Storytime

So for my third graders (read: 9th graders, for those in the US), I did an activity about cartoons and storytelling. All the kids here know the Simpsons. That is they all recognize the Simpsons. How much they actually know about the show or the characters varies. But nevertheless, the Simpsons were an obvious choice for a lesson about cartoons. So after watching a few clips and talking about the story, I had each group of students choose six flashcards that I had prepared. Half the cards were Simpsons characters, and half were random other things that I thought of off the top of my head. They had to choose three of each, and then write a story that involved all of their cards.

(NOTE: Whenever possible, let your students be creative - writing a story, a dialogue, draw pictures, or anything to use their imagination. Especially if you're teaching EFL. They might be hesitant at first, but the results are always hilarious.)

Simpsons cards:

Bart
Lisa
Maggie
Milhouse
Ralph Wiggum
Ned Flanders
Apu
Mr. Burns
Chief Wiggum
Dr. Nick
Disco Stu
Krusty the Klown
Grampa Simpson
Comic Book Guy
Ms. Krabapple
Groundskeeper Willie
Moe
Sideshow Bob
Jasper
Kang and Kodos
Bumblebee Man

Random cards:

alien
robot
zombie
basketball
penguin
squid
train
the planet Saturn
skull
racecar
cat
cell phone
bicycle
chicken
knife
(taking) a test/exam
mountain
Eiffel Tower
computer
Santa Claus
fire


Here are some samples from my students' genius:

"Apu keeping cat. Disco Stu saw Apu and his cat using Willie's I.D. without his permission. So, he told it to Willie. Willie was very angry. So he killed Apu. Apu became skull."

"Santa give robot to Ned Flanders in Christmas. However, Sideshow Bob wants to get a robot. So he kills Ned Flanders. And he gets a Ned Flanders robot. Moe saw that happening. So he use a cell phone to call the police. Sideshow Bob is arrested to the prison."

"When Milhouse played basketball with his friends, he saw Jasper was hunting penguin. So he went to Dr. Nick by the bicycle. And he said to him, 'Jasper will kill the penguin, you should save the penguin. Hurry up!' Then Dr. Nick and Milhouse went to that place. Dr. Nick saved the penguin and called the police officer. So Jasper went to the prison."

"Bumblebee man flew to the mountain, but the mountain caught fire. So he died. After he died his friends, Ralph, Krusty the clown, to the train for Bumblebee man's funeral."

There was also one about Chief Wiggum raping Lisa, but they didn't quite finish. Hopefully there will be more gems to come!

Where was I...?

It's been so long since I've written anything on this blog that I hardly know how to start again. I have plenty of excuses - I have no stable internet at my apartment, I'm really busy with lesson planning, I'd rather spend most of my free time hanging out with my boyfriend than sitting in front of a computer, and the rest of the non-hang-out free time I don't feel like thinking. So there.

But part of me still likes to think this blog exists for a reason, so here I am again. Where to start?

I've been in Korea for a little over a month now, and I've been teaching for about four weeks. It's all been wacky, but I think Shawn and I are finally getting the hang of things and working out a routine.

Let me go way, way back. All the way to Feb. 26, when we left the EPIK orientation and actually got to Daejeon (that is, the city where I live, in case anyone missed it). All the new teachers were gathered into an auditorium where, one by one, we stepped up to meet our co-teachers - the people who act as liaisons (read: translators) between the native English teachers and school administration. My co-teacher was a very nice lady named Jin-Young, who took me to my school, my apartment, and then grocery store. I say "was" because as soon as I met Jin-Young, I also found out that she was about to leave town to attend a six-month training program, so in fact, she would not actually be my co-teacher.

I met my new co-teacher four days later, on the first day of school. But not until the end of the day, when we rushed out of school and across the city to go apply for my Alien Registration Card (green card). The rest of the day, I spent sitting by myself in the "Fun, Fun English" room, because A) they did not have a desk ready for me in the teachers' office and B) they didn't have my class schedule ready, so I didn't have anything to do. All of this is well and good, except for the fact that everyone neglected to inform me that I would actually have to teach classes the next day.

