Last day of class for me, contractually. I don't have to come to school again until March 2 next year! At that time, I'll have a brand new batch of kiddos -- 1st years in the school. Meeting the 1st years is always really fun.
2010/12/22
Day 535 - Last Day of Class
Labels: teaching
2010/12/20
Day 533 - Tokyo
Labels: travel
2010/12/13
Day 526 -- Unexpected Tutoring, Tokyo Planning, One Year
UNEXPECTED TUTORING
2010/12/10
Korean Self-Study Advice
It's hard enough finding Korean language classes in Korea, so I can only guess that it's nearly impossible in the States. To answer a very lovely friend's question about self-studying (shout out Maryyy!), here's what I use.
Labels: korean studying
Day 523 - Distractions from Studying at the Coffee Shop
If living in Korea has taught me anything, it's to live in the moment. Koreans are notorious for last-minute schedule changes, no matter how high up in the administration you are. Classes are regularly canceled and the native-speakers don't know until the students don't show up. I guess adapting a "live in the moment" mentality is a kind of defense mechanism so that the more anal of us don't completely give up on time management all together.
Labels: teaching
2010/12/07
North Korea's Change of Leadership Through North Korean Eyes
Interesting article translated by The Korean over at Ask A Korean. A reporter talks to North Koreans about the transfer of power going on in North Korea and what they really think of their current leadership.
Day 550 - Things Are Not So Bad
Now that the Chungdae Korean classes are finished, I suddenly have all this free time to socialize, sleep, self-study Korean, sleep, cook things terrible for my diet, sleep, go back to the gym, and sleep.
2010/12/02
Day 511 - Korean Wedding
Saturday I went with Doyup to see his friend get married. He and the friend met while in America doing that English camp for a week. I don't know the guy's name, so from here on he will be The Groom.
Day 515 - Korea Is Not Politically Correct
2010/11/29
Day 512 - Yeonpyeong-do From An Ex-Pat's Perspective
2010/11/19
Day 502 - Soo-neung / Korean SAT
My 500th day in Korea came and went with no ceremony. Oooh well.
Labels: teaching
2010/11/10
Day 493 - Things Are Not Too Bad
This week is pretty normal for me.
2010/11/03
Day 486 - More Halloween
Labels: teaching
2010/11/01
Day 484 - Halloween
Labels: teaching
2010/10/26
Day 478 - More School Festival Pictures
Labels: teaching
2010/10/25
Day 477 - School Festival
Labels: teaching
2010/10/20
Day 472 - State of English in Korea
It sucks.
- Make English tests related to actual speaking and comprehension ability, not the 'ability' to pass a test. These are the hardest things to test, admittedly, but there are ways to test via a neutral third-party. Someone with no connection to either student or school - perhaps a third-party test center that connects to a call-center of trained native English proctors / testers.
- Give teachers - both Korean and foreign - the flexibility and autonomy they need to do their job. Tell the parents to back off and let the teachers do what they're paid to do. If the parents can't trust a full-time working person to do their job, ask them if they think they can do better.
- De-emphasize the English language as an educational gold standard. Yes, I did just say that. Take the pressure off of the entire population to learn a language only a fraction will actually need. How many store clerks need the vocabulary of a college scholar to sell a Coke?
- Sponsor / support new and innovative programs - especially those started by English teachers trying to improve educational levels and standards.
Labels: teaching
2010/10/18
Day 470 - Lotte World, Baking
LOTTE WORLD
Labels: boyfriend
2010/10/13
Day 465 - Korea in America
Korea has mostly been known in America for Kim Jong Il and the Korean War. Unfortunate, because it means most people only know Korea as some kind of third-world, war-ravaged country over there in Asia.
2010/10/11
Day 463 - F*bright 60th, 300 Days
This weekend was filled with anniversary marking. Additionally, I was incredibly ill. I went to the hospital, but a chest Xray and a CT scan later, they very obviously showed how incompetent they were and I left feeling just as crappy as when I got there.
