The Busy Week

November 18th-22nd
This week was crazy busy and stressful. Main reason... observation days this week and report cards. And your's truly had 3. The most of any teacher. I had one on Wednesday and 2 on Friday. The one on Wednesday was okay, but the parents thought the material (US government, constitution, voting, et.) was too hard. That and the class froze up with the moms there. Normally Denmark is loud and rambunctious, but not on observation day. Also in normal class, the kids knew most of the answers.
Friday... I stayed after school on Thursday to prepare for Friday. Friday I had 2 in a row. I had France, then right after France I went to Australia. No time to refocus or double check. As you might know from previous posts, France class is not easy. Australia is full of bright kids, but the moms were not happy with the last open class because they were afraid their kids were not happy and not enjoying school. So I would have to shine.
Luckily France went well. A few students froze.... but luckily it was the students that really did not know the material as well. Almost all of the moms gave great comments and marks. The one mom that gave average marks... well I think she has uber high expectations, and I know that she pushes her daughter to do really good and also has her daughter going to multiple hagwons (which makes her daughter stressed and tired).
Australia we pretty darn well. The students answered questions, and I got the students to participate, laugh, and have fun. They were not as giggly as I can normally make them, but they were happy enough and laughed enough in my class that the moms were happy.
Other stuff went on that week, but nothing really of consequence (or, that I can remember). Most of my mental energy was on the open classes (and report cards).
Several of us teachers went out Friday night. We went to a bar called vent, and then headed to Joons. It was nice to blow off some steam and stress.

Saturday November 23rd.
A nothing day. I watched some movies, cleaned (I wanted a huge cleaning undertaking, but that did not happen), went to the hardware store and I bought something... I bought an electric water kettle. I never though I needed one. But I have used it numerous times already. It boils water so much quicker than a kettle on my oven. Great for ramen and tea. I am sure other things too, but that is what I used it for.
At night, I hung out with Taylor, Hudson and Sam, and we stayed up till nearly 4am playing Mortal Kombat on Xbox. Kinda nerdy, but super fun.

Sunday November 24th.
Woke up and went to World Cup Stadium to watch the FC Seoul game with Karen. I really enjoy going to the soccer games. It is super entertaining and super cheap.
I came home and took a nap. I started laundry, started doing more report cards, and then skyped with my parents. After the skype, I continued to do report cards.

Monday November 25th.
Its going to be a good but busy week. Good because no open classes, busy because it is the last week of the semester so not only is there a lot of school work to do, but also all of the other events that happen during the last week.
Ronnie spoke to me about resigning with ECC. I told him I was interested and that I wanted to see the contract first.
No criers today. I had several close calls with France, but nothing became of it! My afternoon students were good too! It was a review day, so pretty easy academically. I stayed after school to talk to Christina and Christine about the open classes from Friday.
Walking home I got pizza school for dinner and a beer to drink with it.
I watched Star Trek into Darkness, ate my pizza, drank my beer, and went to bed relatively early.

Tuesday November 26th.
Busy morning with my Kindy kids. I was going to do art with France... the project was drawing a scene from Aladdin. The girls complained and wanted to draw other princesses. We did not do art. This shocked them. It made me chuckle.
Australia worked hard in both periods of class, and we got a lot of work done. Denmark was okay but we had to take the storybook quiz. A pointless quiz that does not get graded. It takes over 20 minutes, and it was on a book that they did not read. So wasted time.
During my break in the afternoon, I went to an international food mart that one of my older students told me about. I had been there before. I needed more Sriracha for lunch. They have the actual stuff from the US (AKA cock sauce, rooster sauce, or just Huy Fong Food Sriracha) there.

Ronnie gave me a contract. I read it and asked a question. This contract did not have them paying for a flight home at the end of this contract, and a flight to Korea at the beginning of the next. It is how Rob was able to fly home on the companies dime for a week and a half). Its actually not what I was asking Ronnie about (I was asking about how if I flew home it would effect my end of the year bonus). But anyway, it was brought up, and he said he would have to call corporate to see if they would approve it. He asked what would happen if they couldn't and I told him I did not know. I think he was surprised to hear me say it. I really love where I work and the people I work with. It is a bargaining chip. If they are not able to fly me home, would I really not re-sign? I don't know. The cost of them hiring a new person, flying them out, training them, etc would cost lot. Granted that cost is negated by the 100 dollar month raise I would be getting. But I also view it as what do I bring to the table at ECC, and how much am I worth to them. I know english teachers are in a sense a dime a dozen, a commodity.
I was talking with Rob. He said the ball really is in my court. If I dont resign with Mokdong, they still fly me home. I could then apply for another job and then just fly back out with a new company and a new contract (I could even still work for an ECC). With one year experience, I would be about to get a job that pays a little more. So as I sit, there is no harm for me to try to get a little more out of it. Lord knows I have spend a pretty penny of my own money for the kids experience. So we will see in the next several days what happens.

