NIIED, Hwachon Elementary, Seoul Tower

Last week we were given a lecture by the National Institute for International Education about English education in Korea and afterwards we took a field trip to a rural elementary school to see what schools outside of the city of Seoul are like and also to observe an English class that was being taught by a U of M alumnus, Brian Lee. The presentation and the school were both very interesting. I was most surprised by the fact that the rural elementary school, which only had 36 total students and consisted of grades kindergarten through sixth, was far better equipped and much nicer than every elementary school that I have seen in the United States. It was also a lot of fun watching the English class being taught by Brian. The kids seemed to be very enthusiastic and were having a lot of fun.

Later that evening, we went to Seoul Tower to have dinner with one of Jennifer's former students, Jae-Hyun. The tower itself was very pretty and not only had a lock bridge like the one in France where couples write their names on a lock and then attached it to the fence, it also had entire steal trees that were covered from top to bottom with locks. It was really cool. The restaurant we ate at was inside the tower and provided a great view of the city, as well as an all-you-can-eat buffet that was full of delicious food. One of my favorite parts about the restaurant was the mens restroom. The urinals, which can be seen below, were positioned so that you could look out over the city while you were there. I thought it was really creative and funny :P

Men's Restroom in Seoul Tower Restaurant