More about the rug-rats...

My new role as a kinder teacher has not only forced me into morning classes (ugh... I hate getting up no matter where I am in the world), but it's also given me a much better opportunity to be a lot more involved in the hagwon I work in.  Although I still only teach some classes 2 or 3 times per week, there are 19 kids that I teach on a daily basis (one class of 7 and another of 12).  I feel like I'm starting to establish a good relationship with some of these kids (even though some of them drive me absolutely nuts!)

On top of this I'm the only foreign teacher on the full kindy shift and consequently I've become quite the celebrity around school... Often when I walk out of the staff-room for a class I'm confronted by a sea of children fighting over who will hold my hand (lucky I've got two) and who will carry my basket to the classroom.  Upon arrival in the classroom there is often a scramble to give me a back massage (I honestly did not teach nor ask them to do this) and a fight over who gets to be my 'helper' for the class.  If only all of this meant they'd behave themselves a little better during class time... 

The kids seem to love all the teachers and we are often inundated with attempts to get our attention.  Every time I walk down the hallway I'm greeted with choruses of "Hello Amy Teacher!!", vigorous waving and peace signs (très cool yes).  Sometimes they just run up yelling "Amy Teacher, Amy Teacher" (they always say it twice) to get my attention, but then forget to have something to say for after the greeting... or they just say something so totally odd that all I can do is nod, say "oooh" or "hmmm" and smile.  For example, the other day while on my way to the photocopy machine, I had the following random exchange with a girl called Gina who is in her third week of learning English.

Gina: "Amy Teacher, Amy Teacher!"

Amy: "Yes Gina"

Gina: "Hello"

Amy: "Hi" (smile... wait for something more, then continue walking)

Gina: (running after me) "Amy Teacher, Amy Teacher!"

Amy: "Yes Gina"

Gina: (pause) "Uuummm... Zebra!"

Amy: "Hmmm! Zebra.  Good!" (smile... wait for something more, then continue walking)

Gina: (again, running after me) "Amy Teacher, Amy Teacher"

Amy: "Yeah"

Gina: (long pause) "... Glue!"

Riiiggghhht...

Anyway, last Thursday three of my kinder classes were cancelled due to some nasty fumes coming into the school from renovations happening on the floor below.  While the school was being aired (opening up the windows, cranking up the fans, laying out plates of giant chopped onions- wtf? I thought we were trying to get rid of the smell...) we took the kinder kids to the Gyeonggi Provincial Museum.  YAY field trip!!  It was really fun to spend some time with the kids out of the classroom for a change - although I didn't get much of a chance to see any of the exhibits as I was constantly either chasing seven 4 year olds around the museum or trying to get them to stop hanging from my arms screaming "What's that! Look! What's that!".  I have to say, as annoying as the hanging off the arms was, it was also pretty of sweet.  Joey, one of the girls, was particularly clingy that day and spent most of the morning kissing my hand, or my jacket, or my scarf, or my bag, or my camera.... or anything that was remotely traceable to me.  As weird as that was, it was nice to know that my students like me... and really, it's days like that that make the more trying times in class a lot easier to bear.

 Anyway, here are some pictures of my kindies at school and at the museum...

The kinder kiddies en masse.

And now for the classes - little rascals that they are...

SUN CLASS

L-R: Julie, Kelly, Sam and Daniel.  

These are the babies who are 5 y/o in Korean age - hence about 3 or 4 in Western age.  Missing from this picture is Candy.  She was crying - as she does 95% of the day.  I have never seen a kid cry so much... seriously, she colours outside the lines - cries.  Drops a crayon - cries.  Sneezes - cries.

Kelly and Julie are the most awkward, clumsiest little girls I've ever seen!  Consequently I think that they are both an adorable and constant source of entertainment.  They can barely walk without bumping into something - each other usually, otherwise it's walls, doors, chairs, tables... everything.  They both break into a sweat at the slightest hint of physical activity and are often found with food all over their faces, clothes on backwards and shoes on the wrong feet. Standard kid behaviour, yes, but these two take it to a whole new level. Gorgeous.  

As for the boys in Sun class... Daniel is lovely and generally pretty well behaved.  Sam, on the other hand is trouble. Actually, I think he may be a reincarnation of the devil - but he still has his cute moments.  He has 2 older brothers who play rough with him and as a consequence he is indestructible (yet still loves a band-aid on a bruise).  Sam enjoys; breaking things, head-butting things, throwing things, climbing on things and yelling.  I actually really like him, but wouldn't be surprised if he serves a few stints in juvi  before he reaches high school.

