Higher Education and Nivea Lip Care

Finally, the day came and we said goodbye to Sam and Stephanie.  I am so happy for them and I wish them the best of luck in their travels.  It won't be long until Katelyn and I are traveling to California next summer to attend their wedding :)  

Not a lot has been going on, so this post will be brief.  I can't remember if I told you in the post (and I very well could go back and see, but I'm lazy), but I have applied for The New School's Masters Program in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.  Everything is almost submitted, so in a few months or so I'll know if I've been accepted into their program.  It is an online program and the school is located in New York.  As my dad always told me (and I thoroughly agree), you can never go wrong with higher education. Currently, I'm still working on my TESOL certificate and I'm over three-quarters finished.

In two weeks, Katelyn, Brad, and I are going to Busan.  It's Korea's Lunar New Year holiday so we're going there to celebrate and tour the city. I'm really excited because as said earlier, I want to eventually live there.  Plus, you can never go wrong with living near a beach. In September, our school gave us nine days off for Chusok, so Katelyn and I decided to go to Bangkok and Phuket, Thailand.  We've booked our round-trip flight from Bankgkok to Phuket.  Our plane tickets were $57 each-- so CHEAP! Our round-trip tickets from Seoul to Bangkok are extremely cheap, too.  We have them reserved at $461 through our travel agent.  Normally, tickets to Bangkok can run anywhere from $600-$800, sometimes more. So, it's nice to have that scheduled and we're both looking forward to it.


Intensives are finally over. But the payout will be nice in two weeks.  So, no more waking up early-- except Monday (tomorrow), and probably many days this coming month.  Why? Well, I am the MC for the Kinder Graduation Program at ECC.  The kids all put on dances and songs, as well as the teachers.  So, although interesting and more than likely embarrassing, I'm sure I'll get some videos to post after.  


And with that I leave you.  But before I close, I want to share with you a very popular Korean commercial about Nivea Lip Chapstick.  I was a sucker and bought some because the ever-so-popular Brown-Eyed Girls sing a very catchy song which makes Katelyn and I want to dance.  Below is the video.  And if you're wondering, the chapstick is wonderful.

Confirmations

I apologize for not writing sooner, but the past few weeks have been pretty hectic.  This was not expected.  Just as I did in August, I am working Intensives this month which means I start work at 9:00 am and I don't finish until 8:40 pm.  It's not as bad as last time, though, because I am not at ECC until 10:00 pm every night.  The pay out at the end of the month is well worth it.  I normally would not have worked Intensives a second time but because I am flying home for one week in July, I am going to need all the extra money I can scrounge considering the plane ticket is just under $2,000.  So, this is partly why I've been lazy with writing in my blog lately.

On another note, New Years in Japan was a good time.  We arrived on Thursday then went out that night to celebrate the upcoming 2010.  We went downtown Osaka, had some dinner, and then bar toured.  We ventured to Kyoto on Saturday but it was kind of a 'pointless' trip as we barely got anything accomplished.  It took a bit longer to get there than expected and by the time we were ready to tour some temples and such, dusk had set.  But our trip to Japan wasn't a complete loss; we had a really good time, some good memories and as always, traveling with Jo is never a bore because I definitely had some good laughs (even though I was not in picture mode all weekend and barely have any documentations of those laughs).  It was really nice to get out of Korea for a while; however, going to Japan made me realize how much I really do love Korea. It confirmed even more that Korea is my home now, at least for a while.  Plus, I really missed Korean food among other things. :)

So, the New Year came and went and my busy schedule began.  I am two weeks away from finishing Intensives.  This week has been the most eventful thus far and here is why: As I was walking to school on Friday (the 8th), I noticed they were doing some construction on the abandoned building next to the school.  I walked on and didn't think anything of it.  Well, a normal day began and was beginning to end.  I was teaching my Playground 5 class and was nearing time to dismissal.  All of a sudden, the fire alarms went off in the hallways.  Confused, I walked outside along with a Korean teacher, Carol, only to find smoke.  Deciding this was no longer an unscheduled fire drill, I went back into my classroom and told my students to gather their things.  Next, Stephanie walked out into the hallway and said there was a fire outside.  I ran to the window and lifted the blinds only to see the abandoned building completely ablaze! It was like a volcano! It was so large!  Seeing this, I yelled at my students: 가자가자! 바리바리! (Go! Go! Quickly! Quickly!) The school was in complete chaos.  As you can see from the picture above, the school is right in front of the fire.  

