Recent Curiosities and Misspellings

Thought I'd share a few photos of things that made me laugh or look twice recently.  

This mannequin was cruising down the road in rush hour traffic. Shirtless.

Apparently in Korean the word Moran refers to a flower.  Unfortunately, in English it means something totally different.

Amazing how chilling the message becomes with a simple misspelling of the word pray.

Body parts for sale from a street vendor.

They got it right on the column.

I'm pretty sure this phonetically reads "I Love Rape."

Friday

doodoop doodoop doodoop duhdoop...the worst is over.

Friday is a breath of fresh air.  After a typically hellish Thursday, the final day of the work week is a welcome change.  It couldn't be more opposite than it's weekly predecessor.

I get started teaching at 1:10.  The school isn't too far from my studio, so some weeks I'll get to the studio early and then head to work. When I arrive, my co-teachers have a plan, have control of their students (not to mention their respect), and have lots of aids for teaching (flash cards, games, etc.).  They both speak English very well, and they are patient with me.  They keep the students in line.  It's golden.

My classes every other day of the week are 40 minutes long, but at this school they are 30.  Huge difference.  I split time between two teachers, making the day go by that much quicker.  Both are exceptional teachers and are appreciative of me being there.  They are professional.

The students are excited to see me, and have limits.  They aren't jumping all over me, and they will attempt to speak even if they don't feel comfortable.

My day ends at 4:30.  The school is located right next to where Beth works, so it's pretty common for us to meet up after I finish and have coffee or something.  The week wraps up quite nicely.

I leave Bongdeok Elementary each Friday thinking "that was awesome, bring on the weekend!"

Thursday

Thursday is easily my worst day.  I teach from 9:30 to 4:50.  Although the school is in Daegu, it's almost a longer commute to get to than the out of town Gumi.  It takes a solid hour to get there with a subway/bus combo.  It's a Middle School.  It's rural.  It's in a lot of ways unbelievable.

At least the view is nice.

My day starts with adults.  I teach about 12 housewives, with the occasional male, for 3 hours.  Non stop.  Their levels of english vary greatly, so it's pretty difficult to keep the advanced students interested and the low level students with me.  All things considered, this is the easy part of my day.  The students are pretty interested in just about anything I say, and have good questions.  They even took me to lunch last week, which was awesome.  We had barbecued duck and some other stuff that has no english name.  It was very generous.

Stretching stuff for 3 hours is certainly a challenge though.

One other plus to this gig at Gachang Middle School is the free lunch.  I get to go have an authentic Korean school cafeteria experience.  The food is always pretty good and healthy, but lunch usually consists of a lot of what I call "drive-by english," students walking by and almost yelling "hello" and "nice to meet you."  Sometimes the occasional "I love you!"  I try to finish lunch quick so I can mentally prepare for what is coming.

The Cafeteria

At 1:15 I get a class of about 25 first year middle school students.  They are usually throwing erasers as each other, using their cell phones, and yelling at/chasing each other.  It takes about 5 minutes for them to settle down.  My co-teacher is a joke; the first day I taught he sat down in one of the students' desks and went to sleep, complete with snoring.  Most of these students can't read english, and can speak very little, yet the class is conducted entirely in english.  

My second class consists of at least three mentally challenged students who are impossible to speak with, a mute kid, and about 25 other students who don't have a clue what is going on.  There is a lot of yelling in this class.  It's too many students.

But the worst class, by far, is the 3rd class.  Even my co-teacher understands that this one is brutal.  There are 40 students in it.  Again, I have about 4 students that have some sort of mental disability where they can't communicate regularly with me.  They might yell out random english, but they can't put together answers or participate in class.  They typically disrupt the rest of the class.  These are 2nd year middle school students, so they are old enough to realize that this whole english charade is a joke.  They couldn't care less, and it's easy for them to hide in a sea of 40 students.  

The class is a success if it is kept to a medium murmur.  The co teacher walks around wielding a stick like a prison guard to hit students misbehaving, but since that practice has all but been abolished here it isn't much of a threat.  It's a long hard 40 minutes.  I tried to end class with a game 2 weeks ago, and the team that lost started yelling "I PLAYED THE FUCKING GAME!! I PLAYED THE FUCKING GAME!!" I nearly run out of this room after it's finished.

Yeah Right.

My final class of the day should be easier than it is, but it isn't.  There are between 12-15 students but I can never be sure because they are often missing class.  There are 4 students that cannot read, write, or speak english.  So I'm left to try and have a conversation class with the remaining students, who I constantly have to separate, yell at, and kick out of class.  Literally, there is one student that is following what I am saying in that class.

I leave to catch the bus home, which can take about an hour before I even get to the subway, relieved.  I typically leave Thursday's saying "That was hell, but the worst is over."

