Well, I had my last class today. This whole week has been filled with "lasts," and now I finished the biggest part, my job. It was a little sentimental, but a very large part of me is absolutely thrilled to be done :-)
Two of my classes held parties for me, which was quite fun. I was afraid some of the younger kids would be sad, but most of them I've only taught one or two terms. The older ones, though, have had me for months, some of them the whole year I've been here. We've all exchanged email addresses though, so the finality isn't too bad.
This coming week I'm going to Thailand for about five days, and hopefully I'll have a lovely time unwinding and chillaxing on a beach somewhere.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Chapter 67: "Fish are Friends, And Food"
This past weekend, I went to a lovely ice-fishing festival a couple hours north of Seoul. How to describe it...it was cold. I'll go into that more in a moment.
Anyways, the festival looks like this:
The high was only about 32 degrees, so of course everything was properly frozen over. A big long stretch of river was frozen about 10 or so inches deep, and all the families come and jab holes in the ice and fish through them. There's also ice hockey, ice skating, sledding, and bare hands fishing. Oh yes.
Bare hands fishing wouldn't be so bad, if it was just your hands getting wet. But no, more than just your hands are bare. It's quite the event actually. Everyone changes into shorts and t-shirts provided, and walks out barefoot around a wading pool filled with fish. The pool is surrounded by packed snow and pebbles and an ice wall to keep the gawking spectators at bay. It's even colder than it sounds.
Was I foolish enough to join in? Well, this blog entry wouldn't be as interesting if I wasn't.
Words cannot describe how cold this whole ordeal was. All the foreigners on our tour went at once, and we spent like 3 horrible minutes just standing out there in our shorts and t-shirts, listening to the announcer go on about whatever in Korean. It felt like forever, because we were standing barefoot on ice. Of course, the water is cold enough to freeze over, and the only reason it hasn't is because crazy people keep jumping around in it, looking to catch fish with their bare hands. It went something like this:
In case you were curious, ice and freezing cold water hurts really bad after about, oh, five seconds. I jumped in with everyone else, waded around for a couple of minutes, then got right back out. The pain was a factor, of course, but more disturbing was the lack of pain, if that makes any sense. By then I had lost complete feeling in my feet, and that was weirding me out. As I was climbing out and getting to my feet, I realized I was stepping on chips of ice and sharp pebbles, but I wasn't feeling any of it.
Getting the feeling back wasn't the greatest feeling either, but at least it was a feeling, you know?
We all put our clothes back on and reveled in the sensation of socks and shoes against our toes for a while, before moving on to other things.
I have to say, that was probably the most eventful thing that happened this weekend. We wandered around a little longer, then went back to our lodge, where we had a lovely Korean dinner and a bonfire. The next morning we went on a hike through the mountains, on an old trail in the woods that is used to train Korean soldiers and to off gullible foreign tourists...Getting down the mountain involved hunkering down on our heels and sliding, which was rather fun too.
The lodge had a frozen pond and homemade....things, that you sit on and slide around on the ice with. Good thing I have pictures.
In this photo, some of the people from our tour are having a race with some elderly Korean people, who are shockingly spry.
So, that's about it. This is the last tour of Korea I'll be doing, as I'm coming home in 3 weeks. Weird.....
Anyways, the festival looks like this:
The high was only about 32 degrees, so of course everything was properly frozen over. A big long stretch of river was frozen about 10 or so inches deep, and all the families come and jab holes in the ice and fish through them. There's also ice hockey, ice skating, sledding, and bare hands fishing. Oh yes.
Bare hands fishing wouldn't be so bad, if it was just your hands getting wet. But no, more than just your hands are bare. It's quite the event actually. Everyone changes into shorts and t-shirts provided, and walks out barefoot around a wading pool filled with fish. The pool is surrounded by packed snow and pebbles and an ice wall to keep the gawking spectators at bay. It's even colder than it sounds.
Was I foolish enough to join in? Well, this blog entry wouldn't be as interesting if I wasn't.
