Halloween

I realize that I have violated the standard rules of blogging by leaving you all hanging for so long. However most of you know why I have failed to write recently, which is that I have been consumed by the horrible and overwhelming task of leaving Korea and returning to the States.

BUT, now that life has calmed down a bit, allow me to fill you in!

First of all, Halloween. My very last day of work was 10/31, oddly enough. Now Halloween, as I've probably mentioned on here before, is not widely celebrated in Korea, since it's not a Korean holiday at all. However, since I teach at an English Language School and am a foreigner, the parents and kids like us to have a little celebration so the kids can see what it's all about. And despite the fact that it's not celebrated in Korea you can bet that every single kid knows exactly what Halloween is all about....CANDY.

So all the foreigners at my school dressed up and it was a wild and fun day and, to be honest, the hectic tone of Halloween probably made my last day bearable. It was a very emotional day. Lots of hugs and presents from students. I cried only once after my favorite class which is made up of four students whom I teach every day.

Anyway here are some pictures at Halloween and my last day of work at SLP.

I was a Japanese woman in a kimono and Fran was a rock star

Dan was a member of Gryffindor house (NOT Harry Potter) and Glenn was a mad scientist

Some of my students on my last day

One of my older classes

My going away dinner. The girl on the right with the blond hair is Kelley, my replacement

My boss and me

Dinner led to karaoke with all of the staff...

All in all it was a very bittersweet last day of work!

Someone Told Me It's All Happening At The Zoo

(name that tune...)

So last weekend my friends and I went to the Seoul Zoo which turned out to be really really nice! I've heard zoos in Asia can be quite depressing. I think this is more true in China where there are some less than ideal sanitary conditions and the animals have really tiny habitats (except for the Pandas who get treated like royalty). Anyway the Seoul Zoo is the largest zoo in Asia and is about the same size, if not bigger than, the Philadelphia Zoo. It was really enjoyable and it was a gorgeous, crisp fall day (Boy do I love those kinds of days. My friend was making fun of me because every few minutes I'd say, "Can you believe what a gorgeous day it is!? I just love how all the leaves are changing colors!!" - So this is a shout out to my mom for teaching me to derive joy from simple things like sunny days and changing foliage!)

Anyway here are some shots from my zoo trip. Also in the evening we went to Seoul Land which is an amusement park in Seoul (the 2nd biggest of the 3 in Korea). It was really fun and the best part was it was only $10 for admission even though its usually $36 because (a) it was after 5pm and (b) there was a foreigner discount. I love getting great deals! Anyway, enjoy:

Mr. Giraffe who walked over and posed for me - how thoughtful!

Mr. Seal, who popped his head out of the water just in time for a photo-op

How about this bear, eh? Have you ever seen a non-cartoon bear sitting in this position? I mean he looks like he's watching the news or something, but really he's just staring at the people...who are staring at him... and probably thinking how he can manage to devour one of them...

This is me, talking with Mr. Llama

Around the entrance to the amusement park (I didn't take too many pictures because it was dark and, well, amusement parks pretty much look the same wherever you are).

Apart from this, of course. Here, your young child can be sealed inside a plastic bubble and float around in a pool without getting wet. Somehow I think putting kids inside sealed bubbles with no air holes might not catch on at amusement parks in the States...

Sitting in an autumn-themed Cinderella's carriage

Happy Fall!

I keep trying to blog but for some reason over the past week the Blogger website hasn't been allowing me to upload pictures. Hopefully this will figure itself out soon! I went to the zoo and to an amusement park last weekend and have some pictures to share so I will try to get those up soon. I hope you enjoyed the little slice of Korean pop culture I shared with you last week. If you haven't watched the music videos I really recommend you do that - if for no other reason than for a laugh. :)

Also I have an email address update. As I will, sadly, no longer be "Kayla in Korea" come November 9th (sniff sniff), I have a new email address: kaylaruthw@hotmail.com. I'll check both for the next few months but please update your address books!

