Woonam Winter Camp (Art)

Because of funding cuts, my camp at my elementary school went from being a 3 day camp to a 1 day camp. So, basically I had a class of 4th graders for 80 minutes, and a class of 5th graders for 80 minutes. No budget. No money. No big deal!

I also got to decide what I wanted to do for camp, and of course I picked art. I think there is a lot of value with teaching English through art. My co-teacher agree, which is good...

4th Grade: Pointillism

I first went over new color words with the students. These were special color names like fuschia, navy, and coral instead of the basic color names like pink, blue, and orange. Most of these words were new words for all of the students.

After going over the new colors and doing a bit of color theory and color wheel work, I introduced pointillism to the students. They learned about Georges Seurat and his famous painting, "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte".

Then the kids got to  create a pointillism painting of their own! They were told they could only paint with dots. I used the leftover Q-tips from my 6th grade snowman paintings, and the kid's own watercolor paints. They could paint whatever they wanted and without prompting, two of my students drew and painting the main characters from my favorite Korean show, Larva. Actually, it is the only Korean show that I am even remotely interested in, and I think that is because there is no speaking, so everyone can understand- even ME!

Overall the kids got pretty creative, but had to rush towards the end to finish their paintings. They could have used more time!

 

5th Grade: Andy Warhol style Pop Art

For this class we also went over new color names and color theory. Then the students learned about Andy Warhol and the Pop Art movement. After, they created their own Andy Warhol prints. 

To do this they first drew an object in a single square. Then they went to the window and traced their picture 9 different times. After they were finished tracing, then they colored their picture using many different color schemes.

This class could have used more time as well, but since I only got to teach each of these lessons once, I really had no way to know how long it would take or how much time was needed. I noted how long it took for future use of the lesson. :)

Seaside, Crabs, Teachers...

I have been waiting on this since I came to Korea.... a school teacher trip! I was warned that we would "have to go on many unexpected random trips with our teachers that may be inconvenient." After not having any kind of teacher outing or random sporting events or ANYTHING, I got excited for this one. I was told in advance that on the 26th we would be going to the seaside to eat crab. Nevermind the fact that I had to pay more on top of the normal money they take out of my paycheck for these events. 

My 6th grade co-teachers- Ms. Nam, Me, and Hyuni

We got to leave the school early. At 1:00 all the teachers boarded a chartered bus and headed for the coast. At one time we were going to Yeongdeok, then Pohang, but as our bus pulled into Yeongdeok according to my google maps, I KNEW we were going to Yeongdeok! ahahah

This is how my life goes in Korea. I usually know what I NEED to know, and if it is not completely vital, then it doesn't always make its way to me. Surprisingly though, I am OK with this. Am I mellowing out??? Whaaaaaat? 

We first went to Sunrise Park, which is on the coast outside of Yeongdeok. They had a great crab lighthouse thing that of course I climbed. We also had time to walk down quite a few stairs to the coast. I walked past some fellow teachers standing on some of the giant boulders on the coast and kept walking out to the water. I just kept going until I got to the water. Apparently this isn't normal? I don't know, they starting taking pictures of me. Look at the foreign teacher trying to fall in the sea...hahah! Wasn't even close though. Not even close!

After 30 minutes we moved on...

The Ms. Lees. (my 4th/5th grade co-teacher and P.E. teacher)

As we were going to Sunrise Park, I saw this great sculpture and I really wanted a picture of it. I asked some of the men in charge (one speaks decent English) if were planning on driving back by it, because I thought that if we were, I could walk to it and they could stop of 3 seconds and pick me up. 

They told me that we were going the other way and were not going to be going by it, BUT as we boarded the bus and it started going, I knew this wasn't the case. As we came up on the sculpture the bus stopped and the other teachers were told that the weird foreign girl wanted to get off and take a picture. It turned into a restroom stop- you're welcome Woonam teachers- and an added group photo op. I think in the end the vice principal was happy because they got a good picture out of the deal to show their "workshop".

We drove a bit longer and went into a restaurant on the sea and sat down on the floor with tables set with the following courses...

Then the giant plate of crabs came... 

