Blueberry Crisp!

Why did my Tuesday rock?  Because I spent it helping some hungry fourth graders learn to make Blueberry Crisp!  We took a vote between making apple crisp or blueberry crisp, and blueberry won.  They were so excited to cook - especially given that only one out of the four of them has an oven at home.  The dad informed me that they use it a grand total of once a year!  Right...I'm gonna up that number.  Next week - chocolate chip cookies!  (I'm taking full advantage of their enthusiasm and my new-found access to an oven.)

They did a great job!  And it was fun because this was their first exposure to oatmeal.  I tried to explain how I eat it for breakfast, but I'm not sure they understood.  The mom was shocked at me using 1/3 cup of butter in the mixture.

I'm happy to say that it was a huge success!  About 15 people enjoyed some blueberry crisp and ice-cream by the time the night was through.  And most got seconds ;)

 

Skype

Skype is the reason I have been able
to stay in Korea for as long as I have.

Every Sunday night is 

Skype-date with Mums night.  

And every two weeks or so, it's time to 

play catch up with Nat and her babies.

This past weekend, Dad and I were even able to play guitar together!  I had been messing around on my guitar and was reminded of a song that he plays...he was just a text message (yay Kakao Talk!) and a Skype date away from teaching me.  :)  Technology sure can be great!

Cooking Class

Today was my lucky day!  One of the English classrooms was used for a Cub Scouts meeting.  And what did they do today?  The had a cooking class!  The students made a traditional Korean snack, translated in English to, "rice cake."  It's not what you think of when you hear "rice cake" back in the States.  At least, not for me.  Back home, rice cakes were cripsy, airy snacks that were usually flat, round, and sweetened.  I think Quaker was the brand I used to eat.  We'd either get apple cinnamon, or chocolate chip.  Mmmm!  Rice cakes in Korea are totally different, though.  They are small, round, doughy, sometimes different colors, and occasionally covered with powder. 

No matter what color you choose, however, they all taste the same.  Exactly the same.  And quite honestly, they're kind of tasteless.  On that note, maybe it wasn't my lucky day.  This table of girls was really excited to share their treats with me.  When one offered me a rice cake, they all followed suit and watched for my delighted reaction to each individual taste-test.  I gave a good reaction, and ended up eating way more rice cakes than I will ever feel the need to again.

Chocolate

Ok, I'm officially done being sad about ridiculous things.  Why?  Because my new school is amazing.  (Also, because it's ridiculous to be sad about silly things.)  But nonetheless, let's move on to my wonderful school. 

First of all, beach-themed chocolates were passed around the office for our culinary enjoyment.  What can beat that?! 

Also, the Japan cup can be salvaged.  I have a ridiculously creative and handy Canadian coworker who is going to lend me some superglue and save the day! 

And... my coteacher hopped right on the microwave dilemma.  At 10:30 this morning, I was walking back to my apartment to meet the microwave repair man - yay for warranties!  (And yay for sneaking out for a minute to get a change of scenery.)  When the repairman saw my microwave, he looked baffled.  Not because it's so absurd, but because it's an LG appliance, and he was a Samsung repairman.  Oops.  Guess we called the wrong company.  But that actually worked in my favor - because now I get to meet another repairman at my house at 4 this afternoon - and get out of work almost an hour early because of it.  Happy early weekend to me!

Broken Things

It's been a bit of a tumultuous week.  When I came home form work today, I found it quite fitting to discover the following:

This is...well, was... my favorite cup.  The one that I used every morning for tea or coffee.  Jaime and I got a set of two to split when we visited Osaka, Japan for Christmas.  I didn't have time to finish my tea this morning, so I put my cup in my kimchi fridge to keep it fresh while I was at work.  But lo and behold, the tea froze, expanded, and cracked my cup.  I guess it wasn't as necessary as I thought to have my school buy a mini-fridge with a freezer.  My little kimchi drawer apparently does get cold enough to do the trick.  :(

And this... this little gem of a microwave.  This was more comic relief than anything.  But I suppose it will need to be replaced.  For some mysterious reason, whenever I plug it in, it instantly turns on and starts revolving.  It's done that ever since I first tried it out.  The teachers at my school were a bit confused, given that they've used it for a few years and never had an issue.  But I just figured it got jostled around a little too much when it was being transported to my apartment.  As of this evening, however, it took its' strangeness up a notch.  When I tried to reheat my ramen (I know, not a nutritious or delicious sounding dinner, but as I said, it's been a tumultuous week, and I haven't even thought about going to a grocery store), things didn't quite work.  As soon as I plugged it in, it did it's usual revolving routine.  I turned the power off, hit the 1 minute button, and watched my ramen spin around.  After probably three minutes, it was still spinning.  The  display screen was blank, so I'm actually just guessing it had been three minutes.  Either way, when I took out my ramen, the bowl was still cold.  No matter what button I pushed, the noodles never warmed up.  Thus, I ran down to the convenient store, picked up a small carton of milk, and poured myself a bowl of cereal.  

