It has been way too long since my last post, and I sincerely apologize. My world has been hectic the past few weeks, to say the least, but I have emerged from the craziness as a high school English teacher in Naju, South Korea!! I made it! That's right, I am now firmly planted in my new hometown of Naju, a small city in the south western part of South Korea, right next to the city of Gwangju.
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| The view of Naju from my office at school |
All of this probably means very little to many of you, but just know that my town is famous for very large and delicious pears (not in season currently) and for having a huge gathering of Catholic followers due to some local folklore about a statue of the Virgin Mary that would cry blood from time to time. I won't get into the legitimacy of these claims (about the statue, not the pears. The pears are real), but I will vouch for the fact that my town is very nice and has begun to grow on me. It certainly isn't NYC or Seoul, but it has everything I could possibly need and is filled with some very charming, down-to-earth people. Some of those people include my lovely Korean host family!
---My Host Family!
I have a mom named Jinhee (34) and a dad named Jino (39), and last but most certainly first in the household is my 7-year-old little host sister Heeoh (the combination of the last two syllables of my parents' names). They live in a wonderful house about 9-10 kilometers outside of Naju, or just a 10 minute bus ride from town. I have my own room on the first floor and a personal bathroom on the second floor. They have been so kind and welcoming since my arrival, taking great strides to make sure that I feel welcome and comfortable at all times. |
| My (messy) room! |
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| The living room/entry way (view from my room) |
Jinoh plays the guitar and is a city official in the next town over. Jinhee works (though I don't know her job position) and little Heeoh goes to kindergarten. Heeoh and I hit it off almost immediately, and she has become much more comfortable with me over the course of this past week, speaking what English she knows confidently and freely.
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| What a cutie! |
---금성고등학교 (Geumseong High School)
As for my school and settling in, I taught my first week of classes starting last Monday. The first day was stressful, fast, and rocky. I was under the impression that the first day would be for observations and getting used to my surroundings in the school, so I made the fatal mistake of only bringing my notebook and some school supplies for my desk and leaving my laptop for first day lesson materials at home. One of my co-teachers said he would take me to the period three class to introduce me, and I went along blissfully unaware of that into which I was about to be thrown. Why, oh WHY, didn't I heed the cardinal rule of Fulbright: ALWAYS prepare for the worst. Well, I learned my lesson soon enough...Here's how it went down. The teacher said very briefly, "As you all know, we have a new native speaker at the school. His name is David Stewart. Why don't you give him a big hand. (half-hearted applause). David, why don't you introduce yourself." To which I cheerfully replied, "Sure!" and walked up onto the little stage in front of the class. As I began my improvised introduction, the teacher began to LEAVE THE CLASSROOM. I stopped him by blurting out, "Wait, am I teaching the WHOLE PERIOD?" He smiled and said, "Yep!" and walked out.
There I was. Alone. Sweating. Empty-handed. At a loss for words. Sweating.
Luckily, my orientation training and my memory of some emergency lessons kicked in and I was able to pull out a somewhat decent lesson. If there is one skill in life that I have fortunately always possessed, it is my ability to improvise - a skill, I am quickly figuring out, that is an essential tool for all teachers to have. I had the students introduce themselves on a piece of paper once I finished my verbal introduction, and then I played a sort of game where I read off the facts of one student's sheet and had the class guess which student I was describing.
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| One of my favorite student responses so far: Zoro Sisters |
Due to nerves or just a lack of energy, they didn't get too into the game but did follow my directions well. In the end, the class finished and I taught another immediately there after followed by another in the afternoon.
My first day done left me feeling a few feet shorter in terms of confidence, but I came back hard the next day with an intro lesson Powerpoint and fresh battle wounds from the day before to keep me focused. The second day went MUCH more smoothly, and I enjoyed both of my classes that day. Every day got better and I refined and tweaked my lesson as the week progressed. Students even began approaching me in the halls for small, nervous conversations. The rumor around school is that I am a bit strict but that I explain things in a way that are easily understood. I couldn't be happier with the rumors, my co-teachers assure me.
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| One of my students wants to study psychology. I mentioned my best friend is getting her PhD in Psych, and this is what I received the next day. |
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| So impressive and sweet! I forwarded the note to my friend and will give the student her response on Monday :) |
---One Week Down, One Year to Go...
All in all, my first week was nothing like I expected, mostly due to the fact that I tried to come in with no expectations. I am happy with it though.I finished it off right last night by meeting my fellow ETA's from Naju to have our inaugural night on the town. Danielle (second from the left in the picture) knew of a good Makgeolli (Rice wine) bar in town, and we loved it! We ordered some Korean "pancakes" called Pajeon to go with our Makgeolli. Pajeon is a delicious food you get while drinking that has fried batter mixed with a variety of vegetables or meats. It comes in many different forms. We got the Kimchi (spicy cabbage dish served with virtually every Korean meal) Pajeon, which was a good call. After 8 bottles of Makgeolli, 2 large Kimchi Pajeon , and a bunch of free sunny side up eggs (yeah haha), our total bill was just around 30,000 won or $30, give or take a little (SO CHEAP!). We even met some nice Korean people in the bar who agreed (or insisted - I can't recall) that we meet them again this Friday at the same bar to practice English/Korean. It should be a good time.
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| Pic of Pajeon from the Internet, but it does the job. SO GOOD! It's really large and you split it with the table. |
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| Naju Crew from left to right: Sarah, Danielle, Me (duh), Anya, and Brett |
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| Makgeolli is delicious and very subtle, yet VERY potent. It sneaks up on you... |
Last night I built some major 정 (Jeong) last night with my host family by attending the grandfather's birthday dinner. Fyi, Jeong is a Korean sense of closeness or bonding that is built over time between people. It can be built over time spent together, meals shared, doing nice things for one another, drinking together (especially for men), and just showing you care about the person. I felt so blessed to be invited and accepted at a nice dinner out where we ate poisonous blowfish (exciting!) and had delicious sweet potato cake. Fun fact: Koreans eat cake with chopsticks, and I totally agree with the method. A wonderful night!
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| I know how to sing Happy Birthday in Korean now! Just as catchy. Grandfather in the red polo, grandmother in the middle, great grandmother on the right. SUCH a nice family! |
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| Sweet potato is a dessert here and very common. This cake was delicious though it took a couple of bites to get used to. |
All the best,
David~
