Woo Chang-choon. Say that one three times fast.7.28.2010
puppy LOVE!
Most everyone I know in Korea already knows that I'm most looking forward to terrorizing my terror puppy. In two days I get to go home to this! (it's a video, if it doesn't load in Buzz.)
7.26.2010
racism!
OMG, I can't believe this really happened.
Here's a story about little Tino.
Here's a story about little Tino.
1. Tino is a new classmate and is making friends with Dick, Jane, and 2 ghosts from Asian horror movies. Oh, and a bird is making a nest in Tino's hair.
2. Tino appears wise, as he remains silent and only offers a coy smile for his friends racist and questions.
3. Dick, being possessed by the horror movie ghost feels proud for being charitable.
4. And then you find out that Tino wasn't wise, he just sucks at Korean.
5. And this one is gold.
I hope there's a story about a Korean meeting a hairy westerner! (speaking of this, John met some of my co-teachers, and I finally witnessed the arm hair petting that my friends have talked about)
7.23.2010
turn the brain off
Yeah, I'll just celebrate in my head.
I'm still trying to pound through transcribing audio stories, and came across this small bit.
Don't fix the centipede, you need to friggin' RAID it! 
Of course, thanks to this:
Centipedes have been forever ruined for me. And now I've just ruined this entire post for myself.
7.22.2010
overtime
All right, so summer school runs 9-6 every day, and thus far, I have 5 hours of teaching a day, which meant that if I worked a full week, I'd be teaching 3 hours over what's written in our contract, entitling me to 60,000 extra won for overtime pay.
Except, I'm not getting to work a full freaking week, which keeps me under the 22 hour limit. So, should the schedule change, and more classes get added somewhere in that 3 hour afternoon void, I will in fact, come up with a way to politely say, "give me money for 'x' reason."
Otherwise, I should be getting a whopping $6 a day for the extra hour I'm staying and in my view, it's not worth bothering about. Now, 20,000 an hour. Hell to the yes. And honestly, my relations with my school is far more important than demanding that I leave at the time as is determined by my contract. No matter what, I still have it easier than US teachers so there's no way I'm complaining about an extra hour a day for a week. Though, I recognize that should my school start expecting me to do more extra things, I will have to bring up the contract...
It'd help, if my co-teacher didn't wait until the day of to tell me important things. Also? It is mother effing hot here. I'm pretty sure VA has the same weather right now, but you guys get to sit in AC! And a pigeon flew into the teacher's office this morning and was too stupid to choose a window that was open.
Except, I'm not getting to work a full freaking week, which keeps me under the 22 hour limit. So, should the schedule change, and more classes get added somewhere in that 3 hour afternoon void, I will in fact, come up with a way to politely say, "give me money for 'x' reason."
Otherwise, I should be getting a whopping $6 a day for the extra hour I'm staying and in my view, it's not worth bothering about. Now, 20,000 an hour. Hell to the yes. And honestly, my relations with my school is far more important than demanding that I leave at the time as is determined by my contract. No matter what, I still have it easier than US teachers so there's no way I'm complaining about an extra hour a day for a week. Though, I recognize that should my school start expecting me to do more extra things, I will have to bring up the contract...
It'd help, if my co-teacher didn't wait until the day of to tell me important things. Also? It is mother effing hot here. I'm pretty sure VA has the same weather right now, but you guys get to sit in AC! And a pigeon flew into the teacher's office this morning and was too stupid to choose a window that was open.
and summer school begins
I'm almost a week behind everyone else in the city. The semester "ended" yesterday, and summer school starts today. We go an hour longer than normal school days. 2 hours a day with the high schoolers, 2 hours in the afternoon with some mystery group. Absolute YAY that I get out of this early because I'm leaving next week. My co-teacher said that there's nothing scheduled yet for 3 hours in the afternoon. Lame. But whatever, I do this for a week, and then home for 3!
7.21.2010
"that was fun"
One of the audio stories I have to transcribe is called "That Was Fun." I'm so amused, it's about POOPING! Here's a screen cap rundown.
