Entry 25: Sports at School

"Jelly teacher!!! 우리 팀!!!" The mass of kids screamed and shouted as I put my shoes on to go play with them in the school's grass-less field.
Dressed in my button-up shirt and my slacks, I ran across the field as I could hear the 5th grade girls screaming "OOOOOO!!!" the same way that Korean girls scream across the world. My shirt was about to be soaked in sweat in a few minutes but the look on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, grade boys faces made it all worth it.

The kids are brutal, they tackle me when I bend down to tie my shoe laces, then pinch the excess fat on my belly, they stick their fingers between my butt cheeks and giggle, and they say things like "Jelly teacher" because they can't pronounce my name correctly. "Jeremy" translates to "재래미" which translates to "Jelly" at least to the 1st graders. Usually when the kids get extra physical with me, I usually play a bit rough back but am always cognizant to be careful with them. Josh hit his head on the floor when I put him down after picking him up and putting him on my shoulder. I felt horrible. It was an honest accident, and thankfully Josh had no hard feelings, but he cried for a while. I gave him a candy and all was good between the two of us.

So after playing soccer with the kids for a good 20 minutes, I went inside, taught my 6th grade class, and then was led back outside to teach "baskteball" to the kids. The head teacher had a different idea in mind since the kids are too small to play basketball. We ended up playing a game that was a mix of basketball, soccer, football, ultimate frisbee, and rugby. Basketball because they shoot a volleyball like a basketball towards the goal. Soccer because the court we used was freaking huge. Football because there was definitely tackling and ball strips/fumbles. Ultimate because the goal was someone standing on a chair at the backcourt line, and if they caught the ball then their team got one point. And like rugby because they bounced the ball on the floor like a rugby ball and they were freaking brutal to each other, tackling and shoving each other (I don't know much about rugby, I just know that whatever it is that we played was the craziest I have seen my kids, EVER).

Before we started this monstrosity of a game, I spent some time with the kids just playing outside. They really really really wanted to size me up. They wanted to see how strong I was. They wanted to see how fast I could run. They wanted to see how far I could jump. They wanted to see it all. It was like I went through the combine. I ran the 400 meter dash, while the kids raced me doing the 400 meter relay. They made me do pull ups. They had a long jump pit. I would have been glad to do it if I had shorts and a t-shirt on. Let's just say, that I was disgusting after this hour outside.

We went back inside, and I had to teach my 4th grade class. I ended up not teaching them anything because we were all sweaty and gross from outside. I reviewed what we learned last class and we played "heads up seven up".

I asked the class if they wanted me to end early, since we were all visibly tired and sweaty, but surprisingly they unanimously shouted "NO!". I repeated myself in Korean, just so that they knew exactly what I was saying.
"NO! END LATER!" They shouted back at me as if ending early was the worst thing ever.
"THIS IS THE FUN CLASS!"
"Jeremy Teacher! I LOVE YOU!" One of the boys said while laughing.
"You kids are crazy" I said to them quite flattered and yet at the same time sad because my voice was dry and I needed water.

I saw how Korean teachers get respect. They use fear. The eye. That eye that is basically saying "what the hell do you think you are doing right now you little punk?" Its a freaking scary eye. But surprisingly, the kids aren't that scared of it. I think if I was a kid in Korea, I would cry a lot, the teachers scare me.

If you were wondering, the way that I discipline my kids when they go out of line, is simply withholding candy and games. I usually bring candy to class and give it to the winning team, but I make sure that I bring candy randomly, where some days I go to school with nothing, just so the kids don't expect to have candy. If I don't have candy, I keep the kids in line by giving them homework if they were being too rowdy. If homework doesn't work, then I end up just making the class really boring, and when they start getting better we play games. Teaching is fun. The more creative you are, the more interesting the job is.

