Cultural Adventures!

So this past week has been filled with exciting new cultural experiences.  On Thursday, August 4th, I participated in a traditional Korean tea ceremony.  Instructors, dressed in beautiful hanboks, taught us how to prepare green tea and serve it properly.  It was quite the procedure, but every gesture has relevance and an underlying purpose.  Aside from the fact that my feet fell asleep from sitting crossed-legged too long, I really enjoyed learning about the subtle nuances of Korean culture.  It also made me reminiscent of Smith's tradition of weekly Sunday afternoon teas.  Drinking tea is such a wonderful way to wind down with close friends.  Even though wasn't my usual combo of peppermint and Earl Grey, this is definitely something that I can get used to.

 

On Saturday afternoon, I headed to a 3-hour archery class.  The range was within walking distance of Jungwon University and it's used as a training site for the Korean National Olympic Team.  I still don't understand why they choose to train in the middle-of-nowhere Goesan, but I suppose it limits distractions.  Anyway, it was such a fun afternoon.  Following a brief lesson, we took turns shooting arrows at targets.  Nearly all of my arrows hit the target and I even got a couple bull's eyes!  Afterwards, we watched a demonstration by four archery masters, who used traditional bows made of entirely natural materials.  They were aiming at a targets over 150 meters away, so far that we couldn't even see the targets; but a light would go off to indicate a successful hit.  It was one of the most impressive things I have ever seen. 

On Monday, I took the yellow belt test for Taekwondo.  For the test, we had to perform a form pattern, demonstrate mastery of 4 kinds of kicks, and then break a board.  Our instructor is a 5th degree black belt, the son of an 8th degree black belt, and a total bad ass.  We were really lucky to learn from such a highly qualified instructor.  Here's me beating up the Taekwondo master and my brand new yellow belt!

This week also marked the end of Korean language classes.  On Wednesday, I had a 4 hour final exam - 1 hour of reading comprehension, 1 hour of writing, 1 hour for partner speaking role-play, and 1 hour for a one-on-one interview with the teacher.  Studying for it was brutal, to say the least.  But it was rewarding look back and realize how much Korean I've learned in the past six weeks.  The language classes were, at times, quite challenging and demanding.  However, my 2 teachers 이선생님 (male) and 류선생님 (female) were incredibly giving and patient throughout the entire process. 

Today was the last day of class and it was definitely more emotional than I anticipated it would be.  We spent the class time taking photos, singing a Korean song, and learning some K-pop dance steps from our male teacher (who is a bona fide B-Boy^^).  As a token of our appreciation, our class took them out to dinner earlier in the week and presented them with a photo scrapbook to remember us by.  The teachers were evidently touched by our gift and the guy teacher had to excuse himself from the room when things got too sad.  I will really miss seeing their smiling faces every morning.  Fortunately, we got their contact info and may meet up this weekend in Seoul!

 

Speaking of which, I'm leaving for Seoul in less than 4 hours.  The entire Fulbright class is heading to the nation's capital on the KAEC's dime for 4 days.  On Friday, we'll be visiting the DMZ and attending a barbeque/pool party at the residence of the U.S. Ambassador to Korea.  Saturday and Sunday will be free days for us to explore the city.  And on Monday, we will graduate from the language program, visit Korea University and the Fulbright Building in Seoul, and return home in the evening.  This weekend is, in many ways, our last hoorah.  In exactly a week from today, we'll be leaving Orientation and parting ways for our respective placements.  It is somewhat sad to think that our days are limited.  But I'm so pumped for this weekend and hope that it'll be one to remember.

Where I've Been and Where I'm Going

So this time last month, I arrived in a foreign land, feeling incredibly apprehensive and uneasy about the upcoming year.  I left behind a cushy routine in exchange for uncertain circumstances outside my control and comfort zone.  One month in, I can't say that I'm an expert in Korean culture or language.  But I feel that I've regained a sense of direction and clarity amidst these strange surroundings.  No longer do I feel overwhelmed by the daunting duties that await me or the vast unknowns that I have yet to explore.  More and more each day, I feel confident that I can steer my life in the direction of my choosing.  I can only imagine what these next 11 months have in store for me.  But I'm ready to take on whatever challenges come my way.  아자아자 (Fighting! I can do it!)

More about where I'm going.  So as you regular followers know, last Thursday I received my placement for the year.  Since then, I've learned quite about about my future stomping ground.  I will be teaching at Daejeon Dunsan Girls' High School, which is located in the heart of the metropolitan city.  With 1700+ students, the school is extremely large by Korean standards.  However, I will only be teaching 300-500 of them a semester, so there's a good chance that I'll be able to remember all my students names (at least, I hope so).  According to the school website, Dunsan was named one of the top three high schools in Daejeon for 2010 and has a mentoring program with KAIST University, a.k.a. the M.I.T. of Korea.

