I had my last day of classes today. I didn't realize that that would hit me until I was leaving, and I got mobbed for goodbye handshakes, and one girl, who didn't pay attention all semester almost started crying. It was really nice, and I almost started crying too. It's hard, because there's no way I can communicate to the graduating grade threes that it's been nice... they don't understand when I try to say it! Oh well, I hope it's understood.
I'm going to Mokpo tonight to see King Kong with Rodrigo. I'm pretty excited, I think that it will be really good. It seems like such a spectacle, that even if the movie plot is no good (which it undoubtedly will be), it should still be interesting to watch.
Tomorrow I wil be heading to Seoul. I booked my tickets today on the train. I took the most expensive line (about $4 more), but it goes 300 kmk per hour! Cool!
Alright, that's it for now, I have to get stuff ready.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Monday, December 26, 2005
More Pictures
Here's Rodrigo, on Christmas Eve, leaning out his second story window, and bellowing "Jessie" at the top of his lungs and waving a Canadian flag. He did get her attention, although she couldn't tell which direction the bellowing was coming from.
Well, just in case you forgot, here's a little reminder from the Seoul Eye Clinic. Yep, Jesus Loves You. I really don't know why it's in english, considering their target audience speaks and reads Korean. Unless they only want to save the sinning white devils...
This was taken in Mokpo. It was a few weeks ago, after the first snow, a period known in Korea as "Kim-jeung", which refers to the time in early winter when they make enough kimch'i to last the whole winter. So that means that every elevator and stairwell will reak like kimch'i. So, there was huge amounts of cabbage everywhere.
This is some questionnable artwork that I drew on the board at the girl's school. I was trying to illustrate the difference between playing a trick and performing a trick. Well...
This speaks for itself.Random Thoughts - sorry veggies.
I feel maybe I was too hard on the veggies. I'd rather clarify than edit... so here we go.
They were being weird about us eating meat, but after dinner, they were great folks. Real great.
Okay, so that's done.
Direct quote from Jessie the other day:
"Korean love to give me gum. Especially the mildly retarded ones."
So, they really have no way to deal with the snow here. At first I thought maybe it was just a lack of readiness, but I have since realized that it has more to do with the fact that there is just nothing to do with it. There are no wide shoulders to push the snow onto. If you want snow out of your store's walkway, the only place to put it is onto the road. Now, you have the added bonus of a speedbump that will be frozen in place for up to a month.
Not to mention that this is the most snow they have received in between 11 and 65 years, depending on who you are talking to. According to the international Herald Tribune, one region of Korea south of Seoul received 92 inches. That's 7'8"! That is insane!
The schools are still frighteningly cold, all of the time. Here's a tip, Korea. It's called closing the door. I realize that a) insulation is expensive and that b) heating is expensive. But, come one, use what you've got. Close the damned doors. Close the windows. I should not have to yell about closing the door when it only leads into the hallway. Of course, I have to, because all the windows and doors that lead outside are wide open.
Also, I should not seeing steam when I pee. I'm not ice-fishing! Why am I wearing a parka and toque to the bathroom? Same goes for the cafeteria. Am I on a scientific expedition? Am I studying the habits of wolves? No. I am supposed to be teaching. Not learning to use chopsticks with mittens on.
And another thing, while I am going. Clean the damned bathrooms. If you cleaned them properly, you would not have to leave the windows open to air them out. If you left the windows closed, the pipes would not freeze, and I would be able to wash my hands. Also, the girls would be able to properly wash the floors.
When did opening windows ever count as cleaning anyways?
Gah!
They were being weird about us eating meat, but after dinner, they were great folks. Real great.
Okay, so that's done.
Direct quote from Jessie the other day:
"Korean love to give me gum. Especially the mildly retarded ones."
So, they really have no way to deal with the snow here. At first I thought maybe it was just a lack of readiness, but I have since realized that it has more to do with the fact that there is just nothing to do with it. There are no wide shoulders to push the snow onto. If you want snow out of your store's walkway, the only place to put it is onto the road. Now, you have the added bonus of a speedbump that will be frozen in place for up to a month.
Not to mention that this is the most snow they have received in between 11 and 65 years, depending on who you are talking to. According to the international Herald Tribune, one region of Korea south of Seoul received 92 inches. That's 7'8"! That is insane!
The schools are still frighteningly cold, all of the time. Here's a tip, Korea. It's called closing the door. I realize that a) insulation is expensive and that b) heating is expensive. But, come one, use what you've got. Close the damned doors. Close the windows. I should not have to yell about closing the door when it only leads into the hallway. Of course, I have to, because all the windows and doors that lead outside are wide open.
Also, I should not seeing steam when I pee. I'm not ice-fishing! Why am I wearing a parka and toque to the bathroom? Same goes for the cafeteria. Am I on a scientific expedition? Am I studying the habits of wolves? No. I am supposed to be teaching. Not learning to use chopsticks with mittens on.
And another thing, while I am going. Clean the damned bathrooms. If you cleaned them properly, you would not have to leave the windows open to air them out. If you left the windows closed, the pipes would not freeze, and I would be able to wash my hands. Also, the girls would be able to properly wash the floors.
When did opening windows ever count as cleaning anyways?
Gah!
Just to clarify...
Oh college poet man, lounging in the field... you understand me better than I understand myself...
(from www.theonion.com)
(from www.theonion.com)Sunday, December 25, 2005
Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!!
Merry Christmas!!!!
Jessie and I have had a pretty great weekend, but at the same time, a very unconventional one, as far as Christmas weekends go!
Yesterday (Christmas Eve), we went to Mokpo, for a Christmas Party at Rodrigo and Sarah’s place.
Well, more accurately, I went to Kwangju to meet Rodrigo to see King Kong and pick up some chickens for dinner. Unfortunately, the snow from Thursday had melted on Friday and refroze overnight, creating a horrible track that cars had to follow, which was too narrow for buses and led to them being jerked around on the road and bouncing around like crazy. In Naju, it took almost twenty minutes to cover two city blocks, because the car in front of us got stuck four times, in the middle of the street. Then there was gridlock on the highway, because there had been a fender bender. Rodrigo had a similar experience, and we both wound up being about an hour late, so we couldn’t see the movie, which sucked.
We picked out a couple of chickens, got some wine, and took the subway out to the edge of Kwangju. We took the train to Mokpo, which was amazing. It is actually cheaper than the bus, and is a much smoother ride. It also drops us very close to their apartment, so it was very convenient.
Anyways, we got into Mokpo, got to the apartment, and the festivities began. Jessie got there a little later, more than a little lost, but luckily Rodrigo has a big voice and managed to yell her in the right direction when she called. A picture of Rodrigo yelling out into the street, attempting to get Jessie’s attention with a Canadian flag will be coming soon.
We started drinking soon after that, and the night got progressively more fun from there. We got dinner ready, I had brought some cabbage casserole, with meat separated for the sake of all the vegetarians. There was mashed potatoes, the chickens, some great tofu stirfry (seriously great!) and salad. And of course… more wine!
We had a great dinner, with the exception of some griping of the vegetarians… which led to some griping from the meat-eaters.
Here’s the night’s dinner conversation, as I remember it (vegetarians are in italics):
“Wow, this chicken is incredibly strange! It tastes like ham!”
“Yeah, it’s crazy! It’s really good though!”
“Is that what it looks like? Does it not have any bones? It looks so strange!”
“Wow, this is delicious!”
“Meat disgusts me!”
“How can you eat that!”
“This tofu stirfry is great!” (meat-eater speaking)
“Seriously, how can chicken taste like this? It’s bizarre, how much it tastes like ham!”
“Would you stop going on about the meat?”
“It’s just really strange how much it tastes like ham. It’s good though!”
“Do you know how they harvest chickens?”
“It’s so inhumane how they are raised, I don’t know how you eat it!”
“I’m just saying it’s good…”
(At this point, Jessie leads the meat eaters in loud “mmm-ing”, “top of the food chain”-ing and just commenting on how amazing meat is until everyone moves on)
Seriously, why is it that vegetarians feel they should tell us again and again about why eating meat is wrong, and about how disgusting it is that I eat meat when I don’t even comment on their vegetarianism. I even went out of the way to prepare a dish that was vegan so that they could eat it without any problems. And yet, I can’t comment on how good the bizarre chicken-ham is without infringing on their vegetarianism.
After dinner, we sat around and had some camembert with home-made apple sauce and reminisced, and drank more wine. A girl named Jodie was there, and she had brought a cribbage board. It was her Christmas tradition to play cribbage with her grandfather, and he had recently passed away. I was the only one who knew how to play, so I was picked. Not that it mattered, because when she asked if anyone wanted to play, my hand shot up so fast I would have decapitated anyone else who tried to play. It was a lot of fun, and I think she had a good time playing. She was really missing her grandfather, I think, and kept making comments about things he had taught her and how her grandfather probably owed my grandfather something (because I beat her). It was a lot of fun.
Jessie and Shona picked up their game of throwing things into other things that they had started at the UNESCO camp. Not having any oranges and Pringles cans, they went with corks and cups, and eventually went with the more drunk-friendly “throwing playing cards onto a flat cushion” game.
We laughed so much, it was a really good night.
