For Your Entertainment...

The past 5 weeks at SNET we've hosted winter camps. Public schools are officially on winter break and we recruit kids from the Seoul suburbs to spend two weeks at SNET. This year's theme is the "SNET Travel Magazine." In general, the students have higher English levels then the varied groups from public schools. Their advanced language abilities often lead to amusing stories during magazine crafting time. Here are their tales...

STORY ONE
I am cutting out world wonder photos for students and eavesdropping on conversation one mellow morning.

Student 1: Korean, Korean, Korean, FASHION TERROR, Korean.

Erin: Um, what are you talking about? What in the world is FASHION TERROR???

Student 2: Oh my gosh teacher, her father is a FASHION TERRORIST!

Erin: What? What does he wear?

Student 1: Teacher...blue pants....red sweater....GREEN SOCKS!

Erin: Wow, that is awful. What does your mother say?

Student 1: (shakes head fervently, squints eyes, and wags her finger) tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk!

Erin: This is unbelievable.

STORY TWO
This one takes place in cooking class. I can't help but enjoy the students ability to comprehend and sass back with sarcasm. It's likely because I only see the students for a week and don't have to be concerned with long-term behavior.

Erin: Today we will be making insect kebabs. What is an insect?

Student: A bug.

Erin: Excellent. Who can give an example of a bug?

Student: Uh, you're a bug...you're bugging me. Ha, ha, ha.

Erin: Witty, but incorrect.

STORY THREE

Erin: Boys, please speak English so I can chat with you guys. What are you talking about?

Student: Teacher, did you hear about the aliens. Yeah, they are coming. The UFO is the size of Seoul to Busan. They are arriving on December 24th, 2012.

Erin: No way, who told you this?

Student: We all saw it on the Korean show, "Surprise." It is confirmed by Russian, Korean and American scientists.

Erin: Awesome, but how do they know when the ship will arrive?

Student: Cause it's by Pluto right now.

Erin: Impressive. Are you scared or excited?

Student: Excited, unless we die.

STORY FOUR
After a round of eenie meenie minny mo to choose one of the over anxious volunteers.

The Non-winning Student: Teacher, I think you are a kindergarten teacher (mocking me in a girly voice) eenie meenie minnie minny mooey.

Erin: Touche 8 year old!

The New Years Ski Trip

We ventured to High 1 ski resort in Gangwon-do, Korea for the New Year.

With an early dismissal on Friday, a big group of people from our school hopped on a 5 p.m. bus to the west. After consuming a little too much soju on our "party" bus, we had to demand a rest stop in 5 minute intervals u ntil the driver pulled over.

Around 9:30 we checked into our mountain-side hotel. We rang in the New Year with an evening of drinki ng jenga and fireworks in the streets.

Our ski adventure the following day didn't go as smoothly. Apparently mass amounts of

Koreans also enjoy skiing for the New Year. Due to crowds, I managed to get in 4 runs in 4 hours. The people who bought the 24 hour pass were much luckier as the resort was dead on Sunday morning. The mountain wasn't steep, but the runs were massive. It took two gondola trips and roughly 25 minutes to reach the peak. But cruising down the slopes in the crisp air was simply refreshing. On Sunday, a festive snowball fight and snowman session with Relee and Sara remidied my ski misadventure.

Thanks to all our friends for the laughs.

Who new there were plastic pink palm trees in Korea??? Fabulous!

December Days

The blistering cold has kept us indoors a few more days than usual. However, we have managed to have some adventures in December.

Jake's birthday party was a whirlwind night starting at an all-you-can-eat raw tuna restaurant and ending at numerous bars and clubs in Itaewon. We discovered a brewery with delicious beers on tap which was a refreshing change of pace. Later, we stumbled upon Club Mu and danced the night away to a variety of international beats. Some smoking santas made an appearance as well.

Another December day, I traveled with Relee and Gina to Bukchon Hanok Village in Seoul. This is a historic area of the city with traditional Korean homes dotting the mountainous side streets and alleys. After meandering amongst the rooftops, we escaped to a quirky cafe. The walls were draped with napkins cleverly decorated by customers.

The following day, Relee and I bused to Suwon to explore the palace and fortress wall. The palace was surprisingly tucked into the center of the city. Taxis, buses, and people zoomed by the historic temples without a second glance. After spending an hour or so exploring the palace, we realized that the fortress was in fact another tourist site all together. In our confusion, we accidentally detoured a solid kilometer before running into the actual fortress wall. Stretching over 3 km, the sturdy stone wall was an easy yet scenic walk. The south gate perched above the city. We conveniently timed our descent with the vibrant orange sunset. A nice close to the long touristy day.

Returning to the US in February

Big news!  Jake's parents recently sold their ballroom and the new owner has asked Jake to join the team. Therefore, we are ending our contract early and coming back to Portland. It is exciting, but a bit of a shock as we intended to stay in Korea till July. Luckily, we are squeezing in one more trip to Thailand before we say goodbye to Asia.

Jake and I are both returning to Portland in mid-February. I will be in Illinois from February 22nd till March 5th. I hope to visit everyone so lets make plans asap. Oh yes, and if you know of any random teaching jobs available in March, send them my way. Enjoy the New Year festivities.

 

Xmas in Daejeon once again!

We enjoyed Christmas in Daejeon once again. Our good friends allowed us to invade their apartment and crash for 3 whole days. We watched endless movies, had mega board-game tournaments, and of course, ate exquisite food. On Christmas night, it began snowing and didn't stop for a day. A layer of white covered the city streets and we frolicked to Gungdong for an evening of singing. The goal at the Karaoke room was 80% xmas carols. I can confidently say we accomplished this feat. We also had a fate meeting with my college friend Kate who just happened to surprise her brother for the holidays. It was a lovely way to spend Christmas. Thanks to everyone who sent cards and gifts. We truly appreciate you thinking of us when we are away. Much love.

Harvest Dinner

It's official, we had the most nontraditional Thanksgiving ever! Initially we had quite a scare when the 9kg Costco turkey didn't fit in our school's "easy-bake-sized-oven." But Jake and David successfully performed a spinal extraction and cooked the beast. Our potluck featured endless international dishes from cilantro beans and green curry to good ol' staples like stuffing. Let's just say, no one went hungry.

The after-party is when the real fun started though. Ian and Lynn threw a 90's throwback dance party in one of our school's large classrooms. And Jake's backward clothes were no mistake. With life-size projections of Kris Kross and Prince, one could not resist the beat.

The nonsense continued with all-night norae-bang (karaoke), rooftop fireworks, and more. Thanks to all our friends for a stellar celebration.

And Happy Birthday to Kim. We hope you enjoyed your stay ; )

Seoul Lantern Fest

Last Saturday we headed to Seoul to check out the vibrant Lantern Fest on the Cheonggye Stream. The event displayed lanterns from all over Asia. Crowds of people filled the lower sidewalks along the stream for a close up look at the displays. After discovering that the line for the lower-level queued for miles, we opted for the upper sidewalks. Here are some shots from the road:

Note: This is a Chicken Fight - Korean Style!