October 27, 2008
Sorry it’s be a little while. Been preoccupied with work and my students. Japan was really interesting.. When I was there it was definitely clearer air, barely any bugs bothered me, traffic was a lot more organized and less crazy then korea. People were pretty nice. The Japanese are in general a little more polite comparatively to Korean culture but not all Koreans. I went to visit the Kushida Shrine and the Hakata Folk Museum which was really interesting. I wish I could have had more time to see more. Living in Japan I could tell is more expensive then Korea. Even the transportation was more. What I found to be amazing was the toilets! Crazy technology! There are buttons to press to literally clean you after you used the toilet! It was really funny! Also it was nice because I didn’t smell the sewage smell being in Japan, unlike korea you can smell sewage pretty much almost everywhere. Which is the downside of korea along with the pollution. I might consider going to Japan next year but not sure. What I found interesting too, was when I went to the Kushida Shrine the Japanese people would walk up and they’d clap their hands twice, bow their head, then leave. Definitely different then Korean culture. The building were really interesting! My battery died so I didn’t get a chance to take enough pictures.. but it was really amazing. The young boys had crazy hairdos-which is kinda hard to explain. Messier definitely then Korean hairdos, they spend a lot of time on their hair which I found to be odd coming from American culture, no offense to Japanese culture. They still had man purses similar to Korean culture in that way.

What was soo nice was when I went to the Korean consulate, I met 4 people who was working in South Korea also as English teachers. So it’s really cool to say that we met in Japan. I’ve been keeping pretty active in touch with 2 of them. The one gal is from Seattle and the other gal is from the Virgin Islands (St. Crois). Their quite interesting and we get along great! I think we’re gonna become good friends. So when we hang out now, I find it soo cool to tell people “we met in Fakouka, Japan!”

Now to the new job.. the most challenging thing is that I don’t have a co-korean teacher to help me translate.. so it’s definitely been a little frustrating. Especially with the youngest ones. I actually typed up two worksheets one that says: What to say in English when you need help and What I will say in class. I had my boss put the Korean translation underneath so that way my students can understand what I’m saying. And if they’re confused they can look at the sheet and say “I’m don’t understand”. So far it’s been really good. I’ve been coming up with games like I have them do musical chairs and then also a card game I come up with. I give them maybe 3 or 4 letters of the alphabet, then I put a bunch of word cards on the table mixed together. They have to find a word that begins or ends with the letter I gave them. Doing musical chairs first with the young classes is a good idea because once they get some physical exertion they're tired of running around and their brain works better. I also thought of a game where we play catch with a ball but they have to think of a word that begins with the letter I ask them. So I’ll say “think of a word that begins with A” and so on.. It’s quite fun. Another game is hangman which is good for them to think of words and use of the alphabet. I also thought of another one I kinda changed it a little from esl café’s website. I have my students find a partner and one person is blind folded and they have to write down what I wrote in English on the board. The other person, who is not blind folded has to make sure their partner spells things correctly and has all the correct ending marks. It’s really a funny game. The team who gets it all done the fastest wins. Another one I found off the esl café website is tongue twister. My adult classes love it! They have to say a tongue twister (2 teams). The team that all says it (each person dictates) clearly with the shortest time wins! My big morning adult class is really into it! Their really funny! After almost every class they say “let’s go have lunch together”. And I don’t pay. Which I always feel bad but they tell me no no..

When it comes to eating together in the Korean culture. You’ll find there’s always gonna be a Korean picking at your plate. But it’s not that their possessive or anything. It’s a very sharing culture which is really good comparatively to the American culture we lack in that genuine sharing attitude. It was a little odd in the beginning. I was thinking why are people picking at my food? But now I’m used to it. So those of you that may be reading this and coming to korea, just be aware of the culture. It’s interesting cuz when your with foreigners they say “hey can I try some?”. Rather then around Koreans they assume you want to share so they just try your (which technically isn't considered your food, its everyones) without asking. I used to get a little annoyed mainly because I didn’t know about that part of the culture. But now I know so it doesn’t really bother me anymore.

My schedule is kinda cool but also hard because I would like to sign up for a class like dancing or scuba-diving. I teach 3 adult classes, 6 times a week and then one adult morning. They all come twice a week. One elementary which I love their really fun! Two middle school classes, which I have to say is the hardest. One of them is driving me a little nutty because they’re big and they’re burn out from the Korean education system so they just come to my class to basically screw around and their English is pretty bad. Lastly, I teach 3 reading classes. Those kids can come twice a week. That one has been pretty hard but not as bad as the Middle School classes. But I’m getting a handle on the young ones. Still workin on the middle school.. I’m always exhausted when I’m done with that class.

I’m feeling a little downy cuz I really miss the spirit of Halloween in the American culture..but I’ll be okay.. I’ll have to make some caramel apples. But my other foreign friends and I are gonna go out and about on Halloween. I’m trying to get my students into it. I’m having them watch Hocus Pocus so they can get an idea about the holiday, the meaning and all that jazz.

Overall, things have been great, have a little cold and a headache but other than that I’m okay.