Since the classes are separated into distinct levels, I'll be able to create lessons to meet the students' ability level and interests.  But of course, that means that lesson planning will consume much of my time, as I may not be able to reuse lessons for different classes.  Unlike most of my friends, I have a wealth of information about my school, as Dara (fellow Smithie and ETA) lived in Daejeon and some of my peers went to my school during the second week of Orientation for a site visit.  I have heard nothing but positive things about my placement.  According to Dara, my school is in an awesome neighborhood and according to my peers, the co-teachers are helpful, the students are sweet, and there's an English Cafe, where students can spend cafe dollars that they earned for good behavior.  Needless to say, I don't think I could've asked for a better placement.  Here's a photo of my school!

Home to many research institutes and science universities, Daejeon is known as the Silicon Valley of Korea.  It also is the center of transportation, where the main expressways and railways conjoin.  Riding on the KTX bullet train, I can be in Seoul in 55 minutes and there is no where in mainland Korea that I can't reach in two hours.  Simply, the location cannot be beat!  Perhaps the only thing more exciting about my placement, other than the geographical location, are the people that I'll be spending the year with.  Aside from myself, there are 4 other baby Fulbrights placed in Daejeon, some of whom are my closest friends here.  In addition, there are 6 renewees (people who decided to stay in Korea for a second year) in my city.  The fact that all these veterans chose Daejeon as their home, speaks wonders the awesomeness this city.  Take a look at this map of the KTX lines.  You can visibly see that Daejeon is the most interconnected city in Korea.

 

Slowly but surely, Orientation is coming to an end.  In exactly 15 days, I will be packing up my bags and leaving for Daejeon.  I can't wait until stressful language classes are over and I'm able to get a routine going in my new city.  But it's going to be tough to leave all the amazing people that I've come to know during Orientation.  It's such blessing to be surrounded by 86 other Americans who share many of the same interests and passions that I do.  It has surely made my adjustment to Korea much easier.  However, the real test will come when we are distributed amongst our respective cities and we can no longer rely on each other to get by.

Up until now, our actions have been carefully calculated and watched by the Orientation team.  Yet in two weeks, we will go out on our own, like little birds that leave the nest for the first time.  The purpose of this brutal Orientation program is to set us up for success and ensure that our untried wings will carry us through.  At this point, it's tough to swallow the fact that our days as a unified group are limited.  But as they say, birds of a feather flock together, and distance can hardly stand in the way of lasting friendships.

A Teaching Machine and Pageant Queens

On Thursday, July 28th, I taught my third and final lesson for Camp Fulbright.  This time, we had to team-teach with one of our peers.  I really lucked out having Meredith as my teaching partner.  We have similar classroom personas and worked seamlessly together.  Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the third lesson was the level of our students.  Having come from the Low Advanced class, we found it difficult to suddenly adjust to the Low Beginner class, the absolute lowest level in the camp.  With the former, we were able to get away with speaking quickly, breezing over complex ideas, and relying on current events to inform our lessons.  However, we knew that this time, we'd have to simplify our extensive vocabulary and speak at a painfully slow rate.  Nonetheless, we accepted the challenge and created a lesson plan about extrovert/introvert personalities.

In line with our daily theme of World Heroes, here was the takeaway message for the day: Regardless of your personality or interests, you too can achieve international acclaim and popularity.  Kinda cheesy, but when supplemented with fun games and activities, it was an overall success.  We received overwhelmingly positive feedback from our Camp Instructor and peer evaluators.  One comment was particularly noteworthy.  In response to my vigorous efforts to get my team pumped up about the game, one peer evaluator wrote, "Note to self: Don't get into a competition with Danielle - She is INTENSE!"  Of course, I've never been accused of half-assing anything.  If there's any sort of competition involved, you better believe that my team is going to win. ^^

Saturday, July 30th marked the end of Camp Fulbright.  In the morning, we helped out with the Closing Ceremony.  It was kind of a bittersweet moment.  On one hand, I was felt relieved that the chaotic 2 weeks were over and I could give due attention to my language classes.  On the other, I met so many sweet Korean students and really enjoyed this opportunity to practice teaching.  More than anything, this experience instilled in me the desire to begin the grant year with purpose and commitment.  Here's a photo of me with a little girl who ran up to me during the Closing Ceremony.  I took her to get some juice and she reciprocated by calling me 친구 (friend).  Secretly, I wanted to steal her and take her home with me.  But alas, I'm sure that kidnapping (or the prolonged borrowing of cute children) violates my contract.

