The most significant moment of today was how one of my students is just gone. Bam. Gone.
I had heard that Friday might be her last day, then sure enough, all the kindergarten kids informed me that she was gone. They didn't seem sad so much as dead set on informing everyone. In fact that wouldn't shut up about it, it was kind of awkward.
Probably even more awkward when I tried to move another student into her seat. The student I was trying to move has been saying for weeks that her neck hurts when she has to turn to look at the board. Today I try to move her into some prime real-estate and suddenly her neck is just fine.
However nothing could compare to me casually removing all trace of her in the classroom. The students have their names and pictures posted everywhere, for identifying them, games, scores, space, everything. I was basically Stalin rewriting history like she'd never been in the class. This is because these students are elephants, if I ask them who their teacher is, they will start with me then begin to go back in time to people who haven't taught at the school for over year. Elephants.
Tomorrow is gonna be a disaster if that was all rumor and she was just sick.
Monday, October 31, 2016
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Sunday Exploration
Perfectly blue sky. Everything about today made me thankful for being able to see because everything was like food for my eyes.
I picked up where I left off last Sunday with exploring Ansan by bike. The air was clear, the leaves were colourful, and the river was clear and teaming with fish.
I picked up where I left off last Sunday with exploring Ansan by bike. The air was clear, the leaves were colourful, and the river was clear and teaming with fish.
I now know that there is another fake waterfall at the very end of the path
This video doesn't do justice to the amount of life in this stream. In fact is looks kind of muddy, but it's clear with a sand bottom. There are several large carps hiding underneath that patch of floating grass.
I went sort of all over after I had covered the river path. I even detoured through a park next to the stadium and around the stadium itself. I found a huge patch of solar panels working to power the stadium. There was even some soccer players practicing at the time I was there.
I just went wild after that. Since I have my data plan now, it's hard to get truly lost, so I just let my curiosity take me. I followed the direction I expected to find the sea in and I think I did find an inlet of sorts. I followed the pathways, and the other cyclists. It's a cyclists heaven really. Bike paths everywhere, with picnic benches, water fountains, and no cars anywhere near it. One part was actually a six lane highway completely close to car being used only by bikers. I laughed secretly to myself after seeing on kid realize that there were no cars on the road so he ran out to dance in the middle of the road. During the middle of his performance a bike snuck up on him from behind and rung his bell, scaring the kid and causing him to fall on his bum. Heh.
The path kept going until, until things looked familiar.
Small world I guess, because I had managed to find the wetlands by accident.
I picniced on some kimbap I had bought earlier choosing the most scenic spots in which to sit and enjoy. I love getting the view. My biggest motivator in hiking is the view from the top. Here I was motivated to just keep going in order to see more and more.
But with all the bumps, that hard seat, and about 5 hours of cycling, my butt hurts more than that kid -for sure.
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Seoulmate: Fall is coming to us - Olympic Park Tour
Beautiful fall colours everywhere. Then this giant gold thumb just in the heart of it all.
Serious, the plaque below just said "Thumb"
This was one of Seoulmate's seasonal tours, not a real tour per se but more of a fun get together in a neat location. This was in the heart of the Olympic park.
I got my you have done four tours gift today! A little Korean coin purse which I love.
We had a big picnic of pizza and fried chicken. It was delicious. I know realistically at least 20% of what I write about on here is food, but this was literal pizza heaven. There was a pizza featuring more bbq'd meat -I was not deterred by how much of that I had eaten last night. Mum know's I'm crazy for potato pizzas, he there was a sweet potato pizza, and a regular potato pizza. Mmmmmmm.....
And games! We played many games until the sun began to set. When walking back we past by a set-up of games designed to get you psyched for the winter Olympics coming in 2018! I managed to hit the target for the biathlon shooting with a gun that looked like a grown up version of the Duck Hunt gun for NES.
Finally I took the long train ride back home to finish the sleep I had missed this morning. I had a showing of my apartment to prospective buyers. I would like to do another Seoulmate tour next weekend, but I don't want to schedule anything since I could be moving! ...again.
The Halloween that Shattered Expectations
Wow, where to even begin with Halloween.
I was forewarned this would be the most effort I ever put into any project at work. After it's done, it all get cleaned up instantly like it never happened. You don't even really get to see the kids afterwards to see what they thought of it, because they leave right after. Most will want to look tough and come out saying it wasn't even scary. A few told me it was too scary. In one students run on sentence she said:
I was forewarned this would be the most effort I ever put into any project at work. After it's done, it all get cleaned up instantly like it never happened. You don't even really get to see the kids afterwards to see what they thought of it, because they leave right after. Most will want to look tough and come out saying it wasn't even scary. A few told me it was too scary. In one students run on sentence she said:
"Niki teacher, that haunted house was way too scary the scariest thing it was so scary I want no Halloween party again after this was scary so scary haunted house soooooooo scary never ever ever again I was too scared from haunted house's too scary no teacher never again"
My first criticism!
So it's pretty thankless for a lot of work, let's talk about how it went down.
Three groups, kindergartners in the morning, young elementary in the afternoon, and older elementary in the late afternoon. The schedule consisted of three primary parts: costume contest, games, and haunted house.
The games were a fairly consistent part. We had a bowling game and ring toss. Last year they had run this kind of relay race that we decided against doing because of available space. Instead I had joked about using the ping pong ball-like eye balls to play a version of eye-ball beer pong -totally a joke. But it did inspire the game we decided on. Four bowls were tapped to a slightly elevated mat. The kindergartners got 6 eyes to throw, and the elementary students got 3, there was a line that they must stand behind in order to toss the ball and have it land in the cup. Most students managed to get one, and it was almost always the last ball they threw. All who participated did get a candy prize however. If you didn't already guess, I oversaw the eyeball pong.
The costume contest was quite funny. It was sort of a model walk to show off your costume with a little dance and you win some candies. The kindergartners got very into it. The winner, dressed as Woody from Toy Story, got so excited to dance he just kept spinning and smiling until he fell. His older sister had pulled a similar stunt; after pretending to fall asleep she began rapidly jumping and touching her toes mid air. Almost every student did some kind of performance. The younger elementary students had maybe 3 or 4 who were more interest in dancing to get the prize than to show off any costume. The costume contest died with the older elementary student, most were not in costume and the rest seemed to be all witches. No one went.
The haunted house I suspected would be most fun for the kindergartners.
I was wrong. In order to get anyone to even consider going in, we had to have the lights on. There would be no jumping out and scaring them, only walking them through by hand. The girl who gave me that run on sentence cried in the main chamber after pressing the button on the mirror. Another girl turned back just before the exit saying it was too scary and probably scared herself more reliving the whole thing again. One the other end of the spectrum we had many students who seemed more or less unphased. One of my students is exceptional with reading, writing, and all sorts of academia, but struggles with more social inclusion. It really feels like he is a very intelligent alien visiting Earth learning about our ways. He went through the haunted house as if it was a museum of things the earthlings find 'scary'. He would smile and point at the things scaring the other students "Wow, skeleton. Look, ghost." He was basically part tourist part tour guide. He went through twice, maybe like a science experiment he need to be such his results weren't a fluke.
The younger elementary kids got a little more fun. Now we had the lights off and were positioned to scare. We failed miserably on the first few being greeted with a "anneyeong!" after each scream. With a little more help from the fog machine we finally got someone to cry! Which was apparently out objective. Unfortunately it was a new student who had never experience Halloween so that wasn't exactly...the right person to scare. It was so dark I could only try to guess the students from the sounds of their voices. Some were clearly trying to do the same things with us:
Teacher: AHHH!!
Student: AH!.... Niki Teacher?
The eldest elementary students were the best. The were over the whole, act-invincible-craze that the younger elementary kids were locked in, they were honest with themselves. They whimpered, cried, yelled, many got so scared they fell over in fright and some even turned around and went back!
Then, just like that it was over. The last on exited and we began tearing down the walls.
Everything was back to normal by the time we had planned to leave the school. The director was busy but treated us to dinner. Another dinner where I ate three servings of bbq'd meat. Amazing, amazing day.
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Last Day Before Halloween
Finally everything is prepared for Halloween tomorrow.
I will be Dracula. Which is a big relief since racist Halloween costumes are actually coming into style here. My understanding is that most of the teachers dress as Japanese Geisha's or Chinese women, where other teachers have been asked to dress up as Bruce Lee or even wear black face. As someone who would like to someday entertain the idea of going into politics, I can't do that, even if it, ironically, is intolerant of modern Korean culture. It's also just complete wrong that the most effort of your costume has gone into changing your race, it's not really funny or scary, it's just unethical. When I was told I could be Dracula -the costumes are provided- I sighed in relief and hope it would be an over-the-top Romanian Dracula. I'm usually pretty anything-goes, when in Rome, sort of up-for anything attitude, but this, uhh. If the choice is my comfort or adapting to new cultural expectations, I can step out of my comfort zone. This is gonna be my exception.
I am the happiest Dracula.
Here's a little clip of me going through the haunted house. It's going to be much much darker with a fog machine and some strobe lights. Intense.
I will be Dracula. Which is a big relief since racist Halloween costumes are actually coming into style here. My understanding is that most of the teachers dress as Japanese Geisha's or Chinese women, where other teachers have been asked to dress up as Bruce Lee or even wear black face. As someone who would like to someday entertain the idea of going into politics, I can't do that, even if it, ironically, is intolerant of modern Korean culture. It's also just complete wrong that the most effort of your costume has gone into changing your race, it's not really funny or scary, it's just unethical. When I was told I could be Dracula -the costumes are provided- I sighed in relief and hope it would be an over-the-top Romanian Dracula. I'm usually pretty anything-goes, when in Rome, sort of up-for anything attitude, but this, uhh. If the choice is my comfort or adapting to new cultural expectations, I can step out of my comfort zone. This is gonna be my exception.
I am the happiest Dracula.
Here's a little clip of me going through the haunted house. It's going to be much much darker with a fog machine and some strobe lights. Intense.
