raised by woolves

Vote Yes for BC-STV!

2009-05-11T18:22:00.007+09:00

Tomorrow British Columbia residents go to the polls in what could potentially be a ground breaking election. Once again, voters can vote to reject our current 'first past the post' electoral system, in favor of a ratings based system that saves your vote from being wasted if you didn't vote for the majority candidate. A lot of people claim it's too complicated to wrap their minds around, but in the age of Wikipedia, that is pure laziness. It's not like the average voter will be doing the tallying either. I admit, I totally was confused by the first explanation I heard, but there's some handy visual aids online:

Although imperfect, I do support the single transferrable vote system and think it would give the people much better representation than we currently have. My hope is that this time around, the atrocious rein (cuts to education and health care being my greatest gripes) of Gordon Campbell and his Liberal party, as well as the close results of the last federal election, will have opened up more eyes to the importance of electoral reform. In an ideal world, the Liberals will tossed to the curb, more Green party members will gain seats (though there's no chance of them winning, it would be good to have some Green seats to voice our concerns about resources and the environment), and voter turn out will break new records or at least be higher than 2001's dismal 55%. A girl can dream, no?

(some songs to stomp to)

The Constantines: Working Full time

Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs: Zero

Adventure Korea

2009-05-01T13:21:00.002+09:00

In Korea, non-Koreans are still such a facinating novelty that just about every foreigner (waygook) ends up on TV if you're there long enough! Last Feb, I was part of a local TV show called "Adventure Club" along with another Epik teacher, Graeme. It's on the Arirang Channel and it offers viewers a "more younger and refreshing approach to tourism in Korea." We filmed for 3 days and did a whole bunch of touristy things and rolled around with a lot of dogs.

From having watched some Korea sitcoms and "gag" shows, I've surmissed that most Korean humour relies on laughing at a buffon who does things wrong. I fill that role here. As a girl, I'm required to appear helpless and silly, while Graeme's masculine prowess is much celebrated.

It was mostly fun, because we got to do a lot of things you wouldn't ordinarily have a chance to. But, there was also a lot of standing around while they set up the shots, redoing takes, and being forced to overact and do embarassing things. It's always interesting to me to see how Koreans see Korea, and how they try and market it to outsiders ... compared to the reality of how everyone actually live day to day, and what foreigners actually enjoy for fun and recreation while we're there.

Thanks to Graeme for inviting me to come along! (Feb 2009, Pyeong Cheong, Gangwon-do Province)

Part 1

Part 2:

Part 3:

exit...

2009-02-20T14:54:00.002+09:00

my flight is booked, march 1st! canada bound. i hope to publish a few of the entries i wrote over the last months while in korea. i have a ton lingering in my "drafts" but for some reason my school firewall blocks blogger, so i haven't had time to update.

i adjusted to the food, cultural differences and language barrier alright, i think. manageable. but i will never, never, be able to adjust to the last minute style of Korean planning. overall, that was the most difficult thing.

only yesterday my school got a memo that the teacher replacing me will arrive this tuesday. i leave sunday. so, they ask me if i can just be out by then. WHAT??! BUT... packing! cleaning! getting rid of junk! i have a dog! no one seems to understand why 4 days is not enough to vacate a place. so, now they ar4e suggesting this poor new teacher sleep on my couch for the 5 days i will still be here. which i don't mind toooo much... but i don't have extra blankets, towels, all that. and i'm sure it will be awkward for them. ugh!

i guess giving 1 months notice to your landlord and planning that far in advance doesn't happen here. they JUST gave out the staffing information for the next year yesterday. so with only about 1 week before beginning the new year, some teachers will be moving to different cities. my co-teacher will be 4 hours away, so will also be hurriedly packing up and leaving this next week. she's doesn't have time off that week either. i asked her, how can you deal with that?? it's not enough time! and she just shrugged.

am i the weird one here, i wonder? are westerners too paranoid and controlling about time and sheduling? i don't know.

i am just excited to be heading home.

"But Darling!..."

2009-01-08T18:48:00.006+09:00

One of my nicest students gave me some Korean movies to watch over the holidays, including "One Fine Spring Day" a movie that was filmed in my town Samcheok, Gangwon province. It's not a great movie, but I enjoyed watching it since it's full of familiar sights and daily only-in-Korea-isms that have become part of my own daily life (drinking Hite outside Buy the Way, sitting in dirty bus depots, waiting for ramyeon to boil, eating barbecued pork from the hands of persistent, drunk elderly woman..).

It's about a doomed 30 something couple-- A loose, two-faced divorcee and a sheepish, wincing grandma's boy who lives at home-- whose spring romance centers a lot around um, eating ramyeon, and whose turn it is to make it (which I was eating as I watched it).

This early, idyllic eating ramyeon scene, foreshadows how untrustworthy and unfit for marriage the girlfriend character is:

Oh, Snap!

Next: "April Snow" , the most famous thing ever to happen to my town (bus loads of sexually charged Japanese women make a pilgrimage to Samcheok every spring because of it). Every single building it was filmed in bears a commemorative "April Snow" plaque and film poster. At the local hospital, the first thing you see in the funeral wing is a floor to ceiling banner bearing the male lead's coy mug. I've seen Bae Yong Joon's oversized bespectacled face more this year than my own mother's, so I might as well watch this movie once.

Stay tuned.

“Where Are You From?” “어디서 오셨어요?”

2009-01-06T09:15:00.084+09:00

One of the biggest adjustments for many “foreigners” (or, Waygookans) in Korea is becoming a visible minority and having everyone around you react to your difference. I live in a smaller rural city, so foreigners are more noticeable than say, a place like Seoul, or even Gangneun. Now when I go to larger cities, it’s so weird to see non-Korean people walking around, and it's weird to be ignored by Koreans.

There are more of us now, but before I knew every foreigner in town, all 8 of them. Here, little kids stop in their tracks, drop their jaw, and sometimes point while yelling “Waygookin!” to alert the other munchkins, like they’ve spotted the mythical Yeti. Older people stare and discuss you unabashedly, especially in restaurants. “What will the Wagook order? Does the Waygook know Kimchi? Can the Waygook use chopsticks? Why is she eating alone?” (an anomaly in this group-centric culture). Sometimes I feel self conscious about having spinach in my teeth or red sauce on my face, because everyone is looking at me. Then I remember, Oh yeah, I’m an outsider. Because sometimes, lost in the business of work, my dull daily routine, the book I am reading or the song on my headphones, I kind of forget I am in Korea and stick out amongst those around me.

Spot the waygookin!

For those of non-Caucasian ethnicities, with darker skin, it is of course even more frequent. But for most Caucasians, it is the first time they have been treated like an outsider. And many of them don't deal with it well. In fact I think the overabundance of curious "Hello, Where are you froms?" is one of the first annoyances that eventually transforms the naive, friendly, fresh-off the-plane newbie-- who at first eagerly responds with a butchered Korean phrase from the back of their Lonely Lonely Planet guidebook (저는 “Canada” 에서 왔어요!) -- to the hostile, embittered, disenchanted semi-racist teacher nearing the end of their contract, who is more likely to respond with a "Fuck off, I'm walking here!" Or, "Where are YOU from, douche bag?", if they even stop to acknowledge the remark at all.

Once the novelty of your celebrity status wears off, yeah, it is irritating to encounter the same wonderment at your origin, from cashiers, passerbyers, waiters, people in the elevator and taxi drivers (who always coyly ask if I'm Russian due to the large amount of Russian Prostitutes in the neighbouring port city), especially after work when you're tired and don't feel like talking, since making conversation is your job. I’ve definitely felt this annoyance, and anger at being picked out from the crowd and pressed to put a label on my otherness for some nosy stranger. But, it's unfair to single Koreans out on this one. Because I've felt this annoyance everywhere I've ever been, my entire life. The thing is, I probably get asked “Where are you from?” MORE in my own country, Canada.

