Language Exchange Cafe Meetup: Hyehwa

These days I know I need to learn and use more Korean. Especially when someone asks me, "How long have you been in Korea?" To which I say, "Four years now." And then the usual response is, "Oh! You must speak Korean very well!" Sorry, not really.

It's a sad fact that clouds my life here in Korea, but don't get the wrong idea. I know how to read Korean very well and have a good bag full of phrases and sentences I can use to get by. I understand most of what people say around me, but as far as conversation and full understanding that is still yet to be accomplished. So I have decided to try out language exchange happenings through group meetups.

I found one such group through Meetup.com, and it looked promising. They have several locations you can go join, and I was pleased to see one open up near me in Hyehwa. 

Yesterday, I finally decided to head out to the meet up and see what would happen. I was kind of skeptical since I don't really have a heavy Korean language background and was worried the folks there would be expecting a lot.

I showed up to the Serendipity Cafe, where I looked at their menu and decided to just get a bottled lemonade instead. After sitting around on the 2nd floor, I realized that maybe the party was upstairs on the 3rd floor. I was right, and found a check-in desk at the front where you write down your name and stamp the paper according to the languages you know. Mine received a "K" and "E" stamp for Korean and English. However, I wish I could have just stamped half the Korean one.

I sat down and found myself sitting next to some friendly looking people. Things started off with a few giggles but the basic questions were asked, in English. I told the folks that I knew Korean but not enough to make conversation, yet was fine with just speaking English if they wanted. Conversations started and I found myself having a good time.

As time went on and I got to know the other half of the table, I did find myself learning some Korean and practicing it. The most problem I see is that my brain starts to really get tired fast of all the new language learning, but I trucked on.

Generally, I mostly wanted to meet new people and I accomplished that. Plus I got a sense of what it is like to go to one of these exchange things and I can see it probably depends who you sit next to. Apparently, the Hyehwa meet up was a lot smaller than the usual ones in Gangnam or Hongdae. I kind of can't imagine being part of a huge crowd for language exchange. I think I like the smaller scene better. I also think what was best was making new friends and if you feel like it can meet later on for more practice.

Anyways, if you are interested in joining one of their meetups I would highly suggest it. You can find them on the following sources.

• Meetup Page
• Facebook Page

If you know of any other groups that have worked for you with language exchange, do share with me as I would love to see what they are like. Anyways, I hope this language exchange business helps motivate me to really learn and use Korean this year. 

GEPIK Summer Plus Orientation: Part 2

Now that I had a chance to rest and digest what went on at the Orientation I can write about it.

First just understand that this program was for:

...is for renewed GEPIK teachers, as well as new teachers who have more than 3 years of teaching experience. The Plus Orientation content is different to GEPIK Orientation, and covers advance materials which will help experienced GEPIK teachers to improve their skills and abilities.

As is stated on the handout I received 24 hrs prior to leaving. Needless to say I was skeptical of what to expect from the "Plus"-ness of this ordeal. Therefore, today's post is going to be about the content. I will analyze the lectures we received and give critical feedback. 

The Facilities:

I am going to start with a look around the buildings so you can get an idea of where we spent our time. Teachers from around Gyeonggi-do were rounded up and brought to Anseong. This building is like a center for seminars and corporate training. In fact, while we were there other groups were in attendance for their own training.

The facilities were modern and clean. Classrooms were equipped with projectors, computers and speakers. The surrounding area was mountainous and quite lovely. Below are pictures of a training field.

After we got to the location we picked up our room keys and joined our groups. Since there were a lot of  us we were grouped by our area. For example, I was in the Yongin & Moran group.

There was no time to waste and after lunch we had scheduled three hours of lectures and workshops.

First Day Lectures & Workshops:
The lecture and workshop topics for day one were as followed:

• Co-teaching Activities
• Secrets to Becoming and Effective Teacher
• Ice Breaking Time

*Keep in mind our lectures were meant for Elementary school teachers.