I teach Sun class twice a week - one of these classes is Science.  They can't even write their own names and I'm somehow supposed to talk to them about the properties of magnets and polarized lenses! Whatever, we just play with the science stuff, do some drawings and generally just make a mess instead.  

Sam at the museum.  He ran around for a solid hour wielding this beating stick and terrorising all in his wake in the process.  Between 6 teachers, we couldn't manage to take the stick away from him. 

(also, you may notice a little pair of black legs in flight in the background... they belong to Erin - more on her later - who was mid-tumble as I took this photo.  I don't know if you can see it too well on here, but her legs are completely tangled together just from walking... something only Erin can do)

Hmm... Safe kids games.  Let's all stand in a circle and throw a pointy stick into a really small opening.  Of course this turned into 'throw the stick as hard as you can at the person opposite you'...

MOON CLASS

I still can't remember all these kids names... neither can they.  

Moon class are 6 year olds (4 or 5 western age) who have never learnt English before.  They were all given English names on their first day and I can guarantee that 90% of them have either forgotten or changed them without telling us.  Therefore most of them generally don't answer to any name.  They are HARD work... thankfully I only teach them a few times a week!

MOUNTAIN CLASS

Paul, Andrew, Andy (the one who cried through his first week at school), Alvin (I don't know why he chose that name - he was called Eddie before and that's heaps cooler!), Brian, Ricky, Gina (zebra/glue girl) and Judy

I pity the two girls in this class of boys.  They are sweet and quiet while they boys yell, punch and kick each other ALL DAY.  Mountain class are 7 in Korean age and have never learnt English before either.  The difference between the 6 and 7 year old classes is HUGE though, and these kids actually remember their names (despite changing them often), so they are a bit easier to control.  Andrew and Brian had a little stint of sitting outside the classroom earlier in the week and the whole class is starting to calm down a little as a consequence as I think that they are now a little scared of me (mwah ha ha ha!).

OCEAN CLASS

Back: Cherry, Lewis, Lynn, Grant and Jacky.

Centre: Sarah, Kevin and David.

Front: Angela, Andy, Sophia and Ann.

Ocean class is the other class I teach 5 days a week.  I love them sometimes and really-don't-like-verging-on-hate them at others.  Today, I kind of like them again, but yesterday I was definitely not a fan.  There are 12 kids in this class including 6 big, strong personalities.  This creates chaos.  When they are good, they are great though (ain't it always the way?!)... it's just getting them to be quiet for a few minutes that is my greatest daily challenge.  We are all on a discipline rampage with this class at the moment and I really don't like having to be strict, but they get seriously out of control (just thinking about that makes me not like them again)... please be good tomorrow, please be good tomorrow, please be good tomorrow. 

The boys: Andy, Kevin, David and Grant... Andy is an absolute angel (I heart Andy!).  The others are the trouble makers.

Sarah is possibly the sweetest kid in the entire school.

Sophia hugs my leg for a solid 5 minutes every day.  I tell her she is a leech... but I don't think she gets it.

Angela knows how to strike a pose.  She's a feisty little one who likes to dish out the hugs when she's happy...  Tell her off though, and she can deliver a dagger stare that rivals the most practiced divas.

Grant - the smallest boy in the class but the biggest pot stirrer around.  Grant makes the bullets for the other boys to shoot (but he looks so cute!).

STAR CLASS

Leo, Lynn, Rosemary, Joey, Kyle and Erin (hiding behind her book).

I'm not going to deny it, this is my favourite class - hands down, no competition whatsoever.  It was this class that noticed my resemblance to the Korean penguin cartoon Pororo and it is this class that I am generally in charge of when we do anything outside the school walls.  Leo and another boy, Sean (who was sick the day I took this photo), were recently moved into star class, giving Kyle some boy power (and apparently a growing attitude!).  As a class they can be pretty rowdy, but usually quieten down when I tell them to (or threaten to take away their stickers). There are often tears, but we all hug it out and everything is fine (yes, I taught them to say 'hug it out').  They have the attention spans of, well, the 4 year olds they are, but can dance to the Wiggles 'Hot Potato' song for a solid 15 minutes (which I love as it doesn't involve me trying to teach them to write! Plus, let's be honest here, I certainly don't mind a boogie to the wiggles every now and then... or every day as the case may be now). 