If you're like me, then you're probably wondering why there is so much hype over Halloween in Korea. The answer is: there isn't really. South Korea doesn't celebrate Halloween, there is no Trick-Or-Treating or Halloween decorations and costumes being made widely available. It's a special thing that happens at English Schools. So part of attending an English School is getting access to this celebration, so there are high expectations. We've been told the parents can't join in any of the events or enter the Halloween House, surely there must be some excitement or curiosity since this is something they've kind of paid for.
It's kind of like Chinese New Year's that big a deal inSmaller cities in Canada, unless you are a mover and shaker in the city's Chinatown -then suddenly everybody turns to you.
It's kind of neat since I don't often get a chance to look in the mirror and recognize what is my culture. I guess Halloween is a celebration I get to show off here a bit. Even the school director asked the best way to do Trick-or-treating. We agreed the most authentic way would be having them knock on doors classroom to classroom. On second thought, we only had one teacher available for handling trick-or-treating, and she can't be expected to station herself at 6 different doors.
I am sincerely excited to see how everything goes tomorrow. I expect to be late on the blog post since we may be up late taking down everything we've only just put up. Andy Goldsworthy taught me art can be temporary.
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
More Testing
I really felt bad for the kindergartners today as they did their first-ever test.
"Teacher, help."
"No, I can't help you this time."
The concept of what was going on was lost for many. When I called out the first question many hands shot up. They are used to answering questions out loud in class, not silently writing it on a paper. Some were used to checking other student's book to make sure they were doing everything right. Many were looking for any hint of guidance out of me. It felt like 40 minutes of guessing for a few students.
It was quite the downer.
Work continued on the Halloween House, which is basically complete. Out only problem now is that it is too dark. There is one black light for the whole thing. We are going to have to make sense of lighting tomorrow. For the parts where the black light works properly I taped white arrows to the ground so that the kids wouldn't run into a wall -which is a very real possibility.
I used my bike to get to and from school today since the weather has been incredible. I really love it.
"Teacher, help."
"No, I can't help you this time."
The concept of what was going on was lost for many. When I called out the first question many hands shot up. They are used to answering questions out loud in class, not silently writing it on a paper. Some were used to checking other student's book to make sure they were doing everything right. Many were looking for any hint of guidance out of me. It felt like 40 minutes of guessing for a few students.
It was quite the downer.
Work continued on the Halloween House, which is basically complete. Out only problem now is that it is too dark. There is one black light for the whole thing. We are going to have to make sense of lighting tomorrow. For the parts where the black light works properly I taped white arrows to the ground so that the kids wouldn't run into a wall -which is a very real possibility.
I used my bike to get to and from school today since the weather has been incredible. I really love it.
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Review and Rooftop
The most unique thing about today would have to be my two social studies classes -often referred to as the democracy and the dictatorship. Since the haunted house continues to undergo construction in the library and extra time to work on it is appreciated. I leaped on this opportunity.
But social studies classes have been one lesson ahead for awhile now and next class they will do their monthly test. We brought the two classes together into one classroom for double value. It meant one teacher could go work on the haunted house while I review the unit.
We did a little jeopardy style game testing them on the units. The hardest questions were with 4 points and the easiest were worth 1. It was actually pretty neck and neck for a while, until a the team with the democracy girls and some dictatorship boys surged to win in the last round.
The promise for a while now was if the review went well we could go play a game. The library is where we would usually play but it is closed for haunted house construction. So we have the option to play on the roof (don't worry grandma, there' walls).
This was a very unlikely possibility since it rained like crazy all morning. I figured I would have to come up with something else since there would be puddles everywhere. But NO! The sun came out to save my integrity.
I didn't expect that the ball would go over the edge before the game even started, so I had to run back downstairs to get a new one. I never found the yellow ball.
We got in a quick game of soccer and returned to school to finish up the day.
But social studies classes have been one lesson ahead for awhile now and next class they will do their monthly test. We brought the two classes together into one classroom for double value. It meant one teacher could go work on the haunted house while I review the unit.
We did a little jeopardy style game testing them on the units. The hardest questions were with 4 points and the easiest were worth 1. It was actually pretty neck and neck for a while, until a the team with the democracy girls and some dictatorship boys surged to win in the last round.
The promise for a while now was if the review went well we could go play a game. The library is where we would usually play but it is closed for haunted house construction. So we have the option to play on the roof (don't worry grandma, there' walls).
This was a very unlikely possibility since it rained like crazy all morning. I figured I would have to come up with something else since there would be puddles everywhere. But NO! The sun came out to save my integrity.
I didn't expect that the ball would go over the edge before the game even started, so I had to run back downstairs to get a new one. I never found the yellow ball.
We got in a quick game of soccer and returned to school to finish up the day.
Monday, October 24, 2016
Countdown to Halloween
Today, and this week, is all about the haunted house for Halloween.
We all rushed in and out of the library to start putting up the walls and planning what will be where. We made enormous progress for the first day. We have rescheduled the rest of the week in order to have time to put the room in order.
I got two free classes today to rush putting up some walls, and break for some iced mocha with a helpful Korean teacher. Students broke up the day by coming by to pop their heads in the door (when the weren't supposed to) out of sheer curiosity.
I have never seen kids so psyched for Halloween. Like my birthday is the day after Halloween and I don't even remember being this excited.
We all rushed in and out of the library to start putting up the walls and planning what will be where. We made enormous progress for the first day. We have rescheduled the rest of the week in order to have time to put the room in order.
I got two free classes today to rush putting up some walls, and break for some iced mocha with a helpful Korean teacher. Students broke up the day by coming by to pop their heads in the door (when the weren't supposed to) out of sheer curiosity.
I have never seen kids so psyched for Halloween. Like my birthday is the day after Halloween and I don't even remember being this excited.
Sunday, October 23, 2016
Rainy Day
I was so psyched to ride my bike today. But by the time I actually got out of the house ready to go, it had just started to rain. Probably the biggest mistake I have made here is not bring a raincoat, at all. I have no raincoat. My gore-tex jacket went missing during one of the many moves in Australia and I could never find it after much searching. So I am here with a some-what cozy coat and an umbrella.
Even if I did have a coat, it's not like it would've been the same as yesterday -which was all blue skies.
Instead I rode to school...
...that is to say pizza school!
They have pizzas following an international theme, including several Mexican options and even an Irish stew. Feel free to drool over their menu. I had the German option, which had sausage, corn, mashed sweet potato, and a cheesy bite crust. It also appears to be pretty standard to get garlic sauce with pizza here, which is a nice touch.
The other thing that seems to be standard is bow-tying a ribbon around the pizza as was done the last time when I felt so special.
Ever feeling blue? Order a Korean pizza.
Even if I did have a coat, it's not like it would've been the same as yesterday -which was all blue skies.
Instead I rode to school...
...that is to say pizza school!
They have pizzas following an international theme, including several Mexican options and even an Irish stew. Feel free to drool over their menu. I had the German option, which had sausage, corn, mashed sweet potato, and a cheesy bite crust. It also appears to be pretty standard to get garlic sauce with pizza here, which is a nice touch.
The other thing that seems to be standard is bow-tying a ribbon around the pizza as was done the last time when I felt so special.
Ever feeling blue? Order a Korean pizza.
Saturday, October 22, 2016
I Want To Ride My Bicycle
I had cancelled any cool plans for today knowing that I seriously need to get this data plan sorted with my phone. I keep going around and having this adventures, relying on my keen sense of direction and the chance of wifi to get me home.
Full disclosure: this next part is me detailing phone troubles, scroll down to the next bolded letters if that doesn't interest you.
To get a bank account you need a phone, and to get a phone plan you need a bank account. To get a phone plan you need an Alien Resident Card (ARC) -but those take about a month. So I got a pre-paid phone plan, and I set it up with my passport. Then I found out it doesn't include data.
The guy at the phone place told me that the credit that was on there could not be used for data but I could start a phone plan using the same number. He couldn't transfer the existing credit and recommended I come back in October when the credit has run out. Which was fine, because I still needed my card and a bank account.
When I did go back they had difficulty since I used my passport before and now I was using my ARC. So they told me to come back today. I came just before one, since they only opened at noon. They had tried to contact the South Korea Telecom office but they wouldn't get through for about four hours so I left and came back at 5.
I didn't leave until almost 8pm. They discovered that the prepaid amount actually covered me for three months so I would have to wait until the end of November to transfer the number. Or, we could do it right away with a new number. Huh. I took that offer.
And it works.
tl;dr problem solved, slowly.
During the time that I left I walked the path I had walked to the bank on one of my early adventures. I had remember a store selling used bikes and I went back to that very same store. I had anticipated using my phone's data and translating app to facilitate communication -but that wouldn't be option for quite sometime. Instead I used some Englush, some Korean, and a lot of gestures. The man running the place was very accommodating and excited to help. He set me up with a used bike, a lock, and through in a basket and some maintenance for free. The cost was about 75$ Canadian. I only had 60$ in my wallet so I told him I would go down the block to the bank. He told me "use the bike!". Which was very trusting of him, so naturally I had to come back with the money. What a nice guy!
Then I just went everywhere. I found the arcade that the other teachers had showed me, I went back to the artificial waterfall. It's open again, but there's no water yet. I went to the start of the path along the river and went down for about ten km. I passed beautiful fall colours, many herons fishing in the river, looming blocks of towers, the stadium for Ansan's soccer team and even a turtle. It was incredible.
I know I'm not crazy about being on my own, I like company. I'm such an extrovert, unless I have a bike. I am never alone with a bike, and sometimes I appreciate being alone more with a bike. That's why my bike trip around PEI was so successful. Even now I lovingly stare across the room at my new friend, my bike.
The only reason I had to turn back while bike riding was because I had to get back to the phone place. If the weather is still favourable I hope to go out tomorrow and finish!
Full disclosure: this next part is me detailing phone troubles, scroll down to the next bolded letters if that doesn't interest you.
To get a bank account you need a phone, and to get a phone plan you need a bank account. To get a phone plan you need an Alien Resident Card (ARC) -but those take about a month. So I got a pre-paid phone plan, and I set it up with my passport. Then I found out it doesn't include data.
