Monday Feb 8
I had a new student in my first class today. We covered 4 pages of material and learned new words. They did a good job in class today. Then I let them play a game. One of the students wanted to know everyone's birthday so she was writing it on the board. She only wrote the day and month. I asked her for the year so I could figure out how old my students were. My youngest student was born in 2002. The other 2 were born in 2000. The girl is 11 years old (Korean age). My new student is 11 years old.(Korean age). My youngest student is 9 (korean age).
My second class was good. When I came in the room one of the students asked me "are you busy?". No. I helped her with her vocabulary then we started class. Today we did 2 speaking lessons. We had a good discussion about lying and friends.2 of my students were absent.
My 3rd class was pretty good. We also did 2 speaking lessons. Our lessons were about "if you leave me alone" (about a kid who wants to be left alone-his parents nag him too much) and a lesson about parents.
My last class was actually good today. They asked me at the beginning of class if they could play a game. I said "maybe". Their behavior was good today. Most of the class was participating. We covered 4 pages of material and reviewed. Then I let them have free time. We have a test on Friday. Then we have 2 weeks to finish the last 2 chapters in the book. I think I'll skip ENIE next week so we can do one chapter in a week. We will lose one day because of the holiday.
A girl I met in my neighborhood is planning to go to Busan this weekend. She posted it on Facebook to see if anyone wanted to go with her. One other girl responded.I responded and told her I might be interested. I've always wanted to go to Busan (a town in Southern Korea) and I never got around to going. This weekend is a 3 day weekend and right after payday so it would work out good. I'd finally get to ride the bullet train. That's something I haven't experienced in Korea yet. I also never went to any cities in the South. I barely made it past Seoul. I had all this time and I wasted it. Travel in South Korea is so cheap. I could have seen all of Korea in a year. Maybe I will end up coming back and exploring the rest of Korea.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Day 417
Sunday Feb 7
I went to bed at nearly 7am. Then I woke up around 3pm.
I didn't do anything productive. I have to clean soon. I think I'm going to hire a maid on my last day to do a through cleaning. the whole apartment. Doesn't matter how long it takes. Its only 11,000 won an hour with this one company that uses Phillipino maids who speak English. (Are maids that cheap in America? $10 an hour?)
I watched "Post Grad". It was okay.
The copy I downloaded of "Leap Year" was a bad copy so I couldn't watch it.
I also downloaded "Up in the Air", "The Hurt Locker", "The Invention of Lying" and "Alvin and the chipmunks"
I watched "Ninja Assassin". Its very graphic and violent. Way too much blood, but I actually sat through all of it. I only watched it because Rain was in it.
Movies I want to see soon: "When In Rome", "The Last Song", "Valentine's Day", and "Dear John".
I went to bed at nearly 7am. Then I woke up around 3pm.
I didn't do anything productive. I have to clean soon. I think I'm going to hire a maid on my last day to do a through cleaning. the whole apartment. Doesn't matter how long it takes. Its only 11,000 won an hour with this one company that uses Phillipino maids who speak English. (Are maids that cheap in America? $10 an hour?)
I watched "Post Grad". It was okay.
The copy I downloaded of "Leap Year" was a bad copy so I couldn't watch it.
I also downloaded "Up in the Air", "The Hurt Locker", "The Invention of Lying" and "Alvin and the chipmunks"
I watched "Ninja Assassin". Its very graphic and violent. Way too much blood, but I actually sat through all of it. I only watched it because Rain was in it.
Movies I want to see soon: "When In Rome", "The Last Song", "Valentine's Day", and "Dear John".
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Day 416
Saturday Feb 6
Well I haven't done anything productive. I went to bed after 6am and woke up around 4pm.
I downloaded the last 2 episodes of "Tough Love". I went to the website to see how all the girls were doing after the show. Only one of the girls is still dating the guy she was set up with on the show. The rest just didn't work out.
I downloaded some movies that I might watch today or tomorrow. "Leap Year", "Post Grad" and "Pretty Ugly People".
