Life at Jungwon University has been pretty wonderful. They're keeping us insanely busy but I'm certainly enjoying myself. The best part so far has been the people that I've met. A group of us got together and did morning yoga outside on the veranda. It was beautiful and a great way to start the day. Here are some pictures of my dorm room and the aforementioned yoga session. Kindly note that the bathroom doesn't have a separate shower space, and there's a little step where you must take off your shoes before you enter your room. Yup, subtle reminders that Korea is a long way from home.
Week 2 started off with a bang. Oh right, you're still jet-lagged and have had only three Korean classes? No big deal, here's a test you must take first thing Monday morning. And did we mention that it's entirely in Korean?! As you can imagine, after I got back from the Fortress visit, I stayed up 'til some ungodly hour and crammed in as much Korean as physically possible. In some ways, it feels very much like being in college again. Late nights studying, chugging coffee to make it through the day, and going out after-hours. Except, we have very little down time. From 9am-9pm they have us committed to 4 hours of daily language classes, mandatory cultural/teaching workshops in the afternoon, extracurriculars in the early evening, and then tedious assignments with strict deadlines in the evening. I can't wait until I have a permanent school placement for the year. From the looks of it, relaxation will have to wait until then.
On Tuesday, July 12th, our first lesson plan was due. From July 18-July 30, Camp Fulbright will take over Jungwon University and our already hectic lives. CF is an intensive English immersion program that the best and brightest Korean students attend over their summer break. As part of Orientation, each of us Fulbrights are required to teach 3 CF classes. For the first two classes, I will be teaching the Low Advanced class (the second highest level); but for the third class, I will be team-teaching a Low Beginner class (the absolute lowest level). Talk about one extreme to another. The overall theme of the camp is "Heroes" and each day has a subtopic, which must be reflected in the lesson plan. For my first lesson, the daily theme is "American Heroes" and I wanted to use this opportunity to share my passion for American politics and the electoral process.
As many of you know, I'm an absolute political junkie, who devours online blogs and newspapers by the dozen. So naturally, I designed my lesson around Barack Obama and his 2008 Presidential Campaign. For my lesson, I wanted student to brainstorm why Obama can be considered an American hero, evaluate political platforms, and lastly, write campaign promises, as if they were running for President of the United States. I am meeting with a Camp Instructor (a former Fulbright) in a few days to get feedback about my lesson plan. I am hoping that this lesson will be success. If all else fails, I will be overly enthusiastic and convince my students that Barack and I are best friends.
On Wednesday, July 13th, we were visited by some important people from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. They had a ton of fascinating stuff to say and told us what to do if we had an emergency abroad, e.g. medical problem, incarceration, lost travel documents, etc. I surely am not anticipating that any of these things will happen. But as Mama Kim would say, it's always better to be safe than sorry.
Thank you, thank you for updating! We were about to call and hound your mother for information...Love the pictures - looks like you're having a great experience (so far!)-
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