Silly Moments in Seoul Subway Stations

Date: 11/30

So, we are headed to the bus terminal stop in the subways after EPIK orientation, right?  We're in Seoul and I'm lugging my suitcase up and down stairs (I've heard rumors that the Subways stations have been built deep into the ground--like really deep into the ground--as a sort of bunker system in case NKorea decides to go off the deep-end), around escalators and through those little spinning human counters where you have to swipe your card for the arms to spin so that you can get through.  You know what I'm talking about?  They have them at baseball stadiums to let you in.  If your card doesn't read, you can't through.   Well, I was walking through one of those devil machines and I make it through....but my bag doesn't.  It is a wheely bag with one of those extendable handles.  My handle SOMEHOW got caught on one of the arms of the spinner.  And when I passed through, the arm of the spinner automatically stops.  Unfornately, my extendable handle was stuck on the frozen arm.  Like, it was stuck. Absolutely stuck!

I blocked traffic.  I held up lots of people, but because I was foreigner it was ok.  Plus there were dozens of other spinner things to walk through.  Scott left me out to dry--stinking kiwi!  Eventually the maintance man at Seoul Subway Station came and then a kind Korean man somehow got my thing un-locked by a trick with un-extending the handle on my suitcase, some tricky maneuvers, and just plain luck, in my mind.  

But I thanked him and went on, about fifteen shades of embarrassed. So, thank you to the strange man who unlocked my suitcase.  Because I was totally dumbfounded about what to do....

EPIK Orientation Day 4

Date: 11/30

Last day of Orientation.  Whew! It is very exhausting to be a Korean Student.  I think they really tried to make the Orientation a snipet of what a Korean middle or high school student would feel like so that the teachers can try to understand why a student could possibly fall asleep in your class.  I was getting up around 7.  Classes start at 9.  2 classes before lunch, two after.  Dinner, then Korean class.  And then we had to things to do outside of class: getting the lesson plan presentation together, doing Korean Language homework, etc.  They put you quiet the ringer--wringer?  Whatever.  The students spell better than I do either way.

So: Tuesday went like this:

I got up late (after 5 hours of sleep, you would too, especially since it was the second night in a row that I had gotten 5 hours).  Anyway, enough of the whining.

Then, my friend I had made at orientation came and told me some really bad news.  My friend, Amanda, found out on Saturday that her dad was in the hospital.  But since it was Thanksgiving weekend, they couldn't get a doctor to come in until Monday (aka, Tuesday our time).  So, at 7.15 Amanda knocks on my door and says that she's "going home."

It was pretty crushing.  I felt horrible for her.  Her brother is buying her a ticket home and she and Tom (her husband) were going to fly out that afternoon.  So, I take her up to the Office where our class leader, Hae Sol is working.  She tells us that we need to go tell the Orientation Director.   We find her having breakfast.  Amanda tell the director.  It was very short and quick.  She literally walked up to the direct and said, "I'm going home." The direct took it was good aplum, but it wasn't easy.  In our contracts, we do get emergency family leave.

Amanda fully intends to come back, but it will not be an easy time.  That is one thing that everyone who comes to Korea has a fear of.  It is just about the worst thing that can happen.

I say good-bye to Amanda and Tom in the lobby.  Shelby, one of Amanda's best friends, was also there. We both started crying after they left.  It was just so hard.  I made a remark that I've only know Amanda for 2 maybe 3 days and I'm upset with her leaving.  I can't imagine how Shelby was feeling.

So, I basically put that emotion on hold.  I had still had to buy the gift for Mrs Lee and I wasn't going to put only my money into the gift so I went around during breakfast and asked people for anything they felt would be appropriate.  I had some people who flat out refused to give money, while others were very helpful.

I ran to Starbucks and got a gift card for Mrs Lee.  I had about 25,000 won from everyone (Richard gave 5000) and I added another 5,000.  I also got myself an extra-venti mocha because I felt after saying goodbye to Amanda that I was fully entitled to an indulgence.  And I also got HaeSol a hot chocolate.   I rushed back to the NIIED complex because we had another lecturer about "Co-teaching Strategies" and I was late (about 15 minutes).

Of course, once I get there I realize a key stragetic flaw with my plan to HaeSol hot chocolate.  It needs to be "hot" chocolate to be good--and she's in front of the lecture hall with all the other Korean class leaders.  But luckily I catch her eye and wave her back.  I give her the chocolate, which makes her smile and then I ask if I can borrow any tape because I need to wrap the Director's gift.  And then I specify that the chocolate is from me--not the class. And she goes, "Oh, the class got me something too?" Which, yes they had.  Sort of.

When we went to the traditional village the day before, I had made some origami of little people in traditional clothes and we glued them onto some cardstock to make a card.  I basically passed around my card with a pen and had Class 4 sign the back.  I have done so many origami things in my life I don't really need another one so it was no big deal--but I had a lot of my classmates really impressed with my "generosity."

During the break between the lecture and the closing ceremony, I run up to my room and wrap the gift card for Mrs Lee.  Then I run back to the lecture hall and get to my seat just in time to catch a breath before the closing ceremony starts.

All are teachers filling out an evaluation and then some lady from the HEAD EPIK office gets up and officially starts the closing ceremony.  We all clap.  Then all four class leaders go on stage (ie, me and 3 other people) and accept the certificates for our classes.  Next, Richard and I give our speeches.

We had practiced last night so it went really well.  We could play off each other like we were actually friends--not had met for less than a hour.  It went well.  And then, at the end of the speech, we surprise Mrs Lee.  We had not informed her that we were getting her anything, nor had we practiced this the previous night.  So, I cheekily call her up on to the stage.  Richard knows how to bow better than I do so he hands over her gift.  It was really cute, she bows, but quickly grabs Richard in a hug (pretty Un-Korean of her).  Then she comes up to me and I got a hug too!    There is a back story to this:

This is the second orientation that this lady has directed.  The last one had a severe sour note.  Some guys had gotten extremely drunk, and uncapped 3 or 4 fire extinguishers on two or three dorm rooms.  Yah...they got sent home.  But, because of this, Mrs Lee had gone a little over and beyond to make sure that this orientation would go well.  While at sometimes this meant she cracked down a little bit (as in, having a curfew--which lots of people balked at) it also meant she thought about a lot of little things (such as having water bottles for everyone at the begin of the day and Western Food for meals).

Anyway, I know a couple people were really not happy with the orientation and they probably gave really bad reviews during the evaluation.  But I also don't think people have done a project of this magnitude.  During college I organized a Girl Scout Day where 80 troopers came to our college and earned their music badge.  That was 1 day (maybe 8 hours), with the help of parents, meals/and/or/lodging not included, and it took weeks of planning.  So, it really angered me that people were so critical of the orientation.  It was really well managed.  Yes, she might have been a bit of a control freak about certain things, but really, it was an excellently managed event that was no small endeavor.  I wish some people would think more about things like that before they are so judgmental.

Anyway, after closing ceremony, we are basically free.  The people from Busan and some other place had busses waiting for them so they can go home together.  Everyone else, which is where I fall in, were free to go.  I went to the bank, got some money, clean my room/pack, found Scott--the Kiwi I came up to Seoul with--and head to the bus terminal to go home.

The bus stops at a rest station about an hour into the drive, and Scott and I actually run into another couple from the orientation (they will be headed in-land while we will be headed to the coast).  It was neat.

I was not very talkative on the bus.  I felt bad for Scott who seemed to be pretty awake, while I totally konked out.  But whatever.