This is going to be such a busy month - there is so much I want to do before I leave. I'm trying to savor every minute before it all ends. This is a very sad week for me because my best friend Sarah, from England, who arrived the same week as me in September of 2007, is leaving Korea for good on Saturday. We were both here for 2 years and are leaving Korea a month apart. I think it's a little less sad for Sarah, though, because she's heading to India, Australia, and New Zealand before she goes home to England. You might remember her as my travel buddy both in Hong Kong and in Tokyo! She is such a dear friend and I look forward to visiting her in England and/or having her come to visit me in the States (she's never been!). Last night I completed a scrapbook for her of her 2 years in Korea. We also bought a Korean flag and had all of her friends sign it. We're having a goodbye party for her tonight which promises to be a tear-filled event. I am glad I will only be in Korea for one month without her!

I hope you are all enjoying the arrival of fall as much as I am. The weather here is unseasonably warm (76 degrees!) but the nights are cool and the trees are starting to change colors. Oh how I love fall!

KPop 101

I feel like I haven't shared enough with you about Korean pop music so here we go... Because of Korea's size and somewhat homogeneous culture, when there is a popular song or band, literally EVERYONE knows them. If I took all of the students at my school aside and asked them to sing a song by Big Bang or Girls Generation there is no question that every single student would be able to do it. Probably all of the parents too. Not only this, almost every one of them would be able to do the dance that they do in the music video. There just aren't as many popular singers here as in the US so the famous ones are absolutely everywhere.

One of the insanely popular groups in Korea right now is called Girls Generation. A group of 9 (NINE!) girls who sing and dance to what is just about the most bubbly music I can imagine. Exhibit A, one of their music videos - I recommend you watch until at least until the chorus but beware...it's catchy!

Girls Generation

One of the most popular boy "bands of the moment is Super Junior. Their most popular song can be seen here. (by the way they aren't singing "naked" even though it sounds like it - it's the Korean word "nege") Oh and if you want to follow along here are the lyrics. And in case your wondering, YES all of those boys are in the band, YES they are a 13-member boy band and YES that makes them the largest boy band in the world. Only in Korea!

Super Junior

Mexican...in Korea

I can't really explain how hard it is to find good, ethnic kinds of food in Korea. Granted, it's easier in Seoul than in the rest of the country but still. In Mt. Laurel I have pretty much all kinds of food within a short drive. I can even choose between which restaurant I want to go to! (Chili's or On The Border? Olive Garden or Carrabbas? P.F. Changs or Chinese takeout?) ENJOY THE LUXURY OF CHOICE! I have become used to the fact that certain foods are just not an option. If they are here, they are located far away, and there's just one option and it's ridiculously expensive. I guess this makes sense. In Korea, soju is cheaper than bottled water (about $0.40). In America a bottle of soju is $18! I shudder when I think that I haven't had Chinese takeout since November 2008! Aaah. Speaking of years, it just hit me. It's almost October and I haven't seen a single member of my family yet in 2009. Aaah. That's horrible. I can't even let myself think about it.

Back to food. Aaah food. The point of my story is that through some miracle of wonderfulness, Korea has obtained the unauthentic Mexican restaurant chain known as On The Border, just a 15 minute subway ride away from my house. Now I know this is not real Mexican food. But I don't care. It's tacos and burritos and fajitas, people, and you just can't find that kind of thing in Korea outside of the tiny foreigner's area (think Chinatown but full of non-Koreans) which is over an hour away (and in a scary part of town, too). I almost never go there. When the landscape of your day-to-day life is dominated by millions of Asians it's disconcerting to be around large groups of foreigners. It makes me nervous! Don't ask me what I'll do when I get back to the States. Probably go into some kind of shock and live in a cardboard box until it passes.

So when I heard they were opening an On The Border nearby I immediately arranged for a group of my friends to go. So we went last night and we apologetically gorged ourselves on all things Mexican and it was AWESOME. A day later I'm still full and so satisfied. While I like having the choices we enjoy at home (and can't wait to have them back) waiting a year to eat a certain type of food really makes you appreciate it.

