Tuesday, March 30, 2010
pweeeehhh!
today was a tiring day. Just seems like theh kids were dead. Not much participation overall. So yeah, feel so tired. Hate it when I feel like i am talking to ghosts. I will now forever feel sorry for every time a professor, teacher, etc asked participation from the students, but did not get any.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Tell me if this makes sense
Korean go to bathhouses (jimjilbangs), where they are completely naked and see each others' bodies. Also, when going to places like the pool-like myself, they see each other naked. So pretty much, nakedness, or seeing the bare parts of the body is like second nature. I mean... you see from very very young kids to very very old men and women in saunas, bathouses, etc. YET..... when i show a video in class on this one girl's daily routine, all the boys and girls scream "oahhawww..// ohhhh " when the video shows the girl's pj's dropping to the ground so that she can put on her jeans. (so the video shows the girl's legs). I mean.... am i crazy, or is there absolutely no sense whatsoever in this?
6-MONTH MARK!
Ok, so I do not remember the exact day that I arrived in Korea but know for sure it was the 20th something of september and it is now almost the end of march, which means.... yes you know what that means.
I have been in Korea now for 6months! Already half way through. Unbelivable how time flies. Can you believe that? Time really does go by fast. So very fast.
I have been in Korea now for 6months! Already half way through. Unbelivable how time flies. Can you believe that? Time really does go by fast. So very fast.
Understanding Culture
Not sure if you remember that I couple weeks ago maybe I mentioned that ever since the new semester started Jacky seemed kinda weird and cold and everything... and like every time I talked to her she seemed bothered. Well, when I had discussed this with want teacher she told me the following (note: she has alwyas given me very good advice-much in regards to cultural aspects and all which has been extremely helpful)
Wang teacher (pretty much what she said, obviously not exactly): I think its not that Jacky doesnt want to talk to you. But becuase the new semester has started and you have a new co-teacher she wants to give you space so that you can become close with your new co-teacher. You see, right now you are very close to her and she to you. But the new teachers that have come in do not know how your relationship with her is. So she probably wants to give them time to slowly see/to let them see how you two are together. Also, if she stays as close to you as she has been up until now, it wont give your new co-teacher the opportunity to get close to you and build a relationship with you becuase you will want to go to Jacky still for whatever you need, and you'll wanna talk to her and get HER advice.... and not the other teacher's. So just give it time. That is just how korean culture works. She is just giving you and the new teacher space.
now when she said this to me, it actually made a lot of sense. And i was hoping she was right, because it was killing me to feel ignored by Jacky. And I felt like maybe I had done something wrong or that maybe she was mad at me for something. ... i dunno. guess i just was not sure what to think. But thank goodness she was right.
Just over maybe this past week or so Jacky has been warming up to me again and our relationship has started to go back to where it was before- all which makes me happy. I really missed just talking to her in the morning, seeing her smile, and being silly. I love it how when we are together we behave like five year olds and like to give each other a hard time. Anyways.... way to go Wang teacher! You rock
Wang teacher (pretty much what she said, obviously not exactly): I think its not that Jacky doesnt want to talk to you. But becuase the new semester has started and you have a new co-teacher she wants to give you space so that you can become close with your new co-teacher. You see, right now you are very close to her and she to you. But the new teachers that have come in do not know how your relationship with her is. So she probably wants to give them time to slowly see/to let them see how you two are together. Also, if she stays as close to you as she has been up until now, it wont give your new co-teacher the opportunity to get close to you and build a relationship with you becuase you will want to go to Jacky still for whatever you need, and you'll wanna talk to her and get HER advice.... and not the other teacher's. So just give it time. That is just how korean culture works. She is just giving you and the new teacher space.
now when she said this to me, it actually made a lot of sense. And i was hoping she was right, because it was killing me to feel ignored by Jacky. And I felt like maybe I had done something wrong or that maybe she was mad at me for something. ... i dunno. guess i just was not sure what to think. But thank goodness she was right.
