I've always enjoyed teaching but haven't ever had a real chance to do it outside of church. Now that I'm here, I love it: I love the children, the teaching, the language, everything. Of course there is the bad, mixed with the good, but even the bad turns into good sometimes as an experience I had on Friday April 19 illustrates.
The week previous, on April 12, I taught a particular class of students for the first time. The name of the class, which uses the name of the textbook they use, is "Let's Go 2." It is a beginner level class, with two girls and four boys, all around 12 years old. One boy, Jee-hoon, immediately proved to be a problem. He is enormous, sumo wrestler huge, with an attitude to match. He wouldn't sit still or shut-up for anything. The look of defiance in his eyes whenever I tried to maintain control of the class conveyed contempt, disrespect, and arrogance. His behavior was extremely disruptive and made teaching the class a joke. When class was over and he walked by me, I tensed my gut, thinking he might slug me, so deep was his disrespect and obvious his bullying nature. I was VERY discouraged.
After class I asked Jim, the assistant to the hagwon director, for his advice. He knew and had previously taught Jee-hoon and knew the key to controlling him. He said there was one thing this boy feared - his own father. Jim told me how to use this to me advantage and so I waited until the following Friday to teach the class.
The moment I walked into class, I heard chaos and Jee-hoon walked up to me and pushed a tasteless troll doll in my face to shock me and watch my reaction. I ignored the doll and told him to sit down. He did not. I told him to calm down and take his seat immediately. He did not. Knowing this was a beginners class and that he wouldn't understand 98% of what I was about to say, I said very sternly with my finger in his face, "Listen! You sit down right now! You sit down right now and do what I tell you and remain calm and if you don't remain calm and do what I tell you I'm going to write your name on the board (pointing to the board) and every time you get out of line I'm going to put a mark next to your name and at the end of the class I'm going to report everything you've done to your FATHER!"
I am not exaggerating what happened next. The INSTANT I said the word 'father,' the smirk that had been on his face vanished and he looked pale. He'd been backed into a corner by then and he immediately sat down. The whole class was silent. Jim had told me there was no question he would know the word 'father' and that this would be exactly how he would react. It was spooky.
This would be a good story if it ended there but it got even better. I felt the class still had the chance to get out of control so I gave them all a piece of paper and started reciting vocabulary word they'd recently studied and told them to write the word and draw a picture of the word. The moment of Jee-hoon's fear had passed, though he was still a little disruptive, but it was a significant change from the previous week. He took to my writing/drawing assignment in a way that surprised me. I noticed he is an amazing little artist and he loves to draw. Each student was so proud and insistent that I see and approve of every silly little drawing they each produced. (Imagine hearing, day after day, the shouts of perhaps the most common English word Korean students know: "Teacher! Teacher! Teacher! Teacher! Teacher!")
At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I found myself rooting for Jee-hoon by the end of the classs that he might actually be learning English. Now I think he is a sweet, misunderstood kid who just needs to be challenged in the right way. In fact, that's my current theory which has been borne out through a half dozen of my own experiences: the problem students in each class that are the most disruptive are usually the brightest students and they are simply bored and need to be challenged. Once I find a way to challenge them, they become some of my favorite students.
I've spent several hours cleaning up my blog entries and making the format uniform. I've also figured out how to add a 'comment' button so I'm very excited to hear from everyone reading this.
For reasons I can't explain, church today was far and away one of the most spiritual experiences I've had in a long time. The speakers (in Korean of course), music, translation from Elder Johnson, and the atmosphere all combined to invite the spirit in a beautiful way. I was the only English speaker in our little Sunday School class besidess the missionaries. We spent time getting to know the new missionaries in the district and then went around the room sharing our favorite scriptures.
Sister Partridge is from Lindon and just entered the mission field; Elder Judd is from New York and has been out 4 months; and Elder Johnson is from Seattle and has only three months to go.
My flight touched down at Incheon Airport outside Seoul around 6:50 PM local time. I was hot and tired and nervous about the chance I might get lost in the whole checking-through-customs thing. In spite of the many comforts of flying Singapore Airlines, I was unable to catch more that an hour or so of sleep on the 12-hour flight.
