School has been going well so far this week. I told all of my classes that our next class would be our last class, and all of the classes at the girls' school seemed pretty upset about it, which was really nice. We finished our movie, I gave them a little puzzle/dictionary thing to do, and told them they had two weeks to finish it, but they had to finish it in time for our last class.
They all asked why, and seemed angry when I told them that I would come back to Korea but not to Yeongam. Oh well. I explained to my favourite group that it was because there are no other English speakers in Yeongam, and that I am lonely. They seemed cool with that.
Same thing at the boys' school. Well, almost. We finished a movie, I handed out an activity, they started, and then I tried to explain that the next class was my last class. Of course, I'm thinking that they did not understand. A few said "No!" and "Why?!" but most just had blank stares.
I guess it will sink in when I start saying goodbye, and give them my e-mail address.
I'm definitely going to miss the girls as a group more than I will the boys. The boys have been so hard to engage and are generally uninterested in English. I guess that's the difference between a public boys' school and a private academic girls' school as much as anything. There are some boys that I will really miss, but I honestly think that for the most part I will be happy to be done here. The teachers and staff are great, but the boys are so difficult.
Oh well... only one more class. haha.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Okay, I over-reacted... and camps
So, I just want to say that I was totally out of line complaining about being given only two days notice on a mandatory meeting that was being held out of town. First off, that's way more notice than people usually receive for things like that here, so I should just be thankful.
Really, it wasn't the lack of notice that bugged me, just the fact that I had made plans and now I had to change them. And I was quite happy with the original set.
But I over-reacted, and for that I apologize.
So anyways, let's talk about camps. Friday afternoon was the meeting in Muan, and that camp looks like it will be a lot of fun. It has a very low budget. It's going to be held in an old abandoned school, and there are no beds or facilities. Just mats on the floor. So that should add to the whole "camp" part of the experience.
There will only be thirty students, which will be awesome. Thirty students, three Canadians (myself, Steve and Chris) and three Korean teachers. Good ratios, I think. We only have to run three classes (45 minutes) each, which should be easy enough. And then we have to run three "fun" camp activities. I got "ice breakers" (which I'm fine with), "Making team posters" (which will be dreadfully easy) and "learning an English song" (means I can bring my guitar). The academic classes will be fun too, I'm teaching them a fable, talking about taking a trip to Canada, and about preparing for an Englsih camp.
Five days and four nights, for about $500. Not too bad. Not really competitive with the other camps, but the fun should bring them right up there.
After the meeting I headed to Bucheon. I stayed with Steve and Crystal again, and that was a lot of fun. They are great hosts, even when they have a really busy schedule already. They even took me on a trip to Costco, which meant that I had a 60 litre backpack full of granola bars and cheese on the trip back.
On Saturday morning at 10:00 I met the father of one of Steve's students at the local Walmart. We were meeting to discuss the university camp for teachers in August that I will be teaching at. Apparently they have a really difficult time finding teachers who can work at it, since so many local schools run mandatory academic camps that mean local teachers can not participate. Fortunately, no-one where I live wants to learn English, so I have no camps and a free schedule.
That camp is two weeks long, six hours a day, and I will be teaching elementary teachers from the Bucheon area. The best part is that it pays about $2300. That's a lot of beans!
Really, it wasn't the lack of notice that bugged me, just the fact that I had made plans and now I had to change them. And I was quite happy with the original set.
But I over-reacted, and for that I apologize.
So anyways, let's talk about camps. Friday afternoon was the meeting in Muan, and that camp looks like it will be a lot of fun. It has a very low budget. It's going to be held in an old abandoned school, and there are no beds or facilities. Just mats on the floor. So that should add to the whole "camp" part of the experience.
There will only be thirty students, which will be awesome. Thirty students, three Canadians (myself, Steve and Chris) and three Korean teachers. Good ratios, I think. We only have to run three classes (45 minutes) each, which should be easy enough. And then we have to run three "fun" camp activities. I got "ice breakers" (which I'm fine with), "Making team posters" (which will be dreadfully easy) and "learning an English song" (means I can bring my guitar). The academic classes will be fun too, I'm teaching them a fable, talking about taking a trip to Canada, and about preparing for an Englsih camp.
Five days and four nights, for about $500. Not too bad. Not really competitive with the other camps, but the fun should bring them right up there.
After the meeting I headed to Bucheon. I stayed with Steve and Crystal again, and that was a lot of fun. They are great hosts, even when they have a really busy schedule already. They even took me on a trip to Costco, which meant that I had a 60 litre backpack full of granola bars and cheese on the trip back.
On Saturday morning at 10:00 I met the father of one of Steve's students at the local Walmart. We were meeting to discuss the university camp for teachers in August that I will be teaching at. Apparently they have a really difficult time finding teachers who can work at it, since so many local schools run mandatory academic camps that mean local teachers can not participate. Fortunately, no-one where I live wants to learn English, so I have no camps and a free schedule.
That camp is two weeks long, six hours a day, and I will be teaching elementary teachers from the Bucheon area. The best part is that it pays about $2300. That's a lot of beans!
Monday, June 26, 2006
The Payoff
So, after close to a month and a half of ticket worries, I finally have confirmation that my ticket money will be getting reimbursed before I leave Korea. On July 25th, in fact.
All it took was going to the county office and raising my voice to my boss in front of an office birthday party.
Suddenly it seems to be much easier, which is just fine by me.
All it took was going to the county office and raising my voice to my boss in front of an office birthday party.
Suddenly it seems to be much easier, which is just fine by me.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
BUY MY GINSENG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On lunch, some new people came into the office. Nothing hew, there's a steady stream of people in and out, usually parents, but always different, always just passing through.
The Korean teacher called over to me "Matthew! Come!" and then waved at the table. I stood up to see what was happening. I assumed that maybe the teachers had been bought another watermelon or something, and I was looking forward to the refreshing treat.
When I looked up at the table I didn't see any watermelon. No snacks at all!
Turns out the people were salespeople, and I was being waved over to check out their wares.
I looked at Sukkyeong, who quickly clarified that they were selling Korean Ginseng. Like there was any question that it would be Korean. ha!
I turned to the Korean teacher and said "No thank you" and of course everyone in the office laughed, and the salespeople looked insulted.
I thoght that would be the end of it, but it just is so damned interesting.
Apparently.... There is a big crowd of about ten or fifteen teachers gathered around the table. All listening intently as this guy and his two "lovely assistants" regale them with miracle tales of health restored or improved (I assume).
Neato. But wait, now he's opened his silver protective briefcase... what's this? It's not full of delicious ginseng at all! It's a TV!!! He pulls out the remote, and the familiar infomercial music begins to blare.
Why does he have a remote? Presumably, if he opens the case every time to operate the thing, he's close enough to push the button. Oh well...
Oh, he's got cases of it next to the table... I just heard "Oh Sheep"... it's fifty something. I can't imagine it's only $50... man, it might be $500, they have a screwy way of talking about big numbers here (fifty ten thousand won is about $500). Well... no more screwy than "twenty-one hundred for 2100, I guess.
Oh, he's packing up now. That was quick. Looks pretty unsuccessful.
Oh, he just looked around the office.... he does not look happy. Not at all.
The Korean teacher called over to me "Matthew! Come!" and then waved at the table. I stood up to see what was happening. I assumed that maybe the teachers had been bought another watermelon or something, and I was looking forward to the refreshing treat.
When I looked up at the table I didn't see any watermelon. No snacks at all!
Turns out the people were salespeople, and I was being waved over to check out their wares.
I looked at Sukkyeong, who quickly clarified that they were selling Korean Ginseng. Like there was any question that it would be Korean. ha!
I turned to the Korean teacher and said "No thank you" and of course everyone in the office laughed, and the salespeople looked insulted.
I thoght that would be the end of it, but it just is so damned interesting.
Apparently.... There is a big crowd of about ten or fifteen teachers gathered around the table. All listening intently as this guy and his two "lovely assistants" regale them with miracle tales of health restored or improved (I assume).
Neato. But wait, now he's opened his silver protective briefcase... what's this? It's not full of delicious ginseng at all! It's a TV!!! He pulls out the remote, and the familiar infomercial music begins to blare.
Why does he have a remote? Presumably, if he opens the case every time to operate the thing, he's close enough to push the button. Oh well...
Oh, he's got cases of it next to the table... I just heard "Oh Sheep"... it's fifty something. I can't imagine it's only $50... man, it might be $500, they have a screwy way of talking about big numbers here (fifty ten thousand won is about $500). Well... no more screwy than "twenty-one hundred for 2100, I guess.
Oh, he's packing up now. That was quick. Looks pretty unsuccessful.
Oh, he just looked around the office.... he does not look happy. Not at all.
Meeting
So I have a meeting with my university contact on Saturday about the camp this summer. It was postponed from last Friday night, because even though I had told him multiple times that if I came on a Friday it would be for a Friday evening meeting (because even though I didn't work on Friday afternoons, I would have to travel from Yeongam to Seoul, and from Seoul to Bucheon), he cancelled at the last moment and asked me if I could move the meeting to Saturday. I didn't feel like spending the whole weekend in Seoul, so I said no, and it was moved to Saturday of this week.
