Aww crud.
Today was kind of rough. The ending, I mean. Those pesky fourth graders....
One kid, the boy in this class who always answers my questions, thought I was being unfair about a game and walked out of class. I was so confused during the ordeal, and I eventually just cancelled the game and dismissed everyone (half of team one walked out with him anyways). What happened? My mentor teacher briefly said, "miscommunication" before going back to whatever was on her screen.
The girls explained it to her, and she explained it to me. Maybe he thought I was unfair for calling on the girls two times in a row during the game. Truth be told, they DID raise their hands first, and when I asked the next question hardly anyone was listening to me anyway (Bad teacher, shannon... yeah yeah save it for later).
I told them at the beginning that we could play a game, but by the last 10 mins of class, decided that playing the game might be the only way the lesson would stick in their heads. I fought for their attention the entire class period. I moved one kid to a different spot. All the students kept talking to each other, hitting, throwing things, and forgetting to respond to my questions.
So, when it came time to play this game. They perked up a bit and tuned in. Two teams, I said. Boys and girls, one kid suggested. I agreed. Then I began to explain the game and the listening audience became 2/9 again. ...Sometimes it's just best to jump into the game and correct mistakes as you go along. I tried this. I asked the question. People shouted answers. I said, raise your hand! and had them start over again. The girls raised their hands first. They got the point. Second question. Oh, and the girls raise their hands first again, only a second faster than the one boy who was listening. Sorry boy, but unfortunately, I will have to call on the girls for this question. Maybe they'll get it wrong and you can answer it? Either way, you'll surely be the fastest on another question. Oh, but he did not agree.
This is when he went back to conversing with his friends. Then he shot up, grabbed his bag and left the classroom.
So, I was unfair because I did not call on him for the second question. Forgive me. How rude of me.
.......
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Bank Adventures
Yay! I am happily typing from my desk at school. The internet is working, and there is sound. I can play songs and videos now~~~ woot!
I actually got internet yesterday afternoon, but there wasn't much time to fiddle with it. I just finished teaching for the day and am currently sitting here, waiting for the next bus to arrive. It's weird, teaching. Sometimes I think I will have a bad day and it turns out good, and other times I feel more prepared but the kids are too noisy to make a difference. (I must hurry up and make those candy coupons...).
Yesterday was the first time in several weeks that I've been able to go exchange money at a bank. When I realized I would be able to make it into town before the bank closed, I rushed out of school as soon as I was allowed.
Digression: On one of the bus rides, I heard this song called "Sunny" playing on the radio. It's one thing to recognize your favorite k-pop song in a store or on the bus, but I first learned about this song from the movie CJ7. (If you haven't watched it you should probably check it out. ;p ) Anyways, I don't think I ever noticed the radio playing until that moment. When I recognized the song, it made me unnecessarily happy for the rest of the bus ride.
End digression.
Banks close at 4:30 PM in Korea and open around 9 AM. It'd be a big gamble to try visiting the bank before work. I expect things to take longer (seeing as I'm a foreigner), and I had already forgotten the limited Korean bank vocabulary I'd picked up when going to the bank wasn't a huge chore. The bus brought me to the bank at 4 PM. I walked in, took a number, sat down, and waited. Sure enough, it did take a long time.
Exchanging dollar bills isn't so difficult. Even with limited Korean, just showing them the money and saying "exchange" is enough to get the job done. I didn't just bring dollars though, I brought travelers checks. Travelers checks require the bank clerk to stare for long periods of time at the paper wondering how to begin; consulting the person(s) next door, or higher in rank; making long phone calls; and finally knowing what to do: handing you the check, making you sign it in front of them, cashing in the check.
Even with all of this difficulty, I'm really thankful for them. It was already 4:30 when they made the phone call, and another 10 minutes passed by before everything was taken care of. They didn't give up or tell me to come back the next day. I was one of two customers left in the slowly darkening room (the security guard was going around turning off lights).
All in all, it was a successful day at the bank. I learned the Korean word for exchange (which I will have to tell you later...I wrote it down somewhere). I am no longer carrying around large amounts of money on my person. It is stored somewhere uber-safe: the bank!
Ah, what have we here? It looks like it's time to go home.
'Til next time,
Shirby
I actually got internet yesterday afternoon, but there wasn't much time to fiddle with it. I just finished teaching for the day and am currently sitting here, waiting for the next bus to arrive. It's weird, teaching. Sometimes I think I will have a bad day and it turns out good, and other times I feel more prepared but the kids are too noisy to make a difference. (I must hurry up and make those candy coupons...).
Yesterday was the first time in several weeks that I've been able to go exchange money at a bank. When I realized I would be able to make it into town before the bank closed, I rushed out of school as soon as I was allowed.
