Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Seriously....

This is a page I scanned from a book I'm teaching out of. My students are 12. This is a chapter that teaches about how to compare things.....
If you can't read it, it says "Work in groups. You are doctors. Who gets the kidney?"


I have patient cards to distribute that give basic backgrounds on the potential kidney recipients. Ahhh!!!! I'm skipping this lesson. Hahahaha.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

I'm convinced the woman sitting next to me at this PC bang has never used a computer before. She's doing wacky things like looking under the keyboard and she keeps looking at me like maybe I can help her. Help you do what? What on earth are you trying to do? Someone once told me that I have a friendly, inviting smile and that I smile too readily at strangers which is why I attract so many weirdos. Perhaps there was something to that.

I have to go to work soon but I don't feel like it. We have a game ban right now because a parent complained there were too many games. I will bet money as to which teacher this kid has. A good example of how one person's irresponsibility affects everyone negatively. The worst was my boss didn't feel the need to tell us directly about the new rule, she just locked the games in her office and let us figure it out for ourselves. Anyway....

Ever since I got my new haircut Korean men have actually been asking me out. What's the deal with that?

Eh, I have to go, more later....

Monday, March 12, 2007

today

It's only been a few hours but it's already been an interesting day. It is warm enough to walk around today so after Chinese class got out, at 8:30, I started wandering around. Im in Jongno, where a lot of businesses are as well as Insadong, a tourist hotspot with lots of antique shops and teahouses. Except none of that opens until 10 or 11.

OK, I'll try to explain what Seoul is like (to me) basing the description on Jongno in the morning.

You know those pics you see of Seoul and other Asian cities with the multitudes of crazy lit-up signs going all the way up the buildings? That's what Jongno is like, and it still looks pretty neat during the day even when they're not lit up. Buildings here are funny because not only are they covered in heavy, gaudy signage but they often have other facades added for the various businesses so it looks like the building was patchworked together. Even really early in the moning there are lots of people moving about and street stalls selling food. I got an egg sandwich from a stall this morning. Unfortunately I wasn't vigilant while he was preparing it and ended up with weird toppings. There are a lot of old men that go around sweeping the street and collecting trash which is good because you can never find trash cans in this city so trash often gets chucked onto the street.

As in most big cities people here always seem to be in a hurry. People don't stick to the right of the sidewalk here so no matter where I am I am in the way. I am often mowed down as if I do not exist. I have noticed that if I try to pass a man on the sidewalk who is walking slower than me he will often speedup. Apparently it's not cool for me to pass them, hehe. People often run here for no reason that I can discern. I have sat down on benches and watched these runners to see if they were catching a bus or something but no, they were just running, in business suits, heels, etc. As a person who only runs to catch a bus or when being chased I find this puzzling. Sometimes a person looks up and makes some sort of exclamation noise as they did not expect a to see a foreigner. This always cracks me up because can't imagine being that surprised to see someone with a different skin and hair color than me. Although this society is not as friendly as some I have people say hi to me or smile all the time (usually older folks and children) and anytime I seem lost (usually when transfering between subway lines) I am always approached by a helpful person. anyway... back to what the city is like....

Although Seoul is a developed city for sure the traffic situation makes me think of the Bahamas. People in general drive unsafely; faster than they should be, passing where and when they shouldn't, cutting across multiple lanes, making illegal turns, making their own lanes, and merely pausing at red lights... even worse-- blaring their horn and blazing through a red light without a pause. I'm surprised that this isn't regulated better as I have seen nonserious accidents a plenty and am sure more serious ones are common. Sidewalks are not particularly well maintained so if I wear high heels I trip a lot.

Have you seen pictures of the riot police in Korea? You see them often enough to not be very phased by them. Protests are popular here and don't usually get violent but they always have a big police presence at them anyway. Last Saturday I saw more cops in riot gear tha usual when I was in Jongno and Angukdong and found out that there was a riot a few blocks away. Protests are really common and usually nonviolent but in this case it was an "illegal" protest (meaning it was not scheduled, I think) and the 2,000 protestors stopped traffic in a major part of the city. They were against a free trade agreement. According to the newspaper 18,000 policemen were dispatched to deal with it!!! People were mostly just knocked over with firehoses but some say they were kicked, I didn't watch any of it (duh) I just saw the stream of police heading that way. A little excitement on my day of museums and teahouses. There was a recent report colaning about the billions of dollars spent every year because of protests, both in the cost of security and the disruption of business. I think this is all fascinating.

OK, it's almost 10, Im going to do stuff now, more later!

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Mokdong


Mokdong
Originally uploaded by MacKensie!.

We didn't expect the snow, we decided to go out and play.

Angukdong


Angukdong
Originally uploaded by MacKensie!.

I have found that walking around Angukdong is a great stress reliever. What a fantastic neighborhood!

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

cultural insights galore

I've just been putting a lot on this blog about my personal life and not many of the cultural insights like what you find in my brothers blog. I will try to rectify this in future posts. As a disclaimer I would like to say that one reason I have refrained from a lot of the cultural anecdotes is because I did not want to be overly critical or to appear to be making fun of Koreans and I didn't want to seem complainy.

Today I will tell you about PC Bangs and grocery stores since I went to both in the past 24 hours.

