Happy Lunar New Year!

*This has been in my drafts for a couple of days so it's late. Posting this from Wonju!*

This week has been pretty hectic, and mostly filled with classes and our two practicums. We were given one 10 minute solo-teaching practicum, and one 20 minute co-teaching practicum where we had to create and teach our lesson in front of the class and evaluator (who had to act like our "students"). I was given Kindergarten/Colors for solo teaching and Kindergarten/Emotions for co-teaching. I can honestly say that I did pretty well!!! I got to have fun, bust out my playfulness (dweebiness), and also sing a song. :B I received good feedback, and I also loved watching everyone else present. Overall, it was a great learning experience. :) I do wonder what it's going to be like teaching older grades though, because according to my previous scholar I'll most likely be teaching grades 3-6. I'm confident with my teaching abilities, and don't feel too nervous about teaching. Classroom management is another story... :P

So last weekend we ate Samgyeopsal (삼겹살) and it was so good I cried a little I'm not even kidding. Have you ever cried because of good food?! 

Samgyeopsal

On the way to class!

Another picture of our orientation venue

babez~ bffz~ humes, mama grace, lethal sheetal

spicy seafoody

Me being brilliant @ the Aquarium on Haeundae Beach

temple cultural trip

more temple!

Gwanganli Beach

Taekwondo Class

aw :3

Orientation has come to an end, and I'm honestly going to miss all of the wonderful people I've met. I love the fact that our generation is small so I've been able to meet almost everyone, or at least see familiar faces around. :) It has been really eye-opening to meet people from all sorts of different backgrounds, and walks of life. It made me happy to see their talents, and I've learned a lot from them. Hopefully I'll be seeing everyone when we plan our trips together. We arrived at our assigned provinces yesterday, and I'm typing this from my own apartment in Wonju! :) I hope that Wonju will be just as welcoming, and I'm excited for the school year to begin.

More

I still feel like I'm having an out-of-body experience. It's interesting to see how being in a new environment is quickly changing me as a person. Or rather, it brings out a side of me that I didn't know existed. When I came to Busan a week ago everyone and everything was unfamiliar to me. It still is, and I'm also somewhat unfamiliar with myself in this environment. I've always been used to being around people I'm close to. And now I'm navigating unchartered territory when it comes to nearly everything. However, I've have made some dear friends. I'm surrounded by positive, supportive, enthusiastic, kind, hilarious, and overall wonderful people. I'm so thankful for their help, and for showing me around, helping me use transportation (I still can't use it by myself), taking me to basic places like e-mart, etc. :) I'm also really thankful for the staff. This orientation obviously took a lot of work, and I can see how much planning went into it. This whole program is very well organized.

So this is a quick overview of my typical day at orientation: I wake up at around 7AM, shower, then head to breakfast (which is straight up like the DC), and then I go to lecture and learn about teaching, EFL, lesson planning, classroom management, Korean culture,  Korean language, etc. up until 8PM.  And we get breaks for lunch and dinner somewhere between that. :) Then I go and hang out with everyone! I'm back in my room by around 11:30PM, by which time I crash into bed. So I'm in a very structured environment. But eventually I'll be on my own in Wonju, and I haven't really had the time to let that fact sink in. That's when I'll officially start teaching, taking care of myself, and meeting new people all over again. And I won't be in the bubble that I'm in now. One thing I want to gain coming out of this experience is not having to need others. But not knowing the language is proving to make that quite difficult.

Exploring Busan during nighttime:

Everything in the stores are cute:

teheehe derp hi:

I'll try to make it a point to take more pictures of food for my next post! :) Also, Happy Valentine's Day! This post has been floating in my drafts for a while. So finally *post*

The Beginning

I landed in Busan bright and early yesterday morning. Our orientation leaders were waiting for us when we arrived, and took us to our orientation venue, the Busan University of Foreign Studies. Everyone has been incredibly friendly and helpful! My dorm room is so nice and it has a wonderful view of some mountains and the city. And let me tell you something - this university is swaggie. It's beautiful, and resembles Washington DC. You can clearly see the certain kind of Korean aesthetic that the campus has. Clean cut minimalism with crisp edges. I'm not kidding about the swag. I have a card that controls everything. I swipe to use the elevators, enter my room, and I put my card in a slot in my room in order to use the electricity. So when I leave and have to take my card out, all the electricity shuts off so I don't have to remember to turn things off, or unplug. It's efficient, convenient, and the future of technology. Our scheduled orientation starts tomorrow, with our classes and whatnot, so I've had the past two days free to do whatever! When I hang out with the other scholars here, I feel like I can fully live in the present moment. Maybe it's because it's the first time I've had to consistently talk about real things with multiple people, and not live in the theoretical space that I usually do. I won't go into the exact details of everything that happened these past two days, because I'm so tired right now, but here are some photos to give you a basic idea:

The sunrise from my room window

Mano Memorial Hall - a building on campus, Busan University of Foreign Studies

Busan University of Foreign Studies

More campus

Residential area in Busan! Taken while walking around. :)

More walking around Busan. We got lost in the residential area and had to take a shortcut out.

Hiking through the woods behind campus

The trail behind campus :) 

So as you can see we have been nonstop exploring, and hiking in the cold weather. It might not look too cold from the pictures, but trust me. Compared to California, it's freezing- like the east coast. I'm so thankful that I brought my puffy parka, and hiking boots. :) I still feel like I'm in a dream to be honest. I'm not even trying to say that in a metaphorical sense. I mean... is this seriously real life? I feel dazed. My life just kinda turned upside down in a matter of days. I still have absolutely no idea what new experiences are in store for me the next couple of weeks, but I'm going to greet my future with an open mind.

Busan Awaits

I have two more nights at home, and then I'm flying off to Korea. I figured I'd make a blog as a way to document this important time in my life. I'll be staying in Wonju for a year, and from what I see on YouTube it looks quite alive! This is the first time that I'll be doing something completely on my own. I don't know anyone in Korea at all. Usually I know at least one person living within the same country as me! So it's very much sink or swim. And I need this. A year ago I would have never in a million years guessed that I'd be in the position that I am today. Just everything I've done, having taught in a classroom, adopted a kitten, met so many kind people, and now flying off to a country that is foreign to me. I'm glad that this experience aligns with my goals, and I'm so thankful for this opportunity as well. I want to use this year to truly grow into my own skin, and feel 100% comfortable being alone. I definitely have improved a lot compared to where I used to be, and I think I'm ready. But this journey will truly put me to the test. After I do this, I think I'll be ready to take on the world on my own terms. My life is mine, and I appreciate my freedom so much. I don't know what's in store for me, but I want maximize my time in the best way that I can. If I could tell my past self anything, it would be this: Don't be afraid of doing things because you don't think you're good enough. You are much stronger, and capable than you believe. You will accomplish great things, and you will have a positive impact on this world. Persevere. 

Because that's something I've always wanted. To somehow have a positive impact on this world. I'm realizing that that has been my dream all along.

Cheers to 2015! I hope good things happen to all of us. :)