School site visits

I woke up at 6:30am this morning! Willingly! Weird, huh? The reason is that we had school site visits today, and we had to meet at 7:15am, but I wanted to go to the gym beforehand (trying to make it a habit). So, I ran and lifted for a short half-hour, tore back to my room to shower and change, and was only a little bit late to the bus, catching it before it left for Daejeon (대전), which is about one hour south of Goesan (괴산)

School site visits are an important part of our teaching and cultural preparation. I'm really glad that Fulbright puts us through such thorough training. It really shows that they're not just aiming to throw native English speakers into classrooms and hoping for the best, but that they're committed to creating a crop of competent teachers as well as cultural ambassadors. They want us to understand as best we can what our year is going to be like before we even begin.

The classroom I visited at Chungnam Science HS. For a lesson on how a bill becomes a law, the students are watching Schoolhouse Rock! :)

We were allowed to choose to visit one school from a variety of combinations: elementary, middle, or high × all-boys, all-girls, or co-ed × urban, suburban, or rural = 27 possible choices of school (actually 25, I think, because all elementary schools are co-ed, and, well, actually 24 for me, because some ETAs are here specifically to teach elementary, and I'm not one of them, so I could not choose any of the elementary schools). I decided to visit a very advanced-level science high school (co-ed and urban, but also a boarding school because it was on the very edge of Daejeon). It was called 충남과학고등학교 (Chungnam Science High School), I believe.

Chungnam turned out to be a very unique school among those at which ETAs are normally placed. It is a very rich school with excellent teaching facilities, including laboratory classrooms, geology exhibits in the halls, and an observatory. Although it is public, admission is by test results only (and you'll soon hear me talk about how everything in the Korean educational system is based on test scores and rankings), so the students here are already top-tier. Also, it's a small school of only 120 students total, and class sizes are around twenty, which is half of what is normal for public schools.

This high school has its own observatory classroom! Talk about good government funding. But I doubt the students have any time to actually take their astronomy courses seriously, because they study all afternoon and evening after school.

The current ETA we were visiting was named Brian. He graduated from Grinnell three years ago and taught in Macau for one year and Korea for two. His class was really interactive, and he emphasized teaching his students how to express themselves more than simply how to conjugate verbs or use big words.

His unit was on political science, and his first-year students (who were roughly equivalent to our high school sophomores) were having a test on American government. But rather than having a sit-down test or even an oral exam, their test consisted of all the students playing the roles of State Department secretaries, Congresspeople, and even a President and Vice President as they wrote bill proposals, defended them in front of a Senate and House of Representatives, and passed them into law. The better the laws helped their country's health, happiness, economy, and security, the more points the class got as a whole.

A particularly good-at-English student, Chloe, proposes her bill on increasing subsidies for university tuition before the House of Representatives. Brian, the ETA, is the cute guy to the left of her, and Amy and Amber, other visiting ETAs, look on.

The whole setup was very creative, fun, and interesting. At least, it was for me. I hope the students had fun, too! Some of them were very much into it, and others seemed much less engaged. Also, their skill levels in spoken English varied greatly. Most of them were good at spelling and writing, but when I asked specific students to explain why they voted for or against a specific bill, for example, one said it in Korean first and then translated herself, and another refused to say anything at all.

Besides looking in on the class, we also took a short tour of the campus and ate lunch in the cafeteria with students, where I met Danielle, Sheldon -- who named himself after the character on Big Bang Theory -- and a kid who named himself Oppenheimer. Nerds. Brian also gave us a short lecture on some advice for getting ready for our classrooms and curricula. Some points I'll share:

• Plan on spending more time doing cultural ambassadorship than actual teaching.
• Technology is not very reliable.
• Teach students to be creative and independent thinkers, not just English-speaking robots.
• But also hold them to high standards and be strict about your classroom rules.
• Routine and creative warm-ups and games are good. Notebooks (journals) are good. Reward systems are good. Organization and continuity between lessons is good.
• Give constant feedback, even if it takes a long time! And... always smile!

Dear readers: any more advice for a future teacher? :)

Vika chats with the Department of State.

So from this school site visit, I can say now that I would like to teach in a high school, not a middle school. I would prefer my students to have as high a level of English as possible, as well as the (slightly) higher maturity level that comes with fourteen- and fifteen-year olds. The chances aren't terribly high that I'll get the placement I want, but I'm glad that I at least have some sort of opinion of what I want to do. Quite a change from the norm of having no idea what I want to do (with regard to my future, for example).

Also, Korean classes and taekwondo classes begin tomorrow! I'm very excited for both!

First photos!

나는 사진 찍는 거 좋아해요!

Which means, "I like to take photos!" Which I really do. And furthermore, I like to share them.

