Day 410

Sunday January 31

Today was just a boring day. I think I slept about 12 hours! I went to sleep after 2:30am and woke up at 3:15pm.

Tomorrow I start working my afternoon shifts again! I will be at work from 2-9pm.

I still have to get up early tomorow though. I have a dentist appointment at 10:30am. My 5th appointment to finish up this root canal/crown.

I didn't do anything today. I watched a lot of "Sang Doo! Lets Go to School." Its so sad and I can't stop watchin it. 5 more episodes and I'm done. I also added some more Korean music to my collection.

goodness. why oh why can't I ever get in bed before 3am?

I think I have permanant jet lag. My body never adjusted to Korean time.

I'm down to less than 30 days. It makes me scared, anxious, and sad.

Korea Times running out of things to write about?

This is an article in the Korea Times....

Jessica Simpson Farts During Business Meeting

A source tells Us Weekly that Jessica Simpson, 29, had a, ahem, windy moment during a business meeting for her denim line in late January. "While one of the executives was speaking in a room full of five people, Jessica let out a very loud fart," says the insider.

"Her mother [Tina Simpson] was there, and it prompted her to turn around and yell, 'Jessica!' The tension was extreme. No one knew what to say."

It wasn't Simpson's first brush with public flatulence: She famously cut loose on an episode of Newlyweds in 2008.


This is news???

Day 409.....Everland

Saturday January 30

Everland is Opened in 1976, and it is about 1,200,000yd2 It is ranked as the 4th theme park in the world by offering 5 main Festivals and exciting entertainments all year around.

Experience wonderful Festivals and magnificent shows at Everland, 365 days a year.
There are five theme areas along with more than 30 kinds of attractions full of high thrilling and various fun.

The few pictures that I took:

Everland

I got up bright and early this morning. We were meeting at the school at 8:10am.

Today we were taking students from our hagwon to Everland. Its an amusement park in Korea. We had 2 charter buses full of children. I was the only foreigner. 6 of my students came on the trip. The other students on the trip were from one of our other campuses.

We got there around 10. We split up into groups by whatever campus we came with and what teachers were in charge of that group. I was with my team leader and our 7 students. We were all together in a group and then we broke up into smaller groups. There were 2 girls who wanted to hangout with me for the day so I was in charge of them. We were on our own until lunchtime.

1st we rode "Mystery Mansion". It was a slow ride where you have this guns and you shoot lasers at targets like you are shooting ghosts.

Next we were going to go to the rotating house but we didnt want to wait 30 minutes in line. We rode the lift back up to another area of the park. While we were on the lift they were excited to see some pop group in the park. There was a group of girls walking side by side and cameras were filming them. I didn't know who the group was. The girls said something about brother but I couldnt find any information about them on the internet.

Then we waited in line for an hour to ride "Lets Twist". I was scared to ride it but I thought I'd ride it if my kids wanted to. But I wasn't able to. The bar was too tight so I had to get off.



Then we went to Rose Garden for lunch. It was a buffet style meal. I had pork cutlet and fries. There were more options to choose from but I didn't want rice or kimchi.

After lunch the kids wanted to slide down the big snow hill "Snowbuster". The line for that ride went pretty fast. We got our intertubes and went to the top of the hill and then slid down. It was fun.

Then later we went back to the "Rotating House".

We didn't get to do much. The lines were really long and we didn't have much time. We were only there from 11-4. I didn't take many pictures. I was busy keeping up with the kids. We were suppose to meet at the bus at 4:30, but a lot of people didn't show up until after 5. We finally ended up leaving around 5:30pm.

I had a good time.


Website:http://www.everland.com/MultiLanguage/english/everland/main.html

Korean Drama: 상두야,학교가자! (Sang Doo, Let's go to school)

This drama is great.

It aired in 2003-2004. I found episodes on youtube with english subtitles.


Title: 상두야,학교가자! / Sang Doo Ya, Hak Kyo Ka Ja!
Also known as: Let's Go to School, Sang-doo! (KBFD-TV)
Genre: Romance, comedy, drama
Episodes: 16
Broadcast network: KBS2
Broadcast period: 2003-Sep-15 to 2003-Nov-04

Cha Sang-doo (Bi) and Chae Eun-hwan (Gong Hyo Jin) grew up as the best of friends. One day, Eun-hwan's family goes bankrupt and debtors rushed to collect their belongings. When her father's old record player was being taken, Sang-doo goes after the guy, accidently killing him. After being released from prison, he finds that his family and Eun-hwan have left him. Years later, he becomes a gigolo (with his uncle) to pay off his sick daughter’s hospital bills. He eventually meets his long-lost first-love, Eun-hwan as a high school math teacher. In an effort to regain her love, he returns as a high school student in her class. As everything seems to be going smoothly, circumstances prevent them from staying together.

One of the Main characters(he's cute!): Lee Dong Gun as Kang Min-suk

Another main character: Rain (Jung Ji Hoon) as Sang Doo (also very cute!)

Some of the cast:

Day 408

Friday January 29

Yesterday I started watching "Sang Doo, Lets go to school". Its a Korean drama. I found episodes online with English subtitles. I really like it. There are 16 episodes. I'm currently on episode 5. Rain is in the drama. I also think the guy who plays the doctor is really cute. The show was broadcast in 2003-2004.

The first class was great. Today was our newspaper class. As always, they all begged to read first…they loved the articles…they liked pictures…..esp the dog and fish….I showed them the picture of the small dog and they all thought it was cute. Then one boy said “delicious”..everyone laughed….they also said the fish looked delicious….they all did a great job….I showed them a pic of a 14 year old who was going to college. Some of them laughed, some said he was ugly and one boy he was handsome.

We also had a newspaper class in my 2nd class….at the beginning they were begging for a party because one of the students is leaving for New Zealand on Monday. They said it was his last class here. We didn’t have a party but I gave them 1000 won each. They all went down to homeplus to get snacks.Then we went over our articles. They thought the dog was cute..we had a good class..everyone participated and did a good job. One of the boys was throwing food across room and another student caught in mouth..haha.

My 3rd class was good today….we covered 3 pages ofnew material and then I let them have free time. They love to see me write my name in hanguel on the board…they had good behavior today. They did good on the new material about the times of day. They all participated and worked hard. Only one person brought their homework so I gave him 2 stickers since he was the only one.

We had a great class in my last class. Best class of the day. We had a test on words we learned last time. 2 of them did really good-90/100. The other made a 40. Then we covered 3 pages. They did a great job in class. We learned a new set of words. Then I let them play a game for 10 minutes. They were so excited to play hangman. They all sat in a row and got out their spelling books. I'd write the blanks and they'd count how many letters and then look through their list and start calling out letters. They were enthustiastically calling out the letters and being really loud. They'd cheer when they'd get it right. They probably were a little louder than they should be but it was 10 mins before the end of the day so its not that big of a deal. Its great to see them to excited!

One of my kids came over to my desk to ask if I was going to Everland. She told me she was going too and she gave me a hug. sweet. I think we'll have a good time tomorrow just letting them be kids!

I'm actually writing this on Saturday. I should be asleep since I have to be up at 7 to go to Everland but I'm still awake.

Day 407

Thursday January 28

I found out today that "Ugly Betty" was cancelled. Why? I liked it! The ratings were going down. I think it will be over in April.

Well at least "How I Met Your Mother" was renewed for the 6th season.

First class was good. I gave them a few mins to study but no one wanted to. Then they took the writing test. They did pretty good. Then they had free time.

My 2nd class was the same as normal. I gave them their newspaper quiz first. They all did good on it. Then I gave them their writing test. Everyone did good on that also. It was a pretty easy test about verbs. The boys were chatty as always. We read an article and then we had free time.

The 3rd class was good. Newspaper class. They liked the articles. We were talking about a dog that was 10 cm. They all got out their rulers. They liked the pictures. Esp the pic of the big fish. A man caught a 42.6 kg fish in France. It was huge. They said "how does someone catch that?" Thats what I'm thinking. How do you reel in a fish that big? They did a good job in class. We listened. Read. Answered questions. I Couldn’t find the board eraser. Don’t know where it was! I wiped the board with my hand once and then turned around the whiteboard eraser and used it. I gave them free time after. They listed to Korean music on my computer.

My last class was good.Gave newspaper test. Then I gave them their writing test. I gave the speaking test to the student who was absent on Tuesday. He did a really good job. Then I gave them free time. I graded tests for 2 students and told them why they got it wrong. They got a 62 and 59. One of the students was telling me the test was difficult. I copy it straight from the book!! One student made a 16 on the test. wow.

I was so tired tonight. Getting less than 4 hours of sleep isn't working out for me. I had to take a long nap. Friday is the last day I'll be on the early schedule. Monday I will go back to having a lot of sleep!

On Saturday I'm going to Everland with the students. I think it will be a fun time. I was looking at the website and I found a discount coupon for foreigners! I'm going to get someone to print it for me. The normal price is 35,000 won but I can get it at 25,000 won for being a foreigner!

Robots to Replace Native English Teachers

**yeah, whatever--you can't replace teachers. It won't work. I don't think they should even waste their time or money on something so foolish!
_____________________________________________________

During the second decade of the New Millennium, robots are expected to replace a number of English-speaking teachers here, who come from such countries as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.

