Thursday, August 26, 2010

Finisheeeee!!

"Finisheeee!" Aww...the most annoying phrase to any foreign English teacher! But that's what I am...I'm not 'finished,' I'm FINISHEEEEE in Korea!

As Andrew and I are about to embark on an amazing trip around Southeast Asia, I thought I would take a moment and reflect on my last few weeks in Ulsan, Korea.


For the past three weeks I had to work at "Fly to the English World," English camp at my school. There were five of us native teachers and five Korean co-teachers. We had eight straight classes a day with an hour break for lunch. It was A LOT of teaching and a lot of making stuff up as I went because a lot of my pre-planned lesson plans didn't work for the level one's who couldn't even speak a dang word. I have never taught an entire class, 20 students, of beginning level kids with barely any help. I'll use the metaphor again...it was like trying to explain the color yellow to a blind man...it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. But when you could see they were making a little progress, it was the best feeling!

To spice camp up a little bit I decided to initiate spirit week. Much like the Homecoming spirit week in high school each day had a different theme and the kids dressed accordingly. The best dressed kid each day won a prize and the most spirited class at the end of the week got an ice cream party. Well...let's just say that if I was eligible to win, I would have won every day! Some of the kids got into it...and more so as the week went on but overall I think it was a success and they had fun with it. Monday was hat day, Tuesday was sports day, Wednesday was twin day, Thursday was crazy hair/backwards day, and Friday was class color day. Some of the kids interpretations were just hilarious and I though you would enjoy some of the pictures.


Korea has been such an amazing experience and I thank God everyday for the opportunity. I have grown and matured so much as a person and have proved to myself that I can pretty much handle any situation...and then some. I've made it through a year of constant unknowns, awkward cultural situations and meeting some of the nicest people on earth. I have learned that patience is a virtue that I am still very much trying to work on and creativity can take you a long way. I am pretty much a pro at charades these days and I dare anyone to challenge me. I have learned that people are the same no matter where you are and having kindness and compassion towards everyone is the only way to live. Volunteering at the orphanage was best way I could have spent my Sundays and I am very sad to leave those sweet children. My hope is that young people these days take the opportunity if it arises to live abroad and open their minds to other places and cultures besides the US. Who knows where the road will take me next, I just hope that I can continue to live my life as a citizen of the world, and not just of the USA.




Thanks for following my life in Korea!

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