I should have been out doing things since I don't have much time left but its close to pay day and I need to make my money last until pay day. So I stayed in.
Next weekend is a holiday so there isn't much I can do. I may go down to Gwanghwamun to see the traditional folk games and watch people skate. I would go skate but its no fun when you go alone.
The next weekend I want to get out and go to Star Avenue at Lotte World. Its a place to see costumes, props, and personal memorabilia donated by stars like Rain, Big Bang, TVQX, Choi Ji-woo, Park Yong-ha, and Song Seung-heon
Well I haven't done anything productive. I went to bed after 6am and woke up around 4pm.
I downloaded the last 2 episodes of "Tough Love". I went to the website to see how all the girls were doing after the show. Only one of the girls is still dating the guy she was set up with on the show. The rest just didn't work out.
I downloaded some movies that I might watch today or tomorrow. "Leap Year", "Post Grad" and "Pretty Ugly People".
I should have been out doing things since I don't have much time left but its close to pay day and I need to make my money last until pay day. So I stayed in.
Next weekend is a holiday so there isn't much I can do. I may go down to Gwanghwamun to see the traditional folk games and watch people skate. I would go skate but its no fun when you go alone.
The next weekend I want to get out and go to Star Avenue at Lotte World. Its a place to see costumes, props, and personal memorabilia donated by stars like Rain, Big Bang, TVQX, Choi Ji-woo, Park Yong-ha, and Song Seung-heon
Day 415
Friday February 5
My first class was good. I gave them their newspaper test. I make it really easy for the little kids. They both made 100. While they were taking the test the girl was singing "Bibimbap is yummy" over and over. It was cute and funny.Then I gave them their spelling test. Our words had eer or ear in them. The boy made 100 and the girl made 50. Then we did our lesson and I let them play a game for a few minutes. The girl was writing my name on the whiteboard in Hanguel. My last name is spelled 나이트 which would be pronounced (na e teu) when romanized...나이트 클럽....they know the word nightclub so I'm Valerie nightclub...2 of the younger students have called me that..haha...At the end of class I gave each of them 2 stickers. Then they started begging me to give them 3 stickers. It was so cute. They got down on their knees and begged twice. The girl even got down on her knees and was hugging my leg. I still only gave them 2.
My 2nd class was my favorite newspaper class. I look forward to this class every week because the kids are so enthusiastic and interested in the articles. When I was passing out the papers they all started shouting "me first, me second..." There's only 4 articles so I went with who asked first and I wrote it on the board.They liked the pic of the pet deer….They said it was cute and deer meat is expensive…one looked at it and said “meat”…the deer’s name is dillie…when they would say dillie one kid would say ‘delicious”….Everytime we have a story about an animal at least one person says it looks delicious..haha.One boy pronounced Ohio funny…everyone laughed-it was hilarious.He said it like "oh e o" They corrected him.They all liked video of 5 year old drummer…said he was a genius drummer and they asked “he’s only 5?”…They were telling me how difficult drumming is..His name is Jonah..They kept asking me “what’s his name?”..They said that Jonah sounds like a bad word in Korean..so they want me to keep saying it…They thought the bird was cute.One kid looked at the picture and said "no meat"..haha……I didn’t have a pic of universal studios……They asked if “theme park” was an English word…its the same in Korean
테마 파크 (tema pakeu)romanized.
My 3rd class was okay. There are only 2 students. We also do the newspaper class, but they arent so excited about the articles. The boy unwillingly participates.
I just wish all my students had the excitement of my first 2 classes....
My last class feels like a lost cause. I try my best but they don't seem to want to learn. Almost everyday is a struggle. They are loud and they wont pay attention..Half of them wont practice speaking and reading aloud…we had a decent class but not as good as I would have hoped..Today we started a new chapter on food.We went over 4 pages of new material. All during class they are playing around..throwing things at each other…For some reason they think my nose is funny..They were calling me Pinnochio. I just laughed at them. Oh well. Its not like I can do anything about my nose. I was born this way and if they think its funny then oh well.
