Korea Week 4

I spent most of this week still recovering from my illness L.  I wanted to be able to help out at the English camp starting on Wednesday, but wasn’t quite feeling 100% yet.  I took another day to rest and then joined the camp later on Thursday afternoon.

The camp ran for three days and included 28 students from Gyeongwon High School.  The camp was organized by some of the teachers at the school.  All of the students that participated in the camp had to first be recommended by a teacher and then apply and interview in order to be accepted.  The students were organized into four teams.  Each team was made up of seven students and created a team name.  The teams participated and worked together throughout the camp’s activities and lessons.  Each team also had one native English-speaking teacher and one university student helper assigned to it.  The university students chosen to help out at the camp are all English education majors at a nearby university.  I was supposed to help lead one of the teams, but since I was only able to be there for half of the time, one of the Korean English teachers stepped in to help instead. J 

The purpose of the camp was to expose students to educational and life experiences that they may not have had before.  The students had the chance to explore cultural and historic sites around their city, go to a dinosaur museum, and eat non-Korean food J.  It was an overnight camp so we stayed at a nature education center in a small village out in the countryside.  Here are some pictures from the camp and the surrounding countryside:

 

The main building of the nature education center

This used to be the village school and was built around 1900

Hello spider!

At the camp, students were in charge of cooking and cleaning up after themselves.  It was interesting to watch their curiosity – and clumsiness! – in the kitchen as they were learning to cook.  There was also time during the day to play in the river and one evening, a camp fire!  The students had a blast.  The camp fire was a first for most of them.  We toasted marshmallows and the students spent the time bonding and taking pictures.  When we arrived back at the school on Friday afternoon, each team of students then had to share their reflections of the camp with the group.  It was obvious that they formed strong bonds of friendship with each other and really enjoyed the experiences that the camp had to offer.  As high school students, most of their time is spent at the school studying.  I think this camp was a great opportunity for them to have their eyes and curiosities opened to the world around them.  It is always a special thing to see young students eager and curious to learn and experience new things.

On Sunday, Yeji and I will be heading to Seoul for a few days to explore the big city!  We’ll be taking the train up and staying through Tuesday.  After that I only have a few more days left in Korea before I head to Mongolia.  I will be in Mongolia for five days and will have the chance to visit some of my friends and former students from my time as a Peace Corps volunteer there.  It has been five years since I was last in Mongolia so most of my students are now university students!  It will be strange for me to see them as little adults J.  I am looking forward to it!

     

Weekend: Back to Busan and Gyeongju!

Sat. 7/20  Back to Busan!

This weekend I stayed with Young-mi, another English teacher at Gyeongwon High School, and her family.  We did a lot!  First stop, Busan.

Since Busan is a big city with so much to see and do, I had the chance to experience different sites of the city compared to my visit a few weekends ago.  In the afternoon we hiked around Taejongdae park.  Here are some pictures from our day in Taejongdae:

In the evening we walked around the markets and shops, grabbed dinner at a restaurant called “Spoons and Chopsticks,” then headed to Busan Tower for a nice night view of the city.

Busan Tower

Photo op bench at Busan Tower!

Sun. 7/21  Tongdosa Temple and back to Gyeongju!

On Sunday morning we headed to Tongdosa Temple.  When we arrived, we noticed that the parking lots and side roads were packed with cars.  We wondered how all of these people got there so early – even earlier than us! J  So instead of heading to the main temple first, we sought out one of the smaller, less busy ones.  Here are some pictures from the smaller temple:

Once we made our way to the big temple, we realized why it was so crowded today.  There was a well-known monk speaking at Tongdosa today.  The temple was almost overflowing with people!  And for those of you who have visited temples before, it is customary to take your shoes off before entering the temple.  There were piles and piles of shoes lining the outside walls of the temple.  I don’t know how everyone found their shoes in the end J.  Here are some pictures from the area around the big temple, Tongdosa:

After Tongdosa, we headed to a nearby restaurant for lunch that is famous for its bulgogi, specifically called Eonyang bulgogi.  Bulgogi literally means ‘fire meat’ in Korean.  Eonyang bulgogi is minced and marinated for a few days then broiled on a charcoal grill. 

The lotus leaves are huge!

After lunch we headed to Gyeongju.  This is the same city that we visited with the Office of Education during our first week here, but since we were fairly close, Young-mi and her family wanted to stop by again.  Gyeongju is one of their favorite vacation spots.  We spent some time walking around the vast fields of lotus plants.  Lotuses in every direction!

This is the national flower of Korea – mugunghwa.  In Korean, mugunghwa means “immortal flower.” 

Sadly by mid-afternoon I was not feeling very well, so we headed home early.  I’ve had to stay in bed for the past two and a half days, but I am starting to feel a little better.  Just in time for English camp!  Starting tomorrow, I am scheduled to help out with a three-day summer camp program offered for the students at Gyeongwon High School.  I hope I am feeling up for it!    