A lot my students had fled the building because I could keep tabs on them.  One of my students, Stella, stopped in the hallway and was crying, so I had to pick her up and carry her out of the building.  It was even more frustrating and chaotic for the foreign teachers because all of the orders were being told in Korean and we didn't really know what to do.  When we went outside to get out of the building, all you could see was the embers and and fire being blown down the street in the direction that the students and teachers were running.  We all took refuge in this small parking garage for a while until me and some other foreign teachers decided to run across to the opposite side of the street to get a better look of the fire. I immediately called Katelyn who had gone home to change clothes on her break and I said (word-for-word): "Katelyn, don't leave the apartment! ECC is ablaze!" She made fun of me later for my choice of words.

The word on the street was that there were a total of 200 firefighters and 50 firetrucks at the scene.  It was a very stressful time and honestly, really sad.  I saw a lot of students crying and Tanya, the Korean Head Teacher, very upset.  It made me really sad seeing her like that because she has devoted so much to this school.  But, knowing me, I decided to crack some jokes which made her laugh.  Luckily everyone made it out of the building unhurt.  The next day, Mr. Kim and Mrs. Lee, the school owners, hired people and were already cleaning the building.  ECC didn't succumb to too much damage.  Some of the teachers cars that were parked behind the school were damaged pretty bad.  The fourth and fifth floor bathroom windows were broken because firefighters were fighting the fire from the school.  I must say, the Gwangju firefighters did an EXCELLENT job fighting this fire and preventing its spreading to the school.  It was a really big eye-opener and a confirmation that things like this can happen at anytime.  I am just really glad that minimal damage was done to the school and more importantly, all of the students and teachers made it out of the school safely.

That same weekend, we said goodbye to one of our good friends Ji Ho who was leaving for the Korean Navy.  If you don't know, all Korean between the ages of 20-30 must complete two years in the army.  I can't imagine how this must feel; to know that you have to devote two years of your life to something you necessarily may not want to do.  But, nonetheless, it was Ji Ho's time and we through some good parties for him and took him out all weekend before he left on Monday of last week.  We're all going to meet up in March when he has his first army vacation. 

A lot is about to change in the next two weeks.  I am very sad to say that two of my best friends in Gwangju are leaving at the end of this month.  Sam and Steph got here four months or so before me and I can't believe it's already time for them to leave Korea.  They're ready, though, as they should be: Recently, they got engaged.  I am so happy for them and couldn't wish them enough luck and happiness.  For the next three months, they are traveling Southeast Asia and Europe and I couldn't be any more jealous! I definitely plan on keeping in touch with them after they leave, as well as going to their wedding.  Also, Katelyn and I plan on moving to California when/if we move back to America, more than likely next door to them.  They'll get never get rid of us...  But I will miss them so much! Work won't EVER be the same without them.

Sam and Steph

I didn't do a whole lot this weekend.  I got a stomach bug on Saturday so I stayed in and watched a movie and slept for twelve hours.  It was quite nice, I might add.  But on Saturday afternoon I had a meeting with the director of the English Department at Chonnam University about employment and graduate school.  Nothing was a surprise about graduate school, however, I'd have to major in Education as most of their literary classes are taught in Korean.  Understandable.  I have recently been thinking about getting my MA in Teaching English as a Second Language-- just another confirmation that I am really loving my job and my life here in Korea.  In the past, American literature was my love and still is, but teaching ESL has been such a big part of my life I can't imagine giving it up anytime soon.  

Speaking of education, Katelyn and I just bought our online TESOL certificate program.  We started the class this past week and have six months to complete it.  We're already on unit five so I don't see any difficulties in beating the deadline...  It's just one more confirmation that I love what I'm doing.  I am really wanting give my students one of the best classroom experiences I can and I have a feeling I'll gain a lot from this class as long as I continue to take it seriously.  Also, being TESOL certified opens up a lot of doors in this area including job opportunities, salary increases, etc.  So, it's going to be money well spent.

Tomorrow, Katelyn and I are going to have a meeting with our school.  Because the information I got from Chonnam University was not exactly what I wanted to hear, I've decided to extend, once again, with my school.  This way, I know I will get a bigger ending bonus, a raise in July, and more importantly, the dates I need off for my sister's wedding.  I know the school will do whatever they can to keep me here since they are saving a lot of money by doing so.  Katelyn is going to do the same.  So, as of tomorrow, I'll be with ECC until March of 2011. We thought it over and decided this was the best move for us because public school jobs start hiring around that time and that we way, we can make a pretty easy transition between schools.  Also, the deal we have at ECC is too freakin' good.  We get a good salary, good hours, a great work environment, we're guaranteed payment on time, and they treat us very well.  It's too good of a situation to give up.  At least not right now.  And yet again, another confirmation that proves how much I love my job, my friends, my students, and my life.