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Hi! I'm applying to Fulbright Korea as an ETA for 2022! I came across your blog while I was doing research about the program, and I had a couple questions I wanted to ask you. What was it like being in Korea and teaching English as an Asian American? Could you compare your experience with the other Fulbrighters who weren't/didn't look East Asian? I also don't really understand Tumblr so if there's another way to DM you pls let me know! hehe

Hi anon! So many anons recently! I should just make a Q&A page haha. Thanks for stopping by! 😍

Personally, I think I had a very …normal experience? Besides the part where my principal seemed a little disgruntled at first that I wasn’t “obviously American,” I don’t think I ran into any other issues at my school. Yes, people didn’t immediately know I was The Foreign English Teacher when they saw me around the halls, but you just gotta hit em with the ole “미국에서 왔어요” and they understand why you sound like a two-year-old child.

Outside of school, it’s a nice opportunity every time you interact with someone to test out your speaking skills and see how long you can last before they realize you’re not Korean. It’s always the taxi drivers that get you…because you can’t escape!

I can’t really speak for others, but I do have some observations that I noticed when I was with other non-East Asian Fulbrighters.

Once when I went hiking with a group of friends, we passed by this old couple who saw our blond haired friends and got super excited. They started waving and smiling as if they’d seen a celebrity. It was something that I’ve personally never experienced before from strangers in Korea. 😆

There was this other time where I was trying to go to a club with a culturally diverse group of friends and the bouncers wouldn’t let us in. That was kinda weird, but I’m sure its different in Seoul.

I’ve also heard stories from people who say they receive a lot of attention, both good and bad. In general, I think I was just able to live “under the radar” because of how I looked.

If future blog readers want to contact me, you can email me at louisez@alumni.cmu.edu

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hiiiii! i'm applying for the south korea eta award for the 2021-22 year rn and i've just spent the last half hour watching your vids n reading thru your blog, it's all been so eye opening so thank you for that :D im looking for advice about the application (ie what from my life n experiences would be most beneficial to include etc) and was wondering if i could dm you somewhere to ask about your application and interview process? if that's smth youre comfortable w that is!

Thank you so much for the kind message! I’m really glad to hear that my blog has helped others. 😊Feel free to DM me on tumblr with any questions! 

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Hello! I loved your blog and really appreciate you sharing your experience with us! Just wondering, how did you decide on applying to the Korean program? Did you ever consider the Taiwan program or any other Asian country? If so, what made you choose the Korean one over that? In addition, did you ever face difficulties relating to racism or sexism while in Korea?

Hello anon! Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog! 😊

So I had taken part in another English teaching/volunteering program in Japan previously called Come On Out Japan. It was one of the best 6 weeks of my life due to a lucky combination of fantastic students, amazing new friends, and, well, Japan. I was interested in going back to Asia for a teaching program, so I looked into different options.

There wasn’t a Japan ETA program (although I did consider JET), so I looked into other Asian countries. I ended up debating between the Taiwan and Korea ETA programs, and Korea won out due to several factors.

1. Fulbright Korea includes a 6 week intensive language program. This was probably the biggest reason I chose Korea over Taiwan. I’ve always wanted to attend an immersive language bootcamp but never found an excuse to do it. Turns out the program didn’t meet my expectations, but oh well.

2. Also language related, but since I come from a Chinese background, I thought it would be more interesting to immerse myself in something new and different.

3. Korea first-year ETAs get a homestay. (I think the Taiwan ETAs technically also have a homestay family but they don’t live with them.) I’ve never had a homestay experience before and thought it was a unique opportunity I probably couldn’t get in the near future.

4. I talked to previous ETAs who did the Taiwan and Korea program, and although the sample size was very small, I heard more positive things from the Korea program, which was supposed to be the “gold standard” of ETA programs.  

I definitely got super lucky with my placement (#ochangislit) and school so overall my experience was really good even if I did have some homestay issues. 

As for your second question...Personally, I don’t think I faced too many difficulties with racism or sexism while in Korea, but I know others have not been as lucky. I guess at a glance I can feasibly pass as Korean, so usually I was able to be relatively low-key and not attract any attention. In fact, sometimes I blended in too well, lol. I got stopped by the school guard once because he thought I was a student trying to sneak off campus. But I understand your concerns; it can feel scary to be different. If you don’t look Korean you’ll stand out more. That can be good or bad; the highs will be higher and lows will be lower. I will say though, the majority of folks I met and interacted with were open-minded and considerate people! 

