Jamie Hartford

C&T 491
Dr. Cho & GTA: Annette
5/28/17
Journal Week 1

I cannot believe that we just finished our first week of school and internship! I arrived in

Seoul a little earlier than everyone so when I met up with the rest of the group at the airport I

wasn't jetlagged. Before this program started I was very nervous about whether I would be a

good teacher or not. I have never taught in a classroom before, except informal teaching as

volunteer work. Another thing, English is not my first language, so I was worried about my

accent. Nonetheless, I have waited for this program for a whole year! I couldn't wait to see what

God has in store for me on this trip!

May 22:

Tessa and I arrived at the airport and waited for everyone. When the rest of group finally

came out (at 4:45pm), I was very excited to see everybody and I was tired and just wanted to get

to the school. We had to ride the bus to Gwangju for two hours. I mostly slept on the bus and

looked at the beautiful city of South Korea. When we finally arrived at Gwangju, we had to ride

another bus that took us to Kyung hwa Girls High School. We were greeted by the amazing

Kyung hwa staff. After all that waiting, our dream had finally come true. We arrived at the

school where we will be living for the next six weeks; sleeping, going to school and practicing

English with the students. We took our suitcases up to our room and they took us to a

conference room where we had a sandwich and banana for dinner. All the English teachers from

English Business, middle, and high school greeted us. Once again, the staff was amazing and I

couldnt wait to work with all the teachers at Kyunghwa. While we were eating our dinner, we

had a chance to get to know the teachers. Most of the classmates were tired and they were ready

to go to sleep. After our dinner, we went back to our dorm, got ready for bed because we had a

big day ahead of us on Tuesday. In the dorm, we have seven girls in one room and each of us
have our own closet, one bathroom to use or we could use the communal bathroom. The last

time I had to share a room with five other people was when I was in the orphanage, and that was

twelve years ago. Also, the fact that we are sharing a dorm with the students, I was not sure how

that would go. But during one of our departure meetings our professor had warned us, so it will

take time to get used to it and I hope that we will all get along. I will do my part by not creating

any drama within the room and I hope that we will all respect and help each other make this trip

as comfortable as we can.

May 23 26

On the first day at Kyunghwa (May 23), we got to meet the founder, the principal and all

the teachers at the high school. I was chosen to be one of six student teachers at the high school

and other student teachers are either in EB or the middle school. The teachers at the high school

were very friendly and welcomed us with open arms; then we were personally greeted by the

principal of the high school. At Kyunghwa, there are three principals and vice-principals at

different schools and the founder who looks over the whole school. Later that day, we took

pictures with important people in the school, we also got to meet the founder. He was a very

inspiring person -- we were all amazed by him. One thing that we had to keep in mind was

anything could happen so we had to be on guard. We had to be flexible and be ready for

anything. Then Jamie, who is our program coordinator took us to the study room. Then in our

room (E1), we had to figure out our internet situation because the school does not use Wi-Fi for

the students sake. Instead, they use the Ethernet which I did not have the adapter for and there

were other students who had the same problem. Then the computer man came and set up a Wi-

Fi for me, but it was temporary. Long story short, we had Ethernet problems all throughout the
week, then finally, we all went to an Apple store that is in Panggul. All of us who did not have

Ethernet adapter each brought one. Hopefully it will make our lives easier next week.

After lunch, (by the way, school lunch is very good. The lunch ladies are so nice to

us. They cook fried eggs just for us and make sure we have enough food to eat) six of us met the

students for the first time. The English conversation class is led by Greg who teaches first and

second high school students. Greg has 24 classes, in each class there about 25 to 30

students. This week they had an oral performance test so all we had to was to observe and talk to

them during small group. The first graders do role play on a theme that they choose and the

second graders choose a topic from Gregs list. The role plays and topics are very interesting

and I could tell those students put a lot of effort into the project. Some classes are completely

done and there are some that are not done yet, so I will see more presentation next week. The

classes that are done with presents or if we have time left over at the end of the class. Greg

asked six of us introduce ourselves and we broke up into small groups so we could have one on

one conversation. The students are fabulous, they welcomed us with warm smiles. I have spoke

to about 50 students or more and there were three questions that I got asked the most. First, Am

I a mix, which I am not surprised because pretty much everybody asks me this question when

they first meet me. Second, Do I like the school food, I told them that I really like it and they

do not believe me. Some comments were, You havent tasted real Korean food yet or You do

not have to lie about it or The food here tastes too bland. So, I couldnt help but wonder why

they do not like the food here. Third, Do I have boyfriend, they get disappointed when I tell

them that I do not have a boyfriend. Lastly, when I tell them that I like KPop and KDrama, they

scream at the top of their lungs. Sometimes I wonder, where do they get all that energy. But it
honestly makes me smile to see that Greg can make them smile and not worry about the stress

that the students have to go through every day.

There was one thing that I was worried about. When I told the students that I studied

Korean, they tended to rely on Korean a lot. Some students wanted me to speak Korean, but I

had to keep telling them that I am not here to practice Korean, but to help them with

English. So, many times I had to tell them I will not answer them unless they ask questions in

English. Many of them can do it, but they fear of making mistakes. On the other hand, when I

do hear Korean, I couldnt help but wanting to help them. But I believe in them!

There is something that I learned last week while I was leading small groups. In every

class, I would either get a group that was excited to talk or I would get quiet students. While

talking to them, I tried to find a topic that they were interested in because I figured that would

make them talk, but it was not always successful. Then I realized that teachers have to be

creative in order for the class to be engaging. There were a few things I tried last week, we

talked about favorite food, TV shows or movies, hobbies or things that they like. If it got too

quiet, I would ask each of them to ask each other a question, and I did not see any students who

did not want to do it. Also, I tried games with them as well. Some of my group were very quiet

and they told me that they are shy or they do not know English. Then I tell them my story in the

hope that it will open their hearts with me. I want to let them know that it is okay to speak and

make mistakes -- success comes with failure. When classes ended, some would come up to me

and tell me that it is not because they do not want to talk but they are scared and I tell them that it

is okay because I am here to help them. Also, after lunch, E1 would get a bunch of students who

come in and talk to us. It makes me so happy to see that they really want to practice English and

they have high hopes and dreams. I hope everyone of them have their dream come true. All of
this talking to students and trying to learn more about them really helps me think about what

kind of lesson plans that I want to do.

Something happened this week that made me realize that I am loving what I am

doing. Greg told 1st and 2nd year that they can come to our room (E1) any time they want, if our

door is open. However, 3rd year students do not know about it. Our door was not open that day

because I wanted to study. Our main purpose here is to help the students. This girl name, Da

Kyung, who is a 3rd year high school student came in and asked if I was busy. I immediately told

her that I was not. I couldnt turn her away because I know it takes courage for a student to do

what she did. So, we talked for about an hour, she told me her dreams and what she wanted to

major in college and what kind of job that she wanted to have. I could see a bright future in front

of her. Not only was her English very good, but she is very smart, so I hope for the best in her

future.

Finally, during last week, we had to get SIM cards because the dorm does not have Wi-

Fi. Greg, who has been doing everything to make sure we have everything we needed while we

are here, took us to get SIM cards and to EMark to get things we needed. Honestly, we cannot

ask for a better staff or students. Last night we ate Korean BBQ for the first time and today I

attended Korean church, which luckily is in our schools auditorium. I have five more weeks

with students; I hope to make many memories with them. I cannot wait when I finally get to

teach the classes.

Looking ahead:

Next Friday is sports day, which is something that I am looking forward to. I am

looking forward to meeting the middle and EB students.

Also, we are going to Seoul for five days.