Just over maybe this past week or so Jacky has been warming up to me again and our relationship has started to go back to where it was before- all which makes me happy. I really missed just talking to her in the morning, seeing her smile, and being silly. I love it how when we are together we behave like five year olds and like to give each other a hard time. Anyways.... way to go Wang teacher! You rock
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Today while walking to school....
i was looking at the girl who was walking infront of me and the following kept going through my head:
i think koreans walk crooked probably because they dont produce very good shoes. (since i have had not such good experiences with shoe-buying) can't believe they would put so much focus on their eyes and weight and all, but not pay attention to more important things like their feet. How can they possible go through their everyday life walking crooked and not do anything about it. I think here, there is just no focus on correcting how people walk or on their teeth. When looking for a dentist place to go for a general cleanup most people i asked about where to go to the dentist said they werent sure, as they usually didnt go to the dentist unless something was wrong. Anywho.... just a thought
i think koreans walk crooked probably because they dont produce very good shoes. (since i have had not such good experiences with shoe-buying) can't believe they would put so much focus on their eyes and weight and all, but not pay attention to more important things like their feet. How can they possible go through their everyday life walking crooked and not do anything about it. I think here, there is just no focus on correcting how people walk or on their teeth. When looking for a dentist place to go for a general cleanup most people i asked about where to go to the dentist said they werent sure, as they usually didnt go to the dentist unless something was wrong. Anywho.... just a thought
Saturday
Saturday went well. Went to Junha's. She was sick and couldnt speak very well. Had a raspy voice. Though I am sorry she was sick and told her that i liked her voice. Her sexy raspy voice. She just laughed. Honyong did not really behave this saturday, but thats ok. Hopefully next time he will be better.
Then after Junha's I was to head out to Wang teacher's house. Now, originally I had a plan to take the 720 or 77-1 bus and then get out and walk from there. But then Junha told me that Jacky had called her becuase I was going to wang teacher's and asked her to show me how to get there. So JJ, who was going to a wedding later, told me that since he had to go out to, he would show me which bus to take and where to take it. And so he took me to the bus stop, which was literally a 3 minute walk from his house and then I took this little number 5 bus, and the bus left me directly infront of wang teacher's place. So of course becuase I got there in a different way i had planned to, i was actually about 30min early. So then i called her to make sure she was home and to let her know that i was almost at her house and she was like "yeah, no problem. we're here" (we being her and her daughter). So i came in, they fed me and her daughter made me some hot chocolate.... and then we headed out. We went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D, then grabbed some food, then some ice-cream, and then they dropped me off at the dounkin' donuts which is where i can take the bus home.
then in the evening i hung out with the korean friends. From maybe around 10pm until 6am. We drank lots of soju and ate lots. and a tried....
A NEW FOOD! Wanna know what it was.....? Octopus! Now you are probably thinking. Ok. I have had octopus before. Why is she making such a big deal out of eating octopus. Yeah, i know you are SO thinking that right now. And my answer to that is that... it was still alive. "huh??? ", you say??? well, they serve the tetacles on a plate (no head though- i know you can also get the ones with the head, where you kill it by biting into the head and it just explodes in your mouth. I know. deiciousness!, right???) and then you grab the tentacle with the chopsticks. Sometimes it takes a couple tries because when you try to grab them they wiggle around or slip away. Then, you put the tentacle in this red spicy sauce and it just kinda swims in the sauce a little. Then you grab it again. Put it in your mouth and enjoy!. Super good. So yeah, trying that new food was the exciting part of the evening i guess.
