6 months in

Well, I've been in Korea for nearly 6 months now. It's currently 2:43 AM and I'm leaving for Japan tomorrow night. Ever since summer set in, my sleeping schedule has been really off. The changes between seasons are so seamless, that I don't even notice them. But at the same time, each season is very distinct. It's kind of like a seasonal kaleidoscope - explosions of color, that are continuously changing. Spring was my favorite season so far, and I'm happy to say that it's still green because it's been humid and rainy for the past week or so.

There is nothing I have ever seen that I can compare to Korean landscape. The country side is absolutely breathtaking. The mountains, streams, rice paddies, flowers and nature here are incredible. I feel like I'm prancing through a Studio Ghibli movie.

The past couple of months I haven't been really traveling as much. I've settled into my life, and am getting used to this cozy city. Oh, you probably watched the news and saw that there was a MERs scare back in June. It seemed scarier on the news than it was here. Nonetheless, that's pretty much "over". And I've gotten into a routine of eat + work + sleep. Now it's summer vacation, and I'm trying to get back into traveling. And I'm getting really sleepy, so I'll just end this blog post here.

Here are some pictures, out of order sorry!

Exploring Daegu in 40 degree weather. (100+F)

Rice Paddies near Chuncheon

Street stalls at the Rose Festival in Wonju

Lena in Daegu

Seoul, South Korea

Hosted an Ajussi/Ajumma potluck in Wonju :3

Daegu, South Korea

Daegu, South Korea

On my way back from Daegu

Olympic Park, Seoul

Rail-biking in Chuncheon

Rail-biking in Chuncheon

These photos barely put a dent in everything that has happened sine my last post, but I wanted to post something for you guys. Hi mom! :)

The Lantern Parade in Seoul

During the month of May, brightly colored lanterns line streets of Korea to honor the birth of Buddha. Last weekend, I went to the Lantern Parade in Seoul to celebrate Buddha's birthday (which is actually today, May 25th). While I'm not religious, Buddhism aligns itself closest to my ideals, and ultimately what I think the meaning of life is. I won't get too much into my views on this, but I'll say that Buddhism is worth learning about. Here are some pictures from last weekend. During the daytime, Lena, Ivan and I explored, shopped, and chilled. Then in the evening we met up with Grace and Moon to eat and look at the lantern parade! Sorry about the blurry pictures. Night time photography isn't my forte.

Street carts + the ever present crowd

Lena! My cutest friend. ^_^

Shopping! I forget which area this is, but it's close to Jonggak station. 

We found this peaceful church...

...and after a long day, we decided to meditate here for a bit. 

DJ playing a track for the kids!  They were really getting into it. :3

Surprisingly quiet crowd listening to a monk's lecture.  

It was a good weekend. For dinner we ate a pizza that had a hash brown crust. Yes, you read that correctly. It was delicious. :)

Korea is going well. I've been on my own here for over 3 months now, yet I still feel like everything is new. I'm told that for the first 6 months, teachers tend to just settle in. I'm also learning a lot about myself. Or maybe my tastes and interests are starting to change. I enjoy spending more time exploring on my own, and being around less people. My inner world is rich with life, but I'm trying to get out of my head and live in the present. After learning about Buddhism I tell myself to stop daydreaming, and start living more frequently now.

Note to Self:

Time is flying so quickly, I barely have the chance to catch my breath. I'm trying to learn and experience as much as I possibly can while I'm here, and I don't have as much time as I initially thought I would have. I have done so many things that I haven't written about in this blog, that I'd still like to remember! So I'm just going to list what I do remember, so I might write about them in the future.

- I went to Everland to celebrate Grace's 24th birthday.
- I went to Anmok beach and got a haircut from a barber who recently moved to Gangneung from Seoul, and spoke great English!
- Café GABI
- Taekwondo classes
- Exploring Wonju with Ivan (the market, the river, temple, AK plaza garden, golf building, Yonsei University)
- Seeing Korean drumming, cooking Indian food, and saving a lost puppy with Huma
- Having people sleepover at my place
- My apartment!
- Things I miss about home
- Seoul
- Shopping, and fashion
- Gyeongju 경주시 cultural trip (team lavender, exploring on bikes, cute Korean kids, museums, winning first place, climbing to the top of a tomb and looking at the stars, Samcheok park)
- All the new friends I've made, but how far away everyone is
- Post on lesson planning, and different lessons I've come up with

Sports Day

This is the view from my office at Jangyang Elementary.

