Mask Weather

During spring time in Korea, the wind blows-in an unpleasant gift from China: air pollutants that resemble fog, but with a tinge of yellow to it. The Koreans refer to it as 'yellow dust', and when it hits, you shouldn't be outside. If it's a bad-enough day, people can even be hospitalized (and in rare cases, it's fatal).

If you have to go out, though, it's advised to wear a face-mask - they can be found at any local pharmacy or department store. I went with the 'plain-black Ninja look', but there are tons of much-more creative masks (some have flowery designs, others have cartoons). It feels a little like wearing a scarf, and it's pretty uncomfortable to wear - but between wearing one, and getting more respiratory problems, it's really a no-brainer.

Makes me miss the clean air, and smog-free Canadian skies. Just another thing you can't take for granted, I s'pose.

Cheers

Hello To You

For the first time since early December, our school hit the road on Friday, for our promotional segment 'Hello GEC'. At one of these events, our foreign & Korean teachers set up booths, and host a variety of activities (such as Hula Hoops, Dizzy Races, Face Painting, and so on).

I finally remembered to bring along a camera.

Most of these events take place outside, so there's usually a lot more room to work with - particularly for my event, the dizzy-race (the classic 'spin-10-times with a baseball bat and try to run'). Since the weather isn't really warm enough yet, we were relegated to a gym, this time around.

Faced with a couple of hundred kids in a small space, I had to quickly rethink the whole 'run in a zig-zag through a crowd' thing, for safety reasons. Instead, they spun 10 times, and attempted to quickly touch their nose, mouth, and ear - something that's harder than it sounds while dizzy.

I'm probably in the minority of teachers on this one, but I missed doing 'Hello GEC' - I find it fun to go to random schools, and see a bit of the countryside. Hopefully, it'll also give a helping hand towards ending the dropping-enrolment... it'd be a shame to keep losing more and more teachers.

Teaching math on Saturday went as smoothly as I could've hoped. In total, I taught 6 groups of kids (between 9:30am and 3pm). I had each table of kids give themselves a Team name, to make it a bit more competitive, and the most memorable names were as follows:
-Team 'Go Home' (during the very first period)
-Team 'Crazy'
-Team 'Smell'
-Team 'Tomatoes' (to be fair, i'm the one who named them - they couldn't come up with their own name)
-Team 'Shrek'

Looking forward to my (only) day off this week. Have a good weekend.
Go Sens!~~

It Happens

The bulk of our foreign-teachers went out to bowl tonight, at an alley in Gimpo (a neighbourhood near GEC). I continued my respectable-game streak, by bowling slightly over 100 - something i've had a bit of trouble with, in 10-pin bowling.

One of the teachers, Charles, is a pretty competitive fellow - as such, before each shot, he had a tendency to go into a 'focus mode', to concentrate as to where he was going to shoot the ball. Some teachers found that to be a little funny, so after a few shots, he decided he was going to (mockingly) aim the ball towards those laughing.

Unfortunately for Charles, while he didn't actually shoot it at the bench, he wasn't able to hold onto it - the ball went into the lane next to ours, where a Pro-Leveled Korean Team was playing. It went straight in the gutter, and even though one of their players tried to chase it, he wasn't able to catch it. I managed to capture the hilarious moment on Camera, with poor Charles trying to apologize while the Korean Player walked back unsuccessfully. haha.. it's just one of those things - it happens.

This week was the final week of adult-classes for the month of March, which ended the 7th month that i've held on to the same two groups of adults. The morning group decided to take me out to lunch, as they've done nearly every month - this time, to a local Seafood Buffet restaurant named 'Broccoli' (I know, strange name for a Seafood restaurant).

This is the same class that I started-off with at the 'Intro' level, that barely spoke any English at all. I remember when they took me out for my birthday, which was barely a couple of weeks after we'd met - they really struggled to say anything at all back then... but their progress has really been amazing. As much as i'd like to take credit for it, I think I was just very lucky to be handed a class that became a very close-knit, and dedicated group. I've a feeling that they'll stick around until I leave, which is great.

I have to work this Saturday, for the first time in a few months. Elementary-school aged kids will be visiting the Experience rooms, and for whatever reason, i've been stuck in the Math room. I'm not really looking forward to it, but I s'pose it won't hurt to get a little extra cash.

Cheers!

CoEx Crowds

I spent most of Saturday in Seoul, at the Coex Mall, evidently the largest mall in the city. It was a cool place, with hundreds upon hundreds of stores, a large arcade, and the Coex Mall Aquarium - the main attraction.

The aquarium houses a large variety of sea-creatures; many fish, crabs, sharks, and even Penguins. Unfortunately, there weren't very many signs in English, so it made the experience a little less informative than it could've been. Still, there were some unique aspects to it:

There was a 'household' area, where they managed to put fish in unique settings: In the sink, in the toilet, in the fridge. Pretty creative!

The downside of a large mall in Seoul on a Saturday, though, is that the crowds are ridiculously big. Between the thousands of people in the Subway and the thousands of people in the mall, I was thankful not to be claustrophobic.

