My Students

So this week would have to have been my best week so far for teaching. My students were great, my lesson rocked, and I really felt like I was finally getting closer to my students! Tuesday two of my boys made me promise to go to their soccer game. I did...at first they were screaming my name and shouting at how beautiful I was, but they would not come and talk to me during the break they would all sit like 2 meters away even though they made me promise them!! But they were really great at soccer.

the little ones playing soccer-in the playground

Then the next day was Halloween!!! So exciting!!!! This week was a zombie apocalypse lesson (they died hahah). But they thought it was hilarious that I was so into it, they told me after class, "Teacher, before we thought you were strict, but we know all lies. but now you just cute and funny. We love you!" So during Halloween, if they Trick or Treated to me they could get candy, I have never had that many students line up at my door (obviously for easy candy). I usually made them promise me something, some examples: "Don't use your comb in my class", "Come visit me, I am so lonely, I cry everyday because no one visits me" , "Why do you talk so much in class when I am talking, promise to stop talking when I am talking", "Control your classmates they are crazy", and a few 2nd graders just to annoy them: "3rd graders are so nice to me and are not rude to me, I will give them candy first".

And of course to my soccer players:
Me:  "You made me promise to watch you play why didn't you talk to me"
Them: "teacher, sorry, we were focused"
Me: "lies, you were talking to each other and your team was losing"
Them: "teacher, we were shy to talk to you"
Me: "don't be shy, I was sad because you did not talk to me, promise you will talk to me"

My club class students get picked on the most by me in class, but they love it because they know it's out of love. And they get to carve pumpkins which they loved. On the bag it was: PiL C For payal's Class.

Once in a while with a rude boy: "teacher ahhh your picture my eyes hurt" me to him: "I have to see your face everyday and my eyes hurt all the time, now you feel my pain" Cue class laughter. haha

My students are great though. I love them. They are veryyy active sometimes crazy. Thursday a group of girls invited me to lunch with them, my favorite student's girlfriend actually. And then I went to my classroom and 40 of my students were waiting for me and scared me saying "My lonely teacher we are here to play with you!" Some are brats though, when I told them no candy they left (but those are the 2nd graders).

They are great kids, and I'm so sad to think that in a few years, they will forget me, but I won't forget them, especially my third graders who are going to high school :( love them! But I think that it's one of the things with teaching you just grow to love them so much. They are my teeny-boppers.

And when they get in trouble: they must make me hearts to show me how much they love me, and until I am happy (because I am a girl, I need lots of love)

Love you, Miss you.Just a long update on school life.
MOMMY THANKS FOR THE PACKAGE!

The leaves are changing: No love.

So I've been incredibly bad at keeping up with my blog! But things will get better soon. There has been just far to much to update on but briefly: my host family is great. They are so warm and loving. My school is always full of surprises. My students are extremely energetic!! I'm a demanding teacher--as I'm told, and the 1st graders are a little scared to talk to me :(, my 2nd graders are too cool to talk to me, but my 3rd graders are adorable and wonderful. I'm so sad they will be leaving! My co-teachers are super helpful. Busan is massive!

At first I was very, very overwhelmed, but I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of the city and teaching. I have had a really hard time making Korean friends though :/ (Any tips?) I met recently with other ETAs in Gyeongju, had a few revelations about teaching! I'm starting Korean classes again this week--wish me luck!

So far, I have been sick, found out a student is my stalker, made a few close friends of students, become good friends with several co-teachers, and started forming a good relationship with my homestay family.

The things I want to do: see korea, experience tons of festivals, make korean friends, keep in touch well with friends and family from home, and develop a wonderful relationship with my students. Here are some pictures!

What I've learned: Korean students will say the craziest things, they have a great relationship with teachers-they are like parents to them, they are just like children anywhere in the world-crazy and adorable, fair/festival food is the same anywhere--fried and will make you sick.

PS: I have my mailing address! Just ask me for it!

love you all, miss you.
P

Yeongdo Island, Busan-A day of exploring and getting lost.

Jinju by night, lanterns afloat.

Lantern festival during the day food

Gyeongju in Fall-Beautiful. 

Gyeongju again. So cool. 

