Just a Small Town Girl (Week 3)

Meghan Delaney and I before bulgogi, a very fancy meal in Donghae.

Temple at the top of the mountain in Goesan!

Olivia Kaiser and I at the top of the mountain near an old fortress--possibly the most difficult thing I've ever done!

Waterfalls in Donghae

Jungwon on a sunny day!

Entrance to Samsehwah Temple.

Team Perserverance:  We made it to the fortress!

Due to some time constraints, I'm choosing to post an article that will soon appear in the Sanilac County News. Enjoy. :)

“The rapprochement of peoples is only possible when differences of culture and outlook are respected and appreciated rather than feared and condemned, when the common bond of human dignity is recognized as the essential bond for a peaceful world.”

--Senator J. William Fulbright

안녕하세요, 친구 (Annyounghaseyo, chingu; Hello, friend!). 저는 챌시 (Jonin Chelsea; I’m Chelsea). I come from Marlette, MI, but for the past few weeks my home has been with eighty other Americans at Jungwon University in Goesan, South Korea. We each come from a different state, academic interest/major, and ages and stages in life, but we’re here to pursue one lofty goal:  to be the cultural ambassadors Senator Fulbright envisioned when he instated the Fulbright Scholarship Program in 1961. Fulbright Korea, the ‘Gold Standard’ Fulbright Program for many years, was the first Fulbright Program to start an English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Program. Despite its proximity to North Korea, it remains the safest Fulbright Program with the most prepared ETAs.

So far, the term “cultural ambassador,” at least in my case, seems laughable at best. The first thing we learned at orientation is the appropriate bow for each social status, and you are expected to at least nod your head to everyone you meet on the street as a sign of respect. This custom, so important to Korean tradition, is known as insa. I still feel awkward and clumsy bowing to the people I meet, but it is slowly becoming a part of my daily routine. Fulbright Korea also provides four hours of language instruction a day, and learning to read, write, and speak a language with a different alphabet is one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. In the Korean language, the word order is subject-object-verb instead of subject-verb-object, and there are various ways of saying things depending on whether or not you are talking formally or informally. In many ways, I feel like I’m back in kindergarten, just learning how to read! This is made even more difficult by the fact that I am one of only two farm girls here, and most everyone comes from huge cities and extremely prestigious universities; they seem to be catching on so quickly while I have to work so hard in class. Everyone encourages me, however, and I am slowly catching on! The food is also very spicy, and my body is taking a while to become adjusted to it. The cuisine is very healthy, with rice, soup, kimchi (pickled cabbage), and some kind of seafood served with every meal. 

Despite all these differences, there are many moments of victory! For instance, I just went into the nearby town of Goesan and said  방 가게? (bahng ka-kay?; bread store?) to a cashier who showed me how to successfully navigate to a bakery to buy bread and jam by myself! I also understood how much it cost and could communicate simple phrases to the cashier. One shop owner gave me a discount on some eyeliner and a free green tea facial mask after my butchered attempts at Korean and much miming and laughing. Olive, the cashier at the university market, knows my name and often offers me free snacks and practices basic phrases with me. It is so nice to already feel accepted by the people here as I transition into my life in Korea.

Beyond the people, there is an astounding amount of beauty in each and every day. Jungwon University is in the middle of the mountains with long, sprawling lawns and nature trails filled with marble carvings and fountains. It is the rainy season in Korea so it rains almost every day and the humidity pushes in on you. Clouds nestle at the tops of mountain peaks where glimpses of temples come into view. I have swam in the East Sea on a long beach right next to tall mountains and walked that same beach to see the lights of both Japanese and Korean ships at night; I have climbed to an old fortress at the very top of a mountain and stopped at Buddhist Temples and cooled off underneath waterfalls along the way. It is breathtaking.

Walking up and down the street you’ll see old farmers and their wives bowed over their crops, tending them by hand. Each farm is so unbelievably small and there is no mechanical help, just what farmers can do with their strength. Eventually, you hit the “rural” town of Goesan, which is at least five times bigger than Sandusky! There are no large convenience stores, just small specialized shops and their owners scattered throughout the city. Rural areas here generally have between 70,000-100,000 people. The entirety of South Korea is roughly the size of Indiana. Korea became industrialized so quickly after the Korean War that what was once a traditional farming culture now has almost no farm land left, only what the older generations hold onto. This sudden industrial revolution has also created problems in the social structure of Korea. The elderly are supposedly the most respected class of people and it has always been the child’s responsibility to care for his/her parents; now, most children from rural areas move to cities and leave their parents and grandparents to fend for themselves, which often leads to shame and loneliness for the elderly.

