the beginning of the end

this is the last week of the spring/summer semester for middle schools across korea. lucky me. and i guess lucky kids too, though most of them will spend their summer vacation studying. as we all know, i'll be going to thailand (in less than three weeks now - 18 days if you wanna get right down to it).

monday was my first last day of class. my after school class finally finished. i've been teaching an extra two hours every monday for the last two and half months. it was my favourite class of all though, and was sad to see it end. i had three girls that showed up every week without fail. the rest of the (20 odd) students showed up a maximum of four times each. so i ordered pizza for the girls and got them little prezzies. they got me a necklace and a jewelry box... so sweet. they all have my email and i hope they'll use it, especially Siria, she is an amazing bright teenager.

Grace, me, Siria, and Mia - my after school girls.

today was my second last day of the semester (tomorrow will be the third). this didn't only mean that i only have one class (in august) left with these kids, but that one lucky class was having a pizza party for lunch. at the beginning of the year i devised a plan to try and keep control over my classes... a little reward system that i call "my sticker program". lots of teachers have them.

basically every period a class would start out with five stickers. when it was time to settle down, or if they got out of control i would count down three... two... one... zero. if by the end of the word zero they weren't quiet, they would lose a sticker.

the class at the end of the month with the most stickers would win prizes. these usually consisted of a printed certificate from me, a not-so-shiny canadian penny, a pencil, some candy, and a choco-pie (a kind of chocolate cake with marshmallow that the kids all love). the school didn't pay for any of this, i did. but i figured it was a small price to pay to have them all be quiet when i needed them to be. in some classes it worked extremely well, in others, not so much, but at least they could gauge when they were about to get in trouble!

well, the second part of the program was that whichever class had the MOST stickers at the end of the semester would get a pizza party. i didn't think this part through that well, since it cost me an arm and a leg and they weren't even all that appreciative, but today was the party. class 1-5 were the winners... which was expected since they won two months in a row and got five stickers in just about every class i had with them.

anyway, here are some pics:

mmm...pizza and "no teacher! don't take my picture!!!"

cuties. very quiet and shy...but that can be a good thing!

me and my little friend.

this girl never attends my class since she's handicapped, but she was allowed to come to the party. plus she loves me. she makes me little gifts and gives them to me in the hallway. she's the happiest middle-schooler i've ever met! she spent the whole class giggling about something!

they're a bunch of pretty smart kids and i'm proud of how far they've come in such a short period of time. and yes, when it's time to go home for good, i might get a little teary eyed over some of them, but that's just part of the job, isn't it?

cheater, cheater

today i invigilated a math exam because the teacher who was supposed to do it had to take a kid to the hospital. i was the only other teacher with "nothing to do" so they asked me. i didn't think it was a good idea until they told me there would be a korean teacher in the room with me. all i had to do was stand at the back of class, watch, and listen. no problem.

while i didn't see anyone cheating i still know that they do it... when i give quizzes - once a month to the top classes as a way of determining THE top class of the month - the kids try their best to help each other out. i always tell them before the quiz that if they cheat - talking to others, or looking at anyone else's paper - that i will take it away and count it as zero points.

they always try to argue (or whine) their way out of it when i catch them, but in every class there is always at least one. it's not like my quizzes are the collegiate scholastic ability test or anything... all they get is some candy, a canadian penny, and a certificate!

but the CSAT is another story. you might remember a few years ago when upwards of 1600 students were investigated for cheating on that exam using their mobile phones.

i am also reminded of the two days that i spent sequestered from the world, while working on the gimhae foreign language high school entrance exam last fall. would they do that if they didn't think that someone would TRY to get the answers (or questions) from us?

it's a sad reality that these kids go to school for upwards of 12 or 13 hours a day and are still expected to be A students. i wouldn't be a very good employee if i was forced to work that many hours a day. it's just the way they're brought up though... but no wonder they can't concentrate; no wonder they think they need to cheat - if they don't 'ace' every test and exam they are told they are nothing and will never accomplish anything.

and though i feel sorry for them, thank god i didn't catch any of them cheating today! and i could certainly tell which ones had studied, which ones had had a decent nights sleep, and which ones were wishing they could just lean over and ask for the answer from their friend.

