An official member of a rap crew

My JMF uniform!

That's right, the title says it all: I'm officially a part of my student Hyeon Min's rap crew! Our crew name is JMF, which means Just Mad Ferocity. What makes me official is that Hyeon Min and the seven other members who are a part of the team all ordered uniforms, and they included me in it too. My crew color is yellow. Our uniforms: oversized polo shirts. Check out the picture! Even though oversized polos for men aren't really my style, I was flattered by the gesture, and the fact that Hyeon Min and I are developing a close friendship. If this were to happen in the United States, I would have been fired from my teaching job in an instant, which is unfortunate. Another ETA in the Fulbright Korea program actually wrote a literary piece about this very ideal in the newest volume of Infusion, Fulbright Korea's very own literary magazine. I encourage all of you to check it out.

Lucky to spend another year in Gwangyang

Dakgalbi (YUM!)

To further my point about having close friendships with students, it is a totally normal thing to do in Korea. Because students are at school for longer than twelve hours a day, nearly every day of the week, it's only natural that teachers and students are going to develop strong connections. This is one aspect of Korean culture that I wish I could bring back to the U.S. Unfortunately, if this type of relationship formed in most American schools, many people would suspect "risky business".

Mango cheesecake bingsu

Anyway, after the Final Dinner gathering in Seoul, I had one full week left of school before I would head back to Jungwon University in Goesan, where the Fulbright Korea ETA Orientation is held. I was prepared to have a fantastic last week of school with the boys full of games and snacks. We sang some songs, which you can witness a small preview below. My last week of school luckily wasn't sad for me because I will be going back to Gwangyang Boys High School upon my return to Korea in August! So, I was relieved that it was just a "see you later" rather than a "so long". On the other hand, I did have to sort-of say goodbye to my home stay family. When I return in August, I will be moving into a one-room apartment, so I spent my last week enjoying the time with my home stay family. Luckily, my apartment building is located just a few blocks away from my home stay family, so I will definitely be in touch and expect to hang out with them throughout my second year in Gwangyang.

Thanks for being a great friend, Zoe!

Most unfortunate, though, was saying goodbye to wonderful friends that I have made through the Fulbright Korea program. Although there are 52 of us who will renew our contracts, some of my closest friends will be heading back to the States to pursue other opportunities. I had a great time meeting up with my buddy Zoe in Gwangju one last time in Gwangju, and we enjoyed dakgalbi (stir-fried marinated diced chicken in a gochujang (chili pepper paste) based sauce, and sliced cabbage, sweet potato, scallions, onions, perilla leaves, and tteok (rice cake) together on a hot plate). For dessert we devoured patbingsu and beer (haha). It was all so delicious!

My new hiking friend!

One interesting thing to note during my last week in Gwangyang before heading off to vacation was meeting a clever older man while I was running along the bike path. He was very eager to practice English and help me practice Korean, so we set up a language exchange when I come back to Gwangyang in August. He was so excited that I would be happy to do a language exchange that he invited me to go hiking the following evening! While we were hiking and practicing Korean/English, I introduced him to the deliciousness that are smoothies. So, after we finished hiking we headed to a coffee shop and had some mango smoothies! It was so fun, and I'm looking forward to meeting him again when I am back in Gwangyang.

At the moment, I am blogging live from Jungwon University in Goesan~!~!~! I am visiting here for three days as I lead a few workshops related to teaching and extracurriculars during the ETAs' grant year. There are 70 incoming ETAs, and even from my short time here, I am really excited about this group! They are very outgoing and eager to get in their placements (already!). It has been great being able to connect with them early on because at times it can be difficult for renewees and incoming ETAs to really get to know each other when we are all together in a huge group. So far, they seem to be a mixture of personalities, as is expected with Fulbright. Quirky, outgoing, yet nervous, humbled, and eager. It's a solid dynamic. Having the time to talk with the ETAs personally and share my experience with them has been valuable, and I hope that I will make 70 new friends this year!

Dry ice berry bingsu

At the orientation, I led workshops about Classroom Management, the Alumni Relations Committee, and participated in a panel open Winter Camp, Club Classes, and beyond. It's been really interesting being back here and looking at orientation from a different perspective now! While being here, I have been reminiscing and being nostalgic on all the great times my grant class had during our orientation period at the time last year. It's crazy how fast a year has flown by, and coming back here before heading home is the perfect closure to my first grant year. Incoming ETAs: FIGHTING!!! Enjoy orientation and enjoy the time spent with your 70 new best friends!

See you all in Illinois~!~!~!

See you in a month, Gwangyang1