Dear Blog Readers, My final week teaching has been great. It’s been emotional, exhilarating, surprising, hilarious and great fun. I had prepared a final review game which the students initially booed because they were expecting a movie like in their other classes but I’d prepared some good prizes. By good, I mean a random assortment of things which have been given to us over the course of the year. You’ll be amazed at how excited the students get over a box of plastic food freezer bags. I’d also made them a CD with some English bands on them which they liked and the prizes seemed to be enough incentive to have an awesome lesson. It was a review lesson on everything that I’ve taught them over the last semester. For those of you teaching here, it ... read more

Dear Blog Readers, I’m not sure how many more blogs I will be able to write as I fear that this time next week; I may have been reduced to a congealed, melted liquid of blood and organs due to the heat and humidity. It has already begun; in fact, it has come quicker than I was expecting. This is odd because I’ve been expecting it apprehensively since about October 13th 2010 which is when autumn finally arrived. The awkward question, “Do you sweat a lot?” which has been asked on many occasions can now finally be answered with, “Yes. Evidently.” I wake up. No wait, I should use that term loosely. On the fourth and final occasion of waking up after turning the air conditioner on during the night because I’m dying I have a ... read more

Dear Blog Readers, Exam fever has hit the schools of Boeun. The stress of the inevitable pressure is etched on the faces of my students in the form of acne. My third grade boys and my high school girls have got practice exams throughout the week and I’ve been conducting the English speaking test with my first and second graders. Initially I was worried that my speaking test would fall into the trap of having the students regurgitate nonsense from an already predominantly nonsensical textbook. The speaking test that my co-teacher and I wrote had some pretty common expressions from the textbook as well as some material from the lessons I’d been teaching. We had some absolute gems from the students though: Me: Do you like English? Student: No. Me: How many meals do you eat ... read more

Dear Blog Readers, Maybe titling the blog ‘Password Protected’ wasn’t such a good idea last week so I apologise to anybody who panicked upon clicking the link, such as my mother. The week started off alright. My cheeky second graders weren’t so cheeky after Mr Oh made them stand up and sit back down again for the first ten minutes of our lesson on Tuesday. I didn’t bother putting any wax in my hair in the morning because it had got to a length where it just clumped together and I looked like an idiot. This, of course, meant mockery was coming my way from a couple of second graders during the lesson: Cheeky: “Simon Teacher. Today. No wash hair?” Simon Teacher: “What?” Cheeky: “Simon Teacher. Dirty.” This seemed ironic coming from a classroom which, quite ... read more

Dear Blog Readers, I’ve been doing a lesson on England, cultural differences and gestures this week. It’s been fascinating for the students being given the exposure and I’ve been fascinated by some of the brilliant answers that they’ve given. Me: Who is the current Prime Minister of England? His initials are DC. Student: Washington DC. Me: What is the most famous river in London? Student: The River Nile. In Korea, the gesture to tell somebody, “Come over here!”, is basically making a limp wrist repeatedly. They find it hilarious that we have our palm up or use our index finger for the same purpose because you only do that do a dog or if you want a fight in Korea. I find it hilarious that they all look quite camp when they do it. I showed ... read more