I'm so sorry, but I love you...

Just another Korean hit that's been topping the charts for months. The part where they're in the jail cell cracks me up. So dramatic. I'd totally go to a Big Bang concert if given the chance.

"Don't Go"

The other day in one of my older classes we were playing Sorry and I said, “Don’t Go!” which was immediately followed by uncontrollable laughter. According to the Korean teachers “Don’t Go” sounds a lot like the Korean slang word for “anus.” Nice. I can’t blame them for finding it funny. In college I would laugh hysterically (and immaturely) as my Asian Economics professor would tell us to please get out our “work shits.”

School has been kicking my butt (or should I say my “Don’t Go”) lately. Yet another class was added to my schedule, and I had to pick up an extra class for my director today. I really shouldn’t complain because my new class is filled with tiny adorable kids. There’s this little boy named Dale (horrible name for a Korean 1st grader) who is so freaking cute, and then there’s little Thomas. He struggles and really should be in a lower level, but he follows me around like a little puppy dog with adoring eyes. I think I stepped on him about ten times today. Oops.

Today I had a great time teaching comparative adjectives to my older class. I love adjectives. Insert nerdy giggle interrupted by snorts. We drew pictures of people who were “fat” and “fatter” “short” and “shorter”, etc and gave them fun names like “pigman,” and “hobbit.” I taught them how to play “Spoons” (I deal out three cards, they take one and pass it to the person next to them and so on until someone has a match. The person who has the match grabs a spoon and then it’s a free-for-all for the rest of the spoons. Whoever doesn’t grab one gets an “S”. The first person to spell Spoon is out) and it was hilarious to watch them get into it. It made me feel good, because at times they can be so apathetic.

I’m staying in Daejeon this weekend for the first time since I’ve been back from Christmas break. I think I’m going to hike the mountain near my apartment in search of the allusive fortress and hopefully volunteer at the orphanage on Saturday. I could definitely use a chill weekend.

So thrilled to have their picture taken.

Happiness

This past week has been absolutely great. Here are a few things that have been the cause of my happiness.

1. Story time and making snowflakes with my kinders.


2. Drawing a map that actually resembles the US. We're reading Pocahontas in one of my classes and learning about Native Americans and northeast, southeast, etc. My kids call Chief Powhatan "Chief Swaton" (name of my school), and sometimes I make the boys read Pocahontas' lines because they think it's hilarious.


3. Introducing Sorry to my kiddos. Mama Helen sent it to me, and it's been a big hit.


4. My new headband.


5. Getting this free bag at Sdot. Oh, the perks of being a Westerner.


6. Amy. She's a true blue friend.


7. My director's love for American R&B.
For the first time I actually miss driving. Watching Michelle rock out made me miss driving around with Carly blasting TBS on a summer day that feels so long ago. We had our own stoplight solo. I played the guitar; Carly rocked the drums.

8. Frolicking in Eun Haeng Dong.


True love separated by a glass wall. It's a cruel world.

9. Snowboarding!

TIKI Tuesday- One of the many reasons I love Koreans

My water bill (taped to my door):


"I'm sorry that you should give me water tax." How cute/nice is that?

Things are looking up friends

During kindergarten this morning...
Me: How are you today May?
May: I am happy.
Me: Why are you happy?
May: Because Elizabeth teacher come!
...insert melted heart.
Thank you for reminding me what makes all of this worth it.
Cussing boy wrote me a letter saying he was sorry, but more importantly he gave me a sucker today in class. All is well.
Snowboarding adventures tomorrow. Yesssss.

Debbie Downer

I'm in a slump. I have been for the past couple weeks. A big fatty slump...but not in a "I hate Korea and can't wait to come back to Auuumerica and chomp down on some burritos" way. No, it's more of a "Wow, I feel like a crappy teacher" slump, which breeds negativity into my life outside of school.

