Jet-Lag Syndrome

Yesterday, jet-lag caught up with me in the afternoon after school. The school day starts at 8:20 am and ends at 3:40 pm. I eat breakfast at 7:30 am in the cafeteria with the dorm students, then head out to my class at 7:50 am. At around 4:00 pm yesterday, I felt very tired and went back to my room to nap for an hour.

The 5th grade teacher, Christine, volunteered to take me down close to town to the nearest market so that I would know where to buy groceries. Christine took Brittney and me down to the small corner market shop and I was able to get some milk, noodles, and cereal. Its about a 10 minute walk from school and the shop has almost everything I would need. I'm going to venture into the city of Daejon this weekend and find some traditional markets.

When we came home from the shop, I was so tired that I went to sleep immediately. I sleep all the way through the evening to the next morning, which is why I'm writing this blog entry a day late.

At school yesterday, we had two fun things! We had elementary chapel and show and tell! We had chapel first thing in the morning in the gym. The praise team (elementary students) lead worship and Tavin's dad shared a special message about God answering prayers. The chapel service was very much so like an Asbury service with elementary students! It was very uplifting and a great way to start the day!

Praise team during chapel

After chapel, once we got back to the classroom, Lilly presented her show and tell. Lilly brought in blown glass and a gingerbread house figure. It was especially great to see Lilly present in front of her peers because of her English background. Miss Bechtold said that at the beginning of they year, Lilly wouldn't share for show and tell because she couldn't speak any English. Now she is up in front of her peers, presenting in English!

Lilly during show and tell

Taejon Christian International School

Today was my first day in Daejon, and I loved every second of today. It was a very busy first day with lots of activities and many new faces! I had quite the trip arriving in Daejon from Seoul after landing at Incheon International Airport. I was to take a bus to Daejon from the airport and got on the wrong bus twice! I almost ended up in Cheonju and some other village in southern Korea!

Waiting in the bus line at the airport

TCIS logo and the doorway to the elementary

I met my class this morning and was welcomed with a giant banner that read, "Welcome Miss Whelchel". The banner was spread across the white board in the classroom and each student had written me a welcome note. My favorite note said, "Do you have blonde hair? Do you have blue eyes? Did you know that life is not fair, so deal with it". That made me chuckle within moments of being in Miss Bechtold's second grade classroom.

In second grade there are 8 students: Arthur (French/Korean), Aylin (Turkish), Yana (Russian/Israeli), Tavin (American), Molly (Australian), Dohgun (Korean), Lily (Korean), and Jiun (Korean/American).
Miss Bechtold has quite an international class represented in second grade! Three off the eight students are limited English proficient language learners. All three have learned English in 1-2 years, Lily is in her 7th month at TCIS learning English!

Today I was able to travel with the students throughout the day to specials, in addition to being in the classroom observing Miss Bechtold. First thing in the morning we had an author/photographer visit. Nic Bishop, the non-fiction children's book photographer gave an hour long presentation about his pictures. He showed various animal pictures and explained how he took them, and how his fascination with animals began. It was a very interesting presentation, the students loved it!

Nic Bishop showing a jumping spider photo

I was able to attend both art class and beginning Korean class with my students. I participated in Korean class and was even assigned homework by Mrs. Hong, the Korean teacher. I learned 8 letters and was able to read words with those eight letters within 2 hours. Korean is a simply scripted language however, semantics and such is a whole other ball game. I don't know a single Korean word besides "hello" and "thank you".

Tavin with his Korean homework

Lily and Tavin with their Korean kites in art

Tavin and Dohgun with their tin foil art project

This week in Miss Bechtold's class we are celebrating Dr. Seuss (in light of his birthday this past weekend). Therefore, this week I will be reading a Dr. Seuss book each day to the students. Today we read "Cat in the Hat" and discussed the message behind the story.

Second grade with their "Cat in the Hat" hats!

After school Miss Bechtold and I went over plans for the unit I am going to be teaching. I will be teaching a unit on oceans for science. I am also covering measurement and fractions in math, along with  reading and Bible. In Bible, the Bible heroes I will cover are Jesus and Jonah. I will also be in charge of organizing the second grade chapel! After schools on Wednesdays and Thursdays,  I am teaching dance class to 10 kindergarten and 1st/2nd grade students! I am super excited about all the things I will get to be apart of while I'm here! 

Korean Vagabond

In an hour I will be boarding a plane to Korea. It is surreal sitting here in the Detroit airport in the Delta lounge listening to Korean business men sharing cups of tea with American salesmen. 

I've been siting here for about an hour, enjoying my coffee and fresh fruit, reading my Insight to Korea guidebook that my Uncle John and Aunt Sherry bought me for Christmas. I have officially finished the guidebook, and should be a well prepared traveler. However, I feel like an overloaded vagabond venturing to an unknown land. 

Despite my many traveling experiences, I still feel unprepared for what I'm about to experience as I live and teach in Korea for the next two months. Korean culture is somewhat foreign to me. Despite my Korean friends, and all of the cultural literature I have read, I know I am in for many cultural learning experiences. 

I just finished reading a chapter in my guidebook about Daejon (pronounced Tae-jon), the city I will be living in. The chapter had a section about the battle of Taejon during the Korean War. American forces battled North Korean forces in the town in 1950 during the War. I didn't really know much about the Korean war until now. I'm excited to learn more, hopefully I'll be more of a Korean War history buff at the end of my time in Daejon. 

My flight boards in 20 minutes, next time I post something I will be in Korea. This is actually happening. 

4 Days and Counting

It is officially less than a week before I head out to South Korea to complete the later half of my student teaching at Taejon Christian International School. I am excited and sad all at the same time. I have become very comfortable in my current placement at Clays Mill Elementary working with Ms. Russell in 5th grade. Working with 8 second graders is going to be completely different than my class of 24 5th graders!

My blog is ready to go, all I need to do is pack my bags and be on my way to Daejon, South Korea. I can't wait to see what is in store for the next 7 weeks! You can check out the link below to view TCIS.

Taejon Christian International School's Website