At a robotics forum, which brought together 150 experts from across the country late last week in Seoul, participants predicted that English-speaking robots would fill the shoes of native speakers in the future.

"By around 2015, robots should be able to help teachers in English classes. By 2018, they should be able to teach on their own while communicating with students," said Kim Shin-hwan, an economist at the Hyundai Research Institute.

"Before such sophisticated English-speaking robots debut, teaching by native English speakers will be conducted by video-conferencing with teachers in their home countries," he said.

Kim said that the numerous native English speakers at Korea's language institutes - estimated in the vicinity of 30,000 - will lose their jobs in the not-so-distant future.

"At first, the English-speaking robots will be used in a similar fashion to e-learning, or study via the Internet because the robots would be controlled by humans across the Pacific," Kim said.

"However, they will evolve into stand-alone teachers, which do not need human guidance."

He said that assistant robots are already available in the English classes in a pair of elementary schools in Masan, South Gyeongsang Province, a pilot project aimed at testing the viability of robotic teachers.

Other educational robots are ones designed to help toddlers learn how to walk or geared toward developing the intelligence of children.

"Robots have a part to play in education. The consensus is that research will be conducted in various areas to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of teaching," Kim said.

"For example, robots will help teachers operate not only in English classes but also in other classes where they can offer a helping hand in the years to come," he said.

Many participants in the forum projected that robots will be able to provide customized education suited to personal abilities and interests, which is difficult in today's schools where dozens of students pack a class.

Over the long haul machines are predicted to reduce the discrimination suffered by the underprivileged, who currently cannot experience quality education services.

"In rural areas or remote islands, few English-speaking teachers are ready to work there. But when the English-speaking robots come to town, students will be able to benefit," Kim said.

"In the beginning, the high prices of robots may be a hindrance in offering more equal opportunities to every student. But I think that the problems will be tackled in the long run. For example, the government could subsidize their purchase," he said

Day 406

Wednesday January 27

It snowed again today. Very briefly. Then it rained and it was all gone. It hadn't accumulated anyway.

I get so tired in the afternoon and night. lately I've been taking long naps in the evening. I know its because I don't get enough sleep. I just have a hard time getting to bed early. I was still up at 3am this morn and I have to be up at 7:25am. I have problems. I never want to go to bed before 2am.

1st class was good. As i was passing out the writing tests everyone was telling me how difficult writing was. After the test they had free time and I finished the speaking tests. There was one student who was begging to take the speaking test first, but he had already taken his test on Wednesday. I told him he had already taken it. He made a good grade so he didnt need to take it again. The students who were taking tests today were the ones that didn't take the test on Monday.

2nd class was good.They also took a writing test. 2 stud did well. The other student did very poorly. He skipped the whole back page. Said he didn't know it. Some of these kids just don't care.

My 3rd class was good today. They were asking if they were good can they have a game. I agreed. They were good in class today. We had a productive class. They did a good job on the new material. We covered 3 pages. We will finish on Friday and have a test on Monday. They were asking me to write things on the board in hanguel. They were impressed that I can write in hanguel (written form of Korean). We did a speaking lesson instead of a newspaper lesson today. I need to make sure I’m able to finish the book. We need to do a chapter a week to finish on time.

My last class is so sweet.I think I really enjoy working with the younger kids even though I don't think they understand much of what I say. They are so well behaved. The girl keeps talking to me in Korean and the boys keep telling her that I'm the English teacher. I just look at her like 'i have no clue what you just said'. haha. I think she gets a little fustrated because she doesn't know how to properly express herself in English. We had a spelling test today. The boy who usually gets 100 got a 60. The new girl got a 10 and the other boy got a 20. We covered 3 pages. Its really hard to cover more than one lesson per class..We learned new words and they did a good job on the activities.

Day 405

Tuesday January 26

1st good. I gave them their newspaper test and then gave them time to study for their speaking test. Then we took the test. They all did a good job.

2nd I gave them time to study for their speaking tests. Some of them used the time. Others just goofed off. They would not be quiet. Then I gave them their tests. They did okay but not as good as the other classes. The 4 boys would not be quiet. I didn’t get to finish the tests. I have to finish on Thursday.

3rd was better than normal. One of the Korean teachers came in and talked to them for a little bit in Korean. I guess she was telling them to be quiet and be good in my class. They were good for most of the class. Then 3 boys started talking. Today we had our newspaper class. Our articles were: smallest chihuaha, biggest carp, 14 year old gets into cambridge and kimchi is popular in Japan. They were surprised by the world's biggest carp (it weighed 42 kgs!) and they thought the small dog was cute(its only 10 cm).




4th class was good. I gave them some time to study and then we had our speaking test. They all did well. Then they had free time. They like to draw on the whiteboard during free time.


I watched the episode of The Bachelor. This one is really going fast. Its only the 4th episode and now he's down to 5 people. He let 4 people go this week. One of the least favored girls in the house is still there.

Day 404

Monday January 25

I saw a Korean on the subway today with a cd player walkman. I can't remember the last time I saw one of those! I thought the Ipod had wiped out the walkmans!

Random fact: I still haven't given in and gotten an Ipod.

1st class was good.I gave them their newspaper test first.Then I started writing numbers on the board and they started calling out what order they wanted to go in for the speaking test. 2 students weren't enthusiastic about what order they wanted so they just got what was left. I only had enough time to do 5 of the 10 speaking tests. They did pretty good. I’ll give the other 5 on Wednesday. Plus a writing test.

2nd class was good…I gave them newspaper test. 2 of them made 30 and one 70. One of them just chooses random answers. I told him to read the question and choose the answer. Then I gave them time to study for their speaking test. They all did pretty good on their speaking test. This one was pretty easy.

I called about my cell phone. I can cancel at anytime. Even though my contract is up it still works until I cancel. They probably thought I was stupid. Haha. I just assumed that if my contract was up then I wouldn't still have cell service. I just take my alien card to a phone shop and they will cancel it for me. Good. I still have a phone.

My 3rd class was pretty good today. First we finished up the unit and reviewed. Then we took a test. Most of them were trying to cheat and some were cheating. One student doesn't even really try. He made a 15 on the test. We didn't really have time to cover any new material. We need to cover a unit a week to finish by the end of Feb. so I'm going to skip the newspaper this class and teach new material.

I had a new student today in my spelling class. A girl. She’s in the lowest level. She speaks to me in Korean, but I don’t know what she’s saying! They did very good in class today. We had a good lesson and covered 4 pages. The boy who always has trouble got 4 words right today. Lately he’s only been getting 1.

After work I went to my 4th dentist appointment. Today I was getting prepped for a crown. Today I got a temporary crown. Next Monday the real crown goes on. That will be my 5th appointment. That was a long process for a root canal and a crown!

Afterwards I went to COEX mall to eat at Burger King. I walked around for a little while. I went into this store that has a lot of exported products to look around. They had Lays potato chips for 8,000 won. I would have liked to have some, but I'm not paying close to 8 usd!! They also had fisher peanuts for 20,000 won. WOW. almost 20 dollars for peanuts that you get in America for around 4-5 dollars I think. A can of the select campbell's soup was 6,000 won (almost 6 dollars). It costs around 1.50 in the USA. Exported products are so high here! Thankfully, I'm not that desperate for American products. I am not paying 8 dollars for a bag of potato chips!!

I have some interesting articles picked out for the newspaper class this week: World's smallest chiuahua, World's largest carp, a 14 year old going to college and Japan loves Kimchi.

I keep putting off making my writing tests! I have to give writing tests on Wednesday and Thursday so I'll have to make them tomorrow night!! No more procrastinating!

Day 403

Sunday January 24

Well just another boring day.

I had my phone off all day yesterday. When I turned it on I had 2 text messages. My contract was over on Monday so why do I still have service? Maybe I should call customer service and see what is up. I'm not on a contract anymore so how would I still have service?

Anyway the text message was from the leader at the nokbeon campus. She said that the new teacher in my building needed help with the temperature control. I guess I'll go see if he is at home today.

I went to see the new teacher. He lives right above me. I told him that the person from Nokbeon asked me to come over. He said he had already figured out how to use it by looking on the internet. He probably found the same site I found.haha. I found a website that shows you how to use it. Its funny how I learned how to use it a month before I am leaving. I don't use it that often anyway. I also drew a diagram saying what everything was for. Oh well. We talked very briefly and I was on my way. He said he was sorry that I had to "come all the way down here".

Yeah its a long elevator ride from the 3rd to the 4th floor!

I went to E-Mart today. I ate at McDonalds and then got a swiffer to clean with.(why are swiffers so expensive? @17 dollars for a stick and a wipe) After I paid, the cashier called this guy over so I didn't know what was happening. (he was kinda cute and spoke English.) He told me to follow him over to the service desk. Some form came out with the receipt so I had to write my name on it and then he gave me a 5,000 won "gift money." sweet. I don't know why, but I'll use it sometime!

Day 402 Helpful Website Links

Saturday January 23

Well I didn't actually do anything worth mentioning so I thought I'd make a post of helpful webpages in Korea..just click on link to go to website.

