Day 21, 22, 23, 24 - Calligraphy Finished, Teaching, Students

Day 21 - Monday

This week's Korean exam was really tough. The entire class as a whole did much worse than we did on the previous weeks' exams. Personally, I got a whole 11 points out of 20, but thanks to a high average from the last exams I was saved from going to mandatory study hall and office hours. Hopefully this upcoming week I'll score high enough to keep myself out of that again.

Monday was also the last day of calligraphy. As a final project, we were each given a Korean proverb to rewrite. Mine was literally "To find a tiger, go to its cave." Metaphorically, it means "If you want to see/experience something, go straight to the source." I picked this one because it seemed so in line with why I came to Korea.

After class, we took our teacher out for patbingsu. It was... an adventure. She speaks no English, and, collectively, we students speak very little Korean, so my friend Ashley and I had to act as translators for the group. We knew enough to carry a basic (and error-filled) conversation but it made me realize how much more I have to learn.

Day 22 - Tuesday

I taught my Advanced class again on Tuesday with the Murder Mystery lesson plan that I mentioned before. IT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS! The kids were coming up with hilariously elaborate motive theories, including love triangles and Starcraft cheaters. I was really encouraged that this lesson went well so Tuesday in general (despite getting my terrible exam score back) was a great day.

Day 23 - Wednesday

Yesterday's lesson was less than a huge success. I found out on Tuesday night that I had to completely scrap my third lesson plan for the Intermediate class I had to teach, write a new one, prep for the lesson, and then give it on Wednesday. Less than 24 hours for all that, plus I had a vocab quiz in Korean to study for. Needless to say, it was a long night. The lesson, as I was afraid, didn't go very well especially in comparison to how fantastic my second class went. It was partially my fault and partially the students. They were so stereotypical--the boys were sleeping on one side and the girls were giggling and talking about KPop boy bands on the other. Together, it made for a painfully low-energy class.

I'm glad I got a chance to experience that kind of classroom atmosphere, though. On August 5th, we'll be receiving our school placements and, because I didn't submit any preferences, I have the chance of getting placed anywhere from advanced-level science high school with students that've lived in America to a small middle school with students that hardly know the alphabet. Ooohhh the suspense.

Day 24 - Today (Thursday)

After a week of studying, prepping, planning, and generally getting very little rest, today is my first day of relative relaxation. I have the entire afternoon to do laundry, edit/memorize a speech for Korean class tomorrow, and reset my internal clock to getting in bed at a decent hour. I'm glad I'm done with teaching so early compared to the rest of the ETAs because on Saturday I'll be leaving for my first-ever MT (membership training). KEY Club is setting up camp for 24 hours at a lodge somewhere and the agenda is just event after event of bonding. Everyone's been telling me that it was their favorite part of orientation, so I'm totally pumped.

[[note, pictures are from Sunday when we "celebrated" Halloween at Camp F*bright. the kids are trying to look scary with their faces painted for the Haunted House they made.]]