callmedancho

This week was very boring. Not much to report, really. It was the last week of classes. Not only were the students disinterested in class, but there was a lot of surprise tasks to complete. Oh well, it's all sorted and over.

I bought pizza for my classes on the last day. I didn't mind so much, even though a part of me didn't think my Mega kids deserved it. The parties were fine, especially for me classes that I made do their work while they ate pizza. Funnily, I stole some extra pizza from the break room to give to my level four kids and one of my kids told me I was an angel. Who'd have thought giving someone pizza would be that awesome?

I'm a little worried about next semester. I'm teaching level 5-7, which are sort of grouped together. Level 5 was my worst class this semester, and what if ALL my classes next semester are the same? I'll die. I just can't do it. Also, the classes are a little different this time, so I might have to run through a class before I try to teach it. Bleh.

With the new term come new teachers. We have three newbies: Cole, James and David. I haven't meet David yet, but the other two seem like nice guys. Danielle's right though; we ladies are becoming horribly out numbered. (5 v. 9) There are also a bunch of new teachers for SLP (the other Hogwon that houses teachers in our block). They also seem nice.

I bought tickets for Nanta and one of the desk teachers helped me. I'm glad, because I doubt I could have figured it out on my own. We couldn't buy tickets in English, so we went to the Korean version of the site and then she helped me enter in all the information. I brought tons of papers and information, just in case we'd need it, but it turns out what I really needed was a thumb drive. A thumb drive?! I'd never heard of such a thing and I still don't understand how it works. I think you enter your information and the drive stores the stuff, so you can just plug in the drive and the computer automatically picks up the information. Seems sketchy if you ask me, but whatever. Talk about weird. Ji-Hye, the desk teacher, also found directions and other stuff for me, which was really sweet. She's so nice. Haha.

On Friday, we went out to Hongdae again. I had a good time until another girl splashed her drink in my face and down my front, which was more humiliating than anything else, even though my eyes stung a little from the alcohol. I was so self-conscious about my soaking wet top that I didn't have much fun for the rest of the evening. I also got pretty blitzed and ended up throwing up on the drive home. Thank God I was traveling with Euna (my HI who speaks Korean) because the cabbie was pissed and wanted extra money for the trip. He even threatened to call the cops if we didn't pay up, which I did. It was awful, since I knew the cops would side with the driver over a drunk foreigner. Also, Euna was pissed off at me too, I was humiliated, and I know I wasn't a good (or even ok) representative of foreigners.

(I think I hate that part the most, since I always get upset when I hear stereotypes of foreigners in Korea as drunk/high deviants. I hate that I became a stereotype, even if it was only in front for one person. Embarrassing situations in Korea are so much more troubling that the exact same situation in the US. :( )

For Thanksgiving, our group did a big gathering and pot luck on Saturday. We got two huge turkeys from Itaewon (the foreign district) and everyone brought something extra. (I brought soda, since I'm lame and un-talented like that.) It was a lot of fun and a great change of pace from our usual weekend booze ups. A lovely rest for my liver and my stomach. I liked it and I think the others did too. Cormick even suggested that we do it again once a month, which might be fun; just having a large potluck gathering. Well, we'll see.

The Saga Continues....

On Wednesday, I decided to let the desk teachers handle the situation, but I would make the two troublesome girls sit apart. When the first one came in, she bowed really low. I mean, bend parallel to the floor low. I'm pretty sure they got a talking to by someone and it shook them up. Is it sad that I'm not at all bothered that it might have been their mom, who probably hit them too? Probably. Anyway, that seems to have solved the problem. The desk teacher even got them out of class so they could apologize to me, thought I really got the feeling that it was more of a "we're sorry that we got caught and you're pissed."

Which is legit. On Wednesday, I was crossing the street and, most of the time, I jay-walk when I cross over to my apartment. This time, when I crossed over, there was a cop standing there and he yelled at me. "Danger!" he told me. Three things come to mind at this point. One) like my students, I was like "Sorry! (that I got caught... and I'm totally going to do it again...)" and Two) doesn't that just show how safe Korea is that crossing at a non-cross walk is considered dangerous? (And yes, I know that was probably the only English he knew.)

The third thing is how AWESOME! it is that I can play the stupid foreigner and get out of a chew out. In the states, I'd have to listen to the cop yell at me and I'd be expected to stick around. In Korea, I can go "oops!" and be allowed to walk away with a sorry, because, let's face it, it's not like I'd know what he was saying anyway.

The results for the level up tests are out, and I think most of my kids leveled up, and with a few exceptions, I'm not surprised at all by who leveled up and who didn't. I think my most annoying kid jumped a level, which is probably for the best, as he and the other boy should probably be split up. I asked my kids who leveled up, which was a fairly bad move, since it was awkward if one of my kids didn't level up. Like in my level one, where most of them leveled up, except for one girl. Aaaawkward. >.>

Some of my kids are getting too relaxed since the results are out now, so I ended up bitching out my level 5. (Bitching out being the only appropriate phrase for it.) I was so pissed, I almost cursed at them. For the record, the sheer shock of it gave me order for the rest of class. Apparently, I was so loud the class next door could hear it all and were listening in on my tirade about how my kids thought they were awesome because the leveled up, but they really weren't all that, so no-one was allowed to talk from then on unless they were called on.

That class was a mess though. Later on in class, I was taught a silly "how compatible are two people as a couple" thing with names. It was kind of fun and me and two girls did it with the names of some of my kids in class. It was fun, especially since the new girl thought that this one boy had a crush on this girl in class, which I thought too.
I also ended up calling one of my boys a girl. (I said "Boys!" and he said "I'm not boys!". So I said, "You're a girl?!" I know... I'm so mature.)

In my level 4, I taught my kids the word lame, as in the opposite of cool. One of my girls looked up the word and found the literal meaning, so she asked about it, complete with foot-dragging limp to demonstrate, which was awesome. She also asked about the word "suicide". After giving she gave the example of hanging yourself to another student, I went on to mention jumping in front of a train. And it all went downhill from there. One kid mentioned slitting your wrists, but she made the "across the street" motion, so I told them that it was "down the road", after which I realized I was discussing this with a bunch of twelve year-olds. I'm such a terrible person.

On Saturday/today, I went to a museum which strangely displayed a hodge-podge of history and art stuff. It was interesting enough, though I can't say I really liked it, since it was an awkward blend of history and art. It wasn't exactly a history museum or a art museum; I couldn't appreciate the art because of the history focus, but there wasn't enough history to appreciate it that way. Still, I'm glad I went, since it was free. I, cleverly as it happens, got a audio guide, which helped a lot since there weren't many English translations of signs. However, the sensor was a little off and I would sometimes get information on something I wasn't looking at, which was confusing until I figured it out. Still, nice stuff, lots of objects and good displays/organization.

So, things have come to a bit of a head in my level 3. I have two girls in my class who a two-faced suck-ups. I've been aware of this for a while, but their previous "sweetness" has carried a lot of weight up until this point.

On Monday, I started to crack down on them, mostly because they've been speaking Korean a lot and one of the girls has been carving in the desk, so I came down on them like a ton of bricks, for writing on the desk, speaking Korean and then leaving the room without permission. I noticed that they were writing a note in the back of class, so I went to take it and there was basically a scuffle for the paper. In the process I noticed that my name was on it. It was huge--not very subtle at all--and written in red pen. (In Korean, you only write someone's name in red if they're dead. I'm not sure if this was the intended point, but whatever.)

Anyway, I figured they weren't saying nice things about me, so I took them out in the hall for a chat, which I don't think fixed much. Anyway, after class, I asked Euna, my HI, about the note and she said the part I had grabbed--it was ripped in the scuffle--was REALLY rude and used curse words. Greaaaaat.

I was so much happier when I didn't know what the note said, since then I didn't care what a pair of 12 year olds thought about me.

Anyway, I asked a desk teacher about it, since Euna recommended that I do something. The desk teacher thought it was really bad and was going to talk to my class, until I told her that it was the first class and I now had my later class. I think she's going to talk with them on Wednesday.

A part of me feels like I may have made the wrong move. I mean, this feels a bit like I'm a kid going to the teacher to settle a fight. Shouldn't I be able to handle this? Should I do anything at all? I mean, it's only two more weeks; maybe I should just take it like an adult and forget about it? Should I passive-aggressive style target the girls/give them a hard time? UUUUUGGGGHHH!!!!!

That "section of class" is interesting though. (I can split the class into three sections. Girls I, Girls II, Boys.) Girls II always sit in the same spots, in the back of the class. They consist of R, LK, C and S. LK and C are the trouble kids and R is friends with them. R is a new student, so she teamed up with LK and C, who are very outspoken and fun, to have some friends. A wise move at the time. However, since I came down on LK/C, R has distanced her friendship with the girls.