Then sunday was ok. Slept, then had my 2 classes, then worked a bit on translations, then thats it. Slept again. was really exhausted. And now, its monday all over again ! wooopeee.!>>> no. not really. gotta go
Then after Junha's I was to head out to Wang teacher's house. Now, originally I had a plan to take the 720 or 77-1 bus and then get out and walk from there. But then Junha told me that Jacky had called her becuase I was going to wang teacher's and asked her to show me how to get there. So JJ, who was going to a wedding later, told me that since he had to go out to, he would show me which bus to take and where to take it. And so he took me to the bus stop, which was literally a 3 minute walk from his house and then I took this little number 5 bus, and the bus left me directly infront of wang teacher's place. So of course becuase I got there in a different way i had planned to, i was actually about 30min early. So then i called her to make sure she was home and to let her know that i was almost at her house and she was like "yeah, no problem. we're here" (we being her and her daughter). So i came in, they fed me and her daughter made me some hot chocolate.... and then we headed out. We went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D, then grabbed some food, then some ice-cream, and then they dropped me off at the dounkin' donuts which is where i can take the bus home.
then in the evening i hung out with the korean friends. From maybe around 10pm until 6am. We drank lots of soju and ate lots. and a tried....
A NEW FOOD! Wanna know what it was.....? Octopus! Now you are probably thinking. Ok. I have had octopus before. Why is she making such a big deal out of eating octopus. Yeah, i know you are SO thinking that right now. And my answer to that is that... it was still alive. "huh??? ", you say??? well, they serve the tetacles on a plate (no head though- i know you can also get the ones with the head, where you kill it by biting into the head and it just explodes in your mouth. I know. deiciousness!, right???) and then you grab the tentacle with the chopsticks. Sometimes it takes a couple tries because when you try to grab them they wiggle around or slip away. Then, you put the tentacle in this red spicy sauce and it just kinda swims in the sauce a little. Then you grab it again. Put it in your mouth and enjoy!. Super good. So yeah, trying that new food was the exciting part of the evening i guess.
Then sunday was ok. Slept, then had my 2 classes, then worked a bit on translations, then thats it. Slept again. was really exhausted. And now, its monday all over again ! wooopeee.!>>> no. not really. gotta go
Friday, March 26, 2010
Finally Friday
I am SO happy it is finally friday. This week went by really quickly and it was just really really busy. I was at least happy because my fourth lesson plan for the third graders actually has gone pretty well. Though took me a while to plan. But yeah, this week, we ran the interviews for the extra classes and all and then I was working on lesson plan 5 and just having such a difficult time coming up with ideas for how to each adverbs of frequency. I seriously spent like 2 days thinking about how I was gonna teach it, and thinking about what kind of stuff I wanted to incorporate into the lesson. Then another day searching for materials and another day really putting power points together, worksheets, printouts etc etc etc.... then I had to prepare my weekend stuff and get organized.... anyways.... tonight, just gonna finish up some stuff and go to bed cuz tomorrow i got a full schedule ahead of me.
Tomorrow sat:
10:00am-12:oopm work on translation and school stuff
1pm-2:30pm Junha
3:00-8:00pm Hangout and dinner with wang teacher
9:00- whenever -- hangout with Korean friends
i guess looking at it, it doesnt look too bad. But i guess sometimes it just seems overwhelming cuz i think about all the other stuff I also gotta do, and for some reason I just feel like I need to get it all done now (even though it might not be due for another couple days or another week or so) I just feel that if there is something that needs to get done and hasnt gotten done, that, even though I have time, I have to get it done because if I dont, it will be in my head and stay in my head until I its done. yeah i know..... i said "done" a bunch of times. just wanted to get my point across. :-)
im off
nighty night
Tomorrow sat:
10:00am-12:oopm work on translation and school stuff
1pm-2:30pm Junha
3:00-8:00pm Hangout and dinner with wang teacher
9:00- whenever -- hangout with Korean friends
i guess looking at it, it doesnt look too bad. But i guess sometimes it just seems overwhelming cuz i think about all the other stuff I also gotta do, and for some reason I just feel like I need to get it all done now (even though it might not be due for another couple days or another week or so) I just feel that if there is something that needs to get done and hasnt gotten done, that, even though I have time, I have to get it done because if I dont, it will be in my head and stay in my head until I its done. yeah i know..... i said "done" a bunch of times. just wanted to get my point across. :-)
im off
nighty night
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