Friday = Awesome

Ah, blessed Friday. It doesn't matter where you happen to be, the weekend just never comes fast enough. Yet, here it is! Friday is one of the best days of the week for me. Scratch that, it is the best. I have one class first thing (4th graders) and then I don't have anything else all day until the teachers' class. The teachers' class is two periods long (a period is 40 minutes), but I anticipate little difficulty. Last week for teachers' class we had a sort of orientation. Half of the teachers were gone on business or something else so I just explained about the book a little. An 80 minute class took 15. So, I really have no idea if that will be the norm or not. Regardless, Fridays are a very light day for my work load.

So, I have been yelled at to blog more. I guess that since I my 360 is back in action I have spent a lot less time on blogging. As such, those who have added this blog as an outlet for their workday boredom have been sorely disappointed. A duly apologize for such an egregious affront. :) That said, I have to further apologize because there won't be any interesting pictures on this post. ALL TEXT. Your eyes will ache and your burn will brain from all the usage. Mwa ha ha! :D

Actually, I do have a few pictures to post, but the camera is at home. Mel took it out of my bag. Furthermore, I couldn't post the pictures even if I wanted. We don't have a cable that goes from camera to pc. I have to use the card reader on my laptop. I looked at cables at Lottemart, but the whole not reading Korean thing seems to hold me back a bit in the computer cable buying skills. So pics when I get to it, okay?

I believe I mentioned before that my school is in a very rural area. I've explained to your eyes what a Korean rural area means due to my lack of ability to do so with wordage. Well, I recently was told that this area would be undergoing redevelopment. Basically the government is buying the land, plowing all the homes and such under, and then building nice new stuff. The school will be staying because it is fine. I'm sure it will get bundles of cash to upgrade once a thriving new community has been built around it. So, people are getting cash from the government and beginning to leave their homes. We've already had a couple students move. Il-kyu says that next year (provided I stay on) we may have very few students. The year after that though, there may be very many students. I'm unsure what this would do to the schools dynamic. Living in a rural area, the people here tend to be a bit more humble and down-to-earth. I wonder if the people that flood in with the newest of the new housing will be as amenable. Somehow, I think not.

Koreans are a very status oriented people. The new is king. Cars are actually released in half-years because people are so new obsessed. People actually drive SUVs around this town too. I have yet to show you what parking spaces look like. If you can imagine a parking garage where every space is smaller than those compact car ones you see in America you'd be on the right track. Oh, and people park SUVs in those. It's asinine. Cellphone image seems to be really important too. I don't think they keep them for long. A recent study dealt with what koreans expect from a potential marriage partner. Men expected women to have around 100 million won in the bank (around $69,000). Women expected men to have 300 million won (around $210,000). Do you know anyone with that kind of money? Me either. The average college graduate (with a bachelors) apparently only makes like $20,000 or so. Coupling that with the buying habits.... well unrealistic seems to be an understatement. Oh yes, for most women power, wealth, fame, ect... are tops. Looks don't mater. Men, it's mostly looks. So, when I say status, I mean that wealth and power are paramount. It's odd. Now, I'm sure not all people here are that way, but it does seem to be the majority. It's a strange thing to see.

Oh yeah, back on the redevelopment.... so our school had to come up with a plan to keep enrollment up. With people leaving in droves (as is expected) soon there would be no students. So our afterschool courses are free, we have golf, there's a bus for distant students, and some other stuff I can't remember. The important part is that the school has been working hard to be a shining star.

Yesterday a reporter from the largest newspaper in Korea came to check the school out. It was due to the shining star bit back there in that last paragraph. (Was that a proper paragraph break? I'm not really sure). I was not given proper warning so I was hamming it up in a t-shirt and jeans. Alas. The reporter, the head teacher, and the principal came and sat in on one of our classes! That was stressful. I kept worrying about what they thought of it and the like. They were here for quite some time. I've only been at this for three weeks, so I feel I've still got a lot of learning to do. Having them there was a bit scary. But, we made it through somehow. That wasn't really an exciting story was it? Let me follow-up after the story hits the paper. Then maybe it will be more exciting?

The principal told me that the local parents are impressed with the English teacher and that they say he is very good :D

The weather is warm! 64 degrees to day! 69 tomorrow! Enjoying your 46 Michigan? ;) However, even with this warm weather my classroom stays cold. It's like this damn room traps the cold of the night and holds on to it for dear life. I go outside to warm up! I have my jacket and the heat on! Brrrr!

Korean music is strange. It seems that all popular music is adapted from the boy band scene we had. They're boy bands or single artists that all seem derived from that portion of the 90's. As you must know, that music was horrible. So, that is all these kids know. Like I mentioned the Beach Boys to Il-kyu.... no clue. Really. He knows the Beatles, but I believe he's more widely versed than many others. I've showed the kids a few English songs and sometimes they'll just stand there with their jaws hanging open. Smells Like Teen Spirit was fun to observe the observing of. :D I've played a few Beatles tunes, the Ramones, Ben Folds, ect... just a nice cross sample. Each time, the kids seem just blown away.

In top class, Il-kyu and I decided that the book was way too damn boring for them. These are supposed to be the best our school has to offer. The curriculum in the book wasn't on the level. So we decided that we'd try to teach them a song in English. We could get them to learn to sing it and maybe have a few of the musically talent ones play it, on whatever instruments they can, in accompaniment. After much deliberation, I suggested All You Need Is Love by the Beatles. It's a simple song with a simple message. There's lots of room for instrumentation too. We're working on it. The chorus is easy enough for them, but they have a terrible time with the Lennon verses. They're pretty fastly sung. After they get a bit better I'll try to get some video. :D

So, I think that's about it. It's Friday so we're bound to be going out tonight. I'll try to take lots of pictures over the weekend. Then maybe by Monday I'll have a more (visually) interesting post. :)

Aaron