1st Lecture: Co-teaching Activities:

This was presented by two people, Yang Miran and Wesley Swan. They were a pair of actual teachers from an actual school here in Korea. So their lecture definitely showed that they knew their audience.

After reading the title of this lecture I expected it to be about co-teaching. Things like how to get along with your coteacher and methods to make coteaching work together. Instead, as I found out, it was more about activities that these two teachers use in their school. Of course, this kind of subject matter is okay; however, they could have tried to get the title on the point.

Their lecture was pretty good and fun to sit through. At first they talked a little bit about their school and work together. Then they had us join in on an activity they do with students of putting a story together in a group. That was pretty fun and a little clever.

Keep in mind that we were given a booklet for the 3 days and in inside were the lecture materials. Some of the activities they suggested sounded really useful to the classroom and relevant to our experience.

Examples:

1. Activity: Conversation Survey: Students form two lines. Large classes can have a pair of two lines. Students ask each other various questions. Questions like: Where are you from? What do you do in your free time? Students move from one student to the next when the teacher yells "Next!". Teachers move around the lines to make sure English is spoken and behavior is proper. We played this at the Orientation and I found it to be fun and useful.
2. Call Me!: Distribute a multiple choice quiz paper to each student in the group. (Each paper is meant for different levels) Assign points to each answer for each question. The group will add up the points. If each answer is correct, the point total will match the missing digits with the point total. If all the numbers are correct the instructors phone will ring. 

This lecture left me feeling interested in their games and pleased to see a team of teachers working together.


2nd Lecture: Secrets to Becoming and Effective Teacher:
This lecture was performed by a GEPIK coordinator who is of high ranking. I want to point out that there were several people in our group that were noisy and distracting in class. But this lecturer wouldn't take it and made sure to tell them to be quiet.

She started class by all of us turning to the page in the book that references her lecture. The first thing she wanted us to do was answer #1 in the booklet. The question was...

Why do you want to become a teacher?

I looked at the person sitting next to me and we both had a look of confusion. Weren't we already teachers? But we answered the question anyways. Mine was: 

Teaching children fulfills me and helps me find my place in the world.

I know it sounds a little cliche, but it was the only thing I could think of. At this point I was already starting to feel tired. 

So she gave a talk about this and other teachers shared their responses. She moved on to question number 2 about us listing our strengths and qualities that we have that can make a successful teacher. 

The following are a list of the main topics she covered:

• Key Behaviors
• Helping Behaviors
• Skills that can help us work effectively

I found this lecture to be insightful and probably useful to me in the future. Though, to make it really meaningful I would have to look over these topics and really think about them towards my own teaching experience.

Workshop: Ice Breaking Time
For some reason the bus ride, plus having to use my brain at high speeds, and being around more foreigners than I ever have been... made me tired. So a workshop was what I needed.

Again I got confused about the contents when reading the title. Here I thought it was going to be an hour of ice-breaking games meant to get to know each other. Instead it was more about cultural differences and our input. Why didn't they name these things accurately is beyond me.

The class was presented by our group's specific coordinators. What they did was show us a PowerPoint Presentation with pictures of Korea that are major cultural shockers.

This included:

• World Cup crowds vs. our country's team pride
• Holiday traffic...why is it so crowded?
• University Entrance Exam craziness & obsession
• Ahjumma (older woman) fashion...such as wearing large visors outside...anything similar to our home country

Although this was fun and we shared our experiences and opinions I felt the time could have been used for something else. Instead, I feel we should have had more workshop orientated activities. If the topic were to tay about cultural differences we could have sat together in small groups and worked out how we have come to accept these differences and what we do when challenged by them.

*Keep in mind that after each class we were handed a short evaluation form.

After this was a short break time and then dinner. They served us inside the large auditorium a meal of Korean food, which was actually really delicious.

The other meals for the rest of the time were served in the cafeteria. They were all pretty much in the style of western food and tasted good.

