Life as a TaLK Scholar

Name: Nikki Nhi Dinh

POE: Gyeongju

Country: United States of America

School Name: Oksan Elementary

Life as a TaLK Scholar

           

My life as a TaLK Scholar is definitely not what I expected. I will now name 3 things that I find unexpected. First, I did not think I would fall in love with teaching. Second, the independence of living on my own is sometimes what I want but sometimes not really. And lastly, I didn’t think I would be able to make any deep connections with anyone here.

            In high school, I was a teacher assistant at my church for Sunday schools. Back in college, I worked at a tutor for a private tutoring company near campus. Now I am teaching English in Korea. Even though the patterns are pretty obvious, I never really considered a career as a teacher. That thought comes up here and there but I would just brush it away. I came to Korea thinking that I should give it a chance and I think I fell in love with teaching; and trust me, it’s not because teaching is easy and fun. I just realized that I simply put so much passion into teaching; even back in high school and college. I am glad that this opportunity through TaLK helped me to see that I should pursue a career in education.

            I did not live at home for college. I was in the dorm for my first 2 years and then lived off-campus my last 2 years. When I decided to go to Korea, I thought it wouldn’t be too bad because I was away from home most of the year anyway. Well, I was wrong; I felt pretty bad being on my own. I never had my own room; at home, I shared my room with my sisters. In college, I always had roommates. Now, I have my own apartment! There’s no one to come home to and the worst thing is cooking for myself. I always have to portion just enough so that I won’t throw way food. I was so used to cooking for other people and sharing food that I was really homesick the first few weeks. The independence here is great; I can do anything I want but sometimes I want to be responsible for something or someone.

            During my freshmen year of college, I was pretty open to meeting new people and making new friends. When I came to Korea, I was 4 years older and felt as if I already established my group of close friends. I didn’t think that I would make any friends here but again I was wrong. I guess the people who become your friends are the people you really don’t have to try to be friends with; they just become your friends. I am glad that I can consider some people here my friends. I am grateful that I can count on them and they can count on me.

At Korea International Circuit; Formula 1

Halloween Masks with 6th Grade 

Gyeongbuk Cultural Trip

Gyeongbuk Cultural Trip

October 18 -19, 2012

            On October 18 and 19, I attended our POE cultural trip. Our destination was Jeollabuk-do Ilwon. I thought the trip was planned at a very good time with a lot of activities and I really did enjoy seeing more of Korea.

            We were asked to arrive at Daegu at 8:30am on Thursday to then take the bus to Jeonju for the bibimbap festival. Jeonju is known to have the best bibimbap in of all of Korea. Our bus ride was about 3-4 hours and when we got to Jeonju, we ate the best bibimbap I’ve had in Korea. Honestly, I am not much of a bibimbap fan but I had to admit, it was pretty good. After lunch, we went to the Jeonju folk village. I thought it was really beautiful since the leaves on the trees were starting to change colors. I really wanted to stay longer and walk around more but time was limited. We did three activities at the folk village. First, we took a tour of the folk-style homes and visited the art museum. We learned a lot about the famous kings in Jeonju. Second, we made a picture frame with Korea’s famous paper, Hanji. I enjoyed that session a lot because it gave us time to sit down and just have conversations with one another while we work on our frames. The last activity was a tea ceremony. We got to learn how to make and serve tea. The tea was really good; especially when the weather was getting so cold outside.

            We left Jeonju and traveled to a resort in Buan. I think our POE really knows the best venues for overnight stay. The resort was really nice and very high class. I was especially happy because I really wanted a good night sleep. We had a really good dinner and rested til 8:30pm. We were told to come down for a “meeting” at 8:30. We arrived at the conference room and saw that it was more like a surprise party than a meeting. We had snacks, drinks, and beers on the table. The “party” began with speeches from our POE supervisor and our President. We ate and caught up with one another about our experiences so far.

            The next morning, we took the bus to Chaesok River. The bus ride was about 5 minutes since the river was really close by. It was called a river but it looks more an ocean. The sight of the ocean is breathtaking, especially in the morning. I personally really enjoy going to the ocean because it just reminds me of how small how I am. We departed from Buan and went to see the Saemangeum seawall then had lunch. I enjoyed that lunch very much because we had spicy crab for one of the side dishes. One of the servers asked me if I was Korean and I said no. She then asked if I was ok since the food was really spicy. I would totally eat more of that spicy crab if I weren’t so full.

            We arrived in Daegu at around 6pm and I took the bus back to Pohang. I got home at around 8pm.

            Overall, I think the best thing about the trip was seeing other TaLK scholars in my province again. Even though the bus ride was tiring, it gave me a chance to talk and catch up with one of the scholars. We talked about our experiences at our school and our time in Korea. It really helped me to feel not alone because we experienced a lot of the same things. I was happy to get some time off of school and do something out of the ordinary. I think trip also was one of the key factors in helping me decide whether or not I should extend my contract and stay for another six months. 