I get back to Gunsan around 5 pm.  I immediately returned home, and left.  I know that doesn't make much sense, but I did not want to be sitting in my apartment, I wanted to get back to my little city of Gunsan.  I walked to the phone store to recharge my phone, called Ms Kim to let her know I made it back safely, and had dinner out.  I had some sort of spicy, seafood risotto.  I won't be having that again.

I went home, started some laundry, tried to figure out what I was going to wear for the next day, really unpacked, cleaned my bathroom (for some reason I just felt like doing this...don't ask why.  When this kind of urge to clean hits, I usually run with it because it doesn't come around often), and finally, I passed out around 9.

Considering that I will be getting about twice the amount of sleep last night than I got the past three nights, I feel pretty good.  I'm glad orientation is over; I learned a lot of things, but it was basically extremely mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting.

I'm glad that I don't live in Seoul.  I mean, I might miss out on a lot of the fun things to do in Seoul, but it is a big city and I am glad that I get a more authentic "traditional" Korean experience in my little port city.  There are some good things about having a schedule!

EPIK Orientation Day 3

Date: 11/30

Monday was a good day in terms of Orientation.  It was almost over so the Time Warp that is Orientation was coming to an end.

In the morning we had to present the lessons that we'd been planning all weekend.  Basically we had to present a 45 minute lesson in 15 minutes.  So, for example, we'd pass out the hand out and say, "Ok, you have 5 minutes to finish!" And then they would wait a second and say, "Good job!"  There were 5 groups in our "class" and everyone did well.  I heard some groups in other classes just bombed, but we didn't.

My group was the only Middle School lesson plan in the room (everyone else was elementary).  We had "What can I get you?/I want a Cheeseburger" as our main points and then we had to spin it off from there.  We basically let the "students" (aka: the other teachers) brainstorm about food words and then we introduced a dialogue and then we played a game where the students had to come up and order food from a fellow classmate.  It went ok--although we were finished before time ran out so we had to a do a little improvising and have the "students" practice ordering food at different types of restaurants: Chinese, Italian, TacoBell, etc.

Then we had group feedback.  The feedback that my group got was to write the Key Expressions on the board.  We said that since the lesson was geared at speaking that writing the expressions down would make it more of a reading exercise.  Everyone basically agreed with that.

Next came lunch.  And then off to our "cultural experience."  We went to Namsang Traditional village where I had signed up for Hanji Paperfolding (read: origami).  We made these cute little men and women paper cards.  They were fun.  But unfortunately, the house, since it was a traditional style, used hanji as windows and doors.  So, it was about 40 degrees outside, but there was only a sheet of think paper on the windows (no glass).  It wasn't very "airtight" so to say.  I was really cold.   But since that was the only times spent *cough cough* outside, it wasn't that bad.  I'm actually glad that I wasn't in the musical group because they had to play a lot of various drums and cymbals , etc for 45 minutes.  I would have gotten a headache.

Then we headed over to the Namtang musical performance.  These guys had opened up the ceremony way back on Friday, so we didn't know if was going to be a giant repeat performance.  But they surprised us with Korean traditional instruments, ballet, dance, opera, and singing.  It was very cool.  I was a giant dork and got to go on stage not once, but twice.  First, after the traditional dancing, they asked if anyone wanted to go up.  About 15 people went up and waved our arms around and jumped in circles.  We looked like idiots.  Then when the opera lady came out and sang, she taught us the traditional Korean song Arirang.  It was a good teach, but the words are obviously Korean so it was a little hard to remember. (Aka, read impossible.)  But then she asks for a volunteer.  You could hear a pin drop.  No only does no one actually know this song, but who actually wants to sing in front of everyone.

That's when my problem pops up.  I hate for people to feel discouraged when they are trying to teach.  I get it every day at school and I know I don't like it when it feels like I'm pulling teeth.  So, I raised my hand for this opera lady.

Which meant, I went back on stage.  Luckily she took pity on me and she sand a verse and then I would try to imitate.   On the long verses she would join me.  It was neat though because the traditional Korean orchestra was playing when I was trying to sing.

Not something I will really forget.  It was fun--if not a little embarrassing.  But hey, I can always fall back on the "Foreigner" card.

Next we piled back on the busses to go to Nanta.  Nanta reminds me of Stomp or Jump performances.  You know, using every day objects to make music and sound and rhythms.  It is actually a "cooking show" where they use all cooking objects to make noises.  It was really high powered and fun.  They involve the audience by making random people come up onto stage.  One couple got "married" while another helped in a food-making competition.

The best was that one of the men, the "oldest" chief has this solo section where he basically divides the audience in half and tries to get them to clap/stomp/make noise for him.  He plays off the crowd during this section.  But, he is used to the group-ism orientation of Koreans so when he gets faced with a bunch of individualism-oriented people it turned into quiet a laugh.  Then he was getting frustrated, exaspereated, it was just great when a Korean yells, "Get out!" at audience members.  He tried to do the splitting-the-audience-one-more-time thing, but since he was frustrated, he flipped his apron around his waist.  He's wearing pants, but when he gets in this Taekwondo pose, his pants get quiet tight.  Someone in the audience just burst out laughing and pointing...basically at his...well...his crotch.  He looses it.  I love it when the moment is so funny that we got the man to break his control.  And he really lost it, it took about 4 minutes to get under control--which just made it that much more funny.  When he laughed, you couldn't help but laugh.  I'm laughing thinking about it right now.  It was fabulous.

We piled back into the bus and they took us to an all-you-can-eat seafood restaurant called Marisco.  It was delicious--and it also had plenty of both Asian and Western foods.

By that time though, I was exhausted.  I had only gotten about 6 hours of sleep the previous night and it was just a nerve-wracking day with the presentations.  I didn't want to go out.  But then my group leader comes up to me and says that since I volunteered (see, my problem is seriously a problem) for class leader, and then I volunteered (again, with the problem) to help say a little speech at the closing ceremony the following morning, I needed to go to a closing-ceremony practice at 10 pm.

Luckily, I had co-volunteered with a guy named Richard from Class 3 to do the speech. Earlier we had split up the ceremony duties: He wrote the speech and I would get a gift for the Orientation Director: Mrs. Lee.

Richard has been in Korea for over a year, but this is his first time in a public school.  He is "in it for the long haul" which means roughly 6-7 years.  He viewed the orientation as a giant "brownie-point" earning machine.  He volunteered for lots of things, won his class lesson presentation, and so on a so forth.  Basically the more brownie-points he earns at things like this, the more it is likely that his school will ask him to re-sign for another year.

Anyway, he was very surprised when I told him that I was only 5 weeks old (as in, I've been here for 5 weeks).  He said usually people are too star-struck, culture shocked, or just plain old worried about getting wasted that they don't ask for more responsibility.  I told him I'm just strange...or special...haven't figured that one out yet.  Maybe I'm both!

But I was a good little thieving American that night.  I had an hour before the practice closing ceremony so I started to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.  Then after the practice session I finished the movie.  I probably should have waited another 15 days until the movie comes out here in Korea, because the pixilation was awful, but I needed a bit of a break and watching Daniel Radcliff was relaxing.  *grin*

So that was Day 3 (which is really Day 4, because Day 1 was just registration, but who's really counting, right?!)

