I was right...

...Sydney rocked. I am in love with that city and I'll shout it just as a fake rockstar once shouted "I am a golden god!" from a rooftop.

But seriously, it was an amazing vacation and an amazing city. Totally wonderful.

After Korea, I took off to Fukuoka, Japan for just a couple days, which was really nice. They had a really good downtown area that was nice to walk around, and my new favorite store, Muji. (Basically a Japanese Ikea... I subsequently nicknamed it 'Jaikea'.) This place is wonderful and I found some good, cheap stuff there like Thai curry cooking bases, Earl Grey flavored marshmallows (they rock- don't knock it), and a new dayplanner for 2010. (Speaking of which, HAPPY NEW YEAR!)

I'm now back in Korea, having celebrated New Years Eve by making Shepherd's Pie, Green Bean Casserole and Kahlua Brownies for Andrew and I and then celebrating New Year's Day by making Chocolate Chip Pancakes this morning. I'm also busy trying to wring all of the relaxation out of this weekend that I can before I am back to teaching on Monday. I'll be teaching at a winter English camp, which are usually fun because the lessons are more free-form and silly, but the kids can get a bit loopy by the end of it!

And during my extra-curricular time at camp, I'll be focusing on working on the afghan I'm making (I'm about a foot and a half into the length of it, and it's about as wide as a queen sized bed- a big undertaking), learning a board game called 바둑 (Baduk). Andrew and I bought the game and are going to try to teach each other the basics during camp time. I mostly wanted to learn this game because there's an entire TV channel in Korea dedicated to teaching the intricacies of it and you always see old men at parks playing it. (Old Korean guys playing it makes it seem like something really wise, so I guess that makes it cool?)

But now, if you'll allow me a regress back to a previous topic- the New Year. (Typing this while listening to New Year by Death Cab for Cutie.) I'm really excited about 2010. There's been a lot of change for me in the last few years- particulary 2008 (what with graduating college, turning down a job offer, accepting a very different job offer on the spur of the moment in South Korea and building a life there, and meeting a kind, intelligent and silly person who has become a huge part of my life).

This year feels very different, however. I think in 2008, I didn't think about the change that would be coming up- I was totally living in the moment (as one should do in their last year of college), and I wasn't really thinking about the change that would be occurring. In 2010, though, I am really looking forward. It's different because this time I know for sure that huge change will be coming my way. I know that in August, I will be leaving Korea. I know that I will be moving to a new location, almost certainly with the person mentioned previously, and I know that I will be starting a new job.

Where I go, what I will do, and how I will live is all a mystery though. But that mystery will be solved in 2010, and I'm so excited to see how. It's all really quite humbling, knowing that at this point, I have no control or idea of how those mysteries will reveal themselves.

I hope that this New Year brings a sense of wonder and anticipation to you as well. To those at home, I miss you dearly.

Love, Kayleigh

Just a quick blurb to let you all know: I LEAVE FOR SYDNEY IN TWO DAYS!

I'm so excited, for a number of reasons... I can't wait to get out of the winter that officially set in this week, I can't wait to eat some great food, I can't wait to go to the Sydney Opera House and hear their choir/orchestra, I can't wait to stay at a frickin' cool hotel, I can't wait to see the vineyards in Hunter Valley, and I can't wait to travel with my amazing partner again!

All in all, I have a strong feeling that it's gonna rock!

Have a great Christmas, everyone!

Love, Kayleigh

Christmas season

Hello all,

Happy Thanksgiving week! I have spent the last few days making jokes with my students about how I wish I could eat turkey on Thursday and showing them clips of Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving special.

I have been researching how I could possibly pull together a Thanksgiving dinner, and I think I'm getting close. I've been able to find ingredients for mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, and maybe even pumpkin pie (if I can find a pie tin that will fit in my toaster oven). Sure the green beans may be canned, the gravy from powder, and instead of turkey there will be a rotisserie chicken... but I'm not complaining!

