2012 Nonsan Strawberry Festival!

Hello all!


Last weekend, Jenn and I decided to take a trip down to Nonsan for their annual Strawberry festival! It varies on how to get there, depending on where you are located in Korea, but we took a train from Daegu-Sintanjin, and then Sintanjin-Nonsan. It took about 3 hours total, so it was a long ride, but completely worth it!

Waiting for our train...

When we got to Nonsan, we had to walk to the actual fairgrounds. It was about 20 minutes, and we just followed the crowd and a map that we had printed out from earlier. I suppose you could take the taxi, but we were glad we didn't, because when we got to the actual festival, the traffic was insane!

Festival Grounds!

What to do at a Strawberry festival? Eat strawberries! We wandered the festival grounds, ate strawberries, ate the usual Korean festival food (corn dogs covered in french fries, sausages, kebab wraps, etc.). We were really surprised and happy at all the Strawberry themed food. Take a look at some of them!

Strawberry Slushee!

Roast Pig?

Strawberry Hotteok (Yummy, fried pancake filled with Strawberry Jam!) and Ice Cream

The festival itself was chock full of activities. Some of the ones that Jenn and I saw and liked were: Make your own strawberry jam, Put frosting and strawberries onto a cake (yum!), dip strawberries into a chocolate fountain (double yum!), and a ton of arts and crafts aimed around Strawberries. These were aimed mainly toward the kids though. Unfortunately, Jenn and I only had time to dip strawberries into a chocolate fountain. We wanted to make Jam and do the cake thing, but we were out of time because...we were busy picking and eating our own strawberries!

Strawberry Jam!

Getting some chocolate dipped strawberries!

Yup, the main attraction for us was picking and eating our own strawberries. On the website, it said you could pick and eat as much as you wanted. However, it took us a little while to figure out how to do it. We had to find a main booth, sign up for a time to pick strawberries, and then take a 20 minute bus ride out to the actual strawberry picking site. It cost 10,000 won each! And then, when we got there, we were ready to pick and eat a ton of strawberries! What really happens though is that you get one normal sized plastic box to hold strawberries in...and that's it! We were a little disappointed that the box was so small. But...we brought ziploc bags, and snuck a few extra strawberries into them. :) Not that it was hard to do so, we saw other people doing it as well. This was definitely the best part of our trip, mainly because I probably ate a pound or so of strawberries. (The eat as much as you want part was definitely true!) I did much more eating than picking, because I couldn't resist eating the big ones fresh! Take a look at some pics!

Yum!

One of our boxes. Before we emptied it for a refill. :)

After about 5 hours at the strawberry festival, we called it a day and headed back to Nonsan station to catch the trains back to Daegu. For anyone who is looking to go to the 2013 Strawberry festival, I definitely recommend a day-trip. 5 hours was the perfect amount of time to soak in the sights and get some strawberry picking done. Stay tuned for our next travel update, we're going to Boseong! :) 

A little about teaching...and a little about running! ^-^*

Annyong everyone!


Instead of writing a lengthy post about one topic, I'm going to write a few stories/anecdotes/updates (??) on different topics!! First up...the best question a student has asked me this year...


Student: Hello, teacher! 
Me: Hello, **! How are you?
S: Good. Teacher, I have a question...
Me: Ok!
S: I play baseball.
Me: Yes, I know! 
S: I use baseball bat.
Me: Yes, that's correct.
S: So...do I use baseball ball?
Me: Good question! You use a baseball. You play baseball. It is the same word.
S: Teacher! So confusing! But ok. Same word. Thank you.
Me: You're welcome! Bye **!
S: Bye.


This conversation made my day!! ^-^


Topic #2: English Festival--April Fool's Day!
The past two weeks I have been teaching the 3rd-6th graders about April Fool's Day. I tell them a little bit about it (emphasizing that we say NICE jokes and everyone is happy and no one is sad), show some examples and we watch a few funny youtube videos. Then, after doing all of that (maybe 20 minutes), I tell them I have a word search handout. The first student to finish is the winner! I say, "Do not write your name. Circle the words. No talking. Ready? Go!" and the class is silent for a couple minutes. As soon as I see the advanced students starting to get frustrated/confused, I start laughing. I say, "I FOOLED YOU! HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!!!!" and tell them no words are there. It is a joke. They get mad and tell me so with big smiles on their faces. Then I collect the handouts to reuse for the next class. Soooo funny! If you want to watch the video that was the biggest hit with my kids~go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blOrY-nEGaE&list=PLE77CF25A17A69A9E&index=1&feature=plpp_video I always watched the kids watch the video. They were cracking up!!!!! and I was laughing at them! ^-^