Speaking of flying comfortably, I've never had a more luxurious experience than my 12 hours on Singapore Airlines. Scalding hot towels to wipe away the sweat and exhaustion, two full-service and very tasty meals, refreshing cold water or orange juice every hour or so, soft drinks offered several times, snacks every few hours, a personal bag with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and slipper-type stockings to wear throughout the flight, and every passenger had their own television monitor with 20 different movie channels, 20 different music channels, and 35 different Nintendo games to play! The movies were on a 2 hour rotation so you could watch up to six movies along the flight. (I watched Shallow Hal, a Robert Redford/James Gandolfini prison movie, and a third one that escapes me at the moment.) One of the channels also included a real-time graphic of our flight path and where we were along that path, the estimated time until arrival, how long we'd been in the air, and the time and temperature in our destination city of Seoul. On top of all this the flight was barely half full so there was plenty of room to spread out and sleep. I had the row of two seats by the window to myself but some people sitting in the center row had 5-6 seats to themselves so they could lie fully prone which made sleeping a non-effort. The stewardesses were so gracious throughout the entire flight I felt like I was flying first class. What an experience.
It was a long walk from the gate and then about a 20 minute wait in line at the customs desk before I could get through to my suitcases at the luggage turnstiles one floor down. All this was had to be done by myself as it appears they have similar restrictions on non-passengers mingling with passengers in Korea as they do in the states. After going through another gate I finally found my ride: Michael, a Canadian teaching at Weesing and Jim, a Korean who also works at the school, drove me to Chunchon, a two-hour drive.
I called Tammy on the drive home to let her know I'd arrived safely. She was on her way to teach a class at her new job at a university in Seoul.
When we arrived, late, I spent the night at Mike's apartment where it appears I'll stay until the Hagwon finds an open studio or one bedroom apartment for me. There are two other Koreans staying in this apartment. They are apparently professional golfers and speak limited English.
3.7.02.thu.day 2
My first night of sleep was peaceful despite the feeling of being lost on the other side of the world. Mike took me to lunch at McDonalds at the LG Mart, about a 10 minute walk from our high-rise, 14 story apartment building. There are at least a dozen of these high-rises in our neighborhood which lends a big-city feel to this city that everyone continues to tell me is a small town.
Because David Orr, the teacher I would be replacing as well as the person who had spent the last four months corresponding with me and helping get this job set up, had already moved onto another job, I needed to start teaching today. No time to rest whatsoever.
At Weesing in the early afternoon, I met Mr. Kim, the school's director, and most of the Korean native teachers. Trying to remember their names was futile. Feeling like an effective teacher on my first day was even more futile. Without so much as even some guidance on what he wanted me to teach, Mr. Kim took me into a room full of Kindergarten-aged kids, didn't say a word, and left. Well, he did say, "Do introductions."
The kids did know a good amount of English but at that age it's not much more than just vocabulary and I wasn't in a frame of mind where I knew to talk in simple terms, slowly, and wait for them to understand. Fortunately I made it through the class and went on to teach four more classes that afternoon and evening. Each class starts at half past the hour and lasts 50 minutes.
After class, most of the native English teachers ordered Korean take-out food. I had omu-rice: a plain omelet wrapped around rice, drizzled with catsup. Good stuff.
I talked with Tammy again today. I asked her to call home to my family to tell them I'd arrived safely as I don't begin to know how to do it myself.
3.8.02.fri.day 3
After just a day in the country I felt comfortable enough to walk to McDonalds and order my food. Yay me! I thought I was ordering a quarter-pounder but it turned out to be something like a tulkbo-burger, some kind of tasty pork thing. I liked it.
My plans to go to Seoul for the weekend were almost derailed by some kind of conference Mr. Kim had previously signed up for and the new teachers were required to attend but since word got out that I had already bought my train ticket I got a pass.