Day 3 of Orientation is over, and it was a long day. But fortunately, 화창 했어요 (hwachang haesseoyo -- it was sunny), after two days of rain, humidity, and overcast skies. It was absolutely glorious; a bunch of other ETAs and I just ran outside after lunch and took photos of the gorgeous mountains. The sun and blue skies really woke us up. It's amazing what some vitamin D can do!

While the rain kept us cooped inside for two days, we found ways to amuse ourselves. For example, 나무 쌓기 게임 (wooden stacking game, or Korean Jenga). From left to right: Rachel, Payal, and Hilary.

This is a photo of me in front of Jungwon University's main building. It's huge! Ten stories tall, and constructed like a palace. It's kind of weird, but more on that later. [taken by Tyler]

Looking east and southeast from the strange owl-tree-fountain hill, nothing but green all around. The town of 괴산 (Goesan) is surrounded by mountains.

It was such a beautiful day, and we were being photographed, so of course we had to be silly. (Nic, on the left, looks on, confused, at Kristen, Ammy, Ben, Tyler, and Katelyn.)

 Oh, and you guys remember when I talked about our missing Independence Day due to being on a plane from LAX to Seoul? Well, our Orientation Coordinator Team decided to remedy that, and gave us all sparklers and Roman candles to play with this evening, as a belated Fourth of July party! It was such a sweet gesture, and also tons of fun.

Katelyn and Kristen share a sparkler.

I'm really happy that I'm here right now. That's all! :)

School is in session

This morning, all of the Fulbrighters were administered a placement exam that would determine which level of Korean classes they would take for the next six weeks of Orientation.

The exam was fairly straightforward: write an essay about yourself in Korean, and then have an oral exam (an "interview") with a Korean teacher to determine your fluency. It's been quite a while since I've done any written Korean. While I did take beginner Korean for one semester, that class was during my sophomore year, and I've forgotten almost everything I learned that wasn't purely conversational. So what did I write about myself? Just my hometown, my nationality, where I go to school, and why I have a very Korean-sounding Korean name.

The testers looked at my essay, placed me in one waiting area for oral exams, re-read my essay and moved me to another one, and then re-re-read my essay and put me back where I started. And then I waited. I became increasingly nervous about the oral exam because I haven't had to speak Korean for longer than ten seconds for two years, and I was sure I'd have no idea what my examiner was saying, let alone be able to answer her.

As it turns out, the oral exam wasn't horrible. It started with my name and very, very basic information, mostly repetition of what I'd written in my essay. When it came to things like telling time and the date and describing my family, I forgot some key words, but the examiner was very kind and prompted me, even giving English translations when I looked totally lost and could only say, "미안해요; 몰라요." (I'm sorry; I don't know.)

I heard that more advanced Korean speakers had tougher examinations, and were told to describe the personalities of their friends and families in minute detail. I had trouble even explaining what my brothers do for a living, so I definitely wouldn't have been able to talk about their personalities.

At the end of the day, we were given our class placements, and I got into Level 2 (Intermediate). This is good, because my goal was to get above beginner level, and I'm satisfied.

Another part of me is kind of -- and I'm not ashamed to admit this -- wildly excited to have classes again. Don't get me wrong, it's great to be done with college. But the part of me that loves school, structure, and schedules is teaming up with the part of me that really, really wants to learn more Korean, and I can't wait for my first Korean lesson on Tuesday morning. While we're still getting grades for our work (and, of course, are required to pass), somehow the pressure seems much lower because I'm learning Korean as job training and not just for a letter on a transcript. Hm... that seems backward, doesn't it? But you know me: all my life I've striven to get the "A" really for its own sake, even at Swarthmore. Now, it's like I know I'm going to try my best no matter what -- because it is utterly vital that I do -- so whatever grade I get is really not important. Higher stakes, less stress. Weird, huh?

So school is in session. To wish me good luck, say 화이팅 (hwa-i-ting/fighting)! And "way to go!" is "힘내!" (himnae)

Time and Travel (and Time Travel)

잘 도착했어요 (I've arrived safely), and now with Internet access, I'm learning -- slowly -- to type in Korean, the very few phrases that I know. I'll try to pepper my posts with them, along with translations, of course!

The time difference between Seoul and San Francisco is +16 hours. I also crossed the International Date Line as I flew across the Pacific. The result is that my body is jet-lagged and I'm not sure what time it really thinks it is, but I'll be going to sleep soon after a long Orientation day.