I had never eaten crab, so I needed to learn fast, because we were diggin' in! Ms. Lee (P.E. teacher) who has special talents with food in general taught us a great trick using scissors that allowed a huge chuck of meat to come out all at once! 

The crab was really good. I, of course could not possibly eat as much of it as my Korean counterparts, but I did get to eat quite a bit. I think that I would have eaten even more it is was a little hotter. Koreans in general are much more okay with food being a cooler/warmer temperature than what I find normal. So for example, they eat things warmer than I would normally (milk), and also things that are colder than I would like (meat). I only at the legs. I didn't get into eating the body. I figured as everyone was diving in that crabs have to have a digestive system, and I didn't want to find it to be honest... ahah

After the crabs, they brought out even more food. We got fish that looked like he had just been plopped on the grill, which makes me think, "awwww poor guy..." We also got soup and some rice that had been infused with the crab juices. It was served in the empty top shell of the crab, which was interesting. I also enjoyed this rice. 

For someone who is not the biggest fan of seafood, I thought that I did really good with this meal. Still didn't try the snail/muscle/shell things. Maybe next time? Well, realistically, probably not...:)

Waygook Christmas in Korea...

 We didn't know what we wanted to do for Christmas, but we all knew we didn't want to spend it alone. When you are away from your family during such a special holiday you know you want to spend it with your make-shift family of friends!
I really do have great friends here that act as my family when I need them. We are all in the exact same situation, but all of our situations are so different at the exact same time!
For Christmas, we went to a guy's house who we didn't even know! We were trying to figure out which of our places would be big enough to host everyone and then a guy names Justin saved the day! Justin is a friend of MJ, who is Korean American. He grew up in California, but his dad lives in Korea, and works pretty high up in the government I guess. They have a house in Daegu, that is rarely lived in and it was a large house for Korean standards. It was very roomy for all of us to lounge in!

 

The first order of business was food... Doing this, MJ almost burned the house down! That might be a slight exaggeration, but there was a visible fire that happened in the oven. The kitchen was full of smoke, but no alarms happened. That's good! 

The cinnamon rolls were worth the fire though! YUM!

 Truly felt like Christmas we the Nintendo 64 was brought out! We played Mario Kart, which was awesome since we all grew up with this game and those controllers!

There was tons of yummy food! I brought cheese balls to share in memory of my Grandpa, but there were lots of great sweets! Some of these included Banoffee Pie, Milk Tart, and homemade cinnamon rolls! So good! :)

Santa Socks! Sian and I have many "homance" socks. We buy each other socks and wear them! These are our Christmas socks!

 MJ, Emily, and Erin

We did a white elephant exchange. It was fun because many of the people had never done this kind of gift exchange. The Brits thought that is was quite bizzaar that we were stealing gifts on Christmas, but it was all in good fun! I think they enjoyed it in the end. I ended up with some fantastic banana slippers that have a Korean winking eye on them. LOVE them! :)

Relaxing...

Cheese balls for Gramps...

My Grandma is my person. For those who know me, know this about me. She is very special to me. Even though I am on the other side of the world, I'm always thinking about her, and especially today.

This holiday season my thoughts are with her. This Christmas is her first Christmas without my Grandpa. I know that my Grandpa drove her batty much of the time, but after 60 years of marriage, I know it will be tough for her. I know it will be a tough Christmas for many of the people I love, for the same feelings of loss.

My Grandpa drove me nuts much of the time as well, but I know that he loved me, and he always supporting me in everything that I did. He loved hearing about all of my adventures, and although I had to basically scream them over the phone so he could hear...he always wanted to hear! I know he would love to hear my Korea stories, when I make my phone calls. He was proud of all of us grandkids, and one of the last times we got to talk to him, he found a way to tell us even in his confused state.

Yesterday, I was in Costco, and like all the times I am in Costco, I was walking the cart up and down each and every isle just to look at all the goodies that I can't buy because they are in mass quantity. This time though, as I passed the giant container of cheese balls, I put it in my cart. I will share these at my Christmas celebration with my friends. These were my Grandpa's favorite snack for as long as I can remember. It was even difficult for him to share these with us grandkids growing up. Last Christmas, my aunt and uncle gave my Grandpa a new giant container of cheese balls that he was never able to enjoy... Soon after Christmas he went to the nursing home and never came back home.