14 school days left....
only 3 weeks left in Korea....
My first class was good. I gave them their newspaper test. I make it really easy for the little kids. They both made 100. While they were taking the test the girl was singing "Bibimbap is yummy" over and over. It was cute and funny.Then I gave them their spelling test. Our words had eer or ear in them. The boy made 100 and the girl made 50. Then we did our lesson and I let them play a game for a few minutes. The girl was writing my name on the whiteboard in Hanguel. My last name is spelled 나이트 which would be pronounced (na e teu) when romanized...나이트 클럽....they know the word nightclub so I'm Valerie nightclub...2 of the younger students have called me that..haha...At the end of class I gave each of them 2 stickers. Then they started begging me to give them 3 stickers. It was so cute. They got down on their knees and begged twice. The girl even got down on her knees and was hugging my leg. I still only gave them 2.
My 2nd class was my favorite newspaper class. I look forward to this class every week because the kids are so enthusiastic and interested in the articles. When I was passing out the papers they all started shouting "me first, me second..." There's only 4 articles so I went with who asked first and I wrote it on the board.They liked the pic of the pet deer….They said it was cute and deer meat is expensive…one looked at it and said “meat”…the deer’s name is dillie…when they would say dillie one kid would say ‘delicious”….Everytime we have a story about an animal at least one person says it looks delicious..haha.One boy pronounced Ohio funny…everyone laughed-it was hilarious.He said it like "oh e o" They corrected him.They all liked video of 5 year old drummer…said he was a genius drummer and they asked “he’s only 5?”…They were telling me how difficult drumming is..His name is Jonah..They kept asking me “what’s his name?”..They said that Jonah sounds like a bad word in Korean..so they want me to keep saying it…They thought the bird was cute.One kid looked at the picture and said "no meat"..haha……I didn’t have a pic of universal studios……They asked if “theme park” was an English word…its the same in Korean
테마 파크 (tema pakeu)romanized.
My 3rd class was okay. There are only 2 students. We also do the newspaper class, but they arent so excited about the articles. The boy unwillingly participates.
I just wish all my students had the excitement of my first 2 classes....
My last class feels like a lost cause. I try my best but they don't seem to want to learn. Almost everyday is a struggle. They are loud and they wont pay attention..Half of them wont practice speaking and reading aloud…we had a decent class but not as good as I would have hoped..Today we started a new chapter on food.We went over 4 pages of new material. All during class they are playing around..throwing things at each other…For some reason they think my nose is funny..They were calling me Pinnochio. I just laughed at them. Oh well. Its not like I can do anything about my nose. I was born this way and if they think its funny then oh well.
14 school days left....
only 3 weeks left in Korea....
Friday, February 5, 2010
Day 414
Thursday Feb 4
In one month (March 4) I will be in New York City!!
First class was good. We had a writing class about personal pronouns and elaborating to add more detail. They all did a good job.
We did a writing lesson in my 2nd class. We were talking about verbs that tell about the past and writing a how to paragraph. They did good with the material. The boys were loud as usual. We also did a writing activity from another writing book.
3rd class was the newspaper class. They enjoyed the articles. They were surprised by the pet deer. There is a family that has a deer as a pet. It lives in the house. They liked the clip of the 5 year old drummer. One student wanted to know if the boy was really 5 years old. The 5 year old has never had a lesson and plays really good. We also talked about Universal Studios coming to Korea. I told them I had been to Universal Studios in California and Florida and it was really fun.I will come back to Korea to visit the new Universal Studios. It opens in 2014. We also talked about a rare bird in Afghanistan-the large-billed reed warbler. They thought the bird was small and cute.
4th class was good. We had a writing lesson about writing events in order and a how to paragraph.
15 school days....
wow only 3 weeks left in Korea....
In one month (March 4) I will be in New York City!!
First class was good. We had a writing class about personal pronouns and elaborating to add more detail. They all did a good job.