One of the only Buddhist temples not on a mountain in Korea-it's by the sea. 

Coming to an End: No Love

It's been a couple of weeks since I last updated and a lot longer since I wrote anything of substance. I'm not sure if today's post will take the substance approach or the rambling approach: bear with me.

So update:
1. We had camp Fulbright for the past two weeks in which we taught classes and were evaluated. It was honestly a great learning experience. I am used to being a perfectionist with everything always going the way I want it to. Teaching requires very much the ability to think and adapt quickly because lessons really do not always go the way you plan them. Sometimes it depends entirely on how the class is feeling. I really enjoyed the students and think that I've found my teaching persona, much like myself, bubbly but lacking the sarcasm (which is probably a good thing ^_^). "Payal Teacher"

2. Placements happened. As most of you know, suspense kills me. I was literally about to faint while I was standing waiting for my placement to be called to find out where I am going to be. Honestly, I can't be happier. I'll be in Busan for the next year teaching at a co-ed middle school! I'm super excited, but I'm a little sad because some people that I got really close to recently are no where near me, but traveling will be amazing!

Busan, South Korea (my home for the next year)

Check out this link: I plan on going to all of these places in Korea. http://www.cnngo.com/seoul/visit/50-beautiful-places-visit-korea-873093?page=0,0

3. I went to Seoul. It was awesome! Such a huge, but amazingly clean city. I'll be going back in a week with the full Fulbright group!

4. I'm helping plan the ETA Talent Show with 9 other ETAs. It's called the Kimchi Games-I wonder what it was named after...but the talent will be great, and I love putting the type A side of my personality to use in developing events!

5. This week was the first week that I've gotten homesick. My poor mother had to deal with me skyping her, and both of us would be upset together. It's kind of comical now, but it was really just a feeling of being around things that were familiar to me: my family, home, and friends. I haven't been able to keep up with any of those things here because of the time difference and everyone's schedule which sucks, but it'll hopefully get better once I get my own phone. I was able to skype with a few friends and just being able to see their faces and talk to them has been so nice. It's like I'm not cut off from all those that are familiar to me and that know me. The loneliness dissipates.

Seoul, South Korea

6. But now Korean language classes are coming to an end, along with orientation. We will be going to Seoul again in a week, writing speeches in Korean, and performing skits as well in Korean of course. I just finished my first day lesson plans as well! Mind-blowing! Super excited.

I have so much that I would love to share, but time is short, and I would rather just talk about it, so Skype me my lovely friends and family. :)

Miss you, love you, take care. 

The Perfect Weekend: No Scrubs

Donghae, the beach they took us to for the weekend. 

This was an awesome weekend: a perfect way to celebrate Primary app submissions! They took us on an amazing beach weekend. I ate so much yummy vegetarian food that I probably gained the weight that I lost being here! It was a really great experience walking to a Buddhist temple, hearing some lectures on the religion within Korea, eating yummy food, spending some quality time with fellow ETAs, bumming on the beach and playing all sorts of games. I also Norebang'ed for the first time! (karaoked! It was fun!!!)  Now back to the grind with lesson planning, intensive korean classes, and late nights up! Talk to you all soon! Miss you! Love you! And kakaotalk or Skype me!    --P

The scenic walk through nature to get to the buddhist temple. 

If you haven't noticed, the subtitle for the title is always the song that I am listening to when I end my blog post.

Picture of behind the temple

A lady at the temple. 

It Feels like University again: Tere Liye

I've attempted this blog post 3 times over the past few days. This first week and a half has been a rollercoster.

Fulbright treats us so well. Korea is beautiful and the people are so nice. The other ETAs are great too! Orientation is also preparing us very, very well. We spend 4 hours in the morning in an intensive Korean class by Professors from Korea University one of the top universities in Korea (the equivalent to our Harvard and Yales). And the class really is exhausting, my head usually starts hurting by the end of it! We then have lunch and move on to teaching workshops and cultural workshops. Fulbright is just so helpful in helping us prepare for our time abroad which is hard but extremely valuable and nice to have.