On the other hand, S isn't terribly popular and she sits by herself, bordering the guy section; partially in self-imposed exile, but partial since the other girls tolerate her at best, and are mean at worst. Anyway, I think she sucks up to C in an attempt to have someone who likes her in class.

Ahhhh, it's all so political. I'm sure I could draw country metaphors if I thought about it.

Now that testing is over classes are a bit more wild. You have to be way more strict, which is hard because sometimes the kids just don't care. I even had one kid tell me it was because the testing was over. Although cracking down on behavior is hard, I'm also beginning to crack down on on-line homework, but I think it's too late for that at this point. The kids are really acting up though. I had two girls try to play with my hair during lesson. As in, reach across their desk and start braiding my hair. Didn't even ask. I told them they can play with my hair the last day if they're good, so that might be a good incentive. I just hope they don't cut it, like they asked if they could. I also had an almost fight between two of my kids in my lowest level. That was a horrifying new experience.

My mega class is the worst since I never had much control over them in the first place. I ended up having to take one kid outside to chat. Sadly, a victory in that class is if the boys are quiet. Such a different standard from my other classes, where victory is everyone getting their work done. I feel bad for a fellow teacher, the one who has had a lot of trouble with discipline. Apparently, he's having a lot of trouble and the boss is really getting on his case. Poor guy.

In other news, one of my level 1 kids is an awesome drawer. I found out recently that he draws on the back of his tests, so I think I'm going to start copying them. The pictures are really good, in a cartoon-ish sort of way, but sometimes they're kind of boarder-line messed up too. Some of his pictures are just good and detailed (i.e. a drawing of a city, complete with electric church crosses [churches here have light up crosses on top of them so you can see them from a distance]), but some are a bit disturbing (i.e. someone cutting off their fingers... yes, I know). Still, I hope he goes into art in his future. It would be such a waste if he became a lawyer or something.

On Friday, I went to a museum tour. I didn't learn much about history or the objects in the museum, but it was more of an art/design lecture. I learned a lot about Korean iconography, such as the meaning of cranes, flowers, turtles, and so forth. The museum seemed pretty cool though, so I might go back. We also got to make a folding screen with the symbols that we had learned about. I did one with a flower design and some Chinese characters for good fortune.

On Saturday, I read about the lantern festival in Seoul, so I decided to head down. It was FREEZING! but it was a lot of fun. I spent a long time looking at the lanterns, which weren't small things. They were formed into shapes, like cranes, Big Ben, traditional Korean clothing, musical instruments, and so forth. I went alone, so I only have two pictures of myself there, which is probably for the best because I looked a bit like a babushka, with my scarf over my head. However, in my defense, I didn't have a hat/hood and it was COLD! and when I had the scarf over my head I was fine. Babushka's clearly know what's up with the cold thing. I might look to other people for fashion, but I'm going to the babushka for keeping warm tips. (Babushka fashion: 1; Seoul winter: 0)

There was a Japanese group there, with their lantern of a famous Kabuki character. I got a photo with them/the lantern. In hindsight, I should have stuck around and practiced my Japanese with them. (I didn't even ask for a photo the right way. ; _ ;) but I didn't listen to them talk a bit and that was good practice. Anyway, it was a lot of fun. I'll post my photos eventually.

Halloween was fun. I went out with my co-workers and I dressed up at Pippi Longstockings, which is a costume I probably should have worn years ago, but I just never got around to. Weird, really. There was/is some intense drama among the other teacher and, "for reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture", many people ended up irritated with each other at the end of the night. Oh, the drama. Fortunately, I get to watch and not get involved if I so choose, which I do because I have a braincell. It's kinda though, when I figure out what's going on without knowing the whole story, and then learn that I'm pretty close. Like a detective story.

This week we had level-up testing, so there's was nothing to teach and "classes" were all pretty easy. I had to grade some papers (writing and speaking), which was interesting, since there was plenty of personal discretion. It was kind of fun to grade. Well, the writing was boring, since I never got anything very "good" (i.e. funny). But speaking was interesting, since they had to answer a question like "what pet do you want?" or "TV at home or movies at a theater?" Most of my kids did well, even though my best kid in 4 froze and had to re-do hers.

Most of my kids were pretty good. (Professional test takers, as one of my co-workers called them.) Even my problematic class (and student) were good. I only had trouble with my level four when we had a long break and my level one during a speaking section. My level four got a bit rowdy and another teacher came in and yelled at them twice. I felt bad for the kid who was the loud one, since he's a really nice/shy kid, but he kept knocking on the wall, so what can you do? I felt really embarrassed about it. I guess it's like when you're a parent and your kid misbehaves. It seems to reflect back on you. Whenever one of my difficult kids goes to another teacher for a class, I always end up asking how they were, hoping they were good.

My top three L1 kids got into a shouting match during one students speaking test, when they were supposed to be SILENT!, so I really screamed at them when she was done her section. I'm pretty sure they have no idea what I said (it pretty much consisted of "HOW DARE YOU?!"), but I figure the face and loud voice showed my displeasure.

Anyway, it's over now, so it's back to the grind. Apparently, the last three weeks are hard, since they kids have taken the test and they're hard to control. Goody....

My voice isn't what you'd call MIA.  It's really just taking a vacation and a man's voice has taken over for the time being.  Seriously, I sound horrible.  Fortunately my kids have settled for just a quick mocking before getting over it and moving on.  Since I can't yell at them, I must smile and nod.  Truly, teaching children will do one of two things to your self-esteem: atomize it or make it impervious to a nuclear holocaust.  Thankfully, I'm the latter.  (I'd just like to say to all parents and teachers, I have never respected you so much.  Kids can really suck.)

Apparently something has gone down, because we got chewed out (very nicely... and in Korean) at a meeting by our boss.  We're not totally sure what happened for two reasons.  One of which was that our translators were either unwilling or unable to translate everything being said to us.  (Probably a mixture of the two, since our boss would talk for twenty minutes before letting them translate.)  Another one, I think, was that our boss wasn't terribly specific.  All I got out of it was "Be more professional" and "don't lose students".  No hows or whys.  Possibly the whys are need-to-know, which I don't really, but I'd love a How.  I mean "be professional" could mean anything.  I'm basically assuming she doesn't mean me until I hear something different.  We shall see; we shall see.

Next week, we have testing at school.  I have no idea what's going on, but at least I'll have five practice runs before I actually have to know what I'm doing.  (Five practices are 4 practice test slots and one for real test with a group that's done it before.)  I hope this goes well, because if it doesn't I'll screw myself and 30-odd kids.

My level 1 kids play Korean jaxs (Komki, I think).  They play with 5 small weighted plastic objects, instead of the metal items.  They're really good; I suck.  They're so quick.  They can also do something where they out the jaxs on the back of their hand, flip the jacks and grab them out of the air.  It's incredible, so I like to just watch.  I think, perhaps, this is a case of old dogs and new tricks.

Sometimes, I'm worried that I'm being sexist.  I'm concerned that I'm favoring my female students over my male students.  Sometimes I notice that I call on my girls more often than I call on my boys and I can't tell if this is because my girls raise their hands more, if there's just more girls than boys, if I'm ignoring the boys, or if I'm just imagining it.  I try to be fair, but I'm not totally sure I'm succeeding.  (Perhaps I should call on an even number no matter who raises their hands to prevent the boys from slacking.  Oh course, I can't call on them if they don't know the answer, but then I forget to call on them for something like readings, and if they're not very good at readings it can be painful, but I don't call on them and they never get better and it's a vicious cycle!  ARGH!)  I wish I knew what to think.

Halloween is Saturday and I still don't have a full costume (no time and I've been sick).  I also haven't decided if I'll be going out with the other teachers or if I should see Brown-Eyed Girls.  I'd really like to Brown Eyed Girls, but I figure I should hang out with the other teachers so I can stay in the "call them, there's a party on" loop.  I skipped last weekend, but if I skip another weekend, I'll probably fall out of the loop again.  Tricky....

This regular blogging thing is starting to become a habit.  An ugly, ugly habit.

Anyway, I thought I'd post this story since it's a bit of an interesting foreigner living in Korea "character" study.  I'm starting to lose my voice, which isn't surprising since I talk practically non-stop at least 3 hours a day.  The only shock is that it's taken this long to actually happen.  (Thankfully this is Thursday, so as long as I can get through Friday, I can pass out for the weekend.  No harm, no foul.)  Anyway, in a hope to self-medicate and fight off any potential colds, I decided to by a bit of hard alcohol to clear anything nasty out.  Basically, I decided to spike my punch.  So, on my way home from work, I dropped by the grocery store/target combo near my place and went to the liquor section.  By passing the soju (with it's ~20% Alcohol content) I went straight to the KGB.  KGB is Korea's shout out to Cade (Shout out!!) and her cranberry juice-vodka mixes; it's vodka mixed with lemon, grapefruit or lime. 

