12/20/09
When I first came to Korea, I was expecting to be sent to an orientation class first where I would learn exactly how to be a teacher. Instead it turned out to be on-the-job training. I'm thankful that my co-teachers turned out to be so helpful and patient with me all year long. Still, it is a requirement for me to go to this orientation at some point, so it turned out to be last week which my name was finally summoned for the five day event. There were about 170 English teachers there, and we took classes on classroom management, teaching methods, and edutainment. I learned more about teaching and made some new English teaching friends. Sunday was fun day and we all went to the National Museum, the Korean War Museum, and Nanta, which is like Blue Man Group in a restaurant.
At the National Museum
The information tag for this piece describes it as "Seven insane scholars, who lived secluded lives in Gohyeon-dong, worrying about the condition of society." This kind of social gathering can still be seen today.
On June 25th, 1950, in the middle of the night, North Korea attacked.
Chronology of the advance of North Korea on South Korea, notice how small (5%) a part of territory South Korea occupied before the US and the UN intervened to enable a successful counter-attack. The reason for the back and forth movement of the border is that China began to help out North Korea making Korea a stage for a battle between Communism and the free world. 33,642 US soldiers died in the Korean war.
Names of some Illinois soldiers KIA.
Images of a recovering South Korea. This was elementary school less than 60 years ago.
Nanta performance. In Korean "nanta" means "to strike relentlessly". If you're curious and have lots of extra time to browse around on the web, go to youtube and type in Nanta. (Sorry, no pictures allowed during performance).
Yesterday went to see some friends from church get married. The met in Australia. The whole thing was conducted in English and Korean.
After the vows, several groups sang songs to the happy couple. (Literally facing them).
This is April, a friend from church, who teaches me and Keith lots of Korean slang and jokes. She, Keith and I sang "O Lord, You're Beautiful" for the wedding, and Steve Morel (not pictured, click here to see him) played piano.