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10 things I miss about Korea

What’s better than a clickbait list article a la Buzzfeed? Nothing. Here’s mine.

1. Heated floors.

The peak of Korean innovation. I would put my jeans and socks on the ground overnight and in the morning they were toasty and ready to warm my soul.

2. Number keypad apartment locks.

Keys are so 20th century am I right?

3. Public Transportation that doesn’t smell like pee and weed.

Going from Seoul subways to BART is pretty depressing.

4. Readily available hot water dispensers.

At restaurants, banks, convenience stores, you name it. Now I’m seen as some sort of freak who drinks plain hot water.

5. Beautiful changing seasons.

Although there are a few trees here that look kind of orange, the effect isn’t the same.

6. Aesthetic cafes everywhere.

Cafe hopping > bar hopping any day.  

7. Convenience store cup ramyun culture.

Ah…I really miss those late night ramen runs and quick dinner fixes on weekend travels. 참깨라면, my love.

8. Jamming to Kpop that they play in stores.

9. Walking home through the 호수고원 at night.

10. My friggin students. I really, truly, deeply, overwhelmingly miss my students.

Things I don’t miss: The home plus jingle. 🎶MY HOME PLUS🎶

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Hi there! I've just stumbled upon your Tumblr and followed you right away. I'm Christian and I work as a UX designer in Brussels. I've studied Korean back in 2013 at DSU in Busan :-) I miss Korea!! Cheers ;-)

Dude that’s awesome! Thanks for dropping by! It’s great to hear from a fellow designer :D Brussels, huh? I’m jealous! 

Since I’ve gotten back from Korea I’ve been wondering about what to do with this blog...it was originally only supposed to be about my time in Korea...so I think I’ll keep it that way. I still have two more posts to make haha. 

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School Festival Highlights

Day 1

The first day of the festival was full of student performances. I felt like a mother duck watching her precious ducklings waddle on stage. They were all SO CUTE. Some of them blew me out of the water with their talent. I also performed twice! I danced with a first-year student and a second-year student! I messed up but it’s okay, my students cheered me on anyways. And then I played keyboard in one of the school bands. I’m so glad the president of the band club asked me to play with them! I also messed up OTL I couldn’t hear the piano at the beginning so the guitar and piano were a bit off and our drummer had to click us back together. I apologized for being early to the afterward but our drummer is a nice boy and said: “no, the guitars were late.” 😭😭

Day 2

The second day was basically like a typical Cultural Festival, the kind you see in anime/manga. Each club hosted their own event! 

There was a haunted house with a HUGE line but I got special teacher privileges hoho.

The English Newspaper Club had their members running around with bags of chocolate. If you caught one of them, they gave you a piece of chocolate. When I saw one student run by me, my predator instincts kicked in and I flat out sprinted to catch them. “Teacher….you are so fast. I thought you were my friend!!”

I finally got to play badminton with one of my super precious students who is an actual angel.

The Entrepreneurship Club gathered donations of items from teachers and were auctioning them off. I missed the auctioning of my Rilakkuma pillow but apparently, it was popular. Also, another teacher bought my Moleskine notebook! She doesn’t speak any English and I’ve never spoken to her but another teacher told me she was very happy with it. 

I played a game where I had to choose one cup of coke to down. The catch was that two of the four cups had a ton of salt in it. You win if you drink the whole cup without showing any expression. I correctly chose and drank a normal one, but the student insisted I try the salt one “for the memory,” so I did it and it was one of the worst decisions I’ve ever made. I was strong in front of my student but afterward, I DIED. The whole day my throat was raw from the salt and I felt incredibly sick. I must have drank at least two gallons of water but I still felt like a bloated salt balloon.

I really wanted to get the lemon tea prize to fix my throat but I couldn’t score enough baskets for it. Then one of my second-years came and scored three shots in a row, got the lemon tea, and gave it to me. What a hero.

I successfully gave out my name stickers. Of course, the girls all wanted one, but I was a bit nervous giving it to the boys. Yet, when I approached one of them in the hallway, they all crowded around me and enthusiastically stuck them on their phones and watches. I miss them.. ;n;

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1 Year of Learning Korean

One of the most popular questions I’ve gotten since coming back from Korea is: Are you fluent in Korean now??*

*Spoilers: I am not. 🙃

Looking back, I probably would have become more conversational if I had just done a 3-month intensive program. Although, compared to just learning by myself in the Bay Area, being in Korea definitely gave me more opportunities and motivation. I was placed in the high intermediate class for orientation (switched to low intermediate), but I would say that I’m now truly at an intermediate level. I think my Korean’s more or less the same as my Japanese (which has regressed a lot, and I only took 3 semesters in college) but with very shaky foundations. 

