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Published: January 28th 2010
Cindy
One of my crazy Korean students for Winter Intensives. :)It's kind of remarkable how much I've learned from my students. Each student in each of my classes seems to want to take on the unofficial role of "Cultural Instructor" in an attempt to get me in-the-know in Korea.
No, really.
I can honestly say that without my Korean kids, I would have no idea how to count in Korean. Now I can count from 0 - 100 without any problems, though sometimes it takes me a minute to remember 5, 6, and 9. Don't believe me? 영 일 이 삼 사 오 역 칠 팔 구 십 십일 십이 십삼 십사 십오 십역 십칠 십팔 십구 이십... and so on. That's right. I can count.
I also learn some really random Korean words from them. They try so hard to teach me! lol
For example:
* leaf - 나믓잎
* human - 사람
* supermarket - 마트
* candy - 사탕
* teacher - 선생님
Incredibly useful words. Hah. They also think it's hilarious when I say "커피 주세요" because "커피" is pronounced "Kuh-pee" and means "coffee" but if you say "코피" or "Koh-pee" it means "nose blood" ...so instead of saying "Please give
Teaching Katie Teacher
How some students have decided I shall learn Korean. me coffee" you might wind up saying "Please give me a bloody nose." So my kids pretend they're hard of hearing, and then go "OH? KOH PEE, Katie-teacher?" and ball up their fists. Cute, sort of.
Also, IDK if you know this, but Koreans have a totally different age system here. SO I am not, actually, 22 years old, but am 24. "But HOW!?" No worries. I will tell you how. Koreans are 1 when they are born. "Okay, so I can see 23... but WTF 24?" Wait, it gets stranger. Instead of aging up on their birthday... everyone ages up on New Year's Day. So... I was 23 on December 31st... and turned 24 on January 1st.
My Sprout 1 student (KPop Eric) explained it to me. His brother's birthday is on December 30th. When his brother was born, he was 1 year old. TWO DAYS LATER, his brother turned 2. So his brother is "22" now, even though he is clearly barely 20.
IF THAT ISN'T CONFUSING ENOUGH... THERE IS ACTUALLY A SECONDARY AGE SYSTEM. This is how they age them for school, etc. With this one, you are 1 when you are born...
More Teaching KT Teacher
As you can see, they are very diligent in their attempts to instruct me. and you age up on your birthday! Hurray! SO famous KPop singer
">IU is "18" in Korea... but she was born in June of 1993... which means she's actually only 16. In school, her age is recorded as 17. Oh, Korea.
Additionally, my kids are pretty much half the reason I am as KCulture saavy as I am. I know all the groups and, of course, their corresponding dances... mostly because my kids teach me.
The thing about teaching kids... is that they're pretty blunt. And this is a great thing and a terrible thing. You come into work looking like you just got hit by an 18-wheeler, and you can bet money that at least one student will ask, "Oh, teacher.... what happened? You look bad today." BUT at the same time, put on a cute headband and get a bit of coffee in you before class starts and you're have kids going "TEACHER! CUTE TODAY!" which definitely helps make the day a little brighter... haha! I put on this headband I got in Seoul on Monday, and I was on the receiving end of "AWWW KYUUUUU" from both my little girls AND little boys ALL
"아바타"
How my kids change the given pictures to be Jake? from Avatar to make creative stories... DAY. Which was *so* nice. My one student went as far as to compare me to a KPop star... who beyond her haircut, bears little to no actual resemblence to me. But she was convinced that I looked like Nicole from KARA , despite my protestations.
Another funny thing about Korea is that you never know when you'll have a class come in... and a new student will have a perm. I kid you not. My Sprout 2, Johnny, came in on Monday with a perm. At first he wouldn't take off his hood... but I convinced it was fine. When he took it off, I told him that it looked great! And, of course, he beamed, and all of the girls in the class told him he looked like 구준표 (Gu Jun Pyo) from this ridiculously popular KDrama called
. So, now his new nickname is Jun Pyo, and he looooves the attention and elevated status his perm has given him... hahaha.
Anyway, I'll update with more pictures once I get a cord to hook my phone to my USB port. I have a ton from class on here that are just too funny not to
"Obama"
How most of my kids modify the given pictures to make a story about Obama. Oh, naive Korean children... post.
Eliza
non-member comment
Can you do the KARA butt dance? Then and only then will I agree with the Nicole comparison. XP