Dumpster Chair

Koreans do not reuse anything for fear that they may look poor. Sadly, there are no second hand clothing or book shops here and people throw away perfectly good furniture all the time. This is really sad to me because I love a good hunt through a second hand store, especially with one special person...you know who you are.

This is the third chair I saw in an alley on my walk to and from school and I finally worked up the courage (and muscle) to bring it home. I tried to hale 4 cabs but they wouldn't stop when they saw the chair so I started dragging it down the street. I was a little embarrassed when I ran into 3 of my students but they helped me carry it all the way to my apartment!!!! 

Picasa

On the left hand side of this site, there is a link to view my online photos. I hope that this will help with problems I'm having with loading photos and texts. It also allows me to put more photos up. Let me know if there are any problems viewing it. Enjoy!

Uh...is that a Swastika tattoo on my student?

A lot has happened since my man-hating post. Here is a recap:

Firstly, if you want to know what came about with the spitting incident, please read the comments for that post.

Last week I was invited out for supper with my co-workers and...oh my. All of the food that I've tried here has been good, but when I saw the platter of moving "muscles" in shells, I was at a loss for words. I'm not sure what they are in English, but something little a muscle I think (which I've never eaten). Like...they were trying to climb out of the shells while they were on the grill...before they died from the heat... anyway, i nibbled a little bit that was dipped in a lot of sauce....they didn't taste like much. Why eat something THAT gross looking when it doesn't taste like anything?! I've also noticed that suppers here are like a two hour ordeal so when the meal was finally over, I couldn't wait to leave. I overheard someone mention a Noray Bang (karaoke) but just high-tailed it out of there like i didn't know what a Noray Bang was!
On Tuesday, my school had their sports day (much like Track and Field day at schools back home). In the afternoon all of the teachers played with parents against other grades. I played on the grade 6 team and we came in 2nd behind grade 2. I was really reluctant to play but ended up having a great time. Afterwards, the grade 6 teachers and parents went out for a meal of slices of raw fish. Again, I was reluctant to try it but ended up really liking it. The key is to dip strange looking/feeling stuff into sauce. Chew, chew, swallow. I big step up, though, from the moving muscles from the week before. It gave me a chance to meet and talk to some of the other teachers. There are 4 grade 6 teachers. One is Boo who I've spent time with outside of school before (she's like...26 maybe) and two others are guys. Many of the male teachers at my school completely ignore me but these two were super-nice. They were helpful in teaching me how to properly eat the food and serve and receive drinks. You aren't supposed to pour for yourself and all beverages come in pitchers. Since the food is SO spicy, I usually end up grabbing a bottle and pouring before anyone can tear it from my thirsty grip (although this does happen).
My students' behaviour has been improving dramatically. I can't pinpoint any one reason why this is. I think it's partly that they were just testing the waters the first few classes and now they know what they can and can't get away with (more can't than can, of course). However, last week one of my students stood up at the start of class and shouted "Fuck you!". I'm not sure who he was directing this at but Mrs. Lee dealt with it and he was sent to his homeroom teacher. I have a feeling that he didn't actually know what he was saying. Maybe an older cousin or sibling told him to say it, thinking it was something good... wishful thinking? Also, one of the grade 6 classes I had today was actually out of control. They were 10 minutes late then spent the next 20 minute talking each other's ears off. I refused to yell over them because it's pretty pointless so I tried the put-on-a-stink-eye-and-wait-quietly-until-they-catch-on but it didn't work (usually it does). After 20 minutes, I told them to put thier books away, handed out paper and made them write lines 40 lines of "I will listen and be quiet". I threatened that if anyone spoke they would have to write 100 lines and could not leave until they were done. To their absolute horror, I took away the sticker that they had earned one class before (I use a reward system: if they are good in class (i.e. everyone brings thier books, they sing loudly, listen, be quiet, and so on) they can earn up to 3 stars, if they have 3 stars at the end of class, they get a sticker. When they earn 8 stickers, they get to watch a movie in class.) I see them twice a week and in 4 weeks, they have only been able to earn 1 sticker. Which they lost today. So there!
The most interesting bit about today was the student with a swastika tattoo on his finger. It's pretty shocking to see a grade 6 student with a tattoo and doubly shocking when it's something like that. The foreign teachers were warned that we might see this symbol because it was originally a Buddhist symbol but for Western eyes, it's very alarming. I discussed it with Mrs. Lee afterwards and explained to her what that symbol represents to me and she had no idea... I think that World War II memories are very different for Koreans than it is for Canadians and others from the West.
One more interesting tidbit is that this morning on my walk to school, I saw a man who literally had his hand and forearm down his pants while he was walking down the street. Like..not down the waist of his pants, bit his fly was down and his hand was in there...???