So that means that I would have to go on Friday night. If I have to go the night before, I would like to arrive in the evening so that I can do something before bed. Since I don't work on Friday afternoons, it's no problem. If only it were that simple.
Today, after making all of my plans, I arrived to find a notice on my desk that I have a meeting from three until five on Friday.
GAH!
Come on people! If you are going to call a meeting, which you have probably known about for weeks, could you at least give me more than two days notice if it is on a Friday? I don't work Friday afternoons! Now you're runing my Friday night!
Okay, that's ridiculous, I know. I technically should be at work until five anyways. I wouldn't even care except for the fact that I had made plans, and now I have to change everything. I hate the fact that things like this happen last minute so often.
I'm not really that angry, I just have to meet my weekly rant quota.
So that means that I would have to go on Friday night. If I have to go the night before, I would like to arrive in the evening so that I can do something before bed. Since I don't work on Friday afternoons, it's no problem. If only it were that simple.
Today, after making all of my plans, I arrived to find a notice on my desk that I have a meeting from three until five on Friday.
GAH!
Come on people! If you are going to call a meeting, which you have probably known about for weeks, could you at least give me more than two days notice if it is on a Friday? I don't work Friday afternoons! Now you're runing my Friday night!
Okay, that's ridiculous, I know. I technically should be at work until five anyways. I wouldn't even care except for the fact that I had made plans, and now I have to change everything. I hate the fact that things like this happen last minute so often.
I'm not really that angry, I just have to meet my weekly rant quota.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Job search on hold
So, I've stopped looking for a job for a while now.
I applied to about fifteen different places, and had about five or six replies. I went to two interviews... maybe I should tell that story first.
It was last Tuesday. I left school a little early and headed into Gwangju to meet with two hagwon directors. Both meetings had been made and confirmed by e-mail, but I had phone numbers for both directors.
I arrived at around 6:10, which would normally be plenty of time to make it to my first meeting at 6:30. Unfortunately, not only was it rush hour, the hagwon was also in the geumho neighbourhood, near the world-cup stadium, which was already filling up with Koreans hoping to ctach the televised game on big projection screens at TEN o'clock. So, I didn't get there until almost 6:50.
I started talking to the director, and she seemed really nice. The downside was that there were no other foreigners, but she had offered almost immediately to move the apartment closer to the school so that I could walk my dog more easily. So she seemed nice, very accomodating, and she definitely didn't seem like she was a no-nothing hack whose husband had bought her a hagwon to give her something to do (as sometimes happens). She handed me a contract to look over, and then asked me if I could begin in three weeks.
I said "No, as I said in my cover letter I am unavailable to start until October." I didn't mention the multiple date references in the e-mails as well. Then she tried to convince me that I should sign the contract and then it would be my job to find someone to fill in in the meantime, until I could begin working there. Yeah, that's not happening.
So that school was out.
I left the hagwon at about 7:25, which gave me almost no time to get to another school near "a library", where I had said that I would be at about 7:30. So, I was going to be late. A very bad start, but easily covered, because I had travelled an hour and a half for the meeting, and any lateness could be blamed on the bus system, and they had said any time until eight was okay anyways.
I got into the cab, and told the cabbie the name of the library. I can't remember what it was right now, but I can remember what it was about it that made it impossible for me to communicate.
You see, when Korean is written in English, the divisions between syllables get lost. So here's the problem. Is "Jungang" pronounced "Joong-ahng", or is it pronounced "Joon-gang"? In English, it is of course the first, with a little kick off the first g on your way by. But in Korean, either pronunciation is acceptable, and equally possible if you can't see it written in Korean.
I tried to communicate this to the cab driver by shrugging, saying both names, and then looking at him hopefully. Needless to say, he did not understand. I figured later that it must have been equivalent to someone getting into a cab and saying "forest florist".
No big deal right? I've got the phone number. But wait, they only e-mailed me the local number, without and area code, for some reason, since you seem to need an area code to call from just about anywhere. So, now I have no idea where I'm going and no way of calling to ask for help. There goes the idea of calling and having them explain the directions to the cabbie.
Then I thought I would try the info booth at the bus station. Oh crap, five dollar cab ride only to realize that it was closed for the day.
So, whatever, I'll go shopping. I wanted to get some oatmeal anyways, and I can only do that in Gwangju. Might as well not waste the trip.
So I went for the oatmeal. I was just on the way to a PC bang (which I also looked for before seeking out oatmeal, unsuccessfully) to e-mail the school and tell them that I could not find them and that their phone number would not work when they called me. I was walking by a bar at the time, so I barely heard the ring, but in the back of my head I thought "Hey! I know that cheesy Korean pop song from somewhere!"
I explained the situation, and got into a cab, and gave the phone to a cab driver so that she (the interviewer) could tell the driver where I had to go. Well, I was on the wrong side of the street. Nevermind that the cab could have turned around, I was forced to cross the street into another cab. Normally, that would not have bothered me, BUT he hung up the phone! Why would he have done that? Answer: He's an idiot.
Now here I was on the other side of the street, and scanning through all of the Korean menu options trying to reason out which might be "Incoming Calls". I finally find it, and just about to hit dial when she calls back. We were both a little frustrated by this point, which made me scared for the interview.
At any rate, I finally get to the hagwon where I have the meeting. I sit down, we have a nice chat, but the interviewer keeps asking me about my use of the text book in spite of the fact that in response to her first question I explained how I had not used a textbook and had created my own curriculum for the year.
"Oh, I see! How did you motivate students who were not interested in the textbook?"
"GAH!"
So, I didn't feel like it went well. Approaching the end of the interview she asked me "It says in your introduction letter that you can not start until October, but you end your contract in August. Can you start earlier?"
No, actually, as stated quite plainly in the letter and then again at several points during the interview, I will be unavailable to start until early October.
I got an e-mail a couple of days later saying that they wanted someone who would start in August. So why did they even interview me! READ THE DAMNED LETTER PEOPLE!
I sent out an e-mail a couple of days ago to the first hagwon explaining that since I could not find anyone to fill in until October, that I thought that they should keep looking for someone else. I also explained that I would not be replying to any position until late July or August, as the uselessness of looking for a job now was becoming clear, and I don't want to be limited in the future by my present options.
She called me yesterday and insisted that it was no problem, that she could handle no native speaker until October, and that I should go ahead and sign the contract anyways. Oh yeah, I'm pretty eager to do that. Then I can watch all the better jobs sail by while holding my crappy contract.
Anyways, I told her to keep looking and that I would not be signing a contract until I had had time to explore all of my options. She told me to sign again. I told her that I would keep her in mind and then hung up.
What really burns me is that it's not even the quality of my application or my persona that is being evaluated, I think. It's just that she wants someone, and I am here.
Maybe she'll be willing to pay more for me closer to the day though... cross your fingers! If nothing else comes up, she may be the one!
I applied to about fifteen different places, and had about five or six replies. I went to two interviews... maybe I should tell that story first.
It was last Tuesday. I left school a little early and headed into Gwangju to meet with two hagwon directors. Both meetings had been made and confirmed by e-mail, but I had phone numbers for both directors.
I arrived at around 6:10, which would normally be plenty of time to make it to my first meeting at 6:30. Unfortunately, not only was it rush hour, the hagwon was also in the geumho neighbourhood, near the world-cup stadium, which was already filling up with Koreans hoping to ctach the televised game on big projection screens at TEN o'clock. So, I didn't get there until almost 6:50.
I started talking to the director, and she seemed really nice. The downside was that there were no other foreigners, but she had offered almost immediately to move the apartment closer to the school so that I could walk my dog more easily. So she seemed nice, very accomodating, and she definitely didn't seem like she was a no-nothing hack whose husband had bought her a hagwon to give her something to do (as sometimes happens). She handed me a contract to look over, and then asked me if I could begin in three weeks.
I said "No, as I said in my cover letter I am unavailable to start until October." I didn't mention the multiple date references in the e-mails as well. Then she tried to convince me that I should sign the contract and then it would be my job to find someone to fill in in the meantime, until I could begin working there. Yeah, that's not happening.
So that school was out.
I left the hagwon at about 7:25, which gave me almost no time to get to another school near "a library", where I had said that I would be at about 7:30. So, I was going to be late. A very bad start, but easily covered, because I had travelled an hour and a half for the meeting, and any lateness could be blamed on the bus system, and they had said any time until eight was okay anyways.
I got into the cab, and told the cabbie the name of the library. I can't remember what it was right now, but I can remember what it was about it that made it impossible for me to communicate.
You see, when Korean is written in English, the divisions between syllables get lost. So here's the problem. Is "Jungang" pronounced "Joong-ahng", or is it pronounced "Joon-gang"? In English, it is of course the first, with a little kick off the first g on your way by. But in Korean, either pronunciation is acceptable, and equally possible if you can't see it written in Korean.