Really, I should have been expecting this the whole time, because one of the first things that was pounded into our heads at orientation was DYNAMIC KOREA. Sounds pretty romantic and exciting, right? Sure, until your class schedule changes 3 times in a month, your co-teachers don't show up for class, and you find out you're attending a dinner about 10 minutes before it happens. Okay, so the dinner part really isn't that bad, but the point is that "Dynamic Korea" basically means that something could be switched or dropped or sprung on you at any moment (usually the last possible moment), even though other people have known about it for several days.

Needless to say, the first couple of weeks were pretty hectic and stressful. Added to this is the fact that, despite all our optimistic hopes, Shawn and I were not placed in adjacent apartments. Not even walking distance apartments. We have to travel about 20 minutes by bus and/or subway to reach each other's neck of the woods. And since both places are far, far too small to store all of our collective necessities, our dreams of keeping one place for living and one place for storage went up in smoke. Of course, we probably should have expected this too, but it's hard not to be idealistic when you're setting off on a new adventure.

Anyway, this blog isn't for complaining. Because after all the initial insanity and frustration, we're getting the hang of things. I'm starting to develop better lesson-planning skills (although my time management skills will always be lacking) and figuring out enough basic language to get by. The teachers at my school have been incredibly helpful, and Shawn and I have adjusted to this back and forth situation. I'm sure there will be up and down days in the future, but I think the most difficult part of this relocation is behind me now (thank God).

So that's my incredibly abbreviated "first month in Korea" update. Someone should remind me about this blog before month two is over.

First Day of School

6:45 am - Get up and start getting ready.

7:35 am - Head out the door and walk to school.

8:00 am - Arrive at school. Take off my sneakers and put on my Birkenstocks (school shoes), then carry my sneakers because I don't know where to put them. Stand and look lost.

8:05 am - Seon-hui (Sunny), a Korean English teachers walks in, sees me, and takes me to the first floor teachers' office where I was originally supposed to be (I think). Find out instead I'm supposed to be in the third floor teachers' office, but I don't have a desk prepared for me yet.

8:10 am - Go to third floor teachers' office with Seon-hui and sit at a table.

8:15 am - Seon-hui tells me I can sit in the English Lab room (where I can use the internet) until I have a desk in the teachers' office.

8:16 am - Move to English Lab and use the internet.

Several Times - Between classes, groups of girls walk past the doors, see me sitting in the lab, and either giggle and wave, or giggle and run away. A couple brave souls stick their heads in and say hello.

11:45 am - A teacher and several boys come to put chairs in the English Lab. When I say thank you, the last boy bows and scurries away.

12:45 pm - Seon-hui comes in to take me to lunch, since I still have no idea where anything is in the school. Lunch consists of rice, kimchi, some kind of spicy beef mixture, some kind of bean-jelly stir fry mixture, and some kind of tofu and greens soup. It all actually tastes pretty good. I sit at a table with Korean teachers and then Seon-hui joins us.

1:30 pm - Finish lunch and walk with Seon-hui back to the third floor. Finally she explains that she is helping me out with things for now, because my actual co-teacher is very very busy. I ask her if she knows anything about me getting an Alien Registration Card (things my co-teacher is supposed to help with), and she says she will ask for me. She also tells me that students are not supposed to be in the language lab, except for class (because there's a lot of expensive equipment in there), so if I see students in there, I should tell them to leave.

1:35 pm - Grab some tea from the teachers' office. Come back to the English lab to find two girls sitting on the tables and talking. I ask them if they're supposed to be here, but I don't think they understand me, so then I point to the door and ask them to leave. Gotta put my teacher foot down.

1:45 pm - My actual co-teacher comes to see me (I'm not sure how to write her name). She asks if I can go with her to get my ARC after school today

2:47 pm - Four girls come into the room and ask me where I'm from, how old I am, and if I have a boyfriend. They also ask me if I know Robert Pattison and Apolo Ohno.

3:20 pm - Bell rings for end of classes. But teachers work until 4:30.

