Bank account danger: What the Book? delivers to your door. Troub-le. Of the absolute best, my-new-life-as-a-monk variety.
Finally started answering the phone today. Of course, my battery has died now. My boys are back, God bless 'em. I broke up two fights today. The third graders have done the most fascinating things with hair dye. I've never seen anything like it. Two more of my third grade goodbye classes. "I love you Teacher!" Oh god. I love you too. Don't go.
Some of the new little babies from the orientation last week have started to spot me out in the neighborhood already. Generation after generation of thinking saying, "Hello!" is really, really hilarious. And she said hi back! Way to go! High five-uh!
Had the center boys tonight and an extra special surprise -- a girl! God. Every time I teach girls I get really depressed about how stupid boys are in comparison. I love them and they know it, but girls just have a fucking clue way earlier in life. They're capable of concentrating, paying attention, applying newly acquired knowledge to the tasks set before them....
Instead of having to drag them around by their coattails back to their seats and constantly snap your fingers, as if addressing a group of dogs, "Here! Look here! Look! Look here! LOOK HERE!"
Not one second after I had walked in the door and a new little guy who's moving up to the junior high group who's name is Hyo-something (which I need to work out as soon as possible) ran up and shouted, "MANCHESTER!?" in my face and then keeled over in a fit of giggles. Great. This is like, a thing now.
The other teacher and I were left alone with our group in the center tonight and he instantly got more comfortable once it was just us. The older head teacher is always on his case about rough housing with the boys and teasing them too much. But he relaxed when she wasn't around. The boys love to tell me over and over again that he's a "richee" man with a BMW (which I highly doubt), which makes him go positively purple in the face. They also felt free to tell me an extremely animated story about how the head teacher got hit in the face with a basketball last week and apparently flipped her shit. Tact is not a strong point with this group.
Geonhee is having the hardest time ever not driving me absolutely crazy during lessons lately. He's no longer nervous around me at all and just keeps a constant chatter of Korean going on underneath whatever I'm doing, which is extremely distracting when you're trying to teach in one language, and involuntarily listening to another. He also insisted that he cooked dog for his family last weekend. Which is a huge lie, for anyone who's not a teacher in Korea and may not know. Jeongwoo is also a drummer, which is nothing but bad when he can get his hands on two pens at the same time. The way they both voluntarily offer up their necks for my punishingly cold hands once they get going, before I even reach for them, has me thinking there's some attention seeking involved in the behavior.
I've officially been granted the day off on Friday to go to Busan, as long as I don't go abroad, and luckily, Busan is not abroad. Thanks, VP. For giving strange and unnecessarily pointed answers to simple questions. Nobody needs to know that the only bus available was for 7 at night. I've got a few bills I've got to get to the bank and pay before I go, anyway.
Now it's time for this 할머니 to hit the sack with a little Hunter S. Thompson, before another grueling day of three bullshit classes begins.
2.08.2010
2.06.2010
Schedules and disco.
Waiting for my hair dye to set. I should be cleaning my bathroom in the meantime, but meh.
Today Willie and I are supposed to strike out on an adventure to try to obtain tickets ahead of time for Busan. I really hope something ideal ends up working out. It's really hard to plan all this when our co-teachers are all, "Well you could leave early on Thursday and we might have Friday off, but we might leave early on Friday but I don't know what time and you might have Monday off but we're not really sure, and also maybe Tuesday, but probably not." Good grief. Korea, I love you, but if we could just occasionally try to schedule the chaos....
Also, Coteacher stopped by the office briefly yesterday and told me that Monday I could have classes but probably not but maybe but she's not sure which classes, for which grades but maybe nothing but maybe something. Basically, it sounds like Monday's schedule will be decided on Monday morning. And next week's schedule will be decided next week. Which is normal, but....
My head hurts.
Tonight we might also try to get into Hongdae to Club Cocoon to see The Donkey Show, a disco retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream that seems to mostly consist of Korean men in leather and vinyl briefs and bondage gear smeared with loads of sparkly makeup thrusting their hips in time with disco classics. How is this not happening on The Hill? I'm also a little nervous about the whole thing, because the show seems to be quite interactive, and nothing screams "Pull me up on stage!" quite like a big foreign face in an all-Korean crowd.
