GEPIK Teacher's Orientation 2009

GEPIK (Gyeonggi-do English Program in Korea)

(Gyeonggi-do is a province made up of many cities)

WOW! This week was definitely eventful, it was full of life, fun, meeting people. This is the week I will remember most about Korea.  This is the week I met my fellow foreign teachers and oh did we have a blast. I just wish I would have taken pictures, but I think I was so bored with the classes and so over joyed about meeting foreigners/expats that I was just to excited to snap the pictures. 


Let's see I met Keysha who is a young African American lady who has lived in Asia for 9 years and has lived in Korea for 2 years.  I have just met Keysha, but just hearing that little information about Keysha makes me want to know her more, so we hung out a lot and we were both so happy because we living walking distance from each other lol! So, you know we plan to cut up in a "good" way soon! YAY! I am probably going to designate her as my mentor for the rest of the year since we only have about 24 days left haha! In all seriousness I plan to have a lot of fun and learn a lot from her.  A former classmate of mines told me when every she is seeking something she always thinks it is good to have a mentor and a mentoree. I have been sharing a lot of new things with another friend of mines who will be joining us all soon in Korea her name is "Asia" lol go figure!


Okay, lets see who is up next, hmm oh Linda I met Linda she is a very sweet lady who lives north of Korea.  Yes, I said North of South Korea. I can't remember how close she is to the border, but I had a chance to make fun of her. 

I also met some South African chicas!! I love them they are soo down to earth. Liesl and Sade they are some pretty cool chicks.  I also need to mention Judy from SA, but I cannot find her on facebook. :(  She lives an hour and a half from North Korea...that is too close for me lol. They also said there was a guy there that lived 30 mins from North Korea and he often hears activity. WOW!

Okay, I have to mention this lol because it reminds me of high school.  I was kind of the popular girl at "camp" by mistake haha! I was the first to volunteer to comment about a video GEPIK showed us.  The lady made me run all the way to the front mind you I was all the way in the back of an auditorium.  So, I asked the GEPIK coordinator about the video, and why some of the Korean teachers do NOT allow us (expats) to teach in class. In SOME of our classes we feel like vegetables instead of feeling like we are co-teaching, we are just sitting there collecting dust. I was asking her how we could overcome this, and everyone was applauding the question, it sounds like most teachers here feel the same way.  Sometimes, you just have to be assertive NOT aggressive in these situations and press your way through. When it all boils down to it we are there for the kids to learn! I press my way through and when I am allowed to open my mouth you better believe I am giving as much insight as possible. I even see some of my 6th graders taking extra notes, and some of my 4th & 5th graders asking me what is the English translation for certain items, for example, one of my students asked me what the word for a piece of yarn was and I told her the action is knitting. She was knitting a scarf.

I must also add that I did ask her about the issue in a tasteful manner.  Sometimes it is okay to be proud of yourself, this is what I was taught, so I was glad I was respectful to the coordinator.   The conference empowered me so much, it was awesome to see so many young people my age and profile, such as Africans, Black UK's and African Americans doing their thang just like me :)

Well, this is just a taste of why I haven't updated my blog....actually the orientation was the first week of Dec, so I am behind by 2 weeks, but I will do my best to keep you informed on my whereabouts...

Special shout out: to Quida from FLNA (Frito), she was worried about me and checking on me because I had not updated my blog recently.  Gotta love the frito ladies! :)