We all drank a lot, especially me. I didn’t even realize it, somehow me mug just kept getting filled with more wine.
Then we went to bed. Jessie and I slept on a floor mat in the TV room. The floor heating was on, which meant that we woke up in the middle of the night in the middle of a burning inferno. I got up to turn it off, or down, and realized really quickly just how much I had drank a few hours earlier. I mashed the thermostat buttons until a light went off, assumed I had vanquished the foe and went back to sleep. It seemed to work, because the room got cooler after that. It worked a little too well, unfortunately, and I wound up turning off the heat for the whole apartment… so it got a little cool for Rodrigo and Sarah.
This morning I woke up, turned to Advil to get rid of my first-ever Christmas hangover, and went out to the kitchen, where Rodrigo was beginning to make breakfast. I tried to whip the cream for about thirty minutes (I may be exaggerating, but I don’t know) but I just couldn’t. We had crepes and more ham-chicken. Delicious.
I feel very twenty-something this Christmas. TV twenty-something.
And now, we are sitting at home, working/procrastinating, because we have 20 lesson plans each due on Tuesday.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Jessie and I have had a pretty great weekend, but at the same time, a very unconventional one, as far as Christmas weekends go!
Yesterday (Christmas Eve), we went to Mokpo, for a Christmas Party at Rodrigo and Sarah’s place.
Well, more accurately, I went to Kwangju to meet Rodrigo to see King Kong and pick up some chickens for dinner. Unfortunately, the snow from Thursday had melted on Friday and refroze overnight, creating a horrible track that cars had to follow, which was too narrow for buses and led to them being jerked around on the road and bouncing around like crazy. In Naju, it took almost twenty minutes to cover two city blocks, because the car in front of us got stuck four times, in the middle of the street. Then there was gridlock on the highway, because there had been a fender bender. Rodrigo had a similar experience, and we both wound up being about an hour late, so we couldn’t see the movie, which sucked.
We picked out a couple of chickens, got some wine, and took the subway out to the edge of Kwangju. We took the train to Mokpo, which was amazing. It is actually cheaper than the bus, and is a much smoother ride. It also drops us very close to their apartment, so it was very convenient.
Anyways, we got into Mokpo, got to the apartment, and the festivities began. Jessie got there a little later, more than a little lost, but luckily Rodrigo has a big voice and managed to yell her in the right direction when she called. A picture of Rodrigo yelling out into the street, attempting to get Jessie’s attention with a Canadian flag will be coming soon.
We started drinking soon after that, and the night got progressively more fun from there. We got dinner ready, I had brought some cabbage casserole, with meat separated for the sake of all the vegetarians. There was mashed potatoes, the chickens, some great tofu stirfry (seriously great!) and salad. And of course… more wine!
We had a great dinner, with the exception of some griping of the vegetarians… which led to some griping from the meat-eaters.
Here’s the night’s dinner conversation, as I remember it (vegetarians are in italics):
“Wow, this chicken is incredibly strange! It tastes like ham!”
“Yeah, it’s crazy! It’s really good though!”
“Is that what it looks like? Does it not have any bones? It looks so strange!”
“Wow, this is delicious!”
“Meat disgusts me!”
“How can you eat that!”
“This tofu stirfry is great!” (meat-eater speaking)
“Seriously, how can chicken taste like this? It’s bizarre, how much it tastes like ham!”
“Would you stop going on about the meat?”
“It’s just really strange how much it tastes like ham. It’s good though!”
“Do you know how they harvest chickens?”
“It’s so inhumane how they are raised, I don’t know how you eat it!”
“I’m just saying it’s good…”
(At this point, Jessie leads the meat eaters in loud “mmm-ing”, “top of the food chain”-ing and just commenting on how amazing meat is until everyone moves on)
Seriously, why is it that vegetarians feel they should tell us again and again about why eating meat is wrong, and about how disgusting it is that I eat meat when I don’t even comment on their vegetarianism. I even went out of the way to prepare a dish that was vegan so that they could eat it without any problems. And yet, I can’t comment on how good the bizarre chicken-ham is without infringing on their vegetarianism.
After dinner, we sat around and had some camembert with home-made apple sauce and reminisced, and drank more wine. A girl named Jodie was there, and she had brought a cribbage board. It was her Christmas tradition to play cribbage with her grandfather, and he had recently passed away. I was the only one who knew how to play, so I was picked. Not that it mattered, because when she asked if anyone wanted to play, my hand shot up so fast I would have decapitated anyone else who tried to play. It was a lot of fun, and I think she had a good time playing. She was really missing her grandfather, I think, and kept making comments about things he had taught her and how her grandfather probably owed my grandfather something (because I beat her). It was a lot of fun.
Jessie and Shona picked up their game of throwing things into other things that they had started at the UNESCO camp. Not having any oranges and Pringles cans, they went with corks and cups, and eventually went with the more drunk-friendly “throwing playing cards onto a flat cushion” game.
We laughed so much, it was a really good night.
We all drank a lot, especially me. I didn’t even realize it, somehow me mug just kept getting filled with more wine.
Then we went to bed. Jessie and I slept on a floor mat in the TV room. The floor heating was on, which meant that we woke up in the middle of the night in the middle of a burning inferno. I got up to turn it off, or down, and realized really quickly just how much I had drank a few hours earlier. I mashed the thermostat buttons until a light went off, assumed I had vanquished the foe and went back to sleep. It seemed to work, because the room got cooler after that. It worked a little too well, unfortunately, and I wound up turning off the heat for the whole apartment… so it got a little cool for Rodrigo and Sarah.
This morning I woke up, turned to Advil to get rid of my first-ever Christmas hangover, and went out to the kitchen, where Rodrigo was beginning to make breakfast. I tried to whip the cream for about thirty minutes (I may be exaggerating, but I don’t know) but I just couldn’t. We had crepes and more ham-chicken. Delicious.
I feel very twenty-something this Christmas. TV twenty-something.
And now, we are sitting at home, working/procrastinating, because we have 20 lesson plans each due on Tuesday.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Snow Day 2
So, tomorrow is another snow day.
There was a blizzard today, the students were sent home after lunch.
It kept going all day.
And now, there will be no school or work tomorrow. Pretty sweet.
I can't believe that this has happened twice, considering that most teacher's couldn't even remember it ever happening before!
There was a blizzard today, the students were sent home after lunch.
It kept going all day.
And now, there will be no school or work tomorrow. Pretty sweet.
I can't believe that this has happened twice, considering that most teacher's couldn't even remember it ever happening before!
Frustration
So, the movie thing was not so good an idea, it turned out.
First off, in spite of promises made to me, there was NOT a DVD player in every classroom. So, the first five or ten minutes of every grade one class was spent sending a kid to get a DVD player, then, getting someone from another class to set it up for us, because somehow, in every class, no-one knew how to set it up.
The second grade one class, that is very low-level except for No Kyeong-min, went particularly poorly. First of all, I couldn't give Kyeong-min his certificate, because he got sick and went home the period before our class. Then, I tried to explain that the whole class did not do so well in the contest, but that Kyeong-min had earned them enough bonus points to get them second place. Well, I'm not even sure that they knew that they had won. Or that they did well. Or that there was even a contest.
The movie, once playing, was okay. I stopped it periodically, and gave them prizes for telling me about the movie so far.
Then, this afternoon, we had the meeting with Mrs Lee, and my coteachers. Man, that was not so great. We basically sat there while Mrs Lee debated what was going to happen at the camps we would work at. I should mention that this debate took place in Korean, with much pointing and gesturing...
Anyways, the worst part of it was that we were only told TODAY that our 20 classes a week with these kids would actually be four classes a day with the same kids! Why would they not tell us that sooner? That is 20 hours of lessons in one week! Mrs Lee told me long ago that the camp we would have 20 classes a week, four a day. But she never mentioned that they would be the same kids for four classes in a row. Why would they not just say that we would be teaching one four-hour class a day?
It's crazy! That is a LOT of time to spend with kids who can BARELY speak any english.
First off, in spite of promises made to me, there was NOT a DVD player in every classroom. So, the first five or ten minutes of every grade one class was spent sending a kid to get a DVD player, then, getting someone from another class to set it up for us, because somehow, in every class, no-one knew how to set it up.
The second grade one class, that is very low-level except for No Kyeong-min, went particularly poorly. First of all, I couldn't give Kyeong-min his certificate, because he got sick and went home the period before our class. Then, I tried to explain that the whole class did not do so well in the contest, but that Kyeong-min had earned them enough bonus points to get them second place. Well, I'm not even sure that they knew that they had won. Or that they did well. Or that there was even a contest.
The movie, once playing, was okay. I stopped it periodically, and gave them prizes for telling me about the movie so far.
Then, this afternoon, we had the meeting with Mrs Lee, and my coteachers. Man, that was not so great. We basically sat there while Mrs Lee debated what was going to happen at the camps we would work at. I should mention that this debate took place in Korean, with much pointing and gesturing...
Anyways, the worst part of it was that we were only told TODAY that our 20 classes a week with these kids would actually be four classes a day with the same kids! Why would they not tell us that sooner? That is 20 hours of lessons in one week! Mrs Lee told me long ago that the camp we would have 20 classes a week, four a day. But she never mentioned that they would be the same kids for four classes in a row. Why would they not just say that we would be teaching one four-hour class a day?
