Winter Camp: Final Day of Week 1

Hey readers, how's it going?

Things are good in Gwangju, but really cold these days. I can't complain though, it's nothing like the winter vortex over North America now (it's like that scene from "The Day After Tomorrow" I imagine). 

Today my students and I are going to a local amusement park, Kumho Family Land (or "pamiry lend" as the locals do). I thought we were going sledding, but I think we're going on rides and stuff. This is going to be fun, my kids are so excited to go on the "Viking", the ship that swings back and forth. 

Johnny might come over tonight, maybe we'll have a small party. 

I recently tried to get myself organized for my classes at UFV. I should call it a rude awakening--the workload and expectations of students are vastly different between our two countries. I signed up for a certain business class to avoid a different professor who assigns an extremely lengthy and undervalued major project, but I'm pretty sure the professor I have borrowed the project assignment XD oh no. 

I was able to go to a print shop and order some books to be made though, so I got that going for me, which is nice. 

The other day I was talking with my colleagues, and I was asking them about some cliches in Korean. Apparently the Korean equivalent of "who cut the cheese?" Is "who ate sweet potato?" Or "who ate an egg?" Lol. In North America we say that robins herald the arrival of spring. In Korea, one knows spring is coming "when the frogs wake up." And in English we can say our leg or foot has "fallen asleep" but in Korean you say it's electrified or something like that. 

I asked about terms of endearment in Korean. In English we have so many: baby, sweetie, dear, honeybun, honey, sweetheart, snookums, pumpkin, etc. Anyway, in Korean they can use familial names between couples which, now that I think about it, is kind of weird. Imagine calling your boyfriend "older brother~~" or your girlfriend "little sister" (actually I don't know if it works in reverse like that). Anyway, they also said that grandmothers will sometimes make a remark about their grandchildren when they are being cute or getting messy. Apparently they refer to them as "puppies eating poop".

Perhaps it sounds better in Korean XD

Winter English Camp: initial reflections

Hey folks, sorry to take such an hiatus, but I'm back now.

Last weekend Josh came to visit me. It was so nice to have him here and to play computer games with him. We even got to go to a conveyor belt sushi place. Best of all, we found a theatre was still showing the 2nd Hobit movie, so we got to watch it together. We met up with Johnny and had a wonderful dinner. Nothing like the company of good friends. Just like chocolate chips, it was semi-sweet. This was probably the last time I'll see Josh before I go to Canada, and vice versa. 

We did get to see the police board a crowded bus and haul off two young women as mediation, so that was cool. 

English camp started yesterday, and man am I excited. I love English camp because it's a more relaxed atmosphere and one can be more experimental with teaching methods. Yesterday we made team names and posters, and today we learned about colours. We played "I Spy" a little bit, watched the EBS video, and then we made play dough~! I love doing cooking demos with my kids because you really get to work the room and bring in energy and interest. Plus the kids just generally like making things.  The only setbacks were that you can't find jell-o in Korea, and Mimi couldn't find cream of tartar online (she thought it was an actual cream). Oh, and the salt I requested never showed up, lol. It was a little stickier than it should have been, but it went over really well (better than the "slime" we made in summer).

It's hard to believe it's only 2 weeks now. Josh said some stuff at the bus terminal that really struck a chord... I'm still happy to go home, and I'm glad I'm going at this time, but I'm feeling more trepidation about it now. Who knows what the future will bring?

Last Christmas in Korea

Merry Cristmas!!

Today it's finally here. 

I came up to Seongnam from Gwangju after work yesterday so I could celebrate with Josh. We woke up this morning, read the Christmas story, and then departed for town. We went to Itaewon to find a place that would be serving authentic Christmas fare on this most fine day. 

Visions of sugarplums, roast turkey with all the trimmings, and Christmas cheer filled our heads as we walked among the throngs of Korean people seeking their own version of this special holiday transplant. 

We went from door to door, asking if there was any room for Christmas revelers like ourselves. "Full" was what we kept hearing. We came to one house of cheer: the Rocky Mountain Tavern, where an employee was waiting outside. "Come back in a bit" he said. 

Saddened but hopeful we walked away and thought about what to do. Return to a place that might be full, or try an alternative (read: Mexican) Christmas. We returned to the tavern. "Any room for holiday-goers like us?" We asked a fellow Canuck. He checked the list. "There's room at our tables" he said. 

With hearts full of Christmas joy and tummies awaiting a feast, we chose a table near a Christmas tree and regaled ourselves with tales of Christmases long long ago. 

Finally, the food was ready. Tray after tray of garlic-herbed vegetables, mashed potatoes, seasoned stuffing, delicious and plentiful turkey, gravy, legit cranberry sauce, and homemade non-sweetened buns were presented to us. 

We must have gone up 3 times. 

I kept pausing and being flabbergasted at how wonderful everything was. Simply wonderful. They even started playing the movie Elf on the TV.

After our scrumptious dinner/lunch, we rolled ourselves out and went to Myeong-Dong, to shop a little before I had to go home. The crowds were almost impassable, so we didn't spend long there. 

Josh and I went to the bus terminal, I got my ticket, and we departed. I really had a nice time with him! We made some very happy memories that will last a lifetime. It's not so great being away from family at Christmas, but quality company makes a big difference. Thanks Joshua!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night. 

Last Day on the Job

The past few days have been leading up to this. It's the final after school class. We finished up our reading initiative on Friday and prepared for the Christmas party on Tuesday. 