4:12 pm - My co-teacher rushes in and says it's time to go get my ARC card, and away we go!




P.S. - I know this is late, but my internet is still limited, so I forgot to post it earlier. Deal with it!

Korea is Real

Real crazy, that is! ZING! I still got it.

But seriously, I've totally been here for, like, three days, and every morning when I wake up, Korea is still there. Right outside my window.

 All those cars are Hyundais.

At this point, I still have to remind myself that I am actually in a different country. One where I where I don't speak any of the language past "Hello" and "Thank you," much less read any of it. Since Shawn and I arrived in here, we've been taking part in the EPIK Orientation program at Eulji University in Seongnam City (look it up if you want). Don't get me wrong, the orientation is great. EPIK does an awesome job of taking care of us - setting us up in dorms, feeding us, getting us introduced to teaching, and basically trying to prepare us for what we're about to get ourselves into. They even gave us an awesome gift bag.

 

But it's also pretty insulating. On campus everyone speaks English, even the Koreans. All the signs are in English. We had french fries at lunch today (along with rice and kimchi, of course). I have to constantly remind myself that once orientation is over, I will be the only one speaking English. All of the signs will be in hangeul (the Korean alphabet). I can probably still eat french fries, but only at McDonald's, which I have yet to see, incidentally.

Luckily, Korea is still right outside my window. Once I step off campus, I'm in Korea. Which is why Shawn and I have been taking several walks up and down the street lately, watching people, taking pictures, trying to decipher signs, and even venturing to partake in some authentic local cuisine.

We're totally sitting on the floor.

We had no idea what we were ordering. Just point to a picture of the cheapest thing on the menu and out comes some kimchi, two bowls of boiling soup containing an indeterminable meat, and a tray of fixins. After chowing down, we did a little research and found out we just experienced sundaeguk, or blood sausage soup. Mmmm! It probably won't be my first choice at the next meal, but it was a good experience. Every outing in Korea is a good experience (so far anyway). Interacting with people, despite a total language barrier. Both parties overwhelmed with joy when one even attempts some rudimentary translation, and even moreso when a mutual understanding is attained, which it almost always is (so far anyway).

I'm very grateful for the preparation and resources that EPIK is providing for us at this orientation. I would have been totally overwhelmed to get off the plane and be thrown into the new world without any transition. But I also think that it's good to learn by doing, and I'll be happy to get out and decipher the real Korea. 

Although, there will probably be some things that I'll never understand. Like this commercial:

Need a Job?

So the economy totally sucks and the country's going down the tubes, but you've heard so many wonderful things about Korea (the South one, anyway). "Well, how the heck do I get over there?" you ask.

Just check out Shawn's step by step guide to teaching in Korea and you'll be on your way to becoming a multi-millionaire (exchange rates may apply)!

See you there!

BOOYAH!

Our contracts have arrived!

 Now we just have to make it up to VA to finish taking care of business ...

Korea or Bust

Not a lot going on here for the last few weeks, I know. You can chock it up to holidays and the fact that we haven't had much Interwebs access in LA. But not to worry, we're still on our way, slowly but surely. We still haven't received our official contracts (or "Notice of Appointments" as they like to say) from Korea yet, but we have been assured they will be here as soon as possible. Of course, who knows when as soon as possible will be - it may be mid-January or (now they tell us) even mid-February. Even though we have to be in Korea for orientation on Feb. 17th. And we have to have our visas before we can book a plane ticket to get to Korea. And we have to have our contracts before we can get a visa.

It's all a little frustrating because we thought all these things would be taken care of by now. But we still definitely have jobs. EPIK is just super busy tying up a lot of last details. In the meantime, we're packing up our stuff again and leaving Louisiana after being here for about a month. It was nice and relaxing and we got a few things taken care of for the trip. Now we're headed East again, to make some rounds with old familiars before our final stop in Virginia with my folks. Then we'll really have to take care of all the last minute preparations before we ship out.

So anyway, that's the status of our travels so far. We're kind of in a paper-work holding pattern, but we're still on the move. If you're on our route, see you soon!