Here's the full article:
Women only parking spots
Seoul is trying to become more "woman friendly". They are creating special pink parking spots for use by women in high heels. The spots will be near shopping malls and businesses so women won't have to walk that far.
Almost 5,000 spots have already been made. Its part of the "Women Friendly Seoul Project". They also want to create more restrooms for women, improved lighting in public places and more public day care centers.
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I'm a girl and I think this is just ridiculous! I could see making spots for pregnant women or handicapped. That makes a lot of sense,but parking spots for women in high heels? That's crazy!Fashion is pain. I'd never expect to get a better parking spot just because I was wearing heels. When I wear high heels(very rarely) I know they are going to hurt and I don't expect to get special treatment.
I don't see it actually being enforced (say if a man parked there). It seems like not much at all is enforced over here. People park everywhere.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Day 231
Wednesday August 5
Today seemed to go by fast. Maybe it was because I had 3 classes back to back and I was finished teaching at 12:25. I like Wednesday!
My first class was good. Its my favorite class. They were all well behaved and all participated. I love how when they see a story they all are telling me who they want to be even before I mention that we are going to read the story.None of my other classes are that enthusiastic! I write all the parts on the board and who wants to read them. I had 2 people who wanted to read the same part so I wrote who would read on the first time and who would read on the 2nd time. We read the story 3 times in all-once as a class and 2 times with the students taking the parts. I was having a hard time trying to describe cinnamon. They wanted to know what cinnamon was. All I knew to tell them was that it changes the flavor of something. Maybe I'll bring some to class if I can find it. A lot of students in that class say that they have an error on their cd. I don't know whether they just dont want to do it or they are telling the truth. I have no way of knowing. I wish they would all do the cd. It would be very beneficial to them.
My 2nd class is still the problem class. They were good for one day. They were bad today. The girl is good and participates but the boys are bad. They won't read. Sometimes its like I'm up there talking and they arent even paying attention. They carry on doing their own thing. They don't even pay attention when I stand right beside their desk to try to get them to do their work. The girl was reading along with me while they were just goofing around.They asked for a game today and I said no because they were bad. I told the Korean teacher that I was having problems with the boys in that class.
The head person at one of our branches sent me a message on MSN. In September our hagwon is changing. I don't know any details, but I know that now the Korean teachers have to teach English in ENGLISH instead of teaching in Korean. The head person wants me to help the Korean teachers and show them how to teach in English. I don't really know what to do. I'm not doing anything special. I'm just basically reading from the book. I guess I'll just do a mock lesson for them although I hate being watched! Maybe I'll pick out a really good lesson and let them see how I would teach it, but my class is geared toward speaking so I don't know how that would help them with teaching grammar or listening or reading.
My 3rd class was good. They were really quiet. Only half of the class was there. I have 10 students. 5 of the students were there in the class. Then one more came in late. I still have one student who hasn't taken their monthly test. He's been absent for 3 classes in a row. We covered a few pages of material. Finished one unit and started a new unit. We had 10 minutes left in class and one of the students asked to play a game so I let them play for the last 10 minutes. We weren't going to be able to finish the next page anyway.
After I was done at 12:25 I still had 3 1/2 hrs to be at work with nothing to do. I planned out all my classes and copied all the homework papers for tomorrow since I don't have much time in the morning. I have to be at work at 9 and class starts at 9:30. All I need to do tomorrow is print out all of my tests. I also went out to lunch with Johnny Depp(a korean guy at my school-thats his english name that he chose). We went to McDonalds.
I burned 315 calories at the gym today. I walked for 52 minutes. I'm gradually increasing my time. soon I'll be up to an hour. I enjoyed watching "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style" while I was walking. Its crazy how I exercise 6 days a week, but I don't lose any weight because I don't eat the right foods. If I really applied myself I could have lost at least 10-15 pounds in the past 3 months that I've been at the gym. It's hard though. I can't find foods that I like so I choose stuff that I do like and they happen to be really bad for you! I haven't weighed myself since June, but I really doubt that I've lost any weight. People say I look smaller. My clothes still fit the same. no big change. Maybe I'm just losing inches or they are delusional. Maybe one day I'll finally get my act together. After I get paid I've got to make myself stop spending on fast food and save up for my life post Korea.
Today seemed to go by fast. Maybe it was because I had 3 classes back to back and I was finished teaching at 12:25. I like Wednesday!