Either way, it appears to be a gorgeous day outside my window. So I guess a bit of traipsing around Seoul, even if it comes to naught, wouldn't be a total waste. If all else fails, I'll just go torture myself at Kyobo/Bandi & Luni's I guess. Forward ho.
Today Willie and I are supposed to strike out on an adventure to try to obtain tickets ahead of time for Busan. I really hope something ideal ends up working out. It's really hard to plan all this when our co-teachers are all, "Well you could leave early on Thursday and we might have Friday off, but we might leave early on Friday but I don't know what time and you might have Monday off but we're not really sure, and also maybe Tuesday, but probably not." Good grief. Korea, I love you, but if we could just occasionally try to schedule the chaos....
Also, Coteacher stopped by the office briefly yesterday and told me that Monday I could have classes but probably not but maybe but she's not sure which classes, for which grades but maybe nothing but maybe something. Basically, it sounds like Monday's schedule will be decided on Monday morning. And next week's schedule will be decided next week. Which is normal, but....
My head hurts.
Tonight we might also try to get into Hongdae to Club Cocoon to see The Donkey Show, a disco retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream that seems to mostly consist of Korean men in leather and vinyl briefs and bondage gear smeared with loads of sparkly makeup thrusting their hips in time with disco classics. How is this not happening on The Hill? I'm also a little nervous about the whole thing, because the show seems to be quite interactive, and nothing screams "Pull me up on stage!" quite like a big foreign face in an all-Korean crowd.
Either way, it appears to be a gorgeous day outside my window. So I guess a bit of traipsing around Seoul, even if it comes to naught, wouldn't be a total waste. If all else fails, I'll just go torture myself at Kyobo/Bandi & Luni's I guess. Forward ho.
2.05.2010
Urgh. It's this again... AES and so on and so forth.
Via Brian in Jeollanam-do:
Yie Eun-woong shirts are now on sale. I'm tempted, just because of "the fucking charming obscurity of the situation", as Smalltown might be inclined to quip. For those of you who don't know, Yie Eun-woong is a sad, sad little sexless man who's like a million years old, unmarried and (perhaps unsurprisingly) really, really worried about who everyone else is getting it on with. He runs Anti English Spectrum Cafe, which I've mentioned here enough times already, and spends his free time "protecting Korea's children" by stalking foreigners. All of this was made necessary, as has been hashed out time and again, by the fact that a few years back, some photos were posted on the internet of grown-ass Korean women with free wills and everything all tarted up and dancing with foreign men. As opposed to being paid for sex by Korean men. Or, as opposed to Korean men climbing in through foreign women's windows during the night, tying them down and raping them, presupposing that there would be little to no consequence for such an action.
Where's my fucking hate group? Eh?
The sad thing about this Anti-English Spectrum Cafe thing is that, while a lot of my Korean acquaintances a. don't know anything about and b. are immediately horrified when I show them the website (feigned or not), some of my very young, allegedly very modern acquaintances have glanced at the website and, despite what they hear me saying, reply, "Well it says here they just want to catch bad teachers...." Same people who claim to want to "help" and "understand" foreigners in Korea. To give them a good experience in Korea. Right.
I guess you could say AES provides a pretty fair litmus test for who, amongst your friends and associates, "gets it".
I don't mean to get swept away on this subject again. I'll be the first to say that this kind of thing, both here and in our home countries, is most appropriately dealt with by total disregard. But my blood just starts to boil every time I hear anything about this little man and his creepy little group. Which, by the way, actually isn't that little.
Weirdly enough, the situation has recently received some international attention in the form of an article and interview with Mr. Lonely in the L.A. Times. This is like the umpteenth article to randomly come out in a major international publication within the space of a year's time regarding something a bit off in the ROK's relation to people from the outside world. People might want to start to think about that. With more and more foreign teachers coming to Korea from the Western world, and returning home with loads of word-of-mouth anecdotal information... well. Korea had better be careful or kimchi and MASH will no longer be the only thing the average Westerner can bring to mind when the subject of Korea comes up.