Digression: On one of the bus rides, I heard this song called "Sunny" playing on the radio. It's one thing to recognize your favorite k-pop song in a store or on the bus, but I first learned about this song from the movie CJ7. (If you haven't watched it you should probably check it out. ;p ) Anyways, I don't think I ever noticed the radio playing until that moment. When I recognized the song, it made me unnecessarily happy for the rest of the bus ride.
End digression.
Banks close at 4:30 PM in Korea and open around 9 AM. It'd be a big gamble to try visiting the bank before work. I expect things to take longer (seeing as I'm a foreigner), and I had already forgotten the limited Korean bank vocabulary I'd picked up when going to the bank wasn't a huge chore. The bus brought me to the bank at 4 PM. I walked in, took a number, sat down, and waited. Sure enough, it did take a long time.
Exchanging dollar bills isn't so difficult. Even with limited Korean, just showing them the money and saying "exchange" is enough to get the job done. I didn't just bring dollars though, I brought travelers checks. Travelers checks require the bank clerk to stare for long periods of time at the paper wondering how to begin; consulting the person(s) next door, or higher in rank; making long phone calls; and finally knowing what to do: handing you the check, making you sign it in front of them, cashing in the check.
Even with all of this difficulty, I'm really thankful for them. It was already 4:30 when they made the phone call, and another 10 minutes passed by before everything was taken care of. They didn't give up or tell me to come back the next day. I was one of two customers left in the slowly darkening room (the security guard was going around turning off lights).
All in all, it was a successful day at the bank. I learned the Korean word for exchange (which I will have to tell you later...I wrote it down somewhere). I am no longer carrying around large amounts of money on my person. It is stored somewhere uber-safe: the bank!
Ah, what have we here? It looks like it's time to go home.
'Til next time,
Shirby
Monday, March 19, 2012
Famous People At School
Lee Min Ho goes to my school!!!
My fangirl friend would be soooo jealous.... Maybe....
Ok, ok. Not this Lee Min Ho.
Another one.
Last Friday, I was pleasantly surprised to meet Lee Min Ho. He is a student at my elementary school, and I will assume that he is very friendly. He didn't seem to hate me for bringing up Boys Over Flowers. I was in the teacher's lounge making copies when many of the upper-grade students started coming back from lunch. The "entry wall" of the teacher's lounge is such that there is a door, and several face-level windows that can slide open. If they noticed me in the room, they would group around one window and say English things to me. One such person was this student, Lee Min Ho. He (and his friends) would open the window and shout, "HELLO!" Then, they'd close the window, think of something else to say, and open it again to shout the new message. He told (shouted) me his name, which I repeated back in a question. He said (shouted) yes, and then his friends took their turn saying English things to me. It took quite a while to dawn on me the significance of his name. After making copies, I walked down the hallways and asked some of the other students where he was.They helped me find him, and I tried my best to tell him that his name was like the guy who played in the Korean drama. I tried this in English. It was hard. Luckily, a group of girls had joined the conversation, and a lightbulb went off in their heads. They conveyed the message to him in Korean, and then all the nearby students started talking about the famous Lee's hottness, etc.
I'm not sure if I embarrassed him; I didn't mean to, but you see, now, I will certainly remember his name. I hope he will not stop talking to me. >< XD
'Til next time,
-Shirby
My fangirl friend would be soooo jealous.... Maybe....
Ok, ok. Not this Lee Min Ho.
Another one.
Last Friday, I was pleasantly surprised to meet Lee Min Ho. He is a student at my elementary school, and I will assume that he is very friendly. He didn't seem to hate me for bringing up Boys Over Flowers. I was in the teacher's lounge making copies when many of the upper-grade students started coming back from lunch. The "entry wall" of the teacher's lounge is such that there is a door, and several face-level windows that can slide open. If they noticed me in the room, they would group around one window and say English things to me. One such person was this student, Lee Min Ho. He (and his friends) would open the window and shout, "HELLO!" Then, they'd close the window, think of something else to say, and open it again to shout the new message. He told (shouted) me his name, which I repeated back in a question. He said (shouted) yes, and then his friends took their turn saying English things to me. It took quite a while to dawn on me the significance of his name. After making copies, I walked down the hallways and asked some of the other students where he was.They helped me find him, and I tried my best to tell him that his name was like the guy who played in the Korean drama. I tried this in English. It was hard. Luckily, a group of girls had joined the conversation, and a lightbulb went off in their heads. They conveyed the message to him in Korean, and then all the nearby students started talking about the famous Lee's hottness, etc.
