vanity at the gym

i was at the gym today (again... since i'm there everyday...) and i was using that sit-down thigh machine... you know, the one where you have your legs spread wide and you have to bring them together... sorry for the visuals on that one... had to be explained though. anyway, i'm sitting there, listening to my ipod, minding my own business (like i always* do) and this woman comes up to me and starts babbling on in korean.

"i'm sorry, i don't speak korean," i say.
"shorts," she replies, "small," and she started to poke at my shorts.

i was in a pretty odd position and my shorts were riding up my thigh a little, but they aren't too small. they're the same ones that i pick up at the gym everyday. i can't read the signs, so i always take a pair from the pile where i got them the first day. anyway, i tried to 'shrug' her off by pretending i didn't know what she was talking about, but she wouldn't let up. even when i started doing my next set she was standing there in my way.

finally i said "well if i don't care then you shouldn't" - not that she could understand what i was saying... but i needed to say it. in all honesty, they might be a tad tight, but not so much that it is offensive... not like all the korean men with their speedos! but just try being a little bigger in a society where size zero is the norm... then tell me how easy it is to find clothes! the woman wasn't even wearing the gym clothe, she had her own fancy and expensive track suit.

eventually she went away... but come on! it's none of your business what i look like at the gym. this is really just another example of the vanity that exists here.

i finally caved...

and bought a toaster oven.

i know it seems silly with less than six months left here, but it just makes life so much easier... my apartment doesn't have an oven, since it doesn't have a regular stove. i only have a two spot gas range... so, no oven... but now i am the proud owner of this:
and at only 26,000W (~30$cad) it was a steal! just try to find one that cheap in canada!!! anyway, i figure i can sell it when i leave... and if no one wants it then it'll be a nice gift to one of my co-teachers.

can you tell i had a boring weekend? the highlight is a small kitchen appliance. i spent my weekend in solitary relaxation... i just didn't feel like going out to the bar and getting home at 5am... maybe next weekend...

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.

dawn

nothing terribly interesting to report... sorry. but i do have to keep writing every day (though sometimes i take the weekends off...) so here i am. i found another interesting korean product at the local store today. it was right on the counter near the cash register so i asked if i could take a picture of it. the 'store lady' looked at me like i was nuts! but not too much more than usual... so i guess it's the kind of thing that is expected of me... here it is:

Dawn Hangover Solution

i'll let you know if/when i have the chance to buy some and try it... i should have just bought it today and kept it around for the occasion, since you never really know when you're going to need it, and usually by that point you're too hungover to walk to the store! oh well, maybe i'll pick it up tomorrow. i really love the picture of the typical korean man on it too... hilarious!!!

just one of those funny korean things that i thought i'd share... hopefully there'll be something more interesting to post soon! hang in there!

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...

just have to quickly say thank you to my 3000th visitor... not sure who you are... but yay!!!! that's 3000 visitors since november 16th. hope you all keep coming back!

starface and sfunz

sorry no posts for the last couple of days, i went to busan on the weekend. i met up with kat, jess (her sister who was visiting from canada), kevin (a friend from orientation who lives up north), and chris... along with a bunch of gimhaens.

we went to kebapistan for dinner and then it was on to haeundae to go to starface - a bar i've been hearing about for weeks but hadn't made it to yet. you pay 15,000W (~17$cad) for an open bar. not bad. their gin and tonics were really nice. they had a pool table, but it wasn't as readily available as the one at fuzzy navel, so i didn't get to play at all. they had a live jazz band too, which was really cool... it's been so long... reminded me of the good old days at luba lounge in montreal.

the band at starface

after the band finsihed playing the music was 'do it yourself'. which i thought was awesome. they just had a computer with winamp and a huge playlist and anyone could play whatever they wanted. that reminded me of house parties with ranya.

DIY DJing...ah, the memories...

we (me, kat, jess, chris, and kevin) left starface around 2am and headed to the noraebang. we sang for about 2 hours and then went back to the motel that we were staying at - the sfunz.

our motel - the sfunz!!!

there are tons of hotels and motels in haeundae beach - it's the biggest beach in korea, so it's a popular holiday destination. we just liked the name! not to mention that it was only 40,000W (~45$cad) for a room, and split between us (three in one, two in the other) it was next to nothing. the rooms were decent and it had a great location.

girls room - already messy after five minutes!

bathrobes included.

a massive king size bed.

it was a good night... i can't say as much for the bus ride home on sunday... i didn't want to move... my stomach was being super loopy and after only about five or six hours of sleep i was in no mood to be taking the subway and bus for an hour and a half... so i got an intercity bus from down the street of out motel... straight to gimhae... so happy i remembered that it exists.

it was a great weekend... i always have a good time when kat is involved... and it was even better because i got goodies from canada... caramilk, smarties, salt and vinegar pringles, starburst, cuticle oil, advil, nytol, minty aero... and on... it's great... enough junk food to get me through the next six months! thanks jess!

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!

Samil

(or korean independence movement day)

today was a national holiday. all that really means for us waegooks is that we get a day off work, but i was curious to know why we got to party until the wee hours of the morn... so i looked into it.

on march 1, 1919, the korean independence movement began. 'samil' which translates literally to three one (month/day) was inspired by then US president Woodrow Wilson's 14 point proclamation and the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. he declared and end to colonial rule in countries that were ruled by the victors of WW1. many koreans, under japanese rule, thought they too would be released from their oppressors.

with Wilson's proclamation in mind, korea sent a delegation to the conference in February 1919, but they were refused the right to vote. there was a secret pact between the US, Japan, and France to exclude Korea and Indochina from the treaty. this, obviously, did not sit well with the koreans who thought they would be gaining their independence. so, on march 1, students and christians from around the country led the samil anti-japanese march.

women protesting the japanese colonial rule of korea.

a declaration of independence was read throughout the country:

“Today marks the declaration of Korean independence. There will be peaceful demonstrations all over Korea. If our meetings are orderly and peaceful, we shall receive the help of President Wilson and the great powers at Versailles, and Korea will be a free nation.”

nearly two million people joined the march in thousands of villages across Korea. a peaceful protest took place, with christians singing hymns, and students chanting 'independence'.

the christian leaders were crucified.

the protests were brought to a brutal end by the japanese who fired into the nonviolent crowds. some of the christian organizers were crucified, school children were beheaded, and churches were burned down. korean history counts over 7,500 people killed, 15,000 injured, and upwards of 45,000 arrested. (the japanese numbers are much lower.)

many koreans were brutally murdered by the japanese.

as a side note - some say that the samil was (partly) triggered by the death of King Kojong, who was beleived to have been poisoned by the japanese for trying to send a secret message to the paris conference. march 1, was the day of mourning for his death.

*information and pictures courtesy of Lee Wha Rang. click the link for more on samil.