Entry 24: 1st Grade

"I am happy!", I say exuberantly as my hands shoot to the air and my face contorts to the most excited smile imaginable.
Were they going to respond? Where they going to look at me and just laugh like the other classes had? Was I going to be the clown in this class? The questions flooded my mind almost in similar fashion that went through Ted's mind in the first episode of How I Met Your Mother (great show by the way).
"I AM HAPPY!" They all roared in unison, as their little hands and arms shot to the sky. Laughter broke out in the classroom, as my hands went down to my side, my smile disappearing and surprisingly tears welled up in my eyes, as I said, "I am sad." Hold your applause, but it was an Oscar winning performance, as I was able to conjure up the tears on command.
As soon as the children copied and quietly said "I am sad." My face then turned blank. As I stared Josh straight in the eyes, and slowly walked towards him, as I moved my mouth as if I was cursing under my breath. I lifted my hand and clenched a fist. "I am angry!!!" I think I let out a growl, as the kids all burst into laughter as they started swinging their fists at the air with the meanest faces they could conjure. Before, they were able to express the anger so welled up inside, I shot my hands in the air and screamed "I AM HAPPY!"
They gladly obliged, and laugher and smiles filled the room.
Mix, shake, and repeat.

These are my first graders. They are wonderful. They are not as blank faced as my kindergarteners, and they are not as self conscious as my 2nd graders. Although they speak very little English, and most of the communication between us is in Korean, these students are the most enthused to sing, dance, move around, and play games. They aren't good with worksheets like the other kids are. These kids love to move around. They are a joy, and honestly, they make me want to have children of my own.

Their teacher really is concerned with their education and you can tell that she loves these kids. She always has something to say about if I am going too fast, or if what I am teaching is too difficult. She is always in the class with me, and she is the best at helping me teach. Ironically, these teachers want me to teach less. That might not make sense, but you have to understand, that they have their own ideas on how English is to be taught, and I am always glad to take their advice. She explained how she didn't think that the kids were really grasping English (there had been another foreigner teacher that was at the school before me) and that I should focus on one sentence per class. I am happy, for the entire class. I am constantly being told to go at this pace. "Teach the kids 5 new vocab words per class at maximum". I always try to oblige, in the same way that when they told me to not plan so thoroughly for my classes (which was surprising that they told me to take it easy...), and in the same way, I'm going to start reinforcing these kid's English as well as I can. Their teacher's goal is for them to not have an accent, which is a great goal.

Josh: When he smiles his eyes disappear. Great smile.
Hetti: Really cute and energetic girl. I would guess that she will be the popular girl in the future. She gets mad when she loses games. I think she likes Josh (she always gets so mad at him, but she continues to sit next to him)
Ralph: OMG, this kid is freaking hysterical. Pudgy kid who says "My name is Ral-Puh" and he smiles at me and says "Game?! Game?!"
Bobby (the teacher sadly printed his name Bobbg on his laminated name card): Knows the most English out of all the kids, I think he is the oldest out of the bunch because of his English and size.
Hannah: Always has her hair in pigtails, and she is missing her two front teeth. Smart girl, but is very humble about it, never tries to outshine her friends.
Sara: Not very good at English, but she tries. She has the most fun when we stand up and act out the vocabulary.
Young: Maybe the youngest in the group, I assume from his size, but he's really smart and he is really smiley.
Minna: She doesn't speak English or Korean. She is my favorite just to do the motions with. She has a great time playing the games that involve acting. It is really sad when the kids tell me "말 안해" but at the same time, I think that she is learning English. Hopefully.
Dianna: Also missing her two front teeth. She is really quiet, and sometimes dozes off in class.
Paul: Great at English. He has two older sister at the school. All of them are super cute and very attractive, and I remember that it was really fun talking to the three of them while I was waiting for my bus. He is really funny in class as he says "I don't knooooooowww!" in what he calls his 귀신 voice. It is amazing that he and his sisters all hop in a tiny car and live on some farm. His older sister Julie (who is in my third grade class) is probably my favorite student in the entire school. Sam comes next, and funny thing is Sam and Julie are both in my 3rd grade class.

That is my 1st grade class. They are freaking awesome. So well behaved, and full of energy. They squeal "영어선생님!!!!" when they see me. I smile knowing that our class is going to be full of laughter.