pinkeye

there is an epidemic at my school this week... of conjunctivitis or for the non-medically inclined, pinkeye. everywhere i turned at school today i saw red, oozing, and infected eyes.

western medical experts suggest keeping a kid home for a few days when they have pinkeye because it's so contagious, but not the koreans. the kids will leave for a few classes, go to the doctor and come back, ready to pass it on to their friends - which is the first thing they do, so that everyone gets to miss a class or two.

i'm wondering how long it will take to spread to the teachers room - at least tomorrow i head off to school #2, where hopefully the same thing isn't going on. i've heard, though, that this is totally normal near the end of the semester when exams are approaching. maybe it's an excuse to give their parents when they do so poorly... "i was sick and couldn't study...".

Signs and symptoms

Pink eye (conjunctivitis)

The most common signs and symptoms of pink eye include:

• Redness in one or both eyes
• Itchiness in one or both eyes
• Blurred vision and sensitivity to light
• A gritty feeling in one or both eyes
• A discharge in one or both eyes that forms a crust during the night
• Tearing

sounds lovely, doesn't it?

there are several reasons you can get pinkeye - allergies, bacteria, viruses, but i know these kids give it to each other - i see them do it. i saw one kid wipe his finger on the dirty window sill and then rub it in his eye - i guess he doesn't know all he has to do is get his buddy to poke him in the eye.

despite using my antibacterial hand sanitizer every five minutes today, my eyes are feeling a little itchy... let's hope it's psychosomatic.

just another...

i worked in a bank for almost five years. not in a branch, but in customer service answering the phones - on the front lines of complaints at that; for three of those years i was a supervisor. when i wasn't on a complaint call, there was other work to be done, but when that was done, all i could do was sit there and wait for the phone to ring. to alleviate the boredom i became addicted to cheesy online games like the ones at popcap. we weren't supposed to play games, but everyone just kind of looked the other way... when you're bored, you're bored... and you have to find anything to make work bearable.

this worked for a long time, but i was sick of my job long before i left it to come to korea. in fact the bank job was one of the reasons i came. i didn't want to just go out and find another mundane, run-of-the-mill kind of job, i was free from university and was looking for adventure... so i moved halfway around the world... and here we are.

the thing is, my job here, though at times crazy and full of excitement, has it's fair share of boredom as well. for instance, winter "vacation" - don't worry i won't get into it again!!! - spring "vacation", exam time, anytime that i don't have classes to teach really. i thought school #2 was different since they gave me time off last week and the week before when there were no classes, but today changed my mind about them.

i found out late in the morning that my afternoon classes were cancelled. i got excited; i imagined myself outside tanning in the glory of the days' sunshine, getting to the gym early, going home, taking a shower, making a nice dinner, relaxing in the evening... i should have left the dreaming for bed time. i was made to stay at school until 4:30 - FIVE HOURS.

five hours of doing nothing inside, at a desk, when i could have been outside fulfilling my day dreams. i just don't get it. i think it's one of those things that will confound me forever. all the other teachers were asking me why i was there, wondering the same thing as me. it's just crap. i can deal with it, but it threw off my whole day and just made me pissed off.

as i've said before, i could understand if i had some kind of work to do, or even a computer that worked properly, but i literally spent half the afternoon with my head on my desk trying to nap. what's the point? i might as well be a "bad" student who is being punished for screwing around in class.

if it was a reason to leave canada, it sure as heck is a reason to leave korea... so really this is just another bullet point on my list of reasons to leave...

happy teachers day!

what a fantastic holiday. teachers day is not what it used to be (or so i hear) but just getting an extra day off is a gift unto itself! i spent my teachers day at the beach, soaking up the rays, with a few friends. a couple of them got loads of presents and gift certificates, where i got a pink balloon and a note. oh well... like i said, a day off is a day off!!!

the koreans were out as well... we found these ones buried in the sand!

wes, dave and abbey chillin' in the sand...

down the beach.

the sun didn't seem very strong, but i've come away with my first (and hopefully only) burn of the year. i had sunblock on (only 15 spf, as that's usually enough) but i guess i should take a hint from the stores which sell almost exclusively 30 spf. point taken... it won't happen again. don't think this will peel... and will hopefully be a nice brown in a couple of days.

it was a great day for relaxing on the beach... thanks guys!

