6 months at ECC

Wednesday August 28th
Today was Science, as Wednesdays are. The project was actually pretty neat, but trying to explain it was difficult. We was having a dish of water, putting a little toothpaste on foam, and putting the foam in water. France class survived it, and we only had to use about one roll of paper towels. Niamh teacher started the project in Australia, but due to it being the last week of the semester, she was not able to finish with the class because there was some event going on. So I finished it with Australia. They were happy, because I am a fun science teacher. But of course, the glory of no cry could continue. Hayden spilled his water, and started to cry. Then I was like "it is only water," and I proceeded to pour some water on my head. The class thought it was hilarious. It also helped stop the cry session. Denmark was okay... decently behaved. We had the speech contest, so I only had them for one class period. The speech contest isnt much of a contest... It is basically the kids get a pencil and an eraser if they memorize the speech.
My first graders actually worked really well today. I told them if they were quiet and did their work, I would grade their tests and let them see the grades. So they were mostly well behaved, and I was able to finish grading their tests.
Greece class had a test, so that is all they did the entire class.
After work, I spent the evening working on progress reports and report cards.. I did have some problem because we have to use internet explorer to do them. Internet explorer sucks.

Thursday August 29th.
Gym day. I finished up my progress reports during gym time. Gym days are nice. I only really teach 2 Kindy classes. I gave out our new reading book to France class... so we just spent the class looking at it and getting to know it. Australia class we finished up all of our reading street work. So it was all super simple. I taught Denmark, but it was only teaching cartoon, and since this was the first day of cartoon, we just watched the cartoon. Easy.
My firstgraders were okay acting. We were reading a supplemental story. I started the standing if you cannot sit nicely or if you talk. The kids were getting a little out of control, and last time I did that, it worked really well.
I also taught my final class with Korea... It was kind of bitter sweet. Though I am excited to see if it makes a difference... I seriously hope it does. I know I will be teaching one of the classes, I am just not sure which one or who is in it. I did take a picture of them. So I present to you, Korea class.

So that is the infamous Korea class. Daniel, Danny, Dylan, Angel and Erica. Erica looks like she is being squished in the corner, but that is how she chose to stand. I took several pictures, and she is standing like that even with a person not right next to her. There is even one with her smiling a little more, but the other students are blurry.
After school I met up with Mark and his GF from NYC. One of my friends from GCC. We ate some Korean BBQ, had some froze yogurt, and talked. It was a good night.


Friday August 30th.
The 6 month mark at school. Aye aye aye.
We had a pot luck... but the potluck was scheduled for 10am. My classes were in the first group (France, Australia, and Denmark) along with Korea (kindy Korea). We were on the roof.  A few drops of rain came and everyone freaked out. It never actually rained, but those few drops were enough to change the plans. We had to gather up all of the food and bring it back downstairs. We finished the eating in our classrooms. We are watching cartoon in France, will all of a sudden people run out of Denmark (across the hall from France). This is never a good sign. I look... I see vomit. Lots and lots of vomit. Sean got sick. He ate too much. So there is vomit all over the desks, the floor, and in the hallway. He projectiled. And covered 2 other students. Oh, and the smell was horrible. So I get the rest of Denmark kids and have them come in to France and watch the cartoon with us. When it was time to change classes I  moved Denmark into the library and set them up watching another cartoon. Just to give Christina some time to regain her composure, and give the clean staff some time to change the room. I was sooooo happy I was not teaching Denmark when that happened.
In Australia, since we were done with all of our work for Reading Street, I took them to the seminar room to watch cartoon. I put on an episode of Adventure Time. Teachers all like it, but it scares some Kindy kids and some do not like it. It was a risk... I could always play another if the kids did not like it. Valeria, who is often quite and shy. A great worker... but not a very fun students (does not like playing games or similar). There were some times while watching the show, she just burst out laughing. Other kids had no idea what was going on in the show, but she did, and she was laughing hysterically. It did not just happen once either... it happened quite a bit. It was very interesting to see. Not at all expected. I'd like to say it is very telling, but I dont know what it would be telling of.
We had speakers corner with the first graders today... it was a writing one... I tired to make it as fun as possible because it is our last one (we are moving to a book next month).
Greece class was okay. I had to finish up the tests. It was definitely a Friday and had a very Friday feeling. The kids had energy and did not want to focus on anything. It was more or less a wasted class, other than me finishing the tests. I think that was part of the problem too. I spent the first half of the class doing the speaking portion of the test with a few people, so when I got in, regaining control was near impossible.
I took the bus home again. I like it. I like being with the students outside of the classroom environment.
I am not planning on doing anything tonight. Just staying around Bobo, maybe pulling a GS night... I have to be up early-ish tomorrow. One of my students is getting an award, as is one of Ama's. So we both are meeting Louise in the morning to get lunch then go to the award ceremony.
Eric-out.

the week is going by....

Tuesday August 27th
Today was the Drama presentation, so I missed out on an hour of France. No crying! Australia was well behaved and worked quickly. For Denmark, we were supposed to watch a video... of course we were not assigned to have the seminar room... so when I took the class there, there was another class that already was there watching something. What did I do? I went to that teachers classroom, had my students sit down there, and I used their computer and TV to watch a video.
My first graders took a test today... I started looking at them, and it looks like at least half of the class got a 100%. Yesterday I did review with them instead of introducing new material. I'd rather be a day behind and have better grades. I can always catch up. I also gave the students 15 minutes before the test to study. Most re-read the story, and I let them ask me questions.  This taught me one thing.... the students had a ton of questions about what words meant. Words not relevant to the test, but still there was a lot of questions. Next story we do, I will let the kids interrupt as we are reading so they know what these words are. It may help them. A lot of the words were verbs and adjectives. I guess I usually assume that they would ask me if they did not know something... It turns out they do not. Maybe it was because we were taking a test, or maybe it is because I do not think I specifically asked or told them to do that.
Here is a picture of several of my Denmark 1st graders. When I was sick, they were in the teachers room taking pictures with my phone (I let them play with it). I then got my phone an took a picture of the three of them. They are in the teachers room almost every day before their class starts. I was looking through my phone and saw this pic, and figured I might as well add it.

The left is Chloe, then Ann in the middle and Diana with the Windy head band.

Korea class was good. Most of them do not know they are getting split up... I think Rachel was going to tell them today. I sure hope it works out. It will probably have the most positive effect on Angel... She came and was bright and enthusiastic, but the class definitely dragged her enthusiasm down. Erica could go either way.... it may help her to be away from Dylan, but I am not sure if she is good with change. Hopefully whatever teacher gets her still gives her that extra attention... While her attitude is still not great... I have definitely gotten her to open up, talk a little more, ask some questions, smile and laugh. Danny will succeed without Dylan. When Dylan is not in class, Danny is a lot better as a student... works harder and talks more. Daniel will still be with Dylan. Daniel is smart but does not care so he does not work. Dylan is smart, but her is lazy and does not not care and wants to get his way. I am not sure if I will be moved to teach any of their classes. It is supposed to be Erica Angel and Danny together and Daniel and Dylan. I would rather teach the first three because there is potential, but restarting Daniel and Dylans desire to learn has thus far been fruitless.
Tonight Rob, Sam, Sarah and I went to Costco. We ate dinner there. The hotdogs are great, and this time I also had a chicken bake, which is delicious. The food is super cheap too. We went to buy alcohol for Callums going away party this weekend. He is moving back to Europe next week to go to school (I think England, but not 100 percent). We are renting a hotel room that is called a party room. It has a 10 person hot tub, a pool table, huge TV, and all other sorts of fun things. So it will be fun, but it will be sad to see Callum go.
Thats all about today...

just a few days

Friday August 23
Today, I made one student cry. Not on purpose, but I know I could have mitigated the situation so they would not cry. It was Hayden from my Australia class. We have been in school for 6 months. He is a second year, so that means he has been going to ECC for 1 year and 6 months. Long enough so where a student should know how things work. Well, Hayden, several times a week forgets his pencil in his cubby. He grabs his books and then sits down, and as soon as we start to work he says "Can I go get my pencil?' Normally I let him, but it is about time that he gets weened off of that. So I told him no. So without his pencil, he was not able to work. So I told him that after he was done eating lunch, instead of playing, he could finish his work then. So he more or less sobbed for the rest of class. Though I continued to treat him like all of the other students and still called on him to answer questions. So, I know I could have let him get his pencil, or not told him that he was not allowed to play during lunch... but I didnt. I told Niamh teacher what I was doing (she is their lunch room teacher) and she agreed.
It was a speakers corner for my firstgraders, and yet again, they had to do the writing part again. So... being the nice guy I am, I bought the class mechanical pencils. For older kids, it would be no big deal, but for first graders, it is a great cheap gift... but by the end of the class, there were 3 broken ones (in a class of 11). And they weren't like good breaks... as a kid, I used to take stuff apart to play with... no, these were like kids just being too rough with them and breaking them.
Third graders were okay. I had to do some of Angela Teachers work with the kids because she was behind and I was not.
I rode the school bus home again.
I did not do anything at night. I watched the wire.

