miss ruth will not be teaching a 3 o'clock class for now. clara from my first class is moving up to my 2nd class, and i'll have to see how she fares. the other students from my 1st class are moving to korean teachers. as of right now mrs. kim and the other teachers would like for me to teach them "classroom english" before they begin their own classes... so i will teach them at 2 or 2:30. they want to use more english in their classrooms, but they don't know how. so i will be teaching them how to teach english correctly.
example: "Teacher, may I go to the bathroom?" or "Teacher, may I go to bathroom?" "Ruth, how do you say this? "Is this correct? - "I want water" or "I want some water"??
i am really excited at the prospect, because much of my ESL experience in the states has been with high schoolers and adults. it is a drastically different experience than teaching children. the teaching style for adults is a great deal more analytical and practical, as most adults desire to learn english functionally. they need to know how to answer the phone, fill out forms, buy food at the grocery store, etc. in all honesty, my ESL teaching style is more geared towards adults, because i view language with a linguistic filter, rather than a kindergarten teacher's education school perspective. i see each language as being composed of pieces. each word is a piece that fits a certain way. like a puzzle. so give the students new pieces and they fit them all together. i am curious to see how this adult class goes.
this weekend has been great so far. went with maria to meet sherry (her friend from the states) and another teacher carissa in etaewon (sp?). it was a town unlike any other i've experienced here in korea. a military base is near there, and there are a good deal of foreigners there. i did not much care for the atmosphere there, as there is a fair amount of prostitution and drug traffic. in any case, the four of us took a taxi to gangnam, which is like the times square of seoul, korea. carissa showed us a new little mexican restaurant called 'dos tacos' - EXCELLENT FOOD, fairly cheap, great service.
then we went to starbucks. YAY! finally.
NOTE: in korea they don't have the venti (20oz.) size cup. yes, short, tall, and grande are the options. (need i say more about american super-sizing?) but my tall extra caramel caramel macchiato tasted the same, and it was pretty cool to see the same atmosphere 13 time zones away from my little starbucks in midlothian, va.
spent the night at maria's - we watched little women and howled. "jo - your hair! your one beauty." "i'm so degradatated. i owe ever so many limes." "don't say blast or wretch!" then we stayed up until 3 this morning talking. yay for sleepovers!! church was this morning - so so good - and afterwards a bunch of us teachers met an older couple dave and minny pittman - missionaries with SIM, teaching korean missionaries conversational english. they have been with SIM for 35 years, spending most of their time in west africa. they proposed a thanksgiving dinner at their home, and as most koreans don't like turkey, it should be fairly cheap (cheaper than chicken, i understand). oh God is soo good to me. perhaps He has provided parent-figures for me here. they invited us to their home after church for coffee and tea today.
i'm leaving in a few minutes with esther for dongdaemun for some cheap shopping. goal: find a jean jacket and a work shirt. (don't worry, i won't be blowing my paychecks on clothes- most korean fashion is not appealing to me at all. it works for koreans, because they are so petite. if i tried most of it i would just look ridiculous. lol) those short, pleated skirts. knee high socks. or better yet, leg warmers. those ruffled, leather, heeled boots with the pointy toe. yikes!
Jesus keep you this day! He is so worthy of all our praise.
ps. for those of you who wish to communicate via regular mail, just email me for my address. or send me yours. :)
and my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
philippians 4, 19-20
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