The best experience thus far has been the opportunity to teach a lesson at Camp Fulbright, the most prestigious English Camp in Korea. For two weeks, students come to be taught by experienced ETAs and by the current Fulbright ETA Trainees. It is so wonderful to have students of my own! I teach low beginners a total of three times over the two weeks, and taught my first lesson yesterday. There are a few North Korean Defectors who are able to come to camp on scholarship in my class. All of my students are unbelievably cute, and enjoyed drawing monsters through reviewing body parts. On Monday, I will do a cultural food exchange with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I have already fallen in love with my new job, and can’t wait to teach not only next week but for the rest of my grant year. I will get my official placement for the school year in the next two weeks and am so excited to actually teach at a Korean elementary school so I can experience one of the most advanced and successful educational systems in the world. 

Like most Koreans, the border tensions don’t affect my life at all. With the busy schedule of orientation, it is definitely something that is not on my mind! I just want to assure everyone that I am very safe. Do not worry about me. I do miss all of my friends and family, though! Shout out to my beautiful and incredibly strong sister, Larissa Duff, who turns 18 on August 6! Happy birthday. My only wish is that I could share this incredible experience with all of you. I believe you create a family wherever you go, though, and feel like I’m slowly building my new family here. Thank you for the prayers and encouragement—you keep me strong. <3 

                                                                                                                         Love always,

                                                                                                                                    Chels

Week 2

Time for rest and relaxation.

These past two weeks have been pretty stressful for everyone, and so Mrs. Shim, the executive director of the Fulbright program, and the rest of the Fulbright office, organized a beautiful vacation trip to the beach city of Donghae. It was one of the prettiest places I have ever seen because it not only had a beach, but also mountains. The experience taught me many things, including: 

1.  Korean food is actually probably the best food I have ever eaten! It is only cafeteria food I have to worry about . . .
2. I don't know if I'll ever understand Buddhism, but I'm going to try!
3. The Sea of Japan is not actually the Sea of Japan, but the East Sea. 
4. Sleeping on the floor and sitting on mats around a low table to eat, both traditions of Korea, is actually really comfortable.
5.  Mountain hiking is super fun, and I'm going to have to look up the best mountains to hike during my time here.

On Friday night I sat around on the boardwalk with other Fulbrighters, listening to music and talking. It was gorgeous outside! Every store was selling fireworks and even late into the night there were many people on the beach setting off fireworks. When we went to the shore you could see so many lights in the distance--I was with Jihye, our Korean RA, who told me that they were lighthouses, but a lot of things can get lost in translation with Jihye, so they may have just been boats. I think Japan was still too far away to truly see lighthouses! It was beautiful, though. :) A group of Fulbrighters also started a dance party with some Koreans, and that was really fun to see. On Saturday, I went on one of the most intense hikes I've ever been on to climb to this old fortress. It was terrifying, but beautiful. We also went to some waterfalls and then hung out at the foot of the waterfalls, sitting on rocks and dipping our feet in the water for a while.

I wish I had more time to describe the weekend that I've had, but we just got back and there is still a lot going on tonight! My life is about to get really intense--Camp Fulbright, an English camp for students in 5th grade through 9th grade, starts tomorrow. During Camp Fulbright I have to teach three lessons. My first lesson is on Wednesday and two the following week, but I have a lesson plan due on Tuesday and will still have four hours of Korean language class a day. There will also be lots of times where I am supposed to hang out with campers! This vacation was very nice, but now I worry that I won't be able to get everything done.

Please check out my pictures on facebook! Love you! :)

What's in Your Suitcase?

There is not really too much I want to say in this blog post, but I'm just a really big fan of this activity that I did in a teaching workshop and want to remember it for the future. Basically, the idea is that beyond the material things you bring with you to a new place, you bring all of who YOU are. It was a very encouraging activity and it also allowed me to see all the strengths of the ETAs around me. After we created our suitcase, we shared with a partner who had to really listen because everyone was responsible for presenting their partner's suitcase.

What's in your suitcase? :)

Week 1

Hello chingu (friends!). I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to post a new entry, but things have been kind of crazy here.

Well, I was sorted into House Juong through an awesome sorting hat ceremony put on by our OC Team (I know, childhood dreams coming true!). Juong stands for hammer and nail, and Juongs have succeeded against all odds. I don't really know what that means, because I feel like life has given me so much, but I really love our house and the discussions we've had. We are even competing for house points and there will be a House Cup at the end. On Friday, we had a photo scavenger hunt in the nearby town of Goesan to earn points for our house. My team came in 9th place out of 20 teams, so we earned at least a few points. It also gave us some insight into what the town of Goesan is like, and I love it. People keep saying that it's a small town with nothing to do, but in reality it's pretty big, at least in comparison to Marlette. The people are also extremely nice.