Saturday August 24th
Slept in pretty late. For whatever reason, going to bed is tough, but sleeping in the morning... super easy.
I was going to watch my First Grade Chloe in a contest at the school right by ECC.  I show up. I find her Korean name, go to the room. Turns out it is not a contest like we thought. I thought it was a speaking contest... but it was a writing contest in a classroom. So, I did not see her nor did I stay.
At night, Rob, Callum, Mike, Sarah and I all went to Paradise Casino. We were thinking of going to Busan, but we just decided that going to the casino was closer. So we all went in expecting to loose the money we would have spent on Busan. We were just going for the fun of it. The casino was nice. Alcoholic drinks were free. We just placed an order and they brought us a drink. Food was free. We placed an order at the table, and when it was ready, they came and got us. So, while I wasted a lot of money, I ate 3 meals, and have a pretty decent number of drinks. We were at the casino for about 8 hours.
After the casino, we went to Kongdae... Konkuk University... not the university itself, but the area around the university. The place with the bars.  The area was pretty similar to Hongdae. Hongdae is near Hongik University.  I do not know if I have described where the name comes from before... but I might as well tell again.  So, for Hongdae, the name for the university is 홍익대학교 which is 홍익 Hongik 대학교 daehakgyo. Hongik is the name and Daehakgyo means university. So, just like the chicken and beer, ChiMaek (taking Chi from chicken and Maek from Maekju). Hongik becomes Hong and Daehakgyo beacomes Dae. You get Hongdae.
So we stay there for a while. While there, we play a game where we dare eachother to do things. We play rock paper sissors and the loser has to do something. They said they had to be careful about what they would dare me to do, because I would actually do it. I have no shame, and I do not get embarassed easy.
We then went to a bar that had TV sets in the booth. You could look at other booths on the screen, select them, look at them, and send them drinks and food. So we tried sending bottles of Soju (cheap) to other booths, but nobody was accepting it... we were kind of let down.
All in all tonight was an expensive but really fun night.

Sunday August 25th
Slept in. Did not get home till after 5 am. I did nothing today. I went on a walk around Mokdong. Went to home plus. I skyped with my parents at night. But the day was more or less a wasted day. When I was shopping, I did buy 2 usb wifi adapters for 2 of the classrooms that do not have internet. I am hoping to get the Greece class computer fixed by the end of the week. I am proactive... I do not like the process of waiting around until the school does something... I would rather waste my own money and not have to worry nor get frustrated. 20 bucks buys me piece of mind. I am okay with that.

Monday August 26th.
Today was our cartoon presentation. So, was the awesome contraption that I made used? Nope. The lighted sign and the shower curtains were...but the stand was not.... I do not think they understand that I made it to be like a stage, where the students can walk out from behind it.... oh well. It still looked okay, and better than what it was.
All of my kindy classes went well. the people that cry more often were not at school. So it was a tearless day. I am ready for August to be over... in my Denmark and Australia class... I am tired of the story we did in August... it was boring... and the work is also boring. There are good stories, and stories that are just dull. This one was a dull one. I am not sure what we will have next month, but I hope it is more entertaining and exciting that this months.
With my firstgraders, I started to make them stand up again... I got soft... I am not any more. I think they do not like the discipline, but I think they crave it. They need it, even though they will not like it. I gave them class points today even though they were not that well behaved... they get really excited when points are given... so hopefully that small taste of it keeps them going.
My third graders have a test on Wednesday, so we did some review... I was going to take them to the gym for fun at the end of class. I told them to leave their bags in the class. Several still lined up with their backpacks. I told them again... and several went "awwwww" so I said "Okay, we just wont go" and I did not take them to the gym. We just kept on reviewing in the class.
I took the ECC bus home again today. I like it... There is one girl, I have no idea who she is... I need to find out though. I think she is a kindy... maybe a 6year old. But she just stares at me the entire ride and smiles. She seems very shy and afraid to talk to me. She could be older... but just her reactions are so kindy student like. Its kind of cute. After one of the kids was dropped off, she went and took her seat which was a row away from me, and she just spent the rest of the ride watching me and smiling, and laughing whenever I made a funny face.
Did nothing tonight... we were going to go to costco... but that got pushed off until later...

Mixed Bag

Thursday August 22nd
Today was a complete mixed bag of emotions...
It was a gym day today, which to me means not teaching much. Which is a great thing and the end of the month, because I have 29 report cards to do for my students. I use my gym breaks to do the report cards. I was able to get done with one class (of 3 during my gym breaks today). I do have a problem of getting distracted... working in the teachers room stinks. Non of my kindy kids cried today, though I did only have each one for only one class period.
My first graders were pretty good today too... They worked hard and were attentive for most of the class.
Korea class was okay... it was a vocab day... so it was a tough day, because the kids just do not work.
I stayed after to work on grading my report cards. During the last 2 hours, I was in the library (easier to work there than in the teachers room... plus I can listen to music. (I normally use the seminar room, but it was occupied). There was one student in there. Didi. Who is Didi? Ronnie Teachers daughter. First I did not know who it was... just some student in the library. Then 2 classes came in to use the computer in the library, and then I found out it was Didi. So... She waits at ECC until it is time for her to go home... normally when Ronnie leaves. What does she do? Hang out in the library and read, do home work, or draw. Well, after the classes left, the computer was still on in the library, and there is a touch screen. I never knew it was a touch screen so I am fascinated. My fascination pulls Didi's attention. Ronnie was out of ECC running errands, so I think Didi felt a little more free. So we spend the entire hour playing on the computer (I say playing, but it was more doing MS Paint, minesweeper, pinball, and then Sugar Sugar (the flash game). She seemed to be having such a good time (a change from the mundane). Well when Ronnie comes back and walks by, Didi says "Okay, In need to start reading" and grabs a book, and holds it upside down. I am still at the computer. It still has her attention. She occasionally pretends to read... I eventually tell her that she should at least have the book right side up. We eventually both go back to our seats, and I continue working. She then says I'm hungry. So, instead of just letting that pass, I start to engage her and talk to her about food. I am doing my report cards, and she is reading, and we are talking back and forth. I'm not sure, but I think she had fun. I am known to do that to any kid... Just like back in NY, I am really good at keeping kids entertained. In Didi's case, I think my teachers would not do that with her... because it is Ronnies daughter, and they do not want to get in trouble (idk if that would happen) because they distracted her. To me, a kid is a kid is a kid... and a happy kid make a happy Eric. Even though I was tired and frustrated... she gave me energy. One of the games (Sugar Sugar) is a problem solving game. It was incredible watching her try to think and solve the problem. I love watching the mind tick like that.