I was originally supposed to eat dinner and spend this evening with my host family, but I had to cancel.  My landlord was scheduled to come by around 6pm to fix my shower and bathroom sink, so I had to stick around my apartment.  Given that it's now after 7, I'm assuming that he forgot.  

Jenny Goes to Kindergarten

Today was officially my first day of kindergarten... ever.

When I was younger, I skipped right from day care to first grade.  Kind of.  When we lived in Florida, I attended a half-day day care.  But at the age of four, when my family moved to Ireland, I jumped right into their equivalent of first grade.  They start children in the education process pretty young, so I attended some version of first and second grade in Ireland before returning to the States, where I was enrolled in first and second grade again (to stay with my age group). 

My original plan in coming to Korea was to work in a city called Paju as an English-immersion kindergarten teacher at a private school.  That job didn't work out, though, so I ended up teaching first through sixth graders at a public school here in Ansan.

At my current school, however, I am scheduled to teach one kindergarten class every Wednesday.  Quite the change from the original plan - 40 hours a week as the only teacher, down to 40 minutes a week with three Korean women by my side.  And man, am I glad!

I can't imagine being a full-time kindergarten teacher, even if I do speak the same language as the students!  The kids are 5-6 years old (in Korea, they say they are seven... it's complicated), and they are full of energy, emotions, wiggles, and saliva.  Yeah.  When we had circle time this afternoon, one particular little boy scooted right up next to me... adorable and enthusiastic, but I was sprayed with spit each time he spoke.

To make things just a bit more complicated, there is no working computer in the classroom, nor is there a white board.  Yikes.  So, I have to come up with songs to sing A Capella, simple games to play that I have all the materials for, and loads of patience.  The difficult thing about that is that this school apparently has no supplies for making materials.  I think a few years back there was a budget cut...which they are no longer under, but as a result, they've gotten into the habit of teaching frugally.  Thus, they don't have any supplies.  I suppose it's good for the environment to not be burning through lots of paper and various materials, but it sure would be helpful!

They do, however, have a piano in the classroom.  Kind of wishing I had stuck out lessons for more than a year when I was a kid.  Huh...

Seokho Elementary School

 

           My New Classroom!


Here is what my new classroom looks like - much more colorful and warm than at my previous school. The big screen in the middle of the white boards is actually a touch screen, which I am definitely still getting used to. I've lost track of how many times I've accidentally advanced a slide show because I let my fingers get too near the screen.  

Down below is a picture of my desk and the teachers' "office" (aka hallway).  It's a pretty tight squeeze, especially when students come to visit, but I like how social it is.  It's easy enough to get into the zone and not be bothered by those around you, but it's also super nice to have other people so close by.  At my previous school it was just my coteacher and I tucked away in an overly spacious and sterile office all day long.  It was always dead silent, tense, and awkward.  Needless to say, this set up is a nice change of pace.

Also included in our little hallway office is a mini fridge, a sink (laden with tooth brushes and toothpaste), a malnourished plant, and a drawer full of delicious instant coffee and tea!

I've heard rumors that my computer is slow, but it hasn't inconvenienced me yet... knock on wood!  

A teacher warned me today that it gets really cold in this area during the winter and showed me her heated seat cushion.  I'm not looking forward to winter too much, but then again...I never am.  I heard a rumor that it was possible to get feet warmers that plug into your USB port on the computer.  I might be willing to give that a try in a month or two!

Mini Fridge!!

My new fridge arrived!!  My kitchen is now complete. :)  Unfortunately, it is empy...



But I received some good news from my school - they agreed to buy me a couch!  This way I don't have to scrounge the streets for one.  I'm not sure what the budget is, but I'll be couch hunting over the next week to see what I can find. 

A Tour of My New Apartment

Welcome to my new humble abode!  Whereas my last apartment was an officetel (it had an upper loft that separated the bed from the rest of the living area), this one is just a studio (a one room place).  Although this one is technically less extravagant  I already feel more comfortable here.  Part of it might be because I couldn't stand up straight in the loft at my old apartment.  Or maybe because there's more open floor space here.  Regardless, I feel quite content with it.   

