Yes, it's true...this girl will NOT leave me alone. For the past two days, she has sat literally right next to my chair while I work, asking me incessant questions in Korean while I am actually trying to get stuff done. I feel so bad because I get so irritated, but I obviously don't know ANY Korean...you'd think she'd quit, but no! She stays up there with me for HOURS! She is one of our learning disabled kids, I guess, and I feel bad for her because she's really left out in class and doesn't seem that dumb (she keeps looking through the English-Korean dictionary and trying out words on me, and seems to know some English words, at least), though I suppose her behavior would perhaps indicate that all is not well upstairs. I hope she forgets about me by Monday. As much as I'd like to spend time with kids at school, I really do hate doing my work at home, which she especially seems determined to force me to do. Argh!
Today I found out that my co-teacher and principal will both be leaving the school at the end of the school year in December. I feel like my world is falling apart. I really like them both, especially my co-teacher, and I am really sad that he is leaving. What will I do??? He was quick to assure me that I am very famous in this area and there will be many volunteers for his position, but somehow I think the double allure of the booming metropolis of Hongsan and working with a linguistically-challenged foreigner will not prove to be enticing to many. Even if it is, he's really irreplaceable, in my book. Man o man, what if I end up with a horrible new principal AND co-teacher, when both were sooo perfect to begin with? I can't remember if I mentioned this earlier, but teachers tend to move around a lot here. In public schools, they are actually REQUIRED to move after five years. It seems crazy and difficult for teachers in particular, especially when compared to the system to which I am accustomed, where teachers stay at the same school for their entire careers, but I guess you do manage to spread around teaching talent this way and bring good teachers to places like Hongsan. My co-teacher is leaving early, though. I don't think he likes the school that much. He doesn't get to teach anymore and it's over an hour away from his house. Poor guy.
I was also thinking today that I haven't had time to really collect my thoughts and impressions of the last few weeks, since it's all been so hectic, and I am becoming really stressed out. I seriously don't know how I managed school, if this is so hard for me right now! I guess there I could only let myself down, whereas here I basically have 5000 people counting on me to do a fabulous job. It's awesome.
The second grade teacher, the one who lived in Canada for three years but is too shy to use her English with me, approached me the other day while we were working outside. She had a grasshopper in her hand and asked me what the English name was. She was highly amused by my answer. I hadn't thought about it before, but it really is a funny name!
Friday, September 15, 2006
Thursday, September 14, 2006
OPEN YOUR MOUTH!--Thursday, September 14
Today was...a good day, I suppose. Though my lingering semi-cold and seeming inability to teach effectively is getting me down a bit, I am perservering. I think I'm finally getting into the swing of things here after a whole 13 days of teaching. I am a little sad that I don't have more time to be social and hang around with the other teachers, but on the other hand, it's a real bummer to come home and spend all my waking hours in front of a computer. Some compromise is required here.
Anyway, sarcastic comments aside, I can see that some of the students are picking up on the material....a lot more than seems evident in class. I guess they're just quiet. But my host brother and sister have definitely mastered all I've taught them. Eun Ho can't get enough English--he's always playing around with the Korean-English dictionary. He also seems to want to hang around me a lot, and I try to teach him random words if he seems interested. My host mother definitely encourages this...she's always trying to make him say English phrases to me, like "Good morning" and "Thank you." It's funny, I think. I had never heard Ye Eun speak English, even though she is in one of my classes (she is very shy), but randomly last night I overheard her repeating all the phrases we've learned together and I was shocked. She does know them after all! Then she saw me looking, and shut up quick. I think she is starting to like me more. Maybe it has something to do with the girls in her class--they all love me, and maybe she likes to be associated with that. I don't know. She's started to actually say hello and goodbye to me in the hallways instead of just running away. It's touching. She even stayed after class today with the other kids and made a point to say goodbye! The third grade class as a whole is really growing on me, actually. They are cute--even if some are impossible, there are enough really good students to balance them out. Ee Bin, the girl who keeps calling me, is in that class, too, and some other girls I like. And there's this one semi-loud boy who's always after me to open my mouth (we learned that phrase together, and he's definitely mastered it!). My plan to be sneaky with my tongue ring has definitely not worked here. Perhaps it's because I am the object of such scrutiny to begin with, coupled with the fact that I am teaching a foreign language and they watch how I form my words very carefully, but ALL the children have noticed it and are always asking about it. So far I have refused to oblige them, but I commend their tireless efforts. And also their creative use of language--I am proud of that boy for using his English outside of class! So far no teachers have commented on it, barring our little friend Kim Keun Hwak on our outing last weekend...they must have noticed it, or at least the attention the children give it, but no one's said anything, so I guess it's okay. I'm not going to worry about it anymore.
No one showed up for my English Chat Class this afternoon, and though I was mostly relieved because I had time then to plan for tomorrow's lessons at school, I was a little sad, too. Was it a personal rejection? Are they going to do this to me every week? After I stay up late on Wednesday night planning their lesson? Honestly, the ongoing postponement of that class has been somewhat of a nightmare for me...I keep planning for it, and even making photocopies, only to have the class revamped and moved back another week. I discard photocopies and ideas and start anew, only to see them end up in the trash. It's really encouraging. Well, they told us to expect a lot of last minute changes and cancellations here. It's fine, really...I just want to start the class, so it's not hanging over my head anymore!
I had my second lesson with the SK guys, and it went okay. There were six of them this time--two newcomers (one being the guy I originally talked with, who is a good English speaker) and four from Tuesday (one other one was there but working). I did a pronunciation lesson I bummed from another ETA online and it went okay. Teaching adults is so hard...there's no fun involved for either of us! I feel bad for being boring, but hey, they could be more exciting themselves. The class is really dominated by one guy, who isn't really that good but I think has the most desire to improve his English. He gave a speech today about a teacher he had in high school who taught him some English and told him how important it was, but he was a bad student at the time and didn't listen or learn much. Now he regrets it. I wish others had his enthusiasm...then it might not be such a chore to teach!
Anyway, sarcastic comments aside, I can see that some of the students are picking up on the material....a lot more than seems evident in class. I guess they're just quiet. But my host brother and sister have definitely mastered all I've taught them. Eun Ho can't get enough English--he's always playing around with the Korean-English dictionary. He also seems to want to hang around me a lot, and I try to teach him random words if he seems interested. My host mother definitely encourages this...she's always trying to make him say English phrases to me, like "Good morning" and "Thank you." It's funny, I think. I had never heard Ye Eun speak English, even though she is in one of my classes (she is very shy), but randomly last night I overheard her repeating all the phrases we've learned together and I was shocked. She does know them after all! Then she saw me looking, and shut up quick. I think she is starting to like me more. Maybe it has something to do with the girls in her class--they all love me, and maybe she likes to be associated with that. I don't know. She's started to actually say hello and goodbye to me in the hallways instead of just running away. It's touching. She even stayed after class today with the other kids and made a point to say goodbye! The third grade class as a whole is really growing on me, actually. They are cute--even if some are impossible, there are enough really good students to balance them out. Ee Bin, the girl who keeps calling me, is in that class, too, and some other girls I like. And there's this one semi-loud boy who's always after me to open my mouth (we learned that phrase together, and he's definitely mastered it!). My plan to be sneaky with my tongue ring has definitely not worked here. Perhaps it's because I am the object of such scrutiny to begin with, coupled with the fact that I am teaching a foreign language and they watch how I form my words very carefully, but ALL the children have noticed it and are always asking about it. So far I have refused to oblige them, but I commend their tireless efforts. And also their creative use of language--I am proud of that boy for using his English outside of class! So far no teachers have commented on it, barring our little friend Kim Keun Hwak on our outing last weekend...they must have noticed it, or at least the attention the children give it, but no one's said anything, so I guess it's okay. I'm not going to worry about it anymore.
No one showed up for my English Chat Class this afternoon, and though I was mostly relieved because I had time then to plan for tomorrow's lessons at school, I was a little sad, too. Was it a personal rejection? Are they going to do this to me every week? After I stay up late on Wednesday night planning their lesson? Honestly, the ongoing postponement of that class has been somewhat of a nightmare for me...I keep planning for it, and even making photocopies, only to have the class revamped and moved back another week. I discard photocopies and ideas and start anew, only to see them end up in the trash. It's really encouraging. Well, they told us to expect a lot of last minute changes and cancellations here. It's fine, really...I just want to start the class, so it's not hanging over my head anymore!
I had my second lesson with the SK guys, and it went okay. There were six of them this time--two newcomers (one being the guy I originally talked with, who is a good English speaker) and four from Tuesday (one other one was there but working). I did a pronunciation lesson I bummed from another ETA online and it went okay. Teaching adults is so hard...there's no fun involved for either of us! I feel bad for being boring, but hey, they could be more exciting themselves. The class is really dominated by one guy, who isn't really that good but I think has the most desire to improve his English. He gave a speech today about a teacher he had in high school who taught him some English and told him how important it was, but he was a bad student at the time and didn't listen or learn much. Now he regrets it. I wish others had his enthusiasm...then it might not be such a chore to teach!
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Busy Bee--Tuesday, September 12 and Wednesday, September 13
I really have been intending to write every day, but I am seriously too busy! It’s not just sheer laziness that’s keeping me from it…I haven’t even been knitting or reading much lately! I spend so much time on the computer writing my lesson plans that the last thing I want to do is spend more time in front of it, writing. But here I am…and it’s actually probably a good thing. Sometimes I worry I will completely lose the ability to speak or write English correctly, or even at all. For example, today I was teaching the teachers’ workshop and I spelled terrific with two fs. What kind of English teacher am I, anyway? One who relied far too much on Microsoft Word to correct her spelling errors, evidently. I use broken English most of the time, and when I don’t, I usually end up talking to myself anyway, since no one really understands. All I have to keep me from becoming an incoherent idiot is Salman Rushdie and occasional written correspondence. Ah, the joys of foreign life! I guess this is the first time I’ve been abroad without another native English speaker around. It hasn’t been as tough yet as I thought it might be (and like people here expect, with their constant concern for my loneliness), but perhaps I’m speaking too early. The main point of this ramble is to add to the rapidly growing pile of evidence that I am going entirely crazy.
On to brighter topics…I received an email of praise from the big lady herself, Fulbright Director Mrs. Shim, yesterday afternoon. Seems my principal called her to say how happy they were to have me in their “village” and that I was the hardest-working English teacher he’d ever seen. (Notice he didn’t say I was good, just that I worked hard. True enough.) And I have good manners. So I’m on the In List with her right now and that’s nice. After the OCs worked so hard to make us terrified of her this summer, I’m glad she actually likes me now. I am also glad that the principal thinks enough of me to make the call. I had just been complaining that I haven’t been getting any feedback…guess this qualifies!
