My Current Sub-Real Life

Cool Canadians

2008-03-18T13:17:00.002+09:00

I have made some great friends while in Korea including these 2 people - the coolest Canadians in Korea. I got to hang out with both Sarah & Matt this past weekend at this fun little coffee shop. Being with friends and laughing is the best thing in the world no matter where you are in the world.

This waffle was so delicious with its whipped cream, ice cream, bananas, and kiwi fruit
I have never documented my life so much as I have in Korea. My friends and I take pictures all the time which inevitably leads to even more laughter.

Samgakji

2008-03-16T21:11:00.004+09:00

Since September, I've become really familiar with this subway stop right in the middle of Seoul- it's the home of my best friend . Every time I cross the bridge over the tracks, especially at night, I feel so aware of the strange wonder of the city which is nothing like I will ever experience again.
The view from the bridge onto the tracks
A subway train passing through
Typical Seoul - lots of tall apartment buildings & cars

Seoul Tower is the big rocket like thing in the background

Jumping

2008-03-11T23:09:00.002+09:00

Sarah & I made great travel buddies in Cambodia. We both shared the same spirit of wanting to make the most of our limited time and make the best out of any situtation. Most importantly, we both shared the same sense of humor. I can honestly say that I have never laughed so much and so hard as I did in the four days we spent together. A great deal of the laughter stemmed from taking creative pictures instead of the same boring photos over and over. One way to ensure a unique shot is to jump. Here are some of the best and the not so good jumping pictures we took all over Angkor Wat.

Sarah shows how to get some height. It's all about kicking those feet upwards to the sky.

Smiling makes any jump that much better. How you could not have fun when you're jumping in the middle of an ancient temple?
Almost at peak jump, it's really hard to get the timing right. The jumper and the photographer have to work carefully together to coordinate for an optimal shot with maximum air. It's not as easy as it looks for either person involved.
Flying through the air like a spider monkey or some other weird creature. Notice the figures in blue in the background. They are two Cambodian women on a break from cleaning. Needless to say, the sight of two foreign girls jumping off the ruins and taking pictures was quite entertaining for them. I'm pretty sure we were the highlight of work for them that day.

Ta Prohm

2008-03-11T22:57:00.002+09:00

Ta Prohm is another temple at Angkor Wat in Cambodia (yes, this is really late). The temple is literally being taken over by the giant trees growing in, on, and around what is left of the ancient buildings. It is one of the coolest things to see - these amazing trees intertwined with what is left of beautifully designed temples all in the middle of a quiet and peaceful sunlit clearing. That is all there is to say about it, the pictures say all the rest.

I will not miss this

2008-03-04T00:16:00.002+09:00

I think I was important, because the speak one more language
than I talk many of speak language people and than
I spoke very many people,
and I want to going england I examination my self.
and it was fantastic of speaking many .language
first the speaking many language, and than the
person is speaking many of the people the
one person is saying korean and english
than this person is speaking korea people, and
english people.
second speaking more than one language
and than the people are think that person is
very smart, because this person is speaking
two language.
last it was very good of speaking two language
because the speaking two language
was memory ability rising.

This is a student essay directly copied & pasted from the school's website where the students upload their essays & I have to mark them. There are some things I will not miss when I go back home. One of those things is student essays. I will not miss all the hours I've spent at my computer in the morning, during prep time at school, and at night grading essays. I will not miss having to try to make sense of something like this at 12:30 a.m. I will not miss continually trying to come up with new essay topics that will not bore me after I've read the fourth student's essay. I will not miss all the highlighting and clicking. I will not miss the poorly designed grading program I have to use. I will not miss student essays.

Jobs....

2008-02-29T00:18:00.002+09:00

Seeing as I am officially unemployed in 4 weeks, I started thinking of what I am going to do next. I came up with a list of jobs that I am now qualified for after teaching English in Korea for 14 months.

Interpreter - I have learned to process a mixture of discordant sound effects and flurried hand gestures in my brain and extrapolate a meaning that is 93.4% correct. When broken English is added, my success rate jumps to 98.7%.

Editor - After reading and marking about 100 student essays per month, I am an expert at finding and correcting misplaced commas, sentence fragments, multiple uses of the be verb, and overuse of the electronic dictionary for words beyond vocabulary level and unrelated to context.

Stand Up Comedian - I have developed and perfected a repertoire of funny voices, accents, slapstick humor, goofy faces, and exaggerated body movements. I can be humerous on the spot, even under the pressure of fifteen bored students.

Celebrity Interviewer - I can get anyone to talk about any subject. Bring on everyone from Angelina Jolie to Justin Timberlake. I can handle them all.

Walking Dictionary/Thesaurus - Need a quick explanation of any word? I'm the person to go to. I can explain even the most complex word in the simplest of terms so that anyone can understand.

News Spinner - Fourteen months worth of writing report card and essay comments have given me the ability to make even the most annoying and stupid student sound like a wonderfully behaved genius without even breaking a sweat.

Anyone willing to hire me?

Bayon Temple

2008-02-28T12:59:00.004+09:00

Bayon is yet another temple in Cambodia. This one was memorable for all the carved stone faces
I love how the ruins of the temple are left in place right where they fell. To me, it's more interesting than clearing the rubble away to make what is left more pristine. The scattered stones and pillars add an air of mystery and tease you with the imagination of what was.

Sarah looking cute from the windowframe
Me hanging out in the doorframe

Another South Gate

2008-02-24T22:18:00.003+09:00

Here's another South Gate, thankfully still intact after hundreds of years.

Some modern guards resting beside some ancient guards
Looking out at all the people, tuk tuks, motos, and elephants passing through his tunnel

Angkor Wat

2008-02-24T13:42:00.004+09:00

For Lunar/Chinese New Year, I went to Cambodia with my friend Sarah. This is the first of several posts of pictures from Cambodia and specifically, Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is a complex of temples near the old capital city of Siem Riep throughout the 12th century, as well as the name of the biggest and most famous temple. They are simply amazing to see. All of them are so complex, so different, and so beautiful.

Namdaemun is burning

2008-02-23T16:07:00.002+09:00

The biggest event in Korea recently has been the arson of the nation's top cultural treasure. The South Gate in Seoul, called Namdaemun or Sungnyemun, was built in the late 1300s. On February 10th, an elderly Korean man, still angry about the amount of money he received from being forced to sell his land to the Korean government over a decade ago, set fire to the top of the wooden structure. It burned for several hours before finally collasping.
The aftermath was huge. All of Korea was in shock over this event. Many of my students brought it up in class and were personally sad and upset that someone would do this to something that their country holds so dear.
A week after the fire, Julian and I went into Seoul to see the remains of the gate.
The gate was quickly enclosed and shut off from the public. However, a glass wall is part of the enclosure so that people can come and look at the destroyed structure.
This man was bowing down in front of the memorial set up on the lawn in front of the gate. What sounded like traditional wailing/mourning music was playing from a loudspeaker. The atmosphere around the gate was similar to that for a funeral.

Hundreds of people were there to see firsthand the burned gate and to express their sorrows by laying flowers or writing personal sentiments.

This always makes me laugh

2008-02-02T16:58:00.000+09:00

We are using some new books at our school. One set of them is written by someone named Richard A. Boning. If you don't get it right away, just think about the possible nicknames this poor guy must have had to suffer through in middle school.
Everytime I take one of his books out in class, it always makes me smirk and laugh inside. I know it's dumb and juvenile. But sometimes you need to laugh at the small things in life to get you through another day of teaching.

Intensives

2008-01-24T23:32:00.000+09:00

Intensives suck, plain and simple. There's no point in trying to sugarcoat or spin it, they just suck. Teaching three 3 hour classes for 20 days straight in the coldest month of the year is not fun. By the time day 20 finally arrives, you've already been stressed out, exhausted, and cranky for over a week. Here is what my schedule has been like this past month.
7:10 am - Alarm goes off. It's still dark outside. Reset alarm to sleep a little longer.
7:25 am - Get out of bed. Turn off the humidifier. Turn on the hot water. Put my towel on the floor so that the Korean floor heating system can warm it up while I take a shower.
7:50 am - Eat breakfast. Drink coffee.
8:25 am - Leave my apartment. Make sure I'm wearing coat, scarf, hat, and gloves so I don't freeze on the way to work.
8:40 am - Clock in at work; although it seems rather old fashioned, we all have a time card that we have to stick into a machine which prints the time and then spits the card back out.
9:00 am - First class (Middle School 3) starts. Still wear scarf and occasionally gloves while waiting for my classroom to heat up.
10:30 am - Break for 15 minutes.
12:00 pm - First class ends. Have prep time for the next 2 hours during which I mark essays and grammar quizzes, make photocopies, and look at the next day's lessons. Also, find time to eat lunch and drink more coffee.
2:00 pm - Second class (Senior 1) starts.
3:30 pm - Break for 10 minutes.
4:55 pm - Second class ends. Break for 10 minutes.
5:05 pm - Last class starts.
6:30 pm - Break for 15 minutes.
8:00 pm - Last class ends (Junior 5). Clock out as soon as possible and leave school.
8:20 pm - Get home. Remind myself that I really do want to go to the gym and work out instead of sit and watch TV. Usually go to the gym for about an hour.
9:30 pm - Eat dinner and watch Oprah. The best thing about Oprah in Korea is that when she says she'll be right back, she actually is. Thank goodness for no commercial breaks on Korean TV.
11:30 pm - Go to bed. Fall asleep happy that one more day of intensives is over.

The Great Wall of....

2008-01-21T21:26:00.000+09:00

....coldness, bargaining, shaking, or China? The actual answer is supposed to be the latter, but for me it was the former four this time around. My second visit to the Great Wall was more memorable for the coldness, bargaining, and shaking than it was for the actual Wall itself. This is not meant to take away from the grandeur of the Wall by any means, it is an amazing sight to see the stone Wall winding down from the crests of the hills into the valleys and back up to the next peak as far as you can look through the haze.
However, I got to bask in wonderment last time I was at the Great Wall. This time, I was all too aware of how cold it was. There is a reason that Beijing means north capital - it gets really cold there, especially on Christmas Eve. The other thing on my mind as I was climbing up an infinite number of steps was how much bargaining I was going to have to use to get us back into Beijing. I had spent probably about 20 minutes earlier that day arguing mostly in Mandarin with these 2 men who wanted to drive us to the Wall. Despite all my efforts, we still ended up paying the full asking price for the roundtrip.
The final thing I remember from the Great Wall was how great my legs were shaking as we descended. It was uncontrollable. Every so often we would stop to take pictures, but I couldn't stand still very long or else my legs would just start shaking so hard that my whole jeans leg was shaking as well. I couldn't wait to get back into the car where I knew at least it would be warm.
Even though the cold, bargaining, and shaking weren't a wanted aspect of the Great Wall, I'm still glad that I got to see it again.

Looking down while climbing up. A place where you definitely don't want to fall down the stairs.
Looking up while climbing up. A whole lot more to go.

Hugging the wall, I think, while laughing at how absurd I look.
A nice picture of Huy and I.
A fun picture of Huy and I. Jumping is always fun.
My new Chinese boyfriend - too bad he's a little old & cold hearted, otherwise we'd be a perfect match. He even likes my orange hat.

Temple of Heaven

2008-01-06T16:55:00.001+09:00

The Temple of Heaven is a beautiful complex of buildings in the middle of Beijing where the emperors would visit yearly to pray for good harvests. Despite the cold weather, the temple and its adjoining park attracted a lot of people including these interesting Chinese men.

I can't remember if this smoke is coming from the man's breath or his cigarette. Given that most Chinese men perpetually have a cigarette in their hands, I'm guessing the smoke was from that, although it defnitely was cold enough in Beijing in late December to see your breath.
Playing a traditional Chinese instrument called an erhu (literally meaning 2 strings)
Taking a smoke break in blatent defiance of the nearby No Smoking sign

Group picture (from left to right: Julian, Grant, me, Jonny, Peter, Huy)

My own interesting boys walking back to our rented apartment at the end of a long day- 2 Americans, 2 Canadians, and 1 New Zealander. It was quite the experience being the only girl of the group, but also quite fun. All of them are great in their own way and I was glad to spend the break with each of them.

One little letter....

2008-01-05T20:45:00.000+09:00

.....can make all the difference, as evidenced by this essay from one of my Senior 1 students, John. To his credit, he is only in Korean Grade 4 and this is his first essay, typed on the computer as well.

"Another my favorite food is crap. I eat big crap. I eat crap at home. I eat crap with family in the dinner time. I eat crap because It is delicious."

I think that's supposed to be a 'b' instead of a 'p' or at least I hope so.

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T23:11:00.000+09:00

Here's a video from the New Year's Eve celebration held in downtown Seoul. Despite my protests against having to be outside in the freezing cold weather, I went there with some friends. I was glad I did too. It was an incredible feeling to be standing in the gigantic mass of people with Roman candles being shot up into the sky everywhere around you. The air had this strange mix of smoke and sweetness to it that added to the romanticism of the night. Being surrounded by people did help keep me warm and I tried my best to scream out the countdown to 2008 in Korean like everyone else around me. It was the most exciting New Year's Eve I think I've ever had in my life. Usually, I just sit at home eating pizza and watching movies so it was fun to do something special to celebrate my year over here in Korea. The other cool thing about the celebration was that Super Junior perfomed. True, I couldn't see them and I could barely hear them, but I feel much more cooler to be able to stroll into class tomorrow and brag to my students that I saw Super Junior perform live. Here's the video of their performance if you want to watch it as well.