I ended up buying myself a 4 pack of Lemon KGB since it was cheaper.  Instead of putting it in my bag, I just lazily tucked it under my arm and walked the 100 meters/yards home.  And all the way home I thought, never in America.  Anyway, I thought it was interesting to think about the relaxed laws on liquor sales here in Korea, or to hear about how close I got to being arrested in Korea.  Either/or.

Sadly, this is a bit of a turning point for me.  Before coming over here, I read an article and the writer claimed that "all English teachers" in Japan become a bit of an alcoholic.  Determined to buck this "trend", assuming that it is fairly accurate, I decided I wouldn't buy alcohol to keep in my fridge.  This followed the logic that if I had it, I'd drink it, but if I didn't have it on hand, this would cut down on my alcohol consumption considerable.  Sadly, this rule didn't last long, as I've now got a 4-pack of KGB in my fridge.  While this is a positive turning point for my wallet, my psyche is probably crying like a little girl.  Oh well, bring it on.

My classes are starting to get a bit unruly.  Even my kids who are normally very good are getting bored and lazy in class.  They've started arguing with me about certain activities, but mostly they fall back into line once I don't move on the issue.  I think some other teacher said it had something to do with the kids being more comfortable with you so they push the issue more.  Still, I have two girls who won't stop chatting, and then get super mad when I move one of them. 

I also had a girl who cried in my class today.  I'd just like to clarify and say that I wasn't the one who made her cry.  Some other girl was mean to her and shut her out of a group thing... I think.  I'm not totally sure what happened, since the girls wouldn't tell me exactly what was happening.  I'm just not sure what happened, but apparently I'm not supposed to put her in a group with this other girl.  It was awful, and I felt awful afterwards.  Blah.  I've come to see teaching as performance art; except it's worse in the sense that you have to perform for the same audience more than once, so if you hate them or it goes badly, you have to do it again.  This can be good, in that you get a re-do, or truly horrible.  Not to mention, if they don't like your performance, they can leave, and you'll know they didn't like it.  (Like a waitress if you don't leave a tip.)

[One former teacher said that whatever you decide--if you're going to stay or go after your year is up--early on will change by the time it gets closer to the actual event.  So, let's see if that's true.  I don't think I can do this for a full year, let alone two, so I'll probably be out as soon as this is up.  Let's see what happens.]

I also had a student say "fuck you" in class; not to me, but he said it in a hypothetical situation sort of way.  I was so shocked, my jaw dropped and I just stared at him for a bit.  It was really hard to tell him never to say that word ever again, without flipping out on him.  There is also way too much "bird-flipping" among my students.  Obviously they know it's a bad thing, but I hope they realize how bad it is.  Sadly, they probably just see it in movies and miss the truly offensive nature of the gesture.

In other news, I've started taking some classes.  I started taking a Korean language class, which is good.  It's free and classes are an hour and a half twice a week.  It seems to be working out pretty well, but we're still on pretty basic stuff, like what's your name and I'm from America.  The class is awesomly diverse, even though all of class is taught in Korean and English.  My teacher reminds me a lot of my Japanese teachers in Japan.  Creepily so at times.

I also took a class on how to make Kim Chi.  It was a very interesting experience, and I'm glad I went to the class.  I now know a lot about kim chi, but I also know I'll never be making it ever again.  It's so complicated!  (It takes over a week!  No lie!)  I might make the turnip form again though, since that wasn't too bad.  We'll see how my batches turned out.  I hope they're good; I'd feel bad about wasting the food if my stuff is awful.  It also turns out that I am the messiest cook every to step foot in a kitchen.  I had kim chi stuff up to my elbows and I had sauce stains/splodges from my wrist to my elbow, not to mention on my shirt, and I was wearing gloves.  Clearly, I needed those dish washing gloves that go up your arm.  Tragic.  I don't get it either; since I had stuff everywhere and this other lady managed to do the whole thing without an apron.  It's just not fair.  Still, the lady I was cooking next to took pity on me and helped me with the washing up and stuff.  She was from Japan, so I got to practice some of my Japanese too.

I haven't been out clubbing lately, but I hung out with the others on Friday.  I didn't go out since I was meeting up with my Korean friend Elle the next morning, but I went out on Saturday night, which was a nice change of pace.  I actually had fun too, which isn't always that case, so I stayed out until 3.30, but most people agreed that it was about time to go home at that point, so I managed to cab it with others.  We stopped at McDonald's on the way back, which was... interesting.  Not only did one of the guys I was with decided that it was an awesome idea to pee in the store (If foreigners are banned from the McD's in Sincheon from now on, that's what happened), but two boys also got into a fight with food trays.  One of them got whacked in the eye and was actually bleeding.  It seemed to be getting better when I saw him later, but his eye was bloodshot, there was a cut near his eye and he was going to have some bruising.  So we spent a while coming up with his cover stories; one for his boss (he works at a different school) and one for his kids.  The kid's story was easy (anything with secret agents, ninjas or pirates), but the one for his boss was trickier because it had to be plausible, not that the truth was actually all that plausible really.  I think he decided on a basketball injury (accidentally got hit in the face while being guarded, or something).

Parent meetings were Monday for me.  No one came, and I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.  Either way, I wasted an hour, but whatever.

My MM is still a handful and not in a sort-of-ok way.  More in a "festers in my soul" sort of way.  I was really mad after my friday class and this didn't really go away over the weekend.  I'm just full of negative something.  Ugh.  Anyway, they weren't as bad on Monday, mostly because all the girls came but only one of the guys showed up.  I've come to the conclusion that half the class doesn't really care about it, which is frustrating because I want to teach them!  I WANT them to level up, and not because I secretly hope that means I won't have to deal with them again.  I WANT them to do well but they don't want to.  Frankly, this bothers me.  A lot.  Still, I'm a bit at a loss over what to do. 

Anyway, on a funnier note, although it wasn't funny at all when it happened, here's a story.  On Tuesday, I go out to pick some stuff up and come back to see there's a note pasted on the elevator.  It's all in Korean, but it's about the 4th and 6th floor (I live on the 4th).  Still, I follow the "If it's in Korean, it doesn't apply to you" rule, which works 9 times out of 10, and even when it doesn't work, it's usually something like "I missed the free concert?!  Bummer!"  (I'm sure you can see where this is going.)

Come 3 o'clock, I grabbed my stuff and opened my door to head out, when suddenly a woman, who was standing in the stairwell, was like "NOOOO!!!  You can't leave your apartment!"  It turns out that they were waxing the hall floor, so she wasn't going to let me out until it had dried.  I was trapped! and I needed to be at school in a half-hour.  (It's a 20 minute walk, but I've done it in 15.)  I thought about going for the fire-exit, which was apparently a no-no.  In addition, when you live on the 4th floor, you look at your windows as an escape route.  I legitimately looked at my window and thought about climbing out that way.  Sad, I know.

I didn't know what to do/say and I don't know how long I have to wait, so I call my HI, who thought this was all hilarious and told me to make a run for it.  But I can't since the old lady is guarding the exit!  Anyway, he told me to just go for it and keep telling her sorry/I need to go in Korean.  So when I hung up I told her I needed to leave now! and she felt out some dry areas for me to walk on.  So I ended up scraping along the side wall to go to work and then running down the stairwell to freedom!  (I was on-time too!  I did the whole walk in 10 minutes, which is AWESOME! and about the same time a cab would have taken.  I really do have to learn the Korean words for directing a cab.)  Anyway, all's well that ends well, so it's hilarious now.

On Sunday, the day after Chuseok, I went to Everland with Wendy and Fed.  It was interesting.  It took me a while to meet up with them, so I grabbed some lunch and checked out the monkey exhibit.  (For the record, I almost died when I realized one of the information signs actually used the word ass.  I was also interested to see that the signs for "STAFF ONLY" call the staff cast.  Hmmmm....)  We watched a "Halloween parade", which was really interesting/fun.  They import foreigners to work as performers at Everland; so noted in case this teaching thing doesn't work out.  I did note the interesting differences between halloween in America and Halloween in Korea (or, at least, in Everland).  In America, the focus tends to be on the goth and demonic, while the Everland take was much more "festive" and happy-smile-dance time.  A bit like in Japan where "Nightmare Before Christmas" is seen as cute and Disney, instead of gothic and Hot Topic.  Yet another example of events and ideas being changed when they are taken from one culture to another.  (HA!  Take that Lampman!  I'm not crazy!)

