Singapore and Phuket

Kelly and I planned a one night stay in Singapore on our way to Phuket. Unfortunately, the trip was not so successful because our hotel was once again, over booked and we were sent to a new comparable hotel. The time that we wasted driving around town in cabs and dealing with hotels, did not allow us to see much of Singapore. We were able to see Arab street, walk around a huge shopping center and have dinner by the National Art Museum.

From Singapore, we went to Phuket, Thailand where we had plans to meet some of our friends at Patong Beach. Our first mistake in Thailand was choosing to take an airport shuttle because the man sitting next to Kelly told her that there might be a tsunami while we were visiting. I told her new friend to stop scaring her, but he just kept on giving her more details. Poor Kelly! She did not sleep much for the rest of the week. The hostel that we stayed at had a cute little coffee shop attached. Our friends just happened to be sitting outside eating lunch when Kelly and I rolled up in a tuk-tuk (a local rickshaw) because our airport van dropped us off too far from the hostel to walk. It was a funny sight.



We had lunch and unpacked, while everyone else headed down to the beach. As we were leaving for the beach Kelly and I stopped into the cafe to buy a bottle of water and a group of people recognized our Fulbright Korea tote bags. They were a group of seven Taiwan ETAs and were also staying at the hostel. After introducing ourselves and making plans to meet for dinner we headed down to the beach. Patong beach was definitely a tourist destination, but it was a fun place to be with friends. We all caught up with stories from home, the holidays in Korea and our travels before Thailand.



After the beach, we met the Taiwan ETAs for dinner and I had my first true pad thai. It was delicious! Dinner was funny because we were comparing everything about our experiences in Taiwan and Korea, from how we live, to what we eat and what our students are like. It was really interesting to hear how different our experiences were, yet how many of us were facing similar challenges. Following dinner we went to a bar with live music to talk some more. As the night got later the streets filled with all sorts of different shenanigans. I'm glad we were in a big group, because Patong beach at night is not somewhere I would want to be alone. We jumped from place to place trying to get a feel for the area. Two men with iguanas walked up to Kelly and Dave and put the iguanas on their shoulders. Then, they tried to make them pay to have the iguanas taken off. It was strange. At the end of the night we walked down to the beach and put our feet in the ocean. Locals were selling lanterns that people were buying, lighting and setting free over the water. The beach was really pretty at night. Overall we had a great night filled with good food, great company and lots of fun.



Our friends left the next morning for a kayaking trip around Phuket and Kelly and I explored some shopping areas in Patong. We had dinner with the Taiwan ETAs again and prepared to leave for our next destination in the morning. Our last stop was Surin Beach. We spent the remainder of our week stationed at Surin, but taking day trips to explore the island of Phuket.

Our first day trip was to a national park where we rode elephants around to see the park and its beautiful views. I was worried the whole time that we were hurting the elephant, but we decided that we probably just felt like a backpack tried to feel better about the situation. The elephants seemed to be well taken care of and were very cute throughout the whole trip.



Our next excursion was to Ko Phi Phi island. When we arrived at the tour company's office we began to worry. We were the only people in the room who were not Russian. As the office got more crowded we headed outside and found ourselves among only swedes. Luckily, our hotel pulled through and we were put on an English tour. We took a speedboat about an hour and a half south of Phuket to get to the island where Leonardo Dicaprio filmed the movie The Beach. Our day included touring white sand beaches, visiting a monkey beach, snorkeling around some beautiful coral and in a cove where James Bond was filmed, and having a seaside lunch on the island. The speedboat definitely was the best way to see so much of the island in one day.



Kelly and I enjoyed our stay at Surin and spent every sunset sitting on the beach. We found some really cheap places to get some delicious thai dishes. I think that our best night was our last night when we went to a really pretty beach bar to have a glass of wine and watch the sunset. We had our last plate of pad thai and said goodbye to the beach for the last time before leaving for Korea. Overall it was the best vacation we could have asked for, relaxing and exciting, adventurous and comfortable.

