settling down

Moved into my apartment on Monday where I'll be living for the next 5 months. I'm so glad that I'm living in Jeonju. Had I lived in Imsil, I would have been out there by myself. My mentor teacher has been so helpful and kind to take me around shopping to furnish my apartment. It was fun shopping at Home Plus (there were so many cute and unnecessary things I wanted, but didn't necessarily need so I had restrict myself due to the 600, 000 won budget I was given). I had dukbokki for dinner (sooooo yummyyyy!!!). My apartment came with a washing machine, stove, and fridge. My mentor teacher was able to get me a used desk, wardrobe, and bed for 190, 000 won. So that was awesome. I was playing charades pretty much the whole time with the 2 guys that came to set up my bed and desk. I learned the word gwaenchanh-ayo meaning "it's ok" by the end of their time at my apartment. It's fun and interesting trying to figure out what people are trying to say when there's a language barrier. I even got to use a bit of chinese when we ran into a problem of where to my desk (which had to be leaning against something for some reason). I like the size and things in my room. It's nice having a place of my own for once. I miss having home cooked meals already made though. Now I have to cook on my own and sometimes I'm too tired or don't know what to cook so I stop by the convenient store to grab something simple and quick to make.

My friend Vicky took me around the city of Jeonju the other day where I got to see the city hall and Gaeksa temple. Although it was a rainy day, we enjoyed a delicious bowl of bibimbap (which is what Jeonju is known for. My bibimbap had raw egg and beef in it which was new for me and made me feel a little uneasy, but it was really good. Later we went to a coffee shop and I had a cup of hot chocolate to warm me up. I also met a classmate of Vicky's and we had a nice girl talk time:) Vicky was helping me look at phones but turns out I need my passport (which is currently at the immigration office for my alien registration card) to get a phone. Vicky has a sweet car with a camera on the rear bumper that turns on automatically whenever she's driving in reverse. We listened to some Kpop on the way back to my apartment and watched a movie with Top from Big Bang (I didn't know he was an actor as well:)). I explored the area around my apartment to see what kind of stores were nearby and found a store that sells gimbap (so delicious!!---mashisseoyo). The Hanok Village (a major landmark of Jeonju that embodies the traditions of Korean culture) is a five minute walk from my apartment and I haven't gone farther than a 10 minute walking distance. I think I'll explore around some more tomorrow.

As for today, it was a long and tiring day. My mentor teacher picked me up at my apartment around 7:30 and drove me to school. I met the vice principal and teachers in the school today who seemed friendly but just shy to talk to me in English. I was given a set of the curriculum textbooks that I can choose to follow or modify at my own pleasure. My teaching schedule has not been finalized yet and I was told today that I won't start teaching until Tuesday of next week. I will be teaching for 5 hours each day on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays. It'll be nice to have Monday and Friday's off:) The school is freezing cold once you step out of the teacher's room and only squat toilets can be found in the school. I used one today and it wasn't as hard or bad as I thought it would be. I got to see my English classroom and there are tons of books on the shelf that I can read to the kids as well as flash cards to play games. The down side is that a computer is the only technological device in my classroom. I don't have a projector for power point presentations nor a chalkboard/whiteboard. I mentioned the fact about getting a white board to my mentor teacher and hopefully he'll be able to work something out where I will be able to use one when I teach. While my mentor teacher went off around the school doing his job, I sat in the teacher's room and looked through textbooks and noted down some potential sources I could use and incorporate in my own lesson plans. I tried to communicate with the teachers/principal who were in the teacher room with me, but the language barrier made it a bit difficult. I was at the school from about 8:30 until 4:30 and exhausted at the end of the day. I'm going shopping for more appliances for my apartment with my mentor teacher tomorrow. We'll see what tomorrow has in store for me.

meeting the mentor teachers

After fighting with the ethernet cable yesterday all evening, there's finally wi-fi available at Jeonju University. Today, we started off with a lecture on teaching through songs and chants. The lecture was quite helpful and I am definitely going to incorporate music in my activities/lessons to help my students learn the key phrases/vocab.

