Exciting News!

I might have a job. Albeit a very part time job. 2 hours a week to be exact. Our friend Andy Jungkyun (see below for his new contribution to every post), mentioned to our favorite restaurant owner that I would be interested in tutoring any Korean children she might know. She said she would think about it and asked that same lunch if I would be interested in tutoring 2 young children twice a week. Neat!

We're still working out the details, but I'm really excited. I've never taught children before. I'm looking for ideas/suggestions from my teacher friends out there. It's 1 hour after school twice a week. One child is a little girl, about kindergarten age. The other is a 7 year old boy. I've been told they can recognize their ABC's but not pronounce them and they can say stuff like "Hi" and "Thank you!" (You know, like what I can say in Korean, ha!)

So I bought ABC flash cards, for $6 I thought this was a good buy (they have pictures of Apple, Car, etc too, vocabulary, yay!). I also bought a couple lesson books, Backpack Starter student book and workbook, and Backpack 1 student book and workbook.

Flash Cards package. You can't see the top right very well (dang you flash!), but it has "Ee - elephant - 코끼리" neat!

The first 2 pages of the starter Student Book and the first two pages of the starter Workbook.

The first 2 pages of the 1 Student Book and the first two pages of the 1 Workbook.

My initial thought was to use both books, but assign work to the 5 year old and the 7 year old respectively. The Koreans tend to be very modest and the 7 year olds mom (our favorite restaurant owner) speaks really really good English and she mentioned before that she's been teaching her son, I have a feeling he'll catch on really quickly even though she says he knows nothing. I also think a 7 year old boy would be offended by some of the more baby themes in the Starter book.

Both books come with CD's with songs to sing too, which is fun. (That's what all the words are about in the beginning, they're lyrics to follow along once they know the song.) Lots of coloring and puzzles and learning.

But final decision will be with the parents on books. I can always take them back, though they only had one set of each so I would have to order a second set of whichever one.

To start with, I have an idea about learning 3 letters a day and things that go with the letters. Then they can color a sheet of paper with a letter and something that starts with the letter and make a book to take home eventually. I know with little ones I can't just do one activity per hour though, that I have to switch it up often. I've been googling but I am definitely looking for suggestions.

This is after school, in addition to all their other school work, so I want it to be fun, light (so they aren't burnt out and uncooperative) while still learning.

And now, for Andy's contribution...

I kiss better than I cook!

Wednesday night, our Korean Teacher (short summary for those who might not know, Shannon's company requires each of us take 100 hours of Korean language lessons, which Shannon and I are very enthused about, though Shannon is already much better then I am... Damn his memorization skillz) offered to teach me how to make Kimbap, Korean Sushi. Of course, I accepted!

So, here's my first attempt at Kimbap!! Mine are a little bit flat and the rice didn't go all the way around. My squeezing and cutting techniques are seriously lacking.

So what's in Kimbap? Well, this Kimbap has ham, fishcake, pickled radish, some sort of root, and cooked spinach, wrapped in rice and seaweed!

Miss Kwon and me! Miss Kwon is an expert at making rice. I could not believe how good this rice was. She made this rice in a pot that was not intended to make rice and then even made the crusty stuff at the bottom which is her favorite. And it didn't burn or anything! 

I told her about my previous rice cooking experiences, which have all resulted in terrible half-cooked rice and ruined pots. She said I should stick to an electric rice cooker in the future.    >.<    lol. I'm glad I already own one!

We even convinced Shannon to try making a couple rolls, lol!