Me and my older bro, Lee

Explanation: I am 100% Canadian. I was born in Edmonton. The least exotic place on Earth. If one is to accept the Canadian stereotype of cold, snow, beer, hockey, pickups and plaid flannel, then there would be no more typically Canadian place than Alberta. But I also consider myself quintessentially Canadian because of how multicultural my family is. On my mother's side, it's possible my Grandfather has Métis ancestry, but he was adopted so it’s unclear. Her mother's parents came to Canada from Sweden. My father grow up in Canada, but my Grandma lived in China until after the Second world war. And my step-dad and his family come from Yugoslavia. So, for lack of a better definition, my older brother and I are half Chinese with some European and maybe Native mixed in there. This 'mix' results in ethnic ambiguity. When I worked in the service industry back home, I literally faced the 'whereareyoufrom' question on a daily basis (which i dodged in a variety of ways, for the sake of my job struggling to be polite, despite a boiling urge to kick in teeth)

At home, there is no language barrier between people's naked curiosity and the facts behind why I look different from them, why my skin, eyes and hair are darker, why I have a funny last name. At home, strangers in all kinds of situations approach me, wanting to know my origins. The "Where are you from" question became a personal dread right in my first days of Kindergarten. With maturity, I care less about it; but up until after my teens, I was extremely shy and just wanted to be invisible. But in my small town, where half my elementary school was related, I stuck out from my fair skinned peers.
"Where are you from?" the other kids would ask. "Edmonton, Alberta" I would respond, looking at the ground. "Um... so why is your skin brown?" they would ask, puzzled. This continued into adulthood, except adults use phrases like "What's your nationality?" (Canadian, asshole) "What's your background?" (Post-Colonial Literature) "Are you Spanish?" (I really want a shirt that says "Not All Brown People are Spanish") and the less tactless yet ever popular, "What are you?" (human? Pisces? hungry?). Same curiosity, different wording. Then there are the creepy guys with a fetish for "exotic" women who sidle up to you; these sick fucks are the reason why pornography is divided into ethnic categories. I'm not sure why they think my friends and I will be flattered by the label "exotic"; It makes me think of a Pygmie creature on display at the zoo. An ethnic restaurant one occasionally visits for touch of adventure. A week long trip to a Mexican resort. Something that doesn't belong. Admired, perhaps, but separate, an artifact under glass.

Grandma, me and cousin, out for dim sum (Grandma is scared of the flash, haha)

My younger brother's father is from Yugoslavia. A place as foreign and distant as China, where my biological father is from. But because he appears white, no one questions where he came from. Once in college, I went out with a group of friends including a young girl on exchange from Germany. But no one asked where the blond haired blue eyed girl was from... it was my "nationality" people we met asked about; it was me they assumed was the visitor from another country.

So, while I totally get the irritation and offense foreign teachers in Korea, I don't think it is entirely fair to translate these frustrations into hostility, or judgments upon Koreans as a cultural group, because in North America, visible minorities encounter the very same thing. Just think back to High school. At least in my small town, those who exhibited visible difference always faced comments, far less benign than where are you from. People who go overseas to teach ESL are generally an open minded, liberal group with more cultural knowledge and interest than people who never leave home. Yet, even the most fair minded educated individuals seem to crack under the constant looks and questioning.

Now at home, I don't have kids crowding around me asking me questions, and yes it's annoying. But these are kids we're dealing with. And if your reaction to this situation is to blow up and shout at them, you probably shouldn't be in the teaching business. "But Kids at home are taught better, taught to be polite." Maybe, but that doesn't mean it's true. If anything, kids at home are ruder. Put a group of young white kids in a room of an Asian kid and listen to their private conversations, the things they ask the kid who is different. What they might not say around mom still gets said. Curiosity with no regard for decorum is not isolated to Korean kids. This is all kids. I’ve been around enough little kids at home who say in a loud voice to their mom. “That man only has one leg!” “Or, why is that man a different color?” and other embarrassing things. Later, most of us learn this is rude, but the fact that it starts infant hood should remind us that noticing difference and being curious about it is very normal, in all species and cultures. And it isn’t limited to Koreans.

I guess, in a mischievous way, it's an interesting experiment for me to witness the reactions of other "foreigners" to the question. I am fascinated by the reaction of Korean people to me, and of other Foreigners to Koreans, and how they are treated by them. It's quite interesting for me to be asked this question on the other side of the world, in Asia, in response to the other side of me, my English speaking, Caucasian, non asian side of me. Whereas at home, the difference they notice is my asianess. Afterall, most of us aren't from Korea. Unlike when I'm asked this question at home, in Korea, I am from another place. It's a valid question. Most foreigners Koreans meet are sojourners, here for just a year. Many foreigners do settle here permanently, but they still do come from another country.

I definitely understand my fellow teachers when they rant about how annoying it is. But I hope, instead of returning home with prejudices about Korean people, the majority of teachers will use their experience as a "waygookin" to empathize with and better understand those who are treated as outsiders in the nations they were born in and call home.

a student's point of view

2008-12-30T13:30:00.000+09:00

In high school they skim the 'top' students (by exam scores) and group them into one class. they schedule more "cram class" for them (supervised self-study time, usually until 11 pm, Saturdays and Sundays). On top of that, they are also a target of gossip and bullying from the other students. These "elite" students are groomed to produce top exam scores. Thus, my class interferes with exam prep; they are too 'mature' to pry themselves away from their physics text book to enjoy a game for an hour or do a simple conversation activity. Many go to extra curricular Academies, so their English abilities are higher but it's harder to get it out of them. They are smart girls for sure, but often more difficult to engage. My lowest level girls make more mistakes, but they're so excited to talk to me about the latest Gossip Girl plot, boys, or the co-teacher who doesn't wear a bra that they don't need much coaxing to get talking. So, for this special class, I need to come up more challenging activities, that they can't just ignore since I make them present the final result to the class and my camera (I lie and say the other teachers will watch it... which they don't; too busy. Christ).

Awhile back I held a speech contest where students could talk about anything they felt strongly about. Not surprisingly, a lot of students chose problems with the Korean education system (although a few girls did use the 2 minutes for an in depth analysis of the sexiness of Johnny Depp). I told the students to express themselves freely, and share their honest opinions without fear. The co-teacher was a bit shocked, I think, to hear these normally docile, obedient 'top' students express such rebellious, anti-establishment thoughts. And probably she was a bit confused with my choices for the top 3 speeches. While the standard "Impossible is nothing" "Respect Public Order" "Dokdo is Ours" speeches might impress in one of the Board of Education speech contests (borrrring), I was more interested in creativity, originality, intelligence and spirit.

This is one of my favorite speeches from the bunch. Her original script was much more incendiary, with some musings about protesting, and breaking into the principal's office, but on the day of her speech a Korean co-teacher attended, so she censored a little. Her pronunciation isn't great, but I like when she says "some student's souls leave their bodies and they play outside... they become dead jelly fish." Very true... I've had similar thoughts at the front of the class, looking out at the sea of dead eyes. How sad is it that all she wants is enough time to eat dinner and lunch?

They are essentially good kids. I would have liked to have made more of a difference, if the situation had allowed them more time and energy to give my class.

christmess eve!

2008-12-24T12:14:00.003+09:00

Lulz to this Korea Times article "Uniqueness of Christmas in Korea", which can't be serious:

"Another interesting aspect of the Christmas season in Seoul is the holiday music. Nearly every shop, cafe, and department store can be heard playing popular Christmas music. Ironically, it is unlikely that you will hear any American business playing songs with Christmas lyrics. Instead, shops play muzak, or elevator music. These are the low quality instrumental versions of Christmas classics without the singing... The phrase 'Merry Christmas' is used uniquely in Korea. In the U.S., it can only be heard in churches and privately among family members who recognize the holiday. You will not find businesses advertising 'Christmas sales' or giving 'Christmas greetings'."

Huh? Obviously this dude never worked in retail. My last North American Christmas basically tainted any scrap of appreciation I ever had Xmas tunes, after being mind bashed daily by the "Christmas" Radio station our company demanded we play (studies have shown it puts people in the mood to spend, spend, spend.. good tidings indeed). And I can't count how many "Merry Christmases" I had to parrot through gritted teeth after every customer paid for their organic soy eggnog lattes.

After working in the service industry, I am actually thankful to be free this year from the shrill vocal stylings from the axis of evil that is Mariah, Whitney, and Celine. Nevertheless, there are some decent xmas tunes that, while they may not make the ipod, will probably get some youtube hits tonight as I make rumballs, buttertarts and pumpkin pie.

happy holidays, and so on, hope everyone is keeping well, and knows that i am missing all those near and dear, here on my second xmas in this tiny Korean town :(

oh, korea.

2008-12-24T10:34:00.003+09:00

i never thought of myself as an organized person... more of an absentminded professor... but compared to "these people" (sigh, when did i start using that phrase?) i've become a Type A. i used to think the language barrier was the reason for me always being in the dark about plans, but actually, my co-teacher often doesn't know what's going to happen either, until moments before. everything like days off, exams and staff trips seem to be depend on the whims of some dude in the office, who likes to wait until the day before to alert everyone... via the office messenger, which is in a language i cannot understand, thus i am often unprepared. in response to my surprise, they ask, "didn't you know...?" which is infuriating. i have no idea how they deal with the slim time frame this type of on the fly sheduling leaves you to prepare for classes. i suspect not much preparation actually goes into their classes, since they seem to rely heavily on text books, and the older teachers spend most of their in between class time sleeping at their desks, watching tv shows and eating snacks.

I've been asking all month about january's schedule, so i can use the free time i had during this month (when the student's had final exams) to plan my lessons and prepare the necessary materials. simple stuff like which students will i teach (new ones? or the same ones, in which case i should make new lessons?), their grade level, how often i will see them (so i know how many lessons to prepare) and how large the classes will be, etc. "It is not yet decided," they explained. Finally, today they finalized the schedule which will begin next month. I had put together a few powerpoints and lessons based on the vague information I was given. Now i find out i will be in a classroom without a computer or tv. And, I will have no co-teacher at all. I will also see one group everyday, which means I need to double the amount of lessons I have. So as usual, this must be done in a last minute scramble, days before the actual class.

it's like they go out of their way to make sure i do a bad job.

