What Can You Create??

You know those motorized wheelchairs that make mobility so much more easier? Well, they are quite popular here in Korea. Not because people are physically dependent on them. But because of the endless possibilities that they can provide for transportation and business.

Transportation is easy right? These babies help people get around. Or here in Korea they just use them as one may use a scooter. Yup, just drive 'em down the middle of the street during rush hour traffic. Some have even installed horns on them (loud ones) so that other cars can get out of their way, or just to let the other driver know that they are there. Old men usually 'drive' them in the roadways. But I've seen some women too. Here is an example of how it looks, except the cars just go around the 'drivers' and the police don't care.

Okay, so business? You may be wondering what type of business I'm talking about. How can owning a personal motorized be a business venture? Do they just sell them on the street here in Korea? Nope. My friends, when you have time, energy, and lots of creativity, your personal motorized wheelchair can become this:

Yes that is the man with all of this creativity. He has a movable cart of stuff. And yes, that is his motorized wheelchair.

I took this picture so you could see that it is really is one...look at the wheels! And notice how much stuff he has on it! It is like a metal cage of sellable items around the cart. Genius!

And more stuff on top!

This is what Ed bought from him. It is a little bag, that you can stuff into that stuffed dog on the front. Amazing!

I'm not sure how he gets in and out of his 'cart'. That is actually assuming, though that he does leave the 'cart' and does not live in it. I wouldn't be surprised if he managed somehow to do that too!

I LOVE Korean Field Trips!!

Pottery Guy

Do you remember how great field trips are? Do you remember how fun they were--a whole day with no learning, hanging out with friends, doing whatever (okay kind of whatever)? Well that changes when you are a teacher. It becomes something that used to be fun and relaxing to a whole bunch of crap work and headaches. You have to book the place, pay for the buses, pay for the kids who can't pay to get there, remember medicines, get permission slips signed, explain to administration why you want to go where you want to go to, worry about kids behaving, getting lost, or throwing up. Basically it changes from being a totally cool experience, to something that I never, ever wanted to do again with any of my students.

Well my friends, that has changed, because I LOVE Korean field trips. Here is a list why:

1. Teachers tell the students where to go and what time to be there. It is the student's job to get there. The teachers don't care how they do it (bus, train, parent, or walking), they just have to be there.
2. The students actually show up.







3. If the student shows up wearing 'short shorts' (aka bootie shorts), the Korean teachers will make them stand with their arms up, and then Korean co-teacher will knuckle them off the side of the head--but hey its okay! The student wore inappropriate clothing. It is their fault they got a whack.
4. You don't really have to watch the group. If you wanted a smoke, or a nap, its okay! You can do it! The students are responsible for themselves.



No Teachers!!!



5. Lunch time is amazing. And by amazing, I mean you can drink. Yes I had a shot of wine.
6. The students eat lunch by themselves...that's right, no teachers there to open the milk cartoon or to tell them to stop stuffing their face with Kimbab. If a student gets sick, its his/her own fault.
7. The students have to call their own parents to come and get them if they get sick. Teachers don't care if the student stuffed himself with Kimbab. All they have to do is tell them that they are going home because they are sick and it is okay!
8. I didn't have to watch out for any student. If anything, I was the one to have to be herded!

Another famous Korean pose

I'm telling you, it was like being on a real field trip again. Korean field trip. Sign me up. I'll bring the Soju!

Here you go Joe!

No Teachers!

Notice how they are standing...isn't it cute?

Okay so there is one Korean teacher...but don't the kids look happy?

Teaching in Korea

As promised...a new post. I thought that I would let you know (although some of you already know) of the teaching differences that I have noticed while here in Korea. I have be somewhat successfully teaching here for almost two months. The teacher in me (and the Graphic Organizer lover t00) wishes that I can insert a t-chart of some sort, but as a newbie to blogging, I don't really know how.

Okay so here we go...

Basically, Korean teachers are treated just like western teachers. Too much paper work, too many mandates, and they teach to the test. They have to deal with students who don't study, who talk back, and parents who don't know how to help. And they don't get paid very much. There are two big differences here though. One, they can drink during school. Although not highly advised and recommended, still many teacher's room have large cases of beer and soju-just in case. Sometimes, the teachers are really happy to be here. Two, they can hit the students. Now, I have not witnessed anything bad. Just a couple of whacks on the hand with a ruler or a smack on the head. Think Catholic school nuns. I am not allowed (nor want) to participate in these activities. But they are there for the Korean teachers. Sometimes they are just lucky bastards.

