Okay I know I'm late this time.

Okay epic fail on my part. I meant to update on the weekend but that didn't happen.  I was really busy.  I went and got CDs on Friday because my favorite Kpop group just had their comeback and released a CD so I had to buy it.  I was busy Saturday and Sunday I went to a concert.  The concert I went to was for the oldest Kpop group that is still active.  They are called Shinhwa and have been together for 14 years. I went with another teacher who has been a fan of them for 12 years!  It was an amazing concert.  It lasted over 3 hours.  Anyways my week has been busy with test writing and many other things I do at work.  When I get home I am super tired. So I don't talk too much about my elementary classes but I am the main teacher for 3 classes.  In one of my classes I actually have a student named Tara and it can get a little confusing because when they say Tara I think they are talking to me but then I have to remember that they call me Teacher. 

This is Tara Teacher and Tara.

This is Lucy and I.

This is David and I.

Okay so here are a few pictures from one of my classes.  Lucy is really cute.  Tara and I have a lot in common and David is really affectionate.  lol This class is really funny.  I like teaching this class.

Oh we celebrated birthdays last week so here are a few pictures of my birthday kids. So first off they kids who have a birthday in the month we are celebrating come to school dressed up in their Homboks which are traditional outfits.  Why my little Melissa is dressed up in a dress that looks like a wedding dress I couldn't tell you.  Anyways each student gets sang to and walked down across the gym to a cake and food. So for these two I walked them down.  Kevin the secondary foreign teacher took the second picture and wrote the card. So each student gets a present in which they pick a student of the opposite sex to give them their gift and a hug.  So these are the pictures.

Melissa and Dana

Christopher and Dana

Lucy Teacher, Dana and Kevin Teacher

Melissa and Robin

Melissa didn't understand the hug part.

So cute! I love Robin!!!

Lucy Teacher, Melissa and Kevin Teacher

In case you didn't figure out from the pictures Lucy Teacher is my co-teacher for Davinci class.  My older class didn't have any birthdays so no pictures yet.  Lucy Teacher and I are the same age which she thinks I look younger then her.  She kind of freaked out when she found out we are the same age.  She is really sweet.  I like hanging out with Lucy Teacher! :)  Emma Teacher is my other co-teacher for my older students (Edison).  I really get along with Emma Teacher.  She is my unnie (older sister).  lol shh... don't tell her I told you that!  :)

Okay I think I better get to bed.  I'm tired and I have a busy day tomorrow!  Goodnight!  I'll try to update soon! Besos!

Okay it is about time I post again. haha

Haha sorry for the title.  I don't know what else to put.  I'm trying to update once a week.  Kind of hard.  I haven't don't anything super exciting lately.  All I do is teach!!! haha Well anyways like I've said before I have 12 students in my baby class.  I finally have pictures of the 4 new students so here they are.

Matthew, Emily and Lumi.

Melissa

Dana and Melissa

Matthew and Emily

Emily and Dana

Matthew

 

 

 

Dana and Melissa

Okay so Dana is not a new student but she loves pictures and they were too cute not to put up.  haha.  Anyways my students are crazy and hyper all the time.  They are getting better.  They like to fight for pencils and erasers.  So on Thursday I resorted to putting the pencil case on my head so they couldn't get it.  Let me tell you it was so funny because they were all so confused because I stood their and walked around balancing this plastic box on my head.  It got them to pay attention to me long enough to listen to what they have to do then I gave them pencils and they still proceeded to do whatever they wanted.  (At least they listened this time. haha).  I did it on Friday too!  They thought it was the coolest thing ever.  Too funny!!!