The apple tree gave everyone the poops! And it didn't even know!
7.18.2010
15 hours of mudfest
Okay, I know I know, I was lame and left mudfest early, and that it cleared up and was awesome, and I'm really glad that the weather cleared up for everyone there! And I'm glad to hear/read (thanks, FB!) that everyone also had a blast! :) I'm glad I went, even though I wasn't there for long and only saw the rain, but I had a lot of fun Friday night on the beach and the next morning. I do wish I had gotten to do a little more there, but honestly, I don't regret leaving in the afternoon.
Here's my brief report of the bit of mudfest that I got to experience for you in the states :)
1. Friday night about 40 people from Daejeon or near Daejeon piled onto a bus and rode 2 hours west to a beach area called Daecheon. We arrived around midnight, checked into our hotels or minbaks (rooms meant for large groups of people). Most everyone went down to the beach. There were two giant sets of blue lights shining out towards the water- it made the beach look really cool because though you could see, it was still dark and shadowy. The beach was seriously windy, and the sound of the waves! I like being on the beach at sundown or at night listening to the waves. While on the beach, there was a downpour. It was awesome.
2. Saturday morning: everyone where I slept was awake by 8:30. I thought it was later because it had been raining heavily off and on for a few hours, and when I cracked my eyes open during the first rain, it was light out. With a few other people, I walked down the beach and towards the mud festival. By the time we got there- around 10 am, it was raining again and super windy. We only did a couple of things- a blow up obstacle course and a giant inflated slide. We were cold and tired of being wet, so we walked back to get a short reprieve. There was a second slide, some mud wrestling rings, a "mud prison" where someone sprayed you down, and some other muddy things. I didn't see a mud pit, or big area of mud like I was expecting due to seeing pictures of past festivals. Maybe that's from everyone being on the beach?
The afternoon is about when I wussed out. I saw some of the others from the group I came with, and some were just going to the festival, an others were going back. I was on the fence about putting my dripping clothes back on and going back, while someone else was already decided about finding a bus back to Daejeon. I could've gone back I think for the rest of the afternoon, and I kind of wish I did to do some more of th inflatable things, but I wasn't sure what I'd do the next day until the bus left in the afternoon because I knew I didn't want to go back down on Sunday. Ideally, I would've liked to hang out Saturday afternoon and leave in the evening, but I either had to leave right then or stay to the end. I'm pretty sure that if I stayed, I'd resent and regret coming at all, and I wanted to leave having had a good time. Also, the 2 people I could count on hanging out with were leaving, so that kind of helped in sealing my decision.
And honestly, that bathroom really freaked and grossed me out. It was a combination squat toilet and shower complete with spiders, slugs, and mosquitoes floating around. The princess in me couldn't handle that (sorry!). Also, really- even though the weather cleared up, I'm not the type of person who can be wet, dirty, and still happy all day. Sadly, I'm not really a beach person- my attention span for it only lasts half a day, and then I'm craving to leave.
I'm definitely glad that I went, and should I go back next year, I'd do a day trip if it's possible, or come late at night again and leave at the end of the next day should there be inter city buses running. So, I look forward to hearing the others' stories of their spelunking while I scratch at the 20+ mosquito bites that I got to take back with me. My bug repellent was out by Saturday morning. :( It's weird, over today, the red welts started appearing and driving me crazy, so I apparently did not escape with a small handful like I first thought. Korean mosquitoes are bitches.
So now, my school "ends" on Wednesday, and summer school starts Thursday. My co-teacher sent me a email today with a list of things he wants me to do in 2 weeks.
1. Record phonics, which I can only assume means the lists of words he uses to "teach" students how to read English
2. Record 50 stories. 2 times each. I call BS on this one because I should have had this assignment sooner. I have to restart whenever I screw up, which is often, so it takes forever.