happy may day

four months to go! i know that sounds pessimistic, but i know it's going to fly by just as quickly as the last eight have. today was labour day in korea, as it was in many countries around the world. being canadian, i have always celebrated labour day on the first monday in september and until today didn't know that it's may 1st in almost every other country in the world (barring the US). however, since i am not a "labourer" i didn't get the day off. that was the weird part for me, since in canada it's a day for everyone, not just "labourers". oh well... it was a pretty chill day anyway...

the students are all taking their mid-term exams so there isn't anything for me to do. which is nice because it meant that i spent the morning sleeping in the "rest room" at school and then was allowed to leave at lunch time. so i guess i got my labour day after all! it's just so weird that i still have to go in, even if i spend the whole time sleeping. why not just let me do that at home? anyway, tomorrow will be the same as today (and yesterday) except that i have to teach one class in the afternoon - at work from 8:30 to 4:30 and my only class is from 2:35 to 3:20! ridiculous. anway, like i said only four months and of those, i only have 12 weeks of actual teaching left... it'll fly by.

i went back to the doctor today since i haven't really been getting any better. he gave me 5 days of antibiotics. this is probably why i keep getting more sick, he only wanted to give three days and i told him it wsan't enough - i've pobably developed some kind of antibiotic resistance... who knows if i even need the stupid pills. i think it's all just allergies gone crazy and now that i've gotten some flonase and an inhaler that i'll be better in no time. i hope so anyway, i'm really sick of being sick!

that's my update. there hasn't been anything particularly interesting to write about of late, so sorry if this is kind of boring... promise loads of good reading after my trip to japan this week! so stay tuned!!!

not so cool school

you have to read the previous post "is it friday already" for this to have full impact... so go do that.

now, isn't school #2 so cool? i swear that thirty seconds after posting that my co-teacher from school #2 called. i shouldn't have answered. keep in mind it's 8PM here... turns out that the principal decided today that i should actually go to school and sit around and do nothing all day!!! WTF??!?!?! my co-teacher told him there is nothing for me to do, that the computer doesn't even work, and that i'd already been told not to come in, but NO, he insisted that i have to be there. so i told her that i'm taking a sick day - which is no lie, i am sick... and that i'm going to the doctor tomorrow... which i was planning on doing anyway... along with going to the bank etc...

i told her to make sure that i don't have to go in next week when everyone else in the entire school will be away on a field trip... since that's when i'm supposed to be going to japan. fuckers. i'm so pissed.

this is one of the biggest problems with foreign teachers in korean public schools - they don't understand that a little bit of leeway with the foreign teachers goes a long way. that we don't have the same work load as the koreans and spend half of our day sitting around doing nothing to begin with... so why not let us enjoy korea a little more and give us that time off? it wouldn't bother me so much if there weren't so much disparity in the system... like i said at winter vacation about people going to thailand for a month or more... and i was at school every day. anyway... i digress...

co-teacher just called back and said that it's ok for me to "take a rest" tomorrow. she also asked about next week and he said that if i wanted to go to school that i could, but if i didn't want to then i didn't have to. what does that mean? is it some kind of passive aggressive attempt to get me to go sit there all day? when she said goodbye, she told me to have a nice trip... i mean it's pretty obvious, isn't it? sit around with nothing to do? or go to japan? let me see... ...

is it friday already??!?

it sure feels like it! i don't have to go to work until monday!!! plenty of time for me to get over whatever new korean disease has taken over my body! i hope anyway...

why don't i have to work? is there a national holiday? perhaps a "ped" day as we used to call them in high school? nope. school #2 is just really awesome. tomorrow is the last day of mid-term exams and being the wonderful people they are, have told me that i don't need to bother coming in since there is nothing for me to do. if only school #1 would do the same... i have three days of sitting around next week during their mid-terms. if both schools were cool, then i'd have eleven days off!!! i could have gone somewhere really cool with that much time... but alas, my school ain't cool... (ok, sorry so cheesy...)

anyway, that accounts for thursday, what about friday? saturday is school #2's "birthday" - yes, schools have birthdays too! (ok, maybe only in korea, but with the way they count birthdays here, i'm not surprised.) since the big day falls on a saturday this year, they've given everyone friday off! yay! so i have a four day weekend ahead of me... what to do? what to do? not much.