Entry 23: Kindergarten

Their faces still show the purity of infants and their minds are supple for the receiving of English, BUT WHY CAN'T THEY LEARN THAT RED IS RED AND BLUE IS BLUE!

They are so precious, so innocent, so dang cute, BUT NO, THAT IS YOUR MOUTH NOT YOUR EYE.

These are some of the trains of thoughts that go through my mind when I teach Kindergarten once a week. They incredibly cute kids that are still learning how to read and write Korean, so expecting them to learn English is a bit much, but please understand my frustration when we spend 20 minutes of playing games, singing songs, repetition, repetition, repetition, and they are still unable to tell me that a red block is red. Thankfully that is an exaggeration, my kindergarteners know blue, red, green, elllo (they don't really say the Y), and orange. They know their body parts as well, at least they know head, shoulders, knees, and toes (maybe eyes and ears but that is pushing it). This is the class that I use the least amount of words, either English or Korean. I am over exaggerated in my movement and motions. I am the clown (minus the freaky makeup) that makes the kids laugh so that they will correlate English and fun. I play the most games in this class, simple ones like follow the leader. I sing lots of songs in this class, unlike my other classes where I pretty much refuse to sing songs that are utterly ridiculous (but we play really fun games instead).

Chris: He can't pronounce his name correctly. He says "Cliss"
Julia: She just repeats what I say, every word that she can hear. Me: Good job Julia! Julia: GOOD JOB JULIA! She has a husky voice for a little kid, and is super cute. Especially when she concentrates really hard.
Katie: The smartest kid in the class, but the quietest kid. She never smiles. She is darker then most of the other kids. She definitely remembers what I teach. The teacher says that she is the same way with Korean.
Kyle: The oldest of the bunch. He loves to lead the classroom, but he sort of gets sidetracked with something (I have no idea what) and kind of wanders off and I have to continually remind him what we are doing.
Sarah: This girl has attitude. She makes it seem like she doesn't like English, but I can tell that she really wants to learn. She keeps quiet when she doesn't know the answer, but when she knows the answer she says it with such flair as if the other kids are foolish for not knowing.
Sunny: Well behaved girl who just sits and listens. She rarely speaks during class, but she smiles a lot.

These are my kindergarteners. They are a precious bunch, but I because I only see them once a week, they forget what I teach pretty easily. My goal with them is to make them like English. I'm going to be singing, dancing, and just being a crazy man in this class so they will have fun. Little kids love just being little kids. Thankfully I'm the biggest little kid I know.

Entry 22: Dad and Me

As I sat in service, half falling asleep because of the poor sleep that I got the night before from sleeping at a 찜질방, the pastor made the announcement that there would be a guest speaker coming Wednesday to talk about North Korea. I wondered if this was the same guest speaker that I had heard speak on the topic of North Korean missions in the past, my father. After the service ended I headed over to meet the man that gave life to me (sounds awfully dramatic) at 강남구청 and then we had dinner. He told me that he was going to be speaking at Jubilee on Wednesday night, so the announcement that was made about a guest speaker was in fact my dad. Sadly, I would not be able to make it down to 서울 in time to hear him speak, but made sure that I was with him the following Friday when he would speak at another English speaking congregation, New Philadelphia church.
The week passed methodically, but when Friday came, it was a whirlwind.
1. Eunice and I had been talking about it for a while, but we finally decided to let the world know (aka facebook) that we are in fact going out. Everyone knew we had liked each other for a while, so I'm sure this was no surprise.
2. I had school, then to catch a ride straight to Seoul.
3. I had to meet my dad
4. Go to a prayer meeting.
Friday was busy to say the least. Thankfully the church was a pleasant surprise.
The church was alive and on fire for God. It was refreshing for me to be in that environment, surrounded by people praying in Korean style prayer. My dad did a good job speaking and I knew that a lot of people were touched by the holy spirit.