EPIK Orientation Day 2

Date: 11/27

Today was Day Duo of my EPIK Orientation training.  It was much more "how to teach" focused.  It was relatively good--although I'm a little tired and just a little buzzed from some wine I had at dinner that I will try to be comprehensible, but if I make some silly mistake or go on some tangent, please be patient.  (Qualifier: I'm not drunk--just a little buzzed and happy/tired.  But I did happen to share a bottle of wine this evening with two others and it was the first GOOD/DELICIOUS/AMAZING/FANTASTIC Italian food I've had in over a month so I thoroughly enjoyed myself).

We got up and went to breakfast.  It was a nice mix of Western style food and Korean.  For example, we had little over-easy eggs (with ketchup, which I don't do, but other American are amazed over), a salad (yes, leaf lettus and ranch-pseudo dressing), bacon (a mix between Canadian and American style), and "grilled" veggies.

The coffee is the Korean Instant kind, so afterwards I went out to get some real stuff.  In between ordering coffee and saying, "Gahmsamneeda" (Thank you!) It started to snow!  TO SNOW!  I think I might have scared the coffee lady because I pointed out side, tried not to yell "SNOW!"  It was only a few minutes walk back to the NIIED center, I was laughing out loud at all the snow.  It was beautiful!

Then we sit down and proceed to have 4 classes.

1.  Classroom Management: A good basic overview of effective management skills.  I particularly liked this one because I felt like I learned a lot of stuff.  But I know that many teachers already have been teaching for a while so that they knew these styles.
2.  Multiple Intelligence:  A class based on showing the teachers different games/activities that would work for many intelligence.  It was good because some of the games might not work for everyone, but we brainstormed about how to make them applicable to different places.
LUNCH
3. Lesson Planning: This lecturer was fantastic.  She currently teaches teachers at the International teachers School and has been in Korea for 8 years.  She is a curriculum planner by career so she basically showed us exactly how to plan a lesson.  Then she opened her website and then the links to all 300 of her lessons that she did in a 2 year time period.
4.  Project-based learning: This is a different idea where you give the kids a "project" that they basically do all the English prep in class and outside they make a poster or drawing that they present in the next class.  It sounded like a good idea, just a lot of work. Maybe this would work for a little later on, once I feel like I can get the basics under my belt.
DINNER: (which I didn't really eat because I made plans with some new friends to get ITALIAN food).
5. Korean Class: which was quiet fun this time.  I sat next to Chris again and we generally have fun just learning and trying.  There are people in the class that drive me up the wall, but beyond that, I can maybe read 75% of the alaphabet after 2 hours of class.

Then I walked to a restaurant in Hyewa and shared two bottles of wine between 6 people.  It was a good time.

I am really tired so unfortunately I'm signing out.  I have notes that I really want to upload to give you examples of the lectures--but they will have to wait.

I have just one parting comment.

My favorite Korean word: 70,000.  It is read: Seven 10,000.  So seven is "chil" and 10,000 is "man."  So the Korean word 70,000 is "Chil man".   heheh!

EPIK Orientation Speaker: Sun Hyewoo

Date: 11/26/2010

This is a quick post about the speaker Hyewoo Sun from the first day of Orientation.  He was so fabulous and I liked his speech/presentation so much that I wanted to share some thoughts.

I have ALWAYS heard the discussion of J & K politics through a Japanese perspective--which to be honest isn't in-depth.  There is a huge shame culture in Japan and the idea that they did some of the atrocities in the past 100 years is not something easy to talk about.  If you're not familiar with Japanese actions in the last 100 years towards people in Korea and China--think about what the Nazis did to the Jewish people.  That level of sheer...sickness...might be a good word...?  Anyway, at most it is glossed over in a Japanese history lesson (given by a Japanese professor); at worst it is a single bullet point called: Japanese Imperialization without any comments.  I also had a course in college taught by an American professor who studied Taiwan.  In this case, it was interesting to see an American's viewpoint because I think naturally, that generation of Americans will side with Japan (just because people know more about Japan than Korea.)  

Anyway, it was super super SUPER fabulous to hear a Korean talking about the Japanese Imperialization time because suddenly a whole new side of the story had been unfolded and presented (albeit in carefully wordings).  He talked about his how his grandmother was born in 1925 (Japanese Imperialization was from 1910-1945).  So she grew up not being able to leave the house because her family was afraid she would be taken and put in a work camp.  Or that she basically didn't go to school or learn how to read and write.  In fact, she learned how to write Hangeul (the Korean alphabet) 5 years ago.  She is 85.  She learned how to write her NATIVE language at 80.  

He talked about how his grandmother married a man in 1940 and then he went off to war.  And never came home.  Not even his body.  He said that his aunt still thinks that he's peacefully living in another part of the country (even though he would be about 97).  

He talked about how, because his dad's dad (the grandfather) died in the war, his dad was exempt from having to do the compulsory military time.   Which means, his whole family was freaking out when he entered the compulsory military time.  

Guess when Hyewoo Sin started his military time?  9/01/01.  As in, 10 days before 9/11.  Talk about a family being worried that the first born son (hell, any son) going into war after having the last person who went off into war never return home....

But Hyewoo said that he also had some good times in the military.  He was on-duty during the World Cup in '02, and because he was still a young officer, he had the crappy job of figuring out wiether or not a giant cheer, roaring from Seoul was because of an attack or was it because the Korean soccer plays had scored on Italy for the first time in 46 years...? 

He was just fabulous.  I went up to him afterwards to shake his hand and talk to him because he was just one of those people you really feel honored to have listened to.  He was funny, witty, smart, heart-felt, endearing, informative, and an all around cool person to have met.  

EPIK Orientation Day 1

Date: 11/26/2010

Today was the first day of EPIK Orientation.  I've been in Korea for 1 month and am actually pretty lucky that I get training so close to my actual start date.  There are people who've been here for 5 months and haven't had training.  That would stink!

I should preface this post saying that I usually don't like training camps like these.  I don't like big groups of people and I don't usually do well.  Day One's evaluation:  A Solid B.  Report Card to come!

I got up around 7 am.  I have a pretty fabulous roomie from Busan and she sleeps until 8--which was breakfast.  We are in a college dorm setting, so the shower wasn't great (hot but very little water pressure).  The food, so far, has been a big plus to the orientation.  We had scrambled eggs, ketchup, fruit, cereal, actual milk, pancakes (so-so) and coffee (korea style) (which = SWEET--as in sugary, not cool).  Then we had some time off until a 10 o'clock class meeting.  We are divided into 4 "classes" and about 40 people in each class.  I spent this off time walking around Seoul with Scott-the Kiwi from Gunsan that I spent yesterday riding up with.

The class meeting went well. I really like our class leader: Haesol.  She is quiet nice, and after talking to her a little bit last night at registration, I wanted a chance to get to know her better.  When she was asking for a "class leader" she said that she would be working closely with this person.  I volunteered--which makes me pretty much a dork, but I don't care that much.  She is a cool person and very nice.

In class, we basically go over the rules, schedules, and get in groups for our Lesson Presentation that will be on Monday.

We head down to the Auditorium and we have an official greeting from a couple "important" people, a musical performance, and the police security chief "talks" to us.  He didn't really say much, just handed out a sheet.  No warnings--but the sheet was quiet clear: No drugs or prison.  I don't have to worry about that.  The official lady from the EPIK head off made some comment about how "we teachers might be worried, but not to worry.  Korea is a safe place."  I think we all raised an eyebrow at that one.

Next, lunch.  It was about the same quality as a school lunch for me--except they had salad and ranch dressing.  I had lots of salad with ranch dressing.

