Videos and Shtuff

We finished our 1st semester (crazy that I'm already halfway done!) two weeks ago, and since then I've been doing English camps for about four hours a day. I wasn't quite sure what to expect since it required a TON of planning and I didn't know which kids I would have but I have absolutely loved it! The way it works is, kids get out of school for about a month in the summer but they dont really get out because they are either going to their hakwons (academies) everyday or doing summer classes or camps which is a real bummer I think. I can't imagine not having a vacation during my summers growing up. Actually, I would've probably dropped out of school and ended up working at Taco Bell...which wouldn't be so bad because Taco Bell is bomb. But I knew going into it that these kids were most likely being forced into camp by their parents so I tried to make it as fun and "camp-like" as I could. We had themed days, "Pirate Day" being my absolute favorite, where I sent the kids on an alphabet scavenger hunt, taught them pirate lingo, and had them watch "Hook" which is the sweetest movie of all time. The scavenger hunt was a kick because I loaded them up with baggies and they had 30 minutes to find one thing that started with each letter of the alphabet in their teams. So they returned with a lot of live insects, beer bottles, garbage, and anything else they could find. My girls camp was last week and they were so much fun. I tried to remember to take pictures but did a horrible job and only took a few. I did get this pretty funny video though of 4 of my favorite students because they were playing this game and I don't know what the point of it was but I think if one of them lost, the others would just start pounding on them. Unfortunately I didn't get them beating the living daylights out of each other but they are still so funny to watch.
(and this was during a break so I actually do teach I promise!)






This week I have the boys and they are a little harder to control but still pretty dang fun. Today we did a theme on "Pop Culture" so they learned about Bob Marley for the first time (I can't believe they don't teach these kids about reggae) and we played a ton of games with different bands from all over. Then, we did this project where they choose from 5 songs that were near their ability level and they made a little music video thingy with the lyrics. I got the idea from a guy in my group who had seen it done on youtube by another teacher in Korea but the boys loved it!

Untitled from ashleigh houlton on Vimeo.

I also took this video of the boys when they were playing BINGO because I have two kids that say "of course" or "thank you very muchee" to every single thing that I say regardless of what I say and I think its so stinkin funny.



Also, a crazy little story for you. So about a month ago I was running with two of my friends down at my school's track at night when two of my girls came running out of this house that's tucked back between the school and the track. They followed me around the track for about 5 minutes and just giggled as I tried to talk to them but I knew they were on the soccer team so I asked where their house was and they pointed to the house on the side of the track. I was super confused so I asked again and one of them said "We live here". Whhaaat?!?! I had asked one of my co-teachers at the beginning of the year what the house was for and she said "soccer" but I assumed it was for all of the equipment. Our soccer team is pretty serious business and I knew that because they practice everyday from about 12:30-4:30 and in the mornings sometimes, too. But apparently most of the team comes from all around Korea and they live in the house together with their coach. Insane huh?

Sometimes I go up to a nearby high school to run because they have an amazing track and field and their boys rugby team is sometimes practicing.

Sidenote: the other day when I was walking up to this high school I saw a taxi (pretty sure he was schnokered) drive straight into a barber shop. Since no one was hurt I feel ok saying that it was kind of super awesome.

Anyways, the first day I watched I was a little horrified because everytime one of the guys made a mistake they would have to get into a plank position and one of the coaches would beat them on the back with some kind of weird long thing. It wasn't the same kind of stick I've seen kids get hit with at school (that makes me angry too) but this was more flimsy so I'm sure it hurt much worse. Sometimes I just wish I could send every Korean kid to younglife camp for a summer so they can get a break from things because they really don't have a lot of time to be kids whether it's school or sports or whatever. One day though I was sitting on the field when their practice finished and one of the boys got brave and asked me where I was from. So I told them that I was from America and that I was a teacher and we talked for a little while. Then one of the other boys told me to come watch them practice tomorrow so I told them I would. So for the past 2 or 3 weeks I go out there to run a couple times a week and to watch their practices and talk to them afterwards. Last week after they finished one day, 4 of them came over to me and one got down on his knee and asked me to marry him so the other three were literally rolling in the grass. I started cracking up and told him I was sorry but he was too young and he said "wait when I'm older" and started laughing hysterically. At least now I know I have a backup plan:)

Cheongnam Dae and the almost upchuck

Teachers dinners.

