Thank you, Mr. Gilmore

All of my students must be so grateful to have me as a teacher because I’ve received so many “thank you” notes. OKAY, really, I actually assigned “thank you” notes to all of the first graders. Their notes needed to include a proper heading, greeting, body, closing, and signature. These young, imaginative children created wonderful (and hilarious) notes. I received several drawings and well-decorated envelopes using lots of tape and stickers (and one using tissues).

Here are a few of the notes and drawings for Mr. Gilmore:

(edit: Sorry for the low quality of pictures. I'm still working on getting a better camera out here.)

(EDIT: I got a new camera. I've uploaded the notes at a better quality and added a few more. Check 'em out!)

"He is very foreign"

For those of you who are unaware, I graduated from Hillsdale College in May with a degree in marketing. Being very busy with school, track, work and senioritis left little time to think about what I was going to do when my college career came to an end. Fortunately, my sister and her husband have been working at a hagwon (학원) in Seoul, South Korea, and were told that, since they had such a good reputation, if anyone they knew wanted a position he could have it. Without being able to study abroad during college I jumped at the opportunity to see a different part of the world while making money. So without further ado....

Greetings from Seoul!

I was expecting to say that at the beginning of August, but the teacher I replaced had to return to America sooner than she thought, so the school asked me to come out a month earlier. Having one less month to prepare than anticipated was quite shocking. I didn’t even have time to actually think about what I was getting into since I was so concerned with fitting my life into two suitcases and one backpack. It wasn’t until I was waiting at the gate for my 13-hour flight out of Los Angeles that I realized what a unique, incredible experience I was about to embark on.

I was the only blonde hair, blue-eyed person waiting at the gate... in Los Angeles. Without even leaving the country yet I knew I was entering a part of the world that doesn’t have nearly the same amount of diversity that America has. Even in little, old, WASP-laden Hillsdale it wasn’t out of the ordinary to see some variety in the type of people.

I arrived in Seoul during the evening of June 28th and began working the next day. Upon seeing me for the first time, someone from the Korean staff told my sister, “He is very foreign.” Growing up in suburbia America, I had never considered myself “foreign” but after spending 3 weeks here I most certainly consider myself foreign. Besides being illiterate, mute and catching the occasional glance from an older person or child, I don’t really notice it. These may seem like pretty big obstacles but having Chris and Lauren here helps immensely. Because of them I’ve had a very smooth transition and am really enjoying Korea thus far. I am so grateful for all they have done for me, and I love them so, so much.

"He is very foreign"

For those of you who are unaware, I graduated from Hillsdale College in May with a degree in marketing. Being very busy with school, track, work and senioritis left little time to think about what I was going to do when my college career came to an end. Fortunately, my sister and her husband have been working at a hagwon (학원) in Seoul, South Korea, and were told that, since they had such a good reputation, if anyone they knew wanted a position he could have it. Without being able to study abroad during college I jumped at the opportunity to see a different part of the world while making money. So without further ado....

Greetings from Seoul!

I was expecting to say that at the beginning of August, but the teacher I replaced had to return to America sooner than she thought, so the school asked me to come out a month earlier. Having one less month to prepare than anticipated was quite shocking. I didn’t even have time to actually think about what I was getting into since I was so concerned with fitting my life into two suitcases and one backpack. It wasn’t until I was waiting at the gate for my 13-hour flight out of Los Angeles that I realized what a unique, incredible experience I was about to embark on.

I was the only blonde hair, blue-eyed person waiting at the gate... in Los Angeles. Without even leaving the country yet I knew I was entering a part of the world that doesn’t have nearly the same amount of diversity that America has. Even in little, old, WASP-laden Hillsdale it wasn’t out of the ordinary to see some variety in the type of people.

I arrived in Seoul during the evening of June 28th and began working the next day. Upon seeing me for the first time, someone from the Korean staff told my sister, “He is very foreign.” Growing up in suburbia America, I had never considered myself “foreign” but after spending 3 weeks here I most certainly consider myself foreign. Besides being illiterate, mute and catching the occasional glance from an older person or child, I don’t really notice it. These may seem like pretty big obstacles but having Chris and Lauren here helps immensely. Because of them I’ve had a very smooth transition and am really enjoying Korea thus far. I am so grateful for all they have done for me, and I love them so, so much.

"He is very foreign"