My Week in Pictures (Oct 25)

Ok, so this one isn't a picture but I thought you would all enjoy
the bell at my school that signals the start of class.
I get to hear it 8 joyous times a day.

As you may remember, each kid got to pick their English name.
Robert's name tag has picked up some additions in the past few weeks.
Notice "I want Bear" next to the picture of a beer.
He is only 13.

Hello Kitty store downtown. Pink galore.

Daegu FC, 2nd to last game of the season.
As you can tell by the stands, Daegu is really supportive of their team.

This also isn't a picture, but I liked it and know most of you will enjoy it too. The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear occurred in Washington D.C. on October 30, put on by Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Sorry if any of the signs offend anybody but I thought the majority were very clever and funny!

Best Rally Signs

Busan International Fireworks Festival

Sorry for the lack of postings, yet AGAIN. I am still trying to get used to being busy. Pre-Korea I was sitting on my ass most of the time at home, So, this late sleeping, nap taking couch potato isn't quite used to the early hours of a full time job. Plus, it seems that at least 3 days out of the week I am doing something directly after school or lesson planning (procrastination=lesson planning outside of the normal work hours). Then, the weekends are dedicated to socializing and traveling, of course

The weekend of October 22, I went to the Busan Fireworks Festival. The actual festival took place over 3 days, but I only saw 2 days worth of fireworks. Shelley and I took the KTX to Busan that Friday (which took about one hour). We went straight to Gwangali beach. We got there about an hour before the fireworks were supposed to start and got a decent spot, right before you hit the actual sand. That day was the international fireworks. Unfortunately for us, this "decent spot" turned into the worst sardine can-like experience EVER.

Two things you should know: space is limited in Korea so it isn't uncommon to get an elbow to the ribs or have someone shoulder you and not receive an "I'm sorry" or "Excuse me." Second, ajummas and ajeossi (elder women and men) rule the world... or Korea at least. What I mean by this is, if an ajumma/ajeossi pushes you, you don't push back. If they yell at you, you don't yell back. You get the picture. It has to do with this whole hierarchy of age and respect.

Ok, back to the story. We were minding our own business for about half an hour- a little cramped but still some breathing room. All of a sudden a few ajummas start to push us in order to get to the front/to the beach. Ok, not too bad, we weren't allowed to complain anyway. Gradually more and more old people try to push their way to the beach. This was clearly NOT an option due to the thousands of people who had already claimed their spots on the beach early that afternoon. At one point, Shelley and I were separated by a sea of people trying to get to or away from the beach. Luckily an older man was nice enough to let her reclaim her spot. People were getting cranky, we were standing sideways (being supported by other people), ajeossis in the crowd were yelling at other old people who were being rude and pushing, and a man was spooning my back with his camera resting on my head (I seriously doubt this is ok in any country... hello, personal space?). Once the fireworks started, everyone settled down and we got to see an amazing show.

People as far as the eye can see

We then headed to a Mexican (yes, mexican!) food place called Hello Kimchi with Shelley's friends. Their friends were having an a capella group performance at the restaurant. I ordered a beef burrito, which turned out to be the size of my hand, and then ordered a tostada. Definitely wasn't too bad for Korean Mexican food, but it was no San Diego Mexican food. It was also exciting to have REAL cheese (hard to get a hold of here).

Someone at the restaurant had the cutest puppy!

Tostada

The next day we met up with our friends Andre and Carel for some lunch. I got to experience my first Indian meal, which was delicious!

We then taxied back to Gwangali Beach to meet up with more people. We grabbed some makkoli (Korean rice wine), bought a blanket, and headed to the sand. We got there around 3:30pm and it wasn't too busy yet. After a few hours though, the majority of the sand could no longer be seen. People literally took up every inch of sand, even the spots so tiny we only joked that they would be taken. We also adopted a Korean family sitting next to us... or they adopted us. The mother could speak pretty decent English and the daughter was fascinated by us. The mother began to talk to us and soon offered us oranges and bread chips. A little while later, when Andre and Shelley attempted to lay down in our small spot, the ajummas who had shimmied their way into the small spot behind us offered their blankets and bags as pillows.

This isn't even the half of it...

New Korean family! 

Giant balls!

