The first thing we did in Seoul was to tour the DMZ on Saturday.
That was a strange experience. It seemed to be almost too light for what may happen, but at the same time taken too seriously. It definitely is serious, but it had a strange feel to it.
We started off at the "Third Tunnel". This was a tunnel dug past the DMZ by North Korea that was apparently capable of moving in about 10 000 troops in under an hour. It was very short (we were given helmets, thankfully) and very jagged. One amazing thing was that it was built at a very gentle but steady angle so that water would not stagnate.
Using the direction of the drill holes for dynamite use, South Korea was able to prove that it had been dug by North Korea, although they deny it. South Korea says they were looking for diamonds or something when they found it.
One funny thing about the tunnel was that the North Korean had apparently rubbed charcoal on the walls in places and then claimed that they had been "digging for coal". Hilarious. It's obviously just rubbed on, you dolts.
They showed us this video that was also strange. It was basically talking about how the DMZ had become the last refuge for wildlife in the Korean peninsula. It made it sound like a magical wonderland, and actually referred to it as "a place we call our home."
Uhh... my home will not have barbed wire and land mines, thank you.
We then went to a few lookout points where you could see the DMZ. The lookouts were less than spectacular, because the weather was not really clear. We got our first glimpse of the North Korean "Propoganda Town", which is a town that is largely uninhabited, but built to look very modern for the benefit of South Korean telescopers. South Korea put up a 100m tall flagpole, so North Korea's Propoganda Town has a huge flag up on a 160m pole.
The bus driver told us about the propoganda that used to be circulated in the past. They used to put music on loudspeakers that would show North Korea what they were missing, popular culture-wise. Then, the North Koreans would play it back, to say "Yeah, well we got that too!" They also posted huge billboards on hillsides with slogans like "South Korea: a paradise" which would get responses like "Americans, go home!"
The actual Joint Security Area, where they hold conferences and such, I guess, was also strange. They have guards positioned so that only half of their body is visible. Like they were going to walk by the building, but didn't quite make it. They choose their biggest, tallest soldiers to stand guard and intimidate the North with the evil eye (literally, only one eye is visible). They stand twenty paces or so away from eachother and stare, and that is their shift. Also, they clench their fists and hold their arms stiffly at their sides.
Inside of the conference area, there is a guard standing between the table and the wall. If you stand on one side of him, you are in North Korea. If you stand on the other, South Korea. You can't walk between him and the table though, because then he is authorized to taekwando you.
And hard.
When South Korea built a new visitor center, North Korea added another floor to theirs so that it would be taller. Oddly enough though, there were not a lot of North Koreans visiting the DMZ to see South Korea. Maybe it's just not their big tourist season right now.
Lunch was also pretty exciting, because it was the first time eating Korean food with Jessie's parents, Ralph and Jackie. They did pretty well... it was pretty hard for Jackie here, because she is vegan, and Koreans like to sneak meat into everything. It's funny, because the portions of meat are very small, they're just in everything. Actually, I think I was the only one to spill anything at that meal, which was not so good, because I had brought only one sweater for the whole vacation. haha.
Okay, that's all for now, but there will be more stuff coming to me once I put pictures up too.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Here's Jackie and Ralph with a man who is surely one of the biggest tourist attractions of the DMZ. This guy stands straight-armed and clenched-fisted directly over the border. He's the one who will take you down if you walk between him and the table. Jackie's in South Korea, Ralph is in North Korea.
Here's Jessie and I at the DMZ. No big story, I just like this picture. This is at an outpost, which are all in sight of eachother. There was a tree that blocked the view from here to another outpost, and once when soldiers tried to cut it down, North Koreans charged the border and a number of soldiers were killed.
This is a South Korean soldier standing guard, facing the border. They used to stand beside the building, facing within their own borders. Then they stood facing eachother in full sight. Now, they stand with half of their body obscured by the building. I imagine it's safer if gun fire broke out, but if someone threw something at them, it would be impossible to catch, because they would not know how far away it was.
Here;s me standing on the guard's left. I'm in North Korea. 
Here's me to the guard's right. That means I'm in South Korea.
Here's Jessie back at the outpost where the other photo was taken. Just over her left shoulder is an old sign that used to be used to mark the DMZ area. 
Here are Jessie and her parents at the outpost. In the background, there is the North Korean propoganda town.
We were walking through the city around City Hall when we returned to Seoul. We were walking by Deoksugong, an old palace. We just happened to be walking by during a reenactment of the changing of the guards. Apparently, many of these guys are doing their compulsory army time by doing these performances. Pretty cool, I think. I'd rather do this. I think.
Here's another picture, same thing. 
As we were walking through Deoksugong, we were hearing this classical music. I figured it was through the PA, because sometimes they pipe in music. When we rounded a corner, we found that it was actually a full orchestra, warming up for a performance of the Seoul Chamber Music Festival. Pretty lucky, and at was a great thing to just stumble on. 
Here's Jessie and her dad walking through Deoksugong. 
This is an amazing picture that Jessie took of lanterns set up for Buddha's birthday in Tapgol Park. This park had the number 2 cultural heritage artifact, which was a ten-foot pagoda. Not ten building stories, but ten pagoda stories. That was another lucky thing we didn't plan. We just wound up being in Seoul for the biggest celebration of the year. 
This is another great picture that Jessie took. This monk was just sitting there, just thinking. 
Here's a lucky picture that I got. I was actually taking a picture of the little carriage being carried by these young men in the background, but just as I was taking it, this beautiful monk stepped in the way. She looks so thoughtful... I am really happy that I caught it. 
Continuing in the lucky streak, the next thing I saw were these young girls, who had clearly just gotten off stage from some performance, or were on their way to a performance. They were very happy to pose for all the foreigners who scrambled to tkae a picture of these super cute little girls in their traditional hangbok. 
Here is the first picture from the parade for Buddha's birthday. We were so lucky, because we did not plan on being there for this, and we just found ourselves in the middle of this giant festival. This picture is of a bunch of women in traditional hangbok. The one in front, with her dress billowing out I really like. It was good to capture. 
Here's a dragon float, carried on the shoulders of a bunch of men. 
Here's Jackie, Jessie and me watching the parade. While we were watching the parade, this woman just came up and handed Jackie this beautiful lantern. What a super souvenir, this lantern that was just handed to you at a huge parade. And it was huge, we watched for about an hour, and it was still going. Just kept going. We wound up leaving, because it actually got to be a bit of a drag, and we were just waiting for the end. 
Here's a rather solemn float, with Buddha driving a taxi that is chasing an animal of some kind, being chased by another animal on a motorcycle and a flame thrower. It actually shot flames too. 
Here's another dragon float. This one actually shot flames, and I was lucky enough to catch the actual flame. 
Here's the Coxes with a couple hundred lanterns in the background.
We went to see this play/performance. It was Korean, but had been on Broadway under the name "Cookin'". Basically, it's about a restaurant, and it's mostly percussion with almost no dialogue. The owner brings in his nephew to be the new cook, but he's a bit of a goof-off, so in a stressful day of cooking, he must prove himself. It was really really good. 
Here's Jackie and Jessie in a park at Jongmyo shrine. 
Here's Jessie stopping to smell the flowers in Jongmyo Shrine. 
Friday, April 28, 2006
Getting ready
Man, today was rough.
I was in such a bad mood... or maybe I was just irritable. I was making people stand (the recommended punishment) all the time, and I made one girl wash all the desktops in the class because I caught her writing on them.
I think it's because I'm going away for a week, and I literally just wanted to get through class. SO little complications became bigger, you know?
Well, then it was over, and I was happy. My coteacher took me downtown to add more minutes to my cellphone which is good. It'll be good to have two operational phones this week.
Why? Because Jessie's parents are coming! They e-mailed last night to let us know that they arrived safely, which is good. Tonight we are taking a train to Seoul to meet them.
After a great deal of fiasco with Jessie's coteacher putting off buying us the tickets until the last minute, today she delivered us tickets to the wrong station in Seoul. This woman is seriously incapable of getting anything right, apparently. Oh well... we have tickets. Luckily the station are on either side of our destination, so we're not too much farther off than we had planned on.
This afternoon, after charging up my cell phone, I returned and readied the apartment. We cleaned most of it last night... but then it got dirty again, somehow. That'll happen, I guess. I also got a haircut, which is good. It was getting too long.
I was just bringing down the garbage and recycling. It is absolutely beautiful out, weather wise. On the way back inside, a girl ran up to me, with a big girn on her face, and just punched me on the arm! I think she was one of the young kids I taught x and o's to a few weeks ago. I hope so, otherwise, it's a hate crime! hahaha.
Okay, I have to go! Gotta catch that bus to Seoul!
Have a good one, all!
I was in such a bad mood... or maybe I was just irritable. I was making people stand (the recommended punishment) all the time, and I made one girl wash all the desktops in the class because I caught her writing on them.
I think it's because I'm going away for a week, and I literally just wanted to get through class. SO little complications became bigger, you know?
Well, then it was over, and I was happy. My coteacher took me downtown to add more minutes to my cellphone which is good. It'll be good to have two operational phones this week.
Why? Because Jessie's parents are coming! They e-mailed last night to let us know that they arrived safely, which is good. Tonight we are taking a train to Seoul to meet them.
After a great deal of fiasco with Jessie's coteacher putting off buying us the tickets until the last minute, today she delivered us tickets to the wrong station in Seoul. This woman is seriously incapable of getting anything right, apparently. Oh well... we have tickets. Luckily the station are on either side of our destination, so we're not too much farther off than we had planned on.
This afternoon, after charging up my cell phone, I returned and readied the apartment. We cleaned most of it last night... but then it got dirty again, somehow. That'll happen, I guess. I also got a haircut, which is good. It was getting too long.
I was just bringing down the garbage and recycling. It is absolutely beautiful out, weather wise. On the way back inside, a girl ran up to me, with a big girn on her face, and just punched me on the arm! I think she was one of the young kids I taught x and o's to a few weeks ago. I hope so, otherwise, it's a hate crime! hahaha.
Okay, I have to go! Gotta catch that bus to Seoul!
Have a good one, all!
Thursday, April 27, 2006
great day
So, aside from the kids not knowing how to read, today was actually a great day.
My last class was good, and revealed further awesomeness AND a dark side to James Park.
I did more review of short and long sounds, and again went through how to turn short sounds into long sounds using e. Pretty exciting stuff. Out came the dark side, when I gave heck to "Mr Dictionary" for the fourth time. He came over, and grabbed his face with his hands. I've seen this before, they're pretty ahnds-on with the old discipline. But then he put the spine of his dictionary against his forehead and then slapped the other side. I felt bad, and Mr Dictionary looked like he was about to cry.
But he didn't. Neither did the three other kids who got "spined".
But they did deserve somthing, there's no doubt. Since detention and expulsion are not allowed here, I guess spining is where it's at.
I also confiscated a tube of white-out, and a couple of improvised crossbows made of automatic pencil lead containers. Pretty ingenious.
As we left classroom, I was saying I felt bad, because in middle school (equivalent) I was pretty disruptive, and for the same reason why kids like Mr Dictionary are disruptive. I was bored, and so are they. The hagwon kids, who already know how to read make up about 2/3 of the trouble makers. And no wonder, I'd be acting up too, because I'd have already taken down the notes, and been almost to the point of being able to teach the class. Just as some of them are!
I showed James Park the little crossbows, and he said they were actually pretty neat. I agreed, and said they must be pretty smart to figure that out. Then he said "They are like that man McGyver on television."
I think I have a soul mate. *sniff*
My last class was good, and revealed further awesomeness AND a dark side to James Park.
I did more review of short and long sounds, and again went through how to turn short sounds into long sounds using e. Pretty exciting stuff. Out came the dark side, when I gave heck to "Mr Dictionary" for the fourth time. He came over, and grabbed his face with his hands. I've seen this before, they're pretty ahnds-on with the old discipline. But then he put the spine of his dictionary against his forehead and then slapped the other side. I felt bad, and Mr Dictionary looked like he was about to cry.
But he didn't. Neither did the three other kids who got "spined".
But they did deserve somthing, there's no doubt. Since detention and expulsion are not allowed here, I guess spining is where it's at.
I also confiscated a tube of white-out, and a couple of improvised crossbows made of automatic pencil lead containers. Pretty ingenious.
As we left classroom, I was saying I felt bad, because in middle school (equivalent) I was pretty disruptive, and for the same reason why kids like Mr Dictionary are disruptive. I was bored, and so are they. The hagwon kids, who already know how to read make up about 2/3 of the trouble makers. And no wonder, I'd be acting up too, because I'd have already taken down the notes, and been almost to the point of being able to teach the class. Just as some of them are!
I showed James Park the little crossbows, and he said they were actually pretty neat. I agreed, and said they must be pretty smart to figure that out. Then he said "They are like that man McGyver on television."
I think I have a soul mate. *sniff*
Wasted time.
So, when you arrive to teach middle school you take a look at the text books and you make certain assumptions beased onwhat you see that the other teachers are teaching. But you're wrong. Why?
The kids can't read.
They seriously can't read at all. And they're "reading" from a text book. Reading with much more complicated words than I tried to teach last semester. Words that had led me to believe that they would understand most of what I threw at them.
I was wrong.