Oh god don't worry. I haven't gone off the bitter foreigner ledge just yet. Most of everything I write about Korea is probably even too generous. And, yes, it's true I'm having some trouble coping with certain aspects, personally, at the moment. But also, fair is just fair. And it's not all soju, kimbap and fucking rainbows out here in the Land of the Morning Calm. Like I've always said, to truly love something, you've got to see it honestly -- the good and the bad. That's fair enough. And honestly, Korea is too good to tolerate scum like Yie Eun-woong out there humiliating them in major American newspapers, right? They need to stamp down on this crap, for the sake of their own honor, even before ours.
Oh, and just a p.s. regarding this:
Yie's efforts have the support of some educators who say many foreign teachers lack the skills to run a classroom.
"This has nothing to do with race. It is all about teaching," said Kim Young-Lan, a sociology professor at Sookmyung Women's University in Seoul.
Uh. Then stop hiring crappy teachers. Don't hire them, and then stalk them.
Once again, we have the picture being painted of uncontrollable invading masses of foreigners that must be stopped at any cost. We must follow these vile creatures for days and nights on end, make records of their every move, every association, in order to prove some form of illegal behavior is going on so we can be rid of them once and for all!
Or you could, like, fire them. And then the visa gets canceled, they have to move back in with their parents until the temp agency can get them something at one of the offices downtown...
You know. Like, in the real world.
I sincerely hope that quote was taken way, way out of context. Otherwise, Sookmyung Women's University in Seoul might want to look into their hiring practices, regardless of race, as well.
Yie Eun-woong shirts are now on sale. I'm tempted, just because of "the fucking charming obscurity of the situation", as Smalltown might be inclined to quip. For those of you who don't know, Yie Eun-woong is a sad, sad little sexless man who's like a million years old, unmarried and (perhaps unsurprisingly) really, really worried about who everyone else is getting it on with. He runs Anti English Spectrum Cafe, which I've mentioned here enough times already, and spends his free time "protecting Korea's children" by stalking foreigners. All of this was made necessary, as has been hashed out time and again, by the fact that a few years back, some photos were posted on the internet of grown-ass Korean women with free wills and everything all tarted up and dancing with foreign men. As opposed to being paid for sex by Korean men. Or, as opposed to Korean men climbing in through foreign women's windows during the night, tying them down and raping them, presupposing that there would be little to no consequence for such an action.
Where's my fucking hate group? Eh?
The sad thing about this Anti-English Spectrum Cafe thing is that, while a lot of my Korean acquaintances a. don't know anything about and b. are immediately horrified when I show them the website (feigned or not), some of my very young, allegedly very modern acquaintances have glanced at the website and, despite what they hear me saying, reply, "Well it says here they just want to catch bad teachers...." Same people who claim to want to "help" and "understand" foreigners in Korea. To give them a good experience in Korea. Right.
I guess you could say AES provides a pretty fair litmus test for who, amongst your friends and associates, "gets it".
I don't mean to get swept away on this subject again. I'll be the first to say that this kind of thing, both here and in our home countries, is most appropriately dealt with by total disregard. But my blood just starts to boil every time I hear anything about this little man and his creepy little group. Which, by the way, actually isn't that little.
Weirdly enough, the situation has recently received some international attention in the form of an article and interview with Mr. Lonely in the L.A. Times. This is like the umpteenth article to randomly come out in a major international publication within the space of a year's time regarding something a bit off in the ROK's relation to people from the outside world. People might want to start to think about that. With more and more foreign teachers coming to Korea from the Western world, and returning home with loads of word-of-mouth anecdotal information... well. Korea had better be careful or kimchi and MASH will no longer be the only thing the average Westerner can bring to mind when the subject of Korea comes up.
Oh god don't worry. I haven't gone off the bitter foreigner ledge just yet. Most of everything I write about Korea is probably even too generous. And, yes, it's true I'm having some trouble coping with certain aspects, personally, at the moment. But also, fair is just fair. And it's not all soju, kimbap and fucking rainbows out here in the Land of the Morning Calm. Like I've always said, to truly love something, you've got to see it honestly -- the good and the bad. That's fair enough. And honestly, Korea is too good to tolerate scum like Yie Eun-woong out there humiliating them in major American newspapers, right? They need to stamp down on this crap, for the sake of their own honor, even before ours.
