Travels in Europe

Travels in Europe

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Robots Have Feelings Too

I am going to start this post by promoting my beautiful twin's blog about her trip to Palestine over these next few weeks! Not only is she having an adventure of a lifetime, she is meeting amazing new people and documenting it all for everyone to share! Her writing is incredible (MUCH better than mine). It's almost like you are actually there trying to get through the Jordanian border with her and the other members of the Know Thy Heritage crew. Take a look at it when you can! Actually, now. Read it now. Then you can come back and read about robots. 


Back? Okay cool. Amazing right? She should be published. Then after that she can make a Palestinian cookbook. My sisters are going to be famous one day I just know it.

As for life in Korea, these past few weeks have been very busy as we are prepping for speech contests, song contests, and open house which is in two weeks! The last open house went well and I know this one will too. It just means the Korean teachers are pulling out their hair trying to make it all perfect, when they are kindergarteners and perfection means very little in the eyes of kindergarteners. Did we have fun? Yes. Did we do a game of some sort? Yes. Did mommy smile after the lesson? Yes. Well great!

It seemed that every night last week had some sort of even happening. Now I'm definitely not complaining as the activities were highly enjoyable. For example, Tuesday night was sushi with some coworkers...


The deal at this restaurant is that you get 12 pieces of sashimi for about 14,000W. By the 12th piece I was full and happy. Usually two words that do not go together for me but with sushi...anything is possible. I hope to come back to this place soon. Anyone down for sushi? During the meal I talked to my coworker, Alex, about Kaitie and my trip to Japan in September! Not only will I want to eat my weight in sushi, I asked where else we should go, and what else we should see. she recommended Japan Disney Sea, which has just opened recently. In our three full days there, that will most likely take up a whole one, so we'll have to make that decision soon! She also mentioned shopping, as well as traditional palaces and temples around the Tokyo. Definitely getting excited to see this part of the world!

Wednesday, I met with a friend for Vietnamese Pho noodles, which are always delicious. We spend the evening comparing book lists and talking about what we've read, want to read, and are currently reading. She had been trying to start a book club in her area (Incheon, about half and hour from me). As she is leaving in a month, she will not be part of it but I'm definitely considering it! Reading on your own is an excellent way to relax, unwind, or just pass the time. However, when you get the chance to have meaningful discussions about the books, characters, and events it changes the reading experience for you. Reading becomes an interactive and intellectual activity instead. I would also get the chance to make a whole new circle of friends, and who doesn't want that! We'll see what happens.

Thursday was field trip day at Little America. This week's exotic destination was a Robot Museum! Here the students were guided around and shown several different robots and what they could do. One robot drew a picture of a student sitting in front of it. Some other dog robots danced to a few K-pop songs. Then a few humanoid robots acted out the story of the tortoise and the hare. Not the most thrilling rendition of the story despite the addition of robots, but beggars can't be choosers. Some of the robots were really incredible. A few fought over a soccer ball, while others played music via a circular xylophone of sorts. My girls weren't really as impressed as I was by some of them. For the most part they were scared of them. One robot could talk to you if you asked him simple questions in Korean. He wasn't exactly the cutest robot. Giant robot lips and protruding eyes didn't help my students feel comfortable with him. They kept saying "teacher! So ugly!". Poor guy, can't help how he was made.

not too sure about whatever he's looking at

 

Students then watched a 3D film about a robot babysitter and finally got to do a craft where they decorated their own wooden robots! Colored markers and bedazzling supplies sat in front of each child as they were let loose on their little figurines. Some made theirs wearing 3 piece suits, while others went the rainbow skirt route. My girls of course went crazy over the sparkly, shiny, pink things you could glue all over you robot.
 



Gorgeous 

After a the slew of photos taken at the end of the trip it was time to go back to Little America for a couple classes to complete their speeches! My girls would be giving speeches about what they want to be when they grow up. Dressed in their finest, the girls did an excellent job despite the camera rolling and all of their peers watching.


Jenna has the "jump picture" thing down

My pianist

My violinist

And my ballet teacher


After school was my usual Korean lesson. By the evening after work I'm usually in zombie mode, just wanting to crawl into bed. This week was no exception. These lessons however have a way of waking me up and getting me excited about the (albeit small) progress I'm making with my Korean language skills. I am in no way ready to have full out conversations with a random Korean stranger on the street, although many have tried to do so with me. According to my teacher, my pronunciation and listening has gotten better. I make mistakes the entire time but her patience and humor get us through the rough patches. I look forward to continue meeting with her. I might ask if we can meet twice a week instead so that I can practice even more outside of school. I know after Korea, the skill I've learned wont be incredibly useful for me, but why not take advantage of learning while I'm here for another year? 맞아요?