Anyways, here’s a brief timeline of what I did this grant year. Let’s go~

[Initiate lock n’ load montage]

July

Korean Intensive Program (8-12pm, 1-2pm M-F) 

Because of how the program was structured, I didn’t feel like I learned very much. This is partly why my foundation is so full of holes...we skipped around here and there. 

August

Korean Intensive Program

September

Korean was put on pause due to troubles adjusting to homestay

October

Occasionally did a few chapters of Billy Go’s Korean Made Simple at school 

Studied some Korean vocab 

November

???

December

I don’t think I studied Korean at all

January

Got a wakeup call when I spent 5 minutes trying to read the back of a sign at a smoothie shop and realized how slow I was at reading

February

Vocab grind (1000 Essential Korean Words), plan was to finish by the end of March. Two weeks of intense vocabulary cramming on Quizlet (did nothing in the end lol don’t try that)

Bought the Real Life Conversations Intermediate book

Studied Korean in Kpop lyrics

Started a side coding project to help my touch typing (K-pop lyric typing game)

March

Memorized dialogues from Real Life Conversations book with Lauren

Improved reading skills slightly by listening and following along with the audio recordings that come with the book

Read through the dialogues with the Korean literature teacher in my gyomushil

Continued to learn song lyrics

Wrote sentences with each new vocabulary word, got my co-teacher and the Korean literature teacher to check them (<-this was probably the most helpful game changer...it helped a lot with my spelling too)

Continued working on the K-pop typing game

April

Stopped learning new vocab at around Chapter 11 of Essential Words, focused on retaining old vocab through Anki flash cards

Finished the Go! Billy Korean Made Simple book that I bought ages ago (tbh it was too easy for me at this point but I was just too lazy)

Finally sat down and “learned” Korean verb conjugations (I’d just been going by gut instinct before…tbh I still kind of do 😅)

Kind of dropped the typing game after finishing the MVP 😅but I’m gonna try to finish it up now that I’m back

May

Started to panic about leaving Korea in 2.5 months but still sucking at Korean

Signed up for private lessons once a week for 90 minutes (My tutor asked me to give her a shout out. Her name is 서영심 (bwv830@gmail.com). If you’re in the Cheongju/Ochang area, she comes to you! She’s very professional and you’ll get your money’s worth.)

Started at the intermediate book that focused on grammar

Learned ~5 grammar points every week

Started writing and reading a lot more and actually seeing how words are spelled. The first time I saw 여기--a super common word (yogi) that means here--written out I thought it was so strange...not that I had thought it was 요기 (also pronounced yogi) but I just didn’t have a visual of it in my head, I guess.

June

Depressed about lack of improvement

Continued with private lessons but felt like I wasn’t really retaining the grammar dump from each week

At the very least, Korean homework kept me on track and made me practice even when I didn’t want to

Started Anki again since I hadn’t actively studied vocab since April.

An old K.Will song that I hadn’t listened to for a long time came up and I realized I could suddenly understand the lyrics. That was pretty cool and one of my small win moments.  

July

Feeling pretty hopeless with Korean

However, hung out with more Korean friends that only spoke Korean and felt like I was actually able to contribute to the conversation. (3 hours of Korean Listening ...🙃)

Was able to understand 70% of the conversation at my gyomushil’s final farewell lunch for me. I contributed to the gossip! 

Went home and immediately lost 50% of my Korean skills upon touching U.S. soil. 

So basically, after my burst of inspiration in February, my confidence and motivation in Korean just kept plummeting. Even now as I write up this post I feel an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. But I do want to highlight the progress that I’ve made since orientation.

Korean Reading

We were all supposed to be able to read Hangul before we came to Korea. Being able to recognize the alphabet is different from being able to read and also different from knowing the pronunciation rules and where to pause in your reading. During my first semester, my eyes would automatically glaze over whenever I saw Korean text. When the second semester started, I tried to force myself to read everything I came across - storefronts, street signs, advertisements on buses, etc. Even if I didn’t know what it meant, I would force myself to read it. Right now, I can navigate a Korean shopping website and read a menu semi-comfortably. I’m still waiting for the day when I’ll see English sounding hangul and be able to read it as fast as English. Although, I will say it’s really nice to be able to read the Korean titles in Kpop videos on Youtube, especially when I come across really old songs (like Super Junior’s No Other 너 같은 사람 또 없어) and realize I now know what it means. 

