Wednesday December 30
One of my teeth started hurting last night. I didn't have any pain medicine in my apt so I kept waking up at different times in the night. I think I might have a cavity. I'll go to the dentist soon (after I get paid!). I went to the pharmacy today and got some pain medicine.
Tomorrow I'm going to the American Embassy to renew my passport. I have to get up early so I'll have time to go. They are only open on new years eve from 8:30am till 12:30pm.
My first class was good. I started out class by having the boys write their spelling words 3 times each so it would be fresh on their mind before the test. Then we took the test. The new student is doing great. He made a perfect score on his test. The other student made a 20. I just don't know what to do to help that student. I go over the words numerous times. He just cant ever remember how to spell them. Today we learned a new set of words. They did good on all of the activities in class.
My 2nd class was good. Today we were taking a writing test. All of the students were asking me for help on the test. So I'd help one and then 2 or 3 would call me at the same time. I couldn't remember who called me first so I just helped them randomly. They did a good job.They loved one of the questions on the test. It was a question about proper nouns. They had to find the proper noun and change it to make it correct. (it was in lowercase letters so they had to make sure it was capitalized.) The question was "valerie is my teacher." They all made a comment about that. haha. One of the boys kept telling me I was a kind teacher.
My 3rd class was good. We had a writing test. They did okay. The boy made an 84 and the girl made 68. Then we read a selection from the newspaper called "English Letters". I gave them some questions to answer about what they read. Then we had free time and they played hangman.
My last class wasn't on their best behavior today. I made them work all the way up till class ended. Today we were doing the newspaper class. We talked about The Maldives, Solna Centrum Metro, A group like Girls Generation in China, and Toronto. They were asking for a game. They have to be good to get a game. They weren't listening, they were getting out of their seats, throwing things at each other,they weren't reading along as a class. They still kept asking for a game. I told them the whole class has to be good to get a game. There were a few people who were ruining it for everyone. One kid asked me if I was angry. I said yeah. I was a little. Then another kid said I should cry. I'm not going to cry over their bad behavior. Then another student said I could go home and cry. haha.
Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. I don't have any plans. There was an event I would like to go to, but its just too cold to be standing outside waiting for the new year and I'd be afraid I wouldn't be able to get the subway home. Some of the subways stop running around midnight.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Day 377
Tuesday December 29
I had a new student in my first class. When it was time for class she was out in the hall with her mom. She was crying. I guess she was scared of coming to a new school. The Korean teacher couldn't get her to tell her name. She told me later in class when I asked. She was sitting in one of the other student's desks. That student came in a few mins late. I didn't want to ask the new student to move. The new student moved to the desk beside. Then I got all the students to introduce themselves. Today we just had a speaking test so she didnt really get to see what my class was like. Its funny when the students are telling me what order they want to go in. The first person started and said "I want to be 7th (last)" One girl asked to be first. Then they filled in the order from there. Everyone did a good job. I have to remind them to speak in sentences. The last student made a perfect grade. He spoke in sentences and used correct grammar so I gave him a perfect score. One of my newest students made the lowest grade, 87, because of a few grammar mistakes, but she's only been in speaking class twice so thats pretty good.
My 2nd class was good. I told everyone it was time for our test and gave them the pages to study. Then I gave them at least 15 minutes of study time. They were doing so good during study time while looking at the answers. Then when it came around to test time it was like they forgot. They still did pretty good. I think all their grades were in the mid to high 80's. They made grammar mistakes and some of them didn't give an answer that made sense. Then there were a few times when they would just tell me they didn't know the answer. I told the two boys not to be late to my 6pm class cause they are usually late.
They were 5 minutes late. Today was our newspaper class with the 2 levels combined. We had a pretty good class. Sometimes the 2 chatty boys were talking to each other, but for the most part everyone participated. Today we talked about hedgehogs, The Princess and the Frog, and a dancing traffic cop. They had to read an article about foot binding for homework. They all seemed to think the black princess was funny. I was trying to get a discussion going about hedgehogs. The article said women in England liked to carry hedgehogs in their handbags. I asked the students "should animals be carried in bags?". All of them said "no" but I couldnt get most of them to give a reason. One student gave the answer I was looking for he said "no because the animal might die in the bag" YES!
During my hour break I read some of a book that my mom sent me. It's called "The Pact" by Jodi Picoult. Its a good book. I'm about 2/3 of the way through. Its starting to get more interesting and I want to know what happens. I'll give a summary: in the book there are 2 teenagers who were dating and supposedly had a suicide pact. The girl died and the boy is still alive. The boy is a suspect and has to go to jail and to court.
My last class was good. We just had to do a speaking test. I gave them time to study and then they took the test. Both students did well on the test. Then I let them play a game. We played the English game: red, dress, sock...etc. We were on teams. We played rock, paper, scissors to determine who would be on teams and what order we would go in. They did a good job. It really helps them to think about their vocabulary.
I was watching a tv program tonight about "Ninja Assassin". I might see the movie just to see Rain. He's a Korean singer/actor. I don't normally watch fighting/martial arts movies. Rain is just so handsome!! I should have went to his concert when I had the chance!! He was in Seoul this year. I think around October.
I had a new student in my first class. When it was time for class she was out in the hall with her mom. She was crying. I guess she was scared of coming to a new school. The Korean teacher couldn't get her to tell her name. She told me later in class when I asked. She was sitting in one of the other student's desks. That student came in a few mins late. I didn't want to ask the new student to move. The new student moved to the desk beside. Then I got all the students to introduce themselves. Today we just had a speaking test so she didnt really get to see what my class was like. Its funny when the students are telling me what order they want to go in. The first person started and said "I want to be 7th (last)" One girl asked to be first. Then they filled in the order from there. Everyone did a good job. I have to remind them to speak in sentences. The last student made a perfect grade. He spoke in sentences and used correct grammar so I gave him a perfect score. One of my newest students made the lowest grade, 87, because of a few grammar mistakes, but she's only been in speaking class twice so thats pretty good.
My 2nd class was good. I told everyone it was time for our test and gave them the pages to study. Then I gave them at least 15 minutes of study time. They were doing so good during study time while looking at the answers. Then when it came around to test time it was like they forgot. They still did pretty good. I think all their grades were in the mid to high 80's. They made grammar mistakes and some of them didn't give an answer that made sense. Then there were a few times when they would just tell me they didn't know the answer. I told the two boys not to be late to my 6pm class cause they are usually late.
They were 5 minutes late. Today was our newspaper class with the 2 levels combined. We had a pretty good class. Sometimes the 2 chatty boys were talking to each other, but for the most part everyone participated. Today we talked about hedgehogs, The Princess and the Frog, and a dancing traffic cop. They had to read an article about foot binding for homework. They all seemed to think the black princess was funny. I was trying to get a discussion going about hedgehogs. The article said women in England liked to carry hedgehogs in their handbags. I asked the students "should animals be carried in bags?". All of them said "no" but I couldnt get most of them to give a reason. One student gave the answer I was looking for he said "no because the animal might die in the bag" YES!
During my hour break I read some of a book that my mom sent me. It's called "The Pact" by Jodi Picoult. Its a good book. I'm about 2/3 of the way through. Its starting to get more interesting and I want to know what happens. I'll give a summary: in the book there are 2 teenagers who were dating and supposedly had a suicide pact. The girl died and the boy is still alive. The boy is a suspect and has to go to jail and to court.
My last class was good. We just had to do a speaking test. I gave them time to study and then they took the test. Both students did well on the test. Then I let them play a game. We played the English game: red, dress, sock...etc. We were on teams. We played rock, paper, scissors to determine who would be on teams and what order we would go in. They did a good job. It really helps them to think about their vocabulary.
I was watching a tv program tonight about "Ninja Assassin". I might see the movie just to see Rain. He's a Korean singer/actor. I don't normally watch fighting/martial arts movies. Rain is just so handsome!! I should have went to his concert when I had the chance!! He was in Seoul this year. I think around October.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Day 376
Monday December 28
current temp: 17 degrees F
exchange: 1177 krw = 1 usd
I gave my 2 months notice to let the school know I wasn't renewing. My team leader didn't know what the letter was for. I had to explain it to the Korean teacher. I told her I'm suppose to give a notice to let them know if I'm renewing or not.
The snow is still around. Its all yucky now since everyone has stepped on it. The subway and other stores are nasty because people keep tracking in mud from outside. The only pretty snow that I've seen today was down by the stream.
I went out for lunch and on my way back to school I fell down. I hit a slick spot and fell to my knees. The funny thing is a few of my students saw it. haha. One of them saw me and said "hey teacher." Then 2 girls from my last class just laughed at me. I laughed with them.
I had a new student in my first class. He's doing well so far. He wouldn't tell me his name. I'll ask him again next time. The new student was on time and the other student was late. The other student didn't miss much. Before he came in we went over a new set of words and put them in ABC order.
My 2nd class was good. Today we had a speaking test. The students were excited to pick out the order they wanted to go in. Then the test took all class. While one student was taking a test the other students were writing on the whiteboard. All the students did well on the test. I'm pretty lenient on them. I remind them to speak in a sentence. One student made a perfect score. She spoke in complete sentences, the answers were right and her grammar was good. The lowest grade was a 92 because of a few grammar mistakes.
My 3rd class was good also. We had a speaking test in class. I let them study first. They had a little trouble. Both of them made a 90 because of grammar mistakes. Then I let them play hangman.
My last class was also good. I'm glad. One of the main trouble makers was absent today. Today we covered 4 pages of new material. We were talking about action words like drink, eat, laugh, etc. They were on their best behavior and did good in class. Then I let them play a game. They formed 2 teams and played the English game on the chalkboard. I don't know what one word was that they put up there! I let them put it up anyway. The rest of the words were legitimate.
I've got 3 writing tests made. 2 more to go.
I'll be giving speaking tests on Tuesday. Then writing tests on Wednesday and Thursday. I'll also be doing my newspaper class. This week we are talking about: hedgehogs as pets, The first black Disney princess, a dancing traffic police, and foot binding in China.
1 day down...3 more to go...then 3 day weekend!
3 days till new years....
current temp: 17 degrees F
exchange: 1177 krw = 1 usd
I gave my 2 months notice to let the school know I wasn't renewing. My team leader didn't know what the letter was for. I had to explain it to the Korean teacher. I told her I'm suppose to give a notice to let them know if I'm renewing or not.
The snow is still around. Its all yucky now since everyone has stepped on it. The subway and other stores are nasty because people keep tracking in mud from outside. The only pretty snow that I've seen today was down by the stream.
I went out for lunch and on my way back to school I fell down. I hit a slick spot and fell to my knees. The funny thing is a few of my students saw it. haha. One of them saw me and said "hey teacher." Then 2 girls from my last class just laughed at me. I laughed with them.
I had a new student in my first class. He's doing well so far. He wouldn't tell me his name. I'll ask him again next time. The new student was on time and the other student was late. The other student didn't miss much. Before he came in we went over a new set of words and put them in ABC order.
My 2nd class was good. Today we had a speaking test. The students were excited to pick out the order they wanted to go in. Then the test took all class. While one student was taking a test the other students were writing on the whiteboard. All the students did well on the test. I'm pretty lenient on them. I remind them to speak in a sentence. One student made a perfect score. She spoke in complete sentences, the answers were right and her grammar was good. The lowest grade was a 92 because of a few grammar mistakes.
My 3rd class was good also. We had a speaking test in class. I let them study first. They had a little trouble. Both of them made a 90 because of grammar mistakes. Then I let them play hangman.
My last class was also good. I'm glad. One of the main trouble makers was absent today. Today we covered 4 pages of new material. We were talking about action words like drink, eat, laugh, etc. They were on their best behavior and did good in class. Then I let them play a game. They formed 2 teams and played the English game on the chalkboard. I don't know what one word was that they put up there! I let them put it up anyway. The rest of the words were legitimate.
I've got 3 writing tests made. 2 more to go.
I'll be giving speaking tests on Tuesday. Then writing tests on Wednesday and Thursday. I'll also be doing my newspaper class. This week we are talking about: hedgehogs as pets, The first black Disney princess, a dancing traffic police, and foot binding in China.
1 day down...3 more to go...then 3 day weekend!
3 days till new years....
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Day 375
Sunday December 27
I got out and went to Kimbap Heaven at 2am. I got bibimbap and it was too spicy!! It tastes okay, it just has way too much of the gochujang (hot pepper paste). Its suppose to be a good healthy food so I might eat it more often. I just have to tell them to not put much of the hot paste!
I'm planning a trip to NYC in March. Me and my mom are going together. I'm trying to fill our schedules with as much as possible! I think I'm going to plan a day trip to Philadelphia and Washington, DC while we are in the area. We can see New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York. We are going to cover 3 states! I searched in cheap tickets.com and found airline plus 5 days in a hotel for $350 a person. (The hotel is in New Jersey-11 miles from NYC) Thats a great deal. I've got to book it soon. I plan to do an 8 hour city tour of NYC and visit Brooklyn Tabnernacle.
I went to bed at 6:30AM and I finally woke up at 6PM. I slept almost 12 hours! I love days where I just shut off the phone, don't set an alarm and sleep until I wake up.
It snowed again. This time it actually covered the ground. I'd say no more than an inch. There are no pretty patches around my area. Its all been trampled on. I live in a very busy area. Lots of stores and restaurants which means lots of people are walking all over the snow. Its only 20 degrees outside, but after going outside twice it wasn't that bad.
If this were SC school would have been cancelled for tomorrow, but not SK. School will go on. I think the kids have a week left of school before they go on winter vacation. They get a whole month off for winter vacation in January. Starting in January I'll be working days instead of nights. oh my.
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| Snow in Seoul December 27 2009 |
I got out and went to Kimbap Heaven at 2am. I got bibimbap and it was too spicy!! It tastes okay, it just has way too much of the gochujang (hot pepper paste). Its suppose to be a good healthy food so I might eat it more often. I just have to tell them to not put much of the hot paste!
I'm planning a trip to NYC in March. Me and my mom are going together. I'm trying to fill our schedules with as much as possible! I think I'm going to plan a day trip to Philadelphia and Washington, DC while we are in the area. We can see New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York. We are going to cover 3 states! I searched in cheap tickets.com and found airline plus 5 days in a hotel for $350 a person. (The hotel is in New Jersey-11 miles from NYC) Thats a great deal. I've got to book it soon. I plan to do an 8 hour city tour of NYC and visit Brooklyn Tabnernacle.
I went to bed at 6:30AM and I finally woke up at 6PM. I slept almost 12 hours! I love days where I just shut off the phone, don't set an alarm and sleep until I wake up.
It snowed again. This time it actually covered the ground. I'd say no more than an inch. There are no pretty patches around my area. Its all been trampled on. I live in a very busy area. Lots of stores and restaurants which means lots of people are walking all over the snow. Its only 20 degrees outside, but after going outside twice it wasn't that bad.
If this were SC school would have been cancelled for tomorrow, but not SK. School will go on. I think the kids have a week left of school before they go on winter vacation. They get a whole month off for winter vacation in January. Starting in January I'll be working days instead of nights. oh my.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Day 374
December 26 Saturday
Love actually is all around
"Love, actually" is on a Korean channel called OnStyle. I'm currently watching it. Its a good Christmas movie.
I've been watching a lot of TV and staying inside. I should be out doing something but sometime I just like sitting around and doing nothing.
I saw an episode of "Tough Love" on tv one day. It's on VH1 in the USA. Now I've been watching the 2nd season. I like it. A matchmaker and his mom put girls through a dating boot camp. All these girls have a problem finding and keeping a guy. He's a really brutally honest person who gives them tough love to help them find their true love. He sets up these girls with dates and puts them through all kind of exercises.