Bang (rhymes with song) means room in Korean. There is noribang (singing room) DVD bang (private DVD viewing rooms), etc. PC bang is a computer room. I'm in one right now and go to one everyday because my computer's broken. It's less than a dollar an hour and usually has high speed internet since 90% of the people at these places are teenage boys playing games. These games are usually loud shoot'em up games that are played at full volume. (imagine that times 20 or 30). You can smoke in the PC bang so they reek. You can get a ll sorts of drinks and basic food here and they're usually open 24 hours so you can spend days here and rumor has it some people do. There's a major gaming addiction here, seriously. It's all most of my male students (and a good number of females too) talk about. Gaming is a big deal here, there is even a TV channel where you can watch ongoing games. (mindnumbing) The volume is a bummer for people like me who like to be able to think when they type. My favorite is when the people on either side of me are playing a game against each other so are then yelling at each other over my head. That's the best. However, they are cheap, convenient, the seats are surprisingly comfy, and the proprieter is usually really nice. The guy at the one by my house always brings me coffee. I don't want the sugary powdered coffee, but I choke it down with a smile... every day.

Grocery stores are weird. For one thing, they're not always where I expect them to be. I found one in the basement of a building I walk by every day. I had no clue there was a grocery store there. How often to you walk down stairs and are surprised by a grocery store? You never know what random Western goods will be there. In my neighborhood I have canvased the various stores (well, the ones I know about) and know I can get tortillas at one, salsa at another, olives in all but one, sundried tomatoes in the far away one, and occasionally dijon mustard in the near one. I can rarely just by one or two of say a pepper or a tomatoe. I have to buy a kilo. A KILO. I usually then distibute them to everyone I know as that is a large amount of peppers/tomatoes. The music is the best -- loud dance music, Korean and Western. Usually something outdated by at least a decade. Today, me and two old Korean ladies enjoyed the likes of CC Music Factory and New Kids on the Block-- I am not kidding you.

OK, I'm tired now, more later.....

OK, so, my lovely friend, Chen Lie, does all sorts of artistic things including photography and film, some of which is used for visual effects at concerts and similar events at nightclubs here. She kindly included me in her most recent piece of work which was a blast. All I've seen so far is this graphic which I believe is going to be used for a flyer advertising the event. Fun! Can't wait to see the rest of her pics, of course, I will share them. They aren't risque, they're meant to evoke 40's glam but with a modern-goth twist. I just think they'll be fun pics to show my grandkids and nursing home friends someday "This is me when I was 25 and living in Korea....." haha.


Monday, March 05, 2007

Mokdong


Mokdong
Originally uploaded by MacKensie!.

mmm... you don't need to cook things, just cover them in hot sauce!

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Six months in....

and I love it here.

:-)

New Haircut!


Hongdae
Originally uploaded by MacKensie!.

I didn't ask for this haircut, but I got it!

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Hey guys, believe it or not I wrote a very longwinded blog entry yesterday and then managed to completely erase it. *sigh*

I'm not going to even try to replicate it.

Anyway, I went to Dongdaemun and Myeongdong today with Alastair and his roommate Ripley. (ummm... I don't know if that's how his name is spelled, guess I should ask) They're two huge shopping areas in Seoul that I'm sure I've mentioned before. There's just throngs of people and vendors selling everything you can imagine (as well as a good few unidentifieds). It was a good day of wandering around and talking.

It was perfect because I'm usually just running around during the week. Today was Korea's Independence Day so we all had the day off. Sleeping in was especially exciting since I now have to wake up at 5:45 to make it out to my Chinese classes. Although I love the classes.

Work is going ok. There is some negativity there with the staff but no major issues. Most of the problems I have at work are really typical problems for the kind of school I work for. I work at a hagwon. They are intensive academies that provide extra courses outside of regular school. It is a business above all in a very competitive market. Parents pay a lot for their kids to go to these places in the hopes it will give them a leg up in their exams. School exams determine which high school you go to and which university you will go to, if you even get to go to university. Which university you go to makes a big difference here. Schools cater to what parents want which can make the teaching atmosphere somewhat stressfull, i.e. "She said she's changing schools because your class was boring, what boring things are you doing? Why don't you make sure the kids are having more fun?" "This parent says there isn't enough homework, give them double" "This parent thinks the workbook is too easy so make new worksheets on your own time that are harder please" I'm actually lucky since my hogwon invested money in a book system that includes a lot of premade tests and supplements so I don't have to maake too much material on my own unless I want to and my school actually pays me ontime and sticks to the terms of my contract. I've heard lots of stories of people being coerced into working insane hours, huge classes, not being payed on time or being provided substandard living arrangements. All the same, I do get stressed out, as with any other job.

I feel bad for how much the kids have to study. They wake up at 6 or 7, study, go to school, study, go to 1-3 academies and then study until 11. This is in elementary and middle school, in high school it gets worse. I have a student that goes to academies until 1 am, this is not an exaggeration. Big surprise, this is the same student who wants to run a way and live with me "where it will be fun and I can have friends and talk about things" She clearly sees our conversation class as a big break from her stressful day.

I'm glad that more than half of my classes are upper level one-on-ones now, I have to do more preparation, but it's more rewarding for both of us. I have one girl that is really interested in world politics but isn't learning much about it at school, I'm basically doing a history course on the Middle East which has been a blast.

I have a new class that has been particularly fun lately. It's a mid-level writing and grammer class with four 9 year old boys. They're friends and their parents send them to all of their academies together. They use their English better than most of my upper level students (meaning they're more confident and fluid and use the words they have to describe things rather than stressing over the words they don't know) They are hysterical. We basically have to write as many sentences as we can in an hour with these vocab words they were previously given. I give them prett free reign as long as it makes sense and is grammatically correct. We end up with things like.
Maybe: Maybe MacKensie will marry a Korean man.
Or: Human or octopus? Who will win?
Poker: He hit me with a poker but I was already awake.
I dunno, maybe you have to be there, but I love the stuff they come up with.

Anyway, spring is well on its way here! Hopefully the cherry trees will blossom early for when mom visits!
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