I think it's just going to take me a while to adjust to my new schedule. When I came back from break I had three more classes added to my work load, one of which is THE class from hell. Try as I may, I will never be able to explain what teaching this class is like. These kids are constantly yelling, saying things to me in Korean (probably calling me an "ugly horse" like they did their last teacher) with hatred in their eyes, hitting each other, hitting me, walking out of the room without asking, fighting during games, refusing to play games, and throwing the teaching materials. I've had the ringleader of the group get so angry at me that he spazzed out and started banging his head and fists against the desk (think exorcist). How do you control a class like that? I've talked to my director and the Korean teacher that I share the class with, and they've scolded the kids for their behavior. It's helped a little. At least I'm not turning my back to them, shakily writing on the board with tears in my eyes as they laugh and make fun of me. I know they are just kids, and I try my hardest to always remember that. I feel like it's my fault for not being able to discipline them without them hating me or for not keeping them entertained the whole time. It's hard to feel like a stellar teacher when they start sighing loudly when I walk in the room, disappointed that it's me, and not the Korean teacher.

Maybe it's just intensives (when the kids are on break from public school and they double up at their private schools), because all of my classes have been a little out of control. I constantly struggle with discipline. I don't know how to effectively use it, and when I do, I feel like I shouldn't have. In one of my older classes, I made a boy write his sentences again because he had too many mistakes, which resulted in him yelling "shit" and "fuck" loudly. I sent a yellow slip home to his parents saying that he said "very bad words" during class. The Korean teacher I share the class with said that she didn't think he understood that those words were bad, so now I'm questioning if I should have even called attention to it.

I try and tell myself that at least I care. At least I try to think of creative games and activities for the kids...but it just seems like all my attempts keep getting dumped on. The other day I spent my entire break making up a new game for my kids, only to be told it was "not interesting" (by the same boy who "shit" and "fuck"). I've gotten slips of paper during class from my director letting me know that the parents are watching me (there are cameras installed in each classroom so they can watch online), and I had to pick up an extra class because of reasons I don't want to go into for the sake of sounding like a debbie downer (as if I'm not already).

Teaching's hard, man. I just need to get out of this slump. I need to let things roll off my back, and not let one class affect my mood for the rest of the day, and cause me to come home and eat oranges compulsively. Seriously, I went through a bag of 20 in less than 24 hours.

In other news, the Lunar New Year is quickly approaching. I get a 5 day holiday. Bliss. I had thoughts of going to Taiwan, but have decided to keep it local. I think Emma and I are going to do an overnight temple stay and monk it up for a couple days. I could use some quiet time for self reflection. Other than that, I'm going to spend my break reading, hiking, relaxing, and painting the blank canvas that's been sitting on my floor for months. Two in a half weeks and counting!

TIKI Tuesday- Fan Death

First off, this kills me...well, not literally, thanks to my super switch saver.

Fan death is a South Korean urban legend that supposedly many people believe, and is reported about in the media. It states that an electric fan left in a closed room causes sudden death, suffocating victims by stealing their oxygen. Hmm, how did my dad survive all those nights, door closed, with the box fan on full blast?

According to my friend, Wikipedia, "Electric fans sold in Korea are equipped with a 'timer knob' switch, which turns them off after a set number of minutes: perceived as a life-saving function, particularly essential for bed-time use."...All this time I've been getting annoyed with my fan for constantly shutting off, when really I should have been thanking it for saving my life.

Now, I'm not really sure if many Koreans still believe in this urban legend. It's something I should ask the teachers at my school about, but after searching Google I found an article written about fan death, by a professor with the name of "Gypsy Scholar." Here's a delightful excerpt from his article:

We think that the fans are now trying to freeze us to death, so we've put them away in a closet, completely
covered in a bag zipped carefully shut to prevent them from doing even more damage. Fans are killers. Why do
you think that they're called fans? The word "fan" is short for "fanatic." You can't trust fanatics. Don't trust fans,
either.

"The word 'fan' is short for 'fanatic.' You can't trust fanatics. Don't trust fans, either" (That reminds me of the whole "Santa" spells "Satan" spheel). Solid gold, my friends. Solid gold.