Ajummas giving pillows to Andre and Shelley

During our wait, there was a live show (which could be seen by large screens on the water), random girls (working for the festival) dancing in costumes in front of us, random ajummas dancing (not working for the festival), and large plastic balls being bounced around the audience. Finally, the show started at 8pm. It was worth the wait. This fireworks show was the largest, most incredible I have ever seen in my life. Millions of dollars were spent putting on this fireworks show and it showed.

This video is a little taste of what the fireworks were like... this wasn't even the finale.


And then on the way home, we couldn't find any tickets for the KTX so we took the other train home... standing only. The people who get standing tickets usually find somewhere else to sit, which was the diner cart for us. We squeezed our way in between some ajummas, ajeossis, and young girls. The old people attempted to talk to us in English (not really. a lot of hand gestures and broken konglish). One drunk old man in particular kept annoying us with the only words in English he knew: "Thank you" and "I love you." Maybe charming at first, but just wait half an hour and see how old that gets. He also apparently wanted our numbers according to his hand gestures. He eventually wrote down his own and gave it to Shelley. Sure, mister... she'll call right away. Any time we tried the ignore tactic, he would poke us. Poor Shelley got the majority of the finger abuse. This old couple behind us got a little fed up by this man's loud annoyingness and the husband yelled at him. The entire car was looking our way at one point. The annoying old man was quiet for a little but then went back to his ways. We guessed that the young girls knew at least a little English, as do most young people these days, so we wrote them a note asking them to tell the old man to stop yelling and poking us. They were nice enough to do it and the old man settled down. Our stop was a few minutes after that, so we ran off the train as fast as possible. I guess we learn from our mistakes!!

English Speaking Tests

First things first...
I am a California girl through and through. That means I am used to one season and it is summer. Cool, warm, hot, and super hot weather. In the past few days, the weather has dropped at least 20 degrees (F). This week we have highs in the low 60s and lows in the 30s. When I walked to school it was in the high 30s. WOW I'm not used to this weather. Good thing I got paid on Monday... time for some winter shopping! (Meanwhile the Korean girls are still wearing mini skirts and short. Ha!) If you do not hear from me for a long period of time at any point this winter, it probably means I literally froze to death.

Now, more important things...
Last week I was given a rubric for the speaking tests that are being given this week and next week for all grades and all levels. They all are given these 5 questions to prepare for, but only 1 is picked on the actual test day:
1. What do you want to be in the future and why?
2. What do you want for your birthday present and why?
3. What do you think of yourself? Tell us about your strong and weak points.
4. What are good and bad points of watching TV?
5. Do you agree or disagree with corporal punishment in school? Tell us your opinion with your own supporting ideas.

They are scored on-
Accuracy
Fluency
Vocab: Range, Appropriateness
Voice: Audibility, Pronunciation, Stress
Content: Relevance, Supporting Arguments
Time Limit

So first up were my 3rd graders who are all in the highest level English classes. I felt so bad because they all got so nervous to speak to me, but were only required to speak for less than a minute. One by one, students sat down, picked a question, I read it to them. Keep in mind that they all had a week to prepare for this speaking test. A good handful of students looked at me with a blank stare, said "ahhh...uhhh... ahhhh... sorry Teacher," and ran away. Some said a few words before hand, like "I want to be an astronaut." and then ran away. But of course there were the ones that were prepared and I got some very interesting answers.

My 1st grade lowest level students (favorite class!) all did one of two things: sit down, pick a question, I read it, student sits there staring at me/gets up and walks away OR walks over to me and says "sorry Teacher" and walks back into the classroom. I had one shining student that said he wanted a book for his birthday but that was it. 


