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

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Rocky Road to Renewal

By now, you all must be wondering, "Hillary's been in Korea two years already and I haven't seen anything on social media about what's happening next... where did she go!?!?"

Nah, just kidding, you probably aren't wondering about me at all, but I just don't know what to write about in my blog right now. But for those interested, I am writing this post to explain the next phase and how I got to that decision.

Earlier during the grant year, most of you know that I endured a severe injury in my Achilles tendon, thus causing me to miss nearly four months of school and vacation. After experiencing an injury to that extent (nonetheless in a foreign country and questioning the quality of the healthcare throughout the majority of it), I think that normal people would have felt they've had enough in this country and would feel eager to get back into the comfort of their motherland. Me, on the other hand, somehow got it inside my brain that, "Wow, I missed four months of my second year in Korea... welp, I guess that means I'll just have to make up for it by staying one more year!" even after all the shit that happened.

Don't get me wrong, I thought long and hard about the decision to stay - especially BECAUSE of the circumstances that have happened so far this year. But my heart just kept telling me that I wasn't ready to leave Korea yet. However, I AM ready to be in a much larger city, with more access to Westernized things (such as healthcare... but mostly food options LOL). So, for my third and FINAL year (yes, mark my words now, the third year WILL be my final year in Korea... at this phase of my life at least... hehe), I decided I will move to Seoul for a big change. And feel comfortable about going to the hospital where the doctor will actually examine me before immediately trying to chop my foot off...

Okay, this post is going everywhere. Let me refocus and explain. Core details:
- I am staying for a third and final year with the Fulbright Program.
- I will be teaching English at a co-ed high school in Seoul.
- I will have my own apartment.
- I will be home (in Illinois) this summer from July 16 until August 16.

The decision sounds easy, but it really wasn't. To be honest, it's going to be difficult for me to leave Gwangyang. I love my school, co-workers, students, all the friends I've made, the scenery, food, everything, really... Gwangyang will always be considered my "home" in Korea. But I also know that I'm a person of adventure and want to take this opportunity to challenge myself further. I know that staying a third year in Gwangyang may cause me to develop feelings of complacency, so making the change to live in a metropolitan city for the first time in my life is a huge step for me. Originally, I wanted to work at an elementary school in Seoul, to gain experience and utilize my K-12 teaching license to its full potential. However, that is another messy story to be reckoned with. Are you ready for it? Here it goes:

As much as I love teaching high school students, it's just a totally different atmosphere in Korea. For one thing, most of our classes aren't for a grade, which right there decreases motivation for the majority of students. Oh and did I mention that these kids are already forced to study 12+ hours a day in order to pass the Korean equivalent of the SAT (a test on steroids, I may add)? Yeah, so, there's typically not a lot of excitement about this job on paper. Lots of sleepy students, complaining, and yeah, the lack of motivation. Of course, there are students who are intrinsically motivated and will excel in class, but there are days where everyone feels burnt out. On the other hand, there are days where everyone is wild and out of control and overly excited. I love the students both ways, but I've definitely questioned my ability as a teacher, and whether or not I truly entered the right profession. Don't get me wrong, my students are ANGELS and I love them to pieces and I am so proud of their effort and amazing talents and personalities, but I feel ready to experience a different side of teaching in Korea. Therefore, after two years of teaching at a Korean high school, I felt ready to try out an elementary school. And I thought, "Why not? It's on my license that I'm certified to teach K-12, so let's do this!"

And so I submitted my renewal application dead set on 2 things: 1. Seoul. 2. Elementary School.
I thought my odds were good. Only renewees get placed in Seoul, and there are TONS of openings for elementary schools there. Out of our entire Fulbright Program, we only have one high school placement in Seoul. And I wasn't supposed to get it. But I did. And I was NOT happy at first. And here's how and why it happened:

I was enjoying my Tuesday afternoon in the office, free of classes, relaxing and about to pick up a book to read. Suddenly, I received a Kakao Message (texting app in Korea) from our Program Coordinator in the Fulbright Office with an urgent message. "Hillary! Would you be open to teaching at a high school in Seoul?" My heart started racing because I was sure that plenty of other ETAs had requested the only high school placement in Seoul, and I wondered why this was being brought up to me. "We've had some last-minute changes with other ETAs regarding renewal, and I need you to tell me within the next ten minutes if you're okay with ______'s high school placement in Seoul. Please let me know ASAP. Thanks!"

