feeling like a kid again.

Yesterday, I went to Lotte World with a group of teachers from the Incheon area. Lotte World is a huge amusement park in Seoul. Besides the typical attractions, there is also an ice skating rink, a huge shopping mall, a water park, a sports complex, and much more! We paid about $30 USD to get in and have access to any of the rides. We decided to start in the indoor section of the amusement park which had the more kid-friendly rides. The first one we decided to try was called The Giant Loop. It didn’t look too intimidating and we thought it would be a good test to see whether we were prepared for the more adventurous rides. Unfortunately, I think this ride ended up making us feel less secure about the other rides. The ride itself involved going forward and backward around one loop. It did not go fast. I think that is why is was so bad. The seats and shoulder restraints were not tight at all. When we flipped upside down, our butts would no longer be touching our seats. We were suspended uncomfortably in the air. Needless to say, it was still a fun ride and I was ready for more!

Throughout the day, we went on a 360 degree rollercoaster, a big drop (being dropped straight down at an unknown time), drunken baskets (sort of like a tilt-o-whirl or the teacups at Disneyland), the flume ride (like the log ride at Camp Snoopy), a 6-person raft ride in the dark, the Waikiki Wave ride, and my favorite, the gyro swing (a huge swinging apparatus that seats 30 or so people around in circle and swings back and forth really fast and also spins). Since yesterday was part of the “chuseok” holiday, the lines weren’t too bad. I don’t think we ever waited more than 45 minutes or so for a ride. By the end of the day, however, you could see how tired we all were.

We went back to Incheon together and ate dinner at an Indian restaurant called “First Nepal.” It was the best food I’ve had since I’ve been here. The portions were rather small for the price, but it was so nice to eat a different type of food. Typically, in America, I eat such a variety of foods within a week’s span (perhaps Italian, Chinese, and Thai). Here, however, it is Korean food every day. I love most of the food, but change is appreciated.

life at school.

I have been in Korea for about three weeks. At times, the days seem to drag on. For example, my contract limits me to teaching 22 hours/week. For me, this means twenty-two 50-minute class periods. The rest of my 40 hours are spent sitting at my desk, twiddling my thumbs, surfing the internet, preparing lessons, etc. The week doesn’t seem to fly by when I have to repeat the same lesson 18 times! However, it also feels like I just arrived in Korea…how could I already have finished two weeks of teaching?

I have been biking to school every day (except the very first day when it poured). I love waking up by pedaling down the uneven brick sidewalks swerving around all of the oblivious pedestrians. There really is something special to be said about riding a bike in a skirt too, some sort of unspoken feminine power. Once I am on my red cruiser headed home, suddenly everything negative that happened during the day seems to disintegrate. I just hope that the bike will last throughout the year…the sidewalks are so haphazard that I constantly fear a flat tire. I know the 15-minute bus route to my school, but it is generally crowded and costs about $1.75 roundtrip. Cheap, I know, but biking is even cheaper…especially when I didn’t even have to buy the bicycle!

My classes throughout the day vary by grade and gender. Some of my classes are co-ed and others are segregated by sex. The all-girl classes are definitely much easier to manage, but I do enjoy the challenge of entertaining 40 hormonal, 16-year-old boys. Having 40 students at a time is not as crazy as I thought it would be, but it does present a problem when the classroom is only so big. Once the kids sit down and pull their chairs out, I rarely have enough room to squeeze through and circulate the room and I do not like to be stuck up in the front at all times.

As for the content of my classes, I do not have to focus on grammar. The students already take at least two other English classes that focus on the logistics. My class is considered a conversational English class, so I am supposed to get the kids to speak as much as possible. With 40 students, speaking on an individual basis is futile, so group work becomes essential. After finishing my “about me” lesson last week, this week’s topic was “modes of transportation.” Eventually, we will be using the mock subway seats and ticket booth which were built into the classroom (see photos below).

front of my classroom

the fast food area of my classroom

I love the teachers at my school. Everyone is so friendly and so eager to learn English. I have gotten so many invitations to people’s houses and offers to accompany me around Korea. For example, on Monday, I went biking with a teacher whose English name is Lisa during our lunch break. We simply biked around the Song-do area. I was able to see some new sights and she was able to practice her English by conversing with me. I’ve also been invited to her house to celebrate “chuseok,” Korean Thanksgiving, this weekend. Whenever I mention a place that I would like to visit or something that I would like to do, the teachers offer to take me or allow me to join their family’s events, etc. It is flattering and welcoming and I am more than happy to stay busy with all of these activities.

Last week Friday, was our school festival. This meant that there were no classes. Instead, the students had set up exhibitions in the classrooms that they had been working on for several weeks. Some examples of the exhibitions included:
* a magic show
* a shooing range with a toy bow and arrow
* a haunted house
* a face/body painting room
* a dance club
*a pregnancy/contraceptive information booth
* a nail art room

It was very cool to see everything that the students had been working so hard to prepare. The best part about this festival was to see the maturity and responsibility displayed by all of the students. Everything Friday morning was student-directed. Many of the teachers simply sat in their offices or had to teach the seniors (who were not part of the festival since they are preparing for entry into the university). I could never imagine such an event happening in an American high school and being successful. Most students in the U.S. would just skip school or behave wildly without any adult supervision. The Korean students, however, took a lot of pride in all of their work and wanted to be a part of the school’s event that only happens once every two years.