Sorting Hat Ceremony

On Thursday night, I participated in a K-Pop dance class. For anyone who knows me, this was quite the experience for someone with absolutely no coordination. I was soo bad at it, but I had a lot of fun and it was a good way to exercise! Our instructor was awesome and you could tell that she had lots of practice. Here's the song we learned to dance to--and it's the actual dance they do in the music video!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-IJWqIHioA

On Friday night, the OCT threw a surprise dance party for us. Afterwards, I decided to go out to a bar called B&B with a bunch of the Fulbrighters to celebrate someone's birthday. I'm not really a big drinker, so I drank water all night--but it was still really fun! I managed to hang out with quite a few people, dance, and just get to know everyone better in a relaxed environment. It got a little crazy, but I think that made it more fun. 

This week has definitely been really intense. We are going from early in the morning until late at night between Korean language classes and teaching workshops. The Fulbright program in Korea is the Gold Standard for a reason--it prepares English Teaching Assistants (ETAs) and helps ETAs create relationships to keep each other strong throughout the grant year. Fulbright Korea was also the first Fulbright ETA program and other countries modeled their Fulbright ETA program around it! I have already created mock lesson plans and a real lesson plan for Camp Fulbright, an opportunity for ETAs to practice teaching and receive feedback, which is going to happen in a couple of weeks! I'm really nervous about it, but I think it will be really fun. :) I am also doing absolutely awful in my Korean language classes. It is an alphabet and language so different from ours, and although I am doing my best to keep up, most of the time I feel like I'm back in kindergarten learning how to read. Instead of reading words, though, I feel like I'm reading gibberish! Since it is challenging it is also kind of fun, however, and I'm trying to keep a positive attitude and remember that we are all beginners. When compared to all the people from big name schools, though, I just feel like I'm not catching on as quickly and am so embarrassed to participate in class because I am the slowest reader and often get confused. I wonder how I slipped through the cracks and they even allowed me into Fulbright; I definitely feel very unworthy. I'm trying to catch up this weekend--while others are out on fun excursions, I have done my lesson plan, cultural adjustment check questions, and studied for the quiz tomorrow. I'm planning to study the rest of today as well! I'm just going to do my best. This class gives me a lot of insight into what my Korean students are going to go through in my English class, and I am grateful that I can understand their struggles now.

Although I decided not to go to church today because the Orientation Coordinator Team said I would most likely not get a lot out of it, a group of girls on campus have organized a Bible Study and time for fellowship later this afternoon. I am excited to join this support system and for the support system I have through the Elementary ETAs. I miss everyone from home so much and it is difficult to go from two communities where you know and love practically everyone to a new community where everyone is new, but it is amazing how quickly the Fulbrighters are all becoming friends. It is so interesting to meet new people here because we all come from such different backgrounds! Thank you to everyone who has prayed for me to have companionship during my time here! Friendship is something that is so vital to me, but it is also difficult for me to open myself up to others sometimes. This has helped me to remember and rely on God's promises more during my time here; I just need to trust Him. <3

I've also been doing really well on the being healthy front! I am so motivated to go out and run or walk every day because it is so beautiful. I am absolutely in awe of the mountains, farms, and people. It is the rainy season here so it is very humid, much more humid than in Michigan, and also misty most of the time, but it is so pretty when it rains! I so wish I could share it with you! As always, thank you for the facebook messages and comments. They  never fail to brighten my day! I love you. :)

And so it begins! :)

My life has been a whirlwind over the past few days! I have received so much information and met so many people in a short amount of time while still being jet-lagged (I can't seem to stay awake past 9 p.m. but then wake up at 4 a.m. or 5 a.m.) every day. Although I am exhausted, I am having an incredible time.

When we arrived in the airport after the long 13 hour flight (in which I was between two older Korean men--it was slightly awkward), we were greeted by our extremely excited Orientation Coordinator Team, made of 5 ETAs who have decided to extend their stay for another year. We loaded a bus to Jungwon University, which is approximately 2 hours away from the Seoul airport and is located in Goesan. The university is absolutely beautiful and in the middle of mountains. All of South Korea seems to be these lush green mountains, and if you look closely, you can see temples on some of them! We also passed many quaint Korean farms and villages. It is absolutely breathtaking here. There is also a museum and it is THE. BEST. So much East Asian culture! Larissa, you would absolutely love it. :)

When we arrived, we were assigned roommates. My roommate's name is Teresa, and she is a Christian, former RA, and a secondary education major. We have gotten along really well and have so much in common! There are eighty ETAs total, from all over the United States. It is wonderful to hear their stories and slowly create friendships. As you all know, I can be slightly awkward and shy, especially when I am overwhelmed and tired! However, I have been really working hard to meet new people and create friendships for my grant year here. Everyone is extremely nice and I think I will make some great friends. :)