After work, Ronnie took us out for a chicken and beer party to celebrate the end of open classes. The 5 foreign guys went and 3 of the Korean teachers went, as well as Ronnie and Steven. It was good food and a good time. I wish we did this more. I feel bad about setting them up. Korean culture, the oldest person buys it all. I am not sure if Ronnie pays out of his own pocket or if it is a company account. I love free food and beer, but I hate to make someone else responsible for it.  This was his treat... but if I set it up, it would be his treat, though it might not be what he wanted to do.
I came home, ironed, showered and shaved, then I typed this, now I am heading to bed.

I have the Busan post typed... it is on my phone, so I just have to transfer it... hopefully soon.

Its gonna be a busy week

This week is open classes (which I have 3- the most of any teacher) and report cards are due (I also have 3 classes report cards- the most of any teacher).
I will update about Busan and aslo this week. But it might not be for a while...
This is and has already been a stressful week. Not because of Busan, but because so much is going on at school this week.

Another week almost gone.

November 11th
Pepero Day. (빼빼로) What is Pepero Day? It is a holiday created by Lotte, a Korean company to sell candy. What kind of candy? Pepero. What is Pepero? It is a small sweet breadstick dipped in chocolate. It is the Korean version of Pocky. The date is 11-11 so it looks like pepero sticks.
Today we were taking pictures for Christmas (so they can make a christmas picture for the parents). As I am taking France class, after I have already led the class in the hallway, my kids let me know that Kelly is crying. So I sit them down and go back to France, and there is Kelly, crying? Why? David cut in front of her in line...
Australia class and Denmark class both went well. We have open class coming up next week, so we are spending a bit of time in class preparing the kids for a class for the parents to see. It cant be over prepared, nor under-prepared. I was kind of stressed last time. This time around I am not letting it stress me too much...
My Afternoon classes were both good too. Nothing really notable happened.
After work some of us went to costco. Scott bought a refridgerator with a freezer, so he went to buy a lot of food to freeze to cook for dinner. It is such a good idea... I just am not sure if I want to spend the money on a refridgerator with a freezer that works. I lived in Manhattan for 3 years without one... Scott, Rob, Sam and I got together in Robs room to play some Mario Party and Super Smash brothers on Wii. It was an enjoyable evening.

Tuesday November 12th.
Kindy Field Trip. We went to see a musical. How much I love you. It was all in Korean. I would have taken a nap during it, but Ronnie was on my row. Only one incident happened. Angelina cried... not only cried, but temper tantrum. Why? One of the 6 year olds pushed her too hard when they were jumping during the musical. She said "Don't do that." Normally that would be the end of it... but Ronnie called her up, and coddled her... So she started crying and crying. Then a cast member (tech) gave her attention, so she cried more. Then one of our other teachers came up, and she started screaming. She wanted Angela to get in trouble. She also wanted the attention. She is one of the ones, if you do not react to it, she will stop. Unfortunately, I know know this, but none of the others do. I would have taken her down to where the 5 year olds were sitting and made her sit there because she was acting line one. I wouldn't coddle or fawn over her.
We got back in ECC in time for me to use my one class period with them (instead of 2 in the afternoon, I only had one) to eat lunch with them.
I went back to my apartment with the intent of preparing materials for open class. That did not happen, I just spent most of the time on the internet or thinking about taking a nap.
I got back to school for my one 4th grade class. Only 3 students were there. We had an easy class. There are some big tests going on in elementary schools this week, hence the small number of students.
After work I went to Hagwon. I am thinking about not resigning up next month. I still feel behind in that class. Partially because everyone else is more experience than I, and partially because I am having a tough time doing my homework.
After work, I went to pick up some stuff I bought of craigslist. It was some wine glasses and cups. I do not need the wine glasses, but would not mind them either. I do enjoy wine, and having some things in my apartment for company would be nice.
I then met up with the rest of the Hagwon crew, and we ate overpriced pizza.
I came home, worked on getting my open class stuff together because I am being observed tomorrow by Ronnie and Louise.