i've got a bunch of daytime errands that i need to take care of - bank, immigration, shopping... you know, important stuff! (ha..) well, immigration is important. i need to get my visa 'fixed' so i can go to japan next week. when i got my visa, they issued me a single entry, which means i'm only allowed to use it to get in the country ONE time.... ergo, if i leave the country i will have to re-enter on a tourist visa and it will be illegal for me to work.

so i have to go and pay them another 50$ to make my visa a multiple entry. like i didn't pay them enough in the first place. i would have to do it for thailand in august anyway, so i might as well get it over with now... i'm just praying there aren't any problems like the last time i went to immigration... and i won't have a korean with me this time either. here's hoping i can wrangle my way through the korean immigration system for a second time! keep your fingers crossed for me!

another day, another school

started my "after school" class today at a new school - we'll call it school #3. there are some problems with the contract that need to be sorted out, so i haven't signed one yet... maybe i shouldn't have taught the class... but whatever...

i don't like the class room they've got me in. it's cold and there is this HUGE desk that i have to stand in front of. i don't like being 'seperated' from the kids desks... it's like having a giant barrier between us... anyway, they're little monsters just like every other school/class that i teach.

it took twenty minutes to take attendance! the co-ordinator of the program worked really hard to write all their names in english letters for me to read, but it would have been easier in korean. the pronunciation was all off and half the kids didn't know when i was saying their name because i was saying it wrong. i asked them for the class list in korean for next time. i'll be helping them choose english nicknames anyway, so it won't really matter, but it'll be good to know their korean names too.

i'm sure they were just all really tired from a long day at school and that is why they were little hellions! but the class didn't go well at all. i'm in there by myself with 30 kids that don't really speak or understand english... so it's going to be a challenging semester.

i asked them to think about why they want to learn english and be prepared to tell me next week. i don't know how many of them understood and/or will actually do it... but even if a few of them do it'll be a step forward.

so, that's it for today... my cold didn't make the longer day any easier and i didn't get to they gym either (boo-urns) i'm just too knackered... i'm going to bed early tonight!

yup, i joined...

i feel like the newby in a cult. i finally joined facebook. all these people have been going on about it for ages... i kept saying there was no way i was going to join yet another personal profile messenger type thing... they eat up your time and you end up not having a life... but the last straw was today... and so, i'm out there - again - in cyberspace. i never use my "myspace" and figured that maybe the same would end up happening with facebook, but it's a much better program.

i'm really liking it so far and have found lots of old friends that i haven't talked to in years. i'm even part of a group for my elementary school!!! anyway, i'm working on getting lots of photos up there... i love that i can upload directly from my iPhoto program... awesome! and it's so much faster than so many album sites out there... now i just need to get everyone i know to join! argh! see? i've been sucked in!!! and you! yes, you. you know who you are... it's all your fault!

***
in other news, this blog has seen over 4000 visitors since late november 2006! yay! and the country list continues to grow...

my hand is healing VERY well... for those of you concerned... thank you for all the well-wishes.

guess that's it for updates... nothing terribly interesting happened today. a bunch of kids got caught smoking on the roof of the school... but that's pretty normal... hopefully i'll have something interesting for you soon... as promised, and weather permitting, we can take another walk together tomorrow! ciao!

let's take a walk

so i've told you before that i've started going for a walk on my lunch break. today i (finally) remembered my camera so we can take a walk together!