The guy at the phone place told me that the credit that was on there could not be used for data but I could start a phone plan using the same number. He couldn't transfer the existing credit and recommended I come back in October when the credit has run out. Which was fine, because I still needed my card and a bank account.
When I did go back they had difficulty since I used my passport before and now I was using my ARC. So they told me to come back today. I came just before one, since they only opened at noon. They had tried to contact the South Korea Telecom office but they wouldn't get through for about four hours so I left and came back at 5.
I didn't leave until almost 8pm. They discovered that the prepaid amount actually covered me for three months so I would have to wait until the end of November to transfer the number. Or, we could do it right away with a new number. Huh. I took that offer.
And it works.
tl;dr problem solved, slowly.
During the time that I left I walked the path I had walked to the bank on one of my early adventures. I had remember a store selling used bikes and I went back to that very same store. I had anticipated using my phone's data and translating app to facilitate communication -but that wouldn't be option for quite sometime. Instead I used some Englush, some Korean, and a lot of gestures. The man running the place was very accommodating and excited to help. He set me up with a used bike, a lock, and through in a basket and some maintenance for free. The cost was about 75$ Canadian. I only had 60$ in my wallet so I told him I would go down the block to the bank. He told me "use the bike!". Which was very trusting of him, so naturally I had to come back with the money. What a nice guy!
Then I just went everywhere. I found the arcade that the other teachers had showed me, I went back to the artificial waterfall. It's open again, but there's no water yet. I went to the start of the path along the river and went down for about ten km. I passed beautiful fall colours, many herons fishing in the river, looming blocks of towers, the stadium for Ansan's soccer team and even a turtle. It was incredible.
I know I'm not crazy about being on my own, I like company. I'm such an extrovert, unless I have a bike. I am never alone with a bike, and sometimes I appreciate being alone more with a bike. That's why my bike trip around PEI was so successful. Even now I lovingly stare across the room at my new friend, my bike.
The only reason I had to turn back while bike riding was because I had to get back to the phone place. If the weather is still favourable I hope to go out tomorrow and finish!
Farewell! Tomato!
Today's most important moment was our outing to say goodbye to two teachers. One foreign teacher who will stay working in Korea a little longer, and one Korean teacher who will be getting married soon. They don't really do time off for weddings so this is the end of her time with us.
We went to the same restaurant we had gone to for my welcome dinner. Since our two newest teachers are vegetarians it was up to just me and the departing foreign teacher to indulge in the plate of meat for four people -and we finished it.
It was a great meal. Some of the Korean teachers really wanted to go to a second place for drinks and they really wanted me to join -and I'm so glad I did. It was really cool how they seamlessly switched between Korean and English to tell stories and make certain points. I definitely feel like part of the group -even if I was the only foreign teacher.
The bar we went to was not so much a bar as a restaurant and they wouldn't serve us drinks until we ordered food. So even though I was completely full, we ordered a fruit salad to split. AND you know that old saying:
Of course, I go home late -which is why this too is a little late. I am still recovering from the food.
We went to the same restaurant we had gone to for my welcome dinner. Since our two newest teachers are vegetarians it was up to just me and the departing foreign teacher to indulge in the plate of meat for four people -and we finished it.
It was a great meal. Some of the Korean teachers really wanted to go to a second place for drinks and they really wanted me to join -and I'm so glad I did. It was really cool how they seamlessly switched between Korean and English to tell stories and make certain points. I definitely feel like part of the group -even if I was the only foreign teacher.
The bar we went to was not so much a bar as a restaurant and they wouldn't serve us drinks until we ordered food. So even though I was completely full, we ordered a fruit salad to split. AND you know that old saying:
"Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad."
There was tomato in it. Perhaps a knowledgeable chef but not wise.
Of course, I go home late -which is why this too is a little late. I am still recovering from the food.
Thursday, October 20, 2016
Phone Troubles and A New Class
Today was kind of rough.
I started the day sleepily doing dishes. A big knife slid off the counter, and my ninja reflexes lead me to catch. But I caught it by the blade, the blade in my thumb. Needless to say, I woke up. I rushed to school since I knew I might find a band aid there.
We did a craft today in class that involved colouring a coffee filter like the earth and then spraying it with water to make the ink run, giving it a watercolour look. Unfortunately for us, the markers at the school must've been semi-permanent (again, how should I know? It's in Korean) because the ink did not run. What's worse is that is did seep through the filter and stain the table. Luckily our amazing cook was able to clean the table.
My social studies classes finished quickly, so we had time for a word search race. The democracy and the dictatorship were given the same amount of time to find all ten words. The dictatorship had found roughly between 5 and 6 words by the end of class. The democracy finished it and had time from a game of hangman and a game of musical chairs.
We met with the director during the spare class. All three teacher rotate teaching one class that only runs on Tuesday and Thursday. Since I got here we have done it this way. Meaning, instead of the standard 4 free periods a week, we've been getting 5 to 8. So now we will be introducing a new class during that time. The eldest of the kindergarten cycle, but they are an introductory level -they know absolutely nothing in English. It should be quite the experience. I'm teaching them fun classes, gym and hands on play. They start this November.
After class I went to finally get a data plan for my phone. This has been incredibly difficult. They lost my paperwork from last time. They tried to solve my problem for almost an hour and a half, before asking me to come back tomorrow. I can't come back tomorrow since I've got a big dinner with the school (farewell for two teachers). So it will have to be on Saturday. Which is fine I guess, I didn't have a Seoulmate tour -it might just be a very boring weekend.
I started the day sleepily doing dishes. A big knife slid off the counter, and my ninja reflexes lead me to catch. But I caught it by the blade, the blade in my thumb. Needless to say, I woke up. I rushed to school since I knew I might find a band aid there.
We did a craft today in class that involved colouring a coffee filter like the earth and then spraying it with water to make the ink run, giving it a watercolour look. Unfortunately for us, the markers at the school must've been semi-permanent (again, how should I know? It's in Korean) because the ink did not run. What's worse is that is did seep through the filter and stain the table. Luckily our amazing cook was able to clean the table.
My social studies classes finished quickly, so we had time for a word search race. The democracy and the dictatorship were given the same amount of time to find all ten words. The dictatorship had found roughly between 5 and 6 words by the end of class. The democracy finished it and had time from a game of hangman and a game of musical chairs.
We met with the director during the spare class. All three teacher rotate teaching one class that only runs on Tuesday and Thursday. Since I got here we have done it this way. Meaning, instead of the standard 4 free periods a week, we've been getting 5 to 8. So now we will be introducing a new class during that time. The eldest of the kindergarten cycle, but they are an introductory level -they know absolutely nothing in English. It should be quite the experience. I'm teaching them fun classes, gym and hands on play. They start this November.
After class I went to finally get a data plan for my phone. This has been incredibly difficult. They lost my paperwork from last time. They tried to solve my problem for almost an hour and a half, before asking me to come back tomorrow. I can't come back tomorrow since I've got a big dinner with the school (farewell for two teachers). So it will have to be on Saturday. Which is fine I guess, I didn't have a Seoulmate tour -it might just be a very boring weekend.
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Headbanging for Donuts
I woke up with a stuffy nose and an odd craving for donuts.
My kindergarten class continues to discuss natural resources. Again, going over conserving energy we tried turning off the lights. There was plenty of natural light coming in, so it worked well. We left the class room briefly to set up our experiment. A cup underneath a leaky faucet, left for 30 minutes -how much water will be in the cup? None, if you can't get the cup to stand upright in the sink bowl. So I grabbed some paper towels to get it to stand up right. "Niki Teacher, why you take many paper towels? You not conserve trees!" ...they caught me.
Later that day while waiting in line for hand washing we play a little jumping game where the kids jump to headbutt my raised hand. Instead I was talking to one student hiding in between my legs while the other headbutted my head. I thought I got a concussion, but it was way worse for the student who is both our youngest and smallest student. He looked woozy, laughed and continued to play. Less than a minute later he had a big purple goose egg. He recovered well, I wasn't back to normal until the director treated us all to Starbucks that afternoon.
My elementary students all got perfect on their vocabulary quiz! Which was a first.
A parent dropped off 4 boxes of donuts. As if she knew what I was thinking. There were so many donuts I even got to take 3 home with me. I'm actually overjoyed!
I also added a twitter feed to right side column of the blog, to save funny little things I hear throughout the day
My kindergarten class continues to discuss natural resources. Again, going over conserving energy we tried turning off the lights. There was plenty of natural light coming in, so it worked well. We left the class room briefly to set up our experiment. A cup underneath a leaky faucet, left for 30 minutes -how much water will be in the cup? None, if you can't get the cup to stand upright in the sink bowl. So I grabbed some paper towels to get it to stand up right. "Niki Teacher, why you take many paper towels? You not conserve trees!" ...they caught me.
Later that day while waiting in line for hand washing we play a little jumping game where the kids jump to headbutt my raised hand. Instead I was talking to one student hiding in between my legs while the other headbutted my head. I thought I got a concussion, but it was way worse for the student who is both our youngest and smallest student. He looked woozy, laughed and continued to play. Less than a minute later he had a big purple goose egg. He recovered well, I wasn't back to normal until the director treated us all to Starbucks that afternoon.
My elementary students all got perfect on their vocabulary quiz! Which was a first.
A parent dropped off 4 boxes of donuts. As if she knew what I was thinking. There were so many donuts I even got to take 3 home with me. I'm actually overjoyed!
I also added a twitter feed to right side column of the blog, to save funny little things I hear throughout the day
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Tempting Fate
I got so settled in my new apartment because I figured I would be here awhile. I wanted to accept that this would be my new home and I shouldn't wait around for the unlikely chance on moving into the trendy loft apartment just down the street from work.
Well, I tempted fate with that one.
Just today I heard from the director that the landlord is willing to give up the key money and she has found another room free at the trendy building -which she visited today. Just like that.