The highschoolers on Friday ended up being a breeze; the lessons went by quite well, and the girls (it was an all-girls high-school) were... lets say.. giddy upon seeing me. At the end of one of the classes, I was asked if it was okay for them to take a picture - after I said yes, they all decided to take out their cameras/camera phones and take a picture.

I've never been photographed by 14 people all at once, before. Korea's got a way to bolster people's egos.

Cheers!

PS: Penguins.

Rough Economic Times Indeed

The Global Financial crisis has meant the shutdown of some of Wondang's (our neighbourhood) most memorable businesses. The 'Komo Life Style shop' was the only one-stop destination where we could find the following items (with the spelling as-advertised):
-Shoes
-Womon Wear
-Kid (damn!~ I didn't get to take advantage of their bargain prices on children)
-Bath
-Fashin Belt
-Bag (Just one bag)
-Jewely
-Aroma

Clearly, this business went before its time.

It's been a fun week, overall. Monday was one of my (Korean Teacher) friend's birthday, so we began the week with a plate full of chicken, and a glass full of beer (is there a better way to start the week?). I'm starting to get a familiar 'happy vibe' with my new students, and it's making the few classes I have quite enjoyable. The experience-room (themed rooms that they visit once a week) we had this week was the 'Cooking' room. The two previous semesters, I can't say that my recipes turned out all that well (Pizza and Cookies), but I found myself in more familiar territory this week: Nachos.

All the kids had never seen, or heard of nachos. As soon as they saw all of the ingredients I was going to pile in there (tomatoes/mushrooms/peppers, to go with the obvious cheese/chips/salsa), some managed to express 'Teacher! Yuck!!'. It wasn't a combination they'd ever seen, and to them, it seemed horrible to mix all of these things together.

Kind of the same expression I had, when I first saw Corn and Potatoes on pizza.

Thankfully, nachos are some of the (few) things I know how to cook quite well. I'm happy to report that I received 100% positive reviews, ranging from 'Yummy!', to 'Teacher! It's Perfect!'.

Tomorrow, instead of Kindergarden-aged kids, we'll actually be hosting High Schoolers in the experience rooms. Should be quite an interesting end to the week! Hope you have a good one.

One Of Those Weekends

Friday was 'Parent Day' at GEC, which meant parents were invited to come meet (and talk to) all teachers. They were first given a presentation about GEC's educational approach - all in Korean, of course - then, they were encouraged to go to the teacher's classroom to meet the Korean & Foreigner that's in charge of teaching their child.

Since i'm only teaching 4 children's classes this semester, as you can imagine, the number of parents who attended was pretty low. With my Korean partner, I met the two parents that decided to come, and was faced with the difficult task of answering questions such as 'How are you?'. The bulk of the conversation happened in Korean, so the real challenge for me was to stay focused, and not start drifting off somewhere else.

It ain't as easy as it sounds.

The weekend was a pretty uneventful one - a little drinking, a little eating, and watching a heck of a lot of TV. I've managed to finish Season 6 of 24, leaving me no excuse for not-doing-anything next weekend.

Have a good one.

The Renewal Question

One of the most common questions i've been getting, for the last few months, has been 'Are you going to be staying another year?'. I've been asking myself that question since i've been here, and I haven't come to a conclusion yet. Among the questions i've been asking are:

1-Am I going to be able to find a Job if I go back to Canada?
I'm fairly optimistic, so even with the less-than-stellar job-market, I don't think it'd be too much of a problem.

2-Should I keep saving money for another year, since it'd go a long way towards future projects?
This question took me a few months to figure out, but my outlook is this: If I have faith that i'll be successful in my future career, this kind of money shouldn't be an issue. I've concluded that if I stay, it can't be for the money.

3-I have my whole life ahead of me - why not stay another year and keep experiencing Asia?
Probably the most compelling argument for me to stay - I have no reason to rush home, at the moment, so why should I?

4-Do I want to run the risk of losing contact with friends at home?
I've put a lot of thought into this one, and honestly, I don't know. It's pretty hard to expect someone to make efforts to maintain an overseas friendship for two full years.

5-What'll make me happier?
I really love Korea. The job is great, the people are awesome, and the experience is unique - but at the same time, I miss home. I miss my family, friends, and city. Quantifying happiness is something I haven't done since philosophy class, and I don't think i've got the proper formula at the moment to know which option yields more happiness.

6-Shouldn't I go back to school sooner, rather than later?
I want to do my MBA at some point, and it'd probably be a lot easier while Business Concepts are still fresh in my head- do I want to risk waiting too long? and while i'm thinking about it, shouldn't I start working for a corporation who'll want to pay for me to do my MBA as soon as possible?

7- What would be best for my family?
I don't want to be gone for too long - I realise that me-being-away doesn't only affect me. It's tough for other people, so I need to be mindful of that.

8- What else haven't I thought of?
There are just so many other variables that may or may not come into play, when the time comes. Whether North Korea is more aggressive (doubtful, but who knows?), how strong the South Korean Won currency will be (it's taken a major hit), whether the school will even be able to renew my contract (enrolment has spiralled down with every semester).