Sports Day at Jangyang Elementary school was tons of fun! The students, parents, and teachers got to compete in fun games and sports. :) My favorite was definitely the baton races. It was truly a wonderful experience for everyone! And it brought a sense of unity to the school. What I loved seeing the most was the sportsmanship displayed amongst the students. After a game was finished I saw the winners hug the losers, and at the end of the day the whole student body helped clean up and put the chairs back in the school. I saw little second graders carrying their chair back into their classrooms! And if a student was struggling, an older student would come to their rescue. It was so heartwarming to see, and I think the world could learn a lot from this culture.

D'oh! :3

These two ladies always sit with me during lunch, and try to get me to take more kimchi. :P

Coordinated dance!

A game is in session. Hi Jinbo Teacher!

From left to right: The principal, and the vice principal! They are playing rock paper scissors.

4th grade cuties!

3rd grade sweetheart! :3 

Go Joon Ik! Wave that flag!

Ahhh! Faster!

Two (adorable) troublemakers from my 5th grade. :) Two peas in a pod!

Fighting!

I talked to quite a number of my students, and we'd have an English conversation. I would make sure to use language that they had learned in class, and it was the cutest thing ever to see their parents behind them swelling up with pride!!!! :') It was also funny and nice to hear random students shout "Anisha Teacher, I love you!!" 

I had the day off, but I'm so glad I went and got to witness such a bright and friendly event. I hope I get to see more while I'm here!

Paragliding

I went paragliding at 성주산자연휴양림 (Seongjusan) in April:

going higher!

up up up

coming down

landed!

I think I'm ready to go skydiving now! :)

Paragliding is very relaxing. It's not extreme at all, and I really think that anyone can do it! You float off the mountain top, up into the sky, and then land. No biggie! My instructor did a couple of spins mid-air, but my favorite bit was when we were floating really high up. I would describe paragliding as calming and peaceful.

Teaching!

I love my students!

I just wanted to start my post off with saying that. Teaching is not the easiest thing. It's been one of the most challenging parts of being here. But it's also the reason I'm here, and it's the most rewarding experience I've had while in Korea. I teach English to kids grades 4-6, Monday-Friday in both curriculum and after school classes. I also do teacher training once a week, so I can help the teachers improve their English skills.

While I don't see myself teaching for life, it's something that I can unabashedly say that I'm good at. Everyday is different, so I look forward to learning something new and it's a skill that I can develop. During my first week, I didn't really know what to expect! I was pretty nervous and had to remind myself that they were just kids! And not little monsters. Well, most of them. :) Over the course of two months I have had kids tear their textbook, slam doors, yell, talk back to my co-teacher, and I had a fight break out in my 4th grade classroom. I'm not fazed by any of it, but I do need to learn how to become better at classroom management. I still need to perfect my reward system because I would like to have 100% control over the classroom. Putting classroom management aside, the kids are really adorable and charming. In South Korea, kids are required to clean their classrooms and take care of their schools, which teaches them a great deal of responsibility. Everyday I see kids mopping the hallways, and cleaning the bathrooms. After the students finish their meals in the cafeteria they go to their homeroom teacher so she can check that they finished their food before they put their tray away. Bowing is also emphasized as a form of respect, so when I walk past a student or another teacher, we usually bow our heads at one another. As I walk down the halls I'm greeted with kids saying "hello!" and I am still welcomed by that everyday! "Hi teacher! How's it going?" I love it when they use language that they learned in my class. :)

Lesson on "directions". Kids are in teams, and one is blindfolded
while the other has to direct their partner to the end! In English of course. :)

My 5th & 6th grade after school class. We did a lesson on St Patrick's Day,
where we made a rainbow attached to a pot of gold. Each student got to write their wish on the pot. 

My favorite part about teaching is my afterschool class, which I do twice a week because I get to be creative and do whatever lesson I want! So we have loads of fun learning English. Curriculum is a bit more restricted because I have to teach by the textbook, but I still try to think of fun activities to replace the boring ones. :P

Let me know if you have any particular questions about teaching kids English in Korea! :)

- Anisha