about three weeks ago i started to date a guy named seongwook. Our first date I had noooo idea we’d soon be inseparable.  His english is sooo amazing, he’s sooo funny, clever, smart, etc.  He’s been so sweet and kind, showing me parts of Korea I’d never venture off to… together we’ve created some really nice memories.  After doing pretty much the same thing everyday on a monotonous schedule, meeting him was a breath of fresh air, and has completely transformed my experience in korea.  I can’t write about everything, but here are some of our adventures thus far:

APRIL 28// GOCHANG

We took a bus to Gochang to see a famous castle. Gochang is about 1.5 hours away from Gwangju. We had a kimbab picnic in the grass, took pictures, and walked around to see the beautiful sights.  

Then we went back to Gwangju, got coffee and killed time before seeing Avengers IMAX 3D. wow ^o^  then we had samgyeopsal bbq (dad’s favorite) and drank some soju.  We talked and discovered how similar we are.  Our pasts,  our outlooks on life and love, our feelings, our dreams, our fears… all so similar!  It was refreshing.

APRIL 30// HUGE lunch at his mother’s restaurant!
 

MAY 5// DAMYANG BAMBOO FOREST 

before we went, we met at a coffee shop to video chat with my family! and then we took silly pictures. 

haaahahahahaha my FAVORITE picture. hahahah he always makes me laugh.

then his father picked us up and we drove to damyang.  I was so nervous to meet his dad!! Because I have no confidence in my Korean ability, and really wanted to talk to with him. As time went on, I was less and less nervous.  We ate a delicious galbi lunch…and soju! His dad couldn’t believe how much soju we could drink…  Soju couple ^o^  We are a good team.  

After lunch, we went to the bamboo forest… a little drunken.  Took many cute pictures together.  On our way back to the car it started to rain… the wet concrete smelled of summer.  It was an amazing day.

We got back to Gwangju in the evening… and decided to keep drinking.  We went to the german bar downtown and drank a glass of german beer.  And then we went to a restaurant and ate a delicious spicy seafood stew… and 3 bottles of soju. Oops

“Sejong The Great”… you know, the guy on korean money..

May 7 // seongwook meets jake
 

MAY 9// THE BRIDGE 

Finally I walked on the bridge I always see near my home!!!! I’ve always wondered how to walk on that bridge… so seongwook showed me.  Such a pretty view.  And then he gave me a piggyback ride on the bridge! SO FUN. Then we ate kimbap he brought from his mom’s restaurant. mmmmmm.

MAY 9// NIGHT WITH THE FRIENDS

This past Thursday, Seongwook met my friends.  We had dinner and drinks with Jake and Junsoo in old downtown, and then went to noraebang and sang many many songs together.  In jake’s words, “it was epic.”

MAY 12// Temple and Park in Gwangju

Last saturday afternoon we went to a temple in Sangmu, the “New” downtown of Gwangju. We walked around the park for a while and talked.  Then we head a delicious sushi dinner. yum yum yum.

I thought it was about time for an update.  I haven’t gathered enough effort to post for quite a while, and much has happened.  So I will make this a two-parter.  First off ~~ the big news: I deferred Columbia for one more year and am extending my scholarship in Korea until next July. its very good news ^o^

In this post I will focus on changes that occurred since the start of the new school semester (that is, since March). All the way up until about two weeks ago, when I met someone who completely changed my previously monotonous clockwork schedule and has already added so much meaning and memories to my time in korea. 

So let’s start…

Bullo Elementary School

Flash back to March 2nd. My first day back to Bullo Elementary School, I realized how school life would be much different this semester.  Firstly, I am the only 1 of 8 teachers to stay in our office. They all became homeroom teachers…. now I have 3 new English coteachers… who are pretty chill actually.  But i was quite worried the first day back when I literally fell asleep all day with my head on my desk because i was SO exhausted and there was no coffee. But it actually worked in my favor because my co-teachers were really surprised after they saw me teach.. in their words “i am surprised because you are such a good teacher.” owwowoww… i like to think it’s because my nap on the first day sparked some underestimation.  Also, All three of my coteachers are pregnant.  crazy.  I’m really impressed by my 5th grade coteacher~ she handles the classroom really well and I like that she disciplines in English and uses English techniques to get the students to STFU. In the past (and present), many of my co-teachers just sit there and do nothing, resort to korean for explanations and discipline, and are really shy about speaking english.  but she’s so badass. I bet shes a really great English teacher. At first I was a little intimidated by her and worried she didn’t really like me, but she’s opened up to be very sweet and caring. (e.g., at our teacher’s lunch last week, the main course was raw meet… i was not sitting next to her at the time, but the next day at school she asked me how i felt at the teacher’s lunch.  i thought she was solely regarding all the alcohol offered to me because afterall i did spill a glass of beer… but she said  ’there was so much raw meet and i was worried you couldn’t eat it.’ very motherly.  and very correct.)   So, the teachers in my office are pregnant and older, yet it turns out to be for the best: they don’t go out to ‘play’ as much as my younger co-teachers last semester, and thus i have more time to spend with my friends and by myself~~you know, for personal growth ㅋoㅋ.  Next, now I teach from a textbook. last year i had the opportunity to construct my own curriculum which definitely exercised my brainpower and creativity.  but i am grateful to be teaching form the textbook now because it’s so structured, i know the kids are learning important things, and it’s a big time saver. it also can be a challenge in and of itself when it comes to making the lessons more creative and fun. AND most importantly, the “songs” and “chants” are soooo fun to watch the kids dance and sing to, and super catchy. 

 4th gradepracticing the “what time is it?” chant 3rd grade performing “it’s a ball” song

Korean Class

Korean Advanced Class was canceled because there were only 5 students signed up.  Luckily, the five of us gave in and joined the intermediate class, and found it was being taught by our same teacher from last semester… she pulled some strings and was able to form a 1 hour advanced class twice a week before the intermediate class met.  yay! but i must say korean has been a struggle for me lately, as the textbook is more challenging and i’ve been hanging around someone who speaks such cute and great english (but well get to that later….)

 ’studying’ active 2 a week before K-class started

Jeju Fulbright Conference, 3/30-4/3

I went to Jeju for the Fulbright Spring Conference.  Let me just say the worst plane ride I have ever been on and i genuinely thought I was going to die.  Although the flight is only 45 minutes from Gwangju, the turbulence was awful and I swear the plane was tipped over to its side at one point.  Never did the seatbelt light go off.  Not looking forward to taking that flight again next year.  That aside, it was nice to see some friends, reallllly great to hang out with coco again, but we didn’t get to see much of Jeju because we were stuck in the hotel for the whole time (except for our “tour” on sunday).  and our hotel was, of course, located in the middle of nowhere.  but really, it’s okay because it was rainy and windy and i don’t like the sun. 

It was in Jeju when I found out that Gwangju will be losing two of it’s best men (my best guy friends): 1. Paddy got news from a middle school in Brooklyn that the’s been hired! 2. Jake got Jim’s job and in July he will move to Seoul to be Ms. Shim’s Executive Assistant.   Although I’m sad to lose my boys, I will gain so much because Coco is coming to Gwangju and plans to work at jake’s school.  wE hope to live together.  But we will figure all that out next month ^^

 Funny story. Coco and I locked ourselves out of our hotel room on our balcony.  we started yelling form the balcony, hoping someone would respond.  Fortunately, Jake was in the next room to our right~~ he came out onto his balcony and asked what was wrong.  We explained we were locked out.  He says he’ll help.  He goes. We hear the room door budging. Then it stops.  He comes back out to the other balcony.  Duh, our room door is locked. Then I realize I have my key card in my pocket! Hurrah! I throw it to him.  He comes into our room.  Reaches out to the balcony door, and pushes it open without a problem.  no unlocked necessary.  that’s right.  the door wasn’t locked afterall…… hmm maybe this is why our friends worry about me and coco…  jake,me,paddy

Mudeung Mountain 

One saturday afternoon in April, Jake and I went hiking on Mudeung Mountain.  