Bali

Fulbright created a spectacular contract for their ETAs. In Korea, students have a winter vacation from school during the months of January and February. The new school year starts in March. The ETA contract states that despite the school’s vacation schedule, all ETAs must be free from their teaching duties from December 22nd until March 2nd. Our contract also states that we can travel outside of Korea for a maximum of twenty-eight days during our grant year. After traveling home, I had plans to travel with my friend Kelly to some spots in Southeast Asia. When I returned to Korea from America, I had just enough time to unpack, catch up on sleep and do my laundry before leaving again.

Kelly and I planned portions of our trip before we left, but allowed for flexibility in our travels. Our trip started with an early morning flight from Incheon, so we slept at the airport spa the night before we left. Kelly was a seasoned veteran at sleeping at the airport spa, but it was my first time. For about $25 dollars we were led into a private room with two massage tables. In typical Korean spa fashion, we were given a set of pajamas to wear and provided with a towel and pillow. It was sort of silly sleeping on the tables trying to keep our heads out of the holes designed for the massage, but it was super convenient to be at the check-in desk within fifteen minutes of waking up.



Check-in was a breeze and after grabbing spaghetti for breakfast (there are not many traditional breakfast options in Korea) we were on our way to Singapore. Our first stop for the trip was the island of Bali in Indonesia. From Singapore we had another two hour flight to Bali. At the Changi International airport in Singapore I called our hotel in Bali to see where we would be meeting the van we set up for airport pick-up. The hotel not so kindly informed me that they were overbooked and cancelled our reservation. I have still yet to receive the e-mail that they claim they sent to inform me of this cancellation. Oh Crap. Kelly and I were heading to Bali, due to arrive after 11pm and had no place to stay. This was exactly the situation that I was trying to avoid by booking an airport pick-up at an overpriced hotel for the first night. Things only got worse when I asked the overbooked hotel for a recommendation of another place to stay for the night and the customs agent in Bali laughed when we mentioned the new hotel. Shortly after that while I was admiring my new shiny Indonesian visa, Kelly saw a sign that said that Indonesia enforces the death penalty for anyone carrying illegal drugs. Now, to a girl that has never done a drug in her life, this sign should not have bothered Kelly. I was wrong assuming that and she was immediately concerned about someone planting drugs in our bags without us knowing. I’m not going to lie, she even had me worked up over it.

So there we were, two young Caucasian girls with one huge suitcase headed to a taxi stand without a destination. I picked one of the towns from our travel book that said there are many hotels where you can walk up book a room, found a taxi and prepaid for our ride to Kuta. While I was browsing through the book, Kelly met a guy from our plane. He was a surfer from New Zealand and was also going to Kuta. Figuring he might be able to help us, we allowed him to share our taxi and picked his brain about the area during the taxi ride. He had been to Bali before, but when the taxi dropped us off on the wrong street, our new friend had to make a guess at which direction we needed to walk to get to hotels. Kelly and I gripped our bags tightly and walked down some really creepy, dark streets. The next day we discovered we were passing though a big market in Kuta, but at night the market was just a bunch of empty stalls all in a row on a street without any lights. When we turned a corner, saw three girls walking out of a hotel with a security guard Kelly and without saying a word Kelly and I knew this is where we would stay. We departed from our New Zealand tour guide and walked inside. The Bounty Hotel turned out to be a huge destination for young Australian party-goers. One guy sort of gawked at Kelly when she told him she was a twenty-four year old teacher. He also told her that we were the only Americans he had ever seen at the hotel before.



The hotel itself turned out to be fine. It had a pretty pool and a free breakfast buffet. Our first morning at the Bounty, we put on our bathing suites, lathered up with SPF 70 and headed to the beach. We couldn’t figure out why no one else was walking to the beach, but we quickly learned. We arrived to the beach and were greeted with signs saying that the water was dangerous because of rip tides. As we walked down the beach to find the “pretty” part we were quickly disappointed. Not only were we walking through sand filled with trash, but also there were huge piles of trash all along the sides of the beach and locals haggling us to buy anything and everything they were selling.

