I didn't manage to get as much computer time, much less blogging time, as I had anticipated. Our days were a little more packed than they had been on our last trip and internet was a little more scarce in Mokpo than it had been when we were in Seoul the last time! So now that it is long overdue, here is a brief summary of our trip!
A group of 15 of us from Grace went to Mokpo, SK to teach a five day English camp to native speakers. It was quite a challenge because we obviously don't know the language and the students knew very little as well. One of the rules of the camp was "No Korean" so that in and of itself posed great difficulty!
I taught 1st and 2nd graders which proved to be the best group to work with. Unlike the others I didn't have many discipline problems and was able to goof off with the students more than just classroom things. Everything we learned was turned into a game at some point to help the students understand more English and the repetition seemed to work great. The favorite game in my class was most definitely duck-duck-goose! Brought back some memories of playing outside in PA, standing up, when the electricity went out during a visit to the Lasts! (remember anyone!??)
Much of the rest of our time was spent with our host families. I was paired with a girl from our team named Leah and she was absolutely wonderful. I was a little nervous at first because I didn't know her at all but it turned out well in the end. There were actually only two girls on the trip that I actually knew on more than just a name basis so I didn't have many expectations for who I would be paired with. Our family was the Jeong's. They were wonderful as well. Fortunately, our family was well off and we were one of few pairs that actually had beds to sleep on! Also, in our favor, they hosted one of the Korean assistants for the camp and we in turn had a translator during our time there. This definitely helped in connecting us with our family even more. It was very difficult saying good bye!
As expected I think the biggest challenge, aside from the language barrier, was the food. They ate much of what we would consider weeds and not a whole lot of meat. There were bean sprouts, seaweed, fermented cabbage (called Kimchi), and other undechiperable plant type things. As far as meat was concerned we were lucky to get some duck or pork. The noodles in this picture that our host brother is eating are black, in cold water with ice, and cucumbers. We couldn't handle eating much but he loved them!
A really neat place we visited was called Capstone. It was on the sea in Mokpo and was just a pretty site to see and take pictures. The two ladies I am with on top of Capstone are Vimbi (on my right) and Joy (on my left). Vimbi is a missionary from Zimbabwe who works at the church and is one of the coordinators for the English camp. Joy was an assistant teacher and now a great friend. If there was only one reason why God allowed me to go back to Korea again it was to meet her. She will forever be a friend now. I am so blessed to have met her, no doubt!
To come back to Seoul in order to catch our flight to Chicago (12 hours striaght on the way home, 14 on the way there) we took the bullet train. Much to my surprise you definitely don't feel like you are going as fast as you are. We were traveling at about 200 miles per hour if my conversions are correct from metric. There was no pull on your bodies and it was the smoothest ride I have ever had. A Korean tradition is to eat roasted (or hard boiled) egg on the ride and drink the Korean version of Sprite. Can't let traditions die!
We spent the rest of the time in Seoul doing pretty much all the same things I had already done during my visit the last time so I didn't take any pictures for this round. Still fun to do again though! Thank you all for reading this ridiculously long post and for your thoughts and prayers throughout my trip! It was a blast!!
As of right now I am in WI preparing for the Oshkosh Placement Exchange. This is where over 200 colleges and universities come to interview for residence life positions for after graduation. I'm tremendously nervous and also a bit scared of the ensuing weather that may pose difficulties in travel to and from GB but I'm sure things will all work out! Thursday is a day full of scheduling, though I already have six interviews prescheduled, and Friday - Sunday is all interviewing. Should be fun but I'm so nervous. I'll keep you all updated as time marches on.