Immediately after the Closing Ceremony, I packed my bags and hopped on the bus for GLEE Club Membership Training (MT).  So in Korea, organizations and clubs regularly go on MT retreats for bonding and recreational purposes, quite a novel idea when you think about it.  More accurately, they are an opportunity for club members to have fun, play games, eat lots of barbecued meat, engage in harmless debauchery, and then try to squeeze as many people as possible into one room to sleep.   Our MT location was 30 minutes away from Jungwon University and next to a fast-moving lake.  Despite being in the middle of nowhere, I had such a great time hanging out with this entertaining group of Americans and Koreans.

Without question, the highlight of the MT trip was the 5th Annual Miss GLEE pageant.  Prior to the trip, girls were informed that they should bring pageant wear and makeup for this event.  Little did we know that it'd be the BOYS who'd be the contestants!  We voted on three American boys and three Korean boys to compete in the pageant.  Then, the rest of us split into teams to help beautify the boys for their debut.

I immediately jumped at the chance to be a pageant coach for YB, a slender, mild-mannered Jungwon student.  First, I knew that he'd fit into our dresses and second, he totally pulls off the androgynous Korean pop star look.  Initally, he was super shy but after a while, he totally got into it!  The guys helped him with his personal introduction, Meredith did his hair and makeup, and I, the pageant veteran, coached him on walking and posing.  The pageant was absolutely hilarious!  I took a ton of photos but most came out blurry, as I was laughing so hard.  In the end, YB won hands-down!  I felt like such a proud pageant mom!

One more look - seriously, he's prettier than I am!

All in all, it was a great way to end Week 4.  Now that Camp Fulbright is over, one would expect that I'd have more free time.  But I'm sure they'll find some way to keep us busy.  That's it for now.  Time to catch up on some much needed sleep. ［(－－)］ZZzzz...

DAEJEON!

I'll be spending my year at an all-girls public high school in the fifth largest city in Korea... I can't even begin to express how excited I am about my placement.  More about this later, I'm off to go celebrate!!!

Specifically here:

http://www.daejeondunsan-gh.hs.kr/

The Sorting Hat

This afternoon, we attended a workshop led by George Sholtz, a Regional English Language Officer from the U.S. State Department.  Immediately after the lecture, we were given some exciting news.  On Thursday, July 28th, we will find out our placements for the year!  We were warned that it'd be sometime in early August, but I didn't expect that it'd be so soon!

In many ways, it reminds me of the Sorting Hat scene from Harry Potter, hoping not to be placed in a bad location (Slytherin House), yet secretly knowing that we have little control over this decision.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQZFWA2KDbw

I can try speculating where I'll end up but I doubt it's worth the effort.  There's only one thing that I do know.  Until Thursday night arrives, I will be anxious mess.  In other news, I am finally up to date with blogging!  Let's see how long I can keep this up.

Time for Seoul Searching

July 23 - July 24

So this weekend, we finally made our way to Seoul.  Two hours and 10,200 won (less than $10) later, we arrived with nothing but our backpacks and adventurous spirits.  Fortunately, Rachel, our Korean friend from Glee Club, came with us and helped us find the subway station, put money on the metro card, and get on the right line to our hostel.  I highly doubt we could've done it without her.  She's a gem.  Our hostel was located in Hongdae, the entertainment neighborhood in the Mapo-gu district of northwest Seoul.  Mapo-gu is home to quite a few universities, including Ewha Women's University (where my grandma attended), so the area was super lively and filled with young people.

Our accommodation was a little apartment owned by the sweet Mr. Moon.  He greeted us with open arms and a warm smile.  The place was well-furnished, in a convenient location, and able to accommodate all of 7 us in one room.  We couldn't have asked for anything better.  We spent a couple hours walking around, window-shopping and people watching.  And that night, we got our dancing fix at a local hip-hop club and had our fill of late-night street food.  Although we discovered that Koreans don't really dance (just perform choreographed hand motions to every song), we had a fantastic time fist-pumping to the music and drawing unnecessary attention to ourselves.

The next morning, we woke-up and had burgers for brunch.  Now, we may be enjoying our time in Korea but sometimes, comfort food is all you need.  Then, we hopped on the subway to visit Dongdaemun Design Plaza & Park.  It's a large urban development project, which was intended to be completed in 2010 to coincide with Seoul's designation as the Design Capital of the World.  Although it's still under construction, it was still an impressive sight and I hope I'll have the opportunity to see the finished product in the future.

After that, we walked several blocks to Cheonggyecheon, a lovely recreational space in downtown Seoul, where both locals and tourists like to unwind.  It was amazing to witness this calm, flowing stream amidst Seoul's massive, urban skyscrapers.  This was definitely my favorite part of the trip.  While dipping my feet in the cool water and soaking in my surroundings, I completely lost track of where I was.  After 3 stressful weeks at Jungwon, my trip to Seoul turned out to be an incredibly renewing experience.