2010/09/28
Chuseok, Taeyang Concert Pictures
2010/09/24
Day 446 - Chuseok
Last year, after anticipating a full Chuseok experience, I ended up spending it alone, eating some macaroni and cheese from my American-food-stash and watching Indiana Jones on TV. Not exactly what I expected when I signed up for a homestay experience.
This year, I had the full experience and then some. I don't have my camera cord here but when I do there will be lots of pictures. The summary:
--Day Before Chuseok--
I headed up to Daejeon to meet Mrs Soh, my coteacher. She invited me to spend Chuseok with her family when she heard that I had no plans for the holiday. I met her mother in law and sisters in law and we had a girls-having-to-cook-for-chuseok-while-dudes-do-nothing lunch before heading off to the hanbok (Korean traditional dress) store. We looked around there, they tried a few on, and placed orders. At night, Mrs Soh and I went to her side of the family, with whom we made sunpyeon, traditional Chuseok rice cake shaped like half-moons.
--Chuseok--
We woke up insanely early to go back to Mrs Soh's mother-in-law's, where the entire family gathered to perform the ancestor rites. I ended up in my usual role of Entertainment, answering a lot of questions about America, my impressions of Korea, etc. We ate the food initially offered to the ancestors, then I was off with one of the uncle's family to the countryside. We stopped in with his wife's mother (so Mrs Soh's brother's wife's mother) and the family clan gathered there. We roasted some black pig and ate it outside in the little courtyard of the old-time house. After, I met up with Mrs Soh again, said goodbye to her side of the family (with whom I made the sunpyeon) and went back home.
It was a long, exhausting day, but I got to experience so many things I've only studied in books. Pictures to come.
Labels: recreation
2010/09/17
Day 439 - Happy Proposal Day!
*** DISCLAIMER: NO, DY DID NOT PROPOSE. ***
Today is Proposal Day in Korea because 100 days from now is Christmas. So if you start dating today or get engaged or get married, your 100 day (baek-il), will fall on Christmas, which is just a December Valentine's Day in Korea.
Labels: recreation
2010/09/13
Day 435 - TOPIK and DY in America
TOPIK
Labels: boyfriend
2010/09/06
Day 428 - Mistaken Identity
As a white-skinned English-speaker, it's pretty easy to peg me as a "foreigner". I've written before about children screaming "외국이다!" (It's a foreigner!) to their friends as I walk past and hanging out of bus windows to say "hellooooo!" from across the street. Just yesterday, I ordered some delivery food and completed the money-for-food swap at the door. As it shut, the delivery boy (probably a high school student or a recent graduate) called out in a timid voice, "Bye bye!"
Labels: recreation
2010/09/01
Day 423 - Doors to Diplomacy Project and Jolie
This grant year, my big goal is "Legacy". Namely, I want to leave some kind of impression on Korea. To do so, I'm undertaking some projects in my town and my school.
2010/08/30
Day 421 - Finances and Fail
Labels: apartment
2010/08/26
Day 417 - Students' "About Me" Poems
For this first week of classes, I'm giving my kids a break from self introductions. I hammered that into them last year and I didn't want to get the same canned responses as I did in the spring semester. Instead I'm having them write "About Me" poems, acrostics with their names or a short fill-in-the-blank style. Here's some of my favorites, whether due to creativity, impressiveness (is that even a word?), or hilarity.
JURI
Juri is very lovely.
U love me?
Really?
I have boyfriend.
MINJI
My name is Min-Ji!
Is from Korea!!
Not married!!
Join in ITGL ((editor's note: one of the two majors at my school))
I love Korea <3
YEONSOO
Yadong is very good.
English is very good.
Oh, my God!
Nonsan is not good
Starcraft2 is very good.
Oh!
Oh, my eyes!
SEULKI
Speaks Korean
English is very hard ㅠㅠ
Unbelievable development!!
Lives in Korea
Korea!!
I love you!!~ <3
Yuri
cool, hot, people, smart
sister of no (only one)
Lover of Super Junior
Fears school
Needs money
Gives love
Wants to see people
Lives in Yeonsan, Korea
Yuri
JONGMIN
Joker
Ork [sic]
Nice
Guy
Monster
Ice cream eater
Needs something
HYEANSU
Hi
Yeah
Enjoy my life
A boy
Need a sexy girl
So so
Um....
