Getting a Korean Tutor

When I first came to Korea, I thought to myself "I can't live in a country for a whole year and not come back with some sort of language proficiency" but as the months went on, I realized I wasn't making the progress I wanted to. Given, I didn't work nearly as hard on learning Korean my first semester as I was struggling just to keep up with everything else going on, but in the spring when I started to study more and more, I realized I needed help. I wasn't close enough to go to any Korean classes for foreigners, so I opted for the online approach.

After some searching, I finally did find a website for online tutors that set their own prices. I actually lucked out in finding someone for pretty cheap who is really awesome. She is very patient and understanding. I have made a lot of progress in the past few months. Having a teacher there puts pressure on me to actually study and retain what she teaches me. For that, I have benefited. I have had lessons once a week for several months now and I'm really happy about that. I think I might actually get to the point by the end of my second year, where I will actually be able to speak in the language, therefore making it easier to study and retain Korean when I get back to the US. I don't want to have gone through all of this effort in the past year just to turn around and lose it when I get home like I did in Spanish after my college classes were over.

*Fingers crossed.

Chuseok! Again!

Well, its that time of year again. If you missed my post last year, Chuseok is essentially Korean Thanksgiving. It is based on the lunar calendar and is one of the two most important holidays in Korean culture (the other being Seollal- Lunar New Year). My Chuseok began on Wednesday, where my host mom actually asked for me to have the day off so that we could go to Seoul and visit her family and take the kids to this exhibition hall that had been rented out. It was filled to the brim with inflatables and small fun things for the kids to play and jump around on. It was actually a lot of fun, even though there wasn't really anything for adults to do but watch the kids play.

Except for the swings. There were swings. That was fun.

We spent the day there, went to a restaurant to get backbone soup and back to my host mom's sister's apartment. We had so many people in this tiny little Seoul apartment with two families (five kids total) plus grandparents and me. But it was nice and we left after breakfast the next morning.

A few hours after we arrived back home, the other grandparents arrived. My host dad's parents and uncle came for dinner and spent the night. Friday was actually Chuseok. I actually got a few hours to myself because the family went out and I stayed home. It was actually nice. After all, if I was always busy during my vacation from school, its not much of a break. This break did come way too early in the school year, however. I really could use it in October or November when there are no breaks in the schedule. Literally, I don't have any holidays between Hangul day on October 9th and Christmas day.

Saturday, my host mom decided that we should do something with the day, so we went to the "love tree" and then to a really cute cafe where the owner sang for us.

All in all, it was a pretty good holiday. I'm really happy to have been able to celebrate another Chuseok in Korea.

Early Chuseok with New ETA Family

As I have explained previously, Fulbright Korea ETAs can renew their grant for a second or third year. Hence, why I am here again. In Hwacheon, there are five ETAs. Out of all of us, only two (myself included) opted to renew for a second year. Two others went back to the US, and the other decided to try teaching privately in Seoul. Of the two of us that remained for a second year, only I am still in Hwacheon. The other ETA was placed at another school in a different region of Korea.

Why I say this is to explain that there are now four new first-year ETAs in Hwacheon with me. Now, I don't know the new cohort, as I only had about 24 hours to meet 81 new people (didn't happen), but I think I got some of the best they had to offer. The ETAs that were placed in my region with me are all so kind and we have all gotten along really well. 

Just like last year, the ETAs in the area were invited to make Songpyeon (송편), a small rice cake dough filled with nuts or red bean paste, with little kids while wearing hanbok (한복), the traditional Korean clothes, for Chuseok. Last year, I had so much fun that I immediately volunteered to do it again. 

This event was held at the library, where dozens of little kids in hanbok come to listen to the Mayor read a story, make songpyeon and then watch a show. This year was a juggler that was actually really cool. Throughout the day, I hung out with some kids and even had one little girl that wanted to sit on my lap during the whole performance. 

My songpyeon even turned out really pretty. I was able to take them home and my host family devoured them in less than a day. The other girls and I also went out to a waffle cafe afterward. 맛있어요!

All in all, I had a pretty good day. And I got to wear a beautiful dress. Now if only the hoop skirt wasn't required.