Life in South Seattle

Sunrise from my home.

I moved into my new home in south Seattle on Sunday, August 23rd, and the next morning there was a lovely sunrise. I can also see Mt. Ranier... It's not pictured in the photo, but it's to the right of the tree. :) I went shopping everyday after work this week... Monday - Ikea & Costco. Tuesday - Target & Ross. Wednesday - Trader Joe's. Today... I'm planning to go to the Chinese supermarket called 99 Ranch Market. Tomorrow I'll probably end up going to Ikea to get some things I forgot or didn't realize I needed from my first trip. 

My Classroom!!

Yesterday I finished THREE full days of planning curriculum and assessment for my 6th grade math classes. I am so grateful for the math department. Everyone is so welcoming and easy to talk to and soooooooooo funny!!! I feel very comfortable with my team, and it feels like I've known them for years. Above is a photo of my classroom when I walked in. I did some rearranging yesterday... The desks take up a lot of space because the chairs are attached! I like to have a horse-shoe layout... and I tried that yesterday, and it was a bit difficult. I also moved my desk to the back of the room. Look out for before and after photos. They will come later... Maybe next week. Oh, I start teaching next week! Next week Thursday is the first day of school. Yes, it's before Labor Day, which is quite strange for the U.S. Public Schools here usually start after Labor Day... Not this year. It's a unique year... Speaking about 2015... On Monday, my department did a get to know you activity where you draw a penny from a bag and whatever year that is on the penny you need to share something significant from that year... Guess which year I got? Yep... 2015. So many changes this year, and it's not even over yet... hahaha. The best part of 2015 is just about to begin... teaching middle school math! I can't wait!!!!!

Back to Public School Teaching

Did I mention I will be working at Showalter Middle School? I will be teaching 6th grade math in Tukwila School District. It will be my first full-time teaching position in the States AND I am beyond excited and looking forward to it. I am grateful for the many experiences and learning opportunities while I was teaching in Kawagoe, Japan. I am ready for this next chapter.

These last two days I have had new hire training at the district office, which is to the right of this photo. :) The school district consists of 3 elementary schools, 1 middle school, and 1 high school. How amazing is that??? It's one of the most diverse school districts in the nation. There are over 80 world languages spoken within this district. The training had lots of information divvied up to all the new hire. There was so much information that was covered it's hard to say what exactly was covered. ha! I found it beneficial to see that the district is proactive in making changes to improve and better itself for its student population.  Change is scary and people will be resistant to it, but when we get out of the comfort zone that is where we are allowed to grow and expand.

Cheers to the 2015~2016 school year to all the educators/ mentors/ advocates/ parents/ students/ administrators/ everyone involved in creating a more equitable education for all students around the world. Keep up the great work.

Back in the U. S. of A.

I had an amazing opportunity to travel to Hong Kong, Vietnam, and around Japan after I finished teaching. It was great!! I will miss the opportunity to travel around Asia... but it won't be the last time I travel there.

I returned April 1, 2015. Being back in the U.S. was a lot smoother than I thought it was going to be. There were moments of culture shock during the first month of being back, but I got over it. I was looking forward to being back in the U.S., so I think that helped. Luckily, I got a summer job at the partner university that I worked with in Japan. I was surrounded by people I have worked with before and around students who I am familiar with. It couldn't have been any better than that!!

My summer in Oregon is coming to an end, and I have been fortunate to work, to see friends, to see family, to have health insurance, to exercise, to go out to eat, to find a job, to go camping, and much much more. I do not know what I have done to be so fortunate. I feel so privileged. I am grateful for everything that I have and yet I want more. I'm working on following my dreams of ... traveling and teaching middle school math. Soon I'll be in a public school teaching middle school math. I hope to teach abroad again someday... and knowing me I will strive for that dream. I'm content with my current situation and I am eager to see where I will be 5 years from now... 10 years from now... Inshallah.

Week 1 Down, 14 more Weeks To Go...

Kobe the Kobaton  checking out oranges.

Did you know that I have a website for my classes?   http://eleung.weebly.com/

Week 1 DONE:

• 13.5 hours of in class teaching
• 4.5 hours of English Lounge
• 1.5 hours of meetings
• About 20 hours of planning and grading (Monday-Friday) *I do planning & grading on the weekend too.
• Lunch is usually about 30 minutes most of the week, but I'm usually going over my lesson plan.
• x hours of Coordinator duties

It's a busy schedule, but I get a good amount of time off in between semesters.

October is just around the corner.  The Fall Season is upon us. In Japan they have seasonal menus along with the usual menu. It's nice to see what fall treats they have available, and you can only get it for the season! 

The leaves haven't quite changed colors here... Maybe in November or so, but the leaves are falling...

