Another Set of Pictures

Here is another grab bag of pictures from my stay here. 1) I thought some people might find this funny (you know who you are). 2) It's blurry because the light was fading and I didn't want to use a flash, but this is a very large load of baskets balanced on a bicycle. This is typical of how people transport things around here. 3) Gasto with his Hallowe'en costume and "candy." 4) Melissa with some children (at playday). 5) Ilimara (a girl who lives in my house) showing us here dance moves. She likes the camera a lot. 6) Mee-gook lang-gwi-chi seu-kool (hahaha). I have seen many bags with Korean writing on them. I think the green bins go directly here. This one was from one of our Outreach events. 7) Pouring rain at the Faraja office. 8) My street at night. This picture was the best one, but it doesn't do the view justice. 9) Nicole and Melissa doing Good Governance (actually this was us waiting to meet with the Headmaster of the school - this was before all the problems we had with starting this program).

2주후에 캐나다에 갈거예요. Goodbye Party in Seoul

Last Friday, my school had a goodbye party for the teachers (including myself) who are going back to Canada. Since the staff knows I've been trying to learn Korean, I felt obligated to say something in Korean. Due to a busy schedule I didn't have time to memorize anything (like I had done once in the past when I met my students' parents). Here is what I read at the party, with a simplified translation.

한국에 18개월동안 있었어요.

2주후에 캐나다에 갈거예요.

벌씨 시간이 지나간 갓이 믿어지지않어요.

행복한 시간이었어요.

그리고 슬픈 시간이었어요.

그러나 전반적으로 나는 나의 시간을 여기에서 즐겼어요.

저는 유승 선생님 과 미애 선생님 과 햬진 산성님 과 정선

선상님 과 명실 선상님 그들의 도움울 감사하고 싶어요.

또한 경미 선상님이 가르치기에 관하여 많이 가르쳐주었어요.

감사하고 싶어요.

모두와 같이 그녀가 보고 싶어요.

알파뱃 스트릿에서는 나의 시간을 젛은 방범으로 저를 바꼬었어요.

여기에와서 기뻐요.

I've been in Korea for 18 months.
In two weeks I will be going to Canada.
I can't believe that the time is already over.
We've had happy times.
We've also had sad times.
But overall, I've enjoyed my time here.
I'd like to thank Teacher Heather, Teacher Miae, Teacher Jin, Teacher Claire and Teacher Myung Shil.
I'd also like to thank Teacher Betty. She taught me a lot about teaching.
Like everyone, I will miss her.
My time at Alphabet Street has changed me.
I'm happy that I came here.

And yes, if you're wondering, I can read it all, but no, I didn't write that on my own (an online translator and some help from a Korean speaking colleague did the trick).

I leave 2 weeks today and before I go, I'll write something to sum up my experiences here (since, this blog is dedicated to my working/living internationally). Just thought this would be interesting. Who knows, maybe I'll learn enough Swahili to say goodbye like this when I leave Tanzania (or at least Morogoro).

Wewe Unasema Kiswahili? Do You Speak Swahili?

Mimi ninasema Kiswahili... sort of

About a week ago, I received in the mail the book and CD's which are to help me learn Swahili (a major language in East Africa. As a part of my preparations, I will be learning as much Swahili as I can so that I can communicate easier with the Tanzanians I will be working with and for.

Learning a new language is never easy. My experiences with French in middle and high school have given me enough proof of that. Lately, however, I have been trying to not only improve my French, but I have also been trying to learn Korean - a language made more difficult due to a different alphabet.

For the most part, I have had had to rely on books and CD's for my language learning because pretty much everyone at my school here in Seoul speaks English and if they don't a translator is always nearby. Despite this, I have become able to read and write some Korean, as well as speak in small, broken sentences. I can also understand a word every now and then when the other teachers are talking to the students in Korean.

So far - in my one week of concentrated efforts - I have managed to learn a few greetings and I feel c0nfident that I can get to at least a semi-useful level of Swahili by the time September rolls around and I'm off to Tanzania.

So for the above reasons you have read, I will likely be using more than one language in my posts. I'll try to oost in English if I do write in one of the other three languages. It's all part of my efforts to be able to work in different areas of the world.

Mchana mwema! Have a good evening!