After class, I met my mentor teacher (Mr. Shin Hwa-sub). We both agreed on exchanging lessons to learn Korean (for me) and English (for him). Mr. Shin has been teaching math at the elementary school (Galdam Elementary) for 5 years and he wishes to work his way towards teaching English in school. I think it is great for him to pursue an advancement in the education system. Galdam Elementary has about 60 students total and I will be the first TaLK scholar that the school has had. So, the pressure is on for me to set the bar high and give the school a positive impression of how much fun it is to have a TaLK scholar.  I'm so glad I have a friend who is teaching in the same city and it looks like we won't be living far from each other. I went with my mentor teacher to the immigration office and filled out my application for my alien registration card. Then we headed back to Jeonju University and we'll meet again on Monday to go shopping for things I will need in my apartment. I actually have another mentor teacher (Jeung) who I can also contact in case I need help with anything. So it's good to know that one mentor teacher won't be too overwhelmed.

I won't be meeting the principal and vice principal of my school until Monday when my mentor teachers show me around. Imsil is quite far from Jeonju (about 1-1 1/2 hr) by car. There's many things I have to say to my mentor teacher and vice versa, but because of the language barrier I'm doing a lot of hand gestures and lip reading. It seems that when I write down what I am saying, Mr. Shin understands and then we can communicate better. I have a 600, 000 won settlement fee for my place since I am the first TaLK Scholar. So I will need to buy a bed, sheets, blankets, etc. Fun stuff. I look forward to Monday because that's when I will actually be able to visit the school and meet everyone. The only down side is that I don't have a co-teacher, which means I am going to be teaching all by myself. So there won't be a teacher in the classroom with me who can translate in Korean if the kids are acting up or such. However, that might be good because if the korean co-teacher uses Korean, the kids will have the tendency to listen and rely on the co-teacher's translation and ignore the English. So, the more English they are exposed to, the better:) Overall, I am happy with my mentor teacher and I look forward to my adventurous experiences in Korea.

Jeonju University-The place for Superstars

It's my first day at Jeonju University and the dorms are definitely bigger and much nicer, but I miss Jochiwon already. I'm still trying to get used to the wet floors in the bathroom since the bathroom floor is the shower floor. We are at Jeonju University with the 5th generation TaLK scholars and I'm looking forward to meeting new people. The TaLK scholars went crazy the last night of orientation. Group 6 won 2nd place in the talent show..WOOOOOTTT!!! GROUP 6!!! I'm going to miss everyone so much and I'm glad I had the opportunity to meet people from all over the world that are doing the TaLK Program. The ride to Jeonju from Jochiwon took about 2 hours but I slept most of the way cuz i was super tired. We had an early dinner at a restaurant and had Korean BBQ..MmmMMMm..it was delicious. However, I didn't have the bravery to try the bowl of silk worm that was sitting on our table.


Breakfast in Jeonju this morning was good..definitely a lot better than the cafeteria food we had in Jochiwon. It seemed more like a brunch to me though since there were food such as dumplings, fried rice, fried chicken, and beef stew included. The opening ceremony/orientation at Jeonju starts at 9:30 so I still have some time to relax and prepare. Some friends and I are thinking about going out to karaoke tonight. I had a ton of fun my first night of karaoke in Jochiwon and looking forward to my second time.


I'm about to head out and get ready for the opening ceremony..more later:)


Dina

So orientation week in Jochiwon is almost done and I'm sad that we'll all be going our separate ways to our provinces. We met our POE supervisor and I found out today that there are 84 students in my school (Galdam Elementary School) in Imsil-Gun. My method of transportation will be by bus and the time to get to my school is currently unknown because it depends on where I'm living. So I'm crossing my fingers that I'm not living too far.

This morning Mr. T (T for Terrific) showed us a few "simple but effective" magic tricks. Everyone got their own package of magic trick tools which was nice. I learned the secrets to a few tricks (the card flip, straw and string, color vision, and drop ring). I need to practice and get my story down for the drop ring.

Tonight, my group is getting together for rehearsal for our performance in the talent show. We'll be presenting our disney skit mixed in with some cha cha and the macarena. It's going to be great:);) I've been having so much fun in Jochiwon that I don't want to leave; yet at the same time, I would like to explore and see more of Korea. Can't wait! I'll do my best to keep updated with the posts if the jetlag isn't taking too much control. It's been 2 1/2 weeks and I'm still trying to adjust!