I spent Saturday eating with my dad's friends, because that is all we do, especially when I am out with adults. We eat. My dad's friends like to take us out to fancy restaurants since my Dad rarely sees them. We went to an American styled all you can eat brunch, where there was bacon, sausages, and other great American classics (sausages are German, but still, I consider eggs, bacon, and sausage American breakfast). It was tasty. Then for dinner we went to the Ritz Carlton, where every dish was over 30 dollars. We also had a desert that was about 15 bucks. Freaking ridiculous, and definitely not worth the price, but still was a nice gesture from his friends.

The most interesting thing that I saw from my dad, was the fact that he really is a foreigner to Korea. So if you don't know my dad, you will know that he moved to the States when he was 13, meaning that his korean is good but his English, is better. I think this time it really hit me, that my dad had only lived in Korea until he was 13, meaning that he didn't go to high school or college in korea, meaning that his korean, would be the equivalent of a 13 year old and whatever Korean he picked up as an adult living in America. This was a shock for me, since my father in my mind, had always been the most fluent speaker in Korean I knew. He was like the epitome of a Korean person in my mind, even though we rarely spoke Korean at home. Finding out that my dad had more learning to do, was definitely a shock.

I think I went back and forth in my dad's mind as to how my korean had improved. There were multiple times that his friends would comment on how much my korean had improved, and my dad would quickly interject with "No, his korean is still bad." and "His older sister on the other hand can speak korean much better". I would also laugh it off and just smile, with a hint of indignation. "But Dad, I did pass the SAT Korean test"
"yeah, I have no idea how you pulled that one off"
But on the other hand, there would be times that he would tell me how my Korean had improved, but those were far more uncommon than the previous conversation.

I was fine with it, since I am now able to hold conversations in Korean with Korean adults who know a bit of english. it works out well for me to get around and I can even muster up a joke or too. But yeah, my korean isn't that good, but I think I've improved a lot... at least I hope so.

Anyways, good weekend. It felt super long and drawn out, but it was nice to see family.

Entry 21: Cooking for One

I only possess a handful of skills when it comes to cooking. Thankfully, during my sophomore year of college I found the joys and the pains of the kitchen. The joys being something tasty being produced at a much lower cost than something that would have been bought at a restaurant. The pains? Some days our kitchen could produce life that was not meant to be birthed, just ask Harrison (I think he experienced this to the fullest) about the rice cooker story (part 1 and part 2). Let's just say that we all found out that rice turns different colors when you don't do anything about it for MONTHS. But to continue on the current train of thought, I thoroughly enjoyed breakfast foods, especially eggs. Eunice calls my fried eggs amazing and I'm pretty sure that she craves them every know and again, but I don't think there is anything special with my eggs, I think she was just very hungry.

When I first went grocery shopping at the local market, which is located about 2 minutes walking from my apartment, I went straight to find the eggs. Eggs are the least expensive form of protein here in Korea (excluding tofu, but they are both a lot less expensive than red meat). For those of you who don't know, meat from a cow is about twice as expensive, meat from a pig and chicken is 1.5 times as expensive as back in the states (all are approximates). This is where stuff doesn't make sense to be one bit. When I first went to go buy the eggs, I looked at the price tag for 10 eggs, 3000 won. I was shocked, because back in the states at HEB you could buy a dozen eggs for $1. I bought the eggs that day, and made sure that each egg was used and loved three times more than the eggs back home.

But there is a strange loophole, that made me question what Korean people are thinking.

10 eggs = 3000 won
30 eggs = 4500 won

You get a fifty percent discount when you buy in bulk?!

With this being the truth, Once my measly ten eggs were devoured, I went back to the store and bought the 30 egg carton. Now its time for some crackin',scramblin', fryin' and boilin'.

So with my 20kilogram back of rice (approx. 44lbs) that my school provided me when I first moved in, my 30 eggs, 8 whole onion, 10 mushrooms, 2 cans of 고추tuna, 3 packs of shin ramen, and all the different oils and sauces that I have at my disposal I embark on the journey to cook for one.