I tried to communicate this to the cab driver by shrugging, saying both names, and then looking at him hopefully. Needless to say, he did not understand. I figured later that it must have been equivalent to someone getting into a cab and saying "forest florist".
No big deal right? I've got the phone number. But wait, they only e-mailed me the local number, without and area code, for some reason, since you seem to need an area code to call from just about anywhere. So, now I have no idea where I'm going and no way of calling to ask for help. There goes the idea of calling and having them explain the directions to the cabbie.
Then I thought I would try the info booth at the bus station. Oh crap, five dollar cab ride only to realize that it was closed for the day.
So, whatever, I'll go shopping. I wanted to get some oatmeal anyways, and I can only do that in Gwangju. Might as well not waste the trip.
So I went for the oatmeal. I was just on the way to a PC bang (which I also looked for before seeking out oatmeal, unsuccessfully) to e-mail the school and tell them that I could not find them and that their phone number would not work when they called me. I was walking by a bar at the time, so I barely heard the ring, but in the back of my head I thought "Hey! I know that cheesy Korean pop song from somewhere!"
I explained the situation, and got into a cab, and gave the phone to a cab driver so that she (the interviewer) could tell the driver where I had to go. Well, I was on the wrong side of the street. Nevermind that the cab could have turned around, I was forced to cross the street into another cab. Normally, that would not have bothered me, BUT he hung up the phone! Why would he have done that? Answer: He's an idiot.
Now here I was on the other side of the street, and scanning through all of the Korean menu options trying to reason out which might be "Incoming Calls". I finally find it, and just about to hit dial when she calls back. We were both a little frustrated by this point, which made me scared for the interview.
At any rate, I finally get to the hagwon where I have the meeting. I sit down, we have a nice chat, but the interviewer keeps asking me about my use of the text book in spite of the fact that in response to her first question I explained how I had not used a textbook and had created my own curriculum for the year.
"Oh, I see! How did you motivate students who were not interested in the textbook?"
"GAH!"
So, I didn't feel like it went well. Approaching the end of the interview she asked me "It says in your introduction letter that you can not start until October, but you end your contract in August. Can you start earlier?"
No, actually, as stated quite plainly in the letter and then again at several points during the interview, I will be unavailable to start until early October.
I got an e-mail a couple of days later saying that they wanted someone who would start in August. So why did they even interview me! READ THE DAMNED LETTER PEOPLE!
I sent out an e-mail a couple of days ago to the first hagwon explaining that since I could not find anyone to fill in until October, that I thought that they should keep looking for someone else. I also explained that I would not be replying to any position until late July or August, as the uselessness of looking for a job now was becoming clear, and I don't want to be limited in the future by my present options.
She called me yesterday and insisted that it was no problem, that she could handle no native speaker until October, and that I should go ahead and sign the contract anyways. Oh yeah, I'm pretty eager to do that. Then I can watch all the better jobs sail by while holding my crappy contract.
Anyways, I told her to keep looking and that I would not be signing a contract until I had had time to explore all of my options. She told me to sign again. I told her that I would keep her in mind and then hung up.
What really burns me is that it's not even the quality of my application or my persona that is being evaluated, I think. It's just that she wants someone, and I am here.
Maybe she'll be willing to pay more for me closer to the day though... cross your fingers! If nothing else comes up, she may be the one!
teasing
I just had class 1-3 at the girls' school.
In the last few weeks, they have gone from one of my hardest classes (in terms of discipline) to one of my favourites. The change has been mostly in my attitude. I figured that I can be all hard-assed about what's going on, or I can mess around with them and at least get them talking.
Since I'm just showing movies right now, my messing around has been limited, but both this week and last week I managed to convince them that they were having a vowel test, and then finally to convince them that because they were good they could watch a movie instead.
Then I made fun of them when they groaned because the bugs that the oompaloompas ate were disgusting, and just said "Bondaeggi" over and over again, which is their name for silkworm larvae, which they eat like popcorn here.
I think that I am lucky that they will be my last class at the girls' school, because I will probably not feel like teaching after I say goodbye to them.
I think I'm going to try to convince the "Other Coteacher" to tell them they have a test next week, so that they study. Then, they will show up next week, and I'll just say "Hey! What? Huh? Vowel test? hmm.. hey! What's gonig on? No test! Movie! You're crazy!"
Speaking of the other coteacher, here's the latest gem to happen as I was leaving class just now:
In the last few weeks, they have gone from one of my hardest classes (in terms of discipline) to one of my favourites. The change has been mostly in my attitude. I figured that I can be all hard-assed about what's going on, or I can mess around with them and at least get them talking.
Since I'm just showing movies right now, my messing around has been limited, but both this week and last week I managed to convince them that they were having a vowel test, and then finally to convince them that because they were good they could watch a movie instead.
Then I made fun of them when they groaned because the bugs that the oompaloompas ate were disgusting, and just said "Bondaeggi" over and over again, which is their name for silkworm larvae, which they eat like popcorn here.
I think that I am lucky that they will be my last class at the girls' school, because I will probably not feel like teaching after I say goodbye to them.
I think I'm going to try to convince the "Other Coteacher" to tell them they have a test next week, so that they study. Then, they will show up next week, and I'll just say "Hey! What? Huh? Vowel test? hmm.. hey! What's gonig on? No test! Movie! You're crazy!"
Speaking of the other coteacher, here's the latest gem to happen as I was leaving class just now:
I want to you your Canada address. Yes? I give you address, write me in home country.
tidbits
So, a few weeks ago, the guy who loves me popped in to my boys' school grade one class. He was just walking down the hall with a bunch of his cronies, and I knew what was coming.
Over the movie that was playing for my class, he yelled "Matthew, so handsome!". The class erupted.
Well, great.
I went into damage control mode. If he came in, he would undoubtedly start raving about me to the class in Korean, with me standing there all awkward and embarassed. Having no idea what was being said, I would have no choice but to stand there and wait for him to run out of steam. I wasn't too into that.
I met him in the doorway, blocked his entry, and worked him back into the hall. Unfortunately, he just did exactly what I expected him to do loud enough so that the class could hear form the hall. Oh yeah, and there was hugging.
I mean, my God man! I'm trying to run a class, and you can't even control yourself. This is beyond trying to be nice, you've become this awkward nuisance that I have to tiptoe around for fear of becoming entangled in a fifteen minute love-fest.
Ugh!
And then there's Mr Lee. He's become strangely distant and non-communicative lately, and I don't know why. This means that I'm even MORE bored at the girls' school between classes, which I had thought was not even possible. He's another person that I feel like I have to tiptoe around lately... mainly about summer work. When I was talking to him about it before, I got the impression that he did not want me to take any, because he wanted me around to help him with his big presentation. Which is really unfair, because I might help him for an hour or two, but it will cost me a ton of money! I'm really nervous about bringing it up, because I get the feeling that he might "suggest" to the administration that it would be better for the "town" if I were not allowed to do this extra camp. Of course, I have nothing to base this on, I've just become paranoid because of this vibe he's been giving off lately. And it's not that I don't want to help him, because of course I will when I am available.
And then there was my weekly lunch with the "other coteacher" which just ended. The climax was a discussion about my teacher beeza, which only when spelt out to me "Bee - Aye - Essuh - Ay" I realized that my ENGLISH coteacher was trying to ask me about my teacher visa. Luckily (because I'm lacking information in this regard) he informed me that I would have to get new beeza in home country before I returned to home country in home country. What great advice!
We're also trying to phase out our visits with the Ryus. I love going to see them, but the timing of it is horrible. I think we may have to cancel it until school is over. It's just such an ordeal for the both of us to unwind at the end of the day (Jessie needs a good three hours just to decompress after wading through a school thick with stupidity and incompetence all day), and the visit cust it in half, and I find that neither of us really feels like going to bed after, even though "it's time".
That's all for now!
Over the movie that was playing for my class, he yelled "Matthew, so handsome!". The class erupted.
Well, great.
I went into damage control mode. If he came in, he would undoubtedly start raving about me to the class in Korean, with me standing there all awkward and embarassed. Having no idea what was being said, I would have no choice but to stand there and wait for him to run out of steam. I wasn't too into that.
I met him in the doorway, blocked his entry, and worked him back into the hall. Unfortunately, he just did exactly what I expected him to do loud enough so that the class could hear form the hall. Oh yeah, and there was hugging.
I mean, my God man! I'm trying to run a class, and you can't even control yourself. This is beyond trying to be nice, you've become this awkward nuisance that I have to tiptoe around for fear of becoming entangled in a fifteen minute love-fest.
Ugh!
And then there's Mr Lee. He's become strangely distant and non-communicative lately, and I don't know why. This means that I'm even MORE bored at the girls' school between classes, which I had thought was not even possible. He's another person that I feel like I have to tiptoe around lately... mainly about summer work. When I was talking to him about it before, I got the impression that he did not want me to take any, because he wanted me around to help him with his big presentation. Which is really unfair, because I might help him for an hour or two, but it will cost me a ton of money! I'm really nervous about bringing it up, because I get the feeling that he might "suggest" to the administration that it would be better for the "town" if I were not allowed to do this extra camp. Of course, I have nothing to base this on, I've just become paranoid because of this vibe he's been giving off lately. And it's not that I don't want to help him, because of course I will when I am available.