Then we had A Korean History and Culture lesson by Hyewoo Sin.  This has by far been the highlight of the day.  This guy is in charge of TalkToMeInKorean.com and is just majorily cool.  He tried to discuss four main points in his 90 minute talk: Japan/Korea relationships, N/S Korea relationships, strange questions Koreans will tell you and Learning Korean Langauge.  I was most interested in J & K relationship.   (Look for a blog entirely about his lecture later on...)

Then we had a 90 minute lecture about "How To Make English More Comprehensible." It was a good course, and I learned a few really good tricks to help increase the understanding of what I am saying and the comprehension of students--but he probably could have compressed the lecture into an hour.  Plus, the lecturer, Charles Ko, had the habit of speaking to us like we were his elementary students.  Overexaggerated rises and falls, dramatic story telling techniques, and quiet strong intonations.  It made me feel like he was being condescending (which I know he wasn't so no hard feelings...) but it left a bit of a funky taste in my mouth.  Like, I didn't want to listen to him because he was talking to us like we were 3rd graders, not adults; which is an illogical rebllion and just reinforces the attitude that I would be more like a 3rd grader not to listen to him...but whatever.  I wrote down some notes and I learned a few good things from him so it was a good lecture.

Then we had dinner.  Another school cafeteria food--which as long as they have the lettuse/dressings and maybe a meat, I will be ok with.

After that, we had Korean Language Lesson.  Which, believe me was helpful--but this has been after an 8 hour day (and the class is 90 minutes).  I was pretty brain dead.  For example, while I now "know" the alphabet (or most of it) I don't think I'll actually retain any bit because I was pretty slap happy.  I felt really bad, but the guy next to me (who I will definitely be sitting next to again tomorrow because he made me laugh--his name was Chris) was very funny and sometimes I laughed at inappropriate comments.  For example: the word "rain" in Korean is p'E.  As in, it sounds like pee.  The word RAIN is pee.  For my extremely tired mind, this just set me off and I was struggling very hard not to interrupt class.  Totally inappropriate, but Chris and I had a good laugh over this one.  Maybe you had to be in the moment.

Then there was a schedule Korean movie--don't know if anyone actually went to this.  I met with my Lesson Presentation partner Amanda and she actually invited me to eat some pumpkin pie.  Believe it or not, this girl (and her husband Tom) live in Seoul and on their way to Orientation they stopped at CostCo (AH!!) and bought a couple pumpkin pies.  Their logic: "Well, if Korea is making me work on my holiday, I'm bloody well going to enjoy some pie."  (They're from Montana, so I don't know why I wrote down a British accent, but hey...it works).  Anyway, so I probably had a moment that I will remember for quiet some time while sitting in the lobby of the dormatory, with about 25 Americans, sharing two massive pumpkin pies the day after Thanksgiving, and thinking, "The American Family.  I have no idea who these people are, but we just shared a Thanksgiving."

Then, I was faced with the dilema about if I should go out.  There was a group going to get smashed and then there was a group who were going to a noreaban (Korean singing room).  I didn't really feel like either.  It is freaking cold in Korea and I was tired--brain felt like mush--and so I turned Amanda and went, "So, you like Glee? I was thinking about watching this week's episode."

She turned to me and went, "Are you serious? That sounds perfect!"  She had just been mentioning that she didn't feel like going out--too cold, too tired, too many things to do tomorrow.  So, on our way up, we bumped into Chris and mentioned that we were going to be silly, stay in, go to bed at a reasonable hour, and watch Glee.  He laughed, mocked us (silly Brit) and then, when he revealed that he had never seen Glee, we invited him.  Which he immediantely accepted because he too didn't want to go out--too cold, he had been in Korean for 10 days and didn't really feel like getting drunk or doing a Noreaban (those cultural experiences will come in time).  So we headed back up to my room and ended up talking and laughing for 3 hours.  We never got around to watching Glee--maybe next time--but the conversation was great and the people were fantastic.  I now think I have a New Years place to go and made some good friends.

So, now it's 12.25 am (so much for going to bed at a decent time, eh?!) and I'm finishing up my evaluation of EPIK Orientation Day One.

Presentations: A-  (would be perfect, but the condescention of that one speaker just left a bad taste)

Food: B- (Only ok.  I'll live but sometimes I think my school cafeteria is better)

Activities: B (Lesson Presentation and Korean Class are necessary, but its a lot)

Time Management: C (The space between classes is unnecessary--we don't need 2 hours for lunch and a 40 minute break between Lecture One and Two.  If we could have finished everything by 6 (including dinner) then we would have the evening to goof off in Seoul--which would be better.

People: A  (All the Korean helpers/class leaders have been super nice. You can tell this is well organized and thought out, and that a lot of effort has been put into this.  The Native English teachers are a bit of a hodge-podge, but over all, a nice set of people.  You definitely find those who you like and those who you probably don't mind seeing again.  It's a bit like speed dating.)

Overall:  Solid B.

Time for bed.  Out! :)

Yeongpyeong Images

Date: 11/24/2010

So, for those of you keeping an eye on CNN.com I thought I'd like to post this image.  It is showing exactly what photoshop can do:

Teaching Problems

Date: 11/24/2010

So...I'm very proud to be in my school.  I love the teachers and for the most part the kids are pretty good.  A little crazy, and loud, but overall, they are good kids.

But now that I've had all the classes a couple times, the bad eggs really start to stick out.  And the flaws in the Korean education system become apparent.  I don't want to be critical--I do not have a degree in teacher, nor do I fully understand the system that makes up the rules behind the schools.  But there are obvious differences between the American school system and the Korean.  I'm not saying that either are better, just different.

For example, I am extremely proud that my school is going the length they are to enroll a couple psychically disabled children.  From my understanding, most schools shuffle the disabled kids through the system.  Our school has two full classrooms devoted the helping and teaching the students.  They are installing an elevator and handrails so that the students will be able to walk in our school.  One of my favorite teachers, Wisdom, teaches the students.  I remarked that her name should mean Patience because of her choice.  She laughed at this.

For me, teaching 40 kids presents a very big problem; I am still getting use to just getting blank stares of incomprehension and trying to figure out how to get across a language barrier.  But when a disabled student (mentally or emotionally) is also in the classroom, it is not only distracting to me, but also the students.  There is nothing really I can do about the kid in my classroom.  Half the time the just stand in a corner, facing the wall.  The other half of the time, though, they are provoking the other students.  I have had to step inbetween a couple students so that they wouldn't gang up on the disabled kid.

Remember, I can't understand what the students are saying, so all I really see is two kids standing up, and threateningly walking towards the kid in the corner.  Usually just a hand on the shoulder will get the kids to sit back down.  I have gotten into the habit of saying, "Not in my classroom."  The boys seem to like that, and after class, they usually "escort" the disabled kid the room.

I know it might be wrong of me to allow this.  But, I don't really know what to do.  I am following the Korean teacher's lead.  She usually doesn't mind students pounding away on each other, or before class, putting each other in choke holds.  And, after class, the English teachers will commiserate with me about some of the trouble students.  One teacher (no names today) told me that she hated one of the boys.

I totally understand why she would say this.  I probably go cursed out for the first time today.

I handed out a worksheet on the Wonders of the World today and told the class they needed 5 words to leave the class.  This is a trick another teacher has used and had good success with.  Half the time, most of the students don't realize I am serious and joke off for the rest of class--until they realize I am serious.  I stand in front of the door and after I deny the first student who hasn't completed the requirements gets told "No." the kids usually all scramble to copy answers and figure out how to get out.

