Troublemakers

For some reason my students have begun to be too comfortable with us! This weekend we spent a lot of time playing soccer, eating together, and going to the store together. When Monday morning came around, my students were going crazy! They are not obeying at all. So we are separating them even more and instead of having two classes of 19 and 20 we're going to have three classes of 13. Also, three of my boys have been literally terrorizing the younger boys in the dorms. I cannot really go into the extent of what they are doing, but it is like nothing I have heard of before. It is pretty scary how they are treating the younger kids. They now have to spend hours every day on the soccer field reciting bible verses, doing exercises, and standing in the rain. It breaks my heart that they are acting up so much, and by the extent of what they are doing, it makes me wonder where they learned this from. Please be praying that they would understand that their actions have consequences, and that they can change the way that they are treating others. Its so sad to see how they are wasting their time to learn English and get closer to God. Pray that I will know how to show them extra love while still showing them that they cannot keep terrorizing the other kids.

So many gifts!

Now that my students are getting to know me better, they are constantly bringing me gifts, or letting me borrow things. First a girl named Kylee gave me eyedrops because I had really dry eyes in study hall! Second two of my students named Kevin and JJ gave us their umbrella's when it was raining really hard, and just said we could keep them as long as it rains. Then today a girl named Jina bought me my favorite candy in the store when we were shopping together! I am so glad to see that by trying to love on them, they are returning that love as well. I've been attending their soccer games, eating with them at meals, hanging out with them in between classes, and more. At first they were very nervous, and would sometimes get up and leave. This is because usually it is very segregated between the teachers and the students. The teachers do not show love to their students, but when they live here most of the year, those are the only ones who can be showing them love!

Another thing I have been constantly bombarded with is how much the girls want to look like me, and how much they want to date an American boy. They never stop talking about my light colored hair, my wide eyes, the bridge on my nose, my thinness, and my darker skin. They stare at the American boy teachers and say that they are their "dream guys". I keep trying to affirm the way that they look by saying they are beautiful and God created us all differently, and that they shouldn't be so hard on the Korean boys. Just be praying that they will grow to love themselves and not want to change everything.

It has been kind of difficult with all of the new teachers here, and now their kids as well. There are 45 new teachers and 80 elementary school students. Because of this I have seen setbacks in my students confidence levels. They are so shy because of the new Americans, and the new Americans keep trying to talk to them, and force them to do things with them, instead of being patient which is only making it worse. Be praying that me and my students will get used to the changes, and that everyone else will adapt to the way that this school is run, and the culture as well.

Today all of the teachers had to perform in front of the whole church. We practiced for hours, which actually made us more nervous! We are probably going to perform every Sunday. We used body worship which is similar to praise dance, so even if they could not understand our words, our motions could explain it all. It really reminded me of all of those years singing VBS songs! We sang Lord I Life Your Name on High, which is a REALLY old song, but imagine how long worship songs take to get over to Korea!! (the answer is a very long time.) I could see my students laughing, but afterwards they said we did a good job and asked if I could teach them how to do that! I think that by all of that hard work, I was able to gain some more respect from them, and they could see that I was willing to look ridiculous for them!

Study Hall

We have study hall every night for two hours. The kids are required to go, so that means that the teachers are also required to give out a lot of homework! They always whine when I do that and say "ohh teacher, you don't want us to have any fun? you don't love us?", but I'll get in trouble if I don't give them very much, so I try to think of a lot of things for them to do. Last night it was my turn to oversee study hall, and they were not completely silent, but they were fairly quiet. I only had to talk to a couple of kids about being quiet. About 2/3 of the way through the class some of the Korean male helpers came in. They started taking the boys in the hall one by one. I peaked out and saw that they were making them exercise. They made them do pushups, sit ups, squats, and jumping jacks. A lot of our helpers have been in the army because every Korean male is required to do two years. I was so confused as to why they were in trouble, and it was making me very upset. Then after class was over, I had them organize the desks and pick up papers. After they left the room I started sweeping, but the men came in again and said "no teacher you need to leave!" very loudly. Then they brought in all of my students to clean the room. So I waited outside the building and thanked each of them as they came outside. They looked so tired because they are in class from 9am to 9pm. Please be praying that I will find a way to show my students love in the midst of all of this. Also pray that I can understand their form of discipline and get used to it. I know that this is because they are trying to get them to show me respect, and help prepare them for the army, but it still is so so different from what I am used to in a classroom.

I now know how all of my teachers felt...

I am officially finished with Day 2 of teaching! I only have two more days this week, and the I am attending a conference this weekend as well as resting up because the rest of the team (40 people) are getting here this weekend. So far it has been very quiet with only 40 students and 4 teachers. I love everyone that I am working with, and we have a lot of fun with each other as well as being able to help each other get better at teaching.

Orientation went really well. I was in Class B which is the lower level English class. It was really interesting to talk with the kids and learn a little bit more about the Korean culture. They get to choose their own American/ English names, and apparently get to change them constantly as well! All day long the boys and girls ask everyone else if they like their name, and ask for ideas of what to change their name to. One kid is named Pooh after Winnie the Pooh...He's obviously been to Disneyland! Another kid asked me if he could change his name from Rio to Edward. When I asked if it was because of Twilight, he blushed, and totally avoided the question. It's hilarious to me that they can do this!! So I pretty much have to memorize at least one new name almost daily. Another thing the kids are great at is sucking up. If they don't want to do something, they will say "OHHH teacher you are so beautiful!!!" Even the boys do this. They are also amazed by the tall and big footed teacher who teaches with me. They keep sneakily putting their feet next to his to see how long his feet are.