ESL Links

2008-12-23T11:48:00.001+09:00

Lesson planning is tough and time consuming, especially if you're new at this and don't have any guidlines, resources or help. How people managed before the internet is a mystery. But now, there is so much ESL stuff online, it can be overwhelming to sift through. Here's the links i found most useful.

Ready to Go Lessons: (the good stuff): Of course every lesson must always be adapted for your class. But there are nice teachers out there sharing complete lessons that only need a little adaptation. Don’t be an asshole; if you borrow lessons from others, reciprocate with some of your own.

http://waygook.org (fantastic)
http://epikforum.org/forum/ (good, but not much for high school)
http://www.eatyourkimchi.com/esl_resources/ (powerpoints galore)
http://gepik.ken.go.kr/contents/tbl_e_04_01/main_pds_list.asp (a gov. site with pretty solid demo lessons, which will only work if you actually team teach)
http://eflclassroom.ning.com/index.php (free to sign up; lots of downloadable materials like worksheets, and powerpoints on this site, but it can be overwhelming).

Worksheets: Cloze style, fill in the blank worksheets; useful for upper level adult classes, but a paper waster for younger students with no motivation to participate. Good filler though, for unexpected classes or hopeless cases.

http://www.pearsonlongman.com/adult/teachers/resources.html
http://www.pearsonlongman.com/totalenglish/resources/downloads/
http://www.esl-galaxy.com/themesheets.html (more worksheets, and links)
http://www.eslbase.com/worksheets.asp
http://www.eslpdf.com/esl_vocabulary.html (basic vocabulary based worksheets)
http://eslprof.com/handouts/ grammar based; upper levels

Young Learners

http://www.english-4kids.com
http://genkienglish.net/

High school (or Middle)

http://jhsenglipediaproject.com/jep.aspx (really useful site from Japan;some ready to go stuff)
http://www.esljunction.com/conversation_questions/school_life.html (free talk prompts; good for warm ups)
http://garrettgonekorean.blogspot.com/ a teacher outlines his lesson plans
http://ageekyteacher.wordpress.com/category/lesson-plans/ same as above

Adults/Upper Levels

http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeadult/resources.htm#ESL (links to other online resources for mature learners)
http://www.tefl.net/esl-lesson-plans/esl-worksheets-tp.htm (free talking ideas)
http://www.rpi.edu/dept/advising/esl/american_culture/social_skills/sm_talk.htm
http://www.onestopenglish.com/section.asp?sectionType=listsummary&catid=59392 (you need to sign up for some lessons. I find them really inadequate as is, even for higher levels. Good starting point to make new lessons though.)
http://www.businessenglishonline.net/InCompany/worksheets/preintermediate.htm

Ideas: Helpful for brainstorming new lessons. There’s many good ideas you could adapt to High School, but in my experience, free talking based exercises don’t work on their own.; without structure, or a worksheet to complete, most students don’t know what to do, including adults.

http://www.hltmag.co.uk/sept04/less.htm
http://canada-esl.com/lessonsindex.html
http://www.eslgo.com/resources.html
http://larryferlazzo.com/english.html
http://www.footprintsrecruiting.com/lessonsearch.php
http://iteslj.org/Lessons/
http://iteslj.org/links/TESL/Lessons/p2.html (free talk questions; adult level only. Good luck “free talking” in a public school class).
http://durhamliteracy.org/home/esol/spring06themes (could be used to adapt curriculum for adult or high school classes. Organized by theme and links to resources).
http://www.mes-english.com/ putting this classic site under “ideas” because I haven’t found any easy, ready to go materials here, at least for my classes.

Games: These games seem better suited to younger learners; tried them and my high school students don't participate. but, they suck.

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Square/3472/ (pretty much ready to go game plans)
http://www.eslsite.com/rd/Drama-Role_Plays/bank_robbery.html
http://topergames.blogspot.com/ (low tech game ideas)
http://www.teachenglishinasia.net/tefl-tesl-games-and-activities-directory
http://www.eslcity.com/english/?doc=bbs/gnuboard.php&bo_table=kinder_game&sselect=wr_name&stext=mike&ssort=wr_hit&sorder=asc&soperator=&page=1&wr_id=55

Literacy: Online Stories (higher levels.. or to kill time in between classes)

http://www.miguelmllop.com/stories/index.htm

Pronunciation: Probably best suited to advanced learners. But pronunciation is an area where I feel competent, and actually necessary.You can download whole PDF lesson guides for a total English pronunciation course. Could plan a whole teacher’s class around them.

http://international.ouc.bc.ca/pronunciation/

Audio Visual: Useful materials, if you have a TV and Computer in the class

http://www.real-english.com/ (dated, but useful; good for padding lessons)
http://www.eslvids.com/
http://www.gatm.org.uk/
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/
http://www.lingual.net/lingualproductitems/index.php
http://www.englishmeeting.com/resources.htm
http://www.esl-lab.com/
http://tell.fll.purdue.edu/JapanProj/FLClipart/Verbs.html (useful clip art)
http://www.pdictionary.com/ (useful clip art)

Professional Development: Informative Podcasts about ESL teaching

http://www.eslteachertalk.com/

Teaching Guides, Books: *also search sites like www.scribd.com for free downloadable ESL textbooks

http://www.scribd.com/doc/186156/Teaching-English-as-a-Second-Language
http://www.finchpark.com/books/wnew/contents.htm
http://www.finchpark.com/books/nyt/index.htm
* check out the resource section here for downloadable text books:
http://eflclassroom.ning.com/index.php

Jobs:
http://www.footprintsrecruiting.com
http://www.epik.go.kr/

Korea Blogs, Teacher Forums

http://www.eslcafe.com/
http://metropolitician.blogs.com/
http://joshinggnome.wordpress.com/
http://www.koreabridge.com/forums/index.php
http://blog.galbijim.com/
http://populargusts.blogspot.com/
http://www.rjkoehler.com/
http://thegrandnarrative.wordpress.com/

Links and Links

http://eslflow.com/
http://eslprof.com/ESLlinks.htm
http://iteslj.org/links/

횐 크리스마스!

2008-12-22T20:12:00.004+09:00

Oooo. i was told not to expect snow until February, but look what i awoke to! X-mas is basically a non-event again this year for me, aside from a cozy day off. Christmas is not such a big deal here compared to home (somewhat of a relief), though today i did see some saucy schitzus and promotional girls ("도우미") in festive red Santa mini dresses. Snow is so invigorating. And, when you do nothing but stay inside under a blanket drinking coffee, baking and reading, you don't feel lazy because it's totally justified. X-mas is all about the food, so i am getting excited about cooking dinner, and baking copious desserts this Thursday, though there will be more food than guests. And the next day, Boxing Day, I get to wake up early and go back to school to join the staff for a celebratory field trip to a nuclear factory... yessssssss!

Friday: sunny...

Monday: !!!

Neko's first snowy walk... "WTF!???"

Sufjan Stephens: That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!

crash and burn

2008-12-17T15:55:00.004+09:00

Oh my god i am so done with this job. sometimes i think, yeah, i could do another year, and then days like this bring me to my senses.

So, the project work had been going smoothly. the plan was to present next week, last week of classes. Tada. Put them on stage, make them perform, film it, applaud, make the Koreans nod in approval, because this is how English is done, right? But, some groups still haven't done a thing, even though they've had weeks. The co-teacher has made things worse. As a rampant alcoholic and pathologial liar who sleeps, sings, screams and disrupts the class, her presence has negated any validity my class once had as a "real" class one must take seriously. She is often harder to control than the students. Other groups have completely LOST the reports and posters they've been making all month. So they have nothing to present. Coincidently, this caught on like mono. Now, other groups are claiming there is some kind of homework stealing thief. Incredible. I suspect this is their way of getting away with doing fuck all. They said, "teacher, no presentation, minus score" knowing full well there is no score.

Throughout the year, whenever I tried to motiate or discipline them, more than a few girls explained "teacher, me no brain.. marry boy, many many babies, just love." The frequency of students who have said this, combined with the frightening reality of this occuring and the INSANE out of control global overpopulation problem really makes me see sterilization in a new light. And when the dark thoughts such as those start making regular appearances, that's a good indicator you need a change of scene.

But, I'm still going to make them stand up there and film their 5 minutes of silence. Perhaps that is the most honest representation of their abilities, though. Aside from a few shining stars, I give up on Korean students.

This song remind me of Christmas. It makes me happy.

Too Drunk to Dream: The Magnetic Fields

irony of the day

2008-12-12T16:14:00.002+09:00

Pavement song about financial corruption used in commercial for Korean finance company's credit package?

Sample Lyrics... "Pigs, they tend to wiggle when they walk the infrastructure rots and the owners hate the jocks with their agents and their dates if the signatures are checked you'll just have to wait and we're counting up the instants that we save tired nation so depraved from the cheap seats see us wave to the camera ..."

