Blogs from Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea, Asia - page 5

I find it very sweet that the Korean school system makes room in the curriculum for teacher activities so we can "bond and work on unity", as my co-teacher says. I find myself comparing the Korean system to the American one constantly, not only because I went through it, but because my dad is a teacher. I truly believe it would make a great television show to send my faja over here. Getting drunk with my co-workers? Team sports? Classes cancelled at the drop of a hat? Not having my own classroom? He would FREAK. Now, he's been known to go fishing, rafting, or hang out with other teachers, but that was by choice. I can't imagine him and all the teachers grabbing some walking sticks after school and dragging themselves up a mountain. And yet ... read more

After a week or so of the kind of weather that made me want to curl up in bed or in front of a fireplace, the sun decided he wanted some time in the limelight and came out to strut his stuff over Guemsan. Thank god because I crave vitamin D like a crackhead craves coke. I went outside for a run and the sun was beating down on my head, making me sweat, and feel like it was the tail end of summer. I jogged along the street until I reached my new rival. The stairs of epicness that go up to the top of a hill where a large stone structure(someone inform me exactly what that is) gazes over the city. Perhaps I should count the stairs so I can point out how tiring ... read more

I love teaching at Buri Middle School (co-ed), where I teach one day a week out in the country. The classes are tiny, ranging from 6-20, and it's a sweet little place with mostly pleasant kids. My only problem is having to wait 30 min at the bus stop with the students after teaching a 90 min class and feeling like there is no longer a brain in my head. John Kevin Holly, as he calls himself, is Buri's golden child. He is the best English student there and I was able to carry on a decent coversation with him as he walked me to the bus stop. I learned that he had gone to bed at SIX AM that last night. I get up at seven am! What was he doing all this time? Playing ... read more

I already have an inside joke with my 3rd grade class. No big D. I was still laughing about this the rest of the day. I had the girls write English nametags, as I have been doing the last 8 lessons sigh, and they usually yell out names they want me to spell so they can write them down. One girl in green framed glasses said "Teacher, teacher! Adam?" I laughed and said "that's a boy's name but you can use it!" I wrote it on the board and all the girls started laughing. Once she realized it was a boy's name she said "No teacher, no!" but I kept calling her Adam. The girl sitting behind her had decided to be Lady Hee-Hee and kept raising her hand and saying "Lady Hee-Hee, yes!" They were ... read more

my co-teacher maria is da bomb. sincerely. she picked me up from orienation and whisked me away after we awkwardly held hands because we had no idea how to greet each other. we left very fast so i didn't get to say goodbye very well to people but hopefully i'll be seeing many of them soon. we got in the car and i asked her name and she said" kdsfjlkdjglsd" (that's how i write korean with my american computer, "but just call me maria, i am catholic." will do maria! at first i was nervous about what to say to her especially because her english is decent but nowhere near fluent so conversation was very stop and go. we had a two hour car ride so i knew i had to keep conversation going because i ... read more