The littlest graduation!

For this week's blog entry I am going to speak to ya'll about something that I don't mention too much, but actually it is the first and main reason for me moving to Korea. The topic of course is my school and role as a Kindergarten English teacher.

Here in Korea the school year begins (for almost all schools/all ages levels) and ends during the end of February/beginning of March. With the roll over of a new school year comes the  processes of test taking, school parties, the never ending pile of portfolios and to-do lists for us teachers (grrrr) and of course the kids who have completed a milestone receiving promotions and graduations to their next school level!

This past week was graduation at my kindgergarten. My home room class (Tigers) did not graduate because they are the current 6 year old class. However they did receive a promotion into the next and final age level at my kindergarten. By this time next week they will officially be part of Butterfly class and only one year away from moving onto elementary school!

As graduation week progressed and I spent hours working on portfolios consisting of my kids school work, pictures, and artwork I reflected on the past year spent teaching them. Comparing their English, Phonics, and Conversational skills from the first time I met them to today...I am honestly shocked at the amount of progress each of my kids have made. They have gone from learning the beginning of their ABC's and  single syllable words to now reading, writing, speaking, and thinking of their own English conversations! They have gone from hardly being able to ask for a glass of water to now telling me what they did on the weekend, re-telling stories I read to them, and taking learned phrases in class and using them at home! (according to their parents) =)

Not only have my kids grown in their English skills, but their physical, emotional, and personalities have evolved greatly over the past year as well. I'm so happy to have been a part of their lives, growing close to each one of them as well as making somewhat friends with some of the parents. Teaching my Tigers has truly been a blessing and because I've had such a great time this past year with them is one reason why I chose to continue to live in korea (other aspects of my life played in as well).

So take a look at my video on our graduation and recolection on the past year and you'll see why I know now why some teachers wind up making it a life long comitment....because we teachers get the chance to touch lives and feel good about helping a kid grow up...and become surprisingly attatched to children that aren't even ours =)

Until next time, Peace and Love!!!
 -Patrick

해피 설날 (Happy Seollal!)

So growing up in the western culture I was always familiar with celebrating the new year on January 31st. As a child my new years were spent playing with my siblings and cousins while our parents stayed up playing cards all night and as I grew from a teen and into my young adult years I began to partake in the more lively celebrations surrounding New Years such as spending the night out dancing at clubs or parties and being with good friends. However, As I also grew up I learned about other cultures and how they celebrated not only 1, but often 2 New Years within the same year. This year, I was able to not only bring in the New Year in Western style on January 31st, but also was able experience the Lunar New Year, Seollal, first hand here in Korea which none-the-less informative.

Koreans celebrate two New Years – January 1st and Seollal, which falls on the second new moon after Dongji (동지), or the winter solstice. By combining the preceding and following days, each winter Koreans can look forward to a three-day holiday.

During the week of Seollal, Korean families traditionally take time for one another. Seollal is a major family focused holiday and a 2-3 day gathering is held usually at the eldest male member of a family’s home. This could be a grandfather or the eldest Uncle on the husbands side. 

To be with family, I was told that millions hit the road and brave traffic jams to and from their hometowns. Because so many people are out driving the day before Seollal (which was a Saturday) it could make a 5 hour drive turn into a 8 or more. In fact, one of my friends who just was going what was usually a 30 minute drive to his grandfathers house told me it took him almost 2 hours! Even tho there is a lot stress and inconvenience, and taking time to plan the get-together, The Korean people really look forward to this special extended weekend with their family. 

One thing that someone COULD NOT MISS is the amount of gift sets being sold during Seollal for families to bring to one another. Some gifts sets I saw were way overpriced fruits, meats, toothpaste, or health-related items, like red ginseng or honey.

So typically when families gather there is a meal, right? Well Seollal is no different and one of the dishes I was able to try this year as part of my school’s lunch and also while I was out an about during my 4 day holiday weekend were tteokguk (떡국), a beef-based soup made with sliced rice cakes that is claimed  that eating tteokguk on New Year’s Day makes you one year older. I actually ate it (and thought it was really tasty) 2 days before Seollal....so does that mean I aged double? Or did I go backwards? Uhhoh....!

Other than tteokguk there are loads of foods served for the great eat-a-thon such as jeon (pancake-like dishes), tteok (rice cake), bulgogi, galbi (grilled marinated beef), sikhye (fermented rice drink), and sujeonggwa (traditional sweet Korean beverage) Most of this food I have eaten A LOT of already has it is a normal part of the Korean diet, but for Seollal the makers of the food put extra effort into making it most delicious. 

Well, in a nutshell that is Seollal, Lunar New Year, traditions here in South Korea. Here is a link to a blog that goes a bit more into detail about it! I spent my Seollal weekend doing A LOT of personal ‘me‘ time, made time to be with friends, skyped and met with my New 3 week old niece via skype, and random/pointless cloth shopping. I didn’t do much to commemorate the day of Seollal, except for on the day after the holiday (Monday) my friend Hanna and I went to a Seollal festival in Seoul where we sampled some of the metnioned food, watched some really amazing performances, and partook in some traditional Korean activities which actually are more of a nostalgia thing now and most people don’t do them anymore (stick throwing, ring games, beating dak!)

All in all my 4 day Seollal weekend was very relaxing- and I got a 2nd chance to start my New Years Resolutions!

Here’s wishing you a healthy and happy New Year! Peace!!

And the answer is!

Hey everyone! Can you believe it's already February 7th? Holy Smokes time flies! And speaking of time flying, if you watched my last entry you would know that I have reached my 1 year anniversary of living and teaching here in Korea. This past year has been wonderful and I really am thankful for all the experiences and opportunities I have been given. Not only have I had a good time experiencing a new culture, way of life, and traveling all over Korea and central Asia; but I also have made some great friends and have had an overall satisfactory job all while making memories to last a lifetime.

However, with the end of my first year living in Korea coming also comes the issue of what to do: Do I stay or go? If I stay do I keep working at Baum Kid's Schule? Should I transfer schools? Added to this I really wanted to see my family back in America...which was proving to be difficult if I stayed in korea whether with my current school or another one.

It took me almost  a month to come to a conclusion, but alas, my mind is set.

Peace out! and Happy Lunar New Year to everyone!!!

next blog entry- what I did with my 4 day Lunar New Year weekend! (Feb 8-12)