Words cannot describe how cold this whole ordeal was. All the foreigners on our tour went at once, and we spent like 3 horrible minutes just standing out there in our shorts and t-shirts, listening to the announcer go on about whatever in Korean. It felt like forever, because we were standing barefoot on ice. Of course, the water is cold enough to freeze over, and the only reason it hasn't is because crazy people keep jumping around in it, looking to catch fish with their bare hands. It went something like this:
In case you were curious, ice and freezing cold water hurts really bad after about, oh, five seconds. I jumped in with everyone else, waded around for a couple of minutes, then got right back out. The pain was a factor, of course, but more disturbing was the lack of pain, if that makes any sense. By then I had lost complete feeling in my feet, and that was weirding me out. As I was climbing out and getting to my feet, I realized I was stepping on chips of ice and sharp pebbles, but I wasn't feeling any of it.
Getting the feeling back wasn't the greatest feeling either, but at least it was a feeling, you know?
We all put our clothes back on and reveled in the sensation of socks and shoes against our toes for a while, before moving on to other things.
I have to say, that was probably the most eventful thing that happened this weekend. We wandered around a little longer, then went back to our lodge, where we had a lovely Korean dinner and a bonfire. The next morning we went on a hike through the mountains, on an old trail in the woods that is used to train Korean soldiers and to off gullible foreign tourists...Getting down the mountain involved hunkering down on our heels and sliding, which was rather fun too.
The lodge had a frozen pond and homemade....things, that you sit on and slide around on the ice with. Good thing I have pictures.
In this photo, some of the people from our tour are having a race with some elderly Korean people, who are shockingly spry.
So, that's about it. This is the last tour of Korea I'll be doing, as I'm coming home in 3 weeks. Weird.....
Friday, January 18, 2008
Chapter 66: "The Land that Racial Equality Forgot?"
Actually, that's way too harsh to say about Korea. Yeah, foreigners are really separate, usually, but everyone's been really friendly and helpful with us. If anything, we get away with more because we're foreign.
But the other night I had my first Racism Experience. One of our Korean friends took us to this little hole-in-the-wall pub, but when we went inside, one of the employees there said the owner didn't allow foreigners. The friend assured him that none of us were Irish (lol!), but the other guy still said no. Apparently foreigners are too loud :-)
So our friend called him a -censored- and we left. Honestly, none of us (my coworkers and I) were offended, more like surprised and amused, especially since the bar was empty except for two other people. We continue to harbor thoughts about going back perhaps, with a whole herd of foreigners and no Koreans, so we can play dumb.
Meanwhile back at the funny farm (school), kids have apparently been breaking the cd players between classes, to make the teachers waste class time trying to find a working player. For weeks I did this with one particular class, and it was so annoying, because I thought it was beyond coincidence that I had to get a new player every single class, but I didn't want to think that they were seriously tampering with the player.
Just to say, I hate this class. They are my worst of all this term, and I'm galled that I've had them every single term my whole year here. Horrible little antichrists.
Anyways, yes, apparently they've been breaking the player, then when I come in and try to play the cd, and it doesn't work, they all applaud and laugh their heads off. Why didn't I catch on earlier? You might be asking. Well, this is the type of class that applauds and laughs their heads off at nearly everything I do that is not funny. This is also the one class that I will not speak a word of Korean in, because they completely bust up, and it makes me think that I've accidentally said the word for "fart" or "boob."
A far cry from the class I have right before them, a class of 8 boys and two girls, all ages 9-10, who (after two months) are still operating under the misconception that I speak and understand Korean. Bless their hearts. They're so insanely funny.
But I digress. Back to the nasty older class that I hate. Apparently their queen, the overly-dramatic-angry girl I've mentioned before, has been breaking the players. When my boss finally found out, he did...nothing. We now have a policy where the teachers take the players with them to class, instead of leaving them in the classroom. A lovely defensive maneuver, cleverly evading students who would like to destroy your property. I was hoping for a more offensive action, like EXPULSION or FIERCE CORPORAL PUNISHMENT FROM THE HAND OF GOD.
I will cry and throw a party if this girl ever leaves. Throw a party because she's gone, and cry because she didn't leave sooner.
But the other night I had my first Racism Experience. One of our Korean friends took us to this little hole-in-the-wall pub, but when we went inside, one of the employees there said the owner didn't allow foreigners. The friend assured him that none of us were Irish (lol!), but the other guy still said no. Apparently foreigners are too loud :-)
So our friend called him a -censored- and we left. Honestly, none of us (my coworkers and I) were offended, more like surprised and amused, especially since the bar was empty except for two other people. We continue to harbor thoughts about going back perhaps, with a whole herd of foreigners and no Koreans, so we can play dumb.
