Fun with Coteachers

So my first semester of teaching is officially over! There's a lot I am looking to improve on next semester, particularly with regards to my low-performing students, but overall I am pleased with my success in the classroom. I'm also officially halfway done with my time in Korea and it's amazing how the time passed both quickly and slowly at the same time. I now have a two month vacation and will be traveling for the entire first month of it. On Tuesday I am flying to Beijing for a wonderful reunion with my family, minus Wes. I will spend a week with them before flying to Thailand to meet my ETA friend, Rachel. The two of us will then traverse Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam for three weeks. I am unbelievably excited but it was still sad to leave my school and students today. Luckily, I was able to hang out with many of my co-teachers one last time before the break.

On Wednesday I did not have school because of the Presidential Election. Four of the younger teachers at my school were going skiing in Chuncheon and invited Amy, Rachel and I to join them. It was too good an offer to pass up so the three of us gladly agreed. We all decided to snowboard even though five out of the eight of us were absolute beginners. Therefore when we got to the mountain at 3 (did I mention the teachers taking us are all males who like to sleep reallll late?) we did not even buy lift tickets. Instead we headed to the pre-bunny slope. It's basically a hill that you walk up and then can ski/snowboard down. After a few runs on that we hit the real bunny slope. I was really impressed with how quickly my co-teachers were picking up snowboarding. We eventually completed several runs from the top of the mountain even! Overall, the day was a ton of fun and I was really happy to spend time with my coteachers outside of school. It's often hard to form more substantial and lasting friendships because of the language gap but the ski trip was a definite step in the right direction.

Today I went to Soyang Dam and Cheongpyeong-sa Temple with my co-teacher, Soo-Jin, and Amy, the other ETA at my school. It was really great to spend one of my last days in Korea with the two of them. Both Amy and Soo-Jin have made my time in Korea so much easier and more enjoyable. It was pretty frigid this morning and afternoon when we went sightseeing so I don't have any pictures. The thought of taking my hands out of my gloves was just too much to handle! The dam, lake and temple were beautiful and the boat ride from the dam to the temple was really enjoyable. It was a really great day.

Tomorrow is my last day in Hwacheon and I will be taking a hiatus from my blog while I am traveling. Once I return to South Korea I will update the page with stories from all of my travels. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

P.S. Here are lots of pictures from the Christmas Party at the Orphanage. 

Spreading Christmas Cheer

This Saturday I had the amazing opportunity to participate in KKOOM's 6th Annual Holiday Party at an Samsungwon, an orphanage in Gumi, South Korea. KKOOM is a non-profit that was started by past ETAs and strives to enrich the lives of children in orphanages and group homes in Korea. The non-profit does unbelievable work and I encourage you to click on the link for lots more information.

On Saturday, several ETAs and other volunteers met to spend the day with the children at Samsungwon. The orphanage is divided into several single-gender, mixed-age homes and every volunteer was assigned to a particular house. I was assigned to Sarang (which means love in Korean), which was a house with boys ranging in age from 5 to 18. I was fortunate enough to spend eight wonderful hours with these boys.

The boys and I sang Christmas songs, played Ships and Sailors, took pictures with Santa, ate tons of Christmas cookies and more. During the course of the day all of the houses were competing in different Christmas-themed contests. The first contest was a door-decorating contest and I was surprised by how excited all of the boys were about making Christmas decorations. Even the high school and middle school boys were coloring, cutting, drawing, etc. They were great role models for their younger 'brothers'.

The door to Sarang

The next big contest was a gingerbread house making contest. The older boys in Sarang got very into this contest and even locked shut themselves in a room in order to concentrate more. Unfortunately minutes before the gingerbread houses had to be brought to the kitchen for judging our gingerbread train collapsed. We hastily repaired it but it collapsed once more in transit. I'd like to think that our gingerbread house was so wonderful it made up for the defunct train.

The last contest tasked the boys with dressing up one of the volunteers as a Christmas character. The boys had to use 10 sheets of tin foil, a roll of toilet paper (including the tube) and a roll of Scotch tape (including the outer plastic part). They were also allowed to use other supplies of their own. The boys quickly decided I was the one they wanted to dress up but we then hit a wall. I think at this point the boys were exhausted from the day. Luckily, they pulled together and transformed me into Iron Woman at the last minute. It was not exactly Christmas themed but the costume was made complete with a cup of Starbucks coffee and a hand-crafter 'Chanel' bag. We then headed to the auditorium and met up with all the other houses and volunteers. I was then judged on stage with the other costumed volunteers. The judges then deliberated while the kids sang Christmas carols, put on a few small performances and then opened their presents. It was so heartwarming to see how excited every single child was about their present. They all appeared very grateful and I was so pleased that I was able to take part in brightening three kids day with my gifts.

