Sports Day

Last week was a fun, crazy time at my school. In Korea, schools don't sports teams like they do in the US. Kids are much too busy studying, so they only get to play sports during PE three times a week. This made me wonder, how do people become professional sports players if they don't play during high school or college? So I asked my students and they explained to me that scouts travel to middle schools and watch children play, then choose the best players to attend sports high schools.

Since there aren't organized sports in schools, every spring schools have a Sports Day festival. Poongsan High School's Sports Day was last week! On Thursday and Friday there were no classes, and there were competitions leading up to the finals on Friday afternoon. The whole school was split into four teams, and the teams competed in basketball, football, soccer, kickball, handball, tug of war,  running events, and cheering competitions. Oh, and they had a 6-person jump roping competition, where 6 people had to jump a huge rope all at the same time. I couldn't believe the coordination!

It was so much fun to get to see a different side of my students. In the end, the team that I was secretly rooting for lost every single event. I felt really bad for them, but they proved the endurable nature of Korean spirit: even though they never won a single event, they were laughing, singing, dancing, and cheering on the other teams. They never got disheartened. It made me really happy.

As for the teachers, we got to sit under tents and eat a TON of food and watch the kids go at each other. I had a really great time. I think my favorite race was a relay where three students tied all their legs together and had to run. It was hilarious! Also, tug of war was fun to watch. Each game was worth a certain number of points, and they were totaled at the end for the overall winner of Sports Day. The team who won are in the purple shirts in the photos. The team in yellow is the team that lost every event :(

Some students being silly!

One of the soccer teams having a half-time pep talk.

One of my favorite students! He's so energetic and silly

Basketball game

One of my favorite students, she loves English and we chat a lot!

The teams lined up for the start of the festival.

Tug of War!

One of the teams during the cheering competition. They were so good!

So cute ^^

Hye Min, one of the other English teachers. Love her!

It was a really great event, and I had such a fun time :). Now back to real work!

Jeju Conference, March '12

At the end of March, all the Fulbrighters came together for a conference in Jeju, the beautiful island off the southern coast of South Korea. During most of the conference, we were in sessions. We discussed everything from homestays to teaching to Korean culture. It was really nice to meet with everyone and unpack and catch up, but I have to admit it was a little strange. As the only Fulbright teacher placed anywhere near my area, I'm fairly isolated from the program. I spend a lot of my time with EPIK teachers, the native English teacher program run through the Korean government. Sometimes, I forget I'm Fulbright and get lost in the label of "foreign English teacher."

The conference helped remind me of my purpose in not only teaching, but studying and learning as well. During some of the sessions, we listened to presentations by the Fulbright researchers. There are two types of Fulbright grantees, ETAs (teachers like me) and researchers. The researchers are studying lots of interesting topics, like multiculturalism and feminism in Korea, traditional architecture, economics, and poetry. I really felt rejuvenated and awed to be in such a great goup of people. One of the researchers used to work in the White House with President Obama!

The conference really helped to serve two purposes for me. To unpack a lot of feelings, experiences, and observations, and to give me a lot of new ideas for lessons and other aspects of my classroom.

Unpacking. It was really helpful for me to meet up with other Fulbrighters and talk about things like stress, homesickness, frustrations with homestays or schools, and difficulties with culture. I feel that I don't often get to vent my negative feelings because I have to be "on" all the time. I attended a talk on being an "other" in Korea, which was really helpful.

Being an "other" means being an outsider to a group, culture, or society. Being a white woman in Korea has both positive and negative aspects. Being white is very much admired in Korea, both for the paleness of my skin, which is considered beautiful, and for the power associated globally with with being white. But there are some drawbacks as well. A stereotype about Western women is that they are promiscuous. Our media doesn't help, especially as pretty much every American movie has women getting naked. This leads to Korean men treating us as more sexualized objects than Korean women. During orientation, we had a women's talk, where they warned us about this view. The orientation team told us this example: a white woman and her Korean woman friend are out dancing at a club. They can be wearing the same outfit and dancing the same way, but the Koreans will still see the white woman as being more sexual or promiscuous.

