Wednesday, July 22, 2009

First Time Teacher! Oh. And Cooking!

Today I taught my first lesson! I wasn't nervous, but then I got nervous for not being nervous because everyone else was nervous. But then I realized how irrational that was and was totally over it. It happened in about 30-seconds, but it was the worst, most nerve-wracking 30-seconds of my life.

I taught Beginner (Special) meaning 12-13 year-olds who have spent a considerable amount of time in an English speaking country/environment. Basically, these kids were pretty fluent. My lesson plan was about lucky objects (It is St. Patrick's day at the camp). The students debated as to which object was the most lucky. It sounds pretty lame, but the kids were really getting into it. They're pretty competitive.

All throughout orientation, former English teachers have come in to share their classroom experiences. It was interesting today to actually see the crazy things they talk about. For example, schools (or at least classes) are usually divided by gender, so the kids almost never have any interaction with opposite-gender classmates. It's almost comical to see how terrified they are of each other.

Tonight I had cooking class. We made Tofu Kimbab [두부 김밥] (my adaptation of the name "Soybean Curd Kimbab") and Job Chae [잡 채]. My kimbab is pictured below.

Haha, yeah right. There is no way anything I touch turns out like that.


Yep, that's more my level. :)

It was fun and delicious. We have one more class next Wednesday. Tomorrow is crazy-busy as usual. Our placement surveys - the surveys where we indicate where we would like to go - are due tomorrow. Everyone is pretty stressed about them, but I'm just gonna opt for "No preference as long as I can run." Peace out and thanks for reading!

7 comments:

  1. Well, at least we know you are eating.... How have your other ETA's been? Do you have any running mates? It lookd like a pretty entertaining group from what we could see with the viedos.

    Keep having fun and working hard, and don't stress over anything. You will be GREAT.

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  2. So, what is the luckiest object? I need some.

    I must be hungry, even your Soybean Curd Kimbab is looking good. (It's only 9:15 a.m.) :0)

    Thanks for sharing. All is well here.
    Love you!!
    Mom

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  3. Congratulations on your first classes - teaching and cooking! They lood good. The broken ones taste better - you don't need to wait for it to be nicely stacked up. You can just pop them in your mouth.

    I haven't made those for ages, especially we can buy them all made at the Korean grocery stores here. Mine is somewhere between those two pictures. Mine tends not to center as nicely, but I can make them without breaking them. The secret is to spead the rice WIDE, I think.

    Yes, the competition... Everything in Korea was competitive. They used to rank order everything. They'd rank order the whole population if they could. I don't think the real traditional Korean culture was anything like that, but that's how it was for us. It was very tiring.

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  4. haha love it. :) I'm sure it still tastes good! I'd love to be able to make a roll or some sushi of some sort, but I probably don't have the magic touch either.

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  5. You are a great storyteller and videographer, Amy. Keep them coming! That food actually looks kind of good. Did you like it?

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  6. Oh, you already answered my question. It was fun and delicious!

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  7. looks yummy! you are so cute that you made yourself nervous over not being nervous. sit still in your calmness and enjoy that you have reached an amazing place to be anxiety-free at the ripe old age of 22. i am determined to learn from your example.

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