After dinner were some mini workshops (learn Korean, Korean history, etc), however I was beat from it all and chose to go back to my room and rest for the day.
Let's move on to Day 2 Lectures and workshops.

Day 2 Lectures and Workshops:
Day 2 proved to be a day where there were some good and bad lectures. I must say that this was my first Orientation and so didn't really have much to base it on. I think the people who organized this found a good selection of lecturers but one bad mistake which I will talk about.

Lecture: Teaching Methodology
This was the first lecture of the day and was held in a large room. Immediately as the lecturer, Prof. Hong Sun-Mi, began talking I knew that she had little experience talking in front of a room full of Elementary Native Teachers.

I am critical of her speech for many reasons. Some of which are that her tone of voice was low and drone like, she hardly looked around the classroom, and when she wrote on the board she mostly looked at it and forgot about us. Hardly ever did she stop her speech to ask us our opinion or thoughts. Or even whether we understood what she was talking about.

Already, you can see, from the beginning she was not a powerful spokeswoman. What made matters worse was that her content was very dense and dry. I am going to share with you her content, but I want you to keep in mind that we are Elementary school teachers here in Korea. The following is taken from her materials given to us in the booklet.

• Class objective: You can understand how Korean students think about Native teacher. (She covered this briefly in the beginning.) You can know how to improve your teaching speaking skills through discussion. You can learn how to improve students' speaking ability through discussion.

Let me stop here. She had the goal in mind that if she taught us about debate that we could use it in the classroom. However, she built her lecture without considering her audience. Throughout, it seemed she didn't know where we were coming from and what it is like to be a Native Teacher and teach English to students in public schools here. Her first fault was to slightly insult us with the following statements.

• How Korean students think about native teachers? Advantages: The class is interesting and active. ... Disadvantages: Sometimes too speedy to understand. (I speak slowly in class and constantly check with my students if they understand me. Her statement assumes we all come in to class and speak our natural speed, which is completely wrong.) Often do not understand Korean culture. ( I got kind of pissed off at this. Yes we naturally can not understand Korean culture. But everyday I try my hardest to understand and accept the differences. Maybe I don't know or understand the cultural reasons behind the behavior of the students but that doesn't mean that I haven't gotten the hang of things within 2 years. I wonder if she realized she was speaking to the "Plus" audience who have been in Korea longer than 3 months and some of us have close relationships with Koreans. At this point, I knew her perspective was the typical "Us vs Them" approach.)

Looking at her points of reference on the booklet I can say she does have quality ideas. Like "Use more interesting fun and games." or "Present recent hot news". She wanted to give us ideas to help the kids speak more.

However, she doesn't know what it is like to have a class of 35 students who if prompted to speak at the same time, is a disaster.

Things fell apart when she got into teaching us about debate. Things became very technical and advanced. She gave us a graph and outline of how a debate works and should be played out with the students. But it wasn't practical to the age or size of our classes. Yes in the long run we can take her very technical schemes and adapt them to our class. However, wouldn't it have been more useful to present us with the idea of debate and then have us discuss how we can use it in our classrooms?

She finally started engaging with us by asking us for debate topics so that we could have a mini-one in class. One person suggested something but then I put my hand up.

She came over to me with the mic and I let it out, however in a peaceful way. I told her that I appreciate that she wants us to have more discussion in class and that we should use debate. I told her that we all have been to college and have learned what debate is. I said it might be more practical to have a discussion about how to use debate in the classroom. I told her that I have a hard time seeing how to use her method (she suggested we split the class up in to 2 groups) since we have 35 students per class and two groups mean about 15 kids each.

After I spoke she seemed a little frazzled and went back to the podium. A few people in the audience clapped for me and said, "Yea!". She tried to carry on with her thing but realized what I said was becoming the interest of other people. So she asked us what we thought we could do, she also made a comment that she didn't know we had 35 students per class. Again another pointer that she didn't know her audience.

