On Monday, Courtney and I both said goodbye to Jeomchon. I can't say I'll miss it too much. More interesting photos and stories to come!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
The End is Near.
I never read, reply or repost these type of things but this one is a cut above the rest...
Just in case you need some writing inspiration. Every year, English teachers from across the USA can submit their collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers across the country. Here are last year's winners:
1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli, and he was room temperature Canadian beef.
5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.
8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.
9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.
11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in anothercity and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.
16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.
18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.
19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.
25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
Just in case you need some writing inspiration. Every year, English teachers from across the USA can submit their collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers across the country. Here are last year's winners:
1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli, and he was room temperature Canadian beef.
5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.
8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.
9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.
11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in anothercity and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.
16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.
18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.
19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.
25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
Munchang Teachers
Kim Dae Gyu is a really cool guy. He's a man of very few words but very kind, considerate and collected. He taught me how to play badminton and never let the boys get out of control in my class. I have very fond memories of teaching with him last year. This year, we only had one class together but it was good.
Kim Hong Gi is another really cool teacher. He was new to Munchang this year and we taught 5 classes together. When we first met, he flirted with me a lot but I was convinced he was married due to the nice watch he always wore (remember, most men get a nice watch instead of a ring when they marry), despite his insistence that he was single. It was really funny for a while and then I think it started to get to him and I gave up the fight. He really was single. lol. Anyway, we had some good times teaching and talking between classes. He always liked me but by the time we met I was committed elsewhere (Jeremy). But that doesn't mean Mr. Kim wasn't a valuable friend! There were a few times when I was having a bad day and would break down in tears at school and he would always be there for me. He would take over the class so I could go dry up and would always be supportive when I returned. We had a fight once about who was more embarrassed in class (I think I won) but through it all he was my friend. I will miss teaching with him.
Jun Mi Ja is by far my favorite of all my co-teachers. She is perhaps the kindest Korean I have ever known. She would always offer to drive me home after work because the school was so far away, would often help me get out of work early so I could catch a bus to Incheon, would always invite me to the school events, never forgot to tell me about the important dates, and was always there to explain the intricate Korean culture and customs. But I think one event stands out more than others as a testiment of Jun's character: I came down with food poisoning one day after eating some street vendor food and had to call in sick. But that night, Jun suprised me by showing up at my house with pizza from my favorite place along with salad and side dishes. She wanted me to get better and though she didn't know what American's ate when they were sick, she thought some western food would at least cheer me up. That is so typical of her. She would always do wonderful little things like that for me. I will miss her dearly. Teaching at Munchang was good, but undoubtedly so because of her.
Weekend at Jeremy's
Of course this place looks quite different now (mostly emptier), but you get the drift. Here's the view from his 12th story window and there I am doing not much more than reading a book.
This last weekend we started packing up his place and Monday morning the mover man came and took his couch and bed. From what he's told me, J's now sleeping on the flood on top of a pile of blankets. Today is supposed to be the last day to get his stuff out. I guess he's been up packing all night for the last two days, trying to figure out what goes, what stays and what belongs in Australia. Ahh, the joys of moving! I've been going through a similar process. I almost died this morning trying to carry out a huge box of my garbage. I've decided to have an "Everything's for Sale" sale Sunday night. My hope is that instead of doing something stupid like throwing away all my nice shoes, clothes, my blanket, and suitcases that someone will want them. But I guess if I have to throw it away, I will. I hate being wasteful but I just can't take it all with me. As sad as it is to get rid of some things (like my beautiful patent red leather Guess pumps), it will be fun to buy new stuff! :)
Thursday, August 21, 2008
The Plan
Well, now that I'm back from vacation, completely packed up, finished with summer school, and just chilling at my desk, I have time to update this thing and unveil the new plan: India--Pakistan--India--Sri Lanka--Thailand (Maybe?)--Australia.
Yes, that's right, I'm going to Pakistan. I can't wait! What an adventure that will be! Save your tears and whining about me going there though. I am fully aware of the situation in Pakistan and am not worried at all. Pakistan is actually a relatively safe place to travel with very hospitable people. I'm really not concerned. The Taliban conflict areas are no where near where I'm going and I don't think the presidential stuff will get too out of hand. Instead of everyone wanting the job, it seems like no one wants the job!