3.9.02.sat.day 4
I arose early to catch a cab to the NamChunchon train station which would take me into Seoul. Tammy had given me minimal directions which I thought was enough but I found myself more lost than usual when I tried to determine if I was getting on the right train. So I put on the "lost and helpless" look Tammy said I should use whenever I actually am lost. Within a few minutes a group of middle-school aged girls approached me to offer help. Although their English wasn't the best I was grateful they tried and we were finally able to understand each other to the point I felt like I was getting on the right train. But even after all that I still wasn't sure so I was even more grateful when, 15 minutes into the ride, one of the girls came up and gave me a sheet of paper explaining that I was in fact on the right train to Seoul and that I should get off on such and such a stop where they were also going and they would offer me any more help if I needed it. Relief city! Although I was tired and extremely thirsty, I could finally relax enough to watch the scenery which I found particularly fascinating.
I got off in Seoul and had to wait 20 minutes for Tammy to show up. I might have been worried still if that same group of girls hadn't approached me to see if everything was all right. Tammy finally did show and it was nice to see her after our almost three year hiatus. We rode the subway to another part of town to an LDS chapel where a scheduled singles activity was in progress. After a little instructive dance, a talk by the Branch President, and lunch, we jumped back on the subway and made our way to her apartment where I could finally catch my breath, cool down, and rest. Tammy lives in a third story apartment with a private stairway where her two bunnies, Toki (Korean for bunny) and Trouble have free reign.
An amazing sight on the subway - a very old woman was making her way up some steps and along the platform at a snail's pace. Standing at full height she might have measured 41/2' but instead she was bent over at a severe angle, beyond 90? She was holding a cane to help her along and a man in his 20s was helping her. I thought he was her son but when she came to the subway door he let her go and as Tammy and I were converging on the door at the same time, we helped her to her seat. Tammy attributed her condition to a country-wide deficiency of calcium many years ago and said this was a common sight in the country. Amazing.
Later in the evening we went to dinner out in the busy Western-part of town, Itaewon I think. It was full of many other foreigners which was a welcome sight after only a few days of being in the country and me feeling like a minority. After dinner and a stop at Baskin Robbins we came home to watch "Unbreakable" with Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson. I'd seen it before but Tammy found it boring so we didn't finish watching.
3.10.02.sun.day 5
We attended District Conference in Seoul. We had to take another dizzying array of connecting trains in the subway system to get there and it was again nice to see such a full chapel of Western faces.
We rested and visited the rest of the afternoon and then Tammy made dinner. In talking I became depressed and overwhelmed at the prospect of going back to Chunchon and teaching again. Although I was able to learn a lot about how to teach in just two days, I was definitely not excited about going back to the city alone. Talk of getting set up with a cell phone eventually turned to talk of me just taking Tammy's phone so that I wouldn't feel so remote. This wasn't the cure-all to my depression but eventually those feelings of wanting to flee faded and I was able to focus on teaching better and learning the language.
We took the subway and tried to catch the evening train out of Seoul but missed it by 10 minutes so I had to spend the night again.
3.11.02.mon.day 6
Tammy drove me to the train station mid-morning and I caught the train back to Chunchon. When I got off the train there was such a large number of people waiting to catch cabs back in to town that we all had to wait in line for the next available taxi. After 15 minutes it was my turn. I rode home, walked to McDonalds for lunch, and came home to rest for an hour before heading back to class.
I went to work in the afternoon. For the rest of the month, my schedule is Monday and Tuesday from 3:30 to 9:30 and Thursday from 2:30 to 9:30 and Friday from 4:30 to 9:30 with an hour break for dinner each evening for a total of 18 hours. That gives me Sunday, Wednesday, and Saturday off.
3.12.02.tue.day 7
I felt an almost quantum-leap (thank you Doug) advancement in my ability to teach today. I don't know what to attribute it to other than feeling more settled and more aware of what the students need. This is actually starting to be fun.
3.13.02.wed.day 8
I had lunch with the six missionaries serving in Chunchon. Elder Ellis, from Holladay has been out 13 months, Elder Pope from Delaware has been out 9 months, Elder Curtis from Alpine has out 7 months, Elder Doh from Deagau, Korea, has been out 18 months, Sister Huffaker, from Salt Lake has less than 3 weeks left, and Sister Nam from Kwangju, Korea has been out 7 months. We ordered take-out and then played Phase Ten. Good stuff.