My Prodigies Part 2

Here is another student-written story, as promised. Read the other ones I posted here. By the way, this next story was written by a boy (not that you need me to tell you that, trust me) and the spelling and grammar are not quite as good as the others but the story is riveting, if you ask me. I'm leaving it unedited for your increased enjoyment.

Jungle Adventure
by Se-Hyuk

This story's characters are: Kanko, Jugia, and Kock. They look like straight, short, blue hair and they are friendly and brave. They go to a jungle and see a rattlesnack. They fight the rattlesnack but Kock was bite from the rattlesnack so Kock couldn't go on. They slept and they went on and they found gold. Suddenly the killers attacked. So they ran away and hid in a cave. They fought the killers and they one. But the killers shot with a gun and killed Kock. So he died. So they were so sad.

They went home. They wrote a diary and they became famous people. And again they went on a trip for the sea and they ride a boat and they see dolphins. They draw pictures of dolphins. But they are far from theys house and they see shark. The sharks attack the boat and they are very surprised. Kanko shot the sharks so the sharks were angry. Kanko and Jugia go to an island and sleep in a tent. They 8:00 get up and wash face. They walk around the island. They didn't see any peoples. So they were very afraid.

This night strange peoples come to the island so Kanko and Jugia hid behind a rock. Tomorrow they fight the strange peoples and they won. They go to their house. But their parents is died so they are so sad again.

The End

Things I loved:
-the spelling of rattlesnake as "rattlesnack"
-the spelling of won as "one"
-the way he writes, "They look like short blue hair" instead of "They have short blue hair" in response to me telling him to write what his characters "look like".
- How he tried to make people plural. "They didn't see any peoples"
-making the possessive of they into "they's"
-how he tells us they got up and washed their faces in the middle of all the descriptions of shark attacks and bloody battles "They 8:00 get up and wash face."

I especially love this story because you can tell this boy just got caught up in his imagination and the story which is exactly what I wanted. Many of my students have a hard time writing creatively in English because they feel like they just can't say what they want to with their limited grammar and vocabulary. I love that this student just went with his story and wasn't hampered by the language barrier. I love the creativity!

I also love how downright "boy'" this story is. Read my girl student's post entitled The Love Story in addition to this one and you'll have an excellent lesson in gender studies. In the girl's story there is a perfect ending where the hero and heroine get married and have a baby and live happily ever after. In the story above, even after defeating the rattlesnack (c'mon do I really have to make him change the spelling?) almost everyone in the story still ends up dead after a fight.

Love it Love it Love it!

Great Balls of Fur!

Yesterday, in my third class of the afternoon, I noticed one of my students was carrying her pencil case very strangely in the hall. She was holding it against her chest with two hands and once she was in the classroom some of the students were poking it gently and whispering. When I asked what they were doing the student smiled and said, "Teacher! It's nothing!" I thought maybe it was some sort of novelty pencil case with something soft on the outside or something. I didn't pay much attention. Until later when it became clear the students were not paying any attention to me at all and were completely focused on whatever was special about this pencil case.

So I went over and told her to open it. And to my surprise, inside were two itty-bitty hamsters! It was a soft, mesh pencil case so you couldn't see inside if it was closed but air could still get in. On the bottom she'd place bits of shredded newspaper and hamster food. The look on my student's face said, "Please don't be angry! Please don't make me get rid of them." It was an unnecessary plea since my heart had pretty much already melted into goo the minute she opened the case. Something about these teeny little balls of fur huddling together in a pencil case made me smile. I can just imagine being the 10 year old girl who got two new hamsters and couldn't bear to leave them at home alone and so devised, what I think was, a fairly genius plan to bring them to school with her.

And my school doesn't have any explicitly-stated rules about hamsters in the classroom. And they weren't hurting anyone. And they were so darn cute. So being the hard-line, slave-driving, rigid disciplinarian that I am...I let them stay and began cooing over them which my students got a huge kick out of.

When I jokingly asked her if I could have one she replied in all seriousness, "Teacher! This one is girl. This one is boy. Boy hamster and girl hamster....make some baby! Then I give you baby hamster! Ok?"

Ok.