Topic #3: Running my first 10km!
So...basically since we returned to Daegu I've been running at the gym trying to get healthy, lose the weight I gained pigging out at home, etc. and my friend told me about the Daegu marathon. Now there was NO WAY I could run a marathon, but I figured...with 3 weeks left to train, I should be able to run a 10km! I registered for the race and researched training schedules (I had only been running 3-5km so I needed to gradually double my distance). Then I bought new running shoes (mine were at least 3-4years old and started hurting my feet), and began running with a purpose!!! I was pretty good about going to the gym 3-4 times/week, but having this marathon goal meant I was running 4-5 times/week without fail. I was SUPER motivated!!! Not only did I want to finish the 10km, I wanted to finish it withOUT stopping. 


The marathon was last Sunday morning. I saw the international athletes warm-up and talked with a few other English teachers I happened to see. We got lined up, I started my cardio app to track my time and distance (just as a reference), and I pushed play on my ipod. I was ready to start the race!!! We ran from city hall up to where the Daegu train station is and back around. It was so much fun!!!! The best part is...I finished it in about 58minutes!!! I don't know the official time yet, but based on my phone, it was about 58 minutes. I had been running it at the gym in about 67 minutes, so I was really happy with my time! The weather was perfect and with so many people running around me and people cheering from the sidewalks, it was a blast. I definitely got tired and my legs were super sore later that day, but I really enjoyed the 10km. Plus I got a "Finishers Medal" which is awesome! Fluke and some friends met me at the finish line and that was really cool because they woke up early to get there! They motivated me too because I told them I would finish between 9:10-9:20... I wanted to be on time! So thanks to Fluke and our friends for supporting me!! I think I will look up more races around Daegu and keep running. If for no other reason than to give myself another goal and keep my motivation up. Maybe the next one I can run in 50-55 minutes!!! ^o^ Here's a pic of me at the finish line!

Things my students say part III

Hi everyone! Fluke and I got new glasses!! (Post about that later...) and since my new glasses are much different than my old ones, I had some pretty funny reactions from my students. 


Student reactions on my first day of wearing my new glasses...


Student: Oh, teacher! new glasses!
Me: Yes! I have new glasses. Do you like them?
Student: Yes, of course! They look like mine :)


S: Oh! (points to glasses) Nice! (thumbs up)
Me: Thank you!


S: Oh, Jennipa teacha...you have new glasses.
Me: Yes!
S: talks in Korean to friends...and doesn't say anything else to me :)


S: Teacher! Why new glass?
Me: Why do I wear new glasses?
S: Yes.
Me: I wanted new glasses...and now I see better!
S: Oh... Good!


S: Looks at me for an awkward amount of time trying to figure out what is different....and then walks away.


S1: (points to glasses) glass? (looks to friend)
S2: new glass? (S1 and S2 look to S3)
S3: New glasses!
Me: Yes! I have new glasses! (I knew they would figure out what to say, so I waited for them to figure it out together)


Ok...that's all the ones I can remember! Because the students come to my classroom, I am able to welcome them at the start of every class. I always say, "good morning!" or "hello!" A few of the students and I have special routine greetings. Because I welcome the students this way and they are used to it, whenever they want to tell me something, or ask me something, they have the opportunity to do so before the bell rings. When they noticed my new glasses, they were able to speak enough English/use body language to have a short conversation. Overall, my favorite conversations are when a small group of students work together to say what's on their minds. Between 2-3 of them, they are always able to tell me what they want or ask me their question. It makes me feel good too because they work so hard to tell me in English instead of going to my Korean co-teacher for help to translate. 


I always learn something from the students during the conversations too. In the past two days, I've realized that the students need to learn the word... "glasses!" ^-^*


And here's a pic of us in our new glasses!

Things my Students Say No.2

Back with some more!


Walking through the hallways today, a 7th grade girls stops me and says
Student: "Teacher You! Saturday, I see you. Glasses. No!" 
Me: Ummm...
Student: "You...no glasses today?"
Me: (Aaah, she saw me on Saturday getting new glasses!) "Yes, no glasses today...contact lenses!!"
Student: "Ah, very good. Lenses!?! Teacher, you no wear glasses. Lenses only ok?" 
Me: Ok....?
I guess she didn't like me in my new glasses :(


In class last week, I finally taught a student to say "Nice to see you again." The past year or so, he has been saying "Nice to meet you" every time I see him. First thing he says to me when I walk in today, "Nice to meet you Teacher!" Sigh...