We also went on a "Safari", for which we had to wait an hour.  It wasn't really worth it, and I'm not just saying that because I saw lions, etc. in the wilds of Africa, and caged animals, no matter how close up they are, will never compare.  It really just wasn't all that awesome, and it was far too short.  We also rode the "T Express" which was a super-special-awesome rollercoaster.  It was actually really exciting!  Aside from all the drops and turns, it did this thing where there'd be these two sharp/medium drops in quick succession.  That was brilliant!

When we were looking at the photos from the ride, a guy tried to make conversation with me.  I didn't really realize it at the time, but I did brush him off fairly rudely.  Part of it was I didn't realize he was actually trying to strike up a conversation (I am an idiot, yes; why do you ask?) and then I though Wendy and Fed were leaving, so I wanted to keep up with them.  Wendy sort of told me off for this, criticizing my networking skills.  She's right of course.  So, I'm resolved to improve them.

We also stuck around Everland until 9, when there was a fireworks display.  At least, we thought it was a fireworks display.  It turned out to be an incredible fireworks/laser/lights/GIANT FLAMES/MORE FIREWORKS extravaganza.  No joke.  We were stunned.  The flames were so hot, we could feel it on our faces, and we weren't even close to them.  I'm also never seen so make fireworks in one go; not even on 4th of July.  And then there were more fireworks; they were not fooling around.  In short, that show alone was worth the 25 dollars entrance fee for Everland.

Of course, I had classes again.  Report cards are done, but parent conferences are on Monday for me.  Well, best to get it over with, I suppose.  The week was fairly normal, leaning towards stressful.  I'm worried that some of my kids aren't going to level up.  I'm not too concerned about my 1s or 3s, they seem pretty bright and even if they don't make it this time, I'm sure they will next time.  It's my 4s and 5s that worry me.  They don't strike me as really understanding the materials, and I can't figure if I'm not teaching them right or if they're not working right.  I keep meaning to ask for advice, but I can't figure out who/how to ask.  On teacher suggested that I get them to do more independent work to see who's just tagging along, but I'm not sure how to help those kids.

In addition, I might actually hate my 5s.  Ok, so hate's a pretty strong word, but they can be so lazy sometimes, not to mention, they just will not focus!  The guys especially.  Even chewing them out doesn't work.  I wouldn't even mind so much if they didn't work, but shut their mouths.  But they keep talking and driving me crazy.  I also found out that one of the boys was calling a girl a cockroach.  (I thought he was just screwing up how you say her name, but what do you know.  It's entirely possible that this girl is going to hit him... and a part of me really hopes she does.)  I think he was also writing a Korean curse word on his desk.  I swear, I've had it with this kid; I don't know what I'm going to do with him, but if he tried to jerk my chain next class, I'm going to freak out on him.  I can only hope I don't curse at him.

Sadly, the light in all of this, aside from the fact that I actually like my 1s & 3s (and generally my 4s), is that the books are so stark-raving crazy.  While, this is probably because I'm reading too much into them, I like to think it keeps me sane.  I've already mentioned how my EC3 read a book about a motorcycle race across the Amazon Jungle, which is a stupid idea on soooo many practical levels, but that's not even mentioning the fact that the police go to protect Indians from Miners who are killing the Indians for their land.  I decided not to tell my students how unlikely it was that this would actually occur, considering the marginalized status of Indians in Brazil, as well as Brazil's focus on industrialization.  You know, anything to keep those kids innocent, even though I did try to get them to overcome their stereotype as darker skinned people as dirty.  It wasn't as successfully as I'd have liked, but you know.   

Another example: My level 1 is reading a book about two British immigrants to America in the 1800s.  They work on a farm without rights, of course, since we don't have human rights or socialism/labor unions yet.  Finally, due to some bravery on the part of the daughter, who wears pants sometimes (clearly, a dangerous social element). they are awarded land by a nearby Indian chief.  Aside from the whole pants issue, the fact that the Indian chief would even have land to give the family is doubtful.  In addition, I doubt he would give the land over for agriculture, assuming he would have that sort of power.  Also, I'd like to note that one of the problems faced by the family is a lack of money, so even if they got the land, they'd still need to buy seed, farm equipment, farm animals, and other necessities, as well as build a house/shelters.

Friday, I went to an art exhibition of early 20th century French Photography.  I really liked it.  I especially liked a photo that was taken through a broken window and a bunch of shots that were taken from above a subject.  It was really interesting, especially since the photos played around with things like perspective.  That was a lot of fun and then I went to another exhibit on modern Korean painting, which was really good.  Some of it was a little too abstract, but for the most part I liked it.  In addition, now I know where the Seoul Art Center is.  It's a bit stupid though, since there's a bus that takes you there, but I can't figure out where the bus is that takes you back.  Fortunately, it isn't that far a walk, so I just hiked back.  I can see that being a pain if I go to a night concert though.  (I've picked up the October Schedule and some stuff looks really good.)

I didn't do anything Saturday, but Sunday I went to a large Charity flee market.  It wasn't that far away, so I took the subway.  Outside the station, there was a group of break-dancers, so I watched that for a while, and they're really good.  Korea really has a thing for break-dancing, but that's cool, since there are plenty of performances, generally at unexpected times/places.

At the market, I found that all those years of picking through charity shops in England have deserted me.  I just don't have the patience for it anymore.  I mostly just scanned over booths.  I wasn't looking for anything in particular, but after a while I started keeping my eyes open for a nice dress and shoes, as well as some jeans, and some sweaters/coats.  I ended up doing pretty well.  I figured out my pants size over here.  (There's something depressing about going from an 8 to a 32...)  I didn't get any pants, but I did pick up a light sweater, a belt, and two heavy coats for about 16 dollars.  Yes.  Y-E-S, Yes.  I also wanted an awesome dress from Zara, but it wouldn't zip.  Stupid ribcage!  Who needs you anyway.  So that was a bit depressing.

However, when I wandering through the subway system, I decided to check out one of the stores there.  A lady was selling some nice jeans for about $10, so I looked at them.  (Creepily she guessed my size exactly... >.>)  But then she said I could try the pants on before buying.  Let me explain: there are no dressing rooms here.  Wendy told me about how, to try things on, girls just strip down and pull it on in the middle of the store.  And that, ladies and gentleman, is basically what I did.  My Korean moment of the day included the lady pulling some racks around and I just tried on the pants.  (I've decided not to think about how many people walked by while this went on.)  Still, the pants are nice and the price was right.  ($10 and some humiliation.)  All this is much better than Japan, though, where buying clothing just wasn't going to happen.

It's been a fairly quiet week.  This Saturday is Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving), and report cards were due the same day, so things have been a bit hectic, but not too bad.  I finished my cards early, so I didn't really have to worry about it, like some other teachers did.  Other than that, it's all been pretty unexciting.

On Tuesday, I went to a National Health Insurance office with one of the desk teachers and got health insurance.  I decided to go now, since I have to pay for all of the months I've been here, so no matter when I get it, I'll always have to pay the same amount in the end.  The whole thing took about an hour, which worked out pretty well.

My classes were a bit dull, in that I've yet to hear anything on the level of the "Mistake: Baby" comment.  I did have a moment when one kid said pillage instead of village, but that's pretty tame.  The most "exciting" thing to happen this week was when one of my kids smashed his face on a desk.  He was rocking forward, over his desk, on his chair and it slipped, so his cheek hit the desk as he fell.  He's going to have a massive bruise.  He was crying, and I don't blame him, so I sent him down to the first floor to pull himself together, get some mothering, and have them make sure he didn't break anything, while I continued to class.  I've started using him as a cautionary tale though, and I tell my other classes that it was horrible, with blood everywhere!  I actually had two boys searching the back area looking for blood stains.  One of the other teachers told me to scribble on the floor with red marker and tell them it's blood, but I've decided there's a difference between telling them a lie and giving them false evidence.

Though apparently Korean kids are a little shaky on the concept of "evidence".  Apparently, most of the kids (and a decent section of the adult population) believe in fan death [the idea that if you sleep with all the windows/doors closed and a fan on, you'll suffocate to death].  This all came up because some students told Euna that if you play basketball, you'll get taller.  She argued this with them, saying that it's because taller people are better at basketball, that players tend to be taller, but they were totally convinced.  One girl even cited a friend who played basketball and got taller; Euna rebuttal was "Because you're young!  That's what you do!"  Eli thought this whole thing was hilarious.

My EC1 class finished Dick Whittington, which ends with Dick getting married.  I'd like to point out that Dick in this story is 12.  Even if there is some time lag between his arrival in London, and his stumbling into wealth, we're still looking at a 14 year old getting married.  And yet, we all just gloss over this.  (Clearly, I'm thinking too much about the stories.)