3. Type out other audio stories into text files.
I am definitely happy to have work to keep me occupied though. :D
Here's my brief report of the bit of mudfest that I got to experience for you in the states :)
1. Friday night about 40 people from Daejeon or near Daejeon piled onto a bus and rode 2 hours west to a beach area called Daecheon. We arrived around midnight, checked into our hotels or minbaks (rooms meant for large groups of people). Most everyone went down to the beach. There were two giant sets of blue lights shining out towards the water- it made the beach look really cool because though you could see, it was still dark and shadowy. The beach was seriously windy, and the sound of the waves! I like being on the beach at sundown or at night listening to the waves. While on the beach, there was a downpour. It was awesome.
2. Saturday morning: everyone where I slept was awake by 8:30. I thought it was later because it had been raining heavily off and on for a few hours, and when I cracked my eyes open during the first rain, it was light out. With a few other people, I walked down the beach and towards the mud festival. By the time we got there- around 10 am, it was raining again and super windy. We only did a couple of things- a blow up obstacle course and a giant inflated slide. We were cold and tired of being wet, so we walked back to get a short reprieve. There was a second slide, some mud wrestling rings, a "mud prison" where someone sprayed you down, and some other muddy things. I didn't see a mud pit, or big area of mud like I was expecting due to seeing pictures of past festivals. Maybe that's from everyone being on the beach?
The afternoon is about when I wussed out. I saw some of the others from the group I came with, and some were just going to the festival, an others were going back. I was on the fence about putting my dripping clothes back on and going back, while someone else was already decided about finding a bus back to Daejeon. I could've gone back I think for the rest of the afternoon, and I kind of wish I did to do some more of th inflatable things, but I wasn't sure what I'd do the next day until the bus left in the afternoon because I knew I didn't want to go back down on Sunday. Ideally, I would've liked to hang out Saturday afternoon and leave in the evening, but I either had to leave right then or stay to the end. I'm pretty sure that if I stayed, I'd resent and regret coming at all, and I wanted to leave having had a good time. Also, the 2 people I could count on hanging out with were leaving, so that kind of helped in sealing my decision.
And honestly, that bathroom really freaked and grossed me out. It was a combination squat toilet and shower complete with spiders, slugs, and mosquitoes floating around. The princess in me couldn't handle that (sorry!). Also, really- even though the weather cleared up, I'm not the type of person who can be wet, dirty, and still happy all day. Sadly, I'm not really a beach person- my attention span for it only lasts half a day, and then I'm craving to leave.
I'm definitely glad that I went, and should I go back next year, I'd do a day trip if it's possible, or come late at night again and leave at the end of the next day should there be inter city buses running. So, I look forward to hearing the others' stories of their spelunking while I scratch at the 20+ mosquito bites that I got to take back with me. My bug repellent was out by Saturday morning. :( It's weird, over today, the red welts started appearing and driving me crazy, so I apparently did not escape with a small handful like I first thought. Korean mosquitoes are bitches.
So now, my school "ends" on Wednesday, and summer school starts Thursday. My co-teacher sent me a email today with a list of things he wants me to do in 2 weeks.
1. Record phonics, which I can only assume means the lists of words he uses to "teach" students how to read English
2. Record 50 stories. 2 times each. I call BS on this one because I should have had this assignment sooner. I have to restart whenever I screw up, which is often, so it takes forever.
3. Type out other audio stories into text files.
I am definitely happy to have work to keep me occupied though. :D
7.15.2010
I will not become that type of person who grows resentful. I will not become a Korea hater. I will not hold grudges here. That being said, I'm gonna bitch for a minute.
I think I'm going to refuse to feel guilty over being peeved at stupid things my co-teacher does. Like how this week, I've been annoyed at how he's been mocking the way my intonation and inflection in the 100 mp3s I made for him using the crappy reading excerpts in front of the class (seriously, 2 chapters down, 46 more to endure). Um. It's the way most English speakers talk. Today was particularly irritating because he kept playing on repeat a line, because he thought the way I said it was hilarious. To which, he then mimics my recording by sounding like a chicken. Uh, yeah. Thanks. I made all those files for you because you asked. And just so you know- because you never have to slow down your speech for anyone- it can be difficult to speak slowly and pronounce words individually, so I mean. Duh. Sometimes it won't sound natural. Because it freaking isn't. The just of it is, I don't make fun of the way he says stuff in Korean or the way he butchers my native language. So really, it puts me off when he makes fun of the way I speak in my own language. Same goes for when he mocks me when I read in Korean (which he likes to make me do in front of the class- yeah, thanks jerk).