And then there was my weekly lunch with the "other coteacher" which just ended. The climax was a discussion about my teacher beeza, which only when spelt out to me "Bee - Aye - Essuh - Ay" I realized that my ENGLISH coteacher was trying to ask me about my teacher visa. Luckily (because I'm lacking information in this regard) he informed me that I would have to get new beeza in home country before I returned to home country in home country. What great advice!
We're also trying to phase out our visits with the Ryus. I love going to see them, but the timing of it is horrible. I think we may have to cancel it until school is over. It's just such an ordeal for the both of us to unwind at the end of the day (Jessie needs a good three hours just to decompress after wading through a school thick with stupidity and incompetence all day), and the visit cust it in half, and I find that neither of us really feels like going to bed after, even though "it's time".
That's all for now!
RATS! update
Here's some e-mail excerpts between me and my parents...
So, we have a rat problem.
It went from seeing one for the first time in our apartment the other night to finding droppings (around/in the bed!) to now I can't sleep because I can hear them walking around everywhere! They're chewing through the bags we keep over the stove (I guess they smell like food because the exhaust fan runs through there) and there seem to be mice living under our bed now.
This all seemed to develop in a couple of days! It's insanity.
ANyways, I really can't sleep, the sounds of their movements keep jarring me awake and freaking me out. Thsi could possibly explina why I got sick recently... I thinkand extreme cleaning is in order for tomorrow.
Any advice?
So, all that turned out to be more than a bit paranoid, as you will see in the following...
So, about half an hour after I e-mailed you last night (mom) to tell you about our rat problem, Jessie and I both leapt out of bed. The rat who had been running around under our bed finally jumped for it, which had been our big fear anyways. Not that it was a trained attack rat, but rather that it might get scared and tangled in the covers and bight out of fear...
So we both ran out of the room pretty quick, and the rat (who did not successfully make it onto the bed) ran off away into the corner.
We gathered ourselves, and then I pulled all the bedding off of the bed and we tried to round it up. It was hidden between the head board and the wall, so it would be easy to corral it into the garbage bin... or so we thought.
We wound up chasing it out, and it hit the end of the bin, turned around, and jumped into the frame of the bed. I had a little broom, so I started banging around, and finally it hit and the thing ran out and scaled up the side of our bureau! Then it hid in the bedding up top.
I pulled all three bureaus off the wall so that it would be impossible to hide between/behind them. It just leapt off, probably six and a half or seven feet.
Finally we scared it back between the bed and the wall, so it would be easy to corral again. This time Jessie covered the escape route with a serving platter, and we caught it! But then it jumped out and hid in the bookshelf!
Oh, and this was at about 1:30 in the morning, so our downstairs neighbours probably hate us now.
So there it was, cowering in the bookshelf. You really had to feel sorry for it. It probably had no idea what was going on!
I put down the garbage can in front of the shelves and started poking at it with the reaching broom, and finally it jumped out from the shelves... straight into the garbage can! Seriously, we could not have planned that any better.
Jessie put the serving platter over it, and I held it down while she got her camera! We were going to put it outside and try to get a picture of the mighty beast. It was really trying to get out too, it just kept jumping again and again against the serving platter. Luckily, I was holding it down, although I was nervous because there was a hole about half an inch wide on either side of the platter.
We got it outside (along with our food waste, the bucket for which we had originally tried to use, until we realized that it was really leaky and disgusting) and I took the lid off. It didn't move, I guess it was pretty dazed/scared. Then Jessie tried to take a picture, but her camera was out of batteries. Bad luck.
The thing wouldn't move though. It just sat in the bottom of the bin. Finally I gave it a little kick, and it just leapt out and took refuge in the garbage pile.
It'll probably be happier there anyways.
So, it was quite an exciting night.
Now, since then, we have not seen or heard a single rat. I covered the point of entry (the hose hole in our laundry room drain, which had come undone for some reason) and put steel wool in the gaps. Our follow-up research (hey, yeah, we're nerds) revealed that it was in fact a "house rat", so it must have been pretty confused to find itself in an apartment. Oh yeah, and that rat is the one that transported the plague, so yay!
This morning I thought I heard one, but it turned out to be a trick of early morning deliriun and construction in front of our building.
More rat updates as events warrant.
So, we have a rat problem.
It went from seeing one for the first time in our apartment the other night to finding droppings (around/in the bed!) to now I can't sleep because I can hear them walking around everywhere! They're chewing through the bags we keep over the stove (I guess they smell like food because the exhaust fan runs through there) and there seem to be mice living under our bed now.
This all seemed to develop in a couple of days! It's insanity.
ANyways, I really can't sleep, the sounds of their movements keep jarring me awake and freaking me out. Thsi could possibly explina why I got sick recently... I thinkand extreme cleaning is in order for tomorrow.
Any advice?
So, all that turned out to be more than a bit paranoid, as you will see in the following...
So, about half an hour after I e-mailed you last night (mom) to tell you about our rat problem, Jessie and I both leapt out of bed. The rat who had been running around under our bed finally jumped for it, which had been our big fear anyways. Not that it was a trained attack rat, but rather that it might get scared and tangled in the covers and bight out of fear...
So we both ran out of the room pretty quick, and the rat (who did not successfully make it onto the bed) ran off away into the corner.
We gathered ourselves, and then I pulled all the bedding off of the bed and we tried to round it up. It was hidden between the head board and the wall, so it would be easy to corral it into the garbage bin... or so we thought.
We wound up chasing it out, and it hit the end of the bin, turned around, and jumped into the frame of the bed. I had a little broom, so I started banging around, and finally it hit and the thing ran out and scaled up the side of our bureau! Then it hid in the bedding up top.
I pulled all three bureaus off the wall so that it would be impossible to hide between/behind them. It just leapt off, probably six and a half or seven feet.
Finally we scared it back between the bed and the wall, so it would be easy to corral again. This time Jessie covered the escape route with a serving platter, and we caught it! But then it jumped out and hid in the bookshelf!
Oh, and this was at about 1:30 in the morning, so our downstairs neighbours probably hate us now.
So there it was, cowering in the bookshelf. You really had to feel sorry for it. It probably had no idea what was going on!
I put down the garbage can in front of the shelves and started poking at it with the reaching broom, and finally it jumped out from the shelves... straight into the garbage can! Seriously, we could not have planned that any better.
Jessie put the serving platter over it, and I held it down while she got her camera! We were going to put it outside and try to get a picture of the mighty beast. It was really trying to get out too, it just kept jumping again and again against the serving platter. Luckily, I was holding it down, although I was nervous because there was a hole about half an inch wide on either side of the platter.
We got it outside (along with our food waste, the bucket for which we had originally tried to use, until we realized that it was really leaky and disgusting) and I took the lid off. It didn't move, I guess it was pretty dazed/scared. Then Jessie tried to take a picture, but her camera was out of batteries. Bad luck.
The thing wouldn't move though. It just sat in the bottom of the bin. Finally I gave it a little kick, and it just leapt out and took refuge in the garbage pile.
It'll probably be happier there anyways.
So, it was quite an exciting night.
Now, since then, we have not seen or heard a single rat. I covered the point of entry (the hose hole in our laundry room drain, which had come undone for some reason) and put steel wool in the gaps. Our follow-up research (hey, yeah, we're nerds) revealed that it was in fact a "house rat", so it must have been pretty confused to find itself in an apartment. Oh yeah, and that rat is the one that transported the plague, so yay!
This morning I thought I heard one, but it turned out to be a trick of early morning deliriun and construction in front of our building.
More rat updates as events warrant.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
It's official, I'm a brainiac. Just like Bill Gates.
from web.tickle.com
Congratulations, Matt!Your IQ score is 138
This number is based on a scientific formula that compares how many questions you answered correctly on the Classic IQ Test relative to others. Your Intellectual Type is Facts Curator. This means you are highly intelligent and have picked up an impressive and unique collection of facts and figures over the years. You've got a remarkable vocabulary and exceptional math skills — which puts you in the same class as brainiacs like Bill Gates. And that's just some of what we know about you from your test results.
Congratulations, Matt!Your IQ score is 138
This number is based on a scientific formula that compares how many questions you answered correctly on the Classic IQ Test relative to others. Your Intellectual Type is Facts Curator. This means you are highly intelligent and have picked up an impressive and unique collection of facts and figures over the years. You've got a remarkable vocabulary and exceptional math skills — which puts you in the same class as brainiacs like Bill Gates. And that's just some of what we know about you from your test results.
Meet George Jetson!
So, I'm back at the boys' school today.
Another exciting day of doing nothing but pushing a button.
But ate least I'll finally get to see the next 45 minutes of "Around the World in 80 Days" after having watched the first 40 or so minutes of it 7 times this week.
w00t!
Another exciting day of doing nothing but pushing a button.
But ate least I'll finally get to see the next 45 minutes of "Around the World in 80 Days" after having watched the first 40 or so minutes of it 7 times this week.
w00t!