It is almost a habit of mine, to come home from school and wash and cook one cup of rice for dinner. Fry two eggs, and eat with some kimchee and other side dishes. But thank God for Korean frozen foods. I was able to fry up some 만두, added some soy sauce, and BAM, gourmet meal (it wasn't gourmet, but variety is always welcomed).

BUT, because I cook for myself, it automatically leads to a decrease in my caloric intake.

1 cup of rice = 204 calories
2 fried eggs= 180 calories
3 servings of kimchi = 45 calories.

This is my meal twice a day. Once at around 10am and then again at 6pm.
For snacks, I drink a cup of milk and eat some bread.

Basically, my caloric intake is about half of what it was back in the states. I miss bar-b-que.


I think I fixed the problem that people were having with leaving comments on my blog.

entry 20: Anguish

It was not an unusual morning. The sun had risen, the light shone in through the window, the sound of cars entered through my window. Although the morning had started the same way as it always has, soon after I woke I noticed something peculiar. There was a hole in my chest. I was not sure how long the hole had been there, but this morning there was something more defined about it. I went to the mirror and started to closely look at myself but there was nothing unusual about my reflection. This hole was my heart.

I know that this blog has been used to record my experience in Korea and for me to talk about something serious seems somewhat out of place, so for those of you who are simply looking for a light hearted read, I am sorry to disappoint but this is not one of those posts. Let me try to entice your reading appetite by telling you that this post will tell you the truth about my experience in Korea, especially the truth about areas that I have left out. Please remember that I woke up this morning with a hole in my chest, that still has yet to be filled.

For those of you who already know me and have seen me outside of the context of Korea, you know that I thoroughly enjoy being in company of people. I don't mind being the center of attention and I am not afraid to speak my mind and I am not afraid to be outgoing. I am an extrovert who loves to have people around. I found so much joy in having people coming over to my apartment and having people just relax and slowly peel off the stress that had accumulated from the late nights of studying. I love people, I love making people laugh, I love fellowship. I think this love for fellowship has fueled my heart for ministry and really has fueled my desire to follow God. Fellowship had defined a large part of why I have been going to church, maybe even more than for the love of God. This is where the hole in my chest started to grow the most rapidly.

I knew beforehand that it was going to be lonely here in Korea. People had asked me if I was going to be alright being by myself in a foreign country, and I had unknowingly just responded with the answer that had sounded right "I'll have lots of time to be alone with God". The magnitude of those words never really meant anything as they left my lips. I had not understood what it really meant to be alone, and I had completely no idea what it meant to be completely alone with God. I always had the ability to be a phone call away from someone to physically be with if I had the urge to pray or just to talk about spiritual matters. There had not been such a thing as alone in my life, until now. It is the solitude that has made me see the emptiness in my heart.

I was talking to a friend this morning and she told me that I sounded as if something was wrong. I explained to her that there was something wrong, but that I didn't know the word that could describe what I was feeling. I instead rearranged the furniture in my room, cleaned, and found other ways to waste time to avoid my mind from dealing with what was wrong with me. I didn't realize how much being in solitude had been affecting me. It had been noticeable, it was seeping through the walls of normalcy that I had put up as a facade. I told my friend that it must be simply the fact that I am homesick, I am desiring the presence of other people and I just don't really understand what is going on with me, but something definitely was not going the way it was supposed to. I told her that I was going to deactivate facebook for a week, to maybe see if that was the reason why I was feeling so utterly miserable, seeing the pictures of people doing fun stuff with each other. experiencing the fellowship at football games and church lock ins. Although it was a good idea, it didn't work out for too long. As most of you can see, facebook has been reactivated.

Before I go any further (and this part may be a bit confusing), but the solitude that I am speaking of is a much more internal solitude. I have been able to meet with friends and I even had the opportunity to see my dad here in Korea, but the loneliness that I am experiencing is similar to that of being homesick. I miss my comfort zone. I miss being with the people that I am most comfortable with, but I am starting to see why God has uprooted me and placed me in Korea. He had to deal with the decay in my chest that has been growing for years now. I would not have noticed this decay, this lack of love for my Father, unless I was here, alone.