Forbidden City

2007-12-31T14:41:00.000+09:00

Peeking through the gate into the Forbidden City. It is a huge place, rightfully called a city. The buildings and gardens keep going on and on; here is just the first glimpse.
A tour group walking across the main courtyard. The Forbidden City is a great testament to the power and wealth of the Emperor, everything is done on a grand scale as a reminder of his position and prestige.

Beyond the huge flashy buildings are a labyrinth of small corridors and numerous corners that are slightly more humble but still impressive in their design, art, and expanse.

Resting in a rock archway in the garden. For the whole trip, it was just me and the boys: (from left to right, me, Peter, Huy, Jonny, and Julian)

Snow

2007-12-21T11:08:00.001+09:00

It's a little late, but here are some pictures of my street that I took out my window last week on the night of the first real snowfall. It was a very picture perfect scene - big fat snowflakes that lightly painted everything white. However, it was all gone before the next morning and hasn't snowed since. Not that I'm complaining though, I hate the cold.

I'm voting next year

2007-12-19T01:56:00.000+09:00

Several students in one of my highest level classes asked me recently if I was going to vote in the Korean presidental election on December 19. After laughing at them, I asked, "Do I look like I'm Korean? Am I Korean? NO! I'm not going to vote. I can't. I'm not Korean." Class, it's time to learn a new English word - citizen.

Rokkugo & Lee Myung Bak

2007-12-16T11:07:00.000+09:00

This is another great Korean pop song. It's by a group called Super Junior T. They are a small side group of an even bigger group called Super Junior. By big, I mean that the group has 13 members. Isn't that a little excessive? Teenage girls are the only ones who don't think so. Anyway, this song has a catchy chorus and is pretty much just a silly song which is why I like it. Basically, it's the Korean word for backwards said backwards.

I've been hearing this song a lot lately. Korea has a presidental election on December 19 and one of the 12 candidates has apparently chosen this as his theme song. The words have been changed so that the chorus now goes, "Lee Myung Bak, Lee Myung Bak, Lee Myung Bak, Yah, Yah, Yah." There are this trucks that will park in major areas like near Lotte Mart or the subway station and blast music/propaganda about their candidate while people dressed in matching jackets with Miss America type sashes with the candidate's name and number on it stand waving their arms and passing out flyers. It's an interesting campaign strategy that I would love to see someone like Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton try to emulate back home.

McDelivery

2007-12-15T00:10:00.001+09:00

Korea is the land of delivery food. You can get almost any food delivered to your apartment at almost any hour of the day. I regularly get food menus taped to my door advertising everything from fried chicken to Japanese to pizza to Korean and now McDonalds.
The McDonalds right by my school is now offering McDelivery service. They are already open 24/7 and now they have a delivery service 24/7 as well. We had a menu in the teachers' room the other day and were scheming of how best to take advantage of this seemingly unfathomable, but fantastic new idea.

Here is a worker on the bright yellow McDelivery bikes ready to roll out into traffic. I think the knee pads are a nice touch. This person has obviously had to ride a motorcycle in Korean traffic before. I'm sure those knee pads are not just to look fashionable. Returning from a delivery and ready to pick up another order.

McDelivery is perfect business sense in Korea where delivery is a way of life. Most restaurants even deliver the food in regular dishes. When you are finished with your food, you leave the dishes outside your door and someone comes back around to pick them up. For all this great service, you also don't pay any extra. Makes me wonder how feasible McDelivery would be back home. Maybe I will be surprised when I return home and see a bright yellow scooter whiz past me, although I kind of doubt it. I will be prepared though to jump out of the way so I don't get run down. The only downside to the delievery culture in Korea is that delivery guys have no mercy for pedestrians.

Extending

2007-12-14T10:36:00.000+09:00

The standard teaching contract in Korea lasts for 1 year. My year was set to end on January 29th, a rather scary thought. Even telling people that I have been here for almost 11 months seems strange and shocking as it comes out of my mouth.
When I first arrived here, other teachers assured me that time flies in Korea. At first I thought they were crazy, each day seemed so long and each week dragged past. However, those feelings quickly change as the crossed off months on a calendar add up.
12 months are easily broken down into significant milestones. First comes up the 3 month mark which is followed closely by the 4 month mark representing 1/4 and 1/3 of a year respectively. Then comes the big 6 month anniversary, a celebration that from now on you are sliding down instead of climbing up. Months 8 and 9 go by with hardly any notice because they have become indistinguishable from each other. Then month 10 comes and the idea of double digits strikes you. When 11 months rolls around, it is almost unfathomable. How could 11 months have already gone by?
More than anything else, 11 months scared me. There were times throughout the past few months when I really wanted to go home and found myself heavily daydreaming about seeing my family, sleeping in my own bed at home, eating food I miss, driving a car. Yet, as much as I was ready to go home, I wasn't ready to leave Korea. I didn't want to be finished so soon.
In that vein of thought, I approached my manager with a proposal to extend my contract for 2 more months. She enthusiastically agreed to the idea. A few signatures later, she took my passport and ARC card down to immigration and returned with an very unofficial looking date stamped on the back of my ARC card - March 28.

Christmas Decorating

2007-12-14T10:18:00.000+09:00

Last week, my school designated 2 days as Christmas decorating days. They bought a lot of wonderfully cheap & tacky wreaths and garlands and bows and whatnot for us to hang up in our classrooms. We also got to spend time having our students make Christmas decorations, all part of the school's new effort to have "fun" learning English. Before this recent strategy, "fun" had been a 3 letter F word at school. Study and work were the holy principles we were always supposed to abide by. But when our student enrollment went drastically down, our manager was practically forced to change her philosophy and so now we are allowed to have occasional fun with our students.
The front of my classroom. My attempt at decorating was to drape the garland over the air conditioner and hang the wreath on the door.
The back corner of the room. The colored papers hanging up on the wall are sticker charts for my Basic 5 class. For young students, stickers have a magical motivational quality.
My desk and very nice swivel chair. I currently have a green trash can in my room. I always know when the cleaning lady has been at the school because the trash can I had the previous day is gone and in its place is a new one that has come from someone else's room.
The Christmas trees that my J6 class made because they thought they were too cool to make reindeer.

My reindeer that I made as an example (thanks for the idea, Mom).
Mark getting ready to glue the antlers to the head while Bella and Dororthy are busy cutting behind him.
Jack with his finished reindeer who looks more appropriate for Halloween than Christmas.
Peter's reindeer looks like he is going to a costume party as well. At least these boys have a sense of creativity and humor, strange as it might be.

My Daily Walk

2007-11-27T22:54:00.001+09:00

My latest realization about living in Korea is that so many things are so normal to me after 10 months here. I don't notice when I get pushed by an ajumma (old Korean woman) on the subway or when an adjoshi (old Korean man) spits on the sidewalk as I walk past. The closer I get to coming home, I also realize that nothing I consider normal is even close to being normal to everyone back home. Regardless of how many photos I take or how much I talk or write about it, no one will ever truly know Korea the way I do. In an attempt to change that last fact just a little, here is what I see two times a day, Monday through Friday, as I walk from my apartment to school and back to my apartment.
The outside of my apartment building. Ironically, the name of the building is the same name as my hometown.
A view down my street. I don't know the name of my street. Street names are somewhat irrevelant in Korea. Each building has a name and a number and that is more important. I ordered pizza from a place at the end of this street and it took me about 5 minutes to communicate to the delivery guy that I lived at the end of the street, just 2 minutes away.
The major road that runs parallel to my smaller street.
Crossing the major intersection, often going across on a red light when there are no cars around to the horrified stares from any nearby Koreans.
Another view of the same intersection.

Heading towards the blue apartment buildings.
A lovely sight to see every day - trash on the sidewalk.

Entering the blue apartment building complex. When I first got here, I thought I would get lost because all the apartments looked the same to me and they seemed to be everywhere that I looked.

Leaving the blue apartments and entering the few blocks of shops and restaurants, a mini oasis of sorts, as I consider it.
School is in sight, the top (7th) floor of the building in the middle.

Korean Music Video

2007-11-25T21:17:00.000+09:00

This is my favorite Korean song of the moment. My kids love that I can sing the English part of the chorus, although I change the lyrics to "I'm so sorry that I love you, but it's time for a grammar quiz" or something to that effect. Sometimes, when it comes to teaching, you have to find ways to amuse yourself in order to survive the day.
Anyway, this song is called Lies or Koh Ji Mal by a group named Big Bang. This video has English subtitles so you can follow it. Enjoy.

Teachers at the Zoo

2007-11-19T12:08:00.000+09:00

All the girls at my school, in a circle from left to right: Lynn, Apple, (in back) Sela, Janice, Annette, me, Gina, and Jun.
This is the manager at my school, Lynn. Although she can be quite strict with us teachers sometimes, I do respect her and appreciate that since she doesn't let us slack off, we end up becoming good teachers. She works extremely hard at her job and is always in a tough position trying to please students, parents, teachers, and the main corporation.

This is Apple, one of the Korean teachers at my school. Her and Jun below don't work with the students in the classroom. That is our sole domain. Instead, they work at the main counter, answering phones, talking to parents, disciplining students, and taking care of all other administrative type work at the school.
Each of us is assigned a "counter teacher" or "counselor" as we call them who then works with us to manage the students. We meet periodically to discuss how the students are doing and come to each other with any specific concerns. Jun is my counselor and has been since she started working at my school back in the spring. The sign she is holding says something to the likes of "Danger. Stay Away." We tried to convince her to bring it back and hang it up at the school, but she thought it best to leave the sign in its rightful place at the zoo.
Lest you think that there are no boys at my school, rest assured that there are quite a few now. Here are two of them, Huy and Neil, demonstrating their winning poses for our school's next top model competition.

Animals at the Zoo

2007-11-19T09:57:00.000+09:00

The other weekend, the manager at my school arranged for all of us teachers to go on a trip to the zoo in Seoul. Despite being a slightly cold day, it was still a fun time being outside admist all the colorful leaves. Here are some pictures of the best animals.

Sadly, these bears have learned how to beg for food. Whenever they saw a lot of people standing in front of their area, the big one would immediately start posing and then the littles ones, who are obviously in training, would follow suit. These animals are smart though because all their tricks worked and the people who aren't so smart would then toss them pieces of carrot or apple.
This bear was doing his best to get some food as well. While it was fun to watch these bears perform, you also felt really bad for them and a slight anger towards the audience. The entire zoo is much different than the one near my hometown in that people aren't allowed at all to feed or even tempt the animals with food and the animals' living areas are much bigger and cleaner.

Apparently at the zoo, the giraffes love hamburgers as evidenced by this sign on a Lotteria (Korean fast food restaurant) stand directly across from their area.

Happy Pepero Day!

2007-11-11T13:25:00.000+09:00

In Korea, November 11th is Pepero Day. Pepero is the name of a favorite type of snack. Basically, it is a biscuit/cookie stick dipped in chocolate although it comes in several different versions like chocolate stick dipped in chocolate, stick filled with chocolate, and stick dipped in chocolate with almonds. On November 11th, you are supposed to give Pepero to people that you love, sort of like another version of Valentine's Day. Why November 11th? Well, Pepero are shaped like the number one and November 11th is 11/11. Clever. Anyway, Lotte Mart had a huge display of Pepero just for Pepero Day. It was quite amazing and amusing to see just how many different kinds and different sizes and different boxes of Pepero you could buy.

Enjoying Autumn (while it lasts)

2007-11-05T22:47:00.001+09:00

On Saturday, I went to Jongmyo Shrine in Seoul. The actual buildings of the shrine (where ancient royalty were buried after they died) wasn't that interesting, especially when the big red rectangles had to compete with the adjoining park and lake. I was so glad I went because I got to enjoy possibly the last decently warm day of autumn and all the colorful leaves of so many trees. It didn't feel like I was in Seoul or Korea anymore. Sadly though, the warmness is quickly disappearing and soon all the colors will give way to the cold, bland gray of winter.

A lot of other people in Seoul also wanted to enjoy the beauty and quiet of the shrine grounds. It was a refuge from the crowded noiseness and cookie-cutter construction of the city.
Of course everyone enjoyed it in their own way. For example, here are the old and the young.

Making Masks

2007-11-01T22:54:00.000+09:00

At school, we were allowed to celebrate Halloween with our students. I say 'allowed' because our manager does not like anything that takes away from class/study time. In her own words, "Teachers, if you want you can have small party for Halloween with your students, maybe 30 minutes. But actually I don't want you to." Guess what all of us did anyway? Most of us even dressed up in some sort of costume like Gina and I did.

Two of my Basic 5 students, Jack Black (left) and Peter (right) also wore costumes. By the way, I added the Black to Jack's name to make it more fun to say.
My Basic 5 class is very young (most of the students are 10 and a few are 11 and 12 years old) and at a very low level so they loved my idea of making masks. Here are Jully (left) and Karen (right) busy coloring.
Here is Mark King Kong (I added the King Kong part, but only after Mark would answer every question with King Kong. For example: What do you eat? King Kong eats Empire Steak Building. Yes, Steak Building and not State Building.) actually sitting in his seat and being quiet for once. Proof that miracles do happen. I love this kid, but he does drive me crazy.
Jenny hard at work on her jack'o'lantern mask.

