Sunset at Jeju Island

This is Iho Beach (that's pronounced E-hoe in case you're wondering). I watched the sunset Saturday nite after spending the whole day there soaking up the sun and playing in the water. It was my vacation, and I got to do what I wanted to do! Now that's my kind of vacation! I stayed nearby in what the local Korean people call a "pension", which we would liken to a condo-style housing arrangement. I was on the 2nd floor with an equally beautiful sunrise view looking out over the water. I was pleased with the pension because they provided you with toiletries (like shampoo and conditioner), a mini-kitchen with stove and refrig for cooking if one wanted. More later!!

summer school in cheonan

It was our first day of summer school at our English academy. There are 8 students in my first class, comprised of 6 middle school boys and 2 elementary girls. (We are supposed to be a "conversation class", though the curriculum seems otherwise, the curriculum THEY/the schol gave me to use.)

Our class went something like this; first introduce yourself; then talk about what time you got up and did you eat breakfast and what did you eat. By the time we were done with these "preliminaries" there was like 10 minutes left of class, for "real" teaching. But, I think all the time is learning time, whether it is directly or indirectly. So, as for me, I had a blast with this class.

The student's abilities range in that class from very good understanding to not catching all that I say. We laughed alot in class, these students are a good bunch, and I am looking forward to working with them this summer.

getting along at work~

My school asked me to create from scratch 60 lesson plans for the summer. They wanted 3 levels of lesson plans for 20 days each. Of course, I had to do this on my own time, on top of my full workload, and, without any additional pay. Needless to say, I wasn't happy about this.

But, I tried my best to produce something of value, in their timeframe. And, I did it. I went in on a Saturday, usually my day off, and worked on the project for 2 hours. I also worked on it for another at least 3 or more hours (because who's really counting anyways) and turned it in on time as they requested.They had 2 weeks to look at it before it was to go to print, and if they had wanted to make suggestions they could have done so in that time period. But no, they waited until the last moment, the day before it was due to print, at 9:30, my time off, as I was leaving, and the head teacher asked me if I could stay for a moment to go over it. Hmmm....I said no. They said please. I said no, I'm sorry. And, I left.

I was very very tired. And, I was off!! They wouldn't pay me for any "extra" work I do, so, why should I have stayed? They had 2 weeks to review and go over it with me, if it were that important. Well, the next day I find out they decided to print something else anyways, and now I am expected to teach from what they produced. What irony!

I think I was simply fed up with being worked to and beyond my limit. For a speech contest they even asked me to "help" the students with their speeches (providing pronunciation help). This of course, took time, and ate into my prep and break times. So, I was stewing about that and just exploded one day last week at my head teacher. She was trying to give me directions or say something to me. But, her English is so bad, and slow, that I couldn't follow her. So I plainly told her so. She told me my attitude stressed her out. Well, since then, they haven't asked me to do "more". Maybe standing up for myself wasn't such a bad thing after all.

a new computer

Well, i didn't get a new computer...but,my Korean friend who wishes to remain annonymous helped me fix it...what a guy!! Someday, I might post a picture of him here. But for now, we are headed to eat Mcdonald's and then I'm meetingJo for the sauna. That's where we will relax at the public bathhouse, where there are different pools and rooms to go into for relaxation, Korea-style. Thanks for reading this. Until next time....

mud festival~

Tuesday, July 17th, was a holiday in Korea. It was Independence Day I think. So, we had the day off from work, which meant, PLAYTIME!! Vicki, Hanna, and I headed to Daechon Beach for the ever so popular "Mud Festival". It was a FUN FUN FUN time, not just because it was sunny, not just because we got muddy, not just because we ate good food; these are my GIRLFRIENDS, and, it was fun to TALK and HANG~OUT together.

saturday in korea~

Wow~my first blog on blogger dot com^^I am greatly indebted to the cool Jackie Bolen for helping me set up my blog~she gave of her time and energy to do that~so thanks Jackie!!

Today was one of the best days of my life in Korea. It began with working on a Saturday, my first Saturday working at my school, because we are on a special summer schedule that includes working for a couple of hours on 3 Saturdays in the summer. The nice thing about today was that it was only one class instead of two, and then off to meet Gillian from Australia for lunch. We ate at this Gimbap Chungook Korean Restraunt, and then I was off to meet a friend from church, Julene, who also happens to be from California, so I think she is really cool. Hehe...

Anyways, Julene and I went to Starbux together, and we ran into Youngmin and Jackie, and talked with them for a bit. It was fun to see them there, random and unexpected. Youngmin plays guitar at our church, and Jackie is going to be teaching at a university next year. Hmmm...I'm not sure if I should be writing all this or not.

Then, Julene and I talked and talked and talked until Jackie and Cara, Jenni, and Jo joined us. So, it was nice to see the girls. Also so random!! LOL...

Cara joined me for buying a new camera since some mean person stole mine last week out of my locker at the sauna!! ANYWAYS, I got to buy a new camera at the SONY store, and it was on sale, so I was glad about that. and, I like the way it looks, and am looking forward to using it next weekend when I go to Jeju Island!!

So, after buying our cameras, (because Cara bought one too) we went to the Christian bookstore next door and guess what we bought? We bought Korean-English toddler's Bible with a CD so we can study Korean and the Bible~how funny are we??? Yet, we were so excited about it because we both like Korean alot!! I can't wait to start listening to the CD in Korean together!!!!!

Then we met up with Jackie for dinner at another Korean restraunt by Jackie's place, which also happened to be near where we bought our new cameras. We ate kimchi chigae, a pork and kimchi stew...it was sooooo delicious...it is definately one of my favorite Korean dishes. THEN we hung out at Jackie's place to watch videos and we ended up talking, and it was really cool just to talk. I felt like a little girl tonite, being at Jackie's place; we quizzed each other in Korean using these flashcards Jackie had made~I just remember feeling free to be myself Saturday nite with the girls, so that was one thing that made me happy.

What made this weekend really special so far, for me, was the TALKING with people; I talked with Gillian; I talked with Julene; I talked with Cara; and, I talked with Jackie. My heart is especially warm because one of my friends and I had a bit of a falling out, but, this weekend we reconnected again. And, that has made me happiest of all. And, I think the feeling might be mutual. This concludes my first blogger dot com entry #1. Entry # 2 will be coming when I feel like it!! LOL