Thankfully another person in the audience got up and talked about how he has done something similar in his classes but how he had to make it very simple.

She went back to the black board and tried to scheme out for us a plan of how to do this with our class. But again she just mumbled at the board and sort of looked at us. Other members spoke up and told her that they were too having a hard time finding how to use her topic for our classes. But a few spoke up to talk about how it could be possible.

It ended with us just keeping our mouths shut in hopes it would be over soon.

The last day of Orientation we were asked about our opinion of the classes and the same kind of disappoint was raised about this class. One lady, however, expressed how she felt it was good for us and wants to see similar types of "college-level" material. I suppose that is possible but if so I would hope the lecturer would really consider their audience before coming in.

Lecture: Using Games in the EFL Classroom
 The next lecture was a breath of fresh air. Mr. Tory S. Thorkelson started the class with a clear and loud voice and a topic that we all were familiar with. Plus throughout the class we actually played some of the games he brought with him. Also he was a seasoned English teacher here in Korea and so knew what worked and didn't, and why.

One of the interesting aspects of his speech was his attempt to distinguish games from activities. This was a good puzzler and kept me thinking. He said that games are more rigid and follow strict rules, whereas activities can be adapted and changed. Certainly something to think about more.

One example of the games he presented us was:

• Draw and Say: Simple game (which I have used before) where one student has a picture and another has a blank paper. One tells the other what they see while the other draws. They compare afterwards.

As you can see I enjoyed this lecture and his ideas on motivating students and what games are best for our classroom.

Workshop: Group Discussion & Sharing Ideas
Thankfully a workshop was scheduled as the last 3 hr activity, for it came after lunch time. This class was an example of what they should add more of next time. A place where we can share ideas and talk about what works. Sure it is one thing to exchange a worksheet or class plan online but to discuss face to face with what we do in class makes it a whole lot more encouraging.

The scheme of this workshop was that we were put into small groups. We were given a large peice of white paper that was divided into four parts. Each paper had a lesson topic and the four parts related to learning English. (Reading, writing, speaking and listening). For 10 minutes each group brainstormed and wrote down their ideas for the topic.

It was fun, I have to say, and was interesting to see what other people came up with. Most of the topics were based on actual lessons from our curriculum. Therefore we had actual tested activities under our belt for these things.

Unfortunately my group was a bit of a mess. I was put in a group with 3 other men, one of which was a bit nutty. For example, he wouldn't stop talking about off topic ideas and he also kept on flirting with me. I tried my best to lead the group and get the work done. One member kept on walking out to get coffee or picked up his phone to respond to a text. This same member hardly gave any input. It made me feel like I do a lot of hard work and thinking while he can just get by. Anyways we were suppose to come up with one final lesson plan but since the other guy kept on talking it never happened.

Conclusion:
As you can see the lectures and workshops were peppered with good and bad points throughout. I can't really say whether they were really geared towards us "Plus" folks. I think if they had more workshop orientated activities it would have been, since we have so much experience already.

In addition, no where were we ever informed about upcoming 2011 changes to our curriculum and contracts. There is a lot brewing underneath the surface, which I will talk about in the future. It would have been great to be brought up to speed about these things and ask for our opinion. However, as much as I wanted this to happen my expectations were very low. 

We will see if anything that was presented to me will come in handy when I am back at school. In the next series I will highlight a fun activity I experienced and tell you the secret to Orientation. ;)

Not On The List

So I made my way to Bundang and got on the shuttle bus to the Orientation Center. On the way meeting some new people and mingling.

Got in a long line for registration. They looked and looked over the list and my name was not on it.

"Please stand over here while we figure this out."

But things were busy for them so they told me to wait at the office. No one was there and I wondered why my name was not on the list.

But as I thought I realized what may be the problem.

Last week I pleaded with my coteacher that I don't have time to go to the Orientation. That I am swamped with planning the advanced class and the addition of the teacher's English class.

