Well I've made it through the first month and man has it been a ride! My first teaching day was on March 4th and the kids here are super amazing. When I first arrived at my school, Irwon Elementary, my main co-teacher Jiyul met me and introduced me to the area. Turns out we have the same birthday?? She has been truly outstanding in helping me settling in and setting myself up for the year! My weekly schedule consists of grades 3rd-6th. I co-teach every day except Wednesdays where I have 6th graders all to myself to do creative activities. Anywhere from movies to games or projects. The kids here have pretty various levels of English, but they're all so very excited every day to learn and play games with me which makes the job so much more worth it! Quite a few of the 6th graders have surprised me with their English levels. Several of them have lived abroad in either the U.S or Canada so they are much more confident in their speaking level, but not at the point to where they're fluent. One very common thing across all the grades though, is that they are very, very competitive in games. They scream when they win and they scream when they lose, but they work hard and always try their best which makes me laugh every day! I might miss American gummy candies and chips, but the food here is something I will always crave. The unlimited Korean BBQ or ice cream to heart-shaped mochi...you just can't beat it! Every now and then I go out with some fellow co-teachers that I met during orientation to eat or to wander around and every time I go out I get to experience a little more of Korea. Of course not everything has been a breeze, when I first arrived I didn't have a bed for almost 2 weeks due to my school being unable to finalize my settlement allowance before I came. Phone plans and bank accounts have also taken me for a spin on how to get them done. Luckily Jiyul has been here to help, but when paperwork takes too long and you can't get a phone plan without a special card, then that always calls for another trip to the airport for a new sim card! Overall though, I have loved every step I've taken in Korea and I really can't wait for more!
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Who would've known that hotels in South Korea requires you to leave the key card in the door for, not only the lights to work correctly, but also...the toilet! Yes! It has been quite a learning process for me, but I am so very excited to start my year of teaching. So far my week has consisted of learning the basics of what it means to be an English teacher in Korea with EPIK. The program offers an amazing choice in teaching elementary to high school level students under the Korean government. We teach with a Korean co-teacher who is going to be there to help not only me as a teacher advance in school and teaching-wise, but also to help the students gain needed skills in English. The program challenges us to not only incorporate our own culture into our lessons, such as music, holidays or games but to also learn more about Korean culture and use that in our lessons to connect with the students. On the 24th, we had a cultural excursion with the EPIK program. We rode buses about 20 minutes away from the campus we are staying at to explore what the city of Cheongju has to offer. It was beautiful. We not only were able to see the new sites, but were able to experience how to make some traditional Korean rice cake snacks, tried our hand at rowing machines as well as visited a museum! It was truly amazing to be able to experience everything first hand. |