Our New Job at Andong English Village

As you know, Danny and I are staying in Korea for one more year due to taking a job at Andong English Village.  Although we are still teaching English I thought I would tell you a little about our new job because it is really completely different from last year.

Danny in Math Class playing the game BAAM.

Last year we both taught at boys high schools, worked 9-5 Monday through Friday, were the only native English speaker in our entire school, taught from a book, and usually taught with a co-teacher who was in the classroom with us.  This year we teach boys and girls ranging from 5th grade to high school, we work about 9-8 Monday through Thursday, we teach with four other native English speakers, we definitely DON'T teach just "book" subjects, and we teach all by ourselves... yeah a little different : )

Most people, even in Korea, are pretty confused what an English Village actually is so we pretty often have to clarify that, yes, we work at Andong National University, but we still teach kids English.   Basically it is an intensive English kids camp where schools send their students for 4 days to do a variety of English classes.  The kids even sleep in a dorm in one end of the building but thankfully Danny and I get to say goodbye after our classes are done, so we don't have to watch over them at night.  We get to play with the kids for 4 days and then send them on their way back to their usual teachers, so I like to think of us as the cool "aunt" and "uncle" teachers who get to do the fun stuff with them and don't actually have to teach them real stuff like the "parent" teacher waiting for them : )  I sort of miss building more relationships with the students, but honestly I kind of love that I only see them for 4 days... I don't get sick of them (well the bad one's I do) and they don't get sick of me ( I hope).

There are all kinds of different classes that we get to do at the AEV like Police Station class where they get locked up in jail, Science class where they make their own volcanoes, and even Cooking class (sigh... I wish I had that class) where they get to bake chocolate muffins!  Danny teaches Math, Hotel, Grocery Store, and Campus Tour and I teach Yoga (haha, I know), Bank, Post Office, and Theme class where we teach the students about different western holidays.  

Doing some poses in Yoga Class.

The way the AEV is set up, they want the kids to really feel like they are in a really different learning environment so it's pretty cool that we get to teach in such in a unique place.  Danny has a mini grocery store that he teaches his class in so the kids can feel and touch the food and I think that my pharmacist brother-in-law would even be impressed by our mini pharmacy : ) (Better come see it for yourself huh, Albert?)

"Do you have any pomegranates?"

Now we teach the kids all about these crazy subjects but we aren't actually focusing on the skills that you need to know to use English like in a REAL grocery store.  For example:  I'm not actually teaching "yoga" with the namaste and the meditating, I'm really teaching words that you might use in a class like that like body words, or "above", "below", "touch", etc.

It's pretty different going from high schoolers to grade schoolers, but Danny and I are both thankful for our favorite camp experience, Camp Elim, for preparing us for MANY years how to deal with kids of all ages.  The kids are fantastic to watch and MUCH more interesting than my bored and tired high school boys.  Kids are already pretty funny on their own, but add in the fact that they are hopped up on sugar and coffee drinks that they sell in the vending machine (I don't know why), and add that they don't speak great English and you have a hilarious situation.  What other place can you have an imaginary gun fight with 5th graders and come out with a few imaginary gun shot wounds and a heap of boys on the floor dying a slow and painful death of imaginary bullet wounds?  It's AWESOME!

Us teachers introducing ourselves to the students.

Besides the hilarity everyday with the kids, there are lots of other perks to the job that we aren't complaining about.  When we were at our other schools we basically didn't talk outside of class but now that we work with 4 other foreigners, it's nice to have other people to talk to throughout the day.  I also really enjoy always having 3 day weekends and I know when I have to go back to a 5 day work week I will do it with a heavy heart.  And lastly the most important perk: I get to work with Danny which is pretty awesome because I know that this probably won't happen again in our lives.  When the kids find out that we are married the usual response is something along the lines of a collective "Gasp!", then a round of applause, and then whenever they see us the girls chant, "Lovers, lovers, lovers!" while dancing around us.  These kids keep the romance alive ; )

Koreans love to do the "heart" pose.  Ahhhh.

It's a pretty nice place to work and we are enjoying ourselves.  Obviously, it's still work with it's good and bad days, but for the most part we feel pretty lucky to have such a good job... oh and the 7 weeks vacation doesn't hurt either... wink, wink!  Good times at Andong English Village!

Some Big News!

I guess I should get straight to the point: Danny and I have some big news... on Christmas Eve we accepted another year-long position teaching English here in Korea! (Haha, I bet a lot of you thought I was pregnant, didn't you? Sorry!) Yeah, I know... what are we thinking? Well let me explain our thoughts and hopefully it will help put you, and Danny and I, more at ease because we are still not sure what we got ourselves into.