It's crazy! That is a LOT of time to spend with kids who can BARELY speak any english.
A week of playing movies and calling it a lesson.
So, classes are almost finished for the year.
I find it so strange that I work for four months, and then get two months of payed holidays.
I mean, the work isn't even that hard. The only hard part is the frustration over unmotivated students/unmotivated coworkers/communication difficulties/cultural difficulties (in the form of nosiness/pushiness mostly).
I mean, planning conversation classes aren't very difficult, because all you need is an idea, and you can move the target based on how the class reacts once you're going. Just go and... converse! Also, bring some candies. Making it funny helps too.
So, the contest that I had at the boys' school culminates this week with candies and movies. I don't think the boys ever caught on to the fact that the contest was completely bogus. I kept score for one week, so I would have numbers to show if anyone asked. But then I stopped completely! Basically, first place went to the class I liked the best, who seemed to try every week. And everyone else will still get to watch a movie, even though I told them that if they lost they would have to do pushups and laps in the field.
The only kink in the whole plan is a boy named No Kyeong-min. This kid tried so hard. He talked to me almost every day, invited me to his house (which I couldn't find because of the lack of street signs) and even tried to teach me some Korean words! So, even though his class was pretty dead-beat, they will be declared second because of his effort. And, I made him a special certificate as a reward. Marks and awards are a big drive for him, so this should make him and his family very happy.
Anyways, I should get back to party plans.
Watching National Treasure is educational, right?!
I find it so strange that I work for four months, and then get two months of payed holidays.
I mean, the work isn't even that hard. The only hard part is the frustration over unmotivated students/unmotivated coworkers/communication difficulties/cultural difficulties (in the form of nosiness/pushiness mostly).
I mean, planning conversation classes aren't very difficult, because all you need is an idea, and you can move the target based on how the class reacts once you're going. Just go and... converse! Also, bring some candies. Making it funny helps too.
So, the contest that I had at the boys' school culminates this week with candies and movies. I don't think the boys ever caught on to the fact that the contest was completely bogus. I kept score for one week, so I would have numbers to show if anyone asked. But then I stopped completely! Basically, first place went to the class I liked the best, who seemed to try every week. And everyone else will still get to watch a movie, even though I told them that if they lost they would have to do pushups and laps in the field.
The only kink in the whole plan is a boy named No Kyeong-min. This kid tried so hard. He talked to me almost every day, invited me to his house (which I couldn't find because of the lack of street signs) and even tried to teach me some Korean words! So, even though his class was pretty dead-beat, they will be declared second because of his effort. And, I made him a special certificate as a reward. Marks and awards are a big drive for him, so this should make him and his family very happy.
Anyways, I should get back to party plans.
Watching National Treasure is educational, right?!
Bogus Meetings
Today, I have a bogus meeting.
Jessie and I have been asking to meet to discuss our student camps for a few weeks now. Why meet to discuss the camps? Mainly because we have no idea on who we are teaching, what the expectation are, what is involved...
So, we finally have a meeting today at 3pm. Which is not so good, because teacher camp start for Jessie next week, so she has very little time to plan for her student camp in two weeks. I'll have a few days to plan. But most of the planning will be done on the train... to Seoul.
Anyways, we found out that our coteachers, who will not be at camp with us, will be coming to the meeting. Why? No-one knew for sure, and until yesterday, no-one would even admit that it was weird for them to attend a meeting regarding something that they were not involved in... not that I worded it like that when I said it.
Well, yesterday, Mr Lee told me that my coteachers were coming because they are supposed to be giving suggestions on how to improve the english program.
I'm a little worried, because I am afriad that in spite of the fact that I asked on a very regular basis what they thought of what I was doing, and how they thought I might improve my classes, that those suggestions will come out for the first time in a meeting with the program supervisor.
I'm nervous about it. I'm also scared that they will say I'm perfect, because I think I need some constructive feedback.
Well, that's all for now.
Jessie and I have been asking to meet to discuss our student camps for a few weeks now. Why meet to discuss the camps? Mainly because we have no idea on who we are teaching, what the expectation are, what is involved...
So, we finally have a meeting today at 3pm. Which is not so good, because teacher camp start for Jessie next week, so she has very little time to plan for her student camp in two weeks. I'll have a few days to plan. But most of the planning will be done on the train... to Seoul.
Anyways, we found out that our coteachers, who will not be at camp with us, will be coming to the meeting. Why? No-one knew for sure, and until yesterday, no-one would even admit that it was weird for them to attend a meeting regarding something that they were not involved in... not that I worded it like that when I said it.
Well, yesterday, Mr Lee told me that my coteachers were coming because they are supposed to be giving suggestions on how to improve the english program.
I'm a little worried, because I am afriad that in spite of the fact that I asked on a very regular basis what they thought of what I was doing, and how they thought I might improve my classes, that those suggestions will come out for the first time in a meeting with the program supervisor.
I'm nervous about it. I'm also scared that they will say I'm perfect, because I think I need some constructive feedback.
Well, that's all for now.
Monday, December 19, 2005
Good weekend!
This weekend was very welcome!
It had been a really busy week. Regular school stuff, plus all this:
Monday: TOO MUCH SNOW! I had about half an inch caked on me on all sides when I arrived home after a twenty minute walk.
Tuesday: UNESCO dinner in Kwangju, featuring a performance by Jessie and I, ate up entire night.
Wednesday: Had to go to Mokpo to update our address information on our Alien Resident Card so that we can register to vote. Pretty much all night again.
Thursday: Snow again, piano lessons and Korean lessons are cancelled. Lazy night, only one of the week.
Friday: Jessie has a meeting in Kwangju, I meet her to do some Christmas/grocery shopping/browsing.
And that is the story of how I missed a whole week of piano lessons straight. I still can't believe that happened! But I'm back to it tonight.
Anyways, Saturday was a definitive lazy day. We had planned on taking a walk, but there were near white-out conditions half the time, and we couldn't even see accross the street! So, no thanks. If I wanted that I'd have stayed in Canada. I actually made it out for about half an hour during one of the breaks in the storm (which was still pretty snowy). I took a new road I haven't been down yet, and it made me realize that there are whole areas of this tiny little town that I haven't even explored yet! So, I have a lot of work to do during the holidays.
On Sunday, we went to Sarah and Rodrigo's for lunch and a book exchange. It was a good lunch, with hamburger patties (a delicacy I haven't had since Canada!) and a sweet potatoe soup that came out a surprising green shade and tasted almost like ginger-pudding. It was not what I had expected after hearing "soup" but it was still pretty good!
It was really refreshing to hang out with some foreigners for a while, and we of course, ranted for a while about Korea, watched some creepy Korean Christmas music videos for children (one featuring a Christmas bat-demon that gave everyone bombs for Christmas, only to receive his comeuppance from a boxing glove-in-the-box).
Jessie and I headed out for more shopping (coteacher presents) and quickly realized that we had no idea where we were, or where to catch a cab. So, we started walking. We had a really nice walk along the sea-shore (kind of) walking by the fish-mongers (which Jessie pointed out was one of the few times she could correctly use the word) and little market stalls. It was kind of the Korean experience I had envisioned before coming, which I had been missing in our tiny tiny town. After about an hour and a half, we finally managed to navigate our way to the E-Mart, and the Pizza Hut that was accross the street. We ate way too much, went shopping, and I spent a ton of money on candy for the party I had promised the boys at the middle school.
And now, it's Monday, and I'm back at my freezing cold english lab, wishing that they had insulated this building. Soon the girls will pour in, and what little heat I have managed to build up in here will be quickly swept out the doors. I may actually teach in my coat today, although I will feel like a dick in a coat and sandals.
It had been a really busy week. Regular school stuff, plus all this:
Monday: TOO MUCH SNOW! I had about half an inch caked on me on all sides when I arrived home after a twenty minute walk.
Tuesday: UNESCO dinner in Kwangju, featuring a performance by Jessie and I, ate up entire night.
Wednesday: Had to go to Mokpo to update our address information on our Alien Resident Card so that we can register to vote. Pretty much all night again.
Thursday: Snow again, piano lessons and Korean lessons are cancelled. Lazy night, only one of the week.
Friday: Jessie has a meeting in Kwangju, I meet her to do some Christmas/grocery shopping/browsing.
And that is the story of how I missed a whole week of piano lessons straight. I still can't believe that happened! But I'm back to it tonight.
Anyways, Saturday was a definitive lazy day. We had planned on taking a walk, but there were near white-out conditions half the time, and we couldn't even see accross the street! So, no thanks. If I wanted that I'd have stayed in Canada. I actually made it out for about half an hour during one of the breaks in the storm (which was still pretty snowy). I took a new road I haven't been down yet, and it made me realize that there are whole areas of this tiny little town that I haven't even explored yet! So, I have a lot of work to do during the holidays.
On Sunday, we went to Sarah and Rodrigo's for lunch and a book exchange. It was a good lunch, with hamburger patties (a delicacy I haven't had since Canada!) and a sweet potatoe soup that came out a surprising green shade and tasted almost like ginger-pudding. It was not what I had expected after hearing "soup" but it was still pretty good!