 So... lets go into why today was a mixed bag. I am drinking a beer right now.... I have been good and not drinking on the weeknights, cause it saves a bit of money... But tonight, I just needed one.
As I have talked about before, my class (Denmark in particular) does not have a TV/Computer in it. So today I took the kids to the seminar room so we could do out cartoon network class. It was occupied by Greece class. Greece class left. Why was Greece class in there? Well, there is a computer in the classroom and a big TV... but that computer has been broken for a month. So they cannot use it. This was the first time in a month I have gotten to take Denmark to the seminar room for our cartoon class because summer intensives were taking place in it. This was their first opportunity too. Normally one class can use the computer in the Library, but just like the seminar room, it gets filled pretty quickly. Then Canada Class and Sweden class have computers, but their classes cannot connect to the internet. We have told the administration, but as of yet, the situation has not been corrected. Today, I was going to take and reward my firstgrade class (we are in Denmark classroom) to watch a supplemental video for the story we read. It is one thing that we are supposed to do (I learned in training, and they encourage us to use videos and youtube to help the kids). So, we get done with our work really quickly. The library has people in it and the seminar room has the Kindergartners working on their musical (Kindy kids always have the seminar room as I have my firstgraders). So due to these reasons, today was the first day that I seriously contemplated not staying with ECC for another year. Yes it is little... but the problem has been ongoing, and the administration does not seem to realize how frustrating it is.
Then on the flip side.... I stayed late today to work on my report cards. So I left the same time Rachel left. Rachel told me that Erica cried a lot in her class today. Dylan was giving Erica a hard time, messing with her stuff, and Erica just broke down (it has been building for a long time). Rachel and I talked about Erica, and her situation sucks. I thought Erica's sister was a bit more normal... but the stories Rachel told me about her... she is about like Erica. Not popular and a social outcast. From what Rachel has heard and I have echoed, their home life is not good because their parents are always busy. Erica is 12 and her sister is younger, but parents aren't home when they get home, and they are just given money to go get dinner. It is a tough life... and I can see why it would be difficult to socialize. So Rachel and I talked about that, and then I found out She is super frustrated and that made me happy. Not happy that she was frustrated, but I was overjoyed at the cause of her frustration. They are splitting up my Korea class!!! This is putting Rachel under a lot of pressure and stressed, because she is in charge of splitting them up. They are going to combine Korea in with Australia and Spain (afternoon classes). They will be mixing Australia and Spain (4th grade) with Korea (5th grade). They are at the same level. I offered to help Rachel because I know a lot of the students. The problem is, that if it fails, Rachel will get blamed. Erica's mom is already not happy (why should her daughter have to be in class with 4th graders). Erica is nervous about moving to a new class. I think it will be good for her. The personalities of the other class are a lot more kind and welcoming... and there is one boy I think she will get along with. He is a big video game nerd, and she is too. I think she needs someone to socialize with about something that interests her. It might help to bring her more out of her shell. I am also happy that Angel will be in a new class of students that are not as Jaded as the Korea class kids are. She is bright and has a lot of potential, but Korea was like a cancer for her and making her stop doing her work.
So today, super frustrated because of the technology, but super happy because they are finally doing what I have been saying needs to be done. I know I probably had about nothing to do with it..., but I am sure glad it is getting done. It will probably screw my schedule up... but I am okay with that especially if it helps these kids.

keeping on.

Tuesday August 20th
Today started off pretty strong. Nobody cried in France... usually a good sign! Well that lasted until 2nd hour with Australia. Emily cried. We were doing work in our workbook. She got the top part of the page done really fast. The bottom part of the page, well, not so much. The page had a word bank (a box in which you select the words from). I write the answers on the board. Well, I turn around and she is crying. She got several of her answers wrong. Normally no big deal... but she is one that is sometimes that the smallest thing can set her off. Today, a wrong answer was it. Other times, she gets the answer wrong, and keeps at it as she tries to figure it out. Denmark was pretty good. It is just keeping them interested (as I always say). We did our reading street book at the end of the day and good manners. Good manners after the training is going a little better... but the class still stinks. These just are not fun exciting things, and there is not much to do to really make them too exciting.
My firstgraders behaved for most of the class. So at the end after we finished all of the work, I gave them a word search and connect the dots. It held their interest pretty well.
Korea class... well was Korea class. I was splitting them into groups. I originally had Dylan with Daniel on the For side of the debate topic, and Danny and Erica against. Dylan put on a hissy fit and said he wanted to be against it. With Dannys permission I changed Dylan to the against and Danny for. Then Dylan was upset because he was going to be partners with Erica. Whatever... classes have to get along. Well we start getting into the topic, and Dylan gets mad that he is against. He then wanted to be for. I told him too bad. I went into how I originally had him for and he threw a fit. I brought up that the entire class saw him throw a fit. He accepted it. The subject we are doing it paparazzi. Why do we have 12 year olds debating paparazzi? I dont know... it just goes along with the quality of our read and debate.
At night, Rob and I ordered a pizza from Pizza Heaven. They have a pizza with chocolate cookie crust. We have both been slightly disgusted and yet intrigued by it. It was oddly okay. The crust under the pizza is traditional. The chocolate cookie part was the outside crust... think like a cheese stuffed crust pizza... but instead of cheese crust, it is chocolate, chocolate chip cookie. It was like eating a piece of pizza and immediately eating a chocolate cookie. The cookie would have been great with a milk, and the pizza a beer. I had neither, probably for the best. I do not think I would get it again... It wasnt bad, but if I am paying an extra 3 bucks, I think I would rather just have cheesecrust on the pizza, or order a cookie to eat after the pizza.
Rob and I and a new friend of Rob and Sarah and I sat out and played Apples to Apples. Ama came and joined us a little later. After that, I went upstairs and watched some Wire, then went to bed.

Wednesday August 21st.
Woke up super tired... I was up too late watching the wire. I had science with France class... Science should be fun... sometimes... it is more stressful than it should be. For science, we pass a bag out to each student that has the supplies in it... the supplies are not complicated. So, for example lets say there are 3 pieces of paper. A white one, a black one, and a red one. If I say pull out the black paper... 2 kids will do it with no problem, 1 kid will pull out the red one, 1 will pull out the white one and draw on it or fold it. 3 of them will pull it out, and say "like this?" and the last one wont be paying attention. This turns a simple 8 step science project into a thousand step one.... today we did finger printing with tape and powder... cool project... but I really wish they gave us extra supplies. When you give kids tape... my God kids love tape. So the kids have tape that they are not supposed to touch... hahaha. and giving some of my kids anything that can make a mess... lets just say, some of my kids were covered in powder in minutes....
Australia behaved today. No problems with them. Denmark class... I was going to play a game with them. Games are great, it gives them energy for the rest of the day. So I asked the back row to move their tables back. All of a sudden Shawn starts crying. Why? Chloe moved the desk and he didn't get to help. She move the desk and not me. Needless to say I did not play a game with them. When Shawn realized that I was not going to yell at Chloe, and realized that he ruined it for the class (Several of the students just said 'Shawn' he stopped his crying pretty fast. I dont know what it is with kids, but they sometimes just love trying to get each-other in trouble. I am sure I was probably like that sometimes.... Teacher, so and so is doing this or that... Heck, maybe I even tried crying to get someone in trouble... I am not sure. I cannot remember. If I did...I am sorry. Live and let live is a better philosophy. I know some teaches love and encourage the kids to do that. Most of the time I am just like... okay, and I keep going... Rewarding that behavior is bad (---- in France, I need to start taking my own advice. We have rules about leaning in chairs and standing. Students tattling on eachother keeps students in line a little bit... but I am just conditioning this behavior. I did not start this behavior, but I am continuing what whichever teacher started the new rules philosophy. A philosophy I do not like. So I will tell the students tomorrow that they should not tell me when a fellow student it breaking the rules-------).
My firstgraders were all tired today. They misbehaved a lot at the beginning of class, but at the end they were all tired and behaved.
My one one one one with Chloe was okay. It is fun, and is always a mini workout. She always wants to play games, be lifted up, and all sorts of things. Today, she hung upside down from my arm... But while she is going all of these things, she talks, and that is what the one on one is all about.
Greece was okay. We are almost done with the book we are using, and I can't wait. Hopefully whatever we do next is better. I would like the book so much better if I taught the entire thing instead of just a half of it. No rhythm. I mean, the book definitely could be better... but I wish I could actually lesson plan with it. Just the way it is brought up, it sucks. Like today, I teach 1 page of the book. The one page has 12 sentences (6 questions and 6 answers). Then there are 3 questions about the 12 sentences. We then do two workbook pages. But a lesson about 12 sentences a stretch.
Afterwork I went to Gangnam. There was a person that was selling size 13 shoes on Craigslist, so we decided to meet there for the exchange. I still want to get the hand made shoes sometimes, but a pair of size 13 new balance shoes are good. I do not have a pair of tennis shoes other than my converse... and my converse are starting to fall apart a bit (I wear them a lot). I have a love hate relationship with shoes... I hate shoes.... but as I am getting older, I have seen the difference between comfortable shoes and crap. A comfortable pair of shoes can make all of the difference.
I went by Ho Chicken and picked up a box of fried chicken for dinner. I have been craving it. I at it all (I was hoping to save a few for breakfast).
So, that was my Wednesday. I will have to stay late at school tomorrow... Report cards are due.
joy.

