Today is Teachers' Day. I don't know what that means. There were no flowers or gifts given - but I did receive 3 letters from some of my students.
Ji Soo Yoo (5th grade) wrote:
I can't write english very well. but can you understand?
however everyday is very cold. So because wear fat.
I have very little cold.
So, I don't fully understand, but I think I get the gist of what she is saying - it's cold here! How appropriate, it coincides quite well with yesterday's post!
Here's one more little gem from Eun-Ji (grade 5):
Welcome to comming our elementary school!!! (editor's note: I've been teaching this kid for almost 4 months now!!) I wish for you to happy and fun at our elementary school. I want to English test (speaking) is 100!! I want to speak English very well. Help me!
and I love you.
These letters definitely brightened my day. I hope they gave you a smile too!
~Jen
I don't know about you, but I keep coming to this site, hoping that there is a new blog post that has magically appeared... unfortuantely the blog post isn't writing itself... welcome Jen!
I've been thinking about writing this post for the past 2 weeks, but I've been strangely busy at school marking millions of tests (okay, maybe not millions, but a lot of tests...) and planning/teaching my classes.
During the past few weeks here, the temperatures have dropped. We've turned on our heating system for at least an hour each night (don't want to break the bank with expensive heating bills!!!) to take the chill out of the air. I've been putting on my extra layers to stay warm both at school and at home. At home, it's do-able. It's not too cold. Our apartment is surrounded by other apartments which help to keep the heat in. At school, well, that's a whole 'nother story.
My co-teacher has not turned on the heat in our classroom since the temperature began to drop. It's been minus one, two, five... and no heat. Now, this would be okay - the kids' body heat helps to warm the room, we get a bit of sun every now and then, but, in addition to the not turning on the heat in the classroom, my co-teacher insists, yes INSISTS, on opening the windows every so often. Now, I'd like to call myself a Canadian (but I really am a wimp when it comes to the cold weather, Uganda killed any sense of a winter skin that I spent 23 years developing...) but I cannot teach in a classroom that is only 15 degrees (Celsius). My fingers get cold. My toes often freeze. I even found myself searching out sunbeams in my classroom when the kids were writing their tests last week. I discovered that at 10:07am the sunbeam first makes its way into the classroom (if I'm lucky and there are no clouds), so I too would make my way to the back of the classroom to soak up the sunbeam. I've been wearing three to four layers in my classroom, including, one day, my uber-warm wool scarf. But I'm still cold.
I'm sure some of you may be saying, "Stop complaining, you're Canadian, you can handle winter.." But I can't. I really can't. And the reason why my co-teacher refuses to turn on the heat? Well, because of the dust in the heater. She's so scared that the dust will end up everywhere. The one time she did turn on the heater was just before we went to lunch. She opened all the windows, every single window she could, turned on the heat full blast and left the room. Needless to say when we returned the room was warmer....
This dust phobia reminds me a lot of fan death. Koreans are afraid of death by fan. Like, they think that it's possible to die if you sleep with a fan on in your bedroom in the summer and all your doors closed. Something about the fan taking oxygen away from your mouth and causing you to suffocate. Either suffocation, or death from hypothermia. Apparently there are cases of it documented each summer in the newspapers. Doctors agree that Korean citizens should be afraid of fan death.... I even asked my educated, smart, co-teachers what they thought of this fan death, and they believe it.
Anyways, the end of the matter is that I'm cold. Send me sweaters, scarves, wool socks... whatever works. My co-teacher just asks the kids why they don't wear their coats to class when they complain of the cold... I silently ask, "Why can't we just turn on the heat?"
~Jen
This segment was on the local news. My school was featured because of their broadcasting program. Every morning the grade sixes (well some of them..) do the school announcements (it's broadcast on the televisions that are in each of the classrooms.
All the students in this video are kids I teach. The teacher who is interviewed (Yun) is one of my office mates. She's really kind and friendly.
You won't be able to understand any of this (unless you speak Korean...) but it's a good look at my school (they pan across the school yard), and a chance to see some of my kids in action. They recenly won an award for their broadcasts. Yun received a digital camera.
Enjoy!
~Jen
 Attempt number two… Grr!
I would politely ask that if you ever make your way over to my house (and you are very welcome) that you remove your shoes before entering. I don’t like to vacuum, and taking off your shoes means that there is less dirt flying around my house (or in this case, apartment…)
Koreans believe the same thing. Many restaurants require that patrons remove their shoes (and sometimes even don sandals) before entering. Every morning I make my way through the children who have stopped at the front of the school to remove their outer shoes and put on their indoor shoes. I too am expected to remove my outdoor shoes (unfortunately I rarely do… I like my shoes to match my outfits and can’t be bothered to carry a different pair of shoes to school every day…. Shhh!)
