Hi!
Today I had my second midterm. Its been a long week so I am looking forward to being able to sleep in! I have slowly been pushing what time I get out of bed for 9 am class to the very limit. This morning it was 8 50 and I still had time to spare but maybe I will be reenergized after the weekend!
On wednesday I had my bodybuilding written exam. Half the exam was about bodybuilding theory, like how muscles work, how to create a work out plan, some about the nervous system, the phases of weight lifting, how the body responds, etc. The second half was anatomy and specific exercise questions, like when you do this exercise what muscles are you working, or list 4 exercises that work this muscle, or what is the difference between these two exercises, etc. A week before the exam the professor posted online all of our previous quizzes and all of the exercises we were supposed to have memorized. Then one day before the exam he posts up a study guide and says the test will come from these question! I was mad at first because i had been studying very different material in a very different manner. but hey what can you do, at least he gave us the questions. Anyway I remember in class my professor saying that most of the kids have no idea what is going on during the class because it is all taught in English and that he was going to have a special review in Korean for one hour. I was thinking to myself, how can he possibly fit a whole semesters worth of lectures into one hour? I realized this meant that the Korean students were going to have to spend hours going through the copious amount of slides with dictionaries trying to figure out what these obscure workout words mean to see if they were the answer. that isnt super productive for studying for a midterm, especially when it was only one day away! I can scan through a powerpoint and find answers like its nothing because I speak English and it even took me about two hours! since i filled out the study guide with my answers I reposted it online so everyone in class could see it. The number of hits it was getting started to skyrocket.
The next day at the test I walk in and its all normal. I sit down next to some guy and we kinda just sit there, last minute cramming before we get the test. No one really says anything to me and the test begins. It was pretty easy, we had the questions after all. After the exam the guy next to me leans over and goes "Are you Elizabeth Lerret?" (that is what my name posts as on the website) and I just laugh (who else could possibly be named elizabeth lerret in this room....side note: almost all korean names have 3 syllables including family name) and say yes. He says thank you so much!! i would have failed with out you!! I just brush it off, oh no problem glad you did well..blah blah blah. I then stand up and turn around to see a group of guy just start clapping, and then another group repeatedly shouting I was their hero! My hero, My hero!! It was awesome. This would be the second standing ovation I have gotten in a sports class (the first being for doing a flip turn in swimming). And since I expect no standing ovations whatsoever in taekwondo I even got my friend Won seok (he was in my lifting group if you recall) to agree to help me for the midterm! so you give some you get some! It will be funny to see what the average score on the midterm will be. If you look at our weekly quizzes the highest average ever is 4.21/10. I think a lot more people did well this time, I even had a guy come up to me afterwards asking if he was pronouncing action potential right since on my sheet was the only place he saw it! Hopefully we get the exam back soon!
It has been a little difficult having Korean from 9-1 and midterms. I have to wake up early, dont get that time to study, and also am not doing my normal stellar job on our quizzes because I am spending my time studying for midterms. After next week though I am going to do some intense studying so I can be back ahead (does that make sense...back ahead?). I was studying for todays midterm every chance I got during class. It was Korean Traditional Society and Modernization. What amazes me is the study guides here! The teachers give us the test before hand. Its ridiculous...I could NEVER get away with the amount I study for a midterm here at Colby. At Colby you are expected to know everything we learned (rightfully so) where as here the teacher just picks at the end whats important. Whats the point of going to class? Whatever, not complaining. I don't want to spend that much time on it when I am abroad anyway. ANNNDD we dont even write in full sentences! My professors (professorSSS PLURAL!) specifically asked we only write bullet points. How you can you possibly explain why something happened with just one verb!?? But once again, after I got over the initial shock and I kept my mouth shut (thought I still remain appalled).
I do have some exciting news!! I am going to graduate in December! Over this past year I have done so much that my priorities don't really line up with what Colby can offer me anymore. I am thinking about becoming a language teacher for the time being and there is nothing geared towards that discipline at Colby. I could take education classes but they would all be entry level, whats the point? Additionally there is no Korean or Arabic studies. So I'm finishing up my credits and hitting the road! I don't have a perfect plan yet but I think I am going to apply to teach English in Korea starting in March (that is when the school year starts). Another thing I am thinking about is this joint program between schools across America and the Peace Corps where you can get your masters in whatever you want basically and do the Peace Corp together. Not sure if I am ready for that though. This is a big crossroads because the Peace Corp is in Jordan (aka Arabic) and teaching in English is in Korea (aka Korean). What language will I choose?! I want to do both but I should probably just focus on one at a time. Teaching English in Korea would give me some experience and I can see if this is something really want to do. But the Peace Corp is an amazing opportunity and I could get a masters too. I guess I can do both. Or maybe the hell with it all and I'll just go work with Ashley in St. Croix : )
Alright well we have NO INTERNET anywhere on campus this weekend because of cable work....i have no idea what I am going to do, stare at the wall?!? just kidding. but I do need to download everything I need for my Korean government and politics exam. Have a good weekend!
