Waking Up

Today, I had an AMAZING day. I spent the whole day with a group of people who I can now call friends. We began and ended the day with worship and prayer and endeavored to worship God even in our fun. Can I tell you how awesome this was? I felt like I was waking up. I have not felt this way in several years. I wasn't worried about if I was funny or if people would like me. I was just myself and met some really rockin' people. And the day was great. Nobody got angry, though there were things we could have gotten angry about. Nobody complained, although there were things we could have complained about. I was surrounded by people who loved the Lord, and I love the Lord, and we were all together. Recently I've realized that for the past several years (more than I would like to admit), I have been living a half-life. I have not been seeking out Jesus or committing myself to my faith or even trying to connect with others who also believe in God. I have grown complacent and tried to compromise truths I know are real. I tried to hide what I believed, afraid that people would leave me or think I was strange or whatever. In doing so, I never really fully pursued life. I just kept floating along. Thankfully, even through these times, the Lord blessed me with life-long friends, love, and experiences I will treasure.

But, if I fully commit to the Lord, to intentionally living each and every day to please and serve Him, how much more will I experience?
 
This is the truth: I love the Lord. I cannot love anything more than Him. I cannot pretend like I am not a Christian, or try to camouflage myself as a "cool" Christian or whatever that means. The time is now. I have decided to live each day as a sacrifice to Him, loving Him above all else. I feel I have so many things to learn, which makes me nervous, but also excited to see what will open up.
 
People want to know why I came to Korea. There are several "mini" answers I could give -- I watched some TV and was intrigued, I need to save money, etc. etc. One part of it is, I am made to travel. I become very restless staying in one place too long. I want to see the world, that is just something inside of me. The other part is, which I knew but didn't know, but can recognize now, is that I needed to get out of Indianapolis. I needed to break away from the complacency and routines which were driving my life. Church and Jesus were quickly becoming after thoughts, not the pursuits they should be. I was fading away and had very little idea or concern. Now I know the God placed Korea on my heart (how else would I come up with and really pursue going around the world? hellooooooooo!), and if for no other reason to find a church that I want to attend and commit to activities and to meeting other Christians, then it is worth it. Because I feel like I am becoming myself again, waking up to the life I need to be living.

Reasons why I love this country...

So, I haven't been here that long, and maybe I'm still in the honeymoon phase, but I really do love this country. I never feel restless here or discontent. I really think I have so much to learn and see here and to discover...not just about Korea, but also about myself and about how God wants to use me.
So 4 new teachers came today to our school. A group of us took them out for dinner this evening to Korean BBQ. BBQ meaning they set a griddle on your table, throw some pork and veggies on there, and you are good to go. It was so good. I ate tons! Anyways, so I hate eating a lot and then just going home. The phrase "FAT! FAT!" just blares in my mind, so I decided to go on a walk. There is a stream with really nice walking paths about 3/4 of a mile from my apartment, so I thought, if I walk to and from the Yangjae stream, then that's good exercise.
So I get up there and there are a lot of people walking along the stream, so I thought, why walk all the way to the stream, if I'm not actually going to walk along it for a little bit? Koreans don't really seem to let nightfall keep them from exercising, so this might become a habit for me, since I know it will be safe. So I walk along the stream, and hear music and think, oh, maybe there's a concert going on. And it was so cool! It was a church and they were handing out packets of wetwipes and free drinks. They had a small choir on a stage in the middle of the stream, then they had a group of musicians playing traditional Korean instruments. It kind of reminded me of something Bethel would do maybe...if Bethel Temple were in Korea. I don't know why it made me think of Bethel, but it made me happy.
There was probably over a hundred people watching them. Between songs, the pastor would speak. I had no idea what he was saying or even what the choir was singing, but it was so beautiful and so pleasant, and the ladies handing out drinks were just so nice, it really warmed my heart to live in a city where this could take place. *^-^*

Secret File: Jillian-Teacher

So, I was reminded recently that I have not shared anything about my kids or my school on the blog! In fact, I really haven't written that much on here at all...I guess I don't want to bore people, but if you want details about Korean education, who am I to deny?

I teach at a Hagwon -> private school. LCI Kids Club offers Kindergarten during the day -- it is a 3 year program for 5, 6, & 7 year olds. LCI, unlike some other hagwons, is completely in English. There is a Korean staff who offer supplemental courses, but the bulk of the courses are taught by North Americans (specifically). I have 7 year old 3rd years (they are 7 and this is their 3rd year at LCI, so they are pretty good at English). First, let me explain Korean age. Koreans are automatically "1 year old" when they are born, and they only age on New Year's. So, if you are born on Dec. 31, you are "two years old" by Jan. 2. So saying my kids are 7 is a loose interpretation.
There are 9 students in my class. Kindergarten goes from 10-3 every day. We start the day by WASHING OUR HANDS (as recently mandated by the government). H1n1? Not in my hagwon. Then we have "circle time." We sit on a mat and talk about the date and the weather and how all of my students are feeling. Today, Lisa, one my moodier students, would not tell us how she was feeling...so I let the class decide (they voted "tired"). Then I had the bright idea that we should all make up a story about why she was tired. I started it with "Lisa went on a magical journey," then let each of my students add on a sentence. Well, "Lisa found a bunny. Then she found a hunter. And she gave the bunny to the hunter. The hunter went away. Then she broke his house. She made the house again. Then she found another bunny. She cut it into tiny pieces. She became a great hunter. Then she returned home and went to bed." Next, we talk about that week's theme and try to play a game. Unless our feelings took a long time, then we just go through flashcards. This week's them has been hobbies. Lisa said her hobby was riding a fish.
After circle time, we wash our hands again and then do desk work: spelling, reading, answering questions about the reading, phonics, and math. Plus, every day, one student reads a book to the class. Then it's play time.
And we wash our hands, and go to lunch.
After lunch we wash our hands. Every day, my students have a different afternoon activity. Mondays are Brain Bank (Nonfiction reading...with a CD); Tuesdays are Arts'n'Crafts (this week we drew the Statue of Liberty...why?); Wednesdays are playroom (there is like a big playset with a slide and tunnels and all sorts of things....during this time, my students often act like each other's pets or have turf wars over who gets the best "house") + Manners & Etiquette (this week we learned how to "Resolve Problems in the Classroom" aka 1) don't whine over accidents 2) say you're SORRY!); Thursdays are science (this week we learned about how sound can travel up a wet string and out of a paper cup. It was pretty cool. Last week we made stethoscopes out of funnels, balloons, and plastic tubes. It was worth it when about 3 of my kids were able to hear their hearts beat and their eyes just LIT UP:); Fridays we have P.E. and Kids Excel. This month, I am supposed to be teaching Tae Kwan Do during P.E. As I don't know Tae Kwan Do, this week I taught them how to do the Cha Cha Slide. 3 of my students suddenly remembered that they had hurt their legs the night before. (Later on we had a talk about PARTICIPATION and doing things you don't always want to do). Kids Excel is when I am supposed to find something educational and show it to them on the SMART board...so it's usually like from Sesame Street...but we might start learning VeggieTales songs.
After afternoon activities, we WASH OUR HANDS.
The last part of the day is writing. Right now, they are writing monster stories. Helen, one of my girls, has named her monster Pee Pee Super. It can be really big or really small.