 

My bathroom is MUCH more roomy than at my last place.  First of all, my sink and mirror aren't located inside my shower.  That's always a plus.  Second of all, I don't hit the ceiling when I try to blow dry my hair. Granted, there's not much of a divider to keep the rest of the bathroom dry when showering, but I brought my squeegee from my old place, so not to worry!  ;)  The only real downside to this set up is my shower head.  It seems to have lost the friction needed to keep it at a decent angle.  Until I get it fixed, I'll have to crouch directly under the nozzle.  For the last two mornings, I have tried to no avail to jerry-rig it with hair ties to keep it from angling straight down.

Also, I am eagerly awaiting a refrigerator.  As you can see, my refrigerator is located under my stove.  Well, maybe you can't see.  Because this is no ordinary fridge.  This is a kimchi fridge - dedicated soley to kimchi.  It looks to me like two drawers, but low and behold, it's cold inside those drawers!  There were four tubs arranged inside that were meant to hold kimchi, but I took out the top two so I'd have a place to put my own, western-style food.  Unfortunately, I had a bag of frozen blueberries that I am rapidly trying to down given that I won't have a freezer until my new fridge is installed.  I was informed that we would go to pick out my new mini fridge tomorrow.  So I will have two separate fridges - a kimchi fridge, and a mini fridge with a freezer.  I guess those two halves will make a whole.  The other foreign teacher at my school told me he found a make-shift way to make ice in one of the drawers, but I'm going to go ahead and opt for the actual freezer since I'm given the option.  

As for the rest of my kitchen, there's lots of cabinet space, and a washing machine that you can see off to the left.  Unfortunately, the school won't let me return the rice cooker, used bedding, or hordes of pots and pans that I don't need, so those are pretty much taking up any empty storage space I would have had.  Oh well, maybe that will keep me from gaining too many more possessions before packing up to go home! 

Here, you can see my lovely closet door.  The flower decals were already there, but I think they look nice, so I won't complain.  Especially since I have absolutely hardly any other decorations to put up at the moment.  As soon as I get my fridge, I will be able to magnet some pictures to it.  And once I get some tacks, I can put up my Thailand lanterns.  And as soon as I get some stronger tape, I can put up some pictures of Natalie's kids like I did at my old place.  But for now, the flower decals will have to do.  

Oh yeah, and did you notice all the awkward empty space on that whole section of my room?  Who would have thought a one room apartment could feel empty!  This school's contract didn't include providing a couch... so it's looking a little bare over there.  For now, I will take advantage of it by rolling my yoga mat out from time to time.  But the other foreign teacher said he'll be on the look out for free couches from me.  He said he comes across them fairly frequently and will see what he can do.

Last, but definitely not least, is my door.  It is completely decked out with The Little Prince.  There was actually more Little Prince decorations on one of the walls, but the landlord wallpapered over it before I moved in.  I'm kind of glad this wasn't taken down, though.  My friend Jaime had me read this short little book back in college, and it seems to be pretty popular over here.  I think it adds a bit of a philosophical touch to the room.  And it kind of makes me want to read the book again.

Ok, well, that's all for now.  I'll hopefully post an updated version of my crib once I have a fridge and some actual decorations up.  (And maybe even a couch!)

"It is the time that you have devoted to your rose that makes your rose important."  

The Little Prince

Farewell Dinner

Here's one last happy memory I'll post about my old school.  I invited my three closest teacher friends out for a little farewell dinner - Gina Teacher, Tatiana (the Russian teacher), and JinJin (the kitchen manager).  I have gone out with all three of these ladies before, and we made another date to go out again... so I'm happy to say that we won't lose touch.  :)  Tatiana and I actually live closer to one another now that I've moved, so we plan on meeting up for a walk or jog around the mountain (aka hill with a walking path) near my host family's house!

We had dinner at a really nice restaurant called Eunice's Garden.  The owner designed this unique restaurant out in the middle of nowhere and added some really special touches.  Outside, there are a couple of walking paths.  One leads you around a garden, complete with many different flower beds, a wood chip walking path, and a little babbling stream.  You can even hear cows off in the distance.  It might not sound too exquisite, but in this part of Korea, a quaint scene like this is hard to come by.

There is another walking path closer to the restaurant entrance, that takes you under a dazzling arrangement of hanging lanterns.  It is beautiful in the day time, and even more so once the sun goes down.  There are even little benches nestled into vine-laden trellises.  Definitely a romantic environment.

As for the food, there's an outdoor grill section and an indoor pasta section.  We opted for the pasta, and weren't disappointed!  Afterwards, we stopped by the gift shop to look around and have some yummy tea.

At the end of our dinner, JinJin suggested that we all meet up for dinner again in about a month - this time, to dine on chicken feet.  When she saw Gina Teacher and I squirm at the thought, she informed us that the particular restaurant she had in mind was the second best restaurant in all of Ansan.  Well... ok then.  Once we eat there, we'll have eaten at all of the top three restaurants in town - number one being the chicken feet place, number two being O'Hills (the really expensive seafood buffet), and number three being Eunice's Garden (the one in all of these pictures).

