site visit

Today, the elementary ETAs got to visit a school classroom in the city of Cheongju! It was encouraging to see an example of what I will be doing this next year. Sixteen of us loaded onto a bus and drove an hour from Goesan. We then observed a third grade English class, observed a fifth grade English class, took a tour of the school and went out to dinner with the principal of the school. The students were extremely cute. The would stare at us as we walked by, run up and greet us with a quick hello, or peek around door corners as though they were afraid of being spotted. One of my favourite moments was when two girls stepped into the classroom during the passing period. They looked at all the "foreigners" with big eyes and started to count how many there were. Starting in English, they reached seven before exhausting their supply of English numbers and began again in Korean. Then they just giggled back and forth at the large number of people.

After seeing the school we went to a Japanese shabu-shabu restaurant. We took off our shoes to enter and sat at a table that was placed into the ground (we were sitting using the floor as a chair with our legs hanging over a ledge to be under the table). In the middle of the table was a boiling pot of water with herbs in it. Everyone received a plate with thinly sliced raw meat and little wraps of lettuce and rice. The meat was placed in the water to cook (one piece at a time) and then eaten with the wrap. There were also various side dishes to sample. Next, the waiter brought noodles and cooked them in the broth we had created, and the meal concluded with a sweet fruit drink. It was all delicious and something I would love to try again in the future.

Today finished with a workshop based on pictures of Korea and some chill time. I am ready for it to be the weekend!