Running out of time....

So, we're running out of time... the little routines and funny Korean-American lifestyle we've adopted have become our real life. It seems crazy to me that we won't walk past the restaurant that serves "DUCK" not "DOG," despite our first introduction to the fare; that we won't watch the SAT camp play soccer from our office windows; sit in the hallway of Lydia trying to connect to life back home; or struggle with when to wave and when to bow... 

Korea has been an amazing adventure. It is such a beautiful country-- the natural landscape is breathtaking, the people are generous, kind, and courteous, and the short experience life-changing. I didn't really know what to expect when I wrote "11 Days..." so many weeks ago! I've met friends who changed my life... older friends full of wisdom and encouragement, peers full of laughter and gentle friendship, and new students who challenged me and brought me to new perspectives in the classroom. 

Here we are in the "American Cafe" enjoying some breakfast!

Dawson and some students during lunch break. We loved to have our students "visit" us in the office.

They're getting better!! Tae Kwon Do class... Bobbie & I went everyday!

sweeties!!

Grace (Wongsungee= The Monkey), Emily (Bug), Kathereen (banana) and Liam (the Big Sister)

Esther Seon giving Joy her certificate of appreciation from GVCS.

Packing up the classroom.... obviously we're not very enthusiastic about saying goodbye!

Bobbie & I sharing some last minutes and some "Corn Flights" in the "American Teacher Room."

Thank you for sharing our adventures in Eumseong... but the big picture adventure isn't quite over! We leave for Seoul tomorrow, then the children arrive in Hagerstown! 

We travel to Seoul....

We had to go to Seoul for the children and teachers to be interviewed for their visas. We decided to stowaway on the bus for a chance to see Seoul. Here is a picture of our entire group together! 

ROADTRIP... 

As previously mentioned, Koreans picnic in style! We had a "light" 3 course lunch on our way to Seoul in the bus. I was a little disappointed that the boys did not boil water in the bus for soup. I would've been really impressed. This is Sarah & Daniel Teacher in the foreground, and Justin & Phillip in the back.

Georgette and I trying to be cute despite the creepers behind us! 

Seoul is very beautiful. It has mountains all around it; every once in awhile the buildings give way to a view that is just crazy! 

As this picture better illustrates! This statute is for the man who created the writing system (Korean Alphabet letters). As you can see, lots of groups were in Seoul with us!

Henry & I with the Writing System Guy! 

This is part of the Navy Memorial... 

The statue is of a Navy commander (or whatever his title was a long long long time ago) who saved Korea with his Navy ships from an invasion from Japan. 

A beautiful pavilion. It was so foreign to see beautiful gardens and pavilions right in the middle of skyscrapers and "downtown metropolis."

Behold: American Tourist.

This is Charles in the middle of the picture. I was trying to photograph that sculpture in the back. It is pink and purple. Henry said it was famous... he was probably kidding me. We couldn't decide if it was a big soft-serve ice cream or a seashell on its end. Either way! The bright colors looked a little silly next to all the serious buildings around it.

More tourists... oh wait... that's Mary! Henry is counting. He was like a momma duck all day, trying to keep us in tow as we walked around. He kept counting... we kept wandering. He must have done a good job because no Americans were lost. 

A gallery of photos & the Han River. The river goes right through the middle of Seoul, and along the sides are places to sit, look at art work, and picnic. 

The girls at the Han River.

This is the "Henry Pose." Here are Pat, Henry & Charles at the river. 

Wading in the Han River...

Georgette & I forged the river!! 

Henry met the love of his life outside a cafe in Seoul. 

We walked along the river quite a way, Henry got goofier as we went. Charles is obviously amused by our Henry's antics.

Hahaha... couldn't resist. We went to a little cafe for lunch. The inside was beautiful... the other people? slightly odd.

Sarah and I...

I think we wore them out. :)

Ride home... Phillip & Henry being silly...

The interviews must've been rough because Phillip & Justin slept the whole way home!!!

We had such a good time goofing around Seoul with our friends. I am not sure how much accurate information I was given and how much silly stuff I was fed; but I know I loved seeing Seoul. It was very very hot, but thankfully there were banks with AC, little cafes for lunch, and Navy Memorial fountains to cool off in! 

Your First Literary Crush...

