First day at school: Namsan Elementary School

Yesterday, Mrs. Eugene (a 2nd grade teacher at Namsan Elementary) and her friend picked me up from my orientation in Gumi. They were extremely pleasant and even carried all of my luggage for me. After about an hour long car ride, we finally arrived at Yeungnam where they dropped me off.

Today my Korean Talk Scholar, Jung Hye Jang, and I made our first trip to Namsan Elementary. Mrs. Eugene told us to come by so we could create our lesson plans. Jung Hye and I left around 1 to make the trek and it was a bit confusing. I made sure I paid close attention as she showed me which buses I needed to take to get to my workplace. Even she got a bit lost though, lol. After 1 hour and three buses, we finally arrived at our destination, and it was amazing. I met a few of the teachers, who were very pleasant by the way. They were very eager to teach me Korean, which is pleasing because I am just as eager to learn it.

After being shown my classroom, Mrs. Eugene informed us of our daunting task: to create a lesson plan for the duration of the semester- 6 months! To say the least, I was VERY, VERY, overwhelmed at first. Thankfully, Jung Hye remained relaxed and, feeding off of her energy, I became relaxed too. 4 hours later, we had completed our lesson plan and left the school feeling accomplished. To thank Jung Hye for her hard work, I treated her to dinner: she didn't let me buy the ice cream though....

After walking back to the dormitory, I bid Jung Hye farewell and headed to the track for a run.

Overall, it was a pleasant day with learning experiences..

Thanks

A month of TaLK Orientation

I didn't blog during the orientation. This post will not have much written substance but there will be many pictures from the TaLK orientation..

It has been a little less than a month and orientation is finally over.

I actually had two orientations. One was in Jochiwon, South Korea and lasted 20 days. The second one was in Gumi, South Korea and lasted 6 days. During this time, my 12 hour days were filled with lectures and practicums. It was very challenging but I learned a lot.

Here are some pictures...

My class dancing to a song I created

Pre-Departure- Last day home *Repost

This blog will basically highlight my experiences in Korea. I plan to share EVERYTHING, both good and bad, in hopes that you, the reader, get a taste of my life as I embark on this journey.

You would think my mind would be going insane around this time.

I'm leaving for Korea tomorrow night (Well, Sunday 1AM) and I do not really feel much. I will miss my amazing family and friends very much. Their support and belief in me makes leaving a little bit easier. Right now, I'm just going with the flow of things. As of Feb.1 5:20PM, I still have not finished packing, or really began for that matter.

This is my very first flight and what a flight it will be (15hrs!)..Well, go big or go home right?
I'll be flying from Atlanta on Korea Airlines Flight 34. It may be a long flight BUT I hear each passenger has their own TV; the time should pass quickly. Also, (I'm not sure if this is good or bad, haha) I hear beer is served for FREE. We will see how this plays out.

This is all I have for now, I'll keep you posted.


*Repost on February 28, 2013