The Hills are Alive.....

For the past month or so, I've been working an institute ("hagwon") in Dong Song.  Basically, when the kids are done with their actual school, they come to "hagwons" to learn more.. (because god forbid they go outside and play).  At my hagwon in Seoul, I felt guilty about working there because I knew the kids resented it's entire existence.. I really felt bad that they had to come to me for an hour and a half after they spent a full day at school.   But in Cheorwon, it's a lot different.  Because it's a rural area, things are laid back in general.  Parents are much less intense, and this hagwon is a lot of fun.  It was brand new when I showed up, so I've gotten a lot of freedom do teach what I like.

Since the kids are officially on winter vacation (which lasts from mid-December until March), my boss decided to run an English camp the week between Christmas and New Years.  She used to be a producer, so she decided to make it a Musical Theater camp.  I thought this was a great idea, and I agreed to run the camp.  I figured she would do most of the dancing/singing teaching, and I'd take care of the English stuff.  Well, I was wrong.

I found out a few days before the camp that we would be doing the sound of music.... and I would be playing Maria.  Just because I'm blonde, I can sing.. right?  Actually, I'm tone deaf, I haven't taken dance lessons since I was in kindergarten, and I've never seen the Sound of Music.  And the icing on the cake... we had five days to learn three different scenes, complete with songs and dances.

After a stressful week and learning to dance and then teaching it, our show was a success!  I was really nervous that the kids weren't going to remember their lines/dance moves but everyone really pulled together and did a great job.  I sounded bad, but no one was covering their ears. Phew!  We sang Do Re Mi, My favorite things, and Edelweiss.  The families of all the kids came, and Matt was nice enough to come cheer me on (it also gave him something else to make fun of me for!)

Here are some photos from the show that Matt took.  No laughing!

Do Re Mi

My favorite things

Finale

The cast

Do you know South Korea?

Here is a video that a fellow foreigner sent to me.  In 10 minutes, it really shows what it feels like to be in South Korea.  For those far away, I thought you might enjoy this!

Thanksgiving in Korea

While I usually assume the holidays are going to be a sad time to be away from home, this Thanksgiving was one of my best yet.  Naturally, I missed my family and our big family dinners at my grandparents' house.  But, I got to skype with my mom and the McBrides after their feast.

Thanksgiving this year went something like this:

Friday night: The plan is to cook.  Friends ccome to town from all over Korea.  It is a joyful reunion.  We go to the supermarket to get ingredients.  We stock up on veggies, potatoes, milk, pounds of butter, pounds of cheese, etc.  MJ shows up with 6 bottles of wine.  Matt breaks out a bottle of whiskey.  No cooking gets done.

Saturday morning:  We wake up and get to work on the food.  Matt peels and mashes 24 potatoes downstairs.  Upstairs in Scott's apartment, we have one oven.  Jerusha makes a sweet potato and spinach gratin covered in cheese.  I make two trays of the mac and cheese, clearly smothered in cheese- that Massey proceeds to fry.  Andrew K makes a green been casserole with the french's fried onions that his mom sent from the USA.. we then covered that in cheese.  Needless to say, it's thanksgiving, and we're going all out. 

In the afternoon, we head to the pension to meet our friends.   In case you're unfamiliar with a pension, it's basically just part of a house or apartment.. it usually has basic kitchen supplies and bedding for everyone to sleep on the floor.  It's perfect for get-togethers like these. There are about 20 people coming up to Cheorwon for the Thanksgiving festivities.

Carla makes mojitos (a rarity here in Korea)

the boys goofing around

Apples to Apples before dinner

We spend a few hours playing apples to apples and watching football before our friends arrive.  When everyone is there, we go around in a circle and give thanks- and then the feast begins!  Along with the things we brought, there was stuffing, cornbread, honey glazed carrots, homemade hummus, pumpkin dip and ginger snaps, roasted veggies, more greenbean casserole, home-made cranberry sauce, fresh baked bread, pumpkin pie, apple pie, fresh whipped cream, and real butter.

around in a circle, giving thanks

Carla does work on the turkey

Matt makes gravy

Carla makes a plate- look at all that goodness

Everyone enjoying their meals

The feast!

After dinner, everyone is in a food coma.  We spend the rest of the night playing scrabble, having a sing-a-long with the guitar/piano, and of course- having a dance party.

food coma

Lisa's solo of the Little Mermaid soundtrack

singing

scrabble

makgeoli bottle microphone.. nice

bailey's

leftovers, of course

baileys shots in chocolate covered strawberries

limbo

And like I said, this was in a pension with about 20 people, so here was one of the rooms the next morning:

cozy!

So all in all, it was a fantastic holiday.  Everyone really went all out on the food and a good time was had by all.   With friends like these, it really makes being away from home not so bad.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Cheorwon Chamber Ensemble Winter Spectacular

On December 1st, I attended a wonderful show in Sincherwon (the town over) hosted by the Cheorwon chamber ensemble.  There were a variety of acts- orchestras, child violinists, solos, a capella, etc.  And the best part? Along with the talented Koreans, my friends were performing!  

Johanna was the M/C.  She was paired with a Korean girl to do the translation.  Jojo was so hilarious, but her counterpart was realllly not into what she was saying.  Jojo would tell long stories or make jokes and then the girl would translate it into about 3 words.  This whole situation was really funny in itself.    