Talking to another English teacher about class, we look up and see an 8th grade girl looking at us intensely. She notices us looking and nods her head wisely at what we just said and says, "Yes...I understand Teachers." We weren't even talking to her!


Bad students have to carry a little slip of paper, and teachers in each of their periods mark down whether or not they are great, good, average, bad, or very bad. At the end of the day, I assume they show their parents? Anyways, one of my better students in 2nd period asked me to sign his, and I did, marking down "good." I noticed that the teacher for 1st period had put down "bad" and I asked him why.
 He said: "Oh, Art is 1st period. Very terrible. I don't like." 


Teaching my 9th grade class about how to use the word "recommend." 
Me: Can anyone recommend a good Korean singer for me to listen to?
Boy: Yes! I recommend G.NA.
Me: Great. Why do you recommend G.NA? 
Boy: (looks at all of his friends before saying this) She is very glamorous! (At which point, the whole class starts to laugh...)
Me: Ummm. (I turn to my Korean co-teacher and ask her what "glamorous" means). Blushing furiously, she says that it means that G.Na has a very big "chest." ^__^

Things my Students Say Part I

Sometimes my students say the funniest things. I thought I'd start writing some of them down!


1. A little bit of context first. This student is lower-level, and has never spoken to me directly before...until today. After I explained the directions for our first activity, he gives me a really intense look and says, "Teacher. I don't understand. Speak Korean. Please." ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


2. Right after class today, one of my students comes up to me and says, "Teacher, I miss you." Even though she literally just saw me 5 seconds ago.


3. Every day, without fail, if this particular student sees me, she will always say, "Teacher how are you? This is good morning!" Every day! In the morning, afternoon, after-school. It is always a good morning to her and it always made me smile. I was very sad to find out this week that she moved to the Phillipines to study abroad for a year. :(


4. "Teacher, do you know Cleveland Indians? My favorite team!" I just thought it was random that one of my students liked a baseball team from Cleveland. 




That's it for now. Bye!

Happy Pepero Day!!!

Today is November 11th in Korea, which means that...it's Pepero Day! Pepero is a type of candy that is really popular here. And I can't honestly tell you what or why it is celebrated as a holiday here. It's sort of like, one of those holidays that are celebrated, but not a National holiday. Anyway, I'm not really sure how it works, but basically, teachers get a ton of pepero candy, and so do students? 

For Pepero day, Jenn made out good. She got a ton of Pepero from her students, and even had some of her students asking her for Pepero. Which is why I'm not sure which way it is supposed to go! Regardless, here is a pic of just HALF of the Pepero candy that she received. Pretty nice huh? 

However, since I work at a Middle school, I was preparing myself to get absolutely no Pepero. Probably because I'd heard from some of my other friends who had been here last year that Middle school and up usually get no love. Middle school kids are too "cool" to give Pepero on Pepero day. Anyway, long story short, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of Pepero I got! Check it out! Nice huh? So...Happy Pepero day. Just thought I'd share this new Holiday with you all, and hey, I'm probably going to celebrate this back when I get home. Because I LOVE Pepero!!! :)

Also, not to forget Veterans day back home, much thanks and appreciation for all the Veterans back in the USA today! 


*Update: So, after talking to my co-workers, Pepero day is also a day where the boys get their girlfriends/crushes a really elaborate Pepero construction. Seriously. I'll try to find a pic later, but some of them are arranged in flower bouquets or mini-houses of Pepero.


Also, teachers apparently really dislike Pepero after Pepero day, because students give them so much. At the same time, some students will ask for Pepero too (knowing that teachers will have a surplus), so the Pepero flow goes both ways. And lastly, Pepero day has been known to be banned at some Elementary schools b/c the Principal is well, just no fun. 

Jinju Lantern Festival October 2011

Let's talk Jinju. Now, you may or may not remember, but Jenn and I have gone to a Lantern festival already. It was in Seoul, and it was pretty awesome. It was basically a big parade at night, down one of the main streets, and incredibly long. So what makes Jinju different? It's a lantern festival, on water! Yup, basically it consisted of a bunch of lanterns, floating in a river, in Jinju. 

It sounded pretty cool, so Jenn, me, and some of our friends headed down there for the weekend. When we got there, we were pretty much overwhelmed at the insane amount of lanterns. Not only were there lanterns in the water, there were lanterns all along the riverside, lanterns in the temple, and lanterns on the street! There were so many things to see and do. And for once, there were a variety of eats! Not to get down on Korea, but at pretty much every festival we've gone to, they offer the same kinds of food. In the beginning, it was awesome getting a corn dog with french fries. But when we saw it at every single festival? Along with 5 or 6 other main dishes? Nah. Not as awesome. But here, they had Vietnamese and Japanese food! 