Lesson 14 for my grade sixes utilizes the phrase “Don’t take off your shoes”. Now, I don’t know about you, but most of the people that I know (in fact, all of the people that I know…) request that their visitors remove their shoes before wandering around their homes. Upon teaching this lesson I proceed to tell my students that if they ever come over to my house they are required to take off their shoes. I try to instill in my students the idea that almost all “Westerners” will require that they remove their shoes when they visit – just like they are expected to do so in Korean culture. My co-teacher, however, doesn’t agree. She lived in Seattle for a year. During that time, her landlord came over to her condo and entered the house without removing his shoes. She also mentioned that there is no spot to leave your shoes in a “Western” home. In Korea there is a step down in the front hall, a spot for people to leave their shoes.I tried to explain to her that often times service people don’t remove their shoes, but everyone else does. Still, my co-teacher would proceed to tell the students that it depends on the family.
Now, I know that not everyone removes their shoes before entering their homes, but my feeling is that the majority of people do. So, I’m conducting a poll. Please leave a comment to tell me whether or not you (and your family… friends…) remove your shoes before (or upon) entering your home. Am I crazy (well, don’t answer that…)? Do Westerners really NOT remove their shoes upon entering their homes… ? Am I really not the norm?
~Jen
[edit: The girl who says "Oh, don't take off your shoes, we don't take off our shoes in the house" is white. She is clearly from America or Canada, hence my co-teacher's belief that this statement is true of all North Americans...]
 Lesson 9 of my Grade 5 curriculum uses the key phrase "Whose ____ is this?" By the end of the lesson the students should be able to ask "Whose ____ is this? Is this yours?" and respond "Yes, it is" or "No, it's not mine".
Today, at the end of one of my fifth grade lessons a bunch of students huddled in a group close to the door looking down at the floor. Wondering why they were not leaving, I approached them to find out what they were looking at. "What are you looking at?" I asked. "Tooth" they replied. I looked down, and low and behold, there was a tooth on the floor. How it got there, I don't know. How I didn't notice that one of my students lost a tooth, I'm not sure. When I asked "Whose tooth is this?" no one replied. I asked again, and one of the weaker students replied "No, it's not mine."
I had to laugh to myself as I picked up the lost tooth and put it in the garbage (the tooth fairy doesn't bring money for teeth that are not yours!) - well, at least something that I've been teaching over the past 2 months has sunk in!
~Jen
 There are some classes that I teach that kick my butt. I come away from the lesson feeling frustrated and drained. My class yesterday did that to me. There are, however, other classes that remind me why I went into the teaching profession. My class today did that for me. I was going to blog about this one boy in my class on Wednesday, but didn't have time. He was in my class again today, so I figured I'd share a bit about him with you.
This boy is one of the boys who doesn't always listen, he doesn't speak any English, and I don't think that he understands much either. He rarely comes to class with a pencil, let alone his textbook. He usually sits at the back of the room picking at a scab or doing something destructive to his body. I worry about him. I wonder what his home life is like and how his parents treat him. I wonder if he gets fed every morning. I wonder if he gets told that he is loved...
I'm afraid that I tend to give him some extra attention. I'll wander over to his seat and try to encourage him to do some work, and try to give him some positive attention. There have been a few days when he has actually participated in the lesson. He actually works on the activity; this makes me so excited.
Today we gave our kids a Halloween word search at the end of the class. This gives them the chance to practice spelling words (you say the letters over and over in your head as you search for them on the paper). Well, this boy, started to work on the word search. With 2 of his friends they sat, very focused, and found all of the words. In fact, they were so focused, that when the bell rang, and the rest of the class left, and my co-teacher left, the three boys were still sitting in the class, trying to finish the word search. This moment gave me hope for this boy. I gave him a high five as he brought his completed word search up to show me before he left. He even told me the password ("I must do my homework") that the students have to say before they leave class.
These are the moments, the little connections I make with my students, that make the teaching worthwhile. I don't love standing at the front of the class teaching, I love the relationships that are created between student and teacher - this is when the true learning begins.
~Jen
 My co-teacher Sue was appointed a full time position at another school yesterday. I knew that she would be leaving sometime in the next two weeks, but this quick departure came as a surprise. I was a bit nervous about teaching the grade fives without someone to translate, as Sue translated everything for them (there was more Korean spoken in that class than English!) Sue is a great teacher, she has the students admiration and respect and is able to manage her classroom quite well (especially considering she just graduated from teachers college!) I'm really going to miss Sue. She has been SO helpful with everything here and has made my transition into life in Korea much easier. Jeff and I plan on having her over for dinner sometime soon.
I planned for my solo lesson, and was a bit nervous, but figured that I could handle it. The homeroom teachers of two of my grade 5 classes stayed in the class with me (you can't be alone in a classroom in Korea unless you have a teaching certificate FROM a Korean university....) but none of them assisted me (they don't speak English). I was pleasantly surprised to find that my classes went really well. The students understood what I was saying (and the class finished WAY earlier than expected because we didn't have major translations....) and we had a good time. After teaching these three classes today (the last one was attended by the computer teacher who asked if she could assist me... she didn't do anything thing, but she did repeat after me with the kids - I think she just wanted to practice her English!) I realised how happy I would be in a class on my own. I had complete an utter control over what happened in the classroom, and how it happened in the classroom. We ended up randomly singing a few English songs - which the kids ADORE! I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's classes.