Joey (the hand/jacket/scarf/bag/camera kisser).  

Distinguishing characteristics: Very cuddly. Is built like a midget giraffe . 

 Likes: Pinching my cheeks and singing the "5 Little Monkeys" song.

Dislikes: Blueberry lollies.

Favourite crayon colour: Purple. 

Leo

Distinguishing Characteristics: Always wears entire outfits from the GAP

Likes: Saying "I can't do it" and pretending to be the Red Power Ranger (see above pose). 

Dislikes: Reading and writing

Favourite crayon colour: Red (like the Power Ranger)

Lynn

Distinguishing Characteristics: Almost always has her dress tucked into her tights after using the bathroom.

Likes: Saying "No!" (Amy: "Hello Lynne!" Lynne: "No Hello!").

Dislikes: The "5 Little Monkeys" song (she hates it so much that she sometimes covers her ears and hides under the table when I put the CD on... shame, as I have to play it every day because it accompanies their story book).

Favourite crayon colour: Pink.

Rosemary

Distinguishing characterisitcs: Wears nothing but PINK.  Sometimes looks like an old lady.

Likes: Arranging crayons in their correct colour order in the packet.

Dislikes: Being called Rosie. Crayons that are haphazardly put back into the packet. 

Favourite crayon colour: Sky Blue ("No light blue", she tells me, "sky blue").

Erin (the one who spotted my similarity to Pororo)

**Erin has 2 personalities that switch in an instant - happy Erin and angry Erin. See below the next picture for angry Erin's profile**

Distinguishing characteristics (of happy Erin):  The youngest in the class.  Is very floppy, bendy and awkward (trips over her own feet often).

Likes: Hiding behind the door or under the table and calling me "Pororo Teacher".

Dislikes: Leo and Kyle.

Favourite crayon colour: Orange.

Angry Erin

Distinguishing characteristics: Exhibits a scornful look that she has down to an art-form.

Likes: Scratching, hitting and screaming.

Dislikes: Everything.

Favourite crayon colour: None of them.

Like I said, sean was absent the day I had my camera in class and I couldn't get Kyle to stand still for long enough to take a photo, but I will give you their profiles anyway: 

Sean

Distinguishing characteristics: Very small and quiet.  Is often sick.

Likes: Picking his nose. Rosemary.

Dislikes: The "Heads, shoulders, knees and toes" song.

Favourite crayon colour: Dark blue.

Kyle

Distinguishing characteristics: Always wears flannel, tartan-print shirts.  Has rainbow striped leggings that he wears as stand-alone pants.

Likes: Playing the part of 'Mr. Crocodile' in the "5 Little Monkeys" song/story book. 

Dislikes: When I touch my nose (no idea why, but it limits my 'Simon Says' and 'Heads, shoulders, knees and toes' repertoires somewhat).

Favourite crayon colour: Green.

Here they are again as a complete class at the museum... they don't look very happy because they were hungry and pissed off that we had to go back to school...  So was I. 

New Beginnings.

This week saw the beginning of the new school year in Korea, which brought with it new students, new classes and a new schedule for Amy Teacher. Goodbye leisurely days of 2.30pm starts and hello morning classes, kinder kids and full days of work! I knew my dream schedule of the first 6 weeks wouldn't last long and now that my honeymoon period is over, I guess it's only fair that I actually have to work for my pay... but geeze it's been exhausting! I mean, I know the first week of school is always a bit crazy - the kids have new classes, new classmates and new teachers to get used to, not to mention the general sense of disorganisation they must be getting from the frenzied staff at school, but I certainly wasn't prepared for the absolute chaos that I encountered!! 

Early in the week, it became apparent that the normally polite and cute children I had become accustomed to, had morphed into over-excited, seditious little devils with a knack for executing seemingly random yet synchronised acts of sabotage on my classes.  Obviously I have underestimated the organisational skills and cognitive abilities of the 5 year old brain, as I now have reason to believe that somewhere, over the course of a single weekend, a series of covert meetings were convened by my students (most likely in someones tree house... not that they seem to have them here) to discuss mutiny tactics.