3.15.02.fri.day 10
I went to Maverick's bar after work with the other teachers for a farewell party of sorts for Mac who is leaving next week for another teaching job in China. It wasn't my first time in bar of course (thank you Paul Tomini) so I just ordered a Coke and enjoyed the company. Unfortunately the smoking got to me after a while so I left.
3.17.02.sun.day 12
I attended church at the Chunchon branch, again at the behest of the missionaries. Of course I would have attended on my own but their regular invitations to participate with them have been welcomed as they are a kind, wholesome group of people to hang out with.
I was asked to stand and introduce myself in Priesthood Meeting which I did and my words were translated by Elder Curtis. Later in the meeting the teacher actually asked me several questions and, when I got over the surprise, I answered with Elder Curtis again providing translation. It was unusual to me to be included like this but a pleasant way to feel included.
3.19.02.tue.day 14
I opened up a bank account at Chohung Bank with Jim's help. Carly also came and afterwards we picked up Mike from Weesing and took them out to lunch at Burger King in Myung-dong. This was my first time in downtown Chunchon (that I know of - it's all such a blur sometimes) and I was struck with how much it resembled Seoul - busy, chaotic, everything you can think of for sale. Mike and Jim took us to what I later realized was the black market - many western items that you can't find anywhere else for sale at increased prices. Interesting.
Went with Mike and Carly to Maverick's bar after work and had a nice time chatting. Elder Ellis called while at the bar to invite me to join the missionaries on their p-day at the church to play basketball and visit.
3.20.02.wed.day 15
I joined the missionaries at the church. While some of them played basketball outside, Elder Pope was watching the Super Bowl on tape which his father sent him from home. I stayed inside with him and worked on typing this day-by-day account of my experiences in Korea.
I had gone to a PC Room (commonly called in Korean a PC bang - pronounced 'bong') earlier in the morning and after leaving the missionaries and indulging in a long nap, I spent the rest of the evening at the PC Room. As I walked home, Tammy and I chatted on my phone, something we do almost daily. My phone is amazingly small and very convenient but it has a tendency to drop a lot of calls.
3.21.02.thu.day 16
Early in the morning before I went to bed I called Julia to wish her a happy birthday. I had a chance to talk to Amelia for a minute and as cute as she was I was a little sad that I'm already forgetting the sound of her voice and all her endearing mannerisms. Later I called Bonnie to check on Shylock.
When Tammy called in the evening, our conversation led her to decide she would come to Chunchon to visit for the weekend, or at least Saturday. She is more than a little distressed over Toki who was just mysteriously injured and went blind. He may not survive the night.
3.22.02.fri.day 17
I went to the Hagwon early to spend some time organizing my papers and office supplies. Carly was at the school teaching and we ordered some take-out chicken together. It wasn't enough to fill us so we went down to a street vendor next door and ordered some unknown but tasty food.
Michael, Carly, and Jonathan invited me to go out with them after work. Jim was scheduled to join us later. I long ago decided there's nothing inherently wrong about going to a bar and, since I enjoy hanging out with this group, I figured it beat reading or listening to music back home. At the bar we continued our day long game of challenging each other to Simpson's trivia. I suppose, if nothing else, our common interest in the show makes for a fun diversion.
In spite of the fun though, after two hours the cigarette smoke had gotten to me and I went home with an upset stomach before Jim joined us.
3.23.02.sat.day 18
After waking late and enjoying lunch at McDonalds, I spent a few hours at the LG Mart food court, where McDonalds is located, catching up on reading the Korean newspapers I've accumulated, written in English of course.
I trip later to the PC bang proved more annoying than worthwhile. Korean children seem to have more of a fascination with computer games than I can say I ever observed in American children and it seemed that most of the computers where occupied by young rowdy kids, running around, without much regard for manners and not bumping into the adults. When Tammy called I decided to leave and come back later.
Tammy had decided to put Toki down and she was feeling pretty sad. After commiserating together, I was amazed to learn how expensive it was - 50,000 Won to put him down and 150,000W to dispose of the body, which translates to a total of about $150. When she'd taken him to the vet earlier in the week for a pain shot, she was only charged 20,000W, about $15, for the visit.