Also, a new world that has opened up to me is...노래방!! Karaoke is such an adrenaline rush. I’d compare it to sight-reading or DDR/rhythm games where you know something is coming up and the satisfaction you get when you get it right with the beat of the music is 👌. It’s so gratifying to be able to sing along...거기 너 I FANCY YOU 아무나 원하지 않아 HEY! I love you (LOVE YA)!! 

Korean Writing

Back during orientation, I couldn’t spell anything on my own. I knew words every koreaboo knew like 어떻게 and 괜찮아 but I couldn’t write it because I didn’t know how spelling worked. It’s no wonder my spelling didn’t improve since a) I didn’t write and b) I didn’t even read. Even now I still make a lot of spelling mistakes, but I pay attention to words when I see them. It’s still a very slow process, but now I can picture the hangul in my head when I think of the word. 

Typing: I started orientation with around 15 wpm, then by the end of orientation I got to around 30 wpm. Currently, I’m at 60 wpm when I start cold and after I get warmed up I can go up to 80wpm. Being able to touch type is so useful, especially when I’m typing up long sentences from my textbook and I don’t have to look up.

Korean Listening

Dare I say...my Korean listening is my strongest point??? I remember when I took French listening tests in high school, I would always lament with everyone else that they spoke too fast for me to understand. But interestingly, for both Japanese and Korean, I never had that problem. If it only contains words and grammar I know, I can understand it perfectly fine even if it’s fast. I intuitively understand most Korean verb endings and exclamations so it’s not hard to know which way the conversation is flowing or when to interject with “세상에,” “맞아 맞아,” or “말도 안돼.” I used to think my poor lack of vocabulary was the number 1 thing blocking me from understanding, but then I learned more grammar and realized the things I didn’t know. I do feel like parts of the fog are being lifted...sometimes...

Korean Speaking: 

I still feel pretty embarrassed when I speak Korean because there are some sounds that I can’t pronounce. Compared to orientation, I have a few more stock phrases tucked and ready to go, but I still feel unable to express myself. Every conversation will start out fine, but they’ll all stagnate to the same topics and sentences after a while. 

Complications with other languages

I talked about how knowing some Japanese and Chinese was both an advantage and a disadvantage during my beginning stages, but this is true even now. 

Ever since I started getting more comfortable with typing and spelling Korean, I’ve started seeing the actual Hangul in my head when I think/hear Korean. I’ve also started to associate the locations of the Hangul characters with their locations on the Korean keyboard. 

One day, I was trying to text back my mom with “那是什么?” (Na Shi Shen Me/What’s that?) but was confused because those characters weren’t showing up. Then I realized I was typing “sk” instead of “na.” Some of you guys might get it....because “s” is where ㄴ(n) is and k is where ㅏ(a) is on the Korean keyboard. Clearly, my brain can’t handle it. It’s interesting because both the Japanese and Chinese keyboard uses the same alphabet placements as English.

Another time: I was watching a Talk To Me in Korean video where Hyunwoo talked about how 하다 is a very versatile verb. I immediately thought about how the Japanese equivalent is 수루 and even mentally mapped it out on the Korean keyboard...before realizing this is WRONG, WRONG, it’s する not 수루 LOUISE WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING. (They are both pronounced suru)

What’s next? 

Now that I’m back in the States, it’s going to take even more determination and self-discipline to keep up with my Korean. But I really don’t want everything I’ve worked towards to just wash down the drain. I’ll aim to finish my intermediate grammar textbook and grind anki flashcards. Hopefully, I can find a language partner or a study group. We’ll see! 

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Goodbye, CWHS

My last day of teaching was a while back…it was around two weeks before Finals, since the students had self-study. 

For the last class, I had them write compliments to each other using metaphors and similes. A lot of them were hilarious. Not gonna lie, I’m pretty envious of how close each class is. The closest thing I ever got to having a close knit small class (after elementary school) was my 6th-grade core class. (Our “core” subjects: science, history, language arts, were all taught by the same teacher) Anyway, every class had their own inside jokes, nicknames, and everyone was eager to show me their impersonations of their fellow classmates which were pretty accurate and damn funny.

