New Design!

Hi everyone! Notice anything different?

I finally decided to modernize my blog and logged far too many hours with coding and hashing out bugs with my new design. But, now that it is finally complete, I am super happy with it and will keep it around for some time.

Major changes: New logo (and made a thumbnail version), single-column body with two-column footer, added social media widgets to header.

Minor changes: Text/font styles, colors, added 'Read More' tags, added 'Share' buttons

Setbacks: Still working on getting thumbnails to appear next to posts on the Home page. Still a few bugs to hash out with that.

Hope you like it as much as I do! I love the simplicity of it compared to my last layout, and the brightness of it.

Read More

Winter Class

"The List": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abqo7prT840

We made fake blood!

After the New Year celebrations, my school requested that I teach a voluntary two-week winter class to help students practice English. Because it is winter BREAK, I decided to make the curriculum something fun and out of the ordinary. I also learned that I had a small class of seven students, so my creative juices were boiling.

I ultimately decided on having the students make some type of movie (the genre and its contents solely up to the decision of the students). Luckily, the students loved the idea and immediately started brainstorming ideas. I was a little unsure if we would be able to get a solid production put together in such a short time frame, but we gave it a whirl anyway!

Practicing their lines

The first week was spent coming up with a topic/setting, roles for the students, script writing, storyboarding, and prop preparations. The students divided themselves into small groups, with the student director monitoring each person's role. They did a fantastic job writing the short film. The premise is a Thriller/Slasher movie where a jealous girlfriends seeks vengeance on her boyfriend and the girls he's been flirting with. She creates a LIST (movie name, "The List") and goes through it one by one, killing each girl along the way. I was pleasantly surprised by their creative abilities and the depth they added to their short film.

Giving guidance for stage direction

Close-up of a killing scene

The second week was spent filming and editing, with a viewing party held on the last day! I think this week was the most fun for the students because they could bring their roles to life, and they loved giggling at (with) one another throughout filming. I should also mention how much they enjoyed making fake blood and smearing it everywhere for the murder scenes. I wish I had captured the looks of pure joy on their faces - some actual serial killer smiles! Haha!

They filmed the movie at school using my Canon camera, and they edited it in the school computer lab. I think it was most students' first time using a video editing software, so I did a quick tutorial, and the rest was history. They picked it up quickly, editing the clips, adding sound and transitions, etc. They're continued dedication for the project made me so happy, and it was awesome because I was doing minimal work, just helping as needed.

"The List": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abqo7prT840

The students really seemed to enjoy this project, and I hope I have another chance to do a similar project in the future. This project was a great way for students to utilize their creative abilities while also practicing the target language (English). Entirely student-lead, I only provided guidance when requested. All work was completed by the students.

I'm so proud of them and want to share the movie with you all. Enjoy!

That's a wrap!

"The List": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abqo7prT840

Read More

So Long, 2016!

Merry Christmas!

What a year it was! For the world at large, maybe not one of its finest, but for me personally, I would say it has been a pretty great year. I was thinking about writing a few highlights from 2016, but I think everything I've expressed in my blog posts throughout the year accurately fit that description. So I'll let my blog do the talking on that part and just stick to a short list of some things I would like to accomplish during 2017:

1. Write at least two blog posts per month

2. Read 30 books

3. Travel to a country I've never been to before

4. Complete a half marathon in 1:45:00 or less

5. Remember my friends' birthdays in advance

Merry Christmas!

I have written other things down throughout my personal diary, but I thought those would be some of the more tangible goals to share with you all.

For Christmas, I spent the holiday with two friends here in Seoul. We decided to head to Lotte World, Seoul's second amusement park. The interesting thing about this park is that it is mostly constructed indoors, so a lot of the attractions are inside walls (perfect for cold weather)! Unfortunately, my friends and I could not navigate our way to the roller coaster we wanted to ride, and thus we stumbled into two minuscule rides meant for children after waiting in line for nearly an hour for each of them. LOL. We look back and laugh at the situation with fond memories.

I rang in the new year with another Fulbright friend, a first year named Arya. A couple months ago, we booked tickets to see some of the most trendy, popular, and stylin' Korean hip-hop artists over the course of a two-day concert to ring in the New Year.

"The Final Countdown"

Jay Park!

My personal favorite, Jay Park, would also be performing. Having the chance to see him perform live has been on my bucket list since the beginning of my three years in Korea, so I was quite excited to finally cross that off the list.

The concert was held at an awesome venue in Gangnam, and surprisingly, it wasn't too crowded over the two days. We danced, sang, and rang in the new year full of laughter and joy. Unfortunately, at that time, I was in the process of getting over a nasty cold, so my voice was shot and I was held back a little bit in that regard... but it was totally worth it!

Happy 2017, everyone!

We felt like Iron Woman

Read More