Wednesday November 13th.
Stressful day. For no reason other than being observed by Ronnie and Louise. I have 3 open classes next week, so I have to be observed in each class doing the material I will be doing for open class.  It is intimidating with both of your bosses watching your class doing material that you have not done with your students yet. They all went okay. The kids are much better behaved when they are in the classroom... but they are also a lot more shy and less likely to guess (even if they know the answer). The same thing happens when their parents are in the room too. The only real feedback I got was pretty much the things I expected to get (laminate the materials) and just a few little pointers to help guide the kids.
Afternoon classes were okay. One of my England girls is super cute. England is a very low level class. It is made of mostly 2nd and 3rd graders. Crystal has "What does it mean?" written down in her test bookelt. Whenever I say something she does not know, she opens her book up and asks the question. Its really adorable. She also talks to me in Korean, like I know what she is saying. Problem is, that I do not. So I have to act out or draw pictures of it... once she gets it, she gets a huge smile on her face.
My 3rd graders were pretty good. Tomy and Roy are separated now... and as such, I can really see how Tomy tries to get reactions from Roy... and then when he does, he complains about it. Its like pulling a dogs tail. you can do it a little, but when the dog bites you, there really is nobody to blame but yourself. Granted, Roy still causes problems to some... but we still have him next to Barbie, and she still impresses me with how she reacts to it. It almost has a calming effect on Roy.
After school, Rob and Scott and I went to Yongsan. Rob had to return a gamecube controller and buy a new one. We also had to get tickets for Busan. I then had to go to Itaewon to buy a game. Someone was selling Elefun on craigslist. It is a battery operated elephant that blows butterfly's out of its trunk. I knew I had to get it for my classes. The different colored butterfly could be different things they have to do (eg red is an action verb) or I could potentially even put my own pieces of paper in there. The elephant blows the butterfly's into the air and the kids have to catch them. For 5 bucks, who could say no. It has so much potential in the classroom!
I came home, and Sarah came to pick up some of her stuff that was in my apartment. I then got dinner, took a shower, and went to bed early. I was super tired.

Thursday November 14th
Gym day. I got a bit of work accomplished during gym time. Stuff I needed to do for ECC. I did not get any of my Korean hagwon homework done. After I finished all of my grading and everything else... I literally had only about 15 minutes to go my homework... and honestly, my mind was not in it. The more I do the hagwon, the worse I feel for my kids. The worse I feel for them and the more I empathize with them. Yet, I still assign them homework. Eric from Denmark class cried today. We were going to watch cartoon. I told him to sit with the rest of the class, he refused, so I made the class line up to go back to our classroom. Of course everyone was like "ERIC" so that and ostensibly someone pushing him made him cry. I lectured the class in Denmark about how to act like good students and how to be nice to your friends. I did take them back to watch cartoon. It is still so interesting how different Denmark is from Australia.
During one of my breaks today, I spoke with Christine about France. Everyone is still having a lot of problems with them. I think part of it is the parents fault. These kids while Kindy in Korea are first graders in the US. This is these kids first time away from home. They are having a hard time adapting to this environment. They are old enough to have some independence and understanding of the world, and going from a sheltered home environment to being in a school... I dont know. The majority of kids come in at Korean 6 (4/5 western). So we are made of 4 classes of 7.2 (Seven years, 2nd year at ECC), 3 6.1(6 years, 1st year). We have 1 7.3 (7 years, 3 at ECC), 1 5.1 (5 years, 1 at ECC), 1 7.1 (7 years, first at ECC). and 1 7.1.5 (7 years, 1st year at ECC, but studied 1 year at another hagwon). The one class that has that seems to have the most issues is France, the 7.1 kids. Rumor has it that normally the 7.1 kids are like that the most often.
My 4th grade class. Only 2 kids today. It was a vocab day. Ba. Daniel and Nick. Daniel could not have cared less about being there. Nick actually was better, and he asked more questions about what things meant. I guess he is normally embarrassed to as in class, but with it being a small class and no girls, I think he was more content with trying.
Hagwon for me tonight was okay. I understood the lesson.
After hagwon we went to a burger joint. It was good. Not as good as Gonnys, but better than others. They did have an amazing spicy sauce on a burger called the Red Rocket. Their chili burger fell flat (on my palate) but the Red Rocket... I would go back there for it. I do applaud them for trying chili. Not very common in Korea. If they could perfect the chili... then I would definitely go back. I just have no idea how to tell them how to make chili.
When we got back to Bobo, we all packed since we are going down to Busan for the weekend. Just a short little cheap trip to go watch the professional Dota2 tournament... and see Busan.
Then Rob Scott and I played some super smash brothers.

Since I will be in Busan Friday Saturday and Sunday, do not expect an update.... not that I have been updating frequently. Normally I will type a little a day and not publish... These last two months have been crazy....

Lots of tears....

Wednesday November 6th

Kelly cried. She had a hairband with a plastic bow. The plastic bow broke. So of course tears flowed after that. I took it home and fixed it with super glue.

Ian had another sobbing incident. I do not even remember what it was for. Some little trivial thing. But even the trivial things can set him off. He is often a smart student, but he has a hard time sitting and focusing. Other times he is very emotional. This seems to be an emotional week for him.

My afternoon classes went okay. I enjoy my England class. It is a challenge because of their English level. They are very much like my France class when I started with them. Actually a bit worse. Since these kids are older, breaking them of habits is tough. They are pretty well engrained with Korean. Kindy kids are still learning Korean and then English. These kids know Korean… it is like the core of their knowledge has been placed. These kids have more of the problem that I have in learning Korean… They think in Korean right now, so we are trying to get them to think in English. (I think in English and need to learn how to think in Korean).