So she called the coordinator's office to plead for me to not go. But Friday passed and we never got an answer from them. So we assumed that I should go anyways, and that is what I did.

I finally found the coordinator and she checked again but of course my name wasn't there. I told her about what had happened last week with the no phone-call business and we went to another office to speak with another coordinator.

This other gal, as soon as she heard my name, told me she was the one who crossed me off the list last week. So I told her we never got a response and I assumed to come to the Orientation.

There wasn't room for me at the Orientation since they were packed with the teacher's who didn't screw it up. Therefore, I was told to go home.

Getting home was a little tricky as I had to make my way down the mountain and to a rural area with a few city like buildings. But a few nice men were at the bottom of the hill and helped me flag down a taxi.

Ah but did I get to go home and relax?! Nope Principal called in and said I should head to work. So here I am frazzled and tired from all the bus riding. But there are only 2 hrs left of work. I guess though I should do some of that planning I was so worried about.

TESL Struggle

Hey there folks. I am working on getting my TESL through an online course. Basically the work consists of reading, taking a short quiz and then writing.

This is a course that will give me the TESL certificate which can be used to get more money added to my salary, and also an advantage when it comes to being hired.

However, I think the most important aspect of working on this is that it will improve my knowledge and skills of being an English teacher for EFL students. So I got started on this last week, after finally paying for it and printing out my first assignment. This course is not heavily weighed on grammar but that doesn't mean it isn't a part of it.

I have come to a part in my writing assignment, which deals with grammar. I am not a grammar whiz, as my Mom would tell you. But I am very willing to learn and get over my own mistakes.

I am asking you, my readers, to extend your grammar knowledge to help me with this assignment. I'm not trying to cheat here, I just really don't know where to start when it comes to figuring out grammar. So if anyone can give me some pointers that would be terrific!

The Prompt:
The assignment is to write down three sentences that Foreign language English learners commonly make that are mistakes. These sentences have to be grammatically incorrect and all relate to each other with the same grammar problem.

Their example:

from French:

I have twenty years.

I have cold.

I have ill.

The reason for this error is due to the use of have in French.

My choices:

I goes to a PC Bang.
I go to church.
I was go to home.
These are common answers to the question "What did you do you yesterday?"

The Help I Need:
I know that these sentences are grammatically incorrect. I just can't tell you which grammar rule it relates to. I am thinking it relates to getting the past-tense incorrect, but I know there must be more to it than that! (See how badly I need grammar help folks, my poor students...so sorry)

The Twist:
The assignment requests the following:

• Explain why you think the error takes place.
• Explain in terms of grammar.
• Explain in terms of the MT (mother tongue, Korean language) and then explain it in terms of the English Grammar. This is the part that I need help with, mostly because I don't know Korean grammar.
• Point out the differences.

At least I have a set of sentences that I thought of on my own. That alone was pretty tricky.

In the meantime I will hit up google and see what I can come up with, and try to get myself on the grammar path.

If you know of an explanation I could start thinking of that would be great. Or of any websites that would be awesome, too.

THANKS!

GEPIK Workshop

Today I went to Bundang for a GEPIK Workshop for Foreign Language Assistant Teachers. It was held at Dankook University.

To get there I took a bus, which was a lot faster than transferring 3 or 4 times via the subway.

Anyways, the first part consisted of a behavioral management lecture. The guy was Chinese - Canadian. His lecture wasn't too boring and actually very informational about how we can become better teachers instead of just babysitters. The emphasis was making the classroom a constructive and positive environment. I got a few ideas out of it and hope to improve my teaching style.

But I do have to say that it is kind of hopeful of him to think that we will all go back to our schools and adjust to to his suggested style of teaching. For starters, at our schools the only people to collaborate with our the Korean coteachers. So unless we have good relationships and the language barrier is not so bad, then changes are possible. But when I go back to my school it will be a bit of a task to collaborate with my coteacher on the teaching methods they talked to me about. However, I will try and also see if she is willing to learn some new things.