We eventually settled in two overpriced chairs. Kelly and I knew that we would not be staying here another day. At least we had our books. We spent the day getting a little bit of sun and reading. That night we went online and booked a new hotel for the rest of our stay in Bali. Our guidebook called the new beach, Nusa Dua, a bit sterile, a quiet destination and perfect for honeymooners. When I was checking out of the Bounty the man behind the desk laughed when I told him where we were going. He said it was a bit boring. I told him that’s exactly what we were looking for. We spent our last few hours in Kuta walking through the markets and shopping, which is what our guidebook said Kuta is best known for. The market and little shops were definitely the best part of our time in Kuta.



Kelly and I spent the rest of our week swimming in the ocean, reading books, and eating delicious Balinese food. For two nights we met up with our friends Josh and Kate. It was fun to have them around to join us for dinner at the beach restaurant while we watched the sunset and listened to the quartet that played music each night on the beach.





Kelly and I saw two weddings on the beach that week and were completely outnumbered by couples, but we didn’t mind. We knew that the more adventurous part of our trip lied ahead in Thailand and we relished in relaxation while we could. At the end of the week we gave such a great review to the hotel that they have asked us to be on their testimonial page. I can honestly day that our week in Bali was one the best weeks of my life. We left excited for the next portion of our trip, Singapore and Thailand.

Home!

I was giddy with excitement when our flight landed at JFK international. One of the biggest shocks for me as I stood in line at customs was seeing so much diversity. After spending six months in one of the most homogeneous countries in the world it was wonderful to blend into a line of individuals. I had plenty of time to observe the people around me because US customs shut down nationwide for over an hour. Anxiety was getting the best of me and I was ready to be out of the airport and with my friends to celebrate New Year’s Eve. My parents were very understanding and dropped me off with James before driving themselves home. When I left my parents we had been traveling for almost twenty-four hours and I was a little bit jealous that they were going home and going to bed. My adrenaline kept me moving and before I knew it my friend Babs and I were yapping away in the car headed down to the shore. We kept our night simple by making dinner at home, sitting by the fireplace with gin and tonics and exchanging Christmas presents. Babs and Ross were determined to keep up the New Years spirit with hats, champagne and noise makers. By the time we rang in 2010 I was delirious with both exhaustion and happiness.




The weather on New Years day was beautiful. We woke up too late to make it to the annual Ocean City polar bear plunge, but we were able to make it to a diner for a delicious American style breakfast. There was no squid anywhere to be found on the table and that fact in itself made me happy. Friday night, my friend Colleen came over, we pregamed with North Korean Soju and Bananagrams, and then headed out to Atlantic City. It was a memorable night, but no one came out on top.


Saturday, my parents had a party for me at our house in Pennsylvania. It was wonderful to see some of the family and friends that I have missed so much over the past few months. My mother ordered some delicious Cappriotti's sandwiches and served lots of Korean cookies and tea that she brought back from their visit. One of my favorite things in the world to do is sit around with my extended family and friends all day without any plans. That is exactly what we did. My cousins and I played endless rounds of Apples to Apples (Kasey won every time!) and my dad showed everyone lots of pictures from Korea. Mom and Dad, thank you for a great day. I'm so lucky!

I went down to DC for a few nights and visit James’ apartment. It was freezing outside and despite his attempts to do some outside touring, I was happiest when I was inside eating spaghetti. It was that visit that was the turning point in our relationship. After years of not keeping in touch, an undefined bond brought us together again before I left for Korea. Without knowing what the year held for either of us we left things to fate. Despite the distance we grew closer when we were apart. Life is full of surprises and having James in my life again is one surprise that I am pretty excited about. I am already counting down the days until he arrives in Korea and we can go down to Jeju Island for vacation and to celebrate Buddha’s birthday.