this is the wall below the playground when you leave my school. the kids aren't allowed to leave school grounds, but when a ball goes over the fence one of them has to run down here. there are always trucks parked here - i assume their drivers are eating lunch at one of the restaurants across the street. we turn left at the end of the wall.
these are the bottom steps of the climb up to gimhae college. you'll get a better view of that soon.
this is the school (fourth floor) from up the steps. i caught a kid climbing on the fence here last week... looked like he was going to jump the four storeys down to the field. but i made him go back to school...
when we get to the top we turn right towards the college. it amazes me that they have any students! with a hike up like this... the nearest bus stop is still an eight minute walk from school... all uphill... where the two roads join, if you look to the right:
there is this really nifty area with rocks. there's a river down there, i can't wait to see it in the rainy season! right now there isn't much more than a trickle. these formations are all over the place. i guess to keep the water in check and not flood everyone's houses... even though basements don't exist here.
a little further up above the rocks, we have some pretty trees. the leaves are still all growing, this place will be gorgeous in a week or two.nah, don't go up there, it's just another building... keep going to the right and we can see some nature!
walk down this path for a bit, but don't go too far... it's a dead end. but there are some pretty flowers. and though you can still hear the screaming kids (even this far away...voices carry in a valley...) it's rather peaceful. at the end of the path, turn back and we'll come upon another of those rocky areas...
kind of pretty isn't it? the water is really dirty... and i sometimes wonder if isn't sewage... at least it doesn't smell bad.
this is the lower part of the rocky area - across the water... you can walk across a strip of cement and climb up the rocks. keep going and turn back onto the road.
just before we hit the first rocky area, we turn left down this path. looks like a path to nowhere again, doesn't it?
well, it isn't. it leads to some stone steps that take us down here. walk along the path to the end and turn right.
then it's down the stairs (hard on the knees - they're pretty steep) and back to school!
and when we get there we have our regular welcoming party "teacher! teacher! hello!!" these girls meet me everyday and we chat for a bit.
they always cover their faces... it's supposed to be so that their faces look smaller... ya... ok... anyway, they're sweet if a bit loud... they try.

hope you liked the walk. it takes me about twenty minutes... probably just about how long it took you! see you next time! on thursday i'll post the walk i take at school two... there's less nature, but a very interesting neighbourhood.

thieves

somebody STOLE my umbrella at school today. f*!%ing kids!!!! i mean, WTF? it was in my 'shoe box' which means that someone opened the door (which has my name on it) and took it out. i didn't leave it lying around, it was IN my shoe box... what's next? my shoes? no one at school seemed to think it was a very big deal. but i do. i just bought it. not to mention that this means there are thiefs at our school... you'd think someone would be at least slightly concerned about that. but, no! it's just the waegooks umbrella. i bet if a korean teacher had something stolen they'd be searching every kids house. argh. just pisses me off.

i have been offered the opportunity to teach extra classes at another middle school for ten weeks. it'll be two classes on monday afternoon from 3:30 to 5:15. they're going to pay me very well for it, so that makes me happy. though it will be a lot of work - four days with five classes!!! and i'm already complaining about having three! but it's only ten weeks and the money is too good to say no. i can teach them whatever i like and apparently they're pretty good. grade three... but i'll deal. they want to take the classes, so maybe they'll actually be really good... anyway, starts next monday, will let you all know!

signing off. happy monday!

it's only tuesday

all day the one thought that continued to run through my head was that it is only tuesday. for some reason i felt like it was at least wednesday... but no... my first five class day of the week and it went on forever.

my first two classes of the day were great - well-behaved, attentive, and smart. i had third period off and went for a little walk. fourth class was pretty bad. they kept pretending like they didn't know anything - i don't know if they just don't understand me, or if they just really don't know the answers, but we're doing some pretty basic stuff that other classes already had a great handle on. anyway, it wasn't the best... but it wasn't the worst.

my lunch break was destroyed by a "meeting" of some group that i'm a member of just because of where i sit in the office. of course, no one speaks english, so the conversation was lost on me for over an hour. not to mention that i couldn't eat most of what was available at the restaurant. i managed to eat some fish and brocolli and a little soup, but when the main part of the meal is rice, i'm screwed. it did nothing to put in a good mood. i've taken to going for a twenty minute walk at lunch as well, it gets my blood flowing, gives me some time away from all the korean and the kids - but today there was no walk - which put me in an even worse mood. we got back to school four minutes before class started - not even enough time to check email, let alone gain some composure - and i still had two classes to go.

i have made it very clear to all of my classes that they have to be in their teams and ready to go when i arrive. since i go to each class, they have plenty of time to get ready for me, but of course they weren't. no skin off my back, right? they'll just lose a sticker. but i expect them to at least settle down once i arrive. but no. they just kept on acting like the crazy little monsters they are. my korean "co-teacher" didn't do anything to make matters better. she did nothing, actually. i have specific instructions from the doctor to use my voice as little as possible... yet, i had already taught three classes that day. i wasn't feeling great. she was still under the impression that i just have a "sore" throat and not a serious throat infection. anyway, she didn't do anything to calm the class down and i had to take control.