Hmm...White Day was on Wednesday.  It is when the boys give girls candy since girls gave candy to their lovers on Valentine's Day.  Anyway to my surprise I got candy from some of my students.  It was really cute and it put a smile on my face.  I have one student named Alex (he might be my favorite) and he runs up to me and asks for a hug.  He then asks for me to "spin please" so then I spin him.  When I stop he will hold my face and say "po po" (meaning kiss in Korean) and he will give me a kiss.  It is about the most cutest thing ever!!! lol I know I'm weird!  I have another girl in this class named Jennifer.  She likes to hit me (not hard of course).  Anyways I didn't think she liked me too much sometimes, because she loves to pick on me.  Sometimes she will give me a kiss on my nose or cheek but other times she will get mad and not listen to me. Back to my story I met her parents this week.  Turns out that this little girl doesn't stop talking about me at home.  I was very surprised to speak to her parents and find this out, which by the way her parents spoke in English to me.  They also told me that they would support me as her teacher.  Made me feel good to know that my students like me.  No matter how mad I get at this class for not listening or whatever I really do love them and they always do things that make me smile.  I wish I could film a class sometime so you all can see.  Maybe I will... :) 
My older students tell me they don't like me but when any of the other students come talk to me they get jealous and start holding onto my hands and they like to sit in my lap or lay their head on my shoulder.  They are actually very affectionate kids, but I don't think they will admit it.  haha I do love Emily and Aiden though.  They are really sweet kids for the most part and are the smartest kids not in Kindy.  They are funny. 
I took pictures with both of my classes this week.  I am the main foreign teacher for Davinci (baby class) and I am the secondary foreign teacher for Edison (older kids).  So with Davinci we have 12 kids and all the girls sat in front, the boys stood behind them and then the 2 foreign teachers and the Korean teacher stood behind the boys.    However for Edison there is only 2 students so for this picture it was Philip (main foreign teacher), Aiden, Emily and myself who sat in chairs and our Korean Teacher stood behind all of us.  It was kind of funny because it looked like a family portrait.  One of the other Korean teachers joked that it was mom, dad, 2 kids and grandma in the back.  It was so funny but really cute.  I guess I will never escape the mom title.  haha.  Have I mentioned that the foreign teachers call me "Omma" or mom in Korean.  It is funny!  It is just how I am I guess.  Okay I am done rambling on about random stuff.  Hope you all enjoyed my randomness I'm going to make some tea!  Besos!!!

Blah...

Okay it has been over a week.  I'm trying to update just been too tired to be honest.  This week we started a new schedule which means that foreign teachers are now teaching Kindy all day all classes.  That is from 9:30am to 3pm.  The only break I get is lunch or if they have a special class like Ballet, but usually only lunch which is 35 minutes long. After Kindy we then have to teach Elementary which depending on the day I am done the earliest at 5pm and the latest at 8pm.  So by the end of the week I am super tired. Most of my classes are good though. Kindy can be very hard especially when all of the kids want your attention all to themselves.  They don't understand the concept of waiting.  Also my students get jealous very easily because they just want you to themselves. 
The kids are so lovable though.  haha I'm such a sucker!  On Thursday I had all day Kindy for an hour and I was doing a computer activity with them.  So I put it up on the projector and all of my students started in their seats.  By the end of the lesson I had my student from Davinci (Robin) on my lap.  I had Dana standing in between my legs.  I had Alex hugging my back and sitting between me and the back of my chair.  I had Amy (new girl) crawling under my chair and I had Victoria (who is 3 year old) on my lap with her head on my shoulder.  Lastly the remaining 3 students on sitting on me were pulling at my arms.  I almost sat like this for an hour and the whole time I had to control the computer.  Oh my god!!!! Let me tell you it hurts to sit like that for a long time.  Also the new girl Amy told me she loved me 5 minutes after I met her!  What?!?! lol the 3 year old Victoria crawled in my lap and whispered in my ear that she loved me! It was so cute!  She is one of my favorites! :) Don't get me wrong though I do love them all!!! She also almost fell asleep by the end of class.  Alex from my Davinci class tells me he loves me and gives me a kiss on my cheek pretty much everyday.  So does my new girl in Davinci named Emily.  I have two Emilys one in Edison and one in Davinci.  Edison is my older class.  They are cute. I only have 2 kids in that class.  They speak English pretty well, but since they are older they can be hard to handle some days.  I love them though.  I could tell you for sure if they like me since they never tell me they do, but they do get jealous when other students come and hug me or anything.  Especially if any of my Davinci students come and hug me or anything.  They start hanging on me and holding my hand. 
Hmmm...so yeah I'm tired so I think I'm going to go to bed soon. haha I don't know what else to talk about.  I haven't done much lately.  I hope everyone has a good day!