Killer.

Click here for the Wikipedia article.
Click here for the Gypsy Scholar blog.

Random Bus Hopping Adventure

Why is it that every Sunday night I stay up as long as I can in hopes of prolonging the weekend? I think that as long as my eyes don’t shut, the weekend is still happening. I developed this strange, anxious habit in college. Sometimes I wonder when I’ll stop acting like a college student. I still take advantage of free food any chance I can get, I put off my reports until the last minute and “cram” the night before they’re due, and I still proudly sport my Mizzou hoodies. At least I’m not sleeping on the living room floor anymore and storing my clothes in the coat closet. I’m moving up in the world.

This Saturday I was supposed to go snowboarding, but the rainy weather canceled the trip. Instead I hopped on a random bus with Amy and Carina. Our destination: Pyongtaek, a city about 65 miles southwest of Seoul. Once we arrived at the Pyongtaek station, we found a huge tourist map of the city, and were pleasantly surprised at all the cultural sites dotting the map…a seated Buddha, ancient ruins, temples…we had no idea that the closest we would get to these images would be in front of a computer screen at a pc bang.

After deciding to visit a cultural center by the sea, we jumped in a cab and told the driver our destination. About three minutes into the ride we noticed the cab fare jump up drastically. Never in my life have I seen rates escalate so quickly. We started freaking out and told him to take us back to the station. He took the long way back, missing exits along the way. Our total bill for a ten-minute ride to nowhere was a whopping $21! We got gypped. I mean, come on, I rode around in a blinged out cab with a strobe light for an hour and it was almost the same price. All this guy had to offer was an aroma of lilac that was so strong it made my eyes burn. Are two potent cans really necessary?

Once we were back to exactly where we started, only with our pockets lighter, we walked to a pc bang and researched the city. We found the train station and decided to visit Pyongtaek port to see the longest bridge in Korea, and search for a Mexican restaurant. However, the train didn’t go near the port, and after another expensive, unsuccessful cab ride, we decided just to explore the downtown area.

We may not have seen the longest bridge, and we struck out finding a Mexican restaurant, but it was still a fun trip. Cheers to spontaneity!
Walk to Dongbu bus station in Daejeon...Downtown areas during the daytime remind me of empty carnivals.
Breathalyzer tests at one in the afternoon. We (yes, I refer to myself as part of Korean society now) like our Soju, and we like it early.
Picking our destination by using "kai bai bo". That's rock, scissors, paper.

Fellow random bus hoppers.
Oh, the excitement of seeing the hip hop bear. Every foreign teacher has him on a mug. It comes furnished with our apartments.
Classy subway sign
Comforting glow from the pc bang. Why did we even venture out? We should have just lit up a fag, played some games, and called it an afternoon.
Check out the clouds.
The "no..." socks series. Apparently, these are "no flamethrowing," "no shoveling," and "no falling asleep while reading."
Market where some man glared at us, and said "NO!" forcefully. He proceeded to get up in Carina's face and say something in Korean with eyes filled with hatred. This was the first time I've ever been shown any kind of animosity.
Furry dead thing. Do you eat this? Barf.

This is the bridge we were supposed to see...
...and this is the bridge we actually saw.
We ate at an amazing Indian restaurant and called it a day.

Snapshot into a day in the life of...

Today I thought my shirt looked a little bland. I decided to spice it up with not one, not two, but three necklaces. It caused quite a commotion in my oldest kindergarten class. "Why teacher???" Why three necklaces???" How do I reply to that? I idolize Mr. T? I enjoy defying the rules of accessories? Or simply, I felt like wearing three? I decided to go with the easiest answer that always satisfies their little minds. "It's American."

My bling.

I made a dinosaur today. What did you do?

My desk. This says so much...

hahahahahahahahaha!

I've been feeling out of the loop, so I decided to catch up on the happenings in the world outside of SoKo. Look what gem of a story I happened upon. Of course this would catch my eye.