Unfortunately, my lessons have not been going very well. I have just been feeling overwhelmed with everything this week. I feel like I’m always working and it’s been really hard for me to transition from class to class because all of the learning materials are so different by age. Also, I think I have been trying to move too quickly through things—trying to accomplish too much—and I need to slow down so they understand me and actually learn. However, when I go slowly, everyone stops listening to me! What, do they want that horrendous book back? Honestly…work with me! Hopefully things turn around these next couple days. Too bad I have so much more teaching left to do! My English Chat Class (the English-only club class) is meeting for the first time tomorrow. I think my agenda is too ambitious for them, but maybe it’ll stretch into a two-week lesson. The thing is, I seriously don’t know how I am going to teach such a wide variation in language ability. Some of them have been taking English for only a few months, while others have been taking it for three or more years! I’m planning to have them write to California pen pals and even develop some projects on life in Hongsan and Korea in general to share with our overseas friends. I hope they like it, but it’s almost one of those too-corny teacher things. We’ll have to see.
Last night I taught the SK engineering guys for the first time and it was pretty much awful. First, I’d heard them wrong and they wanted to pick me up at 6:30 instead of 7:30. So I was walking home at 6:30 when I ran into the one guy pulling into my driveway. Instead of being normal and coming into my house, he creepily parks a ways down the road and just waits for me. I was sorta freaked out. I mean, who DOES that? He was acting like a pedophile/serial killer. I finally went outside 20 minutes later and tried to talk to him. I seriously didn’t want to go anymore. It ended up being all right, but I still don’t understand that whole exchange. If Koreans are all about politeness, like I’d been led to believe, then how polite was that? So I am teaching 4 civil engineers and one administrator, all men. I don’t really know what they want from me, so yesterday was awkward. I guess I’m going to teach them pronunciation tomorrow, and if they don’t like it, they can go to hell because they’re not paying me anyway. Although they did give me a bagful of apples yesterday and have promised me a box of vegetables. Oh, yeah…one of them is a crossing guard at the school and I guess that’s where they heard about me. The kids are always talking about me, apparently…enough that he knew I was a vegetarian! Oh, small towns…
On to brighter topics…I received an email of praise from the big lady herself, Fulbright Director Mrs. Shim, yesterday afternoon. Seems my principal called her to say how happy they were to have me in their “village” and that I was the hardest-working English teacher he’d ever seen. (Notice he didn’t say I was good, just that I worked hard. True enough.) And I have good manners. So I’m on the In List with her right now and that’s nice. After the OCs worked so hard to make us terrified of her this summer, I’m glad she actually likes me now. I am also glad that the principal thinks enough of me to make the call. I had just been complaining that I haven’t been getting any feedback…guess this qualifies!
Unfortunately, my lessons have not been going very well. I have just been feeling overwhelmed with everything this week. I feel like I’m always working and it’s been really hard for me to transition from class to class because all of the learning materials are so different by age. Also, I think I have been trying to move too quickly through things—trying to accomplish too much—and I need to slow down so they understand me and actually learn. However, when I go slowly, everyone stops listening to me! What, do they want that horrendous book back? Honestly…work with me! Hopefully things turn around these next couple days. Too bad I have so much more teaching left to do! My English Chat Class (the English-only club class) is meeting for the first time tomorrow. I think my agenda is too ambitious for them, but maybe it’ll stretch into a two-week lesson. The thing is, I seriously don’t know how I am going to teach such a wide variation in language ability. Some of them have been taking English for only a few months, while others have been taking it for three or more years! I’m planning to have them write to California pen pals and even develop some projects on life in Hongsan and Korea in general to share with our overseas friends. I hope they like it, but it’s almost one of those too-corny teacher things. We’ll have to see.
Last night I taught the SK engineering guys for the first time and it was pretty much awful. First, I’d heard them wrong and they wanted to pick me up at 6:30 instead of 7:30. So I was walking home at 6:30 when I ran into the one guy pulling into my driveway. Instead of being normal and coming into my house, he creepily parks a ways down the road and just waits for me. I was sorta freaked out. I mean, who DOES that? He was acting like a pedophile/serial killer. I finally went outside 20 minutes later and tried to talk to him. I seriously didn’t want to go anymore. It ended up being all right, but I still don’t understand that whole exchange. If Koreans are all about politeness, like I’d been led to believe, then how polite was that? So I am teaching 4 civil engineers and one administrator, all men. I don’t really know what they want from me, so yesterday was awkward. I guess I’m going to teach them pronunciation tomorrow, and if they don’t like it, they can go to hell because they’re not paying me anyway. Although they did give me a bagful of apples yesterday and have promised me a box of vegetables. Oh, yeah…one of them is a crossing guard at the school and I guess that’s where they heard about me. The kids are always talking about me, apparently…enough that he knew I was a vegetarian! Oh, small towns…
Monday, September 11, 2006
Random Thoughts--Monday, September 11
I hate to sound boring and repetitive, but today was yet another good day. There was no boring assembly this morning, so I got a lot of work done, and my kindergarten and fifth grade lessons went well. It’s nice that my Mondays are so easy, relatively speaking…I only have three classes and two lessons to prepare! I definitely need to plan ahead in my lessons for third through sixth grade more, to make sure we’re covering everything this silly book wants, but I guess I’m doing a good enough job because they asked me to teach a special English class in two weeks to fifth graders from the area. Or they are just so happy to be relieved from English duties, they don’t care what I do. I prefer to think it’s the former. At any rate, at least the children appear happy with me. I’m still a very popular figure around here. I even got my first phone call from a student tonight—a third grader named Eebin. She’s really cute. She gave me a card with her name and number and some other stuff I couldn’t read in the middle of our lesson last week and made me fill out one, too. It was a really funny conversation because I could only understand a little bit of what she was saying, and I mostly responded in English, which threw her off. Guess I’ll just have to teach her more English so we can hold a conversation!
This afternoon, I did some lesson planning for tomorrow and actually got it all done, for the first time ever! It was sooo nice to come home and not worry about it, though I still have to figure out what I will do tomorrow night with that class I agreed to take on. I am really not happy I am doing it, but I definitely can’t back out now and I would feel really horrible if I said no. Maybe it’ll turn out to be more fun than I think, but I doubt it. Adults aren’t as much fun to teach, in my opinion, though hopefully they’ll be more obedient.
I was talking today to my co-teacher about how people are always trying to strike up a conversation with me when I go out on my walks. He suggested that if I wish to avoid this, I need to wear a huge hat, glasses, long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, makeup, and a mask. I think he was joking. Seriously, though, I run into some interesting people out there in the countryside. Yesterday, for example. I was just walking along when these guys in a truck just stopped and offered me a ride (I think…). I tried to say no, but there was some miscommunication and anyway, we had a little convo. I fell back on my few known words (sentences have completely left me now!) and managed to tell them that I was an American teacher living in Hongsan. They were really excited to meet me and one guy insisted on getting my phone number. I can’t imagine what we could possibly talk about, since I already exhausted all my Korean, but whatev. I’m sure I’ll just be the American in his phone book.
For some reason, we have literally hundreds of pairs of brand-new slip-on sandals at school. There have been a number of boxes in the teachers’ room for a few days, but I had no idea what they held until this afternoon. We spent a good hour or two this afternoon labeling and stacking the darn things. All I could understand was that it was for “a graduates’ association.” We’re always doing things for graduated students. It seems RIDICULOUS to me…wouldn’t time be better spent serving current students? The answer, it appears, is no, and no doubt reflects some Confucian ideal of respecting your elders. I’m not here to question, so I’ve just been trying to help out where I can, though there are of course many things I cannot do (read and write, for example). I think the third grade teacher was working on a presentation for the graduated students yesterday, and that was why he had to come to Hongsan and was ordered to escort me. Today I was helping them write Hongsan on all the sandals and they all were so surprised and pleased when a) I could actually read what they were writing and b) could write it all by myself. My sandals were the subject of much awe and talk among the other teachers. I guess maybe it’s surprising to them that I can do this, considering my poor grasp of the Korean language, but for goodness sake, I did learn something in a month of Korean! I can write pretty letters, if nothing else!
Tonight after dinner, I looked at some old pictures of my host family with my host mom, Eun-ho, and Ye-eun. I saw a ton of wedding photos, a few baby pictures, and a lot of pictures of my host father in middle and high school. The wedding pictures were nice. I didn’t even recognize my host mom! She was in a really fancy dress that had the biggest skirt I’ve ever seen. My host dad looks exactly the same, though. The grandmother was in a few and I finally found out that she is indeed my father’s mother. She was definitely upright in the photos, so she must have become hunched sometime in the last fifteen years or so. That’s gotta be tough. Oh, and I also found out my host mother has two sisters. I met one of them my first week here, but I am not sure where the other one is. The pictures of my host father were quite comical. He’s wearing some sort of military-esque uniform in a bunch of them, which I guess was his middle school uniform. He has hardcore ‘70s hair in many of them, and it was all I could do to keep from laughing. There are a few where he is in some kind of flex pose. My host mother pointed to one and said, “Body builder.” I don’t know if that means he actually was one, or just pretending to be macho. I hope he wasn’t one—I’ve seen the Korean version many a time on TV, and it’s sick.
This afternoon, I did some lesson planning for tomorrow and actually got it all done, for the first time ever! It was sooo nice to come home and not worry about it, though I still have to figure out what I will do tomorrow night with that class I agreed to take on. I am really not happy I am doing it, but I definitely can’t back out now and I would feel really horrible if I said no. Maybe it’ll turn out to be more fun than I think, but I doubt it. Adults aren’t as much fun to teach, in my opinion, though hopefully they’ll be more obedient.
I was talking today to my co-teacher about how people are always trying to strike up a conversation with me when I go out on my walks. He suggested that if I wish to avoid this, I need to wear a huge hat, glasses, long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, makeup, and a mask. I think he was joking. Seriously, though, I run into some interesting people out there in the countryside. Yesterday, for example. I was just walking along when these guys in a truck just stopped and offered me a ride (I think…). I tried to say no, but there was some miscommunication and anyway, we had a little convo. I fell back on my few known words (sentences have completely left me now!) and managed to tell them that I was an American teacher living in Hongsan. They were really excited to meet me and one guy insisted on getting my phone number. I can’t imagine what we could possibly talk about, since I already exhausted all my Korean, but whatev. I’m sure I’ll just be the American in his phone book.
For some reason, we have literally hundreds of pairs of brand-new slip-on sandals at school. There have been a number of boxes in the teachers’ room for a few days, but I had no idea what they held until this afternoon. We spent a good hour or two this afternoon labeling and stacking the darn things. All I could understand was that it was for “a graduates’ association.” We’re always doing things for graduated students. It seems RIDICULOUS to me…wouldn’t time be better spent serving current students? The answer, it appears, is no, and no doubt reflects some Confucian ideal of respecting your elders. I’m not here to question, so I’ve just been trying to help out where I can, though there are of course many things I cannot do (read and write, for example). I think the third grade teacher was working on a presentation for the graduated students yesterday, and that was why he had to come to Hongsan and was ordered to escort me. Today I was helping them write Hongsan on all the sandals and they all were so surprised and pleased when a) I could actually read what they were writing and b) could write it all by myself. My sandals were the subject of much awe and talk among the other teachers. I guess maybe it’s surprising to them that I can do this, considering my poor grasp of the Korean language, but for goodness sake, I did learn something in a month of Korean! I can write pretty letters, if nothing else!