Love actually is all around
"Love, actually" is on a Korean channel called OnStyle. I'm currently watching it. Its a good Christmas movie.
I've been watching a lot of TV and staying inside. I should be out doing something but sometime I just like sitting around and doing nothing.
I saw an episode of "Tough Love" on tv one day. It's on VH1 in the USA. Now I've been watching the 2nd season. I like it. A matchmaker and his mom put girls through a dating boot camp. All these girls have a problem finding and keeping a guy. He's a really brutally honest person who gives them tough love to help them find their true love. He sets up these girls with dates and puts them through all kind of exercises.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Day 373...White Christmas...
Friday December 25
Fact: South Korea is the only East Asian country to recognize Christmas as a national holiday.
The majority of people in South Korea are Buddhist, so Christmas isn't an important festival
Finally a holiday on Friday! Most of our holidays have fallen on Saturday this year which means we didn't get any days off of work. They don't give you the day before or a monday. I'm also off next Friday for new years!
Its my 2nd Christmas away from home. Yep. I missed 2 in a row. I'm not even celebrating this year. I'll probably just sleep all day. It doesn't even feel like Christmas when I'm away from home. I didn't even do anything this year to get into the Christmas spirit. I didn't wear Christmas colors or even decorate my apartment. I didn't buy gifts for anyone. I usually watch "A Christmas Story" a couple of times and force my family to sit down and watch it with me, but I didn't even watch it this year.
Sadly, this year its just another regular day. I slept until 3:30pm.
I decided to venture out to E-Mart for supper. It was packed. One of the biggest retailers in SK didn't shut down for Christmas.
And it started snowing. So we got a white Christmas in South Korea. Just a tiny amount.
Fact: South Korea is the only East Asian country to recognize Christmas as a national holiday.
The majority of people in South Korea are Buddhist, so Christmas isn't an important festival
Finally a holiday on Friday! Most of our holidays have fallen on Saturday this year which means we didn't get any days off of work. They don't give you the day before or a monday. I'm also off next Friday for new years!
Its my 2nd Christmas away from home. Yep. I missed 2 in a row. I'm not even celebrating this year. I'll probably just sleep all day. It doesn't even feel like Christmas when I'm away from home. I didn't even do anything this year to get into the Christmas spirit. I didn't wear Christmas colors or even decorate my apartment. I didn't buy gifts for anyone. I usually watch "A Christmas Story" a couple of times and force my family to sit down and watch it with me, but I didn't even watch it this year.
Sadly, this year its just another regular day. I slept until 3:30pm.
I decided to venture out to E-Mart for supper. It was packed. One of the biggest retailers in SK didn't shut down for Christmas.
And it started snowing. So we got a white Christmas in South Korea. Just a tiny amount.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Day 372
Thursday December 24
Today was just a free day at work. I didn't have any classes, but I still had to be there.
I was bored most of the time. I downloaded a free trial of typing master. I'm trying to improve my typing skills. At one time I got up to 57 wpm with 100% accuracy once. Thats typing on a laptop which is harder than a regular keyboard. Most of the time I was around 50wpm with around 90% accuracy. When I'm doing a typing test I'm concentrating too much on getting faster and I make mistakes. I've just got to keep working on it. I may buy a regular keyboard and hook it up to my laptop so I can practice on a pc keyboard.
I downloaded some things online. I watched "Barbara Walters 10 Most Fascinating People" and the finale of "Sex Rehab" with Dr. Drew.
Around 6:45 me, our team leader, a math teacher and my co teacher went out to eat. I had chicken tenders and it was delicious. They ordered that for me since I don't eat spicy food. They were eating a spicy chicken dish. (Koreans love spicy food..I just never cared for spicy food)
Then they let me leave school at 7:55pm! An hour early!!
At 10pm I met my friend, Lesley, in Itaewon. The place where we wanted to eat was closed for the night so I suggested Gekkos so we went there for a while.
Today was just a free day at work. I didn't have any classes, but I still had to be there.
I was bored most of the time. I downloaded a free trial of typing master. I'm trying to improve my typing skills. At one time I got up to 57 wpm with 100% accuracy once. Thats typing on a laptop which is harder than a regular keyboard. Most of the time I was around 50wpm with around 90% accuracy. When I'm doing a typing test I'm concentrating too much on getting faster and I make mistakes. I've just got to keep working on it. I may buy a regular keyboard and hook it up to my laptop so I can practice on a pc keyboard.
I downloaded some things online. I watched "Barbara Walters 10 Most Fascinating People" and the finale of "Sex Rehab" with Dr. Drew.
Around 6:45 me, our team leader, a math teacher and my co teacher went out to eat. I had chicken tenders and it was delicious. They ordered that for me since I don't eat spicy food. They were eating a spicy chicken dish. (Koreans love spicy food..I just never cared for spicy food)
Then they let me leave school at 7:55pm! An hour early!!
At 10pm I met my friend, Lesley, in Itaewon. The place where we wanted to eat was closed for the night so I suggested Gekkos so we went there for a while.
Day 371
Wednesday December 23
Current Temp: 35 F
Exchange: 1189 krw = 1 usd
I was thinking that today was one of the Christmas party days, but it wasn't. The Tues/Thurs kids get to have a free day and the MWF kids had to work. Anyway I actually had a pretty decent day.
I told my team leader that my washing machine was broken and it was fixed the same day! It now works-I had to do a load to make sure!
The weather was nice again today which was great!
My first class was good. We usually do our newspaper class on Wednesday but I decided to do spelling. We covered a lot of material-2 sets of 10 words.He does good on finding the patterns, but not so good filling in words to the story or the meanings. I just have to give him answers. Maybe he's retaining it somehow. He wasn't tired today which was good.I let him play hangman near the end of class.He guessed by looking at my book.
My 2nd class was good. We went over a few pages in writing. Today we were talking about a letter of invitation. Their assignment during class was to write a letter to their friend inviting them to come over to play. Its funny how the kids will be asking me something and I totally don't understand. They were telling me how the Korean teacher doesn't like when they ask for free time. She gets angry at them. I don't mind when they ask. We finish our lesson first then have free time. Whenever they say that she gets angry they put up devil horns on their head. haha. Then later I didn't understand what a student was asking. He said "what is tomorrow tomorrow?"...I told him Friday...then he said no..so I said Christmas..no...the 25th no...then another student had to explain...yesterday, today, tomorrow-OK--oh the day after tomorrow..Oh the joys of ESL..Some of my students saw my cute erasers in my box. I bring extras so if someone needs one in class (and I give them to students)..they love erasers..i think its cute. I had some new ones that were in the shape of pigs. And I had some colorful ones that were red, black and blue. They all wanted one so I gave all the students one. It makes me happy to see them so excited over something so small. They all thanked me. After class one of the students followed me out of class and asked me to give him another one stealthly(he showed me in his dictionary)..haha. I told him only one per student. They use their korean-english dictionaries on their phone when they don't know the english word. They made me write on the board "this class was excellent." The Korean teacher must be telling them they have to be good in my class. I don't know, but they insisted that I leave a good word about them. (that class is always good)
The 3rd class was good. I didn't need to do a writing lesson this week so I did the newspaper class. They were confused. They told me it was wednesday. We usually do it on Friday.I told them we didnt have class on Friday so I was doing it today. They were good in class. We were able to cover 3 of the articles. We talked about an orangutan who can take photos, a korean actress, and the golden disk awards (korean music awards).
My last class was great today. I wonder what she drugged them with. just kidding. That was a good change. I usually dread that class! Today I prepared 4 articles. We only did 3 articles to reward good behavior. We talked about a pet elephant, a lion, tiger, and bear who were friends at a zoo in England, and the Vatican.They actually listened, they read, they answered questions…great…I let them have a lot of free time…they played games, wrote on board…After class one of the students told the Korean teacher that they had a good study all class…so I think she’s asking the students to be good in my class and they are listening! Great! Keep threatening them for me!
I learned some new facts. I just thought the Vatican was a building where the pope lived. Vatican city is actually a country. They have their own post office and issue their own stamps. They even issue their own passports. They are one of the smallest countries with less than 1,000 residents. They use Latin, Italian and French as their languages.
I don't have any classes tomorrow!! I still have to be there though...Then its a 3 day weekend. I don't have any plans at all. I need to find something to do at least one day. Or I could just sleep all day. but I do need to get out.
Me and my friend Lesley are going out to eat Thursday night in Itaewon. We're both lonely and missing our 2nd Christmas away from home so we decided to get together to hangout on Christmas eve. We are going to a place called Macaroni Market.
Current Temp: 35 F
Exchange: 1189 krw = 1 usd
I was thinking that today was one of the Christmas party days, but it wasn't. The Tues/Thurs kids get to have a free day and the MWF kids had to work. Anyway I actually had a pretty decent day.
I told my team leader that my washing machine was broken and it was fixed the same day! It now works-I had to do a load to make sure!
The weather was nice again today which was great!
My first class was good. We usually do our newspaper class on Wednesday but I decided to do spelling. We covered a lot of material-2 sets of 10 words.He does good on finding the patterns, but not so good filling in words to the story or the meanings. I just have to give him answers. Maybe he's retaining it somehow. He wasn't tired today which was good.I let him play hangman near the end of class.He guessed by looking at my book.
My 2nd class was good. We went over a few pages in writing. Today we were talking about a letter of invitation. Their assignment during class was to write a letter to their friend inviting them to come over to play. Its funny how the kids will be asking me something and I totally don't understand. They were telling me how the Korean teacher doesn't like when they ask for free time. She gets angry at them. I don't mind when they ask. We finish our lesson first then have free time. Whenever they say that she gets angry they put up devil horns on their head. haha. Then later I didn't understand what a student was asking. He said "what is tomorrow tomorrow?"...I told him Friday...then he said no..so I said Christmas..no...the 25th no...then another student had to explain...yesterday, today, tomorrow-OK--oh the day after tomorrow..Oh the joys of ESL..Some of my students saw my cute erasers in my box. I bring extras so if someone needs one in class (and I give them to students)..they love erasers..i think its cute. I had some new ones that were in the shape of pigs. And I had some colorful ones that were red, black and blue. They all wanted one so I gave all the students one. It makes me happy to see them so excited over something so small. They all thanked me. After class one of the students followed me out of class and asked me to give him another one stealthly(he showed me in his dictionary)..haha. I told him only one per student. They use their korean-english dictionaries on their phone when they don't know the english word. They made me write on the board "this class was excellent." The Korean teacher must be telling them they have to be good in my class. I don't know, but they insisted that I leave a good word about them. (that class is always good)
The 3rd class was good. I didn't need to do a writing lesson this week so I did the newspaper class. They were confused. They told me it was wednesday. We usually do it on Friday.I told them we didnt have class on Friday so I was doing it today. They were good in class. We were able to cover 3 of the articles. We talked about an orangutan who can take photos, a korean actress, and the golden disk awards (korean music awards).
My last class was great today. I wonder what she drugged them with. just kidding. That was a good change. I usually dread that class! Today I prepared 4 articles. We only did 3 articles to reward good behavior. We talked about a pet elephant, a lion, tiger, and bear who were friends at a zoo in England, and the Vatican.They actually listened, they read, they answered questions…great…I let them have a lot of free time…they played games, wrote on board…After class one of the students told the Korean teacher that they had a good study all class…so I think she’s asking the students to be good in my class and they are listening! Great! Keep threatening them for me!
I learned some new facts. I just thought the Vatican was a building where the pope lived. Vatican city is actually a country. They have their own post office and issue their own stamps. They even issue their own passports. They are one of the smallest countries with less than 1,000 residents. They use Latin, Italian and French as their languages.
I don't have any classes tomorrow!! I still have to be there though...Then its a 3 day weekend. I don't have any plans at all. I need to find something to do at least one day. Or I could just sleep all day. but I do need to get out.
Me and my friend Lesley are going out to eat Thursday night in Itaewon. We're both lonely and missing our 2nd Christmas away from home so we decided to get together to hangout on Christmas eve. We are going to a place called Macaroni Market.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Day 370......외국인 !
Tuesday December 22
Current Temp: 41 F
Exchange: 1186 krw = 1 usd
The weather was awesome today. It was in the 40's all day long which was nice. I'd never complain if every day of winter were like today. After barely making it past the 20's last week I think the 40's are great even though its still colder than what I like. (I love the 70's)
Its funny how the kids here love seeing foreigners. They like seeing people who are different since it is a very homogeneous society. In America we don't think anything of it since we are basically a big melting pot of cultures. We never point and stare at people from different cultures who come to America.
Today I was walking through the subway station and this young kid saw me. I’d say he was maybe 12/13. He got his friend’s attention and said “외국인”(it means foreigner). They think they can just talk in Korean and we won't understand, but I know. I think its funny how many kids will point and say "외국인". He was talking loud enough where I could hear and I looked at them and they both said hello.haha. Someday I should just point at them and say "한국인" (it means Korean). That would be hilarious. Like OMG I just saw a Korean!!
1st class was good.We talked about different situations and what is better: Being rich or famous, getting cash or gift for birthday, and playing lottery or saving money.…One of the students likes to ask me the questions..I didn’t have an answer..like one of the questions was "what do you want for your birthday?".She asked me that question. I honestly don't know.This year I told my family just to get me one present from everybody-a gps.I've always wanted one and I'm constantly getting lost..after we finished we listened and read "The night before Christmas”.
Some of my kids were worried about me in my first class. I turned my back to the classroom to write on the board and they asked me what happened to my back. I didn't know what they were talking about. They said it looked like I got scratched. I told them I didn't know what was wrong. When I got home I looked in the mirror. Its very small but there are about 4 marks and it looks like someone scratched me right near my shoulder. I have no clue what happened! Maybe I did it to myself somehow because no one has touched by back.
The 2nd class was pretty good…We covered questions with where…did pretty good. we also covered writing 2 lessons since we aren’t going to have class Thursday and I need to stay on schedule.…they did good on that also-feelings, poem, -er and est to describe, memory.….the two boys were constanly laughing and talking, but thats pretty normal in that class.
The combined newspaper class was okay. Some of the class was paying attention. 3 boys kept talking to each other and laughing. I had to keep telling them to be quiet and listen. Today we talked about an Orangutan that takes pictures, Koo Hye-Sun(actress) and Golden Disk Awards(Music awards in Korea).
The last class was good. I had 2 students. Today we talked about giving up seats on bus to elderly. They don’t seem to like the idea. If their legs are sick and they think the old person looks fine they wouldn’t give their seat.haha. Then we listened and read "The Night before Christmas". After that, we played some kind of charades game. And one short game of hangman.
This week I just let the kids read "The Night before Christmas" for fun. At least no one said "this is boring".
Tomorrow and Thursday will be easy days! We are just having a Christmas party and movie day. Then its a 3 day weekend!
Current Temp: 41 F
Exchange: 1186 krw = 1 usd
The weather was awesome today. It was in the 40's all day long which was nice. I'd never complain if every day of winter were like today. After barely making it past the 20's last week I think the 40's are great even though its still colder than what I like. (I love the 70's)
Its funny how the kids here love seeing foreigners. They like seeing people who are different since it is a very homogeneous society. In America we don't think anything of it since we are basically a big melting pot of cultures. We never point and stare at people from different cultures who come to America.
Today I was walking through the subway station and this young kid saw me. I’d say he was maybe 12/13. He got his friend’s attention and said “외국인”(it means foreigner). They think they can just talk in Korean and we won't understand, but I know. I think its funny how many kids will point and say "외국인". He was talking loud enough where I could hear and I looked at them and they both said hello.haha. Someday I should just point at them and say "한국인" (it means Korean). That would be hilarious. Like OMG I just saw a Korean!!
