End of March Summary

Hi Folks, I'm very sorry I haven't updated in such a long time. Shame on me.

Here's some quick summaries of what's been going down in the Gwang:

- I've been having really good days at work. It's honestly a little overwhelming to be teaching so many students (the record is 29 in one class, so far), especially because they're all at such different levels of English and maturity, but in the end, things get done and I think the students learn. I will always hear the annoying "jemioppsoyo" (boring) from my students, but then a little later I'll get a compliment that will make my heart melt (for example, the other day 2 students out of the blue came up to me and told me they like my class). Before this semester started I had come up with a general flow and pattern for the weeks. Tuesday is story day (and usually I give them a word search related to some phonics exercises we do), Wednesday is art (read: poster making) day, and Friday is either review or game day. Last week I figured out that I could get some one-on-one time with each student during the poster making activity that we do on Wednesday, which is a great opportunity to get some really good teaching in. Plus it helps me bond with the students, assess their levels and difficulties, and give them individual praise and attention.

- I seriously love this apartment. It's so nice and spacious, and the location is great. It takes me less than 5 minutes to catch the bus. Plus, lately the movie channels on TV have been showing good movies like The Hunger Games, Mirror Mirror, and Mission Impossible. I enjoy being able to cook for myself and take care of myself like so.

- Recently I had the great privilege of meeting up with someone very special to me for a special weekend trip. I can't say much more than that because I'm not sure if the location I went to is allowed in my contract (don't worry, it's not seedy or anything). The point is, I had a great weekend and made some wonderful memories with someone very dear to me.

- If you're the praying type, pray for the following two items: a) that my school will be generous and let me have an extra Friday off in July so that I can go home at the end of July and not have to pay $500 extra for a weekend ticket, and b) that the cheap tickets will still be available by the time I make my request for vacation time to my school (I have an appointment with the principal on Wednesday)

- I went to Costco last weekend when I visited Josh up in Seoul. He was having some problems with his foot, so I went to help him, but by the time I got there his foot was much better. In addition to experiencing Costco in Korea, we also visited Lotte World in Seoul, which is an indoor/outdoor theme park (somewhat similar to West Edmonton Mall's theme park). We also went to see the movie Oz, the Great and Powerful.