Another way this view is manifested is that there is a stereotype among older Korean men that all white women are Russian, and all Russians are prostitutes. Prostitution is illegal in South Korea, but it is still rampant, and fairly obvious (barber shops that have two barber poles rotating counter to each other are brothels). So, sometimes, I am asked "Russia saram (person)? How much-ii?" This is a huge insult, as I am being propositioned. My friend, who is also blonde and blue-eyed, has experienced the same thing. Generally, we just look shocked and angry, say no, and walk away.

So, it was nice to meet with other foreign women at the conference and vent these frustrations on being stereotyped as a minority and feeling like an outsider.

The second effect the conference had was to give me new ideas for my classroom. One of these is the Korean Students Speak project I talked about in my last post. Another is a whole new way to do my final speaking exams.

On the Sunday during the conference, we went on a tour of Jeju. First, we visited Sunrise Peak, a crater that faces east. It was quite a climb, but worth it. Near the top, the way was steep and dizzying. But the view was beautiful!

The walkway around part of the crater that makes Sunrise Peak and the view off to the south.

Me at the top of the Sunrise Peak, overlooking the town below.

Next, we went to Ilchul Land, a park built around a large lava cave. There were some neat cultural artifacts around the park. Inside the cave was really cool also.

Ilchul Land, a park with lava caves.

Me and Buddha just chillin ;)

Wall painting inside the lava cave.

These little guys are the famous mascot of Jeju.

Large depiction of Jeju's mascot.

After that, we traveled to the Jeju Folk Village. It was a lot more touristy than Hahoe, the folk village near my hometown. At the Jeju village, no one actually lives in the homes, and they use it as a site for shooting TV shows and films. It was really neat though, and a lot of Fulbrighters who watch Korean shows loved seeing the sets.

haha! Read the second paragraph :)

Love it!

These are black-haired pigs, which make the meat Jeju is famous for.

Some performers drumming.

The last stop was right across the street, at Pyoson Beach. Unfortunately, it was too cold to more than dip our feet in the water, but I got some great pictures. The water was so clear and beautiful!

Pyoson Beach

Such a beautiful day!

Look how clear the water is!

The only thing I had trouble with during the trip was food. I'm a really picky eater, so eating meals made for large groups of people is difficult. It's a lot easier when I can fend for myself! The worst meal was when we went to eat grilled black pork, which is famous on Jeju. I was fine until I turned the meat over on the grill and noticed some black things along one edge. At first I thought it was seasoning, but then I looked closer and realized the full skin was still on the meat, complete with hair still in the hair follicles. So, yea. Ew.

All in all, it was a really fun trip. The island was beautifull, and it was great to connect with Fulbrighters again. While conferences can be very tiring, it was also refreshing. The only bad part was getting home from the airport rather late and then getting up at 6am for work the next day! I was exhausted for a little while, until I caught my rhythm again. But I had a great time, and I'm happy I got to see such a beautiful place that the Korean people are so proud of!

Catching Up

Spring is finally starting to come around!!

This is my first post after a long hiatus! Near the end of last semester, I had hit a routine and I felt I didn't really have much to talk about. Then I went home for the holidays and I was soooo busy. When I returned to South Korea in January, I spent time relaxing, hanging out with friends, and traveling around Korea a bit.

School started again at the beginning of March. The Korean school year runs from March to December, so even though it's our second semester back home, here it's the first semester of a new school year. So I got a whole group of new students. I was actually kind of nervous, but so far they are really great. It's my second-year boys that I want to strangle... -_-

Anyway, so the semester is in full swing. We've had just over a month now, and I think I've finally got the hang of my new schedule. It's pretty much the same as last semester, except this time around I teach an English Conversation Club class on Tuesday nights, so on that day I'm at work from 8am to 8:30pm. It's tiring, but I really love my students, so I don't mind!