Back to full

Saturday and Sunday August 17th and 18th
My final two recovery day. I did nothing. I slept and I watched The Wire. Thats about it. I left my apartment only to get food. I had no human interactions. On Sunday though, I felt high, I just felt so good, so light, so happy. I almost went for a run because I felt that good... but then I came to my senses and did not... because I did not want to go from feeling good to feeling like I just ran.

Monday August 19th.
New week! Woke up feeling great. Feeling like what I like to feel like. Full of energy ready for the kids. A no cry day... which I will take any day. It was hard to get Frances attention (first classes after a 4 day break). Australia was smart and fast. Denmark was typical Denmark. Great kids... but half of the class just never wants to work.
My Firstgraders were actually pretty well behaved today too. I am still trying to understand Wendy. I think I may have said something about this before... but maybe not. Ann always asks Wendy "Why do you always smile in Eric Teachers class but never in Karen Teachers?" Wendy is also the girl that gets a lot of class points taken away because she does not follow instructions (like open your book). She talks when I talk, but literally almost always has a smile on her face and is laughing. I did have to talk to her today and tell her I am glad she is happy, but I need her to pay attention. I think she still wants to fit in and does not know yet how to with that class. Slowly I am trying to shift her.
My third graders... well we didn't do any work today. We played games. We played duck duck goose and 7 up. I will make up the class work on Wednesday. All of them were tired in class and I knew that if we did work, the work would mostly be me giving them the answers. And it seems like one day of play can really earn you points with the kids. They love playing, and if they know you can take them every once in a while... well they will work hard trying to earn it. I got a note from one of my students... It was in Korean. I had Eva translate it... she just said it was cute. Oh well.
I rode the ECC bus back to Bobo. The kids were telling me I need to learn Korean and that I should study on the bus. I showed them the apps I have on my phone. I may take my study book on Wednesday and really impress them.
In all, today was not a very exciting day... but the first day back I dont think normally is. I think it is mostly trying to get and keep the students attention in order to get them back into the swing of school. I know all of the teachers are feeling a bit lagged too.
I am just planning on spending my evening in and not doing anything.
Until soon

Starting to look up.

Thursday August 15th and Friday August 16th.
Welp... Still sick, though on Friday I did wake up feeling a little bit better. I spent the majority of these days in bed. Either asleep or watching movies. Absolutely nothing productive got done. Just giving my body a rest and a chance to get better.
I have done some thinking... mostly about what's going to happen once I am done over here. I mean I still have 6 months left on this contract, and the way its looking, I'll extend another year. But after that. I loved NYC, but not sure if I'll be able to go back to it after Seoul. It's the little things. Subways... here they are cheap, clean, temperature controlled accurately, on time, have safety doors in the stations, well lit, stations are temperature controlled... in NYC, the subways are pretty much the exact opposite. Yes, in Seoul they do not run 24 hours. There are Taxi's. A trip in NYC (late night instead of waiting for a train for 30 minutes) would cost between 15 and 20 bucks. The same distance in Seoul... 5 or 6. Seoul has almost no public trash cans. Yet, the amount of litter is minuscule (people hold their trash till they find a can). NYC... Trash everywhere. 99% of the graffiti I see here is in English, same as in NYC.... but here there is a lot less. Cops in Seoul do not walk around with AR15's and the smile and nod their head at people. Grocery store food is cheap here. Homeless people here are few and far between, and they mostly keep to themselves (they do not harass me, nor do I see them harass Koreans), or try to sell trinkits to make money. I can buy a Soda that is larger than 16 ounces, and the government is not trying to take that away. The taxes I pay are low, the health insurance is cheap. Yet I am living in a major metropolitan city with a population over 10 million. Dont get me wrong, NYC has a lot of great things to offer. But it seem like in NYC you pay a premium on everything, though most is subpar. I was paying over 1000 a month, plus nearly 200 a month for utilities for 100sqf. It's very interesting to live in a city, that is equal to NY on a lot of different levels, but is far cheaper. I make less here, by a wide margin. Yet I can live like a king here and can still save money, and I can still do many of the exact same things I could in NY. Being in a city like Seoul has really started to change my mind and perspective on NYC. Something about NYC is magical, but the cost/benefit of it is going to be hard to resell me on... There are lots of other cites in the US that interest me.... Granted, I know this could all change... but being sick, laying in bed, has give me some time to think... also being on medications and having a fever makes your mind a bit different.
So, I am just sitting here, drinking Gatorade from a wine glass. Just because I don't feel well doesn't mean I cant be fancy.
I think I will start watching Finding Nemo or Ratatouille then hit the hay.

Sick... like actually sick.

Tuesday August 13.
Woke up in the middle of the night and was burning up. Turned my ac on high and fan on high and got a rag and got it wet. Went to school feeling very bad. The musical was only an hour and a half so I still had pretty much a full schedule. I tried to sleep during the musical. It was all in Korean. I was not able to... It was way too loud.
Got back to ecc for lunch time. I went to the doctors office during lunch. I was burning up and felt bad. The health care her is amazing. I walk in with no appointment. I do not have to fill out paper work (all of my medical information is tied to my alien registration card, so they just pull it up, also it is my insurance card). They take my temperature and it is 39.5 (103.1) and this was only 3 hours after taking Tylenol. I wait a few minutes and I go in and see the doctor. I then walk out, pay 3500 ($3.50) and head downstairs to the pharmacy to pick up my prescription. I pay 9500 ($9.50) for the pills and a gargling solution. I walk back to ecc. The entire process took less than 40 minutes.
I felt like crap but finished the day teaching. Louise told me I could go home... But if we have perfect teaching attendance we get a bonus.
I took a cab home and went to sleep.

Wednesday August 14
Waking up I felt worse than the day before. I still trucked through the day. I wore a shirt that showed showed sweat very prominently. I was sweating a ton cause I was still burning up. It was a gym day so during my first gym break I came home and changed to a shirt that didn't show sweat. Got back to school just as my kids were getting out of gym.
I told Rob and Ama that I was pulling out of the Busan trip. Disappointing because we were all looking forward to it. But I know I would have been miserable and it would not have been good for me.
I suffered through the rest of the day. I tried to keep my energy level high. Buy I was burning up, my throat and had were killing me and my entire body ached.
I came home and went to bed.

I know these two days do not talk about much in terms of students, thoughts, insights or anything else. My goal was surviving the days trying to have energy... Because of that... They were mostly a blur. I do know nothing big or out of the ordinary happened.

Case of the Mondays

Monday August 12th.
I am sleepy and sore.... I do not like this. I hope it is not me getting sick. I think it might be how horribly I slept last night... I almost pulled an all nighter. I just could not get comfortable. Then at lunch time, I hit a brick wall and all of my energy left, and it has not recovered, even with a short nap when I got home. My throat is almost sore... but I cannot tell if it is or not. Saturday night, at taco bell, my wisdom teeth smashed the inside back of my cheek. My eyes watered a little bit when that happened. It feel less like throat pain, and more like the pain from the inside of my mouth reaching down my throat. I have 3 kids that were home sick today, and several other sick kids in class... so it wouldn't surprise me either way. I never used to feel sick... (maybe once a year in the states). So keep your fingers crossed it is just exhaustion.
Today was mostly uneventful. Juliet cried, but only because Kelly pushed her and splashed her as she was washing her hands (at least that is what Juliet said). While not a great reason to cry, at least it was something more than colored pencils...
During one break today, I got nailed with a fist in the testicles. Incredibly painful... Any time you are around kids, its bound to happen... well it happened today... I did not much like it. I had to sit down as the pain passed. As soon as it happened, instead of cursing or things like some people may do, I just said "not cool."
My firstgraders today I tried something different. I split the class into two groups. Our assignment was a writing assignment. I figured that instead of just having the kids sit at their desks and write their own, they could collaborate. One team was really good at it, the other team did not much understand the working together aspect. But all of the kids seemed to enjoy it, and it was one of the easiest classes I've had with them in a while. I think sometimes doing something just a little out of the ordinary is enough to help kids attention.
Third graders were okay too. We spent most of the class doing the homework that they were supposed to do, but didnt. It was a review day, so it worked out pretty well. Otherwise I would have had to try to find something to keep them occupied.
Today, to come home I took the bus. Not the public transportation bus, but an ECC School bus. It takes a little longer than a walking or taking the public bus... but it is air conditioned from the time I leave ECC to when I am less than a block away from home. And it is free. So I think I am going to start doing that most MWF's, especially as it is hot outside.
This morning I found out that one of my friends just got accepted to work at an ECC in Daejeon. She went to OSU, but I did not know her from there. I actually met her and her husband in NYC. We really only started to forge a friendship as I was getting ready to leave NYC.  But we clicked pretty well, so I think we will be able to get into some shenanigans here in Korea. She should be flying out early September.
Okay, thats all I have for now! I am going to hit the hay (and I think I will actually be able to sleep well)! We have a kindy field trip tomorrow! Yay

Expensive

Thursday August 8th.
Pool on the roof. No gym. Classes all went pretty well today. I had 2 France and 2 Australia instead of the standard 1 of each on Thursday.  I did only have one Denmark class because during my Denmark time, it was their pool on the roof time.  What is pool on the roof? A small swimming pool on the roof.  We got all of the Australia kids and Denmark kids in it and gym teacher.  All of the teachers were invited to bring clothes to swim too. Only 2 did. Me (of course) and Niamh. Both of us were with Australia and Denmark.  Ronnie was happy. As I have said before,  photos are very important. Photos of the kids first, and then picture of the kids with the teachers (especially the foreign ones). We are a selling point and something they can market. They market the whole experience, so teachers being out there is good. On the album cover on the webpage, it is a picture of me and Niamh in with our kids.