one girl wouldn't stop chatting with her friend so i sent her to the back of class to stand with her hands in the air. that didn't deter any of them. i asked them a simple question - "what are the days of the week?" they are in first grade middle school - this is easy stuff that they learned a long time ago - we were doing a refresher. but not a single one of them answered. they just kept on chatting with eachother in kroean and fooling around. so i stopped the lesson. i told them if they didn't want to learn, then we could do something else - and then had the entire class raise their hands above their heads. a few minutes later i asked them what they liked better... learning english or being punished. of course they said learning, so we continued the lesson (hands down). i re-asked them for the days of the week and got all the answers in seconds... so what was wrong the first time around? anyway, i eventually had to make one of the teams stand up and raise their hands - about ten minutes to the end of class. and they stayed that way til the end. i need them to know that i'm serious and they need to give me the respect that they would their korean teachers... this is an on-going theme, is it not?

anyway, it was a really bad class, my throat was killing me, but sixth period made up for it. i was still with the same co-teacher, but now she was mad at me because i punished the previous class! WTF??? anyway, sixth went really well, then my co-teacher (not the good one) says, "we need to have a meeting about that class."

so what does she tell me? that she thinks i shouldn't punish them at all and that i was wrong and she's very angry about it. well, what does she expect, i say. she's the one who is supposed to be dealing out the punishments and keeping them in line... so where was she when i needed her? not to mention that i shouldn't even be speaking and that i didn't get a lunch break, and that i always do everything for all the classes, when i'm supposed to be assisting... not creating lesson plans and doing it all on my own. she was speechless - almost - finally after ten minutes of her trying to make me feel bad for punishing the rotten buggers, she decides to try and make me feel bad about being sick and her going to class without me yesterday! will it NEVER end with that? like i'm making myself sick on purpose. what does she think i am a middle school student? so then i get pissed and tell her that there is no way i'm having this conversation with her, that i don't need to justify my illness to her and that if she felt so rotten yesterday then why did she insist that i stay behind and rest. i offered several times yesterday to go to class anyway, and she always said no... don't come back a day later and try to make me feel bad about it. argh! anyway, sorry this is such a rant... i just really need to vent somewhere, and where better than here?

i just hope she gets over it and doesn't give me any more trouble... i teach more than half my classes with her... but i've been at the school longer than her, and she doesn't know me at all. she hasn't even tried to get to know me. hasn't asked me a single question about myself or anything... so who's really got the problem? i think she just doesn't like me cause i speak english and hers sucks and i make her realize that... anyway, will update with more as it becomes available... probably tomorrow... for now, have a great tuesday...

because i LOOOOOVE laryngitis SO much!

i can't believe it.

as you probably know i have laryngitis. i spent the weekend (for the most part) resting my voice and taking care of my throat. but today it was still bad, and the doctor told me on friday to go back today regardless... so i did. he said that it's looking a little better, but that i need to continue to rest my voice and take more medication until it's better. when i told him i'm a teacher and i can't rest my voice he looked worried. so did i. i was sure that the school doesn't really believe that i'm sick, they think i just have a sore throat and that i'm making a big deal about it. so i got the doctor to write me note. i figured this would at least legitimize my not being able to talk in class.

well, of course not. this is korea where people get sick for three hours and then are better again. does no one in this country realize that my body is different from theirs? physiologically asians and caucasions have different reactions to different things, and i'm no exception - their drugs don't work on me. so after i returned to school with the note and told Jo she acted like it was all ok since it would (hopefully) be a few days... then she went to tell the other teachers that i work with and they were all angry that i was sick.