My third graders were okay. I have noticed one of the kids that really complains about Roy sort of eggs him on, then when Roy reacts, he complains. Instead of leaving him alone, he gives some attention to Roy and that is when Roy starts to react to it. I think I might try to have them sit on opposite sides of the classroom.

After work, I went out over by Gimpo airport to pick up a situp bench and some weights. It was only 35000 (the price of one weight). It has 2 dumbell bars, a medium sized bar, and about 40 pounds of plate weights that I can put on the bars. A great deal. It was raining. Bah. I had to catch a cab (a 15 minute walk in the rain carrying a cardboard box is not a good thing to do).  It added another 10 bucks onto the cost, but still extremely reasonable.

I used the weights and watched a movie. Not bad.

Thursday November 7th

Sharon fell out of her chair. That did not cause her to cry. She was not paying attention (hence her falling out of her chair). So as soon as she got up, I asked her a question, which she couldn's answer. I didn't let anyone help her. She starts to cry. "Eric Teacher, why is Sharon crying?" Instead of saying it was because she couldnt answer a question (nothing wrong with that- I get asked tons of questions that I cant answer). I said it was because she fell out of her chair. I went on to talk about how I am supposed to erase a star when France class 7 year olds sit like Korea Class 5 year olds. This stopped her crying pretty quickly. I was like I "I should erase a star." I think she stopped crying because she didnt want to lose a star.

Australia class and Denmark both were pretty good. It was a gym day so I only got Denmark once, and that was for Cartoon. The cartoon this month is not entertaining. The kids laughed some… but for me, where I understand what is going on, it is kind of disturbing. So having to watch this for 2 months is not great for me… Most have been at least a little funny… this one does not tickle me.

I forgot my Hagwon books at home, so during my break, I went home and picked them up. Then I had my 4^th graders. It was a vocabulary day. We had a vocabulary test. Wow… I never realized how hard they are. I mean, they are simple in a way… but it is all in English. When I have a Korean test for Hagwon, it is the word in English and I have to write the word in Korean. This has all of the words in English, so the kids have to read the word and definition, both in English. Granted, these kids have been studying for many years…. I always knew the tests were that way… but now drawing similarities to what I am experiencing … wow.

Hagwon was good. I am learing a lot… but my memory sucks. I can see something on paper and get it, but trying to recall the words… I am not there yet.

Afterwards, Yufei and myself got some food. I do not remember what it was called, but it was delicious. I will have to find out. After food, we walked around. We found a small clothing store, and they had a sweater that fit me! I bought it. It was not cheap, but not expensive. I do not really have any fall clothes. I have my winter coat which is too heavy, and I have a hoodie. That is pretty much my selection. So, now I have something that will keep me warm when it is cool out… and the arms actually fit my length. I do have a zip up cotton warm up top, but I did not include that in the list of clothes because the arms are so short. I put it on, and the sleeves end between my elbow and wrist.

Friday November 8th

Juliet wept she couldnt find her math book (which was in her cubby, and her having to sit next to David. Valeria cried I wrote on the board that Christina Teacher should call their moms and say that Australia Class wanted to go to ECC on Saturday. Most kids were saying teacher erase it, or take it down in their laughing fun voices. She started crying. Instead of just erasing it, I kept going. Teacher, I dont like it, erase it. Teacher, 'Valeria is crying'... 'okay.' Eventually she stopped, then she started having fun with it too.

Denmark… I forgot to give the kids diarys and book reports back. Bad. They were sitting on my desk, but since I do not go into the teachers room during the day (class, class, class, class, lunch with class, class, class), it was out of sight and out of mind. Parents get mad. I told Christina as soon as I realized. We both had a freak out…. When did I realize you may be asking… well as soon as I was done with Denmark class and take them to the gym, I go back to my desk. I see them instantly. I grunt. If I only had lunch not with the students, I would see things.

Ronnie asks me if I might want to move out of Bobo. This question shocks me. I tell him I would think about it. I talk to Rob about it for a minute. Then I realize that the chances of my staying at ECC are about 95%. Everything else aside, the other apartments that our school has (in another neighborhood further away) are bigger. I would much rather have a bigger apartment than live at Bobo where the bills are high and the apartments are small. If I move, I would be further away from the Bobo people (4 subway stops) but I would have a bigger place. I of course told Ronnie yes after I thought about it.

With my 3^rd graders… something very cool happened. One of the kids uttered a word that was one of my vocabulary words, and I understood it. The verb was waiting. We were waiting for a video to load, so she says something in Korean about waiting… I hear it, and respond with how I know we are waiting… Very small thing, but it made me smile.

We went to Samurai for dinner for Korean BBQ. Delicious as always. After that, we came back to bobo, played settlers and Jenga till early in the morning, and that was a night.