The rest of my visit home was very busy trying to fit in doctor appointments and catching up with friends. I must have been back luck because the Eagles lost both of their games, which ended their season, when I was home. No offence Dad, but my favorite part of the games was getting to eat Mom’s chili. Babs and I were able to have a successful King of Prussia shopping trip and a tasty bowl of chowder at Legal Sea Foods with my family. Despite my affinity for many Korean foods, I really missed the diversity of food from home and therefore my trip home was marked by the food I enjoyed.

My last meal with my family was at our favorite Mexican restaurant. I forgot that in America we don’t communally eat. Sorry Mom, I didn’t mean to be so gross by eating directly off of the fajita plate we were sharing. After dinner we went to mass. It was so comforting to hear mass in English and being at my hometown parish with my family made me feel remarkably at peace.

My flight back to Korea was out of JFK and so I spent my last night in New York City. Unfortunately, my brother, Mike, was out of town and I couldn’t stay at his apartment. But, I was able to meet up with the lovely Kathleen Madigan and her sister for some drinks at an Irish pub and some delicious brick oven pizza. Kathleen’s stories made me so jealous that she is already teaching. I love teaching in Korea, but I really love special ed and miss how rewarding it can be. After our conversations that night all I want to do is look for jobs and get ready to teach my American kiddos again. I can’t wait for our next visit in the city when we can exchange more classroom stories!
The next morning, I raided the new stands at the airport for English magazines that don’t cost 20,000 won and spent my last few hours chatting with my mother Gladys on the phone. My trip home was perfect, but I was excited to get back to Korea and on to my next adventure.

Griswold Korean Vacation: Part Two: Seoul

The second part of our vacation was just that, a vacation. Korea has always felt like this surreal world that I have worked, lived and tried to survive in. When I was in Seoul with my family I could finally relax and enjoy Korea completely as a tourist. I don’t have living room furniture at my homestay, so I don’t watch TV. My time in Seoul was the first time that I had watched more than a few minutes of Korean television and also the first time since America that I had seen satellite English television. I was always pretty happy to go back to the room at the end of the night to watch tv.

It was funny being in Korea as a tourist because I was able to enjoy both the culture of Korea and western comforts. It was amazing after showering with a rough hand towel for six months to wrap myself up in a warm, soft towel bigger than I am. On Christmas, we went to a seafood restaurant that was recommend and had a wonderful meal. The eight courses included a variety of identifiable foods, some tasty delicacies and other filling treats. One of the things that I really like about dining at nice restaurants in Korea is that you are put in a private room. I felt like we were the only people in the restaurant that night.




After dinner some of my eta friends stopped by and shared drinks with my family. I felt like introducing my friends to my family was bridging the gap between my two lives. I know that my Mom likes being able to put a face with the names from my stories and my friend Christina says that she understands all of my rambling family stories better now that she has met my clan.




My family had done their research and we toured most of Seoul in the week that we were there. I was excited because I had still not seen many of the tourist spots in Seoul and we were able to explore them as a family. We went on the DMZ tour together that was similar to the tour that I went on with my friend Julie a few weeks prior. Another group tour we took brought us to President Lee's Blue House, a Buddhist temple, Gyeongbuk Palace and the Korea Heritage museum.



After a quick few hours of seeing so much, we were dropped off in the expat area of Seoul, near the US military base that holds the majority of the 30,000 US troops stationed in Korea. It was in this area, Itaewon, that my Dad was able to get a Korean Phillies hat made. That was definitely his best purchase the trip.



We spent another day visiting museums such as the National Museum and the Korea War Museum. The war museum was especially interesting because it chronicled the many different types of wars that Korea has survived throughout history, many of which I read about in a history book that I studied with my coteacher last semester. The museum was also very enlightening about the Korean war and offered pictures and video clips to go along with the information displayed. The wars contextualize a lot about Korean culture and presently held beliefs of many Koreans. Korea has so many different aspects that I am trying discover both as a tourist and an expat. This vacation was a great opportunity for me to check more sights off of my tourist list.



The Griswold Korean adventure was a huge success. My family was able to explore Korean culture with me as both their guide and fellow explorer. We were able to create family memories that will last a lifetime and catch up on the past six months that we have been apart. I eagerly packed my suitcase at the end of the week because my next winter vacation stop was AMERICA!