note to family: even though i graduate before dec 24, it is after thanksgiving, when we pull names out of the hat...sooooo i think that means i have one more year out of the grab....
Friday, April 22, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
I will get to class before 8 59 tomorrow...
hi!
so Emily and I were waiting for Tina when I wrote that last blog post. An hour and a half later we were about to walk out the salon door and I hadn't seen the two ladies who did my hair and I wanted to say goodbye. But lo and behold I turned around and there they were! One of them handed me this cute little plastic bag that had 3 mini tootsie pops inside and a piece of paper that said letter on it in English! It was so sweet. They even went down in the elevator with us to say goodbye. Once we were outside I opened up the bag and the note said:
See you next time~^^*
I enjoyed meeting~
-junohair Ewha Womans 3 shop
Hwang guy yeon_
it was in english! have no idea where that came from but it was so nice. theyre good people.
But man even in a hand written note Koreans use emoticons. My roommate said that when youre texting with a Korean they might be offended when your message isnt littered with them. Little did I know that emoticons were a whole other language I had (/still have to) learn. I sometimes have to show my roommate texts and say, "is a happy face or a sad face?" On the plus side my phone has soooo many fun symbols that i can text hearts to everyone (and do so regularly).
so the four hour, 9 am Korean class has started! and believe it or not i really like it! i havent been spending my time staring at the clock, were learning a ton, and I have a really cool group of people. I am actually the only American in my class, which was a big surprise to me. On the first day a guy from Sweden (the only other white person), turns to the guy next to him and says where in america are you from? (the guy is Korean but speaks english and is in a level 1 korean class so safe assumption not korean nationality). The guy just turns to him and says Im from Canada. I could not contain my laughter. Me and him are the only native english speakers so we clown around a little and make fun of each others countries, all in good fun (its canada, how can you not?). My class has plans to go out friday night already. Were going to have a great semester together.
although it is only the beginning of the korean class semester for me, im about to get hit with midterms in my other classes! I am going to have a very busy two weeks. I not only have to do a significant portion of reading (which seems to have fallen through the cracks a little bit), but have to practice for my practical examinations in my sport classes as well. There is one girl in my bodybuilding class who is a tiny thing. She can barely lift 2 kilograms over her head 10 times. I think a pushup would break her. Today me and two other guys (the rest of our lifting group) were helping her do squats, where I had her hips, Sam had her back and the Wonseok had her knees, and it was still a struggle! but you wont believe it...this girl is a black belt in my taekwondo class! I've seen her do crazy kicks and fight her way across the gym. what a discrepancy! She will definitely fail the midterm (since we have minimum weight to lift) but she is pretty awesome.
I am a little sad because all of the HuboLab boys are super busy with, you guessed it, HuboLab. It is nearly impossible to find time since they work so hard. However Jungwoo said that homecoming day (for Hubo alum) is May 14 so I think that is when I will be able to see everyone. He also said that there will be more time for hanging out in May so I have something to look forward to : )
Speaking of things to look forward to, our trip has been confirmed! We are going to Taiwan! I think we are going to have a ton of fun. Also it will be a lot cheaper than Japan (not that we have to pay extra for the trip but just for being there). I am really excited because a good friend I made in Jordan is from Taiwan! His mom owns a company and a cafe there and he has friends that he said he would hook me up with. I feel so cool being able to go around the world and have connections like that. Its going to be a great trip with all of the CIEE crew. Though were still an American mob, 17 is nothing compared to the 135 we used to travel around with in Jordan.
A big difference I have noticed from Jordan and Korea is the definition of foreigner. In Korea there are soooo many foreigners from all over the world. Everything but Arab representation believe it or not. Asking someone who doesn't look Korean (it is a pretty distinct look) where they are from is completely a legit question. In Jordan foreigner typically means American. There were a lot of travelers but not really long term foreigners, like us, that I saw on a regular basis. And just walking around town there were obviously tourists but I don't really mean that. When someone saw me, it was a pretty safe bet that I was American. Makes for a much different environment, more people and countries to learn about.
