Back in SK

So, I'm back.

The last month seems strangely surreal.

Abby was so cute when I got back. She was all cuddly and affectionate.

I also got Chessea now. It's the cute little Pomeranian.

Abby and Chessea have to learn to like each other. There's some tension, but I think they'll get along in a couple of months.

I haven't unpacked yet. On Monday I went to school and lesson planned. It was great. I got it done so much faster than usual.

Today I taught a few classes. I did it the CELTA way. It was partially great. I think it's difficult to get the students here thinking. They are used to just memorizing, repeating, and multiple choice stuff. It will take a while to get them going, but I think eventually they'll be fine.

I'll post some pictures soon.

I'm mentally done!

I passed 7 out of 8 lessons. I've got one more lesson on Wednesday and I'm sure I'll pass that one as well.

I passed 3 out of 4 assignments. I've just submitted #4 and I expect to fail that one.

I done!

I don't want to do this anymore. I'm tired, exhausted, moody, tired...

I'm done trying. I just want to be done now and relax.

I'm glad its the last week, with only a few more days to go.

It's been a great GREAT learning experience. I've gained a lot from this course and I would recommend it to anyone interested in teaching English.

But for now, I'm done!

Update

1st assignment - PASSED

2nd assignment - SUBMITTED, waiting for it to be returned

1st lesson at the intermediate level finished. It went great :)

2 more assignments to go, 3 more lessons to go... WHOA!!!

I'm almost halfway through the 3rd week.

Time is going quickly, but it feels like I've been here a LONG time!!

Thank you for the dance

Thank you Ryan, my English friend from Japan!

I'll come visit you soon!!

After finishing the first 2 weeks of CELTA, this was an absolute treat.

1 dance floor

1 DJ

1 dancer --> ME

He got it right in the end and I danced like mad for almost 2 hours!!

That was a worthy evening!!

I hope we do it again soon!!

YAAAAAAAY!!!

The 2nd week is done!!

I just had my 60 minute lesson and it went GREAT!!

There were just a couple of things that I did wrong, but overall I did fantastic!

I was really nervous at the start of the lesson, but as soon as I started talking, I was OK!!

I was right on time with everything and it flowed really well.

The students understood the material and were able to produce something using the taught language and concepts!!

SO EXCITED!!

And glad that I'm done with that.

Next week we'll be switching from the elementary level to the intermediate. That'll be very different and we'll have a lot more control over our lessons.

No more guidance.

More great challenges to come :).

Second week

Whoa!!!

I just finished my 3rd class. I messed up the middle!!!

My introduction was great, the questions were good, the pictures worked great...

and then comes the grammar!!!

BAM!!!!!

what??

I mumbled and fumbled...

terrible.

BUT

as soon as I went into the pair work and speaking activity it was great!

This was my first time teaching a tense and even though it was something pretty easy: present simple, I messed it up.

Not completely I guess, just the procedure. They did get it, and they were able to tell me the proper way of saying things which was great.

But still. I was pretty mad at myself for messing it up.

So, first assignment is done. It took a long time!! It was difficult. I'll probably get it back and have to do it again. But I learned a lot. Grammar is terrible. And very difficult to teach. But I managed, and they got it, not very gracefully, but it was just the first time. And they had fun too. :)

So, today I'm not doing any more work. Tomorrow I'm thinking of going to get a haircut in the morning if I wake up early enough.

So yes, there you go :).

First Week

The first week is done!

I taught 2 classes, and they both went really well.

I did really great on the first one, and I did even better on the 2nd one.

I've learned so much and I've actually incorporated all that, plus my own abilities and previous knowledge into my lessons.

I'm so proud of myself!!!

Someone mentioned something today that really made me thing...

I'm learning to be a better teacher in a language that is not my first nor second, but third language!! That's phenomenal!!!

I've met some really good people here too.

Sarah, Ryan, Mike, Kristin, Michael, Landon, Cat, George, Surat, Branwin.

It's past midnight right now and I've retreated back to my room... I've had a bit too many wine coolers and I feel all peopled out.

As a last note: I'M REALLY PROUD OF MYSELF!!

First Day

So... first day is done!

I haven't sat in one spot for this long for quite a while. I can understand my students now... how restless they must get.

I woke up at 8am. Had a shower.

8:30 we had breakfast. Fruit bowl with watermelon and dragon fruit with some yogurt on top, banana pancakes and a fried egg on the side. It's not as much as it sounds because they were really small portions. It was just perfect actually.

Then I went back to my room and read on my awesome Kindle for a while.

At 10:30 we had a one time introduction meeting where we were told when we'd be teaching and some other useful information.

Lunch was from 1pm to 2pm. We had a really nice Pad Thai dish.

Then we were split into 2 groups :(. I'm a bit sad about that because I was really curious to observe some peoples classes that now are in the other group and I won't get to watch them teach.

At 6pm, the Thai students came. It was very exciting, for me anyways. I think some of the teachers were a bit nervous.

We observed our instructor teach. It was AMAZING!! The level of teaching and interaction and style was not even comparable to anything you would be doing in Korea. Not even close!!

Around 7:30pm we got a chance to talk to the students 2 at a time. WOW! Such nice and enthusiastic and interesting people. I talked to these two girls, one name Care and the other Ning. Super cute. We hit it off right away. We were supposed to ask each other questions but it was such a nice connection that we just hit it off and started talking. Their comprehension was outstanding!!! Anyways, they asked for my name, I asked for their names. After a while of laughing and chitchatting, they asked me if I have a Thai name. After they explained to me what they were trying to say, they gave me a Thain name. It was soooo cute!!

So, my Thai name is Malai, which means Jasmine flower in Thai.

I think this is going to be an amazing teaching experience!

We finished at 8pm, after which we all rushed to go have dinner.

I was talking to this one lady, Sarah, and we had decided to go for an 1 hour walk each morning. Considering we'd been sitting all day, we decided to go for a walk in the evening as well, but only for today.

It was beautiful. I was glad to spray myself from head to toe with mosquito repellent though. I could feel them flying around all over the place.

So, now it's 10pm, I need to go take a cold shower, and go finish one of the assignments.

My first teaching practice will be on Wednesday and I'll be doing grammar.

WISH ME LUCK!!

New people

So, everyone arrived today.

There are some interesting people...

A few of them are actually teaching in Korea as well. What a small world.

From what they are saying, it sounds like they are having a better experience with their life in Korea, mind you, it might be just their way of impressing people or making their own situation sound good. Who knows.

I also know that I'm not there for the teaching anymore, while all these people, considering that we are all at a CELTA course to improve our teaching abilities, are still interested in teaching.

It's funny to listen to some of them talk. Talk too much. I'm not saying much. I just want to observe for a while.

Tomorrow the course starts. We got our binders with the outline and assignments.

We also went to TESCO. Mainly to get supplies, but I had no idea what to get. I have a notebook, and a pen. What else would I need?

I did buy 3 cans of mosquito spray. They are insane here. Doesn't help that we are right beside a lake either. So I've got to make sure to lather up.

I think maybe in 2 weeks I'll do another shopping trip, to buy some other things that I didn't decide I needed this time.

My room is nice. I've got air conditioner. It's sooooo nice to sleep in a cool room. I wonder how Abby is coping with the Korean heat.