Teaching----parents came to visit the classroom

So, twice a year our school has "open class," where parents can come and observe their teachers and their students in action.  Because I am the only foreign teacher I get all of my Elementary classes observed.  That's 10!  Boy was it a lot of preparation. My co-workers only had about 5 each, so my week was rough. I had 2 on Friday and then the following week I had 8 more scatter throughout the week. We had to rehearse with the kids, which wasn't great because they were bored of the lesson by the time time the parents came. These pictures are from my Immersion Class, in which the students only speak English and can  do higher level thinking type of work. I wish I had more than a half hour three times a week with them. I would really enjoy teaching this class more often. 

In this lesson we were discussing American landmarks. It was neat because I could share my real life experiences with them. I brought in a photo of my Mom, sister, and I looking at the Statue of Liberty, which was cool to show them. I also had pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge and the grand Canyon. They did a really good job and I guess the parents were pleased with me and the other teachers. I hope they were pleased with their children as well. 

Here I am in action!

Looks like I am posing, but I'm not.  It is a naturally cheesy smile.

We were discussing Korean Landmarks as well. Apparently they had never been to any of them yet!

Good job everyone, now here is Rebekah!

Andong Mask Festival (Sunday, October 3, 2010)

Kayla invited a few friends to the Mask festival held in Andong. Andong is about an hour and half from Daegu by bus. Hannah and I met up around 9:00am to meet Kayla, Nic, and Kendall (a new friend) at the DondDaegu bus station. Well when we got there we went on a wild goose hunt to find the actual bus terminal. There are about three different ones you can go to. Well we finally found them at about 9:40 and our bus was about to depart. Here was my trip!

Hannah and I getting ready to leave on the bus.

We made it! This was the entrance way into the festival. Lot's of tents of food and things to buy.

Anyone for a vat of silk worms? I'm not ready for this yet.

Shells of some sorts to eat, but not exactly sure what you eat.

The Korean Magic Man

Those are 5 inch nails up his nose.

These wooden pieces were beautiful I wish I could buy one, but they were pricy.

Chicken on a stick from a Turkish vendor. Got a chicken wrap (cooked of course). Pretty tasty.

There was some sort of ritual going on the stage nearby. Not sure if it was Korean or Chinese, but this pig was just chillen out on a box.

Kinda creepy. He sleeps with one eye open.

Some random mushroom guy.

Hannah and I had to be apart of the festival.

Another ceremony. There was a blue side and a red side and they were in some sort of battle. 

Go red team!

If you look closely you can see a guy in blue towards the left who is standing on some wooden thing. They were being tossed up and holding on to this horse looking thing. Very cool. The crowd went wild.

Mamma and Pappa 

Time to make masks of our own. This was mine before I decorated it.

Here is Hannah's.

Our neighboring craft buddies.

Such concentration.

Such concentration minus the tonge hanging out.

Say "Mask Festival."

Progress

Looking good Hannah!

Finished product.

Finally finished after an hour or so.

Hannah, Me, and Kayla

Kids playing with bubbles!

Kandall and Nic fitting right in!

Having Bulgogi before we left.


We had a great time checking out the festival. I should have watched some of the dance performances, but at least we got to check out the various masks. Back to Daegu!

Deagu Countryside (Saturday, October 2)

I told you that this wouldn't be the last time I went on a Harley ride. Ray invited me and my friend Hannah to go on a ride one Saturday. We were totally excited about the journey. We had to take a bunch of breaks because our butts hurt.  It was an amazing day! I took video, which I will try to post soon.  After the ride, Hannah and I went to eat Zimm Duck (Smothered Chicken) and went to a Sauna for about two and a half hours.  After the the Sauna we went to a movie and saw Eat, Prey, Love.  This Saturday was an absolutely amazing Saturday!  I couldn't ask for anything better.

Here are pictures from my amazing Saturday

  

Ray's Bike with a cool blue light

Jim and Hannah leaving my place

Me and Ray, Here we go!


We stopped on top of a mountain for a butt break and some food. The restaurant was right on the edge of the mountain barely stable enough to hold the restaurant, let alone all of the people stopping by. We had a few Korean pizzas (I can't remember the name). I enjoyed some coffee and then we were off again. We had planned on going to Pohong (a City on the water about 3 hours away, but it was taking too long, so we just decided to ride around locally. here is a picture from our first Butt Break.

One of our Butt breaks!

As we continued on our journey we traveled through a town which is known for their persimmons. The entire community is covered in these trees. They were such a beautiful color orange! After we rode for another hour or so, we stopped for another Butt Break. We stopped at a convenient store and met some pretty funny kids. They were just finishing their regular school day and on the way to their Saturday Academies. They were all interested in practicing their English with us and they were pretty good. There was one girl (wearing a yellow jacket) who seemed to be the leader of the pack. She was making jokes and taking control of the conversation. Another girl was playing around with one of the boys and actually spit ice at him (It was funny). Then I took some pictures of them and she flipped off the camera. she didn't think I got her in, but I did. They were a fun little break on our journey.

Me, Ray, Jim, and Hannah

I took this while were cruising home!



This was such a fun trip.  I hope we can do this again.  Thanks again to Ray and Jim!

First time on a Harley

So my Dad recently bought a Harley and he asked me to get him and my Uncle Tony a couple of T-shirts from Korea. I was asking around if anyone knew where the dealership was and low and be hold I found RAY. Ray happened to know where the Harley Store was and happened to own a Harley! Well he offered to take me there on his bike, and I gladly accepted!  

He picked me up on a Friday around 9:00am.  He brought me the entire outfit (he probably would laugh at me if I said outfit in front of him) to go along with my first Harley ride!  I had chaps, vest, jacket, and boots! I hopped on the bike and off we went. 

He was weaving through traffic and it was pretty scary at first, but I trusted him so it got much easier to just relax. I remembered that you are supposed just lean the same way as the driver and so that is what I did. By the time we got to the store, which was about 20 minutes away, I was very comfortable on the back of the motorcycle. 

I'm liking this whole motorcycle thing! My Dad was right  about it!  

I bought my dad and my Uncle tony some shirts. It was great because I happened to go on the first day of the 30% off sale! 

It was early enough so Ray asked if I wanted to cruise a bit more and I agreed.  he ended up taking me up to Palgong Mountain.  I saw some beautiful temples! It was an amazing day (and tis was all before I even went to work!) let's just say I really enjoyed my first time on a Harley.  This won't be the last post you see about this! Enjoy the photos. Oh, and Thanks RAY!!!!!

Harley Davidson (Daegu, Korea)

That's Ray and Me

These pictures are all from Palgong Mountain.