Last year I moved to Australia, then from my homestay to Macgregor, Macgregor to Durack, Durack to Camp Hill, Camp Hill to Korea, apartment 511 to apartment 309, and now I will move from 309 to this new building. That is seven moves. That's more moves than the chicken dance.
I'm excited really. The new place is in the heart of all the fried chicken restaurants!
Well, I tempted fate with that one.
Just today I heard from the director that the landlord is willing to give up the key money and she has found another room free at the trendy building -which she visited today. Just like that.
Last year I moved to Australia, then from my homestay to Macgregor, Macgregor to Durack, Durack to Camp Hill, Camp Hill to Korea, apartment 511 to apartment 309, and now I will move from 309 to this new building. That is seven moves. That's more moves than the chicken dance.
I'm excited really. The new place is in the heart of all the fried chicken restaurants!
Monday, October 17, 2016
Staying Alive
Getting through today was not easy. As expected, the other teachers are sick too, so it's no really fair to contribute any less than they do. We have to be a team; a sick team.
My greatest solace from today had to have been a small schedule change that takes 10 minute off of the lunch hour and move it to the gap between kindergarten and elementary. I used that gap to get a large coffee so I wouldn't fall asleep.
My favourite classtime moment from today had to be with my morning kindergartners. We have been doing a unit on animals, and they loved this one book about baby animals. For the exercises I had them write the name of the animal and what type of animal it was (eg. Radar Ears the Fennec Fox, Bella the Beluga). This was about 3 weeks ago, but the story has left quite the impression on them. Today their writing assignment was three sentences on your dream pet.
I want a pet ...
I will ...
I will ...
It would've been so easy for them to just say , dog, walk him, feed him. Or rabbit, feed him, play with him. Except, everyone has a clear bond with their baby animal from the book. "What pet would you like?"
"Becco the Elephant"
"Ok... I gue-"
"Me, Rooby the Kangaroo!"
"So, a kangaroo."
"Bella the Beluga!!"
So now all of my students want very exotic and specific pets.
My greatest solace from today had to have been a small schedule change that takes 10 minute off of the lunch hour and move it to the gap between kindergarten and elementary. I used that gap to get a large coffee so I wouldn't fall asleep.
My favourite classtime moment from today had to be with my morning kindergartners. We have been doing a unit on animals, and they loved this one book about baby animals. For the exercises I had them write the name of the animal and what type of animal it was (eg. Radar Ears the Fennec Fox, Bella the Beluga). This was about 3 weeks ago, but the story has left quite the impression on them. Today their writing assignment was three sentences on your dream pet.
I want a pet ...
I will ...
I will ...
It would've been so easy for them to just say , dog, walk him, feed him. Or rabbit, feed him, play with him. Except, everyone has a clear bond with their baby animal from the book. "What pet would you like?"
"Becco the Elephant"
"Ok... I gue-"
"Me, Rooby the Kangaroo!"
"So, a kangaroo."
"Bella the Beluga!!"
So now all of my students want very exotic and specific pets.
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Sick-y Niki
It was only a matter of time before I got sick here. I know mum says I'm always getting sick, but I have been in Korea for about 54 days,and only today did I get sick. So 1 in 54 is pretty okay.
I woke up with a sore throat and stuffy nose. I tried going back to sleep but I was in such discomfort I got up to try and heal myself while unpacking everything from the move. Today I did accomplish getting the apartment in order and for that I am proud.
With a bit of permission I only left the house to get food, which, I'm not gonna lie, was fried chicken. Namely because it is delicious and only a short walk.
I tested out the new laundry machine here. Different brand, still all in Korean. I couldn't figure out why the cycle was gonna take almost 5 hours to complete. Then when the bell rang and I opened the door I found all my clothes were hot and dry -which was a lovely feeling.
The rest of the day was dedicated to tea, and sleep. Now it's just after 10 and I'm hoping that I wake up healthier than I did this morning. That's not just because of the limited sick days, or the fact that I could possibly get the kids sick (let's be real, it usually the other way around), but I don't want to miss a day!
I woke up with a sore throat and stuffy nose. I tried going back to sleep but I was in such discomfort I got up to try and heal myself while unpacking everything from the move. Today I did accomplish getting the apartment in order and for that I am proud.
With a bit of permission I only left the house to get food, which, I'm not gonna lie, was fried chicken. Namely because it is delicious and only a short walk.
I tested out the new laundry machine here. Different brand, still all in Korean. I couldn't figure out why the cycle was gonna take almost 5 hours to complete. Then when the bell rang and I opened the door I found all my clothes were hot and dry -which was a lovely feeling.
The rest of the day was dedicated to tea, and sleep. Now it's just after 10 and I'm hoping that I wake up healthier than I did this morning. That's not just because of the limited sick days, or the fact that I could possibly get the kids sick (let's be real, it usually the other way around), but I don't want to miss a day!
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Seoulmate: Traditional experience in Hongdae - Shrine Tour(Gwangheungdang tour)
Before the tour my understanding of a traditional experience in Hongdae was the image of university students stumbling drunk through the streets.
I arrived to the meeting spot a bit early so I got myself a nice seat by the window and a green tea latte at a cafe nearby. Just when I was about to leave I saw a woman eye'ing the place next to me, she looked up at the sun beaming through the window and then looked higher at the blinds, just out of reach. She turned around to look for other seats. Before getting up I used my height to pulling down the blind so she could sit there without roasting to death. She gave me a 'kamsamnida' and sat down. Good deed done.
Next I met up with the Seoulmates at the meeting spot and the tour began! It is my fourth tour, which means I get a present! But there was some miscommunication and they didn't have anything ready. But, that's kind of a good thing. Next week is exams so the university students who run Seoulmate will all be buried in books -no tours. The weekend after that is the special seasonal tour and there are hardly any details up about it on the site. They told me I would get my present at the next tour, and the next tour is the seasonal tour, which only has space for eight. So in a round-about kind of way it justified me taking on of the limited spots later that night.
We walked along streets packed with art and performers. We also passed one of Seoul's sheep cafes, much like the cat cafe's that have taken off around the word, here you can share a drink and pet a sheep. Apparently there is also a tortoise and sugar glider cafe in Hongdae. Finally we followed some back roads up, up, up. Exhausting. Then we went down a forested trail to the shrine itself.
I arrived to the meeting spot a bit early so I got myself a nice seat by the window and a green tea latte at a cafe nearby. Just when I was about to leave I saw a woman eye'ing the place next to me, she looked up at the sun beaming through the window and then looked higher at the blinds, just out of reach. She turned around to look for other seats. Before getting up I used my height to pulling down the blind so she could sit there without roasting to death. She gave me a 'kamsamnida' and sat down. Good deed done.
Next I met up with the Seoulmates at the meeting spot and the tour began! It is my fourth tour, which means I get a present! But there was some miscommunication and they didn't have anything ready. But, that's kind of a good thing. Next week is exams so the university students who run Seoulmate will all be buried in books -no tours. The weekend after that is the special seasonal tour and there are hardly any details up about it on the site. They told me I would get my present at the next tour, and the next tour is the seasonal tour, which only has space for eight. So in a round-about kind of way it justified me taking on of the limited spots later that night.
We walked along streets packed with art and performers. We also passed one of Seoul's sheep cafes, much like the cat cafe's that have taken off around the word, here you can share a drink and pet a sheep. Apparently there is also a tortoise and sugar glider cafe in Hongdae. Finally we followed some back roads up, up, up. Exhausting. Then we went down a forested trail to the shrine itself.
nice fall colours happening in the background
We played some traditional Korean games here and learned some history about the shrine. The Seoulmates are a very well connected group. The shrine is open to the public, but it's even more open to Seoulmate. We got to go inside the accompanying building and use the calligraphy desks to write out Korean proverbs.
On the top I have written the proverb which loosely translates to: prepare before someone steals your cow. Then below is my name, Niki, followed by the name of the shrine, and of course a stolen cow.
Again the well connected Seoulmates also have access to the dressing room containing the traditional clothing, hanbok. This is typically reserved for ceremonies, but they are more than happy to get foreigners dressed up. Here is yours truly...
later I put on a traditional hat resembling a lamp shade.
After games and photos we walked to a nearby restaurant for another wonderful meal. Many participants were planning to head back to the sheep cafe -and I wish I could've gone.
Instead I made ten trips between the 5th and 3rd floor of my apartment shuttling things to the new room. This new apartment has a lot more stuff -including a full-sized fridge, big bed, couch and even a blender! But most importantly, it has two windows.
Friday, October 14, 2016
Street Eats
Today was shaped around two important events, the other foreign teacher leaving and the street festival outside the window.
The morning was centered around yet another departure of a foreign teacher. Flowers and photo ops trying to lure out the tears. I shouldn't judge, it will be me in 11 months.
The street festival had been setting up most of the morning, and no one thought too much of it. However once it got going it became a serious distraction for my grade 1 class. Then it became a distraction for my older class. Then, it my eldest class -two students failed a vocabulary quiz and blamed the Peruvian flute music blaring through the windows.
One teacher called the police to have them turn it down.
The turned it up louder.
I moved my eldest students to the library were the four of us lay on the story-time mats and went through the book like it was a slumber party. They really liked it, and they actually worked better too. I loved being off my feet and watch them do more talking. You can't subtly speak Korean when everyone's heads are that close together.
When we finally left, we explored around the street festival. There was all kinds of things, mostly food. The flute players were there. Turkish ice cream vendors, carnival games, steaming vats of this larva thing, and almost everything served on a stick. We actually went to a restaurant nearby famous for being the flagship restaurant for Korea's masterchef (or some similar title). I ordered my food by which photo looked good. It turned out to be a plate of various sausages and chips on a syrupy plate with cheese fondue in a bread bowl -all strangely dusted with powdered sugar. Amazing.
Tomorrow is Saturday, and I have my fourth Seoulmate tour booked. However, I am also kind of moving to the apartment two floors down. The departing teacher has the largest apartment, which should go to the couple who just arrived. They will move in there, but their old apartment cannot be sold as easily as mine (different landlords) so I am taking theirs. Bigger bed, two windows, so it's worth the hassle.