It was really refreshing to hang out with some foreigners for a while, and we of course, ranted for a while about Korea, watched some creepy Korean Christmas music videos for children (one featuring a Christmas bat-demon that gave everyone bombs for Christmas, only to receive his comeuppance from a boxing glove-in-the-box).
Jessie and I headed out for more shopping (coteacher presents) and quickly realized that we had no idea where we were, or where to catch a cab. So, we started walking. We had a really nice walk along the sea-shore (kind of) walking by the fish-mongers (which Jessie pointed out was one of the few times she could correctly use the word) and little market stalls. It was kind of the Korean experience I had envisioned before coming, which I had been missing in our tiny tiny town. After about an hour and a half, we finally managed to navigate our way to the E-Mart, and the Pizza Hut that was accross the street. We ate way too much, went shopping, and I spent a ton of money on candy for the party I had promised the boys at the middle school.
And now, it's Monday, and I'm back at my freezing cold english lab, wishing that they had insulated this building. Soon the girls will pour in, and what little heat I have managed to build up in here will be quickly swept out the doors. I may actually teach in my coat today, although I will feel like a dick in a coat and sandals.
Friday, December 16, 2005
That is just crazy.
So, I keep forgetting to write about one hilarious thing. But I remembered today!
Okay, this story actually took place during the Mrs Kang days, in early September.
One day, Jessie and I were sitting in our then-new apartment, in Yeongshin. It was really really hot that day. We had no air conditioning, so I had a pot filled with ice and a bittle bit of water set up so that the cool water could cool the air blowing over it. I actually managed to lower the temperature of the room about two or three degrees, which was awesome. We had the windows closed to keep the hot out, and the room just kept getting cooler and cooler.
Mrs Kang came by, and started her usual move around the apartment to make sure we were doing things correctly. The rice was not being cooked properly (on the stove, rather than the rice cooker), I was cooking the meat wrong (not using Korean spices and sauces) and she took over, forcefully.
Then she saw the windows were closed.
Dear sweet Jesus, she freaked. Panicked, slapped my hand when I tried to explain why they were closed.
They were quickly opened, and the room, of course, became disgustingly hot again.
I didn't really understand why. Then, at camp, I was told about the Korean belief in something called "Fan Death".
Let me break it down for you:
You are in a room, and it is very hot. You put the fan on, and close the windows, and lie down to relax. You do relax, not realizing that your room has become a room of death.
The fan is quietly setting up a killer vortex, that carries oxygen upward in a spiral, leaving you to suffocate as you lie on the couch.
Yikes! No wonder Mrs Kang panicked! She thought I was committing suicide!
Anyways, I was reminded of this by a posting I was reading on www.eslcafe.com. It was from a discussion on Korean students versus American students.
There's a lot of quantity (Korean) versus quality (Canadian/American) debate, and it's interesting.
Here's the one that got me thinking: (by "cruisemonkey")
Think about this - most Ks with an undergraduate degree, in essence, have only a high school education. For passing the university entrance exams, they are rewarded with a four-year vacation and graduate with no ability to critically analyse anything (or apply logic in a new or unfamilliar situation)... hell, they truely believe in fan death. I love it!
I don't know enough to comment on the whole education "problem" here, but they do work really hard, and sometimes you can't really see any results.
Of course, it might be relating to the fact that many of the english teachers on eslcafe don't appear to be able to write or spell correctly. Just something I've noticed...
Okay, this story actually took place during the Mrs Kang days, in early September.
One day, Jessie and I were sitting in our then-new apartment, in Yeongshin. It was really really hot that day. We had no air conditioning, so I had a pot filled with ice and a bittle bit of water set up so that the cool water could cool the air blowing over it. I actually managed to lower the temperature of the room about two or three degrees, which was awesome. We had the windows closed to keep the hot out, and the room just kept getting cooler and cooler.
Mrs Kang came by, and started her usual move around the apartment to make sure we were doing things correctly. The rice was not being cooked properly (on the stove, rather than the rice cooker), I was cooking the meat wrong (not using Korean spices and sauces) and she took over, forcefully.
Then she saw the windows were closed.
Dear sweet Jesus, she freaked. Panicked, slapped my hand when I tried to explain why they were closed.
They were quickly opened, and the room, of course, became disgustingly hot again.
I didn't really understand why. Then, at camp, I was told about the Korean belief in something called "Fan Death".
Let me break it down for you:
You are in a room, and it is very hot. You put the fan on, and close the windows, and lie down to relax. You do relax, not realizing that your room has become a room of death.
The fan is quietly setting up a killer vortex, that carries oxygen upward in a spiral, leaving you to suffocate as you lie on the couch.
Yikes! No wonder Mrs Kang panicked! She thought I was committing suicide!
Anyways, I was reminded of this by a posting I was reading on www.eslcafe.com. It was from a discussion on Korean students versus American students.
There's a lot of quantity (Korean) versus quality (Canadian/American) debate, and it's interesting.
Here's the one that got me thinking: (by "cruisemonkey")
Think about this - most Ks with an undergraduate degree, in essence, have only a high school education. For passing the university entrance exams, they are rewarded with a four-year vacation and graduate with no ability to critically analyse anything (or apply logic in a new or unfamilliar situation)... hell, they truely believe in fan death. I love it!
I don't know enough to comment on the whole education "problem" here, but they do work really hard, and sometimes you can't really see any results.
Of course, it might be relating to the fact that many of the english teachers on eslcafe don't appear to be able to write or spell correctly. Just something I've noticed...
Thursday, December 15, 2005
A little notice is all that I ask
I found out TODAY that I only have one week of classes left.
Which would be fine, if I had not been banking on having two weeks of class left. I was lazy about my lessons today, and just did more describing, because I was under the impression that I had two weeks left! I had one week for the tie-together lesson, and one week for a fun/prize lesson.
Sadly, that is not the case.
Also, last week, I was told that I would not have grade one or two classes this week.
Well, the bell rang for fourth period today, and I was told "Oh, it's time to go to class!"
Wait, I was under the impression that I had no grade ones or twos this week. This is a grade two class!
"No, just no grade ones or twos yesterday!"
But you said...
"Yesterday. Let's go!"
I am forced to assume that she assumed I had a lesson ready.
Nope.
I had some pictures on a CD, so we looked at them. And when they said something that surprised me, they got a candy.
Really, that's a great conversation lesson right there. For real. I'm just lucky that I had some pictures, the computer was working (rare) and that I didn't panic. But it could have been better!
Today is Thursday, which means that it is time for my weekly meeting with Mrs Lee to trade Korean/English tutoring, but really for her to tell me untrue things about my contract and for me to correct her, and for her to tell me things about Jessie's job and what she is expected to do that I have no business commenting on, and that I have repeatedly told her that she should really speak to Jessie about, and she never does. That was a run-on sentence.
Anyways, SukGyeong asked me if I was going to meet her. I said "I assume so, I have been e-mailing her about camp, and she hasn't said that she was busy or anything."
I really should know better. SukGyeong insisted that I should call her, and I was informed that she would be leaving for a business trip shortly. Nevermind that we meet at the same time every week. Never mind that I sent her an angry e-mail after she missed our meeting for the third time two weeks ago. Nevermind that her response was that she would always let me know if she had to cancel so I didn't waste my time walking out there.
I'm just so angry, because I complained about it, and the response I got from SukGyeong was "She is very busy, so it is your job to call her".
But I'm not the one who is cancelling. It should be the job of the person who is changing plans to contact someone to let them know that changes are being made. I shouldn't ahve to call and ask "So that thing we agreed to before is still what is happening? I mean, I assume it is, because I haven't heard anything to the contrary, but as the participant who has changed nothing, I feel it is my responsibility to find out if maybe you wanted to make a change."
What the hell?
Anyways, they are kind of insignificant examples, but it's pretty much constant around here that things will change and that you will not be notified. By the way, you will now have twice as many classes today and none tomorrow. By the way, your out of control class will have to be handled next week without your coteacher to do discipline, even though it is apparently illegal.
Anyways... I'm on a rant, and feeling a little bitter right now.
But our hamster is still incredibly cute! (There we go... back to the happy place)
Which would be fine, if I had not been banking on having two weeks of class left. I was lazy about my lessons today, and just did more describing, because I was under the impression that I had two weeks left! I had one week for the tie-together lesson, and one week for a fun/prize lesson.
Sadly, that is not the case.
Also, last week, I was told that I would not have grade one or two classes this week.
Well, the bell rang for fourth period today, and I was told "Oh, it's time to go to class!"
Wait, I was under the impression that I had no grade ones or twos this week. This is a grade two class!
"No, just no grade ones or twos yesterday!"
But you said...
"Yesterday. Let's go!"
I am forced to assume that she assumed I had a lesson ready.
Nope.
I had some pictures on a CD, so we looked at them. And when they said something that surprised me, they got a candy.
Really, that's a great conversation lesson right there. For real. I'm just lucky that I had some pictures, the computer was working (rare) and that I didn't panic. But it could have been better!