The first day was very interesting. Most of the kids are very very quiet in the beginning. If I ask for volunteers to answer a question, not even one will volunteer, even when I threatened to take away points! And when I called on students they literally whispered! It is getting better now. Also, one of my students named Julie kept falling asleep. This is like really really bad in Korean culture so I had to kick her out of class and tell her not to come back. Next time, I will have to make her stand during the entire class (1 hour). That will be interesting! Overall, they are very good at learning English and are eager to learn it as well. While they do try to be manipulative, it is apparently because Korean parents do not discipline, so the teachers are the only ones who do. I'm trying really hard to show them love as well as being strict. They even ask me if I hate them when I give them a homework assignment or make them switch seats. Hopefully they will see that I love them as well as want them to succeed in learning English!

My second day was much more smoothly run, and the students are soaking up the English. They are now more comfortable with asking me questions, and joking around with me as well. I am starting to see all of their different personalities, and love each of them for the individuality. I'm excited to see how God uses me, and them to teach me as well!

FINALLY HERE!

So I'm officially in Korea! Got here Saturday night which was Friday night for you guys. It was a long but great flight. I really wanted to sleep, but there were a lot of good movies so that didn't happen until the end. This was seriously luxury flying! We were given slippers, toothbrushes, and the worst part-wine. For dinner that was all you could have! I asked for water and they said no water for dinner, so I was really thirsty instead. Apparently there is something about it being bad to drink water while you eat. This makes it difficult when I'm eating food I don't really like, and I can't even wash it down with water! Haha. We had a short layover in Tokyo which was fun since I've had Japanese exchange students before and got to see some of the souvenirs that they've bought for me and my family in the past.

When we got to Seoul we still had to drive two hours to the camp. It was raining since it is monsoon season, but also since it is Korea it was SOOOOO humid! I think Korea looks a lot like Oregon with all of the green trees and hills. There are quite a few big bugs, and I dont know what they are which only makes it worse. Often we find them dead on the ground randomly, not even squished so I don't know what happened...creepy. We are out in the country surrounded by a graveyard, and fields of rice, and even a few cows and chickens. It is really peaceful though. Apparently, most people who live in the country are well off, but they are still looked down upon. The campus is very big and beautiful with even a turf soccer field, a cafe, a fitness center, and more. We are staying in the newest dorm building, with air conditioning and WiFi! We have people to do our laundry several times a week which is great since its so warm here that I'll go through my clothes pretty quickly. The food here isn't my favorite; there is a lot of fish, and vegetables that I do not recognize. I pretty much eat rice at every meal, and the broth from soups with spinach and seaweed.

Today is orientation for camp. Our students get here at 4:30pm and we will play some games and get to know each other. Yesterday we had to clean classrooms, organize everything, and meet the other teachers. It is interesting to be teaching English with Korean college students who can barely speak English themselves! They are all very nice though, and helpful as well. It will be fun getting to know them during the next four weeks of school. I have 39 students that are separated into three different classes. So I have three periods each day with breaks in between. These are students who have been accepted to the school in the fall, but cannot speak English well enough to survive in their classes.

So I decided something this morning. And don't take it personally...but America might not be as smart or advanced as Korea. I keep seeing these really cool cars that we don't have-even Samsung and LG have cars here. Also, MP3 players are wayyy better. I saw one where the headphones were the mp3 player, and there was nothing attached so it was a lot smaller than what we have. I am constantly amazed by what I see and I keep thinking "why didn't we think of that?"

WELL, I need to go to some meetings and stuff like that so I'm going to go now, but again thank you for your prayers, and check my facebook if you want to see some pictures!

The night before the big day!!!

Today I flew to Ontario where my roommates Emily and Katrina picked me up. We spent the day shopping for the trip, and eating good ol' American food at Panera, and Yardhouse. We loved having roommate time since I haven't seen either one of them in over two months! Tomorrow morning Katrina and I are getting up around 5:30am to leave for LAX. Yay for rush hour traffic in LA!! We will have a layover in Tokyo which should be fun, and yes, I did spend some time brushing up on my Japanese :) We get to Korea on Saturday, have orientation on Sunday, the kids have orientation on Monday, and we start teaching our 7th and 8th graders on Tuesday!!! Our camp is four weeks long, but the camps for younger kids are shorter, so only five of us are leaving now, while the rest of the team is not coming until the 22nd of July. I have gotten my teachers manuel, and finally feel a lot more prepared, and even excited for my journey to begin! Thanks for all of your prayers and support!

A little info on South Korea

Soo I realized a few days ago that I do not know much about South Korea! I remember researching Africa and Jordan for hours and days on end, and I really think Korea deserves just as much time and energy! So I started doing a little research, and here are some interesting facts that I hope you will enjoy!

1) Baseball is their #1 watched sport

2) South Korea has gotten more medals than any other Asian country, in the winter olympics

3) About 50% of the population is Atheist, 30% Christian, and 22% Buddhist. I bet you thought they were mostly Buddhist right? They also have the largest Christian church in the world (830,000 members)

4) South Korea and North Korea are not buddies. :/ Especially after this March (Korean warship)

5) Its really really hot in the summer, and humid, and there are monsoons...BUT it can get down to -20 in the winter!

6) Over 90% of the population owns a cell phone

7) Incheon International Airport has been rated the best airport in the world for four consecutive years. I'm pretty excited to see this!

8) They have a very high population density-487 per square kilometer, which is 10 times the global average. Also, the Seoul National Capital Area is the world's second largest metropolitan area (24.5 million people)

9) Chungcheongbuk-do is the only land-locked province in South Korea, and it is where I am going!

10) Their cuisine consists of a ton of fish, vegetables, meat, rice, noodles, and tofu. Kinda nervous about this, but I'll survive!