Christmas Eve we accepted jobs teaching at Andong National University. We will no longer be at our boys high schools but instead teaching different students at a place called the English Village. Basically it is an intensive English program that students will come to for 4 days and learn English in a kind of "camp setting". We aren't really sure of all the details but we know that we will teach different students every week (also like camp), and my favorite part, we will only have 4 day work weeks! Oh yeah! (I find it ironic that we left jobs at a camp to come to Korea and get into another camp setting... God has a sense of humor I think ; )

Again, Danny and I have mixed feeling about this next year. We are excited about the possibility of being able to travel more, save more money, and spend more time in this carefree lifestyle, but of course we miss our friends and family. Especially during the holidays it is hard to be away, so I know that it will be even harder to be away for another year, but we feel like this is the right thing to do, so here we are! I hope this next year we will have more visitors (wink, wink) to help us not feel so far away from home. ; ) Just a thought. Anyways, I'll share more info about this crazy decision in the future, but for now we are excited to see where God takes us in this next adventure.

I thought I would just add some random pictures onto this post to give you a little glimpse of things that we will be seeing for ANOTHER year. Good times in Krazy Korea!

Here's a traditional looking mask that we see often being in the city that holds the annual Mask Dance Festival

The cutest harmony's (grandmothers) ever playing the Korean game Yunnori.

Koreans love to get decked out to go hiking... fashion is important even on a mountain!

The cutest Korean harl-a-boji (grandpas) playing Chang-gi (Korean chess) by a park. You can tell I have a thing for the old people here... I just think they are so cute!

Lotus lanterns at a temple.

A lady making tdeok (Korean rice cake). She's got to have some awesome arms muscles to do that!

A Korean symbol shaped like a bird that is everywhere that is supposed to protect the village or house.

Koreans are the masters of side dishes!

Barefoot is not just a comfortable thing here, it is a requirement in many places.

We'll definitely be seeing a lot more of this: a view of the river from a bridge in Andong.

Again, for a shameless plug, you too could see all of these wonderful sites and more when you come to visit us! Oh yeah! To conclude all of this, I think the lesson I am learning in life right now is that things never really turn out the way you think they are going to. Who knew that Danny and I would live in Korea for 1 year, let alone 2! I guess you and we will just have wait to see what other adventures are in store for us here in Andong! Until then, have a very Happy New Year and don't forget us!

Christmas in Korea!

Living in a foreign country during Christmas is a new thing for us this year. Of course we want to be near our friends and family, but since that cannot be, it was my goal to get some Christmas spirit in our tiny apartment. I knew that we would feel even futher away from home if we didn't have any Christmas decorations...which explains our Christmas tree:

Say hello to a real "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree"! Actually, I have to confess that it isn't a tree at all, but a branch that I found in a large pile of pruned branches and decided that it looked enough like a tree to me. The branch was chosen after I finally figured that paper scissors and a plastic knife wouldn't really do the job of cutting down an actual tree.

Danny say's it looks like it is always windy in our house since our tree is always leaning to the right, but I think differently. I feel like the tree is trying to say something to me. It's saying, " Hey guys... I am leaning over because I want to be your shelter from the Krazy Korea storm going on outside. I know you are missing home so I'm reaching out my branch to you so that we can be joined in the Christmas spirit! Yes, I know that you have to hold me up with string because of my shape, but don't be fooled, I am strong and am here to save Christmas!" Who knew a tree could say so much, AND who knew a Korean tree could speak English! Wow... amazing.

We had to find random things to be our Christmas decorations since Koreans don't really sell Christmas things until a week or two before Christmas. (Also, you might say we are cheap, so 1000 won ($1) decorations will do just fine.) Danny used a lovely jump rope to look like a candy cane string, cut out awesome snow flakes that look like tribal symbols, and bing, Bang, BOOM we've got ourselves a white Christmas!

I made some garland out of popcorn and paper, we got some lights, collected a few random ornaments, used my scarf as a tree skirt and topped it all off with a foil star. Presenting... Our KOREAN CHRISTMAS!!!! Ta DA!!!!

I have to say I'm rather proud of this even though it causes some teasing and laughing to go on at the tree's expense. It has served us well though and definitely done the job of creating some Christmas spirit. However, I do think that Danny will be secretly happy that I won't force him to listen to Christmas music non-stop on the 26th ; ) We miss you all and wish we could be with you. Merry Christmas to all of you and I hope you have a wonderful day celebrating the birth of our savior!

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord." ~ Luke 2:8-11