Blogs from Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, Asia

Well it’s September once again. The weather is cooling down and I am happy about that. September has also brought some changes in my life here in Korea. I started my new teaching position at a Montessori based private kindergarten. I have now been there from just a few weeks. So far so good. I also have a new apartment and it’s a lot bigger and closer to many things than my last one. I have a real bathroom! Haha. My new class of kiddos is pretty great. I now teach the Yellow Duck class (All the classes are named after the animals in Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See?). I have nine little ones and I am excited to watch them grow and learn. Anyways, I just wanted to give a quick update ... read more

Hi everyone I know it's been awhile since I've last written, but I've had a very busy week, all of which I will be updating to you in painstaking detail. I, however, won't be reciting this past weeks events on this update because I'm currently on my brand new iPod touch brought here straight from America. I just wanted everyone to know that I'm doing great and updated blogs will be coming soon.... read more

Hey everyone! So, on Saturday we all went to a teamwork development picnic about an hour bus ride away from Bundang. It was actually kind of fun. The Koreans, Canadians, Americans were randomly put into three teams, and we competed in a bunch of different activities. I was on team C. The first half was indoor talent type stuff. The first activity was a team cheer, which I was barely able to keep up with because most of it was in Korean. We then had an individual talent thing, which Jessica took care of with my team. Next was a Charades guessing game, and finally a weird arm wrestling competition, but with legs. We then had lunch, and after went out to the field where outdoor competitions took place. To sum things up, the outdoor competitions ... read more

I keep forgetting to tack this bit of information onto other blogs so I guess I will make it a blog of its own. There are so many types of shoes in Korea. Seriously...here it goes: 1. outdoor shoes: any shoes you wear in the streets 2. indoor shoes: if you like, you can be barefoot inside the home, if not, you can get indoor slippers. 3. in the classroom shoes: you can't wear your indoor shoes into the classroom if you walk in the hallways with them. these can also be slippers. 4. bathroom shoes: these are jelly-like slippers to be worn in the bathroom. i find that in the course of my day i change in and out of various pairs of shoes at least 30 times per day. I come in, take off ... read more

It has been a while... Reading other people's travel blogs has made me realize 3 things: 1. There are soooo many places I want to visit 2. I need a better camera (I cant invest a ton of money but please make suggestions, I would like to upgrade from my little tourist-type camera to something a little more professional) 3. I want to learn more about photography I have been teaching for just over a week now. It is taking a while to get the kids under control. I have 22 students in my class (5,6,7 years old, Korean age). I have eleven 7-year olds, which is a rather large group for teaching English. I implemented several reward systems, all having to do with stickers and prizes. Many of the children have accepted that I am ... read more