The morning was centered around yet another departure of a foreign teacher. Flowers and photo ops trying to lure out the tears. I shouldn't judge, it will be me in 11 months.
The street festival had been setting up most of the morning, and no one thought too much of it. However once it got going it became a serious distraction for my grade 1 class. Then it became a distraction for my older class. Then, it my eldest class -two students failed a vocabulary quiz and blamed the Peruvian flute music blaring through the windows.
One teacher called the police to have them turn it down.
The turned it up louder.
I moved my eldest students to the library were the four of us lay on the story-time mats and went through the book like it was a slumber party. They really liked it, and they actually worked better too. I loved being off my feet and watch them do more talking. You can't subtly speak Korean when everyone's heads are that close together.
When we finally left, we explored around the street festival. There was all kinds of things, mostly food. The flute players were there. Turkish ice cream vendors, carnival games, steaming vats of this larva thing, and almost everything served on a stick. We actually went to a restaurant nearby famous for being the flagship restaurant for Korea's masterchef (or some similar title). I ordered my food by which photo looked good. It turned out to be a plate of various sausages and chips on a syrupy plate with cheese fondue in a bread bowl -all strangely dusted with powdered sugar. Amazing.
Tomorrow is Saturday, and I have my fourth Seoulmate tour booked. However, I am also kind of moving to the apartment two floors down. The departing teacher has the largest apartment, which should go to the couple who just arrived. They will move in there, but their old apartment cannot be sold as easily as mine (different landlords) so I am taking theirs. Bigger bed, two windows, so it's worth the hassle.
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Three Things Thursday
1. One of my kindergarten students has been a total disaster lately. I'm told she's quite clever, but I never see it. Her hand is never up for questions, her head isn't even up to look! She is completely disengaged. When I try to engage her by helping her to slowly answer a question and I give her a star, she tells me to take it away because she knows she's wrong. She is clever, so clever she knows when I'm just asking her something too easy. She finishes the day having barely any stars then complains to her mum.
So today I was insanely nice to her. She came to school dressed in a princess dress and I referred to her as princess and gave her way more attention than usual. And, it totally worked. She was answering questions, reading along, everything. But naturally, the other students noticed it was unfair and when she wasn't picked, she was jealous and would withdraw herself from the lesson again. So it will be a fine balance to keep everyone involved. Especially when my kindergarten class is well known to be 'bitchy'.
2. I gave the dictatorship nicknames today based on animals combined with their actual names (which I will leave out as always, but trust me, they are punny). It all fell apart when our kangaroo claimed he wanted to produce himself. The question was "what would you produce?" as in make, or grow. His response got laughs since it implied pregnancy, which he though was funny. Then after awhile of looking at the baby kangaroo in the pouch of his doodle on the board he requested all nicknames, and their accompanying doodles, be erased from the board. The other students liked theirs and didn't want to see them go. As the dictator, I erased only his.
I then tired the same thing in the democracy. Here the nicknames were food themed. The kids even nicknamed me Te-egg (Teacher+egg). Spaghetti was a producer of Jelly, but she wanted to buy some Te-egg, Banana is willing to trade her Te-egg but only for a Sausage. Thus Spaghetti traded Jelly to Jam for Sausage and traded Sausage to Banana for Te-egg. All the students took part in this verbal exercise strictly adhering to our new nicknames. Then we ended up doing tongue twisters and they loved every moment of it -and so did I.
3. My autobiography got weirdly written by the super-class that is shared between the three teachers today. It was actually part of the assignment to interview your teacher for the following. When and where were you born? ...so they know how old I am now, or more specifically how not old I am. Then what I studied and why I wanted to teach them. After learning that I studied government and international relations -and explaining what that is- one student took something out of his backpack. They were old propaganda flyers distributed by North Korea from planes in the 1960s-1980s. These flyers were seen as a threat to South Koreans and could be turned over for a reward at schools. Meaning there are hardly any left. He tells me I can photocopy it on Tuesday. Naturally, I will share it here. One depicted the US as a zombie-vampire thing, it's weird to see how they kind of became ture lately...
So today I was insanely nice to her. She came to school dressed in a princess dress and I referred to her as princess and gave her way more attention than usual. And, it totally worked. She was answering questions, reading along, everything. But naturally, the other students noticed it was unfair and when she wasn't picked, she was jealous and would withdraw herself from the lesson again. So it will be a fine balance to keep everyone involved. Especially when my kindergarten class is well known to be 'bitchy'.
2. I gave the dictatorship nicknames today based on animals combined with their actual names (which I will leave out as always, but trust me, they are punny). It all fell apart when our kangaroo claimed he wanted to produce himself. The question was "what would you produce?" as in make, or grow. His response got laughs since it implied pregnancy, which he though was funny. Then after awhile of looking at the baby kangaroo in the pouch of his doodle on the board he requested all nicknames, and their accompanying doodles, be erased from the board. The other students liked theirs and didn't want to see them go. As the dictator, I erased only his.
I then tired the same thing in the democracy. Here the nicknames were food themed. The kids even nicknamed me Te-egg (Teacher+egg). Spaghetti was a producer of Jelly, but she wanted to buy some Te-egg, Banana is willing to trade her Te-egg but only for a Sausage. Thus Spaghetti traded Jelly to Jam for Sausage and traded Sausage to Banana for Te-egg. All the students took part in this verbal exercise strictly adhering to our new nicknames. Then we ended up doing tongue twisters and they loved every moment of it -and so did I.
3. My autobiography got weirdly written by the super-class that is shared between the three teachers today. It was actually part of the assignment to interview your teacher for the following. When and where were you born? ...so they know how old I am now, or more specifically how not old I am. Then what I studied and why I wanted to teach them. After learning that I studied government and international relations -and explaining what that is- one student took something out of his backpack. They were old propaganda flyers distributed by North Korea from planes in the 1960s-1980s. These flyers were seen as a threat to South Koreans and could be turned over for a reward at schools. Meaning there are hardly any left. He tells me I can photocopy it on Tuesday. Naturally, I will share it here. One depicted the US as a zombie-vampire thing, it's weird to see how they kind of became ture lately...
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Fried Chicken Motivation
Probably my favourite moment from today was at the very end of the day with my eldest students.
We always talk about how great fried chicken is, particularly because Korea has the best fried chicken. Yesterday I redesigned their sticker sheet. This is a small board displayed on the wall of the classroom with the name of their level, at the top and each of their names on a badge below with a piece of paper counting stars or sticker leading up to a gift. For these students, it takes 30 stars to get a gift and they have not been terribly motivated by this. The sticker sheet was old, displayed in the wrong classroom, and just completely neglected.
The new one I had made was around their love for messaging on their phones, and eating chicken. The class level is displayed on a drumstick of fried chicken at the top, and each name is accompanied by an encouraging emoji from the Chinese chat application, Line (I asked and they didn't want Korea's KakaoChat emojis).
The unveiling of the new sticker sheet came with a prize of fried chicken I bought for them after the three students had gotten perfect scores on their tests for the fourth time in a row.
They were so happy.
Honestly, I ate part of the chicken before they even came out of class, but no one noticed. We then shared the chicken, pepsi, and pickled radish. I really hope that was a good motivator, I don't think I'll do it again, but that chicken was so good I might change my mind!
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Field Trip
The morning was spent on a field trip!
We hopped on the buses and went to visit a wetlands museum. Looking back on it we spent hardly anytime at the actual museum -if you can call it that.
Like all field trips, everything was in Korean. It's funny because you have to be a good role model for the kids and watch the presenter, even if you have no idea what she is saying. Then she started locking eyes with me, and I didn't want her to call on me so I kind of moved around hoping she would lose interest. Then I realized that's how some of my student feel.
She guide us into a taxidermy hall containing the creepiest animals I have ever seen. They're of animals that live, or used to live in the wetlands. Including a snake, many birds, a raccoon dog, rabbits foxes, a fanged deer, and a really horrifying elephant seal. Then there was this guy...
One innocent student stared into the glass display cases and said "Why aren't they moving?" We had just walked in and I figured her would soon find out. Nope, after 10 minutes of going through the animals he was the only student looking very traumatized and still asking "Why aren't they moving? I don't understand." Thankfully someone intervened and told him they aren't alive -carefully not mentioning that they used to be.
My kids on the other hand loved this part and kept telling me which one were the cutest. How about none of them? They're all nightmare material if you ask me.
We walked around the wetlands after this. I was actually really relevant with a lot of our lessons lately. Many of the student were pointing out different things in the natural environment -leaves, chestnuts, lily pads, earth worms, pebbles. We had been learning about what is natural and what isn't...
"Are the lily pads natural?" "Yes!"
"Is the fountain in the pond natural?" "I think ...no"
We had a picnic lunch and played lots of games, hopefully some of them will forget the chill of the taxidermy hall.
My afternoon social studies class is full of Pokemon fans -all of them really. We had 5 minutes left in class and I promised to show them my collection of Pokemon on my phone (from Pokemon Go). Thanks to Michelle, I finally evolved a Gengar and gained instant pokecred. Whose the Pokemon master? Teacher.
Also noting that I have way more readers from Australia than anywhere else (yeah, Canada), here's a little globalization moment from today.
This is a Korean comic book about a travelling gingerbread man and his friends. The Korean at the top reads: O pae ra Ha oo seu ui
So basically, opera house. Kinda neat, right?
We hopped on the buses and went to visit a wetlands museum. Looking back on it we spent hardly anytime at the actual museum -if you can call it that.
Like all field trips, everything was in Korean. It's funny because you have to be a good role model for the kids and watch the presenter, even if you have no idea what she is saying. Then she started locking eyes with me, and I didn't want her to call on me so I kind of moved around hoping she would lose interest. Then I realized that's how some of my student feel.
She guide us into a taxidermy hall containing the creepiest animals I have ever seen. They're of animals that live, or used to live in the wetlands. Including a snake, many birds, a raccoon dog, rabbits foxes, a fanged deer, and a really horrifying elephant seal. Then there was this guy...
Not the creepiest thing here, but definitely in my top ten.