After asking follow-up questions, I found out that I wouldn't be guaranteed another placement in Seoul if I declined this ... "offer"? At the time, I felt trapped. This wasn't what I requested, and why did I have to be the deciding factor? It's not my fault that other ETAs changed their minds, after all. I felt a wave of bitterness and anger move through me that I hadn't experienced before. Why me? After all the shit I've been through already this grant year, I thought that at LEAST the renewal process would be a smooth transition. But it looked as if the end of my second year leading into a potential third year was not shaping up how I envisioned.

I took the ten minutes (plus some more) to call the current ETA at the school to ask questions. Luckily for me, this person is already one of my close friends in the Fulbright Program, so I was thankful for the honesty and straightforward answers. After deliberating with the current ETA, I didn't feel ready to make such an important decision. But I didn't have a choice. Again, I felt trapped. What do I do? If I don't accept this offer, then I'm not guaranteed a placement for next year. On the other hand, I don't feel ready to transition into life back Stateside yet. Should I quit Fulbright and pursue other options in Korea? Should I move to another country? All of a sudden, so many thoughts, feelings, ideas, frustrations, uncertainties, and everything else in between rushed into my brain and I was overloaded.

While my gut wasn't excited to hear about this placement option, for some reason I said "yes". After that, the official email offer was sent out, and I wasn't confident. Unfortunately, I only had two days to officially decide about my renewal decision. Now that I was "stuck" with this school, I contemplated quitting and going home, or sticking it out for a third year. So I took those two days to talk with my family, close friends, and colleagues. I needed advice. Over those two days, my decisions constantly changed. My mind said one thing, my heart said another, and my gut had no idea what to do. They were never on the same page. I took the time to try and sort out the pros and cons of every single hypothetical situation, when it suddenly dawned on me: why am suddenly I freaking out? I had been so confident about my decision to stay before I learned about the school placement.

It all became real to me with that email. I'm actually going to leave Gwangyang. I'm actually going to live in a big city for the first time in my life. And although it's not a place where I expected to be, I was offered it for a reason, and I said yes. I waited until one hour before the deadline to submit my acceptance email. I felt confident about it, but the uncertainty of everything that could happen next year held me back and scared me. Luckily, I found my true self just in time, and with the support of my friends and family, I made the decision to renew for a final year teaching at a high school in Seoul with the Fulbright Program.

As I write this now, I feel so silly to have let my emotions rush through me like that. But I'm only human, after all. And now, I feel confident, ready, and optimistic for the year ahead. I am ready to grow and expand my teaching skills in even more ways. I came to the realization that everything happens for a reason. I'm not going to fret about the elementary school/high school differentiation. Who knows, it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. I've also never worked with Korean female students before, so the change will be new and exciting. I'll have a more consistent schedule (I will get to see my students twice a week rather than only once a week like in my current situation). I'm an optimist, and the next year is all about what I make of it.

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100% / Emily's Expedition

My last foot appointment!

Hello, friends all over the world! Hillary here, writing this post with a smile on my face (as I usually am). The weather has been extraordinarily beautiful here lately, even with days of rain scattered here and there. Those days have actually turned out to be some of my favorite days -- especially the mornings after a stormy night. The walks to school reveal a misty fog over the mountains in the distance, the river flowing heavily downstream, with my trail surrounded by bright green grass and trees.

Since my last post two weeks ago, I have received wonderful news: I am officially DONE with foot treatment! I had my last appointment on the 19th of April, and the doctor barely took a look at it before I was walking out the door. We had a bonding moment that day, where we both realized a bit bittersweetly that this would be our last meeting together.

Happy in Boseong

At first he jokingly stated, "I did such a great job! There's not even a scar to be seen!" I whole-heartedly confirmed and congratulated him and his team on doing such a thorough job with my foot and for truly taking care of me. After a moment, though, his smile faded and his voice dropped, saying, "Well... I guess this means I don't need to see you anymore..." and at that moment there was a twinge of sadness inside of me. Even after all that I had overcome with this annoying infection for the last six months, a part of me was actually... sad??? Yes, it was true. My doctor and I had spent so much time communicating with each other the past six months that neither of us ever really thought that it would come to an end. Yet there we were, shaking hands and congratulating each other on the great work we did.

"You heal very well, you did a great job!" He said with a smile on his face.

I looked at him, wondering what he meant exactly. I said, "I'm just lucky that I'm young and healthy..."

He said, "Yes, young and healthy, both physically and mentally. Mental aspect is also important for healing."