I'm not sure if I embarrassed him; I didn't mean to, but you see, now, I will certainly remember his name. I hope he will not stop talking to me. >< XD
'Til next time,
-Shirby
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Hangugeo
한국어, the Korean language. It's been quite interesting trying to learn this language. My Japanese friends told me that already studying Japanese would make Korean a bit easier to understand. It's true. I already accept (without questioning or wondering why) the order of sentences, the titles given to people of different age groups, and pronunciation. I even notice some similarities in words, like how "time" in Korean is shigan, and jikan in Japanese.
.... You don't see the similarity? That's ok. For me, it not only rhymes, but is very easy to remember.
About a month before leaving the States, I began learning Korean from this website called Talk To Me In Korean. (This website is amazing, by the way. I love all the people and their dedication to teaching the Korean language in a fun way). I was successfully able to learn numbers and a few important verbs and conjugation rules, but there was just so much to prepare for that I didn't get to study as much as I'd wanted. I figured once I arrived in Korea, I'd be able to get in a few lessons a day.
WRONG! Oh, how wrong I was.
I knew vaguely of the schedule they'd put us on. Lectures and field trips would be abundant during the three week orientation I was about to begin. I did not, however, anticipate being so exhausted after lectures that I just wanted to send emails and go to sleep.
It wasn't that bad. I suppose with a bit more effort I could've made time to learn one lesson a day, but the orientation's schedule (which I can talk about later) did keep us all quite busy.
Oh, but I DID study. I did learn new phrases and words on my own, from new friends, from Korean friends and strangers that I met along the way, and (of course) from labels and signs.
Thanks to breakfast time in the cafeteria, I learned words like milk (우유) and napkin (냅킨). Thanks to doing laundry in the dorm building's basement, I can recognized the regular washing cycle (표춘). Thanks to taking walks around town, I added train station (city name followed by 역), bank (은행), and noraebang... karaoke rooms (노래방) to my vocabulary.
Thanks to a four year old boy named Optimus Prime, I learned airplane (비행기), and thanks to his mother (the nurse who helped us all greatly during orientation), I have a lot of phrases written down in Korean, "just in case."
Now,things have settled down a tiny bit, and I have more time to stop and read all the signs. I have time to frequent a coffee shop and say, "hot chocolate 주세요!" I have time to ask old ladies for help reading bus stop signs. I have a bit more time to ask the worker at the supermarket where the cough drops are located. In time, I should be striking up random conversations with Korean people my age and saying more than hello, "안녕하세요," to the other teachers and staff at school. All in good time.
.... You don't see the similarity? That's ok. For me, it not only rhymes, but is very easy to remember.
About a month before leaving the States, I began learning Korean from this website called Talk To Me In Korean. (This website is amazing, by the way. I love all the people and their dedication to teaching the Korean language in a fun way). I was successfully able to learn numbers and a few important verbs and conjugation rules, but there was just so much to prepare for that I didn't get to study as much as I'd wanted. I figured once I arrived in Korea, I'd be able to get in a few lessons a day.
WRONG! Oh, how wrong I was.
I knew vaguely of the schedule they'd put us on. Lectures and field trips would be abundant during the three week orientation I was about to begin. I did not, however, anticipate being so exhausted after lectures that I just wanted to send emails and go to sleep.
It wasn't that bad. I suppose with a bit more effort I could've made time to learn one lesson a day, but the orientation's schedule (which I can talk about later) did keep us all quite busy.
Oh, but I DID study. I did learn new phrases and words on my own, from new friends, from Korean friends and strangers that I met along the way, and (of course) from labels and signs.
Thanks to breakfast time in the cafeteria, I learned words like milk (우유) and napkin (냅킨). Thanks to doing laundry in the dorm building's basement, I can recognized the regular washing cycle (표춘). Thanks to taking walks around town, I added train station (city name followed by 역), bank (은행), and noraebang... karaoke rooms (노래방) to my vocabulary.
Thanks to a four year old boy named Optimus Prime, I learned airplane (비행기), and thanks to his mother (the nurse who helped us all greatly during orientation), I have a lot of phrases written down in Korean, "just in case."
Now,things have settled down a tiny bit, and I have more time to stop and read all the signs. I have time to frequent a coffee shop and say, "hot chocolate 주세요!" I have time to ask old ladies for help reading bus stop signs. I have a bit more time to ask the worker at the supermarket where the cough drops are located. In time, I should be striking up random conversations with Korean people my age and saying more than hello, "안녕하세요," to the other teachers and staff at school. All in good time.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Train Rides ^_^ (tales from the past)
Taking the train to Cheongju made me realize an important purpose for train travel. Taking a train might be the best way to see the land around you. It may even be better than car travel, because there's always one person (the driver) who can't peer out at the surrounding world for more than a few seconds at a time. As Lein and I rested in our seats, the train took a trail that winded through the mountains, over rivers, and zoomed past towns. The tracks cut underneath huge mountains, and it made me think of those murder mysteries where the train lights go out just as the train enters the tunnel. Our lights didn't go out; in fact, they stayed on the entire trip.
