As I said, I'm with out a computer at work, but I wanted to let you know we have more coming! And with pictures too!!
So keep a look out for some new blogs!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Where did all of our Handlers go??
Sorry for not writing much lately. I have been with out a computer at work, so I haven't had as much time as I normally have to sit and write!
So last night, Ed and I went out for dinner. We went to a tiny place near our house that is always busy. It was a usual sam gyup sal style place. That means that they bring you a plate of meat and you cook it yourself on the grill in front of you. Its a pretty novel, and uniquely Korean thing to do. And while Ed and I enjoy the food immensely, it always is a hassle for us. Here's why:
1. We never really know what we are doing.
2. Usually someone, the owner, comes over and cooks the meat for us. This is kind of funny because any small Korean child could cook the meat with ease, but not us! We end up burning the meat, making tons of smoke and ruining their grills.
3. We are at the mercy of our 'Handlers', other wise known as Koreans who take pity on us waygookins and do everything for us. The Handlers are sometimes a bit much to handle, but overall a joy to have around. I usually think when approached by a Restaurant Handler "You want to cook that for me? Sure, go ahead, I didn't want to try to do it myself anyways. You would do a much better job than I could conceive of doing, because after all, I'm a foreigner and have no clue."
Okay, so anyways Ed and are eating at this restaurant, barbecue style. At this point in our eating experiences, we have not been left to fend for our selves. A Handler usually comes over and takes over the cooking process. They tell us how to eat the stuff, smile a lot, and speak a lot of Korean to us. We smile back, and like small children do as we are told. So with this in mind, we order some shrimp. Now here in Korea, they don't let silly things like the head, legs, or shell go to waste. They eat the whole thing. Ed tried to eat everything, as he is more culturally willing than I am when it comes to food. But he couldn't do it. I didn't even attempt. I sat there in all my foreigner glory, picked the head off, de-shelled, and tried to de-vein (not easy with only chopsticks), and enjoyed some really good shrimp. Needless to say we made a mess.
Now usually the Handlers come over and tell us that we are eating it wrong. But at this place, they left us alone! It was unnerving because even though I was determined not to eat the shrimp like a Korean, I still felt that I needed a Korean to tell me what to do. We were burning the shit out of their grill, and they didn't come running. We were eating food wrong, and they didn't come running. Ed and I remarked several times how odd it was that they left us alone, especially when we clearly had no clue how to do things Korean style. It was like we were missing our left arm.
We were like kids driving for the first time with out an adult. We knew what to do, we just have never done it before with out adult (handler) supervision. It was overall, an empowering experience. We now know of one place in Korea where they don't care that we burn the food, the table, the grill, and make a mess. I think that we will most definitely go back there, willing that they let us in through the door again!
So last night, Ed and I went out for dinner. We went to a tiny place near our house that is always busy. It was a usual sam gyup sal style place. That means that they bring you a plate of meat and you cook it yourself on the grill in front of you. Its a pretty novel, and uniquely Korean thing to do. And while Ed and I enjoy the food immensely, it always is a hassle for us. Here's why:
1. We never really know what we are doing.
2. Usually someone, the owner, comes over and cooks the meat for us. This is kind of funny because any small Korean child could cook the meat with ease, but not us! We end up burning the meat, making tons of smoke and ruining their grills.
3. We are at the mercy of our 'Handlers', other wise known as Koreans who take pity on us waygookins and do everything for us. The Handlers are sometimes a bit much to handle, but overall a joy to have around. I usually think when approached by a Restaurant Handler "You want to cook that for me? Sure, go ahead, I didn't want to try to do it myself anyways. You would do a much better job than I could conceive of doing, because after all, I'm a foreigner and have no clue."
Okay, so anyways Ed and are eating at this restaurant, barbecue style. At this point in our eating experiences, we have not been left to fend for our selves. A Handler usually comes over and takes over the cooking process. They tell us how to eat the stuff, smile a lot, and speak a lot of Korean to us. We smile back, and like small children do as we are told. So with this in mind, we order some shrimp. Now here in Korea, they don't let silly things like the head, legs, or shell go to waste. They eat the whole thing. Ed tried to eat everything, as he is more culturally willing than I am when it comes to food. But he couldn't do it. I didn't even attempt. I sat there in all my foreigner glory, picked the head off, de-shelled, and tried to de-vein (not easy with only chopsticks), and enjoyed some really good shrimp. Needless to say we made a mess.