Namju’s Brother’s Wedding

Namju came back to Korea for her brothers wedding!! So I went to Incheon April 14 to see the wedding.  It was beautiful.  I also was happy to see Namju’s mother and brother again, and finally meet her father and her high school friends.

 pretending its my korean wedding wedding goodies
 

Sports Day @ Bullo Elementary

On May 1, I also experienced my first Sports Day, which is an Elementary School tradition all over Korea.  No class! It’s pretty much like Field Day in america, in which kids compete in races, sports, and games…  but there’s much more dancing, cheerleading, and K-pop.  Two weeks before Sports Day, maybe about 1/3 of my classes were canceled last minute because the students needed to practice and ‘train.’ Rehearsing a dance a week before sports day

SPORTS DAY PICS 

Random pictures

 After korean class we met with our korean friends to watch the Gwangju Tigers baseball game an each chicken and beer (or for me and junsoo, soju) St. Patrick’s day picnic with Jim and Kyle in Seoul!!!! Waiting for infusion members to finish their lame-o but necessary meeting ^^Di-Hoa’s bday

That’s all for now.  Absorb this all for now, and I promise within the next week I will try to post my most recent, exciting, memorable development <3

love,

gem

Seoul → Hanoi → Ha Long Bay → Hanoi → Vientiane → Luang Prabang → Vientiane → Phnom Penh → Siem Riep → Phnom Penh (layover!) → Saigon → Seoul

February 5 ~ February 29
Gem & Coco 

I wasn’t expecting how much traveling South East Asia in only 3 weeks would change my life.  It’s influenced my awareness, outlook, attitude, and affect. In just 3 weeks I’ve grown in more ways imaginable, met amazing people from all over the world, and saw beauty everywhere I turned.  For this I am very grateful. 

I had such crazy and meaningful times and I can’t help but be a little concerned that one day I’ll forget them all. Everyday I just want to relive it.  It was so wonderful, but I always feel defeated when I can’t convey how amazing it is to people. It’s not going to be easy trying to recapture the marvel that was February… but I will try by using mediocre photos and by rereading, reorganizing and rewriting my travel notes, facts, dates, and anecdotes that I kept in my log.  I feel however that retelling fragments of my experience won’t feel like enough.  For either me or you.  So go!  You must go… go to southeast asia and rediscover the magnitude of beauty within yourself and this world.  

The only sensible way to do this would be to split up my trip by city and date.  Let’s begin.

Seoul —> Hanoi

On February 5th, Coco and I rolled out of bed at 9 AM, still a little drunk from the night before (sorry parents, but it was our good friend’s birthday party in seoul).  I know it’s not “responsible” to party hardy the night before a flight, I’d still like to argue for our sensibility… after all, we did wake up in time, never got lost, and had an hour to spare before boarding.  At the airport, already silly things were happening.  We were certain this would be an amazing trip.  We board.  A few hours later and we’re in Guangzhou International Airport, the home of mean employees.  We endured a ridiculous 5 hour layover in which we went over our travel routes, things to do in each place, and talk about food and boys.  But let’s get to the good stuff.

Hanoi (2/5 ~ 2/7)

 
On our first day, we were almost scammed… A lady came up to me and put this on my shoulder.  She told Coco to take a picture. After, she insisted we give her money because we took a picture with her contraption and fruit.  We did not. 


We were fortunate to coincidentally bump into Jake and Connor our first day in Hanoi (and their last day of traveling)
 
Our first “street meal” in Hanoi. Apparently it’s popular to put french fries in almost all dishes (especially noodle dishes).  Fine by me!

Ha Long Bay (2/7 ~ 2/8)

We decided to go on an overnight boat trip in Ha Long Bay.  Two offers were proposed to us: the normal tour OR the more expensive party boat cruise.   we were not interested in post-college frat party ragers, so we chose the former, cheaper offer.  We were extremely happy with our choice.  There were maybe 10 other people on our boat, of all different ages (I believe we were the youngest), and although our first meal together was a tad bit quiet and forced, we soon developed very nice 2-day friendships. We met a korean guy named Hyunsu, who lives in Gwangju (my city) but grew up in Daegu (Coco’s city).  What are the odds ^^ He brought half-sized bottles of soju but we weren’t allowed to drink it because the staff wanted us to buy the booze from the boat (it’s okay~ we still luv you captain VIP).  Since we weren’t permitted to drink it, Hyunsu gifted Coco and I each a bottle, which came into play later in the trip. We also met a nice Vietnamese Australian couple and a cool dutch girl from Amsterdam.  We were a silly lil family by the end of it.

 good morning fog  the fam + tour guide

Back in Hanoi (2/8 ~ 2/10)
 
At Ho Chi Minh’s Mausaleum… we thought we were going to see a mummified body, but we legit saw what looked to be his freshly dead bod.  It was almost like he was just sleeping.  The security guards there were super good looking (VIPs in uniform).  Makes me wonder if that is a job prerequisite. They’re very strict… around and inside the mausaleum you’re not allowed to smile or laugh or anything that makes it seem you’re having a happy outing.  You get yelled at.  Coco and I were giggly, and one handsome VIP in uniform put his finger to his mouth and SHUSHED me, so I looked at him and put my finger to my mouth and shushed back.  One would think I’d get kicked out, but luckily I’m a girl who’s pretty nice to look at. He smiled..almost laughed.. until he realized he could get fired and then got really serious again and looked away.  Just saying.  I cracked him like a peanut.
 
Vietnam has the best coffee (possibly due to the french ‘influence’).  So strong and so delicious…served with sweetened condensed milk. seriously the best coffee I’ve had in my life. Hands down.  
Bun Cha ~ our best meal in Hanoi…. and possibly the whole trip.  [Note the HUGE bowl of garlic just for us (it was mixed with hot red peppers)] They really took care of us… We walked into the shop, the only foreigners, they walked us up to the third floor, sat us down and just brought us all of this without us even needing to order (thank god). The whole meal was no more than 3 dollars each.

Vientiane, Laos (2/10 ~ 2/12)

After our first evening in Laos, we realized we realllly had to “slow down to laos speed.” The capital was not thatttt hopping.  It was a relaxed atmosphere (as we had been told). We were fine with that… but only for so long.  Consequently, we booked tickets to go to Luang Prabang on a sleeper bus the following day, which was advertised to leave at 8 PM. We rented bikes to pass the time waiting for our bus.  We biked around to survey the outskirts of the capital and found a really cool temple.  On the way back, 6-8 year old boys with fishing poles biked next to us.  They were being cute and playful, pretending to race us.  Then, to kill more time, we went to the same restaurant we ate at the night before (because it was so delicious) to eat a huge fish and spring rolls.  Finally it was time to go! We went to travel agency 15 minutes to 8 PM to find that we were supposed to be there at 7 PM.  That’s funny, no one told us that…. We were bummed! We had to wait to take the morning bus. Upset and broke, we found a hotel in a different part of Vientiane. We went to a local fruit drink shop and saw people drinking florescent drinks. We wanted to try it… you know, to be “adventurous.”  These drinks were pastel pink and green. They were awful and tasted like bubble gum / peptobismol. I ran back to the hotel to get 현수’s soju. Yes, you guessed it…. We spiked our bubble gum drinks. Like the classy traveler ladies we are.  The drinks still tasted bad. But at least we got a buzz on. 

 
best sandwich EVER… for only 2 dollars.