Is this unjustified annoyance? Either way, I seriously need a break from my co-teacher. He's nice and all, but sometimes I want to punch him.
I think I'm going to refuse to feel guilty over being peeved at stupid things my co-teacher does. Like how this week, I've been annoyed at how he's been mocking the way my intonation and inflection in the 100 mp3s I made for him using the crappy reading excerpts in front of the class (seriously, 2 chapters down, 46 more to endure). Um. It's the way most English speakers talk. Today was particularly irritating because he kept playing on repeat a line, because he thought the way I said it was hilarious. To which, he then mimics my recording by sounding like a chicken. Uh, yeah. Thanks. I made all those files for you because you asked. And just so you know- because you never have to slow down your speech for anyone- it can be difficult to speak slowly and pronounce words individually, so I mean. Duh. Sometimes it won't sound natural. Because it freaking isn't. The just of it is, I don't make fun of the way he says stuff in Korean or the way he butchers my native language. So really, it puts me off when he makes fun of the way I speak in my own language. Same goes for when he mocks me when I read in Korean (which he likes to make me do in front of the class- yeah, thanks jerk).
Is this unjustified annoyance? Either way, I seriously need a break from my co-teacher. He's nice and all, but sometimes I want to punch him.
7.12.2010
oh hey, Google
Did you know that you can customize the background on the Google search homepage? You can use your own photos from your computer, Picasa, or choose from a small pre-existing selection. Neat! Otherwise, I haven't done anything interesting in weeks. This weekend will end that.
7.08.2010
on seat belts
Yesterday, the middle school teachers went out to Geumsan (somewhere just outside of Daejeon, and it's famous for ginseng so the Koreans say) for lunch- which turned into a half day affair with driving 30 minutes to some other place for coffee. I sat in the backseat and put the seatbelt on, only to have my co-teacher say that the teacher who was driving is a good driver, and then unfasten my belt.
Um. This, though a relatively minor incident, was not okay. Okay, sure sure, it's Korean culture/style not to wear seat belts- but that's someone else's safety he was messing with, and if I want to wear it in the car, let me! Please. Besides, I come from a group who refused to drive unless the belts were on. Unless you were my college roommate who was sneaky about not wearing them. On the way back after lunch, I put it on again and got some more chuckles from the Koreans. Though it also spurred the other female teacher who was in the backseat with me to do the same.
At lunch, we had little fish in a pan, covered in chili paste and sizzled until crispy, and the same little fish battered and fried. I ate them, and I surprised myself. Though, I stopped at the heads unlike the others who popped them whole. I figured, that one, I'm eating fish. Two, I'm eating all of their little bones, guts, and poop. So, then for three, excuse me while I stop myself at the brains and tiny eyeballs staring stupidly out at the universe.
My co-teacher got the leftover fried fish packed up for me to give to John, which I thought was really kind of him. He thought maybe John hadn't had lunch. Although by the time I got back, it was almost 6:30 so they weren't so good anymore.
7.02.2010
the week of wtf
So to end the week thoroughly annoyed, a Korean internet imprisonment security system that a teacher installed on my computer when I first arrived suddenly activated to do something without my consent, and cannot be removed without an effing password. I mean. WTF. What the freaking F. This computer is not school property, so don't go installing software on my computer that I have no control over! I don't understand why it took nearly a year for it to start acting up. Unless there's a third party in the school that can get to it through the internet system. In that case, I call bullsh*t.
Oh, you silly silly Koreans.
Oh, you silly silly Koreans.
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