2023 highlights reel

And another year has come and gone. Just like that! Since my last post was a very long and personal one, I thought I’d try and end the year with a light-hearted post. Something I like to ask friends and family on the last day of the year is what their peak and pit were for the year, i.e. their highlight and their lowlight. I think my number 1 peak for the year has been entering a very loving and healthy relationship, followed by my parents' visit to Korea as well as reconnecting with a few friends in Korea after many years (Yejoo and Ross) but since I've mentioned those events in previous posts, here are some other highlights of 2023… 

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1. Cementing my role as a teacher

My friend Stace calls my journey as a teacher “survive to thrive.” Most of the first year of my teaching experience in Korea felt like survival and just trying to find my way in my new vocation. Though I felt comfortable speaking in front of a classroom, it took me a while to loosen up and try out games and activities with students. I also had to learn classroom management skills and how to run a game with 30 students (some overly excited, some not) and to be strict when necessary. Usually, I leave disciplinary issues to my Korean co-teachers but there were moments this year where I had to show my displeasure and make sure they understood rudeness would not be tolerated in my class. 

During the school year, there were many wonderful and entertaining moments, particularly, the English camp in August. I used an American “summer camp” theme this time, which students had no knowledge of. We promoted the camp before the school closed for summer vacation and ended up with over 30 students signing up for the two weeks. I had planned various games and activities such as a marshmallow challenge, learning camp songs, making tie-dye handkerchiefs, a photo scavenger hunt, movie day, playing games, making s’mores and even creating a camp journal for them to write in throughout the week. I was very lucky with my co-teacher, Soojin, who helped me with everything and also brought in her own fun ideas to make camp an enjoyable experience for everyone. 

Kicking off our American themed "Summer Camp"

Marshmallow challenge. Teams had to try and build the highest tower using spaghetti, tape and a marshmallow.

Making s'mores. Biscuits, melted chocolate and marshmallows. A fave!

Attempting to do tie-dye on handkerchiefs. Messy business!

We gave out certificates this time. Students loved it!

Soojin and I taking a well-deserved break after two weeks of camp!

Having Soojin as my co-teacher this year has been a major highlight. She stood in for another teacher who went on maternity leave. Working with Soojin has been awesome because we collaborate well together. During the first semester, we had a class together with a group of Grade 7s. This is my Disney and pop song class, which I absolutely love. Grade 7s are still very baby-like so they require a lot more energy and attention from us. We're always exhausted after the double period with them but in all honesty, it's my absolute favourite class of the semester. The nonsense they get up to and the things they do is sometimes super hilarious. Also, at our school, all students have to join a school club that teachers oversee (according to their interests) and every week we have a club period. Soojin and I ran the English Club. We’ve done cool activities such as a spelling bee, treasure hunt, boardgames every last Friday of the month, cake decorating, Halloween activities, English Olympics and many others. I sometimes think the two of us enjoy our club more than the students. 

My favourite Grade 7 class.

The things they do while I'm teaching...

"Teacher, what's your favourite colour? You like what...?" Then they proceeded to make me all these origami pieces. 

Halloween bracelet craft with our English club.

Decorating cookies.

Christmas cake decorating time...

I was lucky enough to go on both school field trips this year. In the first semester, we went to O-world, which is the Daejeon amusement park and zoo. That was super fun, especially going on an African safari! In the second semester, I went with the Grade 9s on their field trip to Everland, one of Korea’s biggest amusement parks. I spent the day with my co-teacher and a student who didn’t have any friends. My co-teacher loves amusement parks so we went on as many rides as we could. It also snowed for the first time that day, which was amazing to see with all the rides in the background.

African safari at O-World.

The massive Everland amusement park...

I went on this ride and nearly mentally died. For real.