Saturday November 9^th

I woke up and skyped with my parents. After that, I went with Taylor and Hudson to Yongsan. It was a lovely afternoon and evening with them. The bought some xbox games and a controller. I bought Robs gamecube controllers. We walked around and just looked and talked about stuff. We tried to find Hudson a cell phone. We took a break at a CU (like a GS, but different company) and they had small bottles of whisky called a Scotch Pocked. We all got one, and every time we talked about them, we sang Scotch Pocket (as if it were the Hot Pocket theme song.

We got home, played Golden Eye (a game they bought), had some drinks, then went for 해장국 (Haejanguk). We were going to order pizza instead of getting soup… so we kept calling and they kept hanging up on us. We thought it was because they did not want to deal with foreigners… turns out after looking at their menu card that they were closed for the night… A very simple but fun Saturday.

Sunday November 9^th

Lazy Sunday.

Cleaned a little. Watched cars with Taylor and Hudson. Played some Golden eye with them and Sam. Laundry. It has been a very nothing day. Pretty relaxing, but nothing accomplished. That’s pretty much par for the course for my Sundays. I am ordering McDelivery for dinner because I do not want to have to go out and do anything. I really need to do my dishes.

This weekend Scott and Lucy both bought new refrigerators… ones with a separate freezer. I want to get one too. Not having a freezer sucks.  There is so much more food that I could buy and cook later if I could freeze things. My freezer is pretty much a defroster and uber small. If I buy a bag of dumplings, I am out of freezer space. I could go to  Costco and stock up of easy to cook food, and then be able to pretty much cut out McDelivery….

Remember Remember the 5th of November...

Monday November 4th
I started teaching at ECC 8 months ago today. I have seen so much, but it is so hard to quantify what I have seen and experienced, other than it is one heck of an amazing ride. Its amazing to think there are only 4 months left till I have been teaching for a year.
Today was a pretty good day. I woke up feeling good. France class was pretty well behaved. Ian in my Australia class almost cried, but as he was welling up, I told him if he started to cry, I would send him to Korea class. He stopped almost crying and did his work. Denmark had a good class. I still wish I did not have lunch with the kids. It is tough to keep my energy up in Denmark class after having lunch with them. It would be tough. The no breaks in the morning really drains me at the end of the kindy day. I get a break first thing during the afternoon classes... but no break with kindys.... aye aye aye.
We have open class coming up this month. In 2 weeks. Its a jip. We are expected to prepare for this and give the parents a good show, and still finish our classwork that is on a strict schedule. I understand the parents want to see their kids in class. But kids do not act normal with parents there. Bad kids are good, good kids are bad, kids that talk are silent, kids that are silent are either silent or very vocal about things they should not be vocal about. This time, I have 3 open classes. Only a lot more stress. Thankfully Denmark and Australia are the same subject matter, so it will be easier to prepare. The bad thing... the subject matter is Washington DC. Just what every Korean kid cares about. Last month we did Cinderella. That would have been perfect. Kids love Cinderella and really paid attention.
My England class was pretty good. They still speak a lot of Korean... Too much. I'm not sure if the last teacher was that strict on the English Only. I am trying to get them there.
My 3rd graders were good. Roy causes some little problems, but it was really mostly only tossing an eraser. The eraser was a small angry bird bird. He was just trying to play. Some of the kids blow what he does out of proportion... because it is Roy, not because of what he does. They know they can complain about him and they will get attention. His antics can be a little annoying. They are antics that everyone pulls in that class... they just do it with their friends, which Roy is not. Barbie sat at the table next to him. It was great. She is one of the second graders in the class, but she handled him like a pro. I was super impressed. She was so much more mature than most of the rest of the class is.
At night, I went to Ipark mall again to watch the DotA2 tournament with Rob and Karen. It is interesting. I am starting to understand it a little more, so it is a bit more interesting. The tournament games are watched worldwide, and Rob and I made it to the feed quite a few times. Us being white really helped. I tried a panorama of the stadium... it did not work out too well.

Got home around midnight.