Hmm. Maybe Koreans DO have an ironic sense of humour afterall.

Ah well, Stephen Malkmus can do no wrong, and Real Emotional Trash was neat.

source: http://www.thedailyswarm.com/watch/watch-pavement-stereo-s-korean-hyundai-ad/

some observations on healthcare

2008-12-09T09:41:00.017+09:00

One benefit of working in public school instead of a hagwon is that you get 15 paid sick days. However, this is restricted to us waygooks. My co-teacher told me that sick days are 'not possible' for her and the other teachers (it's funny how "Impossible is Nothing" is the most popular slogan here, yet I hear "It is not possible" like every day). I've never seen a substitute teacher come in either. Once a teacher's mother in law died, so the other teachers just covered her classes for her while she was at the funeral.

Incidentally, the funeral was a few days and took place at the local hospital. Hospitals are so different here. They have more of a casual, community hall sort of feeling compared to the sterile, clinical, formal atmosphere of hospitals back home. Your family is expected to come and care for you, bathe you, feed you and do the duties nurses do back home, so there's lots of people just hanging around. When I got tested for my Visa renewal, there were elderly women squatting on a towel having a picnic lunch in the main waiting area. I had to pee in a Dixie cup in the bathroom (filthy, no toilet paper or soap as usual) then navigate past these women without spilling the goods on anyone. But, no one batted an eye.

The hospital doubles as a funeral home. There are special rooms where they lay out bodies for viewing, beside shrines of photographs, fruit, snacks and soju bottles. It is the families responsibility to prepare and dress the body. Again, this is different from home, where nurses or funeral home staff take care of this stuff. (I wonder what people here do, if they don't have any family?) Adjacent to the body viewing room is a restaurant-like room, with a buffet of fruits, meats and boiled octopus on ice. Even though I didn't at all know my co-worker's mother in law, another teacher said we must go and pay our respects, so we drove there at lunch, said hello briefly to our co-worker, who was obviously busy and distraught, and then ate a bunch of food with some people I assume were relatives . Personally I felt uncomfortable just showing up uninvited, then stuffing my face, but I guess it was the polite thing to do?

Anyways, getting back on topic... Sick days are fairly sacred back home, especially if your job contract allows for them, and usually it's no one's business if you are sick, hung over, depressed or just having personal problems. But because sick days are unusual in Korean culture, some schools are a bit hesitant in 'allowing' you to take them, and try and rush you to a hospital for 'proof'. Luckily, my school is ok about this stuff, as long as I take them on days when I don't have classes. (Technically you should have a co-teacher, and the co-teacher should be able to lead the class with or without you because you're there to assist them, but, oh well).

As luck will have it, my annual winter flu (sore throat, fever, migraine, general grossness) seems to have hit just in time for exams, so I am taking 3 sick days to convalesce (or "take a rest"). The first time I went to a doctor in Korea was also my last. I knew exactly what the problem was, because I've had this problem numerous times before. But the doctor just slapped my stomach, chuckled, and said I had gas and should eat better. (Um, usually they need to take a physical sample, test for the bacteria and prescribe an antibiotic). Then although he said there was nothing wrong with me, he prescribed a million pills and said don't eat for a day, just take 5 pills each hour.

So, never again. Instead, I am laying in bed watching documentaries about how the world is doomed, trying to force my dog to snuggle me (my heat won't turn on again.. why???!) and eating 죽. Juk, by the way, is one of my favorite Korean comfort foods and fantastic when you're ill. It's just rice boiled with extra water, and things like chicken, seafood, mushrooms and ginseng in it. I learned to make it, and it's tasty. Mine wasn't as pretty as this, but was equally full of warm mushy goodness.

I'm also making x-mas cards to send home.. hopefully in time, but maybe not. So email me your mailing address if you want one!

Panda Bear- Take Pills

my apart-uh

2008-12-07T19:38:00.009+09:00

lots of people asked me about what my apartment is. yes, it's been over a year since i've lived here, but finally, here is the tour, and some pics. i am pretty happy with my apartment, it's quite big, for just me, and i love the sliding partitions, and the laundry/room balcony where i have my plants.

not my apart-uh, but another like it

i've rearranged the rooms quite a few times.. here's the first bedroom, now the living room.

crazy heat controller.. still don't understand it. the only instructions i was given was "never touch the red button."

nice glass windows that slide open.. (to look out on the parking lot)

some garbage finds

my plants this summer, now dying :(

daily lulz, and friday, at last!

2008-12-05T14:03:00.007+09:00

hee hee apparently the Board of Education would like the local English teachers to put on a Christmas performance.. in which we would sing and give speeches all in Korean. As no one really speaks Korean, this is going to be interesting. But at least we have more headsup than the poor teachers in Taebek who I guess were thrust on stage a few weeks ago, in front of the local news cameras, with no clue what to do. Korean culture is notoriously all about last minute. For example, today I was told we're taking a boat trip next wednesday with the staff.. "Where to?" It is not yet decided. "For how long?" Not yet decided. Sigh. Actually, I only caught whiff of this plan accidently, if i hadn't been eavesdropping, i would have just been thrown on the boat next week totally unprepared... i hope they are prepared for my notorious motion sickness, especially when they start with the soju shots and maekoli.

So, I guess giving us a few weeks notice to prepare about the perfromance is pretty good, for Korea. I probably will opt out, though. Most of the korean i know is dirty and rude, since everything I know I is from my students. Um, i can say "get away from me you perverted dirty old man" in Korean... What are the chances there's a korean song with about that? (well, actually, if there isn't, there should be..)

Someone asked me about the tiger picture on the header of my title... no, i didn't draw it, i wish! it is done by Julie Morstad, a fantastic artist from Vancouver. she drew the cover of Neko Case's fantastic Fox Confessor Brings the Flood album, which I am still not sick of. (I can't wait for the new Neko Case album, Middle Cyclone...next March!) Morstad's illustrations have an Edward Gorey quality... weird Edwardian anamorphic children and creature, at once adorable, grotesque, whimsical and macabre. She turns the most mundane activities (reading, taking tea) into surreal scenes from an Old Country faerie tale.

("Hold On, Hold On" is my favorite song from this album, but it's not on Youtube. This is my second fave... maybe).

Star Witness: Neko Case

teenage kicks.

2008-12-04T17:11:00.007+09:00

Everyone keeps asking me what i'm going to do when i get back. i haven't responded not because i am ignoring anyone...but because i don't know! not for lack of thinking. i am reminded of the scene in the Bell Jar where Esther imagines life as a tree with many branches bearing fruit, but by the time you decide which fruit to grab, the rest have fallen off and rotted.

there's lots of things i want to do... travel around, hole up in a cabin somewhere and write, spend time with friends and family, form an experimental freak folk music act, go work on an organic farm through WOOF, go back to school. though the idea of taking out more student loans, after not paying off the first round yet, is disgusting. it would be prudent to go back for 2 years, get my education certificate so I can teach in Canada, or make more money if I work overseas again.

Do i want to teach? to be honest, not really. being the center piece of a full room of bored people is about the worst situation for someone who is shy and antisocial, and opposed both to being told what to do, and dictating to others. but i certainly don't want to be a cashier, or waitress, which are the other options for a young woman with an English degree... and the West coast is teeming with them. i bet you could find one on every bus in Vancouver city right now, at this very moment.

Trouble is, i haven't grown out of feeling like a student yet. i still wake up and go "oh mannnnnn i don't want to go to school!" and wonder if i can get away with calling in sick. at lunch i sit with my headphones listening to music, reading once banned books, just like i did when i was my student's age. smoking is scandalous for women to do in Korea, so in the beginning, i used to sneak off and smoke under a bridge, just to enjoy the delicious rebellion and secrecy of it(i quit that, because I don't actually enjoy smoking, i just like flouting codes of decency because i am infinitely immature). How can i go from being a surly little teenage shit to being ONE of the people i roll my eyes at and try to ignore? when my students say, "Why should i do this?" they totally have a point. there's no grade for my class, after all.

sometimes i catch myself saying parent/teacher stuff just to cover, like "oh when you're older, you'll wish you had paid more attention in school" or, "try your best" and such, but these are just things i've heard other adults tell me before. I think they can sense the cynicism and insincerity. I asked one girl, "why have you never done anything this whole year? and you come late to every class? What do you want to be when you grow up?" and she said something like, "Why do I need to try in school? My dad is rich and I am going to marry a rich man too and be a mom." She's got a point; daddy's a doctor, she's gorgeous, and her life is going to be just fine whether she finishes my worksheet or not. I guess here a good teacher would jump in with some admonishing proverb about effort being it's own reward, using that adult tone but i just want to laugh wryly. Another time the Wondergirls and some boy band were playing for free, 2 blocks away from the High school, but the principal forbade my students from going. But a small group of girls rallied together (the "top" students actually, who are usually unnervingly obedient) skipped self-study (He wanted them to study at school until 11 pm on a Friday night!) and had the best time ever at that concert. The next day all the teachers yelled at them, hit them, made them kneel and other sadistic punishments, but I couldn't help but beam at them with scarcely concealed pride. if it had been a better band, i probably would have gone with them. A few students told me they are planning to dupe their school and parents and go to Seoul on the pretense of visiting the University. But really, they are going to just hang out, shop, who knows. Am I going to tell anyone? try and stop them? Of course not! God, compared to what I did when I was 17...