This Christmas is one of the harder ones for me. I am away from my family and many of my friends. I know that the celebrations are going on without me, and this year it is the most obvious for some reason. I've been sitting here feeling quite sorry for myself, when in reality, I will be back with my family in not much time. I am still able to talk with them, skype them, and write them. Many people are missing people this Christmas, that they can't do this with.

I’m reminding myself to say an extra prayer for the ones that are hurting this holiday season, and encourage you to as well. It is so easy for us to show all of our pictures with our loved ones and presents, and be quite happy with ourselves and our “stuff” but we must remember that this isn't the case for everyone. Without using the “remember the reason for the season” line, I encourage everyone to use the hospitality and love that they have to show others that they are important! :)

Christmas Eve...

Where better to spend Christmas Eve than at a bar? I think this might have been the first time in my entire life that I did not go to a Christmas Eve service in a church...

But...that is where my friends were, and that was wear I was going. This was such a weird Christmas season. It didn't even feel like Christmas...I worked at a school on Christmas Eve. No one even really acknowledging that Christmas the following day. It was so weird. 

That night, I put on my Santa hat, and my fake eyelashes and braved the cold to see my "makeshift" family. It was an interestingly odd night. I think in part to my eyelashes... I got quite a bit of unwanted attention from some very weird people. 

I remember thinking as we were going around downtown, that their were a lot of weird people out tonight... So I guess only weird people go out on Christmas Eve... What does that mean for me?

Christmas Lights...Busan!

I have been having a serious withdrawal from the lack of Christmas lights this year. South Koreans really don't do many lights. There are a few displays in downtown Daegu, but we heard there was a larger one in Busan. It's a good thing that I have such a good friend who lives in Busan, because anytime we want to go, I know I have a place to stay and have great company! :)

Sian and I left of a Friday night and we went straight to Nampo, which where all the light were. The biggest thing that had was this tree of lights.  They also had many lights that were displayed over the streets. My only complaint, is that the city lets people drive on these roads, even though they are packed with people. In America, they would have made these streets pedestrian streets and wouldn't let cars through. I find the people in the cars ridiculous because they have to go at a snails pace because of all the people. Motor bikes and cars both find it okay to honk as much as needed to let the pedestrians know they are there and the car lights destroy the ambiance. They need to make streets like this pedestrian only... I feel the same about downtown Daegu...

I got my Christmas light fix, and my Emily fix all at the same time. It was fun!

 

Jagalchi Fish Market- Busan

The day after going to look at the lights, we didn't have much of a plan, but we knew we were just going to explore some more of Busan. I've been to Busan now 5-6 times in just over 4 months, and each time I feel like I find something new to do. 
We started out the day at the Nampo-dong Market trying to find some Christmas presents. We walked in on a knitting group, which I thought was cute. We didn't find exactly what we were looking for, but Sian found some ice cream. I find it funny that the South African who is always cold, wanted an ice cream in the freezing temperatures.... ahah

There is always street food in Korea. I'm not the biggest fan of it. Most of it is fried, and is sea food. Different foods are popular during different times of the year. During the winter, I have been told that the fish cakes on sticks are the thing-to-get! I'm personally not a big fan of the fish cakes, but I do see soooooo many Koreans eating them! 

After we walked around at the market, we meandered to the Jagalchi Fish Market. I found it a huge blessing that I was at the start of a cold and could not smell a thing! I think because of this, I really loved walking through here! I was like a scary aquarium, only you knew the fish and crazy looking creatures didn't have much of a life left. The weirder and scarier the better! 

We saw fish of all sizes and more squishy creatures than I am used to seeing, especially in Kansas! Many things were getting gutted, sliced and chopped, but that just added to the unique experience! 

I really enjoyed photographing this area, and the lighting was a dream! I'm sure it gets annoying to be the subject in so many photos when you are actually just trying to work, but to be fair, us foreigners are the subject of many stares when we are just trying to walk/talk/stand/sit/ and breathe.... :)
same same but different...

Directions:  Take the Orange metro line to Jagalchi Station.  Go out exit 10.  Walk straight until you see the market gate on your right, follow that street until the end.