Sorry everyone that it has been so long since my last post! There has been no time to write a meaningful and justified blog. I finally have a moment to breath and am ready to share the last two weeks with you.
School has been busy (as usual). The end of the month is the most hectic time at ECC. We have our phone teaching schedules, evaluation write ups, and testing all the elementary students to take care of. Leaving work before 7pm is not an option! By the time I return home, I am so exhausted that I lay in bed for about an hour and then crawl to the kitchen to feed myself. But with that said, I am still loving this job. Even when I want to pull my hair out from Korean children screaming "Teacher, Teacher!" all day, I still love this job!
I spent my Chuseok vacation with my supervisor and his parents from Canada. We went and saw a few historical places of Korea and just got to know the country even more. We went to Gyeongbokgung Palace first. I loved this place because as I told my supervisor I was looking in the market of buying a palace and this ranked at the top of the list :) The scenery with the mountains and rivers set behind this palace was incredible! We watched the changing of the guards ceremony as we were leaving. The colors of the uniforms and flags were so beautiful and the tradition of the passing of the swords was awesome to see!
Next we went to Namsangol Village, which is a traditional Korean village that you can actually tour and participate in Korean festivities. Most of the houses were authentic and hundreds of years old just restored to their rightful state. It was so great to go see these places during Chuseok because a ton of people were in hanboks. A hanbok is a beautiful outfit that is made of beautiful colors and beading. The women have these gorgeous gowns and the men have Korean suits. The village was educational and a great stop on my list of Korean touristy things :)
On our last day of school before Chuseok vacation, all the children wore their hanboks to school for our Chuseok party. I was really confused when we started playing on the floor and cooking Korean treats with their hanboks on. For a childrens hanbok, they are priced anywhere from 49,00 to 100,000 won ($49-$100). These are expensive things to own and if my child came home with dirt or rice cakes on their hanbok I would have a fit! But luckily we didn't have any mishaps. We ended up taking all 100 of the kindergarteners to the park and played Korean games. It was so much fun and they all looked adorable, but it was so hot that day and my poor students were dripping sweat. These hanboks are not made of breathable material and I ended up fanning the students the entire walk to and from the park. The kept saying "Teacher I so hot" or "Teacher, water please." :( I felt so bad, but we made it back to the school without anyone fainting and supplied enough water to rehydrate them!
Overall, this has been a great two weeks! I am starting to feel the true pressures from this job, but the good is outweighing the bad. I miss my home, family, friends, and everything so much, but I am still in awe of this experience. I want to thank everyone for sending such kind emails and messages to me. Even the simplest message makes my day and I feel your love and support on the other side of the world! I can't believe I have been here for 5 weeks already! Love you all <3
Hi Mallory, Your blogs are fun to read. How fun to share it. Wow all those hot little kids!! Im surprised you didnt have to carry any of them back. It sounds like you are seeing and doing a lot. Thats very cool.
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