His comment will stay with me everywhere I go for the rest of my life. Realizing the importance not only of physical strength, but emotional strength and mental strength as well.

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Hiking with the gang!

Aside from the foot recovery, school has been busy as usual, this time with the midterm exams rolling around the corner. The boys have hit a phase of pure exhaustion, struggling to get through the days without falling asleep in class or feeling the immense pressure to study all day and night. After the political parties unit, I decided to take it easy and settle with some easy-thinking English activities such as Bananagrams and USA Bingo.

The teachers decided to host an English camp in the upcoming month, so I am looking forward to that because we will go to a resort in the mountains for a weekend and hang out and do some fun English stuff.

Other school happenings:
- The Gwangyang spring volleyball tournament is approaching, which means one-hour practices after school three days a week which means my arms are severely swollen and bruised
- Tutoring the principal 1-on-1 once a week and being hoarded with food and gifts after each class together... I'm not complaining!
- Still the outcast at lunch (on days where I have to eat alone) because the new teachers are scared of me (life of the foreign teacher...)

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Boseong Green Tea Plantation

Weekend shenanigans: last weekend, a large group of other Fulbrighters and I headed to Gwangju for an exciting hiking trip followed by a trip to the Boseong green tea plantation. Hiking was a blast and I'm surprised at how well the group stayed together considering there was about ten of us. We did about a 4 hour hike Saturday morning, enjoyed lunch at the base of the mountain, then headed to the bus terminal to get to the tea fields.

Suncheon Gardens

Everything went great until it came time to catch a bus to the green tea plantation. We took a public bus to the city bus terminal, when suddenly Emily realized she left her phone on the bus we had just gotten off of! Half of the group had already gone ahead to get tickets to the tea fields, and the other half of us were waiting with Emily. Emily decided to grab a cab to try and sprint up and catch the bus that had just passed, in hopes of finding her phone and catching up with the group. Buuuuut, an hour and a half went by, members of our group faded, leaving two of us waiting for Emily to come back to the terminal, hopefully having found her phone.

Suncheon Gardens

Unfortunately, she came back with no phone. We decided to go ahead and get tickets to the tea plantation and meet up with the rest of the group, defeated that we had lost her phone. In fact, right when Emily had given up all hope, I reminded her of how we were able to retrieve her lost wallet after a New Years party last year. "That was pure luck; there's no way we can get that lucky again..." she sighed.

"I'm going to keep calling anyway - I'm sure someone will pick up eventually." I stated.

"You should just wipe your phone NOW," Kevin urged.

The three of us had completely different mindsets. Which one of us would prevail? Kevin, taking the cautious route? Emily, taking the luck-worn-out route? Or myself, taking the too-optimistic-but-let's-try-to-get-lucky-again route? Take a moment to pick your choice NOW: __________________________


Ok. Here's what happened:

Low and behold, just seconds after our exchange, a strange voice PICKED UP THE PHONE! We were in a sudden dilemma - we were already on the bus to Boseong, but we had magically gotten ahold of the person with Emily's phone!!!!!!! We made the sporadic decision to jump off the bus (to the bus driver's confusion), sprinted to the public bus stop, and followed it aaaallllll the way to the end of the line (over a one hour bus ride). We reached the public bus transportation center, retrieved the phone, feeling relieved. Emily got her picture taken at the terminal with the phone in hand as a memento. You can see it here:

After successful retrieval of the cell phone

But now what? It was far too late to join the others at Boseong, so the three of us decided to head to Gwangyang and crash at my place. We showered, ordered late night chicken, and passed out early. I think we would all call that day a success.

Suncheon Gardens

The next day we decided we would make up for lost time and head to the tea plantation, which ended up being a great decision. It was absolutely beautiful - we enjoyed row after row of green tea fields in the mountains, while eating delicious green tea soft serve ice cream, green tea flavored noodles, and green tea flavored ddeokkbokki (rice cake with fish cake). In the afternoon, Emily and I parted ways with Kevin (who headed back to his city), and we went to the Suncheon gardens with our other friend, Abby. The gardens are absolutely huge, and they have a world garden expo. We explored sample gardens from around the world, walked around, and enjoyed the sunlight. We were pooped by late afternoon after a full weekend, so we went back and crashed early again.

It was a spontaneous, crazy, and exciting month of April, and it's only going to get even busier. Stay tuned for an upcoming story about my not-so-perfect start to the month of May!

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