Speaking of time twisters, I managed to completely miss July 4th. Well, I spent the last few hours of July 3rd in SFO, lightly panicking because my first flight to LAX was delayed by two hours. By the time my travel buddy Tracey (another ETA who had the same itinerary) and I got off the 비행기 (plane) in LAX, we had only a little over an hour to get out of the terminal, take a bus to the international terminal, check in, go through security, and get to the gate for the plane that was leaving for Seoul. When we arrived at that gate, it was about midnight of July 4th, and I was so out of breath from the crazed airport dash that I didn't even notice. Then, when we flew across the IDL, it suddenly became tomorrow, and July 4th, 2012 went away without really happening.

This happened to be the case for almost all of the other Fulbright ETAs -- there were sixty-five of us alone on that same flight from LA to 인천 공항 (Incheon Airport)-- traveling last night. It's rather ironic that our departure for a year of cultural ambassadorship coincided with an unintended subversion of our national holiday.

The flight itself was nice -- I slept for most of it, watched a cute video teaching Koreans how to say basic greetings and phrases in English, and also watched most of Moneyball. Oh, and! I became friends with the guy sitting next to me on the plane, who was not a Fulbright ETA. He was soft-spoken but had a lot of interesting stories to tell about his life: he was in the Marines, worked as a diver and a fisher, and now does landscaping for rich peoples' big yards. He's been to tons of countries and likes to meet locals and learn their languages. So, although he was only stopping in Korea on his way to Vietnam with some members of his VFW, I took the opportunity to teach him the basics of the Korean hangeul alphabet (한글). I really like the rare occasion of actually talking with my neighbors on flights... in four years of flying back and forth between SFO and PHL, it's happened only a few times.

Time... Another time issue I have is with this blog: since I've switched my time zone to what will be the future for most of my readers back in the States, will it not show up on feeds until thirteen or sixteen hours have elapsed? You guys, I'm in the future! (This never ceases to amuse me, no matter how many times I've been to Asia.)

And in the future, everyone is tired, excited, nervous, and learning how to eat 김치 (kimchi) without crying. In the future, private universities are made of marble and have terrific swimming facilities (photos to come), I have no clothes hangers (yet), and it's raining and very, very humid. 아주 습해요! We'll see what else the future has to bring... but tonight I'm turning in early. 잘자 (Good night)!

P.S. If you speak/read Korean fluently, feel free to correct any spelling or grammatical mistakes I make!

환영합니다!

That means, "Welcome!"

I'm in Korea!

That's all, bye!

The Last Night

Tonight is the last I'm going to spend in the United States for a while... I spent it packing and playing Settlers of Catan with my cousins. Time well spent, I think.

So now that I have about seventeen hours before I leave for the airport, it's time to go over my pre-departure to-do list. Number one... SF! I did go -- multiple times, actually -- and I got some souvenirs from the Far East Flea Market in SF's Chinatown, reportedly the best and cheapest place to buy tourist-y things. I also used my time in SF and Berkeley to prepare some cultural lessons, in a way: at the recent Giants-Dodgers game at AT&T park, I shot some short movies that I'm going to try to turn into a video lesson on baseball. (Also -- the Giants won! Woohoo!) I also interviewed some friends of mine who are students at Cal. It's for giving my future students some American college aspirations, I guess!

As for other teaching materials, I've brought along some magazines which I don't think will be terribly helpful, as they are not at a very low reading level, and they will also be outdated by the time I actually start teaching. Oh well, at least I can read them. And I also brought some Taboo cards which should make for a fun in-class activity, as long as I tweak the rules a bit to make them easier.

I finished Level 1 at TalktomeinKorean.com, and I'll spend all my plane time and the first day of Orientation doing a bit of review. The hope is that I won't be placed in a beginner-level class, even though my grammar and vocabulary is still way below intermediate.

In addition to the very useful podcast lessons on that website, I also watched (and finished!) my very first Korean drama, called Dream High. It's kind of like Smash, more like Fame (not really like Glee, I must admit). It started out pretty awful, but after three or four episodes I started to get very attached to the storylines. And while the series finale left me a bit unimpressed, I at least now have a bit more knowledge of some Korean pop stars. Also, the drama's theme song is stuck in my head.

Dream High's beautiful cast of mediocre actors

And yes, I cut my hair. In fact, I almost shaved it all off. No photos for you, though!

Lastly, I've finished packing. I really tried to pack light. One large suitcase to be checked, one small suitcase as a carry-on, and one backpack. The larger suitcase is just shy of the fifty-pound weight limit, and it is filled with nothing but clothes. The smaller one has basically everything else. Does it seem like a lot to you? I'm actually taking less with me to Korea (for one year) than I took to France (for one semester). So I think I'll be buying some more clothes while I'm over there.

Oh, one more thing... Mission Peak! I only hiked up once. Maybe I'll sneak in one more tomorrow morning... should I risk it? Haha.

Good night, moon. Next time I see you, I'll be on the other side of the world!