Meanwhile back at the funny farm (school), kids have apparently been breaking the cd players between classes, to make the teachers waste class time trying to find a working player. For weeks I did this with one particular class, and it was so annoying, because I thought it was beyond coincidence that I had to get a new player every single class, but I didn't want to think that they were seriously tampering with the player.
Just to say, I hate this class. They are my worst of all this term, and I'm galled that I've had them every single term my whole year here. Horrible little antichrists.
Anyways, yes, apparently they've been breaking the player, then when I come in and try to play the cd, and it doesn't work, they all applaud and laugh their heads off. Why didn't I catch on earlier? You might be asking. Well, this is the type of class that applauds and laughs their heads off at nearly everything I do that is not funny. This is also the one class that I will not speak a word of Korean in, because they completely bust up, and it makes me think that I've accidentally said the word for "fart" or "boob."
A far cry from the class I have right before them, a class of 8 boys and two girls, all ages 9-10, who (after two months) are still operating under the misconception that I speak and understand Korean. Bless their hearts. They're so insanely funny.
But I digress. Back to the nasty older class that I hate. Apparently their queen, the overly-dramatic-angry girl I've mentioned before, has been breaking the players. When my boss finally found out, he did...nothing. We now have a policy where the teachers take the players with them to class, instead of leaving them in the classroom. A lovely defensive maneuver, cleverly evading students who would like to destroy your property. I was hoping for a more offensive action, like EXPULSION or FIERCE CORPORAL PUNISHMENT FROM THE HAND OF GOD.
I will cry and throw a party if this girl ever leaves. Throw a party because she's gone, and cry because she didn't leave sooner.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Chapter 65: "English Is Boring"
Of course, English is boring. What, did you expect Korean children to be enamored by this mysterious and grammatically haphazard language? Maybe some are, but my kindergarteners certainly aren't.
Today, one of the little girls fell asleep in class. Like, dead-to-the-world asleep, face down flat on her open book. She's always a little drowsy in class, so I thought maybe she was just taking a little siesta. But when we all turned the page and she didn't move, I was actually able to lift her head, hold it up while I turned her page for her, then set her head back down on the book, all without waking her.
Maybe I should have been a bit more strict, but she obviously needed some sleep, and it was too funny to bother keeping her awake.
Another couple of gems from the kindergarteners (this time, the smart class):
When I came into class this morning, I guess one of the little boys had done something to make the other kids angry, because one of the girls piped up and said, "EVERYBODY! DON'T PLAY WITH ANDY, HE IS A BAD STUDENT!!" I felt a little bad for Andy, but bless their little hearts, they're so insanely good at English ;_;
Later in class, I was having them practice reading aloud. They're all really obsessive about who gets the boy and girl parts from the book, and I can barely ever get a boy to read a girl's part. Brian and Alice were reading partners, and Alice immediately asked for the boy's part. Brian said, "Alice, you are the boy?!" Alice replied, "It's cute."
Ah, these little kindergarten buggers. They're making me age a little quicker than I would've liked, but they keep me laughing too :-)
Today, one of the little girls fell asleep in class. Like, dead-to-the-world asleep, face down flat on her open book. She's always a little drowsy in class, so I thought maybe she was just taking a little siesta. But when we all turned the page and she didn't move, I was actually able to lift her head, hold it up while I turned her page for her, then set her head back down on the book, all without waking her.
Maybe I should have been a bit more strict, but she obviously needed some sleep, and it was too funny to bother keeping her awake.
Another couple of gems from the kindergarteners (this time, the smart class):
When I came into class this morning, I guess one of the little boys had done something to make the other kids angry, because one of the girls piped up and said, "EVERYBODY! DON'T PLAY WITH ANDY, HE IS A BAD STUDENT!!" I felt a little bad for Andy, but bless their little hearts, they're so insanely good at English ;_;
Later in class, I was having them practice reading aloud. They're all really obsessive about who gets the boy and girl parts from the book, and I can barely ever get a boy to read a girl's part. Brian and Alice were reading partners, and Alice immediately asked for the boy's part. Brian said, "Alice, you are the boy?!" Alice replied, "It's cute."
Ah, these little kindergarten buggers. They're making me age a little quicker than I would've liked, but they keep me laughing too :-)
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