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March 5th 2013
Well, my time in Korea is rapidly coming to an end. I thought I was ready to leave, but as I sat with my students on my final day of work, I felt myself welling up. The kids were being extra kee-owa (meaning "cute," the first Korean word I learned,) and I started thinking about the daily routine of my life in Seoul that I had grown so accustomed to. How had it become normal for me to receive daily hugs from adorable little Asians as they said "I love you Yenny teacher!"? How was dancing with a group of kids to "Summer Lovin" and singing at the top of my lungs part of my daily life? How was walking into a classroom with twenty pairs of eager eyes staring expectantly up at me, just an ... read more
January 2nd 2013
Wow, what a year! 2012 has proved to be full of adventures for me here in Asia! I just realized I haven't written a blog since August, so Christmas vacation seems like the perfect time for an update. The last few months have flown by. Christmas in my school was a riot! The kids began talking about it mid-November, and didn't stop until December 25th. We had the privilege of receiving a visit from Santa himself, on December 21st. One of my older students aptly pointed out, "I know he's not real. The real Santa comes to my house through the chimney." (This was said in complete seriousness). Either way, most of the kids seemed to be in complete and utter awe of Santa when he bumbled through the door into each classroom. Some students were ... read more
August 9th 2012
The deprived little Korean children are only given ONE meager week of summer vacation, which means myself, a teacher, only gets one week as well. When trying to decide where to spend our precious week, the choices were narrowed down to Japan, Thailand and China due to proximity. In the end, the choice was obvious: Beijing, China! It was half the price for a flight, only one hour away from Seoul, and once there, room and board were ridiculously inexpensive as well. We knew it was going to be a good trip when we boarded the plane and realized they had bumped us up to first class! We were treated like royalty the entire time: extra drinks, slippers, blankets, pillows, and more leg room than necessary. I almost wished the flight was longer! Once we arrived, ... read more
June 24th 2012
One of my favourite "Korea-isms" thus far is the abundance of spelling mistakes that I see on a daily basis, wherever I go. You know that rewarding feeling that comes over you when you notice a spelling mistake in a book? You get this triumphant, almost cocky feeling that you're smarter than the publisher! You might even insist on telling whoever will listen that you found the mistake so they can thus be impressed by your cunning eye. Well, it has come to the point here that I don't even feel impressed with myself anymore- the amusement has worn off! South Korea is fervently welcoming English into its country with wide open arms. This is evident in the high demand for English teachers in recent years. As well, everywhere you go, especially in the main cities ... read more
June 17th 2012
As of tomorrow, I will have been teaching in Korea for two months. In that time, my experience as an English teacher has been anything but boring. On day one, I was put in front of a classroom of kids with the only instructions being: "Teach." So, as instructed, I began teaching. I have been doing my best to make a difference in these little kids impressionable minds. Some days seem to be more succesful than others. I will try to sum up a few of my thoughts, and experiences thus far. I remember walking into each class on the first day and introducing myself to the students. Depending on the class, I was greeted with varying reactions. With one classroom in specific, I was literally greeted with shrieks of fear. The children had never seen ... read more
June 2nd 2012
If Seoul is the Madrid of South Korea, Busan is the Barcelona of South Korea (a conclusion my dad and I came to). Suffice to say, Busan was the perfect place to go for our long weekend. It felt nice to get out of a busy metropolis and travel down south to a beach city... Haeundae Beach was phenom! I never thought I would like seeing so many tourists, but it was comforting to finally hear other people speaking English. There are 99.9% Koreans residing in South Korea, so its very rare to see another westerner lingering the streets of Seoul. In Busan however, there were tourists everywhere. It felt nice for a change. There were intense sand castles being created for a festival the next weekend. They had even hired a man to stand all ... read more
May 1st 2012
Something as mundane as taking a taxi in Seoul has turned out to be quite an experience in and of itself. We hail a cab and take a seat. The first thing I notice is the lack of any seatbelts. "Just don't worry about it" Jed tells me. So I shrug and show the man where we want to go. He looks at it and gives us a crazed, toothless smile and off we go. He's honking and weaving around traffic, while speeding ahead. I clutch the seat and think to myself "we should have walked." We come to a red light and I relax a little. Just as I've relaxed he opens his door, leans far out and spits. Not just a quick spit however, the loudest, most obnoxious spit imagineable. I just glance over ... read more
April 17th 2012
I've got SEOUL! I just arrived in South Korea last night, and though I'm pretty jet lagged from the fourteen hour flight, I'm too excited to sleep. When I arrived a man was standing in the airport with a sign with my name on it, (a lifelong dream of mine...haha). He couldn't speak a WORD of English, not even hello, but me, being the huge risk-taker that I am, just hopped in his van and an hour later I was in the heart of Seoul, standing in front of my new apartment. The first night, Jed and I ate at a Korean BBQ restaurant. When we walked in we took our shoes off, and plunked right down on the floor. They served us kimchi (the most classic Korean appy), followed by course-after-course of veggies, bugs, noodles, ... read more
September 13th 2008
Well, I finally have time to make my final blog about Spain. What a summer I had. I met amazing people, and saw amazing places in Spain. I experienced the culture and got to live with a wonderful family! We ended the summer off by going to Mallorca. Its a Spanish Island in the Mediterranean Sea. When I saw the first beach I was in SHOCK! It was GORGEOUS! Like nothing I've ever seen before. Clear blue waters and perfect, white sand. Basically, the two weeks consisted of relaxing on various beaches, boating on huge sailboats, eating amazing food and shopping. There's too much to say really, so I'll leave it at that. My summer was so fun and I'd like to thank the Bunzl's for letting me join their family and experience their way of ... read more
July 31st 2008
Since I now know Madrid like the back of my hand, I was dad´s ¨tour guide¨when we were in the city. I took him to all my favourite places, plus a few places I had never been! We took the Madrid tour bus which showed everything, like the Royal Palace, the Prado Museum and Plaza Mayor. We ate dinner that night in this really fancy outdoor restaurant. There was a piano player and fans spraying a light mist of water on us. I tried ¨melon con jamon¨which is melon and ham! It sounds like a wierd combo, and it is. But it tasted delish! Dad was daring and tried the green olives they gave us. Much to his own surprise, he liked them! Then that night we took the tour bus again, but the city seemed ... read more
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