That being said, I am getting a new co-teacher at the beginning of next week. I have no idea what her (I'm assuming she's female, most teachers here are...) qualifications are (or if she can speak English). It will interesting to see how things go.
~Jen
So today our school (Duksan) held a little flea market of sorts. Not sure for what purpose - maybe as a fund raiser. But anyway, it was pretty neat. I wish that I had brought my camera.
There was a lot of stuff being sold, for dirt cheap prices too! Lots of old clothes, books, stuffed animals, mostly, but there were also backpacks, marbles, hair clips, and much more. The students were pretty good salespeople and by pretty good, I guess I mean aggressive. As soon as I walked onto the playground, I had half a dozen students clamouring around me trying to get me to buy their goods, pushing each other out of the way and competing for my attention. It was hilarious.
The books were mostly old textbooks. I'm not sure what subjects they were, but I found it funny that the students were all still trying to sell them to me, even though I can't read (well, actually, I can read the alphabet, I just don't know what the words mean).
As for the clothes, well, there were plenty of tacky, brightly coloured garments available. The students were trying to sell me skirts and purses, often as a gift for Jen, but also sometimes for me!!! I even had one student try to sell me toddlers' shoes and shirts, and another attempting to get me to purchase 3 inch heels!
Most of the items were only about 50 cents or so, so it was a pretty good price. Each homeroom class had their own table / blanket on the ground and some of the classes seemed to be doing quite well - probably by virtue of their aggressive salespeople getting their friends to buy stuff!!!
All in all, it was kinda random, but a whole lot of fun. I'm glad that I had a chance to interact with the students outside of the classroom.
We have mold.
Yes, mold. Well, maybe it's mildew... I can't seem to figure out the difference, but either way, I can smell it when I go to bed, I smell it when I wake up, and I can smell something musty right now as I write this post.
After spending half a day on Saturday trying to obliterate the mold that took up a spot in our bedroom, it still smells musty.... So, we both talked to our co-teachers today and a solution was found - "send the accountant from my school to scope out the situation". Thus my afternoon began. With the permission of both the principal and the vice principal, the school accountant (with her courageous - yet lacking - English effort), the other school accountant (who was enlisted because she has a car - who wants to take a 1/2 hour subway ride when you can ride in the comfort of a Korean car!?), and I set off for my apartment.
After driving around the block a few times (I've never driven up to my apartment, I'm not sure how to get there by car!) we managed to make it to my place. It was 1:30pm at this time. I ushered the school accountant (I'm afraid that I don't know her name, and my co-teachers don't know her name, so, I don't call her anything, which is not uncommon for me in my school seeing as I barely know the names of the people I share an office with!!) into my apartment to see this mold. Although we had cleaned the mold/mildew (whatever!) on Saturday, there was still our "utility room" that needed to be dealt with, and I was ABSOUTELY CONVINCED that there was mold behind our dresser....
Unfortunately (well, maybe fortunately) there was no mold behind the dresser but the accountant was still impressed. She began to tell me how bad our apartment is and how apartments that are only three or five stories tall are usually poorly built... but if we sign on for another year we can move....
After assessing the apartment, the accountant and I headed over to E-Mart to purchase the necessary mold-fighting items. We came home with some one time use boxed dehumidifiers (I think they're filled with salt...), mildew spray stuff, and febreeze. The accountant then proceeded to inform me of how to use all these goods before we headed back to the school.
Environmental Disclaimer - this is a side note, connected to my escapades, but not furthering the story...I have a bit of a problem with the purchases that were made. As a self-proclaimed tree hugger/granola cruncher I was not happy to be spraying chemicals in my house and purchasing things that will only need to be thrown out. But, as a foreigner living in Korea, it is difficult to procure items, especially eco-friendly ones. I can't even find chocolate chips, let alone an eco-friendly mildew remover.... so, for now I must resign myself to the fact that I can only do so much. I will continue to use baking soda in my laundry with less soap, to recycle and compost, and to TRY to buy minimally packaged items (though this is also a very difficult task in Korea....) in order to do my part for the environment.
Okay, I'm out. Here's hoping that by the end of the week we will be mold free (and free from the musty smell!
~Jen
Tuesdays are frustrating. They usually are. Well, to be clear, the whole day usually isn't bad. It's just one class. And that class will be the death of me.
I don't what it is, but the entire class is horribly chatty. But that's not all, they don't listen to anything. I ask them to quiet down so that I can hear the other students talking. They don't listen. I ask them to stop talking so that I don't have to speak over everyone. They don't listen. I ask them to keep it down and keep on task. They don't listen.
It's so frustrating and disheartening how little respect they show for each other and for both myself and my co-teacher. I've even yelled at them to be quiet, to show some respect. It works for about 2 minutes, then they are back at it. I am truly at a loss at what to do with this class. And it totally deflates me.
Luckily, the class right after this one is full of saints (well, maybe not quite saints, but by comparison, they are pertty close) and it's nice that I don't have to end my day off on such a tiring note.
Anyway, if you're ever wondering how I'm doing here in Seoul, well, if it's a Tuesday, you'll always know that I'm pulling my hair out in exasperation! I know, I know... welcome to the teaching profession!
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