In other news, I've decided not to commit to a school in Australia just yet. The credit problems in the US are making it impossible to get loans for the school I want so I'm just going to wait until maybe July next year for enrollment. I did find a different school in Sydney with a significantly better financial situation but their program doesn't offer everything I want/need from a grad school. My plan is to just show up in Sydney on a work holiday visa, get a job, check out some schools, meet profs and scope the media scene before applying or making a decision. I think that's the best thing I could do.
As for vacation, it was pretty boring. I poked around in Seoul a bit but it was raining pretty hard, I did a little shopping, watched the Olympics at Seoul Plaza downtown, watched a lot of movies and TV, helped Jeremy pack, and went out a couple nights to the movies. We saw X Files and Batman: The Dark Knight. Oooh, the batman was REALLY good! By far the BEST batman yet!
I just finished cleaning and packing up my apartment yesterday. I shipped three boxes of stuff to Jeremy's parent's in Australia which came to a surprising amount: $125.00! Amazing! I love Korea. Everything is so cheap.
And by the way, thinking of cheap, I need to say that for all of you who are skeptical of socialized health care, you should really look at the Korean model. Yesterday I went to the dermatologist without appointment. I walked in, handed them my health card and in less than a minute later I was in the doctor's office. Less than two minutes after that, I was paying $2.50 at the counter with my new prescription in hand. The whole visit was literally less than 5 minutes long. Then I walked downstairs to the pharmacy, handed them my prescription, waited a minute, paid $1.40 for my medicine, and left. From the time I entered the doctor's office to the time I left the pharmacy with my prescription, about 8 minutes had passed.
NO ONE goes without health care here. And another cool thing: government employees (that includes teachers) all get a free physical each year--and it's not your basic physical! It includes a dental exam, a full body x-ray scan, blood work, urology work, for women a pap and mammogram, and the normal nose-ear-lungs check. You can't get even the basic nose-ear-lung check in the US without a co-payment--regardless of who your insurer is! In the states, blood and urology work are extra for physicals and you can forget x-rays! But here, it's cheap. And if you're not a government employee, don't worry. Your basic health care still makes everything cheap. For example, a mammogram is about $25. Mole removal: $7.00.
And the best thing about socialized health care is that there are no pre-exsisting condition limitations. I recently read that a lot of pregnant women are now opting not to have their babies tested for disorders like Down Syndrome because many insurance companies are now calling that a pre-existing condition. You know what that means: insurance companies are encouraging abortion. And if you don't abort or don't test? The insurance companies still hurt you. Most insurance companies will retract coverage for children with Autism around the age of 7 as most parents have reached their maximum insurance coverage with the cost of therapy and medical treatments.
Our system will not fix itself. As long as medical care operates in a free-market, people and conditions will always be reduced to dollar signs.
Tthus ends my rant. I just had to get that out. I guess I've had too much solitary time at my desk today... :)
Anyway, back to planning my trip! Hope you are all doing well. More updates and photos to come. Until then, if you would like to view my new photo collection on Flickr, the address is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kortneythoma/.
Yes, that's right, I'm going to Pakistan. I can't wait! What an adventure that will be! Save your tears and whining about me going there though. I am fully aware of the situation in Pakistan and am not worried at all. Pakistan is actually a relatively safe place to travel with very hospitable people. I'm really not concerned. The Taliban conflict areas are no where near where I'm going and I don't think the presidential stuff will get too out of hand. Instead of everyone wanting the job, it seems like no one wants the job!
In other news, I've decided not to commit to a school in Australia just yet. The credit problems in the US are making it impossible to get loans for the school I want so I'm just going to wait until maybe July next year for enrollment. I did find a different school in Sydney with a significantly better financial situation but their program doesn't offer everything I want/need from a grad school. My plan is to just show up in Sydney on a work holiday visa, get a job, check out some schools, meet profs and scope the media scene before applying or making a decision. I think that's the best thing I could do.
As for vacation, it was pretty boring. I poked around in Seoul a bit but it was raining pretty hard, I did a little shopping, watched the Olympics at Seoul Plaza downtown, watched a lot of movies and TV, helped Jeremy pack, and went out a couple nights to the movies. We saw X Files and Batman: The Dark Knight. Oooh, the batman was REALLY good! By far the BEST batman yet!
I just finished cleaning and packing up my apartment yesterday. I shipped three boxes of stuff to Jeremy's parent's in Australia which came to a surprising amount: $125.00! Amazing! I love Korea. Everything is so cheap.