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
AW, RATS!!!
We have rats.
We saw it for the first time this evening an hour or so ago. I thought that it was a reflection, because it was through the patio doors on the balcony.
Then Jessie said she saw a tail, so yay! rats!
We saw it again a few minutes later.
Good times.
We saw it for the first time this evening an hour or so ago. I thought that it was a reflection, because it was through the patio doors on the balcony.
Then Jessie said she saw a tail, so yay! rats!
We saw it again a few minutes later.
Good times.
Movies, PSPs, Haircuts
So, I'm showing movies again. I'm regretting it a bit now, because I am bored. And now, with the various classes that are being cancelled and/or ... well, just cancelled, I guess... I only have time for one lesson after the movies are finished. I can't just stop now either, because I have already shown each the class the first part of a movie. So I have two weeks now of nothing but showing movies.
For all my complaining about felling useless, I have now reduced myself to a mere "play-button pusher".
But I still think they should pay attention. Which is why I confiscated the snazzy PSP from one of my students. There will be follow-up questions, so they should pay attention.
I used to take stuff away and then return it at the end of class. It wasn't much of a deterrent. Now, I confiscate for the half day. Before lunch, you lose it for all of the lunch period. After lunch, you lose it until 4:15. Sure, the kids forget to collect their stuff, but that's what coteachers are for.
He just came and tried to get it. Fat chance, kid. It's only 1:05.
The kid has racing stripes shaved into the hair just above his forehead. It looks pretty cool, and by that I mean ridiculous. The phys-ed teacher just lectured him on proper student appearance, and was making some threatening gestures with the scissors, I think meaning he would even them out for free. yikes.
That's all for now.
For all my complaining about felling useless, I have now reduced myself to a mere "play-button pusher".
But I still think they should pay attention. Which is why I confiscated the snazzy PSP from one of my students. There will be follow-up questions, so they should pay attention.
I used to take stuff away and then return it at the end of class. It wasn't much of a deterrent. Now, I confiscate for the half day. Before lunch, you lose it for all of the lunch period. After lunch, you lose it until 4:15. Sure, the kids forget to collect their stuff, but that's what coteachers are for.
He just came and tried to get it. Fat chance, kid. It's only 1:05.
The kid has racing stripes shaved into the hair just above his forehead. It looks pretty cool, and by that I mean ridiculous. The phys-ed teacher just lectured him on proper student appearance, and was making some threatening gestures with the scissors, I think meaning he would even them out for free. yikes.
That's all for now.
Frustrated: for different reasons this time.
For some context, review Frustrated.
Turns out the whole video fiasco could have been avoided. The computers hook into the TVS now, something they didn't do last year. You would assume that any fulltime teacher would realize this in a time of crisis and suggested viewing the movie in the classroom as an alternative to running around from class to class as option after option turned out to not work.
Oh well...
Turns out the whole video fiasco could have been avoided. The computers hook into the TVS now, something they didn't do last year. You would assume that any fulltime teacher would realize this in a time of crisis and suggested viewing the movie in the classroom as an alternative to running around from class to class as option after option turned out to not work.
Oh well...
Monday, June 12, 2006
The most ridiculous/stupidest thing I have ever come across on the internet.
Hey all.
This guy is amazing. I've heard of twisting words... but come on!
So, here's my link to the so called "Fifty Greatest Conservative Rock Songs of All Time"
As they say in the finest restaurants, "Enjoy!"
This guy is amazing. I've heard of twisting words... but come on!
So, here's my link to the so called "Fifty Greatest Conservative Rock Songs of All Time"
As they say in the finest restaurants, "Enjoy!"
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Hey! A Korean!
The weirdest thing happened tonight.
We were just sitting around, and the doorbell rang. I called out "Just a minute!" and cleaned up a few things...
I answered the door, expecting to see the Ryus, or Mr Lee, or someone else, maybe Sylvia from downstairs. But, it was just a random guy. And a random female companion.
His face was hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. He looked so stunned, like he just opened the door to a chorus like of naked cheerleaders or something.
He pointed at my chest, slowly, and then turned to his companion and said "Migook Saram!" ("An American!"
Then he pointed up and shrugged, indicating he was on the wrong floor. Funny.
Let's run an equivalent situation. You're going to visit a friend with your girlfriend (or boyfriend), and you go to his apartment building. You get off on the wrong floor without realizing it, and ring the doorbell for the apartment below. The door opens, and instead of your friend of European descent, you see a Korean. Do you:
a) blush, apologize and indicate to them that you are on the wrong floor.
b) Do you lean over to you girlfriend (or boyfriend) and go "Hey! A Korean!"
That's what I thought...
We were just sitting around, and the doorbell rang. I called out "Just a minute!" and cleaned up a few things...
I answered the door, expecting to see the Ryus, or Mr Lee, or someone else, maybe Sylvia from downstairs. But, it was just a random guy. And a random female companion.
His face was hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. He looked so stunned, like he just opened the door to a chorus like of naked cheerleaders or something.
He pointed at my chest, slowly, and then turned to his companion and said "Migook Saram!" ("An American!"
Then he pointed up and shrugged, indicating he was on the wrong floor. Funny.
Let's run an equivalent situation. You're going to visit a friend with your girlfriend (or boyfriend), and you go to his apartment building. You get off on the wrong floor without realizing it, and ring the doorbell for the apartment below. The door opens, and instead of your friend of European descent, you see a Korean. Do you:
a) blush, apologize and indicate to them that you are on the wrong floor.
b) Do you lean over to you girlfriend (or boyfriend) and go "Hey! A Korean!"
That's what I thought...
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Frustrated.
So, yesterday I spoke to Sukkyeong about the possibility of showing movies in class. She said, sure, no problem. I thought it would be good, because I'm finished my phonics lessons, so really, anything that I do now is just added stress on them before their exams. They can't handle any new vocabulary, believe me, and I can't have them reading or anything, because if I concentrate on one student, the rest of the class goes crazy.
So, movies it is.
It's raining today. Which sucks when you walk to work, but I can't complaing, because Jessie has twice the walk I do to get to school. So, no complaints, really, just it didn't help my feelings for the rest of the day.
I arrived with two movies. For the grade twos, "Around the World in 80 Days", which was a good choice. For the grade threes, "The Day After Tomorrow", which turned out to be a pretty good pick too. After my talk with Sukkyeong yesterday, I assumed that everything was going to be fine.
I went straight to Mrs Kim (the OTHER coteacher) and told her of my plan. She said "No DVD player work!" Well, great, that's just great.
BUT WAIT! The English Lab has a DVD Player and a projector screen, so why are we even talking? I'm going to go get ready!
Kapwing!
I got there, I finally found the right channel for the DVD player to play through the projector, truned on the stereo... the bell went... there was no sound.
I fiddled some more, and there was no sound.
Students came to pull cords and turn knobs. Nothing.
A grade three student, then a second were called out of class to pull the stereo out of it's little shelf and examine the wires behind. By this time, I am ready to pull out my hair. Not only am I losing the class (It had been about fifteen minutes by that point), but since the projector was still showing the movie, they were following that rather than trying to play hangman on the board with me. So I gave up.
Oh, another thing I hate about the English Lab is all of the headphones and knobs on the desks. Every place in the lab is outfitted with a pair of headphones, a microphone and a six-channel PA system, which is great because it allows the students to talk to eachother from across the room. Apparently, these things are only used to distract students from the class material, whether by using the headphones to communicate with one another or listen to music when the system is turned on (it's never turned off...) or by being extremely peelable and otherwise defaceable (... when I finally do turn it off). So yeah, I hate the English Lab.
Then my coteacher (who had left a few minutes before) came back and announced that we could use the Music Room instead. So yay, everyone is out into the hall and into the Music Room. It takes a few minutes to set it up, but finally we are rolling. Whew.
As soon as the bell rings, I run back to the English Lab, where the stereo is still off the shelf, now with all of it's wires disconnected and spilled on the floor (just abandoned once the music room was opened). So I set to work. The problem with getting boys to fix the thing was that they were not systematic about it at all, they just pulled and replaced every wire, pretty much randomly, from the looks of it. SO I set to work, making one change at a time, then surfing through all options on the stereo and the video projector. Finally, I got the sound working. Great sound, no picture. I kept trying. I tried every possible combination, several times.
I was just about to give up, and was walking away from it in disgust, when suddenly the projector started working! Yay!
I had about twenty minutes before my next class, so I decided to play some online video games.
Then, class started. They poured in, they sat down. I confiscated some things. I told them to take off their headphones. I told them to stop playing with their microphones. The movie started, and everything was great. Seriously.
Then about five minutes in, the projector starts flashing a message "Check Air Flow", which means it's overheating. Great. Plus, the message, while quite tiny, is in the middle of a huge white box covering most of the screen.
I fiddled with some buttons until it turned off. Of course, I knew it was only temporary, because it would still be overheating whether I got rid of the message or not. So great. Great great great.