The swimming culture is definitely interesting here. It was still almost like the public swimming pools. 99% of the kids had swimming caps, shower caps, or some sort of headgear on. Most of the boys wore almost wet suits. Skin tight bathing suits that covered almost their arms and went down to their knees. Some girls wore those, others wore bathing suits with a bathing long sleeve shirt, but there were a few that wore more of a western traditional bathing suit. They all also put on globs of sunscreen. I know the reason for most of them wearing the long sleeve stuff is cultural... light skin is (or traditionally was) looked at as higher class than darker skin.  The shower caps... well that still confuses the heck out of me.

My afternoon classes were okay. The firstgraders had to take a placement test... so I pretty much sat in my chair and doodled the whole time. I drew a picture and at the end of class, everyone wanted it....

Korea class was okay. It was a vocabulary day, so we struggled through that. I gave them a copy of the word list in English and Korean... Hopefully that helps them out with that.

Today was Robs Birthday. So we celebrated it at night. First, we met Karen, Callum, and Eva and had dinner at an American BBQ Restaurant. It was not cheap. The beef was imported from the US. I had 1/2 order of short ribs, pulled pork sandwich, baked beans, corn bread. Delicious! on the wall of the restaurant there was a Brooklyn Beer sign. I figured it was just decoration.... then I asked for a beer menu. Low and behold, they had Brooklyn Lager. it was 10000 (10 dollars) for a bottle. Oh well. I had not had a good beer in a long time... and I love all of Brooklyn Brewery beers.  Needless to say.... the food was expensive, but so freaking delicious. A good beer and good food... man... I know it was Robs Birthday, but I feel like I got the present (except until, you know, the bill arrived). 

We then went to Joons. A group of people were having a going away party, so we piggy tailed on that. It was a black light party. Awesome. I was incredibly responsible with my alcohol intake. Others... well lets just say some of them were not going to be feeling 100%.

 Rob and I

 People

 I am wearing the glowing yellow in the back... yes, I know how to black light.

Friday August 9th.

I woke up with a lot of energy, despite being up late. 

School started okay... then Sharon got cold... She is small and frail. Other kids were still hot. So I told her I would fix it after we were done with the what we were doing at the time... She said she was cold again and started to tear up and cry... So I have kids that are hot, one kid that is cold, and others that think it feels okay. The temperature was set at 21 degrees (about 70). So I turn the temperature to almost 80 and open the door (the hallways are warm) and I tell the entire class that nobody is allowed to talk.  I wish the school had like cardigans that we could give the kids. There are always the small little super skinny kids that get cold real easy... then there are the bigger kids that do not, and then the teachers that never do... Or maybe it would be better if some kids (Sharon) didn't cry at the slightest thing. Juliet used to... but ever since her birthday last month, she has really not been a crier anymore. Her birthday meant she changed from 5 to 6 years old (even though in Korea she has been 7 the whole time).

We did some work in Australia class... but not too much. They are really far ahead of Denmark class. So I let Australia play a little. Denmark class. The kids are great... not the smartest... and they love to talk and have fun... They are easily distracted... I think thought that they have a better class bond that Australia... But that bond can make teaching much more difficult. I have talked to Christina about that. She agrees. Ideally we could have them a 2 levels (we could move a  few students around to have a fast class and a slow class). Australia could be chapters ahead of Denmark... but we have to keep them at the same level... It is a little frustrating. I cant get too frustrated at the kids... still to me, and this is one of my fatal flaws, is that I think that these kids should be allowed to be kids a little bit. Denmark is like that. They are happy. The draw pictures on my hands, on the board, they fold up pieces of paper and give them to me, the whisper in my ear, they laugh, the giggle, they doodle... Australia class is not at all like that... there are a few that do slight doodles, but that is is. Denmark kids act more like what I picture 5 and 6 year olds to act like. Australia is more of what I picture 7 and 8 year olds to act like... a little more mature. While they are the same age... the levels are not the same.... I just wish we could treat them like it.

First graders had speakers corner... it was another time when they had to write, and none of them like it. My 3rd graders were good today. We got through all of the work pretty quickly. We then played with paper for the last 10 minutes of class.

After work, we were surprising Rob with a Birthday party/dinner. We told him we were taking him to Taco Bell... He had never really had a surprise birthday before. Ama and I worked to get it all together. We invited the Korean teachers and 2 came! Karen and Eva came. And all of us BoBo people went. We took him to dinner at Vatos in Itaewon. It is a Mexican Restaurant.  Not cheap. Delicious. I love Mexican food. Everything here was hommade (chips, salsa, cheese sauce (yes, cheese sauce), fries). They too used imported meats. So it was not a cheap dinner. I ordered a burrito and tacos and a Makolita (like a margarita but made with the korean rice wine, Makgeolli), cheese sauce and chips, and Kimchi fries.  I was hungry... very hungry. Kimchi Fries, and fries with Kimchi, Beef, and cheese on them (kinda like a Korean style of chili fries). I ate quickly... then Sarah could not finish her burrito, so I had the other half of that, and Ama couldnt finish his tacos, so I had half of them. I was still hungry, so I ordered Nutella Nachos. It was chips with cinnamon sugar and ice cream covered in nutella. Absolutely delicious.

We then went to a rooftop bar and each had a beer. Needless to say I was incredibly full of good food. We did not stay there for long, cause, well a rooftop bar is not air conditioned, and it was nearly 90 out.  So we then we going to try another bar with a pool table, when we got there, it was closes. So we walked up a hill, which I later was told was the infamous 'hooker hill' in Itaewon. It is a quasi red light district. But at the top, there was a cheap little diver bar. So we went there. It had a pool table, but there were some US Military guys playing pool and acting foolish. So we all just sat down and drank a cocktail. The music selection at the bar was pretty cool. Very eclectic. We left that joint, and rob was feeling like going home. So was I and so was Sarah.  So we left the bar, and started walking down hooker hill. Then we all start singing happy birthday to Rob... we are walking past all of the little red light shops with girls sitting on couches in the windows, and we are blasting off happy birthday. We get to the bottom, and Rob Sarah and I all get a cab. Ama, Taylor, Hudson, Sam, Carrie all want to stay out more... they do. We go home.

Saturday August 10th.

Lazy day for the most part. I wake up and check Craigslist. There is a person selling some cooking tools and other little stuff that I could use for 15 bucks. So I go to Yongsan and buy it. It was a spatula, slotted spoon, spaghetti spoon, egg separator, cooking spoon, pizza slicer, rubbermaid container, a yellow container,a sponge, some candles... just a mishmash. I got home and Skyped with my parents for about 2 hours.  I took a nap after that.

At night we were going to get together with our old co-worker Fiona. So we went to Hongdae. We went to a place called barket. It has a refrigerator with different beers. You just go, grab a bottle and drink it. At the end, you take your empties to the cashier and they charge you for the drinks. It has an okay selection of beer. So it was Sam, Carrie, Fiona, Ama, Rob, Sarah, and Luuk and Naray (still no idea how to spell it... I will look on Facebook sometime to see if its there). We then had dinner. Some of us went to Monster Pizza and others had a hole in the wall Korean restaurant. We were all going to eat the Korean food... but our entire group could not fit. 