I came home from school, opened up my (recently reactivated) facebook, and noticed a video posted by my friend Jason, who is also here in Korea. The title "a Call to Anguish". I started to watch the video, and throughout the entire video I felt a pressure in my chest as if to exemplify the hole within. Please watch this video, and then I will continue. I hope that it impacts you as it has impacted me.





The point that I got out of this message, and I'm sure that you might have gotten a different point out of it is.

"All true passion is born out of anguish." "True joy comes out of anguish"

That is how I feel. I feel anguish in my heart. It sounds like a very dramatic and drawn out word, but that is the emptiness that I feel in my heart. For years now, the devil has been trying to suck the life out of me, trying to take the passion away from me, by focusing me on fellowship with people (which sounds great) rather than fellowship with God (which is obviously much more important). He has tried to make me timid about things that God has made me to be bold about. I have been taking things of this world and mixing it with my passion for God therefore tainting my faith. I knew that something was wrong with my quote-unquote faith, so I desired for God to break me, for God to restore me, and make me stronger. I know that He is faithful, and I know that if I follow him that He will change this decrepit heart. I am resolved that I will no longer try to dampen the anguish within my heart with the things of this world, with social gatherings, with facebook, with movies, with whatever the world has to offer. I am resolved that I will take this anguish to the cross and pray. Pray that God will revive me and produce in me a passion that no force can falter.

I have been too comfortable, I have been living too easy of a life that I have forgotten what it means to be truly saved. I have forgotten what it means to follow God. I have forgotten what it means to be bold about a faith that is a part of who I am.

I am in anguish over the sin that has become so prevalent in my life. An idolatry of fellowship and of comfort. The sin of feeding the desires of my body, rather than following the wisdom of God. Please pray that through the blood of Jesus and the guidance of the holy spirit, that this anguish would soon be turned into passion and joy.

This is the reason why I am in Korea. I am here how to learn how to love God in an uncomfortable environment that Satan is trying to use to lead me to destruction.

The more I think about it, the more thankful I am that I am feeling this anguish, because is it possible to find repentance from Christ if you do not feel anguish over your sin? I have been lukewarm and have only expressed a highly diluted faith, and with that I go to the cross.

This is so strange, to be alone and feel this. Not at a church retreat, not at some revival, but in the quiet of my apartment. Wish me luck.

Entry 19: Pronunciation

"Lee-po-ter" He annunciated with an air of confidence.
"No" I said in a harsh tone to him, "Re-por-ter"
"Lee-po-ter" He said this time with a bit less confidence.
"No" I said as I was getting agitated "Re-por-ter".
"Lee-po-ter" He said, with a confused look on his face.
"No..." I said in a defeated voice.

I wrote a large "R" and a large "L" on the board. I did not write these on the board for my student's sake, but for the sake of my Korean volunteer teacher, who was correcting students. I think the easiest way to explain what he was doing in my class is like this.

Me: Reporter!
Students: Reforter!
Me: Reporter!
Students: Repoter!
Korean Volunteer Teacher: No! Lee-po-ter.
Students: LEE-PO-TER!

리포타. I had to regain control over my classroom and the unshaped tongues of my students. I was getting quite frustrated by the simple fact, that what I was teaching the kids was simply being negated by the teaching of someone who was supposed to help me during my classes. Thank God for the 1st grade teacher who told the kids "Look at his mouth when he speaks and copy the teacher as best as you can because we want you to speak correctly!" as I taught those wonderful 1st graders how to count to 10. I was glad that she recognized that the importance of a native speaker in the classroom is for the simple fact that these kids wont have an atrocious accent.

My volunteer teacher does not understand this, as he stands right next to my students in all of my classes, and corrects their pronunciation.