The last part of my night was arguably my favorite part of the day- karaoke! All of the kids and volunteers went to karaoke from 8:30 until 10, including the 5 year old! Only in Korea! I had so much fun singing with the boys and was very impressed with how into it many of them got. The middle school boys sang so passionately. The younger boys also graced us with Gangnam Style, which is the Korean National Anthem for the time being. All Koreans are so proud of PSY for penetrating the American and European Music Market.

Overall the day was extremely humbling. I was shown an unbelievable amount of love and kindness. Additionally I witnessed the boys truly acting like a family, which was really endearing. The older boys took care of their younger brothers and it was heartwarming to see them interact. I sincerely hope I can volunteer at Samsungwon later in my grant year. It was an unbelievably moving day.

Winter Has Arrived

Although there were hints of the approaching winter for a while it still seemed to strike all at once. Additionally, although I knew Hwacheon, and all of South Korea, would be substantially colder than my winters in Durham I did not imagine it would be so cold. This morning I walked a mile to school in -12C weather- that's 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Needless to say, it's frigid. Also surprisingly my school still hasn't turned on the heat. I keep being told it will turn on once the weather gets colder which scares me a little for the forthcoming weather. Luckily I only have two weeks of school left before winter vacation so I'll just continue to hide in my heated classroom only emerging when necessary. I do have a lot of respect for my students who have most of their classes in unheated classrooms. I cannot imagine being able to concentrate when it is so cold. 

One of the upsides to winter's arrival is how beautiful Hwacheon has become. Hwacheon has always be exceptionally beautiful, nestled in between numerous mountains, but the snow really enhances the beauty. It has snowed five or six times so far and there's a solid six inches that I'm pretty sure will remain all winter. The temperature doesn't really get above freezing even during the day. Here are some pictures to show you what winter in Korea is really like. 

A bridge to nowhere in the river. I think the wind disconnected it.

A ship that somehow sunk during the transition to winter.

How I dress to brave the cold. 

The lights along Hwacheon's main street. 

Understanding Korean Culture Through Art

This Sunday I finally had a chance to visit the Seoul Museum of Art. Although it is not the largest art museum in Seoul, I have been eager to visit ever since I walked by the museum on the way to the Ambassador's house in August. The Art Museum is in the heart of the tourist part of downtown and is located immediately behind Deoksugung Palace. The Museum is located in the former Supreme Court Building of Korea and is very appealing from the outside. Unfortunately, because of this the museum is also rather small and was only hosting two exhibits this weekend.

The first exhibit was really interesting and is part of the larger Seoul Photo Festival. I could not figure out what other museums or organizations are hosting the Seoul Photo Festival because it was in Korean. Additionally, all of the labels and information on the exhibit was in Korean so I had to infer a lot. From what I could tell the exhibit aimed to document Seoul's rise to modernity through photographs. There were many, many photographs of everyday life from the 1950s through the present. Interestingly though, the later photographs focused a lot more on architecture and Seoul's changing landscape rather than people. I really enjoyed the photographs and was reminded once again how quickly South Korea went from being a third world country to an emerging world power. I am continually blown away by how rapidly South Korea progressed and it's sometimes is hard to remember that only fifty years ago much of the population was struggling to just get by.

There are some daily reminders of Korea's transformation. For example, extremely few places in South Korea are heated. And yes, this means my house is often not heated or the heat is turned extremely low. Rather my family uses space heaters and heated blankets to keep warm. They also constantly complain about being cold because quite frankly it is freezing. The lack of central heating is a remnant of the past when heating homes was far too expensive for most families. Currently, most families can afford to heat their homes but are still trapped in the old mindset and believe they cannot. I used to think not having heating in my house in South Africa was miserable when it was 45 outside. Now I've learned that it's much worse not having heating in a house, school or restaurant when the high is 25.