But there are some kinds, like (let's call him Johnny) Johnny who completely refused to do the worksheet.  He kept trying to sneak by me, and when I put my hand on his shoulder and said, "No paper, no pass." He flipped out.  He started yelling at me in Korean, which the Korean teacher told me to just ignore and took him aside.  She instructed him to fill out the sheet.  He stared at it for about five seconds, until the Korean teacher went to go help someone else, then he shot off his seat and started talking to me again.  He kept sticking his index finger on top of his head and saying the same word over and over again.  I think he was calling me a devil teacher.  Which was slightly ironic because I was thinking, "you're a devil child."  Finally, he was the last student and I gave him one of the completed worksheets so that ALL HE HAD TO DO was COPY the answers.  Not hard.  But he sat and fretted, and complained, and moaned, and hit his head on the table, and angrily mutter in Korean.  I told him the quicker he stopped and just finished, the quicker he could leave.   I should note that my Korean teacher totally approved of this tactic--the "you don't leave until I say so" plan.  She also liked that I was actually sticking by my guns.  She said I cannot let the children whine or bully their way out of class.  She told me that this boy, Johnny, has classic ADHD and most of the teachers just ignore him.  By showing him that I am serious and treating him just like ever other student, I will reinforce to him that I am serious and that he will not get special treatment from me.

Note: I am not saying that I totally agree with this method.  I know this system is not perfect and there are probably a million other better ways of me dealing with this situation.  But I am following what my Korean co-teacher is telling me.  I'm not hurting Johnny and I'm not putting him under any undo stress.  He literally just has to copy five circled words in a word search and he can go.

As soon as he completes this, he shoves the paper at me.  I take an actual look at it and then say, "Hey." He looks up, all pouty and red-in-the-face.  "Good job." I tell him, and hold out my hand for a high five. He eyes me suspiciously, then quickly taps my hand.  I laugh, say, "No." and hold my hand up again.  He  quizzingly puts his hand up and I, with super enthusiasm, give him a HUGE high five.  "YAH!...Like that!" I say.  He looks at me like I'm crazy, but smiles and then leaves.

My Korea teacher then takes about five minutes to tell me about the disabled students.  It is quiet obvious that the Korean Education system does not really have knowledge/resources/abilities/ability to help kids who have special needs*.  So, with children like Johnny, most teachers basically "put up with him" and pass him along.  I'm not saying this is right--just different.

*Note:  I might be using politically incorrect terminology.  I apologize if I offend anyone, not my intention.  I am using words that are common here.

If Johnny is a problem though, I have a real issue with some of the students who have more severe disabilities.  There is a boy here, we're going to call him Eugene, who is probably 14 or 15 but acts like a 4 year old.  (I've named him Eugene because his name actually sounds like his American name.  His name is Yu-jin or Yang-jean, or Yen-joohn.  I am soooo bad at Korean names).  I've had him in class and he literally will go up to a Big Boy student, hit him over the head, and then run back to his corner, giggling.  This is the boy who I have repeatedly stopped from getting attacked.  In my classroom, he is safe from beatings--but outside I am not sure*.

*Remember, I have very little authority. I may be a teacher, but none of the material I teach is really tested.  And how do you chastile a child in a foreign language besides saying, "No. Bad word!"  It is quiet difficult.

So basically, I just make sure that the kids aren't pulverizing each other.  I stop the fights before they start and break up fights that do happen.  It is not like I am in a gang city--it is just "friendly" beatings.  These kids have known each other for 2 years, and are in all their classes together.  (The teachers change classes in Korea, not the students).  That means they all know each other really well.  Yes, there is bullying, but it is very different from America--and really, as a guest in their country, what I am suppose to do?  My reach is very short.  I try to do what I can, and acknowledge that I can't change the system, and just try to make my part of the school safe.  Plus, can you remember back to middle school?  Children can be very visicous.

Another story: I was teaching comparatives yesterday.  You know:  "I am taller than Sally."  Comparing one thing to something else.  Changing TALL into TALLER.  Well, I used the example "fat" to practice doubling the consonant and adding -er.  I didn't think anything about it.  But, when the students were going around doing an activity, I noticed one of the boys was crying in a corner.

I pointed him out to my Korean co-teacher and she went over and consoled him.  He had a couple male friends with him, and they seemed to generally be supporting him.  After class, my co-teacher told me that the boy's name was...err...Ralph and that he was the leader of the class.  A smart boy and very popular, good personality.  But he is larger than most Koreans--not fat, but larger.  Anyway, when I had used the example "fat" apparently many of the kids had started calling his name, and during the activity (where they go up to a student and find out if he wants to do X activity, and why) about half the class had gone up to him and asked him if he wanted to exercise because he was fat.  The co-teacher told me that Ralph bottles up emotions and today he erupted.

So, remember middle school children are not always nice.

Anyway, so after Johnny had a good time calling me a Devil Teacher, I didn't think I'd see him again.  But then, in walk Johnny and Eugene.  Anyway, Eugene was provoking Johnny. Johnny performed some tae-kwon-do on Eugene.  I said, in my best teacher voice, "No!  Out!  Not in my classroom!"  And Johnny left.  I go over to Eugene and pat his arm.

Okay, so if you think teaching a bunch of students English is difficult, it is a totally new degree of difficulty to try to consol a student who is disabled.  I hate to say this, but maybe I should just stay away from them. Because....well, let me continue the story.

So, Eugene's sleeve is very dirty.  I try to wipe it off, and it works a little bit.  But, not really well.  So, I grab the toilet paper roll (for blowing a students nose) in my class, and unwind a little bit.  I had been walking out the door, so I set all my books and papers on the table to get the tissue.  When I return, Eugene has picked up all my papers.  I don't really need these papers, it's about 5 left over word searches (the one that Johnny threw a fit over), but I would like to keep at least one copy.  So I reach to grab the top copy.  Eugene ducks and shakes his head, and starts to hit himself with the papers (trying to get the dust off).  I simply try to grab the paper, but because Eugene is Eugene, he does not like this.  He bolts.  I should have just let him go, but all I wanted was a paper.  I try to tell him this...and I block the doorway into the hall, extending my hand to ask for the paper.  Eugene swats my hand out of the way and barrels past me, knocking me into the door frame.

I know this is unacceptable in Korean standards.  While kids can bang on each other as much as they want, it does not mean that they are at all allowed to smart back or raise a hand to a teacher.  But Eugene is not a simple student.  And, probably for once, I was by myself.  My Korean co-teacher had gone back to the classroom and there was only one student at the end of the hall--who had his back turned.

I see Eugene headed off to the bathroom, running in his happy way, giggling the whole time, a skip every once and a while.  I let him go, knowing that I cannot do anything.  He doesn't understand me, and I don't think he understands Korean either.

I know he wasn't trying to be mean or rude by this--his mind set is just different than other students.  He is disabled.

But that doesn't mean that it didn't shock the hell out of me.  I have never really been pushed around before, nor my hand smacked out of the way. It was just jarring.  And a little unsettling.

I basically came back to my desk in the teacher's room, and ate some mentos (which were left over from my breakfast this morning--breakfast of champions prt 2: Mentos, Snickers bar (Dark chocolate) and a Korean Coffee drink called Coffee Bean--yah I woke up late this morning!).