FUNNY SITE DEPICTING FOREIGN LIFE IN KOREA:

ROKetship

TRANSPORTATION:

Seoul Metro Rapid Transit Corporation
Seoul Subway map with route search. I use this all the time. Its very accurate. Input your starting point and ending point and it will tell you how to get there, where to transfer, fastest transfer, amount of time and fare.

Bus Routes Seoul Bus Routes. Input where you are starting and where you are ending and it will tell you what buses you can take, where to get on and off, time and price. I use this one often too.

SOUTH KOREA NEWS IN ENGLISH:

Korea Herald

Korea Times

US EMBASSY:

US EMBASSY

ENGLISH SPEAKING DENTIST(she studied in the USA and has licenses there)(I got a root canal at her office)

Tufts Dental

ENGLISH SPEAKING INTERNATIONAL HEALTH CLINIC:

International Clinic

HELPFUL INFO RELATING TO LIVING/WORKING IN SOUTH KOREA:

Seoul Global Center

Korea 4 Expats

TOURISM:

Korean Tourism

LEARN KOREAN:

Talk To Me In Korean

Common Korean Phrases

Korean Class 101

Community for Korean Learners

Korean Grammar

Korean Alphabet

BLOGS I READ ABOUT KOREA:

Send Me to Korea

Chris In South Korea

Blackouts in South Korea (funny website showing people sleeping or blacked out from too much alcohol)

Roboseyo

COMMUNITY FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS IN SOUTH KOREA-DAVE'S ESL-Disscusion forum, ideas, resources, etc.

Dave's ESL Cafe

YOUTUBE:

www.youtube.com/user/ever4one

A native Korean(Hyunwoo Sun) who speaks fluent English and loves learning languages. He talks about other languages and gives Korean lessons on Youtube.

His personal site: Hyunwoo Sun

www.youtube.com/user/busyatomdotcom
a great youtube site to learn Korean

Day 401

Friday January 22

First class was great.We had our newspaper class. The boy who came to my Tues class noticed that it was the same. I told him I used the same articles for all of my classes. So he learned it twice. They liked the articles.they were really interested…they liked the pictures of the burj khalifa and strawberry crab. They did great job. One time they asked me if the story was real. All of the stories are real. One student wanted to see the strawberry crab picture again after class.



Good class. Korean teacher taught all the way up until it was time for my class so I gave them a break in my class and started 10 mins late. We finished right on time and they had to do one article for homework because we didn’t have time to finish in class. They did okay in class. They don't seem to be as interested as the other class.

3rd was okay but not good. I only have one student who actually pays attention and always does what he should. The rest don’t read, I have to beg them to write the answers and to participate. I write the answers on the board and they still spell it wrong. I had losing and scoring wrote on the board. One student wrote loseing and scoreing. I told them they didn't have an e-look at the board!. They weren’t as bad as usual but they still weren’t good. We worked up til the end of class and covered 4 pages. We have a test on Monday. They all did bad on their newspaper test. The lowest grade was a 10. The rest were around 30,40. One student made a 70. The student with the easy version of the test got a 100.

My 4th class was okay. We didn't get much accomplished. Having to give the newspaper test and spelling test takes up a lot of time. They both got the answers right on the newspaper test. The youngest student got a 100 on his spelling test. The other student got a 10. He only attempted 2 words. The only word he could spell was "fur". We learned a new set of words and they will have a test on Monday. I think next week i'm going to have 3 spelling classes so we can get caught up to where we need to be. I'm going to skip the newspaper class.

My last day of work will be Feb 26th. I have to start training my replacement on the 24th. I think I'll finish up early and give all my tests the week before and then when the new teacher comes I'll give them some short sample lessons so the teacher can watch. Then I'll wrap things up and take lots of pictures.

Its getting down to the end! Just a little over 30 days. wow.

All week I've heard people talking about Everland. They always talk in Korean. So I hear "blah blah blah Everland. Blah blah blah Everland".HAHA. The academy is taking the students out to Everland on January 30(next Saturday). They asked me if I'd like to come. Yes I would. Everland is a theme park in Seoul. I never got around to visiting it so now I will and I'll be there with my students. I think it will be a fun time.

I've been trying to keep up with American Idol. I've downloaded 3 of the 4 episodes. I couldn't download the Chicago auditions because the link was bad. I heard that a Korean American auditioned. I found his audition on Youtube. He did a good job. Shania Twain was the guest judge. I was wondering if she got a hold of whatever Paula has been on! She was crazy! And she kept making tons of innuendos.

I really hope they come somewhere near me this year. This would be my last year to audition. I'd really like to try out again.

Day 400

Thursday January 21

wow...400 days! Only about 30 more to go!

First class was good.We studied a writing lesson about plot, pronouns and elaborating. They all did good.They were elaborating sentences to give them more detail. One of my students must have misread the word. She wrote “She put on the delicious sweater.” I asked her “do you eat a sweater?” Then she laughed and told her friend what she wrote. They laughed and she changed it to “red sweater.”

2nd class was loud as always. I told one of the boys to move at the beginning of class. He was sitting across from the other boy then he moved back beside him. He said he would talk to the other boy but that was a lie. I kept telling him to move but he wouldn’t. they kept talking all class and being loud. Today we had 2 writing lessons. Both were about verbs. They did good on the material. We also had to write about an animal. Some of their sentences were “duck is delicious”, “white tiger is cute”, “white tiger is handsome”, “shark is cute”, “shark is handsome”, “cat is dogs friend”. They also had to write about a book. 2 students wrote about Edison. One wrote about Cinderella. One about Tellytubbies which he spelled as teletoby.Ha.

My 3rd class was good. It was our newspaper class. They enjoyed the articles. Finished early had free time. Listened to my Korean music.

Last class was good. We had a writing lesson on putting events in order and had review. Finished early and had free time.

Day 399

Wednesday Jan 20

It has been raining all day and that finally melted the snow.

I got my test results today from the general health screen. Everything looks good. Except I have low Iron and a high ESR. I don't know what the ESR is. They said something about inflamation. I may make an appointment later to see what that means.

My first class was good We had a writing lesson about choosing a topic that interests you…did a good job…few mins of free time.

2nd was good..2 students.. did a good job on 2 writing lessons…play, memory, number words, feeling words…then we reviewed and played hangman.

3rd class was a nightmare..They were talking to each other and making paper airplanes and playing with their phones. Only one person read all the time. The rest wouldn’t read or weren’t even on the right page. This class is frustrating.Standing up in the classroom and not saying anything and just waiting doesn’t work for this class. They keep on doing what they were doing. The one student who was good, and read along even when no one else was got 2 stickers. The other students were asking for some and told them they were bad. Tried to show pics on powerpoint and they try to press escape….i didn’t let 2 students see the picture bc they pressed esc. I’m making a harder version of the test for them on Friday. I’ll give the good student the easy version. They start packing up with 5 mins left. I wasn’t going to let them leave early!

I wish all my classes could be like my last class. They are so sweet. We had our newspaper class…today’s articles were about: a cat stationmaster, most admired woman and man in America, tallest building in the world, and Oysters. They are always good in class. They read along and write the answers.They liked the picture of the cat. One of the boys was pretending to rub the cat.haha. they loved the pic of Obama. He kept looking at the obama picture and calling out “Obama” in an excited voice. All of my students love Obama.

Here's the cat-Its a stationmaster in Japan

Day 398

Tuesday January 19

My blog is getting boring. Its all about the monotony these days.

It was up in the 40's today! I've never been excited about cold weather. I'm just glad its a tad bit warmer!

There was another earthquake...This month there have been earthquakes in Haiti, Argentina, Venezuela, Guatemala and the cayman islands. Thats 5 earthquakes all in a short time. What is going on? Haiti is the only one where people are reporting mass devastation. I haven't even heard anything about damages or deaths from the other 4.

1st class was good. We talked about various issues. The titles of lessons was “can you explain why” and “with whom do you agree”.They did a good job.

2nd class was a struggle as always.We did 2 speaking lessons-birthdays and hospitals.The two chatty boys talked all class long…They are constantly laughing and talking no matter how many times you tell them to be quiet they won’t listen.It’s a joke when you tell them to be quiet..one of them doesn’t bring his book so they share and don’t write answers down-I’m not going to be lenient on them on test day..You don’t pay attention-then I don’t care if you do badly..no hints, no reminders. Its not like the care about their grade anyway. Those 2 boys say they've been studying since they were 5. They are probably 11 or 12 now and their English isn't that great. I'm trying to help them, but there's not much you can do for people who don't want to be helped. The other 3 students were good and participated so I gave them a sticker but not the other 2 boys.One boy talks too loudly and I have to keep telling him to talk quieter…they did good on the lessons….you read a story and answer questions…when I asked what they wanted for birthday they wanted friends.

The 3rd class was our Newspaper class..Our topics were: twins with different birthday,strawberry crab, burj kahlifa in dubai, and foods that are harmful to dogs.The class was decent.One of my mwf students came to class(if he comes to my class on Friday he'll hear the same thing again)…He answered most of the questions…some students wont read or pay attention…The chatty boys continue to talk. I asked one of them to move to another seat, but he wouldn't. Maybe next time I'll just send them out of the room. I don't care where they go, just get out!

