Busan

What do you do when you're in Korea and find out you have 11 days off? Well, you have a few options. Quick flights to Tokyo, Beijing, or the beaches of Thailand are generally affordable. I was on a budget so Tokyo was out, didn't plan ahead and get a visa for China, and unfortunately couldn't find a reasonable flight to Thailand. Or, you can stay in Korea. So, I went to Busan!

We stayed in Hyunadae, ate brunch on the beach, strolled down the cherry blossomed cliff road, went to the Jalgachi fish market, and visited Shinsegae, the largest department store in the world. Since Nami majored in tourism, it was a pretty stress free trip. The hardest part was probably deciding what we wanted to eat. So we had a little bit of everything: mystery street food, Mexican, Korean, and of course ice cream. It was a good thing I was coming off of a 50+ mile week!

Becoming The Great Teacher You Already Are

Eight Lessons: Becoming the Great Teacher You Already Are

Link to Full Article

This has been a very challenging first year of teaching for me. Everyday is like riding the Millennium Force at Cedar Point. A mixture of fear and excitement. Some days you have that sick feeling in your stomach like you're slowing ascending a mountain of steel as you hear the rickety clanking chain hoist you to 310 feet. But you always reach the top safely. Once you're at the top, you have the temptation to just relax and enjoy the view. But you can't. Because you made a promise that you would keep your hands in the air for the entirety of the ride. These are the days when you're just worn out. You just don't want to think. You're creative energy is zapped. And your students would rather be anywhere else on earth. These are the days when I remember what George Brushaber said at graduation about not taking short cuts and the easy way out; to do what's hard. I've definitely had my days when I've been on cruise control. It's so easy and tempting, especially in a setting where going into cruise control is acceptable. And then you reach the top and look down. I feel like these are the days when I take chances and do something completely new and have no idea if they will work or fail miserably. It can be a very humbling experience! However, in stark contrast, it can also be a moment of great pride and joy. The good kind of pride that C.S. Lewis talks about in Mere Christianity. The kind where I delight in my students learning and success. Another reason I feel like my first year of teaching is like a roller coaster is because it goes by so fast! I just don't know where the time goes. I never have the feeling of "I can't wait till the weekend!" because I get so consumed during the week that when I look up it's Friday. I have experienced many ups and downs this first year. My boss has more than once thrown me for a loop. And when I say loop, I mean, the craziest loops you've ever seen. But it has also been a year of incredible fulfillment in my decision to become an educator. For instance, I just wrote my first college recommendation letter for one of my seniors. It's in those moments that make you just sit there and think. As I was reading this article that I've entitled my post today, I really wanted to make some mental notes. Therefore, I decided to blog it as a reminder and intentionally reflect on my teaching practices.

"International Teachers Are Good-Will Ambassadors, Not Educational Revolutionaries!"

Link to full article.

I came across this article today and it really made me reflect about my experience. Being a first year teacher out of college, there are so many educational ideals floating around in my head. Ideals of how a school should run, how classes should be taught, how proper disciplinary actions should occur, and how communication among and between the various stakeholders should take place. These ideals are especially important for new teachers as we navigate our practice through the stormy waters of our first year. But as I read this I am reminded to take an international perspective. These ideals are my ideals. As Bobrosky rightly puts it, I am "a temporary guest teacher who will soon move on to another adventure." It's easy to be critical. And if I'm really honest with myself I have to believe that criticism goes both ways. I imagine my counterpart Korean teachers think it rather silly to see my posters everywhere, a rich-text environment, and a general bent towards authentic versus formal assessments. So what? So what if my boss decides that hiking up Mt. Sarak San and taking pictures to prove it is a just disciplinary action? So what if some students are disciplined by having to do the duck walk around school ten times? So what if other classrooms are bare? Different strokes for different folks. I used to really struggle with some of these foreign concepts. As foreign as some of these differences may be, that is exactly what they are: foreign. Every culture has its' own set of unique values and traditions. Who am I to make a judgement call? Who am I to criticize? Therefore, I have decided that I will try harder to be less critical the next time I observe something I don't agree with. I will attempt to see the reasons and values beneath seemingly foreign practices and not immediately make a "right or wrong" judgment on it. After all, "An international teacher is a good-will ambassador, not an educational revolutionary!"

Fall Road Races

So I am happy to announce that I've been training and running road races in South Korea. I've realized that the pain I put my body through in Cross/Track in college is not completely wasted. Although 5K's and 10K's are far different than a half mile, I can still feel the remnants of my fitness. I would say the hardest transition to these distances is mental. For the half, you know you can endure any amount of pain and black out at the line in less than 2 minutes. In 10K's, you have up to 40 minutes to think about how much pain you're in. There is a tremendous temptation to slow down to a pace where the pain is bearable.