There have also been many breakthroughs with quiet students who previously struggled to communicate or had no interest in learning because they just didn’t understand what was being said. But because of my constant interest in them, I’ve had a few reach out and try to have a conversation with me. One Grade 8 boy, in particular, makes the effort to say hi to me whenever he sees me. He used to be the student either constantly looking for something to distract himself with or sleeping in class. One day, to my surprise, while I was walking alone after lunch, he approached me for a chat.

How that conversation went. So good!

❤️

"Teacher, I want to tell you something..." and then used the translation app on my phone to tell me.

2. New friendships

Something that I do exceptionally well (if I say so myself) is making friends and having long-term friendships. If you know me well, you’ll know that my oldest friendship is with my best friend of 31 years. We started school together in sub A (grade 1) and attended the same high school. Other long-standing friendships are from high school and university. 20-plus years, etc. So when I make a friend, there’s a good chance it’s for life! So this year I’ve made some new friends or cemented some friendships that began last year. It’s been lovely getting to know friends such as Chandré and Catherine, both of whom are leaving Daejeon or Korea next year. 

The ever-smiling Catherine 🖤

Chandré 🖤

I wanted to highlight these friendships as there is no doubt that when living abroad you need to put yourself out there and make the effort to get to know people. Otherwise, it can get lonely. Also, it’s wonderful to know fellow South Africans, who can relate and laugh about some of the weird things we experience daily living here.

3. “Travelling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”― Ibn Battuta

This year was also fun in terms of travel. I can’t believe it was this year that Mbali and I travelled to the Philippines. It seems so long ago! In early June, Mbali moved to Jeju, an island in Korea so that meant that I had to take a flight to see her. Jeju is quite a popular tourist destination so it was exciting when I finally got to visit. After my parents returned home, I took a few days to visit Mbali before school started. It was lovely being surrounded by the ocean and seeing so much natural beauty. 

Hallim Park

One of the most beautiful cafes I've ever been to. Check that view.

Obviously, one of the first activities we had to do was a hike — in the crazy humid weather! While there, Mbali moved houses to be closer to her workplace. Her new home is in a cool little beach town called Hallim. I loved it and can’t wait to go back sometime. I love the slow-paced, quiet life of little towns.  

Visit and hike up Seongsan Ilchulbong...

Dit was baie warm! That humidity and heat is no joke.

Copied this pose from teenagers. Very cool.

Friends who hike together stay together!

The dip in this water was divine.

Sel and I also took our first bus trip to a city called Suwon. It was my first time there. Suwon is known for the Hwaseong Fortress, which we visited. Hwaseong is a piled-stone and brick fortress of the Joseon Dynasty that surrounds the centre of Suwon City. It takes about 2 hours and 30 minutes to walk along the 6 km-long fortress wall road.

Making new memories together.

Travelling in Korea is quite easy because the country is small but most importantly because of the excellent public transport system. It’s very easy to just hop on a bus or a train and head to wherever you want to go.

4. Studying language number 5!

Another highlight this year has been learning Korean. I procrastinated for a while before finally registering for the class. I had reservations about going back to a language classroom. I have major PTSD from studying Mandarin for three years at university. While it was fun learning a new language, Mandarin was incredibly difficult. I remember being so shy in class and dreaded when the teacher called on me to speak. But learning Korean has been the complete opposite experience! Maybe it’s because I’m older (and don’t care much about being embarrassed or making mistakes), or because the classes are held online, or it’s because I’m learning the language in the country where it’s spoken and therefore can use what I learn instantly. 

It’s been great expanding my Korean vocabulary and also learning to read Korean. Learning to read the Korean alphabet means I can now read students' names in class, which they love. Also, picking up the language has meant I’m able to connect more with students and show them how I too make mistakes and that it’s okay to do so. We just laugh it off and try anyway. It’s also been cool to communicate with taxi drivers, local shop owners or the grandma living next door, who only speaks to me in Korean. While I don’t understand most of what she says, I can get the gist and respond in kind. It’s made life so much easier living here. Also, Sel and I were in the same Korean class this last semester, which made things interesting. In the beginning, I was so shy about it and perhaps worried I wouldn’t be comfortable. But in the end, it went well and was very cool to complete the class together. 