Tuesday November 5th
Remember Remember the 5th of November....
Today was a pretty decent day. It was Julies birthday in France class. Pretty shocking. That means this whole year she has only been 5 western age. She has always been one of the most mature and brightest students, yest she is one of the youngest.
Australia and Denmark were both okay. Christina talked to me about Soo. Her mom is worried about her, because Soo can't understand me. This came as a shock to me. She always participates in class and gives answers. She does her work when she is not distracted. The only thing I see her having a problem with is math. Part of the problem is I think Soo wants attention. Also, she always brings stuff to class to play with. Even when I have her put it in her backpack, she sneaks it out to play with it. Today she had a pen thats ink can only be seen with a special light.... so was doodling over everything. She always had new little toys, erasers, pencil cases... Today, she said she didnt know the answers to what we were doing. I was on the other side of the classroom. As soon as I got over to her and knelt down.... she answered them. Aye aye aye.
I got not much accomplished during my break. the first bit I went outside and got some fresh air. The second part, I was more or less a baby sitter to one of the 6year olds.  She waits at ECC to get picked up. Normally she runs around the teachers room... unless one of us take her. So she climed in my lap. I read her a story, and just made funny faces and what not. I wanted to work on my Korean... She is adorable and has a wonderful smile and laugh. Her English level is not high, but she is still fun to talk to.
My 4th graders were good. One of the boys is kind of difficult... he likes to act up and be distracting. The girls are all pretty good. Most of them try pretty hard. Its a good class. The class dynamic is a little interesting....I would love to move some of the kids around (there is another class that is pretty much the same level) and I would love to get some of them in. I believe a class can get stale.... they are stale (they need some shock). That being said, the debate they gave last week was phenomenal. The best I have seen. They are not stagnant educationally, but socially.
Hagwon was okay tonight. We got 2 new people. Our class size is not 10. A little big in my book. I though 8 was too many. I am getting a reputation in class. Not a bad one... but almost the same one I had in a lot of my college classes. I am a lazy hard worker with a good attitude and always good for a laugh. Only difference is that in most of my college classes, I was upper tier (not grade wise, but knowledge of the subject), here I am in the lower rung of the class. Even so, I am pretty good at breaking up the monotony of the class, ask questions that others are afraid to ask... and provide unintentional comic relief when I just get a look of utter confusion on my face (since almost everyone in the class is not a true beginner like myself, they know these things, and I am just learning it for the first time).
After hagwon, Yufei, Scott and I went to Mammoth and ate a lot of meat (it is the all you can eat meat place for 12 bucks).
Got home, and did pretty much nothing at home. Tomorrow is Wednesday... wow.

Week

Sunday October 27th
I did not do much today. We played some settlers, smoked some hookah with Rob, Yuri, and Scott. Did laundry. Did some Korean homework. Cleaned minimally. Went shopping. Skyped with my parents.

Monday October 28th.
Decent day at school. It was Cartoon day and Song contest, so I missed one France class for it and one Australia. Out of all of the classes in the group. My France, Denmark, and Australia were the only classes that had all of their lines memorized. This made me happy. Small victory in my book. I took pictures of the song contest...

 France Class: David, Fred, Andy (He did his part in my cartoon, but did not do song, and got in trouble for standing there), Kelly, Juliet, Sharon, Julie, Sally.

 Denmark Class: Across not rows- Regina, Angelina, Erica, Joshua, Eric, Soo, Chloe, Jayden, Shawn

Australia Class: Across not rows-Jack, Ella, Emily, Daniel, Amy, Joey, Hayden, Jin, Ian, Valeria.

 Its tough to get a picture of all kids looking forward and smiling and not blurry.

I continued to do the earsing a start anytime anyone spoke Korean, and it helped. Getting kids to help with the policing is grand. Also, besides them keeping themselves in check, they are less likely to let me know every time someone speaks Korean. It gets old quickly.
This starts my last week with Emily in my Australia class. She is moving to Gangnam with her family (duh, she is only 7). That of course means she will not be attending Mokdong anymore. She is very sweet and very smart. Sometimes a little emotional, but she was an absolute pleasure to have in class.
Denmark went okay. We got some work done... they are just so much slower than Australia. They have bigger personalities (as I have said before, they act more their age) but getting through the same amount of material is difficult.
I spoke briefly to Regina's mom. Apparently the whole bringing cupcakes to class was a huge hit with the moms! Here though, instead of cupcakes, they call them muffins. Whatever. When she came the first time, we nicknamed her muffin teacher. She asked me if I minded if she was muffin teacher again. I told her no. I dont. If it got Regina's mom brownie points with the other moms, that means it got Regina brownie points too. She is still trying to adjust to fitting in. Once she starts getting invited over to the other girls houses (once the moms let it happen) it will do wonders for Regina. Yes, I know I may get told no pictures again by ECC and have a talking to... but really... if the moms like it and the kids like it... and if it helps bring one of the kids into the group... I will take a talking to by ECC. It may be hubris on my part... but ECC is about making money (it is a for profit business). Most students that leave, leave because the kids complain or the parents do. Regina's mom also told me how impressed the other moms were with me.... So... I wont do it often... but I could tell Regina's mom was really excited about the response from the mom group.
We have a test on Wednesday in my two afternoon classes, so we spent most of the classes doing some review.
Afterwork, I went to go buy a Wii from a person off of Craigslist for Rob. He gave me money. He was going to a video game tournament. If you do not know... video games are a big deal in Korea. They have stadiums, arenas, and places to play. Top players get paid more money than I will make in a decade or longer.  Well, Rob plays a game called Dota 2. It just launched in Korea, and there were 2 of the top international teams playing brand new Korean teams (When I say top international teams, these guys play in tournaments where the prizes are in the millions). Rob wanted to go watch, so I went to pick up the Wii. After I did that, I made my way to Yongsan and Ipark Mall to watch. It took a while to find the entrance... the mall was closing, so there was only one way in. I had no idea what I was in for and I do not know how to play Dota. This match was televised.