I've been doing phonics for the last few weeks. This is something that Jessie had started doing at her school, and I decided sounded like a good idea. Of course, remembering what I had seen in the text book, I assumed that we would fly right through. I mean, kids who are holding dialogues on different professions will certainly know what sound a 'P' makes, right?
Wrong. Doing phonics finally revealed it to me. The problem is that the kids are basically trained to wait for the hagwon kids to answer a question, and then to repeat whatever they say. Another trick they use is word recognition. Jessie noticed this, and pointed it out to me. Basically, the kids see the first letter, or a shape of a word, and say a word that "looks" the same. So came gets called cat, because they both start with c, and most M words now get called "Matthew". So, if you are constantly hearing repeated correct answers and near misses, you kind of assume that they know what they are doing.
But then you do phonics, assuming that it will take two weeks to review all the rules, and then you can move on to "teaching conversation". Well, I'm going on to week four of phonics now, and all I have covered is long and short vowel sounds, which they still cannot distinguish.
Today I was trying to teach the "vowel consonant e pattern makes a long vowel sound" rule, and it did not go well. "Mat" got called "bat' (word recognition), and so on. It became obvious very very qucikly that they did not understand anything that they were reading.
It was funny, because this happened the day after I had a conversation with James Park about the fact that I was teaching phonics, and no-one had told me to. He said that that was what the teachers should be teaching, because the kids can't even read the textbook.
Man, no wonder my "Talking about the movies" lessons bombed last semester. Hahahaha. Oh well, I can't be too hard on myself though, I only see them once a week, I had to base my lessons on the text level...
And that's what I'll keep telling myself.
The kids can't read.
They seriously can't read at all. And they're "reading" from a text book. Reading with much more complicated words than I tried to teach last semester. Words that had led me to believe that they would understand most of what I threw at them.
I was wrong.
I've been doing phonics for the last few weeks. This is something that Jessie had started doing at her school, and I decided sounded like a good idea. Of course, remembering what I had seen in the text book, I assumed that we would fly right through. I mean, kids who are holding dialogues on different professions will certainly know what sound a 'P' makes, right?
Wrong. Doing phonics finally revealed it to me. The problem is that the kids are basically trained to wait for the hagwon kids to answer a question, and then to repeat whatever they say. Another trick they use is word recognition. Jessie noticed this, and pointed it out to me. Basically, the kids see the first letter, or a shape of a word, and say a word that "looks" the same. So came gets called cat, because they both start with c, and most M words now get called "Matthew". So, if you are constantly hearing repeated correct answers and near misses, you kind of assume that they know what they are doing.
But then you do phonics, assuming that it will take two weeks to review all the rules, and then you can move on to "teaching conversation". Well, I'm going on to week four of phonics now, and all I have covered is long and short vowel sounds, which they still cannot distinguish.
Today I was trying to teach the "vowel consonant e pattern makes a long vowel sound" rule, and it did not go well. "Mat" got called "bat' (word recognition), and so on. It became obvious very very qucikly that they did not understand anything that they were reading.
It was funny, because this happened the day after I had a conversation with James Park about the fact that I was teaching phonics, and no-one had told me to. He said that that was what the teachers should be teaching, because the kids can't even read the textbook.
Man, no wonder my "Talking about the movies" lessons bombed last semester. Hahahaha. Oh well, I can't be too hard on myself though, I only see them once a week, I had to base my lessons on the text level...
And that's what I'll keep telling myself.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Home
So, I was really not feeling well.
After lunch, James Park took me to the nurse'sroom to get checked out. She gave me a couple over-the-counter pills that knocked me out, so it was lucky that I had a free period after lunch, because I fell asleep at my desk.
I had class, and it actually went really well, but I think it was because he warned them that I was sick.
It was good, and then I was done. He told me that I should go home since I was sick.
So, we went to get the principal's permission, and then I was off.
Holy crap, that was nice. Usually I'd just be told to go sleep in the english lab.
I heart James Park.
After lunch, James Park took me to the nurse'sroom to get checked out. She gave me a couple over-the-counter pills that knocked me out, so it was lucky that I had a free period after lunch, because I fell asleep at my desk.
I had class, and it actually went really well, but I think it was because he warned them that I was sick.
It was good, and then I was done. He told me that I should go home since I was sick.
So, we went to get the principal's permission, and then I was off.
Holy crap, that was nice. Usually I'd just be told to go sleep in the english lab.
I heart James Park.
I am having a mixed up day.
I have had a class bomb, and a class go very well. And one in between.
Grade threes and "Talking about food" was a mistake. It was beyond them. Too bad, I thought it would be fun. But I was wrong. I guess it could have been worse, they could have all died.
Grade ones are beginning to get some adjective injections, beginning with "bandaemal" or opposites. It went pretty well, but very quickly. Luckily I had a long warm-up, although I almost did get involved in a game of hangman, which I am trying to avoid.
I am getting sick. It's official now, It's been over a month since I have gone three consecutive days without feeling sick. Damned yellow dust... it's effecting my classes. I'm being short, and last class I felt like I would just fall asleep standing up. Of course, the benadryl probably isn't helping in that department.
There have been some good points though. The students surprised me a lot with some of their responses to the flash cards, like saying "Sitting" and "Standing" for the "Healthy/Sick" pair. I hadn't even thought of it! But they are sitting and standing! I drew a picture because I thought it was very good.
Then at lunch, I had a good chat with James Park, who is filling in for Sukkyeong. I spoke to him about hagwons, and he basically confirmed for me that that may be better suited to me than public school. He evn offered to recommend me to a friend in Souel area. That would be great, except that I hear the yellow dust is much worse there, so maybe I should avoid Seoul.
I know I have been down on hakwons/hagwons in the past, but now that I think about it, it seems that maybe that is a better system for foreign, non-bilingual teachers. Smaller classes, split by ability (not age) and a guided, set curriculum. It sounds like a dream after this job. Sure, there are cut corners, but I don't mind a small apartment, so no problem. And more hours? no worries. With Jessie not here, I'll have no reason to not work more, and the money will be really nice.
Frankly, this has been the most boring job I have ever had, and it's because of the lack of work, and the lack of interaction with my students. With level classes of more advanced, involved students, I'll have no problem doing more work.
I know, you're thinking "but don't you always complain about having to stay at work for the whole day?" Yeah, I do. But that's because I have no work to do, and I usually just sit and play video games or read. No students come to talk to me, and I am done my work. So... I am bored.
So would a little more work be a tragedy? I doubt it. I was scared at first by my workshop's demands for more work, but I have since found that things are going much much better, and that the extra work now hardly seems like work at all, and the two hours regularly fly by.
So... maybe a hakwon is for me.
Mr Lee advised against it yesterday. We spoke about him giving me a letter of reference, and he said that he would do it, but that he would not be comfortable referring me to a hakwon/hagwon job. He said I would not like it, because I would have more work, and I would have no coteacher to help me control the classes.
Maybe I should show him what two things have recurred most commonly as complaints on this blog.
a) boredom at work
b) coteachers.
He also said that public school is better because you get time to relax between classes. That time is EXACTLY what is currently driving me insane, and causing this blog to reach gargantuan proportions.
That's enough for now, I'm rambling.
I have had a class bomb, and a class go very well. And one in between.
Grade threes and "Talking about food" was a mistake. It was beyond them. Too bad, I thought it would be fun. But I was wrong. I guess it could have been worse, they could have all died.
Grade ones are beginning to get some adjective injections, beginning with "bandaemal" or opposites. It went pretty well, but very quickly. Luckily I had a long warm-up, although I almost did get involved in a game of hangman, which I am trying to avoid.
I am getting sick. It's official now, It's been over a month since I have gone three consecutive days without feeling sick. Damned yellow dust... it's effecting my classes. I'm being short, and last class I felt like I would just fall asleep standing up. Of course, the benadryl probably isn't helping in that department.
There have been some good points though. The students surprised me a lot with some of their responses to the flash cards, like saying "Sitting" and "Standing" for the "Healthy/Sick" pair. I hadn't even thought of it! But they are sitting and standing! I drew a picture because I thought it was very good.
Then at lunch, I had a good chat with James Park, who is filling in for Sukkyeong. I spoke to him about hagwons, and he basically confirmed for me that that may be better suited to me than public school. He evn offered to recommend me to a friend in Souel area. That would be great, except that I hear the yellow dust is much worse there, so maybe I should avoid Seoul.
I know I have been down on hakwons/hagwons in the past, but now that I think about it, it seems that maybe that is a better system for foreign, non-bilingual teachers. Smaller classes, split by ability (not age) and a guided, set curriculum. It sounds like a dream after this job. Sure, there are cut corners, but I don't mind a small apartment, so no problem. And more hours? no worries. With Jessie not here, I'll have no reason to not work more, and the money will be really nice.
Frankly, this has been the most boring job I have ever had, and it's because of the lack of work, and the lack of interaction with my students. With level classes of more advanced, involved students, I'll have no problem doing more work.
I know, you're thinking "but don't you always complain about having to stay at work for the whole day?" Yeah, I do. But that's because I have no work to do, and I usually just sit and play video games or read. No students come to talk to me, and I am done my work. So... I am bored.
So would a little more work be a tragedy? I doubt it. I was scared at first by my workshop's demands for more work, but I have since found that things are going much much better, and that the extra work now hardly seems like work at all, and the two hours regularly fly by.
So... maybe a hakwon is for me.
Mr Lee advised against it yesterday. We spoke about him giving me a letter of reference, and he said that he would do it, but that he would not be comfortable referring me to a hakwon/hagwon job. He said I would not like it, because I would have more work, and I would have no coteacher to help me control the classes.
Maybe I should show him what two things have recurred most commonly as complaints on this blog.
a) boredom at work
b) coteachers.
He also said that public school is better because you get time to relax between classes. That time is EXACTLY what is currently driving me insane, and causing this blog to reach gargantuan proportions.
That's enough for now, I'm rambling.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Annoyance, irritation.
So, the best thing ever happened last week, and I can not believe that I have not written about it.
Okay, it's not the BEST thing that ever happened to me, but it was pretty good.
So, last Tuesday my OTHER coteacher (link) was sick. Not a big deal, he usually does discipline anyways, so he would not be missed too much. ANd plus, the week before they had been horrible, and he had yelled at them, which usually guarantees me two or three weeks of good behaviour.
Anyways, about ten minutes they started asking me "Hyun sansanghim where?".
I said "He's not at school today, he is sick. He is absent today."
They cheered like crazy.
I said "Hey hey hey, that's not nice. Don't be rude!"
But I couldn't resist. "Why are you so happy? He is sick!"
They all said "No like, no like!"
Then one of them started rooting around in her bag, pulled out a pocket dictionary and started punching the keys. She called me over and said "Hyun sansanghim is..." and pointed at the screen.
It said (under some Korean) "Annoyance, irritation."
I could not help it, and I burst out laughing. Seriously, when a barely communicative student tells you that the teacher who annoys the hell out of you is an annoyance/irritation, you will laugh.
I took a second to recover, but finally I did. Well, I stopped laughing anyways. I could not stop beaming like an idiot though. Ear to ear.
Okay, it's not the BEST thing that ever happened to me, but it was pretty good.
So, last Tuesday my OTHER coteacher (link) was sick. Not a big deal, he usually does discipline anyways, so he would not be missed too much. ANd plus, the week before they had been horrible, and he had yelled at them, which usually guarantees me two or three weeks of good behaviour.
Anyways, about ten minutes they started asking me "Hyun sansanghim where?".
I said "He's not at school today, he is sick. He is absent today."
They cheered like crazy.
I said "Hey hey hey, that's not nice. Don't be rude!"
But I couldn't resist. "Why are you so happy? He is sick!"
They all said "No like, no like!"
Then one of them started rooting around in her bag, pulled out a pocket dictionary and started punching the keys. She called me over and said "Hyun sansanghim is..." and pointed at the screen.
It said (under some Korean) "Annoyance, irritation."
I could not help it, and I burst out laughing. Seriously, when a barely communicative student tells you that the teacher who annoys the hell out of you is an annoyance/irritation, you will laugh.
I took a second to recover, but finally I did. Well, I stopped laughing anyways. I could not stop beaming like an idiot though. Ear to ear.
GOOD afternoon
I had a good afternoon.
Lunch was great. Every once in a while, they serve up this delicious pork, carrot and potato stew/stirfry. Today was that day. And it was good.
The conversation, once again, was horrible though. Mr Hyun is not what most would imagine when they think of a member of "Toastmasters". Once again conversation consisted of "Why you don't eat Korean kimch'i?", followed a few minutes later by "You very good use Korean chopsticks."
Well, thanks. You're a teacher! Learn some friggin' English!
After lunch, I met up with the new special education teacher. She's one of the staff who wants to learn english (ie, a reason I must stay after my classes are over). I'm not bitter about it. If every day staying late is as fun as today was, I'll do it. I just hate having to stay and do nothing, which is what normally happens.
SO anyways, we were chatting, and she's pretty funny. It was nice, I haven't had much chance to meet Koreans who are my age, and she seems really cool. But then she popped the big question that seems to loom in a lot of conversations here...
"Do you believe in Jesus?"
Oh, Jesus.
So, that was a big conversation. It actually went well, and was fun. I told her about being Catholic, but that I didn't feel like I could believe it right now. She said she felt sad and would pray for me, I told her I was cool with that.