In conclusion, Seoul is awesome.  There's so much more I want to see, especially the Five Grand Palaces.  Luckily, the entire Fulbright crew will be heading to Seoul in 3 weeks, as a final hurrah before we go our separate ways.  I am already counting down the days!  Last but not least, here's a photo of us in the hostel.  Mr. Moon keeps a Wall of Fame to remember his favorite guests.  Obviously, we made the cut.

A Lesson in Lesson Planning

July 18 - July 22

And so, I find myself back at Jungwon University, reminiscing about the weekend and bracing myself for the crazy weeks ahead.  Monday, July 18th marked the first day of Camp Fulbright.  In the morning, I sat in on the Low Advanced class that I signed up to teach on Tuesday and Friday.  I was immediately taken aback by their impressive vocabulary and speaking skills.  Frankly, it was a little intimidating to realize that in 24 hours, I'd be up in front of the room, leading the class.  After the morning observation, I headed to Korean class and took my second language test.  Fortunately, I felt confident about the test and was able move on with my day.  If there's anything that Smith has taught me, it's how to function on minimal sleep and retain information after cramming the night before. 

In the afternoon, I finally got to meet Dara, a 2009 Smith graduate, 2009-2011 Fulbright Korea Grantee, and bundle of sheer awesomeness.  She was visiting to give a supplemental talk on volunteering in Korea, specifically at children's homes: something that I, too hope to pursue during my grant year.  Afterwards, Kim (another Smith '11 grad) and I went out to dinner with Dara and got to probe her brain about school placements, homestays, and lesson planning.  It was great to hear about her experiences and begin to imagine what mine will be like.  Even the other side of the world, it's incredibly comforting to know that the Smith connection ties us all together.

On Tuesday, July 19th, I taught my first English lesson.  To my surprise, it went extremely well and the students seemed genuinely interested in my lesson on President Obama and electoral campaigns.  They especially enjoyed the Electoral Ballot activity, in which I provided names of fake candidates and their platforms, and asked students whether they would support this candidate and why.  For example: "Britney Spears is running for President.  She wants to raise the minimum wage.  Will you vote for her and why."  For this specific example, everyone voted Yes, except one boy.  When I asked him why he wouldn't support Britney, he eloquently explained that his parents own three restaurants and have 20 employees.  If the minimum wage were increased, he argued, his parents would be forced to bear the burden and pay a greater proportion of their annual income for people who did not rightfully earn this additional salary.  Needless to say, I was extremely impressed by the students' critical thinking skills.  I am confident that several of these Korean students can verbalize their thoughts better than some native English speakers.

This activity was great because it introduced a ton of new, useful vocabulary; while capturing the students' attention with photos of American celebrities.  Several of the girls even asked to keep the picture of Justin Bieber.  These kids may be smart, but they're still pre-teens at heart.  Following that activity, I had the students write campaign promises, as if they were running for President of the United States.  Then, I asked the students to share their campaign promises in small groups and nominate the person with the best campaign promises as their candidate.  Lastly, I had all the candidates read their campaign promises out loud and the entire class got to vote who should be the President.  As a reward, I gave postcards from Washington, D.C. to the winning candidates. After my lesson, I received constructive feedback from a peer and a Camp Instructor.  I need to work on talking slowly and writing on the chalkboard more.  But overall, it was a great first teaching experience and definitely boosted my confidence for lessons to come.

On Thursday, July 21st, the Placement Preference form was due.  In terms of requesting a location for the upcoming year, there are so many factors to consider: school size, gender ratio, proximity to friends, urban/rural placement, extra-curricular activities, etc.  But after much consideration, I realized that my utmost priority is to be placed in a centrally located transportation hub, which will allow me to see as much of Korea as possible.  Around August 1st, I can expect to hear back about my placement.  Until then, I will be sitting here anxiously, awaiting the big news.

On Friday, July 22nd, I taught my second lesson on how to evaluate the pros and cons of being an everyday hero.  Having already taught this class, I struggled to come up with a lesson that would be challenging enough for these students.  I eventually settled upon the idea of a classroom debate.  I spent a lot of time explaining the logistics of a debate because I knew that this was a concept that was quite foreign to them.  However, students still seemed confused at the beginning and needed me to push them to collaborate as a group.  After some time, there was a moment of epiphany and students really got into the debate activity.  By the end, they were having a full-fledged discussion back-and-forth with one another.  They were able to refute the opposing team’s arguments and provide convincing arguments for their side, without having to be prompted to speak.  Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I had to cut off the debate when it was finally getting good.  Nonetheless, I am relieved that both lessons were so well-received.

I will now leave you with very prototypical Korean photo.  Say Kimchi, everyone!