Peppero Day

It was Peppero Day a couple days ago. Peppero is a Korean snack that looks like Pocky. (And Pocky looks like a pretzel stick dipped in chocolate if you don't know what Pocky looks like.) Since November 11 (11/11) looks like Peppero sticks lined up next to each other, the company that makes Peppero, Lotte, decided to designate it Peppero Day. So basically, this company made up a holiday and now people all over Korea celebrate it. (Sounds like some Hallmark holidays.)


Two weeks ago, my students were running up to me in the halls saying, "Trick or treat!" (That's what I get for teaching them about Halloween.) This week, it was "Teach, give me Peppero!" (Or if their English was a little more limited, it was more like, "Teacher! Peppero" and their little cupped hands conveyed the message.) Actually, I ended up getting a lot of Peppero from my students. One of the students wrote on the box "Teacher, Happy Peppero Day!" The 6th grade teachers had all agreed to tell their students not to bring Peppero because they thought it was expensive and unhealthy for the students. Some of the students didn't listen and brought it anyway. It was actually one of the 6th grade classes that gave me boxes and boxes of Peppero. Made me feel loved. :)

And of course, in proper Korean style, I redistributed all the Peppero I got to some students I ran into in the hallway while carrying the Peppero back to my classroom, other less fortunate 6th grade students whose teachers were stricter and forbade them to bring any Peppero at all, the 6th grade teachers who didn't allow their students to bring Peppero (but ate it pretty happily), my co-teachers, teachers in the teacher classes I taught after school, students in my Taekwondo class... Half the fun in eating food is sharing it right?

Pictures Worth a Thousand Words

Time really flies. I can't believe it's November! A lot's happened in the past month and a half. Since a picture's worth a thousand words, I'll tell it partly with pictures...

Sports Day at my school at the end of September

The students and teachers had spent a couple weeks preparing for this event at the elementary school (and sometimes missing my English classes as a result). Each grade had their own tent they sat under and even a stereo system set up so the teachers could DJ music. Some students did the dances to Korean pop songs (like what these students are doing). (Aren't they adorable?!)

Each grade had a routine they learned and performed on the field in front of the school on Sports Day.

1st grade: belly dancing (yes, 1st graders belly dancing)

2nd grade: traditional Korean dance

3rd grade: I'm not quite sure what they were doing...

4th grade: hula hooping

5th grade: Taekwondo dance

6th grade: Korean mask dance

They had taken the masks off their faces by the time I took the pictures but the dance involves clothing with long ribbon-like sleeves which they stuck on their arms.

There were also events like relay races and tug of war that sometimes involved teachers and parents. I got roped into doing tug of war.

That weekend, I went to the Andong International Mask Festival where we were welcomed with this sign:
Many of the events at the festival were surprisingly similar to the events at Sports Day:

Belly dancing

some of the belly dancers at the festival were also elementary school students...

Taekwondo dance to the song "We Will Rock You"

Korean mask dance

There were also performances by a Russian dance troupe that were AMAZING.

At the beginning of October, 1st through 5th grades went on a field trip and I got to go with the 4th graders on their field trip to Millennium Park in Gyeongju.
We saw a play on a part of Korean history of which I understood nothing. Something about a man meeting an important looking woman and her showing him a humongous suit of armor.
Then he went to a town that was then taken over by an army
which was defeated by another army
but then the first army came back and they fought each other the sea
and the second army won and a king came out and everyone was happy...?
Anyway, after that we went to watch a show with men doing tricks on horses. Easy enough to understand.

The last event was some kind of interactive activity that didn't have anything to do with Korean history or culture as far as I could see. But the host on stage challenged the kids to clap some kind of rhythm and do some tongue twister things. I actually started falling asleep when suddenly she asked for a teach volunteer so all the kids started screaming "Debi teacher!" and little hands pushed me up on stage (and I had absolutely no idea what I was doing there). They made me dance. I have no pictures.

The first weekend of October was the first of two conferences where all the English teachers in our program have a big reunion and talk about our experiences, teaching, etc.

After the conference, I took a trip with some friends to the Pusan International Film Festival.

While we were at lunch, I overhead the guys sitting next to us talking in Chinese so I asked them where they were from.

Turns out they're filmmakers from China and offered us free tickets to see a movie at the festival. We went to see The Chaser, a Korean movie based on a true story about a serial killer who targets call-girls, usually using a chisel and hammer to kill them. "In the midst of police indifference and incompetence, Jung-Ho, an ex-cop-turned-pimp must dust off his old flatfoot skills to find the killer and save the life of one of his girls who has gone missing."

The Chaser

After the movie, there was a special Q&A session with the director and two of the actors (although it was conducted in Korean so didn't understand much)


Last weekend, my other host brother came back from the Philippines for a week so my host family took a trip to Danyang about 2-3 hours away and invited me along.


After watching other people bungee jump, my host brothers decided they didn't want to do it anymore, lol.

Outside a remake of a traditional Korean house (not quite sure what we're doing...)

The amazing view from our suite

Picture at a museum we went to in Andong

The whole scene is made up of butterfly wings

Last week I did lessons on Halloween and carved a pumpkin with the help of one of my co-teachers. I was so touched when some of my classes came to school in costumes on Friday!




My students are wonderful. :)

Other random things from the past month or so:
Saw my friend playing live classical music at an orchestra concert in Gyeongju

She got more flowers than the soloists

And after the concert, saw my friend that I grew up with at home in a store in downtown Gyeongju

(it's a poster. she's a model)

Saw Crown J, a famous Korean rapper/ singer, live in performance at a night club downtown (after waiting 4 hours for him to perform for just 30 minutes, I guess it was worth it)

Saw an octopus get flipped inside out at the fish market

Before

After

So (after working on this post for almost 5 hours) I think I've redeemed myself somewhat after neglecting my blog for the past month and a half... Maybe I can keep from being lazy enough to post again before the end of the semester!... >>