1st class was good.We talked about different situations and what is better: Being rich or famous, getting cash or gift for birthday, and playing lottery or saving money.…One of the students likes to ask me the questions..I didn’t have an answer..like one of the questions was "what do you want for your birthday?".She asked me that question. I honestly don't know.This year I told my family just to get me one present from everybody-a gps.I've always wanted one and I'm constantly getting lost..after we finished we listened and read "The night before Christmas”.
Some of my kids were worried about me in my first class. I turned my back to the classroom to write on the board and they asked me what happened to my back. I didn't know what they were talking about. They said it looked like I got scratched. I told them I didn't know what was wrong. When I got home I looked in the mirror. Its very small but there are about 4 marks and it looks like someone scratched me right near my shoulder. I have no clue what happened! Maybe I did it to myself somehow because no one has touched by back.
The 2nd class was pretty good…We covered questions with where…did pretty good. we also covered writing 2 lessons since we aren’t going to have class Thursday and I need to stay on schedule.…they did good on that also-feelings, poem, -er and est to describe, memory.….the two boys were constanly laughing and talking, but thats pretty normal in that class.
The combined newspaper class was okay. Some of the class was paying attention. 3 boys kept talking to each other and laughing. I had to keep telling them to be quiet and listen. Today we talked about an Orangutan that takes pictures, Koo Hye-Sun(actress) and Golden Disk Awards(Music awards in Korea).
The last class was good. I had 2 students. Today we talked about giving up seats on bus to elderly. They don’t seem to like the idea. If their legs are sick and they think the old person looks fine they wouldn’t give their seat.haha. Then we listened and read "The Night before Christmas". After that, we played some kind of charades game. And one short game of hangman.
This week I just let the kids read "The Night before Christmas" for fun. At least no one said "this is boring".
Tomorrow and Thursday will be easy days! We are just having a Christmas party and movie day. Then its a 3 day weekend!
The Sing Off
You know I love all things concerning singing since I am a singer who hopes to break into the business someday....if people are singing I'm probably watching it....I wish I could find a group to sing with....not necessarily acapella, but a group to sing with would be great!
For the past few days I've been watching recordings of "The Sing Off". It was a competition sorta like American Idol for groups. 4 days. 8 groups. It was all acapella. No instruments. I really enjoyed the competition. I liked most of the groups. Some of my favorites were Nota, Voices of Lee, Beelzebubs, and Socals. Nota won. Nota was a group of guys from Puerto Rico and they were awesome! I really loved the song they sang called "Down". Their lead singer had a great tenor voice! They alwasys put some latin flavor in their songs! I know a lot of people from my church in Fort Mill were rooting for Voices of Lee(b/c the represent the Church of God and they actually performed at my church a few weeks ago but I missed b/c I'm here) but I predicted that Nota would probably win. The Beelzebubs were so adorable and fun. They were a group of guys from Tufts University. Their musical director, Nick, is a cutie. He looks so young, sweet and innocent. They made it to the top 2. The Voices of Lee were great also. They are a group from Lee University. They ranked number 3 in the competition.
The whole cast
I think the blond guy, Dan, who is one of the lead singers of SoCals is cute-i like the glasses and his hair...and has an awesome tenor voice(I love tenor voices).....I love the arrangement...I can't stop watching it!
Nota--the lead singer has a great voice..
Beelzebubs
Voices of Lee (they always looked like a Gap ad..hehe)
Socals
For the past few days I've been watching recordings of "The Sing Off". It was a competition sorta like American Idol for groups. 4 days. 8 groups. It was all acapella. No instruments. I really enjoyed the competition. I liked most of the groups. Some of my favorites were Nota, Voices of Lee, Beelzebubs, and Socals. Nota won. Nota was a group of guys from Puerto Rico and they were awesome! I really loved the song they sang called "Down". Their lead singer had a great tenor voice! They alwasys put some latin flavor in their songs! I know a lot of people from my church in Fort Mill were rooting for Voices of Lee(b/c the represent the Church of God and they actually performed at my church a few weeks ago but I missed b/c I'm here) but I predicted that Nota would probably win. The Beelzebubs were so adorable and fun. They were a group of guys from Tufts University. Their musical director, Nick, is a cutie. He looks so young, sweet and innocent. They made it to the top 2. The Voices of Lee were great also. They are a group from Lee University. They ranked number 3 in the competition.
The whole cast
I think the blond guy, Dan, who is one of the lead singers of SoCals is cute-i like the glasses and his hair...and has an awesome tenor voice(I love tenor voices).....I love the arrangement...I can't stop watching it!
Nota--the lead singer has a great voice..
Beelzebubs
Voices of Lee (they always looked like a Gap ad..hehe)
Socals
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Day 369
Monday December 21
Winter is officially here.....
current temp: 30F
Exchange rate: 1185 krw = 1 usd
"If you love someone set him free, if you have to stalk him he probably wasn't yours in the first place."
Thats a quote from "All About Steve"....Sandra Bullock plays this crossword creator who stalks this guy who she was set up on a blind date with. I watched it tonight. I didn't really like it. Sandra's character was a little too crazy. I'd give it 3 stars.
I found out today that Britney Murphey died today.(She's an actress.."Clueless", "Just Married", etc) She was only 32 years old. Some of the reports say she went into a cardiac arrest and couldn't be revived.
A lot of actors/musicans are dying at a young age. There was Heath Ledger a few years ago. Then Michael Jackson a few months ago. Now Britney Murphy. They all seemed to be healthy and then all of a sudden they are dead.
First class was okay. He was actually on time today. First I reviewed the words. We read them together and I had him write them 3 times each. Then we had the test. He attempted 4 words. The ones that he attempted were way off. He only got one right. He could spell the word "eat". I just don’t know what to do. What do you do when students can’t retain the information? He was sleepy today in class. He didn’t go to sleep any in class. He was having trouble with the rhyming words. I just gave him the answers. He does good finding the patterns in words. I just feel like I'm just not helping at all. Currently his average in spelling is a 17.5. How do you help students spell words in a language they barely know? Maybe something will stick. He can't even spell simple words like "See". That was one of our words. He didn't even attempt it.
2nd class was good. The students did good on their newspaper test. We did one speaking lesson about kids getting fat. Its funny how they are telling me that kids are getting fat from eating too much fast food and they are sitting in class eating french fries. ha. Then we read a story-“The night before Christmas” then I let them have free time. The lights kept going off during class. I don’t know why. During free time they were playing a game. One student puts a coat over their head and tries to find the other students while the other students keep moving around so he can't find them. Right near the end of class it was funny when all the students left the room and the person who was "it" was left all alone in the classroom with me. He asked me how long they had been gone. They had just left when he asked.
3rd class was okay. Both students were present. They wanted to have a free day. I can’t give them a free day of no studying. That’s what Wednesday is for. One student didn’t bring her book and the copier was off and I didn't want to wait for it to boot up again so I just wrote all the answers on the board and let her copy them. Today we talked about questions starting with “where” and “why”. They actually did pretty good on these questions.Then we listened and read “the night before Christmas”
Conversation is over! I'm so glad! I had a break today during that time!
we actually had a decent class in my last class. First I reviewed the words. They all did good on the review. I reviewed the pictures and the spelling of the words. Then we had the test. They had to correctly spell the words and identify the articles of clothing. I did give them some hints. Then I told them they could play a game. They played a round of the ghost game and then just sat down and played on Nintendo or phone game or just talked. I didn’t really need to cover anything new today. I’m trying to pace myself so I don’t finish the book too fast. We already finished 2 units out of 9 so we have 7 units left. They did good on the test. It was on articles of clothing. One student did really bad bc he didn’t even try-he got a 12. I gave them 2 stickers if they made over 90. 4 students made 92 or higher. 1 student got one sticker for 88. 2 students made below 60. I gave 3 of the students a new eraser.One student said she used hers up. Then another student said the eraser came out. Also gave one to another student in class.
After work I went to E-mart to eat at Mcdonalds. While I was there I bought 2PM's first full length album. 2PM is a Korean pop band-6 guys-age 19-21. I like thier song "Heartbeat" and "Again and Again". (Go to Youtube.com search for "Heartbeat" 2PM..good video).I like the new cd. While I was there I was looking for some Korean Christmas cards as a souvenier, but there are very few cards in Korean. Its odd that 90% of their Christmas cards are in English. What if you are Korean and you can't read English? Before long English is going to take over the world and if you don't know it then you are screwed.
I think my washing machine is doing something funny again. yuck. It gets almost to the end like minutes before completion and then there is some kind of E2 error and my clothes are soaking wet. Somehow water gets into the drying cycle. I'm going to have to get my team leader to call the repairman again. Probably won't come until Wednesday. Once I tell her on Tuesday she will call and they will probably say they will come on Wednesday. Hopefully they can figure out what is wrong.
1 more day of real work.....then 2 days of parties...then a 3 day weekend!!
9 more days left in 2009....
Winter is officially here.....
current temp: 30F
Exchange rate: 1185 krw = 1 usd
"If you love someone set him free, if you have to stalk him he probably wasn't yours in the first place."
Thats a quote from "All About Steve"....Sandra Bullock plays this crossword creator who stalks this guy who she was set up on a blind date with. I watched it tonight. I didn't really like it. Sandra's character was a little too crazy. I'd give it 3 stars.
I found out today that Britney Murphey died today.(She's an actress.."Clueless", "Just Married", etc) She was only 32 years old. Some of the reports say she went into a cardiac arrest and couldn't be revived.
A lot of actors/musicans are dying at a young age. There was Heath Ledger a few years ago. Then Michael Jackson a few months ago. Now Britney Murphy. They all seemed to be healthy and then all of a sudden they are dead.
First class was okay. He was actually on time today. First I reviewed the words. We read them together and I had him write them 3 times each. Then we had the test. He attempted 4 words. The ones that he attempted were way off. He only got one right. He could spell the word "eat". I just don’t know what to do. What do you do when students can’t retain the information? He was sleepy today in class. He didn’t go to sleep any in class. He was having trouble with the rhyming words. I just gave him the answers. He does good finding the patterns in words. I just feel like I'm just not helping at all. Currently his average in spelling is a 17.5. How do you help students spell words in a language they barely know? Maybe something will stick. He can't even spell simple words like "See". That was one of our words. He didn't even attempt it.
2nd class was good. The students did good on their newspaper test. We did one speaking lesson about kids getting fat. Its funny how they are telling me that kids are getting fat from eating too much fast food and they are sitting in class eating french fries. ha. Then we read a story-“The night before Christmas” then I let them have free time. The lights kept going off during class. I don’t know why. During free time they were playing a game. One student puts a coat over their head and tries to find the other students while the other students keep moving around so he can't find them. Right near the end of class it was funny when all the students left the room and the person who was "it" was left all alone in the classroom with me. He asked me how long they had been gone. They had just left when he asked.
3rd class was okay. Both students were present. They wanted to have a free day. I can’t give them a free day of no studying. That’s what Wednesday is for. One student didn’t bring her book and the copier was off and I didn't want to wait for it to boot up again so I just wrote all the answers on the board and let her copy them. Today we talked about questions starting with “where” and “why”. They actually did pretty good on these questions.Then we listened and read “the night before Christmas”
Conversation is over! I'm so glad! I had a break today during that time!
we actually had a decent class in my last class. First I reviewed the words. They all did good on the review. I reviewed the pictures and the spelling of the words. Then we had the test. They had to correctly spell the words and identify the articles of clothing. I did give them some hints. Then I told them they could play a game. They played a round of the ghost game and then just sat down and played on Nintendo or phone game or just talked. I didn’t really need to cover anything new today. I’m trying to pace myself so I don’t finish the book too fast. We already finished 2 units out of 9 so we have 7 units left. They did good on the test. It was on articles of clothing. One student did really bad bc he didn’t even try-he got a 12. I gave them 2 stickers if they made over 90. 4 students made 92 or higher. 1 student got one sticker for 88. 2 students made below 60. I gave 3 of the students a new eraser.One student said she used hers up. Then another student said the eraser came out. Also gave one to another student in class.
After work I went to E-mart to eat at Mcdonalds. While I was there I bought 2PM's first full length album. 2PM is a Korean pop band-6 guys-age 19-21. I like thier song "Heartbeat" and "Again and Again". (Go to Youtube.com search for "Heartbeat" 2PM..good video).I like the new cd. While I was there I was looking for some Korean Christmas cards as a souvenier, but there are very few cards in Korean. Its odd that 90% of their Christmas cards are in English. What if you are Korean and you can't read English? Before long English is going to take over the world and if you don't know it then you are screwed.
I think my washing machine is doing something funny again. yuck. It gets almost to the end like minutes before completion and then there is some kind of E2 error and my clothes are soaking wet. Somehow water gets into the drying cycle. I'm going to have to get my team leader to call the repairman again. Probably won't come until Wednesday. Once I tell her on Tuesday she will call and they will probably say they will come on Wednesday. Hopefully they can figure out what is wrong.
1 more day of real work.....then 2 days of parties...then a 3 day weekend!!
9 more days left in 2009....
Monday, December 21, 2009
Day 368
Sunday December 20
Well its the 368th day and thats all I got to say!
Its cold!
4 day workweek coming up....and 2 of those days will be easy because of Christmas Parties/movie day....
current temp: 23 F
Exchange: 1177 won = 1 usd
Well its the 368th day and thats all I got to say!
Its cold!
4 day workweek coming up....and 2 of those days will be easy because of Christmas Parties/movie day....
current temp: 23 F
Exchange: 1177 won = 1 usd
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Day 367...Seoul Festival of Lights
Saturday December 19
Pictures: click on album to view
With the addition of Gwanghwamun Square, this year’s Seoul Festival of Lights will be bigger in scale and composition than any of its previous runs.
I took the bus and got to the area around 6pm. I didn't exactly know how to get to the Gwanghwamun area so I walked around for a while. I finally found it as the ceremony was beginning. I couldn't really see much, but there wasn't much to see. A woman and a man talked in Korean so I had no clue what they said. Then the digital media started playing on the side of the KT building.
Then I went to look at the outdoor ice rink. I watched people skate for a little while.
Then I walked down to the stream. As I was walking back I saw people dressed as superheros out in front of the statue. A lot of people were taking photos with them.
Then I was walking around trying to figure out how to get to the bus stop when I saw Lotte Dept store so I decided to go in to the food court. While I was looking for the food court I found Krispy Kreme and went inside. They gave everyone in line a free warm glazed doughnut. yum. I also ordered a glazed doughnut and a chocolate doughnut to go. Then i was going down to the food court. I actually think the food court was closing down so I didn't try to order anything. Then I made my way out.
When I left the dept store I had a pleasant surprise. I saw the personal trainer from the gym. He was outside of the dept store. I hadn't seen him in a month. He said he missed me and he was happy to see me. (I miss everyone from the gym! I'm going to go say goodbye to them in February)It was good to see him. We talked briefly. His hair looked nice. He used to have shorter hair and now he's growing it out some. Asian men have the best hairstyles. A lot of them have longer hairstyles.
Seoul Festival of Lights
When: Dec 19-Jan 24
Where: Seoul Plaza, Gwanghwamun Square
Price: Free
Gwanghwamun Ice-Skating Rink
*Operating period : Dec. 11, 2009 ~ Feb. 15, 2010
*Operating hours : 10:00 ~ 22:00 (weekdays),10:00 ~ 22:00 (weekends, public holidays)
*Fee : 1,000 won per person per one hour (including rentals of skate and helmet)
Pictures: click on album to view
 |
| Seoul Festival of Lights |
With the addition of Gwanghwamun Square, this year’s Seoul Festival of Lights will be bigger in scale and composition than any of its previous runs.