5. Finding a spiritual home in Daejeon

And then you find a church and something falls into place that you didn’t even know you needed. In October, Soojin (co-teacher) invited me to her church as they had an English service. I attended the service and immediately felt at home. Everyone was incredibly friendly and welcoming. I think I’ve only missed one Sunday since then. When a church feels like home, it changes everything. Sundays are still sometimes hard for me. At home, Sundays are a family day so if I’m alone most of the day, it can be hard but now that I attend church, I look forward to Sundays. Getting to know so many new people and finding a spiritual home while here has been a blessing. 

Spot the one in the Springboks jersey! Day of the final. :) 

Church sports day. So much fun.

Lowlights 

There have been a few lowlights this year. No one has a perfect year and though I tend to focus on the positive, it’s good to reflect on the tough moments and lessons too. For sure, a hard moment was early in the year when my mom’s eldest brother, Brian, passed away. I was neighbours with my uncle and aunt for about two years and grew quite close to them so to not be at his funeral as well as with my family through such a tough moment was very difficult. On the other side of this, another hard moment was when my parents visited my brother and his family in Taiwan to celebrate my niece’s 2nd birthday. While I was really happy my parents could be there, I felt quite sad about not being there to share the moment. Unfortunately, my school term was not over, which made travelling internationally a challenge at the time. Also, not being home when friends are going through tough times is hard as I so much want to be there with them, help them through whatever it is they're going through or just have a coffee together. 

A final lowlight I want to mention happened at the end of the summer camp. On the last day of the second week of camp, there was an incident at a nearby high school where an ex-student entered the school grounds and stabbed a teacher. Because our school is quite nearby, we were told what happened and that the school would go into lockdown as the perpetrator had escaped. My co-teacher and I kept this information quiet but because the students had their phones with them it wasn't long before they got the message about what happened — which led to full-on panic. Coming from South Africa, we are used to bad things happening and getting information about serious crimes. Many of our children are unfortunately exposed to these kinds of events early on so for me it's not very unusual. So to see how frightened my students were by the news was surprising. It also seemed like no one knew what to do at that moment as students began to cry and panic. I told my co-teacher to ask the Vice-principal to come and talk to them, to reassure them, that we are safe and okay. As soon as he came, they cried out to him but also looked a bit relieved as he told them what was happening and let them know they would be taken home if they wanted to leave. It was a bittersweet ending to a fun two weeks of camp. But it also opened my eyes to how very different children grow up in some parts of the world.

A final thought

This year has been one of extremes, from major weather and climatic events (heatwaves, typhoons, floods, earthquakes, etc.) to global wars, in Ukraine as well as in the Gaza Strip. There have been major challenges at home too, especially with everyone having to suffer through loadshedding and price hikes for everything. There are so many events that make one seriously angry and frustrated but then there are others that just serve as a reminder of the goodness and joy of life, for example, South Africa winning the Rugby World Cup. A memory I will always carry with me is leaving my home at 3 a.m. to go watch the rugby final at a bar in town with fellow South Africans. I just knew in my heart they would win and felt I needed to watch the game somewhere memorable. 

Watching the final at a bar in Daejeon was awesome. Made some new friends too.

Walking home around 6am after the game. What a time to be alive!

What a year it has been. I hope that you too may take the time to reflect on your year, both good and bad, and please do share it with me or others. It’s lovely to sit and talk and reflect on what’s been good and what’s been a lesson. 

May 2024 bring you all the joy, love, health and wellness, and good fortune you so desire. As always, thank you for taking the time to read.

Meryl Joy Burgess 

Ps. When leaving a comment, please add your name (instead of anonymous) so that I know who is commenting and can respond in kind. 🖤