Jeonju bibimbap Festival

Jeonju Folk Village 

Chaeseok River/Ocean

Open Class

Today I had my open classes. In Korea, all teachers have to "open" their classes for parents or other teachers to come and observe. They also give some feedback at the end of class.

My 2nd and 4th grade classes were picked to be observed.
My co-teacher and I have prepared for this for the last week or so. She was a bit more nervous than me; I guess mainly because she doesn't have a lot of experience speaking in front of class, especially in English. She did great today!!

So my 2nd grade class was supposed to start at 2pm like the usual time but the parents and the students all came at around 1pm. My mentor teacher told me that there was a mistake and we will began at 1:10pm instead. I was like...um ok, that's ok because the earlier we do this, the earlier we finish. There were two mothers in the back along with my mentor teacher. At first I was nervous but honestly, I was glad that my principal or vice principal weren't there.

The class went pretty well; except when we needed the powerpoint, the computer froze. My co-teacher was panicking a bit but I just improvised and wrote the words on the board instead. I can never fully trust technology. Everything worked out the way we planned it. My mentor teacher was satisfied and happy. She said we did a really good job. 2nd grade is her homeroom class (She is their main teacher) My 2nd grade class was a little rowdy but it's because we were playing games... At least they weren't bored out of their minds.

My 4th grade also began earlier than planned. There were 3 mothers. This time, there were also more students than usual. The boys usually only come to my morning class but today they were there too. That was another unexpected thing. We did everything as planned but for one of the activity, one of the boys refused to go up to the board when it was his turn; even my mentor teacher told him to go up but he didn't want to. Well I just played it off and say it's my co-teacher's turn to compete so the mood got lighter. My mentor teacher was again happy with our lesson for 4th grade. Honestly, I only cared what she thought because she has years of teaching experience. Most of the parents (maybe all) did not even understand what I was saying. My mentor teacher will take my co-teacher and I out for dinner next Friday as a treat!! :)

The parents mentioned at the end that the girls were all really good but the boys weren't paying attention much (typical?).

Overall I am happy that everything went well and that my co-teacher is relieved now.

Thank you God for taking care of everything!

Formula 1 and Honey Chicken

I spent most of my weekend on the bus.

This weekend I took the bus to Daejeon to meet up with my friend, to then take another bus to Gwanju to meet up with our other friend. The Formula 1 race was in Korea this past week so we decided to go.

I was on the bus to Daejeon when my friend called and said that there was no more buses to Gwanju that night and we have two options; one was to take the KTX train which about about $52 and other was to take a taxi for $50. We decided with the taxi. So we each paid $50 for a taxi ride that took about 2hours. I'm not sure how to describe that experience. There was another lady in the taxi with us. She also missed her bus. The taxi driver dropped her off her in Jeonju then took us to Gwanju. By the time we got there, it was about 12:30am. We were exhausted but was glad to see our friend. We got back to her place and saw the chicken place that I really really like. We ordered chicken and ate around 1 in the morning. The chicken made everything better again :P

The next morning, we took a bus to Mokpo to catch the shuttle to Korea International Circuit (more bus time). We got there around 1pm and went to the stadium. It was Saturday so the cars were just doing trials. I liked it; my first time seeing racecars. 

We decided to stay for the k-pop concert that night. We got in line, got into the stadium area, heard few bands/singers perform, then left. It was really not worth our time. They all sounded the same and we didn't know who they were. The headliners were TVXQ and Girls' Generation but we didn't want to stay that long. We left, had dinner, and walked around downtown area. 

We got back to Gwanju around midnight and ordered chicken again. We had to... haha 

On Sunday, I took the bus from Gwanju to Pohang. It took about 4 hours.

Korea International Circuit

Before the race

With group 4 girls and Aaron

50/50

Wow. I am on a roller coaster.

On a certain day I just want to go home to California; to a place where I know the people, the language, and the EVERYTHING. I come home to my one room apartment after school and there's no one. I often get something to eat in the fridge, turn on the TV for noise, then just wonder what the heck I'm doing here. I keep thinking I'm not happy and I would only be happy if I go home. Then...

The next day I would feel like life's not so bad here. The food is good, the transportation is great, and my school is especially nice to me. On those days, I think I can stay in Korea another 6 months or even longer. Whenever I get to school, I feel happy. I think I love my students and I want to inspire them. It makes me so happy when they learn something or when they tell my co-teacher in Korean that they like English. Whenever I hear them speak English randomly outside of class, I want to stay... for them.

Then... I come home and my feelings cycle again.

My 2nd grade girls playing in the playground. I was waiting for the bus with them.

