Dear South Korea,
You have shown me and taught me a lot –
about teaching, about culture, about you… Aside from teaching (which is the
main reason I am here – but let’s face it, exploring a country and its culture
and meeting other people is a huge part of teaching abroad!), I realized that I
have done SO much since coming to Korea. Yet, there is also a ton of stuff I
still want to do! Now that the warmer weather is coming, I feel like there will
be a whirlwind of things for me to do and I know I need to take full advantage
of my 4 last months. So, here’s a list of what I have done and what I am still hoping
to do!
What
I have done while in Korea:
Non-teaching:
Ø Try lots of different Korean food (I.e. kimchi, various jjigaes,
bossam, all the side dishes, dolsot bibimbap, lots of different street foods,
roasted chestnuts, jujube fruit, Korean BBQ, bulgogi, ttakgalbi, etc.)
Ø Attend the autumn Lantern Festival in Seoul
Ø Camp and hike at Seoraksan national park/mountain
Ø Hit it up Gangnam Style in Gangnam, Seoul
Ø Celebrate Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving
Ø Visit Doekjeokdo (Incheon island)
Ø Visit Muido (Incheon island)
Ø Go to beach parties on various beaches/islands in Korea
Ø Hike lots of mountains
Ø Buy a tent and go camping
Ø See old Korean palaces
Ø O.D. on kimchi XD
Ø Visit Alex Ginn in Daejeon!
Ø Go to CoEx Mall, the largest mall in Asia (with an aquarium,
theatre, kimchi museum, etc.)
Ø Explore the international district of Seoul, Itaewon and try out
lots of the fun foods there
Ø Buy fruits and veggies for myself in outdoor markets from independent
vendors
Ø Go to the Philippines for winter vacation
Ø Do a pub crawl organized by a friend
Ø Go to Insadong, a traditional, cultural district in Seoul with lots
of tourist attractions
Ø See the cherry blossoms bloom in the Spring – Biking in Gyeongju
among the cherry blossoms and various cultural/traditional Korean sites
Ø Visit the War Memorial Museum of Korea
Ø Have picnics
Ø Get drunk off of soju
Ø Attend a (well actually 2) Korean weddings
Ø Do an overnight home stay with a Korean family
Ø Wear a traditional hanbok
Ø See a live taekwondo show
Ø Do 5 months of taekwondo lessons + get my yellow belt
Ø Get a 3-month gym membership
Ø See a k-pop concert
Ø See a soccer game (or football for the non North-Americans :p)
Ø Go skating in Seoul
Ø Learned to snowboard (tried it for the first time!)
Ø Went skiing (for Korean New Years)
Ø Attend the annual Santacon – hundreds of people dressed as
Santa/Mrs. Claus, singing Christmas carols in Seoul’s subways and doing a bar
crawl to celebrate Christmas
Ø See lots of Buddhist temples
Ø Stay in a pension in the mountains for Christmas celebrations with
my Incheon family
Ø Explore traditional (preserved) Korean villages
Ø Learn how to make some Korean dishes: Kimbap, Fishcake soup,
O-ma-rice-uh, Bibimbap, Kimchi fried rice, etc.
Ø Go to the Trick-Eye Museum (in Hongdae)
Ø Go to norebang (karaoke) – many times!
Ø Go to a cat café
Ø Go to a jimjilbang (public baths where you are naked)
Ø Go to various game bangs (rooms): wii game bang, PS3 bang, board
game bang, multi-bang, dvd bang…)
Ø Visit Chinatown in Incheon
Ø Shop in the HUGE (and cheap!) underground markets
Ø Get a massage (in Myeongdong)
Ø Go to Namsan tower
Ø Go to lots of Western (foreign) bars
Ø Attend an apple festival and go apple-picking in an orchard
Ø Go to the zoo (once in Daejeon and once at Seoul Grand Park)
Ø Swim in the Incheon Sea
Ø See Korean military on duty (e.g. at a beach on the airport island;
at the top of a mountain near the North-Korean border on a hike…)
Ø Get sick and be treated in the “Korean way” – heated ginseng drinks,
flu capsules, Vitamin C crystals and tea!
Ø Have a Korean language exchange partner
-
Learn survival Korean!
Ø Go caving (in Chungju area)
Ø See live Korean music
Ø See Stars (a band from Montreal) play live in Hongdae, Seoul
Ø Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Seoul at a St. Paddy’s Festival
In
Teaching:
Ø Teach “English Conversation and Culture”
Ø Teach “Extensive Reading Class”
Ø Help re-vamp the Extensive Reading class curriculum for the 2nd
years, including bringing in new (non-guided-readers) reading material that is
more authentic and interesting/motivating for students, as well as more
creative methods for teaching Extensive Reading.