I have told Ms Kim of this incident.  She said that even if Eugene is disabled, he has broken basic etiquette that he knows is wrong.  She said he has done this to other teachers and that this behavior is not allowed.  She is going to talk to Eugene's teacher now.  I told her that I understand Eugene is disabled and what that entails.  She said that even if he is disabled it doesn't mean that he can treat people like that.  I said I don't want to create a big problem, but she assured me that if Eugene did this to any other teacher they would talk to Eugene's teacher.

But this is the tricky thing...I don't know if I just got Eugene in a boat load of trouble.  I have seen the punishment style of the Korean education system and every once and a while, you hear of stories.

For a very long time, corporeal punishment was standard in Korea.  Just last year, the Seoul Education office outlawed the practice.  But, according to my lovely translating co-teacher Ms Kim, because the "rod" was the one and only means of punishment for so long, there really is not another method of punishment that is effective against students.  (Please read and understand this through a set of cultural lenses different than your own.  Once again, I am not saying the Korean method is right or wrong, just different).  It's not like the children are beaten--I'm not saying it doesn't happen--as a foreign teacher you do tend to hear the "worst of..." stories--corporeal punishment is/was more often than not a smack on the hand or the back of the thigh with a stick (drumstick, 1x2x24 in piece of wood).  Without this, there is very little you can do to actually punish a child here in Korea.  Please do not imagine that the teachers are viscously swatting children, with giant wooden paddles.  That is not the case.

But this is a different culture.  Different ways of life.  Different guide lines.  Different social rules.  I'm not saying right or wrong...just different.  It is truly not my place to judge.  Do I personally agree with some of the practices I have listed above (corporeal punishment, just passing a child through the education system, allowing fights): no, not really.  But it is not my place to try and change it.  I am just going to do what I can to make sure that my classroom is a learning environment.

Anyway, so I was worried that I had just gotten Eugene into a hitting of his life.  The Korean teachers really like me here and I could just imagine them standing up for me.  But, after Ms Kim came back, I talked to her about my fear of Eugene getting punished "too severally" because of my telling her.   Ms Kim assured me that he would not be hurt.  I confessed that I was nervous to tell her about the incident with Eugene because in America, we have a very different mindset about punishment and dealing with children.  I love Ms Kim because she is pretty Westernized in her thinking.  She agrees me with about the corporeal punishment not being acceptable.  But she is Korean so not only does she have a nice mix of Westernization, but she is Korea enough to understand and explain to me the details behind the cultural traditions.  It might not make everything better in my head why there is a certain type of punishment, but it certainly does help me come to terms with what I am seeing around me.

OK: that was a tramatic posting for me to write.  Just remember something I keep telling myself every day:  cultural differences.

On a bit of good news: I'm off to go see a movie tonight.  The facebook movie--500,000,000 Friends or whatnot.  Going with Jessica--the girl I went to Seoul with over the weekend.  Good fun.  Should also be catching some dinner.

And tomorrow I'm headed off to Seoul for an EPIK Orientation.  I get to go learn how to actually teach my classes!  Yah!

A-Gahp-ta!

Date: 11/24/2010

Last week I went and played pocket-ball (aka pool) with some of the Korean teachers at my school.  As a very bad pool player, a couple of times, I went "damn" after I missed a shot. It didn't take the teachers long to figure out that "damn" was a "bad word" and they immediately started mimicking me.  It's a little strange to hear a bunch of people yell, "DAMN!" in a public place, but it was good fun--and since it was all for fun--nothing serious, we just had a good time.

Well, I wanted to know the Korean equivalent to the English word, so they taught me, "A-gahp-ta!"  So soon, we were throwing around Korean and English words and it was great fun!

Yesterday, I learned that "a-gahp-ta" does not have a direct English translation.  It encompasses much more than just "damn."  Here's the story:

So, we were driving from the afterschool inter-city teacher's volleyball tournament (only in Korea, right?) to dinner.  The drivers here are crazy and someone pulled out in the middle of a red light and we had to swerve to hit them!  Tae-hee spouted off some rapid Korean, and I immediately went, "A-gahp-ta!"  

The car became surprisingly quiet as the teachers (Tae-hee--"my brother", Wisdom, and Sung-Sik) looked at me in surprise.  Then they burst out laughing, yelling, "No no no!", and waving their hands in my face.  Wisdom turned an interesting shade of red she was laughing so hard.  In broke English they tried to explain that "a-gahp-ta" was not the right word to use in this situation; that "we-hum-eeh" was more appropriate.  We-hum-eeh means "dangerous!"  They couldn't explain why a-gahp-ta was wrong--it was quiet complicated.  I ended up just nodding and repeating "we-hum-eeh" about 10 times so they understood that I understood it was the right answer.

Wellllll, I get to school this morning and I start asking Ms Kim about some of the food I ate last night.  This prompts Tae-hee, who is sitting right across the walk way from Ms Kim's desk--like 4 ft away--to perk up and clip off in rapid Korean.  I hear my name, the words "a-gahp-ta" and from Ms Kim's sudden laughter, I presume that he is retelling the story.

Ms Kim is laughing pretty hard and I start laughing again.  After a little bit, she explains the scenario a little more.  In the scary-Korean-driving situation, if you were to say, "a-gahp-ta" it would loosely mean that you wanted to hit the car, or that you hoped the car crashed.  It is not exactly wishing bad will on a person, but it's not exactly a nice thing to say.  This would be the American equivalent to road-rage, which, so far, I haven't really seen in Korean (they have a very "well, it's how we drive, we can't change it, it's just bad, we better watch out for each other so we don't have accidents" attitude.)  It is more appropriate to say the "we-hum-eeh" which just means, "they were driving dangerously!"

Which, this is a very neat situation for me because it is a perfect example of how culture is imbedded in a language.  (Hang on, tangent time!)  Saying "a-gahp-ta" in the "scary driving situation" shows a negative face in Korean viewpoint.  Negative emotions (or face) is not acceptable.  In public, you are to be as neutral as possible, and if not neutral, than at least positive. You are not suppose to be too positive--a nice, even middle is the perfect goal.  So, to show anger (say "a-gahp-ta") is totally inappropriate not because it is the wrong word, but because it is gives a person a bad face in public!  By saying, "we-hum-eeh" you are preserving your own face, and you are being quiet kind to the other person.  I mean, we could have hit this car, so I could think of many other things I would have wanted to say to them, but by just saying, "You're driving is dangerous," it gives the person an ever-important Out so that they can apologize and save face.

So...there is your linguistic and cultural lesson on Korea today.  I hope you enjoyed!  I have to go to teach probably the worst class of the week now.  Thank gosh for Ms Kim--she usually tells me to leave 1/2 way through because they are so bad.  And then she assumes her Mean Teacher Voice!  I run from the Mad Teacher Voice!

North Korea

Date 11/24/2010

This is an email I sent out to my family and friends because of the North Korea attack on the Island of Yanghop yesterday (November 11/23/2010).  I wanted to post this because it is a pretty good summation of what I have experienced regarding Korean Responses.

"Hello Everyone!
I wanted to send out this email just to let everyone know that all is good over here in Korea (for me, anyway).  Yesterday, North Korea shot artillery shells at a small island of the coast of South Korea.  It happened about 2.30 pm and lasted for about an hour. 


Being from America, I guess I had this natural assumption that when/if my country was attacked that we'd get guns blazing and ready to go annihilate someone.   But that is not the case over here.  At all.