When I told my classes I would be leaving them, there were varying reactions. Some classes were sad, others were angry, others were shocked, and some didn’t really care. I wrote personal messages to every student, but there were two classes that I didn’t get to because their class got canceled. ;n;

I ended up crying in two classes….can you guess? Hahaha. Class 1-5A surprised me at the end of class with notes all written for me and I couldn’t help it, tears just came down. Another student started crying too and everyone started hugging each other.

After class, I sat back at my desk and made the mistake of reading the notes. I heard the door slide open and a student was back looking for her pencil. “Are you still crying?” she asked. “No, no, no,” I said, smiling and wiping my eyes. “Oh, I see,” she nodded knowingly. “You must be sweating from your eyes.” I laughed and gave her the pencil she had left behind.

“Actually,” she said, a sad smile on her face. “I left this behind on purpose. So I could come see you again.” 😭😭😭😭

We both teared up and hugged and I wondered how I could possibly be so lucky. When we were finally both finished, we stood awkwardly next to the door. 

“Well,” she said, slowly backing out. “Please continue sweating.” 

Later on, some students from class 1-5B came to confront me. “We heard you cried in A class,” the B class students said accusingly. “How come you don’t cry in our class??” She continued, “We think maybe A class students have better English, so you can understand their mind more.” I profusely denied this.

And then…Class 1-4A. They were truly always on their best behavior for me, always cheered me on enthusiastically, and gave me confidence as a teacher. I really wanted to let them know how much I appreciated them…and I COULDN’T HELP IT, I STARTED CRYING WHILE I WAS IN FRONT OF THEM. It was really embarrassing ㅠㅠ THE BOYS DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO EITHER HAHAHA.

But the boys also wrote me some really touching notes. ㅠㅠ Ahhh… and when everyone had finally left I just sat at my desk and continued to cry. 

When I was finally done, I looked up from my desk and saw my monitor for the first time:

AND A FRESH WAVE OF EMOTION HIT ME LIKE A TRUCK

Thank you, Cheongwon High School students, for letting me be a part of your lives.

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Ochang Transportation Quickstart Guide

This is a quick overview of how to get to places in/to/from Ochang. 

Ochang is a suburban city of 60,000~ people, located north of Cheongju and close to the Cheongju Airport. Most of the time you can get to where you need to be by walking if you’re in the Homeplus/Lake Park area. 

Buses

713: (pictured left) This one takes you to Cheongju via the Northeast part (율량동). It’ll take 30 minutes to get to 율량동, a bit longer to get to downtown. A taxi from Ochang Plaza to Cheongju downtown (시내) will cost around 16,000 won.

717: (pictured right) This one wraps around Ochang and then goes to Cheongju, passing by the Hyundai and Lotte department stores.

53: (not pictured) Goes to 오송역, where you can take the KTX. It can take an hour and a half.

To Seoul

There is a bus that goes directly from Ochang Plaza to Seoul Nambu Station in Gangnam. You can buy tickets on the green bus app. (시외버스모바일) You need to change your iTunes Store to the Korean one to download this app. It takes around an hour and a half. The regular tickets cost around 8,300 and the premium ones cost around 11,600. 

To Cheongju Airport

A 10-minute taxi ride.

To Incheon Airport

There are four buses a day that go to the airport. Bus departure times (6:00, 11:50, 14:40, 16:40). You’ll tell the bus driver which terminal you’re heading to when you get on. It costs 18,000 won.

From Incheon Terminal 1 back to Ochang there are only four bus times: 7:35, 10:40, 16:40, and 19:10. From Terminal 2 the times are: 7:10, 10:15, 16:15, 18:45. It costs 18,000 won.

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For the past few months, I have been working with the Infusion staff on the Spring Issue of Infusion, Fulbright Korea’s literary magazine. Please check it out online here:

http://infusion.fulbright.or.kr/announcing-volume-12-issue-2/

Being the design editor has been a meaningful and humbling experience. Although I have two design internships and one year of full-time experience under my belt, I still made a lot of mistakes when it came to executing the design and communicating with others. I definitely have a lot to work on and I’m glad that designing for Infusion has helped tie me back to my design career during this gap year of teaching. I want to give a huge thank you to the Editor-in-Chief, Lauren, for always being so patient and supportive throughout the whole process and Assistant Design Editor Amanda for helping me divide and conquer this huge project. 

Here’s a bonus photo of Lauren and I slaving away.