Student: Carmputer!
Me: Carpenter!
Student: Carmputer....
Korean Volunteer Teacher: [whispers] calpenta
Student: Calpenta!
Me: caRRRpenteRRR

To make matters even more morose, a girl cried in my 4th grade class. She was unable to say "construction worker", a word that I would say takes some finesse and practice. I broke the word down into syllables, and the entire class learned how to pronounce it with little to no accent, but those kids are vicious to those who do not catch on as quickly. As the girl mumbled "constulucsio worder", the other students laughed and roared, and tears streamed down her face. I quickly hushed the class and started to piece by piece break down the word, and after about 3 minutes, she ceased to cry, and was able to confidently say the word. It broke my heart to see someone cry, especially for a word that had commanded them to say. I hoped that this would be the last time that someone would cry in my class.

Later that day, in my 1st grade class, a girl started to cry, but it was because of the boy sitting next to her, who said something mean. As she wiped her nose, she stuck her tongue out at him, and I let out a little chuckle.

These kids are precious. They are amazing. I'm going to take pictures of them, and hopefully write posts on each grade that I teach. They are extremely intelligent kids. Brace yourself as we meet them in the next few months.

But as a little taste, let me tell you, I love my 3rd graders. My favorite class.

Entry 18: I Miss American Football

난 너를 사랑해 박용택!!! 이 세상은 너 뿐이야 박용택!!!
소리쳐 부르지만 저 대답 없는 노을만 붉게 타는데  박용택!!!

These were the words that echoed in my head for the hour long subway back to 죽정, where the Suh family had a home. The sound of thunder-sticks, of drunken Americans trying to start the wave, and personalized songs and chants for each player replayed in my head as I dozed off. I had experienced a Korean Baseball game, the LG Twins vs 한화 Eagles. The baseball game was like the numerous other baseball games that I had been to in the past, but the most blatant and obvious difference was the way that crowd had behaved. For those of you who have never been to an American baseball game (I will exclude playoff baseball, I am referring more to summer baseball games) you will realize how the crowd usually is somewhat reserved, only cheering for base hits, strike-outs, and home-runs. Koreans do the same, but in a very different fashion. They have thundersticks and cheerleaders. Yes, thats right, they have cheerleaders for baseball games, who dance K-Pop dances during the time between the innings. The American's who were sitting next to us said to us "Korean's know how to watch baseball. I'm a die hard Giants fan, but even I get bored during some games. This is insane." 
Korean people even have perfected the wave. That's right, you just read that correctly, Koreans have perfected the wave, or at least have inovated it in a way that I personally have never seen before. The typhoon wave.
I think it is going to be a bit hard for me to explain to you what exactly a typhoon wave looks like, but image a really slow wave, but is the size of a baseball stadium. It was amazing and the dude who was coordinating it was going nuts. One of the American guys from our section tried to do the same, but due to the fact that he was both drunk and spoke no Korean only allowed him to create a small ripple in the huge crowd.


When the game ended, with the final score being 3-1, the winning or losing team not really mattering (LG twins, the side we were rooting for lost -_-), I left the stadium slightly wanting to go back to the 찜질방 that we had gone to the night before. There was something about going to a Korean sauna that just made me feel good. The sauna really lifted my spirits. This past weekend was no normal weekend, it was a vacation weekend, and amazingly all expenses paid vacation. It was nice to be taken care of, not having to worry about a single thing.


The one down side, I had no internet connection for most of my weekend, but I was glad to find that UT is looking ready to take the National Championship and Oklahoma lost (I was actually hoping the the Red River Shootout would be with two undefeated teams so that UT would look that much more amazing when WE would go on to win that game easily) . 


Another down side to this weekend, I didn't have my camera to take pictures of all the food (Suwon Galbi, Sushi and Sashimi, Shabu Shabu, and KFC at the baseball stadium) and the amazing people that I was with. Interestingly, the family that I spent the weekend with is friends with Sara Kim and her family. Crazy small world. 


I think it would be interesting to teach Korean people about football (which I would say has one of the most enthusiastic crowds for all of American sports, just go to a UT football game and you will see what I mean) and see how they cheer. They cheered for strikes, for hits, for cheerleaders at the baseball game. They were a very educated crowd in the sense that they knew when to cheer and when to keep quiet. It was a great experience, and next up is going to a Korean soccer game.


