The power of words...It is very exciting and humbling that I now find myself on the same literary path as my 6 year old daughter (she is reading English and I am learning Hongul). Although I must state that her flow, rate, and comprehension are much much higher than mine, we are both enjoying the super power that is literacy. While riding the metro across the city, Rosa began to sound out the words to her Humetro Ticket. Her face lit up when the letter sounds joined and became words that she understood. She then proceeded to read my entire United Blood Services Donor card. With more practice, her speed, confidence, and accuracy increased. Being aware of the empowerment she experienced, I set forth on our Saturday family excursion hoping to do the same. I can now identify and pronounce each of characters in Hongul (written Korean). I am not reading very fast which limits what I am able to read; however, last night I identified words like Busan, paper, poker, citizen, and many words in Hongul that I could read but do not understand. On our bus ride home, while Rosa slept in my lap and Brian and I were talking, my face lit up as I identified words like, Busan taxi and Domino´s Picha! The highlights of my week (see photos below)...
Craft Club (This week: Mexican flowers, Up next: stained tin art)Our Saturday adventureWhen you need more time, time expands...When I was in the beginning stages of motherhood, one of my dearest friends always told me that, so long as I was taking care of my being, if I needed more time, time would expand. This week I turned to her wisdom as the school year is now in full force. With my current job, I have 4 separate preps. This means that I plan and prepare to teach 4 different classes/day. The scope ranges from kindergarten students having never been exposed to Spanish all the way to level 5 native or near native-fluent in the upper high school level who are preparing to take the AP exam. Needless to say, thinking and planning within these different levels is a mental marathon. I have never had such a challenging workload in my life; thus, I foresee being easily driven into a cycle of stress. Guided by the aforementioned words of my wise friend, I have realized how essential it now is to take care of my being (mind, body, and soul). The mind/body connection...With this mentality in mind, I have experienced and embodied the following over the course of 1 week: taking time to connect with (through reading, conversing, questioning, and observing) the culture around me, swimming in the ocean with my family, starting a love affair with Jiu Jitsu, attending a free outdoor movie on a school night, and dancing salsa in the heart of the city. This week I accomplished all of the above and had time to plan and create my classes. The result was that I felt more focussed at school, was able to (by Friday) connect with each of my students and find flow in my classes, was more present at home (thus giving my family more love and attention), and I receive almost an adequate amount of sleep in order to continue on with this crazy new life. Say, "kimchee!" In celebration...In celebration of a successful week, we decided to try for a pizza and movie night (our Friday night ritual in Colorado). Thanks to another new friend, we have not only acquired enough furniture to all veg out in the living room, but have also been blessed with a library of digital movies. As I have alergies and Domino's is not an option for me, I discovered that it is possible to make pizza dough out of nothing but rice flour, eggs, and cheese (in a skillet). The toppings of this first masterpiece included salsa (as pizza sauce), roasted garlic, chicken, and American cheese. I know it doesn't sound very good, but we thoroughly enjoyed it!!
Understanding culture...We have entered week 3 of our new lives and are beginning to find our groove. We are meeting new people, becoming acquainted with the city, and are understanding this culture more and more. We recognize that some cultural assumptions we made upon arrival are not what they appear to be. For example, many people, especially woman, walk around almost entirely covered: arms, shoulders, faces, heads, and sometimes legs. Initially we believed this to be an act of modesty (which I still think to be true to an extent). However, what we are now learning is that it is more an act of skin preservation. If you do not expose your skin to the elements, then your skin will remain youthful for much longer. Indeed, many individuals appear ageless for lack of wrinkles and beautifully smooth skin. Thus I have been recently pondering cultural notions of beauty. For, what is beautiful to one culture may be unattractive to another. In my culture, bronzed skin is seen as healthy and beautiful (even though we all recognized UVs to be harmful...hmm?). Some cultures see beauty as the length of one's neck, the size of one's lips, or the width of one's hips. In many latin cultures, skin color is compared to milk and coffee, with one extreme (leche) holding an opposing value to the opposite extreme (café). Many Koreans, that I have met and have observed, have very fair complexions. This leads me to believe that olive skin sets the standard of what is beautiful. I confront and question if this is wisdom or another side of white privilege and power. The reason we are here...This past Monday, I began my job at Busan Foreign School (BFS!! Go Sharks!). This long-awaited beginning reaffirmed (once again) my feeling that we made the right choice with our move. I feel supported by our leadership team; I feel at home with my Specialists team; and I feel inspired by my colleagues. I have set up my room and the energy is good. I am understanding our student management systems and the expectations placed on my roles within the greater school community. Further, despite all initial fears that I was taking on too much, I have realized that I can do this and that it is possible to do it well. Now comes the part where I dig deep into creativity, planning, and intrinsic motivation (motivation which comes from within). Up next (on Wednesday to be precise), I will finally meet my students and begin the process of co-creation, relationship sculpting, and the cycle of learning which flows both ways (as they will inevitably teach me as much or more than I will teach them). The minutia of daily life...
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AuthorHi, I'm Sarah, or Sarita as called by many. In an effort to cultivate multicultural empathy and deep respect in our daughter (Rosa), my husband (Brian) and I sold everything in order to embarked on a journey through life. Archives
November 2018
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