I took the bus and got to the area around 6pm. I didn't exactly know how to get to the Gwanghwamun area so I walked around for a while. I finally found it as the ceremony was beginning. I couldn't really see much, but there wasn't much to see. A woman and a man talked in Korean so I had no clue what they said. Then the digital media started playing on the side of the KT building.
Then I went to look at the outdoor ice rink. I watched people skate for a little while.
Then I walked down to the stream. As I was walking back I saw people dressed as superheros out in front of the statue. A lot of people were taking photos with them.
Then I was walking around trying to figure out how to get to the bus stop when I saw Lotte Dept store so I decided to go in to the food court. While I was looking for the food court I found Krispy Kreme and went inside. They gave everyone in line a free warm glazed doughnut. yum. I also ordered a glazed doughnut and a chocolate doughnut to go. Then i was going down to the food court. I actually think the food court was closing down so I didn't try to order anything. Then I made my way out.
When I left the dept store I had a pleasant surprise. I saw the personal trainer from the gym. He was outside of the dept store. I hadn't seen him in a month. He said he missed me and he was happy to see me. (I miss everyone from the gym! I'm going to go say goodbye to them in February)It was good to see him. We talked briefly. His hair looked nice. He used to have shorter hair and now he's growing it out some. Asian men have the best hairstyles. A lot of them have longer hairstyles.
Seoul Festival of Lights
When: Dec 19-Jan 24
Where: Seoul Plaza, Gwanghwamun Square
Price: Free
Gwanghwamun Ice-Skating Rink
*Operating period : Dec. 11, 2009 ~ Feb. 15, 2010
*Operating hours : 10:00 ~ 22:00 (weekdays),10:00 ~ 22:00 (weekends, public holidays)
*Fee : 1,000 won per person per one hour (including rentals of skate and helmet)
Day 366
Friday Dec 18
1st class was okay.He made 50 on the newspaper and he doesn’t look for the answers in the articles. I give him the exact articles so he could look and find the answers. The other students don't get to look at the articles during the test. Before the test I had him write the words 3 times each then we took the test. He only got one word right. I just don’t know how to help him retain the words. We go over the words numerous times. We read them at least twice. We spell them together. We write the words 5 times each plus exercises in the book. He does great on the exercises with finding patterns like words with eep or with ean. I just hope something I do help. He was so adorable in his little hat..its kinda like a toboggan that is in the shape of an animal head.
My 2nd class was good. They are always good in every class. Definatly my most enthusiastic class. We were doing our newspaper articles. They did a great job. They were all begging to read first and answer the questions. They enjoyed the pictures also.
The 3rd class was good.Only one student was present. we had a good class. we listened, read together and answered the questions from our newspaper articles.
The last class wasn't as bad as Wednesday but not good either. One of the boys keeps asking for a game. He told me “no game, no study”. I told them if they want a game they have to behave. Even after I tell him over and over to be good he still gets out his cellphone and plays with it during class and puts forth no effort whatsoever. As long as they won’t read and play with cellphones there will be no game. One student really gets on my nerves. He doesn’t even try. He is always asking me to move so he can see the answer. He wont even look in the book for the answer. He expects me to just give him the answer. They won’t repeat after me as a class. I have to keep restarting the cd because no one is paying attention. I think this class will be one where their level at the beginning and the end is going to be the same if not worse. I’m not doing any good because they just don’t give a shit. They have a test on unit 2 on Monday. I don’t know if I will even bother giving a review. Its not like anyone will pay attention.They will sit there and talk during the review. You basically give them the answers to the test before the test and then they do poorly. I predict that no one will study and that they will do badly.
1st class was okay.He made 50 on the newspaper and he doesn’t look for the answers in the articles. I give him the exact articles so he could look and find the answers. The other students don't get to look at the articles during the test. Before the test I had him write the words 3 times each then we took the test. He only got one word right. I just don’t know how to help him retain the words. We go over the words numerous times. We read them at least twice. We spell them together. We write the words 5 times each plus exercises in the book. He does great on the exercises with finding patterns like words with eep or with ean. I just hope something I do help. He was so adorable in his little hat..its kinda like a toboggan that is in the shape of an animal head.
My 2nd class was good. They are always good in every class. Definatly my most enthusiastic class. We were doing our newspaper articles. They did a great job. They were all begging to read first and answer the questions. They enjoyed the pictures also.
The 3rd class was good.Only one student was present. we had a good class. we listened, read together and answered the questions from our newspaper articles.
The last class wasn't as bad as Wednesday but not good either. One of the boys keeps asking for a game. He told me “no game, no study”. I told them if they want a game they have to behave. Even after I tell him over and over to be good he still gets out his cellphone and plays with it during class and puts forth no effort whatsoever. As long as they won’t read and play with cellphones there will be no game. One student really gets on my nerves. He doesn’t even try. He is always asking me to move so he can see the answer. He wont even look in the book for the answer. He expects me to just give him the answer. They won’t repeat after me as a class. I have to keep restarting the cd because no one is paying attention. I think this class will be one where their level at the beginning and the end is going to be the same if not worse. I’m not doing any good because they just don’t give a shit. They have a test on unit 2 on Monday. I don’t know if I will even bother giving a review. Its not like anyone will pay attention.They will sit there and talk during the review. You basically give them the answers to the test before the test and then they do poorly. I predict that no one will study and that they will do badly.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Day 365......One year in South Korea...
Thursday December 17
Its officially one year!Its been a good year. Its definatly an adventure. I've had my good days and my bad days, but overall its been a positive experience.
If I would have stayed at my old school I would have been on my way home right now, but I have 2 1/2 more months. I can survive that long. Time has actually been passing pretty quickly lately.
Current weather: 12 degrees celcius (2:59AM Dec 18)
Current exchange rate: 1189 won = 1 USD
It is very very cold!! 12 degrees!! Winter hasn't even officially began yet!It's nice and toasty inside. I only turn on my heat for a few hours a day and it gets hot quickly. My thermostat is turned up high and its 75 degrees inside! but when you go outside it is painfully cold. The cold really doesnt feel good on my face!
I had a pretty good day at school today.
My 1st class was good. We went over 4 pages in writing. They did a good job with most of the concepts.I gave a few mins free time.
The 2nd class was good. 2 of the boys go to Home Plus between classes and are always late. They come in with their ramen and ate it during class. They were almost 10 minutes late. We did one lesson today on number words and a play. We also did an extra lesson. They did good on both lessons and behaved well. Some of the kids did the extra work and then threw it in the trashcan at the end of class. I don't care. It's just busy work anyway but it really is helping them learn how to write correctly. No one had their homework today. I gave them a test on what we did on Tuesday in class. The highest grade was a 60. The 2 boys who were late guessed on the test. One of them made a 30 and the other a 50.
My 3rd class was great. They seemed to enjoyed all the articles…They wanted to skip listening to end quicker so I let them just read as a class instead of listening to a recording first.I made a powerpoint with pictures from the articles. They liked looking at all the pictures. 2 of the girls were having fun with the power point just making it play over and over.haha. One of the kids sang a part of a song and wanted me to help her with the words. She was singing "Santa Claus is coming to town". The students wanted to hear that song, but I didn't have a recording. I let them listen to the only Christmas song I have on my computer--The 12 days of Christmas. They seemed to like it. One kid wanted to know if I had candy…I gave everyone suckers. The kids were looking at my computer so I showed them a picture of my dog, Princess. They thought she was cute. They wanted to know who was taking care of her. Then they asked about my family. After I told them my younger sister's age they wanted to know my age. They said I look younger than my age. They told me that the Korean teacher is only 25. I didn't know I was older than her. She looks young, but you can't ever guess a person's age in Korea because they all look younger.
We had a test in my conversation class. Halfway through the test one of the students asked me "is this a test?". I gave them a listening part first. I played each exampled at least twice and I had an example that I read twice. Then they had a written part to write out conversations. I gave them examples to help them out. Everyone did well on the test. I made it pretty easy. My new student who has been in class for 2 weeks made a perfect score. I was very impressed. 2 of the boys were listening to music on an MP3 player during the test. At least everyone was quiet today and well behaved. The main troublemaker wasn't there. There is a huge difference in behavior when he is there.
My last class was good. The girls didn't do their homework. They were guessing on the test. They actually ended up with pretty good grades-60 and 80.I had a new student. He's very friendly and gets along well with the girls. Most of the new students are usually shy on their first day but he wasn't. Today was a writing class. we were talking about writing dialouge.I think it was a little hard for them. We only covered 2 pages.They kept going off topic and getting out of their seats a lot. I didn't really mind. They are well behaved.The new boy likes to run his fingernails down the chalkboard…oh my..that is the worst sound
Its officially one year!Its been a good year. Its definatly an adventure. I've had my good days and my bad days, but overall its been a positive experience.
If I would have stayed at my old school I would have been on my way home right now, but I have 2 1/2 more months. I can survive that long. Time has actually been passing pretty quickly lately.
Current weather: 12 degrees celcius (2:59AM Dec 18)
Current exchange rate: 1189 won = 1 USD
It is very very cold!! 12 degrees!! Winter hasn't even officially began yet!It's nice and toasty inside. I only turn on my heat for a few hours a day and it gets hot quickly. My thermostat is turned up high and its 75 degrees inside! but when you go outside it is painfully cold. The cold really doesnt feel good on my face!
I had a pretty good day at school today.
My 1st class was good. We went over 4 pages in writing. They did a good job with most of the concepts.I gave a few mins free time.
The 2nd class was good. 2 of the boys go to Home Plus between classes and are always late. They come in with their ramen and ate it during class. They were almost 10 minutes late. We did one lesson today on number words and a play. We also did an extra lesson. They did good on both lessons and behaved well. Some of the kids did the extra work and then threw it in the trashcan at the end of class. I don't care. It's just busy work anyway but it really is helping them learn how to write correctly. No one had their homework today. I gave them a test on what we did on Tuesday in class. The highest grade was a 60. The 2 boys who were late guessed on the test. One of them made a 30 and the other a 50.
My 3rd class was great. They seemed to enjoyed all the articles…They wanted to skip listening to end quicker so I let them just read as a class instead of listening to a recording first.I made a powerpoint with pictures from the articles. They liked looking at all the pictures. 2 of the girls were having fun with the power point just making it play over and over.haha. One of the kids sang a part of a song and wanted me to help her with the words. She was singing "Santa Claus is coming to town". The students wanted to hear that song, but I didn't have a recording. I let them listen to the only Christmas song I have on my computer--The 12 days of Christmas. They seemed to like it. One kid wanted to know if I had candy…I gave everyone suckers. The kids were looking at my computer so I showed them a picture of my dog, Princess. They thought she was cute. They wanted to know who was taking care of her. Then they asked about my family. After I told them my younger sister's age they wanted to know my age. They said I look younger than my age. They told me that the Korean teacher is only 25. I didn't know I was older than her. She looks young, but you can't ever guess a person's age in Korea because they all look younger.
We had a test in my conversation class. Halfway through the test one of the students asked me "is this a test?". I gave them a listening part first. I played each exampled at least twice and I had an example that I read twice. Then they had a written part to write out conversations. I gave them examples to help them out. Everyone did well on the test. I made it pretty easy. My new student who has been in class for 2 weeks made a perfect score. I was very impressed. 2 of the boys were listening to music on an MP3 player during the test. At least everyone was quiet today and well behaved. The main troublemaker wasn't there. There is a huge difference in behavior when he is there.
My last class was good. The girls didn't do their homework. They were guessing on the test. They actually ended up with pretty good grades-60 and 80.I had a new student. He's very friendly and gets along well with the girls. Most of the new students are usually shy on their first day but he wasn't. Today was a writing class. we were talking about writing dialouge.I think it was a little hard for them. We only covered 2 pages.They kept going off topic and getting out of their seats a lot. I didn't really mind. They are well behaved.The new boy likes to run his fingernails down the chalkboard…oh my..that is the worst sound
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Day 364
Wednesday December 16
1st class is still a challenge and I don't really know how much good I am doing.he couldn’t spell any of the words. I told him we’d do it again on Friday.He obviously doesn't spend anytime studying the words. Today was our newspaper class. 1st we listened. Then read together twice. I would have him read by himself but he can barely repeat after me. He was very tired. Put head on desk and kept falling asleep. I kept waking him up to read. He told me he was sleepy. I cant just let him sleep in class. He cant find answers so I just tell him the answers. At the end of class we were reading and he just started crying. I don’t know why. I just ended class there. We only had 3 mins anyway.
My 2nd class was writing. We had a good class. We talked about exclamations, questions, statements. One of the students was telling me what the Korean names for exclamation marks, question marks were. We covered a few pages and then I let them play a game. They all needed help turning statements into questions and exclamations. Except one student-she did it on her own. One of our questions was about using exact words. They had to write a sentence about a giant pumpkin. I told them to write about a giant pumpkin and what happened but they weren’t too creative. Some of them just copied my example. I said “I saw a giant blue pumpkin. It blew up like a bomb.” Some of them just said they saw a giant ugly pumpkin. I was trying to get them to be creative.haha.
My 3rd class was writing. Both students didn't bring their book. We did 2 lessons plus extra material. They did good on all the material that we learned today. They didn’t want to do the extra material but I cant let them have tons of free time.
My Conversation class was okay. I gave them a test. Then they had free time. Some people did okay on the test. Others not so well. I can tell they don't pay attention or study. When the test comes around they act like they've don't know how to do it. I used examples straight from the book. The boys like to tell on the other boys..he said a bad word. I understood on of the words he said. I said “I know what it means”---(fuck)
My last class was on their usual bad behavior. They don’t listen. They wont read after me. They play on their cellphones all during class. I think they are sending texts to each other. That class is a waste of time.I ask the questions over and over and over and they don’t even look for answers. I ask for the answer and they just say "I dont know". They won't even search for the answer. Sometimes I just get frustrated and just give the answer. 2 kids keep asking for games. I tell them if they are really good they will get a game then the whole class ruins it. I’ll make sure they never get a game. I’m going to start taking away cellphones also. Its time to play dirty. I just wish there was some way to get these kids to behave. They don't even pay attention to me. I just stand up there and talk for the sake of talking. I had 5 articles that I wanted to cover, but because of their bad behavior I was only able to fully cover 2 of them. I told them to do the rest of the articles on their own for homework and that I was taking it up for a grade. I'm going to put that stuff on the test even if we didnt talk about it in class. It's their own fault for not paying attention. They don't even care if they get a bad grade anyway.
1st class is still a challenge and I don't really know how much good I am doing.he couldn’t spell any of the words. I told him we’d do it again on Friday.He obviously doesn't spend anytime studying the words. Today was our newspaper class. 1st we listened. Then read together twice. I would have him read by himself but he can barely repeat after me. He was very tired. Put head on desk and kept falling asleep. I kept waking him up to read. He told me he was sleepy. I cant just let him sleep in class. He cant find answers so I just tell him the answers. At the end of class we were reading and he just started crying. I don’t know why. I just ended class there. We only had 3 mins anyway.
My 2nd class was writing. We had a good class. We talked about exclamations, questions, statements. One of the students was telling me what the Korean names for exclamation marks, question marks were. We covered a few pages and then I let them play a game. They all needed help turning statements into questions and exclamations. Except one student-she did it on her own. One of our questions was about using exact words. They had to write a sentence about a giant pumpkin. I told them to write about a giant pumpkin and what happened but they weren’t too creative. Some of them just copied my example. I said “I saw a giant blue pumpkin. It blew up like a bomb.” Some of them just said they saw a giant ugly pumpkin. I was trying to get them to be creative.haha.
