There's something about Saturday

In all my almost-21 years, Saturday has generally been the best day of the week. While I was a student, the reason was obvious. But now I'm a teacher, and Saturday is still one of my favorite days. And lately, it's not even a day off.

My children's center has programming every Saturday, and I joined the club earlier this year. There's usually a main activity for the day - since I started going, we've celebrated birthdays, had a market day, decorated Easter eggs, and done all kinds of other things. The kids eat lunch there and can stick around until 4 after the big activity is over. Things are pretty relaxed, and I'm really enjoying the chance to hang out with my kids even more. I also learn more about them on Saturdays than I do any other time, and I think it helps me teach better lessons when I know how they all get along with each other.

Enjoying one such Saturday at a festival for Daejeon children's centers.

A few weeks ago, we even had a Saturday lesson with Anna Teacher! No, it wasn't English class... we got to do something I do for fun - cooking! I've been foisting extra baked goods on 법동 for ages, and we finally decided to do something bigger. So I taught food-themed English for a week, culminating in instructions to make pizza. I supplied the dough, 법동 provided the toppings, and the kids brought their creativity to a pizza-making party where they competed to make the most delicious and interesting pizza. They were all delicious, and with traditional Korean ingredients like corn and ham, I'd say they were all pretty interesting too! The kids had fun, the teachers participated too, and I got to share something I love to do with some of my new favorite people.

Putting together a lovely heart-shaped pizza.

Pizza and kimbap, an unexpectedly delicious combination.

Pizza fresh from the oven is way more interesting than
Anna Teacher with a camera.

Cooking class wasn't something I expected coming in here, but "teaching English" this year is hardly confined to worksheets and exercises. One interesting thing about being a foreigner here is that my mere presence encourages people to practice their English. (I imagine this would be annoying if English weren't my native language, but as it stands I think it's pretty fun.) Children will sometimes call out HELLO! and are delighted (or shocked) when I respond. My students have several phrases they use on a regular basis (like "Wow, beautiful!" when something goes well) and they will occasionally point out an object or a color and identify it for me. This sort of practice is really enjoyable, because it's low pressure and very encouraging. I still work hard to teach them during normal classes, but I've come to appreciate that "being" around here is sometimes as effective as "doing" at accomplishing what I'm here for. And as I've felt all my life, Saturday is a really excellent day to just "be."

On another note, I want to thank everyone who has supported me this year! This has been such a great year so far, and it's so hard to believe that I only have three months left in Korea. Coming here was definitely a big step for me, but I knew I wasn't going completely alone. Sharing your unexpected Korea connections, sending prayers, and generally being there for me has been such a great help. My fundraising is also going well - I have about $1200 left to raise by the end of the year, so if you can support me this way it would be greatly appreciated. To give, just click the Support button here or at the top of the page, then "Make A Donation" on that page. Anything you can offer would be wonderful! Thanks again for everything ^^

That's what it's all about!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone! While most people are on break these days, we K-YAV types are just getting into things. Our students spend more time at our centers, so we do, too! This is a great opportunity to hang out with our kids more, and our centers are doing all kinds of exciting things to keep the students - and teachers - busy. For the students of Beobdong, what better way to celebrate the break than... English Camp!

This, I understand, is a rare opportunity. The center has had summer English Camp, or 영어 켐프 "Yeong-O Camp," but never with the benefit of a native English speaker. It's still strange to me that Native English is a valuable skill, but I was really excited to help out however I could. Thankfully, Myeong-Ju Unni, the director's daughter, was in charge. I may know how to speak English, but I'm still a far cry from teaching it with any real skill. The camp was 3 days long, with a wide variety of activities to get the kids playing with English. The kids were divided into teams, competing for fake dollars to be used at the marketplace on the last day. Phonics lessons were reinforced with Bingo games, vocab with charades. They had cooking lessons, trips to the pharmacy (really), and music class.

As you probably know, I have never been very musical. I quit violin when we had to start private lessons, and I was probably the best lip-sync-er in the Cherub Choir at church. Nevertheless, I was put in charge of planning and leading music class. My first reaction was that of mild terror, but it really got better from there. (I was also not alone - having co-teachers is great!) We learned two classic songs during camp: the Hokey Pokey, and Old McDonald. The singing was a little unorthodox with lyrics such as "everybody MOO MOO" (everybody WAS mooing...) - but the kids got super into the music. One of my greatest triumphs was seeing the surly kid dubbed "Tiny Old Man," grooving to the Hokey Pokey. (He denied it later, but I have evidence.) My students populated Old McDonald's farm with their classmates ("with a noona here and a noona there!") and those songs are still stuck in my head. All together, a great success.

They're doing the Hokey Pokey, I swear. Tiny Old Man is wearing the red belt.