My first class was good. Its my favorite class. They were all well behaved and all participated. I love how when they see a story they all are telling me who they want to be even before I mention that we are going to read the story.None of my other classes are that enthusiastic! I write all the parts on the board and who wants to read them. I had 2 people who wanted to read the same part so I wrote who would read on the first time and who would read on the 2nd time. We read the story 3 times in all-once as a class and 2 times with the students taking the parts. I was having a hard time trying to describe cinnamon. They wanted to know what cinnamon was. All I knew to tell them was that it changes the flavor of something. Maybe I'll bring some to class if I can find it. A lot of students in that class say that they have an error on their cd. I don't know whether they just dont want to do it or they are telling the truth. I have no way of knowing. I wish they would all do the cd. It would be very beneficial to them.
My 2nd class is still the problem class. They were good for one day. They were bad today. The girl is good and participates but the boys are bad. They won't read. Sometimes its like I'm up there talking and they arent even paying attention. They carry on doing their own thing. They don't even pay attention when I stand right beside their desk to try to get them to do their work. The girl was reading along with me while they were just goofing around.They asked for a game today and I said no because they were bad. I told the Korean teacher that I was having problems with the boys in that class.
The head person at one of our branches sent me a message on MSN. In September our hagwon is changing. I don't know any details, but I know that now the Korean teachers have to teach English in ENGLISH instead of teaching in Korean. The head person wants me to help the Korean teachers and show them how to teach in English. I don't really know what to do. I'm not doing anything special. I'm just basically reading from the book. I guess I'll just do a mock lesson for them although I hate being watched! Maybe I'll pick out a really good lesson and let them see how I would teach it, but my class is geared toward speaking so I don't know how that would help them with teaching grammar or listening or reading.
My 3rd class was good. They were really quiet. Only half of the class was there. I have 10 students. 5 of the students were there in the class. Then one more came in late. I still have one student who hasn't taken their monthly test. He's been absent for 3 classes in a row. We covered a few pages of material. Finished one unit and started a new unit. We had 10 minutes left in class and one of the students asked to play a game so I let them play for the last 10 minutes. We weren't going to be able to finish the next page anyway.
After I was done at 12:25 I still had 3 1/2 hrs to be at work with nothing to do. I planned out all my classes and copied all the homework papers for tomorrow since I don't have much time in the morning. I have to be at work at 9 and class starts at 9:30. All I need to do tomorrow is print out all of my tests. I also went out to lunch with Johnny Depp(a korean guy at my school-thats his english name that he chose). We went to McDonalds.
I burned 315 calories at the gym today. I walked for 52 minutes. I'm gradually increasing my time. soon I'll be up to an hour. I enjoyed watching "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style" while I was walking. Its crazy how I exercise 6 days a week, but I don't lose any weight because I don't eat the right foods. If I really applied myself I could have lost at least 10-15 pounds in the past 3 months that I've been at the gym. It's hard though. I can't find foods that I like so I choose stuff that I do like and they happen to be really bad for you! I haven't weighed myself since June, but I really doubt that I've lost any weight. People say I look smaller. My clothes still fit the same. no big change. Maybe I'm just losing inches or they are delusional. Maybe one day I'll finally get my act together. After I get paid I've got to make myself stop spending on fast food and save up for my life post Korea.
Student Assignment-Rules for my room
In one of our units at school the students were learning about rules for their room. There was a sample in the book.
The sample said "You can listen to music, but you can't take my cds. You can't eat and drink. You can visit me anytime (except late at night)"
They did this assignment with my substitute last week. He collected the papers for me.
The assignment was to come up with their own set of rules that they would post on their door. I got some funny responses. The grammar is pretty bad. No matter how much I try to show them the correct way to write they always do it wrong.
In my room you can listen to music
And you can read a my book.
But you can't jump.
And you can't run.
Can't you no noise!
You can visit me anytime.
(but not late at night!)
---------------------------------------------
In my room you can listen to the music
You can watch TV
But you can't don't touch my thing
You can visit me any time
But you can't drink in here
______________________________________
You can't visit
You can't pooping
______________________________________
Not my brother hit and sit
not kill
not pooping
not pee
not eat
_________________________________
My home not being silly
My home no steal
____________________________
In my room you can sleep.
You can playing computer games and you can study
_________________________________
My room is not being silly.
and not steal money
______________________________
This is Christian Bale room (that's one of my student's english names)
Please read this
In my room you can play game but being silly
_________________________
Rules is no!
____________________________________
I can definatly tell who was sitting together. They all have common themes!
The sample said "You can listen to music, but you can't take my cds. You can't eat and drink. You can visit me anytime (except late at night)"
They did this assignment with my substitute last week. He collected the papers for me.
