Amazing discoveries

This past weekend was fairly busy.  The differences between living in Paju and Seongnam is pretty big.  The things that I have at my finger tips here is amazing compared to having to travel an 1+ one way to do anything during the weekend.

So, this blog is geared more towards those that are living in/around Seoul and want to know about some fun things I discovered this past weekend.

On Saturday I had a meeting about tutoring North Koreans.  There is a tutoring program which is ran through the North Korean Defectors' Freedom Association.  They meet on Saturday's from 12:30-3 in Daecheong, Seoul.  There is an assortment of ages, all the way from Kindergarten students to adults. While not all of them came directly from N. Korea (for example, the kindergarten students are the children of defectors) they all share the common need of needing tutoring so they can survive in this world.

So, if you're near this area I highly recommend this.  This is, of course, a volunteer position.  It's a good way to become involved in the community and to give back.  This organization has made it into the Korean newspaper and you can read more about it here.

Another discovery this weekend was a place called "Once in a blue moon."   This was an amazing discovery as it's so hard to actually find live music in Korea.  This place is located in Apgujeong (Exit 6 if you're taking the metro) and has performances between 7:30-12:40.  The admission is free but you're paying for it through drinks.  I believe a Cass beer was 16,000\ and it only went up from there.  I ordered an orange juice--just the juice and my drink was 15,000\.  I wasn't there for the food but I can only assume that would also be pricey--the atmosphere and the music (at least when I went) was definitely worth the cost of my drink though.

The last place I am going to talk about is Butterfinger Pancakes.  The one I went to was in Gangnam (which is about 40 minutes away) but apparently there is one near me.  I refuse to learn where as I am afraid of always going there once I find out!

This place is absolutely amazing and puts I-Hop to shame.  I ordered a mozzarella and cream cheese pancake.  I was a little uncertain about the combination but it was absolutely delicious!  I also ordered.....

A rootbeer float!

That's right.  A rootbeer float.  In Korea!  

Needless to say, I was beyond full when I left that place and managed to sleep off the food that afternoon. :)  

So yes, three amazing discoveries this weekend in the Bundang area.  I love living here.  This weekend I will go rafting with my school.  In the rain.  I can't say that I am excited about being rained on (at all) but I am glad it'll rain! We're also supposed to get thunderstorms! I keep being assured that they aren't planning on cancelling the trip even with the rain so I suppose I should just prepare myself to be drenched as there is a 100% chance of it raining the entire day (and night).  

Summer Camps

It's now the middle of June (when did that happen?!) which means that summer is upon us.  In less than one month from now I will be teaching summer camp.

Last year, summer camp was pretty easy to plan because 1.) We didn't have a budget and 2) The co-teacher wanted everything to be super educational.

This year, not only do we have a budget but I also have to come up with fun themes to do.

So, I have decided for the older kids (4th-5th grade) to do a "Korea's got Talent" type of theme (kind of) and have the students performing most of the week.  They will make music videos, short dramas, fashion shows, and an "Iron Chef" segment, and then randomly thrown in there on the first day--science experiments.  They will also make their own 'commercials' and if they're anything as humorous as the commercials on the TV here I will be entertained greatly.

This is going to take a LOT of planning and organization but if I am able to pull it off it will be a pretty fun camp.  And I will have some fun videos to show as well.

Then, the next week I will have 2nd and 3rd grade students.  This won't be nearly as advanced as I have to make it fairly easy for their level of English.  I haven't planned entirely yet but I believe it will be something along the theme of "On the farm."   They can learn animals, foods, and general farm stuff.  Like I said, I haven't really thought to much about this one yet.

I have also been busy with other lesson plans as we're pretty much finished with the text book for the semester and won't start the next segment until mid-August. I have to admit that almost every moment of the entire day is busy with lesson planning.  Despite being drained by the end of the day though, I don't really mind.

A lot harder...

It's a lot harder to update my blog this year.  Last year I would usually write it when I was at school but for some reason this website doesn't work on the school computer.  Which means I have to write it when I am at home--and clearly that's not working out too well.

Once again I have nothing to write about.  One of these days soon I will post a video of my apartment.  First, I have to catch up on laundry so I won't have clothes drying everywhere in the video.  I feel as though this is a never ending battle though as the washer is so small that I am constantly doing laundry.  Especially since it's so hot and humid (and I walk so much) that I wear at least 2 outfits a day if not more.

It'll happen soon though.  I make a goal to have it done within the week...

Day off

It's Memorial day here in Korea which means I get the day off from school.  This couldn't have come at a better time as I definitely could use a day to regroup and recharge.

I don't have anything exciting planned for the day (possibly a picnic tonight with some people) and I really like that.  I think I am going to hard boil some eggs so they don't go to waste and maybe cook something now that I have the time.  You know, general lazy day things... I might go on a hike later.

The trip I took two weekends ago was a lot of fun.  Not much to tell--I just took a lot of pictures and walked everywhere.  The rafting part was cancelled so that never happened.  But!  I was given the option to go on another trip with them so I could go rafting.  It's the bungee jumping/rafting trip.  I am still on the fence about bungee jumping (it's pretty popular here), so we'll see.

This past weekend was relaxing as well. Saturday I watched Godfather with a friend and then came back to my apartment and cleaned.  Deep cleaned as this place is still pretty gross from before I moved in.  I made a lot of progress but I'll have to do more later.  Sunday I went to a picnic on the Han river with a bunch of people where we flew kites and talked and listened to music.  Then, a few of us went to an open mic night at a place near here.

Like I said, nothing much to tell here.  Life has been normal and I haven't been doing anything terribly exciting.  But I have kept myself very busy which is why I am glad for this day off.