First weeks are flying by!

Hi everyone!! Jenna here -

So far the first few weeks in Korea have been amazing, and have gone by so fast. It feels like only a day or two ago that I was worrying about my visa going through in time. (Which, by the way, it didn't, but all is well!). Em and I absolutely love everything that is Korea - teaching, the kids, our apartments, our new friends, and the food (well, for the most part... jellyfish and eel have not exactly been on the menu yet).

We already have many trips planned for the upcoming weekends. This weekend we will go to Mokpo, on the west coast of the southern Jeollanamdo province, to visit friends. Mokpo is a beach town and known for its fishing and beautfiul scenery. Next weekend we are headed to the famed beach town of the province, Wando, for the annual beach party. Then it is the Korean national holiday Chuseok (kind of like our thanksgiving) and we are in the midst of planning a trip for that, too. We've thrown around many ideas - Hong Kong? Philippines? Seoul? Jeju Island? There are many exotic options on this side of the world, and we'll be sure to fill you in on whatever we decide.

Of course, the traveling options are just a perk of the job. Our day to day lives are equally as exciting. For the most part, the kids are noisy but so excited that you are there and eager to learn english. It really is amazing the effort the Board of Education has put into their language program here in Jeollanamdo, and I hope in pays off in the future. Already the younger generations have far surpassed the older generation's english abilities, even by the 3rd grade. One kid in my 5th grade class is absolutely amazing - he came up to me on the first day and said "Bonjour, comment ca va?" The kid is trilingual... he speaks perfect Korean and English, and is semi-fluent in French as well. I gather his parents are really intense, and sent him to Montreal to learn english and french when he was younger.

For the most part I am to follow the text book which includes a CD-ROM and detailed lesson plans. However, I am allowed some creativity when it comes to planning the games and getting the students to actually speak english and converse with one another. We teach anywhere from 3-5 classes per day (40 minutes each) and the rest of the time is for lesson planning, and, of course, writing in our blog...........! Today I taught 3 classes of grade 5. I taught them mostly from the text book but played an awesome game called "Bomb Game" which they love. It's basically set up like Jeopardy (on powerpoint), where they pick a screen and have to answer the question behind it, and earn points. Every once in a while instead of the points, a picture of a bomb shows up and "blows up" everyone's points.

I also taught one class to grade 3 this afternoon. Grade 3 is as hard as it is fun; because they are only just starting to learn english in school, their level is extremely varied - some kids' parents have put them in private lessons, and some are starting from scratch. I love teaching grade 3's, though, because I'm allowed to do whatever I want and don't have to follow the text book. Today I taught them prepositions.... I started with a powerpoint of funny pictures like "The dog is ON the table," and "The cat is IN the box". Then we sang a song, which, by the way, Korean kids of ALL ages love.... they get soo into singing and aren't embarrassed in the slightest. Next I had them draw a picture using my directions: "Draw a pencil ON the desk, draw a cat ON the chair." I think it went pretty well, and the kids seemed to have fun.

The kids are insanely motivated by any sort of prize - stickers, candy, pencils, anything...... one teacher even gives mini packages of hot sauce and pickles and the kids absolutely love it... so funny!! Today I gave out Vancouver Olympics stickers and they got really excited. Much better than hot sauce if you ask me.

I know, I know, everyone is eager to see pictures. Currently I am without internet (I can sometimes steal a signal from the apartment next to me) but the connection is nowhere strong enough to post pictures. Once I get internet, though, (hopefully Monday!) we'll post pictures on here and on facebook. I've got lots of great videos too.

Anyways, that's it for now.... miss everyone at home, and hope you are doing well!!
Lots of love,
Jenna xox