The assignment was to come up with their own set of rules that they would post on their door. I got some funny responses. The grammar is pretty bad. No matter how much I try to show them the correct way to write they always do it wrong.
In my room you can listen to music
And you can read a my book.
But you can't jump.
And you can't run.
Can't you no noise!
You can visit me anytime.
(but not late at night!)
---------------------------------------------
In my room you can listen to the music
You can watch TV
But you can't don't touch my thing
You can visit me any time
But you can't drink in here
______________________________________
You can't visit
You can't pooping
______________________________________
Not my brother hit and sit
not kill
not pooping
not pee
not eat
_________________________________
My home not being silly
My home no steal
____________________________
In my room you can sleep.
You can playing computer games and you can study
_________________________________
My room is not being silly.
and not steal money
______________________________
This is Christian Bale room (that's one of my student's english names)
Please read this
In my room you can play game but being silly
_________________________
Rules is no!
____________________________________
I can definatly tell who was sitting together. They all have common themes!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Day 230
August 4 Tuesday
My first class was good. I had one new student and 1 student was absent. We had a good productive class. Lots of speaking time. Gave out a prize for the one student who had her homework for the month of July. She chose a notebook.
2nd class was also productive. 3 of my students were absent. The students loved the gifts I let them choose. Notebooks, erasers, pencils, candy. They were all excited and said thank you. They all wanted to choose a "bonus." I wouldn't let them pick more than one item, but they could choose candy as a bonus. I let them choose a bonus because they were the only class where all the students in the class did their homework every class in July. I let the new girl choose but she didnt want anything. We had a good class. Covered 4 pages of material and had some speaking time. Everytime we have speaking time I have to ask the new girl to talk to her partner. Then she talks very quietly. Its hard having someone who doesnt want to participate and partnering them with someone who likes to participate in class. I gave a makeup test to the student who was absent. she caught on really quickly. It only took her 5 minutes to complete and she made 100.
After class the Korean teacher said all the students were showing off their gifts to her. She said they really liked them. I wasn't sure how they would like notebooks, pencils and erasers, I'm glad they did.
My 3rd class was good. We covered a few pages of material and reviewed and only had 5minutes left for free time.
In my 4th class I usually have 2 girls but one was absent today. At the beginning of class I let the girl pick what she wanted for having her homework for July. She chose a little notebook. She said she was happy. She liked the song in the book. In every unit there is an English song that pertains to the lesson. Some are decent and some are really corny. This one actually had a nice beat. She wanted to listen to it twice. On the 2nd time she recorded the song on her cell phone. We covered a lot of material today.
My last class started out good. They were being really quiet and doing their work. Then mid way through class they started acting up. They were balling up paper and throwing it at each other and not paying attention at times but they still participated. We had an okay class. They begged to play hangman so I stopped the lesson early and let them play for 10 minutes.
I walked on the treadmill for 45 minutes at the gym. While I was walking I was watching "House" season 2. Its really old, but it was the only interesting thing on tv. Yesterday while I was walking the PT came over to talk to me. He was asking me about the show and I told him that it was already on season 6 in America(i think) and that what was on now was season 2. He said in Korea their shows last one season and then they are over.
I'm always amazed by how long it takes to take the elevator in the building where my gym is. Its a heavily popluated area due to there being a mall, Kim's Club and a cinema. When the elevator does come all the Koreans rush to get on and there's no room left or there are so many people on the elevator that there isn't enough room to get on. And sometimes the elevator is packed as full as it can get. They like to cram the elevator so full that you are squished! They don't think 'oh that elevator looks full-lets wait'--its more like 'yeah its full, but lets see if we can fit 5 more people.' Then you have to push your way through if you are getting off at a lower floor than other people. The doors almost closed on me today when I was trying to get out but someone pushed the open button so I could get out.
Tip: If you like personal space--forget about it! I love my personal space. Personal space is a foreign concept in South Korea!
My first class was good. I had one new student and 1 student was absent. We had a good productive class. Lots of speaking time. Gave out a prize for the one student who had her homework for the month of July. She chose a notebook.
2nd class was also productive. 3 of my students were absent. The students loved the gifts I let them choose. Notebooks, erasers, pencils, candy. They were all excited and said thank you. They all wanted to choose a "bonus." I wouldn't let them pick more than one item, but they could choose candy as a bonus. I let them choose a bonus because they were the only class where all the students in the class did their homework every class in July. I let the new girl choose but she didnt want anything. We had a good class. Covered 4 pages of material and had some speaking time. Everytime we have speaking time I have to ask the new girl to talk to her partner. Then she talks very quietly. Its hard having someone who doesnt want to participate and partnering them with someone who likes to participate in class. I gave a makeup test to the student who was absent. she caught on really quickly. It only took her 5 minutes to complete and she made 100.