Tonight after dinner, I looked at some old pictures of my host family with my host mom, Eun-ho, and Ye-eun. I saw a ton of wedding photos, a few baby pictures, and a lot of pictures of my host father in middle and high school. The wedding pictures were nice. I didn’t even recognize my host mom! She was in a really fancy dress that had the biggest skirt I’ve ever seen. My host dad looks exactly the same, though. The grandmother was in a few and I finally found out that she is indeed my father’s mother. She was definitely upright in the photos, so she must have become hunched sometime in the last fifteen years or so. That’s gotta be tough. Oh, and I also found out my host mother has two sisters. I met one of them my first week here, but I am not sure where the other one is. The pictures of my host father were quite comical. He’s wearing some sort of military-esque uniform in a bunch of them, which I guess was his middle school uniform. He has hardcore ‘70s hair in many of them, and it was all I could do to keep from laughing. There are a few where he is in some kind of flex pose. My host mother pointed to one and said, “Body builder.” I don’t know if that means he actually was one, or just pretending to be macho. I hope he wasn’t one—I’ve seen the Korean version many a time on TV, and it’s sick.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Teachers' Weekend--Saturday, September 9 and Sunday, September 10
Wow, what a whirlwind of a weekend! I spent the majority of my time with the other teachers and had a grand old time. I briefly considered meeting other ETAs this weekend, but decided against it because I wanted a chill, inexpensive weekend and I wanted to spend some time outside of school with Hongsan’s teachers, since they wanted to see me and take me out.
On Saturday, I went to Dajeon with Kyoung He Sam and her two daughters, Ji Young and Ji Eun (I think…). They are 11 and 9 years old and pretty cute. The older one actually has pretty good English—better than Kyoung He Sam, I think! I’m not sure where she has learned it. I tried to ask her, but the only thing I understood was that she learned some of it somewhere outside of school. That, and her English teacher’s name is Jennifer. She is Korean, but I guess she wanted an English name for teaching purposes.
Anyway, they picked me up in the morning, drove me to Dajeon (about an hour’s drive), and we went out to lunch at this absolutely fabulous restaurant. I’m not sure how, but somehow Kyoung He Sam knew of my love of mushrooms and took me to a place that specialized in mushroom dishes. The meal even began with a cup of mushroom tea! There was basically a large skillet in front of us, which was filled with some sort of flavored water. We then cooked a mixture of a little meat, four varieties of mushrooms, and a little bit of seasoning. It was sooooo delicious. I am almost salivating thinking about it. I definitely have to go back there with a mushroom lover. Then, after I had absolutely stuffed myself of mushrooms and the other side dishes, they brought out a rice and seaweed mixture that was fried with the remains from our previous course. This was also quite mashisoyo (Korean for delicious)—I do love fried rice. And then, kimchi noodles. Oh, I love that restaurant! I guess the girls really didn’t though, and I felt bad that the meal completely revolved around me, but there wasn’t really anything I could do about it.
After that, we drove downtown to Lotte, which is a big fancy department store. They are located in major cities across the country. Lotte even has food and other brand items. It’s huge. This one had a movie theater on the tenth floor. After some Baskin Robbins, we went up there to see The Sentinel. It definitely wasn’t a movie I would normally pick, but I think it was the only one we knew of that was in English. Turns out The Lake House was also in theaters and the girls would have preferred that, but alas, we’d already bought our tickets online.
And then we went to Costco. Yes, there are Costcos in Korea, strangely enough. And they look remarkably similar. This one was smaller than I was used to and spread out over two floors, but it still had the same warehouse feel and I even saw the ravioli that I usually buy at home! They didn’t have the stamps I wanted from the American Costco, unfortunately, but I was still impressed. I’ll have to go back and get some candy (for teaching purposes, of course!). We had dinner there, too…Costco pizza! I can tell that I am used to my cheese deprivation now after two months. I haven’t even been craving it since I’ve been in Hongsan, and I could barely finish my slice of pizza. It was soooo cheesy!
I was so exhausted after our day out. I think I am getting a little bit sick, too. I fell asleep on the way home and could barely open my eyes once I was back. Going to bed early on a Saturday night…so uncharacteristic of me!
Today was the day of the big teachers’ volleyball tournament. I wasn’t going to play, but wanted to watch them play and go out to lunch with everyone. They lost, unfortunately, but everyone was in good spirits anyway. I guess they expected to lose. I think they just need to practice more. They’ve only played once since I’ve been there! There was a definite lack of communication and teamwork, in my opinion. Maybe I should give them a pep talk. But anyway, I think they might recruit me to start playing in their games because they have to have one woman play (out of nine players on the court…I know….it’s weird. I was talking to my co-teacher about these odd volleyball rules and evidently they are used only by teachers in Korea and maybe Japan. It’s a “specialized” game.). Kim Eun Soon (the fourth grade teacher they want me to become best friends with) played today, but she’s basically scared of the ball and they scooted her into the corner so she wouldn’t have to hit it.
After the game, we went out to lunch at the same restaurant we ate at the last time in Buyeo. And like last time, they ordered me a special meal. So unnecessary, especially since I wasn’t even hungry, but what can you do? They also had (SURPRISE!) many bottles of soju at lunch. I was wondering if they would drink at lunch, or if it was just an evening thing, and my curiosity was quickly satisfied when that was the first item they went for (before they even got bottles of water!). Oh, I do love my teachers! I’m not sure what exactly went down during lunch, but one thing is clear….the teachers have begun Stage Two in the evil plot to terminate my single status. I can’t be sure because I couldn’t understand what was said, but I am fairly certain there was some matchmaking going on. It was decided that I would go to the fortress ruins (which I’d already seen, but the principal wanted to show me again) with the principal and Kim Keun Hwak, the nerdy but single third grade teacher. I really think he wanted to run away and do the work he had to do at Hongsan, but was bullied into staying by everyone else, especially my co-teacher. Choi Hyun Moon specifically told me before he left that Kim Keun Hwak was there to take me anywhere and do anything for the rest of the day. Thanks, co-teach! I needed an escort…
So we went to the old fortress (it was only a couple of blocks away) and there ensued some awkward translations. Kim Keun Hwak really doesn’t speak English all that well, for all that he took ten years of it. As he repeatedly told me today, English was the class he always slept through. So I don’t know how much of what the principal was trying to tell me was lost in translation, but it’s gone now. I already knew quite a bit he was trying to tell me about the Baekje dynasty, so that was cool. Then he was trying to make sure everything was going well with my students and at home and said that he was there to help if I ever needed it. I really wish I could talk with my principal—I think he is a great guy and we would get along so well if we could speak together! I think he likes me anyway, though.
As we were leaving, there was some sort of Baekje royal ceremony reenactment going on outside the gate and we watched a few dances. It was all right, I guess, but it made me think about tradition and culture a bit. In many countries, it is felt that performing these “traditional” ceremonies is in fact delegitimatized by the fact that the performance is for tourists, for money. I know many people feel that way about Native American ceremonies in America and “native” dances performed in Africa. But this felt different. They weren’t selling their culture, they were celebrating it. And the “tourists” weren’t “the other” (besides me!), but rather other Koreans. And also, the performance wasn’t for money…it was actually outside the gate. I just found it touching that Koreans enjoy celebrating their culture this way and are not so quick to forget or deny it. They embrace it!
The principal went home then and I was left with my little friend. I am sure people thought we were a couple and were giving me weirder looks than usual, but at least I didn’t get the rude stares like last weekend in Seoul! We bought tickets for the bus back to Hongsan but had some time to kill so we went to Lotteria (a fast food restaurant that may or may not have a connection with Lotte—I have my suspicions, but I haven’t asked anyone yet). I was totally not hungry, but he was intent on feeding me. It’s so funny…they all love me for my thinness, but at the same time are seemingly determined to turn me into a hippopotamus. So we had an awkward little snack together, during which he alternated between nervous laughs and trying to speak between pounding on his chest like I was making his heart go pitter patter. I feel bad for the guy…I think he was a bit overwhelmed being left alone with me! Who knows how much he’s even TALKED to girls. I suspect he is quite the computer nerd. We finally made it back to Hongsan and he insisted on escorting me home, even though it was a good 15 minutes each way out of his way. It was rather silly. I dearly hope that nothing comes of this little encounter, but I have a feeling our matchmakers won’t be easily defeated. Well, he is leaving at the end of November….
A random thought I was having today…I keep hearing that I am so beautiful here, which first of all I think its not really true but more importantly am surprised to be hearing this so often from Koreans. Before I came here, I just assumed they would consider me ugly. I mean, I’m tall, I’m not that thin (seriously, some girls here are my height but forty pounds lighter), and I’m just so foreign-looking to them. It has honestly really surprised me to find the opposite is true. Why would they ever consider me good-looking? Goodness knows most white people don’t find Asians attractive (except those occasional guys with Asian fetishes, but they’re often just creepy in general). How has it happened that Caucasian features have become the standard for beauty? I mean, Bianca was telling me last weekend that several of her students have gotten surgery on their eyelids so they will dip back like ours do. Why? Why would you ever do that? Why would that be more beautiful? It makes me so sad to see these standards of beauty upheld across the world, even in countries that pride themselves on their culture, and makes me wonder how this ever could have happened. White supremacy at its finest, I guess…even people of other races and other countries prescribing to it. I’m exaggerating, but still…I have my questions about this matter.
On Saturday, I went to Dajeon with Kyoung He Sam and her two daughters, Ji Young and Ji Eun (I think…). They are 11 and 9 years old and pretty cute. The older one actually has pretty good English—better than Kyoung He Sam, I think! I’m not sure where she has learned it. I tried to ask her, but the only thing I understood was that she learned some of it somewhere outside of school. That, and her English teacher’s name is Jennifer. She is Korean, but I guess she wanted an English name for teaching purposes.
Anyway, they picked me up in the morning, drove me to Dajeon (about an hour’s drive), and we went out to lunch at this absolutely fabulous restaurant. I’m not sure how, but somehow Kyoung He Sam knew of my love of mushrooms and took me to a place that specialized in mushroom dishes. The meal even began with a cup of mushroom tea! There was basically a large skillet in front of us, which was filled with some sort of flavored water. We then cooked a mixture of a little meat, four varieties of mushrooms, and a little bit of seasoning. It was sooooo delicious. I am almost salivating thinking about it. I definitely have to go back there with a mushroom lover. Then, after I had absolutely stuffed myself of mushrooms and the other side dishes, they brought out a rice and seaweed mixture that was fried with the remains from our previous course. This was also quite mashisoyo (Korean for delicious)—I do love fried rice. And then, kimchi noodles. Oh, I love that restaurant! I guess the girls really didn’t though, and I felt bad that the meal completely revolved around me, but there wasn’t really anything I could do about it.