We then went to a 노래방 (noraebang), a karoke place. Translates into song room. The one we went to had a lot of potential, but really was not good. I felt soo sorry for the workers, cause nothing seemed to be going right, and they were stressed I could tell. It was a fun time, but or mic batteries kept dying, our A/C barely worked... I know the people I went with said they wont go back... I'd try it again... I'll give businesses a second chance, because I know that Murphy's law often holds true. What can go wrong, will. But singing is always fun.

We were going to go to another bar, one that plays vinyl records, cause ostensibly it is never supposed to be crowded. Well when we got there... it was. So we did not stay for a drink. We just made a pitstop and went back upstairs. It was a unisex bathroom, as a lot of bathrooms in small places are... times like this made me glad that I am a guy, and that I currently did not have to drop a deuce. 

Yup, a squat toilet. They are still around some places, especially in older buildings (even some stalls in modern ones). Once you know how to use it, and build up the right muscles, it is not supposed to be hard. A lot of Koreans squat just normally (not bathroom wise). You will see them squatting on the street, waiting for the subway, waiting for a bus, in the classroom. It is incredible... but they do that and their bodies have actually adapted to do that. Nicknamed the kimchi squat. You will see kids that can barely walk doing it, to people well over 90 doing it. So, keeping squat toilets isnt much of a problem... if you can squat.

We then just went to taco bell. It was really not a night of heavy drinking or partying. Just low key and friendly. A lot of talking, and more just sipping on beers throughout the night.

Sunday August 11th.

Fantastic day in which my accomplishments were almost 0. I washed dishes and did a load of laundry. That is it. That is what I did today. I sat in my room all day. I only left once, and that was at 11:00 at night. I did play on the computer. Actually, Rob and I played a game online. We played to co-op Portal 2 game. We started it today, and we beat it today. So I spent 6 hours playing on the computer, literally playing. When the weekend started I wanted it to be a low key weekend, and it pretty much turned out to be one. I got some good relaxation in, sleep, naps, good food. I spent too much money last week, but I had a blast doing it.

This coming week is going to be a short but busy one. We have a kindy field trip, and it is only a 3 day week. Thursday, Rob Ama and I are going down to Busan. So that is going to be a fun break and vacation.

I am going to iron a shirt for tomorrow, take a shower, and hit the hay early.

...hum

Tuesday August 6th
Today was a pretty reasonable day. I had several near tear ups in France. Sharon and Juliet. Neither actually achieved a cry... but I was probably several several seconds away from it. Though I did see Sharon crying later in the day... so I feel pretty lucky (I bet there are several other incidences, but I only see France again when I walk by with one of my other classes).
I brought my projector and laptop to school. Since intensives are going on (using the seminar room) and classes have the library booked, I am not able to show my classes videos that need to be shown. My citizenship class for Denmark was built around videos, and without them, the class is useless. Of course the classroom wasn't that dark... but at least I got through my lesson.  I used the projector to show an old cartoon to my first graders. It was a cartoon of the Breman musicians by I think Warner Brothers.  We read the story in class. The one I showed was not the same one I thought.... but the kids all loved it. Genuine happiness.  It was incredible.  It is probably nothing like the cartoons they are used to seeing. They were laughing the whole time.
Before my Korea Class Rob Ama and I all talked outside.  We decided we were going to do something during our long weekend next week. We did not know what and decided we would meet at night to discuss. When we were outside,  who walks by... Erica.  Rob used to teach her... and he said hi... no response. I said hi all excitedly and dopely waved. She smiled shook her head and slightly giggled. She may think I am an utter moron... but her reactions are completely different than when we started. Rob said something about how rarely he ever saw her smile.
My korea class started real painfully. It was debate day. Kids eere obviously not prepared.  I gave them some time. Dylan behaved and actually worked.  So did everyone.  The kids hate debate.  I gave them nearly the entire class.  The debate was painful to watch in terms of a debate. .. but the kids actually spoke more than usual.   I think kicking out Dylan last week instilled some fear in them. I could tell they really did not want to do it. I am going to start teaching the read and debate we did in Jeju... it was still a lot of work... but it is not as convoluted as the junk we have right now. It still does not teach debate... but it is better at it than our current book.

After work, I did what seems to be my new tradition. I took a nap. Rob, Ama, and myself all got together to decide what we wanted to do. We first wanted to get out of the country. Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Hong Kong... but of course waiting till the week before, prices were not cheap... We decided to take the KTX (high speed rail) to Busan. It is cheaper than flying... We will wait to another holiday to go to another country.  We are going to start looking for tickets for that now.

Wednesday, August 7th.

I cant believe the week is already half over... Wow this week is going pretty quickly. Tomorrow is Thursday. Yikes. And tomorrow we do not have gym... we have 'pool on the roof' which I only assume to be an inflatable pool on the roof.  It will be interesting if it happens.

Today was a fast day with nothing really exciting happening at all. No problems in France. No problems in Australia. No problems in Denmark. My first graders took a test today, and 3 got a 100% and that is by far the best that has happened all year. I think it was because it was finally a fun story instead of a boring irrelevant story. My 1 on 1 with Chloe went well today. She was in a pretty talkative mood. My 3rd graders were pretty good today too. I need to think of a way to make that class more interesting. I wish I could say it was an average, but it really wasnt. I have very few days that are like this. It wasnt a bad day, nor was it a day that was exciting. It is a day that just was.

After school, Ama Rob and I got together to plan a little for Busan. We decided on 2 hostels to stay in. One is a block away from the beach, and the other is in the middle of the town. The one by the beach we will have for 2 days. It is a bed private room. The one in the middle of town is a 6 bed private. So it will be an adventure. While we were looking at hostels, we ordered in. Wow.... the food was cheap, filling, and delicious. It was less Tonkasu (or however we spell it romanized- the pork cutlet) with kimchi, cheese, vegetable croquet, salad, soup, dumplings, rice... I almost couldn't finish it; I did though cause I am a pig.

Got back up to my room and looked on craigslist... shazaam, they had just what I was looking for (and had been for weeks. An external hard drive. It was a 2 terabyte drive for 80 bucks! I have not transferred my files to it yet... but since I am doing more with my laptop (bringing it to school etc.) I would love to have a backup.

Today was a really really hot and humid day... It felt pretty miserable outside.
I'm off to bed.

Back in the swing of things

Sunday August 4th
Today was a relatively boring day... well to start out it was. I worked a little on cleaning my room. Slowly but surely it will be somewhat respectable. I think one of the reasons I am never too gung-ho about cleaning is that I really have no reason to have it clean. I wish I did... but I dont. People spontaneously showing up to my apartment is very rare. I know my Bobo friends could, but I have a smaller monitor then a few of them, so really my room has not much to offer. Its cluttered, but not horrendous. I guess I am just pretty comfortable like that. Maybe someday I will get motivated to make it beautiful... but until then... meh. I spent some time watching netflix and movies that I downloaded.
I went to the hardware store to pick up fly paper. I have small flys around my apartment since I got back from Jeju. They are bigger than fruit flies, but smaller than house flies. They dont do anything but annoy me. So, instead of letting them live in peace, I must get rid of them.
Rob, Sarah, Ama, Hyejin, and I all had Samurai BBQ for dinner. Delicious as always. We then sat outside of the GS and Sam and Carrie, and Hudson and Taylor came out. We sat outside of the GS drinking and talking... Same ole same ole.
We did discover that putting a melon ice cream bar in soju makes a deliciously refreshing drink. Its awesome because it is cold, smooth, and it has a slightly milkshake feel to it. Stayed up for too long... but that is the way the cookie crumbles.