Friday was the birthday party and song contest. My girls tried their best at our monthly song but I believe I was a bit too ambitious with them singing "When I'm 64". They knew most of the words and the dance separately, however when combining the two they would choose to either sing or dance. Not both. The video has a long section of silence in the middle where I am off the the side (unseen on film) waving my arms and mouthing the words to my oblivious three little ladybugs who continue dancing away. Oh well, not every month can be a hit! We will try with next month's "Put on a Happy Face", which will just remind me of Playbill junior year at Tatnall. The other teachers had similar results from their students. This month felt very rushed with field trips, and other responsibilities of us and the students. I'll distract your disappointment of no video with cute pictures of students dancing and playing...You'll never know.
I'm telling you, Jenna is good!



 


Not sure what's happening to Andy in this picture (the small boy in the fetal position)



Happy birthday hugs


After work on Friday, a group of us met out for dinner to say goodbye to Seol, who is leaving for his mandatory Army service next week! Such short notice for him. We will definitely miss him and his humor on our future adventures around Korea. Not only is he super helpful when it comes to communicating for us, he is genuinely a sweet guy! I hope the Army guys don't make him clean the bathroom with a toothbrush or anything. After dinner we sat in Lake Park with some wine, sides (provided by Stefaan, thanks!) and a game of Catch Phrase until hopping in taxis to Bupyeong where we went to our normal stomping ground, Cheap Shots. Overall, it was a great night, with wonderful food and friends. I know Seol has a large group of people here who will miss him dearly while he is away! We'll be thinking of you Seol.

Kaitie and I couldn't stay out too late as early Saturday morning we were off to a Foreign Teacher's Seminar in Anyang (about an hour away). This meeting was a mandatory function set up by the hogwans of Gyeonggido. Every foreign teacher in Gyeonggi province had to show up, sign in, and listen to some presentations regarding teaching English in Korea. The MC of the event was a very sweet Korean guy. I felt badly for him because, as many nice people as there are here, there are definitely still some bad apples in the bunch. As he showed us some videos of traditional and beautiful areas around the country, one man shouted "We don't care" into the silent auditorium. You could feel the simultaneous intake of breath as nearly everyone turned to see who could possibly be that rude. I won't call out this gentleman (using this term loosely), however he made several more comments throughout the seminar that made myself and I know many other people there incredibly uncomfortable. While the seminar wasn't exactly the most useful one I've been to, nor did I want to be there especially, this is something we had to do for our schools and therefore we had a responsibility to be there. Being rude or complaining about the situation does not change the fact that you are there, and it definitely will not make the day go any faster. Why not sit quietly and listen, point out spelling mistakes on the screen, or just look at your phone, which was what the majority of the crowd was doing. 
Aye Aye Captain!

Yikes... "Cultural" and "Korea". Not sure if it was supposed to be "Sound & Rhythm & and Fan" or Fun either...

A few foreigners made presentations about teaching, which were entertaining, though mainly telling us things we already know. For example, teaching here is much different than teaching in western cultures. Some life changing info there thanks!

Then a cute little old Korean man named Hank came on stage and began a rather painfully slow lecture about the most common pronunciation mistakes that Korean students make and how to fix them. His speech was littered with fillers such as "you know", "okay", and the occasional "blah blah blah". While this man is incredibly intelligent in his field (and his native tongue), he was not the right choice of speaker for this event. He apparently lives in Geongju (where we went for the cherry blossom bike trip. He invited whoever wanted to to go there and he would show them around. Such a sweet little old man. So, in the end, not the most useful nor enlightening, but it was something we had to do and we did it. Thanks again to Kaitie for keeping me company as she volunteered to go along! We ended the day by meeting up with a big group of people at a camping ground near the World Cup Stadium called Nanji Camping Jong (난지캠핑장). Sitting in the sun with some good food, drinks, and meeting new people was a blast. Met a girl from Silver Spring, Maryland and another guy from Salisbury. Small world. This camping ground wasn't exactly so much pitching a tent in the woods with a bonfire as much as renting chairs and a grill, and sitting under portable shade (also rented) while avoiding the sun like the plague. Meanwhile I scared them all by sitting in the direct sun trying to soak in as much vitamin D as I could. Even the other foreigners of the group were not too sure about me I think. It was here I've expanded my group of friends yet again. One guy plays tennis, so we are working on hitting somewhere around Bucheon soon, which will be fun! I'll have to find a good racket somewhere. Headed home early and read until bed. I love relaxing weekends.

The grill master


I have a feeling this month is going to go by very quickly. Before you know it, there will be another post on here for you to read!

xoxoxo

Korean of the post: 
재 담요 어디에요? 내가 담요를 덤불 안에요. 
(Damyo audiaeyo? Damyoleul dawmbool anaeyo)
Where is my blanket? Your blanket is in the bush.

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