After class the Korean teacher said all the students were showing off their gifts to her. She said they really liked them. I wasn't sure how they would like notebooks, pencils and erasers, I'm glad they did.
My 3rd class was good. We covered a few pages of material and reviewed and only had 5minutes left for free time.
In my 4th class I usually have 2 girls but one was absent today. At the beginning of class I let the girl pick what she wanted for having her homework for July. She chose a little notebook. She said she was happy. She liked the song in the book. In every unit there is an English song that pertains to the lesson. Some are decent and some are really corny. This one actually had a nice beat. She wanted to listen to it twice. On the 2nd time she recorded the song on her cell phone. We covered a lot of material today.
My last class started out good. They were being really quiet and doing their work. Then mid way through class they started acting up. They were balling up paper and throwing it at each other and not paying attention at times but they still participated. We had an okay class. They begged to play hangman so I stopped the lesson early and let them play for 10 minutes.
I walked on the treadmill for 45 minutes at the gym. While I was walking I was watching "House" season 2. Its really old, but it was the only interesting thing on tv. Yesterday while I was walking the PT came over to talk to me. He was asking me about the show and I told him that it was already on season 6 in America(i think) and that what was on now was season 2. He said in Korea their shows last one season and then they are over.
I'm always amazed by how long it takes to take the elevator in the building where my gym is. Its a heavily popluated area due to there being a mall, Kim's Club and a cinema. When the elevator does come all the Koreans rush to get on and there's no room left or there are so many people on the elevator that there isn't enough room to get on. And sometimes the elevator is packed as full as it can get. They like to cram the elevator so full that you are squished! They don't think 'oh that elevator looks full-lets wait'--its more like 'yeah its full, but lets see if we can fit 5 more people.' Then you have to push your way through if you are getting off at a lower floor than other people. The doors almost closed on me today when I was trying to get out but someone pushed the open button so I could get out.
Tip: If you like personal space--forget about it! I love my personal space. Personal space is a foreign concept in South Korea!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Day 229
August 3 Monday
I hate that I have to move back to a morning schedule! I layed down around 2am or so and I was still awake past 4am. I don't know why. I just couldn't get to sleep. I kept tossing and turning. So I made it through the day on less than 3 hours of sleep.
I didn't start getting tired till around 8:30pm. It was too close to bedtime to take a nap, but I took one anyway. Hopefull it wasn't a bad idea!
Today I was super busy. I got all of my tests graded. Most of the students didn't do well on the tests. I think my lowest grade was a 30. Most of the grades were in the 30-50 range. I had a few people who made good grades. My brand new student who has only been in my class twice made 100 on the writing test! We haven't covered any of that material since she has been in class so her writing ability is really good. At least I know where she stands with writing. (now I just need to get her to talk in class! She says very little!) When I'm not there the students will take shortcuts. They are suppose to find a mistake and rewrite the sentence. A lot of them just wrote the correction. I took off 10 points for not writing the sentence. They know if I was there I'd make them write the sentence. They might have thought that the sub would be grading them and that he'd be lenient.
I only had 3 students who were absent so I'll have to give 3 makeup tests. I'm almost done averaging all the grades for the month of July. I looked at my list to see who had done all of their homework. I have 14 children who did all of their homework for the month. I printed out little certificates online. I am going to give them a choice of candy or some little things like notebooks, pencils, erasers.
My first class was good. The 2 boys were absent so only the 2 girls were in class. They did a good job. We finished up a unit and reviewed. They asked to play a game and since we were at a good stopping point I let them play hangman.
My 2nd class is usually my problem class. The girl was absent so I had 3 10-11 year old boys in class. Today they were sweet little angels. I rewarded their good behavior by letting them play a game. Maybe they are learning that if they are well behaved that they will get to have a little free time. I punished them 4 classes in a row for bad behavior by not letting them play a game. They were all paying attention and participating. I was shocked. The Korean teacher said something to them before class in Korean. I don't know what she said. Maybe she told them to behave. They played the ghost game. They would turn off the lights and then one person would close their eyes and have to walk around the room to find the other students. The little 10 year old kept running into my podium. He was okay. He didn't get hurt although he smacked himself right in the mouth about 3 times. They all said that their cd wasn't working in their computer. I don't know if I believe them. I think they just want an excuse not to do their homework.