On another note, the new cohort has arrived in Korea! If any of you guys are reading this blog, don’t be shy and say hi!! 

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Hi there! Just found your blog and read EVERYTHING ssksksksj I’m planning on applying to be a South Korea ETA through Fulbright for 2020-2021 and oof is it stress-inducing. Your blog definitely helped me get a look at what day-to-day life is for an ETA. My biggest concern (I guess) about this whole thing is... the homestays. Now, I know that experiences vary from person to person but I’m just wondering what your insight/experience with homestays is. Good, bad, awkward? Thank you~~

Omg!! :D Thank you for reading my blog! I’m so glad to hear that my ramblings are helpful for other potential grantees. 

Ah, the homestay. Probably one of the most loved and/or hated part of the Fulbright Korea program. The Homestay program and the Intensive Language program were actually the two biggest factors that influenced me to apply to Fulbright Korea over Taiwan. And to be honest, both of them kind of flopped for me.

You’re absolutely right, everyone’s homestay experiences are vastly different. There are some people who have to deal with hostile family members and also people who are so close with their family they stay for a second year with their homestay. I don’t want to scare you off with homestay horror stories, but I also don’t want to pretend that they don’t exist. It’s not all that uncommon for people to move to a different homestay. I’m not going to talk specifically about my experiences to protect the privacy of the people involved as this is a public place, but if you’re still curious you can feel free to DM me.

For all future Fulbrighters, I just want to put this out there: No matter what your situation is, know that there will be people on your side and there will be ways to deal with it. Everything will be alright.

I’m also going to refer you over to my friend and Ochang partner-in-crime, Lauren. She has a lot of insight and reflection on homestays. 

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Finally went to Busan last weekend! We visited the Gamcheon Culture Village, Jagalchi Fish Market, Bosudong Book Street, and watched a Lotte Giants baseball game. I really dig all the fan chants and dance moves the fans have for each player. Towards the end of the game, we all tied up pink trash bags and wore them on our heads. 

Thank you Jeff for showing us around! 

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Heya! Just wondering if you know anyone who didn't fill out the IRS Form 8802 and was fine in the end? My situation (I only have a foreign address and no US one) makes it so that filling out the form is hard, but I also don't want to risk having a huge cut of my stipend being taken away for taxes.

Hey! I filled mine out and gave it to KAEC, but my school didn’t ask for it when I arrived. However, I know people whose schools specifically asked for that form...so better safe than sorry? You probably have already seen this but here’s the link to to IRS instructions just in case. Under “Individuals With Residency Outside the United States,” it says that you don’t need to attach any additional statement or documentation if you are a U.S. citizen, which, I assume you are. Maybe you can use a member of your family’s address instead?

Taxes and forms are a pain, but you’re almost there! Good luck!

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Going to America Camp

Around 40-ish of the first-year students go to America each year during their summer vacation, and I was asked to teach 90-minute classes twice a week at night to help the students prepare. So for the past four weeks, my nights have been pretty hectic. I had the America Camp Mondays and Wednesdays, and dance class Tuesdays and Thursdays. (I also started private Korean tutoring on Wednesdays and I had 15 minutes to get from CWHS to the cafe we meet at.) It was my first time teaching in a co-ed classroom. After the first class where the boys and girls completely ignored each other, I decided to change things up a bit. For the first hour of class, I let the students sit wherever they want, and during the second half, I assigned mixed gender teams at each table. By the third class, the boys and girls were working well together. Yay!

For the class itself, I went over basic U.S. History, culture, manners, things to do and don’t do, and reviewed their itinerary together. Here are some of the activities that we did.

Instagram 

After I went over the itinerary, I had students draw themselves at one of the places they were going to visit. I told them that they could take the same photo once they actually get to America and send it to me. Most of the students drew themselves at Niagra Falls, where they’ll actually be on the Canadian side, though. 

Human Maze

I was inspired by fellow ETAs Curtis and Manisha and wanted to have the students play the game where they tell directions to one blindfolded person and guide them through a maze of other students. What I didn’t account for was the mixed genders…so in the mostly boys class, the girls just shied away and it was basically just the boys trolling each other, with the blindfolded guy constantly being scared of accidentally touching a girl. Regardless, it was pretty funny and everyone had a good time. My stomach hurt from laughing. The boys were really surprised that the eye mask blocked out everything.

