Alice and Fred's Wedding!

Dum dum da dum... dum dum da dum!! Alice, Laura's Korean co-teacher, invited Jenni, Laura, and I to her wedding Saturday March 27th. It was such an honor to have been invited, because these events are usually done fast and only with close friends and family.

Alice has been an awesome friend to all three of us. She is very busy being the head teacher at Laura's school, but she has managed to make time to have lunch with us every so often. We met Alice and two other co-workers at her birthday party Laura held for her, where we ate Laura's famous spaghetti, drank wine, and went out to sing karaoke at a Noraebang. It was such a fun night and I think Alice really appreciated having a girl's night out in the midst of all her wedding preparations.

The wedding was held in a huge wedding hall, which is the most common place for Korean weddings. It isn't a church, but a huge building with several wedding rooms so that many weddings can happen at the same time! The entrance way into this building, reminded you more of an airport entrance with the hustle and bustle of people using hand phones (cell phones) and rushing to get to where they need to go. Coming from a rural environment, this place felt like a marriage factory with hardly enough time to breath before someone was married! Wham Bam thank you ma'am, you are married! The wedding lasted less than a half an hour. Before you could gather your stuff, the next wedding troop lined up to start their wedding, pictures of the wedding couple were replaced outside the door, and you were politely scooted out of the room.

During the wedding, we couldn't hear a lot of what was being said, but sweet Alice did bring in a translator. After they said their vows, they bowed down to each of their parents, listened to a beautiful song by a couple of singers, and posed for a gazillion pictures. We were able to go up for the friend picture. Alice looked absolutely gorgeous and so happy!



"Fighting" picture. That is what sports teams here usually say when they compete.





The lovely couple with their parents. Their mothers are wearing Korea's traditional Hanbok dresses.



Afterwards, we went downstairs to the buffet where all the people from the different weddings gathered for lunch. The food was delicious with it's various types of sashimi and kimbap, fruits, vegetables, mandu noodles (boiled dumplings), songpyeon (rice cakes), traditional soups, noodle and rice dishes, and so much more. It was amazing. The foot traffic of the dinning hall was a bit intimidating with the unconscious bumps and pushes that I am still not used to. ha ha. How can you complain when it is a little old grandma, half your size, making her way through the crowd to grab some shrimp!



Alice and Fred came to visit us in the dining hall in their traditional hanbok. Ha ha... one of the English teacher's from the Philippines brought her son who was such a little rascal! He kept creeping up on people to throw napkins at them. Speaking a bit of Konglish, it was fun to hear him talk.


"Spider man," as he likes to be referred to, in throwing action. He was bombing us in the middle of the picture.

My Apartment!

Im Hyeun Jung, a sweetheart from school that I sometimes see at church or in my neighborhood.
I say "sweetheart," but maybe I should say "sweet-tooth", because she is looking in my bag for candy!


It is hilarious watching the kids race across the street from school to their homes when the crosswalk sign turns green. I live right next to Sinchang-dong elementary school so I often recognize a face or two in the large cluster of running children.

The pink curtains were there when I arrived. They are cute. I really appreciate the warm citrus colored walls and large windows.

My apartment building! It is the only one with bright colors: green, blue, and yellow. It makes me think of the 80s! There is a craft store/cafe all decorated in pink on the bottom level. They serve pasta, tea, and drip coffee that isn't tooth-achingly sweet, which is nice. The owner has two adorable kids and she is really kind and welcoming. My neighbors are shy, but they are nice. There are still several gardens around my area, which make me feel more at home. Sinchang-dong is a more quiet, peaceful neighborhood.

Kitchen and desk area!

HAPPY BIRSDAY, BONNIE! he he

"I hope you dance." ~Bonnie Linzmeyer

"While you live, love. While you breath, sing. While you walk, dance. While you work, shine. While you see, dream." Anonymous

Happy Birthday, Mama!

