What's Next?

Hello wonderful family and friends! I am 2 days away from my 9th month mark, wow time is going by so fast! The thought of coming home is actually the most frightening thing at the moment.  I find myself asking many questions lately: what do I do when I go home? What does my life look like after Korea? Should I go to school for my masters? or work? I have NOOO idea, however the thought of staying in Korea another year has presented itself so we shall see what happens.  Whatever happens I WILL be coming home after my contract and maybe JUST maybe I will come back to Korea...no one knows but the big G-O-D :).  It has been a few months since I have posted an update on my life here in Korea and a few of my friends have been pushing me to hurry up and write so here I am.  The amount of things that have gone on in those few months is too many to count so I will attempt to explain/ discuss the important bits! :P

A lot has changed in such a short amount of time.  I am now the senior foreign teacher at my school as one of my closest friends (one of the teachers who helped train me) at work left in the middle of February.  This left just myself and another foreign teacher (who happens to be my partner in crime :P) to take on the responsibilities of 3 teachers.  It was pretty stressful at first and very challenging but by the end of the month we had mastered it.  It was such a new environment, one that I was unsure if I would learn to enjoy but it was actually very exciting.  We were told we would get a new male teacher in the beginning of March and that we did. 

Edward practicing for Graduation 

My Kinder babies (not really babies but they will always be that way to me) graduated at the end of February.  It was such a stressful experience with a lot of work for both the kids and the teachers.  There was pressure to memorize songs, their musical lines and presentation scripts while looking like they are having a good time.  Now getting a group of 25+ 6-7 year olds to be little presenters in a language not their mother tongue is a challenge.  There was a lot of little things to prepare, however they did a WONDERFUL job!  One of my homeroom class chose their presentation topics to be "inventions of their own".  Each of them chose a very unique idea that was near and dear to their hearts and drew pictures of what they wanted it to look like.  They memorized all their lines and did a really great job! I was so proud of them!  The busy-ness of graduation was immediately followed with the busy preparation for the new classes and students.  Two of my friends at work and I ended up staying at work till 2:30am preparing bulletin boards for the classes...who knew that being a Kinder teacher would be so exhausting!!!

One of the boards we stayed up making!

The boards turned out pretty well and I think they are better than they ever were before so I was happy.  Our hard work paid off and when the new kids saw them it seemed they were pretty impressed! This is a perfect transition to talk about my new kinder class...oh boy.  They are a group of very outgoing youngsters who even on the first day found themselves getting into trouble for fighting and screaming.  To make matters more interesting, they speak literally NO English, not a word.  I have never known the challenge of teaching a group of 5-7 year olds who do not understand anything I say.  It is exhausting and requires much more patience, energy and creativity.  I finish work feeling exhausted every day however, I find joy in the little moments when they say "Thank you teacher" or apologize after punching their friends...haha I will take what I can get.  My homeroom class is made up of 7 kids, 2 girls and 4 boys all with very big personalities.  I was only given one homeroom class this year however I also teach: Arts and Crafts, Show and Tell and Math to the other classes as well as my own homeroom.  Teaching show and tell to young kids who speak no English is very interesting, however I am finding ways to make it productive. 

My new homeroom class

My sister, a coworker of mine and myself :)

Speaking of AWESOME, MY SISTER CAME TO VISIT ME!!!! It was incredibly random but exactly what I needed.  It was about time that I needed a little taste of home and after missing her in my life for about 8 months it was such a joy! Due to my busy schedule and her school work we didn't do many excursions but we spent quality bonding time which is EXACTLY what I needed.  She was such an encouragement and it was amazing to have someone to come home to every night.  I realize how much I miss having people around all the time, especially after work! That being said, it is also incredible to see how much more independent I have become! My sister actually made a few comments on how she saw many changes (yay for growing up!)  Rebekah was able to come to school with me and see the Kinder kids as well as elementary kids! She got a little taste of my daily routine, it was really special to be able to introduce her to my friends here and show her my way of life.  There is something very special about having someone from home mix with my new life, it was an experience I will remember forever. 

Random experiences: Korea is full of random moments and interesting experiences that I seem to have experienced often lately and therefore felt the need to include:

1) The other day a very old woman (I'm talking late 90's) came up to a group of my friends after church and began singing to us in Japanese for what seemed like a long while.  She proceeded to tell us the story of her life in Korean which was fun to try and figure out but what ended with her singing voice lingering in the air as we bowed and thanked her for her time...when does that happen?  

Wearing the necklaces she gave us with her CD :P 

2) My friend and I have made a lifestyle change which involves gymming everyday.  This has resulted in us meeting some very awesome people as well as some very interesting people.  As we were getting water from the cooler a middle aged woman came up to us and told us she would like to take us out for lunch.  She told us she was a famous singer and owns her own vocal teaching studio.  My friend and I talked to her for a bit and decided "sure, why not".  As a side note, it is not incredibly uncommon for people to come up to you as a foreigner and ask to speak to you or spend time with you in an attempt to get "free lessons".  Anyways, we went out with her to lunch and she ended up buying us necklaces and taking us to some random shopping mall and oh man...it was an interesting experience.  Turns out she has a CD and has travelled around the world as a Korean singer, she gave us her CD too!

Some of my treats from "White Day"

3) Korea is all about LOVE and couples...that being said they celebrate some pretty interesting things such as White day.  They have Valentines day where the girls give chocolates to the boys but then on White day which is March 16th, the boys give the girls chocolate.  Best thing everr!! My students gave me loads of coffee, chocolates and candies, I even got a hello kitty lollipop!

4) As I was walking through Emart a man walked up to me and asked if he could interview me for his school project.  I asked what it entailed and he said a few questions so I said sure.  He asked me some questions while recording it on his phone and then as it was finished told me he needed a picture as well.  I was uncertain at this point if I should let him but he gave me little time to make a decision before snapping a photo.  (I really hope that doesn't find its way on any online creeper thing...cross your fingers)

Me and one of my students <3

Here in Korea I have been able to have some wonderful experiences and make some really solid relationships.  However, since Korea is a contract based place for many foreigners, I sadly have to see many people leave.  A few of my closest friends have already left.  This is a lot harder than a person may understand because since many of us are from all over the world and the constant question "will I ever see this person again?" tends to come up.  I have been clinging to one thought throughout it all: "none of it would have been possible if I hadn't come to Korea". 

Some of the amazing people I have met!

Although there is a lot of change going on and my contract is coming to a close in the next few months, there are still some exciting things going on.  My friend Laura who is teaching in Japan has finished her contract and will be coming to stay with me in Korea for a few weeks, I am going to South Africa after my contract is complete with another friend of mine here and then possibly going to Oman to visit a friend of mine teaching English over there.   I am so grateful for all of these amazing experiences and although things are changing, I have learned that change isn't a bad thing but rather a time for personal growth!