So, I'm the Reading Teacher here at GVCS ACE camp. "Reading Elie Teacher" is more colloquially correct, to be exact. I have always loved reading; I can get lost for days in a story... It's hard for me to function in "real life" when I know there is another chapter waiting for me. When I was a little girl, I used to take my books into the bathroom late at night so I could read without disturbing my younger sister, with whom I've always shared a room. I remember scrunching up on the floor, reading each page like it would disappear out of my hands... and being heartbroken that the story ended, but relieved that I had finished it and could now go to bed. Sequels are the death of me, because I read the ENTIRE series all right after the others.

My classes have been reading some of my favorite books-- true classics: Anne of Green Gables, To Kill a Mockingbird, Across Five Aprils, Prometheus, Theseus and the Minotaur, Growing Up (an autobiography about childhood in the Great Depression), The White Umbrella, Young Arthur, etc.... the difficulty and length depending on the Reading Level of the class.
Sharing some of these stories was so exciting-- watching my students giggle over Jem & Scout's crazy adventures, or fall in love with a hero...

Last night, the V Class (the top of the bottom) had to write about who was their favorite hero from our readings and why. Some choose predictably-- King Arthur, Prometheus, or Russell from Growing Up. It reminded me of my first "literary crush."

My first literary crush was Gilbert Blythe. 

How could you not?! I was absolutely convinced that Gilbet was the perfect man. Each book led me to be more jealous of Anne, not really her admiring fan. 

Of course... Gilbert soon lost out to more mature literary crushes... like... *sigh* ...Darcy....

Colin Firth plays my favorite Mr. Darcy... you must  see the A&E version to truly appreciate Pride and Prejudice. The shorter one is good for the "quick fix" of Darcy, but you can't truly fall in love with him in just two hours, he requires a long relationship-- say 6 hours. :)

Darcy is just wonderful. Bingley is quality, too-- naturally! However, Jane Austen got it right with dear old Darcy.

Literature has such the amazing power to change the way we look at people. It gives a chance to recognize qualities and characteristics in both ourselves and others. I think this is the key to true "classic literature," the characters who stick with us and change our perspective. The story can be the same old story retold with more fantastic comedic lines or a more sinister villian, but if the character can grab us and teach us... then we will remember them.

I hope my students are meeting some new "literary friends." People who will be around to guide them, help them learn about right and wrong, and to teach them about the characteristics we should strive for in ourselves and appreciate in others....

So, this blog is more of a question... who was your first literary crush and why? Which great characters changed the way you looked at men/women? I've been hearing everything from Jean Valjean to Jacob Black...

The day we kick the SAT's butt...

So the SAT camp called Christina, I've mentioned this fiasco before, and challenged the American teachers to a soccer match.
Yeah, right.
So we have practiced, and drank disgusting amounts of powerade, forced Henry and Justin to play with us, and generally stressed about what we should wear and how to do our hair for the big game.

The day of the Big Game was hot and humid. We suckered some of the GEM camp into playing with us, as well. I am so so grateful for their assistance! We played 7 v 7, so we definitely were happy to see some subs arrive!

2011 ACE team. This is our professional pose.

Front Row: Briana, Georgette, Christina

Back Row: Me, Bobbie, Joy (Keeper), and Mary

Our precious coach, Henry. :)

Please bow and then shake hands.

It is so difficult to play when the OTHER TEAM has to translate what the ref is saying!! Next time, we demand a bi-lingual ref.

The kick off...

Shortly after our first goal... yes, OUR first goal.

The scorekeepers (Miles?? and Jed).

The scores were 1-1 for most of the game. Everyone played so well; I was wicked impressed. As previously mentioned, I was the only "soccer chick" on the ACE team; our soccer moms stepped it up and brought their A game! I am so proud of Christina, Briana and Bobbie! Bobbie put our first goal nearly right off the bat. The look on her shocked face! Hahaha!

Some of our sweet fans... There was quite a turn-out!! It was fun to hear their little voices shouting "Joy Teacher! Get the ball! Go Bobbie Teacher! Go!"

Field shot... The ref was explaining something to Henry, since Henry had to translate to us. :)

Final Score: 2-1.

No one was more shocked than us! Bobbie Mcfarlane put two balls in the net for the ACE Team, with SAT putting one ball in during the first half.

End of the game ceromonies: gifts for the winners and losers... we got umbrellas. :)

Joy won MVP for her efforts in goal.