The fact that I didn't even know about the attack until 6 pm is very telling.  My fellow teachers were in an intercity-volleyball tournament (only in Korea, I swear) and afterwards the teachers all went out to dinner.  We walk into the restaurant and in the main room they have the TV on.  About 6 of the 20 teachers stop and watch the television, which is calmly running a stream of pictures of the attacked island (a small island with a couple pillars of smoke).  I stay and watch, and then turn to the one teacher I was with who half-way speaks English. "What that?" I asked, pointing to TV.  He stumbles around, and eventually he draws a map of "Korea" on his left hand.  "North-u" he says, "south-u."  I nodded, enthusiastically, becuase positive reinforcement is key.  He makes a gun with his right hand and says, "Bang bang."  Which almost makes me freak out. "What?!  North Korea attacked South?"  He nods, glad that I understand him.  I asked if he knew if anyone was hurt (which, I guess is the next logical question--beside, "Should I pack my bags?"--but I refrain from ever saying these words.)  "Maybe."  The news report wasn't very detailed, I'm guessing.  And then, the strangest thing happened, the teachers, as a group, turn and head to dinner.  I'm left standing there, with the TV quietly talking about North Korean attacks (I'm assuming), while the teachers go to have some sam-gul-sal (roasted pig belly lettus wraps).  My teacher friend comes back, grabs my wrist and pats my hand. "Me-gi...no worry.  All good."  


And then I spent the next 2 hours eating some delicious food and getting a little buzzed on soju.  The teachers--for my understanding--didn't talk about anything serious (aka North Korea) for the rest of the night.  I texted a friend and she wrote back saying, "Erg.  This isn't supposed to be happening.  Know anything?" Which I didn't.  


I got home and turned on my television--for the first time, might I add.  One whole month without TV waisted on a stupid North Korea.  Anyway, of the 5 Korea News stations--4 were showing the attack.  All other programming was normal.  The two English channels I had (CNN and a PBS) were on normal programming--with CNN having one of those scrolling tickers at the bottom of the screen saying the most basic facts: North Korea attacked.  South Korea returned fire.  Lasted 1 hour.  Emergency meeting in Seoul by leaders to prevent further escalation. 


I went online--CNN was the best entry I found.  (This morning there was more on the website.)   


I actually called my co-Teacher, Ms Kim, last night around 9.30 pm.  I felt bad, but I wanted to talk to a Korean who knew what was going on.  I struck out there.  Ms Kim was shopping at Lotte Mart (An Asian Department store/mall).  She had not heard of the attacks.  This blows my mind, but the foreign teachers at her school had to inform her that her country had been hit.  She said she would look into it and talk to me in the morning.  


I talked to a couple foreign teachers over the internet last night, asking them what's going on, how come the Koreans are freaking out. etc.  Most of them just told me to calm down.  No freaking out.  This thing happens every once and a while, we just have to wait it out.  There are exchanges every day at the DMZ (the DeMilitarized Zone between North and South Korea).  The Koreas never actually signed a "peace agreement" after the war--they are at a "cease fire" agreement.  So, technically they are still "at war."  


I went to bed last night on edge.  After talking to my teacher, I made myself a cuppa (my favorite borrowed English word from the New Zealanders) of hot chocolate (Although a cuppa might only refer to tea...not sure) and watched a pirated Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.  (I'm so super jealous that HP 7 doesn't come out until Dec 16th here--I'm consoling myself with watching the others).  It got my mind off things for a little bit, and by the time it was done, I was exhausted and sleepy.  


So, its the next morning.  Things are normal like usual.  I just to Ms Kim.  She said that the reason the attack was on television last night was that North Korea is going through some regime changes.  Because of this they are trying to show that they are still big tough guys.  And the reason the attack is getting coverage is that this was the first time North Korea has attacked a non-military target.  The island was about 1/2 military and 1/2 civilian.  So, it's the fact that civilians were involved makes it news worthy.  


I've also heard that North Koreans are desperate.  They are starving, dying people.  There are supposed to be some big 6-country power talks later on this month--or early next month--about aid to the North Korean people.  And North Korea is grasping at straws to try and show that they are still a "power" and cannot be bullied into signing agreements by the other big powers of the world.  They're people are dying and the leaders are worried about international chest-puffing.  Now, those talks have been risked because some of the big powers (aka USA) may not attend if North Korea doesn't show a "sincere good-will" effort to keep/meet promises.  


Okay--the point of this email was to assure you. 


The teachers seriously do not seem afraid/worried.  They are concerned because it was a civilian attack, but I think they seriously believe that nothing will come of this.  For example, this summer North Korea (supposedly, they denied ownership) attacked a South Korean military boat/ship/big sea-faring vessel.  Killed 46 soldiers.  The situation didn't escalate after that.  


The US Embassy sent out an email (I'm on their listserve) and it was a very short message.  Barest facts, with a note not to worry/panic--Seoul leaders are taking care of the situation.  


I am 3 hours away from Seoul, in a pretty unimportant city, and there is a US military base not 45 minutes away.  If there was any trouble--I could be to safety within an hour.  


So, please, when you read about reports from CNN or big international papers, do not freak out.  I have people who would take care of me and I know how to get to safety.  


I hope that this email helped.  If you have any questions--I'll try to answer them.  But life seems to be going on like normal.  


Love you all!
Maggie"

I will continue to post information about this topic.  But the biggest thing I want to stress is that life is going on like normal.  Which is very surreal, but still normal.

One Month

Date: 11/23

So I have hit the max Free space allowed on Google's blog system; this one.  Apparently, I've hit 1 GB of stuff on my blog--woot! for lots of pictures.

The next step is to buy space.  I think a 20 GB 1 year membership is $5 USD so I will soon be able to upload more pictures and stuff.  Once the year is up, I will still be able to access the photographs and such, but I cannot edit or change them in anyway.  At least, I think this is how it works.  Which is convenient because after one year I should be through with this experiment of writing a blog.

Randomness

Date: 11/14/2010

Driving in Korea is absolutely crazy!  It always astounds me that there aren't a bajillion accidents.  But then I come across something like that and I realize how good Koreans can be at driving--or at least backing up.

There was maybe 6 inches to spare on each side of the car--if that.  I applaude who ever does this sort of driving.

I've also seen U-turns across 6 lanes of traffic and unparalleled parallel parking.  I am sure glad I don't have to drive in Korea.

Oku School Festival (Part 6: Finishing Up)

Date: 11/12/2010

So, I am finally going to finish up writing about my country school's festival.  The afternoon held more performances--but they were student led (not teacher led).

The first show after lunch was a jump rope exhibit.  Have you ever seen some good jump roping?  No, well go YouTube it--they are pretty fun.  Apparently some of my grade 2 students actually won a state (province)-wide jump roping contest in Jeonju the week before!  When I heard this, it made me take ALOT of pictures.  They were pretty good!

I even took some movies!

After that, we got to the music portion of the day.

They basically hooked up a Karaoke machine and the students had signed up to sing.  They DID step it up by having teachers play both a saxophone and the drums.  All the students were good, with some really exceptional ones every once and a while.  It was fun to watch--if not SUPER load.

There were some very good guitarists.
They really liked the black skinny jeans, black button-up shirt, red tie and gel-ed hair look.  

The difference between having a small school and large school--small schools can turn into an authentic concert scene.  Jumping, yelling, arms thrown in the air...it was a hey-day. 

Some students were not as interested in the music...they played games on their cell phones!

