The Riders of Bro-han, Rockstar Status, and Royally Geeking Out

Hey all!  Again, I didn't update you all at the time I said I would.  Things have been super busy and just trying to either sit down or lay down to do work is an effort.  The effort comes in when I am trying desperately not to fall asleep when reading!  So, as you might notice from the time I will post this, I am in on a Saturday night along with my lovely roommate CoCo being good students and studying Korean.  These past couple of days have been busy busy busy, but also very enlightening and enriching!

A couple of things that I haven't posted about yet:
1. Night out- we all went into Goesan for some fun on the Fourth of July after a GLEE Club Mixer.  We whooped it up with some Korean students who taught us some fun drinking games.  It was fun!

2.  I have officially joined Taekwondo, GLEE Club (an English Club for Korean Jungwon University students and ETAs), and Calligraphy, as well as joining the gym.  All these extracurriculars have me wondering whether I like to over exert myself or not....oh wait! I should be used to this! :)

3. I have continued to sweat balls.  Especially at the gym.  Hey parentals, remember those softball days where I looked like I jumped into a pool.....yeaaaaaaaah. Awesome! :D

4.  Oh.  Most surprising:  I now have THREE! ...yes I say THREE additional people with the same birthday as me!!!!!!! We all couldn't believe it- four Fulbright ETAs in the same grant year having the same birthday- February 2, 1989....I almost had an aneurysm trying to process the information....Fulbright.....you have something up your sleeve don't you?

5.  ASHLEE THE ROCKSTAR....and supposedly Cameron Diaz.  HAH! I wish.... A Korean student said I looked like her, but more importantly all of us ETAs went to school site visits to observe a real Korean class and school and present ETA's schools.  About 14 of us went to an all girls' middle school in Cheongju which is about an hour away from Goesan.  Let's just say there was a lot of giggling, pointing and staring, hiding of faces, wide eyes and screaming.  Luckily no fainting.  The ETA that we observed was awesome! She was so good with her lessons and I learned a lot from what she was doing.  We had a presentation by the principal, the ETA herself, and then we observed 2 of her classes and then ate lunch at the school before heading back to the Great-Sovietesque-Marble-Building that is Jungwon.  This will be a fun year for sure.

6.  Oh, hey, I'm just geekin out.  Michael Hurt- is amazing.  He is a former ETA from 1994 and gave two talks spread out from last night to this morning.  His first talk I was freaking/geeking out.  His talk centered around being "other" in Korea and I am pretty sure I was that annoying girl that was bobbing her head up and down throughout the whole thing.  He talked for 2 hours that night and I just kept saying "yes yes yes!" in my head to all that he was talking about in relation to what shapes Korean identity and views about race, sexuality, society etc.  I experienced a lot of what he said in Japan and was so familiar with everything he touched on.  I was so thankful for my DePauw education....His talk reminded me of a DePauw class and reminded me of my passion for academics and real world social issues!  hmmm....Ph.D in anthropology/sociology???....^^  If you want to check out more about Michael and what he is about, here is the link to his blog: http://metropolitician.blogs.com/

7. Bro-ness: The Riders of Brohan. Today we had a teaching workshop where we learned about how to lesson plan.  Let's just say I have lots of work ahead of me!  I was paired with my new friends Lara, Jenny and Lauren and we had to make a lesson plan revolving around "Would you rather ____ or ____?"  At the end of the session I was basically looking pretty exhausted and my throat was hurting (I've since popped some ibuprofen so hopefully I don't get sick)-- It had been a long day for all of us.  Somehow we started talking about Lord of the Rings (or LOTR for fans~) and about how I am obsessed with the character/concept of Samwise Gamgee. (that's right Emily Meyers) We continued to talk about how Frodo and Sam's friendship is definitely not the "implied relationship," but instead exhibits the ultimate "bro-ness."  So we decided that Fulbright is pretty much the Fellowship of the Ring/Bro, my blonde hair qualifies me as an Elf, and that every chance we get we are allowed to use "bro" in words that we want.  Alpha Chi Omegas, you are familiar with this concept as well as a few choice friends. ^^  But we renamed the riders of Rohan.....the riders of Brohan.  Yes. We are Fulbrights.  And we are Bros.

8. We signed up for 3 days of teaching in the next few weeks.  We have something called Camp Fulbright coming up where a bunch of kiddies come to run around the Marble-Soviet-Castle and learn English.  My first day of teaching is July 18th!  The theme for the whole camp is "Heroes"....let me know if you have any burning ideas!

So that is my few days in a nutshell.  Sorry I haven't posted any pictures.  I'll get on that asap.  In the mean time I have to go stretch and then maybe watch a movie....um I mean study....<< >> ^_^  I have a trip to go on tomorrow!  Cheongju get ready for the 'BrO-rights!

안녕히게세요! (annyeonghikyeseyo!/ Goodbye!)

~Ashlee 애슐리