My 3rd class was writing. Both students didn't bring their book. We did 2 lessons plus extra material. They did good on all the material that we learned today. They didn’t want to do the extra material but I cant let them have tons of free time.
My Conversation class was okay. I gave them a test. Then they had free time. Some people did okay on the test. Others not so well. I can tell they don't pay attention or study. When the test comes around they act like they've don't know how to do it. I used examples straight from the book. The boys like to tell on the other boys..he said a bad word. I understood on of the words he said. I said “I know what it means”---(fuck)
My last class was on their usual bad behavior. They don’t listen. They wont read after me. They play on their cellphones all during class. I think they are sending texts to each other. That class is a waste of time.I ask the questions over and over and over and they don’t even look for answers. I ask for the answer and they just say "I dont know". They won't even search for the answer. Sometimes I just get frustrated and just give the answer. 2 kids keep asking for games. I tell them if they are really good they will get a game then the whole class ruins it. I’ll make sure they never get a game. I’m going to start taking away cellphones also. Its time to play dirty. I just wish there was some way to get these kids to behave. They don't even pay attention to me. I just stand up there and talk for the sake of talking. I had 5 articles that I wanted to cover, but because of their bad behavior I was only able to fully cover 2 of them. I told them to do the rest of the articles on their own for homework and that I was taking it up for a grade. I'm going to put that stuff on the test even if we didnt talk about it in class. It's their own fault for not paying attention. They don't even care if they get a bad grade anyway.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Day 363
Tuesday December 15
1st class was good. When I came in one of my students asked me if I liked chocolate. I told her I did. So then she gave me a box of bread chips. She said it had chocolate in it. The box says natural unleavened yogurt sourdough. (I don’t think there’s any chocolate in it.there are raisins which she probably mistook as chocolate). It’s a bit bland, but it’s the thought that counts. She also wrote a note with it. The note says “Hello Valerie teacher! My name is Alice! Sorry I didn’t present to your birthday. This present is small. Sorry sorry. I very very love you!” How sweet!
I had one new student. Now I have 2 students in the class with the same name. There was already a Sally and the new girl is Sally. First I gave them their newspaper test. They all did well on it. The most that anyone missed was 2.We had a good lesson today. The title of the lesson was “Is it good news or bad news?” There were various situations and they had to tell their opinions. For example: Your dad just bought a new car. It’s bigger than the one you had. A) Is this good news or bad news? B) What will your mom think? Then I asked them to talk to their partners. Then they had free time for a few minutes. I didn’t have time to teach them the song.
My 2nd class was good. We went over questions starting with How. The 2 boys were talking to each other as usual so I had to keep telling them to be quiet. The students had trouble making questions so I basically gave them the answers. Then I had them talk to a partner. I had to be one boy’s partner because there is an uneven number. Then we learned the 12 days of Christmas. They liked the recording. I played the Disney version. Then we read together. There were 5 students and me so we did 2 numbers each. Once they got the hang of it, it went really well. Then they had a few minutes free time.
3rd class was great. I had 2 classes combined for the newspaper class. They were very well behaved. Everyone was quiet, listening and reading along. They had some trouble finding the answers. Our articles today were about a reindeer in NY, Indonesia’s tallest man, world’s smartest man, and a robotic arm. We listened, read together and answered questions. We listened to the 4th article and I asked them to answer the questions for homework.
Last class was great. We talked about watching tv. We were talking about our favorite shows and I told them about the show I liked-Boys Over Flowers (a Korean drama). They asked me about what characters I liked the most. They asked me to rank them in the order that I liked them. Then they were telling me about shows and describing them and using actions to describe them . we were also talking about a lot of famous music artists in korea. They were asking me about ones that I liked and what songs I liked. Then we listened to 12 days of Christmas. We attempted to sing it. Then we just read it together. I think they actually enjoyed it. They loved playing with my powerpoint presentation I made for the song with pictures of all the things In the song.
I tried a new snack today. Its a chocolate snack and it tastes just like cocoa puffs cereal. Thats the 2nd snack that I've tried in Korea that reminds me of a cereal.
1st class was good. When I came in one of my students asked me if I liked chocolate. I told her I did. So then she gave me a box of bread chips. She said it had chocolate in it. The box says natural unleavened yogurt sourdough. (I don’t think there’s any chocolate in it.there are raisins which she probably mistook as chocolate). It’s a bit bland, but it’s the thought that counts. She also wrote a note with it. The note says “Hello Valerie teacher! My name is Alice! Sorry I didn’t present to your birthday. This present is small. Sorry sorry. I very very love you!” How sweet!
I had one new student. Now I have 2 students in the class with the same name. There was already a Sally and the new girl is Sally. First I gave them their newspaper test. They all did well on it. The most that anyone missed was 2.We had a good lesson today. The title of the lesson was “Is it good news or bad news?” There were various situations and they had to tell their opinions. For example: Your dad just bought a new car. It’s bigger than the one you had. A) Is this good news or bad news? B) What will your mom think? Then I asked them to talk to their partners. Then they had free time for a few minutes. I didn’t have time to teach them the song.
My 2nd class was good. We went over questions starting with How. The 2 boys were talking to each other as usual so I had to keep telling them to be quiet. The students had trouble making questions so I basically gave them the answers. Then I had them talk to a partner. I had to be one boy’s partner because there is an uneven number. Then we learned the 12 days of Christmas. They liked the recording. I played the Disney version. Then we read together. There were 5 students and me so we did 2 numbers each. Once they got the hang of it, it went really well. Then they had a few minutes free time.
3rd class was great. I had 2 classes combined for the newspaper class. They were very well behaved. Everyone was quiet, listening and reading along. They had some trouble finding the answers. Our articles today were about a reindeer in NY, Indonesia’s tallest man, world’s smartest man, and a robotic arm. We listened, read together and answered questions. We listened to the 4th article and I asked them to answer the questions for homework.
Last class was great. We talked about watching tv. We were talking about our favorite shows and I told them about the show I liked-Boys Over Flowers (a Korean drama). They asked me about what characters I liked the most. They asked me to rank them in the order that I liked them. Then they were telling me about shows and describing them and using actions to describe them . we were also talking about a lot of famous music artists in korea. They were asking me about ones that I liked and what songs I liked. Then we listened to 12 days of Christmas. We attempted to sing it. Then we just read it together. I think they actually enjoyed it. They loved playing with my powerpoint presentation I made for the song with pictures of all the things In the song.
I tried a new snack today. Its a chocolate snack and it tastes just like cocoa puffs cereal. Thats the 2nd snack that I've tried in Korea that reminds me of a cereal.
Day 362
Monday December 14
Randomness: The iphone recently launched in South Korea by KT. Why does KT get to carry the iphone and Verizon won't?? What is the big freakin deal with AT&T having exclusive access to the iphone?? I want the iphone on Verizon!
My 1st class was okay. My student showed up at 2:50(class starts at 2:30)..I reviewed the words that were going to be on test. I was trying to see if that would help refresh his memory on the spelling so he would do better on the test. We read twice and spelled together once. Then he took test. He only attempted 4 of the words and got 3 of them right. We did 2 1/2 pages in class. I gave him half a page homework and told him to write each word 5 times. We have another test on Wednesday.
My 2nd class was good. I gave Kids times test first. All of the students did good. Then we did a speaking lesson on giving up seats to elderly on the bus. Each kid read a question then we talked to partners. I had to be 2 peoples partners because they didn’t want to be each other’s partners. Then I taught them a song. 12 days of Christmas. We listened first with a powerpoint then we read together. They did a good job. Each person had to be 2 numbers. I think they enjoyed it. Then they had free time to play a game.
My 3rd class was okay. We went over a speaking lesson on questions starting with “How”. They did okay but I had to help them out. Then I had each of them read the questions and the answers. Then I taught them a song. 12 days of Christmas. First we listened and I showed a powerpoint show. The boy didn’t even watch it. He was so disinterested. I told him it was a fun song. He’s only interested in free time. We read the song together. Then I let them listen to another version. I had 2 versions-disney and chipmunks. Afterwards the boy kept telling me how boring the song was. He kept letting me know how much he hated it. I told him it was a fun song. It is a fun song in America. He’s just being difficult.
I didn't have to go to my conversation class. I was going to give them a test. Oh well. At least its over! She told me after I had already made all the copies of the test for 16 students. Oh well. Just wasted a lot of paper!
Last class was a nightmare as always. This class is so frustrating. I’m basically talking to myself for 50 minutes. If I believed in hitting kids—this class would get a lot of beatings. I don’t even know what to do to punish them. I was trying to get them to listen in class and they wont be quiet. I played the cd 4 times hoping they would listen at least once. Then they wont repeat after me. They just play around all class on their cell phones and keep talking to each other and throwing things around the room. Maybe I should start taking their cell phones away. They think its funny when I tell them to be quiet and they laugh at me when I’m mad at them. They just basically ignore me all class. They don’t even make an effort. I feel like giving up and not even caring if they learn anything. I can’t get the whole class to read and repeat . I try to get them to ask each other questions but they wont do what I say. I told one guy to ask a girl a question and he reads it where you cant even understand him. I told him to speak clearly but he still didn’t. This class is just some joke to them. Today we were talking about articles of clothing. They won't be getting a game anytime soon. They think im a mean teacher because I wont give them a game but Im not rewarding bad behavior. They need to learn that if they want a game they have to be on their best behavior.
Randomness: The iphone recently launched in South Korea by KT. Why does KT get to carry the iphone and Verizon won't?? What is the big freakin deal with AT&T having exclusive access to the iphone?? I want the iphone on Verizon!
My 1st class was okay. My student showed up at 2:50(class starts at 2:30)..I reviewed the words that were going to be on test. I was trying to see if that would help refresh his memory on the spelling so he would do better on the test. We read twice and spelled together once. Then he took test. He only attempted 4 of the words and got 3 of them right. We did 2 1/2 pages in class. I gave him half a page homework and told him to write each word 5 times. We have another test on Wednesday.
My 2nd class was good. I gave Kids times test first. All of the students did good. Then we did a speaking lesson on giving up seats to elderly on the bus. Each kid read a question then we talked to partners. I had to be 2 peoples partners because they didn’t want to be each other’s partners. Then I taught them a song. 12 days of Christmas. We listened first with a powerpoint then we read together. They did a good job. Each person had to be 2 numbers. I think they enjoyed it. Then they had free time to play a game.
My 3rd class was okay. We went over a speaking lesson on questions starting with “How”. They did okay but I had to help them out. Then I had each of them read the questions and the answers. Then I taught them a song. 12 days of Christmas. First we listened and I showed a powerpoint show. The boy didn’t even watch it. He was so disinterested. I told him it was a fun song. He’s only interested in free time. We read the song together. Then I let them listen to another version. I had 2 versions-disney and chipmunks. Afterwards the boy kept telling me how boring the song was. He kept letting me know how much he hated it. I told him it was a fun song. It is a fun song in America. He’s just being difficult.
I didn't have to go to my conversation class. I was going to give them a test. Oh well. At least its over! She told me after I had already made all the copies of the test for 16 students. Oh well. Just wasted a lot of paper!
Last class was a nightmare as always. This class is so frustrating. I’m basically talking to myself for 50 minutes. If I believed in hitting kids—this class would get a lot of beatings. I don’t even know what to do to punish them. I was trying to get them to listen in class and they wont be quiet. I played the cd 4 times hoping they would listen at least once. Then they wont repeat after me. They just play around all class on their cell phones and keep talking to each other and throwing things around the room. Maybe I should start taking their cell phones away. They think its funny when I tell them to be quiet and they laugh at me when I’m mad at them. They just basically ignore me all class. They don’t even make an effort. I feel like giving up and not even caring if they learn anything. I can’t get the whole class to read and repeat . I try to get them to ask each other questions but they wont do what I say. I told one guy to ask a girl a question and he reads it where you cant even understand him. I told him to speak clearly but he still didn’t. This class is just some joke to them. Today we were talking about articles of clothing. They won't be getting a game anytime soon. They think im a mean teacher because I wont give them a game but Im not rewarding bad behavior. They need to learn that if they want a game they have to be on their best behavior.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Day 361
Sunday December 13
Not much to say today. I slept half of the day away. I woke up at 5:30pm. I can't remember what time I went to bed but it was probably close to 5 am.
I've just been sitting around the house. The only places I went were GS-25, Pizza school and E-Mart.
Just a lazy day.
I have something exciting planned for next weekend. I was planning to go see Handal's "Messiah" performed by expats and Koreans but I changed my mind. I'm going to the opening ceremony of the winter light festival. There will be a big display of lights and an outdoor skating rink. I'm sure I'll take lots of pictures. I've been to a lot of festivals, but never to the opening ceremony. I'm sure it will be crowded and there will be lots of chaos!
Not much to say today. I slept half of the day away. I woke up at 5:30pm. I can't remember what time I went to bed but it was probably close to 5 am.
I've just been sitting around the house. The only places I went were GS-25, Pizza school and E-Mart.
Just a lazy day.
I have something exciting planned for next weekend. I was planning to go see Handal's "Messiah" performed by expats and Koreans but I changed my mind. I'm going to the opening ceremony of the winter light festival. There will be a big display of lights and an outdoor skating rink. I'm sure I'll take lots of pictures. I've been to a lot of festivals, but never to the opening ceremony. I'm sure it will be crowded and there will be lots of chaos!
Incheon Airport awarded as world's best
Korea's Incheon International Airport has been selected as the world's best airport by an international survey, its officials said Friday, according to Yonhap News.
At a ceremony in Los Angeles, Incheon International Airport won the Best Airport Award from Business Traveler Magazine, along with Changi Airport of Singapore and Dubai International Airport, airport officials said.
At a ceremony in Los Angeles, Incheon International Airport won the Best Airport Award from Business Traveler Magazine, along with Changi Airport of Singapore and Dubai International Airport, airport officials said.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Day 360....DMZ and 28th birthday....
Saturday December 12
Pictures:
Click on album to view
**I usually like to give information on prices and how to get to attractions, but with the DMZ tour you have to be with a tour group and prices and places you get to see vary by what group you go with. I went with the Travel and Culture group from Meetup.com. They offer a DMZ tour a few times a year. I recommend it.**
DMZ: a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea. The DMZ cuts the Korean Peninsula roughly in half, crossing the 38th parallel on an angle, with the west end of the DMZ lying south of the parallel and the east end lying north of it. It is 155 miles (248 km...) long and approximately 2.5 miles (4 km) wide, and is the most heavily militarized border in the world.
Fact: Korea is the only divided country in the world.
Its my birthday! I'm 28 years old.
I went on a meetup with the travel and culture group. We got up bright and early. My group met at 7:45. They gave us a choice of 3 pickup locations. There were 42 of us in all. Expats and a few Koreans. There were a few people that I knew from previous trips and I met some new people.
Some of my order might be off, but I'll just describe the places we went to.
The traffic flow pattern around the areas in the DMZ was interesting. They had these barricades set up sorta like an obstacle course. Its set up like that so you have to drive slowly and not rush through. All the areas are restricted also so you have to have permission to get through.
We got to Imjingak around 9am. Its an area right outside the DMZ. While we were there we saw the bridge to freedom, a steam locomotive, peace land, and other monuments. We could go to the roof of Imjingak and view the area from the observation point and use the binoculars that were set up there.
