Farewell celebration, again!

Monday started a new week and more travels.  Janggi, my main school, was holding their English Winter Camp and I was one of the main teachers.  For the first day of the week, about 50 of the students and 2 teachers, me being 1 of them, we all headed to the big city of Daejeon.  We hopped on a charter bus and arrived at the Daejeon English Center in less than an hour.  Students filed out and sat in the auditorium.  A small Korean man walked out and tried his hand at speaking English when introducing himself.  He went over rules in English but translated for himself when giving detailed information. 

Students working hard

All of the students split up into three groups depending on their skill level.  I took the 2^nd group, the middle level, and we started our day.  There were three stations that we were to visit- food, dance, and science.  All consisted of an activity where only English was to be spoken.  The teachers of the classes were native English speakers like me and they were all from Canada and America.  They taught the children different activities like how to make hot chocolate by explaining each of the directions individually before performing them.  The dance station was a charades activity that involved conjugation of verbs.  The final activity was a science experiment which was basically mixing baking soda with vinegar.  The students seemed to love it all and really learned some new English words – simple ones that you and I would not even imagine would be a problem like mix, fizz, and scoop.  After leaving the English Center, we went to dinner- a popular Chinese food meal made with noodles and a black sauce.  We all skipped back onto the bus and went back to school before I even knew the day was over. 

My higher level class- some of them were hiding 

The rest of the week, one of the other teachers and I taught English camp.  My camp was winter themed so I taught them different vocabularies, watched movies, and played games.  I think the only reason they offer winter camp is for those parents that still work and don’t want their kids to be at home alone.  It is basically a week of fun- and that’s exactly how I made it.  Thanks to the candy that my Mom sent me, my class was a hit.  They were very attentive knowing that when they answered a question correctly, they would receive a sticker or a piece of candy.  The camp was only for 4 classes in the morning and then we were allowed to leave at 12:10.  At 12:10, everyone was completely gone- no where to be found which showed me that these Koreans are strictly business.  Wednesday to Friday, all of the teachers that worked that day went to lunch.  I was treated to spicy soup, duck, and fish soup each day. 

Thursday evening for dinner we went to a farewell dinner for the two teachers that were leaving.  I was picked up by one of the teachers and we all met up at the restaurant.  There was a huge selection of food ranging from sashimi to soups to caviar rolls and so much more.  Basically, anything related to seafood was plopped on our table that night.  Korean meals are set in groups of 4.  They bring out food for each group of 4 and when it is a big celebration, they celebrate by serving/eating more.  Well, this restaurant must have thought this was a very special celebration.  They did not skip out when it came to the amount of food they served.  Plate after plate after plate came out and they didn’t wait for us to finish the previous rounds.  I was full off of the first round but the other teachers insisted I eat more, so I did. 

Our side of the table

Sashimi, octopus legs, corn, and fried fish

I got food poisoning from this night, and I think this was the culprit! 

Caviar and rice

I was sitting at the table with the administration workers, the science teacher, the principal, and the vice principal.  All of them love to drink soju.  In Korean culture, if someone offers you a drink, you take it and then return the favor by offering them one.  Well, when in Korea, do as the Koreans do right?  So, I couldn’t deny any of the offerings of drinks.  We found ourselves at least 15 bottles deep in soju before we all decided to leave. 

Shells, pumpkin, and clam soup

Soju bottles

As I walked outside, I was told that many people would be going to a karaoke bar, called a Noraebang (노래방) in Korean, and that I should attend.  So, I did.  It was my first time going to a noraebang but it was a lot of fun.  There is a huge U-shaped couch wrapped around a table for everyone to sit at and some room at the front of the table for a makeshift stage.  The teachers that sang were really good, but honestly, I don’t think I’ve really heard a Korean that was bad at singing.  I didn’t plan to sing anything, just watch, but the science teacher insisted I get up and sing the only two English songs he had memorized in high school- both 80’s love songs.  He prepared me by singing it when we were walking to the noraebang with the lyrics “nothing’s gonna change my love for you.”

Singing some songs

We sang for about an hour and then headed to our next stop, bowling.  It’s the same as in America, and my skill level was also the same as in America, low.  I think they were all expecting me to be good since they know I like to play sports. My team was pretty disappointed when they found out bowling is one of my weak spots.  Precision is something I always have problems with when it comes to games.  Well we played 4 vs. 4 and my team didn’t do so hot.  That didn’t stop the crowd from moving on.

Making teams

It was about 9:30 at this time and as we walked out into the cold, they explained to me, one more little drink, so I agreed.  We went to a bar down the street and all sat down at a large table.  Most of the bars in Korea are sectioned off with half walls for your own private area.  With that, you also normally have to buy some sort of food to go along with it.  So, we ordered a bunch of beers, some soju, and a plate of dried squid, nuts, and fish chips.  These seem to be a staple of what people eat when they go out to bars so I am used to these things by now, and have actually grown to like them.  Some of them at least. 

The science teacher brought his kids to the bar

We stayed there for about an hour talking about family and anything else they could muster to tell me in their broken English sentences (mind you none of these teachers spoke English well).  After a while we all split up and 4 of us caught a cab.  I thought they were going to just drop me off but one of the teachers, my Korean father, insisted he meet Jeremy.  So, they came to Jeremy’s apartment with me to have some coffee.   They stayed for a few minutes for introductions and some small talk- then they headed out the door.  It was just about midnight when I went to bed.  It was definitely a night I will not forget.