Kimbap Instructions

1. The ham, fish cakes, pickled radishes, and brown root all come pre-made for Kimbap (pre-sliced in long skinny pieces for Kimbap). Spinach should be bought fresh. The seaweed comes in sheets.
2. Clean, soak, and cook your rice (if you're not as skilled as Miss Kwon I recommend a rice cooker). After cooked, add sesame seed oil, stir in.
3. Cook your pre-made fish cake thingies in your sautee pan with lots of soy sauce and some sugar. (Miss Kwon kept stressing to make all the fillings salty so they'll taste good inside the Kimbap) Put to the side.
4. Wash your fresh spinach. Put a little bit of water in a pot, bring to a boil. Put your spinach in the pot and cook till cooked. Take out and put on a plate, rinse with cold water. (This will make it stay green) Pour Sesame seed oil on and Salt.
5. Cook your pre-made ham in the Sautee pan. This doesn't need any soy sauce or salt.
6. Get everything out to start rolling. Use your bamboo roller thing, put a sheet of seaweed on it. Put rice on half the seaweed sheet, using plastic gloves will make this easier. Stack your fillings, Miss Kwon says at least 3 fillings, but as many more as you want. We used all 5. User your roller bamboo thing and roll it up halfway. Squeeze the rice around and out. Miss Kwon is great at this, Shannon and I suck. We'll have to practice more. Use some rice on the edge of the seaweed sheet like glue if you need to, roll all the way. Take the bamboo roller away and slice the roll. 
7. Kimbap, yay!!

Thank you Miss Kwon!! I hope I can replicate these in the future! (And that they'll taste almost as good!)

"I speak 12 languages. English is the bestest."- Stefan Bergan

I've been working on my Resume for teaching English in Korea... and only succeeding marginally. Not only do I hate making resumes (I always forget something and I'm really bad at b*ll-sh*t, unlike Jamaal... Jamaal, wanna make my resume for me?). It doesn't help that I'm used to making resumes highlighting my project skills and engineering type experiences. Here's what I've got thus far:

Note the shortness. I feel like it should be longer. My resume since graduating high-school has been longer. Maybe I should mention how much I love to read, or somehow insert how much of a good deal I am. (Hello, I'm already here and I already have a visa, and I already have an apartment! I just want a job nearby, during the day.) I thought about referencing this site, but then I remembered how truly unprofessional this site is. >.> (*cough* Engrish post *cough*)

Speaking of unprofessional, (does professionalism matter so much in applying for a job like this? It's not engineering or a corporate position after all) listing my Husband's cell as a way of contact... but you know, there's only so many ways to get a-hold of me in Korea.

This resume would probably be going to American/Canadian recruiting agencies, so other then the address (so they can locate our apartment more easily), everything should be in what an american would understand.

In summary, help! Any ideas you might have to enhance the resume or to emphasize skills that might be applicable to teaching English, would be more then welcome! Also if any expats are reading this, any suggestions on Recruiting Agencies, or tips and tricks you might know, would be awesome!

To end on.... could you eat this soup? I couldn't. (And didn't.)

In case you're wondering.... that's Hair Algae soup. I did try it, it tasted good. I just couldn't get over the fuzzy texture in my mouth!! Ewwwww!

Update:

I modified the resume a little, to explain what ERP was and to emphasize that Passport is a computer program, not a travel document. ;) 

Then, I sent an e-mail to a particular posting from Dave's ESL Cafe for an elementary school position close to our apartment. This was my cover letter:

Hello,
I am responding to your post regarding an English Teaching position near Gijang-gun...   http://www.eslcafe.com/jobs/korea/index.cgi?read=46536 

I currently live with my husband, who is working for KHNP, in                        near               . I have an F3 visa and my ARC, so I don't know what, if any, of the documentation you still need. 

I have my original diploma with me, but it has not been notarized. I have my Bachelor of Science(BS) in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri-Rolla (otherwise known as Missouri University of Science and Technology).

I am very interested in this position because it is nearby, the hours are daytime, and teaching elementary students is my preference. 

Attached is a picture of myself and my resume. I have never taught English before, but I'm looking forward to the experience. In my previous positions, I tutored adults in a computer program called Passport, I found that to be a very rewarding part of my job. I feel that this was a good experience for a future teaching English in Korea. 

I look forward to hearing back from you soon. 

Thank you,
Kim Conner

Not bad, right? I feel like my cover letter is much better then my resume. Too bad recruiting agency's don't have space for cover letters..... This will only work when I apply to individual positions. ;)