One thing I didn't expect was for all the other teachers to throw a Christmas party for their students on the same day I was doing mine. -.- 

We sang Deck the Halls together, then I gave them some cloves and oranges and we made those Christmas oranges that are studded with cloves. My students rudely wrinkled their noses at the smell of the cloves, but made some nice oranges anyway. I gave them some prizes based on the number of reading log certificates they had completed, and we are some Christmas cake together. 

We took a picture together, but it didn't really turn out well so I don't want to put it on Facebook. My kids make for the worst photographs unless you take candids....

Anyway, that was the last after school class. To be honest, I feel mixed feelings towards this ending, but I have to remind myself that I came to Korea to teach English, not to earn the affection of children. 

Anyway, we have 2 weeks of camp, and then it's goodbye Korea. :) :(

It's Gonna Be a Bright Sunshiny Day

How are you?

Things are going well.

Here's why:

- Recently, I found out that the video I submitted for the highly suspicious TaLK movie clip "contest" won a bronze prize. I placed 6th out of 13 participants and 6th out of 7 medal winners. Not bad :)

- Christmas is in one week! I can't believe it's so soon already. It's kind of nice to know that everything is taken care of though. Gifts are bought, mail is sent, reunions planned, decorations up (my family sent me a small model fireplace with tiny monogrammed stockings hanging from it), music is playing, etc. All we need now is some snow, which we should have gotten by now with all the farmers seeding the atmosphere and stuff.

- Today was just a funny day of classes. Today I co-taught grade 4 which is something I very rarely do. Their comically dubbed English educational DVD and being in a class of 25 Korean grade 4 students singing Feliz Navidad and stumbling over the Spanish lyrics was just so comical (in a nice way). In my after school class we finished the first level of a multi-level phonics textbook series. My students were so happy until I pulled out the level 2 book, lolz. They only have one more class, it's not the end of the world.

- I got my exam score result from my I/O psychology professor. Positive!

- Yesterday my grade 6s and I had a really great chat in English about the Christmas party I'm hosting next week. It was very positive and I'm so impressed with their abilities. These days we play Rummikub after school together and it's a fun bonding time.

TaLK Farewell Tour

Hey Folks,

This post comes to you from Jeju Island, where  I am currently partaking in the farewell conference for TaLK scholars who are departing in January of next year. 

To be honest, I don't really know most of these people, since the group is composed of TaLK scholars from all over the country. However, after today's lunch, I'm somewhat happy I don't. I've heard it said that countries like Korea that have a booming market for TESL jobs attract some of the craziest people from overseas. It's true. These people are really weird... I wouldn't want them teaching my kids. 

Anyway, I'm hoping this weekend will be nice. Jeju is sunny and the temperature is warmer than Gwangju. The air feels fresh :)

We'll be doing a lot of sightseeing this weekend and we have a bit of a ceremony this weekend. A nice time to say goodbye to everyone. 

The Harsh Reality of Childhood: Korean Context

Hi folks,

Here's what's up:

I went to my friend's wedding on Saturday. She got married in "Laboum" Wedding Hall here in Gwangju. In Korea, there isn't a lot of space and everybody is working all the time. In response, everyone gets married on Saturday or Sunday at a wedding hall. Couples book a wedding room for an hour and then a reception hall for another hour. There's a lot of comings and goings as one wedding celebration comes in and the previous one leaves. It's a little chaotic at times but it's a pretty place and a good chance to see people you haven't met in a long time. Plus Korean people are trendy and fashionable regardless, but they try to look exceptional at weddings. 

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Yesterday was American thanksgiving, so today my class had a pizza party to celebrate. I made them do thanksgiving cards that they could give to anyone they wanted. At first I was pretty worried because my grade 3s were like, "I'm not thankful for anything!!" but as the ball got rolling they started to think of some things. Maybe it's because they're kids, or maybe it's because they've never had to do without, but to be honest I found their answers to be a little lame. They were thankful for eating or for their top-of-the-line Samsung smartphones, but fortunately a couple of them were serious and thankful for their parents or the friendships they had. 

I'm deeply moved by what I hope is an error in communication, and not actual tragedy. One of my smart, pleasant, wonderful GRADE 3 (that's 10 years old, people) students wrote a card addressed to herself. She wrote some of it in Korean, and my co-teacher translated it, astonished. This sweet student had thanked herself for talking herself down from a suicide attempt! 

I couldn't believe it, my co-teacher re-checked with her, and the student even did charades to get her point across. Some of the other students heard what was written in the card and chimed in about their own suicide attempts. I just can't get over how shameless they seemed about it... Maybe it was a moment of peer pressure, or maybe they were serious, I'm not sure. Either way, it is a thing I'm mad these young children have faced. 

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I guess on a related note, I went for coffee with a fellow teacher from workshop this evening (it's Friday), and afterwards it was 7pm. We were walking to the Damyang bus terminal in the cold and the dark, and there were simply too many students just leaving schools and private tutoring academies. MY students who should be having a nurturing childhood of their own instead of having a math textbook for a companion. Ugh. The perceived cost of success is one of the ugliest facets of Korean society in my opinion.

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(Post-publish edit)

I had wanted to write more about this but I forgot what I wanted to say, so I published this post anyway.
After talking with my mom, she brought up the point I wanted to raise.

In retrospect I should have been more happy that my student was able to talk herself down, so to speak. I mean, the reason I was shocked was because it's such a serious thing for a little girl to deal with, and the reason it's serious is because it's an incredibly high-cost decision to make. It takes a lot of desperation and will to come to the conclusion that it would be better to cease living than continue, but it takes a greater amount of courage and will to find a reason to continue living, in spite of the option of ending it all.

What I'm trying to say is that I should have (and now do) celebrated my student's courage and determination.