After that, we drove downtown to Lotte, which is a big fancy department store. They are located in major cities across the country. Lotte even has food and other brand items. It’s huge. This one had a movie theater on the tenth floor. After some Baskin Robbins, we went up there to see The Sentinel. It definitely wasn’t a movie I would normally pick, but I think it was the only one we knew of that was in English. Turns out The Lake House was also in theaters and the girls would have preferred that, but alas, we’d already bought our tickets online.
And then we went to Costco. Yes, there are Costcos in Korea, strangely enough. And they look remarkably similar. This one was smaller than I was used to and spread out over two floors, but it still had the same warehouse feel and I even saw the ravioli that I usually buy at home! They didn’t have the stamps I wanted from the American Costco, unfortunately, but I was still impressed. I’ll have to go back and get some candy (for teaching purposes, of course!). We had dinner there, too…Costco pizza! I can tell that I am used to my cheese deprivation now after two months. I haven’t even been craving it since I’ve been in Hongsan, and I could barely finish my slice of pizza. It was soooo cheesy!
I was so exhausted after our day out. I think I am getting a little bit sick, too. I fell asleep on the way home and could barely open my eyes once I was back. Going to bed early on a Saturday night…so uncharacteristic of me!
Today was the day of the big teachers’ volleyball tournament. I wasn’t going to play, but wanted to watch them play and go out to lunch with everyone. They lost, unfortunately, but everyone was in good spirits anyway. I guess they expected to lose. I think they just need to practice more. They’ve only played once since I’ve been there! There was a definite lack of communication and teamwork, in my opinion. Maybe I should give them a pep talk. But anyway, I think they might recruit me to start playing in their games because they have to have one woman play (out of nine players on the court…I know….it’s weird. I was talking to my co-teacher about these odd volleyball rules and evidently they are used only by teachers in Korea and maybe Japan. It’s a “specialized” game.). Kim Eun Soon (the fourth grade teacher they want me to become best friends with) played today, but she’s basically scared of the ball and they scooted her into the corner so she wouldn’t have to hit it.
After the game, we went out to lunch at the same restaurant we ate at the last time in Buyeo. And like last time, they ordered me a special meal. So unnecessary, especially since I wasn’t even hungry, but what can you do? They also had (SURPRISE!) many bottles of soju at lunch. I was wondering if they would drink at lunch, or if it was just an evening thing, and my curiosity was quickly satisfied when that was the first item they went for (before they even got bottles of water!). Oh, I do love my teachers! I’m not sure what exactly went down during lunch, but one thing is clear….the teachers have begun Stage Two in the evil plot to terminate my single status. I can’t be sure because I couldn’t understand what was said, but I am fairly certain there was some matchmaking going on. It was decided that I would go to the fortress ruins (which I’d already seen, but the principal wanted to show me again) with the principal and Kim Keun Hwak, the nerdy but single third grade teacher. I really think he wanted to run away and do the work he had to do at Hongsan, but was bullied into staying by everyone else, especially my co-teacher. Choi Hyun Moon specifically told me before he left that Kim Keun Hwak was there to take me anywhere and do anything for the rest of the day. Thanks, co-teach! I needed an escort…
So we went to the old fortress (it was only a couple of blocks away) and there ensued some awkward translations. Kim Keun Hwak really doesn’t speak English all that well, for all that he took ten years of it. As he repeatedly told me today, English was the class he always slept through. So I don’t know how much of what the principal was trying to tell me was lost in translation, but it’s gone now. I already knew quite a bit he was trying to tell me about the Baekje dynasty, so that was cool. Then he was trying to make sure everything was going well with my students and at home and said that he was there to help if I ever needed it. I really wish I could talk with my principal—I think he is a great guy and we would get along so well if we could speak together! I think he likes me anyway, though.
As we were leaving, there was some sort of Baekje royal ceremony reenactment going on outside the gate and we watched a few dances. It was all right, I guess, but it made me think about tradition and culture a bit. In many countries, it is felt that performing these “traditional” ceremonies is in fact delegitimatized by the fact that the performance is for tourists, for money. I know many people feel that way about Native American ceremonies in America and “native” dances performed in Africa. But this felt different. They weren’t selling their culture, they were celebrating it. And the “tourists” weren’t “the other” (besides me!), but rather other Koreans. And also, the performance wasn’t for money…it was actually outside the gate. I just found it touching that Koreans enjoy celebrating their culture this way and are not so quick to forget or deny it. They embrace it!
The principal went home then and I was left with my little friend. I am sure people thought we were a couple and were giving me weirder looks than usual, but at least I didn’t get the rude stares like last weekend in Seoul! We bought tickets for the bus back to Hongsan but had some time to kill so we went to Lotteria (a fast food restaurant that may or may not have a connection with Lotte—I have my suspicions, but I haven’t asked anyone yet). I was totally not hungry, but he was intent on feeding me. It’s so funny…they all love me for my thinness, but at the same time are seemingly determined to turn me into a hippopotamus. So we had an awkward little snack together, during which he alternated between nervous laughs and trying to speak between pounding on his chest like I was making his heart go pitter patter. I feel bad for the guy…I think he was a bit overwhelmed being left alone with me! Who knows how much he’s even TALKED to girls. I suspect he is quite the computer nerd. We finally made it back to Hongsan and he insisted on escorting me home, even though it was a good 15 minutes each way out of his way. It was rather silly. I dearly hope that nothing comes of this little encounter, but I have a feeling our matchmakers won’t be easily defeated. Well, he is leaving at the end of November….
A random thought I was having today…I keep hearing that I am so beautiful here, which first of all I think its not really true but more importantly am surprised to be hearing this so often from Koreans. Before I came here, I just assumed they would consider me ugly. I mean, I’m tall, I’m not that thin (seriously, some girls here are my height but forty pounds lighter), and I’m just so foreign-looking to them. It has honestly really surprised me to find the opposite is true. Why would they ever consider me good-looking? Goodness knows most white people don’t find Asians attractive (except those occasional guys with Asian fetishes, but they’re often just creepy in general). How has it happened that Caucasian features have become the standard for beauty? I mean, Bianca was telling me last weekend that several of her students have gotten surgery on their eyelids so they will dip back like ours do. Why? Why would you ever do that? Why would that be more beautiful? It makes me so sad to see these standards of beauty upheld across the world, even in countries that pride themselves on their culture, and makes me wonder how this ever could have happened. White supremacy at its finest, I guess…even people of other races and other countries prescribing to it. I’m exaggerating, but still…I have my questions about this matter.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Frrrrrrrrrrriday!--Friday, September 8
I just realized I forgot to document the most ridiculous thing about my homestay. It took me a while to realize this, but they have an extra-special chopstick-spoon set just for me. I am not permitted to use anything else, and no one else would even dream of using my lovely burnt orange maple leaf silverware. It's so silly! But I'm glad they are clearly so glad to have me. I have heard from other ETAs who weren't so welcomed into their new homes. I am really fortunate to have such support in my home (not to mention in my school....we've already covered that!)
I taught three fabulous lessons to four classes today. I am definitely thinking now that I need to ditch the lame books we have. They are really intended as crutches for teachers who don't really know English, and since I clearly do, I can come up with better material. I had only used them in the first place because I felt I was expected to. I mean, it is easier for me to just follow a lesson plan that is already mapped out for me (complete with students' cheesy responses), but I really can't stand seeing the look of bored disinterest in their eyes. It's been a bit difficult to figure out what exactly I am expected and even permitted to do in the school, but after two weeks of teaching, it seems that I am basically allowed to do what I want, as long as the students learn something. I haven't heard any feedback from any teachers or administrators, good or bad, so I'm just assuming I am doing okay. My co-teacher has told me a few times about students who have said they now enjoy English (and they hated it before), which I think is meant as a compliment. Basically, they don't seem to care what I do, which is perfect for me. It's not like I will ever slack on the job. It's been an interesting journey to figure all this out, though. In the beginning, I was told I would be team-teaching, but as things have progressed, I have essentially become the only teacher. I don't mean to diss the other teachers...in fact, a few do try to be an active part of class. But there are already a few who either do other things during English or disappear entirely. And that's fine with me...immersion is probably best, anyway, because on the other hand there are those teachers who translate everything I say, including the things I am trying to teach! So this weekend, I plan to seriously revamp my lesson plans for third through sixth grade (the classes that use the book). Now that I've taught them each three lessons from the book, I have a better idea of what they are supposed to learn and can now come up with some ideas of how to reach the same goals, but in a fun way that does not involve mindless "Listen and Repeat." Exciting, I know. I am actually excited to do it. Teaching seems to satisfy the creative impulse I never thought I had and I've actually had fun making lesson plans and seeing them work out in class. Then there are those days they don't work....well, mostly they just motivate me to work harder and the next day's lessons are much better. I am definitely working really hard (more than 40 hours per week, for sure), but I am sure it will calm down as I become more accustomed to teaching in general and the students in particular. Right now, I just feel a need to prepare for everything and it takes me a long time because I am not used to this type of work. Plus, I am making a lot of learning materials (mostly alphabet stuff). The other ETAs laugh at my "work" because it involves a lot of coloring and cutting, but it's seriously time-consuming and somewhat difficult because I still have to find things the children enjoy!
This other ETA posted a link to a poem today that I read and liked. It by some dude named Taylor Mali and is called "What Teachers Make, or Objection Overruled, or If things don't work out, you can always go to law school." It goes as follows:
He says the problem with teachers is, "What's a kid going to learn
from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"
He reminds the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about
teachers:
Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.
I decide to bite my tongue instead of his
and resist the temptation to remind the other dinner guests
that it's also true what they say about lawyers.
Because we're eating, after all, and this is polite company.
"I mean, you¹re a teacher, Taylor," he says.
"Be honest. What do you make?"
And I wish he hadn't done that
(asked me to be honest)
because, you see, I have a policy
about honesty and ass-kicking:
if you ask for it, I have to let you have it.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honor
and an A- feel like a slap in the face.
How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best.
I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall
in absolute silence. No, you may not work in groups.
No, you may not ask a question.
Why won't I let you get a drink of water?
Because you're not thirsty, you're bored, that's why.
I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:
I hope I haven't called at a bad time,
I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today.
Billy said, "Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don't you?"
And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.
I make parents see their children for who they are
and what they can be.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids wonder,
I make them question.
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write, write, write.
And then I make them read.
I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely
beautiful
over and over and over again until they will never misspell
either one of those words again.
I make them show all their work in math.
And hide it on their final drafts in English.
I make them understand that if you got this (brains)
then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you
by what you make, you give them this (the finger).
Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:
I make a goddamn difference! What about you?
Okay, so maybe it's a bit lofty now. I am certainly not the best teacher, and perhaps I am not working intellectual miracles. But it's something to shoot for!