Now usually the Handlers come over and tell us that we are eating it wrong. But at this place, they left us alone! It was unnerving because even though I was determined not to eat the shrimp like a Korean, I still felt that I needed a Korean to tell me what to do. We were burning the shit out of their grill, and they didn't come running. We were eating food wrong, and they didn't come running. Ed and I remarked several times how odd it was that they left us alone, especially when we clearly had no clue how to do things Korean style. It was like we were missing our left arm.
We were like kids driving for the first time with out an adult. We knew what to do, we just have never done it before with out adult (handler) supervision. It was overall, an empowering experience. We now know of one place in Korea where they don't care that we burn the food, the table, the grill, and make a mess. I think that we will most definitely go back there, willing that they let us in through the door again!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
A Day in the Life of a Real English Teacher
This was yesterday.
7:00am Alarm goes off. Hit the snooze.
7:10am Alarm goes off again. Make Ed get up.
7:20am Alarm goes off again. Get up take a shower. Get ready for school
8:10am Walk to school.
8:30am Arrive at school. Say hello a thousand times.
8:31am Hide in English lab.
8:34am Check email. Check Facebook.
9:00am Check master's email.
9:10am Write paper due on Sunday
10:10am Check Facebook
10:15am Go back to writing paper for masters
10:30am Pee break.
10:33am Check Facebook
10:45am Lesson plan for next week
11:00am Give up lesson planning for next week. Everything is too difficult and they won't get it.
11:02am Check Perezhilton.com
11:10am Check Facebook
11:12am Check email
11:15am Do squat lunges around the English lab. Stare into space.
12:15pm Go to lunch. Eat fish head soup, rice, seaweed soup, fish paste balls. Yum
12:45pm Decide to go for a walk to Dunkin Dounuts. And pee using a real toliet at Lotte Mart
1:45pm Arrive back at school. Students invade English lab. Try to show me videos of Korean pop music stars
1:50pm Student flips a breaker switch, blows up two surge protectors and possibly computer monitor.
1:55pm Student gets beaten (not by me) for flipping breaker switch. I feel bad and offer her candy.
2:00pm Tech guys come to fix computer station, and look at me like I am the foreign freak that I am.
3:30pm Computer fixed
3:32pm Check facebook
3:35pm Read masters book
4:45pm Shut down now fixed lab, and get ready to go home.
5:15pm Arrive at home. A hard days worth of work over with! I can now relax
7:00am Alarm goes off. Hit the snooze.
7:10am Alarm goes off again. Make Ed get up.
7:20am Alarm goes off again. Get up take a shower. Get ready for school
8:10am Walk to school.
8:30am Arrive at school. Say hello a thousand times.
8:31am Hide in English lab.
8:34am Check email. Check Facebook.
9:00am Check master's email.
9:10am Write paper due on Sunday
10:10am Check Facebook
10:15am Go back to writing paper for masters
10:30am Pee break.
10:33am Check Facebook
10:45am Lesson plan for next week
11:00am Give up lesson planning for next week. Everything is too difficult and they won't get it.
11:02am Check Perezhilton.com
11:10am Check Facebook
11:12am Check email
11:15am Do squat lunges around the English lab. Stare into space.
12:15pm Go to lunch. Eat fish head soup, rice, seaweed soup, fish paste balls. Yum
12:45pm Decide to go for a walk to Dunkin Dounuts. And pee using a real toliet at Lotte Mart
1:45pm Arrive back at school. Students invade English lab. Try to show me videos of Korean pop music stars
1:50pm Student flips a breaker switch, blows up two surge protectors and possibly computer monitor.
1:55pm Student gets beaten (not by me) for flipping breaker switch. I feel bad and offer her candy.
2:00pm Tech guys come to fix computer station, and look at me like I am the foreign freak that I am.
3:30pm Computer fixed
3:32pm Check facebook
3:35pm Read masters book
4:45pm Shut down now fixed lab, and get ready to go home.
5:15pm Arrive at home. A hard days worth of work over with! I can now relax
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Vavoom Vanna
Next week, most Korean students will be participating in final exams (their year starts in March, ends in December). So in preparation for final exams, my co-teachers have asked me to play games with the students; you know give them a chance to relax. Well the teacher in me protested and said that I would not play games for four weeks (yes four weeks). So last week I secretly played a game with a grammar skill attached to it. Well wouldn't you know it--it bombed. Big time. It was horrible.