Mokpo Sangdang Elementary

http://www.mokposangdong.es.kr/



Here's the link to my school website. It's not very informative as it's all in Korean but you can look at some photos. Note: The lush, green yard that you see along the top is total bs...it's actually all sand.

I hate this website more and more. There is no rhyme or reason to the format that things are published, so my text and photos will be all in order, but when I publish it, the text is all bunched up in one spot and the photos aren't matched with it. Sometimes the text is even cut off on the ends...I've really no idea how to fix it.

 I take so long preparing my posts that I usually can't be bothered to fix them, so sorry! 

Here is the text to go along with the Bigamdo photos:

1 and 2- photos from Heart Beach where two Korean guys took a bunch of us.

3- I kept my camera out on the ride to the beach specifically to get this shot. When I went to Bigamdo the first time, I was disappointed that I hadn't kept my camera out because I really wanted to get a photo of the seaweed farms.

4- view of the ocean from our cottage

5- our cottage

6- me in the back of the pick-up truck that toured us around the island

Bigamdo for Chusok

 

This is why you carry your camera everywhere!

My favourite Korean food. Chamchi Kimbap. For only $2 per meal, I like to call it "poor man's sushi". 

Some grade 3s cleaning the school. You can just imagine how good a job they do. This is the first year that they don't have to clean the toilets. Poor little things. 

My co-workers getting their "ballyball" on. They play like ninjas. Everyone brought track suits and runners to change into. I was in a skirt. 

All of a sudden all these Koreans who can't speak any English are shouting out "good one!"  and "mine!"....where did that come from!?

Some of the women who work at E-Mart dressed in traditional Korean dresses, called Hanbok. This weekend is Chusok (like Thanksgiving) so everyone dresses up really festively. "Nicer than Japanese Kimonos" I'm informed.

These women were SO weirded out when I pulled out my camera and tried to motion taking a photo. ..."Silly Waygook!" 

Window cleaners at the MediTower next to my apartment building. 

Korean men...less than impressive.

Well....I had an unbelievably terrible day today. My classes were great (grade 3 is like a gift from above compared to grade 5...and 6) but it was still terrible. As I mentioned before, the special class is right beside mine and this one boy (the one who drug me down the hall) kept sticking his head into my class and yelling and he even came into the classroom once and knocked one of my student's books off her desk. A simple solution would be to just close the door but there are windows all along the hallway that are open, too. We keep them open to help a breeze go through the room. (Just clarifying details.) So I finally met him at one of the windows when he was yelling into the classroom and he spat right in my face. I gasped. Was in shock for about 10 seconds, then I stormed out of the room but he was already gone. So I waltzed right into his teacher's room and told her and she was sort of like "oh? [uncomfortable laugh]" which pissed me off even more. After class, I told Mrs. Lee, too, who reacted the same way. And I said "well, I can't think of anything more disrespectful and I'm really upset about this". Anyway, she talked to his teacher. I don't know what came about. I saw her at another point that day with a stick in her hand... I dunno. Anyway, this had me in a state and I was supposed to play volleyball with all the teachers that afternoon (something all Korean teaching staffs do on Wednesday afternoon b/c students get off early). When the time to leave arrived, I was sitting on the steps outside of the staffroom (waiting for a meeting to end) and the principal walked up to me said, said "stand up" and walked away. Not a huge deal, but it was very rude and considering I was already pissed off...just really not good. But that's how men are here....THEN, after volleyball, all the teachers met back at the school for finger foods and drinks and people were giving little speeches (no idea what about) and I was looking in one direction, clapping, and this male teacher clapped his hands RIGHT in my face like knock-my-glasses-over right in the face. To this my co-teacher said "Oh, haha. He is so kind".  

Are you pregnant?

I had a very lazy weekend and I've had a lot of time to reflect on my first week of teaching. It had many ups and down and only two major mental breakdowns. Success? I think yes.

 The first one was on my second day of teaching (Mon. was all grade 6 and Tues. was grade 5). I was warned about the boys in this grade by the teacher that I replaced. Not that that did me much good. They are little terrors and I've concluded that their behaviour is a result of Korean attitude towards males. They are God's gift, therefore, they can do no wrong and the little stinkers know it, too. 

To be fair, I laid out the rules on the very first class (including the consequences) so I've been relentless for the whole week, unfortunately, my student have been relentless too but I think I'm winning. I've acquired quite a collection of prohibited objects (cell phones, MP3s) and items that were being used in unacceptable ways, for instance, a pencil case being used as a weapon and an exacto knife that was being used to widdle away at a desks (to my horror, students here use, what they call, exacto knives to sharpen their pencils, but they're more like the knives that I think of my dad using to cut carpet...with the blades that pop out and can be broken off when they're dull....ya, so safe). This is especially worrisome for me because these kids are SO aggressive. They just go AT each other ALL the time. Even the girls slap each other around like I've never seen before. Many times this week I've grabbed arms in mid swing, set  them in a lap and said "do not hit". Much like teaching a 6-month old but whatever. I have to make a statement with my tone and my stank eye, because I'm not physically intimidating... they may be Asian, but many of them are bigger than I am. This includes the special student who has class next door to me and literally pulled me out of class and dragged me down the hall by one arm. 

