string cheese

Yeah, so when I make my students produce their own English (in writing, so it should be easier, right?), this the best they give me. And this is 6th grade level, 2 girls giving me 5 reasons for why I should let them eat string cheese. 

MBLAQ: Y... uh, why?

*this is not a light-hearted post


I saw MBLAQ's "Y" music video on TV a couple days ago, and by the end, "wtf" was scrolling across my brain. It starts out with a guy being emo and heartbroken over an apparently failed relationship. Eventually after a lot of crying and warm-fuzzy-glowy memories, he finds her in a club and shoots her. Then he cries on a bridge about what he just did. How romantic. I don't know, you can tell me to get over it because it's fiction, and just meant to entertain for 4 minutes. You could argue that domestic violence is in movies and TV, so if I don't like it in MBLAQ's new music video, I should also be ranting that it shouldn't exist in entertainment at all. You can tell me that you think it's freaking awesome. Yeah, whatever, tell me whatever you want. It's your opinion, so I can respect that.

I can't exactly verbalize why I don't think it belongs in a music video, it just feels wrong. And with the help of a translated version, you can see that the video takes a very literal interpretation of the lyrics. The music itself is about wanting revenge over a bad romance (Gaga, I hope this isn't the kind that you were rah-rahing about), and so now the message undoubtedly says: "Well, if you hurt my feelings, I'm going to kill you." 


Korean censorship has kicked in, and apparently, it's been requested that an edited version of the video be released (sans gun). However, Korea being prudish also has problems with the sex-related content (kissing and 2 people in a bed under the blanket). Brief article here.


For what I say next, I apologize if I trigger negative feelings in anyone. Click the link if you want to finish reading and/or see the music video.

It's hot in the school, some students ask for the AC to be turned in in class, and my co-teacher says no. Instead, he'll turn on a fan, direct it at them, and then they say it's too windy which results in the fan being turned off or pointed away from them, defeating the fan's purpose. Plus, they're wearing hoodies or sweaters or long sleeve shirts. It's in the 80s here. So then they're fanning themselves, but they won't take off their extra layers. This, I just don't get. But I mean, really. The kids are miserable, so turn on the AC during English class! You get sweaty just from sitting. Totally buying a fan for my desk today. 

신발

It started with this:

And somehow has turned into this:

The dangerous thing is the budget friendly shoe stores are featuring colorful fun summer shoes... ahh! It's love!  <3 구두를 사랑해!!

alas, summer has arrived...

Korea had some great spring weather, cool/warm, breezy, air full of pollen, as is evidenced by the yellow coating that settles on my keyboard every day. Wednesday was the day when spring was massacred by the charging summer heat. Don't get me wrong, Naver 날씨 (weather) reports that it's a balmy 28 degrees celsius, whatever that means. So outside, where it's still breezy, it's nice. Inside, where the windows are open but nothings blowing in, or in the English classroom where my co-teacher likes to keep the windows and blinds closed, it's hot. And you know, a lot of the students live in the dorms here. So being a young kid living without mom and dad, a fair amount come in smelling kind of funky. Then we're all trapped together in a hot, stuffy, funkified room. Joy. 


I would get it if AC wasn't installed in the school. I don't get that it's hot, people are complaining it's hot, kids are sweaty, teachers are sweaty, and still, the AC isn't turned on. So then what was the point of installing it in the first place? When I first got here, back when it was still hot, students had to beg my co-teacher to turn on the AC, and he didn't always do it. Even if he did, he usually turned it off after a few minutes. 


More fascinating is what it's like to ride the buses lately. Last summer, when it was hotter, it was on, so maybe there's a certain time frame when the drivers use it. You know. Vehicles get hot. They're like greenhouses on wheels. And public transportation? You know, that, too; sometimes I feel like livestock packed into a truck for shipment. Here's what I can understand: save some energy and hold off on turning the air on until it's freaking nasty outside. In turn, though, open the windows. I think Koreans are afraid of wind (this could go well with the impression that many are rather vain). That, or easily chilled. These days, it's been hot on the bus without AC. Windows are open, right? No. More often than not, most of the windows are closed, and if they are open, don't let an old person sit down because they will close that window. I find this really weird, as well as incredibly misery inducing. Maybe Koreans are immune to heat, which could also explain the phenomenon of blasting the heater during the winter. I'd love to be immune, sign me up for the vaccination!


And by the way, I don't understand how people can cover their faces in makeup on a daily basis. It's so gross. 

