Happy Spring! :)

Lesson #61) When your kitchen is *this* big and you’ve got a ton of dishes to wash, your laundry rack can easily convert to serve as a makeshift dish drainer.
Lesson #62) When you leave your freezer off/open all day in order to thaw out the ice which has built up and is keeping you from being able to open the drawers, don’t forget to leave a towel or bowl to catch all the water. Otherwise, you’ll come home to a rather foul smelling puddle covering your entire kitchen floor.
Lesson #63) In the US, we have Valentine’s Day.  In Korea, Valentine’s Day is when girls give their boyfriends chocolate. White Day (March 14^th) is when the boys should reciprocate by giving the girls presents. Black Day (April 14^th) is when anyone who is single, and therefore couldn’t celebrate Valentine’s/White Days, should go to a Chinese restaurant and eat jjajangmyun (noodles with a black sauce). Black. A sign of mourning.
Lesson #64) Every business has a point card where stamps, stickers, and numbers add up to earn you freebies. Be prepared to have a special wallet solely for such things.
Lesson #65) If you put a screen and projector in the cafeteria and then proceed to show a music video from a famous pop group, expect that every single middle school student in the entire cafeteria will go crazy and start screaming and/or singing along.
Lesson #66) According to Koreans, it’s not starving children in Africa on whose behalf you must eat all the food on your plate lest it succumb to the dreaded trash receptacle. Instead, it’s poor starving children in North Korea. Though I’m not sure there’s any real conviction to it as it seems there is always food that ends up getting thrown out.
Lesson #67) Rain water will make you go bald. Or these days, due to Japan, it’s radioactive and will subject you to all sorts of unwanted nuclear energy. Umbrellas are a must. Foreigners who don’t follow this societal custom (which, ok, is probably the majority of them) are thus stared at. But, you know, what else is new?
Lesson #68) As a female, you will attract less awkward stares by wearing a miniskirt and tights as opposed to jeans and non-attractive shoes. You’ll blend in more. Monkey see, monkey do…
Lesson #69) Face. Masks.
Lesson #70) A beach ball is one of the most unexpectedly useful items for any ESL classroom.

So it’s been a while… I was debating whether or not I should keep this blog as it has recently caused some drama. Apparently I don’t filter what I say enough. Anyway, I decided to keep it and start writing again and I’m just going to have to try and be more careful with what I say.

I believe I last left off just before my trip to Australia. I’m not going to write about it here, if you want to know how it went, please see my Facebook photo albums. I will, however, give you a list of highlights: 30*C+ weather, random sightseeing, relaxing afternoons by the ocean, TARGET!!!, cableway through the rainforest, petting (and tasting, actually) a kangaroo, scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef!! (I came home with some souvenir coral sand), getting stuck for 2 extra days due to category 5 tropical cyclone (hurricane) Yasi, one night spent in an evacuation center with many, many people sleeping side by side on a cement floor, and becoming friends with a girl from Holland who has done a ton of awesome things, including working on the Harry Potter movies. My only regret is that I really would have loved to take a trip into the Outback. Sleep under the stars, all that jazz. If I ever get a chance to go back there, and I hope I do, I’m definitely going to do that first.

I’ve also moved into my new apartment since my last posting. I don’t really have much to say about that except that it’s fantastic and I love having my own place! At some point I’ll get around to putting pictures on Facebook, though no guarantees of that being anytime soon.