Oh, and just a p.s. regarding this:
Yie's efforts have the support of some educators who say many foreign teachers lack the skills to run a classroom.
"This has nothing to do with race. It is all about teaching," said Kim Young-Lan, a sociology professor at Sookmyung Women's University in Seoul.
Uh. Then stop hiring crappy teachers. Don't hire them, and then stalk them.
Once again, we have the picture being painted of uncontrollable invading masses of foreigners that must be stopped at any cost. We must follow these vile creatures for days and nights on end, make records of their every move, every association, in order to prove some form of illegal behavior is going on so we can be rid of them once and for all!
Or you could, like, fire them. And then the visa gets canceled, they have to move back in with their parents until the temp agency can get them something at one of the offices downtown...
You know. Like, in the real world.
I sincerely hope that quote was taken way, way out of context. Otherwise, Sookmyung Women's University in Seoul might want to look into their hiring practices, regardless of race, as well.
2.04.2010
Questions.
Strawberries have shown back up in the markets! It's almost spring. Although, it certainly hasn't felt like it the last couple of days. And I'm significantly cheered up after another great afternoon teaching the mothers followed by a quick bit of American Apparel shopping and Nepalese food in Hongdae with Kel.
Now I'm thinking tomorrow night I might try to make it out to the used book shops in Dongincheon to cruise for cheap English classics, since I'm about to run out of unread reading material again, and sincerely cannot be bothered perusing the same boring, extremely overpriced options that don't seem to rotate at all at Kyobo (which is also like a million miles from my house).
Today we just so happened to be working on making plans in class, and we were talking about what we would do this weekend. When I told them about this potential book shopping plan, the mothers discussed it amongst themselves and then one mother asked who I was going with. I swear sometimes Koreans ask the oddest questions. I still haven't figured out if it's normal to ask something like that in Korea, or if it's just general curiosity about the foreigner that causes it. I guess it's not really that strange of a question -- it's just that I would normally only expect it out of a jealous boyfriend, or something.
Willie and I were just discussing the "what do you eat" question at dinner last week. Right up there with that one on the "nearly every Korean I've ever met has asked me this" list is, "Do you live alone?" Which is just kind of creepy. But understandable, considering most Koreans never do, and probably can't imagine it at all. Following quickly on the tails of that one is, "Are you lonely?" Which is just too pitiful. And, "What do you do at home?" Which I'm always tempted to give some extremely out of place answer to, just for my own amusement. People always look disappointed when you come out with, "Well uh... watch movies, read a book, check my email... sleep.... I...."
Not nearly as fascinating as you might expect. And, just for the record, I eat food. Usually.
Now I'm thinking tomorrow night I might try to make it out to the used book shops in Dongincheon to cruise for cheap English classics, since I'm about to run out of unread reading material again, and sincerely cannot be bothered perusing the same boring, extremely overpriced options that don't seem to rotate at all at Kyobo (which is also like a million miles from my house).
Today we just so happened to be working on making plans in class, and we were talking about what we would do this weekend. When I told them about this potential book shopping plan, the mothers discussed it amongst themselves and then one mother asked who I was going with. I swear sometimes Koreans ask the oddest questions. I still haven't figured out if it's normal to ask something like that in Korea, or if it's just general curiosity about the foreigner that causes it. I guess it's not really that strange of a question -- it's just that I would normally only expect it out of a jealous boyfriend, or something.
Willie and I were just discussing the "what do you eat" question at dinner last week. Right up there with that one on the "nearly every Korean I've ever met has asked me this" list is, "Do you live alone?" Which is just kind of creepy. But understandable, considering most Koreans never do, and probably can't imagine it at all. Following quickly on the tails of that one is, "Are you lonely?" Which is just too pitiful. And, "What do you do at home?" Which I'm always tempted to give some extremely out of place answer to, just for my own amusement. People always look disappointed when you come out with, "Well uh... watch movies, read a book, check my email... sleep.... I...."
Not nearly as fascinating as you might expect. And, just for the record, I eat food. Usually.
Honey Thighs Teacher.
