I realize it has been a 1000 years since I've updated, but the thought of completely catching you up on my life right now in one post really overwhelms me. So, instead, I'm just going to share a couple highlights from this afternoon. I do hope to encapsulate my experiences of the past several weeks more thoroughly in a blog post shortly, but for now, enjoy this brief excerpt if you will from my day today.
I went for a run today. It was around 45 degrees and sunny...wonderful. The area I live in is a quieter part of Seoul. The sidewalks are wide, nicely paved, clean, and pretty unpopulated. I ran to Olympic Park! On the way back, there were three people from a church handing out small packages of Kleenex, a pampflet about their church and such, and free hot drinks. I would tell you what the drink was, except I'm not sure. It kind of had a coffee flavor, yet there was probably some other kind of bean in it too. There was also some pine nuts floating in it. It was yummy whatever it was. Many of the teas and hot drinks here have things like nuts floating in them. I love trying new things!
Also on my way home, a college-aged Korean girl stopped me on the street and said, "Excuse me, do you speak English?" (As if she couldn't already tell...just about every white person in Korea speaks English...) I, of course, told her yes. She proceeded to tell me how she was watching an ABC TV drama, and one of the actors said the word "Apparently." She inquired, "How do you spell that?" As I told her, she typed it into her Korean/English dictionary on her cell phone. She finished our conversation by saying, "Oh, thanks! Bye!" This is such a little thing, but it's so amusing to me. I'm living in Korea. I was just stopped on the street and given a spelling test, by a sweet Korean girl that is learning English. She's quite good at it too. I love it!
I guess this brings me to another point. (Perhaps I've already mentioned this in a blog post, I can't remember.) It's frustrating to me that much of the American influence on Koreans is through media--TV shows, dramas, movies, etc. What kinds of messages is the media sending? There are a lot of good things to watch on television, but there is sure a lot of garbage too. I just can't help but think that many Koreans are watching these shows and thinking that that is what normal American life is like. Uggg. Well, that is one great reason for me and others to be here...to show our new friends here what some other Americans are like--besides the kinds of people they are exposed to on television and in the movies. Don't get me wrong, as I said, not everything that is on TV is bad...it's just frustrating to me that even some things on television are negative.
This week the 1st and 2nd grade students (7th and 8th graders) took final exams. That means that I have had to teach only 1 class a day this week! We've also gotten to leave school a couple hours early everyday. Such a blessing! I've enjoyed the mental break. The funny thing is, the students still have 2 more weeks of school, and they are finished with finals. Nothing from here on out affects their grades, yet most will still be at school, learning. Not only that, but the 3rd grade students took their finals about a month ago, and they are still here in school everyday...freely expressing their lack of motivation to learn anything else this year. One reason that the education system is this way is because the 3rd grade students have to apply for high schools which will begin in March. The middle school is giving them some extra time to apply for these schools. The students also have some fun activities and field trips that they take in the afternoon. So, I'm sure in many ways, this is a fun time of year for them. However, when I'm trying to teach them, most of them show no enthusiasm for being there, let alone learning. I just gotta roll with it! It's still fun for me--most of the time!
I actually wrote more than I expected I would...what do ya know.
I'm missing you! Merry Christmas!!
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