The exhibitions were open in the morning. After lunch, everyone moved to the “Lifelong Education Center” since they have a large auditorium. The next part of the festival was all about performance and the students displaying their individual talents. To me, it seemed a lot like a talent show or the Pop Concert at Wausau West High School. Students sang, danced, acted, and played musical instruments. It was very entertaining for the first hour and a half, but after 4 whole hours, I was ready to go home. The worst part was that everything was in Korean, so I had use my imagination to figure out what was going on. I think the dancing was the most entertaining since dance is an international language.

my students dancing (a little risqué , eh?)

After the 4 hour performance, the teachers were all going to dinner together. I was expected to go since it was my first week here and not everyone had met me. I didn’t mind going because I knew the food would be delicious and the school was footing the bill! We went to a typical “galbi” restaurant, which is often called a Korean BBQ. The server brings many side dishes (the fancier the restaurant, the more side dishes) and a plate of raw meat. Built into the tables are grills where hot charcoal is placed. The smoke that is released during the cooking of the meat is sucked up by silver snake-like vents hanging from the ceiling. I am glad that I decided to eat red meat here in Korea because the “galbi” is sooooo delicious!

the photo on the left shows a japanese teacher (female) and my co-teacher, bo. the photo on the right shows me with a teacher (female) and a student (male).

"across the sea"

in my head, i have many great ideas and i put together eloquent sentences. however, when i open my mouth, the words i had been imagining don't always surface. articulating my thoughts so that an outsider can truly understand them is nearly impossible. at times like this, i often find song lyrics useful. music is poetry. today i can best relate my thoughts to parts of "across the sea" by weezer from the pinkerton album.

Why are you so far away from me?
I need help and you're way across the sea
I could never touch you - I think it would be wrong
I've got your letter
you've got my song

i am feeling rather solemn because yesterday evening i had received news that my best friend, samantha, had died. i am still shocked. she was only 22 years old, the same age as me, with so many dreams and goals to achieve. she was my inspiration. my guiding light. she changed my life in so many ways and now she is gone. and i am in korea. i couldn't be there with her at the end. of course i can think of all the wonderful times that we did share together, but why couldn't we have had just one more?

for those of you who do not know, samantha was one of my best friends. we met in 5th grade at lincoln elementary school. i remember our first get-together, we when were both in 6th grade. she lived in an apartment on jefferson street in wausau. we were both intrigued with each other as well as the latest technology...the internet! we would spend hours online together chatting with people and looking up things that we were both interested in. as time went on, i spent more and more time with sam and slept over at her house frequently. i remember baking together. and riding on the back of her wheelchair. walking pharaoh. wandering through the streets to matt gilmore's house. riding in the good ol' brown van together and eventually becoming the chauffeur.

i was fascinated by sam's eagerness and ambition. we rarely sat around and watched tv together. we were always going around town, attending events, or creating our own. with sam, i discovered many things, most more important than the internet. i discovered something within myself: a passion to work with people with disabilities. i love learning new things and it is so easy to do when someone is different from me. sam was more than willing to share her knowledge and first-hand experiences with me. i remember asking her once if she had the chance to not have muscular dystrophy, if she would take that 'opportunity.' her answer was strong and clear: no. she was who she was and she was happy with herself. that is more than i can say, even to this day. sam had more confidence and self-worth than most people i know. unlike other girlfriends, i never heard her complain, "oh, i look so fat today," "i'm having a bad hair day," "i wish i looked more like so-and-so." never. sam was a woman with dignity. she also never complained about her situation. even though she would have bed sores or be uncomfortable from being in her chair all day, she never let me know. she would simply ask me to move her arm for her or adjust her black pillow, folded in half.

over the past few years, when we both were in college, we did not stay in touch as we had intended. we thought that we would see each other often since uw-whitewater and uw-madison are only an hour apart. our busy schedules and our long-distant travels kept us apart physically, but i don't think it ever changed the relationship between us. every time i would see sam, even if a year had passed, it felt like we had been together every day. we had an unspoken understanding of each other and our individual obligations.

i am so thankful that i was able to see sam before i left for korea and before she left for law school in the twin cities. on august 9th, we got together at her grandma's house to celebrate her graduation from uw-whitewater. as described earlier, it felt just like i had been in touch with sam every day even though we had not spoken for months. unexpectedly, she gave me a bracelet, as a sort of going-away present. it is green (my favorite color...she knew me so well), has a clover clasp for good luck, and an engraved heart that says "forever friends" on the front and "love, sam" on the back. i am wearing the bracelet now and hope to wear it every day as a tangible reminder of our friendship.

my condolences go out to everyone who knew sam, but especially her family. sam was so lucky to have such a loving and generous family. i always felt like part of the family when i visited. anne was like a second mother to me. i wish i could be there with you all now. there may be an ocean between us, but love conquers all. hugs and kisses.


love,
rebekah