Here are some of the best/funniest/most random answers I have heard so far... I will update as the week goes on!:


1. What do you want to be in the future and why?
-I want to be an astronaut because I want to go to space. I want to see Saturn even though the rings are space dust, I think it is still cool.
-I want to be a dermatologist because I know what it is like to have pimples and people make fun of you. I want to make kids feel better about themselves. I want to help them before their pimples explode on their faces.
-I want to be a dentist because my dad is a dentist and I want to be like him.
2. What do you want for your birthday present and why?
-I want a cell phone because my mom got angry and broke my cell phone.
-I want to have dinner with my family because my brother is in a different city going to university and I don't see him that much. My family doesn't eat get to eat dinner together that much anymore. (Awww my heart melted!) 
- I want a mechanical pencil because everyone has nice mechanical pencils and they show them off.
3. What do you think of yourself? Tell us about your strong and weak points.
-Last week at the festival, I was a rocker on stage and I think that my personality is like that. Sometimes it gets me in trouble in school because teachers say, "You talk too much!"
- I am selfish and mean. Sometimes I get angry very easily at my friends.
- I am handsome. Weakness is I don't have girlfriend.
4. What are good and bad points of watching TV?
-It is bad for your eyes. (got that one a lot!)
- We need more shows with information, like documentaries, so we can get more knowledge.
5. Do you agree or disagree with corporal punishment in school? Tell us your opinion with your own supporting ideas.
-I disagree because I am bad at school.
- I agree because some students are bad and they need to be punished.
-I disagree because I forget my homework and I get hit.
-I disagree because I don't like the PE teacher and he hits a lot of students. (got that one a lot!)

Me as a fairy/ballerina/princess on Halloween manyyy years ago.

Also, this week is HALLOWEEN week! YAYY! When asked if they know what a vampire is, many respond with "Twilight!" I asked if they knew werewolf and got, "New Moon!! Jacob!! Teacher, do you lovvvve Jacob?!" Other words included are mummy, ghost, zombie, etc. My favorite is when the students know exactly what I am referring to but don't know the words to describe it. So instead I get zombie, ghost, and werewolf noises coming from all sides of the classroom and arms raised in a mummy/zombie like fashion.
Also, I've been playing a clip from The Nightmare Before Christmas movie, the "This is Halloween" song (which, by the way, is a horrible idea. 18 classes throughout the week, played at least 3 times in each class, plus however many times I played it while making the lesson plan.... you do the math.) I first play it, ask what they saw in the clip, and then hand out the lyrics with certain words or phrases missing (depending on the level). I play the clip 2 more times. It is funny because when I look around the room by the third time the clip is played, students are singing to themselves. Maybe it is one of those "you had to be there" moments, but just imagine a bunch of students who are minding their own business, looking at their papers, singing and bobbing their heads. It's funny, I promise. I also heard a kid run past my office yesterday after school singing the song.
And since I have to listen to this song at least 9 times a day, here is the clip for your viewing pleasure :) Happy Halloween!

Nightmare Before Christmas: This is Halloween

School Festival and Field Trip

First off, let me tell you something I was observing while looking out of my office window last week. My back is turned to the window which is next to the main (outside) walkway in school so there are always students walking by. Across the walkway is more classes. So it goes like this... my office/desk, windows, bushes, outside walkway, bushes, windows, inside walkway, classrooms. Last week I happened to glance out the window, across the outside walkway... I see one boy in the bushes, one boy in the inside hallway, and one half way inside and half way outside. The boy's arms were being pulled by the boy in the bushes and his legs were being pulled by the boy inside (imagine him in a superman-like position). Kind of like a tug of war but instead of a rope, it was a boy and the boy was being pulled in and out of the window. It was absolutely hilarious and these are the types of things that go on on a daily basis here!

Last week I worked for a total of 3 days (yes I am truly working my ass off here). That means I have worked for a total of 6 out of 10 work days in the past two weeks. Thursday was the annual school festival and Friday was a field trip day

SCHOOL FESTIVAL
Back to the festival: a few weeks ago I was somehow harassed into singing at the school festival. For all of you who know me, this is NOT my thing. I was asked by my coteacher if I wanted to perform (dance or sing) in the festival. I told her I have no special talents and she went on her way. Then, I went into the main office to go make copies and the vice principal basically said I had no choice and my name was already on the festival schedule. Luckily, there was a teacher choir so I agreed to join that. We ended up choosing LOVE by Natalie Cole. The teachers thought the microphone should be in my face because I am the "native" English speaker. PSHHHH such a bad idea. They also tried to get my to sing parts of the song for them so that they could figure out how it sounds. ANOTHER bad idea. The fact that I can speak English in no way qualifies me to be a singer.
So, the day of the festival arrives. All of the teachers receive maroon windbreakers and white hats that spell out "Daegu" in Korean on them. Uniformity is all the rage here. Then, on top of that I get a lovely orange long sleeve shirt and blue polka dot bandana for the singing performance. Let me reiterate: maroon windbreaker, bright orange shirt, blue polka dot bandana, white hat. Even though I looked completely ridiculous, I didn't mind because there were about 10 other teachers who looked just like me :)

I am the "L" in LOVE :) Orange orange everywhere!