My 3rd class was good. We just finished a writing unit. Today our objective was writing about "have to". 'I have to....', 'she has to...', he had to...., etc. I like the book that I'm using for that class. Its my highest level class and they are learning about how to form paragraphs and writing outlines. They seem to grasp the material very well.
I hate that I have to move back to a morning schedule! I layed down around 2am or so and I was still awake past 4am. I don't know why. I just couldn't get to sleep. I kept tossing and turning. So I made it through the day on less than 3 hours of sleep.
I didn't start getting tired till around 8:30pm. It was too close to bedtime to take a nap, but I took one anyway. Hopefull it wasn't a bad idea!
Today I was super busy. I got all of my tests graded. Most of the students didn't do well on the tests. I think my lowest grade was a 30. Most of the grades were in the 30-50 range. I had a few people who made good grades. My brand new student who has only been in my class twice made 100 on the writing test! We haven't covered any of that material since she has been in class so her writing ability is really good. At least I know where she stands with writing. (now I just need to get her to talk in class! She says very little!) When I'm not there the students will take shortcuts. They are suppose to find a mistake and rewrite the sentence. A lot of them just wrote the correction. I took off 10 points for not writing the sentence. They know if I was there I'd make them write the sentence. They might have thought that the sub would be grading them and that he'd be lenient.
I only had 3 students who were absent so I'll have to give 3 makeup tests. I'm almost done averaging all the grades for the month of July. I looked at my list to see who had done all of their homework. I have 14 children who did all of their homework for the month. I printed out little certificates online. I am going to give them a choice of candy or some little things like notebooks, pencils, erasers.
My first class was good. The 2 boys were absent so only the 2 girls were in class. They did a good job. We finished up a unit and reviewed. They asked to play a game and since we were at a good stopping point I let them play hangman.
My 2nd class is usually my problem class. The girl was absent so I had 3 10-11 year old boys in class. Today they were sweet little angels. I rewarded their good behavior by letting them play a game. Maybe they are learning that if they are well behaved that they will get to have a little free time. I punished them 4 classes in a row for bad behavior by not letting them play a game. They were all paying attention and participating. I was shocked. The Korean teacher said something to them before class in Korean. I don't know what she said. Maybe she told them to behave. They played the ghost game. They would turn off the lights and then one person would close their eyes and have to walk around the room to find the other students. The little 10 year old kept running into my podium. He was okay. He didn't get hurt although he smacked himself right in the mouth about 3 times. They all said that their cd wasn't working in their computer. I don't know if I believe them. I think they just want an excuse not to do their homework.
My 3rd class was good. We just finished a writing unit. Today our objective was writing about "have to". 'I have to....', 'she has to...', he had to...., etc. I like the book that I'm using for that class. Its my highest level class and they are learning about how to form paragraphs and writing outlines. They seem to grasp the material very well.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Day 228
August 2 Sunday
Well its just been a lazy day around the house. I cooked a late lunch for myself today around 6pm. I had rice and sausage. I've got to start eating at home more so I won't be out spending so much money and eating things that are bad for me. I spend way too much money on fast food.
I also cleaned the kitchen section and swept the floor. I've still got to clean the bathroom.
I've been trying to do something productive with my time. I finished most of the essays today. The most common mistakes are not writing in sentences, misspelling words, using extra words 'I walk to the school', 'i wash the face' instead of 'i wash my face'. I'm surprised by how many of my students eat grits. HAHA. I gave them an example essay. In my example essay I wrote "I eat grits for breakfast." One of the questions for the essay was "What do you eat for breakfast?". A lot of them said "I eat grits for breakfast." I doubt they even know what grits are. How could you just blindly put something down without even knowing what it is? I've never seen grits here. I had some one day and showed it to a Korean teacher and she'd never heard of it. I actually gave her a pack so she could try it. I don't think she's tried it yet though. Some of them wrote the same sentences twice. "What do you do first when you get up?" I brush my teeth. "What do you do after breakfast?" I brush my teeth. I wrote a comment "Do you brush your teeth twice?" Then another person wrote that they take a shower twice. I wrote "2 showers?".haha. Most of the essays had a lot of things to correct. I had 2 essays that were nearly perfect. Those were 2 of my newer students. My older students that I've had since March don't really have good writing skills. I wish I knew how to help. I don't know how to help them improve writing. I try to teach them to use correct grammer and complete sentences. The Korean teachers are suppose to be teaching them grammar but I don't think it helps. Maybe next semester I'll try to spend a few minutes each class trying to improve their writing or make them write more essays, but even after you correct the essays and hand them back they make the same exact mistakes on the next essay. Sometimes I even wonder if I'm really making a difference. I want to see them succeed, but if they aren't going to put forth the effort then they won't get to a point of fluency.