So this week, game week number two, we played a different game. A game that you all know and love. A game that I was positive would go over with the kiddos. A game surprisingly similar to hangman, but with money. Yup, I played Wheel of Fortune all week with my students, other wise known by my students as 'Tire of Luck'. In my teacher defense, I chose words and phrases that would be on their tests next week...so there I taught something!
Can I just say that Wheel of Fortune week has been the best week yet! I had almost every kid interested. Almost every kid participated. There were screams of joy for $1000 letters. There were screams of agony for Bankrupt (or 파산 -ppa san-in Korean). There were even chants for other teams to get Bankrupt. Nothing like a little healthy competition. My boy classes were much more into playing than the girls, who wisely used the time to pop each others zits and stare into their little hand mirrors.
Many of my boys actually got 'excited' when Vanna showed up (I showed a video to explain the game; much easier than actually trying to explain it). 'OOOOHHHH Sooo Sexy!!!" So its good to know that she's still got it.
My favorite moment of the the week was when 'Cody' a charming second year that reminds me of Rufio from Hook was trying to win the game(he also has the same type of 'puck you' personality as well). He was purposely calling out letters like q and z for the other teams to guess. And wouldn't you know it, they did. He was the leader in my Bankrupt chants, and screeched like a girl when another team landed on it.
When he won, he paraded around the room flexing his muscles (what they had to do with winning still has me puzzled) and screeching "YEAH!!!" Cody was told to sit down many times, and to calm down, but the Tire of Luck was just too much to handle.
So now, when I'm asked (told) to play games, we will play the Tire of Luck.
I'm not going to lie. My week went very well. I'm glad that real teaching does not go to waste here, and my students are like any other students across the world. Forget playing a 'learning game'. They just want Vanna and candy.
So this week, game week number two, we played a different game. A game that you all know and love. A game that I was positive would go over with the kiddos. A game surprisingly similar to hangman, but with money. Yup, I played Wheel of Fortune all week with my students, other wise known by my students as 'Tire of Luck'. In my teacher defense, I chose words and phrases that would be on their tests next week...so there I taught something!
Can I just say that Wheel of Fortune week has been the best week yet! I had almost every kid interested. Almost every kid participated. There were screams of joy for $1000 letters. There were screams of agony for Bankrupt (or 파산 -ppa san-in Korean). There were even chants for other teams to get Bankrupt. Nothing like a little healthy competition. My boy classes were much more into playing than the girls, who wisely used the time to pop each others zits and stare into their little hand mirrors.
Many of my boys actually got 'excited' when Vanna showed up (I showed a video to explain the game; much easier than actually trying to explain it). 'OOOOHHHH Sooo Sexy!!!" So its good to know that she's still got it.
My favorite moment of the the week was when 'Cody' a charming second year that reminds me of Rufio from Hook was trying to win the game(he also has the same type of 'puck you' personality as well). He was purposely calling out letters like q and z for the other teams to guess. And wouldn't you know it, they did. He was the leader in my Bankrupt chants, and screeched like a girl when another team landed on it.
When he won, he paraded around the room flexing his muscles (what they had to do with winning still has me puzzled) and screeching "YEAH!!!" Cody was told to sit down many times, and to calm down, but the Tire of Luck was just too much to handle. So now, when I'm asked (told) to play games, we will play the Tire of Luck.
I'm not going to lie. My week went very well. I'm glad that real teaching does not go to waste here, and my students are like any other students across the world. Forget playing a 'learning game'. They just want Vanna and candy.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Korean Driving Part II
On my walk to Ed's school tonight, I saw crazy Korean driving--almost worse than the drunk driver car....
This was a mini-van full of students (going to academy after school) with two students standing on the back bumper hanging on for dear life to the roof!! Come to think of it--I don't know how they were hanging on!?! I'm pretty sure the driver knew that they were there--because all the kids in the van were screaming with glee. Oh yeah, these kids were probably 10 years old!! Hello!!! How dangerous is that!!??!!! Especially with crazy Korean drivers!! Oh I hope those kids made it to Academy okay!!
I have to start carrying a camera with me...too many random things that happen and no great pictures on the web to represent them!
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