I've noticed that my "one minute" time limit just means "Whenever I say so".  I time the test taking, but when I tell my kids they have a minute to memorize something, this could mean anything from 45 seconds to 3 minutes.  It's great since none of my kids have called me on it.  I've also discovered that I really HATE some of the voices on the CD readings.  Example: the cat in Dick Wittington sounds creepy (Pedo-creepy) and the King could win a world's deepest voice competition... easily.  Now, my EC3 is listening a story about some fictional motorcycle race through the Amazon Jungle--I'd just like to say that it sounded like the worst idea I'd ever heard in my entire life--and I hate the voice of one of the main guys.  And even one of my kids commented on how the girl in the EC4 reading sounds like she's 3 seconds from falling asleep.  I just hate listening to it...  Where do they get these voices?!

Today, I took the metro to Gwanghwanmun, in hopes of finding a museum, but that fell by the way side and I ended up walking to Insa-dong and the stream.  Insa-dong is a "traditional" street.  I use quotes because it's all very commercialized culture. (*Insert diatribe about the way Westernization forces traditional culture to become touristic and commercialized, followed by a commentary/discussion on whether this is negative or not.)  It's really just a bunch of shops selling touristy items, but I think it's fun and the restaurants/stores/vendors are really nice.  I went to a tea house and had a cup, before wandering down the street.  I didn't get anything, just food, but I did look at some of the nice cards and dolls wearing traditional garb.  I'm thinking about picking up some cards for the holidays, and I might get myself a doll, for the collection.  After that I wandered over to the stream that got re-done recently and walked along that for a bit, before I headed home.

My level 4 and 5 still have smaller class sizes.  Interestingly, the desk ladies automatically mark kids who have testing as absent.  This, however, means that if a kid comes in anyway, I have to send them down to get checked in.  One of my level 5 girls came in on Friday so I sent her down, but when she came back her status hadn't changed to present, so I asked her if she had gone, but she didn't understand.  I tried for five minutes until Jin (the troublesome boy) asked if he could just translate it.  I was shocked!  Jin... being helpful?!  As an additional mystery, one has to wonder where Susan went that first time I sent her down.

On Saturday, I went to an AWC (American Women's Club) dinner with Wendy and Fed (two other teachers).  It was 40,000W (~$40), but it was totally worth it.  It was held in an absolutely beautiful spa and the food was excellent.  I felt a little awkward since I didn't know anyone there (except for Fed and Wendy), and most everyone else was older and knew other people, but it was still nice and everyone I talked to was friendly.  I also liked the fact that they were raising money for charities.  There was a raffle which benefited some groups, so I bought extra tickets.  I didn't win anything though.

I meet a friend of Wendy's there.  She and her husband are renting a dance studio and having a party there in November where we can learn some dances.  I'm super excited and it sounds like a lot of fun.

I also meet another English teacher there.  (Most everyone else was involved in some sort of upper-level executive business thing.)  Now there is someone who deeply unhappy with her life here.  She seems pretty isolated where she is and I don't think she likes teaching English (which makes me wonder why she's still here for a second year).  She seemed to be pretty focused on getting an upper-level/better paying job in business.  I feel bad for her, since she seems to be working a whole bunch of hours, but she seemed to be focused on the negative.  She was upset about how foreigners are treated in Korea, which might be truly an issues, but if you think it's so horrible, go home or do something about it.  Anyway, she seemed nice enough if a bit hung-up.  I invited the other English teacher to hang out on Sunday, but nothing ever came of it.

On Sunday, I went out to the ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) Tourism & Culture fair.   Funnily, when I left my apartment, the elevator took a long time coming.  When the doors finally opened, I was surprised to find that there was a man inside with a whole bunch of household items and a mattress, but I got on anyway.  Then the man started talking in Korean, and a voice behind the mattress answered him!  I hadn't even realized there was a woman back there.  I guess it's moving time again.

I caught the express train, so I arrived a bit early for the performances.  I had alloted extra time, in case it was difficult or if the ESL teacher I had meet earlier decided to come along.  Anyway, I got a chance to quickly look at the tourism booths and pick up some pamphlets.  It was a bit tricky at times, trying to find brochures in English, but the Myanmar actually found me some stuff.  The guy was like "Please, come to Myanmar".  Two questions arise: One, is it really safe to visit a country ruled by an oppressive military dictatorship.  Two, is it legal?  Or is Myanmar "Cuba- Asian style"?  Any thoughts?

After that, I grabbed a seat and waited for the program.  A lady was handing out pamphlets on ASEAN and I got a paper sun-visor, which was totally hideous, but I wore it anyway since I'm sure it was "part of the experience".  The first group to perform was from Vietnam.  It was a group of musicians who played some traditional music, which was really nice.

Then there was a group of dancers from Myanmar.  I know very little about Myanmar culture, so this was really different.  When I think about East-Asian dance and music, I think about Thai or Vietnamese, but this was not like that.  I'm not sure how authentic the music was, but the dance was a bit... athletic.  The dancer bent down and got up again (rapidly) a lot, and she bent at the waist often.  In addition, her dress was very long and trailed behind her, so she did this cool move, where she'd hook her foot around the train and flick it back behind her when she turned so it was behind her again.

Laos was next.  There were several different performances.  The dancers in the beginning did fairly simple dances.  Then there was also a man who played a large woodwind instrument.  He was pretty cool, as half-way through his bit he turned the instrument all the way around without pausing.  I also noticed he wore traditional pants, but he wore a large suit jacket-style top.  An interesting merger.  The last Laos dance was pretty cool too, since it was a bit more of a story (boy meets girl, flirt, etc.) It was really cute, if weird since the boy's prop was a crossbow.  It was cool.

Indonesia was next.  They were a traditional music group, which were really good.  They really got the crowd excited, and it was nice.  They had a lot of presence and the music was catchy.  They even got a woman from Singapore to dance while they played. 

After they were done, there was a break and I wandered around the tents.  I ended up getting a soupy-noodle dish from the Laos tent and I also bought a CD of Indonesian music (now I just need to get it to work on my computer....), and a small part of one of the Indonesian instruments.  It actually makes sound when you shake it, like you would do if it was still part of the instrument.  I also bought a belt that was worn by some of the Singapore dancers.  It's a silver chain belt that's adjustable.  I also got a set of coasters for free; they're really pretty with one sides about modern Singapore & the other being about Singapore tradition.  I was so excited!  I love cheap coasters!

While I was standing around, I saw a girl wearing a shirt saying "I'm So Fucking Disco".  I thought it was so hilarious I asked if I could take a photo, which she thought was funny.  I also watched the Indonesian band play for a bit, and then went up to another level where there was another section that was showing off ASEAN handicraft and drinks.  (I had tea and coconut milk.)  To get there, I think I took the long way through the mall.  This month is "The Grand Sale", where tons of places in Seoul are having deals/give-aways.  [I have picked up a booklet of coupons and I'm looking through for good ones.] So, I saw in the basement I saw a section where (only) foreigners could pick up a free gift if they're bought something.  I thought it was an interesting way of courting the foreign dollar and keeping a division between foreign and Korean.

Finally, it was time for the second half of the program.  Singapore did a quick version of a traditional wedding.  It was pretty funny, since the narrator had a lot of personality and attitude (though I'm still not sure if it was a man or a woman).  It was cool to see everything explained though and the costumes were very nice.  Then they did a song section.

Cambodia was next, but it was pretty simple, but I wonder if the dancer in green was supposed to be a different part (male-female, etc.).  It was very traditional, so I'd seen most of it before.  The Philippines was next.  They did a whole bunch of different dances.  Some of them seemed straight from Spain, which large hoop dresses and flowing skirts.  They also did some cool trick dances.  One of them was done on a narrow bench with the two dancers switching sides and jumping around.  It seemed tricky, since at one point the female dancer almost fell off the bench.  They also did a dance where the dancers jumped in and out of moving poles.  It was really cool.

Malaysia was next.  They had a four piece musical group and some dancers.  The dance was interesting in that the four dancers didn't seem to pair into male-female pairs.  Instead, it seemed that the men danced in one are with the women on the other section.  It was nice to watch.

Brunei was next.  I know nothing about this country (and it took me a while to find it on a map), but the dance seem to be a bit off.  The dances seemed plausibly tradition, though the costumes were colorful, but the music seemed a bit more like a rock show.

Thailand was the last group.  They were really cool, so it was a nice ending.  The first dance showed how a woman gets dressed.  There was also a court dance and then a pair of men did a dance/choreographed fight.  It was full of acrobatics and jumps and it was a lot of fun to watch.  It was funny too, since the pair pretended to be upset and hide each other's weapons, and at one point one of the guys got a small girl to "fight" with the other guy.  Anyway, the whole day was really nice.

On Monday, I went to Itaewon (the foreigner district) with Wendy and Fed to sign up for free Korean classes.  Unfortunately, we were too late to get the class we wanted so Fed and I are on the waiting list.  It might work out alright, but even if I don't get in the class, I'm planning to study up and I'll try to place into the next highest level, which doesn't fill up as fast, next time.  Still, it was nice to look around Itaewon, for all it's sketchy-ness.