A girl's gotta go what a girl's gotta do. 

I'm pretty happy, though, that Mrs. Lee has started to pick up on my stern attitude. On Friday, I confiscated a cellphone and the boy was told, like all the students, that if I take something away from you, you can come back at 4pm and get it. When he did come back to retrieve his phone, he didn't bow to Mrs. Lee and she wouldn't give it back.  GO MRS. LEE! 

My second breakdown was when I taught my first "extra class" which is an optional, extra English classes for those who want it (and whose parents can pay, I guess). I had a whole lesson planned out of fun activities that were designed to help them review vocab. from their first term. To my horror, they don't actually speak ANY English (they know colours, numbers and a few nouns). This turned out to be an advantage, though, when I shouted "HOW CAN I TEACH THEM? THEY CAN'T SPEAK ANY ENGLISH!" and started to whimper. Next week we start the curriculum (work books and CD-ROMS with little videos) so the pressure of designing things for them is now gone. 

I know I'm coming across as that teacher from elementary school who you all have terrible memories of and every time you think of her, you cringe and pee your pants a little, but all of the new Native English teachers were warned "do not smile until the new year". So, really, I'm just being obedient.  Plus, there were many good times throughout the week. Mostly just me getting really excited when I would ask a question and they would understand. But this was usually followed by blank stares when I exclaimed "great job" or "awesome". 

Baby steps. 

Baby baby steps.

ps- The title comes from an inquiry that one of my grade 3s made. No, I am not pregnant, but thanks for asking.

Now Dance! Feel to you.

On Saturday night, two of my co-teachers and I went to the National Dance Festival, or the "Now Dance! Feel to you" festival. Each night there was a different style of dance and the night that I saw was modern dance. I enjoyed the dancing but the 'storyline' was so strange and I could not follow it. There were two numbers. The first was pretty cool with muse-type characters who played these giant instrument strings with their bodies but the second was just...bizarre. All of the dancers were in underwear and they kept stealing each others clothes and a bag of money made a few appearances...I dunno... any interpretations would be appreciated. 

This is a pic of the stage outside of the theatre where there were some short numbers of traditional Korean dance and instrument playing.

The Cultural Centre

View of Mokpo from the Cultural Centre's stairs.

Bigamdo Island

Many of the English teachers and I took a 2 hour ferry ride to Bigamdo Island and spent the day on the beach. It was really beautiful and completely empty (except for a mother and her two children who HAD to sit right by us even though the entire beach was empty). We are heading out there again in two weeks to spent the entire weekend at a cottage. We all have a long weekend in September off because of the holiday Chusok. This holiday is like Thanksgiving in that families get together and give thanks, but they are thanking their deceased ancestors and making offerings to them. It's one of the biggest holidays of the year because it's the only time  that everyone is off from work.  

Let's Play the Killer Game

I just had my first lesson teaching at an orphanage in Mokpo. I am the teacher for the children aged 7-8 and there are 7 of them. I wasn't really sure what to expect, so I made a memory game (with matching cards and you have to flip over two trying to find two of the same). I used simple, one syllable words and wrote them on the cards along with the picture. Every time they flipped over a card, they had to say the word. This was a HUGE hit and they were getting really into it. After about 4 rounds, they asked to play the "killer game". Luckily, I was a lover of this game (although I knew it as "murder wink") so they played that, too. There is no English in it, so I quickly decided to play pictionary with them using the cards from the memory. Another big hit, they just LOVE competition.

When the other teachers and I first arrived at the orphanage, we got a tour of the building. It's brand new and really amazing. It's very serene and equipped with a computer lab, library, therapy rooms, classrooms, outdoor playground and little houses where small groups of children live with their "mother" (a nun). One of the other teachers was explaining to me that some of the children were left on the doorsteps as orphans, some were taken from bad homes by hte government and some are simply children of divorced parents. The problem is that men don't want to be a single parent because they could never re-marry again and women can't usually afford to be a single parent because they don't make enough money or they are cut off from their own families because divorce is so scandalized in this country. Although being in a home with your family is usually the best option, I think that many of these kids are much better off. They are given a lot of opportunities that children with parents are not given. For instance, they do not attend the Hogwans (after-school academies) that most children do. The problem, in my opinion, with Hogwans is that they often run until about 10pm for children and midnight for teens. So the children in the orphanage have more of a chance to be children.

We also go there on Christmas day and throw them a party with dinner and gift giving.

I was really moved with the whole experience and I'm excited to spent more time there.