Monday August 5th.
I woke up far too early especially considering being up late the night before. Unlike some others, I was actually feeling great. I had that energy and excitement for being back in the classroom that I was missing the last 2 days of last week. Only one near crying incident. Sharon... She gave Julie a sticker, then saw Julie throw something away. Sharon assumed that it was the sticker she gave Julie (even though I had told the class to pick up trash). So Sharon gets all flushed, eyes start to water and comes and gets my attention and tries to tell me that Julie threw away the sicker she gave her. Honestly... this has no effect nor bearing on my life. It is not like throwing away another kids pencil, or doing something mean. I can only assume Sharon wanted me to yell at Julie... but before the tears started flowing, Julie pulled out the sticker that Sharon gave her. Crisis or I guess cry-sis, averted.
Australia class good. A few people are still gone on vacation. Some people came back. Emily came back (she was gone last week). When I saw her in the hallway before class, I caught a quick glance and thought Oh No! Chicken Pox.... Luckily no. She got eaten by mosquitoes. Not good for her. But one of the last things I want is a room full of crying itchy infected kids.
We have a new girl in Denmark class. Regina. I met her mom after class. I had literally only been in class with Regina for 2 periods. I had been out of class for about 15 minutes. Her mom speaks English pretty well. She spent 4 years in Pal Park NJ. So she thought that was fun I was from NYC. She told me how good it was to be around Americans again, and she just loved how much I smiled. The fun part was, in this 15 minute period of time, Regina was telling her mom all about her first day, and what is one thing she was really excited to talk about.... Eric Teacher. So I guess I made a good first impression on her... She was telling her mom how fun and exciting I am. Her mom told me that she is not that concerned with Regina being the top student or anything. She more wants her to be socialized with other students (she has been in France for several years).  Which I dig. It is far easier to keep kids happy when their parents arent forcing them in every aspect of their life to be perfect. She is Korean, but she does not seem to like the Korean education or social culture. She is a more worldly Korean. She seems to have more of the idea that the kid should be happy being a kid. I dig it.
My firstgraders had a bit of energy today.... but not in a bad way... they were actually able to accomplish most of the work and not get too crazy. I was happy about that. Today at least, Wendy did not seem to be trying to impress the class. Billy behaved. Emma had a ton of energy as per the usual. She is super bright, I just wish she behaved a little better in class.
One thing that I do, when some classes are just beginning, I look in the window and make a silly face or point, and then I freeze. Kids love it. So simple, but everyone loves it. Well today when I was doing it to a class, Ronnie came walking down the hallway. The pose I froze in was me pointing in the classroom. So he stops and looks and tries to see what I am pointing at (nothing). Then he kind of looks at me, then looks back to where I am pointing. I do not break character... which the kids laugh at even more. Then I just unfreeze and keep on walking. I am sure Ronnie was utterly confused.  Then in another class, one of the Korean co teachers was leaving the class right when I was walking past the door, and she jumped... so I walked in the class she just left. (I do that often, I just pretend I am going to teach them). This time... I motioned for them to all be quite. I got down on all fours and bent down by the door... the kids knew what I was going to do... I could hear them giggling. When Gina walks back in I jump up and make a roar sound. She screams. The entire class bursts out laughing.
My afternoon 3rd graders were okay today. It was a small class, but it was mostly the bright students that were there. So the class went pretty well.
Walking home, Ama and I stopped at a Hi-Mart (an electronics store). I was going to pick up a computer cable... I ended up buying it. I also bought an electric trimmer. I brought one with me when I moved to Korea. Every time I used it, I had to plug in a voltage transformer, since it runs off of the 110 instead of 220. I also did not bring the trimming guide attachments with it... So it did its job... but I felt it was time to get a new more efficient one. This one is plug in or battery operated. I got it so I could trim my beard or moustache, or goatee, or whatever... but the thought I had to night... this is just what I needed to defur myself. I am getting so hot, that I could take a layer off and be much cooler. So I will do that soon.
Tonight for dinner I had 만두 (mandu) The store right by us sells frozen 만두 for not much money. I bought some. I bought 2 bags, and it can very easily last me for the rest of this week. Now what is it? Dumplings. Just regular dumplings. But instead of regular dumpling filling, these have more Korean foods, like Kimchi in them. Delicious, cheap, easy to cook. I was satisfied.
So, thats all for now... I'll be hitting the hay pretty soon.

Jeju and the next several days.

Saturday July 27-Wed July 31
Where to begin? That is a tough question...I definitely wont be able to recount the day by day action, but will try in a fuzzy sort of way. First off I will say it was a lot of work... not as much as I thought... but just as much as I thought. I know this is a weird statement to make, but it is how I feel. We leave from Gimpo Airport. We have to get there by 9:30 AM on Saturday. We have to be there when the kids start to check in. We are responsible for checking our classes students in. They slowly start to filer into the airport with their parents. We check them in and say hello to the parents. One of Mokdongs students went. Grace. I taught her for a little while, so I knew her. I teach her sister still... Emma from my first grade class. Emma came to the airport and hung all over me.  Grace, whom is normally outgoing at ECC was much more shy.
I get all of my students checked in. I was already starting to see who the leaders would be and who more of the outcasts would be. I had 13 students. Most of them were 15, but I had a few 16 year olds and a few 14 year olds. We get through the airport line super quickly. I say line... but that is an overstatement. The line was like 2 people long, then the students. The entire screening process took about 5 minutes. The check us to see who we are. We walk to the x-ray machine. We put our bags on it, take out our laptops and metal from our pockets and walk through. No removal of shoes or belts. So quick, and all of the airport people were friendly. The same process at a US airport would take probably at least 45 minutes.  All of our students (52) and teachers made it through check in, in less than 10 minutes. They also had at least 5 counters open to check people.... and it was all spaced far enough apart where you do not feel at all cramped. AMAZING.
We flew in a 767 to Jeju. I do not think I had ever been in a 767. I may have been when I was in first grade and flew to Disney with my family... but I am not sure. We land at Jeju, after an houl long flight. We meet up with our co-teachers. Mine was Kelly (I do not remember her Korean name off the top of my head).. We took a 50 minute bus ride to the KIS campus. KIS is Korea International School. An affiliate of ECC/ We have opening ceremony, we get checked into our rooms (dormitory style- even the teachers shared rooms). We played a game in the gym, which I hosted. The problem was... the air-conditioner was not on. Everyone instantly was covered in sweat. We moved back to the auditorium to play the next game. After that, we went back to the gym for team building/;introductions.  I started to see how my ideas about the kids were mostly true. We named our team "Team Shot" The girls wanted "One Shot" and the boys wanted "Team Name" so I asked if we could combine them... and "Team Shot" was born. We made a team poster which had everyones hands, but for me they wanted my feet. So they wanted me to take off my shoes and socks.... I did. I am decent at team building, and I know at critical points, you just have to do it for the kids. Not saying I have any problem going barefoot and having them traced. We went to the classroom just to find out where it was. We broke for the night. We had a teachers meeting then some of us teachers went to the local CU (like a GS) and had several drinks, and brought back some to sip on outside where students could not go. Just a good teacher bonding experience. All of us Foreign teachers got along really well.
Classroom teaching started the next day... At the teacher meeting the night before, I found out that the parents did not pay for the camp. The only thing they payed for was the flight... This helped me shape how I was going to teach. I could shift from forcing the students to do all of the horrible work, and let them have more fun with the work they did and more fun in the classroom. We still would get a the work done. We taught till lunch. We started teaching after lunch till 4:30, then the kids had recreation... This was the only real break we had during the day... and it was only a real break on the first day (all of the others I had to be doing work. Then dinner. Then a fun class. On Sunday it was an Egg Drop. Monday it was a Newspaper Fashion Show, and Tuesday it was the Talent Show.. So that is the teaching aspect of it. Every day it was the same order, just different subjects.
We did subjects that included writing and presenting an introduction, presentations, autobiographies, and debate/ Each of them required far too much writing... My hand would have fallen off if I had to write as much as they did.
Before I talk about my class, I will talk about the youngest class. The youngest class was 11 and 12 year olds. 4th and 5th graders. These kids are the same age as most of  our oldest students at ECC. I think the oldest we have is 13, and there are not many of them. But at camp, they were so small compared to all of the other kids. It was funny. Grace at our ECC is one of the bigger and smarter students.... but here she was now one of the smallest and instead of being the top level, she was the lowest. It was so weird to see her like that... But her class, and the kids in that class all loved me. I was not their teacher.... but several of those students just latched onto me. It was so sweet and cute. When I left they told me to come and teach at their school. Grace told me on Thursday that they wanted my phone number. When I was leaving, a few of the kids in that class carried my bags out for me so I wouldn't have to. So sweet. Cindy always smiled, and when she saw a crowd of the students from all of the other classes surrounding me, she would always smile and say Eric Teacher is so popular... which I was. As I have said before, Kids just love me... One of my non-students really stands out for me. Her name was Ally and she was 11. She seemed very much different than all of the others, as if she was in her own world. She would stop to look at things, wander around and seemed to be amazed at everything. She Also preformed in the talent show where she sang. I cant remember the song... but then I asked her who else she liked and said Carly Rae Jepsen  and the song Call me Maybe. She sang part of it, on her own with not background music. No fear, no shame, no embarrassment. There was definitely something special about her.
Before I left to go down, I both light up hair bow things for the girls, and light up sunglasses for the boys. When I first met the students at the airport, I was afraid that they may not like them... When I gave them out on Sunday, all were super excited about it. When we did the egg drop Monday night, everyone in the class wore the stuff. and people wore them on and off for the rest of class. It made me happy.
So my class... With the kids being older, the dynamic is definitely different. At first the class was segmented and not quite cliquish, but there were some students in the middle and some students on the outside. To big ones that really stand out for changing... One student, Daniel from the beginning said he did not want to be there. On the first day with the simple introductions, we were talking about what we dont like, and he said ECC. so I told him i would make him my special case. Then there was Julie. Smart. Quiet. During he making of the newspaper clothes for the fashion show, she made a simple top, and then sat down. She said she did not want to make anything else, nor did she want to decorate it. So instead of letting her give up. I start talking to her.... and talking and talking and asking questions and questions... Eventually I wear her down, and she say "Okay! I'll go make something else" She did, and then she won 1 of the 2 crowns for girls at the fashion show.
A lot of my students showed a lot of social improvement. Cindy by the end kept on saying she could not believe what I did. I combined them all into a team, a group, where they all ate together, talked, and had fun together. She said normally that age students is normally apathetic and do not do anything nor participate. But I got them all to. I even got the entire class to participate in the talent show. 6 of the girls danced to a kpop song. All of the boys danced to a Kpop song. The one girl that did not dance (Julie) worked with both teams on the choreography and practice.
The girls danced to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-irnl4c_M8 and I have heard this song way too many times in the last week. But I let them play it during class... During the breaks I let them practice. During my lunch break, I ate and went upstairs to let them practice. The boys supplied background vocals... if you listen for the song, listen for the part that is like ba ba babababa ba ba bababababa and all of the boys made that sound. Instead of the class going and having fun in the gym or relaxing, we worked on this. The boys did the dance from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJIADTwOcs4. Then immediately after that song they did the theme song to Pororo... In class I was playing Korean music as they were writing, and I played Pororo them song... The entire class busted out singing. I told them they should sing it for the talent show. They were going to sing it... When they were trying to learn how to dance the B.A.P. Song they had this video up. http://cafe.naver.com/ssjazzdance/5285. We it was time to start class. So after everyone was sitting down. I started that video and then played the music from Pororo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTQejqacFYM. You can try it... If you start them at the same time... the dance is close to lining up with Pororo... and it was funny. All of they boys, even the some what shy ones all had fun and were excited for it.
I hosted the first game that I talked about, then the paper fashion show, and finally the talent show. I may be being biased, but I think my classes won. I know they videoed it, and I hope I can find it. I would love to share.
The last day, we got to 'explore' Jeju. We sat in a bus. We went to a place called the Glass Castle. It is a glass are museum. Instead of getting to explore and read about the art and the people, we just walked in a line through it. We then went to the Leonardo Da Vinci Museum. It was okay. There was a tour guide for the students.... but after walking through everything, they only had 10 minutes to go through and try all of the hands on stuff. I would love to go back to that museum and read about all of that stuff (I like LdV). We then went to the beach... We got to get in the beautiful water and got to swim for an hour. I think most of the teachers had more fun than the students. I wish we could have spent more time there. We left when more of the kids were starting to venture in. We then went to a horse show. Pretty interesting. It was all in Korean... but the performance was nice. I felt sorry for the horses.      We went back to camp, and the teachers got to go to our rooms and relax (or in my case pack and relax). We had the closing ceremony. Kids got awards.  It was interesting, during the ceremony, instead of the kids on stage facing the audience, they faced the back of the stage. The person giving out the awards (Manager of KIS) was standing there. It has to do with hierarchy. Everyone faces him. If he were to be anywhere else, his back would be toward people which is disrespectful (because he is important).
We got to have pizza with the students in our classrooms, and then I had to leave, because I had to teach at ECC the next day.
In all it was an amazing experience. Things I definitely would change (work level and schedule) but I think it was successful.
I may post more about it as time goes on... we will see. I may just get some random thoughts. All of the kids were really bright and such a joy to teach. If I find a link to the pictures they took, I will share.