One innocent student stared into the glass display cases and said "Why aren't they moving?" We had just walked in and I figured her would soon find out. Nope, after 10 minutes of going through the animals he was the only student looking very traumatized and still asking "Why aren't they moving? I don't understand." Thankfully someone intervened and told him they aren't alive -carefully not mentioning that they used to be.
My kids on the other hand loved this part and kept telling me which one were the cutest. How about none of them? They're all nightmare material if you ask me.
We walked around the wetlands after this. I was actually really relevant with a lot of our lessons lately. Many of the student were pointing out different things in the natural environment -leaves, chestnuts, lily pads, earth worms, pebbles. We had been learning about what is natural and what isn't...
"Are the lily pads natural?" "Yes!"
"Is the fountain in the pond natural?" "I think ...no"
We had a picnic lunch and played lots of games, hopefully some of them will forget the chill of the taxidermy hall.
My afternoon social studies class is full of Pokemon fans -all of them really. We had 5 minutes left in class and I promised to show them my collection of Pokemon on my phone (from Pokemon Go). Thanks to Michelle, I finally evolved a Gengar and gained instant pokecred. Whose the Pokemon master? Teacher.
Also noting that I have way more readers from Australia than anywhere else (yeah, Canada), here's a little globalization moment from today.
This is a Korean comic book about a travelling gingerbread man and his friends. The Korean at the top reads: O pae ra Ha oo seu ui
So basically, opera house. Kinda neat, right?
Monday, October 10, 2016
Pizza and Debate
Long day.
Long enjoyable day.
I decided to wind down with a pizza and watch the US presidential debate. I went to the pizza place around the corner. I made quite an effort to order a nice pizza for me. In return they made quite the effort by putting a bow on my pizza order -how sweet!
The debate was less sweet, but very entertaining.
Long enjoyable day.
I decided to wind down with a pizza and watch the US presidential debate. I went to the pizza place around the corner. I made quite an effort to order a nice pizza for me. In return they made quite the effort by putting a bow on my pizza order -how sweet!
The debate was less sweet, but very entertaining.
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Thanksgiving?
My last Sunday's only escape was a dinner out with my fellow Canadians.
Seeing as today is also a holiday here, not everywhere will be open. Today is Hangeul Day were Koreans celebrate their alphabet. For a good reason too! As I have mentioned before the Korean alphabet follows a very logical pattern and can be learned quickly.
This was all part of the plan you see. The king during the Joseon dynasty (I think that was the dynasty) pitied poor people. In a very progressive way he believed their ticket out of poverty was education and that starts with reading. In an effort to get more people reading this alphabet was created to be easy to learn and understand. Isn't that amazing?
That being said, here in Ansan, I didn't see any celebrations -probably cause it's Sunday.
The dinner we had was at a Japanese-korean fusion restaurant -of which there are many. It's not turkey, but I love a good chicken katsu! I have so much to be thankful for this year. Big thanks to all of you who read my ramblings!
Seeing as today is also a holiday here, not everywhere will be open. Today is Hangeul Day were Koreans celebrate their alphabet. For a good reason too! As I have mentioned before the Korean alphabet follows a very logical pattern and can be learned quickly.
This was all part of the plan you see. The king during the Joseon dynasty (I think that was the dynasty) pitied poor people. In a very progressive way he believed their ticket out of poverty was education and that starts with reading. In an effort to get more people reading this alphabet was created to be easy to learn and understand. Isn't that amazing?
That being said, here in Ansan, I didn't see any celebrations -probably cause it's Sunday.
The dinner we had was at a Japanese-korean fusion restaurant -of which there are many. It's not turkey, but I love a good chicken katsu! I have so much to be thankful for this year. Big thanks to all of you who read my ramblings!
Saturday, October 8, 2016
Seoulmate: Let's Go on a Ma-sil (picnic) with bicycle - Haneul Park Tour
So much in one day, I could hardly sum it all up. Like any good day, this one kept getting progressively more epic until I'm wondering how this even happened.
I started my day meeting up with the Seoulmate team for a bike tour of Haneul Park! The Seoulmates are a group of university students who run free tours for foreigners -just like that, out of the goodness of their own hearts, no catch. I've been to the War Memorial and Bukchon Hanok village with them. And next weekend I'll be going to see the Shrine in Hongdae with Seoulmate!
There were about 8 foreigners and 8 guides. I actually thought I would be late, but almost everyone was, so that makes me kind of early. Everyone was really keen to get on our bikes and ride. Usually they make the bike part optional but for us we did a little extra biking.
We took the bikes from an office building that lets their staff use the bikes for free, but since the staff don't work on weekends they have given Seoulmate the means to use them! There were 20 relatively new orange cruiser bikes all lined up for us.
Biking down the sidewalk was its own adventure, but the foreigners got the hang of it quickly. We weaved through huge crowds of people who flooded the streets for a big festival in the park. Our first stop was these beautiful flower fields that one of our guides had discovered her second time doing the tour where she had gone the wrong way.
After stopping for a few pictures we headed over to the central location of the park and the garden festival that was going on. This is the main stage were you could listen to country renditions of country-folk music underneath a cotton candy tent.
I started my day meeting up with the Seoulmate team for a bike tour of Haneul Park! The Seoulmates are a group of university students who run free tours for foreigners -just like that, out of the goodness of their own hearts, no catch. I've been to the War Memorial and Bukchon Hanok village with them. And next weekend I'll be going to see the Shrine in Hongdae with Seoulmate!
There were about 8 foreigners and 8 guides. I actually thought I would be late, but almost everyone was, so that makes me kind of early. Everyone was really keen to get on our bikes and ride. Usually they make the bike part optional but for us we did a little extra biking.
We took the bikes from an office building that lets their staff use the bikes for free, but since the staff don't work on weekends they have given Seoulmate the means to use them! There were 20 relatively new orange cruiser bikes all lined up for us.
Biking down the sidewalk was its own adventure, but the foreigners got the hang of it quickly. We weaved through huge crowds of people who flooded the streets for a big festival in the park. Our first stop was these beautiful flower fields that one of our guides had discovered her second time doing the tour where she had gone the wrong way.
After stopping for a few pictures we headed over to the central location of the park and the garden festival that was going on. This is the main stage were you could listen to country renditions of country-folk music underneath a cotton candy tent.
From here we climbed 291 stairs to the top. Haneul park went from landfill to symbolic park in 1993. It literally was a pile of garbage that was stabilized, covered with soil and plants, landscaped and completely beautified. The gas from the garbage underneath, along with wind power from turbines on the top of the 'mountain' help to power the park and the world cup stadium you can see here.
We ventured around the top of the mountain which is covered with these beautiful reeds of cat whiskers and cute photo spots. At the other side there is a lookout over the Han River where a big stage is visible for more celebrations! Seoul loves to party on weekends, there seems to always be something on, and this weekend it was a free concert and fireworks show.
After we returned to lower section of the park we set up for a picnic. To make a great day even better we had my favourite: Korean fried chicken! An amazing experience.
Finally we returned the bikes and went to part ways. I had to fill up my transit card so I said goodbye while the others wondered to their stations.
I'm so lucky I accidentally wound up at the same platform. A group of the foreigners were coordinating going to see the fireworks and invited me to join. I had to accept, you just can't pass up spontaneous adventures while abroad.
So we rode a couple different trains and it spat us out pretty far from the Han River by a large multistory seafood market. Some friends of the foreigners joined up with us including a Korean who informed us that we could see the fireworks from the second floor parking lot!
Of course when we got there we found many other people had this same idea.
The parameter of the parking lot had an evelated grass garden with a few trees. In anticipation of the event the security guards had fenced on the garden, thinking of course that someone might fall over the edge if it gets to crowded. Seeing the warning tape guarding a spot that could easily fit us all, we decided to play dumb tourists until the security guard came to kick us out.
The Koreans picnicking next to us (in a spot technically outside of the warning tape) told us leave that spot. BUT, take it back when the fireworks start because the security guard won't be back, and if he is he won't care. Then this group of middle-aged Korean business folk started to offer us some 막걸리, or makkoli, a fermented rice liquor. One of the foreigners, who speaks Korean and has lived here for 8 months, looks at me and says "You can't refuse!" with a smile on her face. It would be very rude to decline, but also pretty foolish. They were so kind to us throughout the whole fireworks show. They gave us things to sit on because the grass was sharp and dry, they gave us seaweed snacks, dried fish, mandarin oranges, tomatoes (that must have been home grown), puffed rice, and fresh grapes -and a lot of makkoli.
The fireworks show was three parts, Japan, Spain, and South Korea. I had never seen anything like it. Perhaps Brisbane's River Fire had more fireworks, but these were seriously good quality! My videos do no do it justice, but perhaps you can hear the excitement from the crowd -and me over a Korean version of Pocahontas' Paint With All The Colours Of The Wind.
After the fireworks finished up our random international band of young folk did what all random international bands of young folk do: go to a bar. We actually had been trying to find a specific bar, but finding that it had turned into a Chinese restaurant we opted for the one next door. At first it didn't look like it would fit all eight of us, but then we went to the cheerful cozy downstairs area where there was a circular table to fit all of us.
We ate some spicy seafood soup, a sweet omelette, and some dried seafood -all incredible. A real cultural experience was learning the format for Korean drinking games! There's a little song that indicates who will select the next game, then each game is played like a mini game. If there are two losers they must drink together. Cheers is a level one. If you should be paired up to drink again you must link arms to take the shot -level two. The levels get progressively more intimate. I've learned at least 6 of these little mini games, and they are far too weird to try and explain over a blog, so we'll just have to try in person!
My night concluded catching the second to last possible train back home! What I night! Because I came in after midnight, this blog post is late, but I had to do justice to a fantastic day!