Vientiane —> Luang Prabang: The Bus Ride 

The bus from Vientiane to Luang Prabang was 13 hours (advertised as 10). Because we did not carefully consider geography before booking our flights, we had to do a round trip since we were flying out of the capital.  Luckily, we had a week in Laos so had SOME time to devote to travel (barely…).  The first people we meet were 한국남자 (hanguk namja = korean guys~ and when we use the term, we specifically mean handsome korean guys). they were not interested in looking at or talking to us really (except for the introductions and us eagerly telling them we live in and love their country). We thought their disinterest was due to the fact that we made the poor decision of wearing our matching Egyptian pants and not washing our face. On the bus, I not so inconspicuously changed out of my matching pants to do some damage control. But perhaps it was too late, already engrained in everyone’s memory ~ we were the crazy girls in the matching ugly egyptian pants.  We also did not get lunch because we were poor & dumb (later we realized lunch was free…). 

Luang Prabang (2/12 ~ 2/16)

 
We biked around the outskirts, saw an outdoor bar that seemed to be getting ready to be hosting a cockfight, and then slept by the river next to Lao 아저씨 (=[often king & respectable] old men)
our guesthouse for 3 nights 
all hail King Elephant LID 
 
Kids playing soccer in the temple complex at sunrise
 

Our last night at dinner, we ate at the street restaurant in the alley right outside our guesthouse.  We sat near the family’s shop/home, and their 4-5 year old son Alec came over to us and started playing.  We played with him for at least 2 hours.  He was sooooooo energetic, friendly, and cute.  And was really good at acting stuff out (language barrier).  He showed us all his toys and kept jumping on us and making funny hissing noises, especially if he lost to us at the game he was continuously re-inventing.  Maybe the most adorable kid I’ve seen in my life.  

Vientiane, again (2/16 ~ 2/17)

The day before our flight to Cambodia, we headed back to Vientiane.  We went to the same restaurant we had been at before Luang Prabang, and met up with our friend we had met, a retired monk.  He invited us over to his table and introduced us to his Japanese friend, a 50 year old writer and film maker. He lives in Bangkok now. They offered us Laos whiskey, and we offered them what we had left of our soju (It was real cultural exchange at it’s best!)  We had a really nice time. 

Phnom Penh, Cambodia  (2/17 ~ 2/19)

Phnom Penh had great public space. The parks were amazing, and many people congregated there to chill, play soccer, and do aerobics.  No really, public dance aerobics is a thing.  There’s a group of people doing aerobics and you just jump in and join if you want. (In the picture above you can see all the people participating!!) We were sitting by what seemed to be a non-functioning fountain watching the aerobics (and the too-legal soccer CAMs)… and all the sudden, K-pop started to blast from speakers, colored lights shot out of the fountain along with massive amounts of water.  Very cool, worth getting wet.  There are also beautiful temples randomly scattered around the city.  Phnom Penh also had the best night market ~ really cool clothes for appropriate prices (we found that a lot of the night markets in Laos and Vietnam tried to charge you 5x the worth of something)

[National Museum of Cambodia]

[The Killing Fields]

At the Killing Fields, this memorial building holds the skulls of thousands of people who were killed their during the genocide.  We walked through the Killing Fields listening to a heartbreaking audio tour with interviews and anecdotes. While compassion and knowledge is of course growing, I still feel as if the victim’s voices are still silenced… oppressed.  I was really bothered by (almost to a guilt) by my lack of knowledge of this awful genocide, and can’t help but to partly blame my predominantly white public school education for its lack of focus on more recent events or perhaps its dismal of the incident’s “irrelevance.”  

This looks like an ordinary tree, but the sharp leaves of this very tree were once used to slit the throats of innocent imprisoned people.

[S-21 Prison: This was a high school turned into a torture prison.]



Phnom Penh —> Siem Reap

We were tranported to Siem Riep in a bus-van type vehicle.  Coco and I were assigned to the two seats in the front.  Like, literally the front seat.  It felt like a video game.   I had the honor of sitting in between Coco and our crazy driver.  When I say crazy, I really mean it.  Really he just kept popping unspecified pills, driving on the wrong side of the street, cutting people off even though they too were going pretty fast, incessantly honking even when there was no other vehicle in site.  It was kind of awesome.  But yes, he preferred the wrong side of the road (See picture above.)  This is the only bus ride in which we arrived to our destination 2 hours before the advertised time.  Fine by me! 

Siem Reap, Cambodia  (2/19 ~ 2/20)

We arrived to Siem Reap and realized that it was definitely not up our alley.  The area seemed to be filled with (stuffy self-righteous) European tourists.  And there was “Pub Street.”  One pleasant surprise was the massive amounts of Korean families, felt like home^_____^  However, we were able to make our time there very worthwhile.

[Temple at Sunset] ~ 2/19:

[Angkor Wat + Other Temples] ~ 2/20:

 
Angkor Wat @ Sunrise

Despite our indifference about the tourist hotspot of Siem Reap itself, we had a really interesting last night there before we hopped on that sleeper bus to Saigon and conked out.  It included a scary cat with the most vicious MEOW, lipstick on ripped paper, hazelnut chocolate, 2 bathroom hunts (1 failure), and a cute japanese boy who asked us for a lighter and then after he lit his cigarette and sat down with us immediately admitted to having his own. If he wasn’t so adorable(y fashionable) it would have been a lame excuse to talk to us, huh? In summary, we technically only slept one night in Siem Reap, saw Angkor Wat during the morning/day, and then caught a sleeper bus at midnight. We were off to Saigon, where unexpected delights were about to unfold.

Siem Reap —> Saigon

Before I talk about Saigon, the city of Love, I must describe our unforgettable journey there.  As soon as we got onto the bus we were out cold, deep sleep. 6 hours later we were woken up…. we were back in Cambodia’s capital.  The bus agency conveniently forgot to mention that there was a 2 hour stop over in Phnom Penh.  So at 6:30 AM, still half asleep, we stumbled off the bus and found a nice spot on a bench overlooking the river.  With no shame we pulled out our toothbrushes and brushed our teeth. A unique old lady came up to us and just stood there smiling. We think she wants money so we try to give her the last of our Riel (which was probably less than a dollar), but she rejects. After a few minutes she walks away.  The sun starts to come up.  We look behind us, and the same old lady starts stretching and doing weird dance movements as the sun rose.  She takes off her silver chain belt and holds it up in the air, as if she was showing it to us.  She continues to move freely.  It was really odd.  But also beautiful.  Soon she disappeared.

At 8 AM we go to the bus station and board the bus.  From the window we see a snack stand across the street. We decide to go out and spend our last bit of Riel on snacks… We didn’t actually have enough money to buy anything, but we were hoping for some compassion.  We went up to the 아저씨 (elderly man) working the stand, and showed him all the Riel we had. He laughed, and was kind enough to let us choose two small packs of nuts. Then I made Coco ask the bus driver if there was free breakfast, as was advertised. (I made Coco ask all the awkward questions and in return I was the compass— and a pretty good one at that..) He looked at us funny.  There was no free breakfast.  We slept the whole 6 hours to Saigon. 

Saigon (2/20 ~ 2/27)

The last leg of our trip.  I apologize that this is about to turn into a love story.  No really… sorry, but from here on out things are going to get a little overly lovey-dovey, considering our trip went out with an unexpected romantic sha-bang. 

We arrived to Saigon in the afternoon.  2:30 PM, fresh off the bus with absolutely no concept of where we were, we started to walk relying solely on our intuition. We turned down a random street. We checked out two hotels, but were not sold. We were coming to the end of the street when I made eye contact with a smiley vietnamese guy (Dat) across the street standing outside of a restaurant.  (We initially called him Gu Jun Pyo VIP because he had Gu Jun Pyo hair.)  We walk over to him. He asks if we ate and we said we need a room. He informs us they have vacant rooms upstairs.  We chat and banter. I’ll spare you the gushy details and just say that from our first interaction I felt like we were fated.  Cliched.  Don’t care.  Anyway, Coco and I hang out in our room and unpack our things. On our way out, Coco is greeted by another interesting vietnamese guy (Quang), who also worked at the guesthouse.  (Later we learn that his family actually owns the guesthouse.)  We wonder.  In the evening we go out for dinner and drinks and they try to sweet talk us into hanging out at the restaurant.  We smile and say no thanks, we want to explore.  Off we went…. we explored. 