Anyways, I didn't stay for the second half because I woke up today with a cough. And then I proceeded to get a headache later on, which I still have. So I jumped on a bus and came home for rest. Fridays are the longest and most tiring days at my school, so I want to try and reserve my energy. Plus, they gave us a booklet with all the lecture material inside it, which I can just read.

All in all, it was structured okay and I think was a good way for us teachers to feel comfortable teaching here. I got to meet some other foreigners along the way.

Well, back to resting.

A little extra

Before I enter the zone of no Internet in my home I thought I would post some pictures that someone took during our training. They were taken after our lunch treat.

Well it has been one week already in this crazy place, but I am really enjoying being lost and excited. Anyways I will keep up with the blog from work or in a PC Bang when I get the chance before I get Internet in my new place.

training is over

Hi ya'all!

So training at the YBM head office finished today. And again I am really grateful to have this training but still don't know quite yet whether it will come in handy. The first month is going to rough because I will be going through all the steps of figuring out what works while at the same time still adjusting to my foreigner life.

Today's training was not as intense as the last few days and highlighted some important aspects of teaching. Such as always have a plan and to remember that your kids are a lot smarter than you think they are. I already kind of know that second part from being around kids at camp so I hope I remember that in class. Also our teacher took us out for a lunch treat at a place in the Insadong area. Insadong looked like what China Town looks like if you have ever been to one in New York or San Francisco, mostly because the streets are lined with shops selling basically the same tourist trap stuff. Peppered amongst these stores were some places selling art and pottery. I really want to go back there and spend more time checking it out. While I was there I saw an art supply store...so woo hoo!

I think being around other foreigners helped me understand that I have a dual role here in Korea. One I am a foreigner to Koreans and two I am a foreigner to other foreigners. Sometimes I see random other foreigners on the subway or street and I smile at them but I tend to not get a smile back. I don't know if that is intentional or just coincidence.

So I am still resistant to walk into a Korean restaurant by myself and order food. I think it is a taboo here to sit in a place and eat alone, so there is that problem first off. Next, I don't know what to order and also I am still getting use to what I feel is the "Korean" taste that Korean food has, and that really isn't the spiciness. Just in general Korean food has a certain taste that when you aren't in the mood can be not appetizing.

So what do I do instead?

Well I go buy a sandwhich in the "Family Mart" and eat some cheese and crackers. I know not a meal right? But satisfying enough...till I get a grasp on food. My schedule for when I start teaching will have me coming home around 8pm so that really isn't the time I am use to eating dinner. These adjustments will certain take some time to accept but I will try my best not to let get me down.

Anyways, tomorrow I go back to my company and observe more classes. Afterwards I will be heading off to a hospital for my health check. Yea finally some paperwork is getting done! But that doesn't leave much time for lesson planning for my classes on Monday...maybe I can get it done this weekend.

Speaking of which Saturday I will move into my Office Tel and I don't think it has Internet. So unless I have time to go to a PC Bang updating and email will be slowwwww.

Ok well :)

That zone of tiredness

Ah, so tiredness hit me today in class while we were being taught about lesson planning. I kind of have the habit of being a real insensitive person when I get super tired. Mostly because all I want is my bed and dim lights. So I unfortunately gave the teacher (who is really awesome) some dirty looks.

Fortunately, I was able to go home and rest.

Training has been really comprehensive, and from what I have read from other blogs and Dave's ESL cafe that training can either be existent or non-existent. So I am happy to have this training, despite how intense it is. You know a company cares about you if they take the time to train you and give you booklets with information about teaching. I know from my experience as a camp counselor that some companies will just do a really shitty job of training and still call it training.

But we won't really know if any of this will pay off till my first day of teaching which is next Monday. (By the way any 'day' references are always going to be from the Korea perspective.)