Today is Thursday, which means that it is time for my weekly meeting with Mrs Lee to trade Korean/English tutoring, but really for her to tell me untrue things about my contract and for me to correct her, and for her to tell me things about Jessie's job and what she is expected to do that I have no business commenting on, and that I have repeatedly told her that she should really speak to Jessie about, and she never does. That was a run-on sentence.
Anyways, SukGyeong asked me if I was going to meet her. I said "I assume so, I have been e-mailing her about camp, and she hasn't said that she was busy or anything."
I really should know better. SukGyeong insisted that I should call her, and I was informed that she would be leaving for a business trip shortly. Nevermind that we meet at the same time every week. Never mind that I sent her an angry e-mail after she missed our meeting for the third time two weeks ago. Nevermind that her response was that she would always let me know if she had to cancel so I didn't waste my time walking out there.
I'm just so angry, because I complained about it, and the response I got from SukGyeong was "She is very busy, so it is your job to call her".
But I'm not the one who is cancelling. It should be the job of the person who is changing plans to contact someone to let them know that changes are being made. I shouldn't ahve to call and ask "So that thing we agreed to before is still what is happening? I mean, I assume it is, because I haven't heard anything to the contrary, but as the participant who has changed nothing, I feel it is my responsibility to find out if maybe you wanted to make a change."
What the hell?
Anyways, they are kind of insignificant examples, but it's pretty much constant around here that things will change and that you will not be notified. By the way, you will now have twice as many classes today and none tomorrow. By the way, your out of control class will have to be handled next week without your coteacher to do discipline, even though it is apparently illegal.
Anyways... I'm on a rant, and feeling a little bitter right now.
But our hamster is still incredibly cute! (There we go... back to the happy place)
Monday, December 12, 2005
How to improve english education in Korea
SPEAK ENGLISH!
When attempting to teach english, it is important that you speak english. Your students will better understand the verb "open" if they are told to "open" their books. This will also greatly aid them in their use of the possessive.
Shockingly, teaching vocabulary without putting it in a sentence, or even using it outside of saying "policeman" doesn't mean that kids will remember it. An english class should be, as a rule, at least 50% english. As a rule. If I (as a native speaker) can't understand what is happening in an english class, there is a problem.
LOSE THE DIALOGUES RECORDED BY PEOPLE WHO CAN'T SPEAK ENGLISH.
I realize that Korea does not have enough english teachers who know how to speak english, and that hiring native speakers to teach every class in Korea would lead to no native speakers anywhere else in the world. So you need to have english taught sometimes by people who have no english knowledge outside of the textbook's teachers' edition tells them to say. That is fine. You have recordings of dialogues to go along with them, to teach the pronunciation and intonation and fill in the gaps left by a teacher who is out of their element.
But here's an idea: How about you use dialogues recorded by people who can speak english? It seems groundbreaking, I know.
Running listen and repeat exercises based on these recordings is so useless, it makes my fingernails hurt. I don't even have nerves in my fingernails, people! Not only that, they might as well have me come in and teach Korean pronunciation. That is about equivalent. I swear, if I didn't have the dialogue in front of me, I wouldn't understand what they were talking about half of the time.
If I hear one more kid say "Do YOU like KIMCH'I?!" with horrible pronunciation and intonation that is PERFECTLY modelled on their instructional tapes, I will stick a pencil deep within my ear until the pain goes away.
And, by the way, no. I lied before. I hate kimch'i now.
When attempting to teach english, it is important that you speak english. Your students will better understand the verb "open" if they are told to "open" their books. This will also greatly aid them in their use of the possessive.
Shockingly, teaching vocabulary without putting it in a sentence, or even using it outside of saying "policeman" doesn't mean that kids will remember it. An english class should be, as a rule, at least 50% english. As a rule. If I (as a native speaker) can't understand what is happening in an english class, there is a problem.
LOSE THE DIALOGUES RECORDED BY PEOPLE WHO CAN'T SPEAK ENGLISH.
I realize that Korea does not have enough english teachers who know how to speak english, and that hiring native speakers to teach every class in Korea would lead to no native speakers anywhere else in the world. So you need to have english taught sometimes by people who have no english knowledge outside of the textbook's teachers' edition tells them to say. That is fine. You have recordings of dialogues to go along with them, to teach the pronunciation and intonation and fill in the gaps left by a teacher who is out of their element.
But here's an idea: How about you use dialogues recorded by people who can speak english? It seems groundbreaking, I know.
Running listen and repeat exercises based on these recordings is so useless, it makes my fingernails hurt. I don't even have nerves in my fingernails, people! Not only that, they might as well have me come in and teach Korean pronunciation. That is about equivalent. I swear, if I didn't have the dialogue in front of me, I wouldn't understand what they were talking about half of the time.
If I hear one more kid say "Do YOU like KIMCH'I?!" with horrible pronunciation and intonation that is PERFECTLY modelled on their instructional tapes, I will stick a pencil deep within my ear until the pain goes away.
That's all. It's an easy, two-step program.
And, by the way, no. I lied before. I hate kimch'i now.
The December album comes out.
Everybody! Listen up.
Put on your boots, a toque, a parka if you have one, get in your car, and go buy "Love is Hell" by Ryan Adams.
For two years now, this album has defined December. The mood is absolutely right for the weather, and I have a permanent image of falling snow in my eyes as I listen to it.
There is large corn snow falling right now, making me hope and pray for another snow day tomorrow, which actually seems very very possible. The corn snow made me think of the album, which made me think of gently falling corn snow illuminated by my headlights driving down a long winter road. And more.
I am so blissful right now.
I also just received the following e-mail from a student. Which student? You got me. I teach about 600 of them and only know about 7 names.
Hello,
How have you been?
I was happy to learn English with you in this period.
Today we have a final test, so we will finish earlier than other day.
I can't enter your class. I am sorry to say that.
I think maybe today's class is final.
We will meet next year. I hope you will enjoy Chrismas and happy New year.
I am looking forward to seeing you next year.
Bye bye 2005.12.12
The student's name roughly translates to CheungIm Cheung. No idea whatsoever. Sorry kid. I can't read your name tags. They're IN KOREAN. Thanks for the e-mail though. Odds are, I enjoyed teaching you too. You seem nice.
Put on your boots, a toque, a parka if you have one, get in your car, and go buy "Love is Hell" by Ryan Adams.
For two years now, this album has defined December. The mood is absolutely right for the weather, and I have a permanent image of falling snow in my eyes as I listen to it.
There is large corn snow falling right now, making me hope and pray for another snow day tomorrow, which actually seems very very possible. The corn snow made me think of the album, which made me think of gently falling corn snow illuminated by my headlights driving down a long winter road. And more.
I am so blissful right now.
I also just received the following e-mail from a student. Which student? You got me. I teach about 600 of them and only know about 7 names.
Hello,
How have you been?
I was happy to learn English with you in this period.
Today we have a final test, so we will finish earlier than other day.
I can't enter your class. I am sorry to say that.
I think maybe today's class is final.
We will meet next year. I hope you will enjoy Chrismas and happy New year.
I am looking forward to seeing you next year.
Bye bye 2005.12.12
The student's name roughly translates to CheungIm Cheung. No idea whatsoever. Sorry kid. I can't read your name tags. They're IN KOREAN. Thanks for the e-mail though. Odds are, I enjoyed teaching you too. You seem nice.
Friday, December 09, 2005
More turn-arounds
I had the worst class yet today.
The elementary class that always gives me problems. The teacher, no surprise, did not stick around. The class was the usual chaos of no-one paying attention, this time with a few new little problems thrown into the mix.
The elementary class that always gives me problems. The teacher, no surprise, did not stick around. The class was the usual chaos of no-one paying attention, this time with a few new little problems thrown into the mix.
- A group of students were making and throwing darts at eachother. They were taking feathers and thumbtacks, removing the push part of the pins, and wiring them together. Then, launching them at eachother.
- Another group was passing notes. I doubt this is anything new. But I caught it today for the first time. AND, it was the Ryus' daughter, so it complicated matters a little more. I took the note from her, and I said "What's this?"
She said "A note".
I said "Oh, can I read it to the classroom then?"
She said "It's just a math problem."
I said "Maybe your parents could help!"
She was quiet for the rest of class
Excellent. Blackmail. - The same loud kid as every other week. Yeah, once again, he just wouldn't shut up. I can move him, and he just yells to his friends. I make him sit in the corner, he yells. I make him kneel, he writes on the wall so his friends can read it. Later, he and his friends picked up the darts making-thing too.
So, it sucked. But I finally figured out what to do. I had written the answers to the questions I had asked on the board. The answer seemed obvious. Lines. Lots of lines.
I told them to write out everything on the board into their notebooks. WHen the loud kid finished first (man, was I surprised), I said"Do it again!". I made them keep writing for almost twenty minutes.
They were quiet, they were doing english, and I was not freaking out. It was the greatest thing ever.
Eventually they asked if they could stop, and I said they could stop when their teacher got back.
What happened next explained a LOT about that class.
The teacher was 12 minutes late. I asked "Is your teacher late?", and they all replied "He is always late".
Right. That's why.
No wonder your class is full of terrors. You don't respect the rules at all either. What an idiot.