KIM SUNGBONG
Korea is god, I think....
I don't like many eating
Money is very very good
Skin is Hm..... brown?
Unique
No married
Boy
Orange
Name is SunBongKim
Good game (g.g)
KANG SARANG
Korean! I'm Korean.
And my
Name is Saran.
Girl! I'm Girl
Sexy girl ~ wo ~
Ah~ I'm sexy?
Real I'm Korean sexy girl. actually....
A-->
Ngel I'm
God!
GUNWOO
Good boy
Ugly but good boy ^^
Now. i'm so tired.
Wear a school uniform
O M G ...
Orange...
INBEOM
I'm In Beom
Now! My introduce.
Brother is a little boy
Energy full!!!
Oh my god.
My Mom call me....
KONG TAEHEONG
Korea is my nation
Oing?
Needs money
Going university for my dream
Turn it up loud~
Age of 21th
E~ EEEgg
Have a good time?
Egg
Oing?
Not married
GOGOSING MY future
YOUNSOO
You like me
Oh my God
Unbelievable
No I don't like you
Sorry but you like me
One day, we will like each other
Oh~
Labels: teaching
2010/08/21
Day 412 - Back in Korea
I'm back in Korea now, and have decided that I'll be continuing my day-numbering instead of starting over again. Big news, right?
I've started moving into my apartment, but there's still 6 or 7 boxes at my old homestay. Tomorrow night when DY gets off of work we'll go over and grab those and my hands will be officially cleaned of all that. Hurray!
So far, I've been back in Nonsan for about 2 days -- yesterday I met up with Bora, a Korean who teaches English at the local university. She's going to be a big factor in whether my dreams of a Korean-English exchange club at the university works out or not, so I was really encouraged that she was still enthusiastic about things like that.
Today I was a giant load and did absolutely nothing. I've already unpacked, but my TV's at school and my plug converter for my (battery-dead) laptop is packed away in a box at the homestay. Which leaves me nothing to do but stare at the walls in my apartment. Gooood times.
Other than that, I'm just waiting for school to start on Monday. I already prepped my lesson back in America, so I just need to decide what kind of punishment/reward system I want to use this semester and print out some bingo cards.
21 days until I take the Test of Proficiency in Korean. I should be spending all this free time studying...
2010/08/14
A Month In America Condensed into Lists
10 Things I Did
1. ate way too much food
2. shopped
3. watched lots of TV and movies
4. cooked
5. went to the beach
6. went to Boston
7. went clubbing
8. met friends
9. spent time with family
10. regrouped
1. variety (e.g., people, food, TV shows, music)
10 Random Things I'm Bringing Back To Korea
1. dry soup mixes
Labels: not korea
2010/07/27
Hiatus
Since arriving safely and with all my luggage accounted for, I've been thoroughly enjoying my time in America. I haven't, however, bothered writing about it and between blissfully doing nothing and stuffing my face, I probably will not write until I'm back in Korea mid-August.
Until then, take care!
Labels: not korea
2010/07/08
A Look Back...
A little over a week before I go back to America, here's a look back on the people I met, the places I went, and some of the things I did during this first year.
Labels: video
2010/07/07
Day 367 -- A Short Conversation with Doyup
Doyup and I went to the LG Twins (Seoul) vs Hanwha Eagles (Daejeon) baseball game yesterday. Doyup was really excited because the crowd was pretty small, so we had a good chance of being on TV due to the "wtf" factor of crazily-acting fan with his foreigner girlfriend. We did end up on TV sometime during the 3/4 inning. We know because Doyup started getting a billion messages and calls from people who were watching the game: his dad, cousins, co-workers. This conversation took place today, the morning after the game.
"Every soldier are asking me of you. They watched the baseball game. So surprise!"
"Haha, I hope I didn't look stupid!!"
"You are always stupid."
womp womp -.-
Labels: boyfriend, recreation
2010/07/06
Day 366 -- One Year Anniversary in Korea!
... a table-top burner, rice, and all the usual Korean sides (kimchi, etc)
Labels: recreation