But, is this wrong? Am I a bad teacher? I just don't know. despite everything, i think i am pretty good at teaching itself... i can explain things well and help someone understand something, if they're into it. that part is cool. if a student is willing to try, i'll match their effort twofold to get them where they want to go. but the discipline/authoritarian thing eludes me. if someone is determined not to learn, i can't really force them nor do i care to. waste of my time and theirs.

How can I ever be anyone's authority figure? i guess it's better than being controlled by someone else, or taking orders. So, I am considering enrolling in the Education program when i get back. we'll see. maybe I'll have grown up by then.

Some tunes from the angsty teen years I haven't yet grown out of yet and probably never will:

Fuck School: The Replacements (on bad days, i listen to this on headphones in the middle of the office, when the principal and all the teachers are there. they think I am studiously preparing lessons. it makes me smile).

I Don't Wanna Grow Up- Tom Waits

Korean 피자 "Pija"

2008-12-03T15:20:00.006+09:00

Korean pizza is bizzare; the tomato sauce is weirdly sweet and the cheese tastes like ziplock. you find things like corn, potato, rice cakes, and squid on your pizza...perhaps all at once. and watch out for tic tac toe squares drawn in mayonnaise. (Why are all my MOST hated western foods so popular here? mayonnaise, white bread, Spam, Coke...).

But, my coteacher went to Italy awhile ago, and told me not to go, the food was disgusting. the pizza didn't taste like pizza, she explained with a nose wrinkle. go figure. But, I guess this is like how at home if you go to a Korean restaurant you mainly get japanese style tempura... which I've never had once in Korea.

Here are some interesting pizza's you can get from Dominos Korea:

Torpor

2008-12-03T08:34:00.011+09:00

- a state of motor and mental inactivity with a partial suspension of sensibility; "he fell into a deep torpor"

- listlessness: inactivity resulting from lethargy and lack of vigor or energy

- the state of lethargy (slowed being) into which some animals fall during the colder months of the year

What a great word. sounds about right. my students have exams next week, so stepping into a class full of them is like stepping into an energy vacuum.

To make it easier for myself, we started group projects last week (make a presentation about another country.. a poster, 7 min speech) which means i don't have to do much teaching or lesson preparation, just walk around poking the blanket monsters, helping the few keeners write their reports, changing grammar and whatnot. There is one precious group who of course has done nothing but pluck hairs from one another's bodies. when i asked them to get started, the leader stuck out her defiant, hairless chin, and asked "What will you give us?" Hahahaha. Oh, Korean students. So hard working and ambitious.

There are worse fates than having a job where I do nothing most of the time. But this listless inactivity, chained to a desk I can't leave monday-friday, with no lessons to even prepare (finished them long ago) does get to me sometimes. I try to keep busy, researching various topics, reading news stories, studying french, etc. My mind is fairly stimulated lately, as I follow the latest political antics with dumb wonder. Also, I'm reading A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and rekindling my respect for Joyce.

After 7 hours of staring at the screen under the office florescent lights, I am such a zombie. doing nothing actually drains your physical energy... makes you jelly. I try to do at least 20 min of yoga when I get home, but it's not nearly enough. I need to find a way to shake out this lethargy, before it calcifies.

Midlake: Young Bride
(My young bride,why aren't you moving at all? helps to make the day seem shorter..)

alela diane

2008-11-28T22:46:00.002+09:00

songs for time traveling.

daily dose of ridiculous

2008-11-27T14:13:00.005+09:00

(BBC news) "South Korean prosecutors have demanded an 18-month jail term for a popular actress who admitted breaking the country's strict laws on adultery. Ok So-ri had sought to overturn the 50-year old legislation, which carries a maximum jail sentence of two years. She said it was an infringement of human rights and amounted to revenge. But in October the constitutional court ruled for the fourth time that adultery must remain a crime, saying it was damaging to social order. Ms Ok has admitted having an affair with a well-known pop singer and her husband, Park Chul, is said to be seeking "a severe sentence". She blamed her infidelity on a loveless marriage to Mr Park, also an actor, and launched a legal challenge against the adultery law itself. But the court ruled that the adultery law did not violate the right to "sexual self-determination and privacy" and that the available punishment was appropriate. "Society still recognises that adultery damages social order," said the court. "The punishment of a two-year jail term is not excessive when comparing it to responsibility." Ms Ok's lawyers have said the legislation "has degenerated into a means of revenge by the spouse, rather than a means of saving a marriage".The Korean Times says that in the past three years about 1,200 people have been indicted annually for adultery, but very few have been jailed. The case has created a sensation in South Korea, say correspondents, where many have denounced what they see as an archaic law."

This story is appaling, considering the high rate of prostitution in this country. you can order "coffee" from a "special" cafe and have it delivered by a "special" young woman. you can go to a "special" barber shop and be serviced, as you get a hair cut (hurrah for multitasking!). And brothals fronting as Karaoke establishments are notorious.

Just the other day an older, married Korean man playfully told me that his 70 year old father had a "concubine" (i then taught him a new word: mistress) and that he himself had enjoyed such things in the past, and what did i think about that, wink wink (my cue to flee).

Double standard moral bullshit.

It's a shame that getting divorced still makes you a social pariah here. Through my work, I've met too many Korean women, and men too, who are stuck in loveless marriages, but they are too afraid of public opinion and reputation, so they do nothing.

Now THAT is bad for social order... especially for their poor kids who grow up in a miserable home environment.

easing into winter

2008-11-27T09:42:00.000+09:00

winter, we meet again.

well, i guess it's still fall, but we're well past the riot of pretty autumn leaves, now sluffed off and rotting in the gutters. it's all skeletal branches, morning frost and wool mitts from here. my school doesn't have central electric heating like we have in Canada. instead, they have these tall square metal stoves that stand in the middle of each room, attached to long silver stovepipes that pump the smoke out the window. they don't heat the halls, or bathroom, just select rooms, so walking around the building is a menopausal experience, from freezing to suddenly overbearingly hot. i'm not sure what fuel they use... perhaps the rounded grey (charcoal?) blocks they use in bbq pork restaurants, or some sort of liquid. it's deadly hot to touch, as i learned last year, to the great amusement of my students. the students wrap sweet potatoes in tin foil, and cook them on the round top of the stove during class. the ashy warm smell of these stoves hit me today walking into school, and i swooned with the variety of nostalgia that only smells can bring. i arrived here last year in the flush of winter, mid December, so the distinctive smells of stove, tinfoil and sweet potatoes brings me back to those early days. in many ways i feel like a completely different person. this year has been an instructive one. i feel years older. in good ways (more maturity, responsibility, caution) and bad ones too (being unable to stay awake past 9, weird scraping feelings in the knees when I run, the odd white hairs). for me this is a quiet time of repose. i have fewer classes because of exams, no more lessons to make for the year, most of the friends i had here have left korea, I have tons of unread books, and vacation time to look forward to.

But, for my students, this time is especially difficult. Weeping girls everywhere. I don't want to return too much to the education problems i mentioned in the previous post. Basically, exam stress for Korean kids is so much worse here than at home, for no good reason either, since they are outdated, and don't really test real abilities or skills. Personally, I think they are criminal, especially the SATs. The main reason these tests exist is not for the personal knowledge or education of the students, but to line the coffers of universities, which should be, in my opinion, considered corporations like any other business that brands themselves and reaps huge profits. Korea is dominated by 3 "top" universities and the market is saturated with both national and private universities. Yet these institutes don't necessarily equip them with jobs or steady futures after the diplomas are dolled out and the tuitions are paid. Like Canada, the myth of post-secondary education as necessity leaves many Korean students in debt, overqualified yet unemployed and stymied as to what to do with their futures.

But, to these kids it can be a matter of life and death if they don't get the right scores, or the school with the best reputation. And it is about reputation, and again, image, and just a total fear of shaming your parents, in spite of whatever your personal desires may be.
http://www.koreasparkle.com/2008/11/a-prayer-for-korean-high-school-students/#content

I spent yesterday consoling a 3rd grade girl (17 years old) who is convinced that because she didn't ace the SATs, and because she didn't pass an interview needed to enter the education department of Busan University, her life is basically over. She says she is a failure. Her teachers, and parents have put these ideas into her head, this week she has constantly been yelled at, lectured and scornfully regarded as lazy. She is a bright, sweet, kind, sensitive girl who would make a great teacher. In her own time she has come to see me at lunch to talk, improve her English and also, I suspect, to unload her troubled thoughts, and emotional burdens. 17 years old, she thinks it's all over, and her life has barely even begun.