Griswold Korean Vacation: Part One: Cheonan

From the day I got my acceptance letter from Fulbright I have told my family and friends that I want them to come and visit Korea. I knew that I was embarking on a once in a lifetime experience and I wanted my family and friends to come and join me if they could. Due to the fact that Korea is on the exact opposite side of the world I understood that the majority of the people I asked would not be able to make the trip. But, I love Manning family vacations and after being here for a few months I knew that if the Mannings came to Korea, it would be the vacation of a lifetime. In December they came and it was a vacation for the books.

My family arrived in Korea just in time to come to Yongso for my last day of school before winter break. In Korea, students and teachers have January and February off from school before starting the new school year in March. My family came in for probably the most fun day I have had so far. Our school day included my Dad accidentally telling my students in Korean that he was my older brother, my brothers helping students cheat on their word searches and my mom laughing harder than anyone in the class when we watched the clip of Mr. Bean getting the turkey stuck on his head. We awkwardly shared instant coffee with my vice principal and ate octopus for lunch in the cafeteria. My students practice a new karaoke song each month and after lunch we had a karaoke contest for the song of the month, Nat King Cole’s L.O.V.E. My host sister and her friends created a dance and another group cut out letters to use in their performance all because I told them that groups that did a good job would get candy from America. My brother, Mike, was the candy man and was mobbed throughout the contest. Best school day ever.

The first few days of my family’s visit we spent in Cheonan. We ate Korean barbecue with my coteacher and her children. My mom brought pez from home and tried to teach every Korean child she met how to pull Santa’s head up and insert the candy. This lesson led to one kid mistaking Dwight’s head for a pez and trying to pull it off. My dad quickly put a stop to that.

I introduced my family to some of my friends at our favorite Tuesday night wine bar and ate dinner at my apartment with my host family. My host mother was really nervous about having so many foreigners in the apartment, so she busied herself by making every food that I have ever told her that I liked. It is rude to say you don’t like something, so by default I have a lot of favorite Korean foods. She made a ton of food and sat at the table watching like a hawk as each of us tasted every dish. My family was still not used to the communal eating, especially dipping spoons in the same soup bowl and slurping it off of spoons. My host father had lots of comments about our eating habits. My little brother, Kevin, was picked on for not trying everything, my dad was commended for eating hot foods “well” and all of us ate way past our comfort level.

After dinner, my mother brought out the Christmas gifts for my host family that she has been buying for months. All of the presents went over really well and both my host father and brother put their Phillies shirts on at the dinner table.

The rest of our time in Cheonan was spent trying all sorts of Korean food for the first time and exploring my favorite places in town. I forgot how much of an experience it is to just walk down a street in Korea and read all of the funny signs. Many of them are either silly/inappropriate English phrases or spelled wrong. Mr. Manning is currently compiling a collage of the signs he saw.

The last event we were to attend before heading to Seoul for the rest of vacation was Christmas Eve mass at my host family’s church. This was an event that I have been dreading for months because of an incident in the fall regarding religious pressure from my host family. On the cab ride to the church I was sure that I was going to either throw up because I was so nervous or be denied communion from the priest that last time he saw me yelled at me about not attending Korean mass each week. The last time I saw him he told me to recite the 10 Commandments to him and submit my sins of paper each week to my host father who would translate them into Korean, so I could be given penance. Needless to say I was very worried about walking into their Church.

Mass turned out to be fine, we sat front and center, everyone stared at us and we only understood one word, Amen. Following mass my families and I took group pictures on the altar. Somehow we never got a picture of all of us, but one of the nuns was able to sneak into some of them. About a week before my parents arrived I was informed that there would be a variety show following Christmas mass. The idea of a variety show worried me and I immediately used the excuse that my family would be very tired from traveling so we could only stay for a few minutes.