When he finally arrived, I told him everything that had happened, and showed him the pile of things that I had had to confiscate. I told him that he had to stay to help me keep his class in line from then on. Then I told the coordinator of the english program for the school, to make sure he would. He should be, anyways.
Then I had lunch. It was great. They love their pork cutlets here.
My last class was great. Complete turnaround on my day. They were good, we played charades, and they did really well! We even skipped part of the lesson (repeating after a horribly pronounced primer tape) for the game.
At the end of class, someone pulled out a camera, and they all rushed over to me for pictures, and they were hugging me and shaking my hand, and it was great. It totally erased my hate for elementary school students that the other class always seems to inspire.
Seriously, it was so great, I almost started crying just writing about it.
Then, this guy who keeps talking to me at the school invited me to tea. It turns out he is one of the senior administrators there. We had great tea. And he was really nice, although our lack of knowledge of eachothers' languages meant the conversation was not exactly riveting.
That's all for now. I'm going to eat some chips and enjoy a James Bond movie, which is currently on OCN, the number one station.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Semi-illicit escape
So, I have moved my Korean/English tutoring time with Mrs Lee at the county office from 5:00 pm to 2:00 pm so that it does not conflict with my piano lessons.
A few weeks ago I spoke to my coteacher SukGyeong about leaving early when I have no classes. It doesn't take a lot of time to plan conversational classes, and most of my time at school is spent reading or writing e-mails/blog entries. They know that too, I don't hide it.
She said it would probably be possible from time to time.
Today is a test.
I have already okayed with her that I will leave at two to go see Mrs Lee. I did not say when I would return, and she did not say for me to return. I have bills to pay. I'm going to ask if I can just leave after my meeting to go pay bills.
It'll be about an hour extra off from yesterday. I really do have to pay bills, and I usually wind up doing that during school hours anyways. It sounds really lazy, but really, I do my planning at home, on my computer, which is in english.
It's not lazy, it's just me not wanting to sit around for all day every day doing nothing relevant at school. I want to do that at home.
If it works, perhaps she will just say that I don't ever have to come back after my meetings. (not fired, just free on Thursdays)
Wish me luck.
A few weeks ago I spoke to my coteacher SukGyeong about leaving early when I have no classes. It doesn't take a lot of time to plan conversational classes, and most of my time at school is spent reading or writing e-mails/blog entries. They know that too, I don't hide it.
She said it would probably be possible from time to time.
Today is a test.
I have already okayed with her that I will leave at two to go see Mrs Lee. I did not say when I would return, and she did not say for me to return. I have bills to pay. I'm going to ask if I can just leave after my meeting to go pay bills.
It'll be about an hour extra off from yesterday. I really do have to pay bills, and I usually wind up doing that during school hours anyways. It sounds really lazy, but really, I do my planning at home, on my computer, which is in english.
It's not lazy, it's just me not wanting to sit around for all day every day doing nothing relevant at school. I want to do that at home.
If it works, perhaps she will just say that I don't ever have to come back after my meetings. (not fired, just free on Thursdays)
Wish me luck.
More good news
Last night, Jessie and I practiced singing "Silent Night".
I am supposed to do one solo song next week at the UNESCO dinner, but Jessie is coming, and I would much rather do something with her.
I forget a lot just how beautiful her voice is. She doesn't sing nearly enough (in my opinion), in my opinion, and I am glad that she has decided to sing with me on Tuesday.
She has a real gift for finding harmonies. We ran through the song about five or ten times and it is really sounding beautiful. She kept changing things and asking which I liked better. I really have no ear for harmony, so all I hear is "right" or "not right". It all sounded right to me.
I think it will be really good. I am very excited about it.
That's all for now.
I am supposed to do one solo song next week at the UNESCO dinner, but Jessie is coming, and I would much rather do something with her.
I forget a lot just how beautiful her voice is. She doesn't sing nearly enough (in my opinion), in my opinion, and I am glad that she has decided to sing with me on Tuesday.
She has a real gift for finding harmonies. We ran through the song about five or ten times and it is really sounding beautiful. She kept changing things and asking which I liked better. I really have no ear for harmony, so all I hear is "right" or "not right". It all sounded right to me.
I think it will be really good. I am very excited about it.
That's all for now.
Discipline Situation
Yesterday I was having a really good day.
My classes were going wonderfully, and I was allowed to leave early to go home because of the weather. Sweet!
On the way home though, I came accross a snowball fight. Harmless fun, I thought.
But when I got closer, I realized that it wasn't a snowball fight so much as four kids whipping ice chunks from very very close range at one kid who was just standing there trying to protect his face.
When I got close, they hugged him, trying to hide the fact that his face was cut up and that he was bawling.
I yelled at them, ineffectively, because they could not understand me. Then, they tried to guide me away, presumably, so they could resume the beating. I didn't leave. I made them leave. But they hung out at the corner, waiting for the kid. The poor guy.
He was really embarassed, and he crossed the street without me to avoid a group of other boys from the school. He was still crying, so it was understandable.
I kept an eye on him and the other boys, to make sure that they didn't follow him, and then I walked home. I don't have any ability to discipline anyone, so all I can do is pass it on.
Anyways, today, I did. The boys did not know though, and nothing happened until after second period.
This led to the greatest first period on a Thursday yet. The two boys who are always causing trouble were on extra good behaviour today. I think they were a little scared of me even. This compounded any effect I had left over from last week when I flipped and stormed out of class.
They were cooperative. They answered questions. They shushed their classmates! It was great.
Second period was good as always.
Third period, I picked out the boys from their school photos, which was hard, because for some of the boys,the photos were several years old.
When I came back to the office after fourth period, they were all kneeling in the office. Unfortunately, kneeling in my direction, which is a little awkward. Oh well, they deserved it.
It turns out though that they may have gone too far, but only a bit, and not unprovoked. They were picking on that boy because he had tried to defend his classmates by throwing a big ice ball at them! They didn't like that, and neither did his classmates, so they all ganged up on him afterwards. So, it wasn't unprovoked, but definitely still overkill.
My classes were going wonderfully, and I was allowed to leave early to go home because of the weather. Sweet!
On the way home though, I came accross a snowball fight. Harmless fun, I thought.
But when I got closer, I realized that it wasn't a snowball fight so much as four kids whipping ice chunks from very very close range at one kid who was just standing there trying to protect his face.
When I got close, they hugged him, trying to hide the fact that his face was cut up and that he was bawling.
I yelled at them, ineffectively, because they could not understand me. Then, they tried to guide me away, presumably, so they could resume the beating. I didn't leave. I made them leave. But they hung out at the corner, waiting for the kid. The poor guy.
He was really embarassed, and he crossed the street without me to avoid a group of other boys from the school. He was still crying, so it was understandable.
I kept an eye on him and the other boys, to make sure that they didn't follow him, and then I walked home. I don't have any ability to discipline anyone, so all I can do is pass it on.
Anyways, today, I did. The boys did not know though, and nothing happened until after second period.
This led to the greatest first period on a Thursday yet. The two boys who are always causing trouble were on extra good behaviour today. I think they were a little scared of me even. This compounded any effect I had left over from last week when I flipped and stormed out of class.
They were cooperative. They answered questions. They shushed their classmates! It was great.
Second period was good as always.
Third period, I picked out the boys from their school photos, which was hard, because for some of the boys,the photos were several years old.
When I came back to the office after fourth period, they were all kneeling in the office. Unfortunately, kneeling in my direction, which is a little awkward. Oh well, they deserved it.
It turns out though that they may have gone too far, but only a bit, and not unprovoked. They were picking on that boy because he had tried to defend his classmates by throwing a big ice ball at them! They didn't like that, and neither did his classmates, so they all ganged up on him afterwards. So, it wasn't unprovoked, but definitely still overkill.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Turnaround.
So, I had my low-level trouble grade one class today.
I finally have found their level.
Screw sentences. These kids need to be taught with words.
Single words.
Put two together, lose half of the class. Three words together, you now have an audience of four.
So, today, back to opposites.
The matching game, the way I played it as a kid. Match words. Not questions and answers.
So, I feel good.
Also, the kid who I tried to kick out of class last week was pretty cordial with me today, so hopefully that is a sign that there are no hard feelings.
That's all for now.
I finally have found their level.
Screw sentences. These kids need to be taught with words.
Single words.
Put two together, lose half of the class. Three words together, you now have an audience of four.
So, today, back to opposites.
The matching game, the way I played it as a kid. Match words. Not questions and answers.
So, I feel good.
Also, the kid who I tried to kick out of class last week was pretty cordial with me today, so hopefully that is a sign that there are no hard feelings.
That's all for now.
Memories of Kingston
I was walking down what should have been the sidewalk this morning, and I couldn't help but think of the many winter mornings that I had at Queen's.
The common thread is that both Korea and Queen's apparently lack the technology to plough sidewalks. It's understandable here, they have no ploughs. The recent snowfall was apparently an act of God, the biggest in the last 65 years. But Queen's? Come on now.
Sweet, sweet memories.
I also received an offical invitation to the UNESCO dinner today that I was "volunteered" to attend and entertain at about a month back. After my performance at the camp, the organizers were apparently so impressed, they decided to arrange transport and permissions for me to leave school early at attend their dinner in Kwangju before they even notified me. Well, they did a good job of eliminating any excuses, if it had been my intention to decline I would have been out of luck, with absolutely no way out.