I tried to tell her that the problem is not her ability or effort, but the education system which has failed to give her teachers, text books, classes and tests that will give her the abilities she needs for these interviews. From her descriptions of the interviews she had this week at various universities, the post secondary system is just as backwards as the the high school system. For the Education department in Bussan, they gave her a ridiculously difficult article about sustainable development filled with vocabulary she has never seen and asked her to discuss the issue, in English. Yet the interview for the English literature department in Gangwon University was conducted entirely in Korean and required no English from her at all.

This girl didn't stand a chance of passing the first interview. They don't teach any speaking or higher level critical thinking at our public highschool. Only the kids whose parents can afford to send them to expensive afterschool Academies and study with native speakers have these conversational skills. Such an elitist system.

I'll see her again today, I hope she's feeling a bit better. She seemed a bit happier after our talk. Maybe just the chance to vent against her parents and teachers, without being hit with a stick for it; In fact I encouraged her not to be sad, but to be angry at this shitty system, and at her parents for being such unfair assholes. God, I am so going to get in some trouble if i stay here in longer.

Anyways, here is a hymn for winter that i've been playing on repeat on my NEW IPOD TOUCH!

EPIK Esay Contest: How to Improve ESL in Korea

2008-11-26T10:57:00.002+09:00

Epik, the public school teacher placement agency I work for, recently held an essay contest.. (1st prize: 500 000 Won). You could choose 2 possible topics: Write about your experiences overcoming cultural challenges in Korea, or you could write about how to improve English Education in Korea. I chose the latter. I think the challenges of being an effective English teacher stream directly from cultural differences. Foreign English teachers straight out of university like myself will find that Western pedogogical methods and goals (ie, essay writing, active creative expression, constructive problem solving, individual opinion formation) often fail completely when we try and apply them to our Korean students, so well versed in route memorization, copying and other passive learning methods.

I wasn't going to enter, because when I found out about the contest, it was 3 days before the deadline. But, another teacher, Dayle, contacted me and suggested we work together to enter something. Without his editing and suggestions, I wouldn't have even started it, nor finished in time.

So, here is my submission. I have a feeling they are looking for something more sugar coated, more ripe for propaganda, to bait new teachers. So, I don't even know if they will get past page 1. But, my main gripe with the Board of Education, which I expound upon in the essay is this tenacious unwillingness to address the real problems and failures of the Native Teacher program, in favor of perpetuating feel good illusions.

Beyond Image:
Struggles and Solutions to Improve English Education at the High School Level
(extended version)

In one month, I will celebrate my one year anniversary as an EPIK teacher at a girls’ high school in the city of Samcheok, Gangwon-do. In fact, my first year in Korea was also my very first year working as a teacher with classes of real students. This is also an important landmark for EPIK in Gangwon-do, because in the beginning of 2008 many high schools across the province welcomed a native speaking English teacher for the very first time.

For many English teachers in our staff, I am the first foreigner they have worked with or interacted with daily, so this has been a learning experience for them as well. I think everyone’s expectations have been challenged during this year. I wholly agree with claim that “Men learn while they teach,” (Lucius A. Seneca) for I have made just as many mistakes and learned just as many lessons as my students have during our time together. Due to my own inexperience, and the newness of this program for my school, this experience has been very challenging and not always successful. I hope that by honestly sharing what I’ve learned and experienced, both good and bad, I can help future EPIK teachers develop the Team Teaching program to its full potential so it meets EPIK’s stated ideals.

In Korea’s formal culture, it may seem negative for people’s professional image to discuss their own weaknesses and failures. However, I strongly believe that English educators in Korea, both Co-teachers (CTs) and Guest English Teachers (GETs) need to initiate open, honest dialogue in which they feel comfortable to address problems, needs, errors and concerns. Only then can we identify what doesn’t work and cooperatively develop a strong foundation for English conversation studies at the high school level.

Despite my constant efforts to be an effective teacher and create stimulating conversation lessons, I am frustrated by the results.1 While there are several special students whom I have been able to help, many of the students will not leave class with a higher English speaking ability. This is disappointing; and the main reason the EPIK program needs to improve if we want our students’ English to do likewise.

This essay focuses on struggles I have experienced and solutions I propose within the EPIK program at the high school level in Gangwon-do. Unlike elementary and middle schools, where the program has been in place for a few years, this program has just begun in high schools so requires great scrutiny for improvement. High schools, from my experience, lack pedagogically sound materials and resources such as textbooks and listening CDs, and standardized curriculums. Older students are uncomfortable with the games, songs and informal activities which are so successful with the younger grades. Further, exam preparation stress and sleep deprivation due to their longer school day reduces high school students’ willingness to participate. Thus, the challenges and solutions faced by high schools differ from those at middle schools. I feel it is crucial for GETs in high schools to share their experiences and feedback during the nascent stage with EPIK administrators so that we can cooperate to pre-empt problems from occurring and find solutions to build a strong foundation. The biggest challenge, I think, is how to overcome low speaking levels.

Photo: On average, I would rate the participation rate at about 10%. Out of 30 students, only 10 students will voluntarily converse with me or offer answers, complete worksheets on their own or do information sharing activities correctly. The remaining students will copy their answers from others and collect information by silently reading their partner’s paper rather than verbally sharing and gaining information through conversation. Many students, despite repeated disciplinary actions, refuse to do anything at all and spend the class sleeping, reading, talking in Korean or working on homework from other classes.

Struggles: The Ironies of Image and Classroom Realities

One issue which often surfaces in the media, and confounds English teachers is that while Koreans spend more time and money on English language education, overall the speaking ability of students remains very low. According to the Korea Times, Korea spends the most time and money on English language education, yet students’ test score results remain internationally amongst the lowest.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/06/117_25279.html

I believe the growth of this embarrassing state is rooted in the failure of the current education system to teach students how to communicate and must be remedied. The irony of high effort and expense contrasted with low results and conversational skills is well known to high school GETs who face this dilemma very every day. What are the factors that cause this irony? One of many causes which could be pinpointed is the emphasis on image. It is my belief that high school educators focus too much on the external image of English education rather than trying to eliminate flaws deep within its core. Ironically, focusing on image actually diminishes the quality and content of education. The result is students who are able to perform speeches and parrot example sentences for an audience, but who lack the ability to converse on a most basic level. Teaching a mile wide but an inch deep produces students with a thin ability in English.

Consider as illustration a recent regional speech contest where a student from our school won first prize and several other students placed as finalists. I had helped them prepare by editing grammar and coaching pronunciation. I am proud of these students’ achievements, for they worked very hard. However, although these students scored in the contest’s top level, they struggled to communicate simple things to me while we prepared. They couldn’t form simple sentences, such as “Can you help me?” “Are you busy?” “Let’s practice together” “How do you say this word?,” and so on. These ‘top’ students communicated with single words (“Teacher… help”), gestures or a CT’s translation because they didn’t feel comfortable or capable to express themselves in English. Before my adjustments, each speech (including the prize winner) was unintelligible because students relied on electronic translators, not their own abilities.
Nor did the students did not try to understand why their original scripts did not make sense to an English speaker.

Speech contests are performances which focus on memorization, attitude, composure and appearance. While all these skills are important, they have do not relate to dialogue, which, by definition, requires communication between at least two parties. Due to these contests, and because English exams test focus on multiple choice selection rather than speaking skills, students come to associate English with repetition and memory. These learning skills ill-equip students to converse naturally with native speakers or orally express ideas unless they have weeks to prepare. As an alternative, we should consider replacing speech contests with debate contests.

Debates give students an opportunity and motivation to improve their active listening and speaking skills. While debates lack the formal, atmosphere of speech contests, they closer resemble authentic conversation: Students listen to each other; they evaluate what was said; and then they respond accordingly.4 Students could be given time to prepare for the topics beforehand, but because they cannot anticipate their competitor’s ideas, responses or comments, students must rely on critical thinking, not memory. Due to the spontaneous “on the spot” nature of debating, responses will be less polished and imperfect in comparison to rehearsed speeches. In my experience using this method in the classroom, debates can become rowdy, loud and students often lose their composure when they get passionate about what they are talking about. But replacing frozen academic formalities and polished appearances with this type of expression is exactly what needs to take place to come closer to the ideals of fluid communication. In addition to speech contests I am troubled by another misleading practice in English education in Korea: demo classes.

Demo classes: What do they demonstrate?