"can't you think of something to do in class where you don't need your voice?" she asked me.
ya, cause keeping my mouth shut keeps them in line. that's for sure. wtf? she started getting all "well you know how it makes us feel?" to which i said no because she hadn't told me. and then she starts going on about how all teachers get sore throats, and it's normal and there isn't really anything wrong with me... and can't i just go to class like normal?

basically i've been teaching their classes for them for the last six months and now i can't talk they can't return the favour! this is called "co-teaching" for a reason! it's not "let the foreigner do everything." i already make all the lesson plans, and then follow through in class, they never do anything - even discipline, which i found out i should not be doing at all! ie. no other foreign teachers have to do it, their koreans do it for them. so what's up with my school? and they have to make me feel guilty about having a throat infection that i couldn't have prevented! what if i broke my leg? or got hit by a car? what would they do then? bring the kids down to the hospital for their lesson? it's not like i'm saying that i'll stay home all day, i offered to go to class and be there, but that i can't project my voice or talk for long periods of time. of course, while i'm telling her all of this my voice is cracking and my throat is aching and she STILL can't see that this is real?? i'm just pissed off. all a person wants sometimes is a little understanding and compassion - two things that don't exist in korea... and they wonder why i'm not staying for another year.

anyway, hopefully this stupid laryngitis will go away and things can go back to normal... maybe i'll tell them all about how other foreign teachers only teach for half the class... see how they like that... god! find something where i don't need my voice... ya... right.

not so angelic... or maybe...

well, the kids today weren't as angelic as i remembered them, but they were definitely better than school #1. it was a long day with five classes, but at least they aren't in a row - that's friday. BUT tomorrow i get a break! there is some science fair going on and the kids have to prepare for it, so there are no regular classes after second period. to make things even better, my weekend gets to start as soon as i'm done class!!! that's right! for the first time since arriving someone at my school is giving me a break and letting me leave early! yay! (i'll still keep my fingers crossed while i sleep tonight!)

in other news, i'm still going to the gym six days a week. i've lost a total of 5.3 pounds in three weeks! did i mention that i joined weight watchers online? i don't think that i did, but having it out there makes me more accountable for it. as an online buddy of mine said, "they're only numbers and they only have the power of shame we give them." so, i'm not giving them any! it's a positive life change that i'm making... no matter how i'm going about doing it. i'm proud of myself for wanting to change... it isn't easy, but if i can move to korea on my own and survive, then i can do anything! i know it works since i sort of followed the program a couple of years ago and lost about 20 pounds, which have never come back... but i got lazy with it. it became increasingly difficult for me to follow it while i was in school and i ended up just giving up. i learned a lot about health and nutrition during that time. those things are still with me, and that i used every day before and didn't gain anything, but now i'm ready to be a loser! (i know, i already am one!!! LOL haha... ;) but seriously, it's time for a change and when i go to thailand this summer i want to look incredible! and i will.

on that note, have a good one! coming soon, korea in bloom! i looked up today for the first time in a while and noticed that the trees in gimhae are covered in flowers! i'll take some pics and post 'em soon!

my favourite class

i know i'm not supposed to like one student more than another, or one class, or anything... but i think i've found my favourite class. there are two really smart boys who are eager to learn and eager to please - read: brown nosers. i don't have a problem with people who like to make a good impression - which is how i view 'suck ups'... especially since i am one! it's even better when you're on the receiving end. it makes me feel like everything isn't a waste after all.

when there are so many kids that don't pay attention, don't study, don't speak english, don't learn, don't anything, it's a really great feeling to know that there is at least ONE in the class who DOES. when there are two it's even better. they compete against each other and push each other to do better, to be the best. i like to think that it motivates the others, and in this class there are a few who get moving because of it, but the majority are wet rags. but STILL, having any kids who are "into" the class is an incredible motivator for me.

so, ya, my favourite class... every wednesday, last period of the day... it's a nice end to my three day week at the one school... we'll see what happens at the new school in the next couple of days... last week they wer evirtual angels, but the tide can change in seconds... let's hope i have ten favourites to report!

i made it

i didn't think i'd make it through today - feeling the way i have been - but it was ok. i just took things slowly and one minute at a time and by the end of it i wasn't about to fall over. don't know if it was the tylenol cold or the strange, nasty-tasting liquid the school nurse gave me, but something worked. i was tired, oh-so-tired, but i made it through. they let me leave as soon as school was over (ie. and hour early) which was nice.

i made a new friend at school today too - mr kim. we went for a walk at lunch time. his english is definitely lacking, but it was nice to have some company on my lunchtime walk. i like to get away from school for a just a little during lunch. leave the screaming and the stomping and the "hello teacher"'s behind... i wasn't feeling great, but i needed to get away from it all... maybe that's how i made it through! either way, it was all right. now i just have to do it again tomorrow... and every week for the next 17 weeks... i can do it... i can do it... i can...