And so the mystery of the strange pencil case was solved.
Or should I say...


Case closed.




C'mon that was funny!

My Prodigies

As you may or may not know, ever since... well, birth, I suppose, I've loved anything to do with words. Writing, reading, stories, speeches, acting, talking, you name it. As a toddler this manifested itself in endless streams of babbling and I guess in some ways not much has changed (I mean - have you read this blog?). As I got older my family, friends, and teachers nurtured my affinity for words, whether by reading my poetry and stories or by attending my various performances or (and perhaps this is the most award-deserving) simply listening to my endless rants.

Now, as I teach others to read and write and speak the English language effectively, there is nothing more rewarding about my job than seeing the fruits of my labor displayed in an assignment from one of my students. I am so lucky to have so many students who are eager to learn and anxious to please me (and yes I like the feeling of power that comes with being the wielder of the red pen).

That said, I am happy to share with you some absolutely fantastic stories my 5th graders recently wrote for me. Now, remember, not only are these 5th graders - they are 5th graders who are writing in a second language. How many of us could write a coherent story in a foreign language. I know I couldn't. Anyway, enjoy and be wowed:

The Student
by Hyun-Jung

Min-Ah and Sarah are in fifth grade. They are good friends and they are same classroom in school. One day their teacher says, "We are going to have the math test tomorrow". Sarah studied very hard. But Min-Ah didn't study math. She played with her friend.

Today is test day. They had a test. Sarah thought, "Wow it is very easy". Because yesterday she studied very hard. But Min-Ah thought, "It is very difficult". Because she didn't study. Later the teacher gave the test papers. Sara was perfect. But Min-Ah wasn't perfect. So Min-Ah went home and her mother gave her a hard time. So Min-Ah was sad.

Later the teacher said, "We are going to have the English test tomorrow". Min-Ah studied very hard. Today is test day. They had a test. Later the teacher gave the test papers. Min-Ah was perfect. So she was very happy. Her friend said, "Wow, Min-Ah your test is perfect! I envy you!" Min-Ah was very very happy. At home her mother said, "Wow your test is perfect! Great Min-Ah! Thank you!" So Min-Ah studied very hard so she began to be a good student.

The End

Makes my hear melt! Are you inspired? Keep reading!

A Love Story
by Ha-Yeon

In the year 5000, at a school, there was three friends. There was a very short and ugly girl named Cherry. There was a very tall and pretty girl named Corn. There was a very tall and handsome boy named Ice. Cherry was a friendly and kind girl. Corn was a bad and unkind girl. And Ice was a good and kind boy.

Cherry and Corn both loved Ice. One day, Corn made a confession of love to Ice. But Ice didn't like Corn so he refused her. So Corn got angry and said, "Who do you love?" He said, "I love Cherry." She said, "Cherry? She is ugly!" He said, "But she is kind."

Corn got very angry. So she wanted to hit Cherry! But Ice protected Cherry from Corn. In the year 5010 , Cherry and Ice fell in love and got married. So they bore a child. And they named it 'Cherry Ice Cream'!

Man, I love these kiddos!
More later!

Just Another Weekend

So this past Saturday I had the privilege of once again being a tourist in this fantastic country which I call home (for now). I made my way, with a friend, to Gyeongbokgung Palace in the Northern part of Seoul. The palace is the main and largest palace in Korea and it was built in 1394. It was then destroyed by the Japanese when they invaded Korea (just one of many reasons Korea and Japan remain at odds) but was reconstructed in 1867. The palace grounds are HUGE. It takes hours to fully explore them.

Following Gyeongbokgung we walked through Insadong which lies on the edge of the cultural district and is teeming with antique shops, tea rooms, and artisans.

Colorful wares for sale

Handmade Jewelry

One of countless street food vendors

Outside the theater where I saw Jekyll & Hyde The Musical
(read about it here)

Aaah it was so good!

Sunday afternoon was spent picnicking in the park with my best friends...friends who are very talented as you can see below:

And here I am clearing the cobwebs off my softball skills.

Yet another fabulous weekend in Seoul.