Oh also, we ate a plate full ‘of mother nature…… with maybe two cups of crickets

That night we meet new wit-tastic friends Viet and Ryk at an outdoor bar (soon to be “our place”) and play King’s Cup. 

At around 10:30, we have to go to the bathroom, and luckily don’t realize there’s a bathroom available in the guesthouse of the outdoor bar.  So we run back to our guesthouse for 5 minutes. Upon our arrival, Dat and Quang approach us.  They proved their hilarity and fun-loving personalities in a matter of minutes.  Before we leave, they ask us to get drinks with them at midnight, which is when they get off work.  We say yes, trying to hide our excitement. 

Before we know it, we’re all acting like we’ve known each other for months.  we were a great, silly group of four.  In the evenings while they were working, Coco and I would sit on our balcony and chat, and every now and then poke our heads over the railing to wave to our boys and take pictures of them.  They loved it.  But we’ll get to more of that soon.

We spent our second day sightseeing with Viet and Ryk.  We went to a famous opera house, church, and independence palace.  Viet had been carrying a toy duck around with him to take pictures of in all the places he traveled.  Unfortunately, he had lost his duck a few days ago, and was on a hunt to find a new one.  We stopped at a toy store and the only available ducks were sold in a pack of 5.  He bought them and gifted us each a yellow rubber duck.  One of my prized possessions from this trip.  He was also doing a film of his travels, and asked to shoot Coco and I do random yet graceful movements surrounded by beautiful saigon scenery.   Looking forward to seeing the final outcome.  

That night Dat and Quang took Coco and I on their motorbike to show us the city lit up at night.  To my liking, when Dat saw I was wearing a red shirt, he changed into one so that we’d be wearing couple shirts.  God I love that silly kinda nonsense. After the ride, the boys were hungry and ate at a street restaurant… some sort of meat and noodle soup… we admiringly stare as they slurp and spit bones out of their mouth onto the ground. So ridiculous. 

I won’t bore you with anymore details.  But Saigon was amazing.  The people there were so warm and friendly, the bar we went to memorized our order, Dat and Quang’s neighbors would acknowledge us with kind eyes. Quang’s family welcomed us with open arms and appeared happy that his son and friend had met us. In only a week it already felt like we were apart of a community.

But it’s absolutely necessary I share this: there was this one night when the four of us were sitting outside at a table, and all of the sudden a HUGE rat fell hard (from the sky?) on the table right in front of me and scattered away… I screamed, freaked out and literally jumped on Dat.  It could have fell on my head!!!! And let me say, it made a huge THUD.  It was disgusting and i think I’ll never be the same.  

Our last full morning we successfully wake up to go to the market, drink a crazy Vietnamese drink, and milk tea (while Dat drank a delicious frozen coffee drink). At the market they showed us the fruits we should buy our Korean families and told us the proper prices.

On the way to the market, Dat and I were wearing our red couple T’s again.  We passed a field of red flowers, and he insisted we take a photo sitting in front of them. At first I was embarrassed but then I embraced the adorableness, and how he just didn’t care about anything else around him.  He is so carefree and full of life. I hope to be that way.

Our last day went by pretty fast. We bought our gifts. Consumed a lot of coke light as normal. We packed. Went out for drinks. Came back at 10 PM to hang around. After closing, they surprised us with a motorbike ride. We went super fun fast this time. thrilling! Sometimes they drove insanely close to each other and spoke in Vietnamese while coco and i made funny faces at each other. Its always nice to hear vietnamese come out of their mouth, but we were quite confused. They took us to eat hot pot at a local joint. We got mixed vibes from the crowd, who wasn’t judging but probably just didn’t know what to make of us. It felt and probably seemed like we’ve all been together forever because of our interactions. Dat wouldn’t stop laughing, especially when Coco did the trick where she pretended to pull out a hair and use it to move her upper lip. He’d try to do it but failed because he has a permanent smile on his face. 

We planned to stay up all night until we had to go to the airport at 6 AM. Dat played a mean trick and said bye he was going to sleep, without even a hug. I was about to get upset, but soon he came back with a purple gift bag that said “heart to heart ~ you and me ~ always with you.” Super Korean. Inside the bag was an ugly (but adorable) bead bracelet and a questionable pearl basket that held plastic flowers. It was so sweet. We went out to the balcony to talk and look at the sky. He kept saying I’d forget him, and it was really upsetting me. I took off my necklace and gave it to him. I told him it was so he could remember me. He kissed it and held it against his chest. He asked to see if it would fit his neck. It was too tight. So he wrapped it around his wrist twice. It fit perfectly. I started to get upset again, but he said No. He said “Everyday I want you to smile. You laugh smile and eat a lot. In Korea, you wake up, you eat a big breakfast, big lunch, and big dinner. You be a good teacher. You teach with a smile. Everyday you smile.”

At 5:25 AM we got on their motorbikes and they drove us to the airport. Throughout the ride, the night sky was turning a soft pink and purple. It was beautiful. Bittersweet. They parked their motorbikes and walked us to the airport. We thought they’d peace after walking us to the entrance, but they came inside and waited in line for us to check in. We took pictures. Dat wanted a picture by the Vietnam Airlines sign, which gave me the impression it was his first time in the airport. Our lives are so different but we are so similar. We’ve had such different experiences, yet we feel the same things. We checked in and sat in the corner of the airport. Dat took me away to stand by a window and we got all emotional again. I don’t know when it happened, whether it was right away or happened slowly throughout the week. but I loved him too. After a few minutes we walked back over to Coco and Quang.  Understanding that this situation was just becoming overwhelmingly too much, Dat picked up my bags and said “Let’s go,” but we all knew we still had 10 minutes left. So he sat back down next to me and we were all pretty sad and quiet. Then it was finally time. We went past security and our boys waited on the other side. They watched us get in line for customs. We were almost out of view when they finally they gestured goodbye. Dat kissed my necklace on his wrist and waved. Coco and I continued through customs…. and immediately bought a bar of chocolate.

At our 5 hour stopover in Guangzhou Airport the people were still mean (did I forget to mention this fact?). The man at check-in thought my passport was a fake. He examined it at all different angles for 3-5 minutes. Finally he asked me for another form of ID. I gave him my driver’s license. Yeah… my passport is real, dipshit. Excuse my language, but part of me feels he just wanted to make my day worse because I’m certain he could tell from my disheveled appearance that I obviously already had a rough morning. Finally we’re in the waiting area. Around noon we decide to treat ourself to wine to chill out a little. After, we bumped into a Chinese boy our age who was pulled in by our odd behavior and silly remarks. We tell him we’re a lil tipsy and just left our boyfriends in Vietnam. It’s a sad day, we explain. We play poker with him. We bet random things like passport photos, business cards, chapstick, candy, and chopsticks we stole from the place where we drank wine (serves them right for giving us chopsticks to eat roasted peanuts). We almost forget to board our plane ~ our new Chinese friend reminds us of the time. He tells us to be careful. Good guy. Still in contact with him via email.

Back in Seoul (2/27-2/29)

We spent the night at Jim’s and the next afternoon went on a Seoul shopping splurge to ease our separation anxiety. We bought fresh Nike kicks and I bought Addidas skinny sports pants. (Jake makes fun of me when i wear both of these things, claiming I’m just dressing how my nonexistent Korean boyfriend would dress.) We bought perfume sticks at Nature’s Republic, a smell that now only reminds me of our time in Southeast Asia. We bought our boys shirts because we planned to send them a package with Korean goodies (ramen & peppero) and a letter.  We met up with friends later in the night, had a nice time, and a misadventure to meet yonsei monster, but I won’t get into that.

The next morning we bought stationary. We went to Tours le Jour ~ we ordered a cappuccino and a baked good. We spent four hours chatting and writing our letters. We mailed our package (you bet we drew hearts allllll over the box). At the same time we tell the post office lady it’s a “love gift.” We go to the bus terminal. Said bye to Coco, and before I knew it, I was back in Gwangju.