Brochures

I briefly went through the locations that they’d be going to (New York, Boston, Washington, D.C.) gave them all handouts with a little info blurb on each attraction. Then I told the students to choose a city and make a brochure for it. One of my kids went on my computer, pulled up the Wikipedia page on Boston, and read and summarized the information into a little history paragraph on his brochure. I was so impressed.

In one class a small fight between a Boston Celtics fan and a Boston Red Sox fan happened. (they’re not even the same sport omg) I came over to one table to see two brochures covered with angry green and red scribbles. Celtics fan:  TEACHER! LOOK AT WHAT HE DID. Me: What happened here? Red Sox fan: He said he would make my brochure pretty. THEN HE DRAW GREEN ALL OVER. Celtics fan: Nooooo, Teacher. Noooo. He ruin my brochure. ㅠㅠ Me: Are you guys elementary school students? Both, accusatory fingers out: HE!!!

Pronunciation Drills

I went over some common pronunciation mistakes. I said a word out loud and had them circle the correct one. (SIT vs SEAT, VERY vs. BERRY, WORD vs. WORLD) For example, everyone always pronounces sit as seat. (“Please seat down!”)  It was funny because at first everyone rolled their eyes like “Please Teacher we’re in an advanced high school” and then as soon as I said “SEAT,” a confused silence spread throughout the classroom, followed by nervous laughter. Then it was chaos. “TEACHER SAY ONE MORE TIME PLEASE.” “TEACHER, SAY SLOWLY. SLOOOOOW!!” Me: “SEEEEEEEAT” The same thing happened with “ship” and “sheep.” (“SHEEEEEEP”) I think this was one of my favorite parts of the camp since I actually felt like I was helping the students. Shout out to Lauren for coming up with this lesson.

Speed Quizzes

Nothing gets my students more pumped up than a chance to show off their short-term memorization skills. I did a short speed quiz after my brief U.S. History 101 and also for Konglish. I’m always amazed at my student’s supernatural ability to remember numbers. Every team remembered Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. For Konglish, I gave them a sheet of about 50 words and told them they had 5 minutes to memorize the English meaning of the Konglish word. They got REALLY into it. Some teams strategically divided up the words to memorize and then got really excited when they saw their word on the projector. (“OH! MY WORD MY WORD. I KNOW”) I hope everyone will remember “Where is the outlet” instead of “Where is the consent” when they go to America.

Scattegories

Scattegories is a game where you have to list words that belong to each category (ex. Breakfast foods, animals) that all start with a given letter of the alphabet. If two teams have the same word for the same category, that word doesn’t count. (ex. Letter is “C” and both teams put down cereal for breakfast foods) I meant to have this as a warm-up game, but it took half an hour. When I gave candy to the team that won the first round, there was a HUGE outburst since nobody knew that there were STAKES involved. When we moved into the second round, people took things seriously. Some teams had multiple answers prepared and were trying to switch them out last minute and other teams were physically blocking others from looking at their list as another member wrote on the whiteboard. I heard one group fiercely discussing whether or not I would accept “Turtle” for “Things found in a park.” “There are so many at the 호수고원! (Lake Park)”

The students were very creative. I gave the letter “T,” and I got answers like Trump’s House (vacation places), Tony Stark (things that can fly), Tonight (things that are dark), and T-underwear (clothes). A major disaster was narrowly avoided when I didn’t know what T-underwear was so I told the student I would Google it to verify. Immediately all 25 students shouted “NOOO TEACHER NO GOOGLE!!” (It’s basically a thong lmao I should have known.)

Cards Against Humanity - CWHS Vers.

While I was cleaning out my desk at the end of last semester, I dug up an old relic: Haley’s homemade CWHS Cards Against Humanity. I took out some of her inside jokes with her students (I was going to add mine but ran out of time) and it was a hit. On the very first example, I was going through with one group, the card was “I think that _____ is sexy” and the student who was the Card Czar laughed and showed me his cards which included “Your mom.”

Since I’m not going with the students on the trip, I took a photo with them and photoshopped various touristy places into the background. For the last class, I passed out photos to each class. Student: Are these photos from last year? Me: No, this is us! You don’t remember? This is when we went to the Empire State Building. Look, that’s you. Student: …Ah.

Although these past four weeks were so hectic, I would do it all over again. My students are so worth it.