Korean behavior towards foreigners still amuses me. I know many of my friends here are completely sick of it, but I find it funny. Especially the kids. Many times, as I walk through the park or somewhere, I’ll have a little kid stop and stare at me with their eyes full of wonder and their mouths turned up in a mesmerized smile. “Hi!” they breathe. I just laugh and say hi back. The other day I was waiting at the crosswalk on my way to work as I was passed by a group of elementary students going to school. I was watching the light, not really paying attention to them, and then I suddenly realized this tiny little girl was standing in front of me, waiting. I looked down at her and she got the cutest smile on her face, bowed and greeted me. After I replied, she happily went on her way. Seriously, the children here are beyond adorable. The high school girls and really old people are not quite so friendly… their stares are usually of the sizing-you-up variety and make the recipient quite uncomfortable. Oh well. The high school boys I like though. I live near a local high school and there are always groups of boys trying to talk to me.  They’re hilarious. 🙂 One other reaction to foreigners that I find interesting is how, sometimes, when I’m standing at an elevator waiting to go up, some other Korean will come along. Instead of joining me, they’ll push the up arrow on the next elevator over and wait for it just so they don’t have to ride with me. I don’t get it.

I’m sitting here in a coffee shop writing this and just now the Cheers theme song started playing… This place is surprisingly empty. Normally it’s packed at this time… Thank you “radioactive” precipitation for giving me one of the good seats by the window. 😀

Korea’s best resource as a nation are its people. There are many people here and not much room, therefore, the population is really dense. Because of this, there is a lot of rivalry. If you want to stand out, you must prove yourself worthy of the attention. Competition is fierce. I’m constantly amazed by my students and the stuff they know and the hours they keep. Everyone wants to be the best at something, and all parents want their child to excel, but with so many people, it’s wicked difficult. As much as I wish I was as talented as some of these kids, I’m not envious of them at all. They’re under far too much pressure. Another negative aspect of this is that the suicide rate is ridiculously high, especially around exam time.

The school year here is very different from in the States.  It starts in March and ends in February. There is about a 5-week-long break during July-August and again in December-January. February is actually rather strange. At my school, the students came back from break for one week of classes, then had 2-3 weeks for “spring break,” after which they came back and the new school year started. Just because they’re on break, though, doesn’t mean they actually get one. Their time is filled with extra hagwon (academies for supplemental classes which pretty much all Korean students attend until about 9 or 10pm) studies or specialized subject “camps,” either at their own school or elsewhere. My school had three weeks of camp. I taught three classes a day with the same students so, by the end, I had to find material to fill up 45 hours worth of lessons. An epic task to be sure, especially as it was an “activity” class and they therefore weren’t to use a textbook or really learn much of anything; just play games and practice their speaking without getting bored. The good part about it was that I was able to find some really fantastic websites with some excellent lesson ideas, so I’ve got a pretty good list going of valuable resources – which I’ve already consulted more than once.

It’s kind of amazing how much easier this semester is than the last one. Even just having one semester’s worth of experience under your belt can make a world of difference. This, plus my resource collection, plus the fact that I’ve gotten to know my students a lot better, plus the fact that I’m teaching 4 less hours a week than I was last semester all contribute to my actually being able to maintain a grip on my sanity haha. Last semester was crazy stressful and it definitely affected my health. This semester is also a bit different because my school has changed my classes somewhat.  Where last year I taught from the textbook, this year the Korean English teachers do it all. My job is to come up with games based upon the grammar being taught in any given unit. My classroom has no desks or chairs, just a matted floor. Students come in and I quickly review the grammar to be used for the activity. Then we spend the entire rest of the time playing. There’re definitely both pros and cons to this. I’ve discovered the active games tend to generate more excitement, but repeatedly standing/sitting/running is not so good when it comes to the fact that the girls all wear skirts as part of their uniform and don’t seem to understand how to move without… er…. revealing everything… It’s also much harder to keep their attention when they’re not sitting at a desk. On the bright side, no one is allowed to wear shoes in my classroom (because of the foam mats) so I get to comfortably walk around in just socks all day. Well, while I’m teaching anyway.

I miss the Mid-Atlantic Church of the Nazarene. A lot. http://manaz.org

Here is a video for your enjoyment (you may not understand if you don’t live here, but for those of us who do…. Bahahaha!!! “People say I look like Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp, and I’m starting to believe them.” Oh Korea, where all the male foreigners have hugely inflated egos…. 😀 ). http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7861639/do-you-like-kimchi