Anyway gotta go to sleep so i can get up in time for class. Even though I live in the same building as class I am always the last one there. And then i have to sit in the chair underneath the tv at a terrible angle of the black board and its just bad news. working on it though.
see ya!
so Emily and I were waiting for Tina when I wrote that last blog post. An hour and a half later we were about to walk out the salon door and I hadn't seen the two ladies who did my hair and I wanted to say goodbye. But lo and behold I turned around and there they were! One of them handed me this cute little plastic bag that had 3 mini tootsie pops inside and a piece of paper that said letter on it in English! It was so sweet. They even went down in the elevator with us to say goodbye. Once we were outside I opened up the bag and the note said:
See you next time~^^*
I enjoyed meeting~
-junohair Ewha Womans 3 shop
Hwang guy yeon_
it was in english! have no idea where that came from but it was so nice. theyre good people.
But man even in a hand written note Koreans use emoticons. My roommate said that when youre texting with a Korean they might be offended when your message isnt littered with them. Little did I know that emoticons were a whole other language I had (/still have to) learn. I sometimes have to show my roommate texts and say, "is a happy face or a sad face?" On the plus side my phone has soooo many fun symbols that i can text hearts to everyone (and do so regularly).
so the four hour, 9 am Korean class has started! and believe it or not i really like it! i havent been spending my time staring at the clock, were learning a ton, and I have a really cool group of people. I am actually the only American in my class, which was a big surprise to me. On the first day a guy from Sweden (the only other white person), turns to the guy next to him and says where in america are you from? (the guy is Korean but speaks english and is in a level 1 korean class so safe assumption not korean nationality). The guy just turns to him and says Im from Canada. I could not contain my laughter. Me and him are the only native english speakers so we clown around a little and make fun of each others countries, all in good fun (its canada, how can you not?). My class has plans to go out friday night already. Were going to have a great semester together.
although it is only the beginning of the korean class semester for me, im about to get hit with midterms in my other classes! I am going to have a very busy two weeks. I not only have to do a significant portion of reading (which seems to have fallen through the cracks a little bit), but have to practice for my practical examinations in my sport classes as well. There is one girl in my bodybuilding class who is a tiny thing. She can barely lift 2 kilograms over her head 10 times. I think a pushup would break her. Today me and two other guys (the rest of our lifting group) were helping her do squats, where I had her hips, Sam had her back and the Wonseok had her knees, and it was still a struggle! but you wont believe it...this girl is a black belt in my taekwondo class! I've seen her do crazy kicks and fight her way across the gym. what a discrepancy! She will definitely fail the midterm (since we have minimum weight to lift) but she is pretty awesome.
I am a little sad because all of the HuboLab boys are super busy with, you guessed it, HuboLab. It is nearly impossible to find time since they work so hard. However Jungwoo said that homecoming day (for Hubo alum) is May 14 so I think that is when I will be able to see everyone. He also said that there will be more time for hanging out in May so I have something to look forward to : )
Speaking of things to look forward to, our trip has been confirmed! We are going to Taiwan! I think we are going to have a ton of fun. Also it will be a lot cheaper than Japan (not that we have to pay extra for the trip but just for being there). I am really excited because a good friend I made in Jordan is from Taiwan! His mom owns a company and a cafe there and he has friends that he said he would hook me up with. I feel so cool being able to go around the world and have connections like that. Its going to be a great trip with all of the CIEE crew. Though were still an American mob, 17 is nothing compared to the 135 we used to travel around with in Jordan.
A big difference I have noticed from Jordan and Korea is the definition of foreigner. In Korea there are soooo many foreigners from all over the world. Everything but Arab representation believe it or not. Asking someone who doesn't look Korean (it is a pretty distinct look) where they are from is completely a legit question. In Jordan foreigner typically means American. There were a lot of travelers but not really long term foreigners, like us, that I saw on a regular basis. And just walking around town there were obviously tourists but I don't really mean that. When someone saw me, it was a pretty safe bet that I was American. Makes for a much different environment, more people and countries to learn about.
Anyway gotta go to sleep so i can get up in time for class. Even though I live in the same building as class I am always the last one there. And then i have to sit in the chair underneath the tv at a terrible angle of the black board and its just bad news. working on it though.
see ya!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Gettin my hurrr did
Hi everyone!
