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?

startled

i was startled by one of my students today. well, i'm startled by them rather often, but not so much that i remember to write about it here.

i was on my lunch break walk when i saw two boys climbing down a large wall that encloses the elementary school next door. i asked them what they were doing and one of them replied "nothing" - surprise #1: that he would know to say that. i said, "oh, that's great!" pleased that he had correctly used a word in english.

surprise #2 came a moment later when the other boy said "shut the fuck up." i was blown away! i can't manage to get them to stop saying "i'm fine thank you and you" and they're running around saying things like that! it's to be expected, of course, but it just took me by surprise. this boy never says anything - in korean or english - in class... so for him to come out like that was really odd.

i told him to never say that ever again and poked him in the shoulder. then i told all of his friends (as we arrived back in the school yard) that he was a bad boy.... which made them all point and call him crazy. hopefully he got the point, but i'm not betting on it.

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.

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!

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!

a first.

i started punishing kids today. i need to set an example and i need to do it early. they are so often out of control. i thought that my revised sticker program would be a good incentive, but it's only doing so much.

the program: every class has five stickers at the start of each period. if they are not ready in their groups when i arrive, they lose a sticker. they continue to lose stickers throughout class for not obeying the rules, of which there is really only one: when i count down from three to zero it's time to be quiet. if they are not quiet at zero, they lose a sticker. i repeat the countdown until everyone is quiet... i've had a couple of classes actually lose three stickers in one countdown. (i counted three times before they were quiet on the fourth.) every month, the class with the most stickers wins prizes. at the end of the semester the class with the overall most stickers wins a party of some kind - pizza, cake, cookies, whatever we decide when the time comes.

i think it's pretty generous. i guess they have no sense of money yet and don't understand that it's all coming out of my pocket. anyway, the stickers can only go so far. for kids that just won't stop horsing around (god! did I just say that?!?!!? how old AM i?) i started punishing them. how? you might ask. i put them at the front of the room on their knees with their hands in the air over their heads. they stay like that for varying amounts of time depending on what they did wrong. i had two kids that wouldn't stop talking today so they were up there for a good twenty minutes (the rest of class). that's a long time to hold your hands above your head. if you don't believe me, try it sometime!

anyway, i had one kid today that kept sitting on his ass and continued to fool around - even while being punished in the above manner - so i pinched his ear. really hard. i've never been violent with a kid before, and i don't know if that is considered 'really violent' but i was surprised that i had it in me. i was just so frustrated and at my wits ends i didn't know what else to do. it shut him up and put him in his place.

compared to the korean teachers that's nothing, they'll smack them around with their "love sticks" - i can't bring myself to do anything nearly as harsh as that. but they need to learn that just because i'm a waegook, doesn't mean i deserve less respect in the class than the korean teachers. i hoped they learned their lessons and that the rest of the class did by example.

...whimper...

i went to school today. i didn't go in yesterday because i just couldn't get up. exhausted, weary, and still slightly congested with a low grade headache that just lingers. i could have gone back to the doctor, but korean doctors never seem to beleive that there's anything wrong with me. so, i went to school. it was a long day. i told all of my classes that i was sick and wasn't feeling well, so please be on your best behaviour today, and most of them were. if they started acting up i just sighed really loudly, closed my eyes, rubbed my forehead, and waited for them to settle down on their own. it worked for the most part. a couple of time my co-teacher had to get them to quiet down, especially since there is no way i can raise my voice at present.

i'm just worried about tomorrow. five classes. i know to some of you it doesn't sound like much, but it is when there are forty students in each one of them. 40x5=200 students to control. it's not easy at the best of times, but when you feel like crap it's a million times worse. so, i'm not going out for 'mini weekend' tonight... but hopefully i'll be feeling well enough to do a little socializing on the actual weekend as i'm missing my friends and just being out with other waegooks... oh to speak english to an english speaker... sorry this is such a lame post.

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.

back to school part two

since i am now teaching at two schools, i had my second first day of school yesterday. it wasn't anything particularly interesting since there were no classes... it was more or less a repeat of friday but in a different location. at least i have a computer there and so had something to do.

today, however, was my first day of teaching in the new school year. i was worried because i didn't sleep well last night and was really tired this morning. i also have five classes on tuesday so i knew it was going to be a rough day... it didn't turn out so bad.

the kids seemed receptive and nice. i think that most of them had a foreign teacher at their elementary school, so they weren't as big-eyed as the kids last year. for the most part they were all good during the class which was just a little intro... run down the rules of the class - "when teacher is talking, you are not" - "raise your hand if you want to say something" - "respect is the most important thing in the class" - etc... then we went over my new and improved sticker program.

each class has a 'sticker board'. every month the class with the most stickers will win prizes. these could be candy, pens, workbooks, ... to be decided by the winning class (and approved by me!)... at the end of the semester (before summer vacation) the class with the most overall stickers will win a party - pizza, hamburgers, whatever they want. they can get stickers by participating in class, paying attention, trying their hardest, and always being good.

then i put them in groups of six that will be their teams for the year. they had to choose a team captain and a team name. some of the names they came up with: star, gold, happy, peace, angelina jolie, fun time, action, begin, brand, UFO... you get the point. it's so funny...and cute. tomorrow i'll try to remember to bring home some of the english nicknames they've chosen... they're even better!

