Spring Has Sprung in Daegu

Spring has finally sprung in Daegu...although I shouldn't say finally because we hardly got any snow this year, and it was no where near as cold as I know it was at home. Anyway, the weather has been beautiful for the last week or so, except for the rain we've been getting. I think it's rained for recently than it has since I've been in Daegu--I guess it's a sign of spring. I haven't really noticed it, but apparently the yellow dust has started moving down from China. Some people are really sensitive to it, and I'm sure I would be, but I don't notice it being that prevalent here in Daegu. We are doing our best to get outdoors and enjoy the beautiful weather before we start to die of heat in the summer.

Last weekend, we met Serena and Max and ate dinner and got drinks downtown. It was a really great evening. On Sunday, I went on a 4 mile run around our area of Daegu. I ran by Gianni's apartment and school. I impressed myself with my navigation skills. I used this app for my phone to keep track of my distance, but it was hilariously far off! It stops the music every 5 minutes to tell you how far you've gone, and how many minutes you've been. After 5 minutes, it goes: "you have run for 5 minutes. you have gone 2.3 miles. your average pace is 2 minutes and ____ seconds." I was like, "wow! Korea has turned me in to a better-than-Olympics runner!" Anyway, I ran for about 40 minutes, so I estimate I did somewhere around 4 miles. I didn't even need a jacket though. The weather is just perfect! After that, we met up with some friends in a huge park in Daegu that is actually pretty close to our house, Duryu Park. That's where the body painting festival was, and this was our first time back since then. Everyone brought some food to share, and we just relaxed outside. There were soooo many people there! I think it's so great that Koreans will just go and relax outside. I know people in the US do this too, but not on the same scale I don't think. People of all ages were outside relaxing or playing games with friends. We saw an asphalt area with TONS of little kids riding their bikes. I have no idea how they were even moving because of how many people were riding on it. Another amazing thing that needs to start happening in the US is the chicken man. There are men who ride around on delivery scooters taking chicken orders in the park. If you order something, they will give you a metallic blanket to sit on, which identifies you as a customer. He then goes to get your chicken and bring it right to you! It's amazing! I definitely need to do that next time.

The semester has going well so far. Things seem to be going by really fast. I actually teach a 45-minute after school class once a week. No one signed up last year, but this year, we've got about 15 kids. It's kind of a big undertaking because Rhys and I both teach the same class of kids, so they end up getting taught twice a week. That means we have to make sure the after school topics are always different and never overlapped with each other or with our normal classes during the day. My first class was horrible! It took half the class to get them to play a name game, and I still don't think I played a game. They are really bright kids though, so I will improve it for next time. My classes themselves have been going well. I instated a new point system where the class gets 5 points a day, and if they aren't being good or doing their work, then I can drop the points down. I have different rewards they can earn with their points as well. Whenever I go over to the board where my points are written, the kids are like "NOOO!!!" and they quiet down, so I think it's been effective. Thanks Maria for that idea! We have different books for the grade 2s than we did last year also, and I kind of like the book better. It's more grammar focused, so I'm actually teaching small grammar points. The other book was more about the vocabulary of a certain topic. Both have their merits. I might try to add a bit more vocabulary in for certain topics though. I start the class with a powerpoint about the grammar point to explain it, then we do the book work, then I have them do my own activity that I make up. I find it's working better than straight book work--less boring for both them and me. I've also started this thing where they are going to make English portfolios for my class. I'm really trying my best to legitimize myself and make them see my class as one they actually need to do work in. Since I can't grade them or really punish them, this is the best option I think. I'm going to grade their work and all of their worksheets will go in that portfolios. It will also give me a chance to see how they're improving. Anyway, that's the school life.

We've also started Korean classes at the YMCA. The class is twice a week, and I find that's really helped me learn things better. Also, this class goes at a MUCH easier pace than the last class. The last Korean classes we had were good, but they covered a whole book in the time it would usually take to cover half of it, and each chapter had like 50 vocabulary words. We have no time to learn 50 vocabulary words in a week. This class is much better. It tends to focus on one or two key expressions, and I like that it teaches you a question as well as how to answer it. The last class, we focused on answering and less on the actual question that you're asked. Also, our Korean teacher speaks wonderful English and is great at explaining things. We also both downloaded this app for our iphones called "Memrise." It's been sooo helpful in learning vocabulary. I recommend it for anyway learning a language. Someone had already made one for our exact book, so we can study the words as we learn them. Basically, they show you the word and what it means in English, but below the word is a picture or something to help you remember the word--and it's really effective! For example: yorisa is chef, so below the word is a picture of Lisa Simpson cooking, and it says "YO! Lisa!" It's really amazing, and we've learned a lot with it. I'm studying the vocab from our book as well as the old one. I'm really motivated to learn to speak Korean. It's really fun!

Random note: for some reason, all the girls on the soccer team at our school have cut off all their hair for the season! I noticed on a few girls last semester, but this semester it is literally the WHOLE soccer team. It's fine if that's what they want to do, I get it. Our team is supposedly really good, but it makes it super hard to figure out who is a girl. I already have trouble with some kids because sometimes their faces are just gender neutral. The uniform usually helps because the girls wear skirts, but sometimes the girls will wear the boys' uniform. I totally messes me up! Sorry if I call you a boy, girls! My bad