Demo classes are given for the benefit of the audience, and do not at all represent what actually occurs in real English classes. Before Education officials or new GETs observe classes, the class practices until the lesson is perfected. Once again, students memorize and perform correct phrases. CTs extensively prepare their own scripts and lines beforehand, which increases their participation to a 50-50 role. This conveys a dishonest image that is in contrast to what actually happens in regular classes because the majority of high school GETs I have spoken to say they usually teach their classes alone. Many CTs only go to the GET’s class because the EPIK contract requires it. In many cases, the CT remains silently in the back of class and does not play an active “team teaching” role in the class as suggested by EPIK. This is not always the CT’s fault; they may not know what is required of them or the GET has not consulted with them while making the lessons. In fact, because of demanding schedules and exam preparations, it is not actually possible in high schools for a co-teacher to attend most of the GET’s classes, nor do CTs have time to help make lessons. In addition, students barely participate at all when given speaking tasks let alone answer perfectly with complete sentences as they do in demo classes. Because there is no exam or letter grade for the GET’s class, GETs in high school struggle daily with low student involvement. Many students view conversation class as an opportunity to study other subjects or catch up on much needed rest. These realities and problems must be openly admitted and demonstrated to the Board of Education, and to incoming GETs. Honesty is a prerequisite to growth and improvement.

Photo: In reality, high school teachers struggle to get school students to stay awake or participate because there is no academic motivation to succeed in the class. Students must constantly be monitored but this is difficult in large classes of 30-35, and without a CT.

Instead of performing perfect, rehearsed classes, would it not be more effective in the long-term to show Education officials and other GETs our lessons as they actually occur? If I don’t usually have a CT while I teach, why suddenly acquire one for the audience? Viewing a regular class without a CT will show new teachers the strategies experienced GETs have found effective when CTs are absent due to a lack of available staff . As well, if Education officials witnessed the difficulties and struggles that GETs face without a CT (as I do every day) perhaps they would work more closely with schools to ensure a CT attends - and participates - in every class. More importantly, if students usually refuse to participate, why not expose this issue as well?

To fully understand the GET experience, during demo classes GETs, CTs and students must make mistakes and encounter the same problems they face in regular classes. Afterwards, the audience, CTs and GETS should thoroughly and openly discuss the challenges of English in the classroom: what went wrong and how to avoid or remedy it in the future. GETS cannot tackle this issue alone. Honest dialogue, reflection, and resolve are necessary for English education to improve.

Steps Forward: Communication and Cooperation

So far we’ve looked at what I consider to be some the main challenges facing English improvement in the Korean education system. Now we will look at steps that need to take place to improve English education in the Korean high school classroom. Clearly, drastic pedagogical reforms must take place over the course of time. For example, high school exams and college SATS must decrease translation and multiple choice based testing, and include writing and speaking evaluation. This ambitious, but necessary change will take a lot of years and effort before it can be a reality. However, I believe there are several easy steps EPIK teachers could immediately begin initiating in order to take the beginning steps towards this goal, while improving the quality of their present classes. At this early developmental stage of EPIK in high school, creating more programs will not work. It is counter-productive to build rooms when a building’s foundations are not secure and well-tested. I propose that the existing Team-Teaching program continues to be strengthened by improving upon the foundations that high school GET’s laid for the first time this year.

Here is the crux: The core of the EPIK program is the teachers. They must have a better resources and support systems available to them. The reason is perhaps simplistic but nonetheless key to improving English education: Teachers who are better informed and developed to teach better conversation lessons leads to students who speak and use English better. The most simple and cost-effective way to provide better resources and support for EPIK teachers would be strengthening communication and cooperation in the teaching community. Fortunately, concerned EPIK teachers have already set this plan in motion.

http://www.epikforum.org/ is a great strength to the program for GETs and should be officially promoted and financially supported by EPIK administrators to attract more membership. This site allows teachers across Korea to share lessons plans, ideas while discussing issues related to teaching and living in Korea. Creating, maintaining, and donating money to fund this online forum has been a voluntarily initiative undertaken by dedicated EPIK teachers. This site has been an invaluable resource for seeking advice and materials for improving my class. It is much more helpful than the hard copy teaching guides and lesson books I received from EPIK. In fact, the most recent book I received (“Advanced Team Teaching Materials” July 2008) mostly contained materials directly taken from http://www.bogglesworld.com/, a well known ESL site, without any alterations. These lessons are intended for small classes of advanced adults trying to learn English by choice, not large groups of low level teenagers who for the most part have little or no inner motivation mainly have no personal desire to improve their English speaking skills.

EPIK could save a great deal of money by funding this affordable website ($ 80 000 W/year) instead of paying to print hundreds of lesson material books that many teachers don’t even use. In my early teaching days, I photocopied and applied lessons directly from the EPIK manuals, and the results were disastrous. These materials are especially insufficient for the age I teach. The majority of the activities are too juvenile to engage them, while the intermediate books intended specifically for high school are far too difficult.

I have never been able to just photocopy and apply another teacher’s lesson plan. Every class has different needs. http://www.epikforum.org/ allows teachers to upload Power Point presentations and worksheets which other teachers can quickly edit according to their classes’ needs and abilities. Teachers who try the lesson can later comment on the outcome and suggest improvements. Overtime, lessons become better because many teachers experiment with them in real class situations and build upon them. However, for it to succeed, more teachers need to participate.

Without guidelines or expectations, the content and quality of conversation classes varies wildly in each high school. High school teachers are not given text books or any curriculum guide to follow unlike teachers of lower grades. For inexperienced teachers like me, creating new lesson plans and designing an entire curriculum from scratch can be a time consuming, frustrating process which depletes the physical energy needed for these lessons to work in the class. Unfortunately, in the absence of standard curriculum requirements and CT’s to monitor and assist, it is possible for other teachers to become overwhelmed by the challenges and simply resort to teaching poor lessons, showing movies and playing games unrelated to learning English. For students’ English to improve Korea wide, we need to replace these inconsistencies with professional unity.

In addition to interacting online, more teachers could become part of the support network and access better lessons if EPIK held teacher workshops and meetings every few months where teachers could meet and talk in person. These meetings must differ from the Board of Education gatherings I have attended, which resemble formal ceremonies, rather than constructive workshops. Instead of watching a rehearsed demo class and listening to many formal speeches, teachers need to talk frankly about problematic issues and share advice. This would be an opportune time to show videos of the ‘real’ demo classes I suggested, so together teachers can brainstorm solutions. Such gatherings would re-energize and motivate teachers. Lessons and materials created and shared by teachers during this time could then be collected by moderators of the website for class room testing. Ideally, teachers would create one curriculum-model based on common goals and themes that everyone could loosely follow and tailor to their individual needs .

One standardized, organized curriculum would also help CTs become more involved. If there was a predetermined curriculum outline complete with suggested lessons – better than the disappointing EPIK team-teaching manuals - CTs would know what to expect in the class and overcome uncertainties about their role. CTs with less confidence in their spoken English would then have ample time to prepare. GET classes are sometimes disregarded as irrelevant by students because this class lacks a link to the curriculum of their other classes and the exams those classes prepare for. Often the students with the highest exam scores participate the least in my conversation classes because they feel this time detracts from “real” studying. With more time to prepare for the GET class, CTs could help include vocabulary and grammar points from their own classes. This may encourage students to apply the same effort and respect in conversation class as they do in other subjects. Even the best lessons will fail if the the students don’t have an academic incentive to succeed in the class. These changes would benefit the GET and the CT; and ultimately English education in state schools.

Conclusion: Long Terms Hopes

In conclusion, here are three most important steps which I think are pertinent to improving English education: First, replace image conscious speech contests and demo classes with debates.

Secondly, a standardized communicate-based curriculum is required, which ideally will become a tested feature of exams. If a standard Korea wide conversational High school curriculum one day takes shape, speaking evaluations could become a tested feature of exams.8 This is a really key motivation for students to challenge themselves to become better speakers instead of relying on memory and translation. Speech testing could resemble the French speaking tests which I took in Canada. For these tests, students have a one on one oral recorded interview with their teacher. They respond to basic conversational questions (“How are you?”) as well as more complicated questions such as “What is happening in this picture?”,“How would you sum up this text?” and so on. Test results depend upon pronunciation, and the student’s ability to listen and respond.

Thirdly, more open communication is needed: GETs to CTs, and GETS to other GETS. Though we teach communication every day, EPIK teachers still need to work on communicating more with each other. Once high school teachers have organized their lessons at the high school level, the next step will be working with middle school teachers for a smoother learning transition for first grade students.

In light of all the problems I mentioned, these goals may seem ambitious in scale. However the potential of my students and passion of EPIK teachers makes me confident that if we continue to build our online resources and cooperatively work on the EPIK program, then students’ communicative ability in English will improve.

Aft Gang Awry...

2008-07-25T09:58:00.000+09:00

Intentions, that is.

Namely, my intention to write more, and keep in touch while in Korea. I've written... under 10 emails since I've come to Korea. Various factors could be blamed. Facebook certainly makes it easy to feign keeping in touch, the voyeuristic act of photo stalking, and the occasional 1 line wall post. As well, I've only made 2 phone calls. $100 for 2 calls cut that mode of communication short. If only I who knows how to get one. Can't communicate with Koreans, so I can't call anyone back home. The life of an ESL teacher, a landmine of ironies. I'm an English language teacher with nothing to say. I'm a conversation teacher who sits down to write an email to my brother, or best friend, and I can't get past "hey".

