Published on
November 29, 2009 in
Seoul.
Tags: Seoul.
Welcome back!
Last night started off promising at my new favorite little joint Da Bar, but quickly devolved into daydreams of extreme violence.
My buddy Tad and I enjoyed a couple White Russians in the bubble area of Da Bar (covered in plastic and looking over Hongdae) along with some good conversation, then headed to Zen Bar to meet up with some of his friends. Here’s where the plot begins to thicken…
We threw both of our jackets onto a spare chair and set to enjoying ourselves. Not 10 minutes later, I swing by to check on our jackets and they’ve vanished. Poof. Tad and I both scoured the bar looking for ‘em, but to no avail. His jacket was a pretty large peacoat, and mine was an Arc’Teryx shell that’s been my go-to jacket for close to 3 years now. Being that it was 40 degrees out and I was in a ratty old shirt, I was none too pleased. Tad’s a big dude so no Korean would sport his jacket, and my jacket was too outdoorsy to be fashionable on the streets of Seoul. There’s a chance someone mistook them for their own, but with both of them being so different I think it’s more likely they were stolen.
I spent the rest of the night playing out slow-motion “300″-style beat downs in my head, hoping to catch the thief. The righteous fury that would fuel my anger when I saw him in the street would be suitably epic, and would end with me walking away victorious, jacket in hand. The bartender said it was really rare for a jacket to be taken, so there’s a small chance someone will drop it back by the bar. I’m not too hopeful though. At least I’ve got a new one coming in the mail!
I try not to become too attached to material things, but I’ll miss that damn jacket! So here’s to you Mr. Arc’Teryx shell, may you rest in peace. And whoever took it better pray that I don’t catch ‘em, because vigilante justice will be carried out on the streets of Seoul…
Published on
November 26, 2009 in
Seoul.
Tags: Seoul.
Since I’m 14 hours ahead of where I grew up, today is officially Thanksgiving! Happy Turkey Day!
This is my 3rd Thanksgiving abroad in a row, and it’ll be the 3rd that has consisted of a pot luck dinner at someone’s apartment with a bunch of displaced folks. Last year in Buenos Aires was a lot of fun, we had about 13 people in an apartment and even managed to find a turkey! This year we won’t have any big birds to cook (80k won / $70 for a small turkey?!), but we’ll make do. I think the company is more important than the food anyways.
I had a chance to speak to my family this morning, and I’m glad to say they’re doing well. Everyone is getting together down in Augusta, and I’m missing out on the epic cooking of my mother, her sisters, and my grandmother. Miss you guys!
This week in school has been really interesting because of my class exam. I’ve been giving short one-on-one interviews to my students, and some of them have really surprised me. Girls in class that absolutely refuse to speak to me in front of their peers suddenly bust out the present perfect while talking about their hobbies, or boys that are always rowdy in class give me sound reasoning for their Starcraft obsession. On the flip side of that coin, I have students that are superstars in class but were terrified of me in this exam setting. If they get this nervous around me, I can only imagine the stress of the Korean SAT for them.
With that said, giving these exams is nerve wracking for me as well. I don’t like having to assign grades based on a distribution for each class that roughly follows 10% As, 20% Bs, 40% Cs, 20% Ds, and 10% Es. It’s mandated by the school, but I try to give the students every opportunity possible to get up to that C level. I know that their grade in my class is only a very small portion of their overall English scores, but I can’t say I like failing a kid.
Published on
November 17, 2009 in
Seoul.
Tags: Seoul.
I remember my time in high school fondly. I can’t imagine my students will look back at high school with anything less than rage and fiery hatred.
The Korean SAT was last Thursday, and from what I can tell it’s complete madness. The day after the exam I held a debate about Korean testing methods with my advanced after school class, and they all are deathly afraid of this test (rightly so!). The test covers 7 subjects, 4 of which the students have a bit of autonomy in choosing. My SAT covered two: math and a verbal section. I only teach the 1st year students, but they are already studying for this test two years out.
The test can only be taken once for universities, and there is only ONE day a year that it is administered. There are no make ups whatsoever. If you check the article I linked above, you can see the photo of a student suspected of having swine flu taking the test all by his lonesome in an isolation room. Hell, they even had students taking the exam IN THE HOSPITAL. WTF mate? I have to give props to the Korean education system in most aspects, but this is absurd.
When I held the debate the next day my students were all overwhelmingly against the SAT as it stands. They study until 10pm most weekdays in order to do well on this exam. I took social dance 5 times in high school. They have school twice a month on Saturdays. I played computer games and ate waffles. Their college admission is a matter of family honor. My parents just would have murdered me if I didn’t go. Ok, maybe that last one is pretty similar, but parental intervention certainly isn’t as ubiquitous in the US. They had police posted at every testing site to prevent parents from causing disturbances, and doctors on hand for swine flu problems and nervous breakdowns.
If you’re reading this from the US, be thankful you don’t have it like these kids!