End.

Notes

Traveling Tips
Bring more USD $$$ (esp for VISA purchases)
Research Flights better (NO LAYOVER IN CHINA!)
Consider travel routes (travel north to south) e.g. Why Vientiane →LP → Vientiane? Phnom Penh → Siem Reap → Phnom Penh?
Bring sunscreen and/or large floppy hat
If they don’t have a menu… LEAVE!
It’s not necessary to exchange USD to Cambodian Riel (everything is in dollars)
Don’t buy to buy (matching Egyptian pants)
Check the goods before purchase (Laos backpack zipper)
Drink more water.  Diet Coke is not always the answer.
Bring a book
Use lonely planet as a guide, not a rule
Gem should bring more than 1 bag, as 3 of her bag zippers broke during the trip.

The Best of List (Now hard because we met our boys and thus might be biased)
Food ~ Hanoi (that bun cha… amazing… also catfish spring rolls were better here than in Saigon)
남자 (guys) ~ undecided. 
Night out ~ Always our last night in every city…. but I gotta say Saigon
Coffee ~ Hanoi
City ~ Saigon?
Shopping ~ Cambodia
Scenery ~ Laos
Ambiance ~ undecided. they’re all too different to be compared.
외국인 (foreigners) ~ Saigon 
Accommodations ~ Oompa Loompa hotel in Laos.  Or Saigon… but only because we had a sweet balcony and loved the boys who worked there. 
Adventure ~ undecided.  too many.  but maybe the night preceding the sleeper bus from Siem Reap to Saigon. 
Misadventure ~ The bus ride to Luang Prabang
Beer ~ Laos Beer Dark
Airport ~ I hate Guangzhou so much but maybe that’s why it should win. But Saigon, only because of that bittersweet sickeningly lovey airport goodbye. 
Tuk-Tuk Ride ~ Cambodia… from the airport to the inner city
Bus Ride ~ technically a manic mini-van ride, but Phnom Penh to Siem Reap
English speakers ~ Cambodians 

Relavent Acronyms
VIP ~ Vietnamese in Power
LID ~ Lao in Docility
CAM ~ Cambodian Action Man
MIM ~ Man in a Mask 

this was the highlight of my teaching career in korea thus far.  i taught a 10-day english camp to 17 students, with a different theme for each day. we met 4 hours a day, practicing english through different games, songs, dances, and role-playing, and other activities.  it was so much fun, an experience i will never forget.

the set-up~
The camp theme I chose was Angry Birds, because i know they looooove that game.  There were 5 teams ~  each was assigned an “angry bird” mascot.  The kids named their teams: 1. King Pig’s Gold Eggs 2. Girl’s Team 3. Korea 4. Kind Bird 5. Yellow Bird.  I made a poster board imitating the Angry Birds game ~ The teams that displayed good behavior and participation would move closer to hitting the king pigs.  5 steps forward → hit the pig → 1 golden egg.  At the end of camp, the team with most golden eggs got a prize (each member received a king-sized snickers bar).  Each student also colored and wrote their name on a pair of wooden chopsticks ~ these were drawn at random if there are no volunteers (did not use very often.)  I also gave the students a scrapbook type book to collect their worksheets and artwork. This was great because by the end of the camp they had a nice collection of art and pieces that show off their improving english ability :) 

day 1~ it’s nice to see you again
theme: self-introduction
topics: greetings, past tense, all-about-me 

highlights: the first activity was “how do you feel about english?” on the white board, i drew a spectrum: “i’m bad at speaking english ——— i’m okay at speaking english ———- i’m good at speaking english.”  we shut the lights and students closed their eyes.  one student at a time went up to the board and placed a post it note on the spectrum where they believed their english ability to be.  as expected, there were post it notes all over the board, displaying the wide range of confidence in english ability.  this is how i introduced the importance of respect and kindness ~ considering my hopes for this to be a speaking intensive class, i needed to emphasize the importance of thinking about how others feel before making potentially rude comments. this class, we also went over colloquial greeting phrases, role played, we made posters, played “two truths and a lie,” and all About Me Books, which were used to introduce ourselves to the class.

 Team “Kind Bird” 
  
Team “King Pig’s Gold Eggs” ~ they ended up winning the golden egg prize 

day 2~ meet my family
theme:  family and gratitude
topics: the giving tree, family trees, descriptive words, poetry

highlights: we read and discussed the giving tree and then the students made their own family tree.  next to the family member, they wrote down something this person has given them. after we practiced words to describe people (physical and personality traits), they revisited their tree to add descriptions of each family member.  Then we played the game Guess Who, which I have as a PowerPoint game… they loveddd this and wanted to keep playing… so we played for about 40 minutes, double the time i thought they’d want to practice adjectives ^^

 reading the giving tree
 guess who! life size ㅋㅋ 

day 3~ butterflies in my stomach
theme:  body and mind
topics:  fives senses, body parts, expressing physical feelings 

highlights: this was possibly the smoothest and most fun day. to get them moving, we started with simon says, of course.  we made monster bodies ~  a student would draw a shape on the board.  that’s the monsters body.  then another student would come to the front and say a missing body part they want to draw. they’d roll a dice, and whatever # it lands on is the # of said body part to be drawn. we made two monsters, which we named medusa and ET. we also played a speed game.  2 students would face the board, which had magnets on body parts.  they couldn’t see me.  i’d point to one of my body parts. the rest of class says the body part. the students up front must race to grab the correct body part off the board. very fun~~ then! to learn the 5 senses, in teams they had to close their eyes and guess sounds. then, they took turns ~ i blindfolded one person from each team, and they guessed objects by touch or smell. 
 

 my simon says masters
  drawing monsters
 who’s next??
 speed game

 ”guess what i’m making you touch~” ”trust me.”

day 4 ~ who’s the best?
theme: comparisons & favorites
topics: -er adjectives, opinions, reasoning 

highlights: first we played a family feud computer game, which didn’t really have anything to do with the theme, but it was sooo much fun ~ a great ice breaker and defnitely makes speaking english fun. since americans were surveyed, it’s a good window into american culture, and the students also have to think of creative answers so it gets their brain moving.  then, after a quick ~er adjective lesson, we listened to the song and watched the music video “Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better” (which they kept humming for the rest of the day). They completed a fill in the blanks partner sheet using the song lyrics.  Then I showed a PPT with pictures and they had to compare the things in the pictures. Another great activity was a Blindfolded Map activity. Which is basically the equivalent to playing a good old fashioned game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, only using sticky-tabs and a world map.  I taped a big map of the world on the whiteboard. Next to it I wrote the prompt “I want to go to…… because……” Each student came up, was blindfolded, I spun them in circles (to add to the excitement), and they placed a sticky somewhere on the map.  They inserted where they landed into the dialogue provided, and voila. they loved it. the kids thought it was hilarious when someone “landed” in the ocean.  For the last period, the students interviewed each other, asking each other subjective questions that required reasoning (Why do you go to school? Do you like ice cream better than cake? Why?)

day 5 ~ when i grow up
theme: goals and aspirations
topics: future tense “i will…”, New Years goals, inventions 

highlights: heads up 7 up practicing dialogue “Will you…?” “I will….”,  After teaching about western New Years culture, each student made new years goals. And then, each group made posters with their resolutions.  my favorite: “i will drink soju more.” ~ my boy student 제현 (jayhyun). the next period, i showed them pictures of funny/cool/silly inventions. then they made their own inventions.  sentence prompts exercised the use of future tense ‘will’ e.g., ‘my inventional will help….’ and ‘my invention will cost…’ The best student invention, definitely, “the computer eyes” ~ you can project and see a personal computer screen using your eyes, but no one else can see it.