Ø Teach “Student Mentoring” to intermediate+ level students
Ø Teach various adult classes: a Parents’ class, 2 English Teachers’
classes, a non-English Teachers’ class and a Book Club group
Ø Taught a drama-lit after-school class called “Performing English
Literature”
Ø Teach 3 English camps (during winter vacation): “Step-Up to English”
(beginner level), “Practical English Camp” (intermediate level) and “Interview
& Essay-writing Camp” (to prepare advanced students for university and
job-hunting)
Ø Have my classes do a language-cultural exchange (via recorded video
messages, skype, etc.) with Canadian students (my brother and his friends who
are high school students).
Ø Help a student having a personal crisis
Ø Learn to co-teach effectively – learn what makes for good and what
makes for poor co-teaching
Ø Judge in an English pop song contest
Ø Teach with no textbooks and be creative in my teaching J
Ø Experiment and challenge myself in my teaching practice
Ø Receive love letters, notes, gifts and compliments from students (hahaha…)
Ø Teach 2 open classes (observational classes that are filmed and open
to other teachers from my school and other schools, parents, admin, the
vice-principal, etc.)
Ø Talk to students about the education system, their experience and
their opinions to begin my research into education systems around the world
Ø Visit Songdo International School for a day and get a personal tour to
learn more about international school education + make some good contacts
Ø Develop lots of teaching material that I can use in the future too!
 |
| At the top of Seoraksan after a day of intense hiking! |
T
Minus 5 Months (EXACTLY) until I leave Korea… Here is what I still want to do while
I’m here!
Non-teaching:
Ø Visit Wolmi-do (Incheon island)
Ø Visit Ganghwa-do (Incheon island) – see the ginseng fields and rice
paddies
Ø Visit Busan!!
Ø Explore and camp on Jeju-do, the southern, subtropical island of
South Korea
Ø See the volcanoes (on Jeju)
Ø See bizarre museums and parks (I.e. Dinosaur Park, the Teddy Bear
museum and the Sex museum on Jeju)
Ø Do (and map out) a street food adventure to explore the best street
food in Seoul
Ø Explore Dongincheon fish market and eat fresh fish at a restaurant
there
Ø Got to the world-renowned, annual Boryeong Mud Festival
Ø Do a temple stay with Buddhist monks for a weekend
Ø Visit Seoul’s flea markets (I.e. Hongdae’s flea market, the Philippino
market, etc.)
Ø Go to music festivals, like World DJ Fest! (May 17-19)
Ø See a baseball game
Ø Visit the DMZ (de-miliatarized zone at the South Korean-North Korean
border)
Ø Buy and eat watermelon in Gwangju
Ø Go to a dog café and a sheep café
Ø Opt for the typical Korean convenience-store patio “bar” over a
regular bar one night
Ø Learn to make a couple types of jjigae (Korean stew) and the base
for different soups and stews
Ø Have a rooftop party on top of an apartment building
Ø Visit the National Museum of Korea
Ø Visit the Education Museum of Korea
Ø See the Botanical Gardens
Ø Experience and survive (hehe) a Korean monsoon (or heavy rain),
which their summers/rainy season is notorious for.
Ø Visit the notorious Dokdo (maybe!) – A controversial topic - Is it
Japanese or Korean?
Ø Go to Tokyo, Japan for summer vacation!
Ø Pay it forward to the next teacher here, like the teacher before me
did J
In
Teaching:
Ø Do a unit about cultural definitions of beauty and have my students
question and challenge their own beliefs about what beauty is and its
importance
Ø Create a pen pal program with my student mentoring class
Ø Teach Creative Arts in English as an English immersion program
(after-school and also maybe as a summer camp)
Ø Lead and score English speaking exams
Ø Do various informal interviews with Korean students and teachers as
well as other expat teachers; Also, take videos, pictures, research, field
notes, etc. to learn as much as I can about the Korean education system
Ø Visit at least one other public school and perhaps even a hagwon
Ø Create a master file of useful ESL teaching material (my own as well
as borrowed) for myself and for whoever comes to Buheung High School after me
-
Also, load up some of my
favourite lessons and teaching material that I have created onto Waygook.org
Ø Continue to challenge myself and grow as a teacher
I’m sure there are still more things that I
could add to my list! I can’t wait to see what the next 4 months have in store for
you and I, Korea.
Yours truly,
~Leana Banana
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