I taught three fabulous lessons to four classes today. I am definitely thinking now that I need to ditch the lame books we have. They are really intended as crutches for teachers who don't really know English, and since I clearly do, I can come up with better material. I had only used them in the first place because I felt I was expected to. I mean, it is easier for me to just follow a lesson plan that is already mapped out for me (complete with students' cheesy responses), but I really can't stand seeing the look of bored disinterest in their eyes. It's been a bit difficult to figure out what exactly I am expected and even permitted to do in the school, but after two weeks of teaching, it seems that I am basically allowed to do what I want, as long as the students learn something. I haven't heard any feedback from any teachers or administrators, good or bad, so I'm just assuming I am doing okay. My co-teacher has told me a few times about students who have said they now enjoy English (and they hated it before), which I think is meant as a compliment. Basically, they don't seem to care what I do, which is perfect for me. It's not like I will ever slack on the job. It's been an interesting journey to figure all this out, though. In the beginning, I was told I would be team-teaching, but as things have progressed, I have essentially become the only teacher. I don't mean to diss the other teachers...in fact, a few do try to be an active part of class. But there are already a few who either do other things during English or disappear entirely. And that's fine with me...immersion is probably best, anyway, because on the other hand there are those teachers who translate everything I say, including the things I am trying to teach! So this weekend, I plan to seriously revamp my lesson plans for third through sixth grade (the classes that use the book). Now that I've taught them each three lessons from the book, I have a better idea of what they are supposed to learn and can now come up with some ideas of how to reach the same goals, but in a fun way that does not involve mindless "Listen and Repeat." Exciting, I know. I am actually excited to do it. Teaching seems to satisfy the creative impulse I never thought I had and I've actually had fun making lesson plans and seeing them work out in class. Then there are those days they don't work....well, mostly they just motivate me to work harder and the next day's lessons are much better. I am definitely working really hard (more than 40 hours per week, for sure), but I am sure it will calm down as I become more accustomed to teaching in general and the students in particular. Right now, I just feel a need to prepare for everything and it takes me a long time because I am not used to this type of work. Plus, I am making a lot of learning materials (mostly alphabet stuff). The other ETAs laugh at my "work" because it involves a lot of coloring and cutting, but it's seriously time-consuming and somewhat difficult because I still have to find things the children enjoy!
This other ETA posted a link to a poem today that I read and liked. It by some dude named Taylor Mali and is called "What Teachers Make, or Objection Overruled, or If things don't work out, you can always go to law school." It goes as follows:
He says the problem with teachers is, "What's a kid going to learn
from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"
He reminds the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about
teachers:
Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.
I decide to bite my tongue instead of his
and resist the temptation to remind the other dinner guests
that it's also true what they say about lawyers.
Because we're eating, after all, and this is polite company.
"I mean, you¹re a teacher, Taylor," he says.
"Be honest. What do you make?"
And I wish he hadn't done that
(asked me to be honest)
because, you see, I have a policy
about honesty and ass-kicking:
if you ask for it, I have to let you have it.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honor
and an A- feel like a slap in the face.
How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best.
I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall
in absolute silence. No, you may not work in groups.
No, you may not ask a question.
Why won't I let you get a drink of water?
Because you're not thirsty, you're bored, that's why.
I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:
I hope I haven't called at a bad time,
I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today.
Billy said, "Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don't you?"
And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.
I make parents see their children for who they are
and what they can be.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids wonder,
I make them question.
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write, write, write.
And then I make them read.
I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely
beautiful
over and over and over again until they will never misspell
either one of those words again.
I make them show all their work in math.
And hide it on their final drafts in English.
I make them understand that if you got this (brains)
then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you
by what you make, you give them this (the finger).
Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:
I make a goddamn difference! What about you?
Okay, so maybe it's a bit lofty now. I am certainly not the best teacher, and perhaps I am not working intellectual miracles. But it's something to shoot for!
Thursday, September 07, 2006
I am Eating Myself to Death--Wednesday, September 6 and Thursday, September 7
Yes, it's true. I fully expect to be 200 kilos upon my return. The kids at school will probably stop liking me, but you sure can't please anyone. All I know is that basically everyone around me is OBSESSED with stuffing my face. Take yesterday, for example. In the cafeteria, the lunch ladies decided that since I couldn't eat one small meat item, I would probably starve to death and piled me extra high with everything else AND gave me a plate of peppers. I let the kids eat most of them...I wasn't even very hungry, after my usual big breakfast nowadays. I hope they weren't offended. Then, the teachers played volleyball in the afternoon, and lo and behold if we didn't have a Chinese food and beer/soju break in the middle! It was so weird! They were all so upset when they realized that it all had meat in it and couldn't understand that I just wasn't hungry. And today was the topper. One of the lunch ladies told me (through my trusty interpreter) that today's lunch was going to be 90% meat. There would be no rice--only noodles mixed with meat. The only thing I would be able to eat was kimchi, so I should pack a lunch. This morning, then, I realized I didn't really know how to convey this to my host mother and I didn't really feel comfortable rummaging through the refridgerator on my own. I've never actually looked in the thing, because she also stuffs my face and I am never hungry outside of meals. Anyway, so I tried to tell her my dilemma, and it didn't come across. Basically, all I wanted was a piece of fruit, because I already had peanut butter and crackers. So I guess she freaked out, called my co-teacher, found out what was going on, and decided she would pack me a lunch and bring it to me at school. RIDICULOUS. I must have been seven years old the last time my mother brought me lunch at school. I felt like a fool. I was really trying to not be a pain, too! Of course, she runs into the principal and vice principal when she comes, and they all have a good laugh at my expense. I'm sure the principal is happy my host family is really taking care of me, though. And then, I get to the cafeteria, and lo and behold if there is only the usual one meat item! So I didn't really take much of the cafeteria food, and I think the cafeteria ladies were sad. I mean, I had kimbap--why would I turn that down for the regular cafeteria food? They actually brought me a special bowl of rice. I was so embarrassed about the whole situation. I wanted to hide. I told Kyoung He Sam about it, and of course she tells everyone else when I am right there!! I guess it was funny, but still....
These past couple days have been pretty good, food issues aside. I am amazed at how much work I do, but it's all good. I like it. I just wish my lessons reflected the amount of time I put into them! I feel they're not as fabulous as they should be. It's really hard to get classes of more than twenty kids really engaged in learning a completely foreign language. I wonder how it will be when the novelty of the American has worn off. I'll find out soon enough! I am already getting very sick of the book I teach from, and I think I will need to start planning much further ahead to make coherent lessons that teach the required material without being boring as hell. Working just one lesson ahead is really not good...without an overall vision of where I'm heading, I have trouble bringing the lessons together. I want to start some big, ongoing projects. This is definitely something to work on. I am definitely determined to be a great teacher for these kids and to see their English really develop under my watch. I have already resigned myself to the fact that some just won't care to meet me halfway, and I owe it to the rest to keep going ahead. I don't want to teach to the bottom of the class...that would be doing everyone else a disservice. It's hard, though...how are the others ever going to learn if they are continually left behind? I guess in a way it's a choice they make. I still try to engage them, but I'm not going to waste all my time on it.
I think I forgot to mention before that there is a sizeable population of children without parents at the school--about 25% or so. I guess they usually stay with their grandparents (which explains why I see so few people between 15 and 60!). The parents are usually living, but looking for work somewhere else. It has something to do with the economic downturn of 1997, according to my co-teacher, but that seems like an awfully long time to be looking for a job to me. I thought South Korea was doing fine now. Anyway, Choi Hyun Moon is constantly pointing out orphaned children to me. It makes me sad.
Today I interviewed all the students who are interested in the English-only class I am going to start teaching next week. It's a two hour class on Thursday afternoons, so that's going to translate into a lot of work for me. I think it will be a good group, though. We initially planned interviews because we expected 40+ students to volunteer, but only 25 actually signed up. They are almost all girls (two boys) in grades 3-6. I think it will be fun to teach and even though some of them are low-level, I really didn't want to cut anyone who was interested. I hope they still have a good experience. I plan to leave it somewhat up to them what I teach--I really want this to be an opportunity for them to find out about anything English they are curious about. I am not going to concentrate on grammar or anything like that. They will get enough of that in middle and high school! I just hope they are signing up because they want to, not because of me, because then it might be a trying experience for all involved.
Otherwise, things are good. I didn't really have plans for the weekend. I've been grumpy, so I didn't feel like going through the bother of making them. I was sort of planning to meet a friend (plus a big group of ETAs) in Mokpo, but then I decided to do something with Kyoung He Sam instead. She'll be with her daughters, including the one that made my gorgeous cell phone charm. I'm looking forward to meeting them. They're 11 and 13, I think. And then I have some serious lesson planning to do! Also, there's a volleyball match on Sunday. I guess I might go cheer. It's kinda a male-dominated thing, actually. There were only three other women who played and they were pretty much stuck in the back (by choice or not, I do not know). It was definitely a different system of playing volleyball, and I don't think I like it as much. They never rotate! So that means you're stuck in one position the whole time, which I think is less interesting and also less challenging as a team. And it means that people can be stuck out of the action. I was for one game and I hated it. They must have sensed it, because they moved me forward again for the next game. And then my co-teacher (who is actually pretty good, considering he's my height) kept trying to set to me. I only messed up a few times! He told me later I was the best player--HA!
These past couple days have been pretty good, food issues aside. I am amazed at how much work I do, but it's all good. I like it. I just wish my lessons reflected the amount of time I put into them! I feel they're not as fabulous as they should be. It's really hard to get classes of more than twenty kids really engaged in learning a completely foreign language. I wonder how it will be when the novelty of the American has worn off. I'll find out soon enough! I am already getting very sick of the book I teach from, and I think I will need to start planning much further ahead to make coherent lessons that teach the required material without being boring as hell. Working just one lesson ahead is really not good...without an overall vision of where I'm heading, I have trouble bringing the lessons together. I want to start some big, ongoing projects. This is definitely something to work on. I am definitely determined to be a great teacher for these kids and to see their English really develop under my watch. I have already resigned myself to the fact that some just won't care to meet me halfway, and I owe it to the rest to keep going ahead. I don't want to teach to the bottom of the class...that would be doing everyone else a disservice. It's hard, though...how are the others ever going to learn if they are continually left behind? I guess in a way it's a choice they make. I still try to engage them, but I'm not going to waste all my time on it.
I think I forgot to mention before that there is a sizeable population of children without parents at the school--about 25% or so. I guess they usually stay with their grandparents (which explains why I see so few people between 15 and 60!). The parents are usually living, but looking for work somewhere else. It has something to do with the economic downturn of 1997, according to my co-teacher, but that seems like an awfully long time to be looking for a job to me. I thought South Korea was doing fine now. Anyway, Choi Hyun Moon is constantly pointing out orphaned children to me. It makes me sad.
Today I interviewed all the students who are interested in the English-only class I am going to start teaching next week. It's a two hour class on Thursday afternoons, so that's going to translate into a lot of work for me. I think it will be a good group, though. We initially planned interviews because we expected 40+ students to volunteer, but only 25 actually signed up. They are almost all girls (two boys) in grades 3-6. I think it will be fun to teach and even though some of them are low-level, I really didn't want to cut anyone who was interested. I hope they still have a good experience. I plan to leave it somewhat up to them what I teach--I really want this to be an opportunity for them to find out about anything English they are curious about. I am not going to concentrate on grammar or anything like that. They will get enough of that in middle and high school! I just hope they are signing up because they want to, not because of me, because then it might be a trying experience for all involved.