Next we went to The 3rd tunnel. First we went inside to watch a video that told us a little history about the Korean war. It started in 1950 and ended in 1953 in an armistice. They wanted it to end in a peace treaty. To this day the two countries are still not on good terms.
Then, we went to the tunnel. (North Korea dug tunnels so they could attack the south unexpectedly.) We couldn't take in our cameras to this area because photography was forbidden inside the tunnel. Walking down the tunnel was okay. We had to wear hard hats because the ceiling was so low. I'm only 5'2 and I hit my head a few times.The walk back up was terrible (for someone who isn't in great shape)!! It was all uphill. I had to stop a few times to catch my breath.
We went to an observatory to look out at the DMZ area. They had lots of the binoculars so you could look out. I started to take some pictures and the soldier came up to me and told me we couldn't take pictures and that I had to erase the pictures. He showed me the line where we could take pictures. You couldnt get a good view from that line. I wonder why they are so particular about not taking photos. Its just open space. A lot of people loved taking photos with the Korean soldiers. They seemed happy to see us. They were very friendly to us and waved and allowed people to take photos with them.
Then we headed to our next destination-Cheorwon. We had a tour guide and we were the lead bus on the tour. There were other people who were following us to take the tour also. Our first stop was The second tunnel. We went down another tunnel. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside of there either. We could take pictures from the outside. We had to wear hard hats in this tunnel too because the ceiling was so low. Going down was good, but going back up was quite a hike. I sure got my exercise today!
we went to another observatory-Cheorwon Peace Observatory. The walk up to the observatory was another hike! Almost everything in South Korea requires walking uphill. At this site you weren't suppose to take photos but there wasn't anyone enforcing it so we did it anyway.
Then we went to see some other site with a old train and a crane park. I stayed on the bus. We were only going to be there for 10 minutes. Everyone said it wasn't worth it and it was boring so it was good I didn't get off the bus.
Then we went to see the North Korean labor party building. It was used by North Korea before the Korean war when that part was North Korea. After the war the lines were moved and its now a part of South Korea. Its just a shell of a building that was bombed.
Then we started heading home. We stopped at Mcdonalds to eat on the way home. There was a lot of traffic so we changed our routes for subway drop offs. We got home later than we expected. I got off at Sinsa station and took line 3 home. I didn't want to get on one line and transfer to another so I just took like 3 to Nokbeon and took the bus to E-Mart.
We had a full day. We saw a lot of stuff. It was a good trip and a little history lesson about the DMZ and the Korean war. We didn't actually get to enter into North Korea. They kept pointing and telling us where the border was for North Korea, but we couldn't get a good view.
Pictures:
Click on album to view
 |
| DMZ 1 |
**I usually like to give information on prices and how to get to attractions, but with the DMZ tour you have to be with a tour group and prices and places you get to see vary by what group you go with. I went with the Travel and Culture group from Meetup.com. They offer a DMZ tour a few times a year. I recommend it.**
DMZ: a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea. The DMZ cuts the Korean Peninsula roughly in half, crossing the 38th parallel on an angle, with the west end of the DMZ lying south of the parallel and the east end lying north of it. It is 155 miles (248 km...) long and approximately 2.5 miles (4 km) wide, and is the most heavily militarized border in the world.
Fact: Korea is the only divided country in the world.
Its my birthday! I'm 28 years old.
I went on a meetup with the travel and culture group. We got up bright and early. My group met at 7:45. They gave us a choice of 3 pickup locations. There were 42 of us in all. Expats and a few Koreans. There were a few people that I knew from previous trips and I met some new people.
Some of my order might be off, but I'll just describe the places we went to.
The traffic flow pattern around the areas in the DMZ was interesting. They had these barricades set up sorta like an obstacle course. Its set up like that so you have to drive slowly and not rush through. All the areas are restricted also so you have to have permission to get through.
We got to Imjingak around 9am. Its an area right outside the DMZ. While we were there we saw the bridge to freedom, a steam locomotive, peace land, and other monuments. We could go to the roof of Imjingak and view the area from the observation point and use the binoculars that were set up there.
Next we went to The 3rd tunnel. First we went inside to watch a video that told us a little history about the Korean war. It started in 1950 and ended in 1953 in an armistice. They wanted it to end in a peace treaty. To this day the two countries are still not on good terms.
Then, we went to the tunnel. (North Korea dug tunnels so they could attack the south unexpectedly.) We couldn't take in our cameras to this area because photography was forbidden inside the tunnel. Walking down the tunnel was okay. We had to wear hard hats because the ceiling was so low. I'm only 5'2 and I hit my head a few times.The walk back up was terrible (for someone who isn't in great shape)!! It was all uphill. I had to stop a few times to catch my breath.
We went to an observatory to look out at the DMZ area. They had lots of the binoculars so you could look out. I started to take some pictures and the soldier came up to me and told me we couldn't take pictures and that I had to erase the pictures. He showed me the line where we could take pictures. You couldnt get a good view from that line. I wonder why they are so particular about not taking photos. Its just open space. A lot of people loved taking photos with the Korean soldiers. They seemed happy to see us. They were very friendly to us and waved and allowed people to take photos with them.
 |
| This is what you could see from behind the line |
Then we headed to our next destination-Cheorwon. We had a tour guide and we were the lead bus on the tour. There were other people who were following us to take the tour also. Our first stop was The second tunnel. We went down another tunnel. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside of there either. We could take pictures from the outside. We had to wear hard hats in this tunnel too because the ceiling was so low. Going down was good, but going back up was quite a hike. I sure got my exercise today!
 |
| 2nd tunnel |
we went to another observatory-Cheorwon Peace Observatory. The walk up to the observatory was another hike! Almost everything in South Korea requires walking uphill. At this site you weren't suppose to take photos but there wasn't anyone enforcing it so we did it anyway.
Then we went to see some other site with a old train and a crane park. I stayed on the bus. We were only going to be there for 10 minutes. Everyone said it wasn't worth it and it was boring so it was good I didn't get off the bus.
Then we went to see the North Korean labor party building. It was used by North Korea before the Korean war when that part was North Korea. After the war the lines were moved and its now a part of South Korea. Its just a shell of a building that was bombed.
Then we started heading home. We stopped at Mcdonalds to eat on the way home. There was a lot of traffic so we changed our routes for subway drop offs. We got home later than we expected. I got off at Sinsa station and took line 3 home. I didn't want to get on one line and transfer to another so I just took like 3 to Nokbeon and took the bus to E-Mart.
We had a full day. We saw a lot of stuff. It was a good trip and a little history lesson about the DMZ and the Korean war. We didn't actually get to enter into North Korea. They kept pointing and telling us where the border was for North Korea, but we couldn't get a good view.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Day 359
Friday December 11
My team leader gave me a cake for my birthday. Its a chocolate cake from Paris Baguette.
I had a pretty easy day today. Only 3 classes.
My first class is a bit challenging, but I’m very patient and understanding..so I teach it very slowly.He didn’t do so well on the newspaper test. I gave him the articles so he could look for the answers but he didn’t look for the answers.He didn’t do well on the spelling either.He only attempted 4 words and got 2 of them right.It took him a while to understand what I was saying. I was asking him to repeat the words after me-then he pointed to his book to ask if he was suppose to be doing that.I told him we were going to say the words first..We say the words twice, then spell, then write each word 5 times.Then we covered 4 pages in the book.He did good on those pages…it was finding words that have the short e, o, u sound and words that end with t, d, n. At one point in class he decides he wants to stand to do his work.So he just stood at his desk. I just let him. He's not disrupting class in any way so doesn't matter.He kept pulling up his pants all during class. I guess they ar a little too big.He was wearing one of his school uniforms.That must be uncomfortable for a small child to be wearing dress pants, a vest, dress shirt, and a suit jacket.
2nd class was great…when I first walked in there were only 2 students…then 2 girls come rushing in. They ran to class. Each one gave me a present for my birthday….one girl gave me a SpongeBob pen because she knows I like spongebob…..then the other girl asked me to choose up or down…I chose up and then she gave me my present…maybe she had 2 things picked out…Then she gave me a little blue notebook bc she knows I like blue. They are so sweet. Its a small gift but they took their time picking it out and chose something that I like.…We went over our newspaper articles in class…We talked about a Dog Cashier, Baby born in a Kia, and Brad and Angelina Jolie. I showed them a picture of Brad and Angelina.…The girls said Angelina was ugly and had a big nose…one of the boys said Angelina was handsome..haha…kids are silly.they liked the picture of the dog in the clothes..haha…One of the students said she heard the story about the Kia on TV before. We listened, read together and answered questions…when one person had to read a short sentence they said that person should read another sentence.haha..one girl had trouble pronouncing words so she kept laughing…We had a great class!! Then the girls wanted to listen to “Honey, Honey” on my Itunes (They like ABBA songs that they heard on Mamma Mia. Last week we listened to Mamma Mia).
No students showed up for my 3rd class so I didn’t have to teach it.
My last class was superbad! First, I gave them a test on the newspaper articles we covered on Wednesday. They were all talking during the test and taking their time. Most of the grades were 20,30,40. One person made an 80. Then I was going to be nice and review before the other test. I basically wrote all the answers on the board. I know they didn’t study because they couldn’t tell me most of the answers. Then I gave them the test. They were still talking during the test and taking their time answering the questions. On the test they had to fill in missing blanks from the months like J_n_a_y, tell what month different holidays were in and put the months in order…most of them did really bad…what bothers me is they don’t even try. I do my best to teach them and they don’t even try. I wouldn’t mind if they tried and failed but they don’t even care. Apathetic students are the worst! One person made a good grade on the test a 92. The next highest was a 72. The rest were 50 and below. I gave one student a zero. He just sat there and didn’t write down any answers after I told him over and over to answer the questions. I just took it away and gave a zero. Then I wrote the answers on the board at the end of class. They weren’t even paying attention. Oh well. I didn’t get anything accomplished today because they were being too slow on their tests—talking instead of doing the test. I wanted to do half of unit 2 but that didn’t happen. They don’t have books yet so I made copies. I told them to keep their copies and we will use them on Monday. I bet no one will keep them. I told them no games next week because they were so bad in class. They just sit there and laugh while I am angry at them. They just ignore me. They will still ask.
After class 2 of my students from my Tue/Thur class came by to say they were sorry they didn’t get me anything for my birthday…I told them they didn’t have to get me anything.
After school I went home and ate my cake all by myself. I only ate a small piece. I even lit up the candles and took a picture.
My team leader gave me a cake for my birthday. Its a chocolate cake from Paris Baguette.
I had a pretty easy day today. Only 3 classes.
My first class is a bit challenging, but I’m very patient and understanding..so I teach it very slowly.He didn’t do so well on the newspaper test. I gave him the articles so he could look for the answers but he didn’t look for the answers.He didn’t do well on the spelling either.He only attempted 4 words and got 2 of them right.It took him a while to understand what I was saying. I was asking him to repeat the words after me-then he pointed to his book to ask if he was suppose to be doing that.I told him we were going to say the words first..We say the words twice, then spell, then write each word 5 times.Then we covered 4 pages in the book.He did good on those pages…it was finding words that have the short e, o, u sound and words that end with t, d, n. At one point in class he decides he wants to stand to do his work.So he just stood at his desk. I just let him. He's not disrupting class in any way so doesn't matter.He kept pulling up his pants all during class. I guess they ar a little too big.He was wearing one of his school uniforms.That must be uncomfortable for a small child to be wearing dress pants, a vest, dress shirt, and a suit jacket.
2nd class was great…when I first walked in there were only 2 students…then 2 girls come rushing in. They ran to class. Each one gave me a present for my birthday….one girl gave me a SpongeBob pen because she knows I like spongebob…..then the other girl asked me to choose up or down…I chose up and then she gave me my present…maybe she had 2 things picked out…Then she gave me a little blue notebook bc she knows I like blue. They are so sweet. Its a small gift but they took their time picking it out and chose something that I like.…We went over our newspaper articles in class…We talked about a Dog Cashier, Baby born in a Kia, and Brad and Angelina Jolie. I showed them a picture of Brad and Angelina.…The girls said Angelina was ugly and had a big nose…one of the boys said Angelina was handsome..haha…kids are silly.they liked the picture of the dog in the clothes..haha…One of the students said she heard the story about the Kia on TV before. We listened, read together and answered questions…when one person had to read a short sentence they said that person should read another sentence.haha..one girl had trouble pronouncing words so she kept laughing…We had a great class!! Then the girls wanted to listen to “Honey, Honey” on my Itunes (They like ABBA songs that they heard on Mamma Mia. Last week we listened to Mamma Mia).
No students showed up for my 3rd class so I didn’t have to teach it.
My last class was superbad! First, I gave them a test on the newspaper articles we covered on Wednesday. They were all talking during the test and taking their time. Most of the grades were 20,30,40. One person made an 80. Then I was going to be nice and review before the other test. I basically wrote all the answers on the board. I know they didn’t study because they couldn’t tell me most of the answers. Then I gave them the test. They were still talking during the test and taking their time answering the questions. On the test they had to fill in missing blanks from the months like J_n_a_y, tell what month different holidays were in and put the months in order…most of them did really bad…what bothers me is they don’t even try. I do my best to teach them and they don’t even try. I wouldn’t mind if they tried and failed but they don’t even care. Apathetic students are the worst! One person made a good grade on the test a 92. The next highest was a 72. The rest were 50 and below. I gave one student a zero. He just sat there and didn’t write down any answers after I told him over and over to answer the questions. I just took it away and gave a zero. Then I wrote the answers on the board at the end of class. They weren’t even paying attention. Oh well. I didn’t get anything accomplished today because they were being too slow on their tests—talking instead of doing the test. I wanted to do half of unit 2 but that didn’t happen. They don’t have books yet so I made copies. I told them to keep their copies and we will use them on Monday. I bet no one will keep them. I told them no games next week because they were so bad in class. They just sit there and laugh while I am angry at them. They just ignore me. They will still ask.
After class 2 of my students from my Tue/Thur class came by to say they were sorry they didn’t get me anything for my birthday…I told them they didn’t have to get me anything.
After school I went home and ate my cake all by myself. I only ate a small piece. I even lit up the candles and took a picture.
Day 358
Thursday December 10
Yeah I'm writing this a day late...
My first class was pretty good. It was a writing class. We talked about main ideas, details. They had trouble writing the main idea in their own words. We also talked about describing words, subject/verb agreement. Finished 4 pages in class. One student a few mins late and didn't bring her book so I had to make a copy. Then one student came in 10 minutes before class was over.
My 2nd class is usually way too short but the material actually lasted longer in this class bc some didn’t understand.Today's topic was describing words..they did okay but had a little trouble…then gave an extra activity…they did good on it…the new girl was participating a lot—calling out all the answers..good job!....they liked the describing a place…first they wanted to describe a computer game…I told them a computer game was not a place…Then, they described PC room..They like beeing silly. One of the boys wrote "PC room is my life". The boys were joking around in korean making the class laugh. I gave a test on the newspaper articles. 2 boys just guessed and made 30. The highest grade was 60…
The newspaper class was perfect. Everyone was listening, everyone read, they answered the questions. That's how every class should go.
After class 2 of my students came into the classroom and asked me what I wanted for my birthday. The 2 of the students who were in that class stayed behind so I had 4 girls asking me what I wanted. I told them they didn't have to get me anything. They all wanted to. I never gave them an answer. They were still asking me when we moved into the hall. The Korean teacher said "tell them something expensive"..haha.