2nd month

Wow time has gone by so fast! Been in Korea for 2 months tomorrow.  In some ways I feel like I've been here for a long time and in other aspects I feel like it is my first day here.  Living in Korea has had its challenges and adventures.  I've made many friends here and I am grateful for them.  I also have learned a lot about myself.  A good friend of mine back home said I had this gift of creating community and having friends.  It's funny I always had a hard time seeing that back home.  A part of me didn't believe in a sense.  However, I've started to see it since I've been here.  Kind of funny really.  I should have been able to back home but I guess it didn't click.  Also again I have heard I give the best hugs.  As one of the teachers put it my hugs "exudes happiness".  Not sure what that means but it could be one reason why my kids like to hug me.  lol Okay time for some pictures!

So Kevin is pointing to a random head rest on the bus that has no seat to it. 

At Seoul Station for ice skating.

This is me freezing while everyone is skating.  I couldn't because of my knee.  Still healing from my car accident so I have to be careful.  It kind of sucks because I wanted to skate. Oh well I looked like an Omma standing at the side hold everyone's stuff with all the other Ommas.  haha

Andy.

Leah, Philip, Megan and Matt.

So my baby class is now up to 12 kids!  I started with 8 then got 2 and had 10 now I have 12! It is so hard to teach and control 12 four year old when they all want attention at the same time.  I really love them though.  They are really adorable. 

 

This is Kyra.

This is James.

This is Dana.

This is Jennifer.

This is Alex.

This is Robin.

This is Joey.

These are just some of my kids. Not all of them were there to take pictures.  I'll have to take more soon and put them up.  Here are my older babies and some of my grade school kids.

Emily and Aiden

I love this picture!

They did this on purpose.

Rebecca and I

Harry, Adam and Andrew

Maria, Vivian, and Sunny

Oh here is something fun.  Back home when you get pizza you get sauce but here you get...

Sweet pickles!!!!!

Okay I put a lot of pictures this time.  I have to get ready for bed.  I have a meeting at 9:30 am tomorrow so I need to get some sleep. I'll update soon now that I have internet.  If you have any question feel free to ask.  I'll try to answer! Besos!

Life in Korea

 Okay so last blog I talked about mostly what I have been up to here.  I think in this blog I'll talk more about interesting or funny things I have encountered.  Hmm... so first of all there is not a separate shower stalls in the bathrooms.  It is connected to the sink so you take a show in the sink.  Also there is no pipes from the sink to the drain in the floor so water goes everywhere and therefore you have to use shower shoes.  Speaking of bathrooms they don't put toilet paper down the toilet they put it in a trash can (I don't I find it too weird).  So toilet paper here is scented.  Oh so in Korea you walk everywhere!!! The public transportation is wonderful here.  It is also pretty cheap.  The subway is like 90 cents one way, bus is the same and a taxi is like $2.  It is very affordable to use.  Otherwise you walk.  Most people don't drive but there is a lot of cars in Korea.  Speaking of cars, so back home cars yield to pedestrians but in Korea pedestrians yield to cars.  Often times cars will run red lights and not pay attention.  It is annoying at first but you get used to it after awhile.  I sometimes to walk at night by myself but honestly it is very safe.  There is always a lot of people around.  Umm...oh it is very common for people to walk up to me or any of the other foreign teachers and try to talk in English and ask us where we are from.  I've also been asked to take a picture with them.  In fact I even made friends with two store owners from Japan and they took a picture and put it up in the store.  They were very cute!  Umm... let's see when you go to Lotte Mart (which is like Wal-mart) you have to buy bags if you want to use them.  Since people walk everywhere often you will see like small carts to carry things home with.  They use T-money cards which you put money on and swipe when you take the subway or bus.  It is very handy.  You don't need to carry exact change with you.  Oh when you go eat you don't have a waiter always coming to your table instead there is a bell you ring on the end of the table so you can get whatever you need.  Speaking of eating out you do not tip here and usually people don't go dutch.  Culturally it would be the oldest who would pay or whoever invited everyone.  I eat out much more then I cook.  That is very common here.  It is kinda interesting but it is also why many places aren't expensive to eat at.  Hmm... well honestly this is all I can think of for now.  So speaking of food it is time to got eat.  Which means I'm going to go to the Kimbap shop next door for Pacombap (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) anyways it is delicious. It is a rice ball filled with tuna mixed with mayo and on the outside it is covered in seaweed.  If you have any questions or want to know anything feel free to ask.  Besos!!!!

