ROKin out in July!

Poster in the subway...'Red Devil' pride everywhere!! :) Go ROK!!!!!!!!


“Dae han min guk”!!! (WHOO HOO REPUBLIC OF KOREA!!) We're cheering on Korea in Seoul during the FIFA World Cup!




This brought me back to theme nights in college (UNIVERSITY for you people from Canada!) We all got animal costumes and rocked them out and about! Amy and I got stopped on the streets to take photos! I swear I'm famous in Korea!! ;-)




ONLY IN KOREA! haha, We had an 'animal night!' so much fun! I was a panda a) because of AOII and b) I am in Asia!




I love Mickael! He's my little rockstar! Peach has the biggest crush on him, she always comes up to me and whispers "Katie Teacher I love Mickael" then she'll laugh and run away! Mickael has grown so much since March, I adore him! :)



Peach was chosen to be 'keeper' (shes the youngest and was the BEST so proud!!) but as soon the other team made a goal she got really sad and started crying.. she tried to hard!! She saw me and just glued herself to me, shes my little baby..I swear I felt like a soccer mom in full force!!!



Peach was chosen to be the goalie out of all 4 classes! I was one proud soccer mom!



My morning class getting ready for the big soccer match!










LCI Summer Camp 2010




The girls on the boat cruise! 2010




Me with Mel and Tia during our JAM ROK boat cruise!




Kato found sparklers...the extent of our firework show!



Mudfest! Bri and I had a lot of great talks sitting on the beach! ... Standing in the ocean I had to pinch myself, this is my life, and I'm in ASIA!


Mudfest 2010!



MUD EVERYWHERE!!





JULY:

How is it already that my calendar reads August 15 2010? Is this some joke? July flew by and multiple experiences are now crossed off my ‘bucket list’. A reoccurring conversation lately reminds me of the quote, “this too shall pass”…I’ve been here for 6 months already and even though having 7 more months seems like a long time it will come and it will go. It’s crazy to think that when I get home Korea will only be left embedded as a memory—“ yeah I lived there once”…But I do believe I’m becoming a changed person for being able to see the sun and moon rise on the opposite side of the world. Korea will forever leave a paint swipe on me. I have met some really interesting people being abroad, and every person you meet cant help but leave some sort of imprint on how you go about making particular everyday choices.



July has been the most jam-packed month I’ve had in quite some time! I only hope I can reiterate the incredible experiences I have been fortunate to stumble on. I’ll begin with SOCCER! South Korea is considered one of the most successful international football teams in Asia. At every game you heard raging fans yell from the depths of their soul, “Dae han min guk”!!! Which is the Republic of Korea! Soccer is a huge deal abroad (and is a sport I highly enjoy/understand watching!) Every 4 years FIFA holds the World Cup soccer (football) event, combining the WORLDS most talented players and the most enthusiastic fans! We went to Seoul to watch one of the games which was projected on a huge screen on the side of a building. I noticed that Koreans would crowd wherever a tv was, even if it was outside of a convenience store! Korea’s national color is red and their unofficial team name is the “Red Devils.” Red shirts and red horns were displayed on almost everyone (I definitely bought myself a pair of horns!) Check out this video to get a full understanding of what we saw!!!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iKI5abWkEI It was wild being in the middle of such positive chaos! It was pouring down rain, we wore these silly ponchos, (complementary of Andy Mac!) and were chanting, hugging Koreans after a good play, and just being totally emerged into this soccer bliss! Though we didn't win/make it into the final rounds, I fully enjoyed being in a different country watching the FIFA World Cup and rooting for a country I never thought I’d be rooting for!