Who cares about the elections when a Mexican boy glues himself to a bed to avoid school? My favorite part of the whole story: "Diego watched cartoons while they worked to unglue him."

TIKI Tuesday

On this fine Tuesday, I bring you coffee in a stick.

It's sugar, cream, coffee...everything you could possibly need in one tiny tube. Just add hot water and you're good to go. Sidenote. Koreans use toilet paper as paper towels.

REBECCA NORRIS! Thank you for my care package! It's been a rough week, and a Got Apple? t-shirt is exactly what I needed to lift my spirits. You rock, and I miss you like mad.

Gyeryongsan

Yesterday I took an hour bus ride to Gyeryongsan (san means mountain) with my friends, Josh and Tara. Despite the fact that the trail to the nearest peak was covered in ice, we prevailed and made it to the top. We caused quite a commotion among the Korean hikers, because of our shoes. First of all, we didn’t have proper hiking shoes (I need to invest. The Shocks just aren’t cutting it), or the crampons (tiny little attachable spikes) that everyone was wearing. We kept passing groups of hikers that after their initial excited reaction of seeing us, would shake their heads disapprovingly, point to our shoes and say, “dangerous, dangerous.” It wasn’t bad hiking up, but on our way down Tara and I kept falling. After we both landed on our backs, the cutest Korean couple came scurrying over to make sure we were okay. They then each took off one of their crampons and their gloves and gave them to us to use until we got to the bottom. Just another example of how the people here are so incredibly generous…or maybe they were just fascinated my Tara’s magical pants (see pictures below).

My new friend Tara. She's a hardcore snowboarder from Portland. She hardly brought any clothes to Korea, so she could have room for her snowboard. We went on a search for some sweats that would fit her (she's tall), and this is what we found. Hot.

Of course we'd randomly see Josh near my apartment (he lives in a different dong: area of the city) with a helmet on his head, carrying a blanket. We talked him into hiking with us.

I don't stand a chance next to those sexy pants.

Tour guide?







Who doesn't want a picture with the crazy waygooks (foreigners)? Obviously the man trying to pass by. Look at that annoyed expression...The lady taking our picture told us to say "whiskey" instead of "cheese." Did I mention I love Korea?

Almost to the top. Nice little rattail flapping in the breeze.

We made it!

One of my kids is named after a body odor

New Years Eve was a bit of a bust. My plans to go to Seoul fell through, so I ended up spending the majority of my night at a sketch bar in Daejeon, filled with creepy old Western men. Sick. However, my director said there's a belief that if it snows in Korea on the first day of the year, the year is blessed. It snowed on January 1st. It's going to be an amazing year.

Today was my first day back at Swaton. My kindies greeted me with their sweet hopeful faces and slipped their little hands into mine. I taught Jenny and Rania how to say "awesome." They were amused. I've grown so attached. I think my heart is going to break when I lose them in February. I'm quickly pushing that thought out of my head. I had two new classes today, so no more spa Wednesdays for me. I have an older class that's going to be a challenge. They are a lower level class, so I walked in assuming they were little tikes. Imagine my surprise when I walked in on a bunch of middle school aged kids. One boy gave me "the nod", and immediately asked, "how old are you?" in a "how you doin?" voice. Too old you for you little guy. I'm going to have to stand my ground or they are going to walk all over me. There's one boy who has glasses and braces, that the "cool guys" of the class make fun of, however, it's not because of the glasses and braces. No, they pick on him for having curly hair...of all things! They've teased him so much, that he wears a winter hat with earflaps during class. Poor little dude. I wish I could tell him his hair would be the envy of all prepubescent boys in the States...The kids' English names in that class are ridiculous. I have a Justin A and a Justin B, but the funniest one is Bio, pronounced "B.O.", like the sweaty armpit odor. Seriously, why would you name a kid BO? I couldn't keep a straight face every time I said his name. See, that's the problem. How am I supposed to teach 12-13 year olds when I'm really 13 at heart?