I think this month I'll have a more open ended essay. Where they have all the freedom. I wonder how much imagination they will have if I just tell them to write a story. It can be as crazy as they want it to be. Nothing is impossible. I just want to see what kind of responses I'll get. I'd also like to try an activity that I read about. You start out with one sentence on the paper and you pass it around and every student adds a new sentence to continue the story.
I've still got to decide what I'm going to give to the students who did their homework for the whole month of July. I think I might just give out candy. I've still got to check my list from when i was absent and see how many students will get a reward. My last count before vacation was around 20 or so. The sub was asked to check homework and mark it on a sheet so I'll see how many still did it. Kids love chocolate and the teachers usually give them chocolate for doing good on exams.
I've been studying a little Korean lately. I really want to learn. I don't think that I'll become fluent because I won't have a chance to use it in America. I don't know any Koreans. Plus it won't be of any use in my day to day life. I just want to learn some while I'm here. I want to carry on a short conversation with someone. I think the only way I would actually apply myself is if I was in a school setting but I don't want to pay hundreds of bucks to take a class. I've been studying some online. There are some good korean videos on youtube. I already can read the alphabet so thats a start! There are 14 consonants and 10 vowels. And I have a Korean name--Na Min Sol. Its just a name that my one of my students gave me.
I have to go back to work tomorrow at 9am! oh no! Vacation is over!
approximately 210 days till I come home! I've made it to the halfway point..my days that I've been here outnumber my days that I have left. I'm going to miss it here though. I love Seoul. I won't miss the actual job although I'll miss the kids. The kids are adorable even though some of them are little devils 25% of the time. The majority of the kids are really good. There are only a handful who like to cause trouble.
A lot of my students will only be with me for this month. The majority of my kids are in 6th grade. They are moving up to middle school in the new session which starts in September. I wonder how many new kids I will have when the new session starts. The new session will be a time where I can try new things to improve thier speaking and writing. I can also work on improving my teaching ability for the last 6 months that I will be at the school.
Well its just been a lazy day around the house. I cooked a late lunch for myself today around 6pm. I had rice and sausage. I've got to start eating at home more so I won't be out spending so much money and eating things that are bad for me. I spend way too much money on fast food.
I also cleaned the kitchen section and swept the floor. I've still got to clean the bathroom.
I've been trying to do something productive with my time. I finished most of the essays today. The most common mistakes are not writing in sentences, misspelling words, using extra words 'I walk to the school', 'i wash the face' instead of 'i wash my face'. I'm surprised by how many of my students eat grits. HAHA. I gave them an example essay. In my example essay I wrote "I eat grits for breakfast." One of the questions for the essay was "What do you eat for breakfast?". A lot of them said "I eat grits for breakfast." I doubt they even know what grits are. How could you just blindly put something down without even knowing what it is? I've never seen grits here. I had some one day and showed it to a Korean teacher and she'd never heard of it. I actually gave her a pack so she could try it. I don't think she's tried it yet though. Some of them wrote the same sentences twice. "What do you do first when you get up?" I brush my teeth. "What do you do after breakfast?" I brush my teeth. I wrote a comment "Do you brush your teeth twice?" Then another person wrote that they take a shower twice. I wrote "2 showers?".haha. Most of the essays had a lot of things to correct. I had 2 essays that were nearly perfect. Those were 2 of my newer students. My older students that I've had since March don't really have good writing skills. I wish I knew how to help. I don't know how to help them improve writing. I try to teach them to use correct grammer and complete sentences. The Korean teachers are suppose to be teaching them grammar but I don't think it helps. Maybe next semester I'll try to spend a few minutes each class trying to improve their writing or make them write more essays, but even after you correct the essays and hand them back they make the same exact mistakes on the next essay. Sometimes I even wonder if I'm really making a difference. I want to see them succeed, but if they aren't going to put forth the effort then they won't get to a point of fluency.
I think this month I'll have a more open ended essay. Where they have all the freedom. I wonder how much imagination they will have if I just tell them to write a story. It can be as crazy as they want it to be. Nothing is impossible. I just want to see what kind of responses I'll get. I'd also like to try an activity that I read about. You start out with one sentence on the paper and you pass it around and every student adds a new sentence to continue the story.