Following the picture, my family and I were quickly swept from the front of the church back to a recreational room. Downstairs we heard Salmunori drummers (traditional Korean drumming) and we all began to wonder what this show was going to be like. The drummers paraded up the stairs enthusiastically playing, jumping, hooting and howling as they passed us and headed to the stage.

Many members of the church greeted my family warmly. It was exciting because we were the first foreigners that had ever visited the church before. As the soju (A vodka-like rice liquor) started flowing the greetings turned even friendlier and we were swept away to a table in front of the stage. Each of us was given a metal cup, most of them previously used, and our cups were filled with makgeolli (another Korean rice wine with a high alcohol content). We drank as slowly as we could because each time our cups nearly empty they were refilled with more makgeolli than before. My mother was fed without her consent and with used chopsticks, the fattiest piece of mystery meat I have ever seen. She was a good sport and understood that we were guests and in respect of Korean culture we had to try everything that we were served. (I think she gagged when the man that fed her was not looking.)

As my brothers, mother and I stood and tried to navigate how to get out of drinking more, my dad somehow slipped away to the front of the stage. At the time I was upset because he was not being forced to drink, but now I am thankful because he was taking pictures to document the show on stage. Each apartment complex in the church’s community, including the retirement complex, created a song and dance performance for the show. The adults in my Highvill complex dressed like toy soldiers and my host father sang Santa Clause is coming to town in Korean. Their performance was just the start. As each group went on stage, things got a little bit weirder. One man dressed up as the skinniest Santa I have ever seen and took his beard off in front of all of the children. Many people put tissues in their noses and ears. A group of men wore fuzzy women’s pajama pants during their performance and then mooned the crowed at the end. They had pieces of crumbled paper in their bottoms that said Merry Christmas in Korean. At some point my brothers gained a following of high school girls that thought that they were so handsome. Awww

Mike escaped to the bathroom when things started to get a little wild, but after a little while we noticed that he never came back. When we went to search for him, we found Mike at a small table outside of the main room being encouraged to take shots of soju with the “men.” It turned out that Mike was approached in the bathroom, taken by the hand and led the table outside in the hallway. Shortly after we rescued Mike, I heard the person on stage talking about Americans and because were the only ones in the room, we quickly headed for the door. My mother made it clear that she was not going on that stage. We were also some of the most sober people at the event and we took that as our other clue to leave. Before we left we took a few last pictures with our new friends, my dad and I were asked to sign a girl’s missal so she would remember us and we said goodnight to my host family. I spent my walk home laughing to myself and happy that my family was able to have a very Korean experience that makes you ask yourself, what the heck is going on right now?

The next morning was Christmas. My host family gave me a box of thirty gel cubes of red ginseng, we all said goodbye and I headed on my way to meet my family for our train to Seoul.

DMZ

I recently went on the US Air Force tour of the DMZ. My friend Julie has a friend from high school, Daren, that is currently working at the Osan Air Force base, about thirty minutes by train from Cheonan. Julie and I visited the base on Friday night and spent a few hours smiling about being "back on American soil." We ate dinner at Chilis and drank margaritas. The menu was in English and Julie and I were in a state of bliss.

After a great night of rest at a real hotel (with sheets! I don't have sheets at my homestay) we went to an American diner and boarded a bus bound for the DMZ. Immediately after boarding it became apparent to Julie and I that we were a little out of place. The bus was all military and their guests. Most guests were girlfriends and Julie and I were a little giggly compared the most of the other passengers on the bus.

Our first stop was at a lookout point by the DMZ called Imjingak Resort Park. The actual DMZ is about two kilometers wide and so our view standing on the South Korean side was mostly symbolic. This spot is a place where many people come and pray for peace and unification. It included a 21 ton bell of peace and many notes written to people in the north hung on a fence. After that stop we entered the DMZ area and proceeded to the Mt. Odu Obersvation point where we saw our first view of NK across the river. We walked around a museum and saw Kim Jung Il's signature and many artifacts from NK. The museum has very up to date articafts and I thought it was really neat to see the newspaper from just the previous week in NK. I also was really interested in looking at the school textbooks. The books looked so old fashioned and included studying the history of Kim Il Sung (Kim Jung Il's father) and his family.

