Wednesday night we went out for REAL Korean bbq (not Vancouver Korean bbq!) and it was pretty good. There's not as much for me to eat seeing as I don't eat meat, but Jin (our counselor) ordered me some shrimp. Imagine my surprise when they brought me a platter of whole shrimp, about 3 inches long, eyes and legs and everything. Too bad I didn't have my camera! For those of you who don't know, I stopped eating meat because I picture the animal and it makes me feel queasy. So yeah, shrimp with eyes is not so much my thing. But, when in Korea do as Koreans do... I popped those babies on the bbq, dug out the meat myself, and after almost gagging a few times (joking) got used to it. Delicious!
So it's official, I'm a teacher!
Wennie asked me how it feels, and I said I feel like I'm playing dress up and acting like a teacher. I really do feel like I'm playing pretend. Kind of like when I was little and I used to teach my stuffed animals using the chalk board in the basement.
I finally taught by myself on Friday, so far so good. My first class had 13 kids, and it's what they call a Basic 5 class. Their English is pretty limited, to the point where I asked one girl to read something out loud and she had no idea what I was trying to ask her. They're pretty quiet which is challenging, so with this class it's all about actions and making a fool of myself, which I have no problem doing. Hopefully I can pull them out of their shells.
My second class of the day was Basic 6, and it's surprising how much better their English is. I really like this class. It only has 5 kids right now, and they love to talk and participate. With both Basic 5 and Basic 6 I have to spend about 45 minutes reading 4 pages of a book that has maybe 5 sentences per pate, so it's soooo much easier when the kids want to talk. I'm definitely going to have to get creative in the classroom though. I'm going to die of boredom if I have to spend a year reading the same books and asking the same questions to different groups of kids.
Here's a book report I just finished marking, look at her drawings! For a 10 year old that's pretty impressive.
My last class was a senior class, and they sure can talk! Lots of questions like "Where are you from?", "What do you like?". I've heard that senior classes can ask a lot of crazy questions, but they were easy on me. The material is a bit more interesting, and there's enough to cover that you have to watch the time to make sure you're not behind (where in the basic classes I'm struggling to fill the whole class).
So those are my Monday, Wednesday, Friday classes. Tuesday Thursday I have two 3 hour classes. I'll let you know how they go.
More news: Sounds like I'll be moving to a new apartment in July. The lease for this one is up then, and I'm more than happy to move to a new place. This one is so big! It also always feels like night, there is absolutely no natural light. And my director is going to look for a place where the fees are a bit lower (apparently right now with utilities, maintenance etc. I'll be paying around $200 a month, which is really high). I hope I still have a loft though, it feels like I have two rooms.
Other news: I opened a bank account! Very exciting. Next thing you know I'll be marrying a Korean and living here forever (just kidding mom). It does make me feel a bit more settled here, that's for sure.
Other than teaching and studying I haven't been up to anything yet. I think my life will be pretty boring until April when I write my exams and I'm done these courses. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to take any this summer... if anything I'm definitely not going to take 3.
Alright back to studying...
Ashley
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