[pasteltofus]

May Student Stories

Is my Korean that funny

During night self-study time, as I’m on my way out the school Student: *whispers* Teacher, When do we have class? Me: *whispers* Wednesday Student: Ah..but I have to do broadcast at that time :( Me: Oh no…ottoke?? Student: is shocked, then literally dies laughing

I don’t deserve these angels

Student: Teacher, do you have boyfriend? Me: *crosses fingers in an x* Nope. Student: What?? But Teacher, I think you are so beautiful. Me: 😭😭😭

I don’t deserve these angels (Pt. 2)

During the practice speaking test Me: Do you have any questions for me? An angel in 1-4: …I want to tell you that you are a really good person and I want to know more about you. Me: 😭😭😭

Later, I told my teacher friend (his homeroom teacher) about that super sweet exchange. I had just given her a donut when another student in 1-4 came to the teacher’s office. Teacher: Louise gave this to me (donut) Teacher: Louise loves me. Student: She loves me too. Teacher: No no. She said she likes (aforementioned angel in 1-4). Not you. Me, aghast that my teacher friend would expose me like that: No!! I like you too! I said I love class 1-4!! Student: *stares at me expressionless* Student: No. You like [other student]. I will remember.

Another gem from 1-4

Student: Teacher, you live in San Francisco? Me: Yeah. Student: You live under the Golden Gate Bridge? Me: I live …near it. Not under it Student: I want to live under it. On a yacht. And have lots of girls on it. Me, to his friend: I think he’s crazy. His friend: I think so too.

My 1-5 girls

Student: Teacher you’re so pretty today! Her friend: Teacher is always pretty. Student: I know! I mean she is even prettier today! Me: 😭😭😭😭

Oh no

Student: TEACHER. I know Chinese. Me: Oh, really? Student: I know so many. BAD WORDS. Me: ????? Student: When I play game, the Chinese players teach me. My brain: Dear lord.

Historical Fan

Student: [Student] is like a milk marshmallow Me: *sings* Marshmallow~ marshmallow~ Students: :O Teacher…how do you know that song? It’s so old. Me: I like IU! Student: Wow…you are a historical fan.

Going to America Class

Recently, I’ve been teaching a night class to prepare students who are going on a field trip to America over summer vacation.

Me: Boston is famous for (shows picture) Lobster! Students: WE WILL EAT???!! Me: Uhh I don’t know Students: AWWWWWW

Explaining Konglish Me: Pola Tee is turtleneck Student: Ahhhh. TURTLENECK. (Korean) Uniqlo has a lot of those

During a speed quiz Students: TEACHER TOO EASY, too easy!! Students: WE WANT HARDER QUESTIONS After that team fails to answer a question Students: TOO HARD, TOO HARD TEACHER WE NEED EASY QUESTION

The speed quiz was a hit but the students got so into it they were screaming out answers. After a teacher came to tell our class we were too loud for a second time.. Student: I’m so sorry… Me: … Student: …but I love you 다 거짓말

For a warmup activity, I showed the kids a picture on the board and each team had to help their teammate (who couldn’t see the board) guess the answer.

Answer: Cow Teammates: MILK ANIMAL! MILK ANIMAL!

Answer: Goldfish Teammates: Silver! Student: Gold? Teammates: SWIM, LIKE THIS! Student: Fish? Goldfish?

Answer: Ironman Teammates: I AM…!!!! Student: …? Opposing team: *frantically making Spiderman gestures* Teammates: I AM…!!! Student: …?? Teammates: I AM! I AM I AM I AM!!

Answer: Louise Boys: Beautiful girl! Student: Ah! EMMA WATSON! The entire class just dies

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Weekend in Yeosu!

I went down south this past weekend to meet up with some ETA friends in Yeosu. We went on a rail bike, walked to a small island, ate nachos, had surprisingly good Thai food, and played Catan. The weather actually wasn’t that hot! 😊

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Dream Concert 2019 in Seoul

Some other Fulbrighters were going to the Dream Concert and they had an extra ticket, so I decided why not? Some of the artists there were KARD, Lovelyz, Golden Child, N.Flying, (G)-IDLE, CLC, The Boyz, Mamamoo, Red Velvet, NCT Dream, Seventeen, and Taemin.

Fans organized themselves into different sections, and we happened to get seats in the Taemin section. It was quite the experience. I didn’t have any lightsticks but a fanclub unnie gave me a Taemin balloon. 

My favorite performances were Red Flavor (CORNER CANDY SHOP) and Want (HOT HOT). Seventeen were really good too, but nothing can beat the time I saw them perform Pretty U  5 feet away at the Show Champion recording. (My friend and I waved at Mingyu and he waved back 😭)

✔️Go to a concert