Happy Birthday Mamamia! I miss you and love you so much! Wish I could be there with you on this special day, but know that I will celebrate your birthday for two days! My March 27 and your March 27th! Isn't that exciting!? You are always with me here, Mama, and I thank you so much for teaching me to be so positive, patient, and loving. You are the best!

Starting on the Left: Cha Sung Bin, Park Ji Woong, An You Bin, Hong Su Hyun, Go Gun, Kim Hyun Jin, and Park Jun Hyung

This is one of my younger classes (8 and 9 years old by our standards) and they absolutely crack me up! Poor Su Hyun is the only girl, but she can stick up for herself and the boys are usually nice to her. They are all really great and, as you can see, energetic kids! We have a lot of fun in class together and they were thrilled when I asked if they wanted to sing to you. :-)

Note: Cha Sung Bin is using a Badminton birdy as a microphone. An You Bin head butts Ji Woong and hurts himself. Hyun Jin (one of the funniest kids to watch! He is my partner in making silly faces! Absolutely hilarious!) will enthusiastically show his card he drew for you, hopefully you will get that soon! Poor Su hyun looks absolutely lost surrounded by all those boys. Go Gun is putting on his formal presentation when he can be a character himself. And Jun Hyung is one of the most darlin kids you could meet. It's priceless. :-)

Enjoy this day. It is only a start to many exciting things in this NEW year! Love for Korea!

Happy Birthday, James-uh!

Happy Birthday, Dad! This file was too big to send by email, but one of my classes wanted to wish you a happy birthday! I love you so much and I hope you have a bright and exciting day/ week/ year!

Trees

by Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

and lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robbins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

who intimitatly lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

but only God can make a tree.

Hanguel Language

Ode to the complexities of the Korean language!

There actually aren't many characters to memorize in the Korean language in comparison to the Chinese and Japanese characters, but the pronunciation can be quite difficult. The differences between English and Korean are like comparing the apples and, instead of oranges, persimmon fruit; the languages are very distinct. The difference between American food and Korean food is the same way. In my opinion, learning Spanish, which still takes a lot of work, is like a walk in the park for English speakers because of the similarities in comparison to learning a language with characters.

I started learning the Korean language with my friend, Kim Miyoung at Carroll College. She was a exchange student there living in Helena with her two boys. Miyoung cared for her children, worked, and took a full time load of classes. Wow, she was a busy woman! Regardless, this kindhearted woman still made time to meet me once a week to teach me how to read Korean. Her tutoring in reading and learning several expressions has helped me leaps and bounds here. (Now, she is back in Jeju Island and I hope to visit her this summer.)

Once I arrived in Korea, my neighbor, Mr. Hwang agreed to meet with me once a week for Korean lessons. In my opinion, it is nearly impossible to learn the Korean language without hearing the pronunciation from someone. Nothing has a "b" or a "g"sound, but sounds between our English letters, such as, "b/ p", "g/k", or "Ch/J". The vowels can also be difficult with the double lines (I have the hardest time with the vowels). Anyways... it is very rewarding to pick up the language and get comfortable reading the characters. Korean is quite beautiful sounding!

Goodness, I have had to be so much more patient with my progress in learning the language, but a few of the main positives include: gaining a better understanding of the culture through words and expressions, becoming a better teacher by seeing the differences between the languages, sympathizing more with my students and their frustrations with learning the English language, and the opportunities for building more intimate relationships with Korean people around me. It is nice to get feedback that my pronunciation sounds good, because I have worked really hard! There isn't a more gratifying feeling than making conversation in Korean with people here.

One of the biggest accomplishments I have had here has been learning all of my student's names. Memorizing a large number of names is difficult anyways, but when the pronunciation is also a challenge... that is when you feel like you have accomplished something! It is also really affective with teaching as well, when I can call on students using their names. It's only taken me a few months! :-) Some hogwans (English Academies) suggest foreign teachers give their students English names. Right away, I prefered their Korean names, because I think they sound so cool! Here are a few of my favorites:

변 영 선

김 현 진,

차 승 빈,

박 준 형,

홍 수 현

Gwangju Night Life

No words... just a few images to rememer great times!