And on this day a student’s mother bought fried chicken lunch for the class, so my lesson was happily cut short :)

 i will grow taller/higher ~ #1 answer

day 6 ~ may i take your order?
theme: food and restaurants!
topics: food from around the world, restaurant vocabulary, how to make sandwiches

highlights: first i read the very hungry caterpillar, then we watched this random youtube video i found called Kimchi Warrior. I used this as a hook to teach them how to make kimchi in English ( they did not know it was cabbage).  they made their own restaurants, menus, and ordered from each other.  we also reviewed manners at a restaurant and important/fun phrases to know.  like “my mouth is watering” and “enjoy your meal!” then, using bread, mayo, mustard, ham, cheese, and tomatos, we made sandwiches!!! they were delicious. another very successful lesson~

day 7 ~ i wish it were spring
theme: seasons and weather
topics: weather adjectives, season vocabulary, “do you like…?”

highlights: matching powerpoint game.  human bingo ~ students had a bingo board with an activity in each box (e.g. baseball), and had to walk around and ask friends ”do you like [activity]?” until they got three bingos.  they went a little crazy during this, racing to be the fastest and just saying “Yes” to all the questions. Still fun times.  Then we role played.  and played a speed game in which I showed 1 member of their group a sentence, and that member had to run to back to the group and recite the sentence to the group who then had to write it correctly on the whiteboard.  very successful. 

day 8 ~ animals in hollywood
theme: animal skits
topics: animals, mad-lib script, performances

highlights: i read a story about animals without showing the pictures in the book. the students had to draw and color what they imagined. then i showed funny cat video which they LOVED and wanted to see again and again during the breaks (see here: http://youtu.be/SUNmLuNdiL8) we also played “how many animals?”: i play music and they walked around the room;  when the music stops, i show them an animal, they ask “how many animals?” i give a number.  they must get into group of that number.  (so if i said 4, they would get into groups of 4). students who are not in a group must sit out :( then i split the class in half (7 and 7 ~ i was sure to have at least 2 advanced and outgoing kids in each group because 2 roles required a lot of speaking). I gave them a skit i tweaked called The Big Mouthed Frog with fill in the blanks so they could personalize their script.  After they made their script, they made animal masks, taped onto a chopstick.  They practiced their skits and performed them.  I was so proud of them!!! so good. 

a drawing based on the story i read

 

day 9 ~ slide to the left 
theme: directions & imperatives 
topics: giving directions, following directions, commands 

highlights: we played a maze flash game i found on the internets ~ each group had to tell me what direction to go. another activity: the class had to direct a blindfolded student to find the choco-pie i hid somewhere in the classroom.  we did this 5 times.  next, students made their own maps and asked each other for directions.  they practiced “i’m lost, how do i go to…?” I taught them the Cha Cha Slide and we did the dance ^^ a great and fun way to learn to follow directions.  after, in pairs students made a board game ~ they write commands in each space. they’d tell the partner to do the command in the space they land on. lastly, Don’t _________! Game.  Kids walk around and play rock paper scissor ~ the winner commands the loser not to do something.  Loser follows command until they beat another student.

 cha cha slide

day 10 ~ i feel excited!
theme: emotions and feelings
topics: emotion vocabulary, secrets, review, & conclusion

highlights:  Post secret: Students given 2 index cards, on which they write 2 secrets.  One has to follow structure “I am __[emotion]___ because…” and the other is free response.  I got some really thoughtful cards.  Then we did a review game on the computer of everything we learned in winter camp.  Lastly… the end of camp party!! They wrote evaluations, and we gave prizes to the best attendance, group with the most “golden eggs, we ate snacks and took photos.  so amazing :)

at the end i got really cute evaluations and snacks, stickers, & juices from some thoughtful students. AND one of my students gave a necklace… it’s this blue string with a small plastic blue jewel on it~~ it’s sooo ugly and adorable. i can’t wait to wear it.  he had always reminded me of my cousin Angelo when he was younger… so its likely i consciously liked him the best but in secret so you wouldn’t be able to tell at all…(huh? what? i don’t favor my students? what are you talking about…?)  ah! ah ah. so cute. this is him:

 

some evaluations:

so yes,
my korean students are hilarious and so bright. winter camp was amazing
thus far, the highlight of my career in korea.  with such a small group of kids and a relatively extended amount of time (when compared to the normal 40 minutes a week during the semester), it was nice and easy to get to know all my students. knowing that i enjoy spending my whole day teaching and learning from my students also assures me that i’m on the right career path. every day was so pleasant. if i stay 1 more year, i’m really looking forward to having the opportunity to do it again. 

1. What are/were the most important goals/objectives for your Fulbright project proposal?  

• Inspire my students.  Considering my career path towards elementary education, the main goal of my Fulbright project is teaching-oriented. I want to gain teaching experience, learn from my students, and grow as a teacher. My goal is to teach creatively and create strong bonds with my students. To me, building self-confidence and cultural awareness is equally important to teaching English to my students. I feel I’ve achieved this goal, and hope to continue teaching creatively and inspiring my students.
• Learn Korean language.  Learning Korean language is another objective of mine. I hoped to feel comfortable speaking basic daily conversation, and speak as much Korean as possible and not be afraid of making mistakes. This would help me immerse in Korean culture and communicate and establish relationships with those around me. After Korean classes at summer orientation, I planned to continue personal language study.
• Cultural exchange. Another goal of mine focused on cultural exchange. While building relationships with my co-teachers and family members, I hoped to teach them about America while learning about Korean culture and values.

2. Please comment specifically on the progress of your project to date, as it relates to the goals and objectives of your grant proposal.

I’ve made more progress than I could’ve dreamed! I’m fortunate to be placed in an elementary school in which I have complete academic freedom. I’ve had the opportunity to develop my own curriculum and lesson plans, which I feel creatively engage my students. This has been more challenging than expected. Yet, after seeing how my students have grown in confidence, awareness, and language ability, I’m certain it’s worthwhile. At times it feels hard to make strong bonds with students because of large class sizes (30-35 students/class). Also, I only meet with each class once a week for 40 minutes. Occasionally this makes it hard to feel like I matter in students’ lives. Yet, many conversations and letters I’ve received from students remind me that it’s possible to make a difference despite these structural barriers.

I’ve also made strides in my objective to learn Korean. I took a 2.5-month intermediate Korean course during the winter at Chonnam University. I learned so much in that class—I even scored the highest grade, and consequently was asked to give a 5-minute speech at the graduation. This was one of my proudest moments in Korea, as public speaking has always been a challenge for me. I will take the next class level in Spring. I also made many Korean friends, so informal language exchange also helps improve my Korean. I still have much work to do in learning Korean. Obviously, it’s very difficult, and I still have trouble with confidence. Often I know how to speak, but I have difficulties finding the courage to speak with strangers. I will work on this during the remainder of my time in Korea.  

Lastly, as hoped, I’ve built great relationships with my co-teachers, family, and other people I’ve met in Korea. Cultural exchange naturally takes place everyday. I feel I share American culture and help create positive perceptions of America.  Everyday I learn something new.

3. Please comment on your travel to and arrival in your host country. Did you experience any particular difficulties? Was there anything special that made your adjustment easier?

The 1-month orientation program was great. I established long lasting networks and friendships. The Orientation Committee team and program really helped facilitate my adjustment into a new culture and life in Korea. I am very thankful to the program for more than adequately preparing me for my grant year teaching in Korea.

4. What were your strategies for getting acquainted with the people and the culture?

My main strategy was keeping an open mind: understanding that things may be different from what I’m used to, but instead of questioning unfamiliar practices or values, try to understand and embrace them. I always kept in mind that I was in a foreign country and not my own and thus would be inevitably seen as different/a foreigner. I continued to remind myself that in spite of this, I can find similarities with others and create lasting relationships.