The M/Cs

Scott and Claire each performed a solo, and Scott performed with the chamber ensemble. Of course, my favorite part of the show is when Matt, my boyfriend, got up and played 3 songs with Claire and Scott.  Their band is called "The Clatt," which stands for Claire, Matt and Scott.  I know, their name sounds like a disease.  They played two songs that Matt had written, and then a Korean song that the audience got really into.  Here are the videos posted below! I got the first and third song. The first video is "Fireflies" and the second one is a Korean song that none of us know the name of.  

I apologize in advance for the end of the video being shakey.  In all honesty, my arm got tired (I know, lamest excuse ever).  

                                                                                    

Another part of the show that I really liked was when a Korean a capella group performed "Jingle Bells" in Korean.  It was awesome! Here's the video below:

 

When the show was over, all the acts came on stage.  Everyone was given at least two bouquets of flowers.  

the whole show

The Clatt

Matt and I after the show (he later gave me the flowers)

English Complexity

WORDS from Everynone on Vimeo.

This is a really cool video that I used to teach a lesson to my adult students.  (Actually, my friend Jerusha made the lesson, so I can't totally take credit).  It really gets you thinking about how complex (and overwhelming) the English language is.  It uses nine words: play, blow, break, split, run, fly, fall, light, and space.. and it makes you think about how many different meanings each word can have.  For example, run: run in your tights, to run (jog), runny nose, running water, run a bath, running paint, run a red light, run away, run way, run a class, run machinery, etc.  Or split: banana split, do a split (gymnastics), split up (break up), split wood, split your pants, a split in bowling, etc.  Pretty crazy!  They really enjoyed the lesson, and I really enjoyed the video. I hope you do too!

My New Town

As many of you know, I've returned to South Korea for a second year.  After a long hiatus from any form of work, a trip to Europe and a nice visit with family and friends in the USA, I'm finally back.

As of now, I've moved to an area called Cheorwon (철원군).  I've mentioned Cheorwon a lot in former posts, so my moving here is not totally random.  I've visited a lot over the past year for various events.  I've finally gotten to join my boyfriend and a great group of friends that are teachers up here.

Here's Matt and I doing some grocery shopping

First I'll tell you a little bit about Cheorwon.  Cheorwon is a county of about 50,000 people.  Below, you'll see a map.  The big red line is the DMZ (demilitarized zone separated North and South Korea).  The area highlighted in green that says "North Gangwon-do" is North Korea.  As you can see, Cheorwon is on the border.  The county actually straddles North and South Korea because it was split after the Korean war.  Where I live is about 2-2.5 hours from Seoul, by bus.

Being on the DMZ, Cheorwon has a very interesting history.  Before the division of Korea, Cheorwon was populated area and a transportation hub for the country.  It was actually larger than Chuncheon, which is now the state capital of Ganwon-do.  After the division of Korea, Cheorwon fell under control of North Korea because it is located above the 38th parallel.  During the Korean war, it became a bloody area.  As the southern point of the Iron Triangle (a major invasion route to Seoul), the city was wiped off the map (sort of).  Much of where "old Cheorwon" was is now inside the DMZ, which can't be accessed by civilians.  But, new Cheorwon is now my new home.

Cheorwon has three main towns- DongSong, Sincherwon, and Wasu-ri.  I live in DongSong, which is the biggest of the three.  We have almost everything you could think of that you might need- a large supermarket, a gym, some bars, good restaurants, etc.  Almost everything is in walking distance, which is nice.  There is a small downtown-ish area located on the main street that runs through town.

DongSong at rush hour

We have fine wine available at our local supermarket: "House Wine Red Wine"

Fresh Mondoo (Korean dumplings)

Only the best pizza toppings- peaches and olives

The road that leads to our apartment

Below are some photos that I have taken around DongSong.  It really is a beautiful town.  There are a lot of gardens/ farms off of the main road.  A bit outside of DongSong are big rice padis.  We have a large mountain, Geumhawk-san (san meaning mountain) that is a tough hike, but definitely worth the views.

Geumhawk-san

The road leading up to Geumhawk-san, where you can get the freshest spring water

DongSong

View from the top of Geumhawk mountain

View of DongSong from the top of Geumhawk mountain

walking through town

outside of the apartment

my new running route

along the stream

view from our apartment

great place for running

the alleyways of DongSong

you know how it's really close to North Korea? Here's a war bunker in the mountain

As for my job, I'm currently working a brand spankin' new English academy called Thanks Mom English.  My students are great.  I still only have a few because it's such a new school, but they're slowly coming.   My boss is really nice and has helped me a lot with visa issues that I had.  She's really encouraging and we get along really well.

Street that the school is on

It says "thanks mom english" in korean

here's the school

classroom for the little ones

classroom for adults

I have a few different levels right now.  I have advanced adult students, a university student who's brushing up on (aka learning) English because he's going to the US to teach taekwondo next month, and a few elementary school students.  It's been nice making my own lesson plans and deciding what we'll do each day.

A lot of the Koreans think I'm crazy for leaving the exciting city of Seoul to move to a much more rural area.  And maybe I am.  But... I love it!  I love the small town feel, the simplicity, and the beautiful of countryside.  I like how excited the people here are about meeting me and learning English.