Ooo some good news. I am going to be moving into an Office Tel, which for me has a lot of romantic notions of better space and provisions. My supervisor did tell me it is bigger than most Office Tels so that is great. Again, though we won't really know till I step foot in it. But moving out of my Love Motel will be a nice change.

Ahhh well I am just adjusting to this foreigner life here. I think I am doing a good job of getting by despite I have little speaking ability in Korean. Some things I would like to get done such as....

• Getting a cellphone.
• Getting a bank account.
• Getting my health insurance.
• Buying a better pillow.
• sleeeeep

And so on...

Till then I will grateful for what I do have and how far I have come from just last year.

;)

It's raining...

Today starts off with a soggy view from my window. Yesterday I enjoyed being in the reall inner part of Seoul where there are more people and plenty more shops. I met more foreigners which felt good and one of them we went for pizza afterwards.

Today is pretty much the same where I have to go down there and back, but afterwards I have to stop off at my company... I am not looking forward to that.

Sorry short post here need to get ready and eat breakfast.
:)

Today

I am going to be taking the subway to Jong-na for further training at my company's headquarters. It will be interesting getting use to the subway system here. The ride should take about 40 minutes so that is plenty of time to contemplate stuff or just feel confused.

Yesterday's training went well. I spent the whole time visiting and observing classes, during which I diligently took notes so that I can recall what it is I saw. During which when I entered a class the students became really suprised to see a new teacher...maybe because I was American? Basically all the classes start and end in the same format. The material is modified for the theme of the class and the age level. When training is complete I will be working on lesson development so that I am prepared for my first batch of classes. They require me to come in 2hrs early for my first month so to get this kind of preparation done.

In the meantime, I have been enjoying looking out my window and taking in the world around me. I am still figuring out what to eat and feel that once I have my kitchen eating will be a lot more comfortable.

All right just thought I post a little info on what's been going on. I still can't get pictures onto my computer in my room so lovely media like that may take a while. Plus when I finally move into my new diggs I don't the Internet will be hooked up so that too may take a while.

:)

Oh yea, I'm here to teach

Knowing that I am going soon to my company for training reminds me of one of the purposes I came all the way out here. To teach English to the youngins' of Korea. If you know me I am the kind of person who doesn't really like to work...I enjoy the slower paced times of life when the schedule you live by is your own. But obviously you really can't get by with out a job in life. So that is why I decided to have a job but somewhere different and exciting (Korea).

The only thing now, is that this idea and this dream are becoming a reality. Teaching to some may seem like an easy task, for you get up in front of a classroom of students and talk all day, then go home. Well my friends there is much more to it than that. I know from my experience as a camp counselor for three years that being around youngsters is exhausting both mentally and physically. They drain all their energy into you and you have to always be one step ahead of them. Now, I don't want to sound like I am complaining because for one this job is going to be way better than the job I had back in San Francisco. Indeed, when I find myself with moments at my new job here feeling tired and upset I know I am going to remind myself that this is way better than being stuck in a cubicle in a boring office.

My training schedule is that during Tues-Thurs I will be attending seminars in another part of Seoul. The topics range from:

• Classroom management.
• Lesson planning.
• Effective lessons.
• Culture shock and workplace conduct.

I find the culture shock topic especially enticing. The handout I was given about it so far displays a graph with a 'u' shaped curve. First there is the "Honey-moon stage", next is the "culture shock" stage and finally you come to a "Bi-cultural stage." I guess I am in the honey moon stage where you feel amazed and awe struck by your surroundings. They say the culture shock stage is when you can't stand your surroundings and feel home sick. Hmmm I hope I don't become too bitter when I get to that stage. I do look forward to the Bi-cultural stage...:)

The one thing I am scared the most about this job is my first day. Usually when I meet a pack of kids for the first time I tend to be really soft and warm. But they say it is really important that in my first month I establish myself with my students seriously so they don't run all over me for the rest of my time here.

I hope that some of my training will give me insight into accomplishing this.