I've still got to decide what I'm going to give to the students who did their homework for the whole month of July. I think I might just give out candy. I've still got to check my list from when i was absent and see how many students will get a reward. My last count before vacation was around 20 or so. The sub was asked to check homework and mark it on a sheet so I'll see how many still did it. Kids love chocolate and the teachers usually give them chocolate for doing good on exams.
I've been studying a little Korean lately. I really want to learn. I don't think that I'll become fluent because I won't have a chance to use it in America. I don't know any Koreans. Plus it won't be of any use in my day to day life. I just want to learn some while I'm here. I want to carry on a short conversation with someone. I think the only way I would actually apply myself is if I was in a school setting but I don't want to pay hundreds of bucks to take a class. I've been studying some online. There are some good korean videos on youtube. I already can read the alphabet so thats a start! There are 14 consonants and 10 vowels. And I have a Korean name--Na Min Sol. Its just a name that my one of my students gave me.
I have to go back to work tomorrow at 9am! oh no! Vacation is over!
approximately 210 days till I come home! I've made it to the halfway point..my days that I've been here outnumber my days that I have left. I'm going to miss it here though. I love Seoul. I won't miss the actual job although I'll miss the kids. The kids are adorable even though some of them are little devils 25% of the time. The majority of the kids are really good. There are only a handful who like to cause trouble.
A lot of my students will only be with me for this month. The majority of my kids are in 6th grade. They are moving up to middle school in the new session which starts in September. I wonder how many new kids I will have when the new session starts. The new session will be a time where I can try new things to improve thier speaking and writing. I can also work on improving my teaching ability for the last 6 months that I will be at the school.
Day 227
August 1 Saturday
Today was another day of rest.
I did go to the gym. I was talking to the personal trainer and he asked me "why didn't you come to the gym yesterday?". I told him I was there. He says "really?" He said Lesley told him I didn't come. She may have told him I wasn't there at that moment and he took it as I didn't come. I was going out of the gym as she was coming in. Me and Lesley talked to each other at the gym. He asked me if I saw him at the gym. I don't remember seeing him thats why he thought I wasn't there. Anyway, I walked on the treadmill for 40 minutues and burned almost 300 calories while watching men playing volleyball on tv.
The only places I went today were the gym, Mcdonalds/E-Mart, and Lotteria.
All the cable stations were changed today. Now I've got to figure out what channel my shows are on now.
yikes! Tomorrow I need to correct essays! And its the last day of vaction! I'm not ready to go back to work! I have to go to bed early on Sunday.
Today was another day of rest.
I did go to the gym. I was talking to the personal trainer and he asked me "why didn't you come to the gym yesterday?". I told him I was there. He says "really?" He said Lesley told him I didn't come. She may have told him I wasn't there at that moment and he took it as I didn't come. I was going out of the gym as she was coming in. Me and Lesley talked to each other at the gym. He asked me if I saw him at the gym. I don't remember seeing him thats why he thought I wasn't there. Anyway, I walked on the treadmill for 40 minutues and burned almost 300 calories while watching men playing volleyball on tv.
The only places I went today were the gym, Mcdonalds/E-Mart, and Lotteria.
All the cable stations were changed today. Now I've got to figure out what channel my shows are on now.
yikes! Tomorrow I need to correct essays! And its the last day of vaction! I'm not ready to go back to work! I have to go to bed early on Sunday.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Day 226 Seoul Zoo
July 31 Friday
I wanted to go to the zoo today. Last night I asked my friend, Lesley, to tag along if she wanted to since we are both on vacation and she was back from her trip. She said she would come along.
We timed it really well where she would be on the train and I would just hop on when it got around to my stop.
It was only 5,000 won to enter the zoo and see the dolphin show. (3,000 to get into the zoo and 2,000 for the dolphin show)That's a great price. (less than $5). I looked up the price for Riverbanks (Columbia, SC) and its $9.75 to get in.
We looked at some of the African animals first. (Lesley is from South Africa). Then we went to the dolphin show. The venue for the dolphin show was packed! We got a pretty good seat. I enjoyed seeing the show. they also had some seals who were doing various things.
Then we took our time walking around the zoo looking at the animals and taking pictures. It was very hot outside! We were sweating a lot.
I think we finally got through around 6:30 or so. We saw almost everything. There were a few sections that we skipped. The animals are put in sections by countries. Each section has a theme-African animals, Australian animals, South American animals, etc. A lot of the animals were resting so I didn't get great photos. It was hard to take photos of certain animals because they were behind bars or in a cage. I fed a llama. They had some carrot slices that you could feed to them. There were a lot of kids who were feeding the llamas.