so, all in all, not a bad return to school. the day passed rather quickly, and aside from the VP hassling me about the useless "english only zone" things went really well. more on that another time...

back to school

today was the first day of the school year in korea. i also started at my new middle school. i'll be there on thursdays and fridays. i met my co-teacher down the street from my house and we drove the five blocks to the school since she didn't want me showing up all on my own on the first day.

things were pretty hectic when we got there. it seemed like they weren't expecting me since my desk was covered in junk and hadn't been dusted in five years. there was also no computer or stationary type stuff for me. they've known for weeks that i'd be arriving today, so i don't understand why they weren't ready for it.

after about an hour i was shuffled off to the broadcasting room with the other 15 new teachers. we were being paraded in front of the camera in a live broadcast to all the classrooms in the school. i was the only one who got to say a few words. i had to do the same thing when i started at my other school, so i was expecting it. plus having been in broadcasting i'm confortable in front of the camera, so it was no problem.

my VP and principal both speak more english than the ones at my other school, which is a bonus. they both seemed very nice, but they are still sticklers for the rules. i brought donuts for all the teachers, so i'm on everyones' good side.

after a couple of hours of sitting at a desk with no computer, books, or anything i asked if i could go home early since i had no classes and nothing to do. i wanted to get working on some more lesson plans since i still have to make another ten or so... but they said no. i had to sit and stare at the dirty desk for a full eight and a half hours! less the hour we went out for lunch. it was so ridiculous... even at my old school they would have done something for me, either let me leave or hook me up with a computer, but no... i just sat there. i didn't even have a book to read! it made the day longer and more boring than it should have been.

i was so bored that i went to a class with my co-teacher that i won't even be teaching at all. this brought me to the discovery that the classes are separated by sex - all girls and all boys in each class. that will definitely make life interesting in the classroom. i usually use the girls to get the boys to settle down, so losing the mix is going to be tough. hopefully it'll all work out.

the good thing is that my co-teacher is really nice, and all the other teachers i met seem nice too... there's even one teacher that got transferred from my other school... she's not an english teacher and she doesn't speak english, but it was nice to have a familiar face among the crowd. i also know a couple of the kids from winter camp. it was a good day. it'll be nice, i think, to split the week in two - monday, tuesday, wednesday at one school and thursday, friday at the other, it might just be the best part of the whole deal... hopefully it'll make the week pass faster. now i'm off for the weekend... out tonight in gimhae and tomorrow meeting up with kat and her sister in busan... will write as soon as i can!

miscellanea

i didn't think that i had anything to write about today, but there are a couple of things that i found out about my upcoming school year. at school #1 i will only be teaching first grade (the equivalent of grade 7 in canada)!!!! this is great. it will give me the chance to really get to know the kids and create some kind of rapport with them. it means a lot of extra lesson planning - something i thought i had finished yesterday - but that's ok.

at school #2 i will be teaching only second grade. this is all right - at least i can use the same lesson plans as i am in school #1.

school #2 is moving my desk so that i will no longer be sitting directly in front of the vice principal. though, on second thought, he won't be there for the next few months, so it doesn't really make much difference. i will be closer to the door though...faster, easier escape route!

i leave you now with some random photos from the last little while...

what is "job's tears tea"? is this some kind of weird biblical reference?
and what's with the "frim coffee"? there are some things i'll never understand...
our waiter at junco last weekend. these hats are best when seen on grown men in business suits... but this shot will have to do!
mark and ben 'chicken fighting' in the subway - they learned this in their martial arts class...
sorry it's blurry - i had to be fast (crappy camera doesn't help)

school's out

yesterday was the last day of the school year. see posts below for what i think of the korean school year... i just thought since today was pretty chill (went to school for a couple of hours, then to the gym, then watched the latest episode of lost) that i'd post a few pictures of my school... since i spend so much time there... here it is:

my school from the entrance. it looks nicer than it is! they're big into the landscaping though... so it can be very pretty when all the plants are actually green and growing.
my shoe locker. we all have to take off our shoes when we enter the school, so we have lockers for our 'outdoor' shoes. i also have a pair of school shoes inside.
the front entrance from the side. the principals' office is in the windows on the first floor on the right... the teachers office is right on top.
a typical hallway. the boxes on the left are the students shoes lockers... they have to walk through the school with no shoes on to get to their school shoes. some of them just wear slippers or socks, though this is probably against school rules.
my "english only zone" - just about everything i put up has now been torn down by uunruly students who hate english. it's great to be me! the vice principal will probably make me do it all over again when the new year starts. he tries to get me to go sit there and talk to students. the problem with that is that they only ever go hang out there when i'm not there!

so there's a bit of my school. one of the things i had to get used to was that students don't change classes. kind of like elementary school in north america. they have their room and they stay there - the teachers have to go from class to class. i think it would be a lot easier if i had a class room that i could make my "english only zone"... oh well... hope you enjoyed the quick tour.

this weekend in lunar new year - i'll post something about it soon... what is it? who celebrates it? what does it mean for koreans? etc...

Teach English In Asia

i've been meaning to write this for a few days... so here it is. i'm marginally involved in this new web site called (you guessed it!) Teach English In Asia and i've been posting some of my blog posts and photos and other stuff to it. i figure i can put it on my CV as an online writer... i'm the new food critic! just wanted to promote it a little bit and let you all know about my new endeavour...