Things are going well here in South Korea. This past week was another good one. Next week is final exams, so I put together a game to help review everything we've gone over. I did a similar version of the game with both my 1st and 3rd year students. It brought some nice competition in the classes and I had a lot of fun with the students. This next week, since it is exam week, I think I have only one class on Monday, and none the rest of the week. I still need to come to school, but I'll be spending my time lesson planning and somehow trying not to be bored. I don't even really know what lesson planning I need to be doing since the following three weeks we don't follow the book, but just do whatever we want in class. So, I think I'll bring in my guitar and do a song one week, and I've already got ideas for the next two weeks. But I guess it doesn't hurt to have random lesson plans lying around. This past week, I had some extra time so I started researching why so many English words have silent letters, which turned into researching loanwords, which lead to the history of English words in general, which lead to the history of England and me reading about the Vikings, Old English, Old Norse, and the Anglo-Saxons. It was really interesting. So, I put together a lesson plan about loanwords (words that a particular language "borrows" from another language; like Pizza(italian), knight(german), tortilla(you should know this one), and the history of English words. I think my original goal was to show my students the reason English spelling rarely keeps to any rules. And I ended up finding it really fascinating that the reason is that English has always been a language that is influenced and changed by the cultures and people around it, even those that are attacking it. Some other world languages are protected for their purity, that they won't be deluded by other languages. But English has always welcomed that change and is a representation of all the different types of people that speak it. Isn't that interesting? I thought so. And I hope my students think so, though I think it may be a little beyond most of them. We'll see...

On Friday, I went over to Anlee and Amanda's house for some of Anlee's salmon salad. It was very delicious. But the most exciting part of the night was that we played Nertz! For those of you who aren't aware of the awesomeness that is Nertz, it is a card game that is kind of a combination of solitare and speed. As Anlee put it, Nertz was her version of partying in college. And I can say the same thing. We would have Nertz parties at our house senior year and play for several hours. One guy at my school even started keeping a spreadsheet on his computer to keep track of like 10 categories of stats from the game. Every time a game was played, he inserted the data in the computer. He must have had like 70+ people in there.

Saturday was an eventful day. And I wanted to tell you about it by making a list of the 8 reasons I'd rather take a road trip with 25 Korean middle schoolers than 25 Korean middle school teachers, but I felt bad about listing all those unpretty details. So, I'll just give you a quick rundown. One of the teachers at my school got married yesterday down near the south part of South Korea; about a 3 1/2 hour bus ride from Ansan. The school decided to take a bus down there for the teachers that wanted to go to the wedding. I didn't have anything else going and decided it would be a great Korean experience-seeing a Korean wedding, seeing another part of the country, and hanging out with the teachers outside of school. And it was mostly a great time. I was glad I went and I now have lots of knowledge and experience that I didn't have beforehand (some of which I would be alright not having). We first went to a traditional Korean village down in Jeonju, the city in which the wedding was being held. That was pretty cool. Then we went to the church where the wedding was being held. (As a side note, many Korean weddings are actually held in an apartment or office highrise, with a couple floors set aside for weddings. My apartment building is one of these. Also, Korean weddings are typically very short. I've been told weddings at these buildings are just in and out, with another wedding right afterwards). Well, this wedding was a western style wedding and was at a church. When we got there, the first thing we did was go into this room where the bride was positioned against one side, seated, with her wedding dress on. And anybody that wanted could go up to her and get a picture with her. So there were like 20 of us in this tiny room all waiting to get a picture with the bride. I found this situation rather odd, since it is not part of a typical American wedding. Typically, as a guest at a wedding in America, you don't see the bride till she walks down the aisle during the wedding. I can see some of the purpose of taking pictures with the bride before the wedding, but all that I could think of was, if I was a bride, the last place I'd want to be in the minutes leading up to the wedding was seated, unable to move, with people rotating in to get a picture with me. But that's probably just my American expectations and traditions coming through....Okay, so back to the story. After we get a quick shot with the bride (and of course as the foreigner, I'm immediately pushed up to get in a picture) we head out of the church back towards the bus. And I'm confused. I had heard Korean weddings were short, but was this it? Turns out we were heading to lunch. The guys were hungry. But it was 1:15 and the wedding was starting at 1:30. I asked about this seemingly important fact. "The guys are REAllY hungry." Oh, that makes sense...No! It doesn't at all. We're going to miss the wedding! Am I the only one who see this? But I don't make much of a fuss, because I am not in charge and I figure the principle and other leaders know better than I do. So we get some lunch. I figure the wedding probably starts later than we thought. After about 25 minutes, I am told it is time to go to the wedding. About half the teachers get up to leave. Turns out the principal, vice principal, and the others are not going to come, but stay and drink. Interesting turn of events. And at first the principal tells me to stay, but the others come to my rescue. So, we get back to the church, and sure enough, the wedding has started. Not sure how much we missed but I'm guessing about half. The wedding was not anything too different from what I've seen, except the part where the groom gets on his knees to bow before both sets of parents. After the wedding, we get a group shot with the couple, and then head off to find the others. The plan is to go get some makuli, some Korean rice alcohol that is popular in this part of the country. We take a taxi to this small restaurant where the others are already waiting, and drinking. I will try give you a picture of what it's like being the lone foreigner in a situation like this. The moment I walk in, the principal yells out my name, bringing everyone's attention to me. They all have this slightly mischievous look on their face because of what's about to happen. Before I can barely sit down, the head of teachers gives me his bowl of makuli to drink. I think he wanted me to drink it all, but I take a sip. I am then handed a combination of food I know my body doesn't want. It's a piece of fermented skate (fish), some kimchee, and something else. But all eyes are on me, so what else can I do. As the only beverage around, I take a few more sips of the makuli since the taste of the makuli is heaven compared to the taste of what I'm trying to digest. I then ask for some mool, or water, and am quickly turned down. Eventually, another teacher sympathizes with me and gets some water. Makuli and a plate of food is brought out for all of us who just got there. I am poured a bowl of makuli and I take tiny sips to appease the others. Most of the food does not look very appetizing to me, so I try to bide the time with eating carrots. A little ways in, and about halfway finished with my makuli, one of the not-so-sober teachers insists that I take another bowl by (ha, he thinks I'm actually gonna drink this). Thankfully, we leave soon after this.

I will mention just one more thing. I asked about why the principal and the others didn't go to the wedding, and this is the answer I got. When it was originally asked about taking a bus to come to the wedding, the answer was that it would be too expensive. BUT, if it was turned into a "teacher's outing," then it could work. So, throw in the lunch($), the makuli($), and the folk village, and all of sudden it's affordable. I'm confused...

Today, I'm going to the US military base in Seoul for a full on thanksgiving meal. Pretty pumped about that. Here are some pics of the trip. peace out.


Below is Mrs. Kwon, who has taken care of me so well. She is the head English teacher and is so helpful and compassionate. I am so thankful for her.