Conversation class was out of control as usual. We were finished with the book so I brought a lesson from one of my other convo classes. It was about the future. The 3 boys in the back were playing around all class and not doing their work. The other 4 were actually doing their work and doing a pretty good job. We were talking about what they wanted to be in the future. One of the guys who wasnt paying attention said he wanted to be a power ranger. The new student who came last week is really putting forth an effort and doing very well. I knew the 3 boys in the back of the room weren't paying attention so I asked them to tell me the answer to a question. Then they ask me what page we are on and which activity. It was funny watching them try to come up with the answer. They got it wrong. Next week we have a test in that class. I'm not making the new student take the test because he's only been in my class for 2 weeks.
My last class was good. One one student was in the class. We covered a lot of material and she did a good job. We were talking about choosing a topic that interests you. Then I ended early and let her play a game. We played hangman for about 15 minutes.
Yeah I'm writing this a day late...
My first class was pretty good. It was a writing class. We talked about main ideas, details. They had trouble writing the main idea in their own words. We also talked about describing words, subject/verb agreement. Finished 4 pages in class. One student a few mins late and didn't bring her book so I had to make a copy. Then one student came in 10 minutes before class was over.
My 2nd class is usually way too short but the material actually lasted longer in this class bc some didn’t understand.Today's topic was describing words..they did okay but had a little trouble…then gave an extra activity…they did good on it…the new girl was participating a lot—calling out all the answers..good job!....they liked the describing a place…first they wanted to describe a computer game…I told them a computer game was not a place…Then, they described PC room..They like beeing silly. One of the boys wrote "PC room is my life". The boys were joking around in korean making the class laugh. I gave a test on the newspaper articles. 2 boys just guessed and made 30. The highest grade was 60…
The newspaper class was perfect. Everyone was listening, everyone read, they answered the questions. That's how every class should go.
After class 2 of my students came into the classroom and asked me what I wanted for my birthday. The 2 of the students who were in that class stayed behind so I had 4 girls asking me what I wanted. I told them they didn't have to get me anything. They all wanted to. I never gave them an answer. They were still asking me when we moved into the hall. The Korean teacher said "tell them something expensive"..haha.
Conversation class was out of control as usual. We were finished with the book so I brought a lesson from one of my other convo classes. It was about the future. The 3 boys in the back were playing around all class and not doing their work. The other 4 were actually doing their work and doing a pretty good job. We were talking about what they wanted to be in the future. One of the guys who wasnt paying attention said he wanted to be a power ranger. The new student who came last week is really putting forth an effort and doing very well. I knew the 3 boys in the back of the room weren't paying attention so I asked them to tell me the answer to a question. Then they ask me what page we are on and which activity. It was funny watching them try to come up with the answer. They got it wrong. Next week we have a test in that class. I'm not making the new student take the test because he's only been in my class for 2 weeks.
My last class was good. One one student was in the class. We covered a lot of material and she did a good job. We were talking about choosing a topic that interests you. Then I ended early and let her play a game. We played hangman for about 15 minutes.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Day 357
Wednesday December 9
My 1st class was good…I think his English level is really low. First, we listened to the story. Then, I read and had him repeat twice. Then I had him to answer a few questions.We covered 4 articles…There is a test on Friday. I'm not sure how much he understands. Sometimes I'll read and get him to repeat and he'll change the words or add in an extra word. I read really slow with him and not many words at one time. He couldn't find the answers in the story so I had to point it out to him. I think soon I'll have him read the article back to me to see how much he can read without having him repeat after me. For his test I think I will give him the actual article and then have him find the answers in the article instead of memorizing answers. That might be more beneficial for someone at a lower level. It will test his comprhension and answer finding skills.
My 2nd class was good. It was a writing class. We talked about writing a story and proper nouns. Everyone had to write out a plan for a story. They all did a good job. They kept asking me about what page we would finish on. I kept telling them I didn't know. I never know how much I will be able to cover in one class. I got to a good stopping poing and let them have 10 mins free time.
My 3rd class was way too short. I only had one student. A lot of times either only the girl or only the boy are present for class. Even though we did 3 lessons we were done within 25 minutes. The lessons are super easy and only have a few examples to complete. I need to start bringing extra material.Today our lessons were on holidays, days, months, riddles, email, stories. We finished early and he was writing on the whiteboard. I know he was bored, but I can't let him go home too early! I offered to let him have a puzzle or play a game. He didn't want either of those choices. He begs me to hurry through class, but he knows I'm not letting him go home early. He kept asking if he can go home early. I let go 5 mins early.
My conversation class was okay. No one was cutting up or playing around in class. They were actually quiet today. I still couldn't get anyone to practice speaking with their partners. At least we had a decent class. We were talking about sports and using if. Next week we have a test.
My last class was okay. Today we were doing the newspaper articles in class. I told them to look at the paper and read along while they were listening. They didn't pay attention. They were talking while they were suppose to be listening. Then they keep asking for a game. I told them "maybe" for Friday. Then on one article no one was listening and they kept talking to each other and not reading. I played it about 2 times. I told them i was going to keep playing it until they paid attention. Didn't help. So I wrote on the board "No Game Friday." If they can't be good and pay attention then I'm not letting them play a game. They just ruined their chances by ignoring me and not doing what I told them to do. I was trying to read slow so they could understand, but some of them kept telling me to read faster. If I read fast then they aren't really going to comprehend. crazy! They just want me to end class early which isnt going to happen. We covered 5 articles in class today. Now that I see how long it took I know we will be able to cover more than 5 during class. They don't seem too interested in the topics, but I have to work with what I have. I just wish I had something fun that would make them pay attention, but everything in my classes isn't fun.
We were in the middle of an article and one student just interrupts to talk about soccer. He wanted to know what country the 2010 World Cup was going to be in. Its going to be in South Africa. Then he wanted to know the name of soccer teams in America. I told him I didn't even know. I can't even name soccer teams from the USA. Soccer isn't very popular in the USA or at least it isn't where I'm from.
My 1st class was good…I think his English level is really low. First, we listened to the story. Then, I read and had him repeat twice. Then I had him to answer a few questions.We covered 4 articles…There is a test on Friday. I'm not sure how much he understands. Sometimes I'll read and get him to repeat and he'll change the words or add in an extra word. I read really slow with him and not many words at one time. He couldn't find the answers in the story so I had to point it out to him. I think soon I'll have him read the article back to me to see how much he can read without having him repeat after me. For his test I think I will give him the actual article and then have him find the answers in the article instead of memorizing answers. That might be more beneficial for someone at a lower level. It will test his comprhension and answer finding skills.
My 2nd class was good. It was a writing class. We talked about writing a story and proper nouns. Everyone had to write out a plan for a story. They all did a good job. They kept asking me about what page we would finish on. I kept telling them I didn't know. I never know how much I will be able to cover in one class. I got to a good stopping poing and let them have 10 mins free time.
My 3rd class was way too short. I only had one student. A lot of times either only the girl or only the boy are present for class. Even though we did 3 lessons we were done within 25 minutes. The lessons are super easy and only have a few examples to complete. I need to start bringing extra material.Today our lessons were on holidays, days, months, riddles, email, stories. We finished early and he was writing on the whiteboard. I know he was bored, but I can't let him go home too early! I offered to let him have a puzzle or play a game. He didn't want either of those choices. He begs me to hurry through class, but he knows I'm not letting him go home early. He kept asking if he can go home early. I let go 5 mins early.
My conversation class was okay. No one was cutting up or playing around in class. They were actually quiet today. I still couldn't get anyone to practice speaking with their partners. At least we had a decent class. We were talking about sports and using if. Next week we have a test.
My last class was okay. Today we were doing the newspaper articles in class. I told them to look at the paper and read along while they were listening. They didn't pay attention. They were talking while they were suppose to be listening. Then they keep asking for a game. I told them "maybe" for Friday. Then on one article no one was listening and they kept talking to each other and not reading. I played it about 2 times. I told them i was going to keep playing it until they paid attention. Didn't help. So I wrote on the board "No Game Friday." If they can't be good and pay attention then I'm not letting them play a game. They just ruined their chances by ignoring me and not doing what I told them to do. I was trying to read slow so they could understand, but some of them kept telling me to read faster. If I read fast then they aren't really going to comprehend. crazy! They just want me to end class early which isnt going to happen. We covered 5 articles in class today. Now that I see how long it took I know we will be able to cover more than 5 during class. They don't seem too interested in the topics, but I have to work with what I have. I just wish I had something fun that would make them pay attention, but everything in my classes isn't fun.
We were in the middle of an article and one student just interrupts to talk about soccer. He wanted to know what country the 2010 World Cup was going to be in. Its going to be in South Africa. Then he wanted to know the name of soccer teams in America. I told him I didn't even know. I can't even name soccer teams from the USA. Soccer isn't very popular in the USA or at least it isn't where I'm from.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Day 356
Tuesday December 8
I had a pretty decent day.
2 students who were in my MWF class are now in my Tues/Thurs class-those were the 2 absent students yesterday. Today we were talking about "lifestyle quips". It was too hard for them. No one knew the answers and I tried to explain it the best I could. Then we read an article about fun ways to learn English. I asked each student what their favorite way to learn English was. 2 students said they don't like learning English. The other students listen to pop songs, watch movies and read English books. One of the students asked me how I like to learn English. I didn't have an answer. I don't know. It's my first language so I don't really work at 'learning' it.
I wore my hair in a ponytail today and one of my students told me that I look younger when I wear my hair in a ponytail.
My 2nd class was okay. I had 2 new students. The new students don't seem too interested in class. It was their first day so...Today our lesson was on starting questions with when. They didn't do so well. I had to just tell them the answers. We went over it as a class, read together, and then practiced with a partner. Then we read the article about fun ways to learn English. We worked all the way up to the end of class.
The 3rd class was okay. It was my newspaper class. 2 of the boys were 10 mins late to class. Then there is the student who comes in right near the end of class. He didn't really pay attention. He just sat there and ate his raymeon. A few of the kids were actually paying attention. The 2 boys who were late kept talking to each other and writing notes to each other during class. We listened to the articles, then read together, then answered questions. They couldn't find the answers so I just gave them the answers. The boy who came in at the end of class threw his paper away. Right after class was over he just ripped it up and threw it in the trash. I told him we had a test on Thursday. He just acted like he didn't care. I had enough articles to last the whole class. This week's articles were: A dog cashier, a baby born in a Kia, brad and angelina love to help people, and a story about students being unhappy at school bc of verbal abuse from teachers.
My last class was good. We went over 2 lessons in the book. We talked about smoking and the handicapped. They did a good job. I let them draw on the board after the lesson. The boy drew an atomic bomb. One of the girls kept writing my name over and over.Then we played hangman for the rest of class. The boy's first word was "nuclear". I think he likes bombs. hehe.
I had a pretty decent day.
2 students who were in my MWF class are now in my Tues/Thurs class-those were the 2 absent students yesterday. Today we were talking about "lifestyle quips". It was too hard for them. No one knew the answers and I tried to explain it the best I could. Then we read an article about fun ways to learn English. I asked each student what their favorite way to learn English was. 2 students said they don't like learning English. The other students listen to pop songs, watch movies and read English books. One of the students asked me how I like to learn English. I didn't have an answer. I don't know. It's my first language so I don't really work at 'learning' it.
I wore my hair in a ponytail today and one of my students told me that I look younger when I wear my hair in a ponytail.
My 2nd class was okay. I had 2 new students. The new students don't seem too interested in class. It was their first day so...Today our lesson was on starting questions with when. They didn't do so well. I had to just tell them the answers. We went over it as a class, read together, and then practiced with a partner. Then we read the article about fun ways to learn English. We worked all the way up to the end of class.
The 3rd class was okay. It was my newspaper class. 2 of the boys were 10 mins late to class. Then there is the student who comes in right near the end of class. He didn't really pay attention. He just sat there and ate his raymeon. A few of the kids were actually paying attention. The 2 boys who were late kept talking to each other and writing notes to each other during class. We listened to the articles, then read together, then answered questions. They couldn't find the answers so I just gave them the answers. The boy who came in at the end of class threw his paper away. Right after class was over he just ripped it up and threw it in the trash. I told him we had a test on Thursday. He just acted like he didn't care. I had enough articles to last the whole class. This week's articles were: A dog cashier, a baby born in a Kia, brad and angelina love to help people, and a story about students being unhappy at school bc of verbal abuse from teachers.
My last class was good. We went over 2 lessons in the book. We talked about smoking and the handicapped. They did a good job. I let them draw on the board after the lesson. The boy drew an atomic bomb. One of the girls kept writing my name over and over.Then we played hangman for the rest of class. The boy's first word was "nuclear". I think he likes bombs. hehe.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Day 355
Monday December 7
10 more days and it will officially be one year!! I would have been going home in 10 days, but things didn't go as planned. I think things turned out pretty good in the end. It's been a life changing experience and I'm going to miss Korea. It's a crazy place and I love it. I won't miss teaching. I'll miss my students. Even though I complain all the time,I still adore them. I think its hard for them to respect someone so young. I'm probably the youngest teacher at my campus. They are just trying to be kids and English isn't a priority although I'd love to see them succeed. I want to make a difference. Hopefully something that I taught them has sunk in. I wish I knew how to get them excited about learning English and doing things that really help them.
I had a pretty good day.
My first student of the day showed up at 2:50. Class started at 2:30. I think he’s younger than all the rest of my students. He’s a lot smaller than them. Maybe 2/3rd grade?(all of my students are 4-6th grade). He's in the lowest level. I'm not sure how much English he understands. We went over the 1st lesson. Covered 5 pages in 20 minutes. I don’t think he really understood putting it in ABC order. I’ll have to work on that more.
My 2nd class was great. I had 2 new students.2 were absent. 1 of my students who skipped month is back. It was good to see him again. We covered 2 lessons. One about the handicapped and watching tv. We had a good class and everyone participated. They had 5 mins free time. One my students told me he had to leave early. He said he had to leave at 4:30. When he told me that it was already 4:35. Then he changed his mind to 4:40. I reminded him and he finally left at 4:50. He said he had to go play piano somewhere.
My 3rd class was good. I only had 1 student. We did 1 lesson about questions starting with when.She did a good job on most of them. We finished early and played hangman the rest of class.
My conversation class was rowdy as usual. I had to keep telling them to be quiet over and over. They still didn't really listen. I'm trying to talk over them. Some are paying attention and others are just playing around. 2 girls were playing around and playing with their cell phones. Some other girls were talking in the back of the room. When I came in class today one of the students told me he had a headache. He kept telling me over and over. His neighbor said he was faking. He kept saying he wasn't. He asked me for aspirin but I didn't have any. I let him go to the info desk to see if they had any. Then his neighbor said he was faking because he was smiling. ok whatever. Today's lesson was about "What's the matter?". We were talking about various health problems such as headaches, stomach aches, etc. There weren't many speaking practice opportunities, not that they would actually do it anyway. The girl who never does her work actually did some of it today. I still have to go around the room and tell people to do their work. Some don't do it. Oh well. Next week we are having a test on 3 units. I picked 3 units where almost all of the students were present.
My 5th class was decent. They are doing a lot better with the speaking book rather than the spelling. I'm giving them their first test on Friday. Today we were talking about holidays such as halloween, valentines, etc. They really enjoy when I write the words on the board and leave out letters. They all rush up to the board to fill in the blanks. Then they are proud when they did it right. One of them kept telling me. "number one is perfect"(he filled in the blanks for number 1).haha. They begged for a game. I told them we'd play a game if we covered the 4 pages I wanted to cover and if they were really good. Their behavior was pretty good, but they still get a little loud sometime and don't really listen to the class cd that I play. I gave them a few minutes of free time. I told them no game on Wednesday. We can't play a game every day.