We did a writing lesson in my 2nd class. We were talking about verbs that tell about the past and writing a how to paragraph. They did good with the material. The boys were loud as usual. We also did a writing activity from another writing book.
3rd class was the newspaper class. They enjoyed the articles. They were surprised by the pet deer. There is a family that has a deer as a pet. It lives in the house. They liked the clip of the 5 year old drummer. One student wanted to know if the boy was really 5 years old. The 5 year old has never had a lesson and plays really good. We also talked about Universal Studios coming to Korea. I told them I had been to Universal Studios in California and Florida and it was really fun.I will come back to Korea to visit the new Universal Studios. It opens in 2014. We also talked about a rare bird in Afghanistan-the large-billed reed warbler. They thought the bird was small and cute.
4th class was good. We had a writing lesson about writing events in order and a how to paragraph.
15 school days....
wow only 3 weeks left in Korea....
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Day 413
Wednesday Feb 3
Last night I forgot to prepare for my newspaper class. I thought about it right before I went to bed. I could have stayed up later to finish but it was already 5am. yes I was still up at 5am.
Today I was rushing to finish it before I had class at 2:55pm. I bought some noodles at the store. Then I realized I didn't have a fork. I wasn't going to use chopsticks to try to eat noodles. I went to Home Plus to buy a pack of forks while my noodles were getting ready. You have to let them sit for 4 minutes before adding the sauce. So then during my free time before class I ate and made classwork. Then I knocked over my coke. The lid was off so It went everywhere. I left to teach my class and left the coke on the floor and cleaned it up after class.
Today was newspaper class in my 1st class. Today's topics were: Korean singer opens a bibimbab restaurant, housework robot, San Francisco, and facts about your eyes. I think they enjoyed the articles. They were actually reading along some without me helping them and finding answers on their own. great. We had a good class. We finished a little early and we played hangman with their spelling words. They did a good job.
2nd class was good. We had a writing lesson about singular possessive nouns and dialogue. At the end of class one of my students said "I envy you." I think I asked why. She said she envies me because I have yellow hair. ha. I've always wanted dark hair. I'd love to have black or dark brown hair. My natural color is a light brown or maybe its dark blond. At least everyone calls me a blond.
In my 3rd class we had a writing lesson about verbs and poems.
My 4th class was another newspaper class. Same topics as the first class. Half of them weren’t paying attention. Some of them weren’t even on the right page. They talk and don’t listen. They are talking about other things while Im up in the front trying to get students to read and repeat. Only one boy does what he should so I gave him 2 stickers. The other kids got none. 2 students asked me if they were good in class. I told them they have to read all the time. They read sometime but weren’t paying attention all of the time and they got out of their seats to pass notes to each other. I had to beg some people to write the answers and you have to stand beside them to make sure they write it down. They don’t even care. I make powerpoint presentations for pictures and the boys are always trying to press escape on my keyboard so I walk right past them and they don’t get to see the picture.
16 school days left...
Last night I forgot to prepare for my newspaper class. I thought about it right before I went to bed. I could have stayed up later to finish but it was already 5am. yes I was still up at 5am.
Today I was rushing to finish it before I had class at 2:55pm. I bought some noodles at the store. Then I realized I didn't have a fork. I wasn't going to use chopsticks to try to eat noodles. I went to Home Plus to buy a pack of forks while my noodles were getting ready. You have to let them sit for 4 minutes before adding the sauce. So then during my free time before class I ate and made classwork. Then I knocked over my coke. The lid was off so It went everywhere. I left to teach my class and left the coke on the floor and cleaned it up after class.
Today was newspaper class in my 1st class. Today's topics were: Korean singer opens a bibimbab restaurant, housework robot, San Francisco, and facts about your eyes. I think they enjoyed the articles. They were actually reading along some without me helping them and finding answers on their own. great. We had a good class. We finished a little early and we played hangman with their spelling words. They did a good job.