I certainly wouldn't want to experience a train murder mystery. Too much to do today anyways.
Note: One fascinating thing about the train is how the ticket masters (that is what I've decided to call them. They walk about the train cars assisting people and checking tickets) bow slightly before exiting the car. When Lein and I first saw this we questioned our eyes.
"Did he just bow?" "I don't know... I think so." "Hmmm. Interesting."
Sure enough, as the train made its usual stops, the ticket master entered from one end, out the other, and before exiting, gave a slight bow to the car passengers. Lein and I looked at each other and smiled. Such a nice gesture that leaves you feeling honored to ride the train.
I certainly wouldn't want to experience a train murder mystery. Too much to do today anyways.
Note: One fascinating thing about the train is how the ticket masters (that is what I've decided to call them. They walk about the train cars assisting people and checking tickets) bow slightly before exiting the car. When Lein and I first saw this we questioned our eyes.
"Did he just bow?" "I don't know... I think so." "Hmmm. Interesting."
Sure enough, as the train made its usual stops, the ticket master entered from one end, out the other, and before exiting, gave a slight bow to the car passengers. Lein and I looked at each other and smiled. Such a nice gesture that leaves you feeling honored to ride the train.
At Work, Inspecting the Desktop (tales from the past)
It's interesting just how many games and social network-related things are on theis desktop computer. The monitor is so old-looking but it can supposedly handle League of Legends. I hope to play it in my free time. This week, and perhaps the next will probably be too busy for any fun.
Cellphone! Pt. 1 (tales from the past)
Living without a cellphone wouldn't be nearly as bad if I didn't actually need one right now. I wasn't part of the generation that started live with cellphones in their hands; I know what it's like to not be perpetually connected.
My situation, it's on the verge of being necessary for survival. Having internet is a blessing, but a very small one. A lot of what I need answers for is in or will be in Korean, and I just don't know enough to have peace of mind at night. The only, and maybe, best way I can contact my mentor teacher right now is by calling her. I have neither cellphone nor home phone for this task. Why not get a phone, you ask? Since it's the first month of my time here, and the first month of work, I must pay for any bills I incur with money from my own pocket (until the first paycheck comes in). No problem, you might say, but I'd rather not set up a ton of new accounts when I am already expecting utility bills, etc. with unknown charges at the end of the month.
It really isn't so bad, being without a cellphone. What's bugging me is that I risk doing things, daily things, wrong (possibly multiple times) because I can't simply call someone up when i don't know or can't find the answer myself.
Why not just ask someone near you, or online? Two issues with that: First, I cannot count the number of times the leaders and speakers at orientation instructed us to ask our mentor teacher first. You already see the problem with that. Second, many of the questions I have are town-specific. For example, what bus would I take to get to and from school, and where are their respective bus stops???? Even if I find someone (another foreigner) in my town, chances are super high that he/she wouldn't know how to get to my school (update: this has been confirmed on several occasions). Here, most of the information one remembers pertains strictly to his/her lifestyle, and its not like I'm asking how to get to the nearest grocery store.
All in all, I can't wait to get a cellphone. Once one is in my hand, I will, undoubtedly, proceed to bombard my mentor teacher (and a few others) with new questions of the day.
My situation, it's on the verge of being necessary for survival. Having internet is a blessing, but a very small one. A lot of what I need answers for is in or will be in Korean, and I just don't know enough to have peace of mind at night. The only, and maybe, best way I can contact my mentor teacher right now is by calling her. I have neither cellphone nor home phone for this task. Why not get a phone, you ask? Since it's the first month of my time here, and the first month of work, I must pay for any bills I incur with money from my own pocket (until the first paycheck comes in). No problem, you might say, but I'd rather not set up a ton of new accounts when I am already expecting utility bills, etc. with unknown charges at the end of the month.
It really isn't so bad, being without a cellphone. What's bugging me is that I risk doing things, daily things, wrong (possibly multiple times) because I can't simply call someone up when i don't know or can't find the answer myself.
Why not just ask someone near you, or online? Two issues with that: First, I cannot count the number of times the leaders and speakers at orientation instructed us to ask our mentor teacher first. You already see the problem with that. Second, many of the questions I have are town-specific. For example, what bus would I take to get to and from school, and where are their respective bus stops???? Even if I find someone (another foreigner) in my town, chances are super high that he/she wouldn't know how to get to my school (update: this has been confirmed on several occasions). Here, most of the information one remembers pertains strictly to his/her lifestyle, and its not like I'm asking how to get to the nearest grocery store.
All in all, I can't wait to get a cellphone. Once one is in my hand, I will, undoubtedly, proceed to bombard my mentor teacher (and a few others) with new questions of the day.
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