Week 2 - La's Placement

Hands slightly shaking with sweaty palms. Breaths coming faster, but controlled. Blood rushing to my ears. Clenching fingers squeeze briefly before letting go.

It was go time.

When I heard my name, all the worries and noises went away. I knew what I had to do during my Placement Ceremony. 

It was go time.

Paper in hand, standing straight in front of Director Shim, I gave a 90-degree bow and was then off to place my sticker on the map. 

It was go time.

Clearly...its in the red part...

I have the honor to be teaching at 주상초등학교 (Jusang Elementary School) in 거창군 (Geochang county). It is the province of 경상남도(Gyeongsangnam-do). And by the looks of it, it's a small village school! While some of my fellow ETAs are going to be teaching 500+ students, I will be teaching what looks to be 19 students. 

That's right, Fam.

You read that right.

19 students.

As in ten plus nine equals nineteen! 

I will be taking whatever chance I can to practice/learn Korean as my students will be working hard to learn English! If teacher can do it, so can they!

Relatedly, I don't know how well y'all know your Korean education systems, but elementary school goes up to sixth grade. And since ETAs start teaching at third grade, I will have 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. My fourth grade class looks to be the biggest with ten students. My smallest classes have three students. 

Fam, I can't lie here. These are literally the numbers I was given/researched through the internet.

Do I have any concerns?

Well, I did. I mean, I went from city beautiful, to what looks to be a mountain township. It'll be a big change. And I think I'm ready for that. This is what I've been waiting for these last three years - a challenge! - and I'm ready!

But what I am preparing myself for is being the first black person the people in my township may be meeting. It doesn't look like there were any former ETAs at this school, it's a small place and up in a mountainous area. Then here I come in all my wonderful, beautiful glory or a hot mess. Not only am I representing America and Fulbright, but the black community for this township.

I am really thankful that I've had the chance to talk to former/renewing ETAs who are black and discussed their experiences. It's helped settle a lot of my concerns.

However, I don't think I can get rid of my all of my concern just yet. Not until I'm there and have established myself!

With my placement mostly out of the way, it's all about meeting my Placement Family now! I'll be working hard on my Korean!

Until next week's post...make good choices Fam (like dropping a comment!)

#SaveOurToya

The Day-to-Day Shenanigans

I know you're all waiting to hear where I've been placed, but I promise, there will be a post up on Sunday! Promise. 😸

I'm here to talk about another topic. Let's talk daily life, shall we?

I'm sure many of you are curious about what I actually get up to on the day to day. Spoilers: it's programming/Korean classes.

To get started, my day generally starts at 6am...

...well, I realize I'm no longer sleeping and its a new day. My roommate is generally still sleeping, so I tend to snooze for the next hour-ish or so. I generally get out of bed sometime between 7am and 7h30am.

Breakfast starts at 7h45am, so I tend to show up a few minutes after. We have about 20mins to finish breakfast and then head over to our classroom building. It's the next building over from the dorm and class starts at 8h15am.

Korean Language Instruction (KLI) lasts until 12h15pm. Which means, I am in a classroom for 4 hours, learning Korean. Which isn't too bad. We get ten minute breaks at each hours. And 선생님 (the teacher) has been really fun and very informational! It's been great.

Lunch starts at 12h15pm and ends at 1h15pm. But our last hour of KLI starts at 1h15pm, so I tend to leave around 1pm.

Teaching and/or culture workshops start around 2pm. We also may or may not have a General Meeting as well. We get a lot of information between 2 and 5pm, generally.

Dinner starts at 5pm and goes until 6h30pm.

After that, we tend to have free time, or we go to office hours for extra help with Korean. Personally, I go on my evening walk and tour the area we are in. I've been getting some nice pictures these last couple of days. I'll have to make more of an effort to upload pictures!

Essentially, expect a separate post of evening pictures and another for my meals I have been having! Because the meals that Yonsei University has been giving us have been fantastic. You guys might be jealous.

Unless you're someone in my cohort reading this. If so...heeeyyyyyy Fam~!

If you guys want to hear about anything of my experience here, leave a comment and I'll make a post about it! Please don't hesitate. If my experience can help you learn more about Korea or answer questions before you come here, please-please-please-please!, reach out!

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Guess What...

At the end of the month, I will be holding my first lesson. Together with another ETA, we will be holding a small lesson (by small, I mean 45 mins in length) and I am excited and nervous at the same time!

Ugh, this feeling is lowkey frustrating!!!!

Having never taught a class and using what skills I've picked up while getting my TEFL certificate and certification in TESOL, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my partner and I will be fantastic and awesome. 😎

Which we totally are.