And by the way, thinking of cheap, I need to say that for all of you who are skeptical of socialized health care, you should really look at the Korean model. Yesterday I went to the dermatologist without appointment. I walked in, handed them my health card and in less than a minute later I was in the doctor's office. Less than two minutes after that, I was paying $2.50 at the counter with my new prescription in hand. The whole visit was literally less than 5 minutes long. Then I walked downstairs to the pharmacy, handed them my prescription, waited a minute, paid $1.40 for my medicine, and left. From the time I entered the doctor's office to the time I left the pharmacy with my prescription, about 8 minutes had passed.
NO ONE goes without health care here. And another cool thing: government employees (that includes teachers) all get a free physical each year--and it's not your basic physical! It includes a dental exam, a full body x-ray scan, blood work, urology work, for women a pap and mammogram, and the normal nose-ear-lungs check. You can't get even the basic nose-ear-lung check in the US without a co-payment--regardless of who your insurer is! In the states, blood and urology work are extra for physicals and you can forget x-rays! But here, it's cheap. And if you're not a government employee, don't worry. Your basic health care still makes everything cheap. For example, a mammogram is about $25. Mole removal: $7.00.
And the best thing about socialized health care is that there are no pre-exsisting condition limitations. I recently read that a lot of pregnant women are now opting not to have their babies tested for disorders like Down Syndrome because many insurance companies are now calling that a pre-existing condition. You know what that means: insurance companies are encouraging abortion. And if you don't abort or don't test? The insurance companies still hurt you. Most insurance companies will retract coverage for children with Autism around the age of 7 as most parents have reached their maximum insurance coverage with the cost of therapy and medical treatments.
Our system will not fix itself. As long as medical care operates in a free-market, people and conditions will always be reduced to dollar signs.
Tthus ends my rant. I just had to get that out. I guess I've had too much solitary time at my desk today... :)
Anyway, back to planning my trip! Hope you are all doing well. More updates and photos to come. Until then, if you would like to view my new photo collection on Flickr, the address is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kortneythoma/.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Recent Weekend Adventures
I need to make a public announcement: my boyfriend is the sweetest man. Without second thought, Jeremy is the best thing Korea has given me. :)
So, we've been on quite a few outings recently in preparation for our big trips--Jeremy in Central Asia and me everywhere else. Mostly our weekend adventures are limited to hiking stores but on one rainy Sunday we ended up at the famous Namdaemun market, looking for a knife with a sheath, a pocket watch, a travel wallet, a ruler, a calculator with trigonamic functions, and a tripod. We didn't get it all but we had a great time wandering around!
"How about a safari hat?" (My pathetic attempt to look model-esque.)
Really strange meat... Pork of some kind... But tell me, what kind of cut is that?
I like this photo. The sunglasses are reflecting the staple multi-colored Korean umbrella used by every street vendor on the peninsula.
Jeremy, swallowed in a bottom-less pit of purses. In Korea, it's not just the women who carry purses... Men do as well and often show up the women in the accessory department. But don't worry, he was just looking at wallets. I couldn't date a man that carried a purse.
A celebrity photo shop. In Korea, teenagers go NUTS over their favorite pop groups or teen actors. You would never see one of these shops back home but here, this type of store is essential. 
My ABSOLUTE favorite photo: Jeremy in a Lee Myung Bak mask. LMB is the Korean president whom the Korean despise almost as much as we despise our own. We were just on our way out of the market when I spotted this little treasure in a toy story and forced J to pose with it on. It's so real looking that I can't help but die of laughter each time I see it! :)
So, we've been on quite a few outings recently in preparation for our big trips--Jeremy in Central Asia and me everywhere else. Mostly our weekend adventures are limited to hiking stores but on one rainy Sunday we ended up at the famous Namdaemun market, looking for a knife with a sheath, a pocket watch, a travel wallet, a ruler, a calculator with trigonamic functions, and a tripod. We didn't get it all but we had a great time wandering around!
Jeremy and the watch man. There's a whole lot of bling in that case...
"How about a safari hat?" (My pathetic attempt to look model-esque.) A belt for every occasion.
Really strange meat... Pork of some kind... But tell me, what kind of cut is that? More mysterious items of "The Korean Food Group."
I like this photo. The sunglasses are reflecting the staple multi-colored Korean umbrella used by every street vendor on the peninsula.
Jeremy, swallowed in a bottom-less pit of purses. In Korea, it's not just the women who carry purses... Men do as well and often show up the women in the accessory department. But don't worry, he was just looking at wallets. I couldn't date a man that carried a purse.