Since it's Monday, it's time to get back to work.  I'm still looking at my report cards.  I'm mostly done, but there's till work to be done.  Classes are still weird since most middle schoolers are out and it's a national holiday on Friday.  It's Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving.  My level 3 was a bit while wild.  There were 16 of them, way more than there was space for.  The desks actually trapped them some kids in, so I had to move desks when it was break time.  I ended up yelling at them, because they were so rowdy.  Ugh!  And it's almost a holiday, so it isn't like I don't see why they're unfocused.  My Mega, on the other hand, was super quiet.  There were only 4 kids today, so it was like pulling teeth to get an answer.  We still ended up finishing earlier, so I tried to get a discussion going, but that was horrible.  Still, you do what you have to I suppose.

Before anything else is said... HEROES used my favorite English word in the premiere of Season 4.  Ummm.... yes.  You just never hear defenestration in casual conversation anymore.  I'll bet spell check won't even know it's a word. (edit: I stand corrected.)

My weekend was really busy.  Friday I went out to Hongdae again, but I didn't stay long.  It wasn't all that interesting.  Our group was about 11, but I only knew half of them.  Then, Cormick (one of the CDI teachers) invited some of his friends along.  When I think "some", I'm thinking 3 or 4.  Cormick means 10, and that's not an exaggeration.  So the number of people I knew was pretty limited, so I left around 2, when Euna and her boyfriend said they were leaving.  (I caught a cab with them.)

Saturday there was a BBQ for Danielle's birthday, and that was really nice.  I was only there for four hours, but it was fun.  We had it on the roof of the apartment building next door to mine.  The view is awesome and there are nice grassy areas up there, so it was an excellent place for an outdoor party.  The weather was really nice too, but that was lucky.  Everyone brought something.  I don't know much about BBQ-ing, so I just went to Home Plus (the Target-grocery store combo of Korea.  It's awesome.) and got 5 different bags of chips.  Something for everyone, and since other food, like salads and meat didn't come out for a while, it was a good thing.  There was also a Baskin Robins ice-cream birthday cake, which really took me back to childhood birthdays.  I never realized how much I missed ice cream cakes.  The ice cream was "Shooting Star", vanilla with pop rocks, and that was pretty good.  I don't know if I'd have it again, but it was decent.

Sunday I ended up going to lunch at Butterfingers, which is a breakfast place.  Most expensive breakfast I've had in a while.  I paid 10000W (~$10), but I just threw in what was needed to pay the rest of the bill; I think my portion was closer 14000W (~$14).  (I only had 10000 bills, so I would have needed change, but it turned out we only needed 10000 by the time I threw in...)  Anyway, I can't remember the last time I had a $10 breakfast.  The portions weren't even all that big.  Not to say that the food wasn't awesome; it just wasn't awesome enough, or just plain enough, to be worth the $10.  Though it was in Gangnam, so what did I expect.

Classes have been going well.  No more surprise meetings, and my kids aren't acting up outrageously.  Cormick was talking about a kid who was climbing over tables.  My kids are just a bit chatty and some have personal space issues.  In addition, some have shown that they don't care about the grades they receive, which is tricky, since that means there's no way I can make them focus if they don't care about their grades.  (Jin makes me want to rip out my hair sometimes...)

Three good stories so far this week, though.

I've got this new girl in my 4.  She's a transfer from another class, so I was asking the previous teacher if she could tell me a bit about the girl.  The teacher starts off, "well, she cheats..." and my stomach shot down to my shoes.  It turns out it was just a joke, and she told me that the girl was just quiet.  This is a bit of a lie though.  She's smart and knows the material, but because of that, she's a bit chatty with the other girls in class, since she knows the answers.  [I've actually started having that class do independent work to make sure everyone's getting the answers, instead of just copying the answers.]

My two other good story comes from my 5 (Mega). 

(5 has been fairly uneventful recently since around this time middle schools are having testing.  Because of that, CDI gives the students excused absences, so they can study for the tests.  I don't have any kids skipping my 1 and 3, but my 4 and Mega are mostly middle-schoolers, so there are plenty of absent kids.  In my 5, my most difficult student (Chris) has been out for a bit, which has meant that things are a bit easier. 

Interestingly, the other boy in the class (Jin), I think, looks up to Chris.  I think this because Jin's adopted Chris's attitude and dislike of another girl in the class.  When he first came, Jin was a good student, but now he's really difficult.  Stupid Chris (who is actually behaving better in class... Why can't he be a positive influence?!)  Jin has actually started picking on another girl as well.  Could we be seeing a bit of classroom romance?  Answer: unlikely.  Jin still thinks girls have cooties.)

Anyway.  After one class we had a bit of time because the group project was so short.  It was about whether or not you should lie to a friend about them being fat (if they ask).  I tried to stretch it out by talking about if it's ok to lie in the beginning and then I split them into groups.  The boy picked telling the truth, while I made one of the girl group pick truth and the other one pick lie, so we'd hear different sides.  After that, I talked about the ideas of fat and skinny.  It was interesting because most of the kids agreed that some Korean girls are way too skinny.  In addition, I also asked them if they thought I was fat, and they all said that I was "normal" or "average", which is a lie, because I'm certainly fat by Korean standards.  But then I asked them if other people would think I am fat and they said they would.  The difference, according to them, is that they see me a lot and for someone else it would be their first time seeing me, so they would think I'm fat.  (As another teacher pointed out, "so at one point, they thought you were fat.)  Good times.  Thankfully my self-esteem has been strengthened by Japan (and years of ignoring my doctor...)

The other story is possibly the best.  In Mega, we do a brainstorming activity where we take 3 vocabulary words and the kids come up with other words they think of when they think of that word.  Last class one of the words was "Mistake".

Teacher: What's one word you think of when you think of "mistake"?
Student: Baby!
Teacher: ... Ok!  Baby!

After my shock, I had to try so hard not to laugh.  That kid is possibly my new favorite student. 

(As a side note: The title quote is from the show Due South, and in the show the speaker means it as "be confident".  This quote comes from an episode that I saw a few years ago as a once off thing.  I never knew anything about the rest of the show, or half of what was going on in the episode... Until now.)

I went to Hongdae Friday night.  Hongdae is a big bar/club area in Seoul and Friday nights a lot of clubs have deals, so a lot of the teachers I work with go out to party on Fridays.  We ended up going to three bars.  (One was dead, so we moved on pretty quick.)  The third bar had a 10,000W (~$10) cover change, which included a drink ticket.  Interestingly, this fee was waived for foreigners, if you showed your ARC/Alien registration card.  Even more interestingly, there was a sign up that prohibited the entrance of GIs.  It was a lot of fun, even though it was raining and there was so much vomit on the streets that my shoes and pants were pretty gross afterwards.  I'm sad about my shoes, since they just aren't the same anymore.  (They're a little faded.  I wonder if I should get a new pair.)

On Saturday, I went to COEX (a super huge mall in Seoul) with two of my fellow teachers.  COEX, while being a mall, also has a convention center, a movie theater, and a hotel attached.  We went to the Gift Expo at the convention center.  It was HUGE!!  There were so many stalls selling art, furniture, kids toys, house hold items, and many, many other things.  There was even a section that was selling cosmetics, which were FDA approved. (it was displayed on a large sign.)  I had one of the other teachers take a photo of it, but she forgot to save it.  :(  I did a lot of window shopping, but I also got a simple/cheap hanbok (traditional Korea outfit).  I'll post pictures of it once I wear it for Cheosuk (Korean Thanksgiving).  It's a pretty green and it has some nice embroidery.  It's not very good quality, but it's great for my needs, since it's a whole outfit for 30,000W (~$30).  After the expo, we wandered around the mall area and had dinner.  I also ended up buying a large green belt which is only decorative and very 70s.  I also ended up spending a lot on food, since we wandered over to the Hyundai department store's food court and I couldn't help myself.  I just had to buy the wonderful deserts!  (As a side note: I found a Marion Crepes!  It's like a tiny taste of Harajuku in Korea!)

Monday, I finally picked up my ARC!  I'm so happy to have my passport back!  I also found out that my visa is automatically multiple entry, so I don't have to get any extra stuff if I want to leave and come back in.  Exciting!  Now, if only I can figure out a place I can go without being unable to work for 9 days.  Hmmmmmm.....

Of course, Monday, I also came in for work and thus began the hilarity that is my job.  (This is only partially sarcastic.)  I really hate how they call meetings at the last minute, since they have no way to contact me.  Anyway, on Tuesday, I was making photocopies and I was informed that there was a meeting and it had already started.  UGH!  If this keeps up, I'll probably develop a facial twitch.  However, now I've got a cellphone, so as soon as I tell the HIs, I'll, hopefully, start to get messages about meetings before they actually happen.  Which would be awesome.