Otherwise, things are good. I didn't really have plans for the weekend. I've been grumpy, so I didn't feel like going through the bother of making them. I was sort of planning to meet a friend (plus a big group of ETAs) in Mokpo, but then I decided to do something with Kyoung He Sam instead. She'll be with her daughters, including the one that made my gorgeous cell phone charm. I'm looking forward to meeting them. They're 11 and 13, I think. And then I have some serious lesson planning to do! Also, there's a volleyball match on Sunday. I guess I might go cheer. It's kinda a male-dominated thing, actually. There were only three other women who played and they were pretty much stuck in the back (by choice or not, I do not know). It was definitely a different system of playing volleyball, and I don't think I like it as much. They never rotate! So that means you're stuck in one position the whole time, which I think is less interesting and also less challenging as a team. And it means that people can be stuck out of the action. I was for one game and I hated it. They must have sensed it, because they moved me forward again for the next game. And then my co-teacher (who is actually pretty good, considering he's my height) kept trying to set to me. I only messed up a few times! He told me later I was the best player--HA!
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Back to the Grindstone--Monday, September 4 and Tuesday, September 5
This week has been....uneventful so far. Yesterday was actually a really good day, but unfortunately I'm not in the best of moods right now so it's not going to come across as well as it may have. Anyway...yesterday I taught kindergarten and two fifth grade classes and both went really well. The kindergarteners are AMAZING. I absolutely love working with them...they are so cute and attentive! We learned A through D last week and a word to go with each letter. They were all on top of those, but the addition of E and F and elephant and frog was a little much, I think. Plus maybe they are getting bored. Still, the kindergarten class is the perfect way to start a week! Of course, they were preceded by our weekly assembly, which gets more boring by the week. I can hardly stand it...it amazes me that the kids are able to get through it relatively well! Maybe it's more interesting if you can actually understand what is being said.
The fifth grade classes went well, too. They are pretty small (about 20 students), so I think that helps a lot. One of them is really dominated by one boy who lived in California for four years (I think) and a couple other boys. Everyone else is really shy, which is unfortunate. I am trying to bring them out, but it's going to be a long process. At least half of the students in the other class participate on a regular basis, so that's nice for me. Although it might also have to do with the fact that I teach that class second, so I'm better at teaching the lesson then. Regardless, it's a good way to go off to lunch.
On Monday afternoon, I spent hours making alphabet games. It took so long, and I'm only through F! It's going to be a long process, but at least they'll be there for years to come once I'm done. My co-teacher was also especially chatty with me yesterday. Maybe he missed me over the weekend. He invited me to come to the beach with his family sometime...I'm not sure when. I am happy to be invited, though, both because I love the beach and I want to meet his little daughter, who is 10 months old. She sounds sassy. I think we will get along great.
I also had a couple of awkward introductions yesterday. First, I was ambushed in the kindergarten room and quickly taken to the principal's room to meet all these people on some sort of advisory board. They were the heads of the Mothers' Association and Fathers' Association and such. I don't have any idea what sort of power they have here, but they must have some if they are meeting with the good old principal! Second, in the afternoon I was asked to introduce myself to a group of teachers and principals from two other elementary schools in the area who were making the plan for my enrichment class. I am basically being asked to teach an English-only class for the most competent students, 20 of whom will come from Hongsan. There will be two levels and I am being asked to teach from 3:10 to 5 on Thursdays. I am not that happy with the time, because I was initially done at 11:50 am on Thursdays, but what can you do? I'm here to serve, after all. Plus, now I have another commitment on Thursday evenings. Last night, two strange men stopped by to see me right before dinner. I was so confused for a while, but basically they are with a construction company in town and want me to teach them conversational English. Now, I am not supposed to do this as a job under my contract because we are supposed to focus on taking in the local culture, but the way I see it, it's not really that much of a bother for me to help them and they will really appreciate it. So now I'm teaching them twice a week for free. I think I will grow to really regret this undertaking, but it's done now. Maybe they'll be really nice and pay me anyway. I would have felt really bad about saying no, anyway. It's not like it's hard for me to teach them to say hello and how are you.
Before I came home last night, though, my co-teacher took me to the top of the "mountain" right behind the school. It contains the remains of an ancient fortress from the Baekche dynasty. It has a really nice view of the area. I really love when me co-teacher takes me to do this stuff because he knows so much about it all and likes to talk, so I end up learning a lot more than I would on my own. I'm glad he likes to take me, too!
After dinner (mmmmm, curry!) some friend of my host father's came over with his family. I think they live in Buyeo. Their son is Mi-syoung's age, I think, but speaks incredible English. I have no idea where he learned it...I didn't get a chance to ask. He served as interpretor for a bit between me and my host mother. It was nice to have a clear line of communication!
Today was hectic and stressful. Even though I spent so long preparing for my lessons, they really didn't go that well. My fourth-grade lesson was a little too complicated, which I suspected before but decided to try anyway because I wanted to see if they could do it. I tried a variation of Pictionary/Taboo, but with people. We are practicing how to say "Who is (s)he" and "(S)He is _____." I think they understood by the end, but it wasn't the greatest lesson for the first half. The first graders simply had too much energy to be content coloring, and all my other activities were a dismal failure, too. I really need a classroom where students can move--where I can do some running and movement games to practice our alphabet and other activities. Alas, I am stuck in a room that barely has room to stand up. Oh, well. The second grade lesson went a little better, and the kindergarteners were as angelic as always. The other thing that sucks about my recent schedule change (besides a long day on Thursday) is that I will now teach kindergarten only once per week. I am really sad about that. They are sooooo cute! Today we did some review games and they did really well with recognition (and also trying to understand my directions for Go Fish and Memory) but didn't do so well with remembering yesterday's material. Gives me something to work on next time, I guess. They all ambushed me with hugs (my first ones here) and some even said thank you! I'm not sure where they learned that, but I made sure to give them great encouragement for doing so. They followed me all the way outside, hugging me and saying goodbye. It was a heart-wrenching separation on both sides.
I did more lesson-planning at school this afternoon, but I ended up redoing most of it this evening, anyway. I think I might just give up on the idea of getting my planning done at school. I just can't work there as well and I end up staying until 5 every day. I need my computer! And also no distractions from other teachers and students. They were both trying to stuff me with candy today.
Now tonight is just low-key. I might even have time to get in some leisurely activities like reading my book and knitting!
p.s. Blogger really isn't liking my photos lately, so I have posted them on Snapfish. You should have an email inviting you to view them. Enjoy!
The fifth grade classes went well, too. They are pretty small (about 20 students), so I think that helps a lot. One of them is really dominated by one boy who lived in California for four years (I think) and a couple other boys. Everyone else is really shy, which is unfortunate. I am trying to bring them out, but it's going to be a long process. At least half of the students in the other class participate on a regular basis, so that's nice for me. Although it might also have to do with the fact that I teach that class second, so I'm better at teaching the lesson then. Regardless, it's a good way to go off to lunch.
On Monday afternoon, I spent hours making alphabet games. It took so long, and I'm only through F! It's going to be a long process, but at least they'll be there for years to come once I'm done. My co-teacher was also especially chatty with me yesterday. Maybe he missed me over the weekend. He invited me to come to the beach with his family sometime...I'm not sure when. I am happy to be invited, though, both because I love the beach and I want to meet his little daughter, who is 10 months old. She sounds sassy. I think we will get along great.
I also had a couple of awkward introductions yesterday. First, I was ambushed in the kindergarten room and quickly taken to the principal's room to meet all these people on some sort of advisory board. They were the heads of the Mothers' Association and Fathers' Association and such. I don't have any idea what sort of power they have here, but they must have some if they are meeting with the good old principal! Second, in the afternoon I was asked to introduce myself to a group of teachers and principals from two other elementary schools in the area who were making the plan for my enrichment class. I am basically being asked to teach an English-only class for the most competent students, 20 of whom will come from Hongsan. There will be two levels and I am being asked to teach from 3:10 to 5 on Thursdays. I am not that happy with the time, because I was initially done at 11:50 am on Thursdays, but what can you do? I'm here to serve, after all. Plus, now I have another commitment on Thursday evenings. Last night, two strange men stopped by to see me right before dinner. I was so confused for a while, but basically they are with a construction company in town and want me to teach them conversational English. Now, I am not supposed to do this as a job under my contract because we are supposed to focus on taking in the local culture, but the way I see it, it's not really that much of a bother for me to help them and they will really appreciate it. So now I'm teaching them twice a week for free. I think I will grow to really regret this undertaking, but it's done now. Maybe they'll be really nice and pay me anyway. I would have felt really bad about saying no, anyway. It's not like it's hard for me to teach them to say hello and how are you.
Before I came home last night, though, my co-teacher took me to the top of the "mountain" right behind the school. It contains the remains of an ancient fortress from the Baekche dynasty. It has a really nice view of the area. I really love when me co-teacher takes me to do this stuff because he knows so much about it all and likes to talk, so I end up learning a lot more than I would on my own. I'm glad he likes to take me, too!
After dinner (mmmmm, curry!) some friend of my host father's came over with his family. I think they live in Buyeo. Their son is Mi-syoung's age, I think, but speaks incredible English. I have no idea where he learned it...I didn't get a chance to ask. He served as interpretor for a bit between me and my host mother. It was nice to have a clear line of communication!
Today was hectic and stressful. Even though I spent so long preparing for my lessons, they really didn't go that well. My fourth-grade lesson was a little too complicated, which I suspected before but decided to try anyway because I wanted to see if they could do it. I tried a variation of Pictionary/Taboo, but with people. We are practicing how to say "Who is (s)he" and "(S)He is _____." I think they understood by the end, but it wasn't the greatest lesson for the first half. The first graders simply had too much energy to be content coloring, and all my other activities were a dismal failure, too. I really need a classroom where students can move--where I can do some running and movement games to practice our alphabet and other activities. Alas, I am stuck in a room that barely has room to stand up. Oh, well. The second grade lesson went a little better, and the kindergarteners were as angelic as always. The other thing that sucks about my recent schedule change (besides a long day on Thursday) is that I will now teach kindergarten only once per week. I am really sad about that. They are sooooo cute! Today we did some review games and they did really well with recognition (and also trying to understand my directions for Go Fish and Memory) but didn't do so well with remembering yesterday's material. Gives me something to work on next time, I guess. They all ambushed me with hugs (my first ones here) and some even said thank you! I'm not sure where they learned that, but I made sure to give them great encouragement for doing so. They followed me all the way outside, hugging me and saying goodbye. It was a heart-wrenching separation on both sides.
I did more lesson-planning at school this afternoon, but I ended up redoing most of it this evening, anyway. I think I might just give up on the idea of getting my planning done at school. I just can't work there as well and I end up staying until 5 every day. I need my computer! And also no distractions from other teachers and students. They were both trying to stuff me with candy today.