Swarthmore Fulbrights

Ten (10!) Swatties from the class of 2012 have been awarded Fulbright grants this year. That's a lot! And we're going to Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Colombia, France, Macau, Malaysia, Norway, Botswana, and... South Korea! About half of us are going to be ETAs, and the others will conduct research on everything from food production to cancer immunology to human empathy.

Yes, ten is a lot for one year; but from what I've heard, sixty Swarthmore graduates have been awarded Fulbrights in the past six years, which, in a way, makes the running average ten per year. (Not per class year, though, because alumni are allowed to apply for the Fulbright through the institution, too.)

Way to go, Swatties! (And many thanks to Melissa Mandos, our college's very helpful grants and prizes adviser, who made it all happen.) Best of luck to you all, all around the world. Y'all better keep some blogs or something; you know how I roll.

See all of our happy faces here.

T-minus seven (7?!) days!

P.S. "Swarthmore College" in Korean is a mouthful: 스와스모어 대학교. That is: seu-wa-seu-mo-eo ("Swassmohh"?!) dae-hak-kyo.

비디오 - Video

That's "video" in Korean; transliterated from English as pi-di-o.

A fellow Fulbright fellow, Cody, posted this video she found on Vimeo that gives a sort of preview of what South Korea is going to be like. It's a pretty, nine-minute montage of footage taken around the peninsula, from hikers in the mountains to bars and restaurants in Seoul. It's well done (and it looks like the filmmakers are from SF -- cool!), so check it out!

Do you know South Korea? What cities, landmarks, or foods do you recognize in the video? What should I put on my Korea bucket list?

Pre-departure To-do List

Whew... the wedding's over! My eldest brother Tim was married this past weekend, and the ceremony and reception were held at our house. So for the past two weeks -- ever since I got back from school, actually -- I have been doing almost nothing but preparing for the biggest party my family has ever hosted. Making the favors, cleaning the backyard, painting, planting, designing, running dozens of errands... it's been a crazy fortnight. And Saturday was one whirlwind of a day! But Tim and his new wife (my new sister-in-law!) are off on their honeymoon, things at home have calmed down considerably, and now I can turn my attention 100% to preparing for a year in Korea.

So here's my To-do List. Having already finished the very necessary things, like getting my visa, medical clearance, and plane tickets, most of what I think I have yet to do is going to be based off of what I hear the other Fulbright Fellows are doing. Thanks to a surprisingly active Facebook group that was created shortly after we were all selected, dozens of us have been sharing tips and even making some travel plans for our shared year abroad. (Well, the "shared" part is only six weeks during orientation and training, but that's beside the point.) I took some pointers and made my list:

1. Go to San Francisco and grab some souvenirs, gifts for my host family and school, and prizes for students. I'll see if I can ransack the local tourism bureaus for freebies!
2. Decide if I want to mail over some magazines, readers, or language activity books that might come in handy for teaching. I plan to do a lot of my teaching with computer technology, but a good book is always nice to have in a classroom, right? People have suggested Mad Libs, which is a great idea.
3. Seriously crack down on studying Korean. I'd like to be placed in a non-beginner class, if possible, so by the time I take that placement test, I'd better have my verb conjugations down and a much larger vocabulary.
4. Cut my hair...
5. Figure out how I want to manage money while in Korea; this may involve closing one bank account and opening another. As long as I can use a Korean ATM from time to time, I think I'll be fine.
6. Pack pack pack. I have sixteen days left to organize an entire year...! At least I won't be bringing my entire closet with me. I have a feeling I'll be buying a lot of clothes (especially winter clothes) while abroad... so expect me to be dressed head-to-toe in Uniqlo when you next see me! ;)
7. See people and say goodbyes! I won't see my friends for at least six months, some for a year or longer. But I'll do my part to keep in touch by keeping up this blog. So you should subscribe to it (there's a hidden sidebar on the right; the button on the bottom is a subscribe button!), maybe, if you want to, no pressure or anything, really. Really.

Oh yes, and I must remember to hike Mission Peak a few times before I go. Am I missing anything else?

Chae ileumen...

Here's a short explanation of the web address of this blog: anseong. What is that, and how do you pronounce it?

When I first became interested in studying Korean a few years ago, my Korean friends Hae-in and Jung-hyun decided to help me pick a Korean name. The fact that I already have a Chinese name made this pretty simple: they took my Chinese name, 安誠 (ānchéng) and transliterated it, as Korean hanja (the Korean reading of Chinese characters), into Korean hangeul (the Korean alphabet). Thus: 안성, pronounced AHN-song and written as you see up in the address bar of your browser.

So, this blog is named after myself. It's not that affected, is it? Besides, "andrewinkorea" was already taken!

Chae ileumen anseong imnida. My name is An-seong! What's yours?