The festival started out with relays between classes and grades. Then, there was a massive jump rope contest which I got to partake in. There were about 3 teachers assigned to each class... so 3 teachers and up to 10 students trying to jump all at once with the same rope.

Some of my students!

Principal jumping rope

Next, each grade had a different assigment. Grade 1 was some kind of drag show or whoever could dress their representative up the most like a girl (I didn't really get it). Grade 2 was a water balloon toss game. Grade 3 was another type of relay.

Rocker chick

"California girl!"

Then, there was a talent show. There was rapping, singing, dancing, guitar playing, and our choir. Luckily no one could really hear us in the microphones, but I did hear chanting when I got up on stage, "Teacher, Teacher, Teacher." Finally, the M.C. walked around the crowd asking the students what their greatest wish was (or at least that is what my coteacher said was going on) and one student said he wanted to one day be able to have a conversation with me.. awww!!!

Playing American Idiot-Green Day 

Dancing to 2NE1... bakssu cheo, bakssu cheo!

Stage moms exist in Korea too!
So cute, they even made tshirts for their sons' class!

Rapping

Look at how happy I look!

The teachers got a huge lunch and there was even soju and beer in the cafeteria. I felt weird drinking at school, but was offered some so I couldn't refuse (litereally couldn't refuse. it's rude to here.)
After lunch there were festivities in the park by the river next to the school. We walked a few miles down the river to enjoy the scenery and then there were scavenger hunts and games that lasted for the rest of the day.

The river by my house and school

Ready, set, go!

How cute! 3rd grader helping 1st grader 

Walking down the river 

Scavenger hunt... running like crazy!

Hunting for prizes

Chief Officer, Principal, and Me

1st, 2nd, and 3rd places for each grade

But, don't worry, this was not the end of the day.... teacher bonding then commenced. 10 teachers went out for a type of Korean BBQ. By the way, I love how they all try to include me in everything and are so welcoming! Mr. Lee (the math teacher I went to Gyeongju with) was excited to make me a special concoction: soju and beer mixed together, pronounced so-may (aka the "bum" drink.) I also learned "ahh jo-tah" means "ahhh so good" or something like that... said after you finish a drink. Of course, I am only learning the essential Korean words! We played drinking games and then headed to my first noreabang (Korean karaoke!) I pretended to know Korean songs and they pretended to know English songs. I had a great time and really enjoy hanging out with the teachers from my school, even though most don't know English and I don't know Korean. Apparently, they also have this really cool program here where you can call a number if you are too drunk to drive home and someone will show up to drive both you and your car home. It is only about 10,000. Quick, someone get on this idea on America!!

FIELD TRIP
On Friday, we took a trip to the Keimyung University. I was told it was the most beautiful campus in Daegu and it was totally true. It was gorgeous, especially with the Fall leaves changing color. Two teachers picked me up from my house (another generous gesture, as I could have easily taken the subway). All of the students and teachers met at the university. We took a tour of the museum, which took all of 20 mins. The majority of the time spent at the university was organizing students! And during this time of organization I got to hear "Teacher! Teacher! Hellooo??? Teacher! I love-a youuuu!" for about 15 mins straight.

Museum

fall colors!

The museum had a very nice photo exhibit of the DMZ. Since the DMZ (area between South and North Korea) is hardly ever accessed by many humans, it is one of the few places in Korea with beautiful nature and wildlife. The museum also had an exhibit on the history of Korea dating all the way back to the caveman days. I didn't find this as interesting as the first exhibit but it was kind of cool to see some Korean history. Then all of the teachers went out to lunch at a place called "Vin." We had pasta, pizza, etc. I am gradually figuring out that more teachers can speak English than they let on through little outings like this. I was then offered to go on a hike after lunch to see some temples in Daegu, but I unfortunately had to get home to pack for Busan!