Then she said "Are you ready for my story? It is about before I believed. Maybe, I will tell, and you will drop a tear?"
I said "Maybe we should wait until after class then."
She laughed and continued.
I'll try to do this in her words as closely as I can remember, but keep in mind it will be a lot clearer in my memories.
"When I was younger ten years, I was 16 [she's24]. No, I was eight years ago, I was in two grade middle school."
"Second grade?"
"Yes, second grade. No, I was in first grade. I cried always. I looked at a mountain in window, I dropped a tear. I saw my friend, I cried. I looked at book, I cry."
"Because they were beautiful?" I was trying to help her along, and I thought this was a story about finding God, so, you know, beauty...
"No, I cried always. I was sad always. I had one friend only. All people liked her. All people were her friends."
"Oh, she was very popular!" I added. You know, because these conversations are to help her improve her English, technically.
"Okay, she was popular. But then one summer, she died."
"Oh. "
"I was sad. It was 7 23."
"July 23rd?"
"Yes. Now every July twenty-three, I cry."
"Oh, so you were sad?"
"Yes."
"And, you found comfort in God and Jesus?"
"No."
And that was the end of that. There was nothing further. I thought it was a story about finding Jesus, but it was just a sad story about her dead friend. I almost cried, she was right about that, but holy crap, I didn't expect that.
SO we chatted a little more, and it was fun. And then it was time for class.
Class was great. My last class can get pretty rowdy, but they are really fun because they are pretty advanced. Also, it's the class where the girl loves me, so you know that is fun.
So, it started with the "WHat did you do this weekend?" ice-breaker. They were good. Most people just said they studied, but this class said they studied FOR EXAMS! They are good! The last one was best. This girl put up her hand and said "I met a handsome boy!"
The class erupted. I erupted. I laughed a lot. They laughed at me.
Then it was the recurring joke throughout the class, which was fun. It's a fun class, because there is enough rapport that they are comfortable joking with me. SO about the fourth time that she gave me a frustrated look when I rejected her short level sound and I responded with "You met a handsome boy!" she stood up and said:
"YOU LOVE JESSICA!!!"
I said "Yeah!" and went back to teaching, and the girls oohed and then said "YOU MET A HANDSOME BOY!" to the girl again. It was really funny.
Then they made fun of the girl who loves me when she stood up for me by saying "You are one-way lover!" and pointing at her. Hilarious! (but hurtful!)
After class, I returned to the broadcast room. In came Minahn, with a Monopoly Board under his arm. He asked me to teach him how to play so he could play with his special class.
I tried to tell him that it was a really long game, but he had to see.
We played for about an hour and a half, and she was kicking my ass! It was brutal! I kept winning the lottery, but when I had about 3 or 4 properties, he owned about half the board. But we were nowhere close to finished when we had to stop. It was fun, but I'm not sure it will work for his class.
Alright, that's all I have for now. Jessica is waiting for the internet....
Lunch was great. Every once in a while, they serve up this delicious pork, carrot and potato stew/stirfry. Today was that day. And it was good.
The conversation, once again, was horrible though. Mr Hyun is not what most would imagine when they think of a member of "Toastmasters". Once again conversation consisted of "Why you don't eat Korean kimch'i?", followed a few minutes later by "You very good use Korean chopsticks."
Well, thanks. You're a teacher! Learn some friggin' English!
After lunch, I met up with the new special education teacher. She's one of the staff who wants to learn english (ie, a reason I must stay after my classes are over). I'm not bitter about it. If every day staying late is as fun as today was, I'll do it. I just hate having to stay and do nothing, which is what normally happens.
SO anyways, we were chatting, and she's pretty funny. It was nice, I haven't had much chance to meet Koreans who are my age, and she seems really cool. But then she popped the big question that seems to loom in a lot of conversations here...
"Do you believe in Jesus?"
Oh, Jesus.
So, that was a big conversation. It actually went well, and was fun. I told her about being Catholic, but that I didn't feel like I could believe it right now. She said she felt sad and would pray for me, I told her I was cool with that.
Then she said "Are you ready for my story? It is about before I believed. Maybe, I will tell, and you will drop a tear?"
I said "Maybe we should wait until after class then."
She laughed and continued.
I'll try to do this in her words as closely as I can remember, but keep in mind it will be a lot clearer in my memories.
"When I was younger ten years, I was 16 [she's24]. No, I was eight years ago, I was in two grade middle school."
"Second grade?"
"Yes, second grade. No, I was in first grade. I cried always. I looked at a mountain in window, I dropped a tear. I saw my friend, I cried. I looked at book, I cry."
"Because they were beautiful?" I was trying to help her along, and I thought this was a story about finding God, so, you know, beauty...
"No, I cried always. I was sad always. I had one friend only. All people liked her. All people were her friends."
"Oh, she was very popular!" I added. You know, because these conversations are to help her improve her English, technically.
"Okay, she was popular. But then one summer, she died."
"Oh. "
"I was sad. It was 7 23."
"July 23rd?"
"Yes. Now every July twenty-three, I cry."
"Oh, so you were sad?"
"Yes."
"And, you found comfort in God and Jesus?"
"No."
And that was the end of that. There was nothing further. I thought it was a story about finding Jesus, but it was just a sad story about her dead friend. I almost cried, she was right about that, but holy crap, I didn't expect that.
SO we chatted a little more, and it was fun. And then it was time for class.
Class was great. My last class can get pretty rowdy, but they are really fun because they are pretty advanced. Also, it's the class where the girl loves me, so you know that is fun.
So, it started with the "WHat did you do this weekend?" ice-breaker. They were good. Most people just said they studied, but this class said they studied FOR EXAMS! They are good! The last one was best. This girl put up her hand and said "I met a handsome boy!"
The class erupted. I erupted. I laughed a lot. They laughed at me.
Then it was the recurring joke throughout the class, which was fun. It's a fun class, because there is enough rapport that they are comfortable joking with me. SO about the fourth time that she gave me a frustrated look when I rejected her short level sound and I responded with "You met a handsome boy!" she stood up and said:
"YOU LOVE JESSICA!!!"
I said "Yeah!" and went back to teaching, and the girls oohed and then said "YOU MET A HANDSOME BOY!" to the girl again. It was really funny.
Then they made fun of the girl who loves me when she stood up for me by saying "You are one-way lover!" and pointing at her. Hilarious! (but hurtful!)
After class, I returned to the broadcast room. In came Minahn, with a Monopoly Board under his arm. He asked me to teach him how to play so he could play with his special class.
I tried to tell him that it was a really long game, but he had to see.
We played for about an hour and a half, and she was kicking my ass! It was brutal! I kept winning the lottery, but when I had about 3 or 4 properties, he owned about half the board. But we were nowhere close to finished when we had to stop. It was fun, but I'm not sure it will work for his class.
Alright, that's all I have for now. Jessica is waiting for the internet....
Wow.
So, this has been a crazy week so far, and it's only Tuesday.
Yesterday was pretty eventful. My school day was pretty standard. Classes, one good, one actually great. We covered everything that I wanted to, and on top of that, I taught my class a magic trick! sweet! Sure, it's the lame magic trick where you pretend to pull your finger off, but still, I finally know that I have imparted useful knowledge to them. They will be entertaining little cousins and nieces and nephews for decades to come, and it's all because of me!
My teacher's workshop was alright, but not great. The woman who dominated them last year is being eclipsed by a few others now, and I think she is getting shy because she's no longer the best in there. The woman who freaked me out in the first meeting is quickly becoming my favourite. Her level is good, vocabulary-wise, but her pronunciation and grammar needs work. She manages to communicate well though, because she keeps trying again and again. She also doesn't bring a dictionary to the workshop, which I really like. Everyone else is beeping and clicking away throughout, and she just asks for clarification.
She's planning on taking a test in the summer to try and win a trip to study abroad. She asked me yesterday if I would be able to help her study for the reading comprehension part by bringing articles and such for her. She's offering to pay, which I told her she had to ask about, so I guess we'll find out. I'd honestly do it for free though, it's a littl emore work, but I'd rather do a little extra work for an enthusiastic student than sit around and type in my blog all day/play kingdom of loathing (link).
Then I had a great piano lesson. I'm finally starting to feel like I'm learning things, rather than just memorizing, so my enthusiasm is THROUGH THE ROOF now. Well, as through the roof as it could possibly be with me wanting to leave after 45 minutes rather than stick out the hour.
Then I got home, and got to catch up with Jessie. I had been receiving e-mail updates all day, and combined with the previous conversations I have come to the conclusion that someone is playing a horrible practical joke on her.
Let me summarize the work situation:
She teaches at the school that has the lowest english levels in the province. I don't know, but I'm willing to bet, that Jeollanamdo, the breadbasket of Korea, probably has among the lowest english levels in the country. So, you can see where this is leading us...
Her coteacher is a cartoon. Not a loveable cartoon, like Garfield, but the unreal person-type cartoon like David Brent/Micheal Scott of the office. That person who always messes things up, forgets everything, seem totally self-centered, and then as soon as you are ready to explode, they do something sweet and/or pathetic that makes it impossible to be angry because you now owe/pity them. This woman forgets classes, doesn't help Jessie with her prep (or says she will, and then shows up for class having not done it), drops classes on Jessie fifteen minutes after they have started, can not speak english, and tells Jessie to teach her conversation class (which can't answer questions such as "What . day . is . after . Tuesday?") "conversation". How do you teach kids who don't know numbers and the days of the week "conversation"? If you know, please post a comment.
Her principal is clearly insane. He has every gimmick on the brain to teach english, and ignores the obvious problem of his Korean english teachers not speaking English in class. He wants an english-only zone (or, as the coteacher calls it "EOG! You know, Englishee onully Joan!") where only english may be spoken, and thus no students will be able to go. He wants Jessie to run an english conversation club after school (which she now does three days a week) sans coteacher to children who do not understand sentences like "Take out your books". And he has no idea how ridiculous any of this is... That's really the scary part. It's not that Jessie doesn't want to teach, it's that a person with no Korean ability has a little difficulty communicating to a class with no english ability without a Korean teacher to translate commands.
Oh yeah, and there's the whole issue of the commute being an hour longer (each way) than was in the contract. And the fact that Jessie isn't allowed to leave a few minutes earlier to get the first bus (rather than wait half an hour for the next one) because the teachers (who all leave early and drive home in their own vehicles) will get jealous. I'm sorry, they leave early AND are not a slave to the bus schedule? Yeah, and they might get jealous.
So the latest insanity on that front has to do with the visit of Jessie's parents. We're both getting pretty excited for the visit. I'm excited to finally see someone from Canada, show them some things, and go "THAT's what I've been talking about!". And then they'll say "I would not believe it if I had not seen it with mine own eyes!"
Anyways, they are arriving in Seoul on Thursday, and we are meeting them on Friday. Jessie runs her after school classes on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Last week, being told on Tuesday that this was going to start on Wednesday, she was pretty upset (no notice, plus all the reasons listed above) and scrambled to prepare the first few lessons, including a list of class rules which her coteacher said she would but never did translate into Korean. ANyways, after scrambling to prepare (in her words, "running around like a chicken with its head cut off!") she has one class, and then has it cancelled on Thursday (not officially, just no students showed up, possibly because they did not understand when Jessie said "We meet again tomorrow" the day before) and on Friday for a school picnic.
Sorry this is jumping around, there is just so much random crap to say. More on the coteacher's cartoonness... The teachers at the picnic were responsible for preparing games for their homeroom's students. ome teachers had full games going, with water balloons, lots of fun. What does Jessie's coteacher bring? A handkerchief and a broom handle. Her games were a horrible shadow of "duck duck goose" with the handkerchief and limbo with the brromstick. The handkerchief game involved students in a circle looking forward with one student running around them with a handkerchief. He would drop the handkerchief behind someone, and then run aronud the circle with that person chasing them (goose!). The only problem was that the kids had to look forward, so how the hell do they know when the handkerchief gets dropped? Answer: they don't. The game went on for a really long time, apparently, and no-one ever won. The limbo game was a bust too, because Mrs Cheong started low and lifted it high... until someone corrected her. But there was no order, it was just kids sitting around while one or two showed off.
WHAT A GREAT PICNIC!
Okay, back to Jessie's parents. So, we were supposed to meet them in Seoul by taking the 4:09 train. But then yesterday, Jessie was told that she can't leave early, she has to do her extra class. So now we have to take a train at 7:30, and arrive late to meet them.
Now, you're probably thinking "Matt, teaching this extra class is her job. I really think you are taking this a little too personally. She's a teacher with a class she gets payed to teach, and it's her job to do it. She should just consider herself lucky that she got next week off."
Well, touche there guy, I guess I'll just shut up and go home.
BUT WAIT! NO!
This would be no problem if not for a few other reasons.
Yesterday was pretty eventful. My school day was pretty standard. Classes, one good, one actually great. We covered everything that I wanted to, and on top of that, I taught my class a magic trick! sweet! Sure, it's the lame magic trick where you pretend to pull your finger off, but still, I finally know that I have imparted useful knowledge to them. They will be entertaining little cousins and nieces and nephews for decades to come, and it's all because of me!