I wanted to see the rose garden also but I just decided not to. It was hot and we were tired so I decided to leave.
When we got on the subway it was packed on line 4! Every car was filled to capacity it seemed. All the seats were full, there were people in the aisle and near the doors. not many people were actually getting off so it stayed full for a while. We stood the whole time. Then we transferred to line 6 and it was pretty full also. I sat down for a short while.
Afterwards I went to the gym. I was almost done on the treadmill(I only did 30 mins today since I got a lot of exercise in at the zoo) and the cute guy at the front desk came to talk to me. He got on the treadmill like he was going to workout and turned it on then turned it off. He always asks if I've eaten dinner. (Its part of their culture--they use it as a greeting, but he uses it in the literal sense bc he wants to know why or what I ate)I told him not yet and he wants to know why. I told him I had just gotten back from the zoo and I came straight to the gym. I had to repeat it a few times for him to understand what I said. Then we talked for a little while about the zoo. Afterwards he said "Sorry my English is not good". I told him that I can understand what he says (maybe that will boost his confidence). His English is not as bad as he thinks it is. Then as I was leaving he was at the reception desk. He saw my camera and I asked him if he wanted to see my pictures. I showed him my pictures and he wanted to know the English name for some of the animals. Then I took a picture of him and the girl at the reception area. The girl wanted me to take the picture. He wanted to know why were all my pictures of the animals and none of me. I don't take pics of myself when I go places.
 |
| Seoul Zoo |
How to get to the zoo: Line 4-Seoul Grand Park-Exit 2----its a good idea to ride the tram car (800won) to the entrance. Its quite a walk!
Cost: 3,000 won to get into the zoo. Dolphin show is 2,000 won. (less than $5 for both!!)
More info: http://grandpark.seoul.go.kr/ (choose English from the language menu)
I wanted to go to the zoo today. Last night I asked my friend, Lesley, to tag along if she wanted to since we are both on vacation and she was back from her trip. She said she would come along.
We timed it really well where she would be on the train and I would just hop on when it got around to my stop.
It was only 5,000 won to enter the zoo and see the dolphin show. (3,000 to get into the zoo and 2,000 for the dolphin show)That's a great price. (less than $5). I looked up the price for Riverbanks (Columbia, SC) and its $9.75 to get in.
We looked at some of the African animals first. (Lesley is from South Africa). Then we went to the dolphin show. The venue for the dolphin show was packed! We got a pretty good seat. I enjoyed seeing the show. they also had some seals who were doing various things.
Then we took our time walking around the zoo looking at the animals and taking pictures. It was very hot outside! We were sweating a lot.
I think we finally got through around 6:30 or so. We saw almost everything. There were a few sections that we skipped. The animals are put in sections by countries. Each section has a theme-African animals, Australian animals, South American animals, etc. A lot of the animals were resting so I didn't get great photos. It was hard to take photos of certain animals because they were behind bars or in a cage. I fed a llama. They had some carrot slices that you could feed to them. There were a lot of kids who were feeding the llamas.
I wanted to see the rose garden also but I just decided not to. It was hot and we were tired so I decided to leave.
When we got on the subway it was packed on line 4! Every car was filled to capacity it seemed. All the seats were full, there were people in the aisle and near the doors. not many people were actually getting off so it stayed full for a while. We stood the whole time. Then we transferred to line 6 and it was pretty full also. I sat down for a short while.
Afterwards I went to the gym. I was almost done on the treadmill(I only did 30 mins today since I got a lot of exercise in at the zoo) and the cute guy at the front desk came to talk to me. He got on the treadmill like he was going to workout and turned it on then turned it off. He always asks if I've eaten dinner. (Its part of their culture--they use it as a greeting, but he uses it in the literal sense bc he wants to know why or what I ate)I told him not yet and he wants to know why. I told him I had just gotten back from the zoo and I came straight to the gym. I had to repeat it a few times for him to understand what I said. Then we talked for a little while about the zoo. Afterwards he said "Sorry my English is not good". I told him that I can understand what he says (maybe that will boost his confidence). His English is not as bad as he thinks it is. Then as I was leaving he was at the reception desk. He saw my camera and I asked him if he wanted to see my pictures. I showed him my pictures and he wanted to know the English name for some of the animals. Then I took a picture of him and the girl at the reception area. The girl wanted me to take the picture. He wanted to know why were all my pictures of the animals and none of me. I don't take pics of myself when I go places.
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