at 10am. As usual we sat there and could not understand a single word in the sermon or the worship. Our host mom will show us the English translation of the verses from the Bible so we can at least follow along. Then we pretty much end up sitting there bored or reading more from the Bible. We came back after church and then went to the church again at 2pm for university age. This service was significantly longer than we expected because it included what they call Cell Meetings. In our cell small group a couple of the students spoke brief English. So we were able to communicate then which was nice. The leader of the small group who spoke some English said we should make appointment to meet up sometime. I hope we do this soon! Because Krista and I are bored out of our minds and with only teaching at night, from 6:30-10pm on Tuesday-Friday nights.

We found a website that allows us to watch American shows so I am catching up on Grey's Anatomy and The Bachelorette! We also do small workouts in our room and go for runs along the river to pass time. Can't wait to start teaching!

Class Orientation

Today Krista and I went to the church for lunch and then after lunch, Pastor Cho asked us if we wanted to go to the bookstore in Busan with him. After we went to the bookstore we went to the beach again! Pastpr Cho took us to Starbucks and then we walked to the beach. When we got there we realized it was the annual Busan sand festival! The sand castles that we watched being built were amazing!!

Later in the evening, after we got back to Yangsan, we walked back to the church for orientation with our classes. From 7:30-8 was my orientation with my Elementary A (1-2 grade) and Elementary B (2-3 grade) classes. There were only about 11 kids there from my classes. From 8-8:30 was my middle school orientation. In both orientations I introduced myself and told them they could call me Blake or Miss Weber because saying "L" is hard for Koreans. I told them where I was from, my age and then I went over what I would be teaching in the class. In both of my orientations none of the elementary or middle school kids could speak english! Luckily they could understand my hand motions and Pastor Cho came in to help me translate the more important stuff. I told them to pick an English name (some already had them from other English classes) by the first day of class next Tuesday. I also told them if they misbehave or talk while I am talking they have to stand up and quietly hold their hands above their head for 1 minute. I had one boy have to serve this punishment twice and it was only orientation! Ill have to keep my eye on him! I am also teaching an adults class, but there was no orientation for them. I finally have my teachers textbooks so I can begin to prepare this weekend!

A Yummy Dinner!

Today Krista and I went to the church and talked about our classes with one of the church leaders. Less people signed up than last year so I am nervous we won't get reimbursed for our traveling expenses here. But I won't worry about it! Since our weekend in Seoul cost quite a bit of money we don't do too much during the day now. We skype a lot, facebook a lot and I work on my summer school classes.

Our host mom made spaghetti tonight for dinner! And she served us pizza for lunch yesterday! The church pastors and cooks noticed I don't eat very much at lunchtime and last week one of them asked my favorite food. I said pizza, pasta and mashed potatoes! I wonder if we'll have mashed potatoes tomorrow night?? :) I ate the pasta SO fast because it was very delicious! It is feelin a bit more homey here with food I actually enjoy!

Tomorrow night is orientation with our classes. I am still teaching 5 classes they will just be smaller than expected-probably a blessing though!

Sam Yang Church services

Tonight was our second time attending Wednesday night service. During the worship Krista and I sometimes recognize the tune and can sing along in English. That has only happened twice maybe though. Tonight, at the end of the worship portion the worship leader was praying in Korean and even though I couldn't understand her, I got the goosebumps and I could feel God's presence in the service! Sometimes it gets quite boring attending services at least twice a week when we can't understand what is being sung or said. Especially when my favorite part is the worship and singing! I guess that is all a part of this experience. I look forward to attend church back in the states and being able to understand everything! I wish that I could find a violin though so I could participate in the service somehow. Music is a universal language!

Weekend in Seoul!

I just got back to Yangsan from Seoul! We had a great weekend!

We left Yangsan on Saturday morning at 6:50am. We arrived in Seoul at 1pm and Josh and Justin met up with Josh's host family from last year and Krista and I met Jangmi. On Saturday we just shopped and walked the streets of downtown Seoul. That evening we met up with Hyesu, Jin Soo and one of Hyesu's other friends and went our for dinner. We had this amazing beef that was cooked right on the table on a burner. After dinner we went and got Pot Bing Su and just hung out downtown. In Seoul, the subway and bus systems stop running at 11-midnight, depeding on the line, I think this is the governments way of assisting parents with cerfew because no teenagers have cars! :)

On Sunday I went to church with Jangmi, while Justin, Krista and Josh went to church with Peter (Josh's host family last summer) and his family. At Jangmi's church, we attended the main service and after a ton of the church members came up to us and were asking Jangmi and her mom about me. They also touched my skin and hair. Even though Seoul is more touristy, some people still don't see too many foreigners I guess! In between the main and college service we went and got pasta for lunch! It was different sauce than alfredo in America, but I had been craving pasta so it was wonderful. Later the other three told me that they went out for a traditional Korean meal including Beef Blood Soup! I made the right choice staying with Jangmi :)

On Monday, Jangmi had to work so Hyesu, Josh and I toured the city! We went to the Gyeogbokgung Palace, the 40 acre palace that was built in 1394. It was absolutely beautiful. Out front there were real male guards (actors) that reinacted the traditional changing of the guards. Hyesu and I were taking a picture on the steps right next to what would have been the main guard and right when we were walking down the steps they started their routine for the changing of the guard! We were almost in their way. We also went to a river that runs right down the middle of a street. The river used to be under the road but a few years ago they built the road around it. It is quite beautiful! After the river we met up with Jangmi and the four of us went to a street market where I bought a new suitcase because EVA Airline ruined mine on the way over. I was able to negotiate, with assistance from Hyesu and Jangmi, the suitcase down from $75 to only $40! I was quite pleased with my good deal!

This morning Krista and I said goodbye to Josh and Justin, who are going to Taiwan for an internship, and we returned to Yangsan. We will start teaching our classes next Tuesday, June 8th - my birthday! I am excited and nervous to get started!