10 more days and it will officially be one year!! I would have been going home in 10 days, but things didn't go as planned. I think things turned out pretty good in the end. It's been a life changing experience and I'm going to miss Korea. It's a crazy place and I love it. I won't miss teaching. I'll miss my students. Even though I complain all the time,I still adore them. I think its hard for them to respect someone so young. I'm probably the youngest teacher at my campus. They are just trying to be kids and English isn't a priority although I'd love to see them succeed. I want to make a difference. Hopefully something that I taught them has sunk in. I wish I knew how to get them excited about learning English and doing things that really help them.
I had a pretty good day.
My first student of the day showed up at 2:50. Class started at 2:30. I think he’s younger than all the rest of my students. He’s a lot smaller than them. Maybe 2/3rd grade?(all of my students are 4-6th grade). He's in the lowest level. I'm not sure how much English he understands. We went over the 1st lesson. Covered 5 pages in 20 minutes. I don’t think he really understood putting it in ABC order. I’ll have to work on that more.
My 2nd class was great. I had 2 new students.2 were absent. 1 of my students who skipped month is back. It was good to see him again. We covered 2 lessons. One about the handicapped and watching tv. We had a good class and everyone participated. They had 5 mins free time. One my students told me he had to leave early. He said he had to leave at 4:30. When he told me that it was already 4:35. Then he changed his mind to 4:40. I reminded him and he finally left at 4:50. He said he had to go play piano somewhere.
My 3rd class was good. I only had 1 student. We did 1 lesson about questions starting with when.She did a good job on most of them. We finished early and played hangman the rest of class.
My conversation class was rowdy as usual. I had to keep telling them to be quiet over and over. They still didn't really listen. I'm trying to talk over them. Some are paying attention and others are just playing around. 2 girls were playing around and playing with their cell phones. Some other girls were talking in the back of the room. When I came in class today one of the students told me he had a headache. He kept telling me over and over. His neighbor said he was faking. He kept saying he wasn't. He asked me for aspirin but I didn't have any. I let him go to the info desk to see if they had any. Then his neighbor said he was faking because he was smiling. ok whatever. Today's lesson was about "What's the matter?". We were talking about various health problems such as headaches, stomach aches, etc. There weren't many speaking practice opportunities, not that they would actually do it anyway. The girl who never does her work actually did some of it today. I still have to go around the room and tell people to do their work. Some don't do it. Oh well. Next week we are having a test on 3 units. I picked 3 units where almost all of the students were present.
My 5th class was decent. They are doing a lot better with the speaking book rather than the spelling. I'm giving them their first test on Friday. Today we were talking about holidays such as halloween, valentines, etc. They really enjoy when I write the words on the board and leave out letters. They all rush up to the board to fill in the blanks. Then they are proud when they did it right. One of them kept telling me. "number one is perfect"(he filled in the blanks for number 1).haha. They begged for a game. I told them we'd play a game if we covered the 4 pages I wanted to cover and if they were really good. Their behavior was pretty good, but they still get a little loud sometime and don't really listen to the class cd that I play. I gave them a few minutes of free time. I told them no game on Wednesday. We can't play a game every day.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Boys Over Flowers (꽃보다 남자)
Kkotboda namja (꽃보다 男子 or 꽃보다 남자) is a Korean drama adaptation of the Japanese manga Hana Yori Dango. It premiered on January 5, 2009 on KBS2TV and successfully ended on March 31, 2009 after 25 episodes.
This is the third television drama adaptation of the popular Japanese manga Hana Yori Dango after the success of both the Taiwanese and Japanese versions.
While delivering a student’s dry cleaning, Geum Jan Di saves the life of a student at the most prestigious school in South Korea. Her actions soon become public and exposes the bullying within the school. To silence the public’s attention, Jan Di is offered a swimming scholarship to Shinhwa which she declines but her family forces her to attend.
During her first day at Shinhwa, Jan Di learns of the famous F4 and of the other students' adoration and fixation with the boys in the group. Gu Jun Pyo, Yoon Ji Hoo, So Yi Jung, and Song Woo Bin are the richest and most powerful kids within Shinhwa and South Korea. Subsequently, they use their power to terrorize weaker students or those they do not like. Jan Di, instead of being impressed, becomes enraged and fantasizes about confronting Gu Jun Pyo, the leader and initiator of many of the bullying acts. She gains courage to confront him when a friend accidentally spills ice cream on his shoes and he demands the girl lick it off. Jan Di defends her friend and attempts to reason with Jun Pyo’s tyrannical demand. When he refuses to relent, Jan Di turns violent, knocking Jun Pyo to the ground. Engaged by this, Gu Jun Pyo declares war on Jan Di and encourages the other students to bully her. Jan Di, however, is resistant, refusing to apologize to Gu Jun Pyo, and stands by her decision to fight him.
Ironically, Gu Jun Pyo, having never been stood up to, begins to develop feelings for her. He tries unsuccessfully to woo her as she slowly begins to spend more time with Jun Pyo and his friends. Jan Di teaches Jun Pyo that money cannot buy everything and in order to have real friends, he himself must be real or use his heart, but Gu Jun Pyo still does not understand why someone like Jan Di should dislike him. As the story progresses, Jun Pyo falls deeper in love with Jan Di and she learns how to open herself to his love as well.
As love begins to blossom, Jun Pyo’s mother discovers them and deems it unsuitable. She does everything in her power to keep the two apart, even arranging a marriage for Jun Pyo. Other factors keep arising as another member of the group falls in love with Jan Di and in a twist of fate, Jun Pyo loses his memory. In the end, however, Gu Jun Pyo and Jan De! learn that love conquers all and that they are truly meant to be together.
Day 354
Sunday December 6
Just a boring Sunday. I haven't done anything productive besides laundry.
I finished watching "Boys Over Flowers". The actors are so cute. The young movie stars and singers in South Korea are very handsome. I think I like the more feminine look. Its okay for a man to wear pink.
I think I watched all 25 episodes in a week or so. I was curious about the show so I checked on the first episode. Then I was hooked! I'd stay up a lot later than I should to watch because I wanted to see what happened next. I'm happy with the way it ended, but it kinda ended on a cliffhanger. Gu Jun Pyo proposed to Jan Di but it ended there. I hope there's a 2nd season....
Cute Korean guys(i've listed the age by year born..not their Korean age):
They are all younger than me. They also have nice hair..They kinda have the metrosexual look going on (which I like)..I like a man who puts effort into his appearance and is sharply dressed.
Lee Min Ho (Age 22)
Kim Bum (age 20)
Kim Hyun Joong (age 23)
Rain (age 27)
Just a boring Sunday. I haven't done anything productive besides laundry.
I finished watching "Boys Over Flowers". The actors are so cute. The young movie stars and singers in South Korea are very handsome. I think I like the more feminine look. Its okay for a man to wear pink.
I think I watched all 25 episodes in a week or so. I was curious about the show so I checked on the first episode. Then I was hooked! I'd stay up a lot later than I should to watch because I wanted to see what happened next. I'm happy with the way it ended, but it kinda ended on a cliffhanger. Gu Jun Pyo proposed to Jan Di but it ended there. I hope there's a 2nd season....
Cute Korean guys(i've listed the age by year born..not their Korean age):
They are all younger than me. They also have nice hair..They kinda have the metrosexual look going on (which I like)..I like a man who puts effort into his appearance and is sharply dressed.
Lee Min Ho (Age 22)
Kim Bum (age 20)
Kim Hyun Joong (age 23)
Rain (age 27)
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Day 353....Lotte World
Saturday Dec 5
Pictures: Click on the album to view
Today I went to Lotte World!
Lotte World is a recreation complex in Seoul, South Korea. It consists of a large indoor theme park, an outdoor amusement park, an island linked by monorail, shopping malls, a hotel, a Korean folk museum, sports facilities and movie theaters in one area. The Lotte World indoor theme park is one of the largest indoor amusement parks in the world, and ranked seventh worldwide in attendance according to the 2002 census.Opened on July 12, 1989, it receives about 8 million visitors each year. It can be easily accessed from Jamsil Station, on Line 2 and Line 8 of the Seoul Subway. Located near the park is Seok-Chon lake
It was snowing this afternoon..very briefly and it didn't stick.
I was going to meet my recruiter and a group at noon. There were 17 people on the RSVP list last time I looked on facebook. We had a group of 10 there today. Our recruiter (who no longer works there) wanted to see us before she left to move to America. She's moving to California on Dec 17.
I had a lot of fun today. The lines weren't too long. There were a lot of people there, but it wasn't too crowded. We didn't wait very long in the lines. First we rode the monorail once around the indoor park. Then we rode a ride called "the conquistador"--extreme trills in a swinging boat that swings up to 75 degrees. Then we went to the outdoor park. First, we rode "Atlantis" it was a roller coaster that traveled at 72km per hour. Very fun. Then some of the others decided to ride 'the gyro swing' and the 'bungee drop'. I sat out those 2. Then we rode the 'comet express'. It was neat. I think that was my favorite ride of the day. It reminded me of space mountian because its dark, but its different because the seats spin while you are riding.
Then we went back inside. First, we stopped at a mexican restaurant and a few of them drank some beer and I just had some coke. Then we rode "The French Revolution"--Intense high speed train that makes 360-540 degree turns. I finally went on a rollercoaster that goes upside down. At least it wasnt bad. I wasn't scared because we had these bars around our shoulders. I'm usually afraid of falling out although I know its a slim chance. I accomplished one of the things on my bucket list and one of my biggest fears--"riding a rollercoaster that goes upside down". Yes I'm almost 28 and I've never ridden a roller coaster like that. After that ride our group disbanded. Everyone was ready to go their separate ways. I stayed at the park. I guess the others went home. I wasn't ready to leave. It was only 4pm.
I spent the next 3 1/2 hours on my own. First, I went to "the adventures of Sinbad"..its a slow boat ride....Then I went to "Jungle Adventure"--take a journey in the whitewaters of the jungle. I thought it would be like the white water rapids thing at Carowinds. They warn you "you will get wet". This ride was so tame. I didn't even get wet. It was going really slow and there weren't any sudden drops or anything exciting.
As I was walking around I heard a band playing and people were crowded around the skating rink. There was a marching band playing on the ice. They were playing holiday tunes. I wish I would have known about it earlier so I could have seen the whole thing. I only saw one or two songs. All my pictures were blurry. I didn't take my dslr..just my crazy digital camera with the delayed shutter.
Then I went to the food court. I had bbq beef with pan fried rice. It was good.
Then I rode the "aeronauts balloon ride". This was the longest wait of the day. I waited in line for about 40 minutes. This ride mimics a hot air balloon and you are suspended from the ceiling 30m above the park and you ride once around and watch everything below.
Then I watched the Christmas parade. It was neat but I couldnt hardly see. I should have lined up early to get a front row seat. They had a lot of performers who danced and they had little floats. It was a very short parade inside. I couldnt get any pictures. I was on the 2nd row but I didn't have an open space to be able to take a photo.
Then I headed home. It was a fun day.
Inside Jamsil station there was a Krispy Kreme. I've seen Krispy Kreme a few times and I wondered if it tasted the same here. Well I finally tried it in SK. I got a glazed doughnut and one with chocolate. It was so good!! A glazed doughnut costed 1,200 won and a chocolate was 1,300 won (todays exchange=1158 Won =$1)....so it was just over $1.
How to get there: Line 2, Jamsil station, exit 4
Price: 35,000 won (about $35 dollars)
Open all year round.
http://www.lotteworld.com/Global_eng/Main.asp
Pictures: Click on the album to view
 |
| Lotte World |
Today I went to Lotte World!
Lotte World is a recreation complex in Seoul, South Korea. It consists of a large indoor theme park, an outdoor amusement park, an island linked by monorail, shopping malls, a hotel, a Korean folk museum, sports facilities and movie theaters in one area. The Lotte World indoor theme park is one of the largest indoor amusement parks in the world, and ranked seventh worldwide in attendance according to the 2002 census.Opened on July 12, 1989, it receives about 8 million visitors each year. It can be easily accessed from Jamsil Station, on Line 2 and Line 8 of the Seoul Subway. Located near the park is Seok-Chon lake
It was snowing this afternoon..very briefly and it didn't stick.
I was going to meet my recruiter and a group at noon. There were 17 people on the RSVP list last time I looked on facebook. We had a group of 10 there today. Our recruiter (who no longer works there) wanted to see us before she left to move to America. She's moving to California on Dec 17.
I had a lot of fun today. The lines weren't too long. There were a lot of people there, but it wasn't too crowded. We didn't wait very long in the lines. First we rode the monorail once around the indoor park. Then we rode a ride called "the conquistador"--extreme trills in a swinging boat that swings up to 75 degrees. Then we went to the outdoor park. First, we rode "Atlantis" it was a roller coaster that traveled at 72km per hour. Very fun. Then some of the others decided to ride 'the gyro swing' and the 'bungee drop'. I sat out those 2. Then we rode the 'comet express'. It was neat. I think that was my favorite ride of the day. It reminded me of space mountian because its dark, but its different because the seats spin while you are riding.
Then we went back inside. First, we stopped at a mexican restaurant and a few of them drank some beer and I just had some coke. Then we rode "The French Revolution"--Intense high speed train that makes 360-540 degree turns. I finally went on a rollercoaster that goes upside down. At least it wasnt bad. I wasn't scared because we had these bars around our shoulders. I'm usually afraid of falling out although I know its a slim chance. I accomplished one of the things on my bucket list and one of my biggest fears--"riding a rollercoaster that goes upside down". Yes I'm almost 28 and I've never ridden a roller coaster like that. After that ride our group disbanded. Everyone was ready to go their separate ways. I stayed at the park. I guess the others went home. I wasn't ready to leave. It was only 4pm.
I spent the next 3 1/2 hours on my own. First, I went to "the adventures of Sinbad"..its a slow boat ride....Then I went to "Jungle Adventure"--take a journey in the whitewaters of the jungle. I thought it would be like the white water rapids thing at Carowinds. They warn you "you will get wet". This ride was so tame. I didn't even get wet. It was going really slow and there weren't any sudden drops or anything exciting.
As I was walking around I heard a band playing and people were crowded around the skating rink. There was a marching band playing on the ice. They were playing holiday tunes. I wish I would have known about it earlier so I could have seen the whole thing. I only saw one or two songs. All my pictures were blurry. I didn't take my dslr..just my crazy digital camera with the delayed shutter.
Then I went to the food court. I had bbq beef with pan fried rice. It was good.
Then I rode the "aeronauts balloon ride". This was the longest wait of the day. I waited in line for about 40 minutes. This ride mimics a hot air balloon and you are suspended from the ceiling 30m above the park and you ride once around and watch everything below.
Then I watched the Christmas parade. It was neat but I couldnt hardly see. I should have lined up early to get a front row seat. They had a lot of performers who danced and they had little floats. It was a very short parade inside. I couldnt get any pictures. I was on the 2nd row but I didn't have an open space to be able to take a photo.
Then I headed home. It was a fun day.
Inside Jamsil station there was a Krispy Kreme. I've seen Krispy Kreme a few times and I wondered if it tasted the same here. Well I finally tried it in SK. I got a glazed doughnut and one with chocolate. It was so good!! A glazed doughnut costed 1,200 won and a chocolate was 1,300 won (todays exchange=1158 Won =$1)....so it was just over $1.
How to get there: Line 2, Jamsil station, exit 4
Price: 35,000 won (about $35 dollars)
Open all year round.
http://www.lotteworld.com/Global_eng/Main.asp
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