We also made masks in my Senior 5 class. When the students saw that my Basic 5 students had made masks, they eagerly begged me if they could do the same activity even though they are all 12 years old and at a much higher level. Here are my 2 Jameses. This happens a lot at my school, having 2 students with the same name. Therefore, each teacher comes up with a creative way to distinguish between the two. In this case, another teacher who taught these students before me came up with the solution of NJ (New James on the right) and OJ (Old James on the left).
The girls of my Senior 5 class: Christine with the cat mask, Emily to the right, then behind is Flora who is barely visible, Sue in the black shirt, and Mina in the turquoise jacket.
Mina happily holding up her finished pumpkin mask.
This is Andy, my last student in Senior 5. As this picture shows, Andy thinks and acts like he is too cool, but I've found that there is a soft side to him as well. He is a grade older than all the other students and he spent a year in the United States (Utah to be exact) while his mother was studying English. On the first day of class, I was trying to make conversation with each student. When I asked Andy what he liked, his answer was "I only like sleeping, eating, and girls." Girls are a popular topic of conversation between us. Since September, Andy has broken up with his original girlfriend because she bored them, then he got a new girlfriend who has broken up and then gone back out with him at least twice. When I told Andy he needed a better and nicer girlfriend, he said, "But I love this girl." I have to admit that Andy is one of my favorite students. His too cool attitude sets him apart from the rest of the students. I also like that Andy sits by himself in the back of the room and smugly smiles at my jokes and grudgingly participates when he feels like it which shows just how smart he really is.

Nine months is a long time

2007-10-28T22:19:00.000+09:00

It's been nine months for me now in Korea. I haven't posted much this month because everything around me seems normal. Teaching is a routine, especially since 2 of the levels I have taught the past 2 months I had already taught before. I have the daily class pattern memorized: attendence, homework check, reading homework, reading, vocabulary quiz, grammar homework, grammar quiz, new grammar lesson.
The surroundings between the triangle of my school, my apartment, and the subway stop all seem normal to me. I have discovered all the shortcuts and alternate routes around my extended neighborhood. I have figured out all the quirks of my apartment from the way to turn on the oven burners so that they actually come on (hint: press down really hard and hold it for a few seconds before releasing) to the way the washing machine leaks water on the floor of the balcony (hint: toilet paper smells really bad when it gets soaked in laundry water).
I hardly flinch when motorcycles whiz past me as I'm walking on the sidewalk (hint: it's called a sidewalk, not a sidecycle for a reason). I understand all the questions asked of me at Lotte Mart and know the appropriate responses in Korean. I can navigate my way around the subway system without a map and when a new teacher asks me directions, I can picture the map in my head without any thought (hint: avoid the rapid train when coming back from Suwon station and always make sure you are on the train going to Cheonan not Inchon). I can even imitate the English announcements on the subway system (female voice: The train bound for Cheonan is now approaching; male voice: Please stand clear of the yellow line).
Overall, what I'm trying to say is that nine months is a long time. The longer you are away from home, the more you change, and the harder it becomes to go back because you can never go back in time to the way you once were before you left.

Halloween Korean Style

2007-10-28T22:07:00.001+09:00

Peter and Mandie, aka Adam and Eve, hosted a Halloween party at their new apartment. Since Halloween is not extensively celebrated in Korea, we were forced to be creative with our costumes instead of just making a quick trip to a party store. Below are some of the results.
Neil and Annette are a golf couple, all items including hat, glasses, red sequin bowties, pajama pants, argyle socks, and childrens' plastic golf clubs are courtesy of the local Lotte Mart.
Sarah was cloudy with a chance of showers and MJ was a librarian.
Grant the boxer is knocking out Jonny the basketball player in a battle of sportsmanship.
I drew inspiration from Korea and went as a Lotte Mart girl. Look at the Chuseok post for further information and pictures of the actual girls in action. Briefly, girls dress up in these white socks and matching skirts and jackets and pass out samples of coffee and promote new products. Everyone remarked on how clever and cute my costume was. I'll have to wait until Wednesday to see how my students will react.

Love in Korea

2007-10-07T13:35:00.001+09:00

Gyeonguk Palace proved to be a popular place for couples to spend their holiday.
This bride and groom decided to take some pictures of their own after posing for their own pictures taken by a professional photographer.
I especially like how the bride is wearing sneakers underneath her wedding dress. For once it's practical not to wear heels. Korean girls have an obsession with heels. They wear them everywhere, even to the beach and mountain hiking. This guy is lucky to get a smart girl who realizes that sometimes function is better than fashion.
Quiet moment on a bench in the shade outside the palace.
A not so secret lovers' embrace. It's hard to find privacy in a crowded country.

Gyeongbok Palace

2007-10-07T12:15:00.001+09:00

The last Korean holiday (Foundation Day) until the end of the year (sigh) was on Wednesday. I decided to enjoy the great fall weather by crossing off one of the things on my 'to do before I leave Korea' list and went to Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul. This palace is considered the biggest and most beautiful palace in Seoul and I think I agree with this assessment. Besides the palace itself, I seemed to be an attraction as well. I was stopped 3 times and asked to have my picture taken. After being asked by the picture takers where I was from, I was told that I had pretty eyes and was beautiful. Needless to say, that made my day just a little more pleasant.
Right outside the main entrance to the palace are these guards dressed in traditional uniforms. Obviously, this girl could care less about the man with an ax standing right behind her. I initially felt sorry for these guards having to just stand there for hours and have their picture taken endless number of times. But then I got approached for the second time in about 15 minutes by a giggling group of teenage/college girls and realized that it may be a slight annoyance to be a tourist attraction, but it is kind of fun in its own strange way.
This is probably the biggest building in the whole complex and one of the first ones that you see. Behind it is a carefully laid out complex of courtyards and smaller buildings, each perfectly designed and decorated that seem to just keep going and going.
Main gate of the courtyard wall outside the main building.
Ever since my time in China, I love the colors and shapes of Asian architecture.

Attached to the rear of the palace was a beautiful garden with a lotus filled pond and a small temple adorned island in the middle.
This boy was having a fun time hamming it up for his parents' camera.
His sister, however, wasn't having as much fun.

Here I love how the reflection of the temple is visible in the water even through the scattered lotus leaves. The garden was one of the most peaceful places I have visited in Korea. I felt like I could spend hours sitting on a bench by the edge of the pond, just reading a book and people watching. However, I didn't want to become a potential target for more photo takers so I kept moving on. All in all, it was a wonderful way to enjoy the last holiday of the year.

This is a horrible thing...

2007-10-05T10:21:00.001+09:00

This is a horrible thing for a teacher to say, but some kids are just dumb. Maybe this is just the cynic coming out of me, but it's true. I do try to be very patient with my students and remember the fact that the Korean educational system is very stressful with lots of extra studying and homework and tests. But the following incident which happened yesterday in my Junior 5 (high intermediate level and 12 years old) class is proof that some kids are just dumb, no matter what.
I was teaching a lesson on future questions with the word will and was going around the room asking every student a question.
Me to John: What time will you eat lunch tomorrow?
John: Blank stare at me
Me: What time will you eat lunch tomorrow?
John: Long pause. 1:30.
Me: Okay. 1:30.
Other students: 1:30? What? Really?
John: Confused look
Other students: Your school eats lunch at 1:30? Really?
John: Not 1:30.
Me: Okay. What time then?
John: Blank stare. Writes something on his book
Jake (sitting by John): 12:10.
Me: John, do you eat lunch at 12:10?
John: Shakes his head.
Me: Okay, what time do you eat lunch then?
John: Confused look
Me: John, you think about it while I ask some other students.
I ask about 3 students a question and then John shouts something out.
John: I eat lunch at 7:30.
Me: 7:30?
Other students: Lots of laughing
Me: John, I don't think so.
Jake: Teacher, John doesn't know what lunch-ee is.
Other students: Lots of laughing
Me: There is no lunch-ee. Lunch-ee is not an English word. It is lunCH.
Me: John, look up here at the board (where I write). Every day, most people first wake up, then eat breakfast, then go to school. In the middle of school they eat lunch. Then they go home and eat dinner and then go to sleep. Understand?
John: Nodding
Me: Okay, so what time do you eat lunch?
John: 5:30.
Other students: Lots of laughing. John eats lunch-ee at 5:30!
Me: No one eats lunch-ee. It is lunCH (writing lunch-ee and lunch on the board).
Jake: John eats lunch at 12:30.
Me: Okay, great. Now John, say a sentence.
John: I will eat lunch at 12:30 tomorrow.
Me: Thank you.
This whole exchange took at least 10 minutes and by the end of it I didn't know whether to laugh or hit my head on the board.

Suwon's Hwaseong Fortress

2007-10-05T10:11:00.000+09:00

Suwon, the city where I live, is famous for its fortress. Even though it was originally built over 200 years ago, it is almost perfectly intact. When you visit, you can walk all the way around the fortress, a trip that lets you see a lot of the city and takes roughly 3 hours.
A watchtower
Painted walls
The way the fortress snakes its way up the hill brings back memories of the Great Wall of China
Here you can see how the fortress goes right through the middle of the city
A view of Suwon from a high point on the fortress

Lotte Mart at Chuseok Time

2007-09-23T21:49:00.000+09:00

Tuesday is the Korean Thanksgiving holiday called Chuseok. It is the biggest and most important holiday of the year in Korea (so big & important that we get 3 days off from school). The Lotte Mart (sort of the Korean version of Walmart - an all-in-one store with groceries, clothes, school supplies, electronics, home stuff, etc.) across the street from my school has been even busier than usual lately with everyone buying gifts to take with them when they travel to their families' homes.
Fruit, like these apples, is a popular choice.
Boxed sets of spam and tuna are also an option. The smiling ladies dressed in hanbok (Korean traditional dress) will be more than happy to help you pick out that perfect gift and put it in a special bag for you.
A display at the front of the store with a sample of all the various gift sets available. Our school gave all of us teachers a nice set of shampoo, toothpaste, and soap. I would much rather have that than spam or seaweed or cooking oil.
Gift spam nicely packaged with olive oil for the low price of 25,900 won (about $26). Yummy!
Or I guess you could buy some of these octopuses to take to your parents' or grandparents' house as a gift. Now this looks delicious! The lady selling these seemed a little surprised that I wanted a picture of them. This is not something found at my local IGA back home.

These lovely young ladies in their animation/Star Trek costumes are selling gift sets of coffee.
This woman is in charge of the dried fish section.
Children's hanboks on sale. These are for the boys while the ones below are for the girls. I love the bright colors and embroidery. They really are beautiful clothes.

Changes & Good-byes

2007-09-20T00:25:00.000+09:00

Things change constantly in Korea - our work schedule changes a few weeks in advance, our favorite galbi (Korean barbeque) restaurant closes, a new galbi restaurant opens, we change classes and students at school, old teachers leave and new teachers come. Sometimes these changes are good, like when I get to trade a difficult class of students for a new class that turns out to be lots of fun. Sometimes these changes take longer to get used to, like when all the friends I first made when I got to Korea have left. After almost 8 months of teaching, I should be used to all these changes and the good-byes that usually accompany them, but lately I have had a harder time adjusting. Maybe because I don't personally like all these recent changes, maybe it's because I feel like there's too many changes all happening at once, maybe it's knowing that even more and even bigger changes will be happening in a few months when I finish my contract. Either way, here's a short trip down memory lane back to some great students I had in August and a great friend I had in August who I both had to say good-bye to.
The students in my Special Grade 5 & 6 Intensive class: (back row from left to right) Bill, Samsung, Diana, Katherine; (front row from left to right) Se Ra, Jenny, Lisa, me. The whole class was great and actually made me excited to teach at 9 in the morning for a month. Messages two of my best students left on my whiteboard on the last day of classes
Sharon & I hanging up on my rooftop at another teacher's going away party. She was a great friend to talk to at school and to go dancing with on the weekends. I miss her laughter and complaining and how cool she was in general. Without her, my first 7 months in Korea would have been completely different.

Some more from Tokyo

2007-09-18T11:00:00.000+09:00

Here are some pictures from Tokyo. Tokyo is this amazing city - so big but composed of such unique districts that it never feels completely overwhelming. Only 2 full days in Tokyo wasn't nearly enough time to explore all of it, but I feel I got a good sampling in a short amount of time. All it means is that I have to go back to see some more.
The shopping avenue of Ginza
Amber (the gymnast) and me (the dancer) posing in Ginza
Old Japan meets New Japan - a grandmother in a kimono talking on her cell phone

Sarah & I at Senso-ji Temple
Incense
Water to wash your hands and face
Fortune telling - there are sticks in the metal canister, you shake it until one of the sticks comes out, then you find the drawer that matches the stick, inside the drawer are pieces of paper with fortunes on them

The streets of Shinjuku at night

Amber & Sarah trying to win a stuffed animation character
Some Japanese girls trying to win candy
Rocking out on the street outside the station - but this guy means business, he brought his own fans with him

Harajuku

2007-09-02T19:33:00.001+09:00

Harajuku is the crazy and trendy fashion area of Japan. Remember the Gwen Stefani song, "From the hood to Japan, Harajuku girls"? There's a reason why she mentions Harajuku in her song. It is a place to be yourself and dress however you want to because anything goes there. Amber & Sarah under the mermaid gate leading to the main shopping street.
Girls in their school uniforms checking out a wall of t-shirts.
A Japanese guy, his friend dressed in a red prom dress, and me.

