Well, after I wrote that last snetence I lost internet for a while and wrote the rest of this blog post out on word...but what ended up happening was a very long rant about some things that I am not sure how to express yet. I want more time to think on that before posting, look forward to it. However, I want to share the beauty that is Seoul weekend with you all #cantstopwontstop without further ado please enjoy!
So I am playing a bit of catch up on the blog but I am sure you can understand- The last 7 days of orientation were, in some ways, the most grueling of them all. The weekend before this one Fulbright brought us up to Seoul, posted us up in some fancy digs and gave us a lot of information about the coming year. We went to Hwacheon to see the DMZ, had a day off, and attended lectures for two days then back to Goesan for Departure day (post soon to follow) Well, after I wrote that last snetence I lost internet for a while and wrote the rest of this blog post out on word...but what ended up happening was a very long rant about some things that I am not sure how to express yet. I want more time to think on that before posting, look forward to it. However, I want to share the beauty that is Seoul weekend with you all #cantstopwontstop without further ado please enjoy!
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My Korean class final was yesterday and our "graduation" ceremony is tomorrow. Time really does fly when....well it flies when your schedule is jam-packed full. I'm not complaining though, this was one of the better Korean courses I have taken in that because I knew my grade wasn't at stake I felt more comfortable making mistakes. We also had the option of going to office hours every night which was awesome. I often would go and either converse with my professors or just work on my Korean in a setting where I got instant feedback. While I am a bit sad that Korea no longer has a CLEA (even though its still on the CL list) I really hope that my home stay family will greatly help my Korean speaking and listening ability. I still can't believe it has been so long since I left home. I feel like I am just at that point where I don't want to leave Jungwon... that's a lie. The food is terrible. I want to leave for that reason alone. I cannot supplement my Jungwon diet on my 7,000 won a day diet. But I have truly come to love and appreciate the other 74 ETAs that I am sharing this experience with. It will be extremely difficult to leave them come Tuesday. Tomorrow, at 5:15 am *ugh*, we will be heading to Seoul for our graduation so this will probably be the last post until I get to Seogwipo/get settled into my life there. (don't worry mom I will make sure to skype in on my phone this weekend) I still don't know if/who will be hosting me this year, but I am really excited. Also, Sunday/Monday all the ETAs who are renewing will be in Goesan for a little mixer-get-to-know-you type thing. Sorry this post has been rambling, I am so burnt out on studying Korean and preparing a presentation for our final. I will post pictures from the end of orientation/Seoul weekend as soon as possible- until then- Much love, mem So I haven't done much writing in a while but I need to start studying for my Korean final....my alternative is to offer some vignettes of life at Jungwon. For those curious I go to Seoul next Thursday morning to sign my contract ect. and come back to Jungwon Sunday, then Monday is the returnee-newbie mixer, followed by Departure day on Tuesday. No word yet on my flight but I guess I shall find out soon! Sorry I've been so busy, hopefully things will chill out once I start that Island life.
Korean Class Korean class is a struggle for me because it is so boring. I am definitely at the top of my class which has been strange but in some ways satisfying. The range of ability in the intermediate class is one semester to three years. So sometimes we cover things that are super elementary. It has given me the chance to work on my speaking much more however. In previous classes I was always the one who had to be coaxed into talking and was very nervous to mess up on grammar structures. In this class I am usually the first one to speak up and I try and fail sometimes too. The other girl in my class at my level did CLS for a summer which really gives me hope that Fulbright will give me the immersive language experience I always felt was so critical (haha) to learning Korean. I really love both of my teachers in their own way. They are really funny and I will be sad to not have them anymore. TKD In taekwondo we had our first sparring match this week. You know that video of the two little girls kicking at eachother but not hitting? Thats what most of us looked like. I took on this really cool kid named Ted. He kicked my butt. If I got a chance to do it again I think I would not choose to spar a boy. Lolz. Tuesday is our last class and we're breaking boards. Orientation The OCT has overall done an admirable job trying to get us ready to be Korean teachers. I still have doubts about the effectiveness of very smart people to magically be suited for teaching a la TFA but after meeting a few of the English teachers past ETAs co-taught with I'm more than willing to believe that just by the pure virtue of being a native English speaker we have something to offer these kids. As a last caveat I will say that I have felt considerable pressure to present a positive narration of the Fulbright Program so while I have some complaints about Orientation and the Fulbright Korea program I'm going to save them for after Seoul weekend and the contract with my school has been signed. PS we recently found out we are only guaranteed 18 business days for Winter break. PSS Don't fret yet fam, I think that given my school had a previous ETA they will grant me a break similar to the one the previous ETA recieved...Feb in Hawaii! |
Author안녕! I'm Emmy and this is my blog detailing my life in Korea with Fulbright mainly through pictures. Feel free to contact me on my about page. TTFN Archives
June 2016
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