Friday, October 7, 2016
Water Pollution, Cloning, and Corn Ice Cream
Here's three random, and interesting tid-bits from today:
1. The kindergarten classes met to do a science experiment together in the library today. A tub of clear drinkable water was contaminated by adding oil, coffee grounds and garbage, the students had to clean the water. It all ties into our unit on earth and pollution. Of the 13 students who attended the experiment, 12 of them predicted we would be able to clean the water with tongs and a strainer. The took turns plucking garbage out of the water and trying desperately to get the weird colour out. The whole point was supposed to make them realize "OH! That's why we don't throw garbage in a river!". But after we had determined the water would not get any cleaner I asked if the water was good to drink, and one cheeky student was all like "yeah, I'll drink that water". No, your mum would have a fit.
2. My oldest class started their new debate topic: cloning. Since we only had about 15 minutes left in class I just had them watch an intense New York Times segment on Dolly the Sheep. They actually seemed more interested in the science than the ethics. But I never though I could get three teenage girls so interested on in watching a video about sheep -especially in the last 15 minutes of class.
3. Finally, I took the new teachers by the grocery store in case they wanted to buy anything over the weekend. I also talked up how tasty the ice cream is so we all got one. I bravely chose the corn shaped ice cream cause I just thought it was so weird, I had to taste it. It appeared as if it was a kind of ice cream sandwich were the "bread" was a shell made to look like corn husk. But it was more accurate than I expected, the ice cream inside was corn flavoured with a bit of chocolate. It was actually really good!
1. The kindergarten classes met to do a science experiment together in the library today. A tub of clear drinkable water was contaminated by adding oil, coffee grounds and garbage, the students had to clean the water. It all ties into our unit on earth and pollution. Of the 13 students who attended the experiment, 12 of them predicted we would be able to clean the water with tongs and a strainer. The took turns plucking garbage out of the water and trying desperately to get the weird colour out. The whole point was supposed to make them realize "OH! That's why we don't throw garbage in a river!". But after we had determined the water would not get any cleaner I asked if the water was good to drink, and one cheeky student was all like "yeah, I'll drink that water". No, your mum would have a fit.
2. My oldest class started their new debate topic: cloning. Since we only had about 15 minutes left in class I just had them watch an intense New York Times segment on Dolly the Sheep. They actually seemed more interested in the science than the ethics. But I never though I could get three teenage girls so interested on in watching a video about sheep -especially in the last 15 minutes of class.
3. Finally, I took the new teachers by the grocery store in case they wanted to buy anything over the weekend. I also talked up how tasty the ice cream is so we all got one. I bravely chose the corn shaped ice cream cause I just thought it was so weird, I had to taste it. It appeared as if it was a kind of ice cream sandwich were the "bread" was a shell made to look like corn husk. But it was more accurate than I expected, the ice cream inside was corn flavoured with a bit of chocolate. It was actually really good!
Thursday, October 6, 2016
Dak Galbi
Today was a bit weird not having our old Canadian teacher there since he left last night. His energy and positive attitude have been a source of consistency at the school and things felt a little off without him there. As much as I am sad to see him go, I moved in like a hermit crab to take his old desk chair because I need some of that lumbar support.
The classes seemed more quiet than usual, maybe it will take the students time to adjust.
I got my first real "head teacher job" today when I fixed up the foam carpet in the playroom. It's not so exciting, but it feels symbolic.
Still, the highlight of today had to have been going out for Dak Galbi after work. This delicious dish is cooked right in front of your eyes on a grill. It's spicy chicken, cabbage, sweet potato, and thick cylinders of rice cake all fried up, then topped with delicious cheese. It basically comes out like a bread-less pizza. It was amazing, it will be remembered as one of the best meals thus far.
Tomorrow I will finally open a bank account, which I would've done today had I not got totally caught up with fixing up that foam floor.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Emotions
Today was the last day for the other Canadian teacher, who has now been here for almost 14 months. I was supposed to replace him in August, but another teacher had to leave early so I replaced him instead.
It was all gifts and goodbyes today at every level. Lots of tears.
The kindergartners had made cards, that were presented along with flowers and other gifts. It was such an emotional whirlwind. Surely strange for the new teacher who had arrived yesterday and received his first day of training today.
After work we went out to what must have been an American themed restaurant -boasting an impressive salad bar. The meal was all you can eat and ranged from Korean food to pumpkin pizza to maple bruschetta, to four different kinds of chip/fries, and some strange, delicious things. We ate until it hurt. The entire school staff came out and we took up two tables -which is impressive for the smallest school under the brand.
We stayed until it closed sharing stories and photos. After a few more tearful goodbyes we caught a cab home and parted ways.
It's amazing to see how much one person can make a life somewhere in a short time. I stayed in Australia for about the same amount of time and I found it hard to leave. I can only imagine what I will feel when I leave.
It was all gifts and goodbyes today at every level. Lots of tears.
The kindergartners had made cards, that were presented along with flowers and other gifts. It was such an emotional whirlwind. Surely strange for the new teacher who had arrived yesterday and received his first day of training today.
After work we went out to what must have been an American themed restaurant -boasting an impressive salad bar. The meal was all you can eat and ranged from Korean food to pumpkin pizza to maple bruschetta, to four different kinds of chip/fries, and some strange, delicious things. We ate until it hurt. The entire school staff came out and we took up two tables -which is impressive for the smallest school under the brand.
We stayed until it closed sharing stories and photos. After a few more tearful goodbyes we caught a cab home and parted ways.
It's amazing to see how much one person can make a life somewhere in a short time. I stayed in Australia for about the same amount of time and I found it hard to leave. I can only imagine what I will feel when I leave.
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
So Much More Than A Word Search
My day can be broken down into the highlights from each class.
My regular kindergarten class continues to be quite passionate for the large word search I have given them to cooperative work on. The are finally getting the hang of it, you can't circle single letters, and you can't circle a random jumble either. Other important moments would have to be, the parrot puppet coming to class to teach them about the carnival. The kids were really into juggling, I kind of want to learn to juggle just to impress them now. And I got two pieces of a coloured artwork from two students, and ostrich and an owl.
The youngest kindergarten class I only teach phonics to. Our phonic lessons usually start or end with a game, the games must be kept simple. We tried musical chairs again. It's very important that the first round have the same number of seats as bums for two reasons. One, to establish what were actually doing, and two, so everyone won at least one round. This particular game ended in a tie because they sat in my chair which accommodates two children bums or one Niki bum.
The other kindergarten class I only teach structured play and art to. They are a small class, 5 students, and 3 are on vacation. Even they knew it was kind of boring. Seeing as they're both high level I thought is would be fun to have them play against each other. AND it was, but they're so evenly matched that both of them hated losing so much since they're used to winning against the other students. Then they both played me, and it got boring pretty fast. The games are a little too easy for them anyways. We finished with a bit of art, I didn't want to get too ahead because we were missing half the class; and we will tomorrow too.
My social studies dictatorship has a new student, a girl in a class of all boys. I was told she was really smart, and her reading level was incredible. She read fast, clear, and loud. However, I warned the other teachers not to overestimate her comprehension. You see, we were talking about needs and wants. She got the hang of it a bit. "What is something you want?" "Melon" ...sure, a bit random, but correct. Then "What is something you need?" "Ugly people." I'm still trying to decode why she came up with that one.
The social studies democracy came after. I gave both classes two word searches in the last ten minutes of class to compete with each other. The class was split into two teams to see who could solve it faster. The democracy voted to do a boys team and a girls team -the girls won by one word by the time class ended. Interestingly enough the democratic boys found 6, the democratic girls found 7, but the dictatorship crushed it, with both teams getting more than 10. This is the first time I have seen the dictatorship surpass the democracy. I can't explain why. (If you have no idea what is going on here, quickly read this blog)
Next, I took on the large class that rotate between the three teachers. Today was my day. The most memorable moment of this class had to have been the bullying that happened. I had challenged the students to tell a story using sequence words, first, then, next, and finally. One student came up with "First I buy the sushi. Then I eat the sushi. Next I want more the sushi. Finally I buy more the sushi." Then, directly in front of me another student goes "Yeah cause you're a fat pig" and proceeds to oink. I lost it on him. I took away two of his stars -that they were competing for. I told him off, and then he asked why I took away the stars. I snapped all like "Cause I don't like the way you talk to him, it's unacceptable" Then I stared him down trying my hardest hardest not to laugh. Why? he asks, I was all "You know why?". It was epic, you had to be there. It was all, Niki teacher 1, bully 0.
My regular kindergarten class continues to be quite passionate for the large word search I have given them to cooperative work on. The are finally getting the hang of it, you can't circle single letters, and you can't circle a random jumble either. Other important moments would have to be, the parrot puppet coming to class to teach them about the carnival. The kids were really into juggling, I kind of want to learn to juggle just to impress them now. And I got two pieces of a coloured artwork from two students, and ostrich and an owl.
The youngest kindergarten class I only teach phonics to. Our phonic lessons usually start or end with a game, the games must be kept simple. We tried musical chairs again. It's very important that the first round have the same number of seats as bums for two reasons. One, to establish what were actually doing, and two, so everyone won at least one round. This particular game ended in a tie because they sat in my chair which accommodates two children bums or one Niki bum.
The other kindergarten class I only teach structured play and art to. They are a small class, 5 students, and 3 are on vacation. Even they knew it was kind of boring. Seeing as they're both high level I thought is would be fun to have them play against each other. AND it was, but they're so evenly matched that both of them hated losing so much since they're used to winning against the other students. Then they both played me, and it got boring pretty fast. The games are a little too easy for them anyways. We finished with a bit of art, I didn't want to get too ahead because we were missing half the class; and we will tomorrow too.
My social studies dictatorship has a new student, a girl in a class of all boys. I was told she was really smart, and her reading level was incredible. She read fast, clear, and loud. However, I warned the other teachers not to overestimate her comprehension. You see, we were talking about needs and wants. She got the hang of it a bit. "What is something you want?" "Melon" ...sure, a bit random, but correct. Then "What is something you need?" "Ugly people." I'm still trying to decode why she came up with that one.