When you dress like this, you're a walking invitation for getting stopped and having your picture taken.
A lot of thought goes into these costumes - see how the skirt, socks, and shoes all complement each other.
When you get tired of walking around, you can sit and eat ice cream while still getting all the attention you would ever want.
I can only wonder what this woman thinks of her teenage daughter's clothes and of being seen out in public with her.

Hiroshima

2007-09-01T13:31:00.001+09:00

This building, known as the A bomb dome, survived the explosion despite being practically at the very center. The aerial view pictures taken soon after the bomb show just how powerful the bomb was; this building is standing and everything else as far as you can see into the horizon is just flat. But as you can see in this picture, Hiroshima is now a completely rebuilt, very modern city.
Peace Memorial and Park outside the Museum
Cranes folded by people from around the world after a young Japanese girl started folding them while she was being treated from leukemia as a result of radiation exposure.
I'm so glad I went to Hiroshima when I was in Japan. The museum and the city are a powerful testament to the destructive power of war and the incredible determination to survive in the midst of hardship. Seeing the clothes of schoolchildren literally disintegrated from the heat and pictures of people who physically suffered for years later from radiation reminds you how scary and real nuclear bombs actually are, instead of just something the good guys and bad guys are fighting over in a movie.

Himeji Castle

2007-08-30T10:30:00.000+09:00

Himeji Castle which is a perfectly preserved feudal era castle located near Kobe, on the way from Tokyo to Hiroshima. Because of its white color, it is also known as the White Egret Castle. Also because of its white color, I switched to black & white for the rest of my pictures.
The main part of the castle where you can walk around polished wood floors and walk up steep stairways to the 6th floor.
Sitting in the shade of a gate, hoping for the slightest breeze, and trying not to think about how hot it is.
A view of the castle's walls and the rest of the city from the 6th floor of the main building.
Decorative crests on the walls of the castle.

Ringing the bell on the 6th floor of the castle.
A guard trying to stay cool out in the main courtyard.

Kyoto

2007-08-30T10:02:00.001+09:00

Amber & I at Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto

Wearing kimonos at the temple.
Sarah with the hungry statues - little creatures wearing what look like red bibs that were all over the temple grounds.
Amber & I rock climbing at the temple. Thanks to Sarah's photography skills, you can't tell that we are only about 2 feet off the ground.

Watching the cook make yakisoba (fried noodles) for dinner.
Our traditional style room with tatami mats and futons.
Sarah & Amber outside our very cool hotel.

A cemetary we accidentally found on our way to the temple.

Gardens of Higashi-Hongan temple.

Sarah on a bridge in the middle of the garden. The umbrella was not meant to be decorational, but functional. Thankfully though, it didn't rain too hard or too much (this time, it was a different story at other times).

Finally posing for a group photo on the last full day of the trip - Sarah, Amber, & I.

DMZ-North Korea

2007-08-21T22:13:00.001+09:00

Memorial at Freedom Bridge at Imjingak.
View of North Korea from Dora Observatory. If you look very closely, you can make out the red flag of North Korea to the right of the binoculars.
View of mountains in North Korea. The DMZ, a green valley surrounded by mountains, is surprisingly pretty. Unfortunately, these are the best pictures I have. You can only take pictures from a line about 8 feet from the binoculars and the weather was slightly hazy. For 500 won, the binoculars let you see factories and empty apartment buildings in North Korea.
Sign at Dorasan train station listing a future train route.
Sitting contemplatively at the empty train station.

DMZ Not so Serious

2007-08-21T21:54:00.000+09:00

The DMZ is a strange place to visit. It has become a major tourist attraction and with that, all the cheeseness one would expect to find at a major tourist site. It feels as if someone was sitting in their office thinking, "You know, we have all this land that we can't do anything with. Hmm....I know, let's make it a tourist site. Yeah, that's a great idea. We have nothing else better to do with this land."
This is a diorama of a "peaceful" DMZ complete with beautiful flowers and figurines of ducks and deer enjoying the natural undisturbed beauty of the DMZ. In a documentary, a butterfly flew over the green fields of the DMZ and trees, flowers, and park benches sprung up out of the ground as if the DMZ is a place to enjoy a Saturday afternoon picnic with your friends. This same documentary called the DMZ "a symbol of peace" that appearantly needs to be guarded by lots of barbed wire and soldiers.

Jonny having fun at the empty Dorasan train station.
The amusement park adjacent to Imjingak, the farthest north you can go without crossing the civilian control line.
A row of tour buses in the parking lot of Imjingak.
Everything is an animation character in Asia, including soldiers.

Trash

2007-08-19T00:33:00.000+09:00

If you can't find a trash can in Korea, just start your own. Seriously. I've yet to start my own trash pile on the sidewalk/street, but I am guilty of adding my trash to someone else's pile.
These pictures are from downtown Seoul.

I think Korea is a great country, but in my opinion it does have a problem when it comes to trash. Not only is there a lack of trash cans on street corners and in subway stations, but lots of food items come individually packaged, creating more trash than is necessary. I come home almost every night to find some flyer or advertisement taped to my door, creating more trash. Walking down the street, I see these same flyers laying on the ground. I find myself laughing at my kids when they tell me that China is so dirty, because in my mind Korea isn't that much different.
Throwing away my apartment trash is rather complicated. I have to sort my trash into different bags - 1 special bag for food stuff, 1 bag for recycle materials, and 1 bag for everything else. When Huy (a new teacher) asked me tonight what I did earlier today, I told him I took out the trash. He gave me a strange look. He doesn't realize yet what a process taking out the trash can be.

Anchovies

2007-08-06T22:41:00.000+09:00

Question of the day conversation in my Special 5 & 6 class (practically fluent 12 year old Korean kids, 1 even speaks with a British accent because she lived in England for a year) about what did you eat for breakfast.
Samsung: Rice and (looking up word on electronic dictionary) anchovies
Me: Anchovies?
Samsung: Yes, stir fried with almond
Me: Okay
Diana: What are anchovies?
Me: Small fish that come in a can (demonstrating with my fingers)
Diana: Aha, okay. I had anchovies for breakfast too
Me: Really?
Diana: Yes, they are good
Me: (trying to conceal my gagging at the thought of eating anchovies anytime, yet alone early in the morning) You know, in the US, people put anchovies on pizza
Diana: Eeewww! Gross!
Me: (trying not to laugh) Yeah, I think so too

How you try on pants in Korea

2007-08-05T00:15:00.000+09:00

How you try on pants in Korea as demonstrated by Matt while shopping at Dongdaemun this weekend.
Step 1: Pull the oversize skirt over your pants.

Step 2: Carefully remove your pants and put on the new pants.
Step 3: Pull up the skirt to show your friends how the new pants look.
Step 4: Carefully take off the new pants and put your pants back on. Remove the skirt.
Step 5: Do a little bargaining before you buy your new pants.

Dongdaemun is one of the best places to go shopping in Seoul. There are several huge malls which basically consist of 7 -8 floors of dozens of little stalls selling everything you could ever wear from shirts to pants to belts to shoes to jewelry. Since there are no dressing rooms, you try on clothes in the middle of the walkway.

It is not as easy as it looks to do this. After Matt bought his shorts, I had my turn with the skirt to try on a pair of shorts myself. Between my laughing, general clumsiness, and trying to avoid being bumped from all the people walking by, it's a wonder that I didn't fall over or reveal my underwear to everyone. Even though I had to try on 2 sizes, it was all worth it in the end because I got a nice new pair of shorts & a belt for 24,000 won (roughly $24 US).

I miss these kids already

2007-08-05T00:06:00.001+09:00

After 6 months, it was time to say good-bye to my Basic 5 class. Over that time, these kids gradually became my favorites. Even on the days they annoyed me so much, I still always had a lot of fun with them. I am proud of how much they have learned in the past 6 months which also reminds me of how much I have learned as a teacher in that 6 months as well. Now just 6 more months to go. In the back row from left: Lee, Chan Young (with glasses), Lynn, Max, Sky, Jin Ook, Sarah (with the red visor), Kerry (in purple), Yoo Kyong, Jay Q (with his tongue stuck out), and then Chunk in the front center by me.
Chunk, one of those kids you just have to love because of his personality, even though he will often drive you crazy.

First Day Surprise

2007-07-28T21:20:00.001+09:00

This note, along with a bottle of mango juice (really good!) was on my desk when I walked into my classroom on the first day of summer intensives.

Hello, Amy teacher? My name is Cindy and your student for first. I'm glad to meet you. Please good teaching for us. bye-bye. From. Cindy.

Sucking up or just a sweet girl? Hard to tell. Maybe a little bit of both, not that I don't mind. Who would ever have thought that someone would try to suck up to me?

I know, do you?

2007-07-28T20:47:00.000+09:00

I saw this shirt at Singil station last weekend and then saw it a guy wearing it today in Suwon. Somehow, I doubt that they really know where Du Quoin is and it makes me wonder who first heard of Du Quoin and thought it would make a good tshirt. I wish I could get a job designing tshirts in Korea. That would be fun.
Tshirt style in Korea is like nothing else - lots of random pictures of everything from cartoon characters to Hollywood celebrities (that must be the newest way to know that you made it in show biz), and even more random English. To see some examples, go to http://www.engrish.com/. My friend here just got one of her pictures posted on the site (click on Clothing and it's the picture for July 27).

Cell Phones

2007-07-26T07:47:00.000+09:00

Korea is a country obsessed with cell phones. A majority of my students, especially the older elementary and middle school students, have a cell phone. The ones that don't usually have a plan or agreement with their parents to get a cell phone on their next birthday or if they do well on their school tests.
Only in Korea is it not considered rude to answer your cell phone when you are out with other people. In fact, you can talk as loud as you want on your cell phone on the subway without anyone caring, but if you have a loud conversation with the friend sitting next to you, you will start to get some evil stares.
This past weekend, I decided to become Korean and "upgrade" my "hand phone." I liked my phone, but it had the annoying problem of not sending text messages, especially when it was crucial for people to get the message (like when we realized our plane to Jeju left 1 hour earlier so we had to rush to the airport).
I went to Yongsan Electronics Mall in Seoul, which is THE place to buy anything electronic in Seoul and possibly in all of Korea. It is a huge building with 8 levels of anything electronic you could ever want to buy. The cell phone floor is slightly overwhelming, jampacked with brightly lit booths and more cell phones than there are probably are in the entire state of Montana.

After a little browsing and a little bargaining, I had a new phone. Here is a picture for comparision between the 3 phones I now own (I never thought I would ever have more than 1 phone, but I had 2 at my conference job, and now I have 3). My American cell phone is on the left, my old Korean phone is in the middle, and my new Korean phone is on the right.

Long Version Jeju-do

2007-07-22T10:56:00.000+09:00

Rocky beach on U-do.

Boat I saw waiting for the ferry to take us to U-do.
A rocky beach near the waterfall. The island was formed by a volcano that is still in the middle of the island.
Matt and Jonny posing with their rented surfboards, two very cool and fun guys.
Me with Mandie and Sharon, my old friend and new friend.

I had a great time on Jeju. Coming from the midwest, I appreciate any time that I can be near a beach and the ocean and getting to spend an entire day at the beach is just wonderful. Besides the beach, we went to 2 different waterfalls, a lava cave which was dark and cold, and another smaller island called U-do (do means island in Korean) where I rented scooters with the guys and drove around the island on its 1 lane main road. And then it was back to school and teaching like always. Some of us returned with a tan, some of us returned with a mild sunburn, and one of us returned with a broken toe.

Overall, it was the best way to celebrate my 6 months anniversary in Korea, especially with a great group of people who I feel lucky to work with and be friends with. We had some adventures on the island and I am glad that these were the people I can share the memories with. I remember hearing an old quote that's goes, "No matter where you are in the world, it's your friends that make the difference," and that is definitely true whether I am in the US or in Korea or anywhere else.

Jeju-do Quick Version

2007-07-19T22:38:00.000+09:00

I had a 4 day weekend this past week so myself & 5 other teachers went to Jeju-do which is an island off the south-west coast of Korea. It's a popular destination for Koreans, especially honeymooners. Here are some of the best pictures from the trip until I have time to put up more and write more about the trip.
View of the ocean.
Matt and Jonny at the beach on their way to go body-boarding.
Group shot at Cheonjiyeon Waterfall. Clockwise from top left: Matt, Mandie, Janice, Sharon, me, and Jonny.
The island's unofficial symbols are statues of these funny looking creature/people.
Lava tube inside Manjunggul lava cave.

Chicks

2007-07-12T01:15:00.000+09:00

Apparantly, my students think my classroom should be converted into a zoo. Today, Max in my Basic class (the same class that has Billy with the ants in it) showed up with a baby chick in a plastic tube that looked very similar to a Pringles can. Of course the arrivial of this new addition to our classroom created quite the stir. I had to tell practically every student to sit down as I tried to figure out myself what exactly was going on. I finally made it through all the students to see Soon Jae holding this tiny chick that was shaking. I did not want to have to fight with the chick for attention for the next 110 minutes so I made Max put it back in the plastic tube and take it to the counter so they could "watch" it for the rest of class.
When Max returned, I asked him where he got his bird. He said some man was selling them outside the school. Very interesting. I wonder if Max's mother knows that her son is buying chicks. For that matter, I wonder how Billy's mother feels about his ant fascination and collection.
By the way, on the latest name change day in Basic class, Billy asked to change his name to Chunk, a character from one of the first books we ever read. He had been asking to change his name to Chunk for several months now, but I kept telling him no. Finally, I gave in and agreed to call him Chunk. I have to admit that I like it now. In a strange way, it suits him, even though he is a typical small and scrawny looking Korean kid. And it is kind of fun to say, "Chunk, sit down!" or "Chunk, be quiet!" which I have to do many times a day.