But, I am more than happy to preform, luckily for them. They asked me to prepare one song with the other Canadians, two myself, and two more for "encores".
Then I recieved this e-mail:
Dear Mr. Matt Amond,
There is some change about your performance.
Your group will last show up on the stage. Mr. Park asked two group songs and one solo. All of your Canadian group will sing a carol song first, and you will do your solo with the rest of Canadians on the stage, and finally all of you will sing "Silent night and Holy Night"
This is his scheme. Could you please do this?
This would be fine, if it didn't volunteer the whole group now. Me, fine, but putting the whole group on stage and making them actual hymns is a little much. I misinterpreted it to mean "Silent Night" and "O Holy Night", which is much harder than the single request of "Silent Night" that I think they meant. But it's still a tall order for a motley crew with no time to practice. I'm going to suggest the group do "Jingle Bells" and maybe "Frosty the Snowman" or "Winterwonderland", because no-one will physically hurt us if we mangle those. They're fun songs!
It's frustrating, because the plan changes so much, and they seem to forget that these things take time to prepare. Oh well, hopefully it will all work out. Jessie and I are working to make "Silent Night" a solo for just the two of us. Hopefully that will work out.
Well, that's all for now.
The common thread is that both Korea and Queen's apparently lack the technology to plough sidewalks. It's understandable here, they have no ploughs. The recent snowfall was apparently an act of God, the biggest in the last 65 years. But Queen's? Come on now.
Sweet, sweet memories.
I also received an offical invitation to the UNESCO dinner today that I was "volunteered" to attend and entertain at about a month back. After my performance at the camp, the organizers were apparently so impressed, they decided to arrange transport and permissions for me to leave school early at attend their dinner in Kwangju before they even notified me. Well, they did a good job of eliminating any excuses, if it had been my intention to decline I would have been out of luck, with absolutely no way out.
But, I am more than happy to preform, luckily for them. They asked me to prepare one song with the other Canadians, two myself, and two more for "encores".
Then I recieved this e-mail:
Dear Mr. Matt Amond,
There is some change about your performance.
Your group will last show up on the stage. Mr. Park asked two group songs and one solo. All of your Canadian group will sing a carol song first, and you will do your solo with the rest of Canadians on the stage, and finally all of you will sing "Silent night and Holy Night"
This is his scheme. Could you please do this?
This would be fine, if it didn't volunteer the whole group now. Me, fine, but putting the whole group on stage and making them actual hymns is a little much. I misinterpreted it to mean "Silent Night" and "O Holy Night", which is much harder than the single request of "Silent Night" that I think they meant. But it's still a tall order for a motley crew with no time to practice. I'm going to suggest the group do "Jingle Bells" and maybe "Frosty the Snowman" or "Winterwonderland", because no-one will physically hurt us if we mangle those. They're fun songs!
It's frustrating, because the plan changes so much, and they seem to forget that these things take time to prepare. Oh well, hopefully it will all work out. Jessie and I are working to make "Silent Night" a solo for just the two of us. Hopefully that will work out.
Well, that's all for now.
Pictures!
This is the sunrise yesterday from our window. 
This is me at my piano lesson, playing "Jingle Bells".
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Snow Day! The aftermath.
Yesterday was a snow day.
It wound up snowing almost a foot, and as there are no ploughs here, apparently, school was cancelled. So Jessie and I wound up with a day off.
We were awoken around 9:40 (it was a day off) by the ringing of our phone. The oldest daughter of our Korean tutoring-family was on the phone, asking us to come outside and play. We said we would need some time. We met them at 10:30.
Having still not eaten, we went outside for some playing. There were about ten kids outside. It quickly turned into a game of "pelt the foreigner", and within fifteen minutes, I had had enough of the snowball fight game. This was announced by me screaming as I backed up a staircase so that no-one could get behind me.
After that, things were a little calmer, although I still got nailed in the face a few times by a kid who was a little too into the game and did not realize that it had ended.
After that, we tried to make a snowman, but the snow was too heavy to make any decent big snowballs. So, I held it, and they handed me smaller snowballs, which I pounded into the big one to make it bigger. Then, once it was big enough, I hoisted it over my head and chased the kids around with it.
The rest of the morning involved picking up kids and dropping them into snow drifts, and throwing big snowballs off the top of the parking garage, to the delight to the now about 35 kids who had gathered.
Then I got nailed in the face again, and decided it was time to go in.
We had more midnight pasta, and some refired garlic mashed potatoes, and of course, coffee and hot chocolate.
By then, the buses were running again, so I headed to Kwangju for what was to be the most expensive day of the whole adventure so far.
I bought a digital camera. I wanted to get a digital SLR in Korea, but I have learned that they aren't actually any cheaper here. Plus, all the controls will be in Korean, so I will be just as well off to wait until I get home and can actually talk to a salesperson about it.
The camera I got is by Samsung, it has 5 MP, 3x optical zoom, 2.8x digital zoom, a huge LCD screen, and many settings, including a safety flash, which sounded pretty cool in online reviews. It was almost $400, but I got them to throw in a memory chip for free, so I still felt thrifty. I guess I am thrifty anyways, since I researched it at home first.
I also bought a 50L backpack (that expands to 60L) for our trip to Thailand. 50L should be more than enough space for our stuff, and some souvenirs. And, it'll allow more backpacking in the future. It was about $160 after some discounts.
Then I got home for more midnight pasta. As you can see, we take our Atkins very seriously.
It wound up snowing almost a foot, and as there are no ploughs here, apparently, school was cancelled. So Jessie and I wound up with a day off.
We were awoken around 9:40 (it was a day off) by the ringing of our phone. The oldest daughter of our Korean tutoring-family was on the phone, asking us to come outside and play. We said we would need some time. We met them at 10:30.
Having still not eaten, we went outside for some playing. There were about ten kids outside. It quickly turned into a game of "pelt the foreigner", and within fifteen minutes, I had had enough of the snowball fight game. This was announced by me screaming as I backed up a staircase so that no-one could get behind me.
After that, things were a little calmer, although I still got nailed in the face a few times by a kid who was a little too into the game and did not realize that it had ended.
After that, we tried to make a snowman, but the snow was too heavy to make any decent big snowballs. So, I held it, and they handed me smaller snowballs, which I pounded into the big one to make it bigger. Then, once it was big enough, I hoisted it over my head and chased the kids around with it.
The rest of the morning involved picking up kids and dropping them into snow drifts, and throwing big snowballs off the top of the parking garage, to the delight to the now about 35 kids who had gathered.
Then I got nailed in the face again, and decided it was time to go in.
We had more midnight pasta, and some refired garlic mashed potatoes, and of course, coffee and hot chocolate.
By then, the buses were running again, so I headed to Kwangju for what was to be the most expensive day of the whole adventure so far.
I bought a digital camera. I wanted to get a digital SLR in Korea, but I have learned that they aren't actually any cheaper here. Plus, all the controls will be in Korean, so I will be just as well off to wait until I get home and can actually talk to a salesperson about it.
The camera I got is by Samsung, it has 5 MP, 3x optical zoom, 2.8x digital zoom, a huge LCD screen, and many settings, including a safety flash, which sounded pretty cool in online reviews. It was almost $400, but I got them to throw in a memory chip for free, so I still felt thrifty. I guess I am thrifty anyways, since I researched it at home first.
I also bought a 50L backpack (that expands to 60L) for our trip to Thailand. 50L should be more than enough space for our stuff, and some souvenirs. And, it'll allow more backpacking in the future. It was about $160 after some discounts.
Then I got home for more midnight pasta. As you can see, we take our Atkins very seriously.
Sunday, December 04, 2005
SNOW DAY!
So, there is the most amazing thing happening.
It snowed all day. All day long. There must be about ten inches of snow right now!
I was starting to wonder what was going to happen tomorrow, in terms of a possible "Snow Day".
I e-mailed Ee Minahn (Mr Lee), asking if teachers would be goign to school if school was cancelled, and if school would be cancelled. It was pretty clear that school would be cancelled, since I have yet to see a single plough out on the streets.
And then the announcement came over the PA:
Blablablablabla... "hakkyo" blablablablabalbalbal... "hakksang"... blablablablabla... "Nay-eel"
ie - school, students, tomorrow.
I officially have a snow day. The first snowfall of the year. And it stayed all day, and continued all day. I never thought I would see this in Korea. Rock on.
It snowed all day. All day long. There must be about ten inches of snow right now!
I was starting to wonder what was going to happen tomorrow, in terms of a possible "Snow Day".
I e-mailed Ee Minahn (Mr Lee), asking if teachers would be goign to school if school was cancelled, and if school would be cancelled. It was pretty clear that school would be cancelled, since I have yet to see a single plough out on the streets.
And then the announcement came over the PA:
Blablablablabla... "hakkyo" blablablablabalbalbal... "hakksang"... blablablablabla... "Nay-eel"
ie - school, students, tomorrow.
I officially have a snow day. The first snowfall of the year. And it stayed all day, and continued all day. I never thought I would see this in Korea. Rock on.