A celebrity photo shop. In Korea, teenagers go NUTS over their favorite pop groups or teen actors. You would never see one of these shops back home but here, this type of store is essential.My ABSOLUTE favorite photo: Jeremy in a Lee Myung Bak mask. LMB is the Korean president whom the Korean despise almost as much as we despise our own. We were just on our way out of the market when I spotted this little treasure in a toy story and forced J to pose with it on. It's so real looking that I can't help but die of laughter each time I see it! :)Another day in Seoul, we purchased Jeremy's new camera for his trip and took this lovely picture below on the train ride home (you can see the subway lights reflecting off the glass).
Later that evening, we went up on the roof top of his building to test his new camp stove. It was a little touch-and-go for a while but he figured it out! Once we got it working, we boiled some water (ooh!) and then roasted some marshmallows (ahh!). It was a good night.
The view from Jeremy's roof. You can see the subway train passing in a streak of light.
El Cartographer himself (inside joke) working on that stove.
More photos and stories to come!!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The promised catch-up
Graduate School
So, I've been accepted to both of the universities I've applied to: The University of Queensland and The University of Technology, Sydney. Oh, what a pain though. UQ offers US federal student loans but UTS doesn't. UTS has a great Master's in Journalism program in a great city for media work and UQ's is just okay--UQ is in Brisbane and too far from the city center... The only way I can go to UTS is if I get a private student loan but alas! No bank lists UTS on their approved school list. The only two banks that do are not currently accepting applications (damn credit crunch!). So, I'm stuck. I just can't go to the school I want to and it really makes me mad. UQ is a good school and obviously affordable, but I just don't want to go there anymore... Since the ball dropped on student loans last week, I've discovered one more school that may fit: The University of Sydney--they give US federal aid and are actually in the same neighborhood as UTS. The only problem: their program is a Master's in Media Practice and not a Master's in Journalism. I'm not sure exactly what the difference is yet but so far it looks like 1/3 less classes... Will a Master's in Media Practice be a reputable degree for what I want to do? I'm not sure... At any rate, I've decided that I'm still moving to Australia. I'm going to get my work holiday visa and just work for a bit until I can figure this school stuff out. Instead of trying to start in February, I might just wait until July. Maybe the credit crisis will be over then and I can get a loan for the school I want to go to... Or maybe in that meantime/worktime I'll check out The University of Sydney and find it's a great school with great opportunities and I'll want to go there... Who knows.
Anyway, as long as I'm putting off school for a big, I might as well do a little more travelling before I buckle down with a job and stuff in AU. Here's my current thought: India-Pakistan-India-Sri Lanka-Thailand-Cambodia-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore-Australia. I guess if I can't go back to school then I better spend my money elsewhere on something equally exciting! :)
Blog Business
I'm thinking about changing things up a bit... I realized the other day that my blog title and blog address are not the same (what was I thinking?) so I hurried up and snatched up the "twentyfirstcenturynomad" blog address and I'm thinking about moving things over there... I can't move everything as in old posts and photos, but I can make some links for past reading... I'm also thinking of switching from Picasa to Flickr as my photo sharing provider. Has anyone else made a similar move? What do you find to be Flickr's benefits and pitfalls? The big hassle and annoying part is that if I want to move my Picasa photos to Flickr, I will have to download each individual photo and re-upload them to Flickr. Bahh! That will take FOREVER!! Should I bother?
English Camp
Oi! Two weeks of 14 hour work days!! I can't believe I did three weeks of this stuff back in January! Camp went well. As always, I made some new friends with some really lovely foreigners though I won't lie and say that every day was happy. There were some cranky teachers that second week who really didn't want to participate! But I understand. We were all tired and just ready to go home. Looking back at my pictures though, I've realized we had some good times. The first week was a little challenging because my team was pretty quiet but they pulled off a first place win in EVERY competition and by the end of the week, I'd like to think they made friends with each other. The second week was MUCH better and the kids worked really well together. We didn't win a thing though. In fact, we were constantly placed last. Oh well. Lucky for me it never broke their spirits and they had fun anyway. I didn't take any photos from the second week because I got too tired to lug around my camera and it was too hot to work so hard, but I do have photos from week 1. Enjoy!!
