Winter Camps at Chopyeong

So my school days at Chopyeong were officially over on December 18th but I still had three days of winter camps from Dec 26~28th with the kids. Chopyeong is very easy going with my winter camps and I have full control over what I can do so I usually try to make it more fun rather than academic since they kids don't necessarily have to attend but they do because their families are busy or they have nowhere else to go during winter break.

I decided to focus on a winter/Christmas/New Years theme since the holidays were just over and the new year was just around the corner.

Christmas is one of my favourite holidays so we started by going over Christmas vocabulary and key phrases and launched into making Christmas cards:

Making the cards.

Writing a Christmas greeting.

Finished cards.

 Then we made a Christmas decoration that I remember making in elementary school and absolutely loving: Christmas stained glass windows!

Cutting out the stencils.

Cutting and pasting on cellophane.

Finished product looks great held up to the window!

For my summer camps last year we made french toast and pasta and it was loads of fun, so I definitely wanted a cooking component to winter camp as well. I decided on making a traditional winter drink for them: apple cider! Hot, spicy, just the right thing for a cold day. I had planned to make it together as a whole class and go over ingredients and a recipe in English but the stained glass took a lot longer than expected so I made it for them on the side and served it:

Setting up.

Slicing up the apples, ginger and orange.

Infusing fruit and cinnamon with apple juice.

They liked it!

Then we had our New Year's class. I taught them some vocabulary and phrases related to New Year's Eve and then we got ready to have a mock new year's eve party. We made paper plate party hats, toilet paper roll noise makers and balloon poppers. After everything was made we had our countdown!

 

Overall, it was a great way to end my year at Chopyeong. I will really miss these kids whom I've gotten to know on a first name basis and would love to run into one of them years later and see how they've gotten along.

Yeongdeok Cultural Trip

Happy new year! So I know this post about my cultural trip is coming in a little late but the holiday season has been crazy, so excuse the unpunctual updating.

In the TaLK program, we get "cultural money" which means we can spend it on things that allow us to experience or learn about Korean culture. This semester my coteacher Bella and I had no idea what we wanted to do so it was left up to the decision of our mentor teacher Anthony, and he made a great choice. We rented a car and drove east to the province of Gyeongsangbuk-do to the fishing town of Yeongdeok along with another TaLK scholar and his mentor teacher and coteacher from a school in our area. The journey took about four hours each way but it was worth it! The town seemed relative small but when we drove down to the main harbour - holy smokes! It was a beautiful day, we were next to the ocean and there were seafood shops everywhere.

And what kind of seafood is Yeongdeok known for? Crabs. A lot of crabs, especially snow crabs. It's even the town's mascot and there were statues of  crabs everywhere. Let me allow the pictures to do the talking:

Giant crab statue over a crab restaurant.

 

Massive seafood market.

View of the harbour from our restaurant.

This is the massive shopping basket of crabs we picked to eat

Bring on the crabs.

The devastation after we ate.

The snow crabs we got were delicious - they were so fresh and sweet and thinking about them now is making me want more. We didn't have too much time to spend there since the commute was so long but we did go to see a lighthouse with an iconic crab claw after we ate and took some pictures next to the beautiful east coast of Korea.

I'm really glad I got to visit Yeongdeok as part of my culture trip this semester. I don't think I would've gotten a chance to go there on my own since I had no idea what it was about at all. We have plans to try and go down there again to eat snow crabs before I return to Canada. If you are on the east coast of Korea and want to try some amazing seafood, definitely visit Yeongdeok - you won't be disappointed!

Last full week at Chopyeong

So this week went by pretty fast. Can't believe it was my last full week teaching at Chopyeong Elementary! I did Christmas themed classes for most of my grades and we watched Christmas movies / English movies of their choosing to ease out of the school semester. We also did some holiday arts and crafts like making snowflakes! I don't think this is a big thing in Korea at all because a lot of my younger grades didn't seem like they knew what they were doing at first but they really got into it (and there was a helluva mess left over to prove it). I'm going to miss my kids :<

Gr 1s making snowflakes

Made my own and stuck them up on my bedroom window!

Unfortunately I didn't take many photos of the beautiful rice fields and mountains surrounding my school throughout the year. When I came to Chopyeong in March they were bare and naked. Then spring came and they got flooded and tiny rice shoots were planted. They grew green and lush in the summer time and fall came and they turned golden and were harvested into bundles. I got this photo of the rice field across from my school this week though, looking lovely covered in snow with the white mountains in the backdrop. Maybe my new school will be surrounded by rice fields too and I can capture them next season :)

snowy rice fields at sunset

Also got my Xmas cards and stocking stuffers sorted and mailed out:

I love Xmas ^_^

Since it's so cold out I felt like cooking something hot, so I tried cooking Kimchi Jjigae for the first time. It turned out pretty decent! A little sweeter than I'd like (I like my kimchi jjigae on the more sour side) so I think I'll use a more sour kimchi next time and add less sugar.

home made 김치 찌개

Tomorrow I go on a group cultural trip with my mentor teacher Anthony, coteacher Bella and another TaLK scholar Maiday and his MT and CT as well. I will update with photos of the place we are visiting: Yeongdeok, Gyeongbuk! Apparently known for it's seafood - especially crabs :)

Snow day (❁´◡`❁)*✲ﾟ*

Woke up today to a huge snow flurry outside. Coming from temperate Vancouver, it is definitely unusual to see snow in early December, and this much of it too.

View from my window this morning.

Caught the bus and on the way to school my mentor teacher Anthony called me to say that our after school classes were cancelled but since I was on the bus already to come and have lunch at school and then go home. That's last minute Korea for you! However, it sounded good to me - I love our school lunches and I would much rather eat at school than cook something for myself or go out and eat.

Got to school and went for lunch with the teachers and students. We had sam gye tang aka ginseng chicken soup today! ah~ it was amazing - perfect for this cold weather. Had a second serving, was completely stuffed.

During lunch the school nurse came over and told me in Korean and with sign language to go back to Jincheon at 2:40 via bus. Not too sure if she means the regular bus (since it does come at that time) or if the school bus is taking us. Either way, just chilling in the staff room until that time since it's freezing in the English classroom and I don't want to turn on the heater and sit in there by myself. Had an inkling to bring a book with me today too - "Beloved" by Toni Morrison - but had full classes today so wasn't expecting to have time to read. So much for reader's intuition! But perhaps a good thing I didn't bring it anyway because I've decided to start this blog in my spare time instead. Although I started teaching in Korea as part of TaLK (teach and learn in Korea) in February 2012, I've decided to start this blog chronicling my stay here. This blog will focus on my school life and my travels around Korea. Although it is already December 2012, better late than never, so they say.

Lesson topics today were going to be accessories and shoes since we did clothing this past week. Thought it was appropriate as the students are going to be wearing winter accessories (e.g., gloves, socks, hats) since the weather has turned so quickly. Oh well, just means I have a few lesson plans ready for next week!