My last class was good. We did 2 speaking lessons on pet people and mobile phone etiquette. They did a good job. We finished early and let them play. Boys wrote on board. I played a game with the girl. One of the boys asked me if I spoke Korean. I told him I speak a little. He told me that the chatty boys were saying bad words in Korean. I knew that. He told me to tell them ‘joyonghihae’ which means be quiet in Korean. He was also surprised when I wrote words like etiquette, polite, courteous in Korean. I think its easier to understand if they know the Korean word that goes with it. I find the words on a translator.

Maybe one day I’ll come back, study hard, and become fluent in Korean and I’d be a big help to the students

Day 397

Monday January 18

1st class was good. We did a speaking lesson on emergencies and mobile phone etiquette. I translated some of the words into Korean for them so they would understand-etiquette, polite, courteous. They all clapped when I wrote the words.haha. they asked how I knew—google.com/translate! They corrected me on one of them. I wrote it as an o insted of a u. (the o and the u in hanguel are similar...one is a straight line with a line pointing up...the other is a straight line with a line pointing down)

2nd class was okay. We had a speaking lesson about birthdays and hospitals. There was a story and they had to answer comprehension questions. Then answer personal questions. Then I helped them with homework for their other English class.

The 3rd class was back to their bad selves. They were not paying attention….I always give a review where I basically give answers to test and no one did better a 79. Then they were having a phone battle. I kept telling them to close their phones. They said "its a phone battle". I told them its class time!…They wouldn’t put their phones away and kept taking pictures.I had to keep playing the same track over and over on the cd until someone paid attention. I told them I was going to play it over and over until they paid attention. I must have played it about 10 times.We worked all the way up till end of class nad I told them no games this week.

4th class was good….The kid who always does bad got a zero on test(I just don't know what to do!)…The other made a 100. Today we learned a new set of words. They will be tested on those words on Friday.

After work I headed out to Gangnam to go to the dentist for my 3rd appointment. My root canal is now finished. She wants to wait a week before putting on the crown since my lip still hasn't healed. Hopefully it will heal over a week. After my dentist appt I went to COEX to eat supper. (Coex is a big mall in Seoul).

My cell phone ran out today. I have no phone for a month. If anyone really needs to reach me then thats just too bad.

Day 396

Sunday January 17

current temp: 25 degrees F
Exchange: 1129 krw = $1 usd

Just another boring day...I'm just writing for the sake of writing...

nothing worth mentioning..

It actually got up to 30 degrees today! It actually felt good outside. Still too cold for me but not as bad as 10 degrees!

Day 395

Saturday January 16

I had to get up early this morn. I hated that!

I went to the International Clinic in Itaewon to get a health screening. Just basic stuff to see how everything is functioning. I was in and out pretty quickly. I had a urine test and a blood sample was taken. I should have my results in 4-5 days.

I should be out doing things since I don't have much time left but instead I'm relaxing.

Just a boring day.

http://www.internationalclinic.co.kr/

International Clinic was founded in 1987 to provide advanced and personalized health care for expatriates residing in Korea and travelers to Korea.
The International clinic is a modern full service medical clinic specializing safe and effective natural therapies for medical conditions, including anti-aging program. We offer innovative approach to the treatment of a wide variety of medical disorders, combining the very best of both conventional and complementary medicine. The emphasis is on treating the cause of disease, not merely the symptoms.

How I get there: Line 6 Itaewon station Exit 4--take bus 03 (yellow bus..it comes about 4-5 times an hour)....get off at the first stop..cross the road...go inside the building...5th floor...

Hours: Monday-Friday 9am-6pm, Saturday 9am-3pm. Lunch: 12pm-2pm

Office Tel: 82-2-790-0857
Fax: 82-2-798-7480
Email: ksyclinic@yahoo.co.kr

Day 394

Friday January 15

Ouch..my mouth hurts!! And there's nothing I can do about it. I wonder how long it will be before it heals.

When I was on my way to work this morning it was snowing in Seoul again. There wasn't any accumulation though. It was just for a short time. The temps have risen a little. It was in the high 20s today which is a lot better than the teens!

My first class was great..definaly my favorite this semester..they are perfect students all the time..they are well behaved and put forth the effort to learn..Today was our newspaper class. One of our articles was about England's biggest bull.They were surprised by how big the bull was.



We had an article about a korean who went to harvard and one of the boys called her ugly…They all beg to read first…I like their enthusiasm….I let the person who asked first….they enjoyed all the articles…we talked about popular names in england…one of the boys kept telling me he wanted to change his name and he kept listing girls names…just to be funny….they are a great class.

My 2nd class was okay..they aren’t as interested in the articles..they don’t pay attention all the time…I have to beg them to write answers…

3rd class was good…took all 9 of them out to get tteokbokki. Then we took a test on the newspaper. I give them the articles to test their reading comprehension. A lot of them did good. Some of them cant find the answers and one boy doesn’t even try. He made a 0. He just wrote random answers. Then we studied 3 pages of new material. Today we were talking about listening to music, talking on the phone, watching tv, doing homework, etc. They were well behaved in class. Monday we will wrap it up and have a test.

My last class was good. I hate that it takes to much time to take the tests that we dont have enough time to cover a lot of material. We had a newspaper test today. They both made 100. Then we had a spelling test. One boy made a 10. The other student made 100. I just don't know what to do about the student who constanly gets low grades. He knows about the tests in advance. He just doesn't retain the information. We learned a new set of words today but only got one page of work done in the book. near the end of the month I may skip one of the newspaper classes and concentrate on spelling to get somewhat caught up.

I found out what those things are that I like in a bakery called Tous LesJours. They are vegetable croquettes. They are so delicious!

Got to get up early in the morning. I scheduled an appointment at a clinic to get some tests done. I'm going to get a test that will measure cholesterol, liver function, kidney function,etc. I have to be there at 11:15. Its not covered by insurance so I have to pay the full price. 120,000 won which is around $120

I've decided I'm not going out to the exhibit with the girl who I met on Wednesday. I just want to rest on Saturday.

Day 393

Thursday January 14

I am so tired! and cold! but I'm warm inside my apartment. I always turn it up too high and its too hot.

First class was good…went over 5 pages of new material in writing class. Talked about plot, revising by deleting and problems and solutions. They did okay. I had to give them the answers to most because no one was calling out any answers. At least they were good and no one begged for free time. We worked up until the end of class.

2nd class…boys are so rude. I tell to be quiet and they just mock me like im joking. They all did poorly on their newspaper quiz and no one did their homework. We had a short lesson today about verbs. They did good on it. Then we did part of lesson from another book that I use to supplement. The boys are constantly talking and joking around. I think I need to start separating them.

My 3rd class was the newspaper class. They liked all the articles. Esp the one about the names. They liked to talk about the various names. One of my students is named Olivia and that is the most popular name in England in 2009. We had an article about England's biggest bull. They were surprised by how big it was. We finished early and I let them listen to music.

4th class good…writing lesson….5 pages of review…

After work I had to go back to the dentist. I got there 35 mins early. She took me in early and I was done by my original appt time. Today was stage 2 of the root canal. It was a very brief appt. I have to go back on Monday to complete the root canal.

Day 392

Wednesday January 13

My mouth hurts-right in the corner! I went to the dentist on Monday and they started a root canal. The root canal is in the back of my mouth so they had to hold my mouth open to reach it. Now I have a sore on the side of my mouth in the corner. There's nothing I can do to make it feel better. I'll just have to wait for it to heal. I keep picking at it because it hurts and has a scab! I wonder if people are looking at it wondering what is wrong with me.hehe.

It was really cold today. At 9am it was 1 degree F. Now it is only 9 degrees F. I don't remember it being this cold last winter in South Korea.

My first class was good. Today was a writing lesson.I left the room to make a copy for a student who didn't bring his book and when I got back they were so quiet. I found it quite odd since there is always someone chatting quietly.They were silent for a while. They eventually started talking some. Our first task today was to write an outline for a personal narrative about a gift they received. We talked about personal narrative,pronouns, and revising sentences.They did a good job on the lesson.

2nd class was pretty good.They wanted to do the reading selection I brought first.We started out with a section from the newspaper called English Letters. We read and answered questions. They did good on that part. Then we did a writing exercise about describing words.

3rd class was better today..I have 3 students who always use one of my pens in class. I carry a basket with pens, chalk, erasers, etc to class and they all come up to my basket and grab a pen. One of the kids was talking in Korean and I understood what he said.He said “I like valerie’s pen”…then everyone laughed.I laughed too because I actually knew what he meant.Today was our newspaper class.They were pretty good today,They wanted me to rush through the lesson.They didn’t want to read it in small chunks so we read in sentences. I couldn't get everyone to read along. I don't think todays lesson was an effective strategy.oh well.They did good on answering the questions.After we finished 4 articles they were looking at my computer.They looked at some of my pictures. They wanted to see a picture of my sister. They also said that we look alike. Everyone I meet says me and Candace look alike. haha. I showed them some pictures from when I was little and they liked them.One of the boys was trying to ask me why I was skinny when I was a kid and fat now…it was funny…i know they don’t mean anything hurtful by it. Hey, its a valid question. Then they wanted to look at my music…I let them listen to music…I have a lot of Korean music on my computer which makes me pretty popular with the kids..hehe

Last class is so precious…Today we did the newspaper articles.They cant find answers so I just write the answers on the board. They like to get up from their seats but I don’t care..they don’t cause any commotion…they are so well behaved and sweet…When you have a small, well behaved class I give them more freedom. There are only 2 boys in the class.