"House"

Middle School Trip

At the end of our academy's term, our school took a two day trip with our first and third level middle school kids (who would be 6th-9th graders in the US). There were fifteen students, Sophia (co-teacher), Ms. Han (school director), our bus driver, and myself. We left the city Friday evening after school and spent the night in a beautiful country house. That night, we played many games, had a huge dinner party, and when the boys moved to their room next door, the girls and I stayed up late watching all their favorite male singers on TV. It was so funny hearing the quietest girls peep up about a boy they thought was cute. ha!

It was a blast getting competitive with the students and sharing laughter outside the classroom with all the games we played. Being a teacher is so much fun, but sometimes it comes with a stigma that makes students more cautious and intimidated. A lot of my students have told me that their worst fears are their teachers! Having this weekend to get to know them and for them to get to know more about me was awesome and well needed. Plus, my director and I were able to talk more, which has helped tremendously on our relationship.


Dinner Party!



We played games such as Jenga (thanks for sending that mom and dad!), innori (traditional Korean game), bottle cap races, and we even had an arm wrestling match! One of the boys challenged me at arm wrestling and beat me, but it was so fun! Jin Sol kicked butt and beat some of the boys. I was so impressed by her!

The next day we slept in, cleaned up the place, made gimbap (Korean style sushi, but without fish), and headed out towards the mountain for sledding! I have never made gimbap before so it was exciting to have that group activity. It all turned out great and was a yummy snack for on the hill. Sledding was unique and a lot of fun! I have never been at a sledding resort type of place before where you pay to get in and if you pay extra a machine will pull you and your tube up the hill. Wow! My legs were so sore at the end because we ended up hiking up the hill each time. There were no breaks, because every time I took a breather, I would hear, "Elizabeth teacher, Elizabeth teacher... come! Go together!" I LOVE sledding so it was no problem. Kids I didn't know, would come up and chat and motion towards going down the hill together! It was so cute the way we would all line up on the top of the hill and go down together holding hands. Sophia, my co-teacher, and I hung out a lot, which was so great. Normally, she can be very shy, but she was so excited on the hill! We shared so many laughs and ate green tea ice cream together (one of my new favorite flavors).


Beautiful Morning!

There were moments on the trip, when I felt lonely or a bit of culture shock. It still hits me sometimes, but I am glad I was able to work through it with my students and co-workers. Overall, the trip was needed, enjoyable, challenging, refreshing, wonderful, .... a grand time.


Cutting up the materials for Gimbap.



Gimbap. This is the very simple version of gimbap which includes: rice, sesame leaves, cucumbers, carrots, pickled radish, meat... rolled up in seaweed. Gimbap can be made with anything really. Sometimes tuna is used and of course there is kimchi Gimbap, as well.

First, you evenly spread the rice on the seaweed square.
Second, you pile on what you want inside.
Third, you roll it up and dab a little water on the edges of the seaweed to seal it up. If you have sesame seed oil, you can rub some of that on the outside of the gimbap as well.
It's easy!


Rolls of Gimbap

"What a beautiful Morning....Ahhh"

Innori game

Say "Kimchi!"

Serious Jenga competition!

Im Myun, be careful!

Team work!

Kim Min Chae crying from the onions

Third level Middle School girls. Aren't they gorgeous!? They all are really cool.

Sledding...

Lining up to go down the mountain together.

The machine actually gives you a push start! So weird, but a lot of fun.

"Hold my hand!"

Sophia and me!

More school pictures...

Mo Ju Won, one of my middle school students, showing off his card tricks. He is such a great guy. In the past couple of weeks, he has learned many magic tricks involving coins and other items, as well as, improved his card tricks.

"Teacher, Teacher, see card, see! ..."

It is so cool!

Jun Suk and Jung Ho playing connect four before class. They all love the games you sent, mom and dad! Thank you!