A month later...

So where to begin...?  Well I've been here a month now.  I love Korea!!! I love my students but my boss sucks sometimes.  Oh well could be worse.  Let's see I live about 20 minutes walking from my school.  It is an okay walk.  When it is super cold like it has been this past week it really sucks!!! The bus, subway and taxi are very cheap out here.  Usually ranging from 900 won to 3000 won ( 90 cents to 3 dollars).  It depends on how far you go and which one you are talking about lol.  I take the subway a lot.  I have been in Seoul every weekend I have been here sometimes more than once a weekend.  I've been to Seoul (Namsan) Tower twice now.  I've gone to Lotte World which is the biggest indoor amusement park in the world I believe.  I celebrated Lunar New Year with my students the Friday before and on that Monday I celebrated with some of the other foreign teachers.  I've been to the Korean War Museum and the Folk Village.  I played traditional game and even made rice cakes.
As for teaching I am usually at school from 9 in the morning to 7 at night.  I teach for 7 hours a day about, but it ranges depending on the classes for when I teach.  Confusing I know, but I teach Kindy from 10 to 3 with a lunch break and an hour break.  Then after 3 I may teach one or two hour classes in elementary or I'm with all day Kindy.  It depends on the day.  Also then I have phone teaching in which I will call my student and have them talk to me for 5 to 10 minutes on the phone.
As for stories, well I hang out with the other foreign teachers all the time.  Mostly, with Leah who is from the States as well.  Her and I have a lot in common and we get along really well.  Megan is very cool.  She is from Canada and she cooks dinner often for all of us being the 5 that live in the same building (which is funny because she calls me Omma which means mom in Korean).  Philip and Kevin are from the UK and are always with us too!  Kevin is from Scotland and is very funny.  Philip is from England and is very sweet.  Harris and I joke around a lot. He is from the States as well.  Matt is from England and is very nice.  Andy is from the States and is my buddy teacher so he is always helping me out especially after I got yelled at on my third day of teaching and my students didn't have their books.  One thing about teaching is that they really take into account what parents say and parents complain a lot.  Kind of sucks but whatever.  I won't get into it, because honestly it isn't worth it.  Steven and Basel are from Canada and are interesting.  They are nice but different sometimes. haha I don't know how to explain.
My students are very cute I teach a new class so they speak no English really and are only 5 years old.  They are my baby class and call me all kinds of things.  Lately it has been "Tara Teacher Mommy" and they hug me and pull on my scarf.  Oh the kids here love my earrings and scarf.  I'm not sure why but they do.  They like to give me kisses on my cheeks or nose too! My other Kindy class are 6 year olds and there is only 2 of them.  They have had many teachers change in the last 6 months so I feel bad for them.  They have finally warmed up to me and they like to hug me.  My elementary students are very cute and most of them are smart.  I have pictures but not at works so I will have to upload them later.  Oh they love Angry Birds out here!!! It is everywhere and I mean everywhere.  Just as much as their K-pop idols!!!!  Speaking of K-pop idols my elementary students call me T-ara (tiara) Teacher.  My name is spelled the same way as a very popular K-pop group so my students tend to sing their songs to me everyday!!!!  Also they have no idea what Spanish is.  I usually will use it to get their attention, when they aren't paying attention.  They didn't even know it existed.  Kind of funny sometimes because they thing it is cool. 
I still have no internet at home since I'm still waiting for my residence card so I can get a phone, a bank account and internet at home.  It kinda sucks, but oh well I'm not home much anyways.  hmm...well this kind of turned into a long blog.  Sorry about that.  I'm off to go eat dinner with the other teachers to celebrate a birthday!!! I'll try to update soon!!!  Besos!!!!

First day

OMG!!!! So I'm finally here!!! I'm doing well!!! Made friends with 4 other English teachers so far!!! I went to Seoul Tower yesterday and my legs feel like lead now.  I had an awesome time though.  Today is my second day and I'm just relaxing with the other teachers.  I'll post pictures some other time once I have my own internet which won't be for a month.  Anyways I hope everyone had a happy new year and I start work tomorrow!!! Wish me luck!!!!