1st day of teaching, done!

As expected, this weekend was refreshing and adventurous.  After letting myself sleep in on Saturday, I went for a run in an attempt to find Duryu Park, a park that I could see on my very general map.  My map doesn't scale distances to size so I was hoping to find it but not holding my breath. About 10 minutes after leaving my apartment, I could see the park.  Now, this isn't some small park with ducks and a pond and swings.  this is a huge combination park composed of natural land, hiking trails, walking/hiking/running track around a mountain, and large pond complete with bridges as well as rollercoasters, museums, a Space Needle type structure and large playing fields for soccer and baseball.  Oh and I can't forget the two functioning traditional temples I came across - and I didn't even explore the whole park!  It must be the meeting place for all elderly people of Korea to walk and play games, because one area of the park was FULL of elderly people all talking, laughing, and walking together! so inspiring to keep active when I'm older!  Here are some pictures I took on my ipod while running in Duryu Park

First temple I came upon

beautiful detailing!

so gorgeous!

What a beautiful place to run! I'm so grateful that I actually found it!

The rest of the weekend was spent adventuring across town to Costco (yes, they have one here and it's 2 stories...picture one in the US - and then put another one on top of that!) with my friend Holly and relaxing on Sunday, skyping with some family (so great!) and trying to prepare myself for today!

Today was my very first day of teaching, and look! I'm still alive!  I taught 4 classes each at 50 minutes with about 35-40 girls per class beginning at 8:30 this morning.  The first 3 were back to back, and then I had a break before my last one at 3pm.  Overall, it went okay.  It was just an intro day where I did a powerpoint about myself, home, etc (you might have made a debut in the powerpoint and lots of Korean girls saw you!), had them ask me questions about myself, and then partner up and introduce each other to the class.  Sounds simple, right? Well the powerpoint went very well in each class - the girls do this crescendo "aaahhhh" thing when they get excited.  Slides that got a lot of attention were the picture of our house (I had to explain about living in the country), the one of the whole Milhous family at Christmas, and the picture of my cat, Oscar, because apparently there's a famous soccer player or something who's very handsome and his name is Oscar.  A teacher had to explain that one to me, because I just thought they liked my cat as much as I did!

When it was their turn to ask me questions, they asked everything from simple questions like how old are you? Do you have a boyfriend? (those two are standard when you meet a Korean) What is your favorite Korean food? to my favorites from the more advanced students:
student: "What color are your eyes?"
me:"My eyes are blue"
everyone: "aahhhhh"
same student "we're all jealous of your eyes!"

or my other favorite:
student: "is your hair real?"
me: "the color? then yes"
whole class: "aahhhh"

I was asked what my blood type is (it's kinda like a predictor sign like your horoscope is in the US), When my first love was (random), how many countries I've been to, and so much more.

All of the classes were very receptive and excited for the class = lots of giggling. In Korean classes, the method of teaching is mainly lecture style, so getting them to speak out loud and move/work in groups while staying focused is my biggest challenge. I think persistence, encouragement, and consistent classroom management will facilitate this and move the class in the direction I would like it to go.

Frequently I think, I am totally not qualified for this.  I have no teacher training, have made a total of maybe 5 lesson plans in my entire life, and the combination makes me want to back away.  But I won't.  I'm here for the year, and in this year I will grow in my teaching abilities and in my confidence in myself both in and out of the classroom... there is no other option.


The feelings remind me of the beginning of directing the WIT program at Kidder Creek last summer.  During that first week of camp, WIT Training, I felt way in over my head.  I felt incompetent (which I hate), not organized or prepared (even though I had been preparing as much as possible and had lots of training, just like here), and just second guessing my abilities.  There was one experience that week that really impacted me and changed my perspective.  I was with a counselor, Jacs, and was trying to move this stubborn truck that was faced towards a ditch and I just could not get it moving.  It would catch, die and roll farther towards the fence&ditch. While I was ready to give up and throw in the towel, Jacs was not.  She didn't try to take over, but she just encouraged me - told me without a doubt that I could do it (no matter how silly it was that we were just trying to move a truck) and I did it.  I also ended up loving the program at camp and thriving in my position.  Persistence, believing I can do it, and knowing others also believe in me and my abilities is key.   I want to take this with me into my teaching here in South Korea.

I know that this year will be challenging and frustrating and exhilarating at different points as I'm working with these students at this school, interacting with co-teachers, and balancing my outside life.  However, throughout all of the struggles, I know that while I am teaching others, I am learning just as much from them and the culture that I have immersed myself in this year.


hey, by the way, you can officially call me Rachel Teacher.