My teacher's workshop was alright, but not great. The woman who dominated them last year is being eclipsed by a few others now, and I think she is getting shy because she's no longer the best in there. The woman who freaked me out in the first meeting is quickly becoming my favourite. Her level is good, vocabulary-wise, but her pronunciation and grammar needs work. She manages to communicate well though, because she keeps trying again and again. She also doesn't bring a dictionary to the workshop, which I really like. Everyone else is beeping and clicking away throughout, and she just asks for clarification.
She's planning on taking a test in the summer to try and win a trip to study abroad. She asked me yesterday if I would be able to help her study for the reading comprehension part by bringing articles and such for her. She's offering to pay, which I told her she had to ask about, so I guess we'll find out. I'd honestly do it for free though, it's a littl emore work, but I'd rather do a little extra work for an enthusiastic student than sit around and type in my blog all day/play kingdom of loathing (link).
Then I had a great piano lesson. I'm finally starting to feel like I'm learning things, rather than just memorizing, so my enthusiasm is THROUGH THE ROOF now. Well, as through the roof as it could possibly be with me wanting to leave after 45 minutes rather than stick out the hour.
Then I got home, and got to catch up with Jessie. I had been receiving e-mail updates all day, and combined with the previous conversations I have come to the conclusion that someone is playing a horrible practical joke on her.
Let me summarize the work situation:
She teaches at the school that has the lowest english levels in the province. I don't know, but I'm willing to bet, that Jeollanamdo, the breadbasket of Korea, probably has among the lowest english levels in the country. So, you can see where this is leading us...
Her coteacher is a cartoon. Not a loveable cartoon, like Garfield, but the unreal person-type cartoon like David Brent/Micheal Scott of the office. That person who always messes things up, forgets everything, seem totally self-centered, and then as soon as you are ready to explode, they do something sweet and/or pathetic that makes it impossible to be angry because you now owe/pity them. This woman forgets classes, doesn't help Jessie with her prep (or says she will, and then shows up for class having not done it), drops classes on Jessie fifteen minutes after they have started, can not speak english, and tells Jessie to teach her conversation class (which can't answer questions such as "What . day . is . after . Tuesday?") "conversation". How do you teach kids who don't know numbers and the days of the week "conversation"? If you know, please post a comment.
Her principal is clearly insane. He has every gimmick on the brain to teach english, and ignores the obvious problem of his Korean english teachers not speaking English in class. He wants an english-only zone (or, as the coteacher calls it "EOG! You know, Englishee onully Joan!") where only english may be spoken, and thus no students will be able to go. He wants Jessie to run an english conversation club after school (which she now does three days a week) sans coteacher to children who do not understand sentences like "Take out your books". And he has no idea how ridiculous any of this is... That's really the scary part. It's not that Jessie doesn't want to teach, it's that a person with no Korean ability has a little difficulty communicating to a class with no english ability without a Korean teacher to translate commands.
Oh yeah, and there's the whole issue of the commute being an hour longer (each way) than was in the contract. And the fact that Jessie isn't allowed to leave a few minutes earlier to get the first bus (rather than wait half an hour for the next one) because the teachers (who all leave early and drive home in their own vehicles) will get jealous. I'm sorry, they leave early AND are not a slave to the bus schedule? Yeah, and they might get jealous.
So the latest insanity on that front has to do with the visit of Jessie's parents. We're both getting pretty excited for the visit. I'm excited to finally see someone from Canada, show them some things, and go "THAT's what I've been talking about!". And then they'll say "I would not believe it if I had not seen it with mine own eyes!"
Anyways, they are arriving in Seoul on Thursday, and we are meeting them on Friday. Jessie runs her after school classes on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Last week, being told on Tuesday that this was going to start on Wednesday, she was pretty upset (no notice, plus all the reasons listed above) and scrambled to prepare the first few lessons, including a list of class rules which her coteacher said she would but never did translate into Korean. ANyways, after scrambling to prepare (in her words, "running around like a chicken with its head cut off!") she has one class, and then has it cancelled on Thursday (not officially, just no students showed up, possibly because they did not understand when Jessie said "We meet again tomorrow" the day before) and on Friday for a school picnic.
Sorry this is jumping around, there is just so much random crap to say. More on the coteacher's cartoonness... The teachers at the picnic were responsible for preparing games for their homeroom's students. ome teachers had full games going, with water balloons, lots of fun. What does Jessie's coteacher bring? A handkerchief and a broom handle. Her games were a horrible shadow of "duck duck goose" with the handkerchief and limbo with the brromstick. The handkerchief game involved students in a circle looking forward with one student running around them with a handkerchief. He would drop the handkerchief behind someone, and then run aronud the circle with that person chasing them (goose!). The only problem was that the kids had to look forward, so how the hell do they know when the handkerchief gets dropped? Answer: they don't. The game went on for a really long time, apparently, and no-one ever won. The limbo game was a bust too, because Mrs Cheong started low and lifted it high... until someone corrected her. But there was no order, it was just kids sitting around while one or two showed off.
WHAT A GREAT PICNIC!
Okay, back to Jessie's parents. So, we were supposed to meet them in Seoul by taking the 4:09 train. But then yesterday, Jessie was told that she can't leave early, she has to do her extra class. So now we have to take a train at 7:30, and arrive late to meet them.
Now, you're probably thinking "Matt, teaching this extra class is her job. I really think you are taking this a little too personally. She's a teacher with a class she gets payed to teach, and it's her job to do it. She should just consider herself lucky that she got next week off."
Well, touche there guy, I guess I'll just shut up and go home.
BUT WAIT! NO!
This would be no problem if not for a few other reasons.
- Jessie was already told she could leave early, and made plans.
- After school classes are usually taught on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Jessie's is on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday because she travels to other schools on Mondays. That means that last week, the reason why no-one showed up on Thursday was because a) they didn't understand when Jessie told them to come, and b) they usually have no class on Thursdays, they usually have it on Monday instead. Jessie was not travelling this week, so she came to her normal school on Monday (yesterday). She was told that she could not have her class yesterday because the paperwork was not correct for it, and the principal (remember, he's insane) would not approve the switch because of red tape, bla bla bla. So she has to stay on Friday. But wait! During after-school class time (Jessie's still there so the other teachers don't get jealous) her class shows up!!!!!!
!!!
She is told she must not teach them, but has to send them home, because of the paperwork, and lack of approval from above. Oh yeah, and she definitely has to stay on Friday now. - eh? EH?
- C'MON!
- I mean, COME. ON!
So anyways... her school is insane. Luckily, she is able on most days to have a good time even though she has lots to complain about. Something always goes wrong, and mistakes in communication are always made, whether it's about when a class will be or IF a class will be, but at least she has her grade ones, who seem to be pretty awesome.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
2-2, you get an F
Oh MAN!
I just had the most brutal class. So brutal, in fact, that I made myself wait for half an hour before I wrote about it, for fear that putting it down in words might actually cause explosions if I didn't calm down first.
First off, let me just say that, as a teacher, I am wasted on many of these classes. I don't mean in the way that my highly sophisticated humour is wasted on most of you ignoramuses, I actually mean that I am wasted on them because of my lack of ability.
I am not a teacher. Not a professional anyway, I am a teaching assistant, brought here to help with conversation and pronunciation. And I am teaching a class of 30 kids vocabulary and sentence structure, and simple sentences that they need just to be able to understand 30% of what I say. I had to teach my classes what to do when I said "Take out your books"! By eighth grade, you really should know that. That may be one of the only things you know, but you really should know that. That's something your teacher should have been saying to you in english class every day.
Anyways, to try to give them a jump start on reading/speaking/writing, I have been trying to teach them phonics. SO for the last four weeks, I walked these kids through the alphabet, the letters, the sounds the letters make, how to produce the difficult sounds, and finally, for the last two weeks, long and short vowel sounds.
SO yesterday and today, I had a game to review. Yesterday was on and off. I could tell many kids were guessing, but that was fine, I had a safety on the game so that they could not win on guessing alone.
Then, I got to 2-2 today. First class of the morning. Wake-up call to reality.
I get in, I do a quick review. Everyone says they understand when I ask. I explain the game, which is easy, because we played the same game with different vocab last year.
I ask for volunteers.
No volunteers.
I say "That's fine", jokingly, and I start eating the candy I had brought as prizes, making exaggerated oohs and ahhs at how delicious the snickers minis were. There were some remarks on the fact that the candies were small.
What the fuck??!?! I'm your teacher, and I'm offering to give you candy. Get the hell out of my classroom.
So, finally, I get two volunteers. Now, things will start rolling. Once they see a kid get a candy, it's on to easy street.
The game bombs. One kid gets the first questions right, the other gets it wrong. Easy, a clear winner goingn to the second question. When I ask the second question, the kid who lost and was supposed to be quiet blurts out the right answer. The kid who should have answered has no idea what is happening. He stands there, I tell the other kid t be quiet.
Nothing happens.
The kid who lost makes a final desperate grab at a candy by pointing to the correct answer on the board. The kid who lost is in a daze. I send the kid who lost to his seat. The kid who won timidly points at the correct answer because he saw the other kid do it.
He gets a candy.
Let's face it, that kid won the lottery. He had no idea what set of circumstances had led him to this candy.
I send the kid to his seat. I ask for more volunteers. Understandably, no-one puts up their hand. I'm already full of candy, so I give up on the game.
After that, I attempted to drag out of them the difference between a long vowel and a short vowel. Well, five minutes later, I finally got someone to tell me what the vowels are.
WE'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR TWO WEEKS!!!
So, I got a little peeved. Why did no-one say they did not understand all those times I said "Do you understand?". I mean, yeah, okay, embarassment. But how much embarassment could there possibly be when no-one understands? Why did my coteacher not say at any point "The kids are just repeating what you say, they do not understand. Maybe you should review it again." Why did she not jump in and clarify what I was saying when every way I tried saying "A long 'a' says ay" was obviously going over their heads?
God! I am so angry! These kids are at such a low level, they really can not learn anything from someone who cannot follow up with them in Korean. Why does the Korean school system have such a problem seeing this? WHY?!?!
to clarify: 2-2 students are in the equivalent to grade eight, which means they have been studying english for probably six years. They still don't know the alphabet, they don't know the sounds letters make, and they can not distinguish between long and short sounds. "Just teach them conversation!"
I just had the most brutal class. So brutal, in fact, that I made myself wait for half an hour before I wrote about it, for fear that putting it down in words might actually cause explosions if I didn't calm down first.
First off, let me just say that, as a teacher, I am wasted on many of these classes. I don't mean in the way that my highly sophisticated humour is wasted on most of you ignoramuses, I actually mean that I am wasted on them because of my lack of ability.
I am not a teacher. Not a professional anyway, I am a teaching assistant, brought here to help with conversation and pronunciation. And I am teaching a class of 30 kids vocabulary and sentence structure, and simple sentences that they need just to be able to understand 30% of what I say. I had to teach my classes what to do when I said "Take out your books"! By eighth grade, you really should know that. That may be one of the only things you know, but you really should know that. That's something your teacher should have been saying to you in english class every day.
Anyways, to try to give them a jump start on reading/speaking/writing, I have been trying to teach them phonics. SO for the last four weeks, I walked these kids through the alphabet, the letters, the sounds the letters make, how to produce the difficult sounds, and finally, for the last two weeks, long and short vowel sounds.
SO yesterday and today, I had a game to review. Yesterday was on and off. I could tell many kids were guessing, but that was fine, I had a safety on the game so that they could not win on guessing alone.
Then, I got to 2-2 today. First class of the morning. Wake-up call to reality.
I get in, I do a quick review. Everyone says they understand when I ask. I explain the game, which is easy, because we played the same game with different vocab last year.
I ask for volunteers.
No volunteers.
I say "That's fine", jokingly, and I start eating the candy I had brought as prizes, making exaggerated oohs and ahhs at how delicious the snickers minis were. There were some remarks on the fact that the candies were small.
What the fuck??!?! I'm your teacher, and I'm offering to give you candy. Get the hell out of my classroom.
So, finally, I get two volunteers. Now, things will start rolling. Once they see a kid get a candy, it's on to easy street.
The game bombs. One kid gets the first questions right, the other gets it wrong. Easy, a clear winner goingn to the second question. When I ask the second question, the kid who lost and was supposed to be quiet blurts out the right answer. The kid who should have answered has no idea what is happening. He stands there, I tell the other kid t be quiet.
Nothing happens.
The kid who lost makes a final desperate grab at a candy by pointing to the correct answer on the board. The kid who lost is in a daze. I send the kid who lost to his seat. The kid who won timidly points at the correct answer because he saw the other kid do it.
He gets a candy.
Let's face it, that kid won the lottery. He had no idea what set of circumstances had led him to this candy.
I send the kid to his seat. I ask for more volunteers. Understandably, no-one puts up their hand. I'm already full of candy, so I give up on the game.
After that, I attempted to drag out of them the difference between a long vowel and a short vowel. Well, five minutes later, I finally got someone to tell me what the vowels are.
WE'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR TWO WEEKS!!!
So, I got a little peeved. Why did no-one say they did not understand all those times I said "Do you understand?". I mean, yeah, okay, embarassment. But how much embarassment could there possibly be when no-one understands? Why did my coteacher not say at any point "The kids are just repeating what you say, they do not understand. Maybe you should review it again." Why did she not jump in and clarify what I was saying when every way I tried saying "A long 'a' says ay" was obviously going over their heads?