So, after Kindergarten, LCI offers a number of after-school programs for older kids. Once students have graduated from Kindergarten and moved on to regular school, they can come back for English classes! Classes go until 7 pm and are either 80 minutes or 50 minutes long. Right now, I teach a combination of 4 afterschool programs. I have 1 class every day from 3-4:30. The students in that class are in their first year out of Kindergarten. There are 5 girls and 1 boy...the boy can be smart but apparently is already "cracking" from the pressure of too much homework, so he doesn't really talk too much. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I teach 2 more classes after this first one. Both of these classes are for kids who finished Kindergarten 2 years ago. These classes are probably the least-stressful because the kids understand humor/sarcasm a little bit more, and they don't whine over every single thing.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I only teach one class in addition to the one that meets everyday. This class is also for students who are 1 year out of Kindergarten. They like to talk...ALOT...which would be ok, except there is so much to get through during class (spelling test, new spelling words, checking homework, reading, reading questions, writing...), there is not much time to talk about Transformers or Rooney (soccer player). My students like to have nicknames...Daniel wants to be Danielformer (as in Transformers), Tim wants to be Timdinosaur, Sunny wants to be Sun, and Brian wants to be Rooney. Then Tim started crying because I forgot to use his nickname. From that day on, nicknames were outlawed. Sometimes in class we have to talk about things that I feel like I didn't learn until I was 15 or so....like character development. I really do not expect an 8 year old to understand character development...yet they are supposed to give a presentation on it. We used Sam (from Transformers)as our example and talked about how Sam had to learn how to bring Optimus Prime back to life...just like characters often grow through learning something.

One thing I've noticed about my students, and maybe the larger educational theory, is critical thinking is not really an important skill...it's all about memorization. If I ask my students a question, and the answer is not explicitly written in the book, they are so lost. Hence, why "character development" is kind of a problem. If it's not something they can memorize, very few students really understand...or so it seems. On the other hand, most adult Koreans I met have seemed to make it through the educational system just fine, so maybe it works out.
Also, Korean children seem to be extrememly involved. Most of my Kinder are in other activities: swimming, tae-kwan-do, piano, violin, Hanguel (learning Korean), Math Academy, Art School... My older students attend elementary school during the day and then come to LCI afterwards plus whatever other various schools/activities they are a part of. Sometimes I feel bad giving them homework, because I know they already have a lot to do.

So, that's my life Monday-Friday. I tried to be thorough (as per a request), but if I forgot anything, just let me know! :)

There is no grass!

So I was trying to explain to my mom the other day about the lack of grass in my neighborhood. I live in the financial district, so even though my apartment is back in its own sidestreet and not a high-rise concrete monolith like most, we still do not have yards. To find grass, you need to go to a designated area, like a park or wetland.

I took some pictures of my neighborhood to illustrate this point:

This is the street directly outside my apartment building.

From YeoksamGangnam

This is looking down the street towards the Gangnam Financial Center.

From YeoksamGangnam

When I come out of the alley, this is what I see.

From YeoksamGangnam

Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!

Hi Everyone! So, I have been taking A LOT of pictures since arriving Seoul. If you are interested, here are links to the albums below:

I LOVE to walk around! Here are photos of what I've seen:

City Images

Here is where I live:

My Apartment

This album is pictures of some of my last days in Indianapolis. It reminds me of my wonderful family and what great friends I have!

Home

Trip to Seoul Tower

Seoul Tower 08_10_09

Last Sunday (Aug. 9, 2009), Megan and I decided to take advantage of the for-once clear blue skies (generally, the skies are smog with a bit of haze) and ride up to Mt. Namsan. We took a tram to the top and then rode an elevator up Seoul Tower. It was amazing! I knew Seoul was big, but I had no idea how far out it went until I could see the whole city. Click on the picture to see the whole album!

Rainy Tuesday

I love walking through the city...even the same streets over and over again, they always look different to me. Streets that I may walk every single day, sometimes I still have to stop and check and make sure I am on the right one. It is amazing to me how different a street can look when it is raining or it is dark...how you notice signs in the evening you didn't see in the morning and restaurants you must have passed by a thousands times, but never saw. The city is always new to me.