I didn't realize how fast my time in Korea went by for the month of April. It's probably because I have so much to look forward to. The first day of April brought much laughter amongst my school staff with my April Fool's joke. I tried to be real upset about a false breakup I had the previous night and lacked sleep. I only played the joke on the teachers because I always wanted to be smiling around my kids. I was trying so hard not to laugh and all the teachers were worried about me thinking that I was really depressed or something. The secretary offered me a strawberry chocolate cookie to make me feel better and even used google translator to tell me that I am beautiful and that I deserve a man who would take care of my heart. She told me that my boyfriend cared about me and that I have a beautiful heart and that everything will be ok. Apparently the principal was concerned about me and asked me if I wanted to rest in the clinic room and just go home for the day. I told him that I would be fine to teach and that I just have to keep fighting. There was an instance where I couldn't hold back from laughing and I didn't want to blow my cover. So I put my head into my hands and was laughing behind my hands. Everyone else thought I was crying and didn't know what to do. Even during lunch time I barely talked, which is not how I usually am, and made the impression that I was sad. The teachers didn't know what to say to me during lunch and just talked among themselves. It wasn't until the end of the school day that I told the teachers I was only joking around about the break up for April Fool's Day. I told my principal first as I greeted him farewell and as soon as I pointed to April 1 on the calendar he understood me and was glad that I was happy:)
During the month of April there is also a cherry blossom festival held in my city. My co-teacher told me about the nighttime cherry blossom festival and how beautiful the blossoms look when they light up the streets. I was suppose to go tonight with my co-teacher but unfortunately it was raining today. It's really nasty outside when it rains in Korea especially with acid mixed in with it. The air smells fishy and it's no fun walking around with dirty wet shoes. It is important to always have an umbrella when it rains in Korea. If the acid rain gets on your head, you can go bald. It's pretty much just best to stay indoors and keep exposure to the acid rain to a minimum. And then there's the Jeonju city zoo with an admission fee of only 1000 won ($1). So cheap!!!
My birthday is also coming up in a few days at the end of April and I've been too excited. I'm glad that my birthday fell on a Monday because I don't have to teach on those days AND it's my second pay day. During the week of my birthday I only have to teach one day (Tuesday) because from Wednesday through Friday, the TaLK scholars from Jeollabuk-do province are going to Jeju Island for our cultural experience field trip. Jeju Island is a hot spot for couples to go for their honeymoon. I can't wait!!! I've seen pictures and it looks BEAUTIFUL!!!! I heard that we'll be going to the Teddy Bear Museum in Jeju. Sounds cute:) Finally, there is the Jeonju Film Festival from April 28-May 6 and it's being hosted in Hanok Village just nearby my apartment:) My co-teacher told me that an actress from the k-drama Boys Over Flowers will be hosting the film festival event. How awesome!! So I have to a lot of fun to look forward to in the next several days.
In terms of teaching, I am making progress:) In the first week of April, I reviewed the key expressions that I taught my 3rd-6th graders in order to evaluate where my students are in terms of what they learned and myself for my teaching progress. I planned a variety of partner activities and games that required the children to speak, write, and be able to visually recognize the key expressions when they hear the phrase. My 3rd through 6th graders can properly introduce themselves by telling me their name, age, likes, favorites (color, food, sport, etc.), where their from, and how their doing. I was so proud of my students:) They learn pretty quickly from my repetition of the key expressions.
This past week I did a unit on introducing family members. To introduce the idea, I first presented a power-point of my own family and introduced each member. The kids loved looking at pictures of my family and were interested in their ages. After my power-point, I told the kids that it was their turn to introduce their families. I had asked some of my classes to bring in a photograph of their family because they will each come up to the front of the class and introduce each family member using the key expression "This is my ___________". The blanks would be filled in with vocab words like older brother, older sister, younger brother, youngest brother, etc. Every grade level caught on fairly quickly with the key expression to describe their family members.
One of my 5th graders got a little upset when she was describing that she was an only child and had no brothers and sisters and started to cry. I told her there was nothing wrong with being an only child and continued on with the next student because I didn't want to single her out and embarass her. Some students didn't bring in photos so I made an alternative that they can just draw their family members on the chalkboard and introduce them that way. The kids had so much fun drawing their family members and I was so proud of them for catching on so quickly. So I'm thinking of starting a new topic and moving onto directions (probably asking for directions and giving directions with my higher level students). I work on short and simple phrases with my 1st and 2nd graders while practicing pronunciation with vocabulary terms. Their improving every day!!!!! I also introduced Justin Bieber and showed my 4th-6th graders the song never say never featuring Jaden Smith from the movie Karate Kid. The kids LOVED the song and enjoyed the music video. They couldn't take their eyes off the screen. I taught my 6th graders the song and their working on pronunciation. One student can sing the entire song pretty well. I'm impressed. While most of the 6th graders can only catch a few words in each line of the song. One 6th grader thought that Justin Bieber was too good looking and asked which part of his face did he have surgery on. lol. I told him that it was Justin's natural face and that he didn't have any surgery. My student thought I was lying. lol.