Last SEMESTER in Japan!

I am more than excited to announce that today was my last first day of teaching at TIU.  It is a bit sad, but overall I think that it is the right move for me. I am looking for teaching jobs in middle school math back on the West Coast. I would love to be near Seattle with my sisters and nephew. California doesn't seem too bad, because of the nice weather... Who knows where I'll end up... Life in a journey... a continuous journey, and I just can't figure out where I can be in one place for an extended period of time. I go through the motions of life, and that could be good and/ or bad. I had two classes today. One was Communication Basic with my International Relations students, and they make me happy. They make me feel good as a teacher. I don't know what it is... maybe because they do their work, and show up before the bell rings? Maybe because they listen and take notes? I'm grateful to have them in my last semester.  My second class was Advanced Listening, which consists of sophomores and juniors.  I think it'll be an engaging class, and I'm looking forward to all the discussions. It shall be very interesting. Tomorrow I'll have three classes!! First will be Introduction to American Society, next will be Basic Writing, and then third will be Advanced Listening. We'll see how it goes!!!

COUNTDOWN: 112 days until the end of Fall Semester & 186 days until I leave Japan.

Posing with my selfie stick. LOL.

First day of My LAST Semester in Japan!!!

Tomorrow is the beginning of Fall Semester.

I had a nice long summer vacation, and now it's time to focus on work. I'm so lucky to have a long vacation... It made me lazy, and not want to work... That would be crazy to not have to work. hahaha.

I love working with youth and with students. It's an interesting balance to have time off and time focused on work...

I have two classes on Mondays. Three classes on Tuesdays. One class on Wednesdays. Two classes on Thursdays. Two classes on Fridays. I have seven different classes. It will be another challenging semester, but I'm looking forward to it. It will go by fast...

What will I do after? So far I'm thinking about moving somewhere on the West coast, specifically in the Seattle area. We'll see.... Who knows where life goes...

Okinawan Adventure

Naminoue Beach, Naha, Okinawa 

REHAB with my fellow Fellows

Cape Maeda

Aharen Beach, Tokashiki Island

はいさい = Hello in Okinawa! (females word)

One week of beaches, swimming, feasting, relaxing, and sunshine!

Okinawa is truly an amazing place to visit. I love love love beaches and sunshine.

I flew on Vanilla Airlines.  It's a small airline company that flies to about 5 places! Naha is one of those places.  Roundtrip was about 17000¥, which is about 170USD.  Not bad at all!!!

There is not a big railway system on the main island (Okinawa Honto). There is a monorail.

Upon arrival we rode the monorail to Asahibashi and then walked to the hotel.

The hotel was near Naminoue Beach, Kokusai Dori, AND suprisingly the Redlight District. :O

oops!!! It was interesting to be near it, but I didn't see anything too risqué.

On Saturday, Sep. 6 it was a rainy day. We didn't do much, but luckily it wasn't rainy the rest of the trip.  On Sunday we headed north to Cape Maeda. It was a stunning view. It was low tide so we walked around the tide pools. There were plenty of people snorkeling. We wanted a beach to swim at.

So... we walked to a nearby resort and swam on their private beach and ate lunch there as well!!!

Prices were displayed in USD!! That was also surprising... AND the exchange rate wasn't bad either.

One of the best parts of the trip was Aharen Beach.  It's located on Tokashiki Island.  Tokashiki Island is about a 35 minute Marine Liner boat ride.  The ferry is slower and cheaper, but we were doing a day trip and wanted to get there quicker!  We left around 9:00am and spent most of the morning on the beach.  The water at the beach was a crystal blue that I've never seen before, and it was absolutely breath-taking! We were curious about Tokashiku Beach because there are sea turtles there, but there are no buses to that beach! So we attempted to walk, but luckily was offered a ride by a generous man name Hiroki!  He dropped us off at the beach and went on his way.  It was less crowded than Aharen.  No luck with any turtle sightings.  Afterwards we made our trek back to Aharen Beach... an uphill hike... AND once again... we were lucky enough to get a ride from another driver... It was my first time hitch hiking!! AND I'm grateful it was a safe experience on a small island with friendly people.

The last few days were spent at a resort that was isolated on a smaller "island" near the airport.  It had super nice hot springs, buffet breakfast, and 2 saunas.  It was one of the most relaxing hotels I have been in.  Okinawa was a great trip!!!! I would recommend it to anyone.  I think it would be great to stay at other islands around Okinawa as well. There is a lot to see and do throughout the Honto Island, and there are other islands to explore that are not far from it as well. 

This trip was more than I could ask for before I start my last semester at TIU.

Time to get back to WORK!!!! :)