When I returned to the PC bang later, I spent some time at www.myfamily.com setting up a site for myself where I can post these writings, pictures, and anything else I choose for family and friends back home to view. Now to get a digital camera.
3.24.02.sun.day 19
Slow day. Spent most of it catching up old paperwork, reading scriptures, and journal writing.
Living out of suitcases has long-grown old; I am ready for my own place without the two rude, neanderthal Koreans I've had for roommates. Michael is the exception. Although we don't share much in common, and the fact he's from Canada (ha, ha) I've grown to enjoy his company along with that of Carly and Jonathan. Unfortunately Jonathan's contract runs out at the end of the month which means he's leaving. Too bad. The new teacher, Curtis, is supposedly also from Utah but I know nothing else about him.
3.27.02.wed.day 22
Though it wasn't ready for me to move in, Jim took Carly and me to see my new apartment. Although it is a nice high-rise apartment and a bit larger than Carly's apartment, I later decided, after thinking it over and talking about it with her, that I wanted Carly's apartment instead in exchange for mine. Carly agreed to the exchange.
3.28.02.thu.day 23
Michael and I moved my few belongings from his apartment to my new apartment with the help of one of the school's buses and bus driver. Then we moved Carly's belongings to her new place. The feeling of finally having my own place is so refreshing. I feel like I can relax for the first time since entering the country.
3.29.02.fri.day 24
We all met after work at Maverick's for a farewell for Jonathan. The number of teacher's who came out to say their good-byes versus those who came to see Mac off says something, I think, as to Jonathan's popularity.
3.30.02.sat.day 25
Carly and I took a cab to LG Mart and had dinner at McDonald's. We saw David Orr and his family. Mr. Kim later met us so he could go with Carly to buy her a hand phone at LG Mart.
3.31.02.sun.day 26
I was late to church. What a bad habit to establish. I went to the school in the evening and went out to dinner with Jim, Michael, and Carly. Later in the evening when Carly was at my apartment, Jonathan called to ask what items we might want from his apartment as he was preparing to move out. We spent the rest of the evening making several trips back and forth between his nearby apartment, taking things he was giving away. The only thing of consequence I inherited was a wicked, carved Korean god which made a nice addition to my desk.
4.1.02.mon.day 27
Today is April fools day and the first day of our new schedule at school but I didn't find much to laugh at. One of my new classes, a Gogo 1 class which is for very young beginners, got so out of control I had to remove a student from class, the first time I've had to do that. The kid was goofing off and simply wouldn't listen to me. When I told him to leave he didn't so I packed up his stuff and physically removed him. He was terrified and tried grabbing onto everything in sight to stay in class. It wasn't pleasant but class was so much easier to manage when I returned.
My new schedule is thus: Mon - 2:30 - 9:30 with one hour off besides dinner, Tue and Thu - 3:30 - 9:30, Wed - 6:30 - 7:30, and Fri 10:30 - 12:30 for a two hour housewives class and 5:30 - 9:30. Dinner is from 7:30 - 8:30 each night and I have Saturdays and Sundays off.
Before class I exchanged the last of my traveler's checks.
4.2.02.tue.day 28
I met Elders Curtis, Ellis, and Pope for lunch at Fusion, my treat. Carly just happened to show up at the same time so we all ate together. It was a nice visit and Carly asked several questions about the missionaries. After lunch we went back to my apartment, sans Carly who stayed behind to write some letters. The Elders shared a message with me and it was all very spiritual. As they were preparing to leave, Carly stopped by so we could walk to school together. She joined us for a closing prayer.
4.3.02.wed.day 29
With the help of the same school bus and driver,I moved the items Carly inherited from Jonathan to her apartment. I later had lunch at Fusion Cafe which is becoming a regular habit.
After my evening class, I had pizza with Carly at me place. We watched Chicken Run. After the movie we went out for a walk and found two new posters to add to our collection.
One month down, eleven to go! Unbelievable how time has flown.
Tammy and I spent the day visiting, eating out at her favorite places, and window shopping, especially at an enormous underground shopping plaza in Chunchon shaped in the fashion of a subway train line.