 Andy 1, Alex, David, Andy 2, Daniel, Nicholas,Julie, Jenice, Julia, Selina, Stella, Ann, Faline

 Classroom

 Names for Autobiography

 Glass Castle

 I did not get the meet Detective Camera unfortunately.

 Bowing to thank us for coming.

 Da Vinci Museum

 All of us teachers found this funnier than the students. We are immature.

 LEO

Jeju Beach

 Horse Show

 Horse Show. The horses look dead, but were trained to lay down like they were dead.

 Mine and my fellow Foreign Teachers (Joe's) room

Finally Oprah.... This picture was in a slideshow... The students had to write an Autobiography about her. They decided her name was John Smith, was born in Antartica, became a penguin breeder, got married, moved to Australia, Got divorced because she wanted to be a Kangaroo breeder and her husband wanted to be a garbage man. All the kids knew who she was... the kids were allowed to use their imagination, and that they did. I made this the background picture for my computer, so anytime I just had in on projecting, Oprahs face was looking over the classroom. It was funny. So if there was a slide show going on, and I closed it, all of a sudden there was a giant face on the screen.

Thursday and Friday August 1 and 2.
I am combing these days, because they were pretty much a blur. These were the first two days that I was actually not excited about my job. I had been working since July 22nd with no real time to relax and clear my mind. I was completely mentally and physically exhausted. They were probably my least efficient teaching days too. On Thursday nobody cried in my classes! Everyone was getting back in the swing of things and all of our classes were missing several students.
Korea class was bad. First Angel and Erica did not take the test, they just just circled all a's. I took them to Rachel. She lectured them. Then they came back and tried. I ended up kicking Dylan out of my Korea class. He fell asleep twice. The third time when he did, we were grading tests (each student changes with another). When I found out he did not, I saw there was only 5 minutes left of class. I said something, he responded very disrespectfully so I kicked him out. He was like no no no. Teacher. I said Get out of my class now. but teacher. NOW. teacher teacher. Get out of my class now.. I ended up putting his books in the bookbag, and taking his bookbag with him following to the testing room at ECC. When I walked passed the front desk, Ronnie was standing right there. The girls were happy he was out, and I think Danny was too. He is a smart student but has a bad attitude often. When I was leaving, Ronnie brought him back to class, Dylan bowed and apologized.
I got home, did laundry, then went to sleep. Woke up and went to sleep again.
Friday was a normal Friday except my heart still wasnt into it. Juliet cried (first time in like 3 weeks I think). It was because of colored pencils... All of my classes were still missing students. They day dragged on and on. I felt as if I was just going through the motions and on auto pilot. I tried to have energy and to make it fun, but I think I failed pretty miserably. The kids still seemed happy, but I just was not able to match their energy level like I normally can.
After work, I took a 2 hour nap. All of the teachers were going to have dinner at a place in Bobo... a restaurant downstairs. We had the pork cutlet pizza. 돈까스 (Donkatsu) I think I have spelled the English version different ways... Going from one language to the next is sometimes hard. Anyway it was the pork cutlet with Kimchi on top, then a lot of cheese. Cooked and then cut like pizza. I have had it before, and it is delicious. Basically a fried porkchop with kimchi and cheese.
We had a few drinks outside of the GS, but we were not out very late.

Saturday August 3rd.
I woke up far too early, but felt really refreshed. I cleaned my apartment. It is not great, but its not bad either. I have a bit more work to do (I know it is super small) but I really just do not like cleaning. The biggest messes in my apartment are from trash. Taking out the trash is really difficult for me here. Its because as I have talked about before, having to separate it all. I just can't be bothered by it... but I have to be otherwise I could get fined.
Callum said they were going to a soccer match tonight and asked if I wanted to go. I said yes. I was not a big soccer fan in the US, but it is really growing on me. Ama and Sarah decided they were coming too, but they were going to sit with some other people... But we saved them seats, and they came to where we were sitting. We were in the cheering section... I just wish I knew all of the cheers for FC Seoul...
After the game, They were all going to go to Hongdae... I was tired, hot, and soaking wet from the sweat.
I came home, showered, and then continued to type and finish this pretty long entry.

World Cup Stadium

We spelled something out at the beginning of the game.

Awesome sunset (picture did not get the colors)

Yay...

Seoul Wins... Lets light a road flare.

Celebrating on the concourse.