Another funny reminder of South Korea's past is when my younger brother asks me questions such as, "When did America get sneakers?". The questions immediately seems a little bizarre and hard to answer and I kind of muddle my way through an answer trying to remember how American fashion evolved. He then responds with, "Wow! Korea did not get sneakers until 2000." Hearing him talk about the arrival of sneakers, in the form of Nike, New Balance, etc. is so weird to me but is completely accurate. Prior to that time foreign sneaker companies had no reason to do business in South Korea and South Korea wasn't producing sneakers of it's own, or at least not for the average person.

The second exhibit was equally fascinating and focused on the art of Chun Kyung-Ja. Chun Kyung-Ja is one of Korea's most prominent 20th Century artists and is still alive. Her works were really interesting because there were fifteen or so that were created in response to her travels around the world. One of these pieces was entitled 'Cats' and depicted the US Musical Cats. I have never seen Cats so maybe it was a very moving musical but I also found the thought of it a little ridiculous. Needless to say I was a little surprised to find that the musical made such a strong, and such a positive impact on the artist. I never really gave much thought to what would be memorable from a trip to America but I don't think Cats would have come to mind if I did ponder the question.

The museum also had wonderful sculptures on display outside, which I did a mediocre job of capturing.

I Have A Dream

This Saturday I attended a festival entitled, "I Have A Dream". The festival was to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Heavenly Dream School. The Heavenly Dream School was the first alternative school for North Korean Defectors and all of the students I tutor in Seoul on Saturday attend the school. The festival was an incredible experience.

When I first arrived I was treated to a North Korean meal that all of the students at the school prepared. They made bibimbap, which is also a South Korean food. I didn't really notice a difference between this bibimbap and other bibimbap I have eaten but apparently bibimbap in North Korea is much spicier. During the meal I was able to see some of my students who were so excited to have me there. I was really glad I got to see them because over 300 people were in attendance. After the meal we moved into an auditorium and saw a series of performances.

The students made several videos to demonstrate their daily life at the school and the videos were very well done. All of the students live at the school as do the teachers. The school therefore, serves as a family of sorts for the students, many of who escaped to South Korea without their family. Current students and alumni also performed several songs and dances. The students are blessed with a strong volunteer presence at the school so famous conductors and orchestras teach the students music. The Eurasian Orchestra is one of the groups and they also performed after the children.

I also never knew the school was founded by a church but that was made very clear during the festival. A very famous pastor in Korea gave the opening remarks and during the festival we all were asked to join hands and pray for unification. It was extremely moving.

My favorite aspect of the night was when one student talked about her experience at the Heavenly Dream School. The student had just been accepted to university and wanted to discuss how she got to this point in her life. She began her story with her arrival at the Heavenly Dream School. She was the only member of her family in South Korea and eagerly engaged in all of the schools offerings. Then she discovered that her father, who lived in North Korea, had died and she discussed how she slipped into a deep depression. At several times she even considered suicide. The student then discussed how the Heavenly Dream School helped her discover God and she gradually overcame her depression and began to use religion to cope with the difficulties in her life. Now she is graduating from the school and going on to University. She discussed how she aspires to become a Human Rights lawyer so that she can fight for the rights of North Koreans. I was touched by how many of the students dream of returning to North Korea in various capacities. Some wish to return as teachers, doctors or lawyers after unification, whereas others simply want to return as chefs and be able to cook a meal for their friends and family.

I wish I could share some of my pictures from the event but I am unable to. I doubt that anyone of significance would see the pictures but nevertheless it is extremely dangerous to put pictures of North Korean defectors online and could put the students or their families in North Korea at risk.

The festival really forced me to consider the difficulties my students have overcome. I always am aware that they have very dark pasts but it is easy to forget this when they seem so happy and well-adjusted in class. I was also reminded how often I think of North Korea as a crazy, outlandish country and laugh at the oddities of it without considering the 24,000,000 people who are suffering and dying at the hands of the North Korean government. I fear I often consider only the government when I think of North Korea and don't consider the effects the government has on individuals. Saturday night gave me a meaningful way to understand the experiences of many North Koreans and furthered my understanding of the division of the Korean Peninsula. The night focused so much on unification, which is a beautiful and wonderful goal but I fear unification is a more complex than the festival portrayed. The ramifications of unification socially and economically for South Korea would be crippling. Additionally, I don't believe unification is feasible until China believes it is in their best interest for Korea to be unified and I'm not sure when or if that will occur. I guess I can only hope that conditions in North Korea and services for North Korean defectors improve until unification is possible. And I hope that all of the students who shared their dreams with me on Saturday night live to see their dreams fulfilled.