The spirit of the season was furthered today by the fact that I received my first Christmas present! It was even wrapped! My parents mailed me a package that included- among other things- the movie Bad Santa and some Christmas Tree-shaped pretzels dipped in white chocolate and green & red sprinkles. Talk about holiday spirit!

Christmas isn't a very big deal in Korea... the only places that ever look Christmassy are the department stores, and even then, it isn't that Christmassy. Christmas is seen as sort of a couples holiday, not a family holiday, and no one really talks about it or has any traditions for it. Yet, all of these little things- the chance of a half-way decent Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas presents in the mail, and the clock ticking down until I escape to Australia, is just enough to get me in the mood to start the Christmas music.

More Library Pics

Here are some pictures of the finished product!!

This is my vice principal and my co-teacher, Seona.

This is the classroom!

This is one of my favorite parts of the room- my students are always astounded when I point to Korea, and then I point to Minnesota. ("Oh, teacher! So far!")

This is my desk in the library

This is the computer counter and the theatre.

This is inside the theatre.

Some of my 5th grade students in the theatre.

Inside the library (The shelves are much more full now that we got our order of books in!)

The Bob Marley was all me! (The typo was not!)

Our posters at the back of the classroom.

Inside the library.

Information on how to use the library.

The entrance to Yangji English World (the name was not my idea).

So there ya have it, folks! That's the new room where I get to teach!

Hope you're all well!!

New Classroom!

Hey there!

It's been a long-awaited delivery, but here are some pictures of the construction of the new English classroom/library! I'll make this post all about construction and the next all about the final product, only because I can't upload more than 5 pictures per post!

The construction took a total of about two months, and then about another month to get all of the books and DVDs in. As I speak there are some 4th grade students enjoying, "Horton Hears a Who" in the theatre. :)

So here's the pics, along with some captions! Enjoy!

A wall that had separated two rooms was partially demolished to turn the two rooms into one larger space.

This is what would become the main teaching space with a blackboard, tv and side whiteboard.

This is the same area, only a few weeks later, after the main part of the construction had finished and the decorating had begun.

This is the theatre that has a small stage for role-plays as well as a tv for English movies. It also has graded seating that the students typically treat like a jungle gym.

This was taken while standing at the back of the classroom and looking into the library. The man pointing is the head of the project from a design company and the woman in the skirt is my co-teacher, Nam Seona.

Oh, Korea

Today, I planned a standard lesson for my after-school class out of the textbook, doing nothing but writing and reading. At the last minute, I ditched this lesson plan in favor of a review lesson from last week. Last week, we studied rhymes and how to make them.

The review lesson consisted of reading a couple Shel Silverstein poems together, cutting out words from a list, coloring them to match their rhyme (i.e. "shoe-glue" would receive one color) and then gluing them in the appropriate place on a worksheet.

Surprisingly, my students hated it and were begging for the textbook by the end of the activity. Who knew?

One month deep

Happy pre-Chuseok! This weekend is the big Chuseok celebration (Korean Thanksgiving) and I am greatly looking to my 4 day weekend! Andrew and I will be heading up to Seoul where we will meet up with a couple of friends, enjoy a more diverse selection of food than is on offer in Ulsan, and just bum around in general!

Being back at school has been good- it feels as though I never left. We are in the new English classroom, however, which is really nice! There's kids running around here all afternoon, which is different from our last classroom, but it's nice to see them enjoying the new books and DVDs!

I have also convinced my vice principal to give up his (free) English lessons with me and start teaching me some more Korean. Today I learned 공부 합시다 (gong-bu hapshida), which is, "Let's go study". But I also learned 공부하자, which is "Let's study!" (gong-bu hadja) for when you're angry at the students! I'm pleased to be learning more Korean- I feel like kind of a bum having been here for only a year and only having some basic survival Korean.

After Chuseok, I'll have a lame weekend of hanging around Ulsan, but then the weekend after that is Andrew and I's one year anniversary. We'll be heading to Busan to celebrate. We've got plans to go to the aquarium, eat some Mexican food as well as some fish and chips, and enjoy the last weekend at Haeundae Beach before it gets too cold!

So that's the skinny here- hope you're all happy and well!