Sunday, October 9

I never left my apartment on Sunday. I was fairly productive though. I did a lot of laundry, cleaning and organizing. I bought a new comforter on Saturday and I was worried that it would be too small for my bed, but it fits. It’s quite warm so I’ll have to wait until it gets colder to use it, but it is incredibly soft and I am very excited about it.

Monday, October 10

I have taken it upon myself to teach one of the 4th graders to read. His name is Tae Gyun (sounds like Gyoon).  During class I told my co-teacher that I think he’s very smart, but he can’t read so I want to help him. After she explained to him, he looked at me and said, “Thank you, Meagan Teacher!”

He was in my low level summer camp class and he is one of my absolute favorite students. He is just the sweetest thing.  His listening and speaking level is normal, but he doesn’t know how to read or even basic phonics. I will be tutoring him for about 15-20 minutes every day after lunch. It’s on a completely voluntary basis. I don’t get anything out of it except the personal satisfaction of helping out a great kid.

Tuesday, October 11

On Tuesday, I watched a movie at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) outdoor theater. Read this blog post to find out more about the festival and see more photos.

Wednesday, October 12

I had my open class on Wednesday. In the morning as I was walking out of the secretary’s office, one of them ran out to me and said, “Meagan! Today your open class day??” I said yes and then she held my hand and said, “You be a good teacher. Cheer up!” It was so sweet and so sincere.

I wasn’t nearly as nervous as I was last semester. I didn’t feel like it went that great, but my co-teacher said it was good. After lunch she sent me an instant message on the computer that said, “Principle said you did a good job today. and keep up teach passionly.” He observed for about 60 seconds. But hey… at least he enjoyed every minute of it.

After work I was walking through my neighborhood when I saw a group of middle school boys on their way home. They were racing each other down the sidewalk and when they stopped, I noticed that they were all instinctively fixing their hair. They had to make sure each piece was in its place. It was quite humorous.

Thursday, October 13

After school I met up with my friend and neighbor Jamie to get some dinner. We wanted to venture out into a new area for dinner so we walked about a mile to see what there was to eat near the baseball stadium. We ended up eating a spicy chicken fried rice meal that I loved, but it was a bit to spicy for Jamie’s liking. The great thing about it was that it was only 4,500 won per serving. Afterwards, we did some wandering about and stumbled upon some lovely finds.

Friday, October 14

6th grade girl: You have a very white face.
Meagan Teacher: Is that good? (even though I already knew the answer)
6th grade girl: Yes.
Meagan Teacher: Thank you!

Saturday, October 15

On Saturday I participated in a scavenger hunt with 4 other friends. We had 2 lists of challenges, one for pictures and one for videos. Each challenge was assigned a point value and the top 3 teams at the end won prizes. There was also a prize for best costumes. My team didn’t have time to go all out on costumes so we just decided to color coordinate. We wore black and red and called ourselves the Red Hots. We ended up coming in 2nd place (out of at least 15-20 teams) at the end and we had an amazing time! I have so many pictures and videos that the Scavenger Hunt will get its own post in a few days. Here are a few pics to hold you over until then…

Take a photo of your team performing in an airband

Bonus Challenge: All 5 team members must do a human pyramid and take a shot at the same time

Take a picture of 4 team members with at least one body part in the ocean