Ricky

2007-07-05T23:56:00.000+09:00

Ricky is one of the students in my H4 class (middle school, high level). He is a very studious boy who was very shy and nervous at first, but now has grown more comfortable and chatty. He is very intelligent in an awkward bookworm kind of way. I am particularly impressed with his writing. He has a unique ability to express himself in English as shown by the following examples.

-On describing a funny event that had occured in his life, "When I come back to home, I tread on droppings of dogs. I was very tired and sad."
-On explaining what he would do if he was a teacher at our school, "Of course teachers have many weak points. For example. If students don't listen teacher's words, then teacher has many stressful and can die early."

It is quotes like those that make marking up to 200 student essays a month somewhat more enjoyable.

Rain

2007-07-01T01:44:00.001+09:00

The street outside my apartment at 1:30 in the morning. I don't mind the rain at night, in fact I like the sound of it. Its the daytime rain that I hate.
The rainy season in Korea has begun and won't end for about a month. I had been warned about the rain by some of the other teachers who have experienced it before. My initial thoughs were "Rain for a whole month? That's kinda neat. Something different and maybe kinda cool, at least something to tell people at home about. It's only a month. I'll survive." But then the first day (and by day, I mean whole entire day) of rain came and my thoughts completely changed. I now have new respect for Noah. I understand how he must have felt a little better now. You know the rain's coming, but you think it can't be that bad until it comes and then you quickly realize that this sucks. Here's to trying to keep dry for the next month.

Teacher, there is war today

2007-06-28T01:23:00.001+09:00

When I went into my first class, Basic 5, on Monday, the kids were all talking (more like yelling at me) in rapid broken English like they usually do. After I got them calmed down, a few students who sit up at the front of the room near my desk started mentioning war.
One girl, Lynn who speaks very well, looked right at me and very calmly said, "Teacher, there is war today." Several students immediately chimed in, "Yes, teacher, yes. Today is war." Somewhat puzzled I asked where. "In Korea" they all replied right away. I am starting to get a little nervous. This is news to me.
"Where in Korea?" I asked. This set off frantic gesturing and a strange mix of mumbled English and Korean. To help them out I offered, "DMZ? 38?" They got excited by my answer, "Yes, teacher, yes!" To clarify some more I ask, "Fighting with North?" "Yes, teacher, yes. North and South fighting." Now I'm starting to panic a little. Surely if there was war today, I would have heard something about it or even heard the airplanes or bombs themselves. Our city is less than an hour away from Seoul on the subway and Seoul is only 30 miles from the DMZ.
My mind was quickly going through all the possibilities. Did they mean military drills? Those are quite common, but no, the kids were insisting that this was actual war between North and South. Did the North do something crazy? If so, why we were still in school? And why were the kids so calm about the whole thing?
Finally, I realized that my kids were referring to the start of the Korean War - on June 25, 1950. Breathing a deep sigh of relief, I laughed and tried to explain to my students my mistake. Given their English level, I'm not quite sure they understood. My older and more advanced students definitely understood when I explaned the event to them and they found it quite humorous, as I do now. Technically, the war has not ended so every day I am living in a war country, although thankfully there is no outright fighting involved.

63 Tower

2007-06-22T12:42:00.000+09:00

The 63 Tower is one of the tallest buildings in Seoul and a major landmark, sort of like the Eiffel Tower in Paris. I took these pictures from a park across from the Tower last weekend. As you can tell, I had a little fun playing around with my color settings.

Views from my Rooftop

2007-06-10T23:05:00.000+09:00

As the title states, these pictures are taken from the roof of my apartment building. The roof is the equivalent of being on the 4th story - very short when it comes to Korea where 20+ story apartment buildings are common.

Deoksugung Palace

2007-06-03T00:45:00.001+09:00

Today I went to Deoksugung Palace which served primarily as a palace for other members of the royal family from the 1500s up until the early 1900s. Elements of architecture and layout reminded me of the Forbidden City in Beijing, but not as grand or opulent. The best thing about the palace was the blissful sensation of peace, a hard thing to find in a densely populated country where the noise is neverending. I was also struck by the contrast of the old painted wooden buildings carefully preserved in the middle of multitudes of new shiny metal skyscrapers. It is a true picture of the past giving way to the future and a symbol of Korea's transition as a country.

I love the way Koreans use the English language. At least this sign makes sense, unlike so many other random things from signs to t-shirt slogans to sayings on stationary products.

Back to Basics

2007-05-30T23:07:00.000+09:00

Here is a class picture from my Basic class: Soon Jae, Han Min, Jin Ook, Jay Q, Yoo Kyong, Lynn, Amy, Na Yun, Si Hun, Billy, and Chan Young (Max, Anna, Julia, and Lee are missing).
I have had these students since I first started and I will have them until the end of July. Over that time, they have slowly become my favorite class. They are my youngest students (Korean age 11 which is roughly American age 10) and they have so much energy. When I come into the room, they are always running away from the board where they have been drawing crazy pictures and then start shouting "Teacher, teacher!!! Look!!"
They are also my lowest level students, which means that we read books that are like "I have the ball. I am running. I am not falling. I want to make a goal." Because they are at such a low level, I can get away with playing more games and doing more creative activities with them than I can with older and more advanced students.
It is kind of fun to demote my English level into really simple sentences in order to communicate with these kids. Sometimes though, I can tell that they are getting frustrated because they don't know how to say what they are thinking. The other day, they were trying to tell me that watermelon wasn't a fruit and I was trying to tell them that it was, but both of us were stubborn and I couldn't make any good arguments so I finally just said, "In Korea, watermelon is vegetable. In USA, watermelon is fruit. Okay."
I also love this class because so many of the students have great personalities. One of my favorites (in an annoying but gotta love him anyway kind of way) is named Billy. He is a wild bundle of energy. Every 10 minutes I have to tell him either to sit down or be quiet. One day I had to take his desk away because he kept moving it. Unfortunately, that backfired because all the kids (including Billy) thought it was funny that he didn't have a desk and had to keep his book in his lap.
Lately, Billy has been bringing ants to class. That's right - ants - big, black ants. One day it is crawling around in his pencil case and the next day it's all wrapped up in a little square of wax paper, squirming its legs trying to break free. He insisted on showing me every day and every day I would tell him to put it in his backpack. In the back of my mind, I was imagining having to explain to my boss why I have an ant infestation in my classroom.
One day last week, Billy showed up with about half a dozen ants crawling around in an empty cassette tape box. I decided that I had enough of the ants. I told him that if he brought ants to class anymore, I would throw them out the window of our 7th floor classroom. Billy immediately looked horror stricken, "Teacher, NO!" "YES!" I replied as I stood by the window, mimicking shaking ants outside.
Today, as I'm leaving the teachers' lounge to go to class, Billy runs up to me in the lobby area. Quickly and rather loudly, he says, "Teacher, today I have ant. I sorry. Tomorrow I no have ant. Please no kill ant." My boss and the counter teachers heard his plea and started laughing. I showed some mercy and spared the 1 very large ant Billy had in his pencil case. But I do not want to see that ant or any ant again tomorrow.

Temple Visit

2007-05-25T01:15:00.000+09:00

Today was the official day of Buddha's Birthday. We had heard rumors that if you went to the temples today, you could get free food and see some more celebrations. Wednesday night, we got some recommendations from one of the Korean counter teachers at our school. Armed with her information, we set out for what would turn out to be quite an adventure.

After 20 minutes of wandering around the station area looking for the bus stop, we then spent another 30 minutes waiting for our bus to come. Thankfully, it was the right bus and we made it to the temple. Despite the rain, we had a great time walking around the grounds admist even more colorful lanterns. It even turned out that getting free food wasn't a myth after all.

Lantern Parade for Buddha's Birthday

2007-05-21T00:12:00.000+09:00

In honor of Buddha's Birthday, there was a lantern parade in Seoul this evening. It started right before sundown and as the natural light disappeared, all the lights in the bright lanterns lit up the street. The parade was by far the coolest thing I have seen so far in Korea. I can't even fully explain it - there was so much color and sound and energy. Afterwards, we went and begged some lanterns off of people throwing piles of them into the back of a truck. Then it was time to try to coordinate an hour long trip home on the subway trying to balance multiple lanterns.

Simile Practice

2007-05-16T00:36:00.000+09:00

On a grammar quiz, I had my students write their own similes. Four of them decided to use me as the subject, with some interesting results.

* Amy Teacher is as smart as Albert Einstein
* Amy is as fun as television
* Amy teacher is as funny as comic
* Amy is as beautiful as flower
* Amy is as strong as ox

After that last one, there was an arrow pointing to a note written at the bottom of the paper. The note read "ha"ha" It's joke sorry~

Night Festival

2007-05-16T00:05:00.000+09:00

The normally dead-quiet apartment complex that we walk through on our way home after school has been transformed the past 2 nights into a night market full of life, colors, sounds, and smells. It reminds me of a small town festival from back home - adults sitting on plastic chairs around folding tables catching up with old friends, children running around with each other until way past their bed time, couples slowly wandering hand in hand. The main street was lined with bright tents housing merchants selling everything from traditional carved name stamps to knock off Nike tshirts. You could eat an assortment of Korean treats, from pieces of barbeque chicken on a stick to a warm waffle with lemon flavored honey and whipped cream spread on it.

A little karoake action

Baskets of tomatoes and some kind of Asian lemon/melon
Can you hear me now? Bags of various puffed rice snacks

The Wonders of the Korean Healthcare System

2007-05-14T06:21:00.000+09:00

I've been sick for the past 3 weeks. I woke up one morning and started coughing a really deep dry cough that made my head ache and lungs burn. After a week of that, I went to the pharmacy, told the pharmacist I was coughing and got a box of $2 medicine. There's only enough medicine in the box for about 2 and 1/2 days, so pretty soon I was back saying "Do, chuseyo" which means "More, please." Now I was no longer waking up in the middle of the night coughing, but I was now waking up in the middle of the night clearing all the snot from my nose so that I could breathe. By this time, my throat, already sore from doing so much talking in the classroom, was swollen to the point that it hurt to swallow, yet alone talk above a normal speaking voice in a nonraspy way. I was still having horrible headaches and sleeping for 10 hours a night, so I finally decided to take advantage of the fact that I have healthcare and go see the doctor.
During prep period the other day, I left school at 2:10 to go to the doctor's office on the 3rd floor of a building on the other side of the block. I walk in to the reception area where there's only one other guy waiting and hand my healthcare book to the staff. They type some things in the computer, ask "A-e-my Wu-lp-uh?" then lead me over to an area of the waiting room where they take my temperature and blood pressure. I sit down to wait for the doctor and start to take out an essay to mark while I wait. I don't even have time to get the essay book and a pen out of my bag before the nurse is motioning for me to come into the doctor's office.
The doctor, who speaks very good English, looks at my throat (as the nurse pulls my head back), listens to me breathe, asks me some questions, types some things into his computer, and then says "I think you have acute bronchitis. I will give you some medicine." The nurse shows me back out to the reception area. Two minutes later, she gives me a computer printout of my prescription and says, "Doctor is 3000 won."
I go down to the pharmacy on the first floor of the same building and give them the prescription. Five minutes later, they give me a 3 day supply of various colored and sized drugs, all nicely packaged into individual servings, all for the low price of 4900 won. I walked back to school and came off the elevator at 2:40.
As an American used to a very slow and very expensive healthcare system, it is amazing that I can go to both the doctor and the pharmacy and be finished in only 30 minutes and only have to pay the equivalent of $8. That is the good thing about getting sick in Korea, the bad thing is that I got sick from being in Korea during the annual Yellow Dust season where the air is filled with yellow dust pollution that gets blown across the sea from the Gobi Desert in China.

Clam Digging on Jebudo Island

2007-05-09T11:30:00.000+09:00

This past Saturday, my school's manager organized a trip for all of us to go clam digging on Jebudo Island. Being a country girl, I had no idea how to dig for clams before we went, and afterwards, I still have no idea. I did have a lot of fun though, walking on the muddy beach and digging random holes.
Lauren shows our new teacher, Janice, how do we do things around here.
Milton, Dave, Matt, and Jonny showing off their bamboo stick fighting skills on the beach.
After we gave up on the digging, we explored the beach and did a little rock climbing.
This was our lunch. There were grills built into the tables of the restaurant and they brought us big baskets full of shellfish which we had to cook ourselves. Seeing the shells open up and boil right in front of me, almost made me want to become a vegetarian. What was good was the octopus cooking in the top left dish. All in all, the day was a great time spent outside under the sun, relaxing, laughing, and having fun.

Statistics

2007-05-04T11:38:00.000+09:00

I know statistics usually aren't interesting, but I read these in The Korea Herald (the English language newspaper that our school gets) yesterday and they struck me as being somewhat relevant and giving a little bit of insight into the Korean way of life.