God! I am so angry! These kids are at such a low level, they really can not learn anything from someone who cannot follow up with them in Korean. Why does the Korean school system have such a problem seeing this? WHY?!?!
to clarify: 2-2 students are in the equivalent to grade eight, which means they have been studying english for probably six years. They still don't know the alphabet, they don't know the sounds letters make, and they can not distinguish between long and short sounds. "Just teach them conversation!"
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Little tiny visitors
So, for the last few days we've had these little kids rining our doorbell and harassing us for a chance to see our apartment.
It started a few days ago when a little girl asked me where I lived. Well, I'm not sure, but I think she said "Fifth floor" in Korean while pointing at me. I said "Aniyo (no), fourth floor (Sa Cheung)" which is very probably wrong.
A few minutes later, she and her freinds were knocking on our door.
We said no visiting, because the apartment was a bit of a sty. And there were 10 wine bottles on the table.
The next day, they came, but I had just skipped piano because of a headache, so I chased them off. Jessie got home a minutes later, and they came back. I was in bed, so Jessie got rid of them and told them they could visit "later".
When she got home, they were waiting. I cleaned up a bit last night, so the apartment looked pretty presentable (dishes aside). The kids came in right away, and were still here when I got home from piano.
I was in a hurry to order a pizza, so maybe I was a little less friendly than I would have normally been to them... they were jumping around, looking inside/under just about everything. They tried to pry open Jessie's laptop, which was pretty brutal, because they didn't bother to unhook the lock that hold the monitor down...
Anyways... here are some pictures of us and our little visitors.
They came back later, and just rang our doorbell and ran away. Then, they came back and did it again. Man, it pays to be nice! Oh well... it'll only take me hitting them once... haha. just kidding. Maybe we can finally get rid of all those free bottles of cider that come with our pizzas. We're up to about 13 now, I think!
It started a few days ago when a little girl asked me where I lived. Well, I'm not sure, but I think she said "Fifth floor" in Korean while pointing at me. I said "Aniyo (no), fourth floor (Sa Cheung)" which is very probably wrong.
A few minutes later, she and her freinds were knocking on our door.
We said no visiting, because the apartment was a bit of a sty. And there were 10 wine bottles on the table.
The next day, they came, but I had just skipped piano because of a headache, so I chased them off. Jessie got home a minutes later, and they came back. I was in bed, so Jessie got rid of them and told them they could visit "later".
When she got home, they were waiting. I cleaned up a bit last night, so the apartment looked pretty presentable (dishes aside). The kids came in right away, and were still here when I got home from piano.
I was in a hurry to order a pizza, so maybe I was a little less friendly than I would have normally been to them... they were jumping around, looking inside/under just about everything. They tried to pry open Jessie's laptop, which was pretty brutal, because they didn't bother to unhook the lock that hold the monitor down...
Anyways... here are some pictures of us and our little visitors.
They came back later, and just rang our doorbell and ran away. Then, they came back and did it again. Man, it pays to be nice! Oh well... it'll only take me hitting them once... haha. just kidding. Maybe we can finally get rid of all those free bottles of cider that come with our pizzas. We're up to about 13 now, I think!
I am a big jerk
So, I was in the english lab, trying to escape the extreme heat of the staff room, which was at about 28 degrees.
Some students started pouring in.
"Do you have a class here?" I asked.
"No. Yes. Wait... five!" and one ran away.
Then he came back.
"Class, teacher say 'GO!'" he said, as he waved his whole arm, straightened, out to one side.
"Your teacher sent you here?" I asked.
"Yes. He said study."
"He said 'GO!'" I asked, imitating his angry-looking arm gesture.
"Yes" the student said.
"Was he angry?" I asked.
"Angry?... yes, angry." said the student.
"Well then, you should be quiet, because this is probably punishment. No talking, just study quietly."
There were some protests, and I loudly hushed anyone who talked, and drew out the big "HEY!" when necessary.
Then my coteacher's fill-in came in. I said "Oh, you have a class here?"
He said "Yes."
I said "Oh no! I thought these students were in trouble! They said you were angry!"
"No, this is my special english class for beginners. I'm trying to help them catch up."
So yeah, I am a big jerk.
Some students started pouring in.
"Do you have a class here?" I asked.
"No. Yes. Wait... five!" and one ran away.
Then he came back.
"Class, teacher say 'GO!'" he said, as he waved his whole arm, straightened, out to one side.
"Your teacher sent you here?" I asked.
"Yes. He said study."
"He said 'GO!'" I asked, imitating his angry-looking arm gesture.
"Yes" the student said.
"Was he angry?" I asked.
"Angry?... yes, angry." said the student.
"Well then, you should be quiet, because this is probably punishment. No talking, just study quietly."
There were some protests, and I loudly hushed anyone who talked, and drew out the big "HEY!" when necessary.
Then my coteacher's fill-in came in. I said "Oh, you have a class here?"
He said "Yes."
I said "Oh no! I thought these students were in trouble! They said you were angry!"
"No, this is my special english class for beginners. I'm trying to help them catch up."
So yeah, I am a big jerk.
Cleaning time
I know I've mentioned this before, but I find it so hilarious, that I have to mention it again.
Korean schools have no janitors. Instead, the students clean the school during a fifteen minute break towards the end of the school day.
When I got here, I thought, oh wow, what a neat idea. That would really make students have a vested interest in keeping the school clean. They wouldn't mess it up if they were the ones who had to clean it, right? And surely, they would clean it pretty well, since they do it every day!
Well, that's just wrong, and looking back, incredibly stupid.
I have a better name for cleaning time. Recess. Recess with mops and dustpans to hit eachother with.
In Canada, students would not be able to clean half of the stuff they do here. They use squatters here, so no toilet paper is flushed. Instead, it is stacked, dirty, in little garbage bins next to the hole you crap in. There's no way that students would be allowed to handle that in Canada! It's a health hazard! You would need 17 weeks of WHMIS training on how to put on rubber gloves just to go near that! And not to mention that at co-ed and girls' school, there are other much more obviously dirty pads stacked in the pile.
Now, this pile never gets cleaned. If I was a students, I wouldn't go near it. I mean, the taps in the bathroom don't even have hot water, they rarely, if ever, have soap, and there's no towels. So the bins are left unemptied, and they overflow. They are precariously stacked layer upon layer by students and teachers alike. Oh yeah, the students should clean the teacher's bathroom too, but they of course do not.
SO anyways... enoguh complaining. I've already done this one.
the reason that it is a hot topic right now is that I just got the key to the english lab. The staff room was unbelievably hot, and I was getting pretty tired from it. So I moved into the lab, where it is much cooler.
Oh crap, there's a class in here. Back to the teacher's room. I'll finish later.
okay.. another post soon to follow about what just happened.
So, the english lab.
Last week, I tried to get in, only to find that the key I was given didn't work! I tried and tried, I even got students to try. I told Sukkyeong, and she said I must be mistaken, that's the right key! She came, and I tried again, but I was afraid I would break the key for twisting it so hard.
We went back to the staff room, and checked the big hunk of wood that holds copies of all the school keys.
The key on the big hunk was totally different. I mean, not even close. There was no way it could have opened the lock. I had to laugh, it was hilarious!
Why so funny? Because Sukkyeong had insisted it was the right key.
How did she know?
It's the key the student uses every day to clean the english lab!
Ta-daa!
Korean schools have no janitors. Instead, the students clean the school during a fifteen minute break towards the end of the school day.
When I got here, I thought, oh wow, what a neat idea. That would really make students have a vested interest in keeping the school clean. They wouldn't mess it up if they were the ones who had to clean it, right? And surely, they would clean it pretty well, since they do it every day!
Well, that's just wrong, and looking back, incredibly stupid.
I have a better name for cleaning time. Recess. Recess with mops and dustpans to hit eachother with.
In Canada, students would not be able to clean half of the stuff they do here. They use squatters here, so no toilet paper is flushed. Instead, it is stacked, dirty, in little garbage bins next to the hole you crap in. There's no way that students would be allowed to handle that in Canada! It's a health hazard! You would need 17 weeks of WHMIS training on how to put on rubber gloves just to go near that! And not to mention that at co-ed and girls' school, there are other much more obviously dirty pads stacked in the pile.
Now, this pile never gets cleaned. If I was a students, I wouldn't go near it. I mean, the taps in the bathroom don't even have hot water, they rarely, if ever, have soap, and there's no towels. So the bins are left unemptied, and they overflow. They are precariously stacked layer upon layer by students and teachers alike. Oh yeah, the students should clean the teacher's bathroom too, but they of course do not.
SO anyways... enoguh complaining. I've already done this one.
the reason that it is a hot topic right now is that I just got the key to the english lab. The staff room was unbelievably hot, and I was getting pretty tired from it. So I moved into the lab, where it is much cooler.
Oh crap, there's a class in here. Back to the teacher's room. I'll finish later.
okay.. another post soon to follow about what just happened.
So, the english lab.
Last week, I tried to get in, only to find that the key I was given didn't work! I tried and tried, I even got students to try. I told Sukkyeong, and she said I must be mistaken, that's the right key! She came, and I tried again, but I was afraid I would break the key for twisting it so hard.
We went back to the staff room, and checked the big hunk of wood that holds copies of all the school keys.
The key on the big hunk was totally different. I mean, not even close. There was no way it could have opened the lock. I had to laugh, it was hilarious!
Why so funny? Because Sukkyeong had insisted it was the right key.
How did she know?
It's the key the student uses every day to clean the english lab!
Ta-daa!
Shh! The teachers are sleeping!
Hey! What are you, crazy? Typing like that! It's so loud!
You! Use a ball-point pen! Your pencil scratching accross that page is enough to drive me batty!
Can you not see that I have my head down? Can you not see that my coworker, the vice-principal of our fine school is reclined in his leather chair, trying to sleep?!
The noise of your work is keeping them awake!
The least you could do is join us. I'm sure that even your loud snoring would be less disturbing (and possibly more soothingly rhythmic) than the clickety clack of the keyboard and the scritchety scratch of your pencil.
It's only two in the afternoon, and here you are working away as though it were midnight and the crazy foreigners below you were trying to sleep!
What are you, crazy?
Oh you're typing again... is that a blog?
You! Use a ball-point pen! Your pencil scratching accross that page is enough to drive me batty!
Can you not see that I have my head down? Can you not see that my coworker, the vice-principal of our fine school is reclined in his leather chair, trying to sleep?!
The noise of your work is keeping them awake!
The least you could do is join us. I'm sure that even your loud snoring would be less disturbing (and possibly more soothingly rhythmic) than the clickety clack of the keyboard and the scritchety scratch of your pencil.
It's only two in the afternoon, and here you are working away as though it were midnight and the crazy foreigners below you were trying to sleep!
What are you, crazy?
Oh you're typing again... is that a blog?
I wish I brought my camera today
There is a huge storm here right now. Well, not huge, just freaky.
It is not raining particularly hard, and the wind has died down.
But it is dark. I mean, nighttime dark.
The kids are running around and screaming (of course). The halls are so dark, it feels like nighttime.
Oh, now it's light again. weird.
It goes through stages... cloudy, then everything turns sephia tone... then dark, then light again.
It's dark again now.
Weird.
It is not raining particularly hard, and the wind has died down.
But it is dark. I mean, nighttime dark.
The kids are running around and screaming (of course). The halls are so dark, it feels like nighttime.
Oh, now it's light again. weird.
It goes through stages... cloudy, then everything turns sephia tone... then dark, then light again.
It's dark again now.
Weird.
New coteacher, for a few weeks.
So, Sukkyeong (I'm now spelling her name properly, thanks to the wonder of e-mail nametags) is away for the next four weeks at a JLP camp. This is an opportunity for english teachers to brush up on their English and review things with native speakers. Jessie participated in one over the winter break, and said that it was the best teaching she had done up to that point. Why? Well, I think the camps are voluntary, so the teachers want to be there, and actually participate! Of course, there is usually added incentive, so that the most improved/best graded teachers get to go on some trip or something to an English-speaking country.
So, good for her. It'll be weird at the boys' school without her, but it's a good opportunity for her to study a bit more.
In the meantime, James Park, a teacher at a local hagwon that Jessie and I have gone on trips with in the past (trip) is filling in.
I'm actually really nervous with him. Firstly, he seems to actually teach his students English. This is a big change from some of the English teachers I have met. He speaks to them in English, he scolds them in English. Students from his hagwon are usually the best students in my classes. They're the ones who carry the lectures that should bomb.
Well, I'm off to a good start. I have had one lesson with him so far, and all I did was play a game. I've been working the grade ones pretty hard with phonics, so I thought I would reward them with a game.
You see, it was supposed to be a reward for their having worked so hard. The game was pretty simple. The students hear a word (very simple, like "dog" of "blue") and then it's a race to see who can slap the correct vowel sound (long or short) written on the board.
Jessie pointed out to me last night that that would lead to way too much guessing. I had already inadvertantly worked around that though.
After getting the correct sound, they would have to tell me which vowel made the sound. This made it pretty clear that they had basically retained nothing. First off, on guessing, one students said that the long vowel sound in "bike" was made by an "f".
Yikes.
Now, that wouldn't be so bad, I mean, the kid guessed a letter, at least.
But I had all the vowels written on the board! He could literally have just pointed at it! I even ask "Is it A, E, I, O or U?" while pointing at each letter.