For dinner we ate a remote restaurant where they served about 20 side dishes which included octopus, raw crab in shell, oysters, two kinds of kimchi, a tofu soup, fried vegetable patties, and some delicious beef strips. After dinner we had a few minutes to visit with Tammy's friend Mrs. Jung who lives across the street from Weesing. She and her husband have three young boys. They are all very friendly and I hope to have a chance to spend more time with them. Tammy caught the late train to Seoul.
4.7.02.sun.day 33
To my embarrassment I overslept and was 90 minutes late for church. I had been asked to teach the English Sunday School class but Elder Curtis ended up teaching in my absence and said later he'd always expected to teach it today anyway so it was no big deal. I met Brother Deemers for the first time today. He's a High Priest, in his mid-40s I believe, serving at Camp Page in Chunchon. I think he's from Texas and serves in some sort of medical capacity in the military. A very nice guy and I'm glad to have another English voice in this sea of Korean speakers.
4.8.02.mon.day 34
I met Curtis for the first time today. What an odd bat. He's 38, single, and LDS - though not practicing from what I can divine. When we went out to a bar to welcome his arrival, he drank and smoke in moderation. He spoke to me one on one about his mission and how it was the greatest experience of his life but left no explanation as current lifestyle, not that he owes me one. He also has an awkward way of participating in conversations and, as a self-proclaimed drummer, a nervous habit of drumming his fingers (or even his drumsticks sometimes!) It's hard not to read all of this as deep seeded insecurity. Why any of this should matter to me or even drive me to write about, wonder about it, or talk about it with anyone else is a matter of frequent self-examination. I have determined to strive for politeness with him, if nothing else.
Mr. Kim paid half my salary to me today in cash with a promise to pay the rest tomorrow. As the 10,000 Won bill is the largest they have, the 1,000,000 he paid me was a sizeable stack of money.
4.9.02.tue.day 35
The English teachers went out after work for drinks (see yesterday). We had a nice time and I met Junnita (see tomorrow). Carly and I left around 1 AM so we could get enough rest for the activity we had planned for Wednesday.
No money today from Mr. Kim. Tomorrow he tells me, again.
4.10.02.wed.day 36
In the later morning I went with Carly and Junnita, another English teacher she'd met from New Zealand, to Jungdo, a resort island in Chunchon. After taking a 5 minute ferry ride (2,200 Won round trip), we ate lunch and then rented mountain bikes for 3,000 Won and rode around the island. The day happened to be very cold and windy but it was the kind of cold and wind that helps you appreciate the outdoors, not ruin it. After maybe three hours we took the ferry ride back home.
I spent the rest of the afternoon before my one class of the day at 6:30 looking for a dowel or closet rod to install in my upper half of my dresser to allow me to hang up my clothes. I have spent a considerable amount of time the past two weeks looking for anything I could use to make a makeshift closet rod to no avail. I finally had to settle for a 10,000 Won kit that fits inside the dresser. This was more money than I wanted to spend and I was discouraged I had to buy a kit rather than being able to build something on my own.
I received a card from Shylock via Bonnie at Weesing when I went to school to teach. The envelope had a paw print from Shylock and the card had a tuft of her hair taped inside. It was cute and the other teachers got a big laugh out of it.
Today I did finally get the rest of my money. Many people have told me Mr. Kim is famous for not paying on time, though he always does eventually pay. This concept is so foreign to me as I can't fathom a business lasting two months back home that engaged in such a practice. I anticipate each month is going to require me to daily bug him for money, something I know I will abhor.
4.11.02.thu.day 37
I had to remove a boy and girl from a Let's Go 4 class today. I've had this class from the beginning and these two students have always been a thorn in my side. Before I threw them out, the whole class was being so noisy I had to resort to a 5 minute lecture, asking them why they couldn't understand the most basic instructions to be quiet. I know they likely couldn't understand everything I was saying but it's impossible they missed the gist of the lecture. Somehow they did though which is why I had to remove those two troublemakers. It was pretty awkward for a few minutes but once I got past that, teaching became SO much easier.
Tammy was finally able to get me a new phone card in Seoul and I called her after work for the details so that I could actually use the card without having it in my hands.