Okay, now for the students. If you think you saw a stressed out 3rd or 4th grader due to FCAT or MCAS, think again. Students here are stressed. They are seriously stressed. It is not uncommon for middle and high school students to study until 1, 2, 0r 3 in the morning. Then get up and do it again in 3 hours. I have been amazed hearing their studying stories. Here is a typical 'study' conversation:

Student: "Oh teacher. I'm so tired."

Me: "Why?"

Student: "Must study. Study hard. No sleep. Study."

And this is encouraged! If you don't study, basically, you don't get to do anything with your future life. Ed's kids go to school at 8:15 am and don't leave until 11:00pm! They stay all day long! Some even live there-and I mean really live there--there are dorms and everything, just to study! It is crazy. Some people think that part of the reason why so many Korean students are showing signs of obesity now is because all they do is sit and study. They don't really have sports here, or extra clubs, or free time. All they have is studying and PC Bangs (computer rooms--which many a student go to in order to relax).

From my end. Teaching is quite nice, but it is not with out its difficulties. I have almost 600 students, of which I see 500 or so in a week. In a class I have 40 students, ranging from non-English speaking (or understanding) to fluent; and yes, they all have to learn the same dialogue at the same pace. There is really no differentiating here. Some students have surprised me. I think that they can carry on a conversation, but when asked about anything further than "How are you?" (or if you just jazz up that question to "Whats Up?") they can not communicate. The other end is true too. Yesterday, I had a girl come up to me in the hall and have a very full and pleasant conversation about what she wants to be when she grows up (and interpreter--a good job for her!!). It was completely random. She just felt like talking to me.

On the positive end, I can essentially repeat the same lesson all week long. It gets a little tiresome, but no real planning is involved. Of course I make things more difficult for myself and try to figure out how to reach all levels and make it appropriately challenging for everyone, but I really have come up with a solid solution for that yet. I have lots of free time to 'plan' or 'rest'. I give no homework, or real classwork; no tests; no grades; the students only have to show up and play along. Overall, its not a bad job. Is teaching at this type of institution or level something that I can see myself doing in the long run? Sure. But only if I can have smaller class sizes, better materials, computers for all, more time, and less students with stress!

Ask and you shall recieve..

Well friends, you are in luck. I have two whole days of "teaching" that will consist of me sitting in front of the computer with no students. It is our mid term exams and being the resident "Native English Speaker", I have no real duties or jobs to perform except being present and accounted for. Do not ask me why I even have to come to school, but I do. What this means for you is hopefully a few posts.

To start, I'll tell you about this weekend.

Ed and I joined our friends Nikki and Kerry at Jirisan National Park. Nik and Kerry have actually been to Korea before, so they still have friends here. One of them, John, is a super organizer who planned this trip up to Jirisan. The plan was to hike to the top of Jirisan on Saturday, come back down, and just kind of chill out and eat BBQ. Ed and I were in.

For those of you who don't know, Jirisan is one of Korea's most favorite national parks. The park sits on the corner of three provinces, which that in itself makes it a pretty big deal. But Jirisan also hosts one of Korea's tallest mountains, Jirisan. You can also find one of the highest, if not the highest temple in Korea (elevation wise that is). Here is a picture of the mountain.

So we made it to the yellow circle. You can see how much higher the mountain actually is. Here we are, a bunch of foreigners, thinking that we can actually make it to the top of a mountain (over 900 meters/3,000 ft), especially if we start at 12:00 in the afternoon. Oh yeah, and make it down again.

Nope we were wrong, but at least we did make it 3,000 feet and saw some pretty decent sites. So at the 3,000 foot mark (or yellow circle), there is this really amazing mountain temple. It was quite beautiful, especially seeing that there was a lone red tree among the temple structures and the green forest. It made it most picturesque. Here are some links that have some more pictures of the mountain temple and Jirisan. One of them is in Korean, and no, I can not help you figure out what it is saying. Something about the great beauty that is Korea would be my guess. At any rate, you could just click around on the page and see some pictures that were actually taken by a professional!

http://blog.daum.net/kslee007

http://corea3000.com/tour/bubgesa.htm

As always, more pictures to the right of the page.

Next week

Patience. New posts coming after the weekend. Stay tuned for more.