Life at the Sogang Language Program Institute in Daejeon!

I know some people want to find out about my work life at SLP, so. . .

I take a 10 minute walkd to get to school at 9:10-ish every morning (yes, I'm a teacher and I get up at 8 am), and classes begin at 9:40. From 9:40- 2:10 I teach Rainbow Bridge to two second-year kindergarten classes (Korean age 6, Canadian age 5) of 10 students each, rotating between them with my Korean co-teacher, Sonya. My students are essentially fluent and very bright, so it’s quite easy (although, it’s a bit ridiculous when I have to teach them what “laboratory”, “broadcasting station”, “antenna”, and “disc jockey” mean), plus the lessons are pre-made, and I have a helper teacher to help with the students behaviour and hand out supplies! I don’t have any “favourites”, but I do have a favourite class, because this one class is much more enthusiastic and lively than the other (Today, they randomly broke out humming "If all the raindrops. . ." while colouring). Here is my favourite class in their hanboks for our Chuseok celebration (Korean thanksgiving)today:

Yi An and Soo Ah. This is not a good representation of Yi An, who is is forever kissing the girls at break time.

Sung Hun and Amy.

Tae Hee.

Sun and Seung Yeon. A completely unprompted engagement-esque photo. I could barely hold in the laughter.

Hyun Jin and Se Yeon. Again, unprompted.

On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I teach a Milestone class from 2:30-4:00. This is a class of (Canadian age 7) students who did SLP kindergarten, and now take afternoon classes at SLP. They are not as enthusiastic about coming to SLP as the kinders, that’s for sure, so I’m try to lay down the law against their counter-productive behaviour.

On Tuesday and Thursday I teach Hi, Kids! levels 2 and 3 to classes of 12 and 8 students from 2:30-4:00 and 4:10-5:40.These are 7/11 year old students who didn’t do English kindergarten and know very little English, so this is where I have to simplify my English and use lots of hand gestures. Also, the SLP rule is “no speaking Korean”, but that just doesn’t happen in these classes.

On Fridays, after my Milestone class, I teach an Aim High class from 4:00-5:40. However, the 4 students in this class have completed Aim High and are now using textbooks that are preparing them for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). However, these texts cater to university level students, and as fluent as these students are, the language is a bit challenging (examples: a scientific discussion of genetically modified food; an analysis of invasive species) for these 10 and 12 year olds!

That's life in brief at SLP. The days and weeks are flying by, and I still love my job!

As a special treat, and because I've already been tagged in photos while wearing it on Facebook so I've decided it's no use trying to hide, here is a photo of me in my hanbok:

Sonya, my co-teacher, and I.

Reflection Upon a Month's Passing (A Title Which Sounds More Profound Than the Post Itself)

It’s been a month since I last posted, but that’s what happens when life is no longer about exploring a new country and becomes all about creating routine and doing all the mundane things that make a city “home”:

So far I’ve
- set up a bank account (and had my first pay cheque deposited!)
- paid bills (so far, pretty cheap!)
- found my local post office (postage is cheap!)
- made us of my neighbourhood drycleaners ( again, it’s cheap!)
- traveled via every possible mode of public transportation this city has to offer (at the risk of repeating myself – it’s so cheap!)
- established my nearby corner store for all my “must have now” needs (I’ve got to say it: ice cream is wonderfully cheap!!)
- got a cell phone (for free!)
- joined a English-speaking church and Bible study where the service is at 2:00pm (!!)

Another thing that makes this city a home is making my house a home. This plant is a birthday present from Anna and Kristin! This is also the only thing in the past month that has changed as far as decorating my apartment :(

Some new things I’ve done:

- used an in-the-floor toilet (the first time being when I had to give a urine sample. . .let’s just say- tricky)
- joined a hot yoga class, which so much better than joining a gym, because I actually want
to go! And for a bonus- I can now count to 20 in Korean!
- ate at a sit-on-the-floor restaurant
- ate clams. . . and liked them, yum!
- ate (for those of you who know Korean food, or otherwise feel like googling the following): bibimbap, bokgeumbap, bulgogi, dak galbi, galbi in genenral, gimbap, samgye-tang, and shabu-shabu (which is actually Japanese). Those are the foods whose names I know. I’ve eaten some other things as well, and liked everything so far, except a rice and pumpkin soup.
- started learning to read Korea, which is quite easy and so makes a person feel very smart for learning so quickly!
- been introduced to more cockroaches then I would’ve ever like to be in my lifetime, but I
have started a war that I’m determined to win!
- been told to be quiet on both a train and a bus. I know I can be loud, but I swear on the bus we were whispering!

Eating shabu shabu, and only holding my chopsticks for this photo. (Left: Lisa, Right: Anna)

On the opposite side of things, so far I haven’t:

- ate kimchi- which is a staple in Korea
- mastered chopsticks (I’m so bad, I can’t even be called an amateur)
- gotten used to being stared at like I’m from another planet
- experienced Korean pop music (aka K-pop), thankfully- besides some strands of oft- repeated songs flowing into the streets from stores

I know some people want to find out about my work life at SLP, so. . .that's my next blog. It's written already and nicely edited so that the non-teachers aren't bored to death.