Right now I am sitting at a hair salon! I just had a great time getting my hair cut. I came here with my friends Tina and Emily but we got separated and I was on my own with non-English speakers. It was quite funny. The first step was shampoo. I had four people handeling me, all attemping to convey what I should be doing very slowly and with hand motions. It was quite a site, we all couldn't stop laughing at the situation. Frankly I am surprised no one here speaks English since I feel like almost everyone knows a litle but that didn't stop us from communicating. I got the best head massage while my hair was being shampooed and then it was time to head to the chair.
At first we were quiet. No talking just the snipping of the scissors and the glorious sound of my split ends hitting the floor. Another girl came over and was sorta just hanging out and that is when I started getting hit with the questions. I was doing pretty well, told them I was from the US, a undergrad a Yonsei, and was leaving in June. And then it got harder. They whipped out what looked like a mini ipad (a samsung version no doubt) and used the translator. Man that was roungh. I think I understood the Korean better actually. After a few rewording tries I got that they were asking me if I would come back for future hair treatments. But once we got off the subject of hair treatments it was much easier.
We talked about boyfriends (actually lack thereof), which got us on the subject of Black Day. Here there is Valentines's day, where the girls buy the guys chocolate. Then one month later is White Day, where the boys buy the girls candy. And then there is Black Day one month later. Where all the singles dress in all black and eat jajamyeong (noodles with black sauce). When she told me that she didn't have a boyfriend I was like oh! Black Day! I could tell she didn't quite get it so I said jajamyeong and then she we were laughing on the same page (well actually she pretended to cry but I thought it was funny). The other girl handler had a boyfriend though so we gave her evil looks.
Its funny we could get along so well/communicate without English because of the setting. It really shouldn't surprise me at this point but I really thought it would be a routine, stare at the mirror silently haircut because of the language barrier. But this lady was awesome, not scared to try and talk to a foreigner and it made for a great time. It ended with them telling me how beautiful I was and me telling them how it was all them, they did a great job. I have nice flippy bangs going on now. And my friend Tina is going through a series of god knows what kind of dyes. I think there is some pink, blue, and purple going on....we'll see what happens.
Anyway I will give you guys a real update soon! There just happened to be a computer here while were hanging out with Tina and her bleaching hair. See ya!~
Right now I am sitting at a hair salon! I just had a great time getting my hair cut. I came here with my friends Tina and Emily but we got separated and I was on my own with non-English speakers. It was quite funny. The first step was shampoo. I had four people handeling me, all attemping to convey what I should be doing very slowly and with hand motions. It was quite a site, we all couldn't stop laughing at the situation. Frankly I am surprised no one here speaks English since I feel like almost everyone knows a litle but that didn't stop us from communicating. I got the best head massage while my hair was being shampooed and then it was time to head to the chair.
At first we were quiet. No talking just the snipping of the scissors and the glorious sound of my split ends hitting the floor. Another girl came over and was sorta just hanging out and that is when I started getting hit with the questions. I was doing pretty well, told them I was from the US, a undergrad a Yonsei, and was leaving in June. And then it got harder. They whipped out what looked like a mini ipad (a samsung version no doubt) and used the translator. Man that was roungh. I think I understood the Korean better actually. After a few rewording tries I got that they were asking me if I would come back for future hair treatments. But once we got off the subject of hair treatments it was much easier.
We talked about boyfriends (actually lack thereof), which got us on the subject of Black Day. Here there is Valentines's day, where the girls buy the guys chocolate. Then one month later is White Day, where the boys buy the girls candy. And then there is Black Day one month later. Where all the singles dress in all black and eat jajamyeong (noodles with black sauce). When she told me that she didn't have a boyfriend I was like oh! Black Day! I could tell she didn't quite get it so I said jajamyeong and then she we were laughing on the same page (well actually she pretended to cry but I thought it was funny). The other girl handler had a boyfriend though so we gave her evil looks.
Its funny we could get along so well/communicate without English because of the setting. It really shouldn't surprise me at this point but I really thought it would be a routine, stare at the mirror silently haircut because of the language barrier. But this lady was awesome, not scared to try and talk to a foreigner and it made for a great time. It ended with them telling me how beautiful I was and me telling them how it was all them, they did a great job. I have nice flippy bangs going on now. And my friend Tina is going through a series of god knows what kind of dyes. I think there is some pink, blue, and purple going on....we'll see what happens.
Anyway I will give you guys a real update soon! There just happened to be a computer here while were hanging out with Tina and her bleaching hair. See ya!~
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