I also had an occurrence with a bee in my classroom one day. I was teaching and using hand gestures like I normally do to help get my point across and all of a sudden a huge bee is flying around the window. I stop and just keep my eyes on the bee to make sure it won't come near me. The students see that I'm looking at the bee and a boy stretches his shirt sleeve over his hand and walked over to the bee. I stopped him to not continue because I didn't want him to get stung. Another student got a dust pan and pounded heavily on the bee. Where was I while he did this? I was all the way across the other side of the room by the door as far as possible from the bee. I thought the bee might get mad and start flying around so I prepared myself to run out the door. lol. My 6th graders were my heroes and they were all chill and acted as if the bee was no big deal. Today was an usual day for me because I still had to go to school even though the entire school (except Kindergarten) went on a 2 day field trip to Everland (Korea's Cedar Point) and fulfill the hours for the week. I had a quiet lunch in the cafeteria with the kindergarteners and then went to the teacher's lounge to talk to the secretary and principal. Yesterday the secretary had told me that I don't need to come to school today because the students are on a field trip. But when I asked my mentor teacher he told me I still had to come to school. So I still paid 5100 won to come to school but it was too quiet in the school. It was nice to just come to school though and not have to teach and speak in English to my principal and the secretary. Time flew by because we were having so much fun talking. I realized that the secretary actually understands and knows a lot of English and she is really opening up to using her English now. I'm glad that she feels more confident about speaking in English to me. I was able to leave the school at 2:50 and head home with my co-teacher.
My co-teacher told me something about Korea that really shocked me and made my heart drop when I heard the news. She was telling me that there was big news of 4 students who committed suicide at a big university in Jeonju. And I was even more heartbroken when she told me that Korea ranks number one in the number of suicides. She saw my face expression change so quickly when I heard that. I felt sick and so sad to hear such horrible news and asked her what the typical age range of Koreans who committed suicide were. She said that many are high school or university students. Those school years for a Korean student is very stressful and many cannot handle the pressure and commit suicide. I was told that Korean high school students have a 15 hour school day. They go to school from 7 in the morning and finish at 10 p.m. They are exhausted by the end of the day and spend a lot of time preparing and studying for exams. This made me realize of how fortunate I am to have an 8 hour school day in an American high school yet so spoiled. Korean students have twice as a long of a school day than I did. Korean students value their education because they take the time to study for exams yet sometimes the workload is too much to handle. My heart sank and now every time I hear of going to school, I think of how hard Korean students are studying.
It wasn't until April that I also discovered the convenience of taking buses as a cheap way of getting around places. I always took a taxi to get to a place to meet a friend because it was quicker and I didn't know how the bus system worked. So with help from a friend, I learned that I just needed to know which bus numbers went to certain destinations and you just have to look for a bus stop. I would usually call my co-teacher and ask if a certain bus went to the place I wanted to get to and if she didn't know I learned how to ask the bus driver. The bus fare is only 1000 won ($1). Sometimes the buses can get quite crowded though and depending on how hard the driver steps on the break pedals, you might have to hang on tighter. I almost flew on another bus passenger had I not gripped the handle tightly at the last minute. I usually stand on the bus because I let the elderly sit. The only thing I'm still having a hard time with is reading Korean characters. Being able to read Korean would help a lot because the destinations are listed on the bus and I could see whether that bus would get me where I wanted to be. Speaking korean comes much easier for me. Today my co-teacher told me that I said thank you in Korean perfectly as if it were my native tongue. I'm learning a lot of new phrases everyday:)
I've also been keeping my floor heating system turned off since the weather is getting warmer and I have no need for it now. Saves electricity too. The only times I turn on the heat gauge is when I shower because the hot water needs to be turned on. Sometimes I forget to switch the knob from the shower hose back to the faucet hose. So sometimes when I go to wash my face in the morning, I get a shower of water. The cashier at the stores where I do my weekly grocery shopping knows me and she is always willing to help me find anything I need. The people around my area are so friendly and I like where I am living. There is a university right across the street from my apartment too so I run into a lot of university students who can speak English.
Well, that pretty much sums up April so far. I'll post if anything new or exciting happens:) I love and miss everyone back home. It's exactly 100 days from today that I will be leaving Korea and heading home. 100 days sounds so little yet so much at the same time.