I met an American tonight at McDonalds. She's from Florida. I was waiting on my order and she talked to me and joined me for dinner. It was nice to meet someone in my area. She invited me to join a group of her friends for an art exhibit on Saturday. I might go. I don't have any other plans and its always nice to meet new people although I won't get to know them for long since I'm leaving soon.

N.Korea Puts Peace Treaty as 'Top Priority'

North Korea has expressed to the U.S. that concluding a peace treaty is more important than normalizing its relationship with Washington, according to a Japanese media report.

Kyodo News said Pyongyang informed U.S. special envoy Stephen Bosworth during his visit there earlier this month that diplomatic ties can be broken at any time. The report added, citing various diplomatic sources, that Pyongyang is keener on abolishing the current armistice agreement and replacing it with a formal peace treaty and that the normalization of ties is not the regime's top priority.

North Korean officials also said that it could return to the six-party nuclear talks when it is "interested," maintaining a cautious approach to incentives such as economic support and the establishment of a U.S. liaison office in Pyongyang.

However, the sources explained that U.S. President Barack Obama did not mention such an office in the recent letter he wrote to Kim Jong-il, but instead he urged the North to give up its nuclear ambitions and return to the negotiating table.

Meanwhile, government officials in Seoul said Bosworth, after returning from Pyongyang, relayed that when the six-way talks resume, four countries -- the two Koreas, the U.S. and China -- will separately discuss peace on the Korean Peninsula, including the peace treaty.

Day 391

Tuesday January 12

Its cold!

I have nothing interesting to talk about these days. If you fall asleep by the time you get to the end of the entry, I understand.

Current temp:18 degrees F

Exchange: 1128 krw = 1 usd. The exchange rate has been falling steadily recently. When I transferred money home the rate with IBK was 1137 on Monday morning.

I've been wasting a lot of time on Twitter lately.

My 1st class was good….The topic of our first lesson was “do you believe?".There were topics such as justice, miracles, unconditional love. One student said all love is conditional (not unconditional). A parent's love, friendships and her relationship with her parents is conditional. Our second topic was rules-for a fan of a sporting team and at a swimming pool.

I had a new student in my 2nd class.The boys wont be quiet during class..I keep telling to be quiet and they just mock me..The two chatty boys are talking to each other constantly and wont put away their phones.the new boy and his friend wont stop talking to each other….Today our lesson was about making questions and Santa Claus.

My 3rd class was okay. It was our newspaper class. We talked about the biggest bull in England, most popular british names of 2009 and a Korean American who is a Harvard newspaper editor. Almost everyone participated in class. When I asked questions no one was really looking for the answers except one or 2 people. The 2 chatty boys were talking and had to tell to be quiet.

The last class was great…We had a speaking lesson on arguing and littering. The boys said they litter and the girls don’t.We had a good discussion. One of our questions was "Who is to blame for our environmental problems?" What kind of question is that for kids to answer? I don't think 11-12 year olds even think about environmental problems. They don't know how to answer that. I don't even know how to answer. I just told them "Everyone is responsible for the environmental problems." Its one of those things where there isn't a wrong or right answer. You can't pinpoint an exact cause. Then I let them play a game. We played the game where you start a new word from the last letter of the previous one. They did a good job. We played the game for 20 minutes.

Beyonce's "Video Phone" MV is on tv right now. I think its the most stupid song!

Day 390....

Monday January 11

I had a good day today.

1st class was good. We did a speaking lesson about pets and arguing. We had a good discussion. After we finished we were talking about pets and everyone wanted to know if I had one. I showed them a picture of Princess(my shih tzu). One student showed me a picture of her dog on her 핸드폰(Konglish=Hand Phone). One student was telling me about his poodle. He made sure I knew that a poodle was the 2nd smartest dog. I had one person who doesn’t like animals. Then one of my students was talking to me telling me how much she loved me-she's one of my newest students. She also gave me a hug. How precious. She was telling me that her English level was zero. Her dream is to go to Harvard, but she thinks she won’t be able to because her English isn’t good. She’s still got a lot of years to practice. Its great that she has a dream of Harvard. Her English isn’t as bad as she thinks it is. On Friday I'm going to bring in an article about a Korean woman who is going to Harvard for our newspaper class.

2nd class was good. We went over a speaking lesson about Santa Claus. They did a good job and all participated. I couldn’t get the boys to practice with each other. Then I was going to do another activity but there was only 10 mins left so I gave them free time. One of the boys just guessed on the quiz that I gave and he was excited to make a 40. (It doesn't go towards their final grade-I just see if they were paying attention).

3rd class was good. They keep asking for 떡볶이(a popular snack food) so I told them if they were angels on today and Wednesday that we would have 떡볶이 on Friday. There's a street vendor near our hagwon that sells 떡볶이 for 500 won (less than 50 cents usd). All the students love it. They made me pinky swear and sign a paper. We studied 3 pages of new material today. They actually did good and made an effort-bribing this class really helps their behavior. They did good on the new material. Action verbs-run, walk, swim, jump, dance, climb, etc.We talked about their -ing forms. He is running. She is swimming, etc. They talked a little bit but they didn’t get out of hand. It was a good class. I gave them 10 mins of free time. There wasn’t enough time to cover another page in the book.

My last class is so precious. They are my youngest. They did a wonderful job in class today. They participate and do well on activities in class. We learned a new set of words today. One of our activities was putting the words in the catagory of person/place/object/describes. I drew a stick figure wearing a dress for the word "lady" and then I drew curly hair. Then one of the boys shouted "Adjumma"(it means old woman in Korean).When we finished one lesson I let them play hangman instead of starting on a new lesson. They loved it! They were so enthusiastic about the words. They would count how many letters and then look at their words and guess letters. Then they’d get excited when they got it right. That’s the enthusiasm that I wish all my students had!

After school I had a dentist appointment in Gangnam. It was an hour subway ride, but I chose this place because she studied in the USA, speaks English, and I heard that it was a good place to go. I got there just a few mins before my appt and filled out a short form. Then I was taken back to get x-rays. Then the doctor came in to see me. She checked out a few of my teeth. I need 2 root canals. She even started the process for the first one today. I was getting an x-ray to see how deep the roots were and I was drooling all over the place.haha. I had this thing in my mouth that prevented me from closing my mouth and I had to hold the x-ray film to the side of my mouth. It took a while to do the first part of the root canal today because it was a hard to reach tooth in the back of my mouth. When I left the office it was almost 7pm. I got there at 5:30. I have to go back on Thursday for another appointment. I have to get a crown. Today I had to pay 596,000 won for the whole visit which includes the root canal cost. That comes out to about $550 usd. She said its cheaper here than it would be in the states. My lip is a little sore from being held open to reach the back teeth but its not too bad. I have to avoid eating on that side.

On the way home the subway was super crowded on line 2 and line 6. We were packed like sardines. You could barely move. A sea of Koreans and one 외국인. It reminded me of that video of a subway in Japan where they are pushing people into the trains. It wasn't nearly that bad!

Day 389

Sunday January 10

I have a tooth thats been bothering me for about a week. I was waiting till I got paid to get it checked out. Maybe its a cavity. I also asked for a check up since I havent been to a dentist in about 2 years. I emailed the dentist office yesterday and I didn't expect to hear from them on a Sunday. I received an email today saying that they can take me in Tomorrow at 5:30pm. (They are open till 7pm on Monday). Sweet. I'll be going to a dentist in Gangnam who went to college in the USA and practiced denistry in the US.

Today was another lazy day. I went to bed around 6am and woke up around 1:30pm.

I didn't do anything productive except correct some book reports. I don't know how to correct some of them because they are not in complete sentences and I can't figure out what the student is trying to say.

I watched "Speed Racer" today. I liked it. good movie. Within the next few days I'm going to watch "Ninja Assassin".

Today I ordered some things for my camera. I ordered a spare charger, a new battery and a new UV filter.

well thats all for today.

On Friday I called LG Telecom to find out when my phone contract is up. Its over on January 18. One more week with a phone then I'll be without one for a month.

Day 388

Saturday January 9

It was a lazy day. I stayed up till 6:30am and I slept till around 4:30pm. I did lay back down in the bed till about 7pm. I don't think I actually fell asleep again.

I went to burger king to try the cheese onion ring whopper. It was nice.

I'm actually going to wake up earlier on Sunday so i'll be able to adjust to going to bed around 11pm.

I dreamt about Rain (Bi)(Jeong Ji Hoon) last night..he was in a lobby and I was walking up a staircase to get to my apartment..it seemed to be a really nice place..and he asked me to stay down in the lobby with him. Then when I came down he just ignored me. Then I finally told him I was just going to leave then he wanted to talk to me.



I'd just really love to meet him...He just seems like such a sweet,humble,innocent person..his smile is wonderful-I wouldnt be able to get mad at him.he'd flash that beautiful smile and suddenly everything is okay...I've never seen any bad press about him...but meeting celebs as popular as him is impossible..he's lonely and is always talking about how he wants a girlfriend in interviews..