 I imagine blue prints were drawn up in crayon (and subsequently buried or even swallowed) detailing the layout of the classroom and the optimal positioning of students within the room so as to create an environment of chaos that is impossible for me to control.  I bet if I got hold of the meeting minutes they'd read a little something like this... 

"OK, so Kevin, you perch behind the door so she won't see you when she comes in... David, you hide in the cupboard.... Grant, you're under the desk to the right of the teacher and Andy you hold the left side... I'll fight with Leo and he'll cry which will instantly distract her.  Girls, it's your job to keep her distracted when she comes into the room, so Angela, you hug her while Sarah gives her a sticker... while she's thanking Sarah, that's when Lynn comes in with the back massage to distract her and lull her into a false sense of security, then she'll be an open target for Ann and Sophia to wrap themselves around teachers legs.  Whatever you do girls, DON'T LET GO... Once we've got her pinned, Grant and Andy will come out from under the desks and get her arms...If you can, tickle her as well. Anything, so long as you bring her to the ground or at least a sitting position so we can reach her head.  When she's down, that's when Kevin comes from behind the door and takes her glasses and David, you gag her so she can't yell at us or cry for help...  It's important that the timing of this is PERFECT otherwise she may try and teach us something and we want to avoid that at all costs..."  

I'm learning that teaching the kindy kids can be very hard and draining work... but it's also a lot of fun and really rewarding.  Whereas last month my students were mainly between 10-14 years old, my kids now range from 3 years old (that's about 5 years old in Korean age) to just 9 years old.  While I teach most classes just 2 or 3 times a week, there are 2 classes (a class of five 4 y/oand a class of ten 5 y/o) that I teach 5 days a week.... I love them.  Seriously, I am smitten. They are both incredibly noisy classes and the kids are almost always terribly behaved, but the glimpses of sweetness they show me has made me fall head over heels in love with them (even if I did temporarily swear off ever having children after a particularly trying class on Tuesday).

  A lot of the new kids who started this week have never learnt English before.... actually a lot of them have never been in an actual classroom before!  One particularly cute little boy, Andy (one of many Andy's) spent his first 3 days at school crying constantly.  Poor little thing just sobbed and sobbed his way through class after class and I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out what was wrong with him.  He didn't seem sick, the others weren't being mean to him and I'm pretty sure he hadn't just endured some kind of long-term relationship breakup (he is 5 after all)... but he just cried into his books all day long.  On Thursday morning he walked into school dry-eyed.... that was until I said "Hi Andy" at which he burst into tears.  Great. It's me.  He hates me.  He hates me so much that I made him cry with a morning greeting.... but my hate-theory didn't really make sense because he kept coming up to me and holding my hand while saying something in Korean through his tears.  Eventually I went and got one of the Korean teachers to ask him what was the matter.  Turns out he was crying because he couldn't understand English.... because he couldn't understand anything we said to him. aaaawwww .  We then got some of the other kids who had been at the school a bit longer to explain to him that none of them understand much of what the teachers say at first, but that he will learn to understand soon... that's why he's here.  And just like that he stopped crying - and I think even enjoyed school on Friday! Success!

Aside from not understanding us, a lot of the new kids also didn't have English names (yes, taking on English names is a somewhat strange practice widely adopted around Asia it seems).  I was excited at the prospect of naming some kids... until I actually had to name some kids.  First of all, I was shattered to be told by my supervisor that neither 'Lucky' or 'Mad Dog' were suitable names for a child and secondly it was really hard to come up with a name that they liked!  Some had names in mind already (4 Leo's in one class... I don't think so boys!), and others had no clue... I tried to come up with English names similar to their Korean names, but when this wasn't possible I named them after members of my family.... The next day I got to school and half of them had either forgotten their names (why didn't I have the piece of mind to make name tags!?) or had changed them overnight.  Humph. Now they have English names, the next step is to try and get them to actually respond to them - yelling out "Tom, get off the table" doesn't really have any impact when Tom doesn't understand the words 'get', 'off', 'the' or 'table' and particularly when Tom doesn't remember that he is Tom....

 At lunch the other day, some of the little 4 year old girls were showing me their training chopsticks... see exhibit A: 

There's little rings to put your fingers in to teach the correct chop-sticking technique...