IPL

Okay, so last night I had my face offed by a laser. My IPL (intense pulsed light therapy) appointment was yesterday, the first of 3 visits for my endeavor to rid myself of freckles. It hurt. It felt like a cluster of stings, and I could see a flash of red every time which to me was more disturbing than how it felt. Naturally, my face was on fire during the bus ride home, but by the time I was back in my neighborhood, I felt fine.  The actual IPL treatment only took 5 minutes, and by the time I finished washing the gel off, another patient was already getting her armpit hair removed. I had to sit with a mask for 20 minutes, and then I was done! In and out, no waiting time. That part was awesome. The laser all up on my face part was not so awesome, though obviously the most necessary part.So now, because I was annoyed that I couldn't find in between pictures, I'm going to sacrifice my dignity and post mine. Within an hour, my freckles had already turned dark- kind of as if I'd spent the entire day out in the sun. This, if you were to read about it is normal. This is also what i was dreading the most, as I read that for some people, they turned black. Currently, foundation helps make them look more normal, though still obviously darker (also to note is that the foundation is a beast to wash off). Click to get behind the scenes photos!

how Koreans do noraebang (노래방)

Tuesday right after school, all the teachers hustled over to a nearby restaurant for dinner. There, the practicum teachers all had to get up and sing something. Someone knew how to beatbox! haha. Later, the rounds of showing respect were made by various teachers. This involves an exchange of pouring shots of soju or beer with someone or in serving a bite of food (in some cases actually hand feeding it). 


So all year I thought that there was only a handful of teachers who knew enough English to have any type of conversation. Yeah, so this isn't true. The first week I was here, my co-teacher and 2 others took me out to a mountain where we had lunch. One of them was silent the entire time, and his relaxed face is a cross between blank and seemingly cranky. I've always been a little afraid of him because I thought maybe he has anti-foreigner feelings. Yeah, so this wasn't true, either. I sat next to him at dinner, and then he started talking to me in English. And I think his English is really good! He said he's wanted to talk to me all year but "didn't have the confidence," and during the meal he frequently asked if I wanted or needed anything. Another teacher who I unfortunately forgot I've spoken with- I'm terrible!- said he wants to hear me more because I never say anything when I'm at school. Later in the noraebang he would stumble in with another teacher and request that I sing something... And also? 2 of the practicum students came over and said they wanted to meet me. They're month is almost, or is, up (I'm sad because they're a fun group) so they will be leaving soon. One of the girls immediately dubbed me her onni (older sister) and then it was off to a noraebang (karaoke room)! 


The noraebang is where I found out that even more of the practicum students know a fair amount of English. Remember the classmate that was in the room when I did the interview? He shows up being able to hold a conversation with me! Why didn't he help out with the interview? (by the way, he is super good looking!) Another teacher took to swinging water bottles at everyone, which answered my earlier question of why the floor was suddenly soaked after stepping outside for a minute. 


The faculty here is freaking awesome. 

a English reading sample

The reading experts my co-teacher uses are completely random, and I think often poorly written for a foreign language class. This passage was kind of okay until the last 2 sentences. 



  About one hundred years ago, there was a young man in a small village in Bohemia. He worked in a city nearby. Every day he had to go there by train. The trains were so slow that many people complained. But not this young man. He was glad to close his eyes and 
listen to the sound of the wheels on the rails. He thought the wheels were singing a song - a song of the rails.
  One evening he sat listening to the sound of the wheels. Then, suddenly, he thought the sound was a little strange. "There's something wrong," said the young man to himself.
  He jumped up. "Stop the train," he cried. "Stop the train. There's danger before us!"
  The people of the train thought that the young man was foolish. Then one of them came up to him and said, "What? How do you know?"
  "By the sound of the wheels," answered the young man. Slowly the train stopped. Soon a man came running up with the news. The young man was right. The rail was broken just in front of the train.
  This young man later became a great musician. His name was Anton Dvorak.

signs the earth is rebelling

A tropical storm caused this?

the Last Airbender

I am officially looking forward to this movie, after initially being ticked off that M. Night Shyamalan was in charge of it and also sad that because it was going live action, the voices would be different. I wonder if the actors might seem kind of cheesy the first time around and improve in the later films like Harry Potter. The kid for Aang has little chubby cheeks, it's cute! Click the link to see some The Last Airbender trailers and probably some stuff from the original series. Hopefully this comes to Korea!