A day in Kwangju
Yesterday, we went to Kwangju with Sarah and Rodrigo, and Shona, who was also from the camp a few weeks ago. It was a lot of fun! I was on fellow-foreigner overload, so I apologize to anyone hurt by the high velocity actions of my mouth.
Seriously, I was giddy.
We met at the Starbucks at noon. From there we headed to a travel agent called "Blue Travel". There, Jessie and I were happy to learn that our flights for our vacation (To Bangkok, one internal from ChiangMai to Phuket, and then out of Phuket) will cost us about half of what we had found using english search engines. Not exactly surprising, considering that those mostly led us back to Canadian travel agents. Locals get better prices! Duh! So that's really good news! Now we have a lot more money to travel with, and it won't eat all of our savings to go!
We went to a Thai restaurant next, and it made us all realize just how horrible Korean food is. Well, maybe it's not horrible, just horribly repetitive. Not everything has to be cooked with the same two spices, Korea!
Anyways, it also made Jessie and I really excited for the trip to Thailand, because Thai food, when it's not being incredibly too hot to eat (as I've heard that it can be), is delicious! My meal came served in a pine apple! How do you beat that?
After that we went to Hyundai mart, which is another pricy up-scale department store with groceries in the basement. We made fun of a bunch of stuff, most of which was horribly translated english. Or, it was correct engish, but totally strange stuff, such as this ketchup bottle with a garbled quote from an old advertisement (picture to come).
I looked at a few more packs too, for our trip to Thailand/future backpacking adventures, and I decided on one by berghaus, which seems pretty good, and the onine reviews are also very positive. It is also about $100 cheaper than the only one that I have found that seems any better, so that's all the better.
Then we headed to a theatre for our real goal of the day: to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It was good. That is, good if you have read the book. If you did not read the book, don't bother going to see it. You will be so lost, and nothing will make sense. Jessie put it best when she said "It's like ilustrations for the book". You will get the general idea of what was happening, but you'll constantly be wondering "What was that? Why is that significant?".
Bottom line: Most reviewers are apparently too wrapped up in the sexual content and violence of the film to realize that most people who watched the movie will understand nothing. And a special note to the reviewer s who said it flew by:
Seriously, I was giddy.
We met at the Starbucks at noon. From there we headed to a travel agent called "Blue Travel". There, Jessie and I were happy to learn that our flights for our vacation (To Bangkok, one internal from ChiangMai to Phuket, and then out of Phuket) will cost us about half of what we had found using english search engines. Not exactly surprising, considering that those mostly led us back to Canadian travel agents. Locals get better prices! Duh! So that's really good news! Now we have a lot more money to travel with, and it won't eat all of our savings to go!
We went to a Thai restaurant next, and it made us all realize just how horrible Korean food is. Well, maybe it's not horrible, just horribly repetitive. Not everything has to be cooked with the same two spices, Korea!
Anyways, it also made Jessie and I really excited for the trip to Thailand, because Thai food, when it's not being incredibly too hot to eat (as I've heard that it can be), is delicious! My meal came served in a pine apple! How do you beat that?
After that we went to Hyundai mart, which is another pricy up-scale department store with groceries in the basement. We made fun of a bunch of stuff, most of which was horribly translated english. Or, it was correct engish, but totally strange stuff, such as this ketchup bottle with a garbled quote from an old advertisement (picture to come).
I looked at a few more packs too, for our trip to Thailand/future backpacking adventures, and I decided on one by berghaus, which seems pretty good, and the onine reviews are also very positive. It is also about $100 cheaper than the only one that I have found that seems any better, so that's all the better.
Then we headed to a theatre for our real goal of the day: to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It was good. That is, good if you have read the book. If you did not read the book, don't bother going to see it. You will be so lost, and nothing will make sense. Jessie put it best when she said "It's like ilustrations for the book". You will get the general idea of what was happening, but you'll constantly be wondering "What was that? Why is that significant?".
Bottom line: Most reviewers are apparently too wrapped up in the sexual content and violence of the film to realize that most people who watched the movie will understand nothing. And a special note to the reviewer s who said it flew by:
IT FELT EXACTLY LIKE TWO AND A HALF HOURS.
We left the theatre and goofed off for a bit. Then Jessie and I got worried, because we weren't sure about the buses in Kwangju, so it may have been a good idea to leave early in case the buses stopped running. To save on hotel costs, you know?
Anyways, we got to the bus station around 8:45, and found out that we had over an hour before the last bus. So, we had another coffee at Starbucks. And Jessie bought chocolate-covered espersso-beans. It was her first adventure with them, and love won out over entertainment, so I warned her to take it easy, since she was simultaneously getting a latte.
We decided on midnight spaghetti for dinner. When we got home, I started cutting tomatoes and mushrooms. And hour and a half later, we had midnight spaghetti. Way too much, too. It was a night of lying on our sides because we were so full.
Of course, Jessie had her first coffee-related jitters. She had some shaking from the beans and latte combo. So, it was a late, full night. Delicious, delicious fullness.
It was a really really good day. I had so much fun
Friday, December 02, 2005
Sensory Overload.
I really feel bad for our hamster.
All day, it sleeps. It is in a blissful state of peaceful calm.
And then I come home.
The first thing I usually do is plug my iPod into the speakers and crank it.
Then, I pop something into the microwave for a snack (like a melted chocolate bar to eat with bananas, or some ramien). So, the microwave is beeping.
Then I start the kettle to make some tea or coffee. So there's some whirring and buzzing from the kettle.
Then I usually start to sing along with whatever is on the iPod. Sometimes, I just sing, indifferent to what is on the iPod.
Then, the TV goes on on the way to turn off them iPod.
Then, the computer turns on, and the laptop fans start whirring, and the clicking of typing begins.
This will usually last about half an hour, until Jessie gets home.
Then she repeats everything but the music on the iPod.
That poor, poor hamster.
All day, it sleeps. It is in a blissful state of peaceful calm.
And then I come home.
The first thing I usually do is plug my iPod into the speakers and crank it.
Then, I pop something into the microwave for a snack (like a melted chocolate bar to eat with bananas, or some ramien). So, the microwave is beeping.
Then I start the kettle to make some tea or coffee. So there's some whirring and buzzing from the kettle.
Then I usually start to sing along with whatever is on the iPod. Sometimes, I just sing, indifferent to what is on the iPod.
Then, the TV goes on on the way to turn off them iPod.
Then, the computer turns on, and the laptop fans start whirring, and the clicking of typing begins.
This will usually last about half an hour, until Jessie gets home.
Then she repeats everything but the music on the iPod.
That poor, poor hamster.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Lost it!
Today, I lost it.
I was playing a game, and it was going pretty well with my first grade three class of the day.
This one kid, a friend of the one who regularly drives me crazy, who also regularly drives me crazy, was talking the whole time.
I let it go for a while, but then I started staring him down, and stopping the class until he shut up, which actually works pretty well.
The game ended, and I started describing what we would be doing next week, which is describing "things". He started repeating everything I said under his breath in a mocking tone, and started to shake his head and mumble to his friend. I told him to be quiet. I asked him to be quiet. I stared him down. He would stop, and the instant I started talking again, he would start too. Finally I asked him to leave. I just said "Listen, you should just go. Just leave now", and I pointed at the door.
Then he said sorry. Then he pretended to cry. I didn't see any tears, but he said "teacher sorry" and then said "tears".
Then he started talking again.
I just closed my book and left. I said "I am done for today" and I walked out.
I was told after that the student was honestly sorry, and that he had just been asking his friend what "describing" meant. I refuse to believe that, because he had been talking through the whole class, and repeating most of what I said in the class in a sing-song voice.
I left, but there was only about 45 seconds left of class anyways. In truth, I had expected the game to last all class, and killed about three minutes with a preview of next week.
Luckily, my second grade three class was awesome, and totally rescued my day! I laughed a lot in class. The reason? One group's english team name was "Team Negro". Seriously, how does that happen?!
I was playing a game, and it was going pretty well with my first grade three class of the day.
This one kid, a friend of the one who regularly drives me crazy, who also regularly drives me crazy, was talking the whole time.
I let it go for a while, but then I started staring him down, and stopping the class until he shut up, which actually works pretty well.
The game ended, and I started describing what we would be doing next week, which is describing "things". He started repeating everything I said under his breath in a mocking tone, and started to shake his head and mumble to his friend. I told him to be quiet. I asked him to be quiet. I stared him down. He would stop, and the instant I started talking again, he would start too. Finally I asked him to leave. I just said "Listen, you should just go. Just leave now", and I pointed at the door.
Then he said sorry. Then he pretended to cry. I didn't see any tears, but he said "teacher sorry" and then said "tears".
Then he started talking again.
I just closed my book and left. I said "I am done for today" and I walked out.
I was told after that the student was honestly sorry, and that he had just been asking his friend what "describing" meant. I refuse to believe that, because he had been talking through the whole class, and repeating most of what I said in the class in a sing-song voice.
I left, but there was only about 45 seconds left of class anyways. In truth, I had expected the game to last all class, and killed about three minutes with a preview of next week.
Luckily, my second grade three class was awesome, and totally rescued my day! I laughed a lot in class. The reason? One group's english team name was "Team Negro". Seriously, how does that happen?!
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