Long post about ETA Fall Conference!

Last weekend was the ETA fall conference, so I saw all the ETA's for the first time since we left in August. It was a chance to see everyone, talk about our experiences, and compare notes on teaching. It was fun from beginning to end. Sarah and I met in Daejon to take an express bus to Gyeongju, and it was a good thing I met her in Daejon because the bus I was taking to Daejon got stuck in traffic and she had to hold the express bus a minute or two for me.

The hotel we stayed at was very nice. There were four twin beds in every room so we didn't have to share, a real shower, western food at breakfast, and random live jazz music at night sometimes. We were right next to a lake so we could hang out by the water at night.

Saturday started too early with some talks by fellow ETAs. Some were interesting, but were often too long to keep the majority of people's interest because everyone's teaching situation is so different. I led a little discussion about teaching low level students, and we had a few good ideas. I think we managed to avoid people feeling too futile about teaching low level students. I think one of the keys is extraordinary patience, which is possible to develop over time... Saturday was kind of a long day, but I'm sure our students feel like that every day.

Some quote highlights:
"If you can stomach it, picking up smoking is a great way to bond with the male teachers. They smoke in between classes all day long." - Roger
"What do you do if your host family has a 5 foot long statue of a bloody jesus on the cross hanging above your bed??" - Shoni (who happens to be Jewish)

On Sunday we went sightseeing. We had to get up early, and I admit I fell victim to the seen-one-temple-seen-them-all mentality for the first stop. But at our second site, something incredible happened. When we walked through the entrance, another ETA named David said he wanted to introduce me to a friend. I knew all the ETAs so I'm wondering what's going on. David brings me over to Jae! our friend from orientation in Chuncheon. We hadn't seen each other since orientation and had no idea the other was going to be here. He was on a rollerblading trip around Korea, camping out in the forest overnight. And he happened to rollerblade to the exact same spot that we were going to at the same time! The next day he was going to rollerblade for 13 hours on the way to another city!

So it was interesting to see some of the Gyeongju sights, especially watching the pottery making. The potter starts with a small block of clay, shapes it and thins it out while spinning it a circular table that he's moving with his leg, and after about 10 minutes has a pot. I can now see why one of the ETAs, Beth, said hanging out with the potter in her town is fun.

Monday morning I said goodbye to the other ETAs and then took a bus back to Gyeryong. I feel energized and ready to be a better teacher. The motivation is back in full force... so watch out kids.