Anyway, so one of the girls has training chopsticks with a little penguin called Pororo on top.  As she was showing me how they work she began looking at the penguin, then looking at me, looking at the penguin, looking at me.... this went on for several minutes.  I was perplexed as to why she (a) had a very confused look on her face, and (b) had developed a sudden fascination with both me and the penguin.... but then a lightbulb turned on in her head and she cracked up laughing. And I mean hysterical laughter.  She babbled something to the other girls who also broke into fits of giggles, staring at me then staring at the penguin.  At this stage Lailla, one of the Korean teachers, came into the room.  I asked her to find out what was so funny and after a quick explanation, she too was in hysterics.  Turns out that in the minds of 4 year olds I bear a strong resemblance to Pororo.... what do you think?

In other news, it snowed like crazy again this week.  It actually only snowed for a little while, and as it was a reasonably warm day (when I saw warm, I mean it was above zero) the snow didn't settle on the ground for long... actually it was completely gone within an hour.  But still, it was, without a doubt, the most impressive snowfall I have ever witnessed.  None of the delicate little flakes of snowfalls gone by... these snowflakes were GIANT and hit my face and glasses with a splat. Naturally, i got snap happy...

Really not as impressive as in real life, the photo doesn't really capture the size nor sheer amount of the snowflakes, but it gives a small indication nonetheless...

As you may have noticed from previous posts, snow brings out my inner child.  So much so that the Korean teachers find great pleasure in alerting me to even the most minute sign of snow... apparently they like my 'happy snow dance'.  They also like to come outside with me and laugh as I run around giggling like a little girl while trying to catch snowflakes in my mouth...

Anyway, that's enough from me tonight - I have another big week ahead and should really try and start the week off as fresh as possible!  I hope everyone is well- wherever in the world you may be... In the meantime, if you get a chance, I really recommend you try a new drink I found in Korea.  It's not coffee, it's not beer and it's certainly not whisky....
Yes, that is correct. It's Cocktile.  Mmmmm.

It's all about the kiddies.

Well, I've pretty much covered the social side of my life in Korea so far, but considering that I came all the way here to teach English to some kiddies, I guess it's about time you met them!

So let me introduce you to....

Left: Lynne, Rachel, Amy, Martin, Jeff and Nathan.

This is my one and only Kindy class at the moment.  I teach them for two 40 minute classes a week and it is undoubtedly the hardest 80 minutes of work I do all week!!  I adore them, but they are exhausting!  I'm unfortunate enough to teach them for their last class before home time... and boy do they get ratty! Plus one of them is my boss's daughter which adds a little extra stress to it! 

Last week Martin got a blood nose in class and found it amusing to spray blood on everyone (worse still, they also found it amusing).  In the end I jammed a wad of toilet paper up his nose which, of course, all the others had to copy which, of course, ended in me having to fish chunks of stray paper out of Nathan's nose... colouring in was about all I had the energy for after that!

"Hip-Hip Horray Class" (named after their text book)

Back Left: Kelly, Cindy (or Cindy, Kelly... I'm never sure which one is which), Lina, Sara, Andy.

Front Left: Peter, Glory, Julie, Kevin, Candy.

Playing "What's the time Mr. Wolf?" with Hip-Hip Horray Class

Ah, the Hip-Hip Hooray class... what can I say about them?  They are really smart and so cute sometimes, but the are also incredibly difficult at others (read, almost always)!  Aside from two girls who are absolute angels, there are a lot of bad-eggs in this class .  The boys are particularly bad, although missing from this picture is their ringleader Danny, the cutest, baddest kid in school (who is also one of my favourites... oops, that's not very teacherly!)  When the boys aren't throwing things at the girls and calling them names, they're punching each other and having competitions of who can stand the hardest slap in the face without crying.  I've gotta give it to them though - there are rarely tears!

Sally and Sabrina... I believe you've met them before already though...

"Carnival" Class... (also named after their text book)

Back Left (standing): Adam, Samira (hiding), Love, Anna, Candy.

Front Left (sitting): David, John, Don.

These kids are awesome.  Usually eager to learn and almost always do their homework (some even draw pictures and maps of Australia for me as 'extra homework' I didn't even ask them to do!) In addition to teaching my boss's daughter in kindy class, I also teach my boss's son in Carnival class... but I only found this out last week after teaching him for a month.  Lucky I'm not into favoritism or anything...