Some highlights of our day:
- We made a lantern and put some of our wishes on it!

- At night, we lit them and floated them on the river.

- We saw some sweet lanterns. Disney, Comic book characters, random movies, UNICORNS (What?).

- The lantern tunnel. During the day, and during the night. Awesome!

- Our hotel! Right next to the river, and about a 5 minute walk to the main festival area. Lotte Motel. Highly recommend it!


- Made some personalized stamps! Mine said "Ati Teacher" and Jenn's said "Jennifer Teacher."


- Firework show above the water 

- And of course, the lanterns lit up at night were amazing. I don't think I could ever get tired of looking at them.


After one day and night there, we headed back home to Daegu. It was a great weekend! 

Today Was a Good Day Vol. 2

Hi everyone! This is my first "Today was a good day" blog entry! Enjoy :)


I have a student who last semester was extremely difficult to control and this semester, still refuses to do anything, but is more quiet about it. Today I said, "Please open your book to page 132." I know he understands me. He opens his book and then says, "No, teacher. I won't do." Instead of *trying* to make him complete the exercises by staying beside him the entire time, I decide to do something new. I looked at his drawings on the inside of his torn book cover. I asked, "What's this?" He proceeds to tell me all about the monsters. I ask him to name the body parts, to count the body parts (I think there were 6 arms and 3 eyes???) and to label his monsters. We have a short conversation about his life. (I knew his living situation was far from ideal.) And he told me he is happy living with his grandparents (I don't know what exactly happened to his parents, except that under their care, he was not happy.) He walks to school (like most of the students) and has breakfast every morning.


I always knew that connecting with students and having meaningful conversations with them is the best way to motivate and teach them. Until today, I had not done that with this child. I'm embarrassed to admit this because it should have happened much, much earlier in the school year. Anyway, later in the period, during a partner creative writing activity, his partner asked me how to spell a word. I always ask the students to try to spell the word first and then I will help them. Well, this boy blurted out the correct spelling! (For a difficult word too!!!) Partners are supposed to help each other and learn from each other. Until this activity, I had never seen this boy be a "partner" or participate in a cooperative learning activity voluntarily. No, I don't think he will suddenly do all the textbook exercises without being prompted. No, I don't think he will suddenly be volunteering and raising his hand all the time. BUT, I do hope that his participation improves and he has more of a desire to learn English. I look forward to the next time I teach him. I wonder what short 2-minute conversation I will have next time???

Today was a Good Day Vol.1

I thought I'd try something new and maybe start a series of posts about a good day that Jenn or I have had. It'll give us a little break from writing about our super awesome weekends, and give you guys a little more info about what goes on in our lives daily. Let's begin!


Today was a good day,
                 I started off the morning with a nice cup of coffee, and had my favourite 7th grade girls class. I taught them how to use the "Would you like to ______" phrase, and then we played a Pokemon review game about it. They were really into it, and were shouting out Pokemon names and yelling "oooh, so cute!" every time they saw Pikachu. It was definitely a great way to start the morning. After their class, I had 2nd period with one of my 8th grade boys classes. They are one of my favourites, and I had a good time teaching them, "What's the matter? My blah blah blah." I always like my 8th grade boys, because even though they can get a little rowdy sometimes, they always have the most energy and enthusiasm out of all my classes. The trick is to get them to focus all that energy and enthusiasm into learning English.  After 2nd period, our school had an English festival for the next two hours. I judged a student presentation contest, in which they made awesome powerpoints and speeches about what they wanted to do with their future. (Mostly awesome. Haha). One student even talked about a popular PC game called Minecraft which I thought was really creative! 
                  After a solid lunch with corndogs (nice!), I had 5th period off so I used that time to prep for next week. Ok. So really, I used that time to relax and do some Fantasy Football. Which was so much more important! Hehe. Then in 6th period, I got to play a music trivia game with some more of my 8th grade boys. I was a little nervous at first because I thought boys wouldn't be as into music as my girls classes were, but they loved it! It's probably one of the benefits of having an all-boys/girls class? The boys can be boys, and not have to worry about acting "manly" all the time for the girls. School gets out in an hour, and after grading a couple newspaper articles, I should be able to use the rest of my time to just relax and maybe grab a cup of  coffee. All in all, not a bad day at the office! 

One of the few pics I have of me teaching!