It was very loud, but I enjoyed it.  By 3.30 I was ready to go home, listen to some silence, and think about my funny students.

The next time I would come to school, I would have to be actually teaching, so I enjoyed getting to know my students in a relaxed manner!

Oku School Festival (Part 5: School Lunch)

Date: 11/12/2010

This gets it's own short blog because I have been served this type of meal at both schools now--and I have something to say about it.

I DO NOT AGREE WITH HOTDOG WEENIES BEING AN ACTUAL PROTEIN!

NO SIR!

Koreans, for reasons that confound me, seem to think that if you cut up little cocktail hot-dog weenies, put them in some sort of Korean sauce with some random Asian vegetable, that you have a complete meal (well, in addition you throw in some kimchee, kimchee bean sprouts, rice, a soup, and a sweet potato mousse) but basically, the meat of the day was hot-dog weenies.

My meal: white rice, a sweet potato mousse, a soup (that I didn't really like) and in the upper right corner, the weenies.  *shudder* no thank you!

The student's meal: they also got the kimchee ad pickled other things.  I wasn't feeling those.  I should mention--the soup--it is a fish curd soup.  Just the word CURD makes my stomach churn so, as you can probably image, I end up not eating alot.  I basically put some rice on my spoon, dip it in the broth of the soup and put in mouth.  

This is just a quick shot of the students getting their lunch.  It is a LOT less crowded than the city school.

I did not have a good lunch on the festival day.

Luckily there was other food for sale outside.  I got a slice of pizza later on, and I have gotten in the habit of bringing an orange or banana in my backpack just in case I get hungry between meals/if lunch isn't good.  Those saved me--or I would have been a grouchy, hungry American.  Oh--and I also had that whole lemon.  They filled me up just fine.

No hot-dog weenies for me, THANK YOU!

Oku School Festival (Part 4: Indoor Festival)

Date: 11/12/2010

It's now 11 am.  It's been a busy day: Getting up early, making it to the bus stop, missing the bus, making a new bus, getting lost on the bus, walking to school, the morning performances, some friendly acidic competitions, and now, we move inside to probably the most ... surreal rooms of the day.

So, we move inside after having our full of some festival food and feeling only slightly sick to the stomach after eating a lemon.  The first room we went into was the Peace/TeddyBear room.  I definitely had a, "Really?  Peace and Teddy Bear Room?" moment, but that's how the place was set up. And it's exactly as it sounds.  You walk in and there are displays about World Peace and as you walk around the room, the displays are replaced by teddy bears.  I didn't get it.

Then we moved into the English room--which I totally didn't recognize.  It had been set up as a bargain clothing store and sex education room.  We'll tackle the clothing store first.

My English room--transformed!

There were a couple boys who decided to buy a totally new outfit--of the opposite gender.  They spent the day cross-dressed.  it was interesting.  All the clothes were like a dollar so it was cheap fun.

It wasn't just one crazy boy--it was definately just a silly thing to do. 

Just to prove that they walked around in these get-ups. 

The money collector had a box called, "Narcissus."   To refresh your memeory: Narcissus is the guy who fell in love with his own reflection, distrusted anyone who loved him, and eventually ended up drowning because he couldn't stop looking at his reflection in a pool of water.  Exactly--that's what your money basket should be named!

 That was the front half of the room.  The back half of the room was devoted to sex education.  I remember there was a display at my city school, but I didn't have a guide my first festival so this was my first introduction to Korean's philosophy on sex education.  If you do not like openly talking about sex, skip to the next section.  I post this not to be crude, inappropriate, or offensive.  I was honestly surprised by the differences in sex education.  This is my anthropological background talking (we're going on a tangent here, so hold on).

So, Korea is a Confucian-based society.  They don't really "practice" confucianism like a Westerner would practice Christianity, it is more of a moral/ethical guideline.  But, that being said, because it is a Confucian based society, they do not have a certain religious text that condemns sex outside of marriage.   Because of this, they do not really have the hang-ups that we Americans might about sex--and, in relationship, sex education.  I am hypothesizing here, that because because Americans are a Christian-based society, we look to the Bible for our beliefs on how to raise smart, sexually conscious teenagers--aka, we raise children to follow abstinence.  (Not everyone, but for the most part, abstinence over safe sex is how most schools in America teach sex ed.)  I am not offering my view point on sex ed--it is not my place.  But I am pointing out an extreme difference in the American version--vs the Korean version of sex ed.  I think the pictures will be telling enough.  I'll get back to my story:

So, in the back of the English room (which I now will never look at the same) is a display.  I couldn't read the banners in the back, but the table had plenty enough to take pictures of.

Let's start out with the fetus development.  It's the most not-embarrassing.

Mrs Meghan--this picture is for you....This is what your jelly bean looks like at 3 months!

 Next, on to understanding how much it sucks to be pregnant.  They had a belly suite.   This was surprising heavy!

Seo-heong almost dropped the baby!

It looks very silly on Asians.  They are so small.  The women who I have seen that are pregnant are VERY pregnant and it is very obvious.  Almost comical.

And just for kicks and giggles...
Mom...do not worry.  I will not returning home in this condition.   

A picture is worth a 1000 words...is going through my mind at this point....

 Next, we are going to move onto the actual act of procreation.  Both sets of reproductive organs were present--and you were able to practice key things about contraception:

That little dixie cup in the top left corner has the condoms.   I love the smiley face on the cup.  Makes everything ok...right?

 This is where I officially started to uncomfortable:  They had information on female organs--which they should.  If you're going to practice male-based contraception, why not practice the fundamentals of good female health?

Right?!  Yes?  Maybe....????

When I got this picture, I just about died laughing. I don't know if this poor boy has any idea what he's holding.  I certain almost hope not. 

Men are wood....women are plastic.  yes...that sums it up nicely.

And then the awkward thing happened: A teacher saw the boys playing around with the *gulp* spectrum, and came over to give a demonstration!  My mind kinda blanked out at this point, and I just went, "Okay....different country!  Not in Kansas ANYMORE!!!!"

 And as a random side note--please notice that the boys were very involved at the sex ed table.  I mean, boys will be boys, and I guess no matter where you are (on either side of the world) men are going to be more interested in sex than middle school girls (at least outwardly)....but dang!  There were quiet a few boys who were freely picking up all the tools that a lady doctor uses.  Just in case, that's not specific enough--let me eluminate you with the following pictures.  The middle school boys were perfectly happy holding the following items (which you probably couldn't make me pick up!):

Okay, awkward sex talk is over.  It was interesting--the whole back wall was the sex ed table (which, to me, wasn't really a pro or con view of sex, just a "here is some information about sex, body parts, and contraception) but then on the wall, they had a poster.  Seo-heong told me that you take a sticky and write what you want as an "ideal mate."

There were many "rich" and "handsomes" on the wall.  I decided to mix it up and put, "Charming. Funny.  Dimple a plus."  The kids loved the concept of a dimple.  There were a couple of the boys who had dimples so I went around the group (which, quiet a few people had gathered in the last 15-20 minutes of sex education talk) and pointed out the dimples.  They all started to blush and poo-pooh me when I pointed to a cute dimple and said, "Yes!  Hand-sa-mhu!" Koreans, for as much as they love to tell a waygook (foreigner) that they are pretty, are very shy and do not take praise or compliments well.  It was great.

This led to a group photo:

So, that was my interesting flight into my old English room.  Next, we head off to lunch--which short, but a sweet little post--so look forward to it!