Aside from this, I've also been informed that one of my students isn't understanding well and I need to ask what part in particular she's having trouble with so I can help.  I thought she was getting it, but apparently not.  I feel like kind of a bad teacher, and I'm not totally sure that to do.  (I have been informed that this girl is a bit of a space case though...) 

I've also been informed that since a whole bunch of my level 3 kids are from another teacher, I have to put in more games since this other teacher did.  Ryan (the other teacher) was horribly unhelpful though, when I asked about this.  He said I didn't put many games in, so I'm basically on my own.  It's hard to put games into the 3 class.  It's just not structured that way.  I guess I can do team stuff, but I don't really know...

In other news, my work has decided that it isn't enough to have a background check done by the justice departments of our home states, so they're going to get their own done.  Seriously?  What is that?

In addition, I sometimes wonder if my HI is watching the same classes that I'm teaching.  He said that I seemed to like my 4 class, which I don't really.  I hate them sometimes.  They're really tricky to teach since I need to go at a certain pace to get all the stuff in, but I'm not sure they can follow. 

My classes have been fairly entertaining this week though.  My 1 class has moved on to a new book: Dick Whittington, the British story.  And yes, I am three, apparently.  In the story, they refer to him as Dick, which I sometimes find hilarious.  The worst was when a student said "Dick have...", so to show that it's "Dick has", I said "How many Dicks are there?"  I had to try soooo hard not to laugh!  It's so terrible, because if I laugh, the kids will know something's up, which would be terrible.  In addition, we were doing a memorization activity and the kids had to learn "My horse can walk quickly", but one of the kids kept saying "My hor".  I couldn't even explain that certain words you just don't abbreviate, since then he'd figure out that whore wasn't a good word.  This isn't to say that my 1 class isn't awesome!  I think they can handle some extra stuff, so I try to teach them a bit of grammar and some phrases, like the difference between "go to sea" and "go to the sea", which is cool, except I'm pretty sure they do a memory dump ten minutes later and it's all for nothing.

My 3 class keeps me on m toes too.  I had two kids sitting next to each other, and they were obviously friends.  They would mess around with each other, but it wasn't enough that I was going to do anything.  Suddenly, one of the boys shouts, "HE KISSED ME!"  I had no idea what to do.  All the kids are freaking out and the other boy keeps denying it and the first boy is getting really upset, so I finally got them to settle and the break bell rang, so I called them over to figure out what had happened.  It turns out that the first boy had been fooling around with the other boys phone fobs, so the second boy pushed/nudged him, so the first boy shouted "He hit me!", but everyone heard "He kissed me!"  (Everyone including teacher...)  So I told them not to hit each other and apologize to each other, which they did.  Then I made them shake hands, which they did in that wrench-the-other-person's-arm-out-of-the-socket sort of way, but they seemed to find this funny, so it was all over.

It was at that moment, after I got over my relief that one of the boys hadn't actually kissed the other boy, that I felt like a grade school teacher for the first time.

Still no "words" about the slip on Wednesday, but I'm waiting, fearfully.  Fed (another beginning teacher) and I had a whole conversation about how we cringe whenever Eli, our HI (head instructor), shows up.  I also got some interesting advice from an older teacher about class management.  I think I'll take her advice and split up two of the boys in my 4 class.  The other teacher also told me to ignore one of my students (Chris) when he doesn't do his work/pay attention.  It's true though, that if I focus on him too much then he disrupts the class, but if I ignore him, he's just quiet.  We chatted about how it's sad for Chris, since all his friends have moved on and even his younger sister is going to pass him soon (she's level 3 and he's 5...)  We're pretty sure he doesn't want to be in class, but his parents force him to come.  Sadly, his sister loves him, but he isn't too fond of her.  Oh well.

We also chatted about one of Bala's classes.  I can't remember what level they are (lower, I think), but apparently they're a bit wild.  Poor Bala, he's fairly soft spoken and he's having some trouble controlling them.  I heard that a kid threw a pen at his head last class.  Fed and Wendy, who are on either side of Bala's classroom both mentioned how loud the kids get and how they sometimes want to reprimand the kids, but they know that Bala's got to learn how to control the kids or nothing will be fixed.  I don't know what that kid is going to do.

I never know what time to let my later classes out, since the bell doesn't ring on time, so I always do a hallway head check to see if anyone else has let their kids out.  It's a bit like gophers--stick you head out, look around, retreat.  Funnily, on Thursday, when I did the head check, another new teacher was doing the same thing, so we had a bit of an embarrassed laugh about it.

In other office gossip, the other HI (not the one who is always critiquing out classes), Euna, has quit smoking.  There's an office pool (5000W entrance fee) on how long she'll stop smoking for.  I kind of want to get involved, since it seems like fun, but I'd feel bad about betting on something like that.  It would be a bit like betting on how long it'll be before someone quits AA.  Ah well.

I went to Home Plus today to pick up some groceries.  I really need to stop going, since I have rice and ramen already, so I don't need other food, really.  While I was there, I finally saw the new Home Plus ad, which I had seen some people talking about and I'd heard before.  I can really see why it would be irritating, since it involves an awful, but catchy, song and dance number.  Also, while I was there, I saw a man make a ridiculously large purchase of beer.  As in, a full cart of beer cartons, piled so high that he had to reach above his head to steady it.  The way I figure it one of two things is going to happen in the very near future.  Scenario one: he's planning to drink himself to death, in which case he probably should have picked a harder drink to insure a greater chance of success, but that's just my opinion.  Scenario two: he's hosting/going to an awesome party this weekend, and I'm looking forward to hearing about it on the news.

My class was being too noisy today, so I told them to shut up.  >.<  I suck, I suck, I suck!  I'm going to get in heaps of trouble for that and, even if I don't, I have plenty of self-loathing.  I hate myself a bit now...

I came to work on Monday and the building was fairly deserted.  I didn't think much of it, but after a bit, Danielle (another teacher) came in and was surprised to see me.  She said I'd just missed a meeting.  I was so shocked!  Apparently, it had been called a bit last minute but no one knew how to contact me, so I'd missed it.  Hurray for unorganized managers.  I was really worried/upset, but no one seemed to mad about it and Eli briefly went over all the stuff I needed to know.  Most of it was about bonus points and that system, but he offered some advice about student management.  I haven't tried his "move the desks into a semi-circle shape" idea, but I totally should for my later classes.  I'm also going to crack down on bad behavior in my other classes.  I'm making kids who speak Korean write lines and I'm taking away cellphones.  For my MM class, I think I'm going to start just docking points a lot faster for recalcitrant behavior.  Especially for Chris.  He can be really irritating.  I don't even know why he comes.

Classes seem to be going pretty well.  I received my first teaching compliment from Eli this week.  Nothing much, just a "I liked the way your class went yesterday", but it's something.  Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing well at all.  I'm working on getting my EC4 class to be interested.  I've offered them bonus points to do half the memorization they're supposed to.  I figure I can work my way up to the actual amount, and they'll have to know it all for a test eventually, so I took a little liberty with the oral review section that I run. 

In my highest level class I had to explain what a slave is.  They seemed to get it, even if one student simplified it to "helper".  One student knew about Lincoln, but when I said there weren't slaves in the States anymore, he was like "anywhere?".  I just don't get the surprise.  I don't really have it all that bad though since some other teachers had to explain AIDS and Heterosexual/homosexual.  Good times.  Does CDI know these kids are in elementary/middle school?  I hope so.

I also took some class time to tell my EC4 class that if anything like what happened in our reading (a story about a kid who gets dragged along with some thugs who go shoplifting and he gets lost and can't get home for a bit) happens to them, they should run to the cops.  I mean, the kids got kidnapped!  Seriously!  Anyway, they learned the word kidnapped, which is probably a useful vocab word, though I doubt they'd actually remember it if they were ever kidnapped.

On Thursday, we get to watch CCTV of our classes, which should be "fun".  I can not think of any better way to spend two hours than sitting and watching myself be publicly humiliated in front of my peers.  All I can console myself with is that everyone else will be going through the same stuff.

I found out about a folk festival in Andong (on the other side of Korea) that will be happening at the end of the month.  I've started asking around to see if anyone would be interested in going for a day.  We might be able to do it--the trip would be around 4 hours, I think--if we just make it a super long day.  Anyway, we'll see if anything comes of it.

Thursday I taught 1 and 4 again.  I love my 1 class.  Those kids are so cute.  They also split themselves girls and guys.  The first class they were sitting in small clusters: a couple of girls, a boy, maybe another girl or two, and so forth.  This time all the girls sat on one side and all the boys say on the other.