Today I made what I thought was a safe assumption that, on the whole, I wouldn't be encountering the students, and decided to wear, of all things, a dress to work. I've recently given into the Korean obsession with all things tights. Turns out, tights are even more comfortable than jeans. But I'm still a little self-conscious about all that they reveal. The dress could've been shorter, but it could've been longer as well.
Well. As I came out of the building, I encountered the entire fucking school soccer team, all revved up on adrenaline and hormones from their hard workout. They all came running over to sexually harass me.
Now, I don't object to being told I have a nice "shape". But I do object to being told this by my students. I've let a lot of shit slide out of the third graders, since I've stopped teaching them, but I can't get over the idea that it's just not polite to make such comments to your teacher. The topper came when one student shouted, from across the field, "Oh! Honey thighs teacher!"
Now, this phrase deserves some explanation. It's not as straight-forwardly complimentary (or sexual) as it may seem, from a native English speaking perspective.
You see, there's this singer. Her name is UEE (유이), and she's in a group called After school. She's known for not being a "conventional" beauty, but for attracting attention, nonetheless. She's also known, commonly, as Honey Thighs. The reason for this is that her legs are thick, curvy and athletic -- not fat at all by Western standards, but challenging to Korea's ideal image of how a girl's legs should look. See below:
UEE's honey thighs proudly on display in the center.
Kpop group Wondergirls displaying a more conventional version of Korea's leg standards.
Some people argue that UEE is -- seriously, it pains me to even say it -- fat. Her legs, particularly her thighs, are fat. End of. But lately another voice has been fighting back, saying that Honey Thighs are were it's at, if we're talking 섹시.
All of this serves to remind me of how strange it was, recently, to be in the UK, where at 5'8, firmly straddling the line between a US size 8/10, I am "normal" sized. In the ROK, however, I am pushing the limits of the largest size most shops carry. Even then, if I'm going with skinny jeans, I have to buy a size that gaps in the waist, in order to cram my hips and thighs inside. And I'm definitely not bottom-heavy.
It's quite a shock to the system to go from being definitively "fat" to definitively "normal", back to definitively "fat" within the span of two weeks. I'm not a person who's ever really struggled with body image in a serious way, but even to me, it was not only noticeable, but quite uncomfortable. In what way, I'm still not entirely sure.
Anyway, all of this is mostly to say that, once school starts back on Monday, I'm definitely shelving the dresses. It's back to jeans and cardigans. I don't need this shit.
(Note for reference: My thighs in no way resemble UEE's. If they did, I would live the rest of my life in public minus pants.)
Well. As I came out of the building, I encountered the entire fucking school soccer team, all revved up on adrenaline and hormones from their hard workout. They all came running over to sexually harass me.
Now, I don't object to being told I have a nice "shape". But I do object to being told this by my students. I've let a lot of shit slide out of the third graders, since I've stopped teaching them, but I can't get over the idea that it's just not polite to make such comments to your teacher. The topper came when one student shouted, from across the field, "Oh! Honey thighs teacher!"
Now, this phrase deserves some explanation. It's not as straight-forwardly complimentary (or sexual) as it may seem, from a native English speaking perspective.
You see, there's this singer. Her name is UEE (유이), and she's in a group called After school. She's known for not being a "conventional" beauty, but for attracting attention, nonetheless. She's also known, commonly, as Honey Thighs. The reason for this is that her legs are thick, curvy and athletic -- not fat at all by Western standards, but challenging to Korea's ideal image of how a girl's legs should look. See below:
UEE's honey thighs proudly on display in the center.
Kpop group Wondergirls displaying a more conventional version of Korea's leg standards.Some people argue that UEE is -- seriously, it pains me to even say it -- fat. Her legs, particularly her thighs, are fat. End of. But lately another voice has been fighting back, saying that Honey Thighs are were it's at, if we're talking 섹시.
All of this serves to remind me of how strange it was, recently, to be in the UK, where at 5'8, firmly straddling the line between a US size 8/10, I am "normal" sized. In the ROK, however, I am pushing the limits of the largest size most shops carry. Even then, if I'm going with skinny jeans, I have to buy a size that gaps in the waist, in order to cram my hips and thighs inside. And I'm definitely not bottom-heavy.