"Reading class"

Kevin and Sam.

I love these two boys.  They crack me up non-stop.  I only get to teach them twice a week, but they are definitely one of the better classes to teach.  They are like little sponges who remember how to spell any word I teach them even if they've only seen it written once! While pretty smart, their vocab isn't huge, which means there is a lot of miming and pictionary on my part.  I can' t draw which they think is hilarious... and they now pretend they don't know the meaning of a word just so I'll try to draw it on the board for them while they sit back and laugh hysterically at my wonky stick figures ad crappy animals before coming up and finishing the drawing for me. They also like learning tongue twisters ("How much wood can a woodchuck chuck..." is their favourite) and they bring me lollies all the time, so I like them a lot.

"English Time 3" Class (with Harry hiding under the little pink desk for good measure)

Eric and Harry of E-T3 class

Wendy and Ginny of E-T3 class.

"English-Time" is definitely the best behaved class I have... In fact, they are positively nerdy at times! I think the smaller classes are by far the easiest to teach (except Sally and Sabrina, who are the equivalent of 12 screaming girls)....

Anyway, that's all my classes except one, who tell me they are too old and cool for photos (they're 11 - 13).  Funny kids though.  I really like teaching them - when I can get them talking that is!

I thought I'd also include a few pics of the Kindy Graduation from last week.  Seriously, this graduation ceremony was more impressive than my own uni graduation (which was not at all impressive by the way, but that was uni, and this was kinder!).  It was hilarious.  They all had to make little speeches in English... not in their own words of course, the Korean teachers fed them their lines which they rehearsed for weeks... "our time here at ECC was so so fun! we had many great experiences along the way..."  They wouldn't even know how to say that in Korean!!

  

Yup, they have little robes and hats on!! How cute!

They were singing "So long, Farewell" from the Sound of Music at this point...

My little Amy... a proud graduate.

Jeff (or, Jepuh as the Koreans often say) is one of the best kids at the school. Adorable.  How cute is his little bow-tie and suit!!!

Well, that's all for now.  I have a busy week coming up - a bunch of kindy classes have been hand-balled my way for the next few days and if they're anything like the kindy class I already teach, I think it's going to be a looooong week.

Tricks of the trade

Two weeks in and I think I'm starting to get the hang of this teaching thing a bit better...  Yes, I still feel like an impostor in the classroom and I have a long way to go (although I do have my own, patented, version of the hands-on-hips-showing-cross-face stance, with an optional wagging of the finger when called for), but it's definitely feeling less weird... except for the fact that I have to wear slippers when I work.  I wonder how anyone can take anyone seriously when they're trotting around with slippers on! (Mine are fluffy and blue with white and pink spots just incase you were wondering - I've received many comments on their beauty from students and fellow teachers, thank you very much).

.

Here are some things I have discovered about teaching in the last week;

-Lesson #1.

• Teachers have to assess their students.  This means giving them exams.  
• Exams don't magically create themselves.  Teachers must do this.  
• Creating an oral exam for 5 classes with only 30 minutes notice is not an easy feat.
• Determining a grade for a student is difficult when you have not been instructed how to do so, or what constitutes as 'good', 'average' or 'poor' English.
• Giving all students near perfect scores seems to be an appropriate solution to the above problem.    
  

-Lesson #2.

• Teachers must give their students feedback.  This means giving them report cards.
• Report cards don't magically create themselves.  Teachers must do this.
• Writing reports for 40 students whose names you have not yet learnt is not an easy feat.
• Finding nice ways of saying "your child really annoys me" is also difficult.
• Writing 40 glowing reports seems to be an appropriate solution to the above problem.

My little class of two: Sally and Sabrina - creators of my pointy nosed giraffe-fish complex.

- Lesson #3.

• In order to teach, teachers must be able control their class. This calls for a skill set that I am yet to acquire.
• Using bribes such as stickers is an effective tool if carried out properly.  I have not yet learnt how to do this properly.  Sticker bribes cannot be administered too early in class as behavioural standards tend to deteriorate post sticker collection.
• Repetitive use of above bribe technique renders it ineffective and renders teachers poor due to excessive sticker purchasing.  
• New bribery methods must be imagined. Soon.