2nd class was good. We had a writing lesson about singular possessive nouns and dialogue. At the end of class one of my students said "I envy you." I think I asked why. She said she envies me because I have yellow hair. ha. I've always wanted dark hair. I'd love to have black or dark brown hair. My natural color is a light brown or maybe its dark blond. At least everyone calls me a blond.
In my 3rd class we had a writing lesson about verbs and poems.
My 4th class was another newspaper class. Same topics as the first class. Half of them weren’t paying attention. Some of them weren’t even on the right page. They talk and don’t listen. They are talking about other things while Im up in the front trying to get students to read and repeat. Only one boy does what he should so I gave him 2 stickers. The other kids got none. 2 students asked me if they were good in class. I told them they have to read all the time. They read sometime but weren’t paying attention all of the time and they got out of their seats to pass notes to each other. I had to beg some people to write the answers and you have to stand beside them to make sure they write it down. They don’t even care. I make powerpoint presentations for pictures and the boys are always trying to press escape on my keyboard so I walk right past them and they don’t get to see the picture.
16 school days left...
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
'Korea Be Inspired' Selected as New Tourism Slogan
Korea's tourism attractions will be promoted through a new English slogan, "Korea Be Inspired," the nation's tourism agency said Monday.
The new slogan emphasizes the hope that foreign tourists will gain new inspiration by visiting Korea. The KTO is aiming to attract 8.5 million foreign tourists in 2010.
The KTO has been gathering ideas from its staff members and advertising experts before confirming the final phrase.
This year marks the beginning of the 2010-2012 "Visit Korea Campaign," aimed at generating $10 billion in annual tourism revenue and advancing Korea's stature as a tourism power.
Previously, Korea has used the slogan "Korea Sparkling" in various promotional materials at home and abroad since 2007. However, it had been criticized for lacking identity and relevance to tourism.
The Presidential Council on National Branding, launched in January 2009, raised the need for a more appropriate tourism slogan. Some experts, including Euh Yoon-dae, chairman of the Presidential Council on National Branding, have been critical of the effectiveness of "Korea Sparkling" as a slogan to represent Korea in the world.
Other tourism powers in Asia have used slogans that define the essence of their respective countries, such as "Incredible India," "Uniquely Singapore" and "Malaysia Truly Asia."
The new slogan will be used in promotional videos and advertisements produced by the KTO in the near future.
Korea spent 5 billion won in developing the slogan 'Korea Sparkling' in 2007 through consultation with domestic and foreign experts.
Chosun Ilbo investigates subway beggars
Anyone who spends more than a day travelling on the Seoul subway is familiar with certain varieties of beggar who frequent it - supposed orphans and disabled people, a few people with no legs, but mainly supposedly blind people. Way back in October the Chosun Ilbo badgered a few people its reporters saw begging for money on the subway by claiming to be blind. Its conclusion? Most subway beggars who say they are blind are not blind at all.
On January 14, 50- year-old Mr. Lee got on the subway at Jonggak station, then walked along slowly tapping a white stick and begging for money from passengers.
By walking up and down the train about 10 times, he covers roughly 100 meters. In one hand he carries a cassette player and plays music in order to get the attention of the carriage passengers. It takes about 30 minutes for him to cover the whole train. An average of 10 people will give him money and it totals about 2,000 won ($1.75).
As soon as he alights from the train he walks briskly up the stairs and through the ticket checks. It is a complete contrast to the uneasy way he walked along the carriages.
A Chosun journalist followed Mr. Lee and asked him some questions.
As expected, he was not really blind. Back in 2005 he operated a small paper cup selling company, but his business failed and his wife divorced him. He now lives alone. “ I feel bad about what I do now. I feel so bad that I can’t do anything other than beg. I feel so sorry for my family.” He has been begging on subways for about two years.
There are few unlike Mr. Lee.
Last month from 10 o’clock to 6 o’clock the journalist met five blind people begging on trains. Of these five (including Mr. Lee) only one person was genuine.
Seoul Metro officials are now trying to take control of the situation. Metro officials stated that they would only take action against the most obvious frauds because the genuinely blind people cannot help begging. That is a government problem.