So, I end where I began. I haven't come to any kind of conclusion, at this point. I'm leaning towards the 'return home' side of things, but I really can't say it's for certain. No matter what my choice ends up being, though, I know that i'll be spending a few weeks at home towards the end of August/Early September (and i'll definitely be celebrating September 9th in Ottawa).

Or, as far as you know, maybe i've already made up my mind, and i'm just trying to keep a cliffhanger-ending so that the blog remains exciting. Stay tuned!

Further Farewells

This weekend marked another 'going-away', for one of the teachers due to go back home this week. That meant mandatory-drinking on Saturday-night, which included the bulk of everyone that teacher's been friends with in the last year - it's incredible just how many people that represents. If I had had any doubts about whether teaching overseas was a great way to make friends, I certainly wouldn't after last night.

The rest of my weekend was pretty diverse: On Saturday afternoon, I went and watched a movie (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), at the local cinema. It wasn't a bad movie, but i'm not sure it warranted all of those Oscar nominations. Ah well.

Sunday was even more interesting, though. I went to play some Billiards with my friend (and old student) James, who taught me how to play the non-pocketball version of the game (you'll notice there are no holes in the table). The goal is to manage to hit both red balls, with your ball (either yellow or white), without hitting your opponent's ball. It was pretty challenging at first, since regular pool doesn't usually entail thinking about where the white-ball will go, after you hit it - but I started getting a pretty good feel for it after a few games.

After playing a few games of Warcraft at a local PC-Café, James invited me back to his home for dinner. This was the first time I actually stepped foot inside a genuine-Korean home. His parents and brother were very welcoming, and couldn't complement me enough on my (less-than-stellar) Korean. The dinner itself was an excellent Soup, accompanied by a dish of some sort-of beef and cuttlefish - all very very tasty. As is the Korean-style, a ton of side-dishes were also served (including some home-made Kimchi - mmm). There was also a side-dish of little potatoes, which were very hard to grab with chopsticks; but feeling confident after nearly 7 months of using them daily, I was grabbing them juuust fine. ...

Until I received a compliment, of course - the second James' mom said how surprised she was that I could use them so well, as goes Murphy's Law, I dropped a potato on myself. Smoooooth.

After dinner, we played a traditional Korean game called 'Gostop', which i'm understandably awful at. As much as they kept saying how simple and easy the game was, I had a lot of problems identifying which-cards-did-what.. but they were all good sports, and allowed me to be incredibly slow. All in all, Sunday evening was the highlight of the weekend.

Have a good week!

Consider Me Bored

In the area near our school, there are often banners posted to advertise all sorts of businesses and events. Sometimes, a limited amount of English is used - and sometimes, it comes off as kiiiiind of inappropriate. On this particular sign pictured, the only words us foreign-folks can pick up are 'Beautiful Girl', 'Nobody', 'U go girl', and 'Eat you up!'.

Maybe my mind just ends up in the gutter too easily.

This week has been incredibly dull. All in all, this semester, I only teach 4 elementary-school-level classes (down from 10). I've held on to both my adult classes, thankfully, but I still have 6 free-periods in total. What do I do during that time?

Absolutely nothing. I've gone looking for work, but this early in the semester, there isn't much to do. The most productive thing i've really been doing has been to walk around, observing how other people teach their classes (trying to pick up a few pointers - it doesn't hurt!). The rest of the time, well.. thank goodness for the internet.

As for the four-classes, they all seem pretty well-behaved (with the exception of three or four kids), so i'm looking forward to teaching them. It should be a boring, but breezy semester.

Have a good one!

Starting Up Again

With the arrival of March, my third full school-semester is about to start. This one, lasting from Monday until the end of May, will be a bit different than the first two. As i've come to expect now, i've been moved away from the Korean co-teacher I had from the previous session (which, if you include my first two weeks of teaching, means i've now gone through 3 different co-teachers).

We were previously told that the Korean/Foreign teacher tally for this semester would be reduced to 13/13 (down from 15/15, the two previous semesters). Unfortunately, it looks like it's actually going to be 12/13, with myself being the odd-man without a new co-teacher. That means i'll be paired with a member of management for all children's classes.

Luckily for me, though, that also means that they've seriously minimized the amount of children's classes i'll be teaching. I'm told to only expect to have two child-classes (down from 10, during each previous semester). It also means that they'll attempt to give me more adult classes, on top of the two that I currently teach. I really can't complain about that - I have to admit, teaching adults has been more fun than teaching kids (I suppose it makes the job easier when everyone's there wanting to listen to you).

The downside of it, though, is that i'm losing some classes that i've really enjoyed teaching. GEC offers special classes that range from grammar to journalism - the one I had last semester, Bookclub 4, was a real pleasure to have. Ironically, all 12 other remaining teachers will get to teach a Special class, meaning that when someone says, after a meeting, 'Okay, I need all Special teachers to stay', i'll be the only one to get up and leave.

Yep. I'm the only non-Special teacher.
Aw.