You are currently browsing the monthly archive for December 2007.
제 좋은 학생을 소개하겠습니다. 그의 이름은 박현종이라고 합니다.
Let me introduce you to one of my good students. His name is Hyun Jong. I met him earlier in the summer before we came to Seoul. We met in an ESL chat room hosted by Dave’s ESL Cafe. He was there looking for someone to practice English with, and I was there hoping to find someone who was currently teaching English in Korea. We struck up a friendship and exchanged e-mails asking each other various questions about our families and life in our home countries.
After I came to Seoul, I kept in contact with him. One day I told him about how I had finally found a student to teach and he mentioned to me that he would also like to take English classes. He had told me that before, when I was back in the States, and I really didn’t take him that seriously. But, he was serious and so we planned on when we would have lessons, for how much, and where we would meet. Tell you the truth, I was a bit nervous. You hear about girls all the time who meet predators on the web (in a chat room, no less) and fix to meet them and then….well you know. So, I was a bit weary. Daniel was a bit worried and so was my mom. We planned to meet at Pyeongchon Station on a Saturday morning. Luckily, my naivete and overly trusting nature didn’t lead me astray this time and I got to meet a really awesome person.
We meet twice a week for two hours each. We work on English conversation, vocabulary, some grammar, and listening comprehension. I would say that he is very high intermediate-advanced in his ability. Conversation is very easy for him and he has a big vocabulary. A little more about him. He is 28 years old and he works for an engineering company in Pyeongchon, Anyang-si. He just got engaged not too long ago to his sweetheart and they are planning on getting married next year. Interestingly, he had wanted to study English teaching instead of Engineering, but chose to do engineering. He is interested in all things, loves American movies and American food and he even tutored high school students in English grammar when he was a college student–I am telling you that his English is really good!
Anyway, one tool that I think is indispensable for learning English is the English novel, or at least reading some English publication. So whether it is a short story, book, or magazine/newspaper article, my students are reading at least something each week. Hyun Jong read The Giver by Lois Lowry. And I say “read” in the past tense because he just finished the book this past week! He read the entire novel and really enjoyed it. In our last class he told me that he never thought that he could read an English novel, that The Giver was the first he has ever read and finished. He thanked me because it was with my help that he was able to do it. I was so happy to hear that from him. I had spent a lot of thought on how I could help him with his overall comprehension by providing different activities and discussion starters to help with the concepts of the book. But his success mostly came because he worked hard and he really is a very talented language learner. I gave him some direction and he took off with it! I am really proud of him! It is definitely moments like these that make teaching worthwhile.
Because of the National Elections, we found ourselves winding through a ridiculously narrow street lined with dozens of wholesale shoe vendors pushing mountains of shoes for a cheap price. Daniel had no class that day and Maya was in dire need for some new boots so Dongdaemun seemed like the most logical choice for our sightseeing trip that day; Daniel had never been and Dongdaemun is known to be the mecca of cheap clothing items in Korea. After making a complete turn through the sea of endless shoe stands (and not wanting to think that there were other such streets just around the corner) we finally settled for a pair of boots that I think will be great for Maya. After that we searched for a place to eat. We ate at the food court in the Doota building. Here are some pictures of us enjoying our 돌솥 비빔밥 (bibimbap served in a hot stone bowl), it was a great meal to warm us up.
After lunch we shopped around in the Doota building and found a couple of more gifts; one for my grandpa and one for a friend of ours.
Here are our spoils:
Nowadays people know Dongdaemun for the shopping. But, Dongdaemun actually means ‘Great East Gate’ and was the major Eastern gate in the wall that surrounded Seoul during the Joseon Dynasty. The first two pictures on this post are of the Gate. It always amazes me to see the old palaces and gates from the Joseon Dynasty standing strong next to the modern skyscrapers that are common here in Seoul. Korea has really modernized with amazing speed and seeing the old next to the new is just a testament to this modernization.
When you think of the sounds of Christmas, what do you think of? Carols, laughter, cash registers, church bells sounding people to services….
Just the other day we looked around the Hyundai Department store, a high end department store chain that features the latest in fashion. It was decked out for the Christmas season with Christmas music, decorations, the works. Within the past couple of weeks I have noticed that Seoul has begun to get ready for the Christmas season and the Hyundai department store is no exception. Christmas trees have popped up everywhere in the subway stations and the windows of the shops around Seoul are decorated for the Holidays. The other thing I noticed was that the Salvation Army has a real presence here just like in the US. Along with all the other sounds of Christmas,
Remembering those in need in Seoul. Courtesy of Joongang ilbo.
I always think of the bells of the Salvation Army volunteers with their red buckets reminding passerbys with each ring of the bell that the we need to remember the most needy along with our loved ones when we think of giving this season. An interesting note about the Salvation Army is that it is actually a Christian denomination. I think most people when they think of the Salvation Army, think of the bell ringers and of soup kitchens. However, the Salvation Army is even more than that. It was a church that was begun in London with an emphasis on the Gospel’s message concerning social welfare. Their practices stem from the belief that we need to take care of both the spiritual and physical needs of the people.
The Salvation Army is truly doing a great thing. The Christmas season is definitely more than just giving and receiving gifts to and from loved ones. But it is time to remember all of God’s children, those who are both in physical as well as spiritual need. The scriptures are full of examples of Jesus ministering unto the spiritual and physical needs of the people. He cared for both, and so should we. I hope that we can all think a little more clearly of our responsibilities as Christians each time we hear those bells toll; because each bell tolls for someone.
I am sure you noticed as soon as our blog site popped open that there has been some changes. I sort of felt that the previous look that Dowler Seoul had was a bit drab, almost dark and kind of uninviting. So it was time for a face lift of sorts. You have probably noticed that the page is definitely lighter (from dark gray to white) and that our header picture is different. We took this photo at Gyeongbokgung Palace (a previous post). I hope you like the new look…I sure do ^_^