-Lesson #4:

• ALWAYS ignore an 8 year old when they start a sentence with "Teacher, Teacher... do YOU know what boys and girls do when they love each other?" for no apparent reason.
• ALWAYS confiscate pencil cases when they are being used as props to demonstrate said 8 year olds take on what boys and girls do when they love each other ("this one is the boy and this one is the girl... and then they kiss... and..." STOP!!!).
• After the above point has been carried out ALWAYS keep a close eye on all draw-able surfaces when said 8 year old is armed with a drawing implement and wants to illustrate 'love' further.

Sally:  Perpetrator of the "what people do when they love each other" episode and possibly the craziest kid I know.  

- Lesson #5.

• Hitting the bars is a mandatory activity for Teachers on Friday nights after school.
• Teachers like to party.

Ellen Teacher and Amy Teacher see how long they can keep their hands in the refrigerated built-in-table beer coolers (complete with flashing lights on the inside too!).

June Teacher sporting the latest Korean fashion - the beer mustachio.

 

Me, very happy with our $5 find !!

June shows us how its done (watch out for when you drink down to the wider bits in the glass... for some scientific reason unbeknownst to me, the beer shoots down your throat, or in Junes case, all over herself).

 The official photo stance of Korea;  Technically speaking, there should be a peace sign without a smile.  I have been taught this by my students as well... so it must be true.

I guess some things just never change - no matter where you are in the world.

When Amy met Soju

Spot the difference anyone??? 

Oh yeah, one is a place where you go to watch cute dolphins jump through hoops and the other is where you eat them!

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I get spam on my front door EVERY day.  I think most are takeaway menus (oh, to understand what they said), but I haven't a clue what the others are.  A strange, yet I assume effective, advertising method.

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This type of animal cruelty, I am sad to say, is something I have seen very often over the last week.  Do you think this dog (which is probably a he) LIKES having a strawberry dyed into the fur on its left butt cheek?? I think not.  Please also note the pink dye spots on its cheeks (face cheeks this time) and the fluorescent orange and pink dye on its legs... don't even get me started on the jacket!!

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Trees wrapped in straw... I guess it's to keep them alive during the winter or something, but I really don't know.  Any suggestions?

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Pretty teapots in Gangnam, Seoul.

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Me, Ellen and the great potato spiral.  Deep-fried spud with tasty sprinkles of cheese, onion and chili salt. mmmm....

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I survived my first week as an English Teacher!!!  I feel like a bit of an impostor standing up there at the front of a classroom... I'm paranoid that at any moment someone will realise that I shouldn't be here - given I can hardly speak the language myself let alone teach it to people who are paying good money to learn!  I'm particularly nervous since I discovered that on of the girls in my kinder class is the daughter of my boss...  I wonder what type of feedback a 5 year old can give her parents???  

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Anyway, I'm having a great time and I'm learning so much along the way! Like, did you know that when choosing an English name to go by, approximately 33% of boys in Korea choose Kevin?  Ok, well that is an entirely fabricated statistic, but I sure seems like just about every boy I teach is called Kevin... Perhaps the Wonder Years has made a comeback in Korea?

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On the topic of names, I think I've caused a bit of damage with a few kids and wouldn't be surprised if they come to school sporting new ones tomorrow... On Monday I told a student (Eric) that he had the same name as my grandfather and as a consequence he has been taunted by the others about being an old man for the entire week.  Obviously I don't say Peter like the Americans do and therefore it sounds like Peeta, and when I speak to a student named Hans (it's 'Germany' he tells me), I say it like 'Han(d)s' instead of 'Hahns'.  I know accents can be funny at times, but geeze, I feel terrible that mine has caused a case or two of bullying! I've never heard kids chant mockery quite so loudly before...

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On Friday night after work I went out with a couple of other foreign teachers.  That's when I met Soju.  We were introduced by a mutual friend and were immediately attracted to each other.  We went out on the town and spent the night together, then woke up in the morning and didn't like each other anymore.... I guess that now would be a good time to mention that Soju is a Korean alcohol made from rice (sorry if I scared you there Mama).  It tastes similar to vodka and has much the same effect - possible side effects of soju may include dancing, singing, slurred speech, lack of balance and impaired motor skills.  If I told you that the night involved a) many games of twister, b) hours spent in a Norabang (karaoke room), c) a 5am dumpling run, and d) the most painful, nasty headache in the morning, could you guess how many of these side effects were in action? Yes, all of them.  Good times.