Now tonight is just low-key. I might even have time to get in some leisurely activities like reading my book and knitting!
p.s. Blogger really isn't liking my photos lately, so I have posted them on Snapfish. You should have an email inviting you to view them. Enjoy!
Monday, September 04, 2006
SEOUL + BIANCA--Saturday, September 2 and Sunday, September 3
So I just spent a wild weekend away in Seoul. Wild, of course, is a relative word, and I suppose it wasn't wild at all by my usual standards, but it sure was a good time!
I left early Saturday morning (before 7!) to meet Bianca in Seoul at noon. I had absolutely no idea how long the journey would take and also figured I should leave myself some getting-hopelessly-lost-time (because whenever I DON'T, I get lost!). My co-teacher told me that if I wanted to go to Seoul on one bus, I should take the 7:15 bus from Hongsan to Seoul, but I decided to switch to an express bus in Buyeo so it didn't take as long. And I didn't get lost! I arrived in Seoul at 10 am, but unfortunately without ANY maps because I forgot those extraordinarily helpful items at home. With a little help from Bianca (en route to Seoul by train), I managed to find my way to the train station just as she was arriving. It was sweet. I was really proud of myself.
Once together, we made our way to our hotel in downtown Seoul. Actually, hotel is a grand overstatement. It really wasn't very nice, but it was clean and cheap, so we took it. Basically, Bianca and I had a room big enough for our two sleeping mats, a small TV (though I don't know why we would ever hole up in that little room to watch TV when we're in friggin Seoul!) and a fan. The owners were nice, and we weren't planning to spend much time there, anyway. And regardless, it was a step up from my initial plans for accommodation the last time I was in Seoul. (We were going to stay at a "love" motel that was actually moderately pricey and fairly sketchy. This was neither.)
After that, we went to Kyobo bookstore, which is this absolutely enormous bookstore with a large English section. I bought some books there last time I was in Seoul. This time, I stuck to the stationary section, which was still HUGE. We also invested in some K-pop. I want to pick up some of the music here, both because I like the local flavor and because everyone keeps quizzing me on my favorite Korean artists and I don't know any yet. My sixth grade girls are all about this group called Super Junior, so I bought their CD but I haven't listened to it yet.
Next, Bianca and I managed to find a nice, vegetarian-friendly restaurant. I had dosolt bibimbap, which is rice and vegetables in a hot stone bowl. It might be my favorite Korean dish. It usually comes with a raw egg on top that is cooked as you mix it with the hot rice, and the rice is deliciously crispy from the hot bowl. Delectable.
We next went to a palace downtown, but I forget the name of it. It was a nice walk, though. I always see so many Koreans at these sort of places that we would consider touristy at home. I think it’s nice that they take the chance to partake in the sights as well. Also, the fact that so many flock to these cultural sites means that they are cheaper for me…usually 1000-2000 won!
I also got my haircut in Sinchon (an area in Seoul near Yonsei University where a lot of students hang out). We actually had some trouble finding a place, but Bianca finally spotted a sign just as we were about to give up. This guy who called himself Steve cut my hair, and boy was he good! He didn't even wet my hair or anything but just started snipping away. I've never had my hair cut so fast and professionally! And he even curled it for me! I am definitely going back to that place...it rocked! We also tried to get some patpingsu in Sinchon, but it wasn't nearly as good as it was in Chuncheon. I was sorely disappointed.
Next, Bianca and went to Itaewon, an area in Seoul known for being "international." There are so many foreigners there! I actually didn't like it that much just for that...I didn't like being associated with the other Americans I saw there, who just seemed loud and obnoxious. It made me uncomfortable to be around them, for some weird reason. I guess I just feel more Korean, but I know when I'm there I'm just another American. Also, American tourists kinda suck, I think...just noisy, disruptive, and dismissive of other cultures. But I'm generalizing, of course. It did remind me that I will probably have a hard time adjusting back to America when I return. If I can't even handle a group of Americans walking by while I'm in another country, how will I deal with constant interaction with them? And I was also thinking about the Fulbright conference coming up in a month...I really don't want to go. There aren't that many people I miss from Fulbright, and the ones I do miss I'd much rather make plans to see on an individual basis, rather than in a huge pre-arranged herd. Plus, the Fulbright conference cuts into my week-long vacation! So I'll probably avoid everyone while I'm there.
Back to Seoul...so we found a good ol convenience store and drank some soju out front. It was not very classy, but pretty fun. Better than the lame and expensive bars we considered entering before. Then we splurged on an expensive Pakistani dinner. It was good (I had very spicy curry and falafel), but quite pricy...I could have gotten 3 or 4 Korean dinners for that price! Next time, Bianca and I decided, we will skip dinner and rely on the appetizers they force us to order at bars. This way, we won't be so full we have to roll ourselves down the street, and we spend much less money. It's perfect!
We went out to the Hongik University area next because our guidebook said it was a hip place for youngsters. And it was...there were SOOO many people strolling the streets! Cars could barely pass by! We walked our food off for a while, then went to a bar that looked interesting. We were halfway through our pitcher of beer and platter of fruit when I noticed this guy staring at us. It was unusual for two reasons. First, Koreans really don't stare. It's considered quite rude. I had mentioned before that no one stared at me the way I expected, and this is the reason why. Also, I usually am oblivious to my surroundings. So this was very blatant staring, and it continued pretty much nonstop for at least the next five minutes. He finally scurried over with two orange slices and ran away without saying anything. We weren't really sure what to do--Fulbright didn't cover this situation during Orientation--so we just smiled and ate the fruit. Then, I saw him leave the table and then return with 4 more slices for us, special-ordered from the bar, and scampered away again. Again with watermelon. So this was getting pretty ridiculous. He finally sort of motions at me and says, "Katchi?" which means together, and I was like, sure. I mean, Bianca's fun, but it's fun to meet some real Seoul people, right? So this guy was WASTED. His "English" name was Jamie and he could hardly speak English--I'm not sure if it was genuine lack of skill or booze--and just kept trying to talk in Korean, with a few random words of English. His friend was better, I think, but shy about talking. I forget his name, because he only had a Korean one and we all know how grrrrreat I am with those. Anyway, we had a fun time trying to talk to each other, while the one guy was basically falling all over me and semi-strangling me, and then we went to a norebang. That was somewhat disastrous because we couldn't sing together in the same language and Bianca and I aren't the greatest singers, but we tried! We did a mean rendition of "The Boy is Mine." Too bad both the guys had good voices, even when absolutely drunk. Hopefully they didn't notice my lack of skill. Jamie began each of his songs with a long stare in my direction and "I love you." It was funny, but a little uncomfortable because I wasn't really into him. I was just looking for entertainment! So Bianca and I finally managed to convey that we needed to go home, and they insisted on escorting us. And then unfortunately, Jamie basically wouldn't leave! He kept leaving, and then coming back to our door 5 minutes later to wish me sweet dreams again. His friend was soooooooo embarrassed. Lucky for him, I was more amused than annoyed. I've never been the object of such persistence! He called and texted me a bunch of times, too, but I doubt I will ever hear from him again. If I were him, I'd be too embarrassed to talk to me again! The other guy called Bianca today, though, and I hope she dates him. He was cute and nice.
On Sunday, Bianca and I decided to find some "nature." We basically picked a random park to go to. We went to Namsan park in the middle of Seoul and it was really cool. You can climb up this steep mountain/hill (or take a cable car, if you're lazy) and have a great view of Seoul in all directions. It's wild! We walked around for a while and then had a late lunch before parting ways. Again, we managed to successfully order delicious Korean food! It was a far cry from our first attempt together, when we accidently ended up at a bar and ordered French fries and beer.
I even got back to Hongsan relatively rapidly and all by myself! Perhaps the only damper on the weekend was that Bianca's watch somehow got set an hour fast, so we could have spent some more time together. But this way, I got home early enough for dinner and lesson-planning...oh, what fun!
I left early Saturday morning (before 7!) to meet Bianca in Seoul at noon. I had absolutely no idea how long the journey would take and also figured I should leave myself some getting-hopelessly-lost-time (because whenever I DON'T, I get lost!). My co-teacher told me that if I wanted to go to Seoul on one bus, I should take the 7:15 bus from Hongsan to Seoul, but I decided to switch to an express bus in Buyeo so it didn't take as long. And I didn't get lost! I arrived in Seoul at 10 am, but unfortunately without ANY maps because I forgot those extraordinarily helpful items at home. With a little help from Bianca (en route to Seoul by train), I managed to find my way to the train station just as she was arriving. It was sweet. I was really proud of myself.
Once together, we made our way to our hotel in downtown Seoul. Actually, hotel is a grand overstatement. It really wasn't very nice, but it was clean and cheap, so we took it. Basically, Bianca and I had a room big enough for our two sleeping mats, a small TV (though I don't know why we would ever hole up in that little room to watch TV when we're in friggin Seoul!) and a fan. The owners were nice, and we weren't planning to spend much time there, anyway. And regardless, it was a step up from my initial plans for accommodation the last time I was in Seoul. (We were going to stay at a "love" motel that was actually moderately pricey and fairly sketchy. This was neither.)
After that, we went to Kyobo bookstore, which is this absolutely enormous bookstore with a large English section. I bought some books there last time I was in Seoul. This time, I stuck to the stationary section, which was still HUGE. We also invested in some K-pop. I want to pick up some of the music here, both because I like the local flavor and because everyone keeps quizzing me on my favorite Korean artists and I don't know any yet. My sixth grade girls are all about this group called Super Junior, so I bought their CD but I haven't listened to it yet.
Next, Bianca and I managed to find a nice, vegetarian-friendly restaurant. I had dosolt bibimbap, which is rice and vegetables in a hot stone bowl. It might be my favorite Korean dish. It usually comes with a raw egg on top that is cooked as you mix it with the hot rice, and the rice is deliciously crispy from the hot bowl. Delectable.
We next went to a palace downtown, but I forget the name of it. It was a nice walk, though. I always see so many Koreans at these sort of places that we would consider touristy at home. I think it’s nice that they take the chance to partake in the sights as well. Also, the fact that so many flock to these cultural sites means that they are cheaper for me…usually 1000-2000 won!
I also got my haircut in Sinchon (an area in Seoul near Yonsei University where a lot of students hang out). We actually had some trouble finding a place, but Bianca finally spotted a sign just as we were about to give up. This guy who called himself Steve cut my hair, and boy was he good! He didn't even wet my hair or anything but just started snipping away. I've never had my hair cut so fast and professionally! And he even curled it for me! I am definitely going back to that place...it rocked! We also tried to get some patpingsu in Sinchon, but it wasn't nearly as good as it was in Chuncheon. I was sorely disappointed.
