I'm already in my third month of teaching in Korea! It's pretty cold here and Christmas is everywhere. Across from school there is a cultural arts center and a row of big trees that are all decked out in gorgeous white lights (I'll take some pictures soon!). My school is all decorated for Christmas as well. Since money is tight and traveling is expensive, I am going to do some fun things around here during winter vacation. I'm planning on spending 2 nights at a fancy hotel in Seoul. I made some extra money doing kindergarten and I'm going to treat myself to a quiet get-away complete with a Korean style massage at a fancy spa. I'm really looking forward to it! I'm going to do some historic site-seeing in Seoul and I also have plans to go to Lotte World with some friends during my time off. Lotte World is the biggest indoor theme park in the world!
Fancy Hotel I'm staying at...
Hotel Pool...
Lotte World...
Teaching continues to go well. I've been learning lots of fun Korean games. My students really like "Rock Paper Scissors" and they have taught me at least 3 variations on it. They've also taught me some table games such as the Korean version of jacks (
Kongki Noli). My junior high girls play
Kongki during breaks before and after class. It's played with 5 plastic pieces that look like this:
They are weighted with little metal balls inside. You play one-handed with 5 pieces at a time. You throw them down on the table and then pick one up and throw it in the air. While that ones in the air you pick a second one up and then catch the one you threw. Then with the two in your hand you throw one up and pick up a third while that ones in the air and then catch the one you threw (Confused yet???). You do this until they are all in your hand. That's the first round. The second round you pick up two pieces every time you throw one up. The third round you pick up three. The fourth round you pick up four and the fifth time you pick them all up. The last step is you toss all the pieces in the air at once and catch them on the back of your hand. Then you throw them up again and catch them all in your palm. It's difficult (for me...my students are awesome at it!) but really fun. I'm planning to send some
kongki sets to my
nieces for Christmas.
Hotel Pool...
Lotte World...
They are weighted with little metal balls inside. You play one-handed with 5 pieces at a time. You throw them down on the table and then pick one up and throw it in the air. While that ones in the air you pick a second one up and then catch the one you threw. Then with the two in your hand you throw one up and pick up a third while that ones in the air and then catch the one you threw (Confused yet???). You do this until they are all in your hand. That's the first round. The second round you pick up two pieces every time you throw one up. The third round you pick up three. The fourth round you pick up four and the fifth time you pick them all up. The last step is you toss all the pieces in the air at once and catch them on the back of your hand. Then you throw them up again and catch them all in your palm. It's difficult (for me...my students are awesome at it!) but really fun. I'm planning to send some kongki sets to my nieces for Christmas.
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