Since then, we have toured the campus and had several informational sessions. Learning about our role as an ETA and also the intensity of the Korean educational system has been very intimidating, and I worry that I won't make the cut--especially against all the extremely intelligent Fulbrighters here! I guess I will just have to try my best, although I can already tell that passing my Korean language classes (which start tomorrow!) are going to be quite the struggle. Luckily, there are a lot of beginners like me, who when interviewed during their language placement exam just shook their head and said "Umm . . ." a lot. :P

Today was by far my favorite day! We visited an elementary school in Cheongju. It was actually given a grant as an English language acquisition research institution, and therefore had many resources for the ETA, which was incredible. The children were so adorable, especially when they saw the two male elementary ETAs who are both about 6 feet tall. They couldn't believe how tall the men were and jumped to try to reach their height. The students weren't shy about trying to speak English with us and found us really fascinating. I watched two fifth grade classes being taught, and the ETA incorporated many fun, creative activities and games. The whole time I was there, I just wanted to get up and start teaching! I can't wait to be placed and meet my future co-teacher. :) It was also nice to experience it with the twelve other elementary ETAs--We are definitely a minority, but I felt a kinship with them since most of them are also elementary education majors. The picture below shows the students and the ETA playing a game similar to Go Fish to practice phrases used when talking on the telephone:

In about twenty minutes, there will be the "sorting ceremony" to place us with our family for the next 6 weeks. This family will consist of 16 ETAs and one orientation coordinator, and will give us a space and specific people to talk to as we go through this experience together. In such a big crowd, it is really easy to feel lost! I am also one of very few here from a rural area; most people laugh at me when I tell them how small my college and hometown was. I am so excited to be put into a smaller group and have that space to talk to people. It's the RA and elementary educator in me, I guess. ;)

My biggest cultural adjustment so far has definitely been the food. Everything is very spicy and different, and I am such a picky eater and also extremely bad with chopsticks! I have been trying to find the courage to try new things, but for the most part, I just am not eating very much. I hardly ever realize I'm hungry though, because I've been so busy! For every meal, they've been serving these green things that I thought was seaweed until I actually looked. They were fried minnows covered with some kind of green sauce and served with peanuts. Seeing all those little minnow eyes looking up at me was the worst. I had to get up and throw all my food away.

I miss you all so much and think of you every day. Your facebook posts and messages have helped to keep me sane as I start this new adventure. Although I'm lonely now I know God is watching over me and I'm trying to keep an open mind and dive in. I love you all so much. Thank you for keeping me safe! <3

A turtle travels only when it sticks its neck out. (Korean Proverb)

안녕하세요 (annyeonghaseyo)! Hello!
제 (je) 이름은 (ireum eun) 첼시 (Chelsea) 입니다 (imnida).  My name is Chelsea.

Welcome to my blog. :) Many people have asked me to keep a blog during my Fulbright experience in Korea, and I'm going to try really hard to keep this updated, especially with pictures. I know from my student teaching experience, though, that teaching can get very hectic (especially with lesson planning!), so please forgive me if I am not updating my blog as much as I should.

I have one week to go until I board a plane for my "adventure in the great wide somewhere." Right now, I am feeling a little bit of everything--excited, nervous, and scared. It seems so surreal to me that I'm going to be spending a year teaching in another country so far from home, but it has been a dream of mine for a long time. Being home has definitely been relaxing and it has been so wonderful to see my friends and family, but I am also very restless here as I prepare for my next step. My bags are (mostly) packed, I have memorized hangul, the Korean alphabet, and have plans to see many of my favorite people over the next week. The only step left is to find courage. Like the turtle in the Korean proverb, I tend to be shy and very cautious and slow to do things (I was actually nicknamed turtle in high school!), but it is time to "stick my neck out" and try new things. Besides, I have lots of protection following me:

Sandy (my second mom):  "The people better treat you well and keep you safe over there, or else there will be a whole band of Marlette hillbillies ready to jump on a plane and kick their a****. They won't know what hit them!"

An elderly lady from my church: "When you feel a warmth in your heart, then you'll know that we're all praying for you back home in Michigan."

^"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  --Jeremiah 29:11

Here are some links to youtube videos to see a little bit of what I'll be doing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQxFmVM865Id (Fulbright Korea Info)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac4GYcSZ5C0 (Party Rock Anthem with elementary Korean students made by former Fulbright English Teaching Assistant)

So, here I go! If you have any book titles you'd like to send me, I love to read and am sure to read a lot during my down time and traveling time in Korea, so I would appreciate it. :) To anyone reading this, I love you with my whole heart and I carry your love with me wherever I go. Thanks for being you! <3