So, I've been accepted to both of the universities I've applied to: The University of Queensland and The University of Technology, Sydney. Oh, what a pain though. UQ offers US federal student loans but UTS doesn't. UTS has a great Master's in Journalism program in a great city for media work and UQ's is just okay--UQ is in Brisbane and too far from the city center... The only way I can go to UTS is if I get a private student loan but alas! No bank lists UTS on their approved school list. The only two banks that do are not currently accepting applications (damn credit crunch!). So, I'm stuck. I just can't go to the school I want to and it really makes me mad. UQ is a good school and obviously affordable, but I just don't want to go there anymore... Since the ball dropped on student loans last week, I've discovered one more school that may fit: The University of Sydney--they give US federal aid and are actually in the same neighborhood as UTS. The only problem: their program is a Master's in Media Practice and not a Master's in Journalism. I'm not sure exactly what the difference is yet but so far it looks like 1/3 less classes... Will a Master's in Media Practice be a reputable degree for what I want to do? I'm not sure... At any rate, I've decided that I'm still moving to Australia. I'm going to get my work holiday visa and just work for a bit until I can figure this school stuff out. Instead of trying to start in February, I might just wait until July. Maybe the credit crisis will be over then and I can get a loan for the school I want to go to... Or maybe in that meantime/worktime I'll check out The University of Sydney and find it's a great school with great opportunities and I'll want to go there... Who knows.
Anyway, as long as I'm putting off school for a big, I might as well do a little more travelling before I buckle down with a job and stuff in AU. Here's my current thought: India-Pakistan-India-Sri Lanka-Thailand-Cambodia-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore-Australia. I guess if I can't go back to school then I better spend my money elsewhere on something equally exciting! :)
Blog Business
I'm thinking about changing things up a bit... I realized the other day that my blog title and blog address are not the same (what was I thinking?) so I hurried up and snatched up the "twentyfirstcenturynomad" blog address and I'm thinking about moving things over there... I can't move everything as in old posts and photos, but I can make some links for past reading... I'm also thinking of switching from Picasa to Flickr as my photo sharing provider. Has anyone else made a similar move? What do you find to be Flickr's benefits and pitfalls? The big hassle and annoying part is that if I want to move my Picasa photos to Flickr, I will have to download each individual photo and re-upload them to Flickr. Bahh! That will take FOREVER!! Should I bother?
English Camp
Oi! Two weeks of 14 hour work days!! I can't believe I did three weeks of this stuff back in January! Camp went well. As always, I made some new friends with some really lovely foreigners though I won't lie and say that every day was happy. There were some cranky teachers that second week who really didn't want to participate! But I understand. We were all tired and just ready to go home. Looking back at my pictures though, I've realized we had some good times. The first week was a little challenging because my team was pretty quiet but they pulled off a first place win in EVERY competition and by the end of the week, I'd like to think they made friends with each other. The second week was MUCH better and the kids worked really well together. We didn't win a thing though. In fact, we were constantly placed last. Oh well. Lucky for me it never broke their spirits and they had fun anyway. I didn't take any photos from the second week because I got too tired to lug around my camera and it was too hot to work so hard, but I do have photos from week 1. Enjoy!!
Summer Classes
Now that camp is over, I get to teach two summer classes for one and a half weeks. The pros: provided curriculum and small classes (one with 10 students and one with 4). The cons: the curriculum isn't amazing and I think the classes are too short (one hour). I really wish I had more time to really teach them something worthwhile and give them an opportunity to apply it. This curriculum is okay (it's not amazing) but it needs something more. There needs to be more activities and students need an opportunity to learn from context via deduction. This just doesn't offer anything more than scripted conversations. I really wish that Korean understood deductive learning. Everything taught here is by memorization. Seriously, what happens when these kids graduate or move to another country and can't speak or learn because there's no script for them? They need to learn on their own. Teachers need to teach kids to learn independently, not co-dependently. This is ultimately why I'm leaving Korea. But until I do, I have 5 more classes to teach. *Sigh*. At least this week is almost over!
Saying Goodbye
Two weeks ago, I left Munchang for good. My last two days there were filled with movie time with my boys and cleaning my desk. Saying goodbye to the teachers was okay but I realized I was definitely going to miss some of them. Jun has shown me true Korean hospitality and I am so grateful for everything she has done. None of my Korean teachers have ever gone out to dinner with me as a friend--no one except her. Saying goodbye was difficult. I also had to say goodbye to Kim Hong Gi--a co-teacher who has had a crush on me for a while. lol. He is a really nice man with golden patience. I can count on one hand the number of times I've broken down at work pre-Korea but once I came here, it happened a lot more often and unfortunately he got more of those breakdowns than anyone else. I am so glad he never judged me for it and was always gracious and attentive when it happened. I'm lucky to have had such good co-teachers.