But...nerves are normal and natural. Just...gotta...get to the point where I'm in the classroom and doing the thing.

The teaching thing.

...!

In other news, I hope to take part in all of the activities outside of the classroom that FEP will be holding in addition. These kids sound like an awesome bunch already.

And who knows! Might end up teaching one of them one day...

Keep your fingers crossed for me~!

#SaveOurToya

Posting Schedule

In my efforts to be an adult,  I made the decision to commit to a posting schedule. And after looking at my Orientation programming, it looks like it'll be easiest for me to post on Sundays for the next six or so weeks.

Now, that doesn't mean I won't be posting during the week, but I hope to have at least one post up by Sunday!

But there. Voila. This post is my commitment to you and myself.

Sunday is post day. 

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Hurricane Season Everywhere!

Hurricane Beryl and Chris on the way back home. "Super" Typhoon Maria on the way here. 

What. Even.

Hope y'all back home can stay dry and don't receive too much damage, if any at all. If you do get hit, I'll look for your posts that you're okay! 

As for myself, if you clicked on the link, you'll have seen that "Super" Typhoon Maria is down south and really shouldn't hit Korea. But when has weather ever done what was expected of it? 

Also what is this 'super' business here? 

Lucky us, I looked it up. You're welcome. 😁

A 'super' typhoon is equivalent to a Category 3, 4, or 5 hurricane. Just kind of sums it up into a 'dis be supah bad' and calls it a day. Gotta give Asia props on that. Back home, we still have hurricane drinking parties up to a Category 4... 

For those of you not familiar with hurricanes, typhoons, or cyclones (the various names based on where on the planet you are), it means winds are 150mph or higher. Trees are sideways, flooding is imminent, damage will be received, and tornadoes are dancing around. Only the lucky get to keep their power. 

Guess its not just snow I have to be able to prepare myself for...

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Day 1 - What is Going On?

This post is coming to you live from my dorm room! Mostly because that's the only place I have wifi...okay. It's the only reason. 😀

To sum up the last 24 hours, which includes my flight and two full days of programming in a sentence, it would literally be, 'Uhh, what is going on?'

Don't let the picture to the left fool you!

There was a bit of confusion at the beginning. Haha!

And that's for a multitude of reasons:

1) Not only am I jet-lagged, we had programming right after we landed. There was a picture taken at some point. And I did not know that it would be used as the 'this is who your homestay ETA will be' picture for my homestay fam. So...I hope I didn't look too bad.

2) There are 79 people in my cohort (80, counting me), and we're all getting to know each other and are extremely excited, but also so exhausted from the traveling. I'm pretty sure I introduced myself to someone like 3 times in one day. I don't know...but that feels about right.

3) Getting into the swing of the programming is a bit of an adjustment. But to put it into perspective...it's like going to a conference, that is 6 weeks long. In a country where you can read the signs, but have no idea what you're reading.

4) All the different foods! I have no idea what I've been eating. I really would like to know the name of all the dishes, but holy crap is it good. Shout out to the Yonsei Kitchen staff.

I'm just going to stick to those four. There's been a lot going on and I'll do my best to capture it all for you! :)

Speaking of capturing, below are some pictures of the various meals I've had since I've been here, a picture of everything that I brought with me, and a picture outside the window!

Dinner :)

Lunch :)

Breakfast :)

All that I brought with me on this trip.

A view from the plane.

If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to send them in! I'd love to hear from you! 

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The Nerves are Here

Oh my gaaaawwwwdddd.

I'm so energized that I can't even sleep. I got maybe, maybe, 3 hours of sleep. And all because I fell asleep watching TV (I seriously need to rewatch that episode of GoT).Waking up on the couch was really startling.

So yes. Energized with a sleepless-ish night!

*takes a deep breath*

I leave for the airport in 6 hours...

...it's almost here and I'm feeling all the emotions. Excitement-anxiety. Happiness-fear. Joy-sad.

The only emotion I'm not feeling is anger. There's no room for that hot mess.

It's five am, I could be do something more productive than trolling on Facebook while listening to showtunes. I mean, I just have a few small things left to pack and that's only because I need them to get ready in the morning.

Sorry for the disjointed thoughts here. I'm a bit all over right now!

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Bye Bye UCF

It is 7:46am as I write this post and all because this morning, it really hit me. 😕

This is my last day at the University of Central Florida. I've been here for so long (7 years!) that it's kind of surreal. In the summer of 2011, I started working part time in the College of Sciences' Dean's Office. In the fall, I started undergrad. A year later, I was working full-time and going to school. By 2016, I had my B.A. and started graduate school, while still being employed at the university.

I've worked in three separate and vastly different departments on campus. And from each area, did I learn something new about myself.