I think I may run out of candy prizes...
So, good for her. It'll be weird at the boys' school without her, but it's a good opportunity for her to study a bit more.
In the meantime, James Park, a teacher at a local hagwon that Jessie and I have gone on trips with in the past (trip) is filling in.
I'm actually really nervous with him. Firstly, he seems to actually teach his students English. This is a big change from some of the English teachers I have met. He speaks to them in English, he scolds them in English. Students from his hagwon are usually the best students in my classes. They're the ones who carry the lectures that should bomb.
Well, I'm off to a good start. I have had one lesson with him so far, and all I did was play a game. I've been working the grade ones pretty hard with phonics, so I thought I would reward them with a game.
You see, it was supposed to be a reward for their having worked so hard. The game was pretty simple. The students hear a word (very simple, like "dog" of "blue") and then it's a race to see who can slap the correct vowel sound (long or short) written on the board.
Jessie pointed out to me last night that that would lead to way too much guessing. I had already inadvertantly worked around that though.
After getting the correct sound, they would have to tell me which vowel made the sound. This made it pretty clear that they had basically retained nothing. First off, on guessing, one students said that the long vowel sound in "bike" was made by an "f".
Yikes.
Now, that wouldn't be so bad, I mean, the kid guessed a letter, at least.
But I had all the vowels written on the board! He could literally have just pointed at it! I even ask "Is it A, E, I, O or U?" while pointing at each letter.
I think I may run out of candy prizes...
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Listening test
Right now, my grade twos are taking a country-wide listening test that is broadcast over the radio.
Now, for kids who just last period took out and opened their notebooks when I told them to look for words in their textbook, I am a little worried.
I listened to a bit of it, and they may be in trouble. The English was over-enunciated, but I think it is still a little too fast for them. It made me feel good about what I taught last year (describing), because the first couple questions were descriptions of animals and they had to decide what animal it was.
And of course, there's another test disrupting my usual teaching schedule. I don't think that I will ever have a regular week here. Just one week, where I teach all of my classes, where I can operate according to my plan.
I'm kind of (morbidly) excited to see how they do with it. I can't imagine it will be too well, the test seems way above the level of most of them.
If I find out, you'll find out.
I'm also curious to know how Jessie's school will do. Will they reclaim their position as the lowest-level of english students in the province? Or will they be eclipsed by a new champion?!
Now, for kids who just last period took out and opened their notebooks when I told them to look for words in their textbook, I am a little worried.
I listened to a bit of it, and they may be in trouble. The English was over-enunciated, but I think it is still a little too fast for them. It made me feel good about what I taught last year (describing), because the first couple questions were descriptions of animals and they had to decide what animal it was.
And of course, there's another test disrupting my usual teaching schedule. I don't think that I will ever have a regular week here. Just one week, where I teach all of my classes, where I can operate according to my plan.
I'm kind of (morbidly) excited to see how they do with it. I can't imagine it will be too well, the test seems way above the level of most of them.
If I find out, you'll find out.
I'm also curious to know how Jessie's school will do. Will they reclaim their position as the lowest-level of english students in the province? Or will they be eclipsed by a new champion?!
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Hungry?
Today was pork cutlet day in the cafeteria. It is a good day to be here. Pork cutlets are great.
The lady serving the soup leaned over to the lady serving the sweet meats and told her to give me more, becuase I live in her building. More like she lives in my building. Because I rule.
She gave me so much cutlet that I almost had enough, which is a lot when we're talking about delicious pork cutlet.
Pork.
Cutlet.
No sweeter words have ever been spoken in the land of the morning calm. But, should anyone ever decide to cut beef into large pieces, they could easily be eclipsed by one even sweeter word.
Steak.
The lady serving the soup leaned over to the lady serving the sweet meats and told her to give me more, becuase I live in her building. More like she lives in my building. Because I rule.
She gave me so much cutlet that I almost had enough, which is a lot when we're talking about delicious pork cutlet.
Pork.
Cutlet.
No sweeter words have ever been spoken in the land of the morning calm. But, should anyone ever decide to cut beef into large pieces, they could easily be eclipsed by one even sweeter word.
Steak.
Hungry?
Today was pork cutlet day in the cafeteria. It is a good day to be here. Pork cutlets are great.
The lady serving the soup leaned over to the lady serving the sweet meats and told her to give me more, becuase I live in her building. More like she lives in my building. Because I rule.
She gave me so much cutlet that I almost had enough, which is a lot when we're talking about delicious pork cutlet.
Pork.
Cutlet.
No sweeter words have ever been spoken in the land of the morning calm. But, should anyone ever decide to cut beef into large pieces, they could easily be eclipsed by one even sweeter word.
Steak.
The lady serving the soup leaned over to the lady serving the sweet meats and told her to give me more, becuase I live in her building. More like she lives in my building. Because I rule.
She gave me so much cutlet that I almost had enough, which is a lot when we're talking about delicious pork cutlet.
Pork.
Cutlet.
No sweeter words have ever been spoken in the land of the morning calm. But, should anyone ever decide to cut beef into large pieces, they could easily be eclipsed by one even sweeter word.
Steak.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
The other coteacher strikes again!
On my way to the office after that horrible class, it took me about five minutes to communicate to my coteacher that the class was bad, and that he needs to come do discipline for me.
"The class was very bad today, I need your help with discipline next time."
"Yes, next time, I class. Right now, I teach?"
"No, next week, the grade one class, period six. I need your help."
"I teach grade now? You help?"
"No, I need your help in my class. Grade one, class three, period six"
"Oh, yeah, sorry. Busy work in office."
MAN!
He just came into the office and asked for my help with the microphone, which he said had "high echo". That's nothign new, it's a pretty common problem for Koreans to crank the reverb to eleven on everything. And for a man reading into a microphone with an already indiscernable accent, it can't help.
Anyways, he takes me to the english lab, where I assume that the mic controls will be in english (thus, I can help). But no, they're in Korean. Then, the guy says "Listen echo" and goes "Tuh Tuh tuh tuh" in the exact time of the echo! How am I supposed to tell how much echo there is if he is his own echo? Then, I start fiddling with knobs, and he's telling me that's wrong, but what does he expect, IT'S IN KOREAN. If you don't know, you try and fail, and know for next time. But that's a foreign concept.
Gah! What does he expect? First of all, it takes me five hours to figure out what he is complaining about, and then another to communicate back to him. And why is there reverb on the mic in the english lab anyways? It's not a Karaoke bar, you don't need to sound good. You need to sound accurate!
No wonder these kids are unable to have a conversation with me.
"How are you today?"
"I am fine-ine-ine-ine..."
"Do you want to play a game?"
"I like games-ames-ames..."
"The class was very bad today, I need your help with discipline next time."
"Yes, next time, I class. Right now, I teach?"
"No, next week, the grade one class, period six. I need your help."
"I teach grade now? You help?"
"No, I need your help in my class. Grade one, class three, period six"
"Oh, yeah, sorry. Busy work in office."
MAN!
He just came into the office and asked for my help with the microphone, which he said had "high echo". That's nothign new, it's a pretty common problem for Koreans to crank the reverb to eleven on everything. And for a man reading into a microphone with an already indiscernable accent, it can't help.
Anyways, he takes me to the english lab, where I assume that the mic controls will be in english (thus, I can help). But no, they're in Korean. Then, the guy says "Listen echo" and goes "Tuh Tuh tuh tuh" in the exact time of the echo! How am I supposed to tell how much echo there is if he is his own echo? Then, I start fiddling with knobs, and he's telling me that's wrong, but what does he expect, IT'S IN KOREAN. If you don't know, you try and fail, and know for next time. But that's a foreign concept.
Gah! What does he expect? First of all, it takes me five hours to figure out what he is complaining about, and then another to communicate back to him. And why is there reverb on the mic in the english lab anyways? It's not a Karaoke bar, you don't need to sound good. You need to sound accurate!
No wonder these kids are unable to have a conversation with me.
"How are you today?"
"I am fine-ine-ine-ine..."
"Do you want to play a game?"
"I like games-ames-ames..."
Had to pull out the big voice
I just had another really bad class.
It started with the students all running in to tell me that one of them had recently declared her love for me. Well, great, that should make it easier for them to take me seriously.
They laughed every time I even looked at her table, and were continually cracking jokes, and then the things I usually have to do just to hold their attention reduced them to hysterics.
Plus, I'm doing phonics. There is no way to show them how to produce sounds with overexaggerated tongue positioning without being funny. So basically I was screwed.
By twenty minutes into the class, I was just counting down the minutes. But they just kept getting louder, making fun of the girl, and imitating me making long "ZZzzz" noises for them to imitate, with my fingers on my throat to show them it is vocalized... ugh.
By that point, it got to be too much. I could not control them, and only four or five of the thirty of them were responding/repeating after me. I was beyond the point of no return. I had to use the big voice.
I hate to do it. It makes frosh cry, and has reduced grade three middle school boys with devil may care attitudes to whimpering. Rarely used in the girls' school, it is still quite potent (compared to the boys' school where it has lost a lot of its once-mighty effect).
Just one word, and the room fell literally silent.
"HEY!!"
After that, there could be no game. Luckily, no-one cried today. I would have felt bad, even though they were acting like crazy people.
So, the game got shelved, and instead, they worked on a word search. Less active and fun, but at least they were quiet, and I think I may have squashed that little crush, which is good too.
It started with the students all running in to tell me that one of them had recently declared her love for me. Well, great, that should make it easier for them to take me seriously.
They laughed every time I even looked at her table, and were continually cracking jokes, and then the things I usually have to do just to hold their attention reduced them to hysterics.
Plus, I'm doing phonics. There is no way to show them how to produce sounds with overexaggerated tongue positioning without being funny. So basically I was screwed.
By twenty minutes into the class, I was just counting down the minutes. But they just kept getting louder, making fun of the girl, and imitating me making long "ZZzzz" noises for them to imitate, with my fingers on my throat to show them it is vocalized... ugh.
By that point, it got to be too much. I could not control them, and only four or five of the thirty of them were responding/repeating after me. I was beyond the point of no return. I had to use the big voice.
I hate to do it. It makes frosh cry, and has reduced grade three middle school boys with devil may care attitudes to whimpering. Rarely used in the girls' school, it is still quite potent (compared to the boys' school where it has lost a lot of its once-mighty effect).
Just one word, and the room fell literally silent.
"HEY!!"
After that, there could be no game. Luckily, no-one cried today. I would have felt bad, even though they were acting like crazy people.
So, the game got shelved, and instead, they worked on a word search. Less active and fun, but at least they were quiet, and I think I may have squashed that little crush, which is good too.
Speaking French
Jessie got a call the other day from Shannon Falconi, her coworker at The North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority. They chatted for a long time, and it sounds like we may be getting together with her and her boyfriend at some point in the future, which is pretty exciting.
One really interesting thing that came out of their conversation that I have been meaning to write about and kept forgetting was French.
I don't know why, but ever since I got here, whenever I am in a situation and I am struggling to come up with a Korean word, I will without a doubt revert to French. "How do you say..." becomes "Comment dit...?" all the time.
I guess that as Canadians educated with French, we just have a "foreign" mode, that is most easily filled by French. When I scramble for a word, I usually wind up pulling out a French one.
Anyways, I just think it is neat. And I'm clearly not the only one that it has happened to.
One really interesting thing that came out of their conversation that I have been meaning to write about and kept forgetting was French.
I don't know why, but ever since I got here, whenever I am in a situation and I am struggling to come up with a Korean word, I will without a doubt revert to French. "How do you say..." becomes "Comment dit...?" all the time.
I guess that as Canadians educated with French, we just have a "foreign" mode, that is most easily filled by French. When I scramble for a word, I usually wind up pulling out a French one.
Anyways, I just think it is neat. And I'm clearly not the only one that it has happened to.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Saturday
So, on Saturday, I went to Mokpo for a hike with Rodrigo and Sarah. Jessie and I were both invited, but Jessie hoped to use the day to do some internship applications.
We were invited to go to the Wangin festival with the Ryus, but it just didn't hold so much appeal... it's a little cynical maybe, but a festival for something we didn't understand, food we didn't like... and if we went with the Ryus, we would have to stay until they were ready to leave, which may have been much later than we wanted to.
Well, it was an eventful day, so eventful in fact, I broke it into three posts for your reading pleasure.
As they say in the finest restaurants, "Enjoy!"
We were invited to go to the Wangin festival with the Ryus, but it just didn't hold so much appeal... it's a little cynical maybe, but a festival for something we didn't understand, food we didn't like... and if we went with the Ryus, we would have to stay until they were ready to leave, which may have been much later than we wanted to.
Well, it was an eventful day, so eventful in fact, I broke it into three posts for your reading pleasure.
As they say in the finest restaurants, "Enjoy!"
The Bus Ride
Mr Lee warned me this week that because of the Wangin festival this weekend, we should avoid the bus during the day. I figured this was another occasion of my coteachers being a little too careful for me… but I was wrong.
It took the bus over an hour to move the six kilometers from Yeongam to Gurim, the home of the Wangin festival. The main site was the local high school. The line of cars was so long that both in front and behind I could not see the end of it. I was surrounded, the bus was loaded, and I had present and former students all around.