I also had to say goodbye to Mr. Bak and another Mr. Jeong (I think that's his name!!). It was especially difficult to say goodbye to Mr. Bak. In the year that I've known him, we've hardly exchanged much at all because neither of us speaks the other's language, but we've somehow solidified a silent friendship over one commonality: photography. He is so amazing at it. Way better than me. He's a professional and he uses professional equipment. I'll never forget the first day we met; he was intrigued by my camera and wanted to show me his and his photos. I was immediately humbled. I don't want to sound too conceited, but I'm pretty much accustomed to being the best photographer in the room but when I saw his work, I was almost humiliated by my own. He's that good. Over the next few months, I taught him random Korean words and he would give me the thumbs up or thumbs down on my photos. He would bring in his camera and let me play around with his 300mm lens; I would bring in my fish eye and he would fool around with it. Then we went hiking with his kids back in March and I'll never forget what happened: his son fell off the waterfall, he fell in and both almost drowned with hypothermia. Saving their lives is the single most impactful and incredible thing I've ever done. I still feel a little lost on the subject most days. Knowing that you are responsible for someone else's life is indescribable. Sometimes it feels like a big secret--no one could ever understand or fully know the chain of events that day. No one will ever feel the divine the way we do when we think about what happened. On my last day at Munchang, I learned that he didn't even know how to swim. Mr. Bak said to me at lunch: "That day, I don't know swim. It is miracle." How can I put that into words? My skin crawled in the moment and every hair said a prayer of thanks. It really was a miracle. I also learned that he wanted me to come over to his house for dinner but when he asked his sons they started to cry--they didn't want to remember so the dinner was cancelled. I understand but I hope that one day they will be able to talk about it.
Near the end of my last day, I went to say goodbye to Mr. Bak in the music room and he greeted me with all of his new camera equipment. His English had improved so much from being my friend that he was able to tell me that he was sorry I had an Olympus camera and he had a Cannon; he wanted to let me borrow his equipment but everything was incompatible. Then he played me a song on his saxophone. I cried and everyone laughed. Oh well. Then he took me outside and took some photos. I probably looked like crap because I was still a little shaken but oh well. Then him and Mr. Jeong rushed me to the bus station because I was about to miss my ride to Incheon. We made it just in time and while I waited for the bus to pull away, they sat outside the whole time, waving to me. And just before it left, they disappeared momentarily and then reappeared on the bus with an ice cream of me. I was so moved. I balled the whole way to Incheon. Saying goodbye is a lot easier when people don't do nice things for you! But I'm happy they did. I will always have sweet memories of the teacher's at Munchang. They were a hard bunch to leave.
Moving on now...
I'm so tired of packing and cleaning. Today I scrubbed down my bedroom pretty good but it pretty much exhausted me and I still have two more rooms to do--the bathroom and kitchen. The bathroom isn't too bad--just a little pink mold--but the kitchen is another story. I'm honestly shocked. So, before I left for camp two weeks ago, I really cleaned my kitchen good. However, upon my return home Monday, I found TONS of mold on the walls, on the counter, on the floor, and I even found a ton of weevils crawling around on my counter! I don't know how they got there! I haven't left out any bread or wheat products. In fact, I didn't leave out anything! I'm really confused... To top it off, my sink faucet is leaking and dripping all over the counter and my sink, adding to the mold problem and ruining my sponges. Sometimes it's really hard to believe that this place was brand new when I moved in... To give you an idea of how bad the mold problem is here, I once found mold growing in a bottle of BLEACH water!! Can you believe that?! I'm pretty sure that the sooner I move out, the longer I'll live. Something unnatural is happening in that place...
Monday, August 4, 2008
Catching Up
Wow! What a whirl-wind the last two weeks have been! I just returned to Jeomchon this morning from two weeks of 14 hour days at English camp. Crazy, I know!! Now I'm resting here at my office desk at the girls school and preparing for one more week of summer classes. Luckily I only have to teach two classes a day so that will give me lots of time to update my blog at school this week (my computer is hopelessly beyond repair). I have lots to share: English camp, a fun day out in Seoul, my last day at the boys school, and more about my co-teachers. Stay tuned!!
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