Wednesday

Before this job actually began, the schedule they offered me is pretty different than what I actually have to do.  What was going to be a school very close to me became an out of town gig, a real kick in the pants.  I have to travel to another city, a 30 minute train ride away.  Gumi (their city slogan is "Yes, Gumi!") is a small town outside of Daegu.  Every other week I have to take the train to Gumi, the other weeks my co-teacher drives me.  This drive is full of awkward silences and empty small talk.  Luckily she can speak english pretty well but it is utterly boring.  I only work 1:10-4:50, but because of the commute my day is more like 11:30-6:30.

Gumi has actually been much better than I anticipated.  Despite the dull conversation the co-teacher is organized and active, and teaches with me.  The students are pretty great, and the school itself is fairly new.  Even with the commute, Wednesdays are one of my better days.  Situated on the outside of what is already a small city, the school is situated between high rise apartments and farmland.  And of course, gorgeous mountains.

The playground/field

My hallway.  You can see the students' uniforms.

My co-teacher and my classroom.

Getting home on the slow train to Daegu.  The train is comfy, and only costs $3.

I typically leave Wednesdays saying "that wasn't as bad as I thought.  Now how long will it take to get home?"

Monday/Tuesday

I have a new job.  I've been working it about a month now.  It's an after school gig, for students to attend after their classes at public schools.  About 5 years ago the government saw that hagwons (private academies afterschool that teach anything from math to piano) were creating an unfair advantage for the rich.  They cost around $300 a month, and if you aren't attending one you are pretty much left behind.  To combat this, public school started offering supplementary education for a third of the price, allowing most who want to to help there kids.

The job is a mixed bag.  I teach at 4 different schools, each day a different set of students and a different co-teacher.  I thought I'd break down the week day by day here.

Monday and Tuesday

Monday and Tuesday I work at the same school.  It's pretty convenient to get to, about a 40 minute bike ride/bus ride/subway ride depending on what mood I'm in.  It's still very much in the city, but has a nice mountain backdrop near it.

On Monday I teach from 1:10- 4:50.  This is five 40 minute classes, consisting of 2nd year elementary school students up to 7th grade (still elementary here).  The co teacher is pretty good at helping me out, and tries to keep the kids under control.  Lots of nose pickers in here.  I teach from two different books to each class.  Every class there is at least one student who doesn't bring their book, and multiple students who are 10+ minutes late.  They are rarely punished or called out for this.  I leave school on Mondays thinking "what an easy gig!"

Although at the same school, Tuesday is a bit different. The co-teacher is young and basically incompetent, and has no idea how to discipline students.  She seems to feel my teaching is an opportunity to play with her cell phone.  The result is a few zoo-like classes and one later in the day full of indifference and disrespect.  She seems baffled by it all.  I teach from 2:00-5:40.  Today I told a student to move seats and he looked me in the eye and said "No."  Most of my first class was spent trying to get students to actually sit in their seat; ironically I was trying to teach them the phrase "sit down."  I leave school on Tuesdays thinking "that was a very long 4 hours and beer is next on my to do list."

The rest of the week will be detailed one week at a time.

I'll Be Watching You

A few months ago I posted about how nice it is that there isn't a huge police presence here.  I rarely see cops, and if I do they certainly aren't arresting or ticketing anyone.  They usually look like they are trying to find ways to kill time.

This is largely due to the fact that there is closed circuit television everywhere here.  Every intersection, every government building, every school, every academy.  Really, it's everywhere.  I'm reminded of this each time I enter my apartment complex.  Two red eyes are staring at me.

Do Koreans see this as a problem?  From my experience they don't.  In fact it's seen as a remedy for lots of problems.  Get in a car wreck and can't tell who hit who?  Check the tape.  Thinking about graffiti in the elevator?  Think twice, there's a camera in there.  Students got in a fight at school and can't figure out who started it?  Look at the CCTV.  It's so much part of life here that schools are actually calling for more cameras, to try and curb bullying (and in turn curb the astonishing student suicide rate).

There isn't much crime here.  There is CCTV everywhere.  This gets to the ol' chicken and the egg debate, but one does wonder...is the loss of your privacy a good thing?

Snack Time

I realized that I've been neglecting this blog recently.  I think that is because a lot of the newness of Korea has worn off.  I've been here for nearly 3 years now, and when I walk down the street and see couples dressed in the same outfits, bizarre configurations of English, and massive heaps of trash it's just part of my day.  No big whoop.

However, I did see something that caught my eye the other night.  A food truck was parked near my apartment complex.  It looked like they were serving up hand-cut french fries, something I knew Beth would flip out about!  There was a massive pile of them just waiting to be bought and consumed.  As I got closer though, I realized it was something else entirely.

Sardines.

Yes, deep fried sardines.  And where did they get these little fishies, from the freezer on the truck?  Oh no, these babies were fresh.  That's right, there was a giant aquarium attached to the truck where they grabbed them with a strainer, battered them, and fried 'em up just for you.  You can see the biker on the left was getting his money out for a bag.

It was fun to see that the newness keeps coming.