After this point we proceeded to Dora station, located at the northernmost end of South Korea. This is a train station that was created with the expectation that Korea will not be divided forever and that one day the train can run between Pyeongyang and Seoul. Here we walked outside and saw the track that runs to NK and had our passports stamped.

Our next stop was the Joint Security Area, the most famous part of the DMZ. This area is called the panmunjeom and is the only area that is outside the administrative control of both North and South Korea. The U.N has many guards in this area and the whole area is very quiet. We were told not to make faces at North Korea or even point in the direction. The guard on the North Korean side was often looking through his binoculars at us at we looked at him standing on the steps of the North Korean welcome center. It was crazy to think that we were so close to North Korea, yet taking just a few steps in the wrong direction by anyone could cause a potential world war. We were unable to enter the rooms where meetings are held between the north and south because of the H1N1 scare, but we saw where the meetings are held from the outside of the building. I swear that there are very few places in Korea that were no closed for the swine flu.

After leaving the part of the JSA with the North Korean guards standing so close to us, we went to a gift shop. Why wouldn't there be a gift shop? I was pretty excited to buy some soju made in the North. I wonder if it tastes the same as the beloved drink does in the south?

Our second to last stop was at the 3rd Infiltration tunnel. This is the place where the South discovered the North Koreans digging a tunnel towards the Seoul designed for a surprise attack on the South. We walked down 73 meters and walked through the tunnel all the way to the wall that marks the beginning of North Korea. Even that far underground, the line between the North and the South had barbed wire. Behind the barbed wire was a little door leading to the North. I really wondered what was on the other side. I decided not to find out for myself.

The last stop was at another observation point where we saw the road that about 100 South Koreans drive on everyday to their job in North Korea. There are about 100 managers from the South that operate factories in the North for a few thousand employees in the town of Kaesong. I did not know a lot about Kaesong, but it was really interesting to see that although there is so much tension between these two countries, some citizens still freely go from the South to the North on a daily basis. This link is a pretty cool look at a brochure published by the North that includes some information about Kaesong: http://northkorea1on1.com/EImages/downloads/korn-Kaesong-Booklet.pdf

My trip to the DMZ was one of the highlights of my time in Korea and I am looking forward to returning for my second tour with my family in a few weeks.

Some Great Opportunities : )

Over the past few weeks I have had a few opportunities to participate in professional development workshops and learn more about the Korean education system. The first opportunity was held at my school. My co-teacher and I taught an open class. About thirty teachers came and observed us teach a lesson. Some of the teachers stood in the room, some outside (they took the windows out so people could look through from the hallway) and our school also used a video camera to broadcast the lesson into the school cinema. It was pretty exciting to have so many people watching and critiquing our lesson.

Following the lesson my school held a workshop and in typical Korean fashion, without prior notice, I was asked to speak about team teaching in Korea. That little speech was a blessing in disguise because following the workshop I received two wonderful offers. First, I was asked to make a presentation about team teaching at a conference for all of the elementary English teachers in my province. Second, I was asked to participate in a research study that a professor at a local university is conducting next spring. The professor is a South African lady who has been in Korea for eight years teaching English at the primary level. I have been speaking with her regularly and am very excited about working with her this spring. We will be studying the effects of putting students into reading groups in their English classes. Differentiating instruction is a fairly new concept in Korean education and is very rare in their English as a foreign language education. Differentiation is a concept that I learned a lot about at Dayton and a concept that I will continue to study in reference to English Language Learners (ELL) over the next few months.

This past weekend I made a sixty minute presentation at the Chungnam Province Elementary English Education Conference. I was a bit overwhelmed by the length of the presentation, but it went really well. I was able to show some video clips from my open class and explain how I incorporate many team teaching strategies into my everyday lessons. The director must have liked the presentation because I have been asked to do it again two more times in December!

This sort of opportunity is great practice for making future presentations and helps me to build my professional portfolio. Thank you Korea : )