5. What kind of changes did you make in order to adjust to the local culture?

I used the same strategies for getting acquainted with the people and the culture (noted above). However, I didn’t find it very hard to adjust to Korea or Gwangju at all. I found nothing particularly shocking or so different that it threw me off equilibrium. I’ve heard a lot of warnings about needing to be “more indirect,” but I’ve been a very straightforward and direct person, so I haven’t had a problem with that. Also, concerning the social hierarchy, I haven’t found it troubling. I personally find it natural to defer to and respect those who are older or hold a higher position—but I understand that’s just how I am. Fortunately, it has been a helpful character trait/value to hold while living in this country, perhaps more so than it would be in America. The only big (and for me, extremely difficult) change I had to make was to constantly speak slowly. I’m a fast talker, especially when I am passionate about something, so I’ve had to adjust my communication strategies. All in all, I continue to be amazed by the Korean culture and want to participate in it.

6. What types of safety issues were prevalent in the country (problems with diet, pollution, crime, etc.) and what safety precautions would you recommend?

Concerning crime, I feel very safe in Korea. I would recommend taking the same safety precautions as you would in your home country. I also recommend keeping close attention to diet…I think it’s easy to lose weight in Korea, and sometimes I’m concerned with not getting all of my nutrients (it is common to eat the same thing everyday all week). As a foreign woman, Korean men may sometimes come off as very strong and persistent when they are interested in you. You just need to keep a leveled head and not put yourself in any situations you’d feel uncomfortable in. But I believe that’s probably something you should be aware of in any country.

7. Please comment on other aspects of your social and cultural adjustment.

I believe I’ve commented on everything in the questions above. I really love Korea, my city Gwangju, my host school Bullo Elementary School, and I haven’t had much trouble adjusting. Of course at times it can get tiresome being stared at and viewed as a foreigner. But it’s something you learn to get used to. Everyone has been nothing but kind to me.

8. Other comments? 

The Fulbright program is truly amazing. The U.S. Embassy personnel are helpful, friendly, and engaging. There is a great support system here. I am having a life-changing experience and am grateful for this opportunity everyday.

ENOUGH PHOTOS 2 MAKE YR HEAD SPIN

this is for you mom <3

so my last few weeks of the fall semester ended smoothly (tho i must admit out of exhaustion and lack of creativity i opted to watch the polar express with all my classes instead of plan a last-day lesson…) and from december 22 - january 7 i was reunited with my mom and dad for the first time in 6 months.  we had a really magical time.  yes. magicalㅡㅡ

first, they came to gwangju.
we had a nice relaxing christmas together.
in hotel hiddink.  where we were outrageously popular among the [2 male] receptionists. 
my dad and i pricked our fingers and learned our blood type.
i’m b+ and he’s b- <3~~~
we luv our blood type. “proud to b a b <3” - me 

this is my my parents meeting my friends:

my parents meeting my host fam:

also, on christmas eve i went to my first korean wedding~ for kim minjung, a teacher at my school (my second korean will be my own…duh)

then, namju met us in gwangju (남쥬 in 광쥬 ㅋㅋㅋㅋ). and brought jamin!! T5!! it was such a great reunion.  magical.  im really running out of positive adjectives that could convey the magnitude of magic that occurred during this time frame, so please excuse me while i overuse “magical”

i bought new glasses [which look exactly like my old ones]  they didn’t want me in the pictureㅠ

and then namju drove us back up to seoul, where we spent 3 nights~ i kept her out till the wee hours of the morning so the car ride was interesting to say the least… sorry ju~ i just love to play ㅠ *cantstopwontstop~~ we spent 2 nights in 강남 (gangnam) at namju’s friends jun taek’s sweet APT.  and then we spent the night before our flight to thailand in incheon. 

 met old good friends soojin and daeok ^^

 met namju’s family! her mother is so kind

and THEN…. it was off to THAILAND! first stop: bangkok… tuk tuks, shopping, boat ride up the river, lazy buddha (or maybe it’s ‘reclining’?), dinner cruise, had a ball of a new years with the lady boys, ate like champions, drank like champions, etc.