They are wonderful but at the same time can be a native English teachers worst nightmare...and this is why. Korea, in a way (and don't quote me on this because I am neither smart nor a good writer and this could just be my mouth falling down the stairs), is a very obligatory culture. I say this because from my perspective, there's not a whole lot of personal choice involved in many different scenarios. First, my kids mind as well go to school 365 days out of the year because even though they are officially on summer vacation right now, they are all going to camps, supplementary classes, or to their academies everyday that they're off. But back to the teachers dinner. So basically, we were warned that throughout the year there will be several times where you will be told -most likely the day of -that you have a teachers dinner or outing that evening which also means that any plans that you had should probably be cancelled. And it's difficult too because most Koreans are very indirect so if you said that you couldn't go there's a good chance they won't tell you that you NEED to be there even though you really should be. I've had a couple of them already and it's not that they're bad by any means, I just think it would be more enjoyable if you had a choice...and could communicate with people. Luckily I have a super wonderful staff at my school and there are some teachers that are absolutely hilarious even though I can't understand them but once again I'm totally getting away from the point of this post.

So I was told a week in advance (a miracle-ask any westerner in Korea) that we were having an all day outing on the last day of school so I made zero plans. All I was told was that we were going to the President's house. No idea what that meant but ok. I slept through both of my alarms that morning because I was up until two getting smarter as I watched a marathon of Real Housewives of New York City. I managed to down two cups of coffee just in the twenty minutes that I scrambled around my Korean cave to get ready and then took another huge one with me for my walk to school. I got there and was already feeling nauseous because I had forgotten to eat and if I were to have had an IV at that specific moment it would consist purely of coffee plus I'm completely drenched in sweat which is the norm for every morning. Lovely I know. I must have looked like a train wreck though because one of the teachers told me I looked "sick" and asked if I had eaten breakfast. I told him I forgot...bad idea. I come back upstairs from a meeting with my co-teacher to find a Pepsi, a bulgolgi burger (bulgolgi is marinated Korean meat, usually beef, so don't worry it's not code for canine), and two huge rice cakes. And real quick, a Korean rice cake is nothing like what we consider rice cakes. There's quite a few different kinds actually but this is not a rice cake

This is a rice cake

So the two rice cakes were each about the size of my hand. I knew if I didn't eat all this stuff I might possibly offend someone and get a lecture about how I don't eat enough so I downed it all. Right then my co-teacher came up and told me to hurry because the bus was leaving so I ran downstairs and followed them to the main road where this tour bus was waiting. We all got on and my co teacher tells me we are going to the President's house but first we are going to lunch an hour outside of town. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal but for some reason my childhood problem of motion sickness decided to sneak up on me after about 30 minutes on a windy road through the mountains. And when I say childhood problem I mean BIG problem. Ask anyone who knew me from the ages of 5-12...I was an absolute barfing machine. I used to get carsick on the way to school in the mornings. No joke. One time in fifth grade I threw up in an envelope in the back of my dad's car that I'm pretty sure had some semi important paperwork in it. Anyways though, I start to feel barfy. My co-teacher starts talking about how she is proud of me for all of the crazy foods I've tried since I've been here which was so sweet of her just not a good time to relive the thrashing octopus. She also told me that "if I think Koreans are crazy I should meet a Chinese. They eat everything with four legs except a desk". Hahahaha. But still, I felt barfy. And then...she handed me a handful of candy a.k.a cough drops. I've seen a lot of Koreans eat cough drops as candy which is kind of weird because I personally hate that menthol nastiness. But she hands me three and tells me to eat them all. By the time I chewed all three and was in a near menthol coma I was so close to maybe barfing that I was ready to open the flap on my bag that was on my lap. Luckily we pulled into the restaurant within minutes so I literally sprinted off the bus.

