Someone get me a dustbuster...

Wow, this blog has built up some serious dust. I never even realized that last post I made was 2 Halloween's ago. That's weak Julia. Anyways, since I must do some serious catching up here, let's get started. Okay, let's date back to last year of Uni since that's when I last posted. I graduated. Okay that's that. But to be honest, I did take some of my most memorable classes in that last year. For instance, Modernity with Dr. Long; Political Space and the State with Dr. Perez, Artistic Couples with Dr. Halpern just to name a few. All life-changing. I learned more than I could ever imagine in these classes, but ended fourth year with more confusion about life than ever before. A spectacular feeling...

Now onto summer 2007, I spent it mostly at home with my parents in BC. I worked as a part-time English teacher while I got my TESOL at King George International College in Victoria. I was prepping up to take on a teaching job at an elementary school in Seoul, Korea. So this is where I currently am: Seoul Korea...and loving it!

I won't deny that it's been tough, overwhelming, and uber-challenging at times, but so is real life and I'm happy to finally be experiencing some of it. I came to Korea almost six months ago now, which is hard to believe. Time has just zoomed by. The learning curve has been huge. As many of you know, my parents are Korean, but immigrated to Canada during the seventies. My brother and I were both born in Canada, but I have visited Korean on several occasions before since we still have a lot of family over here. My father has five siblings here in Korea, plus I have an aunt from my mother's side. I have many, many cousins here, plus my cousins have children, which makes me a bit of a distant aunt to many of them. But I see many of these relatives on a very regular basis, which has helped with any feelings of homesickness. Plus, during the Thanksgiving holidays my mother and father came to visit, which was pretty amazing. Holidays such as Thanksgiving and Lunar New Years take on a pretty different significance here than in Canada. They are very family-based events, with lots, and lots of food, ceremonies and travelling time. But holidays such as Christmas and New Years on Jan.1 are not of great family importance...

Anyways, I am currently teaching at an elementary school in the very Western side of Seoul. I am the Native English Teacher, so I am primarily in charge of things like prononunciation, speaking and communication within the English curriculum. The job isn't hard, but it is demanding. I teach on average 6 classes a day, sometimes 7. I see more than 300 students weekly, and some classes are as big as 35 students. The age range of students is from 9 years old to 13 years old, but their English levels are even more various, which can make planning lessons difficult. I have slowly become used to what works and what doesn't in teaching, but it is a constant learning process. As a teacher, there will never be a day when I can say I know everything I need to know about teaching. In each lesson, I'm learning alongside with the students. Because it is my first year as a teacher, my students and coworkers have all been very patient with me, which I appreciate.
I have also started taking a Korean class at Yonsei University here in Korea, which has helped me to improve my Korean tenfold. Actually, I think what has really helped me is just speaking to other Koreans. I now believe that the best way to catch on to a language is practice, practice, practice. So I have made it a point to meet as many people, Koreans especially, as possible. Initially, I think I may have stretched myself a bit thin, but I have gotten ahold of my schedule better now.
Probably one of my favourite times in Korea so far is my trip to Jeju-do when my mother was in town. It's a really beautiful little Island just South of the Korean peninsula. While it didn't feel like a vacation (I barely relaxed) due to a full schedule, it was nice hanging out with Mama Paek.
Thus far, I am really enjoying Korea, and hope 2008 calls for an even happier, healthier and more memorable year.

Here are some pics...

Me and some of my female cousins (unni's) during Korean Thanksgiving (Chuseok)

Some of my students during the Hangeul Festival at my school

Children's artwork

Jeju-do palm trees

Me and Mama riding horses for the very first time (we're excited)

Me and my Yonsei Classmates