Summer Vacation Busan Style

Well it's my second week back at school after summer vacation and I'm desperately missing the shortened school days and time off. With the end of the spring semester in July, I began 2 weeks of English vacation camps and then had 2 weeks of vacation.

English camps were by far the best teaching experience I've had here so far. Basically, these camps consisted of three, forty minute periods each morning with the basic level students for the first week and the intermediate level students for the second the week. I was responsible for the whole second and third period; 80 minutes of English with Becca teacher. Given that I usually don't get more then 15-20 minutes of teaching time per class during regular school days, I was really excited to take advantage of the time I was given during camps.

Me and Dom in Haeundae

I taught with a great co-teacher who hardly ever jumped into my parts of the lesson unless I really wasn't able to communicate something to the kids. Even though I was required to teach a story every day recommended by the office of Education here, I tried to have as much fun with the kids as possible. I incorporated in a games day/ scavenger hunt, superhero day, cooking class and ice breakers over the two weeks. Each week I could see a visible difference in the kid's confidence and speaking abilities from the start of the week when they were more hesitant, to the end of the week where everyone in class was participating. These two weeks of teaching have really been the only time when I've felt very accomplished in my ability to interact with and teach the kids. And on top of that, my school was kind enough to let me leave early some days to go enjoy the day.

Eating Ice Noodles

Gangnam Style!

Following camps, I had two weeks of vacation time to soak up the sun and enjoy Busan. Lucky for me I also had a visitor from the states; Dom came all the way to Busan from the 'burgh! We had a great 10 days seeing the city, hitting the beach, trying lots of different Korean food, visiting Seoul and the DMZ, and just enjoying our time together.

The DMZ has by far been the best cultural experience I've had here in South Korea. We did the USO tour which took all afternoon and went well into the evening, getting a full tour of the actual DMZ and surrounding area. The tour was so informational and interesting, there was never a dull moment. From the sad and slightly eerie Dorason Station- the pristine and hardly used train station that will connect the North and South upon reunification- to Camp Bonifas- the actual DMZ where we got to cross the line into the North- we listened in awe as we learned about each site and heard stories from previous tours.

A view of North Korea's Propaganda Village

South Korean Soldiers guarding our tour

North Korean Soldiers came to take pictures

But now I'm back in school and already counting the days until my next vacation. Until then I'll keep myself entertained with one video in particular, maybe you've seen or heard about it back at home as it's gone viral. If you haven't seen or heard of the Korean K-Pop song Gangnam Style by Psy you need to watch it now! RIGHT NOW! It'll make you want join in dance and pretty much sums up everything you need to know about K-Pop music and Korean dancing.