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.

Monument

This Saturday was awesome.  I heard about a new art space in town called The Arc.  It's pretty isolated from town, and out by the river.  Since Beth has a car now, we decided to drive over and check it out.  Getting there by bus would have been impossible.

The center focuses on conservation, rehabilitation of natural resources.  The center of the interior is lined with these small blue figures, all bowing.  Maybe they are bowing to nature?  Not really sure.  It feels like a cross between the end sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Flight of the navigator.

On the top floor there is an observation deck.  You can see the beautiful mountains and the not so beautiful apartment buildings.

The spot turned out to be a perfect spot for kites.  Beth and I bought kites in The Philippines and in Bali quite a while ago, and we finally got to try them out.

Another great weekend in Korea.

The Tambourine

Tambourines are used for two things in Korea:  assisting your singing room (aka Karaoke) session, and making teenagers fall and get sick.  

This little carnival ride is in most downtown hubs.  There is a DJ/Operator that spins and taunts the teenagers, whose only chance of not falling on the floor is gripping the chrome pole behind him.  As the operator pops the hydraulics and spins the wheel, he laughs this really seedy laugh (think of a cartoon dog's laugh) and spotlights the person he decides to pick on.  Once he's decided this, he does everything he can to launch this person out of their seat.  There is no way this would pass even the loose standards that most State Fairs' follow; with no seat belts, no roof, and no helmets required/provided this would be a lawsuit nightmare in America.

Bodies fall.  After about two minutes, the middle schoolers get the courage to try and stand up in the middle of "The Tambourine."  Fatal mistake.  They crash and burn, gripping onto their friends ankles in an attempt to crawl back up to their seat.  The ride lasts about 6 or 7 minutes, and it's amazing that everyone doesn't get up and barf afterwards.

I haven't been able to convince anyone to ride it with me yet.

Bike Cops

Isn't this the most non threatening police bike you've ever seen?  It probably only exists to go for a quick coffee run.

I love the lack of police presence here.  Never have I been woken up by screeching sirens or blue and red lights flashing outside my window.  I never feel intimidated by the police here and I rarely see them.  It's not to say that they don't exist...in fact, there are plenty of police offices and buildings around.  They just aren't out.  Sometimes they direct traffic and help people find stuff they lost.  The only thing I ever see them actually arresting people for is drunk driving at one of their random traffic stops on the weekend.  And I only see that through the window of a taxi.

It's nice to not be fearful of law enforcement.  They actually seem like they are around to serve and protect, not to persecute.

Get Ya Shine Gone

No one is bald here.  Seriously, I find myself taking a double-take whenever I see someone without hair on their head.

Initially I chalked this up to genetics, but the abundance of wig shops has made me rethink this.  Normally, a subject this blasé wouldn't warrant a post, but I saw a few weird wig shops this week.

The Sides Wig

When your completely confident about your top side bareness, but above your ears needs some beefing up, go for the "sides" wig.

Hand Hair

This wig is more understandable.  My younger students always want to touch my arm to feel the hair on it...to them it doesn't seem real.  Most Koreans have little to no arm hair, so wanting to use a wig to amp up your hand hair makes perfect sense.