LCI held a ‘Kid’s Camp’ at the beginning of July. It was a lot of fun! The kids came dressed in “Red Devil” attire (adorable!) and they had different events during the day (sure beats math and science! Haha) When my morning class (who I adore like my own children haha) came to class all spirited out in their red devil gear I couldn’t help but melt! “Katie Teacher Katie Teacher, stickers for you, put on!!!” Their mom’s had given them those rub on tattoos (Red Devil themed, of course!) to put on their cheeks and arms, they also brought some for me! This instantly brought me back to my childhood where my sister and I would put fairy rub on tattoos all over ourselves and would always want/save the bellybutton tattoos because obviously they were the coolest! Haha. So I put a “I heart Korea” tattoo on my cheek and helped the kids tat themselves out to pure FANtasic perfection! Maybe I’m bias (tee hee) but my kids have to be the absolute cutest of the bunch!!!!! I have the youngest class, 6BG when most of them are really only 4 or 5 yrs old and are sooo smart (I mean English is their 2nd language and I’m already teaching them vowels and consonants!) After tatting them up we went to have a soccer match! The day before, Josh (one of the foreign teachers who helps w/ P.E.) took the kids to play some soccer, I found out later that they were somewhat ranking them to see who would play on Team #1 (“the good team”) and guess what?? TWO of my little loves got placed on team #1!! Mickael and Peach, go figure! (ps: Am I becoming a soccer mom!? Haha) I got so excited because out of all 4 classes, and mine being the youngest, 2 of mine were chosen! Mickael and Peach are feisty though! Mickael is just fearless he came to school rocking his little cleats and jersey like nobody was going to stop him (his red streak through his hair also helps with his BA’ness! (badass) ) Peach was chosen for goalie! When I was told this I was proud but also like, really? My 5 yr old little girl is the best goalie out of all the older classes? But then the big “duh Katie” set in, if you meet Peach you’ll understand, she’s one sassy cookie that knows how to hold her own! However, even as strong willed as she is, there was a waterworks session during the last game. The other team made a point and she instantly looked at me and started to cry. My heart reacted like any mom (haha even though I’m not her mom) I ran over to her, scooped her up and told her how amazing she was for being out there and blocking goals! She clung so tight to me and I could tell she felt embarrassed. If only she knew what I was like during my soccer days! My proudest moment was coming up with the team name “Pink Sharks” I gave Peach a whole lot of credit for being the only girl goalie, and the youngest at that…If I were that age I would have been eyeing the flowers rather than the ball! Some of the other events where ice cream making (which was my section..and these were the ingredients: ice, sugar, milk, candy, red beans…GROSS!) the kids loved it! They also did some gymnast exercises on a trampoline (wish I had that job, I seriously think that whenever I hear trampoline I get overly excited)…A banner making event (uh okay?) And then the WATER GUN FIGHTS! Getting my kids ready for the water fight was simply hilarious, their swimsuits were too cute, not to mention they had matching head caps! The camp ended with a sleep over, however I left at 8pm because my kids were too little to spend the night. Before I went home I got the pleasure to greet each of my kids parents when they came for pick up! I adored being able to meet their parents (even though most of them cant speak English) it made me visualize their background.

Speaking of backgrounds, one of my favorite students, Mickael, keeps telling me ( has been for weeks now) my “grandmother is very sick”, (its not unusual for the grandparents to live with their children) and it makes me wish I knew more Korean to be able to have a deeper conversation with my kids. This is my students first year in English so everything is very basic, however, I find our bond getting stronger and me understanding them more as the weeks pass by. When Mickael tells me this I usually ask him, “Are you sad?” , “Yes” he says. Then I say, “Your grandfather took her to doctor the, yes?” “Yes, Katie Teacher” “She loves you Mickael and you love her, yes?” “Yes, I love her, grandmother is sick. I take care of her” and I just squeeze the little guy. Mickael started off being all over the place and such a typical little boy, always moving. I remember when I first went upstairs to grab him from orientation, he was so scared to leave his mom and he cried and cried. All the other students adjusted well, and followed along with the lectures, not Mickael, he was a handful! I remember one of the teachers coming in to teach a class for me and asked me if I thought Mickaels behavior was too young for LCI…and I did think that. NOW I have made so much progress with him and cant imagine not having him in my class! He tries so hard and is beginning to learn so fast! I can tell that he is excited to come to class to see me and talk to me and I’m just so thrilled that I could make someone like school so much. I remember my favorite teachers, it takes someone to believe in you and I truly believe in my students, I think they are wonderful!



4th of July:



Wait what? Korea doesn’t celebrate the 4th of July? Haha, I’m only kidding…but it was definitely weird not being on the home front during the great Independence Day! Luckily we had some fun events planned for the the 3rd and 4th in honor of the day! We have a couple of friends who have created a promotional events company while being here called, JAM ROK (ROK Republic of Korea) They organized a boat cruise on the 3rd and a couple hundred foreigners showed up! I even ran into some familiar faces from WSU…which doesn't surprise me, a lot of WSU grads have come to teach in Korea. However, it always makes the world seem so much smaller with these familiar run ins! The boat cruise was on the Han River..and by cruise I mean we floated slowly to one end of the river and back for about 3 hours! The water was pretty disgusting, I swear I spotted a handful of dead fish in the murky water. Overall we had a great time, I highly enjoyed the social scene and it was a great excuse to get together with various groups of friends! The actual 4th didn't’seem right, you’re telling me no firework stands or neighborhood bbq’s??? Isss thisss a joke? Where am I, Korea or something?! Haha oh wait, YES I AM! Minus the lack of TNT, I made my morning start off right by blasting Miley Cyris ‘Party in the USA’ while getting ready for a ‘bbq’ at Katelans! My favorite part of the night was when we all stood up and belted ‘I’m proud to be an American’…we even got Andy and Amy singing (kind of, they’re Canadian, and as much as they dog on the US they loved it..haha)





Mudfest!!!!! A weekend full of crazy that’s for sure! Check out the website http://www.mudfestival.or.kr/english/festival/festival1.php it will sum it up! Let’s just say my phone and camera didn’t survive this event…luckily I was able to get replacements before BALI!!!!


Love and miss everyone back at home!


I cant wait to share stories about Bali!!! To be continued…

-Katie Teacher xoxo