6th grade and masks for Halloween 

View of Oksan Elementary School 

3rd Grade Family Tree

Science class room aka my classroom 

1st Hike: Mt. Songnisan

Our delicious lunch 

Lunch stop in the middle of the hike 

Made it to the top! exhilarating feeling! 

What a view! 

Yesterday (Saturday), I took a bus from Pohang to Daejeon then transferred to Boeun to finally visit my friend. I really wanted to hike since hiking is pretty popular in Korea so we decided to hike Mt. Songnisan. This mountain is pretty popular because it has the largest bronze Buddha in the world. A lot of tourists come to see and many Buddhists come to pray. 

We did not get there til about 2pm since my bus ride took about 4 hours (I left at 8am!) We did a lot of sight seeing, took pictures, and were really impressed with how pretty everything was. We began our hike at around 3ish. At first we were like, "wow this is just all pavement...it's for tourists... I'm sure this is not going to be that bad...why do all these hikers all look like they have too many equipments?"

Here I like to mention that the old people in Korea are crazy hikers or at least they look like they are. They all have on hiking pants, NorthFace gears, walking sticks, and hiking boots. I guess when they do something here, they do it correctly with the right gears. They also travel in groups of old males or females... like a gang of them of the same gender, wearing almost the same colors and having the same haircuts (especially the ajummas) 

Well, we continued our "hike" (it's not really a hike yet since it's just like walking in a park at this point). We stopped for lunch at a rest stop in the middle of the forest (which is nice because you hear the river and all). After lunch was when our intensive hike began. We were hiking up rocks after rocks. It was super steep and it just seems like it would never end. Our goal was to reach Mundangjae Rock (we did not know it was 3000feet high). My thighs were really dying but we had to reach the top since it was too far to go back. Also, we were afraid that if we don't hurry, we will be lost in the forest when we go down. 

Well we got to the top and it was amazing!!! It was really worth the pain and the sweats. There were mountains everywhere and you can no longer see buildings or cars... just mountains! It really rejuvenated us. We took a few pictures and hurried down. My knees are still in pain because of yesterday... the hike down was faster but pretty ruthless on the knees.

On the way down, it got pretty dark and luckily we met a man on the way. We were the last few people on that trail. He talked to us a bit and my friend used the most of his broken Korean to have a conversation with him. The man had a flashlight so we just followed him out to the main gate. We were glad when he offered us a ride back to my friend's place. It was getting super cold and we would have had to take the bus then walk if he didn't offer us a ride. We were cold and in pain so we would take any ride... haha (In general, we heard it's pretty safe in Korea). 

Beautiful waterfall! 

Got super excited at the sight of the waterfall; the beginning of our long hike 

The largest Bronze Buhhda in Korea 

Very clear and fresh water; rest stop for most hikers

After 3 hours of hard work, we made it to the top! 

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There were more pictures but I can't seem to get my wifi on my phone to work..maybe post them later.

the beginning

Seeing all the blogs online about traveling really makes me want to have one too so I will start one. I guess it could be helpful for others who might be interested in traveling and teaching in Korea... and I am sure some people at home do care about what I am doing here in Korea.

I've been in Korea for 2 months. I got here on August 4, 2012 about 5am at Incheon International Airport, South Korea. I was at our TaLK national orientation for about 3 weeks then headed to our regional orientation. Orientation was a bit long but I guess they were trying to prepare us for our lives in Korea. I think they did a pretty good job about warning us that no matter how much we learn at orientation, you can never be fully prepared.

I've been living in the city Pohang and teaching in the city Gyeongju since the beginning of September. I teach at Oksan Elementary. The school has a total of about 75 students (1st-6th). The few days were pretty much what I expected; awkward conversations with other teachers. It's awkward because of course I do not know how to speak Korean. They are really friendly though. I know they were trying to be as welcoming as possible. The students can be really rowdy but I think they are good kids... most of the time. I see the students about 3 times a week and each time for 40minutes.

Monday through Friday, I take a bus for about 20 minutes to another bus stop in HanDong or Angang. On Monday and Wednesday, I get off at HanDong and then walk about 20 minutes to school. On these two days, I teach in the morning and eat lunch at the school. The food is not that bad and is pretty healthy since it's cooked by the ajummas (old ladies) at the school. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday I get off in Angang and my co-teacher would pick me up from the bus stop.

My co-teacher is really friendly. She has been so helpful to me. She took me to go pay my bills, open a bank account, get my phone. We also went to lunch and shopping the first weekend I got here in Pohang. She wants to be English teacher and I think she will be a good one. She's really hard-working. I recommended Hunger Games to her and she went out and bought the books. She's said it's pretty tough to read it in English so she got the books in Korean to compare the two books.

This is a google view of where I am exactly in Korea.

I think this is the living room. 

Bedroom with all my junk 

Fridge and washer

Bathroom, gotta get used to wetting the whole bathroom, taking a shower