It's quite a shock to the system to go from being definitively "fat" to definitively "normal", back to definitively "fat" within the span of two weeks. I'm not a person who's ever really struggled with body image in a serious way, but even to me, it was not only noticeable, but quite uncomfortable. In what way, I'm still not entirely sure.
Anyway, all of this is mostly to say that, once school starts back on Monday, I'm definitely shelving the dresses. It's back to jeans and cardigans. I don't need this shit.
(Note for reference: My thighs in no way resemble UEE's. If they did, I would live the rest of my life in public minus pants.)
2.03.2010
Stay tuned.
Who found wheat bread in Korea? I found wheat bread in Korea.
I also got asked again today by someone who's known me for the entire duration of my time here if I eat bread or rice at home. Will the wonders of the foreigner's shopping cart never cease? Lord.
Willie and I have been hard at work, working up to planning our trip to Busan. Our co-teachers have been hard at work on it, as well, as is usually the case when they get any wind of the weoneomin traveling in country.
I'm still having some grumpy Korea time, readjusting back from my trip to the West. Today, making my way to the shops after work, I made a game out of mowing directly through the path of the people who aimlessly meandered into it while gawking at my face and cleverly remarking that, "There's a foreigner!" It's something we all deal with on a daily basis and, eventually, learn not to even notice. But on those hard days, it's just... honestly. I copped out and took a cab for the short 20 minute walk home, just to avoid it.
I always get grumpy during vacation time. I don't have enough on my plate to keep me busy, distracted and exhausted. I also don't have my students around to balance out the gawking, slack-jawed portion of the population.
I'm really being too hermited for my own good at the moment. I'm still not returning the majority of phone calls, and only grudgingly agreed to meet another foreigner for lunch on Sunday. I am, however, having dinner with the lovely Kel in Hongdae tomorrow night, which I am actually looking forward to (and I'm not just saying that because she'll read this eventually). Also busy with all kinds of communication/making plans with people in other parts of the world. My head just isn't here right now, and I don't think it'll be back until after the new year (that's the lunar new year, for you non-ROKers), when the new school year finally starts.
The good news is, me and the handsome PE teacher were doing a bilingual sussing of the school year's calendar in the office today, and it looks like I've got a significant increase in time off this year. Last year was brutal because a lot of public holidays fell on weekends, and Chuseok fell smack in the middle of what was already my home leave. This year, Chuseok is in September, which means an extra week off, and Buddah's birthday is spread out away from Children's Day. Also, I have the year's experience to know when days off are potentially coming, whereas last year was full of, "Oh Liz! By the way! No work tomorrow or the next day! Enjoy the time off at home fucking around because no one gave you enough notice to actually plan anything! We're all going to Jejudo! See you next week!"
In other news, the students have suddenly started appearing back out on the streets of the neighborhood. I can only assume they've spent literally every waking moment of the last month in PC bangs, every last one of them, and that's why I haven't seen them around. Apparently, they've also been spending a lot of time in hair salons. The things they come up with to do to their heads: "야! 머리 왜 그래?! What... did you do that yourself?!" While my third graders have all got a head start on their ridiculous high school hair, my second graders have continued to grow into their third grader bodies and now nearly all tower several inches over me, which is no meager task. I got a glimpse at our new little first graders with voices so squeaky like I haven't heard for nearly a year -- they're pocket-sized and wide-eyed at the sight of the foreign teacher. My old first graders have begun to strut around with the swagger of little men who will soon no longer be at the bottom of the totem pole. Their language has gotten decidedly more dirty over the break.
Speaking of that, when Jeongwon at the center busted out with a completely random and extremely loud "FUCK YOU!!" addressing Haecheol on Monday night, I shared with the boys my childhood punishment of soap in the mouth for 15 minutes. They'd never heard that one before, but seemed to like the idea of it, in theory and happening to someone else of course. It effectively put an end to the four letter nonsense, for that session at least. I might use it with my regular classes. That is, if I thought a bar of soap were to be found anywhere at all inside the school building.
La. That's enough drivel for tonight. Sorry, guys. I'm laying low these days and spending quiet evenings in reading and brooding. Not too much to report. I'm sure something awfully nonsensical will happen soon, though. Stay tuned.