Last week, I took part in a really awesome project with my students. One of the other Fulbright teachers saw a project being done in China called "iSpeak," and decided to bring it here and call it "Korean Students Speak." It's a really amazing project where students get to voice their opinions about the things that really matter to them. In the Korean education system, students are basically told to sit down, be quiet, listen to lecture, take notes, take a standardized test, and repeat. They have very little opportunities to express critical thinking, problem solving, or creativity. They also do not get to give their opinions or thoughts on what is going on in their everyday lives. So, first I showed them a preview clip of a documentary about Korean high school education. It points out a lot of the flaws and hardships that students go through (and features another Fulbright teacher!). It's a 20 minute video, but it's completely worth your time, and can be found here.

Then, I gave the students paper and markers, and allowed them to write whatever they wanted on a piece of paper. I had everything from "I want to go home" to "Japan, apologize for comfort women" to "Korean education is too much studying." Then, I edited them and they will soon go on a website with thousands of similar pictures of middle and high school students from all over Korea. The website is: http://koreanstudentsspeak.tumblr.com/. Here are some examples from my students:

I want to fly, I want to dunk

She drew me!

I want to work for world peace

These are just some of the different topics covered by my students. To see all of them, check out the website in a few weeks!

So, I'll try to update a little more in the next few weeks. Only 98 days from today until I touch down on American soil!

Update

It's been awhile since I've written, but a lot has happened! A few weeks ago, all the Fulbright ETAs gathered for a mid-semester conference in Gyeongju (경주), one of the most historic cities in South Korea. It was the capital of the Shilla Dynasty, which ruled for a very long time. It was great to see some familiar faces, as well as connect with my fellows and talk about teaching and our homestays. We also took a tour of the city and saw some amazing sites!

Bridge leading to a beautiful temple.

The temple! Beautiful, but very tourist-y.

People stack these rocks as prayers.

Me and my friend Kim :)

Burial mounds of the tombs of ancient Korean kings.

Cool sign and forest!

Closer view of the burial mounds.

I had a really great time in Gyeongju, and I really enjoyed the conference.

November 10th was one of the most important days of the year here in South Korea. It was the day of the Su-neung (수능), which is basically the Korean version of the SAT. This test is the single greatest deciding factor in every student in Korea's life. It is required for all students and it is the only way to get into a university. Pretty much every day of these kids' lives up until that point have been to prepare for this one test. It is so important that planes are not allowed to fly that day, cars are not allowed to honk, and all schools are cancelled so that no one can disturb the test-takers. Many parents, families, teachers, and friends spend the day praying.

My school, instead of being cancelled like every other school in South Korea, decided that they wanted to take the first and second graders on a hike to a temple to pray for the third graders. They separated the boys and the girls, and then sent us on a four-hour hike. To be honest, I couldn't believe they allowed the students to do it, let alone required them to! The trail was a tiny, single-file trail covered in leaves, over boulders and roots as high as my knees. If it was rough for me, it was killer for the poor girls. I caught two of them before they fell off the side of the mountain, and I bandaged three sets of bloody knees! Here are some pics:

Doesn't look so bad, right?...

And then it became this tiny little trail... which only got more difficult!

Here are some other pictures from that day!

Some of my students :)

They're so sweet!!

At the top of the mountain... after only a few hours!

The girls from my class of mixed-level students

The entrance to the temple we hiked to.

Drum?

Bell they ring to signal prayers, etc.

Last weekend, I traveled to Daegu, one of the largest cities in Korea, to spend some time with friends. I had a really great time and got to see some cool sites. I ate Indian and Mexican food, and went to a great American restaurant. It was a nice change of pace after so much Korean food! On Saturday, I went with my friend who is a photographer to take some pics for a magazine. The editor asked me to be in some! We helped a charity feed the homeless as part of the shoot, and it was a really great experience.

This woman is famous in Korea for making these sweet pancakes filled with cinnamon and nuts. The people behind her are in a huge line waiting to buy them!

Seomun Market, it's huge! There are a lot of side streets that branch off of this one.

The entrance to the oriental medicine district. It was really cool!

Funny sign!

So it's been an eventful few weeks. I'm really excited because in only one month, I'll be headed home to the States for Christmas!! Can't wait :)