I have no apologies though, to be quite honest. What would I have said? Nothing occurred to me.

Those who know me well, those closest to me, are the most antisocial people I know, so the mutual silence, I hope, rests on a tacit agreement not to waste one another's time with uninspired chatter one would have with a co-worker you dislike. the kind of dull noise some people need to fill the silences. I do think a lot, but that's as far as it gets. My mind is in too much of a fog to articulate these murky thoughts in concreate form at all, blog, journal or email.

I feel so submerged under the constant noise I can't translate into meaningful language. Submerged under identities I must assume as the foreigner, identities projected upon me by people who will forever view the world as "us" and the "others". Submerged under supressed daily anger, frustrations and worries I don't have time to address.

These last months I haven't had the spare time to look at my experiences here under glass, or give them any kind of second thought. In spite of knowing better, I agreed to an extra job this last semester, which just came to an end. Quitting it was just as exhausting as doing it, since they almost didn't pay me. "Oh, you were volunteering, didn't you know?"

I think I'm doing something wrong. Other teachers I know have loads of spare time, they socialize every weekend, attend every festival. I've never been particularly social. I have a history of being a cave dweller, avoiding people to read, smoke pot, watch movies. But here, I hardly go out anymore, because I am always making lessons! Some teachers say they never make lessons! I would love to see their classes. Seriously. Because when I'm not teaching, I'm working on powerpoints, and worksheets, and scouring the net, because I need lessons to teach for upcoming classes. What the hell do those non-lesson making teachers do??? I guess some people have a text book, and a co-teacher who helps them out, as is SUPPOSED to happen.

But I have no co-teacher, no text book, and no one will help me link my classes to the other curriculum.. I've tried to talk to the other teachers, tried to find out what they're teaching, and they just ignore me. I realised my school doesn't really give a shit what I do. The Korean English teachers just plow through their crappy text books, reading English sentences and translating for the students. And after 6 years of English study, the kids can speak hardly a word.

The Korean English teachers, to be honest, are lazy. They are doing the same. They are failing these kids equally, because they refuse to get off their asses and change the antiquated curriculum, tests and books. They love to brag about how long the kids study for, but it's a waste of time. Why stay until 11 pm at school memorizing vocab lists by route, if you can't tell me what you did this weekend? Really?

So I could easily play Bingo, 7-up, or hand out half ass worksheets to kill the hour, I could fucking play Simpsons videos all class if I wanted. I can do random worksheets or activities with no link between them, collect my paycheque and not care. This job isn't my life, after all. But for some reason it kills me to do that. I'm not sure what I'm going to do to get through next semester. I can't keep killing myself and runnig myself into the ground trying to find a solution to a problem that is systematically engrained. But I can't do a half ass job. It's too depressing and against my character. Living each day against my nature feels like slow death. Some compromise must be found.

But, I have 2 weeks vacation now. and I'm not going to think about it. The boxes on the calendar are crossed off, I've done my time, and Hopefully I'll respond to some messages during my time off. I'm not travelling anywhere... need to save $$ to pay off those cursed student loans which brought me here in the first place. The idea of wasting a year of my life here, growing one year older, but not making a dent in those fucking loans causes much anxiety.

Until then,
I hope your getting through it too, whatever it may be.

Behold! Sam Cheok, Gangwon-Do, City of Caves

2008-02-22T16:10:00.000+09:00

Here's some recent photos from my new hood:

at first i was surprised, and felt like i had been deceived when my placement coordinators assured me i was going to a rural town... these buildings are taller than any in kelowna...

but after walking in the other direction from my apartment, i understood why Sam Cheok is considered a smaller rural farming community. Ahhh this feels more like home!

Bamboo, which i want to take cuttings from and plant in my apartment.

coastal seaside... happy i live near the water. looking forward to the summer, the beaches will be nice indeed.

reminds me a bit of kelowna sometimes, in terms of vegetation. right now it is drier than usual though.

dusk.. this is the Sea of Japan, which in Korea must be called the East Sea.

the towers in which i dwell

the open market, where you can see fresh fish being gutted, and pigs head being scooped out

famous for good sunset vantage points

old fox hole left over from the war

stay away from the milk...

I'm really starting to love living here. I think if i had been given a description of possible cities, Sam Cheok would have been my number one pick. Perfect mix of rural and city for me.

Gil Scott Heron: Living Legend. Listen.

2008-01-25T11:56:00.000+09:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az3NAoVInQQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I54DgVennXU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5JXfecQ4zc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTCQSk2l8bc

Lost in Korea

2008-01-24T10:03:00.000+09:00

***Blog Post from Blog I started before leaving Vancouver, yet due to various technological fuckery, could not figure out how to continue....

Around 5:30 tomorrow night I will be stepping off a plane, rubbing my eyes, struggling with ridiculously over packed baggage, and taking a good look around at what I've got myself into. "Don't go off with any strangers," I was warned by my employer over the telephone, though I have never met or seen a picture of the person who will meet me at the airport. I land in Incheon, and through ways unknown to me at this time I will end up at a place I just learned about today (thank you Wikipedia), called Yangyang County (Yangyang-gun), located in the Gangwondo Province of South Korea. It will be a year until I come back. I've never blogged before, but it seems like a good way to keep in touch since I am not sure how frequent my communication will be for the first while... I won't have a personal phone or computer for the first month, so if it seems that I have disappeared from the face of the Earth, don't worry... I am just in a rural, Northern, mountainous town on the complete opposite side of the world. Here is a link to the area I will be in:http://www.yangyang.gangwon.kr/htmlfunc/eng/index.htmlTake care, everyone. Email me your address, and I will send you a postcard!

Transmissions From the Satellite Heart

2008-01-22T13:31:00.000+09:00

At last, I have bent Korean Technology to my will! It has taken me forever to finally get to this blogging business, largely due to:

a) my lack of a personal computer
b) having to relearn everything I thought I knew about technology b/c Korean technology exceeds Canada's by lightyears
c) the fact that the school and PC bong computers I use have Korean OS' and keyboards, and apparently a deep hungry that is only satiated by gobbling up any words I manage to bang out.

But here we are at last, and I hope having an outlet for my recent surge of verbosity will lighten my recent heinous Facebook overload. At first, the transition from a small Canadian town, to a "small" Korean town was really difficult. I live in Samcheok, which is a small city compared to larger ones such as Seoul or Busan. Population and size-wise it is small; it reminds me a lot of Victoria. However, my apartment building alone is larger than any building in my hometown, Kelowna, and after living literally in the STICKS (ok, it was a boat), I initially felt very overwhelmed by how modern and urban Samcheok seemed, let alone the rest of S. Korea. My recruiters and various websites assured me that my province (Gangwondo) is a smaller, more rural, Northern province. I was lead to assume Gangwondo would be less of a transition, since like BC, there are many mountains, farms, ocean coastline, fishing villages, forests, national parks and less urban sprawl.

These are not untrue facts; However, the first thing I had to learn was to adjust my frame of references, because Korean porportions and Canadian porportions do not correspond what so ever. Seems like a given, but I had never travelled before, nor left Canada, or obtained a passport prior to last month. So when Koreans take you for a "small" hike up a "small hill" it's an excrutiatingly steep TREK up a mountainside. When Koreans apolgize for the "shabby, small" apartment you must habitate, you hold back the tears and try to explain to them that it's the nicest, cleanest, biggest place you've ever had (so many windows. no dingy Vancouver basement suites here)! When Koreans take you out for a small bite to eat, it's an endless bounty worthy of a Christmas dinner (and so cheap)! When Koreans give you a "Tylonal" and promise it won't make you drowsy or affect you, you hear a buzzing in your brain, see stars, and have to go teach a clas totally HIGH as a kite (now that was a fun class had by all!) So when you are told you live in a small town, it is small by Korean standards, but the lifestyle is absolutley NOTHING like the small town Canadian lifestyles I am used to.

Yet, after a month, it is a lifestyle that will be difficult to leave, because the longer I live here, the more aware I am of how overpriced, overworked, overstressed and underhappy most Canadians are back home (and I was, up until leaving), despite the dominant perception that "civilized" "modern" North Americans lead the most privileged, "cleanest", "safest" lives. Compare a picture of the downtown Eastside in Vancouver, and any street here in Samcheok and you'll be converted to my case. Anyways, I've been harping on that point endlessly, to all kind enough to listen, but I guess I am still not over my utter culture shock.... shock that our North American culture continues to progress in such a destructive, defective manner.

Been on a huge Flaming Lips kick ever since I first heard their new album on the flight over Japan. All those awesome songs about struggling to defeat robots hits all the right spots right now, since in technology obsessed Korea, it's nearly impossible to escape those evil machines. So, I leave you with an oldie but a goodie...

Song of the Day: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt.1

"Those evil-natured robots!
they're programmed to destroy us!
she's gotta be strong to fight them,
so she's taking lots of vitamins'
Cause she knows thatit'd be tragic
if those evil robots win
I know she can beat them...."