Teenagers between the age of 15 and 19 send more than 60 text messages every day
The national average is 16.9 text messages every day
20.7% of male high school students smoke
Rice accounts for 35% of the calorie intake of the typical male worker, pork products account for 5%, and soju (Korean alcohol) accounts for just over 2%
The typical female worker has a similar diet but drinks less soju and more instant coffee

Now while these statisitics are rather general and stereotypical, a hint of truth does resonate within them. Almost all of my older students have cell phones and all of my younger students are eagerly awaiting the day that the parents will buy them a cell phone. A high percentage of Koreans do smoke. Men smoke all the time in public, there are always cigarette butts lying in the stairway of my apartment building. Women don't smoke as much in public, but that doesn't stop them from smoking in bathrooms and socially accepted places such as clubs and bars. Like most other Asian countries, rice is the staple food in Korea, followed closely by ramen noodles. Soju is cheap and everywhere. Drinking is a big part of Korean culture, my students sometimes joke that I'm drinking soju out of my water bottle during class.

The police are here

2007-04-29T10:15:00.000+09:00

This past Thursday, things were going just like normal almost an hour into my first class when there was a knock at the door. One of the Korean counselors, Apple (that is really her name), was standing there with a strange man. She leans to me and in a whisper says "The police are here and they want to see your ARC."
ARC stands for Alien Registration Card. It is a card that I had to go to the immigration office and get during my first week here. It is proof that I am legally allowed to live and work in Korea.
I told Apple that my ARC card was in my bag in the teachers' lounge. As I walked down the hall to go get my card, I saw 3 other men standing around the school. The whole time I kept thinking, "What did I do? Why do they want to see my card? Am I trouble? What did I do?"
I got my card and walked back to my classroom. The man standing with Apple smiled at me and showed me his shiny and very official looking badge. I offered my ARC to him, he briefly glanced at it, and nodded with a slight bow of the head and a smile.
And that was it. As I went back into my room to start class again, I noticed Apple and the man knocking on the door of the teacher across from me.
Of course, all of my students were extremely intrigued. I just explained that the police had wanted to see my ARC. Luckily this was the same class that I had shown my ARC to last week. We had started reading a story about a Native American girl named Jessica that has aliens come to visit her in the middle of the night. She wakes up her parents to tell them and the whole family goes with the aliens to their planet Zeldo. On Zeldo, the alien king, King Ziggi Ziggi, asks them to do a rain dance since their is no water on Zeldo. Jessica and her family do not know how to do a rain dance so they go back to Earth and ask the Native American chief to come to Zeldo. He goes, does the dance, it rains on Zeldo and all the aliens love Jessica. This is not a joke. This is a real story that I have to teach.
Anyway, I had told my kids on the first day we read this book that teacher was an alien and had a special alien card. I hyped it a lot and told them that I would show them my alien card if they did a good job reading. When I did show them my ARC, they got a real kick out of seeing it since it has both my picture and Korean writing on it.
At break that day, all of the talk in the teachers' lounge was about the police visit. It turns out that they were immigration police doing a random check. The English teaching system in Korea has a bit of a reputation for being somewhat corrupt with lots of schools hiring teachers who work under the table without the correct visas. The police checked to make sure that all of us had our ARCs and then they left. The Korean counselors and our manager never said another word about the incident.

More pictures from this past weekend

2007-04-17T23:27:00.000+09:00

It is not uncommon for Korean couples to dress the same as a sign of their couplehood. This couple took it to the extreme for their trip to the beach.

The ajummas trying to stay dry by hiding out in the phone booths at Mount Seoraksan.
Building towers of rocks is supposed to bring good luck.

Doing a little climbing practice on this sculpture/fountain in the middle of Sokcho.
We thought about staying at the Cinderalla Candy Castle Hotel....
but instead chose the Taj Mahal Hotel instead. Unfortuntely, not really. Our hotel was nothing special at all.

How to Save a Life

2007-04-17T01:22:00.000+09:00

So in the last post, I hopefully intrigued you about what happened at the beach. Well, the basic thing is that Amy & I saved the boy in the above picture from drowning. For more details, keep reading.

Amy and I were taking turns getting our feet wet in the water and staying up on the beach guarding our bags. Amy was playing with a group of kids, running out fairly far down towards the water and then quickly dashing back when the wave rolled in. She came up to me and commented on how the undertow was deceptively strong and that those kids had better be careful, especially since their parents were nowhere in sight. "Don't worry." I joked, "I'll jump in after them if something happens."

I wanted to get my feet one more time before we left so I headed down the beach. All of a sudden I heard Amy yell my name. I looked over and saw this young boy, about 5 or 6 years old, lying in the sand after being knocked over by the last wave that had came in.

I immediately ran over to him. As I got closer, I could see the panicked look on his face and hear him crying screams of terror. I ran around behind him (with my back to the water) and threw my arms around him, trying to get him up on his feet and steady both of us enough to brace against the next wave which was quickly approaching.

I could tell right away that he was a dead weight. He was not one of the skinny Korean kids; I'm guessing he probably weighed about 50 pounds and was fully clothed in a thick parka like jacket which was now completely soaked. He was also scared. I could see the tears coming out of his eyes and all I could say was "It's okay" even though I knew that meant nothing to him.

I was struggling with the boy when the wave struck us. Because I was off balance, the wave easily knocked me over. Everything else from this point on becomes a blur. I don't remember how many waves hit us, I don't remember how I got turned around, I don't remember how I was able to hold onto the boy the whole time, I don't remember hearing or seeing anything. Adrenaline completely took over.

I do remember thinking up the whole time - trying to pull/push ourselves up the beach, trying to make sure that our heads were up inbetween the waves crashing over us - up, up, up. Somehow, I ended up on my back holding onto the boy next to me. I could feel the undertow of the water pulling me out even as I dug my heels into the sand and pushed down to try to stop myself from being taken out farther. But all my effort felt completely worthless. The sand was more like tiny pieces of rock and that created a quicksand effect where you sunk in faster and had more difficulty moving in it. I could feel myself slipping away, and while at the time it felt like I was sliding down so fast, I'm sure it was only a slight distance. It was at this moment that I thought, "I'm not going to be able to do this."

The next thing I know, Amy is by my side. I remember hearing her say, "We need help" and then turn to the beach and start screaming at all the Koreans just standing there. Finally, 2 guys came over and were able to grab the boy, after which I was able to get myself up.

Now my memories come back. Even though I was completely soaked from head to toe and had been complaining how cold the water was earlier when I just got my feet wet, I didn't feel cold at all. I wasn't even shivering. My heart was racing and the first thing I could say to Amy as we both just stood there panting was, "Did that really just happen?"

I remember the other people on the beach just staring at us as we stood motionless, trying to catach our breath and make sense of the whole thing. The wife of one of the men who helped us came over and put her jacket over my shoulders. Amy and I slowly started to stagger back up the beach to get our things while still being stared at. The man came over and offered to take us back to our hotel. People were still staring as we walked across the beach to the parking lot. I was staring at the sand the whole time, still in shock. A group of Korean guys in their young 20s called out to me "Good job" as I walked past. All I could think to say back was "Thank you. Kamsamnida." Amy, following behind me, had a few more choice Korean and English words for them. She told me later that she reamed them out for not helping.

The man and his wife were so kind to us. They drove us back to our hotel in their own car, despite the fact that we were both dripping wet and covered in sand. They thanked us again and again for what we had done. The wife seeming almost apolegtic that the boy's mother hadn't come over to thank us herself.

Now for the more light-hearted part of the story. Amy and I start walking up the stairs to the hotel, joking about our appearance. The ajumma (Korean woman) who ran the hotel saw us and was immediately like "Oh, you are not coming into my hotel looking like that and getting sand everywhere after I just cleaned." She shooed us back outside and around to the side of the building where she then proceeded to get a hose and hose us down head to foot before we could re-enter.

Now I was cold! That water was freezing and she had no mercy. Amy and I are both laughing hysterically now and thankfully the ajumma joined us in appreciating the absurdity of the moment. While I'm watching Amy being hosed down, I realize that the back pockets of my jeans are filled with a good inch of sand and I can feel the sand all down my shirt, all down my pants, and all down my underwear. When she turns the hose on me, I'm pulling handfuls of sand out of my pockets and dumping it on the ground. She looks at me in disbelief and then turns me around so that she can look down my pants to see all the sand herself.

Finally, she is satisfied enough to let Amy and I go back to our room. When we get there, I stood in the bathtub and stripped down, listening and watching a new batch of sand fall into the tub with each item I removed.

For the rest of the day, I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. The whole event from the first wave to the last wave had maybe been about 2 minutes, but time meant nothing to me. I didn't actually rescue or save the boy, it was more as if I prevented him from getting pulled farther out into the water where things would have been much worse.

The situation was strange - the boy was whisked quickly away and neither Amy nor I ever saw him or his parents after we got out of the water. The beach was filled with Koreans, but either because of their lack of swimming ability or because of their unawareness/unconcern of the dangers of a young boy playing that close to the water or for someo ther reason, no one went to help the boy until after Amy made a dramatic show that finally caught someone's attention. In fact, most of them were staring at Amy and I as we left with more of a puzzled look on their faces like "Why did the crazy waigook (foreign) girls get all wet?" instead of a look of appreciation or respect for what we had just done.

The event was strange - quick, sudden, unexpected but yet foreshadowed, dangerous but fearless, physical but not emotional or mental, and thankfully a happy but yet incompletely resolved ending.

Sokcho/Mount Seoraksan

2007-04-17T00:41:00.000+09:00

My old friend from China, Amy, and I went on a weekend trip to Sokcho, a coastal city on the east side of Korea. It was great to get away, even if it was only just for 2 days. I needed to get out of Suwon and be in new surroundings.

We got up early Saturday morning for a 4 hour bus ride. After arriving in Sokcho, we easily found a motel, dropped off our stuff, and then went exploring the city. We walked down the main street, stopping for lunch at a small restaurant where the waitress was thrilled to see some foreigners. Every time she came over to our table, she had a printout of some English phrases with the Korean beneath them. She would cautiously ask us one of them like, "Is this table to your liking?" or "Would you like a receipt?" and then light up when we answered her. After lunch, we continued on down to the beach to see the East Sea.

It was so refreshing to be around the water - to hear the steady crashing of the waves and the laughter of children as the water unexpectedly splashed around their ankles, to see the beautiful green water contrasted with the bright white of the breaking surf, to feel the mix of the freezing cold water and rough pebbley sand on my feet. And then.....(read the next post!)

Later that day, Amy and I went to Seorak Waterpia which is the Korean equivalent of a water park, but even better. The best part was the outdoor hot springs pools with 40 degree Celsius water where we just sat for over an hour, watching the sky slowly darken. It was so relaxing to just sit out in the cool air while being wrapped in the warmth of the peaceful water and then force yourself to get out and quickly run to the next pool so you could appreciate the warmth even more. It all seemed too perfect, like a dream that actually comes real but still feels surreal. The warm, soothing, and calm water at the Waterpia was such a contrast to the cold, sharp, and powerful water of the East Sea earlier that day.

The next day we went to Mount Seoraksan - reputed to be one of the best mountains in Korea. It was great, despite the fact that it was raining. Amy and I weren't going to let that stop us though, so we got some ponchos and took a cable car up to one of the peaks. After we got to the top, we did a little hiking as we had intended. One of the trails led us to a rocky area where I climbed almost straight vertical up, trying not to think about the fact that if I slipped, the least I would do is break a bone. The climb was worth it though, even through all the mist, you could see how beautiful and majestic the area was. The rain also didn't stop us from gushing over the simplistic and fragile beauty of the numerous cherry blossom and magnolia trees at the base of the mountain.

On the 5 and 1/2 hour bus ride back to Suwon, I kept listening to Death Cab for Cutie on my ipod and thinking how this trip was the perfect way to celebrate my first 3 months in Korea and the perfect way to recharge my spirits for the next 3 months.

The Serious & the Humorous - History & Politics

2007-04-12T00:32:00.000+09:00

Interesting conversations always come up in class, especially when we get off topic from the dumb story books we have to teach from. Here is a recap of 2 recent ones that stand out for me.

In my H2 class (high Junior level), we had to read a mini biography of the athlete Jesse Owens. In the story, it mentioned the 1936 Olympics and Adolf Hitler. I decided to use this to see how much my 14 year students knew about history. I started by asking who Adolf Hitler was. The first 2 responses were leader of Germany and started WWII. One student commented that he was bad. Yes, I said, and do you know why? A lot of confused looks. Ok, I thought, I'll try another approach. "He didn't like some people. Do you know who he didn't like?" More confused looks and muttering in Korean.
Finally, one boy cautiously said "Diary of Anne Frank." "Yes, good! And why didn't he like Anne Frank?" A few other students had also recognized her name which I took as a good sign, maybe I can actually get somewhere with this. I was a little over optimistic, because my previous question was met with silence. Alright, what else can I do. "Do you know what happened to Anne Frank? Is she alive?" No, the same boy said. She is dead. "Yes, she is. How did she die?" "She was very sick." Okay, now I've gotten myself stuck again.
New tactic. "What did Anne Frank and her family do?" "They were hiding." "Yes, and why were they hiding?" Silence. "Because Adolf Hitler didn't like Anne Frank. Why didn't he like her?" Silence. "Because she was Jewish. Jewish is like religion, like Christian and Buddhist. She believed in Jewish god so Adolf Hitler didn't like her." "Teacher, why didn't he like Jewish people?" "He just didn't." "But why?" "He thought they were bad for Germany and that Germany would be better if he killed all the Jewish people." Silence. By the reaction of some of the students, I could tell that this was all new information, and not just that it was being told to them in English.
I didn't want to pass up this opportunity, so I continued. "Do you know many people he killed?" A student guessed 1 million and another guessed 2 million. No, I said. He killed 6 million people. "Teacher, can you write the number on the board?" I did and there was silence as they looked at that figure. "How did he kill 6 million people?" The same boy again, "He had Nazis and Gestapo." Surprised, I agreed and drew a swastika on the board. When the rest of the students saw it, there was a murmur of recognition. I continued. "Yes, he had Nazis and Gestapo. They would find Jewish people and take them to places called concentration camps. Do you know what concentration camps are?" Silence. "They were big places way out in the country, faraway from cities. They would put Jewish people on trains and take them to these places. When they got there, they would put them in big rooms with no doors and no windows. And then they would put posion gas into the room through the ceiling and all the people would die." Complete silence.
It is a strange feeling to know that you are explaining the basic points of the Holocaust to 14 years old middle school students for the first time and trying to do it in English that they can understand. I could tell that they were trying to comprehend what I was talking to them about. I could tell they knew it was something big, something perhaps too big to fully grasp. Then, "Teacher, why were there no doors and windows?" "So that they could not leave. They had to breathe the poison. They had to die." Silence. Then from the same student, "Teacher, was Hitler crazy?" "Yes, he was." "Why?" "I don't know. He just was. He didn't like Jewish people and he didn't like people who looked like Jesse Owens. People with black skin. He only liked people with blonde hair and blue eyes." And then it was over. Class went back to being the usual hectic affair of rowdy, giggling, chatty teenagers.