I also got asked again today by someone who's known me for the entire duration of my time here if I eat bread or rice at home. Will the wonders of the foreigner's shopping cart never cease? Lord.
Willie and I have been hard at work, working up to planning our trip to Busan. Our co-teachers have been hard at work on it, as well, as is usually the case when they get any wind of the weoneomin traveling in country.
I'm still having some grumpy Korea time, readjusting back from my trip to the West. Today, making my way to the shops after work, I made a game out of mowing directly through the path of the people who aimlessly meandered into it while gawking at my face and cleverly remarking that, "There's a foreigner!" It's something we all deal with on a daily basis and, eventually, learn not to even notice. But on those hard days, it's just... honestly. I copped out and took a cab for the short 20 minute walk home, just to avoid it.
I always get grumpy during vacation time. I don't have enough on my plate to keep me busy, distracted and exhausted. I also don't have my students around to balance out the gawking, slack-jawed portion of the population.
I'm really being too hermited for my own good at the moment. I'm still not returning the majority of phone calls, and only grudgingly agreed to meet another foreigner for lunch on Sunday. I am, however, having dinner with the lovely Kel in Hongdae tomorrow night, which I am actually looking forward to (and I'm not just saying that because she'll read this eventually). Also busy with all kinds of communication/making plans with people in other parts of the world. My head just isn't here right now, and I don't think it'll be back until after the new year (that's the lunar new year, for you non-ROKers), when the new school year finally starts.
The good news is, me and the handsome PE teacher were doing a bilingual sussing of the school year's calendar in the office today, and it looks like I've got a significant increase in time off this year. Last year was brutal because a lot of public holidays fell on weekends, and Chuseok fell smack in the middle of what was already my home leave. This year, Chuseok is in September, which means an extra week off, and Buddah's birthday is spread out away from Children's Day. Also, I have the year's experience to know when days off are potentially coming, whereas last year was full of, "Oh Liz! By the way! No work tomorrow or the next day! Enjoy the time off at home fucking around because no one gave you enough notice to actually plan anything! We're all going to Jejudo! See you next week!"
In other news, the students have suddenly started appearing back out on the streets of the neighborhood. I can only assume they've spent literally every waking moment of the last month in PC bangs, every last one of them, and that's why I haven't seen them around. Apparently, they've also been spending a lot of time in hair salons. The things they come up with to do to their heads: "야! 머리 왜 그래?! What... did you do that yourself?!" While my third graders have all got a head start on their ridiculous high school hair, my second graders have continued to grow into their third grader bodies and now nearly all tower several inches over me, which is no meager task. I got a glimpse at our new little first graders with voices so squeaky like I haven't heard for nearly a year -- they're pocket-sized and wide-eyed at the sight of the foreign teacher. My old first graders have begun to strut around with the swagger of little men who will soon no longer be at the bottom of the totem pole. Their language has gotten decidedly more dirty over the break.
Speaking of that, when Jeongwon at the center busted out with a completely random and extremely loud "FUCK YOU!!" addressing Haecheol on Monday night, I shared with the boys my childhood punishment of soap in the mouth for 15 minutes. They'd never heard that one before, but seemed to like the idea of it, in theory and happening to someone else of course. It effectively put an end to the four letter nonsense, for that session at least. I might use it with my regular classes. That is, if I thought a bar of soap were to be found anywhere at all inside the school building.
La. That's enough drivel for tonight. Sorry, guys. I'm laying low these days and spending quiet evenings in reading and brooding. Not too much to report. I'm sure something awfully nonsensical will happen soon, though. Stay tuned.
2.01.2010
고마워
Nothing to get your head on straight like finally, finally teaching again.
My mother/teacher's class is overflowing. Overflowing for a camp that is. And they're off to a great start, enduring all three hours, rather than starting out calls of headache after only two. They're an endless parade of compliments, about how thin and pretty I've become. Which, you know, who's going to object to that on a daily basis? And apparently, after finishing class today, they marched straight down to the main teacher's office to compliment me to Coteacher in front of the head teacher and the VP. There's nothing like having a group of ajummas pulling for you, I'll tell you. All's right in the (Korean) world, if you can manage to keep the ajummas happy.