  dad’s so funnie wrong way mom ^^me and the ladiez    

NEW YEARS IN BANGKOK~~~ 

~~~AFTER A FEW DAYS IN BANGKOK, OFF TO PHUKET…. hookah on the beach, trip to the island where they shot the man with the golden gun, swimming and breakfasting on rooftops, and as in bangkok…. massages for days (or 2 hours, everyday, to be precise)

 ill say it again~~ if he didnt want his picture taken he shouldn’t have sat next to me^^ (or let me sit next to him…)  about to go parasailing  me in the sky~~  new sun glasses epic 

AND i made it back to korea in one piece~~

although the first part of my winter vacation has come to an end… there’s still 2much more 2come to stop and sob over the end of a magical era….

things to look forward to:

1. my up&coming blog post about my beautifully successful 10-day 5th grade english winter camp
2. my backpacking trip through SE Asia with Coco~ Vietnam, Laos, & Cambodia~ 3 countries 2 back packs, 2 fine ladies, 1 route…… & 0 experience.
3. my decision about whether to stay in Korea for 1 more year and continue my scholarship as a teacher, or return to New York and go to grad school..to start….my non-korean…..real… old-person…life….ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

y’all. my english is deteriorating 4real this time.  this blog has been proof of its steady decline……

this past Saturday I spent the night in Damyang with Jake, Jungho, Junsoo, Changhyeon, Sejeong, and Luna.  We rented out this apartment (which is basically a living room with a built in kitchen and no beds), barbequed 삼겹살 (samgyeopsal), and drank an outrageous amount (in moderation, folks^^).  Damyang is about 45 minutes Northeast of Gwangju.  It was perfect.  Good company.  Snow on the ground.  I can’t really explain much of what happened.   So I’ll just post photos here:

First we went shopping for supplies~~ 2much food alcohol (and tissues?)

소주, 카스, 맥스, 옥수수차, 사이다, 포도쥬스, 복분자

we brought back the halloween glasses~ can’t stop won’t stop

dinner time!!!
 
we went on many walks / jungho and i got lost 

maybe it’s december or maybe it’s the holiday season or maybe it’s just finally that time of my stay here, but the past few weeks i’ve been feeling a little blue.  위로워.  but while i thought today would be the same as the others~~ it turned out to be special.  first, I volunteered at Mudeung Library, and read books and played games with the cutest kiddies from ages 3-9.   they were so adorable.  And then the fourth graders at my school held a music concert.. which at first i wasn’t too excited to go to since I had to rush back from the library… but it turned out to literally revive me.  i felt the holiday warmth, and so much love from my students.  they were all so surprised and happy to see me.  the looks on their faces when they saw me warmed my heart.   (ending corny vibes////now.)

I can’t believe my Korean language final exam is next tuesday!!! It feels like only weeks ago I was writing here that classes were just about to start! I’m the only one in my class who has not been absent.  just saying ^^ 

every tues and thurs before korean class, jake and i come to this coffeeshop.  the owner is superrrr nice.  he makes cute cream designs on my cappuccinos. he treats us well. probably because we’re always there.

찻눈 왔누나!  the first snow!! outside my language class building @ cheondae

then… my parents come on December 22!!!   we chill in gwangju until christmas.  christmas eve I will be going to “my” (friend’s) first wedding EVER. One of the teachers at my school, the 6th grade English teacher 김민정 (Kim Minjung), is getting married~!i’m glad the first wedding i”ve been personally invited to is going to be a korean one (a foreshadow, perchance???)  After Xmas, we will meet NAMJU! and hang out in Seoul and incheon for a few days.  Then BAM, December 30th i’m off to Thailand for 1 week with my parents.  I’m so excited. 

모두 내 친구들 보고싶다. 

merry christmas. 메리 크리스마스 ^___^

only more love to come~

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last Saturday I went to a thanksgiving dinner with fellow fulbright teachers, the KAEC staff, the new US Ambassador Sung Kim (who is the first Korean-American US Ambassador to Korea), and other members of the embassy. first we went on a tour of the museum, saw a traditional korean music performance, listened to the ambassador speak, and then feasted on an amazing amazing amazing thanksgiving meal, with everything you can imagine.   SO GOOD.  

 
it was really cool to have the opportunity to sit down with the ambassador and have a legit casual conversation with him.  he’s a funny man.  very nice. 

after the dinner, we went to 홍대 (hongdae~ a fun university area in seoul) to play.  whilst pregaming for partytime, i luckily stumbled upon a nice korean boy~ who is just the cutest and funniest.  it was one of those weird magnetic attractions.  bam. he is a fashion photographer in seoul and speaks the cutest broken english in all of asia.  i will meet him again tomorrow in incheon. 

also~  last friday, i went to support jake’s special education students in an elementary school music performance.  these kids were soooo cute and talented!!!!

끝났어~~

gem

For the school newspaper:

I love teaching at Bullo Elementary School!  I have been teaching here for 3 months, and it has been an amazing experience! I am really happy to be here. I teach many classes, but each class has its own unique character, enthusiasm and intelligence. Bullo students are very smart and creative. Many are also friendly, funny and make me smile. I was so surprised that so many students remembered my birthday!! That was very thoughtful… I feel lucky. Bullo teachers are also kind and welcoming. Everyone at Bullo has made it easier for me to adjust to my new life in Korea.

Outside of school, I love living in Gwangju. In my spare time, I like to travel around Korea.  I have traveled to many Korean cities, including Seoul, Gyeongju, Busan, and Daejeon. All of these places are nice, but I am always so happy to come back home to Gwangju.  Gwangju is a special city.  It feels intimate and warm… even though the weather is getting really, really cold!!  In Gwangju, there are many nice areas with coffee shops, stores, and restaurants. I love to explore these different places with my friends. Gwangju is a very fashionable place! I also enjoy taking walks on all the different mountains.  Korea’s seasons are truly beautiful.  I especially love the colors during the Fall season.  

One challenge I face while living in Korea is the language barrier.  Sometimes it’s hard not being able to fully express my thoughts. There are many things I want to say to people.  There are a lot of people I want to communicate with, but can’t.  So, twice a week I take Korean Language classes at Chonnam University. And I am lucky that many of my Korean friends, including Bullo teachers, help me study Korean!

Sometimes, I also miss my family and New York.  But my parents are coming to Korea to visit me for Christmas… I am excited about that! All of the friendly faces at school make it easier for me to live away from my family.  I also live with a great and loving homestay family, who make me feel like I’m at home.

So as you can see, living in Gwangju and working at Bullo has been a great experience.  I’m proud of this school.  I tell everyone I know, “I love my students!!” I’m excited about the rest of the time I will be here!

ohhhhhhh how guilty i feel for not writing in this for so long… but so much is happening so fast and everything continues to amaze me.  rather than writing i think i’ll just post pictures & provide semi-brief explanations.  there’s too much, just too much.

 i befriended the bellboy

 i paid 1,000원 (~$1) to hit this large bell

 
Us in front of the mums of hampyeong

 BRUNCH!

my boys in 5-6 ~ the one of the right is the one who wrote my song/chant

5-6 middle row!

oh also, since we last posted I…

1. became very good friends with 2 korean doctors Junsoo and Jungho (who star in some of the previous photos)

2. Spent a weekend in busan, celebrated 2 friends’ birthdays, fell in love with my first Korean boy (who is from Seoul), and saw The Artist at the International Film Festival
 


3. participated in a scavanger hunt (in which i made kimchi!):

4. played with my fatty baby bro

5. learned Ocarina with some teachers
 

6. went to my FIRST baseball game EVER
 

since my last post, i’ve just been kickin’ it in gwangju. srsly. it’s an amazing city &&i have amazing friends. 2much fun.

Teaching is going well, yet is very different from what I expected. first off, dont get me wrong i LOVE my kids… SO adorable and funny.  I live in a very rich neighborhood~~most of the kids are high ability, spoiled, and most go to academy.  while some are very engaged, others are VERY chatty and hard to calm down.  At first if students were being disrespectful I’d often stop my lesson to ask them to stop.  Then I realized that I was disrupting the flow of my class for the students who are genuinely interested.  So, i’ve been working on tuning out the chattiness while teaching and learning from those who are engaged.  Morever, i didn’t expect I’d have 20 classes with 30 students each per wk (~600 students total), and I didn’t really expect that I would be standing in front of a classroom for 40 minutes waving my arms around emphatically.  I guess I had the American elementary school system engrained in my head as the norm… with circle time and read alouds. not the case— it’s hard to do several activities with so many students, and the classrooms are set up like high school classrooms. while i’m happy I don’t have to teach from a textbook, it’s constant work to plan 2-3 creative lessons per week that all touch upon what i consider important for kids here to learn.  and then i have 40 minutes to implement it, and it’s hard to know who my message really hit home for or not. ~~lastly, i was honored the school gave me the big responsibility of choosing the English textbook for next semester ^^

A few of the 6th graders asked to interview me for a project. While I was expecting them to ask me “What’s your favorite color?  What’s your favorite movie?” They sat me down and blew me away with thought-provoking questions.  ”Why did you come to Korea? How have your expectations been met? What’s the difference between teaching Korean students and American students? What’s your biggest challenge in the classroom?  What’s your biggest classroom with facing any cultural differences?”  Kids are briiiight.

Now moving on. While I sometimes feel my homestay lacks in intimacy and family-time because of hectic schedules, i’m very OK with the unlimited freedom and privacy i’m granted.  More importantly, my coworkers COMPLETELY make up for the fact that some of my homestay expectations were not met (family trips, intimacy, etc.).  my coteachers are so fun, kind, and are DTC (Down to Chill).  Last week 5-6 of us drove 1 hour to Gochang to see Seonunsa temple and its famous flowers, and then we went out to eat.  Apparently it was our first Health Day, which we have every month.  After checking out the temple, we went for dinner~~chicken and beer….not quiet sure why we call it Health Day ^^  Then, the following evening we had a Thank You party for the staff who threw us a Welcome Party a few weeks ago.  We did the same exact thing: painful volleyball games; delicious dinner with a soju surplus; noraebang where we all danced and sang songs; and drinks at a coffee shop to end the night. I observed why my fellow new teachers got so wasted: in the middle of dinner they leave our table and go around to all of the older teacher’s tables to offer soju and take a shot with them…. that’s a lot of shots. lets just say 2 vommed and 1 passed out at the noraebang and his whereabouts were not known until the following morning. (for the record: neither were me.)

GOCHANG:

getting meta.  the red flowers are famous. 

MY DESK:

And then there are my ETA friends. 2much fun.  First, a story for the record: last weekend Jake and Paddy went out and the first place we went to turned out to be a Fish joint, so we left before ordering and felt rude. We went across the street into what we didn’t realize was a Gentlemen’s Club.  After two skantily clad women directed us to our silk couches, we looked around and realized I was the only woman aside from the ladies working there.  Yes, this was a place where men go to drink and pay for the company of pretty women.  We felt awkward enough so decided not to leave ~~ ordered outrageously expensive drinks and a fruit platter (in Korea you must order food while drinking, partly bc the alcohol is so cheap). We sat back and soaked it in.

This past weekend our friends came to Gwangju to celebrate Anskar’s birthday. About ~20 people came to our city… it was very fun hosting but also super exhausting…. lets just say sleep barely happened, gwangju has sick clubs, and I’m still temporarily deaf in both ears.   also, I really love korean boys and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to genuinely love a white man again. 

HS dance comp.  korean guys are amazing at dancing. i was really happy this happened.

coco ashlee and lucy~~ visiting from Daegu + Gumi.

there’s too much to write about and i’m exhausted from wknd & teaching and thus have very little motivation to tell you about my life and thoughts in detail.  sorry.  maybe if i write more frequently this won’t happen.  jake and i are starting language classes at Chonnam University next week… Tuesdays and thursdays from 7-8:50. busy busy busy beez.  maybe investing hours of my day to text cute boys in korean is enough practice.  We’ll see.

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