We have Korean friends...FINALLY!! :)

Don't ever let anyone tell you that a 2-day week of school is easier than a full one. Heading into our first class of the week this past Thursday, Sarah and I thought the Chuseok break would make for an easy week shortly before another weekend. Oh, how we were wrong. 


It turns out that when you have less time at your desk in a week, there's less time to prepare the lessons and therefore much more to get done in a much shorter period of time. Nevertheless, We both rose to the occasion and gave 110%, only to fall face-first into our beds much of this weekend from exhaustion. I was also able to hand out my first punishments to some bratty 6th graders this week, something that I am learning very quickly that many public schools here are not very familiar with. Punishments as consequences for misbehaving in class is not popular at my school, and therefore was very shocking to receive as a student. Nevertheless, it was almost immediately easy to see that discipline and punishment go a long way in keeping these kids in check. I am also in the midst of planning and organizing a week-long English Festival in October, something I was told about only days ago. However, I'm excited for the opportunity and am grateful for the responsibility being entrusted to me. Being an ESL teacher is a fun exhausting job. It's hard but the hard is what makes it great (a little quote from a great movie called "A League of Their Own"...thank you, Tom Hanks!)


Earlier in the week we had a chance to go to our first movie in the downtown Daegu theatre. We saw "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (which p.s. was AWESOME!!) and got a little taste of Western cinema. The nice thing is that all of the American films are in English with Korean subtitles. This was great news to discover, as I am personally anxiously awaiting the release of "The Hunger Games" movie this summer!! :)

Go see this film!!

One of the things that Sarah and I have been really wanting since arriving to our new home in Daegu is Korean friends, people our age who live in Korea, speak both English and Korean, and most importantly are fun and cool people who we enjoy being around. It's not that we don't love our other friends here (because they are our life support here, believe me!), but we were so excited when this week we were finally able to hang out with several of the native Korean teachers and just have fun in community with them.

Out for food and drinks with our awesome group of friends!!

We definitely hit the jackpot in this regard! This past Friday we went out with Sarah's good friend and co-teacher Sue and our other new friend Fintan's co-teacher, a really cool guy named Steve. We first went out and had some delicious Korean veggie pizza and rice wine, and then it was off to karaoke at one of the coolest and most affordable Norabongs I have ever been to. We spent 2 good hours singing English and Korean pop songs, singing and dancing our butts off, and just having a good time with quality friends that make up our diverse group of awesome people!!! :)

KARAOKE BABY!!

If I could give any relevant advice to new English teachers living in a foreign country, it is this: Be intentional about being in the midst of the culture you are in. It is very easy to make friends only with other Westerners, go to Western places, do Western things, and stay inside an American bubble on the other side of the world. All of these things are important to have because they give you a community of friends and support, but at the same time, you have to find ways to try new things, meet people different from you, and experience life in new ways. The bottom line- find time and opportunities to do both! Enjoy them both! Appreciate them both! BUT above all- DO BOTH!