New Notebooks

Something on the front cover that caught my eye.

I'm so glad that they thought about the luminosity and saturation of the color, rather than correct grammar.

Friday

For some people, Wednesday is the hump day, assuming that all days are the same. For me, Friday is the hump day. It's the last day I have to get over, to see the weekend. Friday is an extra hassle for me, because I finish late (9:30pm), and I have 3 classes of middle school students. The only good thing is that I start later than my other days (3:30pm). Its not much to complain about. Teaching 6 classes, with a break for dinner at 7pm, but, at least its something.

Every now and then I'll guy come candy for class, play a few games and stuff. It's Friday. The kids don't wanna be there during the week, and they don't wanna be there even more, coz its Friday. I don't blame them. After two and a half years of the same shit, I'm over it too. At least I can leave. They can't :p

With the tickets "issues" out of the way, it was good to go to work and not have to worry about stuff. Got there on time to get stuff ready (and by "get stuff ready", i mean "photocopy"), and to chill out before the first class. Lately, I haven't been going to the gym or exercising, because of hurting my back, and then getting this nasty cold (which is almost gone), so I'm not feeling as energetic as I used to be. I'm thinking of going back next Monday, if I've got enough cash.

Even though I don't have to, I buy notebooks for students to write in in my class. The teacher before me only used to photocopy stuff. I tend to be a bit more random, and get kids to do some writing (it gives them time to think about better sentence production, and improves their handwriting). I don't have to buy them, but I just though it was weird, for students not to have notebooks. I am meant to be teaching them, so they should be able to write shit down. I don't know how much I've spent on notebooks, but by surprise, the boss handed me 2 packs of notebooks, which was nice.

Every now and then he'll ask to borrow one, which I don't really mind, because its not that often. I think it comes down to the way Koreans think - the "we" phenomenon. For the people who haven't been in Korea, I'll try to explain it. In my opinion, Korea is still kinda socialist. Stuff is "ours". If a Korean family has a child, its a child of Korea. Even speech in Korean, "my" is replaced with "our" as a possessive adjective, but means "my". Anything that "Korea" or its people does, is labelled with "we/our". There are good aspects and bad aspects because of this. Korea is a mono-cultured society, so there's unity and everyone "fits in". On the other hand, it feels stagnant, and not tolerant of things that are different.

Anyway, the middle schools classes weren't too bad. Just gotta know how to deal with them. The grade 2 boys class is the worst. There is one main ring leader. Once he's on my side, things work out well.

I'm looking forward to going to my Geomdo class tomorrow. I didn't go last week because of my terrible cold. Gonna hang out in Jeongeup and spend the weekend there.

Quick Update

Got my eTickets for going to Japan in June.
All classes are delayed by 10 mind starting tomorrow, since the car collecting kids from some places is coming late. This means I start work at 3:30pm tomorrow.
Going to Jeongeup on Saturday for Geomdo, and will stay overnight. There's a Cherry blossom festival, and my teacher's wife might teach me how to cook Doenjangjjige.
Next Wednesday (9th) is a day off. Another voting day. The Korean Government puts voting days on Wednesdays, so that people don't try to have long weekends. Voting isn't compulsory here. Heard that only about 40% of the population votes.

Japan Ticket Update

Well, I got the tickets for Japan. The boss helped my by them from the Internet. I'm not happy with the way he did it (let's just say, like many of my experiences with Koreans here, they do things without thinking), but its done. A little bit more expensive, but I arrive in Osaka Wednesday afternoon at about 4pm. Will leave Nagoya at 9:30am on Sunday.

The bit I was complaining about is this: My boss called me last night, saying that he is buying tickets that night. He confirmed the price and arrival/departure time for Incheon and Osaka. I come to work today, and he's booked different tickets through a different airline, and costa a bit extra. The price I can deal with because he said that three wernt any tickets available for coming back. Anyway, The time going back was 9:30am, compared to 3 or 4 in the afternoon.

Fair enough. If I was consulted with the tim change BEFORE the boss bought them, I could suggest a change in departure place (like Nagoya).

So, I get to work today, and I hear about the new airline, new price and new arrival departure times. Also, because of the departure times, I can't get to Gansai Airport from where I will be staying Saturday night. 50,000won extra, I was able to change the departure airport to Nagoya, which helps. So, just a slight change.

But its just the principle of it. You don't book flights for someone without checking things first.

This is one major thing I am constantly dealing with in Korea.

Quick update

Called my dad for his birthday. Was good to hear his voice, and good to hear that had a good time on his birthday. Played a few jokes on kids for April Fools' Day (만우절), had two classes convinced that I had to teach them TOEIC from now one. Bought tickets for going to Japan in June. A bit pricier than the cheapest, but still not too bad (about 330,000 won ($372 AU)).

Now to talk shop for a bit:


Some example questions from teaching basic English in Korea. First problem I have is the kind of test. Learning language isn't a multiple choice test. Korea has too many multiple choice tests. No, Korea has too many test. That's it.

The other problems, are what it says with the two questions. English Teachers that can't speak English well, and students that don't do their homework. I've met (or heard from others) too many Koreans that say that they teach English, but can't speak it. Korea really focuses on TOEIC and other tests to say how well that they can do something. I've been in Korea for 2.5 years, and I can use Korean way better than some grade 3 middle school students (Grade 9 equivalent), who have been studying English since Primary School. Different styles of learning. If they were in a environment where the real learning of any language was supported, they would would have no problems with fluency or feeling confident.

I thought the other day, for a country that is obsessed about English, why do I use Korean all the time?