July 17, 2005
Well, in two days I'll have been here for one month. The time has started to go by really quickly. For about my first two weeks or so I had been counting the days that I had been here. For the last two weeks I have not had time to count. It has been just crazy. I'm sorry that I have not been able to spend the time to update this blog. I just finally got around to uploading pictures from the last two weeks and now I have time to write a short entry. I have added a link to my pictures from the sidebar on the main page. It shows a random assortment of pictures from my time in Korea.
My teaching has been getting a little bit easier. I ma spending less time planning individual lessons and more time thinking about where I want my classes to for the month. It's a little harder to do this for the basic classes as they have a text book that we are working through. Sometimes, however, the basic classes just want to talk, and so we do that. It's great when the conversation gets completely off topic and I can just answer the student's questions or ask them my own.
The tough part for the basic classes are the students that are very shy. They don't like to speak or they speak very quietly. Some of them are warming up a bit, and I got to know many of my students a little better this week. On Monday my last class of the evening took me out for a very famous Korean pork dish that I cannot remember the name of. After that we went to the norebang (Korean singing room). Karaoke, but in a small room instead of in front of the whole bar. I tried my best even though I am the most horrible singer in the world. It was great to hear my students singing both English and Korean songs.
On Friday only two students showed up for that class. One of them is very shy and the other one is completely outgoing. They are about the same level. We ended up talking for the whole class, and this gave them a chance to get to know me better and me a chance to get to know them a little better.
I spent yesterday at one of the beaches near Incheon. It was a very warm day and we all got a little sunburnt. My face was probably the worst of any of them though.
As usual I have my pictures available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/tjfriese. You can also click on that big new bar on the side of the page to be taken there.
--Tim
My teaching has been getting a little bit easier. I ma spending less time planning individual lessons and more time thinking about where I want my classes to for the month. It's a little harder to do this for the basic classes as they have a text book that we are working through. Sometimes, however, the basic classes just want to talk, and so we do that. It's great when the conversation gets completely off topic and I can just answer the student's questions or ask them my own.
The tough part for the basic classes are the students that are very shy. They don't like to speak or they speak very quietly. Some of them are warming up a bit, and I got to know many of my students a little better this week. On Monday my last class of the evening took me out for a very famous Korean pork dish that I cannot remember the name of. After that we went to the norebang (Korean singing room). Karaoke, but in a small room instead of in front of the whole bar. I tried my best even though I am the most horrible singer in the world. It was great to hear my students singing both English and Korean songs.
On Friday only two students showed up for that class. One of them is very shy and the other one is completely outgoing. They are about the same level. We ended up talking for the whole class, and this gave them a chance to get to know me better and me a chance to get to know them a little better.
I spent yesterday at one of the beaches near Incheon. It was a very warm day and we all got a little sunburnt. My face was probably the worst of any of them though.
As usual I have my pictures available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/tjfriese. You can also click on that big new bar on the side of the page to be taken there.
--Tim
posted by Timothy Friesen at 1:41 PM
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