I also love this picture:

I'd be a great girlfriend for him...I'd move to Korea for him--I love Korea...Seoul is a great place

Day 387

January 8 Friday

I got my new passport today. That was quick! They told me it would take two weeks to process, but it only took one week! My picture looks funny though. It looks like I have red circles around my eyes. weird.

1st class was great. My 1st class on MWF is now my biggest(10 students) and my favorite class. I just adore those kids. They are very well behaved. They have so much enthusiasm and they actually put forth the effort. They are all begging to read first. I try to remember who asked first. We went over newspaper articles…they did good and participated…I let them listen to some songs after we were finished…They wanted to hear "Heartbeat" by 2pm. They also wanted to listen to 부른다 by 서인국(He won the Korean version of American Idol). I keep up with all the hottest pop groups. The kids are always talking about the Kpop groups and they are always excited that I like the music too. I love Korean Pop! I'm going to miss being surrounded by it when I move back to the USA. My favorites are : 2pm, Rain, Big Bang, SS501, and Super Junior. I've seen Big Bang, Super Junior, Girl's Generation, and 2NE1 in a mini concert at the Asian music awards. I really want to see Rain. I would also love to see SS501 and 2PM.

My 2nd class was okay.We also went over the newspaper articles. The boys were not paying attention..I played hangman with them for about 5 min beford class….When we were reading one boy kept skipping words that he didn’t know or didn’t want to read. I told him not to skip words.and I had to beg him to write down the answers..

My 3rd class was pretty good. I gave them 2 tests. Their behavior was better today.They were pretty quiet during the tests, but they do like to shout out the answers and I make them stop.…I decided to make the test easier so they could have a chance at getting a good grade. I gave them the articles and they had to just find the answers. Some of them don’t even look for the answers.Then I reviewed for the book test. I wrote all the words on the board and they had to fill in the blanks. They got most of those right. Then I did a review where we looked at the pictures for each of the words..we went over that twice….even after reviewing some of them didn’t do so well. Then I let them have free time…they were being loud some of the time.No matter how much I tell them to be quiet there are a few who like to be loud…im going to have to stop giving games because they wont be quiet…I don’t want to get in trouble…my room is right beside the teachers room and they can hear…

My last class was good. The two boys in the class are so precious. They are my youngest students. I don't know how old they are, but they don't look like they could be older than 2nd or 3rd grade. One of the boys was wearing his little animal hat during class. Its like a toboggan in the shape of an animal head. Its so adorable. A lot of my kids have one. I think I might find one just as a keepsake.hehe. I gave them the newspaper test first. They had to find the answers in the articles. One student got a perfect score and the other student missed a few. Then I told them to study for their test. I just don't know what to do with that one boy. He never retains the information. The newest student does great. He got a perfect score. The other student only attempted 4 of the words and got one of them correct. He could spell boat but couldnt spell any of the others. Then we covered 2 pages in our book. They did good with the activities in the book. The activites were finding patterns in words like begins with ch or ends with ch. At the end of class I said "끝났어" which means "its over". They were so surprised to hear me speak Korean. Then one of the boys kept asking me to say random words. Then he said "bravo!" I said "안녕히 가세요" to the students.

I wish I would have spent more time studying Korean. It would have been nice to actually carry on a simple conversation. My Korean is very limited! But even my small amount of Korean impresses the students.

Today the team leader at my school told me that she needs a copy of all of my bills. I told her I'd find as many as I could. I always had to give them receipts so they could make sure I paid my bills. I gave all my receipts. Why do they need the actual bills? I found the majority of them. I'm missing a few of the bills. No one told me I had to save them. I don't know why they are so anal about having receipts. My last co teacher was telling me I'd get all that money back when I leave, but I wonder if that is true. Why would they give me back the money that I paid for bills?? I'll be extremely happy if I do get it back. I'll just wait and see.

6 weeks left!! I never planned my vacation so I think I'll be leaving a week earlier than I expected. I should be leaving sometime around Feb 20 or so.

Day 386

Thursday January 7

My 1st class good….We went over review questions and started talking about personal voice. They did pretty well on the personal voice. We covered 7 pages.

2nd class was good. I realized I didn’t make a quiz for the newspaper class. I just wrote all the questions on the board and they wrote the number and their answer. Today we covered a writing lesson about words that have different meanings-ex: light (not heavy) (not dark) and a rhyming poem. They did pretty good on the lesson. Then we did one page of a lesson from another book. They do really well on the writing lessons from the other book that I used to use in my upper level classes.

3rd class was good…we went over the newspaper articles. They seemed to like the one about the dog who travelled around the world. They wanted to know if the owner was rich, did she come to Korea, and how old was the dog. None of that information was in the article.We also talked about green sheep, food eaten on new years, and obama getting vaccinated. One student asked to only read the articles and not listen. I told her we were going to listen also today. We actually finished early. I would have had time to do a 5th article but I just gave them free time. They saw some Korean music on my Itunes and they wanted to listen to G-Dragon and 2PM. I should have gotten extra info on the dog one but I didn’t know they’d ask so many questions. After class I found a great article about them. She sold her home to pay for the trip ($399,000 usd)(250,000 British Pounds). I searched some more and found out the dog is 7 and she didn’t come to Korea. There were also some good photos of the dog at the places they visited.

Here's a good article about the dog:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1237315/A-hound-world-80-days-Meet-Oscar-canine-globe-trotting-sensation.html

Last class was good. I also had the students write their answers down for the newspaper quiz. They all wanted to write the questions out also. I told them they could just write the answer. Then we covered 3 pages in writing. We talked about plural possessive nouns and where to add quotation marks when someone is speaking. They did well on both. They had some trouble with the strong interesting words review, but most of the class is new so they havent covered that lesson with me before.

I have booked everything for my trip to NYC!! I got a round trip plane ticket from NC to NY, 5 nights in a 3 star hotel, a round trip bus ride to Washington DC and Philadelphia, and a comprehensive 8 hour tour of NYC for about $420. I think thats a great deal for a week long vacation.

Day 385

Wednesday January 6

I booked my trip to NYC today! The price went down since the last time I looked. I got a flight from NC to NY and 5 nights in a 3 star hotel for $275. I think thats a great price. I booked through Cheaptickets.com. I have to book the rest of the trip soon. I plan to go on a tour of NYC, a day trip to Washington DC and Philadelphia, visit Brooklyn tabernacle and other famous NYC spots. Its going to be a great trip. My first trip up north and I'm covering 3 states at one time! (Its my goal to visit EVERY state!)

current temp: 13 degrees
Exchange: 1137 krw = 1 usd (Keep falling, please!! (the exchange...not the temperature!)

It was super cold this morning. When I got to work I checked The Weather Channel website. It said that the temperature was -2 degrees (fahrenheit). OH MY! Definately the lowest temp I have ever experienced and hope to never experience again!

Today was an okay day.

My first class was good. I had 1 new student. She didn't have an English name so I gave her a list of common girl names. I let her choose the name while i was making copies for her. The girl beside her thought it was so important that I know what name she chose that instant. I'm standing at the copier and she sticks her head out the door and calls out the name "Sarah". I had 10 students present today. They are all well behaved and work hard..We covered 6 pages…We talked about strong interesting words..that was kinda hard for them…they didn’t understand how to write a sentence using strong interesting words so I just wrote one on the board…when we introduced ourselves they wanted me to say my name in korean so I introduced myself in korean…the new student clapped…haha-I can only say a few things but they are very impressed and ask me to say stuff all the time.

My 2nd class was pretty good….the Korean teacher went over and wasn’t done when it was my time to teach…I gave students 5 mins free time…We did 2 writing lessons…..friendly letter, thank you letter, homophones and possessive…they did good…a student from tues/thurs was in MWF class…..if he is going to be in that class from now on he will be learning the same things over…his class was ahead of this class…we got finished and had 10 mins left..wanted free time…I said no…We read an article and answered questions.

My 3rd class was bad again…they wouldn’t pay attention…I feel like im just talking to myself…They are constantly playing on cellphones(I think its time to start taking them away!)…I can't get the whole class to read along. I keep saying "everybody read" and there's always a few people who just wont repeat with the class. Then they are talking to each other and getting out of their seats.When it comes time to answer questions they dont even look for the answers….i just stood there and kept asking the question until someone answered…still couldn’t find answer when I pointed it out…8 lower level kids is too much!...

My last class was okay. I told the boys to write their spelling words before their test. The one boy wasn't ready for his test. I told him to study while I was giving the newest student his test. He didn't study. He got one word right so I told him I'd let him take it again on Friday. The newest student made a 90 on his test. Then we did the newspaper articles. I have to show them where to find the answers. I don't know what effective strategies are for teaching someone on such a low level. Hopefully something I taught them will stick and help them.

I just have to survive 6 more weeks....

I found a copy of The Bachelor to download...I'm sure it will be full of drama as always...there are a lot of characters and desperate women on there..

I always find it funny to watch these women who get eliminated on the first night....they think its the end of the world because they didn't get picked..they think he's the only fish in the sea and their life just cant go on....craziness.....you barely know anything about him and you think your soulmate just passed you by...

Rain is 너무 귀여워

너무 귀여워

I have a crush...

I love it when he is talking about the movie and he says its kick ass and she tells him to keep it g-rated..he didn't know that was off limits!

he is a great dancer.