Back to the music room. This time I decide to try the DVD player to try to get rid of the screensaver problem. We got the image up, but the sound was all fuzzy, and very very quiet. They kept yelling at me "More loud! Volume!" and I was getting so angry, because I know, I'm not an idiot. But I look like an idiot, because nothing in this damned school works and every time I try to do something fun or out of the ordinary it blows up in my face and I get super stressed like I am right now.
So, back on the computer. Now, in addition to trying to control the class (put down that desk! give me that mp3 player! Stop punching him!) I have to monitor the computer constantly, and all the while take notes for my questions about the movie later.
It was finally over. Now, it was ten minutes before my grade three class, so I popped my head in and told them to get their DVD player ready so we could watch a movie (their class had one, I knew). I arrived ten minutes later to find that the class was empty. My coteacher gave me a quizzical look and said "I sent them to the music room". Well great, it's better in their class, at least they have assigned seating. So, back they come.
The movie started, no problem. But then they started talking. Problem.
"Where's the Korean writing?" they asked, of course with much poorer English (think "Words, Korean NO!")
"Okay," I asked "Where's the remote?" Well, then begins the hunt for their homeroom teacher, because the remote is locked awway in her desk in the staff room and it is the only way to turn on the captioning.
Another ten minutes wasted.
Now, one thing I like about teaching here is that you can vent quite openly to students in class, and they just think it's the lesson. I mean, they barely understand anyways, so when I start talking about how everything is broken and every time I try to do something fun or different it all goes wrong, they don't understand anyways. But it still feels good to tell someone.
Then at lunch, they served Pork Cutlets. So I guess it's not all bad.
So, movies it is.
It's raining today. Which sucks when you walk to work, but I can't complaing, because Jessie has twice the walk I do to get to school. So, no complaints, really, just it didn't help my feelings for the rest of the day.
I arrived with two movies. For the grade twos, "Around the World in 80 Days", which was a good choice. For the grade threes, "The Day After Tomorrow", which turned out to be a pretty good pick too. After my talk with Sukkyeong yesterday, I assumed that everything was going to be fine.
I went straight to Mrs Kim (the OTHER coteacher) and told her of my plan. She said "No DVD player work!" Well, great, that's just great.
BUT WAIT! The English Lab has a DVD Player and a projector screen, so why are we even talking? I'm going to go get ready!
Kapwing!
I got there, I finally found the right channel for the DVD player to play through the projector, truned on the stereo... the bell went... there was no sound.
I fiddled some more, and there was no sound.
Students came to pull cords and turn knobs. Nothing.
A grade three student, then a second were called out of class to pull the stereo out of it's little shelf and examine the wires behind. By this time, I am ready to pull out my hair. Not only am I losing the class (It had been about fifteen minutes by that point), but since the projector was still showing the movie, they were following that rather than trying to play hangman on the board with me. So I gave up.
Oh, another thing I hate about the English Lab is all of the headphones and knobs on the desks. Every place in the lab is outfitted with a pair of headphones, a microphone and a six-channel PA system, which is great because it allows the students to talk to eachother from across the room. Apparently, these things are only used to distract students from the class material, whether by using the headphones to communicate with one another or listen to music when the system is turned on (it's never turned off...) or by being extremely peelable and otherwise defaceable (... when I finally do turn it off). So yeah, I hate the English Lab.
Then my coteacher (who had left a few minutes before) came back and announced that we could use the Music Room instead. So yay, everyone is out into the hall and into the Music Room. It takes a few minutes to set it up, but finally we are rolling. Whew.
As soon as the bell rings, I run back to the English Lab, where the stereo is still off the shelf, now with all of it's wires disconnected and spilled on the floor (just abandoned once the music room was opened). So I set to work. The problem with getting boys to fix the thing was that they were not systematic about it at all, they just pulled and replaced every wire, pretty much randomly, from the looks of it. SO I set to work, making one change at a time, then surfing through all options on the stereo and the video projector. Finally, I got the sound working. Great sound, no picture. I kept trying. I tried every possible combination, several times.
I was just about to give up, and was walking away from it in disgust, when suddenly the projector started working! Yay!
I had about twenty minutes before my next class, so I decided to play some online video games.
Then, class started. They poured in, they sat down. I confiscated some things. I told them to take off their headphones. I told them to stop playing with their microphones. The movie started, and everything was great. Seriously.
Then about five minutes in, the projector starts flashing a message "Check Air Flow", which means it's overheating. Great. Plus, the message, while quite tiny, is in the middle of a huge white box covering most of the screen.
I fiddled with some buttons until it turned off. Of course, I knew it was only temporary, because it would still be overheating whether I got rid of the message or not. So great. Great great great.
Back to the music room. This time I decide to try the DVD player to try to get rid of the screensaver problem. We got the image up, but the sound was all fuzzy, and very very quiet. They kept yelling at me "More loud! Volume!" and I was getting so angry, because I know, I'm not an idiot. But I look like an idiot, because nothing in this damned school works and every time I try to do something fun or out of the ordinary it blows up in my face and I get super stressed like I am right now.
So, back on the computer. Now, in addition to trying to control the class (put down that desk! give me that mp3 player! Stop punching him!) I have to monitor the computer constantly, and all the while take notes for my questions about the movie later.
It was finally over. Now, it was ten minutes before my grade three class, so I popped my head in and told them to get their DVD player ready so we could watch a movie (their class had one, I knew). I arrived ten minutes later to find that the class was empty. My coteacher gave me a quizzical look and said "I sent them to the music room". Well great, it's better in their class, at least they have assigned seating. So, back they come.
The movie started, no problem. But then they started talking. Problem.
"Where's the Korean writing?" they asked, of course with much poorer English (think "Words, Korean NO!")
"Okay," I asked "Where's the remote?" Well, then begins the hunt for their homeroom teacher, because the remote is locked awway in her desk in the staff room and it is the only way to turn on the captioning.
Another ten minutes wasted.
Now, one thing I like about teaching here is that you can vent quite openly to students in class, and they just think it's the lesson. I mean, they barely understand anyways, so when I start talking about how everything is broken and every time I try to do something fun or different it all goes wrong, they don't understand anyways. But it still feels good to tell someone.
Then at lunch, they served Pork Cutlets. So I guess it's not all bad.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
If I taught music instead of English, I would probably kill myself.
I am in the English lab right now, because there's an air conditioner here.
Next door is the new music room.
I can hear the teacher trying to yell over the recorder-prodeuced nonsense, the banging on drums, and the talking. She is banging something trying to get attention.
Hilarious.
Next door is the new music room.
I can hear the teacher trying to yell over the recorder-prodeuced nonsense, the banging on drums, and the talking. She is banging something trying to get attention.
Hilarious.
Dress Code
So, things just keep getting more and more comfortable around here.
Today I wore another golf shirt and some new ultra-lightweight pants. I have resolved to wear variations on this outfit for the remainder of the year.
I was a little concerned, because hey! That's pretty casual. Well, today my worried mind was put at ease.
Seated next to me is the tech/computers teacher. He is currently wearing a blue hawaiian t-shirt with red flowers all over it. Red and Pink flowers, actually. He's also wearing jeans.
Seated across the office is the new Korean teacher, who is wearing the same dress pants as every other day, but today with a creamy-yellow hawaiian shirt that he purchased in Jeju, which he apparently found to be so cool that it had to be the first thing I saw when I came into the office this morning. Seriously, he ran over, and held it out flat for me to look at when I got here.
The physed teacher is dressed in a golf shirt, like me.
So basically, I am going to pack all of my button-up shirts tonight.
It's 30 degrees! I should be dressing for golf!
Today I wore another golf shirt and some new ultra-lightweight pants. I have resolved to wear variations on this outfit for the remainder of the year.
I was a little concerned, because hey! That's pretty casual. Well, today my worried mind was put at ease.
Seated next to me is the tech/computers teacher. He is currently wearing a blue hawaiian t-shirt with red flowers all over it. Red and Pink flowers, actually. He's also wearing jeans.
Seated across the office is the new Korean teacher, who is wearing the same dress pants as every other day, but today with a creamy-yellow hawaiian shirt that he purchased in Jeju, which he apparently found to be so cool that it had to be the first thing I saw when I came into the office this morning. Seriously, he ran over, and held it out flat for me to look at when I got here.
The physed teacher is dressed in a golf shirt, like me.
So basically, I am going to pack all of my button-up shirts tonight.
It's 30 degrees! I should be dressing for golf!
Monday, June 05, 2006
Random vacations and Nagan tour
So last week, we had another random holiday. This time, it was Wednesday, the Korean election day for Provincial and Municipal elections.
So on Tuesday, I left right after school to go meet Jessie in Gwangju. She and a bunch of her co-JLPers were heading to Gwangju for the holiday, and I decided to meet them there. It was a good plan.
I met them at TGI Fridays, which was cool. It was a good mix of a gang, and the dinner was highly entertaining.
Providing a good deal of the entertainment was a guy named William who basically was the living embodiment of Steve's impression of a nerd. It was hilarious. I had been told about him, but the fact that he reminded me of an impression by Steve meant that I was laughing before he even started talking.