So it was pretty darn entertaining even though I was pretty lost.

Tuesday October 29th.

My teaching was once again cut short. We had the Drama presentation today. As such, I only got one France class. It went pretty well, the use of the every one losing one star if anyone speaks Korean really works well.

Drama presentation was okay... though I did not get to watch any of my classes preform. I took France, and I got to watch all of the other classes preform. I had to leave to teach another right when France was going on stage (timing is not a strong suit with my school). I did watch 3 other classes, and took a picture of Sweden to send Ama, and I got a picture of France right when they got to the front. I did get very frustrated though... Not because of that... I was supposed to take Australia for Drama. I told the kids that we were going... several of them told me they weren't, and I said we were... I showed them the schedule. So, when it was time to take the kids, I took them. I got them sat down... all of a sudden I was told they weren't doing it then. They changed the times that they were going, and they did not tell me. I was frustrated. I only have a limited number of classes with them (especially during this week) and the process of getting them to put away their books, line up, go to the gym, sit for several minutes, then having them re-line up, get back to class, and take out other books.... took about 15 minutes. Even worse, I hate telling my kids one thing, and in the end, not telling them the truth. I told Rob "I do not mind if they call an audible, they just need to let all of the players know."

France: Andy, Fred, Sharon, Juliet, Kelly, Sally, Julie, David

 Sweden. I do not know all of them by name. I will find out and post another picture sometime. This is the class that Diana from the first several weeks of Denmark moved to. She is the one between the girl in the red stripes and the boy with the gray shirt.

Our Kindergarten students Halloween party... ooops, I mean Book Character Day (generic as to not offend) is tomorrow. I had no idea what to do. Niamh said her boyfriend had a pirate costume that he was not using and she could bring it later in the evening and I could use it. She told me it might not fit me. So, during my break, I went to Emart. I bought a pair of fleece pants for 9,000 and a white dress shirt for 13,000. I figure if her boyfriends stuff did not fit, I could make a costume out of that stuff.

My afternoon Denmark class had their debate today. Oh my gosh. It was actually really good. I set up a point system and incentives to use things we learned. They kids used it. They had actual rebuttals, and well though out arguments. I had one team win.... (not sure yet, I gave points and have not added them up). But I really want to reward the whole class.

I had Hagwon tonight. I was able to do some work during the day, but not all. The longer I am here, the more I feel bad for my students. I have a tough time... I dont even want to imagine the pressure they are under. I do not I would have been a little better younger... just because it is much harder for me to memorize things now as compared to when I was 11.

After Hagwon, Yufei, myself, and another one of his friends went to NY Burger. It was good. Not as good as Gonnys. Gonnys has homemade bread... and that makes a burger so much better as compared to Korean hamburger buns.

After I got home, I prepared my clothes for Halloween.

Wednesday, October 30th

Book Character Day!

It was a little crazy... I hosted a game where the students pick a task, of if they complete it, they get a piece of candy. Tasks like clap 7 times or hop on one foot. The day with the kindy kids was amazing... so freaking adorable all day.  Halloween! (alternate http://www.ybmecc.com/mokdong and look for the halloween pictures)The most I can really do is say look at these pictures. They speak for themselves.

I was a pirate. I was really popular. The shirt I bought at emart, I cut, snipped, burnt, and rubbed with coffee to turn a clean white shirt into a dirty used pirate shirt. The pants I cut too. If you look at the pictures, you will see some better ones. Oh, and yes, that is real facial hair.

My afternoon classes, we had a test in both. So in all... pretty much absolutely nothing to report about them. Tests are no fun.

Niamh gave me a toaster oven. She had two and wanted to get rid of one. I did not need one, but I figured it would not hurt. It is supposed to get hot enough to make brownies and pizza. With that, I'd be set. It would not help in losing weigh... but it would make me happy! The group of us also went to Costco. 

Scott Rob and I played Settlers. I have a reputation with it now. I have won a lot... so now, whoever I pay against team up against me. It stops me from winning, but I am only one turn away from winning. I can beat 3 people, I can beat 4 people. But when 2 or 3 people work together as one to beat me... while I am good, I am not that good (yet).

Thursday, October 31st

Today was a field trip. A field trip to a park, where the kids got to play some outdoor games. For whatever reason, Denmark (my class) and Australia (Christina's class) were late. Our bus always screws our kids. When we got the all of the other kids had already had snack and just got to run around while our classes had to have snack.

The games part was semi organized... there were 2 teams, and there was one activity going on for the kids to do (aka races). The kids liked it. I think it would have been better if there were multiple things the kids could have done, and they could just run around and do different things. Literally, the kids had to sit in line as they were waiting their turns. So the kid gets 30 seconds of fun and has to sit in line for 40 minutes as everyone else goes. But it is still good to see the kids not having to be in a classroom. There are pictures of it on (http://www.ybmecc.com/mokdong) 

I dressed back up as the pirate for the rest of the afternoon. I wanted to be dressed up for the older Tuesday-Thursday kids since they did not get to see me on Wednesday. I had a little bit of time to study my Korean in the afternoon.