in other news, i've booked my flight to thailand to meet up with ranya in august. i can't wait to see her. it's been almost three years. in case you don't know she's my best friend and was my roommate for about four years. she's like the sister i never had. we were symbiotically connected for a while...that's only dissipated since she moved to greece. i just can't wait to see her and spend some good quality time... these meetings between us don't happen very often and who knows the next time we'll see eachother... but i digress.

i've been going a little nuts on google earth checking out all the beaches and other sites that we can go to. we're going to find one of those little bungalows (like in bridget jones' 2) and camp out there for a couple of days. we also want to go pet the tigers in the north, go on an elephant trek, check out some temples, go hiking... there's just so much to see and do... and so little time...

the longest day

today was very long and very tiring. i had four classes in a row in the morning, an hour for lunch and then another class of robust and loud 15-year-old girls. they are great because they pay attention better than the boys, but they're also a lot louder and a lot crazier. they like to scream and when they talk it's always a couple of decibels above normal. oh well. it was still a good day, though i've no idea how i actually got through it... and i'm going to have to do it every friday for the next twenty weeks. argh. guess this means an end to my friday night parties!

i did manage to make it to the gym anyway... though i was so tired there were a couple of times where i thought i was going to pull one of those "flying off the treadmill" scenes. but it was ok. i'm not going out tonight for a few reasons, one of them being that i'm just knackered. the other is that none of my favourite people will be out. seems like everyone is off doing their own thing... and i don't feel like making the trek out just to sit there and be bored... so i'm staying in on a friday night for the first time in months. tomorrow is a big night out in busan for a friends birthday, so i might do that... but i'm still on the fence on that one too... we'll see.

anyway, sorry for the boring post... please keep coming! if i can manage to write in this state of exhaustion, you can manage to read it! right?!?!! have a great weekend everyone!

thoughts on a new school

today was my first day of teaching at my new school. there are some very big differences between the two. at some point early in the day i wondered what my life would have been like for the last six months had i originally been assigned to this school. i'm still not in a position to really know that, nor will i ever be, it's still interesting to note the many variances (albeit sometimes small) between the two schools.

first. as soon as i arrived my co-teacher met me at the gate. she had some things that she needed to tell me, and i think that she was there because it was her 'day' to stand guard in the morning (there are always teachers greeting the students as they arrive in the morning)... but it was still nice to have a familiar face first thing.

second. the principal invited me for a morning coffee. the p-man at my other school never even says hello to me - even if i say it to him. the new P has actually made a weekly coffee date with me... thursdays at 3:30. he also invited me to go to a buddhist temple with him so i could learn more about his religion.

third. when i was seen cleaning my keyboard (which obviously had never exposed to any kind of cleaning product, even a light dusting, in it's ten-year service) a teacher came by and offered to just get me a new one, which he did.

fourth. the classes are split between girls and boys. even numbered classes for girls and odd numbered classes for boys. you would think that teaching an entire class of 15-year-old boys would be darn near impossible, and keeping in mind it was the first one, it was actually easier than teaching a mixed group. ditto for the girls classes. they were just all so excited to see me, but the dynamic is so different and it just works. ALL middles schools should do this.

fifth. the teachers bathroom has lights, soap, paper towel, and is actually clean. though there is no western toilet (anywhere that i've been able to find) the squatters are okay...

sixth. about ten teachers asked me if i had had lunch. they wanted to make sure that i ate... no one ever asks me to go for lunch with them at the other school. i was also offered coffee throughout the day by numerous teachers.

seventh. i have to pay for the cafeteria lunch. i've been lucky with this so far and have never paid for lunch at my other school... the one kindness of the VP.

eighth. my 'team teachers' actually helped during class with more than just translation. i spent the day making teams in each class and having them pick out team names and individual english nicknames... the two teachers that i work with both printed out a list of english names to help the students choose... i hadn't even thought of it! how silly of me... but i was just going around and thinking up names on my own, duh! a printout! wow!

i think i'll stop there for now... i'm sure there will be more to come. don't get me wrong, it isn't all roses, i have five lessons a day, which is really pushing it, but it was okay. the students seemed receptive, the teachers very kind, ditto with the VP and the P. all in all it was a long but very gratifying day.