 My second project was to prepare the cooking lesson. Each team had a recipe for sandwiches and hot chocolate, with specific instructions they would follow to get more points. I built for them a ham sandwich with cheese, lettuce, mayo... but what if they don't like mayo? We should add jam so the kids will actually eat the sandwiches. Jam? Did I hear that right? Does "jam" mean the same in Korean? Yep. I don't know if I'll ever do it again, but that ham, cheese, and jam sandwich was pretty darn tasty. The kids thought so, too, and I was reminded not to be so critical when things don't look "normal" to me. Who knew sandwiches could be so eye-opening?

Hard at work, making cheese-lettuce-mayo-jam sandwiches.

Another fun station was the pharmacy, which provided Jelly Belly "medicine" as a small reward for doing well during the lessons. The kids also reviewed their colors, and had to describe their requests. In preparation, we sorted two tubs of Jelly Belly by flavor, a task that was strangely relaxing. I happen to love the beans, so I'm proud of myself for leaving some for the kids! It was also a nice chance to get to know the other volunteers, Reverend Kim's granddaughters, both fairly close to my age. The kids went nuts for the pharmacy and they came back for more on Market Day.

Which of the 7 light-oranges did you mean?

What a Market Day it was! The kids were all loaded by the evening of the last day, and there were plenty of opportunities to blow that cash. They bought dinner, stationery, toys, accessories, and snacks. As is the case in the best markets, they had to haggle: sing an English song, and maybe I'll knock down the price. (You do the hokey pokey and you... turp yamerp amutter? I don't think so!) Most importantly, it was clear that the kids had fun. They felt pretty good about their English, too, as well they should.

I want to keep things up now that things are back to normal, especially since Korean class is over and I have more time on my hands. I'm also going to Beobdong more now: every Wednesday, I spend the afternoon with the kids without the pressure of class. I'm excited about this new routine, and English Camp was an excellent start to the rest of my time here. I'll have more stories soon!

 More highlights from camp:

Doesn't every Hokey Pokey end in a brawl?

Our cat, singing his heart out. Or cursing my stupid camera.

Vocab charades!

The snack market. Look at those prices!

Surprisingly scrumptious star-shaped sandwiches.

MOO MOO

Ta-da! Job well done, guys.

How to Teach English

Got any tips?

I wish I could actually write a post about that. Maybe I'll have some idea come July, but for now teaching English will be more of a learning experience than anything else. Thankfully, that's not really my job. Perhaps I should tell you what I actually do, hm?

To the untrained eye, it might sometimes look like teaching English. I have a little classroom, with tables and chairs and a whiteboard. I have students, divided into 3 groups by age. I take roll, but that's just to learn their names. Sometimes the older kids raise their hands to answer a question. At the end of our time, I give out stickers for good performance (read: paying attention).

They respond especially well to bribery. I mean, Angry Birds.

That's about where the school comparison ends. We spend our time playing games like hangman and pictionary, or even simpler games like shout-the-number/letter (really, what 6-year-old doesn't like shouting?). I have about half an hour with each group, and sometimes I only have one group a day. Kids in Korea have a lot going on, starting as early as elementary school. The youngest kids arrive at 3, but some don't get out of school until just before dinner time. When they get to the center, they have all kinds of options to keep them busy.

Ocarina lessons. I kid you not.

One thing I love about my center is that most of the activities are actually optional. Not all the kids attend science class; some don't take music theory; not everyone plays in the orchestra. There's a rotating schedule of available teachers, and they (we?) maintain the balance of work and play. The kids all get homework help as needed, and the teachers keep things running quite well. I don't know how they do it, but they always seem to know what everyone is supposed to do at any given time.

The teachers' efficiency is an excellent reminder that Beopdong would be absolutely fine without me. They have an excellent system, and I have a lot of respect for the teachers and especially the director, Rev. Kim (a.k.a. "the Chief"). They have welcomed me into their family, and their patience with me has been such a blessing. I spend a lot of time awkwardly wondering how I can help, and I'm sure a lot of things (rice scooping, cleaning, etc.) would go a lot faster without my "assistance."

Making dinner? They've got that covered. They *did* let me help, though ^^

That being the case, I'm especially looking forward to getting to know the students. They, too, have been incredibly patient. Most of them speak better English than I speak Korean, and I'm sincerely grateful for their help when I try to communicate. More than that, though, the kids have been just as open and welcoming as the teachers. I always have someone to sit with at dinner (yes, that's still a concern even after college) and they haven't given up talking to me even though it's not exactly a conversation.

"RT @ANNA - Nice to meet you!" Communication has many forms.

All in all, I'm anxious to improve but I'm also humbled by my welcome at work. The theme of helplessness continues, and every day of work is a reminder of what it means to be a YAV. I'm still learning to teach English, of course, but allowing myself to be helped is a learning experience I'm only starting to appreciate. I'm just grateful to be learning that lesson from this awesome group of people ^^

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