Trip to Cheonan

Hi! Hope the Labor Day weekend was awesome:)
I did not have a three day weekend, but no problem because I think I am getting a couple days off this month for the Korean Thanksgiving. Their Thanksgiving is called "Chusok" and I have a couple classes cancelled and others I have to make up on that Saturday. I need to find more about these Holidays! It is going to be strange to have off for Thanksgiving in September and not in November. I will miss having turkey day at Maureen and Pa's:( They make dinner extremely special and everything is delicious.
I have missed Thanksgiving a couple of years ago because I was in Hawaii for Semester At Sea ( I ate so much- remember Ginny, Amanda, and Ben?)
Anyways I went to travel to Cheonan which about an hour or so train ride south of Seoul. I took this train out from Seoul Station and went to a smaller city where my friend Dan from Semester At Sea is currently teaching. He has been in South Korea since November and has a ton of friends. Also in town is a friend named Will from Semester At Sea. Will just finished a six-month internship in Japan. He decided to come visit Dan for two weeks and then the two of them are going to Japan for a week. Will lives in California, so after the Japan trip he is going back to the states.
Dan invited me a couple of weeks ago to an 80s/90s party and I decided why not go? The party was in a really cool bar with over like seventy people. I think Dan knew like half of the people because whenever we were walking down the street he would be like hey...Monica, Preston, Sean going to the 80s/90s party? I swear he knew everyone in that city. I put on a black and white striped dress, bright blue patterned leggings, a belt, and a shiny headband to complete the outfit. I looked absolutely ridiculous!!!
Dan, Will, and I talked about different stories we had from Semester At Sea and would be like "remember when this happened or remember that person?" I loved talking about being on the boat and the stories because Semester At Sea is probably the best thing I have done besides coming to South Korea.
Sunday afternoon I took a different train back to Seoul. This train is called the KTX and about two times faster than the train I took the day before. I completely forgot about the KTX the day before and the other train was leaving first on Saturday. I don't believe it is as fast as the Japanese bullet train, but it went really fast and arrived in Seoul in thirty-five minutes. I wanted to stay longer in Cheonan, but I had to do my two lesson plans for this week.
My lesson plans are on Seabirds for the younger group and Genetic Research and Aids for the older kids. The medical lesson is extremely difficult and has a long passage that the kids need to figure out on their own. Yesterday the older kids were being a little obnoxious and laughing and talking when I was talking. Therefore I had to raise my voice with the kids and tell them they were being disrespectful to me. I felt really really really mean. I had already asked them a few times to be quiet and they weren't. Sooo raising my voice was a must. Other than the kids talking in class, I am having a great time teaching.
The project the older kids had to do on the medical lesson was to pretend there was a new pandemic virus out (similar to H1N1 and SARS) However this virus is different because it has hit everywhere besides South Korea. They had to come up with a domestic and a global action plan. I made the flu outbreak originate in the United States. They thought it was funny I had an outbreak originate from the place I was from. I received presentations range from there can be absolutely no people coming to South Korea or leaving from the country. Some other presentations included stopping all kinds of imports and exports in case it came from an animal like pigs or birds.
When it comes to the projects some kids get really into it and creative, but there are some that want to do anything BUT the project we are doing. The thought of actually having to draw and let alone think about something is completely draining to them. I mean I understand because they go to school for eight hours and then have to think more when they come to Chungdahm. On the other hand, this is how you learn more about a language. The kids just went through two hours of me asking them questions, taking quizzes, and reading various passages. This is the time to put what you learned into a presentation and make it your own. I constantly have to stress this or else the kids forget what the project is for.
The reason we have over 1400 kids at the school is because Chungdahm works! Our program is effective and the Korean Mother's love that!!! Hence why their kids are in my class:)
Okay I need to shower and then maybe go to the coffee shop to skype my parents and other various people.
Miss everyone!

Kristen