On a more funny note, I inadvertently started a conversation about politics with my Junior 1 students a few weeks ago. It started out when I was trying to explain what a capital of a country was. "What is the capital of Korea?" "Seoul!" "Good. Why is Seoul the capital?" "Because it has a lot of people?" "No." I could see them all thinking and searching their minds for the right English word. I thought I would help them out a little.
"Capital is where the leader of a country works. Who is the leader of Korea?" "Roh Moo-hyun!" "Good. Is he a good leader or bad leader?" That question set off all the 12 year old boys in the room who all started shouting out. One boy raised his hand, "My father says he is bad because he make people with apartment pay a lot of money." Another boy nodded his head in agreement.
"Alright. Do you know who is the leader of America?" Half of the class quickly shouted out "Georgie Bushie." Even though I had expected them to know the answer, I did not expect to hear him called "George-ee Bush-ee" with the emphasis on the "ee" at the end. Now even though I don't really like him, I still felt it was my duty as an English teacher to correct their pronunication. "No, not Bush-ee. It is Bush. No ee." This was met with a chorus of "Bush-ee. Bush-ee." "No! Bush. Bush." Finally, I just gave up. It's actually funnier to leave it that way.
And now for some more fun. "Do you think he is a good leader?" Some general chatter to each other in half English, half Korean.
Then, "Teacher, do you like him?" "No, I don't." This sent shockwaves through the whole room. Immediately, they were filled with a hundred more questions. "Teacher, why?!" It's kind of complicated, but an easy explanation is that "I don't like war so I don't like Bush." "Teacher, you don't like war? Why?" "Because many people die and that is not good." "But teacher, you really don't like war?"
Now, this is tricky, how to explain the finer political and moral points of my personal beliefs and attitudes towards the Iraq War to a group of 12 year old Korean kids with quite limited English abilities. Finally, I thought of something. "War costs a lot of money." "How much money?" I quickly tried to think of all the figures and statistics that always fill the newspaper articles and opinion columns and decided to settle on $10 billion. I'm not sure how accurate that really is, but it has a lot of zeros and in that regard, it served its purpose. As I was writing that number up on the board, I could hear the students buzzing over the enormity of it. "Lots of money has to go to war then there is no money in the U.S. for schools, for doctors, for hospitals and that is very bad." Now, I had connected with them. Money was a language they could understand and this reason was good enough for them.
I can only imagine the conversations with their parents that night. "Mom, Dad, my American teacher doesn't like Bush-ee and she doesn't like the war! Can you believe that? And there is no money in America!"

A Korean Wedding

2007-04-12T00:11:00.000+09:00

On March 31, one of the teachers at my school, Gina (a native Korean who grew up with her parents in Saudi Arabia) got married. She invited all of us to her wedding which she warned us was going to be done in typical Korean fashion. Even though I was given a rundown before, it was still very very interesting. To start, Korean weddings give a whole new meaning to the term "shotgun wedding." Basically, they are a get in, get it done, and get out kind of affair. We arrived at this huge church in downtown Seoul a few minutes before the ceremony started. First, we went to go say hello to Gina and have our picture taken with her. It is traditional for the bride to sit before the ceremony for all the guests to come see her. Very different from American weddings where the bride is secluded since it is bad luck for the groom to see her. Then we went to sit down in the hall (not the main part of the church) for the ceremony. Unlike American weddings which sometimes feel like whole theaterical productions, Korean weddings are much simpler. No bridesmaids or groomsmen, no music, no over the top decorations. Basically, Gina and her father walked down the aisle when it was time to start. There was no announcements or any indication beforehand. She just appeared and started walking and that was it. We (or rather everyone else, since we were the only foreigners there) sang a hymn in Korean. The pastor said somethings and then someone sang a song. Gina and her new husband then perfomed the traditional bows to both sets of parents, the mothers wearing the traditional Korean dress called hanbok. Then, the newlyweds posed at the front of the hall for pictures and walked out together. And that was pretty much the whole ceremony. From start to finish, it was around 30 minutes. The most interesting thing was that while Gina's wedding is going on, everyone is running around right outside the hall getting ready for the next ceremony that is going to start soon after Gina's finishes. The doors at the back of the hall leading out to the lobby were open the entire time and all the noise from the rest of the building and possibly the whole block came in. People also came in the whole time, some of them (including the director of our school) 20 minutes late. The people that were in the hall the whole time started talking to each other, presumbably to contribute a more pleasant sound to the racket coming in from the outside. It was completely different from American weddings which are much more solemn events that people show up on time for and are super quiet through out. After the ceremony ended, we ended up in a picture of the bride, groom, and all their guests. Then we were shown to a restaurant across the street for lunch. When we finished lunch, we were free to leave whenever we wanted. No special reception, no toasts, no cake. The entire wedding was something I will always remember because it was a view into Korean culture and because of how important it was to my fellow teacher, Gina, who I wish the best of luck and happiness in her new marriage. I am very grateful and honored that she shared her special day and culture with me.

Random Pictures

2007-04-01T01:25:00.000+09:00

Scenes from the streets of Hongdae, an area of Seoul. These little snack stalls are everywhere and are usually no more than a converted truck bed or inside of a van. I haven't been brave enough to try anything yet, except for the red bean fish from the van parked outside the apartment complex on the way to school.
Through the wonders of Facebook, I was able to get back in touch with Amy, someone I met when I spent a semester studying in China my junior year of college. It turns out that she was also teaching in Korea and was going to be up in Seoul this weekend. It was great to get together with a friend who I haven't seen in over 3 years and feel like we last saw each other last week. Here we are with two of Amy's friends, Jungbin and Sunghu in Hongdae.

When we want to go eat after work, our choices are limited since we get off so late (10 pm). Recently, we have been going to this chicken restaurant called HooLaLa a lot since it is one of the only places open. Mandie & I don't care too much for a big plate of chicken, so we split an order of these french fri like things which we dip in honey mustard sauce. I took these pictures just because I think the name is funny and this advertisement makes me laugh.

The view from the window of my new classroom. When some teachers left, I got to move out of the "new teacher room" which was so small, so crowded, and so hot with no outside windows to a room with much more space and a whole wall of windows. It's great to finally get to see the sun set and have fresh air. In the first picture, if you look in the background, you can see the outline of a mountain which is my favorite part of my new room.

It's like Christmas morning

2007-03-28T10:56:00.000+09:00

Conversation while leaving school the day before the new teachers came.
Me: "I'm so excited about the new teachers coming. When we go back to the teachers' lounge after class, it will be like Christmas morning. There will be a new teacher waiting for us like a present under the tree."
Neil (in his fantastic South African accent): "Amy, man, you have got to get out more!"

Maybe no one else was quite as excited as I was about the new teachers coming, but all of them have been through that before and it was my first time. Even though it wasn't excatly like Christmas morning when I first met the new teachers, it was still rather exciting. I remember how it felt my first night waiting to meet everyone. Ten minutes after I arrived at the airport, they put me in a van to go to school. The driver got lost many times and so the supposedly 1 hour trip took at least 2 hours. When I finally got to school, everyone was in class and the Korean counter teachers were busy with parents registering new students for the upcoming session. I just sat in the middle of the lobby with my suitcases around me until Dave came by to tell me that I could go set in the teachers' lounge where it was more comfortable. Things quieted down and the counter teachers came into the lounge to take a break. They gave me some juice and pizza and then class was over. All the other teachers came into the lounge which was all just a blur of meeting people as they are running around, carrying on other conversations and gathering their coats and bags. My manager drove me to my apartment where my building mate Dave showed me how things work. Then it was off to have Korean barbeque with some of the other teachers even though I was so tired and out of it that I wasn't hungry and couldn't carry a conversation.

But now, after only two months, I'm not the new teacher anymore. That's a great feeling. Being the new teacher is a little rough. You feel like you're always under scrutiny, and even though you're trying so hard to do everything right, you inevitably screw something up and get told about it.
The first month I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. I was trying to remember everything that everyone had told me during my training week, but the minute class started, I forget almost all of that. I was amazed that the other teachers could prepare so quickly for the classes while I was coming in early almost every day trying to stay on top of things. On top of all the classroom stuff, you're trying to figure out how you fit in with the rest of the teachers and get adjusted to living in Korea.
When the second month started, I was much more wiser. I had learned the little tricks and hints from experience. I knew what worked and didn't work. I had mastered the art of prepping for my classes for maximum results with minimum time. I was determined not to make the same mistakes again. I felt more at ease with the other teachers and became part of the group. My apartment started to actually feel like home. I developed my everyday routines.
Now, at the beginning of my third month teaching (and the beginning of another session at school - same students, different levels), it's strange and somewhat comforting to see the new teachers going through the same process I did. Even though they don't say anything, you can almost read the thoughts going through their mind. And you're rooting for them. You want them to succeed. You want them to do great. You want to welcome them into the group.

I'm excited that from the first day of classes for this session on Thursday, I am officially no longer the new teacher. I also know that the new teachers are going to soon start counting down the weeks until they can hand over the new teacher title to someone else.

What's in a name?

2007-03-22T11:06:00.000+09:00

Yesterday, for some strange reason, turned out to be Name Change Day in my Junior 4 class. It started when a boy named John asked if he could change his name because it was too common. The name change spark quickly spread because within a minute, half of the class was asking if they could change their names too.
Most of the students at our school have an English name that they have acquired in some way, usually either by picking it themselves when they start English classes or when one of the teachers gives them an English name. Some of my students either don't want or refuse to have an English name and so they write their Korean name in phonetic English.
English names are a great source of amusement amoung all the teachers. There is a sort of under-the-table contest as to who can give their students the best English names. Sharon is very proud of the student she named Keanu. Dave somehow convinced a boy to take the name Agamemnon (the leader of the Greeks from the movie Troy). Mandie had a girl one day try to rename herself Christ - not Christine, Christy, or Christina, but just plain Christ, which Mandie would not allow. I don't have any good contest entries yet, although myself and the other teachers who are fans of Talladega Nights are waiting for the day when we can brag about having a Walker and a Texas Ranger in our class.
Some students choose their English names wisely. For example, I have a new girl named Tyra (after Tyra Banks the supermodel). Other students don't choose as well, like Francis, a mischieveous and loud 14 year old boy who is about as big as I am. One interesting name phenonomon is that I have 3 students named June - all of them boys.
I helped one boy get a cool English name by writing his Korean name - Jae Kyu - as Jay Q, cousin of rapper Jay Z. He wasn't too sure about that at first, but he's slowly accepted the fact that that is how I am going to write his name, especially after he saw that the counter had written it Jay Q on the attendance form.
I don't want to force my students to have English names, but I keep a list of names in the back of my planner for days like yesterday when they decide that it is time to change. There is one exception though. I had a student who went by his Korean name, Yeolyee. As hard as I tried, I could not pronounce it right. By the third day of class, I could tell he was getting frustrated as I repeatedly said it wrong and the other students giggled. So I told he would just have to pick an English name. I wrote about 4 or 5 names up on the board and let him pick one - Nick. Now that I can say! This strategy doesn't always work. I had a student with the Korean name Min Churl. I suggested the English name Mitchell since it sounds similar but it a lot easier for me to say. The whole class started laughing when I said it though, it turns out Mitchell sounds like a bad work in Korean.
One day in my Senior 1 class, I was writing my full name on the board when the students became curious as to why I had 3 names. After I explained the idea of a middle name to them, 2 of the most eager students in the class said that they wanted to have a middle name right then and there. I ended up giving Rosie my sister's middle name and Jason my brother's middle names.
Playing the name game is fun. In Junior 4 yesterday, Rosa switched colors and became Violet. Tina who sits by Jennifer became Jenny and Jennifer became Leah. Daphne decided she wanted a long name like Elizabeth (the British Queen). Kyeong Jin didn't hear a name that she liked. And finally, John didn't have time to choose a new name before the class bell rang so he's going to have to endure 1 more day of being common.
By the way, most of the names on my list are the names of my friends, characters from my favorite tv shows/movies/books, and other names that I think sound cool. If you have any cool but not too strange name ideas, please send them my way.

