Teacha Teacha Learn Me Somethin'

"He doesn't deserve to be a teacher."

 

This is a quote from a Korean friend last week. For some reason, even as the conversation carried on, this phrase echoed in my head. Not only are teachers more highly regarded here in Korea, but this quote makes teaching an honorable and privileged position. The incredible dissimilarity between the views of teaching in the states versus this stance is incredible to me. Obviously I am slightly biased, however I believe that everyone should see teachers as invaluable members of society. We prepare children as the next generation for our societies around the world, as well as care for them for the majority of the day, usually even longer than their parents see them. Wouldn't you want your child to be with someone who considered their job to be a privilege as opposed to a burden? I know I am not the perfect teacher, nor will I ever be. I have days where I feel tired and unmotivated to teach, but this quote has given me a new energy. It reminded me how lucky I am to be in the profession of education. The students come excited to learn every day, therefore it is my duty to reciprocate that excitement in my classroom. I have the opportunity to make learning fun and hopefully plant the "life-long-learner" seed in them that has grown in me from my previous teachers. For all of my previous, current, and future incredible teachers, thank you. From the bottom of my heart.

Speaking of teaching...What is education without reading? For those of you who know me, I am kind of a bookworm. Only a little bit...Therefore when I was researching things to do this weekend and found the Seoul International Book Fair at the COEX mall in Gangnam I nearly fell out of my chair! Shanna and I had gone to the COEX for the chocolate festival last year, so in my mind I just swapped out all of the chocolate booths for booths full of books. Aka I was obviously going. Kaitie joined me for the adventure and we made our way there Saturday afternoon. The COEX mall is a slightly intimidating place. About the size of a small town, it contains endless restaurants, exhibit halls, an aquarium, and shops (somewhere...Kaitie and I had trouble finding this part of the mall in the labrynth).

Walking up to the exhibit hall area we were met with a snaking queue wrapping around the lobby area. Koreans love their lines (I think I've mentioned this in several posts actually)

The line starts on the left, wraps around behind the camera and then back up from the right.

The line went quickly though and we purchased our tickets for the fair (only about $3!)

The other event happening today was the "World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics". In the words of Kaitie before I read the sign, "Let's not accidentally go to Hall D".

 The book fair is apparently an annual event to promote Korean publishers to countries abroad. Publishers from countries around the world are welcomed as well. Both Canada and India had special areas to promote their own publications. As we walked in we were surrounded by hundreds of booths desplaying an endless spectrum of books from phonics to religious texts. We started in the Indian publications area, looking at books from that area of the world. As teachers, we went straight for the children's books. A man came up and tried to tell us something about the books...something about the publisher perhaps? Not sure. I did a lot of smiling, nodding, and saying "neh". It worked okay for a while. Then we had to sneak away quietly. My Korean isn't THAT good yet.

Next, we wandered around and ran into an English book booth with classics from Penguin Group Publishers like Shakespeare, Hawthorne, and Twain as well as newer releases. I picked up a few books here to add to my meager "library" in my apartment including "The Book of Awesome" highlighting little things in life that make it awesome, such as "popping bubble wrap" and "Pushing those little buttons on the soft drink lid cup". This isn't a book to sit down and read all in one sitting, but instead one to pick up every so often to remind yourself just how awesome life is. I'm excited to have this as a part of my small book collection! I also had a little visit from Delaware!

Biden made it to Korea!

My favorite part of the exhibit was definitely the illustrators area. Here, book illustrators from a variety of Korean story books were highlighted in different artistic displays. The "beauty of books" was the theme for this part of the fair. Who doesn't love picture books?

 

Overall, another fun visit to the COEX. We picked up the subway and headed to Itaewon for a friend's birthday dinner at a BYOB Indian restaurant which was delicious! I ordered something I've never tried before called Aloo Gobhi Curry which is cauliflower and potato cooked in an onion sauce. It was really good! I'll have to see if our usual Indian place in Bucheon has it. Paired with several bottles of wine for the table, the dinner was excellent! A Polaroid camera captured some of the fun of the evening- As Kaitie and I are always a couple when we go out, we got a couple photo. Also, a few bags of dry ice accompanied the ice-cream cake that some friends brought with them, so obviously we had some fun with that as well.

 

 

She's a witch!

The next day I woke and decided to go for an exploratory run. Lake Park is beautiful and a nice place to run, however I want to find new routes to keep me from getting bored. Today I ran around Lake Park a few times before venturing off to the other side of the road towards Aiins world. For those of you who do not know (probably most...) Aiins world is a theme park of sorts in Bucheon in which you can take pictures of yourself and your closest friends in front of miniature versions of famous landmarks from around the world. I've never been. My parents and Edward went during their visit. I've heard its pretty run down, but if they clean it up and update it, I'm sure it could be an excellent place to visit! It was neat to run by and see the Eiffel Tower and the pyramids right next to each other. Don't you wish traveling was that easy? I also found a small area with a skate park, baseball field, and basketball courts. Not really made for runniny, but good to know I suppose. My route took me along a river to join a path I've run before. I finished by going through a residential area with beautiful houses and gardens then down a long road lined and covered by trees. Although it was a short exploration, it's nice to know what's nearby and available. Next time I might try to run to Incheon Grand Park, which I've heard about several times.

That afternoon I met with a coworker and my Korean teacher for some shopping in Bupyeong Underground Market. Unlike other adventures there, the purpose of this trip was not finding silly English shirts, but actual functional clothes. I found a skirt with giraffes on it! Very excited to wear it to work tomorrow and have all the kids point out that there are in fact giraffes on it....I will act surprised each time.

Going back in time- Friday we had a cooking class at Little America. The students made patbingsu which is a Korean shaved ice dessert with a variety of toppings from fruit to cake to red bean (of course). The students cut up some watermelon, shaved some ice, and mixed in other fruit, cereal, gummy candy, rice cakes, and sugary syrup to make this super healthy (....) snack. They enjoyed it, which is all that matters!

Ingredients

serious chopping

grinding

More chopping...

Finished product

This week we have a field trip to "Robo Park"...I'm as intrigued as you are I assure you as to the theme behind this one. Although if robots and transformers aren't involved I will be significantly disappointed. After the field trip, the students will be tired and ready to go home but of course they have to present their speeches in front of their peers. My girls are doing their speeches on their future careers. I have a ballet teacher, a pianist, and a violinist in my room! A very artsy-fartsy crew aren't we? Friday we have our birthday celebration...which reminds me that I have to finish teaching my girls our monthly song! Time has been going faster this month than ever before.

As for news from home. Alex is safe and getting established in Nashville, Tennessee. I will do some shameless plugging for her because she is my sister and that's what sisters do. Check out her album here! https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/alex-saad/id419721103. She is talented, hilarious, and beautiful and I miss her terribly. Beth is heading to Palestine on Tuesday for her three week heritage trip to learn about our Palestinian roots. My jealousy is only slightly over-shadowed by my respect and excitement for her journey. Again, only because I'm a sister (and twin no less) if you want to follow her adventure, here is her blog! http://bethanycsaad.blogspot.kr/

For now its time to get ready to go headfirst into the week!
xoxox

Korean of the post: 기분 어때요? (gi-boon au-dae-yo) How do you feel?