He has the best smile.He could smile and everything would be okay..he looks so sweet and innocent when he smiles..I'd just want to sit there and watch him smile all day long.

He seems so sweet in all his interviews.I've watched some clips on youtube. Quite a lot actually. He really adored his mother. She passed away when he was 18, but he tears up everytime he talks about her. (I really like guys who love their mother).



Wow...he just described me....I'm very gentle (with a dual personality!). I might be a little too chubby though.

Rain: I'm single. Lets go on a date.

Day 384

Tuesday January 5

current temp: 12 degrees F

Exchange: 1146 krw = 1 usd (i hope it stays low or gets even lower when I transfer money to my american bank account...lower exchange rate = more usd to send home!)

1st class was good. We did one speaking lesson about various issues.The title of the lesson was “I don’t understand”.We talked about things like wars, studying, weight, rich helping the poor, and parents being too busy. I thought it was a boring lesson. The students didn’t know how to answer some of the questions.They all did good on the newspaper quiz.I should have brought extra material. We finished 15 mins early. At least they got some time to study for their vocab test. They were really quiet and everyone was studying.

2nd class was okay. We talked about why questions and making questions. They did okay. I had to help them with most of the questions. They came up with a few questions by themselves. The 2 boys didn’t bring their book and they were drawing all over their copy that I made for them and talking in class. At the end of class they were going to throw away their class work sheets. I told them to give it to me. I’ll keep it for them.

3rd class was newspaper class. I had 9 students in class.I had 2 new students and 2 students from mwf showed up today. Today we talked about a travelling dog, green sheep, obama got vaccinated, and foods people eat on New Years. It was a pretty good class. Some of the students like to talk during the listening but at least most of them participated. I really wish we had more interesting articles that kids would like. I usually pick 4 articles that are not totally boring. I usually have around 10 to pick from. One of the students told me that the 'animals' article was the best so I always make sure to have it. I have various topics to choose from 'world news', 'national news', 'people','animals', 'amazing news', 'science', 'special focus', 'english letters' and 'think and talk'.

4th class was good…We did two speaking lessons-one on instant food and the other kids getting fatter…They all did good in class. We finished and then we had free time to play a game.

Its really cold! I think the temp was around 18-20 the whole day. About an hour ago it was 9 degrees with a windchill of 0..it felt like zero! I'm glad I wasn't outside. I'm inside and my heat is turned up high! Ondols are great!

There are piles of snow everywhere. They clear off the walkways and just put the snow in a big pile. They put calcium chloride on the roads. I think now is the only time Koreans don't drive like maniacs.They seem to be driving well for the conditions.

I can't find an episode of "The Bachelor" on the site that I use for downloads. Hopefully someone will put it up soon or I can find it somewhere.

There was another new show that I downloaded. Its called Conveyor belt of love...oh my..what will they think of next?

I watched "Conveyor Belt of Love". It is a crazy show! 30 men come out on a conveyor belt one at a time and they have 60 seconds to impress 5 women. Each woman gets to pick one man.At least 2 of the women found out that they didn't like the person they chose after going on a date with them. One man couldn't every give a straight answer about anything. One man was put off by the way the woman kept mentioning marriage which wasn't something he wanted to talk about on the first date. One couple really seemed to hit it off-the funny guy and the girl with the annoying accent.

you can really find out a lot about a person when you google them. I think one of the guys was just on the show for publicity for his book. He mentioned his book when he was on stage. He even got picked by one of the ladies, but she ended up letting him go for someone else. I looked him up since he actually mentioned his whole name. I actually thought he was a cute guy. Then I found "his" website. He used to be a woman and now he is a man. He actually went to high school in Charlotte, NC(that's near where I live). That would have been weird if he would have gotten picked. When would you bring up that fact? "hey I used to be a woman". Most straight women are looking for a real man. I want a man who was born a man.

Day 383

Monday January 4

I put up an article about the snow in Korea and I've been getting a lot of hits to my blog today...The Seoul snow storm is all over the online newspaper....Its the biggest storm in 70 years..

I had a hard time getting to sleep. I knew that would probably happen after sleeping till 5pm on Sunday. I laid down at 11:45pm. I was still awake around 5am. My brain just didn't want to shut down and I was just laying there but not falling asleep. I finally fell alseep and got less than 2 hours probably. I'm surprised I wasn't tired any during the day.

Today we started our day schedule. I had to be at work at 9am. I left my apt this morning at 8:30am. Snow was really coming down! There was already a lot on the ground. Wow. I took some pictures and a video on my digital camera on my way to the subway.

We still had class today. We don't cancel the private academy because of snow. If this was South Carolina the town would have shut down.haha. but not Seoul. The show must go on.

I had a good day.

We started classes at 9:30am. I had 2 new students in my first class. 2 boys. I had 3 absent students. Today we did two lessons. One about instant food and the other about littering. Everyone participated and practiced with their partner. One of my students who has been absent a lot was back today. He came in near the end of the second lesson. He told me that he was really sick and was in the hospital for 50 days. I think maybe he mean't 15 days because he was in my class at the beginning of December so it couldn't be 50. After the lesson I gave them some free time to play a game.

My 2nd class was good. Today's lesson was about asking questions. There were 25 questions so we didn't get to the last 2 questions. I thought these questions would be pretty obvious but they had a little trouble. They caught on after a while and did a good job. We worked all the way up till the end of class.

My 3rd class was good. I had 2 new students. 1 absent student. This is the class that has been behaving badly. Today they were being good and studying hard and actually doing good with the lesson. We studied for 30 minutes and I let them have free time. We will be having a test on Friday.

My last class was good. I usually have the lowest level spelling as my first class but we changed the schedule around and its my last class. We had a good class today. The student who is usually late was absent today. The new student was present. He made a 100 on his spelling test. Today in class we covered 1 lesson and learned a new set of words that we will work on Friday.

I like the schedule. I had classes from 9:30-10:15, 10:25-11:10, break from 11:10-12:30, class from 12:30-1:25, break from 1:25-2:00, class from 2-2:45, then I left at 4pm. Tomorrow I only have one break but I'm done with class at 2:25 then I just sit around till 4pm.

Seoul battles heaviest snow in more than 70 years

SEOUL, South Korea – Seoul residents battled the heaviest snowfall in modern Korean history after a winter storm dumped more than 10 inches (26 centimeters) Monday, forcing airports to cancel flights and paralyzing traffic in South Korea's bustling capital.

The snowfall, which began about 1 a.m. (1600 GMT Sunday), was the worst since Korea began conducting meteorological surveys in 1937 and continued through the afternoon, the state weather agency said.

Gimpo International Airport, west of Seoul, canceled 224 flights before resuming service Monday afternoon, airport official Choi Choon-ja said.

More than 20 flights between Incheon International Airport, 43 miles (70 kilometers) southwest of Seoul, and cities in China also were canceled, with China also coping with a snowstorm. More than 100 flights to other regions were delayed, Incheon airport official Kang Soo-kyung said.

The snow and icy roads snarled traffic in and out of Seoul, with many commuters squeezing into packed subway trains to get to work. About 3,600 workers were mobilized to clear the snow from Seoul's roads and sidewalks.

Big Snow in Seoul today...Jan 4 2010

Click on album to view:

Big Snow in Seoul Jan 4, 2010

Heavy snowfall hit Seoul and other parts of central South Korea Monday, triggering traffic chaos and forcing airlines to cancel all domestic flights and delay some international flights on the first work day of the New Year.

According to city officials and weathermen, nearly 20 centimeters (7.9 inches) of snow had accumulated in Seoul as of 9:00 a.m., the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said, issuing a heavy snow alert for the capital city, Incheon and surrounding areas, according to Yonhap News Agency.

The unusually heavy snow disrupted traffic on Seoul's major roads and highways, forcing citizens on their first work day to flock to subways, buses and other public transportation.

Airlines were forced to cancel all domestic flights out of Gimpo Airport on the western outskirts of Seoul, while severe international flight delays were reported at Incheon International Airport, further west of the capital.

"Snowfall began at 5 a.m. in Seoul and as much as 7.5 centimeters was recorded in just two hours. Snow is expected to stop falling Monday evening," said an official at the KMA.

"With the temperature plunging to minus 6.9 degrees early Monday morning, most roads in Seoul and neighboring areas are expected to become icy," the official said, asking motorists to exert special caution.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it has mobilized about 3,500 civil servants and 1,200 vehicles to spray snow-melting calcium chloride on all major roads and highways.

Day 382

Sunday January 3

I don't have anything interesting to say today so I'm going to share some songs that I'm really digging right now...They are by Rain....I think he's the cutest singer in Korea....I'm going to buy his album "Rainism"

Here's an interview with TIME--he is so cute!



From the album "Rainism"--Rain/Bi "더 끌려" Feauturing Taewan a.k.a C-Luv


Sad Tango (Japanese version)


Sad Tango (English version----I love the dancing, the tango music, and the song...its great.....My favorite!!

NK Hopes for Improved Ties With South, US

North Korea started the New Year with a message that is seen by some as “not like the usual North Korea” that the world was accustomed to.

North Korea wants to stop its confrontation with the US, improve ties with South Korea, denuclearize the Korean penisula, improve the livlihood of its people.