Korean/American Penpals

2007-03-21T11:06:00.000+09:00

Here are some pictures of my Senior 1 class writing penpal letters to my brother's 8th grade class in the US. I got the penpal idea from Mandie who had tried to do it with her class, but never got it off the ground. Luckily, my brother's teacher loved the idea and has been great emailing me to get it started.

When I first told my students about writing letters to American students, they were confused and somewhat skeptical, thinking it was just another one of crazy Amy Teacher's ideas. But once we started talking about things to write about, their eyes lit up with excitement and they couldn't wait to start writing. I brought in special stationary for them to write a final nice version of their letters before I scanned them and sent them by email to the US. I also took pictures of my students and every day they ask me when the letters and pictures from the US are going to arrive. Here are some excerpts from their letters:

From Mark - "I am from Korea where are you from? I want visit to you. Do you like kimchi? I like very well. I want you to come to Korea. Korea is very good world." Several students wrote about kimchi since I suggested that they tell the American students about Korea. I think I'm going to have include an explanation of kimchi, which is cabbage pickled in a spicy red sauce and served with everything, for the American teacher.

From Ally - "What kind of food do you like? I like steak and pizza, but it is make me fat. I don't like dog meet, because it is gross." Maybe I should include another explanation about how dog food is a delicacy in Korea and people don't just kill their pet dogs when they get hungry.

From Jasmin - "My grade is 6. 6 grade is the best grade in Korean elementary school. This is different from the U.S.A. I heard American students (You) don't have to go to academy from my teacher. Wow! Most of students in Korea have to go to 1 or 2 or 3 academies. How I envy you!" My students were shocked when I told them that American students only go to school from 8 am to 3 pm and don't have to go to any special study academies afterwards. For most of my students, English school is just one of the many extra academies they have to attend after their regular school.

I hope that through exchanging letters, I can open up the eyes and minds of both the Korean and American students to another way of life halfway around the world. I want them to realize that the world is a big place, with lots of differences between countries and cultures, but that it is possible to make friendships with someone of a different nationality, race, religion, and culture than you.

Lessons I have learned from my students

2007-03-17T20:46:00.000+09:00

Remember what I said about my Basic kids drawing pictures of Chick being roasted over a fire. Well, here are some photos of that. They make me laugh & I hope they make you laugh too.

My Senior level students have to write 5-7 essays a month. As time consuming and painstakingly frustrating as they are to correct sometimes (Have you ever tried to read misspelled English in broken grammar with unclear sentence structure and make sense of it?), I actually really enjoy them because they give me a great insight into the lives of my students. Here are some of my favorite excerpts.

Topic - If I could visit any place in the world, where would I go and why

"I want to go North Korea. They are poor. South Korea give food for them. I want to go Norht Korea, but present South Korea people doesn't go there. But futher we are going to there. We are figting a long time, but now we're have a rest. We don't know when again figting. I have some picture, but I thing 'It is realy?' I want see North Korea from my eyes.......I want to go to USA. They all fat people in USA. They eat only hambuger, meat, chiken, and pizza all day. USA people have a gun, that is dangerous for other people." This is from Ally - a very quiet girl with a shy sweet smile who is very open and honest in all her writing.

Relations with North Korea are very important here. Articles about the issue daily occupy at least half of the opinions section of the newspaper and at least 1 front page story refers to North Korea. This is especially true after the signs of progress made at the latest talks in February in which North Korea agreed to shut down their main nuclear facility in return for fuel aid.

Topic - What are you scared of and why?

"First I am scared of my father. They're very scarey. My father is very tall and strong. He shouts at me. My ears are very aching. When my father is very agnry he hits me. He hits me everywhere. I'm very sick I'm scared of my father." This is from Andy - a boy bigger than me who usually doesn't talk much, but everynow and then lets a big grin cross his face. Unfortunately, what we would consider child abuse in the US is very common and an ingrained part of Korean culture. It was very hard to read Andy's essay and those of several other students, including Ally, who wrote that they were scared of getting hit or yelled out by their parents, especially since I am powerless to do anything about it other than make sure to make sure my class is a positive experience and atmosphere for my students.

Through reading and class discussion, my students teach me certain and rather unusual Korean words. For example, the Korean word for trampoline is "bahng bahng" which is you say it sounds like the noise you make jumping up and down on a trampoline. Sometimes, an English word sounds like a Korean word - the English word "copy" for example is very similar to the Korean word "ko pee" which is a nosebleed. This is not as bad as the word "salsa" though, which has the distinction of sounding remarkably similar to the Korean word for diarrhea "sol sa."

Korean students also sometimes mistakenly believe that an English word they have incorporated into their own language is really a Korean word. For example, most American children would think that pizza or taco are American words and not Italian or Spanish. The other day in one of my Junior classes, when discussing a playground, I started to draw a jungle gym. One 14 year old boy, Joey, excitedly shouted out "jungle gym" from the back corner of the room. "Yes, good!" I said and then proceded to write jungle gym on the board. Joey then quizzically said, "Teacher, jungle gym is an English word?" "Yes, Joey, it is." "Oh."

How much is it?

2007-03-16T02:11:00.000+09:00

Today, I was walking in the shopping area near school on my way to get a cup of tea and just sit outside and enjoy the wonderful weather for a few minutes before going into work when I was stopped in my tracks by 2 Korean women. I knew right away what they were going to do - try to convert me. This has already happened a few times to me when I have been out with my friends, but this was my first time solo.
Sure enough, these women smiled at me and then pulled out their literature, which conveniently enough is always in English. I tried to just smile back, politely decline, and keep on walking, but these women were good. One stood practically in front of me and the other came out me from the side. They started opening up their binders and talking to me in Korean of course.
I had learned how to say "I don't know" so I started saying "Oh-my-oh" while shaking my head. This didn't seem to faze the women at all. They found the English part of their materials and one of them started pointing line by line down the page. The material was basically a series of question & answers, but to make this more fun, it was all about why God should be a woman and why we should worship a Mother God. I immediately started thinking of the Da Vinci Code - interesting, but not for me.
After having to read about two pages line by line, I started quickly thinking of ways to get away. I stopped looking at the paper and stepped back. This started another round of Korean. I said "Oh-my-0h" again several times. This only seemed to encourage more Korean. I really wanted to get away now so I said "sonsaengnim" at pointed at myself and then at my imaginary watch and then in the direction of my school. They understood that so I thought I was in the clear and could make my getaway. But they weren't completely finished.
After talking to me in Korean some more, they indicated that they wanted my phone number. Well, I'm not stupid enough to give it out so I said "opssoyo" which means "I don't have." No problem for them though, one woman decided to give me her phone number. While she is trying to find a piece of paper and a pen, the other woman keeps chattering away in Korean. I can tell that she is asking me questions and expecting answers, but I have no idea what she is talking about so I just play dumb, saying "Oh-my-oh" over and over again, looking clueless, and giggling nervously wondering when is she ever going to figure out that I don't understand anything and stop.
By this time, the other woman has finished writing her phone number. She gives it to me and then I think asks me what time I get off work. I tell her ten pm by holding up my fingers because I've forgetten the time set of numbers. She nods and then says a whole lot back in Korean. By this time, I've resorted to repeating back what they are saying to me as if that way I will magically understand and then staring blankly back at them in silence, since they don't realize that I really truly "Oh-my-oh."
Finally, the telephone woman grabs my hand and I see that she is holding up her other hand with her fingers clenched into a fist except for the pinky finger that is sticking out. She waves her hand like she wants me to do the same. Then I think she made me pinky swear to come back and meet her at that same spot after work. All of a sudden, I realize that I am in big trouble. I have no intention of meeting her at all and here I am pinky swearing to do just that. Finally I make a break in the direction of work, but the lady decides she is going to walk me there. When we get to the corner, I firmly turn around and wave good bye and keep on walking, hoping that she really gets the hint this time which thankfully she did.
During our prep period at school, I tell Mandie this story, making sure to emphasize how many times I said "I don't know." At the end of my story, I say "I just don't know why she didn't understand me when I was saying 'Oh-my-oh.'" Mandie pauses and then says, "You were asking her 'how much?'" It was my turn to pause and then we both started laughing.
In my initial reaction, the first phrase that popped into my head was "Oh-my-oh" or "how much is it?" instead of "Mu-lie-oh" which is the real "I don't know." No wonder those poor ladies were so confused - I was asking them how much it cost to believe in Mother God.

All the teachers not teaching

2007-03-11T05:37:00.000+09:00

All of the teachers at my school (except 1) got together this past Saturday night for a big going away/wedding potluck supper party. In the picture there are (from right to left): Matt (with half his head cut off), Matt's friend Sarah who works at another branch of our school, Matt's friend Emeil who works at a university in Seoul, Mandie, me, Victor, Gina, Annette, Sharon, Dave, and Neil. There are only 10 teachers at my school and we are all really close. Thankfully, everyone is fun to hang out with and easy going. We usually celebrate Fridays by going out to eat after we get off work. Not many restaurants in our area are open after 10 pm so sometimes it's a little difficult, but Korean barbeque places are always open as a good reliable standby.

The party was to celebrate Gina, a Korean who grew up with her parents in Saudi Arabia, who is getting married in a few weeks. It was also to commemorate Victor, an Australian Malaysian, who is leaving our school in 2 weeks and Neil and Annette, a couple from South Africa, who are leaving at the end of March.

As for the rest of the teachers: Dave, Matt, Sharon, and the missing teacher Joanna are all from Canada. Dave is my building mate; he lives a floor below me. Mandie & I are the token Americans. When I tell my students that I am from the USA, they look at me in disbelief and question me if I am really from America. A majority of the English teachers here are from Canada and most Americans in Korea are military so the students are a little surprised to have an American teacher.

Before I came, my friend from college, Mandie was emailing me about how glad the other teachers were that I was coming since the teacher I was replacing was a bit of a jerk that no one liked (which was fine, because he didn't like any of them). I thought it was strange that the rest of the teachers already liked me before they even met me, but now I realize how big a deal it is to get a new teacher.

I was the first new teacher at my school in 5 months, but we are starting to enter a big transition period. 3 teachers in March, 1 at the end of April, and 3 more over the summer. Since our school is so small and our group so tight-knit, it is nervous getting new teachers. You hope that they are going to be neat people who will be able to become part of the group. You hope they will be fun, interesting people who will want to get together on the weekends. You hope they won't be strange and weird and mean and self-isolating.

Even though I knew Mandie before going to Korea, I still found it kind of difficult at first to find my place within the group. Everyone was great and friendly and wanted me to fit in, but it's still hard figuring that out. It felt like when you join a conference staff partway through a cycle. Everyone else has already formed a bond, and as nice as they are to you, you still feel like an outsider for a while, until you have formed a bond with them. But now I have.

The party was so much fun and it felt like I had known these people for more than 7 weeks. We had a late meal and later went to a noraebang - a place where you rent a room to sing karaoke with all your friends.

Emeil and Sarah

Mandie and me

Matt and Sharon
Victor, Gina, and Annette

School Days

2007-03-05T23:20:00.000+09:00

These pictures are of the outside of my school's building. The school is in the middle of a few blocks filled with all kinds of small shops and restaurants. My school is called a hagwon in Korea. Hagwons are essentially private academies that students go to after their regular schools for special instruction. Sometimes it is easy to tell that the students do not really want to be there, but have to attend because their parents want them to improve their English. I have 5 classes and about 60 students total. I have 3 classes on Mon/Wed/Fri for 2 hours each and 2 classes on Tues/Thurs for 3 hours each. Those can be really rough, even though there is a short 10 minute break, 3 hours is a really long time to expect a group of 11 year olds to be attentive. At my school, the students are divided by both level and age. I have 1 basic or beginner class, 2 junior or middle level classes, and 2 senior or high level classes. For most of the class time, we read story books and I ask a lot of questions and try to start conversations. Then we move onto grammar which neither they nor I like doing. The downside to this is having to stick to a strict schedule determined by the school which forces us to move through the material really fast. It also makes us use rather dumb story books. It is hard to make the books interesting and age appropriate, yet readable for the students' level. My basic students have demonstrated their dislike of the books by drawing pictures on the whiteboard before class that show one of the characters from a book - a fat chick called Chunk - being spit roasted over a fire. It's hard not to laugh with them, instead I pretend to be overly shocked and upset that they are destroying a beloved character.

I never thought I would do this...

2007-03-04T02:10:00.000+09:00

...but I found that I am just too lazy to try to keep sending out emails to lots of people writing the same thing over and over again when i could just do something like this and let everyone know everything all at the same time. someone suggested this to me before i left but i just kind of laughed at the idea. now i realize maybe there was some wisdom there that i ignored.

anyway, the best place to start is my apartment. as you can tell from the pictures, it's small. but hey, it's all mine and i don't have to pay for it. no complaints there.

so that is the grand tour of my study, living room, kitchen, and bedroom all conveniently located within about 5 feet of each other in a space as big as my brother's bedroom.
my building is nice though and much smaller than all the 20+ story apartment buildings all over my neighborhood like this "blue apartment complex" that i walk thorough every day on the way to school.
you would think that it would be really difficult to move furniture in and out of these apartments, but it's actually quite easy. each apartment has a big window that can basically be completely opened. then, the moving truck actually has a crane & platform kind of thing. so, the window is opened; furniture and boxes are placed onto the platform; the crane takes it directly up to the apartment where it is unloaded and then sent back down for another load. it can be kind of fun to watch.