Basically, he was just totally clueless about everything. We were talking about dogs, and then the dog cafe. And then Jessie mentioned that there was a Collie there, and then he said "Oh, you have a collie?" Next thing we knew, there was this whole story about a collie, named Matthew, which William commented was very good with cows. So, that was great. You have to understand, this went on for about ten minutes. Mary, Vanessa (other JLPers), and I were crying from laughing so hard. He was so incredibly clueless, and he just kept taking it farther and farther, no matter how crazy Jessie's story got.
After dinner, we headed to the Speakeasy, and had some drinks. It was FUN! We played a few drinking games, and it was very fun. Oh, if my frosh could see me now...
As we were leaving the Speakeasy, I noticed that my fly was undone. I was embarassed, so I tried to do it up... and it was broken! Unfortunately that meant I was to be open to the breeze for the rest of the night. Luckily, I was plenty drunk.
We followed up the Speakeasy with some Norae Bang, which was also great fun. Unfortunately, Canadians are not nearly as eager to sing as Koreans. I can't let a song go unsung, so I wound up singing most of it, even though I would have rather listened to someone else kill "Eye of the Tiger". Oh well...
The next day, we met up for some late breakfast. I pushed pretty hard for Outback, but when we got there, there was a huge line so we wound up going to Starbucks and Burger King instead. That sucked, especially after an hour or so of Cheesy Fries fantasies.
It was a hot day, but after lunch I finally made it to a store for some new pants. You might be thinking "But Matthew, you must have flashed half of Gwangju!" Well, that had been my original plan, but one of the other vacationers, Phil, provided the brilliant idea of reversing my boxer shorts. Well, no more awkwardness, just showing off my undershorts. oh yeah! Sure, they didn't fit too comfortably, but these are the sacrifices we have to make in order to not wind up on the internet.
I picked up some new pants and shirts, which I now needed more than ever, because I had decided to stay another night with Jessie in Gwangju and travel back to Yeongam in the morning in time for my first Thursday class at nine. Ie, I needed some new work clothes. It was en expensive night.
We went to see "The DaVinci Code" at 11:30, which might have been a mistake, considering that I had to get up at 6 am. Oh well. It was not a great movie. Tom Hanks is not a good Robert Langdon, and much like Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, it seemed more like illustrations to the book than an actual story in itself. Too many significant things were left unexplained.
We got back around 1:30, and I got ready for bed right away. But, as usual, the nights where we both need to get to sleep are the nights where we seem to have the most to say, and we talked for a while.
Thursday, it was back to the grind of school. Not too much of a grind, I just played the same game that I had played on Monday and Tuesday with the girl's school with the boys, and it was great. It was preference bingo, and once again, it was great to hear the boys say "I like bitches more than I like forests." They just can't say beaches! It's hilarious!
On Saturday, we went back to Gwangju for the Nagan Folk village tour with the GIC. Well, the tour was less than exciting in itself. Most of the houses in the folk village were either gift shops or restaurants, and the only really interesting part of it was the wall. I mean, it was very pretty, because there were big lawns and gardens, but not really interesting. We tried to get pizza (one among us was just a little too tired of Korean food) but the pizza place was closed. By the time we found another restaurant, it was too late, and we had to cancel our order and leave for fear of missing the bus. We wound up having a delicious lunch of snickers bars and apple juice. Jessie was adventurous and bought one of the burgers on the counter. We see kids eating them all of them time, and they always seemed alright. I refuse to buy meat that sits for two days on the counter (we checked the expiry date and "made on" date) but Jessie was game. On the bus she opened it up for a closer look, and the lettuce was covered with black mold. Seriously, this stuff gets sold to kids. No wonder these kids never get sick! They've been exposed to every possible disease already!
The afternoon was a little better, we went on a bike ride along a river, and it was quite nice. We went wading a bit, and it was nice on such a hot day. Of course, the other option for the afternoon was paintball, but I was not quite feeling up to the welts.
Anyways, it was a good day, we met a bunch of really cool people. It's getting me even more excited now for next year in Gwangju. It seems like so many people that live there are cool, and I'm looking forward to the chance to finally get out with them!
Monday was another random holiday. This time it was "Sandwich Day", which got me more excited than it should have. It is called that because it is sandwiched between the weekend and Memorial Day, so why bother going to work? I mean, you'll barely be out of weekend mode, and they'll give you another holiday. So, four day weekend. Jessie, unfortunately, had to work. So I made myself useful wasting time on the internet and cooking. We were supposed to go visit Sarah and Rodrigo, and spend the night, but when it got really hot, we decided to invite them over instead, since we have an air conditioner. They said yes, but cancelled after a bit because Sarah was not feeling well. Kind of sucked, but more time doing nothing turned out to be just what I needed. Jessie too.
Yesterday was the actual holiday, and we were awoken at the crack of ten by air raid sirens. We got up, and literally killed a day. I cleaned my office-room and organized my teaching materials, but other than that, I didn't do too much. I tried to set the ball in motion on a few job applications for Gwangju, but unfortunately, most jobs are not advertised for until only a month or so before the start date. So most jobs I applied for start much too early, so I explained that I was unavailable, but should they be looking in the fall... I'll be around.
Well, this has gone horribly long, so I'll write more later. On a different topic.
So on Tuesday, I left right after school to go meet Jessie in Gwangju. She and a bunch of her co-JLPers were heading to Gwangju for the holiday, and I decided to meet them there. It was a good plan.
I met them at TGI Fridays, which was cool. It was a good mix of a gang, and the dinner was highly entertaining.
Providing a good deal of the entertainment was a guy named William who basically was the living embodiment of Steve's impression of a nerd. It was hilarious. I had been told about him, but the fact that he reminded me of an impression by Steve meant that I was laughing before he even started talking.
Basically, he was just totally clueless about everything. We were talking about dogs, and then the dog cafe. And then Jessie mentioned that there was a Collie there, and then he said "Oh, you have a collie?" Next thing we knew, there was this whole story about a collie, named Matthew, which William commented was very good with cows. So, that was great. You have to understand, this went on for about ten minutes. Mary, Vanessa (other JLPers), and I were crying from laughing so hard. He was so incredibly clueless, and he just kept taking it farther and farther, no matter how crazy Jessie's story got.
After dinner, we headed to the Speakeasy, and had some drinks. It was FUN! We played a few drinking games, and it was very fun. Oh, if my frosh could see me now...
As we were leaving the Speakeasy, I noticed that my fly was undone. I was embarassed, so I tried to do it up... and it was broken! Unfortunately that meant I was to be open to the breeze for the rest of the night. Luckily, I was plenty drunk.
We followed up the Speakeasy with some Norae Bang, which was also great fun. Unfortunately, Canadians are not nearly as eager to sing as Koreans. I can't let a song go unsung, so I wound up singing most of it, even though I would have rather listened to someone else kill "Eye of the Tiger". Oh well...
The next day, we met up for some late breakfast. I pushed pretty hard for Outback, but when we got there, there was a huge line so we wound up going to Starbucks and Burger King instead. That sucked, especially after an hour or so of Cheesy Fries fantasies.
It was a hot day, but after lunch I finally made it to a store for some new pants. You might be thinking "But Matthew, you must have flashed half of Gwangju!" Well, that had been my original plan, but one of the other vacationers, Phil, provided the brilliant idea of reversing my boxer shorts. Well, no more awkwardness, just showing off my undershorts. oh yeah! Sure, they didn't fit too comfortably, but these are the sacrifices we have to make in order to not wind up on the internet.
I picked up some new pants and shirts, which I now needed more than ever, because I had decided to stay another night with Jessie in Gwangju and travel back to Yeongam in the morning in time for my first Thursday class at nine. Ie, I needed some new work clothes. It was en expensive night.
We went to see "The DaVinci Code" at 11:30, which might have been a mistake, considering that I had to get up at 6 am. Oh well. It was not a great movie. Tom Hanks is not a good Robert Langdon, and much like Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, it seemed more like illustrations to the book than an actual story in itself. Too many significant things were left unexplained.
We got back around 1:30, and I got ready for bed right away. But, as usual, the nights where we both need to get to sleep are the nights where we seem to have the most to say, and we talked for a while.
Thursday, it was back to the grind of school. Not too much of a grind, I just played the same game that I had played on Monday and Tuesday with the girl's school with the boys, and it was great. It was preference bingo, and once again, it was great to hear the boys say "I like bitches more than I like forests." They just can't say beaches! It's hilarious!
On Saturday, we went back to Gwangju for the Nagan Folk village tour with the GIC. Well, the tour was less than exciting in itself. Most of the houses in the folk village were either gift shops or restaurants, and the only really interesting part of it was the wall. I mean, it was very pretty, because there were big lawns and gardens, but not really interesting. We tried to get pizza (one among us was just a little too tired of Korean food) but the pizza place was closed. By the time we found another restaurant, it was too late, and we had to cancel our order and leave for fear of missing the bus. We wound up having a delicious lunch of snickers bars and apple juice. Jessie was adventurous and bought one of the burgers on the counter. We see kids eating them all of them time, and they always seemed alright. I refuse to buy meat that sits for two days on the counter (we checked the expiry date and "made on" date) but Jessie was game. On the bus she opened it up for a closer look, and the lettuce was covered with black mold. Seriously, this stuff gets sold to kids. No wonder these kids never get sick! They've been exposed to every possible disease already!