Seoul Metro has always tried to regulate not just begging but trading of small goods on their trains but it has never really been effective. It is very easy for them to simply move to a different train and continue. The Metro workers have never filed a police report about the problem. However, they will take action against anyone using too much pressure against passengers.
Is there a wealthy route?
Some beggars have ‘know how’ and stick to particular lines of the subway.
It depends on the day, time, and subway line. Mr. Lee claims that weekday mornings are the worst as there are so many people commuting that it is tiresome. The best times are weekday afternoons and weekend mornings on lines 1, 3 and 4. They can easily weave through passengers then. Mr. Lee usually travels on the weekend morning subway, then changes from line 1 to line 3 in the afternoon. That way he can get more money than usual weekday journeys. Many others begging prefer the line 4 train to the horse racing track.
There are also high class people to beg from.
It is so tiring to get lots of money that it is normal to get between 10,000 and 20,000 ($17.50) won per day and live hand to mouth. On line 1, 48-year-old Mr. Park (who is genuinely blind) was begging with his 44-year-old wife Mrs. Seo holding his arm. After a short time they stopped to count the money. They had about 6,000 won ($5.25).
Many people think that after a days ‘work’ the beggars live in luxury, but Mr. Park stated that, though he doesn’t know about others, he can definitely say that he and his wife struggle to eat and live on a daily basis. With that, they gathered their money and changed trains.
On January 14, 50- year-old Mr. Lee got on the subway at Jonggak station, then walked along slowly tapping a white stick and begging for money from passengers.
By walking up and down the train about 10 times, he covers roughly 100 meters. In one hand he carries a cassette player and plays music in order to get the attention of the carriage passengers. It takes about 30 minutes for him to cover the whole train. An average of 10 people will give him money and it totals about 2,000 won ($1.75).
As soon as he alights from the train he walks briskly up the stairs and through the ticket checks. It is a complete contrast to the uneasy way he walked along the carriages.
A Chosun journalist followed Mr. Lee and asked him some questions.
As expected, he was not really blind. Back in 2005 he operated a small paper cup selling company, but his business failed and his wife divorced him. He now lives alone. “ I feel bad about what I do now. I feel so bad that I can’t do anything other than beg. I feel so sorry for my family.” He has been begging on subways for about two years.
There are few unlike Mr. Lee.
Last month from 10 o’clock to 6 o’clock the journalist met five blind people begging on trains. Of these five (including Mr. Lee) only one person was genuine.
Seoul Metro officials are now trying to take control of the situation. Metro officials stated that they would only take action against the most obvious frauds because the genuinely blind people cannot help begging. That is a government problem.
Seoul Metro has always tried to regulate not just begging but trading of small goods on their trains but it has never really been effective. It is very easy for them to simply move to a different train and continue. The Metro workers have never filed a police report about the problem. However, they will take action against anyone using too much pressure against passengers.
Is there a wealthy route?
Some beggars have ‘know how’ and stick to particular lines of the subway.
It depends on the day, time, and subway line. Mr. Lee claims that weekday mornings are the worst as there are so many people commuting that it is tiresome. The best times are weekday afternoons and weekend mornings on lines 1, 3 and 4. They can easily weave through passengers then. Mr. Lee usually travels on the weekend morning subway, then changes from line 1 to line 3 in the afternoon. That way he can get more money than usual weekday journeys. Many others begging prefer the line 4 train to the horse racing track.
There are also high class people to beg from.
It is so tiring to get lots of money that it is normal to get between 10,000 and 20,000 ($17.50) won per day and live hand to mouth. On line 1, 48-year-old Mr. Park (who is genuinely blind) was begging with his 44-year-old wife Mrs. Seo holding his arm. After a short time they stopped to count the money. They had about 6,000 won ($5.25).
Many people think that after a days ‘work’ the beggars live in luxury, but Mr. Park stated that, though he doesn’t know about others, he can definitely say that he and his wife struggle to eat and live on a daily basis. With that, they gathered their money and changed trains.
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