The bus ride showed a huge contradiction in what I have been told again and again is dictated by Korean culture. People are taught in Korean culture that they are to respect their elders, a point which my new coteacher at the elementary school pointed out to me as being in contrast with Western culture. But you know what? I was the only person on the bus who gave up their seat. And to top it all off, the seat was taken by a middle-aged couple instead of the geriatrics standing in front of them. Meanwhile, all of my old students were sitting. And young people were all around, seated and ignoring the people standing. These are people old enough to break their everything being made to stand. Anyways, I just had to point that out.
The ride, other than that, was beautiful. The cherry blossoms are nearly in full bloom now, so there was a lot to look at. I took a number of pictures, which will be going up soon.
There was a young girl on the bus, who talked to me a bit, but gave up when her vocab ran out. Then, when she spotted another white guy at the festival, quickly pointed him out to me with a hopeful look. It was funny. Then, a few towns later, a young guy got on, and he talked my ear off. He took lessons with a friend from the Philippines, and they were clearly paying off. He said he liked Canada, and wanted to travel there, but hesitated when I told him that it was more expensive than touring southeast Asia. I hope he still does though.
It took the bus over an hour to move the six kilometers from Yeongam to Gurim, the home of the Wangin festival. The main site was the local high school. The line of cars was so long that both in front and behind I could not see the end of it. I was surrounded, the bus was loaded, and I had present and former students all around.
The bus ride showed a huge contradiction in what I have been told again and again is dictated by Korean culture. People are taught in Korean culture that they are to respect their elders, a point which my new coteacher at the elementary school pointed out to me as being in contrast with Western culture. But you know what? I was the only person on the bus who gave up their seat. And to top it all off, the seat was taken by a middle-aged couple instead of the geriatrics standing in front of them. Meanwhile, all of my old students were sitting. And young people were all around, seated and ignoring the people standing. These are people old enough to break their everything being made to stand. Anyways, I just had to point that out.
The ride, other than that, was beautiful. The cherry blossoms are nearly in full bloom now, so there was a lot to look at. I took a number of pictures, which will be going up soon.
There was a young girl on the bus, who talked to me a bit, but gave up when her vocab ran out. Then, when she spotted another white guy at the festival, quickly pointed him out to me with a hopeful look. It was funny. Then, a few towns later, a young guy got on, and he talked my ear off. He took lessons with a friend from the Philippines, and they were clearly paying off. He said he liked Canada, and wanted to travel there, but hesitated when I told him that it was more expensive than touring southeast Asia. I hope he still does though.
The hike – Yudalsan, take two
Our afternoon began with a quick stop at the “woman tree”. I had never seen it before, but it was apparently a famous thing in Mokpo (probably world famous, if you asked anyone). Sarah took me over to show me, and I was like “Okay, I think I see it…” and she said “No, it’s the one below that.”
Then I said “Oh Lord!”, and some Korean ladies behind us started killing themselves laughing. Woman tree is right.
The hike at Yudalsan with Rodrigo and Sarah (after the stop at the woman tree) started off the same as last time. It was very strenuous to start, as we were just scaling stairs. It was very busy, and I was really feeling my inactivity over the last few months catching up to me. I was not looking forward to a few more hours of this.
There’s one thing that you have to understand about hiking in Korea. When Koreans prepare a mountain trail, they do it by installing stairs. You are climbing up stairs. That is hard, and boring.
Luckily, Rodrigo and Sarah were locals, so they knew of a few trails with no stairs (but roped to help with the steep parts). These trails had much fewer people, more interesting scenery, and it was easier! Oddly enough, the stairs not only made it more dangerous (in my opinion) and less interesting, they also made climbing the mountain harder!
We stopped for lunch about halfway up, at this little stone picnic bench with a great view. They had prepared some delicious baguette chicken sandwiches (chicken prepared in the rice cooker, tried it today, divine) that went well with the blueberry “Wild Vines” cooler I had brought (drinking in public is legal here [and frighteningly common]) and we had fresh banana bread for dessert (made in our new oven).
We took a few long cat breaks on the way up, and it was great. Then we got to the top. I didn’t even think we were so close! The hike had seemed so easy (no stairs, lots of distracting nature around) that I hadn’t even realized how far we had gone.
We had a great view from the top. Mostly, the view was of this girl, dressed like she was going to the movies (with a boy clearly dressed for a day at a mountain). She was jumping up and down like crazy, because the coast guard helicopter was circling the mountaintop. I’m pretty sure that the first time around was a “let’s buzz the mountain” moment, and the three times after that were “Check out that girl!”
We really took our time on the way down. Another great change from my usual mountain experiences was that because we hadn’t taken stairs the whole way up, there was no wobbliness of our knees. It was a very easy trek down.
Then we walked home.
Then I said “Oh Lord!”, and some Korean ladies behind us started killing themselves laughing. Woman tree is right.
The hike at Yudalsan with Rodrigo and Sarah (after the stop at the woman tree) started off the same as last time. It was very strenuous to start, as we were just scaling stairs. It was very busy, and I was really feeling my inactivity over the last few months catching up to me. I was not looking forward to a few more hours of this.
There’s one thing that you have to understand about hiking in Korea. When Koreans prepare a mountain trail, they do it by installing stairs. You are climbing up stairs. That is hard, and boring.
Luckily, Rodrigo and Sarah were locals, so they knew of a few trails with no stairs (but roped to help with the steep parts). These trails had much fewer people, more interesting scenery, and it was easier! Oddly enough, the stairs not only made it more dangerous (in my opinion) and less interesting, they also made climbing the mountain harder!
We stopped for lunch about halfway up, at this little stone picnic bench with a great view. They had prepared some delicious baguette chicken sandwiches (chicken prepared in the rice cooker, tried it today, divine) that went well with the blueberry “Wild Vines” cooler I had brought (drinking in public is legal here [and frighteningly common]) and we had fresh banana bread for dessert (made in our new oven).
We took a few long cat breaks on the way up, and it was great. Then we got to the top. I didn’t even think we were so close! The hike had seemed so easy (no stairs, lots of distracting nature around) that I hadn’t even realized how far we had gone.
We had a great view from the top. Mostly, the view was of this girl, dressed like she was going to the movies (with a boy clearly dressed for a day at a mountain). She was jumping up and down like crazy, because the coast guard helicopter was circling the mountaintop. I’m pretty sure that the first time around was a “let’s buzz the mountain” moment, and the three times after that were “Check out that girl!”
We really took our time on the way down. Another great change from my usual mountain experiences was that because we hadn’t taken stairs the whole way up, there was no wobbliness of our knees. It was a very easy trek down.
Then we walked home.
The Trip Home
The trip home
So, the trip home was just as exciting. First, in an effort to rejuvenate the area where Rodrigo and Sarah live, huge light sculptures had been erected over the street, which made it look like a Vegas-y canopy. It was pretty neat.
Unfortunately, due to the cultural festival taking place in Mokpo this weekend, the streets were very busy and I had a horrible time finding a cab. I had to run across five or six lanes of traffic in the end to get one, and it was going the wrong way.
I went to E-Mart, with a mission to buy wine, and also to look for a new hoodie. I went upstairs to check out the hoodie selection, and the one I have been eyeing for a while was marked down to $7. Cha-ching. Then, I found a cool shirt of performance quality (extreme embroidery) and a nice dress shirt to wear to work. Heading back downstairs, I found two dress shirts for ten dollars each! Sales racks rule!
I also found wine at greatly reduced prices, and wound up getting seven bottles. Sure, it got some looks… but that’s a great price! I have the day off tomorrow for the school’s anniversary, so I will be heading back to see if they have restocked!
I headed to the lockers after I had checked out to get by bag out. I looked up, and saw this girl, somewhere between 20 and 25, staring at me through the window. Nothing new, so I just ignored it and shuffled stuff around between shopping bag and backpack.
I headed out down the road to the bus stop, enjoying the beautiful night. It was still pretty warm, and there was a nice breeze. It was just really pleasant. I noticed the sound of someone following behind, and it was the girl! I was walking quite a bit faster, and every once in a while I would hear running behind me! When I looked back, it stopped, but she would be obviously closer. Then, we’d walk more, and then she’d run to catch up again.
The third time, she finally caught all the way up, and said “Are you English?”.
I said “No, I am Canadian. But I speak English.”
Turns out she had been studying English for a year in London, but came back after one year. I assume she meant London, England, but that was never confirmed. She walked with me about halfway to the bus station, and then said she lived in Samho, which is on the same bus route as Yeongam. I thought that was pretty neat. I told her that Jessie taught there, and she said too bad, because the English is so low there. She kept walking with me. It was nice, but I was getting a little weirded out. I decided to go with it, because it was nice to just meet someone and actually be able to speak with them!
She walked all the way to the bus terminal with me, so I assumed that she was going back home on the bus too. She even waited outside when I popped into Paris Baguette to get muffins! Then, she saw me to my bus and said goodbye! It was very strange. I’ll post her picture too. I took one, I did not want to forget.
So, the trip home was just as exciting. First, in an effort to rejuvenate the area where Rodrigo and Sarah live, huge light sculptures had been erected over the street, which made it look like a Vegas-y canopy. It was pretty neat.
Unfortunately, due to the cultural festival taking place in Mokpo this weekend, the streets were very busy and I had a horrible time finding a cab. I had to run across five or six lanes of traffic in the end to get one, and it was going the wrong way.
I went to E-Mart, with a mission to buy wine, and also to look for a new hoodie. I went upstairs to check out the hoodie selection, and the one I have been eyeing for a while was marked down to $7. Cha-ching. Then, I found a cool shirt of performance quality (extreme embroidery) and a nice dress shirt to wear to work. Heading back downstairs, I found two dress shirts for ten dollars each! Sales racks rule!
I also found wine at greatly reduced prices, and wound up getting seven bottles. Sure, it got some looks… but that’s a great price! I have the day off tomorrow for the school’s anniversary, so I will be heading back to see if they have restocked!
I headed to the lockers after I had checked out to get by bag out. I looked up, and saw this girl, somewhere between 20 and 25, staring at me through the window. Nothing new, so I just ignored it and shuffled stuff around between shopping bag and backpack.
I headed out down the road to the bus stop, enjoying the beautiful night. It was still pretty warm, and there was a nice breeze. It was just really pleasant. I noticed the sound of someone following behind, and it was the girl! I was walking quite a bit faster, and every once in a while I would hear running behind me! When I looked back, it stopped, but she would be obviously closer. Then, we’d walk more, and then she’d run to catch up again.
The third time, she finally caught all the way up, and said “Are you English?”.
I said “No, I am Canadian. But I speak English.”
Turns out she had been studying English for a year in London, but came back after one year. I assume she meant London, England, but that was never confirmed. She walked with me about halfway to the bus station, and then said she lived in Samho, which is on the same bus route as Yeongam. I thought that was pretty neat. I told her that Jessie taught there, and she said too bad, because the English is so low there. She kept walking with me. It was nice, but I was getting a little weirded out. I decided to go with it, because it was nice to just meet someone and actually be able to speak with them!
She walked all the way to the bus terminal with me, so I assumed that she was going back home on the bus too. She even waited outside when I popped into Paris Baguette to get muffins! Then, she saw me to my bus and said goodbye! It was very strange. I’ll post her picture too. I took one, I did not want to forget.
The Trip Home
So, the trip home was just as exciting. First, in an effort to rejuvenate the area where Rodrigo and Sarah live, huge light sculptures had been erected over the street, which made it look like a Vegas-y canopy. It was pretty neat.
Unfortunately, due to the cultural festival taking place in Mokpo this weekend, the streets were very busy and I had a horrible time finding a cab. I had to run across five or six lanes of traffic in the end to get one, and it was going the wrong way.
I went to E-Mart, with a mission to buy wine, and also to look for a new hoodie. I went upstairs to check out the hoodie selection, and the one I have been eyeing for a while was marked down to $7. Cha-ching. Then, I found a cool shirt of performance quality (extreme embroidery) and a nice dress shirt to wear to work. Heading back downstairs, I found two dress shirts for ten dollars each! Sales racks rule!
I also found wine at greatly reduced prices, and wound up getting seven bottles. Sure, it got some looks… but that’s a great price! I have the day off tomorrow for the school’s anniversary, so I will be heading back to see if they have restocked!
I headed to the lockers after I had checked out to get by bag out. I looked up, and saw this girl, somewhere between 20 and 25, staring at me through the window. Nothing new, so I just ignored it and shuffled stuff around between shopping bag and backpack.
I headed out down the road to the bus stop, enjoying the beautiful night. It was still pretty warm, and there was a nice breeze. It was just really pleasant. I noticed the sound of someone following behind, and it was the girl! I was walking quite a bit faster, and every once in a while I would hear running behind me! When I looked back, it stopped, but she would be obviously closer. Then, we’d walk more, and then she’d run to catch up again.
The third time, she finally caught all the way up, and said “Are you English?”.
I said “No, I am Canadian. But I speak English.”
Turns out she had been studying English for a year in London, but came back after one year. I assume she meant London, England, but that was never confirmed. She walked with me about halfway to the bus station, and then said she lived in Samho, which is on the same bus route as Yeongam. I thought that was pretty neat. I told her that Jessie taught there, and she said too bad, because the English is so low there. She kept walking with me. It was nice, but I was getting a little weirded out. I decided to go with it, because it was nice to just meet someone and actually be able to speak with them!She walked all the way to the bus terminal with me, so I assumed that she was going back home on the bus too. She even waited outside when I popped into Paris Baguette to get muffins! Then, she saw me to my bus and said goodbye! It was very strange. I’ll post her picture too. I took one, I did not want to forget.