Korea Week 3

Mon. 7/15

After class this morning, we visited Gimhae Foreign Language High School.  This visit was also arranged by Gyeongsangnam’s Office of Education.  It is a special (and beautiful!) school and was established by the Office of Education in partnership with the city of Gimhae.  It is special in that it is a public school so it only requires a low registration fee from students but operates as a magnet school, only admitting the highest academically achieving middle schools students who apply to go here.  Typically this type of selectivity and high academic rigor are characteristic of private schools, which of course usually require a hefty registration fee.  This school reminds me of Thomas Jefferson High School in a way.  But since it is a magnet school and students are admitted from various parts of Gimhae, all students stay in school dormitories on school grounds. 

The students at Gimhae Foreign Language High School can take English, Chinese, or Japanese, and each of those language classes are taught only by native speakers.  There are three native English teachers and I believe one native Chinese and one native Japanese teacher.  We had the opportunity to stop in on all three native English teachers’ classes.  The teachers were covering topics such as themes and author’s voice in literature.  The classes reminded me of how we approach teaching language in Fairfax County – teaching English through content.  Unlike in the other schools we have observed so far, here the classes are not team-taught with one native teacher and one Korean teacher – it is only the native teacher in the classroom and all instruction is in English.  Also, this school makes a special effort to keep the class sizes smaller compared to other public high schools at no larger than 20.  That’s a huge difference compared to 40 students per class typical of other high schools!   After the classes ended, we had the chance to sit down and speak with a few of the students.  While a little shy at first (of course!) they eventually opened up and we discussed various topics relating to their experience here as a high school student and how it compares to other high schools in Korea as well as in America.  It was definitely a very enjoyable and educational visit!     

While I think having this type of high quality school available as a public school option provides a fantastic opportunity for students, as another teacher here at Geongwon High School pointed out, many of the students who end up being accepted to Gimhae Foreign Language School have either had private schooling before or have lived abroad at some point in their lives.  This teacher indicated that many of the students who receive their elementary and middle school education through the public schools are often not adequately prepared to access the type of instruction offered at the foreign language high school.  I told her that these kinds of opportunity gaps exist most everywhere… 

Tues. 7/16

After classes this morning we visited Changwon Science High School.  This was our last school visit arranged by the Office of Education during our time here.  Changwon Science High School was set up and functions similarly as Gimhae Foreign Language High School, except that the students spend most of their class time in math and science classes rather than language classes.  At Changwon Science High School the students also have to apply and interview to get in, it is a public school with a low registration fee, the facilities are beautiful, students live in dorms, and the class sizes are smaller.  The number of students at this school is less than at Gimhae, however, at only about 200!  We had the opportunity to observe one of the English classes taught by a Korean English teacher.  There was definitely a little more Korean spoken during this class compared to yesterday J but the topic of the class was quite advanced – utilitarianism.  This school does employ one native English teacher plus two Korean English teachers. 

I forgot to take pictures yesterday at Gimhae Foreign Language High School, but here are a few from Changwon Science High School.  Both schools look and feel like universities, that’s how nice the facilities are!

Changwon Science High School

Inside the school

Student dorms

Here is the English class that we observed.  They are all using dictionaries!  Now if only I could get my students to do the same… J

Here are the students who led us on a tour of their school:

Here are some pictures from the math and science wing:

A math classroom

One of two observatories

They have a scanning electron microscope!

 These school visits over the past two weeks have been very interesting for me as an educator.  It helps to gain a little perspective and insight on how schooling is approached and set up in different countries and cultures, especially as an ESOL teacher.  It is always useful to be able to experience firsthand what kinds of school experiences my students may be coming to my classroom with.

Wed. 7/17 – Fri. 7/19

So classes have continued about the same the rest of the week, with a few special ones here and there.  In a few of the classes, instead of giving my presentation, groups of students actually gave presentations to me about different topics that they chose relating to Korean culture and history!  It was a nice change of pace and also really interesting.  Some of the topics included fashion, money, and K-pop.  Also, I had the chance to co-teach a lesson with one of the English teachers.  It was fun and the students really enjoyed it! 

In other news, finished reading “Behind the Beautiful Forevers:  Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity” on Sunday.  Great read.  If I had not known before starting the book that it is a nonfiction piece, I would never have guessed it.  The author, Katherine Boo, spent four years documenting experiences of residents of a Mumbai slum.  While written in her own words, the events and stories recounted in the book are all based on the interviews of the actual people. 

Started reading, and finished, “The Yearling” next.  Yes, I know it’s a bit of an oldie, but as I was browsing my bookshelves before leaving for this trip, I felt like re-reading something that I haven’t read in a while.  (I wanted to have a few paperbacks with me in case my Kindle malfunctioned J. )  And folded between the pages of the book I found my 9^th grade English class reading list – “The Yearling” being one of them!

Starting tomorrow I will be spending the weekend with one of the other English teachers and her family.  I’m not sure what we will be doing yet, but I’ll make sure to take pictures J.  Happy Friday everyone!