Asia #6 - July 16

(From Yin)

Hi everyone!

The 2 weekers have one more day of teaching and we are about to head back to the States. The 5 weekers have made it to their half way point. Our days are eventful with a combination of hard work and having fun.

Each morning we wake up and talk to our Dad and think about our students and our surroundings. Then we teach our classes in the morning until lunch. After lunch we usually lesson plan. English House teachers sometimes spend time with their roommates and students, but our Business Writing students are more difficult to meet with since all of them are full time employees of this school. It is still really exciting though, because they all have different backgrounds.

Last Friday we were able to go to an orphanage called the House of Sarang. We were only able to stay for a short period of time, so we were not able to really interact with the kids. Some of us were able to work with some children that had various disabilities while others helped with the new building they are in the process of making, by transporting brick to a desired location. When we got back, we had Chinese food take out for dinner, it was delicious! After dinner, we went to this thing called PAW, where we sang songs and were refreshed in our love. We also had a separate time with our team to talk together about our deep thoughts.

On Saturday, all the summer volunteers went to Baekdusan (name in Korean), or Tzang Bai San (Chinese). It was beautiful, but it truly was an adventure and a long journey to get there. We rode a bus for 5 hours, then went through a line that made us feel like cattle, then a crazy jeep ride of death, and then we climbed a little bit to see the moutain lake. It was worth the trip, but really draining. It was a really great time of bonding with other teams as well as bonding within our own teams.

On Sunday, all the volunteers had dinner with the president of the university. He is a very passionate, kind, and challenging man. He told us about future plans for this school as well. It was really great to be able to meet him, the Vice President and other teachers/staff who are here all the time.

For the 2 weekers, this was our last week of teaching. It has been going by really fast, and we all want to stay longer. At the same time, it has been challenging to not lose focus, not wanting to feel too routine and/or think about home too much. It also seems like our students are more disinterested, but we are trying to bond more with them, since our 3 hour class is so important in using each opportunity to get involved in building relationships with our students. We did however go out to dinner with our class two nights ago. We all went out to eat hot pot. It was fun spending time with our students and getting to know them better.

We also had dinner with some of the full time staff of the English department. It was really nice hearing different perspectives and different challenges in all that is happening here. It has also been interesting hearing each of their stories about how each were brought here. It is interesting to hear about how everyone has arrived at this school, whether through a sibling or friend that has previously graduated from this school or through one person saying something at the right time.

We are really sad to have to say goodbye to each other in a couple of days. We definitely want to spend each moment we are given in the most effective way.

Tonight the 2 weekers are eating dinner with one of our students and her husband. Both are teachers during the school year. Afterwards, we are eating another dinner with these two students we have met randomly in the dorm we shower in.

Tomorrow we plan to go on another trip. We are all really excited.