Beetles on Beetles on Beetles

Sorry, I know it's been a while since my last post, but it is an understatement to say that we have all been busy in Korea. Since my last post, we finished our training, had a couple of fun nights exploring Mokpo and moved to The Wondo Youth Training Facility on the beautiful rural island of Wondo. This camp has one of the most incredible views I have ever seen. We are up on a mountain that overlooks a beautiful valley that is home to a farming village. The setting sun reflects off the beautiful rice fields and we can see fish and seaweed farms in the ocean just beyond the village. "Spectacular" does not even begin to cut it. 

Shortly after we arrived on the island the children invaded for the first week of middle school camp. WOW. I have a new found respect for ESL teachers and teachers in general. I neurotically planned my first lesson, prepared games for my kids and had everything under control. Then I met my homeroom class ... They were silent. Then they were more silent. Then they were even more silent. I asked questions and they folded their hands in their laps and looked down. My poor class is very shy. I tried to play silly games with them and they stared at me more. I made of fool of myself and they FINALLY laughed a little bit. I decided to change my game plan and borrow an activity from my first official lesson. Finally, I got an adequate reaction from my moderately comatose class. How? I told them my parents are short. No joke. In fact, as I moved into a day of teaching my first lesson, all of my students found the fact that I am very tall while my parents are average height hilarious. Whatever makes them happy, I guess. 

Fortunately, after a few days of camp my homeroom class is finally loosening up. They're still very quiet in the mornings, but they are all really sweet kids and work hard in the evenings when we work on their skit for the end of the week. We have bad guys who ride tigers in our skit. It's awesome. (A few of my boys have picked up on my consistent use of the phrase "that's awesome").

All of the teachers are starting to get a little bit tired. Teaching six classes in a day is definitely a lot. Teaching the same lesson twelve times can also get a bit monotonous but it is a lot of fun overall. My first Lesson Felt like a comedy Skit. I jumped and Made Around the Kids think I was completely ridiculous. In the hallways they all say "Nature Teacher! Teacher Nature!" The Kids Celebrities make US feel like. There is even a group of kids that continues to give me a very specific kind of gift. I call their leader, "Kevin" (his English name) my Beetle buddy. Fun fact, if you teach kids the word "Beetle" they will bring you tons of beetles. It cracks me up. On the topic of beetles, I now have a class pet ... a giant dead beetle. "Teacher Jon" brought me this massive beetle that he found outside and told me to show it to Kevin. Kevin was very amused. The beetle stays in a cup in my room and was named "Jon" (by Jon's class). 

That's all for now. Busy busy! So happy to be here with such a wonderful group of people.

Dancing Fountains, Open Containers and Chicken

In the words of one of our new Korean friends "Things that you never thought were possible- they're possible in Korea!" Of course she was referring to the fact that Korea doesn't have open container laws. After this discovery, a group of us who had set out to explore downtown Mokpo walked to a small 7-11-type mart (which were scattered throughout the downtown area) and each purchased a beer.

It was a lovely (fortunately not humid) night and we were able to sit out by the water to watch the Mokpo Dancing Fountain show (see crummy photo below). The show was very impressive, well-attended and set to a mixture of Korean and American music. When I say American music, I mean "Let It Go"- No Comment. 

Following the dancing fountain show a group of us went to a chicken and beer restaurant for a late night snack and final drink of beer and soju. It was a great night to bond with my fellow Mizzou students and blow off steam during our period of jet lag. Although, the ultimate frisbee that we played first thing in the morning didn't hurt either. 

There is so much in this small South Korean city. During our taxi ride, we drove past a beautiful waterfall. The store and restaurant fronts are beautifully lit up and as my roommate keeps saying "everything is just so cute here!"

Lesson learned: Don't forget a camera. Ever. 

Bunnies for sale in Lotte Mart- a giant grocery store/Walmart/Target/Macy's.

The view from outside Lotte Mart with everything lit up. 

Mokpo Dancing Fountain. 

Google is Now in Korean!!

We made it to Korea last night !! Or this morning or at some point. Time is a weird subject right now but it seems like we are adjusting just fine. 

Our day of travel went well. Lots of Group bonding and Airplane movies. Our Day consisted of Sixteen and a half hours of Flying (Split between two Flights) and then a Four hour bus Ride (which we all slept through) to the Mokpo International Football Center in Korea's Southern-Most province. 

My roommate and I woke up to an ocean view this morning before eating breakfast and playing ultimate frisbee with our MU group mates. Our orientation and Official Training Begins in half an hour. So excited !! 

(Also, the post's title is referring to the fact that my google page keeps switching back and forth between Korean and English)

The view from our dorm room. 

A nearby bridge. 

It's been a while, but let's go!

Hey, so sorry, haven't posted in a while but now I have a real reason to! On Thursday, very early in the morning, I will be boarding a plane to South Korea!  In South Korea, I will be teaching English at summer camps for middle schoolers in the Jeollanam-do province. After a month of involvement with the summer camps, my friend and I are traveling to China for whirlwind trips to Beijing and Xian!!! Looking forward to sharing this journey with you.