I couldn't have made it through the year with out these ladies - they always had welcoming smiles and open hearts towards me.  I will miss having coffee with Gina after lunch each day, being filled by JinJin's infectious energy whenever I ran into her in the hallways, and brainstorming fun lessons with Tatiana.  

Thoughtful JinJin giving me a parting gift!

Last Day at Wonil Elementary School

Today marks one year working as a "Native English Teacher" at Wonil Elementary school.  If you have talked to me at all during this time, you know that it hasn't all been sunshine and roses.  My first morning was more indicative of the year to follow than I realized.  Just one year ago, I was waiting outside for my coteacher to pick me up.  She had told me that she would pick me up and bring me to school on my first day, so I was just to wait outside my apartment building.  Well, that didn't happen.  I didn't find out until later that she was running late (as she is about 110% of the time... yeah), and called my recruiter.  He then sent me an email to just walk to school.  I, however, was without a phone, internet, pretty much any means of communication for the first week or two of working here, however.  Thus, I waited and waited outside.  Things started to feel wrong as the clock continued ticking, so I decided to risk getting lost and try to find my school on my own.  My recruiter had taken me there once before.  Once.  Anyway, I found my school and was rushed in to do the morning broadcasting- still wearing my jacket - to announce my arrival.  Once the cameras were off, my principal scolded me, saying that I should try to get to school earlier.  Well, right.  Of course my coteacher didn't tell him that I was late because she didn't pick me up. 

That is how our relationship started.  And despite trying to please her, and trying to keep the waters calm, and trying to understand her, our relationship is about 100 times worse today. 

I am not the type of person who hates on their superiors, but man.  She is my least favorite person in this country.  High on the list for least favorite in the world. 

Regardless, the students and friends that I did make, both in and outside of school, made this year wonderful.  My list of grievances could go on and on about my coteacher, but I would like to remember this year on a more happy note.  So, here are some pictures of my adorable students, and two little cards my most loyal second graders made for me. 

A message from one of the administrators:
hi jennifer ~
you leave so sad. ㅠ.ㅠ (crying eyes)
health and flourish

My First and Second Graders

My last class of every week is with a group of giggly, bright-eyed, good natured first and second graders.  Technically there's like 20-some kids I'm supposed to be working with, but most of them just run around the back of the room.  For the sake of my sanity, I resigned myself early on to just teaching the ones who wanted to learn.  And man, is it fun!  These girls are almost always a pick-me-up, no matter how tedious or frustrating my day has been.  I thought first and second grade would be the hardest, but when you just focus on the ones that are excited to learn, there's nothing but excitement and lots (and lots, and lots, and lots) of happy energy in the room. 

Today, among other things, I taught them how to make the fishy face. 

It was a riot!



My favorite part of class had to be right at the end of the hour.  I was explaining to them that this would be our last English class together (using my phone translator app, lots of hand gestures, and plenty of Konglish), when one of the girls asked to use my translator.  At first they were clarifying what I had said.  And they asked if I could stop by on my last day to pick up a card they were going to make for me.  The last thing one of the little girls translated is what you see on the left: "I love you, too."  So sweet!  They sure know how to turn a rough day around!  And then, of course, they found me at lunch time.  Gina and I spent some time outside on the school yard after finishing our lunch, and they swarmed us.  :)  One of the little rug rats and I are playing a hand game I taught them that I used to play in elementary school.  They like to play it as a reward when they finish their work early.





Ansan Air Show

Oshkosh Experiemental Aircraft Associatin Airshow (EAA) :                                     One day ticket: ~$50

Ansan Air Show:                                                                                                    One day ticket: ~$4

Wow!  I was shocked to find that a day pass to the airshow here in town was soooooo cheap!  My friend Yoonjee (who I shared a dorm with for one semester in college) and her Italian boyfriend invited me along.  Yoonjee's been looking for an excuse to come visit me in Ansan, and this seemed the perfect opportunity!

Beside the price, lack of international people, and smaller scale of the event, there were many similarities to the airshow I'm accustomed to back home.  First, there was the exciting music, the announcer revving up the crowd, fleets of fighter jets tearing through the sky and deafening our ears, parachuters jumping from planes, and single planes twirling and spiraling, looping, and soaring. 

What surprised me the most was that I got a tear in my eye as the first plane twirled about.  Not a typical reaction while watching a stunt plane, but I guess it just reminded me of home. 

Yoonjee and I

 A special touch - the Korean flag, drawn in smoke.