France class... I teach math to them on Fridays. I am so far behind... Partially from the schedule. Partially because I teach math on a Friday morning first period, and partially because the kids are having a tough time with it. I try to teach... but with the schedule as tough as it is... teaching is difficult because if I have to spend 15 minutes on something, getting through the other 4 pages is hard. Then it just compounds for the next week. I know a lot of teachers just give the answers... but I try to have the kids guess, and if they cant I go over the material again.
Australia is good. I think I might have the easiest time with my Australia class. Yes, there are some different levels among the students, but teaching them is easier. They all seem to be interested in it and interested in trying.
Denmark is fun because the kids are all lighthearted and happy, but for them studying and working comes second. Today, I moved the kids around for my class.... (This morning during snack time, when I was taking France to the bathroom, Regina's mom was there in the elevator with Regina. Regina was crying. She called me over to help, she said she knows I am good at that. I did, I picked her up, hugged her and carried her to class.) I put the boys in a group and the girls in the group. Assigned seats. The boys were assigned randomly. The girls, it went Erica, Regina, Soo and across from them Chloe and Angelina (from left to right). I had Regina in the middle of it, and she looked like she was having a good time, helping out and working. She writes a little slower than the rest, but I think that may be because her handwriting in fantastic while the others... not so much. Hopefully socializing her in class will get the girls to really accept her, and if that happens, then maybe the girls will talk to their moms, and then the moms will become more welcoming to her. The girls don't dislike her... it is just getting a new person added into a social structure. The boys seem to have accepted and taken Jayden (most of the time) but it took 2 months. Girls are different (even at that age). I will keep doing what I can. It is times like these that I wish I had one class the whole day instead of 3 classes for 2 periods each. I think you can do more with more time.
My afternoon classes went okay. My first graders were not very well behaved. We are starting a new book to do on Fridays. We were doing speakers corner.... now it is a labor intensive writing book. Horrible for a Friday. The kids could not focus on it. So I took them to the seminar room to play a game. They had too much energy and I could not do anything with them. Sometimes, you just cant beat a dead horse.
My third graders were good. They are a little cliquey. Mostly because of the age differences and genders. There is one student, I know I have spoke of him before... Roy. He is quiet and does not do work (unless forced). He is also very socially awkward. He tries to play jokes on people, but they are less like jokes and more like harassment (taking kids pencils, closing their books, taking their books, taking stuff from their backpacks, putting stuff in their backpacks, poking them...). Kids dont want to sit next to him. I have tried talking to him about it. We have several new kids in the class and they have assimilated pretty well. Roy, who was a new kid several months ago still has not. He can be smart... but his classroom manner is really hard. Diana had no awkwardness. When I walked into ECC in the afternoon she stood and gave me a big wave. So, while she was probably embarrassed by her mom... she may have secretly liked it.
At night, , Ama, Sarah Hudson, Taylor, and I went to a neighborhood by Times Square Mall. We were going to go eat 보신탕 bosintang but we had 감자탕 kamjatang. Bosintang is dog soup. Yes, soup made from dog meat. Something that I do want to try. I agree the way they animals can be treated is cruel... but it would still be interesting to try. Ama said that it isnt that good, and is not very filling. So we went to the Kamjatang place. (탕-tang: means soup). We were going to go eat dog afterward. But....
We went to a few bars over there... but none really anything special. We did go to one bar that had lime. Real lime for tequila shots. We each had 1 shot, just so we could get the lime (limes are very rare here).
Saturday September 7th.
Today I woke up early. Why? Caribbean Bay! Rob, his GF, Sarah, myself, Yufei (a person I know and have been getting to know better as Callum was leaving... he used to work with Callum) and 5 other people went to spend the day there. It is at Everland (think something like Disney Land). We got half priced tickets. It was actually a pretty awesome water park! They had a lazy river, slides, a wave pool, and all sorts of other things. We did not get in the wave pool. You have to rent and wear a life vest to get in. It is packed, and it is not a constant wave... just an occasional huge one. I think though about 90% of the people at the water park had life vests on the entire time. So interesting. We of course did not have life vests. The lines at a lot of the attractions were long. The rides we did were a body board ride, tube slides, and a group raft tube slide, and of course the lazy river. The body Board ride is where there is an artificial wave, and you stay on the body board. It was awesome! Only 2 people lasted. Most people fell off instantly or were pushed to the top. Robs GF was on for a minute (maximum time before you have to get off) and I was on for 45 seconds. I did not fall off. I was bored just staying in the middle.... so I tried carving (moving) left and right. It was tough... but then I went to close to the edge, and the edges have water flowing the opposite direction and they discharge you to the lazy river. So, I discharged to the lazy river.
(while it looks pretty flat, it is not. I am 6'3" and the slope of the blue part I am on was probably 30 degrees)
Then there were tube rides (where you sit in an intertube and go down a slide. We did that twice. Then there was a ride where 4 people could get in a bit tube and go down a long slide. All were fun. The waiting was not... but that is part of the game. The last time when I was in line for the slide... people were really yelling down the slide. One guy several in front of us started, so each person afterward yelled. Rob and and his GF went down and yelled. Well, I am not much of a screamer. So what do I do? Bark, like a dog. Bark bark bark... and right before I came out I meowed like a cat. So, Rob and his GF told me the story. Since you scream in the tubes, it echoes. Well, I am a loud person, so it really echoed. They said the entire line of people was super quiet and everyone was watching the tube. All conversations stopped. Everyone was focused. Then I pop out. And everyone smiles and chuckles. I have a big smile when I shoot out. Robs GF said it was the funniest thing of the day.We end the day at Caribbean bay. We take the 2 hour bus ride back to Seoul.
For dinner we eat at a place called Mammoth. It is an all you can eat meat place. It has the BBQ at the table like Korean BBQ. You go up, you pick your meats, and you cook them. It was 12 bucks a person, and I ate so much meat. It was fantastic! Different types, different cuts, different marinades...
Rob, Sarah, Robs GF and I all took a cab back to Bobo (we did not feel like going out in Hongdae tonight). So, I am sitting listening to music and I am drinking a glass of wine. Not a bad Saturday by any measure.
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