We sat down at the restaurant and it's the whole staff of about 40+ teachers so the principal stands up and gives a speech. When he finishes, Mr. Lee (who everyone at the school is determined to make my husband), pops open the 25 bottles of beer and soju on the table so that everyone can make a toast. In Korean culture, drinking is a pretty big deal and is a symbol of comaraderie so basically if you get drunk with someone you are considered homies for life. Soju is at almost every Korean meal and is similar to vodka but can be made out of rice, wheat, potatoes, or sweet potatoes...and I think it's pretty awful stuff. Especially when I'm carsick. Plus, I'm not a big drinker by any means, and especially by Korean standards. I enjoy a drink at dinner but definitely don't sit in front of 7-11 with a bottle of Soju on Saturday mornings. But Mr. Lee stands up and yells "Ladies and Gentleman! Ashaleigh! SoMek!" and hands me a glass that is half soju and half beer. My co-teacher stands up and makes a toast and when she finishes Mr. Lee says "One! One!" and downs his entire glass of SoMek. I take a sip and he yells "One!" telling me to drink it all. I know that if I drink the entire thing there's a chance that my entire stomach contents will reappear but I took it like a champ and then filled my glass up with coke and left it full because in Korean culture it's rude to let someone's glass be left empty. I managed not to upchuck though and left lunch feeling only halfway barfy...while 95% of the staff left not able to operate any heavy machinery:)
This is soju...and quite possibly the fridge of one of my co-workers, haha. The kimchee is in the back there somewhere...


We drove about 20 more minutes and ended up in the mountains at this building where we all filed off the bus and I found out that we were actually at one of the President's houses! It's called Cheongnam Dae and was a sort of getaway house through about 5 Korean presidencies and is now open to the public as a tourist attraction. It was on this enormous lake and literally went for miles with gardens, a full golf course, hiking trails, and the main house which is now a museum. It was a pretty cool deal and we went on a guided tour, which of course was in Korean, so everywhere we went after the tour guide was done speaking Mr Lee would say "Ladies and Gentleman! Ashaleigh! President room!" or "Ladies and Gentleman! Ashaleigh! This is lake!" hahaha. I'm thankful for having an interpreter:) When we finished we got back on the bus and of course my co-teacher hands be 3 more cough drops so I shove them all in my mouth and when she started to fall asleep 2 minutes later I spit them out and shoved them in my pocket Napoleon Dynamite style. Nice.

My friends Beth and Hannah come in 2 weeks and I am so excited I cannot even begin to explain. I'm going to have them eat every Korean thing I can think of! Get your bellies ready girls...
(compliments of Lynne Houlton photography)

Attaway J!

My friend Heather's family has been my Washington family for the last 7 years or so, which is awesome because if you've ever met anyone from the Johnson/Westering clan you know they are some of the greatest people on earth. If you have never experienced one of their taco nights or watched a football game in their presence then I would suggest adding it to your bucket list. I'm serious. They are SO fun. Mostly because they are the most enthusiatic and positive people ever...and if you didn't know anything about football, I could probably convince you that they single-handedly created the sport. Frosty, Heather's grandpa, is one of the most winningest coaches in college football history and coached at PLU for 30 years. If you don't believe that he's a big deal then just know this...he has his own WIKEPEDIA. Enough said. Aside from being one of the greatest coaches of all time he is also brilliant when it comes to sports psych and sports performance. His son, Scott, took over for him at PLU and has been the head coach since Frosty retired in 2002. Heather's brother, Jason, was the quarterback for Arizona and has since played in Canada and Europe. Her other brother Chad was the quarterback for the 1999 PLU National Championship team. Her husband Chris, who is a super athlete, played at California and then transfered to PLU to play for both Frosty and Scott. And the list goes on. So yes, they did invent football.

Every fourth of July, Scott puts on a fireworks show at Fort Lewis and it is nothing short of amazing. He has former Lute players help him every year and they do things the old school way by lighting the fireworks by hand...and wearing football helmets as protection! Jason made this rad video of footage from the other night and I absolutely had to share it for those of you who didn't have a chance to see it on facebook. Really made me miss being home for the fourth but totally made my day. Attaway J!

Ft. Lewis Fireworks July 4, 2010 from One_Space Films on Vimeo.

All you need is love.