Hagwon tonight was pretty good. I am learning stuff, just not as fast as I would like. I am going to keep at it though. I just need to find more time to dedicate to it. If I do that, I think that would help me out a lot.

We jot Julios Mexican food for dinner. It was just Yufei and I, and we got a family meal. We devoured it all. We have had Julios before... not this location, but another. It has always been okay. I think the key is getting the family meal. Instead of just one thing, we got to taste many, and that really helps the flavor.

Friday November 1st.

I got to teach a full day of classes to all of my classes. I know it is small... but I love being able to get what I need to get done, done. Out of this entire week, this was the only day where I could. Today was Australia Emilys last day. During lunch, I wrote her a nice little goodbye note. It may not mean much to her, but to her parents, they might like it. We had a little drama in Denmark class. Some kids were saying Chloe spoke Korean, and this made Chloe cry. So I made the whole class be quiet and I asked Chloe why she was crying... someone else started to tell me, and I told them to be quite. This stopped Chloe almost immediately from crying. When she finally told me, I asked her if I yelled at her or if she had gotten in trouble. I asked if I had taken away a class point. All of which she said no to. I asked her if she needed to cry about it, and she said no. Then I made the class repeat the rules 10 times (speak only in English, be nice to your friends, raise your hand to talk, listen to the teacher, walk in the hallway).

My afternoon classes went okay too. Nothing really big happened in either one. 

At the end of the Day, I spoke with Angela about my 2 afternoon classes. She is really concerned about Roy in my 3rd grade Greece class. I am too.  I have got him to somewhat behave in my class, but he doesnt elsewhere. His father told Angela that even at home, he doesnt understand whats wrong. So we spoke about it for a while... I showed her the wiki article on Asperger syndrome. I told her I am in no way a medical professional nor have the ability to make any judgement in the matter.  She actually agreed. She did not know what Aspergers was, but she told me that she thought he might be autistic (as I have said before Aspergers is on the Autism spectrum). She wanted to know how I get him to behave and why he likes me. I told her that even though I do not know if he has a specific condition, I treat and act like he does (aka not yelling at him, getting frustrated with him, comparing him, treating him 'special,' giving attention to him when he does something bad, praising for good work). He responds. I do treat him different than others. Not completely obviously, but in a way that does not get him upset, and that makes him act better in my class.

Ama came over to GS mart after school. The crew all had a few drinks and just talked for a while. It was a good night. Ama really thinks I would do good at the school he teaches at. He understands my loyalty to ECC, but he really wants me to think about his place.

Saturday November 2nd.

Had to wake up early. We were having an open house at ECC for perspective students (well, parents of the students). The teachers were there too. We manned different stations for the kids. The parents went to a presentation. The kids got to play. It was pretty awesome. Some kids were scared, but warmed up quickly. I was in the gym with Scott. We played with blocks and legos with the kids. It started off really slow, but we had a lot of kids come through. Most kids seemed to get it a kick out of me. I let kids stack big foam blocks around me, and they all thought it was the most interesting thing.

I went to watch FC Seoul with Lyn and Alex (2 friends of mine from NYC that went to OSU) and Karen. It was the first time I had seen them since they moved here. The game was good. Its interesting to say, but I am kind of becoming a soccer fan. At each game FC Seoul gives out fans that have the team name on them. They are used to keep you cool, but you can also use them to make sound... Well on the back of this one, it had a picture of the stadium from last weeks game. My FC Seoul Jersey is Bright yellow. Well, in the picture, you can see a small yellow dot where we were sitting... that was us.No way on earth to tell it was, but we knew it, so that was cool.

We did a quasi Halloween at night. Yufei tried to organize some big thing. It did not turn out that great. A lot of people didnt show. We had Gusto Tacos (yum). Then we made a mistake. We went to Gonnys Hamburgers (yum yum). Why was it a mistake? We filled up on food. We filled up on a lot of food. It is hard to have the energy to dance an drink after fantastic tacos and wonderful burgers. I could have called it a night after that. We didnt. We went to several other places. It was fun, but not an adventure. My stomach was happy, but nothing else really happened.

Sunday November 3rd.

Woke up. Went to Itaewon to meet Lyn and Alex for brunch. We went to the All American Diner. I warned them the service was slow (which it was). But for me, the food is still worth it. White gravy and chicken fried steak. Nowhere near as good as it is in Oklahoma... but it is as close as you can get to Seoul. Being here for over 8 months (wow), sometimes a taste that is close to American food is good. There was a place in Itaewon that had OSU athletic shorts for 10 bucks. I got them. I should have seen if they had more. I only brought one pair of athletic shorts with me when I came... and the are great just to wear around and to exercise in.

Other than that, I just did laundry and a very small bit of cleaning... In all, a pretty good and chill Sunday.