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Marianna Mercer

Dr. Cho

C&T 491

19 June 2017

Reflective Journal 4

Week four was the week I was waiting for - the one Ive been unknowingly anticipating

for years. Of course, two years ago, I had not an inkling that I would be teaching in Korea.

However, two years ago, I decided I wanted to teach. With that decision, I also specifically

desired to teach abroad. Halfway through week four, amid frantic lesson planning, sore throats,

failing voices, and attempted enthusiasm, my co-teacher, Heaven, and I, paused to sit on the

steps of Kyunghwa. It was where we needed to be, then, tracing the outline of every roof in view

within the limits of our vision. Appreciating the mountains beyond, softened and tinted blue with

distance. We are in Korea, I remember saying. We are in Korea and we are teaching English.

Processing reality was extremely important for me. This was it. I was doing what I said I was

going to do for the past two years. I am teaching English abroad. I am teaching English as a

foreign language. Comforted by the beauty of the view and the incredulity of our reality, Heaven

and I stood, renewed, and returned to E1 to continue to revise.

It wasnt that we were not prepared for our initial lesson. We were just not prepared to

not be prepared. We entered the classroom confident in our chosen activity, yet faltered as it did

not function as planned. The game was not clear enough to students; it was not enough for full

engagement or understanding. I left the first class disappointed, but Heaven and I resolved to

ensure clarity with the next lesson. We implemented new strategies to help with the game in the

next class, utilizing personal whiteboards for each group to help with their creativity. This,
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however, backfired even further and did not assist with classroom energy or comprehension. We

stumbled over the end of the lesson, struggling to fill time. The students understood our material,

it was clear. Yet the definition game we planned for them was not successful and therefore let the

information fall on disinterested ears.

After our second run-through of the lesson, I knew it was not the material that was the

issue, but the way it was implemented. The game needed to be discarded for a new one. Even

though the day had been a long and trying one, I was optimistic about change. I was also

significantly encouraged by Heavens creativity and resilience. Jointly motivated, we chose an

activity that would better fit the lesson and motivate the students. We worked together to make it

possible, scribbling idioms on sticky notes in the dorm room at night and stuffing them into an

empty cookie box to use in the classroom the next day. Collaboratively, we reorganized our

PowerPoint and added new information to make it more effective. We went to bed exhausted but

hopeful, for we were betting everything on this revision.

The next day proved to be enormously successful in comparison to the previous. Holding

our breaths, we opened our presentation for the first class of the day. Heaven and I were able to

feed off one another as we explained the material, helping each other with clarity and

demonstrations. The new game, fishbowl, which involves various versions of taboo,

charades, and password, was readily accepted by the students. The game also reiterated our

idiom vocabulary, and by splitting up the rounds, we were able to implement new vocabulary

while still holding their attention. It was doubly rewarding to see the excitement and enjoyment

of the students in the classroom after struggling to make the lesson possible. Heaven and I

couldnt stop smiling after our first success, which then carried over into the next four classes we

instructed with this revised plan. It was joy to continue to implement small revisions and see
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improved outcomes. I now look forward to our last day of teaching this lesson on idioms, and am

thankful for this experience which has already shown me so much regarding the fields of both

education as a whole, and EFL as a focus.

In addition to the drastic impact of the lesson on my week, I was surprised by several

other major occurrences. Despite my apparent lack of multilingualism, the language barrier was

destroyed by commonality in ways in which I could not have anticipated. Broken English,

interpretation, negotiation, google translate, body language, and a pen and paper made

interactions with not only students but baristas, caf owners, and university students possible.

After each experience, I was grateful for the human desire to communicate overcoming

language differences to do so.

Casually making conversation in my favorite caf, just down the mountain from

Kyunghwa, I mentioned that I worked at a caf in the U.S. The new barista, with his limited

English, understood and explained it to his boss, and caf owner, in Korean. Moments later, I

was sitting and reading, they approached me to ask if I would like to make a pour over. Of

course I was going to say yes, but my mind was racing; I was anxious to become their sole

impression of an American barista. My pour over skills are not among the highest, but I was able

to retain what I have so far learned to correctly measure out the coffee beans and set the timer for

a traditional pour over. After I finished, the barista and owner taste tested it, and I waited,

holding my breath. They said that it was good! Then, smiling, the owner told the Korean barista

to make a pour over. She said to me, Marianna, take a seat! I was amazed merely by the fact

that she remembered my name. We tried his pour over (it was very good) and then proceeded to

discuss the many variants of coffee production and roasting. I did not realize she roasted her own

coffee in the shop! For forty-five minutes, we navigated the world of coffee through broken
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English. I could see their passion for it; I had always known that the world was tied through

coffee, in a way. Yet, this occurrence confirmed that reality. Through their openness and

kindness, I could see the impact of coffee - an art that truly stretches worldwide. This is

something I will certainly remember.

Meeting students from Kangnam University also left a permanent impression. Never

before have I had the eyes of a foreigner on a college campus. Never had such an opportunity

come about, until Friday. I was intrigued by the University, especially after seeing the high

school system firsthand. Who were these students and what are their aspirations? Exploring the

campus education facilities along with the nearby Korean folk village allowed me to discover

the answers to some of these questions. Yoon and Yoon-Hee, along with Min-hee and Eun-woo,

were extremely welcoming and we easily found many similarities through our interests, humor,

passions, and chosen career path as they were all education majors. The goodbye was abrupt, a

one much different than the goodbyes I said as I left my family and friends back in Kansas.

These goodbyes were different than a six-week goodbye. These goodbyes were most likely a

forever goodbye, and a prelude to what I am trying not to think too much about the goodbyes at

Kyunghwa.

I wanted to include these brief but powerful interactions for the sake of remembering

them in their concurrent simplicity and magnitude. Later, I want to be able to read these words

and continue to appreciate these cross-cultural occurrences. As one who wishes to teach English

as either a second or foreign language, these conversations, events, acknowledgements, and

perspectives, are what offer me hope for crossing language barriers.