The nation “remains consistent in its efforts to establish a lasting peace system on the Korean Peninsula and make it nuclear-free through dialogue and negotiations,” an editorial carried by the official Korean Central News Agency said.

-------------------------------

I was surprised when I saw that article in the English newspaper. All I ever read were stories where the North was always giving out threats to the South. I always thought the north was hostile while the south wanted peace and reunification. Maybe there is hope for Korea to become a unified country someday.

Korea aims to lure 8.5 mln foreign tourists this year

South Korea aims to attract 8.5 million foreign tourists this year by luring more visitors from China and Japan, the government said Saturday, according to Yonhap News.
The target is higher than the 7.8 million goal the nation set the previous year. Last year, around 7 million foreign tourists visited South Korea, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Corp.

They set the higher target for this year as the government earlier designated the next three years as "Visit Korea" years, intended to lure more foreign tourists as part of efforts to bolster the service industry.



What is the big deal of making sure they get a ton of tourists? How are they going to "Lure" them in?

Day 381....

Saturday Jan 2

Its going to be a lazy Saturday...I would really love to be out doing things, but I just can't take this brutal cold. It makes me want to stay inside all of the time.

I'm still up at 6am. I'm about to go to bed. Its going to be hard to get used to the new schedule for a month and then switch back to the old schedule. I'm really going to hate getting up at 7am starting on Monday. I'll have to be in bed by 11pm just to get 8 hours of sleep. Wow I can't remember the last time I was in bed by 11pm.

The forcast is calling for more snow today and Monday.

Oh my. The low temperature for Tues and Wed is 3 degrees! 31 is suppose to be the highest temp for the next 10 days. 3 is the lowest. What does 3 degrees feel like? I don't think I want to know.

Day 380...Its a new year...2010

Friday January 1 2010

I didn't ring in the new year in any special way. It was too cold for me to participate in outdoor events and I'm not a party person so I wouldn't celebrate in a bar. Plus I don't even drink.

Its a brand new year. I hope its a good year. I need a good year. My life has been in a downward spiral ever since I graduated college.

I didn't make any resolutions. The thought never crossed my mind. I just think its a waste of time.

There are things I need to get accomplished this year:

1. Find a job. I need to make enough money to be able to live on my own, pay student loan payments, pay bills, a car payment and car insurance. And have extra money for savings, retirement,and be able to have some fun sometime. That's going to require quite a bit of money. I'll need a much better job than all the ones I've had in the past. I'm really scared about it, too. The economy still hasn't bounced back. There's still a shortage of jobs and companies are reluctant to hire. I don't even know what I want to do! If I had it my way, I'd be a professional singer, but thats not going to happen overnight, if ever.

2. Buy a slightly used car. My current car is a 1997. I like it and it runs great and has very few problems. Its been a great car for the past 5 years, but I'm ready for something newer. I really want a 2009 Toyota Corolla. That's all going to depend on if i accomplish number 1.

3. Lose weight. I know I've been saying that forever and it never happens, but I've got to make it happen somehow. I'm tired of always being the fat girl. I want to feel good about the way I look. I've let myself go and I don't like it!

Today I went out to eat with Lesley for her going away event. It was just me and her. She invited our Korean teacher but his grandma was in town to visit so he couldn't come. We went to Macaroni Market in Itaewon. It was a nice place. I liked the free bread they gave us. I always like bread at eating places. I ordered Macaroni e cheese con bacon. It was expensive, but good. A bowl of macaroni was 12,000 won (around $11 or so). It was a nice portion, but I wouldn't pay 11 dollars for it in the US. It tasted nice. It wasn't made with cheddar cheese with the bright orange color. I don't know what kind of cheese they use. It was more of a cream color. The coke was ridiculous also! It was 4,500 won for a 12oz coke. (thats about $4.00). They gave us free water with our meal and kept refilling it. I could have just drank that and not ordered coke, but I like coke. I paid for Lesley's meal since it was her going away. I wanted to get her something as a gift but I didn't know what to get so I just offered to pay for her meal.

Day 379....New Years Eve

Thursday December 31

I made it through another month and another week. I only have 8 weeks left! Possibly 7. I'll have to make up my mind very soon on whether I want to leave a week early or just use a week in February for my vacation. I kinda wanted to stay till the end, but I could finish everything up a week early. I have plenty of time in class to double up on lessons if I need to. The last week in February I really wouldn't be teaching anything anyway. decisions. decisions. I know what decision my mom would make if it were up to her!

Current Temp (im writing this on Jan 1st): 10 degrees
Exchange: 1172 krw = 1 usd

I got up early today to go get my passport renewed. I hated getting up at 9am esp. when I was still awake at 3am.

I finally finished my book which is one of the reasons I was still awake. I was so close to finishing it and I just had to stay up and finish. I wanted to know what happened.

I got out in the cold and caught 2 different buses to get to the American Embassy. When I got there I had to show my ID and they took away my cell phone because you can't have it once you are inside the embassy. My pocketbook was put through the machine-like what they have at airports to see the contents. They also had a metal detector. Lots of security. I go in and get my number and wait for my turn 16 people were ahead of me. I finally get up to the window and the woman tells me my passport photo is too small. I told her that I asked for a passport photo when I got it took. She said it was the size of a korean passport photo. Why in the heck would the guy at E-mart give me Korean passport photos? Do I look Korean? So she told me where I could get passport photos taken near the Embassy. So I had to leave and go take my photo. The photos costed 6,000 won at a photo booth at a building near the Embassy. Then I had to go back and wait in line again. I gave them all my documents and paid my fee. I signed up for a courier service to deliver my passport to the school. Then I headed out and got a bus back to my place.

I got home just in time to fix my hair and put on my makeup and head out the door and go to school.

My first class was good. Today we had our writing test. a few people told me they didn't study. I told them we always have a writing test at the end of the month. I gave them some time to study. Then we read an article from the newspaper and answered questions about the article. Then I gave them some free time. They all did pretty good on the test. The new girl didn't do too good on the test, but I realized that she had only attended one writing class. I'm not going to count her grade this month. One student was absent so I only have one makeup test to get.

My 2nd class was pretty good. I gave them their quiz on the newspaper articles we read on Tuesday. The boys just treat it like its a joke and guess on every question. thats why they make a 50 on it. The girl actually made a 90. The grade on the quiz doesn't count towards their grade in the class. I just give it to see if they were paying attention in class. Then we took our writing test. They did pretty good but they dont follow directions very well. I know they don't study for the tests. I offered to give them time to study but no one wanted to. One of the guys who is always talking during class actually made a 91. One of the boys was excited to make a 64. Then we read one more article from the newspaper. They kept asking for stickers. I told them if they would be quiet and read that I'd give them a sticker. 3 of the boys were playing on their cellphones so I didn't give them one. They were the ones who were begging for stickers.

My 3rd class was good. When I came in they asked if they could have the whole class as free time because it was the last day of the year. I said no. Today was our newspaper class. I prepared 4 articles. We usually listen, read and answer questions. They dont want to listen and read so I just let them read. They go around the room and everyone reads one sentence. Today's topics were hedgehogs, The princess and the frog, dancing traffic cop, and foot binding. They were all surprised by the foot binding photo that I chose to show them. It was kinda graphic but I wanted them to see what happened. Then I gave them some free time. They were looking at my laptop asking me about a picture of my dog. Then I showed them a picture of Candace so they could see my sister. They said we looked the same. Then they wanted to know if I had any pictures of when I was a child. I did. They liked those. They were looking at other pictures I had on my computer also.

here's the picture of foot binding:



My last class was good. When I came in the boy was talking to me in Korean. Then they wanted to know if I knew any Korean. I told them what I knew then they want me to say words that they wrote on the board. They were putting curse words on the board. I wouldn't say some of them because I knew what the word meant. They try to get me to say other things. I have to get them to say it really slow. They make it sound effortless, but to me its difficult! Then we took our newspaper test and writing test. They keep asking me for hints so I help them out and show them examples of things that are on the test. One student made 100 on the test.

My school was not even going to tell me that we had to switch to morning schedule on Monday. I knew we were going to switch times, but I wanted someone to actually care enough to let me know. It would have been funny if I didn't show up at 9am on Monday morning. I could totally say "no one told me". I'll have to make sure I get a schedule on Monday because they didn't give me one. Koreans put everything off till the last minute. They are expert procrastinators. They just let it slip their mind that they should tell their teacher that "hey you need to be here at 9 on Monday". Am I suppose to be psychic and just know. I actually had to ask them if we were switching to morning. Then all of a sudden while I'm about to head out the door the Korean teacher remembers to remind me that I have to be there at 9am on Monday.

I really wanted to go out for New Year's Eve. There's a huge celebration in Seoul, but I decided not to go. I didn't feel like being out in the 14 degree weather. They estimated that 150,000 people were there. A lot of people didn't mind the cold. I can't stand the cold. The chilly air is back. My face feels like it will freeze and thats one part that I can't cover up. I can put on tons of layers but I can't cover my face. I just stayed at home where it was warm. It was my last chance to celebrate the New year in Korea, but its just way too cold!!!

My friend, Lesley, is leaving next Saturday. She wants to meet tomorrow for her going away shindig. I don't know who else will be meeting with us but I know she invited our Korean teacher. When she is gone, I'll be on my own for my last 7 weeks.