Unfortunately, due to the cultural festival taking place in Mokpo this weekend, the streets were very busy and I had a horrible time finding a cab. I had to run across five or six lanes of traffic in the end to get one, and it was going the wrong way.
I went to E-Mart, with a mission to buy wine, and also to look for a new hoodie. I went upstairs to check out the hoodie selection, and the one I have been eyeing for a while was marked down to $7. Cha-ching. Then, I found a cool shirt of performance quality (extreme embroidery) and a nice dress shirt to wear to work. Heading back downstairs, I found two dress shirts for ten dollars each! Sales racks rule!
I also found wine at greatly reduced prices, and wound up getting seven bottles. Sure, it got some looks… but that’s a great price! I have the day off tomorrow for the school’s anniversary, so I will be heading back to see if they have restocked!
I headed to the lockers after I had checked out to get by bag out. I looked up, and saw this girl, somewhere between 20 and 25, staring at me through the window. Nothing new, so I just ignored it and shuffled stuff around between shopping bag and backpack.
I headed out down the road to the bus stop, enjoying the beautiful night. It was still pretty warm, and there was a nice breeze. It was just really pleasant. I noticed the sound of someone following behind, and it was the girl! I was walking quite a bit faster, and every once in a while I would hear running behind me! When I looked back, it stopped, but she would be obviously closer. Then, we’d walk more, and then she’d run to catch up again.
The third time, she finally caught all the way up, and said “Are you English?”.
I said “No, I am Canadian. But I speak English.”
Turns out she had been studying English for a year in London, but came back after one year. I assume she meant London, England, but that was never confirmed. She walked with me about halfway to the bus station, and then said she lived in Samho, which is on the same bus route as Yeongam. I thought that was pretty neat. I told her that Jessie taught there, and she said too bad, because the English is so low there. She kept walking with me. It was nice, but I was getting a little weirded out. I decided to go with it, because it was nice to just meet someone and actually be able to speak with them!She walked all the way to the bus terminal with me, so I assumed that she was going back home on the bus too. She even waited outside when I popped into Paris Baguette to get muffins! Then, she saw me to my bus and said goodbye! It was very strange. I’ll post her picture too. I took one, I did not want to forget.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Wow, that was the worst class in a long time.
In order to properly paint this picture, I first have to tell you about yesterday, and how awesome it was.
So, I cam to school with no real plan, just an idea to review long vowel sounds. I tried last week, but what I had planned proved to take way too long, so I figured I would play it by ear. The basic idea was this: go in, review "A long vowel says it's name" and then make lists of words they already know with that sound. sounds easy, right? Well, sometimes that can be very misleading.
But yesterday, it was not. My grade ones cleaned up. They were coming up with twenty or thirty (sometimes forty) words per vowel, and quite often I had to cut them off so that we would not run out of time, even though they were still shouting them out. And surprisingly, it was really fun. Somehow these kids made a class of making lists not only fun to participate in, but also fun to teach.
Man, those are great kids.
Today, the grade twos were (well, class 2-2) were another story entirely. I explained what a long vowel was, and then I said "What does a long 'a' sound like?"
"..."
"What sound does a long 'a' make?"
"..."
"Long 'a'?"
"..."
"... sound ... like...."
"..."
"'a' word...."
"Apple?" (at this point I considered jumping out the third story window)
So, brutal. When I finally did manage to convey what I wanted, they spoke so quietly, I couldn't hear them. I mean, this class has really bad accents, so it's hard enough anyways. But they'd say something I'd say "Leaf?" they'd say no. I'd say "Leap?", they'd say no. I've say "Leave?" they'd say no. Then my coteacher would say "They're saying 'live'."
Well that's just plain wrong.
Gah!
Anyways, my lists shrunk drastically from the previous 30 to 40 words down to six or seven per vowel sound, most of them being words I blurted out after not understanding what they had actually said. Do you know how hard it is to run a 45 minute class with 30 words the kids already know?! I'll tell you. Damned hard. It's the teaching equivalent to trying to spread one individual serving butter packet over a whole loaf of bread.
My coteacher actually apologized. I think sometimes she is embarassed by how little her classes seem to know. I mean, she was their teacher... so maybe it's legitimate. But the problem's way bigger than her, so I don't hold it against her.
Well, that was a good vent. I hope you enjoyed reading it.
Oh man, the insecure volleyball guy (mentioned in a previous mass e-mail - he's a ball hog who pushes the women out of the way and plays the whole court) just came in. I knew it was him before I even looked, because he walked in yelling, and with audible swagger. Oh man... one of the new ladies who teaches here is currently horking into her garbage can. What a magical place.
So, I cam to school with no real plan, just an idea to review long vowel sounds. I tried last week, but what I had planned proved to take way too long, so I figured I would play it by ear. The basic idea was this: go in, review "A long vowel says it's name" and then make lists of words they already know with that sound. sounds easy, right? Well, sometimes that can be very misleading.
But yesterday, it was not. My grade ones cleaned up. They were coming up with twenty or thirty (sometimes forty) words per vowel, and quite often I had to cut them off so that we would not run out of time, even though they were still shouting them out. And surprisingly, it was really fun. Somehow these kids made a class of making lists not only fun to participate in, but also fun to teach.
Man, those are great kids.
Today, the grade twos were (well, class 2-2) were another story entirely. I explained what a long vowel was, and then I said "What does a long 'a' sound like?"
"..."
"What sound does a long 'a' make?"
"..."
"Long 'a'?"
"..."
"... sound ... like...."
"..."
"'a' word...."
"Apple?" (at this point I considered jumping out the third story window)
So, brutal. When I finally did manage to convey what I wanted, they spoke so quietly, I couldn't hear them. I mean, this class has really bad accents, so it's hard enough anyways. But they'd say something I'd say "Leaf?" they'd say no. I'd say "Leap?", they'd say no. I've say "Leave?" they'd say no. Then my coteacher would say "They're saying 'live'."
Well that's just plain wrong.
Gah!
Anyways, my lists shrunk drastically from the previous 30 to 40 words down to six or seven per vowel sound, most of them being words I blurted out after not understanding what they had actually said. Do you know how hard it is to run a 45 minute class with 30 words the kids already know?! I'll tell you. Damned hard. It's the teaching equivalent to trying to spread one individual serving butter packet over a whole loaf of bread.
My coteacher actually apologized. I think sometimes she is embarassed by how little her classes seem to know. I mean, she was their teacher... so maybe it's legitimate. But the problem's way bigger than her, so I don't hold it against her.
Well, that was a good vent. I hope you enjoyed reading it.
Oh man, the insecure volleyball guy (mentioned in a previous mass e-mail - he's a ball hog who pushes the women out of the way and plays the whole court) just came in. I knew it was him before I even looked, because he walked in yelling, and with audible swagger. Oh man... one of the new ladies who teaches here is currently horking into her garbage can. What a magical place.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Stop yelling at me!
Man, all these kids yell at me all the damn time.
It's like that scene in Rush Hour when Chris Tucker is yelling at Jackie Chan "Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?!"
Clearly they think that the key to English pronunciation is yelling. I've tried to make them see how ridiculous it is by yelling back at them. But it just rolls off of their backs.
I guess I live in the loudest country in the world. Bad luck, I guess.
Once again, the heat is on with the windows open.
I better go, a class is coming in right now.
It's like that scene in Rush Hour when Chris Tucker is yelling at Jackie Chan "Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?!"
Clearly they think that the key to English pronunciation is yelling. I've tried to make them see how ridiculous it is by yelling back at them. But it just rolls off of their backs.
I guess I live in the loudest country in the world. Bad luck, I guess.
Once again, the heat is on with the windows open.
I better go, a class is coming in right now.
Soaked!
It is pouring rain today.
My pants are different colours front and back now, from getting wet. Grey and dark grey.
The umbrella didn't help much... it was so windy, it barely made a difference.
Actually, my wool sweater did more to keep me dry.
It soaked through my shoes too... damn.
That's all for now.
My pants are different colours front and back now, from getting wet. Grey and dark grey.
The umbrella didn't help much... it was so windy, it barely made a difference.
Actually, my wool sweater did more to keep me dry.
It soaked through my shoes too... damn.
That's all for now.
Monday, April 03, 2006
New Hobby - Being depressed by Korean music videos of lovesick robots
So Jessie has a new hobby, and it's catching on with me.
You see, you can only watch McGyver over and over again so many times before your girlfriend starts to feel threatened. So now we watch more MTV, which before we would just skip over.
Here's the formula for a music video as Jessie has determined it (probably to be edited later once Jessie corrects me):
Two people who could not possibly be more in love + shots of frolicking + boyfriend is a photographer (my addition) + tragic death of one lover by train collision and/or falling from a great height = top ten hit
(edit after talking to Jessie = sometimes they drown too)
Once they have established that the two people are in love, one will be inevitably killed off.
There have been two noteable exceptions:
You see, you can only watch McGyver over and over again so many times before your girlfriend starts to feel threatened. So now we watch more MTV, which before we would just skip over.
Here's the formula for a music video as Jessie has determined it (probably to be edited later once Jessie corrects me):
Two people who could not possibly be more in love + shots of frolicking + boyfriend is a photographer (my addition) + tragic death of one lover by train collision and/or falling from a great height = top ten hit
(edit after talking to Jessie = sometimes they drown too)
Once they have established that the two people are in love, one will be inevitably killed off.
There have been two noteable exceptions:
- Two young dogs are in love. One dog goes away, or is taken away. The second dog spends the length of the video in search of his lost love/friend. It's hilarious. The artist clearly understands how ridiculous the formula is and is making fun of it. The search is complete with the same emotional sidelong glances at the camera and soft focus running that makes the human videos so tragic.
- There are two young girls who are clearly more than friends. They spend the whole video getting closer and closer to kissing, with creative camera angles that make their lips seem as though they are almost teaching even though they are inches apart. Then, in the end, in front of a blazing sun, they kiss, but their mouths are obscured, of course. I was pretty shocked, because all you hear is "Koreans are so conservative, Koreans aren't tolerant of homosexuality". But clearly things have changed and/or are changing, maybe foreign opinions are the ones that are lagging.
The kicker was a video that was on as Jessie was leaving this morning. It begins with a girl apparently being shot, or hit by lightning, judging by the flashing and the electrical, still shocking wound on her stomach. Next scene, the girl is in a trach can, made up like a goth Candy Striper. A new guy finds her, and this is where you realize that she is a robot. He repairs her, and teaches her how to love again using books all in english. So, I'm not sure how he read them to her if he went through the public school system.
In the end, he bores of her, and begins to date other girls. Of course, this breaks her heart-shaped circuits, and she can't figure out an algorithm to deal with her pain. So she shoots him. That's harsh.
But wait! The Zack Morris remote comes out and they rewind to a time before the hurting. And he takes her out, and places her right back in the trash can. That's harsher.
It would be a cool video, if not for the fact that every music video has the exact same plot, and they all are so damned sad! Has there never been a happy Korean relationship?! This country needs some "Preppy Rock", stat. Also, they need to play "Peaches" by The Presidents of the United States of America after every third video.
Beautiful
So, as I rounded the corner to the girls' school this morning, I had my headphones on, and "Imagine" by John Lennon came on. The first line, "Imagine there's no heaven" coincided with a view of newly planted trees, some flowering in the thick fog all around a canopy with vines over it as girls were playing in the background.
It was like a painting.
Wish the camera could have captured it, but it never ever could have.
It was like a painting.
Wish the camera could have captured it, but it never ever could have.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
The walk to the boys' school
As I leave my apartment on the way to the boys' school, I usually take a look up to my left. This way leads through rice fields, and is where I usually go to take walks. But, it's a long walk, and usually I leave just in time to go the quick way.
So, I turn away from the left and go right. The street is surrounded by walls, which makes it fun when you're walking during a busy time, and you have to hug the walls to make room.
At the bottom of the hill, I can turn and see our whole building. Ours is the one on the left, and the Ryus live in the one on the right. Note the palm tree. It is especially nice when it is covered in snow. 
Turning back to the road, I can get another good view of the mountain over the housetops. The flowers are beginning to bloom on some of the trees, as you can see. Next weekend, I think, will be the cherry blossom festival in our area. It is rumoured to be "the most beautiful thing ever" and "world famous", like everything else here!
Finally, I hit the main road, then the fun really starts. Whee!!
From the main road, I can see the park across the street from our apartment. It's especially beautiful in the morning, when the sun shines through the trees. Well, I don't need to tell you, you can see it. 
This house is right below the park. They have so many dogs, including a gorgeous black lab that is unfortunately kept on about four feet of chain. Note the "bongo" truck in front, this is the vehicle of choice for farmers throughout the country. Bongo bongo bongo!
Here I come up to the corner. Every day on her walk, Jessie turns left here. On my walk, I go straight. Today, there is clearly something to celebrate, because someone was getting some early morning flower deliveries from the flower shop on the left. 
Just a little farther, you can see all the way to the "okori". This means 0 - five kori - intersection. It's a five way intersection, and the hub of the city.
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