These last seven years...I really can't put a word to it. I am thankful and honored for all of the people who I've met and while some of the experiences were less than ideal, I am better for it. There are so many people I want to give shout-outs to, but you all know who you are. If we've ever interacted, even as little as 'hi', thank you!

Now, it is July 2018, I am a two-time graduate of UCF, about to move abroad, and am only 24 years old. I think I'm doing this 'adulting' thing right. We can compare notes^^

It's been an adventure UCF, but gurl bye. 😘

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Not Goodbye, but See You Later

This morning, I had the chance to drop my parents off at the airport. They're on their way to a 3 week vacation in Germany. I'm totally excited for them and miss the Fatherland quite a bit, but this trip will be good for them. They work so hard and do so much! It's their time to relax and recuperate. Hopefully one day I can make it back to Germany too.

And while this wasn't the first time I was sending them off, it was the first time that I'm sending them off where I won't see them for almost a year again. I was okay, until Ma started crying.

Dad (to me): Why are you crying? Stop that.
Me: It's mom's fault!
Mom: I don't regret a single tear!
Me: *chocked sob*
Dad: This is what you want to do. You're gonna be great!
Me (wiping away tears): I know!
Mom (sniffles): Be a good girl and have fun!

If this isn't an accurate representation of what it's like to be with my parents, I don't know what is. Well...actually, there are a few more examples. BUT! This is what they all come down too.

It would've been better if my older brother was there too, but he's not exactly accessible from Florida. But the four of us, we're gonna be okay. I'll be okay.

This opportunity is my journey to take, but I know that while I won't see them, my family will still support me.

#SaveOurToya

My Vacation in Hawaii

Aloha!

It's been a while since my last post. I have a reason for that! And it's not because I forgot. But because I was on vacation!

For two weeks, I got to enjoy the relaxing atmosphere in Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. It was my second visit and just like the first, I felt charmed and thankful to be on the island. There's a culture there that has survived one way or another on the island and hearing/seeing it never got old. And the food! Oh my gawd. I had the best banana bread on a street-side fruit stand. It was ono.

If you ever get the chance to visit, don't hesitate! You won't regret it. (Just make sure you have a jacket with you for when you go into Safeway. XD)

That being said, this trip started off...interesting. Living in Florida, it would have made sense for me to fly to the west coast for a layover before heading all the way over to Oahu. BUT! My cousin was flying in from Germany. So we tried our best to meet at one airport like we did last time and then fly over together. And like last time, we tried for the Seattle airport. Silly me, flew to Los Angeles to Seattle to Honolulu. I thought it would be okay. Since my cousin would be with me for the last leg.

Come to my surprise as mother-dearest drives me to the airport, my cousin messages me and says that her plane was delayed. Then later, once I get to L.A. and turn my phone on, she says she got taken off of our Seattle flight. She tried to get sent back, but apparently her seat was taken already.

Now, while disappointed, I was still kinda hopeful that my flight to Honolulu would go well.

Silly me.

The person who ended up next to me smelled badly and kept leaning toward me. For six-ish hours I sat there, wishing the plane would go faster...or something.

Had to wait an extra hour for my cousin to finally land, but once there, we whisked her to my brother's car and left for his house!

The next week was so relaxing and low key. Pool visits and a few trips to the beach were very nice. We even had a catamaran ride where there were All-You-Can-Drink drinks. The best kind of drinks with a beautiful sunset on the ocean. We made it out to the Dole Plantation where you can find Dole Whip. You have not yet lived the pineapple dream until you've had Dole Whip.

I'm not joking.

Moving on...the second week started off, well I really don't know how to explain it. To put it bluntly, I fell into a dishwasher and got stabbed by two steak knives. The ER trip was quick and painless (pun intended) and didn't slow us down one bit on our vacation.

In fact, a couple of days later, I was stuck in a car for practically eight hours (give or take). The four of us decided to use the Shaka Guide app that uses your GPS location to take you on a tour with your own car. It was loads of fun and took us to places we wouldn't have thought to stop at! I strongly recommend the app! To my understanding, they have an option for quite a few of the islands. (Unpaid recommendation :))

But before we went on our Shaka Tour, we found ourselves in a theater watching Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson impersonators after our luau. I'm still not sure what Michael Jackson has to do with Hawaii...

And to ensure we ended the trip with a great time, we did Harry Potter trivia night at Honolulu Beerworks. I shined like a lightbulb crafted by our very own sun in Round One.

So yeah. Hawaii was a blast. It had it's high moments and its low ones (and I'm not talking about my trip to the ER. That was actually a rather amusing time!!), but Hawaii is definitely a place worth visiting.

Good luck with the H-1 and mahalo!
#SaveOurToya