And then, back to the center finally, where the boys puzzled over the Rangers badges I brought them back from Glasgow. Eventually, they managed to figure out that FC stands for football club, which was the term I was using to explain what the damned things were. Geonhee, my obvious little favorite, one of the twins, kept repeating, "Manchester?" over and over, at first out of genuine confusion, but thereafter just to get a rise out of me.
"Nooo! Geonhee! Glasgow! Scotland! Not England! Scotland!"
For the duration of the lesson, whenever there was a lull in hubbub, there he was again, randomly: "....Manchester?"
Chanhee, Geonhee's twin, apparently had some kind of head surgery while I was away and is shamefully sporting a beanie over his now shaved head and wound. I have absolutely no idea what the surgery was for, or how serious whatever it is was, because there's no one at the center who speaks anymore English than I do Korean. He was kicking up his usual nonsense tonight, though, so I trust he's alright.
They were bored with the game we were playing at first, so I decided that instead of passively giving them the edge, as I usually do with my students, I would ramp up my efforts, and everyone started to get more involved after I started stealing everyone's cards. I came under full attack, but still ended up taking third place, out of eight, with only the other set of twins (a cunning little duo the other boys call Cutie Baby One and Cutie Baby Two -- Jeongwoo and Jeongwon) managing to outdo me. Whenever I stole one of Geonhee's cards, I instinctively replied, "고마워" when he handed it over, which sent the whole group into a frenzy of delighted giggles.
"Teacher, again!"
"Go--mah--whoa. American style. You like that?"
"Yes! Teacher one more time!"
Every evening the woman who runs the center forces at least one of the boys to walk me to the bus station. Tonight, Geonhee took on the task, and slipped me two little chocolate candies before he turned to go. "고마워 건희."
"아! 샘! Thank you! 반가와요!"
"반가와요."
My mother/teacher's class is overflowing. Overflowing for a camp that is. And they're off to a great start, enduring all three hours, rather than starting out calls of headache after only two. They're an endless parade of compliments, about how thin and pretty I've become. Which, you know, who's going to object to that on a daily basis? And apparently, after finishing class today, they marched straight down to the main teacher's office to compliment me to Coteacher in front of the head teacher and the VP. There's nothing like having a group of ajummas pulling for you, I'll tell you. All's right in the (Korean) world, if you can manage to keep the ajummas happy.
And then, back to the center finally, where the boys puzzled over the Rangers badges I brought them back from Glasgow. Eventually, they managed to figure out that FC stands for football club, which was the term I was using to explain what the damned things were. Geonhee, my obvious little favorite, one of the twins, kept repeating, "Manchester?" over and over, at first out of genuine confusion, but thereafter just to get a rise out of me.
"Nooo! Geonhee! Glasgow! Scotland! Not England! Scotland!"
For the duration of the lesson, whenever there was a lull in hubbub, there he was again, randomly: "....Manchester?"
Chanhee, Geonhee's twin, apparently had some kind of head surgery while I was away and is shamefully sporting a beanie over his now shaved head and wound. I have absolutely no idea what the surgery was for, or how serious whatever it is was, because there's no one at the center who speaks anymore English than I do Korean. He was kicking up his usual nonsense tonight, though, so I trust he's alright.
They were bored with the game we were playing at first, so I decided that instead of passively giving them the edge, as I usually do with my students, I would ramp up my efforts, and everyone started to get more involved after I started stealing everyone's cards. I came under full attack, but still ended up taking third place, out of eight, with only the other set of twins (a cunning little duo the other boys call Cutie Baby One and Cutie Baby Two -- Jeongwoo and Jeongwon) managing to outdo me. Whenever I stole one of Geonhee's cards, I instinctively replied, "고마워" when he handed it over, which sent the whole group into a frenzy of delighted giggles.
"Teacher, again!"
"Go--mah--whoa. American style. You like that?"
"Yes! Teacher one more time!"
Every evening the woman who runs the center forces at least one of the boys to walk me to the bus station. Tonight, Geonhee took on the task, and slipped me two little chocolate candies before he turned to go. "고마워 건희."
"아! 샘! Thank you! 반가와요!"
"반가와요."
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