Next, Bianca and went to Itaewon, an area in Seoul known for being "international." There are so many foreigners there! I actually didn't like it that much just for that...I didn't like being associated with the other Americans I saw there, who just seemed loud and obnoxious. It made me uncomfortable to be around them, for some weird reason. I guess I just feel more Korean, but I know when I'm there I'm just another American. Also, American tourists kinda suck, I think...just noisy, disruptive, and dismissive of other cultures. But I'm generalizing, of course. It did remind me that I will probably have a hard time adjusting back to America when I return. If I can't even handle a group of Americans walking by while I'm in another country, how will I deal with constant interaction with them? And I was also thinking about the Fulbright conference coming up in a month...I really don't want to go. There aren't that many people I miss from Fulbright, and the ones I do miss I'd much rather make plans to see on an individual basis, rather than in a huge pre-arranged herd. Plus, the Fulbright conference cuts into my week-long vacation! So I'll probably avoid everyone while I'm there.
Back to Seoul...so we found a good ol convenience store and drank some soju out front. It was not very classy, but pretty fun. Better than the lame and expensive bars we considered entering before. Then we splurged on an expensive Pakistani dinner. It was good (I had very spicy curry and falafel), but quite pricy...I could have gotten 3 or 4 Korean dinners for that price! Next time, Bianca and I decided, we will skip dinner and rely on the appetizers they force us to order at bars. This way, we won't be so full we have to roll ourselves down the street, and we spend much less money. It's perfect!
We went out to the Hongik University area next because our guidebook said it was a hip place for youngsters. And it was...there were SOOO many people strolling the streets! Cars could barely pass by! We walked our food off for a while, then went to a bar that looked interesting. We were halfway through our pitcher of beer and platter of fruit when I noticed this guy staring at us. It was unusual for two reasons. First, Koreans really don't stare. It's considered quite rude. I had mentioned before that no one stared at me the way I expected, and this is the reason why. Also, I usually am oblivious to my surroundings. So this was very blatant staring, and it continued pretty much nonstop for at least the next five minutes. He finally scurried over with two orange slices and ran away without saying anything. We weren't really sure what to do--Fulbright didn't cover this situation during Orientation--so we just smiled and ate the fruit. Then, I saw him leave the table and then return with 4 more slices for us, special-ordered from the bar, and scampered away again. Again with watermelon. So this was getting pretty ridiculous. He finally sort of motions at me and says, "Katchi?" which means together, and I was like, sure. I mean, Bianca's fun, but it's fun to meet some real Seoul people, right? So this guy was WASTED. His "English" name was Jamie and he could hardly speak English--I'm not sure if it was genuine lack of skill or booze--and just kept trying to talk in Korean, with a few random words of English. His friend was better, I think, but shy about talking. I forget his name, because he only had a Korean one and we all know how grrrrreat I am with those. Anyway, we had a fun time trying to talk to each other, while the one guy was basically falling all over me and semi-strangling me, and then we went to a norebang. That was somewhat disastrous because we couldn't sing together in the same language and Bianca and I aren't the greatest singers, but we tried! We did a mean rendition of "The Boy is Mine." Too bad both the guys had good voices, even when absolutely drunk. Hopefully they didn't notice my lack of skill. Jamie began each of his songs with a long stare in my direction and "I love you." It was funny, but a little uncomfortable because I wasn't really into him. I was just looking for entertainment! So Bianca and I finally managed to convey that we needed to go home, and they insisted on escorting us. And then unfortunately, Jamie basically wouldn't leave! He kept leaving, and then coming back to our door 5 minutes later to wish me sweet dreams again. His friend was soooooooo embarrassed. Lucky for him, I was more amused than annoyed. I've never been the object of such persistence! He called and texted me a bunch of times, too, but I doubt I will ever hear from him again. If I were him, I'd be too embarrassed to talk to me again! The other guy called Bianca today, though, and I hope she dates him. He was cute and nice.
On Sunday, Bianca and I decided to find some "nature." We basically picked a random park to go to. We went to Namsan park in the middle of Seoul and it was really cool. You can climb up this steep mountain/hill (or take a cable car, if you're lazy) and have a great view of Seoul in all directions. It's wild! We walked around for a while and then had a late lunch before parting ways. Again, we managed to successfully order delicious Korean food! It was a far cry from our first attempt together, when we accidently ended up at a bar and ordered French fries and beer.
I even got back to Hongsan relatively rapidly and all by myself! Perhaps the only damper on the weekend was that Bianca's watch somehow got set an hour fast, so we could have spent some more time together. But this way, I got home early enough for dinner and lesson-planning...oh, what fun!
Friday, September 01, 2006
Just Another Day in the Boonies--Thursday, August 31 and Friday, September 1
These past few days have been pretty excellent, especially now that I have my Internet connection. In some ways, I am sad that I am so dependent on the Internet, but hey…it keeps me from feeling lonely. Which has yet to really occur, but my coworkers are convinced I must be lonely all the time and miss my family and friends terribly. Friends and loved ones are very important in Korean culture, so I think they don’t understand when I say that I am used to being away from home. Though I guess it’s been two months now…Whoa! It seems like I just got here! Also, there is a definite group mentality here, so they also don’t understand that I might actually like to spend some time by myself. So whatever they think, I haven’t really been lonely yet, but it’s probably just a matter of time. I’ve been really busy so far, so maybe later, when I have more time, I will get really sick of this one-horse town. I am definitely enjoying what they call the “honeymoon” phase right now and I’m sure I will crash later and rant about how much I hate my host family, my town, and my school, right now I love everything about everything and it’s a great feeling. And best of all, I think it’s reciprocal!
My lessons the past few days haven’t been the greatest, but then again, I set high standards for myself. I have a vision of being a really superb English teacher and it will take some time to do so. I need to become more used to the classroom and teaching, and also develop more learning materials and classroom games and activities. There’s really an extent to how much I can make per day. As it is, I’m spending a lot of time at school making materials for my lessons (enough that a couple of teachers have told me I work too hard) and work for a couple hours each night, too. Which is my excuse for not writing in this blog often this week. But I digress. It’s interesting because I had this vision of Korea as being a country of workaholics, but from what I have seen of my village, at least, many things take precedence over work. For instance, at my school the teachers usually don’t work during the lunch hour, but take that time to enjoy tea or coffee and talk leisurely. It’s a very social place where relationships are important, I think. I’m glad they have welcomed me so warmly into this community.
Tomorrow I am going to Seoul to meet Bianca. I don’t know what we will do besides find this amazing Indian restaurant we’ve heard so much about, but I am really looking forward to seeing her again and talking about all that’s happened to us in the past two weeks. We’ve kept up some over email and such, but it’s really not the same at all and I want to hear what her take on the ETA experience so far has been. I definitely have some friends who have not been as lucky as I am and are really not content with either their homestay, their school, or both. I am really very lucky and I know it.
I am falling more in love with my students by the day. I smile here at my computer just thinking about them. It’s hard to describe what it’s like. I get out of the car in the morning and they’re there. Some of them just look at me shyly, while others immediately start waving frantically and calling “Hello! Jen sonsaengnim!” I am often ambushed by a horde of second-grade girls either outside the school or in the hallway, who rush to grab hold of any part of my body they can. There’s a definite competition for my hands, which makes changing into my school slippers difficult. A bunch of other students will approach me as I make my way upstairs to my classroom, again calling “Hello, Jen sonsaengnim!” In kindergarten through maybe third grade, almost all the students are pretty enthusiastic about me and basically burst with joy when they walk into the room for my class. The little ones are so precious. At least half of the older classes are that way, too. And there is a group of sixth grade girls (and a few boys) who visit me during every break (their classroom is just down the hallway). They are fun to talk to because they can speak a little bit of English. In class today, they showed me a bunch of pictures of Korean guys—singers and maybe actors, I’m guessing—and asked me to pick which one was moshisoyo (handsome). I guess they liked my reply, because they burst into cheers. And this is my typical day with my students.
Today, there was this one little boy in the first grade who was sooo cute. I actually sat by him yesterday at lunch, too, and he tried to talk to me and even brought me some water, too. So today, we were playing an alphabet game, and he started enthusiastically waving his “C” coloring card where, I now saw, he had carefully printed “Miss Jen” (I had written it on the board). Keep in mind this boy only knows the letters A, B, C, and D and the words apple, banana, cat, dog, and hello. So I’m sure he had no idea what he wrote, but I loved it anyway.
My lessons the past few days haven’t been the greatest, but then again, I set high standards for myself. I have a vision of being a really superb English teacher and it will take some time to do so. I need to become more used to the classroom and teaching, and also develop more learning materials and classroom games and activities. There’s really an extent to how much I can make per day. As it is, I’m spending a lot of time at school making materials for my lessons (enough that a couple of teachers have told me I work too hard) and work for a couple hours each night, too. Which is my excuse for not writing in this blog often this week. But I digress. It’s interesting because I had this vision of Korea as being a country of workaholics, but from what I have seen of my village, at least, many things take precedence over work. For instance, at my school the teachers usually don’t work during the lunch hour, but take that time to enjoy tea or coffee and talk leisurely. It’s a very social place where relationships are important, I think. I’m glad they have welcomed me so warmly into this community.
Tomorrow I am going to Seoul to meet Bianca. I don’t know what we will do besides find this amazing Indian restaurant we’ve heard so much about, but I am really looking forward to seeing her again and talking about all that’s happened to us in the past two weeks. We’ve kept up some over email and such, but it’s really not the same at all and I want to hear what her take on the ETA experience so far has been. I definitely have some friends who have not been as lucky as I am and are really not content with either their homestay, their school, or both. I am really very lucky and I know it.
I am falling more in love with my students by the day. I smile here at my computer just thinking about them. It’s hard to describe what it’s like. I get out of the car in the morning and they’re there. Some of them just look at me shyly, while others immediately start waving frantically and calling “Hello! Jen sonsaengnim!” I am often ambushed by a horde of second-grade girls either outside the school or in the hallway, who rush to grab hold of any part of my body they can. There’s a definite competition for my hands, which makes changing into my school slippers difficult. A bunch of other students will approach me as I make my way upstairs to my classroom, again calling “Hello, Jen sonsaengnim!” In kindergarten through maybe third grade, almost all the students are pretty enthusiastic about me and basically burst with joy when they walk into the room for my class. The little ones are so precious. At least half of the older classes are that way, too. And there is a group of sixth grade girls (and a few boys) who visit me during every break (their classroom is just down the hallway). They are fun to talk to because they can speak a little bit of English. In class today, they showed me a bunch of pictures of Korean guys—singers and maybe actors, I’m guessing—and asked me to pick which one was moshisoyo (handsome). I guess they liked my reply, because they burst into cheers. And this is my typical day with my students.
Today, there was this one little boy in the first grade who was sooo cute. I actually sat by him yesterday at lunch, too, and he tried to talk to me and even brought me some water, too. So today, we were playing an alphabet game, and he started enthusiastically waving his “C” coloring card where, I now saw, he had carefully printed “Miss Jen” (I had written it on the board). Keep in mind this boy only knows the letters A, B, C, and D and the words apple, banana, cat, dog, and hello. So I’m sure he had no idea what he wrote, but I loved it anyway.
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