The social studies democracy came after. I gave both classes two word searches in the last ten minutes of class to compete with each other. The class was split into two teams to see who could solve it faster. The democracy voted to do a boys team and a girls team -the girls won by one word by the time class ended. Interestingly enough the democratic boys found 6, the democratic girls found 7, but the dictatorship crushed it, with both teams getting more than 10. This is the first time I have seen the dictatorship surpass the democracy. I can't explain why. (If you have no idea what is going on here, quickly read this blog)
Next, I took on the large class that rotate between the three teachers. Today was my day. The most memorable moment of this class had to have been the bullying that happened. I had challenged the students to tell a story using sequence words, first, then, next, and finally. One student came up with "First I buy the sushi. Then I eat the sushi. Next I want more the sushi. Finally I buy more the sushi." Then, directly in front of me another student goes "Yeah cause you're a fat pig" and proceeds to oink. I lost it on him. I took away two of his stars -that they were competing for. I told him off, and then he asked why I took away the stars. I snapped all like "Cause I don't like the way you talk to him, it's unacceptable" Then I stared him down trying my hardest hardest not to laugh. Why? he asks, I was all "You know why?". It was epic, you had to be there. It was all, Niki teacher 1, bully 0.
Monday, October 3, 2016
Foundation Day Exploring
Today is a Monday, but it is yet another public holiday! It seems like I just had three days off for Chuseok and soon I would have another day off for Hangeul Day but it falls on a Sunday.
I wanted to spend a bit more time outdoors today, but I didn't want to bother taking the trains anywhere. It has been awhile since I did any local exploration, so I set my sights on Ansan's famous waterfall.
Ansan's famous artificial waterfall, I should say.
And like any good artificial waterfall, this one was closed for maintenance. The sign said the new and improved version would be back in October -better work quickly because it's been October for three days now.
The park with the famous waterfall was also home to a rose garden, and a staircase of elevated picnic platforms going up the mountainside. Each one was wooden, about 4m x 4m, with adequate space for a picnic blanket and some coolers.
Still an enjoyable walk. After yesterday's rainfall the sky was completely cleared of its regular "industrial mist". Blue sky and sunshine with the occasional cool breeze, flawless.
Among my favourite signs past today was a chicken place with boor taste.
I wanted to spend a bit more time outdoors today, but I didn't want to bother taking the trains anywhere. It has been awhile since I did any local exploration, so I set my sights on Ansan's famous waterfall.
Ansan's famous artificial waterfall, I should say.
And like any good artificial waterfall, this one was closed for maintenance. The sign said the new and improved version would be back in October -better work quickly because it's been October for three days now.
The park with the famous waterfall was also home to a rose garden, and a staircase of elevated picnic platforms going up the mountainside. Each one was wooden, about 4m x 4m, with adequate space for a picnic blanket and some coolers.
Still an enjoyable walk. After yesterday's rainfall the sky was completely cleared of its regular "industrial mist". Blue sky and sunshine with the occasional cool breeze, flawless.
Among my favourite signs past today was a chicken place with boor taste.
Pretty close, I'd say
I explored around the area never trying to pass the same street twice while listening to an audiobook. I picked up some more groceries on the way home, and tried a new popsicle of course.
The finale for the day was meeting the teacher (old and new) and the director for a curry dinner to welcome our new staff. Back to work tomorrow, and I am looking forward to it!
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Simple Sunday Story
Today was another stay-home Sunday. doing laundry, sweeping the floor, eating cereal.
It was actually raining pretty hard all day so I didn't feel bad at all about staying it.
That being said it was a non-eventful day. So instead I will share this small story from yesterday.
I didn't have a seat on the train so I stood around looking at the different ads, and maps -trying not to make eye contact with the guy who was aggressively selling lifting belts to whoever would listen. I turned to see one ad and the only part that was in English was the website domain. So I experimented with reading the Korean:
보톡스
ㅂmakes a 'b' sound
ㅗ makes an 'oh' sound
So that first part is 'bo'
Then ㅌ makes a 't' sound then there is another ㅗ and it finishes with a ㄱ which makes a 'k' sound when at the end of the character. So this part sounds like 'tok'
Finally, ㅅ makes a 's' sound and ㅡ an 'eu'
So we have botokseu, or botox.
The website was called http://www.toxnfill.com/
toxnfill. Maybe that was a clever attempt at boTOX and fill, but toxnfill really sounds like you will get pumped with toxins.
The best part is the little mascot featured is actually a cute little syringe. A happy happy needle -check him out on the website.
Neat little discovery on the train!
Saturday, October 1, 2016
Seoulmate: War and Peace - War Memorial of Korea Tour
The focus of today was visiting the war memorial on my second tour with the Seoulmates!
I arrived early so I wondered the streets to get some snacks before the tour. Since I was so early, I was the first to arrive. There were six Seoulmate guides waiting, and only one from my last tour! There are so many people involved in this operation. Today was special (for many reasons) because they were beginning to collect footage for a commercial. Six guides, and how many foreigners? Four, including me.
It felt like a guided tour. In fact I thought it was funny watching other people try to sneak into our tour subtly. Like join in, dude. It's free, there's space. Hell, they're making a commercial to get more of you here!
We started with a bronze statue of two soldier lock in arms. My immediate thought was "That's not a hug" -but actually it was. The story goes that a younger brother fighting for the North and an older brother fighting for the South met on the battlefield and just hugged. No one cared to mention what happened after -maybe that's sort of self-explanatory.
We moved to the memorial afterwards a very open square with the surrounding area home to many large government and military buildings. Oddly enough the struction, the scale of it all, the layout felt a lot like Tienanmen Square. But the vibe was not one of looming fear, but on of patriotism or maybe even peace. Flags lined an open circle, each flag was from a country that assisted South Korea in the Korean War. So yes, Canada was there. Perhaps more interesting was that India, Thailand, Greece, and Ethiopia were also contributors.
I arrived early so I wondered the streets to get some snacks before the tour. Since I was so early, I was the first to arrive. There were six Seoulmate guides waiting, and only one from my last tour! There are so many people involved in this operation. Today was special (for many reasons) because they were beginning to collect footage for a commercial. Six guides, and how many foreigners? Four, including me.
It felt like a guided tour. In fact I thought it was funny watching other people try to sneak into our tour subtly. Like join in, dude. It's free, there's space. Hell, they're making a commercial to get more of you here!
We started with a bronze statue of two soldier lock in arms. My immediate thought was "That's not a hug" -but actually it was. The story goes that a younger brother fighting for the North and an older brother fighting for the South met on the battlefield and just hugged. No one cared to mention what happened after -maybe that's sort of self-explanatory.
We moved to the memorial afterwards a very open square with the surrounding area home to many large government and military buildings. Oddly enough the struction, the scale of it all, the layout felt a lot like Tienanmen Square. But the vibe was not one of looming fear, but on of patriotism or maybe even peace. Flags lined an open circle, each flag was from a country that assisted South Korea in the Korean War. So yes, Canada was there. Perhaps more interesting was that India, Thailand, Greece, and Ethiopia were also contributors.
Again this day is special. If you look at the photo above at the bottom of the stairs you will see people dressed in white. They're actual Taekwondo students, and they are putting on a performance to honour Soldier's Day. On October 1st, 1950 allied forces crossed the 38th parallel into North Korea. They actually did take Pyeongyang, but lost it again after Chinese forces arrived to assist North Korea.
The memorial was incredible, very interactive and moving. I was surprised by a lot of what I learned there. They say that the war is started by the one who was prepared, South Korea had barely anything when the North attacked -in fact they dropped bombs by hand from commercial planes. Much of North Korea's weaponry was leftover from WW2 and given to them from China and Russia on the grounds of shared ideology. Then South Korea's biggest assistance came from UN forces (88% US). This is why is it so often called a proxy war; the superpowers chose Korea to be their battlefield so they did not have to directly attack one another.
I heard from one of the other international tourists that her friend had been to the war memorial in North Korea, where you can get a completely different picture of what happened.
After going through the history we came back to the entrance hall, where there was an old man selling Korean flags. One of the other group members went to buy one, and as an appreciator-of-flags I went too. It turns out this was more than a flag. It was a statement of sovereignty. The man appears to be a crusader for Korean ownership of Dokdo. After purchasing the flag he takes a series of photo-shoot style pictures of you with Dokdo in the background.
I told my Seoulmates that asserting sovereignty like this is hands down better than war as the gallery had just shown us. It's actually really fitting with my whole International Relations degree. Constructivist IR theorists look at the world and see what we believe to exists has been constructed by us, including notions like what is a state. Most of our ideas are only true because we all believe them to be. Thus it is more powerful to change people minds (Dokdo is Korean) then try to forcibly change things (Take down the Korean flag and lighthouse, put up a Japanese flag). Bit by bit this guy is churning out people who will associate Dokdo with South Korea in a completely nonviolent way.
Unfortunately, I don't think this tactic will work for reunifying Korea.
Outside is home to a garden of relics. Old ships, tanks, and artillery are kept in incredible condition for all to view.
Next we went back to the entrance to watch the Taekwondo performance. I actually started with break dancers, then we had an incredible violinist, then the two worked together on this...
Then out came the kids. It reminded me of Timbits Hockey. Like everyone is gonna clap extra hard even if it's not exactly impressive. Parents will film each kid doing a little kick an- NO! I was so wrong. These kids were Timbit Taekwondo, they were the real deal. Breaking boards all over the place.
Our tour guide even got chosen to go down and join them. She head butted a board -it was pretty cool.
We finished up the tour with lunner, a mix of lunch and dinner cause it was like 3:30pm. We had a big table of food to share. Lots of soups and side dishes. I was telling one of the Seoulmates how much I liked how side dishes were always free and plentiful in Korea. She told me about how shocked she had been realizing this was unique to Korea while she had been in Singapore. We had bbq'd marckel, some stir fried beef, a big tofu soup, and always bap. I split some soju with a new friend from Uzbekistan!
I took the train back home, stopping at Daiso to get some new headphones. Then I went to get some groceries. There was a sale on ice cream, like actually. So yeah, I brought a popsicle. It was nostalgia on a stick. Mum, remember those watermelon popsicles Ryan and I loved from Safeway? It was like those. My day awesome.
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