December 2011
1 post
November 2011
3 posts
October 2011
11 posts
April 2011
3 posts
Knock Knock Jokes Lesson was a Success.
My 6th graders are now master Knock knock joke writers. Some examples of their talent:
Student: Knock Knock
Me: Who’s there?
Student: 주
Me: 주 who?
Student: You are 고주.
(Translation: You are a dick.)
Student: Knock Knock
Me: Who’s there?
Student: 자
Me: 자 who?
Student: You are 고자.
(Translation: Basically means I am a male with no penis.)
And my personal favorite-
Student:...
Good Behavior.
When my students behave in class, I give them stamps as a reward. That way, if a student collects enough stamps throughout the year, they can mail themselves to America.
Kids have a knack for making adults do dumb...
Naturally, with today’s serving of Jell-O squares at lunch came a Jell-O squares eating contest: Who could swallow the largest amount in one gulp.
Of course, being the adult, the lunch ladies gave me the most, and of course, being the adult, I had to show the children I was better than all of them. I popped the whole square in my mouth and swallowed. Instead of the Jell-O breaking apart and...
January 2011
1 post
Loneliness, North Korea, or facial reconstructive...
Every once in a while, it strikes me: A creeping sense of urgency; an irritation building from an unknown source. In an environment constantly surrounded by children, it becomes easier and easier to pin the blame on them, but deep down, I know this is wrongly cast. I confusingly find myself stressed while, basically, living a lifestyle of leisure. It’s when I receive a package of taco seasoning...
December 2010
1 post
Saturday, I showed a Korean lady my butt.
So as it turns out, kids are really good at spreading illnesses. So much in fact, that I’ve gotten sick more times in the past 4 months in Korea than I have in the past 2 years in the USA. It’s usually an annoying cold, runny nose, and a cough. Well, this past weekend, my annoying cold landed me in the emergency room.
It all started with a headache Friday afternoon. It was a dull pain...
November 2010
1 post
Sweet, sweet Revenge.
I want to start this off by explaining one thing about myself: I’m a very patient person. Each day in this country, I encounter new challenges, frustrating conversations, awkward situations. Most of these are brought on by my inability to understand what people are saying, other times by people thinking that because I am inept at speaking Korean, then I am also inept at everything else....
October 2010
3 posts
Great. So now I have a stalker.
On the way to work yesterday, I met a guy on the bus. I was just sitting there, like I do everyday, staring at the mountains and minding my own business, when I get a tap on my shoulder. I turn around to see a Korean man in his late-20’s smiling at me. He asks, “Are you an English teacher?” I nod, and he continues, “Where do you teach?” I tell him the name of my school, and he mentions he knows...
September 2010
3 posts
Whisehkey and Random Acts of Kindness.
One thing that constantly amazes me about this country is how nice people are. Not a week has gone by where someone did not randomly do some kind act for me. I’m told by my Korean-American/Canadian friends that this is the perk of being white, and I’ve never been more thankful. For example, I took the bus out to Suncheon the other night to buy some things from the closest large...
Picture time!
I was going to write a new blog post, chock full of witty remarks and comedic anecdotes, but Street Fighter the movie (starring Jean Claude Van Damme) just came on TV, so I’ll just post these photos instead.
Click Here for Photos!
My first day teaching, pull up a chair.
Everyday is an adventure in this country, but often times, at the end of my adventurous day, I’d rather just go to sleep than sit and write about it. Well, today is worth writing about.
Today I got up in front of 3 classes of about 11 students each, and taught for the first time. 4th, 6th, then 5th grade students. The most advanced bunch, but also the most feisty. For my first two classes,...
August 2010
12 posts
A note to my fellow TaLK Scholars:
So this is it. I feel like another chapter of my life has closed, an unexpected one at that.
Yesterday afternoon, the 3 week orientation for the Fall 2010 5th generation TaLK Scholars drew to a close. I expected to come to Korea, listen to some lectures about teaching, and then go to work, but what actually happened was quite different. In fact, in my first month as a “teacher”,...
Do laundry like a man!
I’ve been in Korea for nearly 3 weeks now, and two days ago, I finally depleted the majority of my clean clothes supply. On Friday, we arrived at our final orientation venue and I decided it was time to do some laundry.
My first discovery was the lack of dryers, and when I say “lack” I mean “zero”. However, this is typical for Korea, and I was aware of it before...
I Survived Teacher Boot Camp.
I just got back to Jochiwan from my 5-day excursion to English summer camp in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Nestled away in the mountains, the camp provided a welcomed break from the hot weather of Jochiwon, and surrounded us with miles of beautiful scenery. Our “rustic” accommodations turned out to be much better than we anticipated, and if you don’t count the food, I’d...
Say Kimchiiiii!
PicturesPicturesPictures!!
I figured it’s time I posted some photos for you guys to enjoy. I’m about to hop on a bus for about 4 hours to a summer English camp north of Seoul. The place has been described to us as “rustic”, which probably means I’ll be squatting to use the toilet. Needless to say, I won’t have internet. I’m getting back to Jochiwon on...
Comments now working!
After many requests, and some technical difficulties, comments are now working. It requests an email address, but feel free to put a made-up one in there (fake@fake.com).
Looking forward to hearing from you guys, I’ll have a new update soon, hopefully with some photos.
Korea University: My Temporary Home.
I took off from Atlanta Wednesday night, and safely landed at Incheon Intl at 5 am Friday morning to be pleasantly surprised by a driver waiting to pick me up and take me to Korea University for orientation. For those of you who don’t know, there was a mix-up with my plane tickets, so I arrived 3 days late. Previously, I was under the assumption that I was going to have to brave the train...
For all those planning on traveling to Korea...
Here are a few bits of advice:
1. If you fly Asiana airlines, be sure to notice the ticket counter employees’ uniforms. Actually, I don’t see how you could miss it. I wish I had a photo, but hopefully my description will do: White button-up dress shirts with giant bright pink, red, and orange flowers all over. I thought my Hilti shirts were bad…
2. When you fly to Asia, wear...
I'm eating Kimchi on Friday.
After a little confusion, everything’s been straightened out and I have my plane tickets!
I leave Atlanta tomorrow, August 4th, then have a 5-hour layover in Chicago. From there, I make the 14-hour flight from Illinois to Seoul. I’m set to arrive very early in the morning, so hopefully I can navigate and make it to Jochiwon in time for some of Friday’s orientation.
Also,...
I'm not in Korea yet.
Long story short, I never received my plane tickets, for whatever reason.
I’ve been in contact with a couple of people from the program, and they tell me they are working on getting everything figured out. However, that was yesterday, and judging by the fact that I didn’t wake to an email from them this morning, I doubt I will be leaving today.
Despite the anxiousness of not knowing...
July 2010
3 posts
5 tags
Gurye is the place to be, farm living is the life...
I’ve received the rest of my placement information, and it looks like my travels will lead to the small mountain town of Gurye in Jeollanam-Do. From what I’ve found out, it’s the second smallest town in South Korea, and dubbed an “Official Leisure Zone”. It is surrounded by a national park, so hiking and other outdoor activities will be plentiful. In all the photos,...
5 tags
15 Days and Counting...
…until I begin my job as an ESL teacher in Jeollanam-Do, South Korea. Jeolla for short. Pronounced “Cholla” like the bread, that is, if Challah bread was pronounced the way it looks like it’s pronounced (instead of HAH-lah bread).
After telling my life story half a dozen times (maybe more), and playing the waiting game for nearly 6 months, all the paperwork is complete and I have my E-2 Visa...