I've joined a few extracurricular's at the university as well. I've joined GLEE club--to meet some Korean students, started calligraphy classes and lastly did archery. Archery was awesome! We went to the 2002(?) Olympic archery site and learned from one of the most prominent archery coaches in the world. Teams from all over the world come to train with him. While we were there, the Olympic archer from Korea and from Fiji were both training there. They were so incredible! Here he is shooting two balloons from 70 meters away. (The picture is fellow Fulbrighter Anna's).

Besides the obvious work with Korean, lesson planning, and workshops, I've been busy working on medical school applications (trying to submit by Friday). I wish I had finished them earlier because I haven't been able to socialize with other ETAs as much as I would have liked to! But once they're done, I'll stop being anti-social.

I've had a couple of bouts of feeling homesick, but generally I've been so busy that I can't get homesick unless I talk to my family, friends, or miss Indian food (sorry mom, that's why I haven't called as much!)

This past week it was a bunch of ETAs birthday! So we went to celebrate Friday night.  It was really great! I didn't end up going to the Karaoke place that they went to afterwards, so that is something that I still need to do! But here I am with one of the birthday girls! She's absolutely amazing!

And lastly, I have to talk about the food of course. It's a little difficult being vegetarian, but I'm managing. There is this one tasty cold noodle dish that I got when I went to town. And I have actually had pizza twice (I know it's bad!). The pizza came with corn on it! How funny, but still good!

Not this coming Thursday, but the following Thursday I will be teaching my first lesson for Camp Fulbright! It has to do with documentaries. If you know me at all it would be assumed it be either on public health or human rights, and human rights is what I plan on doing it on! So hopefully it will go well!!!

I would say I love Korea, Fulbright, and the people. The humidity is a bit much and same with missing friends and family.

Sorry this was a ramble and very long! I'll update more consistently! Skype me anytime! This is my mailing address only for the next 6 weeks:

Payal Patel (Fulbright ETA)
c/o Fulbright ETA Office, 2nd Floor
Jungwon University
5, Dongbu-ri, Goesan-eup, Goesan-gun
Chungbuk, South Korea 367-805


Love you all, miss you, and get kakaotalk!
Payal

Sleepless Nights Before Departure: She Doesn't Mind

This past week, I've ate all of my favorite foods, done a ton of packing, unpacking, and repacking, and learning some Hangul. This weekend was the last weekend that I will have in the States for 12 1/2 months for S. Korea. I leave for Korea on July 3rd! Until yesterday, everything about going abroad for a year was very surreal.

Yesterday, my family and friends surprised me with a last going away sort of shin dig. My family and friends went to 1. lie to me 2. look through my phone to get in touch with some of my friends (little brother, still not sure how I feel about this one) 3. just being there to see me before I left. My family convinced me my cousin's and aunts/uncles were coming into town on Saturday for a family dinner/get together (hardly uncommon in our family). My mother of course kept asking me if my friends were coming for weeks. All of this was a ruse because she knew they were. She was just trying to get me worked up and disappointed that I wouldn't see any of them before I left. 

Well, thanks you guys! I was genuinely surprised!! Seriously, I love you all so so much, and it meant so much to me that you guys took the time out of busy schedules to see me before I left. 

I had the most amazing time with everyone, but towards the end of the evening once the "good byes and keep in touch's" started, the feeling of finally leaving was setting in. I'm very anxious and nervous. I am excited, but the feeling of a heavy heart is a bit overpowering to it. I know that with technology everyone that I care about will be close by, but it's the comfort of the known that I'll miss. I won't be able to randomly go sit around in my friend's living room talking for hours nor drive 3 hours (which now seems so short) to seek comfort in my mom if I'm upset. I won't be able to give or receive a hug from the people that I care about, nor will I be able to even comment on something as simple as the cologne that they are using. Knowing that my relationships with people I love are going to inevitably change, but not knowing how makes me a little uneasy. 

But before I try to sift through and process these different emotions, I have to share that I will be at this gorgeous university for seven weeks for orientation: Jealous? 

And for those of you who asked for a mailing address, I will get that on here ASAP! :) 

--Time for another attempt at sleep, I have a very busy last full day in the States tomorrow, possibly filled with repacking, last minute purchases, and an early July 4th celebration with sparklers.