Anyways, I had fun this weekend. It was great being able to eat and eat and eat and eat, without having to worry about bills or the cost of food. Also, my dad is coming to Korea next Sunday, which will further decrease my stress. NICE.


난 너를 사랑해 COLT McCOY!!! 이 세상은 너 뿐이야 COLT McCOY!!!
소리쳐 부르지만 저 대답 없는 노을만 붉게 타는데  COLY McCOY!!!

Entry 17: Dancing

Kindergarten
Chris,Julia, Sara, Sunny

3rd Grade
Andrew, Sam, Tony, John, Julie, Ginny, Rachael

4th Grade:
Julia, Eugene, Brian, Jenny, Junior King, Olleh, Kelly, Shine, Judith, Steven


6th Grade:
Ken, Luke, Amy, Julia, Max, Kevin, Ryan, Kai, Belle, Emily

These are the names that I remember from the classes that I have taught so far. I am meeting the 5th graders today and the 1st and 2nd graders tomorrow. I will post pictures because these kids are way to cute and funny. The kindergarteners are pretty much babies that can walk and talk. They are a bit taller than my knee and I'm afraid they will trip over their unsure legs as they run around the school.

Although the training at Kyung Hee and at Freya was long and tedious, I still feel that it was a shock as to how hard it is teaching English to kids that have no idea what English is. For my K-4th graders, even the simple command of "repeat after me" leaves a dumb founded look on their face. Of course, I expected them to not be proficient in their English abilities, but to teach this class without using Korean? I think it will be nearly impossible, especially since the teachers at 광판 elementary school don't speak English. Teaching is extremely fun and rewarding, but this comes at the cost of being exhausted when I get home. Doing lesson plans, trying to teach English with minimal Korean knowledge, having teachers watch me every time I teach (most English teachers get their own class room, but I don't so I have to move from class to class, and interestingly, the teacher just sits there and watches me teach), and the fact that I'm in Korea really take a toll on me.

It is interesting how some days I feel as if my Korean is improving by leaps and bounds and then the exact opposite at other times. I feel like my Korean is as good as my dancing. For those of you who know me and have seen me dance, you will understand how uneducated my Korean is. In the same way that I can watch someone dance and appreciate the beauty in it, I find beauty in the Korean language. Sadly, I do not know what it feels like to "pop" or "lock" or do one of those fancy "pirouettes", I would not know where to begin. Similarly, my Korean lacks the fluency and flair that natives possess. But I'm here, learning how to speak, learning how to crawl and stand on my own two feet slowly watching others spin around flawlessly, as I learn how to touch my toes. I fall down a considerable amount these days, especially when talking with adults. They expect a certain degree of proficiency when speaking in Korean, something to do with my blood, my very Korean blood. It is almost as if, because my parents are able to dance a waltz, I should also be proficient.

I am trying and learning, day by day. Interestingly, I know a dance that these people only know slightly, English. I get to start from scratch with these kids. Teaching them how to pronounce the letter "f" correctly, making sure that they do not confuse "v" for "b" and correcting them when they mistake "Judith" and say "Judas". In English, I can roam freely. I am no Shakespeare or Whitman, but there is a certain comfort in moving in your own language, and I want these kids to realize that it is ok to trip and fall, that it is perfectly acceptable for them to stumble and scrape their knees. Look at me, I'm a 20 year old student who stumbles in Korean every day.

I can't dance and I can barely speak Korean, but I know someone who does both pretty well.

So go see Eunice perform with Texas' Best Dance Crew, Redefined Dance Company, this Friday September 4th at 7:00pm. I know that a lot of people have church that Friday, but consider going to watch Eunice dance. I know that she would dance that much harder if you were there. Get there early to get good seats. Hogg Auditorium. Do ittttttt. Free Admission.

(I've seen their routine, and its legit)

Host:	RUSH OMEGA PHI GAMMA Fall 2009
Type:	Music/Arts - Performance
Price:	FREE ADMISSION

Date:	Friday, September 4, 2009
Time:	7:00pm - 11:00pm
Location:	Hogg Memorial Auditorium (behind FAC)