I actually enjoyed my level 4 class too.  A few of the boys figured out that there was a small alcove behind the door where the walls didn't form a corner.  When I came back from a break, one of my kids was gone so I thought he was late.  When I came back in, he was back in the room.  "Magic," they said.  I had to try really hard not to have a good laugh.  They'd really had me.  I also showed them the "check out how short I really am without heels on" trick.

Thursday night a whole bunch of us went out again because another teacher was leaving.  He'd stayed an extra week to help cover classes, but he was leaving Friday.  I'll miss him; he was really nice and fun/cool (and cute too!).  He also let everyone know his room number and key code; except for a few things anything we wanted was up for grabs.  I totally got his microwave!  Not only was it awesomely free (the cheapest new one I found was about $70), but I didn't have to carry it far, since he lived in the same building as me.  It was good that he didn't live far, too, as this microwave is possibly the biggest one I've ever seen.  It's a third the size of my huge rolling suitcase; it comes up almost to my knee.  But free and functioning is free and functioning.  I also went to Home Plus and picked up some groceries Friday, but I, embarrassingly enough, didn't have enough cash.  I almost died and I had to pay with my citi card.  Learning from my mistakes, I've decided to tuck 10000W in a small pocket as "just in case" money.

I had my MM class on Friday.  It's so weird only having one class somedays.  I feel like I've forgotten to go in or something.  I got three new students. (One of whom I assumed was a girl since their English name was June.  I think he meant Jun, but whatever...)  This is nicer since it makes the class a little fuller.  My MM class was better, I suppose.  I definitely need to work on the rules.  I figure if I keep them simple and have easy punishments it'll be easier.

Eli says I also need to be louder, which I can't figure out, since I think I'm being pretty loud.  I can't scream at the kids; I'm not a drill sergeant.  ("STUDENT!  IS THE ANSWER TRUE OR FALSE?!"  "Teacher, It's true, teacher!")  Oh well.  I was talking with another teacher and she seems to think it'll all work out.  She says she was a little stiff when she first showed up.

Saturday, a lot of kids had gone down to Busan, so I mostly just hung out and relaxed.  I went for a quick walk in the afternoon, but It was kind of hot, I was a little bored and an old man on a scooter outpaced me so I just headed home after about 20 minutes.  Still I did see some of the neighborhood.  I've also been working on prepping for classes.  I'm almost done for all of next week.  I've also been watching this Canadian TV show called Due South.  It's pretty funny. (Note: the title of this post is a quote from the show.  It was a toss up between that and "He was found dead wrapped in Cabbage, but we figured that was a freak accident.")

My first classes were on Monday.  I taught a 3rd level (EC3) and a 5th level (MM).  At first my 3 class was a bit painful, but then we played a game and they really perked up.  I like those kids a lot.  Mostly, they're on top of the game, even if some of them are a bit too quick and get ahead of the class.  This makes it tricky to balance and decide how fast/how thoroughly to go over the material. 

My MM kids are harder to peg.  I can't figure out if they're just super tired or stupid.  It could be either really.  Some of them are so quiet that it's hard to get them to talk, while others have trouble paying attention, while others seem to follow along no problem.  Also, there's only five students, so the class is sometimes painfully quiet.  Blah.  (Also, MM is my only class on Friday, so I think I'm going to develop a weird love-hate relationship with Fridays and this class.  Love it because it's almost over; hate it because it's painful.  Interestingly, the only boy in this class is the older brother of a girl in my 3.  I was really shocked when I heard this, since she's really bright and he seems to have trouble following along sometimes. 

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have a 1st level (EC1) and a 4th level (EC4).  Again, I love my EC1 kids.  They are sooo cute!  My ice breaker really sucked, but most of the kids were new and had to leave for an orientation in the 2nd hour, so when they came back the remaining three students had to help them catch up.  That might have been a much better "team building" exercise.  The kid's English is also pretty good.  I was told I'd have to speak like an idiot, but I can speak at a fairly decent level actually. 

I'm not to fond of most of my 4 class.  Unfortunately, they're all in Middle school, when the average class age is elementary school, so these kids can be dumb as bricks.  The girls seem pretty good and most of the boys follow along most of the time, but sometimes It's rough.  I can't figure out if I'm going to fast, or if they just don't get it.  I'm certain I'll be looking for guidance on my MM & 4.

I had my 3 class again on Wednesday.  Things worked out really well, since they seemed to be warming up to me, even though one girl is definitely going to give me trouble.  She seems a bit ADD and I had to chase her away from my desk.  Weirdly, I think I built up coolness points by killing an ant.  The kids were freaking out (I mean, it was a big ant, but it was an ant...) so I tried to wack it with my book and I ended up having to stomp it.  I'm sure my karma just went down the tubes, but if it improves class, I think I can handle it.  In addition, two students had tissues to wipe their hands so I brought them the trash can and this seemed to be either odd or impressive.  I couldn't figure out what the shock was over.  We also did group projects yesterday, which went well, even if I had to block the door to get them to vote on the best project.  I'm pretty sure they just voted on the last group so they could go home.  Which is totally fair, even if It doesn't go with the whole "back up your vote" idea.  Whatever; these kids might be too young for that.

My rules are certainly changing.  The "away from my desk/board" rule is hard and fast, but I might give up on the hand raising, unless I call someone's name first.  In addition, I hope I can keep them with the group, but that might be a lost cause.  I'll try, but there's always next semester, right?  As long as there is respect.  I am going to make people who talk while others are talking stand up.  Talking over others is just too rude. 

After work on Wednesday (we get out at 8, much earlier) we all went out to eat as a welcome for all the new teachers.  It was a lot of fun, and we ate Korean Chinese food, which is really good.  Bala, another new teacher, got pretty drunk, which was hilarious.  It was nice to chat with everyone.  Afterwards we went to Karaoke until 1 in the morning, which was awesome, if a little weird, since fell a bit of an odd person out.  Not that everyone isn't very nice, but they know each other so much better than they know me, so it makes sense that they gravitate together.  I'll probably end up like that in a semester or two.  Hmmm....

Anyway, teaching level 1 & 4 today.  Bring it on.

I went to observe some classes on Friday.  [I was also pulled into covering someone's class.  So soon!  but I'd love the extra money and it wouldn't be much extra work.]  The classes were a little weird, since it was the last class and they weren't typical classes, but they were interesting nonetheless.  That evening the instructors were going out to club night as a farewell party for the leaving teachers and I was invited along.  We meet up at 10.30 and took a cab down to Hongdae (where there are a lot of clubs).  We ate dinner: a sort of stir-fry chicken dish.  It was really taste.  We then went on to Ho Bar, which was nice since it was pretty cheap.  I got a beer for less than 2 bucks.  All the instructors seem nice and friendly and no one seems to blame me for the whole business that is leaving one instructor homeless for about a week.  I actually meet the girl whose apartment I have and she seems really nice.  I unfortunately made the mistake of drinking a bit too much.  I got a bit sick and had to ditch around 3.

The next day, I woke up at a reasonable hour and waited for Kate, the former tenant, to come by and get her stuff.  Around 9.30 my doorbell rang and it was an older man in a movers uniform.  He called CDI and I was informed that he was here for Kate's stuff.  Still, I made sure to keep my tea mug close.  >.>  He was pretty efficient, packing up what Kate hadn't packed, but we had to struggle through the "what's going and what's staying" conversation, which consisted of yes, no and lots of hand motions.  Kate finally came around 10; her alarm had been changed by the guy she was staying with.  I finally went over to another teacher's apartment since he said I could raid it for useful stuff.  [While I was doing this, Kate argued with the moving guy forever, trying to convince him to take the sofa and bike with the rest of her stuff.  We never figured out what his problem with that was...]  I took a drying rack and a rolling bookshelf.  I also stole 3 ugly orange chairs that you can push together to make a small sofa.  Awkwardly, I ended up taking the final two chairs over to my apartment while the new tenants were going up to their rooms.  (I was hit by a bit of karma, though, since I hurt my foot moving the last two chairs.  My fault for being greedy, I suppose.)

Later, Euna and Max bought us (myself and the three other trainees) lunch (pizza and wings) and we ate before heading over to CDI and getting a bit more training.  I really felt the theme of that was "Everything you learned in training is a lie".  That evening, I went to Sinchon and meet up with Leah and two of her friends (Jamie found us later) and we went to dinner (chinese) and later a Korean bar.  I left before we had spent too much time at the White-person bar, since I wanted to catch a train home, instead of crashing at Leah's place.  Not to mention, two nights of hard partying seemed like a pretty bad idea, even if they were worthy causes. 

I'm starting to get a feel for the other new teachers.  They all seem really nice, although all with their own unique "strengths and weaknesses".  The same for the other teachers; going out with them on Friday was a really good idea, since I got a better feel for my co-workers and one of the leaving teachers was ready to dish up some dirt.  Good times.