4.12.02.fri.day 38
Called Mom & Dad at 8 AM; it was 5 PM Thursday for them. Dave passed his medical exam in Oklahoma; Natalie will be returning with him to look for a house and they will probably move the middle of May. Julia is no longer selling Mary Kay.
I taught my first housewives class at 10:30 AM. It's a two hour class, primarily for adult women with more advanced English skills. I've been nervous about teaching it for some time but I always knew it was just first-time jitters. After going through basic introductions, we spent an hour studying from the designated textbook and the final hour just talking about everyday things to give them a chance to practice their conversational English.
Later in the day I taught a Let's Go 2 class with two girls and three boys, probably an average of ten years old. This was the first time I'd taught these particular students and it was a nightmare. The girls and one of the boys were well behaved enough but one giant, sumo wrestler of a boy was so rude, disprespectful, disruptive, and uncooperative as to make the make the 50 minute class nothing more than a waste of time. The third boy was so A.D.D.-like, trying to make him just concentrate, that it was like teaching a three year old. I finally had to resort to making everyone copy words off the whiteboard and write them 5-10 times each, depending on their good or bad behavior. When class was over, I dismissed everyone but the two boys and made them sit for a minute or two before letting them go. What a battle of wills that class is going to be.
My consolation for the day was the party I'd promised my next class of advanced students I've had since starting at Weesing. We'd reached the end of a major section in the textbook. So, after a tough spelling test, we had M&Ms, Sun Chips, cookies, grape Fanta, and Pocari Sweat (a Korean Gatorade-like drink).
4.13.02, sat, day 39
After meeting Carly at the bank to loan her some money and dropping my laundry off at the laundry mat, I spent several hours at the pc bang emailing and listening to Rush.
I went to Weesing to order take-out and eat with Carly, Jim, and Mr. Kim. Later in the evening I went to Fusion to read (David Copperfield), have a drink, and enjoy the atmosphere.
I called Bonnie around 11:30 PM to thank her for the card and inquire after Shylock.
4.14.02.sun.day 40
Today was Ward Conference and I counted 50 people in attendance - a record since I've been here. I taught the Sunday School lesson in our little class of English speakers, chapter 3 from Gospel Principles. It was Sister Huffaker's last day in the ward (she's going home Wednesday) and Elder Curtis' last day (he's being transferred to Seoul I think). After church the sisters of the ward served pibimbop for lunch, a Korean dish I've come to enjoy.
Brian called during lunch from New York to tell me the money he'd been hoping for to come to China to teach for the summer has been approved. He'll be there during June, July, and August I think. I am hoping to have some time off to visit him there for a week or so.
Mr. Kim invited Michael, Curtis, Jim, and me over for dinner at 7:30. His four year old son kept us entertained while his wife prepared dinner. She is actually Japanese and I'm told the food she served was more of a traditional Japanese meal that Korean. We at a sort of clam soup, rice, and a breaded pork cutlet with a barbeque-like sauce. Delicious. Carly didn't come as she'd gone to spend the day in Seoul with Junnita.
4.15.02.mon.day 41
Lunch at Fusion. I spent some time there afterwards catching up on my writing. Promptly at 2 PM, some kind of air raid or invasion siren sounded up in the city and ran for 3 minutes. Tammy called during the drill to tell me what it was and that it runs either monthly or every six months. Through the window I could see activity carrying on as normal so I wonder how Koreans are supposed to know if it's a drill or the real thing.
When I was walking to the school at 3 PM, Michael called to ask my whereabouts since I was supposed to be at school for my 2:30 class! Big-time brain lapse!
A few days ago I was reading the International Herald Tribune when stumbled across an article talking about "blogs." Upon further reading and research I learned that "blog" is a contraction for "web log," a place online where people typically record their daily thoughts. This seemed like the perfect place to post the daily journal I've been keeping of my experiences teaching English and living in South Korea. I invite any and all of my family and friends to share my experiences with me by reading my "blog." I welcome any comments you may have, really I do. Of course, if no one but me finds any of this interesting and worthwhile, I will at least have the satisfaction down the road of having a detailed record of this most unique opportunity that has been placed before me.