Hands down, my favorite author of all time is Donald Miller. I had never heard of him until three years ago when my friend Beth and I were hiking and she spoke so highly of his book "Blue Like Jazz" that I went to Borders that night and bought it. (Yes I did just throw an advertisement in there...Borders is so way better than Barnes and Noble!). Since then I think I've read it at least 10 times and loved it more everytime. He's written a number of books and I would recommend them to anyone regardless of their background or beliefs because he writes with amazing passion yet is so honest and real that it doesn't make a person feel like he is pushing any ideas or claiming to have all the answers. But anywho. He has a blog that is so fun to read and a couple of days ago I read an entry that was so...awesome I guess would be the only word to describe it. It was titled "The Power of Love" and he was talking about a Hindu guru named Mata Amritanandamayi who has captured a fairly large audience across the world but funny enough, it's not because of her claims to have the answers to every theological question ever posed...it's because she gives hugs.

"Amma is gaining an enormous following because she gives hugs. Seriously, she’s the hugging guru. Her handlers estimate she has given more than thirty-million hugs. And these hugs are not unlike blessings, in which people receive a kind of enlightenment about the importance of loving one another.

Now to the critical Christian mind, this sounds like hogwash and we are tempted to roll our eyes. But the sad truth is people are not drawn to Amma because of her theological soundness, or her ability to give them right direction in life, or even to know their own purpose, people are drawn to her because God has hardwired them to be loved, and she’s willing to give them a hug."

Not to get all mushy on you guys but in the last 5 months I have come to realize the importance of love and relationship more than I ever have before in my life. Being so far away from the people you love the very most all of a sudden makes you want to show them more than ever how much you really do love them. In a way it's kind of like a little science experiment because since I've been here I've really realized that certain relationships I have with people back home are the real deal and so super wonderfully strong. I think, actually I know, that every other teacher in my office thinks that I am absolutely INSANE because I often talk to friends back home on email chat while I'm sitting at my desk and try so hard not to die laughing when they say some ridiculous thing but it happens almost daily where I am sitting there in tears I'm trying so hard not to laugh while drooling coffee all over myself...and I try really hard to make it look like I'm working so I'm sure it looks ridiculous. That's the stuff that is awesome though. It's amazing how one comment can make your entire day. That really wasn't what I wanted to write about though.

The best part about Korea so far is my kids. I know there are some teachers out there who think that I'm crazy for saying that and granted there are days where I want to dropkick every single one of them. But they really are the most wonderful kids on the planet. I'm talking more about my girls because I see them four days out of the week and have really gotten to know a lot of them which I can't say for the boys. If there is one thing I can say I've grown in since I've been here I would definitely say its patience. I'm not naturally the most patient person and get so consumed sometimes that I forget that everyone doesn't operate the way that I do. Being thrown into a culture that is so entirely different challenges me in that a billion times more. I've had to really put a lot of thought into things before I decide to blow up and be an impatient butthead. So I think that because I've had to take the time to question why these kids say the things they do and act the way they do has been huge in just getting to know them as people. So going back to the Hindu guru thing, I guess the greatest thing about the position I'm in is that I don't have to be the greatest teacher on earth, which is lucky because I suck quite often, but I just need to love them so that they genuinely believe I care about them. I firmly believe that as a teacher, if your kids believe that you care about them that you will be a million times more successful...and if you're just there for the paycheck then most of them aren't going to give a crap about what you have to say.

Today was a perfect example because if there was an award for "Saltiest Person Alive" I would have won it during the first part of my day. I was so stinkin grumpy it was unreal. Then I had one of my classes with some pretty hilarious girls in it and all we did was play a review game and talk about the World Cup and which teacher they thought would be a good husband for me. The bell rang and I was so bummed that I had to leave these girls and return to my cave of nonexistent communication a.k.a my office. Seriously though, during student teaching and subbing back home there was NEVER, EVER, NEVER an instant where I didn't want a class period to end. But these girls bring me so much joy and I really think that even though I might not always be the greatest teacher in the world that they know I care about them and they're willing to listen. So if that's all I gotta do then this is officially the greatest job in the world.

Check out Donald Miller's blog if you ever have the chance http://donmilleris.com/. Dang good stuff:)