2011 Soccer Match teams...

The classic "V" pose means so much more when you get 2nd place.

Winners!!!

Everyone played so hard and really played clean and respectably. I couldn't ask for better soccer "moms" or beginners! We played girls that were 17 and still playing everyday! A couple of the girls are the top players in their leagues in Korea. This of course put us on quite a high!

Esther rewarded and surprised us with a pizza and fried chicken party (the combination was odd but loved) after the game! We ate in 15 minutes all the pizza and most of the chicken while watching the SAT boys meet their challengers. SAT team A won the boys' match.

It felt so good to play around again! Brielle (one of my students and soccer girls at Grace) promised to report to the team that I am "not so bad afterall." Gee, thanks, Brie... :)

Success is so sweet. 

The Americans are loose in Eumseong... aka Don't Talk on the Bus...

Saturdays are a chance for teachers to cut loose: wake up at 9AM, take a triple too long shower, stare at some grades, dread Monday... just kidding...

Daniel prefers to take his naps IN school. :)

Two of our "ducklings:" Andrew (left with the big cheese) and Opie (with the glasses). They go everywhere we go. Joy named them. We have a Jed, too.... but no "Granny."

We asked Esther if we could take the bus (NOT MY IDEA) to Eumseong... by ourselves. Of course, this was met with some doubts, some hesitation, some compromises: yes, we will take my Instant Korea Phrase Book, yes our name badges (with the school name and phone number), yes we will be home by dark, yes we will stay together, yes we will call if we run into trouble... don't worry! we'll be fine! :)

Americans at the bus stop.

On our way... It cost us $1.60 to go to Eumseong.

I did not "flunk" at pizza school. We used Instant Korean Phrase Book to order ourselves a stuffed crust (with Korean cheese-- it's cheese without the stretch) pizza and some coke. Success.

Obviously, Charles found my pronunciation amusing. All I can say is that, between Georgette's giant gestures and pointing (ironically not caught on film) and my phrase book, we had lunch.

documenting my success.... are we total nerds, or what?!

A friendly man took our picture. See how cute and in-total-control-of-the-situation we are?

Bobbie and the motorcycle. This man pulled up to Lotteria (yes, we stopped there) and just left his motorcycle running!! So we contemplated taking it for a spin.... we didn't. But we did make Bobbie pose awkwardly for the picture as the man came out of the door...

We have to use the bathroom, therefore we must buy Lotteria.

Instant latte from a vending machine... there were many options. Bobbie wanted an iced latte... this is her "which one has milk?" face.

We visited the French bakery... Tous Les Jours... we bought chocolate things. <3

The baker. How cute is that? You watch him make all the pastries! And they are so so so so yummy!!

Mostly we shopped and wondered... we wondered things like "why would you want a dried fish fan?"

Happy and safe and back on the bus...

Charles was cracking us up!

We were getting in trouble because we were talking and laughing on the bus. No one mentioned to us the well-known rule that NO ONE MAY SPEAK ON THE BUS. ever.

A little old Korean lady kept turning around and trying to quiet us... but of course, we had NO IDEA what she was talking about!! So we continued to talk until finally she turned around and said "SH!" to Joy with the international gesture of her fingers clamped over her lips. Ooops. :) We were mostly quiet the rest of the way home... :)

So our adventure ended as happily as it began. We came home to our 20 children, all whom wanted to share in the spoils of our day... our chocolate, our new shoes, our gigantic $2 powerades, and of course....

...our giant straw hats. :)

We decided the party couldn't end there, so Mary and Bobbie hosted us for a movie night!! Yay! We watched "A letter to three wives," a 1940's classic. It was wonderfully hilarious! We all loved it. We concluded our day with "Win a Date with Tad Hamilton;" a classic romantic comedy set in a Piggly Wiggly. Where are all good comedies should begin. Our movie night was a wonderful time of female companionship and relaxation.

It's true. We kicked Charles out. He was a little mad, but his testosterone was distracting us from the good old Hollywood kisses. :)

All this wonderful romance, of course, made us all wish that we'd brought our Jane Austin collections to Korea, too! What kind of movie weekend does not include a little Mr. Darcy? :)

So that's another Saturday in Eumseong. We're having fun, a little worse for the wear, happily snacking on Corn Flights and enjoying old Hollywood. We hope you enjoyed a little time with your family today!

With love from all the gang in Eumseong...

-elie