The afternoon was a little better, we went on a bike ride along a river, and it was quite nice. We went wading a bit, and it was nice on such a hot day. Of course, the other option for the afternoon was paintball, but I was not quite feeling up to the welts.
Anyways, it was a good day, we met a bunch of really cool people. It's getting me even more excited now for next year in Gwangju. It seems like so many people that live there are cool, and I'm looking forward to the chance to finally get out with them!
Monday was another random holiday. This time it was "Sandwich Day", which got me more excited than it should have. It is called that because it is sandwiched between the weekend and Memorial Day, so why bother going to work? I mean, you'll barely be out of weekend mode, and they'll give you another holiday. So, four day weekend. Jessie, unfortunately, had to work. So I made myself useful wasting time on the internet and cooking. We were supposed to go visit Sarah and Rodrigo, and spend the night, but when it got really hot, we decided to invite them over instead, since we have an air conditioner. They said yes, but cancelled after a bit because Sarah was not feeling well. Kind of sucked, but more time doing nothing turned out to be just what I needed. Jessie too.
Yesterday was the actual holiday, and we were awoken at the crack of ten by air raid sirens. We got up, and literally killed a day. I cleaned my office-room and organized my teaching materials, but other than that, I didn't do too much. I tried to set the ball in motion on a few job applications for Gwangju, but unfortunately, most jobs are not advertised for until only a month or so before the start date. So most jobs I applied for start much too early, so I explained that I was unavailable, but should they be looking in the fall... I'll be around.
Well, this has gone horribly long, so I'll write more later. On a different topic.
Friday, June 02, 2006
The drunkest of the drunk
No, I'm not talking about me.
Last Sunday (I can't believe Ikept forgetting to write about this...) I went to Mokpo. Basically I went just to get a bodum coffee maker, which I had neglected to buy for unknown reasons on Saturday.
At any rate, I took the bus home. I was early, so I got a nice seat near the front and settled in for the ride.
After about ten minutes of waiting, this late-middle aged couple gets on.
The smell of booze wafts back.
It's around 4 pm.
It was pretty uneventful for the first few minutes, and then they got loud. At first I thought the were fighting, because they kept yelling in short bursts. But then he put his arm around her and moved in to kiss her.
Oh cute, I thought. That's just great.
Then they got loud again. Really loud. They were yelling at eachother, I don't know what. They got louder and louder, and eventually they started swinging at eachother.
They kept yelling at eachother, and eventually, some people on the bus started yelling at them. At one point, a guy got up and asked to be let off at the next stop. Then he stood at the front and gave the couple some choice words. The gist of it was clear, even though I did not understand a single word: "You're loud and annoying and I'm going to wait for the next bus so I don't have to deal with your crap."
The lady yelled back at him, pretty angrily, and must have said something pretty horrible, because he started to looklike he was ready to hit her! So much so that her husband stood up and got ready to hit him!
Holy crap, I thought that there was going to be a fight on the bus! Craziness!
The guy (who was getting off the bus) was saved by his friend as he stepped between them.
The bus driver let everybody off (I stayed on, and just turned my iPod up).
The bus driver later pulled over and threatened to kick them out a few times. They got a little violent a few times, which was really horrible, especially because I was in the seat behind them, and I didn't know what to do.
Well, that's all for now.
Last Sunday (I can't believe Ikept forgetting to write about this...) I went to Mokpo. Basically I went just to get a bodum coffee maker, which I had neglected to buy for unknown reasons on Saturday.
At any rate, I took the bus home. I was early, so I got a nice seat near the front and settled in for the ride.
After about ten minutes of waiting, this late-middle aged couple gets on.
The smell of booze wafts back.
It's around 4 pm.
It was pretty uneventful for the first few minutes, and then they got loud. At first I thought the were fighting, because they kept yelling in short bursts. But then he put his arm around her and moved in to kiss her.
Oh cute, I thought. That's just great.
Then they got loud again. Really loud. They were yelling at eachother, I don't know what. They got louder and louder, and eventually they started swinging at eachother.
They kept yelling at eachother, and eventually, some people on the bus started yelling at them. At one point, a guy got up and asked to be let off at the next stop. Then he stood at the front and gave the couple some choice words. The gist of it was clear, even though I did not understand a single word: "You're loud and annoying and I'm going to wait for the next bus so I don't have to deal with your crap."
The lady yelled back at him, pretty angrily, and must have said something pretty horrible, because he started to looklike he was ready to hit her! So much so that her husband stood up and got ready to hit him!
Holy crap, I thought that there was going to be a fight on the bus! Craziness!
The guy (who was getting off the bus) was saved by his friend as he stepped between them.
The bus driver let everybody off (I stayed on, and just turned my iPod up).
The bus driver later pulled over and threatened to kick them out a few times. They got a little violent a few times, which was really horrible, especially because I was in the seat behind them, and I didn't know what to do.
Well, that's all for now.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Life's been good to me so far...
So, I'm at the boys' school right now.
It's been two weeks or so since I have seen Sukkyeong, so I was catching her up on the events of the last few weeks, and I realized:
It's been two weeks or so since I have seen Sukkyeong, so I was catching her up on the events of the last few weeks, and I realized:
My Life Rocks.
Yeah, so here's the rundown on things that rock, specifically about me:
- Jessie (specifically, her being with me). Yeah, that's great. She's awesome, and we have been having so much fun together lately, and I feel good. In the back of my mind, there's bittersweetness, because I know that in three months or so, we'll be returning to long distance for another year. There'll be more stuff about her coming up in future points!
- My guitar playing/singing. Not to toot my own horn, I'm no Chad Kroeger or anything (ha!), but I can carry my own. After not playing for a few weeks, it was great to get out to the Speakeasy on my birthday and play a couple of sets. I even got a rockin' blister on my right hand index finger (that's aggressive strumming, my friend), which means I can touch things now and not feel anything! I'm like that guy from James Bond, except about 1/10000th as amazing.
- Dogs. Dogs are great. I love dogs. Since my birthday visit to the dog cafe (Jessie rocks), I have been three other times. In five days. To a place 1.5 hours away. I'm giving serious thought to buying a dog when I am here alone (and yes, parents, I am thinking of what I will do with it when I come back, and how big a responsibility a dog is, you know, versus a cat or a child). I'm going to research some good apartment breed in the mid-size to compact range. I'm thinking sporty, but I don't want to overcompensate...
- frigging classes. I have been rocking those lately too. Bingo? How's about an awesome variation of bingo that Jessie just told me about? Yeah, I thought you'd like that. A crossword review in Korean? Yeah, I wrote that out myself. No big whoop, once you've studied your hangul. A story about my being late in the morning turns into a lesson in spite of a total lack of planning, and somehow it goes amazingly well? Well, I did that too. And in between, they're learning how to read and write comparitive sentences. I just bravoed my life.
- Job prospects. Yeah well, there may be a job in Bucheon, there may be a job at a university an hour from Seoul, there may be countless other positions I am considering. But add in that some new friends in Gwangju are looking to hook me up, and you've got a recipe for a rocking year of rocking.
- Meeting new people. I keep meeting new people. They're all great in their own unique way, whether they're funny, or cool, or they remind me of Steve's impression of a nerd so much that just being in their presence makes me pee my pants with laughter (and pee). All of these people are making the idea of being here for another year without Jessie a lot less scary a prospect.
- Paintings. I have been to Art Street twice in the last week, and I am really starting to like paintings. Is that really bourgeoise? Well, I don't care. I like bright colours, and I like having things that people have made, and I like rewarding people for making things that I like. Next year, if I do wind up in Gwangju, I'm definitely going to sign up for some art classes on Art Street.
- My wardrobe. I'm finally getting the right lightness of pants so that I don't die this summer. Have I mentioned that it's really hot in Korea? Well, it is.
- Outback Cheesy Fries. Maybe yesterday I went a little overboard by actually finishing the appetizer order of fries as my whole meal. But once I begin to see plate, I am beyond the point of no return. It's now a challenge. A challenge to clear the whole plate before I pass out. Which is easy, because they're so good, and they come with an amazing garlic sauce. But then you get near the end, and you're thinking "You've gotta do this! It was 9000 won!" so you keep going, even though your body is doing everything in its power to send you the message "Stop now, for God's sake!" Bottom line, they're delicious, and are usually followed by a gret nap.
- Random vacation days. For those of you who have never worked in Korea, this is a phenomenon that occurs when someone drops something, on a day on which something happened or someone was born, Tuesdays, rainy days, sunny days and days that beging with W. Basically, any day might turn out to be a random holiday. You just never know. You might be walking along, minding your own business, and suddenly, it's a holiday. No warning. No notice. IN the last month, I didn't work one normal week. And in the couple, I made good use of my few days off, and it has been great. Whee!
That's all for now.
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