Anyways, I have now run my first and second 10K road races. They were both extremely fun to compete in. I am so addicted to that nervous feeling before a race. My first race was really unexpected because I was not registered and didn't know I was going to run until the morning of the race. I hadn't got much sleep. That morning I went to the Asics store, which is thankfully in my city, and bought a nice pair of racing flats, hopped on the bus to Yeouido. I barely had time to warm up and stretch by the time I got my racing packet from the organizer of team dirt. Of course, the person whom I was running for was a girl, and the jersey did not fit. So I swapped with someone else. You actually had to wear the red shirts for the Nike+Human 10K Race. I made it to the front and felt pretty good. I just got myself mentally psyched and was excited to be in such light racing flats. During my warm up I felt like I was running on air. The gun went off and so did we. The first couple miles felt like I wasn't even breathing. About this time the lead pack took off and I was in the chase pack by the time we crossed the Han river the first time. While on the bridge, I was humbled when a girl steadily came up to us. I decided to draft her and see if she couldn't drag me out of the chase pack but I couldn't keep up. However, it was good because she helped me and a couple other guys get out of the pack and establish ourselves. On the second bridge, all I remember is trying to catch the guy in front of me. When I did, I decided he was going to be my running partner for the rest of the race. In his mid-thirties, this Korean dude was hauling. So I motioned to the guy in front of us and he got the hint: "let's pick him off." The last 5K was kind of a blur. Very painful. We ended up picking off 5-6 runners in the last 3K. I kinda felt bad for the guy because on the last bridge he motioned to his stomach but I didn't let him slow down. haha. I really needed him with me so he pushed through. On the last K I made a push for one more runner, got him, and realized I might be able to get the next guy too. I caught him with about 600 meters left but right when I came up to him he surged and I was mentally defeated. It was so depressing. It was like he was saving it. After the finish my running buddy ran over and gave me his business card. Don't know where he pulled that out of. But he was pretty cool. We couldn't really communicate, besides the little English he knew. 38:20. Not a great time, but considering I'm inexperienced in this distance, it leaves a lot of room for improvement.

On November 29th, I raced another 10K. That was just this last Sunday. It started and finished at Jamshil Olympic Stadium. Which is way cool because it was where Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson battled for Gold in the 100 meter dash in 1988. Warming up and stretching where they ran, and on the warm up track inside the gate was a really cool feeling. Anyways, this race felt remarkably better in terms of fitness and aerobic capacity. I ran almost exactly the same time as my first 10K, a low 38. I ran by myself for pretty much 7 of the 10 kilometers, which tells me I'm in better shape because last race I needed someone to pull me to clock that time. This race I did it by myself. It was cold and drizzly. It started to rain during the last 5K but I don't think it affected me much. I couldn't find my watch before the race so I had no idea THE WHOLE TIME how fast I was going or what kind of splits I was turning in. Not even at the 5K, which by the way was really unorganized and I ended up losing about 7 seconds. I did feel a slight second wind on the latter half of the race but it was short lived because I was in a lot of pain most of the race. I kept telling myself that during the race I was going to feel really crappy, and at that time I will need to speed up my turnover and get into a rhythm because at that time the pain of going 5:30 pace and 6:00 pace is virtually undetectable. So why not just make myself go faster? The last K was tough. I really had nothing left and was emotionally spent from being alone and not having the chance to pass anyone. Overall I am really happy with this race. The time, blah. I am learning a lot every race and I just need to take each race and use it to build on the next. I have a lot of new things I'm going to try out and we will see how it goes next race!

Koreas Clash in Naval Battle

I thought I would post a significant current event. There has not been any such violence for about 7 years so hopefully this does not develop into anything worse! I attached a map to show how close it was to me. I currently live 12.82 miles from the North border. CLICK TO ENLARGE!

K-Pop

I suppose this wouldn't be a legitimate blog if I didn't make mention of Korean pop music. This is the music you will hear literally everywhere you go. Supermarkets, restaurants, department stores, walking down the street; your students will sing it, your friends will sing it, heck, your boss will even sing it. Because Koreans are fascinated with English, you'll find an English phrase in nearly every song. However, K-Pop is quite transitory by nature. Songs come and go. When a new hit song gets big, you hear it everywhere. You can't get it out of your head. Eventually, you'll feel like shooting yourself in the head to make it go away. But just before that point, a new song will emerge, and the vicious cycle starts once again. I feel like no one is neutral to K-Pop, you either love it, or love to hate it. Currently, 2NE1 (pronounced "21") is really big. I will attach their music video entitled "I don't Care" for your viewing pleasure. But, I must warn, view at your own risk. If you can't understand Korean, the girls are singing about their boyfriends who are seeing other girls, the girls are saying that they have had enough, that they can do better, and that they don't care anymore. But you can probably figure that out anyways. Enjoy :)

A Good Day!

So today I'm correcting my AP Students guided reading questions and the secretary of my school comes in and informs me that the mothers from my OBAMa A class (beginners) have come to visit me. So I clamber out from my pile of papers and stand waiting for Andrew to translate their questions. The main concern they had was that they think I'm not giving enough homework. I'm increasingly finding it challenging to give homework to absolute beginners. I mean, these boys didn't know a word of English a month ago. The mothers wanted their boys to develop faster, naturally. It's funny how parents think learning language is a quick, easy, and painless process. After one month of exposure to a language (4 three hour sessions), they want their boys to be reading juvenile literature. Anyhow, I'm not offended by their concern. In fact, I'm flattered because they think I'm that good of a teacher. They expressed that before, their boys had no desire to learn English. They thought learning English was hard and very boring. But now, in my class, their boys come home saying how much they enjoy learning English. In addition, that they can understand what we are reading. So, the moms were really happy with me and my school. I thought I would comment on my happy day, and also mention that TPRS truly works wonders in the classroom! Cheers